//------------------------------//
// The Sun's Plea 
// Story: The Child of Sun and Moon 
// by Darkest Night 
//------------------------------//

He knew that it had taken a long time for him to wake up, even though he remembered nothing.
It was the little things that told him that something was going on, and his mind was keenly aware of those small things that other ponies often missed.  His mind was trained to spot them, and the most glaring of them was that his body was unresponsive.  This wasn’t the stiffness of sleeping too long, this was that moment one sometimes felt when on the edge of sleep when the body was disconnected from the mind, trying to move but unable, which often cleared up when the pony’s awareness kicked in.  When he became aware again, aware of being in a warm bed and in a room that was warm but silent, he couldn’t make his eyes open.  It was like…his eyelids rebelled against him, like his ability to command his entire body had been stripped from him.  That had created a surge of panic in him that could go no further than his own mind, because his body refused to obey.  He could feel the warmth and the sheets, and he could hear faint voices, as if he were in a very large room and they were on the far side of the door on the far side of that large room, but he couldn’t move.  Anypony that might come in would have no idea he was awake.  He as helpless, he was completely vulnerable, and it caused a terror in him that nearly caused him to pass out from its intensity.
For an amount of time he couldn’t fathom, he had struggled within his own mind, until he finally regained control of himself and calmed down.  He was still breathing, so he wasn’t paralyzed, and he wasn’t dead.  His heart was beating, he was breathing, so his body was still working.  And if he couldn’t move, then that meant that something was making it happen.  He could feel his body, so it couldn’t be a physical injury causing this paralysis.  If that were so, he’d have no sensation in the paralyzed parts of him…which was everything.  If he couldn’t even open his eyes, then his entire body was affected, and thus he would have no sensation anywhere.
So, if the cause wasn’t physical, then it had to be magical.
He rationalized that if he couldn’t smell the sheets, smell what was in the room, then it had to be daytime.  And if it was daytime, that meant that he had another set of senses to use, his magical sense.  He started searching for magic within himself, but was not himself, and it took him only moments to find it.
A spell.
Somepony had cast a spell on him to completely paralyze him.  It was a charged spell, its matrix was fairly tightly woven and very strong, telling him that the caster was a master of the magical art.  Starjumper searched through the spell matrix, a spell he had never seen before, but he could understand its basic design, and that meant that he knew how to go about attacking the spell to break it.  The spell wasn’t affecting his magic, only his body, so he felt it when he drew up the magic from within his core and used it like a spear, driving it into the weaving of the spell placed upon him and ripping a hole in it.  He twisted that spear after it tore through the spell, that that was the fatal blow that unraveled it completely.
And he almost immediately regretted doing it.
His body went completely haywire.  His legs kicked erratically, his mouth clamped shut with so much force that he thought his teeth were going to crack.  He jerked and twisted, rolling out of the bed and falling to the floor, landing on the side of his head and briefly knocking him senseless.  That blow quelled his body, leaving him laying on the floor twitching spasmodically, and then the convulsions and seizures slowly eased.  After a moment, he was again still, panting for breath and in pain, his muscles screaming from the sudden eruption of activity that had nearly ripped them from their anchors on his bones.  He simultaneously felt like he’d just run back to Baltimare and was smashed to the ground by an angry dragon.  He laid there for several moments, and when the pain eased in his legs, he tried moving.
It was a bit shaky, but he seemed to have command of himself again.  He rolled up onto his hooves and then unsteadily pushed up onto them, rising to a wobbly stand, his tail slashing behind him as he took stock of his surroundings.  The opulence of the room made it clear that this was the Royal Palace.  It was a lushly appointed bedroom with a four poster bed with silk sheets, velvet curtains on the bed, and a thick, soft comforter that was now on the floor.  The furniture in the room matched the basic style of the Palace’s architecture and color scheme, and the drape-flanked windows in the room showed a commanding view of the western valley.  The floor was covered in a very thick and very expensive Saddle Arabian carpet.
So, he woke up in the Royal Palace…and he had absolutely no idea how he got here.
The last thing he remembered was telling Rocky to watch the new home, and then Summer Dawn came over to him and they teleported…and then he woke up here under a spell that was keeping his paralyzed.  Those two facts told him that something very, very serious must have happened, for him to both not remember a thing and also for them to use magic to keep him subdued.  But, since he didn’t wake up in a dungeon cell, that told him that whatever happened hadn’t been his fault.  Something must have happened for him to have a seizure the instant the paralysis spell was broken, unless he had the seizure because he dispelled the paralysis spell by force.  That was a possibility, given he had no experience with that spell.  He honestly had never even heard of it before, so he had no idea how it worked or what kind of effect it might have if it was dispelled.
So…what had happened?  Why was he here, waking up in the Royal Palace and under the effect of a spell that completely prevented him from moving?  He heard another faint, muffled voice, coming from the far side of the door across the very large room, and he took a very shaky step in that direction, still feeling the effects of…well, whatever it was.  His body didn’t want to cooperate, so he staggered several times with each step, until he got sick of it and teleported across the room, reappearing at the door.  He surrounded the door latch with his magic, then turned it and staggered back a little as he pulled the door open, trying to just take a single step back and nearly having his back legs collapse under him.  Two unicorn guards immediately poked their heads in, and when they saw him trying to get back to a standing position, he found himself being lifted up off the floor by one of the guard’s magic.  “You need to return to bed, you’re still recovering,” he ordered, entering the room and carrying him along as the other guard turned and galloped down the hallway beyond.  “My comrade is summoning the Princess.”
“What happened?” he asked in a weak voice.  “I don’t remember anything.”
“I’m afraid I can’t answer that, because I don’t know entirely what happened myself,” he answered.  “But I will warn you not to try to teleport back to the apartment.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not there anymore,” he answered as he set Starjumper back on the huge bed on his belly and hooves facing back towards the door, then picked up the comforter from the floor and spread it over his back.  “You’d teleport into the rubble, and I don’t think you’d find that very enjoyable.”
“Rubble?  What happened to my apartment!” he gasped.  “Did I move to my new house before it happened, or did I lose everything?”
“I don’t know,” he replied with empathy.  “I wasn’t told what you’d removed from the apartment before it happened.”
“Well, what did happen?”
“It was set on fire,” he replied.  “Deliberately.”
“Somepony burned down my house?” he asked in both shock and anger.
“Yes.  We don’t know who it was, but we will find out,” he replied with a dark look.
There was the chiming sound of teleportation, and Summer Dawn appeared in the room in a circular burst of pink magic, well away from the bed.  “Starjumper!” she cried, charging towards him, her eyes shining with tears.  He wheezed a bit when she literally jumped onto the bed with him, hugging him around his comforter.  “I’m so happy to see you awake!  I was so worried!”
The guard withdrew without another word as he tried to untangle himself from his student.  “Summer, what happened?  Why am I here?”
“Princess Luna said you wouldn’t remember,” she said, mainly to herself.  “So much happened, I don’t know where to start.  What I should say and what I should let the Princess explain to you.”
“I think it would be best,” Princess Celestia said as she entered the room, “that you should let me do that, young one.”
Starjumper looked at her, and saw almost immediately that something very important had happened, because Princess Celestia’s mane and tail were uplifted by her magic, as if they were blowing in a gentle breeze.  That was a visible effect of the magic it took to raise the sun, and it had affected Princess Twilight since he’d been here.  Princess Celestia was once again the pony responsible for raising the sun, and that meant that she had taken back her rightful place from Princess Twilight.
Her sabbatical, it seemed, was over.
“Your Highness,” he said, bowing his head respectfully.  “I guess my first question is, why was I under a paralysis spell?”
“For your own safety,” she answered, walking up to the bed.  “You were suffering from seizures while you were sleeping.  Paralyzing your body was our only real recourse.”
“Then something pretty bad must have happened, especially since I don’t remember anything,” he grunted as Summer Dawn settled down, but didn’t get off the bed.  She laid on her belly beside him, tucking in her hooves.  “The last thing I remember is me and Summer teleporting out of my new home.  Then…nothing.  Just nothing.”
“The simple answer to that, my young Lykan, is that it was the only thing Luna could do to save your sanity,” she answered seriously, reaching the edge of the bed and looking down at him.  “You were in no way prepared for what happened, and it required the extreme measure of completely erasing your memory.  She had to, in effect, turn back the clock and fix it so, from your point of view, the events that led to your injury never happened.”
“Whoa,” he said in a low voice, then he took a deep, bracing breath.  “So, what did happen?”
“That will take time to explain,” she said, looking to the side.  One of the very expensive divans floated over, carried by her magic, and she set it behind her.  She climbed up onto it and settled herself, looking quite regal while also looking very comfortable, something he noticed from her visit to the apartment.  “The best place to begin, Starjumper, is not with what happened to you, but with why what happened came to pass,” she said in her calm voice.  “I told you that I was going to the Nightlands to investigate things, and what we learned there has changed everything.”  Her horn glowed with her magic, and a very, very old book appeared in the air between them, as she showed off her amazing skill with magic by teleporting it and hovering it at the same time.  “We discovered ancient thestral tomes holding the history of their race, which had been hidden from everypony, even the Night Queen.
“We learned the truth about the Lykans, Starjumper.  You are not cursed.  The legends about you are all made up, they were deliberately invented and spread to hide the truth, by the rulers of the Nightlands themselves.  They feared Lykans so much that they murdered all of your kindred ancestor Lykans and undertook a decades-long political campaign to demonize you not just in the Nightlands, but in every realm and kingdom in the entire world, so that a Lykan would be under constant suspicion and even attack from every pony they encountered, and those that may survive would find no refuge from thestral assassins.”
“Wow,” he breathed.  “Why in Luna’s moon would they be so afraid of me?  Can I really shatter the Night Stone?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head to further emphasize her statement.  “The truth is almost the exact opposite of that, my young one.  In the ancient times, before the Clan Wars, Lykans were the guardians of the Night Stone.  They held a unique and powerful position in thestral society as the only ponies that could hear the Night Stone’s song, could communicate with it, and could also directly channel its magic.  The Lykans were above even the Night King in their power, for it was they who put the Night King on the throne.  The Night Stone would choose the Night King, and the Lykans would inform the Nightlands of its decision.  So, my young one, you aren’t carrying a curse that will destroy the Night Stone.  You are its guardian and its voice in the world.  Your thestral heritage connects you to the Night Stone, and your unicorn heritage gives you the ability to safely channel its power.  In truth, Starjumper, in the ancient times, you would have been one of the most revered members of thestral society.”
He gave her a stunned, almost suspicious look.
She opened the book with her magic, and turned it to show it to him.  It was written in Old Thestralla, a language he had seen but couldn’t read, but it showed a picture of a large floating oval stone with three ponies in front of it…a thestral and a unicorn standing to each side of a pony with both a horn and leathery wings.  Alicorn?  A thestral alicorn?
“In those ancient times, my young one, the Lykans protected the Night Stone and spoke its will to the thestrals, since they could hear its song.  They were also the only ones who could touch the Night Stone, since they had unicorn blood and could safely channel its magic.  They were the Speakers of the Stone, and their most sacred duty was to speak the will of the Night Stone when it chose a new Night King, when the old one passed on or stepped down from the throne.  And it was this duty that brought ruin to the Nightlands,” she said, turning the page.  “Iron Wing the Betrayer was chosen by the Night Stone many years before, but he had become corrupted by the power of his throne,” she said, turning the page again, showing thestrals standing around another laying on the ground.  “He learned that the Night Stone was about to select a new Night King, which would forcibly abdicate him, and so he engaged in a dark plot.  He had thestrals loyal to him assassinate the Lykans, killing every one of them, to prevent the Night Stone from issuing that order.  Without Lykans to speak for the Night Stone, there was nopony left that could relay its wishes.  Iron Wing passed laws to prevent Lykans from being born, including forbidding any thestral from leaving the Nightlands while also banishing the large population of unicorns that lived side by side with the thestrals in the Nightlands so that no thestral could marry a unicorn to produce a Lykan.”  She turned another page, showing a long line of unicorns, pulling carts and carrying heavy burdens, walking away from a high mountain range.  “Iron Wing’s order tore families apart and exiled an entire race from their home.  The unicorns settled in a wide valley at the foothills of the mountain, which later came to be known as Unicornia.  This betrayal is the basis for the enmity that still exists between thestrals and unicorns.
“Iron Wing’s plan succeeded, but it also very nearly destroyed the Nightlands.  The unicorns that had once been allied with them had become their enemy, and Iron Wing discovered quickly that the Nightlands had depended on their unicorn population for much of their prosperity.  That was on top of the intense discord and enmity he sowed among thestrals who had lost their unicorn husbands or wives when they were banished, and who could not sneak away to be with them due to the tyrannical controls Iron Wing had placed over the populace.  Iron Wing spent the rest of his years struggling to hold his throne against those who had seen the truth of him and trying to keep his kingdom from flying apart at the seams.
“But it was when he died that the Nightlands truly fell apart.  With no Lykans to speak for the Night Stone and choose a new Night King, and Iron Wing being hated and reviled by many of his subjects, the Nightlands fell into what you would know as the Clan Wars after he died.  Iron Wing’s son Shadowhoof claimed the throne, and when the old noble families of the Nightlands challenged him for it, the kingdom descended into decades of war and chaos.  Eventually, a thestral noble finally managed to defeat all rivals and claim the throne.”
“Bright Sky the Unifier,” Starjumper murmured.
Princess Celestia nodded, turning another page, showing a thestral wearing the crown and sitting on a huge throne.  “But for the Lykans, Starjumper, he was no friend.  When he learned the secret of the Lykans, instead of restoring the traditional ways, he instead not only continued them, but came up with the idea to spread rumors and lies about Lykans to all the other kingdoms and realms, forming the legends and stories that ponies still tell about Lykans to this day.  He did so to further ensure that even if a Lykan was born, that the Lykan would be hated by those around him, feared, and find no safe haven from thestral assassins sent to kill them.  He did this because he knew that if they were to return to the old ways, the Night Stone, which did not choose him, would have him deposed.  So he furthered Iron Wing’s original plot so he could keep a throne he knew in his heart was not rightfully his.  And as the years passed, as new Night Kings and Night Queens took the throne and learned the secret of the Lykans, they continued the practice to protect their rule.”
Starjumper was quiet for a long moment, then he sighed.  “Well, that explains a whole lot,” he said.  “So all the stories, all the legends, they were nothing but…a propaganda campaign.”
She nodded elegantly.  “They feared that a Lykan like you would rise some day, Starjumper, a Lykan with the magical strength, skill, and support to survive to adulthood and pose a grave threat to their hold on power.  They knew that the Night Stone would call out to you and cause you to return to the Nightlands, to put right the ancient wrong committed against the Nightlands and the Night Stone.  And now that you know that, you can understand why you woke up in that bed with no memory.”  She closed the book with her magic and set it aside.  “Twilight told you that we believed that what happened with Moonshade was part of a prophecy.”
He nodded.
“She was correct,” she answered.  “You are the Child of Sun and Moon, Starjumper.  You are one of three, the Trinity, which the prophecy states will protect us from the King of Darkness.”
“Sombra,” Summer Dawn blurted.
Princess Celestia glanced to her, but said nothing.  “That is what all of this has been about,” she continued.  “The Night Queen didn’t send Moonshade here to kill you because you pose a threat to the Night Stone, my young Lykan, she sent her here to kill you because you are the only pony in the world that can stop her plan.  The Night Queen and her father are trying to resurrect Sombra using the magic of the Night Stone, Starjumper.  They see him as an ally in their plans of conquest, to return to the glory of their ancient past and be an empire once again, but they do not understand the trap they have laid for themselves.  When they awaken Sombra’s spirit, young one, he will drain the Night Stone of its power, kill the Night Queen and her father, then take the throne of the Nightlands and use it to wage war on the rest of the world.  The thestrals will become his army, compelled by their dependence on the Night Stone, which will give him their unswerving loyalty.  And since you are the only pony alive that can touch the Night Stone, you are the only pony alive that can take it from them to prevent that from coming to pass.
“The prophecy states that the sun and the moon will call on the Trinity to protect them from the King of Darkness, Starjumper.  And that happens right now.  As the Princess of the sun, I ask you.  Will you stand against this dark plot and save both Equestria and the Nightlands from certain ruin, war, and misery?  Will you stand with Summer Dawn and Moonshade to stop the Night Queen before she does something terrible?”
He barely had to think about it.  “When I was born, they came for me, Princess.  They were going to kill me.  But you saved me.  You protected me from them and you made them sign the treaty to leave me alone.  I owe you my life.  I owe you the lives of my family.  I owe you everything.  You don’t even have to ask that of me, your Highness.  I may not be a citizen of Equestria, but I will always be your humble servant.  I will do what you ask, simply because you ask it.  After everything you’ve done for me, it’s the least I can do for you.  Besides, if what you say is right, then my own family is at risk.  My mother, my sister, the aunt and uncle and cousins still in the Nightlands I’ve never met.  I may not care much about the thestrals that have hunted me my whole life, but I care about them.”
She gave him a calm look, then nodded.  “You are one of three, Starjumper.  Summer Dawn is the Morning Rose, and you will need her magic to get you to the Night Stone.  Moonshade is the Dusk Violet, and you will need her help once you reach the Nightlands.  Her knowledge of her homeland and the Cathedral of Night will be invaluable.  I presume you can work with Moonshade?”
“Can I trust her?”
“You can, Star,” Summer Dawn said.  “She had no idea what her mother was planning, and she’s like ultra-mad.  So mad she says she’s going to kill her own mother over what she’s done,” she blurted.  “She said her mother committed treason against the Nightlands.”
“So, she won’t try to kill me the moment she walks in the room?”
“I can assure you, my young one, she will not,” Princess Celestia told him calmly.  “Remember what is at stake here.  If her mother succeeds, the Nightlands will be forever changed, the thestrals will become a force of evil in the world, eternal slaves to King Sombra.  And if the Night Stone is destroyed by Sombra, then her entire race will become something much less than they are now.”
“So that part of the legend is true?” he asked.
“Almost.  Most thestrals owe who they are to the Night Stone.  It grants them their magic that allows them to fly, and to walk on clouds and walls.  If it were to be destroyed, Moonshade would not lose her wings, she would not change into another pony, but she would lose her magic.  She would never fly again, and lose her ability to walk on clouds and walk on walls.  But, there is a very small segment of their population who would not lose their magic.  They are the true thestrals, the original thestrals, and the basis of the magic the unicorns used when they created the Night Stone.”
“Whoa, wait, what?  I think you left out a part of that story,” he said in surprise.  “Unicorns made the Night Stone?  You mean the thestrals were originally unicorns?  Not earth ponies?”
She nodded.  “When they came to the Nightlands, they had nowhere else to go,” she said, tapping the book with her hoof.  “They were refugees seeking solace from the chaos that Discord had spread across the land, and they found themselves in the mountain home of the thestrals because, it seemed, Discord did not bother to wreak havoc there.  He found the mountains too boring,” she said dryly.  “They found the land too rugged and inhospitable to live there without great hardship, but they had little choice.  But then they met the original thestrals.  The thestrals took them in, gave them sanctuary, befriended them, and a partnership was forged.  It was the cooperation of the unicorns and the thestrals that created the Night Stone, thestral magic forged into a receptacle by powerful unicorn magicians, which the unicorns made to grant them the spider magic possessed by the thestrals to make living in the mountains much easier for them.  What they did not expect was that the magic of the Night Stone would affect them much more than that,” she said calmly.  “Over half of their foals born under the effect of the magic were being born with wings instead of horns, and became the thestrals that we know today.  Of the original thestrals, most of them died out in a great sickness that ravaged the Nightlands long, long ago. There are only a small number of them left.  And if you think about it a moment, you will know who they are.”
He gave her a puzzled look, then he gasped, snapping his head up.  “My family!” he exclaimed.
She nodded.  “The Longwing clan, different from all other thestrals, identified by their very large wings.  You are descended from the unaltered thestrals, my young Lykan, and it is your thestral magic that the unicorns used to create the Night Stone.  If the Night Stone were to shatter tomorrow, you, your mother, your sister, and the rest of your family would not lose your thestral magic, because it is not the Night Stone that grants it to you.  Your family is old beyond measure, Starjumper, and as noble as noble can be,” she smiled at him.  “You and your clan are the last of the true thestrals.  And that, my young one, makes you the true Lykan, a true marriage of unicorn and thestral.  All other Lykans were a product of magic, but you are a product of bloodlines.”
“Huh,” he murmured.  “Alright, that explains a lot.  But you haven’t told me how I ended up in this bed.”
She sighed.  “There was a fire in your apartment,” she answered.  “You and Summer Dawn teleported right into it, you didn’t know about it. You were working on your cave and decided to return to start moving your things.  You barely survived,” she said gravely.  “If not for very quick thinking on both your parts, you would have perished.  After you escaped the blaze, one of the ponies that had gathered at the sight of it taunted you, and it made you lose your temper.  And when that happened, my young one, it allowed the Night Stone reached out to you.  I told you that the Night Queen is using it to resurrect Sombra, which is putting the artifact under attack.  It is besieged, in pain, and your anger allowed it to reach out to you.  All its pain, all its fury was poured into you as it cried out for your help, begged you to come and put a stop to its pain, and it overwhelmed you.  That is why Luna had to completely erase your memory of the event, Starjumper.  You were not ready for that.  The Night Stone inadvertently damaged your psyche, because it’s in too much pain to be subtle, or gentle.  It reached out to you in desperation, and desperation can make all of us do things we did not intend.  Starjumper, it is very, very important that you do not lose your temper again,” she warned, her face utterly serious.  “The Night Stone may try to reach out to you again, and while it would never harm you on purpose, its own pain and desperation may make it go too far.  It knows you’re coming.  It knows you heard its cry, and will rescue it.  But it’s best not to tempt fate.”
“I…I can understand what you mean.  In a way, it yelled too loud trying to get my attention, and ended up giving me ringing ears.”
She nodded.  “Exactly so.  You are a Lykan, Starjumper, one of the chosen guardians of the Night Stone.  It would never hurt you on purpose, but it is under so much duress that it lost itself when it sensed you.  While you should not fear it, you should also take care that it does not hurt you by accident.”
“I understand,” he said, looking down at the bed, thinking about what he’d learned.  So, all this time, he hadn’t been a danger to the Night Stone, he had been a danger to the Night King and Night Queen because he could bring about their removal from power.  And for centuries, millennia, the rulers before them had perpetrated the same policy in order to protect their own power, demonizing the Lykans, maintaining the laws to prevent one from being born.  What the Princess told him made sense when it was all taken together, it explained the true motives that had made Moonblade’s attack on him seem…unwise.  And Princess Twilight had been right, he had been part of the prophecy, and his fight with Moonblade had been part of it.
What was truly surprising was to hear of the origin of the Night Stone, and the thestrals.  He’d never believed that the thestrals had originally been other ponies, but it turned out to be true…well, almost.  From what the Princess said, the thestrals created by the Night Stone were as much thestral as he was, only so long as the Night Stone was there to grant them their magic.  Without it, they were ponies with vestigial wings, unable to fly.  And it explained why his family had larger wings than other thestrals, because they were the original thestrals.  But to find out that the Night Stone was a creation of the unicorns to grant them the spider magic enjoyed by the thestrals, then having that magic affect their foals and cause them to be born as thestrals instead of unicorns…that was something he would never have imagined.  But, in an odd way, it did make sense.  The foals were born under the effect of that magic, and the unicorns had made the Night Stone a little too perfect.  No doubt they’d included thestral flight magic into its creation, faithfully reproducing the magical abilities of the thestrals, and that magic had infused their children, probably at conception, and produced magically-formed thestrals as a result.  The story said that only some of the unicorns’ foals were born as thestrals, which explained why Lykans could be born in numbers in those days.  The thestrals and unicorns intermarried, and they would occasionally produce a foal that was both unicorn and thestral.
Lykans.
He wondered what it had been like for the unicorns when Iron Wing banished them from their homes.  By then, the Royal Sisters had defeated Discord and restored balance to the land, so they could leave the mountains and settle somewhere more suited for them.  Families were torn apart, spouses separated, foals ripped away from parents, and they most likely had to adjust to losing the magical boons granted to them by the Night Stone, which was why it was created in the first place.  They had to have been almost traumatized, living in what to them would be an alien environment and stripped of the magical gifts granted to them by the ancient relic.  And it also explained why they didn’t go very far, deciding to settle in the foothills of the Misty Mountains, literally within sight of the border of the Nightlands.  It was no wonder that the unicorns of Unicornia were so distrustful and suspicious of the thestrals today, since it was built on the pain of a betrayal that happened so long ago that none of them likely remembered it.  And it also explained why the unicorns of Unicornia looked so different from other unicorns, both western and eastern.  They had traces of thestral lineage in them, which was why they were bigger than their cousins to the east and the west.
It struck him that it was entirely possible that his father’s family had Unicornian ancestry.  Size was a trait of the unicorn side of his family, and Unicornian unicorns were said to be very large. 
That was nothing like Summer Dawn.  He looked over at her, seeing the concern in her eyes and the gentle smile on her face.  The Princess said that he would need her help to reach the Night Stone, and it was no surprise why.  She was immensely powerful, one of the most powerful unicorns to walk the streets of Canterlot, and that kind of raw power would only be an asset when it came to sneaking into the Cathedral of Night and taking the Night Stone to prevent Sombra from being resurrected back into the world.  But…was she ready for something like that?  She was three months older than him, but her sheltered life made her almost foal-like in some ways, naïve about the realities of the world beyond Canterlot’s borders.  It made her quite charming, but in something this serious, it could be a major liability.  But the one thing he could not fault about her was her courage.  She may not have any idea what she was about to get into, but she’d march right into it because she knew it was the right thing to do, and Summer Dawn would do the right thing.  Really, she was one of the bravest ponies he’d ever known.
Well, he could make her ready for something like this.  He’d already taught her a few very useful spells in real world situations, and had started teaching her the Mana Bolt spell, which would give her a very dangerous means to attack her enemies.  But for a trip like this, where speed was going to be critical, there was one spell she absolutely had to learn, for it would be pivotal in their success…and it wasn’t a spell she would consider to be anywhere near as useful as it was.
“What about you, Summer?  Where do you stand in this?”
“That’s a silly question,” she replied.  “I’ll go.  I’ll help.  It’s a little scary to think about doing something like this, but the Princess needs me.  You need me,” she declared.  “At night, you won’t have your magic, but I will.  The thestrals that might try to stop us won’t be ready for that.  You’ve taught me so much, Star.  If we can get Moonshade to take a mirror into the room where they have the Night Stone, we can teleport in from miles away.  And if that happens at night, then you’ll need me there to cast the spell.”
“Both Summer Dawn and Moonshade have declared their support,” Princess Celestia told him.  “And they’ve been discussing the matter.”
“Moonshade’s actually not that bad,” Summer Dawn told him.  “If you can get past her bark, she’s a nice pony.  And wow is she an amazing flyer!” she said animatedly.  “She could give a Wonderbolt a run for her money!”
“She’s a thestral soldier, of course she’s going to be a very skilled flyer,” he said absently.  “Your Highness, if the Night Queen has already started her plot, then we don’t have much time.  I take it you’ve arranged to get us over to the Eastern Kingdoms?”
She nodded.  “I have a fast ship waiting in Manehattan,” she answered.  “It will get you to Maretonia. From there, you can fly to the Nightlands.”
“How long to get to Maretonia?”
“About two weeks,” she replied.
“That’s too long,” he frowned.  “We’ll have to fly it.”
“That’s four days of constant flight over open ocean, my young one,” she warned.  “With no islands to offer respite.”
“We don’t need islands,” he replied, trying to get up, but Summer Dawn’s weight on the comforter pinned him down.  “All we need is the Stratus Barrel from the shop.”
Princess Celestia gave him a surprised look.  “Your family owns a Stratus Barrel?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied.  “Dad bought it from a Las Pegasus merchant two years ago.” 
“What’s a Stratus Barrel?” Summer Dawn asked.
“It’s a magical water barrel that can store clouds without damaging them,” he answered her.  “The clouds they store aren’t that big, but it only has to be big enough to fit the three of us on it so we can rest.”
“Oh.  That sounds kinda cool,” she said.  “Why did your Dad buy it?”
“For Mom, as an emergency plan if she ever had to go back to the Nightlands and get there in a hurry,” he replied.  “That way she could fly there without needing to take a boat.  Whenever she’d get tired, she’d just let the cloud out of the barrel and sleep on it, then put it back in the barrel when she was done and continue on her way.”
“A most clever plan that will help us now,” Princess Celestia nodded in appreciation.
“But no matter how urgently we need to leave, your Highness, we can’t leave until I teach Summer Dawn a spell.  The most important spell she could learn for this journey.”
“Ohhhh, what?  You'll finish teaching me the Mana Bolt spell?  Some other powerful battle magic?”
He looked at her.  “The shrink spell.”
She gave him a startled look, missing Princess Celestia’s approving nod.  “The shrink spell?  How in the world would that be the most important spell I could learn?”
“Because you’re not thinking about what it can do, because you’re too busy thinking about how it’s not flashy,” he chided her.  “You have no idea how useful that spell is, Summer.  It’s easily as useful as teleportation, if you think creatively.  And you are absolutely going to need to know that spell if you’re going to go with us.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m sure as Luna’s moon not going to carry you on my back the whole way there with you at your full size,” he answered.  “You’re going to shrink yourself down and ride in a saddlebag, so your weight doesn’t slow us down or interfere with our ability to maneuver.  And in the daytime, both of us are going to be riding with Moonshade, and I’m sure she won’t appreciate hauling both of us around unless we’re easy to carry.”
“I didn’t think of that!” she admitted.
“And that’s why you don’t see the potential of the spell,” he told her bluntly.  “The most useful magic in the world isn’t what’s sparkly or flashy or impressive, Summer, it’s what’s versatile.  Some of the simplest spells in magic are among the most powerful if you know how to apply them to the situation.  The shrink spell is one of the most versatile spells you’ll ever learn, and we’re going to need it to move quickly and without weighing ourselves down, yet still carry everything we need for a long journey.”
“Listen to him, Summer Dawn,” Princess Celestia said in her stately voice.
“Oh, I do, your Highness, even when he’s being a smug jerk,” she replied, giving him a grin and a wink.
“How long do you think it will take for her to learn the spell?” the Princess asked.
“As fast as she learns, maybe three or four days.  I can teach her the basics, then teach her the more advanced applications while we’re on the move.  Once she gets to the point where she can shrink something down to the size of a grasshopper and charge it to last at least twelve hours, she’ll be ready.”
“That should give us time to get everything arranged,” the Princess nodded.  “And you time to rest.”
“There’s no time to rest,” he said, using his magic to lift Summer Dawn off the comforter, then he stood up, pulled it off of himself, then stepped down onto the floor in front of the Princess.  Summer Dawn stepped up to stand with him.  “Did…did they save anything from my apartment?”
“I’m afraid not, Starjumper,” the Princess answered, shaking her head.
“Well, the library has the books I need.  I got most of them from there in the first place,” he said in a neutral voice.  “How long was I asleep?”
“A little over a full day,” she answered.  “It’s about half an hour until sunset.”
“That gives me a little time,” he noted.
“To do what?” Summer Dawn asked.
“Make the saddlebags we’ll be riding in,” he answered.  “They have to have supports in them so they don’t collapse and crush us, and a flat bottom so we have a stable foundation.  And you’ll need to learn the rules of being tiny.”
“Rules?”
“Being the size of an insect introduces an entirely different set of rules into your life,” he told her.  “Me and Silver Moon learned them as foals, when we used to play with the shrink spell, you know, shrink ourselves down to the size of a mouse and run around the shop.  We thought it was really cool, until the day Silver Moon was nearly killed by Dancer.  She almost stepped on him.”
“Whoa,” Summer Dawn breathed.
“But that’s just one of the way things are different, and you need to learn those rules so you don’t hurt yourself or make yourself sick.”
“How could that happen? I mean, you’re just smaller.”
“I’ll explain it all later,” he said.  “Your Highness, could you have somepony bring me something you can afford to lose?” he asked.  “So I can use it as the material for a transfiguration spell.”
The Princess looked to the side, then floated over a small table holding a vase.  “Will these do?”
“I guess, if you don’t mind wasting them.”
“We make them the same way you’re about to make your saddlebags,” she said with a smile and a conspiratorial wink.  “So I’m not losing anything valuable, my young Lykan.”
“You know what you’re making?” Summer Dawn asked.
He nodded.  “I have one back in Baltimare.  We designed it so I could carry Silver Moon around with me when I fly.  I left it there so Mom and Songbird can carry around Dad and Silver Moon.  So we have enough experience with this for me to make something that works.”
“Your parents are here, Starjumper,” the Princess said. “That was how Nightsong carried Comet Tail.  So the bags are here now if you need it.”
“Really?  Good.  Anyway, I’ll just make another now that I can use transfiguration magic,” he said absently.  “Actually, two more, I’ll need one for when I have my wings.  That way Moonshade can ride in the bag and sleep while I’m flying us.”  His horn surged with magic, and a golden aura enshrouded it.  The vase lifted up off the table and was set on the floor beside it, then the table squashed itself down and glowed so intensely that its form was lost in the light.  When the light faded, the table was gone and a pair of saddlebags were resting on the floor in its place, with a wide, stout back strap and a long strap that ran underneath and buckled at the side to secure it to him.  They were fairly large bags, one of them meant to carry cargo and the other meant to carry ponies.  The pony bag had mesh windows on the sides so those within could breathe and see outside.  “And there we are,” he announced, lifting the bag up and setting it on his own back.  “I see I remember my own size.  I’ll make the other with adjustable straps, since I’m not exactly sure of Moonblade’s size.”
“Moonshade, Starjumper.  She refuses to go by her title.”
“Well, I guess she’s pretty serious about going after her mother, then,” he grunted.  “Let me make the other bag, then I can go see my parents.”
“They’re in your cave, along with Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis,” Princess Celestia told him.  “They decided to decorate it a bit while you were recovering.  I’ll be along with Luna and Moonshade after I lower the sun and she raises the moon, and we’ll discuss what must be done with you and your parents.”
“You let your parents in my apartment?” he asked, looking at Summer Dawn.
“They were curious,” she replied.  “They think the house you made for yourself is really clever.  They think you could expand it back into the mountain and make something really, really cool.”
“I doubt I’ll be staying here,” he said quietly.
“Things have changed, Starjumper,” Princess Celestia said.  “The ponies of Canterlot know the truth about you, that you are nothing what the old stories say.”
“They knew that already, and somepony burned down my apartment.”
“That fire changed things, my young one,” she told them.  “It awoke many in Canterlot to the extent to which the rumors they were spreading could do real harm.  And I will say that I have never been more disappointed in them,” she said with hard eyes.  “I was quite clear to voice my displeasure this morning when I addressed the city.  And when I find out who is responsible for the fire, the punishment will be quite harsh.”
“A lot of ponies are really upset,” Summer Dawn said.  “Especially when the Princess told them how wrong they were.  They treated you so badly, and then they found out it was all over a lie.  The Princess told them what she told you, that everything we were told about Lykans was all so we’d drive them away.”
“Yes, and I’ve taken steps to put things right.  Including having Donut Joe reopen his diner,” the Princess stated.
“I’m glad to hear that, I was almost sick over what happened to him,” he said with sincere emotion.  “He was always so nice to me, and all he got out of it is losing the diner he’s owned for forty years.”
“He will reopen his diner in a couple of days,” she assured him with a smile.  “Luckily, had had yet to empty out the building.  He’d broken down his kitchen appliances and packed up most of his utensils to sell them.  Once he puts everything back in working order, he’ll be open again.  And I will be the first customer waiting at the doors,” she declared with a smile.  “He does have the most delicious food.  I often send out my guards to bring me back his donuts and coffee.”
“I’m happy to hear that, your Highness, but I’ll believe that the ponies have changed their minds when I see proof of it,” he said guardedly.
“I understand, my young one,” she told him with a solemn nod.  “But don’t make any plans.  When you finish your mission to the Nightlands, I expect you back here in Canterlot.”
“If I may ask, your Highness, why?”
“Because it’s my Royal privilege to ensure that you are here to teach those that don’t do well in the school’s system,” she replied with a gentle smile, glancing at Summer Dawn.  “I will have you tutor those like Summer Dawn, Starjumper.  Unicorns with hidden potential that will only bloom and grow with a teacher that understands them and their needs.  You will work by Royal contract as a tutor, providing one on one instruction for the brightest minds of the next generation.  And under your guidance, my young one, they will become what they were meant to be.”
“Well…I’ll think about it, your Highness.”
“That is fair enough,” she replied gracefully.  “Now, I’m sure that your parents and Summer Dawn’s family will be quite happy to see you,” she prompted.
“I just hope the rock bat didn’t go after them.”
“I introduced them, Star, Rocky’s fine,” Summer Dawn told him.
“Good.  Levitate yourself, Summer.  I can’t teleport us into the cave, since I don’t know where they are inside.  And knowing my mother, she’s rearranged the furniture,” he said darkly, which made Summer Dawn laugh.  “I knew it,” he sighed.  “I’m going to teleport us outside the door, so you’re going to reappear high in the air.”
“Thanks for the warning,” she said as her body was enshrouded by her pink magic, and her hooves lifted up off the floor. “Ready.”
“We’ll be along after sunset, Starjumper,” the Princess reminded him.
“We’ll be waiting, your Highness.”  And with that, he teleported himself and Summer Dawn to a spot outside the new house.  He reappeared standing on the cliff, facing down and clinging to the rock, and Summer Dawn reappeared floating in midair below him, directly in front of the door.  She opened it as he walked down the rock face, then he curled up and under the top of the door and twisted a bit as he dropped off the stone, landing on the doorway.  His parents and Summer Dawn’s parents were inside, and Luna had they really gone crazy!  His bookshelves were full of new books and scrolls, there was new furniture in addition to the furniture he’d made using magic, and the kitchen was fully stocked with pots and pans.  They had replaced most of what he’d lost in the fire!
“I say, Starjumper!  It’s good to see you up, lad!” Fancy Pants called loudly when he looked towards the open door.  His mother and father rushed over to him, and gave him a crushing hug.
“We had no idea you were awake!” Nightsong said.  “They said you probably wouldn’t wake up until tomorrow!”
“I just woke up a little bit ago.  Princess Celestia told me what happened.  After I got over the seizure, anyway,” he grunted.
“They had to use magic on you, you were constantly jerking and convulsing, even in your sleep,” Comet Tail said.  “Princess Luna said it was a side effect of the magic they used on you to erase your memory.”
“The Princess told me about that, all of it,” he said as he accepted a fond hug from Fleur de Lis, then touched hooves with Fancy Pants.  “I almost can’t believe it.”
“She told us as well,” Fancy Pants said as Summer Dawn floated in and landed behind him, then closed the door.  “I knew our faith in you wasn’t misplaced, my boy.  And let me tell you, are many of our so-called friends quite chagrined now,” he said, almost vindictively.  “Princess Celestia gave quite a speech this morning, and her speech was the verbal equivalent of spanking the entire city.  I’ve never seen her that angry in public before.”
“You and Fleur and Summer have been true friends, Fancy Pants,” Starjumper said with gratitude.  “You stood by me even when your own lives started suffering for it.  I can’t thank you enough.”
“It was the right thing to do, lad,” he replied.  “And this family does what is right, even when other ponies tell us it’s wrong.”
“Well said, dear,” Fleur de Lis agreed emphatically.
“I see you’ve been busy in here,” he said, looking around.
“We thought it would be nice if you came home to something that seemed more cozy,” Nightsong told him.  “Summer Dawn helped us find the kinds of books you like and Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis had your father bring some furniture from their attic up to add a little character.  And we had Silver Moon send some of the things you left at home.  Really, son, did you have to make your house look like the waiting room of a dentist’s office?” she challenged, which made Summer Dawn giggle.
“You’re one to talk, Mom,” he accused right back.
“You’ve seen what I have to work with back home,” she replied airily.
“Did…did you salvage anything from the apartment?”
“I’m afraid not, son,” Comet Tail answered.  “Everything was a complete loss.  Including your clock.”
“I…I don’t need that clock anymore,” he said.  “It was part of my old life.  This is my new one.”
“As happy as I am to hear that, son, having a new clock may not be a bad idea, if only so it wakes you up in the morning so you don’t get ash in your bed,” he replied.  “I’ll make you a new one and send it as soon as it’s ready.  A nice one, like a grandfather clock, something you don’t need to carry around with you.  I think it would look rather nice sitting right there,” he said, pointing across the room.
“That wouldn’t be so bad, I suppose,” Starjumper said.
Princess Celestia was quite punctual.  Barely five minutes after she lowered the sun and Luna raised the moon, and Starjumper changed, the Royal Sisters arrived at his new house with Moonshade in tow.  The thestral was wearing her armor, and she looked around as she entered his new house.  She came up to the others with the Princesses, as they all bowed to them, then stood beside the couch that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna decided to occupy.  “I’m not sure what Starjumper told you, but he’s come up with a fairly clever plan to get to the Nightlands quickly,” Princess Celestia began.  “They’ll be sacrificing a few days to prepare Summer Dawn for her part of the plan, but make up for it by getting to the Nightlands in seven days once they start out.”
“A week?  It takes two weeks to get across the sea,” Moonshade protested.
“We won’t be taking a boat.  We’re going to be flying across,” Starjumper told her.
“And exactly where in the sea are you planning for us to crash from exhaustion and drown?” she challenged.
“Like the Princess said, we have a plan,” Starjumper answered her, spreading his wings to work out a bit of stiffness, flexing the finger bones that ran through the membranes to curl his wings, straightening them out to stretch them, then folding them back.  “My family owns a magical device that will let us carry a cloud.  We just let the cloud out and rest on it, then put it back in the device and move on when we’re ready.”
“That’s going to work for us, but she’ll fall right through,” Moonshade said, flicking her muzzle towards Summer Dawn.
“There’s a spell that will allow her to walk on clouds like a thestral,” Princess Celestia told her.
“And how are we carrying her?  Taking turns letting her ride on our backs?”
“She won’t be a burden,” he answered.  “There’s a unicorn spell that will shrink her down to the size of a grasshopper.  She’s going to ride along in a saddlebag.  We’re going to use that spell as well, Moonshade.  At any time, only one of us is going to be flying.  You in the daytime, me at night.  When we’re not flying, we’ll be shrunk down too and in the pouch so we can sleep.  That way we only have to land to change flyers and take breaks to rest a little and eat.  If we do it right, we can cross the sea in three or four days.  It’s three more days on to the Nightlands, and then it’ll be up to you to get us to the Night Stone.  As soon as Summer Dawn learns the shrink spell, we’ll be going.  We sacrifice a little time now to save a whole lot more later.”
She was quiet a long moment.  “That’ll work,” she concluded with a nod.  “It’ll also hide her when we reach the Nightlands, that way we won’t be attracting attention.  Neither will you, at least at night.  Most thestrals don’t know what you look like, so they won’t know you’re a Lykan.  You just have to use a different name.  Starjumper is a name every thestral knows.”
“Then I’ll go by Moonstar,” he replied.  “That’s the name I use as a thestral, or at least I did, and I answer to it.  Any pony that knows me as a thestral knows me by that name.”
“Well, your cutie mark backs up that name,” she said, looking at his flank.
“The fact that my cutie mark changes along with me makes it easy for me to pretend I’m somepony else at night,” he said dryly.  “How long will it take us to reach the Cathedral of Night once we reach the Nightlands?”
“Two days,” she answered.  “The Cathedral is on the east side of the kingdom, not far from the Ice Mountains.  Getting in is going to be tricky, though.  To get through, you have to pass through an arch that dispels all magic.”
“The only question is, is the entire building warded against magic, or just the entrances?”
“Just the entrances,” she answered.
“Then we have a very easy way to get the Night Stone,” he declared confidently.  “You just have to carry in a mirror.”
“That’s brilliant!” Comet Tail blurted.
“What makes it so brilliant, Starjumper?” Fleur de Lis asked politely.
“I know a spell that will let me look through a mirror,” Starjumper answered.  “If Moonshade can get that mirror into the room where they have the Night Stone and point the mirror’s face so it faces the Night Stone, and I’ll be able to see it and teleport both her and the Night Stone right out of the room.  And if that doesn’t work, then we can teleport into the room and take it the old fashioned way, then teleport out once we have it.  We won’t have to try to sneak through or fight our way in.  Since she's the Moonblade and her mother is the Night Queen, she can get into the Cathedral of Night and most likely get into the room holding the Night Stone without challenge.  She gets the mirror there, and I can take the Night Stone without so much as setting hoof in the building.  I can do it from twenty miles away, for that matter.”
She gave him a surprised look.  “Alright, that’s pretty clever,” she admitted.
“There has never been an instance where a unicorn’s special talent in a magic spell would be so incredibly important,” Luna declared.  “Starjumper’s unique mastery of teleportation magic will allow him to steal the Night Stone right out from under the Night Queen’s nose, and from a distance that will make it almost impossible for them to catch you before you escape the Nightlands.”
“I can see that,” Moonshade said thoughtfully.  “Summer Dawn told me about the mirror trick, but I wasn't completely sold on it until now.  I like it.  I can get the mirror into the room.  We take the Night Stone, then fly for the border as fast as we can.”
“No, we reach the border in a matter of minutes,” Starjumper replied, looking at Summer Dawn.  “Summer Dawn will get us out of the Nightlands in three teleports.  We just need to select proper landing spots that are close enough together for her to teleport the three of us and the Night Stone without exhausting herself.  The second we have the Night Stone, Summer Dawn teleports us to those locations in stages, and we cross the entire Nightlands and get out in a matter of minutes. We’ll be out of the Nightlands before the Night Queen can even call out the alarm.”
“I’m liking this plan better and better,” Moonshade said with a smile.  “Can you do that, little slip?”
“Yes I can,” she said, almost defiantly.  “Star already taught me how to teleport passengers along with me.  I can get us out of the Nightlands quick, so long as we set things up on our way in the way he said.”
“A simple yet very effective plan,” Princess Celestia agreed.  “And one I believe the Night Queen would never suspect possible.”
“It’s the thestral in him, your Highness,” Nightsong said proudly.  “If he wasn’t sneaky, he’d be no foal of mine.”
“Now that we have a framework, let’s plan out the specifics,” Fancy Pants prompted.
The Princesses produced a map of the eastern continent with magic, and the nine of them sat in a circle around it and plotted out their route, selected appropriate landing spots for both Summer Dawn and Starjumper to use in case of emergency, and identified the major population centers along their planned route where they could resupply if necessary.  But, one thing that the Princesses did add to their journey was to stop at the capitol cities of both Maretonia and Unicornia to warn the rulers about what was going on, in case their plan failed.  They needed to be ready if Sombra took control of the thestrals and invaded.  It only added maybe three hours to their journey, given they’d fly directly over the capitol of Maretonia and come very close to the capitol of Unicornia.  Nightsong was invaluable for the planning when it came to the Nightlands, because she knew the kingdom much better than Moonshade did, knew of isolated caves that they could use as safe places to rest on the way in and landing spots for their escape.
Because the plan was deceptively simple, they had everything worked out in about three hours.  Starjumper rolled up the map and put it in a saddlebag for their trip as Nightsong served them some mintroot rolls, another thestral dish.  “Alright, now we just wait for Summer Dawn to be ready for the trip,” Moonshade said, looking in her direction.
“Hopefully, I can learn what I need to know of the spell in a few days,” she replied.  “Star’s a really good teacher, and it’s a spell he’s known a long time.  We can start tomorrow, after he’s had a chance to completely recover.”
“I’m fine, you big worrier,” he challenged.  “But I can’t really start you on the spell until tomorrow anyway.  I need my horn, because you’ll be starting on the spell’s casting within an hour of me teaching you the matrix.”
“I’ll have the supplies you need for the journey delivered here tomorrow morning,” Princess Celestia told them, then she nibbled on one of the rolls.  “This is quite good, Nightsong.”
“The mintroot was fresh, and that always makes for good rolls,” she replied with a smile.
“There’s one more thing I’ll be sending up here tomorrow,” Princess Luna added.  “Armor for both Starjumper and Summer Dawn.”
“Armor?  Like the EUP’s armor?” Summer Dawn asked.
“You are going into hostile territory, and facing ponies that will do you harm if you’re caught,” she answered.  “So you will need armor.   There are several suits of thestral armor still in the castle after we banished the thestral guards,” she nearly snarled, “And we can alter those to suit both of you.  It will serve the further goal of making you look like you belong in the Nightlands, Starjumper.  If you are wearing a soldier’s armor, you are much less likely to be challenged.”
“Sound thinking,” Princess Celestia nodded.
“I’ve never worn anything like that before,” Summer Dawn said apprehensively.
“You get used to it.  I forget I have mine on so often, I’ve tried to go to bed wearing it,” Moonshade told her.  “Way more than once.”
“I’ve never worn armor either, so we’ll both be learning,” Starjumper told her.  “I figure Summer Dawn will have the shrink spell learned enough to do what she needs to do in three days.  Maybe four,” he continued.  “So I’m more or less looking at us leaving on Tuesday.  I can have all our supplies shrunk down and ready to go a few hours after it gets here.”
“So, how does that work?” Moonshade asked.  “Does it get lighter as well as smaller?”
“If you cast the spell the right way, yes,” he nodded.  “When I’m done, three crates worth of goods will fit into a single saddlebag, and it won’t weigh much more than if you had a couple of books in it.”
“And we’ll be the same way?”
“Yes.  And that reminds me, you need to be here tomorrow morning when I start Summer on the spell.  There are some special conditions involved in what you can and can’t do when you’re shrunk that you need to know.”
“I’ll be busy tomorrow.  You can tell me now,” she answered.
“I’ll explain them to her tomorrow, Starjumper,” Princess Luna said.
“Alright, your Highness,” he replied with a nod.
“Then I’d say we’re just about done,” Princess Celestia announced.  “We’ll have those supplies delivered in the morning, Starjumper.  Until then, I want you to rest.  You’re only mostly recovered from your ordeal.  You need one more night of rest, and then you’ll be ready to start preparing for your task to come.”
“Yes ma’am,” he replied with a nod.
“I could use a good night’s sleep myself,” Fleur de Lis declared.  “We should give him a chance to get used to his new house,” she prompted.
“We’ll be back up in the morning to help you with those supplies, son,” Comet Tail said.  “I can shrink them down and pack them while you’re getting Summer Dawn started on the shrink spell.”
“And I can help you with the armor.  I’ve worn it before,” Nightsong added.  “I’ll show you how you put it on and take it off.  You can use magic to resize the pieces to suit you.”
“I say, my friend, perhaps you can show me this shrink spell?” Fancy Pants asked.  “It sounds incredibly useful.”
“If you can teleport, you can manage that spell,” Comet Tail answered.  “I don’t have time to teach you the whole thing, but I can get you started on the basics.  And I’ll send up a copy of the book we use to learn it when I get home, so you can finish.  Or, you can pester Star to finish up for you when he gets home,” he smiled.
“I’d be happy to,” Starjumper agreed.  “You and Fleur get to learn for free.  Summer still has to pay.”
Hey!” Summer Dawn protested, which made most of them laugh.
“We’ll leave you to get some rest,” Princess Celestia told him, a clear dismissal for the others.  “Remember, friends, teleport out.  We give the city no hints as to where his new house is.”
“Easily done,” Fancy Pants said proudly.  “My dear, are you ready to go home?” he asked his wife.
“Just don’t burn my mane this time,” she warned as she stepped up to him.
“I’ll do my best.  We’ll see you at home, Summer,” he said, and then he and Fleur de Lis vanished in a circular burst of azure magic.
“He has gotten good at that,” Comet Tail chuckled.
“He was a very good student,” Starjumper said as Nightsong stepped up to her husband.
“I’m ready, dear,” she assured him.
“Then we’ll be back in the morning, son,” he said.  “I’ll land over there, so don’t stack anything in that spot,” he added, pointing at the empty area on the side of the room, near where he’d indicated the grandfather clock could go.
“I’ll keep it empty,” he promised.
“Have a good night, ducky,” Nightsong said, then the two of them vanished in a circular burst of blue magic, his father’s magic, and a color not too far from Fancy Pants’ own.
“I will have a new mailbox sent with the supplies, Starjumper, so you may contact us if you need anything,” Princess Celestia told him as Moonshade stepped up to stand between the Royal Sisters.
“Tomorrow night, we’re going out so I can see how good you are on the wing, Starjumper,” Moonshade told him.  “I’ll teach you a few basic combat maneuvers, just in case we get into a scrape long the way, though I doubt I’ll have to teach you much,” she said with a dark smile.  “You held your own against the Night Blades.  And you’ll need to practice flying with the armor.  Its weight does change how you fly.”
“I’ll be happy to have you there to teach me,” he told her.
“Don’t keep him up too long, Summer Dawn,” Luna told her, a bit cheekily.  Then the three of them vanished in a circular burst of golden magic.
Summer Dawn almost blushed when she looked up at him, then started pushing him imperiously towards the bed.  “You heard the Princess.  Bed!” she commanded.
“Alright, alright, pushy mare,” he grunted, walking towards the new bed.  “I am a little tired.”
She supervised as he climbed into bed, settling in as she put the blanket over him., standing beside the bed and looking down at him with concern.  “I’m glad you’re okay,” she told him.  “When they brought you to the palace and you were convulsing, I was so worried.”
“I woke up with that spell paralyzing me still in effect, so that was a bit scary,” he told her.  “I woke up and couldn’t move. I didn’t know what was wrong at first, because I didn’t remember anything.”
She gave him a compassionate look.  “How do you feel now?  The Princess said there may be lingering side effects.”
“I feel alright, outside of feeling like I haven’t slept for three days,” he answered.  “How do you feel about all this?”
“I’m a little scared, but that’s understandable, I suppose,” she answered.  “I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“I’ll feel much safer with you being there,” he told her honestly, which made her beam.
“I’ll be there to protect you, Star,” she said with a playful smile.  “You’re way too young to be out there by yourself, you know.”  She laughed at his cool look.  “And way too silly.”
“You’re only three months older than me, mare,” he retorted coolly.
“But you’ve shown me just how much a difference three months can make in a pony’s life, Star,” she grinned.  “Three months ago, I was failing school and didn’t know what to do with my life.  And look where I am now.”
“Now you’re just a pain in my neck,” he snorted.
“Blame yourself for that,” she winked.  “Now, you get some sleep, and I’ll be back right after sunrise, okay?”
“Be ready to work,” he warned.  “We have no time to waste.”
“I will,” she nodded.  “I’ll see you in the morning, Star.  Have a good night.”
“You too.”
She gave him a smile, took a step back, then vanished in a circular burst of pink magic, leaving him alone in the room.  But he didn’t have time to ponder on that, or on the upcoming mission, or much of anything, because barely thirty seconds after Summer Dawn vanished from the apartment, he was sound asleep.



Summer Dawn was right on time, appearing in the apartment barely a minute after sunrise, as Starjumper was cleaning up the ash from his morning transformation.  The night’s sleep had done wonders for him, and he’d awoken refreshed and feeling right as rain.  This morning’s change was even decent, it didn’t seem like it hurt as much as usual, and mornings were the worst of the two changes due to his wings burning off.  There was no muscle pain, no weakness, not so much as a tremble in any joint, and his mind was clear and sharp, focused on the task at hoof.  There were three major objectives for the day, and they were all related.  He needed to get Summer Dawn started on shrink spells, he had to organize and prepare their supplies, and tonight, he would take his first real lesson in flying while wearing armor.  He knew how to fight in the air, his mother had taught him that, but he’d never worn armor before.
“Good morning, Star,” she said as she trotted up to him.  “How do you feel?”
“I feel just fine,” he replied, floating a cushion over from the couch and setting it on the stone floor.  She took off her saddlebag, at least after fishing out a large carnelian for Rocky and setting it on the table, then came over and sat down on the cushion.  “You ready?”
“I’m ready,” she said with some enthusiasm, looking up at him eagerly.
“Shrink spells,” he began, sitting down on the floor in front of her.  “Are both just as dangerous as teleportation and much simpler at the same time.  They’re dangerous in that not following the rules can get you killed, similar to teleportation.  But they’re simpler in that they’re not nearly as hard to cast.  But what truly makes this spell potentially dangerous, Summer, is what you do after you’ve cast it,” he warned.  “I told you yesterday that there are a special set of rules that you have to obey when you’re shrunk, and they’re important.  Not following them can make you very sick, if not kill you, so it’s absolutely imperative that you understand those rules now, before I even start teaching you the spell.”
“Okay.”
“The most important thing you have to understand when it comes to shrinking a living thing is that the way that shrunk pony interacts with the unshrunk world can be deadly if they intermix too much.  First and foremost, Summer, if you’re shrunk, you never, ever, eat or drink anything that wasn’t shrunk along with you at the same time.  Not even water,” he warned.  “If you do, when you return to your normal size, it causes you to pass out, or even go into a coma.  And if you’ve eaten too much unshrunk food, you’ll die minutes after the spell wears off.”
She blanched a little, then nodded enthusiastically.
“When you shrink yourself for the journey, you’re going to be carrying saddlebags holding all the food and water you need for the time you’ll be shrunk,” he told her.  “And that’s the only food and water you consume.   You don’t even eat food that me or Moonshade might be carrying, because it wasn’t shrunk along with you.”
“I wonder why that is,” she mused.
“I don’t know, but it’s a rule, and we have to follow it,” he answered.  “Needless to say, you also never eat or drink shrunk food or water, for obvious reasons.”
“When the spell wears off, it’ll return to normal size inside you.”
“Exactly,” he nodded.  “And that would be a very fast and very painful way to die.”
“No doubt.”
“The next thing you have to understand is that when you’re the size of a bug, the world becomes much more hostile to you,” he continued.  “A gentle breeze as a pony is a howling gale that could blow you away when you’re shrunk down, and water is particularly dangerous because of surface tension.  You don’t ever get anywhere near water when you’re shrunk.  If you fall in and go under, you can’t break surface tension and drown before you can get out.  And when it’s raining, a raindrop can hit with the force of a boulder, so don’t leave shelter when it’s raining.”
“I understand.”
“The change in size also affects your ability to communicate,” he continued.  “You’ll be able to understand a pony that’s not shrunk, but their voices will sound so deep to you that you’ll need a little practice with it until you get the hang of it.  When it comes to you talking to an unshrunk pony, that’s even harder.  Not only would what you say barely be audible, it would be even quieter than the faintest whisper, it’ll be so high-pitched that only a thestral will be able to easily hear you, due to the fact that thestral ears can hear much higher ranges of sound than pony ears.  If we need to talk to Moonshade while she’s flying, we’ll have to use magic to do it.”
“Okay.  What about two shrunk ponies?  Can they talk to each other?”
“Yes, but our voices will sound very different,” he replied.  “And since we’re leaving Equestria, the last thing you need to consider is that to a predatory animal, when you’re the size of an insect, you’re prey,” he warned.  “So don’t think that some cute little mouse is going to be nice to you when you’re the size of something he’d usually kill and eat.  So when you’re shrunk, you consider any animal, no matter how benign or cuddly, as a potential threat.”
“Got it.”
“Now, this is the part that causes unicorns the most problems, Summer.  When you’re shrunk, your magic works exactly the same as if you were normal size,” he said intensely.  “That means that if you try to conjure a globe of light and don’t make one scaled to your current size, you’re going to make one proportional to your normal size, which would be a gigantic globe when you’re shrunk.  The magic you channel doesn’t see your size as being anything different, so all your normal ranges are going to remain the same when you’re shrunk down.  That means that when you’re the size of a grasshopper, you can still levitate the same amount of weight you can when you’re normal size.  But there’s a catch there, which I think you can see if you think about it.”
“I’d be channeling the same amount of magic in a tiny body.  It would tire me out much faster from the effort of channeling the magic.”
“Precisely,” he nodded with a proud expression.  “You can learn to choke back your magic so it more or less scales with your new size, casting tiny spells to correspond with a tiny body, but that’s something you don’t really need to learn for this trip.  I’ll teach you that when we get home.  Just remember that when you’re using magic when you’re shrunk, it’s much more exhausting, so don’t play around.  Save your energy for when you need it.  Remember, Summer, we’re going into hostile territory, so when you need it may mean we need your magic to save our flanks.  So don’t wear yourself out playing with magic.”
“You can count on me, Star,” she told him confidently.
“The last thing you need to know, and it’s going to matter since it’s winter, is the cold.  The cold is much more dangerous when you’re shrunk down, because what little heat you have is lost faster when it’s very cold outside.  When we go, each of us is going to be carrying a heat stone in a torc around our necks that will keep us warm for the trip, both to keep me and Moonshade from freezing when we fly, and also to protect us from the cold when we’re shrunk down.  I’m also going to put heat stones in the bags we’ll be using to protect the inside against the cold wind when we’re flying.  Do not lose your heat stone, Summer.  Your life is going to depend on it.  And if for some reason you do lose your heat stone and you find yourself in an exposed area, without a heat source, you unshrink yourself immediately,” he warned.
“Got it.”
“Alright, let me show you the spell matrix, and you can start practicing.”
His parents arrived while he was teaching Summer Dawn the spell, and they got to work with barely a word of greeting.  The Princess must have arranged things with his father, because the first thing he did when he got ready to work was teleport in two large crates; the Princess must have showed him where the supplies were, which would allow him to teleport them to the cave.  He then opened them and started organizing food and equipment that they may need, separating them into three piles for the three of them, then started shrinking things down one by one, using the version of the spell that was permanent.  Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis arrived shortly afterward, and his father started teaching them about the shrink spell while Starjumper got Summer Dawn to where she could start staging the spell.  “I’m only teaching you one version of the spell, Summer for now, the charged version and the counterspell to end it early,” he told her.  “That means it’ll wear off on its own after the duration you set expires.  There are several variants to the spell, but you don’t need to know those for the trip.  So, stop looking at what Dad is doing and concentrate on the spell I taught you,” he ordered.  “He’s using a different version of the spell.”
“Sorry, I was just seeing how it was different from what you showed me,” she apologized.
“We don’t have time for tangents,” he reminded her.
She worked steadily through the day, each staged casting getting closer and closer to perfect.  After an early dinner, Summer Dawn once again proved just how amazing she was by getting to where she could stage the spell correctly every time, which was a good three weeks faster than when he learned the spell.  She’d only been working with the spell for one day, but she was very nearly ready to cast it.  It had taken him a full month to gain competence with the basic version of the spell.  Just as Moonshade arrived with Princess Luna, a large crate of armor pieces teleported in with them, he gave an approving nod.  “You’ll be ready to start casting the spell tomorrow around lunch,” he told her, which made her smile.  “You’ve got the basic mechanics of the spell down, we just need to work on the charged portion of the spell before you’re ready to start casting it.”
“Awesome!  So we’ll be practicing being tiny tomorrow?”
“No,” he replied.  “At least not in here.”
“Why not?”
“Rocky,” he answered.  “I told you, when you’re that size, suddenly all those cute little animals you never think about suddenly become dangerous, and Rocky is no exception.”
“He’d never hurt me!”
“He won’t recognize you,” he answered strongly.  “He wouldn’t hurt you if he knew who you were, but he won’t know.   So we don’t shrink in the house without taking extravagant protections, like putting up a shield, or else we might end up having to hurt Rocky to keep him from killing us.  I think if we ask the Princess nicely, she’ll allow us to practice being tiny in the palace, in a controlled location with plenty of protective oversight.”
“I’ll arrange it,” she nodded.  “And it is wise that you experience spending time at that size before you begin your journey.  It is quite different.”
“Thank you, your Highness,” Starjumper said.  “We’re done with the spell for today, Summer.  Let’s take a look at this armor.”
Moonshade and Nightsong took over at that point, teaching them how to put on thestral armor.  It was surprisingly complicated, with a lot of buckles and straps that had to be just so, which caused quite a bit of magical resizing of not only the pieces of metal armor, but the straps that held it all together.  They had to put a hole in Summer Dawn’s helmet for her horn, and Starjumper had to wait until after sunset to properly size the plate that would go over his back, because of his wings.  He couldn’t size it properly without his wings out.  It was also much heavier than he expected, though that weight was very well distributed and didn’t feel like it was encumbering him.  After sizing everything as best he could—he’d have to resize the back plate again once he had his wings—he looked back at himself and took a few testing steps to the sides.  “It’s not interfering with my range of motion,” he mused aloud.
“It would be terrible armor if it did,” Moonshade told him as she fussed a bit with the hoof protector on Summer Dawn’s right foreleg.  It went completely over the hoof and ankle, an extending tapered spire rising all the way up past her ankle much like the decorative horseshoes the Princesses wore.  He could see that the hoof protectors were very much a weapon if he struck out with metal-covered hooves.  “Good armor protects without weighing you down or restricting your movement,” she continued.  “It should be balanced so you feel its weight evenly spread across your entire body.”
“That’s how it feels to me,” Starjumper said as Summer Dawn brought down her foreleg and took a couple of steps back, prancing a bit.  She looked pretty good in that armor.  “We can wear our heat stones under the armor, that’ll keep them from getting lost.  I think I could embed it into the inside of the armor, I’ll just have to move the padding around a little bit.”
“What’s a heat stone?”
“What’ll keep us from freezing our tails off when we’re flying across the sea,” he answered.  “As long as it’s touching your fur or skin, it keeps you warm no matter how cold it is outside.  We’re going to need them, particularly when we’re shrunk down so we can be carried.  Without that heat stone, Moonshade, you’d die in minutes when exposed to the winter air when you’re shrunk.”
“Really?  Why haven’t I ever heard of them?”
“Because they’re not easy to make,” Starjumper answered.  “The spell that creates them is something I can barely cast.  I’ll be exhausted after I make the six we need.  And they’re also not permanent,” he added.  “Well, they are, I mean they can be, but the permanent version of the spell is beyond my ability,” he admitted.  “So we’ll be going with the one I can create and maintain on my own, that way we’re not trusting our lives on something that we can’t replace once we leave.  I’ll be recharging them every day.  They last about three days if the spell isn’t refreshed, so that gives me plenty of time to get them recharged.”
“Oh.  Okay, that explains it,” she said with a nod.
“You can teach me the recharging spell?” Summer Dawn half stated, half asked.
“I was planning on doing it while we were on the move.  It’ll give us something to do,” he answered her.  “That way you can recharge the heat stones if I can’t, for some reason.”
His mother and Moonshade had them take off and put the armor back on several times, giving them practice, then had them do it by themselves to ensure they could manage without assistance.  Sunset came not long after that, requiring the Princess to leave to raise the moon.  Once his horn was gone and his wings were out, Princess Luna returned to the cave, and she and Comet Tail used magic to alter his backplate so he could use his wings without interference.  “I think that’s right where it needs to be, your Highness,” Comet Tail said as both Moonshade and Nightsong inspected the armor on his back.  He had his wings up and spread to give them clear sight of it.  “Get up into a hover, son, see if the armor’s pinching or restricting your range of motion.”
He nodded and pulled himself up into the air, and he could feel the extra weight on him.  “I don’t feel any rubbing along my wings,” he said.  “But this feels a little weird.  It’s the extra weight.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Moonshade told him.  “Come down and we’ll put on the armor sections along the leading edges of your wings, and attach the wingblades.  Those are about the most important pieces of a suit of thestral armor.  You have to protect your wings, and the wingblades are your primary weapon in the air.”
That felt seriously weird.  He’d never worn armor on his wings before, and the weight of it really messed with him.  He raised his wings tentatively, felt the weight on the front of them, and saw that it was so well designed that it did not in any way interfere with his wings.  He could even fold them with the armor on them, though it felt very odd to feel the weight pulling down on them when they were folded at his sides.  He opened them again, very carefully since the wingblades were attached, then spread his wings out fully over his back.  “Okay, that is messing with me,” he said.  “It’s the strangest sensation.”
“And now you know why I want to take you out, so you can practice flying wearing the armor,” Moonshade told him.  “The weight is going to change your flight characteristics, and it takes a little practice to get used to wearing the wing armor when you’re flying.  But I don’t think it’ll bother you too much.  You’re a Longwing, after all.”
“What difference does that make, Moonshade?” Summer Dawn asked.
“Those big wings makes his clan strong flyers,” she answered.  “Gives them tons of speed, great acceleration and deceleration, and what’s most important in a skyfight, they can turn tighter than any other thestral.  A Longwing thestral can out-turn a griffon, and can even turn with a hippogryph.  If there’s one thing his clan is famous for back home, it’s their aerial skills.  I’ve never seen a Longwing that wasn’t an amazing flyer, and it’s all thanks to those oversized sails they call wings.”
“Be jealous on your own time, Moonshade,” Nightsong said, opening her own oversized wings ostentatiously.
“Soon as you feel ready, let’s get out there.  You need as much practice as you can get.”
“It’s gonna be cold out there.”
“A thestral soldier flies no matter what weather we face,” Moonshade told him bluntly.  “And if you think it’s bad out there now, wait til we reach the Nightlands.  It’s the middle of winter right now, and that means its blizzard season.  We’ll be flying through some rough weather.”
“Which is why I’m even more glad we’ll have heat stones,” he grunted.
“Too much magic makes you soft,” she said, almost scathingly.  “If you’re gonna wear that armor, you’re gonna uphold the honor it carries, a tradition of duty, honor, strength, discipline, and above all else, toughness.  And a thestral soldier doesn’t complain that his hoovesies are cold.”
Summer Dawn couldn’t resist a giggle.
“Then let’s get out there and see who flies home to warm up first,” he said challengingly, looking down at the smaller mare…but not much smaller.
“That’s what I expect to hear from a thestral,” she said with a slight smile and a nod.  “Let’s get you acclimated to flying in armor, and see if you’re tough enough to pass as a thestral soldier.”
They were out half the night, and he had to admit…Moonshade was almost a machine.  She was a powerful flyer, but she also had immense stamina, able to fly at high speed wearing all that armor for hours on end.  She was also as stoic as a stone, flying in the biting cold wearing that metal armor and not even so much as shivering once, as the cold in the metal seeped through the padding and started chilling his fur and skin under it, on top of the near-frostbite he felt on his exposed fur, particularly around his face.  She put him through his paces, both testing his ability to fly distances wearing the armor, then testing his maneuverability, letting him get used to the weight and how it would change his turns.  Starjumper was a very strong flyer, was quite skilled, and he showed that by adjusting quickly to the weight of the armor.  As big and strong as he was, the weight wasn’t slowing him down, what it was doing was messing with him judging his turns.  The armor didn’t interfere with his movement at all, so he was able to get his entire body involved in his flying, which was critical for tight turns and other aerobatic maneuvers.
As the moon reached its zenith in the sky above, he landed on a high cloud to wam up, its water frozen as ice crystals which made treading on it with his armored hooves sound like  he was walking across frozen snow.  He flexed his wings a few times to get the sting of the cold out of them, get the blood flowing through the membranes to warm them up, as Moonshade landed beside him.  “Not bad,” she told him in her professional tone.  “I’m surprised you knew half of those moves, and even more surprised you’re not laying there panting.  You’ve got more endurance than I expected..”
“My life depends on my ability to fly,” he answered honestly.  “So it shouldn’t be a surprise that I’m good at it.”
“I guess it would at that,” she agreed, looking up at him.  “What’s it like?  Being a unicorn half the time.”
“It’s not bad,” he replied.  “I’m pretty good at magic, and I like it, so it keeps me busy.  But I’d rather have these,” he said, opening his wings.  “Magic doesn’t compare to this.”
“I’ll agree with you there,” she answered, stepping closer to him and looking down over the edge of the cloud.  Canterlot was below them and some distance ahead, and its lights created quite a view.  “There couldn’t be a worse fate for a flyer than to lose it.  If I ever lost a wing…I may just throw myself off a cliff.  I couldn’t live with being groundbound.”
“Are you really going to kill your mother?”
“Yes,” she replied immediately and with conviction.  “She’s putting our entire race at risk.  And even if we live through it, we’ll be slaves to this Sombra guy.  Is he really that bad?” she asked, looking up at him.
“He broke the greatest rule of magic,” he answered her.  “He devoted himself to dark magic.”
“What is dark magic?”
“Evil,” he replied.  “There is no spell in dark magic that can ever have a beneficial result, and the magic itself feeds off of pain, misery, corruption, and despair.  The more pain he inflicts, the stronger his magic becomes.  He enslaved the ponies of the Crystal Empire, he inflicted unspeakable torment on them because he needed their pain to empower his magic, but the Royal Sisters defeated him before his magic became strong enough for him to start moving beyond the Crystal Empire.  That’s the fate awaiting the thestrals if your mother succeeds in her plans,” he told her.  “But he won’t just torture the thestrals, he’ll use them as his army to conquer everypony else.  We are a race of soldiers, strong, skilled, and proud, and he couldn’t ask for anything better in his wildest dreams.  With an army of thestrals at his back, he’ll roll over the entire Eastern Kingdoms in a matter of weeks, then cross the sea and invade Equestria.  And with us bound to the magic of the Night Stone that he’ll have absorbed, we’ll never break free of him, not without destroying our entire race.  We will be his slaves for eternity, Moonshade, an endless nightmare of pain and despair, and our only salvation will be destroying our entire race.  We will become the servants of an acolyte of dark magic, forever bound to his will and screaming inside our souls at the horrors we’ve committed until the Gray Mare comes.  That’s not a life I want, for me or my family.”
She was quiet a long moment, then looked up at him again.  “Then that’s just even more reason to end this before it can begin,” she told him.  “And I like our odds.  If you can back up all those promises about magic, then we can get in there and steal the Night Stone right out from under my mother’s nose.  And once we have it secured, I’m gonna go back and deal with her,” she said in a grim voice.
“Be smart about it,” he told her.  “Don’t just fly in there and dive at her with your wingblades leading.  That’ll just get you killed.  Challenge her for the throne.  She can’t deny your challenge, not without abdicating, and it puts you in charge and lets you step on the neck of anypony that might have liked your mother’s plan.  Provided you can beat your mother in a fight.”
She gave a scornful laugh.  “I can beat anypony in the Nightlands wingblade to wingblade,” she declared, almost pompously.  “But I don’t want to be the Night Queen.  I never have, and I never will.  I am just a soldier,” she said with quiet dignity.
“The greatest ponies in history didn’t seek out glory. Glory sought out them,” he told her in a strong voice.  “The very fact that you don’t want to be Night Queen is the reason why you’d be a good one.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“If you think about it for a while, it will,” he said.  “And I’m warmed up.  Let’s get back to it.  You need to teach me how to use these things,” he said, opening his wings and pointing at one of the wingblades with his hoof.
“That would take years.  But we don’t have years, so I’ll teach you some very basic moves and let you rely on your flying skills to make up for your lack of training,” she answered.  “You’re a good flyer, Starjumper, well trained and with a lot of natural talent.  You’re as good as a thestral soldier.”
“Thank you,” he said modestly.
As they got back to work, he had to take a moment and reflect on Moonshade.  She wasn’t exactly what he expected.  Oh, there was the shadow of the arrogance he expected, but she was much more grounded than he expected, and her devotion to the Nightlands was evident in the way she spoke.  She had been loyal to her mother as the Night Queen, but her true allegiance lay with the Nightlands, not her family.  She was a true patriot, and she understood the subtle fact that one could commit treason against a queen yet still be a patriot to one’s country.  Her mother had held her undying loyalty as both her mother and the Night Queen until the minute she realized that her mother was a threat to the country she loved, a fact that he suspected she understood before she came to Equestria to kill him.  She had held to her loyalty out of love for her mother, even when she could see what was going on and disagreed with it.  That conflict had become visible when she attacked Starjumper, when she was confronted with the fact that  her mother wasn’t acting in the best interests of the kingdom she ruled.  She’d had to make a soul-rending choice between her love for her mother and her loyalty to her kingdom, and he could empathize with the pain that must have caused her.
And the fact that she was here with him now, teaching him how to use wingblades in flight, gave him tremendous respect for her.
He’d been a bit hesitant of the idea of Moonshade going with him, uncertain that he could trust her, but not now.  She was no threat to him, and her interests were squarely in protecting the land she loved and the thestrals that occupied it.
Moonshade was an ally.  And he had the feeling that in time, she might even become a friend.