Celestia stepped back. Her breathing quickened. “You…!”
“Oh, you remember,” said Night Spark. “I’m touched, honestly. I see Luna’s back from her little trip to the moon, and…” she trailed off as she saw Twilight peeking her head out. Her smirk grew. “Well well, and who have we here?”
Twilight took a breath and stepped out, chest puffed. “I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.”
“Ahh, the elusive Twilight Sparkle. I’ve heard that you’re the latest ‘personal student’ of hers.” Night Spark nodded Star Shade’s head to Celestia.
“And you were the first, Night Spark?”
“Oh, so she did tell you? Now there’s a surprise, I thought I was going to be the skeleton in the royal closet for all time.”
Luna stomped forward, ready to have her say. “Enough of this prattle, witch! Release Star Shade from your imprisonment!”
“Imprisonment?” Night Spark repeated, then chuckled. “I’m not hurting her, I’ve just been using her as a vessel for the past few months. Consensually, of course.”
“What are you going to do with her?” Celestia demanded.
“Don’t mistake me, she’s in no danger at all. She’ll be a little unconscious when I’m done, but she’s done so well keeping my return a secret, I think I owe her a chance to return to her regular life.”
“For your own sake,” Luna growled, “you had better adhere to that.”
Night Spark giggled, then looked to Twilight, who was looking down at the magic circle. “Admiring my little helper’s work?”
“This is a reanimation circle,” Twilight said, then looked up at Night Spark. “Your body was destroyed a thousand years ago, and you used the soul transfer spell to keep yourself alive in that pendant.”
Night Spark nodded, puppeting Star Shade’s hoof in a ‘Go on’ gesture.
“But body restoration takes a lot of magic,” Twilight continued, “so you’ve been waiting for a thousand years until you were powerful enough to proceed with it.”
“Ahh, a fellow scholar,” Night Spark chortled. Twilight looked disgusted by the compliment. “You’re absolutely correct.
The Princesses watched, horns aglow and ready to attack, as Night Spark lowered her possessed body to the floor. The pendant landed softly at her hooves.
“It already took a lot of magic to enchant this pendant to house a soul,” she explained, “and even more to move my soul into it. So when my body was sent to oblivion--thank you again for that, Celestia--I had to take some time to gather my power back.
“Why do you think I hid in Canterlot for so many centuries? It has the highest population of Unicorns in Equestria, so I could subtly gather their magic. Just little trickles that nopony would ever notice. Not even the Royal Sisters.”
Twilight’s discomfort grew at the thought of her own magic being used to fuel a dark pony’s revival. “But where did you learn how to take magic?”
“You’d be surprised what you’d take to researching after a history lesson,” Night Spark said, “especially a particular one about a certain centaur. By your face, I’m guessing you know of him, Twilight?”
Twilight had stepped back, eyes wide with terror. Just what kind of pony was Night Spark, that she’d talk about stealing others’ magic so casually?
“And what if we stop you from getting your body back?” she asked.
“Well, truth be told I’ll be a bit miffed,” Night Spark admitted. “I went to a lot of trouble for this. Waited a thousand years and all. But you’ll have a bit of trouble stopping me now.”
“And why is that?” asked Celestia.
“Because the final, crucial step has just been completed.”
Night Spark raised a hoof. Luna stepped forward.
“And what is this ‘final, crucial step’?”
“Keep you all talking long enough for the moon to get into position.”
The Princesses looked up to the hole. The moon was shining through it, pale glow covering the circle.
The Princesses moved to act, and froze at the shatter of glass.
A streak of black flames rose from the pendant and swirled around Night Spark. Her possessed body twitched, eyes squinting, teeth bared and muscles convulsing. She moaned and gasped, her horn spitting violent sparks of black and purple. The flames grew bigger and stronger, enveloping her in a blazing abyss in the centre of the room. The magic circle’s white lines turned purple.
“We need to help Star Shade!” Twilight yelled, and tried to fire a tether of purple magic toward the fire. The purple blast disappeared on contact, and was met with a pulse of black energy, sending the Alicorns hurtling into the wall and smashing the rotted shelves.
They took a moment to stand and check for injuries before turning their attention back to Night Spark. The flames flowed up above her in a flickering orb, and her horn spewed out dark energy into it. Her screams changed. The blackness drained up from Star Shade’s eyes, her pupils rolled up into her head.
She collapsed on the floor and the dark energy convulsed with the black fire, spinning more and more hectically before another pulse doused the candlelights. The raven cawed in shock as his perch was toppled.
The blob of black magic and fire began to take a form as it lowered to the ground. A svelte body, not unlike Luna’s, with tall legs standing over Star Shade’s body. A narrow face formed over a thin neck. The blackness shifted to both ends to reveal a violet-coated Unicorn, and formed a long mane and tail, straight and black as a moonless night. Her cutie mark was of a rolled-up scroll with spread black wings. She looked over herself, and her muzzle contorted with a smirk.
The raven landed on her back, and the candles lit themselves with black flames.
“Finally,” Night Spark sighed at last. “Finally, after a thousand years. I have the power, and the body. I have returned!”
Twilight backed toward the door as the new mare enjoyed a cackle mixed with pure evil and delight. “No…!”
Celestia and Luna could only stare, defeated. “This… this can’t be happening…!”
“It can be,” Night Spark said, her cold blue eyes fixed right on the Princesses, “and it is. Thank you for still being as chatty as you were a thousand years ago, I was actually counting on it.”
“Enough of this, Night Spark!” demanded Twilight, steeling her nerve with a stomp. “Give Star Shade back!”
Night Spark looked between her legs and, with a shrug, lifted the unconscious mare in a purple aura, darker than Twilight’s. “Very well. She’s served her purpose anyway.”
Celestia caught Star Shade before she hit the ground from Night Spark tossing her toward them. “You have your body back. Are you happy now?”
“Well, almost,” the dark mare admitted. “My body’s restoration required a lot of magic, so I’ll need to go into hiding for a little while. But don’t you worry, Princesses. We shall see each other again, and it will be such fun.”
Night Spark allowed herself another cackle before vanishing in a flash.
The three Alicorns stood in silence in the room, nopony being certain of what to say or even think.
“What will we do now?” Twilight finally asked.
“We can only prepare ourselves for what Night Spark may have planned next,” Luna said, and looked down at Star Shade, still floating in Celestia’s golden magic. Her face was peaceful, as was her breathing. “We must also consider this one’s protection.”
Celestia tapped her hoof on her chin, then raised her head. “Indeed. My school might not be safe for her.”
Twilight’s ears pricked up and her eyes widened. “I might just have a solution.”