Starlight and Twilight easily walked through the nighttime corridors of the Crystal Castle. The few guards not being able to see through the “disguise” at all. The only problem was they weren’t entirely sure where they should go in the first place. Up to the Crystal Heart? Find where Empress Starlight put their Cutie Marks? Look for Spike? Lots of options but their current capabilities made most of that difficult.
“If I had my magic I’d like to go find wherever my alternate and her friends are being held in stasis. But right now I don’t think I’d be able to do anything.” Twilight said in frustration and looked back at her equal sign marked flank with a frown.
“She said it was right below the dungeon didn’t she? Maybe we should go look for the place anyways, not like we’re accomplishing much else right now.” Starlight said.
“And I suppose we could use all the help we can get, if there’s even a way to free them.” Twilight mused. “Okay, time to find some stairs.”
“Better prepare yourself to meet… yourself. She’s probably gonna be pretty surprised too. All of them will be.”
“Well they’ll just have to deal with it quickly, we don’t have much time before morning and Evil you casts her brainwashing spell again.” Twilight couldn’t help but worry about the impending doom.
“Yeah.” Starlight grimaced. “Speaking of Evil me and dealing with it I’m not sure if I should be there with you when you rescue, uh, yourself. She and the others might not take it too well.”
“I’d need to explain you to them sooner or later.”
“Well then make it later.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Fine. Whatever. You don’t have to be right there when we rescue them. If we rescue them. This is all a moot point at the moment since we don’t even know how exactly to get to them and it would probably be better if we had our Cutie Marks first.”
“The problem with that is I know me. And I probably put those Cutie Marks in jars and have them right next to me. So us being able to get them is currently out of the question.”
“Okay, so we somehow have to find her room, sneak into it, grab our Cutie Marks that are probably right next to her without her noticing and leave. Perfect. Oh, and we have to do all this while making sure that no guards find it strange that you’re attempting to sneak into your own room.” Twilight rubbed her forehead. “And how are we going to do that?”
“I have no idea.” Starlight sighed.
The two made their way further down the hallway towards one of the castle’s stairwells. Not totally set on a destination but this would have to be the starting point for wherever they decided to go anyways. Starlight peeked up and down the stairs but there weren’t any guards around or anything else noticeable. With a shrug she turned to Twilight.
“Well it’s either up or down. Where do you want to try?”
Twilight reluctantly stepped forward. She still wasn’t sure and the fact that they didn’t have much time and their whole struggle might be for nothing was weighing on her. No matter what they did they had the same problems. She felt like she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. One choice may potentially lead them to some helpful allies. The other and they could potentially get their Cutie Marks back and just muscle their way out of things. But both outcomes were so uncertain and risky, Twilight didn’t like taking risks like that. She preferred calculated actions where she knew what the outcome would be. However that wasn’t to say she’d never made or been forced to make decisions like this. Far from it in fact. So Twilight steeled her resolve and focused on making a decision.
Luckily for her and Starlight both though that decision ended up not needing to be made and their situation was about to become much better.
“Twiiiiliiiiight! Starrrrliiiiight!”
They both heard the yells coming from above them and looked up. Spike was flying down the stairwell with two very bright and very familiar Cutie Marks right in front of him.
“Spike!” Twilight yelled back.
The rushing Cutie Marks then found their way back to the flanks they belonged, the both of them impacting and returning to the bodies they came from. Twilight could feel the magic cascade back into her, everything felt “brighter” for her and she watched as the color returned to her body. Starlight watched a bit more calmly, taking in how it felt when her Cutie Mark reappeared on her flank and how her colors changed back to normal. When everything looked okay she put a bit of magic into her horn to see if it all worked just like it should.
“Hm, looks like everything is in order. Feels pretty good to get your Cutie Mark back too, huh?” She smiled.
Twilight glared at her. “Yes. Yes it does.” She shook her head. “We don’t have time for that though. Spike, how did you get our Cutie Marks? No, wait. We don’t have time for that either.” She cut Spike off before he could answer and took a breath. “Okay, now maybe with our Cutie Marks back we can fix things.”
“To the Heart?” Starlight asked.
“I found it. It really is up there at the top of the spire.” Spike chimed in, he was still breathing a bit heavily from how fast he flew down here. “Also I’m like ninety percent sure there are gonna be guards coming really quickly, so we need to move soon.”
“That’s fine, good work Spike.” Twilight smiled at him. “But you’re right, we need to move quickly. So I want the two of you to go get the Crystal Heart. Don’t destroy it.” She narrowed her eyes at Starlight, who whistled innocently. “Just take it down and stop the brainwashing spell that’s being broadcast, that will slowly return all the ponies to normal anyways and we can use it as a bargaining chip against the Empress. When Cadance and Shining Armor took up residence here Cadance had an actual stairway built from inside the castle that anypony could use to reach the spire instead of having to go through what Sombra made. Spike, you know the way so you can lead Starlight there.”
“You got it.” Spike saluted her.
“And you? You’re not coming with us? Should we really split up?” Starlight asked.
“We’re not sure what the Empress is doing right now or what security measures she might have on the Heart. So I want insurance.” She smirked. “Like I said, I’m going to go rescue myself.”
“Good luck.” Starlight said. “Er, make sure you put in a good word for me. Oh and remind them in the first place that I’m the good one.” A sudden thought passed over her face. “And I guess I don’t need to do this anymore.” She untied her mane, letting it go back down a bit and licked her hoof to change her bangs back to its normal curl.
“I was wondering what was up with that.” Spike said.
Starlight and Spike went up a single flight of stairs, Spike actually riding on her back, and cut through another part of the castle to avoid having to go directly back up the path Spike and the Cutie Marks had taken from Empress Starlight’s bedroom. Already when they were going up the stairs they could hear guards funneling down from above, Starlight was more than confident she could deal with any guards but she knew they were on a timetable and didn’t want to be hampered. And if Empress Starlight was with them Starlight didn’t think she would be the type of pony to pull her punches in a situation like this.
“Wow, sounds like the evil version of you here is even crazier than you used to be.” Spike said to her as she related what happened to her and Twilight after they separated.
“Thanks Spike, that’s what I like to hear.” She frowned at him.
“It’s a compliment. Uh, mostly.”
“Sorry if I don’t really take it as one.”
“Is seeing her like seeing how bad you could’ve been?”
Starlight grimaced. In part it was that. She didn’t want to think that she could ever be as bad or as selfish as this version of her had become, but they were the same pony weren’t they? So was part of Empress Starlight in her as well? It was a discomforting thought. At least she could take solace in the fact that she had redeemed herself and renounced her past beliefs. But if she had gone as far as the Empress did or if Twilight and the others hadn’t disrupted her village would she have even done that in the first place? Or cared to? It took seeing the apocalypse for her to admit she might have been wrong. Did she even have the right to criticize her evil self, since she had never been given the chance Starlight had to change?
“It’s not that...” She argued, trying to push those thoughts out of her head. “I just don’t like being reminded of my past in general, okay?”
“Got it.”
“We have to stop her anyways. Forget about all that other stuff for now.”
It was really all she could say. Right now stopping the Empress was more important, they could talk and extend an olive branch later if it was possible. And if she would accept it. But the Crystal Heart came first.
“Take a turn up here so we can get to the other stairs.” Spike directed her. “Stop right above the throne room’s level and the stairs leading up the spire are there in the middle of the floor.”
“Right.” She nodded and galloped along.
As Starlight ran up the stairs and turned on the landing the two were confronted by a squad of four spear carrying guards at the top of the stairs. Their vacant eyes opened wide at what they were seeing and they lowered their spears at Starlight and Spike.
Starlight wasn’t sure if they were going to ask her to halt or if they were just going to attack, and she never would know because a second later she fired a blast of magic from her horn and encased all of them in crystal. The powerful unicorn then jumped over the imprisoned guards and ran down the hallway of the new floor.
“That’s a really useful spell honestly.” Spike said as he looked back at the guards while riding on Starlight.
“Disabling, but safe.” Starlight smirked.
Starlight sped down the hallway at top speed until Spike pointed out a door in the middle of the room to her. She skidded to a halt in front of it and pulled it open with her magic. The room inside was narrow but decorated prettily with numerous flowers in wall sconces and planters that went down from the door to the back of the room. At the back of the room a spiral staircase went up and up into the ceiling and beyond, definitely the way to the spire. The staircase was flanked by two large windows that if it was day would fill up the room with sunlight but for now only showed almost utter blackness through their glass with only the slightest tinge of light from the lights emanated by the Crystal Heart.
“If it wasn’t obvious, that’s the staircase we need to take.” Spike told her.
“I got that. You’re very helpful, Spike.” She ran to the stairs.
“You know I got your Cutie Mark back right?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, thank you. Let’s get this over with now!”
The spiral staircase seemed to stretch on to infinity as Starlight ran herself ragged going up it, her hooves clopping and clacking on the polished crystal of the steps. The thought that everything was riding on the two of them is what spurred her on. And the thought that the Empress and her guards were likely well onto the fact that the Crystal Heart was their goal, likely not allowing them much time before Empress Starlight caught up to and found them. Unless she went to where Twilight was or stumbled across her first, but Starlight didn’t want to count on that.
“You think I should get some exercise with Rainbow Dash or Applejack? I’m starting to get a little tired.” Starlight asked Spike.
“I dunno, how often do you need to run up ten-thousand stairs?”
“Not sure. But I feel like I still lead a more active life than most unicorns what with all the adventures. Maybe I should get into a little better shape for it.”
The run up the staircase continued for quite a while longer, the height of the Crystal Castle dwarfing Twilight’s and pretty much any other building Starlight could think of. But the dark stairs started to get faintly brighter the further up they went, as if a light source from up top was slightly illuminating them and washing downwards.
“We must be getting closer now, I can see the lights from the Crystal Heart coming through.” Starlight said.
“Yeah it was pretty bright up there I guess.”
It took a minute longer of the stairs getting brighter and brighter before Starlight and Spike finally made another rotation and saw the light at the end, Starlight practically jumped out and onto the top level of the tower, Spike hanging on so he didn’t fall off of her, and the two of them stared out at the Crystal Heart floating in the center of the very top of the Crystal Castle. The Heart even more vibrant here in the dark and the grand rainbow of lights coming from above it also setting alight the night sky.
“Well there we go. Right where I left it.” Spike said as he jumped off of Starlight’s back.
“Great, let’s grab it.” Starlight started to walk forward.
“Hold on!” Spike walked in front of her and pushed her back. “We don’t know what kind of protection she has on this thing. Sombra had a spell that told him when somepony stepped close to the Heart and then he could like, create this wall of crystals around it that you can’t escape from. Evil you probably has some kind of protection on it too.”
Starlight bit her lip. “I get that but we don’t have the time to just sit here.” Her horn lit up and she attempted to use her magic to just yank the Crystal Heart from where it floated.
But nothing happened.
“Ugh! Of course she’d put some kind of spell on it like that.” Starlight grunted as she tried harder to grab the Crystal Heart but it was like her magic couldn’t grasp it at all.
“You can’t move it with your magic?” Spike asked her.
“No, there’s some kind of protective spell on it. You’re probably right, Spike. I bet there’s some other kind of spell that will trap whoever walks towards it too.” Starlight furrowed her brow at the Heart. “Maybe if I had some time I could undo the spell but not like this.”
“Sooo… what now?” Spike wondered, standing there with his hands on his hips.
“Grr, I don’t know!” Starlight fumed. They were low on time no matter what. Did she take the risk of going closer to the Heart? Did she try and find a way to undo the spell protecting it? Should the both of them maybe just wait for Twilight?
“Maybe if… uh, hm...” Spike also tried thinking but couldn’t come up with anything.
“What would Twilight do right now?” Starlight thought, scratching her head.
And then stopped.
“Actually, you know what? I’m not Twilight. Get ready to catch, Spike.” Starlight jumped forward.
As soon as her body passed over the circle that the Heart floated in the middle of a screeching noise went off and crystals began to claw up from the floor, almost lightning fast they started to form a dome around Starlight to completely cut her off from the outside.
Starlight grit her teeth and propelled herself forward, slapping a hoof upwards to knock the Crystal Heart out of position. It sailed in the air and over the encroaching crystals where Spike jumped to grab it and make sure the thing didn’t shatter on the ground or fall down the castle.
“I’ve got it!” Spike yelled to Starlight.
“Great work, Spike!” Starlight said just as the crystals finished forming the dome around her. “Now I just need to get out of here. Was there any change outside with the lights?”
Spike’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, right.” He turned around to look at the night sky, and just the night sky. No longer were the ambient brainwashing lights reaching out over Equestria from the top of the spire. He grinned and looked over his shoulder to yell at the captive Starlight. “That did it! The lights are gone, moving the Heart must’ve disrupted the spell!”
“Yes!” Starlight did a hoof pump from inside her prison. “Okay, not expecting this to work but let’s see anyways...” She lit up her horn and attempted a teleporting spell… only to smack into the wall of crystal. “Ow… okay, ow, that was a bad idea.” She said as she rubbed her snout. “Ugh, Spike? I’m gonna be stuck in here for a while at least. Take the Heart somewhere where Evil me can’t find it, okay?”
“I’m on it, Starlight. I’ll find Twilight too and she can rescue you.” He saluted and spread his wings, preparing to fly down from the top.
“I figured as much.”
The voice came from the stairwell and it made Spike freeze. It was the same voice as his dear friend but it felt like it had back when he first met her, a mocking insincerity coming from it that was so alien to the Starlight he knew now. Her mane first appeared as she walked up the stairs and the rest of her soon followed, her eyes catching Spike and a soft smile on her face. Spike gulped.
“Spike, right? Apparently you’re good friends with that other me.” She said, briefly glancing at the crystal dome that encased Starlight. “A pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise.” Spike backed up and held on tighter to the Crystal Heart.
Up the stairs Captain Gleam and three more guards came to join Empress Starlight. The brainwashing might no longer be continually refreshing but it would still take some time to wear off completely.
“I’d suggest not doing anything with that Heart.” Empress Starlight told Spike. “In fact if you’d just set it down carefully that would be great.”
“Ignore her, Spike! Just go!” Starlight called out to him.
“Oh I really suggest against doing that.” Empress Starlight narrowed her eyes at Spike. She took a step closer to him.
“You stop right there!” Spike said, holding the Heart above his head.
The Empress paused but quickly smirked at him. “Please. That’s a bad bluff. If you do anything to the Crystal Heart you can say goodbye to your friend in here.” Her horn glowed and she turned to face the crystal prison that held Starlight. The crystals shook and caved in a little bit, pressing closer to Starlight.
“Gah!” She yelped, jumping back from the tightening walls of crystal.
“Starlight!” Spike glared at the Empress. “Stop that!”
“Then give me the Heart!” She yelled at him, familiar vein appearing in her neck.
“Spike, listen to me!” Starlight said, pressing herself against the crystal walls. “Forget about me! Forget about what she’s saying and destroy the Heart! If you do I’m sure the timeline will shift again and we’ll go to a new world! I’m positive! If you just destroy the Heart now we can end all of this!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about but you should quiet down.” Empress Starlight glared at the spot where Starlight was before clamping down on the crystals with her magic some more. “And you!” She turned to Spike. “Like I said, don’t you dare break that Heart. Give it to me.”
Spike didn’t know what to do. Twilight didn’t want them to destroy the Heart either but in a situation like this he wasn’t sure what she’d say. Starlight… was she right? He didn’t honestly have much faith in her knowledge of all this time-traveling and world-hopping. But destroying the Heart would at least put an end to Empress Starlight’s reign. It’s just the cost would be…
“Stop stalling and give it over!” The Empress yelled. “Don’t think you can run away or hide from me either, I’ll catch you.”
The dragon looked from her to the small crystal dome holding Starlight. She was right, he wouldn’t be able to outrun her from here. His claws tightened around the Crystal Heart as he lowered it back to in front of his body. Spike squeezed his eyes shut and grit his teeth before looking at the evil Empress in front of him again.
“If I give you the Heart… will you promise not to hurt Starlight?”
“Spike, no! Destroy it!” Starlight wailed.
Empress Starlight’s face softened and a warm smile, as fake as that warmth was, spread across her face. “Of course. I promise I won’t even take her Cutie Mark. Not a hair in that mane of hers will be harmed. You two will be my prisoners but I have no desire to see either of you harmed. I’ve never liked hurting anypony.”
Spike sighed, he couldn’t believe what he was about to do. But he also couldn’t let his friend get hurt. He wouldn’t take that chance. “Alright. You win then.” He walked forward and presented the Crystal heart to Empress Starlight.
“Spike...” He heard Starlight mutter from inside the crystals.
“Thank you.” She grabbed the Heart in her magic and nodded at her guards.
Captain Gleam fired a beam of magic at Spike, he winced and grunted as she bound him with her magic. He tried fighting against it but the unicorn was too strong for him to break free.
“Enough of that, I said you would be my prisoners and I meant it.” The Empress glared at him before turning to another guard and hoofing him the Crystal Heart. “Hold this for a moment.”
Empress Starlight’s horn lit up once more and she enveloped the crystal dome with it, all at once the crystals shattered inwards and vanished, leaving nothing but Starlight behind. But she was now held in an aura of her evil counterpart’s own magic that proved to be quite unbreakable. Starlight was levitated stock still and unable to move even an inch or perform any magic of her own as the Empress brought her face to face with her.
“I can’t believe we’re the same pony.” Empress Starlight said in disgust as she looked in the face of her double.
“Back… at… you.” Starlight ground out through her clenched shut jaw.
The Empress rolled her eyes and moved Starlight out of the way, motioning for the guard holding the Crystal Heart to come forward and put it back into position.
“You’re both lucky this is an easy fix.” Empress Starlight said as the Heart easily floated back to where it was and a simple blast of magic from her activated the lights again. “I can’t perform the whole spell on my own, I need the power of all the crystal ponies running through the Heart for that, but putting the passive lights back on that simply refresh and reinforce the original spell? Easy enough.”
Captain Gleam levitated Spike next to Starlight but he was too ashamed to look at her right now.
“But I’m not wasting anymore time with you three.” The Empress continued, drawing the attention of Starlight and Spike. “I was perfectly willing to wait for morning and give you a final night to be yourselves. But if you’re going to attempt something like this you can forget it.” She smirked at Starlight and fired another beam of magic at the Crystal Heart.
The Heart grew brighter and emitted a pulse of magic that spread from the top of the tower to the far reaches of the Crystal Empire.
“What did you do?!” Starlight managed to speak.
Empress Starlight’s malicious smirk grew wider as she smugly stared at her captives. “Heh. Nothing important, that was just a… message, so to speak, sent to all the crystal ponies. Telling them to wake up and come to the castle. In an hour or two the Crystal Heart will be fully powered and the three of you can say goodbye to, well, yourselves.”
As she laughed she and Captain Gleam carried the two prisoners behind them from the top of the castle back down the spiral staircase.
Spike finally got the courage to speak to Starlight, although he still couldn’t look her in the eye with all the dismay and shame written on his face. “Starlight, I-I’m sorry. I just couldn’t-”
“Spike, look at me.” She cut him off.
He looked up to see her giving him a sad but friendly smile and he was certain that if she could right now she’d be giving him a warm hug full of genuine warmth and affection.
“How could I be angry at you for worrying about me?”