Starlight peered over the map of Equestria. Thorax had assigned his changelings to be their spy and sabotage network, and they had already spread covertly across Equestria. With their magical communication systems, they could easily keep in contact with her. The Saddle Arabians were massing for a land invasion on Equestria’s western border. The Hippogriff Navy was currently transporting the griffons across the Celestial Sea. Together, they’d conduct a combined naval-aerial invasion on Equestria’s east coast. The dragons, always the individually mightiest of the sapient races, would be flying to the Badlands and then up into Equestria proper to function as shock troops. And from the north, the yaks would be pressing down from the northern peaks to join up with the Crystal Empire.
Starlight herself was in the Changeling Hive. As the receiving point for the magical communication, it was ideal for directing all invasions at once. She’d personally teleported a few changelings to each army to make communication easy.
“It’d be nice if the other leaders would all stay here for easy tactical oversight,” Trixie complained, her voice colored with annoyance. “But it seems they’d rather be fighting alongside their people.”
“They’re all very well-experienced with their own forces,” Sunburst reminded her gently. “They’ll be able to direct very effectively from the ground.”
“Trixie supposes you’re right,” Trixie said with a sigh. “What about you, Starlight? What will you do?”
“I’ll be using my magic in battle,” Starlight answered.
“Then… how are you going to run the invasion?” Sunburst asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, I was thinking of…” Starlight smiled nervously. “Asking you two to?”
Trixie and Sunburst stared. “You want us to do it!?” they asked in unison.
“There’s no way I can command an entire military expedition!” Sunburst protested. “I’ve never ordered around anypony!”
“Yeah, you two can’t,” a male voice interjected, his voice sardonic. “But with my help, you probably can.”
Starlight looked towards its source. “Pharynx?” she asked in surprise. “I thought you were going to be commanding on the front?”
“Thorax is doing that,” he explained. “I was head of patrols and recon. I know exactly what I’m doing when it comes to managing a spy network, and unlike these two, I’m used to the chain of command.” Pharynx smirked. “Add to that your creativity, Trixie, and your encyclopedic knowledge, Sunburst, I’m confident we can run things from here. And we can always contact Starlight for advice too.”
Starlight nodded. “Yeah… I, uh, had something else to say, Pharynx. Just in case.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“I’m really sorry for saying you were a lost cause, and you should be banished, and that stuff, Pharynx. That was wrong of me.” She cast her eyes downward.
Pharynx shrugged, a half-sarcastic smile on his muzzle. “Hey, I stuck you in a bag and wanted to feast on your love. I’m over it. And I do have you to thank for getting my brother to finally stop being such a wimp.”
“So… no hard feelings?” Starlight asked tentatively.
“No hard feelings.” He chuckled. “Besides, you’re one-fourth of the reason we aren’t starving anymore. You’re okay in my book.”
Starlight looked from him, to Trixie, to Sunburst. “Okay,” she said. “Good luck.”
“You too,” Sunburst replied with a little smile.
Starlight concentrated, drawing the lines of magic flowing through the ground tighter and tighter around herself. The energy contracted, and in a flash of mauve light, she was gone.
Starlight reappeared on the bridge of a large hippogriff warship. In addition to the hippogriffs that would normally be found commanding one of their warships, a quartet of changelings sat at a table with four black scarab devices. She smiled proudly at the sight.
It had been her idea to distribute a few changelings capable of operating the magic scarabs to each part of the invasion. Thorax had said these scarabs were apparently a relic from Chrysalis’s reign, but Pharynx had insisted on retaining them. And boy, was she glad he had. Fighting this war without efficient communication would be even more of a nightmare.
She looked out the window of the bridge, surveying the deck below. A large number, perhaps twelve dozen, of griffons stood ready. The griffons wore full steel armor and wielded practical crossbows and ancient halberds. In the sky above the ship, a few griffons were playing at exercises.
She turned to the commander of this ship, and, in fact, of the entire fleet. “General Seaspray?” she called out to him. “I’ve come to provide some magical assistance.”
He turned to her, and gave her a smile. “Anything you could do for us would be welcome, Starlight.”
Starlight concentrated, channeling magic through her body and into her horn. She pushed it down into the hull, weaving her spell through the wood.
“It’s fireproof now,” she said, rubbing her horn. “And it’s more resilient in general.”
Seaspray nodded. “Is there anything else?”
She waved her horn again, and the weapons of the griffons glowed purple. “Not anymore,” she said.
“What did that do?” Seaspray asked, indicating the glowing crossbows and halberds.
“A brilliant energy spell. I made the weapons into solid light,” she answered. “They’ll ignore ordinary defenses against them now, like armor or thick scales. Should last until morning.”
“That is quite impressive,” Seaspray said with an approving smile. “Thank you again for all your aid!”
She saluted. “I’ll see you again soon!” she replied, and teleported away once more.
Starlight reappeared on the back of a gigantic, well-armored dragon. A furious gust of wind nearly knocked her off, and only rapid telekinesis let her hold on. Behind, above, and in front of her, smaller dragons were beating their own wings.
She cast a spell to get as close to the Royal Canterlot Voice as a unicorn could, and shouted, “Okay! I’m going to enchant your vision so you can tell friend from foe! That way, you won’t accidentally attack somepony on our side.”
The dragon she was standing on grunted, nearly sending her flying off him. She closed her eyes, concentrating as hard as she could. A gentle glow spread out from her horn across the dragons. As the magic blazed brighter, she found that she could see them through her closed eyelids! The spell had worked.
“Cool trick,” an adult dragon she didn’t recognize told her. “It’ll work on the ponies too?”
“Yep!” she answered with a smile. “It can be fooled by changelings or similar shapeshifters, but for combatants who wear their allegiance openly, it’ll avoid any friendly fire.”
Starlight took a look around. There were so many dragons. Even one was a terrifying enemy. This many could make good on their threat from a year ago to raze Equestria to the ground, if they were so inclined. From their thick scales to their sharp talons to their cheerful attitude towards violence, she couldn’t help but feel a tinge of fear.
But, she knew, the alternative was to risk the failure of the campaign. Equestria needed support, and sometimes you didn’t have the luxury of making sure your allies were pure enough. Sometimes you just needed anyone willing to fight with you.
She sighed, and teleported once more.
Pharynx looked at the array of scrying scarabs set out across the table. “Report, Sclerite.”
“The Saddle Arabians are approaching Equestria’s eastern boarder,” Sclerite said through the shimmering, electric green portal. “But, uh, between the furious snowstorm, the weird lights, and the shrieking, they’re pretty spooked.”
“Shrieking?” Pharynx asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah. It’s coming from above us, like screaming through a pan flute.” Sclerite shivered. “It’s even scaring me, to be honest.”
“Have you made contact with any teams of pegasi yet?” Pharynx asked.
“Just a few,” Sclerite answered. “We asked all of them who seemed put together to try to bust the clouds, but they couldn’t do it. Something much more powerful must be creating this storm.”
Pharynx frowned. He wished he were on the front lines, battling enemies of the Hive and helping out his brother. Administrative work just lacked that spark.
Sunburst suggested, “That sounds like the influence of the Windigos to me. I think Starlight mentioned that they returned too.”
Pharynx hissed. “So how do we get rid of them? How do we stop their snowstorm?”
“Historically, the Fire of Friendship was used to repel Windigos, and it was created by friendship between pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies. I believe both Princess Twilight and Princess Celestia have made it themselves.”
Sunburst received a withering glare from Pharynx. “Oh sure, I’ll just use the scarab I gave Twilight Sparkle. The one I made sure she has just in case. I’ll call her up and ask her to make some magic fire.”
Sunburst recoiled as if bitten, and Pharynx winced. “I’m sorry for snapping at you, Sunburst,” Pharynx apologized. “I’m just mad. I want to be able to help my friends, not sit here doing nothing.”
“Trixie understands completely,” Trixie reassured him. “She wishes she could help Starlight. But we’re really needed here.”
“You’re right,” Pharynx sighed.
Shining Armor trudged through the snow. Ordinary snow would be one thing, but this snow clumped together onto him like heavy, sticky glue. Even worse, its chill pierced him to his core.
Neither Sombra’s return nor the destruction of the Crystal Heart had brought this kind of snow. Those had just been the snows of the Frozen North. This one seemed almost malevolent. Almost hungry.
That was it. This snowstorm wanted to suck out every bit of warmth and leave him a statue of ice.
He turned to Cadance, who was using her magic to try to keep them all warm. It was a losing battle, but the gesture still warmed his heart. “Dear, do you think Twily is alright?”
“I’m pretty sure so,” Cadance replied. “She’s smart, and she has her friends with her. Besides, Grogar is just facing too many enemies at once to focus on any. I’m sure she was able to slip away.”
Shining smiled as relief filled his body. But before he could reply, a ferocious tremor shook the ground below. He was thrown facefirst into a cold snowbank. “Ungh,” he groaned. He rolled over to look at what had caused the damage, but in the midnight snow it was very hard to tell.
A hint of shape in the blackened whiteout jerked his head sharply. It was vaguely pony-shaped, but he couldn’t perceive any deeper details.
“Hello?” Cadance asked. “Who’s there?”
A dry hiss and a soft, metallic clinking were her only answer. Shining squinted, casting a quick spell to part the snow, and gasped.
A multitude of long-frozen skeletons were silently marching. They showed absolutely no interest in Shining or his troops, but it was obvious where they were heading: back to the Crystal Empire.
A flash of bright light made him recoil, and then a heavy form slammed down on him. Starlight had rematerialized right over him!
Starlight groaned as she flopped down on top of Shining Armor. “Sorry, sorry!” she apologized quickly. “I tried to teleport to you, but I didn’t mean to appear on top of you. I guess the storm must be scrambling my teleportation.”
Shining shook his head with a gentle chuckle. “It’s alright, Starlight. But maybe you can help us with a problem.”
“What’s the problem?” she asked, inclining her head to one side.
Cadance pointed a hoof towards the undead marching in silence. “Those skeletons. We don’t know what they’re doing, but we think Grogar might be controlling them. Could you see about returning them to their rest, or controlling them, or something?”
“Well, necromancy’s not my forte,” Starlight replied. “But I can certainly give it a try. If not, I’ll go visit my friends and our now-allied enemies.”
“Thank you, Starlight,” Shining said with a warm smile. “Good luck!”
Starlight nodded, and hurried towards the undead. Cadance turned to Shining. “Should we have sent an escort with her?”
He shook his head. “Either she won’t need help, in which case we’ll need all the troops we can muster for liberating Equestria, or she will need help, in which case even the best Royal Guards wouldn’t be enough. She’s one of the most powerful mages in the whole world; if she runs into trouble she can’t handle, what can we do?”
Cadance hesitated a moment, then nodded. “You’re right, of course. I just feel bad, letting her charge into a horde of skeletons without backup.”
“She’s Starlight Glimmer,” he chuckled. “She’s her own backup.”
Starlight trudged through the snow. It stuck to her legs and weighed her down. Just ahead, the skeletons marched in ominous silence. Their eyes glinted with bluish light.
“Hello?” she asked with an uncertain smile. “Can you, uhh, hear me?”
None of the skeletons gave any sign of reacting. She looked closer. They were ancient, covered with a glaze of ice, and their expressions were utterly focused.
She lowered her horn, and charged up a spell. A flash of pink light blasted across the five closest undead, but as it swirled in towards their heads, the magic abruptly broke off and sparked back to her. She was thrown backwards into the snow.
“Urrghgh,” Starlight groaned. She struggled back to her feet and roughly gripped a skeleton in her telekinesis. She picked it up and levitated it a couple inches above the ground in front of her.
“What are you trying to do?” she asked urgently. “Where are you going?”
The skeleton continued to pace fruitlessly. It stared not at her, but back towards the Crystal Empire.
She frowned. “Are you going there? Why?”
The skeleton didn’t answer. Nor did any of its allies. In fact, it seemed none of those allies had even noticed its plight.
Starlight closed her eyes, and forced every last drop of her immense arcane power to well up and purify this creature’s mind. The soothing light washed over it in purple brilliance. But when she opened her eyes, the skeleton was apparently unaffected.
She released her grip and it fell to the snow. Without so much as a glance to her, it trotted towards the Crystal Empire.
Starlight sighed. Why wasn’t her magic working on these skeletons? Were they unusually resistant because of their unliving state?
She threw her mind back to everyone she knew of with skill in the dark arts. Sunburst certainly knew such spells, but her magic hadn’t done much and she wasn’t sure how much his advice would help.
Maybe one of the evildoers Twilight had allied with? She pondered the idea. That might just work.
Starlight closed her eyes and focused hard. It was one thing to teleport yourself and a couple friends, but to bring along unwilling ponies was quite another.
She felt the magic building, bubbling, bursting out her horn, and in a flash of pink light, she was gone. And with her, two skeletons.
Starlight reappeared in Twilight’s castle, and stifled a gasp. A mix of diamond dogs, skeletal ponies, and even a couple dragons stood guard. She shuddered. Where were the villains they’d allied with?
The two skeletons beside her just looked around dumbly. Unlike before, they seemed to have no desire to move now. She rolled her eyes, cloaked herself and these two in invisibility, and thought. If she were an evil conspirator, where would she want to hide?
Well, Cozy Glow had found the caverns under the school quite useful, she reflected. She could start there. She screwed up her horn, dropped the invisibility, and with another flash of light, transported herself and her two unwitting guests to the tunnels below the School of Friendship.
But before her eyesight had even begun to clear, a ferocious roar slammed into her eardrums, and a powerful body crashed into her, knocking her to the ground.
“Star—light—Glim—mer,” Queen Chrysalis hissed. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”
Chrysalis sent licks of emerald flame along her horn. “Here we are,” she purred dangerously. “No Twilight, no Thorax, no witnesses. No one to find out what happened to you.”
“Chrysalis, listen to me!” Starlight said, her voice wavering between indignation and anger as she struggled against the stronger changeling. “I came here to talk to you!”
“To talk to me!?” she roared. “You turned my hive against me, transformed all my loyal subjects into freaks, destroyed our entire culture, and you want to talk?” She crushed Starlight down into the ground with her telekinesis, eliciting a pained groan.
“If you’re going to be doing this kind of thing, do you mind going elsewhere?” Tirek asked grumpily. “I’d rather not listen to the full procedure.”
“Tirek!” Starlight appealed, more annoyed than afraid. She struggled to stand up, but Chrysalis’s hold was too strong. “I just wanted to talk—can you please ask Chrysalis to let me go?”
“We can hear her out,” Tirek answered. “She came to us for a reason. But if it’ll make you feel better, Chrysalis, I’ll drain her magic.”
“No, I don’t need that!” Chrysalis snarled. “I’m not letting her get away! Not this time!”
Cozy strolled up to Chrysalis’s side. “Think about it. She’s probably been up to something reeeeally important. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have come to a place where she knew you were. I’m sure she knew you wanted revenge, but she came here anyway. That means it’s important!”
“But I’ve waited so long for revenge! I finally have a chance at it!” Chrysalis complained.
“Therefore, you can wait another few minutes,” Sombra pointed out as he stepped into sight.
“Why do her motives matter!?” Chrysalis demanded. “What matters is having my revenge!”
“I don’t care what you do to this pony,” Twilight’s voice replied coolly. A slightly more ruffled and desaturated Twilight came into view. “But first I want to hear her reason for coming.”
Chrysalis scanned the room, staring at each of her four companions one by one. “Fine,” Chrysalis said as she gnashed her teeth. “She can explain everything she wants to from the cave floor.” She released Starlight just enough to let her wriggle in place, but not enough to stand up.
“O…kay, heh heh,” Starlight said awkwardly. “So, I, uh, found these skeletons way up near the Crystal Empire. They resisted every spell I cast to free them. And I hoped, well… one of you could do something to help?”
“Although I am more inclined towards fear and enchantment magic,” Sombra said in his self-satisfied way, “I am something of a savant at necromancy as well. I shall take a look for you!”
Not-Twilight picked up one of the skeletons with her telekinesis. “A multilayered spell matrix,” she muttered. “Animation, control, acuity of senses and action, blocking of control negation, direction finding, and probably more. Quite tricky to fix.”
“I have never been talented at necromancy,” Tirek admitted. “But perhaps I can offer aid just the same.”
“I’m just a kid, so…” Cozy said with a winning smile.
Chrysalis stuck her lower mandible out in a beautifully displeased mixture of a frown and a pout. “You all play with your bones,” she grumbled. “I’ll ensure our prisoner doesn’t escape.”
Starlight stared up at Chrysalis in disbelief. “You do know I can just teleport out of here whenever I want, right?”
“No you can’t,” Chrysalis replied triumphantly, “because Pharynx just cast a spell to negate your teleportation!”
“Uhhh, no he hasn’t,” Starlight said. Her face was now burdened with incredible unease. “I talked with Pharynx half an hour ago or so, right before I teleported all across the world. I haven’t seen him since, and he definitely isn’t here.”
Chrysalis’s eye twitched. “Your mind games won’t work on me, Starlight Glimmer! You won’t turn them against me this time!”
Starlight slowly shifted her eyes over to the other three spellcasters, who were hovering around the two skeletons, and then to Cozy. “Okaaaaay.”
“Well, now that we know why she came here, I will have my revenge!” Chrysalis declared as she charged up her horn. Neither Tirek nor Sombra nor the creepy Twilight so much as looked up. Cozy frowned but didn’t intervene.
“And how, exactly, is this going to help you become Queen again?” Starlight asked skeptically. “Ponies know I came here; I told them myself. If I disappear, they’ll have a very good suspect as to who was behind it.”
Cozy flew over. “You told ponies about coming here!?” she asked quickly, then whirled on Chrysalis. “Please, Chrysalis, leave this for later! We can’t afford any risks.”
“But it’s been three years since I was exiled from my people!” Chrysalis protested. “I want revenge now! I might never get another chance again!”
Cozy facewinged hard, and Tirek jumped in. “Yes, that is a possible outcome,” he admitted. “But if you take revenge now, suppose Twilight finds out. She’d throw us all in Tartarus, and you would never become Queen again.”
Chrysalis’s lip trembled, and Starlight felt a wave of confusion overtaking her. Was the changeling queen about to cry? Between her wanting revenge so badly she couldn’t see any other goals, talking to changelings who aren’t there, and now having a breakdown, I’m actually worried about her. She really needs help.
“I—but—” Chrysalis forced out, and then let out a deep, pained sigh. “I won’t take my revenge right now.” She leaned forward, her teeth inches from Starlight’s. “But I am not forgiving you. This is a tactical ceasefire and nothing more.”
“I’ll take it,” Starlight replied. She gestured at the hole-filled hoof still holding her down. “So, are you going to release me, or what?”
“Absolutely not,” Chrysalis hissed. “Cornicle, Frenulum, help me hold her down.” Starlight rolled her eyes, and let herself go limp.
“Well done, Cornicle,” Chrysalis said approvingly. “I’ll have to promote you once we retake the hive.”
“Sooooooo…” Starlight called over. “Who are you? You look like Twilight, but you sure don’t act like her.”
The Twilight lookalike didn’t look up. “I am a synthetic duplicate of Twilight made primarily of plant matter. I share her talent for and knowledge of magic, but I don’t have to deal with her annoying tendency towards things like kindness and mercy. I have named myself Midnight.”
“Midnight, huh? I like that name,” Starlight offered. Midnight still didn’t look up. “So, how’s the skeleton enchantment progress going?”
“It’ll go better if you stop engaging me,” Midnight answered dryly.
Starlight rolled her eyes. Stop me if you’ve heard this one, Starlight: so a crazy changeling queen bent on revenge, a magic-eating centaur, a shadow king resurrected for the fourth time, an evil Twilight, and a sociopathic filly walk into a cave…
Before she could finish that thought, Cozy laid a hoof on Chrysalis’s upper chest. “It might be worth it to release her, Chrysalis. At least for now. Maybe she can help us on the magic stuff.” Sensing Chrysalis’s uncertainty, she quickly added, “Besides, I’m sure we’ll have another chance. We make a pretty good team. We can catch her later!”
Cozy’s gaze met Chrysalis’s, and Chrysalis sighed. “You’re probably right, Cozy,” Chrysalis admitted. However, a moment later she lunged down towards Starlight. “This does not mean I hate you any less. It just means I—that I—”
Starlight stared blankly as Chrysalis gagged on her own words. “Are you okay?” she asked dubiously.
“Yes!” Chrysalis roared. “It just means I have decided that revenge on you is the second-most important thing to me. Even a personal desire that strong can’t be allowed to eclipse my duties to my hive.”
Starlight nudged her head to the side. “So, does this mean you’ll let me stand up now?”
A cruel snarl swept across Chrysalis’s expression as she locked eyes with Starlight. After a few tense moments, Chrysalis relented. “Yes,” she spat under her breath, her voice loaded with venom.
Starlight rolled over, and stood up to her full height. Chrysalis stared at her contemptuously, her face etched in pure hate, but she didn’t intervene.
As she approached the other three mages, Sombra looked up at her. “It’s very complex,” he said admiringly. “Grogar certainly knows how to animate a skeleton.”
“Can you break it free of his control?” Starlight asked.
“I’d be surprised if we couldn’t,” Tirek answered. He tapped the blank-eyed skull with a thick finger. “It may take a while, however, and I suspect you’re in a hurry.”
Starlight nodded. “These skeletons were marching on the Crystal Empire. There are more like them up in Twilight’s castle. I need a way to quickly disable or free large numbers of them at once.”
“You could take me along,” Midnight offered.
Starlight raised an eyebrow. Is she being sarcastic or serious?
“What’s your idea, Midnight?” Tirek inquired.
Midnight waved a hoof across the skeletons immobilized just over the table. “The spells animating them are powerful enough breaching them would be quite difficult. The spells keeping them under Grogar’s control, however, are not.”
“So you’re saying we could, what, take control?” Starlight asked. She felt her heartbeat accelerating. This might work!
Midnight smiled slightly, her expression predatory. “Yes. We would gain control of his army. Of course, it would require an immense amount of magic. But I suspect it can be done.”
“An immense amount of magic, hmmm?” Sombra asked. “It just so happens there’s an extraordinarily powerful magical relic right near there, in the Crystal Empire.” He flicked his horn with a dramatic smile.
Cozy giggled. “Oooh, that’s a great idea, Sombra! Midnight, Starlight, you should totally go together and use the Crystal Heart!”
Starlight considered it. She hasn’t done anything overtly evil, but she’s really creepy. Why is she so enthusiastic about dark magic? Across from her, Midnight channeled a wobbling beam of black and purple light into the two skeletons. And she admitted she doesn’t even feel kindness or mercy. Do we really want someone like that weaponizing the Crystal Heart?
Behind her, she heard Chrysalis impatiently pacing from wall to wall. I’m not sure how much longer she’ll be able to contain her rage, Starlight worried. Well, as weird as Midnight is, she doesn’t want revenge on me. Guess that settles it.
“Yes,” Starlight said aloud. “Come on, Midnight, let’s go. I’ll teleport us.”
Midnight strode to beside her and touched her side. “Begin,” she ordered. Starlight closed her eyes, and felt the whirlwind of magic overtake her.
Starlight stumbled out with a gasp. Beside her, Midnight surveyed the area. “What is this feeling?” Midnight asked. “My muscles are reflexively twitching. Why?”
“You’re shivering,” Starlight answered dryly, shivering herself, “and it’s because you’re cold. You should put something on.”
Midnight blinked one eyelid after the other, and conjured a bubble of pale pink light around herself. A reddish glow sizzled out from her horn, and before Starlight’s eyes Midnight bathed herself in a thick soup of heating elemental magic.
“I meant conjure yourself some clothes,” Starlight said with a little giggle.
“This is preferable,” Midnight replied. “I would still be cold in clothing.”
Starlight shrugged, a wry smile splattered across her face. “Your choice. Anyway, ready to break Grogar’s control over those skeletons?”
“Yes,” Midnight agreed. “Lead me to them.”
Starlight gave a quick nod. The brilliant glow of the Crystal Empire pierced the snowstorm like a lighthouse. Even though she couldn’t make out its form, the illumination was more than enough to guide Midnight by.
The skeletons had moved forward and weren’t far from the Crystal Empire’s outer buildings. “We won’t reach the city before they’re overrun,” Midnight said calmly.
“I know, I know, I’m working on it!” Starlight muttered. She reached out, touched the orb of pink magic, and in another flash of light, they teleported hundreds of feet forward.
The skeletons walked in utter silence just ahead of them. Even though Starlight’s hooves crunched in the thick snow, none of the skeletons bothered to look back.
“Wonderful, aren’t they?” Midnight asked, her voice almost lilting.
“Wonderful?” Starlight echoed disbelievingly.
“Yes,” Midnight replied with a faint smile. “They are unfailingly loyal, tireless, do not fear cold, and can be easily created in huge quantities. Perfect servitors. Wonderful indeed.”
Doesn’t she care that she’s using people as mindless minions? Doesn’t that bother her? Midnight’s perfectly untroubled expression response was all the answer Starlight needed.
Starlight shivered again, but this time it wasn’t from the cold. She reached out to Midnight again, and they blinked across the snowfield once more.
As Starlight entered the crystal city, she was struck by how quiet it was. With the army marching south, the streets were utterly deserted. Only the smoke coming from drawn-curtained houses reminded her the city was even inhabited.
Midnight glanced over Starlight’s body, and then dismissed her bubble of warmth. “Where to now?” she asked.
Starlight pointed to the castle at the center of the city. “The Crystal Heart is just up ahead. Follow me!” She broke into a clipped canter, her hooves clicking rhythmically against the perfectly polished floor. Just behind her, she heard Midnight’s hooffalls as well.
Together, the two of them quickly arrived at the Crystal Heart. It glowed beautifully against the dark grey sky, its hints of bluish and pinkish magic sparkling gently.
“I will require your help with this spell,” Midnight said, her horn already glowing the signature black-purple-green of the darker arts. “You’ll need to synchronize your magic to mine.”
Starlight hesitated. Really? I’m helping to corrupt an artifact to dark magic? Have I even changed at all? Taking control of thousands of undead across the world is a horrible use of magic, and I’m going to use the Crystal Heart itself to do it!
She considered what Twilight would say. ”Starlight, what have you done!? I told you that controlling others to do your bidding was wrong, and now you mind controlled thousands of people!?”
But another, stronger voice answered in reply, No. We freed thousands of people from Grogar’s control. We’ll let them go after he’s defeated.
Starlight let herself imagine the world where she didn’t do all she could to stop Grogar. Where Grogar retained control of his legion of the risen, and crushed her friends. Where Equestria itself was destroyed.
No. I reject that future. Even if you will see me as a villain again, Twilight, I do what I do for you, all my other friends, and all of Equestria.
Her imaginary Twilight’s expression shifted to a smile. ”You’ll do the right thing, Starlight. I know you will. I couldn’t be more proud of you.”
“Are you going to help me?” Midnight asked with a concoction of annoyance and bemusement. “Or are you going to stand there looking conflicted?”
Starlight jolted out of her reverie. “Mmph, sorry, I drifted off. Let’s do this.” She lowered her horn and weaved the spell around Midnight. Bands of coruscating turquoise light danced below her hooves and above her horn.
Midnight flicked her horn down, a stream of blackened greenish energy hurling into the ground under the Crystal Heart. Starlight heard the gasps of townsponies around them. Right. We should have warned them. Well, too late now.
Starlight sent a pulse of pale magic out to cover Midnight and the Heart, surrounding the three of them in a protective bubble. “Sorry everypony,” she said apologetically through the bubble. “We promise we have a good reason for this!”
“Speak less, cast more,” Midnight grumbled, the black magic hissing angrily as it reached towards the Crystal Heart. “Despite my immense talents, I do need your help!”
Starlight nodded, and a lance shot from her horn into the Crystal Heart. With her telekinesis, she forced it downward. It strained against her with every breath, its very essence repulsing the dark magic. “Nnnngh… hurry!” Starlight gasped. “If you don’t finish soon, it might activate!”
“Activate!? I wasn’t informed of any activation!” Midnight groaned. The dark magic bubbling under the Heart began to reach upwards with writhing tentacles of energy that almost, but not quite, reached the Heart. “I—urrggh—can’t make the magic connect!”
Starlight wracked her brain. I’m pushing down as hard as I can! Am I just not strong enough? Her head was pounding from the combined strain of keeping a shield up and pushing an ancient artifact towards its existential opposite.
A little voice at the back of her head replied, When you weren’t strong enough, you had to be smart enough. Connect those tentacles with the Heart! Even with all the strain of her magic, Starlight couldn’t help but smile.
She dropped the shield and focused on a different form of magic: teleportation. Twin holes in space yawned under the Heart—one less than an inch above the magic, the other right under the Heart. Opposite her, Midnight nodded, and one of the tendrils lunged towards the Crystal Heart. The tentacle connected, and a flash of sickening green washed across the Heart. A second, then a third, then a fifth followed, and they inexorably dragged it down. Starlight dismissed her portals as the tentacles tied the Heart in place.
Midnight smirked. “Now we can actually cast the intended spell.”
“What are you doing with the Crystal Heart?” a pony demanded. “Princess Twilight, have you gone crazy?”
“No,” Midnight replied. “I am about to save all of you from the army of skeletons that is currently marching towards you. Please be silent, as I must concentrate.”
“Yeah, we promise we’re saving the world!” Starlight added. Midnight shot her a glare, and Starlight winced. She threw up the same bubble as before, with only a slight modification: this time, it was soundproof.
“I memorized the spell signatures,” Midnight informed Starlight. “You set up the matrix, and we’ll cast in unison.”
Starlight gave her a quick nod, and surrounded the Crystal Heart and the dark magic with the outlines of stacked boxes of energy. Each one was nested inside the next, for a total of six boxes.
Midnight smiled approvingly, and hurled her beam of magic into the box. Starlight followed along, matching each oscillation up and down of Midnight’s magic with her own. The Crystal Heart glowed a pale gray light, shining brighter each second. The ground trembled under Starlight’s hooves as each box rotated at a slightly different speed.
“Transfer all control to me!” Midnight instructed bluntly. A momentary flash of doubt in Starlight’s heart was quickly washed away by Midnight’s determined gaze. Starlight relinquished her command over the magic, reducing her own part to a simple amplifier.
Midnight’s entire body shuddered as the bolts of magic shuddered along her body. “You will yield to me!” she cried. The boxes of energy constricted, pressing tighter and tighter on the Crystal Heart. Starlight’s whole body burned from the energy’s strain.
The Crystal Heart blazed as bright as the noonday sun, and a tremor knocked Starlight to her hooves. Then, in an instant, everything went silent and still. Only the falling snow moved, flake by flake piling atop her prone form.