A few weeks have passed ever since the return of Star and Dusk from the Bermikun Triangle and it would appear things have returned back to normal. Well, more or less, as Dusk has returned to the Light Castle to live with his family.
In order to accommodate Chaos inside the citadel, the Generals have created a subterranean chamber with an underground water course that was connected with the Bright Shore and that could be accessed by the castle. The living ship was moored there, receiving visits regularly by Dusk that came to see how he was doing and also to sail around the coast with his family or sometimes by himself. The Chaos was also sometimes stage to some of Dusk’s training sections with Star.
It would appear they were having one of their sword training on Chaos’ deck. Star had taught Dusk how to summon a light sword on his horn and now was sparring with him. As they crashed their blades, Star told Dusk:
“I have to say, little brother, not bad at all. You’re getting quite good at this.”
“Don’t forget about our adventures in the Triangle” Dusk remembered. “I learned a few tricks from Calabrass about sword fighting.”
“I think you’re the one forgetting something” Star replied.
“And what’s that?” Dusk asked.
With a quick movement of the legs, Star was able to make Dusk trip and then subdue him.
“I learned my moves from the best warriors in the Light Kingdom” he replied.
“Very funny.”
Star released Dusk and helped him get up, saying:
“Maybe dad and Golden will give you some tips and perhaps then you may be able to beat me.”
“I want to know where were all those skills when we were fighting Golden Bones.”
Star just teasingly shrugged his shoulders, while moving away to get his towel to clean his sweat. However, when he was to grab it with his magic, Star felt a sudden weakness, followed by a slight pain in his chest… right on the heart. He knew what that was. There was a leak on the seal that was containing the curse.
Noticing his brother’s strange behavior, Dusk asked:
“Star, are you okay.”
“Yeah… I am” he replied. “I guess our training was more exhausting than I thought. Nothing I can’t solve with something to bite.”
In his plane with Kurama, Star approached and started repairing the leak on it. A mix of green and red energy was coming out of the fail, with it stop leaking once the repairs was done.
“You have to stop acting tough before your brother” Kurama told Star. “He’s not stupid. He eventually will realize the curse is starting to…”
“Don’t worry about that” the young alicorn prince replied to him.
“Star, the seal is getting weaker by the day. The curse is doing its best to break its way through it. The leaks will become more frequent until the seal cannot longer hold it.”
“You worry too much. I will repair the seal as many times as possible.”
“And you think you can keep doing this forever?” Kurama asked.
“At least I can try” Star replied. “Don’t forget that your energy also leaks along with the curse and it allows my body to recover fast. Not only that, I can store the rest so I can use it latter on.”
“I can’t believe how stupid that plan is” Kurama said. “Okay, do whatever you want, but mark my words, Star: there will come the time you will have to keep your distance from Dusk… for your sake and mine.
Star was about to reply to that when he heard someone calling:
“Star! Star!”
Both he and Dusk turned around and saw their sisters getting in the dock and approaching Chaos.
“What are you two doing here?” Star asked. “Didn’t you have some kind of summer work to do for school?”
“That’s why we came here” Midnight said.
“Yeah, we need your help” Sunny added.
“We need to gather some information about important historical ponies on all the history of Pony World.”
“And since you know a lot about history…”
“And you’re not busy like mom or Mirror Coat…”
“Wow, good of you to notice that” Star said, cynically.
But then he noticed the twins were starting to do their puppy eyes to convince him. That was something he couldn’t resist… at least for the time his sisters were young and adorable.
“Fine…” he replied, much to the young one’s happiness. “Looks like we’ll have a trip to the museum. Do you want to come, Dusk.”
“For much I would like to go to the museum and watch you giving history lessons and admire my statue in the Hall of Heroism, I think I’ll pass” he replied. “I’ll keep training for a few more minutes.”
In a way, Star became a little relieved by that. Despite being mad at himself for having such thought, he couldn’t blame himself for that, as being away from Dusk would give him a rest from holding back the curse.
In the Light Museum, Star and the twins started advancing through the halls, with the latters admiring every exposure they saw. Sunny then asked:
“So, where do we start? Princess Celestia?”
“Or maybe Princess Luna” Midnight said. “The fact she was Nightmare Moon would be a good asset to the essay.”
“In that case, we can also include Queen Ingrid.”
“Or their parents.”
I was thinking in starting with something more… heroic and legendary” Star said, stopping. “Something like… him.”
And he pointed to a tapestry that contained…
“Rockhoof?” the twins asked at the same time.
“Yes, he was the great hero of the Mighty Helm” Star told. “He saved his village from a volcano by digging up a trench with nothing but his strength and his trusty shovel.”
“Star, we already know about that” Sunny said.
“But did you know that at that time, Rockhoof wasn’t the big and strong stallion you’re seeing here?” Star asked, much to the little unicorn’s confusion. “In fact, he was rather scrawny and was told to keep on farming and digging rather than becoming a Mighty Helm. But when he noticed the volcano erupting, he didn’t hesitate to try to save his village. He started to dig up a trench and his determination to do it caused him to become the pony you see now, one that ended the trench and saved an all village from a volcano.”
That really impressed the twins that took notes about what Star told them. Moving along, he stopped by Flash Magnus’ tapestry.
“What you need to know about Flash Magnus is the courage that he showed when facing the dragons to save his comrades” Star told. “Yes, he had a fire-proof shield to protect him, but even that may not be enough, especially against more than one dragon. But this is not the only feat he had accomplished. If you dig a little more, you’ll be able to find more.”
Moving to Mage Meadowbrook, Star voiced:
“Mage Meadowbrook might not be a unicorn, but she was very skillful with magic nevertheless, especially with healing magic. In fact, she was also known as the Mystical Mask, as she would use a mask while healing ponies. Her greatest feat was finding the cure for the swamp fever epidemic.”
“Swamp fever epidemic?” Midnight asked. “What’s that?”
“Oh, I’ve heard about that!” Sunny replied. “The swamp fever’s an illness with a variety of symptoms that ends with the pony turning into a tree, right?”
“Yes, and just for that, she deserves to be acknowledged as the legend she is” Star said, while moving to the next tapestry. “And the same goes for her: Mistmane. The fact she sacrificed her own beauty and give it away demonstrates where her beauty truly lies on. Not only that, the moment she did it, she realized her own purpose: spread beauty and share it with others.”
“Wow, I wished I had that talent…” Sunny confessed.
“What about Somnambula’s talent to give hope to those who didn’t have it?” Star asked, as they advanced to her tapestry. “When her village was being tormented by an evil sphinx, she went to give everything she had to make sure they didn’t pass through any necessity. Not only that, it was her faith that led her to defeat the sphinx.”
“Now that’s a great hero” Midnight said.
“Yes, indeed, but now why don’t we turn our attentions to my favorite legend?” Star said, while they advanced.
“Let me guess, Star Swirl?” Midnight asked.
“No, it’s Star…” Star began, realizing then that Midnight had guessed right. “How did you…?”
“Please, you and mom are always talking about him” Midnight say.
“Yeah, it’s kind of annoying sometimes” Sunny added.
Star blushed a little before those comments, but then said, stopping beside Star Swirl’s tapestry:
“Okay, fair enough… But you have to admit he is quite impressive. He revolutionized all of history of magic. Did you know that, before Queen Galaxia, the unicorns were the ones responsible to summon the sun at the beginning of every day? During Star Swirl’s time, it took he and five other unicorns to raise the sun and, even so, the task was so demanding that those five unicorns would lose their magic afterwards.”
“Really?!” the twins asked.
“Really” Star replied. “Not only that, Star Swirl had invented many spells, including some that were time-related. He was also a teacher to the alicorn sisters… that is, until his disappearance.”
“Disappearance?” the twins asked, again at the same time.
“What do you mean by that?” Sunny asked.
“Well, nopony knows” Star replied. “Star Swirl the Bearded just vanished, just like that. It’s one of the many mysteries of all the pony history. Come to think of it, all the legends we have talked about also disappeared around the same time as Star Swirl.”
“No way…” Midnight said. “Wouldn’t be freaking if all those disappearances had some kind of connection.”
“You know, now that you mention it, you’re quite right about that” Star replied thoughtfully.
He remained like that for a few seconds, before coming out of it and say:
“But I think it’s not the time for making theories about disappeared legends. I believe I just gave you enough material for your essay. Why don’t we return to the castle and get a snack?”
“Okay” they replied.
And so the three siblings advanced towards the exit of the museum.
Elsewhere in Foal Mountain, Chrysalis and her two mutant changelings, Scorpio and Obsidia, were crossing some wild vegetation, with the two mutants carrying a chest.
“My queen… it’s not that we’re complaining or anything…” Scorpio said to Chrysalis, who was leading the way. “But are we there yet?”
“Yeah, carrying this thing while crossing through this forest is not easy” Obsidian said.
But Chrysalis just ignored them, focused on her tasked. She had taken a lot of time to find what her master wanted her to find. Now she had to make up for that lost time by getting to their destination as fast as possible.
It was then that they arrived there. It was a clearing where there was some kind of ruins there. It was some kind of well surrounded by six pillar-like structures.
“Ponhenge… finally!” Chrysalis said, making her wicked smile. “It’s time to enact the Lord of Chaos’ plan. Bring me the chest!”
The two mutants approached and placed the chest near their queen.
“My queen, wouldn’t be more prudent to have brought some drones to serve as back-up?” Scorpio.
“Yes, we don’t know what this mysterious ally may be like” Obsidia replied.
“Nonsense!” she replied. “The Lord of Chaos knows what he’s doing. Besides, mobilizing so many changelings would draw the attention of the Generals to us. Our master needs that this plan catches everypony by surprise… and how magnificent is his plan. Not only we’ll have a new powerful ally, but we’ll also have the means to fight back against that pesky little princess and her little friends along with their dear elements. If the Elements of Harmony can bring order and undo any dark magic, then it’s only natural that we use their dark counterparts.”
Chrysalis opened the chest, revealing a set of jewels that looked like the Elements of Harmony before they had their forms change, except they possessed a much darker coloration.
“The Elements of Chaos…” Chrysalis said. “Deceit… Cruelty… Anger… Selfishness… Betrayal… and Black Magic. The perfect ingredients to take down a pesky little princess and her annoying little friends. But first…”
Turning to the well at the center, she made the Elements of Chaos rotate around her, creating a dark circle of darkness, with a dark aura surrounding her and elevating her. The two mutants watched it with amazement. It was then that she casted a beam from the circle that hit the well. After that, a black substance started to immerge from the well, forming a ball, from where legs erupted, while the rest of the ball took the form of a big pony made of nothing but shadows, possessing as well a long and curved horn and eyes that were shining with a white light. He laughed evilily, as he shouted:
“I am free! At last, after more than a millennium in that wretched place, I am back!”
“And all thanks to me” Chrysalis said, while stop rotating the elements. “I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, oh great Pony of Shadows.”
Summoning wings of shadow, the mysterious Pony of Shadows absorbed the light around him, causing day turning literally into a lightless night. After that, he casted shadows from the wings like they were spider webs that stuck onto Chrysalis and her mutants.
“One little changeling dares to release the Pony of Shadows and talk to him like that?” he asked. “You clearly don’t know how far you are from your leage.”
“I have… a message for you” she said, while using her magic to summon the set of four stones she used to communicate.
Placing them on the floor to form a square, the stone scarabs opened their wings and unleashed green energy that linked between each other and a viscous web emerged under them, raising them and joining them. This created a kind of big green screen where the image of the Lord of Chaos appeared.
“Hello, my dear Pony of Shadows” he greeted.
“My lord…” the Pony of Shadows said, letting Chrysalis and the mutants go and bowing his head.
“I’m sorry if I’m not there to greet you, but, right know, I’m a little… held on” the Lord of Chaos said.
“Just the fact that you decided to free me is an honor” the Pony of Shadows said. “It just means you need my services. I just hope I can get even with those who imprisoned me.”
“Sorry, but Star Swirl and his friends are out of commition” the Lord of Chaos revealed. “In fact, in a way, I have to thank you for that. After what they did, they got so weakened that it was easy for the others to get to them. But, right now, I have another target in mind for you. You are the villain that snuffs out the light. So, what do you feel about… snuffing out the original light?”
Hearing that caused the Pony of Shadow to smile in a wicked way and reply:
“It would be my pleasure…”