It was nearly midnight and there was still no sign of the forces from the Crystal Empire. Luster and her friends watched from a window, looking down at the city. They saw no problems on the ground, no army coming from afar.
Princess Twilight stood with Spike at her side on the highest tower. She looked into the distance through a telescope, but she saw nothing suspicious either.
“I don’t like this,” Luster said. “Starcutter should have been here by now with his army.”
River Song yawned. “Well… we can't spend all night waiting for a villain to come. I need to sleep.”
Georgia nodded. “Maybe we should all get some rest.”
“No, we have to stay alert!” Luster said.
“Yeah!" Yelena agreed. "Yaks not rest till enemy defeated! Yaks stay strong!”
“Luster, you’re not gonna be able to defeat Starcutter if you’re sleep deprived!” Gallop said.
“I have to stay awake and be ready when the attack comes! This is my chance to accomplish something like Princess Twilight back in her day!” Luster said. “I’m not gonna let her down now!”
“But Luster-“
“I pulled my share of all-nighters getting homework done at the School of Magic! Luster snapped. “I can handle this!”
“I don’t think this is a good idea, Luster, rest is important!” Gallop said. “Well… I’ll see you in the morning, I’m going to bed.”
“Me too,” River Song said.
“Me three!” Georgia agreed.
They all went to their rooms while Luster stayed up with Yelena. They watched for hours, yet no attack came. By morning their eyes had bags from the lack of sleep, and Luster began to doze off.
“Got… to…” Luster started. “Be ready for attack.”
Suddenly a door opened behind them.
“Luster, is that you?” a voice called.
Luster glanced back and saw an older yellow pony with glasses, a red and purple mane levitating a familiar amulet.
“Miss Moondancer!”
Moondancer walked over and gave her a hug. “I haven’t seen you since the Crystal Empire Field Trip! I heard you were sent to Ponyville!”
“That’s… right,” Luster said, yawning.
Noticing her heavily bagged eyes, Moondancer looked at her former student.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yeah… just tired… I was up all night watching over Canterlot in case Starcutter… attacks.”
“Oh dear! You shouldn’t push yourself, Luster!” Moondancer said.
The older unicorn put her horn on Luster’s forehead. A magic glow emanated from Moondancer as she cast a spell. Luster’s fatigue vanished as she felt the magic flow through her. Though Moondancer stumbled a little bit.
“There, that should help a bit. It will keep your fatigue at bay for a few hours.”
Luster could now focus and saw the amulet Moodancer was levitating. She thought it looked familiar.
“Is that the amulet that was used in my entrance exam? The one that allows ponies besides Princess Twilight to raise the sun and moon?”
Moondancer nodded. “Princess Twilight has me raise the sun and moon if she ever has royal duties to focus on or oversleeps. I did it just a moment ago.”
“Oh,” Luster said. “Well, I guess I should probably get my friends to have breakfast with-”
A loud snore interrupted Luster. The unicorn looked over her shoulder and saw Yelena had fallen asleep. Her Yak mane, which covered her eyes apparently, was enough to prevent the sun from waking her.
“Yelena, wake up!” Luster said as she walked over and tapped the yak on the shoulder. However, her friend persisted in her slumber.
“Yelena?” Luster tapped her again.
There was still no response.
“Yelena!” Luster screamed while pounding the tough yak with her hooves.
That woke the yak, but not in a good way. Yelena yelled at the feeling of somecreature shaking her and thrust her hooves out. Luster was knocked into a suit of armor and fell to the floor. The armor wobbled and then joined her, crashing down on top of her.
“Ow!”
Yelena breathed a bit of steam out trhough her nostrils before realizing she’d kicked Luster.
“Luster! Never wake up a sleeping yak! We don’t take kindly to being shaken while asleep!” Yelena said, but the only response was a groan of pain. “Luster?”
…
Luster was rushed to the castle Infirmary where they gave her quick healing spells to the bruise and broken ribs caused by Yelena. Though she still had to wear a cast for a few hours till the bones healed, there was no lasting damage. She sat up on the infirmary bed as her friends all gathered around her.
“Yelena so sorry, Luster!” Yelena said. “But, Luster really shouldn’t wake up yak that way!”
“I’ll remember that next time,” Luster grumbled before looking at her damaged body. “Great, now that I’m in a cast, Starcutter is probably gonna attack in a moment!”
River Song yelped and wrapped her hooves around Georgia as though expecting that to happen. But it didn’t.
Suddenly a servant entered the infirmary.
“Excuse me, Luster Dawn?” he asked. “Princess Twilight requests you and your friends join her for breakfast.”
Luster’s frown turned into a slight smile. She jumped up, only to cringe when she felt her ribs burn in pain.
“Easy, Luster,” Georgia said, putting a claw on her. “You need to take it easy till that spell heals you all the way.”
Luster slowly got off her bed and walked with her friends to the dining room. They found Princess Twilight as well as Spike, Pinkie, Flurry, and Moondancer inside having breakfast. It was the weekend, so everycreature had a little time off. Though given the current predicament, Luster imagined the time off was not going to last long. This was likely the calm before the storm.
“Oh, hi, Luster!” Spike said with a wave before noticing her cast. “Oh! What happened to you?”
“Yelena kicked me into a suit of armor when I woke her,” Luster told him.
Spike flinched. “Ouch!”
Princess Twilight looked at her student in concern. “Are you alright?”
“I’ll be fine in a few hours,” Luster assured her mentor. “The castle's healing unicorns cast some healing spells to speed up the process.”
“Oh, thank Celestia. I remember something similar happened to me years ago, I fell down a flight of stairs into Applejack’s Apple Cellar,” Twilight said.
Pinkie giggled, “It was when Twilight was trying to ‘study’ my Pinkie Sense. She became obsessed with finding a logical explanation for it!”
Twilight chuckled. “Yes… it was then that I learned that there are just some things in this world that just can’t be explained. Well, we’re having breakfast. Would you all care to join us?”
“Yes, Yelena hungry!” Yelena said.
“We’ll need strength for the fight ahead!” Gallop said.
“Dining with the ruler of Equestria sounds fun!” River Song agreed enthusiastically.
“It’s an honor, Princess,” Georgia said with a bow.
Luster and her friends took a seat with the Princesses, Pinkie, Moondancer, and Spike.
“So, how is everything at the School of Magic since I left?” Luster asked.
“Everything’s fine. You know, the usual, students getting good grades. A little bit of mischief. One of the students actually pulled a prank yesterday, having another one drink a shrinking potion,” Moondancer giggled. “It… was funny… but I had to give that student detention. At least no pony got hurt.”
“Which student was it?” Luster asked.
“Silly Sun,” Moondancer said.
“Oh yeah, she’s the pony that is always smiling and giggling. Reminds me of some Kirin,” Luster looked at River.
“She sounds fun!”
“Well, there’s never a dull moment when she’s in the class.” Moondancer said.
Luster thought back to her days at the School of Magic, how she had been so focused on her studies and not bothered to really make friends. Now she realized how much she’d probably missed out on while there. Maybe once this crisis with Starcutter was over, she could try and connect with Silly Sun and the others from Magic School.
Soon the breakfast came out. A large plate of fruit loaded with apples, grapes, bananas, and edible flowers, with a large pineapple in the center.
“Oh, that looks delicious!” Yelena said, licking her lips.
A unicorn servant levitating a plate full of worms and some sort of meat followed the one carrying the large fruit platter. That was set down in front of Georgia.
“Wow, you know what griffons like,” Georgia said with a smile, looking at the meat.
“We’ve kept a supply for Gallus here,” Twilight said. “Hay and fruits aren’t a griffons' favorite food as far as I’m aware.”
“Some rabbit too, that’s nice.” Georgia began pecking at the plate.
The larger platter of fruit was set down in the middle of the table, right in front of Yelena.
“Alright, let’s eat!”
The young yak seized the entire plate and began to gobble up all the fruits on it. This caused Luster’s mouth to fall open.
“Yelena!” Luster scolded. “That was for all of us to share!”
Yelena stopped eating, then grinned nervously. “Um… sorry?”
For a second, Luster worried Princess Twilight would be offended by her friend's behavior. But the princess merely chuckled.
“I suppose I should have remembered that yaks have a bigger appetite than ponies. Could you please get another plate brought up here?” she asked the servants.
“Right away, your highness!” they said with a bow.
Soon another fruit platter was brought in, and Luster and the rest of her friends got their meal.
“Well, that was good!” Luster said, patting her stomach which had a bulge from the food.
“I could get used to eating like this!” River Song said.
At that moment, the door to the dining room opened, and Rarity burst in, her purple coat covered in twigs, and her mane mussed up.
“Twilight! Twilight!”
“Rarity?” Twilight exclaimed. “What are you doing here? I thought from your last letter you were going to be in Ponyville today?”
“I was… but there’s something wrong there!” Rarity replied in earnest. “I was heading there this morning, until I found there was a magical barrier around the town! Then these Royal Guard Ponies chased me into the Everfree Forest! I barely escaped!”
Everyone gasped at this news, knowing what it likely meant.
“Starcutter has taken over the Crystal Empire!” Flurry Heart said. “He overthrew me, and now he has all my own guards working to conquer Equestria for himself! He must have gone to Ponyville first.”
“Oh, my, that is terrible!” Rarity said. “He likely has Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy!”
“And all my friends too!” Gallus exclaimed.
“My two cheesies!” Pinkie screamed, thinking of her husband and son.
“And my parents too!” Luster yelled.
Twilight looked down. “Starcutter went after all the ponies and creatures that he knew could pose a threat. He wants to keep us separated from our friends so we can’t use any rainbow lasers against him.”
“Oh, what do we do, darlings?” Rarity asked.
“We need a new group to take on Starcutter. Fortunately, I already have somepony in mind,” Twilight smiled, gesturing to Luster and her friends.
…
Luster soon sat in a royal guard chariot in front of the castle with her friends. Gallop was in his set of armor for the battle ahead. He had a stern expression as they all tried to prepare themselves mentally for what was about to happen. Yelena pounded her hooves together, Georgia nervously ran her claws on the chariot, River was simply smiling.
“Ooh, this is so exciting!” the Kirin said. She had no idea the danger that lay ahead.
Luster took several deep breaths. Her hometown was in danger, and who knew what had happened to her parents and Aunt Trixie? She silently hoped they were alright and Starcutter hadn’t done anything to them. Not too long ago she’d yearned for the chance to do something great, like Princess Twilight had. But imagining confronting a dangerous situation was one thing, actually going into it was another. With Ponyville already occupied, the chilling realization hit her like a slap to the face. There was no guarantee they would win.
All around her, other chariots were being prepared with members of the royal guards inside. The Pegasi carried the unicorns and Earth ponies in the chariots for the impending attack to retake Ponyville. Princess Twilight was also coming. She climbed into a larger chariot just in front of Luster.
“You sure you should be coming, your majesty?” Gallus asked as he harnessed himself to her chariot.
“He does have a point, you know," Rarity said as she and Pinkie climbed into their own carriage next to Luster’s. "Equestria does need you to rule it, darling. Are you sure it's wise for you to risk yourself like this?”
Twilight sighed. “I didn’t hear anything from Discord. I don’t like that. If Ponyville has been conquered, I’m sure he would be doing something about, after his past transgressions. He wouldn’t make a mistake like that again. If he hasn’t put a stop to Starcutter, I can only assume that he’s been captured too somehow. If Starcutter has him, then I have to come personally.”
“Our friends will need us all,” Spike agreed, he stood beside the princess’s chariot with Flurry Heart.
“I want to come with you, Aunt Twilight!” Flurry said.
Twilight shook her head. “No, Flurry. We are the only two alicorns left in Equestria. If both of us fall, it will be more vulnerable than ever. I need you to stay here where it is safe. If something happens to me, you shall have to take over the throne of Canterlot.”
Flurry looked at her aunt. “No! I’ve already lost my parents! I can’t lose you too!”
Twilight sighed. “All of us leave this life at some point, Flurry. It’s the way the world works. But we must do what’s best for Equestria while we still live… I want you to promise me that you will look after Equestria if anything should happen to me.”
Flurry sniffled. “I-I don’t know if I can.”
Twilight leaned out and nuzzled her niece. “You’ve been through a lot, my dear niece. It's been a heavy burden.”
“Pl-please just come back!” Flurry begged.
“I’ll do my best,” Twilight promised.
There was a moment of silence, then Twilight looked behind her. Her horn glowed and she spoke, her voice echoing loud enough for the entire army to hear her.
“Everycreature ready!?”
“Ready!” Gallus confirmed.
There were murmurs of agreement among all the guards.
“Fly!” she ordered.
The pegasi took to the skies and flew across it. Luster felt gravity pull her back. The chariot bumped in the sky.
“Yelena not sure she like flying!” Yelena said, looking a bit green.
The chariots soon arrived near Ponyville. Luster and her friends jumped out of theirs and went up to Princess Twilight. Looking ahead, Luster saw her hometown. It appeared normal, but according to Rarity, there was a shield surrounding the town.
Twilight looked at the group of unicorns that stood by her side.
“Fire!”
The group lit up their horns, firing beams of magic up into the sky. Sure enough, the spells caused the black shield surrounding the town to become visible.
“That looks pretty strong,” Luster said.
“Yes, but there are ways that shield spells can be broken. The user’s strength is greatly drained the longer they have to keep it up. That would be the safest way to deal with it. Another would be if we somehow break through it from out here, that’s the most direct,” Twilight said.
"We await your command, your majesty," Gallus said. "But I think we should decide quickly. We don't know when-"
"Watch out!" Luster yelled, pushing Gallus out of the way just before a beam of magic turned his resting spot into a blazing inferno.
"Where did that come from?! The town--"
One of the guards shouted only to be silenced by another powerful blast. More beams of magic quickly followed, turning the day into a chaotic spectacle of light, shrapnel, and dust.
"Get behind me!" Luster yelled, establishing a barrier to protect herself and her friends, just before it got struck. The mighty blast was powerful enough to push her back, but her shield held.
Others were not so lucky, and soon, the agonizing screams of the injured guards filled the air. Looking from the safety of her shield at the ponies writhing in pain all around her made Luster's heart skip a beat. Then, she heard Twilight's voice...
"We need to break through! There's no other way!" Twilight said. "Moondancer, shield!"
“Right away, Twilight!” Moondancer said. “Minuette, Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts!”
Three other mares stepped by her side. During the battle of the bell, Moondancer and her group had been part of the army that saved Twilight and the others from Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, and Tirek. Since then, they decided to act as a team that came together whenever the Royal Guard might need them. With Twilight sharing the magic of friendship at the School of Magic, Moondancer was now able to channel it in the form of a shield. The Friendship Shield she and her friends used was strong enough to be equal to the shield conjured by a majority of the unicorns in Equestria.
“We have to save Lyra and Bon Bon!” Minuette called.
“Nopony hurts our friends and gets away with it!” Twinkleshine agreed.
“Unicorns ready! Shields up!” Moondancer said.
The majority of the unicorns lit up their horns and put magic up to form a shield large enough to cover their army.
“Rarity, Pinkie, Spike!” Twilight called.
The dragon and aging ponies both stood beside the Princess.
“This won’t be as powerful as it is when all of us are together, but it should break the enemy shield,” Twilight said.
The ruler of Equestria glowed white as she called upon the magic of friendship and it flowed though her. She fired a powerful blast at the barrier surrounding Ponyville. The dark aura blocking the town appeared in the sky and began to look as though it were being burned by fire. It faded away, pieces of the burning magic falling to the ground. Ponyville was now unprotected, it was time to take action!
“Charge!” Gallus ordered.
The Royal Guards of Canterlot let out a battle cry and immediately ran onto the streets of Ponyville.
“Finally, we get to do something,” one of them called.
Luster and her friends stood back, letting the guards rush in. At the same time, the mind-controlled Crystal Guards charged at the Canterlot Guards. Lances splintered and entered other ponies. Luster saw blood spill as ponies fought each other.
Twilight flew into battle, firing magic at the Crystal Guards. Rarity and Pinkie charged after her, with the unicorn throwing her fur coat to the ground to allow herself to move more freely. Members of the Crystal Guard came at them, but members of the Royal Guard flanked them, protecting their ruler and her friends. Rarity shot magic as well as used her hidden martial arts skills to slap them silly like she had with Changelings during their invasion of Canterlot years ago.
Pinkie used her confetti cannon and screamed out, “If you hurt my Cheesies, you’ll be begging for mercy!”
…
Luster and River Song charged their magic and released a spell. Luster performed an invisibility spell, while River performed a magic sharing spell that stretched the spell to herself and their friends. The Future Five snuck through town, hearing and seeing the battle as both sides of Royal Guards duked it out.
“Everycreature here?” Luster asked, unable to see her friends due to the invisibility spell.
“Me here!” River’s voice called.
“I am too!” Gallop’s sounded.
“Yelena here!”
“Me too!” Georgia said.
“Okay, we need to find Starcutter,” Luster whispered. “Where would he be?”
“Hmm… he’s the guy in charge of the army, so he’s probably some place really important,” Gallop said. “What’s the most important building here?”
“The Castle of Friendship!” River said.
The castle was probably the perfect site for a conqueror. Luster looked over at her home, where her parents and Aunt Trixie had raised her. Starcutter was there? Then he was likely keeping her parents as well as Princess Twilight’s friends there.
“Okay, I guess it's worth a try.”
She lit up her horn and teleported herself and her friends directly to the front of the Castle of Friendship. Before it stood five royal guards - Sharp Eye among them. He was the only one not wearing a mind-controlling helmet.
“See if you can get the helmets off,” Luster whispered to her friends. “It's our best shot at taking the possessed guards down without hurting them.”
“Right,” her friends said, mostly in whispers.
But River Song said it rather loudly. “You got it, Luster!”
A chill crept down Luster’s spine and she looked back. Sharp Eye looked around, he saw nothing. But he narrowed his eyes all the same as Luster gritted her teeth fearfully. Then, his horn lit up with black magic and he let out a wave of it. Luster didn’t have time to put up a shield or defense as it washed over her. The magic caused no harm, but it disabled her own spell.
She and her friends became visible to themselves and everypony in sight.
Sharp Eye scowled. “Get them!”
The other four officers charged at the Future Five. Two unicorns went for Luster and River Song. A Pegasus flew and was intercepted by Georgia, while Gallop and Yelena got caught in a hoof fight with a crystal pony. Luster put up a shield of magic that sent her unicorn adversaries beam back at him, knocking him out cold.
"Ha, gotcha!" Luster smirked. "Hmm, that was easier than I--"
A sudden yell interrupted Luster's little victory speech. She glanced back to see a unicorn guard pulling a struggling River Song towards his sharp horn as though about to impale her.
"Hey!" Luster yelled and gritted her teeth once more, this time in anger. She took hold of the Kirin with her own magic. "Let her go!"
Luster tried to heave her friend away, but the other unicorn would not relent.
For a moment, they both struggled, levitating River like a ragdoll, but then, Luster began losing her grip. She concentrated desperately, but the river of sweat coming from her forehead was a dead giveaway it was a losing battle. There was only one obvious solution.
"River! S-shoot him!"
The Kirin hesitated. "W-what? But I can't just-"
"River, I c-can't hold it!" Luster yelled, just as her magic began to flicker. "Shoot! Do it! Do it now!"
Revulsed at the thought of having to take a life, River closed her eyes, and a blue flash quickly followed. Not feeling the tight grip anymore, she opened her eyes to see the soldier's body in a puddle of blood. The Kirin felt the urge to cry as she looked at it in remorse.
Luster released River and turned her attention to the aerial battle between Georgia and the Pegasus. The griffon’s claws were sharp, but Georgia wasn’t using them. She knew this Pegasus wasn’t trying to hurt her of his own free will; as such, she was more on the defensive. But she wasn’t trained in fighting arts and the Pegasus swatted at her with his strong hooves. He managed to knock her out of the air. She landed with a grunt, and the Pegasus pounced down to trample her, but Luster shot him with her gold magic. Meanwhile, Gallop managed to evade his crystal pony opponent long enough for Yelena to jump down on top of him. The Crystal Pony crumbled under the yak’s immense weight.
Yelena flinched at the sight.
“Ooh… Yelena sorry about this!”
Luster looked around at the dead guards. She’d thought being a hero was something glorious, but there was nothing glorious about this. These were all mind-controlled ponies, who had no choice. When one's life was in danger there was so little time to think, but they had to carry on and stop Starcutter so that this slaughter would end.
Sharp Eye was their last obstacle. Get past him and they would face Starcutter. But instead of engaging them, he merely smiled.
“Doesn’t matter if you take down Starcutter or not. He was merely a pawn in this game to return Equestria to the one who truly deserves it. You may win this battle, but soon the real war for Equestria will begin.”
Luster looked at him in suspicion. “What are you-“
There was a dark flash, and Sharp Eye was gone.
“He teleported away!” River Song said.
“Come back here, you coward!” Gallop shouted. “Come back and fight!”
“Don’t waste your breath, Gallop, he’s gone,” Luster said.
“We’ll crush him later!” Yelena said. “For now, we crush Starcutter!”
Walking up to the immense doors, Luster opened them with her magic. Now… came the really hard part.
Starcutter was in the entry room. Starlight, Sunburst, Trixie, and Princess Twilight’s other three friends, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, as well as Pinkie’s husband and son were all caged and chained along with Gallus's friends. Discord was there as well, though he was chained to the outside of the cages.
Starlight’s eyes widened as she saw her daughter enter the castle.
“Luster!” she called, putting her hooves on the cage.
Sunburst and Trixie both looked at Luster as well with widened eyes.
Luster glared at the sword pony.
“Let them go!”
Starcutter sighed. “I wish I could.”
The words surprised Luster. She’d expected something along the lines of “Make me,” or “In your dreams.” Something a villain would actually say.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Defeat me and perhaps I can tell you.”
Starcutter drew his sword. Luster cringed, was he just trying to distract her? She pointed her horn at him, her friends behind her. For a moment everycreature stood still, then Starcutter let out a great yell and charged at them. Luster fired a beam of her golden magic at him, but he raised his sword and blocked. Then to her surprise, with another swing of the sword in her direction, he flung it back at her. The unicorn was knocked off her feet as intense pain shot through her.
“Luster!” River called her friend's name, looking in her direction as Luster looked up just in time to see Starcutter charging at the distracted Kirin.
“River, look out!” Luster called.
River looked back and let out a fearful yell as Starcutter brought his sword down to slice her. Fortunately, Gallop got in front of her. Starcutter’s blade hit the other Earth ponies armor, bouncing off it harmlessly. Gallop seized on the opportunity to land a hoof to the blind side of Starcutter’s face where his eyepatch blocked his vision. The brown Earth pony grunted but managed to recollect himself and attack. He aimed for Gallop's forelegs, which, unlike his core, were not protected by the armor.
Gallop managed to move back enough to avoid getting his front legs cut off. Starcutter brought his blade up to strike again, but River was on it this time with her magic. She took hold of the sword blade, preventing it from moving. Starcutter lost hold of it as he swung again. The sword fell to the ground with a clatter. Without his weapon, he was much less dangerous. Georgia seized on the opportunity to go in and attack with her talons, Starcutter dodged and reached into his saddlebag, drawing a rock. He threw it up at Georgia, hitting her on the head. She fell.
The simple but effective tactic had worked. That was one down. Starcutter then ran to retrieve his sword, but Yelena stomped the ground, her immense yak strength caused Starcutter to stumble. Gallop leapt at him and delivered a sharp kick to his chest.
“Georgia, you okay?” Luster asked as she ran to the griffon’s side.
“Yeah!” the griffon said as Luster helped her up.
Luster and her friends looked at Starcutter as he grunted, crawling towards his sword.
“Time for my first friendship victory,” Luster said with a smile, certain they were about to win. “You ready, guys?”
They all nodded. Luster looked at each of her friends and recalled the times they’d had together. River, who made everyone smile and laugh. Georgia, who had comforted her when her parents sent her away. Gallop, who had been willing to go back to the Crystal Empire to save Georgia. And Yelena, who had been honest during the buckball game by admitting she had gone too far.
Luster tried to perform the Magic of Friendship. She had studied its theory hard, but… nothing happened. Again.
Starcutter looked at them, his teeth clenched as he gripped his sword. Obviously, he was expecting the magic to work as well. Luster expected him to smile as he realized it failed. But instead, he spoke in what sounded like disappointment.
“Pity, I’d hoped you could have stopped me.”
“Huh?” Luster hadn’t expected to hear that. This guy made no sense.
He suddenly charged at her, and Luster instinctively shot a beam of magic to defend herself. But Starcutter simply dodged, sidestepping while continuing his charge. Luster’s magic continued to where she did not have time to see before Starcutter kicked her in the chest, she collapsed on the ground and felt the cold blade of his sword press against her throat.
“Surrender!” he said, looking at her friends.
“Luster!” Starlight screamed in fear, pounding the cage desperately as though hoping to break through the bars.
Gallop, River, Yelena, and Georgia looked in fear at their threatened friend before bowing their heads. Starcutter then drew something from his guard sash. it was a ruby outlined in gold. Luster’s eyes shot open as she recognized it from her days of studying at the School of Magic. The Ruby of Reign, an artifact that allowed the wielder to control other ponies or creatures.
That was how he must have brainwashed all the guards into working for him! Now he was going to do the same thing to them!
It looked like it was over. Luster had… failed.
But as Starcutter held up the glowing gem, suddenly, both his sword and the Ruby of Reign vanished from his hooves in a flash of light.
“Huh? What?” the sword pony looked at his empty hooves.
“I think this little conquest of yours is at an end,” Discord said, dropping the sword and snapping his free hand. Starlight and all the others were suddenly teleported out of their cages.
Discord looked at Starlight. “Quite a twist, isn’t it? I free you from a cage, and now your daughter frees me from chains!”
Now it fell into place, Luster’s spell from before Starcutter had kicked her had missed him, but by some lucky break she had freed Discord. The spirit of chaos snapped his fingers again and a cage fell on Starcutter. Discord then looked at the artifact. His eyes widened.
“Why… this is the Ruby of Reign! I attempted to use a fake version of this when I posed as Grogar.” He looked at Starcutter. “So, this is how you controlled the entirety of the Crystal Guard... well, it's over!”
Discord raised the ruby, but nothing happened. He grimaced at it. “Oh, come on! There has to be a way to disengage the spell with this thing!”
“Allow me,” Sunburst said as he took the ruby from Discord with his magic.
“You’ve read up on this thing and know how to stop it?” Discord asked.
Sunburst shook his head. “No, but I know an artifact that should be destroyed when I see it!”
He shot a beam of magic at the Ruby. Just as Cozy Glow had destroyed the fake one that Discord had used, it disintegrated instantly. Now only a pile of ashes remained.
“That should free everypony!” Sunburst said.
Luster got to her hooves... and unable to contain herself, ran at her freed parents. “Mom, Dad!”
She wrapped her hooves around her mother. As she did so, some part of her feared Starlight would break away and tell her to leave. But slowly, her mother returned the hug.
“Are you alright, Mom?” Luster asked.
Starlight sniffled, the memory of her daughter having a sword held at her throat still fresh in her mind. “Forget about me, are you?”
Luster nodded. “I think so.”
“Oh, thank Celestia!” Starlight sobbed, tightening her grip to the extent that she squeezed Luster. “I was so worried when I saw that blade against your throat!”
“M-Mom!” Luster choked out. “You’re crushing me!”
“Oh, sorry!” Starlight said, lessening her grip.
“Luster,” Sunburst came up and joined the hug, more gently than Starlight.
“Dad,” Luster smiled as her father wrapped a hoof around her mother and her. For a moment, she was back where she felt she belonged. Her parents embrace comforting her after her frightening experience.
Outside they found all the Crystal Ponies had been freed from the Ruby of Reign’s control. Starcutter was levitated by Discord in his cage. The sword (or now swordless) pony said nothing as they walked across Ponyville.
…
Twilight watched the carnage with horror in her eyes. During her days of protecting Equestria, she had faced a similar situation, when King Sombra had brainwashed all of Ponyville and Canterlot. She and her friends had used non-lethal methods. But the Royal Guards were facing formidable, well-trained adversaries. They weren’t so lucky. They operated differently from how Twilight and her friends did being military rather than strictly protectors. Both the Crystal Empire and Canterlot guards drew blood, ending lives on each side. Some managed to subdue Crystal Empire Guards without killing and restrain them. Unfortunately, many more were forced to kill to either defend themselves or each other. It broke Twilight’s heart seeing two armies of Equestria fighting and destroying each other. This battle was not going to be a victory, even if they won.
Then suddenly, the Crystal Guards stopped fighting. Twilight let out a breath of relief. It was over.
“Luster did it!” she exclaimed in happiness.
That was one triumph for her student. Now Luster was one step closer to fulfilling her destiny! The good news pushed the bad away for Twilight. She eagerly flew up to her old castle where the Future Five and all her friends that had been captured stood.
“Is everypony okay?” she asked, her concern for her friends winning over her joy as she saw them.
“Yes, we’re all fine!” Starlight said.
“Thanks to me!” Discord said putting a hand on his heart. “And your lucky little Luster Dawn!” he added before ruffling Luster’s mane while she gave him an annoyed look.
The joy of Luster’s victory suddenly faded as Twilight realized what the Spirit of Chaos was talking about. And soon, Luster confirmed her fears.
“I’m sorry, Princess. I only won this battle by sheer luck,” Luster said. “I tried to use the magic of friendship, but it still wouldn’t come. Starcutter had me at his mercy and nearly brainwashed me and my friends. The only thing I did was free Discord and he put Starcutter in a cage.”
Twilight looked at her student sadly.
Luster bowed her head. “I’ve failed you, Princess.”
“No Luster, you saved Ponyville,” Starlight said. “Doesn’t matter how you did it! You came through in the end!”
“Y-yes,” Twilight agreed, though half-heartedly.
Luster had not failed Equestria, but she had failed Twilight. This had been her first real chance to prove herself worthy as a potential successor for Twilight to give up the immortality to. Was… was Luster not the one? Would she never be able to wield the magic of friendship?
Twilight turned away, that would have to wait. They had won this battle, but it was still not a victory in any way. Both armies of Equestria had suffered losses thanks to a certain pony. She now turned to that pony as he was brought up to her in a cage. It was time for him to answer for his crime.
“My brother trusted you greatly, Starcutter. Is this how you repay his trust? Using his own army to overthrow his daughter and try to conquer Equestria?” Twilight snarled.
“It wasn’t my fault, Princess!” Starcutter said. “I was under mind control myself!”
Twilight frowned at him in suspicion, “How can I trust anything you say? I will be conducting a full-scale investigation of your motives regarding this. I will find out the truth and see that you stand trial for what you’ve done. Take him away.”
Starcutter shook his head. “No, Princess you have to believe me! Grogar’s back and he’s planning to take over Equestria!”
The words hung in the air for a moment, Twilight felt a sudden urge to question him further. But she had trusted him to oversee the Crystal Empire until her niece came of age, and he had then overthrown Flurry Heart shortly after she came into her throne. He had betrayed her brother, she could not believe anything he said. She watched as the swordpony was levitated away by unicorn guards.