Chrysalis looked thoughtfully at the amulet Cozy brought back from the Grand Galloping Gala.
“I know it wasn’t what you were looking for," Cozy said. "But this was all I could manage. I would have had her if not for Rainbow Dash and Rarity coming into the bathroom!”
“Oh please, you would still have had to get past all the partygoers,” Tirek told her. “You don’t have the strength for a direct assault like me!”
“Well," Chrysalis spoke. "You did get the amulet away from her at least. This presents an opportunity to get close to her myself. Though Starlight may have more of them. You said her griffon friend had one as well, right? We’ll need to get that one too, either steal it or get the griffon away.”
Tirek put a finger (or hoof as Sombra’s illusion made it look like) to his chin.
“No, I think the time for stealth is over. We need to lure them into a trap and then strike quickly to take her. And I have the perfect plan.”
…
Luster woke up in her room in the Castle of Friendship. She and her friends had all decided to crash in their homes at Ponyville. Their trip to the gala left them exhausted.
She sat up in her bed and looked through her bedroom. There was a shelf of her personal collection of books. Many were spell-related, but some ordinary reading material was among the volumes as well.
Luster levitated one of her favorite stories out of the shelf and opened it for a read. Buck Everlasting, the story of a family of ponies that had drunk magical water from a spring in some woods. Unknown to them, the spring granted them eternal life, and one of them (the eldest son) would lose their new family because of that. The eldest son’s wife left him and took their children. The Buck family came to despise their immortality, for it denied them the chance to ever enter the afterlife. In the end, Whinnie Frost, the protagonist who found the Buck family and fell in love with the younger son, chose not to drink from the spring even though she could have been with him forever. She chose to live a mortal life, experiencing the entire process rather than be trapped the way she was, forever.
Luster looked over the pages in which Angus Buck spoke to the female protagonist.
“It's part of the wheel. You can’t have living without dying. Don’t be afraid of death, be afraid of the unlived life.”
Luster sighed and smiled. This was an important lesson that everyone should learn. Immortality might appeal to many, but Luster imagined for a moment living on after all those closest to her were gone. Gallop, River, the others… it just didn’t seem worth it. She loved life and all the things it could offer. She’d had wonderful adventures with her friends so far, but life could also be painful. Like when she’d had to leave her family… or how River felt guilty for taking the life of that pony. There were things that every creature would do they might regret for the rest of their lives. Pain that could sometimes never be escaped altogether. Princess Twilight lost her brother, and she still missed him.
Luster’s mind turned to Celestia, the former ruler before Princess Twilight, who lived for a thousand years. She’d lost many loved ones during that time, not to mention being apart from her sister for so long. How lovely their reunion must have been!
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
“Luster! You there?” Starlight’s voice called out.
“Yeah, Mom!” Luster responded.
Starlight opened the door to her daughter’s bedroom with her teeth clenched in fear. Then it turned to relief as she looked at Luster. “Whew, I was a little worried!”
“Mom, you worry too much!” Luster said.
“But your amulet was stolen at the Gala last night!” Starlight said.
“I might have just lost it,” Luster pointed out. “It may have simply come off when I had to change dresses or something. Though maybe there was a thief at the Gala. They did find a pony that claimed to have been attacked and her dress stolen!"
“Not a chance!” Starlight said. “Chrysalis has to be behind this!”
“You, me, or Georgia would have seen her with our amulets if it were Chrysalis!” Luster pointed out, growing a little annoyed.
“Maybe it was Tirek or Cozy Glow then!” Starlight suggested.
Luster shook her head. “Tirek is a centaur, there were no centaurs at the gala, and I would have remembered being close to a filly!”
“I still don’t like it! I just have a feeling Chrysalis is behind this!” Starlight said.
This had been on Luster’s mind too, and while she was concerned about her amulet missing and that Chrysalis might take advantage of her vulnerability, she didn’t let it get to her. She just had to try and stay calm and be careful. Panicking wouldn’t solve anything.
Luster shrugged. “Maybe she is… maybe she isn’t.”
“Luster, how can you be so calm!” Starlight screamed. “You are in danger right now! Aren’t you even worried?”
Luster hesitated. “Well… yeah… but… I can’t let it get to me! Besides, there was a lot that happened last night, you know!”
She didn’t mean to shout the last bit. It was the first time she could remember actually getting mad at her mother. It was true though, a lot had happened. She and Gallop had become an official couple, which had made her night truly the best night ever - aside from the little bad discovery.
They had kissed under the stars, and then Luster discovered her amulet missing. She’d looked everywhere, asking Princess Twilight, Royal Guards, and anyone at the Gala, but no one had seen it. Princess Twilight even put the guards on a patrol to see if they could find it around the castle. The only thing they found however was a pony knocked out in the bushes with her ticket and outfit stolen. This led Twilight to believe someone had snuck into the Gala. So, Luster drew the conclusion that it may have been a thief. Though it was strange that only her amulet was stolen. In the end she’d had to leave Canterlot without it.
Starlight sighed. “I know you’re excited about your first coltfriend, and I’m happy for you. But this is serious. I can’t have you go without some form of protection against Chrysalis.”
Starlight removed her own amulet and put it around Luster’s neck.
“But Mom, what if she comes after you?” Luster asked. “You were able to see her thanks to having an amulet!”
“I’ve already sent word to Thorax asking for a few more," Starlight said. "They should be here soon.”
Luster shook her head and gave the amulet back to her mother, “I don’t like the idea of leaving you defenseless. Georgia will be with me most of the time; she can keep an eye out for Chrysalis.”
“Absolutely not!” Starlight said, shoving it back. “You’re taking this one!”
“Mom! I can’t take something from you that keeps you safe!” Luster said, using her magic to alter the amulet’s path and keep it off her neck.
“I care more about your safety than my own!” Starlight shouted, losing her patience as she again tried to put the amulet on her daughter’s neck. “It’s a parent’s duty to protect their child!”
“Sometimes you can just be so overprotective!” Luster snapped, angry now as well.
“Take the amulet!” Starlight ordered.
“Mom, I’m not a little filly anymore! I’m nearly a grown-up mare, and I can make choices for myself! I’ll take a new amulet when it comes from the changelings!”
“No! You will take this one!”
“I will not!” Luster gave the amulet a final push with her magic and tossed it out the window. It vanished from sight into the Everfree; both Luster and Starlight’s eyes went wide at this.
“Luster, look what you did! We just lost another amulet!” Starlight said. “Now only Georgia has one!”
Luster gritted her teeth. This was not good! She hadn’t meant for that to happen. She’d merely overreacted and diverted the unwanted item away. Now she’d left them with one less means of defense against an enemy that might be coming.
Starlight growled. “Go! Out of here now! Find Georgia, and don’t come back until I send word that new amulets have arrived!”
Luster was soon outside of the Castle of Friendship. Her heart ached as she was once again not allowed with her parents. Tears started in her eyes. She walked the streets, back in the same hurtful place, except this time, her mother was mad at her. It hurt a lot more than before.
As she walked, Luster heard somepony call her name.
“Luster?”
Looking in the source, Luster saw Honeytart and Bladerunner.
“Oh, hey guys!” Luster said, putting on a smile.
“Hey," Honeytart greeted. "It's been a long time since we’ve seen you! How are you?”
“Uh, not good right now,” Luster admitted. “My mother and I just had a fight.”
“Uh-oh." Bladerunner gasped. "What happened?”
Luster told them what happened.
“Oh, well, I’m sure your mother will cool down soon,” Honey said. “In the meantime, why don’t we take you to breakfast. We haven’t had the chance to hang out yet!”
“Alright.” Luster said.
…
In the manor of Diamond Tiara, Tirek handled the lifting of the furniture inside. The once heiress to the Rich family's fortune relaxed comfortably, reading a magazine.
“Ugh… I’m bored,” she said.
“Well, maybe you should invite somepony over to spend time with,” Tirek suggested.
“But who? I do have Silver Spoon. Or perhaps I could invite the Cutie Mark… Specialists.” Diamond corrected herself. Even though they still helped younger ponies find their cutie marks and destiny, the trio of fillies that she had once bullied now called themselves the Cutie Mark Specialists as a way to sound more adult.
“What about that... Luster Dawn?” Tirek replied.
“Luster Dawn, the latest hero of Equestria?” Diamond Tiara wondered aloud. “Hmm… I suppose she would certainly be welcome here. Helping Hoof!”
Her butler, Helping Hoof, entered the room.
“Miss Diamond?”
“If you would please… go to the homes of my friends, the Cutie Mark Specialists and invite them here. Oh, and please locate the pony known as Luster Dawn. I would like to invite her as well.”
…
Meanwhile, Luster and her other friends ate in the Pony Pancake House, the same place Luster had gone to breakfast the day after Starlight first sent her away.
“So, what are you doing after this, Luster?” Honeytart asked.
“How about we go to the Skatepark?” Bladerunner suggested. “You wanted to try that.”
Luster looked down. “Sorry, but I said I would meet everycreature at the Treehouse of Harmony soon. I might be able to go after that, though.”
“Oh! We heard a rumor you were living there. Would you mind showing it to us? We’ve heard of it but never actually seen it,” Honeytart said.
Luster shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
She led them through the Everfree Forest with a calm expression. By now she was used to this path. Bladerunner looked eager as he grinned, though Honeytart now seemed a bit nervous.
“Wow, I can’t believe you’re brave enough to go in here every day,” Honey said, looking down at them as she flew. “I mean, there could be monsters around every corner, not to mention all the icky mud. Glad I have wings… uh!”
Just as she said it, she had flown into a tree branch. It snapped and tangled in her golden mane.
Bladerunner chuckled. “You were saying?”
The Pegasus answered with an annoyed growl, struggling to pull the branch out of her mane.
“Better watch out for the stuff above!” Bladerunner said teasingly, then turned to Luster. “That's only the third time today she did that--”
A painful grunt interrupted him. Luster and Bladerunner turned to see the Pegasus on the ground, frowning. Her cheeks were burning with a fire of embarrassment.
“Not... a... word...” Honey said, but it was too late. Their smirking faces soon let out a series of giggles. Fortunately, once they arrived at the treehouse, Honey’s eyes lit up at the sight of the shining structure, washing the frown from her face.
“Ooh, beautiful!” she said. “I can’t believe you actually live here! But you lived in a castle before that! You’re lucky, Luster!”
The unicorn giggled and thought, Yes, lucky, lucky me! Getting sent away by my mother twice thanks to that stupid Chrysalis.
Bladerunner looked at the treehouse, “Well, not everypony can say they live in a shining crystal house!”
Luster walked inside and found all her friends there.
“Luster!” River Song squealed.
The Kirin ran over and tried to hug Luster, but the unicorn held up a hoof. She couldn’t take a chance now that her amulet was gone. She had forgotten to use the codewords a lot in the past, but ever since Chrysalis had arrived in Ponyville she’d taken that more seriously.
“Read!” Luster started.
“Run!” Gallop responded.
“Swim!”
“Smash!”
“Fly!”
Honeytart and Bladerunner looked at all of them in confusion.
“What’s that all about?” she whispered to him.
“Don’t know,” he replied.
Hearing them, Luster explained, “We have a code to say our favorite things to do to make sure one of us isn’t Chrysalis.”
River now hugged Luster. “How was your night at your parent’s house? Any word on getting a new amulet?” she asked.
Luster looked down. “My Mom and I had a bit of an argument.”
“Uh-oh!” Yelena said. “Luster okay?”
The Unicorn nodded. “I handled this once, I can do it again. I don’t think it will be for long this time.”
“Still, we need to be more careful now since you don’t have an amulet anymore,” Gallop said, walking up to Luster with a look of determination. “So, from now on we can’t leave you alone! You hear that, guys?”
“Yeah!” the others said.
“One of us has to be with her at all times!”
Georgia nodded. “We can take turns with my amulet, so whoever remains with her will wear it!”
“So, what do we do today?” River asked.
Luster looked back at the friends she’d brought along. “Bladerunner invited me to go roller-skating today. Maybe we could all go?”
“Sure, I’m good with skating,” Gallop agreed.
All the others nodded as well. Luster looked at the other two ponies.
Bladerunner shrugged. “Alright, more the merrier.”
…
They headed to the skatepark. Luster had a set of four skates on her hooves. She wobbled, having never skated before. The wheels swerved uncontrollably, and she slipped. River, meanwhile, performed tricks, spinning around like a ballerina.
“Nice, you’re a natural, River!” Bladerunner said with a grin.
“You okay, Luster?” Gallop asked his marefriend, helping her up with a hoof.
“Yeah,” Luster said smiling as he pulled her up.
“Excuse me, Luster Dawn?” a voice asked.
Luster looked and saw a pony in a formal suit coming towards her and the others.
“Yes?” Luster asked.
“I come on behalf of my mistress, Diamond Tiara. She would like to invite you to her home.”
“Diamond Tiara?” Luster asked.
“She’s one of the wealthiest ponies in Ponyville!” Georgia said.
“It wouldn’t be proper to refuse an invite from her,” Honeytart said.
“In that case, you can tell Miss Diamond that I will be there shortly,” Luster said.
The butler nodded. “Very good.”
…
Tirek waited in a corner as Helpful Hoof came back and informed Diamond Tiara that-
“She said she will be here shortly, Miss Diamond.”
“Good, please have snacks prepared for my guests!”
“Right away.”
Tirek grinned. He then lifted a magical device he’d bought with some of the bits he’d earned.
“Strong Centaur to Buzzing Bug!” he spoke in a code. “She’s on her way!”
“I’m coming!” Chrysalis’s voice rang through the device.
The changeling soon arrived at the back of the manor disguised as a random pony.
“She’ll be here soon,” Tirek said.
Chrysalis grinned. “Good. I’m ready. With or without an amulet, a swift strike shall get our target.”
They headed off along the side of the house which was blocked by a stone wall just tall enough to hide Tirek.
…
Diamond Tiara stood in front of her house, waiting for her guests to arrive. Soon they did so. First came her long-time friend Silver Spoon, a fellow wealthy pony that Diamond had considered the closest thing she could have to an equal in her fillyhood. Next was Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom, the grown-up Cutie Mark Crusaders she had often bullied. Of course, their relationship turned for the good after their encouragement in standing up to her mother. Now Diamond strived to be a better pony than she was before; she gave charities to orphanages and other good causes and treated everypony or creature civilly no matter what sort of class they came from.
“Howdy, Diamond Tiara!” Applebloom said as she approached. “Mighty kind of ya to invite us all to your abode. Been a while since we could all get together.”
“Sure has!” Diamond said with a grin. “I also invited Luster Dawn as well, and she’s bringing her friends.”
“Oh, that’s cool!” Scootaloo said.
They waited a bit, until the Future Five arrived.
“Welcome, new heroes of Equestria!” Diamond Tiara said.
“Thank you for inviting us here, Miss Diamond Tiara!” Luster said.
“Well, my mother taught me it was important to know important ponies!” Diamond said before looking at the adult crusaders. “But these three taught me to treat everypony or creature with respect. I look forward to getting to know all of you!”
She turned to lead them into the manor, when suddenly there was a loud thud behind them. A cloud of dust swept over them, and an immense shadow fell on them. Slowly, everycreature turned to see the one who cast it. They saw a red and black centaur with a white beard.
“Ah... it feels good to have hands I can see again!” Tirek said, looking at them as he shook his fingers.
Luster and her friends stood wide-eyed, caught completely by surprise. Tirek opened his mouth and before anycreature could react, he absorbed their magic, and their eyes grew white. Luster, Diamond Tiara, and everycreature else collapsed. Luster lay there, helpless as another shadow drew close to her. She looked up and saw her as a shiver ran down her spine… Queen Chrysalis stood gazing down at her with a pair of hungry green eyes and an evil grin.
“At last, the daughter of Starlight Glimmer!” Chrysalis said triumphantly. "She’s mine!”
Green slime erupted from the changeling's mouth, and she wrapped Luster in a cocoon of it.
“Luster!” River shouted.
“No!” Gallop screamed, raising a hoof at his marefriend as Chrysalis began to ascend with her.
“Let's go!” Chrysalis said as she flew off on her wings.
Tirek leaped after her, able to jump incredible distances. Down below, ponies saw both the villains and pointed up at them in fright.
“It's Chrysalis!”
“And Tirek!”
“Run!”
“Chrysalis has somepony!”
Cozy Glow waited for her teammates at the same spot before the Everfree they had emerged from when first coming here.
“You got her!” she grinned.
“Now… let's get her to Grogar!” Chrysalis said.
With their prisoner in the cocoon, the terrible trio vanished into the forest.