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Starswirl the Bearded had had many great students that had been eager to learn under him. Celestia and Luna were his primary students, whom he'd tutored (and often mentored) from youth. There were also times where he was his own student, still trying to learn about friendship. But there was one student of his that he greatly missed having around.
In the cave where he resided, Starswirl looked into his magic cauldron and called on its magic powers."Oh, Perseus, my lad," He sighed deeply. "If only you hadn't been killed by Sombra's mate…"
A small tear trickled down his face as Starswirl looked at a young unicorn pony, firing blasts of magic at hoarding enemy forces. "But I still refuse to believe you are gone forever," Starswirl declared. "I know you are alive somehow, somewhere, because I taught you to survive more than anything."
Suddenly, Starswirl's cauldron began to bubble wildly, a sign to him that something was happening! The vision of the brown coated unicorn pony disappeared, and in its place was a purple female pony with a horn and wings. Starswirl couldn't believe what he was seeing. "No, it can't be!" He cried. "How did you escape imprisonment?!"
Then another thought crossed Starswirl's mind. "She's coming for him," He whispered. "She's coming for his spirit, wherever it is. Perseus, I'm coming!" And Starswirl dashed out of his cave to find the spirit of his missing student.
…
Meanwhile, in the depths of Tartarus, a cloaked figure entered the prison, walking past the hoards of caged creatures. Finally, she came to the end of the hall and peeked at a cell that was on the left. Inside, was a purple coated alicorn mare, her ankles chained against the wall.
"Mom, if you could hear me out…"
"-You took your sweet time getting here, Misty!" The alicorn snapped. "And don't call me 'Mom' until I get what I want…revenge for the death of your father!"
The cloaked figure stuck out her horn and proceeded to try and unlock the cell door.
"Hurry, before anypony comes!" The alicorn hissed impatiently, but the lock was too strong. "Can't you cast a disabling spell or something?"
"I can't get it open, Mom!" The cloaked figure protested. "What should I do?"
Just then, they saw a guardspony enter the hallway, turning towards the cloaked figure and raising his spear. "HOLD IT!" He shouted!
The cloaked figure fired a spell at the guardspony, knocking him out and pushing him to the ground! The rest of the prisoners cheered, but the purple coated alicorn was having none of it.
"SILENCE!" The alicorn cried out, casting a silencing spell on the rest of the prisoners. The sounds of her yells caused the lock to break and fall off. With the door opened, the cloaked figure came inside and began to try and free her mother. "Hmm, I still got it after all these years."
One by one, the cloaked figure removed each chain from the alicorn's leg, then proceeded to free the bonds binding her wings together. "Can you still fly?" The cloaked figure asked.
"Much better than that, Misty," The alicorn smiled as she removed the figure's cloak, revealing it to be a blue coated unicorn mare with a curly mane and tail. "I can still cast spells!"
Laughing, she cast a powerful teleportation spell that transported both her and Misty out of Tartarus to parts unknown.
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The next morning, at the Castle of Friendship, Twilight came down the stairs to have breakfast in anticipation of a big, important day.
"Good morning, your highness." Moondancer cheerfully greeted with a bow, much to Twilight's amusement.
"Moondancer, how many times must I tell you? Keep calling me Twilight," Twilight laughed. "Anyways, is my announcement for the Grand Galloping Gala edited?"
"All ready for you," Moondancer acknowledged. "I still can't believe this is your first gala since becoming supreme princess."
"Well, it would have been sooner had it not been for Grogar," Twilight remarked as she looked over the announcement. "But still, a gala is a gala."
Taking the speech, Twilight proceeded towards the dining hall where Starlight, Spike and the ex-royal sisters were waiting for her. "Hey guys, how does this sound?" Twilight asked, holding the announcement out in her aura. "It is my distinct pleasure to personally announce the Grand Galloping Gala with a resilience theme."
"Not a bad start, Twilight. But it needs to be more than that," Spike advised. "If everycreature wants to get excited for the gala, then you have to demonstrate that to them."
Rolling her eyes at the feedback, Twilight proceeded to read further from the text. "Now that we have defeated the evil Grogar, this year's gala is intended to not only showcase our resolving nature, but also send a further message to our enemies that we will never surrender as long as friendship wins at the end of the day!"
"Hmm, not bad." Starlight nodded.
"Therefore, I, Supreme Princess of Equestria along with my fellow princesses, declare this year's gala to be the best one yet!" Twilight concluded.
However, instead of being excited, the impromptu audience sat in silence. "Um, not bad, Twilight," Luna somewhat sheepishly chuckled. "Still needs a little more work, though."
"What do you mean, Luna?" Twilight asked, looking over her notes once more. "I think it looks fine."
"Of course, but when it comes to writing something, it's helpful to be critical," Celestia explained. "Believe me, I went through it a lot. Sometimes, there's a need for condensing."
Twilight then placed her notes on the table and sat down as Moondancer then proceeded to hoof Twilight her morning briefing. She was just going over the stack, when her eyes widened!
"Impossible!" Twilight gasped!
"Twilight, what is it?!" Spike asked with a concerned look on his face.
"She's escaped!" Twilight explained.
"Who has escaped?" Starlight asked.
"Queen Opaline," Twilight nervously answered as Celestia and Luna also developed concerned looks on their faces. "King Sombra's wife! She's escaped Tartarus!"
…
Later that morning, the rest of the princesses descended on the Castle of Friendship and gathered in the throne room along with Celestia and Luna.
"King Sombra had a wife?!" Rainbow Dash remarked. "Since when did that happen?!"
"Yeah, I reckon he never had a wife before," Applejack added. "And why are we bein' told this now, Twilight? How come we weren't briefed on this sooner?"
"Trust me, girls, I'm just as confused as you are. I wasn't kept informed of every prisoner in Tartarus. Perhaps, that needs to change," Twilight explained. "According to the warden, Queen Opaline disappeared from Tartarus just after midnight last night. And according to further evidence, she had an accomplice cloaked in black accompanying her."
"Cloaked in black?" Rarity asked. "Nopony goes cloaked in black except for me. She's a thief, and a traitor!"
"Um, it's not just you, silly," Pinkie Pie remarked. "There were others who were in a black cloak such as Trixie before she became good, Tirek according to Discord, and even Luna when she arrived on Nightmare Night a while back. Being cloaked in black doesn't always mean you're up to no good."
Clearing her throat, Twilight activated the friendship map table, getting the attention of her friends back. "That means she had an accomplice. And I have a good idea who it is," She then turned the group's attention to the northwestern portion of the map. The attention turned to a small seaside village not far from Silver Shoals.
"This is Maretime Bay, a town settled predominantly by earth ponies not too long ago," Twilight explained ."Intelligence says that Queen Opaline and a pony who claims to be her daughter were seen moving towards the town."
Celestia then stepped forward and carefully looked at the lines that were heading towards Maretime Bay. A heavy look of guilt and anger was plastered on her face. "She did it, she actually did it," Celestia sighed, causing everyone to look at her. "Our magic wasn't enough to hold her."
"You know this pony?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Was she born an alicorn like Flurry Heart was?"
"No, she wasn't born an alicorn, Pinkie Pie," Celestia answered. "Over a thousand years ago, Luna and I led an army to the Crystal Empire to overthrow King Sombra and his family after they toppled Queen Amore. King Sombra was turned to shadow and banished beneath the Frozen North. The rest of his family were sentenced to life imprisonment in Tartarus."
"But what about his son, Julius? Wasn't he murdered?" Spike wondered.
"He was, but Sombra along with his wife Opaline had two other children: A unicorn and an earth pony. At the time of their capture, they were being groomed to rule the empire after him. They were to be his heirs.."
All the attention then focused towards Queen Opaline's movements towards Maretime Bay.
"Okay, so if they want the Crystal Empire, why don't they just go there? For that matter, have Cadence and Shining Armor been notified?" Applejack asked. "We gotta protect them!"
"What can we do about it, though?"Fluttershy wondered. "If they're anything like Sombra the last time he was brought back, they're sure to take the royal crystal family hostage."
Sighing deeply, Twilight weighed her options. But before she could give her answer, there was another knock at the front door of the castle.
A few moments later, the door opened and out peeked Tempest Shadow, beckoning Twilight forward.
"Twilight, thank Equestria!" Starswirl gasped and panted as he ran up to her! "Listen, you haven't got much time!"
"What are you talking about, Starswirl?" Twilight pondered.
"It's Perseus, he's alive!" or at least his spirit is," The old wizard explained. "But it's being hunted, and I need your help. She'll stop at nothing to destroy it completely!"
"Whose spirit?" Rainbow Dash asked, floating over next to Twilight. "And who in the name of Celestia is Perseus?"
"I don't know," Twilight declared. "But I know where I can find out."
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In the castle library, Twilight looked through a specific book that told about the past rulers of the Crystal Empire.
"I can't believe he's still alive, Starswirl," Celestia commented with concern. "After what Opaline did to him before she was sentenced."
"According to the official history of the Crystal Empire:" Twilight read aloud. "Sombra and Opaline had three children, two males and one female unicorn. Perseus, a student of Starswirl the Bearded's had been ordered to personally carry out the assassination of the royal family under the request of Celestia and Luna. It wasn't until after he was captured and tortured that the Royal Sisters ordered the family captured and brought to trial."
"The verdict had already been read as they were all tried in absentia," Luna explained. "All the surviving family was sentenced to life imprisonment in Tartarus. But Calibos, the youngest child, refused to cooperate."
Luna and Celestia then proceeded to produce a vision that showed a gray coated earth pony stallion fighting against several crystal guards, punching and kicking them. Just then, they saw a pony wizard cast a spell on the pony, knocking him out cold.
A few moments later, another vision was produced, this time of Calibos transforming from a pony into a hideous monster figure.
"WHAT IS THAT?!" Fluttershy cried, covering her eyes with her wings.
"That is Sombra's youngest son, forever doomed to be a beast for his actions." Celestia answered.
"But what about the daughter?" Rarity asked. "Where does she fit into all of this?"
"The daughter was sentenced to a medium security part of Taratarus," Luna answered. "Somehow, not too long ago, she found a way to escape captivity. And it seems she was involved in liberating Opaline."
"How?" Rainbow Dash questioned.
"I'm not sure how, the records don't say," Twilight explained. "They were all destroyed when the prison was shut down last year. Either way, Misty could have taken advantage of the situation and escaped. And now she's freed Opaline. They must be looking to finish what they started."
"Celestia, Luna, you understand that I had Perseus carry out the arrest, yes?" Starswirl asked. "Did you expect him to end up like this?"
"No, Starswirl, we didn't," Celestia glumly and hesitantly answered. "But it was probably after Calibos killed him in the Crystal Empire's tower. He died a hero's death, Starswirl. You know that. There was nothing we could do for him."
But Starswirl didn't respond right away. "He didn't die, Celestia. Your fellow student is a wandering spirit, who is now being hunted by the former pony who murdered him to avoid capture."
"Calibos is alive?!" Twilight gasped!
"He is, and will not rest until his mother's orders are carried out." Starswirl declared.
"So what are we gonna do about it?" Applejack asked. "What's the plan?"
"I think we should split up," Twilight instructed. "Starswirl: You, Celestia and Luna go after Perseus while the rest of us try to stop Queen Opaline from getting to Maretime Bay."
"But what does she want in Maretime Bay?" Spike asked. "Why hasn't she set her sights on the Crystal Empire."
"I'm not sure, but I can tell you we are going to find out, everypony!" Twilight vowed. "Let's get to Maretime Bay, on the double!"
Activating her horn, Twilight prepared to teleport herself, Spike and their friends away only for Starlight to stop them.
"Wait!" Starlight cried. "What do you want me to do, Twilight?! I refuse to sit this one out!"
"Go with Starswirl, Celestia and Luna," Twilight ordered. "They may need your magic to help them fight Calibos. Every bit helps!"
"All right," Starlight nodded. "But I have a bad feeling about this. Please be careful."
"Don't worry, we will. Best of luck stopping Calibos." Twilight firmly answered, then both her and her friends disappeared in a flash of light.
With Twilight and the others gone, Starswirl activated his own teleportation spell and transported himself, the ex-royals and Starlight after Perseus, leaving Moondancer alone in the castle.
"I'd better send out a warning to all of Equestria," Moondancer cried. "If they are just like I studied a while back…"So the race was on to save one life and protect the lives of others as an evil queen and her daughter moved closer and closer towards their intended targets.
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