When the six of us reach the castle entrance, Aita spots Stellar Flare right away, who is running with a stack of scrolls held by her magic and a saddlebag on each of her sides. We all give chase through the air, Aita leading the pack.
Stellar Flare ends up leading us to the train station, where she hops aboard the caboose right before the train leaves. It gives me and Twilight no choice but to teleport there.
Whew, lost ‘em. Stellar Flare enters the interior of the car only to see us in the middle, which startles her. Each of us stares at Stellar Flare with rightful anger.
“Tell us where the princesses are!” Aita demands.
“Like I’d let you know, Aita, not to mention your little support gang,” replies Stellar Flare. “Besides, how’d you all find me so quickly?”
“Anypony can pose as another all they want, but no unicorn can fake hornwriting,” Starlight explains.
Twilight lights her horn and stamps her left hoof. “Stellar Flare, stand down and reveal where Celestia and Luna are! We are not going to order again!”
On the spot, Stellar Flare teleports out of the train.
“I guess that means she wants to play our game,” I remark. “Aita, where to?”
Aita runs to where Stellar Flare left, sniffs the air and runs back under my wing. “Twilight’s castle, Chrysalis!”
Twilight and I teleport to her home, Starlight and Aita with me and Spike and Carve with Twilight. When we do enter the throne room, the scrolls Stellar Flare stole form a circle above the map, one scroll at the center having something already written on it. When the rest of the scrolls together make a white flash, Stellar Flare rolls them all up with copies of the royal seal. She then sees us, prompting her to hop into a hostile stance.
“Haha! Knew you’d follow me so quickly.” When Starlight and Aita attempt to pursue Stellar Flare, she floats the rolled up scrolls in the air, threatening to send them. “Ah! One more step and I leak your state.”
Out of rage, I bring Stellar Flare face to face with me using my magic, the scrolls she was holding falling on the floor. “Don’t you DARE tarnish an innocent child’s good name!!! You’ve already done enough as it is!!!”
“Too late.” Stellar Flare narrowly thumps my horn with her hoof despite my attempt to dodge, making me wince and let go of her. Deja vu.
Aita catches Stellar Flare with her magic before hitting the ground, but the poor child appears to be struggling. Twilight helps her in response by inputting her own magic.
Meanwhile, Carve and Starlight hurry over and team up to burn the contaminated scrolls with simple heat through their horns. Stellar Flare struggles and watches in horror as the scrolls ignite all at once. She then smirks and lights her horn. Aita and Twilight see this and yelp the split second before they’re dragged along as Stellar Flare teleports out. Spike attempts to stop Stellar Flare by shooting fire in her face, but misses when Stellar Flare performs the relocation spell.
“Aita! Twilight! NOOO!!!” he yells.
I rub the tip of my horn, hovering in the air to smell where the three went.
“Where’d they go?” Starlight frantically asks.
“Starlight, Spike, grab onto me and Carve. Carve, follow me.”
Everyone does as I tell them and I teleport us to the Crystal Empire, where we found Twilight right before she trusted me. Starlight ends up leading the way, thinking she knows where Stellar Flare is headed.
Starlight does a victory pull with her hoof when we see Stellar Flare floating in front of a house that sticks out from the rest of the empire, being held by Twilight and Aita. “I knew it!”
The closer the four of us get to Twilight, Aita, and Stellar Flare, the more we hear the latter barking and grunting. “Let me go this instant!” she demands as I approach and help hold her.
“Aita, warn Cadence and Shining Armor. Twilight and I will hold Stellar Flare until the guards arrive.” Aita nods to me and dashes off to the Crystal Palace. I turn coldly to Stellar Flare. “This is what you get for threatening. my. changelings.”
Stellar Flare starts her horn again, trying to teleport one more time. However, Twilight thumps it like she did with mine.
“You can’t keep her like that forever!” Spike notes. “I only hope it’ll be long enough to for the guards to get here in time!”
Suddenly, Sunburst’s door opens, revealing him from behind. “What’s all the commotion around- WHAT?!? What’s Mom doing here?!?”
“Oh son! Glad you could come out. We got some news that-”
Twilight magics a zipper over Stellar Flare’s mouth to silence her. “Hold it there. Aita will be the mouthpiece of that announcement.”
Stellar Flare has another go at teleporting, but it is I who thumps her horn now.
“So what are you doing? I was already aware Mom somehow escaped. Now that you mention it Twilight, where is Aita?”
Summoning the guards of course, Shining Armor says out of nowhere. I see him and Aita after a second of looking around, in addition to the guards that surround us now. “So, the whole gang is here, hunting down Equestria’s most wanted.” He winks at us.
“Wait a minute, how did you know?” I ask him.
“Areola and Mangle sent letters to Cadence and I, telling us to be on the lookout for Stellar Flare and Wind Rider after their disappearance.”
Stellar Flare growls. “Yona, you yodeling snitch!”
Twilight, Starlight, Spike, Aita, and I are surprised that Wind Rider is also free.
“But how did Wind Rider escape?!?” inquires AIta. “I thought he was cocooned!”
“He was,” I assure her. “But we can’t speculate right now.”
“So, anything to add before we take this mare away, sis?” asks Shining Armor.
Twilight nods. “Mhm. If you please, would you put a suppressant on Stellar Flare so that she can’t use snap travel?”
Aita uses her magic to teleport in a shard of my old throne and turn it into a ring. Carve then puts it on Stellar Flare’s horn, prompting Twilight and me to let her go so that the guards can take her away.