//------------------------------// // Chapter #21: Nightfall // Story: My Little Pony: Dark Star // by WestRail642fan //------------------------------// Chapter Twenty One. Nightfall. "Hold the phone!" Pipp shouted, shock in her voice, "Opaline is your mother?!" She added, confusion slapped on her face, a new fire roaring in front of her. Sunny and Opaline had spent the entire day giving Pipp a run down on Dark Star as well as what they had been up to then looking for the pink pegasus, so long in fact that it became nightfall. "Yep..." Sunny sighed, "And it turns out my real name is Stellar Harmony." She added, gently turning a carrot on a stick in the flames, "Anyway, that brings us up to when we found you two love birds." She continued, pointing the carrot at Pipp and David as they sat next to each other, Pipp's wing wrapped around the human's waist. The pink mare's cheeks flushed red at those words, "So. What did you two get up too, besides... Well, you know." Sunny looked down in embarrassment. "Well..." Pipp rubbed the back of her head, "We honestly didn't do much, we were just mostly on the road." She looked up at David, "But, we did go swimming in a lake, and had to fight off these weird shadow beings." She added, "But other than that, it was mostly boring. No offence, my love." She nuzzled David's arm as he shrugged, clearly not offended by her referring to the trip so far as mostly boring. "You? Swimming?" Zipp raised her eyebrow in surprise, "Yeah, like you would ever try a thing like that." She remarked. "I'll have you know that I swim from time to time." Pipp huffed in frustration. "I've never once seen you use the palace pool, or go to the beach." Zipp replied, chuckling to herself, it genuinely missed this sort of light teasing with Pipp. "Because I..." Pipp looked down at her hooves, "I used to sneak out and swim in one of the streams outside the city." Pipp covered her face with her wings as she let out this long-held secret of hers. "Huh, guess we're more alike than I thought, sis..." Zipp mused to herself, she thought she was the only one to sneak out. "Wait, rewind. Shadow Creatures?" Sunny stared at Pipp, eye twitching, "You can't just drop a bomb like that and not expect us to not ask!" Sunny grabbed Pipp by the shoulders, shaking her back and forth. "Yes! Shadow Creatures!" Pipp said, voice all jittery from the shaking Sunny was giving her, "They had golden eyes and they would take on the form of a loved one. They... They took the form of my father and the form of his wife." She added, looking up at David as the shaking stopped. "What?! They tried to defile Dad's memory?!" Zipp snarled, "If I ever get my hoofs on one of them I'll make them regret taking the form of our father EVER!" Zipp slammed her hoof into the dirt. "That won't be necessary." Pipp chuckled, "We." She hugged David tightly with her wing, "We already dealt with them." She smiled proudly. "For clarification." David spoke up, "She was the one who chased after them into the forest like a maniac." He chuckled, kissing Pipp's forehead as she laughed. "All right, all right you two, enough with romance, it's making me sick." Zipp groaned, Hitch and Izzy was more than enough romance for her. "Hey! Don't make me tell them about the time I caught you and Thunder in the broom closet." Pipp smirked, getting some "Ooohs" From Sunny, Izzy and Dazzle. "You wouldn't dare." Zipp replied, her pupils shrinking. "Oh, I would." Pipp continued to smirk, "I know Sunny and Izzy are dying to hear it." She winked at her two friends. "You told them?!" Zipp shouted in embarrassment. "I totally did!" Pipp giggled, "Come on Z, it's not that embarrassing, Like, all I saw was you and him kissing, if anything, the funny part was how you ended up wearing his helmet!" Pipp giggled once more. "Laugh it up, Fluffy Butt!" Zipp said, now the one smiling smugly. "Fluffy Butt?!" Pipp screamed, "Zipp, you know I hate that nickname!" "Fluffy Butt?" Sunny asked in confusion, tilting her head. "A nickname I gave to Pipp here, because when she was 9, she used to wear a fake bunny tail on her actual tail for a whole year." Zipp laughed. "No..." Pipp groaned, placing her face into her hooves. "You guys do not wanna know my nickname." Izzy shook her head, "Let's just say, it's part of why Mayonnaise was considered jinxed." "Mine was Bitch Trailblazer." Hitch shrugged, "Not sure why honestly." He added, Izzy let out a soft giggle. "Mine is currently Banana Split." Sunny sighed, "All because I slipped on a banana peel..." She looked at the warm fire in front of her. "My Bananas!" Dazzle burst out, all eyes now on her, "What? That song is super catchy." She giggled, pulling out her phone and playing the song out loud. She quickly stood up and began dancing. "Oooh! This looks like fun!" Izzy smiled, leaping off the ground, quickly copying Dazzle's dance moves perfectly. Hitch wolf-whistled at Izzy as she perfectly danced in time with Dazzle. The two mares were laughing loudly. "David?" Pipp asked, eyes focused on the two dancing ponies as she pulled out her phone, "Can you stream this for me?" She asked, quickly setting her phone into live stream mode. "Uh, sure?" He replied, taking hold of her phone and pointing it at the dancing mares as Pipp quickly joined them. "I think you'll find that this is how you dance!" Pipp shouted smugly, showing off her own dance moves. "Is that a challenge, Fluffy Butt?" Dazzle grinned smugly as she matched Pipp's pace. "You're going down Fazzle Dazzle." Pipp smirked, barely breaking a sweat as she danced around the fire. Sunny let out a shrug, "Eh, why not?" She spoke to Hitch before joining the three mares as they danced and laughed, "Pipp, won't you get shadow banned for using music in your stream?" She asked, struggling to keep up with the pink pegasus. "Eh, it's my song after all." Pipp replied, effortlessly dancing around despite her being chubbier than anyone else relative to her size. Soon, the 4 Mares danced together, long after the song about bananas had stopped, and another one of Pipp's songs started to play. "Can't let you guys have all the fun." Zipp smiled, quickly joining in as well. "Glowin' up kind of love!" Pipp sang in time with the song, her eyes focused on David as she sang, causing the human to blush slightly as he continued to hold her phone, focusing the camera on the 5 mares as they all sang along with the song as it played through Dazzle's phone. "Glowin’ up kind of love, dip and slide through the cut!" The 5 mares continued to sing along as the song continued playing, all grooving and dancing together. David looked and blushed as he admired Pipp sing, her eyes glowed brightly like the night sky stars, her wings were fluffy as the night sky clouds and David could not resist taking his eyes off her. Opaline watched the dancing from where she sat, leaning against a tree, a smile across her face, "Oh Argyle, how I wish you could see our little Stellar now, dancing with pegasi and unicorns." She lamented, placing her hoof on a locket she kept hidden under her wing. Gently pulling it out, she looked over the gold object as it shimmered from the firelight. Pressing her hoof to the locket, it opened up in an instant, and a purple eye-like object revealed itself. Faraway in Maretime Bay, the moon sat high in the sky. Misty sat in a small cafe, her head resting against a window as she took a sip of her drink and a bite of her meal. Her eyes drifted down to the locket around her neck, the very locket that Opaline would use to communicate with her when Misty was on spying missions for her. The locket suddenly began to emit blue smoke. The blue unicorn shot up from her chair, running towards the bathroom. The pony at the counter shrugged before returning to reading their phone. Misty slammed the bathroom door shut, locking it behind her as the locket fully opened. Opaline appeared from the blue smoke, visibly surprised by this. "Ah! Opaline!" Misty screamed, throwing the locket across the small room, it skidded across the tiled flooring, crashing into a used tissue bin. "Well then, that was unexpected..." Opaline said, slightly dizzy. "What are you even doing Opaline?!" Misty shouted, "Aren't you meant to be in jail?!" The blue unicorn practically screamed, her cheek still very much sore from when Opaline had hit her after she tried to stop the Alicorn from harming Sparky days ago. "I'm currently out because they needed my help finding Pipp Petals..." Opaline turned the locket towards the campfire, allowing Misty to see the 5 mares as they danced the night away. "They look like they're having fun..." Misty softly spoke, watching in awe at the dancing "But... Now we found her, it's to the gallows for me now Misty..." She added, her eyes focused on Misty's vision in the blue smoke. "Not my problem anymore!" Misty snapped, "You're not getting any pity from me, you Magenta Deceiver!" Misty approached the locket and raised her hoof, "I'm never letting you back into my life again!" She slammed her hoof down on the locket, and in an instant, it shattered, the vision of Opaline disappearing along with the blue smoke, "Goodbye, Opaline." She said, picking up the broken locket and chucking it into the bin. Misty soon left the bathroom, returning to her table and continuing with her food. This cafe quickly became a favourite of hers. "Misty..." A voice called out to her, she looked around the cafe, but no other ponies were around, barring the pony behind the counter, "Misty..." It called out again, this time, from inside her mind. The blue unicorn quickly finished her meal, and dashed out the front door, leaving the money on the table next to the bill. Darting into a back alley, she sat behind a large dumpster, "Ok, show yourself!" She demanded. The image of a purple alicorn, twice the height of Opaline, entered her vision, "Hello, Misty." It cackled, eyes glowing out of the shadows it emerged from. "W-who are you?" Misty trembled with fear as the alicorn towered over her. "You can call me Dark Star." She smiled, shifting into a pony just taller than Misty herself, "Would this form make you feel better?" Dark Star asked, grinning at Misty, sharp teeth on full display. "Mhmm..." Misty slowly nodded, her eyes looking the alicorn up and down with hesitation. "Do not fear me, child." Dark Star held out her hoof. "Opaline never told me more Alicorns existed." Misty trembled, her leg feeling like jelly as Dark Star paced around her. "Ha!" Dark Star scoffed, "Opaline Arcana is a fool and an amateur. I can offer you things far grander than a simple cutie mark!" She pointed towards Misty's blank flank, "I can offer you power!" She added, "I can offer you true freedom!" Her eyes glowed briefly as she spoke. "What do you want from me in return?" Misty raised her eyebrow. She wanted a cutie mark more than anything, but Opaline had used her at every turn, who's to say this 'Dark Star' would be any different, "How can I know you're not just gonna use me to do what you desire then dump me once it’s done??" She asked. "Why waste a useful ally?" Dark Star cackled, "All I want in return is those Unity Crystals." She looked towards the Crystal Brighthouse in the distance, prisbeam shooting high into the sky, "Those crystals contain my stolen magic, with its return I will grant you what your heart desires." Dar Star turned back towards Misty. "And what if I refuse to help you?" Misty asked, eyebrows raised with curiosity. "Hey, no skin off my back if you refuse. Tell you what, think it over, and if you do want to help, you know how to contact me." Dark Star smirked as she faded away into the darkness. Misty looked around for the alicorn, "Huh?" She asked, stepping back out onto the main street, dodging the trolley as it rattled past. The unicorn slowly turned towards the Brighthouse, she had a lot to think about. Opaline watched in horror as the locket in her hooves shattered in time with Misty shattering her own locket. And without hesitation, she walked over to a nearby cliff, sat down and threw the shattered pieces of her locket away in frustration and sadness as she knew Misty had had enough of her after their adventure was done. She would be sent back to Zephyr Heights, where she would be put to death. "Hey, Mom- Opaline, what's wrong?" Sunny said as she walked over and sat down next to Opaline, "Are you feeling alright?" Sunny looked at the alicorn. "Nothing to concern you about." Opaline signed, looking down the cliff, "Shouldn't you be dancing the night away with your friends?" She added. "Dazzle's phone ran out of battery. Plus, I saw you talking to Misty." Sunny replied, "Is everything alright with Misty?" She asked with curiosity, "You can tell me, you know." She added. "Fine, but you can’t tell anyone else, okay?" Opaline said in a hushed tone, "Misty just officially cut off all communications with me, we have a device that we use to keep in contact whenever Misty is on her mission. But..." Opaline sighed, "She threw it and it shattered, when that happens both devices will shatter together. So in simple terms, Misty has officially deserted me for good." The alicorn added, "Can't say I blame her although, these past few days allowed me to realise how poorly I treated her. I treated her so badly, and look at where that got us." "To be honest, I can't exactly blame her either." Sunny frowned, "What you did to that poor mare is downright horrific, I'm honestly ashamed to be related to you..." Sunny sighed, "But, despite all that you put me and my friends through, I'm willing to give you a second chance." The orange mare gently nuzzled into the alicorn's side, "But, I would suggest leaving Misty be for now." She added, yawning as she laid down, head resting on Opaline's wing. "You know what awaits me back in Zephyr Heights, right?" Opaline sighed, "Just my luck in all honesty, after all these years, I finally found you, but I won't be able to make up for the years lost." A lump formed in the alicorn's throat, "Even though we found Pipp, the deal was for dragon fire in exchange for my help locating her. I'm still going to be executed for my crime and just knowing you are my daughter... I just can’t imagine spending my last hours in a cold jail cell waiting for the guards to escort me to the place where I'll be executed..." She sighed once more, now on the verge of breaking down into tears. "I'm sure that your sentence will be lessened, I mean, you've kept your end of the deal. You helped us find Pipp." Sunny yawned, snuggling into Opaline's side. "I hope you're right, Stellar..." Opaline looked towards the horizon, "I hope you're right." She draped her wing over Sunny as she slept. End of Chapter Twenty One.