Carefully, Zipp brought the Marestream down a short distance away from the castle. She tried calling Pipp again as they filed out. “Still no answer!” she growled. “Pipp! Stop pampering yourself and answer the phone! This is an emergency! I’m sending you GPS coordinates, get here as fast as you can! Sparky needs us now!”
“What gives?” Hitch sighed. “Normally she never puts her phone down.”
“Too busy getting her hair done,” Zipp sighed as she tapped away on her phone. “That or she’s singing.”
“There’s no time to wait for them,” Misty replied. “We need to save Sparky.”
“I agree, there is no time,” Hitch hissed back. “But afterwards you’re giving us some answers Misty.”
“What?” Sunny gasped. “Come on Hitch, what part of Misty is trying to save Sparky don’t you see.”
“What I see Sunny is the part where you’re being blinded by optimism!” Hitch replied.
Steeling herself, Misty started forward. “This way.”
Misty led the group towards the castle drawbridge. From her perch in the tower, Opaline watched with glee.
“Oh Misty, you are so predictable,” she cooed. “Fortunately, I know what medicine to administer once my powers are restored.”
Quietly, Misty opened the front door of the castle and entered the throne room. The others followed as Misty started to head towards the ramp upstairs.
“This place is huge,” Hitch whispered. “How do we find Sparky?”
Misty stopped and sighed as she looked at the ground. “By following me,” she sniffed. “Hopefully we can get to him whilst she’s still in the library. I think she’ll be in there for a while, but we need to move before she realises that we’re here.”
“Oh, I’ve realised already!” a voice boomed.
Misty felt her blood run cold as Opaline appeared at the top of the ramp. “Poor predictable Misty,” she smiled. “I knew you’d turned soft.”
Her horn flared and before anypony could react a bubble appeared which trapped Sunny and her friends. Their cries of dismay caused Misty to turn around. Her eyes went wide in horror as she realised, she’d led them into a trap. “No! No, this can’t…” she cried.
“Yes, Misty,” Opaline cackled as she swooped down, landing just behind her. “You did exactly what I expected. Running off to get help for the worthless little dragon. Don’t worry, once my powers are restored, I know just what I need to do to bring you back into line. Your friends here will serve as excellent test subjects as I perfect my plan to finally rule Equestria, as I always should have.”
“No, Misty,” Sunny breathed. “How…”
“Don’t Sunny,” Zipp sighed. “Misty’s been pretending this whole time. She was using us.”
“No, no I wasn’t,” Misty cried.
“I thought we were friends,” Izzy sighed as she sat down sadly.
“We are!” Misty cried. “I can’t just let this happen!”
Turning towards Opaline she tried to activate her horn. However, it just fizzled weakly.
“Oh, that was depressing,” Opaline smiled at Misty’s horrified expression. “Now, go back to your room and wait like a good little mare. Once my powers are restored, I’ll administer your medicine.”
Misty gasped as she felt something around her hoofs. She looked down to see the same magical whisps as before trapping them to the floor. She tugged and tugged but couldn’t move.
Opaline leaned in to whisper into her ear. “This time don’t try to escape.”
“No! No!” Misty cried as she was suddenly sent skidding up the ramp and out of sight.
Opaline grinned as she looked down at Sunny and her friends. “Once your little dragon has given me all his fire I’ll be back to full strength,” she grinned. “Then, I’ll finally rule Equestria as I always should have done. You four haven’t seen anything yet.”
“We’ll get out of this,” Sunny frowned. “We’ll stop you.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Opaline smiled. “There is no escape, Sunny Starscout.”
With that, Opaline turned and headed up the ramp she’d sent Misty mere moments ago.
Sunny blinked with confusion. Panting, she started to pace back and forth in the tiny space afforded by the bubble they were trapped under. “Misty didn’t betray us,” she reasoned. “She couldn’t have, we’re friends. I know we are.”
“No, we’re not. Not to her anyway.” Zipp exclaimed with frustration. “She was lying the whole time Sunny, there’s no other explanation.”
“No, she wasn’t,” Sunny replied. “You saw what the Alicorn just did to her. How she berated her. Trapped her. Misty’s just as much a prisoner in this castle as we are.”
“There’s no way out of this,” Hitch sighed. “Sparky’s stuck up there somewhere. Misty’s trapped someplace else. Pipp won’t answer her phone and that means the two mares who could maybe stand up to this Alicorn aren’t aware we need help.”
“She’s not the only alicorn,” Sunny breathed.
She closed her eyes and focused. Her alicorn powers flickered into life but then extinguished. “What? No! Why’s it not working again?” Sunny gasped. “I’m trying to save everypony!”
Izzy suddenly landed at Sunny’s hoofs on her back, her eyes spinning. “The first few tries were okay, but this is making me dizzy,” she moaned.
“Wait, Izzy what are you doing?” Zipp asked.
“Trying to escape of course,” Izzy replied.
She got up and thrust her horn into the bubble’s membrane. However, after a few moments she was pushed back and once again fell to the floor.
“But why aren’t you using your horn?” Hitch frowned.
“I am,” Izzy replied, as she got up.
She shoved her horn into the skin of the bubble again and got the same result.
“Urgh. We mean your magic,” Zipp clarified. “Why aren’t you using your magic?”
“Because it just fizzled and didn’t do anything,” Izzy replied. “So, I thought I’d go old school.”
Gasping, Zipp tried flapping her wings. She tried and tried but couldn’t fly, not even a millimetre.
“Sunny, it’s not your powers. It’s this bubble,” Zipp explained. “It has to be cutting us off from the Unity Crystals.”
“Great,” Sunny sighed, sinking to the ground. “That’s just perfect.”
“It’s okay, I’ll get you out.”
They turned to see Misty running down the ramp from upstairs.
“Misty?” Sunny gasped, getting up. “You escaped?”
“Opaline is getting careless,” Misty grinned. “She didn’t put a force field over the door this time.”
“So? How can we trust you?” Zipp replied crossly. “We’re here because of you.”
“Zipp!” Sunny exclaimed.
“No, Zipp’s right,” Misty replied sitting down. “This is all my fault. I’m the one that brought Sparky here. I’m the one who brought you all here. I honestly thought that Opaline wouldn’t need Sparky for long. That he'd give her two puffs of fire and I’d be bringing him back. But, I got through that door and realised even that was wrong and tried to turn back. But it was too late, Opaline was ready for me.”
“Just like she was ready for us,” Hitch sighed.
“What was your rescue plan, Misty?” Sunny asked with a sigh.
“I…I don’t know,” Misty admitted. “I just knew we needed to get Sparky out as quickly as we could. Just like I need to get you out now. You’ve all treated me better than anypony else has in my life. I have to fix this and make it right. It’s what a true friend would do!”
Misty looked around the throne room and spotted the burning torches next to the throne itself. Running over she jumped onto the throne and then placed both forehoofs on one of the torches. “I’d rather be a pony without a cutie mark forever than spend one more day doing the wrong thing for Opaline.”
She slammed both hoofs against the torch and broke off the top, the fire fizzling out. Jumping down, she picked it up in her mouth and took a moment to steady herself, aiming the tip toward the bubble. With a deep breath, she charged. She drove the tip of the torch deep into the bubble’s membrane and pushed with everything she had. Suddenly, the bubble popped, sending Misty flying backwards across the room.
Sunny immediately ran forward to help Misty to her hoofs. “You saved us Misty,” she grinned.
“I had to. I couldn’t bear to see you in trouble,” Misty replied.
She started to move to where the torch was laid on the ground but stopped as she felt a tingling sensation. The others gasped as Misty began to glow, slowly lifting into the air. “What’s happening?” she gasped.
There was a flash and suddenly her cutie mark appeared on her right flank. A single purple, magenta and pink butterfly. Misty blinked with surprise as she floated back to the ground. “H…How?” she gasped. “I…I’ve got my cutie mark! I don’t understand.”
“It’s because you saved us,” Izzy grinned.
“But Opaline always told me your family gave you your cutie mark,” Misty replied in shock.
“No, it’s when you find your true self,” Sunny replied with a grin. “You get your cutie mark when you find your true self and begin to shine.”
“Or when your special talent comes out,” Izzy beamed.
Misty couldn’t contain her happiness, smiling broadly she looked back at her cutie mark, spinning around and around with glee. “I can feel it,” she gasped. “Inside, me. The feeling that something’s unlocked. What if that’s me? The real me?”
“Of course it is,” Sunny grinned. “You got your cutie mark because you cared about how we all felt.”
“Haven’t we got a baby dragon to rescue?” Hitch asked.
“Yes, and now I know how,” Misty grinned picking up the torch and throwing it to Hitch.
Opaline smiled with glee as she watched the Dragon Stone. It was glowing brighter and brighter by the moment. “That’s it, a little more will be enough,” she breathed.
Finally, the glow looked to have reached its peak. Opaline laughed excitedly as she began syphoning the power into herself. She lifted off the ground, her wings spreading and fire flaring from their feathers.
“YES! YES!” she cried. “My powers are restoring! This is my rebirth!”
“That’s great Opaline!” a voice shouted from the door.
“Misty!” Opaline exclaimed. “What are you… How did you get out?”
Misty squeaked and started running downstairs. “Come back here you welp!” Opaline seethed as she waited for all her power to return, knowing she couldn’t interrupt it.
As soon as the syphoning finished, Opaline floated back to the ground. She shot a look at Sparky to check he was still being drained before hurrying after her wayward protégé. “Misty, get back here this instant!” she ordered.
Opaline rounded the corner out of the study and headed towards the ramp that would take her downstairs. She completely missed seeing Zipp hovering at a window holding Hitch. As soon as they saw Opaline had passed, they headed to where Sparky was being held.
Opaline stormed down the ramp and into the throne room. At the furthest side, Izzy and Misty stood waiting. Izzy had taken a wide stance, a look of determination on her face. Misty however had suddenly realised what she’d gotten herself into and looked scared witless.
“You think you can stand up to me?” Opaline laughed.
“Sure, we do,” Izzy cried back as her horn flared. “You leave Sparky alone!”
Izzy had collected as many things from the throne room as possible and began hurling them at Opaline.
Opaline just tutted and created a shield letting the items bounce off of it. “Pitiful,” she grinned.
Izzy and Misty gasped as a new bubble appeared and trapped them. Opaline laughed with satisfaction before frowning with confusion. “Wait, where are the rest of them?”
“Right here,” Sunny said as she appeared at the top of the ramp. “So, you’re the evil alicorn?”
“Evil Alicorn?” Opaline echoed, launching into the air with a powerful flap of her wings. “I’m Opaline Arcana, the rightful ruler of Equestria. I’m a fire alicorn and you, Sunny Starscout, are nothing compared to me. You have no idea what you’re up against.”
Sunny closed her eyes and focused. However, she gasped as once again her powers failed her. She opened her eyes again just in time to see a torrent of fire shooting directly at her from Opaline’s horn.
Squeaking, Sunny slid down the ramp and just avoided it.
Opaline kept up the barrage of fire, however, it was soon apparent that Sunny was too fast as she kept dodging out of the way. “Missed me,” Sunny grinned as yet another went wide of the mark.
“Stand still you pretender,” Opaline cried with fury.
“Why would I do that?” Sunny grinned.
Opaline roared with rage before she had an idea. She aimed at the ceiling and dislodged a large chunk of stone which started to fall.
Sunny realised what was happening far too late and couldn’t get out of the way in time. The stone landed directly on top of her pinning her hind legs and body to the floor. She immediately tried to free herself, however her forehoofs slipped helplessly on the tiled surface.
“Well now, that was easy,” Opaline smiled. “Time for you to say goodbye, Sunny Starscout.”
Sunny gasped as Opaline’s horn flared brightly, much more than it had been previously as she charged up for a much larger blast of fire. Sunny redoubled her struggles, but it was still no use. She was well and truly trapped. Opaline ginned as she finally let go of her fire blast and let it rip towards Sunny at great speed.
Sunny closed her eyes, powerless and unable to move she didn’t know what to do. She heard Izzy and Misty calling her name and then…
Nothing happened, she didn’t feel anything and could barely hear anything either. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw two familiar unicorns stood either side of her. Their horns were touching and glowing together. A glistening half-sphere shield wrapped around all three of them. The fire being held at bay by this shield washed over and scorched the floor around it.
Eventually, the fire stopped, and Opaline looked at the shield in shock, only to gasp as it dropped and revealed the two newcomers. “What? Who are you?”
“Starlight Glimmer,” the one on the right grinned.
“Sunset Shimmer,” the one on the left smiled.
Sunset winked at Starlight, holding up a hoof. “Think I’ve got the shields down now Starlight.”
Starlight smiled and returned the hoof bump.