//------------------------------//
// Discourse with a Diarch 
// Story: A Story of Heritage 
// by thecookiewookie 
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As the blue glow diminished and the form within it solidified, Shadestar stood and bowed low.

"Welcome to my home, Princess Luna."

Luna smiled. "I thank you for the hospitality. However, I am troubled as to why you have summoned me."

Shadestar rose and looked at Luna. "Well, I have discovered something which could be very dangerous to Equestria. There is other news as well, but whether it is good or bad is still for Fate to decide."

Troubled at the mention of danger, the midnight blue alicorn looked grim. "What, pray tell, could disturb my best shadowmage enough to summon me? And what is this undecided news you refer to?"

Shadestar tried to phrase it as well as she could. "I met my cousin, Sunlit Hearth. He told me information which has confirmed my fears: clan Obsidian is returning."

Luna went rigid. "I have lost too many friends to those monsters, but I must not risk combat with them again. I cannot allow Equestria to be ravaged by Nightmare Moon again." She shook with rage and grief for a moment before continuing. "If they have indeed returned, and they make themselves known, my sister and I shall rally all the forces of Equestria and the Dreaming to defeat them, but I doubt they will be anything but invisible."

She looked up at Shadestar. "I hold still for those vile murderers the hate I felt a thousand years ago. I would hunt them down myself, but my exile served its purpose. I will not risk myself and Equestria for a personal vendetta." The princess thought a moment, pacing. "Yet, you would not call me to tell me bare facts. I assume you have a plan to help defeat or reduce this threat?"

Shadestar nodded. "I have some ideas, but I need your help. My scrying attempts could never breach the Obsidians' hiding places. I must know that they are back, not just chase shadows, and I will need solid information if they are. If you scry for them, and tell me what you find, I could make a plan of attack. Other than that, you must protect the Dreaming. If we can force them to attack in the flesh, we will have proof to rally all of Equestria against them."

The silver maned unicorn cleared her throat and spoke again. "There is one other matter. I have found a pony who could be Equestria's savior, and who possesses the motivation and potential to defeat the Obsidians."

Luna was surprised. "Yet before you said you were unsure as to whether the others were good or ill tidings. How could this be bad, especially judged against the dark news mentioned afore?"

"My cousin possesses unparalleled potential. He can generate very little magic himself, but his mind and body could channel limitless amounts of energy without fear of harm. Princess, I have found this generation's perfect conduit. If the Obsidians could turn him, or if he lost control of himself fully, he could pose a threat to the entire planet, no matter how many mages stood in his way."

The worry coming off the midnight alicorn was palpable. "Can he be trusted?"

"Yes."

"Can he learn control from you?"

"Yes."

Luna spoke her last question barely above a whisper. "Is his link strong?"

"The strongest I've ever seen before. With nothing more than annoyance, and a spell incapable of doing more than illuminating, he accessed the Rage Nexus today."

Luna nodded, accepting potentially world shattering news. "If he cannot control himself once he has melded with the Nexuses, may Faust help us all. I expect you to help him ease into his newfound abilities, Shadestar. His self-control must be developed through your teaching."

Shadestar paled to a shale gray. "Are you sure I am the best choice? Couldn't your sister teach him more effectively?"

Luna raised an eyebrow. "My esteemed shadowmage, you sell yourself short. You are the single best versed mage in magical control I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, in all my years. Indeed, you held fast and kept Darkstar under control for six years before I helped you to strand her in the Dreaming. Also, as you may have noticed from your scrying, my sister has a student who takes quite a bit of her time already."

Shadestar twitched at Darkstar's mention. "Please, princess, do not speak of her. You do not look fondly on your time possessed, neither did I enjoy six long years of rigid, absolute mental control to prevent a similar disaster. You may be the only pony in Equestria who knows just what that was like, having to consciously put down the half of myself which continually told me to kill, to make blood spill and pool and dry. I fought a battle with her every second of those years. I would have lost that fight eventually without your help, and if that psychopath were not trapped in the deepest layers of the Dreaming, I would likely be with the Obsidians slaking her thirst for blood now."

The lunar princess hung her head slightly. "Forgive me, Shadestar...I do understand. I forget how well we know one another's challenges. Still, I see this as the ultimate testament to your will and mastery of yourself. Your cousin must learn how to properly guide the energies he will be using. Can you instruct him, or must I search elsewhere? I ask not as a superior, but honestly. Do you wish to?"

Shadestar nodded. "I will teach Sunlit control, Princess."

Luna remarked, "Well, at least I know that Equestria's future is in capable hooves. I must return to Canterlot now. Fare thee well, Shadestar Obsidian."

Shadestar bowed again, holding low until the near-ultraviolet glow had faded from the room once again. Exhausted from the long day, she climbed the stairs past her fitfully sleeping cousin to her room to catch a few blissful hours of sleep.