//------------------------------// // Learning The Art of Fear // Story: MLDC Next Generation: Know Fear! // by Michael_Ravencroft //------------------------------// Valiant Heart was busy scribbling away at some reports he had just been given. He found this particular task of being a Guard Captain to be tedious, especially when the majority of the reports were from rookies who knew not the proper way to fill one out, so much of his time was spent deciphering what they had wrote. Normally it was only a handful of those types of reports, but now, with the recent draft and lowered Royal Guard entry age, they were now starting to become tall towers of paper, making him remember the book stacks his Aunt Twilight would litter a room with. *Knock* *Knock* “Who is it,” he asked, not taking his eyes off of his current work. “Your favorite uncle,” responded the voice. “Discord?” The door then flew open as an orange pegasus stallion stood in the doorway with a shocked expression. “How in the hay is Discord your favorite uncle!?” Valiant Heart couldn’t help laughing at his guest’s expense, “I’m sorry Uncle Flash, I-I couldn’t resist seeing that look on your face.” Flash Sentry rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. The High Prince closed the door behind him and made his way to Valiant’s desk. The office hadn’t changed much during his time in the Guard. The Captain’s office had a bookshelf on one side of the wall, filled with texts on military strategy, history, topographical maps, and atlases of different nations. And to the left wall was a shelf with all of Valiant Heart’s awards and medals during his service as a Royal Guard. The shelf had seen and bared many plaques, medals, and other knickknacks that the Captains before Valiant earned. When they stepped down, they were allowed to keep them or donate one to a special display for past Captains. “So how goes it,” asked Flash. Valiant released the quill pen from his magical grasp; he then took the time to pop the kinks in his neck before answering. “So far, it’s unclear. Stalliongrad was retaken; we’ve fortified it and brought in airships to help guard it. They’re still cleaning up last I heard, but for now they have the place under control, which is why I’m back here dealing with this pile,” said Valiant. “Stalliongrad sounded like it got chaotic. I’ve also been hearing rumors about somepony glowing yellow?” “Oh yeah…” Valiant concentrated and used his telekinetic aura to grab stack of reports from one of the towers and placed them on the desk. “These are all the reports on the Golden Star.” Flash looked up at Valiant skeptically, “The ‘Golden Star’?” “That’s what ponies are calling this supposedly, unnamed, pegasus, wearing golden armor and bearing an insignia that doesn’t match anything we have on record.” Flash grabbed one of the reports and skimmed through it, his years of being a Royal Guard allowed him to pick out key words and interesting points within these documents. He came upon one entry which struck him as interesting. My children, my husband, and I were hiding during the invasion; we didn’t want to run into the streets for fear that we might get caught too easily. Unfortunately, our fears were realized when we were found by an army of griffon soldiers. They dragged us into the middle of the street and threw us before their leader, Steel Wing if I remember correctly. My husband…My husband tried to protect us, to save us from a fate worse than death. But sadly…he was…cut down in front of me and my daughters. Steel Wing ordered his soldiers to…take us…but that’s when it happened. Four of the griffons were skewered by glowing yellow spears! There were explosions centered on the griffon soldiers, and then yellow arrows appeared out of nowhere and dealt with the rest. In the end only Steel Wing and four of his soldiers remained. That’s when saw our savior, it was a pegasus, want to say it was mare, judging by the voice, but I’m not sure. She proclaimed to Steel Wing that she was “fear”. I understood why she said that, she glowed with a power that made me somewhat more fearful than I already was. I even thought for a moment that she might attack us too. But then she told me to take my daughters and run as fast as I could. Thankfully we were able to find a safe place to hide out until it was over. Ponies are calling that mare the “Golden Star,” I’m not sure where she came from or how she did the things she did, but as far as I’m concerned the Golden Star is a hero to us, and I will never forget it. “If you can believe it, this Golden Star took on most of the invading army single hoofedly.” Flash Sentry put down the report and gave his nephew an inquisitive look. “What do you believe?” “I believe that I saw the Golden Star blast away an entire airship fleet in a single shot, I also believe that the Golden Star is also responsible for retaking the AA cannons and kept our airships from being shot out of the sky, and I believe that the Golden Star was instrumental in taking back Stalliongrad. Of course, paperwork isn’t about what I believe, it only deals in facts, and the facts are that it’s ‘under investigation’, at least that’s what the official record will say. And then onto more reports.” “Well, you might not have to deal with it much longer. We’ve received word that the Griffon Empire has attacked other Equestrian provinces. Neighpon, Prance, Trottingham, Maretonia, Mustangia, Maretania, Saddle Arabia, they’re even attacking Zebrica, and they’re their own nation! So far each is holding their own, but for how long is another story.” Valiant Heart grimaced at the news; he knew that the griffons were trying to push forward, but on this scale? “This seems too organized to just be a spontaneous act of war. They must’ve drawn up battle plans and setup their forces in advance, and made adjustments accordingly. They’ve been planning this, question is why? What’s they’re end game?” “Hopefully we never have to find out.” Flash took a look at the clock hanging from the wall. “Well, I better let you get back to it; you don’t want to be up all night doing this.” “I should be so lucky that it’s only one night,” he chuckled. As Flash started to make his way to the door he paused for a moment. “Something wrong Uncle Flash?” Flash Sentry turned around and gave his nephew an uncertain look. “You haven’t asked how Star’s doing.” Valiant Heart turned his gaze away, finding a very interesting spot on his desk to stare at. “How is she?” “Physically, she’s fine, Star’s in Ponyville so she’ll be able to recover faster there than here, get her as far away from stress as possible,” said Flash. “Good…but, I’m guessing there’s more.” “She was…devastated when we told her that she was banned from ever joining the Royal Guard, and a little hurt that you didn’t want to see her.” “I have my reasons Uncle Flash, but you, me, we all knew that banning her was the only way to protect her from herself,” said Valiant. “I understand, believe me, I don’t ever want to see her like that again or to experience the pain she endured all over again. But…as a father, it killed me, in my soul, to crush her dreams like that. Twilight’s even worse, and I don’t blame her. We might as well have clipped her wings while we were at it!” Flash stomped the floor as his anger rose, he then took a few calming breaths before saying anything else. “I understand Uncle. It wasn’t easy for me either. I helped train her, she looked up to me, but in the end it’s the best thing for her and everypony,” stated Valiant Heart. “Will you at least think about talking to her?” “……I’ll think on it.” “Fair enough.” Flash Sentry then exited Valiant Heart’s office and left him to his paperwork and thoughts. Valiant had made the right decision, he was certain of it. He had to convince his aunt and uncle that Star couldn’t be in the Guard. Her impersonation was going to go on record and damage any chance of her getting in, royal status or not. To him, it was better to outright ban her now while she was still young and able to find a different course for her life. At least this way she wouldn’t have to spend countless hours training herself for something that she was going to get rejected from later. With his decision reaffirmed Valiant went back to work, taking the writing quill pen into his telekinetic aura he began to write. Something was off though; his magical grip on the quill pen was wavering, causing his words to look skewed and warped. Valiant simply used his magic to crumple the paper up and start over on a new sheet. Unfortunately, the same thing happened with this sheet, which caused him to get another. And another, and then another, now he was on his fifth sheet, seventh, tenth, twentieth, and now he was on his fortieth sheet of paper. At that moment Valiant Heart let out a frustrated yell as his horn snapped the quill and blasted the papers into the air, scattering them everywhere in his office. Valiant Heart then brought down his right hoof onto the desk, hitting it hard on the oaken wood. The alicorn stallion then bit his lip to stave off his tears for robbing Starburst of her dream. The very thing she worked so hard for, and looked up to him for as well, was now gone from her future. “I’m sorry Star…” Ponyville, 4 Days Later… Starburst felt as if her brain was going to explode and take her head with it. When she had asked the ring about information regarding her Corps and other things, she had no idea that it would open up to so much. She got more and then some. For nearly a week Star did nothing but eat, research, eat again, a little more research, and then sleep, in that order. But even with that regimen, Star felt as if she barely even scratched the surface. “I could live to be a hundred and I’m sure I’d barely be able to get past the surface,” said Star. [I possess knowledge gathered from nearly every corner of the universe. For you, Starburst, to learn all I am programmed with, would take you 864, 384, 636, 556, 647, 132 years. ] Starburst eyed the ring on her foreleg indignantly, “Are you saying I’m stupid or something?” [Incorrect. I am merely calculating the number of years required to “scratch the surface”.] “Great, so what you’re telling me is that I need to become an immortal alicorn just get that much in,” said Starburst, throwing her forelegs into the air in annoyance. “Forget it; at least I got the bare essentials down.” This was true, according to the ring Starburst was the only Fear Lantern in Equestria, and that there were in fact seven different corps, each with their unique color and emotion that fueled their power. She was a bit concerned when she found out about the rings being able to choose a planet to become a lantern, a living planet at that. Star contemplated what would happen if her ring were to somehow find its way to Equus’ core. She shuddered at the thought. Star then looked to the clock, which indicated that it was nine o’clock. “Del should still be working in the fields…” Star looked herself over, touching her sides and inspecting her forelegs and hind legs. “I may not be training for the Royal Guard anymore, but I can at least get a workout in, don’t want to get out of shape and put on too much weight.” [Starburst, at your current weight of –] “Don’t you even say it!” Star warned. Starburst may not be into the whole looking prim and proper like her Aunt Rarity, but there were just some things that were taboo to talk about, despite the ring having a female voice, she didn’t want know how much weight she had gained while recovering. Starburst made her way to Sweet Apple Acres, the smell of fresh apples wafted through air and right to Star’s nose. It had a calming, homey feeling to it. Star, before leaving, had hid the yellow ring in a safe place. She figured that there was really no need for her to carry around a powerful weapon like that in Ponyville, no matter how versatile its uses were. As she approached the farm house Starburst saw that her Aunt Applejack was busy toting some apples in her wagon. Api bounced happily beside her, making Star wonder what craziness the little filly got herself into during her time in the library. Guessing from the lack of destruction to the town, it was a quiet day for her, thought Star. It wasn’t long before she was spotted by Applejack and Api. While Applejack unhitched herself from the wagon, Api sprinted over to Starburst, latching onto her foreleg. “Hi Starburst!” Api greeted. “Hi to you too, Api.” Star used her free hoof to ruffle the little filly’s mane, at that time Applejack was starting to make her way towards them. “Hi Aunt Applejack.” “Howdy Star, good to seeya,” Applejack leaned in and gave Star a little half-hug before pulling away, “Ah’m sorry to hear about well…ya know.” “Y-Yeah, don’t worry about it, really. Is everypony in the fields right now?” “Nah, Caramel’s out doin’ the shoppin’ since it’s his turn today. It’s just me, Del, and little Api here – wait where’d she go?” Starburst looked down at her foreleg and noticed that it was short an earth pony filly. “Guessing Aunt Apple Bloom and Uncle Pip are out of town?” “Eeyup, but just for a couple of days, what brings ya here anyway, not that it ain’t nice to see ya,” asked Applejack. “Well…I was wondering if I could help Del out with the chores?” Applejack was about to protest but Starburst beat her to the punch. “I promise to not overdo it, I’m sure Del will keep that from happening. Please Aunt Applejack?” Applejack rubbed her chin with her hoof in a contemplating fashion. After about a few seconds to mull it over, the farm mare came to a decision. “Alright Star, ya can help out, but Ah don’t want ya passin’ out like ya usually do. Yer still not one-hundred percent from what ya went through, so if Del tells ya to stop and rest, ya stop and rest, deal?” The look on Applejack’s face told Starburst that she wasn’t going to let her do so otherwise. Star sighed in defeat, but kept her usual cocky grin. “Sure, no problem Aunt Applejack.” “Good, Del’s in the northeast orchard. Now excuse me while Ah track down –” There was a crashing sound originating from behind Applejack, along with the sounds of dozens of apples thudding to the ground. Applejack dared to turn around and look, and Star dared to sneak a peek as well. Api was somehow hitched to the wagon and now suspended in up there by the hitch. The wagon had tipped backwards, and with not enough counterweight in the front Api was left to flail her legs in a vain attempt at trying to correct the imbalance. “Oh boy…Ah swear, it is one thing and then another with that little filly,” said Applejack as she made her way to save the helpless filly. After having a good chuckle at Api’s shenanigans, Starburst headed towards the northeast orchard. Anypony would probably get lost in the thicket of apple trees that made up the Apple family’s farm, but thanks to Del and Red June, Starburst was able to figure out how to more easily navigate through it on hoof. Besides, if she ever got really lost all Star had to do was fly out of the orchard. It wasn’t long before Star happened upon Golden Delicious. The earth pony stallion was hard at work apple bucking the trees so that they release their spoils. The red fruit fell in a cascade of thuds as they hit the waiting baskets at the base of the tree, it amazed Star how they could so accurately predict their fall, while still accounting for the occasional one or two that missed. Also was he always that toned? Starburst froze in place at hearing what she just thought. I did not just think that! Damn Nidra and her “shipping” fixation! “Hey, Del, what’s up?!” Del looked in Starburst’s direction, she watched as his furrowed brow was relaxing as he started to smile at Star’s appearance. “Star, finally, Ah was startin’ to think you wanted me to drag ya outta there by the tail,” said Del. Starburst blushed a bit from the insinuation, “O-Of course not! Why the hay would I want you to do that!” Del laughed heartedly at his flustered friend, causing Star to look away with an indignant expression. “C’mon Star, ya know Ah’m just pullin’ yer leg. But really, it’s great to see ya out and about.” Star sighed and grinned despite herself, “Yeah, well, I’m glad I am too. I was starting to get a little bored of resting and decided to help you out. And before you ask, your mom said yes.” Del nodded his head, “Alright, if Ma says you can, that’s good enough for me. Just so we’re clear, if Ah think yer overdoin’ it, Ah want ya to stop and take a breather for a bit, and if Ah have to, Ah’ll tie you to a tree.” “Pfft, as if you…would…” Del walked over to his saddle bag and took out a long lasso. He then looped it over his body before responding to Star, “What was that?” “Um…nothing, nothing at all!” With the parameters established, Del and Starburst went to work apple bucking. They made it through about forty trees before Star started to feel some soreness in her hind legs, flanks, and lower back. It annoyed her how that had set on so fast, she could make it through a hundred plus without feeling achy like this. Nevertheless Star continued her work alongside Del, noticing just how much happier he was with her around, and, if she was honest, so was Star. Doing the chores felt weird to Star, back before she would work twice this hard, and had set a goal for herself with each session, and when she met it, she raised the bar higher, ever striving to better herself. But now, now there really was no purpose in her actions; she was just doing chores for the sake of doing chores. After bucking a few more trees, Starburst was starting to pant. Del, who had been keeping a close eye on her, decided that that was enough. “Alright Star, you’re done for now. Sit under that tree and rest up a bit,” ordered Del. “I’m fine I can keep –!” Star then noticed that Del was starting to get his lasso ready. “Fine, fine, I’m stopping!” The orange pegasus mare walked to the nearest, fruitless tree and sat under it, leaning her back against the smooth bark. “Happy now?” “Very.” Starburst, although reluctantly, started to close her eyes. The warm sun shining through the trees, and the gentle breeze lulled the teenage pegasus to sleep, as much as she tried to fight it, she couldn’t. Eventually Star nodded off, her head slumping onto her shoulder as her chest rose and lowered with each breath. Del glanced over his shoulder to keep an eye on his friend and to make sure she was actually resting. To his surprise she was fast asleep against the tree. It was honestly nice seeing Star resting like she was, not overworked and completely exhausted. She was actually kinda cute, just resting there; it was different from the way she rested on the couch back at his house. Now that he thought about it, the way her bangs gently swayed from the cross breeze, and…and…What the hay am Ah thinkin’!? Del furiously shook his head, already feeling the annoying heat in his cheeks. Consarn it Del! Don’t go thinkin’ that way! She’s…she’s…Del glanced back at the sleeping teenage mare…She’s sixteen and Ah’m almost twenty for Celestia’s sake… After a few minutes had passed by, Starburst began to yawn and stretch out her limps. Blinking a few times as her eyes adjusted to the light. Soon her mind caught up to where she was and Star immediately shot up to her hooves, looking right and left to find her friend. It didn’t take long for Starburst to find Del bucking an apple tree a few feet away. She groaned inwardly as she saw the amount of baskets that were already filled by him. “Del!” Starburst trotted to her friend, who just finished striking one of the trees. “Why didn’t you wake me, we were supposed to finish up the work together!?” “Sorry, Star, you were just sleepin’ so peaceful like that Ah couldn’t really bring mehself to do it,” said Del. Starburst sighed, “Well…it looks like you mostly got it all done. I’m getting kind of hungry. Do you…wanna go and get something in town, my treat?” Before Del could answer Starburst his stomach had decided to do answering for him, growling and grumbling for sustenance. Del blushed in embarrassment while Star smirked. “I’ll take that as a yes, c’mon.” Star and Del had decided to hit their usual spot, Sugar Cube Corner. The store had expanded, but just a little, putting out chairs and tables outside to give it a café feel. The two of them sat outside at one of the tables, Cotton Candy noticed her two friends arriving and came out to greet them. After getting their drinks and orders, Candy went back inside to give her mother the order. As they sat outside, Star couldn’t help but notice some of the ponies who were reading the newspaper. The headline read “Stalliongrad Back on Track, Rumors of the Golden Star Spread.” Starburst had heard many of the ponies talk about the so called “Golden Star”, of which she knew they were referring to her. Del apparently noticed her staring at the paper and cleared his throat loudly to gain her attention. “Sorry, Del…I just, haven’t heard much about what’s been going on with the war lately,” said Star. “There ain’t no point in worryin’ about that right now. Stalliongrad is fine, if they need ya back at Canterlot Ah’m sure yer mom or dad would send ya a letter. Just relax Star, Valiant Heart and the Royal Guard got it under control.” Starburst sighed sadly, “I’m sure he does…but, he doesn’t want to see me or talk to me, not anymore…apparently ever.” Del raised an eyebrow at that, yeah he was going to give Star the silent treatment, but he wasn’t going to make it last any longer than a day or two, but to not want to see her ever. “That’s a bit excessive, even for Lance, why did he do that?” Starburst sighed heavily, “Why else…he’s angry at me. And I don’t blame him…after what I did, getting my dumb self nearly killed. I disgraced the Royal Guard, and pretty much ruined all the respect he gained during his time serving…He probably thinks I used him to help me secretly do what I did, I don’t think he’ll ever trust me again…” Del’s heart grew heavy seeing Starburst so downtrodden, it also made him angry to think that Valiant Heart would do something like that. Family was important to Del, but just as much, he believed that that should be something etched deep into everypony. To hear that Valiant pretty much doesn’t want to have anything to do with her, it was like kicking an injured animal, no pun intended. “Maybe Ah should go have a talk with Lance, ya don’t deserve to be treated like that Star, not by yer own kin.” “But, weren’t you going to give me the silent treatment when I first got here,” asked Star raising a curious eyebrow. Del rubbed the back of his head with his nervously, “Well…y-yeah…but it wasn’t like Ah wanted to not see or talk to ya! Ah was just a little ticked…” “Understandable…I ticked off a lot of ponies, but I’ll do whatever I can to make it up to you guys.” The golden-brown stallion shook his head, “No ya don’t, not as far as Ah’m concerned.” Starburst looked away nervously with a slight blush, “Thanks Del…” Suddenly the door to Sugar Cube Corner burst open with a stallion looking all kinds of panicked. “MARETONIA JUST FELL, THE GRIFFONS TOOK MARETONIA!!!” Everypony who was sitting outside turned their heads towards the yelling stallion, shocked and horrified expressions were plastered on everypony’s face. Many of the outside patrons rushed inside the store, and Starburst and Del weren’t far behind them. Many ponies were gathered around the radio, which had the volume turned up to allow everypony to hear. Cotton Candy spotted her friends and quickly went to them. “Candy, is it true!?” Star asked. “It is, they said so a few seconds ago –!” {This is the Canterlot Radio News. We have received confirmation that Maretonia has…has fallen. The Duke and Duchess of the Equestrian Province had surrendered due to the griffons’ overwhelming forces…From what we’ve gathered thus far, it appears that other provinces are under attack as well. They are as follows: Neighpon, Prance, Trottingham, Maretania, Saddle Arabia, Mustangia, and even the nation of Zebrica. For now that is all the information we have, our hearts and prayers go out to the ponies of Maretonia, and for our brave Royal Guard who no doubt do all they can to defend us, and to our High Prince and Princesses to bring this to a peaceful resolution. Reporting for Canterlot Radio News, this is Jacquelyn Whinny, signing off.} The radio cut back to the music station that it was on and began playing the soothing music from earlier, but right now, there was little that that music could do to sooth anypony right now. Del and Candy could already sense Star’s anger and fury, but instead, when they both looked to the teenage mare, she had a calm expression on her face. Which, to be perfectly honest, scared them more than if she had a POed face. “I’m…I’m heading back to the library…” “Star, maybe we should go with –” “No Candy!” Star yelled; interrupting her friend and making the pink maned mare jump a bit from the intensity of her voice. “I just…need to be alone.” Starburst calmly walked out of Sugar Cube Corner and flew towards her temporary home. Once inside Starburst let out a furious shout that echoed throughout the entire house. She screamed, yelled, and let loose one curse word after the other, proclaiming her frustration, anger, and her sorrow for what happened to Maretonia. She grabbed the closest things she could and flung them about, not caring what she hit. Outside, Del and Candy were listening as their friend’s muffled, anger filled cries, as well as the sound of multiple objects being thrown and hitting against the walls and other things they couldn’t see at the moment. Candy was getting worried about Starburst and wanted desperately to go in, as dangerous as it would be at that moment, and comfort her friend. But Del placed a strong hoof on the mare’s shoulder, keeping her from doing just that. “But why?! Why can’t we go in, she needs us Del!?” Candy pleaded. “With the way she is right now, you’re more liable to get yerself hurt, and then how’d you think Star would feel?” Del let the question hang in the air for a few minutes. Candy seemed to understand, she didn’t like it, but she understood. “Best we can do is wait out here and let her get it out of her system. If she gets too bad, we’ll go in and help.” Candy wanted to protest, but she could see in the stallion’s eyes that this was just as hard for him to hear as it was for her. So, reluctantly, the two earth ponies stood outside and listened. Five hours had passed since she got home, and now it was night time. Starburst lied on the floor of the library, exhausted and slightly sore. The room was a mess, of course. Books strewn all over the place, papers flung about, and a table or two were knocked over. Star took a cursory glance of her destructive rampage, she groaned inwardly at what she did to her foalhood home away from home. Starburst got up and walked over to a cookie jar, it was a lame place to hide a super powerful weapon, but in all honesty who was going to check a cookie jar for something like that? Star opened the jar, which was emptied of its cookie contents, and shook the jar. The yellow ring dropped out onto the counter top with a light clinking sound. Star slipped the ring back onto her right hoof and walked back down to the library. Concentrating, Star used the ring to shoot out dozens of tiny claw like hands to grab hold of the books and papers, some of them grabbed the tables and put them back up. She placed the papers on one of the tables, while some of the other hands shelved books she had thrown. Once the room was cleaned up Star trotted back up the stairs and into the living area, but then she stopped. Star looked down at her ring for a long time. “No more…I won’t stand by and watch as the griffons murder my people and destroy their homes! I feel it…I can feel their fear…and I hate it! They shouldn’t have to live in fear! I’ll become Fear itself! I’ll make the Griffon Empire fear ME!” The Next Day… Starburst had renewed vigor and determination. She was no longer going to stand on the sidelines and just watch as the war raged on around her while she rested in Ponyville comfortably, pretending that the threat of the griffons didn’t concern her. She had the weapon, the power, and the skills to fight back! All she needed to do was to train better with the ring, but unfortunately, Star knew she couldn’t train in the library, even the basement wasn’t big enough if she wanted to try something that was possibly going to hurt somepony on the outside, the ring would protect her but not somepony else. Currently she was pacing back and forth, trying to think of the best way to leave the house without anypony seeing her. If she wanted to train, the best place was Ghastly Gorge, nopony came out to that place, and she could go buck wild without hurting anypony. The location was set, but with the lingering notion that there was an undercover RG in Ponyville, it was going to be really hard to evade him or her, which was why she was currently pacing about trying to figure out that exact thing. “Okay, undercover Royal Guard probably watching the house right now. I need a way to get out and not be noticed…wish you had some way to make me invisible.” [I do possess such a function.] Star stopped pacing and brought her ring up to eye level, staring at it incredulously. “You can make me invisible!? How!?” [I am able to manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum to bend light, thus rendering you invisible.] “And why, for the love of Celestia, did you not tell me this when we were in that warzone!? I could’ve tiptoed around some of those griffon soldiers instead of plowing head first into them!” [Starburst, during explanation of my functions, you stopped me after I spoke of light constructs. Stealth function would have drained ring energy faster, and, after reading the situation, energy consumption was better spent on offensive and defensive capabilities.] Starburst was about to lay into her ring, but stopped when she recalled that she indeed did that very thing. Starburst sighed; the ring had been starting to develop more of a personality since she started conversing with it like an actual pony. She even got it to start getting it to refer to itself in first person instead of third. “Okay, so you can make me invisible, so we’ll start training in Ghastly Gorge, and slip out without anypony noticing!” [Affirmative.] Starburst opened the doors to the balcony, making sure she wasn’t seen doing so. The good thing was that it was becoming a hot summer day, so nopony would think it suspicious that she opened a window to cool down. Starburst unfurled her wings and gave a light flap, minding the slight weakness in the left. “Alright, do it.” [Activating EM Field Distortion.] Suddenly the ring emitted its usual yellow glow as a thin layer of yellow light wrapped and modeled itself to the contours of Starburst’s body. Once complete, Star examined herself; she didn’t see much difference from how it differed from her normal aura, she could still see herself. But the real test would be if anypony else would see her. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained! Star took a running start, flapping her wings in time to gain speed. She got closer and closer to the balcony till she jumped and gave a mighty flap of her wings, propelling her into the air. Star ascended a bit and stopped to hover in the air, she quickly looked around to see if anypony noticed her takeoff. Apparently no one had; in fact, they all seemed oblivious to her presence in the sky. Starburst wanted to test her invisibility further. Luckily, there were two ponies, well, one pony and one dragon-pony, she thought perfect to test it out on. Anthea, a light-pink unicorn mare with an equally light-green mane and tail, was walking alongside a large half dragon, half pony…stallion? Turquoise, with green scales and dark-green spines and claws, walked close to Anthea, keeping his right wing draped over her back. Starburst knew Anthea was partially blind, so her other senses would be heightened. Turquoise, like his big sister Claire, had heightened dragon senses, sight, smell, and taste. Both presented as excellent test subjects, if she could, even for a moment, could go unnoticed by these two then nopony could sense her. Before getting close to her targets, Star had the ring help with flight. If she kept flapping her large wings, both T and Annie would know she was there. The teenage mare slowly floated towards them, carried only by the power of her ring. She watched as the two just walked about the town, Anthea and Turquoise didn’t really seem like they were going anywhere, probably just enjoying a walk together. Just a mare and stallion couple enjoying their time together. There was a slight stab in in Star’s heart; Anthea was being taught magic by her mother, in a way, acting like the daughter she probably wanted. On top of that, she had somepony like Turquoise to look after and protect her; he’d do anything for her, because he loved her. And it pained Starburst, knowing that Nidra liked Turquoise too, but could never have him. Starburst followed the two of them for at least four minutes, and so far neither of them noticed her presence. She was starting to feel confident, that is, until Anthea and Turquoise stopped walking. Then Anthea did something that almost made Star shoot up into the air out of fright. Anthea turned around and stared directly at her. Starburst froze, holding her breath, doing all she could to not make a move and alert her further. Turquoise looked back and forth between Anthea and Star’s position several times. He then scratched his head in confusion at what his marefriend was seeing. “Annie, what’re you looking at?” Anthea squinted her eyes, her ears flicked to and fro, and her nostrils flared a bit. She was using all her senses, save for her magical abilities, to detect a presence. “Sorry T…I just…I don’t know. It felt like someone was following us. I guess it was just my imagination,” said Anthea, feeling a little embarrassed. Turquoise stared in the direction that Anthea was more closely. Now Starburst was starting to sweat a bit. The dragon/pony hybrid stared intensely at Starburst, titling his head from one side to the next as if to determine if there was indeed something there. After a few tense seconds Turquoise looked at Anthea disappointedly. “Sorry, Annie…I mean, it feels weird, but I don’t see anything there.” Anthea sighed and smiled up at Turquoise, “It’s okay T, don’t worry about it.” With that, Anthea and Turquoise started walking again. Star released a long held breath, but tensed again when Anthea glanced over her shoulder for a bit. Okay, invisibility works. But I have to be careful around those two, along with Claire and Uncle Spike. Finally, Starburst made it to Ghastly Gorge. She landed in one of the large fissures and de-cloaked herself. Star took a look around, no pony around, a vast rocky terrain, with hundred plus foot walls of hard rock, and total isolation. It was perfect. But still, Star couldn’t afford to be careless here. “Ring, can you tell if there’s anypony around?” [I can scan for life forms as far as is needed of you.] “Alright, then…scan for life forms, within at least fifty miles.” [Processing…] The ring then let out a short burst. [There are currently no civilians, hostiles, or wildlife within a fifty miles of your position.] “Good, then suit me up, and get ready.” [Acknowledged.] The yellow ring shined brightly. Starburst’s armor reformed on her, wings covered in a metallic golden armor, her chest plate shining with the insignia of the Fear Lantern Corps. All except her head was covered, but her eye color was different, like before, it had taken on the color of the light, showing that its energy flowed within her. “Ring, did you happen to memorize the way those griffons fought, even Steel Wing?” [Yes, I recorded all battle data during our first encounter.] “That’s what I wanted to hear. I’m going to create constructs of the griffons we fought in Stalliongrad. Is there any way you can use what you learned and make it so that they can fight like them?” [I can successfully recreate the fighting patterns of the enemies we fought. Preparing to initiate training simulation, on your command.] Starburst focused her mind and created at least seven griffon soldiers, with the seventh being an exact recreation of Steel Wing. The teenage mare eyed each of the constructs in turn and snorted with determination. “BEGIN!” [Initiating combat simulation.] The six griffons attacked at the same time. Starburst’s helmet immediately formed over her head and she too charged the griffons. Star conjured two cutlass sword constructs and swung them at the same time, taking out the first two griffons. She then used her ring’s flight capability and let her wings compensate for finer movements. The four griffons took flight as well, chasing her down in the air. Two of them wielded swords while the other two brandished long spears. Starburst was ready for them, but was curious to see that the Steel Wing construct hadn’t moved an inch since the start of the fight. Why is it not attacking like the rest? I thought the ring made it so that they fight like the actual griffons from Stalliongrad…Does that mean –!? Starburst didn’t get to finish her thought as the two griffons with swords lashed out. With her protective aura, she intercepted the two blades on her forelegs, feeling the impact but nothing more than that. She then pushed off her two assailants only to watch as the other two constructs came at her from above and below. Star then flapped her wings, propelling herself backwards and allowing the two spear wielding constructs to zoom passed the other. Unfortunately, Starburst went back too far and hit the canyon wall. The sword wielding constructs charged for Star, with her back against the wall, her options for evasion were limited. Before either of the two griffon constructs could land a blow, Starburst erected a barrier around her body. The swords clanked harmlessly against her defensive sphere, and, with a great battle cry, she unleashed the barrier in a burst of energy, sending the two griffons flying. Now it was her turn to go on the offensive. Starburst quickly thrust her ring hoof forward, producing two claws that reached out and grabbed both griffon constructs by the hind legs. She then brought her foreleg up and then down in one swift motion. The action caused the claws to whip their captives straight into the ground, where, upon impact, they dissolved into tiny particles of yellow light. The teenage mare, seeing her next two targets in sight, flew straight at them. But it wasn’t to last. At that moment the Steel Wing construct zoomed away and quickly found itself right behind Starburst. Too late to react, the construct used its armored claw to backhand Starburst back to terra firma. She shot down like a meteor, hitting the dirt with such force that it sent up a dust cloud and created a medium sized crater. Star groggily rose to her hooves as she scowled up at the Steel Wing construct. So, the ring deduced his style. Waiting and watching for a perfect moment to attack, thought Star. “Well I’m not giving you that chance!” Starburst took flight once again, her new target, the Steel Wing construct. She immediately took aim with her right foreleg and started to barrage the construct with yellow energy blasts. The mock Steel Wing evaded each blast, skillfully and with little to no wasted effort. Starburst knew she needed to get creative with her attacks, having a weapon that can create almost anything from your mind doesn’t account for much if the user has little imagination. Starburst fired two beams at once from her ring. Predictable enough, the mock Steel Wing evaded them, but that’s where Star changed it up. Instead of the beams just zooming off she made the beams bend. The Steel Wing construct now noticed that he was being tailed by the two attacks he avoided earlier and was not taking evasive action. The beams dogged the construct with each turn he made, Star was relentless, she wouldn’t let her enemy go, especially one as dangerous as he was. Then something happened that surprised Star. As one of the beams neared him, the mock Steel Wing dove right for one of the griffon soldiers. Right before the beam struck the construct, he masterfully flew around him, but the beam wasn’t as fast and struck the spear wielding construct instead of its intended target. The Steel Wing construct employed this tactic a second time, taking out his second underling. He then sent out a metal quill barrage at Starburst, she reformed her barrier and winced when the attacks struck the outer shell. It was even more surprising to her that the ring was able to recreate the intensity and strength of his attacks. I remember this, any minute now he’ll dive down and force me to ground! Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice –! Starburst then channeled more power into the barrier and unleashed it in a column of yellow energy up into the sky. After a few seconds Star cancelled the blast and her barrier, she then stared up into the sky and smiled smugly under her helmet. Shame on – Star then felt a tremendous blow to her abdomen, knocking the air right out of her lungs – me!? She looked on with wide eyes as the mock Steel Wing buried his fist in her stomach. He then retracted his fist and brought both claws together into a double handed hammer fist, bringing it down full force across Star’s face. The teenage mare was sent flying right into the side of the canyon wall, leaving an impression of her body. Starburst groaned painfully as her senses started to come back, only to gasp in fright as she watched the Steel Wing construct fly right at her, claws positioned for a spear-hand thrust. Starburst closed her eyes and awaited her demise. [Simulation terminated.] Star heard the voice of her ring. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that the construct was only mere inches from completing its attack before it dispersed into yellow light particles. After breathing a sigh of relief, Starburst peeled herself off the side of the canyon wall and floated back down to the ground. Her helmet disappeared as she shook her head, panting hard from the exhausting training exercise. [Minor injuries detected, regeneration process initiated.] Before Star could ask what that meant the ring flared up her yellow aura. The slight pains she was feeling were now becoming nonexistent. “Glad I found out about that useful feature, I probably would’ve spent longer recovering if it weren’t for you, thank you.” [No thanks is necessary, Starburst. It is merely one my pre-programmed functions to insure the survival of my Bearer.] “Well, thanks anyway. Ugh! What was up with that Steel Wing construct, was that really how he fights!?” [Analysis of enemy, Steel Wing’s, attack pattern shows a lack of empathy towards his subordinates, seeing them only as pawns. This allows him to effectively use them to his advantage; with no emotional ties to his subordinates he can freely sacrifice them if it is able to fulfill his mission.] “Makes sense, he killed that one griffon I spared, why wouldn’t he do the same to save his own hide!? So I can expect that kind of resistance from Steel Wing, he’s adaptive, quick, and surprisingly strong.” [Affirmative.] “I’ll have to work harder at this. Anticipate his moves and think two – no – three moves ahead of him! Let’s start again!” [Simulation ready.] “GO!” Day 2… After long hours, and a recharge or two, of training, Starburst’s goal to best Steel Wing was showing very little progress. It quickly dawned on the young mare that combat wasn’t the only means of which to attack one’s enemy. Recalling the Fear Shine, which was what drove off the murderess warrior in the first place, Star started to think that there was more to the ring’s fear power. She realized that when it came to any physical sport or fighting, it was sixty percent mental readiness and forty percent physical effort. She had the physical prowess, and the mental fortitude to fight, but if there was a way to manipulate that sixty percent in another, the fight could be won without necessarily coming to blows. For this, Star had started to do the one thing that she never thought she’d mimic her mother in, she did research. Star went through the library and found every psychology book the library had to offer. She even picked up some horror themed novels to help give her ideas when forming constructs. The orange pegasus mare gazed upon the tower of books she had gathered and groaned, “Just mare up, Star! Just think of it as adding more weapons to your arsenal!” After that self-motivating speech, Star opened the first book in the stack, Psychology 101. Star sorted through most of the pages till she happened upon one section of the book that dealt with fears. “‘The mind holds many rational and irrational fears, some stem from a traumatic experience suffered during childhood or sometime during the patient’s life. Others stem from the fear of the unknown, what we perceive is dangerous because of ignorance (i.e. lack of understanding), so the rational mind comes up with ways to rationalize the fear, even if it is farfetched, so long as the mind thinks it’s real, it simply is.’” Starburst pondered this and found that the book had some truth to it. Recalling her fillyhood when she was scared of something hiding under her bed or in the closet, the tales of the Headless Horse, the Olden Pony, and the Pony of Shadows, did frighten many a foal, and Star admitted, she was too, but that was before she realized her special talent and knew she could totally take on any of those monsters. Starburst continued to read on, finding the psychology of fear to be a bit fascinating. “‘Arachnophobia: fear of spiders, aerophobia: fear of heights, achluophobia: fear of darkness, agoraphobia: fear of open spaces or ponies and large crowds in general…’ Wow, didn’t know there were that many fears, well, shouldn’t surprise me, everypony has them…In any case, guess I’d better start reading up on them.” Starburst read all she could about a pony’s fears, how it can scar them psychologically, how, in extreme cases, a pony could die from sheer fright overloading their mind. Star was starting to see the devious nature in the power she wielded, but so long as she used it to protect the innocent, then she would gladly wield it. Many hours passed and Starburst had devoured most of the knowledge in the books she read, even breezing through some folklore and horror stories. It was instances like these that showed Star that she did indeed have some things in common with her mother. But now that many of the books had been read, and the time now resting at two o’clock, Star was starting to wonder what else she could get inspiration from. Then it hit her. “The comic shop!” Star remembered that Ponyville had gained a comic book store a few years ago; luckily it was the un-enchanted books, her mother made very sure that those particular comics were stamped with a BIG RED warning label before anypony read them. Starburst made her way to the comic shop, remembering that she had brought Nighty here a while back. It was slightly nostalgic walking in, the racks filled many different genres of comics, the odd collectibles hanging from the walls or displayed in glass cases, and of course the strange room with a red curtain for a door. Star shrugged at it, not really knowing what was in there. The teenage mare trotted to the cashier’s counter and cleared her throat. “Ahem, excuse me, can you help me? I’m looking for a certain type of comic.” “Sure,” said an oddly familiar voice. The pony rose up from behind the counter and revealed it to be none other than Cotton Candy, “what can I – Star?!” “Candy!? What are you doing here!?” “Oh, silly, you know I like taking on the odd job or two,” she said as if it were a matter of fact. Now that Star thought about it, it was like her to do something like this. She was always looking to master skills other than that of what her cutie mark says. It was an admirable trait that Star liked in Candy; she always strived to better herself. “Any who, what’re you looking for, Star? I just got in the latest New 42 Power Ponies! Interested,” she asked. “Oh-oh! Uh, no thank you, Candy. I was, ahem, looking to see if the shop carried any comics in the genre of horror, maybe?” Candy looked at her friend taken slightly aback by her choice, “Wow, I totally had you figured wrong. I always thought of you as an Action/Adventure kind of gal, or maybe sci-fi, with just a smidge of romance, but, oh well!” Candy hopped, literally, over the counter and led Star towards the racks with the comics she was asking for. Star hadn’t been in a comic shop for a while, and it was plain to see, since the last time she was here, a slew of new comics had occupied the racks. Candy stopped once they reached their destination. Starburst looked upon all the comics, each featuring a terrifying creature along with their titles, “The Hunter,” and “Hayraiser,” and “Extraterrestrial.” Each of them already gave Star ideas on how to use them in combat, but she kept that excitement bottled inside less it show on her face. “So, which would you like?” Candy asked. “Hmm, one of each, the first parts, I don’t want to jump into a story halfway through.” “Wow, you must really like horror stories! Hey, if you want, they’re showing a really creepy movie if you want to go and see it this Friday, maybe we can get Del, Prism, and Claire to come along?!” Starburst chuckled a bit at her friend’s enthusiasm. “I’ll think about it, also, could throw in that.” The pegasus mare pointed to a large book labeled “Space Wars: An Encyclopedia of All Tech and Characters.” Candy just looked at Starburst with an “I thought so” look on her face, although, unbeknownst to her friend, Star’s motives for wanting that encyclopedia weren’t exactly innocent. That cannon I created was from that movie, Space Wars. It’ll help to boost my arsenal with weapons that the enemy has never seen before. After taking a large stack of thirty comics, and one encyclopedia book, to the counter to ring up, Star took a peek at one of them, truly the contents within were horrifying and slightly twisted and grotesque, but still, Star thought she could do better. “Hey Candy…?” “Uh-huh?” “Do you have anything more…I don’t know, more graphic than this?” Candy paused right before hitting one of the register keys. She looked at her friend with trepidation, wondering if she tell Star or not. “Well…yes…they’re actually behind that red curtain over there.” Candy pointed a hoof in the direction of the room with said red curtain door, “Oh, really, cool, I’ll be right back with another one.” Unknown to Starburst at that moment, Candy’s eyes went as wide as saucer plates as she watched Star make her way towards that particular room. With the same unnatural speed that her mother had, Candy zoomed ahead of Starburst and blocked her path, denying her entry into the room. Starburst just looked at her friend with confusion and a slight amount of annoyance. “Candy, what are you doing,” asked Star. “Y-You can’t go in there!” “And why not?” “Because you’re not old enough,” she blurted. Starburst raised a questioning eyebrow at that statement. “Look…in there, that’s where the owner keeps the really, really, REALLY graphic comics. Stuff that’s only for older ponies, like eighteen and up, some have pictures showing…you know…stuff.” Candy was starting to visibly blush and so was Star once she got the idea. “T-T-Those aren’t the ones that I want! You said that there were horror ones in there too, right?!” Candy nodded. “Then that’s all I want, nothing like-like that!” Candy shifted her gaze from Star and then back behind her. She then let out a long sigh and took a firm stance. “I’m sorry, Star, I can’t. I may be eighteen, but even I don’t go in there unless I have to. And, I really don’t think the stuff in there is right for you…I’m sorry, but that’s how it is.” Star wanted to be very clear that she did NOT want anything beyond the horror themed stuff. But the stern look in Candy’s eyes told her that the blue earth pony mare before her wouldn’t budge on this, plus she really didn’t want to risk Candy’s job. “All right Candy, you win.” “…I’m sorry, but you only have to wait two years, it’s not that long.” With that said, Candy ringed Star up, money was exchanged and then Candy waved her friend goodbye as she left the store. But, what Candy didn’t know was that Starburst was wearing her yellow power ring the whole time, having ordered the ring to cloak itself so that she could wear it in public. So Star used the ring to fully camouflage herself and sneak into the red curtained room. Candy then heard the swishing of the curtain but looked to see that no one besides her was inside the shop. She then turned her back, returning to her earlier task, but then she heard the sound of the store door opening and closing. Candy turned around to greet the customer but again, there was no pony there. Star didn’t become visible till she was back at the library. She felt wrong for doing that, and even more for the stuff she saw. They may’ve just been the front covers but even that was enough to make Star’s face blush a bright crimson. Quickly shaking her head, and the images, out of her head, Star placed all that she had bought, and ‘borrowed’ on the table. Out of the five she procured at random from the horror section in the RC room, three stood out the most. “‘Rainbow Factory’, ‘Cupcakes’, and ‘Cheerilee’s Garden’? Huh, one has Prism’s mom on it, another Candy’s, and June’s mom too. Must be one of those ‘fanfiction comic’ things that Nighty told me about.” Nighty had informed Star a while back that some fans of stories often times created their own stories revolving around their favorite character(s) from a series. Star had never given it much thought, but she soon found out that, during her mom’s younger years, it wasn’t uncommon for somepony to come to them and ask for an autograph on a work of fiction they wrote about them. Apparently it was a common thing, even Nidra and Illusion’s mothers had some literature written about them. Although it confounded her why they would write about her mom having romantic relationships with her friends, and even her mentor High Princess Celestia and best friend High Princess Luna, nonetheless, Star opened the first comic titled “Cupcakes”. “Seems innocent enough.” Star read the first few pages and shrugged, it just seemed like somepony writing about a normal day of her Aunt Rainbow Dash and Aunt Pinkie Pie baking. “Sheesh, what was Candy worried about? There’s nothing in here that’s – what the!?” She had gotten to the page where Rainbow Dash apparently is drugged and now wakes up on table. “O-Okay…that’s a little freaky, but then again they do like to pull pranks, like mothers like son and daughter. “Oh…wait…is she…WHAT THE BUCK!!!? Is she…with the knife…no…no…NO! Not her wings! Please not – Oh good Faust!” Starburst, out of sheer morbid curiosity flipped through the rest of the pages, her jaw dropping steadily with each passing second and along with her eyes growing wider at the same time. After a minute or two the comic fell to the floor, a stunned and horrified expression was plastered on Starburst’s face, she even found herself unconsciously rubbing her wings and cutie marks as if to insure that they were in fact attached to her. Starburst eyed the other two comics, wondering if she should even dare open them and look at their contents. With a shaky gulp, Star moved to the one entitled “Rainbow Factory”. Again, it started out innocently enough. It seemed centered around little Echo’s mother, Scootaloo. She remembered, during the few times Star met the mare, that she had trouble flying when she was a little filly. But the Scootaloo in this story was older and taking some kind of flying test in Cloudsdale. It seemed fine, until she and some of the other pegasi who failed the test were taken to some weird facility. “Oh no…why are they…” She continued to read on. “GO! GET THE BUCK OUT OF THERE!!!” By the end of the story, Star was starting to have serious suspicions about the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale, and how anypony could write her Aunt Rainbow Dash in such way. Those two were as tight as if they were born sisters. Needless to say, she opened “Cheerliee’s Garden”, and was treated to another barrage of gory, if not crafty and creative, killing that ended rather poorly for her mother. Now Star felt sick and had a strong urge to give her mom a hug. Starburst eyed the three comics that were on the table, her right hoof slowly rose up as the yellow ring began to hum with built power. “I probably should burn these, if Candy saw them – if June or Prism saw them!” The pent up energy in the ring began to glow bright. “But…if I do that, then Candy will get in trouble………Ring, you wouldn’t happen to have a memory erasing function, would you?” [I do not possess such a function.] “Of course not, that’d be way too easy.” Star sighed heavily. “I pray that they never see these. Let’s just finish the last two and get them back as quick as possible.” Day 30… They had all been assembled at Del’s house, but they didn’t know why. Turquoise and Anthea were there, along with Golden Delicious, Cotton Candy, as well as some others. There was another dragon/pony hybrid among them, a light lavender scaled mare, with a purple mane claws, and two horns on her head, Turquoise’s older sister, Crystal Clarity. The last was a Pegasus stallion with a dark navy blue coat, and mane of yellow, blue, and red, and a cutie mark of prism shooting out a rainbow, the cocky member of their group, Prism Bolt. “Okay…so, anypony have any idea why we’re here,” asked Turquoise. “Duh, I called us all here to talk about Star, of course!” Candy exclaimed. Everypony looked at the hyperactive mare with confusion. “What’s wrong with Star,” asked Anthea. “Haven’t you guys noticed that she’s actin’ weird lately?” “Del, dear, you’re going to have to be a bit more specific than that,” said Clarity. “When she first got here she was…down, sad, like her world was shattered.” “Well losing your dream can do that to a pony,” said Prism. “Yeah, but ever since she heard about what happened at Maretonia she’s been, I don’t know super motivated lately!” Candy emphasized her point by flailing her forelegs into the air. “I still don’t see how it’s a problem. If Star’s found a way to lift her spirits then I don’t think we should take that away from her. She’s been through so much lately…I like seeing her like this, she’s like her old self again,” said Anthea. “None of us really liked what was done, Annie. But…Ah just feel like there’s somethin’ strange goin’ on with her.” “Lover’s intuition?” Turquoise teased. “Watch it T,” he warned. “It’s not only Del; I think there’s something up too. I mean, a few days ago Star came by the comic shop and asked for nearly all the comics in the horror section.” It was obvious that that struck the others as odd. Star had earned her reputation as a buzzkill, but she never showed an interest in such things. “Now that you mention it…” Claire started, “She did come to me to inquire about something…Star wanted to know how I was able to multitask with my magic, more specifically, concentration and focus techniques.” “Seriously sis?” “It was strange, I mean, she didn’t ask it as if she were fascinated by my ability, but more like in the ways she could apply the techniques, it was truly strange.” “Wait, she came to you too!?” All eyes turned to Annie. “Last week, Star asked me how I was able to conserve energy for spells and ways to spread out the energy without losing potency. I thought it was odd at first, I mean, she’s not a unicorn, so I thought that maybe she was trying to take up an interest in magical theory. Maybe as a way to get closer with her mother, I mean, they can’t have left on good terms.” “Come to think of it…” Now they stared at Prism, “Star was really into flying, I mean, she was REALLY into it. She was asking for tips and tricks that – and make no mistake, she’s a damn great flyer – but they were ones that were a little dangerous and required just a bit more agility.” “Same thing with me, Star’s been putting more of herself into doin’ the chores here on the farm, and it’s gotten to where Ah’m carryin’ her back to the house like before.” It was starting to come together, but into what was anyone’s guess. According to all assembled, Starburst had been asking odd questions, working harder than before, and had somehow regained the vigor she once had before the incident at Stalliongrad, no, if they were honest, her fervor was intensified ten times from what it used to be. While they all agreed, it was a joyous thing to see their friend not depressed anymore, they couldn’t help but wonder if this just a prelude to something worse on the horizon. And it worried them that Starburst was going to try something reckless again. “Let’s face it guys, she lost the one thing she wanted most in life, to be a Royal Guard. Her backs’ against the wall, she has nothing to lose.” That statement earned Prism a glare from Claire. “What!?” “You make it sound like Star’s going to commit suicide or something, we’re trying to think of ways to help her, not think of the worst case scenario!’ Claire chided. “I might have an idea, but it’ll take some time and effort to get done correctly. In the meantime, I think we should make sure she’s safe,” said Annie. “Don’t worry, everything will be alright, I know it will!” Candy proclaimed. “How can you be so sure,” asked Turquoise. “I don’t know, I just do silly.” Ghastly Gorge… Starburst once again found herself at Ghastly Gorge, but this time was different. The canyon was being lit up with flashes of yellow light, hundreds of griffon constructs swarmed around Starburst as she attacked one enemy after the next. And just like she had hoped, all her research and practice had come together, she was creating monstrous creature constructs which would devour some of the griffons or savagely beat them six feet under. Her concentration was improving as well, the more she trained and focused the easier it was to create more and more complex light constructs without risk of them falling apart easily. And with more training came the addition of learning more functions of the ring. During the battle, a mock Steel Wing tried to make a grab for her, but Starburst merely smirked as the claw of the construct merely fazed through her body. She didn’t make the construct weak, rather it was a new ability, she was able to become intangible and therefore unable to be physically touched if she so chose. She could become like a ghost, moving in and out of the battle, appearing in one place and reappearing in another. Added with her strength training with Del at Sweet Apple Acres and her added flight practices with Prism, coupled with the focusing and energy conservation techniques she learned from Annie and Claire, Star had become stronger and faster than before, driven by a new goal to become Equestria’s hero, it’s “Golden Star”! Suddenly all the griffon constructs decided to attack her all at once, surrounding her completely and brandishing their weapons. Starburst merely smirked as she brought up her right hoof. The ring shined brighter as Star cocooned herself in a swirling sphere. The sphere spun around and around till it burst open and lashed out with hundreds of thorny vines that shot straight for the oncoming fodder. The vines whipped, slashed, and pierced through every enemy that dared to enter her zone of destruction. Meanwhile, Star floated at the center of it all, forelegs crossed in front of her chest, wings flared, and a proud smile that only broadened. At that moment, three Steel Wing constructs appeared out of nowhere and were about to strike Star down. “That’s not going to work!” In the blink of an eye, Starburst zoomed up into the air. She then raised up her right foreleg as yellow light particles gathered around the lower half of her leg. The particles formed a large futuristic cannon that was attached to Star’s right foreleg. She brought the cannon into position; a sights visor popped out the side of the cannon and started to target the three mock Steel Wings. With the yellow ring powering it, Star unleashed a powerful blast of golden light straight down. The resulting explosion wiped away all the remaining constructs in one shot, and caused some of the canyon to cave in on itself. Starburst dismissed the cannon and resumed her original stance. “Guess I overdid it a bit…” Starburst glanced out of the corner of her right eye. “Or maybe not.” Within a matter of seconds, the Fear Lantern insignia formed behind Starburst, with the extending prongs turning into steel chains that shot out wide. One Steel Wing construct was diving right at Starburst from high above, but before it could lay a claw on her, it was struck from both sides by two skyscraper sized columns with jagged spikes on the front, and connected by the yellow chains. The two effectively smashed the construct flat, turning its body into light particles. Starburst hadn’t moved from her position, she merely chuckled. “We’re ready.” [Affirmative. ]