Refusal was clear in Uncle Spike’s eyes as she flew back to them. “Out of the question,” he growled.
“Didn’t ask for you permission, Uncle,” she told him shortly, landing beside him and her friends.
Starburst knew that she was being impolite, but she couldn’t help herself. She had to capture Starfall. Now it was the matter of honor; he hurt her father, now she was going to make him pay.
And the little object she grabbed with her wing - an action that went unseen by the others - was going to help her with that.
Of course, her uncle was of a different opinion. He lowered his head to meet her eyes on the same level. “You will not go after that little monster! He’s too dangerous for anypony beside the Princesses and Discord to try and capture him!”
She could see he had a few more things to say to her, so she interrupted him. “Uncle Spike, why don’t we have this discussion later, after we help get those guards to infirmary?”
Starburst nodded at the fallen ponies who still bore the black chains around their necks. Two royal guards that had come after her here were already taking Flash Sentry back to their mansion. Those that stayed moved to help their friends, but there were too many for them to carry all at once.
Uncle Spike gave her an annoyed look, but he nodded. “Yeah, I suppose that can wait.”
Their little argument postponed, but not forgotten, he moved to help the royal guards. He picked up the closest one carefully, trying to not touch the black chain on his neck, and placed him on his back, then turned to another one. Starburst, following his example, trotted to one of the fallen guards.
However, just as she was about to pick the armored unicorn up, Candy had come to her side. “Hey, Star?” she asked her gently, making the princess look up. Her friend was smiling at her with compassion. “How about you leave us to help them, and you go back home? You must be worried about your dad. We can handle things here, right guys?”
Every one of her friends nodded. Even Prism, despite his by-now legendary laziness. Starburst was touched by her friend’s compassion, and it took her some effort to stop tears of gratitude from pouring from her eyes.
“Thanks guys,” Starburst smiled, looking at them. Her eyes traveled through all of them; she might not like showing emotions, but she wanted them to know that she was grateful.
Her gaze stopped on Whirlwind. After a brief hesitation, Starburst asked; “Hey Wind, could you go and tell my brother about… well, everything?” She knew her dad was tough and wasn’t in any danger, but it would be best if one of his children was keeping him company; after all, she had a battle to prepare for. “He told me he would be hanging out at their little gang’s clubhouse at Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Sure, no problem,” the purple pegasus replied, flexing her wings.
“Make sure to tell him that our dad is okay,” Starburst quickly added before her friend would leave. “No need to cause a panic.”
Whirlwind nodded and flew off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Starburst was about to follow her example and fly to her family’s mansion, but the chains on the closest guard’s neck appeared at the edge of her vision. She turned her head to take a better look at it. It wasn’t touching the unicorn, nor were there any chain burns on his neck (despite that in a case of flaming chains the “burns” would be literally burns). They were just there, around it.
What did he say? she wondered, recalling his words. When they ensnare around the pony’s neck, they will make him or her see their words nightmare… but if you just touch them…
Pushed by her curiosity, Starburst extended a hoof and touched the chain.
Her hind legs went out from under her. A terrible, sick sensation tickled up her coat and chilled her skin beneath. Her breath changed from calm and collected into raspy and deep which she drew much quicker. Her heart was racing and she fought an urge to vomit, to curl up into a fetal position, to press all her limbs tightly to her body.
… you will be paralyzed with fear.
With great effort of will, she pulled her hoof back.
The terror that overtook her disappeared immediately. Her heart began slowing down it’s beating as did her breathing.
“Why in Tartarus did you do that for?” her uncle asked, both annoyed and worried at the same time.
“I wanted to check something…” Starburst replied, still shaken by the experience.
An irritated growl escaped Spike as he faceclawed. “Star, I swear, you’re worse than you mother was! You don’t touch something that is literally burning with evil flames! You’d have to be blind to-”
The dragon cut off in the middle of the sentence as he had realized what he just said. His eyes looked in alarm in the direction of Annie… who had the most amused smirk on her face a pony could ever see.
“Don’t look at me, Mister Spike,” the green maned mare said, giggling. “After all, I didn’t touch it.”
Oh, very funny, little miss perfect… Starburst thought with irritation, glaring at her, as she shook the hoof she had touched the chain with to rid herself of that feeling completely. At the same time, she couldn’t help but try to think about just what happened to her. I was so… terrified. That was rather unusual for her. She had never been afraid of anything… well, yes, today when she saw her father unconscious being held up by those chains she was afraid. Yesterday too, when Starfall’s puppet was about to explode next to Nighty. But she had never felt terror just by… touching something. How did Dad managed to shake it off… she wondered, while at the same time another unpleasant thought hit her.
Her special talent was intimidating others, causing fear in them.
Starfall was better at it.
“Had Nurse Redheart said anything else?” Starburst asked the head housemaid as they trotted towards her parents’ bedroom.
The speed with which the guards brought her dad back to their mansion and gotten him medical attention really spoke something about how much ponies cared about her family. She herself was a fast flier, and the nurse had already left, having performed a medical check on Flash Sentry. Usually, Starburst felt a bit embarrassed by such things, but now she was more grateful that she could ever remember being.
“No, Young Princess,” the elderly mare replied, keeping up with the energetic pegasus without any problem despite her age. “Only that your father needs a lot of rest now.”
Despite already knowing that he would be fine, Starburst felt a great wave of relief wash over her hearing that. “Thank goodness,” she muttered to herself, then turned back to the housemaid. “Thank you, Rosie, that would be al- No, wait. We might be visited by Princess Luna today. Please make sure there will be some refreshments ready in the kitchen, just in case.”
“Of course,” Rosie said, nodding her head and smiling. “We cannot throw ethics and protocols out the window just because things a little bit hectic . I will see to everything, Young Princess.”
The head housemaid gave her a little bow as she marched off another corridor. Starburst watched her for a moment, checking on a mental checklist if she had forgotten something. When she was satisfied, she finally allowed herself to forget about any royal duty and/or problem she could have, and just be a daughter who had seen her daddy get hurt.
She didn’t pay much attention to her parents’ bedroom as she entered it. When she was a little filly she had liked to sleep with them, even if she had grown up from that rather quickly. So the well-organized room wasn’t unknown to her; in fact, knowing her mom, Starburst was pretty certain that nothing had changed about this room since the mansion was built, not even a single piece of furniture was moved an inch in any direction (thought maybe it gained a few books, Twilight did like to read books in bed).
Her attention was immediately drawn to the resting stallion. Flash Sentry laid in the bed he shared with his wife, sleeping. Starburst spend a good few minutes listening to his steady breathing to reassure herself that everything was going to be okay, before she took one of the pillows and sat beside the bed.
Though she kept her eyes on her dad, in mind she was someplace else. On a battlefield. She told Starfall she would face him tomorrow, and a princess’ word was her vow. Starburst said she would have him bound in chains, and she kinda had a plan (though she was still developing it in her head), but… how was she going to pull that off?
If I’ll get the others to help, and everything will go as I want… the timing will be the key. If I miss my window… Those Black Chains… She thought with the unpleasant feeling of dread, even Dad was beaten by them.
She shook as she recalled the awful sensation that overtook her when she had touched it. She wasn’t too hot on repeating the experience.
But Dad still managed to resist them, and even break free of his worst nightmare, she thought, feeling pride swell in her as she looked at her father. He really is amazing…
Her brow furrowed. Starfall had pretty much said so as well. He said that her dad gained his respect, and despite her hatred for him, Starburst felt that he was sincere when he had said that.
Also...
And… you’ve figured it out, huh?
What did he mean by that? she wondered. Unfortunately, the one that could answer that was asleep. What did you figure out, Father?
A voice pulled her from her pondering. “Star?”
Starburst turned to her brother, who was now standing in the doors of the bedroom, looking terrified at their dad.
“He’s okay, he’s just resting,” she said to dissuade any worries he might have had, while motioning for him to come closer.
Nighty walked quietly to her, his eye not leaving Dad. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am. The nurse that had seen to him said so.” Starburst replied reassuringly. When Nighty reached her, she quickly wrapped him with a wing and pulled him into a hug. “He will be fine… And I am going to make sure the one responsible for this won’t hurt anypony again.”
She couldn’t prevent venom from attaching to her voice; she really hated Starfall right now. The change in her voice made her brother take his eyes from their dad and look at her.
“The one respon- you mean that Starfall guy?” Nighty asked, surprised. “He’s the one that beat Dad?”
Starburst just nodded. She knew she wouldn’t be able to hide her anger, and she didn’t want her brother to see just how much she was furious. There were times, of course, when they argued with each other - what siblings don’t? Well, maybe Mom and Uncle Shining Armor, she thought with a roll of eyes - but her anger from those moments was to her hatred now like a drizzle compared to a storm.
“Listen, Nighty,” she turned to him. “I need to go and take care of some things. Can you stay here with Dad?”
“Didn’t you say that he’s just resting?” Nighty asked, raising an eyebrow.
“If you were resting after a terrible experience, wouldn’t you want to wake up and see somepony close to you?” she answered, half-honest.
Starburst didn’t want to tell him the real reason why she wanted him here. Starfall had said that the Black Chains made a pony see their worst nightmare, and that Flash Sentry had managed to snap himself out of one. As much as she was proud of her father for doing that, it meant that, even for a short time, he was trapped in his nightmare.
Flash Sentry was one of the bravest ponies Starburst knew. That was best proven by the fact that he dated and eventually married Princess Twilight Sparkle, despite her brother being… slightly overprotective, which coupled with him being his former Commanding Officer was… eventful. However, there were things that everypony feared. Starburst herself had tasted one specific fear: the fear for one’s family.
If she had to bet on something actually terrifying her father, it would be seeing either mom or them hurt or worse. However, Starburst also know that her dad was realistic. As such, he know that Mom, who had saved the entire Equestria a bunch of times, was an alicorn and the Element of Magic, was the one in the least danger of getting hurt. Starburst, too, he must know to be able to take care of herself. Even if he had never had a sparring fight with her, he did see her go a couple times against Val, and yesterday she had heard both of her parents acknowledging that they had confidence in her skills. Nighty, however… he might have talent with magic. He might attend Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. He might prove one day to be as powerful as their mother. But he was still a kid.
And that meant that he was the one Flash Sentry would be afraid for the most.
On her way to the library, Starburst heard a pony racing through the halls. She turned her head back and saw Rosie come from behind the corridor. When she spotted her in turn, the elder mare hastened to reach her.
Starburst winced. There were only a few reasons she could think off that would cause Rosie to practically run… and right now, she didn’t feel like dealing with the one most probable.
“Young Princess,” the head housemaid said once she was at her side, slightly panting, but still retaining her usual demeanor. “We’ve been visited by Princess Luna and Princess Nidra. I took the liberty of showing them to the main living room, where they are awaiting you.”
As Starburst had expected, Princess Luna had already arrived in Ponyville, and wanted to speak with her. It has been over an hour since her father let Starfall go. Knowing the Princess of the Night’s enthusiasm for dealing with threats, she had already dealt with the nightmares of the royal guards, and quite likely, she had also spoken with Uncle Spike. Which meant that it wasn’t just a visit to wish Flash Sentry a quick return to health. Starburst would have to play her cards carefully if she intended to stay true to the promise she made.
What she didn’t expect, though, was her friend Nidra, Luna’s daughter, to come as well. Then again, perhaps Starburst shouldn’t be too surprised. Nidra was the kind of pony who might find the problem Ponyville had been facing as of late - in other words, Starfall - to be highly interesting. She probably came to see if the news she heard were true.
Dismissing Rosie, Starburst hurried to the main living room. She paused briefly before she entered it, though; despite that she never cared about her look, she did know it would be impolite for her if she hadn’t even tried to pretend she had put some effort to look good when meeting another princess. She stroked her mane a few times, and, considering that to be enough, she opened the doors.
“Princess Luna, Princess Nidra,” Starburst stated formally as she entered the living room; both alicorns, the first dark blue with flowing mane resembling the night sky, and the other smaller and gray, mane light blue and with leathery wings. “I bid you welcome in my family’s estate, though I-”
“Oh, would you cut that out, Star?” her friend, Nidra, rolled her eyes. “We’ve seen each other like, what, two days ago?”
“Nidra…” Princess Luna said quietly, closing her eyes; despite loving her daughter dearly, she had little patience for her unintended bursts of rudeness.
“And by seeing each other I meant living in the same castle,” Nidra continued. “And is this royal greeting really necessary? You’re a princess yourself, so-”
“Enough!” Luna snapped at her, though she was much calmer when doing so that a few previous times Starburst had witnesses similar scenes. “While you do have a point,” she added in a gentler tone, “it is a common courtesy to greet your guests in your house; only with the members of royalty there are a few more titles involved.” Princess Luna turned to to Starburst; and by doing so, she didn’t see her daughter poke her tongue at her. “Thank you for your warm welcome, Princess Starburst. When the words of what had transpired today reached us, we were deeply troubled. What is your father’s condition?”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Starburst felt a brief spark of amusement as she saw Nidra’s antics, though she had quickly shook it away. “He’s in no danger,” she replied to Princess Luna’s question. “Nurse Redheart said all he needed right now was rest.”
“I am glad to hear that,” the Princess of the Night replied, then paused, as if waiting for something. For what it became obvious a second later when her horn glowed with blue aura and the similar one appeared on her daughter’s fringed ear, pulling it down for a brief moment.
Nidra, getting the message, quickly added: “Good to know your dad’s okay, Star.”
She smiled as she said that. Starburst knew that Nidra was being honest, and that the slightly late reaction wasn’t meant to be an insult; it was just her being her. Princess Luna had already said what was on her mind, so why should she say the same thing? Plus, being just one year her elder, Nidra was still going through the ‘teenage rebellious age’ - which was something that Starburst had skipped - and had likely been purposely trying to get her mother mad at her.
“I hope he’ll make a swift recovery,” Princess Luna continued as the all sat down on the living room’s cushions, satisfied with her daughter’s response for now, “If the nightmare Prince Flash Sentry had faced was really caused by the same colt that cursed those guards, then I am really amazed that he managed to wake up from it by himself.”
“Thank you, Princess Luna,” Starburst accepted the compliment on her father’s behalf. “May I ask you about the condition of the guards my father had led into that battle?”
“T’wasn’t easy, but I managed to free them from that colt’s spell,” Princess Luna replied, slightly going back into the old way of speaking. “Though their conditions aren’t much better than your father’s. The news of this colt trouble me…” she added, frown scarring her features. “Especially in the light of Spike’s suspicion.”
“You mean that he is King Sombra’s son?”
“Yes, though I have no clue as how would that be possible. King Sombra’s entire being had been utterly corrupted by the dark magic he wielded, and while that was the reason he had managed to survive the battle with me and my sister, the Crystal Heart should have destroyed every aspect of him. He should have been long gone before the birth of this… Starfall, was it?”
Starburst nodded, pondering the older Princess words. She herself had those doubts when Uncle Spike had said that, and when Starfall confirmed it as possible.
“What do you mean when you say that the dark magic had corrupted him utterly?” she asked, hoping to gain some information about her opponent.
Unfortunately, almost as soon as the question had left her lips, Princess Luna looked at her sharply with comprehension. “Since you are asking me about the dark magic, am I to understand that what your Uncle had told me in the infirmary was true and you seek to capture Starfall yourself?”
In the corner of the eye Starburst noticed that hearing that, Nidra, who looked as if she was dozing off while Luna and her talked, perked her ears with interest.
“That is correct, Princess Luna,” she admitted. Starburst had no desire to lie. “He needs to be stopped, and I want to be the one that captures him, for all his insults.”
“Isn’t that a job for guar- oh, right…” Nidra answered herself the question she was about to ask, looking uncomfortable
“Princess Starburst, though I understand why you treat this as a personal matter - especially as I am privy to a knowledge about a certain thing…”
Starburst jaw dropped when she saw the smirk on Princess Luna’s face. She knows! she thought with panic. Somehow, though her mom had mentioned yesterday that Discord and Illusion were both away from Canterlot when she and Starfall were playing together all those years ago, it escaped her to ask about Princess Luna.
“... - I’m afraid I cannot let you do this,” Luna continued, expression hardening. “Based on what I could gather, this colt was considered highly dangerous even before today’s events. Now that we know he can use dark magic, he is even more dangerous, certainly not for somepony as young as you to handle. With my sister and your mother in the Crescent Lagoon, where we cannot reach them by magical means, I have to be the one that will confront him. Of course, if the messenger I send to them will reach them swiftly and either of them return to Equestria soon, their help would be appreciated. I will lead a search party into the Everfree Forest tomorrow.”
Starburst forced herself to remain calm and not let her disappointment shown. “Why not tonight?” she asked; she would have expected Princess Luna to go on the search with her bat pony guards during the night, as they would have a huge advantage.
“I pondered that,” Princess Luna admitted, “however, I fear that, given the harm the young colt had inflicted on the royal guard’s pride in those two days, it would be bad for morale if my own guards would be the one that would assist me with his capture.”
Starburst nodded. That made sense. She chided herself for not thinking about it.
“Does this mean Prince Supernova also won’t be assisting you?”
“Yes, though there’s another reason for that. My husband is currently investigating rumors about a rogue changeling in Manehattan. Now…” Princess Luna said as she rose from her seat, “I regrettably have to leave. I have other duties to attend to in Canterlot if I am to track down young Starfall.”
“Princess Luna…” Starburst quickly called; she wasn’t going to lose her chance. She had to capture Starfall herself. But the refusal to let her do that from Princess Luna would carry more consequences than from her Uncle. “I told him that I would capture him. Do you want me to go back on my word as a Princess?”
She ignored the look Nidra shot her that said “why do you bother?”. She needed to convince Princess Luna to let her do this.
“No, I do not want that,” Princess Luna answered, looking at her with strange look. “A Princess word should be her vow,” she said, glancing at her daugher sternly, who rolled her eyes. “However, like I said, this isn’t something a pony as young as you can deal with.”
“I’m not much younger than my mom and her friends were when they went to the Everfree Forest to confront somepony that was also deemed highly dangerous.”
Her gambit awarded her with the sight on Nidra’s jaw falling down, if nothing else. Starburst knew that reminding Princess Luna about how her mom and everypony else turned her back from Nightmare Moon into Luna might not be the best idea, but…
Princess Luna’s expression was unreadable as she stared into Starburst’s eyes. The pegasus princess met her gaze, knowing she couldn’t back down now.
“Maybe you’re right,” Princess Luna admitted. Starburst heart lifted hearing that, but then she slumped back down as the alicorn continued; “but that doesn’t change the fact that I cannot allow you to go after Starfall.”
Starburst, dismayed, nodded. She hoped her expression wasn’t betraying her thoughts: that she still planned on capturing him. Only with Princess Luna trying to stop her it would be difficult…
The Princess of the Night took a step back, and looked at her daughter. For a second, it seemed as if she was pondering something before she spoke: “Nidra, make sure Princess Starburst isn’t going to do anything foolish.”
Nidra’s face portrayed perfectly how Starburst felt. Both of them stared at Princess Luna with shock and confusion. She wants Nidra to keep an eye on me? Starburst thought, half confused, half offended; the other princess wasn’t exactly known for… being reliable. She might as well let me go after Starf-... wait, what?!
“On another note, Ponyville’s weather team is supposed to make it rain over the forest’s border,” Princess Luna continued while Starburst just gazed at her, still not believing it. “As this colt has an affinity with water, I guess this means the search will get delayed for a few hours. If you two would happen to go for a walk, I would advise wearing something waterproof and warm.”
“O-of course,” Starburst managed to reply; inwardly, she made a little dance. Bowing slightly in respect, she said: “Thank you for your visit, Princess Luna.”
“Thank you for your time, Princess Starburst,” Princess Luna replied, smiling, then turned around and began to leave.
“I can’t believe she just did that!”
Starburst couldn’t hide the smirk on her face as they walked. While she was too dumbstruck to raise any objection before Princess Luna had left, once she had recovered Nidra started - and to this moment continued - to complain about her assignment.
“Not only she had basically let you go after the second coming of King Sombra, but now if something will happen to you, it will be on my head!” Nidra exclaimed, rubbing her temples. “This is a job for guards, not princesses!”
“Well, this Princess plans one day to become a guard,” Starburst reminded her. “And she had seen her dad get beaten up by a smart-ass colt that’s her age.”
“I know, I know, sorry,” the alicorn sighed. “So what are we doing now?”
“We’re going to the library,” she replied, and ignored another sigh the other princess had uttered. “I need two certain spellbooks of my mom’s.”
“Why do you need spellbooks? I hope you don’t plan me on casting any powerful spells. You know I am not as powerful as our moms.”
“No, that’s not my plan, though if you would want to help I won’t stop you,” Starburst said. “And that’s not exactly a powerful spell, if my memory serves me right.”
“Okay, I… wait a second,” Nidra said slowly, looking at her. “You talk as if you have a plan.”
“I might,” Starburst explained with a wink.
She was speaking truth. Ever since she and Starfall had parted, her brain was working on a triple shift trying to come up with a way to capture him. She had gathered together everything she had learned while observing him, added to it what her mom told her while explaining the Polestar Spell and his other tricks, and based on what she got from this, she planned the way to capture him.
There was one unknown factor, thought: the dark magic.
“I’ll explain later,” Starburst told Nirda, not wanting to get now into details. “There is one more thing beside that spellbook I need to check in the library, so we might be there for a while… unless you know something about dark magic?” she asked with doubt.
To her surprise, Nidra answered with an uncertain: “Well… I don’t know how to use it, but mom explained to me how it works.”
“Really?” Starburst asked, trying to hide her surprise. “Why?”
“Oh, she just got so worried about that thing that happened some years ago, and was worried that I might need to protect myself from a pony using dark magic,” Nidra snorted at her mother’s paranoia, but, seeing the confused gaze Starburst gave her, she continued: “You know, that serial killer thing? Ripper the Jackal? You must have heard about it. Anyway, his last victim, that guard, was killed with dark magic, so…”
Nidra went on explaining what her mother thought about that incident and what she told her about that kind of magic, but Starburst wasn’t listening anymore. She stopped, her eyes going wide as she plunged into the depths of her mind, remembering pieces of information she had acquired in the years of preparing to become a royal guard. This one, though, was one of the darkest one in the history of not only the Royal Guard, but of the Equestria as well.
Ripper the Jackal. The serial killer, at first believed to be a griffon, as nopony believed a pony could do such sick things. His victims, who, except for the last one, were all mares, most of which dabbled with a rather undignifying profession, were found in bloodied pieces, and some of them, much to horror of the ponies that examined them, bore marks that indicated that they were eaten.
The killer (named “Ripper the Jackal” by the press) continued to evade both royal and night guards, until the killing had stopped… after one last victim. A lone royal guard, a pegasus, was found dead. The alley in which he was found bore clear signs of struggle: the street and walls were destroyed, some parts reduced to rubble, some having mark of claws on them. Upon identification of the blood with which the place was littered the ponies conducting that investigation learned that it wasn’t the victim's, but another pony - the killer most likely. As the killing had stopped after that, the guard was believed to having inflicted mortal wound on him, and he was honored post-mortem.
Of course, Starburst knew all that already, even that bit Nidra had said about the aura of dark magic found there. While this story was certainly dark, it wasn’t the horror of it that made Starburst now stop walking. What made her, though, was something she had heard today.
Nine years ago I said the same thing in Trottingham.
All murders happened in Trottingham. And they ended… nine years ago.
I really hate encores… especially when they get the casting wrong…
This day, on that scene, there was one guard as a victim, one colt as a villain… and one mare as a witness.
Wanna know how that turned out?
Stars above… Starburst though as the horrific realization came upon her. No…
She thought back to what her mom told her yesterday:
Trixie travelled from town to town, performing magic tricks, at least for a few years; however, I stopped hearing about her about nine years ago.
The casting in today’s encore was wrong. The colt wasn’t the villain, the guard wasn’t the victim, and the mare wasn’t the witness.
It was all wrong.
“Hey, Star, are you listening?”
With great effort Starburst shook her head. She might have gained now a new sympathy for Starfall. She might have saddening news for her mom when she gets back. She might later need to do everything she can to dishonor that guard. But what happened nine years ago didn’t give Starfall an excuse to do all those crimes he’s been committing since then. It was clear that for nine years he lived from what he stole, which he could have avoided. There were good orphanages in Trottingham. Her mom even opened one a few years back… Heck, if her mother had known what happened to Trixie, she would very likely adopted Starfall.
Even if one would look above all the thefts he must have committed, there were also the matters of what he did specifically in Ponyville. Starfall was going to pay for his actions, and Starburst was going to be the one to make sure of that. She wouldn’t get distracted… even though some of her rage dispersed and she now felt sorry for the colt.
“Sorry, I got lost in thoughts,” she replied to Nidra’s annoyed gaze. “You were saying?”
Shaking her head, Nidra started again while they continued trotting towards Starburst’s mom’s library. “As I was saying… the dark magic was originally created by Clover the Clever, as a mean to prevent the windigoes from ever coming back. The idea was that the unicorn would take away all the negative emotions of a pony. However, somehow, the spell went wrong, and instead we have now dark magic.”
“But how does it work?” Starburst asked, not really interest in history at the moment.
“Basically the unicorn gathers the negative emotions, such as hatred and fear, and changes them into a source of power. It doesn’t matter if the source of those emotions is the pony casting the spells or ponies around him, or if they are ponies at all.”
That’s what he meant, with Sombra using the fear of the crystal ponies… she mused. By why did he call him an idiot, then? It had clearly made him powerful. And… as the source of his magic wasn’t coming from his body… he technically would be able to remove inhibitor ring from his horn. However.. this also means...
“What can dark magic do, specifically? Are there any weaknesses, drawbacks?”
“If I remember correctly, dark magic can do close to everything,” Nidra replied, shrugging. “It depends on the user, what he wants it to do. It could be what that colt did, spreading fear, nightmares… or it could be what King Sombra did, erasing memories, changing body to gas, regeneration… As for weaknesses and drawbacks, though… The only real weakness is that it can be really weak against alicorn magic, especially of a pony like Princess Cadance, who’s magic emanates with love, which is and exact opposite of dark magic. However, there is also a high risk for the one using it: if he isn’t careful, his mind and body get slowly corrupted by the dark magic. Your mom must have told you how King Sombra kept hissing at everything, right? Well, there you have it.”
Starburst nodded as they finally entered the library. The strengths and weaknesses of the dark magic, while insightful, were of no concern to her now. True, she now had an alicorn to help, but as Nidra wasn’t particularly strong with magic, Starburst couldn’t expect her to fight Starfall. What had really interested her, though, was that bit Nidra told her earlier: about the source of the dark magic.
My guess was right, she thought with satisfaction as she searched through the shelves, looking for-
“What are you looking for, again?” Nidra interrupted her train of thoughts, stifling a yawn.
“I’m looking for-” Starburst began to say, but was interrupted again.
This time by Rosie.
“Princess Starburst,” she said, entering the library, and bowing slightly to both her and Nidra. “Your friends are waiting outside the mansion. Should I let them in?”
A smile crept on Starburst muzzle. She knew that she would need others’ help with this plan, but she didn’t expect them all to show up by themselves so soon. I just hope they will all agree to help… I mean, I do plan to drag them to the Everfree Forest...
“Of course,” she replied to Rosie’s question. “Please, tell them to come here.”
“And bring some snacks, would you?” Nidra added, sitting on one of the pillows Starburst’s mom always kept here in case a large group of ponies would ever just randomly come here.
The head housemaids’ brow furrowed hearing the rather rude request. “Princess Nidra, I hope you don’t address your servants the same way. I’m afraid Her Majesty Princess Twilight doesn’t allow any food or drinks here,” she added, bowing as she made her way out.
“Your mom is lame,” Nidra commented yawning with boredom.
Starburst decided to let that one go and focus instead on another issue. “Nidra, have you ever heard that you should be nice to the ponies who bring you your food?”
“No, why?”
Starburst facehoofed hearing another yawn.
“Who do you think is coming?” Nidra asked, flexing her wings and absentmindedly fixing her mane.
“Dunno, everypony? This reminds me,” she said, glancing at her friend. “Your mom is now in Canterlot, my mom and Princess Celestia are on that peace summit… your dad is in Manehattan... where are Illusion and Discord?”
“Well, Mom told me Auntie Celestia was angry at Discord for something, and then Illusion mentioned something yesterday that it might be better for him to disappear for a few days. So, I dunno, they’re in Las Pegasus maybe?”
He comes and goes in and out of Ponyville as he pleases, but when he could be of help for once he’s on the other side of Equestria? Figures…
As she thought that, Nidra continued to make herself more presentable. “Do you think T is coming as well?”
“Probably, why?” she asked, glancing at her.
“No reason,” Nidra explained, finally satisfied with her mane.
Starburst just rolled her eyes. She saw no sense in making herself presentable for friends.
Soon the increasing noise of hooves let them know their friends were close. Luckily, the mansion’s library was spacious enough to fit them all comfortably… all ten of them. Not only did those of her friends that saw with her what Starfall did to her dad and the other guards come, but they also dragged Claire, Gold and June. The big pink mare seldom was hanging out with them as of late, as between her chores on Sweet Apple Acres and teaching the in Ponyville’s Elementary she didn’t have too much free time.
“My mom would have exploded from happiness if she knew there were going to be so many ponies in here,” Starburst commented as they all greeted each other and made themselves comfortable.
It didn’t escape her notice that Candy and Gold were sitting next to each other… or that Prism and Wind were on the opposite side of the room. Clearly, whatever idea Candy and Annie had came up with, it was already being put into motion, though it was causing an opposite effect from the one they desired.
“How’s your dad?” Annie, sitting beside T (on his other side was sitting Nidra), asked her.
“He’s fine, he just needs some rest.”
“That’s good to hear,” Claire commented. “Now, would you mind telling us why our dad - and mom, and everyponies’ else parents - told us to make sure you’re not going to do anything stupid?”
Starburst rolled her eyes at Uncle Spike’s overprotectiveness. It looked that he told all their parents about what she said.
“I think it’s because she’s going to do exactly that,” Nidra replied for her, smirking.
“Star, ya don’t really plan to go after that colt, ain’t ya?” June asked her sternly, though worry was tinting her voice. “If what everypony said was true, Ah must say that this sounds a little crazy. Ah know he beat up yar dad, but-”
“It’s not just because I want to pay him back ,” Starburst said, interrupting her. When June got a good start, it could take a while for anypony else to get a word in edgeways. “I also want to capture him because he needs to be stopped and pay for his crimes.”
“But Star,” Annie tried, “Even if that’s true, it’s just impossible for you to beat Starfall.”
“Scared?” Nidra smirked at her from the other side of T. The green dragon-pony hybrid looked slightly uncomfortable.
Is it because Nidra’s wing is brushing his side? Starburst wondered absentmindedly. Or because Annie is holding the end of his tail? she thought, looking at the hooves of Annie, in which was the end of T’s long tail that he curled around his body when he sat down.
“Star, I want to kick that guy’s sorry flank almost as much as you do,” Prism spoke up, swiftly rising into the air so that others could better hear him. “But I got to admit, between his Whatever Spell and that dark hocus pocus he is just too good for anypony to touch him, let alone get him ‘bound in chains’.”
Starburst opened her mouth to reply, but seeing where Prims had landed she paused. “You might not want to sit there.”
“Why?” Prism asked surprise from atop of the desk.
Blocking the memories of the previous night, Starburst shook. “Just… trust me on that one, okay?”
As Prism rolled his eyes and rose from the desk, she started again. “I have a plan.”
“Yeah, so did your dad,” Nidra reminded her bluntly.
Starburst glared at her, but said nothing. Instead, she concentrated on what she needed to tell hem. “I have a plan to stop Starfall dead in his tracks. Not dead dead,” she amended, seeing the reaction on half of her friends faces; as if she was speaking literally. “But he will be at our mercy. But… I will need your help.” she sighed; this would the hard part. “I know that this isn’t a light favor to ask for, but-”
“Not another word, Star,” Candy interrupted her, smiling. “We’ll help you, right guys?”
Everypony - everypony - nodded, even if some of them did so reluctantly.
“Ya didn’t think we would let a friend of ours go that that creepy forest alone, did’ya?” Gold asked, smirking. “We’re stickin’ to ya like a caramel on a candy apple.”
“Especially if there's candy apples in there,” Candy added, and when a few heads turned to her with a raised eyebrows. “What? Those things are good.”
Prism, on the other hoof, was looking on Gold. “‘Caramel on a candy apple’?”
Gold just shrugged. “Mah folks keep sayin’ that. It sticks to ya.”
Prism facehoofed. “Speaking of sticking…” he muttered, then added louder. “You do realize they might be talking about-”
“Anyway,” Claire interrupted him, and, guessing by the glare she gave Prism, she must have figured out what he was about to say (something socially unacceptable by the looks of it), “could you tell us this plan of yours, Star?”
Starburst nodded, but before she could dwell into that, she turned to Annie. “Anthea, I need to ask you something. My mom keeps saying how good you’ve gotten with the spells she’s been teaching you, and how quickly you learn them; do you think you could cast some spells just by learning them from the books? I will read them to you,” she added, not wanting to hear more jokes for the moment.
“Well, I suppose,” Annie replied. “It’s easier to learn from somepony, but I don’t think I would have too much of a problem. But… Star, I want you to promise me something.”
“What is it?” she asked, surprised.
“You said Starfall will be at your mercy,” the blind unicorn repeated her words. “I want you to promise me that you won’t try to use that to pay him back for anything.”
Starburst rolled her eyes; even if such a thought appeared in her head, she had definitely forsaken the idea after she had figured out what had happened nine years ago. “I give you my word as a princess that I will not torture him, beat him, or anything else once we capture him.”
“And that you will let my try to talk with him to give himself up,” Annie added. Starburst wished she could see the annoyed stare she gave her. “I think it’s worth a try if this could prevent any sort of fight.”
“Asking the guy who beat up royal guards two days in a row to let us throw him into prison,” Nidra commented, smirking. “Yeah, that sounds like a game plan.”
“Nidra, that’s enough,” Claire scolded her. “I would much rather talk my way out of such a bothersome problem. Now, Star dear, you were saying?”
Starburst nodded to her and told them. She watched as they expression kept changing while she went over every aspect of her plan, as well as what a particular pony’s role would be in it.
“So, do you think you can do that Annie?” she asked the unicorn when she finished.
“Well, I suppose…” Annie mused. “But… where are you going to get a set of royal guards’ armor?”
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me...” Prism muttered.
They moved their group from the library into Starburst’s room. Well, not the entire group; June, Gold, Claire and Candy had already left (which was a good thing, considering the smaller space of her room) to prepare for the adventure tomorrow, whether to ready themselves or make sure they would have a free morning.
The reason behind Prism’s comment was the small case that Starburst had pulled from the depths of her wardrobe. Or, to be more specific, its contents.
“Where did you get that?” Wind asked with curiosity as she looked at the set of the unique royal guard’s armor.
“Uncle Shining Armor gave it to me on my last birthday,” Starburst replied, admiring the armor herself; she could never get enough of its sight. The fact that she was finally going to wear it was exhilarating. “It was made specially for me.”
“And like that, you made every single gift I got for my birthday look lame.” Prism rolled his eyes.
“Oh, hush, your parent are the Wonderbolts,” Wind reminded him.
“So Annie?” Starburst asked over their friends argument. “Think this will work?”
“Well, the spell sounds easy...” Annie replied. “Give me some time - and peace and quiet - and we will see… well, you will.” she added with a smirk.
“Do you want me to stay with you?” T asked gently with concern.
“If you would be so kind,” Annie replied, smiling cutely.
“Hey, I’ll stay as well” Nidra had unexpectedly added cheerfully. “It’s more fun-”
“She needs peace and quiet, Nidra,” Starburst reminded her, “and no offence, but I kinda don’t see that happening with you.”
Nidra looked as if she was going to protest, but she gave up under Starburst’s stern gaze. The four of them left the room, leaving Annie and T. The former’s horn was beginning to glow as she concentrated.
Soon, Starfall... Starburst thought with satisfaction.
Like Annie had said: it took some time, but in the end, she was successful. Now they all had left (besides Nidra, who was staying here) to prepare and caught some rest before tomorrow.
After seeing Nidra off to one of the spare rooms they had for guests, Starburst hurried over to her parents’ bedroom. She found Nighty inside, sleeping beside the bed, some book laying on the floor next to him. Their father was still asleep, thought he laid in a different position, which mean that the might have woken up for a while.
Starburst trotted over to Nightly and gently woke him up. He blinked as rose his head. “Hey, want to change?”
“Yeah, sure...” he replied, rubbing his eyes, then yawning. “Dad woke up for a moment,” he said, brightening up.
“What did he say?” Starburst asked, happy to know that.
“He said that he feels terrible, but it is nothing compared to how he felt after Uncle Shining Armor found out he was dating mom,” Nighty said, chuckling at the old family joke. “He was asking how I was, where you were, what’s happening, but after a few minutes he got sleepy again.”
“I see,” Starburst nodded, regretting that she wasn’t here for that. “He must be still exhausted. Anyway, you go off to be, I will stay here for the night.”
“Okay,” he replied, yawning again, “Goodnight.”
Starburst repeated after as she began to settle down. Her gaze was on her father’s face; she kept thinking how she was going to make Starfall pay for what he did to him.
Not that she planned to hurt him; after all, she did gave Annie her word. But the blow to his pride would be enough of reward for her.
Starburst waited patiently under her cloak at the edge of the forest as they all had gathered. The rain Princess Luna had warned her about was just a small drizzle. Still enough for Starfall to use to his advantage, but not enough to make anypony catch a cold later.
“Is that everypony?” she asked, despite already having counted them. All nine faces looked back at her and nodded. “Okay, let’s get going!”
“Yay!” they replied in unison, all wearing cloaks for a protection against the rain in case it got worse, as they marched into the Everfree Forest.