//------------------------------// // Guard vs Thief // Story: When the Stars Align // by Borsuq //------------------------------// In her heart, Starburst knew… that she would remember the following few minutes as probably the craziest moments of her life. It was chaos. Everywhere she looked, she saw one of her friends dealing in some manner with a copied version of the very same colt she was now fighting. Starburst herself was right in the middle of his rope web battlefield, from where she could see - with corners of her eyes - how everypony fared. Her main focus, however, was Starfall. She tried every single fight move she knew on Starfall, but to no avail. The colt used their surroundings to the utmost maximum. Whenever Starburst’s hoof was about to collide with his face - or horn, or whatever part of his body, Starburst wasn’t too picky as to where she aimed her strikes - he either pulled up using the rope above them, fell down, hanging on the tightrope he stood on with his hindhoof, or moved away with the help of the vertical rope. And almost always Starfall made his way to be behind her, trying to either kick her or shoot magical bubbles at her. His moves were so swift and flawless that Starburst felt as if both of them were flying. No, not flying, she corrected herself. It’s more like he’s swimming… However, just as her strikes never reached their marks, so were his ineffective. Starburst dodged or blocked his kicks, and she either evaded his bubbles, or let them hit her and bounce off her armor harmlessly. She then tried to attack him again. She might not be as agile as Starfall was, but she was a pegasus. Three dimensional battles were not new to her. She had some problem with navigating through the “rope web” with her large wings, but Starburst quickly got the hang of constantly folding them and stretching back whenever she needed to squeeze through a bit too narrow noose. As both of them were locked in a strange battle, neither managing to hit one another - which, annoyingly, didn’t seem to bother Starfall at all, as he was grinning the whole time - Starburst also paid attention to her friends, in case some of them needed her help. As an experienced flier, she knew how to pay attention to every detail of her surrounding while flying (although she hadn’t quite mastered it on the same level as Prism’s mom had… yet), so she knew what they and Starfall’s copies were doing. Which is why everything seemed so crazy to her. Out of everypony, Prism seemed to have the worst of it. He and Whirlwind teamed up against two Starfalls, trying to get them within this field of tightropes, but in a different part of it from where Starburst was with the real one. It would have seemed to Starburst that, since both of the other pegasi - especially Prism, as much as she hated to admit it - were even more agile fliers that her, they should be able to keep up with the water duplicates. And maybe they could have, if it wasn’t for one detail. Starfall was a unicorn. They might have ensured that he would not use any form of teleportation, but there were other spells he knew, and it seemed that the water duplicates could use magic as well as the original. Small fireworks shoot from Prism and Whirlwind’s opponents’ horns, blinding them for a short time in critical moments. Big bubbles appeared between them when the pegasi were about to strike them, bouncing them away. And above all, with both of them being copies of the same pony, their moves were better synchronized than even those of the two life-long friends. As such… “He keeps kicking me in the balls!” Prism, panting as he rested on the stone floor, complained. His eyes were closed from the pain he was in, and his hind legs were curled tightly against his belly to protect his aching sensitive parts from further contact with the world. “Why?! Why does he keep kicking me in the balls?!” Whirlwind, who landed beside him to make sure that he was okay after he fell from the strike, just looked at him with concern, not knowing what to say. His question was answered, however, by the laughter from above him. “Why, that’s simple!” one of the Starfall’s copies said, looking down on them from the tightropes with a smirk. “You asked for it!” the other one explained. “That’s what you get for calling me bad names!” both of them said in unison, sticking out their tongues at him. Prism growled with anger and, ignoring pain, he threw himself back into the fight. Both Starfalls easily dodged him. “Oh, relax, Damsel. I’ve only kicked you there three times,” one of them said. “We’ll see how much you like it!” Prism retorted with visiociousnes Starburst had never heard from him. The two of them seemed to snort in reply and murmur something, but Starburst hadn’t caught that. Her attention had shifted then for a moment when she heard a loud crack from somewhere below. Another water duplicate of Starfall was running for his life. “How are you so freaking strong?!” he screamed at June who was gaining on him. Both of them were running in a straight line from a section of the wall which had a giant hole in it. By the looks of it, it was created by June’s hooves. The mare in question continued to pursue Starfall she was fighting, fury clear on her face. Starburst’s eyes, though, had also managed to notice something else on it, something which greatly confused her. A blush. “What did you do to her?” she asked the real Starfall as he evaded yet another of her attacks. Instead of pressing his own attack, he jumped further away. “I’m… not sure, actually,” Starfall replied, looking at her with confusion. He quickly glanced at the furious mare chasing his copy. “I noticed Big Red over there had a cherries for a cutie mark, so I had my water duplicate ask her if she could explain to me what a certain phrase I heard a while ago means. Then she got all berserker on me.” Starburst, for a moment more interested in her friend’s rampage that in their fight, also looked at June while catching her breath. “What was the phrase?” “‘Pop a cherry’,” Starfall said, shrugging. “Do you know what it means?” She opened her mouth… then closed it again. Starburst was certain she had heard that phrase somewhere, but for the life of her she couldn’t tell when, where, or what it meant. Clearly something offensive to get June so angry… Shaking her head, she returned to attacking Starfall, which he welcomed with a happy grin. As they returned to their fight, they both heard a roar, which on every other occasion would cause everypony look in the direction of where it was coming from. Now, though, they ignored it, as the draconic bellow had been uttered a few times already. Almost as soon as this odd battle started T found himself being separated from Annie by a small bubble that Starfall threw between them and then quickly expanded, sending the dragon-pony hybrid to the opposite side of the Throne Room. Of course, he immediately began trying to get back to her. The two of them were practically inseparable since they were kids. Whenever Annie went somewhere, T was with her, as even though she could cope with being blind really well, she still got nervous if she didn’t have a physical contact with somepony at all time. And now the green unicorn was alone, at the mercy of one whom she was stopping from teleporting… … and with whom she was having a fairly normal conversation. “Aww, come on,” she tried once again to inquire about his magic, her horn still shining with green light. “Pretty please?” “I am sorry, but, as I said, a magician never tells his secrets,” the copy of Starfall replied, sounding bored after repeating himself over and over. He laid nonchalantly on the floor in front of Annie, his eyes lazily shifting to T. “Aren’t you concerned about your coltfriend?” Though it became clear in the manner of seconds that Starfall had no intention of harming Annie, or even stop her from using her magic on the crystal, T continued to try and get back to her. But the water duplicate he was facing stopped him at each attempt. Starburst was thankful that T remained relatively calm. If he had started to really trash about, burning everything in his wake, he would have not only put their plan in jeopardy, but also their lives. At the current moment, he was flying slightly below the tightropes, trying to get Starfall’s clone of his back. “Fly, Like Dragon! Fly!” it laughed, clinging to his mane and avoiding his claws with ease. Annie’s head turned to where she could hear T growls and duplicate’s laughter. “Are you… riding him?” she asked, then smirked. “Gee, looks like Prism comment was-” “Hey!” Starfall’s copy interrupted her. “For that comment he got kicked in a sensitive spot. Don’t make me come up with some harmless payback for you!” “Why?” “Because I am a tad busy. Coming up with a good prank takes time-” “No,” she interrupted him, “I asked about ‘harmless’ part. Are you desciminating me because I am blind?” Starfall’s clone snorted. “Can’t see. And no, I generally just don’t harm ponies unless they piss me off. You hadn’t even try to attack me in any manner; why would I try to harm you?” His question made Annie ponder for a moment, so the copy returned to lazily scanning how other water duplicates and the orginal were faring. “Well, I am stopping you from teleporting or using the Polestar Spell with an Anti-Teleportation Field…” “So?” he grinned at her briefly. “It prompted the real me to use all those water duplicates, myself included. It’s quite a spectacle, I assure you,” he laughed. “Yes, I can hear that,” Annie replied, joining him in laughter and extending a hoof to touch him… Starburst turned her full attention to them as the water duplicate jumped away as soon Annie hoof reacher his shoulder. He glared at her, lowering his horn. “What did you try to do?” he asked, baring his teeth. Annie was momentarily startled by his reaction. “I… I wanted to touch you. It makes easier for me to talk with somepony if I’m in physical contact with them…” Her confused reply made the copy relax slightly, but he still stayed away. “Yeah, well, that’s nice and all, but I would be an idiot to let a unicorn with a glowing horn touch me. Sorry.” “What was that?” Starburst asked the real Starfall as he fell down to avoid her kick, then passed under her. “What was what?” he asked back, slightly panting. “Annie just tried to touch one of you, and you jumped like ten feet into the air.” Starfall rolled his eyes. “Are you seriously that attentive? Geez… my copy was probably afraid that she would cast a spell on him.” “By touching him?” she asked skeptically. “You do remember what I can do with my magic hooves, don’t you?” he retorted with a smirk, referring to how he could leave his Polestar marks by simply touching something or somepony. Starburst narrowed her eyes. Something didn’t seem right… As they resumed their fight, Claire was once again apologizing for what her father had said. “It was totally uncalled for,” she finished telling a bored looking water duplicate. “Even if your mom didn’t exactly make the best impression the last time she was in Ponyville… especially on my father…” That comment made the water duplicate liven up. “Why? What did she do to him?” he asked with interest. “If I remember correctly…” Claire started, using her claws to brush her muzzle as she tried to recall. “She turned him into a ball and threw him through a basket.” An amused snort escaped Starfall’s clone, “So that’s what she meant by ‘playing dragonball’...” Not far away from them were another copy and Gold, who just sit in from of one another and stared at each other. “You do realize that sooner or later you will lose, right?” Starfall’s water duplicate asked him. Gold didn’t reply, merely raised an eyebrow to show that he heard him. “I’m a magic construct, I don’t need to blink.” The big earth pony just shrugged and continued their staring contest, nor raising to the bait. Starfall’s copy scowled, disappointed that his taunts had no effect. “Staring contest?” the Starfall that was talking with Claire commented. “Seriously? Couldn’t you get Redneck to chase you around like another of us had Big Red?” “Oh, look at you, fancy talking with Sheclaw…” “Excuse me!” Claire interrupted them, her brow twitching from hearing the term ‘Sheclaw’. “My name is Crystal Clarity, not ‘Sheclaw’, and this is Golden Delicious, not ‘Redneck’!” “Well, excuuuuse me,” the one that had been talking with her retorted. “it’s not like all of you had introduced yourselves to me, how was I supposed to know your names? I had to come up with nicknames.” “You seem to address Star by her name, despite her not introducing herself,” Claire remarked. “Yeah, but that…” Starfall’s copy started, then paused. He scratched his head. “I… think I read it somewhere in a newspaper?” he shrugged. “Must be it.” The answer seemed to satisfy everypony who heard it… except one. Starburst eyes grew wider as she realized what she just heard. He… remembers… It was only one day, not long after either of them were born to this world, one day that they shouldn’t even recall. And yet, at some level of consciousness, Starfall remembered. Just as Starburst somehow associated the red eyes of her ferret with a fond foalhood memory, so did he know her name. He called me ‘Knight’ at first, though… Starburst thought, masking her need to think about this by pretending to be out of breath. Had something ‘clicked’ in his head after he learned that I was a princess? “Already done?” Starfall smirked, though he was also a bit winded. “I didn’t expect it would take so little out of me to finish you off.” Starburst snorted. “At your pace, it will take hours before I will be done. I got tons of energy left!” She dispelled all those confusing thoughts from her head once again. They had a job to do. Starburst offered him to come peacefully. It didn’t matter now if he really remember her name or not. She returned to her fight, mindful that all her friends were doing their best to occupy Starfall. Prism, Whirlwind and T were fighting, June was chasing one, Annie and Claire were talking, Gold was having a staring contest, and Candy… “WHEEEEEEE!” she squeaked as she bounced right back into the air. “THIS IS SO FUN!” … was bouncing on a big bubble the last water duplicate had created for her. She had been on about how fun it was for a couple of minutes now, but for some reason, this time Starburst felt like there was something she was missing. She dodged a kick from Starfall and looked in the direction where Candy, water duplicate and the big bubble were… … and it hit her that since it was created, none of the Starfalls had made another. Realizing that this was her only shot at disposing of all those water duplicates before Nidra would get back, Starburst planned her next moves carefully. She moved to be above Starfall at all times. She waited, faking her attacks. And when an opportunity presented herself, she struck. She swooped down, using the gravity to boost her speed. Starfall, who was swinging across two sets of tightropes and about to catch the opposite end, was instead caught by surprise. Starburst’s armored forehooves collided with his chest as she brought both of them down. “Claire! T!” she called out. “Fire!” Starburst didn’t have the time to explain properly what she intended. Her only hope was to trust that her friends would trust her. She could already see a bubble forming in between them, as well as on the floor where they would land. A short surprised and disappointed shriek came from somewhere, as the bubble she was bouncing on had disappeared. Starfall, whose face was just inches away from hers, grinned... And then it suddenly became really hot and bright. Starburst immediately let go of Starfall and flew backwards as everything became a mixture of orange and purple flames. Though her armor’s enhancements had mostly protected her from getting wounded, she still hissed in pain as she moved away from the inferno around the unicorn colt. She checked the scorched ends of her feathers, her ears not missing that the hissing sound remained and was getting louder. As she predicted it would. Her attention shifted back to Starfall. The flames disappeared almost as quickly as they had appeared. In their place, surrounding the standing on his hindlegs unicorn, was a wall of water. Starburst didn’t bother to look around for the duplicates. She knew she would not find them. Starfall’s spells weren’t creating water, that required too much magic. Instead, he gathered the water from the air and changed its state of matter from gas to liquid. He managed to gather water worth of eight ponies because due to the weather the humidity level was raised. But by doing that, he made it impossible for himself to create his magical bubbles as often as he wanted… or conjure a water shield strong enough to repel two sets of dragon-like flames. So he canceled them. “Risking injury to force me to cancel my water duplicates?” Starfall asked her, realizing at once what was her intention. And he was delighted by it. “I’m impressed. I’m impressed, Princess Starburst! Show me more, my rival!” His eyes flashed with excitement as the water around him swirled and turned in the air. Before the eyes of Starburst and her friends, it separated into six bodies, each growing smaller and smaller, until all six orbs were about half the size of a pony’s head. And then, as Starfall’s horn continued to shine like Crystal Empire’s lights, so did now the orbs. Starfall stood on his hindlegs in the middle of the Throne Room, his visage lit by the multi-colored light of the six floating balls he was surrounded by. “Like what you see?” he asked. The question was directed to all of them, but his eyes were on Starburst alone. “Too flashy,” she replied, keeping her distance. “What’s this magic trick of yours called?” “Dunno. Haven’t picked the name yet. You’re the first ponies ever to see it.” “Enough of this!” Prism interrupted them. Starburst looked up just in time to see him ready for to charge. “Those little lights won’t help you when I’ll get my hooves on you!” “Wait!” Starburst called as her friend flew at Starfall. Cursing mentally, she swung her powerful wings to attack as well. One of the orbs floating around him shot in Prism’s direction. Another shot at her. Almost taken aback by the speed of it, he managed to steer away only by his natural agility. Starburst didn’t have as much luck. She was too concentrated on Prism to register in time that she was also in danger. But even then she would have dodged the orb if it weren’t for one small detail. The one aimed at her was moving faster than the one he attacked Prism with. The orb slammed against her armored chest with the force of a sledgehammer. Feeling the air being knocked out of her lungs, Starburst was flung several feet backwards. Her friends all let out alarmed shouts as she had barely managed to avoid crushing against the wall. She spread her wings and with great effort she stopped in mid-air. “I’m okay,” she told her concerned friends, though she was clenching her teeth in pain. If I wasn’t wearing this armor, it might have even broken my bones… “Stay away from him!” she told everypony as she flew closer, this time far more cautious. Prism, T, and Whirlwind, who were all about to try an attack Starfall, all backed away. The three orbs which all had shot at them - and missed, but Starburst had the feeling that he did that on purpose - also might have helped them decide on that. “You’re ready for another round?” Starfall asked her as she drew closer. Starburst heard something like a snicker in the background, but she ignored it. Her concentration was solely on Starfall and the six orbs that floated beside him. “It would take more than that to bring me down,” she replied, feeling her breath return to normal. Her chest still ached a little, but she would deal with the pain. “I’m not new to pain; you would be surprise at how many times I got injured, you know,” she added, with a bit of pride in her voice, as she began to circle around him, staying clear away from him at the moment. “Really?” Starfall asked, sounding a bit surprised. The crazy-like glee disappeared from his eyes as they scanned her. “If I recall correctly, your body doesn’t bear any scars… you must have good medics around.” He shrugged. “Or you’re just exaggerating.” Starburst didn’t let herself get provoked by it. She studied the orbs. They were made out of water, but it felt like steel when it hit her… He made them out of water that had shielded him from Claire and T’s flames… and their glow… That’s it! “What are you doing?” Starfall asked as she turned around and flew back to the thrones. Ignoring him, Starburst descended, and with a swift kick, the edge of her armored hoof cut the duct tape that tied ancient weapons to the thrones. She picked all of them up and flew back. Before she got closer to Starfall, she chose out of them one, a spear that was just right for her size, and let the rest fall. “Whatever happened to the beauty of an unarmed combat?” Starfall commented with a raised eyebrow. He then shrugged. “Oh well.” He shot three orbs at her. And Starburst, with a strike faster than an eye could follow, destroyed them all. If she had the time and camera, she would have stopped to take the picture of Starfall’s face. He stared at the shattered orbs with his jaw fallen dawn. The spear Starburst had picked up was a weapon of the ancient guards of unicorn kings, from way before the time of Celestia and Luna. The blade of it was enchanted to disrupt the magic of whatever it cut. It was the ultimate weapon against the magic wielding. The water, now free from the magic that was binding it into the form of orbs, fell down with a splash, spreading across the Throne Room’s floor, but Starburst paid it no attention. Taking advantage from Starfall’s shock, she charged right at him. Luckily for him, he proven to have quick wits. Jumping back to gain time, he extended his right forehoof to one of the remaining orbs. The orb drew to his hoof as Starburst neared, and she saw how in those few seconds it changed shape, extending and growing thinner… By the time she reached Starfall, he was ready to block her spear with a cane. Starburst snorted and pulled back her spear, intending to attack again, but then the remaining two orbs attacked her. At such a close distance she didn’t have the time to turn her weapon’s blade in time to destroy them, so she had to dodge them. Despite their speed, Starburst had succeeded, and she swung the spear once again while the orbs, carried by the force of their own speed, flew behind her. To her surprise, Starfall once again blocked her. The multi-colored staff struck the spear before the blade, avoiding the risk of getting destroyed. Starburst pulled out and attacked once again, and this time, instead of blocking, Starfall lifted himself up, using the cane as a support to jump into the air and back unto the tightrope web. Surprised at his knowledge and skill he had just displayed - and having dodged the orbs once more - Starburst followed him. Except this time she wasn’t planning on playing this game, not by his rules at least. Instead of plunging deep into the web, she cut through the priceless banners, therefore depraving Starfall of his battlefield. And hoofing, apparently, as he fell down. Starburst quickly swoop down, but as she was about to swing with her spear, one of the two remaining orbs flew under Starfall and expended, creating a square hoofing for him to land in mid-aid and dodge her attack. It quickly reversed to its earlier form, avoiding getting destroyed by her attack. Starburst, unfazed, turned after her opponent, just in time to see the other orb split. Faster than an eye could follow it became tens of colorful bubbles, each suspended in the air, big enough for a pony to stand on any of them… if they could do so on one hoof. Starfall was just that kind of pony, but as he landed on one, Starburst attacked him. She could tell he planned to bounce off the bubble, but she didn’t give him the time to do so. Though he blocked her spear with his cane, she had one forehoof free. However, here too he displayed his unusual sense of balance and agility to avoid getting hurt. As her left forehoof drew closer to his face, and was just inches away from it, he began to lean to his left (her right). Instead of meeting her attack - quite literally - head on, he let the force of her strike flow through him. The contact between his muzzle and her armored hoof was too brief to cause actual damage. He was thrown off the bubble, however, and to the floor. Needing a moment of respite, Starburst remained in the air and observed how he rolled on the ground as he landed and almost immediately stood up on all four legs, the cane floating beside him. One hoof traveled to his cheek, where for a brief moment their bodies met. When he put the hoof down, he laughed. “Twice!” he exclaimed, breathing heavily; both he and Starburst were out of breath due to this short exchange of blows and from their earlier fight. “For five years nopony as much as touched me, and you’ve managed to hit me twice!” Despite what one might have thought based on these words, Starfall grinned at her. “I’ve never been this excited! I can feel my blood surge and skin dance as we fight!” “I wonder how long you can continue to enjoy yourself,” Starburst replied, beginning to fly around him slowly; she also had to be careful to not collided with any of those bubbles he kept levitated around the empty space in the middle of the Throne Room. “You seem to be getting tired.” “Oh? How do you figure?” “You’re breathing heavily,” she told him, then allowed herself to try and taunt him. “And I just forced you down to all-fours.” Once again, Starburst heard some strange noise in the background, but again she ignored it. “I’m winning.” “Please, Princess,” he snorted. “I can keep it up all day long-” He was interrupted, and this time it wasn’t just some unidentified noise in the background. Both Starburst and Starfall turned their heads in the direction where the sound of laughing ponies erupted, which were almost at once followed by “For the love of Celestia, are ya two even listenin’ to what ya’re sayin’?!” Starburst looked with confusion at June and the rest of her friends, some of which at least had the decency to cover their mouths as they laughed. Of course, that didn’t apply to Candy, Prism, Whirlwind and Annie, who were all rolling on the floor, despite the latter still powering up the crystal to stop Starfall from teleporting. “What-” she tried to ask, but June, looking slightly embarrassed (and as if she was also about to start laughing), cut her off. “Just think - really carefully - what the ya two’ve been sayin’ to each other sounds like.” Starburst raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Starfall, who looked about as confused as her. What the hell do they mean? she thought, looking back at her friends. What did we say? He… said he can keep it up all day long, before that I said that he seems tired and I forced him down to all-fours… she began to count, then pondered what those two had in common… Slowly, very slowly, it came to her, as she searched back further in her memory and found more innuendos like that. “Ew!” she exclaimed, her cheeks becoming red from the embarrassment. “You guys are gross!” she glared at them. Wait, was that an echo?! Not believing it, Starburst turned her head to see Starfall, about as embarrassed as her, looking at her in surprise after he said the exact same words almost at the same time. Which, of course, prompted an even louder wave of laughter. Even June had joined this time. I can’t believe this… he and I are the most mature ponies here... Forcing herself to ignore them, she focused on Starfall. While her plan was to simply occupy him for as long as possible, Starburst was now pissed, and he was a perfect target to take it out on. Before she attacked him, however, she swooped down to the floor, to the place where she dropped all the weapons Starfall had tied to his throne, and picked another short spear. Starfall’s grin, as he stood up on his hindlegs, grew only wider when she turned on him, a spear in each forehoof. Starburst had never tried to wield two weapons at the same time. Royal Guards usually used one, so she trained herself to use one. Plus, fighting like that was rather uncomfortable. Starfall, however, was simply too fast, and now was using the remaining orbs with more care. She needed two spears if she hoped to counter them. It didn’t escape her notice that Starfall hadn’t created new ones in place of the three that she had destroyed. This could only mean that creating them must have taken a big toll on his magic. If only Starburst could destroy that cane and all those bubbles… But that proved difficult. Starfall wasn’t as much fighting her as avoiding her. He jumped away, from one bubble on the air to another, often using his magic to make them bounce him away to gain speed. And, to make things even more ridiculous, they moved. They swirled around like some sort of whirlpool around the center of the Throne Room. The fact that they were still shining a bit with this multi-colored glow was only adding to the headache Starburst began to have. Starfall, using this environment, would quite often find himself directly behind her by making just a tiny move when dodging her attack, with a clear shot at her back. However, neither his cane nor his last remaining orb were fast enough. Starburst would always turn around just in time to block it with one spear and then attack with the other, forcing him to back off again, and the process repeated. Luckily for her, neither of the spears were very long, making it easier for her to use them. Every time they clashed, Starfall would grin, and after a few times Starburst realized that she was replying with similar expression. He was right when he called this exciting. This was exciting. Starburst could feel her heart racing as adrenaline surged through her body. She never fought so intensely against anypony. Her training sessions were boring compared to this. This was… fun! She was curious as to how he had learned to use a weapon - even if it was created from magic and water - but she quickly figured out as she analyzed his fighting stance. He had none. He simply struck wherever her weapon should fall. Starfall had no training with weapons, it was something he must have picked up by observing… or running away, or fighting. He did say that he was dealing with the royal guards since he was ten… This fight might have lasted a lot longer that those few minutes - though how long it actually lasted Starburst wasn’t quite sure - if Starfall hadn’t made one mistake; he moved a bit too close to the wall. Seeing this, Starburst quickly threw the spear she held in her right hoof, hitting Starfall’s cape just when he was in the middle of a bounce. The spear pierced both the cape and the wall behind it, stopping Starfall and making him lose his balance. Seizing this chance, Starburst attacked. One slash, and both the cane and the orb ceased to exist. Starfall’s eyes grew wide as he realized that there was nothing protecting him from her now. Starburst, unable to use her spear at the moment due to it’s length, was about to punch him to not waste time… And he disappeared. “That was a close one,” came from behind her. Starburst slowly turned around to see Starfall standing beside his throne. “Luckily for me, your friend run out of juice just in the nick of time,” he added, smirking, as he pointed at Annie. Starburst followed his hoof to look at her friend. He was right; her horn was no longer glowing, and neither was the crystal. Annie herself, who was panting almost as much as she and Starfall, was being supported by T from collapsing. “S-sorry...” she added, looking at her apologetically… … and winked subtly, Starfall not noticing it. Starburst hoped that her face didn’t betray her emotion as she turned back to Starfall. He lit up his horn, causing the bubbles to disappear. His breathing seemed to level out as he did so. “Now then,” be said, grinning at Starburst, “ready for the next round?” “Mind if I join in?” She smirked seeing the surprise on Starfall’s face as he followed the voice to it’s owner. She herself also glanced that way. Nidra was walking towards them from the entrance to the Throne Room, looking every bit as confident as she always looked like. Which was why she was a perfect pony for this part. “My, you’ve been holding out on me, Princess Starburst,” Starfall smirked. “You didn’t say you’ve brought an alicorn with you.” Nidra’s eyes narrowed as she neared. “That’s Princess Nidra to you, not ‘an alicorn’.” Starfall waved his hoof. “Yeah, sure, why not. But this begs a question, Princess, why have you come now? Did your chariot crash, or-” His smirking expression vanished. Starfall’s eyes opened wide as his head turned to the side. “No…” he murmured, then looked back at Nidra. He regained control over his facial expression and appeared slightly amused, though Starburst suspected that he was still at least a bit unsettled. “You found the marking I made to escape in case things would go south? How?” Nidra smirked. “Oh, it was easy.” It was a lie. Well, not exactly. It was easy as Nidra said… but for Annie. Nidra, though she excelled at spells that were perfect for pranking others, lacked the focus that the Tracking Spell required, despite how simple it was. However, for this plan to work, they needed Starfall to think that Nidra was the primary threat… “Ever heard of the Tracking Spell?” she asked him with a tone of superiority in her voice. “It’s a spell that lets a pony find another by scanning the area for their magic. Your Polestar marks are created by placing your magic on the spot you touch with your hoof.” “I see…” he hummed, looking at her thoughtfully. “But… we’ve never met. Shouldn’t you be familiar with my magic to do that?” “Duh,” Nidra replied, then grinned. “Luckily, we had a record of your magic,” she added, pointing at the crystal that lay next to Annie. “This crystal was enchanted by Princess Twilight to prevent only you from teleporting.” Starfall’s eyes rested for a moment on the shard, then he looked around the room. Starburst could barely stop herself from smirking as she noticed that he registered just where each of her friends stood. They were standing (in case of Prism and Whirlwind hovering) right where the Polestar marks were. The real purpose of Annie keeping up the Anti-Teleportation Field wasn’t just for them to have the fighting chance until Nidra would get back from carrying the rock on which Starfall had placed the mark he intended to use for escape outside of his spell reach. They also needed to learn where he placed those marks in the Throne Room, so they could wait for him should he chose to jump into one of them now. A smirk crossed Starfall’s features. “My, what a well-thought plan,” he summed up, glancing at Starburst. “I trust it was all your idea, Princess Starburst?” She didn’t reply, she merely narrowed her eyes in anticipation. Any moment now… “And you’ve even brought along an alicorn to counter my dark magic…” There was no way for Starfall to know that Nidra wouldn’t be a challenge to him. She was not as powerful as the other alicorns. Even Starburst’ cousin, Val, was stronger than her, despite being an alicorn for just a few years and not being born as one like Nidra. “Well then…” Starfall grinned. Starburst braced herself: “I hope the rest of you will stay clear as-” The very moment his eyes began to glow with green-and-red light Starburst shouted: “NOW!” Annie’s horn glowed. A few months ago… Starburst yawned, dead on her hoofs after the workout on the Sweet Apple Acres. At least I didn’t pass out this time, she thought lazily as she trotted slowly through her family’s mansion’s hallway. The last thing I need right now is hearing a boring lecture… “Teleporting others is a lot harder than teleporting yourself.” Speaking of, Starburst commented, hearing her mother’s voice coming from the library. Damn, this corridor is so long… “But it is possible?” Annie curious voice reached her from the same direction. “Yes, however there are certain limitation to it,” Twilight replied. “For one thing, it only works on a short distance-” “So I couldn’t teleport somepony from the other end of Ponyville?” “No, why?” Starburst’s mom answered, slightly taken aback by the question. “Nevermind, please continue, Princess Twilight.” Yawning, Starburst contemplated should she stop to say hello when she would pass the door to the library… “Another thing you would have to watch out for when teleporting somepony else is that it’s somepony you know, somepony who is close to you. Therefore, you’re familiar with their magic aura and are able to cast the spell.” “I see…” Annie murmured, knowing very well how some ponies reacted to her saying that. “And what if I would want to teleport somepony next to somepony else? Because you’ve mentioned before-” “Correct, Anthea,” Twilight interrupted her. Starburst felt a slight pang of jealousy hearing the pride in her mom’s voice directed at her student. “Everypony's magic aura acts naturally as a repellent against some spells, like teleportation, or levitation, for example, and not allow a pony to be teleported too close to them. Of course, if you are a powerful unicorn, you can easily ignore this repellent. If the pony knows you and is your friend, you should also be able to cast those spells. Also, if you happen to have some magical device which recorded the other pony’s magic… Present day… After a very brief flash of light Starburst found herself slightly behind and above Starfall. He turned his head back, his eyes glowing as purple smoke emerged from them. There was no fear in them, only surprise, as Starburst moved to attack him. Starfall, almost calmly, began to summon the Black Chains to stop her. If she had attacked with her hoof, he would have made it. Her right wing shot forward, the protective bracelet she wore on it striking Starfall right in the horn. And in that very instant Starburst felt chains clasp around her throat. Panic seized her as she was pulled back. This shouldn’t have happened! she cried out in her head. All her planning, all her strategizing, it was all for- The feeling - as well as fear and pain - disappeared almost as soon as it came. Starburst blinked weakly. She was on the floor of the Throne Room. Odd, I don’t remember falling down… Did I pass out? she wondered. “Star, is everything okay?!” She shook her head, willing herself out of the daze. She stood up to see her friends gather around her… and a wobbly retreating figure. Starburst nodded to her concerned friends just in time to hear him say: “What… did you do…?” “I told you, the consequences will be unpleasant,” she said, glaring at Starfall. All the bravado and smugness he emanated earlier were gone. He was looking at Starburst with fear and disbelief, and was shooting around quick glances “Do you know how the protective enhancements on the royal guards’ armor work? They use the magic of a pony who is wearing the armor to protect them. The armor I wear is no exceptions. Last night, however, I asked Annie to rewrite the enhancements placed on my wing-braces: instead of protecting me with my magic, they apply my magic to whatever I hit with them.” As she spoke, Starfall continued to try and back away against the wall. With each step he almost fell, his hooves stumbling. “Do you understand now?” she asked him, taking great satisfaction from seeing him like this; defeated. “I inserted some my pegasi magic into you, and since I hit your horn with my wing it affected your entire body. For most ponies it wouldn’t be too much of a problem, but to somepony like you, who mastered using his magic to the point he can split it and change its color, it caused you to be unable to use your magic at all for the next few days.” She grinned. “You also won’t be able to call upon dark magic, and by the looks of it your balance is a bit upset as well.” For the first time ever Starburst saw Starfall terrified. He looked at her with his ruby eyes opened wide, shaking. Now you know how my father must have felt when you trapped him in his nightmare, tailhole. “Great,” she heard Prism murmur from beside her as he moved forward, “it’s payback time, you little-” “PRISM, DON’T YOU-” Starburst began, her body - despite how exhausted she felt after the fight and after giving a bit of her magic to Starfall - automatically moving to place herself between the two colts... At the same time she noticed Starfall’s eyes narrow, his stance dropping as he bared his teeth and hissed… But what occupied her attention the next second - and, a second after that, the attention of everypony else - were the silhouettes she saw standing by the entrance to the Throne Room. Despite scarcely believing what she was seeing, she nonetheless gave a shout of alarm as soon as her mind registered what those shapes were: “Timberwolves!”