Twilight Velvet was frantic as she rushed through the gleaming halls of the Empire’s crystal castle, followed closely by her relatively composed husband and her trembling Alicorn daughter, Spike the Dragon firmly clinging to her back. Even further behind the worried family of Shining Armor galloped the collective Elements of Harmony and Starlight Glimmer, whose pace was significantly slower and more stolid than the ponies running to her front.
Since departing from the private train of the Two Sisters, all the group had done was run, run towards the castle Shining Armor was supposedly lying in recovering. Starlight wasn't entirely sure what had happened except that Shining had been hurt, which was all the reason Twilight needed to drop everything and rush off to the Empire as quickly as possible from their home of Ponyville, her supportive friends in tow without even needing to be asked twice.
Starlight’s inclusion had almost been an afterthought, not that Starlight could blame anypony that is. She wasn't exactly acquainted with Shining Armor all that much compared to everypony else present, and if Starlight was truly honest with herself she was almost entirely here on Twilight’s behalf.
Mainly because Twilight had been a wreck.
Starlight had been there when the letter had come. She had seen Twilight’s face drop as she read word by word the details of Shining’s maiming. It had taken Starlight minutes to gain a verbal response from Twilight after that, having to practically poke her out of a self induced standing coma. Once the news was known to Starlight, she took the liberty of contacting the rest of Twilight’s friends while Twilight wrote to Princess Celestia in a rather uncomposed state if Starlight recalled correctly.
Once travel arrangements had been made to promptly transport them all, Celestia and Twilight’s parents to The Crystal Empire, it all began to sink into Twilight’s head just what had happened to her big brother.
Starlight decided to distance herself at that, leaving Twilight and Spike to have their moment alone in the company of her long time friends and family.
After a desperate train ride north they soon arrived at the Empire's walls , Celestia departing from them all once they had reached the castle itself in search of her adoptive niece Princess Cadance, who was currently attending to her daughter and the Empire’s needs alone. Starlight and the others made for Shining and Cadance's room, arriving just in time for a crystal pony doctor to greet them at the door, his coat without a shine.
Twilight rather uncharacteristically trotted right by him and straight into the room, as did her parents and Spike. The remaining seven ponies veered towards the door but it was Applejack who greeted the doctor on all their behalf. “Doc, how's Shinin’? He alright?” she asked, her hat held to her chest.
The doctor’s face was firm and blank to the point Starlight couldn't even tell if he looked worried or relieved. His voice failed to hide his emotions as effectively however and Starlight’s smile lit up at his words. “He's awake, and aside from several lacerations, a bad case of magical exertion and a broken right foreleg he should be on his way to a full recovery, give or take a few months of physical therapy.”
The group released a collective sigh of relief, the dread fading from their expressions in place of smiles and cheers of joy. The doctor walked off down the hall when the group chose to congregate at the bedroom door, unwilling to enter just yet without the invitation of those already inside.
“See? I told you Shining was going to be just fine. Plus, taking on a bunch of wolves? How cool is that!”
“Hush now, Rainbow,” Rarity spoke up to her floating rainbow maned friend. “I sincerely doubt Shining or Twilight wish to be reminded of his ghastly attack, so I suggest you keep your voice down.”
Rainbow scoffed, but accepted Rarity’s request nonetheless. “I guess you're right…” she said dejectedly. But then she began to deviously smirk. “But then again, now that I think about it… I think we've got another adventure on her hooves, girls!”
Starlight’s gaze jolted up and she stared towards Rainbow with widening eyes. “What do you mean, Rainbow?” Starlight asked, even though she was fairly sure that she already knew the answer.
“Duh, we’re going after those wolves of course, show them what happens when they mess with our friends!”
The group responded with a mixture of ecstatic and timid proclamations of agreement, all willing to do what they could to seek justice for their friend and do their Princesses proud.
Starlight just continued to stare.
“Hey, girls?” spoke a voice from the now opened bedroom door, all the ponies looking to it to find the waiting form of Spike. “You can come in if you want, Shining’s asking for you.”
The group shot through the door in an instant, carrying Spike back over to the bed where Shining Armor laid with his leg in a sling and a bandage around his head, his mother sat protectively at his side and his father with a foreleg around Twilight at the other side of the bed. They all took turns asking questions, bestowing gifts, requesting to look at his injury and reiterating to him how brave he was to have faced such odds and prevailed.
Starlight remained stood by the door. She didn't know Shining enough for her presence to feel welcomed.
“It must have been scary…” Fluttershy softly said as she drew closer towards the bed. “Are you sure you're going to be okay?”
Shining shifted about uncomfortably, his low smile twitching downwards. “I'll be fine, yeah,” he said with hesitance, his tone beginning to tremble as he continued. “But they um… They… They couldn't find the other two guards.”
Shining said nothing more after that, Twilight Velvet choosing to rest her hoof on his own as his shoulders slackened and his trembling escalated into full on shaking.
Starlight refused to watch, stepping out into the hallway and silently closing the door behind her as the group inside drew closer together. While she indeed felt pity for Shining Armor; he was a royal guard, the Captain of the royal guard. He had stared down monsters and evils beyond imagination, fought against them and came out on top time and time again. He knew the risks of his duty and must have been well aware of the fact that one day he may come home as less than he was, and that perhaps one day he may never come home at all.
That was what was expected of Shining. Starlight however didn't wish the same fate to befall her friends, a feeling enforced by Rainbow's declaration that they were going to go after those wolves responsible for this.
The Elements were similar in many ways to the royal guard. They had saved Equestria countless times, thrown themselves into impossible situations entirely for the protection of the land and each other. But they held a magic unlike anything Starlight had ever seen and Starlight was sure that even if they didn't possess that magic, even if they were just six ordinary, unremarkable ponies, they still would have been the first ones to run to Equestria’s defence if the time came.
Starlight’s problem with that was she didn't want them to have to do that.
They were her friends. Some of her only friends, and time and time again they were the only thing that stood in the way of Equestria and utter annihilation. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra, Tirek and even Starlight herself. If it were not for the Elements of Harmony and their bearers the Equestria of today would have been a very different place indeed. Starlight had seen that first hand.
So what if the day came when the Elements did not come home?
What will you do if that day comes, Starlight?”
Starlight veered up against the wall, the memory of Princess Luna’s harrowing words echoing in her head, drumming against her skull. What would she do? What could Starlight do if, when the Elements of Harmony were no more? If a new threat somehow got lucky, somehow was able to strip the Elements of their magic, somehow was able to counteract its effects? If something somewhere someday was able to claim Equestria for themselves?
Would Starlight allow for that day to pass?
No, Starlight thought with conviction, bracing her hooves against the floor. If she was the pony she claimed to be, the repentant mare wishing to atone for all she had done and all she had chosen not to do when the time called, now was her chance, now was the time for her to face all that she once was head on and prove her place at Twilight’s side. Now was the time for Starlight to truly discover if the valued friendship of all those she held dear was warranted.
Starlight had a gift; a strong magical, if uninitiated, talent beyond her years. Twilight had been helping her hone her skills but they could still provide a use, be an asset if focused on something more specialised, something like the protection of Equestria as a whole.
She held a hoof to her chest, feeling her heartbeat steadily fluctuating as these thoughts darted through her mind. Starlight was the not the mare she once was, but she still felt like it. She still felt like the pony who essentially enslaved a village based on her own misguided beliefs and she still was the pony who had ensured Equestria’s destruction several times over due to her lust for unwarranted revenge.
Those actions plagued Starlight, clinging to her everyday and dictating her every choice to ensure she would never make those same mistakes again.
Perhaps rejecting Luna’s offer so hastily had been one of those mistakes.
“Sonata, please keep up. Celestia and Cadance are expecting me and I have delayed long enough.”
“But, Luna, it's a crystal castle, everything is so shiny! I can even see myse… Is that what my hair looks like from the back?”
“Mane, Sonata. It's called a mane.”
The voices were bouncing off the walls from somewhere close by, and Starlight had all the confirmation she needed to know that Princess Luna was somewhere in the castle.
Her legs sprang out and Starlight instinctively began to walk, soon she began to trot and within moments she had sped into a full on gallop. She didn't care if it was fate, a coincidence or a destined and foretold sign of the cosmos lining up to determine her place in existence. It didn't matter. Luna was somewhere in the castle, somewhere close by, and Starlight had something to say to her.
The walls seemingly shimmered as Starlight rounded corner after corner, the voices increasing in volume with every step she took. Starlight barely had time to contemplate the words she would eventually say, mainly focusing on homing in on the evident voice of Luna.
“Hey, Luna do you hear someone running?”
“Somepony, Sonata,” grudgingly replied Luna, ignoring the question.
“Actually, Princess…” said the up to that point silent Therapsid at Luna’s side, who paused the Princess to direct her attention behind them.
Luna turned with a squint as a pink figure sprinted into view, recognising her immediately as the indistinguishable Starlight Glimmer, huffing and heaving as she slowed before the trio.
“Princess… Luna…” Starlight heaved out every other breath. “Actually just… Give me a moment..” she stated with a waving hoof, muttering something about having poor cardio while Luna, Sonata and Therapsid looked on in befuddlement.
“Starlight,” Luna began as Starlight composed herself, her tone quite serious as she deduced Starlight’s presence in the castle in the first place. “I take it you're here for Shining Armor. How is he?” she said with hidden fear, worried for her extended family.
Starlight responded in an instant. “Oh fine, fine. He's great,” she said with a dismissive hoof wave, continuing to steady her excessive breathing.
Luna sighed as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders, unconsciously having been holding her own breath at the time. “That is excellent news,” she stated with contained joy, feebly attempting to maintain her regal facade. She then looked down to Starlight, realising that it was rather odd she had been sought out by her, especially given the circumstances they parted under previously. “Do tell though, Starlight Glimmer, why have you come to me?”
Starlight gulped, her thoughts returning to her prior contemplations in the hallway outside Shining’s room. If just one Element was lost the magic would be gone forever. The quintessential protection for Equestria would simply cease to be. Yet Luna had taken a precautionary measure to ensure that there was minimal risk of that ever happening, and Starlight had thrown that proposition away when Luna had come to her… Or more accurately when she had been taken to Luna.
Regardless, Starlight had been called upon by Luna to help her do the very thing that had ingrained Twilight and the others friendships so many times. If what Luna had planned in any way helped to ensure that her friends never faced a danger so great without assurances again, that was worth all the risks in the world.
Including the risk of Starlight’s own, tainted life.
“Princess Luna, I'm in.”
The collective four ponies stood silent, Luna in awe of Starlight’s assured declaration. The earth pony and disguised batpony at her side were not as enamoured however.
“She's in? What's she in? Can I be in too, Luna?”
“Wait, you picked her too? Isn't she some psycho cult leader or something?”
Neither Luna or Starlight cared about their words, choosing instead to focus on the stare of the other. Luna’s gleaming with silent praise. Starlight’s clouded with lingering trepidation.