My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship

by Danieru

106. Chase after Summershine

At the Iron Hammer...

It was just the day after Star Twinkle, Applejack, and Rarity went to Manehattan for their Friendship Mission. Star Twinkle and Steel Hammer were working in front of the Iron Hammer, hammering down some needles inside some wooden boards.

While working, Steel Hammer was telling him a rather weird story. He was watching the Sisterhooves Social and since Star Twinkle was curious about the event himself he was asking the stallion to tell him some things about it. He remembered that Applejack and Rarity had planned to participate in it together with their sisters but had to skip it because they were called by the map in Twilight's castle.

But apparently, Apple Bloom did participate in the Sister Hooves Social, according to Steel Hammer at least. What his boss then told him got Star Twinkle really confused.

"Apple Bloom's long lost cousin Orchard Blossom?" Star Twinkle asked.

Steel Hammer began laughing. "Yes! It was something to look at," he added amused.

Of course, he got more details shortly after but that only made things even more confusing. Because Applejack had to leave for Manehattan, Apple Bloom's big brother Big McIntosh figured that it was a brilliant idea to dress up as a mare and take place in the event just so that his little sister would not be sad.

In a way, that was a really weird idea from the stallion, but then again, given the reason why he did it was kind of cute. Eventually, Big McIntosh was exposed and he and Apple Bloom were disqualified from the event. Steel Hammer told Star Twinkle that it was not mainly because of Big McIntosh being a stallion but rather because of his destructive behavior during the event.

"Destructive behavior?" Star Twinkle asked. He felt as if he misheard that information just now. Big McIntosh sure was big and strong but inside he was really soft and caring, so he could not imagine that he would be too aggressive in an event like this.

But Steel Hammer saw it first-hoof and could confirm that the stallion was doing everything in his power to win the event and smashing things into pieces all because he desperately wanted to win. This did not sound like Big McIntosh at all. Star Twinkle couldn't believe it.

But, by some weird coincidence, as the two were talking about the two, Big McIntosh and Apple Bloom were coming over to the Iron Hammer. "Hey, there! Star Twinkle! Mr. Steel Hammer!" The little filly said.

"Hey, you two," Star Twinkle greeted back.

"Are the wooden boards ready?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Oh, those are for you?" Star Twinkle asked.

"Eeyup," Big McIntosh replied. The stallion from the apple family was already pulling an empty cart to confirm it.

Apple Bloom and Big McIntosh loaded the wooden boards into the cart. Star Twinkle helped as well and took the opportunity to talk with Apple Bloom. He wanted to confirm things himself about what happened yesterday.

"So...um...I'm sorry that Applejack couldn't come to the Sisterhooves Social yesterday," he said.

"Yup," Apple Bloom casually replied before she continued loading in the wooden boards without a care in the world.

"I heard you were looking forward to this event..." the stallion continued.

"Yup," Apple Bloom replied in the same manner as before.

"It's just, we had this really important mission to take care of and..."

This time the filly interrupted the stallion. "It's okay, Star Twinkle. I still had fun yesterday. My brother had this really weird idea to dress up like a long lost cousin of mine to take Applejack's place," she explained, in a more casual tone than Star Twinkle expected.

"You don't say," the stallion replied, pretending as if he didn't already know that.

Apple Bloom explained further. "At first, I thought that was a stupid idea. It also didn't make things better after Big Mac decided that winning in this event was the most important thing ever, even going so far pushing others out of the way and destroying everything in his path!"

"Yes, that does sound a little extreme," Star Twinkle replied. Of course, he knew all those things already.

However, there was one more thing that he was not aware of and Apple Bloom was about to share that with him. "But it turns out that Big Mac did all of this because he just wanted me to look up at him," she said.

Star Twinkle was a little confused to hear that. "What do you mean?" He asked.

The filly continued once more. "I think with Applejack being in charge of Sweet Apple Acres and saving Equestria on occasions, he must have felt left out and came to the conclusion that I don't look up to him anymore like I used to. That is why he wanted to win so badly, to show me how great he is," Apple Bloom explained.

Of course, Star Twinkle already figured that there must have been a reason for Big McIntosh to act a little different at the Sisterhooves Social but he never knew that it would be something like that. He also never expected that Big McIntosh would feel like this in the first place.

"But everything is alright again!" The little filly assured. "Of course, I always loved my big brother but I guess I didn't let him know that for a while..." she explained. Talking about this was definitely not the easiest thing in the world for her. "Thanks to what happened yesterday though, I feel much closer to my brother than ever before! And all it took was him destroying a bunch of stuff," she added casually. "Which is why we need those wooden boards for, to fix all the stuff," she added once again as she rubbed her neck in embarrassment.

"I...see..." Star Twinkle replied.

That sure was a lot of information for him to take in. He did get his answers so he shouldn't complain about it. To hear that everything went well in the very end was making him feel better though. He was worried that Applejack, skipping the Sisterhooves Social would end up making Apple Bloom feel bad but clearly some other things happened that caused her not only to forget about Applejack not being around but also appreciating her brother as well. One could say that it was a pretty good day.

Apple Bloom and Big McIntosh left as soon as they loaded all wooden boards inside their cart and left the Iron Hammer shortly after. At some point, he was a little bit jealous to not have any siblings to share moments like those. Knowing that there is someone who looks up to you, or knowing that you have someone to look up to must be really something. Then again, there are a lot of things that he had to learn about friendship too. For now, he was just happy for both of them to have everything settled.

Later...

Star Twinkle's work was done for today and he was on his way home. Since yesterday, Applejack, Rarity and him had to spend some time in Manehattan to solve a friendship problem, there was not too much time to relax again, at least for him. Not that he had to relax from too much in the first place but he sure was hoping to take it easier today.

But that hope quickly vanished as soon as he could hear someone shouting his name in the distance.

"Star Twinkle!" Twilight's voice could be heard from afar. The Unicorn mare was running towards the stallion. For some reason, he had a really bad feeling. He feared that she would say what he expected her to say.

The mare stopped in front of the stallion and took a moment to catch her breath. "What is it?" Star Twinkle asked. Though he felt that this question was unnecessary.

Once Twilight managed to calm down again, she began to explain. "The map is calling someone," she simply said.

It was exactly like Star Twinkle predicted. He didn't know how to feel about going to another mission just one day after getting back from one. On top of that, he was most likely not even called by the map, as usual. He still took Applejack's advise from his last mission to heart, that he should do something about getting left out but now he felt as if the map was actually making fun of him.

"Has the map finally called me!?" Star Twinkle asked, just hoping for a little chance that Twilight ran all this way to bring him good news like this.

Twilight avoided eye contact. "Uh..." was the only thing she said in response.

That was not a good sign. Star Twinkle was mad at himself to even consider this to be the case and sighed in defeat. "I guess not," he said with a frown on his face.

But Twilight looked back at the stallion. "Yes, you were not called by the map," she then said bluntly. "But you need to take a look at the map. You change your mind once you see it yourself," she added.

Star Twinkle had no idea what Twilight meant with that. Why would he still be interested in not seeing his Cutie Mark on the map? Twilight did look rather serious about this so it didn't take long until Star Twinkle was just following her back to the castle.

"Guess I'm going to another mission then..." he thought to himself.

Inside the castle...

Twilight asked of the rest of the friends to come to the castle as well. All of them wondered why they were called in the first place. Of course, their first guess was, the Cutie Map called someone. But there was just one problem.

"Is your mark glowing!?" Pinkie Pie asked in excitement towards Rainbow Dash.

"No," Rainbow Dash replied.

Pinkie Pie then jumped over to Fluttershy, completely destroying her personal space. "Were you called by the map!?" She asked.

"...No..." Fluttershy replied, backing away a little bit in the process.

Pinkie Pie looked over to Star Twinkle, whose eyes were glued on the map the whole time. "Was Star Twinkle finally called by the map!?" She asked, her face beaming just to know that he could finally have a turn.

By now, Applejack decided to let Pinkie Pie figure out the answer herself. "Why don't you take a look at any of our Cutie Marks?"

And that is exactly what Pinkie Pie did. She scanned through the whole room and inspected the flanks of their friends. She came to the realization that none of them had a glowing Cutie Mark, meaning that none of them were called by the map.

Having figured that out, the mare got pretty confused. "THEN WHO WAS CALLED BY THE MAP!?" She shouted across the room in her frustration.

It was true that Twilight said that the map called someone but she did not specify who. The mare decided to explain a few things to her friends to get rid of the confusion in the room. "None of us were called," she simply said.

Of course, that sentence really confused them all, Rainbow Dash specifically was making that clear. "Then what are we all doing here!? I was in the middle of coming up with a super cool new spinning move when you told me to come to the castle!"

But Applejack lowered her eyebrows and looked at the mare. "I saw you taking a nap on my way here though," she pointed out.

"I-I was coming up with a name at that moment!" She replied with her legs crossed in midair.

Twilight was not done explaining everything however. "Even though none of us were called, the map did react all of a sudden. It is pointing at one location on the map as well. I think it is for the best if we investigate things, especially since it's sending us to somewhere...interesting..." she said.

Everyone except Star Twinkle did not check out the map so far to see what was going on. There were Cutie Marks on the map but none of them belonged to anyone in this room. There were six of them, a book, a whoopee cushion, three coins, a pink flower, a shooting star, and five distant glowing stars.

"What are all those Cutie Marks?" Rarity asked into the group.

"They look really familiar if you ask me," Pinkie Pie said, though she was not sure why. "Especially that one!" She added as she pointed towards the one with the five glowing stars.

"Summershine..." Star Twinkle then said to the surprise of everyone. He didn't say much up to this point the whole time. "That one belongs to Summershine," he further explained.

"That one pony that attacked back then?" Applejack asked.

"The one who was throwing fire around?" Rainbow Dash added. "Who was supposed to be your friend?" She said in a hard sarcastic tone.

No one knew what to think about this situation. There were a bunch of Cutie Marks that the map was calling and with the exception of Summershine, no one knew who all of them belonged to. They also had no idea where Summershine was so asking him to take care of a friendship problem was out of the question as well. They all agreed that it was pretty weird.

Still, Twilight wanted to take care of it. "Since we don't know who most of those Cutie Marks belong to, we have no choice but to get there ourselves. Who knows, maybe we will find the problem and can take care of it," she suggested. There was an agreement in the group to investigate this, everyone wanted to know what this was all about after all, and since they were the only one's who were called by the map before, they felt as if it was their duty to answer it. Twilight looked over to Star Twinkle, who was still looking at the map as if he was in trance right now. "You are coming too, right?" The mare asked.

Star Twinkle didn't think it would be possible but what Twilight said was true. What Star Twinkle saw on the map was peeking his interest, to say the least. His eyes were fixed on the map the whole time. Memories of his meeting with Summershine flashed back in his mind. He needed answers and Summershine most likely knew them. He had to find him and this map was the only thing that was pointing at something just now. He had to take this chance, maybe this was the only chance he would ever get.

The stallion didn't have to think about his answer, it came quickly and without any hesitation in his voice. "Yes," he simply answered.

It was settled, the group was heading towards where the Cutie Marks were hovering above. But the location is what exactly put off some of them. Still, they had to go there to find out more, and one of them was determined to get some answers on this trip.

Later...

The trip did not take a terribly long time. It was not the first time they had to go to the place marked on the map after all. The group had to go through a forest, pushing vines and branches out of the way for the most part.

Normally, Star Twinkle would be really annoyed by a trip like this but this time his head was at a different place. Instead of being bothered, he was nervous. The thought that maybe the map was pointing at where Summershine was right now was sitting in his mind. There was a chance that he could meet him again. But how would that meeting go? Would Summershine attack him for some unknown reasons again? Would he get all his answers? Would Summershine even give him any answer? For some reason, Star Twinkle connected all of his questions to this one stallion, who claimed to be his friend. A friend who erased his memories for some unknown reason.

It was obvious to Twilight that Star Twinkle was thinking right now but she still decided to talk with him, in the hope that he would calm down again. "I never saw you this concentrated before," she simply said.

"Huh?" Star Twinkle cleverly replied. He did not expect someone talking to him just now.

Twilight softly smiled in response but then her face was more determined again. "You think that we will meet Summershine again, right?" She asked.

Star Twinkle was surprised to hear that question. He shouldn't be though, he should have guessed that Twilight was reading him like an open book. "Yeah..." the stallion replied. "Do you have any other guess?" He asked back.

The mare gave an honest response. "I'm not sure. The map definitely summoned someone to this place and since we don't know who it was and where they are, all we can do is check things out ourselves," she explained.

Hearing this was making Star Twinkle realize something he didn't think about yet. "But can the problem be solved if even if the ponies who the map called didn't show up?" He asked.

"Like I said," Twilight almost interrupted. "All we can do is to look for ourselves."

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash said. She seemed to be rather excited about this trip. "And hopefully, our problem involves beating something dangerous up!" She said as she punched the air to prepare herself for exactly that.

Fluttershy was getting nervous as usual. "I hope we don't have to stay here for too long. I didn't really want to go back to this place," she said.

"Speaking of which," Applejack said, causing Fluttershy to shrug nervously. "We're here."

The group arrived at the place where the map pointed at. A familiar place that didn't really remind them to happy times. Standing in front of this place definitely caused all of them to keep their eyes open for anything because of what happened on their last visit.

The Forgotten Castle...

This place was definitely doing justice to its name. It looked as forgotten as always with all those vines around the castle, which looked like it could fall apart any moment. A place that not even Princess Celestia knew much about since it was older than her.

The last time they had to go here was because of Fade Sol, who captured both Princess Luna and Celestia to archive his evil plans. It was thanks to Star Twinkle and the others that stopped and sealed the Unicorn away though. The last time they saw him, was in the gardens of Canterlot, turned to stone by the Elements of Harmony but he escaped during Lord Tirek's attack. Knowing that Fade could possibly still wander around Equestria now meant that maybe he was in there again. If that was the case, then the group needed to run, Fade and his dark magic were too dangerous to engage on their own. But on the off-chance that there was someone in there that needed help with a Friendship Problem, the group was ready to check this place out.

As soon as Star Twinkle saw the place in front of him though, he started to get nervous again. What was awaiting them inside this castle? Was Summershine in there? Were the other ponies, that the map called, inside there as well? Was Fade in there? The questions in his mind just got worse and worse. It caused the stallion's heart to go absolutely crazy.

A hoof was placed on the stallion's shoulder. It was Twilight. She smiled warmly at the stallion. "Don't worry, we are here too," she just said. Hearing those words started to calm the stallion down again. His friends will help him if he needs them. If any of those things he feared were in there then it was not only him who had to deal with it. His friends were part of this as well.

Star Twinkle took one deep breath and his worries seemed to have vanished shortly after. "Right!" He replied. Twilight liked hearing that and looked determined to go inside the castle now.

Everyone slowly walked towards the entrance door of the castle. Their mission was about to start. But as soon as some noises could be heard from nearby, they all stopped.

"You hear that?" Applejack asked.

"It's coming from over there!" Rarity said as she pointed towards some bushes not too far away from the group to the right.

There were some shaking bushes as if something or someone was walking through them to get to the group. Of course, Star Twinkle was the first one to pick up on this. He walked a little bit forward to get a closer look.

There was one thing he could ask, with his hopes up at the sky right now.

"Summershine?"

Meanwhile...

Inside of the castle someone was walking through the empty hallways. The pony was a Unicorn stallion with a dark orange coat, a dark red mane, dark blue eyes, and five glowing white stars as a Cutie Mark. It was Summershine. Just as Star Twinkle expected, Summershine was here, just inside the castle not too far away from them. He was not aware of Star Twinkle and the others being outside the castle at all and just continued to walk around the castle.

The stallion took some stairs to the upper floor of the castle. A place that he didn't check yet. The last time he visited this place was when he helped Star Twinkle against the Outcast. Of course, they were not aware of his help but just being able to aid his friend in need was all that Summershine needed. This castle did peek his interest though, it looked older than the Castle of the Two sisters and Fade must have a reason to bring the Princesses here back in the day when he captured both of them.

Summershine arrived at the upper floor of the castle. No one was here as well, everything was dark and looked abandoned. He was not sure why today, out of all days, he wanted to check this place out at all. He blamed his curiosity for it. There had to be something in this castle, maybe something that would help him with his task, whatever that was, to begin with.

"Nothing..." the stallion said after taking a look around the place.

He was about to leave but there was one last thing that he managed to catch with his eyes before turning around. A strange symbol was on the ground just in front of him. Summershine walked up a little closer to it. A circle with two colors in it, the two colors both made one half of this symbol. The left side was white and the right one was black. It looked out of place in this castle for Summershine but still he tried to investigate. As soon as one of his hooves touched the symbol though, it began to glow.

"W-what!?" The stallion said in his surprise before he backed away again.

The symbol continued to glow and soon, the whole room was shining in a bright light. The light was fixed in the middle of the room and soon, something appeared in the center. A small gray Pillar, which appeared out of thin air was now standing in the middle of the room. There were seven circles lined up from bottom to top, six of them being the same symbol as the one on the ground, two half circles in different colors.

From the bottom to the top, left side first, the colors were as follow:
Yellow and Purple
Gray and Light Blue
White and Dark Blue
Light Orange and Red
Pink and White
Dark Orange and Gray

The last symbol, the one on top, was still grayed out as if it wasn't activated or something.

Needless to say, Summershine got really curious about all of this wanted to check it out. If there was ever something suspicious in this castle, then this was it. Now the stallion just had to find out what that pillar was.

The symbols did not make any sense to him. He had no idea what they mean or why one of them didn't light up. As he walked closer to the pillar though, something happened. One of the symbols started to light up, the second one from the top, the one with the dark orange and gray color. The stallion looked up and tried to make sense of this but soon, something happened on its own.

Magic came out on top of the pillar and created some images. Once the stallion could make out what was shown to him, his eyes popped open in surprise.

"Wait! That was back then!" He said in shock.

It was as if he saw a movie played out in front of him. Pictures of the past, from days that he could remember all too clearly. It showed Summershine and Star Twinkle standing in the middle of a burning Ponyville.

"Why is this thing showing me those pictures? What does it mean?" He wondered.

He waited for the other symbols to react as well but none of them would respond, only the dark orange and gray one did. The stallion wanted some answers but he didn't get any. He had to be grateful for this much.

"Guess I just have to figure this out myself..." he said, his voice sounding frustrated and happy at the same time.

The stallion was about to leave again but as he walked up to the stairs leading to the ground floor, he noticed how someone was standing right in front of it. Summershine quickly got surprised and then clenched his teeth in response.

"You!?" He said angrily. The pony standing in front of the stairs was the pony in the black armor. The same pony that he saw with Arcana not too long ago. Knowing that gave Summershine enough reason to be worried. This pony was working with Arcana and that meant that there was a chance of him being here as well, and Summershine did not look forward to this.

The pony in the black armor did not talk back and just stood ready in a fighting stance. It was not here for a friendly talk, that much was sure. Getting out of this castle was getting a lot more complicated now for Summershine but he did not let this pony stop him.

Back outside...

The group was eagerly waiting who would show itself in front of them. Just to be safe, everyone was taking a step back, everyone except Star Twinkle who was actually taking a step forward.

"Summershine?" Star Twinkle asked. His Cutie Mark was on the map in Twilight's castle, there was a possibility that it was him and it was his chance to get some answers to his questions.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, somepony walked outside the bushes and revealed itself in front of the group. The instant everyone recognized this pony, they got nervous, especially Star Twinkle, whose hope of seeing Summershine was not only crushed but replaced by shock as soon as he knew who was standing there in front of him. Now he was taking several steps back as well.

The pony that showed itself was a Unicorn stallion with a dark purple coat, a dark blue w-shaped mane that had yellow stripes in it, purple eyes, and a blue mist cloud as a Cutie Mark.

"It's been a while," the Unicorn stallion said, his voice sounding neither happy or mad about this meeting.

"Mystic?" Star Twinkle replied confused.

Twilight quickly rushed next to Star Twinkle, out of fear that Mystic would attack all of a sudden.
Needless to say, everyone was on guard, it was a long time since they saw him but what he did was still fresh in their memories.

Mystic...he took the title as leader of the Storm Wings away from Cyclone Wing by keeping his little brothers in his grip. He also was a member of the Outcasts along with Fade, and the only member that did not seem to change for the better. As if that wasn't enough, Mystic escaped from his prison cell in Canterlot during Lord Tirek's attack on Equestria, making him now a criminal on the loose.

Rarity was speaking pretty much everyone's mind. "What are you doing here?" She asked with some disgust in her voice.

"I could ask you all the same question," Mystic replied. "This is a place where I used to stay for a while because of my...alliance with Fade and the others," he said, his voice sounding a little bit nostalgic for a moment.

This caught Twilight's attention. "Speaking of Fade, you don't happen to know where he is, right? He disappeared from Canterlot the same time you did," she said. Of course, she connected the two to work together again.

But Mystic gave a quick and calm answer. "Just coincidence. Like how annoying ponies like you always seem to cross my path," he added.

But Rainbow Dash did not buy this. "And we are supposed to believe that?" She shot back.

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie agreed. "I think you are up to do something evil again!" She said, pointing at the stallion.

"I couldn't care less what you think about me," Mystic boldly returned before he started to form a sinister smile on his face. "But since you are all here, I think repaying you for some of your...interventions seems rather appropriate," he added before now he was standing there ready to fight.

Things escalated really quickly. Mystic only revealed himself a few moments ago but everyone was on the edge already. Still, Twilight was ready to fight as well. She knew about Mystic's abilities since she once fought him before in the Storm Fortress, the airship of the Storm Wings.

"Watch out everypony. This guy is strong. The last time I fought him, he was pretty tough," she warned.

Star Twinkle remembered these little battles with Mystic as well, one in the Storm Fortress and another one in the Forgotten Castle. Both of those times, Mystic was winning. He knew that Mystic was very powerful when it came to magic. The fact, that he was not alone though, gave him hope to win this time.

It was Mystic who initiated the first move. "Let's start with a classic," he said before his horn began to glow and the area was filled with mist. This was pretty much Mystic's signature spell.

But Twilight was prepared for this and used her magic to get rid of it again only a few seconds later. Mystic, however, was gone already. He was gone from the spot where he used to stand before and most likely already prepared another spell. The group quickly got aware of this the hard way. Mystic didn't bother to hide but instead was right in the middle of the group.

"Watch out!" Twilight said. But it was too late. Mystic used his magic to create a shockwave to push everyone away and since he was right in the middle of everyone, he managed to get a good hit in.

The group was scattered around the place, some of them had a hard time getting up right away but some of them were ready to strike back. Like Rainbow Dash for example, who started charging at the stallion. It was in vain though. Mystic used his magic to freeze the mare in place before she got too close to him.

Twilight saw a chance to attack now. She shot a magic beam at Mystic and he was forced to jump out of the way, releasing Rainbow Dash in the process and causing her to fall on the ground shortly afterward.

As Mystic was jumping backward, dodging the last attack, both Applejack and Fluttershy took the opportunity to make a lasso out of some of the vines from the castle. They threw it around the stallion and his legs got captured by them as soon as the two mares pulled the vines, causing him to fall over and knocking his head on the ground because of it.

Needless to say, the stallion got pretty mad about this and attacked back. He used his magic to take control of the vine and in a quick swirl, the two mares found themselves tangled up in them now while he managed to free himself.

Pinkie Pie and Rarity went over to Applejack's and Fluttershy's help but Mystic wouldn't have it that way and attacked them by shooting a magic beam at them. In the last moment, Twilight appeared right in front of her friends to raise a shield, protecting them in the process.

Mystic clenched his teeth in annoyance after seeing how the mare got in his way. In fact, he got pretty distracted by it and failed to notice how Star Twinkle already transformed into his Unicorn form and shot at him with his magic. Mystic got hit directly and flew back a few meters, landing directly in front of the entrance of the castle.

"Good job!" Rainbow Dash congratulated.

The group soon was getting up again and stood ready for Mystic, who still was slowly getting up on his hooves again. He seemed to have gotten hit pretty good and still felt that one shot from Star Twinkle.

"Give up, Mystic!" Twilight said. "You might be stronger than every one of us individually but not than all of us combined!"

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash agreed. "You spare yourself some embarrassment if you stop fighting now!"

"Um..." Fluttershy then started. "I'm sure Princess Celestia would forgive you if you try to apologize about everything you did," she added timidly.

Of course, everyone would appreciate if Mystic was stopping all of this. Unfortunately, though, he seemed to be set on exactly not doing that. Back then, after the group dealt with the Outcasts, Mystic was still not even thinking about playing nice.

"Ha!" Could be heard coming from the stallion as he got up on his hooves again.

Mystic began to laugh hysterically. He was laughing at everyone. He definitely did not take Twilight's words seriously and mocked her by reacting like this. Twilight didn't know how to react, she wasn't sure what she expected coming from Mystic.

Pinkie Pie came to one good conclusion. "I think he has gone crazy," she whispered over to her friends. Ironic how Pinkie Pie was the one saying that but everyone couldn't agree more.

Mystic smiled at the group only to look at Star Twinkle shortly after. "That transformation again," Mystic said. "I always thought it was really annoying. But when I look at you now, I can only find it funny," he added.

Star Twinkle lowered his eyebrows confused. "Why is that?" He asked.

Mystic explained. "Because it's incomplete," he said. "This transformation...Terra Unisus...could make you much more powerful if you actually could use it properly. But as of now, you can only grow a horn or wings separately instead of gaining powers from all pony races," he explained.

It was not the first time Star Twinkle heard those words. Terra Unisus, an incomplete transformation, those words were said to him before. Gaining the power of all pony races? What was this supposed to mean? But there was a more important question that circled around Star Twinkle's mind.

"How do you know so much about this transformation all of a sudden?" Star Twinkle asked.

Mystic grinned. Star Twinkle did not like that one bit and started to get nervous now. You simply don't want a pony like Mystic smiling confidently like this. He was up to something and the group knew it.

"Instead of telling you, how about I show you?" Mystic then said with a sinister smile on his face.

The stallion stood ready. Magic started to surround the stallion. He was concentrating heavily on what he was doing now. For some reason, it looked familiar to Star Twinkle. It began to hit him shortly after. He knew what Mystic was about to do but when he realized what was going on, it was already too late.

A flash of light came from Mystic, blinding the group for a second. When their eyes got a good view of Mystic again, they immediately saw the difference. It was just as Star Twinkle predicted.

Wings...

There were wings on Mystic's back now. He used the same transformation as Star Twinkle to give himself some wings. He used the Terra Unisus Transformation. He was an Alicorn right now.

"No way," Star Twinkle said in his realization.

"He turned into an Alicorn!?" Twilight said in confusion.

The rest of the group had a similar reaction to the transformation of this pony. Mystic was enjoying their expressions and laughed at them. "I did. And unlike you, I possess the complete transformation." the stallion explained before he stood ready to attack. "How about we continue this fight now?" He said.

Without a warning, the stallion used his mist spell once more. It came out a lot faster than before causing Twilight to react a little to slow but she still managed to counter it again. Mystic was probably gonna pop up between them again so everyone got closer to each other to prevent that until Twilight was getting rid of the mist.

But that didn't happen...

"What is going on?" Twilight said confused. She seemed to have already used her spell but the mist was still there. She even tried to use it once more but still, nothing happened. "My magic isn't strong enough to remove it?" She then figured.

"Of course not!" Mystic's voice said, which felt as if it came from everywhere at once because of the mist. "My magic has become much more powerful now. My full potential was released! Not even you, the Element of Magic can hope to keep up with me now! Maybe that wannabe Unicorn stallion could help you out if he could transform properly."

Those words stung. Star Twinkle was thinking about what Mystic said before. If Star Twinkle was able to use his transformation to turn into an Alicorn himself, would that mean that he would be a better help now? Is that what Mystic was hinting at? Star Twinkle tried to transform into an Alicorn before and it never turned out well for him, if it worked at all.

"Don't let him get to you!" Twilight said, causing Star Twinkle to calm down again.

"He is just trying to provoke you, darling," Rarity said.

"We can still take care of him!" Rainbow Dash added confidently.

But Mystic seemed to disagree. "I wonder about that!"

A magic beam was being shot at the group. Luckily, Twilight already had a shield up to protect everyone to block it. Still, she seemed to have trouble keeping her shield up. That one blast from Mystic seemed to have been pretty strong.

"Is he really that strong now?" Star Twinkle wondered. Twilight was the only one who could keep up with him and she was having trouble already. On top of that, no one could see anything. They needed to act fast.

"Rainbow Dash! Can't you do anything about this mist?" Star Twinkle asked.

Of course, Rainbow Dash was all too willing to help and attempted something. It was mist, meaning weather, meaning a skillful flyer like Rainbow Dash should be able to do something. And something she did. The mare used her speed to circle around the area to slowly remove the mist from this area.

They were finally able to see something again but they wish they hadn't. Mystic was standing there, behind him there were a bunch of trees floating in the air, that he had ripped out of the ground. The stallion smiled at the group as if he was looking forward to continuing this fight.

"Oh boy," Applejack said as soon as she realized what was about to happen next.

Mystic then threw one tree after another at the seven ponies, forcing them to dodge out of the way. Leaves and branches were flying all over the place while Mystic enjoyed every moment of it. Twilight managed to get up in the air, she shot a magic beam at Mystic, and the stallion countered with a shot of his own. There wasn't even an impact, Mystic's beam completely decimated Twilight's. The mare widened her eyes in shock but she still managed to teleport out of the way in time to dodge. Who knows what would have happened if she got hit by that.

In the meantime, the others prepared another attack. Since Mystic so kindly threw those trees at them, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie straight out kicked one of the smaller trees back at Mystic. They managed to give it a good kick and it flew right at the stallion.

But Mystic was not impressed, he simply shot at the tree and it got destroyed in one good shot without him needing to even move out of the way.

Star Twinkle saw one more opportunity to attack, just like before. Mystic was distracted by another attack just now and Star Twinkle was taking advantage of it. Not the most graceful way to fight but at least he got a hit in.

If he would have hit...

"I'm not falling for that again!" Mystic said before. He was keeping a good eye on Star Twinkle this whole time since he expected him to attack like this again. And as he expected further, Star Twinkle shot a magic beam at him, which Mystic simply avoided by spreading his wings and flying up at the sky. His counter was a shot right in front of Star Twinkle's hooves, causing a shockwave to make the stallion fall down to the ground.

Some of the girls came to his help immediately and Mystic planned to attack them as well but Twilight was just hovering behind Mystic to stop him. She used her magic to keep the stallion in place, something that he noticed rather quickly.

The stallion turned his head to face Twilight, his purple eyes staring right at her in excitement. Shortly after, he used his own magic to surround himself. It was as if his magic was overwriting Twilight's so that he could free himself again. The stallion turned around and grinned. Twilight found herself getting frozen by Mystic's magic and then thrown at the walls of the Forgotten Castle.

Twilight was falling down to the ground in pain, her head spinning from the impact. Star Twinkle saw this unfolding before his eyes and got angry at Mystic. He didn't think and just transformed from his Unicorn to his Pegasus form and flew right at the stallion in his anger. He figured that if magic isn't working too good, then he just had to do it the old fashioned way.

"Wait!" He could hear Rarity screaming after him as if she wanted to tell him that this was a bad idea but Star Twinkle ignored her and her warning.

Star Twinkle was charging at Mystic at an unusually fast speed. Seeing how he was hurting his friends like this was too much for him to compose himself. He had to do something. The stallion was right in front of Mystic and planned to use his front hoof to give Mystic a good smack in the face, wiping away grin of him.

Smack!

...

Star Twinkle's hoof connected but still, Mystic was flying there in the air, as if nothing happened.

"What!?" Star Twinkle said in shock after he saw how his punch had no effect at all. It was only a few seconds later when he noticed how Mystic surrounded himself in a thin layer of magic to protect himself. It was enough to shield him from Star Twinkle's punch.

And of course, Mystic was highly enjoying this. "As I said before...you are only funny to me now," he said.

Star Twinkle felt helpless. His efforts ended up being in vain and Mystic was completely overpowering him just like every time before. Mystic didn't even bother to attack back and just flew up higher in the air. "This is getting boring," he said. "You all stand no chance against me! I'm not even trying right now!" He explained followed by some laughter. He had the fun of his life right now. "I honestly feel really sad that ponies like you managed to get in my way before. But I guess seeing you all in this miserable state is all worth it!"

Now Rainbow Dash was getting offended. "I'll show you who is miserable!" She said before she charged at the stallion now.

Mystic simply used his magic to pull a brick out of the castle and threw it to the mare, causing her to get hit in the chest and falling to the ground. Luckily, Fluttershy was there to catch the mare in time before she would crash to the ground and hurt herself even more.

"Rainbow!" Star Twinkle exclaimed in worry before his eyes were focused on Mystic again, filled with anger.

"What?" Mystic asked mockingly. "You look as if you are trying to pay me back for that. Go ahead and try. You saw that ended up," he said.

It made Star Twinkle even angrier to know that Mystic was right. He couldn't do anything. He was not strong enough. Mystic was too strong and he was too weak. Now Star Twinkle got angry because of how frustrating this situation was.

"Terrible feeling isn't it?" Mystic asked. "You really want to protect something but you are simply too weak to do it. You could easily avoid that by simply not caring about anyone. That way, you won't feel helpless like that anymore," the stallion advised. His voice did not sound mockingly but rather sad at this moment but Star Twinkle was too angry right now to pay it any attention.

Mystic focused some of his magic again. He raised his hooves up in the air and a big ball of magic started to form above his head. It got bigger and bigger and he was about to launch that big ball of magic at Star Twinkle any second now. Star Twinkle didn't know how to react, he wasn't an expert in terms of magic but he knew that what was about to happen next would really hurt.

"Look out! Star Twinkle!" Twilight shouted as soon as she got up again after Mystic's hit from before. She wanted to do something but she still felt a little dizzy and couldn't act fast enough to save Star Twinkle in time.

"Oh no!" Fluttershy exclaimed in shock, wanting to help Star Twinkle as well but there was not enough time.

Mystic was ready. He had a huge victorious grin on his face. This attack was gonna leave a lot of damage to everything in its path. Star Twinkle was frozen. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't do anything against this attack. He couldn't hurt Mystic. This was hopeless.

"Eat this!" Mystic exclaimed before he lowered his hooves to throw the magic ball over his head towards Star Twinkle. "Ugh!?"

Mystic stopped. His eyes widened in shock. He started to breathe heavily. Without him realizing it, the magic ball vanished and he slowly hovered towards the ground. He was exhausted and panted heavily. The next thing that happened, was his wings vanishing again.

Of course, Star Twinkle was really confused about what happened here. "He transformed back?" He thought.

Mystic looked at his own hoof and clenched his teeth. "You gotta be kidding me!?" He said in frustration.

Twilight, as well as the rest of the girls, started to join Star Twinkle, causing Mystic to step back now. At first, Star Twinkle was confused, like everyone else but then it hit him. He knew why this was happening. He probably was the only one who encountered this problem as well.

"You're not accustomed to it," he said towards the panting stallion in front of him.

Mystic looked at Star Twinkle. "What!?" He said angrily.

Star Twinkle explained. "Whenever I tried to transform, at first, it was really exhausting. It can be quite difficult to uphold this form. I even tried to grow both a horn and wings at the same time but just attempting that was way too exhausting. If what you said was true, and that you possess the complete transformation, then I can only imagine how hard it is to keep it up for long," he said, much to Mystic's dislike.

"Isn't that good to know," Mystic replied sarcastically. He was still out of breath and unable to fight but it didn't seem to affect his usual demeanor.

Once everyone realized how Mystic was in no state to continue fighting, the rest of the group walked closer to both Star Twinkle and Mystic who stood a few meters away from each other.

Mystic didn't like to admit it but he was not going to win this battle. He looked over to the group and began smiling "Looks like you successfully bested me again...what a bother," the stallion said annoyed. "But it doesn't matter. I keep getting more powerful. Soon I will have enough power that no one will be able to stop me! And with that much power...I will be able to destroy all of Equestria!"

He was beginning to get mad. Everyone looked at the stallion as if they didn't know what to do with him. But Mystic was not going crazy, he seemed rather sane and to top it of serious about all those things he said. Star Twinkle heard him say stuff like this before in the Forgotten Castle. It frightened him that a pony with this mindset existed but at the same time he wanted to help him get those thoughts out of his head.

"Why?" Star Twinkle asked. "Why are you so fixated on destroying Equestria?"

Mystic looked at Star Twinkle, his purple eyes looking into Star Twinkle's light green eyes for quite a while before he gave an answer. "I won't waste my time explaining my reasons to someone who couldn't even begin to understand," he said.

"You could still try," Star Twinkle shot back.

Mystic snickered a little under his breath. He was not taking Star Twinkle seriously. Still, since he was in this rather dangerous situation, he figured he should give it a try. "Alright then," the stallion paused before he would continue.

Suddenly, Mystic raised his horn into the air. He took advantage of the situation and used a spell to create some mist around the area again.

"Oh no!" Twilight said in a panic before she was at it to remove the spell with her magic again.

But it was too late...Mystic took the cover of the mist to escape. That little escape window was enough for him to get away in time.

"Where is he!?" Fluttershy asked confused.

"He must have run into the forest," Applejack guessed.

"Then let's look for him!" Rainbow Dash said.

"No," Twilight then said, much to the confusion of everyone else. "He is very crafty, I bet if we follow him into this forest he will ambush us the moment he gets a chance," she explained. "There is also a chance that he could use that transformation again..."

The later sentence made the group realize that it was smarter to stay away from Mystic for now. If he would use Terra Unisus transformation again, then things could get dangerous for them. He was dangerous and needed to be taken care of but it needs more than these seven ponies to do that. It left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth to let Mystic go but they all had to admit that Twilight made a valid point.

There was also still something left to do, most likely. The map was sending them to this place and they still didn't find their friendship problem. It was probably waiting inside the castle so the group decided to go inside for now.

Meanwhile...

Magic blasts were shot all over the dark hallways of the Forgotten Castle. An intense fight between Summershine and the pony in the black armor took place. Both of them seemed rather even when it came to strength.

"Will you let me leave!?" Summershine exclaimed as he was dodging another magic blast coming from his opponent. He didn't even know who the pony behind that armor was except someone who was teaming up with Arcana, someone he knew had no good intentions. This pony must have not been any different.

During the whole fight, the armored pony didn't say a single word to Summershine, giving him no clue about who it could be. The fact that this pony was working with Arcana though, gave him enough reason to be careful.

The pony in the black armor charged right at Summershine who was teleporting out of the way and appeared to the pony's left and shot a magic blast at it. The armored pony ducked under the shot and jumped at the Unicorn to attack him. Summershine countered by using a shield spell to protect himself. The pony clashed against it and jumped backward. He waited for Summershine to lower his shield again.

Summershine kept a close look on the pony. "Whoever that is, he or she is not that good with magic. So far I could only see it shooting magic blasts..." the stallion figured.

The pony in the armor, spread its wings, much to Summershine's confusion. Shortly after, the pony took flight and flew over his head. "It can use magic and fly?" Summershine said. "Is it an Alicorn!?" He guessed.

The Unicorn had little time to figure things out before the armored pony launched another attack. It shot at the ceiling, causing some rocks to fall down right at Summershine who had no choice but to jump out of the way. Once he got up again, he noticed that he lost sight of the armored pony.

It was pretty dark in this castle and the pitch-black armor helped Summershine's opponent to perfectly blend into it. Summershine was not taking a chance to get ambushed by this pony so he decided to light up the place using his horn.

As the place was lightened up, the armored pony was jumping at Summershine from behind. But the Unicorn was prepared. He knew that as soon as the place was no longer dark, he was gonna get attacked, which is why he planned to teleport away and then attack while the armored pony was charging him.

It worked like a charm...

Summershine teleported away, leaving a confused armored pony behind. The next attack came from behind, where Summershine was at. He placed a shot right at the pony. The pony in the black armor turned around in the very last moment to see the attack coming right at it but it was already too late. It got hit directly in the face, causing the helmet of the Armored Pony to fall on the ground, the sound of it bouncing and rolling around in the room was echoing through the whole room.

Summershine was panting, the battle came to a little halt. It gave him time to catch his breath. However, he stopped breathing for a moment. It was right after he had a clear view of the Armored Ponies' face.

"...What?...You?" Is the only thing he could say after seeing the face of the pony in front of him.

There were a million questions in Summershine's head right now. Confusion, disbelieve, shock, all those things made up the mind of the stallion right now. It didn't make things better that the pony in the armor was not saying anything, even though it's identity was now revealed to the stallion.

Summershine just now remembered how to breathe again. He was panting, not because of exhaustion but because he was confused and couldn't comprehend what he was seeing now.

"What is going on here?" He asked the pony in front of him, demanding an answer from it.

Meanwhile...

Star Twinkle and his friends were walking around the castle, trying to find out a clue about their friendship mission. But all that this visit did to them was bringing back some memories about their last time in this castle.

"So..." Applejack started. "What do you think we need to do here?" She asked.

Rarity knew the answer to that. "What I think this castle needs is a complete reorganization. This place looks absolutely terrible!" She said in disgust as she took a good look around the place. It was good that everyone was back in their high spirits again, especially after that encounter with Mystic before.

Suddenly, Star Twinkle was feeling a little tingly. And it came from his flank. He looked over to it and saw how his Cutie Mark was glowing. "What!?" He asked confused, grabbing everyone's attention in the meantime.

"Oh! You finally got a glowing Cutie Mark!" Pinkie Pie said happily before tears started running down her face. "I am so happy for you!" She added overly dramatic.

The others were happy for Star Twinkle about this as well but more than that they were confused, especially Twilight. "But why is it acting up like this? I thought a glowing Cutie Mark meant that we solved a problem," she pointed out.

"But we didn't do anything," Rainbow Dash added.

Twilight was aware of that as well, which is why this whole situation was very confusing. Before they could figure out something though, Star Twinkle's Cutie Mark was flying up at the ceiling and towards a staircase. It was just like whenever the Cutie Marks of the girls pointed at a certain spot at the map in Twilight's castle.

"It's going upstairs!" Rarity said.

"Then let's follow it!" Twilight said before she looked over to Star Twinkle.

The stallion didn't know what was happening, as usual, but his Cutie Mark was giving him a sign. No matter the reason why this was happening, Star Twinkle was determined to follow his Cutie Mark. There was a chance that it was leading him to Summershine. No, he was pretty sure that it would lead it to him.

"Let's go!" The stallion said. He actually was leading the way for once because he couldn't wait to where his Cutie Mark was leading him.

The girls followed him right behind. They couldn't afford to lose sight of Star Twinkle's Cutie Mark. It was the only lead they got after all. There is no way that this was happening spontaneously after all.

Star Twinkle was more determined than ever. "Summershine. I know you are here!" He thought, begging that it was true. If he would repeat it in his head over and over again, then hopefully it would come true.

In the meantime, Summershine was still trying to comprehend what was happening now. He stared at the now revealed face of the armored pony. He was still confused and wanted answers.

"Summershine!" Star Twinkle's voice could be heard, making its way upstairs.

"Huh!?" Summershine turned around to face the stairs. Hearing Star Twinkle's voice all of a sudden caught him completely by surprise. He almost didn't know how to react to it.

As Summershine was distracted by Star Twinkle's voice, the pony in the black armor took the opportunity to grab its helmet and put it on again. Once Summershine realized that was happening, the pony in the black armor was already making its escape and jumped out of a window. It bothered Summershine that the pony escaped, especially since he now knew who was behind that armor. The pony escaped, that much Summershine had to accept. On top of that, Star Twinkle was nearby as well. There was only one thing for him left to do...

A few seconds later, Star Twinkle appeared in the room...

Summershine was gone, there was no one left in this room, not that Star Twinkle would know that there was someone in here, to begin with. The Cutie Mark, that led him in here did not react anymore and he was left without any more clue.

The rest of his friends entered the room shortly after and quickly realized that there was no one inside this room as well. All they could see was Star Twinkle standing there with a frown on his face.

"He was here...I know it..." He could just say at this moment.

Later...

The group was confused about why they were called to this place. They didn't know what their friendship mission was and looked all over the place, even inside the forest but there was no one here anymore. When it came to Mystic, that was probably a good thing.

There were more pressing matters to take care of anyway. The group came across the same pillar as Summershine did. Twilight didn't know what to make out of that. She went so far as to ask Princess Celestia herself about what it could be. Luckily, the mare used a spell to send a letter to the princess without the help of Spike. It came in handy in situations like this.

Twilight explained everything, from their meeting with Mystic, to the Forgotten Castle, to the pillar that they found inside of it. After explaining all of those things, Twilight expected the princess to answer anytime soon but what happened instead was Princess Celestia showing up personally. She either must have been worried about them encountering Mystic again or that one pillar that they found was more important than they expected.

With the princess at the same place though, everyone felt a little bit safer now. She didn't waste much time and walked up to the pillar. "Interesting..." she just commented at first.

"Do you know what this pillar is supposed to be?" Twilight asked.

Princess Celestia's look was almost fixated on a specific spot on this pillar. The symbols on it, the second one from the top to be exact, the one with the dark orange and the gray color. "I do know that this one was grayed out the last time I checked," she pointed out.

This was grabbing Twilight's attention. "Is that so? What do those lights mean?" She asked.

"I'm not completely sure, there is something odd about it whenever I focus on this pillar though. I can show you if you are interested," she offered.

"Of course we are!" Twilight replied. "Right?" She asked her friends, all of them agreeing with her except Star Twinkle who was in his own world again.

"Huh?" The stallion asked confused. He did not pay attention since his mind wandered around again. He couldn't help but feel bad that he missed Summershine. He just knew that he was here only moments earlier and he couldn't help thinking about it. However, Star Twinkle had to admit that he was interested in this pillar as well and he wanted to know more about it so he decided to listen.

Instead of explaining it to everyone though, she decided to show them something. It sorta happened on its own, the white and dark blue colored symbol acted up and pictures started to show up above the pillar. It showed something that looked awfully familiar to Twilight.

It showed Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, or rather, Nightmare Moon. It was the fated night where they both fought against each other, the night where Princess Luna was banished to the moon. It showed bits and pieces of their fight and then it disappeared again.

"Wow!" Rainbow Dash said amazed. "That was awesome!" She added.

"Why did it show us this?" Fluttershy added.

Princess Celestia explained what she knew about all of this. "I am not completely sure what this pillar is supposed to be. It only shows me the battle that I had with my sister, whenever I try to get a reaction out of it," she said. Her eyes wandered on the symbols of this pillar again. "You see that symbol that consists of a white and dark blue color? This symbol only lightened up after my battle with Luna," she further explained.

"Why?" Star Twinkle asked on behalf of everyone else.

The princess explained further. "I have a little theory," she said. "I suspect that all of those symbols represent a battle that has taken place at some point. That light orange and red one for example. I remember it lightened up after two other powerful ponies clashes against each other a few hundred years ago," she said.

"Who?" Twilight asked out of curiosity.

Princess Celestia continued. "One of them was the famous Unicorn Sun Swirl, a decedent of Star Swirl the Bearded," she said. That name rang a bell to Star Twinkle, he remembered Twilight talking about him before at some point. "The name of the other one was...Arcana," she added. That name did not sound familiar to Star Twinkle though, neither did it to anyone else in the room. "From what I knew...both of them were friends but ended up fighting. It was Arcana who started the fight for reasons that I am not too familiar with but given how powerful he was, his victory would have meant nothing good for Equestria. This all leads me to believe that the symbols all light up whenever two ponies clash against each other and the future of Equestria is at stake. Just like it was with me and my sister."

Those were certainly some interesting news. Of course, Rainbow Dash wanted to see all those awesome battles but Princess Celestia was unable to show them to her. She could only access her own battle for some reason. There was also another thing that bothered some of the ponies.

"There is still one left," Star Twinkle pointed out. It was the still grayed out one at the top. "What happens if that one lights up as well?" He asked.

But Princess Celestia did not know the answer to that. "I am not sure. This pillar was around for a long time so it was clear that someday all of the symbols would light up at some point but I never figured out what would happen if that was the case," she said.

"Maybe something good will happen?" Fluttershy said in high spirits.

"Or maybe something really bad?" Applejack said, being on the more worrying side.

There really wasn't any point thinking about it. They would either find out sooner or later. The last symbol could light up tomorrow or one thousand years from now on. It's not like they could control it or anything. The princess was telling them all the same thing. Worrying about it would only get them frustrated and Star Twinkle, for example, had already enough things to worry about.

The group figured that there was no point in staying in this castle anymore. They didn't find their friendship mission and none of their Cutie Marks reacted in any way. Not that they were summoned here, to begin with.

Twilight, who was reading a scroll after Princess Celestia was done explaining, let out a sigh. She was sending a letter to Spike to ask if anything on the map changed and judging from her reaction, that seemed to be the case.

"It looks like, the Cutie Marks on the map vanished again," she shared with the group.

"Which means..." Applejack started.

"We wasted our time!" Rainbow Dash finished.

"I still thought it was fun!" Pinkie Pie said, bouncing up and down on the spot.

Rarity was seeing the positive thing about this. "I guess that means we can go home again?" She asked.

"Looks like it," Star Twinkle assumed.

Twilight was then walking up to the stallion in order to comfort him. "I'm sure we find another clue about Summershine again," she said.

Star Twinkle appreciated those words. "Yes...maybe..." he replied. He was not hiding his disappointment and he wanted to believe in those words too. He was not giving up. As he walked outside the castle with his friends and the princess, his mind was still fixed on only one thing.

"Summershine...I will find you!" He vowed.

And with those words on his mind, the trip back to Ponyville started. He decided to forget about Summershine for now. He needed to relax for the rest of the day. There was too much action for him in one day. Whatever happens will happen someday, just like with that pillar.

...

As the group walked away from the castle, unbeknownst to them, a hooded figure was watching them. It was not clear who it was since this figure was wearing a gray hood, covering all of its body.
Shortly after, someone else was teleporting itself right behind the hooded figure. This someone also wore a gray hood, concealing its identity.

"Yo!" The second hooded figure greeted in a friendly tone. The voice of this figure was male. The first hooded figure didn't respond and didn't even turn around the moment the other someone appeared. This seemed to have upset the second hooded figure. "Not much of words, as usual, I see," he said before he walked up to the first hooded figure.

Now both of them were watching Star Twinkle and his friends leaving the castle. The second figure seemed interested in watching them. "Even the princess is here. Sure is a great opportunity to get out hooves at the Elements of Harmony," he figured. He then looked over to the other hooded figure. "I mean, you could have easily taken care of them. Shouldn't have given you any problems after all," he pointed out.

"Not now," the first hooded figure replied, revealing itself to be male as well. "You know that," he added.

"Yeah, yeah, I know..." the second figure replied. "Wouldn't want a plan that is so long in the making to be ruined after all," he figured. "You think any of them pieced together what the pillar was about?" He then asked.

The first hooded figure shook his head. "Doesn't matter. You can't change fate that easily even if you wanted to," he explained. "Even if things get ruined, then it just means more waiting," he added.

That didn't seem to sit right with the second hooded figure though. "Hey, I know you don't have a problem waiting this long but I would like to get things rolling as soon as possible," he said. For the first time, the other figure was turning his head towards him now, causing the second figure to shrug his shoulders. "Don't worry, I'll stick with the plan," he said before sighing. "From what it looks like, I don't think I have to wait for that much longer anyway. Things are lining up pretty well recently," he said.

"Yes...they do..." the first figure said.

The second figure sighed once more before then walking away again. "Well, I'm off now, just wanted to see what you were up too. Don't stay for too long. It would be really shocking if something happened to you," he said before he walked away, only to turn around once more. "Get it?" He then said amused before he spread his wings and flew away.

The other figure followed shortly after only stopping to look back for a moment before then also spreading his wings to fly away from the castle without a word.

Author's Note:

Alright, I threw a lot of stuff at you all at once but it is important for the long run of this story. As usual, I am really curious about some of your theories.

Your thoughts on Mystic?
What is it with this pillar?
Will something happen if the last light goes on?
How will the light turn on?
Who did Summershine see behind the mask of the armored pony?
Who were those two figures at the end?

I also put a little reference to the Brotherhooves Social into this chapter since I skipped it. I felt as if I needed to do at least that.

I had fun writing this chapter and I hope you had fun reading it. Let me know if you did ^^.

With all that said, please consider leaving a review or some other kind of feedback and make sure to follow me or this story to always be up to date with everything that I upload.

See you all in the next chapter.
Bye Bye ^^.

Reading Order:

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship Season 1 + 2(Chapter 1 - 53)

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship - Diary of The Storm Wings

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship Season 3(Chapter 54 - 65)

Equestria Girls - The Legend of Friendship

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship - Outcasts

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship Season 4(Chapter 66 - 91)

Rainbow Rocks - The Legend of Friendship

The Legend of Friendship - Harmony

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship Season 5(Chapter 92 - 117)