Sundered Universes

by Super Ponyman

Chapter 8: The Secret Life of Burning Star

Author's Note:

So, Burning Star ducked back to talk with Celestia in the last part of last chapter, leaving the others to get settled in Manehattan.

However, he was in such a rush to talk with Celestia that he left most of his stuff behind in their apartment where the groups are staying.

He even left his personal bag wide open!

Firestorm and the other Guardians can't help but look into this Alicorn's past, and what they find shows them the truth behind Burning Star.

Art from Derpibooru

(Manehattan, The Apex Hotel)

Manehattan has always been rough to newcomers, it was often called "The greatest city in the world" but it was anything but great.

Manehattan was currently under siege from a crime boss and his gangs, the Darklings. They were a major problem to the police, so when Burning Star, Noble Blade and their companions showed up, suddenly the attacks stopped.

Celestia blessed the Guardians by giving them a good base of operations, the Apex Hotel, one of the most expensive (and secure) places to stay in Manehattan. When the group had arrived, they all unpacked their weapons and supplies.

Noble Blade had noticed that Burning Star was a bit distant, almost as if he was still in a rush, but he dismissed it as being out in the public eye and the weight of the consequences if he were to set fire to the city chasing down Midnight.

Since it was 11:30 pm, the group hit the beds in their respective rooms, and tried to get the best sleep they could. They did not know what fresh monster awaited them when they woke up the next day...

Another of Midnight's minions, Stygian, the Pony of Shadows!

It was 1:00 am, Firestorm had been awakened because he had to relieve his bladder, so he was honestly shocked to see Burning Star standing near the window.

The orange Pegasus tried to sneak past him, but his plan was blown up when Burning Star said, "Firestorm. Why are you up late? Shouldn't you be getting some rest for tomorrow, as you have to investigate this crime boss. What was his name, Stygian Hyde?"

Firestorm asked the obvious question, "Where are you going? You are going to help us take down this Stygian character, right?"

Burning Star nodded, "I promise, I will be back tomorrow. I just need to go speak with Celestia about something personal... just don't start the fight without me. Ok?"

Before Firestorm could respond, the Black Alicorn flew out the window silently, and the Pegasus stood there stunned at his speed. He had reached the river in seconds, at that speed he'd probably reach Canterlot in a few hours.

Firestorm was about to head back to his room, when he suddenly tripped over a bag that was left with its contents scattered on the floor.

He looked back at the bag, it had Burning Star's mark on it, and a large note on it saying "Do not Open!"

Firestorm couldn't restrain his curiosity, and said to himself "Alright, hot wings. Let's see what you had in your bag, shall we?"

Firestorm began to place the various books and items on his bed, during the shuffling of items, he woke Noble and Freedom from their sleep.

The two of them entered the room and Noble said, "Storm, what are you doing? *yawn, you realize what time it is right?"

Firestorm responded, "I know what time it is, but Burning Star just flew off to talk with the princess about something "Personal" or something like that. He said he would be back tomorrow morning, or was it tomorrow night? I didn't catch the last part, I was yawning."

Freedom snorted, putting his hoof to his face, so did Noble.

Noble finally answered, "Great, our big powerhouse against Midnight is gone, and now you are going through his stuff. What are you even looking for anyways?"

Firestorm answered with a smirk on his face, "Something embarrassing about him. Anything that will make him feel uneasy, like I do around him. He is so dark and brooding that it makes Freedom Fighter look cute and cuddly."

Freedom raised an eye at that, before silently chuckling at the idea that somepony could out do his dark and brooding attitude. He made a gesture to a large jar filled with green dust.

Noble carefully picked up the jar with his magic and stared at it for a moment.

He then said to his partners, "Im guessing curiosity is getting the better of you two like it is doing to me?"

The duo nodded, and began to quietly pick through Burning Star's Stuff. Apparently, he had a magic bag because what they found inside was impossible to fit in a normal bag.

Noble put the jar back down and Firestorm picked it up and opened the lid. He picked up a little of the powder before eating it.

Noble's eyes bulged as he swiped the jar away from Firestorm and quietly shouted, "Are you crazy?! We have no clue what any of this stuff is! You could have eaten poison joke powder or something worse. What were you thinking?"

Firestorm felt weird for a minute, like he had gas in his stomach, then he said "Relax, Noble. Poison Joke Powder is purple-blue, not green. I learned that from Princess Celestia."

Suddenly, Firestorm was engulfed in green-yellow fire. Noble and Freedom instinctively drew their weapons, when the fire died, they couldn't believe their eyes.

Where Firestorm once stood, Celestia now stood!

Noble bowed, "Princess? Is that you?"

Firestorm, unaware of his transformation, opened his mouth, and out came Celestia's voice. "What are you talking about, Where is 'Tia?"

Firestorm then looked at his hooves, now noticing the fact that he looked like Celestia, and he began to scream before Noble put his hoof in his mouth.

Firestorm-Celestia whined, "Oh come on! No! I want to be me again!"

Flames once again engulfed Firestorm, and his orange and red body returned.

Noble looked at the jar's label. He read aloud, "Advanced Changeling Dust"

Firestorm's eyes were wider than dinner plates, he heard the word Changeling, and he freaked out.

He said in a frantic voice, "Wait what! Does this mean I'm a Changeling now?! How could I face the princess again?! I don't want to look like that Queen Chrysalis!"

Flames once again engulfed him and he became the Changeling Queen, this earned a nervous shudder from Noble.

Firestorm looked at his hole-ridden hooves, and whined even louder. "That just seals it! I am a Changeling! Nooooo!"

He said to Firestorm, "Calm yourself, Firestorm! Can you stop for a minute? I'm trying to figure out how it works, and you constantly transforming isn't helping!"

Firestorm reverted back to himself, "Ok, ok. What does this dust do?"

Noble Blade read the rest of the label, "Upon consumption of Changeling dust. The user takes on the Changeling's ability to shapeshift, but does not become a Changeling."

Firestorm sighed a great sigh of relief, "Thank Princess Luna."

In a cruel twist of humor, Firestorm turned into Princess Luna. He now screamed full volume in the Royal Canterlot Voice, "OH DAMN IT TO TARTARUS!"

Noble Blade sighed as Freedom began to bow before "Luna", since old habits were kicking in.

Noble continued to read, "To activate, simply speak the name of the life form you wish to impersonate, then watch as the magic happens. As long as you have made contact with the named being, you can transform into them. WARNING: this only lasts for 2 hours until you need to reapply."

Firestorm snickered, "So, Just say their name? Well then, how about... Noble Blade!"

Noble rolled his eyes, "Firestorm, please. There is no way that dust will make you turn-"

He was cut off by Firestorm doing just that. Noble stared slack jawed as another Noble stood in front of him, smiling like a fool.

"Noble" said in a mocking voice, "I guess thou doubt the power of ye old Changeling dust?"

Freedom snorted in anger, making Firestorm revert back to his normal self.

The real Noble ignored him as he reached into Burning Star's bag with his magic and grasped something triangle shaped, he pulled it out and examined it.

It was a Pyramid-shaped piece of crystal, colored bright red and rune etched with a language that Noble didn't know.

What he did know was what this piece of crystal was, a data holo-crystal.

Noble said out loud, "Hey guys. I think our new partner has something to hide after all."

Freedom looked over from the left, while Firestorm, sneaked up on Noble from the right and tapped on his shoulder.

Noble wheeled around to see "Midnight Sparkle", bearing down on him. He freaked out and took a swing at her with his sword, the dark Alicorn ducked out of the way and said, "Woah, stop! It's me Noble!"

Firestorm reverted back to his normal body, earning a annoyed glare from his two partners. "Heh, sorry. This stuff is the perfect pranking material to use!"

Noble Blade placed the crystal on his large bed and tried to activate it. "Display data, please."

Nothing happened...

Firestorm stepped forwards, "Maybe it's voice activated? Everything secret seems to be voice activated. Let me try something."

Firestorm took a deep breath as he transformed into the Black Alicorn of Fire, and he said in his voice. "Display data, please."

The Crystal buzzed to life and several files were shown, one of which said "Previous Events."

Noble raised an eyebrow and muttered to "Burning Star", "Firestorm, I am starting to think maybe he kept this hidden for a reason. You know, like maybe he doesn't want others to pry into his se-"

Noble was cut off by "Burning Star" saying, "Bring up my previous events file, and search for... keywords. Firebrand, Mentor, Personal, and... Alicorn."

The Crystal hummed for a little while, then displayed a group of folders.

They read, "My Origins", "My Magic and All its Types," "My Lessons," and "My Mentor"

Freedom pointed to the "My Origins" file on the holographic projection and it opened up into several documents.

The biggest one was a document titled, "Burning Star Saga"

Then they saw what they were looking for, a photo and video folder saved to the crystal.

Noble Blade opened up another section of the documents and began to read...

"My name is Burning Star, and I am a monster. I am writing this as a way to catalog my quest for revenge against the pony who ruined my life. Celestia... she left my village to be Attacked by Changelings, and in my rage, I incinerated them along with the village. I have no home, no family, nothing more than my wings, my spells, and my wits. But that's all I need to bring down the Princess of the Sun. I must make some noise first... the nearby fort holding the Royal Guard is currently open."

"I wonder if Celestia will get my message for help when I write it in their burned bodies?"

Noble closed the document and opened another. Again finding more and more about Burning Star's frightening disregard for the lives of other ponies.

Freedom looked over Noble's shoulder as they read, "The Ends Justify the Means."

"I am not a villain, am I? I kill without regard for the consequences and I take from the Royal Guard the lives of valuable soldiers. They weren't apart of your creed for vengeance. You killed them for no reason. No I am still doing what I think is right. No, what I know is right!"

"Mom, Dad. If you can hear me, I know you would call this too far Celestia will burn for what she did! I know I will!"

Freedom looked at a photo that was displayed on the document, it was Burning Star, kneeling in front of a gravestone.

Was he... crying?

Noble felt increasingly uncomfortable, but he pressed onwards. He opened up another document that read, "A King's Apprentice."

Now Firestorm reverted back to his normal form and started to read over Noble's shoulder as well.

"Faust must have smiled upon me. I have met a powerful unicorn, a king in fact. one that can aid me in my quest to destroy Celestia. Coincidentally, he also wishes for her demise! it scares me how much he wants me to completely destroy her. he said that he would train me for the day that I would finally take her on. I asked for his name, as he was to be my mentor and he spoke a name I haven't heard of before."

Noble froze up, suddenly feeling as if he wasn't Noble Blade, Guardian of the Sun anymore. He felt like he was a scared little foal again.

Firestorm asked him, "Noble? Are you ok? Did you find some-"

Now Firestorm froze up, unable to speak. He saw what name was written on that document, and instead of his usual erratic behavior, his mind just... stood Frozen.

Freedom Fighter looked at the name and also went stiff, unable to do anything as Noble Blade read the next line.

"His name was King Sombra

"Sombra... huh. What an interesting name. I swore I heard it in some old tale of a dark king that ruled the Crystal Empire with an Iron Hoof. Looking at this unicorn standing beside me, he was an exact match. but I must be imagining things, King Sombra surely must be dead by now. He was killed by Celestia and Luna over 1,000 years ago...

"Was this king a descendant or relative?"

Noble Blade shut the file and turned to his two greatest partners. They all shared the same expression of utter terror at the mention of "Him"

Noble, with great struggle not to scream, said to his fellow partners. "B-Burning Star was K-King S-S-Sombra's Student... Sweet Celestia that is a nightmare that I never thought possible. But King Sombra is dead?! Right?"

Firestorm pointed to the photo, "I think you should check your facts, Noble... cause here... he looks very alive."

Noble gazed on the photo of the dreaded King and Burning Star standing beside him.

All the fear, all the dread, all the pain that the three of them ignored for a long time suddenly hit them like a speeding chariot.

How could somepony so powerful listen to King Sombra and learn from him?

Freedom noticed a glint of light coming out of Burning Star's bag, so he reached in and grabbed three things that all but confirmed that Burning Star had connections to that monster.

He first pulled out a black and red cloak with a spiked crown wrapped in it.

Then he pulled out a set of body armor, it was the same armor that Sombra was wearing in the photo. But Dark red and silver with bright red highlights instead of Sombra's silver and black.

The final nail in the coffin was the largest item in the bag, Freedom needed the help of his fellow Guardians to pull it out. It was a giant crystal war scythe, it was dark gray with a blood red blade.

It was THE Scythe of Umbra. King Sombra's signature Weapon.

Noble pressed another file and it opened up into more recent events, Hoping not to run into more of Sombra's face.

Instead of more gut-tearing fear, he read about Burning Star's reformation. The defeat of somepony called "Sunset Shimmer", and many, many other things he had done to make up for his mistakes.

Noble finally got to the last Entry, entered about a week ago.

"It seems that the war drums never end for me. We just defeated Midnight Sparkle three months ago, and yet Eclipsio finds her energy signature on another world entirely? Does this conflict ever end? I kid of course, I am to be sent to this new world along with Quickfire and Hiller, to put an end to Midnight's destruction for good.She will not come willingly, so we may have to kill her, but I don't want to spill any more blood from this world in this new world, it has to be me to do it."

Freedom Fighter quietly disagreed with that crossed off line. He would be the one to end Midnight, not Burning Star.

Firestorm put his hoof on the scythe, it was cold, colder than the icy reaches of the Frozen North.

Noble turned to see the scythe, and attempted pick it up with his magic. It was taxing, and he could barely move it before it fell to the floor with a clatter of crystal and steel on wood.

Noble winced and said, "I... can't lift it. Some sort of enchantment on the Weapon that prevents it from being moved with magic."

Firestorm looked at the set of armor before turning around to speak to his friends, "Listen. As much as I would love to expose Burning Star for what he is, I feel like we owe him a bit of sympathy. He went through Tartarus becoming Sombra's student, and we should not shame him."

Freedom Fighter looked at the crown and remembered what Burning Star said he saw when Nightmare Moon used her fear gaze on him.

He thought to himself, "A world wreathed in fire, with all hope destroyed. I won't let that happen, not from Midnight, not from Burning Star, not from anypony."

Firestorm heard the familiar flap of Burning Star's gigantic wings and he ran to the window and went white with fear.

Burning Star was back! And earlier than he said!

The Fiery Alicorn smirked and said, "I see you wasted no time and dived right into my personal effects. Tell me, find anything you are confused about, or are you still not convinced that I am not one to talk about the past?!"

Noble Blade sighed and hung his head, "I apologize, Burning Star. But you left your bag open and well... we wanted to find out more about you."

Burning Star gathered up his various jars and books and shoved them back into his bag. He left the scythe, Armor, and crown out for display.

Burning Star snorted in frustration, "Do any of you care for privacy? Ponies say I'm paranoid for putting locks on my things, but when your in my business, you can never be too careful."

The earth pony looked at the armor, then looked at Burning Star. His instincts screamed to him that he should draw his fighting sticks and beat the Alicorn down for affiliating with Sombra, but his brain was smarter, and shut those instincts up.

Burning Star looked at his reflection in the shiny silver and red armor, he tried to smile, but all he saw was a fearsome grin with his sharp fangs highlighted in the reflection and his face distorted to look a lot like Sombra's ugly mug.

He turned to the group and said, "Hey, guys. You want to hear it, fine. I was the student of King Sombra, I regret becoming his student, but he helped me despite his malicious intentions."

He ignited his horn and put on the armor, it slid seamlessly onto his neck and back, with enough space for his wings. He picked up the crown next, but he said to Noble specifically something that made the unicorn shiver.

He spoke in a wavering voice, "Noble, am I like King Sombra? He said to me once that "I will rise above him and use the dark powers I have taught you to take what you deserve. Power, complete and absolute power." am I like that, Noble Blade? Do not lie to me, do you think that I am another King Sombra? Another monster?"

Burning Star put his mentors Crown on and picked up the scythe, he stood in the bright silver armor, moonlight reflecting off it. The breastplate began to glow and Burning Star's cutie mark appeared on it.

A five pointed curved star of flames...

Noble Blade walked over to Burning Star and put his hoof on Burning Star's chest and said, "Burning Star. You cannot deny that you were trained by one of the most terrifying threats to Equestria, but you are different. You possess something that King Sombra wish he had..."

Burning Star raised an eyebrow, "Wings?"

Firestorm shook his head, "No, you wonderful idiot, you are different because throughout the entire time, you outplayed the big oaf! You are smarter than him, and I'm no psychiatrist, but the edge you had over him was the ability to choose."

Noble continued, "We read and watched all your files, yes they are dark and violent, but what stuck out to all of us was the fact that you refused to stay with him when he compromised his position as a teacher in the teacher and student relationship. He wished to end your life in favor of Twilight's life. He chose to do that, and you did the right thing and left him for Twilight."

Burning Star was suddenly caught in a surprise hug from Freedom Fighter, then Noble, then Firestorm.

The door between the two rooms opened and Quickfire and Hiller stepped out, Quickfire had his mask off but he had a patch over his missing eye. Hiller had a sleeping mask on with three red crescents on it, they resembled his cutie mark, a symbol known only to the more intellectual ponies as the Biohazard symbol.

Hiller removed his blinders and was the first to notice before Quickfire did, who was still kind of asleep.

He got the quartet of ponies attention with a grunt, "Why are you Up so late? Don't we have to go and find this... Stygian guy tomorrow morning?"

Burning Star smirked and said, "Yes we do, so let's get some rest, everypony."

As the six ponies returned to their rooms, a Shadow watched them from the opposite rooftop.

It was Stygian, the Pony of Shadows.

Although he was simply Stygian right now, he could transform whenever he wished.

The dark monster manifested itself in front of the little unicorn and snarled to Stygian,

"Well? What are you waiting for, Stygian? Blow them away! we have the chance to, why are you hesitating?!"

Stygian was still silent... before the silence was pierced by the Pony of Shadows appearing in front of him.

Stygian spoke to the dark beast, "No. we aren't ready yet, if Burning Star really is the student of King Sombra, he could help the two of us go free. Maybe?"

The Pony of Shadows roared, "No! I will not bow my hooves to another Alicorn! I hate our conjoined existence, I wish that this "Midnight Sparkle" would just Up and die. Then we can get back to swallowing the world in darkness and despair, just like we planned, RIGHT?"

Stygian sighed and said with all the courage that he had, "No. I'm in charge now. And I say that, we play by my plan until Midnight lays out her cards. Then, we strike and retrieve Twilight from her mind."

The Pony of Shadows was used to his symbiotic partner being meek and cowardly, so this sudden display of courage stunned the demon.

The Pony of Shadows growled, "This will cost you both our lives, you imbecile! Are you just going to sit and take it while those ponies let loose their wrath upon us?! You are risking our lives here! Take the simple route to freedom and kill the bastards!"

Stygian's horn glowed a dull blue, and the Pony of Shadows was sucked into his horn.

Stygian said to himself, "If that is the price I have to pay to get Midnight to see that she is fighting an uphill battle, then so be it."

Stygian looked at the moon and said in its direction, "Luna. I know you can hear me, so do me a favor and please help me now, I wish for you to send a message to Burning Star in his dream... tell him that I will surrender only to him, this could draw Midnight out to try and retake me. She will be exposed to you and your sister, and you can finally finish her off. I'll talk to you later, Lulu."

With that, Stygian turned back into the Pony of Shadows, and dashed off into the night sky.