Old Mare Luna

by Leondude

Chapter 19 - A New Equestria

Sunburst was sitting at his desk in his humble abode, conducting research on the migration patterns of cockatrices in the odd event that they might become a problem for any future gatherings. Then suddenly, two ponies wearing helmets burst through the front door of his home. In between them was Starlight Glimmer, except there was something...off about her.

"Starlight, are you okay?" Sunburst asked.

Starlight stared at him with green glowing eyes. Sunburst knew she was under the influence of some malicious magic. Whether it was a curse or somepony controlling her mind was a mystery, although the latter would be bitterly ironic since he knew what Starlight did in that town. Sunburst cautiously trotted towards the entranced Starlight, tilting his head in curiosity.

"If I didn't know any better, you appear to be under the effects of the-"

Before he could even react, Starlight punched Sunburst in the face, sending him flying halfway across the room. Sunburst groaned in pain as he collected himself.

"Note to self: Don't talk to a mind-controlled pony even if it's your best friend," he said to himself.

Sunburst heard a nefarious laugh echo across the room. In front of Starlight emerged a dark cloud of magic that formed into a unicorn whose heart was as black as night. It was King Sombra.

"You! You did this to Starlight, didn't you?!"

"Why, I merely put her under my spell, Sunburst," Sombra said.

"How do you know who I am?!"

"I read your friend's mind, of course." Sombra trotted towards Starlight and caressed her head. "It's amazing how somepony with the ability to influence an entire town as well as strip them of their destiny falls into my possession. Mwahahahaha!"

"What do you want?"

"A little bit of entertainment and to test the arena that I intend on using to celebrate my conquering of Equestria. Starlight, would you kindly?"

"Yes, my lord," Starlight replied in a monotone.

Starlight trotted towards Sunburst and slammed his head into a nearby bookshelf, knocking him out instantly.

---

When Sunburst woke up, he was in a colosseum made entirely of crystal. He looked around and noticed many ponies in the audience that were under Sombra's control, some of which were even wearing helmets. And on the other side of the arena was Starlight, still under Sombra's spell. Above and behind Starlight was Sombra sitting on a crystal throne eating a bowl of purple grapes. The sky was a dark red and there were cries of anguish in the distance. What did Sunburst miss out on while studying in his home?

Starlight trotted towards Sunburst while Sombra looked on with a manic grin. Sunburst knew his friend was still in there, he just needed to find a way to get her to resist Sombra's control. Good thing he read up on the various ways to snap a pony out of somepony else's influence.

"Starlight. I know you're in there somewhere. You have to fight this!"

Sombra laughed in the distance. "That is your plan of defence? Convincing your friend to resist me?! The lack of imagination in regards to how you wish to win this is staggering!"

Starlight levitated Sunburst and threw him into one of the walls, causing it to crack and shards of crystal to fall to the ground.

"I'm your friend, remember? You enslaved a village and nearly destroyed time because we once went our separate ways!"

Sombra raised an eyebrow at that comment.

"Okay, that might not be the best example but know this! I will not fight you!"

Sombra yawned in a bored manner.

"Are you finished spouting out cliché after cliché?"

"Not yet!" Sunburst replied defiantly.

Sunburst's horn glew. He fired magic directly into Starlight's forehead, clearing away the darkness and the fear that engulfed her mind. When he was done firing the spell into Starlight's mind, the green glow from Starlight's eyes was gone. Her emotionless expression slowly changed to one of confusion. And in front of her, she saw Sunburst kneeling down from exhaustion.

"What's going on?" Starlight asked, "How did I get here? What happened?"

"King Sombra has taken over Equestr-"

A sharp crystal erupted from the ground and pierced Sunburst's stomach and went straight through his back. Sunburst screamed in agony as Starlight watched in horror. Sombra's eyes flashed an ethereal green in an attempt to bring Starlight back into his thrall. Starlight placed her forehooves to her temple and knelt down in agony, her head feeling like somepony removed her brain, dipped it in liquid nitrogen, put it back in and went to work with a hammer. Sombra, having grown bored, lifted himself from his throne and made a crystal staircase to exit the arena.

"Kill them," he ordered the ponies under this thrall "And once you have done that, you may assist me with taking over Yakyakistan and any other unconquered lands."

The mind-controlled ponies got out of their seats and trotted towards Sunburst and Starlight in droves. Starlight collapsed from the pain of trying to resist Sombra's control of her. Sunburst felt cold. He knew he didn't have enough magic left in him to try and free Starlight from Sombra's control again.

"Starlight," Sunburst pleaded weakly, "Don't go."

Starlight slowly got up again, her eyes closed from falling into unconsciousness. When she opened them up again, they were glowing the same green as before.

"Just give up," Starlight said blankly.

Sunburst closed his eyes and prayed for a quick death. He knew there was no way out of this but he hoped his friend would be the one to do the deed instead of somepony else due to her being the closest to him. He heard the sounds around him fade out into nothing, a result of the blood loss caused by Sombra's attack on him. And in that moment, he let out his last breath. Or that's what he assumed was his last breath.

---

Sunburst groggily opened up his eyes. The room he was in was a turquoise colour, decorated with stickers of cartoon fish and vegetables. There was a brown shelf filled with folders next to a square device of some sort. He stretched out his forelegs and noticed they became longer, with five sausage looking things on the end of where his hooves should be.

"What happened to my hooves?!" Sunburst shouted.

"It's a little weird at first but you get used to it."

Sunburst looked over and saw an orange-yellow ape creature wearing a leather jacket.

"Sunset Shimmer, a friend of Starlight Glimmer."

"Oh. How is she?"

Sunset bowed her head down in sadness. "I'm sorry. She didn't make it. I tried to save her but Sombra's forces pulled her away from me."

Sunburst fell into an equally depressed state. If he managed to survive, he hoped Starlight would make the same miraculous recovery as well. He looked at whatever replaced his left hoof.

"Is there any way to turn me back to normal?"

"There is. You just go through this portal hidden within the statue. However, it only opens once every thirty moons."

"But what about everypony else in Equestria?"

"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do."

Author's Note:

Part one of how Sunburst had survived the onslaught. And yes, I do believe time works differently in the Equestria Girls world than it does in Equestria. Mainly due to the fact that I presume Sunset left Celestia tutelage around the time Twilight was about to do the entrance exam.

Comments

[toshibafox]

my working theory is magic makes time move faster, the human world has less magic so its time is slower. I mean come on, there's no way they have 24 hour days in equestria when ponies can control the day and night cycle. Even the seasons aren't safe from magical influence.

[Leondude]

9989389
Good point.