Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Shyneon

Sunburst watched as the pillar of light cleared, and immediately spotted Nightmare Moon standing there. His brain froze momentarily as he saw Luna lying at her hooves and the blood pouring out of her, but as Twilight began to assault Nightmare Moon and Celestia rushed to her sister's body he forced himself to look away and focus. "We need the others here!" he said.

"Rainbow is already on her way," said one of the guards, who'd managed to take her eyes away from the scene to look at the map again. "The portals are down!" she added just a moment later.

"Is Starshine on the map?" Sunburst asked, feeling out with his own power in case he caught the mare's presence.

Fluttershy sat close to Rarity, looking between the two pairs of alicorns down near the central tower and shaking slightly. She swallowed nervously. "Princess Luna will be okay, right?"

"I can't see her anywhere," the mare replied.

"I don't know." Rarity hugged Fluttershy to herself. "I hope she will."

"She's not answering our communications," another guard said. "Any reports from the portal groups?"

Sunburst closed his eyes, and began to focus and feel outwards. He'd grown to associate his power with a sort of spot somewhere close to his heart, something like a light shining in an otherwise empty space where the confines of his body were barely visible.

"Alert everyone of the situation, and ready the closest buildings for evacuation," said another guard.

Sunburst's powers stretched, looking in different directions for a sign of Starshine's presence. It was a strange connection, what they shared, one made stranger by Starshine's progressive changes and by his own increasing understanding and awareness of his powers. He couldn't properly always tell where she was when she existed on her own, but he could sort of summon her back when she wasn't fully existing someplace else, or attempt to and make her aware of it.

"Princess Twilight is currently too close for us to strike Nightmare Moon. We have horns pointed to her and ready."

It was something he was really careful with. He was always afraid he might accidentally create something that wasn't Starshine, something new and different, or worse change the way she was and be unable to fix her. She had been an accident, and she'd evolved into a way for him to interface with his coil, but the more he understood it and grew skilled at using it the more he feared he might not need her for that anymore, and that he would accidentally unravel her as he unravelled the ramifications of his powers. That was partly why he pushed for her to become independent of him, though he didn't know for sure how successful that would be.

"Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops have reported. They are safe, currently hiding. They took care of the portals."

Fluttershy leaned against Rarity. Both of them watched wordlessly as Twilight unleashed her magic against Nightmare Moon, a storm of different emotions stirring inside them.

Sunburst found something.