The Drake Six

by JNKing

Episode 30: The Alicorn Arc; Part Two

A benefit to being Twilight’s assistant was that Spike had gotten good at researching others, including his friends. As he gazed at Night, he recalled what he had learned about her:

Many centuries ago, there had been a little alicorn princess named Star Wing. The life and joy of Princess Luna… and source of derision and scorn by the rest of the Equestrian nobility.

Everywhere Star Wing went, unicorns would watch her. Always with narrowed eyes of suspicion. Almost as if they were waiting - even daring - her to attack.

They never acted this way towards Luna. For in the years leading up to Nightmare Moon, she glared right back at them, almost yearning to stamp in their skulls or snap off their horns. The tension between sisters had been reaching a boiling point, tended to by the unicorns and their hatred of Luna and her precious night.

Star, on the other hand, had never returned their malicious glares, answering instead with smiles and waves.

Some had just dismissed her as naive. Childish. Idiotic.

But Little Star thought she knew better. For every day, she endured the scornful glares and whispers, venturing to the massive library that the Castle of Two Sisters held. There, she found tales and legends of great heroes. Powerful knights who slayed the fiercest dragons. Other alicorn princes and princesses who protected harmony itself.

But Star’s favorite tales were of heroes descended from darkness. For in her mind, it was better to overcome evil nature through great effort rather than to simply be born good.

And no matter what derision or scorn was sent her way, Star could always hope that one day, she would prove herself to be more than her dark nature implied. She would be a hero.

She would save Equestria.

Now, a thousand years later, Star Wing - enclosed within the draconic body and visage of Night Fire - was told that she could be the key to saving Equestria. Yet, within the sparkling life that filled her electric green eyes, Spike saw, not just excitement, but also fear and nervousness.

“Star,” Cadence said gently. “Do you understand what we’re asking of you?”

Night glanced at Spike, who shivered at the terror in her eyes, before taking a breath. “I… understand,” she admitted. “This is… this is just a bit of a shock, you know? I left behind my role as a princess centuries ago.” She looked down. “No one wanted me here. No one wanted my help.”

“As you said,” Celestia said. “That was centuries ago. And even now, this task does not ask for glory. You must keep this magic a secret. Even your friends being aware of the power you carry could put them at great risk.”

Luna stepped forward and rested her hoof on her daughter’s shoulder. “I know we ask a great deal of you, my daughter,” she admitted. “If you do not think you can take on this responsibility…”

“No, I can,” Night said. Taking a breath, she let her draconic visage drop, and stood tall in her original alicorn form. “I already failed Equestria once. I will not fail again.”

A pained expression crossed Luna’s face. Regret twinged Celestia’s features as well. But before Spike or Twilight could ask, the sisters shook off their emotions as one.

“Then let us begin,” Celestia declared.

As one, the four alicorns lit up their horns, channeling their magic into a large sphere of pure energy. Spike found himself backing up as Twilight joined them, his heart racing at the amount of power surging through the sphere.

But if Star Wing felt the same terror he had, she did not let on. Crossing boldly beneath the sphere, she raised her horn and touched the bottom of the sphere. Slowly, it shrunk down, the magic coursing through Star’s body. The star-like freckles across her face, wings and body sparked and crackled like a galaxy of stars going supernova.

For a brief moment, Star collapsed to her knees. Spike almost stepped forward, worrying for her safety, but Star waved a wing at him.

“Don’t!” she barked, pushing herself back up. “I got this.”

With a herculean effort, Star absorbed the last of the sphere into her horn. The tip smoked and burned from the exertion, and even as the last vestiges of magic were drained into Star, flickers of lightning crossed between the spots on her body, forming constellations across her body in their wake.

But Star took a few more shaky breaths, and shifted back into Night Fire. Her dragon form was bigger - it would tower over even Diamondback - and lightning still continued to dart between the star-like spots on her scales.

Celestia breathed. “It is done.” She turned to Twilight. “Twilight. You must find the sixth and final key. The fate of Equestria depends on you both.”

Twilight looked pale. Her knees wobbled, and likely not just from the exertion of giving up her magic. Spike gently picked her up and set her on his back.

“Don’t worry, Princesses,” Spike promised. “We’ll figure something out.”

###

Yet, as the two dragons returned to Ponyville, Twilight looked utterly lost.

“C’mon, Twilight,” Spike encouraged. “You’ve always figured out problems before. You said it yourself; each of your friends managed to help change the life of someone else, and received something as a result. What can you do that’ll change someone’s life?”

Twilight still pondered it, before glancing over at Night Fire. The dragoness was taking slow, deep breaths, as lightning continued to make constellations across her star-like scales.

“Er… Night Fire?” Twilight asked, flinching when Night’s eyes - brighter than usual - settled on her. “Or… Star Wing? Sorry, I’m not sure…”

“Let’s stick with Night Fire,” Night suggested. “We’re kinda in public right now.”

“Right, sure,” Twilight nodded. “Um… what did you mean about ‘failing Equestria once before?’”

Night flinched at the question, but with another glance at Spike…

“I bet it was weird, huh?” Night noted. “An alicorn princess wandering the outskirts?” She was quiet for a moment. “Well, I, uh… I’d like to say I was out there because I enjoyed the scenery,” she chuckled feebly, before her smile faded, “But if I’m honest… it wasn’t my choice entirely.”

Twilight and Spike glanced at each other. “What happened?”

The lightning flickered across her body, making a shape not dissimilar to the Mare in the Moon. “I failed my mother.” Her eyes flashed angrily. “The nobles of the Castle of Two Sisters always hated my mother. Or maybe they just feared her and were covering it up as anger… either way it doesn’t matter. They couldn’t touch her - she was far stronger than all of them combined.”

Twilight gasped. “So they went after you?”

Night didn’t look at her. “They tried to punish me for everything. The slightest wrongdoing would set them up in arms. And they wouldn’t go for simple punishments like detention or a lecture. No, they wanted me locked up in high security prisons. With the nastiest criminals as cellmates.”

“B-But Celestia didn’t let that happen, right?” Twilight insisted. “She wouldn’t…”

“She was a very different mare back then,” Night growled, the constellations becoming more rapid. Showing ponies - alicorns - in pain. “The affection and love of the nobles twisted her mind; turned her against my mother and I.” Her claws clenched. “They burrowed their way into her mind. Misdirected her emotions… and got her to throw me into a cell with a… with a…”

Spike’s heart skipped a beat. “A really bad criminal?”

Night merely nodded. Twilight went even more pale than before.

“N-No…” she whimpered. “How could she?”

“She thought the nobles loved her more than Luna did,” Night replied with a shrug. “She may have had a point.” She looked back at them, her eyes lidded with sorrow. “Nightmare Moon made her appearance not long after I was incarcerated.”

Spike swallowed. “But… you got out, right?”

“They let me out.” Night turned, gazing out as they flew over the Ever-Free forest. Over the Castle of Two Sisters. “Guards yanked me out. They said now was my time to be a hero. A dark creature was attacking Princess Celestia, and they needed me to stop it.”

She banked her wings and dove, Spike following her lead and Twilight hanging on for dear life. Night landed in the courtyard, looking up into the sky.

“I ran in here… just as my mother had thrown Celestia down.” Her eyes were glazed, like she was back in the past. “I saw her… laughing in the silhouette of the full moon. It was my chance. My chance to be a hero; to prove I was good.” She almost stepped forward, her face lightning up at the old memory before pausing. Her face fell. “Then Nightmare Moon turned… and I couldn’t see a monster or a tyrant.” Tears formed in her eyes. “I could only see my mother.”

“Oh… Night…” Twilight whispered, tears forming in her own eyes.

Spike could feel tears in his own eyes, but didn’t know if they were welcome. He brushed them away, and tried to keep his voice level. “What happened?”

“We just… stared at each other,” Night admitted, gazing at the pedestal. Where Nightmare Moon must have once stood. “And it gave Celestia the timing she needed.” Night’s form flickered, fading between dragon and pony. “She came back with the Elements. My mother turned… tried to fight.” She looked back and forth, like she could see the two princesses dueling. “I couldn’t do anything. I didn’t want to fight my mother, but… I also wanted to prove myself to Celestia.” She lowered her head. “And in an instant, my chance was gone. My mother got overwhelmed by the Elements… placed in the moon…” the last of her form flickered and died, leaving only Star Wing, a small alicorn princess, slumped against the ground, tears streaming down her face. “And I knew I had failed.” She turned, looking towards the forest. “So I ran. I ran… and I’ve been running ever since.”

Twilight slipped gently off Spike’s back, limping over to Star. “And you found others?” she asked. “You found friends who… loved you for who you were?”

Star chuckled. “They liked Night Fire well enough… but I wouldn’t call what we had love. Respect, sure. Desire, sometimes. Good times…” she chuckled. “Oh, most definitely.” Her smile faded. “But never love. That was a foreign concept… even in the Equestria I knew.”

Spike stepped forward hesitantly. “Well… I definitely respect you,” he noted. “Not sure about desire, but… we had some good times, didn’t we?”

Star glanced at him with a smirk. “Careful, buddy,” she said. “I still think you’re too young for what some might think you’re implying.”

Spike scoffed and rolled his eyes, but Twilight stepped forward hopefully. “But you know what he means, right? You found friends who truly care about you. Who like you just for who you are.”

“Pinkie Pie, remember,” Spike offered. “She found out you were an alicorn, but she never said a word about it. Because it didn’t matter what you were, just who you were.”

“You’ve brought joy to so many people,” Twilight said. “But you also shouldn’t sell yourself short. Be willing to let others bring you joy as well. You don’t have to stand against the darkness alone.”

Spike stepped up and pat her shoulder. “You’ve got us,” he promised. “No matter what.”

Star smiled gratefully at them, before giving a coy grin to Twilight. “Well,” she noted. “Hopefully that’ll change my perspective.” She shifted back to Night Fire before glancing around. “Uh, let’s see… what can I give you, uh… ah-ha!”

She darted over to the pedestal that contained the Elements of Harmony. Breaking off a small pipe and even bending it into the shape of a key, Night darted over with a pompous demeanor.

“Twilight Sparkle!” Night declared in a grand voice. “You’ve changed me with your wonderful speech of friendship! I now present you with this token of my appreciation!” She handed the pipe over to Twilight. “Let it stand as a reminder that friendship can truly solve any problem!”

Beaming hopefully, Twilight raced out of the Castle of Two Sisters, Spike and Night in hot pursuit.

Descending down a set of stairs into a strange canyon, the dragons briefly slowed as they followed Twilight into an ethereal cavern, inside of which sat a glowing crystalized tree. Six branches spread out, each one gleaming with a crystalized version of the Elements. And right at its foot was some sort of chest, with five keys sticking out of it.

Breathing fast in excitement, Twilight held the key-shaped pipe out to the sixth and last keyhole… but nothing happened.

Twilight’s face fell. She shoved the pipe at the keyhole, but it was unfortunately too big.

“Did…” Night snatched the key away. “Wait, maybe if I bend it the right way…”

But Twilight’s face had already fallen. “It didn’t work,” she whispered. “My friends’ objects only needed to touch the chest to transform. Something went wrong.”

“But she changed me!” Night protested to the tree. “I have put the joy of others before myself! And now I’ll do better!”

The tree didn’t respond.

“HEY!” Night pinged the pipe off the tree’s surface. “DO YOU HEAR ME?! WE KINDA HAVE A CRISIS ON HAND! OPEN THIS CHEST!” She even grabbed at the lid and tugged on it. But even with the power of five alicorns pulsating through her, she didn’t even budge it.

Twilight shook her head. “It’s no use, Night,” she said forlornly. “We can’t force it. It has to be something that comes naturally.”

Night turned to her. “Look, normally, I’m all about ‘natural’ - sorry, Spike…”

“Oh, for… I’m not that young!”

“...but we have a giant centaur maniac who’s going to destroy Equestria if we don’t figure this…”

“...done…”

Night paused, fluttering her wings and rising up. Spike and Twilight grabbed ahold of her… and off in the distance, they saw that Canterlot’s shield had died.

“WHERE IS YOUR MAGIC?!?!” a voice echoed from the kingdom.

Spike’s heart dropped into his chest. “He’s already at Canterlot,” he whispered.

“We’re running out of time,” Twilight said.

But despite Night's best efforts - handing over stones, branches and even one of her own scales, and even at one point kicking the Tree of Harmony (which only resulted in a stubbed toe) - the chest remained stubbornly closed. Slowly, it dawned on the three that the Tree didn't consider Night's turn good enough for Twilight.

With a resigned sigh, Twilight spoke. “Night. Get us back to Ponyville. Then take the dragons and head for the Dragon Lands.”

Night looked horrified. “But… I can’t leave you…”

“If Tirek gets you - even finds out you exist - then the Princesses sacrifice will be in vain,” Twilight insisted. “Get as far away from Equestria as you can.” She cracked a small smile. “I can figure out the Tree of Harmony after Tirek finds out that I don’t have the magic either.”

Spike shook his head. “What if he gets frustrated enough to hurt you?”

Twilight paled, but tried to keep a brave face. “I’ll… think of something.”

Night and Spike exchanged a glance, before Spike walked to Twilight’s side.

“At the very least, I’m staying with you,” Spike said.

“But Spike…” Twilight protested.

“You need to make sure Tirek doesn’t kill you,” Night said. “If I can’t be there, someone else needs to be.”

Spike nodded, gazing at Twilight. “I’m your number one assistant, remember.” He cracked a small grin. “I’ve had your back since I was hatched. Don’t ask me to turn on you now.”

Twilight smiled feebly, before nodding her assent. She then turned to Night. “Go,” she said. “I’m not sure how much time you have.”

Gazing at Spike with one more apologetic expression, Night spread her wings and shot away, leaving only a faint sparkle in her wake.

Together, Spike and Twilight headed back for Ponyville, Spike carrying Twilight when she started to run out of steam again.

“Okay,” Twilight said thoughtfully. “Maybe there’s someone in Ponyville I can help. Scootaloo wasn’t too happy about being the number three assistant, maybe I can talk to her and…”

However, Spike suddenly ran into Night, who tackled him into a bush.

“Night, what the…?” Spike stammered, only for her to cover his mouth and point, her eyes wide and terrified.

Spike followed her gaze, and his own eyes widened. Twilight poked her head out, ready to protest, but both covered her mouth and pointed.

Twilight’s own eyes widened as she saw what had happened.

Ponyville was covered in cages. Astral was desperately whacking at the bars of his cage, but each of his swords were turned into rubber toys on contact. Aurora similarly was trying to freeze the bars, but her ice turned into soapy foam upon contact.

In another cage, Jackknife, Swift, Diamondback and Phoenix were enclosed. Swift was cowering in the center, Diamondback feebly trying to comfort him, while Phoenix and Jackknife similarly struggled with the bars.

Yet another cage contained Diamondback’s diamond dogs, one of whom had her teeth turned to rubber when she tried gnawing on the bars, and even another contained the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were all shivering and holding each other in complete terror.

But the worst one had to be the cage containing Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and a sobbing Fluttershy. On top of which Discord was sitting with the smuggest smile Spike had ever seen.

Author's Note:

As always, Astral and Aurora are the original characters of AstralFlare42.

Thank you very much, Astral, for your fun characters.

Comments

[Comickook]

Ouch. REALLY emotional chapter. Certainly liked the work going into the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up. Definitely appreciated the greater detail in Star/Night's backstory as well as Twilight's frustration that Star's positive inspiration wasn't enough to serve as the last key. And also appreciated the emotional impact of Twilight and Spike seeing all their friends (including the rest of the Drake Six) captured already.

VERY MUCH looking forward to more of this. including Night's fight with Tirek and the group finally getting the final key.

[JNKing]

11670276

Very happy you enjoyed.

Definitely looking forward to sharing the final fight with Tirek as well; Night is going to have some fun with this one.

Until next time. 👍

[AstralFlare42]

11670332
Especially if Tirek gains ice powers after sucking out her magic.

[JNKing]

11671588
Not a bad idea. We'll see what happens.