My Little Pony: Dark Star

by WestRail642fan

Chapter #10: Arcana

Chapter Ten.
Arcana.

"No way Sunny!" Hitch shouted, trying to shut the door on his long-time friend.

"Please Hitch, It's the only way she's agreed to help us find Pipp." Sunny replied, trying to force the door open.

"I'm not letting her anywhere near Sparky!" Izzy's voice came from behind the door, "Not after what she's done already."

"Izzy's right, Sunny. There has to be another way to find Pipp." Hitch spoke, finally opening the door wider.

"Please. This is for Pipp's sake. I promise you Hitch, and you too Izzy. We'll have everything under control." Sunny smiled, trying to calm the pair down. Izzy trotted over to the door, Sparky in her hoof.

"How do you know she isn't just trying to con you all?" Izzy asked, Sparky fidgeting around in her hoof.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know. I'm just trying to help Haven get her daughter back, to help her get our friend back." Sunny responded, holding her hoof out to Sparky.

Hitch and Izzy looked at each other, the unicorn mare giving her earth stallion lover a reassuring smile and a kiss on the cheek.

"Well Hitch, it's your choice, you're very much his dad as I am his mother." Izzy smiled, nuzzling Sparky's cheek.

"Oh..." Hitch sighed, "Alright. We'll let her have some dragon fire." Hitch smiled, "But I'm going to say this only one. If so much as a claw is slightly out of place, I am taking Sparky home."

---

Hitch, Izzy and Sparky slowly approached Opaline's cell. Being told that the cell was heavily guarded had put Hitch's mind at ease.

"Are you sure this will even work?" Hitch asked Izzy, Sparky sat on his back, the small dragon looking around curiously as the trio stopped at the first steel door.

"Well, Sunny seems to think it will, and I trust Sunny." Izzy smiled, "But I think we should still be a bit cautious around Opaline." She added as the steel door opened.

"Hitch Trailblazer, Izzy Moonbow, Sparky." Hunter nodded, "Please follow me." The stallion added, stepping through the open doorway, The trio quickly joined him as the steel door began to shut and security searches were conducted. Once given the green light, the second door slid open, allowing the group into Opaline's cell.

Opaline stood in the centre of her cell, surrounded by the rest of Squad 99 and Sunny, now in her ethereal alicorn form. Sparky, upon seeing Opaline, hid behind Hitch.

"Sssh. It's okay Sparky." Izzy softly spoke, gently stroking Sparky's head with her hoof, "She won't hurt you. I promise you that." The unicorn winked.

Hitch slowly approached Opaline. The alicorn a full head taller than him, "Now, you're not going to hurt Sparky Sparkeroni are you?"

"Sparky Sparkeroni?" Opaline raised her eyebrow, "A bit of a stupid name, but not the worst I've heard." Opaline shrugged.

"Your face is stupid!" Izzy shouted in defence of her adoptive son.

"Izzy?!" Sunny shouted in surprise, "There was no need for that!" The orange pony added. The room was quickly filled with laughter, Sunny turned to see that Opaline was the one laughing.

"The unicorn amuses me." Opaline smiled, trying to contain her laughter.

"Uh, thanks?" Izzy tilted her head, confused by the change in the mood the alicorn had seemingly gone through in the few short days since Izzy and her friends had defeated her.

"As for your question, Sheriff. Getting dragonfire from a dragon is as painless as making a pony sneeze by tickling a feather under their nose." Opaline spoke, yanking out one of her own feathers, receiving a wince from every pegasi in the cell.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Zipp cringed, her own wings now felt in pain just from watching Opaline rip out one of her own flight feathers.

"Like you would not believe." Opaline spoke through gritted teeth, a large feather pinned between them, "Take the feather." She gestured to the object in question.

Izzy's horn lit up, embracing the feather in its aura, "Now what?" She asked, bringing the feather towards herself and Hitch.

"Simply aim the drago-... Sparky at me and tickle his nose. That'll be enough to trigger him into firing some of his dragon fire." Opaline replied, stepping back from the pair.

"Sorry about this Sparky..." Hitch groaned, gently holding the baby dragon in front of him, "But, it's to save Aunty Pipp.", Sparkly slowly nodded, somewhat understanding.

"Let's hope this works." Izzy said nervously, "For Pipp." She added before proceeding to tickle Sparky's nose with the feather.

Sparky's nose began to twitch, "Aaaa-" He let out, "Aaaa-"

"Here we go." Izzy cautiously backed away from the dragon.

"Aaaachoo!" Sparky burst out, a large burst of fire erupted from his mouth, shooting straight towards Opaline who smiled with glee as it hit her.

Opaline's hooves scraped along the floor as the fire of the dragonfire pushed her back as she began to absorb it.

"I feel the power flowing through my veins! SUCH POWER!" Opaline laughed as she felt the power flow through her veins. "I HAVE NEVER FELT SUCH POWER FLOW THROUGH ME! I FEEL ALIVE!" The now supercharged alicorn chuckled.

Sunny shielded her eyes from the bright light bow that now enveloped Opaline. The alicorn levitated off of the floor, eyes glowing bright white as sparks of electricity flowed across her body. The light slowly faded away, Opaline gently landing back on her hooves.

"What a rush!" She smiled with glee, twirling around like she was wearing a dress.

"If you're done, you promised to keep your end of our deal, yes?" Sunny cleared her throat, getting the alicorn's attention.

"Yes, very well." Opaline smiled, "A deals a deal. Now, show me which way they're heading."

---

"They went down that road and smashed through the gate. Where they went after that is beyond us." Zoom spoke as she led Opaline over the bridge leading from the palace. Haven, Zipp and Sunny cautiously followed behind.

Opaline sniffed the fresh air. The wind blew through her mane and tail as she took in the sight before her. "Remove the ball." She spoke.

"What?" Zoom asked, being taken aback.

"Remove the ball. To be able to track them, I'll need the use of my horn." Opaline bluntly answered.

"I, uh..." Zoom struggled to find her words, looking over to Haven for help.

"Proceed." Haven nodded, giving her approval, "But, do not try to escape, you hear me, Opaline?" Haven spoke sternly.

Zoom saluted nervously, flying up to Opaline's horn. Removing the ball with a twist.

Opaline's horn fizzled upon the ball's removal and a relieved smile crossed her face. The alicorn closed her eyes, focusing on the magic surrounding her. Magic felt different to her now, before the magic disappeared it was practically a chorus, but now it was barely a whisper. The ground around her slowly started to glow a dull blue, magic flowing through the gaps in the paving slabs.

"Oh ok, here we go." Zoom backed away slowly, "She's doing something, she's doing something." Zoom watched as the magic flowed down the road, through the now-repaired gates.

"Look!" Sunny pointed at the ground, "Tyre tracks!" She ran down the road, following the glowing tyre trail.

"Wait up, Sunny!" Zipp shouted, smiling as she ran after her earth pony friend.

The pair galloped down the road, well beyond the gates and into the gravel path. Glowing tracks led the way down the mountain path.

Opaline opened her eyes. Glowing a bright white that slowly faded. Zoom and Haven slowly trotted down the road, following the glowing trail, Opaline paced behind them.

Sunny and Zipp skidded to a stop at the base of the mountain where the trail took a sharp turn to the left. Sunny quickly pulled out a compass from her bag.

"North, they're heading north." Sunny spoke, watching as the needle turned to face north.

"They're heading in the wrong direction then." Opaline spoke as she, Haven and Zoom finally caught up to Sunny and Zipp.

"What do you mean?" Haven tilted her head as she asked, her ears flopping to the side.

"The Crystal Empire, or well its Capital, where Mr Wyne used to live, is north-northeast of here." Opaline looked over Sunny's shoulder at the compass, "In that direction to be exact." Pointing forehoof towards a mountain range on the horizon.

"What does that mean for my Pipp?" Haven asked, trying to have a panic attack in the process.

"Simply put. There is nothing in the direction they're going for hundreds, if not thousands of miles until they hit the Northern Sea." Opaline looked towards the horizon, the glowing trail darting directly north or as close to it as you could possibly get.

"Not helping." Zipp grumbled, pulling out a paper bag for Haven to breathe into.

"Well, assuming they stop to rest and sleep for at least 12 hours a night, we should be able to catch up to them before they cross over into the Frozen North, but it would mean we'd have to travel at night." Opaline suggested, shrugging her shoulders in the process, "So, when do we leave?"

---

"David, can we pull over? I need to use the little filly's room." Pipp groaned, her legs crossed tightly as she fidgeted around in the seat.

"Yeah, we can pull over, I need to stretch my legs anyway." David replied, looking out at the fidgeting mare sitting next to him.

David gently brought the car to a stop and without hesitation, Pipp wriggled out the window and flew directly towards some bushes. David got out of the car and gave his body a stretch as they were driving for quite some time.

"Finally I felt squeezed in the car." David said to himself as now he waited for Pipp to return from her private business in the bushes, "Well, nice to see you're still right on time as usual, Celestia." He added, looking down at the clock on his phone as it said '12:00' exactly.

As David waited for the pink pegasus to return, he sat on the hood of the car and looked at the beautiful bright blue sky filled with clouds. A shimmering caught the corner of his eye, and turning his head left, he saw a large crystal blue lake down the embankment from the dirt road.

"Yeah, we've got some time." He thought to himself, looking back at the bush Pipp had disappeared into.

Carefully making his way down the embankment, David soon found himself at the shore of the lake, gently sitting down on the pebbly beach at the water's edge.

Pipp soon returned from the bushes "ahh... That's so much better." She said to herself as she walked back to the car, pulling a twig from her mane, "Right, ready to contin-" Pipp spoke up, only to notice a lack of David near the car, "Um... Hello?" She shouted out. Pipp walked around the car, her eyes widening at the sight of the lake, without much thought, she pulled out her phone and snapped a picture.

Upon putting her phone back in her wing-mounted holster, Pipp noticed David sitting by the lake. Flying over, she placed herself down next to him, watching as he flung pebbles into the water.

"So, whatcha thinking about?" Pipp smiled, watching as the clear water of the lake rippled with every pebble landing.

"Just thinking about my wife and our daughter..." He sighed, looking down as he threw another pebble, causing it to skip across the water's surface.

Pipp placed her hoof on his shoulder, "You missed them don't you, when was the last time you saw them?" She asked, resting her chin on his arm.

"Literally an hour before I ended up here." He continued to stare at the water, "You see, me and my wife had a bit of an argument over our daughter. See, she wanted to move to Canterlot to finish her royal guard training, my wife was all for it, but I was against it... We had a fight, and I decided to go out for a drive to clear my head." He sighed, "While out on the snow bank, this electrical storm picked up out of nowhere, but for a split second, I thought I saw an alicorn out in the middle of it. The next thing I saw was that tree heading right at me in the middle of the Thunderstorm..." He chuckled slowly.

"It's ironic really, Lillian had already proven to me how good of a fighter she was, but at that moment, I just saw her as my daughter, not as a warrior. I just didn't...." He paused, "I just didn't want to see her get hurt, you know?"

Pipp slowly wrapped her wing around David's hand, squeezing it gently, "You're just trying to be a good father. I can respect that..." Pipp smiled, her eyes fixed on the water as an idea struck her, "Hey, I have an idea to help you shake off those blues."

"What do you have in mind exactly?" David eyed the mare as she rose to her hooves. Popping noises filled his ears as she removed the holster from under her wing, placing it a bit further away from the water from where it once sat.

"Come for a swim. It'll help you relax." She smiled at him, her eyelids fluttering in a quick fashion as she ran towards the water, "You coming?" She shouted as she swam out from the shore.

"Oh, what the hell." David replied, taking off all his clothes barring underwear, running into the water after Pipp.

End of Chapter Ten.