My Little Pony: Dark Star

by WestRail642fan

Chapter #14: Fatique

Chapter Fourteen.
Fatigue.

"Sunny!" A voice called out from the forest, the earth mare turned around to the source of the voice, seeing a pink pegasus behind her.

"Pipp?" Sunny replied, wide-eyed at the sight of her small pegasus friend behind her. The orange pony took off into a sprint towards her friend, "Pipp! I was worried sick!" She shouted, tears of joy leaving her eyes, but just as she was about to embrace the pegasus, Pipp's form turned to ash.

Suddenly, evil laughter filled the air around where Sunny was as the ash formed into another pony, not that of Pipp, but a tall dark alicorn with white markings over the face, it had a dark purple mane and tail with blonde streaks, eyes a bright pink and its smile was evil and sadistic, on the chest was an ancient bell. A dark tiara with a bright glowing red gem in the centre rested atop the alicorn's head.

"Well well." The alicorn cackled, "What do we have here?" It added, horn glowing a sickly purple hue as the being brought Sunny before them.

"W-what are you?" Sunny's voice trembled with terror.

"I am what you can become, all you have to do is give in to your alicorn power!" It cackled, razor-sharp teeth on full display. The voice was clearly that of a mare.

"Who are you?!" Sunny screamed as full-blown fear took hold of her.

"I am Dark Star, but you can call me Equestria's future queen." She said as she slowly morphed into the vision of Sunny's father, Argyle Starshine. "You really don't get it, do you Sunny?" He chuckled. "That alicorn power you have is not yours to have." He added, slowly morphing into Izzy. "Yeah, Sunny haha haha…HAHAHA! You should not even have it!" She laughed as she then morphed into Hitch. "Sunny Sunny Sunny, heh that power you have is not even yours. Its power just found a new host, which is you but you are not its rightful owner." He said before morphing into Zipp.

"Ugh, whatever Sunny that power you have should not even exist inside you. You're weak and pathetic." She said before morphing into Twilight Sparkle. "You SHOULD NOT EVEN HAVE MY POWERS! YOU…….. WILL………. DIE!" She laughed.

Sunny, out of fear, transformed into her alicorn form. "No no no!" She screamed

"Haha! Pathetic." Dark Star smirked, shifting back into her proper form as the bewitching bell lit up.

"Ah!" Sunny awoke, tears falling down her cheeks. She looked at her friends, who were fast asleep. She looked up at her forehead, seeing the warm glow from her horn.

Her ears twitched as the sound of bashing filled them. Slowly stepping free from her sleeping bag, she found her wings resting at her sides, "Ugh, really?" She grumbled as she tracked the source of the sound. Peering from behind a tree, she saw Opaline's silhouette in the moonlight, the alicorn's horn glowing, barely illuminating her face.

"I know you're there. Sunny." Opaline's voice suddenly spoke, startling the younger pony.

"Heh, I guess you can say that Opaline." Sunny said as she walked over and sat down next to the alicorn. "What gave me away?" She asked.

"Your horn and wings." She gestured to Sunny's aethereal wings and horn. "So, can't sleep either, huh?" Opaline asked the orange pony sitting beside her as she bashed a large rock against her gauntlets.

"Well... No..." Sunny said quietly, ears falling flat against her head, "I had a nightmare, about somepony called Dark Star..." She added, Opaline paused her bashing, looking over at the earth pony-turned-alicorn.

"Wanna talk about it?" Opaline replied, placing the rock down next to herself.

"Ok, who are you and what have you done with Opaline?" Sunny chuckled, Opaline let out a guttural chuckle in response.

"No no, nothing of the sort. I just know what it's like to have nightmares." Opaline sighed slightly, she felt Sunny place a hoof on hers

"Did you also have a nightmare?" Sunny asked as her horn and wings finally faded away. Despite the battle they had barely a week ago, funny felt safe in Opaline's presence. For some inexplicable reason, It was a feeling she hadn't felt since the day her dad failed to come home after one of his research trips nearly 10 years ago.

"No, thankfully not, in my case, I just couldn't sleep. So, I've been up trying to get these blasted gauntlets off." The alicorn looked down at the gauntlet she had spent the last hour or so bashing in an attempt to break it off of her leg.

"Why, can't you simply slip them off like bracelets?" Sunny tilted her head, looking down at the dented gauntlet.

"I wish it was that simple. It sadly isn't, these gauntlets were forced onto me by the pony who made me into the alicorn you see before you." Opaline looked over at the slow-flowing stream as the surface twinkled in the moonlight.

"Who did this to you?" Sunny asked, slowly running her hoof along the gauntlet.

"The very pony you had your nightmare about. Dark Star. She kidnapped me, and tortured me for 5 years, these gauntlets were a part of it, she used them to electrocute me, forcing this alicorn form on me. I was once an up-and-coming unicorn, now, I'm just a shell of my former self."

"Who is Dark Star?" Sunny asked.

"I don't know, she arrived out of nowhere, she wanted the key to immortality, a trait only those born as alicorns possess." Opaline turned back to Sunny, "You said you had a nightmare about someone claiming to be her, correct?"

"Mhmm..." Sunny nodded in response.

"Would you mind telling me about this?" Opaline smiled, gently moving a bit of Sunny's mane away from her eye with her wing.

"Well, it started off with me hearing Pipp's voice coming from the tree line, I turned to see her. But as I went to hug her, she turned to ash, being replaced by an alicorn twice as tall as you, wearing both a crown and a bell." Sunny sniffled a little, "Then, she starts saying things like my magic belongs to her, whilst transforming into images of my dad and the rest of my friends. Before I woke up, the bell started to light up." Sunny choked on her words as she felt Opaline's wing wrap around her, bringing her closer to the alicorn.

"What did she look like?" Opaline asked, her voice sounding a mix of shocked and fearful.

"She was purple, like Izzy, her mane and tail were glowing, purple and blonde, and she had white markings on her face, going from under chin all the way to the top of her head." Sunny trembled, tears filling her eyes once more, "That's all I can remember, it was just so scary, it felt too real..."

"That's her..." Opaline said fearfully, "She's still alive..." She added, hugging Sunny tightly against her chest, "Have you had this nightmare before?" Opaline gently stroked Sunny's head, comforting the mare.

"Before, but it's never been this bad. In the past, it was just a voice, telling me to give the unity crystals to her." Sunny wiped a tear from her eye, "This is the first time she's ever shown herself to me..." The orange pony sighed, "Izzy tells me that our dreams and nightmares mean things, do you know what my nightmare means?"

"I have one idea..." Opaline looked down at Sunny, "It means that Dark Star is regaining her magic."

"What do you mean?" Sunny looked up at Opaline, "Why does she want my magic?"

"The Unity Crystals stripped her of her make centuries ago." Opaline let out a deep sigh, "I was there when it happened. Three ponies, one from each tribe. They stood up to her. The experiments and torture she did to me, she had been fueling them by draining Equestria of its magic and they had enough of it. Now that the magic is back, it stands to reason she wants it back."

"But what does that have to do with friends and me?" Sunny rubbed her sore eyes.

"Because her magic now resides within you, Sunny." Opaline spoke sternly.

"Wha... What?" Sunny asked, her fear now replaced with confusion.

"The Unity Crystals gave you her powers the moment they were reunited. They clearly need a new host and they chose you, Sunny Starscout." The alicorn spoke softer this time.

"But why me?" The earth pony asked.

"Because they saw greatness in you that you don't even see." Opaline smiled warmly at the younger pony.

"Thank you for listening, Opaline..." Sunny smiled, tightly hugging Opaline in return.

"You're welcome, Sunny..." Opaline smiled at this warm feeling, it was a feeling she hadn't felt in years, even when Misty would hug her a filly, she wouldn't feel nearly as warm as this.

"You know, for someone who was trying to kill me barely a week ago, you've changed for the better." Sunny smiled, "Quite the quick change of heart." She added.

"T-thanks..." Opaline smiled, a lone tear ran down her cheek, "I guess it's because I finally have my magic. Now I have that, I don't really need to be evil anymore..." She added, her voice speaking softly, "Although, venting to your stallion friend, Hitch and that Zoom did do wonders too."

"Well, talking is one step towards inner peace, that's what my dad would say. Also, Hitch isn't my stallion friend. He's more like a brother to me." Sunny added. "We have known each other since we were foals, he's very kind and is always keen to help others. I just don't romantically see him that way, never have, and never will. Besides, he's with Izzy..." She frowned.

"Don't ask me for dating advice, I may be all-knowing, but love is beyond my wheelhouse, but it is clear that those two love each other very much." Opaline chuckled, before looking back down towards the gauntlets. Sunny followed her eyes down.

"You know, I might be able to pick the lock on these things." The earth pony quickly stood up and ran back towards camp, "I'll be back!" She added, disappearing over the small hill.

---

Pipp lay awake, eyes fixed on the ceiling above her bed. She looked over at her bedside clock as the numbers rolled over to 2 a.m. Stretching forward, she grabbed her phone from the nightstand, being momentarily blinded by the screen before quickly lowering the brightness. She slowly scrolled through her Flutter feed, seeing reposted videos from ClipClop. Sighing, she closed the app down and noticed 5 unread messages. Tapping on the icon, she saw that the messages were from Zipp, Sunny and her mom, one from Zipp, with Sunny and Haven sending two.

Ignoring Zipp's message, she tapped on the first one from Haven.

"Pipp. I have some great news to tell you. Please call me the moment you get this... I love you, Pipp, please come back. Your late father would not want this..." It read, scrolling down, tears filled Pipp's vision as the second message from her mother read simply, "Pipp?"

Wiping her eyes, she went on to read the two messages from Sunny, the first one read, "Pipp. We want to know if you're safe, please just give us a call." Whilst the second message was just a hugging emoji.

Pipp slowly tapped the back button, bringing the screen back to the message list, she saw Zipp's message still marked as unread, she hesitated at first but gave in and tapped Zipp's name and checked Zipp's message. "Hey, sis... I know you and I are not exactly on the best of terms since that fight we had, but I'm willing to settle this with you... Please, sis, mom misses you... I miss you too..." It read. She gently placed her phone down and let out a long sigh.

"What am I even doing?" She choked back the urge to cry, "I should have listened to Zipp and not put all my blind trust into David..." Pipp lamented, she had thrown everything away to join this human on a journey that might end up being completely pointless. Even if the Crystal Empire had returned, who's to say his wife and child were even still alive. Pipp bit the inside of her cheek as she stared at her phone, "One call to mom can't hurt right?" She asked herself as she picked the phone up and tapped on her mother's contact details, the phone let out a dial tone.

David, meanwhile, also lay awake. The howling winds outside prevented much sleep for him. Due to the back window of the car being smashed, he couldn't get shelter from the wind, but his mind was focused elsewhere, focused solely on the moment Pipp had decided to kiss him. Kissed him, she kissed him, a married man.

His brain felt like it was fighting itself, on one hand, the kiss felt wrong because Pipp isn't his wife, but on the other hand, it felt right. He wasn't good with internal conflicts, truth he told. He sat up in the rear seat of the car, pulling out his phone and opening the gallery app. Inside were hundreds, if not thousands of pictures of him, his wife and his daughter. Some photos were of days out to places, like the park and museums, and others were of family events and holidays like Hearth's Warming and Nightmare Night.

David felt more emotional as he swiped through the photos, at one was a photo of Harmony Light and himself posed for their annual wedding portrait. Regret was the strongest emotion he was feeling right now, regret not knowing about Lillian's birth until 24 years after the fact when he and Harmony finally reunited.

He then heard a knock on the window, he looked up to see Pipp outside his car looking at him through the Window. She had bags under her eyes from lack of sleep, "Can we talk?" She said, voice muffled by the glass. "Please?" She added, trying to hide her sadness as the glass fogged up from her breathing. David opened his car door and Pipp jumped in, closing the door behind her.

Pipp sat down next to the human, her green eyes locking with his blue eyes. "David... I want to go home..." She spoke softly.

"Pipp... I'm going to be honest here. You're more than welcome to go home if you want to, but you said so yourself, the fate that awaits you if you head back..." David replied, placing his hand on his own neck, gesturing to the fate that awaited Pipp at home.

"I know..." The mare added, looking down at her hind hooves, "But... I called my mom, the queen..." She looked at him, "Now, don't get mad!" She added.

David simply shrugged, "None of my business what you do."

"Ok, well." Pipp was taken aback by how well he had taken it, "Turns out, the charges have been dropped!" She smiled cheerfully, "We're no longer wanted!" She hugged him tightly.

"Whoa, how, why?" David asked, surprised by the news.

"According to mom, it turned out that the fuel you stole was useless to Canterlogic, you basically did Phyllis a favour by stealing it, but mom told me to tell you that Phyllis would like the trailer back." Pipp poked his chest with her hoof, "My mom has her ways when dealing with ponies, although, in this case, she had nothing to do with the charges being dropped." She chuckled.

"Wow, I can't believe it..." David said, rubbing his hand against his forehead, he looked down to find Pipp had quickly fallen asleep on him, snoring softly, "Heh... Goodnight, Pipp..."

---

Sunny quickly ran back down the hill, toolbox and a medical kit balanced on her back.

"Sorry I took so long, I had to sneak past Sprout to get this toolbox, plus, I got distracted..." Sunny spoke, sitting down next to Opaline as Izzy trotted over the hill too. The unicorn and the alicorn locked eyes with each other.

"Opaline..."

"Isabella."

"My name is Izzy, not Isabella." Izzy corrected, sitting down opposite Opaline.

Sunny was shocked, "Do you two know each other? Have you had past run-ins with each other before magic returned?" Sunny tilted her head in confusion as she flipped open the toolbox.

"No, I just assumed Izzy was short for Isabella." Opaline frowned slightly at Sunny's remark.

"Ah, I see..." Sunny mused as she pulled out a small screwdriver and a hammer.

"Ok, how are those meant to help?" Opaline questioned the earth pony before her.

"Because..." Sunny mumbled, tongue poking out as she positioned the screwdriver over the hinge pin for one of the gauntlets, "Using this screwdriver and hammer, I should be able to knock the pin out."

"And what's with the medical kit?" Izzy tilted her head as Sunny gently tapped the handle of the screwdriver with the hammer.

"Oh, just in case I accidentally hurt myself or Opaline whilst doing this." Sunny smiled as the pin fell free from the gauntlet, landing on the pebbly edge of the stream.

Opaline looked down at the gauntlet as Sunny gently pulled it away from her leg, the alicorn winced as the cold steel yanked on her skin."Just yank it off." She grumbled.

"You sure? It's melted onto your skin..." Izzy asked, concern slightly filling her voice, Opaline just nodded in reply, "Ok, here goes nothing..." Izzy winced as her horn lit up, in one quick pull, the gauntlet broke free from Opaline's leg. Sunny quickly wrapped the area where the gauntlet once was with bandages to stop any bleeding. Opaline bit her lip, eyes watering with the pain.

"Ow! That stings!" Opaline held back the urge to scream, she looked down at the gauntlet, "One down...." Opaline gritted her teeth in pain, "Three more to go..."

Soon enough, the other three gauntlets were removed. Opaline looked down at her legs, all four were covered with bandages where the gauntlets once were. Her skin stung from the pain.

"So, what do you want to do with them?" Izzy asked, levitating the gauntlets with her magic.

"Burn them, melt them, throw them away. I don't care..." Opaline winced as she slowly got onto her hooves. Sunny stood next to her, ready to catch her if she stumbled.

"Come one, let's get back to camp." Sunny smiled, picking up the toolbox and medical kit.

"Thank you, Sunny...." Opaline smiled as she slowly took a step.

"No problem." Sunny smiled as she trotted ahead of the alicorn.

End of Chapter Fourteen.