My Little Pony: Dark Star

by WestRail642fan

Chapter #32: A World In Ruin

Chapter Thirty Two.
A World In Ruin.

*2021 Years Ago*

Opaline awoke. Sharp, stabbing, pains shot through her ribcage and spine. She looked through blinding lights at the room she was in.

"Good, the guinea pig is awake." A voice cackled in the room, Dark Star grinned as she stepped into the light.

"You!" Opaline shouted, trying to lunge forward towards Dark Star, but finding her restraints still as tight as ever.

"Yes, it's me, Equestria's rightful Queen!" Dark Star cackled like a witch, "I've finally got what I need from my dear." She grinned wickedly.

"W-what are you talking about?" Opaline glared at her capture, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!" she screamed, struggling against the restraints that held her down to the metal table.

"See for yourself, my dear." Dark Star's voice hissed like a snake as she shoved a mirror in Opaline's face.

"Wh-what?!" Opaline looked wide-eyed at her reflection, wings now sat at her sides and her lavender coat had been turned into a deep violet, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" She screamed, her horn crackling to life, but all that came out was a little sparkle as she breathed heavily.

"I made you perfect." Dark Star spoke as she began attaching wires to herself, "Now I know how to trigger the alicorn form permanently." She smirked darkly, "It took 5 years but I've finally done it. No one can stop me now!" She let out a demonic-like laugh as she threw a lever. Sparks and lightning flashes filled the room, Opaline used one of her new limbs to shield her eyes from the blinding flashes, "YES! I CAN FEEL IT!" The twisted mare screamed with delight.

"But you're already an alicorn! What more could you possibly want?" Opaline shouted, feeling the heat from the lightning on her wings.

"Why only live 80 more years as a mere mortal alicorn." Dark Star smirked, stepping forward, her fur and feather smouldering from the heat, "When I can live forever as a god." The wires snapped away from her body, untapped magic flowing through her veins. Quickly seizing her moment, Opaline used all of her remaining strength to rip her restraints from the table.

"You'll..." Opaline wheezed, weakly rising to her hooves, horn flickering, "You'll never live long enough to see it!" She spat, using all her magic to throw the table at Dark Star, knocking the larger alicorn over as it crashed against the opposite wall.

"Still got some fight you, I see." Dark Star chuckled, running a hoof along her cheek as a small cut appeared, "Heh, all that for a drop of blood." Dark Star proceeded to lick the drop of blood off her hoof letting out a satisfied laugh, "I was gonna just leave you here to die, but I think I'll just kill you now, just for the hell of it." She grinned darkly, charging up her horn.

A low thud echoed around the room. Both Dark Star and Opaline looked towards the solid oak door, "What the-" Was all she was able to let out before the door burst into splinters as it ripped away from its hinges.

"WHO DARES INVADE MY FORTRESS!?" Dark Star shouted, blasting her magic in every direction she could.

Three ponies stepped forward, a unicorn, a pegasus and an earth pony.

"My my. Three little ponies in my fortress. My day has gotten better." The dark alicorn grinned sinisterly, licking her lips like a hungry dog.

"We've come to put an end to your lust for magic!" One of the ponies shouted as all three pulled out a crystal.

"Oh ho ho. Is that so." Dark Star grinned, lifting the three ponies off the ground with her magic, "And how will those crystals help? Hmm?" She cackled, ripping the crystals from their hooves and tossing them aside.

Opaline watched the crystals bounce off the ground and skid towards her, one was teal in colour and shaped like a set of wings, one was purple and vaguely looked like a unicorn horn and the last was a plain white circular cut crystal.

"PUT THEM TOGETHER!" The unicorn screamed, Dark Star turned towards Opaline. The two stared at each other, with quick glances down at the crystals.

Dark Star lunged for the crystal, Opaline beating her to the punch, the smaller alicorn scooped them up in her hooves and slotted all three crystals together. A blinding light filled the room as the crystal began to levitate. A prism beam shot out of the crystals, striking Dark Star in the chest.

Using every ounce of strength and magic she had left, Opaline slowly pushed the crystals closer to Dark Star. The dark alicorn's magic began to wane, allowing the three ponies to break free. they quickly began to aid the crystals, placing their hooves on them as they pushed forward.

Dark Star let out a pained roar as her body began to be pulled apart, she reached out a hoof towards the crystals, the room slowly began to crumble around her.

"Are you sure this is the right thing?!" The pegasus shouted, struggling to hold the crystals steady.

"It's the only way to stop her!" The earth pony shouted in reply, grunting as their hooves slowly began to lose grip on the ground.

"Well, it's now or never!" The unicorn order, the three ponies slowly began to pull the crystals apart.

The pegasus grabbed the teal crystal, the unicorn held on to the purple crystal and the earth pony gripped onto the white crystal as they slowly pulled them in a different direction.

Dark Star's screams echoed throughout the room as the crystals slowly parted, a blinding light filled the room as her body vaporised, her voice fading away. Opaline shielded herself from the powerful shockwave, knocking herself backwards.

The three ponies looked at each other and then at their respective crystal before quickly running out of the room.

"Hey! Wait!" Opaline shouted, struggling to her hooves due to a large gash on her left foreleg. The unicorn stopped and looked at her.

"Just leave her!" The pegasus shouted, dragging the unicorn behind them just as a piece of ceiling fell down between Opaline and the unicorn.

Groaning in pain, Opaline stood up on her hooves and quickly limped out of the room, just as the rest of the ceiling caved in.

---

Covered in dust and coughing harshly, Opaline limped out into daylight for the first time in years. Her eyes felt like they were burning from the natural light as she looked around at her surroundings.

"Ah! It’s like the sun is in front of my freaking face." She grumbled struggling to regain her eyesight from the intense sun. Her vision finally adjusted to the light and she let out a gasp, "I'm in... Canterlot?" She spoke to herself, quickly turning on her heel to see what building she emerged from, "C-Canterlot Castle?"

Opaline spun around, the entire castle and surrounding city were in complete ruin. It was like a huge battle had just taken place, buildings completely gutted by fire as the smoke bellowed into the sky, "Hello!" She called out, her voice echoing into the distance as the sky began to cloud over. A dull white glow caught her attention, slowly trotting forwards, she saw the white circular crystal lying on the ground, still glowing.

She tried to pick up the crystal with her magic, but nothing happened. She tried again, with the same result, "What?" She asked herself, tapping on her horn, "Why isn't my magic working?" She grumbled as she continued to try and light her horn up. Admitting defeat, she leant down, picking up the crystal with her hoof before slipping it under her wing for the time being. She shivered at the cold touch of the crystal as it nestled into her feathers.

"IS THERE ANYONE ALIVE OUT THERE?! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?!" she yelled as her voice echoed down the silent streets of Canterlot. A cold blast of air rushed past her, rustling her mane and tail as it quickly began to snow, "I may be a Crystal Pony, but I don't think I'll last too long up here." She shivered, continuing to limp along the deserted streets, hoping to find somepony, anypony to help her.

Without hesitation, she quickly made her way out of the inner city and into a place where she could desperately find warmth and shelter or she would freeze to death. "Canterlot Carousel?" Opaline looked up at a damaged store sign, "That might have a cloak or something to keep me warm with." She thought to herself, while she had never personally been in this store before, she knew from Lillian that it was a fashion store owned by one of the Guardians of Harmony.

Picking up a piece of rubble, Opaline smashed the glass on the door, making a loud crashing sound. She quickly unlocked the door from the inside, the unicorn-turned-alicorn slipped inside the store, her breath visible in the icy cold air. The store was abandoned, the shelves were messed up and disorganised. The windows were still intact, mostly. She decided to look further into the store to find anyone or something to help her.

"Circuit breaker, circuit breaker..." She muttered under her breath, shivering as she checked every storage closet and room she came across, "Ah ha." She mused, finding the circuit breaker, located under a set of stairs, and throwing the switch. Electricity crackled as the lights flickered on. Electrical humming filled the air, "Much better." Opaline spoke through chattering teeth, breathing onto her hooves and rubbing them together.

Thinking quickly, Opaline found a small electric heater sitting in a nearby closet, dragging it behind her as she searched the store for a cloak to wear. She, eventually. found one just large enough to cover her wings and torso. She quickly covered herself with the cloak. Tearing off a piece from the corner, she covered the large cut on her leg, pulling on the fabric tightly. Opaline winced in pain, gritting her teeth, "That'll have to do for now..." She sighed as the lights flickered out.

Flicking the hood up over her ears, Opaline stepped out into the fast-falling snow, her goal now being to just get out of the city and off the mountain, "Right, let's try something a bit more basic..." She grumbled, having been trying to cast basic spells that even a newborn unicorn could muster, "A simple illumination spell should work." She thought to herself, her inner voice barely being drowned out by the hellish winds surrounding her as she slowly made her way to Canterlot's city gate. Try as she might, she simply couldn't muster any spell, "What is going on with magic?" She fumed to herself before she paused.

"Nothing has felt right since... Oh no..." She gasped to herself, as she thought back, she hadn't felt the magic that normally surrounded her since Dark Star was defeated. Gone were the rhythmic chores of sounds that flowed through her, replaced with silence, "No... Magic can't be gone." She shook her head in denial, spreading her wings in an attempt to fly. Opaline got a few inches off the ground before crashing back down. The white crystal rolled out from under her wing, stopping just in front of her muzzle.

Opaline got back on her hooves, quickly dusting herself off before scooping up the crystal, "You're not glowing..." She sighed, noticing that the crystal was no longer emitting a glow. Exhaling harshly, Opaline continued onwards, the fresh snow already reaching the broken shackles still clamped to her legs, the steel freezing to the touch.

---

Opaline slowly made the long trek down the mountain to the valley floor below, leaving the blizzard that now swarmed Canterlot far behind. She stopped to catch her breath as she took in the scenery around her, "Ponyville." She spoke to no pony in particular, pulling the hood of the cloak down as she looked at the town at the bottom of the mountain range.

She may have been a few miles from Canterlot, but the air was still chilly, Opaline shivered as a gust of wind blew across her cheek. Snow lightly fell around her, a lone flake landing on the tip of her muzzle, "The sooner I get back to my parents, the better..." She grumbled to herself, biting the inside of her cheek as she fumed bitterly.

"My parents are going to be so thrilled to know I ended magic." Opaline sarcastically spoke to herself, kicking a rock in her path, "I sure amounted to something, huh Grandpa?" She continued, "The fabled Opaline Arcana, destroyer of Equestria's magic." She shook her head, sighing deeply. She kept up her pace as the mountain path took a sharp downward dip, cautiously watching her step on the uneven terrain.

A rock tumbled and soon, Opaline found herself in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the dip in the gravel path, "You've got to be fucking kidding me!" She screamed in anger, face red with fury as she hastily got back on her hooves, dusting herself off, "I hate this blasted country..." She fumed, continuing her trek at a slower pace.

---

Soon, Opaline found herself near the bottom of the mountain path as five ponies were trotting towards her, clearly intending to go the way she just came. She quickly flicked the hood up, hoping to not be recognised.

"I told you, AJ, she is our friend. We should talk her out of it." One of the ponies spoke with a raspy voice.

"Dash. When will you get it through your thick skull!" Another replied with a thick accent, "She's too far gone to be talked down. We have to stop her!" They continued, stomping their hoof in frustration.

"Applejack is right, Rainbow. We tried all we could, but magic is failing. I'm sorry, but she has to be stopped." Butted in a third pony, clear frustration on the mare's face.

"You can't be serious right now, Rarity." Rainbow, "If Twilight was here she would-" She added before being interrupted.

"She would have done what?! SHE'S NOT HERE!" Applejack showed, throwing her hat to the ground, "TWILIGHT IS GONE! IT'S UP TO US FIVE NOW TO SAVE EQUESTRIA'S MAGIC!" She quickly picked her hat off the ground, "Now. Let's get to Canterlot, and take down T... Dark Star before those ponies turn up with the crystals." Applejack trotted forward, followed by the four other ponies.

As the group passed her, Opaline glanced at the yellow pegasus out of the corner of her eye, "Dark Star is dead." She called out to the group, causing them all to stop in their tracks.

"What did you just say?" Applejack turned towards the cloaked Opaline.

"I said. Dark Star is dead. Canterlot is practically ground zero." Opaline replied, pulling down the hood as she looked at the group of ponies, "If I were you, I'd be getting as far away from there as possible."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" The pink one shouted, slamming her hoof into the dusty path.

"I was there!" Opaline screamed, pulling out the crystal from under her cloak and tossing it to Rarity, "I did what I had to do." She added as Rarity looked at the crystal.

"It... It's over then..." Rarity sighed, "Magic is gone... And so is she..." She held back tears.

"Where did you get that Crystal..." Applejack raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"One of the ponies must have dropped it when escaping, I came across it lying on the ground after I escaped Canterlot Castle." Opaline spoke, before quickly explaining what happened within Dark Star's fortress when the crystals were used.

"So that's it then..." Rainbow looked down at the ground, "Equestria is over..."

"What are you talking about?" Opaline tilted her head, "Sure, no magic anymore, but the world moves on." She sighed, "Look, stand around and mope all you want, but put as much land between you and that as you can." Opaline pointed towards the storm clouds that raged around the former capital of Equestria.

"You don't get it do you." Rainbow held her tongue, "The races now have to split up to keep those crystals safe. That was the deal that had to be made between the races and Cadenza when she made them. They were meant to be the last resort." She continued, gritting her teeth, "But it seems the ponies chosen to be the keeps of the crystals were too trigger-happy..." She held back on her rage.

"Oh... I see..." Opaline looked down in sadness, "I didn't know... Dark Star was going to kill them... I had to do something..." She added.

"Look..." Applejack sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "What's done is done. We tried all we could with her, she was too far gone..." She continued as she let out a soft sigh.

"I won't keep you standing around..." Opaline turned away from the group, "I must get home..."

"Where is your home?" Rarity asked.

"Truth is, I don't even know anymore. I've been away for so long." Opaline softly responded to the Unicorn's question.

"Well, good luck on your travels, stranger." Applejack spoke, placing the white crystal into Opaline's hoof, "Here, you keep it. It's probably in far safer hooves with you than with any of us five." The orange pony added, slowly trotting past Opaline, closely followed by the other four ponies.

"Farewell, Guardians of Harmony." Opaline spoke softly as the five ponies trotted away, she flicked up the hood and began to turn towards her desired direction of travel when her ears twitched.

"Oh, and Opaline." Rarity turned towards Opaline, flashing a knowing grin, "That cloak really suits you." She winked before quickly trotting to catch up with her friends.

End of Chapter Thirty Two.