> When the Stars Align
>  by Borsuq
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Setting Up the Stage
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was another sunny day in Ponyville as the flood of young ponies escaped the confinments of the schoolhouse. Ever since the small town became known in Equestria as the home of the Elements of Harmony (even if for a few years half of them had left it), and especially of Princess Twilight Sparkle, it sparked the interest of many ponies.
 
The Ponyville of today, while still retaining the calm and happy atmosphere it had over two decades ago, now had twice the population as then. As the majority of those ponies lived here in families, a need had come for the small town to develop a more advanced educational system.
 
Not so long ago, all fillies and colts would attend Ponyville Elementary. After that, however, if their parents wished for them to continue their studies, they would have to look for schools in some other, bigger towns; Canterlot being the most popular due to its close proximity.
 
Not anymore; about ten or so years back, Ponyville Schoolhouse had been remade and enlarged to host the Ponyville High School as well. It allowed a lot of fillies and colts to continue on with their studies in the small town… even if they lived in it only half the time, or if they were not even that interested in studying.
 
Starburst happened to be such a pony. The only daughter - and oldest foal - of Princess Twilight Sparkle and her husband, Prince Flash Sentry, the young yellow pegasus happened to have a much different relationship with studies from her mother.
 
While Princess Twilight’s thirst for knowledge, magical or otherwise, was well known, Starburst had little interest for it. In fact, if it would have been possible, she would have dropped school altogether so that she could pursue her dream: to become the Captain of the Royal Guard as the first mare ever.
 
However, to apply to the Royal Guard Academy, one had to first complete secondary education. So Starburst, having come to the decision what future she would pursue when she was still a young filly, understood that she had to patiently endure.
 
That being said, she had found the first few years of education to be laughably easy. The teachers at her first school in Canterlot had never asked her about anything, and on the tests she would always score a good grade, even if she knew that her answers weren’t always complete.
 
The reason behind that was simple; being a princess, all the teachers had either feared possible repercussions that might come to them if they were to give her bad grades or they hoped to earn royalty’s favor.
 
Most ponies - and one of her friends in particular - would be quite happy with such a state of matters. Starburst, however, wasn’t. She had always despised when ponies treated her any different than others, possibly even more than her mother, who had actually earned her title, and wasn’t just born with it.
 
Due to that, the young filly was quite pleased when her parents - who had came to realize after a while that their daughter was learning little-to-nothing - had quickly pulled her out of there. After realizing that probably no school in Canterlot would be any better, they enrolled her in Ponyville, a town fairly close when one had a chariot strapped to pegasi royal guards at their beck and call.
 
Of course, Starburst tried to argue back then that she could fly the distance by herself - and, to be honest, she still thought she could have - but her parents were having none of it until she moved on to High School from Elementary.
 
The plan had worked. Ponyville’s teachers - well, most of them, anyways - paid little attention to her title and treated her like another foal. Considering that one of them was a friend and family of her friends and family, it came to little of Starburst’s surprise that they neither feared her or tried to suck up to her. She was given the same boring education as everypony else, just like her mom and dad wanted.
 
However, the teen pegasus knew that it wasn’t her mother’s only agenda. If it was the case, Princess Twilight could have easily tutored her herself, or could have hired a private teacher.
 
No, now that Starburst was older, she knew that her mom’s true plan was far more sinister. Nothing could have proven it better than the company she found herself in today, amongst the herd of school ponies.
 
“Ugh, I hate weather like this,” the dark blue pegasus that flew nearby complained, his green eyes observing the sky above from under a rainbow-colored mane. “No clouds to nap on…”
 
“Prism, you slept through half of today’s lessons,” the purple pegasus mare scowled at him from the ground.
 
“Only?” Starburst asked half-heartedly. “What happened?”
 
Her comment caused a snicker of laughter from the small group of friends.
 
Yes, that was the “sinister” plan of Starburst’s mom: for her to befriend other ponies.
 
Prior to coming to Ponyville, Starburst had little to none friends. The young filly was never interested in having fun with others and hanging out, as she thought such things were a waste of time. That had somewhat changed after she started studying in the small town and had gotten to know the foals of her parents’ friends better.
 
The group of ponies leaving school with her right now had all put up with her ‘a little too serious to life’ approach - as even Starburst had come to realize so - for whatever reasons and became her closest friends.
 
Turquoise Blitz, the quiet gentlecolt who was a dragon-pony hybrid and her “cousin”; Anthea, a kind unicorn filly with a great sense of humor, the only pony that was the same age as Star in the group. Cotton Candy, an over-enthusiastic earth pony, who spent the first year of their acquaintanceship dragging Starburst around with everypony to make her loosen up. Prism Bolt, the laziest pony in Equestria, unless prank-making was involved. And Whirlwind, a foalhood friend of Prism since they both lived in Cloudsdale and about the only pony other than his parents that could keep him in line.
 
Adding Starburst herself into the equation and saying that they were an odd group of ponies would be an understatement, especially since they had also a few older friends that they also hung out with; some more often, some less. Crystal Clarity, T’s older sister; Golden Delicious, who was by now probably either working on his family’s farm or selling apples in the town’s square; his cousin, Red June, an Elementary School teacher. Illusion, son of Princess Celestia and Discord, the epiphany of oddness that had a soft spot for Claire with mutuality; and Nidra, daughter of Princess Luna, a mischievous princess, whose only reason for not getting into trouble as often as Prism or Illusion was simply because unlike the former, she was cunning and much subtler than the latter. And finally, Starburst’ cousin, Valiant Heart, who was pretty much everything she aspired to become: a captain in the guard, and an excellent fighter.
 
What an odd group, indeed. And yet, they all felt like family to Starburst, which also extended to their younger siblings as well. Like in all families, there were relatives that were more annoying that others, as Prism was proving just now. As the laugher from her earlier comment began to wane, Starburst had found the pegasus hovering right in front of her face.
 
“Starburst making a joke?” he retorted, smirking. “What is it, the opposite day?”
 
Starburst ignored the ripple of amusement that spread through the group. Not interested in continuing the banter, she extended one of her wings and pushed him out of her way.
 
Prism tried to make a few more jokes at her expense as they made their way to the town’s center. However he refrained from making any pranks, knowing too well that despite being two years younger and much smaller, Starburst could kick his tail as easily as Claire did not so long ago if he’d push her too hard.
 
“So anyway,” he said once he gave up, stifling a yawn, “what are we gonna do?”
 
“We could go study,” Whirlwind offered, half-joking. His grades could use an improvement...
 
“Yeah, I will get right on that with you,” Prism replied, rolling his eyes. “Anypony else?”
 
“Why not see if Claire, Del and June are free, and go to Sugarcube Corner together?” Candy asked, the gray-blue mare bouncing up happily.
 
“So, a typical day as usual?” Starburst summed up.
 
Candy cased her bouncing to frown at her. “Star, are you complaining again?” she asked, puffing out her cheeks.
 
Starburst sighed. “No, I’m not.” She knew better than to try that.
 
The last time she did, she ended up tagging along with Candy and Prism when they went pranking... although, considering how that episode had ended - with Prism getting burned - Starburst had enjoyed that day.
 
Her reply had calmed Candy down, who returned to her happy attitude from earlier. “See? That’s the approach! I’ll make a fun-loving pony out of you yet!”
 
Starburst took a deep breath and counted to ten in her head, trying to ignore the urge to remind her friend just how she had gotten her cutie mark.
 
A cough interrupted her count. “You know,” T, the perpetrator, spoke up, “seeing that none of us has any tests tomorrow, why not go hang out by the swimming hole?”
 
That suggestion was met with everypony’s approval. Starburst shot the green half-dragon a thankful smile. T knew her well enough to know when she was becoming too bored with their company, and was on a verge of going off to train. However, with them all hanging out over the swimming hole, the two of them could get away with a little bit of sparring practice. A friendly brawl with a dragon-pony hybrid was easily worth a few hundred push ups, both regular and winged. Because of that, T had managed to connect with her more easily than others during those first few months when Starburst began attending Ponyville’s school.
 
“Oh, I just remembered that Mom told me that there’s a blackbird's nest near the swimming hole! I wonder if they hatched?!” Annie exclaimed enthusiastically.
 
The pinkish unicorn smiled at T, her milky eyes sparkling from underneath her green mane. “Aw, and to think I would have forgotten about it if it weren’t for your suggestion...”
 
Starburst tried not to gag once she saw T blush. Turning her attention away from the pair, she noticed impassively that the other three were too busy discussing what to take with them to see the half-dragon getting embarrassed.
 
However, in the middle of considering whether or not bring beach umbrellas with them, Prism straightened up unexpectedly and looked at the fountain ahead.
 
“Hey, Star? Isn’t that your brother over there with the rest of the squirts?” he asked.
 
Indeed, when Starburst looked over where he was pointing, she saw her brother Night Light over by the town’s fountain. The purple unicorn was talking with a group of foals.
 
The “squirts”, as Prism had called them, consisted of his own brother Icy Storm, Candy’s sisters Cloudy Skies and Sugar Rush, T’s and Claire’s cousin Pixel Bit. There was also Api Apple, Gold’s and June’s cousin; and finally Echo, Whirlwind’s cousin, as well as Prism’s and Storm’s in the same way that T and Claire were related to Starburst.
 
If she weren’t surprised by the sight of her brother, the pegasus princess might have wondered if at this rate they couldn’t build a town just for themselves. As it was, however, she didn’t have the time.
 
Unlike her, Nighty still attended his school in Canterlot - the Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, to be precise. And while he quite often came to Ponyville during weekends to play with his friends, for him to drop by practically during the middle of the week was rather unusual.
 
For a second, uncertainty filled Starburst. Why was he here? Did she forget about some appointment? Was she late for something?
 
As soon as those questions appeared, though, Starburst had almost immediately calmed herself; firstly, if Mom or anypony else would want something from her, they would send a messenger, not Nighty. Secondly, she was certain that there was nothing in her schedule today; the closest appointment, dinner with the griffon ambassador and his family that they had to go to, was planned for tomorrow. And thirdly, if he did have something important to tell her, Night Light of all ponies would have done so already, instead of wasting time with talking to friends.
 
Beginning to suspect what exactly he might be doing in Ponyville, Starburst swiftly closed the distance between them in a few beats of her powerful wings.
 
“Hello, everypony,” she called as she landed beside him and his friends.
 
She waited until the other colts told their greetings before she shifted her attention to Nighty. As the others caught up with her and mingled with their kin and friends, she raised an eyebrow questioningly.
 
The purple colt, who smiled at the sight of his sister, rolled his eyes nervously. “The dinner with Mister Marbod’s family was moved for the next week, his daughter’s sick. Because of that, and since there is nothing important that Mom needs to take care of in Canterlot, she and Dad thought that it might be nice to come here for a couple of days.”
 
Being royalty, Starburst’s family had their own wing in the Canterlot Castle where they lived. However, as Mom considered her true home to be Ponyville, she had a mansion built by the outskirts of the small town a couple years back. Since it was finished, they practically spent half the year here, half in Canterlot. However, usually their parents would tell them a few days prior that they were moving. What could have-
 
“What did Discord do this time?” Starburst asked, frowning.
 
Despite being reformed long before she was born, Discord was still pulling some unpleasant pranks on ponies, even if he stopped his tries to take over the world. And by ponies, one usually meant entire cities when it came to the Master of Chaos. Even getting married with Princess Celestia hadn’t helped much with that.
 
 Of course, now Discord only did his pranks every few weeks instead of every waking second, as he apparently used to, and now he had a wife that would get pissed on him. Oddly, though, it was of little consolation to his victims that he would sleep on the couch for a few days.
 
On his own, however, Discord was bearable. When his son joined him, however… Illusion was by far more responsible than his father. While he still liked to mess with ponies from time to time, Illusion usually would apologize right afterwards.
 
Strangely, Discord had been acting rather differently during the past month. For example, Starburst had heard strange noises coming from the other part of the castle one day.
 
The castle’s stuff told her that Discord had been running around the halls on some strange metal machine on two wheels while wearing a leather jacket. When she tried asking Illusion what was that about, he said that his mother thinks her husband is going through a belated mid-life crisis.
 
Talking about Illusion’s father made Nighty a bit more nervous. “I dunno, but… um,” he lowered his voice, “there was this odd burned smell coming from Mom’s mane when I got back from school.”
 
Thankful that she was spending most of her time in Ponyville, Starburst asked: “How long have you been here?”
 
“Only an hour or so. As soon as I was free I went to look for everypony,” he said, glancing at the other youngsters. “I had to go to Claire first, though. Illusion asked me to give her a letter from him.”
 
“A letter? Can’t he cross the distance from Canterlot to here in a second or so?”
 
“Yeah, but… I think it might have something to do with him telling me to get out of her shop as soon as I delivered it, heh…” Nighty replied, chuckling uncomfortably, probably having already realized that he had aided the prince with a prank he pulled on his clawed sweetheart.
 
Guess that means we will be seeing some purple flames next time Illusion drops by.
 
“We were going to play at Sweet Apple Acres… you know, away from Claire,” Nighty added, as he noticed that his group was reading to set off. “You’re still going to show me how to fly a kite later, right?”
 
Smiling warmly as she recalled her promise from yesterday, Starburst nodded. “Of course. Have fun everypony.”
 
“Holy smokes,” Prism said as the foals left, “Starburst is smiling!”
 
Her good humor quickly evaporated. Turning away from the stallion - who was now “convinced that Starburst was a changeling in disguise” - she paused a moment to regard her reflection in the fountain. From the water’s surface her violet eyes looked back at the yellow pegasus, with a short mane in colors of blue and purple.
 
“We should probably split up to get the others,” she said absentmindedly. “And seeing how my little brother just informed me that Claire might be in bad humor, I vote for Prism to go get her.”
 
“Second it!” Whirlwind quickly added.
 
“Me too!” Candy added, grinning.
 
“Sure,” T said, shrugging.
 
Annie was too busy giggling to voice her support.
 
Prism’s jaw was hanging low as he slowly comprehended what just happened.
 
He turned to Starburst, intending to say something that he probably considered witty, but a shout from the other side of the town’s square took the attention of everypony.
 
“Ya dang lil’thief!” a raspy voice called out, still strong despite the age of the pony that used it, resonated across the market. “Give ‘at back!”
 
The group shared surprised glances before they rushed towards it.
 
The town square was filled with small stands, where ponies sold their wares to others. The commotion caused by the accusation everypony heard was gathering by one of the biggest stand, the one displaying the Apple family wares. As they had expected, the group saw Gold behind the counter, along with his mother Applejack. However, they weren’t the ones that yelled a moment ago.
 
The one that did was sitting nearby in a wheelchair, propelled by Gold’s father Caramel. Granny Smith, the oldest resident of Ponyville (and quite likely the oldest pony right before Princesses Celestia and Luna) must have decided to ‘go on a stroll’ through the town, as she liked to do from time to time, despite not longer being able to walk by herself for such distances. Age did not soften her spirit, however, and now the wrinkled mare was pointing a slightly shaking hoof at one of the ponies near the apple stand.
 
“Ah saw you steal an apple, ya no-good whipper-snapper!” she accused.
 
Everypony’s attention - Starburst’s and her friends’ included - followed hers. The pony that she was pointing at was covered from head to hooves by a rugged, dirty black cloak, full of sawed cuts and holes. As the apparent thief turned to Granny Smith, a right light blue fronthoof - bearing a strange beading - emerged, reached to the hood and took it off.
 
The pony was a colt, somewhere around Starburst’s age probably, although slightly female looking. He had a long, reaching his shoulders white-and-blue mane, which wasn’t exactly presentable, as it was unevenly cut.
 
The colt was a unicorn, with a horn sprouting proudly above the shades he wore that covered his eyes. He also wore a rugged, purple bandana around his neck, which also had a golden star on it and a few silvery-blue ones.
 
“How could you see that?” he asked Granny Smith, in a quite melodic voice.
 
“Now, hold on there for a second!” Mrs. Applejack spoke up, going around her stand to stop by the strange colt. “Ar’ya callin’ mah granny a liar?”
 
The unicorn turned to her and spoke as if he was surprised: “Oh, no no no, you must have mistaken me, ma’am. I was actually sorta complimenting her for her eyesight.” Reaching for something within his cape he pulled out- “I did steal an apple,” he admitted, making everypony around him to gape at him in shock as he held the red round fruit in his hoof. “But I was certain that nopony was going to see me! Truly, I am impressed.” the colt added, glancing at Granny Smith and smiling.
 
It came to no surprise that his reply had put Mrs. Applejack off her stroke. Everypony was shocked that the young colt had just admitted so carefree to stealing. The middle-aged orange mare stared at him for a few seconds before she shook her head and spoke again.
 
“Well, at least ya’re not denyin’ it. If ya now just pay for it, Ah’ll let it go.”
 
The colt once again turned his attention to her. It was hard for Starburst to see the expression on his face from where she stood; given the shades she would probably still couldn’t read it. But the unicorn made a great show of cropping his lips as if contemplating Mrs. Applejack’s words.
 
“Nah,” he finally said, shrugging, “I don’t think I’ll do that.”
 
And with those words, before anypony could react, he threw the apple high into the air. Applejack eyes automatically followed the object that moved up right in front of her face, letting go of the colt for a couple of seconds. Starburst, however, (even if she was like everypony else too stunned by the colt’s impudence to do anything) didn’t stop observing him. She recognized one of a few fight tricks her cousin thaugh her: to make the opponent focus at something else for precious seconds so that you can strike.
 
Contrary to Starburst's fear, the colt did not attack her mom’s friends, but instead made a long jump above her, bounced off the apple stand’s awning, and landed on the roof of the nearby house.
 
He then extended his foreleg and waited a second for the apple he threw to land right into his hoof. The colt, even further shocking the crowd, sat down and took a bite out of the apple.
 
Mrs. Applejack, like everypony else at this point, was staring at him with jaw dropped, but was first to recover. “Gold?” she called out quietly to the huge orange pony standing behind the stand. “Get Mama’s rope.”

Starburst shook herself out of the daze. Nopony disrespects a friend of her family and gets away with it! 

She spread her wings to their full span and took into the air, stopping beside the house on which the thief was sitting and eating the apple.
 
The colt’s head turned to her and Starburst noticed with satisfaction that his eyes grew wider behind those shades. Yes, that was the reaction she expected: fear. Intimidating others had always come easy to her; it was her special talent, after all, one that would prove very useful once she would become the Captain of the Royal Guard. It helped that her wings had decided to outgrow her at some point during her body’s development.
 
They were big for a mare her size, about twice as big as they should be, and having them spread to their fullest wingspan made even grown-ups back away in fear.
 
“I suggest you'd better start thinking about paying for this apple,” she told him calmly, folding her forelegs. “As well as how long will you be in Ponyville’s Detention once the guards will-”
 
“My, oh my, what do we have here?” the colt interrupted her, smiling cheerfully.
 
He made a motion with his hoof as if he was about to remove his shades, but he just pressed his hoof against them, further irritating Starburst. “A Knight in shining armor! Well, that makes me a Villain, I suppose?”
 
The pegasus raised an eyebrow in confusion, as the thief turned to address the crowd below them.
 
“Excuse me, does anypony in the audience has a fake mustache or a goatee I could borrow and/or steal?” he asked, pointing at the respective parts of his muzzle. “Every villain needs at least one of those, you know!”
 
Starburst felt her eyelid twitched as she regarded the cloaked colt that was utterly ignoring her now. A chuckle reached her ears from the opposite side of the building, and once she took her eyes away from the thief, she saw Prism hovering there.
 
“While I think I speak for all our friends when I say that it’s really fun to watch our serious friend deal with you, kid, I also don’t like you just stealing our friend’s merchandise like that,” he chuckled, his eyes traveling between Starburst and the thief. “Come on, pay for it before I-”
 
“And you must be a Damsel in distress!”
 
Starburst couldn’t remember when was the last time she had seen Prism to be in such a loss for words as he was now. “W-what?” he asked after a few seconds had passed as the colt, still smiling as if this was all a part of some game, had called him a ‘damsel’.
 
“‘A damsel in distress,’ the colt repeated, “an unmarried female who needs to be saved. I mean, since she’s the Knight, and I’m the Villain, you must be the Damsel! You know, with that mane and all… wait, why aren’t you tied up?” he asked, sounding confused. He then shrugged. “Oh, whatever.”

Even with all her discipline, and being mindful of the (supposed) seriousness of this situation, Starburst still have a hard time to stifle the snort of laughter she wanted to utter as she watched the pure shock and disgust on Prism’s face.
 
Some of the ponies below - which included their friends - had a harder time doing that, if the snickers she heard were of any indication.
 
“Now, we still need a few more characters for the play…” the colt muttered thoughtfully as he regarded the crowd. “A dragon, a minion for me…”
 
Beginning to think that maybe not all bulbs were light up in his head, Starburst spoke once again, while Prism was still trying to get out of the shock. “Look, why don’t we get down from here, you’ll pay Mrs. Applejack the bits for the apple, and we will look for somepony to help you with your… play?” she tried, wincing at the thought of speaking to the colt her age as if he was five.

The thief turned his head to look at her. In the corner of his eye, Starburst noticed Mrs. Applejack approaching with a rope. “Hmm… nah, I don’t like help with setting up the stage,” the colt told her a second later, jumping back a bit to stand by the house’s chimney, once again throwing the apple into the air, and… spitting apple seed at both her and Prism.
 
“Oh, that is it!” Starburst heard Prism growl as they both covered their faces from the small projectiles.
 
Making a mental note to stop Prism if the pegasus would go too hard on the colt, she lowered her hooves and looked around the roof to locate the other two ponies. At the same time when she spotted them, a lasso shot from the ground level, aiming at the thief.
 
He jumped into the air and whirled, passing the lasso and making it wrap itself around the chimney instead.
 
Starburst just had seen a pony escape the rope of a pony that, despite being past her prime, was still considered to be the rodeo champion of Ponyville. To Starburst’s knowledge, she had never missed her mark with a lasso before.
 
But that wasn’t all. As she paused in mid-air out of sheer surprise - while Prism was still going to bash into him - Starburst watched as the colt landed perfectly on the rope just on his hindhooves and began to slide down, evading Prism in the process… all while singing.
 
“♪Come at me♪” he sang as he slid down to the ground, “♪and you’ll see…♪” He was about to collide with Mrs. Applejack, who was still holding the other end of the rope in her mouth. He then jumped up into the air, flipped, and landed on a street lamp, once again just on his hindhooves. “♪I’m more than meets the eye♪”
 
How is he doing that? Starburst wondered, watching him standing on his hind legs without any problem, on top of the street lamp no less. To stand like this and all this jumping around… it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise for a pegasus or a zebra to be so agile and have such a good balance, but a unicorn?
 
She shook her head just in time to see Prism recover from the momentary confusion, caused by the sheer ludicracy of this scene, and preparing to lounge at the colt again. The thieving colt, in turn, pointed his hoof at the two of them.
 
“♪You think that, you’ll break me♪” he continued his song, “♪You’re gonna find in time...♪”
 
As he came to the end of the last line, he fell off the lamp, but not because he lost his balance, but to dodge Prism. The dark blue pegasus fly over him, while the colt arched his back in the air and grabbed the stem of the lamp and pulled himself, shooting forward.
 
“♪You're standing too close to a flame that's burning...♪”
 
Just who exactly is he? Starburst continued to examine the situation, just like Valiant Heart told her to do if she ever found herself in a fight. The colt in the meantime once again evaded Prism by jumping for another of street lamps. And what is he doing in Pony-
 
Her musing was interrupted by something hard hitting her in the head and falling down on the roof of the house. Partially stunned, Starburst looked at what that was.
 
It was an apple.
 
Okay, that’s it! Starburst had no idea if even Prism had managed to push her patience’s limits to such extent as the colt just did in the past five minutes.
 
She was about to show him what somepony that was going to become the Captain of the Royal Guard one day could do.
 
Prism was also highly motivated to get to the unknown colt. While he was one of the fastest fliers around, his true strength was not in his speed, but in his agility. Thanks to that Prism was able to quickly recover after missing the unicorn again and was already on a collision course with him.
 
“♪Hotter than the sun in the middle of July♪” the colt carried on singing as he once again narrowly avoided Prism by jumping down to the ground… right where Starburst waited for him.
 
She spun around to deliver a kick that would knock him out, but much to her displeasure he once again dodged and moved back.
 
“♪Sending out your knights but you still can’t win♪” the colt song as she advanced, all of her kicks and punches missing him.
 
Starburst wished she had some sort of weapons in her hooves, during her training with Amor she was much better when it came to fighting with a spear than in hoof-to-hoof combat. The colt jumped up and flipped back in the air, his front hoof come to rest for a split second on a pole of one of the market’s stands, before he lowered himself to avoid Prism.
 
He slid down the pole as if this was a nightclub and landing on the ground.
 
Not giving him a chance to recover, Starburst once again attacked him, but the colt continued to prove to be swifter. “♪Listen up, silly filly, cause I’m gonna tell you why...♪”
 
The colt sat down on his haunches and grinned at her. The pegasus ignored it and attempted to roundhouse kick him in the head. When she completed the half-spun, however, she saw something that she in the short brawl she completely forgot could happen.
 
His horn shone with blue light.
 
“♪I burn♪”
 
And he did. About a second before her hoof was about to collide with his face, his body was replaced by an explosion of colourful lights and sounds. Starburst helped herself with her wings to move back while covering her eyes and ears.
 
One of the colourful lights - which she managed to notice it was shaped like a star - touched her hoof and she realized that it wasn’t hurtful; it was a slightly modified firework spell. Mom used to entertain her with similar ones when she was a foal.
 
“♪Can’t hold me now, you got nothing that can stop me now♪”
 
The very pissed princess glared at where the last line of the song came from. As her eyes recovered from the explosion - which, judging by the few gasps, including Annie’s, must have been quite spectacular - Starburst spotted the unicorn sitting on top of the house he was when they started this short fight, smirking at her.
 
Prism descended to hover beside her. “If I ever was so annoying, then I’m sorry,” he muttered to her, also glaring angrily at the thieving colt.
 
Starburst decided to not tell him that in her opinion he didn’t even come close to him. She was about to suggest that one of them would go fetch the royal guards while the other would keep the colt from escaping - which, seeing that he could apparently teleport, was probably not going to be easy - but at that moment the unicorn spoke up.
 
“We’re still missing a few characters, but I think this show can work,” he said, making Starburst further convinced that he was insane.
 
“The stage is set. Come one, come all!” he raised his voice as he lifted both of his forelegs into the air. “The show of the Great and Powerful Me has begun!”
 
As he said that, he finally removed his shades. Starburst, being taught to always look ponies in the eyes, did so without much thought.
 
What she saw had almost made her gasp.
 
The eyes that looked back at her were of a unique brilliant scarlet color, like Illusion’s or Discord’s, but unlike the two of them, this pony also had narrow, unequine pupils.
 
“This is going to be fun!” the strange pony exclaimed cheerfully. “Wheeeeeee!”
> Enjoying the Show
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prism was looking at the colt with a mixture of anger, annoyance, and disbelief, which strangely matched how Starburst felt herself. All this time they had tried to catch him, and the cloaked pony was treating it like some sort of game. Now, though, it looked that he - in his own aberrant way - was about to get serious-
 
“Knight, Damsel, are you ready?”
 
-er.
 
“Listen, kid,” Prism growled from beside her; the snicker of laughter erupting in the crowd hadn’t warmed his heart to the colt, who was now theatrically pointing at the two of them; “call me a ‘damsel’ one more time, and spending some time in reformatory will be the least of your worries.”
 
“Oh, come now, don’t be like that,” he replied, frowning from the roof. “Everypony has to pitch in for this play to work, Damse-”
 
“Then you be the freakin’ Damsel!” the pegasus snapped. If Starburst wasn’t too busy trying to think of a way to capture the mysterious colt, she might have laughed at the comical expression of Prism’s face as he tried to argue. “You look like a filly!”
 
“Ow,” the frown deepened, “now you’re just mean!”
 
As Prism facehoofed, Starburst searched the crowd for Whirlwind. She found the purple pegasus still standing near T, Annie and Candy; all four of them were having a hard time containing their amusement. Taking advantage from the colt’s attention being focused on Prism, Starburst quickly flew to them.
 
“Wind,” she said quietly, “wait a while, and then when he’s not looking fly to find some guards.” Starburst waited for her friend to nod before she continued: “Tell them to bring magic-suppressing nets and inhibitor rings.” After a brief hesitation, she added: “After that, go get my mom; he-”
 
Starburst wanted to tell Whirlwind about those strange eyes this colt had; she had no idea what could they possibly mean, but she didn’t like them one bit. They were definitely not eyes a pony could normally have - aside from bat ponies, but theirs were yellow - nor did they remind her of anything else other than draconequus’ eyes, but even then that didn’t match. If anypony would be able to solve just what exactly is this colt, then it would be her mother.
 
However, just when Starburst was about to describe them to her friend, the colt had spoken up.
 
“An excellent idea, Knight!” he shouted cheerfully, spreading his front hooves into the air. At the same time, his horn glowed with a pale blue light, creating a few fireworks around him that exploded in a spectrum of colors. “Does anypony else from the audience wants to volunteer for the show?! C’mon, everypony, the more the merrier!”
 
“Tell ya what, whippersnapper.” Starburst turned her head to look at Mrs. Applejack. She was clearly not in her best mood right now, but unlike Prism, she looked more annoyed than angry. Another rope was on her back - the one she used previously was still tied to the chimney - but seeing how the end of it wasn’t in her mouth, Starburst assumed that her mom’s friend must have also realized how useless it would be. “Ya will quit foolin’ around, pay for the apple, apologize to those two for makin’ fun of ‘em, and nopony will mention this to the Royal Guard. Then maybe ya can try doin’ a less intrusive show, for which I’m sure ya’d get a lot of volunteers. Sounds fair?”
 
A lot more fair than he deserves, Starburst commented in her head. Stealing, disruption of peace… it would add up to a few good days of public service as a punishment. The fact that he was apparently not right in the head was an extenuation to an extent, but not enough for him to completely escape punishment for his actions, as Mrs. Applejack was offering him.
 
The princess was somewhat relieved and further infuriated when the colt declined her offer... or at least seemed to.

“Oh, why do you say that?” he said, sounding hurt; at this point, Starburst had no idea whether he was being honest or just fooling around. “You make it sound like nopony would want to enjoy my show if I wouldn’t do all that.” He then fell down on his haunches, his ears dropping. “Maybe you’re right. After all, nopony here knows me… It’s not easy when you’re new in town…”
 
His words caused a few ponies, moved by the sadness of a pony that until now had practically smiled all the time, to utter “Awww…” Starburst might have felt a bit sad, too, but after seeing everything he’s been capable of doing, she instead waited…
 
“Except…”
 
Ah, there we go, she thought as she observed the colt’s brightened face intensively.
 
“When you got…” he continued, smiling. Starburst braced herself, expecting his horn to shine.
 
He disappeared.
 
Starburst blinked. What?! There was no flash of light, no noise, nothing that happened when a unicorn used a teleportation spell. His horn hadn’t even glowed! He just… vanished!
 
“A spell that makes frikkin bubbles!” the voice of the colt came from the direction of the fountain.
 
Without waiting for Prism, Starburst dashed to it. The thief was standing - once again on his hind legs - atop the fountain statue depicting a unicorn. His horn was now glowing with silvery light.
 
A whoosh announced her friend’s arrival. “What’s he up to now?” Prism muttered from beside her.
 
He didn’t have to await his answer long. Almost as soon as those words left his mouth, bubbles begin to form on the surface of the water in the fountain and rose to the same high as the colt was. They were about the size of a chicken egg… and there were dozens of them.
 
Didn’t he call himself a ‘flame’ or whatever earlier? Starburst briefly wondered before she shook the thought away. What did it matter what he called himself while singing? He was clearly insane.
 
“Are you seriously making bubbles right now?” she asked.
 
It didn’t make much sense. Granted, he didn’t seem to want to cause a real damage to anything or anypony, but he must have noticed that they wanted to capture him.
 
“Not just any bubbles!” the colt replied, grinning. “I’m making colorful bubbles!”
 
His horn’s glowing grew more intense for a split second, and all the bubbles changed colors around him. Now there were orbs of every shade of rainbow floating around him.
 
As Starburst shot the colt a deadpan look, his grin grew wider. “Come one, come all! The first part of the show has begun!”
 
Once again fireworks erupted around him, momentary hiding him and his bubbles from everypony’s sight. Starburst quickly covered her eyes with a wing from the onslaught of colors, and when she looked back at the fountain, she saw that the bubbles had disappeared.
 
Oddly, the colt seemed not concerned. With his eyes closed, he began singing again: “♪I am creating all the bubbles tonight...♪”
 
“It’s frikkin daytime!” Prism shouted in irritation.
 
A ripple of laughter accompanied his comment, but the colt wasn’t disheartened by it. “♪You’re chasing round trying to pop them all the time♪”
 
Starburst eyelid began to twitch again, and Prism uttered a frustrated groan, burying his face in his hooves. “I’ve. Had. It!” the pegasus shouted, rising higher before she lunged at the colt. “I’m about to-”
 
“Prism, don’t!”
 
Both of the pegasi glanced sharply at the one that uttered the scream. It came from the middle of the crowd, and even though she recognized her voice, Starburst was shocked to see Annie trying to stop Prism, an alarmed expression on her face.
 
Their rainbow-maned friend hadn’t listened to her warning in time, though. In the heartbeat he began to rapidly stop in mid-air, something next to him exploded in a small flash of light. As Prism yelped and backed away, Starburst looked in alarm at her friend…
 
Who was soaking wet.
 
While everypony gasped in surprise, the colt didn’t even acknowledge that he saw that. “♪You don't need to trust a single thing you see, I’m creating all the bubbles at play♪” he sang, his eyes closed as he did a pirouette.
 
“What in the world…” Starburst murmured, surprised. Her eyes darted between the colt and Prism, who was now wiping his face off the water. “Did he make all of them invisible?”
 
“No, that’s not what he did,” came a voice from beside her, almost startling her.
 
Starburst had been so absorbed by the event that she didn’t notice Annie approaching her. Behind her she could see T hurrying after her, along with Candy and Gold. Having spared a second to look around for Whirlwind and finding that she must have already left, Starburst quickly landed beside Annie.
 
It did not escape her notice that everypony else was leaving the town square. Apparently, a mild explosion of water was a little too much for the crowd to handle, and they moved to a safer distance. Starburst was actually glad for that: ponies were far away enough for her to not worry about anypony getting hurt, but they were still within eyesight, so this insane thief shouldn’t feel like they lost interest. She didn’t want to see how he would react to that.
 
“What do you mean, Annie?” she asked her in hushed voice. “He must have cast an invisibility spell on those bubbles when he distracted everypony with those fireworks, and then make them explode like that on contact.”
 
But the unicorn shook her head. “Casting a spell that would make all those bubbles invisible should take much more time than he had, and it would require a lot of magic. He isn’t even breathing heavily.”
 
Glancing at the colt, Starburst had to admit her friend was right. There was no sign of him being tired at all. While she was a pegasus, and therefore couldn’t use magic, Starburst was the daughter of Twilight Sparkle - she knew enough about magic to understand that depending on the kind of spell, the one using it would grew more or less exhausted, just as if they went through a physical effort.
 
Turning her eyes from the giggling colt - Prism once again had tried to get closer to him and another bubble exploded in his face - Starburst asked Annie: “So what do you think he did?”
 
If somepony present here could figure it out, it would be her. The young unicorn had a great talent for magic; in fact, she could have easily enrolled into Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns if she wanted to. But she liked her school in Ponyville too much to leave it. Or, as probably everypony by now had figured it out, she liked a specific green-coated, winged, big half-dragon half-pony too much to study elsewhere.

However, she still learned a great deal about magic from Starburst’s mother. Her mom was very enthusiastic to teach somepony who was like a family to her, as back then Nighty was too young to learn magic. Starburst, who had little in common with her mother, had been a bit jealous of the attention Anthea was getting from her, although she had gotten over it in time… mostly.
 
The other mare smiled, her milky eyes sparkling with amusement. “Didn’t you notice before that what colors he made those bubbles take?”
 
“Well, there were a lot of them…” she murmured. What did it matter?
 
But her friend once more shook her head, smiling. “No, it was just an optical illusion. You thought you saw many different colors because they were all next to each other. In fact, though, there were only three: green, blue and red.”
 
“Um…” Candy hummed thoughtfully, and then looked at Annie with confusion. “So?”
 
But Starburst had understood what her friend meant. “Three primary colors of light!” she snapped, her eyes growing wide. That sneaky colt… “When combined together, they give white light! By just changing their colors, he made those bubbles invisible in the sunlight!”
 
“Bravo!” the colt shouted from the fountain. His forelegs rose into the air, and his horn flashed, causing another volly of fireworks.
 
He’s just like Candy’s mom, only instead of confetti he does that with fireworks, Starburst concluded.
 
“Bravo for the audience!” the colt continued, smiling in their direction. The soaking Prism, who was being completely ignored, returned back to hover next to them. “For the first time ever, the secret behind my Invisible Bubble Barrage has been revealed!”
 
His horn glowed brighter. Starburst watched in confusion as his bubbles become visible once again. She was about to ask Annie if she could do that, but for some reason the colt went out of his way for them.
 
“Aw, don’t look so surprised,” he smirked, as if reading her thoughts… which by now she could only hope he couldn’t do. “What’s the point for continuing the trick once the audience knows how it works?” The bubbles then bursted at the same time, as droplets of water fall all around. Starburst felt a few of them drop on her. “No, once that happens, one has to move on to… the next trick!” he exclaimed, firing fireworks.
 
I think I identified the pattern here, the pegasus noted with annoyance.
 
“So, are our volunteers ready?” the colt continued. “I sure hope so, because the next part of the show has already begun! And you!” he said in a higher voice. His hoof was pointing at Annie. “Don’t think your sharp eyes will help you this time!”
 
Starburst’s eyes grew wide hearing him say that. While the colt had probably meant that as a compliment, his words in fact were having an opposite effect. Her three male friends tensed, even T and Gold, who were the last to anger in their group. Starburst herself also had a problem to not grow offended on her friend’s behalf.
 
Annie, thought, while also seemed surprised like her at first, a heartbeat later smiled oddly.
 
“Now…” the colt’s voice drew Starburst attention. She turned her head in time to see him jump down from the statue’s head to her back, and then…
 
Her jaw dropped as the thief’s neck grew longer, his head shooting into the air towards them. It didn’t just extend, it also bent slightly, isolated segments of it, and gave it an appearance of a snake. His head landed a few paces away from them, causing everypony save her and Annie to shriek and back away, even the ponies on the edges of the town square.
 
“Who’s ready for some madness?” the head asked, as it rose vertically with its neck coiling under it, further drawing parallels to snakes.
 
With a quick glance, Starburst saw that his main body had disappeared, and now the end of the neck - or more precisely, the tail - was hurrying after this snake-form of his. This… she tried to think of anything that would make sense. Madness indeed!
 
He must be a draconequus, she finally decided. That’s the only explanation.
 
Only that could explain how the colt changed his body so quickly. Even changelings wouldn’t be able to just extend themselves, not without visibly using their magic. And heck, even his personality reminded her of Illusion’s dad.
 
“So,” Annie’s amused voice pulled her out of her musing, “you’re saying that I have ‘sharp eyes’?”
 
Starburst glanced at her friend. Where is she going with this?
 
“Why, yes!” the colt-snake… thingy, replied, grinning. He rolled his eyes. “Invisible Bubble Barrage is one of my oldest tricks, and not once has anypony noticed that there were only three colors that I changed my bubbles into, even when I repeated the process more slowly,” the thief sighed, his face briefly expressing boredom. That quickly disappeared, as he lowered his head to rest it on Annie’s level, right in front of her. “But you managed to see through it at the first glance!”
 
What in the… Starburst thought, her eyes going between the two of them. In the corner of her vision she could see a similar confusion was all that was stopping Prism, T and Gold from pulling Annie away from him. There’s no way he cannot notice it when standing so close to her!
 
Annie, however, continued to smile, not taken aback by the closeness of the bizarre pony, or by his rudeness/obliviousness. “Well, that’s funny you say that.”
 
“Oh?” the colt asked, and Starburst managed to notice a small furrow of his brows. “And why’s that?”
 
Annie smile grew wider “Because I’m blind.”
 
Her comment had finally forced the colt to react differently than he had up until this point. His eyes became wide as plates - figuratively, actually - as he opened his mouth in disbelief.
 
“I can well enough see the colors, though, but that’s just about it,” the unicorn continued, and Starburst watched as her friend began to giggle.
 
That did not shock her. Despite her disability, Annie was one of the most cheerful ponies Starburst knew. With her acute hearing and ability to tell the colors apart ponies wouldn’t even be able to tell she is blind if it weren’t for her milky eyes.
 
What did shock her, however, was that the colt quickly joined her.
 
He threw his head back laughing, and before everypony’s eyes he became all-pony once more. The colt slapped his forehooves to his face as he landed on his back, still acting as if what Annie had told him was the best joke he ever heard.
 
“Oh boy, did I walk into this one!” he exclaimed humorously.
 
Starbursts quickly exchanged looks with T, Prism, Gold and Candy. Even the latter, who usually could find everything to be funny, was having a hard time understanding how their visually impaired friend was still laughing along with the strange colt.
 
“Um… Annie?” Candy asked her uncertainly. “Care to clue us in on the joke? We don’t get the punchline.”
 
Annie glanced at her, still smiling. “I can see him,” she explained, much to the shock of everypony. “Which means…” Annie added, turning to the colt, “that this is an illusion.”
 
“Bravo!” the colt exclaimed, rising on his hind legs, and… taking his head off his neck and juggling with it. Two other heads appeared in his front hooves, all grinning at them. “You’ve seen through my Mirage Field!”
 
The heads exploded in flashes of light, and the body that was left behind was scattered, like smoke or dust by the wind. A strange, flickering sensation went through her body, and as Starburst looked up, she saw the colt again standing on the statue’s head… because in fact he hadn’t moved from there at all.
 
But… how did he do that? Illusion spells are usually casted on the eyes of a pony. He didn’t do as much as flash his horn briefly. When did he cast the spell?! Starburst wondered. Furthermore, illusion spells usually affect only sight, not hearing as well. Just how skilled is he?!
 
“Never before has there been a pony that could figure out two of my tricks!” the colt continued, his words accompanied by flashes of light. “And all in a one show, no less! This deserves-”
 
“-some serious tail kicking for you!” Prism shouted, taking an advantage from the fact that there were no more bubbles or mirages shielding the colt and charging at him.
 
The colt looked at him with pity, and just a second before he would crush into him, the unicorn disappeared.
 
“-some reward!” his voice came from behind. Starburst turned around to see him standing on one of the street lamp. She was a tad surprised to see his happy face become a bit more serious for a moment as he looked at Annie. “And how about, as a reward-”
 
“-I’ll tell ya something nice?” the colt said from beside Starburst.
 
Despite her shock, she managed to shake it off and tried to knock him out after a heartbeat. She should have succeeded; he had his back turned to her, and his attention was on Annie. However, the cloaked pony still managed to disappear right before her hoof collided with his head.
 
“Excuse me,” he said, standing on one leg on a pole and frowning, “I was talking. Rude!” His horn flashed, and for the first time, he teleported like a normal unicorn. He appeared next to Annie (on the opposite side from Starburst) and began talking again. “Where was I… oh, right!”
 
Starburst pondered what to do now. She wanted to try attacking him again, but… was it even possible to hit him? This colt not only could teleport instantly, but also apparently had eyes on the back of his head.
 
She glanced at T, who was now behind the colt, but the dragon/pony hybrid shook his head and looked at the thief with interest. Starburst frowned; was she the only one interested in bringing him to justice?
 
Returning her attention to the colt, she heard him tell Annie: “You’re not blind!”
 
His comment made everypony gape at him.
 
“You just can’t see!” the cloaked colt finished, smiling.
 
It said something about the surrealness of this situation that none of Annie’s friends that were around him hadn’t try to punch him.
 
“You know, there’s a difference between the two, right?” he asked Annie, who was about as confused as everypony else. He took a step back and rose on his hind legs. “Take this green fella for example.” he said, tapping T’s chest. “Since he’s apparently your friend, I’m sure you know he looks like a…” he paused to look at him, before turning back to Annie, “some sort of a mix between a dragon and a pony.”
 
… There is no way he’s that dumb.
 
“Most ponies, when seeing him, would think that he is some sort of foal-eating, blood-drinking, vomit-causing, flesh-rendering monster. But that is what being blind is! You know that he’s not like that,” the colt pointed his hoof at Annie, then quickly covered his mouth and spoke to T in a supposedly hushed voice: “You’re not a foal-eating, blood-drinking, vomit-causing, flesh-rendering monster, right? Because if you are, then I’m totally making an idiot out of myself.”
 
A snort of laughter escaped Annie and Candy, while Starburst joined T and Gold in stating at the colt as if he lost his mind. “Oh, don’t worry, he isn’t foal-eating, blood-drinking, vomit-causing, flesh-rendering monster,” Annie said, smiling at T. “In fact, he’s a real sweetheart.”
 
“Awww!” the colt exclaimed while T blushed, but his… whatever it was, was interrupted by Prism once again trying to catch him off-guard.
 
“Honestly, aren’t you bored of this?” he asked from the top of the fountain. “In case you haven’t noticed by now, you’ll never catch me. I’m the fastest pony there ever was!”
 
Prism snorted as a few fireworks flashed again. “Oh please, a unicorn? The fastest pony? Get real.”
 
He obviously missed the look of annoyance Annie and a few unicorns in the audience shoot him.
 
“All you are doing is teleporting yourself,” Prism continued.
 
“So? You’re using your wings.”
 
“That’s not the same!”
 
“Yes, it is,” the colt replied, grinning. “Now, if you think yourself fast, I’ll happy educate you…” he narrowed his eyes, “what a real speed is.”
 
He disappeared once again… and appeared right in front of Prism in mid-air.
 
“Boop!” he said cheerfully as he touched his nose lightly with his hoof, before jumping again to the street light.
 
Starburst had barely noticed him there before he jumped to stand between T and Annie, then on the fountain, on the pole, next to her, and then once more within the air besides Prism, but this time… with a pillow in his hooves.
 
He slammed it against the pegasus head, and disappeared, leaving the pillow behind. A second later he appeared with a new one and repeated the process. And again and again… Starburst glanced at the nearby "Quills and Sofas - now with Pillows!” where she saw the appearing and disappearing colt through the store’s window.
 
Returning her attention to her friend, Starburst watched, unsure what to do, as he was slowly buried beneath a pile of pillows.
 
“So, Damsel, now do you believe me?” the colt asked a few heartbeats later. He was sitting atop the pile, which was strangely shaped like a throne. “Because I’m technically taking my time off the show to educate you here.”

Clearing his throat, the colt wiggled to sit more comfortably on the “throne”, and threw one foreleg into the air. “Ask me what is best in life!” he proclaimed in a strangely accented voice. “And I shall say: ‘to crush your enemies with piles of pillows, see them squatted under you, and to hear the lamentation of damsels in distress’!”
 
Prism grinded his teeth in frustration hearing the offense as he tried to get out of the pile.
 
Starburst felt somepony poke her side. Taking her eyes off her friend, she turned… to stare right into the strange eyes of the thieving colt. “Is your friend allergic to feathers?”
 
She whirled around trying to kick him. He didn’t bother with this odd teleportation of his and simply jumped back a little. “Cause you know, I just dropped a few pounds worth of feathers on him- whoa!” Starburst spun around, performing three successive roundhouse kicks, with the last one almost hitting him. “You know, Knight, I begin to think that you don’t like me,” he said from behind her where he teleported to, sounding hurt.
 
Starburst stopped attacking him. Standing on the ground and turning to him, she tried to think of some way to get him, as she tried to occupy him with talk. “Do you live in your own little world?” she asked in annoyance, referring to his comment.
 
“Yes!” he replied cheerfully, sitting relaxedly just within her reach as if they were best of friends. “But I am gracious enough to share it with everypony!”
 
That did it. Starburst facehoofed, her mind broken.
 
“Stand down!”
 
The pegasus raised her head, searching for the source of the firm voice that barked the order. A small unit of the Royal Guard, composed of six ponies (two earth ponies, two pegasi and two unicorns) entered the town’s square. The crowd of ponies parted to let them pass, and now they returned to watching them with interest.
 
“I’m sitting down, silly!” the colt called back, but Starburst didn’t miss the subtle change in his voice. It no longer was cheerful, but rather… mocking.
 
She managed to take a quick glance at his face before he jumped again, appearing on the top of the pole. He was observing the guards intensively, and though his mouth was twisted into a smile, it didn’t reach his eyes.
 
“Welcome, welcome!” he called out as the guards moved to stand between him and Starburst and her friends. “I must say, I am pleased that you managed to make it in time for the next part of the show. Truly, it’s amazing how fast the Royal Guard can react to a colt causing some disturbance.”
 
Starburst shook. There was no mistake; the last comment was definitely a sneer at the guards’ expense. What’s his problem with the royal guard? She thought as she hastened to help her friends get Prism out of the pile of pillows. Did they try to capture him before? That wouldn’t actually be a surprise, but…
 
“You have been reported disturbing peace and committing a petty theft, and you I see you’re going to face several other charges as well, young colt,” the highest ranking guard spoke to the colt, glancing at the pile of pillows. “Further resistance to the arrest will have its consequences. I advise you to give yourself away.”
 
“And stop in the middle of the show?!” the colt replied, pretending to be horrified by the notion. “Never!”
 
His horn flashed, and Starburst noticed that the guards had tensed. However, they soon relaxed once they saw that the cloaked pony used his magic just to levitate some bottle from the abandoned stand.
 
“You know…” he spoke, turning the bottle upside down and pouring out its contents. A glow surrounded the weird liquid, making it hover next to him, “given that it’s been a while since the Royal Guard had come to enjoy my show, I think I will do something… special.”
 
He and the liquid disappeared. When Starburst blinked, she saw him standing on the top of the fountain’s statue again.
 
“Fillies and gentlecolts!” he called out, as the liquid still hovered next to him, changing its shape slowly. On his other side, the water from the fountain rose. He took much more water than the other substance, but a blob of it still laid suspended in the air in the similar matter. Only it its case, the blob resembled a pony in shape. “Today, for the first time on my show, here in Ponyville, ponies can bear witness to the mastery of magic and art! On my right, water!” he paused to point at it with his right front hoof. “On my left, oil!”
 
So that’s what this is… Starburst watched, interested despite herself where the odd colt was going with this.
 
“Now!” the colt shouted, clasping his hooves together. “Watch, as I merge those two together, using a touch of magic…”
 
A small, glowing orb emerged from his hoof. Starburst looked at it in confusion. It wasn’t the color of his magic, which was… blue? In all this excitement, she wasn’t paying attention to that. But it definitely wasn’t a multicolored glow, like the lights of the Crystal Empire!
 
The orb hovered in front of him, and was joined by the oil and water. They began swirling together, but just as he did so earlier with the bubbles, the colt fired a barrage of fireworks around the fountain. Starburst waited impatiently to see what exactly planned to do.
 
Once she was able to, she directed her eyes towards the fountain… and gasped. What stood there beside the statue looked like a caricature of a pony, more specifically, a caricature of the pony that was atop of the fountain. It was the same size as he, but that was about where the similarities had ended. The thing was without any clothing, leaving its very pale blue coat bare. Its mane was short and spiky, and also whiter, and the tail was similar. But it face was stranger, even borderline frightening.
 
It wasn’t that it didn’t have a horn. What made it so creepy was the very wide smile it bore, and the black dots it had instead of eyes.
 
“Ponyville…” the colt called out, seemingly pleased with himself, “this is… Jōki Cōlt!”
> An Audience with Royalty
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jōki Cōlt? Starburst repeated in her head, as she watched the creepy shape that stood in the fountain. Is he now going to do some… puppet show? And how in Tartarus exactly did he create this thing? It doesn’t matter how much magic you use, oil and water don’t mix!

“Are you ready?” the colt asked from atop of the fountain’s statue. “‘Cause let me tell ya, this part of the show will really pack a punch!”
 
She did not miss the gleam he had in his eyes when he said it.
 
This might be bad…
 
Ever since the royal guards had showed up, a subtle change had come upon the colt. He still acted as if this was some sort of magic show, but his stare had hardened, and there was this almost… malicious satisfaction in his voice.
 
Keeping her eyes on the colt, Starburst trotted to the side of the guard in charge. “Lieutenant Roamer, you have to-” she began, trying to warn the unicorn about this cloaked pony’s abilities, but the guards interrupted her.
 
“Your Highness, you and your friends need to get out here. We’ll handle this scoundrel.”
 
Starburst bit back a sharp retort that sprung to her lips. Not only did the guard address her by her title, but he also treated her like a little filly. She understood that she was basically still a kid, but he could at least listen to what she had to say about a pony she’d been trying to catch before they arrived, not dismiss her like this!
 
She was about to take a deep breath and try to warn him once more - and if that wouldn’t work, just order him to listen to her, she wasn’t going to have him and his subordinates hurt even if it meant she would have to take advantage of her position - but a voice called out, making her pause.
 
“‘Your Highness’!?” Starburst turned to look at the surprised colt. As soon as she caught him in her view, though, he disappeared. “Wait, you’re royalty?!”
 
Having witnessed this trick of his about a dozen times already, Starburst was only a little surprised when the colt’s voice came from behind her. The guards, however - as she noticed when she spun around - seemed startled by the sudden appearance of the pony they wanted to apprehend so close to them.
 
As Starburst stared into colt’s wide-opened eyes - which was a little creepy, given how they looked and how close he stood - and wondered how to respond to his query, one of the guards behind him managed to recover.
 
He glanced at him sharply and took a step towards him. “Step away from the princess, you-”
 
The very quick stomping of hooves was the only warning anypony got before the thing the colt had created collided with the guard with a loud thud. The force of the impact send the armored pony flying, while the Jōki Cōlt bounced back, its coat pulsing from the impact as if its body was made from rubber.
 
“I’m talking here!” the colt scolded him, glancing back nonchalantly. “Rude!” he snorted and looked at Starburst once more, his face once again cheerful. “So you’re a princess?! Does that mean I will have an ‘assault on royalty’ added to my list of charges for when I threw that apple at you? Because I don’t think I have that one yet!”
 
Starburst just stared at him. Was he actually being serious? Just the thought of somepony sounding ‘proud’ of things like that made her mind go blank.
 
In contrast to her, the guards around them shook off their surprise and confusion. Starburst suspected that it had something to do with the sight of their comrade down on the ground.
 
“Get him!” the lieutenant called out, raising his spear.
 
The remaining guards did the same, with the two pegasi taking the air. The colt, however, just smirked. Starburst had quickly realized why, but she was a second too late to warn the guards before the Jōki Cōlt sprung into one of them, then bounced back at another.
 
Whatever it was, it’s much faster that anypony would have guessed by how it looked; especially with that creepy smile on its face. In a matter of seconds he knocked down all the guards besides Lieutenant Roamer, who had barely managed to jump away in time.
 
“Oh, well,” the colt exclaimed as his creation came to stop besides him, “I suppose we shall continue this banter at some other time, Princess.”
 
Starburst flared her wings in anger as he mockingly bowed before her.
 
“I advise you to listen to that mighty guard’s advice and leave. This puppet of mine is especially just for them.”
 
The pegasus princess frowned as she watched him pat the Jōki Cōlt. Was it just her, or was he… bigger than a moment ago?
 
“We can return to the play once my toy takes care of yours!” he said turning to her, while rising on his hind legs.
 
Starburst, expecting what was about to happen, closed her eyes and looked the other way. The lieutenant wasn’t as farsighted as her. When the colt disappeared in a small explosion of fireworks, he cursed as he was momentarily blinded. By the time he got better, the colt was long gone.
 
Despite her deep reluctance to listen to advices like those - especially when given by ponies that either treated her like a foal and a princess or had spend a better part of their acquaintanceships annoying her beyond measure - Starburst decided to do just that. She was too stressed out by the bizarre colt, and she could really use a breather. Plus, she needed to make sure Prism was okay. Granted, getting hit several times by pillows didn’t sound too damaging, but with a pile dropped on him it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
 
It did not escape her notice, as she followed her friends to stand within the crowd, that the strange puppet began singing… though by the sound of it, it was the colt that was projecting his voice through the Jōki Cōlt.
 
“♪Reign supreme? In your dreams; you’ll never make me bow♪” escaped the puppet’s creepy mouth as the guards around it all rose back to their hooves and tried to surround it.
 
At the sign from their leader, he and the other unicorn fired magical beams at the Jōki Cōlt. The two earth ponies readied the magic-suppressing net, while the two pegasi, each holding a spear, blocked it from running away.
 
Or so was the plan.
 
The puppet dodged the two beams easily, and twisted in between the pegasi. One of them managed to stab it with his weapon, but the blade had just slid on its coat.
 
“♪Kick my ass?♪” the question came from Jōki Cōlt’s mouth as it ran past the colonel, and the guards chased after it. “♪I'm world-class, and superheated now♪”
 
Is he controlling this thing? Starburst mused, analysing the fight before her. Or does it move by itself, reacting to hostility. No… she decided, going over in her head what little she heard about this kind of magic from her mom; she did like to know about things that might be useful for a royal guard. Creating a magic construct that is able to fight on its own is a time consuming process, not to mention how exhausting it would be for the caster. But if that colt is controlling it, where is he?
 
She looked around the town square; the colt was nowhere in sight.
 
“What’s all this commotion about?”
 
The sound of that voice took Starburst attention from the colt’s ‘show’. Next to them stood a lavender pony, whose legs ended with claws, and her tail was long with hair only at the end of it. She also had two horns sprouting from her head, but they were hidden beneath a large hat she was wearing.
 
“Hi Claire!” Candy enthusiastically greeted the other dragon/pony hybrid in their group of friends. “We are watching this cool magic show a colt that stole from Del’s family is putting for the town. Wanna join?”
 
Starburst shot her an annoyed look at the explanation she gave. Seeing her gaze, the other mare shrugged. “What? It’s not like I could try and help you catch him, so I might as well enjoy the show.”
 
“Is this the colt you’re talking about?” Claire asked, moving to stand next to her brother T. “Oh my, what an odd looking pony.”
 
“That’s not him, it’s some sort of puppet he made with magic once the guards came…” Starburst began to explain, but she trailed off once she noticed something. “Um, Clarity?” she asked in a lowered voice. “Why’s your mane gray?”
 
“Who knows? Maybe because I told Illusion a few days ago that I think gray would look awful on me,” the older mare explained calmly, lifting her claw to hid the lock of hair that escaped from under her hat and had drawn Starburst’s attention.
 
Recalling what Nighty told her earlier, the pegasus shook her head. “I really don’t understand how you can put up with those antics of his on a regular basis.”
 
“Well, once you’ll have a special somepony, I’m sure you will.”
 
She snorted in reply; getting a coltfriend was the last thing that she wanted to do. Even before the constant tries of “prince” Nobleblood to “woo” her whenever he saw her - another reason why she was glad to be in Ponyville most of the time - had made the idea of dating annoying, Starburst had never had much interest in finding a special somepony in the first place. And she knew that those colts that that did show interest in her - Nobleblood and some other “nobles” - were mostly interested in her position, so those options were thrown right out the window.
 
“I will keep that in mind the next Hearts and Hooves I’ll see you spend chasing Illusion across the castle with a murder intent,” she told Claire with a mocking smile, recalling the event from two months ago.
 
“Besides,” Claire continued, ignoring the comment Starburst made, “it’s not like I won’t get back at him…”
 
She glanced with disappointment at the smirk on female hybrid’s muzzle as the tip of her tail flicked. On the other side of Claire, T, who had probably overheard his sister, was observing the fight with a newfound interest while Annie giggled.
 
“Hey, is it me, or is this thing getting bigger?” he asked after a moment.
 
Looking at the Jōki Cōlt, Starburst saw that T was right; it was bigger. Twice as big then it was at the begging, to be precise. Its torso was rounder, and so were his legs.
 
“♪You’re starting up a fight that you just can’t finish♪” it sang while it continued to evade the guards, running much faster than it should have been possible with its size. “♪Watch the little hearts while they scrape you off the floor♪”
 
Did that colt increase its size? No… she corrected herself, recalling that she had also noticed it being a bit bigger some time earlier. It must have been increasing its size constantly by itself…
 
The two unicorns fired a volley of magic missiles at it, but all missed the fast puppet. “♪Bringing out your rockets? Well, shoot 'em up, baby, high as you can go, but I’m the one who’ decides when I blow♪”
 
Starbursts eyes widened. What?!
 
She looked at it carefully as it run, slowly increasing its size even further, and how the spear of the royal guard once again slid off his back…
 
“We need to find him, now!” she exclaimed as the realization came upon her.
 
She ignored confused stares of her friends; there was no time to explain it. She soared into the air and began scanning every rooftop around the town square, searching frantically for the colt.
 
Thankfully, it didn’t take her long to spot him. He was lying atop of one of the closer houses, with his back laid casually against the chimney. The moment she spotted him, Starburst lunged at him, bringing her hind leg to kick him right in the chest.
 
The colt spotted her just in time to move out of the way of her attack, causing her hoof to collide with the chimney. Grinding her teeth to not utter a yelp of pain, Starburst continued to advance on him.
 
“Stop that thing!” she demanded as he jumped to the next rooftop.
 
“Why?” he asked, smirking. Despite continuing to run away from her, he never broke an eye contact. “Don’t like puppet shows?”
 
“You used oil to make that things outer layer, and filled the rest with water!” she began to shout as their fight briefly moved to the ground floor, before he jumped atop one of the street lights. “The more that things moves, the quicker the oil heats up, making the water in it boil, turning into steam, and when there’s enough of it inside, it will explode! Am I wrong?!”
 
Her words caused ponies in the crowd to gasp, but the colt instead smiled, as if he was having the time of his life. He ducked beneath her right hook, falling off the lamp but using its stem as leverage while he jumped onto another one.
 
“Wow, you’re smart! As expected of a princess, I suppose…” he said before Starburst once again forced him to move away. “Relax! It will be tine-tiny explosion, it won’t be damage the town… though it might leave a small crater in the middle of the town square…”
 
“What about the guards!?” she asked him with fury.
 
A part of her mind took notice of the fact that now they were near the ‘battlefield’. Maybe…
 
“What about them?” he snorted, which once again gained her attention. His eyes were cold. “They’re supposedly defenders of Equestria. Are you saying they can’t handle parlor tricks of a small, slightly feminine looking colt?”
 
Starburst was taken aback by his words, but she was spared the need to answer. Claire jumped at the unicorn from behind, her claws outstretched, and it was by sheer luck that the colt managed to escape her, with an end of his cloak shredded.
 
Grateful for her for deciding to use action instead of her sharp tongue to solve the problem - as she did most of the time when somepony got on her nerves - Starburst took the chance to fly away a short distance.
 
“Whoa there!” the colt exclaimed as Claire slashed at him. The dragon/pony hybrid was quite agile and fast, so Starburst had no doubt that she could occupy the cloaked pony for a while. “Hadn’t seen you among the audience earlier- You again, Damsel!?”
 
A loud whump followed his surprised shout. Starburst quickly glanced back as she got a hold of her target and hastened back. Claire and Prism lay on the ground tangled together. Claire head was raised, though, and following the colt. He was high in mid-air, probably having bounced off the roof he intended to jump unto before Prism had tried to tackle him from behind, which resulted in the pegasus colliding with Claire.
 
As Starburst flew back, she noticed her friend’s eyes shift at her for a split second. The grave annoyance and anger gave wave for a hint of a smirk for a moment, before her attention shifted to the colt. Her horns began emanating light from beneath her hat, and she opened her mouth, breathing blue-white flame at the cloaked pony.
 
Much to her frustration, she saw the colt’s own horn glow quickly as he turned his head. A wall of water appeared out of nowhere in between him and Claire’s flames, saving him from some nasty burns.
 
Starburst, now being really close to him, almost stopped as she noticed that the aura with which his horn shone was of a different color than before. It was just like that orb he created earlier while making the Jōki Cōlt: a palette of many colors all mashed together, like an aurora.
 
“A! Hot!” he exclaimed as he landed on the nearby roof, his coat and cloak smoldered here and there. The space in where his water and Claire’s flames collided was now marked by steam. “You know-” he began, looking down at the two ponies.
 
He didn’t have the time to finish the thought. Starburst had no idea how he knew that she was right behind him - did he hear her, or was he using a some sort of spell - but just when he was about to be within her hoof-reach, the colt abandoned his taunting and jumped to the side.
 
Just as she wanted him to.
 
The colt’s eyes widened as she swung the spear of a royal guard, which was found forgotten on the ground at some point of the battle until Starburst had picked it up. Not having expected that, he was struck right in the stomach by the weapon’s blunt side. The force behind the hit made the colt lose his breath and sent him against the chimney’s wall.
 
Starburst was quickly upon him. She pressed the blade of the spear against his throat and demanded: “Stop that thing!”
 
Both of them were breathing heavily. Starburst couldn’t remember the last time she exerted herself as much as today. She wondered how the colt was with his stamina; if he were to pull another trick, magical or otherwise…
 
“You do realize that I can just disappear again, right?” he replied, appearing to be calm, though she noticed the quick glance at the blade.
 
Starburst raised it up to his chin. “You could have used it plenty times to avoid this situation,” she said, referring to how he had barely escaped Claire twice. The princess did wonder why he hadn’t done that, and she thought she had found an answer: “I don’t know how you do that, but I’m assuming that you can’t teleport instantly like that while controlling that puppet. Now stop it!”
 
But the colt just grinned, despite her threat. “Sorry, can’t stop the art.”
 
“Listen, you…”she began, but something in his eyes told her to stop and listen.
 
“I cannot stop it at this point,” the colt said, smirking. “The temperature inside Jōki Cōlt had risen too high. My magic is art…” he trailed off, glancing at the site where the guards battled his creation. “and art is a bl-”
 
Suddenly, he stopped, and Starburst saw something that she hadn’t quite expected: his eyes were wide with terror. Touched with a sinking feeling, the pegasus princess followed his gaze.
 
Standing in the middle of the town square, the Jōki Cōlt was now five times the size he was when created, and judging by the way it shook, he was about to blow. The royal guards had finally realized that they couldn’t stop it, and all turned around to try and run away.
 
But Starburst’s eyes were not on them, or at the seconds from blowing up puppet. Nor were they on any object that was there, no matter how valuable.
 
Her eyes were locked on her little brother.
 
She didn’t pause to think just how in Tartarus he had gotten there. She didn’t stop to wonder if she would have enough time before that thing exploded. She didn’t care that the colt was going to escape. The split second Starburst spot Night Light standing in the town square, looking around at the unusually empty for this time of day market and backing away from the strange big thing in the middle of it, she dropped the spear and raced for her brother, trying to get to him before the Jōki Cōlt would blow.
 
For a heartbeat, she thought she could make it. Flying faster that she had remembered ever flying. Starburst had almost crossed the distance that separated her from her brother in a second, but just as she was about to grab Night Light, the Jōki Cōlt bursted. The sound of an explosion was deafening.
 
Not knowing what else to do, Starburst wrapped her wings and hooves around her brother, hoping that maybe if she would shield him with her body he would be okay. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain as the blast would reach them.
 
It never came.
 
After a moment had passed, it came to Starburst’s attention that she and -more importantly- her brother were alive. She opened her eyes to see the reason behind it, but as soon she did that she had to blink a couple of times. The explosion of steam had left a lot of vapor in the air.
 
Once she could see better, Starburst surveyed the area. She gasped seeing the small crater created around where she had last seen Jōki Cōlt… except for the space occupied by her, Nighty… and a cloaked figure, easily recognizable even though he had his back turned to her.
 
“Whew!” the colt sighed, sitting down. “Made it in time.”
 
Starburst just gazed at him, not sure what to think or feel right now. On one hoof, he had nearly blown her brother to pieces. On the other, though, he had saved him. How, she had no clue, but he did it.
 
He was staring at something further away from the center of town square, and Starburst had found herself to unwittingly follow his gaze. She gasped once she saw the fountain’s statue, or rather what was left of it - it was missing its head and was covered in cracks.
 
Wait… it’s nowhere near the blast zone. Just how-?
 
“Um… Star?” her brother asked in a muffled voice, and Starburst had realized that she hadn’t released him.
 
“Are you alright?” she questioned him as she took her wings off and forelegs off him, even though she knew that if she was okay, then he was fine too.
 
Nighty nodded, and she sighed with relief, thought he felt a sharp stab in her heart as she saw his eyes widen in fear as he looked around, probably realizing just what could’ve happened to him.
 
“Ya know, kiddo,” the voice of the colt broke the both of them out of their reveries. Starburst looked up to see him glance back over shoulder with the usual for him smirk, “you’ve picked a hell of a time to volunteer for the show.”
 
Nighty’s fear disappeared as he looked at the colt with curiosity, and once again Starburst had found herself conflicted as to how to react to the cloaked pony. Before she decided, thought, a moan sounded from nearby.
 
Looking away from the colt, Starburst spotted the six royal guards, stirring from the ground around the explosion where each of them was thrown away.
 
“Aw, they’re not even knocked out?!” the colt exclaimed angrily. “I knew I should have used more oil!” He crossed his forelegs on his chest. “Stupid armor’s enchantments…”
 
His comment had finally helped Starburst decide as to what feel. Anger.
 
“Is this some sort of game to you?!” she exclaimed, standing up and flaring her wings.
 
The colt looked at her for a couple of moments with a raised eyebrow. “I’m sorry, were you not paying attention to the last ten-twenty minutes?” he finally asked.
 
A growl rose at the back of Starburst’s throat, but a gently tap on her hind leg stopped her from uttering it, along with a few colorful adjectives that came to her mind regarding this colt.
 
“S-sis…” Nighty began in a shaky voice, causing her to look back in alarm. Once again fear reflected on her little brother’s face. He nodded at the colt: “H-his… cutie mark…”
 
Confused, Starburst followed his gaze. What was he talking about? The thief had a cloak wrapped around his body; he couldn’t see his cutie mark…
 
Except the cloak wasn’t covering everything. There were slices and pieces of it missing at the end, caused by - as Starburst had realized - Claire’s claws, and the colt was now sitting in a way that the missing spot was just over his right cutie mark.
 
Or rather, his right flank. Within the spot where a pony normally had a cutie mark the colt had a patch of burned-off skin.
 
Starburst gasped despite herself. She stared at the scarred flank wondering what exactly had happened to the colt, until seconds later he had realized where she was staring and covered the spot with his tail.
 
“If a pony would’ve told me yesterday that a princess will stare at my flank…” he said mockingly, causing her to blush from embarrassment at what he was implying and looked into his eyes instead.
 
There was no spark of amusement in them.
 
“Now then…” he started, turning away. The colt rose to his hooves and shook, flicking off some dirt off his cloak and making it cover his flank. “I don’t like stopping my performances before they’re finished, but I fear that I lost my zeal. Maybe we can do this again some other time.” With a last glance at Starburst and Night Light, he added: “Later.”
 
He began turning around, but then his eyes widened and he stopped.
 
“What?” he asked out loud, much to Starburst confusion. Closing his eyes, he lightened up his horn for a second, only for the glow to burst into a few sparks and disappeared. “What’s going on?”
 
As he looked around, Starburst had finally realized what he was so worried about. He cannot teleport!
 
Before she had a chance to think about capturing him, the colt’s gaze traveled upwards. Starburst, following it by reflex, saw a huge sphere surrounding the sky above Ponyville, and it was of a familiar purple color.
 
“Your Teleportation Spell won’t work, I’m afraid.”
 
All three of them turned towards the pony who spoke, although Starburst suspected that only she and Nighty were happy at her sight. Their mother, Twilight Sparkle, was approaching them, her horn glowing with the same aura as the sphere above them. She was flanked by royal guards - in fact, as Starburst had quickly glanced around, royal guards were actually everywhere, forming a ring around them - and a few of them had already moved to tend to their wounded comrades.
 
Starburst’s and Night Light’s father, Flash Sentry, was at their mom’s side. The pegasus princess smiled briefly as she saw him give quick instructions to the guard next to him. This was who she wanted to become, a pony of command that had the trust and respect of those serving under her.
 
Present at mom’s side was also Uncle Spike. The dragon who used to be Starburst’s and Night Light’s mom’s Number One Assistant before he married Aunt Rarity was about three times bigger than an average pony, so he stood out from in the crowd. Seeing him, Starburst wondered if the parents of her other friends were also around.
 
For a moment, both of their parents locked their eyes on them. Starburst could see concern on their faces, which quickly disappeared once they’d realize that they were okay. Still, though, Starburst had this odd feeling that she would have a lot of explaining to do later.
 
I’m not the only one… she thought, glancing at her brother. I still have no idea how he’d gotten here.
 
Not wanting to cause their parents any more worries, she grabbed Night Light and flew away from the colt. She could have sworn she heard him utter something along the lines of “sissy”, but paid him no mind. She landed behind the line of the guards, feeling both grateful that her mother would now take care of this situation and somewhat disappointed.
 
As her friends hurried towards her, her mom once again addressed the colt: “This is an Anti-Teleportation Field; it disables the use of Teleportation Spell inside its borders.”
 
“Are you alright?” a few of her friends asked, but she just nodded absentmindedly as she focused at the scene in front of her.
 
“My oh my, what do we have here?” the colt began in a familiar fashion; to Starburst’s shock, he seemed completely unfazed by the fact that he no longer could teleport, both normally and in this weird but fast way. “Princess Twilight Sparkle! The Element of Magic herself! What an honor! You’ll have to excuse me for not kneeling; you see, somewhere between playing with your daughter and saving your son, I had sprained my ankle, and now kneeling would be a tad difficult.”
 
He presented a right front hoof as he said that, making more than a few ponies bristle at the offence; and more than a few snort with laughter, including Uncle Spike. Starburst was among the first group; making fun of her was one thing, but of her mother… she locked her eyes on the beading on his hoof, trying to calm herself.
 
“Prism, the heck is that thing on your face?!”
 
Starburst turned back in surprise as she heard Whirlwind’s voice; she hadn’t even noticed the other pegasus’ return. Concentrating on what her friend had said, she looked at Prism…
 
She felt her jaw drop. Right on Prism’s face was a multicolored star, glowing with a faint light.
 
“What?” Prims asked, rubbing his face. “Is it still on?”
 
“Um… I think this is the same thing as this…” T commented, walking up to him; the exact same star adorned his chest.
 
Starburst was still moving her gaze in between Prism’s face and T’s chest when Nighty spoke up. “Sis, you also have this!”
 
Surprised, she turned to look where her brother was pointing. Indeed, whatever it was, it was there, right on her hind hoof. What in Tartarus is that thing?! Why is it on my-
 
She stopped right there. Her mind went back to how at the beginning of this the colt disappeared in a explosion of fireworks, and one of them - which was a star - had landed right in that spot.
 
But why would he leave this “mark” on us? Unless…
 
Her gaze travelled to the ruined statue. Then it slowly moved to the one of the town’s square poles. There! Another star-like mark was on it. So was one on the street lamp next to it…
 
They were on all the places the colt jumped on, even briefly, at the beginning of this.
 
“The stage is set”, he said...
 
“The Polestar Spell?!” she heard her mother exclaim. Starburst quickly searched for her, worrying that something had happened, but to her relief that wasn’t the case. Princess Twilight has been, like her, looking at those star marks. She seemed shocked. “Who in the wide world of Equestria had taught you that spell?!”
 
“The ‘what’ Spell?” the colt replied, sounding confused. “You mean this spell has a name?! As if somepony had discovered it before? Dang it! I thought I created it myself!”
 
He stomped the ground angrily, muttering to himself. “What’s a Polestar Spell?” Starburst asked quietly Nightly and Annie, hoping that they might know, even though she had a good idea about it…
 
But both of them shook their head, much to Starburst’s disappointment. Cursing under her breath for not being able to be certain, she turned her attention back to her mother and the colt.
 
“Still, though, I hadn’t expected that being within an Anti-Teleport Field would cause this spell to not work as well,” he said, still sounding a little frustrated. “Or that the markings will become visible. But then again, I never dealt with an Anti-Teleport Field… I guess it takes a princess to create one? No wonder you’re the Element of Magic!” he exclaimed happily.
 
“Your talent with magic is also impressive, young colt. To be able to learn the Polestar Spell by yourself should have been impossible… not to mention that you actually managed to figure out how to make it work,” Twilight praised him. Her eyes, however, were looking at him sternly. “It’s a pity that you use this talent to cause mischief.”
 
“‘Mischief?!’” the colt exclaimed, surprised. “Princess, you got it all wrong! I wasn’t causing any mischief! I was simply putting on a magic show!”
 
“And the guards?” her mom asked, her eyebrow rose.
 
The colt paused to glance at the six dazed guards before turning back to her. “They fell down some stairs,” he told her seriously.
 
His reply caused a ripple of laughter among the crowd.
 
“Ah, I see…” Starburst looked at her mom’s thoughtful nod; she was really curious as to why she hadn’t yet captured him. “But you do know that there are going to be repercussions for your actions, right?”
 
“Oh, I don’t think so,” the colt replied, brushing his mane nonchalantly. “For that, you would need to first capture me, and I don’t see that happening.”
 
Starburst eyes went around the ring of guards surrounding him from all sides, with the pegasi from above, passed by the dragon and rested on an alicorn princess that was stopping him from teleporting. How does he plan to get away now?!
 
“Oh?” her mother must have also calculated his chances. “Care to explain why, exactly?”
 
“Why, it’s simple! You will let me go!” the colt exclaimed. After a second - during which everypony just stared at him - he smiled maliciously. “Because if I were to escape, that would be really embarrassing for you. Spare yourself that and just let me go.”
 
“I’m afraid I cannot do that, though I am really curious as to how you plan get away,” Princess Twilight replied, looking at him intensively. “Tell me, young colt, what’s your name?”
 
The colt’s eyes widened and he smile. He rose to on hind legs and exclaimed: “Finally!” A few fireworks fired around him, causing the guards to tense. “I thought that nopony was going to ask me that one! Honestly, you would think that’s the first thing ponies ask in small towns like this, but nooo…”
 
“If he wanted to introduce himself, he could have done it at the beginning of his ‘show’,” Starburst muttered angrily.
 
“Anyway, about my name…” the colt trailed off, smiling widely. He took a deep breath and… “I’m the S to the T to the A-R, F-A-L-L, and there ain’t no other pony quite like me!” he exclaimed and began to spin around. “I’m…
 
His horn flashed, and an explosion of fireworks followed, much brighter and noised than all the ones before. It took a few seconds for things to calm down, and when it did…
 
“Starfall-icious!” two identical colts said, grinning.
 
Everypony had wasted precious seconds to watch them as they began to run away, each in opposite direction. Starburst knew what was going through the head of most of them: how was it possible? Some of the ponies, though, like her, wondered about something more precise: how could a colt so young cast a Duplication Spell? Growing up being surrounded by magic, Starburst knew that that was one of the most difficult spells there were, one that even here mom had troubles learning. How could this… Starfall know it?!
 
Her father was the first one to regain his composure. “Capture them!” he ordered as he himself flew after the one who dashed towards the east.
 
It didn’t take long for the guards to capture them. While even after duplicating himself Starfall retained his agility, and managed to elude the ropes and nets for some time, both of him were vastly outnumbered. Soon the two identical colts were tightly tied up, and inhibitor rings were put on their horns, to prevent them from using magic.
 
Starburst’s mom sighed with relief as she approached the two colts. Curious as to what she planned to do, her daughter followed. “This uncomfortableness could have been avoided,” she told him as she stopped some distance from him. “From what I’ve been told, prior to my coming here you were given plenty of opportunities to stop.”
 
The twin colts remained motionless and unresponsive. Her mother sighed and canceled the Field above them. Once again, the sky became blue. “I’m afraid you're going to have to spend some time within Ponyville’s detention, although I would like to talk with you about-”
 
“You know…” the colt on the right interrupted her.
 
“It’s really amazing…” the one on the left continued.
 
“How easy it is to outplay you ponies!” both of them finished, grinning.
 
Starburst knew that grin. He wore it throughout his entire show, whenever he knew something they didn’t.
 
“Mom!” she tried to warn her to raise her spell once more. At the same time, however…
 
The space before Princess Twilight shimmered, and with a quiet pop something sphere-like bursted, revealing a third Starfall, whose face bore a vicious smirk. The two other colts behind him also shimmered, and their coats, cloaks, manes, everything disappeared, revealing two pony-shaped blobs of water, each containing a small multi-colored sphere.
 
Her mom’s horn began glow immediately, casting the spell with a speed a few ponies could match.
 
Starfall’s spell was still faster.
 
As the Anti-Teleport Field once again shielded Ponyville, the colt had disappeared.
> The other Star
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

While Starburst and everypony else just stared at the spot in which the colt had stood - and at the puddles of water left by his copies - her mom managed to keep a level head. “I want every pegasi guard to spread around Ponyville’s perimeter,” she said, turning to her husband. “If this is truly the Polestar Spell this colt is using, then he couldn’t have jumped far. There’s a limit for the distance in which the markings remain active, and making so many shortens it.”

She paused, glancing around, her eyes taking in the sight of the star-shaped markings, still visible under her Anti-Teleport Field. Her look briefly stayed on Starburst a split second longer, and the pegasus princess felt herself blush with embarrassment as her mother saw the mark on her leg.

Taking her eyes off her, Twilight continued. “I want him captured, but not harmed; he’s still just a kid.”

Flash Sentry nodded and glanced at the royal guards gathered around the town square. “All pegasi!” he said, raising his voice. The addressed guards straightened up, and the pegasi spread their wings in recognition that the next words their commanding officer is going to say were for them. “You heard the Princess’ order! Lieutenant Blue Streak, take a wingteam and scout the west end; 2nd lieutenant Pound Cake, you’ll take east.”

What now? Starburst wondered as she watched her father closely

Aside from him and the two he just named, there was only one ranked pegasus guard within Ponyville. The luck would have it that he was on the patrol that came to apprehend the troublesome colt earlier, which resulted in the entire party being incapacitated.

For a brief moment Starburst allowed herself to enjoy a fantasy that she would be the one to lead one of the wingteams. How great would that be! Not only she would get to lead her own team of royal guards, but also she would be given another chance to catch the thief that humiliated both her and her mom; and entire Ponyville while he was at it.

“I will take the north end of Ponyville,” Flash Sentry continued, undaunted by the problem he must have realized existed. “And south-”

“Need help?”

A lot of heads turned to regard the owner of the voice. Prism’s mom, Rainbow Dash, hovered in the air some distance away from the crowd, her forelegs crossed on her chest as she smirked, her eyes surveying swiftly the crater within the town square. Her husband, Soarin was next to her, but unlike the mother of his foals, his face was serious (and more confused).

Oh right, they were supposed to return to Ponyville this morning… Starburst recalled, having remembered the Wonderbolt’s tour schedule.

“We could use the Wonderbolts help, yes,” her dad replied to the rainbow-mane mare’s question. 

He nodded at the two of them and motioned for them to follow him as he headed towards the small gathering of pegasi guards. Starburst’s eyes tailed them for a few seconds, interested to see how her father would split the guards into the patrols, but hearing her mother speak in a raised voice made her turn her attention to her.

“If I may have everypony’s attention,” Princess Twilight started, addressing the crowd of Ponyville’s citizens, “I have to inform you that the town square will be off-limits to everypony for the next half an hour; however, after that time has passed, you can be certain that all the damage it suffered will be repaired.”

She paused to nod to two of the guards, who nodded in reply and trotted towards the crowd, levitating clipboards and pens. “If your wares or other properties had suffered damage during the commotion, please inform these two gentlecolts about it, and the crown will be sure to compensate your losses accordingly.”

That colt is the one that should pay for that… Starburst thought, despite the sense of pride at her mother’s thoughtfulness.

“Also,” her mom continued, looking up at the sky, “I would like somepony to notify the weather team that they will need to clean up the sky again.”

Starburst followed her gaze, confused; wasn’t the sky clear a moment ago? And yet, as she watched, gray clouds were forming above the sphere her mom created.

“How...” one of the town’s pegasi started and trailed off, also confused.

“The explosion of steam caused by Starfall have increased humidity level in the air,” Twilight answered his unfinished question. The stallion shook as he realised that the Princess was talking to him. “You work on the weather team, correct? Please, do something about those clouds before it will start raining.”

“Y-yes, at once, Your Highness!” the pegasus stammered, bowing, before quickly flying into the air.

Starburst saw her mom sigh with irritation at the display, but she quickly brushed her annoyance off. Her eyes hardened a bit as she turned to them and their friends. “Now, would somepony be kind enough to explain to me why you two were standing right next to the epicenter of that explosion?”

She opened her mouth, bewildered. Somehow, it had escaped Starburst that she might hear that kind of question, and she was now at loss as to how to answer it. She could mention that it was because Night Light had just appeared out of nowhere there and she had tried to rescue him, but she had no intention of putting him into trouble with their mom.

Her brother, however, had no such problems with ratting himself out. “It was my fault, mom,” the purple colt spoke up, his ears low. “I… I teleported there by accident, and Star just tried to-”

But their mom was no longer listening. “You teleported!?” she exclaimed, beaming up. “Oh my gosh, Nighty, that’s so wonderful! I was almost twice your age before I managed to do that!”

Starburst suppressed an irritated sigh. While she would gladly join her mom in praising Nighty for learning how to teleport - even if he could have picked up his landing destination better - this wasn’t a time or place for that.

But that’s Mom for you, say “magic” around her and she might lose contact with reality for few moments.

“From how far away did you teleport?” Twilight continued, oblivious to her daughter’s growing embarrassment. “And how do you feel? Usually the first teleportation leaves a unicorn stunned, and a bit nauseous…”

“Mom,” Starburst said, deadpan.

“Twilight?” Uncle Spike also tried to bring her back to Equestria.

“Twi?” Mrs. Applejack said at the same time, raising an eyebrow.

Their combined effort made Twilight look up, and notice that everypony around was looking at her with a mixture of bewilderment and awkwardness. Spots of red appeared on the alicorn cheeks as she covered her mouth and coughed, clearing her throat.

“Congratulation, Nighty,” she said in a much calmer tone. Smiling, she added: “We will celebrate it later at home, but right now I would like somepony to tell me what happened here… as well as why exactly you were trying to capture that colt by yourselves rather than leave it to the guards.”

“Mom, Wind flew to fetch them and you while we maintained his attention,” Starburst calmly reminded her. “If it weren’t for us, that thief would have probably run away long before the guards would get here.” 

“Not that it went particularly well for them,” Claire observed, glancing at the six still dazed ponies, tended to by medics. She turned to Twilight. “Might have been better to just leave it to the kids, Auntie.”

“‘Kids’?!” Prism cut in, offended. “You’re only five years older than me!”

“Going by how you act, Prism Bolt, I wouldn’t have know how small the difference between our ages is,” Claire replied nonchalantly, making a few of their friends giggle.

Sorry, Prism, Starburst thought briefly, looking at the exchange, your “serious” face won’t work with that star on it. You’re just going to get yourself deeper into this.

“Oh, and you’re the mature one? Jumping at that colt with your claws as soon as he got near you?”

“I was trying to help Starburst stop that ruffian from blowing up the town square, and if a certain somepony hadn’t collided with me, we might have made it,” Claire replied calmly. “Also, I was under the impression that you weren’t exactly friends with him, so why are you-”

“Anyway!” Twilight interrupted them. “While it is true that it was thanks to your efforts the colt stayed here, if you had left him alone he wouldn’t have caused as much damage! And besides, you could have gotten hurt, or-”

“This comin’ from a mare with wings who got nearly eaten by a cragadilly after runnin’ off to save Equestria,” Mrs. Applejack told her, smirking.

Starburst stopped a scowl that was about to appeared on her mouth; she had heard that story - about a thousand times along with all the other tales of her mom and her friend’s exploits - and she knew that it wasn’t exactly Twilight’s fault. She had just gotten her wings, and still hadn’t gotten used to them.

“You know, Applejack, considering how you reacted back then, it’s really amazing how you keep bringing that up,” Starburst’s mom replied, not amused, though Uncle Spike uttered a quiet snort of laughter. “Besides, that was a completely different situation.”

“True,” the orange mare admitted, shrugging. “But ya can hardly fault those youngin’s for tryin’ to help out. Also, it’s not their fault, really: that young whippersnapper has ‘bringin’ troubles’ in his blood.”

Her odd statement caused Starburst to look at her with confusion, but when she glanced at her mom she saw that the purple alicorn was just smiling. “So, you’ve realized as well, huh?”

“Are ya kiddin?” Mrs Applejack replied, rolling her eyes. “Besides the bandanna, fireworks and him lookin’s so darn alike to Trixie, there’s also him calling ‘imself the ‘Great and Powerful’ at the beginnin’ of this.”

Her mom and uncle snorted. Starburst was relieved when she saw that her friends were as confused as she.

“Ya wouldn’t happen to know for certain if he’s really Trixie’s kid, though?” Applejack continued, asking with a raised eyebrow. “Ah mean, I remember ya’ve mentioned meetin’ her a few years back and that she had a foal, but-”

“Actually, I’m fairly certain that he is, in fact, the son of Trixie,” Twilight interrupted her friend. “I was almost sure of it even before he said his name, and since Trixie’s foal was also named Starfall, it has to be him.”

Wait, Trixie? Starburst wondered, the name beginning to ring a quiet bell in some part of her mind. Wasn’t that the name of some travelling performer who came to Ponyville sometime after Mom first came to live here, and caused some trouble? She snorted. Well, I can see her son continues the grand tradition…

“What happened to Trixie, anyway?” Uncle Spike’s question pulled her out of her musing. “I hadn’t heard about that fraud in years… again.”

“I have no idea. When I stumbled upon her in Canterlot fifteen years ago, I asked her where she had gone for those few previous years, but she gave me only evasive answers. Then after six years she once again dropped from the face of Equestria, this time with her son.”

“Mom knows that colt’s mom?” Starburst heard Night Light ask her very quietly.

“I think so,” she quickly replied, not wanting to miss anything they were saying.

She saw that most of her friends were equally interested. In fact, the only one that seemed bored of the conversation was Prism, who continued to rub his face, trying to get the mark to come off.

Claire, being the oldest, probably had a deeper insight as to who this “Trixie” pony was, as well as why her dad had called her “fraud”, and there was something in her eyes that Starburst wasn’t sure she liked.

“So, ya don’t know where Ah can send the bill for the apple her son stole?” Mrs. Applejack asked.

“Um, Mom, that was just one apple,” her son Gold pointed out. “Ya even told me ya were considerin’ lettin’ him go.”

“Yeah, but that was before Ah was certain whose son he was. There won’t be any free apples for the spawn of Trixie’s loins while Ah’m the head of the Apple family!”

“Applejack, it’s been over twenty years,” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“She should have thought about it before she tried to make me make an applesauce facial,” the orange earth pony snorted.

“Uh, whatever,” Twilight said, not wanting to argue. “But seeing how she’s not anywhere in Equestria, she’s probably somewhere within the Griffon Kingdom, or Zerba Nations… the latter would explain how her kid can jump around as well as I’ve been told.”

“He had those strange beads on his foreleg,” Starburst spoke up. “Now that I think about it, they looked like they were zebra-made.”

“Would you be able to recognize them?” her mom turned her attention to her. Not wanting to disappoint her, Starburst nodded. “Great, we will go through my books later… it could be a clue as to where his mother is…” she trailed off, her brow furrowed, before she shook her head. “Anyway, will somepony fill me in on what exactly happened here while I take Polestar’s markings off you three?”

Before anypony could speak, Starburst began telling about how they entered the town square and heard Granny Smith’s call. She didn’t do that because she doubted that Mrs. Applejack or somepony else wouldn’t be able to do so, nor did she do it because she considered it a “practice” for making reports when she would get into the Royal Guard. The reason why Starburst felt she should recount the events of the last twenty or so minutes was because she stayed “in combat” with that colt the longest, and as such, her recounting would hold the most details. Which, given how many times he had performed incomprehensible feats, she felt her mother would need if she planned to deal with the thief.

As she talked, Twilight moved to her side, to better see that star-shaped marking on her right hind leg. Having her words in mind how she planned to remove it from her, Prism, and T, Starburst turned slightly to the left. While she began describing how the colt started to jump around the town square, her mom closed her eyes in concentration. From her still glowing horn shoot a beam that connected to the mark, not causing Starburst any pain.

At first, nothing happened, other than that the area around the star began to shine with purple light. After a few second, however, the mark slowly peeled off her coat. Starburst paused her recount of the events to watch as it came off her like a bandage, and began to dissolve in the air.

Shaking her head, she resumed talking, while her mom took of the markings of her friends.

“... and just before you came, Nighty and I saw his right flank through the shreds left by Claire’s claws,” she soon neared the end, but when she was about to mention the last important detail she was interrupted.

“Pardon me, did I get it right?” Claire asked, looking at Starburst with a raised eyebrow. “You were looking at that colt’s flank?”

“Yes, I…” she began to reply, only to trail off as she got what Claire was implying. “Oh, grow up!” Starburst snorted.

“Did you see his cutie mark?” her mom asked curiously over the snorts of laughter of Starburst’s female friends.

“That’s the thing!” She wasted only a split second to wonder why Prism hadn’t joined them in having fun at her expense; T and Gold didn’t because unlike him they were gentlecolts, and Nighty didn’t because he had seen what she had. Starburst knew him well enough to know that his dislike of the colt outweighed the need to make fun of her, for which she was grateful. “I didn’t! He’s right flank is seared off!”

The laughter died as if cut by knife. Everypony stared at her, their mouths wide open. Starburst could understand that. The idea of having such a terrible wound on a body was hardly a pleasant thought, but the loss of a cutie mark, even if only on one side of a body…

I wonder… is his left side similarly marked? she thought with dread.

“That can’t be good…” her mom said thoughtfully.

“Well, duh,” Uncle Spike commented.

Twilight shot her former assistant a sharp glance. “No, I mean that-” she paused. “Nevermind,” the Princess continued after a heartbeat. Turning to Starburst and the others, she said: “You kids can go now, sorry for keeping you.”

Starburst masked her frown. She did not miss the quick glance her mother shot her and her friends when she stopped earlier. The pegasus wasn’t exactly happy that she just got dismissed, and the thought that her mom was trying to keep something secret from her was even more aggravating. 

But she understood. There were some matters that should be kept away from young ponies, and if a burned off flank of somepony was involved, that probably meant that it was such a matter. Since Night Light was here as well, Starburst wasn’t going to protest.

For now…

“Do you need help with anything?” she asked her mom to be sure.

“Thank you for offering, but no. I will examine the town square for magic signatures Starfall may have left behind; it should take only but a second. You all go have fun the rest of the day, just remember to come to me later to look for information about those beads in the library.”

Having no excuse to hang around, Starburst had to accept the fact that she would probably have to wait to question her mother until they were both back home. She and her friends parted with the Princess, the dragon and the farmer, and almost as soon as they were out of earshot, Starburst saw that the trio of grown-ups started talking about something.

“Well, that was most certainly an exciting afternoon break,” Claire began as she started trotting off to the left, in the direction of her jewelry shop. “But I’m afraid I need to get back to my shop. See you guys later.”

“Aw, I hoped she would hang out a bit longer…” Candy muttered unhappily as she watched the dragon/pony hybrid leave. “Well, at least you’re still here Del!”

“Yeah…” Gold said, looking uncomfortable. “Sorry, Candy, Ah gotta go keep an eye on our wares, and then help Ma with packing up…” he trailed off as he noticed the gray mare looking at him with a quivering lip. He sighed. “Look, Ah’ll try to get a free afternoon tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay!” Candy beamed up at his promise.

Gold sighed again and rolled his eyes, smiling. He said his goodbyes and trotted away, waving his hoof.

“Don’t you think of getting out of hanging around with us,” Candy told Starburst, half-jokingly and half-serious.

“Oh, I wouldn’t dare…” Starburst muttered without much enthusiasm.

“Um.. does this apply to me, too?” her little brother asked from beside her. “Because I really need to get back to everypony, I left them at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“No…” Candy muttered, rolling her eyes.

“Why did you teleport to town square, anyway?” Starburst asked, curious.

“Oh, well, um…” Nighty paused, making her that more interested. “After I teleported by accident while playing tag, St- I mean, somepony dared me to do that again but further, so…”

Starburst glared at Prism, making him shriek back despite knowing that his brother had no idea what his dare would lead to. She knew that too, so after a moment she turned to Night Light, sighing. “Nighty, hadn’t I told you to ignore Icy Storm when he dares you into something?”

“Oh, give the little guy a break,” Candy interrupted her cheerfully. The great earth pony raised a hoof to ruffle the smaller unicorn’s mane. “How could a colt back down in front of the girls?” As Starburst gave her a deadpan look, Candy lowered her head to whisper (quite loudly) to Nighty, whose coat grew a bit reder around the cheeks after her comment. “Out of curiosity, which of my sisters - or the other girls - do you ‘like’ more?”

Night Light gave a weak yelp and now his entire face was rapidly changing colors from purple to red. His reaction caused the other mares to gush over how cute he looked, while Prism chuckled, finding his reaction very amusing.

The “I will pull your tail through your mouth if you do not stop laughing this very instance” look Starburst gave him must have been a totally different case as it made him shut up.

“I-I… I don’t I… I mean…” Nighty began stammering, thankfully ignorant of Prism short-lived amusement.

“You’d better run, Nighty,” Starburst told him, quite serious. “She won’t stop otherwise.”

“Aw, come on, this- hey!” Candy gasped as Night Light disappeared in a flash of light. Frowning, she turned to Starburst. “Did you have to scare him off? This was starting to get interesting.”

“Tease your own siblings about who they like,” Starburst replied, glancing up at the sky.

The Anti-Teleport Field was gone.

Mom must have decided it was pointless to keep it up at this point, she mused. The colt had most likely left Ponyville’s limits, and he wouldn’t be stupid enough to come back here.

In the meantime, Candy carried on being annoying. “I do! But they only colts Sugar and Cloudy hang out with are Nighty and Stormy, it gets boring asking about the two same colts over and over again!”

She seriously asks them about things like that? Starburst thought as she looked at her friend in annoyance.

“What’s with your sudden interest in romance, anyway?” Wind asked, voicing the question she had on the tip of her tongue for awhile.

“I just think it’s cute when ponies fall for each other when they’re so young,” Candy replied in a reminiscent voice.

A bit too reminiscent voice...

Well, that explains why she was so disappointed that Gold wasn’t going to join us, Starburst concluded. I felt there was something off with those two for some time now.

“You know” the gray pony trailed off, glancing smugly at Wind and Prism, “just like you two were. Speaking of which, are you going to get back to each other?”

“What!?” the two pegasi said in unision.

They glanced at each other, red all over their faces, then back at Candy.

“With him?!”

“With her?!”

“Candy, that was ages ago!” Wind added in bit calmer tone.

“Yeah, and it was just kids stuff!” Prism continued, still aggravated.

“Yep, and it was still cute!” Candy replied, smirking.

“You know, I think I was supposed to clean the house yesterday before my folks came back,” Prism stated nervously, very badly masking that he wasn’t thinking about what Candy said. The fact he avoided looking at both her and Wind wasn’t helping him. “I’ll see you guys later, let me know when the guards catch this colt!” he called back as he flew away. “I’ll want to give him a piece of my mind!”

“Yeah, I need to go as well, sorry,” Wind said, also flying away. “I have a… thing to do…”

Oh, for the love of… Starburst thought as she spotted the quick glance Wind threw at the disappearing further Prism.

She glanced at Candy, not sure how the gray pony was going to take the departure of their friends. To her surprise - and mild distress - the pink-and-white maned earth pony was looking from one disappearing pegasus to another, deep in thoughts.

Before either she, Annie or T could ask her what was she thinking, Candy gasped. “Yes, it’s decided! Starburst! Turquoise Blitz! Anthea!” she called out their names as she turned to them. “We’re going to get Prism and Wind together!”

Just when I thought this day wasn’t going to get any more ridiculous…

“Um, Candy…” T said uncomfortably. “I’m not sure if that would be a good idea…”

“Oh? Why not?”

“Well, for starters…” The green dragon/pony hybrid looked at Annie and Starburst, searching for help.

Starburst just shrugged; at this point, she planned to run away as soon as an opportunity presented to her, so it didn’t really matter to her what they were going to do.

Annie, on the other hoof, spoke up. “I think we should try.”

Unfortunately for T, she didn’t agree with him.

Okay, that’s it, Starburst decided when Annie huddled closer to Candy and the two began discussion how to get that with this idea.

Taking advantage of the fact that the gray pony’s attention wasn’t on her, she quickly made her escape. As she was about to disappear behind a corner of a house, Starburst locked eyes with T briefly. He shot her a pleading look, making her feel somehow bad for leaving him behind with this situation, but she had bigger things on her mind.





Once Starburst reached her family’s mansion, she immediately headed for the library to her mom’s study. Starburst found her searching through some old books, as expected.

“Hi Mom,” she called out as she entered the library, making the alicorn look up.

“Oh, perfect, you’re back already,” her mom smiled. She turned her head to the side and used her horn to levitated one of the books. “Could you take a look at these, and let me know when you see beads similar to those Starfall wore on his hoof?” she asked as she passed her the book.

“Sure,” Starburst immediately replied; she didn’t get a chance to work with her mom on something other than royal matters too often. 

She took the tome and sat down by one of the tables. “Do you think those beads will have anything to do with why a colt around my age is so freakishly powerful?”

She glanced through the pages written in Zebra; she could read and understand it with some difficulty, but she was just supposed to find one kind of beads, so her eyes were mostly on the pictures. Zebras made many different beads, to either ward some things off or attract others, like luck and such, so this task could take her a while.

“‘Freakishly powerful’?” Starburst’s mom repeated the giggled. “Oh, Star, you fell right into his illusion.”

“Huh?” she asked incoherently, looking up from the book. “What do you mean?”

“Misdirection, my dear,” her mom explained. “A magic performer’s main tool. Starfall made you think he’s a powerful unicorn, when in truth he isn’t. Do you remember how you told me how he seemed out of breath on the roof after you hit him?” she asked, and then looked at her sternly. “And on a side note, if it weren’t for Starfall trying to blow up those poor guards at the time, I would have scolded you for threatening him with the spear.”

Starburst rolled her eyes. “Okay, so he exerted himself with all that jumping. So-”

“No, he exerted himself by countering Clarity’s flames,” Twilight interrupted her. “I believe this was the first spell that had actually taxed him today.”

“B-but that doesn’t make sense!” Starburst protested. “He had casted a complicated illusion on all of us, made the puppet, and all that teleporting… Mom, you yourself were surprised that he could do this Polestar Spell!”

“Ah, yes, the Polestar Spell… Do you want to hear about it?”

Starburst nodded. She might not have her mother’s interest in magic, but the Captain of the Royal Guard would have to understand all possible threats that come from the unicorns who abuse powerful spells like those.

Twilight smiled, most likely grateful for her attention on the matter they so rarely could talk about with a mutual interest. “Well… Star Swirl the Bearded was its original creator. He was looking for a way to increase teleportation’s efficiency. As you know, teleporting over long distances can be really taxing for a unicorn, or even for an alicorn. Also, there is also the matter of transporting objects or other ponies along with the caster, which costs even more from the unicorn. Star Swirl hoped to come up with a way to make teleportation more accessible for traveling and transport purposes.”

The alicorn paused to pick up one of the scrolls that lied on her desk and show it to Starburst. It displayed some magic formulas she could only somewhat understand, and a draft of a star symbol, similar to the one she had on her hoof not so long ago.

“He discovered that, if a pony would record his magic on an object - or a different pony - then he could actually teleport to it with just a thought, without even casting a spell,” Twilight said, but the her mood grew sour. “But in the end, Star Swirl the Bearded had to abandon this spell.”

“Wait, what?” Starburst exclaimed.

“Recording your magic isn’t a simple matter,” her mom began explaining. “A unicorn has to separate a part of her or his essence and leave it out of their body. It’s basically the same principle as when casting a Duplication Spell. This is extremely difficult, and if a unicorn isn’t careful, they can end up exhausting themselves very quickly. Are you following this?”

“Yes… I think,” Starburst replied. “But then how did this colt had learned to do it without passing out from exhaustion? And why could he leave those markings just by touch? He didn’t cast any spell when jumping around, or when touching T’s chest.”

“Well, since the Polestar Spell is basically recording a pony’s own magic, and not casting a spell, a physical contact is all that it’s required to leave a mark. As to how Starfall had managed to make the spell work…” she trailed off. “Humor me on this one: when you saw him cast that water shield in a hurry, the aura of his magic was multi-colored, like those two sphere he put in those water copies, or when creating that Jōki Cōlt, right?”

When Starburst nodded, the alicorn smiled: “And before that? Whirlwind told me in passing that his horn glowed with blue light.”

It suddenly light up lights in Starburst mind. “Yes, it did! And after that…” she concentrated to remember better. “I think a it was paler…”

Twilight nodded. “Of course, a unicorn changing the aura’s color of his magic is unheard off. However, I think I might have an idea how he does that. Remember how I asked you if you saw his cutie mark? Well, as you know, a unicorn’s magic usually has the same aura color as the main color of their cutie mark. But… what would happen if the cutie mark of a unicorn was a palette of colors, all mushed together like an-”

“Like an aurora!” Starburst finished for her. “So you think that’s his cutie mark color?”

“I believe so,” the alicorn smiled, visibly pleased with her daughter. “Now, hypothetically, if there was such a pony, then it could be possible that the unicorn could learn how to distinct one color over the others, like blue, for example. With a pony who seemingly uses his magic as if it was a magic show, it would seem to make a lot of sense for him to learn that.”

“So he can distinct one specific color of his magic aura over the others…” Starburst said slowly, thinking her words through; she really wanted to impress her mom by figuring this part out. “and in that case… it should be really easy for him to figure out how to leave behind a minimal amount of magic while leaving a recording of it somewhere for this Polestar Spell!”

“Exactly!” Twilight exclaimed proudly. “And that’s not just it; by mastering this skill, Starfall had also managed to use all those simple spells to make it seem that he was really powerful. Remember who he caught you and your friends into an illusion? That should have been impossible, right? Most illusion spells affect vision, unless they are cast by a specialist. But tell me: what he did before you started seeing him stretch out his body?”

“He… bursted those bubbles?”

“Yes! Now, as he was able to make the magic in them explode on contact and leave his mark on its victims… why would you assume that’s all it did? I believe Starfall manipulated magic residue in the water when those bubbles bursted into air. You all inhaled small bits of it along with air, and the magic spread through your body and into your brain, affecting your senses!”

“You mean we had parts of him in our bodies?!” Starburst asked, repulsed by the idea.

“Fascinating, isn’t it!?” her mom asked in return oblivious to her discomfort. “Also, by distincting a bit more of his magic, he was able to create those water copies by gathering the humidity left by the explosion of steam, as well as that remotely controlled puppet! And all the while using just basic unicorn spells of levitation and - simple for him, at least - color changing! Trixie must be so proud of him!”

Hearing the enthusiasm in her mother’s voice, Starburst could only facehoof. “Wasn’t Trixie some fraud you chased out from Ponyville?” she wondered out loud.

Her comment made the alicorn scowl. “Remind me to have a talk with Uncle Spike,” she said, calming down. “That story was a bit more complicated… and she wasn’t exactly a fraud-”

“Didn’t she claim that she had vanquished an Ursa Major?”

“-except for that part,” her mom amended with a roll of eyes. “But she was a travelling magician; she was bound to exaggerate her abilities.”

“And the Alicorn Amulet…” Starburst continued.

Her mom shot her an annoyed look. “True, that’s another reason why she never became friends with us,” she admitted. “She apologized afterwards, and that’s what important. When she disappeared from the face of Equestria about twenty years ago, I was actually a bit worried. So when I spotted her fifteen years ago in Canterlot, I invited them for a tea in the Castle.”

“Wait…” Starburst cut in; she did not miss the word the alicorn had used. “‘Them’?”

“Yes, her and her son, Starfall,” her mom explained, smiling… very oddly. Using her magic, she reached out to another book that laid on her desk. “Tell me, do you recognize those two ponies?”

Starburst stared at the book’s cover, confused. It was their old family photo’s album. What could possibly her mom want her to see in it?

She got her answer as soon as she took a look at the picture on the page the alicorn opened the album on. It showed two foals; one was Starburst herself, easily recognizable even with her wings so small on this photograph. The other foal…

“Is… is that..?” Starburst stammered, staring at the blue unicorn foal with a blue-and-white mane.

Her eyes were glued to the photograph, but she could hear the smirk her mother wore. “Yes, that’s Starfall.”

What completely stunned Starburst wasn’t merely the fact that the colt she had met today was actually on a photograph next to her when they were both foals. No, what made her stare at the picture with her jaw dropped was that they were both asleep on it, curled up together very tightly.

It took her a while to find her voice again. “If… you’ll excuse me,” Starburst managed to say after she did. “I think I’ll go take a bath in a boiling-hot water…”

She had actually began to turn around, but her mother’s magic took hold of her. “Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” Princess Twilight sighed as she levitated her to make her sit next to her.

“‘Ridiculous’?!” Starburst repeated, not believing her mother just said that; she thought she was repulsed before by the thought of his magic affecting her through the air she had breathed, but this… “The colt that embarrassed me, you, my friends and my entire town, not to mention he nearly blew up Nighty, had hugged me as a foal and we slept together!”

“Oh, you make it sound like this is a big deal,” her mom giggled, amused by her reaction. “It’s actually kind of sad to see you act like that, given what happened that day.”

Even though she was afraid to hear the answer, she still asked: “Why? What happened?”

Her mom’s grin was even bigger than it was during their last visit in the Star Swirl the Bearded Travelling Museum. “Weeeell, when Trixie came to the castle with her son - per my invitation, you were just born a few weeks earlier, and I thought it would be nice for you to play with a foal your age - you two immediately became inseparable!”

“Oh goodness…” Starburst muttered with dread.

“You two giggled happily at the sight of each other and started playing with toys while laughing cutely,” the alicorn continued, either oblivious to her daughter’s distraught or simply finding it hilarious. “Trixie and I found that really amusing, especially since both of you are named ‘Star’. We left you two in your room under the watch of one of the Castle’s maids while we went to drink some tea and talk in a bit quieter environment. It wasn’t until a few hours later that we heard what you two had done.”

“W-what do you mean?” Starburst asked, resigned to her fate. Surely, nothing at this point could be worse…

… it was.

“You had run away from your foalsitter and went on a chase across the entire Castle,” her mom giggled. “Between your flying and Starfall’s magic surges you made quite an unstoppable combo for the Castle’s staff. No guard could catch you, and the mess you left in your wake had caused several ponies to break down and cry!”

The entire Castle’s staff… Starburst echoed weekly. That’s it. My life had been ruined since I was a foal…

“It was really a stroke of luck that you two bumped into Princess Celestia at some point, otherwise who knows what could have happened.”

“Wait, Princess Celestia?!” the pegasus princess exclaimed; how much more there could be?! “Please please please, tell me Illusion doesn’t know about this! If he does, and Claire tells him about this colt, then he will figure out that’s him and I won’t hear the end of it-”

Her speaking had approached the speed of Candy’s or her mom’s, but thankfully Twilight stopped her by placing a hoof on her mouth. “Star, calm down. Take a deep breath.”

Taking support from her mom’s calm demeanor, Starburst had somehow managed to inhale deeply through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. She repeated the process a couple times while the alicorn spoke.

“No, Illusion doesn’t know; he was away from Canterlot the entire day with his father. And even if he did, what of it? You were just a foal then.”

Starburst fought the urge to shake her head. Her mom just wouldn’t understand that there are some things other ponies would never let them live down, even if they happened so long ago.

“So, um… what did Princess Celestia do when we… bumped into her?” she asked uncomfortably; she really hoped that hadn't been her first meeting with her.

“She caught you - which still wasn’t exactly easy - and brought you back to me and Trixie. After she had finished apologizing for Starfall, Trixie tried to leave.”

“‘Tried’?” Starburst wasn’t really sure at this point if she wanted to know what else had happened on that day.

“You two started crying almost as soon as Trixie said ‘Say goodbye to your friend’,” her mom answered, making Starburst groan and slam her forehead against the desk. “After a few seconds we just didn’t have the heart to separate you two so soon, so Trixie had decided to stay a while longer, waiting for both of you to fall asleep. That’s when I took the picture,” she added, sighing. “It’s such a pity your dad was also away from Canterlot, you looked so cute… though given that it was a colt you were sleeping with, it might have actually been better, huh?”

“Mom, please, do not even joke like that…” the pegasus managed to mumble with her face pressed against the desk.

Twilight giggled in reply. “Sorry… but anyway, after you fell asleep, Trixie picked up Starfall and left. I offered to help her find some job around Canterlot - as I suspected a great deal of crying once a certain somepony would wake up - but she was too prideful to accept help.”

Starburst groaned as she lifted herself, calmed down a bit. “So... what happened to them after that?” she asked as she returned to her task.

“Trixie travelled from town to town, performing magic tricks, at least for a few years; however, I stopped hearing about her about nine years ago,” her mom said in a slightly worried tone. “As I’ve mentioned, she had disappeared earlier as well, so I wasn’t that worried… aside from the fact that you would have never see Starfall again.” Starburst rolled her eyes as she turned the pages of the book about zebra beads. “But now, with him coming to Ponyville like that… I’ve been looking through some old newspapers to pinpoint where exactly Trixie performed last.”

Starburst looked up from the book to the stacks of newspaper on the desk… and those under it… and the pile next to it… She hadn’t paid much attention to them when she entered; her mom always had about half her library next to her when working. But… that was certainly a lot of material to read through.

The alicorn must have noticed her gaze, because she explained: “Trixie might not have been my friend, but she was still another pony, and one that I knew; if something bad has happened to her, then I’d want to help her.”

The pegasus nodded, accepting the explanation, as she turned another page.. and stopped.

“This is it!” she called out, exited. “Those are the beads he had been wearing!”

She looked more closely at the symbols, small stones, pearls and what not that were on it, a lot of them marked by cuts and markings. Yes, that was it, no doubt about it!

“Let me see…” her mom said, squishing the stand beside her. She looked thoughtfully at the discretion under the picture, which Starburst had some difficulties to read. “Hm, interesting…”

“What?” Starburst asked. “What does those beads do?

“They ward off bad dreams and nightmares,” Twilight replied, her eyes still on the text,

“‘Bad dreams and nightmares’? That’s it?” the pegasus asked in disbelief. When her mom nodded, she snorted. “What a waste  of time…”

“Not necessarily…” the alicorn spoke up. Though her words said otherwise, she seemed... troubled. “I think that might be an interesting clue when taking into account Starfall’s show today. You see, these beads protect the one wearing it from nightmares… but…” she trailed off, to look Starburst in the eyes. “what’s interesting, is that they would also keep Princess Luna from entering his dreams.”
> Star's Shadow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Panting after the endeavour, Starburst gazed down with satisfaction. Her enemy laid up in chains at her hooves, captured after a hard-fought battle. And it was all thanks to her incredible skills.
 
Everywhere she looked, ponies were gazing upon her with admiration in their eyes. Everypony, including her friends, saw that it was because of her that the town got rid of a terrible threat. For once she didn’t hear Prism make any smart-tail comments, and was genuinely cheering her on along with the others. Already, Starburst could see a few battered royal guards murmuring between themselves and nodding, undoubtedly all saying that she should join their ranks now, disregarding her young age.
 
Trying to keep her emotions under control, Starburst focused at the pony she had bested. “Got anything to say before you’ll be put in prison, scum?” she asked, her face twisting into snarl as she recalled her captive’s crimes.
 
The pony quivered. “Yeah…” he muttered weakly. “I have a… request…” the unicorn stopped abruptly. Before Starburst had a chance to blink, he was standing erect on his hooves, his face inches from hers.
 
“Can we sleep together again?” Starfall asked, grinning from ear to ear.
 





 
The much oversized bed for a pony her size squeaked as Starburst woke up with a start.
 
Breathing heavily, as if she had flown upwind for an hour, the pegasus princess moved up on her bed to sit with her back against the wall. Her heart was pounding; the dream, despite being more ridiculous that terrifying, had scared her. Starburst knew that it wasn’t really that scary, and yet… as she tried to remember the grin on Starfall’s face, the glee in his eyes as he spoke, knowing full well that she would had became a laughing stock of the entire kingdom…

I’m beginning to see the pros of having beads that can keep Princess Luna away from your nightmares, Starburst thought in annoyance, as she started using her mom’s and aunt’s breathing exercise to calm down, while at the same time thanking her lucky star that the Princess of the Night hadn’t peeked into her dreams tonight.
 
Why was she dreaming about him, anyway? Was it because of what her mom told her? That they were friends for a day, even if they were infants at the time? Or maybe she dreamed that because she wanted to capture the thief herself, to make up for letting him escape and make fool out of everypony.
 
I should have captured him, Starburst admitted, rubbing her eyes, but instead I let him lead me by the nose. And later, I hadn’t figured out his plan fast enough to warn Mom…
 
But could she somehow do that? Starfall had managed to elude all her friends, the royal guards and outsmart her mom of all ponies. His abilities were so above her class-
 
No, she stopped herself. Starburst went over the events of that transpired in the town square. I hit him. Nopony else did, she realized with a satisfied smirk. There’s more to winning than just skills and abilities. Just like he outsmarted Mom, I outsmarted him. If I could do it once, I can do it again.
 
She allowed herself to fantasize about capturing a pony that escaped even from her mother. Starburst had a problem figuring how exactly she could go about that - especially since she had no idea where to look for the colt - as every idea and scenario she could come up with could be immediately countered by Starfall’s abilities.
 
The main problem would be his Polestar Spell, she eventually summed up, the sleep completely forgotten. He would have to be within Anti-Teleportation Field… which means Mom would have to cast it again.
 
She rolled her eyes. It’s not like she had actually planned on capturing him without anypony’s help; that would have been clearly out of her league. But if everypony else would just keep her covered while she fights him, she could accept that as her win.
 
Aside from the Polestar Spell, the biggest risks are his affinity with light and water, and his agility. It would be best if I could corner him someplace where there would be no water. Also, it would be good to do it around noon as well, for the weather should be so sunny that his light tricks would lose some of their flashiness. As for his agility… a flat terrain. Without any buildings, trees, or rocks for him to jump on and from, that thief should get tired pretty quickly.
 
A smile crept on her muzzle. She wondered if she should tell her parents about the conclusions she came to after analyzing Starfall’s abilities. Of course, Starburst expected that they had already figured out what she just did, but if she could prove to them that she was taking this matter seriously, then maybe they would allow her to help with the capture?
 
Yeah, she fought, savoring the image of that thief in chains and lying at her hooves, that would be-
 
-just like in her dream.
 
A squeal escaped her as she recalled the last part of her dream. No, not dream, Starburst corrected herself as she shook her head, a nightmare!
 
The thought that he could say something like that was terrifying her. He just… just… Starburst stammered in her head as she rose from the bed and began trotting in circles, just... came out and said as if-
 
Wait, what am I doing? she paused, sitting down on her haunches. That was a dream! It’s not going to happen in real life! I mean, nopony can be so shameless to-
 
Starburst once again paused. Actually, there was one pony she knew off that could be so shameless, and that happened to be the pony in question.
 
Oh, come on! she hit herself before she started panicking again. He was just a foal! He cannot possibly remember that!
 
As the thought entered her head, she relaxed. If she didn’t remember him, then he also didn’t remember her. The more she repeated that in her mind, the more convinced she was that she didn’t have to fear Starfall reveal that they ‘slept together’ to the entire Ponyville.
 
How could I get so worked up by that stupid dream? Starburst rolled eyes at herself, rising from the bed again.
 
The clock in her bedroom showed her that she had still three hours left of sleep before she would have to start getting ready for school. Starburst sighed with irritation; she didn’t want to fall asleep, she wanted to go after that stupid colt and teach him some respect!
 
Oh, and she was a bit thirsty, too.
 
Might as well go drink some water… she thought as she scanned her room lazily.
 
From the slumber parties Candy dragged her along, Starburst knew that she had a bigger room than any of her friends, both here and in Canterlot. Not that it really mattered to her; she used the extra space mostly for practicing battle stances and or doing push-ups or something. That was really useful when she was staying in Canterlot, as she didn’t have too big of a choice where to practice.
 
Her room, both in Ponyville and in Canterlot, was much modest than one would think a princess would have. Granted, there were a few drawers and shelves, hiding some dresses and jewelry she had to wear from time to time on special occasions. There was a table next to the windows (hidden behind drapes ornamented with the symbol of her cutie mark) where she did her homework, and under it was a small stuffed kennel, where her ferret, Snow, slept.
 
Still offended, she thought with a roll of her eyes. Snow was a friendly pet, but whenever they would move from one place to another so unexpectedly, he would take an offense and would ignore her for a day or so. Which so happened to be part of the reason Starburst usually left him in Annie’s mom care when her family was going somewhere for just a couple days. Maybe if he would wake up to find me offering him a treat it would improve his mood… the pegasus pondered as she rose from her bed and stretched out. She hopped off her bed (a few years back she tried sleeping on the floor, to have some ‘grooming’ before she would sleep in royal guards barrack, but she had to quit it after mom caught her) and flew towards the door quietly.
 
There wasn’t anything like curfew made by her parents that would cause guards to escort her back to her room, but Starburst still did her best to avoid them. It was a game she made up for herself soon after she had learned how to fly; originally for fun, now for practice. After so many years, she could now go to the other side of the mansion and come back without being spotted by patrols.
 
That kinda should have had them fired… she mused, like she did every time when she was doing that; it was, after all, the matter of her family’s safety at stake here. However, like every other time, she eventually came to a conclusion that if somepony would enter the mansion unannounced, the alarm spells her mom had placed would go off, so it really didn’t matter. She shook her head and turned away from the shine of the patrolling unicorn’s horn that she just passed… and saw a light coming from her mom’s library.
 
Intrigued, Starburst completely forgot about the water and Snow’s treat, and flew to the doors. She could hear both of her parents talking about something; could it be related to the colt? Did they found him?
 
“... I mean, can you believe at this timing?” her mom was just asking her father when Starburst stretched her ears. “It had to happen just now, hadn’t it?!”
 
Is something wrong? Starburst wondered, deciding to remain hidden; if this was something important, then there was a high chance that they would stop talking the moment she would walk in.
 
“Don’t worry, Twi,” Dad spoke in a calming voice. “Me and the rest of the guard will be fine on our own. I mean, he is just a colt.”
 
Starburst crept a bit closer when she noticed that they must be speaking about Starfall. “A colt that found a way to complete the spell even Star Swirl the Bearded couldn’t,” Mom pointed out. “He isn’t just a colt, Flash. If he were, then Star would have caught him without anypony’s help. You know she’s already a better fighter than about half of the royal guard.”
 
A flush of pride came over Starburst as she heard her mom’s praise. “But the fact is: he managed to elude her and her friends, overpower six guards, and outsmart me. He won’t be captured easily.”
 
“Especially you insisted on not harming him, unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
 
“Well,” Mom replied, and Starburst could practically feel the annoyed gaze she shot at Dad, “he is Star’s age; do you honestly say that you would want to hurt him?”
 
“Of course not,” Dad assured her. “But there are a few amongst the guards that had a different view on a colt that tried to blow up their friends.”
 
“Which is why you need to capture Starfall as soon as possible, while I go to the Crescent Lagoon for the peace summit.”
 
Wait, what? I thought that she didn’t have any duties for the next couple of days…
 
Starburst question was soon answered: “I still cannot believe that the sea ponies and the zebra had to pick such time to escalate this stupid conflict… now they’re almost ready for war, and Celestia and I need to go there and smooth things out.”
 
That comment made everything obvious to her: some time ago, about a month, an earthquake caused a portion of the Zebra Nation - rich portion - to slid into the ocean. The sea ponies of Aquestria had quickly claimed it as their own, for it was now an island half-submerged in the water. The two kinds had been arguing over the ownership of the land ever since. Now, it would appear that the argument had evolved into a prelude to war.
 
Most ponies in her situation might have started worrying. Starburst didn’t. She’d seen her mother deal with such issues before, and if Princess Celestia was going to be there as well, the shops on that island might as well start selling t-shirts that say “Zebras♥Sea Ponies”.
 
“Anyway, let’s get back to the topic of Starfall,” she heard Mom say and immediately returned to eavesdropping. She heard a pock as the alicorn poked something that started swinging “I prepared this crystal to counter his Polestar Spell, once a unicorn activates it it will cast an Anti-Teleportation Field on the area that will be required; it will grow bigger if he tries to escape. I managed to calibrate the magic resonance to match Starfall’s, meaning that only he will be affected; the unicorn guards you’ll bring with you will be able to teleport.”
 
A grin appeared on Starburst’s muzzle. She hoped to see the look on that thief’s face once he realized that.
 
“But once we eliminate his Polestar Spell, there will be still the matter of his other skills,” her mother continued. “He’s very agile, his magic has an affinity with water and light, and above all, he’s very cunning. Also, I believe that he can use Polestar Spell for more than teleporting instantly; Star told me he could dodge attacks without looking. Perhaps he somehow figured out how to use his marks to increase his perception’s field.”
 
That… makes sense, I suppose. Didn’t think magic could work like that, though.
 
“Hm. Well, anyway, the first two won’t be a problem,” Dad replied. “I managed to get guards Inferno and Blaze temporarily transferred here.”
 
“Ah,” Mom exclaimed, and there was, without a doubt, a touch of worry in her voice, “the ‘Fire Twins’?”
 
She wasn’t the only one that knew them. Starburst did as well; two of the most elite unicorns within the Royal Guard, Inferno and Blaze were specialists when it came to fire spells.
 
“Don’t worry, I don’t plan to have the colt get more parts of body seared than he already has,” Dad said with assurance, and Starburst had an unpleasant flashback to the moment when she got the sight of the thief’s right flank. “The twins will use their spells around him, so that the humidity in the air will be gone, and he won’t be able to use it.”
 
Starburst blinked. Why hadn’t I thought of that?
 
“Why hadn’t I thought of that?” Mom echoed her question. “Flash, that’s brilliant!”
 
“I have my moments.”
 
“Just make sure they know to not actually hit him. And it would be good if you could keep the fighting in a secluded area… preferably away from the swimming hole or the river.”
 
“I also thought about it,” Dad confessed. “There’s a perfect spot near the border of the Everfree Forest that should do. It’s also flat, so there goes his agility.”
 
“How do you plan to lure him there?” Mom inquired.
 
“‘Lure him’? I was thinking about using five unicorns to teleport him, me, the twins, a wingteam of pegasi armed with ropes and inhibitor rings, and themselves there from wherever we’ll find him.”
 
“My, somepony certainly did his homework…” Mom purred.
 
Yucchh!
 
“I try my best when I see you caring so much,” Dad replied, his voice also lowering. “Whatever happened to his mother, you don’t blame yourself, right?” he asked, uncertainly.
 
Mom sighed. “I kinda do,” she admitted, much to Starburst’s annoyance. She didn’t even know yet if something had happened to Trixie, the pony who had once kicked her out of Ponyville! There was being a caring Princess that wants what’s best for everypony, and there’s feeling blame over a mare like Trixie. “I cannot stop wondering how her son would have turned up if I had managed to convince her to accept my help and find a more… stable work than a traveling magician, somewhere in Canterlot…” Mom once again sighed. “But that’s in the past,” she said, her voice hardening.” Wherever Trixie is, her son broke the law, and unlike when she took over Ponyville, ponies had been hurt by him. His spell would have harmed Nighty and Star if he hadn’t acted then. Had he not save them… I don’t want to think about it.”
 
“Me neither,” Dad added quietly. “So,” he said in a more briskly voice. “Is there anything else I should know about this son of your old enemy/acquaintance?”
 
“Oh right!” Mom exclaimed. Starburst’s eyes widened in surprise; what more there was?
 
She gasped. On no… she’s not going to tell him about me sleeping with him, isn’t she?!
 
“He’s of a dragon lineage.” Starburst sighed with relief, and then blinked. Huh? “The vertical narrow pupils and fangs are marks of having a dragon somewhere amongst one’s ancestors… unless it’s a bat pony we’re talking about, and then it’s a bat pony of course.”
 
Fangs? I don’t recall him having those… Starburst trailed off, trying to recall. Surely, given how often he had grinned, she would have noticed, right?
 
No, she decided quickly. ‘Misdirection’. His eyes were drawing my attention. I wasn’t looking at his teeth.
 
“Dragon blood can have strange effects on ponies,” Mom continued her lecture. “Claire, for example, who’s a half-dragon, can hardly use magic, but she’s very agile. T, on the other hoof, is really strong and has wings, but can’t use magic at all. Unfortunately, there haven’t been many hybrids in history to exactly compare all of them.”
 
“How much of a dragon is Starfall?”
 
“Given the lack of anything else separating him from ponies, and what I managed to find about descendant of ponies and dragons… I would say that he’s at best a dragon in one eighth, maybe less.
 
“I don’t suppose you know who his father is?” Dad asked after a few seconds, and Starburst ears perked with interest.
 
“Not a clue,” Mom replied, much to her disappointment. “I asked Trixie, of course, but she didn’t tell me, so I stopped praying. Although…” she trailed off. “Spike told me that he… thinks he saw those eyes somewhere before, but he cannot place it.”
 
“The dragon migration?” Dad suggested. “Maybe there was a dragon there with red eyes. It could be Starfall’s ancestor.”
 
“Maybe…”
 
“I cannot believe that you stopped pestering Trixie, though,” Dad said, and Starburst was sure there was a smirk on his face. “I mean, a foal with red dragon eyes?”
 
“What difference does it make what color they were?” Mom replied in her defense.
 
“Oh, not a big one, except for two things,” Dad said with amusement as he trotted closer to her. “One: red is a much rarer color for eyes than blue; and two:” the trotting stopped, right next to Mom if Starburst ear was right, “we both know how curious you are about everything.”
 
Mwah.
 
Wait, what?
 
To Starburst terror, she heard her mother squeak in surprise and delight in reply to the kiss. “Flash! I don’t have time for-” Mwah. “Oh you naughty-” Mwah. The sound of kissing was followed by the sound of something heavy moving against the library’s desk, everything happening in like two seconds. Her mom giggled. “Okay, Mister-”

Okay, I’m getting the buck out of here, Starburst snapped and flew back to her room, trying to not think about what was happening in the library right now.





The sound of her alarm clock had never been as irritating as today. The thought of what her parents could be doing right now had loomed large in Starburst mind. When she finally fell asleep, it must have been like ten minutes before her alarm went off, judging by how she felt.
 
She groaned and rubbed her eyes, when she felt something very light land on her chest. “Morning Snow,” Starburst said, yawning. “Guess you’re not mad anymore about moving, huh?”
 
Snow dooked in response and nuzzled against her chest, making Starburst chuckle. “Okay,” she told him, rising, “what do you say we-”
 
The moment she opened eyes she stammered. That thief was staring back at her.
 
Starburst blinked, not believing what she was seeing… and saw the albino ferret tilt his head in confusion.
 
Starburst facehoofed. What was the matter with her? “Sorry, I… thought I saw something…” she murmured to Snow, petting him with her other hoof.
 
How could I see that colt when I looked at him? the pegasus thought as Snow dooked softly. I mean, just because they both red eyes…
 
Her jaw dropped when she realized what just crossed her mind.
 
Six years ago…

“Coming!” a soft voice came from the cottage and within a second, the door they just knocked on were open. “How was your day- Oh!” the yellow pegasus with pink mane said timidly, probably surprised to see so two ponies at her door. “Good morning Star! Annie, you should have told me you would bring your friends with you, I would have make you all some snacks to eat.”
 
“Sorry, Mom,” Annie replied as Starburst said her greetings. “Mrs. Cheerilee gave us projects to do in groups of two, so we wanted to get started right away.”
 
As Miss Fluttershy began asking if they would need any help, Starburst took a look around. Annie wasn’t kidding when she said that her house was crawling with animals; there were birds peeking at her from the treehouses on the walls, small mice running around the floor, and an old white rabbit resting on the couch
 
So, that’s Angel? she wondered, curious. Why is Uncle so grumpy every time somepony mentions his name? He’s kinda cute.
 
She was contemplating whether to pet him or not, but on their way here Annie warned her not to do that, so she gave up. Probably, the small thing was so old and fragile that he would get hurt by a slight touch. Starburst turned around to check if they could go to Annie’s room already when she saw something that made her pause: two red eyes looking at her from the shadow of a pet’s kennel.
 
“Hey, who’s there?” she called out-loud, intrigued, as she trotted towards the red dots.
 
“Hm?” she heard Miss Fluttershy’s voice; her eyes were on the kennel. “Oh, that’s a baby ferret I found in a sack that was floating down the river. How could anypony do something like that!?” the gentle pegasus exclaimed in a not-so-gentle tone.
 
By now Starburst had reached the kennel, just as she was about to call out to the small critter, the ferret poked its head out of the shadows. She had barely contained a gasp; it was so cute! Its small white muzzle, it small little paws, its flaming red eyes…
 
“Hi there,” she said quietly, reaching to it with a hoof. The ferret backed away slightly. “Don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hurt you...”
 
Slowly, very slowly, the albino ferret extended its muzzle and sniffed her hoof, and then nuzzled it with its head.
 
“Oh, he likes you!” Miss Fluttershy whispered quietly, sounding really happy.
 
“I didn’t know you like ferrets, Star,” Annie said, sounding a bit surprised, as she walked up beside her. “Or pets in general for that matter.”
 
“Oh, I don’t… I mean...” she mumbled, wondering about the interest she took in the ferret as she pet its head. “I think... I really like his eyes,” she blurted. It was true; his eyes were what had captivated her and made her come over to him. “They’re so cute.”
 
Present day…
 
“Oh dear Celestia, I decided to have a pet because it reminded me somehow of a colt I knew when I was a baby,” Starburst exclaimed, facehooving again.
 
Snow once again looked at her in confusion. She decided to not dwell on what he must be thinking about this unusual behaviour of hers. The pegasus was also not going to dwell on the issue; so she got Snow because it reminded her of… him. Big deal. “Nevermind,” she told the critter, finally getting off the bed. “I was just remembering the day we met,” Starburst confessed, glancing at him. After a second she gave up and began petting Snow again. “And you’re as still cute as then!”
 
The ferret, left at the mercy of her onslaught of affection, could only make his cute chattering noise as he rolled on the bed.
 





 
“Hi Star! I-”
 
“No.”
 
“But I didn’t even-”
 
“No.”
 
“I just wanted-”
 
“No.”
 
“WOULD YOU LISTEN TO ME?!!!” Candy finally exploded.
 
Starburst glanced at the enraged mare. It was a recess; Starburst and her friends usually spent their time on one of the picnic tables at the edge of school limits. Today, however, she was the first to appear, and she already began eating some apples she had for lunch before she spotted Candy happily trotting in her direction.
 
She sighed then, suspecting what the earth pony was going to ask her. As if this day hadn’t started bad enough, she thought.
 
One she had reached the smaller living room (the one more private) to eat breakfast this morning, Starburst asked her father if she could perhaps join the search for the thief after school. He disagreed, saying that he and the Guard would handle him. Hearing the answer, Starburst dropped the issue; she knew her dad wouldn’t change his mind, and he was right. Given how well-prepared he and his team were, she’d be useless there.
 
Saying goodbye to Mom also hadn’t been easy. Starburst hated it whenever she had to travel so far away. It was bad enough that they didn’t have much in common with each other and as such they hardly had any conversation topics, but not having her around was just… saddening. And to make the matter worse, the Crescent Lagoon, where the peace summit was going to be held, was a place filled with strange magic that made magical means of communications impossible. In other words, Starburst wouldn’t hear from her mother for days at best.
 
And now she had to deal with this.
 
“Candy,” she told her friend seriously, “I don’t care what half-flank scheme you came up with to get Wind and Prism together, I already told Annie that I don’t want to be a part of it, and I’m most certainly not going to use my position as a princess to help you.”
 
“What?!” Candy exclaimed, making a rather good attempt in pretending that wasn’t a part of her plan. “Why would you even think that-”
 
“Because otherwise you wouldn’t have bothered with recruiting me, knowing too well that I won’t want to have anything to do with it,” Starburst replied flatly, returning her attention to the apple.
 
Truth to be told, in spite of all her sternness and seriousness, she actually enjoyed hanging out with everypony… to some extent. Because of that, Starburst was kind of grateful for Candy’s constant ‘forcing’ her to tag along to whatever the rest was up to. But there were some limits, and playing matchmakers was beyond that limit.
 
The gray mare continued her act. She puffed up, offended, and mumbled: “Well, that is the most…”
 
“Am I not right?” Starburst interrupted her with a glare.
 
Finally, Candy gave up. “Okay, okay, we wanted to have you use your princessy connection to score those two tickets to a movie premier… or for the Grand Galloping Gala.”
 
Starburst could only facehoof. “Candy, those two would have gone crazy in the Gala. Do you have any idea how boring those are every year?!”
 
“Yeah, that’s the point: they would get crazy enough to fall in love...”
 
“Brilliant…” Starburst murmured, as she finished the apple and threw the core into a trashcan. It landed perfectly. “Why are you trying to get them back together, again?” she asked out of boredom, turning to Candy on the bench. She leaned on her back against the table and continued: “Those two were going out in kindergarten; that means they held hooves, played with just each other, and maybe kissed on cheeks a few times.”
 
“Well, that’s the thing! Don’t you think that two ponies being so close at such young age mean that they are meant to be with each other?”
 
NO!!! Starburst wanted to scream, Candy’s weird view on love making her remember what her mom told her yesterday.
 
“I mean, c’mon,” Candy continued, thankfully unaware of the anger building up inside of her pegasus friend and of what was causing it, “can’t you just picture Windy and Prism as foals, walking around by hoof? How cute they had to be?”
 
“First of all,” the princess said flatly, “I happen to not associate the word ‘cute’ with Prism, no matter how immature, physically or otherwise, he is. And second of all, the word ‘cute’ is used by me only in regards to my ferret.”
 
“Oh, right, how’s Snow?” the other mare asked with a smile, changing the topic of the conversation without batting an eyelash. “Is he still being grumpy-pants about moving?”
 
“Nah, he had gotten over it by morning,” Starburst replied with a shrug. “So… where are the others, exactly?”
 
“Annie and T were distracting Prism and Wind somewhere else while I convince you to help.”
 
“Great job,” she said sarcastically.
 
Candy shot her an angry look. “Well, for your information, princess,” the mare accented that part, knowing how Starburst didn’t like being called like that, “Annie and I happen to have a few fallback plans in case you didn’t agree.”
 
“Have fun with them,” Starburst retorted. “Let me know when they blow up in your faces, I will be sure to be there to have a laugh at you.”
 
“Didn’t know you can actually laugh,” came from a pony sitting beside her.
 
It took Starburst about a second to place the voice, but once she did, she immediately spun around trying to kick its owner right in the face. Unfortunately, the thief from yesterday was fast enough to jump on the table.
 
“What do you think you’re-” the princess began, only stop. She was going to end the sentence with ‘- doing here?!’, but when she got a look on him, Starburst couldn’t help but change her question into: “What do you think you’re doing in the Royal Guard’s armor!?”
 
Starfall gave her an upset look from under the golden helmet. The cloak that he wore yesterday was gone, and instead his body was clad in the armor of a royal guard, who must have been a size or two bigger than him. He still had his bandana, though, clashing with the armor and making him look ridiculous; which, given what she knew of his so far, was probably the point.
 
“Well, I was eating a peanut butter cracker,” he said, showing the half-eaten bar he held in a hoof, “when somepony just tried to kick me for no reason.” His reply caused Starburst to groan in irritation. Could he take anything seriously?! “What?! They’re really good!”
 
“I’ll say,” Candy giggled beside her. “Good morning, Star! Did you come to say hello to Star?”
 
Starburst glared at her friend laughing friend, cursing the cosmic coincidence that caused her and him to have such similar names, while the colt chuckled. “Well, kinda. I wanted to thank her and the DAMSEL!” he suddenly raised his voice and turned his head in the direction of the school, “for their help with the show yesterday,” the unicorn added in a normal voice, turning back to them.
 
She had enough. “Excuse me!” Starburst interrupted Candy and Starfall’s combined laughter. Trying to not think about the attention the three of them were gaining from the other students, she continued, “This is the part where you explain why you are wearing a royal guard’s armor and why are you here!”
 
The colt blinked. “Oh!” he exclaimed, surprised. “That’s what you meant!”
 
She facehoofed.
 
“Well, you know how those guards are peeved at me for some reason?” Starfall asked while she fought the urge to lunge at him, knowing that it would serve no purpose other than making a fool out of herself. “So you see, I was walking around, and I thought to myself: what would be a perfect disguise to hide from them? This one!” he said, lifting his forehooves up in the air and firing several fireworks. “In unrelated news, there was an armed patrol in the area,” he added nonchalantly. “Since I’m sure that by now they informed their superiors that a colt borrowed from one of them her armor - band of snitches! - I think I have about a few minutes to annoy you before I will have to play with the reinforcements.”
 
I’m glad that he at least started to call things as they are.
 
“Why me?” she asked, her mind trying to figure out the best way to catch him. “You seem to enjoy annoying everypony.”
 
Wait… she immediately thought after she had said that. Don’t tell me he… remembers…
 
“Excuse me: I don’t annoy ponies, I entertain them!” Starfall objected. She listened to him, masking her dread. “You’re a special case; you hit me.” A sigh of relief escaped her. “And I didn’t like that.”
 
“And I didn’t like how you tried to blow up my brother,” Starburst countered, glaring at the armored pony.
 
“Ow, cut me a break, will you?” the colt whined. “I had no idea the kid would be there. And didn’t I save him? And you? Mind you, if I had sent that explosion away a bit slower, it might have taken my horn off, so you should be grateful.”
 
That’s right, she mused, that’s how he saved us; he send the force of the explosion to the mark he left on the fountain. So he really can use the Polestar Spell for more than just teleporting…
 
“Say, are you going to perform here?” Candy asked, ignoring the glare Starburst was giving her. “It would so totally awesome, think how many friends you could make!”
 
“Sadly, I cannot,” the colt replied. Much to Starburst confusion, he pressed a hoof to his heart. “For I am on a noble mission to battle those who would see me bound-”
 
Oh dear Celestia, he’s pretending to be a knight now, she facehooved.
 
“- and I must converse my strength for the hour of truth. Fear not, for I-”
 
“YOU!”
 
All three - along with the ponies around them - turned their heads towards the shout. Prism was hovering in the air on the other side of the school’s grounds, having just exited the building with T, Wind and Annie. He was glaring in their direction, especially at Starfall.
 
“Ah…” the colt grinned, and this time Starburst saw his fangs; how could she have missed them before? “If it isn’t Damsel!” he snickered, rising on his hind legs. “How are you?”
 
Now! Starburst thought, seizing her chance.
 
She slammed the table on her end with her hooves, making it other end shoot up in the air, throwing the thief like a catapult. The colt, already standing on his hind legs, had lost his balance as his end rose, and could only quaver as he was soon in the air. Starburst, not wasting any time, had quickly grabbed her lunch box even before the colt was airborne, and threw it aiming at his head.
 
When it was less than a second from reaching him, the colt had disappeared. The armor didn’t teleport with him, though. For a heartbeat it stayed suspended in the air, before it fell down on the ground along with the lunch box.
 
Starburst jaw dropped. Wait, this… this happened before...
 
Fifteen years ago…
 
The big metal pony chasing them had finally caught up with them in the huge room with many tables. With a nod, they separated; she flew to the left and her friend, his body surrounded in a glowing aura, flew to the right. Star was giggling, thinking how fun it was, when suddenly she heard her friend cry.
 
Turning around, she saw the mean pony standing on one of the tables. His teeth were clasped on a white-and-blue tail, and he slowly pulled his head back, his hooves extending to catch the tussling blue pony.
 
With a cry, Star, without much thought, lunged. She hit the other end of the table with her whole body with such speed that it threw the opposite side of it up, and the mean metal pony flew over her head. Once his muzzle was on the same level as her, she bucked him. Her hooves were a lot smaller than his huge head, but she hit the meanie hard enough to make him let go of her blue friend.
 
As they moved away from the big mean pony - who was now rolling away on the floor, his metal coat klunking - Star looked at her friend to see if he was hurt. The other Star grinned and laughed, making her giggle as well. She was so relieved that he was okay...
 
Noises of some other big ponies coming their way made them stop. Star glanced at the direction they were coming from, and then back at Star. His red eyes gleamed with mischief.
 
Grinning, he caught her hoof with his and led her behind the nearest drapes. They hid behind them, staying close to each other so the guards wouldn’t notice them...
 
Present day…
 
Starburst shook her head, banishing the vision. Why am I remembering this? she wondered. It was… long ago. I was a foal… practically a new born! How can I recall something like this?!
 
“Wow Star, didn’t think you would make a mess like that,” she heard Candy say, probably regarding the turned over table. “Hey, is something wrong? You look a bit spaced out.”
 
Blinking, she looked at her concerned friend. “Yeah, I’m just... lost in thought about how to get him.”
 
That seemed to convince Candy, because she smiled and looked away. “Well, I would recommend just asking him out-” Starburst glared at her, feeling suddenly a bit hot “- but I think Prism is going to beat you to it.”
 
What in Tartarus does she mean by- Starburst started, by her train of thoughts trailed off once she looked in the same direction as Candy.
 
Starfall was standing on one leg high up on a school pole, once again clad in the cloak he wore yesterday… and Prism was lunging right at him from behind.
 
“Stop!”
 
The word had left Starburst mouth before she noticed. Why did she just say that?! Did she tried to… protect that thief?
 
Whatever the reason, it caused Prism to stop. Now the pegasus was looking at her in confusion, and he wasn’t the only one. Everypony in the schoolyard had eyes on her, including him. Starburst knew she’d need to explain why she just said that.
 
“If you try to fight him, it will be a repeat from yesterday,” she quickly improvised, somehow managing to return her voice and expressions to her normal stern demeanor. Starburst spread her wings and took the air, flowing up to the peak of the school pole. “He will just make fun of you,” she told Prism. “Besides, if you touch him, he will leave a new Polestar mark on you.”
 
Her pegasus friends grimaced, not eager to have another invisible multi-colored tattoo on himself. Satisfied, Starburst turned to the thief next. “It has been most entertaining,” she spoke calmly and coldly, “but recess is almost over, and we will have to go back to our classes. Furthermore, seeing how you are a fugitive, I would appreciate if you would leave.”
 
The colt looked at her with surprise, and then with disappointment. “Aww, you’re such a buzzkill,” he told her, leaning back and letting himself fall down. Starburst stayed in the air - despite a part of her wanting to lunge after him - and watched as his horn glowed, making a bubble of water appear.
 
Not appear, she corrected; it looked more like the water had come from around and formed the bubble, he gathered the water from the air…
 
Once Starfall landed on it, it didn’t burst; it amortized his fall, and then bounced him back up to the same height as he was before.
 
“And why exactly…” he said once his head was on the same level as her, but then trailed off as he plummeted down, doing a flip, “do you think I’ll...” and down, “do that?” once more he was on the top.
 
“Wow, this looks like fun!” Starburst heard Candy exclaim, but she fought off the urge to glare at her.
 
Trying to find a reply to Starfall’s question, she stayed silent for a few seconds. What could possibly convince him to go away? she wondered, her eyes following him up and down. Wait! She suddenly snapped. Why do I want him gone? Just a few hours ago I wanted to help Dad capture him…
 
Was it because she knew that they had no chance to do anything to him? Or was it… because...
 
“Oh, forget it,” Starfall sighed, pulling her from her uncomfortable musing. She looked at him in surprise. “It’s no fun if you two are going to be calm. Boooooooring!” he accused with a hoof pointed at her and Prism while at the highest attitude he could gain while bouncing of his bubble.
 
As he began falling down, he began backflipping, and his horn flashed. The bubble burst as he fell through it, landing perfectly on the ground without any problem.
 
Turning around, he waved his hoof back at her. “Later,” Starfall said, and with a burst of fireworks, he was gone.
 
“Urgh!” Prism groaned, grabbing his head. “I hate that frickin little-”
 
“Watch your words, we’re on the school grounds,” Starburst chided him, her eyes on the spot where Starfall was moments ago.
 
Why… why was she… relieved?
 
Shaking her head, she landed beside her friends. “My dad is leading a team that’s supposed to capture him,” she told them. “Since he clearly still hangs around Ponyville, they will probably get him today.”
 
“You know,” Annie began slowly, “That colt doesn’t seem so bad… I mean, sure, he stole from Gold’s family,” she rolled her eyes at the combined value of the things he stole, “and then he blew up the town square, but-”
 
“The problem is not only that he blow up the town square,” Starburst interrupted her, ignoring whatever part of her brain that made her hesitate before saying it. “He hurt six royal guards, and almost got Night Light killed because of his stupid show.”
 
“But he did save him and you in time,” Annie argued. “So he isn’t a bad pony. Maybe he’s just lonely? You did notice he doesn’t seem to live anywhere nearby, right?” Starburst and the others nodded instinctively and then cringed as they remembered their friend couldn’t see. “I asked my mom about the name Princess Twilight, Mr. Spike and Mrs. Applejack had mentioned yesterday, Trixie,” she continued. “Apparently, nopony has heard of her in years. So maybe Starfall is… you know…”
 
Yeah, everypony did know. At least Starburst did. It was, after all, her mom that had been trying to discover where was Trixie seen, fearing the worse. But even if that was the case, and even if she did feel sorry for him, that still wasn’t changing anything.
 
“Being an orphan doesn’t justify committing crimes,” she said. “And even if ponies were to overlook what he did yesterday - as Ponyville has a strange record with that - a unicorn so skilled like him with destructive tendencies shouldn’t be allowed to do as he pleases.”
 
“Well said,” Prism added, in a rare moment of being on the same side of an argument as Starburst. “I think-”
 
His statement was interrupted by the sound of school bell. Sighing, the group began trotting towards the school.
 
As they walked, Starburst was deep in thought. Dad was going to apprehend him; about that was no doubt. But what then? He would be placed in Ponyville’s detention, but would he get a trial, or would they keep him there until Mom would return, as she wanted to talk with him. Should Starburst maybe visit him? Try to figure out what was puzzling Mom: what happened to Trixie? Or maybe… ask him if he… remembered her?
 
Right, I will just walk up to him and say: hey, you remember how we demolished half of the Canterlot Castle? she snorted. What’s the point? I mean, it’s not like I still… like him… she trailed off, glancing at her hoof. She could recall somehow the feeling of his hoof grabbing hers… it felt so warm...
 
“Hey, Star?” she heard a whisper. She looked to the side to see Candy walking beside her. The others had outrun them… or maybe she was trotting slowly and Candy stayed back to talk with her. “Is everything okay?”
 
“Of course,” she almost bristled. In a more quiet tone, she added, “Why wouldn’t it be?”
 
“Well, you seem… upset. Sad, even.”
 
Starburst suppressed a sight. Was she really becoming visibly sad over… this?
 
“I’m fine, I’m just… annoyed!” she told the half-truth and stomped. “Starfall and I are the same age; why is he so better than me?! I’m want to become the Captain of the Royal Guard; why can’t I capture a simple thief?!”
 
Considering that she really felt irritated that she couldn’t catch him, it wasn’t a surprise that her gray friend bought the excuse. “Oh, don’t worry about that,” Candy told her gently. She looked around, and then leaned over, whispering confidentiality, “Between you and me? I think that unicorns are cheaters by default.”
 
Despite herself, Starburst chuckled.
 
“So it’s not your fault that you couldn’t capture him; he was just cheating,” Candy grinned.
 
“I suppose you’re right,” Starburst smiled. “Thanks, Candy.”
 
“No problem!” the gray mare exclaimed happily, but then she lowered her voice. “So, about Wind and Prism…”
 
Oh, brother…
 





 
“Dad?” T asked as the group came to a stop near Uncle Spike. “What’s going on?”
 
The school was over. They were just leaving it when suddenly, they noticed a gigantic purple sphere in the distance. Starburst had a suspicion to what that was, but even if she hadn’t, she would have still raced with her friends in its direction.
 
They were still far away from it when they’ve passed Ponyville’s limits, and saw that the way further towards the dome was blocked by a squad of royal guards. Several of the town’s citizens stood at the edge of the perimeter, muttering between themselves, T’s Dad among them.
 
“I’m not sure,” Uncle Spike confessed. “I think the guards caught that colt from yesterday, but nopony says anything other than ‘That area is restricted, please step aside’.”
 
Starburst was now certain that was the case: her dad cornered Starfall, but was still trying to capture him. Suddenly, she felt that she should be there. For what, she did not know. Did she want to help Dad apprehend the thieving colt? Or...
 
“I’m going there” she told her friend, then turned to the two nearby guards. “Guards, step aside.”
 
Of course she could have just flew past them, but being a princess required a proper etiquette for just about freakin’ everything...
 
A frown appeared on her face once she saw both of them shook their head. “I am sorry, Your Highness, we are under strict orders to-”
 
Starburst didn’t let him finish. “I wasn’t asking!” she snapped, spreading her wings wide and glaring threateningly.
 
She was both satisfied and disappointed when the royal guards backed away in fear. Is this really what the royal guard had come to since Uncle Shining Armor left the position of the captain to rule the Crystal Empire with Aunt Cadance? Being threatened by a filly?
 
Remembering that this wasn’t the time to ponder on such matters, she spread her wing and flew towards the sphere. Already she was thinking about what she should do once she got there. But, given that she didn’t know what she wanted, was a tad difficult.
 
As a criminal, he should be detained, Starburst thought, slowly nearing the sphere. But getting trussed up like a turkey won’t be fun, especially if he resists… Maybe I could convince Dad to let me try and talk him into coming on his own?
 
The moment she began to wonder just how exactly she could talk Starfall into something like this she facehoofed. Nothing came to her mind. And did she actually want that? He nearly blew up her brother.
 
By the time she reached the sphere, she still hadn’t decided what she should do. However, her dilemma was solved for her, for once she was just a few meters away from it, the purple Anti-Teleportation Field had disappeared.
 
Guess this means they’ve captured him, Starburst thought, feeling… confused, actually. Sighing, she sped up… only to stop almost immediately.
 
The sphere didn’t disappear because her father ordered the spell to be canceled. Broken shimmering shards that littered the scorched ground must have once been the crystal her mom had enchanted. The spell failed because it got destroyed.
 
Around the clearing laid the still forms of the royal guards. Three pegasi and seven unicorns, all knocked out. But there was a certain feature of them that made Starburst quiver: the black chains, burning with purple flames, were shackled around the necks of each of them.
 
Nothing, however, was as terrifying sight as the one further away.
 
A pegasus was hanging in the air, held by multiple chains like the ones Starburst saw on the next of his subordinates.
 
That pegasus was her father.
 
And he was not moving.
 
Her eyes moved slowly, following the chains to their source. The source was a horn of a unicorn, pulsating with dark energies.
 
The unicorn looked back. When their eyes met, Starburst felt her grow even wider; instead of the red eyes with narrow pupils she was familiar with, the eye that looked at her was glowing red, the white of the eye was green, and there was purple smoke coming out of it.
 
She quaked, not because of fear, but because she couldn’t understand what she was seeing, as the unicorn spoke, “You know,” Starfall said, his voice sounding both as joyful as before and at the same time much colder, “I really hate encores… especially when they get the casting wrong...”
 
His eye moved back to her father, and Starburst had finally found her voice. “No…” she said quietly, looking at her dad. “NO!” she screeched.
 
“Funny,” Starfall said, once again looking at her and making her freeze. “Nine years ago I said the same thing in Trottingham. Wanna know how that turned out?”
 
Starburst watched in dread as the darkness around his horn deepened… and the chains around her father disappeared. Starfall’s wrapped his body in magic and placed it gently on the ground.
 
“Differently,” she heard him say as she lunged for her dad. “He’s just unconscious.”
 
She didn’t reply. There were no words she could say to him now. All she cared about was making sure Dad was okay, and then…
 
As she flew past Starfall, Starburst, with deep, unforgiving fury, briefly glanced into his eyes.
 
They were no longer cute.
> The Promise of Stars
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Promising herself to avenge her father, Starburst broke eye contact with Starfall and concentrated solely on Dad. She landed beside him and pressed an ear to his chest. To her relief, Starburst almost at once heard his heartbeat, though at first she had disregarded it as the pulse in her ear. Because of her fear for her father, her own heart was beating like crazy.

Having assured herself that her father’s heartbeat was steady, Starburst quickly moved her ear to his muzzle and checked if he was breathing without problems, too. Which, thank goodness, he was.

“Stand still!”

The unexpected shout took her attention away from her Flash Sentry. Starburst looked back to see the colt surrounded by a squad of royal guards.

They must have come here after they’ve noticed the barrier had been nullified, she concluded as she stayed close to her dad. Or they just followed me, Starburst added with roll of her eyes.

The second option was highly probably, as Uncle Spike was there as well, staring with wide eyes at Starfall, Dad and all the defeated guards. Starburst’s friends had also came, and their reactions were no different. T was fast to snap out of it, though; he quickly placed himself protectively before Annie and Candy, the latter telling the former what exactly they were seeing while slightly shaking. 

“Stay back,” Starburst heard Uncle Spike say to her friends as he moved to stand beside the guards, who were now all pointing their spears at Starfall… and who all were nervous.

Unlike her uncle. Starburst had never seen him so furious before as he was now as he regarded Starfall. It made her cringe with fear unwittingly, and that was saying much.

“Whoa there, gentlecolts,” the blue unicorn said casually, maintaining his relaxed stance despite being surrounded. His glowing eyes scanned the royal guards and the dragon with contempt in them and a smirk on his lips. “Let’s not do something we would regret.” He paused, as if waiting for them to put down their weapons. When they didn’t, he squinted his eyes. “You really should back down. Seriously.”

“S-seriously?” one of the guards repeated, dumbfounded by the statement.

“I have a deep appreciation for my personal freedom,” Starfall exclaimed theatrically, rising on his hind legs. Smirking, he spread out his forelegs at their surrounding, pointing the still unconscious guards. “As you can see. I told them the same, but they so stubbornly refused… perhaps, if you would know how hopeless your efforts would be...” the colt mused, then clapped his hooves. “Alright, listen up! I’m going to tell you something about my abilities. Seriously,” he added, smirking.

“Seriously?” another guard repeated.

“Seriously,” Starfall confirmed with a grin. “It’s not fun for me resorting to this, you know,” he sighed, shrugging his forelegs. “But what can a colt do when he is cornered like that… Now then!” Starfall snapped, his horn glowing with repulsive dark purple energies. Almost at once, a circle of black burning chains appeared around his neck, just above his bandana. “These,” Starfall began, as the chains spread; now they encircled his entire body, as if protectively, and their ends rose and turned to the guards, bringing to mind images of snakes’ heads, “are the Black Chains of Fear. They automatically shield me from any attacks, and I can use them to catch those around me.”

He extended one hoof, almost brushing the edge of one of the chains. “When they touch you, you will be overcomed with the feeling of fear, making you incapable of any action. And… if they ensnare your necks…” he trailed off, his eyes momentarily shifting to the ten ponies that laid without signs of life, the very same chains still on their necks; “you will be locked in your worst nightmare. Of course,” Starfall added, shruggin, “if you are of a strong mind and will, you can shrug off the effects of the Black Chains’ touch, and even break away from your nightmares… of course, such an effort, coupled with the trauma, will render you unconscious. Got to give it to the Prince, though; he’s the first pony ever to break free from my spell.”

Starburst felt her blood boil as the arrogant unicorn turned to her and her father and actually bowed. However, despite her fury, all she did was grind her teeth. If she were to attack him, she would end up like her dad, or worse.

Stay calm, she recalled her cousin’s words, and analyze the situation properly. Observe your opponent, study his strengths and weaknesses, come up with a plan. Then strike.

Uncle Spike, on the other hoof, cared little for “staying calm”. Being a dragon, of course, he was allowed to do that. “Just like King Sombra’s magic…” he growled, glaring at the so small in comparison to him colt with contempt.

“Oh, please, don’t offend me,” Starfall retored, snorting, and returning to standing on all-fours. “If the movie ‘Fall of the Shadow Tyrant’ portrayed him truthfully, his ‘dark magic’ was pathetic when compared to mine. What an idiot,” he shook his head, as if feeling pity for King Sombra. “He used the fear of the crystal ponies instead-”

“Is that the way to speak about your father?” Uncle Spike interrupted him, smoke escaping from his nostrils.

Everybody turned to the dragon, aghasted. Starburst eyes darted between her uncle and the colt he was staring at, trying to understand what she just heard. Starfall’s father was… King Sombra? The evil unicorn king who ruled the Crystal Empire, and who was destroyed by the power of the Crystal Heart long before she was born?

How could that be? Starburst wondered, looking at her uncle with doubt. Starfall is only fifteen like me, there’s no way King Sombra could be his father.

While everypony stared at him, Uncle Spike paid them no mind, concentrated solely on the one who had hurt his closest friend’s husband. “I knew I saw those red eyes of yours somewhere,” he said as the blue colt stayed silent. “But only now, seeing you like this, I realize where; when I was falling down from the tower with the Crystal Heart, I saw King Sombra as he tried to catch the Heart. His eyes weren’t bearing the characteristics a pony has when using the dark magic… and they were red with narrow pupils, just like yours!” Uncle Spike growled, flexing his claws against the ground. “King Sombra is your father.”

“Probably.”

For all her rage, hatred and fury, as well as confusion due to Uncle Spike’s statement, Starburst was simply baffled at the casual response from Starfall. Everypony was, guessing by their expressions, even Uncle Spike.

“Would certainly explain my natural affinity with dark magic,” he continued, titling his head slightly and causing two ends of the chain to encircle him. “As well as why whenever I’d asked: ‘Mommy, where’s my daddy?’ all I’d get were evasive answers.”

A growl signaled that the dragon’s daze was over. “That Trixie… I knew she was a good for nothing fraud, but to think that whore would screw King Sombra-”

Neither Starburst or T, or their friends or anypony else present here could spare a moment to look at the normally eloquent dragon with shock. The very next instant the Black Chains shoot from around Starfall, aiming at Uncle Spike. Only the dragon’s quick reflex, honed with the help of Prism’s Mom once his wings had finally grown, allowed him to escape their grasps. Starburst looked at her uncle with alarm, but relaxed slightly, seeing he was unharmed as he flew out of Starfall’s reach, while the guards had finally backed away from the colt.

Nopony could blame them. The Black Chains around Starfall thrashed violently at the air around him. The dark aura emanating from his horn grew bigger, and the purple flames from his eyes shot higher. “Don’t you dare…” he growled, the overflow of dark magic disorienting his voice. It became deeper, bringing an impression as if it was coming from a deep void beneath the ground; “... insult my Mother!”

As he spoke, another change came upon him. Clouds black as the darkest night began forming from his back, rising high, as the same ones began forming around his hooves. The ones above his back twirled and curled, beginning to look like-

Barely he finished speaking when Starburst’s uncle went on offensive on him. He backed his head slightly as he inhaled air, before unleashed green flamed on the surrounded by the dark energies unicorn.

Green flames weren’t the only ones that blazed through the air. There weren’t many occasions in the past when T would lose his temper; his mother raised him to be a perfect gentlecolt, and because of that, he was always kind and polite to anypony. Only when his close ones were being threatened did he act in their defense, but even then he preferred to solve the problems through words and reason. Half of their school still remembered how he made two bullies who picked on Annie when they were younger leave her alone and concentrate on him (which in turn ended when Prism and Candy used them as their prank’s targets for the next week).

As such, it really said something about just how dire the situation was when T unleashed his own flames alongside his father.

Starfall, as far as Starburst could tell in that split second when it happened, wasn’t bothered by the two streams of flames. In fact, he seemed to not even notice them. The Black Chains, however - which, as Starburst just noticed, now ended with tips that resembled in shape jaws of an animal of some sorts - had quickly rearranged themselves to make a net-like barrier between him and the incoming attack.

Then it happened.

A grunt came from Starfall, as if he was struggling against something. He raised a covered by a black smoke hoof and pressed it against his temple, closing his glowing and burning eyes. The smoke that had almost finished forming around him dispersed…

… and so did the Black Chains.

Her jaw dropped as she watched the two fire attacks come upon the blue colt. She couldn’t see him once they reached their target; their heat was too intense for her eyes to pierce them as see the burning body of Starfall. The one that beat her dad.

The one she had, for a brief moment today, considered helping.

The one who was once her friend.

“Whee, barbecue party!”

Starburst turned so quickly that she had almost felt something snap in her. There he was, safe and sound, standing atop of a spear that must have been buried in the ground during his skirmish with Starburst’s dad squad. He was balancing perfectly on one leg, keeping his forelegs crossed on his chest as he regarded the slowly disappearing flames.

Realising that what she assumed was his body fueling the flames was in fact grass, Starburst gave a tiny sigh of relief. She didn’t want him to get hurt. Well, not burned-alive hurt, that is. He might have knocked out her dad, but that didn’t mean that she wanted him dead. And that had nothing to do with him being his friend when she wasn’t old enough to speak: it was the royal guards duty to defend the lives of ponies, even such scumbags as Starfall. Of course, if there were no other way, the guards would have no choice, but such occasions had seldom happened.

Gazing at her adversary, Starburst noticed a small change; his eye were no longer burning.

He must have stopped using the dark magic, she concluded, eyeing him. But… what was that earlier? He suddenly grabbed his head… did he then stopped using it? But why? Starburst wondered, seeing that, despite having just barely eluded some very nasty burns, the colt was still as relaxed as always. If he hadn’t jumped with the Polestar Spell, he would have been lucky to be alive. A grown dragon’s flame can melt rocks in a matter of seconds. Why did he dispersed the Black Chains?

As she tried to analyze what just had happened, the colt continued to talk as if this was a casual get-together. “Though I think I will pass. I might have fangs, but the thought of meat causes me to have a reaction I don’t think I should mention in the presence of royalty.”

Only because she knew that acting rash would lead her nowhere Starburst didn’t lunge at him. She hated him. He beat her father, knocked him out, and now was mocking her. She couldn’t fathom just why about ten minutes ago she considered helping him. Starburst would personally make sure he will rot in jail for what he did.

Her Uncle was of the same mind, as he landed beside her, growling threateningly. The royal guards, after a brief hesitation, joined him and also faced Starfall. And they weren’t the only ones. T and, to Starburst’s surprise, Prism, joined them as well, was prepared to fight the dangerous colt. Wind looked as if she was ready to come to their aid - despite her still being shaken - if they’d need her, but for now she stayed besides Candy and Annie.

Starburst was torn. On one hoof, she wanted to stand beside them, her friends, family and her father’s subordinates to capture Starfall. On the other, though, she didn’t want to leave her dad’s side while he was still unconscious.

“Are you seriously gonna try and fight me?” Starfall sighed, looking at the crowd before him. His eyes stopped on Spike; oddly, there was no resentment in them, despite what the dragon had said earlier about colt’s mother, nor was Starfall bothered that he had tried to fry him. “Let’s see… if I recall my mom’s tales correctly, there was this purple scaly thing that Princess Twilight had kept around. That was you, wasn’t it?” The smirk on his face told everypony that he knew the answer was just asking to make fun of Spike… which once again brought questions to Starburst’s mind regarding his sanity and common sense. “I would have thought that the… whatever you were, exactly. Maid of the Element of Magic,” he smirked once more, though Uncle Spike didn’t take the bait; he was still standing still and observed the colt without any comment; “would have been a little smarter… and knowledgable. Or am I wrong that only alicorn’s magic can combat the ‘dark magic’ effectively? Of course, there is the matter that I only resort to that when I’m cornered… which I somehow don’t see happening right now.”

He was right; everypony knew that. Dark magic could be countered by pretty much only alicorn’s magic. And even if he wasn’t going to use it… the crystal Princess Twilight had enchanted was destroyed. Without it, nothing was stopping him from teleporting away. With his Polestar Spell-

Wait, Starburst suddenly thought, noticing something didn’t add up; why is he still here? He seemed reluctant to fight, even to the point of trying to scare Uncle Spike and the guards by explaining his powers. Could it be… that he cannot use the Polestar Spell while using the dark magic?

Could that be it? If so, then perhaps this could be used somehow…

Starburst mentally winced. Their best bet at capturing him was when he was at his strongest. This bodes well… she mused with irritation, her eyes on Starfall… and then she noticed something.

Starfall’s red eyes were on the ponies around him. He was observing them carefully, especially Uncle Spike and T. Unlike before, he wasn’t relaxed; Starfall was on his guard.

Why, thought? Nopony here is a match for him… and why is he still here?

As much as Starburst would have liked to have answers to those questions, the world was moving on its own. In the few heartbeats as she went over all that in her head, the guards took a step forward, reading their weapons as they were about to attack him. Uncle Spike once again drew back his head, preparing to douse Starfall in flames. Starfall’s eyes squinted slightly, as he readied himself.

Starburst was prepared to act as things were about to go down, when all of a sudden...

“Stop!”

Everypony stopped at the sound of the voice. A voice that was strong and commanding, despite that the pony who uttered it was speaking quietly and was barely conscious. Starburst stared at her father in surprise, like everypony else just now realizing he was awake.

“Dad…” she whispered as he tried to raise to his hooves. He wobbled, so she quickly moved to stand by his side and support him with her body. “We need to get you some medical attention,” Starburst quietly told him, growing even more concerned now that she saw him be this weak.

If her dad heard her, he didn’t show it. His eyes were on the colt that caused him to be in such state, and Starburst, to her surprise and confusion, didn’t see him look at Starfall with anger as she supported him. No, her father was… what was this strange look? Flash Sentry was staring at the colt with almost blank expression, the one the royal guards bore while on duty, but… being his daughter, Starburst could see something else beneath that expression.

“Guards, everypony…” Flash Sentry rasped. “Stand down. Let him go.”

Starburst felt her jaw dropped, and with a corner of her eye she saw others mirror her reaction. Everypony was as much shocked as her. Everypony… save one.

As Starfall chuckled, one of the guards recovered enough to voice his concerns. “Forgive me, Your Highness, but we cannot just let that colt go.”

Under normal circumstances, Starburst would have stomped with approval. She had no idea what her dad was thinking, just letting a dangerous criminal go. Her need for to pay him back for all the insults aside, he was too dangerous to be left to his own devices. However… Starburst would never disagree with either of her parents in front of others. Especially not now as Flash Sentry was so weak that had to lean on her to stand.

“You heard my father’s command,” she told the guard that had objected, her eyes and voice hardening with resolve that made the grown pony back down. Turning to the other royal guards, she repeated her dad’s order. “Stand down, all of you.”

She might not be their commanding officer, that much was true. But she was still a princess, and she was repeating an order of their actual commanding officer, who happened to be a prince. The guards lowered their weapons, and more than a few of them looked relieved. Clearly, the prospect of fighting the little colt had became frightening in the last couple of minutes.

Uncle Spike also backed dawn, though he was looking at Flash Sentry with confusion mixed with worry. Starburst briefly exchanged glances with him and nodded; she too had no idea as to why her dad just chose to let the colt go. Not that it mattered at this point. He needed medical attention, not to mention the ten ponies who were still captured in their nightmares. Given their situation, she could somewhat understand his decision.

Still… something seems off with Dad…

While they had this little disagreement between themselves, Starfall had stopped chuckling. “Well well well,” he mused, smiling as he regarded her dad. “I am now even more impressed… not only did you broke free from your worst nightmare, but now you also managed to regain consciousness after… what, was it five minutes? And…” he paused, squinting his eyes, “you’ve figured it out, huh?”

Figured what out? Starburst repeated, glancing at her dad. Unfortunately, he wasn’t going to respond; his consciousness was fading away again.

“Guards!” she quickly shouted. “My father needs medical attention! Take him back to our mansion!” The guards snapped and trotted towards them. Glancing at their incapacitated comrades, she added; “Also, send message to Princess Luna recounting today’s events and requesting her assistance.”

Princess Luna was the only pony that came to her mind that could help those guards. Her dreamwalking powers would enable her to rescue them from their nightmares. Plus, with Starburst’s mom and Princess Celestia away on that peace summit, she was the only alicorn in Equestria, except for her daughter, Nidra, but the young alicorn wasn’t too strong with magic.

As the royal guards took Flash Sentry’s weight from Starburst, Starfall resumed talking.

“I don’t particularly like the way you were looking at me right now,” he said, once again getting the attention of everypony besides the guards who were preparing Starburst’s dad for the extraction, “but nonetheless, you’ve gained my respect today, Prince Flash Sentry,” Starfall added with short bow. He then turned away and began walking towards the Everfree Forest. “If you hadn’t tried to capture me, I might have even said I liked you. Have a nice rest.”

Starburst just stared at him, aghast. Did he… just… Did he just wish Dad a good rest from what he put him through!?

That was too much of an insult to leave unanswered. With her father now in the hooves of the royal guard, she spread her wings and lunged after Starfall.

She heard her uncle and friends shouting after her, but paid them no mind. She needed to do this.

Whether alarmed by the shouts or by some magical senses, Starfall realized what was happening behind him. Swiftly, he turned around, awaiting her.

In a heartbeat, Starburst stopped right in front of him, hovering in the air with her powerful wings. She looked into those red eyes with barely contained anger. “This isn’t over,” she told him, resisting an urge to just spit those words at him. “You will pay for what you did to my dad. Before the next day will be over, I will have you bound in chains and thrown into prison.”

Starfall listened to her speech with neutral face… almost. Starburst could swear that for an instant his eyelid twitched, but it happened so quickly that she might have imagined it.

“We’ll see,” he replied. He didn’t laugh or joke. Starburst knew why: he could see she was serious. “See you tomorrow.”

As if in unspoken agreement, they both turned around at the same time and each headed their way: she to her friends, he towards the depths of the Everfree Forest.
> A Princess' Word
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Refusal was clear in Uncle Spike’s eyes as she flew back to them. “Out of the question,” he growled.

“Didn’t ask for you permission, Uncle,” she told him shortly, landing beside him and her friends.

Starburst knew that she was being impolite, but she couldn’t help herself. She had to capture Starfall. Now it was the matter of honor; he hurt her father, now she was going to make him pay.

And the little object she grabbed with her wing - an action that went unseen by the others - was going to help her with that.

Of course, her uncle was of a different opinion. He lowered his head to meet her eyes on the same level. “You will not go after that little monster! He’s too dangerous for anypony beside the Princesses and Discord to try and capture him!”

She could see he had a few more things to say to her, so she interrupted him. “Uncle Spike, why don’t we have this discussion later, after we help get those guards to infirmary?”

Starburst nodded at the fallen ponies who still bore the black chains around their necks. Two royal guards that had come after her here were already taking Flash Sentry back to their mansion. Those that stayed moved to help their friends, but there were too many for them to carry all at once.

Uncle Spike gave her an annoyed look, but he nodded. “Yeah, I suppose that can wait.”

Their little argument postponed, but not forgotten, he moved to help the royal guards. He picked up the closest one carefully, trying to not touch the black chain on his neck, and placed him on his back, then turned to another one. Starburst, following his example, trotted to one of the fallen guards.

However, just as she was about to pick the armored unicorn up, Candy had come to her side. “Hey, Star?” she asked her gently, making the princess look up. Her friend was smiling at her with compassion. “How about you leave us to help them, and you go back home? You must be worried about your dad. We can handle things here, right guys?”

Every one of her friends nodded. Even Prism, despite his by-now legendary laziness. Starburst was touched by her friend’s compassion, and it took her some effort to stop tears of gratitude from pouring from her eyes.

“Thanks guys,” Starburst smiled, looking at them. Her eyes traveled through all of them; she might not like showing emotions, but she wanted them to know that she was grateful.

Her gaze stopped on Whirlwind. After a brief hesitation, Starburst asked; “Hey Wind, could you go and tell my brother about… well, everything?” She knew her dad was tough and wasn’t in any danger, but it would be best if one of his children was keeping him company; after all, she had a battle to prepare for. “He told me he would be hanging out at their little gang’s clubhouse at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Sure, no problem,” the purple pegasus replied, flexing her wings.

“Make sure to tell him that our dad is okay,” Starburst quickly added before her friend would leave. “No need to cause a panic.”

Whirlwind nodded and flew off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Starburst was about to follow her example and fly to her family’s mansion, but the chains on the closest guard’s neck appeared at the edge of her vision. She turned her head to take a better look at it. It wasn’t touching the unicorn, nor were there any chain burns on his neck (despite that in a case of flaming chains the “burns” would be literally burns). They were just there, around it.

What did he say? she wondered, recalling his words. When they ensnare around the pony’s neck, they will make him or her see their words nightmare… but if you just touch them…

Pushed by her curiosity, Starburst extended a hoof and touched the chain.

Her hind legs went out from under her. A terrible, sick sensation tickled up her coat and chilled her skin beneath. Her breath changed from calm and collected into raspy and deep which she drew much quicker. Her heart was racing and she fought an urge to vomit, to curl up into a fetal position, to press all her limbs tightly to her body.

… you will be paralyzed with fear.

With great effort of will, she pulled her hoof back.

The terror that overtook her disappeared immediately. Her heart began slowing down it’s beating as did her breathing.

“Why in Tartarus did you do that for?” her uncle asked, both annoyed and worried at the same time.

“I wanted to check something…” Starburst replied, still shaken by the experience.

An irritated growl escaped Spike as he faceclawed. “Star, I swear, you’re worse than you mother was! You don’t touch something that is literally burning with evil flames! You’d have to be blind to-”

The dragon cut off in the middle of the sentence as he had realized what he just said. His eyes looked in alarm in the direction of Annie… who had the most amused smirk on her face a pony could ever see.

“Don’t look at me, Mister Spike,” the green maned mare said, giggling. “After all, I didn’t touch it.”

Oh, very funny, little miss perfect… Starburst thought with irritation, glaring at her, as she shook the hoof she had touched the chain with to rid herself of that feeling completely. At the same time, she couldn’t help but try to think about just what happened to her. I was so… terrified. That was rather unusual for her. She had never been afraid of anything… well, yes, today when she saw her father unconscious being held up by those chains she was afraid. Yesterday too, when Starfall’s puppet was about to explode next to Nighty. But she had never felt terror just by… touching something. How did Dad managed to shake it off… she wondered, while at the same time another unpleasant thought hit her.

Her special talent was intimidating others, causing fear in them.

Starfall was better at it.





“Had Nurse Redheart said anything else?” Starburst asked the head housemaid as they trotted towards her parents’ bedroom.

The speed with which the guards brought her dad back to their mansion and gotten him medical attention really spoke something about how much ponies cared about her family. She herself was a fast flier, and the nurse had already left, having performed a medical check on Flash Sentry. Usually, Starburst felt a bit embarrassed by such things, but now she was more grateful that she could ever remember being.

“No, Young Princess,” the elderly mare replied, keeping up with the energetic pegasus without any problem despite her age. “Only that your father needs a lot of rest now.”

Despite already knowing that he would be fine, Starburst felt a great wave of relief wash over her hearing that. “Thank goodness,” she muttered to herself, then turned back to the housemaid. “Thank you, Rosie, that would be al- No, wait. We might be visited by Princess Luna today. Please make sure there will be some refreshments ready in the kitchen, just in case.”

“Of course,” Rosie said, nodding her head and smiling. “We cannot throw ethics and protocols out the window just because things a little bit hectic . I will see to everything, Young Princess.”

The head housemaid gave her a little bow as she marched off another corridor. Starburst watched her for a moment, checking on a mental checklist if she had forgotten something. When she was satisfied, she finally allowed herself to forget about any royal duty and/or problem she could have, and just be a daughter who had seen her daddy get hurt.

She didn’t pay much attention to her parents’ bedroom as she entered it. When she was a little filly she had liked to sleep with them, even if she had grown up from that rather quickly. So the well-organized room wasn’t unknown to her; in fact, knowing her mom, Starburst was pretty certain that nothing had changed about this room since the mansion was built, not even a single piece of furniture was moved an inch in any direction (thought maybe it gained a few books, Twilight did like to read books in bed).

Her attention was immediately drawn to the resting stallion. Flash Sentry laid in the bed he shared with his wife, sleeping. Starburst spend a good few minutes listening to his steady breathing to reassure herself that everything was going to be okay, before she took one of the pillows and sat beside the bed.

Though she kept her eyes on her dad, in mind she was someplace else. On a battlefield. She told Starfall she would face him tomorrow, and a princess’ word was her vow. Starburst said she would have him bound in chains, and she kinda had a plan (though she was still developing it in her head), but… how was she going to pull that off?

If I’ll get the others to help, and everything will go as I want… the timing will be the key. If I miss my window… Those Black Chains… She thought with the unpleasant feeling of dread, even Dad was beaten by them.

She shook as she recalled the awful sensation that overtook her when she had touched it. She wasn’t too hot on repeating the experience.

But Dad still managed to resist them, and even break free of his worst nightmare, she thought, feeling pride swell in her as she looked at her father. He really is amazing…

Her brow furrowed. Starfall had pretty much said so as well. He said that her dad gained his respect, and despite her hatred for him, Starburst felt that he was sincere when he had said that. 

Also...

And… you’ve figured it out, huh?

What did he mean by that? she wondered. Unfortunately, the one that could answer that was asleep. What did you figure out, Father?

A voice pulled her from her pondering. “Star?”

Starburst turned to her brother, who was now standing in the doors of the bedroom, looking terrified at their dad.

“He’s okay, he’s just resting,” she said to dissuade any worries he might have had, while motioning for him to come closer.

Nighty walked quietly to her, his eye not leaving Dad. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I am. The nurse that had seen to him said so.” Starburst replied reassuringly. When Nighty reached her, she quickly wrapped him with a wing and pulled him into a hug. “He will be fine… And I am going to make sure the one responsible for this won’t hurt anypony again.”

She couldn’t prevent venom from attaching to her voice; she really hated Starfall right now. The change in her voice made her brother take his eyes from their dad and look at her.

“The one respon- you mean that Starfall guy?” Nighty asked, surprised. “He’s the one that beat Dad?”

Starburst just nodded. She knew she wouldn’t be able to hide her anger, and she didn’t want her brother to see just how much she was furious. There were times, of course, when they argued with each other - what siblings don’t? Well, maybe Mom and Uncle Shining Armor, she thought with a roll of eyes - but her anger from those moments was to her hatred now like a drizzle compared to a storm.

“Listen, Nighty,” she turned to him. “I need to go and take care of some things. Can you stay here with Dad?”

“Didn’t you say that he’s just resting?” Nighty asked, raising an eyebrow.

“If you were resting after a terrible experience, wouldn’t you want to wake up and see somepony close to you?” she answered, half-honest.

Starburst didn’t want to tell him the real reason why she wanted him here. Starfall had said that the Black Chains made a pony see their worst nightmare, and that Flash Sentry had managed to snap himself out of one. As much as she was proud of her father for doing that, it meant that, even for a short time, he was trapped in his nightmare.

Flash Sentry was one of the bravest ponies Starburst knew. That was best proven by the fact that he dated and eventually married Princess Twilight Sparkle, despite her brother being… slightly overprotective, which coupled with him being his former Commanding Officer was… eventful. However, there were things that everypony feared. Starburst herself had tasted one specific fear: the fear for one’s family.

If she had to bet on something actually terrifying her father, it would be seeing either mom or them hurt or worse. However, Starburst also know that her dad was realistic. As such, he know that Mom, who had saved the entire Equestria a bunch of times, was an alicorn and the Element of Magic, was the one in the least danger of getting hurt. Starburst, too, he must know to be able to take care of herself. Even if he had never had a sparring fight with her, he did see her go a couple times against Val, and yesterday she had heard both of her parents acknowledging that they had confidence in her skills. Nighty, however… he might have talent with magic. He might attend Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. He might prove one day to be as powerful as their mother. But he was still a kid.

And that meant that he was the one Flash Sentry would be afraid for the most.





On her way to the library, Starburst heard a pony racing through the halls. She turned her head back and saw Rosie come from behind the corridor. When she spotted her in turn, the elder mare hastened to reach her.

Starburst winced. There were only a few reasons she could think off that would cause Rosie to practically run… and right now, she didn’t feel like dealing with the one most probable.

“Young Princess,” the head housemaid said once she was at her side, slightly panting, but still retaining her usual demeanor. “We’ve been visited by Princess Luna and Princess Nidra. I took the liberty of showing them to the main living room, where they are awaiting you.”

As Starburst had expected, Princess Luna had already arrived in Ponyville, and wanted to speak with her. It has been over an hour since her father let Starfall go. Knowing the Princess of the Night’s enthusiasm for dealing with threats, she had already dealt with the nightmares of the royal guards, and quite likely, she had also spoken with Uncle Spike. Which meant that it wasn’t just a visit to wish Flash Sentry a quick return to health. Starburst would have to play her cards carefully if she intended to stay true to the promise she made.

What she didn’t expect, though, was her friend Nidra, Luna’s daughter, to come as well. Then again, perhaps Starburst shouldn’t be too surprised. Nidra was the kind of pony who might find the problem Ponyville had been facing as of late - in other words, Starfall - to be highly interesting. She probably came to see if the news she heard were true.

Dismissing Rosie, Starburst hurried to the main living room. She paused briefly before she entered it, though; despite that she never cared about her look, she did know it would be impolite for her if she hadn’t even tried to pretend she had put some effort to look good when meeting another princess. She stroked her mane a few times, and, considering that to be enough, she opened the doors.

“Princess Luna, Princess Nidra,” Starburst stated formally as she entered the living room; both alicorns, the first dark blue with flowing mane resembling the night sky, and the other smaller and gray, mane light blue and with leathery wings. “I bid you welcome in my family’s estate, though I-”

“Oh, would you cut that out, Star?” her friend, Nidra, rolled her eyes. “We’ve seen each other like, what, two days ago?”

“Nidra…” Princess Luna said quietly, closing her eyes; despite loving her daughter dearly, she had little patience for her unintended bursts of rudeness.

“And by seeing each other I meant living in the same castle,” Nidra continued. “And is this royal greeting really necessary? You’re a princess yourself, so-”

“Enough!” Luna snapped at her, though she was much calmer when doing so that a few previous times Starburst had witnesses similar scenes. “While you do have a point,” she added in a gentler tone, “it is a common courtesy to greet your guests in your house; only with the members of royalty there are a few more titles involved.” Princess Luna turned to to Starburst; and by doing so, she didn’t see her daughter poke her tongue at her. “Thank you for your warm welcome, Princess Starburst. When the words of what had transpired today reached us, we were deeply troubled. What is your father’s condition?”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Starburst felt a brief spark of amusement as she saw Nidra’s antics, though she had quickly shook it away. “He’s in no danger,” she replied to Princess Luna’s question. “Nurse Redheart said all he needed right now was rest.”

“I am glad to hear that,” the Princess of the Night replied, then paused, as if waiting for something. For what it became obvious a second later when her horn glowed with blue aura and the similar one appeared on her daughter’s fringed ear, pulling it down for a brief moment.

Nidra, getting the message, quickly added: “Good to know your dad’s okay, Star.”

She smiled as she said that. Starburst knew that Nidra was being honest, and that the slightly late reaction wasn’t meant to be an insult; it was just her being her. Princess Luna had already said what was on her mind, so why should she say the same thing? Plus, being just one year her elder, Nidra was still going through the ‘teenage rebellious age’ - which was something that Starburst had skipped - and had likely been purposely trying to get her mother mad at her.

“I hope he’ll make a swift recovery,” Princess Luna continued as the all sat down on the living room’s cushions, satisfied with her daughter’s response for now, “If the nightmare Prince Flash Sentry had faced was really caused by the same colt that cursed those guards, then I am really amazed that he managed to wake up from it by himself.”

“Thank you, Princess Luna,” Starburst accepted the compliment on her father’s behalf. “May I ask you about the condition of the guards my father had led into that battle?”

“T’wasn’t easy, but I managed to free them from that colt’s spell,” Princess Luna replied, slightly going back into the old way of speaking. “Though their conditions aren’t much better than your father’s. The news of this colt trouble me…” she added, frown scarring her features. “Especially in the light of Spike’s suspicion.”

“You mean that he is King Sombra’s son?”

“Yes, though I have no clue as how would that be possible. King Sombra’s entire being had been utterly corrupted by the dark magic he wielded, and while that was the reason he had managed to survive the battle with me and my sister, the Crystal Heart should have destroyed every aspect of him. He should have been long gone before the birth of this… Starfall, was it?”

Starburst nodded, pondering the older Princess words. She herself had those doubts when Uncle Spike had said that, and when Starfall confirmed it as possible.

“What do you mean when you say that the dark magic had corrupted him utterly?” she asked, hoping to gain some information about her opponent.

Unfortunately, almost as soon as the question had left her lips, Princess Luna looked at her sharply with comprehension. “Since you are asking me about the dark magic, am I to understand that what your Uncle had told me in the infirmary was true and you seek to capture Starfall yourself?”

In the corner of the eye Starburst noticed that hearing that, Nidra, who looked as if she was dozing off while Luna and her talked, perked her ears with interest.

“That is correct, Princess Luna,” she admitted. Starburst had no desire to lie. “He needs to be stopped, and I want to be the one that captures him, for all his insults.”

“Isn’t that a job for guar- oh, right…” Nidra answered herself the question she was about to ask, looking uncomfortable

“Princess Starburst, though I understand why you treat this as a personal matter - especially as I am privy to a knowledge about a certain thing…”

Starburst jaw dropped when she saw the smirk on Princess Luna’s face. She knows! she thought with panic. Somehow, though her mom had mentioned yesterday that Discord and Illusion were both away from Canterlot when she and Starfall were playing together all those years ago, it escaped her to ask about Princess Luna.

“... - I’m afraid I cannot let you do this,” Luna continued, expression hardening. “Based on what I could gather, this colt was considered highly dangerous even before today’s events. Now that we know he can use dark magic, he is even more dangerous, certainly not for somepony as young as you to handle. With my sister and your mother in the Crescent Lagoon, where we cannot reach them by magical means, I have to be the one that will confront him. Of course, if the messenger I send to them will reach them swiftly and either of them return to Equestria soon, their help would be appreciated. I will lead a search party into the Everfree Forest tomorrow.”

Starburst forced herself to remain calm and not let her disappointment shown. “Why not tonight?” she asked; she would have expected Princess Luna to go on the search with her bat pony guards during the night, as they would have a huge advantage.

“I pondered that,” Princess Luna admitted, “however, I fear that, given the harm the young colt had inflicted on the royal guard’s pride in those two days, it would be bad for morale if my own guards would be the one that would assist me with his capture.”

Starburst nodded. That made sense. She chided herself for not thinking about it.

“Does this mean Prince Supernova also won’t be assisting you?”

“Yes, though there’s another reason for that. My husband is currently investigating rumors about a rogue changeling in Manehattan. Now…” Princess Luna said as she rose from her seat, “I regrettably have to leave. I have other duties to attend to in Canterlot if I am to track down young Starfall.”

“Princess Luna…” Starburst quickly called; she wasn’t going to lose her chance. She had to capture Starfall herself. But the refusal to let her do that from Princess Luna would carry more consequences than from her Uncle. “I told him that I would capture him. Do you want me to go back on my word as a Princess?”

She ignored the look Nidra shot her that said “why do you bother?”. She needed to convince Princess Luna to let her do this.

“No, I do not want that,” Princess Luna answered, looking at her with strange look. “A Princess word should be her vow,” she said, glancing at her daugher sternly, who rolled her eyes. “However, like I said, this isn’t something a pony as young as you can deal with.”

“I’m not much younger than my mom and her friends were when they went to the Everfree Forest to confront somepony that was also deemed highly dangerous.”

Her gambit awarded her with the sight on Nidra’s jaw falling down, if nothing else. Starburst knew that reminding Princess Luna about how her mom and everypony else turned her back from Nightmare Moon into Luna might not be the best idea, but…

Princess Luna’s expression was unreadable as she stared into Starburst’s eyes. The pegasus princess met her gaze, knowing she couldn’t back down now.

“Maybe you’re right,” Princess Luna admitted. Starburst heart lifted hearing that, but then she slumped back down as the alicorn continued; “but that doesn’t change the fact that I cannot allow you to go after Starfall.”

Starburst, dismayed, nodded. She hoped her expression wasn’t betraying her thoughts: that she still planned on capturing him. Only with Princess Luna trying to stop her it would be difficult…

The Princess of the Night took a step back, and looked at her daughter. For a second, it seemed as if she was pondering something before she spoke: “Nidra, make sure Princess Starburst isn’t going to do anything foolish.”

Nidra’s face portrayed perfectly how Starburst felt. Both of them stared at Princess Luna with shock and confusion. She wants Nidra to keep an eye on me? Starburst thought, half confused, half offended; the other princess wasn’t exactly known for… being reliable. She might as well let me go after Starf-... wait, what?!

“On another note, Ponyville’s weather team is supposed to make it rain over the forest’s border,” Princess Luna continued while Starburst just gazed at her, still not believing it. “As this colt has an affinity with water, I guess this means the search will get delayed for a few hours. If you two would happen to go for a walk, I would advise wearing something waterproof and warm.”

“O-of course,” Starburst managed to reply; inwardly, she made a little dance. Bowing slightly in respect, she said: “Thank you for your visit, Princess Luna.”

“Thank you for your time, Princess Starburst,” Princess Luna replied, smiling, then turned around and began to leave.





“I can’t believe she just did that!”

Starburst couldn’t hide the smirk on her face as they walked. While she was too dumbstruck to raise any objection before Princess Luna had left, once she had recovered Nidra started - and to this moment continued - to complain about her assignment.

“Not only she had basically let you go after the second coming of King Sombra, but now if something will happen to you, it will be on my head!” Nidra exclaimed, rubbing her temples. “This is a job for guards, not princesses!”

“Well, this Princess plans one day to become a guard,” Starburst reminded her. “And she had seen her dad get beaten up by a smart-ass colt that’s her age.”

“I know, I know, sorry,” the alicorn sighed. “So what are we doing now?”

“We’re going to the library,” she replied, and ignored another sigh the other princess had uttered. “I need two certain spellbooks of my mom’s.”

“Why do you need spellbooks? I hope you don’t plan me on casting any powerful spells. You know I am not as powerful as our moms.”

“No, that’s not my plan, though if you would want to help I won’t stop you,” Starburst said. “And that’s not exactly a powerful spell, if my memory serves me right.”

“Okay, I… wait a second,” Nidra said slowly, looking at her. “You talk as if you have a plan.”

“I might,” Starburst explained with a wink.

She was speaking truth. Ever since she and Starfall had parted, her brain was working on a triple shift trying to come up with a way to capture him. She had gathered together everything she had learned while observing him, added to it what her mom told her while explaining the Polestar Spell and his other tricks, and based on what she got from this, she planned the way to capture him.

There was one unknown factor, thought: the dark magic.

“I’ll explain later,” Starburst told Nirda, not wanting to get now into details. “There is one more thing beside that spellbook I need to check in the library, so we might be there for a while… unless you know something about dark magic?” she asked with doubt.

To her surprise, Nidra answered with an uncertain: “Well… I don’t know how to use it, but mom explained to me how it works.”

“Really?” Starburst asked, trying to hide her surprise. “Why?”

“Oh, she just got so worried about that thing that happened some years ago, and was worried that I might need to protect myself from a pony using dark magic,” Nidra snorted at her mother’s paranoia, but, seeing the confused gaze Starburst gave her, she continued: “You know, that serial killer thing? Ripper the Jackal? You must have heard about it. Anyway, his last victim, that guard, was killed with dark magic, so…”

Nidra went on explaining what her mother thought about that incident and what she told her about that kind of magic, but Starburst wasn’t listening anymore. She stopped, her eyes going wide as she plunged into the depths of her mind, remembering pieces of information she had acquired in the years of preparing to become a royal guard. This one, though, was one of the darkest one in the history of not only the Royal Guard, but of the Equestria as well.

Ripper the Jackal. The serial killer, at first believed to be a griffon, as nopony believed a pony could do such sick things. His victims, who, except for the last one, were all mares, most of which dabbled with a rather undignifying profession, were found in bloodied pieces, and some of them, much to horror of the ponies that examined them, bore marks that indicated that they were eaten.

The killer (named “Ripper the Jackal” by the press) continued to evade both royal and night guards, until the killing had stopped… after one last victim. A lone royal guard, a pegasus, was found dead. The alley in which he was found bore clear signs of struggle: the street and walls were destroyed, some parts reduced to rubble, some having mark of claws on them. Upon identification of the blood with which the place was littered the ponies conducting that investigation learned that it wasn’t the victim's, but another pony - the killer most likely. As the killing had stopped after that, the guard was believed to having inflicted mortal wound on him, and he was honored post-mortem.

Of course, Starburst knew all that already, even that bit Nidra had said about the aura of dark magic found there. While this story was certainly dark, it wasn’t the horror of it that made Starburst now stop walking. What made her, though, was something she had heard today.

Nine years ago I said the same thing in Trottingham.

All murders happened in Trottingham. And they ended… nine years ago.

I really hate encores… especially when they get the casting wrong…

This day, on that scene, there was one guard as a victim, one colt as a villain… and one mare as a witness.

Wanna know how that turned out?

Stars above… Starburst though as the horrific realization came upon her. No…

She thought back to what her mom told her yesterday:

Trixie travelled from town to town, performing magic tricks, at least for a few years; however, I stopped hearing about her about nine years ago.

The casting in today’s encore was wrong. The colt wasn’t the villain, the guard wasn’t the victim, and the mare wasn’t the witness.

It was all wrong.

“Hey, Star, are you listening?”

With great effort Starburst shook her head. She might have gained now a new sympathy for Starfall. She might have saddening news for her mom when she gets back. She might later need to do everything she can to dishonor that guard. But what happened nine years ago didn’t give Starfall an excuse to do all those crimes he’s been committing since then. It was clear that for nine years he lived from what he stole, which he could have avoided. There were good orphanages in Trottingham. Her mom even opened one a few years back… Heck, if her mother had known what happened to Trixie, she would very likely adopted Starfall.

Even if one would look above all the thefts he must have committed, there were also the matters of what he did specifically in Ponyville. Starfall was going to pay for his actions, and Starburst was going to be the one to make sure of that. She wouldn’t get distracted… even though some of her rage dispersed and she now felt sorry for the colt.

“Sorry, I got lost in thoughts,” she replied to Nidra’s annoyed gaze. “You were saying?”

Shaking her head, Nidra started again while they continued trotting towards Starburst’s mom’s library. “As I was saying… the dark magic was originally created by Clover the Clever, as a mean to prevent the windigoes from ever coming back. The idea was that the unicorn would take away all the negative emotions of a pony. However, somehow, the spell went wrong, and instead we have now dark magic.”

“But how does it work?” Starburst asked, not really interest in history at the moment.

“Basically the unicorn gathers the negative emotions, such as hatred and fear, and changes them into a source of power. It doesn’t matter if the source of those emotions is the pony casting the spells or ponies around him, or if they are ponies at all.”

That’s what he meant, with Sombra using the fear of the crystal ponies… she mused. By why did he call him an idiot, then? It had clearly made him powerful. And… as the source of his magic wasn’t coming from his body… he technically would be able to remove inhibitor ring from his horn. However.. this also means...

“What can dark magic do, specifically? Are there any weaknesses, drawbacks?”

“If I remember correctly, dark magic can do close to everything,” Nidra replied, shrugging. “It depends on the user, what he wants it to do. It could be what that colt did, spreading fear, nightmares… or it could be what King Sombra did, erasing memories, changing body to gas, regeneration… As for weaknesses and drawbacks, though… The only real weakness is that it can be really weak against alicorn magic, especially of a pony like Princess Cadance, who’s magic emanates with love, which is and exact opposite of dark magic. However, there is also a high risk for the one using it: if he isn’t careful, his mind and body get slowly corrupted by the dark magic. Your mom must have told you how King Sombra kept hissing at everything, right? Well, there you have it.”

Starburst nodded as they finally entered the library. The strengths and weaknesses of the dark magic, while insightful, were of no concern to her now. True, she now had an alicorn to help, but as Nidra wasn’t particularly strong with magic, Starburst couldn’t expect her to fight Starfall. What had really interested her, though, was that bit Nidra told her earlier: about the source of the dark magic.

My guess was right, she thought with satisfaction as she searched through the shelves, looking for-

“What are you looking for, again?” Nidra interrupted her train of thoughts, stifling a yawn.

“I’m looking for-” Starburst began to say, but was interrupted again.

This time by Rosie.

“Princess Starburst,” she said, entering the library, and bowing slightly to both her and Nidra. “Your friends are waiting outside the mansion. Should I let them in?”

A smile crept on Starburst muzzle. She knew that she would need others’ help with this plan, but she didn’t expect them all to show up by themselves so soon. I just hope they will all agree to help… I mean, I do plan to drag them to the Everfree Forest...

“Of course,” she replied to Rosie’s question. “Please, tell them to come here.”

“And bring some snacks, would you?” Nidra added, sitting on one of the pillows Starburst’s mom always kept here in case a large group of ponies would ever just randomly come here.

The head housemaids’ brow furrowed hearing the rather rude request. “Princess Nidra, I hope you don’t address your servants the same way. I’m afraid Her Majesty Princess Twilight doesn’t allow any food or drinks here,” she added, bowing as she made her way out.

“Your mom is lame,” Nidra commented yawning with boredom.

Starburst decided to let that one go and focus instead on another issue. “Nidra, have you ever heard that you should be nice to the ponies who bring you your food?”

“No, why?”

Starburst facehoofed hearing another yawn.

“Who do you think is coming?” Nidra asked, flexing her wings and absentmindedly fixing her mane.

“Dunno, everypony? This reminds me,” she said, glancing at her friend. “Your mom is now in Canterlot, my mom and Princess Celestia are on that peace summit… your dad is in Manehattan... where are Illusion and Discord?”

“Well, Mom told me Auntie Celestia was angry at Discord for something, and then Illusion mentioned something yesterday that it might be better for him to disappear for a few days. So, I dunno, they’re in Las Pegasus maybe?”

He comes and goes in and out of Ponyville as he pleases, but when he could be of help for once he’s on the other side of Equestria? Figures…

As she thought that, Nidra continued to make herself more presentable. “Do you think T is coming as well?”

“Probably, why?” she asked, glancing at her.

“No reason,” Nidra explained, finally satisfied with her mane.

Starburst just rolled her eyes. She saw no sense in making herself presentable for friends.

Soon the increasing noise of hooves let them know their friends were close. Luckily, the mansion’s library was spacious enough to fit them all comfortably… all ten of them. Not only did those of her friends that saw with her what Starfall did to her dad and the other guards come, but they also dragged Claire, Gold and June. The big pink mare seldom was hanging out with them as of late, as between her chores on Sweet Apple Acres and teaching the in Ponyville’s Elementary she didn’t have too much free time.

“My mom would have exploded from happiness if she knew there were going to be so many ponies in here,” Starburst commented as they all greeted each other and made themselves comfortable.

It didn’t escape her notice that Candy and Gold were sitting next to each other… or that Prism and Wind were on the opposite side of the room. Clearly, whatever idea Candy and Annie had came up with, it was already being put into motion, though it was causing an opposite effect from the one they desired.

“How’s your dad?” Annie, sitting beside T (on his other side was sitting Nidra), asked her.

“He’s fine, he just needs some rest.”

“That’s good to hear,” Claire commented. “Now, would you mind telling us why our dad - and mom, and everyponies’ else parents - told us to make sure you’re not going to do anything stupid?”

Starburst rolled her eyes at Uncle Spike’s overprotectiveness. It looked that he told all their parents about what she said.

“I think it’s because she’s going to do exactly that,” Nidra replied for her, smirking.

“Star, ya don’t really plan to go after that colt, ain’t ya?” June asked her sternly, though worry was tinting her voice. “If what everypony said was true, Ah must say that this sounds a little crazy. Ah know he beat up yar dad, but-”

“It’s not just because I want to pay him back ,” Starburst said, interrupting her. When June got a good start, it could take a while for anypony else to get a word in edgeways. “I also want to capture him because he needs to be stopped and pay for his crimes.”

“But Star,” Annie tried, “Even if that’s true, it’s just impossible for you to beat Starfall.”

“Scared?” Nidra smirked at her from the other side of T. The green dragon-pony hybrid looked slightly uncomfortable.

Is it because Nidra’s wing is brushing his side? Starburst wondered absentmindedly. Or because Annie is holding the end of his tail? she thought, looking at the hooves of Annie, in which was the end of T’s long tail that he curled around his body when he sat down.

“Star, I want to kick that guy’s sorry flank almost as much as you do,” Prism spoke up, swiftly rising into the air so that others could better hear him. “But I got to admit, between his Whatever Spell and that dark hocus pocus he is just too good for anypony to touch him, let alone get him ‘bound in chains’.”

Starburst opened her mouth to reply, but seeing where Prims had landed she paused. “You might not want to sit there.”

“Why?” Prism asked surprise from atop of the desk.

Blocking the memories of the previous night, Starburst shook. “Just… trust me on that one, okay?”

As Prism rolled his eyes and rose from the desk, she started again. “I have a plan.”

“Yeah, so did your dad,” Nidra reminded her bluntly.

Starburst glared at her, but said nothing. Instead, she concentrated on what she needed to tell hem. “I have a plan to stop Starfall dead in his tracks. Not dead dead,” she amended, seeing the reaction on half of her friends faces; as if she was speaking literally. “But he will be at our mercy. But… I will need your help.” she sighed; this would the hard part. “I know that this isn’t a light favor to ask for, but-”

“Not another word, Star,” Candy interrupted her, smiling. “We’ll help you, right guys?”

Everypony - everypony - nodded, even if some of them did so reluctantly.

“Ya didn’t think we would let a friend of ours go that that creepy forest alone, did’ya?” Gold asked, smirking. “We’re stickin’ to ya like a caramel on a candy apple.”

“Especially if there's candy apples in there,” Candy added, and when a few heads turned to her with a raised eyebrows. “What? Those things are good.”

Prism, on the other hoof, was looking on Gold. “‘Caramel on a candy apple’?”

Gold just shrugged. “Mah folks keep sayin’ that. It sticks to ya.”

Prism facehoofed. “Speaking of sticking…” he muttered, then added louder. “You do realize they might be talking about-”

“Anyway,” Claire interrupted him, and, guessing by the glare she gave Prism, she must have figured out what he was about to say (something socially unacceptable by the looks of it), “could you tell us this plan of yours, Star?”

Starburst nodded, but before she could dwell into that, she turned to Annie. “Anthea, I need to ask you something. My mom keeps saying how good you’ve gotten with the spells she’s been teaching you, and how quickly you learn them; do you think you could cast some spells just by learning them from the books? I will read them to you,” she added, not wanting to hear more jokes for the moment.

“Well, I suppose,” Annie replied. “It’s easier to learn from somepony, but I don’t think I would have too much of a problem. But… Star, I want you to promise me something.”

“What is it?” she asked, surprised.

“You said Starfall will be at your mercy,” the blind unicorn repeated her words. “I want you to promise me that you won’t try to use that to pay him back for anything.”

Starburst rolled her eyes; even if such a thought appeared in her head, she had definitely forsaken the idea after she had figured out what had happened nine years ago. “I give you my word as a princess that I will not torture him, beat him, or anything else once we capture him.”

“And that you will let my try to talk with him to give himself up,” Annie added. Starburst wished she could see the annoyed stare she gave her. “I think it’s worth a try if this could prevent any sort of fight.”

“Asking the guy who beat up royal guards two days in a row to let us throw him into prison,” Nidra commented, smirking. “Yeah, that sounds like a game plan.”

“Nidra, that’s enough,” Claire scolded her. “I would much rather talk my way out of such a bothersome problem. Now, Star dear, you were saying?”

Starburst nodded to her and told them. She watched as they expression kept changing while she went over every aspect of her plan, as well as what a particular pony’s role would be in it.

“So, do you think you can do that Annie?” she asked the unicorn when she finished.

“Well, I suppose…” Annie mused. “But… where are you going to get a set of royal guards’ armor?”





“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me...” Prism muttered.

They moved their group from the library into Starburst’s room. Well, not the entire group; June, Gold, Claire and Candy had already left (which was a good thing, considering the smaller space of her room) to prepare for the adventure tomorrow, whether to ready themselves or make sure they would have a free morning.

The reason behind Prism’s comment was the small case that Starburst had pulled from the depths of her wardrobe. Or, to be more specific, its contents.

“Where did you get that?” Wind asked with curiosity as she looked at the set of the unique royal guard’s armor.

“Uncle Shining Armor gave it to me on my last birthday,” Starburst replied, admiring the armor herself; she could never get enough of its sight. The fact that she was finally going to wear it was exhilarating. “It was made specially for me.”

“And like that, you made every single gift I got for my birthday look lame.” Prism rolled his eyes.

“Oh, hush, your parent are the Wonderbolts,” Wind reminded him.

“So Annie?” Starburst asked over their friends argument. “Think this will work?”

“Well, the spell sounds easy...” Annie replied. “Give me some time - and peace and quiet - and we will see… well, you will.” she added with a smirk.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” T asked gently with concern.

“If you would be so kind,” Annie replied, smiling cutely.

“Hey, I’ll stay as well” Nidra had unexpectedly added cheerfully. “It’s more fun-”

“She needs peace and quiet, Nidra,” Starburst reminded her, “and no offence, but I kinda don’t see that happening with you.”

Nidra looked as if she was going to protest, but she gave up under Starburst’s stern gaze. The four of them left the room, leaving Annie and T. The former’s horn was beginning to glow as she concentrated.

Soon, Starfall... Starburst thought with satisfaction.





Like Annie had said: it took some time, but in the end, she was successful. Now they all had left (besides Nidra, who was staying here) to prepare and caught some rest before tomorrow.

After seeing Nidra off to one of the spare rooms they had for guests, Starburst hurried over to her parents’ bedroom. She found Nighty inside, sleeping beside the bed, some book laying on the floor next to him. Their father was still asleep, thought he laid in a different position, which mean that the might have woken up for a while.

Starburst trotted over to Nightly and gently woke him up. He blinked as rose his head. “Hey, want to change?”

“Yeah, sure...” he replied, rubbing his eyes, then yawning. “Dad woke up for a moment,” he said, brightening up.

“What did he say?” Starburst asked, happy to know that.

“He said that he feels terrible, but it is nothing compared to how he felt after Uncle Shining Armor found out he was dating mom,” Nighty said, chuckling at the old family joke. “He was asking how I was, where you were, what’s happening, but after a few minutes he got sleepy again.”

“I see,” Starburst nodded, regretting that she wasn’t here for that. “He must be still exhausted. Anyway, you go off to be, I will stay here for the night.”

“Okay,” he replied, yawning again, “Goodnight.”

Starburst repeated after as she began to settle down. Her gaze was on her father’s face; she kept thinking how she was going to make Starfall pay for what he did to him.

Not that she planned to hurt him; after all, she did gave Annie her word. But the blow to his pride would be enough of reward for her.





Starburst waited patiently under her cloak at the edge of the forest as they all had gathered. The rain Princess Luna had warned her about was just a small drizzle. Still enough for Starfall to use to his advantage, but not enough to make anypony catch a cold later.

“Is that everypony?” she asked, despite already having counted them. All nine faces looked back at her and nodded. “Okay, let’s get going!”

“Yay!” they replied in unison, all wearing cloaks for a protection against the rain in case it got worse, as they marched into the Everfree Forest.
> Stars' Date
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The constant sound of rain dropping on her cloak had begun to irritate Starburst. She had hoped that, if they would go deeper into the forest, they would be out of this drizzle, but they had no such luck. While it was true that Ponyville’s weather team was supposed to make it rain just by the border of the Everfree Forest, the rainclouds must have spread further.
 
As usual, the weather above the Everfree Forest does whatever it pleases, Starburst thought with irritation. Not only was the noise obscuring any sounds around them that could alert them if any danger was incoming, but it was causing the forest to be a bit colder… and this armor she was wearing wasn’t exactly warm…
 
The clang of metal when she shivered must have alerted her friends. “Are you okay?” Candy, walking closest to her, asked, and when Starburst glanced at her, she saw that the blue gray earth pony and a few others were glancing at her with mild concern.
 
“Sure, I’m just excited,” she lied to calm them down.
 
There was nothing exciting about this. They were here to capture a dangerous criminal. One who had hurt her dad. One who had become like that because a member of the royal guard murdered his mother. One who… was her friend once.
 
Starburst shook her head to shake off that last thought. She had already decided that she wasn’t going to let the fact that for one day she and Starfall played together as foals affect any of this. True, it did cause that she had promised Anthea that she wasn’t going to hurt him, but there were other reason for that as well. Like Annie being really stubborn sometimes, or that Starburst did feel sorry for Starfall… or that a real royal guard battled only threats.
 
Once her plan would reach its fruitions, he won’t be one.
 
“After all, it’s been a while since all of us did something together,” she finished her earlier thought. Hoping to change the subject, Starburst turned to look at the pony walking a bit further away, in the center of the group. “What about you, Annie? You’re holding up?”
 
The blind unicorn gave a carefree smile, easily visible due to her glowing with green light horn. “Don’t worry, the Tracking Spell is easy to perform.”
 
While most of them were at least slightly unhappy about the weather and were a bit grumpy, Annie remained as positive and kind as always. The green leathery wing outstretched above her, shielding her from the rain, had probably something to do with that… as well as with Nidra - who was trotting on the other side of T - glaring from time to time at her, maybe. Seeing that, as well as remembering how the other princess had been acting yesterday, Starburst began to wonder if Nidra was… jealous.
 
She banished those thoughts quickly. Starburst made a mental note to discuss this with somepony more knowledgeable in mare-stallion relationships at some other time, but right now she couldn’t allow any distractions.
 
Of course, some distractions couldn’t be avoided, like getting frustrated at one of her friends.
 
“Oh,” Prism exclaimed after Annie replied to her question, “so that’s how we’re gonna find that little snot. I’ve been wondering for a while about that.”
 
Starburst - and everypony - stopped and turned to look at him.
 
“Have you been paying any attention to what I said yesterday?” she asked him, already knowing the answer.
 
The lazy pegasus rolled his eyes, “I might have dozed off in the parts that didn’t concern my part in the plan.”
 
Somehow finding the strength to suppress a sigh, Starburst glared at him, “I do hope you remember those parts. Now, to avoid future disruptions, Annie isn’t using the Tracking Spell to find Starfall, but-”
 
“Guys!” a hiss from June, still loud enough to be heard by everypony, interrupted her. Starburst looked at her, surprised, and saw the big fuschia mare pointing at something ahead of them on their path with a concerned face.
 
The pegasus princess turned to see what it was… and found herself staring at a lone timberwolf.
 
Timberwolves were strange creatures, seen only in the Everfree Forest. Despite bearing strong similarities to wolves, they weren’t even closely related to them. In fact, they were spirits that had no body of their own, so they build them using branches and other pieces of wood. They were about slightly bigger than wolves, and like them, they usually traveled in packs, with whom, if in danger or hunting a really elusive prey, they could join into a single, huge predator.
 
Now one of them stood in their path, about as twice as big as an average member of its species. It didn’t look as if it was hunting them, though: it was standing with its side turned to them, which told Starburst that it had been simply crossing the forest path and didn’t notice them until now. In fact, it looked about as surprised as them.
 
It appeared that this surprise wouldn’t last long, though. Even as Starburst was in the process of registering in her mind what she was watching, the yellow glow in the timberwolf’s eyes locked on them. The beast began to turn around, snarling and baring its fangs at them.
 
Before Starburst - or anypony else, even the timberwolf - could react, a blue beam shoot past her ear and hit the beast right in the face… causing him to fell on the ground, snoring.
 
“Nidra, you shouldn’t have done that!” Annie exclaimed, turning to the smug-looking alicorn. The pink unicorn was about the only pony who appeared to be unhappy with Nidra’s action; everypony else was visibly relieved…. besides T, of course, as he was standing between the two mares. “I could have calmed it down! There was no reason for you to put it to sleep.”
 
“Maybe,” the Princess replied with a shrug, “but my way was faster. And funnier. Watch,” she said, and as she turned back to sleeping timberwolf, another beam shot from her horn.
 
Starburst was about to remind her to save her magic for her task, but she stopped as she looked at what her spell did: it caused a bushy mustache to grow on timberwolf’s muzzle. A few ponies snorted, amused, and even she had to admit that it looked funny.
 
“How am I supposed to watch, exactly?” Annie retorted, her unseeing eyes having never left Nidra, as she raised one eyebrow.
 
“Ups, right. Sorry,” Nidra replied, for once slightly embarrassed. “I made a mustache grow out its muzzle. Relax,” she added, seeing that Annie’s continued to glare at her sternly, “it will disappear in an hour, long before it wakes up.”
 
The blind pony had relaxed somewhat, but she was clearly still having an issue with using magic to play a prank on the animal… even if it wasn’t an animal from the practical point of view. She turned to T; “T, would you be so kind to move it under a tree or something? I know that timberwolves can’t catch a cold, but I wouldn’t wish anypony to sleep in the rain.”
 
“Sure, no problem,” the green dragon-pony hybrid replied pleasantly and trotted to the big pile of wood.
 
Annoyed at the prolonged distraction, Starburst gestured to the others to resume walking. “As I was saying,” she began, glancing over her shoulder at Prism, “Annie isn’t using her Tracking Spell to locate Starfall.”
 
“Then how are we supposed to find him, exactly? ‘Cause I don’t think we have the time to check all burrows in the forest.”
 
Sighing, Starburst once again concentrated at the road ahead of them. “Prism, use your head. Where, do you think, a colt that dances around the markerplace while singing and speaks almost all the time either in over-dramatic fashion or plain idiotic one, could be hiding at?”
 
She could practically hear Prism’s brow furrow and the gears in his brain turn as he added all that together. “You don’t mean…”
 





 
“Oh, come on!” Prism exclaimed about half an hour later. “There’s no way this could be that simple!”
 
Starburst opted to utterly ignore him as she stared at the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. It wasn’t raining here - yet - letting them see the ruins in all their glory. While some years before she was born her mother and her friends tried to restore the Castle, as time went on and they started their families, they simply had not enough free time to continue doing that. It once again lay forgotten.
 
Until now. Starburst was certain that behind the closed doors they would find Starfall. Where else would he hide? He knew she was coming for him, and he did say ‘See you tomorrow’ yesterday. Asking Annie to search for him with a Tracking Spell would be a waste of time… and, as Starburst vaguely remembered from somewhere, a unicorn could sometimes sense a Tracking Spell. She couldn’t risk having Starfall figure out her plan.
 
The plan had required Annie to look for something else, and then send Nidra to the location. Now, as Starburst looked back, she saw not nine but eight other ponies. She was slightly worried about her friend - this was the Everfree Forest, after all - but after a brief discussion Nidra had decided that she could do her part alone.
 
Now we will have to do our part…
 
“Remember the plan,” she told quietly her friends. “We must occupy him long enough for Nidra to get back.”
 
They all nodded, each of them looking less or more excited. They all had grown up listening to the stories about their parents exploits, after all. This was just like those adventures… except that they, their kids, actually had a plan.
 
“Is there any point in telling you that there’s no way he’s in there?” Prism once again voiced his scepticism. This time Starburst did glance at him, her eyelid twitching. “This is like the most obvious place for that brat to hide; of course he’s not there! He’s probably hiding in a cave or somethin’... or, he fled the forest altogether, because, I dunno, he now has half of the Royal Guard coming after him?!”
 
Starburst had a response to that that would probably leave one of them really embarrassed - either him, as she planned to point out just how wrong he was, or her, as the witty pegasus could probably turn that back at her somehow - but thankfully, Windwhirl had helped her out.
 
“Are you volunteering to fly around the forest checking caves?” the purple pegasus asked, smirking. “You, who mastered the art of laziness?”
 
Prism snorted, taking offence. “Zipp it, Du-”
 
“I told you to not call me that!” Wind hissed rather loudly, cutting him off.
 
A bit too loudly for Starburst’s taste.
 
“Could you two keep it down?!” Starburst berated them. “Starfall might be expecting us, but there is still that thing called ‘the element of surprise’!”
 
“Eee… Star?” one of her friends spoke up. Turning away from the quarrelling couple (and mentally wincing that because of Annie and Candy’s plotting now she too considered Prism and Wind as such) she looked at June. Despite talking to her, her eyes were on something behind her. “Ya might had to consider mentionin' this to Candy,” June said, pointing with her hoof.
 
The troubled look on Gold’s face, standing next to his cousin, told Starburst everything she needed to know. Unfortunately, just as her brain came to the conclusion, it was too late. A very enthusiastic knocking filled the ground around the ruins. Starburst sighed and turned around to watch Candy practically hitting the door to the Castle with her hoof.
 
“HEELOOOOOOO!” she called out, oblivious to the looks she was receiving from her friends. “ANYPONY HOOOME?!”
 
Once she stopped knocking, and eerie silence fell upon them as Candy took a step back and sit down, waiting for a reply from whoever was behind the door.
 
Finally, one of them broke the silence after an adequate moment of being shocked had passed. “Cotton Candy…” Prism stated, “... you’re so random.”
 
Candy giggled and was about to turn her head back - Probably to thank him for the ‘compliment’ - but just then…
 
Kreeen…
 
Everypony tensed as the door to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters began to open. Starburst readied herself in case something was about to happen, while at the same time she stared intensely at that the growing crack… in which stood no other pony than Starfall.
 
Except… instead of the bandanna and the cloak that she was familiar with, he was dressed in a tuxedo… with a bowtie. He also had a tiny black line painted on his muzzle, and had his mane cut short and it looked as if he had it “licked” to make it stick to one side of his head...
 
“Yes?” he asked with a strange accent.
 
“Hi!” Candy greeted the other pony cheerfully while the rest stood in torpor. “We came to see Starry, is he here?”
 
Starburst’s gaze shifted to her gray-blue friend. Did she not recognize him, or… she began to think, but at the same time something clicked in her head as she took another look at this sudden change in his appearance.
 
“You’re just another blob of water shaped to look like him,” she told the thing that stood on the doorway.
 
The fake pony, who was about to reply to Candy’s question, glanced at her. About a heartbeat later, he began to viciously cough into his hoof. His coughing strangely resembled the word “racists”, however. Starburst scowled, but waited patiently for him to finish.
 
In unrelated news, Candy also began to cough a few seconds later… and Starburst was sure she heard her say “totally”.
 
“I think I must agree with that… hm, pony,” Annie chided. Starburst gave her an annoyed look. “That comment was uncalled for.”
 
“Well, if it will stick around after we will catch the real one, I will be sure to apologize,” Starburst hissed back at her, before concentrating on the water duplicate.
 
The fake pony seemed to get his coughing fit under control. A serious expression returned back to his face as he replied to Candy’s question. “Do you have an appointment?”
 
A metal-clad hoof collided with Starburst face. This is going to be a painful experience, she thought, massaging her muzzle after she facehoofed.
 
“Why, yes!” Candy grinned, then turned and pointed at Starburst. “Princess Starburst here has a date with him!”
 
Starburst’s jaw dropped. The same happened to Starfall’s water duplicate.
 
“We’re her security detail!” Candy finished, grinning.
 
Both Starburst and Starfall’s water duplicate recovered from the shock. Only where Starburst had began to rub her temples, the fake pony erupt with laughter, trying and failing to contain it. Its laughter was answered by several snorts from her friends, which didn’t cease even after the pegasus princess glared at them - them being Prism, Wind, Claire, and Annie, the other three thankfully spared her the embarrassment - with anger.
 
The water duplicate tried to speak, but it needed a moment to calm itself, and even then it had problems talking “Oh, yes, snort, now I remember,” it managed to say while covering his mouth with a hoof. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “Ekhem. Yes, Don Starfall is expecting you.”
 
That was a new one.
 
“‘Don’?” Starburst repeated after it, raising an eyebrow in surprise, despite her urge to punch it for that laughing.
 
The water duplicate, however, didn’t answer. Instead, its horn glowed, and the door began to open wider. “Please, right this way,” it said, moving to the side to let them pass. “Don Starfall awaits you in the Throne Room.”
 
Starburst sighed and began walking towards the entrance, where Candy and the water duplicate stood. What was about to happen was going to be hard enough already without her getting worked up over some stupid jokes at her expense. Because of that, she decided to not make any comments regarding this “date” joke. However, she couldn’t help but to ask out loud: “Can anypony explain to me why Candy is obsessed with pairing up ponies as of late?”
 
To be honest, she didn’t expect anypony to answer. Maybe joke. So she was a bit surprised when June spoke up. “Del took her to see ‘When Hedge met Acorn’ at the cinema ‘bout a week ago. Maybe that’s got somethin’ to do with it?” she added with a shrug.
 
Starburst glanced at Gold as they walked, and saw his cheeks taking on a slightly crimson hue. Contemplating why this couldn’t happen to one of the ponies who laughed at her a moment ago, she turned away and not dwelled on the subject.
 
Unfortunately for Gold, some of her friends weren’t as kind as she.
 
“Geez, you took her to see that cheesy comedy?” Prism asked, confused, as he flew over to hover next to him. “Did’ya lose a bet or something?” Once he asked that, he blinked, and rubbed his head. “Come to think of it, why did the two of you go alone?”
 
Whether he was grateful or not, Gold was spared from answering that question by Wind. “Why, did you want to see it?” she asked Prism, smirking. “I didn’t know you were such a fan of it, Priz.”
 
“What are you, flying high?” the dark blue pegasus replied with a raised eyebrow.
 
As her friends argued, Starburst had reached the entrance. She passed Candy - and paused to give her the “You annoyed me for week’s worth” look, to which the earth pony replied by poking her tongue at her - and looked at Starfall’s water duplicate… who was kneeling.
 
“Your Majesty,” he began, its head practically on the floor and eyes closed, “I bid you welcome in my master’s humb-”
 
That was about all he got to say before Starburst’s armored forehooves smashed his head, making the duplicate immediately burst, spraying her and the ponies closest standing with water. The small glowing multi-colored orb remained as second longer, but then it dwindled and disappeared.
 
“Was that really necessary?” Claire asked, sounding annoyed. When Starburst turned to look at her she understood why: the dragon-pony hybrid got bespattered with water. Claire’s short mane lost it’s curliness and was falling straight down.
 
“Well, it made me feel better,” Starburst answered, not really feeling sorry after her older friend laughed after Candy’s joke.
 
Speaking of…
 
“What?” the blue-grey pony asked Gold as he stopped beside her. Probably asked her what was that about… “I just wanted to share a few laughs with him. I mean, we’re kinda going to arrest him; now was the only time I had to try and be friends with him!” she added, giggling. Gold smiled and rolled his eyes, leaning closer to her…
 
On the other side of the entrance, Prism was still continuing his explanation to Wind just why he would never want to see “When Hedge met Acorn”: “... and it’s a love story! I mean, for goodness sake, if ponies are going to the cinema to watch that, should they be in love or something?”
 
Starburst had to give credit where credit was due; it took Prism only a second to realize just was he had said. When he did, his eyes snapped wide, and turned around to stare at Gold and Candy… just when Gold kissed the still giggling mare on the cheek.
 
“You?!” Prism exclaimed, utterly shocked, pointing at Gold, then at Candy. “And- and you?!”
 
Gold seemed a little embarrassed by the sudden attention (which made Starburst think that he had forgotten that the two of them weren’t alone), but Candy just grinned. “Yep!” she said happily, hugging the golden stallion by neck.
 
Apparently, Prism still had problems processing that; everypony else didn’t seem surprised, even T, the remaining stallion of the group. Then again, he had probably heard about it from Annie… those two are inseparable. “How?” Prism asked the two. “When?”
 
“Oh, that’s a funny story!” Candy exclaimed. “It happened three weeks ago in Canterlot-”
 
“In CANTERLOT?!”
 
Huh, so that’s when… Starburst mused, slightly surprised. About three weeks ago they all went to Canterlot, to take part in the celebrations honoring the day when her aunt and uncle have put an end to the Changelings’ Invasion with the power of love… and got married. Starburst had to be there due to royal duties and so that she could congratulate Shining Armor and Cadance their twenty-seventh anniversary (who had made a short appearance, their main anniversary party took place in the Crystal Empire). The others went there mostly to enjoy festivities and to watch the parade. To think that somehow then things “clicked” between Candy and Gold…
 
“We kinda didn’t wanna mention it to not make a big deal out of it…” Gold explained, still looking embarrassed.
 
“But it is a big deal!” Prism shouted out. He looked around at the other ponies. “Right?” he asked, his expression faltering once he realized that nopony else was freaking out like him. “Why aren’t you guys freaking out?”
 
June was the first to answer that question. “I saw them making out behind the barn two weeks ago.”
 
Gold’s coat once again began turning crimson.
 
“Del asked me about a good romantic movie,” Claire added, “and I pestered him to tell me details as to why he wanted to know that. And quite honestly, I was a bit offended that you hadn’t said a word, Candy,” she pouted at the earth pony mare.
 
“Sorry,” Candy giggled, and Starburst detected a note of embarrassment from her.
 
There were a few more ponies that wanted to add their bits to this story, though. “They forgot a certain somepony has a rather good hearing,” Annie said, smirking. “Plus, there was this recent change in Candy’s behaviour… not to mention that I caught a whiff of Del’s scent on her when she hugged me. Ah, the wonders of being blind...” she sighed, and it was clear that she was holding off the urge to laugh.
 
Now even Candy was blushing, though not as much as her coltfriend’s, whose coat was practically matching his cousin’s now.
 
“And Annie told me,” T admitted, glancing at Gold apologetically.
 
“I spotted them kissing when I was practicing my flying over Ponyville,” Wind said, and then glanced at Prism. “So if you hadn’t been so lazy and joined me like I asked you, you would have known as well.”
 
Starburst sighed. She really didn’t want to take a part in this discussion - Weren’t we doing something here? Here being the ancient ruins in the middle of the forest? - but not doing that might make her friends think she was as clueless and unobservant as Prism.
 
“And I’d noticed that Candy sees couples everywhere since a few days ago, and that those two are looking at each other funny,” she said reluctantly, shrugging.
 
Her statement had finally pushed the couple to react. “‘kay, so we’re bad at hidin’ things,” Gold murmured, rolling his eyes.
 
“So you see, Prism Bolt,” Claire summed up, “none of us are ‘freaking out’, as you had put it, because unlike you we pay attention to our friends and can ‘read the signs’. Even Star had-”
 
“What is that supposed to mean?” Starburst interrupted her. She was really confused by the mention of her name.
 
Now it was Claire who looked slightly awkward. “Well, I mean nothing ill, darling… it’s just that you also don’t always pay close attention to your friends, though unlike Prism, it’s not caused by laziness, but your diligence in your training. Also…” the dragon-pony paused to give her an odd look, “forgive me, darling, but you are not exactly a pony I would expect to pick up on such things. Quite frankly, I would have expected you to be clueless in regards to lady’s and male relations.”
 
Starburst narrowed her eyes. For some reason, she felt that she should be offended. And she was, though only to some extent. “Why it’s true that I don’t have interest in those matters,” she told Claire, “you should know better than to think me ‘clueless’.”
 
“Yeah!” Candy suddenly exclaimed, glaring at Claire. “Star isn’t clueless!”
 
The pegasus smiled and nodded with gratitude.
 
“And aren’t we helping her catch a coltfriend?”
 
Her head was stopped dead in mid-nod. Starburst’s eyes grew wide as plated as she turned to the smiling Candy. She immediately took a hold of herself and scowled. “Candy, that joke was funny earlier, but now drop it,” she said over the sound of several snorts of laughter.
 
“What joke?” Candy asked, tilting her head. “Didn’t you say that you will have him bound in chains?”
 
A couple things happened at once. Starburst wasn’t sure which was first; her snapping and unfolding her wings from under her cloak as wide as possible while taking a threatening step toward the blue gray mare; the said mare uttering a short squeal of terror and jumping behind Gold (who also slightly backed away); or the laughing of a certain pegasus, who fell on the ground holding his sides as if his stomach hurt.
 
“Um…” Candy stammered from behind Gold, “s-sorry?”
 
Starburst let her be terrified of her gaze a few heartbeats longer, before she finally averted her eyes. She sighed and folded her wings under the cloak. “Candy, I came here to apprehend Starfall because that was my dad’s job, and he got beaten,” she told her friend once she came from behind her coltfriend. “He had not only hurt him, but also besmirched the honor of my family. That’s why this is my job to do that… and...” she hesitated. There was one more reason why she didn’t find Candy’s jokes to be funny. Not because of what she was suggesting; rather, because she was making them at all. “and… even after we’ll catch him, I don’t think I will be really happy that it came to this,” she confessed. “I… think that if the circumstances were different, we all might have become friends with Starfall, just as Annie had suggested yesterday. Do notice that it is me saying that,” Starburst added with a reluctant smirk. “So please stop making those jokes when we’re about to go make sure a colt our age is getting put into prison.”
 
She knew all her friends - minus Prism, who was still rolling on the ground, though his laughter started to die out - were staring at her, confused, surprised, and touched. Starburst was never one for showing emotions or making speeches about friendship, so they understood at once that she truly meant what she said.
 
“R-right,” Candy told her quietly, and Starburst, to her terror, saw tears in the corner of her eyes. “Sorry, I was just trying to lighten up the situation, and, and…”
 
Berating herself for making her friend cry, Starburst smiled and shook her head. “Don’t worry about that. And stop being sappy,” she added in a more commending tone.
 
Candy stood in attention and saluted. Starburst smiled and turned to the others. “Claire, could you do the honors?” she asked the dragon-pony, nodding her head at still laughing Prism. Claire grinned and moved closer to him, while Starburst turned around. “Okay gang!” she called out, her eyes piercing through the badly lit corridors of the ruined castle. Behind her, she hear a loud Slap!, followed by a startled yelp. “Listen up! Our target is located in the Throne Room. He knows we’re coming for him. So let’s go in and give him the show he’ll never forget!” Starburst shouted as she raised her hoof into the air.
 
“Yeah!” Shouts of her friends echoed through the empty hall.
 
Starburst smiled, closing her eyes, as she couldn't really believe what she was going to say next:
 
“Let’s get this over with so we can throw Candy and Del a party!” she shouted.
 
For a second - a blissful second - all the shouting and other noises stopped, as if she had suddenly gone deaf. Starburst grinded her teeth as she awaited the inevitable-
 
The pair of gray-blue hooves grabbed her from behind and pulled her into an incredibly strong hug.
 
Seriously, she was wearing a suit of armor, how in blazes did this pony managed to squeeze her so hard that she couldn’t breathe?
 
“I knew you cared!” Candy exclaimed through tears of happiness as she laughed.
 
Everypony was laughing, only this time Starburst didn’t mind. She couldn’t help it, she laughed too, but briefly.
 





 
Finding the Throne Room - the room where the old thrones of both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood - had been easy. At some point of the time, each of them had been taken here by their parents, who wanted to show them a part of their past. Starburst was here probably here more times than the rest, as her mom came here more often to read the old books that still remained in the castle’s library (though Princess Twilight took quite a lot from here over the years). She knew the layout of the ruins quite well, and the others were familiar enough to navigate without problems. Nidra, too, would find them, once she would be done with her part and would see the message they left for her at the doors.
 
Recognizing the Throne Room, however, was a little difficult.
 
The hell did he do… Starburst thought as her eyes slid from one side of the room to another. Where there were banners with the symbols of the Sun and the Moon hanging on the walls, there were now purple banners with Starfall’s likeness on them and lined with gold and silver stars. The room’s ceiling (destroyed during the fight between Celestia and Nightmare Moon) was still covered by a blue sheathing, but it had a bunch of strange lamps attached to it. And across the hall, atop a pedestal where two thrones should stand…
 
“Remember how I said that we could have all been friends?” she whispered to her friends, her eyes on the thing at the other end of the Throne Room.
 
“Yeap!” Candy replied cheerfully, visibly holding back a laugh.
 
“I take that one back,” Starburst muttered.
 
The ancient thrones of Celestia and Luna were moved to the center of the pedestal and placed next to one another. But that was not all that Starfall had done to the priceless relics that were left here for the future generations to come and see the past of Equestria. He tied the two thrones with something that Starburst assumed was duck tape, and placed pillows on the seats and one giant one over the arms so that he could now sit comfortably on them as if they were a single chair. Once he had done that, Starfall must have also added some decoration to it, as from the back of the throne were now sticking out many spears, axes and swords that should have been laying in different parts of the castle on walls or next to decorative suits of armor. They even made now the new arms of the chair.
 
Making a mental note to tell Princess Luna later to add “destruction of national heritage” into his list of charges, Starburst took a deep, calming breath, and began to walk towards him, her friends right beside her.
 
Starfall looked as if he had barely took any notice of their arrival. He was leaning against the backrest of the throne, his body wrapped in his cloak, forelegs crossed on his chest and eyes closed, and floating next to him was a crystal chalice, filled with-
 
“Wine?!” June exclaimed when they’ve reached the space just in front of the stairs leading to a pedestal. Starburst stopped as the older mare shouted once she recognizes what it was Starfall was holding with his magic. “Ya’re underage!”
 
Starfall opened one eye to look at her in surprise. After a second he looked away, murmuring: “And I thought Her Highness was a buzzkill…” still loud enough for everypony to hear him. Both Starburst and June scowled. “Relax,” he added louder, waving his hoof. “It’s just water with a color changing spell. I’m messing with you. Where would I even get a wine?”
 
“Where did you get that chalice, then?” Claire called out.
 
“From the hidden minibar in one of the bedrooms deeper in the castle,” Starfall shrugged as he took a sip of the water. “Everything that was in there, including  a few bottles of various beverages, was destroyed… save for this chalice.” The unicorn took the now empty glass into his hoof and looked at intensively. “It’s probably the last chalice from a collection set from over a thousand years ago…” he mused, and then shrugged and threw it away.
 
Claire shrieked and jumped for it, trying to minimize the distance so that she could reach it with her limited magic. She made it, and now the crystal chalice was levitating just inches above the floor. “Have you lost your mind?!” the dragon-pony hybrid yelled at the sitting unicorn. “Do you know how old this vintage chalice is?!”
 
Starfall brushed his chin, as if pondering. “I’m… pretty sure that I had just said how old it must be.”
 
Claire growled and grabbed the chalice with her hoof-claw before she turned back to stand with her friends.
 
Like her, Starburst was also taken aback by Starfall’s attitude. She had never cared much about jewelry and such, and was angry for him profaning the thrones mostly for their historic value (for which her mother had drilled into her a deep respect over the years). But she was just… shocked that a pony could just throw away something so clearly valuable, especially considering the said pony’s situation.
 
Which is about to change... for better or worse.
 
She cleared her throat and took a step forward; her friends lined behind her. “Starfall,” she called out; her voice echoed through the Throne Room, sounding strong and determined, “we’ve come to take you into custody under charges of larceny, resisting arrest, theft of government property, destruction of both private and government property, and multiple counts of assault on the members of the Equestrian Royalty.”
 
In response to her speech, Starfall… sighed. “Princess Starburst,” he began to say in a strange accent, though unlike two days ago, this one sounded sort of familiar, “you come into my house for the first time, you hadn’t brought any wine, you don’t show me a proper respect… you hadn’t kissed me in my signet, you hadn’t even said ‘Hi-;’”
 
“‘The Godfather Pony’?” Starburst asked, deadpan. Even she recognized from where did Starfall take those badly parodied lines. “Seriously, Don Starfall?”
 
Starfall dropped the act and smirked. “Well, it was either that, or ‘Castlemane-ia’, but I thought that to be too obvious… you know, considering,” he added, pointing at his red eyes and pointy fangs. “Plus,” he shrugged, “I never really played the game. Aaand I would have to drag those organs all the way here... ”
 
Starburst looked behind her and gave her friends a tired look. This was already taking a toll on her. Some of her friends, though, like Annie and Candy, were visibly amused by Starfall’s antics. Not wanting to argue about their sense of humor, Starburst turned back and interrupted him.
 
“Starfall,” she said, the tone of her voice once more becoming serious, “that’s enough of your jokes. We’ve come to take you in. It’s up to you if we do this the easy way, or the hard way,” she added threateningly.
 
“Please tell me somepony wrote that line for you, Princess,” Starfall retorted, now he was deadpanning. “It was so cheesy…”
 
Fighting down the urge to just set her plan in motion, Starburst ignored the barb. “Cheesy or not, you will be coming with us. If you give yourself up now, I promise you that no harm will come to you,” she said in a surprisingly (even for her) gentle tone. “If you decide to fight… well, not only it will end up unpleasantly for you, but will also be add to your list of charges.”
 
“I somehow don’t see it happening,” the colt replied, leaning on his right foreleg against the arm of his throne. “I think I’ve proven to be too elusive for any of you to catch me. Do you really believe you can do something to me?”
 
Starburst didn’t reply, just glared at him. She knew that her plan would work. The fact that he was certain that there was no way for them to capture him was the most important factor. Despite knowing that, Starburst for a second wondered if he’d reconsider if he allowed his mind to think of such possibility.
 
She decided that he wouldn’t; his mother was murdered by a royal guard. There was no way Starfall would let them take him to them.
 
Knowing that the efforts to convince him to give himself up will be futile, she turned to Annie and murmured quietly that she can try. She had promised the blind pony a chance to talk to him, and she would keep her word.
 
Annie took a step forward. “Whether we believe so or not, perhaps you could reconsider to give yourself up?” she asked Starfall, whose eyes shifted from Starburst to her. “I mean, even if we were to fail here, do you really want that?”
 
“Whatever do you mean?” Starfall asked, seeming genuinely interested.
 
Annie titled her head before she answered. “Aren’t you lonely?”
 
Starfall’s eyes widened in surprise… and then he threw his head back as he erupts with laughter. Annie almost backed away, startled by his reaction. “That’s your plan to convince me to surrender?” he asked after a few seconds had passed and his laughter had subsided. “Your scheme? What, if I go to… wherever it is exactly those guards want to send me, you will become my friends?”
 
“Well, not so quickly, I’m afraid,” Annie amended. “But it could be a new start for you. We can understand that-”
 
She was interrupted again by another wave of laughter, this time a much louder one than before. Annie glanced back at them, her face showing her confusion. However, nopony could tell her just what she had said to amuse Starfall so.
 
His laughter also lasted longer than previously, and when he was done he had to wipe tears from his eyes. Annie took the opportunity to speak again; “I’m sorry, but… what made you laugh just now?”
 
Starfall shook his head. “What you said,” he replied, once more leaning on the arm of his throne. He opened one eye to look at them. “That a bunch of sheltered little foals could possibly understand me.”
 
Everypony was taken aback by the strange reply.
 
“Excuse me?!” Claire exclaimed.
 
Almost everypony.
 
“Listen here, you little brat,” the female dragon-pony hissed angrily, her eyes narrowing as she gazed at the smirking unicorn, “I don’t know what is going on in that head of yours or what you’ve been through, but if you think that any of us had an easy life just because-”
 
An unnecessarily loud yawn cut her off. Claire took a step back, shocked. Her face quickly took on the scary scowl she bore whenever Prism had went too far with his pranks. If Starburst hadn’t known that Starfall’s abilities were making him practically untouchable for others, she would have felt pity for the young stallion. She had never seen Claire as offended as now, and despite being dragon only in half, she had the temper of a full-fledged one.
 
“Claire,” she said quietly.
 
When Starburst gained the older mare’s attention, she gave her a meaningful stare. If Claire - or anypony else for that matter - would let anger get the better of her and attack blindly, the entire plan would fail. Thankfully, under her gaze, the dragon-pony quickly got a hold of herself and calmed down.
 
“Forgive me for yawning,” Starfall spoke up from his throne, “but I had just imagined what you were going to say and I immediately grew bored.” In a slightly colder tone, he added; “I have no interest in listening to your petty problems.” After that, he brightened up and clasped his hooves. “So let’s just agree that neither you will understand me nor I will you, and let’s get on with this show, ‘kay?”
 
Starburst sighed; she suspected that Starfall might be right, saying that whatever they had problems with might seem petty compared to his. It looked like he didn’t plan on sharing his story with them, though… which, considering that they were here to practically fight him, was probably for the best.
 
She trotted a few steps to stand next to Annie. “You tried,” she told the blind filly gently. “Sorry, but we’re going along with my plan.”
 
Annie sighed, disappointed, but nodded in agreement. “I know,” she whispered. “I can hear it in his voice - he’s not interested in hearing me out. Don’t worry, I will play my part in the plan.” she added with a smile as she marched back to stand by T, who wrapped his wing over her and bend down to whisper something to her ear.
 
Starburst turned back to look at Starfall. He was gazing at them, completely relaxed. She longed to wipe that smug attitude out of him… but at the same time, despite knowing that it would be for naught, she decided to give him last chance.
 
“This is your last chance, Starfall,” she said, standing straight. “Surrender, or face the consequences. And trust me;” she added threateningly “they will be unpleasant. But if you come willingly, I’m sure the Princesses will take that into consideration and show you leniency.”
 
But in reply Starfall just smirked. “I already said the other day that I value my freedom. I won’t let anypony ‘bind me in chains’, as you had put it, Princess,” he said, then turned to Candy. “You, the Funny One. Got any jokes regarding that?”
 
Starburst once again deadpanned. She turned to Candy, who was giggling. “Well, yeah, a bunch actually. But Star will get mad again if I say that this sounds rather kin-” she trailed off, seeing the gaze Starburst was giving her. Candy snorted, and then looked apologetically before turning back to Starfall. “So no, sorry, this is serious time!’ In a loud whisper, she added: “Ask me later.”
 
Shaking her head, Starburst once again concentrated on Starfall. “I mean that, Starfall. Don’t repeat the mistake your mother made.”
 
Starfall blinked, surprised. Starburst could feel surprised gazes from her friends as well. “Oh? Whatever do you mean, Princess?” he asked.
 
“My mom told me how many years ago she met Trixie in Canterlot by chance, and offered to help her find a job somewhere there,” Starburst explained. She wasn’t going to dwell in on the subject as to what exactly had happened at that time, but she felt compelled to give Starfall this one last chance. “But she refused, because she was too proudful to let another pony help her. Now you put too much pride in your abilities to let a thought of failure enter your mind.”
 
“Princess,” Starfall interrupted her. Starburst paused unhappily; she had a few more things to say. “Do you know what you’ve just proven?” he asked, leaning from his throne. “That a pony like you will never understand a pony like me.”
 
Starburst blinked. “What do you mean?” she asked perplexed.
 
“It would be pointless to try and tell you,” Starfall replied, sighing. “Besides, it would require from me to remain serious, and I don’t like that,” he added, shrugging. He opened his eyes and looked right into Starburst’s. “I have nothing to talk about with you. The only thing left is to have this fight that you came here to get. If you win…” Starfall said as if in afterthought, “you might realize what I meant. After all, your father had seemed to figure that out by just fighting me.”
 
What is that supposed to mean? Starburst wondered, gazing into those red eyes. Just what exactly had Dad figured out?
 
“But that won’t change the fact that you still won’t be able to understand me,” Starfall continued. “Nor will you be able to defeat me,” he added with a smirk. “Even if by some miracle you will push me as far as Prince Flash Sentry had, I will still have the dark magic to call upon. You have no chance.”
 
Starburst’s face stayed neutral. Inwardly, she smirked for a brief second. Starfall was up for one big surprise. And now that she had given him plenty of opportunities to give up, Starburst - and her friends - could fight him without any regrets.
 
“If that’s what you chose, so be it,” she told him, glancing back at her friends and nodding. “You might be right when you say that I cannot defeat you,” she said as she turned back to him while the others took their positions in a semi-circle formation around her. “But I am not alone here. We will defeat you together. You can use your dark magic all you want, and we will counter it with the Magic of Friendship,” she told him as she removed her cloak.
 
She took a great pleasure in seeing surprise in Starfall’s red eyes. The armor her uncle gave her was crafted specially for her. It was based not on the armor the majority of royal guards wore, which was more for ceremonial functions. This version was designed for combat; it was heavier armed, offering protection for not only torso, but for neck, legs, and even head and wings. Small plates covered those places, crafted with the help of magic to ensure they were durable while still allowing the pony wearing the armor manoeuvrability. Her wings, while still had their feathers unprotected, now had bracelets clasped on them.
 
Starburst spread her wings and took a battle stance. This was it.
 
“You know,” Starfall began to say, with a strange smile on his face, “that’s a nice look you have there.”
 
“You like that armor?” Starburst asked teasingly, remembering how yesterday he stole the armor of the royal guard. “Sorry, you can’t have it.”
 
A giggle came from Candy. “Maybe he was referring to what’s under the armor?”
 
Starburst turned away from Starfall to give her a stern look… and when she turned back she saw that Starfall had done the same.
 
“Actually, you’re both mistaken,” he said, once again smiling. “I was referring to your eyes, and the look you’re giving me,” he explained, pointing at confused Starburst with his hoof. “The look of pure determination, of being sure that you will succeed… it suits you, Princess Starburst. Why, it’s actually making me kinda... nervous?”
 
“Thanks,” Starburst replied, offering him a smile. “I’ve been told I can be quite intimidating when I want to.”
 
While she smiled, Starfall, on the other hoof, appeared to be confused. “Strange…” he muttered. “I said I am nervous… though it doesn’t feel quite like it. Hmm…” he hummed, gazing into Starburst’s eyes. “What about you, Princess? What can you see with those eyes of yours?”
 
Throughout this conversation, neither one of them took their eyes from the other’s. Starburst was staring into Starfall’s eyes as he asked his question, and she knew what her answer was going to be. Still, though, she stopped for a second to ponder what she saw; confidence, curiosity, and now also confusion...
 
She knew that fifteen years ago, when her violet eyes had first looked into those red ones, she saw a friend.
 
“What can I see with my eyes, you ask?” Starburst asked him, her resolve not faltering. “What I’m seeing right now, Starfall… is you in chains!”
 
Unlike the previous day, nothing on Starfall’s face flickered. He smiled and leaned back on his throne. “Me in chains, huh?” he asked, closing his eyes. “Well then…”
 
The unicorn disappeared. She didn’t even blink.
 
“Make it happen,” Starfall said, standing behind her and facing the opposite direction.
 
Starburst just smirked.
> Destined Rivals
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She  could hear Starfall turning around behind her, but she did not care. There was one more thing her eyes could “see”, as he had put it.

Other than him in chains, her eyes could also see through his illusions.

Spreading her wings, Starburst completely ignored the opponent behind her. Trusting her gut, she lunged at the twin thrones Starfall had made a mockery of.

In the next second, the unicorn appeared there out of thin air, just as she expected.

There was no reason for him to send that water duplicate to greet us. Well, other than him trying to be funny. But he used the fact that everypony would assume that that was all there was to it to mask his true intention - make us breathe in the humidity created by the burst of the water duplicate to control our senses.

She knew that even before she hit it at the entrance to the castle. And she decided to use that to her advantage.

It seemed as if her bet paid off. Instead of escaping with the Polestar Spell, Starfall jumped out off the throne. He can’t use the Polestar Spell while concentrating on the bits of his magic inside of us, he needs to cancel it… she thought, her eyes trailing the unicorn who evaded her by springing right from the throne. She was about to turn in mid-flight and leap after him when something hit her.

And to top it all, Starfall was smirking.

With a growl, she turned around and pounced at the spot on the left side of the throne instead.

Her battle instinct hadn’t failed her. The moment she was facing the left side of the throne, the same strange feeling washed over her as when two days ago Starfall had cancelled the spell. The real throne with the real Starfall sitting in it appeared, just a meter away from her. The unicorn’s eyes were staring at her, wide with surprise. His shock didn’t last long, though, because even as Starburst took in his sudden appearance within the split second, he was already reaching up with his hooves to the top of the throne’s backrest. As Starburst inched closer, he lifted himself up and jumped into the air.

Years spend on honing every skill possible made the quick turn to intercept him easy. Starburst’s armored hoof shot up, aiming at his horn. Her eyes locked with his. For the first time, as her hoof was inches away from hitting its mark, Starburst saw panic in those red orbs…

And then he disappeared

Two seconds, Starburst concluded, whirling around and scanning the Throne Room. It takes two seconds for him to switch… she mused, taking in the changed interior of the space.

It seemed that Starfall spruced it up in his illusion - there were no banners with his likeness anymore, nor were the strange lights up on the ceiling. Instead, though, there were many… tightropes, spread from a few meters hight across where the Throne Room’s ceiling was over a thousand years ago. Now only the blue sheathing shielded Starfall’s “battlefield” from the outside’s elements. 

He must plan to take advantage of his acrobatic skills, Starburst realized, remembering the agility and sense of balance he had displayed so far. He also must be hoping that, with so many ropes, our flight skills will be impaired.

Indeed, the tightropes formed a strange pattern atop the ceiling, resembling a spider web to some degree. This “ropes web” had several layers, and a few ropes were even going vertically, being tied to the highest and the lowest layer.  Starburst wondered briefly just where did he find enough material to make so many ropes… but then she noticed that while the banners with Starfall’s likeness were gone, the ones that were supposed to be there, the banners of Celestia and Luna, were still missing.

He destroyed priceless artifacts to make himself a battlefield, Starburst sighed mentally, slightly irritated.

And of course, the “throne” was still as it was in the illusion.

I’m going to guess that he had probably done that one to annoy me in case we would free ourselves from his illusions, she thought, dismayed over the harm of the history’s relics. Oh well, at least I learned how long the interval lasts- wait a moment, Starburst paused. Two seconds? But… was it that long yesterday? T’s and Uncle’s flames had reached Starfall almost as soon as he had stopped using the dark magic… or did they? she pondered. It happened so fast… could it be that two seconds had passed? Then again, he hadn’t reappeared right at that moment-

“W-what happened?” she heard Prism ask.

Turning to her friends and abandoning her musing for now, Starburst saw that while some were looking around for the unicorn colt, others were rubbing their eyes and staring at the moved throne or at the change in the decour.

“Starfall had caught us into his illusion spell right at the entrance,” she explained as she too had renewed her search. As her eyes darted from one corner to another, she added: “I forced him to cancel it and run away with the Polestar Spell.”

Their original idea for taking care of illusions, if they would get caught into his spell, was to have Anthea cancel it (when they would notice, of course). As Starburst’s mom had said, the spell, while it was complicated to perform, had a simple design. A unicorn with the level of skill of Annie could easily remove this illusion by a Purging Spell.

But why have Annie waste her energy when Starburst could do it quicker?

Before Starburst could grin at the thought, she located her target. Starfall was up on the tightropes, standing on his hindlegs. With his right forehoof he held one of the few ropes that went vertically. He had his back turned to her, but he was looking right at her over his shoulder.

His red eye held no more panic, only curiosity.

“How did you know?” he asked her.

Starburst flew a bit closer to him, but she didn’t enter this crazy battlefield of his. Nor did Prism and Wind, who, likewise, had taken air. For now, they could stall with words.

The action could wait.

“I knew we were under your illusion since I destroyed your water duplicate,” she told him, then, seeing his eyes slightly grew wider, added with a smirk. “Yeah, my Mother had figured out how it works. I decided to play along with your plan, to try and catch you off-guard.”

“And I took such care to not mess with visuals on the Kind One,” Starburst heard Starfall murmur to himself, most likely referring to Anthea.

“As for how I knew you hadn’t canceled it… I suppose you wouldn’t know it, but when you cancel your… Mirage Field,” she rolled her eyes at the name, “the pony feels it across their bodies, kinda like an electric surge, so I knew you hadn’t canceled it. And as for how I know you were on the left side of the throne - the illusion you jumped to the right. It was a no brainer.”

While she spoke, Starfall continued to stare at her. She responded in kind, observing him carefully. Because of that, she noticed something rather unsettling. As Starburst neared the end of her short explanation, the end of Starfall mouth began curve upward, slowly transforming into a smile. And while she had seen Starfall smiling a lot (disturbingly even), this time it gave him the look of a madpony.

This smile stayed on Starfall’s muzzle when she stopped talking, but only for a few seconds. It disappeared as the unicorn began to… laugh. At first it was a quiet chuckle, but it had quickly grew into a chortle, and soon Starfall had thrown his head back as he laughed wholeheartedly.

Starburst, no less surprised than anypony else, exchanged confused glances with her friends. It was a given that Starfall was most likely at least slightly crazy, but for the life of her Starburst had no idea just why he began laughing this time.

It seemed that they might get their answer soon, though, as the laughter suddenly faded away. Starburst quickly turned back to Starfall, just before he started to speak.

“Now I understand,” he muttered, “what that feeling was. I suppose it’s not that much of a surprise that I hadn’t recognized it earlier. After all, it’s been a while…”

Starfall turned to look at her. On his face was probably the creepiest grin Starburst had ever seen, and there was a strange gleam in his eye.

“... since I’ve been so excited,” he finished as his horn lit up.

With a flash, he teleported. There was another flash in the corner of Starburst’s eye. She quickly turned to see Starfall balancing on one hoof atop of one of his throne’s spears’ blade. Once again, Starburst found herself amazed at his sense of balance - he was standing on it by the tip of the hoof, so he hadn’t hurt himself.

“What do you mean?” she asked, lowering herself to land on the floor. “You seem to be excited all the time.”

Taking advantage of the fact that Starfall was clearly distracted, she slammed her metal-clad hooves against the stone floor as she landed. The loud clang that was caused by the impact was the signal for Annie to prepare her spell.

If Starfall noticed anything suspicious, he did not show it. He simply crossed his forelegs on his chest and smiled down on her.

“There’s a difference between laughing, making jokes, and so on, and being excited,” he explained.

“Then why are you now ‘excited’?”

Instead of replying, Starfall asked her :“Answer me this, Princess: why did I come to Ponyville?”

Starburst opened her mouth… and then closed it. She had no idea why he came here. It hadn’t even occurred to her to ask herself that question. Ever since he appeared, her mind was occupied with thoughts how to capture him.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, feeling a bit curious. “Why did you?”

Starfall smiled. “As I might have mentioned, I consider my shows to be an art, and myself to be an artist. And as every artist, I try to perfect my art.” His grin deepen, flashing his fangs out. “Over the last five years, my shows have grown more spectacular the more I had run-ins with the royal guards.” He snickered. “I suppose they were too embarrassed to report to Canterlot that they were bested by a teen colt, otherwise you might have already heard of me. Anyway, I soon had realized: since facing opponents allows my art to reach new heights, I would practically skyrocket if I were to find… a rival.”

“A… rival?” Starburst asked, confused. It didn’t took much of an effort to realize that he mean her, but just how did she meet his criteria for a ‘rival’?

“Oh, yes,” he replied, still grinning. “I have faced many before. I’ve beaten guards since I was ten; I’ve blasted thugs and gangsters in the slums of Manehattan left and right; I took a short road-trip a few years back and stumbled across a draconequus - even she was no match for me.”

Starburst gasped, and she heard several of her friends do the same. Other than Discord, there weren’t many known dragonequui - as none of them were even nearly as powerful as the Lord of Chaos, they tried to stay out of the spotlight and played mostly innocent pranks. Granted, they were “innocent” only when compared to those of Discord. To hear that this colt managed to beat one...

“And here in Ponyville?” he continued. “In the town were Equestria’s greatest heroes live? The town where I hoped to meet my match? On my very first day I outsmarted Princess Twilight; incapacitated Prince Flash Sentry and the whole squad of elite royal guards the day later, and while being unable to teleport at that. Pity I didn’t get to fight that scaled oaf properly-”

A loud roar interrupted him. Starburst glanced behind her, not really surprised by T’s outburst. Claire, who stood next to him, looked as if she was also about to voice her outrage in this normally barbarous to her manner.

“HEY!” T bellowed, furious. “Don’t-”

A much, much louder and more vicious roar cut him off. Hardly believing her ears (which she had to cover due to noise), Starburst turned back to the unicorn colt. His mouth was opened wider than it should be possible for a pony, and the terrifying roar was coming right out of it.

That’s right, Starburst remembered, he’s part dragon…

Starfall stopped his surprising howl and looked straight at T - who, as Starburst had noticed, was staring at the unicorn with jaw dropped… as did everypony else, come to think of it… Crap, I didn’t mention about that! Starburst realized with a start - and snarled. “Your father called my mother a whore! I’ll call him whatever the hell I want!”

Before anypony could recover from the shock, they heard another outburst: “Wait, Dad said what?!” Claire exclaimed, shocked, looking at T.

Starburst couldn’t blame her for being surprised. Had she not been there to hear Uncle Spike say those words, she too would have a problem believing this.

“Forget about that,” Prism cut in before T got a chance to reply. “How the heck did that little prick do that?”

As Starfall’s glare traveled from T to rest on Prism, Starburst explained: “That’s probably because of... something I, um, forgot to mention,” she said, self-loathing. It wasn’t an important detail, it had no impact on her plan whatsoever, but she still felt that she should have brought that up. “My mom said that he is part dragon.”

“He’s part what?!” six shocked ponies and two dragon-pony hybrids exclaimed in a shocked unison.

Starburst mouth opened to repeat herself…

“I’m part what?!”

… and closed it so that she could stare in surprise at Starfall.

“You… don’t know you’re part dragon?” she asked him, not believing he could not know it.

Starfall, who was looking at her with confusion, contrasting with his earlier, furious expression, now snorted. “I have no idea who my father was, other than assuming he was a unicorn tyrant from a thousand years ago that somehow came back a few decades ago as a giant smoke monster to be annihilated by an ancient crystal artifact. Why would you think I would know something about any further ancestry from that line?”

… Okay, I will give him a point there…

“You never wondered how you got those eyes and fangs?”

“I assumed it’s a side effect of using dark magic,” he replied, shrugging. “I was actually quite proud of the fact that I hadn’t gotten my horn twisted as King Sombra had.”

“You were born with your eyes and fangs, genius,” Starburst deadpanned.

“Yeah, but I…” Starfall started, only to trail off. “Wait a moment… how do you know that?”

Her eyes grew wide as she had realize just what she had almost led slit out. Quickly recovering, she replied: “My mom saw you when she bumped into yours in Canterlot.”

Starburst thanked her lucky star - and then mentally facehoofed for actually thinking that - when Starfall immediately dropped the issue. “Huh, so the Princess of Equestria saw me in diapers…” she heard him murmur, and it looked as if he himself wasn’t sure how to react to the news. He shook his head. “We seem to be getting off topic… Right!” he clasped his forehooves. “As I was saying, here in Ponyville I faced a few ponies. However, none of them had qualified to be my rival: Princess Twilight is just too powerful, if she wanted to she could wipe me off the face of Equestria; Prince Flash Sentry had too much of an advantage during our fight - in other words, he was cheating - and was a bit too patronizing for my comfort; I won’t even mention the guards. None of them could be my rival… but you, Princess Starburst,” Starfall amended, his red eyes flashing.

“Why?” Starburst asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Because… you are both my equal, and at the same time, my complete opposite,” Starfall retorted. Before Starburst could react - though she was not sure if she wanted to deny, take an offence, ask for explanation, or just tell Annie to start the next phase of the plan - he began to count: “You’re a princess; I’m an outlaw. You, I assume, have ambitions connected with the Royal Guard; I’m a thief with no real ambition whatsoever. You have everything; I have nothing. You’re a pegasus; I’m a unicorn. I like to laugh, you don’t. BUT!” he paused, “We are both more or less the same age. We are both extremely skillful. And, judging by your well-toned muscles, we both like to ‘work out’. Of course, in my case it’s not about muscles,” he shrugged. “I figure that if we knew each other better, I might name more differences and similarities. But my point still stand out, doesn’t it?” he asked, smiling. “You see it, don’t you, Princess? We were destined to be rivals… as we were destined to have this fight. It’s almost poetic when you think about it...”

He was right. Starburst could see it. All those… similarities… she never stopped to ponder how he could be so skilled with magic and agile at such young age, and even if she did, Starburst doubted she would have figured out that he simply must have practiced a lot. Because of his obnoxious personality Starburst had thought him to be more like Prism than like her; that he was a slacker and jokester, that was just extremely talented, not a pony that would work their flank out until they would pass out. Their differences were much more jarring, but even knowing all that she knew, she never really thought about his background. I have nothing, ringed in her ears, as well as what he had said earlier:

That a bunch of sheltered little foals could possibly understand me.

A pony like you will never understand a pony like me.

He was right. Each one of them was sheltered. The closest one to knowing what Starfall had been through was Anthea, and even she hadn’t witnessed her parent being murdered, nor was she alone. How could she, Starburst, who had close to everything, judge him?

Before her mind could travel any further down that line, a voice grasped her attention. “So,” Candy began slowly, frowning in concentration, “what you’re saying is… that you’ve been totally checking out Star!”

Everybody’s looked at her as if she went crazy. Starburst herself was too shocked to even be angry, instead she was just wondering how did her blue-gray friend got that out of everything Starfall had said

“I mean,” she explained, grinning and winking, “you said ‘well-toned muscles’...”

Starburst and Starfall both facehoofed at the same time, and while in the case of the former it only caused a minor pain, in the case of the latter the rapid movement had caused him to lose his balance. Wobbling, he fell backwards, disappearing behind the throne.

“Candy…” Starburst began then trailed off, not sure just what she wanted to say.

“Aw, come on, Star!” Candy pouted. “You two would make such a cute couple!”

“Candy!” Starburst snapped, although this time she managed to keep her temper. “I want to fight him to put him in prison, and he wants to fight me to ‘improve his art’ or whatever! In what way does any of this indicate that we would make ‘a cute couple’?!”

The moment she said that, Starburst had realized something; she wanted to fight him. It wasn’t just because she felt it was her duty to bring him into custody, even if that was still a major factor. Starburst wanted to fight him, because… because…

He was her rival.

Just like Starfall had said, only when facing a proper rival, a pony who was of an equal might, a pony could test their limits and improve beyond them. And both of them wanted to improve.

The dilemma Starburst almost had vanished. Whether she had the right to judge him didn’t matter; that would be up to the court to decide. What mattered was this fight… the fight between two rivals.

Outside of her mind, in the real world, Candy seemed to be pondering her question. “Hmm…” she hummed, clearly having some difficulty. 

Unfortunately for Starburst, Annie came to her aid. “A promise of an aggressive sex life?”

For all the years Starburst had known both Cotton Candy and Anthea, never before had anything that one of them had said had left her in such state as it did now. She was staring at the smirking unicorn, trying to say something, but her mind was empty. She couldn’t even properly think over what she had said; it was like her brain was just replaying that sentence over and over again, trying to find what was wrong with it.

Not that she thought that maybe it wasn’t, but that she couldn’t find was exactly bummed her the wrong way about it…

“Can we… please, get back to the fighting?”

Strangely, those words weren’t uttered by her, but by Starfall. The colt walked from behind the throne and sat down in it, massaging his temples.

For those words alone, Starburst made a mental note to make sure to tell the prison guards to treat him well.

“I’m all for jokes, but now that I had found my destined rival, I would like to uphold some level of seriousness,” he added, shaking off whatever effect Annie’s words had on him.

“And I would like to have a dead-serious level of seriousness,” Starburst said, her eyes going over her friends.

She was relieved to see that only Candy and Wind were amused by Annie’s comment. The guys were all avoiding her gaze, and Starburst had an unpleasant feeling that they were trying to picture the two of them (which was something she was forbidding her brain to do). However, they at least had the decency to not laugh or say anything. June was looking dismayed at Annie, most likely due to her part-time job as a teacher thinking that young ponies shouldn’t just bring such matters into the conversations.

Claire, however, was glancing at her and Starfall thoughtfully. Starburst, seeing that, opened her mouth, then closed it as no words of ridicule came to her mind.

Ignore it, ignore it, ignore it, ignore it…

Her mantra somewhat helping with the eerie feeling that this matter wasn’t over, Starburst steeled herself. “You’re right,” she told Starfall, making him raise an eyebrow. “We are rivals. Whether by destiny or pure coincidence, it doesn’t really matter.”

Starfall smiled. “I would like to say a few more words… but I feel it would be better to not give your perverted friends more material,” he scowled at the direction of Annie and Candy.

“Hey! I’m not perverted!” Candy objected.

It didn’t escape anypony’s notice that Annie did not repeat after her…

“I try to hook him up a date with a princess, and he says something like that…” Candy muttered, her face red from the embarrassment.

Gold moved to her side to comfort her, while from above Prism said: “Oh, cheer up, CeeCee. He’s probably gay anyway.”

Starburst was no expert - and, quite frankly, she would have very much preferred for this discussion to never had happen - but guessing by the dismayed look the unicorn shot Prism her friend was wrong.

“Of course, you do know that I don’t intend to fight you alone, right?” she asked, deciding to return this conversation to the right track.

“Of course,” Starfall replied, grinning. “Like I said, we’re opposites - I’m a loner, while you work in a group. It doesn’t belittle you in my eyes. Plus, I admit I might have a tad of an unfair advantage with my… how did your mother call it? The ‘Polestar Spell’?”

Starburst nodded. “Speaking of…” she added and grinned, then turned her head. “Now, Annie!”

Annie, who’s been concentrating for a while, lit up her horn. From beside her, another source of green light appeared, coming from a small…

“Crystal…” Starfall said, narrowing his eyes. “Could it be a shard of the crystal I destroyed the other day? The one who was enchanted to prevent me from teleporting in any fashion?”

“Take a guess,” Starburst replied, extending her wing to invite him to look around the Throne Room.

She also quickly scanned the room. It didn’t take her long to notice the multi-colored stars, the Polestar marks revealed by the Anti-Teleportation Field in various places: a few among the tightropes, two on the walls across the room, one on a stone bust of a pony…

Eight, she finished counting. Perfect…

“I had no idea that the crystal could be still activated after it was shattered,” Starfall, whose eyes were still on the channeling Annie, said. “But it looks like a unicorn has to keep on channeling the spell… I wonder, how long can your friend keep it up?”

“Long enough for us to capture you,” Starburst replied, confident in Annie’s skills. “Now, I wonder… what do you plan to do now?”

She knew he had something up his non-existant sleeve. Whatever it was, though, she was certain they could deal with it. Right now Starburst needed him to focus on the fight, so she goaded him, knowing she couldn’t let him figure out what was their real plan.

“Hmm…” Starfall pondered… or rather, pretended to ponder, because he almost immediately grinned. “How about this?”

Before Starburst could react, his horn began to glow, and eight small multi--colored orbs appeared around his head. The orbs then shoot in the direction of her friends. Starburst was just about to shout a warning, but then she noticed what was Starfall's plan.

As the orbs flew, water began to gather around them.

It formed around them quickly, so by the time they reached everypony, the blobs of water in which they were trapped were the size of a pony… and in the next second, each one of them was a pony. A very specific pony.

Inside the Throne Room of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters stood eight Starfalls… and one sat. Six on the ground, two on the tightropes, one on the throne, and each bore the same smug expression.

“I…” Starfall - all of them - spoke, the sound of nine ponies echoing through the room, “am Legion. For we are-”

“-a pain in my flank!”

Prism, having enough of the colt, lunged at the one on the tightropes that was closest to him. Maneuvering through the maze with ease, he run into the water duplicate at his top speed. Or rather, he would have, if the fake Starfall’s horn hadn’t began to glow.

A big bubble appeared in between the two of them, absorbing Prism… and bounced him back through the air at the opposite end of the room… right where another duplicate waited. As Prism neared him, he turned around…

Starburst averted her eyes just before his hind legs shot upward, both hooves landing true on a very sensitive spot for a stallion. T and Gold both winced as Prism uttered a short, un-stallion cry, and fell down.

Both Starburst and Wind lunged to try to catch him, but while Wind managed to reach him without a problem, Starburst found herself stopped by a firework that exploded right in front of her face, luckily not doing her much harm.

Turning around, she saw Starfall jumping down from his throne. “I’ll be your opponent, Princess,” he declared, smiling.

Starburst, trusting her friends to deal with the water duplicates, nodded to her rival.
> Guard vs Thief
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In her heart, Starburst knew… that she would remember the following few minutes as probably the craziest moments of her life.

It was chaos. Everywhere she looked, she saw one of her friends dealing in some manner with a copied version of the very same colt she was now fighting. Starburst herself was right in the middle of his rope web battlefield, from where she could see - with corners of her eyes - how everypony fared. Her main focus, however, was Starfall.

She tried every single fight move she knew on Starfall, but to no avail. The colt used their surroundings to the utmost maximum. Whenever Starburst’s hoof was about to collide with his face - or horn, or whatever part of his body, Starburst wasn’t too picky as to where she aimed her strikes - he either pulled up using the rope above them, fell down, hanging on the tightrope he stood on with his hindhoof, or moved away with the help of the vertical rope. And almost always Starfall made his way to be behind her, trying to either kick her or shoot magical bubbles at her. His moves were so swift and flawless that Starburst felt as if both of them were flying. No, not flying, she corrected herself. It’s more like he’s swimming…

However, just as her strikes never reached their marks, so were his ineffective. Starburst dodged or blocked his kicks, and she either evaded his bubbles, or let them hit her and bounce off her armor harmlessly. She then tried to attack him again. She might not be as agile as Starfall was, but she was a pegasus. Three dimensional battles were not new to her. She had some problem with navigating through the “rope web” with her large wings, but Starburst quickly got the hang of constantly folding them and stretching back whenever she needed to squeeze through a bit too narrow noose.

As both of them were locked in a strange battle, neither managing to hit one another - which, annoyingly, didn’t seem to bother Starfall at all, as he was grinning the whole time - Starburst also paid attention to her friends, in case some of them needed her help. As an experienced flier, she knew how to pay attention to every detail of her surrounding while flying (although she hadn’t quite mastered it on the same level as Prism’s mom had… yet), so she knew what they and Starfall’s copies were doing.

Which is why everything seemed so crazy to her.

Out of everypony, Prism seemed to have the worst of it. He and Whirlwind teamed up against two Starfalls, trying to get them within this field of tightropes, but in a different part of it from where Starburst was with the real one. It would have seemed to Starburst that, since both of the other pegasi - especially Prism, as much as she hated to admit it - were even more agile fliers that her, they should be able to keep up with the water duplicates. And maybe they could have, if it wasn’t for one detail.

Starfall was a unicorn.

They might have ensured that he would not use any form of teleportation, but there were other spells he knew, and it seemed that the water duplicates could use magic as well as the original. Small fireworks shoot from Prism and Whirlwind’s opponents’ horns, blinding them for a short time in critical moments. Big bubbles appeared between them when the pegasi were about to strike them, bouncing them away.

And above all, with both of them being copies of the same pony, their moves were better synchronized than even those of the two life-long friends.

As such…

“He keeps kicking me in the balls!” Prism, panting as he rested on the stone floor, complained. His eyes were closed from the pain he was in, and his hind legs were curled tightly against his belly to protect his aching sensitive parts from further contact with the world. “Why?! Why does he keep kicking me in the balls?!”

Whirlwind, who landed beside him to make sure that he was okay after he fell from the strike, just looked at him with concern, not knowing what to say. His question was answered, however, by the laughter from above him.

“Why, that’s simple!” one of the Starfall’s copies said, looking down on them from the tightropes with a smirk.

“You asked for it!” the other one explained.

“That’s what you get for calling me bad names!” both of them said in unison, sticking out their tongues at him.

Prism growled with anger and, ignoring pain, he threw himself back into the fight.

Both Starfalls easily dodged him. “Oh, relax, Damsel. I’ve only kicked you there three times,” one of them said.

“We’ll see how much you like it!” Prism retorted with visiociousnes Starburst had never heard from him.

The two of them seemed to snort in reply and murmur something, but Starburst hadn’t caught that. Her attention had shifted then for a moment when she heard a loud crack from somewhere below.

Another water duplicate of Starfall was running for his life. “How are you so freaking strong?!” he screamed at June who was gaining on him.

Both of them were running in a straight line from a section of the wall which had a giant hole in it. By the looks of it, it was created by June’s hooves. The mare in question continued to pursue Starfall she was fighting, fury clear on her face. Starburst’s eyes, though, had also managed to notice something else on it, something which greatly confused her.

A blush.

“What did you do to her?” she asked the real Starfall as he evaded yet another of her attacks.

Instead of pressing his own attack, he jumped further away. “I’m… not sure, actually,” Starfall replied, looking at her with confusion. He quickly glanced at the furious mare chasing his copy. “I noticed Big Red over there had a cherries for a cutie mark, so I had my water duplicate ask her if she could explain to me what a certain phrase I heard a while ago means. Then she got all berserker on me.”

Starburst, for a moment more interested in her friend’s rampage that in their fight, also looked at June while catching her breath. “What was the phrase?”

“‘Pop a cherry’,” Starfall said, shrugging. “Do you know what it means?”

She opened her mouth… then closed it again. Starburst was certain she had heard that phrase somewhere, but for the life of her she couldn’t tell when, where, or what it meant.

Clearly something offensive to get June so angry…

Shaking her head, she returned to attacking Starfall, which he welcomed with a happy grin.

As they returned to their fight, they both heard a roar, which on every other occasion would cause everypony look in the direction of where it was coming from. Now, though, they ignored it, as the draconic bellow had been uttered a few times already.

Almost as soon as this odd battle started T found himself being separated from Annie by a small bubble that Starfall threw between them and then quickly expanded, sending the dragon-pony hybrid to the opposite side of the Throne Room. Of course, he immediately began trying to get back to her. The two of them were practically inseparable since they were kids. Whenever Annie went somewhere, T was with her, as even though she could cope with being blind really well, she still got nervous if she didn’t have a physical contact with somepony at all time. And now the green unicorn was alone, at the mercy of one whom she was stopping from teleporting…

… and with whom she was having a fairly normal conversation.

“Aww, come on,” she tried once again to inquire about his magic, her horn still shining with green light. “Pretty please?”

“I am sorry, but, as I said, a magician never tells his secrets,” the copy of Starfall replied, sounding bored after repeating himself over and over. He laid nonchalantly on the floor in front of Annie, his eyes lazily shifting to T. “Aren’t you concerned about your coltfriend?”

Though it became clear in the manner of seconds that Starfall had no intention of harming Annie, or even stop her from using her magic on the crystal, T continued to try and get back to her. But the water duplicate he was facing stopped him at each attempt. Starburst was thankful that T remained relatively calm. If he had started to really trash about, burning everything in his wake, he would have not only put their plan in jeopardy, but also their lives.

At the current moment, he was flying slightly below the tightropes, trying to get Starfall’s clone of his back. “Fly, Like Dragon! Fly!” it laughed, clinging to his mane and avoiding his claws with ease.

Annie’s head turned to where she could hear T growls and duplicate’s laughter. “Are you… riding him?” she asked, then smirked. “Gee, looks like Prism comment was-”

“Hey!” Starfall’s copy interrupted her. “For that comment he got kicked in a sensitive spot. Don’t make me come up with some harmless payback for you!”

“Why?”

“Because I am a tad busy. Coming up with a good prank takes time-”

“No,” she interrupted him, “I asked about ‘harmless’ part. Are you desciminating me because I am blind?”

Starfall’s clone snorted. “Can’t see. And no, I generally just don’t harm ponies unless they piss me off. You hadn’t even try to attack me in any manner; why would I try to harm you?”

His question made Annie ponder for a moment, so the copy returned to lazily scanning how other water duplicates and the orginal were faring. “Well, I am stopping you from teleporting or using the Polestar Spell with an Anti-Teleportation Field…”

“So?” he grinned at her briefly. “It prompted the real me to use all those water duplicates, myself included. It’s quite a spectacle, I assure you,” he laughed.

“Yes, I can hear that,” Annie replied, joining him in laughter and extending a hoof to touch him…

Starburst turned her full attention to them as the water duplicate jumped away as soon Annie hoof reacher his shoulder. He glared at her, lowering his horn. “What did you try to do?” he asked, baring his teeth.

Annie was momentarily startled by his reaction. “I… I wanted to touch you. It makes easier for me to talk with somepony if I’m in physical contact with them…”

Her confused reply made the copy relax slightly, but he still stayed away. “Yeah, well, that’s nice and all, but I would be an idiot to let a unicorn with a glowing horn touch me. Sorry.”

“What was that?” Starburst asked the real Starfall as he fell down to avoid her kick, then passed under her.

“What was what?” he asked back, slightly panting.

“Annie just tried to touch one of you, and you jumped like ten feet into the air.”

Starfall rolled his eyes. “Are you seriously that attentive? Geez… my copy was probably afraid that she would cast a spell on him.”

“By touching him?” she asked skeptically.

“You do remember what I can do with my magic hooves, don’t you?” he retorted with a smirk, referring to how he could leave his Polestar marks by simply touching something or somepony.

Starburst narrowed her eyes. Something didn’t seem right…

As they resumed their fight, Claire was once again apologizing for what her father had said.

“It was totally uncalled for,” she finished telling a bored looking water duplicate. “Even if your mom didn’t exactly make the best impression the last time she was in Ponyville… especially on my father…”

That comment made the water duplicate liven up. “Why? What did she do to him?” he asked with interest.

“If I remember correctly…” Claire started, using her claws to brush her muzzle as she tried to recall. “She turned him into a ball and threw him through a basket.”

An amused snort escaped Starfall’s clone, “So that’s what she meant by ‘playing dragonball’...”

Not far away from them were another copy and Gold, who just sit in from of one another and stared at each other.

“You do realize that sooner or later you will lose, right?” Starfall’s water duplicate asked him.

Gold didn’t reply, merely raised an eyebrow to show that he heard him.

“I’m a magic construct, I don’t need to blink.”

The big earth pony just shrugged and continued their staring contest, nor raising to the bait. Starfall’s copy scowled, disappointed that his taunts had no effect.

“Staring contest?” the Starfall that was talking with Claire commented. “Seriously? Couldn’t you get Redneck to chase you around like another of us had Big Red?”

“Oh, look at you, fancy talking with Sheclaw…”

“Excuse me!” Claire interrupted them, her brow twitching from hearing the term ‘Sheclaw’. “My name is Crystal Clarity, not ‘Sheclaw’, and this is Golden Delicious, not ‘Redneck’!”

“Well, excuuuuse me,” the one that had been talking with her retorted. “it’s not like all of you had introduced yourselves to me, how was I supposed to know your names? I had to come up with nicknames.”

“You seem to address Star by her name, despite her not introducing herself,” Claire remarked.

“Yeah, but that…” Starfall’s copy started, then paused. He scratched his head. “I… think I read it somewhere in a newspaper?” he shrugged. “Must be it.”

The answer seemed to satisfy everypony who heard it… except one. Starburst eyes grew wider as she realized what she just heard.

He… remembers…

It was only one day, not long after either of them were born to this world, one day that they shouldn’t even recall. And yet, at some level of consciousness, Starfall remembered. Just as Starburst somehow associated the red eyes of her ferret with a fond foalhood memory, so did he know her name.

He called me ‘Knight’ at first, though… Starburst thought, masking her need to think about this by pretending to be out of breath. Had something ‘clicked’ in his head after he learned that I was a princess?

“Already done?” Starfall smirked, though he was also a bit winded. “I didn’t expect it would take so little out of me to finish you off.”

Starburst snorted. “At your pace, it will take hours before I will be done. I got tons of energy left!”

She dispelled all those confusing thoughts from her head once again. They had a job to do. Starburst offered him to come peacefully. It didn’t matter now if he really remember her name or not.

She returned to her fight, mindful that all her friends were doing their best to occupy Starfall. Prism, Whirlwind and T were fighting, June was chasing one, Annie and Claire were talking, Gold was having a staring contest, and Candy…

“WHEEEEEEE!” she squeaked as she bounced right back into the air. “THIS IS SO FUN!”

… was bouncing on a big bubble the last water duplicate had created for her.

She had been on about how fun it was for a couple of minutes now, but for some reason, this time Starburst felt like there was something she was missing. She dodged a kick from Starfall and looked in the direction where Candy, water duplicate and the big bubble were…

… and it hit her that since it was created, none of the Starfalls had made another.

Realizing that this was her only shot at disposing of all those water duplicates before Nidra would get back, Starburst planned her next moves carefully. She moved to be above Starfall at all times. She waited, faking her attacks. And when an opportunity presented herself, she struck.

She swooped down, using the gravity to boost her speed. Starfall, who was swinging across two sets of tightropes and about to catch the opposite end, was instead caught by surprise. Starburst’s armored forehooves collided with his chest as she brought both of them down.

“Claire! T!” she called out. “Fire!”

Starburst didn’t have the time to explain properly what she intended. Her only hope was to trust that her friends would trust her.

She could already see a bubble forming in between them, as well as on the floor where they would land. A short surprised and disappointed shriek came from somewhere, as the bubble she was bouncing on had disappeared. Starfall, whose face was just inches away from hers, grinned...

And then it suddenly became really hot and bright.

Starburst immediately let go of Starfall and flew backwards as everything became a mixture of orange and purple flames. Though her armor’s enhancements had mostly protected her from getting wounded, she still hissed in pain as she moved away from the inferno around the unicorn colt. She checked the scorched ends of her feathers, her ears not missing that the hissing sound remained and was getting louder.

As she predicted it would.

Her attention shifted back to Starfall. The flames disappeared almost as quickly as they had appeared. In their place, surrounding the standing on his hindlegs unicorn, was a wall of water.

Starburst didn’t bother to look around for the duplicates. She knew she would not find them. Starfall’s spells weren’t creating water, that required too much magic. Instead, he gathered the water from the air and changed its state of matter from gas to liquid. He managed to gather water worth of eight ponies because due to the weather the humidity level was raised. But by doing that, he made it impossible for himself to create his magical bubbles as often as he wanted… or conjure a water shield strong enough to repel two sets of dragon-like flames.

So he canceled them.

“Risking injury to force me to cancel my water duplicates?” Starfall asked her, realizing at once what was her intention. And he was delighted by it. “I’m impressed. I’m impressed, Princess Starburst! Show me more, my rival!”

His eyes flashed with excitement as the water around him swirled and turned in the air. Before the eyes of Starburst and her friends, it separated into six bodies, each growing smaller and smaller, until all six orbs were about half the size of a pony’s head.

And then, as Starfall’s horn continued to shine like Crystal Empire’s lights, so did now the orbs.

Starfall stood on his hindlegs in the middle of the Throne Room, his visage lit by the multi-colored light of the six floating balls he was surrounded by.

“Like what you see?” he asked.

The question was directed to all of them, but his eyes were on Starburst alone.

“Too flashy,” she replied, keeping her distance. “What’s this magic trick of yours called?”

“Dunno. Haven’t picked the name yet. You’re the first ponies ever to see it.”

“Enough of this!” Prism interrupted them. Starburst looked up just in time to see him ready for to charge. “Those little lights won’t help you when I’ll get my hooves on you!”

“Wait!” Starburst called as her friend flew at Starfall. Cursing mentally, she swung her powerful wings to attack as well.

One of the orbs floating around him shot in Prism’s direction. Another shot at her.

Almost taken aback by the speed of it, he managed to steer away only by his natural agility. Starburst didn’t have as much luck. She was too concentrated on Prism to register in time that she was also in danger. But even then she would have dodged the orb if it weren’t for one small detail.

The one aimed at her was moving faster than the one he attacked Prism with.

The orb slammed against her armored chest with the force of a sledgehammer. Feeling the air being knocked out of her lungs, Starburst was flung several feet backwards.

Her friends all let out alarmed shouts as she had barely managed to avoid crushing against the wall. She spread her wings and with great effort she stopped in mid-air. “I’m okay,” she told her concerned friends, though she was clenching her teeth in pain.

If I wasn’t wearing this armor, it might have even broken my bones…

“Stay away from him!” she told everypony as she flew closer, this time far more cautious.

Prism, T, and Whirlwind, who were all about to try an attack Starfall, all backed away. The three orbs which all had shot at them - and missed, but Starburst had the feeling that he did that on purpose - also might have helped them decide on that.

“You’re ready for another round?” Starfall asked her as she drew closer.

Starburst heard something like a snicker in the background, but she ignored it. Her concentration was solely on Starfall and the six orbs that floated beside him.

“It would take more than that to bring me down,” she replied, feeling her breath return to normal. Her chest still ached a little, but she would deal with the pain. “I’m not new to pain; you would be surprise at how many times I got injured, you know,” she added, with a bit of pride in her voice, as she began to circle around him, staying clear away from him at the moment. 

“Really?” Starfall asked, sounding a bit surprised. The crazy-like glee disappeared from his eyes as they scanned her. “If I recall correctly, your body doesn’t bear any scars… you must have good medics around.” He shrugged. “Or you’re just exaggerating.”

Starburst didn’t let herself get provoked by it. She studied the orbs. They were made out of water, but it felt like steel when it hit her… He made them out of water that had shielded him from Claire and T’s flames… and their glow…

That’s it!

“What are you doing?” Starfall asked as she turned around and flew back to the thrones.

Ignoring him, Starburst descended, and with a swift kick, the edge of her armored hoof cut the duct tape that tied ancient weapons to the thrones. She picked all of them up and flew back. Before she got closer to Starfall, she chose out of them one, a spear that was just right for her size, and let the rest fall.

“Whatever happened to the beauty of an unarmed combat?” Starfall commented with a raised eyebrow. He then shrugged. “Oh well.”

He shot three orbs at her.

And Starburst, with a strike faster than an eye could follow, destroyed them all.

If she had the time and camera, she would have stopped to take the picture of Starfall’s face. He stared at the shattered orbs with his jaw fallen dawn. The spear Starburst had picked up was a weapon of the ancient guards of unicorn kings, from way before the time of Celestia and Luna. The blade of it was enchanted to disrupt the magic of whatever it cut. It was the ultimate weapon against the magic wielding.

The water, now free from the magic that was binding it into the form of orbs, fell down with a splash, spreading across the Throne Room’s floor, but Starburst paid it no attention. Taking advantage from Starfall’s shock, she charged right at him.

Luckily for him, he proven to have quick wits. Jumping back to gain time, he extended his right forehoof to one of the remaining orbs. The orb drew to his hoof as Starburst neared, and she saw how in those few seconds it changed shape, extending and growing thinner…

By the time she reached Starfall, he was ready to block her spear with a cane.

Starburst snorted and pulled back her spear, intending to attack again, but then the remaining two orbs attacked her. At such a close distance she didn’t have the time to turn her weapon’s blade in time to destroy them, so she had to dodge them. Despite their speed, Starburst had succeeded, and she swung the spear once again while the orbs, carried by the force of their own speed, flew behind her.

To her surprise, Starfall once again blocked her. The multi-colored staff struck the spear before the blade, avoiding the risk of getting destroyed. Starburst pulled out and attacked once again, and this time, instead of blocking, Starfall lifted himself up, using the cane as a support to jump into the air and back unto the tightrope web.

Surprised at his knowledge and skill he had just displayed - and having dodged the orbs once more - Starburst followed him. Except this time she wasn’t planning on playing this game, not by his rules at least. Instead of plunging deep into the web, she cut through the priceless banners, therefore depraving Starfall of his battlefield.

And hoofing, apparently, as he fell down.

Starburst quickly swoop down, but as she was about to swing with her spear, one of the two remaining orbs flew under Starfall and expended, creating a square hoofing for him to land in mid-aid and dodge her attack. It quickly reversed to its earlier form, avoiding getting destroyed by her attack. Starburst, unfazed, turned after her opponent, just in time to see the other orb split. Faster than an eye could follow it became tens of colorful bubbles, each suspended in the air, big enough for a pony to stand on any of them… if they could do so on one hoof.

Starfall was just that kind of pony, but as he landed on one, Starburst attacked him. She could tell he planned to bounce off the bubble, but she didn’t give him the time to do so. Though he blocked her spear with his cane, she had one forehoof free.

However, here too he displayed his unusual sense of balance and agility to avoid getting hurt. As her left forehoof drew closer to his face, and was just inches away from it, he began to lean to his left (her right). Instead of meeting her attack - quite literally - head on, he let the force of her strike flow through him. The contact between his muzzle and her armored hoof was too brief to cause actual damage. He was thrown off the bubble, however, and to the floor.

Needing a moment of respite, Starburst remained in the air and observed how he rolled on the ground as he landed and almost immediately stood up on all four legs, the cane floating beside him. One hoof traveled to his cheek, where for a brief moment their bodies met.

When he put the hoof down, he laughed.

“Twice!” he exclaimed, breathing heavily; both he and Starburst were out of breath due to this short exchange of blows and from their earlier fight. “For five years nopony as much as touched me, and you’ve managed to hit me twice!” Despite what one might have thought based on these words, Starfall grinned at her. “I’ve never been this excited! I can feel my blood surge and skin dance as we fight!”

“I wonder how long you can continue to enjoy yourself,” Starburst replied, beginning to fly around him slowly; she also had to be careful to not collided with any of those bubbles he kept levitated around the empty space in the middle of the Throne Room. “You seem to be getting tired.”

“Oh? How do you figure?”

“You’re breathing heavily,” she told him, then allowed herself to try and taunt him. “And I just forced you down to all-fours.” Once again, Starburst heard some strange noise in the background, but again she ignored it. “I’m winning.”

“Please, Princess,” he snorted. “I can keep it up all day long-”

He was interrupted, and this time it wasn’t just some unidentified noise in the background. Both Starburst and Starfall turned their heads in the direction where the sound of laughing ponies erupted, which were almost at once followed by “For the love of Celestia, are ya two even listenin’ to what ya’re sayin’?!”

Starburst looked with confusion at June and the rest of her friends, some of which at least had the decency to cover their mouths as they laughed. Of course, that didn’t apply to Candy, Prism, Whirlwind and Annie, who were all rolling on the floor, despite the latter still powering up the crystal to stop Starfall from teleporting.

“What-” she tried to ask, but June, looking slightly embarrassed (and as if she was also about to start laughing), cut her off.

“Just think - really carefully - what the ya two’ve been sayin’ to each other sounds like.”

Starburst raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Starfall, who looked about as confused as her. What the hell do they mean? she thought, looking back at her friends. What did we say? He… said he can keep it up all day long, before that I said that he seems tired and I forced him down to all-fours… she began to count, then pondered what those two had in common…

Slowly, very slowly, it came to her, as she searched back further in her memory and found more innuendos like that.

“Ew!” she exclaimed, her cheeks becoming red from the embarrassment. “You guys are gross!” she glared at them.

Wait, was that an echo?!

Not believing it, Starburst turned her head to see Starfall, about as embarrassed as her, looking at her in surprise after he said the exact same words almost at the same time.

Which, of course, prompted an even louder wave of laughter. Even June had joined this time.

I can’t believe this… he and I are the most mature ponies here...

Forcing herself to ignore them, she focused on Starfall. While her plan was to simply occupy him for as long as possible, Starburst was now pissed, and he was a perfect target to take it out on.

Before she attacked him, however, she swooped down to the floor, to the place where she dropped all the weapons Starfall had tied to his throne, and picked another short spear. Starfall’s grin, as he stood up on his hindlegs, grew only wider when she turned on him, a spear in each forehoof.

Starburst had never tried to wield two weapons at the same time. Royal Guards usually used one, so she trained herself to use one. Plus, fighting like that was rather uncomfortable. Starfall, however, was simply too fast, and now was using the remaining orbs with more care. She needed two spears if she hoped to counter them. It didn’t escape her notice that Starfall hadn’t created new ones in place of the three that she had destroyed. This could only mean that creating them must have taken a big toll on his magic. If only Starburst could destroy that cane and all those bubbles…

But that proved difficult. Starfall wasn’t as much fighting her as avoiding her. He jumped away, from one bubble on the air to another, often using his magic to make them bounce him away to gain speed. And, to make things even more ridiculous, they moved. They swirled around like some sort of whirlpool around the center of the Throne Room. The fact that they were still shining a bit with this multi-colored glow was only adding to the headache Starburst began to have. Starfall, using this environment, would quite often find himself directly behind her by making just a tiny move when dodging her attack, with a clear shot at her back.

However, neither his cane nor his last remaining orb were fast enough. Starburst would always turn around just in time to block it with one spear and then attack with the other, forcing him to back off again, and the process repeated. Luckily for her, neither of the spears were very long, making it easier for her to use them.

Every time they clashed, Starfall would grin, and after a few times Starburst realized that she was replying with similar expression.

He was right when he called this exciting. This was exciting. Starburst could feel her heart racing as adrenaline surged through her body. She never fought so intensely against anypony. Her training sessions were boring compared to this. This was… fun!

She was curious as to how he had learned to use a weapon - even if it was created from magic and water - but she quickly figured out as she analyzed his fighting stance. He had none. He simply struck wherever her weapon should fall. Starfall had no training with weapons, it was something he must have picked up by observing… or running away, or fighting. He did say that he was dealing with the royal guards since he was ten…

This fight might have lasted a lot longer that those few minutes - though how long it actually lasted Starburst wasn’t quite sure - if Starfall hadn’t made one mistake; he moved a bit too close to the wall. Seeing this, Starburst quickly threw the spear she held in her right hoof, hitting Starfall’s cape just when he was in the middle of a bounce. The spear pierced both the cape and the wall behind it, stopping Starfall and making him lose his balance.

Seizing this chance, Starburst attacked. One slash, and both the cane and the orb ceased to exist. Starfall’s eyes grew wide as he realized that there was nothing protecting him from her now. Starburst, unable to use her spear at the moment due to it’s length, was about to punch him to not waste time…

And he disappeared.

“That was a close one,” came from behind her. Starburst slowly turned around to see Starfall standing beside his throne. “Luckily for me, your friend run out of juice just in the nick of time,” he added, smirking, as he pointed at Annie.

Starburst followed his hoof to look at her friend. He was right; her horn was no longer glowing, and neither was the crystal. Annie herself, who was panting almost as much as she and Starfall, was being supported by T from collapsing. “S-sorry...” she added, looking at her apologetically…

… and winked subtly, Starfall not noticing it.

Starburst hoped that her face didn’t betray her emotion as she turned back to Starfall. He lit up his horn, causing the bubbles to disappear. His breathing seemed to level out as he did so. “Now then,” be said, grinning at Starburst, “ready for the next round?”

“Mind if I join in?”

She smirked seeing the surprise on Starfall’s face as he followed the voice to it’s owner. She herself also glanced that way. Nidra was walking towards them from the entrance to the Throne Room, looking every bit as confident as she always looked like.

Which was why she was a perfect pony for this part.

“My, you’ve been holding out on me, Princess Starburst,” Starfall smirked. “You didn’t say you’ve brought an alicorn with you.”

Nidra’s eyes narrowed as she neared. “That’s Princess Nidra to you, not ‘an alicorn’.”

Starfall waved his hoof. “Yeah, sure, why not. But this begs a question, Princess, why have you come now? Did your chariot crash, or-”

His smirking expression vanished. Starfall’s eyes opened wide as his head turned to the side. “No…” he murmured, then looked back at Nidra. He regained control over his facial expression and appeared slightly amused, though Starburst suspected that he was still at least a bit unsettled. “You found the marking I made to escape in case things would go south? How?”

Nidra smirked. “Oh, it was easy.”

It was a lie. Well, not exactly. It was easy as Nidra said… but for Annie. Nidra, though she excelled at spells that were perfect for pranking others, lacked the focus that the Tracking Spell required, despite how simple it was.

However, for this plan to work, they needed Starfall to think that Nidra was the primary threat…

“Ever heard of the Tracking Spell?” she asked him with a tone of superiority in her voice. “It’s a spell that lets a pony find another by scanning the area for their magic. Your Polestar marks are created by placing your magic on the spot you touch with your hoof.”

“I see…” he hummed, looking at her thoughtfully. “But… we’ve never met. Shouldn’t you be familiar with my magic to do that?”

“Duh,” Nidra replied, then grinned. “Luckily, we had a record of your magic,” she added, pointing at the crystal that lay next to Annie. “This crystal was enchanted by Princess Twilight to prevent only you from teleporting.”

Starfall’s eyes rested for a moment on the shard, then he looked around the room. Starburst could barely stop herself from smirking as she noticed that he registered just where each of her friends stood.

They were standing (in case of Prism and Whirlwind hovering) right where the Polestar marks were.

The real purpose of Annie keeping up the Anti-Teleportation Field wasn’t just for them to have the fighting chance until Nidra would get back from carrying the rock on which Starfall had placed the mark he intended to use for escape outside of his spell reach. They also needed to learn where he placed those marks in the Throne Room, so they could wait for him should he chose to jump into one of them now.

A smirk crossed Starfall’s features. “My, what a well-thought plan,” he summed up, glancing at Starburst. “I trust it was all your idea, Princess Starburst?”

She didn’t reply, she merely narrowed her eyes in anticipation. Any moment now…

“And you’ve even brought along an alicorn to counter my dark magic…”

There was no way for Starfall to know that Nidra wouldn’t be a challenge to him. She was not as powerful as the other alicorns. Even Starburst’ cousin, Val, was stronger than her, despite being an alicorn for just a few years and not being born as one like Nidra.

“Well then…” Starfall grinned. Starburst braced herself: “I hope the rest of you will stay clear as-”

The very moment his eyes began to glow with green-and-red light Starburst shouted: “NOW!”

Annie’s horn glowed.

A few months ago…

Starburst yawned, dead on her hoofs after the workout on the Sweet Apple Acres. At least I didn’t pass out this time, she thought lazily as she trotted slowly through her family’s mansion’s hallway. The last thing I need right now is hearing a boring lecture…

“Teleporting others is a lot harder than teleporting yourself.”

Speaking of, Starburst commented, hearing her mother’s voice coming from the library. Damn, this corridor is so long…

“But it is possible?” Annie curious voice reached her from the same direction.

“Yes, however there are certain limitation to it,” Twilight replied. “For one thing, it only works on a short distance-”

“So I couldn’t teleport somepony from the other end of Ponyville?”

“No, why?” Starburst’s mom answered, slightly taken aback by the question.

“Nevermind, please continue, Princess Twilight.”

Yawning, Starburst contemplated should she stop to say hello when she would pass the door to the library…

“Another thing you would have to watch out for when teleporting somepony else is that it’s somepony you know, somepony who is close to you. Therefore, you’re familiar with their magic aura and are able to cast the spell.”

“I see…” Annie murmured, knowing very well how some ponies reacted to her saying that. “And what if I would want to teleport somepony next to somepony else? Because you’ve mentioned before-”

“Correct, Anthea,” Twilight interrupted her. Starburst felt a slight pang of jealousy hearing the pride in her mom’s voice directed at her student. “Everypony's magic aura acts naturally as a repellent against some spells, like teleportation, or levitation, for example, and not allow a pony to be teleported too close to them. Of course, if you are a powerful unicorn, you can easily ignore this repellent. If the pony knows you and is your friend, you should also be able to cast those spells. Also, if you happen to have some magical device which recorded the other pony’s magic…

Present day…

After a very brief flash of light Starburst found herself slightly behind and above Starfall.

He turned his head back, his eyes glowing as purple smoke emerged from them. There was no fear in them, only surprise, as Starburst moved to attack him. Starfall, almost calmly, began to summon the Black Chains to stop her.

If she had attacked with her hoof, he would have made it.

Her right wing shot forward, the protective bracelet she wore on it striking Starfall right in the horn.

And in that very instant Starburst felt chains clasp around her throat.

Panic seized her as she was pulled back. This shouldn’t have happened! she cried out in her head. All her planning, all her strategizing, it was all for-

The feeling - as well as fear and pain - disappeared almost as soon as it came.

Starburst blinked weakly. She was on the floor of the Throne Room. Odd, I don’t remember falling down… Did I pass out? she wondered.

“Star, is everything okay?!”

She shook her head, willing herself out of the daze. She stood up to see her friends gather around her… and a wobbly retreating figure.

Starburst nodded to her concerned friends just in time to hear him say: “What… did you do…?”

“I told you, the consequences will be unpleasant,” she said, glaring at Starfall. All the bravado and smugness he emanated earlier were gone. He was looking at Starburst with fear and disbelief, and was shooting around quick glances “Do you know how the protective enhancements on the royal guards’ armor work? They use the magic of a pony who is wearing the armor  to protect them. The armor I wear is no exceptions. Last night, however, I asked Annie to rewrite the enhancements placed on my wing-braces: instead of protecting me with my magic, they apply my magic to whatever I hit with them.”

As she spoke, Starfall continued to try and back away against the wall. With each step he almost fell, his hooves stumbling.

“Do you understand now?” she asked him, taking great satisfaction from seeing him like this; defeated. “I inserted some my pegasi magic into you, and since I hit your horn with my wing it affected your entire body. For most ponies it wouldn’t be too much of a problem, but to somepony like you, who mastered using his magic to the point he can split it and change its color, it caused you to be unable to use your magic at all for the next few days.” She grinned. “You also won’t be able to call upon dark magic, and by the looks of it your balance is a bit upset as well.”

For the first time ever Starburst saw Starfall terrified. He looked at her with his ruby eyes opened wide, shaking. Now you know how my father must have felt when you trapped him in his nightmare, tailhole.

“Great,” she heard Prism murmur from beside her as he moved forward, “it’s payback time, you little-”

“PRISM, DON’T YOU-” Starburst began, her body - despite how exhausted she felt after the fight and after giving a bit of her magic to Starfall - automatically moving to place herself between the two colts...

At the same time she noticed Starfall’s eyes narrow, his stance dropping as he bared his teeth and hissed…

But what occupied her attention the next second - and, a second after that, the attention of everypony else - were the silhouettes she saw standing by the entrance to the Throne Room. Despite scarcely believing what she was seeing, she nonetheless gave a shout of alarm as soon as her mind registered what those shapes were:

“Timberwolves!”
> Your Star is in Another Castle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alerted by her shout, everypony looked back at the entrance to the Throne Room. They spilled from the ancient archway, five in total. None of the timberwolves advanced yet, they kept to the wall, sniffing around and scanning the area.
 
One of them had a mustache adoring its muzzle.
 
“Oh…” Starburst heard Nidra exclaim. “Probably shouldn’t have done that…”
 
Starburst didn’t have the time to turn to her and snap that yes, she shouldn’t have. The moment the alicorn princess had spoken, the timberwolf with the mustache turned its head to her, his ears alert. A savage growl spewed from his wooden muzzle, and the other timberwolves followed his lead.
 
They were slowly advancing.
 
Under normal circumstances, Starburst would have loved the rare occasion to display her fighting skills. However, right now, she was exhausted. The fight with Starfall had cost her much of her stamina, and injecting him even with just a portion of her pegasi magic was even more strenuous that she had counted on.
 
“Annie,” she turned to her blind friend, “think you can calm them dow-”
 
She trailed off the moment her eyes laid on Anthea. The unicorn was laying on T’s back, her forelegs wrapped around his neck. She looked about just a bad as Starburst felt herself. She must have exerted her magic, she realized with dread. Immediately, she felt pangs of conscience; I shouldn’t have pushed her this far…
 
Normally, Starburst would have probably enjoyed seeing Little Miss Perfect being helpless, even though she would feel really guilty while doing that. However, "normally" didn't apply to the situation when a) Annie's exhaustion was Starburst's fault; b) they were in the middle of the Everfree Forest; and c) they were facing five pissed timberwolves.

Guess we'll have to do this the hard way, she thought, narrowing her eyes with determination just as the vicious creatures began moving in on them.
 
“Prism, Wind, get the ropes and untie them,” she told them quickly, spreading her wings; the lead timberwolf, alerted, turned its attention to her; “Gold, June, help me corral them. Nidra, put them to sleep. Everypony else, stay back.”
 
She didn’t wait for them to confirm whether they agreed on her plan or not, or explain to them in more detail just what she wanted them to do. The wolves had finally decided to attack, the leader leaping into the air. Her wings sprung, carrying her right at it.
 
No matter how dangerous the timberwolves where, they were still made out of branches. Of wood. And wood is weaker than metal.
 
Upon colliding with her outstretched hooves, the timberwolf fell apart, the branches making its body falling down on the stone floor. Starburst flew past where he was, flapping her wings to fly out of reach of its packmates’ jaws…and found out that she didn’t have enough strength to do that so quickly. In fact, the attack on that timberwolf proved so exerting that black spots appeared on the edges of her vision.
 
Starburst was forced to land on the floor, breathing heavily. The timberwolves would have to be stupid to not try and get her while she was down and she knew it. Upon landing, she immediately dropped down and rolled to the side, causing two timberwolves that were about to jump on her crashed into each other.
 
Three… she thought as she stopped her roll right in front of another one.
 
It bared her teeth at her and growled, but before it had a chance to bite her, its head was struck by a beam of blue energy. Instead of making him fall into pieces, however, it made him sway slowly left and right, as if it was drowsy.
 
The familiar sound of wood colliding with a pair of strong hindhooves from behind her signaled to Starburst that the last timberwolf had been dealt with. While pieces of it flew past her, the one stuck by Nidra’s spell fell to the floor fast asleep.
 
“Not exactly...” Starburst wheezed as she rose up from the floor. “what I had in mind, but…”
 
“It worked?” suggested Prism as he and Whirlwind flew down, each holding in their forehooves an end of a long royal banner that Starfall had used as a rope.
 
Having little air in her lungs, Starburst was resigned to nodding her head in reply as she sat down. She also pointed meaningfully at the pieces of timber lying across the Throne Room. The two pegasi didn't need any further explanation and begun to gather the branches, putting them inside the banner and tying it together. That way the timberwolves wouldn’t be able to reform.
 
Starburst observed Prism and Whirlwind for a while, to make sure they didn’t miss any pieces, but she quickly realized that her vision was blurry. She shook her head to clear it, steadying her legs to not fall down and alert the others. The last thing she needed right now was her friends worrying whether she was going to pass out or not. Starburst had quite often worked out to the point when that happened, so she was familiar with her limits. She could still fight.
 
Okay, maybe more like stand still or walk. The fight was over anyway…
 
“Everypony okay?” she asked, looking around. They had taken care of all the timberwolves, but Starburst wanted to make sure nopony was hurt.
 
While her friends all nodded, her eyes moved from Gold and June standing next to her; through Prism and Whirlwind tying up the banner with timberwolves pieces inside into a big bundle; to Annie, lying on T’s back and nuzzling his neck; Nidra, who was watching her and slightly red on his cheek T with narrow eyes; Claire, who was watching Nidra with narrow eyes; and stopped on Candy, who was asking Annie if she was alright.
 
Seeing that everypony was okay, Starburst sighed with relief... and then she paused. Something was not right. She raised her head and looked around at the ponies around her, counting…
 
“Starfall!” she exclaimed when she realized that the very pony who was the reason why they were there was nowhere in sight. “Where did he go?!”
 
Everypony was equally surprised and shocked as her. They began to look around the Throne Room. There’s only one exit, and there were timberwolves blocking it… Starburst pondered while she checked the hole June had made in the wall after Starfall’s water duplicate had pissed her off. The hole, however, didn’t break through the wall, and was just a large crack. Couldn’t escape here… a secret passage? No, somepony would have heard him… And besides, he had only about half a day to explore this castle, and making that “sky battlefield” alone must have taken quite some time-
 
Her eyes widened. The tightrope web! It was leading all the way to the…
 
Starburst looked up just in time to see the end of a blue-white tail disappear over the edge of the open roof, beneath the blue sheeting.
 
“GET BACK HERE!” she shouted, her wings carrying her up into the air much slower than she would have wanted them too.
 
Which was probably why Claire managed to catch her by her hind leg.
 
“Hold it, Star!” she shouted, pulling her down to the floor. “We have a bigger problem, or haven’t you noticed?”
 
“But he’s getting away!” Starburst protested, looking at her friends as if she had lost her mind.
 
“Star, I know it was really important for you to catch him, dear, but you are in no condition to go after him, and besides-”
 
Starburst cut her off by ripping her leg free from the grasp of Claire’s hoof-claw. “I am fine, while Starfall can’t use magic,” she told her angrily, “and as for that ‘besides’, the timberwolves had been dealt with. Or haven’t you noticed?” she added mockingly.
 
She would have probably flew away right that second - as with every one she wasted talking Starfall was getting further away - if it that moment a voice hadn’t spoke up: “Nope.”
 
Starburst turned away from Claire and looked at Gold. “What do you mean, ‘nope’? They’re tied up.”
 
But the golden earth pony shook his head. “They should’ve started reformin’ already,” he said, point at the bundle Prism and Whirlwind had made.
 
It was still. There was no sign of movement from within.
 
“Which means,” June continued, being on the same mind apparently as her cousin. With their family living so close to the Everfree Forest, they were told a lot about the timberwolves as they grew up, so they knew about them more than anypony else in Ponyville, save maybe for Fluttershy; “that was a scoutin’ pack.”
 
“A scouting pack?” Candy asked, looking startled. “You mean there are more of them?”
 
June opened her mouth to reply, but something else had decided to answer Candy’s question. A loud, lengthy howl came from outside of the castle, making all of them shake with dread.
 
It took a few seconds for June to gather her voice. “Yes,” she answered Candy’s question, though it was no longer needed. “And somepony had pissed ‘em off!” June added, glaring at Nidra.
 
“Wait, are you suggesting this is MY fault!?” Nidra protested, outraged. “How was I supposed to know that those pieces of timber could actually get offended?! And besides, whose fault is it that we’re here, anyway?!” she added, glancing at Starburst.
 
Starburst didn’t even dignify that with an answer. She turned back to Claire, still wanting to go after Starfall: “I can just fly after him quickly, catch him, and we can get out of here. Will only take a-”
 
“No,” Claire cut her off. Starburst grind her teeth; Claire was one of a few ponies she let talk down to her, as she admired her a lot. Didn’t mean she liked it, though. “Star, you can barely fly. I doubt you would have been able to catch him now, even with Prism and Whirlwind helping you and with Starfall being unable to use his magic. And if you would catch him, what do you plan to do? Drag him around tied up while we run for our lives from a pack of timberwolves?”
 
“But… I caught him!” she protested with a stomp. “I outwitted him, had him at my mercy, and… and you let him escape!” Starburst accused, looking at Prism and Whirlwind. “How could the two of you miss seeing him climb up the tightrope?”
 
“Sorry, but we were kinda preoccupied with, I dunno, timberwolves?” Prism replied sarcastically, but Starburst was no longer listening to him.
 
“And you!” she whirled around to point at Nidra accusingly. “Did you have to antagonize those timberwolves?! You had to stick that stupid mustache to it?!”
 
“Star, that’s enough!” June stopped her, looking at her angrily. “What’s done is done, and now we’ve gotta figure out how to get back home safely!”
 
Starburst grabbed her head, stifling a scream of rage. She had him! He was right there, powerless, and got away again! She was so frustrated that she could barely stop herself from hitting the closest pony.
 
But they were right. She knew that. There was no use crying over spilled milk. Starfall ran away; she had managed to take him by surprise, but if she would chase after him with just a few friends, he could probably escape them. They would have been wasting time while they should stay together. Her friends came first.
 
But still… he is out there, alone and without his magic...
 
“You’re right,” she mumbled reluctantly. She took a deep, calming breath. “Okay… how are we going to get out from a castle in the middle of the forest surrounded by a big pack of timberwolves?”
 
“We can use a secret underground passage that leads right back to Ponyville.”
 
She hadn’t really expected an answer, so to say that she was surprised was an understatement. Starburst stared at Nidra with shock, and she wasn’t the only one.
 
“How do you know there is any underground passage leading to Ponyville?” Claire asked her, utterly surprised.
 
“And why didn’t you mention this earlier?” Whirlwind asked. “We could have got here that way instead of trotting through that forest.”
 
“We couldn’t,” Nidra replied. “Well, we could, but we wouldn’t be able to get in, it opens on this side. As for how I know about;” she added and smirked; “whose mom trashed this place?”
 
“Nevermind,” Starburst sighed, “where’s the entrance?”
 
“In the royal bedchambers above us. Shall we?” Nidra asked, nodding at the doorway.
 
As everypony shrugged and began trotting towards the door, Starburst looked up at the ceiling one more time, wondering if she should go after him right now after all…

… and her stomach picked up that moment to remind her (and everypony else within a half a mile radius, apparently) that it has been some time since she had last eaten.
 
Starburst blushed and looked at her friends, who were all looking at her with amusement. “Think that those royal bedchambers have about a dozen watermelons?” Prism asked out loud, making everypony snort with laughter.
 
“Shut it,” Starburst snapped, using her rage to distract her mind before it would cause her to start drooling at the thought of watermelons.
 
She once again looked back at the ceiling. “Come along, Star,” Annie called after her from atop of T, “you really wouldn’t want to stay alone here.”
 
“What do you mean by that?” she asked, with her eyes still on the ceiling.
 
“It’s star-spider season.”
 
Starburst’s body went rigid. She hated every type of creepy crawlies.  “Annie?”
 
“Yeah?” the blind pony asked, barely containing laughter.
 
“I hate you sometimes,” Starburst exclaimed as she raced after her friends.
 





 
They were moving through the ruins of the castle slowly and carefully. For all they knew, there could be more timberwolves prowling around. Of course, Annie and Nidra, who were listening intently for any alarming noises, would warn them if anything was about to jump on them from around the corner.
 
Before they left the Throne Room, Starburst had taken off her armor, so she could walk around much easier. She used another banner to make a sack to carry it. It was resting now on Gold’s back, its weight being no problem to the strong stallion.
 
Occasionally, Starburst would shot a longing glance at the bundle hiding her armor, wishing she could wear it. However, if she was really going to go along with the plan that she hatched in her head, she needed to preserve her strength.
 
She was in a sour mood, and her friends could easily see that. “Oh, cheer up, Star,” Candy told her. “I mean, sure, he got away, but you’ve beaten him! That has to count for something, right?”
 
It did. “Yeah… and now he will never be caught with the same trick again,” Starburst replied, knowing that if Starfall would get away now, he would be careful to not let himself be played like that.
 
Candy was about to say something, but her attention had suddenly focused on something else. More out of boredom than genuine curiosity, Starburst looked at the same direction as well.
 
The blue-gray pony was looking at Nidra, who was talking with the hovering next to her Prism. “Why are you flying so oddly?”
 
“What do you mean?” the pegasus asked.
 
Starburst immediately recognized what Nidra meant. Prism’s hind legs were slightly curled up, and his tail seemed to stick tightly against his body. The alicorn princess told him pretty much the same, which caused Prism to grimace in pain and shame… and Whirlwind to snicked with laughter.
 
“He got kicked in the nuts,” she told Nidra, though she looked guiltily at Prism.
 
Somehow, Nidra managed to stifle laughter, though Starburst was willing to bet that Prism’s embarrassed and angry face hadn’t made it easier for her.
 
“Glad to see somepony found it amusing,” he said, glaring at Whirlwind.
 
“Sorry,” she apologized, holding her mouth. “But you’ve gotta admit, that if it had happened to somepony else, you would have been laughing too.”
 
“... Fair enough.”
 
“Must have hurt a lot,” Nidra said, surprisingly politely.
 
“Eh, not really,” Prism replied, regaining his cocky attitude (Oh, joy.). “That little prick could hardly kick.”
 
In retort to that, Whirlwind made a pretty good imitation of the shriek he had uttered when Starfall’s hooves hit that very sensitive spot.
 
“Oh, shut up,” Prism snorted, though the end of his mouth curved up a bit as Whirlwind and Nidra shared a giggle.
 
“No, no, no…” Starburst heard Candy mutter beside her. Confused, she looked at her. The blue-gray earth pony was still looking at the trio. “Although… Those two would kinda make a cute couple, I suppose…”
 
“Who, Prism and Wind?” Starburst asked, confused. “I thought that you had already established that.”
 
“No, are you blind? I meant Prism and Nidra!” Candy told her in a hushed voice.
 
Prism and Nidra?! But… I thought she liked T… ugh, relationships! Who needs them?! Starburst wondered rhetorically. And Prism? Seriously?! What could a mare see in him… well, maybe besides those gorgeous green eyes…
 
She quickly stopped that train of thoughts before some of that could reflect on her face. The last thing Starburst needed right now was Candy thinking that she had a thing for Prism.
 





 
Aside from that little bit, their journey to the royal bedchambers had proven - fortunately - uneventful. Of course, there were a few more timberwolf’s howls, but both Nidra and Annie had agreed that they came from outside of the castle, so they weren’t worried… for now. Other than that, there was still no sign of timberwolves anywhere.
 
Or of Starfall, either, Starburst thought as they looked around bedchamber of Celestia for the hidden switch.
 
“Hmm…” Nidra muttered, pulling one book after another from the shelf on the wall. “It should be somewhere- Ah, here we go!” she exclaimed as one of the books, instead of being thrown out of the shelf, leaned on the edge of it.
 
With a loud screech, one of the bedchamber’s walls began to rise into the ceiling. Starburst followed everypony to stand beside it as the wall disappeared, revealing a long spiral stairs leading down.
 
“Wow, it’s… really dark in there,” she commented, glancing uncertainly at Annie.
 
“Really?” she asked nervously, her forehooves’ grip on T’s neck tightening. “Oh, joy…”
 
Starburst turned to Claire with a raised eyebrow. The dragon-pony hybrid nodded and concentrated her magic. Her twin horns lighted with purple light, illuminating the stairs.
 
“Okay,” Starburst said, looking at her friends. “Nidra, since you can see in the dark much better than the rest of us, take the lead. Let’s go, the sooner we get out of here the better.”
 
Everypony nodded and began to enter the staircase. It was very wide, so it was easy for several ponies to walk side by side. Starburst watched as all her friends entered beyond where wall was.
 
Wow… this is way too easy, she thought guiltily before she jumped to the wall and pushed the lever-book back to its original place.
 
At the sound of the wall moving again the ponies glanced back, and in the split second before it fell down Starburst managed to see the eyes of each of them grow wide in terror as they shouted and tried to jump back. When the passage had closed, Starburst heard a few of them collide with the wall.
 
“Star!”
 
“What the-”
 
“What are you doing!?”
 
Huh, so this wall isn’t soundproof, she thought hearing the muffled voices of her friends. I suppose it’s better that I can explain this a bit…
 
“Guys, calm down!” she shouted to them. “Listen-”
 
“Open this door right now!” she heard somebody reply… probably June. She could also hear her and Gold bucking the wall, as well as Claire scratching it with her claws.
 
“Listen!” Starburst shouted louder. “You guys go home and tell Princess Luna about what happened. I will look for Starfall and…”
 
“Look Star,” Annie spoke, “I understand that you would want us out while you two spend some time with all those bedrooms here, but-”
 
Okay, that is it!
 
“HE CAN’T USE MAGIC OR MOVE PROPERLY AND THERE ARE TIMBERWOLVES ALL AROUND THE CASTLE, OR HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?!” she exclaimed angrily, feeling her cheeks becoming red. The shouts on the other side of the wall grew silent as they realized what she had figured out some time ago. “Pull your heads out of a gutter, for Celestia’s sake!”
 
“Okay, just… calm down, Star!” Claire said. “You’re right, we shouldn’t leave him behind. Just open the passage and-”
 
“No,” she cut her off. “Nidra was right.”
 
“I was?”
 
“Yes, you were. You were in danger because I dragged you here.”
 
“Star, that’s not-” Gold tried to say, but Starburst didn’t let him.
 
“But nevermind that. I alone will have much easier time avoiding timberwolves. I rested up a bit and without my armor I won’t tire out again. I will find Starfall, talk some sense to him - with my forehooves most likely - and I will wait for Princess Luna and the Royal Guard in the castle.”
 
“But-”
 
“Princess Luna will be able to teleport here right away the moment you will tell her about this, so it would be best if you would go right now, don’t you agree?” she told them bristly. She hated long goodbyes.
 
Her last sentence must have made them realize that there was some sense in what she was proposing to do. The objections on the other side of the wall had ceased, and they began to mutter between themselves.
 
“And don’t try to have Annie teleporting me!” Starburst shouted, suddenly realizing that. “By the looks of her, she would pass out before she would finish casting the spell!”
 
The angry hiss that came from the other side told her that it was exactly what they had been thinking. It took a few more moments of them whispering between themselves before Claire finally spoke up: “You’re sure you’ll be fine?”
 
“Of course,” she replied, relieved that they’ve given up.
 
“No dizziness or faint spells?” Del asked, as he was the most familiar one with her passing out.
 
“No,” Starburst said, angry that he brought that up. “Unless something really hard hits me in the back of the head I won’t pass out.”
 
“Any urge to kiss a blue stallion?”
 
“N- CANDY!” she shouted, once again blushing. “I swear to Celestia, one more joke like that and I-” she bit herself on the tongue before she set ‘I’ll cut you’ (Candy didn’t deserve such a scary reply). Instead, she went with: “won’t attend that party for you and Del!”
 
“Aww-”
 
“Wait, what party?” Nidra asked, sounding confused.

“A party celebrating that Candy and Del got together,” Annie told her.
 
“Ooh, congrats guys! I didn’t know you were an item!”
 
“Thanks! Think you will be able to come?”
 
Starburst turned her head away from the secret passage and looked into the mirror that stood beside the ancient bed. From within, her reflection looked at her with a deadpanned expression.
 
“I’m going to look for Starfall now!” she told them in a raised voice. “Take care guys!”
 
“Good luck!” she heard as she turned towards the door.
 
“Stay safe!”
 
“Say ‘hi’ to Starry for me!”
 
“Kick him in the balls for me!”
 
“Be careful!”
 
“Lay a big, wet, sloppy kiss on h-”
 
Starburst speeded up so that she wouldn’t hear the rest of Annie’s farewell.
 





 
There seemed to be no sign of Starfall in the castle where they had walked through it. Starburst assumed that meant that he must have tried to escape as far away from it - and them - as he could. Once she figured that out, she wasted no time trying to look for him within the castle and flew out of it.
 
“Come on, where are you…” she murmured under her breath as she scanned all the rooftops, starting with the one through which he had escaped her earlier.
 
If he had come up here, she thought once she landed at the spot where he must have be if she had seen his tail, then… which way did he go? Starburst looked around. There! She ran up to the edge of the rooftop, where a thick bunch of vines went up on the entire side of the castle’s face. He must have gone down this way… she thought, looking at the patch of grass beneath it. Thank goodness that idiot hadn’t fall down.
 
Starburst spread her wings and flew down. If he had made it down there, he had to go around the castle, as the bridge was the only safe way of getting back to the rest of the forest.
 
She looked up at the sky for a moment; it was getting cloudier. To make the matters worse, the clouds were dark. Could it be raining soon? She shook her head; she had a pony to find first.
 
Okay, but how am I going to find him there? she wondered as she flew. Getting down on those vines must have taken him a while; he had to be careful with his body being in that state.
 
As she flew over the bridge, she heard the timberwolves again. Starburst might have ignored it, if it weren’t for three things. The first was that it was a bit further away from the castle than the previous one must have been. The second was that she caught a sight of a few dark shapes moving in the direction of it.
 
The third was another roar, not of a timberwolf, but a familiar one nonetheless.
 
Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me… Starburst thought as she steered in the direction of the howl as well.
 





 
As it turned out, nopony was kidding her. In fact, the reality was even more cliché than Starburst had expected.
 
Starfall was not only surrounded by a huge pack of timberwolves with no way to escape. He surrounded by a huge pack of timberwolves while standing on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a river that led further into the forest.
 
How none of them managed to bit him was beyond Starburst’s understanding. By the time she caught up with them, the leading timberwolves were only a few feet away from him, with one or two making a quick dart forward and trying to grab him with their teeth.
 
Starfall was having none of that. Whenever a timberwolf tried its luck, he immediately turned to it and bared his fangs at it and bit the air before its muzzle. He uttered dragon-like grunts each time he did that, making the predators back away each time out of fear.
 
I will have to carry him to the other side of the river, Starburst realized.
 
What would happen after that was anypony’s guess. There were no timberwolves on the other bank… for now.
 
Preparing herself for the extortion, Starburst flew up high and began to swoop down in order to gain momentum. “Hey!” she called out, hoping that Starfall, being as cunning as he was, would figure out what was her intention.
 
The blue unicorn’s attention shifted from the wolves to her… and his eyes grew wide in fear. He took a step back.
 
Seriously?! He’s facing a whole pack of timberwolves, but he gets scared of me as I come to his rescue… that’s kinda flattering, actually…
 
Then the ground beneath him crumbled.
 
Of, for the- she began to think as she sped up after the falling pony.
 
Luckily for Starfall, she was already flying fast as it was crumbling. And there was quite a distance from the surface of the river to the top of the cliff, about thirty feet. Because of all that, with a little coaxing of her wings, she managed to reach Starfall just in time to catch his outstretched leg and pull him up.
 
“I got you!” Starburst exclaimed, both with relief and satisfaction, as she rose higher.
 
The moment she grabbed his hoof, though, Starfall began to struggle. “S-stop wiggling, you idiot!” she hissed through clenched teeth. With her muscles burning, she tried to steer them to the opposite bank. However, the unicorn’s movements were making it hard to fly. She looked down in anger. “I’m trying to save your hide, you little-”
 
As she talked, Starfall’s eyes shifted slowly to something behind her shoulder, and soon he cut her off by screaming: “Look out behind you!”
 
Starburst scowled. “Do you really-
 
Something heavy hit her in the back of the head.
 
Everything turned black.
> Cave of Sorrows and Warmth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Passing out wasn’t something new to Starburst. During the last few years, it sort of became an almost weekly experience for her. She very often worked out on Sweet Apple Acres, pushing herself despite her exhaustion and black spots on the edges of her vision. Starburst would then find herself losing consciousness. Usually, she would wake up in the Apple family’s barn, with Gold looking over her, who would then proceed to berate her. The first time that happened, though, she woke up in hospital. After the Apple family found her passed out, they had no idea what was wrong. They brought her into the hospital, alarming her family and friends… only for her to wake up fine before the doctors got the test results back, much to everypony’s relief and irritation.
 
However, she had never found herself waking up after passing out in a dark cave.
 
Starburst shook her head, trying to focus. Her head hurt like crazy, and everything was dizzy. There was something cold and wet pressed against the back of her head. She could hear some buzzy noise from the outside, and it took her a good few moments to identify it as rain. Judging by the intensity of it, it was a real storm. She could hear some thunders in the distance, even though - as the out-line of the mouth cave was visible - she could not see any lightnings. Starburst also noticed that the cave wasn’t completely dark; there was a dim light emanating from several places, one being close to her. The source of the one next to her was a small shining crystal, sticking out of the stone.
 
She shook her head as her thoughts started to become cleared and tried to get up… only to realize that she could not move. There was something tied around her, like a bundle.
 
What the hell… Starburst thought in panic, trying to free herself.
 
Her scramble was unsuccessful. She could not escape whatever this dark colored material that was binding her was, though it did loosen up a bit. However, the scramble did succeed in gaining somepony’s attention.
 
“You’re awake.”
 
Starburst stopped. She recognized that voice, despite how oddly it sounded now. There was no glee in it, no joy, no sarcasm, nor was there enjoyment and boastfulness that Starburst had come to associate with it and its owner. Now her ears could pick up mostly nervousness.
 
Turning her head to her right, she spot a dark shape, barely visible in the dim light. Starfall was a few feet away from her and was coming closer, dragging something on the ground.
 
Memories of what had happened came crashing down of her. The castle. The fight. The timberwolves. Starfall escaping. Staying behind to look for him. The cliff and river. Starfall falling. Something hitting her… and then nothing.
 
And now she was tied up in a cave, alone, with Starfall.
 
“What is this?!” Starburst asked angrily, though a small part of her mind began to feel fear. She wasn’t a big fan of cinema, but she had seen enough movies to have an extremely bad association with being tied up in the middle of the cave by somebody who you had been fighting not so long ago. “Why did you tie me up?!”
 
Starfall looked up from what he was dragging. “So you wouldn’t do anything stupid!” he snapped, then returned to what he was doing.
 
Starburst was taken aback by his retort, and she wasn't sure why. What was it that just seemed off with it?
 
As she pondered, confused - the headache wasn’t helping her - Starfall put what he was dragging on the ground before her. It was a very wide leaf with several berries on it. Tasty looking berries, Starburst amended, suddenly being reminded that she hadn’t eaten in Celestia knows how long.
 
Despite how appetizing this measly supper was, however, her eyes shifted from the leaf to Starfall… who, after placing it before her, had almost immediately retreated into shadows. Starburst didn’t even manage to get a good look of him, but the little what she saw was so conspicuous that it was extremely easy to notice.
 
Starfall wasn’t wearing neither his cloak nor bandanna.
 
It didn’t take much of a thought to figure out where those went.
 
Ignoring the berries, Starburst glared at the colt. “Why did you tie me up with your cloak and bandanna?!” she asked once again, this time with greater strength.
 
An irritated growl replied, followed by: “You mean, other than preventing you from harming both me and yourself? Well, gee, I think I didn’t want you to die of hypothermia after I went through the trouble of giving you CPR!” Starburst jaw hit the ground - literally - and she looked at him with wide eyes as he continued to shout. “Which was after I kept your head above the water, shielding you from hitting the rocks - as the river dragged us for about five miles, by the way - but before I carried you on my back to this cave when it started freaking raining!”
 
Starburst was left speechless. She just stared at barely visible Starfall as he breathed heavily after the short tirade. She couldn't believe what he had just told her… and yet she somehow knew he was speaking truth.
 
That he had saved her life.
 
“Um… thanks,” she finally said shily, regaining her voice.
 
In reply Starfall snorted. “Eat those berries,” he said, moving even further away from her and laying down.
 
Some of the gratitude and shame Starburst felt evaporated due to the unicorn’s tone, but she pushed that out of her (still hurting) head and concentrated on berries. Starfall had placed them just waiting in her mouth’s reach. A blush covered her cheeks as she realized just how humiliating this was, but she ate them nonetheless. Even if she wouldn’t be tied, she would probably have problems with moving anyway after…
 
“What exactly happened?” she asked in between one berry and another.
 
“A falling rock hit you in the back of the head,” Starfall replied. His voice sounded a bit distant; Starburst realized that he must be looking in the opposite way from her as she ate.
 
She also realized that she had jinxed this disaster by mentioning it. If her hooves weren’t bound, Starburst would have facehoofed.
 
Ignorant to her epiphany, Starfall continued: “We both fell into the river, and the rest went more or less the way I described earlier. How’s your head?” he asked, and Starburst, with embarrassment, noticed worry in his voice.
 
“It hurts, but it’s okay,” she replied uneasily.
 
“Good,” she heard Starfall murmur with relief. “It didn’t look to me as if your skull was fractured or anything, but I only know some first aid and zebra medicine, so I could have been wrong. Granted,” he snorted, “I wouldn’t be able to do much else other than making a compress, anyway…”
 
This explains where his bandanna went, Starburst thought, having already figured what that cold wet thing pressed against her head was.
 
“Well, thanks anyway,” she said, trying to sound sincere. “How do you know first aid and zebra medicine, anyway- Wait!” Starburst stopped in mid sentence, trying to get up in her agitation. Of course, she failed, but she still looked aghast at Starfall. “You said “CPR’? As in… as in...” she stuttered, not able to pronounce what just came to her mind.
 
She stared for a few seconds at the dark shape of Starfall, hoping to hear the words of negation.
 
Instead, she got: “I was hoping it wouldn’t come out...”
 
In response to that, her entire body shivered with disgust. She began feeling nauseated, and started regretting that Starfall hadn’t brought it up before she had eaten. To make matters worse, no matter how much Starburst fought against his cloak, she could not lift her hoof to cover her mouth in case she was going to vomit. The mere thought that Starfall had given her mouth-to-mouth was making her that embarrassed, ashamed, and disgusted.
 
“Ugh, I’m gonna be sick…” she murmured.
 
“Oh, don’t be such a drama queen,” Starfall snorted from the shadows. “It was much worse experience for me, anyway.”
 
Starburst looked away from him. At that moment, Starfall was the last pony on the planet she wanted to see… and then her mind registered just what he had said.
 
“Excuse me!?” she snapped, looking at him once again, with a fury rivaled by none. Because for all her disinterest in colts or relationships, she was still a mare. Her cry of anger took Starfall by surprise, making him jump into the air and back away even further. “What the hell was that supposed to mean?!” Starburst asked, renewing her efforts to free herself.
 
She slowly began moving her hooves…
 
From the shadows she hear a stomp. Starburst could barely see Starfall, but she could swear that he bristled like a cat. “It was supposed to mean that you were unconscious while I wasn’t!” he snapped angrily. “And while afterwards you started breathing, I began hyperventilating because-”
 
If it wasn’t for the constant pounding of the rain, Starburst would have thought she had gone deaf, so abrupt was the silence. She blinked, so surprised that some of her rage at her wounded mare vanity went away before Starfall breathed heavily and spoke again. “Look,” he said, sounding really tired, “I did not mean that in that way, okay? You are a very…” he trailed off.
 
“‘Very’ what?” Starburst hissed.
 
“Sorry, making sure your perverted friends won’t pop out from somewhere,” Starfall joked, sounding a bit shier than usual while doing so.
 
Despite herself, Starburst snickered. Indeed, it was best that Annie and Candy, or any other of her friends for that matter, weren’t here. By now they would have about a thousand jokes ready for them since she had woken up.
 
Starfall, as if encouraged by her reaction, continued: “As I was saying, you are a very beautiful mare, and most colts in my position would have probably been disturbingly glad to give you CPR.”
 
Once again, his words caused in Starburst a reaction she would have really preferred they wouldn’t. She blushed. If the heat in her cheeks was of any indication, her face had probably became more red than orange. Starburst was soo glad that they were in a dark cave.
 
“But I am disinterested in the activities between a stallion and a mare,” Starfall continued… and ended.
 
Now Starburst was so surprised by the abrupt end that she forgot about her embarrassment. She stared at Starfall with wide eyes - not that it helped him to better see him in this freaking darkness - and asked before she realized: “You’re gay?”
 
She saw some movement and hear him gasp, as if he had an over the top reaction like some character in a cartoon. “No, I am not!” he snapped. “For the love of- Can we please leave… whatever this is at this point?! I really don’t want to have this conversation with somepony that tried to en- capture me! Not to mention that if the said pony hadn’t prevented me from using magic we would both be out of this forest already!”
 
Starburst lay her ears down, taken aback by his outbursts. What had prompted me to ask that, anyway? she thought, confused at her earlier question. Why would I care if he likes mares or stallions? It didn’t even sound like that, she thought rationally. More like that he’s asexual… though, colt his age…
 
A brief memory came to her: of Prism hugging her some years back suddenly, and then hearing some gossip - unintentionally - about what he had been up to from Candy a few days later. She shivered again.
 
Also… she thought, thinking back to what he said earlier, why would he start hyperventilating? That… ugh, that doesn’t make sense! she decided, returning to eating the berries while Starfall sit down in his earlier place.
 
As she ate, she very carefully moved her hooves under her. The cloak, due to her frantic movements earlier, had become loose. Starburst could now push her forehooves out of it, and as a result, free herself. However, for now, she waited. She wasn’t sure that Starfall, upon seeing her almost free, wouldn’t try to do something stupid. Starburst herself had no intention of fighting him right now, and given her headache she would probably lose, anyway. She moved very slowly, to not alert him, wanting to free herself not to attack him, but to lie a bit more dignifying.
 
While doing all that, her thoughts traveled to her friends. Were they alright? They should be; the underground tunnel was a much safer route than the one they had taken going to the castle. They must have arrived in Ponyville by now… and told Princess Luna that she was in the castle… except that she wasn’t.
 
They must be worried sick, Starburst thought uncomfortably as she ate the last berry. And their worries are probably not that far from reality… ugh, Mom is gonna kill me when she hears about this!
 
Right then, she would have slammed her head against the stone under her, out of exasperation, but in the exact same moment she heard something. One thing, one short noise, that changed everything.

A sneeze.
 
Starburst turned her head to Starfall. She could hear him wiping his nose with his hoof, even if she couldn’t really see him. He then sneezed once more.
 
She stayed quiet, just looking at him, before she called out: “Starfall?”
 
“Yeah?” he asked, his voice a bit distorted after the two sneezes.
 
“Are you sick?”
 
“... In what way?”
 
Starburst narrowed her eyes, not in the mood for jokes. “You were in the river with me.” Looking to her side to see the cloak wrapped around her, she added: “How’s this cloak dry is beyond me-”
 
“It’s previous owner had it enchanted to repel water,” Starfall answered the unasked question.
 
“- but you were still in the river,” Starburst continued, “Which means that you can catch hypothermia as easily as I can.”
 
“Probably,” Starfall reply was nothing but casual.
 
Starburst just stared at him. “Don’t you realize that you can die, you idiot?”
 
“I do, but I have no means to warm myself. I have only one cloak, and out of the two of us I really prefer that you have it.”
 
Once again surprised, Starburst, as if a part of her wanted to prolong the inevitable, asked: “Why?”
 
Starfall snorted. “Because if you die, that will make me a murderer. And a murderer is one thing I am not and will never be.”
 
Starburst almost gasped, the realization hitting her like a ton of bricks. “Starfall,” she began, as gently as possible, “what happened to your mother… I am sorry.”
 
It took Starfall a few seconds before he replied. “It’s been a while since I heard that,” he said, and Starburst heard a note of warmth in his voice. “So… you know?”
 
She nodded, despite the fact that he probably couldn’t see it. “Yes, after you had mentioned about Trottingham and nine years ago, a friend of mine had mentioned later about Ripper the Jackal, and I realized… I’m so sorry.” She really meant it. Starburst felt ashamed that just a few moments ago she thought about her Mom punishing her. Starfall would never see his mom again… and it was the fault of somepony that got wrongly honored! “You can be sure that statue of him will be teared down, even if I will have to do so with my bare hooves,” she said, allowing some viciousness to her voice.
 
“I thought about doing so,” Starfall confessed, his voice becoming reminiscent. “But by the time I got back there, I just didn’t care. Tearing it down wouldn’t bring my mother-”
 
A powerful sneeze stopped him from finishing the last sentence. As he once again wiped his nose, Starburst thought once more about what she knew she had to say… and do, hoping to see another option. But there was none.
 
Resigned, she turned to Starfall. “Starfall… ugh, I don’t believe I am going to say it,” she murmured. “There is a way for both of us to stay warm.” Celestia have mercy, don’t make me say it! “By… cuddling. Sleeping together.”
 
She could hear Annie and Candy cheering…
 
“Out of the question.”
 
If Starburst had thought that she had been taken aback before, now she was on a completely different level of that. She just stared, shocked, as Starfall had refused her proposition almost instantly, without giving it a thought. To say that Starburst, who had swallowed her pride and proposed to sleep together - something she hadn’t expected to do in a foreseeable future with any stallion, least of all the one that had hospitalized her father - was now pissed and offended, was an understatement.
 
She did her best to control her voice and not sound angry as she spoke. “I don’t plan to trick you and attack you, if that’s what you’re thinking. I promise.”
 
Starfall snorted. “Even assuming I would believe you, that’s still a no-no.”
 
“Ugh, what is your problem!?” Starburst groaned, not being able to comprehend such idiocy. “You can die you idiot! What, are you afraid I will give you cooties or something!?”
 
She didn’t get a reply, but she could hear a slight movement. Apparently, Starfall could no longer look at her, and he turned around.
 
“Alright, that’s it!” Starburst thought as she began to crawl out of this cloak-bundle. “I am not letting that idiot die, whether he likes it or not!”
 
She freed herself and stood up… and then immediately toppled. Her legs feeling weak after lying for so long, and everything suddenly spun around her due to her head injury.
 
The sound alerted Starfall. “W-what are you doing?” he asked, taking a step back, before he turned around and tried to flee.
 
Starburst quickly shook off her dizziness and flew after him. She crashed into Starfall and pinned him to the ground. “Listen, you stupid…” she started angrily, placing a hoof on his back, but then she trailed off. There was a weird… curve that she could feel under her hoof. Starburst looked at Starfall, trying to peer through the darkness.
 
A bolt of lightning shot outside, for a brief second illuminating the interior of the cave. And in that brief second Starburst saw something she truly wished that she and nopony else would never, ever have to see.
 
What she felt under her hoof wasn’t just some curve. It was a scar. A scar, one of many. Starfall’s back was covered by dozens of them, some curved, some straight, some going diagonally and some vertically.
 
But that wasn’t the only thing Starburst saw in that split second, nor was it the worst.
 
There were also fresh bruises along his legs and sides, most likely a result of their trek down the river. Around his neck, where usually he wore his bandanna, there were several grazes, oddly resembling rope burns…
 
The worst, however, was how he laid down. Starfall had his forehooves above his head. He was trembling. And his tail… his tail was tucked tightly between his legs and pressed against his nethers.
 
Starburst stared in shock in terror long after the lightning had passed. In her mind she still had this picture, of him all covered in scars and lying down and shaking in terror. She knew what all of them meant, despite never before seeing anypony in real life with such wounds. After all, it didn’t take much of an imagination to realize that the ones on his back come from a whip.
 
The ones on his neck, however…
 
The words that Starfall had said about King Sombra before Uncle Spike had interrupted him came back to her: “He used the fear of the crystal ponies instead-”
 
-instead of his own.
 
That was what was different about Starfall now, that he couldn’t use his magic. He couldn’t hide his fear, couldn’t mask it by the confidence and laughter. That was why he was now cowering. That was what Starburst’s father had realized after fighting off his dark magic.
 
When King Sombra used the fear of crystal ponies to power his dark magic, he created dark crystals, Starburst realized. When Starfall used his own… he created chains.
 
The sensation that she experienced when her wing collided with his horn, when some of her magic was transferred to him… it was a backlash of his fear, of his memory. A memory that caused him to shrug slightly when Starburst had said that she would have him bound in chains. That was the reason why he valued his freedom so much.
 
What she had threatened him with was his worst fear: a chain wrapped around his neck once again.
 
And the way he kept his tail… how he jumped away when Annie tried to touch him, how he got offended when Prism and Starburst had called him ‘gay’, how he started hyperventilating after he gave her mouth-to-mouth...
 
Starburst began backing away from Starfall, shaking. Through her head went many thoughts, many images and scenarios as to what could have happened to Starfall after the death of his mother, and she… and she…
 
She started to cry.
 
Starburst hadn’t cried in years, but now she just welled up. It just hit her so hard; the realization of how cruel was fate to Starfall. All of it… she couldn’t even comprehend how it was possible for one pony to suffer through so much shit thrown at him through his entire life, let alone one so young.
 
… a pony like you will never understand a pony like me.
 
He was right. How could she understand him? She couldn’t even understand how he could be so… only borderline not normal. With everything he had been through, he should be a psychopath, not an obnoxious prankster!
 
Starburst wasn’t sure how long she sat there, in the cave. Her hooves covered her eyes as she cried over somepony who had once, for a very short time and so long ago that both of them had forgotten, been her friend. But she knew that at some point she felt something lightly tap her shoulder.
 
She opened her eyes to see… Starfall, sticking his tongue at her and making a funny face.
 
That was too much for Starburst.
 
“What is wrong with you!?” she cried, taking a step towards him. Starfall immediately went further back, though he was still looking at her. “You’re just, just…” she tried to say, pointing at him, at his neck and back, but she couldn’t bring herself to say what had been done to him. “And you just…” Starburst looked for the right word to describe what he had just done, but couldn’t. Instead, she buried her face in her hooves again.
 
“Sorry,” she heard Starfall say; he must have come closer when she covered her face. “I just… I just hate seeing ponies crying. C-could you stop?”
 
She looked at him from above her hooves. Starfall was standing not far away from her, but he was tensed, and it was clear that he could back away at any moment. He was looking at her with a half-scared, half-pleading face. He hates seeing ponies cry…
 
She snorted, though her eyes were still red and moist. “You’re an idiot,” she said, though without any malice in her voice. “How can you be… I mean… you should be a some sort psycho or something.”
 
“Well,” he chuckled nervously, “I think it’s fair to say that I am not exactly right in the head.”
 
Starburst shook her head, though she again uttered a short chuckle. “I just can’t understand… I made you unable to use magic, threatened you with your worst fear, and you are trying to cheer me up? Sweet Celestia, I cannot understand how you can always smile...”
 
“I guess I already cried out all my tears,” Starfall replied, smiling shyly. “And as for smiling… it’s something my mother had once told me. ‘A performer must always put on a good show for his audience, keep a smile on his face, and always act as if everything was fine… even if it isn’t’.” He looked down on the ground. “Mom and I didn’t exactly have an easy life… granted, it was about a thousand times better that what happened afterwards…”
 
“What happened?” Starburst asked as he trailed off. “Who did that to you?”
 
Starfall stayed quiet for a moment, and Starburst began to suspect he wouldn’t answer. But then he spoke: “When that monster killed my mother, I lost control; the dark magic overtook me. I woke up and… it was over. Him, my… my mom…” his voice stopped, but he quickly continued. Starburst couldn’t believe his voice hadn’t broke. “I was just six, and I had just seen my mom being murdered in front of me, and I… I… killed…” he looked away. “It wasn’t a pony, it was monster. I’m not a… not…”
 
“No.” Starburst shook her head decisively. “You are not.”
 
Starfall looked at her, first with surprise, then with gratitude. “But I hadn’t thought of that back then. I was terrified. I ran… and I was caught by him!” He almost spat the word. “A zony, owner of Cirque du Freak. Never got his name, made all of us call him ‘Master’.” Now he really spat. “You probably haven’t heard about it; the circus had performed mostly in the Zebra Nation, sometime amongst the griffons and minotaurs. He was in Trottingham only because he was buying some exotic animals.”
 
“So wait, you were a…” she looked for a right word.
 
“Slave?” he hinted. “That about sums it up.”
 
“No, I-” his casualness made her stutter. “I mean, he made you work in a circus?” Starfall nodded. “But… how? I mean, I know that you were younger, but you’re so gifted with magic… and those… scars… wouldn't that cause you again to unleash the dark magic?”
 
In reply, Starfall rose and turned around so that she could see his right side. He nodded at his flank, where a patch of burned skin marked where a cutie mark should have been. “A Control Glyph. He burned them into all of us. I couldn’t speak, move, cast spells, or anything, unless he would allow me. It took me four years to find a way to remove it.”
 
Starburst shook with terror and outrage. What she had known was already unthinkable, but to learn about this Control Glyph… also…

He did this to himself, she realized with dread. To break free from this bastard, he burned his very cutie mark off...
 
“He made me perform magic shows, train on trapeze… a few times he made me fight dogs as if I was one. You know, because of the fangs. He used his whip on me and the others - all older than me, by the way - mostly for fun and his sick pleasure. And, well,” he added a bit uncomfortably, “speaking of pleasure, he also-”
 
A sneeze - thankfully - interrupted him. Starburst looked at Starfall and realizes that he was still trembling, but not as much from fear as from cold. She, too, felt coldy. “Starfall…” she started, taking a step towards him.
 
At once, he took a step back. “No,” he clearly stated, though his voice was a bit shaken.
 
Starburst stopped and looked at him pleadingly. “Starfall, please, I-” she paused and facehoofed, as she suddenly remembered what she was asking him. “Ugh, I am so glad Annie and Candy aren’t here…”
 
The comment caused Starfall to snicker shortly. Encouraged by that, Starburst tried again. “Starfall, I can see that you are afraid, but I promise you that I will not harm you. I swear, I just don’t want you to get ill or even die.” She paused, trying to gauge his expression. He was still afraid. “You said you aren’t a murderer; don’t make me into one.”
 
That sentence had caused some effect. He shook, his eyes growing wider. Starburst didn’t say anything, just continued to stare at him as Celestia knows what was going through his head. His eyes shifted between her and cloak a few times. He also sneezed. Finally, Starfall sighed, and looked at her. “O-okay…”
 
Starburst nodded and trotted towards the cloak. Her head was still dizzy, so she gladly lain down once again on her previous spot, and looked expectantly at Starfall.
 
She tried to not think about that she was just going to lie next to a colt.
 
Starfall took a deep breath and took a few shaky steps. It was clear that he didn’t want to do it, that everything in his body was telling him to run, but he closed his eyes, made his way to her and laid down beside her.

Very slowly Starburst scooched over. Their coats were inches apart when she pulled the cloak over them. She grimaced; while it was big enough to easily wrap around her, it was barely wide enough to serve as a blanket for both of them.
 
Also, Starfall was really cold.
 
She bit her lip, knowing what she had to do, as well as how Starfall will react. “I’m going to wrap my wing around you, okay?”
 
He tensed, and for a moment Starburst was sure he was going to run. After a few seconds, however, he nodded. She nodded in reply and extended her wing under the cloak and wrapped it around Starfall.

Starburst could feel her feathers brushing his scars, and she was almost certain that she could also feel the beating of his heart, that’s how scared Starfall was.
 
She didn’t think it was possible, but he became even more tensed. His teeth were clenched and eyes closed. Starburst thought desperately what to do, but nothing came to her.
 
“I’m sorry,” she finally said.
 
Starfall opened one eye to look at her, “What for?”
 
“For what was done to you… and what we did to you… and hell, now I am trying to help you and I think I’m traumatizing you,” she snorted. She hated feeling so useless.
 
Starfall chuckled nervously. “I think I had my ‘traumatized bar’ filled some years ago,” he said, and Starburst felt him relax slightly under her wing.
 
She smiled, happy that he was beginning to calm down. “Thank you.”
 
Starfall looked at her, surprised. “What for?”
 
“You saved my life… and I can’t imagine how it must have felt when you are so afraid of being merely touched,” Starburst explained. “It was really brave of you.”
 
He chuckled, and then laughed. “You just called a pony who panics when somepony tries to touch him brave.”
 
“Well, I also called you an idiot plenty of times,” Starburst retorted, smirking.
 
Both of them shared a laugh. Starburst was relieved to see that Starfall was starting to feel more comfortable… but with that realization, that some of his tension was gone, her concern for him lessened. Now, with nothing to distract her, she became a bit more tensed.
 
Not surprisingly, Starfall took notice of that, “Something wrong?”
 
Starburst rolled her eyes. Compared to his, her problem was practically non-existent. “Ugh, well… I didn’t exactly expect to spend the rest of the day sharing a bed - so to speak - with a colt.”
 
Starfall chuckled. “I guess this is uncomfortable for both of us, then; I’m sort of relieved, actually,” he said, smiling… and then wrinkled his nose.
 
“Something wrong?” Starburst asked, concerned. Then, remembering who she was speaking to, she amended: “I mean, beside the whole ‘afraid of touching’ thing.”
 
“No, it’s nothing, just…” Starfall trailed off, and then sighed. “You’ll think this is stupid.”
 
“Hey, just because I think you’re stupid doesn’t mean I think your problems to be such. Now c’mon, what is it?”
 
“It’s just… Ever since we met…” he trailed off again. “I have a bit keener nose than most ponies. Guess that might be due to having some dragon blood. Anyway, for some time now I… sorta felt… nostalgic when I smelled your scent.” Starfall looked away, embarrassed. “Told you its stupid…”
 
Starburst, who knew the reason behind that, didn’t reply at once. “Well… it’s not stupid…” she said slowly. Starburst vaguely recalled that she didn’t want to ever bring this up, but, given their current position… “Remember how I said that my mom bumped into yours many years ago?”
 
Starfall glanced at her, frowning. “Yeah?”
 
“Well, that’s not all…” she continued. Suddenly, despite that a moment ago she was cold - and that her wing was wrapped around even colder Starfall - she felt really hot. “She also… invited your mom for a tea. She brought you, and they left you with me and a nanny while they talked.”
 
If Starfall’s eyes could get any wider, they would probably fall out. “W-wait… seriously?” he asked, bewildered.
 
Nodding uncomfortably, Starburst replied: “Yeah… and that’s not all. We also, sorta… escaped the nanny and... wrecked half of the Canterlot Castle.”
 
His jaw dropped. It literally hit the ground. Starburst offered a weak and an embarrassed smile, but, as she kind of expected, it wasn’t needed. It didn’t take Starfall long to throw his head back and start laughing.
 
“I don’t believe this…” he managed to say in paused in between waves of laughter. “We wrecked half of the castle?! But… oh, sweet Celestia, that’s just too rich…”
 
Though some of his good humor affected Starburst and she smiled, she waited for him to finish laughing. When he had, she said: “So yeah, that’s why you feel like that. I myself had also some short flashbacks from that day since my mom told me about it. And heck, I think I got my pet albino ferret because it reminded me of your eyes.”
 
“Could also explain why I felt so happy while fighting you,” Starfall said, smiling and turning a bit more towards her. “It wasn’t because you are my rival… you were my foalhood friend.”
 
Starburst blushed. “Well,” she said, playfully punching him, “I’ve still beaten you.”
 
“Of course you have… my Nemesis,” Starfall said, sticking his tongue. Starburst smirked hearing the title - she liked it. She returned her attention back to him when she heard him say: “Still, it’s a bit unbelievable… I mean, that we would meet again after all those years...”
 
“Yeah,” Starburst agreed, smiling. “If Mom hadn’t showed me that picture, I probably wouldn't have believed her.”
 
Starfall’s ears perked. “What picture?”
 
“Oh…” Starburst stuttered briefly, still slightly embarrassed of that part, but continued nonetheless. “My mom has a picture… of the two of us sleeping together as babies.”
 
Once again, Starfall’s eyes became wide before he started to laugh. “You mean like now?” he asked as he laughed.
 
Starburst blinked… then giggled. She hadn’t even realized that the history had repeated herself. She tried to stifle her laughter while Starfall continued to express his amusement.
 
After a few moments, he had noticed that. “You know, you really should laugh a bit more,” he said, frowning. “You look much better with a smile on on your muzzle.”
 
Starburst stopped and looked at him sharply. “Oh, shut it,” she said, having heard enough of such comments from her friends.
 
Starfall looked her into eyes for a few seconds - long enough to make her a bit uncomfortable - before he grinned. Before Starburst could ask him why, he lifted his hoof and brushed the underside of her wing.
 
“Wha-” she managed to say before she burst into laughter. That wasn’t her most ticklish place, but it still caused her to giggle maniacally. “S-stop it!” she tried to say as she rolled away.
 
He didn’t let her get far. He quickly stood up and stopped her from moving further away. “Make me,” he said playfully as his forehoof brushed her in a few strategic points, such as joints and chin. Starburst, who couldn’t stop laughing, tried to push him away. She wasn’t very successful, but at least Starfall hadn’t found her weakest point-
 
His hoof scratched behind her ear.
 
All her muscles went rigid as instead of… ticklishness she felt pleasure. She loved the feeling of having her ears scratched, although aside from Snow she hadn’t let anypony do that in years. A blush covered her cheeks as she tried to push Starfall’s hoof away.
 
“Hey, is something wrong?” he asked, probably concerned that she had stopped giggling.
 
Now’s my chance!
 
In a blink of an eye, Starburst used one of the moves she looked up from the royal guards. She grabbed Starfall and rolled around so that she would be on top while he was lying on the ground. She smiled viciously at the surprised Starfall.
 
“Payback time,” she told him.
 
Unlike Starfall, she had hooves and wings to do the tickling. Though Starfall put up a valiant fight, trying to tickle her back, he had no chance, and it didn’t take him long to beg her to stop throughout the laughter.
 
Starburst continued her torture for a few more seconds before she stopped. She straightened as she stood above Starfall, breathing heavily. “What do you say now?” she asked, panting.
 
The colt, who was also out of breath, looked up and blinked. He smiled and said: “You have a beautiful smile.”
 
His comment made Starburst blush. She tried to back away-
 
“Also, I like to have the last laugh.”
 
His tail brushed her leg. Surprised, she jerked that leg, causing her to lose her balance and fall down… right on Starfall’s chest.
 
Her nose landed directly on his.
 
Now she was the one that was tense. Starburst was afraid to move, fearing that a wrong move could make her fall down a bit lower. As such, she stayed as she was, feeling Starfall’s breath on her muzzle. “W-weren’t you afraid of being touched?” she asked nervously, remembering the issue he had just a few minutes ago.
 
“I still am,” he murmured in reply; Starburst noticed that he wasn’t exactly comfortable in this position. Apparently, he hadn’t thought that she would fall on him like that. There was even blush covering his cheeks. “Though… I don’t seem to mind it much from you…”
 
They stayed like that for some time, staring into each other eyes, each afraid to move. Starburst began to wonder if she would risk flying with her head aching as it did, when a new thought entered her mind:
 
Kiss him, said a voice in her head… which sounded a lot like Annie.
 
Of course, Starburst knew that wasn’t the case. Even if Annie had somehow learned a telepathic spell in the last few hours, she was in no condition to cast it. It was just her mind playing a trick on her. Thinking of Annie, however, had an unexpected consequence of recalling what was the last thing she heard the blind unicorn try to tell her:
 
Lay a big, wet, sloppy kiss on him.
 
She was certain that if earlier Starfall hadn’t noticed that she was blushing, he must have now. She was positive she was glowing with red.
 
“S-star…” she said, not sure what she wanted to tell him, but she was saved the trouble.
 
A lightning bolt shot just outside, causing both of them to jump into the air and hug in fear as the thunder roared practically next to them. They stared outside of the cave, shocked, while their eyes and ears slowly recovered.
 
After a few seconds, both of them, Starburst and Starfall, turned their heads to look at each other… and they both just burst with laughter. They laughed as they fell down on the ground to return under the ‘blanket’, despite not knowing what they were exactly laughing about.
 
As the laughs slowly died out, Starburst hugged him a bit tighter, and immediately lost her humor. She could feel his scarred back under her hooves. Her wing, which she had again wrapped around him, brushed the burned off skin on his flank. With her muzzle, which was pressed against his neck, she could feel the burns left by chains.
 
Hugging him even tighter, she whispered a few words quietly. “What?” Starfall, whose laughter had only began to tone down, asked her.
 
“I won’t let anypony harm you again,” Starburst repeated louder, “I swear, I won’t.”
 
Her head was still under his chin, so she couldn’t see his expression. However, after a second or two she heard him chuckle warmly. “That’s a huge promise to keep. Kinda seems not fair to not give anything in return… How about this: you’ll protect me, and I’ll keep you smiling?”
 
Starburst giggled, “Deal.”
 





 
She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, talking about some random stuff while it rained outside. At some point she had fallen asleep, causing everything to sort of blend together. Her dreams weren’t that much different from reality; she was with Starfall, play-fighting or laughing at something. Starburst had realized with a surprise that it felt surprisingly right, as if that was how things were supposed to be.
 
However, all dreams must end sometime. Hers ended when a light prodding woke her up from her slumber.
 
“Mmm…” she muttered, her eyes still closed. Normally, she woke up early, but she felt really exhausted by the previous day. “Five more minutes…”
 
“Star?”
 
Starburst’s eyes shot open. That was not Starfall’s voice.
 
“MOM!” she quickly shouted in fear, jumping right up and standing to meet her mother at eye-level. Well, mostly. Indeed, before her stood the lavender alicorn, with several others - Uncle Spike, Princess Luna, and some guards - behind her. “I can explain…” she started, glancing at the sleeping colt beside her.
 
Except he wasn’t there.
 
As Starburst stared dumbfounded at the spot, barely noticing the cloak that slid away from her, she felt her mother hug her gently. Princess Twilight bombarded her with tons of questions all at once, but Starburst heard them as if through water.
 
She stared at the spot of where her friend was. A friend that didn’t even said goodbye before he left.
> The Stars Align
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“STAAAAR!”

Starburst shook her head, startled, and noticed the blue-gray hoof waving frantically right before her face.

“What do you want, Candy?” she asked, pushing the hoof away angrily; the earth pony mare had yelled right into her ear.

They were at Sweet Apple Acres, though when Candy had exactly arrived escaped Starburst’s notice. She herself had come here for the usual reason: working out. Almost as soon as school was over, Starburst, taking advantage of the fact that the pink-maned menace had to help her mom at home with something, had flown straight here. Today she’s been strengthening her hind legs by bucking the trees, then she would pull all the apples she’d gathered on a cart back to the barn.

At least, that was the plan. Starburst had a strange feeling that now it would change.

Candy took a step back and looked at her with pretense, “Well, for one thing: to get your attention. I’ve been standing here for a while now.”

Starburst did her best to not look her in the eye. “I was concentrating on working out,” she said, bucking the tree again.

“Yeah, I noticed. That’s another thing.” Candy pointed at something behind Starburst. “I think you got them all about ten kicks ago.”

Starburst followed her hoof and frowned. Indeed, all the baskets she had laid down under the tree were full, and there were also plenty of apples on the ground around them. She looked up at the tree if she had really took them all. “Huh, didn’t notice,” Starburst said, trying to sound casual, as she began picking up the apples that landed on the ground and putting them into the baskets.

“Mhm…” Candy mused, and was giving her a look that told her plainly that she didn’t believe her. After a second, she sighed: “Star, what’s wrong?”

Starburst stifled a growl. “Nothing is wrong,” she said through clenched teeth.

She didn’t want to talk about this. She didn’t know how to talk about this. Starburst herself had no idea what it was that was bothering her, how was she supposed to talk to anypony about this constant… feeling as if she needed to punch somepony, but at the same time... Starburst wanted to curl up in bed and just lay in it.

Doing her best to avoid looking at Candy, she began to carry the full baskets to the cart. Starburst hoped that the earth pony would take the clue and leave her alone. Of course, as the years of experience knowing her were telling Starburst, that wasn’t going to happen.

“C’moooon Star, something is obviously wrong!” Candy continued to pester her. She followed after her. “You’ve been all mopey ever since your mom and others brought you back from the forest. What happened there?”

Starburst, ignoring her, flew above the cart to put the harness on.

The earth pony mare trotted over to stand by her. She looked at her with worry. “Star, c’mon… it’s been six days. Can’t you tell me what’s wrong?”

Six days… Starburst repeated, grinding her teeth as she began to pull the cart.





Starburst could barely notice what was happening around her after she had woken up. She was vaguely aware of being teleported back to her room, where Nurse Redheart - also brought in by her mother’s teleportation, if Starburst knew her - quickly examined her for any injuries.

“She’s medically fine, Your Highness,” Starburst heard her assure Princess Twilight. “The swollen bruise on her head is nothing serious… though seeing how she is in shock, the impact might have caused a concussion, but-”

“I’m not in shock.”

Those were the first words she had spoken since she had realized that Starfall left. Starburst didn’t need to see the other two ponies to know that both of them were startled. Her mom however must have quickly recovered, because she heard her say: “Thank you Nurse Redheart, this will be all.”

The nurse told her that it was her pleasure while Princess Twilight apologized for bringing her in such a manner (and thus confirming Starburst’s guess) and sending her back. Starburst, however, wasn’t paying attention. Her eyes were glued to a little thing that Nurse Redheart had placed on her bedside table.

Starfall’s bandanna.

He left it with her, along with the cloak that she clenched tighter around herself… he left her and didn’t even say goodbye…

She dimly noticed that her mom walked over and sat next to her.

“Star, look at me.”

With great difficulty Starburst turned her gaze away from the bandanna to look into the violet eyes of her mother, the same as hers. Everything about them spoke of worry and concern.

Twilight continued to stare into her daughter's eyes for a little longer before she asked the question Starburst had expected. “Star, what happened in there?”

Starburst’s eyes fell down. How was she supposed to tell her mom about everything that had transpired? That Starfall’s mom was dead alone would be hard enough for her to say, but all the rest… the enslavement, the torture, the… the…

A hoof touched her cheek. “Star, I need you to tell me,” her mom said very gently. “If we are to find Star-”

“You won’t.” Starburst cut her in mid-sentence.

“What?” Twilight, taken aback, inquired.

“You won’t find Starfall unless he will want to,” Starburst elaborated. Her eyes returned to the bandanna on their own accord. “And he will certainly not want any royal guard around him after what happened yesterday.”

She wasn’t certain that Starfall hadn’t yet regained the control over his magic. If he had, it would explain how was he able to disappear seemingly just before Mom and the others found her. However, she was certain that even with his magic to give him confidence he would need a few days to be fully back to his old self.

“You mean after you made him unable to use magic,” her mom stated warmly. Starburst, who noticed the shift in her tone, looked up.

Her mom was smiling with pride at her.

“That was a really clever plan.”

Her mom had just praised her for making Starfall’s worst fear imaginable alive. Being helpless.

She nearly broke down then. Only her aversion to cry in front of her mother stopped Starburst from starting to wail again. Her hooves shook under her as her eyes began to well up. She started convulsing as her mom, alarmed, took her into her forelegs and began asking what was wrong.

“N-nothing…” Starburst managed to lie, feelings as if she was going vomit. Her breathing became irregular; was this how Starfall had felt? “J-just… mom, he saved my life,” she confessed, looking into her mother’s eyes. “A rock hit me in the head and I fell into a river unconscious. He dragged me out of it and… gave me CPR… and then carried me to that cave where you found me. Can you… can you give him a pardon for his crimes?” Starburst pleaded, her voice trembling. “Please… he didn’t mean to hurt Dad, he was just defending himself, I promise… please...”

Twilight’s eyes widened as she spoke, both due to shock as to how close she had been to losing her daughter, as well as due to confusion at her behaviour. “Of course, Starburst,” she said gently, delicately brushing her head. “I’m surprised that this means this much to you, though.”

There was a certain note in her mom’s voice as she had said that, a note that made Starburst somewhat calm down and focus. Twilight was looking at her with a funny expression… “Oh Celestia, you talked with Annie and Candy,” Starburst realized, burying her face in hooves.

“I’ve talked with all your friends briefly when Princess Luna organized search party,” her mom admitted, sounding amused. “Forgive me Starburst, but when Annie said that they ‘were forced to leave those two loverbirds behind’, I just had to inquire what she meant.” Twilight paused before she continued, her voice, though still gentle, becoming more serious. “Starburst, what happened between the two of you in that cave?”

“Nothing of that sort!” she quickly assured her mother, blushing. “But… what happened there?” Starburst chuckled sadly. “Mom… I think that in that cave I saw the most miserable pony there ever was.”





She didn’t tell her everything. Starburst couldn’t bring herself to describe what Starfall had been through while under “Master’s” control. Nor could she tell her mother just what exactly happened to the real Ripper the Jackal, even though Twilight must have figured it out.

Her mom had been deeply saddened to hear about Starfall’s mom. When Starburst told her what had happened to her, she hugged her daughter tightly, and the pegasus was certain that Twilight uttered a few tears.

Of what had happened to Starfall afterwards, she only had said that he was scared and ran away and ended up in a very bad company. How his life was hell for four years. She refused to tell her mother anything more, but Twilight hadn’t persisted. What she heard was enough. The very next day, the unicorn known as Starfall had been officially pardoned for all the crimes he had committed against Equestria, both known and unknown to the crown.

In Trottingham, an investigation had begun. The case of “Ripper the Jackal” had been reopened. Officially, there was some new evidence that caused the crown to doubt official version of the events that led to death of the royal guard Feathery Apron.

Unofficially, there was already dynamite under Feathery Apron’s statue, ready to blow it up.

As for Starburst, she spent the rest of the day laying in her bed, resting. When her friends came to see here, she had to excuse herself. Starburst didn’t feel strong enough to be with them, knowing that they would bombard her with questions. She had also known for certain that Annie and Candy would not be able to not joke about her and Starfall.

She wasn’t sure how she would have reacted if they were to say anything about bondage or whips.

Thankfully, her friends understood, so that day Starburst had to deal only with her family. Much to her joy, her father had made a complete recovery by the end of the day. Starburst recalled how much she had been looking forward to telling him that she had beaten the one who hospitalized him. Now, after she had done so, though…

That happened six days ago. Since then, Starburst had seen her friends multiple times. However, whenever they tried to ask her about what had happened in the forest, she gave them evasive answers. Not only because she didn’t want to talk about Starfall’s past, but also that she really, really didn’t want them to know that they were in the same cave, which would lead them to figure out that they slept together. And… every time she thought about how Starfall had left her, she felt a weird gnawing sensation in her chest.

Even when she wasn’t thinking about it, Starburst found her thoughts wandering around the subject. She would often caught herself staring at something and not hearing what her friends were saying to her until they shook her or something. Her exercises hadn’t suffered, thankfully, she was still breaking a sweat. Unfortunately, what Candy just saw wasn’t a sole instance.

Returning to the present moment with her thoughts, Starburst turned to Candy. “I already said, I am not speaking of what happened there,” she told her while pulling the cart. She felt her muscles protest as she exerted them. It felt good.

“But something has obviously been bugging you ever since you came back,” Candy didn’t let go. “C’mon Star, friends are supposed to tell each other everything. Why won’t you let us help you?”

“I don’t need help, I’m perfectly fine,” Starburst retorted, beginning to get annoyed. “Why don’t you go make out with Del or something? He’s at the north orchard,” she said, hoping the other mare would get the hint and leave her alone.

Not such luck. Candy, though blushing at the mention of Del and making out, waved off her words. “Nah, I already did that. And don’t say you’re perfectly fine!” she added accusingly. “I have a proof that you are not, quote, ‘fine’, unquote!”

“What are you talking about?” Starburst asked, confused.

“I heard that you had skipped supper yesterday. And the day before.”

There was only one explanation how Candy could know that. Apparently, Nighty shared some gossip with her sisters. That little… Starburst thought angrily.

“That doesn’t prove anything,” she said out-loud as the barn came into her view. “Maybe I am just on a diet.”

She fought down the urge to strangle something at the sound of the snort of disbelief Candy had uttered.

“Why won’t you just admit that something is wrong with you?” she asked as they swiftly crossed the distance between them and the barn. “This will be much easier for you if you would.”

“What would be much easier?” Starburst asked with disinterest as she pushed open the doors to the barn… and stared with wide eyes at what she saw inside. “Please tell me I passed out and I’m in a delusional coma.”

“Nope!” Candy called from behind her cheerfully.

Starburst sighed as she pulled the cart inside. In the barn was… everypony. 'Everypony' consisted of Annie, T, Claire, June, Del, Prism, Whirlwind, Nidra, and even Illusion. Starburst eyes briefly rested at the half-draconequus, who stood next to Claire. Since they were inside of the barn, safe from prying eyes, he was in his true shape (that of a white stallion with black mane and fur around his chest with a red reptilian-like tail) instead of his earth pony disguise.

There was one more thing worth catching attention in the barn. A big white banner, hung by the walls, that bore a single word: INTERVENTION.

“What the hell do you guys want?” she greeted them as she led the cart to the side of the barn.

“Charming as always,” she heard Illusion chuckle as others either sighed or scowled.

“Well, dear,” Claire began, but Starburst quickly interrupted her.

“Before you start, let me say that when I find out who’s the brain behind all of this, their corpse will never be identified as a corpse.”

“It’s Princey!” Prism quickly said, while at the same time Illusion said: “It’s Prism!”

They both glared at each other, Illusion with amused smirk while Prims with annoyance. Claire, on the other hoof, glared angrily at both of them, before she turned back to Starburst.

“As I was saying… to put it simply, we are worried about you.”

“I. Am. Fine,” Starburst said, barely containing her anger. She released herself from the harness and began to trot towards her saddlebags that she left there when she arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. It was clear that she wasn’t going to train today anymore. “Would you guys drop it?”

“We might if ya would admit that ya’re not ‘fine’,” June retorted. “Ya’ve been mopin’ around ever since that night.”

“And it’s a no brainer that this has something to do with that little dipshit,” Prism added. Starburst bristled. “I swear, if he as much as touched you, I will hunt him down as kick his sorry ass sol-”

“You will do no such thing!” Starburst shouted without thinking, turning around to glare at the pegasus… only to see him, and everypony else, grin.

“Well, darling,” Claire said with a triumphant expression, “you certainly seem protective of Starfall.”

Starburst groaned and turned back to her saddlebags. She reached out to her head and untied her lucky ribbon that she used to keep her bangs out of her eyes while training.

“Which seems rather odd,” Claire continued. “A couple of days ago you wanted nothing more than apprehend him. He had hospitalized you father and nearly blew up your brother. Now he somehow got a royal pardon for everything and you, dear, are jumping into his defense. Forgive us, Starburst, but taking all that into account we’re… worried. Just what could have happened between the two of you?”

“Yeah, give us the juicy bits!” Starburst heard Annie add as she hid her ribbon into her bag.

“Oh, for the… NOTHING happened in that cave!” she shouted. Why did her friends have to-

“What cave?” Nidra asked, raising an eyebrow.

Starburst eyes widened as she realized just what she had said. She groaned again as she buried her face into her hooves. “Hate you. Hate you all,” she murmured while her friends shared a laugh.

“Come now, Star, just tell us what happened,” Nidra said, her wing idly brushing Prism back.

Starburst recalled hearing from Annie that those two started dating, and oddly, she found herself caring about it even less than about Candy and Del. Same couldn’t be said about Whirlwind, though, if the quick glance she just gave the two was of any indication.

“Now we know that the two of you were in a ‘cave’,” Nidra continued, smirking. “Will we hear next that the two of you kissed?”

“No, because that didn’t happen!” Starburst snapped.

Well, it almost did…

“Was that…” Annie spoke up, pulling her away from her thoughts before she could really process the unexpected thought. The blind pony had her head slightly turned to the side and her ear was perked up. “a regret I heard?”

Starburst glared at her with such intensity that she was sure Annie must have felt it. However, instead of amused or scared expression, the blind pony looked at her with worry and compassion.

“Star, admit it,” Claire took over the conversation. “Something had happened between the two of you there, and now you have a broken heart.”

“WHAT?!” Starburst exclaimed in shock. “That’s about the stupidest thing you said so far!”

“Really?” Claire asked, raising an eyebrow. “Then why won’t you tell us what did happen?”

“Because if I did, you would start looking for a ‘deeper meaning’,” Starburst snorted.

“And why have you been moping ever since then?” Claire continued, ignoring her. “Not talking to anypony, lack of eating (only small in this case, but this is you after all), lack of focus… I don’t think I saw you smile once in the last few days...”

Starburst rolled her eyes and turned away while Candy added: “Not that she smiles often anyway.”

“I’ll say.”

Her entire body went rigid. This voice…

“You really need to start smiling more, my Nemesis.”

“Star!” Starburst exclaimed happily, raising into the air and turning around.

Her ears hadn’t failed her. Starfall was really there! He half-laid at the edge of the loft, with his back and head supported against one of the pillars. Starfall was turned to her and everypony else with his right side, giving them all a clear sight on his burned-off flank. His hooves were placed casually behind his head, and his long tail hang over the edge.

But Starburst wasn't looking on any of that. Her eyes laid on his beautiful ruby ones, and on the smile that his face bore.

He closed his eyes and waved his hoof after she called his name. “Hi!” he greeted her as she flew towards him. “How you’ve been?”

The casual greeting, as if nothing had happened, took Starburst aback. She stopped before him in the air, stunned, and her happiness at seeing him quickly gave wave to annoyance. “‘Hi’?” she asked, crossing her forelegs. “That’s all you have to say?”

Starfall blinked in surprise, but as he opened his mouth to reply, the voice of Nidra sounded from below: “And she said that we were wrong.”

Only then did Starburst remember that there were others with them. She realized that they had just seen how she reacted to Starfall’s presence. However, instead of embarrassment, she felt pissed. “One obnoxiously annoying conversation at the time!” she snapped at them all before she turned back to Starfall. “Well?”

“Well… ‘what’?” he asked her, titling his head.

“Uw, bad move,” Illusion commented from below.

“I was under the impression that we became friends!” Starburst hissed, ignoring the fact that her friends were commenting over this conversation.

Starfall, much to her annoyance, rolled his eyes. “I hadn’t had a real friend in over five years, Star. You’ve got to be more specific if you want me to figure out what I did wrong.”

“Friends don’t leave without saying a word after they had nearly suffered a hypothermia, you idiot!” she shouted. “I was w- wait,” she paused, taking a step back (figuratively, she was still in the air). “Five years ago? But weren’t you, um-”

Thankfully, she didn’t have to finish that sentence. Starfall interrupted her with a smirk: “What, thought a kid couldn’t make a friend there?” He quickly grew more serious, though. “And as for me leaving, I panicked! I left the cave at morning to stretch my legs, and I saw your mother, Princess Luna, the dragon and the guards approach. My mind conjured up a bunch of disturbing images as to what they would do to me if they would find me with you bandaged and seemingly unconscious… so I bolted,” he finished, smiling awkwardly.

Starburst continued to glare at him while she processed that. Well, that does seem excusable, I suppose, she thought, but before she could pass her judgement, somepony commented from below: “Wooow, how brave.”

Both her and Starfall glared at the mocking Prism. “Why, hello Damsel, good to see you’re in good shape,” Starfall retorted, his eyes narrowing as he regarded the pegasus. “Haven’t dropped the ball yet?”

Prism expression immediately darkened at the remark. A few (his new marefriend included) tried to stifle their giggles as they caught the meaning behind Starfall’s joke. Illusion, on the other hoof, uttered a laugh and turned to Claire: “I think I like him.”

“Wait, I don’t know this one,” Starfall observed, pointing at Illusion. “Who are you?”

Illusion blinked in surprise. “I’m Prince Illusion, son of Princess Celestia and Discord. I’ve thought I’m rather recognizable,” he added, explaining his surprise.

“Eh, I’ve got bad memory with pictures I see on the newspapers,” Starfall replied nonchalantly, waving a hoof. The next second, though, his eyes snapped wide. “Wait! You said Discord!? The draconequus?”

“Eee… yes?” Illusion replied, lifting an eyebrow.

Starburst too looked at Starfall with surprise. For the first time he seemed… plainly nervous. Not afraid - she had seen him afraid - but just nervous. “You wouldn’t happen to know anybody by the name Eris, wouldn’t you?” he asked Illusion, brushing the back of his head.

“No, why?”

“No reason,” Starfall immediately replied, turning back to Starburst. He was visibly relieved. “Sorry about leaving like that,” he quickly said before she get a chance to question him. “Also, it’s great to see you again. Now!” Starfall clasped his hoofs. “On to the second of the three things I came here for!”

“Wha-” Starburst began, but he silenced her with a wink.

He took a deep breath, and spoke: “I would like to apologize to all of you for acting so assholishly in our previous encounters.”

That managed to surprise Starburst. She quickly glanced at her friends to see that they were even more taken aback than her.

“I shouldn’t have stolen,” Starfall began to count, gazing up, “I shouldn’t have made fun of you, I shouldn’t have offended you, be it intentionally or unintentionally, harmed you physically, I shouldn’t have hospitalized your family members, and generally be a jerk I suppose,” he said, looking away.

At first, Starburst was about to point out to him that his facial expressions suggest that he didn’t mean this apology honestly. However, she quickly remembered that this was a relationally scarred pony with a lot of issues, so apologies must have come really hard for him.

Her friends, though, weren’t so unforgiving. “Hardly seems ya’ve ment those apologizes,” June noted, frowning.

Starburst briefly recalled how pissed of the older mare was at something Starfall’s water duplicate had said. What was it…

“Well, I meant them,” Starfall’s voice snapped her out of her reverie. “Excuse me if it didn’t seem such, but the last time I apologized for something honestly was about ten years ago. And, since it went along the lines of: ‘I’m sorry I ate cookies before dinner, Mom’, I doubt that I actually was honest. Plus,” he added, pointing over his back, “I have this unexplained fear that if I do something wrong I’m gonna get whipped. So, I try to never think I did something wrong, so I never feel the need to apologize for something.”

“Odd,” came Annie’s amused comment from below. “I would have thought that whipping would be amongst yours and Starburst favorite pastimes.”

While her friends shared an amused chuckle, Starburst gasped and looked at Annie with eyes wide open. She could not believe that out of all jokes she could possibly say the blind pony had to pick that one.

Her friends, who noticed her reaction, stopped laughing, but she didn’t care. She turned to Starfall, worried how he was going to react. While doing so, it just hit her that from their angle, her friends could not see the chain burns around his neck, let along the scars on his back. However, all her worries evaporated once she noticed the expression on Starfall’s face.

The blue unicorn, although at first he looked at Annie with eyes wide in surprise, had now a very wide smile on his face. “Oh, this is going to be rich,” he chuckled, sounding almost cliché evil-like. He turned to her, still smiling. “You haven’t told them, I take?”

“How was I supposed to tell them something like this?!” Starburst exclaimed, throwing her forelegs. “I have enough of a problem thinking about it!”

“Wait, hang on dear,” Claire interrupted them. She was looking at them with confusion, probably having realized that whatever they were talking about wasn’t a joking matter. “Tell us about what?”

Starburst opened her mouth, but Starfall had quickly replied: “That I was enslaved, beaten, chained, whipped, abused, and forced to perform for the amusement and profit of others for nearly a third of my life,” he said almost nonchalantly.

She looked at him with disbelief that he had just blurted all that, then quickly glanced at her friends. Everypony was stunned and still trying to process what they heard. Surprisingly, Prism was the first one to recover. “You’re bluff-” he began to say, but a flash of light from beside Starburst interrupted him.

Starfall had used a teleportation spell to appear right in front of her friends.

“Ta-daa!” he exclaimed cheerfully, standing up on a hind leg and doing a pirouette, giving all of them a good look on his scarred back.

As her friends all began to gasp in shock and horror (and Annie had asked T what just happened), Starburst flew to Starfall. “What was that?” she hissed to his ear.

“Well, they would notice my appearance sooner or later,” he replied, raising a hoof to cover his mouth. “I hoped that revealing this in a comical manner would let me avoid having the repeat of your reaction.”

“‘Comical manner’?!” Starburst blurted loudly. “There’s nothing funny about this!”

“Well, their shock was amusing,” Starfall disagreed, smirking. “Also, this happened to me, so I am allowed to laugh. It’s called a coping mechanism, deal with it.”

Starburst groaned and was about to chasten him again, but as she looked at him, she saw one aspect of his appearance that so far had evaded her eyes.

His cutie mark.

Although the one on his right flank was lost forever, Starfall retained the other. It was just like Starburst’s mother had guessed: it bore all the colors of the rainbow, intervening with each other that it was hard to tell where one color ended and where the other began. It was even harder to tell when Starfall moved; it looked then as if the colors moved, too. And it’s shape… Starfall’s cutie mark appeared as a bunch of stars, falling, with two bigger than others, on the crescent moon.

Together, they looked like a smiling face.

Some part of her mind was thankfully aware that her friends were still watching them. She tore her eyes away from Starfall’s cutie mark and managed to say: “Nice cutie mark.”

She hoped she didn’t blush.

Starfall smiled warmly, without any hint of smirk whatsoever. “Thanks,” he said, before looking away.

Starburst blinked. For a second, she could have sworn that she saw Starfall blush…

“Oi, no crying!”

She shook her head, certain that she had imagined that. She concentrated on Starfall, who was pointing at Annie. The blind pony had just finished hearing T’s description (said in a shaking voice) of Starfall’s back. There were signs of tears in her eyes.

And she isn’t the only one, Starburst noticed, taking a look at her friends.

Candy also had tears ready to burst out of her eyes. The other mares all had their mouths covered while they looked in horror, while guys just stared with wide eyes at him

“I get it, you’re sorry about that comment earlier,” he continued, “now stop with the tears.”

“B-but…” Annie tried to say, her voice breaking as she had realized what she had said earlier.

“No ‘buts’. I hate seeing ponies cry,” he whined, dropping his stern tone. “If you start crying, I will have no choice but to unleash the full array of magic tricks and jokes even I know to be over the top to make you stop, and I will have no energy left for tomorrow’s show. And you wouldn’t want that, would-”

“Wait, hold up!” Starburst interrupted him. She flew to stand between him and Annie. “What show?”

Starfall’s gaze briefly turned once more to Annie, who was trying to get a hold of herself. She noticed the slight, nervous frown on his face. He really hated seeing ponies cry. Starburst was surprised that he hadn’t started making a fool out of himself like he did when she started to cry, but she quickly understood why he hadn’t.

He was too nervous to try and do that... yet. Even with his ability to use magic back, Starfall was still afraid; probably always was. Just as Starburst had figured out in the cave, he hid his fear really well under the mask of confidence and jokester, but it was still there. Being around this many ponies, almost all of which had tried to harm him (including her, even if they were now friends) must be hard for him.

Starfall’s attention turned back to her and he smiled. “Why, the magic show I am throwing for Ponyville as my way of saying: ‘sorry I blow up your town a bit and stole from some of you’,” the unicorn said with a smirk. “I had discussed this with Mayor Mare a few minutes ago, she said it was a great idea. Of course,” he added, looking to the side and rolling his eyes, “the sight of a teenage colt with a back that you could play Xs and Os on could have affected her decision to let me do this…”

“Wait, you’re putting on a magic show in Ponyville?” Starburst asked to be certain, trying to not think how the old mayor must have felt like when she saw him.

“Yep!” he said cheerfully. “Tomorrow at nightfall, at the town’s square. Admission is free of charge, so all of you, feel free to drop by!”

“That’s not some sort of scheme, isn’t it?” Prism asked suspiciously, glaring at the colt.

Starfall replied with a glare of his own. “I do not plan to humiliate any of you, but I make no promises,” he said, narrowing his eyes on Prism.

“The admission is free of charge?” Starburst asked, not interested in the colt’s pissing contest, looking Starfall up and down.

“Yeah, it is an apology show.”

“Since you obviously stopped stealing for living,” she began; now that she took a better look at Starfall’s body as a whole, not just at the scarred or shining parts, it was clear that he hadn’t eaten properly in a while. He was thinner than the last time they saw each other, “I would have thought that you would try to make a living out of putting shows like this.”

“Yes, I stopped stealing, thanks for noticing. I heard that I had apparently gotten a royal pardon, and I figured that I would have to be an idiot to not change my life a bit. But… take money from ponies for showing them how much of an amazing god I am while making them happy?” he asked, confused. “Why would I do that?”

“Cause I can see your freaking ribs, idiot!” Starburst shouted, pointing at his almost protruding rib. “Have you eaten anything since the ca-” as soon as she said it she facehoofed. “You haven’t eaten anything when we were in the cave, haven’t you?”

Please, tell me I am wrong...

“I figured that since unlike me you weren’t used to going on for days without food-”

She wasn’t.

“You were cold, exhausted, and on the edge of mental collapse, and hadn’t eaten a thing?! Are you a complete idiot?!” she shouted right at his face, advancing at him.

To his credit, Starfall seemed unfazed by her outburst, mostly. “I’ve eaten something since then, relax! I won some bits at a faire in Vanhoover at this ridiculously easy game... Long story short, I got enough to keep me fed for a while.”

She facehoofed again. “Please tell me you’re kidding…” she groaned. “You seriously plan to live on what you win in games?!”

“Phi, materialists,” he snorted, though he winked and stick his tongue at her. “Anyway, I need to go now, got to practice a bit.”

“Wait!” Starburst quickly shouted. She knew that he could be gone in an instant.

“Hope you guys will make it for the show!” he called out to her friends, though his eyes were on her. He winked one last time and vanished.

Starburst let out and irritated groan. Why do I have to be friends with such an annoying character?! He didn’t even give me a chance to give him his things back!

The sound of clearing throat came from behind her. Reluctantly, Starburst turned around to face Claire and the rest. “Are we to assume that your reluctance to talk about what had happened in the forest was due to Starfall’s…” the dragon-pony hybrid trailed off, looking for the right words.

“Past so disturbing that they could make a PG-16 movie about it?” Starburst hinted. “Pretty much.”

“It’s horrible,” Annie added. She was no longer on the verge of tears, but she was still saddened. “How could something like that happen to anypony?”

“It’s a long story, and I don’t even know the most of it,” Starburst said, shrugging. In her mind, she was already wondering if she should prepare Starfall’s bandanna and cloak to give him after the show…

“Still,” her ears perked up as she heard Annie say, “that doesn’t quite explain your behaviour.”

Starburst stared at her. “What are you-” she started, but she trailed off when she noticed the grin on her friend’s face… as well as everypony’s else, for that matter.

“You cheered right up once you heard his voice!” Candy said, jumping up.

“And then you proceeded to have conversation like an old couple,” Claire added, smirking.

Starburst facehoofed. She had a few minutes of peace… “Forget it, I don’t need to deal with this,” she said out-loud, flying over to her saddlebags and, before anypony could stop her, she quickly flew away towards her house.





With a loud sigh, Starburst slapped her head against her bed.

After she got back to her family’s house, she became immediately restless. A big part of her wanted to return to Sweet Apple Acres to continue her training, but her friends had infested that place. Now that they were convinced that there was something between her and Starfall they would not stop joking about it. Starburst knew them well enough to know that. Until she was certain that her friends had left the farm, she wasn’t going to go there.

As such, she spent the few hours until supper in her room, mostly brooding. Starburst tried doing some push-ups, but her heart wasn’t really into it. Not even her secret passion, dancing (a secret that she intended to keep hidden from her friends at all cost), had managed to take her mind off today’s events. She constantly found her thoughts returning to Starfall. She was happy to see him, she was glad that he had decided to change, and even came to apologize to her and her friends, but… Starburst couldn’t decide what it was, but something about the conversation they had just bothered her for some reason.

The supper did little to improve her mood. While their parents were, thankfully, out, and wouldn’t be back until late at night, Nighty had already heard about what happened in the barn. He joked about her and Starfall and her seemingly returned appetite, and conjuring up a connection between the two. Luckily for him, taking a step towards him had reminded him that pissing off Starburst when their parents were miles away was not the best idea, so he dropped the subject. Instead, Nighty asked her if she knew what sort of trick he was going to perform on the tomorrow’s magic show, which, by now, all the town talked about.

Starburst was very careful while talking about Starfall, not wanting to give her brother an opportunity to resume his stupid suggestions. She had enough of that from her friends. It seemed, though, that Nighty was much more interested in her description of all the magic spells and tricks she had seen Starfall perform so far.

That was several hours ago, though. Once Starburst had finished her supper - which took her a while, after all she had skipped some meals in the previous days - she went back to her room and tried to force herself to do anything. She managed to do her homework, and snuck in a few wing ups, but she found herself once again laying in her bed thinking about Starfall.

I didn’t even have a chance to give his stuff back to him, she thought, glancing at her drawer. Inside of it rested Starfall’s washed bandanna and cloak. She sighed. Maybe I’ll catch him before his show… it would probably for the best if I do, can’t imagine how what sort of panic he would cause if he would do it without them. Starburst snorted with amusement. Knowing him, there will be a lot of dramatic turns he will do during his performance-

Tack!

Alarmed, Starburst shoot upright and scanned her room for the strange noise. Where-

Tack! came again, and this time she managed to place its source.

It came from the window.

Her eyes widened as her mind began to wonder what was going on… until the very next second she facehoofed and smirked. There was only one explanation as to what might be causing it.

Tack!

Stifling a chuckle, Starburst rose from her bed and - thanking Celestia that he hadn’t come back when she was practicing her dancing moves - hastened to the window. She quickly opened it…

.. and had to immediately raise her hoof to catch the incoming pebble.

Before she could grasp the small rock in her hoof, it stopped in mid-air, surrounded by a multi-colored aura. “I see you’re quick as ever,” Starburst commented, looking the garden beyond her window.

“Same can be said about you,” Starfall commented from between the bushes, grinning.

Pleased with his comment, Starburst leaned over the window sill. “Most ponies use doors, you know.”

“Use the door and risk facing you parents? I may be throwing apologies left and right, but I don’t feel confident about approaching those that can easily capture me if I am not careful.”

“They wouldn’t try to do that, idiot. My mom was the one that had pardoned you,” she told him, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, did you want something?”

She had a fairly good idea as to what that something could be. He must have come for his things…

To her surprise, Starfall looked at her uncertainly before he asked: “Can we talk?”

“Um, sure,” Starburst replied, slightly taken aback. She took a step back and opened the window wider. “Come on in.”

With one swift jump Starfall landed in her room. Starburst closed the window, not wanting to risk some guard on a patrol noticing anything, as unlikely as that was. She turned back to her guest to see him looking around her room.

“I would have thought a princess would have a bigger room,” he commented, his voice bearing no sign of ill-meaning. “Like with a pool or something.”

“Why would I need a bigger room?” she asked, feeling oddly hot on her cheeks. She did not bother to add ‘and why I would need a pool in here’. “I have enough space. So what did you want to talk about?”

The unicorn turned to her. Once again a look of uncertainty adorned his face. “I… didn’t annoy you too much earlier?”

Her eyes grew wide. “I’m sorry... what?” she asked, confused.

“I...” Starfall started, rubbing the back of his head. He stopped and sighed. “I wanted to talk with you like a normal pony, like in the cave, but… I just got nervous with all your friends in there, and I sorta panicked… sorry...”

“Oh,” Starburst exclaimed. She was surprised that he was apologizing for it… though it did feel nice to know that he hadn’t plan to annoy her. “don’t worry about it. My friends had actually annoyed me far more than you had.”

“Really?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “I noticed that ‘intervention’ banner… what was that about?”

“Oh, um…” she stuttered. “W-well… I was sorta... sad and worried about how you left without saying goodbye and all, but I hadn’t told them anything, so they wanted me to explain what had happened.”

Despite what she thought - that he would be amused by it - Starfall once again looked at her apologetically. “Right, sorry… I didn’t think that would upset you so much.”

This is starting to get a bit annoying. He’s starting to sound like Annie’s mom.

“You know, you don’t really have to apologize all the time,” she said, frowning slightly.

He grimaced, and sighed again. “I haven’t had a friend in a long time,” he said, looking down at the floor. “I haven’t had anypony that I would care what they would think of me, so… I’m just not sure how to act.”

Starburst, not knowing what to say, just followed his gaze. She wished there was something she could do to help him…

“Well… stick around and you will find that out,” she finally said awkwardly. “I’m sure after tomorrow’s show you will grow on ponies here.”

“Thanks,” he smiled with gratitude. “Will you come to see it, too?”

“Are you kidding? Of course!” she immediately replied, smiling. “Even if I didn’t want to, I would still go, seeing how I won’t have anything to do…”

“What do you mean?”

“I usually spend my free time training physically, so that I could become a royal guard,” she told him, smiling with pride. However, she quickly lost her spark. “But with my friends apparently trying to ambush me, I think I should wait another day or two before I would go there again.”

“Oh…” Starfall hummed, and then smiled. “You know… I know of a secluded place that I think would be good for working out.”

“Really?!” she asked, becoming excited. “Where?!”

“A magician never reveals his secrets,” he replied, sticking his tongue. “But I have no problem showing them off. I can take you there on Saturday… if you want?” he added, oddly nervously.

Starburst didn’t pay his weird attitude any mind. A secluded place for her to train! Without anypony to preach to her about pushing yourself too hard! And without any friends trying to kidnap her to go hang out or make fun of her and Starfall being... together…

“Wait, are you asking me on a date!?” she exclaimed loudly, her eyes wide as plates.

“Um…” Starfall stammered, scratching his head. “Maybe?”

...

Starburst was speechless.

All this time Candy and Annie and the others joked about it, and he just… he just…

“I know what you are going to say,” he continued to speak while Starburst tried to reboot her mind. “No. I remember how you reacted all the time your friends alluded to something along those lines. I would still prefer if they weren’t so specified at the time, though. To make this situation right now even more ridiculous, I had reacted exactly like you. But… that was then, and now… you know how I am afraid of being touched by a pony,” he said, looking down again. 

“You… you are the first pony in years that doesn’t make me feel like that. Other than you, there were two others that I felt no fear… well, one, the other is sorta my stalker,” he chuckled before he looked at her seriously. “But there is more to you… I feel safe around you. I… I don’t remember how long it’s been since I just could lay and think ‘everything is great’. In that cave, when you slept - I have a bizarre sleeping pattern - I just… it hit me that I wasn’t afraid of anything at the moment. Maybe it was what you said, that you would protect me, or maybe because of what you said, that we once played together as foals, or… maybe it was just you? I… I like you. 

“Heck, I liked you already when we were fighting. I mean, I was scared of you and what you could do to me, but I liked your passion and your skills… and that we apparently had the same opinion on your friends’ sense of humor. But in that cave, when I listened to you breathing through sleep, lying so close to me without any fear, and thought about the two of us… I just thought that maybe we could possibly try to be more than just friends.

“Of course, I immediately found this ridiculous,” he quickly added. “You are a princess; I am - was, I mean - a thief, and outlaw. You are beautiful; I, without my cloak and bandanna, look short of being a Palasso’s painting. You are brave and serious; I live in constant fear that I try to hide with goofiness… I’m not sure even what my personality is, I can add that to the list of my problems,” he muttered, looking to the side. “I like joking around, so it is probably close to who I really am… but I figured that that isn’t exactly good enough to hope that you would just say ‘yes’ if I would ask you out. So I am trying to change a bit. That’s why I stopped stealing and I try to apologize to the town and your friends, but-”

As Starfall talked, Starburst was going over the idea of them going on a date in her head. And while he kept on naming many reasons why he asked her out, and why he felt like this shouldn’t work, she realized something: that while she was going over many weird emotions right now, there was only one problem that her mind saw.

How would her friends react?

Ashamed she even considered it and just it, while Starfall was going over many other issues, Starburst pressed her hoof against his lips, stopping his monologue. She looked into his eyes, feeling her cheeks blush, as she sighed and said: “If I lose it and kill my friends, will you help me hide the bodies?”

She took her hooves away. “Um…” Starfall stammered, raising an eyebrow. “is that a…?”

“W-well,” she stuttered. “I suppose it would be nice to go on a date… with you.”

Despite all her battle reflexes, honed over many hours of training, Starburst was surprised by the sudden hug she had suddenly found herself in… and even more so by the pair of lips pressed against hers.

Starfall was kissing her.

It felt… odd. It wasn’t a kiss like those in movies, sloppy with a lot of tongue being shoved into another’s mouth (meaning: like the one Annie had suggested). It was just a pair of lips, touching. And yet it felt… good. Like, really good. Starburst could feel goosebumps going all over her body, and she found herself wrapping her forelegs and wings around Starfall without even thinking about it.

When he pulled away, she did too. She breathed heavily and looked at him. “W-what the hell do you plan to do on the date?” she asked, vaguely aware that she was smiling.

“S-sorry, I got excited,” Starfall replied, lowering his head to touch her nose. “I promise, this will be the best date ever.”

Starburst looked into those gorgeous ruby eyes, not afraid at all of those narrow pupils. “I don’t doubt that. Just... be yourself. Even if you think you will do something that will annoy me… I kinda grown to like it,” she confessed, smiling.

Starfall smiled back. “I will try. As for what I plan to do on our date,” he added, letting go of her and pulling away, “I thought about helping you with your training. You know, target practice, sparring, wrestling…”

She raised an eyebrow and smirked. “You want to tickle me again, don’t you?”

He flushed and chuckled. “Well, how else could I win against you?” Looking deep into her eyes, he added tenderly: “My Beloved Nemesis…”

Whether it was in the name or in the way he said it, hearing those words stirred every fiber of Starburst’s being.

They stayed like that for a couple of more seconds, lost in each other eyes, before Starfall sighed. “I think I should be going now. I have to wake up tomorrow to prepare everything for the show.”

Shaking off the effect of whatever spell she was under, Starburst nodded. “Yeah, and I have school tomorrow.” She looked at him. There was something- “Where do you sleep?” she realized.

“Um…” Starfall, slightly confused, pondered a moment, “Around?” Starburst facehoofed. “You know, on trees and such, rooftops-”

“Alright, that’s it,” she said and pointed out with her hoof. “Get into bed.”

She was rewarded with a sight of a completely abashed magician. “I, um, a, w-wha-” he stammered, his cheeks becoming more red than blue.

Starburst - realizing now just how it sounded and was mentally bashing her head against the wall - explained. “We already slept together, so stop acting like that. I am not having you sleep on a tree or ground or whatever when I sleep in a comfortable bed. Please,” she added, looking at him, “just this one night.”

His embarrassment and confusion quickly melted away under her gaze. “How could I deny your wish, my Beloved Nemesis?”

As they lay together in bed, Starburst tried to not think about how Candy and Annie would have a field day with this… and it was surprisingly easy. She found little worry in her mind as they mimicked their position from the cave, with her muzzle buried against his neck and their forelegs wrapped around each other.

She breathed in the now-familiar scent, feeling better than she could ever remember feeling. “Star?” she called quietly, looking up.

“Hmm?” Starfall replied, moving his head down a bit to look at her.

“I’m really glad that I met you,” she said, blushing.

In reply, Starfall leaned closer and kissed her again. This time Starburst was prepared and she moved her lips closer for him, and even hummed a little.

“Not as much as I,” Starfall said once they again parted, brushing the side of her face gently.

Starburst giggled and returned to rest her muzzle against his neck. She was happy. Though she knew that starting with tomorrow she would feel repercussion from her decision, at that moment, Starburst didn’t care. She didn’t care about Annie, Candy, or any of her friends. Even her mom and dad didn’t matter at that moment.

She had found her Star.

TO BE CONTINUED