After Tirek released Twilight's friends, instead of letting Tirek steal all her alicorn magic, Twilight teleports her friends to a safe place and resumes her intense batle with Tirek...
After Tirek released Twilight's friends, instead of letting Tirek steal all her alicorn magic, Twilight teleports her friends to a safe place and resumes her intense battle with Tirek. They are nearly equal, but then Tirek steals the hidden power of a certain earth pony and becomes far more powerful than an enraged Twilight with the power of Celestia, Luna and Cadance...
Note: It's best if you watched MLP Seasons 1-6 and all the movies in between before you read this story, though it's not strictly necessary; you'll just be confused in some places otherwise
Edited and Revised by Fedairkid until Meanwhile...
I flew swiftly across the devastated landscape, using my enhanced magic beam to demolish the large rocks Tirek had raised. As soon as I had blasted my way through the last of them, I gathered all the magic sealed within me, accumulating it in one gigantic beam, while Tirek did the same. We released our attacks almost simultaneously, and our blasts of pure magical energy collided, a massive explosion following soon after and shattering the ground beneath us, wild magical currents running rampage across the entire battlefield for a brief moment. When the dust settled, I saw Tirek emerging from below a pile of debris and I walked up to him. He brushed the rocks off of himself and we glared intensely at each other for a few seconds.
Piercing the silence, Tirek spoke. "It appears we are at an impasse. How about a trade, Princess Twilight?" he snapped his fingers and my five best friends as well as Discord and Spike appeared out of thin air, all of them trapped within a magic bubble. "Their release, for all the alicorn magic in Equestria!" I gasped in shock as I looked up at my friends, their expressions miserable.
They all yelled at me, trying to convince me not to follow through with Tirek's offer. All but Discord, who sat silently with his eyes shut.
"What's it going to be, Princess?" Tirek asked, bearing a smug grin. I just continued to stare, horrified at my captured friends.
"Don't do it, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash yelled from her bubble.
"We aren't worth it," squeaked Fluttershy.
"Oh, but you are, Fluttershy," Discord said, his tone solemn. "You're the pony who taught me that friendship is magic. I had magic and friendship, and now, I don't have either."
"Enough!!" yelled Tirek as he slammed his massive hooves against the ground, causing slight tremors. "I want an answer, and I want it now!"
I looked to each of my friends and a sudden realization hit me. I could pretend I was giving up my magic, when really I would just teleport away the moment he released my friends. Although it was slightly risky, it did seem like the best option.
"I will give you my magic, in exchange for my friends." Everyone gasped as they looked at me with both horror and surprise.
"As you wish," Tirek said while smiling maliciously. He snapped his fingers and the bubbles my friends were trapped in popped, with the exception of the one containing Discord. He just continued to stay silent as Fluttershy looked up at him.
"ALL of my friends," I said while looking up at Discord.
"After the way he has betrayed you, you still call him a friend?" Tirek asked in disbelief, Discord looking shameful as Tirek pointed at him.
"Release him!" I commanded, my gaze unwavering.
"If that's what you want," Tirek snapped his fingers once again and Discord dropped down from his magic bubble.
"Thank you, Twilight," said Discord. He looked at Fluttershy, then said, "I'm sorry."
"I know," Fluttershy responded. She looked at the ground, her eyes starting to tear up.
"Your turn," Tirek said as black energy started to crawl along his two horns and an orb of fiery like magic grew between them. It was a good thing Tirek had released everyone by then, because I couldn't suppress my smile any longer. Confusion made itself very clearly visible on his face. Why would I smile in such a dire situation? Making use of the delay caused by my unexpected grin, I teleported myself behind him. He turned around, finally able to snap out of his confusion, but it was too late. All I heard was a loud “STO-,” before I teleported me and my friends out of harm’s way.
We emerged into a barren wasteland filled with nothing but sand, rocks, and a few trees. Under the cliff we stood on was a collection of houses that looked identical to each other, with the exception of one building on the far right. It was hard to see, but it looked like some ponies with somewhat suspicious looking smiles were trotting about.
"All of you, go to that village and hide until I defeat Tirek, you'll be safe there," I told my friends.
Pinkie Pie jumped out from the group and exclaimed, "Twilight, if you're going, then I'm coming with you! I can use my physics and fourth wall breaking power to help you!"
I looked at her for a few seconds with great confusion. Fourth wall? Just what in Equestria was that mare on about? I shook my head. It didn’t matter, there was no time for her nonsense, so I reminded her, "But...Tirek stole all your magic, so you won't be able to use any of that, right?" Pinkie Pie stared at me a while, and then started to laugh.
I was even more puzzled than before, until Pinkie said, "Oh, Twilight, Tirek can't just steal that power whenever he wants to, he may have stolen my regular magic, but no one can take my full hidden power away unless I tell them about it, and honestly, why would I ever do that?"
If I was honest with her, I would've told Pinkie I understood about 50% of what she just said, if not less. But I kind of got the gist of it- I thought -so I just said, "Ooookay then. Well, the rest of you, go hide in that small village, while Pinkie and I go back to fight, and hopefully defeat Tirek." Normally my friends would protest such a proposition. Something about us all being in this together, however, they all knew the immense gravity of this situation and decided to trust my judgement. After they turned to head for the village, Pinkie and me got enveloped in an aura of purple magic, and I proceeded to teleport us back to Tirek.
Once the bright energy from the teleportation had fizzled away into the warm, evening air, I turned to face Tirek and, hearing the sound of me and Pinkie arriving, he turned around to see where it had come from.
His eyes widened at seeing me, and after a second, his expression turned from confused, to surprised, to downright furious. He growled in anger and shouted, "PRINCESS TWILIGHT!!! YOU DECEPTIVE TRICKSTER!!!" the moment he finished speaking, the ground rumbled from Tirek's power, a bright yellow, orange and red aura surrounded his body and a huge ball of energy formed in between his horns, continuously growing in size.
I hesitated for a split second, the shock from his immense power temporarily stunning me into silence. The hesitation was only brief though, and soon I started to charge up the most powerful magical cannon blast I could. I pounded more and more magical energy into the compressed ball, and an aura of magic began to envelop me too.
Right when I was about to fire, Pinkie suddenly held her hoof out in front of me and said, "There's no need for any epic Dragon Ball Z beam struggles right now, I'll handle it."
I stared at her, dumbfounded at her bold statement (as well as her nonsense about ‘Dragon Ball Z’) and then replied, "Pinkie...I know you can do a lot of crazy things, but I don't think even you can handle Tirek's full power blast."
Pinkie shook her head and sighed. "You really underestimate my abilities, Twilight. Watch me." Although I was nervous about it, desperate times call for desperate measures, so I decided to let Pinkie handle it alone. I highly doubted she would succeed, but somehow, as Tirek shot out his intense magic beam, Pinkie managed to grab a glowing blue shield out of nowhere, and I mean literally out of nowhere, and blocked his attack with it. When the blast faded away into thin air, not even a dent was made on the magical shield, and Tirek, as well as me, looked at Pinkie in complete shock. "H-how did you do that?" Tirek stuttered.
Pinkie shrugged and answered, "Eh, I just wanted a defense strong enough to block your attack, so I got one." Tirek was not satisfied at all by this answer, but there was no use in dwelling on it.
"Even with your...interesting abilities, you won't be able to defeat me!" Tirek declared, then galloped towards me and Pinkie at a neck breaking speed.
As Tirek galloped towards us, I adopted an offensive posture and Pinkie stood up her two rear legs while raising her front legs level to her head, baring her teeth and growling all the while.
I rolled my eyes at the display and then released a quick magical blast at Tirek before he could reach us. He brushed the sudden attack off rather easily, but while he was distracted, Pinkie ran up to him at hypersonic speeds and then smacked a cupcake platter into his face, causing Tirek to yell in irritation. I had to stifle my giggle for a few seconds, but then swiftly went back to being serious.
In the time it took me to stop giggling, Pinkie managed to blast her party cannon at Tirek, attach some balloons to him, put a hat made out of cake on his head and cover his face in another tray of half a dozen cupcakes, all at a comically quick pace.
Tirek grew more and more frustrated as he shot out several powerful beams in Pinkie’s direction, but all of them failed to hit the hypersonic pony. Eventually, he decided to shoot out less powerful, but much faster beams, in order to have a chance to catch his target.
He conjured up an extra strong magical blast, and upon firing it he split it up into a dozen quick beams of yellow, orange and red light.
Tirek let loose a couple more of these barrages, and then stood still, smiling as he waited for one of the rays to meet their target. Pinkie looked surprised at first, but soon she happily exclaimed, "Ooh, fun!" In an instant, she got into motion, leaving behind a pink cloud shaped like herself. I saw her bobbing and weaving through the arcane attacks. Her speed could've outmatched Rainbow Dash, and momentarily it looked like she had split up into 5 versions of herself. Needless to say, with her incredible agility, she managed to evade every single beam without even breaking a sweat. Tirek’s anger spiked at the display, and he stomped towards Pinkie with indignation.
I ran towards him. "Don't forget about me, Tirek!!" I yelled, launching a powerful blast at him. Since I managed to blindside him, the attack knocked Tirek to the ground, and Pinkie dashed out of the way before the magic came anywhere close to her.
After the smoke from the blast cleared, Tirek was a bit scratched up, but no serious damage was inflicted upon him. Enraged by the sneak attack, he turned to answer it with a ray of his own.
I came up with an idea that would save my magic, and would make Tirek even more angry, if that was possible. All I would need to do was fly out of the way as soon as Tirek launched his beam, which would also make Tirek waste a bit of his power for no reason.
The plan worked flawlessly. I flew out of the way the moment he released his magic beam, and Tirek grew even more enraged and tired. I was thinking, This fight is going almost too well...The instant the thought crossed my mind, I regretted it.
Tirek had had enough, and decided to put this confrontation to a close. He glared at Pinkie, and suddenly, she was trapped in his magical grasp. She twisted and turned within her small magical prison, but to no avail.
I closed my eyes in horror as Tirek opened his mouth to take the magic of Equestria's last hope. But after a few seconds, I opened them again, the lack of Tirek's magic stealing noise leaving me curious. I turned back towards Pinkie and Tirek, and saw that Pinkie was smiling. Then I remembered something that Pinkie had said earlier...Tirek can't just steal that power whenever he wants to, he may have stolen my regular magic, but no one can take my full hidden power away unless I tell them about it...Now, I smiled, as this would frustrate Tirek even more, and increase our already surprisingly high chances of victory.
However, my newfound happiness vanished once Pinkie opened her mouth. "Ha! No pony can take my hidden magic away unless I tell them about it...Ah! Oops!" I stared at Pinkie. Completely dumbstruck by her revelation, it took me a good few seconds to speak again.
"Pinkie!! What are you thinking!?"
Tirek switched from extremely infuriated to wearing a wide, evil grin. He cackled, and then began to suck out all the hidden reserves of what might very well have been the most powerful creature in all of Equestria.
A massive outpour of thick, pink magic started gushing out of Pinkie's mouth, mixed in with tinges of chaos magic, remains of a guide to physics and fourth wall breaking (?), and many other colors. Her eyes adopted a rainbow hue and spiraled in a circular pattern, while the magic kept on gushing out. There was so much magic kept in Pinkie's hidden reserves, that the process went on for more than a minute.
While Tirek was distracted, I charged up a super powerful magical blast, and shot it out at him, but it just bounced off of an invisible magic shield that had appeared to protect Tirek during his absorption.
I kept assaulting his magical barrier, but it was useless. It just wouldn't budge. Eventually, I decided to summon forth a magical sword and slashed at the seemingly impenetrable barrier again and again, until Tirek had finally finished sucking out the last of Pinkie's magic, and his shield exploded outwards, sending me flying.
Pinkie collapsed on the ground and weakly muttered, "That wasn't fun..." I looked at Tirek, pure rage clouding my vision red, then flew back towards him at supersonic speeds.
"HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO MY FRIEND, YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!!!" just as I was about to slam into him, Tirek started to grow. And I mean like, growing 20x bigger in a few seconds kind of growing. If you haven't seen it, good. You don't want to. I mean, you really don't want to.
When his enormous growth spurt was done, he was so gigantic that his size was dozens of times bigger than that of an average tree, and he could probably have crushed me with his smallest claw, or maybe even with just its tip.
Before doing anything else, I made sure to teleport Pinkie to just outside the village, then went back to Tirek, who now had his arms raised triumphantly above his head, shooting huge magical blasts at the forest he was now towering above.
Staring at the 500 feet tall giant filled me with apprehension, knowing I would have to do battle with this enormous menace.
Truth be told, I knew I had approximately a 0% chance of beating Tirek. Still, I had to at least give it a shot, for if I didn't, Tirek would rule tyrannically over Equestria forever, and Princess Celestia, Luna and Cadance would be trapped in Tartarus for all eternity.
The gears in my brain started to roll and click as I struggled to think of a way to beat Tirek, since, when it came to raw magical power, the odds were definitely in Tirek’s favor. So if I just charged head on, I would get demolished. In my head, I mapped out all the ways I could go about this battle, coming up with solutions and immediately scratching them for sake of a better one that crossed my mind. Truth be told, none of them seemed promising, until I came up with a plan that would possibly allow me to succeed.
First order of business would be to place invisible runes all over the forest’s perimeter. If Tirek triggered one, the others would follow suit, resulting in massive explosions that was sure to make Tirek fall. Next, I would stop his fall with a magical trampoline, making sure to give it enough power to definitely send him flying. Afterwards, I would place more runes on the path of his trajectory and finally finish him off with a relentless onslaught of all the magic I’d have left in me, leaving just enough for an emergency teleport in case things went south. Actually setting up all those runes took a lot out of my magic reserves though, especially since I was planting the runes hastily. I also already set up the trampoline and cloaked it, since it was easy enough to predict which runes Tirek would step on first, and therefore where he would fall to. Running a few calculations through my mind quickly, I was able to predict his flight path and set up the remaining runes accordingly. At this point, my horn was starting to fizzle out magic, as my reserves were really starting to strain. My head was starting to hurt too. Unsurprising, considering how much thinking in how little time I just did, even by my standards.
After laying down all the traps, all that was left was to lure him into the trap. "Hey, Tirek! You huge weakling, I'm over here!"
Upon hearing my voice, Tirek snapped out of his power-induced high and turned around to see me flying at eye level with him. When he saw me, he started stomping in my direction, and his first hoof step met about a dozen magical mines, starting the chain reaction of explosions.
By the time the last mine had exploded, Tirek was completely engulfed in a huge cloud of smoke and purple fire. I heard him grunting when the explosions triggered, and the sound of trees being flattened, meaning the second part of the trap was successful. Tirek was flung high into the air, each explosion pushing him further in the direction of the next one. By the time the last bomb had hit, there was a gigantic trail of magic and smoke in the air.
It was now time for me to finish this. I had to, I needed to. For Equestria. For my friends. Mustering up almost every bit of magical energy I had left to spare, I sent a massive barrage hurling towards him, launching him even quicker into the ground. I unleashed half a dozen more attacks at Tirek, which made him crash at massively hypersonic speeds. I finished off the barrage with one last beam, the strongest beam I'd ever unleashed, leaving me with barely enough magic to use teleportation.
Purple flames and magic and thick, suffocating smoke completely surrounded Tirek, shielding him from view, but I was sure it had at least hurt him, if not knocked him out. But, once everything cleared up, I could only watch in shock. Watch as Tirek emerged almost unscathed. Watch as I realized that my offense had yielded no results.
Tirek smiled, and walked up to me. We simply looked at each other for a couple seconds, his gaze confident and smug, mine losing all hope. Finally, Tirek said, "Did you really think that trick would've worked? Sure, I'll admit it took me by surprise at first, but you don't even have half the strength that I do. If I had bothered to create a magical barrier around myself, it wouldn't have even put a single scratch on me, but I didn't even think it was worth it." I cursed myself for not thinking about my plan deeply enough to realize this, then sighed and made my decision.
I had to admit defeat, at least temporarily. Leaving now would give Tirek plenty of time to wreak havoc over Equestria, but continuing on was pointless. My plans had failed, my reserves were depleted.
"Well, Tirek, it seems I can't beat you...yet." Tirek seemed confused at my somewhat mysterious "yet," and looked like he was going to speak, but then, I once again fled the battle and I didn't hear what he was going to say.
Using up the small amount of magic I had left, I teleported to the village my friends were at, and then started walking down to find them.
Uh! I can't believe Tirek managed to steal my magic. A future wonderbolt’s! I should've just smashed open that cage and shown that magic stealing centaur who's boss! Too bad I was too worried and scared-, I-I mean distracted to think of that.
Anyways, me and my friends (except Twilight, the most powerful pony in Equestria at the time, and Pinkie Pie, that crazy party pony, who were battling against Tirek, even though Pinkie’s regular magic had been stolen. If I still had my magic, I would've come along to show him a thing or two) were heading down into the village which stood in the middle of nowhere (how Twilight had somehow brought us to just outside it by coincidence is anypony's guess). As we entered the town, it’s citizens immediately weirded me out. All of them were staring at us with that big, plastered grin that just screamed fake, and for some reason their colors appeared...dull. The way they greeted us didn’t help the alien impression. Their voices somehow managed to sound overwhelmingly cheerful and monotone at the same time. All of them said “Welcome” but left it at that, continuously staring at us. It was freaky.
Fluttershy was the only one in our group that seemed content, and after a few greetings she happily said, "This must be the most pleasant place in Equestria. I'm so glad Twilight brought us here."
"But look at those smiles, they just aren't right," everypony in town had smiles stretched as wide as they could possibly be. "Also, what about their cutie marks?" I added, pointing at their flanks. "Now, those smiles may be a bit out of the ordinary, but the cutie marks are just downright weird." Everypony nodded in agreement, then a blue gray pony wearing a brown cloak walked up to us.
He, just like everypony else so far, greeted us with a "Welcome," but then actually started to speak in full sentences. "Pardon my forwardness, but, what happened to your cutie marks?" he asked, noting our blank flanks.
My eyes opened wide, and I replied, "You don't know about Tirek’s rampage across Equestria?”
"Well, we don't receive a lot of outside news here in our little village," said the pony while scratching his head.
Another pony, stark white, from top to bottom, walked towards us and asked, "What brings you to town?"
Applejack stepped up to the front, and answered, "We're not entirely sure. It involves some stuff with Tirek releasin' us, teleportation and hidin'."
"I see. Well, all are welcome here in our little village. My name is Double Diamond, and this is Party Favor," the white pony pointed at his blue-gray coated companion, who smiled widely.
"Howdy, Double Diamond, I'm Applejack, and this here's Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash," Applejack pointed at me, and I brought my wings up proudly.
"The best flyer there ever was Rainbow Dash," I boasted, flying in a loop at super speed to prove my point. Although, I couldn't fly as fast as I could if I still had my cutie mark.
Applejack rolled her eyes at me, then asked Double Diamond, "Has there been any sort o'...trouble here as of late?"
Double Diamond furrowed his brows "Trouble? Why, I don't think we've ever had trouble in our little village."
Party Favor added, "It's true, you'll see." he followed it up with a happy sound.
"Perhaps you'd like to speak to our founder, Starlight Glimmer," suggested Double Diamond.
"I wish everypony in Equestria was as friendly as these ponies are," Fluttershy remarked as we followed the two.
Applejack looked like she was deep in thought, then after a couple of seconds she spoke up. "I dunno, there's just somethin' off about these fellas."
"Oh I agree. Not only is their fashion choice so plain it's practically a crime, but their cutie marks are all equal, so to speak. We should ask about this when we meet Starlight Glimmer," said Rarity.
Fluttershy replied, "Sure, it might be kind of abnormal, but they're so pleasant and nice. There's no way that they did something wrong."
"If you say so, sugar cube," Applejack reluctantly answered.. "Anyways, we should find out just in case. Maybe it's not them, but it could be this 'Starlight Glimmer' that's pullin' the strings."
Everypony agreed, even Fluttershy, and as the two ponies who were leading us knocked on the door, I quietly remarked, "Be ready to fight, we don't know what's gonna come through that door." I heard some creaking from in a room of the house we had just entered, then slowly, the door opened, revealing who was inside. And it was...
"Oh, come on!" I yelled in annoyance.
It was a friendly looking, light purple unicorn of average size, who, just like everypony else, greeted us with an overly friendly, "Welcome! I'm so pleased to have you here." after Double Diamond introduced us to Starlight and we explained why and how we came here, she said, "Well, however you found us, we're happy to have you. We're happy to have anypony who wants to experience true friendship for the first time." She put a weird emphasis on ‘true’.
"Say what?" Applejack asked.
"Oh, indeed, that's what's so unique about our village, you see," Starlight said in reply to Applejack. "Around here, we don't flaunt our special talents, because we don't have any special talents to flaunt."
"Is that why you all have those cutie marks? Rarity asked, pointing at Starlight's flank.
Starlight looked down to her flank for a second and then said, "Perhaps it would be easier to understand if I gave you a tour of the village." Starlight opened the door, and started marching through the town.
Everypony in the village gathered and began singing a song about how equality is apparently totally amazing and way better than a life with cutie marks. At the end, the citizens formed two rows and a couple of pegasi flew overhead with banners. I laughed hysterically for a second, then said, "You're kidding, right? Give up our cutie marks on purpose? No way!"
Fluttershy scolded me disapprovingly. "Rainbow Dash, don't be so rude. I don't think we should judge them. They all seem perfectly happy with their choice."
We had a short conversation with Starlight afterwards, and at the end of it, Starlight said, "Double Diamond, please help our guests with whatever they might need."
"Of course," he replied, smiling at us as he did so.
As we walked through town, Applejack was saying, "A cutie mark's a representation of a pony's talents an' skills. How's it possible to-," she was cut off by Rarity gasping in horror.
"What in the name of Equestria is that!?" she exclaimed, pointing at a display of identical cloaks, which were scratched up and looked like they were 10 years old at least.
The shop owner pointed at the display and offered us the cloaks, but Rarity declined, trying her best not to flip out. We then headed towards an empty table. We continued our argument about this town and it’s inhabitants, then Double Diamond, who was sitting at the table across from us, asked, "Need something?"
"Uh, no, we're good," Rarity replied. A light coloured earth pony mare walked up to us, as we had the argument. At the end of it, the earth pony asked us if it was a bad time, and Fluttershy said we shouldn't bicker in front of our new friends.
The mare asked, "Is your friendship ending?" which took us by surprise.
"Are you kiddin', we'd never let an argument get in the way of food," Applejack replied.
"Okay, well my name is Sugar Belle, what can I get you?" asked the mare. "We have...muffins."
Silence filled the air for awhile, before I replied. "Well, I guess we'll take 4 muffins," but then Applejack spoke.
"Make it five, gettin' my magic stolen sure makes my tummy growl," Applejack said, rubbing her belly as she did so. While we waited for the muffins, we continued our conversation about the village that was interrupted by Sugar Belle, who had now brought five muffins.
Forgive me for overhearing, but, just a moment ago, you were disagreeing, and now it sounds like you're...agreeing."
"Uh huh," Applejack replied.
"Well, you had such differing opinions," Sugar Belle said.
"We have differing opinions all the time, darling."
"But, you look like you're friends."
"We are friends," Applejack said. "A simple disagreement wouldn't change that, sugar cube." Upon hearing that, Double Diamond looked up from his newspaper and frowned.
Sugar Belle noticed his reaction, but continued anyways. "I'm sorry, I'm just having a hard time understanding. Different opinions lead to bitterness and misery. So, why aren't you bitter and-," she was interrupted by a gag as I spit out the muffin I was eating.
As everypony looked at me, I did my best to salvage the gesture by saying, "Mmm, good," though it likely wasn’t very convincing. Sugar Belle said that it was fine, she wasn't a good cook, at least, not better than anypony else. Double Diamond put down his newspaper and his frown became even more stern.
"Well, I hope you enjoy our little village," Sugar Belle hastily said, obviously being nervous while doing so. "Come inside before you go, meet me downstairs," she whispered, smiling at Double Diamond as soon as she had said it. Then, she zoomed downstairs as quickly as she could.
"Okay, that was weird too," I said.
"Let's all sit here, and eat these muffins and act normal. I think we're being watched," Rarity said.
"You think?" I asked, pointing at all the ponies watching us.
I ate two muffins and Applejack ate three. Wanting to get more served as an excuse of going downstairs. We slowly walked down the stairs, following the one pony who was acting as though something were wrong…
"Hmm, hmm, hmm," I hummed as I strolled into the village Twilight had teleported me to after my magic was taken away for a second time. Not a good experience, do not wanna do that again.
A quick glance at the town robbed me of what little enthusiasm I still had left. The townsponies’ smiles were obviously fake and they all had an equal sign as cutie marks. That didn’t seem good. Something was wrong, and detective Pinkie Pie would find out what! I was greeted by everypony I walked by once I entered, but decided not to answer any of them. Tirek taught me to mind my words in some situations...."Those smiles are bad news," I mumbled to myself while looking around, trying to spot my friends. Ah, who am I kidding, they're probably being trapped and forced to smile unnaturally at this very instant! I've gotta find them before it's too late! If only I still had my hidden magic, then I could just grab a spy uniform out of nowhere or something like that. Maybe it's better like this though, otherwise, they'd think something's up and capture me too. I guess I'm just gonna have to gather intel: Classic Pinkie Style.
I climbed atop a roof to scour the village for my friends one last time. Since I couldn’t find any of them, I decided to sneak around the village, searching house after house for any traces. I didn’t come across any clues however, and was left to ponder on what could have happened to my dear friends…
While I was thinking, a grayish mare with cropped, brown hair walked my way, seemingly lost in her thoughts. She was thinking so hard that she crashed into my table and stumbled backwards onto the ground, blushing while she tried to get up. I offered my hoof to her, which she gratefully accepted. While I was suspicious of her, that was no reason to completely abandon my manners, now was it? Besides, somehow she seemed… not quite as unnatural as the rest of the town. Once she had stood up, she introduced herself as Sugar Belle and asked me if I would like to place an order. My grumbling belly was answer enough, and she asked, "So then, what can I get you? We have, muffins."
"..."
I said nothing as I waited for her to say more, but when she didn't, I replied, "Well then, I'll take 2 muffins then!" She giggled a bit and I asked her, "Something the matter?"
She stopped giggling, then answered, "Uhh, I'll tell you after I'm done making the muffins," as she said this, she forced herself to smile awkwardly and chuckled nervously, which led to me looking at her with confusion for a couple seconds.
After a few seconds of her smiling very nervously now I noticed that she was throwing glances at a pure white pony sitting across the street. "Okey. Dokey. Lokey," I replied, dragging out each word as long as possible, and so she trotted off to make the muffins. As I waited, I thought about Twilight's battle with Tirek, wondering how it was going. Probably not too well I suppose, considering he was as powerful as her before he'd taken my ultra super strong magic, which surpassed her's anyways! But then I remembered she was a genius, so she would just find a way around this with some good ol' fashioned battle planning.
Of course she'd be okay, this was Twilight we're talking about after all! She’d come up with a plan and then she'd mop the floor with-, My train of thought was interrupted as Sugar Belle came back with 2 freshly baked muffins. Before leaving, she whispered to me, "Come inside if you want to talk, there are certain ponies that don't want me to speak about it," she gestured towards the white pony sitting at the table opposite from mine. Afterwards, she galloped down the stairs with speed that nearly rivaled my own. Almost.
I took a bite out of one of the muffins and instantly spit it out. It was the most disgusting muffin I'd ever tasted, but I knew I had to eat the other one, since getting more was the only excuse I had to go downstairs. Ha, as if anypony would want to get more of those muffins. I stared at the terrible muffin for a few seconds, then gulped and took another bite out of it.
I kept on taking more and more bites, each one worse than the last, until I finally decided to just get it over with and ate the rest of it whole. After eating it, I groggily walked down the staircase, trying not to fall, but to no avail.
As I tumbled down the stairs, it made creaking sounds, showing it was old and rickety. As I got to the bottom (or fell), I moaned. "I've accidentally eaten cardboard tastier than that."
I heard some hoof steps, then saw Sugar Belle walking up to me. She looked around to make sure no one else was there before signaling two ponies behind her to move forward. "So, why'd you wanna meet here?" I asked.
"So nopony can see what's about to happen," Sugar Belle replied, in a whisper like tone. As I nodded, she continued, "I was laughing because earlier there was a group of four ponies, with one of them also wanting 2 muffins. I'm just guessing, but I think you might know those ponies, considering we almost never get visitors, let alone 2 visits in a single day." I nodded in confirmation at her theory, prompting Sugarbelle to continue the story. "They're locked up because we were telling them how much we miss our cutie marks," she said this while pointing at the other ponies behind her, concerned looks on their faces.
I let out a resignated sigh and quietly whispered, "I knew it, this village has my friends trapped."
I had to go rescue them, but first, I had a question for the ponies in front of me. "So, how does the removal of a cutie mark even work?" They told me all about some ritual that their leader, Starlight Glimmer, performs. It involved something called the staff of sameness. It was slightly concerning how enthusiastic they sounded about the whole thing. I was also explained that the cutie marks are stored in a vault. After asking where that vault is located, they told me to go see Starlight.
When I found her and asked to see the vault, Starlight was surprisingly cooperative, but I didn't let that fool me. I was on guard, as I knew this was the pony who had trapped all my friends except Twilight. We had a short conversation as we walked up to the cave where the cutie mark vault was, but otherwise, the tense air was deathly silent as we trekked up the long, treacherous path leading to the cold, harsh caves, home to none other than the prison of what was essentially a pony's soul...how was that!? I hope that sounded cool enough, but if not, oh well!
Getting back on topic, we arrived at the vault, and Starlight welcomed me in. What I saw blew my mind. It was HUGE!!! There must've been over 100 cutie marks in there, it didn't make much sense though, there was only like 20 ponies in town...eh, it's not important, Starlight probably had the book about how to make great plot holes, I've been dying to get my hands on a copy of that myself! Oh, whoops, I got sidetracked again.
Starlight thought about something for a second, then asked, "I'm curious, how did the subject of the vault come up?"
"Oh, there was just some ponies telling me how much they missed their cutie marks and-, oh, whoops!" Once again, I said too much.
"Oh, were they? It seems you and those other ponies inspire all sorts of free thinking, don't you?" as she finished these words, she narrowed her eyes at me contemptuously and her tone became aggressive. I chuckled nervously as I slowly backed away, only to bump into the white stallion from earlier. Many other ponies started to come from the shadows to trap me, and I realized that I'd been stupid. I walked straight into their clutches.
I was worried for a few seconds, but then I remembered something and laughed. "What are you gonna do to me? Take away my 'cutie mark'?" I asked mockingly, pointing towards my blank flank. Starlight however just seemed to be amused while replying.
"Oh, those other 4 said the same thing, but, although I can't say I know what happened, I do know that you usually have your cutie marks, judging from your slightly tired state. And as long as that's true, I can take away the essence of your cutie mark and replace it with the equal sign." she smiled wickedly at my stunned face and pointed the staff of sameness in my direction, which shot out a beam of bluish green magic, freezing me in place and ripping off my cutie mark from inside my body.
At the end of the ritual, an image of my cutie mark appeared mid-air within the staff’s energy, and Starlight whipped it towards the vault, trapping it inside next to four cutie marks which belonged to…my friends!
"I don't blame you for what you and those others tried to do today. You've spent your whole lives thinking those marks are a good thing," Starlight said, sneering at me.
I could feel my body becoming more and more exhausted, while the vibrant pink of my coat started to fade into grey. I mustered up the last bit of strength I had in me and furiously yelled, “Give it back!!!” but Starlight didn’t let it deter her.
"Well, now you can spend the rest of your life here, with us! And we'll teach you just how much better life can be without your cutie mark." the ponies in the room lined up in two columns, forming an equal sign.
As I got escorted to the room that I decided to call the brainwashing cell, I thought about how me and my friends were soon gonna be reunited and together, surely we could escape. In fact, I already had an idea...
"Pinkie!" We all exclaimed as we saw her walking into the room, being led by a couple of ponies. She was looking even duller than before, when her cutie mark had been taken by Tirek. Oh, she must have gone through so much, having her cutie mark (or at least the essence of it) stripped from her not one, not two, but three times. I wish I had my medical team with me right now. Angel might not be the sweetest bunny ever, but he sure was great when it came to helping to heal any injured animal friends I had.
Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt the story, I'll continue now. "Hi, guys," Pinkie muttered, her voice lacking the usual enthusiasm. We asked her about what happened to her and Twilight, and how the battle against Tirek was going. Unfortunately, the answers weren’t all that great. Tirek had the upper hand and Pinkie fell for Starlight’s trap, just like us. After telling her our own story, Pinkie opened up about her escape plan. “There are actually two ways to get out of here.” She explained. “We could just wait for Twilight to beat Tirek. Then afterwards she would definitely find us and get us out. We wouldn’t have to escape at all! However, Twilight might not be able to beat Tirek alone, and we should probably leave as soon as possible, because this place is certainly no fun. So I say we act like we accepted their way. Starlight will just let us out then!”
"Well, that's all fine and dandy, but Starlight ain't gonna believe we converted in just one night," Applejack argued. "I think the better plan is to just wait it out. I don't very much like being some damsel in distress, bein' all useless and waitin' for help, but that seems like the more logical approach.”
“I thought about Starlight doubting such a sudden reform. Especially since we were obviously against her ideas. However, there is one pony in here she might believe…” Pinkie started staring at me expectantly after finishing her sentence, making the rest of the group realize what she was implying.
"What? Me?" I asked in disbelief.
"You've been saying how great this place was since we got here," Rainbow reminded me.
"Well, that's because everypony's so nice, and their village is so pretty and-, and...oh, you're right, they probably would believe me. I hate to lie to them. They've been so welcoming and friendly, aside from locking us in here and trying to brainwash us into abandoning the things that make us special." Saying it out loud made me realize just how horrible our situation really was. "Okay, I'll do it."
"Woohoo!" Pinkie shouted, jumping up into the air with the energy we all know and love her for, until her equal sign cutie mark vibrated a bit and she slowly came back onto the ground, replacing her exclamation with a quiet and calm, "I mean, cool."
"But, what do I do once I'm out?" I asked, walking towards Pinkie as I did so.
"You've gotta find a way to get our cutie marks out," Pinkie replied. I swallowed nervously. That wasn’t a lot of information, so I would have to figure out the details on my own.
Sleep took it’s time to come that night. When the speaker woke us up in the morning, it wasn’t a pre-recorded message like the propaganda it spew at us all the time, instead it was Starlight’s voice. "Ah, good morning," she said, then she opened the door and continued. "I trust you had a pleasant night. This way, please," she walked out the door as she spoke. "There are some friends who would like to see you." After she had her back fully turned, everyone else looked at me and smiled, to which I responded with a worried and nervous look. "Gather round friends, gather round!" Starlight commanded. "We've come to ask if any of you are ready to join us. There are so many friends to be made once you realize you don't need your cutie marks. Or the talents that come with them," she said, coming closer to us with a grin plastered on her face.
The villagers pleaded for us to join them, but my friends refused. Starlight started to lead us back to our prison, reminding her subjects that this was, “A perfectly normal part of the equalization process.” As we were walking back in, I bumped into Pinkie Pie, reminding me that I was supposed to pretend to be brainwashed. I impulsively leapt forward and exclaimed, "I'd like to join!" covering my mouth with my hooves immediately afterwards. The village ponies chattered happily among each other, and Starlight smiled. However, Starlight was suspicious of my quick turn of heart.
In order to ensure that I wasn’t just faking, she demanded I show her who wanted to have their cutie marks back. I gulped in horror, what was I supposed to do? Blow my cover, or betray who seemed to be the only normal ponies here. Neither was an option, and so I stood still like a deer caught in the headlight. I would need to somehow talk myself out of this."I-I don't know who they were," I stammered. "Um, I'm sorry, I don't know your names and faces yet."
I hoped that that would be enough, but I was quickly proven wrong. Starlight wasn’t through with me yet. "Nonsense, obviously these ponies must have asked you directly. Kindly point them out," she demanded, pointing her hoof towards the crowd. I bit my lip, thinking of how I could handle this, until Party Favor made a confession.
"It was me!" he called out, Sugar Belle and the dark blue pegasus next to her stepping away from him as he did so. "It was only me," he continued. "I only wanted it back for a little while."
Starlight walked up to him and held his face up in her hoof, asking, "And you're quite certain it was only you?"
"I just wanted to remember what it was like," he replied, looking down to the ground.
"And no thought to the pain you'd cause your friends," Starlight said, supposedly disappointed. "Such selfishness," a couple of ponies glared at him contemptuously after she had spoken. Starlight pointed at the brainwashing room, and Party Favor walked towards the cell.
"I'm sorry everypony," he said apologetically. "I never wanted to leave the village. I love all of-," he started to say, but he was cut off by the door slamming in front of him.
-
"Welcome!" ponies greeted me as I walked past.
"Gosh, you really are the nicest ponies I've ever met," I complimented.
"Come, all new friends stay with me until their cottage is completed," Starlight said while walking me to her house. I spent the rest of the day contemplating on how to go about my task. It would not be easy, and honestly, I was frightened. My secret mission back when Trixie took over Ponyville was bad enough, but this was something else entirely...
-
Late at night, when the only noise outside was of the white, fluffy, soundless clouds drifting about the cool, night sky, I flew up the chimney when it was safe. It was time to take action. Once I reached the top, I coughed for a bit, then shook off all the dust that had gathered on my fur from inside the chimney. "Get the cutie marks back, that's all you've gotta do, Fluttershy. Just sneak through the dark, to that spooky old cave, with the scary looking staff, and get the cutie marks back," I whispered to myself.
I slowly walked down, and after what felt like an eternity I said to myself, "Okay, you're doing great, the cave's gotta be close now," only to realize that I was barely a few meters away from the chimney.
I heard Starlight speaking from below me, and shuffled a bit closer to hear better. "Excellent work, Double Diamond," she congratulated.
"Of course. But I don't understand why you wanted me to bring them here. Fluttershy is one of us now, surely she can be trusted," Double Diamond said, somewhat confused.
"These belong to the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, it could be very important to our cause." Starlight replied.
"But if they become our friends, then what do we care about these old cutie marks?"
"I just want to keep them close until everything is settled. You may go, Double Diamond," she excused. Right before he opened the door, I rapidly flew behind the wall, and as he walked out, he wasn't wearing his usual smile.
"Oh dear, how am I ever gonna get the cutie marks back now?" I asked myself worriedly. There was a clatter coming from upstairs and Starlight briefly cried out in frustration. I went to see what had happened, and the sight greeting me was most surprising. I saw water baskets rolling around and splashing, and Starlight was angrily scolding herself., "Uh! Starlight, you clumsy fool!" She proceeded to grab a towel in her magical grasp and dried herself of the water that had splashed on her.
When she put down the towel, on her flank wasn't an equal sign, but an actual cutie mark! She used some sort of makeup to cover it up, then put an equal sign tattoo to replace the other cutie mark. I gasped in shock, which caused Starlight to turn around to see what had made the noise. She quickly searched outside her window, then gave one last look and walked back, thankfully not spotting me clinging onto the roof.
I let go, and as I flew to the ground, I whispered, "Oh no." When I got to the ground, I looked up, and seeing the pony that stood in front of me was almost as surprising as the revelation of Starlight's cutie mark.
This day's just been getting better and better. First, I was humiliated by Tirek. Then, when I had to flee, and I went to the village I'd dropped my friends at, they were gone. The village's leader, Starlight, denied ever seeing them and chuckled deviously when offering to give me a tour around the village. I obviously declined.
Many hours later, I was searching top to bottom, all around for any signs of them, but nothing! Grr, I was really getting frustrated. It was the middle of the night now, and I was hardly able to keep my eyes open. Between battling Tirek and searching for my friends AND a distinct lack of rest, exhaustion was finally starting to catch up with me. And to make matters worse, I didn’t come across any clues whatsoever. Not even a stray feather or footprint. I guess I'm not that great of a detective.
I tiredly flapped my wings as I descended slowly onto the ground for the 100th time, finally giving up the search and deciding to sleep before resuming my investigation. I could really use it. Just then, though, I heard a familiar voice from above, and I looked up. The sight that greeted my eyes was a very welcome one, albeit a tad confusing because I had to wonder what in the name of Celestia she was doing up there, all alone. So, I walked forward, meeting her at the place she landed, and just as she looked up, I whispered, "Fluttershy?"
The startled pegasus briefly jumped back at the sight of me, but quickly calmed down after realizing who I was. "I-is that you, Twilight?" I nodded, and a smile slowly spread across her face. She jumped on me suddenly, and captured me in a tight embrace, "Oh, I'm so glad you're here! I was starting to panic, I, what I saw, it, it, was just, I-," I stopped her mid sentence as she was speaking way too fast.
"Whoa, there, Fluttershy, slow down. I can't understand a word you're saying!"
She stopped mid-sentence and took a couple deep breaths, before calming down and blushing slightly. Fluttershy then proceeded to tell me everything that happened while I was off fighting Tirek. Starting from my friends arrival at the village and its inner workings, to how they all got captured and finally how they intended to escape and Fluttershy's discovery about Starlights cutie mark.
I closed my eyes and silently went over everything she had told me, then said reassuringly, "Don't worry, come with me and I'll bust open that door, then we can discuss a new plan." Fluttershy nodded, and she led me to the place my friends were being kept.
I levitated the door away carefully, so as not to draw any unwanted attention, and then walked up to my sleeping friends, silently nudging them awake. They all yawned and slowly opened their sleepy eyes, then seeing me, everypony's eyes shot wide open, and almost simultaneously, they all yelled, "Twilight!?" and I quickly conjured up a noise proof barrier, before they could wake up the entire village.
"Yes, it's me, and before you ask, no, Tirek hasn't been defeated," I said, causing their expression to go from confused to disappointed. "Look, girls, there's no time to be down, I have a plan, and I need you all to listen up." My friends regained their composure and their ears perked up, all eyes on me.
I took a deep breath and filled them in on my plan. Once I’d finished, everyone thought about it, then eventually nodded their heads in agreement. Once I knew the vote was unanimous in favor of the plan, I said, "So, like we discussed, I'll be waiting behind this little house, and after I've done my part, Fluttershy will come in." Everypony once again nodded, prompting Fluttershy and me to take our leave, carefully levitating the door back into its hinges. Before Fluttershy went back to Starlight's for the night, she hesitated, nervously fidgeting around before saying what was on her mind. "Are you sure this is going to work, Twilight? I-I don't mean your plan isn't good, it's just, I don't know if I can do my part."
I gave her a warm smile in an effort to calm her down. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy. If anything happens, I’ll step in. Go get some rest, and I’ll see you tomorrow, along with everypony else, who’ll also help if necessary.”
That seemed to have calmed her down a bit, as she gave me a smile, albeit a weak one. “ Alright then. Goodnight, Twilight.”
"Goodnight," I said back. Once Fluttershy was out of sight, I went to hide behind the little house in which my friends were held captive and waited for morning to come. I tried to sleep, but instead I just kept mulling over the plan in my head for the whole night. By morning, it was so instilled in my head, I could probably remember every detail 100 years in the future, but, I was really tired. And hungry.
I was half asleep when the sun rose over the horizon, but the sound of Starlight talking to my friends was enough to kick me into gear and become alert, patiently waiting to intervene. "I've got a good feeling about today," Starlight declared. "So, do any of you have anything you’d like to say?" she asked. After a few seconds, I decided it was time to step in.
I walked forward, making Starlight's smile vanish. She looked confused and maybe even a little bit worried. "So," I said. "You've never seen my friends, huh?" Starlight chuckled, then took a step back and replied.
"Well, once your friends had been equalized, I thought you would see that it was for the best, and you would join us. We are all equal here," Starlight did her best to sound confident, but nervousness was clearly recognizable in her voice and she was slowly backing up. Above Starlight, Fluttershy had a bucket of water, and boldly asked, "Then how do you explain this!?" She threw the water down at Starlight, who managed to deftly dodge while covering herself with her hoof.
Starlight looked up at Fluttershy and glowered at her. "I knew you couldn't be trusted," she furiously exclaimed, while Fluttershy matched Starlight's death glare with one of her own. Just then, Party Favor nervously stepped out of the room of equalization, and noticing water drip down Starlight's flank, exposing a little bit of her cutie mark, he took off his clothing and quickly wiped the rest of the fake equal sign off, taking her by surprise. "No, get away!" she urgently said, waving her hoof at him. However, the damage was already done, and the village ponies gasped, aghast at the sight before them.
The entire philosophy they had lived by was a lie. The very pony who had founded their beliefs was the one who broke them. They could barely process it, the very thing their leader had declared as evil was sitting right on her flank, underneath the thin layer of a lie; was a cutie mark.
Starlight glanced down and recoiled, covering her cutie mark with her tail, and in a panicky voice, asked, "W-what are you looking at? They're the problem, not me!" I smiled smugly at Starlight, my friends stepping forward to join me.
Starlight was now positively livid, but I wasn't worried. Soon, the whole village would be against her, and everypony would get their cutie marks back. "How could you?" Party Favor asked sadly, pouting immediately after.
"You said cutie marks were evil. You said special talents led to pain and heartache." Double Diamond frowned, a heartbroken look in his eyes.
"They do!" Starlight exclaimed, "Don't you see? Look at them!" she pointed at the six of us huddled together.
"Then why? Why did you take ours and not give up your own?" Sugar Belle asked, walking forward glumly. Starlight nervously began to sweat and thought hastily about what to say. She was visibly desperate, but at the same time furious.
"I-I had to, you fools! How could I collect your cutie marks without my magic?" Starlight said loudly.
"But the Staff has all the magic we need!" the dark pegasus next to Sugar Belle said.
"The Staff is a piece of wood I found in the desert! It's my magic that makes all this possible. You'd all still be living your miserable lives, thinking you're better than everypony else, if it weren't for my magical abilities!" Starlight revealed with arrogance and annoyance. "I brought you friendship, I brought you equality! I CREATED HARMONY!!!" She shouted, getting louder with each and every word.
"But you lied to us!" Double Diamond noted.
"So what? Everything else I said is true. The only way to be happy is if we're all equal." Starlight said while walking forward confidently.
"Except for you," Party Favor snarled viciously, all traces of remorse gone. This halted Starlight, and she turned around, narrowing her eyes and charging up powerful magic into her horn. It paled in comparison to Tirek’s or my own, but would still be more than enough to harm somepony. So, I stepped in. "Everypony has unique talents and gifts, and when we share them with each other, that's how we-," I was lecturing, wearing a trademark teacher smile, before Starlight cut me off aggressively.
"QUIET!!!" She yelled, veins bulging in her neck, obviously startling me.
"You can't have that cutie mark, Starlight. Either we're all equal, or none of us are," Sugar Belle stated matter-of-factly, and everypony voiced their agreement. Then, all of us started surrounding Starlight, and she looked around, her confidence slipping away with each moment, panic taking over her expression.
Once we were almost in a complete circle around her, she summoned a burst of magic, blasting everypony backwards. Through the opening she created, Starlight fled to the safety of her house. "Come on, let's get our cutie marks back!" Double Diamond shouted, rallying the villagers, and they all screamed one big battle cry, charging to the Vault.
"Come on, let's go get our cutie marks!" Rainbow Dash started flying in the direction of the vault as well, but Fluttershy stopped her.
She told Rainbow, "Our cutie marks aren't in the Vault." Which everypony but me were surprised about, as she had told me this the night before. "They're in there, with her." She pointed at the suddenly gloomy looking house. Tall, dark shadows hanging over the house of Starlight Glimmer.
While the Mane 6 were talking outside Starlight's house, up in the Cutie Mark Vault, the betrayed ponies from Starlight's village were banging against the glass separating them from their cutie marks, a determined look on some of their faces, while on the others, a look of distress. Just then, from behind the group of equalized ponies, Double Diamond came running, while commanding, "Stand back, everypony!" Fury was clearly visible on his features, and he held the Staff of Sameness - which he now knew was nothing more than a simple stick - in his mouth.
Once he got close enough, Double Diamond brought his head back, then whipped the false relic at the wall that prevented the cutie marks from getting free. The staff hit the barrier and it created a large crack, which quickly spread, until the whole wall completely shattered, a dazzling burst of magical light spilling out, blinding everypony in the room for a second.
When they all opened their eyes again, the ponies watched in amazement as dozens of cutie marks shot out, whirling and looping around to get to their owners' flanks. The first to get his mark back was Double Diamond. As it reached him, he was lifted up into the air and his whole body glowed with a bright white light. Falling back down to the ground was a completely transformed pony. Instead of the plain mane cut he had, his mane was now ruffled and unkempt, he wore a genuine smile, his cutie mark had changed from an equal sign to three flowers, and he overall had a completely different complexion. Soon after, the rest of the cutie marks came back to their respective owners, each of them going through a similar process.
Pegasi flew out of the cave, beaming, while several cutie marks followed, rushing to the ponies still outside.
Meanwhile, we were still outside.
"Even without my cutie mark, I can tell this is beautiful," Rarity said, dreamily looking up at the sky filled with colorful beams of light shooting past. Turning my attention away from her and onto Starlight up in her room, I looked determinedly at her, though she didn't notice me. I heard a loud noise like something was being dropped onto the ground, and she fled out of sight with my friends' cutie marks, but not before I could draw the focus of my friends onto Starlight.
"Look, girls! Starlight's getting away!" Everypony quickly whipped their heads around to see her running, and they understood immediately what I was implying. We had decided to stay until everypony else got their cutie marks back, just in case they had trouble. But now, it was time to give chase. The ponies from the village who had helped us earlier raced towards the door, now with their cutie marks. Me and my friends did the same.
As I ran towards the locked door, I easily blasted it away with a small beam of purple magic, completely disintegrating it, and causing debris to explode from the door. We all galloped through the smoke, the group of ponies who were helping us earlier following.
We soon found that Starlight had fled through a secret passage underneath her bed, and we all went down and eventually back up the stairs to find we had headed outside again. We all searched around for a bit until Rainbow saw Starlight, and shouted, "Look!" pointing a hoof in the direction of the purple unicorn.
Everypony immediately directed their attention at the fleeing unicorn. After a few seconds, the blue Earth pony standing beside us looked like he realized something. He looked down at his mark, smiling, and quickly crafted a pair of binoculars out of a balloon (don't ask me where he got the balloon or how the hay he did that). He then used it to see Starlight more clearly, and said urgently, "She's headed to the pass! if she makes it to those mountains, we'll never find her!" his expression had quickly gone from jubilant to discouraged. Pinkie grabbed the binoculars and also looked at Starlight.
"These are amazing!" she complimented. The pink pony beside Applejack looked to her, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Pinkie and Rarity, and spoke with equal urgency as her balloon liking friend.
"There's a whole network of caves up there! Your cutie marks will be lost forever!" she said.
Applejack responded, "Then let's get movin', y'all." However, before everypony could start, I stopped them.
"Wait," I commanded, which they all did. "There's no need for that. I've never tried it before, but I might be able to teleport all of us to Starlight."
Rarity looked unsure about this, and answered, "Are you sure about that, Darling? We wouldn't want you to waste all of your magic, when a clearly bigger threat is still ahead of us, if you know who I am speaking of."
"Yeah," said Pinkie. "Tirek is a preeeety big problem right now. And back in Season 1, you could barely teleport just yourself and Spike when we surrounded you for the ticket to the Gala."
I stared blankly at Pinkie for a few seconds, before replying. "Season 1? This isn't the time for your crazy terms. Yes, Tirek is a more major threat, but remember, I've gotten better at magic since then. Plus, I've become an Alicorn, and I now bear the powers of Celestia, Luna and Cadance in addition to my own."
"Hmm, good point," Pinkie said nonchalantly.
"Okay, with that out of the way...everypony, get close to me." the group obeyed, and so, I began concentrating magic into my horn. Purple magic fizzled and coursed around it, and eventually, with a loud pop, we were gone.
Hearing a large sound behind her, Starlight looked back, and her eyes stretched wide open as she saw all of us. She then narrowed her eyes in determination and started dashing faster, but I wasn't about to let her get away.
I galloped towards her, and since she had a cart with her, combined with the fact that I had Earth pony magic, I caught up quickly. Lighting up my horn, I captured her in my magical grip, preventing any and all movement on her part. With Starlight immobile, it was easy to free our cutie marks. One by one they reunited with my friends, bringing the color back to their coats and the happiness back into their eyes.
"Finally," I said. "Now, tell me, why did you do all of this?" Starlight didn't answer immediately, and struggled to get out. When she realized she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, she gave a defeated sigh, and so, she told all of us about her past…
Starlight and her friend, Sunburst were stacking books, and Sunburst had just finished stacking the last one, slowly slipping it on top before releasing his magic. The little Starlight clapped her hooves together happily, and then boldly tried removing a book from near the bottom. She was interrupted, however, when suddenly, the whole tower wobbled unsteadily, and almost collapsed on Starlight, but Sunburst grabbed it with his magic, and levitated all of the books in a circle around him. His whole body began to glow with ethereal light as he was lifted up into the air, levitating a few feet above the ground. A blinding flash emitted from the floating unicorn, forcing Starlight to shield her eyes for a split second. Then, all the books flew back to the shelf in correct order, and the aura around Sunburst gradually faded as he descended back onto the ground.
The luminosity around Sunburst completely dissolved as his hooves touched the floor again and he quickly looked to his flank as a burst of white light flashed there. When the light disappeared, an image of the Sun radiating light appeared, filling Sunburst with ecstasy, and he jumped high up into the air while cheering happily. He then ran out to show his family while still looking at his new mark, leaving Starlight behind to watch as his parents lifted him up and walked away.
"...and just like that, my friend was gone. His family recognized his magical talent and sent him off to Canterlot. I never saw him again," Starlight from the present finished, closing her eyes in remorse.
"Well, why not?" I asked, concern in my voice.
Starlight opened her eyes, and angrily shouted, "Because of his cutie mark! He got his, and I didn't! He moved on, and I didn't! I stayed there and never made another friend because I was too afraid another cutie mark would take them away too!"
"That's ridiculous," I responded. "A cutie mark can't take your friends away."
"Not everypony's lucky enough to get her cutie mark at the same time as her friend!" Starlight yelled, roughly wiping away a tear away. "You don't know what it's like to lose a friend because of a cutie mark. What right do you have to stop my dream of equalization!?"
"Starlight, you're right! I don't know what you went through. But I do know that the differences between me and my friends are the very things that make our friendship strong.
"I thought me and Sunburst were the same," Starlight said, tears flowing freely now as she briefly looked to the side. "But we turned out different, and it tore our friendship apart!!"
"So try again! Make new friends, and if something that you can't control happens that changes things, work through it together. That's what friendship is. And it's not just my friendships that are important to Equestria, everypony's are. When yours ended, it lead us here. But just imagine all the others that are out there waiting for you if you just give them a chance," I said, hopeful that I was convincing Starlight.
"How do I know they won't all end up the same way?" Starlight asked, anguish clearly audible in her strained voice.
"I guess it's up to you to make sure they don't," I concluded, smiling, more hopeful than ever. Starlight seemed a little reluctant at first, but eventually, a smile slowly grew on her face too, and the two of us looked at each other for a few seconds, until Starlight broke the silence.
"Uh, Twilight, you can let me go now." Realizing that I was still trapping her with my magic, I blushed and put her down. We then shook hooves.
"Starlight?" The white pony from the village said.
"I just wanted to say that...we forgive you. We had no idea about any of this, and I guess we kind of understand why you would do this," the pony named Double Diamond said. The three other ponies from the village nodded, and Starlight smiled a bit more widely at that.
"Ahem," I cleared my throat to get attention, then continued. "This is a nice happy ending and all, but we kind of have a much bigger problem now." I told them about the whole ordeal with Tirek, and at the end, I made a request. "I've been able to tell you have very powerful magic, Starlight, and I was wondering if you could join me in my battle against Tirek? I could use every bit of help I can get, especially if that help is as powerful as you seem to be. It’s practically like I had another me by my side. One that wasn’t infused with alicorn magic, sure, but potent nonetheless."
Starlight nodded confidently. "I will help you. That's the least I can do after your kindness."
I smiled, and then said, "Alright, then let's get training! I'm still not 100% accustomed to my quadruple Alicorn magic yet, and I think you might want to get a bit stronger before we face the greatest threat Equestria has ever seen."
Starlight agreed, and so we split up from the rest of my friends, who headed back to Ponyville, despite my warnings about Tirek being nearby, and we headed off to a nearby wasteland in preparation for the upcoming battle.
Once we arrived at the barren wasteland, I decided to assess Starlight’s magical prowess in battle. “Alright. So, how about we start off with a good old fashioned magic duel?”
Starlight grinned and her voice adapted a competitive edge. "Oh, I'm game. Though I don't suppose you might be willing to hold back a little, because, you know. I'm a unicorn and you have the strength of 4 alicorns. You weren't exaggerating when you said that, right?" The confidence in her voice quickly subsided when she remembered that not an hour ago, she had tried to take away the thing that made my friends special, and that she was speaking to a princess.
I shook my head. "No, it's true. And don’t worry, I was planning to use less than half of my power anyways."
Starlight sighed in obvious relief, regaining a confident expression. "Okay. Let's battle." For a few seconds, we merely glared at each other. Tension filling the air, both of us analyzed the other, cautiously waiting for any movement.
“Draw!”
Finally, Starlight made the opening move, whipping her head backwards momentarily while charging up a magical blast. I too began charging my horn, though in a somewhat less dramatic manner. We simultaneously shot our beams, huge waves of purple energy erupting from the center of the collision, blinding both of us.
I tried to squint through the light, but I quickly realized sight wasn't going to help me here. Closing my eyes again, I concentrated to sense any signs of powerful magic, and I did, several meters northwest of me. Now knowing her location, I teleported right next to Starlight, to her shock. She summoned a hastily created magical shield to block herself from my surprise attack, but it was useless. My energy ripped through her feeble shield effortlessly and knocked her backwards. I didn't let up on my assault though. I rapidly galloped over to her just as she stood up, and this time she was ready.
Starlight blasted her magic at me, hitting me straight in the chest, to which I responded with a gasp of pain. The leftover magic from our earlier clash was beginning to dissipate, but I was going to utilize the momentary advantage as long as possible, so I fled into the light.
Starlight followed almost instantaneously, but she couldn't find me, as she didn't yet know how to sense magic. Something I would later learn. I flew circles around her, launching quick magical blasts at her blind spots, all of which landed due to her still being blinded. Eventually, she yelled in frustration and leapt out of the blinding field of magical light. I slowly lowered myself onto the ground and decided to rest until Starlight could see me again, which was about half a minute, give or take a few seconds.
"Aha!" She exclaimed as she finally saw me again, and she deftly discharged an intense beam of magic she had been charging for a while. I had sensed her preparing a strong attack, though, and I wasn't in the least bit surprised when she released her magic.
I easily evaded it, and responded in kind, but she managed to dodge at the last second. Starlight was visibly exhausted at this point, breathing heavily from the extensive use of magic, while I was just fine. I concernedly asked, "Do you think I should tone it down a bit? I am using power a fair bit above yours, so maybe I should use less of it?" When Starlight collapsed onto the ground and didn't respond, I galloped over to her, and worriedly yelled, "Starlight!? Are you okay?"
I was relieved as she rose her head and nodded. "Yeah, I'm...FINE!!!" Her sudden exclamation startled me and I jumped back a little bit. By the time I realized what she was doing, it was too late. She smiled mischievously and launched a powerful blast that hit me square in the chest, and I yelled in pain as I got thrown backwards. Starlight used Accelero to rapidly get behind me and hit me with another beam in the back, which then propelled me forwards. She used teleportation to get in front of me and shot another beam of magic at me. She continuously teleported and struck me in different places, then finally combined Accelero with Similo Duplexis to create a clone of herself, and each Starlight charged up an extremely powerful, huge blast, and knocked me down into the ground with it from above.
I was bruised all over, and barely able to keep my consciousness. Starlight teleported in front of me, and cheered, "I won! I won! I beat a princess!" She then noticed my condition, and quietly said, "Oh...I overdid it, didn't I? Sorry about that, it's just, I've never met someone so powerful before, and I guess I got a little too excited, and went overboard."
I gave her an unamused look as I fell unconscious.
When I came to, I was lying in the same place, with Starlight looking at me worriedly. When she saw I was awake, she smiled and offered me her hoof. I took it, and standing up, I brushed off the dust that had collected on my coat. I gave Starlight an annoyed look, and scolded, "You're a powerful unicorn, Starlight. This means you have to keep tabs on your magic! If you don't, you could very well do more harm than good!"
Starlight looked down at the ground and mumbled, "I understand. I'm sorry." My expression softened a little, and I draped a wing over her, startling her momentarily.
"It's okay. I know what it's like feeling like you have all the power in the world, and you just want to be able to let it run wild." I chuckled a little as I thought about my earlier attempt at manipulating the Sun and Moon.
Starlight smiled. "Alright! Let’s continue training! We've only got a week left until we face off against Tirek, and if he's as powerful as I've heard, we don't have a moment to waste!"
I couldn’t help but chuckle at her eagerness. As untamed as her magic might’ve been, that unicorn sure had a lot of potential. I nodded, and then began speaking. "There's a few small tips I can give you that would really help your battle skills, judging by what I've seen of your fighting style so far. The most important one I can give you is..
It was a beautiful, pitch-black night. The cool breeze lightly ruffled the thousands of leaves sitting on the surrounding trees, spreading their fresh scent across Equestria. It was silent save for the occasional magical blast, coming from both here and far off where the monstrous Tirek continually destroyed a nearby forest, the smoke leaving an acrid taste in our mouths. The stars seemed to shine especially bright tonight, almost as if it were encouraging us for the approaching battle.
I hurled a ball of magic at a huge boulder, disintegrating it instantly. Starlight was a little ways away, also busy letting her magic loose on the environment. This was the last time that we were going to train, the next day we would have to finally stop Tirek. If we didn’t, then he would have caused too much harm to Equestria. After a little while, it was time to call it a day. “Alright, Starlight, I think that's enough for one day. We need to make sure to get a good sleep for the battle tomorrow. I've gotten the hang of my new magic and you've gotten stronger, but we still have to be careful with an enemy as powerful as Tirek."
Starlight replied confidently. "Oh, I'm sure it won't be that hard, we have the power of five Alicorns afterall!"
I shook my head. "You don't understand, when I fought Tirek, I didn't stand a chance, and I haven't gotten that much more powerful. I honestly don't think we can win this. We have to fight smart. Otherwise, we can say goodbye to our magic and Equestria."
Starlight frowned. "You're right, Twilight. I'm actually just as nervous as you are right now, I'm just trying to not think about that. There's nothing worrying will do to help us, we just need to face the problem of beating Tirek when it comes."
I smiled and said, "You're right. Now, let's stop talking and get a good sleep. Goodnight Starlight."
"Goodnight, Twilight."
-
Starlight and I woke up early. Or what seemed like early anyway. It was a bit difficult to tell when I was the one raising the sun, which I hesitantly did, knowing that it would set this fated day in motion. We had a hasty breakfast and set out. "Okay, so Tirek is leagues above us in terms of strength, but we have more variety with our spells. Wanna bet who’ll win?" Starlight smiled at me as she trotted, but it was a shaky, strained facade.
I put a hoof on Starlight's shoulder and assured, "It's okay Starlight, we'll find a way to beat him. Like you said, we'll deal with the problem when we get to it."
"Of course," Starlight replied. "I mean, I said that when it wasn't actually time to do it and the fate of all Equestria didn't depend on our battle, but, you know..." she mumbled.
I stopped and said, "There's nothing we can do now except fight, because..." I pointed ahead, and Starlight looked up, before her eyes widened and she gasped.
"...we're here," she finished for me. Starlight just stared in awe at the massive beast before us for a minute, then she muttered under her breath, "It's fine, I'm sure he isn't as strong as he looks-," before Tirek fired a beam that incinerated miles of forest. Starlight shut her mouth and then meekly remarked, "There goes that theory."
Just then, Tirek roared, "WHEN I SEE THAT PRINCESS, SHE'LL WISH SHE NEVER MET ME!!!" I stared at him with slight fear in my eyes and Starlight subtly backed away behind me.
I looked back at Starlight worriedly for a moment, then sighed and reluctantly asked, "Are you sure you're up for this? If you're not, you could just stay on the sidelines and help by teleporting us out of here if the situation gets out of hand."
Contrary to what I expected though, Starlight gulped and firmly shook her head as she asserted, "Like I said a week ago, you've been so forgiving of me, and this is the least I can do. In fact, I'll go in first. You blindside him while I serve as a distraction." She then began charging up a teleportation, and before I could stop her, she had disappeared and was in front of Tirek, wearing a frightened, but determined look.
"Hey, big guy! Down here!" Starlight shouted.
Tirek looked down after he sent another magical blast through the forest that demolished dozens upon dozens of huge trees. He then guffawed. "Are you here to challenge me, little pony?" He then stuck out his finger. "I could squish you with my pinkie claw."
Starlight smugly retorted, "Really now? Then how about you try it." She disappeared then reappeared right in front of Tirek's eye and shot a full power blast at it. Tirek yelled and clutched his eye.
"YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT!!!" Tirek bellowed furiously. Starlight flinched momentarily then turned and nodded to me. I knew immediately that was the signal.
I discreetly flew behind Tirek and laid low as Tirek stomped around, trying to recover from the sudden assault. Finally, gasping and panting, he gradually opened his eyes.
Tirek glared at Starlight, his eyes blazing with unconcealed rage. "You..." The temperature seemed to drop and Starlight visibly got chills. She stared at me, her eyes wide open in panic, and I nodded. I flew to Tirek’s neck area and bombarded it with my magic. He yelled in fury and pain (mostly fury) as he spun around to face me, flattening the trees underneath.
He looked at me with surprise for a second, before he began laughing, greatly confusing me. "I see, now. This pony is an ally of yours, isn't she? I suppose you thought you could defeat me with your little 'plans.' HA! If you think you can beat me with an ambush, you've got another thing coming!"
"Laugh if you must Tirek," I began. "But by the end of this, we'll see who gets the last laugh." I flew around Tirek to join Starlight, and we immediately started blasting dozens of various magical attacks at Tirek, ranging from simple beams to attacks which manipulated space.
Tirek shielded himself from the barrage of magic, but to no avail. The beams just exploded on his arms instead. "ARGH!" He shouted. Tirek teared a dozen trees from the ground and threw them at us all at once. We casually blew them all up then flew up to Tirek's face, Starlight using her magic to levitate.
We continued our assault on him, making him shut his eyes tight in pain. We kept on blasting quicker and quicker, causing a cloud of smoke to emit from his face, and he repeatedly howled in frustration and pain. The continuous onslaught kept him from forming any kind of magical offense. It seemed we were on the verge of victory, but then he whipped his arm at us, causing us to both fly out of control, then he opened his mouth wide and let loose a mighty roar that rocked the planet and hurled us towards the ground. As we fell to the ground at supersonic speeds, I tried creating a bubble of protection while panting heavily to shield me and Starlight from the imminent crash landing. "Starlight!" I yelled over the sound of rushing wind, "Quickly, help!" Her horn glowed and an aura slowly started enveloping my own, but it wasn't enough.
Before either of us had fully created a barrier, we crashed into the ground at dangerous speeds, knocking Starlight out cold, while I barely managed to stay awake myself. "Uhhh," I groaned as I shakily stood up. I glanced up at Tirek and noted with some satisfaction that he seemed to be pretty riled up from our attack, bruises and scratches scathing his body. Then I realized that he was extremely enraged and my only ally was knocked out. "Well," I said. "Horseapples." I jumped up when Tirek roared mightily again and I quickly teleported Starlight far away before facing Tirek alone.
"You're weakened and all alone now, what do you think you can do?" Tirek asked confidently.
I sighed and gulped. It was about time to show it to him. "You'll see soon enough," I responded. Tirek frowned and grit his teeth.
"YOU THINK I'M GONNA SIT IDLY BY FOR YOUR PLANS TO UNFOLD AFTER WHAT YOU DID TO ME!? FOOL!!" Tirek raised his massive hoof and slammed it down on me, but I teleported on top of a nearby tree just in the nick of time and closed my eyes, hastily gathering energy for the ace up my sleeve.
Tirek looked around for a few seconds, then he spotted me and shot a quick orange beam of magic at me. Time seemed to slow. The spinning beam of ultimate evil energy came closer and closer. It was so close...
BOOM!!! The deafening explosion sent rainbow and orange light spiraling all over the battlefield, and Tirek shielded his eyes in that moment. I was visible again shortly afterwards, and when he saw me, he was shocked.
I stood looking exactly like I had before, but my eyes were glowing pure white and flanking me were a massive blue sword and shield, emitting a powerful energy that nearly crushed the forest completely.
Just around then, Starlight had woken up and wanted to rejoin the battle, but when she saw me, she merely watched in shock as she witnessed me effortlessly countering Tirek's blast.
Tirek stumbled over his words for a second, then asked incredulously, "H-how did you do that? I used a good amount of my power and you should be nothing compared to me!"
I slowly raised my head, then glared at Tirek. "I am Twilight Sparkle," I said, in an unusually loud and authoritative voice. "Warrior of Friendship and Magic. And I will defeat you where you stand."
Tirek had been listening intently until then, and he laughed loudly. "You? Defeat me? I'd like to see you try. Come on then, I'm waiting."
Instead of wasting my breath by responding, I teleported directly in front of him. Tirek raised his arm and launched a full power blast at me. I raised the huge blue shield in front of the approaching attack and when it hit, the magic dissipated instantly. While Tirek was still caught in the afterglow of his attack, I exploited the opening. Teleporting above his face, I swung my arcane blade and sliced down on him.
The powerful slash sent Tirek flying far away, and waves of magical light rippled across the battlefield, ripping half the trees in the forest off their roots. Even Starlight, who was watching from a distance, had to protect herself with a magical barrier.
Tirek moaned feebly and sloppily stood up, shaking his head to clear it. Since the area was still clouded in smoke, I could sneak up behind him and send yet another blast his way. It hit him dead-center and caused him to scream in pain and fall over. After he stood again, scrapes and bruises all over his gargantuan body, he tiredly asked, "H-how did you get such a massive increase in power?"
I smirked. "After all these times saving Equestria, I learned a thing or two." And that was all I said before my smile disappeared and I let loose an ultimate barrage of magical blasts that set the forest aflame and left Tirek nigh unconscious.
"This will be the final blow!" I yelled. I focused all my energy into my horn, from every little part of my body, until my horn was overflowing with magic. I brought my head up, ready to blast. "This is it!!!"
Just then, my blue sword and shield faded and the overwhelming magic I just had disappeared. I overestimated myself and drained my reserves before I could finish the job, leaving me drained and helpless against the enraged centaur before me. "No!" I shouted despairingly.
Everything that had once been here was gone. Every tree had been flattened and incinerated, the only traces left being the vague scent of burnt wood aimlessly drifting about. The vast landscape was utterly annihilated. Leftover flames from the mighty magical battle flickered and lit up the otherwise dark and gloomy battlefield.
The magic-stealing titan, Lord Tirek towered over me. He roared as he raised his huge fists high above his head, anger and glee distorting his features. I could only watch fearfully while Tirek prepared to finish me off. I couldn't even stand upright anymore.
With one eye open, I panted and coughed weakly as I racked my brain for a plan of some sort, anything! Before I could think of something though, Tirek’s fists were flying at me like rockets. All rational thought left me, and I just screamed while desperately pushing any small amount of magic I still had into one last teleportation spell, but to no avail. I was just too tired. I closed my eyes, resigning myself to the inevitable.
At that very moment, a burst of blue light prompted me to open my eyes. It was Starlight, who had been watching from the sidelines this entire time. Of course! How could I have forgotten! I sighed in relief. "Starlight! Thank goodness you came-," but I was interrupted by Starlight shoving her hoof in my mouth.
"No time!" She hastily shouted. Her horn fizzled with magic while I glanced up and was quickly reminded that I was still under attack. Tirek’s fists were coming down rapidly, and were only about 200 feet away from hitting its target: Me.
I turned to look at Starlight and added the little magic I had left to hers. My purple magic mixed and swirled with Starlight’s pink magic, speeding up the spell. It was almost done, but Tirek's attack was so close! I didn't know who would make it first. "Hurry!" I desperately cried. Tirek's fists were already engulfing Starlight and me in their shadow. Our purple and pink magic quickly crackled and whirled together, seemingly just as frantic as we were. Tirek was only inches away. He could've crushed us!
BAM!!!
Tirek's massive fists buried themselves deep into the ground, and he sneered with satisfaction. He lifted his fists, an avalanche of dirt and rocks sliding off to reveal… nothing.
"WHAT!?" Tirek roared. "Where did they go this time!?” He furiously pounded the ground in frustration, shouting, “GRAAAHH!!!"
Meanwhile, Starlight and I materialized in a very familiar location, the Canterlot Castle. I breathed a sigh of relief, that was far too close for comfort. I then took a look around. I could see traces of Tirek being here. There were massive hoof prints everywhere. Stained glass windows were cracked all over the room, while the one that depicted me was melted beyond recognition. I flinched at the gruesome sight.
The room was still in much better condition than I'd have expected though. After glancing around, I slowly turned to Starlight and strugglingly asked, "W-why did you bring us here?"
Starlight still needed a minute to calm down. The narrow escape left her panting for a few moments before she could answer. "I figured that Tirek wouldn't think to look for us here, and I was in a bit of a hurry, so I couldn't really give it much thought."
Satisfied with this answer, I caught my breath while shaking my head to clear my mind. The fight against Tirek had left me in shambles. My mane was a mess, covering my vision and clinging to my neck, drenched in sweat. My legs were shaking, and just standing upright was a challenge. I needed a break, desperately. I turned to Starlight, words barely crawling out of my mouth. “After that ordeal, I’m sure you're as tired…(cough) and hungry as I am. Let’s grab a bite to eat...and then plan a way to beat Tirek. Cause we’re not doing anything in our state.”
“Agreed,” Starlight tiredly replied.
While making our way to the dining hall, I couldn’t help but notice that…there was nothing to notice. No guards, no politicians, nothing. All the life and business I had come to associate with this castle over the years was gone, replaced by deafening silence.
After a few more eerily quiet minutes, we reached our destination and had a light meal.
Once we were finished eating dinner, we traded ideas for a while, but none seemed reliable or very realistic. Eventually, Starlight headed outside to practice her magic, while I headed into the library, scouring the many, many books for anything that would help me against Tirek.
I sighed as I slammed shut yet another book that gave no answers to my problem. I was beginning to lose hope, as several hours of research had yielded no results whatsoever.
For once, the answers I needed didn’t seem to be written in ink.
Just then, something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. It was a brown and gold book with a symbol of the sun emblazoned on the front. And it was glowing and vibrating, to my great confusion.
"Huh?" I wondered aloud. I trotted over to the mysterious book with caution. Then I lifted it up from its resting place at the top of a stack of miscellaneous books.
I slowly opened the book, and what was written there was shocking. "This...is a message to Princess Celestia from my friends at Canterlot High!" I continued reading, then once I got to the end, I looked up and exclaimed, "It sounds like they need my help!"
As soon as I had read the message from Sunset, I called Starlight and told her all about the other world and this apparent new threat they were facing. I knew we had our own problem to deal with right now, but I couldn’t just leave them to their fate! After a few hours of research, countless books were splayed randomly across tables and the floor.
In one corner of the room, Starlight tiredly flipped through a book about mystical magical beasts, with no success. I sat at a table across from her, a hoof holding up my drooping face as I read “The quick guide to old Equestrian History”. My eyes widened when I got to a page that seemed helpful, and I thoroughly read the chapter about a certain species. I smiled. "Starlight!" I called. She looked up from the book she was reading as I continued. "The way Sunset Shimmer described them, I think these new girls sound an awful lot like The Sirens!”
I gave a brief rundown on who they were, what they did, and why, ending with the rumor that Starswirl banished the trio to another world. As I continued staring down at the page, I commented, "That world must've been the one where my Canterlot High friends live!"
Starlight thought about this information for a moment. "But Starswirl threw them there even before Nightmare Moon was banished! How come they're just surfacing now?"
"I'm not positive. But if my hunch is right, and it is the Sirens who've invaded Canterlot High, then this spell they've cast is just the first chapter of their dark story." I closed the book, then said with determination burning in my eyes. "My friends need my help. I've got to get back to them, and no half-mountain sized beasts are gonna distract me."
Starlight raised an eyebrow, commenting, "From the little you've told me, the connection between our alternate worlds will still be closed off for more moons than I have limbs."
I frowned and closed my eyes, deep in thought. "You're right, but…there may be a workaround." I suddenly opened my eyes and smiled, before running all across the castle. I searched for and found various tools that could be used in my newest creation.
Starlight followed me and asked with confusion, "What in the name of Equestria are you up to?"
"You’ll find out before you can count the stars of a single constellation," I claimed, still galloping across numerous rooms in the expansive castle.
Starlight shrugged. "If you say so."
I continued finding resources, until I'd gathered everything I needed. Then, I set to work building the whole contraption. I meticulously locked each little part into position.
Finally, I presented the finished product to Starlight, explaining all the while. "...And the interval between the two points is defined as the square root of the sum of the squares of the separation between the points along three spatial dimensions." I finished off with a big smile, and Starlight gave one of her own.
"I see. So you're going to grab the magic from the strange book, and dump it into the mirror, making the portal open up, so that you can enter the world of your Canterlot High friends whenever you fancy. Right?"
I nodded my head in silent approval. "Now to see if it actually works," I said, trotting over to the mirror. The all-important book was swallowed in the purple glow of my magic, and I slowly lifted it up before carefully placing it into the socket I had made just for the book of honor.
I let go of my magical grasp on it, and immediately the book emitted a purple light that started rising. There was a bright flash before the glow disappeared, transforming into identically colored, smaller lights resting on metal lines opposite of each other and connecting to the book.
A bunch of parts swirled and pulsed with magic and started to set in motion. At the end of it all, there was a bright flash of light, then everything calmed.
The portal was now whirling with purple and white, and seemed to be welcoming me to enter. "I guess it's time for me to hop in. But there's just one more thing I should grab before I go for a swim in the dimensional river..."
Starlight looked confusedly at me and asked, "What do you mean-," but was cut off by a sudden teleportation from me and a teleportation back a few seconds later, with Spike on my back. "Oh," she said flatly. "That's what you mean."
Spike was looking more than a little confused and asked me, "What the dragon blazes is going on? One moment, I was basking in the radiance of gems with Discord, then you scooped me up and brought me to this strange pony and that...strange...mirror." Spike stared at the mirror in front of him for a few seconds, mouth agape. "Is that...?"
"Yes," I answered. "Yes, it is. But before we jump in again for reasons I will have to explain later, tell me: why weren't you with my other friends? There was so much happening, the fact that you weren't at the library briefly escaped my mind. You're lucky I could sense where you were. Never scare me like that again!"
"Yeah, yeah,” Spike sighed. Discord convinced me to go with him on a crazy adventure right after you left. We went through a bunch of challenges. Climbing over mountains, going through rivers, aching knees. But at the end of it, we got a piles of gems! Or at least, we would have if you didn't grab me." Spike pouted at me and I chuckled nervously.
"Sorry, Spike," I apologized. "I'll let you have all the gems you could want after this is over."
"Fine," he muttered.
"Hey," Starlight interrupted. "Should I come with you on this high school trip?"
"Better not. You should remain in Equestria and keep an eye on Tirek. You can’t fight him alone, but maybe you can find out something helpful by observing him."
Starlight seemed disappointed, but then nodded her head. Without another word, me and Spike ran into the portal and were met with a sea of swirling colors as we spiraled into the human dimension, screaming all the while.
The area around Canterlot High was serene. There were fields and fields of long, green grass swaying gently in the warm summer breeze that made it bearable to be outside. Dozens of groups were chatting and smiling and laughing as they walked or sat around. Some kids ran and played energetically, sighing blissfully whenever a relatively strong breeze passed by and blew sweat and hair out of their face.
I was sitting right beside the magical portal to Equestria, staring down at the enchanted book I'd used to hopefully contact Princess Celestia and as a result, get in contact with Twilight. I sat still for a few more moments, then I looked up and saw all of my friends relaxing. AJ and Pinkie were playing cards, Rarity was painting Fluttershy's nails, and Rainbow was lying down, tossing a ball back and forth between her hands.
"Ughhh," Rainbow groaned. "Why is it taking so long for Twilight to get here?"
"Now remember, Rainbow," Applejack said. "She still has to figure out how to open up that portal."
Fluttershy timidly added, "If she figures out."
We all turned to stare at her and she shrank, looking at the ground. Rarity laughed elegantly (can you even do that?...whatever, she did it) and confidently stated, "Of course she'll come. She's a princess though, so it's just going to take a little while."
"Everything's gonna turn out all right!" Pinkie said cheerfully. "In fact," she continued in a bubbly voice. "She's gonna be here in 3...2...1..." At that precise moment, she pointed at the portal and it started glowing, and we all stared in awe (except Pinkie) as Princess Twilight clumsily stepped out of the mirror and tumbled down to the floor. Spike came out soon after with a bit more grace.
Rainbow looked at Pinkie and asked, "How did you do that?"
Pinkie smiled innocently and said nonchalantly, "Just a hunch!"
I walked to Twilight and offered my hand to her. She stared at it for a while and seemed unsure of what to do. We were awkwardly still for a few seconds until she finally took my hand and I lifted her up. I scratched the back of my neck, while all of my friends crowded around and hugged Twilight.
My friends separated from Twilight and she frowned, saying, "I've got some bad news about these new girls." We all groaned. Of course there was bad news. "Here might not be the best place to talk about it though," She added.
"Ooh! We can talk at Sugar Cube Corner," Pinkie said cheerfully.
"Good idea," Twilight said. We all walked over to the local sweets shop. I hung at the back while Twilight talked with my friends. She told us all about the Sirens and their history. I just listened silently while all of my friends commented on Twilight's history lesson.
We arrived at the colorful, tasty looking building and headed inside. We all ordered a drink, then sat down at a large table, Spike deciding to rest in Twilight’s lap. Twilight took a long sip of her drink, sighed, and then asked, "So, other than the fact that dangerous magical creatures from Equestria are attacking the school, what's new?"
That isn't exactly new...I said internally, but shoved aside that thought almost instantaneously. I was a different person now.
While I was having a mini personal crisis, Rainbow pulled out her phone and said, "That isn't the only magical thing that's been happening lately." She showed Twilight a video of her ponying up while playing her guitar. And for some reason, it was showing a whole bunch of different angles and shots. Weird.
Twilight's jaw dropped, and she stared at the phone with shock. Pinkie jumped forward and pushed Twilight’s jaw up, then quickly bounced back.
“That’s...really strange.” She scratched her head. A few seconds later, she happily yelled out, a passionate glint in her eyes, “I’ve got it! Some of the magic must’ve remained here from when Sunset turned into that horrifyingly awful winged monster!” She did a double-take, then looked at me and said, “No offense.”
I sighed and unconvincingly said, “None taken.”
Some awkward tension hung in the air for a few seconds, before I sucked in a deep breath and said, “So, how are we gonna defeat The Dazzlings?”
Twilight smiled. “I think the 6 of us standing together against them will create the spark that’ll activate our magic. Just like that time when…” She stopped herself, then continued. “When...you know?” She smiled sheepishly.
I held back my frustration at the universe’s need to constantly remind me of my past. But that got me thinking. There was something off about this train of thought, though I couldn’t quite put my finger on it...Then, it clicked. “Actually, you shouldn't feel sorry about bringing up my past!”
Twilight asked confusedly, “Really?”
“Yeah, cause otherwise I wouldn't have realized that doing that won’t work. When you fought against me, you drew magic from the element of harmony I was wearing, but there aren’t any elements in this world anymore. I’d like to believe that just the power of your friendship will be enough to defeat The Dazzlings, but we shouldn’t take any chances. If they realize what we’re up to, they’ll do everything in their power to make sure we don’t get another chance. And that’s a lot, from what I’ve seen.”
Twilight held her head in her hands and groaned. Applejack scooted over to her and patted her back. “Don’t worry, Twilight. We’ll figure out something.”
"But what!?" Twilight asked. If we don't act soon, the whole school will be completely under their control, and I don't think they're gonna stop there. Before long, they'll have taken over the whole world!" Her face looked panicked, and she began to hyperventilate.
"Darling," Rarity said. "I think you might be overreacting just a scotch. Even if they do try to take over the world, that would take a long time. You have plenty of time to think of something."
While they comforted Twilight, I thought of a plan. "I have an idea." Everyone looked over at me, surprised. I guess they were expecting Twilight to be the first one to come up with something. "Remember that video Rainbow just showed you?"
Twilight nodded, and I waited for it to sink in. "Ohhhh," Twilight said in realization. "You mean you think we can use music to defeat the Dazzlings since you all pony up when you play music?"
I nodded in confirmation and Twilight smiled. "You're a lifesaver, Sunset." I blushed slightly at the compliment. "Alright, then, let's go to the music room!" Twilight yelled with enthusiasm that would usually be inappropriate for a statement like that.
We all stood up (or in Spike’s case, leaped off of Twilight), and exited the restaurant, ready to start our plan for defeating the Dazzlings.
I smiled and waved at Twilight and Spike as they entered the portal, but as soon as I was sure they were gone, I sighed, and said to myself, "Well, I guess it's just you and me, castle!"
I walked around for a bit, exploring the huge castle, but I soon got bored and decided to head outside. Sure, it was dangerous, but having your life at risk is WAAAAY better than boredom.
I wandered aimlessly for a while, glad just to have the fresh air hitting my face. I found a good stop for training and did just that for a little while, but then I continued with my walk.
And then, I stopped, and slapped my face. "Uhhhh. I'm bored anyway! Why did Twilight have to leave me here? Being in another dimension would've been so fun!" Then I got an idea that WOULD be fun! Maybe it's time I familiarized myself with Twilight's friends. I recalled them telling Twilight they would go back to Ponyville, and so I wandered around until I found a shop with a map of Ponyville and teleported there. More specifically, I teleported to Sugar Cube Corner, which was apparently "the most delicious shop in Equestria! Literally and with its treats!" (I know, that joke was so bad. The house wasn't even actually made of sweets) and then I heard my belly rumbling. I chuckled and walked into the store.
The shop was completely empty, dust collecting in random parts of the store, though the treats themselves were still in the display area. "Oh, riiight," I said, realizing that Tirek had just been in town.
"Wh-who's there," a mare called out, shakily.
"Um, just a customer," I replied as casually as I could, but couldn’t completely hide how weird this was.
A blue mare with pink hair that looked like cupcake frosting slowly stepped out into the open. “O-oh!,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting any customers anytime soon! What with the Tirek incident and all…”
“Well, it won't help to dwell on that. Anyways, can I get that cupcake?” I pointed at a scrumptious looking, blue cupcake.
The mare immediately regained her composure and brought out a notepad, writing something down and then saying, “Of course. That'll be 2 bits.”
I pulled out the money needed for the delicious looking treat, gave it to the store clerk, and picked up the cupcake she took out with levitation. “Thank you. Goodbye!” I said as I walked out of the empty shop.
I then realized that I had no idea where to find Twilight’s friends, which was the only reason I came here in the first place, so I walked back and asked, “Would you happen to know where Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy are?"
The mare became suspicious and raised an eyebrow. "Yes...why?"
"Well, it's kind of a long story, but in short, I recently befriended Princess Twilight and would like to become more acquainted with her friends."
She continued to look a bit suspicious, but then shrugged and whispered to herself, "Well, she doesn’t seem to be with him," and then looked up and said, "They're actually right here upstairs. They should be in the room to the right when you get up there."
I thanked her and started to head upstairs. I could hear faint talking coming from the room the blue mare had told me about. I then stopped halfway up, and I started to get worried. I wonder what they'll think of seeing me right after I stole their cutie marks and imprisoned them... I shook my head and took a deep breath, then continued until I reached the top. The talking stopped, presumably because they heard my hoofsteps. I walked up to the room they were in, and knocked on the door a few times.
There were a few moments of silence, until I heard an elegant voice asking, "Come in?" She said that a bit cautiously, which wasn't surprising at all. I used my magic to slowly open the door and saw all of Twilight's friends standing and sitting around the mostly empty room.
"Um, hi?" I said, waving a hoof and forcing a smile.
"Oh, it's you," Rainbow said a bit grumpily. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, me and Twilight did face Tirek, but it didn't go so well. And then some stuff happened with a journal and magical portal, and long story short? I had some free time, so I thought I'd come to get to know you all."
"Oh, is that all? You should've said so in the first place!" Pinkie said cheerfully. Though the cheeriness seemed a little low, probably because of Tirek still having her magic. "Where should we start?" She tapped her chin with her hoof a few times, then raised it and shouted, "Aha! We'll all sit in a circle and say something about ourselves after saying our name!" She ran around and pushed everyone, including me, into a tight circle, then Pinkie smushed herself in between me and Applejack. "I'll start, and we'll go clockwise!" She pointed a hoof at herself and she said, "I'm Pinkie Pie, and I love spreading joy and happiness everywhere I go." Then she frowned and looked to the side. "The opposite of what Tirek's doing..." This made the mood in the room go from light to tense in a split second. Suddenly everybody was looking down, looking guilty as they played games while Tirek was wreaking havoc.
I frowned and gave everyone a smile. "Don't worry. You don't have your magic, so you can't be expected to go up against Lord Tirek. Me and Twilight will handle it after she gets back. For now...why don't you go, Applejack?"
Applejack looked up and tipped her hat to me. "I reckon you're right. It ain't gonna do us any good to fret about it. She lifted her hat from her face and said in her country accent, "I'm Applejack, and I love nothing more than bucking apples on a beautiful summer day." Her eyes seemed to light up as she thought about bucking apples.
I realized then that I liked Applejack. After all, apple juice was all I drank back in the day. "Ha!" I suddenly heard Rainbow Dash laughing and she puffed out her chest in pride. "I'm Rainbow Dash and I love zooming around, impressing everyone with my incredible speed."
I rolled my eyes in slight amusement, then I looked to Fluttershy, who was next. She spoke in a demure voice. "Um, I'm Fluttershy, and I like looking after cute little critters."
I also like critters, but they don't seem to like me quite as much. Lucky Fluttershy. "Ahem," Rarity said, snapping my attention away from Fluttershy and onto her. "I am Rarity, and nothing brings me greater joy than creating beautiful dresses that I can share with everypony."
That was everyone. Now the only one left was me. Everypony stared intently at me, waiting. I took a deep breath and started. "I'm Starlight Glimmer, and..." I had planned on saying I was a skilled magician, but then I was reminded of what I had used the magic for, and so I instead said with a regretful look in my eyes, "I...I used my magical talents to brainwash a whole town and ruled with an iron fist, not allowing anyone to deviate or have any semblance of uniqueness."
There was silence for a long time after that. Nobody seemed to know how to respond to that, until Applejack sighed and patted me on the back. "Sugarcube, that's in the past. Now you're doing all you can to help Equestria."
A sigh escaped me. "I suppose," I mumbled.
Applejack could see that I wasn't satisfied. "You aren't content just sittin' around playing games, are ya'?" She asked. I shook my head, and she continued. "In that case, why don't you go help Twilight? That should keep you busy."
I raised an eyebrow. "You mean go through the portal?" Applejack nodded. I rubbed my hoof against my chin for a few seconds. "Well...she did tell me to try to keep an eye on Tirek, but I don't think that'll be very useful...and I could be of use to her with whatever she's doing..."
Everypony looked encouragingly at me, and I smiled. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna do that."
