> Nothing Special
>  by hironakamura
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Two Little Ponies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A cool night breeze blows through a campsite of two tents. One tent is decorated with the theme of the sun, another is with the theme of the stars, both illuminated by a small campfire. The surrounding grass lands with few and far between, brightly colored, crystal outcroppings can be seen as far as the eye could see. Two little ponies rest by the campfire.

A light heliotrope unicorn pony with purple mane rests prone on the grass enjoying the warmth of the campfire before her. A Cutie Mark of four pointed glimmering stars with turquoise radiance is displayed on her flank. "So... This is what you normally do on your off days." She said looking at her companion with persian blue eyes. "I mean, I wouldn't know. After all, you don't respond to my letters, you don't show up to my dinner invites-"

"Look, I already said, I'm sorry okay?" Interrupted the other unicorn pony resting across the campfire. His brilliant gamboge yellow coat and wild vermilion mane reminds of warm sunshine. He wears a blue wizard's cloak adorned with many five pointed stars. The cloak covers the Cutie Mark on his flank. His dark cornflower blue eyes behind his round glasses looks back at his companion. "I meant to get back to you about it but I was just... busy."

"Doing what?" The mare asked, annoyed about her friend's vague reason. "Wizarding? Because if you use that excuse one more time, I swear..."

"Fine, I won't use that excuse." The stallion answered, rolling his eyes. "I was doing research on ancient unicorn settlements that were lost in time."

She frowns at her friend from across the campfire. "Okay... And that's more important than spending time with me because?"

"Its... not." He scratches the back of his head with a hoof feeling embarrassed. "Let me explain. If my research is reliable, and it has been in the past, we're not far from the ruins of an ancient abandoned unicorn settlement that predates the era of the Two Sisters."

The unicorn stallion's horn glows with golden light. His magic levitates a book that he takes out from his saddle bag and opens it at a specific page in front of his friend showing her details about an old unicorn city. "Its also reported to house a large library of old forgotten magic. Imagine all that ancient knowledge we could learn and uncover. I might even have enough resource material to complete a couple of spells I'm working on. Isn't this exciting?"

"I don't understand how your explanation justifies your research to be more important than quality time with me." She replied, unimpressed.

"B-but its about magic... And spells." He sighed, levitating the book back into his bag, looking away a little upset. "I thought of all ponies, you'd understand."

"Alright, I was just teasing you. Maybe it is a little exciting." The mare, now starting to share the stallion's enthusiasm, if only to humor him. "Who knows? I might even learn a new spell or two."

The stallion smiles weakly at his partner's response but his expression slowly fades to nervous curiosity. "So, um, how'd you even find out about this trip? N-not that I don't want you forcing your way- I-I mean, coming along or anyth-"

"Your boss told me." She interrupted her friend. "I wouldn't even be here if Princess Cadence didn't invite me in the first place."

"She's the one that invited you?" He pushed up his glasses that were now sliding down his face."I'm surprised the Princess of Love never told me anything until you showed up this morning."

"Why would she?" The mare said and points at her friend with an accusing hoof. "I bet if you knew I was coming along you'd ditch me for that Crystal Guard friend of yours... What's his name again?"

"N-no! Of course not." He quickly replied to dismiss any misunderstanding and potential bodily injury. "I would've invited you. I-I just thought you'd be too busy. You know, with you being the Princess of Friendship's student, reforming an entire brood of changelings and having their former queen vow vengeance on you, among other things."

"Busy? No." She said, feeling amused. "Twilight taught me that friendships are like plants. If you want them to grow, you gotta water them. Just cause I'm taking care of a few more plants than I used to, doesn't mean I should forget about my first weed." She smiles at him warmly. "And I gotta say, as a weed, you've grown on me a lot."

"I'm your first weed." He chuckled. The stallion stands up, moves closer to the mare and rests beside her. "Sorry if it feels like I've been ignoring you lately. I'm not." He looks at her with a warm smile. "I'm just working on some really complicated spells for... Some pony special. I-I promise, when they're done, we'll have an all day magic practice session. Together."

"You're lucky I even put up with you." She said, playfully. "After the session, will you have dinner with me this time?"

"Why not? And maybe breakfast." He answered, not thinking.

"Congrats on making it sound weird, you big nerd." She blushed. "Are you sure your special some pony won't mind?"

Noticing the other pony's blush, the stallion nervously looks at the campfire thinking to avoid further embarrassing her after realizing what he just said. "W-what I meant was... Um, speaking of magic practice... Learned any new spells lately?"

She thinks about her friend's comment. "New spells? No, nothing new. But I did recently discover something interesting about my magic." The mare begins to twiddle her hooves together. "I found out my magical abilities are tied to my emotions. The stronger I feel about something, the stronger my magic gets. I-isn't that strange? I don't know other unicorns like this with their magic."

He looks at her curiously. "Hm. That's fascinating but its not strange at all. There have been several documented cases in Equestrian history of prominent unicorns that had this exact same condition. They did really monumental feats with their magic during their time." He explained, interested in this new discovery about his friend.

"I bet they didn't use their magic to enslave an entire village of ponies and steal their Cutie Marks like I did." She joked grimly.

"Um, n-no... One of them was a tyrant who used his magic to dominate an entire empire so... You could say he was much... Worse?" He choose his words carefully but it was too late. He couldn't help but notice the change in his friend's mood from bright to gloomy as she now stares silently at the campfire, deep in thought.

The stallion gently places a hoof on his friend's shoulder. "I-I, uh. The topic shouldn't have went there. I know how you hate talking about your past."

Her friend's touch and his apology snaps her back to the present. "What? No its... Fine. At least with you, it is. I'm not proud of those horrible things I used to do with my magic but I don't want to forget about them either. Lets just say they're big mistakes I don't ever want to repeat in the future." She said, reassuring him that there aren't any hard feeling.

The two ponies smile at each other, enjoying the other's presence as the night grows deeper. A few moments of silence between them passes. They quietly stare at the campfire, listening to the crackling sounds of the flame, enjoying its scent and its comforting warmth.

The unicorn stallion was in deep thought, pondering what his friend said about her magic being connected to her emotions. Finally, without looking at his friend, the stallion decides to break the silence. "I hurt you when I left for magic school all those years ago, didn't I? I didn't mean-"

"I know what you're thinking." She interrupted him. "When you left, all those strong feelings I had for that dorky little colt I like got bitter and twisted up inside. Yes, it made my magic do some really questionable things but it wasn't your fault." She explained but the hint of sadness in her tone didn't help to lighten the other pony's troubled thoughts.

The unicorn mare remembers one of her lessons with her teacher, the Princess of Friendship. When trying to make up with a friend after an argument, the success depends on their mutual mood. If possible, do not relive the logic of the argument in any way as it would trigger negative feelings in the present. Never mind the reasons, what's important are the feelings.

"Hey. My childhood memories with you are some of my most cherished experiences." She said, trying to sound as cheery as she could. "Do you remember the first time you taught me how to use a basic levitation spell? I couldn't even lift a single toy block without your help."

The unicorn stallion's face lights up behind his glasses. "Um, y-yes. After I explained the basics of the spell, you could cast it even better compared to most full grown unicorns. I loved it when you used your magic to do my chores. Cleaning the house was never easier."

The mare smiles shyly. "That's because of how I felt at the time... About you... Remember when I said my feelings make my magic stronger? No pony else would help me with my magic but every time you helped me, you made me happy. That happiness made any spell I cast do way stronger things than normal."

Eyes wide, a look of realization appears on the stallions face. He blushes slightly upon hearing his friend's explanation. "Wow. I've never been any pony's magical inspiration before. I-I'm flattered."

Sensing that her friend's mood has brightened, the mare decided to follow it up by appealing to their mutual interest. "If you really wanna thank me, you'll practice casting your own magic."

"Oh, but I have been practicing. Watch as I impress m'lady with thy magical talents!" The unicorn stallion joked, accepting the challenge. He closes his eyes and concentrates. His horn begins to glow with golden light. Soon, two unicorn foals, a colt and a filly appear before them playing with each other across the campfire. It was a projection of a moment from their childhood. "You aren't the only one that remembers our childhood fondly."

The mare gasps, impressed at the illusion. "That's a light manipulation spell, isn't it? I've never seen it used so creatively before. The projections look so real!" She couldn't take her eyes away from the mirage before her. 

"Its a very simple spell. Not taxing but has a lot of room for creativity. And its great at parties." Boasted the unicorn stallion. Even though he knows that his own magical abilities are no where near as close to his friend's, seeing her smiling and happy by his demonstration makes him feel better about himself.

The projection continues to show the two blank flank foals play happily. Eventually, the colt's horn glows with gold light as he uses his magic to pick and levitate a small purple flower. He faces the filly and places it on her pig tailed mane. His gesture makes the filly giggle happily. Shortly after that, the projections fade into a blob of gold magical light. "I messed up so much when I left for magic school." Whispered the stallion to himself. He slowly stands and pushes his glasses up. "Well, that was fun. But we still have half a day's journey on hoof ahead of us tomorrow. I'm turning in for the night."

She smiles back at her friend but couldn't help feel a little disappointed that he dispelled the projections so early. "Oh... I-I think I'll stay up a few more minutes. I wanna look at the stars. I couldn't see them back at the city."

"Sure. Don't stay up too late. Good night, Starlight." He greeted as he walks towards his tent.

"Good night, Sunburst." She greeted back, looking up at the sky.

For a second, Sunburst looks at Starlight discretely over his shoulder. He sees her attention is to the night sky, just like she said. He thinks to himself for a second then smiles, looks away and steps into his tent. Half way in, he is unaware that Starlight was also looking at him. She watches until the very tip of his tail disappears in the tent. She thinks to herself, caught in her own private thoughts for a moment before dismissing them, smiles and looks back at the night sky.
> Chapter 2: The Reclused Wizard and the Mad Sorceress
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The morning sun shines brightly on the isolated city at Equestria's end, The Crystal Empire. Its rays reflect and illuminate the city's crystal streets, houses and buildings. Peaceful pony folk go about their daily routine, going to work, opening their shops and meeting with their friends. Little pony foals play with each other as they head for their nearby schools.

One particular pony stands out in the crowd. With her grayish mulberry coat, sapphire blue mane and Cutie Mark in the form of a six pointed sparkle on her flank, the alicorn pony walks down one of the city's crystal streets and heads for a blue house oddly shaped like a pointed wizard's hat. Accompanying the alicorn mare is a small young dragon with light purple scales and harlequin colored spikes casually riding on her back.

"Do you think he's home?" Asked the small dragon.

"I hope so, Spike." Replied the alicorn pony. "I'm getting worried. We haven't heard from Starlight in days. I'm sure Sunburst knows where she is."

The pair walks up the stairs and approach the wizard hat shaped house. The pony knocks with a hoof on the tall, heavy, wooden, doors decorated by the theme of sun rays. They wait but no pony answers.

"I don't think he's home, Twilight" Said Spike. He looks around and notices the amount of unopened letters cluttering the house's mail box. "I don't think he's been home for days. Maybe he's at the castle?"

A panicked expression forms on Twilight's face. "Great. Now we have two ponies missing!"

"C'mon, We don't know if they're in any trouble." Spike turns over and lies on his back. He places his arms behind his head and leans on the back of Twilight's head. "Between Starlight studying with you and Sunburst working here as the empire's Crystaller, when was the last time those two spent quality time together?"

After hearing Spike's reasoning, Twilight slowly calms down, realizing that there is sense to what he said. "You're right, Spike. Maybe they're just enjoying some extended time off. I mean, Starlight and Sunburst have been pretty busy with their duties lately. Other than writing letters to each other, they haven't really been doing a lot of catching up."

"And we could always ask Cadence. Maybe the Princess of Love knows something about why a stallion and a mare would suddenly run off together." Joked Spike.

Twilight grins. "Really? What makes you think they'd want to suddenly run away together and drop off the face of Equestria?" She asked, humoring Spike's joke. "Now let's go see my sister-in-law."

The alicorn pony spreads her wings and leaps into the air with her dragon friend still relaxing on her back. They fly towards the center of the city which is a tall crystal castle shining brilliantly in the distance.

They arrive at the castle's main arch way where a crystal object shaped like a spinning heart floating on a spire is displayed for all to see. Twilight and Spike land by the object and make their way through the castle's carpeted halls. Past several Crystal pony Guards and several overly decorated, tall, stained glass windows, they reach the castle's opulent throne room where they are greeted by two familiar ponies.

"Hey Twilie! I bet I know why you're here." Said a light gray unicorn stallion with sapphire blue mane. His flank displays a Cutie Mark shaped like a blue kite shield decorated with a six pointed sparkle and three five pointed stars above it.

"I take it you're looking for your pupil?" Asked a smiling alicorn mare supporting a light grayish cerise coat and violet mane. Her flank displays a Cutie Mark resembling a light blue crystal heart with gold regal trims on both sides.

"Cadence! Shining Armor!" Twilight happily walks up to her sister-in-law and older brother. "You guys just saw me today. How is it that obvious?"

Cadence replies. "Our Crystaller, Sunburst, has not returned from his trip yet either. Most likely your pupil, Starlight, is still with him."

"You're not worried?" Asked Twilight.

Shining Armor reassures his sister. "Sometimes his trips take him outside of known Equestrian borders. He's been gone on far longer leaves before. Nothing to worry about."

"And to be honest, when Starlight came to visit, I was somewhat expecting it." Added Cadence, bashfully covering a grin with her hoof.

Spike, still riding on Twilight's back peeks from behind her head and looks at Cadence. "Wait a second. Wasn't it you that invited Starlight to visit the Crystal Empire a few days ago?"

Before Cadence could reply to Spike, the four of them were surprised as a lone distressed Crystal Guard bursts into the throne room. The guard is tired and panting as if he rushed here as quickly as possible from a great distance.

The guard presents himself to Shining Armor and performs a quick wing salute. "Sorry to interrupt, sir! We received word that Canterlot is currently under attack!" Said the guard with great urgency.

Twilight, Spike and Cadence over hear the news and share Shining Armor's surprise.  Shining Armor then asks the guard. "Under attack? Who would be bold enough to attack the Equestrian capital of Canterlot?"

"Is it Queen Chrysalis and a swarm of black changelings?" Asked Twilight.

"Is it a giant angry rampaging dragon?" Asked Spike.

At first, the guard was confused by the two consecutive questions, not knowing who to answer first but regains composure quickly. "N-no, your highness. Two unicorns forced their way into Canterlot castle and attacked the Two Sisters. Reports say the intruders resembled... The Princess of Friendships's sole pupil and our royal wizard, the Crystaller."

"Starlight and Sunburst? That doesn't make any sense." Twilight whispers to herself, more confused than surprised at the guard's report.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Shining Armor asked the guard.

"Yes sir. It was the last message we received before Canterlot's lines fell silent." The guard replied.

Shining Armor turns to Cadence. "We don't really know what's going on yet but in case the Empire get's attacked, I want our defenses to be ready."

Cadence nods at Shining Armor. "Take care, dear."

Shining Armor gallops out of the throne room's well decorated tall doors quickly followed by the lone Crystal Guard messenger.

Twilight walks up to Cadence. Her normally cheerful demeanor is replaced by a very serious one. "An attack on the Two Sisters is no joke. That's what you do if you want to get banished for a thousand years. Spike and I are heading for Canterlot to sort this out."

Twilight spreads her wings, preparing to take off but Cadence stops her. "Twilight, wait. Before you leave, I have to tell you something." The other alicorn pleaded, returning an equally serious look. "Certain events are about to take place. Whatever happens, you must believe in your student no matter what. Do you understand?"

"Geez, that's not ominous at all." Commented Spike sarcastically, now sitting upright once again on Twilight's back.

Twilight exchanges confused looks with Spike then turns to Cadence again. "I don't understand but I'll remember what you said. I promise, I won't lose faith in my pupil." Twilight spreads her wings and flys away. She and Spike fly out of the throne room's open doors at top speed as Cadence looks on.

Meanwhile, at the Kingdom of Canterlot, the interior of the throne room of the Two Sisters is illuminated by an eerie turquoise light. Dozens of Royal Guards lie motionless over the regally decorated marble floor of the throne room. They're all fast asleep, under the effects of some spell.

At the center of the throne room, just in front of the throne, the source of the eerie turquoise light is a large crystal. Suspended and motionless within the crystal is a dark blue  alicorn mare with sapphire blue mane. Her Cutie Mark is the symbol of the moon. Another alicorn mare with a light fuchsiaish gray coat and multi-colored mane of light cerulean, light cobalt blue and pale heliotrope stands beside the crystal. Her Cutie Mark is the symbol of the sun.

The sun marked alicron looks at her suspended partner in shock. "Luna, my sister! No!" She tries to reach for the crystal but is enveloped by turquoise magical energy now levitating her in the air. She looks back at her attackers, a unicorn stallion and a unicorn mare. Nothing special about them. Just a pair of ordinary looking little ponies.

The sun marked alicorn's horn begins to glow with the golden light of her magic in an attempt to free herself but turquoise chains of magical energy slowly creep around her horn and her body. The gold light from her horn fizzles and she struggles against the chains.

One of the attackers, the unicorn stallion, walks up to the chained alicorn. He wears an old, blue, shabby wizard's cloak decorated with many five pointed stars. The edges of his once opulent cloak are torn and damaged in several places. His face hidden by the wide brim of an old, blue, patched up, pointed wizard's hat.

He raises the brim of his hat with a hoof revealing a gentle face behind round glasses that could have seen better days as the left lens has a visible but thin crack running across it. "Hello, Princess Celestia, my former mentor. I'm sorry but we can't let you use your magic right now." He greeted with a smile.

Celestia looks at her second attacker. A unicorn mare wearing an old, plain, crimson sorceress cloak with its edges also ripped, damaged and worn from use. Her face hidden by the shadow of the cloak's old hood. Her horn glows with a turquoise colored light illuminating an evil grin.

Celestia recognizes them both. "Starlight? Sunburst? Why are you doing this?" She asked, confused and afraid.

Sunburst replies. "I'd tell you but you'll be out before I-" A flash of turquoise light encases Celestia in crystal. "-could finish."

Starlight walks close beside Sunburst and pulls back her hood. She has a sinister smiling expression on her face as she looks at Celestia now suspended in a glowing turquoise crystal similar to Luna. "Hm! That's what you deserve after what you did to us when we were foals."

Sunburst tips his hat at Starlight and smiles. "Your spell executions never fail to impress me."

"You think that's impressive? I'm just warming up." She boasted.

"I know but I like saying nice things about you." He replied warmly and then asks. "Are you ready to take on our third target?"

Starlight removes her damaged, old cloak and lets it fall to the marble floor. "I've dueled her before but what makes you think Twilight will come to Canterlot?"

Sunburst pushes his cracked glasses up and sits on his hind legs. "We could have taken Canterlot silently but my plan to take the Two Sisters was designed to make noise. Unlike the other princesses, your mentor's a meddling pony. Once she hears of this, she and her dragon assistant will come to the rescue."

Starlight's horn briefly flashes with turquoise light. She smiles cheerfully. "Yup, just as you predicted. Twilight's triggered one of my wards and is headed here right now."

"Good. I'll wait for you here." A malevolent and sinister grin appears on Sunburst's face. His eyes hidden behind the reflective glare of his damaged glasses. "Now go break your teacher's heart."

Starlight returns an evil smile and charges magical energy into her horn. A flash of turquoise light and she disappears, teleporting out of the throne room. Sunburst is left behind to quietly watch over the Two Sisters, the most powerful ruling bodies of Equestria now completely under their mercy.
> Chapter 3: A Princess and A Monster
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight, the alicorn Princess of Friendship, arrives soaring above the pony Kingdom of Canterlot. Together with her faithful assistant, Spike the dragon, riding on her back, the two watch in horror as they see Canterlot, once their former home, now up in smoke and flames. Several of the scenic ivory colored towers and buildings that the kingdom is known for are demolished to rubble. Royal Guards are seen assisting the frightened pony citizens with a kingdom wide evacuation.

"Did... Tirek escape again because... Heh, no pony told us." Joked Spike, trying to lighten the situation. Twilight glances back at him with a quick smile, appreciating his attempt but she quickly looks again at the chaos happening below them with a serious expression.

Spike squints as he sees something in the distance. He leans forward, hangging tightly on Twilight's neck. "Twilight, look. Is that Starlight?" He asked as he points to a light heliotrope colored pony waiting on the roof top of one of the remaining standing towers in the distance.

Twilight looks at the direction Spike pointed to and strains her vision. "Oh my gosh! That is Starlight!" She exclaimed.

With Spike hanging tightly on Twilight's neck, the two swoop down quickly and land on the tower where they saw their friend. Upon landing, Twilight trots over to the waiting pony to meet her. "Starlight, you're okay. Where have you been these past few days? What happened to Canterlot?"

Starlight smiles darkly at her mentor. "Welcome to Canterlot, Twilight. Do you like what I've done with the place?" She replied.

Twilight takes a step back. "S-Starlight?"

Turquoise light begins to glow from Starlight's horn. She aims her horn at Twilight as a turquoise stream of magical energy several feet wide projects from it without warning. The ground shakes and the air around them fizzles. Because of the width of the stream, it seemingly swallows Twilight and Spike only to reveal that Twilight had defended herself. A brilliant raspberry colored bubble shield of magical energy completely surrounds Twilight, protecting her and Spike. The shield causes the stream to splinter into several smaller streams spreading in different directions. Each one slices through any nearby structures, demolishing them.

Starlight's magical attack continued to persist, burning the air around them and now slowly pushing Twilight back. The Princess of Friendship strains to keep her protection up as small cracks now begin to appear on her shield. The brilliant raspberry glow of her horn starts to fade but a flash of light takes Twilight and Spike away. Starlight ceases her attack and looks around, still smiling evilly.

From behind the nearby rubble of a destroyed building over looking Starlight's tower, Twilight and Spike reappear in a flash of light. Confused and scared, the two quietly take cover from behind the rubble making sure to hide from Starlight's view.

"What the-? W-why is Starlight attacking us?" Nervously asked Spike, keeping his voice down.

"I dunno, Spike." Panted Twilight, still recovering her strength from the encounter. "There's something odd about Starlight and... Her magic. It felt like it kept getting stronger and stronger. If I didn't teleport us out of the way, her spell would have eventually broke my shield!"

"C'mon out, Twilight." Mocked Starlight. "My skill set got an upgrade since the last time we dueled. And this time, I'm playing for keeps!" She said, slowly looking around for her targets.

Twilight decides to peak out from behind the rubble hoping to reason with her friend and only pupil and maybe even find out what's going on. "Starlight, I don't understand. Why are you doing this?" She asked desperately.

Starlight projects another powerful attack upon hearing Twilight's voice. She aims her horn toward's Twilight's direction causing the even wider and more destructive turquoise colored blast to sweep through several Canterlot buildings, cutting them in half.

The heat felt from burned air and the scent of the singed surroundings caused by the blast comes close. Twilight with Spike on her back quickly takes off to the sky, leaving their cover behind to be vaporized by Starlight's attack. Starlight continues to aim with her spell but Twilight flys skillfully, dodging the flood light like turquoise colored stream of destruction and gains distance from Starlight high in the sky.

Starlight's attack stops. Her horn continues to glow with magical light as she looks at her targets flying high above her with contempt. "You lied to me! All those lessons, all that studying, they were all lies!" She shouted.

Turquoise colored energy begins to envelope Starlight and it slowly levitates her into the air. The energy surrounding her body reforms and concentrates into a pair of turquoise colored wings of magical energy on both her sides.

"All you wanted to do was keep me away from him!" Starlight screamed as she flaps her new wings shooting her upward with blinding speed. The shock wave of her take off shatters the ivory tower she was standing on.

Starlight passes Twilight in an instant and is now hovering above her. The speed and the massive shock wave of air being pushed apart caused by Starlight's flight stuns and surprises Twilight. Starlight takes the opportunity to project another deadly blast from her horn aimed at the unprepared alicorn.

Just barely, Twilight manages to dodge the spell by the tips of her wing's feathers. "Stop this!" Desperately pleaded the alicorn. "I don't know what you're talking about. Keep you away from who?"

Twilight continues to maintain her distance as the stream of magical energy thins, weakens and eventually ceases. Starlight attacks once again, this time, using her magical wings to fly directly at Twilight like a missile. With incredible speed, Starlight mows through Twilight like a dart knocking her off balance.

"Twilight!" Spike yells as the force of impact topples him off of Twilight's back. The young dragon starts falling towards Canterlot from hundreds of feet in the air.

"Spike!" Twilight yells back. The alicorn mare quickly regains her balance and swoops in as quickly as she can to catch her falling friend. She safely catches Spike on her back and the two slowly land on a nearby pile of rubble that used to be a building.

Twilight worriedly checks on Spike prone on her back to make sure that he's safe. The little dragon, not looking up, gestures with a clawed thumbs up, relieving his partner. Twilight then slowly turns her head and glares at a hovering Starlight menacingly. "If this is what you want, then fine. I'm gonna beat some sense into you even if it means I have to beat you senseless!"

Starlight mocks her teacher with a sinister smile. "Bring it, Prince-!"

In a blink of an eye, Twilight disappears by a flash of raspberry colored light and reappears instantly above Starlight. As quickly as she reappeared, Twilight projects moderately strong raspberry colored magic bolts from her horn aimed at Starlight.

Because of Starlight's magic wings, she dodges the attack effortlessly and returns fire with her own massive attack, laughing maniacally. Her laughter is short lived when she realizes her target has now vanished even before she aimed her attack. A flash of light and Twilight reappears once again, now underneath and very close to Starlight. She gives Starlight a strong buck to the belly with both hind hooves.

The shock of the kick breaks Starlight's spell attack. It knocks the wind out of her for an instance. When she regained her composure, she's greeted by the sight of an alicorn princess before her, wings spread and charging magical energy into her horn. A massive glyph in the form of a six pointed sparkle appears behind Twilight. Each of the six points of the glyph starts to glow. The air around the dueling ponies electrifies and fizzles intensely. Soon, each point of the glyph projects a powerful energy bolt and all six of them are aimed at Starlight.

As each bolt closes in on Starlight, her horn begins to glow. Her entire body becomes enveloped by her own magical energy, turning her transparent. When the bolts seemingly make contact with Starlight, they pass through her as if she was a ghost. 

"What?!" Twilight hovers in shock, eyes wide after witnessing her attack phasing through her opponent.

"You still haven't worked on your aim!" Laughed Starlight. She flys and twirls in the air, re-materializes into a solid form and projects another powerful stream of magical energy at Twilight.

Still surprised and unable to dodge, Twilight blocks the full force of Starlight's massive attack spell once again with her bubble shield spell. "Agh!" This time, knowing her spell cannot outlast Starlight's spell, Twilight quickly teleports away, disappearing in a flash of light. She reappears behind the rubble of a destroyed building far away from Starlight and drops prone on the ground, panting and tired.

Spike, still on Twilight's back worriedly looks at his best friend. "Twilight?..."

"I'm fine, Spike." Twilight replied, comforting her best friend. "But I've never seen spells like these before. She's faster, stronger and my magic just phases right through her. I don't know how to deal with this."

With a turquoise flash of light, Starlight appears hovering high above the resting alicorn and her dragon friend. "If you think I'm a hoof full now, wait till you get a load of this." Starlight boasted while her horn gathers magical energy.

Twilight and Spike watch in fear. A large orb of pure magic forms from Starlight's horn. Starlight looks at her spell with an evil smile then looks at her two targets below. The orb then slowly moves towards Twilight and begins to accelerate.

Seeing the magic orb now quickly closing in on them, Twilight leaps into the air and flys herself and Spike to safety. But to Spike's horror, the orb changes directions and aims itself right back at them. "I-is it just me or is that thing chasing us?" Asked the young dragon.

"Oh it is." Starlight laughs. "It'll chase you to the ends of Equestria if it has to. Its the magical manifestation of obsession, drawing power from its caster's feelings. One of the many spells my Sunburst wrote to protect me from the likes of you." The unicorn mare hovers in place with her magic wings, watching in amusement as her orb tirelessly chases Twilight and Spike.

No matter where Twilight flys to, no matter where Twilight teleports to, her efforts to avoid the orb of magical energy are made futile. It continues to chase her and Spike and continues to accelerate. Soon, she won't be able to avoid it at all.

"You don't seriously think you can keep this up forever, do you? Go easy on yourself and just quit already!" Starlight yelled, almost sounding frustrated. "The sooner I beat you the sooner Sunburst and I can go after all the remaining alicorn magic in Equestria!"

Just as Starlight finishes talking, she sees Twilight flying straight for her followed by the rapidly approaching energy orb. Starlight prepares to cast another attack spell on Twilight but the alicorn princess teleports in a flash of light. She reappears behind Starlight but the energy orb maintains its course. For the orb to reach Twilight, it will have to go through Starlight first.

"Oh no!" Starlight exclaimed with a worried look on her face. She tries to dodge the fast flying magic orb but it was too late. It hits Starlight... "Just kidding!" It phases through her. A now transparent Starlight evilly laughs at a tired and exhausted Twilight.

After flying straight through Starlight, the magic orb does the inevitable and hits Twilight who desperately blocks the orb with her bubble shield spell but it was no use. Like all of Starlight's attacks, Twilight begins to realize that the orb is not weakening like a normal spell. Instead, it does the opposite and continues to gather power, stronger and stronger, eating away at her shield. Twilight strains at the effort of maintaining her shield spell that is now beginning to crack.

From within her shield, Twilight, the alicorn Princess of Friendship looks at her sole pupil with compassion. "Starlight. I don't understand what's going on but I refuse to believe you've turned evil again." She then looks at Spike with a warm smile and says. "Spike, stay safe. This is as far as I can go. I believe in Starlight. She's our friend. I promise, we'll see each other again." 

With Twilight's last remaining ounce of magical power, she casts a teleportation spell on her dragon friend. "Twilight wai-" And Spike disappears in a flash of light.

Being completely drained of all magical power, Twilight's shield shatters and Starlight's orb of energy hits her. A bright explosion of turquoise light erupts from the impact covering the sky. When the bright explosion clears, Twilight is now seen suspended and encased in a glowing turquoise crystal of magical energy.

Starlight hovers over her defeated teacher. "See? Now that wasn't so hard. I know you can't hear me being suspended in time and all but trust me, this'll all be over before you know it." She said and begins to cast a teleport spell for herself and the captured Twilight. Seconds later, in a flash of light, they are gone.

From behind the ruins of a nearby demolished building, a disheartened little dragon watches as his best friend is taken away from him. "Twilight..."

Later, back at the throne room of the Two sisters, the unicorn stallion, Sunburst, continues to sit quietly and watch over the two crystal prisons before him that seals the Princess of the Sun and the Princess of the Moon. He hears hoof steps coming from the castle's empty halls. He looks over his shoulder to see a familiar unicorn mare enter the throne room levitating a third crystal prison with her magic.

"I'm back!" Starlight sang as she gently lowers the crystal holding the Princess of Friendship beside the other two crystal prisons.

"Already? I take it she wasn't that much of a challenge for a pony of your talents." Said Sunburst, smiling at his partner's return.

"It was a one sided fight." She boasted.

Sunburst pushes his cracked glasses up. "Was Spike with her?"

Starlight nods and smiles. "Yes, like you predicted."

"Did you make sure he heard we're after all alicorn magic before letting him go?" Sunburst asked.

Starlight nods and smiles again. "Yup, like you wanted."

Sunburst makes a sinister grin as he looks at the three captured princesses, suspended and helpless before him and Starlight. "He is little but he is brave. Soon, the young dragon will be on his way to warn our fourth target. After what happened here, the Crystal Empire's princess will likely evacuate her subjects to protect them and when she does, we'll have her exactly where we want her."

"Mmhm. Exactly like you planned... But do you absolutely need any of these... Alicorns?" Starlight asked, walking beside Sunburst. She sits on her hind legs and leans on his side gently. She smiles then snuggles him affectionately and adds. "When all you really need is me."

Sunburst looks at Starlight warmly and returns the affection. "Alicorn magic will serve as a battery for my Grand Master Spell. Once cast, their magic will be drained forever and their bodies will be destroyed."

He then gently puts a hoof around Starlight, pulls her closer and softly says . "These so called princesses, they think they're so special. Bearers of the Elements chosen by fate, but really, they're expendable tools to fate. And so, I will use them as they are. Nothing more but tools."

Sunburst closes his eyes, leans in and gives Starlight a loving kiss on her forehead. "Unlike you, you're irreplaceable. One of a kind. Even though destiny refused you, you made yourself special. I already lost you once, Starlight. I won't make that mistake again. When my Grand Master Spell is cast, fate and destiny will bend to our will. No pony will have to feel the pain of being torn away from their loved ones and nothing will ever tear us apart ever again."

"S-Sunburst..." Starlight blushes, her heart races, elated and content in the affection and love of her stallion. The more overwhelming emotions flow through her, the more her magic over flows with power. The Cutie Mark on her flank glows wildly with radiant light as if its unable to contain her feelings and unable to contain the limit of her magical potential.
> Chapter 4: Spike's Hope and Courage
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike the Dragon finds himself alone, wandering aimlessly among the deserted streets of the demolished Kingdom of Canterlot. His former home now leveled to the ground by the magic of a unicorn pony that he thought was one of his friends. What's worse is he lost his princess, taken away by the same unicorn. None the less, he is determined to get her back and to protect his remaining friends.

As the small dragon passes under a crumbling ivory colored tower, he stops when a piece of debris falls before him. He looks up to see a large section of the tower crumble and break off. The section begins to fall on top of him. Spike runs desperately trying to get away from the crumbling tower before it buries him but he isn't fast enough. Just as he thought he wasn't going to make it, his body is enveloped by a pale magenta colored light. The light lifts the dragon and immediately pulls him out of harm's way. The tower falls behind him with dust and a loud rumble.

The pale magenta light lowers Spike to the ground safely. The dust clears and he turns to see a brilliant azure colored unicorn pony with pale blue colored mane heading towards him. She wears a black top hat and a black bow tie. Her Cutie Mark is in the form of a five pointed star tipped magic wand crossed over a glittering cloak.

Spike recognizes the pony who had just saved him. "Trixie!" He greeted.

"Spike! Are you okay?" The distressed unicorn mare runs up to the small dragon. "What's going on? One minute, Trixie was setting up for her magic show, the next, Starlight appears out of nowhere and starts destroying the city."

Spike, happy to see a familiar face, gets up and hugs the azure unicorn. "I-I don't know. I don't know what to do, Trixie. Starlight took Twilight. She and Sunburst are kidnapping the alicorn princesses."

"What? Why would Starlight do something like this?" Asked Trixie.

Spike shakes his head. "Look. I have to get to the Crystal Empire. I-I have to warn Cadence. They'll be going after her next. Will you... Will you help me?"

Trixie pauses for a moment then smiles at the little dragon. "Trixie has come a long way from the days of spreading lies and using a soul sucking amulet to cause mischief." She takes off her top hat and throws it high in the air. Her horn glows with magenta light. Spike watches in wonder as the top hat bursts in a puff of magenta colored smoke and scatters little multi-colored flowers everywhere. The flowers gently float to the ground, surrounding Spike and making him feel... Lighter?

Trixie levitates Spike with her magic and gently rests him on her back. She looks at the small dragon and says. "It doesn't matter what happens. The show must go on!" And as fast as she can, Trixie with Spike on her back, gallops for Canterlot's train station.

A few moments pass. The pair come across even more destroyed buildings. They would occasionally see ponies helping other ponies cope with the loss of their homes and livelihood. What remains of the Royal Guards are seen helping too. Thankfully, it didn't seem like a lot of ponies got hurt but a lot of lives got ruined.

Spike couldn't help but think what possible reason would his friend, Starlight, have to do something like this. "I don't get it, Trixie. I mean, I know Starlight used her magic before to enslave an entire village of ponies but that was a long time ago. Sure she did a lot of bad things in the past but she's been working real hard with Twilight to change for the better."

Trixie thinks for a moment. "There can be any number of possible answers. You said they're capturing alicorns so maybe Tirek is behind all this?"

"Could be but it doesn't seem like his style mind controlling ponies to do his dirty work." Spike replied.

Trixie thinks again then says. "What about King Sombra, the dark magic wielding umbral unicorn stallion?"

"When the Crystal Heart was used on him, he exploded and we haven't seen him since. I think he might be dead." Replied Spike.

Trixie tries a third time. "What about evil alternate reality doppelgangers from an evil alternate reality mirror dimension?"

"Are you serious? Sounds like something that would only happen in a spin off." Replied Spike.

"Nightmare entity?"

"Sounds like something that would only happen in a comic book."

"Discord?"

"Fanfic."

Their conversation is cut short as Spike and Trixie arrive at the train station. The two are filled with a feeling of dread when they see the train tracks blocked by large wreckage preventing any train from leaving the station.

"Now what? At this rate, its gonna take us days on hoof to reach the Crystal Empire." Spike exclaimed.

The azure unicorn mare proudly smiles at her dragon friend. "Don't sweat it, Spike. Trixie's got this."

Spike looked at Trixie sarcastically. "Unless you can fly, I don't think so."

"Just sit back and enjoy the show. When the Great and Powerful Trixie says the show must go on..." Trixie's horn begins to glow with magenta colored light. "The show *will* go on!"

A bright flash covers everything causing Spike to shield his eyes. When he opens his eyes, he realizes he is no longer sitting on Trxie's back. The train station, everything has disappeared and its as if he is now standing in a void of pitch black. He looks around for his friend. "Trixie?" But his attention is drawn when he hears the click sound of two spot lights being turned on before him.

"Mares and Stallions, foals of all ages!" From where the two spot lights meet, the azure unicorn, Trixie, appears in a poof of smoke and glitters standing on her hind hooves with her front hooves spread high in the air. "If you've managed to read this far into the story then the Great and Powerful Trixie would like to show her appreciation and say thank you!" She announced and bows gracefully.

Spike looks around confused. "Story?... Who are you talking to?"

Trixie continues. "As you may know, one of our heroes, Spike the Dragon is in a bit of a pickle. He lost his best friend Twilight. His former home of Canterlot, destroyed. Something is wrong with two of his other friends, Starlight and Sunburst. And now, he needs to get to the Crystal Empire to warn his remaining friends of impending danger and hopefully rescue his princess Twilight. But he can't because the trains aren't running. How will he get out of this situation?"

Trixie winks and her horn begins to glow with light. She conjures a black baton and a black top hat appearing in a poof of smoke. She catches the top hat and baton with each of her front hooves. She tosses the top hat and it lands on her head while she twirls the baton and points it at Spike. "The Great and Powerful Trixie will show you how! Watch as she saves this hopeless situation by performing her most daring and most dangerous magic trick yet!"

"Yeah! Go Trixie!" He couldn't explain what was going on but the little dragon, Spike, finds himself getting swept away by Trixie's show. Only a second ago, he didn't know what to do but now, even though he still doesn't know what to do, Trixie's illusion magic is making him feel like everything is going to be fine.

Trixie continues. "Every pony knows that any unicorn who has mastered the teleportation spell can make themselves or others disappear from one place and reappear in another instantly. However, no pony has ever tried to teleport themselves from the Equestrian capital of Canterlot all the way to the once cursed isolated city at Equestria's end known as the Crystal Empire... Until today!"

"Wait, what?" reacted Spike. "Trixie, this isn't a joke. Even Twilight won't attempt to teleport that far."

"Of course she wouldn't. This is a death defying act." Trixie's horn begins to charge with magical energy. She levitates Spike and places him on her back. "Drum roll please!" A drum with two drum sticks appear in a poof of smoke. It floats in mid air and performs a drum roll by itself. "Will the Great and Powerful Trixie succeed and save the day? Or will she and her dragon friend fail and disappear into oblivion? No pony knows what's going to happen next!... Unless you browse later chapters!"

Spike fearfully hugs the back of Trixie's neck. "Wait! W-what if we poof inside solid rock. We might-"

Trixie interrupts him and says with a smile. "Ever since Starlight taught Trixie... Taught me this teleportation spell, I've been using it every night in my magic shows. Spike, I've had lots of practice. When every pony gave up on me, when I lost hope on myself, my best friend Starlight did not. Don't give up hope."

Hearing Trixie's plea, Spike calms down and places his trust in the azure unicorn. Trixie's horn continues to gather large amounts of magical energy. Shortly, a flash of bright magenta colored light takes Trixie and Spike away leaving behind a poof of smoke and bright glitters.

Meanwhile, at the Crystal Empire, news has spread of the disaster that hit Canterlot. Crystal Guards are seen everywhere guarding the pony citizens that live in the large city. Every crystal street, every crystal corner, a guard stands to watch over it. Even the skies are watched by the paroling winged Crystal Guards. Small green glowing orbs called teleportation wards placed on posts are erected everywhere to prevent unicorns from using teleportation spells to enter the city. There is great unease.

High above the empire's Crystal Castle, hundreds of feet in the air, a bright flash of light appears followed by the appearance of the small purple dragon, Spike and the azure colored unicorn mare, Trixie.

Trixie sees the Crystal Empire far below them. "Aha! We're here! Was there ever any doubt that the Great and Powerful Trixie could-"

"Get us killed?" Spike yelled as the two of them plummet towards the city's crystal streets.

They scream and panic as they continue to fall but out of nowhere, a Crystal Guard appears to swoop in and catch Spike on his back while grabbing Trixie with his hooves. Trixie looks up to see an unusual looking Crystal Guard. Sure, he is wearing the traditional helmet and saddle plates worn by the empire's many winged Crystal Guards but this one wears gold armor instead of platinum. His coat is of a light gamboge yellow and his mane was of a moderate sapphire blue color. This was not like the normal crystal sparkling coat and mane of ponies that lived in the empire. The saddle plates on his flank covers his Cutie Mark.

The guard looks below him towards Trixie and greets her. "Miss?" And then he looks behind him towards Spike and greets him. "Spike, the brave and glorious hero of the Crystal Empire. Its an honor. What're you doing all the way up here?"

Spike pulls the guard's face close to him. "Never mind that. Can you take us to Cadence and Shining Armor. Its real urgent."

The guard nods his head. He starts his decent and flys for the Crystal Castle. He lands by the castle's huge arch way beside the spinning heart shaped crystal object and sets both Spike and Trixie safely on the ground. The two quickly head for the castle's throne room. Soon Spike meets with Princes Cadence and her husband, Shining Armor.

Shining Armor, now wearing regally purple colored and gold trimmed armor, greets them. "Spike, you're back. Where's Twilight?"

Spike worriedly runs up to him. "S-she's gone! Starlight took her! She and Sunburst are taking all the alicorn princesses and I think they're coming for Princess Cadence next!"

Shining Armor exchange looks of concern with his wife. "Caddy?"

"I know, dear but it has to be." Cadence replied. "A bud will soon blossom into an enduring flower but not without great hardship. If the Reclused Wizard and the Mad Sorceress are after me, there's no reason to have the citizens of the empire involved."

Shining Armor nods to Cadence. "Very well. I'll have the Crystal Guards organize an evacuation and then we'll make our stand right here in the throne room." He then leaves to speak to a couple of near by Crystal Guards and gives them orders.

Trixie walks up to Princess Cadence. "Trixie doesn't mean to be disrespectful, your highness but are you nuts? Aren't you leaving with your ponies? Its dangerous to stay here."

"I can't believe I'm agreeing with Trixie but Canterlot looked like it got hit by an earth quake and then got trampled by several ursa majors. Starlight's magic is strong but I've never seen her like this before." Spike added.

Cadence thinks to herself for a second as if looking for the right words to say. "We all have a role to play. I'm just playing mine. That's as much as I can say for now. And speaking of roles, I'll need both your help with a very special one."

Spike and Trixie look at each other for a second then Spike looks back at Cadence and says. "Um... Sure?"

Cadence leads Spike and Trixie out of the throne room. The three of them walk down a hall, climb up a flight of stairs and enter a room. A baby's nursery room. The walls are colored with pale soothing hues. There are a couple of drawers and cabinets containing baby clothing. Some infant's toys are on the soft carpeted floor. A colorful mobile hangs from the ceiling. In the center of the room is a small, wooden, decorated crib with a little baby foal sleeping in it.

Cadence approaches the crib accompanied by Spike and Trixie and says. "Please. I need your help. Take my daughter as far away as possible from the Empire and keep her safe."

Spike looks at Cadence with wide eyes. "Us? Take care of Flurry Heart? Why not just send her away with a bunch of Crystal Guards?"

"Because she's not their responsibility." Said a voice from outside the room. A light gamboge yellow pegasus stallion with sapphire blue mane steps into the room. "Their loyalty is to Princess Cadence."

Trixie looks at the ordinary looking pegasus pony and observes his Cutie Mark being in the form of a yellow lightning bolt in front of a blue kite shield. She easily recognizes him even without his golden armor. "Wait! Trixie knows you. You were that Crystal Guard that saved us from falling earlier."

Cadence turns to the pegasus pony and introduces him. "This is Flash. He is a high ranking Crystal Guard but he is... Not my Crystal Guard. He will be the one responsible for protecting Flurry. You merely need to accompany him on his two fold mission for support."

The pegasus stallion, Flash, bows to Princess Cadence. "We Royal Guards always stand by our princesses." He then looks at Trixie and says. "While the the rest of the guards are assigned to protect Princess Cadence, I am solely assigned by Captain Shining Armor to be Princess Flurry Heart's personal guard."

"You know what to do, Flash. Stay away from the Empire." Said Cadence. She goes to the baby foal sleeping in the crib, looks at her lovingly for a second and then gives her a gentle kiss on the cheek. Cadence then hesitantly walks away from the crib and leaves the nursery room. Flash bows to the princess once more as she walks by him.

Hours pass. The Empire's citizens have been quickly relocated to near by neighboring pony villages and settlements recently established within the Empire's surrounding flat lands. The city is deserted except for platoons of Crystal Pony Guards occupying the streets. Each platoon, stationed at a city block, guards a teleportation ward. With the Princess of the Sun and the Princess of the Moon gone, their magic to make the sun and the moon switch places cannot take effect. The day stands still and the sun stays high.

Hours pass even more. The guards wait patiently, silently for anything. The silence is broken by a commotion among the guards. One pony guard turns to see that one by one, his fellow guards are falling asleep where they stand. Glimmering turquoise colored dust falls from the sky, surrounding the entire city causing any guard who touches it to fall asleep. Soon, not a single guard remains awake and a pair of little unicorn ponies walk the empty crystal streets, heading for the castle with no resistance.

Within the castle, every pony guard is fast asleep. Within the throne room, the Captain of the Guard, Shining Armor, stands beside Princess Cadence. Shining Armor's horn glows with rose colored light generating a special bubble shield spell that protects himself and his princess. The bubble shield projects several glowing glyphs designed to ward off both physical and magical intrusion. It protects them both from the effect of the sleep enchantment now surrounding the entire city.

The knight and the princess hear the sound of hoof steps from two ponies slowly making their way through the castle's now deserted halls and into the throne room. Shining Armor stands ready to face the intruders but he's distracted by turquoise colored magical chains that appear and slowly surround his shield. The chains creep all over and begin to tighten causing cracks to slowly appear on the surface of the shield. Shining Armor strains to maintain his spell.

Two little ponies enter the throne room to join the knight and the princess. A unicorn stallion wearing an old, blue, torn up wizard's cloak walks beside a unicorn mare wearing an old, crimson and damaged sorceress' cloak. The unicorn stallion smiles kindly from behind round cracked glasses while the unicorn mare's face is shrouded by her hooded cloak. They approach the knight and the princess.

Shining Armor quickly recognizes them. "Sunburst! Starlight! We hoped the news would be wrong but It really is you!"

Sunburst pushes his glasses up his face with a hoof. "Please don't resist. It'll be easier this way for all ponies involved."

"Why?" Shining Armor glares at the two unicorn ponies from behind is bubble shield spell. "Do you even understand what you've done? Any act to over throw the Two Sisters is punishable by banishment!"

"A law should protect all pony kind. Not just two ponies." Sunburst approaches Shining Armor's shield and traces its surface with a hoof. His demeanor changing from kind to grim. "When everything is in harmony, everything is unchanging. A thousand years of harmony is a long time. Once Starlight and I are done, everything is going to change."

The bubble shield projected by Shining Armor's horn shatters under the weight of the magical turquoise chains crushing it. "No!" With the shield out of the way, the chains phase through Shining Armor but they wrap themselves around Cadence's body and horn. Shining Armor, now exposed to the glimmering turquoise dust in the air, immediately drops and falls asleep.

Fearfully, Cadence tries to use her magic but struggles as the light from her horn is prevented from forming by a mysterious force. "My magic? Its not working!"

"Surprised?" Starlight pulls back her hood revealing the turquoise glow of her horn. She smiles at Cadence evily. "Those chains halt any form of magic movement from their prisoners. Normal magic, dark magic, chaos magic, the chains stop them all." She slowly starts circling Cadence. "They draw strength from their caster's confidence. Sunburst made this little spell for me to level the playing field against alicorns like you. Isn't he so thoughtful?"

"Sunburst?" Cadence looks at Sunburst carefully from head to hoof. At first she was confused why the kind and soft spoken Crystaller she knows would even play a role in any of this anarchy but her confusion quickly turns to shock when she realizes what it was exactly standing right beside Starlight. "You? ... Of all the threats I could imagine... It had to be you... if I only knew, I would never have let the citizens of the crystal empire leave."

For a second, Sunburst's eyes glow faintly. "The Crystal Heart's magic cannot harm ponies but it would easily defeat the likes of me." He approaches Cadence, maintaining his calmness. "Its powered by the light and love of your precious crystal citizens. Too bad you sent them away. Without them to power the Crystal Heart, it cannot be used against me."

The alicorn Princess of Love, Cadence, struggles desperately against her binding chains. "Starlight, wake up! That's not Sunburst! Where is our Crystaller? What have you done-"

"He's not *your* Crystaller!" Starlight shouted. A flash of turquoise colored light incases Cadence and suspends her in a large glowing crystal of magical energy. "He doesn't belong to you and you've kept him away from me long enough!"

"You are as dependable as always." Sunburst said, walking up to a teleportation ward in the middle of the throne room. He knocks it over and the green glass orb breaks as it hits the floor. "Now, bring in the rest of the offerings."

Starlight happily complies. Her horn gathers magical energy preparing a teleportation spell. Shortly, three flashes of light followed by three large magical crystals containing three different alicorn princesses appear around the throne room. The Princess of Day, The Princess of Night, The Princess of Friendship and now, The Princess of Love, the four alicorn princesses of Equestria, sealed and suspended in time, surround Starlight and Sunburst from where they stand. 

Starlight admires her work proudly and then turns to Sunburst happily. "Day, night, friendship and love. All four alicorns together under our control. Just like you wanted. Now can we end this?"

"Soon." Replied Sunburst. "My Grand Master Spell requires all alicorn magic. We need one more."

"One more? But who else is..." Starlight thinks for a second then realizes who Sunburst was referring to. "You mean Flurry Heart?"

"Of course. She is an alicorn. The first born alicorn in Equestrian history. And now she's going to be the last." Sunburst replied darkly.

After hearing that, Starlight hesitantly takes a step back from Sunburst feeling confused. "But you said your spell will destroy the princesses in the process. Sunburst, Flurry Heart is just a baby. Are you really- Agh!" Starlight puts a hoof to her head and strains to concentrate. "Why is it so hard to think?"

Sunburst walks in front of Starlight. He gently raises her head with a hoof making her meet his gaze. He smiles and says. "Starlight? Its me, Sunburst. Do you trust me?"

Starlight hesitantly nods.

"Do you believe I'll never tell you to do anything wrong?" Sunburst asked. His eyes glow faintly for a second.

"Y-yes..." Starlight hesitantly answers. "You always know what to do. And you're always there to help me."

Sunburst leans forward and gives Starlight a loving kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry I left you behind once. That was a mistake I won't make again. I promise you that we will be together forever and I intend to keep that promise no matter what it takes."

The confusion on Starlight's face is slowly replaced by satisfaction. She blushes and gently leans on Sunburst's chest. The stallion grins darkly and puts a hoof around the mare. He kindly pulls her closer to him as Starlight's Cutie Mark, once again, begins to over flow wildly with radiant magical energy.
> Chapter 5: Search for Answers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Grass lands with small crystal outcroppings spread far and wide could be seen as far as the horizon. A pegasus stallion flys through the sky. He pulls behind him an ordinary looking wooden wagon with the words Flash Rulez messily painted on the side with red paint. Riding in the wagon is a small dragon, a unicorn mare and a little baby foal sleeping in a humble straw basket.

"Hm. For a Royal Guard, you'd think they'd be able to spare a proper chariot for you." Said the unicorn to the pegasus pulling the wagon.

"Lady, you shouldn't have come along. Its dangerous. Spike and I got this." Replied the pegasus to the mare with an annoyed look on his face.

The unicorn leans over the front of the wagon. "Hey, Trixie has been on a dangerous mission like this before. We kicked the bad guys butts and Trixie did not die."

"Great." Said the stallion, sarcastically.

Spike peeks over the edge of the wagon. "She's telling the truth, Flash." He defended. "Trixie once helped Starlight save all of Equestria from Queen Chrysalis' evil plans. And obviously, because she's here, she really didn't die."

"Hmph!" Trixie turns around and sinks to the bottom of the wagon, leaning on its side. "So,  where are we going anyway?" She asked, while taking a quick look at the baby basket beside her to make sure Flurry Heart is undisturbed from her sleep.

"To look for answers." Flash points to the horizon with a hoof. "Before Canterlot was attacked, Sunny went on a trip to explore an ancient abandoned unicorn settlement deep within the Crystal Empire's Flat Lands. I know where it is."

"Sunny?" Both Spike and Trixie asked at the same time.

"I-I mean, Sunburst." Flash smiles sheepishly. "He's a close friend of mine. We were originally gonna go on this trip together but when we found out his old friend, Miss Starlight, was coming along, I kind of backed out... For his own good."

The group continues flying over empty spaces of grass lands and crystal formations for hours until they see the ruins of an old decrepit city in the distance. The decaying towers, crumbling buildings and cracked streets of the old city resembled the ones that could be seen in Canterlot with a few differences in design and their colors long faded by time.

"We're here." Flash said. He makes a slow decent towards the city's main gates while carefully towing the wagon full of his passengers behind him.

Flash lands himself and the wagon safely on the city's cracked marble streets. He detaches himself from the wagon while Trixie and Spike hop out. Trixie uses her magic to levitate the still sleeping Flurry Heart in her basket and keeps her close. Spike pulls out a small bag from the wagon containing baby supplies and he wears the bag on his back. The group then starts walking, following the empty, spooky, silent, old streets of the ancient unicorn city.

Spike looks around, trying to stay close to the group. "This place is old." He said.

"Very old." Agreed Flash. "Sunny said this place was old before the Two Sisters were even responsible for raising the sun and the moon."

"How come no pony's discovered it until now?" Spike asked.

"Do you remember when the Crystal Heart was shattered?" Flash asked, returning a question to Spike.

Spike nods. "Of course. I was there."

Flash continues. "This place has been covered by ice and snow for thousands of years under the mercy of the Frozen North. But when Sunburst repaired the Crystal Heart, its protective magic was reinforced. It pushed the Frozen North even further back away from the Empire, exposing this place to the light of day."

The group continue to follow the run down streets, avoiding large cracks and gaps until they reach a wide open plaza surrounded by large crumbling buildings. Trixie looks around, thinking this area may have once been a market place or a social gathering square. It certainly had seen better days. "So this is what Canterlot would look like if its been deserted and abandoned for thousands of years." She said.

"I know, right. I'm expecting a  herd of undead pony zombies to come out of the corner any second now." Said Spike.

Trixie catches up to Flash walking in front of her. "Alright, high ranking guard of the empire. This place is huge. If we're looking for answers, where do we start?"

Flash looks at Trixie and smiles. "Sunny's always looking for ancient spells to add to his research pool. Where can you normally find spells?"

The group stops walking when they reach a very large and old structure at the north end of the plaza. Its crumbling walls, broken windows and large, decrepit, half opened doors easily resembled Canterlot's own Royal Magical Library. And at the foot of the library's front steps is something that appeared out of place.

"Guys look! Saddle bags!" Spike points to them as the group rushes over to inspect two relatively new saddle bags that couldn't have belonged to any pony that used to live in this ancient city. One saddle bag is decorated with the theme of the sun while the other with the theme of the stars.

"This is Sunny's saddle bag. And I think the other one's Miss Starlight's." Flash said. He picks up both saddle bags and straps them to his back. He then looks at the library's front doors. 

The group all go through the large half opened decaying doors and into the library. Its dusty, the air is stale and the smell of aged paper from all the books, tomes and scrolls stacked within the library's numerous tall shelves is strong. They continue down the library's main halls until they reach something that looks frighteningly familiar. Flash, Trixie and Spike all stare at the cocoon like object.

"Is that what I think it is?" Asked Flash.

"Yeah. I've been in one of those before." Replied Spike.

"So has Trixie." She added. "Its a changeling pod."

Flash rushes up to the pod and starts inspecting it. He stands on his hind hooves and leans on the pod with his front hooves. "When a changeling takes the place of a pony, they use these pods to keep the real pony asleep and out of sight. Which means there's a pony in here." Flash peeks through the pod's translucent layers. His eyes open wide. "Guys help me out!" He starts to tear off the pod's fleshy covering.

Spike and Trixie quickly help him, peeling off chunks of the pod until the pony inside is uncovered and freed. From what remains of the pod, a sleeping unicorn stallion with a brilliant gamboge yellow coat and wild vermilion mane is revealed. His Cutie Mark is a symbol of a bursting sun surrounded by several four pointed glimmering stars.

Slowly, the unicorn stallion starts to wake up. "Uh? What?" He opens his eyes and immediately sees familiar faces looking at him worriedly. "Flash? Spike? Trixie? What're you guys doing here?" He tries to stand on his hooves but feels weak and almost loses his balance.

Flash immediately catches him and helps him up. "Welcome back, Sunny."

"Wizard horse!" Yelled Trixie. It echoes through the old library.

Sunburst shakes his head. "Ugh! Trixie, I told you never to call me that." He tries to fight the groggy feeling of sleep away. Sunburst pushes himself away from Flash and tries to stand on his own hooves again.

"Easy." Flash said, worried about his friend. "What's the last thing that you remember?"

"The last thing I remember?..." Still confused, Sunburst strains to concentrate. After a moment, his confusion changes to panic and then fear as his thoughts return to him. "Oh no! She got the jump on me! Starlight? Where's Starlight?"

"Yeah, we're hoping you could help us with that." Spike said sarcastically. "Do you have any idea why she's been busy capturing all the alicorn princesses and might be coming after Flurry Heart next?" He points to Flurry Heart still sleeping in her basket levitated by Trixie's magic.

"Wait. You brought her outside the safety of the empire?" Sunburst looks surprised at the sleeping baby foal then he thinks to himself for a second. "This means Canterlot and The Crystal Empire have fallen..." Sunburst sits on his hind legs and hangs his head low in shock, looking at the floor. "And its all my fault."

"Your fault? How? You've been asleep here the whole time?" Asked Spike.

Sunburst tries to push up his glasses with a hoof but then realizes he's not wearing any. "This isn't any ordinary changeling we're dealing with. Its Queen Chrysalis. She vowed revenge on Starlight when she reformed Chrysalis's brood. The changeling Queen took my place and enchanted Starlight so she can manipulate her into ruining her own life. But it gets worse. When Chrysalis found out I was working on Starlight's forbidden Cutie Mark spell, she came up with a plan to get rid of all the princesses and have all pony kind under her control."

Trixie remembers the stories Starlight shared about her forbidden spells. "Starlight's Cutie Mark spell is evil." Trixie said. "Why would you ever do anything with it?"

Sunburst takes a deep breath and exhales a heavy sigh. "When we were foals, Starlight and I... lost each other because of Cutie Marks. She grew up hating Cutie Marks so she made a spell designed to remove them from ponies, taking away everything special about them. Starlight told me she was ashamed of ever making that spell. But I wasn't. I knew her spell had a lot of good in it. Just like her."

Sunburst looks away and smiles weakly. "Starlight's spell has the potential to grant ponies a second chance. When ponies earn their mark, they're bound to it for the rest of their lives. They cannot be anything more or anything else other than the magic that their mark allows. I found out that with a few adjustments, Starlight's spell can reset the mark freeing a pony to be anything they want to be. Even gain a second Cutie Mark if they choose." He smiles even more fondly, thinking of his friend. "A spell that grants second chances suits Starlight so well..."

Sunburst gets up and starts pacing around. "At least that's what I was aiming for. Its why I came here in the first place. I needed more research material to complete the adjustments to the spell. If Chrysalis uses the spell as it is, it'll do nothing but harm."

"But harm is all I want it to do!"

The group hear a familiar but menacing female voice. They look to see who it was and to their surprise, sees another Sunburst walking with Starlight towards them through the library's dusty halls. This Sunburst is wearing cracked round glasses and a blue, tattered wizard's cloak. His horn glows with brilliant green light. His face expresses an evil grin. Starlight, who walks beside him, has a blank expression on her face. Her eyes are hollow and glow brilliant green.

As the Sunburst walking beside Starlight gets closer to the group, his body begins to burn with brilliant green colored flames. The flames slowly burn away at the pony form, part by part, revealing a completely different creature. Crooked horn, translucent insect wings, long dark cerulean colored hair and dark gray colored carapace body. The insect like creature stares evily at the group with opal colored pupils. With her true form exposed, the only things that remain of her previous form are the cracked glasses and blue tattered wizard's cloak which she quickly throws aside.

"You thought it was Sunburst but it was me, Chrysalis!" Said the changeling queen.

Spike sarcastically stares at Chrysalis. "It would have been so much better if Sunburst didn't already tell us it was you."

Chrysalis feels flustered for a moment. "Um. Very well, then. I shall take this time to explain my evil plan and-"

"He did that too already. He's too smart for his own good, sometimes." Interrupted Spike.

Sunburst, the real Sunburst, steps in front of the group. He sees his precious friend, Starlight, heavily under the influence of Chrysalis changeling magic. "L-let Starlight go!" He demanded from the changeling queen, trying to sound brave and failing.

"You can't tell me what to do, you're just a nerd." Chrysalis laughs at the unicorn stallion's feeble orders. "All that stands between me and my absolute revenge on your precious Starlight is that last alicorn." She turns to the unicorn mare hypnotized by her side. "Starlight, be a dear and retrieve the baby for me."

"Yes, Sunburst." Starlight replied.

The hypnotized unicorn, face still expressing no emotion and horn glowing with turquoise light, charges at Flurry Heart who is levitating in her straw basket beside Trixie. Trixie quickly moves Flurry Heart behind her and Flash covers them both with his wings and body. Sunburst cuts Starlight off by jumping in her path. His horn glows brightly with golden light, illuminating the halls of the library. Starlight collides with Sunburst, their horns crossing with great force. The two unicorns hold each other in place while gold and turquoise colored magical energy sparks fly from their crossed horns.

Sunburst couldn't move his head but he looks at Spike at the corner of his eye. "Spike, Chrysalis's enchantment works through channeling. I need you to-"

"Distract her? Got it!" Interrupted the small dragon. He runs past the two unicorns and gets between them and Chrysalis. He takes a deep breath and then exhales a thick black smoke at the changeling queen.

Surprised, the smoke makes Chrysalis take a step back. It spreads and covers Trixie and Flash protecting Flurry Heart. It envelops Starlight and Sunburst together with Spike. In no time, the dragon's thick black smoke completely covers their whole section of the library, hiding everyone from everyone else's sight.

Starlight and Sunburst stand together alone in the thick black smoke. It blocks out all light from the outside and the only light between the two unicorns is the light coming from the glow of their crossing horns.

"Starlight. Its me, Sunburst. Wake up. I need- I-I mean, we need you." He said kindly, smiling at his friend.

Without Chrysalis's influence, the feint green glow in Starlight's eyes fades away. She blinks and slowly becomes responssive. "S-Sunburst? Is that really you?" She weakly asked.

"Yeah, Its really me this time." He replied happily.

Starlight smiles back at her precious friend and the two unicorns gaze into each other's eyes. In unison, without words, the pair close their eyes and begin to concentrate, gathering both their magical energy into their crossing horns. The two differently colored light from their horns mix and combine into a bright white explosion swallowing the two friends. This explosion pushes and clears the thick black smoke away.

As the smoke vanishes, Chrysalis is seen standing by herself in the old library's dusty halls. The changeling queen looks around, annoyed, realizing that her prey had escaped. "Fools! You are only delaying the inevitable."
> Chapter 6: Feelings are Hard
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Across the large old city, far away from the ancient library, four figures appear in a flash of bright light hidden behind a crumbling tower. Spike and Trixie appear disoriented. Trixie looks behind her to see Flurry Heart now awake, wings spread and hovering close by. She quickly uses her magic to levitate Flurry Heart closer to her as the alicorn foal smiles and makes baby noises. Spike notices another unicorn mare's presence, sitting on her hind legs and looking at them. Heliotrope coat with purple mane, the unicorn mare greets the others reluctantly by shaking a hoof with an awkward smile.

Spike and Trixie look at each other and then back at the pony. "Starlight!" They both yelled at the same time and ran up to greet her with a hug.

"Welcome back, Star." Said Trixie, still hugging her best friend.

Spike looks around and notices they're a couple of ponies short. "I was about to say lets get out of here and get back to the Crystal Empire but where did Sunburst and Flash go?"

"My fault." Starlight gently pushes her friends off her and shakes her head, trying to focus. "Sunburst and I were trying to cast a joint teleportation spell but I-I messed it up. Too... hard to think. They appeared somewhere else in the city."

"We should go find them." Said Spike.

"Yeah. That Crystal Guard pony's our only ride out of here." Added Trixie.

"No." Starlight stops them with a hoof. "I was casting the spell but Sunburst was composing it. He knows where we are. If we move, they'll have a harder time trying to find us." She said and drops prone on the ground, feeling weak.

Trixie walks up to her friend. "Star? Are you feeling okay?"

Starlight lowers her head and covers her face with her front hooves. "No, Trixie. I feel... Bad. Really bad. Those things that I did, destroying Canterlot, dueling Twilight, I remember them all... And it was horrible. Ponies got hurt because of me. Their lives ruined. Their homes gone..."

Spike sits beside Starlight and places a claw on her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault. Chrysalis was controlling you with an illusion."

Starlight looks at Spike beside her. "She was controlling my feelings, Spike. Feelings I've been holding back but were always there." Starlight looks away. "They became... Overwhelming feelings. It didn't take much for Chrysalis to make me do terrible things with my magic."

Trixie looks at Spike for a second then looks at Starlight with compassionate eyes. "Star, I know you. No pony knows better than the two of us what its like to come from a really dark place. Compared to others, we gotta work extra hard to make something of ourselves. You helped me get out of that really dark place, Star. You don't ruin lives. You give ponies a second chance."

Flurry Heart floats from Trixie's back and lands on Starlight's head. She starts snuggling one of Starlight's ears and giggles playfully.

"See? If an innocent little baby likes you, you can't be that bad." Added Trixie.

Starlight plays with Flurry Heart for a bit. She smiles and slowly stands up, feeling a little better about herself. "Thanks, Trix."

"It doesn't matter whether you're a good pony or a rotten one." Said a voice echoing from all directions. "What matters is what all the other ponies think about you!" The ground begins to shake and bursts of brilliant green flames start appearing everywhere around the group. Spike, Trixie and Starlight all look around scared.

In front of them, a short distance away, a large burst of green flames reveal the Changeling Queen Chrysalis. She slowly walks towards them. "I know destroying you wouldn't be enough for my revenge, Starlight. But hitting you where it hurts is a fate worse than your destruction."

The group tries to run but the green flames surround them. They have no choice but to watch in fear as Chrysalis comes closer with a wicked grin. "My little pony, Starlight. I know you're greatest fear. You desire companions more than any pony I've ever met but after your precious Sunburst left you, you feared losing friends. You're so afraid of it that you didn't want to make friends ever again. At least until that meddling Twilight decided to take you under her wing."

The insect like queen hissed. Her crooked horn begins to glow with brilliant green light, charging it with magical energy. "Now that every pony has seen what kind of monster you can be, attacking all four princesses, leveling the Equestrian Capital, they'll all be afraid of you. And once I have that last alicorn, my revenge will be complete! You will lose all your friends, Starlight, and no pony will be your friend ever ag-"

An opened bottle of mashed peas hits Chrysalis in the face and interrupts her. The green goop smears all over her face. The glow of her horn slowly fades. The ground stops shaking and the bursts of brilliant green flames everywhere subsides. Chrysalis turns her head to see Spike, still in his throwing stance, standing right in front of Starlight. Trixie stands beside the little dragon, her horn glowing with magenta colored light. Their faces no longer showed fear.

"If no pony is going to be Starlight's friend, then Trixie is no pony!" She shouted at the changeling queen.

"Starlight, don't believe Chrysalis." Said Spike, pulling another bottle of baby food from his back pack. "Remember what Twilight told you back at Canterlot? That holds true for all your friends."

Spike and Trixie suddenly begin to levitate, enveloped in brilliant green magical energy. They panic. Chrysalis's horn glows bright green, her magic lifting Spike and Trixie off the ground. "You little pests. Stop spoiling my fun!" The queen hissed.

Flurry Heart quickly flys from Starlight's head. She hovers above Spike and Trixie. The baby alicorn's horn begins to glow with gold light. The light shines brightly over Spike and Trixie causing Chrysalis's magical energy around them to fade and fizzle. Spike and Trixie drop to the ground.

With a turquoise flash of light, a fierce looking Starlight teleports before Chrysalis, getting in between her friends and the queen. Her horn charged with magical energy and pointed at Chrysalis.  She blasts Chrysalis with a large turquoise stream of magical energy. The strength of the blast's shock wave knocks Spike, Trixie and Flurry Heart back behind Starlight. The ground rumbles and the air surges with energy.

The stream of light washes over Chrysalis. After a few seconds, Starlight ceases her attack only to see Chrysalis still standing there, unharmed. "W-what? You didn't even use a shield?" Starlight said, looking surprised.

"You can't fight the power of love, my little pony." Chrysalis smirks, her body still smoking from the heat of Starlight's spell. "If you didn't already know, we changelings feed off of the love meant for a creature who's place we've taken. The more love we consume, the stronger we become. By taking the place of your Sunburst, I was able to feed off of your love... For him. And your love was exceptionally exquisite. I've never been this strong!"

Starlight steps back, feeling confused. She looks around desperate and afraid. "M-my love... For Sunburst?"

Chrysalis continues. "There are many types of love. For family, for a friend, for a significant other. But yours was the type most sought after by all changelings. Pure, innocent and uncorrupted by lust. Poor Sunburst. Its laughable how you don't understand your own feelings for-"

Starlight stops Chrysalis by blasting her with another turquoise stream of magical energy. This blast is significantly weaker and smaller. It continues to weaken until the stream fizzles out. Starlight pants, exhausted from performing her attack spell.

"What's wrong? Tired already?" Chrysalis laughs. "I know your feelings are connected to your magic. The stronger your feelings are, the stronger your magic gets. But when your feelings falter, so does your magic. Maybe you should think of you-know-who. That'll give you a boost." Chrysalis mocked.

Starlight strains, trying to cast a spell, any spell, but the turquoise energy from her horn only fizzles. For the first time, her magical pool of energy feels thick and sluggish. Chrysalis's words about Sunburst kept distracting Starlight and the more it confused her, the heavier her magic felt. Like syrup, heavier and heavier until it felt like hardening cement. Powerless, she steps back and retreats, joining Spike, Trixie and Flurry Heart.

Chrysalis starts walking towards them with an evil grin. "Oh, so confused. So unsure of yourself. I'd destroy you here right now if I wasn't so amused seeing you suffer."

A distance away, Sunburst and Flash race through the empty run down streets of the old city. Sunburst, who has recovered his broken glasses and tattered blue wizard's cloak, gallops as fast as he can followed by Flash flying beside him who is wearing two saddle bags on both his sides.

"We have to hurry. If Chrysalis is looking for Flurry Heart, her alicorn magic will lead the changeling queen right to Starlight and the others." Said Sunburst to his pegasus stallion friend.

Flash glides in beside him. "So you have a plan to beat Chrysalis, right?" Asked Flash.

Sunburst looks away. "N-no. Um. Maybe. I-I dunno."

"Dood, you always know what to do." Said Flash confidently.

"Look, Flash. This isn't-..." Sunburst sighs. "Fine. Maybe I do have one. When Starlight told me she was having trouble using her magic with her lessons from Princess Twilight, I wanted to help her out. So, I did the only thing I can do."

"You wrote her a spell that'll help her with her studies? Nice." Flash interupted.

Sunburst sighs again. "This spell isn't even designed for fighting. In fact, its the opposite but maybe it can protect her from Chrysalis." He speaks more softly and starts to look disheartened. "All the other spells I wrote for her are useless against changelings... Like me. I'm not strong or brave enough to protect Starlight." 

"Dood, I've never seen you like this before." Flash gives Sunburst a confused look. "I'm a Royal Guard. Take it from me when I say there's more to protecting others than being brave or strong. Being kind and smart counts too and you got that in spades."

Sunburst looks at Flash from the corner of his eye. He thinks to himself for a moment then smirks. "Whatever, dad. Its none of your business what my horn smells like." He joked, feeling a little better about himself.

"Dood!" Flash smiles back.

Their conversation is cut short as the two stallions soon reach a ledge over looking the location of their friends. They see Starlight, Trixie, Spike and Flurry Heart confronted by Chrysalis.

Flash lands beside Sunburst. "Alright, what's the plan?"

Sunburst uses his magic to levitate an ordinary looking scroll he takes from one of the saddle bags strapped to Flash's side. "I have to get my spell to Starlight but we have to get Chrysalis off them first... Here's what we'll do..."

Starlight, Spike and Trixie with Flurry Heart soon find themselves cornered between Chrysalis and a huge, gaping, deep crack on the street. Chrysalis continues to slowly advance on the group. "You can run but you can't... Oh wait, you can't run either! Just give me the alicorn spawn, its all I want. Or are you waiting for that cowardly wizard to save you?" She mocked.

The sound of a galloping pony makes Chrysalis turn around and look behind her. She sees Sunburst charging straight towards her at top speed. The queen laughs. "Speak of the fool. His timing couldn't be better. Now watch helplessly, Starlight, as I destroy your Sunburst before you!"

"No stop!" Starlight yells out, desperately but it was too late. A brilliant green colored energy bolt is projected from Chrysalis's crooked horn, aimed right for the charging Sunburst. The bright green bolt hits the unicorn stallion... But it phases right through him and he vanishes into a blob of golden magical energy.

"What?" Chrysalis said, wide eyed and surprised.

Starlight quickly realizes what just happened. "A light manipulation spell!" She exclaimed.

Before Chrysalis could react, the pegasus pony, Flash, flys straight for a leaning, crumbling tower hanging right above the changeling queen. Flash twirls in mid air and slams his hind hooves right at the tower, bucking it at full speed. The force of impact explodes a large section of the tower, causing huge chunks of marble and debris to fall and completely bury Chrysalis in a loud rumble and a cloud of dust.

"Burying your enemy under a pile of rubble is just as good as any magic attack." Flash said.

"That won't hold her for long." Sunburst comes out from the corner of a building and gallops straight for Starlight. The gold light of his magical energy wraps itself around a levitated scroll he carries with him. Starlight, Spike and Trixie with Flurry all happily meet with Sunburst. Flash lands beside the group.

"Here, take this." Sunburst said, levitating his scroll to Starlight. "I wanted to give this to you a few days ago but.. I-I... better late then never, I guess." Sunburst scratches the back of his head with a hoof. "Remember when we were camping and I said I was working on spells for, um, a special some pony? I-I wrote this one specifically with you as my inspiration."

"Me? I'm your special some pony?" Starlight looks at Sunburst's scroll and uses her magic to levitate it. The light surrounding it switches from gold to turquoise. She tries to take a step closer to him but Flash cuts her off as the pegasus stallion excitedly tries to get a closer look at the scroll.

"What does the spell do?" Asked Flash.

"Does it let us travel back in time so we can prevent any of this from ever happening?" Asked Trixie. She rushes beside Flash, also trying to look at the scroll.

"Does it summon an army of giant undead dragon zombie ghosts to fight Chrysalis?" Asked Spike. He jumps right on top of Flash and Trixie.

"Guys, no. It does none of those things." Sunburst said annoyed, gently pushing his friends back with his magic so they would stop crowding around him and Starlight. He pushes his slipping glasses up his face.

Sunburst turns his attention to Starlight once again. He moves closer to her with a gentle smile on his face. "Starlight, do you remember in one of your letters, you told me that you got in trouble for trying to make friends using your magic? Princess Twilight even scolded you about it."

Starlight remembers a long time ago when she tried to complete one of her mentor's lessons using her spells. Twilight told her to try and make friends with other ponies so she used a mind control spell on them to get the job done. It almost caused a fire and a flood. Things didn't pan out very well for her that day.

Sunburst moves even closer to Starlight and looks into her eyes. "The other ponies said you shouldn't rely on magic because it causes trouble but I-I think they're wrong. Ponies shouldn't be discouraged from using their talents. Magic is your talent. Don't be afraid to be yourself."

He gently places a hoof on a part of her mane covering her face and carefully pushes it aside. He looks away sheepishly with a blush on his face. "Magic shouldn't be used to solve every problem but I know your work with the Princess of Friendship means a lot to you... I-I thought maybe I can compose a spell that'll let you use your magic with your studies and not get you in trouble."

Starlight's heart begins to beat faster. Her face heats up and she starts to feel emotions she doesn't understand but does recognize. These feelings were exactly how she felt a long time ago when she was a little filly and Sunburst was teaching her how to cast spells for the very first time. He's encouraging her to use her talents, encouraging her to be herself. Starlight could feel her magical pool of energy begin to flow and lighten once more. First like water, getting lighter and lighter until it flowed freely like air. Brewing like a storm!

Starlight looks at her friend fondly. She wanted to say nice things about how he makes her feel and nice things about her feelings for him. But before she could even start,  a brilliant green bolt of magical energy blasts Sunburst from his side.

Flash, Trixie, Spike and especially Starlight all watch in shock as they see the force of the magical bolt knocks Sunburst to the ground. The unicorn stallion rolls a great distance until his smoking body falls over the edge of the huge gaping crevasse on the old city's cracked streets.

"Sunburst!" "Wizard horse!" "No!"

Without a word, Flash takes off at great speed and dives right into the large crack after Sunburst.

"Ah! How annoying. Does he really think a single spell can save you from me?" Said a voice coming from the rubble behind the group. Starlight, Trixie and Spike now see the changeling queen, Chrysalis, has partially managed to dig herself out.

Chrysalis continues to pull the rest of her body from underneath the pile. "I've destroyed your life, I've destroyed your love, now, my little pony Starlight,  I'm going to destroy whatever's left and I'll make you witness it all." She laughs wickedly. Her crooked horn begins to glow with brilliant green light.

The baby alicorn, Flurry Heart, hiding behind Trixie becomes enveloped in bright green bubble. She levitates against her will, slowly floating towards the changeling queen. The little baby struggles to fight the spell but isn't strong enough. She begins to cry as Starlight, Trixie and Spike watch helplessly.

Starlight looks at Sunburst's scroll before her. She quickly opens it and begins studying the spell. Her eyes widen after realizing what this spell does. Its risky, she thought, but it could work and there's no more time to think this through.

Starlight charges magical energy into her horn. The turquoise glow of her magic illuminates their surroundings. It continues to glow brighter but the light is soft and warm. At first, Chrysalis ignores the spell but as the light begins to shine on her, the bright green light of her horn fades. Flurry Heart breaks free of Chrysalis's hold and flys back to Trixie and Spike.

"What is this? What're you doing?" Distracted by a strange feeling, Chrysalis stares at Starlight.

The warm light continues to cast on the changeling queen. After a moment, the turquoise glow of Starlight's spell fades. Chrysalis pauses where she stands, still staring at Starlight with a confused expression on her face.

Starlight opens her eyes. With an air of loneliness around the pony, she looks at the changeling queen. "I always thought they were just soldiers, minions, pawns. Now I understand. Your changeling brood, they were your family. You were only looking out for your family. Looking for food to feed them so they wouldn't starve... But I took your family away from you... I didn't have the right to-... I don't know what to say, Chrysalis... I'm sorry."

A single tear slides down the side of Chrysalis face. At first she didn't notice the tear but when she did, she looked surprised and then quickly wiped it off. She looks at Starlight with fear in her eyes. "Fool! What have you done to me?"

"Do you remember, a time ago, you told me once that I didn't know what it was like to be a changeling or to be their queen?" Starlight smiles sadly at Chrysalis. "Sunburst's spell has a very simple but powerful effect. It lets two creatures see each other's point of view. I now know what its like to be you and to be a changeling. Just as how you now know what its like to be me, to be a pony, to have and to lose friends..."

Chrysalis is speechless, scowling at Starlight. A few seconds later, Flash emerges from the gigantic cliff like crack in the street. He hovers, carrying an unconscious Sunburst with his hooves.

"Guys, we have to get back. Sunny's not doing so well." Said Flash. His voice calm but a deep look of concern on his face. 

Chrysalis couldn't help but stare at the unconscious unicorn stallion. Another tear slides down her cheek. She angrily scowls at Starlight for a moment then grimly says. "You win, my little pony... I yield."

Large bursts of brilliant green flames, begin to consume the changeling queen. The flames continued to burn until there is nothing left. Chrysalis escapes, using her own changeling magic to teleport away.

Flash gently lands and carefully rests Sunburst on the ground. Starlight, Trixie, Spike and Flurry Heart all rush towards him to see to their injured friend's condition.
> Chapter 7: The Punishment, The Other Two Little Ponies and The Rouge Princess
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With the return of the Two Sisters, the sun can now set once more and the moon can rise in its place. A few days had passed since the events that took place in Canterlot. As the sun rises for another morning, the pony citizens of the ivory towered city begin to rebuild their homes and their lives.

Inside Canterlot Castle, in a large circular room with tall stained glass windows, well decorated ceiling and carpeted marble floor, the unicorn mare, Starlight, sits in the center. She is surrounded by four imposing marble seats decorated with gold trims and silk fabric. Each seat is occupied by an alicorn princess. The Princess of the Sun, Celestia, the Princess of the Moon, Luna, the Princess of Love, Cadence and the Princess of Friendship, Twilight.

Starlight raises her head and addresses the alicorns with dignity. "I'm ready to accept whatever consequences my actions have caused. You may proceed."

Celestia looks at the other alicorns. They all nod to her. Celestia looks at the little unicorn pony in the center of the room. "Starlight. For laying waste to Canterlot, for harming innocent ponies and above all, for causing harm to the Two Sisters with your magic, you are hereby sentenced with indefinite banishment taking effect upon the first moon rise."

"I am sorry, Starlight." Said Luna, regretful in her tone. "This is our way and we must follow it. An assault against the Two Sisters is punishable by banishment. We understand and take in to account the former changeling queen's involvement. However, a thousand years ago, when Nightmare Moon first appeared, even I was not above this law."

Starlight lowers her head humbly.

"Starlight, let me start off by saying I'm proud to have you as my student. And I'll always be your teacher..." Twilight glances at Cadence briefly. Cadence nods back to Twilight and she smiles. Twilight leaps off of her high imposing seat. She flys down and lands before Starlight. "Because even though after you're banished, you're still gonna be my student. Can't get away from me that easily." She added jabbing Starlight with a hoof.

"What?" Starlight asked, surprised and eyes wide.

Cadence giggles and follows Twilight. She leaps off her high seat and lands beside Starlight with a smile. "The rule must be followed. You caused harm to the Two Sisters so we have to banish you but that doesn't mean we don't have a say *where* to banish you to."

Twilight hugs Starlight warmly. "Ooooh! I am so going to miss you. Don't worry. I've already made arrangements to move your personal belongings. Just promise you're going to write to me each chance that you get. Or else, I'm gonna visit you and embarrass you in front of all of your friends."

"Wait a second. Visit me? Where exactly am I being banished to?" Starlight asked, gently pushing Twilight away from her personal space.

"Hatchlings need to leave the nest if they want to learn to spread their wings." Celestia smiles and respectfully bows to Starlight. "When Twilight was my student, I treated her no differently. I sent her away to learn things on her own pace and to find her own identity. Now as Twilight's student, it is your turn to find your own way to grow and to be who you are."

"We have never seen such magical ability since the days of our mentor, Starswirl." Added Luna, respectfully lowering her head to Starlight. "We will watch your progress as a sorceress very closely."

Cadence places a hoof on Starlight's shoulder. "The trains leaving from Canterlot are still not operational. I would really recommend that you allow me to give you a ride to your new home."

"My new home?" Starlight asked.

Cadence nods. "Your punishment is indefinite banishment to the once cursed isolated city at Equestria's end also known as the Crystal Empire." Cadence begins to lead Starlight out of the room. "I know its not as peaceful as your typical slice of life pony village and the empire is usually a magnet for all manner of magical monsters and disasters but I think for someone with your talents, you'll fit right in."

Twilight follows them cheerfully. "And its better than being banished to the moon for a thousand years, right? Right?"

Starlight walks with the two alicrons, speechless and feeling beside herself with confusion and relief.

***

Night falls at the Crystal Empire. The crystal structures and crystal streets glow with various colors of soft light like natural lamps and light posts that illuminate the city at night. At the arch way entrance of the castle, the unicorn pony, Trixie, sits in front and observes a spinning heart shaped crystal object on a spire.

She continues to stare at the spinning heart shaped object, unblinking. "So this little thing is what's keeping the whole Crystal Empire and its surrounding land from being eaten by the Frozen North. For something so important, its displayed for every pony to see. What if some pony accidentally knocks it over and shatters it or something?"

"I know, right?" Said a familiar voice from behind the unicorn. "Crystal ponies really like that thing. I've been living here for a couple of years now and all I can say is seeing that thing makes them happy."

Trixie turns around to see the pegasus pony, Flash. He sits beside her. Trixie's face lights up as if suddenly remembering something. "Hey. Trixie's been meaning to ask you about something. Your coat and your mane, they're not like the other Crystal Guards. Trixie wants to know why."

"Well, I am not a native crystal pony." Flash explained proudly. "I'm just an ordinary pegasus pony from Cloudsdale. In fact, I'm the only non-native Crystal Guard."

"So how'd you end up with this gig?" Trixie asked.

"Hm. Lemme see. How can I put this?" Flash strains to concentrate, looking for the right words to say. "I've always wanted to be a Canterlot Sky Guard. But after failing the entrance exam for the umpteenth time, the Crystal Empire reappeared from its thousand year curse of banishment. Then Captain Shinng Armor recommended me as a Crystal Guard instead. And now I'm here."

"Oh." Trixie looks surprised. "For a high ranking personal guard to Princess Flurry Heart, that's not what Trixie was expecting. "

"Did you think I was special because I'm the sole Crystal Guard of Princess Flurry Heart? Nah, I'm basically the runt." Flash said, laughing. "It wasn't what I wanted too. At first, living here didn't feel right. Like I didn't belong but after I met Sunburst, well, things got way easier. Its amazing what a difference a single friend can make."

"Hm. Trying to find a place where you belong... Trixie knows how that feels." She looks away from Flash and continues to stare at the spinning crystal heart before them. A moment of silence passes as Trixie thinks to herself but her thoughts were interrupted.

"So where are you headed now?" Asked Flash.

"Back to Canterlot. Just waiting for the trains to start running again." Answered Trixie.

Flash gently pokes Trixie with a hoof on her shoulder getting her to look at him. "I heard you used a teleportation spell all the way from Canterlot to the Crystal Empire. That was pretty-"

"Dumb?" She interrupted, rolling her eyes.

Flash shakes his head and smiles. "Nah, dood. I was gonna say hardcore. I don't know a lot of ponies who throws caution to the wind like that. You're very brave."

"You liked that huh? You should see one of Trixie's shows." She smiles back at him and bows gracefully. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is a show pony. She travels from town to town performing magic shows for ponies of all ages to enjoy." Trixie gets up and straightens her bow tie. "Its not as epic as fighting monsters or saving empires but its a living."

"Wow." Flash's face lights up. "I've never heard of your show. How come you've never performed in the Crystal Empire before?"

"The Crystal Empire's too far away to travel on hoof. All of Trixie's gear is in her house and when she means house, its that shack on wheels she pulls around all over the place. If only trains allow her carriage maybe Trixie can put on a show here." She explained, scratching the back of her head.

Flash leaps up in the air and hovers around Trixie with his wings. "It may be too far for you but not for me. If you let me pull your carriage, I can fly it across the sky. Flying from Canterlot to the Crystal Empire's no big deal. I've done it a couple of times and even with a carriage on my back, its cake."

The unicorn pony curiously looks up to the hovering pegasus pony. "Why would you do something like this for Trixie?"

Flash lands beside Trixie and places a hoof on her shoulder. "You travel all over Equestria by your lonesome self, spreading joy and happiness with your magic shows to ponies you don't even know. That's *not* nothing at all." Flash spreads his wings and points to them. "See these things? They're not special. They'll never make a rainboom or anything important like that but if you let them help you spread that joy and happiness a little further, at the very least they can do something special."

The two of them look at each other for a few of seconds. Trixie begins to feel teary eyed and  choked up. She turns away and shakes off the feeling. She turns to Flash again and smiles. "Trixie is happy to accept your offer."

***

A mulberry colored alicorn mare spends her evening quietly at her study. Several scrolls litter her wooden oak desk. Half melted candles and lamps with gold glowing crystals lights her surroundings. Among the shelves packed with hundreds of books, the alicorn Princess of Friendship, intensely studies the scrolls before her.

A small purple dragon carrying a pillow enters the alicorn's study. He walks up to the alicron. "Hey, Princess Sparkle face. What're you doing?"

"I missed you too, my brave and glorious Spike." Twilight replied. She turns to Spike and levitates him with her magic. She places Spike by her side and snuggles the little dragon. "I'm studying copies of the spells Sunburst composed for Starlight and... I've never seen anything like these before. Especially the one Starlight used to defeat Chrysalis."

Spike leans forward trying to look at the scrolls and all he sees are arcane writing he cannot understand. "Really? That sounds boring. C'mon, lets go to bed."

Twilight ignores Spike's comment. "Did you know Sunburst's Chain Binding spell only works on alicorns? Or that his Empathy spell can only take effect on a subject once in forever? Since the Empathy spell was already cast on Chrysalis, it'll never work on her again. Ever! You saw it cast first hoof, right? How was it?"

"Well..." Spike rubs his chin with a claw, thinking to remember. "It wasn't what I was expecting. Nothing epic at all. Chrysalis got hit by the spell, it made her sad and then she went away. I'm not complaining, though. It saved our lives but what kind of spell is designed to make bad guys sad?"

Twilight wraps a hoof around Spike's body and pulls him closer. "Spells are like songs, Spike. Starlight has a very good singing voice while Sunburst is a very good composer." She points to the Empathy Spell scroll on her desk. "Look at this spell. When wizards compose spells, they use an aspect called a Deep Exception to make compositions more pronounced for their casters."

Spike scratches his head. "I don't get it."

"Alright. Take a basic levitation spell, for example." Twilight's horn glows with raspberry light. She uses her magic to levitate a nearby book and starts moving it around. "Any unicorn can use it to manipulate any object. A unicorn can use a levitation spell on a broom to sweep the floor, right?" She levitates the book into a shelf and neatly inserts it among other books.

"But now consider a Room Cleaning Spell." Twilight once again gathers magic into her horn. She points her horn at a book shelf and enchants it. All the books from the shelf magically fly out and start floating around on their own. All the books then rearrange themselves in order and re-shelve themselves once more. "When its cast on a messy room, the room cleans itself autonomously without conscious control from the caster. Its better at cleaning rooms than moving a broom yourself but the spell can only ever be used to *clean rooms.* Nothing more."

Spike rolls his eyes. "Okay... So a levitation spell on a broom can be used to clean a messy room while a Room Cleaning spell is better at the job but its specific to only cleaning rooms?"

Twilight grins enthusiastically at Spike. "Yup. That's an example of a tier one Deep Exception.  The deeper the exception on a spell, the more pronounced its effects become. Any spell that uses a *Forever Condition* is a tier five." 

Twilight uses her magic to roll and levitate all the scrolls before her. "Sunburst's Empathy spell is the first tier five I've ever seen created in modern Equestrian times. He made this spell specifically with Starlight in mind and her feelings at heart." She smiles and embraces all the scrolls with a light blush on her face.

Spike crosses his arms. "I know I'll regret asking but why are you telling me all this?"

"Because I'm not prepared, Spike. They grow up so fast." Twilight pulls Spike's face close to hers. "I admit, my magical knowledge has reached its limit to be much of a challenge for Starlight's still growing abilities. And Sunburst doesn't have the ability to test out the limits of his own increasing magical creativity. But now that they're studying together, there's no telling what kinds of magic they'll come up with."

Spike pushes Twilight away. "They're not gonna open a portal to oblivion and get sucked in. Only some sick pony like you would worry about something like that."

Twilight stands up and leaves her desk. She starts pacing around the study room. "Spike, I'm sending you on an important assignment. I need you to go to the Crystal Empire and check in on Starlight at least once a week. I mean, she's gonna need your help to send me her letters anyway so-"

"Starlight's gonna think you don't trust her." Spike interrupted, rolling his eyes.

Twilight throws herself at Spike, prone in front of him with wide eyes. "Of course I trust her. When it comes to magic, Starlight and Sunburst are the last ponies I expect to do dumb things but still... I wanna know if... I need to be ready... For their future, Spike." She leans her face even closer, making Spike back away. "Their future!"

Spike palms his own face with a claw and groans. "Fine. I'll go to the Crystal Empire this weekend."
> Chapter 8: Two Little Ponies Again
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starlight is walking down the city's bright crystal streets. She comes by a small but brightly lit snack shop. There are several round tables in front of the it, each one lit by a small glowing gold crystal in the center of each table. A few of the tables are occupied by some random ponies but one of them seats two familiar ponies. Starlight sees Trixie and Flash sharing a pizza together. They turn around to see her. She waves to her two friends and she walks up to meet them.

"Hey, Star. We heard the news. How are you holding up?" Greeted Trixie.

"Okay, I guess. Its better than being banished to the moon for a thousand years." Starlight said with a nervous smile. She takes a seat beside Trixie. "Twilight already had my stuff moved to the Crystal Castle until I could find my own place so its not like I'm homeless or anything. But speaking of homeless, the trains to Canterlot aren't running yet. How are you gonna get back to your carriage?" She asked Trixie.

"Princess Cadence is letting Trixie stay at the castle for a while so we're kind of dorm mates. And Wing Pony's got me covered too. We'll fly to Canterlot tomorrow morning so he can air lift Trixie's carriage back here to the Crystal Empire." She answered, happily pointing to Flash with a hoof across the table.

"Yeah. I can't wait to see Trixie's magic show." Flash said while chewing on his slice of a pizza.

Starlight sighs. "Well, sounds like you two have a plan."

Hearing Starlight sigh, Trixie looks at Flash with concern. Flash shrugs his shoulders and Trixie looks back at Starlight. "Um, have you visited Wizard Horse yet?" She asked Starlight.

"Sunny hates it when you call him Wizard Horse." Interrupted Flash while still eating his pizza slice.

Trixie gestures to him with a hoof. "Oh please, he's not here. He's still sleeping back at the hospital."

Starlight's eyes widen in surprise. "Wait, he hasn't woken up yet? But its been days."

"I saw him yesterday." Flash reassured Starlight after taking a sip of his apple cider. "The doc says he'll be fine but he needs time to recover from being exposed to that much changeling magic. Chrysalis did a number on him, after all."

Trixie looks at Starlight with concern. "You haven't visited Sunburst yet, have you?"

Starlight slowly shakes her head and looks down. "U-um, no. I was held up at Canterlot... and... I guess I've been putting it off."

"How come?" Trixie asked.

Starlight sighs heavily. "Even though we beat Chrysalis, she still got her revenge on me. I'm banished to the Crystal Empire and a pony I really care about got hurt. After what Chrysalis did to Sunburst, I just don't know what to say to him."

"Miss Starlight?" Flash started. "I don't know you that well yet but I do know Sunny. He talks about you a lot. He looks up to you and has nothing but nice things to say. Just go see him. You have nothing to be scared of."

Starlight's face lights up. "He talks about me? What does he say?"

"Wizard Horse says you're loud and bossy." Answered Trixie before Flash could say anything.  Trixie discretely winks at Flash and then returns her attention to Starlight. "Isn't that right, Flash?"

Starlight suddenly gets up from her seat and glares at Flash. "What? How are those nice things?" She asked angrily.

"U-um. Sunny means you have a clear speaking voice and... good leadership skills?" Flash said nervously, shrinking in his seat.

"Sunburst! That little... I'll show him who's loud and bossy!" Starlight angrily storms away from the shop and heads for the hospital.

After Starlight left, Flash looks at Trixie and laughs. "You sneak. You did that on purpose to make her visit-... Is that why you're called Trixie?"

"You can lead a pony to water but you can't stop them from being stubborn." Replied Trixie, grinning back at Flash. "The Great and Powerful Trixie was, is and will always be a trickster pony."

Starlight continues to stomp down the crystal streets, fuming with a bitter mood as she heads for the hospital to give Sunburst a piece of her mind. She passes by Sunburst's wizard hat shaped house and notices the lights are on. Starlight thought this was odd. Why would the lights in Sunburst's house be turned on when he's in the Hospital? She thought.

Starlight decides to investigate. Her anger fades and is replaced with curiosity. She crosses the street and walks up to Sunburst's house. She carefully walks up the stairs leading to the house's large wooden front doors. Starlight notices that the front door is slightly open. She begins to think that there might be an intruder in Sunburst's house.

Starlight carefully pushes the door open, making sure to not make noise and walks in. Her horn glows with magical energy, ready to attack any possible intruder she may encounter. When she steps into Sunburst's study room, she sees none other than Sunburst, still wearing his cracked round glasses and tattered blue wizard's cloak. He's sitting at his desk while  simultaneously writing on several scrolls with several quills all levitated by his magic.

"Sunburst?" Starlight said, looking surprised.

Sunburst turns around, startled. "Starlight?"

Starlight deactivates the magic from her horn and worriedly walks up to Sunburst sitting at his desk. "Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital?"

"Yeah, the nurse thinks so but I snuck out." He said calmly, returning his attention to write with his magic on all the scrolls. "When I woke up, I had all these new spell ideas, I just had to write them down or else I'll forget about them. I asked for some scrolls but they said no because they wanted me to rest. So when the nurse left the room I-"

"Drop the tough guy act." Starlight interrupted, still sounding worried. "You should be recovering from your injuries." 

"I'm not acting tough. I just need to write stuff down." Replied Sunburst, not taking his attention away from his compositions.

Starlight's worry changes to annoyance. "Sunburst, get back to the hospital right now or I swear, I will carry you there as humiliatingly as possible!"

"I am a grown stallion, Starlight. I'm fine and I can do what I want." He continues his writing.

"What you want isn't always good for you!" Starlight said angrily. She uses her magic to take all the quills and scrolls away from Sunburst by force. The gold light levitating each item gets taken over with turquoise light. Sunburst could only watch as the items are crumpled and thrown to the side.

Sunburst stands from his seat and leaves his desk. He walks up to Starlight and faces her angrily. "Why are you always such a control freak?!"

Starlight, just as angry, pokes his chest with a hoof. "Because for a pony that's supposed to be a smart wizard, you keep making a lot of dumb choices!" 

"I know that!" He shouted at her. "I mess up all the time! That's why I always leave you out of it so you don't have to put up with my mistakes!"

"You big dummy!" She shouted back. "I like putting up with your mistakes because I like you!" 

Sunburst pauses, his eyes wide, looking surprised. Starlight looks away from him, still angry but he notices her eyes. She's about to cry.

Sunburst slowly shakes his head and sighs. "I'm sorry."

Starlight doesn't look at him. She frowns, still upset. "N-never mind that. Lets get you back to the-"

"No. For everything..." Sunburst sadly looks away from Starlight and sits on his hind legs. "Chrysalis used me to get to you. Its all my fault. I already caused you a lot of trouble when we were growing up and now that we're older, I'm doing it all over again. Its like making bad choices is my Cutie Mark's talent or something."

Starlight looks at Sunburst, surprised that he thinks about himself this way. "Sunburst, if any pony should be apologizing, it should be me. Chrysalis used you to get to me and you got hurt. I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself if something really bad happened to you."

A moment of silence passes, Sunburst says nothing. He continues to look away from Starlight while she looks at him worriedly. Sunburst soon feels his glasses being gently levitated from his face by a turquoise light. He realizes Starlight is using her magic on them so he closes his eyes.

Starlight focuses her magic and turquoise light envelops Sunburst's glasses. The crack running across its left lens slowly vanishes and the glasses appear as if they're brand new. She levitates and gently returns them on Sunburst's face.

Sunburst slowly opens his eyes and the first thing he sees through his glasses is his friend, Starlight. Her kind face, looking at him, weakly smiling, only inches away from his. "U-um... A reconstitution spell?" He asked, nervously.

"Y-yeah..." Starlight replied, her voice shaking. "Thank you for protecting me from Chrysalis."

"Well, you did all the work. I-I just wrote you a spell." He reasoned.

"And that spell made all the difference." Starlight takes a step forward, bringing her even closer to Sunburst. She starts to feel anxious and she could feel her face heating up.

Sunburst looks around nervously. He wanted to step back like he wanted to run away but at the same time he's so nervous with Starlight being this close to him, he couldn't get himself to move. He swallows a lump in his throat and his heart starts to beat faster.

Sunburst could feel himself starting to blush. With a shaky voice, he tries to speak. "Look, Starlight. I-I... like you too. I always have. When you use your magic, I've never seen such skill and talent. But you're princess material and I'm just a cowardly wizard. Every pony knows the wizard doesn't end up with princess at the end of the story."

Without warning, Starlight quickly leans in and gives Sunburst a quick kiss on his nose. "You big nerd! I'm not a princess. I'm a sorceress." 

Surprised, Sunburst's eyes widen and his ears perk up. He blushes even more when Starlight moves closer. She sits on her hind legs and gently leans on his chest, affectionately snuggling her stallion.

Starlight closes her eyes. She could tell Sunburst was as nervous as she is. She could feel his heart beating as fast as hers. Unsure if she's scared, nervous, embarrassed or shy, the only thing Starlight knows is that she's overwhelmed with an emotion she doesn't fully understand but completely recognizes. She's always felt about her friend this way even when they were foals. And she likes this feeling. "You don't have to go back to the hospital if you don't want to. But I'd really like it if you'd take it easy."

Sunburst sees his friend affectionately leaning on his chest. Nervous and heart pounding hard, he closes his eyes and slowly puts his shaking front hooves around her body. He gently pulls her closer in a warm comforting hug. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here with you."

The one final piece of thread holding Sunburst's tattered cloak around his neck gives way. The damaged cloak falls to the floor and the two little ponies stay there, loving each other in the middle of the study as the cutie mark on Starlight's flank begins to glow wildly with radiant magical energy, brighter and brighter.

At the Crystal Castle, in Cadence and Shining Armor's private chamber, Cadence tucks a sleeping Flurry Heart in her crib for the night. Cadence gives her daughter a kiss on the forehead.

Shining Armor walks into the room and notices Cadence. "Oh, you're back. So how was your day at Canterlot?" He asked.

Cadence thinks to herself for a second then giggles. "It all went according to plan. A bud will soon blossom into an enduring flower. And a very strong flower it'll be. Their light and love will power the Crystal Heart for generations to come."

"They better, for all our sake. But you are the Princess of Love, after all." Shining Armor walks over to a large vase decoration sitting at the corner of their room. He looks at the markings on the vase.

The markings show pictures of a large blob floating above a small heart shaped crystal. Surrounding the heart shaped crystal are four pillars, preventing the blob from smothering it. Each pillar has a symbol in its center. One has the symbol of the Sun, another with the Star, the third with the Moon and the fourth with the Sky. "Um, they made it in time, right? All four of them?" Shining Armor asked Cadence.

"Yes. All four of them." Cadence joins Shining Armor and looks at the large vase decoration. "A Shadow will soon fall upon the Empire and it will try to snuff out its citizen's light and love. The Sun on our back was not enough to endure this darkness alone. But now that we have the Star by our side, her feelings and his wisdom working in harmony with the Moon's hope and the Sky's courage will ensure this Shadow never falls and the Empire's future stays bright."

"This place gets more than its fair share of magical catastrophes." Said Shining Armor. "I think its about time we started fighting back."

End.