> Midnight Sun
>  by FluxFeather
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a quiet night in Equestria and all were preparing to fall asleep as the sun faded in the sky, welcoming the moonrise that was led by their King. His name was Rainius Songbird, he was the son of Princess Luna, the princess of the night. He was full of wisdom and grace that has grown by living for centuries. He was an Alicorn, which were known to live forever and never age when they reach a certain age, but he was different from regular Alicorn's. He was an Alicorn that had bat wings instead of normal pegasus wings like other Alicorn's. However to become an Alicorn a pony is tested and proven by doing a worthy prince or princess deed that is not given but revealed by their mentors once they pass their noble quest. A worthy deed is made when a great change takes place in Equestria. If it's based off something good they receive a mighty pair of wings and crown with a title that will be their full purpose as they play their part in the world. However, the tale of how Rainius got his wings is a much different story than how other Alicorns have received their wings. 

But becoming an Alicorn comes with a heavy price of responsibility, along with great sorrow. However, Rainius has been alive for so long that going through the process of grief was turned into peace. As Equestria's king, he has grown into a strong leader, father, husband and a faithful friend to those around him as a student or fellow companion.

On a calm early evening, he walked across the balcony determined to raise the moon, which was the role entrusted to him by his mother before she retired. Behind Rainius was a little baby filly that was waddling to catch up to him. She had a white coat with a dragon-like tail that was red with a fluffy dark red tailpiece at the end with a black and red streak mixed inside. Her mane was mostly violet with cyan streaks going through it, but was pulled to one side like Princess Cadence but much shorter for she was only two years old.

Rainius smiles softly as he recognized this filly, this filly was his daughter, Galaxy Swirl. His horn began to glow, creating a yellow aura that flowed down to the filly. Gently the magic carried the toddler all the way up to his back so he can better view for their special moment together that they share every night, watching the moonrise. He lowered the sun to end the day and all its vibrant colors to make way for the moon to bring on the beautiful night, so his subjects could get their rest. "Are you ready?"

The filly quickly nods excited to see the moonrise with her father. The sky-blue stallion smiles softly by the enthusiasm of the young one to his job that he has been doing for the past two years. At least now he has a reason to enjoy it with his daughter who was full of wonder. His horn glows yellow and slowly the moon began to rise and he began to set the stars in beautiful arrays, each one glistening in the night sky.

The young fillies eyes had widened with amazement by the magic of her father creating art in the sky. After it was over Rainius begins to go back inside the castle doors, his ears perked up by small yawns coming from the filly who was exhausted after staying up so late at night for her age. 

The sky-blue stallion uses his magic to levitate the sleepy filly to her crib so she could rest her tiny eyes. Once she was covered by the blanket Rainius slowly tiptoes away from the crib to escape the room so he can begin his daily paper signing but was soon caught by a small voice. "Dah dah tell story?"

Rainius sighs and looks at the filly who was wagging her dragon tail back and forth hoping it would convince her to stay. The prince gives in and agrees by sitting by her crib and uses his magic to levitate a book to his face.
"No real one!" Her shout was so loud that the book flew away back to the bookshelf.

Rainius was puzzled by her demand that he had to ponder and think of a good true story than he thought of one. In fact, a story that was actually based on a true story.
"Alright Galaxy, I have one and it's a true story about me and your mom and how we saved the world"

Galaxy tilts her head curious "Dad-dah and mom save?"

Rainius chuckles by Galaxy’s response about him and her mother and their story on how they technically fell in love but Galaxy was too young for that, so he had to change a few parts so the filly wouldn't get confused or worse traumatized, so he left some parts out to protect her from confusion, or ask his overprotective wife, who was her mother.
"Well, we did in a way, yes. But this story not only has adventure it also has danger and love"

"Love?" The little filly inquired. 

Rainius thinks for a minute to find a way to carefully phrase this subject, he looks around and sees a small picture of himself with his mother and aunt. Wanting to finish the story he levitates the picture in the air right to Galaxy so she can see it properly.

Rainius gives her the small frame "Here look at this picture and tell me what you see"

Galaxy Swirl was only two years old but knows a lot of magic while causing trouble but that was just a bonus for her to have some fun, with the help of her funny dad. However her speech wasn't accurate enough to form sentences yet, after carefully looking at the picture she thinks of a way to correctly answer the question, then it hit her right in the head and new the perfect response.

"See grandmare, Auntie KK, and you?", she gives back the picture so her dad could see it.

"You're right, it's me with my mother, Luna and my aunt Celestia."

The Alicorn looks at her softly while grabbing Galaxy, so she could lay in the middle on his front hooves with the book so she was able to look at the pictures in the story that her father made with his magic that moved gracefully as he spoke.

The King turns a page and begins to tell the story…
> Chapter One - First Sight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Long ago, well, more like three years ago from when this story is being told. It was just a few days before Princess Twilight's coronation as the new leader of Equestria and everypony from every part of the land was preparing for this occasion. Celestia and Luna have been ruling Equestria for over a thousand years, so this shift of power was going to be a big change. Starlight Glimmer, who was at one point Twilight's student was getting ready to take her place as headmare of the school of Friendship that Twilight had built and was headmare for quite some time, but it was time for a change. "Hey, Twilight." Starlight greeted. 

"Hey, Starlight." The lavender Alicorn replied as she packed up a few more things of hers in boxes that were all around the castle as she was packing up to prepare for her move from Ponyville to Canterlot. 

"Is everything ready for your big move to Canterlot?" She asked the princess as she looked at all the boxes that were around the castle. The place seemed kinda empty now to Starlight as she watched Twilight pack more of her necessities into a box. 

"Almost." She replied. Then her expression changed from glee to saddened. "I just don't feel ready to leave. And this coronation is all that anypony's been talking about, but-" 

"But what?" Starlight inquired. She could see the expression that Twilight's face held and just by looking at her, she saw one emotion that she knew all too well… fear. 

"That I'm not gonna be what they're looking for," Twilight answered. "Even after all this time. Even after all me and my friends have done… I'm just not sure if it would be enough."

"If protecting Equestria from any sort of harm for years isn't enough, then I'm not sure would be." Starlight reminded her. She then remembered of all the obstacles she and her friends have faced through the years. And how they have always come out triumphantly. 

"But I won't always have them there to help me! They'll be off living their lives and I'll just be doing everything by myself." Twilight exclaimed. "What if something goes wrong?!"

"Like what?" Starlight asked. "I've seen you be able to handle just about anything, I'm pretty sure that whatever comes your way that you'd be able to stop it. It's not like there's always a monster that threatens to destroy or rule Equestria-!" Starlight was interrupted by the sound of a loud bang outside. "What was that?!" They then took no hesitation and ran as fast as they could outside only to see a horrifying sight. A bugbear attacking Ponyville. 

"A bugbear!!" Twilight shouted. A bugbear was a hideous bear-like creature but with a brightly-colored fur like a bee, along with bug-shaped wings, and four extra limbs of an insect that were twisted with thorns. The monster was powerful, angry, causing full destruction to the small town full of terrified ponies that watched helplessly from the safety of their homes as Twilight and her friends face the large monster.
"Come on girls we need to get this Bugbear away from the village!" Twilight encouraged to her friends. 

"Easy for you to say; this thing is huge!" Rainbow Dash yelled irritated.

"Starlight run!!" Twilight screamed for her to get as far away from the hideous monster attacking the village as soon as possible while she and her friends try to hold it off. 

Starlight obeyed and tried to run as far as her hooves would take her. The bugbear caught a glimpse of her galloping away and it lunged its claws to attack her. Starlight turned to head and froze in terror as she saw the sharp claws coming towards her. But just as she was about to get scratched by the razor-sharp claws, a mysterious force zapped the bugbear with its magic, vanquishing it. Starlight and everypony there was astounded by the sight that had seemed supernatural. The pony who stood in front of and protected the now bewildered Starlight looked down at her. "Are you alright?" He asked her, holding out his hoof. 

Starlight looked up at where the sweet angelic masculine voice was coming from and her eyes had locked with a pony who was so indescribably beautiful. He was a sky-blue pony with a blond mane and tail, as well as enchanting blue eyes. He wore a dark blue cloak that covered the rest of his body, all except for his tail and his bat-like wings. And he also had a horn. He was an Alicorn! But not like any that she had seen, or any of them have seen. She grabbed a hold of his hoof which was ice cold, which surprised her as the weather outside was warm and humid. 

"You alright?" He asked her as he brought her up to her hooves. "You hurt?" 

"No, I'm fine." She replied. "But, who are you? And what are you doing here? And how are you an Alicorn?!" He put his hoof to her lips. 

"I will discuss all that later, right now it is best if you guys head home. I'll keep watch for any more monsters that'll threaten to attack the village." He said. 

The ponies began to gallop back to the castle. Twilight turned around to face the mysterious Alicorn bat pony. "Thank you for helping us defeat that bugbear, um…" She began. 

The stallion turned his head. "Rainius. Rainius Songbird." He said. "And it was my pleasure."

Twilight smiled before she ran back to her castle, catching up to the girls. As she ran, she began to think. 'Hmm, Rainius Songbird? Such a peculiar name. And how is he an Alicorn?..." She tried to focus her thoughts, but there were just so many questions she wanted to ask. 

Rainius had read her thoughts, but his mind was still focused on that one mare… Starlight Glimmer. He presumed. He turned to look back at Starlight who he caught a glimpse of her looking back at him before she immediately went back to looking in front of her. 

Meanwhile, in the castle. Rainbow Dash was lying on her back and staring up at the ceiling and its elegant design. "Ugh… I'm so hungry and so bored. How long do we have to wait in here?" She said irritated. 

Rarity softly laughs as she braids Fluttershy's hair. "Oh, I'm sure we won't have to stay in here for long, darling. And we have so much to talk about after all Rainius is the first Alicorn that can possibly be a prince!" Filled with the brim with excitement Rarity's magic pulls Fluttershy's mane leaning it to one side almost pulling Fluttershy to the ground.

With a small yelp Fluttershy taps the white mare's leg "Um, Rarity, I'm thrilled that you're excited about Rainius, but can you um not pull my hair, please?" She asked her kindly. 

"Oh, sorry, darling. But I'm just so excited!!" She squealed. "Did you just look at him. He was so beautiful. Ahh." She pretended to faint. 

Starlight caught Rarity in her magic and brought her back up to a standing position. "We know, he's beautiful." She chuckled. 

"Oh, and don't forget he could be a prince!" Rarity reminded them. "Maybe he might ask me to the Gala. And we would dance, and maybe even share a kiss or two." She blushed softly just thinking about it. 

"But did ya see how he looked at you though, Starlight? I think he likes ya. As in like likes." Applejack teased her. 

Starlight laughed. "Pfff. Please. I don't need no stallion to come in and sweep me off my hooves." She remarked. 

"Uh-huh. And what about that Sunburst guy? You seem to take such a strong liking to him?" Applejack went on; making Starlight blush. 

"What?! No, I don't!!" Starlight shouted while blushing bright red that even Twilight could notice it from the other side of the room. 

Everypony started laughing, then the castle doors flung open and standing there was Rainius, letting them know the coast is clear. "Well, everything's fine. There shouldn't be any more attacks any time soon." He said. 

Twilight ran up to him. "Thanks, Rainius." Then she had an idea. "Hey, would you mind joining me tomorrow on a trip to Canterlot to see the Royal sisters?" She requested of him. 

"Um… sure." He said nervously. He wasn't really sure if he was going to be up to it though. As it would involve digging deep into his past. "But where am I going to stay tonight?"

"Oh, right," Twilight remembered. "Me and Starlight will set you up with a room here for the night if you want." She told him. 

"Oh, okay." He replied calmly with a sigh. He really wasn't sure if he wanted to do this, but it looks like he'll have to, even if it means reminding him about his past. 

Later that night, it was late and everypony was asleep, well, almost everypony. There were still some ponies awake, mainly those on night shifts at their jobs. One Royal guard at Canterlot castle was packing up from the day shift and as he was about to head inside he heard the sound of hoofsteps. He turned to see no pony there. "Hello? Who's there? Show yourself!" He commanded. 

"Hehe." A feminine voice giggled softly. The guard quickly turned towards where the voice was coming from. He saw a figure of a pony, specifically a mare. He lit up his horn to get a better look at her. 

"Oh, why hello." He said in a flirty kind of way. As the mare he sees in front of him was probably the most beautiful mare he's ever seen in his life. She was a unicorn that had a marine-blue coat, a turquoise mane and tail, and beautiful green eyes, her cutie mark was a lightning bolt. "What are you doing out so late?" Just as he was about to walk closer to her another pony landed behind him. The guard pony quickly turned around to face the pony behind him. "Who are you?"

The pony let out a sigh before coming into view. He was an orange Alicorn with bright red eyes, his mane was spiked back and shone like fire with a yellow and red mix. His cutie mark was a sword, meaning that he must've been some kind of warrior. "It's always the same inane questions, isn't it? Who are you?"

"What do you want?" The mare egged on while smiling menacingly at the guard pony, joining in with the Alicorn. 

"Why are you doing this?" The orange Alicorn continued on. He glared down at the guard pony who was in fear with menacing eyes. 

Out of nowhere, another pony flew down. This one had a blond mane and tail both with brown streaks going through them. He was green-coated and he wore glasses as well as a green bandana around his neck which matched his coat color. He was a pegasus, but he had bat wings instead of normal wings like regular pegasi. "Fury. Let's not toy around with our victim here." He said. 

Fury sighed. "Fine." He then trotted up to the stallion. "Now, we'll let you go if you answer this one simple question." He told the guard. "Where is Rainius Songbird?!" 

The guard pony coward down in fear, looking up at the Alicorn petrified. "I… I don't know…" He answered. 

"WRONG ANSWER!!" Fury half yelled half screamed at the guard pony before he charged up his horn and shot a blast of magic next to the guard pony to scare him. "Now, let's try this again… Where is Rainius Songbird?!"

"I already told you. I don't know!" The guard pony said terrified. "Now, will you please just leave me alone and let me go home?"

"What should we do, Fury?" The mare asked. Her eyes focused on the guard pony. 

"Well, that should be quite obvious, Silvertail, my dear." Fury said. "What do you think, Latenighter?" 

The green bat pony looked up at Fury. "Whatever you tell us to do, Fury Flight." He answered. 

Fury smiled. "Kill him." He said. "And disintegrate the body when you're done." As he flew off, Silvertail and Latenighter jumped on top of the guard pony and as Latenighter bit him, Silvertail shot a death spell out of her horn. The only thing that was heard was one blood-chilling scream that came from the guard pony before he was no more.
> Chapter Two - The Truth Revealed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainius flew around with caution with a small gaze towards Twilight. It was early in the morning and they were heading to Canterlot castle to introduce him to the Royal sisters as he was a mysterious Alicorn that had bat wings and Twilight had thought they would know what all this is about. She was very ecstatic as she was flying him to Canterlot. She was talking very fast that some of her words slurred into sentences that would leave one perplexed. 

"Um… Twilight?" Rainius spoke up to try to get the lavender Alicorn's attention. 

Twilight looked over at him curiously. "Yes? What is it, Rainius?" She asked. 

"I'm not sure if I really want to do this." He replied. "I just don't think I'm ready."

Twilight put her hoof around him. "I can assure you that nothing will happen. Don't be afraid. I'm here and I know Celestia and Luna won't let any harm come to you." She reassured him. 

"It's not that," Rainius said. "I know they won't hurt me." His facial expression didn't change. 

"Then what is it?!" Twilight asked in a kinda demanding tone, wanting to know the answer. 

"My past." He answered. "That's why I'm afraid to come back here. I might run into old comrades, or foes, or something like that."

Twilight looked at him with sympathy. "Rainius, you can't run away from your past. One day it'll catch up to you and you'll have to face it head-on." She told him. "It's time you stop running away from your problems, and it's time you start facing them, starting with this visit."

Rainius sighed. "I guess you're right. But what if-!" He was interrupted by Twilight putting her hoof over his mouth, shushing him. 

"Rainius, it's gonna be alright, I'm going to be there with you, so there's nothing that you have to worry about," Twilight said, sympathetically. 

Rainius felt a bit better, but his anxiety was still getting the best of him. "Alright, if you say so." He replied nervously, but a little more calm this time. He took a few deep breaths in and out, then followed Twilight in landing after such a long flight, his wings were tired. 

They landed in front of the gate where two guards were seen laughing until they were near crying. Rainius's stomach churned when he recognized who those guards were. They were two of Luna's guards that he had trained back when he was captain of Luna's guard force until he was discharged. "Well, well, well, look who it is. Mr. high and mighty. Ain't you a sight to sore eyes. Lemme guess you're here for your Royal crown and shoes?" One guard said laughing as hard as he could. 

The other guard joined in. "Yeah, last time we saw you, Luna kicked ya outta the guard force!" They continued to laugh as Rainius stepped back nervously. "Probably thought you were gonna end up taking her place as ruler." 

Princess Twilight then stepped up. "We are here to see the Princesses!" She declared. The two guards then dropped to the floor laughing hysterically. Twilight was not impressed by this inappropriate behavior towards her new friend. In fact, she was downright annoyed that Royal guards were acting like this. Like they were young foals when they are supposed to act professional while on the job. 

Immediately, the gate swung open and an angry mare stood at the gate displeased with the guard’s behaviors. "Hey, you two knuckleheads! It's time for the day swift, so pack it up!" Before she lets them go she pounds their heads together, almost knocking them unconscious, but hopefully enough to knock some sense into them. 

"Y-yes, mam!" They rushed off in what would be considered a flash. 

"That's Captain Sparrow to you two!!" The mare yelled. "Sorry about that. You can come in if you'd like." She gave them a smile. She was a bright orange pony with golden-yellow eyes. Her mane and tail were dark blue with dark purple streaks going through them. She was also a Unicorn. A unicorn who Rainius recognized and blushed a bit by. 

"H… Hey, Lylac." He said, chuckling nervously while trying to hide his flushed cheeks. 

"Ah, Rainius. It's good to see you again at least there will be somepony I know that actually has a brain that will be working with me. Glad to see you came back home all in one piece." Lylac said, with a smile. 

"I've missed you too, my little sparrow." He said to his old marefriend, chuckling a bit and blushing bright red. 

Lylac blushed a bit from his comment. But then went back to being serious. "Here is the door that'll take you to the throne room." She said. 

"Congratulations on the position of captain by the way," Rainius told her before he gave her a small wink. Their eyes locked for mere moment before Lylac used her magic to disappear to escape the void of an awkward situation. 

Twilight looked back at them, wondering how Rainius actually was with Lylac and why they had split up. But she decided it was best not to worry about that as of right now because right now, all she was focused on was introducing Rainius to the princesses. "This way." She instructed. "They're just through this door."

Rainius could tell that Twilight was just a bit too excited about this, but he thought it would be best if he did not call her out on it. "So, just through here?" He questioned her. 

"Yep!" Twilight said, nodding. "Sorry… I'm just so excited!! You could possibly be the first Alicorn to be a prince and it's just-!" She blushed embarrassed. "Sorry."

Rainius chuckled, making Twilight blush even more with embarrassment. "You're fine." 

Twilight shot off a glare that looked like it was saying, 'I'm watching you, Rainius.' But Rainius didn't pay too much attention to it. 

"Alright, you ready?" Twilight said putting her hoof to the doors to the throne room. 

Rainius let out a sigh. "As ready as I'll ever be." He said before Twilight opened the doors. 

When Twilight opened the doors they could see the throne room in complete chaos. Celestia and Luna had a lot of paperwork they were looking at and they looked like they were at the point of full-on panicking. Twilight immediately ran to Celestia as fast as she could. "Celestia!! What's going on?!" She asked concerned. 

As Celestia wasn't responding, Luna put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder before responding. "Thy sister is a little stressed this morning, with all the paperwork concerning a missing guard from her force." She said. 

It took Twilight a minute to process everything she just took in from Luna. When she finally processed it all, she was shocked. "What happened to him?!" She asked, worried. 

“He went missing mysteriously last night while he was packing up to go home for the night,” Celestia said once she calmed down. “His wife showed up last night asking Luna where he was, then Luna came to alert me about it and-” Celestia looked behind the lavender Alicorn to see another Alicorn behind her. One she recognized. She turned to her younger sister Luna. “Sister, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” 

Luna nodded, then she began to walk up to the sky-blue Alicorn standing by the doors, making him nervous. But what made him more nervous was the stern expression she gave him before speaking. “Rainius. After all these years; thou finally returns to me.” She said, sternly.

Rainius coward down as he looked up at her and seeing her darting eyes glare at him. “H...Hi mom.” He finally said, nervously. And by the looks of it, he seemed to be sweating like crazy.

Twilight froze in place. She was astonished by the bat-winged Alicorn’s words. “Wait! Mother?! You’re his mother?!” She said, pointing a hoof at Luna, freaking out. “But how did this happen?! With whom did this happen?!” She had no words. Just left confused and surprised. She would’ve never had thought the princess of the night would have a child.

“Twilight, calm down. This happened a long time ago, and now it is time that Luna tells the truth about her past.” Celestia said, looking over at her sister, giving her a quick nod.

Luna sighed. “Thy has not been very honest about thy’s past, but hopefully thou wouldst listen to thine words.” She said. Luna took in a deep breath and exhaled, then began to tell them the story. “When Rainius was just a baby, thy and thy sister were trying to escape the Empire without him seeing Rainius, he would kill me if he was to know I kept the fact that Rainius was his son from him.” 

“From who? Who is my father?!” Rainius demanded to know. And he wasn’t going to stop until he did know. But he probably wasn’t ready for the answer he was about to receive.

“I don’t know the best way to put this, but… Your father is King Sombra.” Celestia said. 

Rainius stepped back; eyes widened. His breathing became more shallow as he took all this in. "My father is King Sombra?!" He blurted out. "The same King Sombra that tried to kill me over a thousand years ago in the war?! The same King Sombra that curs-!" He stopped before saying that last bit. He didn't want Twilight to know about his curse that was placed upon him by his father. 

Luna's facial expression changed as she stared at her son and the hatred for his father that was held within him. She sighed. "Yes. That King Sombra." She said grimly. 

"So, what happened to Rainius after you escaped from the Crystal Empire?" Twilight asked, more calmly now. 

Luna began to choke on her words as she began to speak. "Th… Thy had become so stressed with everything and having to be a strong ruler with a lot of responsibilities, and on top of that, thy had to take care of thine child all alone. Thy was afraid and thy… thy… thy can't." She stuttered, a tear shedding from her eye; left her unable to carry on the story. 

"You… you gave me away…" Rainius said. Luna could barely hold back her tears because as much as she didn't want to believe it, it was true. She did give him away. 

"Rainius… son." Luna said, trotting up to him and putting her hoof on him. He smacked it away. This broke Luna's heart. 

"Nephew. Please." Celestia spoke up. Hoping she could get him to see reason. "Forgive your mother, even though what she did was wrong and wasn't the best thing to do in that situation. She only did it for you and your happiness."

"What do you mean for my happiness?" Rainius questioned his aunt. "I would've been happier living with you and her rather than living with adoptive parents and not knowing who my birth mother was until I was 98."

"She gave up her happiness, which was you, for your happiness. You wouldn't have been happy here." Celestia said. 

"How would you know?!" He said angrily, demanding to hear a suitable answer that would satisfy him. 

"Your mother and I would be too busy with Royal duties and meetings, we wouldn't have time to take care of you. You would feel neglected. And it just wouldn't work." Celestia tried to explain. 

Rainius took a few minutes to calm down. "I won't be able to forgive her right now, but maybe eventually I will. But as of now, I just can't. Even after over a thousand years." He replied, though his thoughts were still focused on King Sombra being his father. The thought of it disgusted him. 'How could his mother fall in love with that?!' He thought. 

"Okay." Was Luna's only response to his statement as she tried to hold back her tears. 

"Now, can we just please move on from this conversation?" Rainius pleaded. The Alicorn sisters nodded. "Now, what more about this missing guard?" 

"We've told you all that we know so far. There hasn't been any more evidence to what could've possibly have happened to him." Celestia said. "Twilight, I'm afraid with this unexpected occurrence; your coronation will have to be pushed back a couple of weeks."

Twilight smiled. "Oh, that's okay." She replied with a wide grin, trying to sound convincing. 

Rainius though could read right through her. He could tell she was afraid of leading the whole country. 

Meanwhile, later that night, Latenighter, Silvertail, and Fury were still searching for answers as to the location of Rainius, but alas they had no luck. "If you hadn't had let him escape in the first place, we wouldn't have to be doing this!" Claimed Fury. 

Latenighter glared at him insulted. "You're really blaming me that you couldn't keep an eye on one pony?!" He shouted. 

Fury trotted over and glared at him. "You'd best watch what you say to certain ponies, farmer boy. Oh wait, maybe they didn't teach you that on your family's farm." Fury said, intimidating him. "So, maybe it was a good thing you got attacked by those vampire fruit bats."

"You take that back!!" Latenighter exclaimed. "I've helped you search for this pony "prince" that you lost!!" 

Fury sighed. "Just shut up and help me with finding him, because this time I'll get my revenge on him and his mother and aunt." He said, recalling what happened with him and Rainius in magic school. "They'll never know what hit them." He grinned as he schemed of a way to capture Rainius when they find him and how he's going to take out his revenge on him. 

Meanwhile, back at Canterlot. "So, what is this about you and your coronation?" Rainius asked Twilight. 

"H-How'd you know about that?" Twilight asked confused and nervously, as well as a little creeped out, but she didn't dwell too much on that last feeling. 

"Oh, right, I forgot, I hadn't told you yet." Rainius began. "It was a gift from an old friend. It gives me the power to read the minds of those around me, and the more I get to know a specific person, the louder their thoughts are over those I don't know." He explained. 

"So, you can read anyone's mind?" Twilight asked curiously. 

"Well, anyone that doesn't have a mind block spell cast upon them." He retorted. 

"Interesting," Twilight said as she continued to be intrigued by this ability of his. 

"I can also control minds with my eyes, and I can see into the past and future." He said, opening up about his abilities. 

"That sounds amazing!" Twilight said. "Was this something you had to get used to when you first obtained your gifts?" 

“Oh, definitely,” Rainius replied. “It wasn’t something that I was able to get used to overnight… it got annoying sometimes."

Twilight giggled into her hoof. She then stared off dreamily at Rainius. They had locked eyes for a brief moment before closing them and moving their heads closer to one another and before they knew it, their lips were together. The feeling was blissful, but once Twilight found out what they were doing, she immediately retracted herself off of him, blushing scarlet red. "Sorry! Sorry!" She freaked out. 

Rainius put a hoof to her. "Twilight, calm down. It was just a kiss." He reassured her. 

Twilight then calmed down, listening to his words from his sweet angelic voice. She couldn't help but get lost in his looks. Those beautiful blue eyes that shimmered in the night calling her in. "You're right. It was just a kiss… A very good one at that." She put her hooves to her mouth as she couldn't believe what she had just said. She blushed again. 

"What?! Don't tell me that you're falling for me already?!" He teased her. Making her blush immensely. He chuckled as he looked at her. 

Twilight couldn't stop blushing at his remarks, but she did begin to ponder. 'Did she like him?' 'And was she even ready for a relationship?'

"If you're not ready then that's alright. I wouldn't force anything upon you." Rainius said, reading her thoughts thoroughly. 

"C… can we just please fly back to my castle? I don't really want to continue this conversation?" Twilight begged. He nodded showing his agreement to fly back to the castle of friendship and change the subject.
> Chapter Three - Secrets Unfold
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was late at night that Rainius and Twilight had returned to her home in Ponyville; the large crystal castle that outstood every other building in Ponyville, even the town hall. Twilight flew up to the balcony with him following and she slowly lowered herself to the ground, landing softly just before Rainius did the same. “Well, I’ll be doing some reading before I go to bed. You can join me if you’d like?” She requested. 

“No thanks, I think I’ll be heading off to my room now if you don’t mind?” He said, rejecting her offer. When he read her thoughts and stared at her, he could tell she was a bit hurt by his response. Then he thought that it wouldn’t hurt to join her in her reading. "Fine." Her expression changed from a frown to a smile. 

Meanwhile, Starlight opened her door and peeked outside it, making sure the coast was clear before she made her way towards the library, her horn lit up to light the room. She examined the bookshelf, skimming around the book titles, looking for one that could explain more about Rainius's origins. But alas, she had no luck. "Ugh. There's gotta be one around here somewhere." She groaned. 

She then looked up at the higher shelves. "Hmmm… maybe it would be up there." She said to herself. Being the quick-thinking unicorn she was, she used her magic to levitate herself up to get to the higher shelves in the castle library. She carefully read the titles of each of the books as she was skimming through to find an answer to all her questions. "C'mon! C'mon!!" She yelled in a whisper, agitated. As she trailed her hoof along the books, one titled 'Equestria's Creatures of the Night' caught her attention. She opened the book to the table of contents and skimmed through till she found one on bat ponies. "Page 373." She turned to that page and began to read. 

Meanwhile, Rainius and Twilight were in Twilight's room reading, well, Rainius was mainly reading while Twilight just thought about him kissing her again. Rainius tried to focus as much as he could on the book just to ignore her thoughts, but with how loud they were it was very difficult to do that. "Um, Twilight? Could you maybe try to keep your thoughts to yourself?" He asked politely while trying not to hurt her feelings. 

"Oh… sorry." She said.  apologetically. “But… how do I do that exactly?"

"Try thinking about something else. Focus your mind on that." He told her. 

"O… okay. I'll try…" She stuttered a bit as she spoke, but tried thinking about something else, like the book she was reading. That is until she yawned. "Maybe I should go to sleep."

"You do look awfully tired, so I think that would be best," Rainius replied. "And while you do that, I'll go and look at some of the books in the castle library." He smiled. 

She closed her book, placing it on the table beside her bed where her lamp stood; she turned off her lamp and went to bed, falling asleep almost immediately. 

Rainius chuckled as he watched her fall asleep before he went to head for the room that was the castle's library. Meanwhile, in that library a lilac unicorn sat down reading about bat ponies to seek answers about their new visitor. "Hmm… cold skinned. Check." Starlight said to herself. "Wait, what's this?" She carefully read about how bat ponies used to be demons of Tartarus and of how they could either be fruit eaters or blood drinkers. The thought disturbed her a bit, but she kept reading. "Hollow Shades? What's that?" 

"The town where the bat ponies reside," Rainius said, startling Starlight. 

Starlight hastily turned around to face the Alicorn that startled her. "Ahh!! Don't do that!!" She exclaimed. "And what do you mean the town where the bat ponies reside?"

"I'm sorry for startling you." He chuckled. "Hollow Shades is a place where most of the bar pony tribe migrated to after the Everfree forest became corrupted. It was no longer suitable to live there after that. So they had to find a new home. They relocated east of Canterlot in a dark forest that had a canopy thick enough to block out the Sun's light for most of the day. The bat ponies then constructed houses there for them to live in. And it is there they've stayed for centuries."

Starlight listened as he explained the history of the bat ponies to her, but another question came to her mind. "Wait, you had said most of the bat ponies migrated from the Everfree forest to Hollow Shades… so where did the others go?" She asked intrigued. 

"It was believed that they went to the Badlands." He said. "And it was there that they could live inside of a vast cave network embedded into the Badlands crags where they built large, underground cities, dimly illuminated by magic or other means… at least that it is what is believed. Not even I know for sure though." He stared at her as she stared back at him. She was unable to stop staring. 

Rainius tried to study her thoughts, but every time he tried all he could get was absolutely nothing. 'That's impossible,' He thought. He couldn't read her thoughts and she wouldn't have a mind block spell cast on her. This is something that made him more curious about her, as well as more interested. "You okay? You seem to be staring." He chuckled. 

His remark made Starlight blush without any control. "Sorry," She said, grinning. 

As Rainius stared into her indigo eyes he saw a glimpse of an amazing future. A future with her as his wife. And with their future children. He quickly inhaled and exhaled as he continued to stare at Starlight. Without thinking, he put a hoof to her cheek and slowly stroked her mane. She didn't mind at first, in fact, she quite enjoyed it. Part of her really did have feelings for him, whether or not she wanted to admit it to herself or anyone else. 

Twilight stared at them from a little crack in between the doors of the library and she watched both of them and then realized that his and Starlight's friendship was much stronger than that of hers and his. Their friendship grew into a very unique relationship. This pained Twilight that all she wanted to do was go back to her room and cry her broken heart out, but as she ran back upstairs to her room, her thoughts were overheard by Rainius. 

"Um, Starlight? Could you give me a moment?" Rainius asked before quickly giving her a little peck on the cheek. 

"Um… sure." She said, without having any context to what was going on. 

As he ran off to chase after the heartbroken Twilight Sparkle, a mare was staring through one of the library's windows and she had an evil smile come stretching across her face. 

Meanwhile, Fury and Latenighter were discussing plans for how Fury could take his revenge out on Rainius, but came to no success… that is until Silvertail arrived. Once she arrived, Her and Fury started smooching up a storm as Latenighter just turned to the side. "Lovebirds." He commented. 

Fury stopped. "What?" He replied to Late's remark with a tone that held a sense of annoyance. "Well?" He egged on. 

"We need to focus on the task at hoof here. Which is finding and destroying Rainius Songbird." Latenighter reminded them. 

"Oh, speaking of Rainius. I found him!" Silvertail blurted out. 

"Where?" Fury and Latenighter asked in unison. "Where is he?" Fury then asked. 

"In the crystal castle in Ponyville. And he was with some mare." Silvertail told them. 

"Maybe a marefriend?" Latenighter inquired. 

Fury turned to him. "Hmmm… maybe. But if she is his marefriend then maybe I can take my revenge on him without having to lay a single hoof on… him." He said viscously as he began to devise an evil plan to take out his revenge for all those years of humiliation. 

"It'll be perfect," Silvertail said with a menacing smile. "They wouldn't know what hit them." 

Meanwhile, back at the castle, Rainius galloped up to the room of Princess Twilight Sparkle in what could be mistaken for a flash. "Twilight?" He asked as he opened her door just a crack. "You okay?" He could hear her crying and decided to walk over to her bed. 

"Go away!" She said sobbing. Rainius felt guilty seeing her like this, but it wasn't his fault. Starlight was the one he was meant to be with, not Twilight. 

"Are you sure that's what you really want?" Rainius asked her. 

Twilight pondered for a moment. 'What did she want?' As she continued to think the answer came to her. "What I really want is you." She said, letting it out. "There, I said it! Happy?"

Rainius sat back. He knew she liked him and he liked her, but he didn't know that he was gonna fall for Starlight. "No. I can't help it though. It wasn't my fault! I wish there was a way that I could make you both happy." He said, looking at her full of sorrow. 

"I'm an Alicorn, meaning I could live forever. I could be there with you for all eternity. Starlight will eventually grow old and die; leaving you." Twilight said, making him think of the cold hard truth that was his future. A future without her. 

"You never know. She could eventually become an Alicorn. Like you, she could complete a princess-worthy deed and become an Alicorn like you, or she could become one as I did…" Rainius paused. 

Twilight now seemed very intrigued by this statement. "Wait… what do you mean by as you did? How did you become an Alicorn?" She asked perplexed and curious. 

"Well…" Rainius began, unbeknownst that Starlight was standing right outside with one ear on the door, eavesdropping on their conversation, albeit Rainius couldn't find out since unlike Twilight, he couldn't read her thoughts. "It was a long time ago and I was just a unicorn at the time. During the war with King Sombra and the Crystal Empire. I was just 17 when I fought with my mother and my aunt Celestia against my father, who I didn't know was my father at the time…"

"So, what happened?" Twilight injected. "I want to know." She seemed very interested in what he had to tell her about his past. 

"Well, I was severely wounded in the battle by my father, and while the battle raged on, I was hospitalized with no hope of survival." Rainius continued to tell the story. 

"But, you did end up surviving as you are here now to tell me this story. So, how was it you survived?" Twilight begged for him to tell. 

His expression changed. "When I was on the verge of death my mother came to my side after the battle was over and she used her magic to change me into an Alicorn… but I'm guessing with me being a pony born into the night and shadow, my transformation was different from most others. Instead of normal pegasus wings, I got bat wings." He said. 

"So, are you nocturnal? But I've seen you awake in the day, so that can't be…" Twilight said, wondering how he is awake during both the day and the night. 

"Actually, I don't sleep at all," Rainius said. "I never get tired, I don't catch my breath, I don't have to eat. It's quite different from normal Alicorn's. There's supernatural hearing, supernatural sight." He smiled. 

"That's amazing, even without your gifts." Twilight said quite astonished. 

"Yeah. On the topic of my gifts… I can't read Starlight's mind and I highly doubt she has a mind block spell cast upon her. And I can't see just her future alone. The only time I can see her in my visions is if it's with me. Which has only happened once." He explained. 

Twilight looked at him. "So, is it true?" Twilight asked.  "Is she really the only one for you?"

"I do believe so…" He said with a grin. "I do believe you will find the one for you soon enough Twilight." 

"You really think so?" She asked in high hopes. Because she wants to be happy as well. 

"Yes." He said nodding. "I do think so. And whoever they are, they will be a very lucky stallion for having a mare such as you."

Twilight blushed bright red from his compliment. She giggled a bit. But as they were sharing a "moment", the doors to Twilight's room soon fell open with Starlight falling to the floor. The sight had left both Twilight and Rainius bewildered. Both of them speechless by her little eavesdropping stunt. 
> Chapter Four - The Meeting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a cold and dark morning out on the farm that was located in the middle of nowhere. A young stallion was harvesting the grain early in the morning. The sun hadn't even risen yet. Most likely not even Celestia had woken up yet. But that didn't concern the stallion. He had always gotten up early to harvest the grain for the day… but he didn't know this was going to be his last time. Out in the orchard lurked a vampire fruit bat, or at least that's what it seemed to be at first. 

As the green pegasus began to harvest the grain, he tightened his bandana around his neck and pushed his glasses back to their correct position on his face. While he was harvesting grain, a noise came from the bushes that caused his ears to perk up. He stopped what he was doing and went to investigate what caused the sound. He cautiously trotted to the bush, making his way closer to the source of the disturbance in the orchard. And as he began to peer behind the bush, he immediately retracted himself as a sharp pain emerged in his neck. "Ow!" He yelped. He started rapidly shaking his head to try to get whatever was biting his neck off of him. 

Once the creature left, he put a hoof to his neck only to see blood and lots of it. The last thing he got a glimpse of was a bat flying off into the distance. Then everything went black as he passed out on the ground. 

Latenighter shot up from his bed nearly hyperventilating, terrified. "Oh good. You're up!" Silvertail said. 

Latenighter stared at her almost in anger. "What did you do?" He growled at her. 

Silvertail giggled. "Oh, just a little nightmare/flashback spell. Nothing much." She said cheerfully with a smile. 

Latenighter sighed. "You're a bitch." He said slightly aggravated. 

"Tee hee. Oh, I know." She said unable to control her giggling. 

Latenighter stretched his forearms and forelegs and rose up out of his bed. "So…? What is so important that you had to wake me up from my peaceful sleep?" He asked annoyed. 

"Oh, why I'm sorry, your highness." She replied in a snarky tone. "But after what happened last night with Rainius, Twilight, and Starlight, I found out that she is going to be staying with her father for a few days in Sire's Hollow."

"And?" Latenighter egged on, ready to just be done with the whole conversation. 

"And Rainius is joining her, meaning it'll be easier to take out my revenge on him." Fury spoke up. "He will rue the day he ever crossed hooves with me!! Cause I'll make sure that this'll be something that he won't forget."

"What was it that happened last night, Silver?" Latenighter inquired. 

As Silver tells the story, the scene transitions to the castle of friendship the night before, where Twilight, Starlight, and Rainius were in Twilight's room, where Starlight had got caught in the act of eavesdropping on their conversation. 

“I can’t say I’m not disappointed in you, Starlight… What were you thinking, eavesdropping on our conversation?!” Twilight exclaimed. 

Starlight looked down at her hooves, feeling guilty. “I’m sorry…” Was all she said. 

Twilight turned around, looking away from Starlight before she coldly said, “I think it would be best if you leave.” A statement that shocked Starlight to the core. She had never been asked to leave the castle. 

"B-but I don't have anywhere to go!" She exclaimed. She tried to reason with the Alicorn, but it seems like she just wasn't having it. 

"What about your fathers in Sires Hollow?" Twilight suggested. "He might have a place for you to stay." Starlight shuddered in disgust at the thought of having to stay with her father, and in her old room from her teenage years. 

"But what about Rainius? I'm not leaving without him!" Starlight said. 

"I'll go with you," Rainius said, running to her side, leaving Twilight feeling betrayed. 

"Fine," Twilight said making herself clear with her answer before turning away from them and going out to the balcony of the castle and watching them leave, a tear trickling from her face as she did so. 

"I thought she was my friend…" Starlight said nearly crying. "I can't believe she's doing this. Some Princess of Friendship. More like the Princess of hatred, because she can't even be a friend. All those times, thinking I was her friend when really all I was… was her pupil."

"She didn't mean it. I read her mind, she didn't mean it." Rainius said. "If only I could read your mind I would be able to figure out if you really meant what you said or not. You have to tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking we should head to Sires Hollow. At least for a couple of days. Until she calms down." Starlight said before her and Rainius headed off to Sires Hollow.

Silvertail watched the whole thing from a distance, in a bush, chuckling to herself. "Oh, Fury's gonna love this." She said. 

"So… Here's the plan." Fury said before huddling together with them and discussing the plan cautiously and thoroughly with them. 

Meanwhile, Starlight and Rainius were staying at Firelights in Starlight's hometown of Sires Hollow. He was very happy and surprised that she had come, as well as Rainius, but Firelight didn't look like he seemed to like Rainius all that much. Probably cause he was with his daughter. But he didn't know that. He was just assuming. They stayed in Starlight's old room, which was just the way she left it. Which made her uneasy. "I don't think your dad likes me very much." Rainius blurted out while kissing Starlight upon the lips. 

"Don't worry about him… he just has to get to know you a little better." Starlight tried to reassure him, but he didn't seem convinced. 

"Your old room is quite…" Rainius tried to think of a word, but Starlight put her hoof to his mouth to silence him. 

"Horrifying. I know. Now can we just please get back to what we were doing? Please?" Starlight begged of him. 

Rainius looked at her, presuming what she was talking about… he wanted to, but his curse was the one thing that kept him from it, so without trying to seem suspicious, he said, "I'm sorry. Just not right now. I’m going to go get a few things from one of the shops down the way…" He stopped at the doorway. "Also, I was going to go with the word 'interesting'."

She faked a chuckle at his response. Then as he left she dropped her little facade and decided to go after him. Cause one thing was for sure, it was dusk, no shops were open. She went out to follow him, walking down the lonely streets of Sires Hollow brought back a lot of old memories of her childhood which she longed to forget. It was then that something caught her attention. It was the sound of her father's voice and it held a tone of panic. "Starlight! Starlight!! Help!!" The voice she believed to be her father’s said. She followed it. 

"Dad? Dad?!" She ran over to a strange building that not even she remembered in a panic to save her father from whatever or whoever had him captured. She ran inside the building and closed the door behind her and searched every nook and cranny for her father, but had no luck. "Dad?!" 

Laughter was heard from behind Starlight. She quickly spins around to face the voice. “Who are you?” She asks him.

“Oh, where are my manners? My name is Fury Flight.” He said. “Also, if you’re wondering; no he’s not here.” He cackles. Starlight was filled with two emotions. Relief and rage. Fury laughed at her. “But you know. You just made it too easy, so I have a way of making things more… entertaining.” He lit up his horn to record everything he was about to do. “I’m going to make a short film about our time together if you don’t mind. Good. And action! Oh, this’ll break my poor little nephew, Rainius’s heart.” He chuckled, getting closer to her. 

“Rainius has nothing to do with this!!” Screamed Starlight. She stared into his menacing eyes that glared at her.

Fury cackled again. “Oh, he does, I really think he does.” He said, intimidating her.

Starlight then teleported to the other side of the room and began to make a run for it. “An escape attempt! My favorite!” He teleported in front of Starlight; she froze immediately. Amused, he flings her across the floor like a bowling ball. She smashes hard into a mirrored column. Fury filmed it all. “Ah, beautiful. Very visually dynamic as well.” He approaches her as she puts her hoof to her head and finds out her head is bleeding. He grabs her blood-stained hoof tightly and yanks it closer to him. “You are so stubborn, aren’t you? Is that what makes you so special to him. Because, if I’m being totally honest here, Which I am, I don’t see it.” He glares angrily at her. “But I must congratulate you. You’ve succeeded in pissing me off!” He stomped on her upper leg as hard as he could. He could hear her tibia bone in her leg snap. Starlight screams in agony from the excruciating pain. It was enough to get her eyes to water, tears began falling to the floor uncontrollably. Fury laughed. “Tell Rainius how much it hurts! Tell him to avenge you! Tell him! TELL HIM!!” He screamed in her face. 

“No, Rainius don’t!!” She screamed. Fury then stopped recording. A large grin came across his face as he watched Starlight scream. But as he was to celebrate his victory he was suddenly grabbed by something and thrown across the room.  He arose to see who it was, then he came face to face with Rainius himself. 

Filled with anger, Fury charges at Rainius, pushing him into one of the mirrored columns. "You're all alone. I don't know what makes you think you're strong enough to face me." He said, before taking Rainius's head and banging it onto the glass, making it crack. 

"I'm strong enough to kill you!" Rainius smirked. Rainius then kicked Fury into a mirror, making glass go all over the floor. "I'm sorry." He said when he rushed over to Starlight. He picked her up in his hooves then was about to fly off, but was stopped when his bottom right hoof was grabbed and being held by magic. 

"Oh, no you don't." Fury said before he threw Rainius to the floor which caused Starlight to be thrown to the floor, breaking some of her ribs from the impact. Rainius began to run over to her, but Fury immediately grabbed him, enveloping him in his bright orange aura and launching him into a window, shattering it into pieces. One of those pieces managed to cut Starlight's broken leg and get stuck. Using her magic she pulled it out. That was the most she could do other than lay in a pool of her own blood. As Rainius sat up, Fury walked over to Starlight and grabbed her right front hoof and used dark magic that pierced her skin, and burned as it did, making Starlight scream louder. He formed it into the shape of a circle on her hoof before he was grabbed by Rainius who pushed him down to the floor and savagely plows him through the floorboards. 

Starlight watched the whole thing but was unable to focus because of the burning pain of the dark magic that was traveling through her veins that could kill her. All she was able to see was two figures twist and fight in and out of focus. Her eyes suddenly opened when she saw the horrifying reality of Fury kicking Rainius. The two were delivering what would be death blows to normal ponies, but since they were Alicorns they were able to withstand the attacks. Rainius kicked Fury into a wall then pinned him against it, both began to growl at each other until Staright’s earsplitting scream fueled Rainius’s rage. Her scream of pain slicing through him. He then charged up his horn with dark magic himself than did the same thing Fury did to Starlight. Rainius’s magic pierced through Fury’s neck, flesh, and bone. 

Fury sent out an agonizing scream. Rainius realized he took it too far when his mother and aunt Celestia made it to the scene. “Son. Stop! Remember who you are. We’ll handle this, Starlight needs you.” He nodded and rushed over to his marefriend’s side. “I’m sorry it had to come to this…  brother.” Luna said before she and Celestia used their magic to kill Fury. 

Celestia and Luna then rush over to the injured unicorn who screams again. Celestia works fast to assess her wounds, focusing on a massive bleed from her leg. But clearly, her hoof hurts the most. She writhes in pain. Celestia applies pressure to the gash on her thigh. “Her femoral artery has been severed, she’s losing too much blood,” Celestia told Rainius.

"No, my hoof! It's burning!!" Starlight screamed.

"It's dark magic," Rainius said examining the wound. 

"Rainius, nephew. You have to make a choice." Celestia began. "You can try and save her, or you can let it kill her." 

"I choose to save her. I love her!" Rainius said, admitting his feelings about Starlight. 

“Then you’re gonna have to be careful. Removing dark magic from a pony’s bloodstream is very dangerous if not done properly-! Rainius!!” She exclaimed as Rainius used his magic to absorb all the dark magic from Starlight’s bloodstream. He was an Alicorn, he knew he would be alright. Starlight begins to lose consciousness as Rainius focuses himself on the dark energy. “We’re losing her! Rainius!!” Starlight could hear them saying her name, but before she could say or do anything everything went black; she passed out.
> Chapter Five - The Gala
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starlight awoke to her new surroundings of the Sires Hollow hospital and could hear a familiar voice calling her name. "Starlight… Starlight." Starlight's vision had finally come into focus so she could see the pony beside her. "Starlight," Twilight said once again, gaining her attention. 

"Wha… what happened?" Starlight asked as she attempted to straighten herself up. "Ow…" 

"Careful!" Twilight said helping get to a better position without hurting her. "Well… uh, after our argument, you left to go to your dad's in Sires Hollow and… you fell down the stairs and broke your leg and a few ribs. You went through the window!" Twilight held an expression of guilt and sorrow. "Starlight, I'm so sorry. For our argument. If I hadn't told you to leave you wouldn't be here right now, you would be in the castle safe and sound." 

"It's alright, I forgive you. But… where's Rainius?" Starlight asked. 

"Oh, he's over there. He's asleep." Twilight replied. "He never leaves. You're lucky to have someone so loyal. And who cares about you."

"Twilight?" Starlight began. 

"Hm? What is it, Starlight?" She inquired. 

"C… Could you um… tell my dad that I'm awake and doing fine?" She requested. 

"Of course. I'll be back." Twilight said before she walked out of the room. 

Rainius immediately got up from where he was sitting and walked over to Starlight's bedside. "What happened? Where's Fury?" Starlight asked. 

"We took care of him. He's dead." Rainius said. "And Silvertail, she ran off but I'm sure we'll cross paths with her again."

"What about Latenighter?" She continued on. 

"None of us know. Probably all the way to Vanhoover, or Fillydelphia, maybe even here in Sires Hollow." He told her. 

"What did you do after I passed out?" She egged on. 

"Me, my aunt Celestia, and my mother all finished off Fury then immediately brought you here, then went back to your dad's where we busted a window and threw something down the stairs to make it sound like it was you. Then the hospital did some transfusions since you lost a lot of blood. And then we told Twilight and we've just been waiting for you to wake up." Rainius explained. 

Starlight looked at the IV in her arm then shuddered. She didn't really like needles. "You really broke a window in my father's house?" She teased. 

Rainius chuckled. "Yeah. And we may have accidentally set that strange place where we killed Fury in on fire." He said. The two laughed before Rainius moved in closer to her and gave her a small kiss. "I love you, Starlight Glimmer."

"I love you too, Prince Rainius Songbird." She said. 

"I'm no prince." He said, thinking about all that has happened and doubting his own strength. 

"You are too me." She said to try to lighten his mood, but it didn't help. "I'm alive because of you."

"No, you're in here because of me. And the worst part was is I didn't think I would save you in time." Rainius said. "Which is why I think it's best if I just go… I can't risk anything like that happening to you again."

"Wh… what?! N-n-n-no! Y… you can't just go. What do you mean just go?! N… n… no. I… I can't live without you… j-just don't leave m… me. Please. You can't leave me!" Starlight begged of him. 

Rainius looked at the heart monitor and saw that Starlight's heart rate had increased. He sighed. "Where else am I supposed to go?"

"Nowhere. Stay at the castle with me!" Starlight demanded, making him laugh a bit. 

"Fine." He agreed. "But, I'm just not sure how I can keep you safe, especially with my past coming back to haunt me."

"Please, don't worry so much about that. Let's just focus on getting ready for the Grand Galloping Gala." She reminded him. 

"Alright…" Rainius said, agreeing with her. 

Later at the Gala. Ponies were gathered from far and wide in their finest attire to meet their needs, desires, and above all their entertainment of the music. Twilight and all her friends we're there. Fluttershy was with Discord, Pinkie was with Cheese Sandwich, Applejack was with Trenderhoof, Rainbow Dash was with Soarin, and Rarity was with Spike. Twilight though, had no one. "Oh hey, Starlight… Rainius." She greeted, trying to hide her emotions, she even put a mind block spell on herself to keep Rainius from reading her mind. 

"Hey, Twilight. The place looks great. You did a really great job."Starlight said. 

"Thanks, Starlight." Twilight thanked her. She looked at her, then at Rainius, then back at her. "I hope you and Rainius will be happy together." Her comment made Starlight smile. 

Starlight and Rainius made their way outside to the castle garden. "Care to dance?" Rainius asked her. 

"It would be my pleasure, your Highness." Starlight said bowing. 

Rainius smirked. "Again. I'm not a prince." He chuckled. 

"Rainius, I have a question?" Starlight began. 

"And what's that?" Rainius asked, intrigued. 

"Why did you choose me?" Starlight demanded to know. 

Hearing her question caught him off guard and yet gave him a strong impression to answer it knowing that she desired to know the truth, Rainius kisses her "Because you are the only one who holds my heart." He said. 

Chuckling the mare kissed him "Good to know that all it took was for me to be myself who can actually be herself around you." She replied. 

"And I'm glad you did," Rainius said, kissing her again, but this time on the neck. 

"Me to my handsome prince." She chuckled as she said. 

"And I wouldn't want it any other way Miss Glimmer." He replied as he gave her a small smile, kissing her once more to complete their deal. 

From afar Silvertail watched as the couple danced, and it was then she began to hatch an evil plan to get revenge. To avenge Fury. She then ran off to start working on her big plan of revenge. To kill Starlight and make Rainius feel the same pain she did. An eye for an eye. 
> Chapter Six - New Moon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few months had passed since the gala, which was probably the best day of Starlight's life as she would consider it. But today was a day she dreaded. It was her birthday. The thought of getting older displeased her as she knew that Rainius would always stay and look the same no matter how many years had passed, he was immortal, meaning he could live forever. Suddenly, Starlight pushed through tons of ponies in red cloaks at daring speed. It was a race against time, as Starlight continued to push past ponies to make her way closer to the castle where Rainius was to reveal himself to all the ponies at the festival once the clock strikes noon. Starlight was trying to prevent this as his life (despite immortal) hung in the balance. Time was of the essence. She knew she couldn't slow down; not even for a second! 

The roar of the crowd was all that Starlight could hear above all, but as soon as the clock struck noon she could hear the loud bell, it was then she knew that she may be too late. "Rainius!!" She screamed before she pushed past a bunch of ponies, but right before her eyes everything changed, instead, she was in a field, pushing branches out of her way instead of ponies. She looked around curiously. Rainius was nowhere to be found, but there was one other pony there. This pony resembled Starlight greatly, but she looked like somepony’s grandmare. 

Starlight dared to bring herself closer to this strange pony, but as she was about to take a step, she heard a noise of snapping branches. She looked over to see Rainius in all his glory walking towards her. She sighed relieved, but then her mind focused back on the old mare. "Rainius, don't, she'll see you!" She called out to him. He ignored completely. Like he couldn't hear her at all. He took Starlight's hoof and the two began walking over to the mare. Starlight felt a sense of uneasiness as she came closer to the being that greatly held a resemblance to her. Once she had gotten a closer look, she realized that this mare was her! She went to put her hoof against the mares, but they didn't touch, instead, it touched a mirror. This was her reflection. Rainius still stood beside her. Still as young-looking as ever. 

"Happy birthday, Starlight…" He said, kissing her now old wrinkly hoof. 

Starlight shot up from her bed with a bit of a shock, her breathing had increased, it seemed like she was hyperventilating. Probably her worst fear was to be an old mare while Rainius still looked like a stallion in their prime. "Oh, good morning, Starlight!" Twilight cheerfully announced. Then she noticed Starlight's rats nest of a mane. "Oh, is this a bad time?"

Starlight got up and brushed her mane thoroughly with a hairbrush. "So, how's the play coming along?" She asked. 

"Oh, it's coming along quite nicely," Twilight replied. Twilight was putting together a play with the students of the school of Friendship on one of her favorite pieces of literature. 'Roanio and Filliet' by Shakespur. "Also, is that a strand of grey hair I see?" She examined Starlight's mane. Starlight immediately freaked out. 

"Where?!" She got up and quickly looked in her mirror, looking for a strand of grey hair in her mane, but couldn't find any. She turned back at Twilight a little annoyed. 

"Happy birthday," Twilight said before leaving Starlight's room with a bit of a giggle. 

"Haha, very funny." Starlight said unamused by Twilight's little joke. 

As Starlight was making her way downstairs for breakfast, she was stopped by the very pony she loved. Rainius. "Happy birthday, Ms. Glimmer." He said, wishing her a happy birthday, despite how much she loathed it. "I got you something." He gave her a present. 

"Shh." She said with a hiss. "And I thought we agreed to no presents." 

"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist." He said, smiling. Starlight opened it and what it was was a pair of turquoise headphones with her cutie mark engraved in them. "I know how much you love music, so I got you those; custom made."

"Mmm… thanks." Starlight said annoyed. 

"Oh, come on Starlight. Your birthday is something to celebrate." Rainius said. 

"Yeah, but my aging is not." Starlight egged on. 

Rainius chuckled. "You're aging. Yeah, I'm pretty sure 23 is a little young to be worrying about that. I mean I'm 1109." He said to try to make her feel better about her age. 

"Why am I dating such an old stallion?" She joked. The two shared a giggle before they both headed downstairs where Twilight was waiting for them. 

"Morning, you two!" Spike greeted them as Twilight set up the table for breakfast. 

"So, Starlight. Luna and Celestia want you to go over to the castle later tonight for your birthday. And also because they want to see Rainius." Twilight told them. 

"Great…" Rainius and Starlight both said unenthusiastically in unison. 

Twilight stared at both of them awkwardly for a moment before she decided to break the silence. "This’ll be good for both of you." She said. Though both of them didn't really look like they cared. 

"Fine." They both said in unison. 

Later that night in Canterlot everything was all prepared for Starlight's birthday. Twilight was there too. She and Starlight were looking at historical paintings that the Princesses had. Then Starlight noticed one with these four bat ponies on it and it had Rainius in it standing off to the side. "Rainius? Is that you?" She asked. 

"Yes. I was apart of the Bat Syndicate." He replied. 

"What's the Bat Syndicate?" Starlight inquired. 

"They're kinda like the royalty of Hollow Shades and law enforcers of our kind. The bat ponies. Their bat ponies themselves." He briefly explained. 

"Bat ponies have laws?" Starlight teased. Twilight though, seemed intrigued. 

"Not very many. But if one of them is broken. The consequence is always death. Or you can go to them if you just want to die." He said. 

"You know you need to stop talking about that. What even got you to start talking about that in the first place?" Starlight asked. 

Rainius's expression went grim. "Because I've had to consider it." He said, remembering the fight with Fury and the state Starlight was in after he had tried to kill her just to get revenge on Rainius. "I had joined them when I was 98 and I stayed with them until I was 103. I just couldn't do it anymore." He began to point out the ponies in the painting. "Shadow Mark is their leader. The one in the center. Crimson Moon is the one on the left. Dark Meadow is the one to the right. Duke Tail is the one next to Shadow. Amber Night is the one next to Dark Meadow, her brother. And then the pony in the back is me." They all laughed. 

"Tis time," Luna announced. While Twilight, Celestia, and Rainius were talking, Starlight and Luna were walking down the castle hallways. "So, what dost thou have on her mind?" 

"What happened the day you made Rainius into an Alicorn?" Starlight asked curiously. 

"Well… the doctor said that he wasn't going to make it, and when I had gone into his hospital room I could see the wounds." Luna said. 

"How bad were they?" Starlight seemed eager to know, much to Luna's surprise. Starlight had always shuddered at the thought of Rainius being hurt or in pain in any way. 

"Didn't thou hear me say that the doctor said he wasn't going to make it?" Luna said with a giggle. 

"Oh, right." Starlight replied. "So, what else happened?" 

"I turned him into an Alicorn so he wouldn't die. I could never live with myself if he was to die." Luna told her. "I just hope someday he could forgive me…"

"I think he will." Starlight assured her. "I just don't know why he hates being this immortal being with powerful magic. It just must be nice to just not age. Never get tired and never have to eat or drink, or even sleep." 

"He doesn't see it that way… he believes that he's damned regardless. He feels like he has no soul." Luna continued. 

"I doubt that. He has a soul. Despite what he might think." Starlight claimed. 

"I'm glad that you and I can agree with that," Luna said with a small smile. 

Meanwhile, Rainius, Twilight, and Celestia were in the throne room. "So, Twilight? How is the play coming along?" Celestia asked. 

"It is coming along great. We have everything all finished. The students are practicing their lines. The play is this Saturday." Twilight said. "I hope you'll be there to see it."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, Twilight," Celestia said. "And I don't think Rainius would miss it for the world either." 

"I'll be there. It should be quite interesting. I mean it's Roanio and Filliet. One of the most greatest romance writings in history." Rainius said. 

"It is quite the tale," Twilight replied. The one thing that was on her mind was Rainius. He immediately picked this up. 

"Aunt Celestia, can me and Twilight have some time alone?" Rainius asked. 

"Oh, okay," Celestia said, giving the two Alicorns space. Once she left Rainius didn't have any time to react before being pulled into a kiss by Twilight. 

He pushed her back, breaking themselves apart. "Twilight. We can't do this." Rainius began. "Especially not on Starlight's birthday."

"You're right…" Twilight sighed. "Why don't we go see how the birthday girl is doing?"

"I agree... But please keep your thoughts to yourself, Twilight." Rainius asked of her. 

"So, after he had left the Bat Syndicate, it was probably the best thing he could've done," Luna said. 

"But, why doesn't he really want me to be immortal like him?" Starlight asked. 

"Well, try looking at it from his side of the argument. What if you were the Alicorn, and he wanted you to make him immortal? Would you be able to "take his soul" or not?" Luna said. 

"I don't care about what happens to my soul!" Starlight finally said. 

"But you don't think that Rainius might feel otherwise?" Luna asked her. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" Starlight said. 

"Well, Rainius thinks that your soul is not something worth taking away just to become an immortal." Luna said. 

Starlight had never thought of seeing it from Rainius's perspective, but it still didn't change her decision. "I'm not sure what he sees. I'm pretty lame." She said. 

"I'm not sure why you doubt yourself. He could've had any mare out there, but he chose you. He obviously sees something special in you. He just doesn't know why you don't see it." Luna reminded her. 

"I guess you're right… but… nevermind." Starlight paused. "I know that all he wants me to do is celebrate my birthday, which I guess I can do… for him." 

"Glad to hear that," Rainius called from the other side of the hallway with Twilight and Celestia. Starlight wondered how he could hear her then she remembered that he had supernatural hearing abilities, but she didn't focus too much on that. She was just glad to see him. 

"Rainius!!" Starlight galloped over to him as fast as she could before throwing herself onto him. 

"Well, it seems that you're happy to see me…" Rainius looked over to his mother. Luna smiled. Rainius smiled back. But that was all that happened. Not a single word was said between the two. 

"Well, I think we should head out. It's getting late." Twilight said. 

"Yeah, I think we should." Rainius agreed. Starlight as well. 

"I just hope Spike hasn't made a mess of the place while we were gone," Twilight said. 

"Probably not one that he couldn't clean up." Starlight said with a giggle. The others giggled too.

"Thanks for everything, princesses." Starlight said, leaving, but she gave one last glance at Princess Luna before making her way to follow Twilight and Rainius. 
> Chapter Seven - Goodbye
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starlight had awoken and started her normal every morning routine, but one thing was different. She didn't see Rainius anywhere. "Um, Twilight? Did you happen to see Rainius this morning, I can't find him anywhere?" She asked the princess. 

"No," Twilight replied. "He may be running errands or something, I don't know, but let's not focus on that right now. You need to focus on being a guidance counselor, and I need to focus on being a headmare, okay?"

Starlight sighed. "Okay…" She answered. School had gone by pretty normally that day. The students continued to practice their lines for the Roanio and Filliet play, and Starlight reorganized her bookshelf… again. Later after school, Starlight saw the very pony she had on her mind all day… Rainius. 

"Come." He commanded of her. And by the tone in his voice, she could tell this wasn't gonna be a pleasant talk. The two walked into the Everfree forest. Starlight was unaware of what he was about to say. "Starlight… I'ma make this as brief as can be. I don't think I can do this anymore. Us." 

"What do you mean? What's wrong?" She asked, nearly crying. "Rainius? Answer me!"

"I'm no good for you…" He said. "You're not safe with me." 

Starlight took a moment to process all this information. It broke her. "So, you don't want me?" She asked, her voice shallow. 

"No." His answer was straight. Starlight's heart sank in her chest. She was unsure of what to say. There was only one emotion she felt at that moment… Heartbreak. "I shouldn't have let this carry on for this long. Don't worry, it's a clean break. Time can only tell."

Starlight remembered back to the doctor’s words in Sires Hollow after the incident with Fury Flight. 'It's a clean break, which means it'll heal more effectively… more quickly.'

"I'm coming with you! You're not leaving me!" Starlight demanded. Tears were starting to form in her eyes. 

"Starlight, I don't want you to come!" He was firm in how he said it. At this point, Starlight's heart was most likely shattered into a million pieces. "Goodbye, Starlight Glimmer." Before he left he grabbed her into his embrace and kissed her. He let go then teleported out of sight. Starlight had thought that maybe he was still in the area and even though of how hopeless it could be, she searched for him. 

"Rainius! Rainius!!" Starlight cried. She could feel her stomach churning and twisting into a knot. She fell to the ground unable to stand anymore as her legs gave way. She lies on the ground crying her eyes out. 

Later that night, a very worried Twilight gathered her friends together for a search party to look for the lost unicorn. "Don't worry, Twilight. We'll find her…" Fluttershy tried to reassure her. 

"But what if we don't?! What if she's hurt?! What if-!" Twilight exclaimed before Rainbow Dash put her hoof to her mouth, silencing her. 

"Twilight!! Chillax!" Rainbow Dash interjected. 

"How can you say that, Rainbow?!" Rarity joined in on the conversation. "It's like you don't care about what happens to her at all!"

"I do care about what happens to her!!" Rainbow said agitatedly. 

"Well, you've got an incredibly weird way of showing it!" Pinkie squeaked in her high pitched voice. The group of friends began bickering to each other until they were cut off by the yell of a stallion. 

"Guys! I found her!!" Sunburst said carrying Starlight on his back. Twilight ran over to him and grabbed Starlight. 

"Don't worry, I got her." Twilight said before taking her into the castle. Sunburst watched as Twilight took Starlight into the castle and wondered if he should follow her. He decided it would be best if he didn't, so he left. 

The next morning, Starlight awoke thinking it was all just a bad dream. A very horrible one. But sadly, it was a reality. October, November, December. They all were very depressing months for Starlight as all she could think about was him. If he was gone it was over. Life, meaning, everything… over. "Starlight, this isn't good for you. Look I know you're depressed about Rainius dumping you, but you have to get over it. C'mon. We'll be late for the play." 

"Right. The play. Roanio and Filliet." Starlight said. "Romance…"

"Starlight," Twilight said. "You'll find somepony someday. It just takes time."

"I'd rather die than be with anyone but Rainius!" Starlight told her, trying to get her to see. But Twilight didn't look like she was having it. 

"O, my love! My wife! Death that hath sucked
the honey of thy breath. Hath had no power yet
upon thy beauty. Thou art not conquered. Beauty's ensign yet is crimson in thy lips
and in thy cheeks. And death's pale flag
is not advanced there." Said Sanbar as he was portraying the part of Roanio. 

Starlight wasn't sure of how much more she could take. Even though he was gone, there were just traces of him just about everywhere. And the more she thought about it, the more down she felt. After the play, she and Twilight returned to the castle. "Well, I'm going to turn in for the night, just let me know if you need anything, okay?" Twilight said. 

"O… okay." Starlight said smiling as Twilight went off to her room. 

"Why don't you go see Sunburst tomorrow. I believe It'll make you feel better…" Twilight said before heading off. 

"Alright, I will." Starlight said, hoping to make Twilight happy. She struggled to fall asleep that night knowing that Rainius wasn't there next door. She eventually fell asleep. She arose in the Everfree forest and looked around and standing in front of her was Rainius and Sunburst. "Rainius… I'm scared." 

"You should be." He said coldly. Starlight immediately awoke. Her mind stuck on the dream. What could it possibly mean? 

The next day she was at Sunburst's place in the Crystal Empire, practicing spells. "I never would've thought to combine Star Swirl's apparition spell with Spacium Flexibus!" Sunburst said. 

"But what would happen if we added Somnambula's Tempus Objectus?" Starlight suggested. 

"Well, if we do it just right, it should allow us to materialize an object that was lost in the past," Sunburst said. "But it's very risky…"

"Risky? So, you don't think that it's completely and totally reckless?" Starlight asked. 

"I mean I guess it could be. It could even kill both of us if not done properly" Sunburst said. 

"Well then let's do it properly." Starlight said with a smile. She took the chalk in her magic and drew a symbol resembling the same one in the book. 

"Um, but do you think that we should do this? I mean what if it fails. We'll both die." Sunburst said very unsurely. 

Out of Starlight's vision, an image of Rainius appeared. "Don't do it, Starlight." He said. 

Starlight looked at Rainius. Then focused back on Sunburst. "What? You doubting my skills with magic?" Starlight teased. "Don't be such a coward." 

"Alright then. Let's get started." Sunburst announced. Starlight cast the spell on the symbol which opened up a huge hole that began sucking everything in the room into it. 

Both of them were screaming as Sunburst used his knowledge and power to seal it up. The inertia after the portal had closed had jerked both of them forward to where they fell on their stomachs. "I… I wanna try it again…"

"What?! Are you crazy?! We could've died!!" Sunburst exclaimed, hoping to get her to see reason. 

"I wanna try it again!" Starlight demanded. "I have to!"

"Okay, you've officially lost it. In the time I have known you. I have never known you to be suicidal, Starlight." Sunburst replied. 

Starlight thought hard about what he had just said, but it didn't change how she felt. She wanted to see Rainius again. No matter what it would take. Even if she was risking her life. She was going to see him again! 

"Go home, Starlight," Sunburst said sending her off. Then he looked at one of his books with a picture of a pony who turned into a timberwolf. He took a deep breath and exhaled. How was he to tell her? 

That night Starlight had another dream about her and Rainius together. It was beautiful and she wished that she could just never wake up from it because she wished that it was real. That morning when she woke up she was feeling even more down than usual. Twilight still greeted her as usual, but it just didn't feel the same without Rainius. "Um. I'ma go talk to Sunburst today, is that alright?" Starlight asked. 

"Of course. But just be back soon." Twilight said before she began to head out. 

"Where are you going?" Starlight asked kinda curious. 

"I have this big presentation I got to do in Canterlot, I'll be back later tonight. And I'm taking Spike with me." She answered. 

"Well, I won't keep you waiting then." Starlight said, sending Twilight off before she began her trip to the Crystal Empire. "Sunburst! Sunburst!!" She knocked on his door but he wasn't answering. 

"I can't talk right now, Starlight," Sunburst said. 

"Sunburst? What's wrong? Tell me!" She demanded. 

"Starlight… I'm just not good for you." He told her. 

"Sunburst, don't do this to me. Not again. Please." She begged. 

"Starlight, it's not you-!" Sunburst began but was interrupted by Starlight. 

"It's not you, it's me, right?!" Starlight interjected, cutting him off. 

"It is me." He said. "I just can't speak with you anymore, or even hang out with you any longer. I'm sorry, Starlight."

"No, Sunburst. Please don't leave me again. Don't break up with me!" Starlight put a hoof to her mouth. What was she even saying? At this point she was crying, tears falling down from her eyes in little rivulets. 

"I'm sorry… I wish you knew, it would make things so much easier." He said. 

"I think I'll just go… bye." Starlight said. 

"I think that that would be best," Sunburst said. "So goodbye to you as well." 

Starlight didn't know what she could do. She wanted to know what was wrong with him, but she knew he wasn't going to just tell her outright. She was going to have to figure it out herself. She went back to the castle and began reading some books, but she could find nothing on what could possibly be going on with Sunburst and why he's acting so strangely. Twilight and Spike greeted her that night, but she didn't pay very much attention to them. "So, how'd it go with Sunburst?" Twilight asked. 

"Not good." Starlight said. "There's something going on with him, but I'm just not sure what it is and I can't find anything in any of these books." She seemed to be getting very annoyed. "Ugh." 

"Well, try and get some sleep tonight. I know that hanging out with Sunburst has seemed to take your mind off of things. Especially about Rainius." Twilight said. 

Starlight had tried to keep her mind off it, but it was impossible to do it for too long. It still pained her knowing that he'd left her. She just couldn't get over him no matter what she tried and it was then she knew she had to see him again. It was then that she decided that she was going to go to the Everfree forest tomorrow. She decided to give up for tonight and head off to bed where she had another dream about her and Rainius that she knew wasn't real and she didn't want to wake up from. "Rainius?"

"I'm sorry, I can do this anymore…" He said. "Goodbye, Starlight…" Starlight was left speechless. Starlight started screaming. Twilight immediately came into her room and woke her up from the nightmare that she was having. 

"Shh… it's just a bad dream… it's okay, Starlight. Now, try to fall back asleep." Twilight said. 

"Alright… sorry." She said, apologizing before she tried once again to fall asleep and stay asleep for at least eight hours. If one thing was for sure it was that tonight was gonna be a long night. 
> Chapter Eight - Timberwolf
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starlight woke up early the next morning and headed out to the Everfree forest, where the last time she had seen Rainius was. Maybe that could cure the hole in her chest. But it was all in vain, or maybe it wasn't because somepony was there. A bat pony. His golden yellow hair with the brown streaks through it seemed to really bring out his turquoise eyes. He wore a green bandana that matched the color of his coat. "So, you're Starlight Glimmer?" He asked. 

"How do you know who I am?" She questioned him, wanting to know how he knew her. Was it because of Rainius? She thought for a second. 

"You were the protege of the Princess of Friendship. Who doesn't know who you are?" He said laughing. 

"Who are you?" She asked, just trying to get the conversation off of the subject of her. 

"Oh, my apologies… my name is Latenighter. Latenighter Dirt. I was just looking for somepony you might know. He goes by the name Rainius Songbird." He said, looking her straight in the eyes. "But, he doesn't seem to be around… it's funny that he would leave without taking you with him. Weren't you like some pet of his? Does he still visit?"

Just before Starlight was about to speak to object what Latenighter was saying, a ghost-like image of Rainius had appeared. "Lie." He told her. 

"Oh, he comes by all the time." She lied. 

"Lie better!" Rainius said, or at least the illusion of him said at least, then vanished into thin air. 

"In fact, I'll tell him that you wanted to see him next time he stops by." She lied again. "But then again… I don't really know if I should tell him. He's kinda overprotective."

"But he's far away now, isn't he?" Latenighter asked, turning the tables on the subject. 

Starlight didn't know how to respond to that, so she decided to turn the tables of the conversation herself. "Why are you here, Latenighter?" She asked him. 

"I came as a favor to Silvertail." He began. "She asked me to see if you were still under Rainius's protection… Silver only feels that it's fair to kill Rainius's mate, which is you… given he killed hers." 

"Fury Flight." Starlight said, remembering when Rainius had fought his uncle to save her life. 

"Yes. Fury and I were very good friends. After Silver had lost him she was furious. And she wants revenge. An eye for an eye." He sighed. "Silver won't be very happy about my killing you… but I just can't help myself." He said, coming closer to Starlight. 

"Then please, don't…" Starlight begged. 

"No, no, no, no, no! Don't be afraid… I'm doing you a favor of pure kindness. See Silver wants to kill slowly and painfully. Whereas I will do it quickly and painlessly. I promise you won't feel a thing. Do you have any last words?" Late asked her. 

"How exactly will you kill me?" She asked, curiously. "You don't look like one that would be the killing type." 

"There are two different kinds of bat ponies. The ones that feed off of fruits… and the ones that feed off of pony blood." He explained. 

"Well, which one are you?" She egged on. 

"Well, I don't eat fruit, so what do you think?" He said before he revealed his fangs. 

"The bloodsucker kind." She stated. 

"Indeed." He grabbed Starlight and was about to sink his teeth into her. 

"Rainius, I love you!" She announced. Then there was a rustle of the bushes and trees. 

"No, I don't believe it… Timberwolves!" Late said as what came out of the woods was a huge timberwolf that stood even taller than him on even on all fours. "Dammit!" A pack of smaller and normal-sized timberwolves followed. The larger timberwolf looked at Starlight and all she could do was just stare back as Latenighter began a daring run to get away from the beast. The timberwolves chased after him, once the big one got close though, Latenighter swung his hoof, punching it in the face and knocking it back. But it just got up and darted back towards him. Then all of a sudden the timberwolves were all until of him and chewing him to bits. The sight was a horror, so Starlight decided to gallop out of the forest as fast as she could to get away from the timberwolves. 

"Twilight!! Twilight!!" Starlight shouted. 

"Starlight, what's wrong?" She asked worriedly. 

"Everfree forest! Timberwolves! One huge one and the rest normal-sized!" She tried to explain. 

"Timberwolves? And Starlight what the hell were you doing in the Everfree forest?!" Twilight exclaimed. 

"I just needed to get some air." She lied. "Nothing major." 

"So, timberwolves?" Twilight asked. "You sure?" Starlight nodded rapidly. "Well, Spike. This giant timberwolf is something that I've just got to see." She seemed very intrigued. 

"Alright. Well, I'ma go try to see Sunburst again. Maybe he might have some information on this timberwolf issue." Starlight suggested. 

"That sounds like a really smart idea. You should go see him. It'll be good for you two to start talking to each other again." She agreed. 

Starlight paused for a second to take everything in. Those timberwolves would be dead by now if Latenighter had done something. But the question is did he? And does Silvertail know that he is dead? And would she be coming to find Starlight and take out her revenge? All she knew was that she really needed to talk to Sunburst immediately. 

"Sunburst!" Starlight called, knocking on his door. "I need to talk to about timberwolves!"

Sunburst opened the door. "That's kinda what I need to talk to you about, Starlight…" He said. 

"What happened to your muzzle?" She asked as she could see that his muzzle looked like it was broken. 

"I'll explain that too. Just come in." He said, allowing her inside. They sat down at Sunburst's table and he poured her some tea. She took it not wanting to seem rude even though she really wasn't in the mood for tea. 

"So, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Starlight asked, commencing the conversation. 

"I… don't know how to put this. I… there was a complication to a spell I had tried to cast, but it didn't turn out so well… the result was I can shapeshift into a timberwolf and back into a pony at will." He said. "They made me the leader of the pack!"

Starlight leaned back in her chair, processing all this new information. So, he was the huge timberwolf that she saw in the Everfree forest that killed Latenighter? "Well, that's really something. But it's wrong… you kill ponies." She said. 

"No, just him. I wasn't going to let him kill you. I care about you, Starlight. Which is why I'm also going to be tracking down that other pony after you." He claimed. 

"Silvertail." Starlight said. Sunburst nodded. "Are you sure you're even going to be able to catch her?" 

"Your doubting me is kind of insulting." He said chuckling. Starlight chuckled too. "I just couldn't keep this a secret from you any longer." 

"That's okay, I forgive you." She said, forgiving him for keeping what's been going on with him a secret from her. 

"Anyways, I need to get ready to hunt for Silvertail, she should be in the Everfree forest," Sunburst said. 

"Wait! The Everfree forest?!" Starlight asked. Sunburst nodded. "But that's where Twilight and Spike are… looking for you." 

"Great. She'll have somepony and dragon to prey on to sustain her." Sunburst said a little annoyed. "I'll have to go now. Starlight, go home now… now!" Starlight obeyed his order and ran back to Ponyville, back to the castle. 

Meanwhile, Twilight and Spike were on the search for Sunburst, but we're having no luck. "Um… Twilight?" Spike said nervously. 

"Yes, Spike?" She said, turning to him. "Have you found anything?!" She began to get excited. 

"Um, no. When are we going to get out of this spooky forest?" He asked anxiously. 

Twilight sighed. "Fine. If you really want to go back to the castle so badly, I guess we can." She said and the two went on their way, but not without a certain somepony following them from behind. But as Silvertail was about to feast on their blood, she was tackled by a timberwolf. That timberwolf being Sunburst. 

Silvertail began whistling at the timberwolf, antagonizing it. Sunburst growled and started chasing after her as she fled. He chased her all the way through the Everfree forest to Ponyville where she flew out of sight. The chase was over. She won… this time. But next time he was going to make sure that he would catch her. 

As Twilight and Spike were heading back to the castle, Starlight was behind the castle at the little pond, thinking about Rainius… and about Equestrian legends. Fairy tales and horror stories. Were they all true? Was there nothing sane or normal in this world at all? One thing was for sure. She had to see Rainius again. Then she thought of it. She was going to try to drown herself in the pond. But before she was about to jump in, the illusion of Rainius appeared again. "Starlight… don't do this." He begged of her. 

"You wanted me mortal… now you're gonna have to face the consequences." She said before she jumped into the pond, the illusion of Rainius disappearing once again. She slowly sunk down to the bottom of the pond where she once again saw the illusion of Rainius, but this time he had nothing to say to her. It was calm, peaceful, and quiet down there. But all her peace and quiet was about to be interrupted as she was grabbed by a hoof and pulled back to the surface. Rainius's illusion once again, gone, just dissolved in the water as she pulled herself back, refusing to be pulled to the surface. But soon she gave up and let the hoof bring her back to the surface. 

"Breathe Starlight! Breathe!" Twilight said as she continued to perform CPR on her. After a few times, Starlight shot up and coughed up the water in her lungs. "Uh, thank Celestia you're okay. Starlight, why the fuck would you try to kill yourself?!" 

"I'm sorry, Twilight." Starlight said, apologizing. 

"Is it about Rainius?! Because you know I miss him too, but I'm not gonna kill myself just to see him again!!" Twilight exclaimed, trying to get Starlight to see a different side of things. Twilight sighed. "I'm not angry… it just worries me that you're going to extreme measures just to see if he will come back. Starlight he's not coming back no matter what you do. I just hope you know that. Now c'mon, let's head back inside, it's warmer in there." She took Starlight with her into the castle. Twilight kept a sharp eye on her. 

Starlight was wrapped in a blanket, drinking a cup of hot chocolate as Twilight sat on the other end of the sofa. "Just promise me you won't try and do something like that again, Starlight? I was worried sick. I wasn't even sure if you were gonna make it or not!" Twilight said. 

Before Starlight was about to speak, Spike burped up a letter. "It's from Celestia!" He said. 

"Give it to me!" Starlight said, taking the scroll in her magic and began reading it aloud. 

'Starlight, please come to Canterlot immediately!

Sincerely, Celestia.' 

"It must be urgent!" Twilight said. "I'm coming with you!" 

Starlight sighed. "I don't need you to follow me everywhere I go! I already promised that I wasn't going to try to kill myself!" She exclaimed. 

"And I said I was going to keep an eye on you!" Twilight said. 

"Twilight, please?! Trust me?" She pleaded. 

Twilight took a deep breath and exhaled. She had to prove that she trusted Starlight, but after Starlight tried to commit suicide she just wasn't sure if she could, but she decided that it was right. "Fine." She finally said, letting Starlight go. "I just hope I won't regret this."
> Chapter Nine - Race Against Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Starlight Glimmer," Celestia said. 

"Of course, princess. But what's going on?" Starlight asked kinda worried. 

"Well, I'm not sure of any other way to say this, but…" Celestia began. 

"What's going on?" Starlight asked as she started getting more nervous and worried. 

"It's Rainius." Celestia said, though there was a sense of uneasiness in her voice that Starlight could sense from probably a mile away. "He's heading to Hollow Shades to the Bat Syndicate. He had a vision of you drowning yourself in the pond, but he never saw you get pulled out. He thinks you're dead… and he wants to die too." 

Starlight felt her heart sink in her chest. "What?!" She exclaimed. "We've got to get there before he does!" 

"He left as soon as he had the vision, which was last night. He's flying in all the way from Last Pegasus to Hollow Shades." Celestia told her. 

"Do you think we could get there in time?" Starlight asked. 

"Hollow Shades isn't very far from here, so I believe so," Celestia said. "But we must go now." Starlight nodded before she galloped out of the castle. 

Meanwhile, as they were on their way to Hollow Shades, Rainius was already there. He walked down the long castle hallway, into the main throne room, where sat Crimson Moon in the left throne. Duke Tail sat on the right throne. And in the center throne sat Shadow Mark. "So, have you made up your minds' yet?" He asked them. They each had black coats that were as dark as coal, their manes and tails each matched the color of their coats, and their demonic eyes all shone a hue of a bright burning red. They were all bat ponies, bloodsuckers instead of fruit eaters. And they all wore black capes. 

Shadow Mark sighed. "I'm afraid that your particular gifts… are too valuable to destroy." He said. "But if you're unhappy with your lot, join us… we would be delighted to utilize your skills? Won't you consider coming back to us… Rainius?" 

"You know what will happen anyway." Rainius scoffed, declining their offer. 

"Not without cause." Said Crimson Moon as Rainius began to walk away. 

Shadow Mark watched as Rainius walked away. "Such a waste." He said. 

"Where is it?!" Starlight asked Celestia as they both flew as fast as they could, well, Starlight was using her magic to fly as Celestia used her wings. 

"It's not that far," Celestia reassured her. "There's Hollow Shades!" She pointed down in a dark forest with tall trees that shunned sunlight. "They refused him."

"So…?" Starlight said, wondering what was going to happen now. 

"He's gonna make a scene… show himself to all the ponies at the annual Bat Festival." Celestia said. 

"What's the Bat Festival?" Starlight inquired. 

"It's a festival held once a year in Hollow Shades to commemorate the killings of bat ponies in the village. It used to commemorate the expulsion of them from around Equestria." Celestia explained. "It's the perfect setting. The Bat Syndicate will never let him get far enough to reveal himself. He's gonna do it at noon. When the sun's at its highest in the sky."

"We've gotta get down there and save him, now!" Starlight said. "We only have five minutes!"

"Breathe, Starlight," Celestia instructed her. "You'll have to run to him. You're the only one he won't see coming. If I do he'll read my thoughts, he'll think I'm lying and rush into it."

"Where do I go?!" Starlight asked once they both landed. 

"He'll be under the clock tower…" Celestia said. "Go!"

Starlight galloped off towards the clock tower at a daring speed. Celestia soon began to follow. Ponies from all over Equestria seemed to be there, wearing red cloaks and waving small red flags. Even fillies and foals were doing it too. She found herself pushing past all these ponies, trying to get to the clock tower as fast as she could to save Rainius. She stopped at the fountain in front of the clock tower. The clock struck 12. Watching carefully as Rainius began to take his jacket and cape off. "No…!" Starlight whispered to herself before she cut through the fountain to get to him. 

"Elysium." He said once Starlight grabbed ahold of him. 

"You have to move! Open your eyes, look at me! I'm alive! You have to move!" She exclaimed. 

"Starlight?" He began. 

"I'm here. I'm alive." She replied. 

The two had went on inside with Starlight pressing her lips against his roughly. He put her down. "You're alive." He said with a smile. 

"Yes." Starlight said, relieved that she saved him just in time. "I needed you to see me once. You had to know I was alive. You didn't have to feel guilty or anything… I just can't let you go." 

"I never acted out of guilt. I just couldn't live in a world where you didn't exist." Rainius began. 

"But you said-!" Starlight started but was interrupted by Rainius. 

"I lied," Rainius said, cutting her off mid-sentence. "I had to, and you believed me so easily."

"Because it doesn't make sense for you to love me… I'm nothing. I'm mortal… I'm nothing." She said. 

"Starlight… you're everything to me." He told her. "Everything." As the two were enjoying their little romantic reunion, two of the guards came down the hallway. Rainius turned to face them. "I won't be needing your services after all, gentlecolts." 

"Shadow wants to speak with you again." The guard on the right said. 

"No rules were broken," Rainius replied. 

"Nonetheless, we should take this conversation to a more appropriate venue." The guard on the left said. 

"Fine," Rainius said. Then he turned to Starlight. "Star, why don't you go and enjoy the rest of the festival?"

"The girl comes with us." The guard on the right commanded. 

"No, you can go to Tartarus," Rainius responded. 

Suddenly Celestia appeared. "Come on guys, it's a festival. You wouldn't want to make a scene." She joined in. 

"No, we wouldn't." The right guard said. 

"Enough." A feminine voice said. 

"Amber…" Rainius whispered. Amber Night was a bat pony like the rest of them, she had the same demonic bright red eyes and black hair, except her coat was a slightly bit brighter than the others, but not by much. Her coat was a dark purple color, whereas the others were black as night. 

"Shadow sent me to see what was taking so long." Amber Night said. Then the three ponies, along with the two guards began following her. They gave Rainius a red cloak to wear. He put it on. "Go ahead." The ponies walked down the stairs. 

"Don't be scared," Rainius told Starlight. 

"Are you?" She asked. 

Rainius shook his head. "No." He answered. Amber scoffed. 

"Ah, sister. Sent you back to get one and you bring back two… and a half. Such a clever girl." Said her brother Dark Meadow who had the same black coat and hair as the others, along with the same bright glowing red demonic eyes and the cape. 

They soon made it to the throne room where they were greeted by Shadow Mark himself. "What a happy surprise. Starlight is alive after all. Isn't that wonderful? I love a happy ending. Ah, they are so rare." He grabbed Rainius's hoof. 

"Shadow can read every thought I've ever had with just one touch," Rainius said to Starlight. He faced Shadow. "And now you know everything… so get on with it."

Shadow chuckled. "You are quite a soul reader yourself, Rainius." He said before looking at Starlight. "However. You can't read Starlight's thoughts, nor see her future. Fascinating." He let go of Rainius's hoof. "I would love to see if you are an exception to my gifts, as well." He held out his hoof. "Would you do me the honor?" She grabbed his hoof. "Interesting… I see nothing." He let go of her hoof and turned away. "I wonder if… Let us see if she's  immune to all our powers." He turned to Amber Night. "Shall we, Amber?" 

"No!" Rainius screamed before he launched himself in front of Starlight. 

"Pain," Amber said, her eyes now focused on Rainius. 

Rainius fell to the floor in excruciating pain, screaming in agony. "Stop! Stop, please! Just stop, stop, stop hurting him, please, please!!" Starlight screamed at them. Dark Meadow, Amber's brother grabbed ahold of Starlight, preventing her from moving. Celestia ran over to her nephew. Shadow gestured for Amber to stop. She did. 

"Master?" Amber said. 

"Go ahead, my dear," Shadow said. 

"This may hurt just a little," Amber said as she turned her focus over to Starlight. But Starlight didn't seem to be in any pain, no matter how hard Amber tried, making Shadow laugh hysterically, which broke Amber's concentration. 

"Remarkable… she confounds us all… the question is what do we do with you now?" Shadow asked himself. 

"You already know what you're going to do, Shadow." Crimson Moon said. 

"She knows too much." Said Duke Tail. "She's a liability."

"That's true… Dark." Shadow commanded. Dark Meadow then dashed over to Starlight, but Rainius ran in front of Starlight and pushed Dark Meadow away from her. Dark Meadow then grabbed ahold of him. Celestia was about to attack Dark but was stopped by Amber. "Now kill him." Dark began to pull Rainius's head back. 

"Please! No, no! Please! Kill me... kill me… Not him!" Starlight pleaded. 

Shadow stopped Dark. "How extraordinary. You would give your life for someone like us… a bat pony… a soulless monster." He said. 

"You don't know a thing about his soul." Starlight said. 

"Maybe it's one or the other…" Crimson Moon said. 

Shadow sighed. "Such a sadness… if only it were your intention to give her immortality… we now have no choice but to kill her." 

"Kill me instead!" Rainius proposed. 

"Either way, she still dies," Shadow said. 

"Stay away from her!" Rainius shouted at Shadow, but he ignored him. 

As Shadow was about to kill Starlight, Celestia stopped him. "I'll do it! I'll change her myself!" She said. "I promise." 

"Your gifts will make for an intriguing immortal… Starlight Glimmer." Shadow said. "You may go now. Make your preparations."

"I would advise you to be sure you follow through on your promise." Duke Tail said. " We do not offer second chances."

"Let us be done with this." Said Crimson Moon before he stood up from his throne. "Goodbye, and thank you for your visit." 

"Goodbye, my young friends!" Shadow Mark sent them on their way. On the way back there was a group of tourists taking ponies into the throne room. Fillies, colts, stallions, and mares all awaiting their impending doom. Starlight's mind couldn't get off the sounds of their bone-chilling screams. Of the ponies getting eaten by the bat ponies that were sucking their blood. Rainius just prevented Starlight from looking back towards the room. 

Starlight shot up from her bed, breathing rapidly. "Shh… it's okay, I'm here." Rainius said, calming her down. "You can sleep now. I'll still be here when you wake up. Starlight, the only reason that I left was because I thought I was protecting you. I needed you to have a chance at a normal, happy life." 

"It was so easy for you to leave." Starlight said. 

"Leaving you was the hardest thing I've done in over 1100 years," Rainius said. "I swear, I will never fail you again. I'm so sorry." 

"Twilight's not gonna forgive you easily." Starlight said. 

"Eh, I doubt that." Rainius chuckled. "I hope you can forgive me though? Because I honestly don't know how to live without you."

"Come here." Starlight said before she grabbed him and kissed him. "Once Celestia changes me… you can't get rid of me."

"She won't have to change you. There are always ways to keep the Bat Syndicate in the dark." Rainius said. 

"No… no!" Starlight said before hopping out of bed. "We're heading to Canterlot… now!" 
> Chapter Ten - Vote
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You all know what I want." Starlight began. Everyone in the room nodded. "And you know how much I'm asking for it… so, the only thing I can think of for it to be fair is just to vote. Mine and Rainius's votes don't count."

"You don't know what you want-!" Rainius said. But Starlight silenced him. 

"Shut up." Starlight said to him. Then she turned to Celestia. "Celestia…"

Celestia nodded. "For Rainius's sake, I vote yes." She said. 

"Cadence?" Starlight asked the pink Alicorn. 

"Both Shining Armor and I vote yes." The princess said. "Rainius has always been something special to me." What no pony else in the room knew was that Rainius wasn't actually Cadence's cousin, but was related to her in some other way, meaning that not even Luna or Celestia were her aunts. 

"Lylac?" Starlight asked, turning to the bright orange unicorn with a purple mane who was up against a wall, looking as though she really didn't want to be part of the conversation. 

Lylac took a deep breath and exhaled before she spoke. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry to the both of you for how I've acted. What you did was very brave. And I'm thankful that you went and rescued my ex, but immortality is not something I would've chosen for myself, I was born with it. I wish there was someone there to vote no for me, so I vote no." She said. 

Starlight turned to Twilight. "Twilight?" Starlight asked to see what her old mentor had to say about her decision to become an Alicorn. 

"Starlight? You know that I truly think you aren't ready for it, but for Rainius's well-being, I vote yes." Twilight said. "I wouldn't be able to bear him killing himself for any reason." 

Starlight nodded slowly. Then turned to Luna who walked forward and stared at Rainius straight in the eyes. "Why are you doing this to me? You know what this means, right?" Rainius asked his mother. 

"You've chosen not to live without her. Which leaves me no choice." Luna replied. I won't lose my son, so I vote yes. Which leaves the vote 5-1. Five votes for yes, one vote for no." Rainius didn't say a word of objection, but they all could tell that his expression was of unhappiness. Starlight noticed this as well. 

On the way home to Ponyville, Starlight and Rainius were both talking. "I'll wait till after your coronation. To make it easier on you and everyone else." Starlight said before they both we're stopped by Sunburst. "He wants to speak with me." He said. The two followed Sunburst into the forest. 

"So, you're still alive for now?" Sunburst snarled, glaring at Rainius angrily. 

"He thinks it's me keeping you away," Rainius said to Starlight after reading his mind. 

"You stay the hell outta my head," Sunburst growled. 

"Look, Sunburst… I know you have something to say to me, but I wanna say something first. If that's alright?" Rainius began. Sunburst nodded. "Thank you… thank you for keeping Starlight alive when I didn't."

"No, you didn't. And believe me, it wasn't for your benefit." Sunburst replied. 

"I'm still grateful," Rainius said. "But I'm here now, and I'm not gonna leave her side again. Unless she orders me away. Which she can do at any time she wants." 

"We'll see," Sunburst said. Rainius and Starlight were going to walk back home, but Sunburst stopped them. "Hey! My turn to talk. I won't allow her to become an Alicorn." 

"It's not your choice. This has nothing to do with you, Sunburst!" Starlight snapped. 

"No, I won't let you become one, Starlight! I just won't allow it. Starlight, you'll know what we'll do to you. I'll have no choice but to-!" He paused. He didn't want to say the last two words of that sentence. 

"Is he gonna hurt me? Read his mind!" Starlight asked Rainius. Rainius didn't say anything which agitated Starlight. She calmed down and walked over to Sunburst, putting a hoof to his cheek. "Sunburst, I love you, so please, don't make me choose. Because it'll be him. It's always been him… goodbye, Sunburst." She walked away from him

"Come on, Starlight," Rainius said, grabbing her hoof. "Let's go!" The two started walking away, well, Rainius began pulling her away. Hoping to get her as far away from Sunburst as possible. 

"No, you don't speak for her!" Sunburst grabbed ahold of Rainius's hoof that was on Starlight's. Rainius punched him. Sunburst turned into a timberwolf and was about to attack the Alicorn before Starlight jumped in between the two, preventing them from attacking each other. 

"Stop! Stop!" Starlight shouted. "You can't hurt each other without hurting me!" Sunburst then ran away. Starlight watched as he became out of sight. "Sunburst…?" But it was too late. She hoped though, that he at least heard her. 

"He's right, you shouldn't become what I am," Rainius said. 

"I can't do this alone. I want you to be the one to do it. Not Celestia." Starlight said. 

"Then please just wait… just give me like five years." He replied. "That's all I'm asking."

"That's too long." Starlight complained. 

"Fine. Then three?" Rainius tried to persuade her. She shook her head. "You're so stubborn." It was clear to him that she wasn't going to change her mind about it no matter what. 

"What are you waiting for?" She inquired, wanting to know why he was taking this long to make her an Alicorn. What could it possibly be? 

"I have one condition... If you want me to do it myself." He requested. 

"What's the condition?" She asked, curiously. 

"And then forever." He said. 

"That's what I'm asking." She said. "What's the condition?" 

Rainius chuckled. "It'd be a lot more formal if I had a ring and I got down on one knee." He said. 

"Rainius, what are you doing?" Starlight asked, perplexed by what he was implying. 

Rainius took a deep breath and exhaled through his mouth before he said something that would shock Starlight to the core. "... Marry me, Starlight Glimmer…"
> Chapter Eleven - Eclipse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a dark and stormy night in Canterlot and Enmity, a colt was on his way home from a long day of work. The young teenage colt walked through the streets of Canterlot with the rain while it was really pouring down. While he was walking down the cold, wet path leading to his home, he was tackled by some pony, or Pegasus since it was gone so fast. "Who's there?" The colt asked, in a shaky tone which indicated fear. He got up and started running as far as his hooves would take him, which was not very far until he was tackled again. The loud screeching was ringing in his ears, they were almost petrifying. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" Whatever it was swooped past him again at lighting speed, but not before biting him. "AHHHHHH!!" he fell to the ground, writhing in pain. His agonizing screams weren't heard by anyone though. He lied there helpless. In the wet, cold, dark streets of Canterlot without a single soul near. 

"I'm so glad that it's Rainius who's gonna be ruling over all of Equestria instead of me… it gives me a sense of relief." Said Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship who was originally going to be the new Queen, until Rainius had shown up in their lives. 

"Indeed… and maybe I'll be his Queen!"  Starlight said. "... Someday." She wasn't sure how Twilight would react if she were to hear that the two were planning on getting married. 

"Hmm… maybe." Twilight replied. "After everything that I had taught you, you would make for great ruler. And you're a pretty powerful unicorn, who would be even more powerful as an Alicorn. You would be able to defend Equestria without breaking a sweat."

Starlight blushed at her comment. "Thanks, Twilight. For everything." She thanked her. 

"Of course." She replied. "Hey, maybe you should see Sunburst. I hear he's going through a tough time and he could use a friend. I remember when that was you. He was there." 

No matter how much Starlight wanted to object to that statement, she knew Twilight was right. Sunburst had been there in her time of need when Rainius had left her. "Fine. I will." She agreed. "Better?"

"Yes," Twilight said with a smile. 

"Sunburst? Sunburst?!" Starlight called, knocking on his door, waiting for him to answer. "Sunburst?!" She continued banging on his door, awaiting an answer. 

The door creaked as it opened just a crack. Sunburst peeked out at Starlight. "What is it you want? Here to torture me some more?" He asked a little irritated. 

"What's going on with you?" She demanded to know. "Is it the coronation? Is that what's bothering you?!" She used her magic to open his door further to get a better look at him. 

"It's not that." He answered. "It's just I always thought that Twilight should be the one to be bestowed the honor of ruling over all of Equestria, not him. He was just a random pony who just showed up in Ponyville at just the right time. Seem like a coincidence… I think not."

"He's the son of Princess Luna. He's been next in line for the throne a lot longer than Twilight has." Starlight stated. "I came to let you know that you're invited to the coronation."

"That's nice, I guess." He responded. "But I still don't know why you're so excited about this coronation. It's not like you're the one being coronated?" 

She took a deep breath before she said what she was about to say because she knew that Sunburst wouldn't like it. "Once Rainius is crowned king, he will be able to be in the position where he can change me into an Alicorn." She finally said. "And that he will. Whether you like it or not."

She could see the anger and fury in Sunburst's face as it turned red. And when he threw the book he was holding at a wall forcefully. "I can't believe it. For a second… for a second I had actually thought that you would reconsider! But apparently not!" He exclaimed. 

"It's my choice." Starlight claimed. "It's none of your business and you have no right to interfere." 

"It disgusts me, Starlight." He said. "I'm so much better for you. I could give you way more than what he can."

"You knew this was going to happen!" She exclaimed. 

"Yeah, but not tomorrow!" He said, glaring at her infuriated. 

She could hear the anger in his tone. She stared at him. "I knew I shouldn't have come. It was a mistake." She said. 

"Wait! Starlight, please? I'm sorry." He said, trying to get her to stay, but his efforts were proving all but worthiness of Starlight's attention. 

"Goodbye Sunburst." She said, then made her way back to Ponyville. 

Sunburst watched as she trotted off, it was now that he felt guilty for driving her away. "Dammit!!" He screamed, pulling a bookshelf down from the wall onto the floor. 

Once Starlight got home, Rainius was waiting for her. "Do you know how worried I was about you." He said. "I was about to go up there to see if you were alright."

"Stop worrying, I'm alright. Why don't you trust me?" She asked him. 

"I do trust you. It's him I don't trust." He replied. Hoping that would be a satisfying answer. 

"Why? I just don't understand why you two have to keep going at each other." She asked. 

"He's just a timberwolf pony looking to get something out of you." He replied. "He could've hurt you."

He's not gonna hurt me! He's never even tried to hurt me." She said, stating her point. "And how did you even know I left?"

He knew she was going to ask that at one point or another. "Twilight told me." He answered. "And so did Spike."

"Of course they did." Starlight muttered under her breath. 

"And plus another reason I was worried was that there have been conspicuous killings going on and Silvertail is still out there, just waiting for the right opportunity of where you be unprotected and she will kill you." He reminded her. 

"Wait. There have been killings?" She inquired. She couldn't believe that he didn't tell her this until now. 

"Yes. Along with mysterious disappearances." He said. "But it takes more than one of the bat pony kind to cause all the destruction their reporting. I'm not sure who exactly is behind it, but it's not Silvertail."

"Maybe she has someone deciding for her?" Starlight questioned. 

"Maybe… but I'm not exactly sure. It could be her, it could even be the Bat Syndicate. I did read Shadow's mind when we were in Hollow Shades. He wanted me to join them again because of my special gifts, he knows that the only thing keeping me from that is you and this coronation, so that could be a reason he would create an army. But I'm surprised that they even let it carry on for this long. I can't be one hundred percent sure." He retorted. "But whoever it is… they're creating an army. An army of bat ponies."

"An army of bat ponies?" Starlight asked perplexed. 

"Unlike a regular pony army that would need thousands, a bat pony army only needs about twenty to thirty ponies, and no army can stand against them," Rainius explained. "I'll have to be the one to stand up to them."

"No, you'll get yourself killed." Starlight suggested him not to fight. 

"If I'm going to be king, I'm going to have to prove that I can defend Equestria at all costs… no matter what." He egged on. 

"You won't have to do it alone. Even powerful rulers need help from time to time." Starlight said. "Can we just please stop talking about this and start talking about your coronation tomorrow?" 

"Yes." He replied, kissing her on lips lightly. "I think it's also time you head to bed. Don't want you to be falling asleep during the ceremony." Both of them shared a laugh before heading to Starlight's room. 

Meanwhile, all the bat ponies that were being created were causing a ruckus in Canterlot. A young filly was one of the ponies who were chosen for the army. "Wh… what did you do to me?" The little filly asked scared. "I'm so…" She choked on her words a bit. It was hard for a filly to restrain with their thirst. 

"Yeah, I know." Said Enmity. "I'll go find you somepony to drink." He observed the surroundings as bat ponies were fighting each other. "Just try not to get killed out here, Will ya?" He stood up. "I'm gonna need numbers."

Watching all the destruction and chaos from afar was Amber Night, her brother Dark Meadow, and the guard. "They've already drawn too much attention." The guard said. "But so has our inaction… others may begin to question the Bat Syndicate's effectiveness."

"Let them." Amber Night said. 

The guard didn't know how to respond to that. "Maybe we should consult with Shadow." He suggested. Only to be telepathically pained by Amber. "AHH!!"

"Shadow's decisions are being watched." She replied. She finally came to a conclusion. "We must be the ones to decide."

Dark Meadow put a hoof on his sister's shoulder. "Then decide, sister. It's time." He said. 

"Yes, it is." She agreed. She let go of the guard from her pain spell. Then they all looked down at all the destruction the newborn bat ponies were causing. "Either we let them do what they were created for, or we end them." She sighed. "Decisions, decisions." 

"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT A LOW PROFILE?!" Enmity bellowed, yelling at all of them to get their attention. Once he got their attention they all stopped what they were doing. "Something's coming… something that's bigger than any of us alone. And if you can't control yourselves, then we're all gonna die." They all stared at him. "What's done is done, just… just clean up after yourselves. And be prepared." He walked away as they all began cowering in fear, the fear of the unknown that could kill them all if they weren't even the slightest bit careful. 

"This reminds me all too well of the past," Rainius said. 

"What does?" Starlight asked. 

"This. The bat pony army." He began. "There was a time where I had to help train newborn bat ponies for an army that was being created." 

"And when was this?" Starlight was curious to know. She seemed really interested in this. 

"During the Equestrian Revolution." He said. "This was at a time when I was still with Lylac. She was the one who did most of the training… I mostly stayed home looking after a child."

"You had a child with Lylac?!" Starlight asked she seemed surprised by this news. "How come I never met him or her?"

"No, not with her, although she did think of her as her own." He said. "And she is someone you have met before. You just don't know who, though." He smiled. 

"So, it's a girl?" She asked. 

"Yes." He replied. 

"I can't believe you never told me you had a daughter!" She exclaimed. 

"Once she got married things changed, especially since she had her daughter," Rainius said. 

"Not only are you a father, but you're a grandfather?!" Starlight seemed really intrigued now. 

"Why are you so anxious about knowing all this?" He seemed confused by her sudden curiosity in his past. "I didn't think you'd really want to know all this."

"Because. We're gonna be married soon. I just wanna know more about you before then though." She explained. 

"Well, we got a coronation tomorrow, so you should get some sleep for that." He requested. She nodded her head in agreement. "I'll tell you tomorrow, how about that?"

Starlight sighed. "Fine. But you'd better tell me." She demanded before she headed to sleep. 

Rainius chuckled. "I will… I will." He cuddled up next to her and kissed her forehead. Kissing her goodnight.
> Chapter Twelve - The Coronation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once the sun rose up to begin the day, the castle began to prepare for the coronation and each had an important task, that way things would be done quickly with perfection. Meanwhile, Rainius was getting in his suit for his coronation. Sadly the suit needed adjustments. Focused by his work a stallion was sewing up his brand new attire with care. He stitched up the suit with utmost perfection. "Now, be still your majesty, your suit is almost finished. And when it is you will go out there being the most handsome prince ever!" The stallion says with a small giggle. 

Rainius shook his head with a smile, but immediately yelped when he was poked by the needle. "Ow! Quickstitch! That hurt!" He looked at Quickstitch, annoyed. 

"My apologies, your majesty, but it was you who moved when I specifically told you to be still. But it's amazing how you ain't bleeding." Quickstitch said. "It is quite intriguing."

"Don't worry about that, just stick to the task at hoof. Which is fixing my suit for my coronation." Rainius insisted of him. 

Quickstitch nodded. "Sorry again, your excellency. Please accept my apology. I need this job!" He begged the prince. 

Rainius sighed, feeling guilty. "It was my fault, so you have nothing to apologize for Quickstitch. Just continue on." He requested. 

"Thank you, oh kind and gracious prince." He said before picking up the needle and stitched up the last piece of fabric. "Voilà. Your suit is finished." He grabbed a mirror and put it on its three legs to let the prince get a good look at himself in the suit. "You like?"

Rainius looked at the suit in all its glory. He liked that it had all his medals from the war and that it fit perfectly.

"Do you not like it?! I can change it if you want" Quickstitch said. 

Rainius shook his head. "I don't like it." He said. 

Quickstitch was saddened by that. "Oh, what is it that needs to be changed? Tell me and I'll change it-!" Quickstitch began but was cut off by Rainius.

"I love it." He interjected. "it's perfect. I wouldn't change a thing. You really did a good job on it, Quickstitch." His comment made Quickstitch blush bright red. 

"Ooh, I just knew you would!!" The now ecstatic Quickstitch said, hugging the prince tightly to where he could barely breathe. 

"Qu… Quickstitch… c… can't… br… breathe!" Rainius stuttered as he tried to breathe. 

"Oh, sorry, your majesty," Quickstitch said, letting go of him. Rainius gasped for air, filling his lungs with the oxygen they needed. "Well, I'm off now, so, tah tah." He left the room. 'Oh, if only he knew how I felt about him.' 

Rainius chuckled. "Well, looks like somepony likes me." He whispered to himself. 

"Too bad you're already taken." Said Starlight as she came in the room. She kissed Rainius. "How is my handsome prince doing?"

"I'm not sure. It's a lot to process. I mean, I'm going to be giving a speech in front of thousands of creatures from all across the world. I'm nervous." He admitted. 

"Looks like even Rainius has his flaws." She giggled. 

"Yeah, a lot of them too." He agreed. "But, I'm not sure I can do this…"

"You can do it. I know you can." She tried to assure him. 

"Well, at least somepony thinks so." He replied. 

She kisses him passionately. He kisses her back. She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him again. This time rougher… hungrier… fiercer. Tempted to kiss her even more, he stopped. "You're gonna ruin my suit." He puts her down. 

"I want us to at least try before I become an Alicorn." Starlight pleaded. 

"I can't risk severely hurting or killing you." He said. "And plus, I want to be married to you first. Like in tradition. It's just one rule, I wanna leave unbroken. It might be too late for my soul, but I will protect yours. I know it's not a modern notion."

"It's not modern. It's ancient." Starlight said. 

"I'm from a different era. Things were... a lot less complicated. And if I met you back then…" He explained. I would've courted to you. We'd have taken chaperoned strolls, or had iced tea on the porch. I may have stolen a kiss or two. But, only... ... after asking your father's permission. I would've got down on one knee." He said as he got down on one knee. "And I would've presented you with a ring." He takes from his suit pocket a black box and flips it open to reveal a ring in it. It was a diamond ring with a moonstone. "It was my mother's."

"I can tell." She giggled. He giggled a bit too. 

"Starlight Glimmer. I promise to love you, every moment forever. And would you do me the extraordinary honor of marrying me?" He proposed. 

The beautiful ring literally takes Starlight's breath away. Rainius pulls her to her hooves as he remains on his knee. Fear and love do battle within her. "Yes!!" She exclaimed. He put the ring on her horn. "Now, go and change lives." She smiled. 

"Thank you for coming, I needed that." He got off his knee and kissed her cheek. 

"Of course." She said. Quickstitch immediately burst through the doors enthusiastically. Excited about the coronation. Quickly, Starlight went to Rainius's side. 

"Alright your highness, it's time for the coronation!!" Quickstitch stopped immediately as he saw Starlight, who was clinging to Rainius. And he saw the ring on her horn. Which displeased him greatly. "Um, she can't be in here!" He said. 

"It's alright, Quickstitch. She's a very close friend of mine." Rainius told him. 

Quickstitch smacked his lips, unsatisfied. "Well, with all due respect your majesty, I'm afraid she can't be in here!" He exclaimed. 

Rainius sighed. "Fine. I understand." He said before he kissed Starlight goodbye. She kissed him back before she left. 

"You know if you were with me you'd look even more handsome." Quickstitch murmured. But even despite that, Rainius heard his comment. 

"What was that?" Rainius asked. Even though he heard the stallions statement.

Quickstitch blushed bright red. "Nothing!" He hastily said. "Just stay here and wait for the doors to open. Okay?" Rainius nodded, unanimously, showing his agreement. 

After seconds passed into minutes, the doors opened to reveal a red carpet that led to his mother who was smiling with pride to see her son who walked in confidence as he looked at his friends gently in gratitude for their support. His aunt Celestia stood next to his mother, smiling as well while standing next to the pillow that held his crown and necklace. Celestia and Luna both bowed. In return, he bowed his head down to the queen, his aunt, smiling. "Mares and gentlecolts!!" Celestia announced. "Today, I bring to you the newest member of the Royal Family… not only was he able to the holders of the elements back together again that brought my sister, his mother, back to me long ago." With magic, she levitates the crown and necklace to place them against her nephew properly. "And now  I present to you all for the very first time, Prince Rainius Songbird. The prince of Redemption." She turned to her nephew. "Don't be shy. They won't bite. Say something." 

"Fillies and gentlecolts, um…" He began. "I know I'm probably not what you expected, but I can promise you that I will lead and protect this nation at all costs. For those of you who don't know me, I am the son of Princess Luna and King Sombra." He looked back at his mother and aunt smiling. "And the nephew of Princess Celestia." He chuckled. "Which I hope to someday live up to these two sisters legacy by spreading light into the world against darkness, and create a world with love, peace, and even redemption." Quickly the crowd cheered louder than ever by clapping as the prince looked down then back to his mother and aunt who were behind him touched by his words as they cheered in unison 

"All hail the prince of redemption. Long live Prince Rainius Songbird!!" Proud of their new ruler his mother and aunt hugged him. He hugged them back. 

Meanwhile, down below in the crowd, Sunburst was pushing through ponies to get closer to Starlight. He soon stopped at a young blue hippogriff with a typewriter. "Excuse me." He said. 

"Oh, sorry." The hippogriff said, moving for him to get through. 

"Sunburst!" Starlight said, surprised. "What are you doing here?!"

"You invited me, remember?" He reminded her. 

"Was my right hook too subtle for you? That was me uninviting you." She said coldly. 

"Look, Star. I'm sorry... about, you know... For how I acted... I'd blame it on the whole inner timberwolf thing... But it was really just... me. Being an ass. I'm really sorry." He replied.

Starlight nodded. "Yeah. I'd sure say so." She chuckled. 

After the coronation was over the kingdom rejoiced by holding a daylight gala in honor of the newly crowned prince so each pony would have a chance to meet him up close. Overwhelmed by the visits the stallion began to grow very nervous as he tried to carefully answer each question that was placed along with a gentle bow in respect before speaking and as they left to attend the party. Starlight ran up to him with Sunburst at her side. "Starlight!" He said, happy to see her again. 

She hugged him tightly. "I missed you." She said. 

"I missed you too." He replied. Then he turned his glare over to Sunburst. "What's he doing here?" Rainius's expression changed. 

"I invited him." Then she noticed Rainius staring off. "Hey, what's wrong." She asked concerned. 

"The army. They're going to Ponyville." He said. 

The party continues inside. But outside, the discussion is tense. Starlight, Lylac, Rainius, Luna, and Celestia debate as Sunburst tries to follow. "How long?" Starlight asked. 

"They'll be there in four days," Rainius answered. 

"Who's behind it?" Luna asked her son. 

"I didn't see anyone I recognize. Well, except for one. I know his face. He's local. Enmity." He replied. "He didn't start this."

"Whoever did is staying out of the action," Celestia said. 

"But either way, the army is coming," Rainius said. 

"Wait, hold on." Sunburst stood up. "What damn army." He was about to explode. Celestia and Rainius share a look. Rainius shakes his head no, but Celestia decides differently. 

"Newborns. Bat ponies." Celestia said. 

"What are they after?" Sunburst asked. 

"Starlight. Silvertail must be the one who's behind this all, but she's just letting Enmity take over for her." Rainius said. 

"So, what the hell does that mean?" Sunburst asked. 

"It means an ugly fight" Celestia began. "With lives lost." 

The weight of it lands on all of them. Beat. Sunburst shares a look with Celestia and Luna. An imperceptible nod. "All right. I'm in." He announced. 

Starlight smirked. "Yeah, no." She said. "You'll get yourself killed." 

"I didn't ask for your permission," Sunburst said. 

"Rainius. You can't let him do this." Starlight begged him. 

"It means more protection for you," Rainius said. "No matter how much I hate it, at least I'd know that you'd be safe." He turned to Sunburst. "You should get your timberwolves together. Maybe they can have some training in how to deal with these newborns."

"Well, at least I get to kill some bat ponies," Sunburst said, grinning. 

Rainius turned to Lylac before speaking. "Lylac will be able to teach you all. She has experience with this. More than what I do." She nodded. 

"Okay. When shall we see you?" Sunburst asked. 

"Tomorrow morning," Lylac said. "And don't be late!" Her tone of voice sent them aback. 

"Alright, I'll go let the pack know," Sunburst said before he made his leave. "This'll be fun."

"You all should rest," Rainius said. "You'll need all your strength for tomorrow." They all nodded in agreement before heading home. 
> Chapter Thirteen - Training
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The large open fields of Canterlot had really made a great place for the royal guards to get their training. And it would be a great place for everypony else too. Or every timberwolf as well. It was bright and early in the morning and Lylac was already out there training the new recruits. "You're late." She said harshly as Rainius, Starlight, Celestia, Luna, and the mane six had shown up. 

"Well, we didn't know that it was happening this early." Said Rainbow Dash before she let out a loud yawn, stretching out her limbs.  

"The timberwolves managed to show up earlier than you," Lylac said, pointing a hoof over to Sunburst and his pack of timberwolves. She turned back over to her trainees. "Attention!!" The trainees brought their focus all on her. "A great evil is coming…" They all get a sense of worry. "These foes are unlike any other we have ever faced. They're a great deal stronger than us. And can crush us in an instant. Which is why you all will need training in how to fight and defeat them. Luckily for you, I'm your mare." She grinned. Her golden-yellow menacing like eyes glaring at all of them. 

Rainius translated by reading the timberwolves’ minds. "The timberwolves wanna know how the newborn bat ponies differ from me." He told Lylac. She stepped forward. 

"I have learned a lot from when I had trained newborn bat ponies in the past. Their kind is never more powerful than in their first several months of that life." Lylac explained. "They have unparalleled senses, absolutely lethal. That's why they are created. A newborn bat pony army doesn't need thousands like a pony army. And no pony army could stand against them. The two most important things to remember are, first... Never let them get their arms around you. They'll crush you instantly. The second... Never go for the obvious kill. They'll be expecting that. And you will lose. And these aren't the fruit eater kind of bat ponies. These are the blood-sucking type. Meaning if they get their hooves on you, they can suck every ounce of blood from your body in an instant. And you would be dead. Now, shall we begin?" Everyone nodded. Luna? Celestia? Don't hold back." 

First up was Celestia and Luna. "Not in my nature. Don't hold back sister." Celestia said. 

Luna smiled. "Thou wouldnst." The two readied themselves. Charging their horns, ready for any task they were given. 

"Alright, now remember, don’t show any weakness or hesitation. Are you ready?" Lylac said. 

"Thou was born ready," Luna said. Her high levels of confidence made Celestia laugh. 

"I was ready before I was born," Celestia said. 

Lylac rolls her eyes before yelling "Transformation spell Go!" And with that, the duel commenced. 

Swifty Celestia turns into a dragon and Luna turns into Celestia. "Ah, very good, not bad. Shields! Go!" Luna strikes at Celestia with her magic, quickly she creates a shield in front of her. She strikes at Luna, but she uses a forcefield around her as Luna continues to use magic streams getting closer to her, unable to control her shield. Then they both break off their shields which causing everyone to fall back. "Excellent," Lylac said, amazed. 

Rainius and Twilight were next. They attack one another, but Rainius can read Twilight's mind which gives him an advantage against her. He twirls beyond Twilight's grasp, then slams into her delivering a vicious body blow. "Focus on speed, agility, keep your opponent off guard," Lylac says as Rainius brings Twilight to the ground. "Oh, and one more thing." As Rainius turned around, Twilight attacked from behind, bringing him to the ground. "Never turn your back on your enemy. Use their momentum against them." The timberwolves watched the fight, impressed. 

Next was Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Applejack charges at Rainbow Dash with impossible speed, but Rainbow Dash quickly flies out of the way. Applejack lunges several times, her strong arms grabbing at air. Applejack lunges again with similar results until suddenly she freezes Rainbow Dash has her from behind, her teeth an inch from Applejack's throat. "Very nice," Lylac said. 

Starlight watched the what was a life and death war game. But this was only a portent of what was to come. She knew that. "The real fight is gonna be a lot worse than this, isn't it, Sunburst? Like 100 times worse?" She asked the timberwolf that was standing beside her. "I just wish there was something that I could do to help. If only I could be an Alicorn. Then maybe I could fight alongside you and actually be useful."

Sunburst nuzzles Starlight's face. She smiles. "Alright! We're done for the day." Lylac announced, ending the training session for the day. "Pack up and go home." As she walked by Starlight, she shot her a fierce scowl that looked like it was out of a sense of annoyance. Starlight decided to follow her. "Go blather to somepony else about the joys of becoming an immortal." She said, knowing who was behind her without having to turn around. Her tone startled Starlight a bit. 

"I don't understand why you're being such a bitch, Lylac?" Starlight said. 

Lylac chuckled. "I'm a girl. Being a bitch is in my nature." She said. 

"I just don't understand what I did to make you hate me so much." Starlight replied. 

"I don't hate you!" Lylac immediately objected. "I mean, I don't particularly like you, but… Starlight, I envy you." 

Starlight froze, shocked to the core by the words she just heard. "What?" She asked. "That's ridiculous." How could she envy her? Now she seemed intrigued. 

"No, it's not," Lylac said, shaking her head. "You have a choice. I didn't. Neither me or Rainius did, but you do, and you're choosing wrong. I don't care how miserable your pony life is." 

"My life is not miserable." Starlight remarked. "I mean, it's not perfect, no pony's life is perfect." 

"Mine was at a point," Lylac replied. "I practically had everything I could've ever wanted. Me and Rainius were together during the Equestrian Revolution. Newborn bat pony armies were very common back then. Rainius and I were training newborn bat ponies. It was mostly me training them. Rainius was raising a child. His "daughter" Mi Amore Cadenza or Cadence is what she was mainly called." 

"Wait." Starlight stopped. She was greatly surprised by what she had just heard. "Rainius's daughter is Princess Cadence?!" 

Lylac nodded. "Yes. She was the sweetest thing. She had a gift to make any two ponies fall in love. She brought love and happiness everywhere she went." Lylac smiles at the memories. "I always thought of her as my daughter as well. When she had saved the Crystal Empire from King Sombra it was the most amazing thing she had done. Me and Rainius were proud of her. He always knew she had a bright future ahead of her."

"It sounds amazing. I just can't believe that Cadence is his daughter." Starlight replied. 

"Well, not biologically exactly," Lylac said. 

"But still he raised her, right?" Starlight asked. 

Lylac nodded. "He did indeed. You know there were things that I wanted. But I'll always be this. Frozen. Never moving forward." Lylac said. "I just really wish that things were different. That I wasn't immortal."

"I'm sorry." Starlight said, apologetically, feeling empathy for her. "I wish there was something I could do."

"Don't be," Lylac said. "And it's fine, I guess. Don't worry about it."

"But you should know that the only thing I'm going to want more than ever is Rainius." Starlight said. 

"I know," Lylac replied. Then she looked at the sky. "Now, let's head inside, it's starting to get late." She headed inside the castle. Starlight followed her. 

Later that night, in a dark alley in Canterlot, stood Enmity and Silvertail. They're on a secluded catwalk, away from the newborn army. "So, you're not coming with us?" Enmity inquired. 

"It will be a last-minute decision. I told you how it works." Silvertail reminded him. 

"Right." Enmity began. "They have powers."

Silvertail pulls away, ever so slightly irritated by his tone. "Don't underestimate them, Enmity. You'll have the numbers, but they'll be able to… anticipate your every move." She told him. 

"According to your friend." Enmity says. 

She looks at him, not sure where he's going with this. She circles him. "Yes. My dead friend." She said, coldly. Latenighter found out about the things that they could do… and they killed him. But not before he told me." 

"Maybe he was wrong." Enmity thought. "I mean... This is supposed to be… their territory. But we've been tearing it up and I've never even seen them here."

Rage flashed in her eyes. She's suddenly standing several feet away from him. "You don't trust me?" She said, harshly. 

"With my life!" He said. "I'm just saying that-" He was cut off by her. 

"I'm doing this for us. So that we can feed without their retaliation. I can't live in fear anymore, just waiting for them to attack." She said. "The reign of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna may be over, but we have a new target to worry about."

He's suddenly next to her, wrapping his arms around her. "Ah, yes. Prince Rainius Songbird. The Prince of Redemption. Don't worry, I won't let them." He said with great confidence. "I swear that I am going to end the royal family." 

She looks at him, then kisses him. "I love you… so much." He embraces her, but over his shoulder, her eyes go flat, the emotion disappearing. 

"So, when is the battle gonna start?" Enmity asked.

"Tomorrow. At dawn." She replied. "That'll be the best time. When they're at their lowest."

"So, should we let them rest of the army know?" He asked. 

"That would be wise." She answered. Even though this was what she was waiting for, she still seemed patient. Despite how much she longed for Fury. She would avenge him, and make sure Rainius paid the price. "Tomorrow is the judgment day."

"One more day." Enmity said as he walked away. Allowing Silvertail sometime to clear out her mind a bit. 

"I will make sure that Rainius pays the price for killing Fury." She said, menacingly before she let out an evil cackle. 

Meanwhile, Starlight couldn't sleep she just had a strange feeling, until it hit her. "What's wrong?" Rainius asked her, concerned. 

Starlight sat up straight. "The newborn army. Their all her puppets." She said. 

"Who's?" He asked perplexed. He had no idea who she was referring to. 

"Silvertail's." She answered. She was sure of it. 

"That can't be. I… I would've seen her decide." He said. "Unless that is… that she has sompony taking over for her and she's staying out of the action." 

"It is a possibility. But are you sure?" He asked her. She nodded. 

"Probably more than I've ever been." She said. She noticed Rainius staring off. "Hey, what is it?"

"The decision has been made." He said. "Tomorrow is the fight."

"We're gonna have to let everyone know." She said. "So they can prepare for battle."

"Everyone will need to be at their strongest. Silvertail and her army of newborns is gonna be quite the formidable foe." He responded. "If it is Silvertail, which I hope it is. I hope to be close to her, to end her myself, with my own hooves."

She sees the darkness in his face. Not certain what to make of his murderous side. "We should get to sleep." She said, trying to change the subject. 

Rainius looked at her. "Sorry. Now, go to sleep. She won't come here tonight." He said. 

"Rainius!" She said, reminding him to change the subject of conversation. 

"Sorry." He apologized. "Goodnight, Starlight." He kissed her goodnight on the forehead before snuggling up next to her to help her fall asleep for tomorrow. 

"Goodnight, Rainius." She said, falling asleep. He kissed her one last time. "I love you, Rainius."

"I love you too, Starlight." He said, laying next to her before she passed out. 
> Chapter Fourteen - The Battle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Early the next morning, Starlight, Rainius, and Sunburst were walking up an icy mountain just pass the Crystal Empire. Sunburst had left to go check on the pack, which left Rainius and Starlight alone on their journey. "Where's your ring?" He asked, noticing that Starlight didn't have her engagement ring on her horn. 

"Oh, I didn't want to risk losing it." She answered. Though she knew that was not the truth. 

Rainius smirked. "Or risk Sunburst seeing it." He muttered, much to Starlight's annoyance. "He's gonna find out sooner or later."

"Yes, but with the fight happening today. I need his head clear." She said. 

"Whose head is unclear?" Sunburst questioned as he came back. He stared at both of them. 

"No one's, I hope." Starlight retorted, then shot a grin over at Sunburst. 

"Uh-huh." Was all he said. Though what she said didn't sound very believable to him. "So, Rainius?" Rainius turned his attention over to him. "You sure they won't be able to find her here?" 

"I'm positive." He answered. "This is the last place that Silvertail would look, but just in case, I'll stay here and protect Starlight as much as possible. She won't hurt her." 

"Good," Sunburst said. "I'll do a perimeter check, just to make sure she ain't here." 

"You do that." He said, letting Sunburst go. Sunburst transformed into a timberwolf and went on his way. 

"You lied to him, didn't you?" Starlight whispered to him. He nodded. 

"If she was here, I would be able to hear her thoughts, and I would've had a vision of her being here at this time." He murmured. 

"This can't be one of your favorite days." She chuckled. He laughed too. 

"It definitely won't make my list of my top ten favorite days." He giggled. 

"You have a list?" Starlight said. Now, she was curious. 

"Yep. And all ten of them were days I spent with you. Number one being the day you said you'd marry me, Mrs. Songbird." He said. 

"Wait. You're marrying him?!" Sunburst exclaimed. Either his perimeter check was quick, or he didn't even go on one. 

"Sunburst?" Starlight muttered. She turned to Rainius, agitated. "You knew. You knew he was listening!" 

"He deserves to know," Rainius replied. 

That statement confirms for Sunburst that it's true. He turns, strides toward the woods. Starlight starts to run after him. "Sunburst, stop!" She calls out. 

"Starlight, let him go-!" Rainius told her, grabbing a hold of her hoof. 

"Don't!" She half yelled half screamed at the Alicorn. Seeing her desperation; he sinks, resignedly, and heads into the woods, disappearing. 

Starlight races to Sunburst. "Sunburst, stop! Sunburst, please!!" She begged. 

"I'm done. I'm so done!" Sunburst shouted at her. 

"What can I do?" She asked him. Hoping she could do something to help him. 

"You can't do anything. But I can… by going out there and killing something." He said before he started trotting off. 

"No! You're not thinking clearly, don't do that!!" Starlight pleaded. 

"Maybe I'll get myself killed and make it simple for you." He muttered. 

"No! Just stay! Sunburst, please!" She continued to beg. 

"Why? Give me one good reason!" He demanded. 

"Because you're my friend and I don't wanna lose you!" She said, hoping that would change his mind. 

"That's not good enough." He turned to continue to walk away. 

"Because you're too important to me!" She said. 

"Still not good enough." He keeps moving. Starlight searches for something to convince him. 

"Kiss me!" She said. "Sunburst, kiss me." He grabs her and kisses her. His anger melts into passion. As the kiss continues, Starlight, to her surprise finds herself surrendering to it.

They pull away. "I'm glad that was our first kiss." He whispered in her ear. Sunburst is torn, he doesn't want to leave her, but he hears the howls of the timberwolves calling him. "I gotta go. I'll be back." He transforms into a timberwolf and gallops to the fight. 

"Rainius?" Starlight said as she found him. He appears from around the rock, comes toward her. She sees his face, stops. "You saw, didn't you?" He shook his head. 

"No. But Sunburst's thoughts were pretty loud." He replied. 

"I don't know what happened." She said, uncertain. 

"You love him," Rainius said. 

"I love you more." Starlight claimed. 

"This is all my fault." He said. "When I went away, I left you bleeding and he stitched you up. I can't blame you for something I made necessary. Having forced you to choose me."

"Don't you dare blame yourself!" She said. She then noticed him staring off again. "Hey, what's wrong?" 

"It's starting." He said. "The fight." 

The whole newborn army blitzes out of the woods and into the field! The frenzy in their eyes. Their rabid thirst as they follow the scent of the ponies blood. The scent trail leads them to the mane six, Celestia, Luna, Lylac, and the whole celestial royal army. Suddenly something bolts from the trees with lightning speed and tackles a newborn. The other newborns spin to find a lethal-looking Lylac in a crouch beside her victim's body. They rush to attach Lylac but fail miserably! Three of them go down, tackled by Celestia, Twilight, and Luna. Out of nowhere lunges a timberwolf flanked by two other timberwolves. They tear a newborn to pieces. Four other timberwolves dive into the fray. Applejack sprints full-bore into the fight, relishing the battle. Along with Rainbow Dash. The timberwolves work as a pack, coordinated, deadly. Twilight controls the field – strategy, and speed vs strength. Rarity fights with magic. Applejack with brute force. Luna and Celestia fight side by side. The newborns are brutal and strong. Celestia's army takes some vicious hits. Sunburst charges into the clearing, tackling a newborn, going for it's neck. "Sunburst just got there," Rainius said from the mountain as he could see the whole fight in his vision. "He's doing great."

Sunburst and another timberwolf charge at a newborn. Each timberwolf grabs an arm in the mouths and rip them apart. Fluttershy is surrounded by three newborns; Rainbow Dash comes to her aid. They share a look, a battlefield rapprochement. Celestia and Luna move in on a filly bat pony, but she backs up frightened. Luna and Celestia share a look. They relax their attack stance, try to calm her, talk to her… Pinkie Pie darts from newborn to newborn, not even looking at them, knowing their next move. She sweeps their hooves, keeping them off balance, confusing them. 

"No, Pinkie! You can't be everywhere at once!" Rainius screams. Though Pinkie can't hear him. "Pinkie, WATCH OUT!!" Pinkie screams in agony as she was attacked by a newborn. Rainius fell silent. 

"Rainius, what happened?! Is Pinkie hurt?!" Starlight exclaimed. She was worried about her friend's safety. 

Rainius didn't respond. "She's here! Silvertail!" He announced as he could hear her thoughts. "She found us. I can hear her thoughts. She knew we weren't there. Then she smelled my scent… she's not alone." Enmity steps out of the woods. Starlight is taken aback. Enmity edges closer, watching Rainius's every move as they both carefully position themselves. "Enmity... Listen to me. Silvertail is just using you, to distract me. She knows I'll kill you." Enmity hesitates. Surprised to be addressed. "In fact, she'll be glad she doesn't have to deal with you anymore." Silvertail emerges from the woods, forming a triangle with Enmity. Starlight and Rainius at the apex.

"Don't listen, Enmity," Silvertail told him. "I told you about his mind tricks."

"I can read her mind, so I know what she thinks of you," Rainius said. 

"He's lying," Silvertail said. "Don't listen to him."

"She only created you and this army to avenge her true mate, Fury. It's the only thing she cares about. Not you." Rainius says. Enmity's beginning to hesitate. He glances at Silvertail. 

"There's only you, you know that." Silvertail eggs on. 

Enmity focuses back on Rainius, positioning himself to attack. Silvertail's eyes burrow into Starlight's with bloodlust, revenge. "Think about it. You're from Ponyville, you know the area. That's the only reason she chose you. She doesn't love you." Rainius told him. Enmity falters ever so slightly, doubt seeping into his mind, but Silvertail's face is convincingly emotional. 

"Enmity... Don't let him do this to us. You know I love you." Silvertail says. Enmity needs to believe her. His resolve returns. 

"You're dead." Enmity said before he charges toward Rainius who doesn't move because he knows that Sunburst is around the corner. Sunburst leaps out in timberwolf form, leaping from the cliff above to land on Enmity, taking a chunk out of Enmity's front hoof. Enmity roars with fury and pain as Sunburst circles back for another attack. While Sunburst keeps Enmity on the defense, Rainius darts toward Silvertail. She backs up toward the trees. Rainius sees she's about to escape. He darts into her path. 

"You can escape. You always do. But you won't get another chance like this again." Silvertail hisses at him. She backs further away. "You want Starlight. You want me to feel the pain you felt when I killed Fury. When I tore him to pieces. When I turned him into ash. When I turned him into nothing. 

Silvertail finally erupts and charges at Starlight, but Rainius never let her get close. He intercepts her and they roll down the hill in a death grip. Starlight watched the battle, desperate to help. Meanwhile, Enmity kicks Sunburst hard against the cliff. Sharp shards of rock fall around Starlight. Sunburst, battered, goes down. Enmity spins to face Starlight. Rainius now has to protect her from both bat ponies! And he does with impressive skill with lightning-fast speed, he bolts to Enmity, kicking him back, he darts to Silvertail, smashing into her as Sunburst struggles to rise, Enmity joins Silvertail's battle, providing her with the tiny advantage she needs. 

Enmity tackles Rainius to his knees. Silvertail grabs Rainius from behind. Starlight's eyes meet Rainius's. She's never in her life been surer of what she wants than in this moment. With purpose, she grabs up a sharp piece of slate. Starlight plunges the shard downward, stabbing her arm. Blood immediately flows dripping bright red onto the white snow. Enmity and Silvertail spin toward Starlight, the scent making them wild. Rainius seizes the moment. He drops to the ground while flipping Silvertail over his head, across the clearing, and into a tree, breaking it in two. Rainius spins on Enmity who's still bedazzled by the blood. Enmity out of nowhere screams in pain. His arm is gone! Rainius tosses the arm aside and bolts back to Silvertail. 

Sunburst, recovered, leaps up, tackles Enmity and drags him screaming into the woods. "Silvertail! Silvertail!!" Enmity screams. Silvertail doesn't even glance at him, revealing to Enmity the painful truth that Rainius had told him. Sunburst tears him apart. Rainius charges at Silvertail. The two clash and begin a blurred battle. Until he pummels her down and, finally, maneuvers himself behind her, gelling her in a death grip. Silvertail struggles; Starlight is directly in her eyeline. She glares at Starlight who glares back, every bit as fiercely. Rainius's lips are at Silvertail's neck. It looks as if he kisses her, but instead, he bites a huge chunk from her neck, ripping her head off as Starlight watches Silvertail's body crumple to the ground. Sound disappears. The air goes still. The atmosphere changes. This nemesis, this relentless demon, is finally dead. Or almost. Eerily, it still moves slightly. Then Rainius looks up at Starlight. Their eyes meet. But shame, fear, cloud his face. She moves toward him. Slowly. Purposefully. As she reaches him, he turns away.

"Rainius." Starlight calls for him. "Rainius!" She calls out again. Begging for him. 

"I didn't want you to see that." He replies. She stops him, touches his face tenderly, her eyes telling him it's ok. "I'll get some bandages for your arm." Rainius stops. "Celestia needs us to go. And now." The two walk down the mountain. 
> Chapter Fifteen - Peace
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the fight had reached an end. Rainius and Starlight managed to make it back to the others. A massive fire was burning the bits and pieces of the disembodied newborn bat ponies. "We're here!" Rainius called. 

"We've managed to take them all out. We won." Twilight said. "I will say though. It wasn't easy, and Pinkie got hurt."

"Is she going to be alright?!" Starlight exclaimed. 

"The bones on the right half of her body are shattered. But I believe she'll be fine." Twilight reassured her. 

Rainius stops as he sees somepony by the fire. "What's she doing here?" Starlight looks to the fire, by which cowers at the newborn bat filly. 

"Calm down, nephew. We offered her a safe haven if she stopped fighting, she took it." Celestia said. "But the pack will have to leave. The Bat Syndicate won't honor a truce with timberwolves." 

"Wait, they're coming?!" Rainius inquired. "How long?" 

"About ten minutes," Luna answered. "They timed their arrival well." 

"Probably hoping the newborns took a few of us out," Lylac muttered. 

"They're here!" Rainius announced. They all gather in the center of the field, converging around Starlight. She sees nothing through the oily smoke from the fire.  

"It appears you've done our work for us." Amber Night said. From out of the mist and the smoke emerge The Bat Syndicate. Amber Night and behind her, her brother Dark Meadow, and the guard. Amber asses the scene, taking in Starlight as well. "Impressive. I've never seen a bunch of non-bat ponies escape an assault of this magnitude intact." 

"We were lucky," Celestia said. 

"I doubt that." Said Amber. 

"It appears we missed an entertaining fight." Dark Meadow joined in. 

"Yes. It's not often we're rendered unnecessary." Amber replied.

"If you'd arrived a half-hour ago, you would've fulfilled your purpose." Rainius scoffed. 

"Pity," Amber muttered. Amber then sees the newborn filly, crouching by the fire. "You missed one." 

"We offered her asylum in exchange for her surrender," Celestia said. 

"That wasn't yours to offer," Amber responded. As Amber moves to the filly, Luna shoots Celestia a concerned look. Celestia subtly shakes her head, don't. "Why did you come?" Before the filly could answer, Amber, focuses her power, sending an invisible searing current through the filly's body. The filly screams in pain. Starlight flinches. Luna quickly steps up.

"They came to destroy us to kill Starlight. Amber ignores Luna, she continues her torture, enjoying it. 

"Who created you?" Amber asked the filly. 

"You don't need to do that. She'll tell you anything you want to know." Luna tells her

"I know," Amber says. Celestia puts a hoof on Luna's shoulder. The filly's screaming briefly stops. Amber waits for an answer.

"I don't know. Enmity wouldn't tell us. He said our thoughts weren't safe." The filly said. Amber zaps her again. Luna is about to say something. 

"Her name was Silvertail. Perhaps you knew her." Rainius says. The filly's pain abruptly ceases. Amber faces Rainius with an innocent smile that's somehow unnerving. The other two bat syndicate are suddenly positioned behind Amber. Starlight plants herself firmly at Rainius's side. The air is tense. This could turn bad, fast. Celestia intercedes. 

"Rainius. If the bat syndicate had knowledge of Silvertail, they would've stopped her. Isn't that right, Amber?" Celestia asked. Amber just looks at Celestia.

"Of course. Brother." Dark Meadow moves to the filly 

"She didn't know what she was doing," Luna said. "We'll take responsibility for her. Give her a chance." 

"The bat syndicate doesn't give second chances," Amber replied. "Keep that in mind. Duke Tail will be interested to know that she's still a mortal." 

"The date is set." Starlight said. Amber is ever so slightly taken aback by Starlight's confidence. Her look lingers on Starlight. Rainius stands ready to defend her. But Amber turns back to Dark. 

"Take care of that, brother. I'd like to go home." Meanwhile Dark, with his enormous strength, easily tears the filly from limb to limb. Her screams quickly cease. "Thank you, brother. Until next time." The ponies do nothing. There's nothing they can do. Nothing but stand by, grim-faced. Luna tries not to watch. Starlight, fighting revulsion, but standing strong with the rest of the ponies, as the thick plume of smoke rises. She stays close to Rainius as the bat syndicate walks away. 

Later that day, Starlight and Rainius were in the meadow. "So, August thirteenth?" Rainius questioned. 

"It's a month from now." Starlight said. Rarity said she can get the wedding together by then. 

"I'm sure she can. There's no rush." Rainius said. 

"I've chosen my life. I want to start living it." Starlight egged on. 

"And so, you're gonna let Rarity plan the whole thing? Dress, the reception, the guest list... I mean, who knows who she's gonna invite?" Rainius laughed. 

"Does it matter?" Starlight asked. Rainius sits up, looks her in the eyes.

"I just don't know why you're doing this." He said. 

"What? The wedding?" Starlight wondered. 

"You're trying to make everyone else happy. But you're already giving away too much." Rainius claimed. 

"You're wrong." She says. She rises as well, going to him, clarity washing over her. "This wasn't a choice between you and Sunburst. It was between who I should be and who I am." She circles him, insight energizing her as she speaks. "I've always felt out of step. Like literally, stumbling through my life. I'm never felt normal. Because I'm not normal. I don't wanna be. I've had to face death... and loss and pain, in your world. But, I've also never felt stronger... more real, more... my self. Because it's my world, too. It's where I belong." 

"So, it's not just about me." He inquires. 

"No, sorry." She chuckles. She wraps her arms around him, looks up at him. "I've made a mess trying to figure all this out, but... I wanna do it right. And I wanna tie myself to you, in every way possible." 

"Starting with a wedding." Rainius murmured. 

"Actually... Something, a little more difficult first. And maybe even dangerous. We have to tell my dad." She replied. 

"It's highly dangerous." Rainius laughed. 
 
"It's a good thing you're bulletproof. I'm gonna need that ring." Starlight said. Rainius smiles. Pulls the black box from his pocket. He removes the ring. Takes it and puts it on Starlight's horn… where it will stay for eternity. 
> Chapter Sixteen - The Wedding
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"No… no… NO!" Sunburst exclaimed in fury as he thoroughly read the wedding invitation for Rainius and Starlight's wedding. He ran outside, taking on his timberwolf form and was determined to run as far away from Equestria as he could. Or maybe he'd go to Yak Yakistan. 

Meanwhile, Starlight was with Rarity in her shop. Rarity was having her try on her wedding horseshoes. The shoes were a little too tight though. "You just have to break them in, darling." Rarity said as she watched Starlight try to walk in them. 

"I've been breaking them in… for three days." Starlight replied a little annoyed. "Can I just go barehoof?"

"No! Absolutely not, darling!" Rarity said. "Now, come on, we got to try on the dress!!" 

Starlight rolled her eyes. "Ugh… great." She muttered under her breath. She then saw Rainius outside waiting for her. "Um, Rarity, I've gotta go. I'll see you later." 

"But darling, you haven't even tried on your dress-!" Rarity said. Before she could say anything, Starlight was gone. "Well, make sure you at least get some beauty sleep!!"

She went out to Rainius. "So, what are you so nervous about?" Starlight asked her fiance. 

He stopped. "Starlight, I haven't told you everything about myself…" He began. 

"What, you're not a virgin?" Starlight teased. They both shared a laugh. "What it's not like you can scare me away now."

"No." He replied. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "After my mother had transformed into Nightmare Moon and my aunt Celestia banished her to the moon… I rebelled against her. I was angry at her. She could've saved her, but instead, she just imprisoned her."

"I can't imagine how hard that must've been on you." Starlight said sympathetically. 

"It was then I had joined the bat syndicate. Thinking it would help. But it didn't. I just felt worse." He explained. 

"Why are you telling me this?" Starlight Inquired. "Did you really think this was going to change my mind about you?"

"No, but I was thinking it might change your mind about yourself and who you wanna see when you look in the mirror a year from now," Rainius said. 

"When I look in the mirror a year from now, I wanna see somepony just like you… somepony capable of courage, sacrifice, and most importantly… love." She tells him. He immediately grabs her and starts kissing her. Deeply and passionately. She hears Celestia's voice. "What's going on?"

Rainius chuckles. "I'm late for my bachelor party." He laughed. 

"Go ahead. I've got my bachelorette party to go to." She said, letting him go. 

"I'll meet you at the alter," He said. 

"I'll be the one in white." She giggled. 

"That's very convincing." He replied before he left. 

The next morning was the big day. Everyone from far and wide had come. Including Starlight's father. Who was still in uncertainty about the whole thing. Rarity was doing Starlight's make-up for the wedding. She was carefully applying blush to Starlight's cheeks. And was putting mascara on her. "Do you need some help? I could do her hair?" Lylac suggested. 

"Really?" Starlight smirked. 

"Please," Lylac scoffed. "I'm not offended by your choice of groom."

"Just my blatant lack of respect for mortality." Starlight said mockingly. 

"Essentially," Lylac commented. 

"Weddings… they bring everyone together." Rarity said as she wrapped all of them into a group hug. "Okay, now time for… the dress!" She showed them the wedding dress she made for Starlight. 

"You ready?" Firelight asked as he and his daughter Starlight were about to walk down the aisle. Starlight nodded. As they walked down the aisle Starlight could see all her family and friends looking at her with smiles on their faces. She could also see Rainius's family there as well. Soon they were at the altar. Firelight let go of Starlight's hoof. 

"Mares and gentlcolts. We are gathered here on this glorious day to witness the union of King Rainius Songbird and Starlight Glimmer." Luna, who was officiating the wedding began. She turns to her son. "Please, repeat after me. I, Rainius Songbird."

"I, Rainius Songbird." He repeated, looking deep into Starlight's indigo eyes. 

"Take you Starlight Glimmer," Luna said. 

"Take you Starlight Glimmer," Rainius said. 

"To have and to hold," Luna said. 

"To have and to hold," Rainius said. 

"For better, for worse." Starlight said. 

"For richer, for poorer," Rainius said. 

"In sickness and in health." Starlight said. 

"To love," Rainius said. 

"To cherish. As long as we both shall live." Starlight said. 

"I do," Rainius said. 

"I do." Starlight said. "I love you."

"I love you," Rainius said. She grabs him and kisses him. 

"You may kiss the… groom?" Luna said. She and everyone else clapped and cheered as the newlyweds broke off their kiss. 

After the reception, Firelight stared at the beautiful gigantic wedding cake. "How did she get the cake done so quickly?" He asked. 

"Some say there are many things about her that are supernatural." Stellar Flare said. 

"Hi, guys!!" Pinkie greeted them. Cheese Sandwich had her wrapped in his hooves. 

"Oh, we were just saying how pretty everything is," Firelight said. 

"We were all just saying." Stellar Flare joined in. 

"Oh, why thanks so much! You don't think it's too much is it?" She asked. 

"No!" Firelight answered. 

"No. Not at all." Stellar said. 

"We've heard so much about you, Starlight." Said Flower Blossom. 

"Welcome to the family." Said Coral Treat. 

"Thank you." Starlight said. 

"Diamond, come meet Starlight." Said Bow Ribbons, gesturing for Diamond Sparkle to meet Starlight. 

"I can't do this." Diamond replied. 

"You promised." Bow said. 

"She's friends with a timberwolf…" Diamond said, her voice a bit shaky. 

"Diamond, he's our friend," Rainius said. 

"They killed Latenighter!" She exclaimed. 

"He tried to kill Starlight." Rainius intervened. 

"I don't believe that!" Diamond raised her voice at Rainius. "He wanted to live in peace with ponies… with me." She ran off, tears falling from her cheeks. 

"We're sorry." Bow and Flower Blossom said in unison. 

"Let's not monopolize the bride. Congratulations. To the both of you." Coral Treat said. 

"Thank you." Starlight said. Coral, Bow, and Flower Blossom chased off after Diamond. 

"Well, what's a wedding without some family drama?" Rainius chuckled. "Shall we dance?" Starlight nodded. Rainius took her hoof in his and pulled her closer to him. They danced until it was time for the toasts. 

"I’d like to propose a toast, to my new mother in law." Announced Singing Armor. "Starlight, I hope you’ve got enough sleep these last twenty-three years, cause you won’t be getting anymore for a while. He laughs and everyone looks at him awkwardly. 

Lylac gives her speech. "Well, Starlight was just like everybody else, totally mesmerized my Rainius. Um…and then suddenly, Rainius is all about Starlight. Even though she’s not the captain of the celestial royal guard." She laughs. "I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding. Or am I?" She creates suspense. "I am."

Firelight gives his father of the bride speech to the guests. "Rainius will be a good husband. I know this because… because I’m the founder of the Sires Hollow Preservation Society, I know things. Like how to hunt somepony to the ends of the earth." He says, glaring at Rainius. 

"Rainius, darling, even though you look good in anything… You’ll have to get over your aversion to fashion." Rarity said as the crowd laughed. 

"I’d like to thank whoever Starlight's mother is and Firelight for bringing such a wonderful pony into the world and into our lives. We will cherish and protect her forever." Celestia said. 

Rainius gives his speech. "It’s an extraordinary thing to meet someone who you can bare your soul to and accept you for what you are. I’ve been waiting, for what seems like a very long time, to get beyond what I am. And with Starlight… I feel like I can finally begin. So I’d like to propose a toast to my beautiful bride. No measure of time with you will be long enough. But let’s start with forever." 

After all the toasts, Rainius tells Starlight there's one last wedding gift and that it arrived. He walks her away from the crowd. "What's a wedding gift doing all the way out here?" She asked as they were on the outskirts of Canterlot. 

"You'll find out. It's more private." Rainius told her. 

"Best stallion didn't have time to get a tux," Sunburst said as he came out of one of the bushes. 

"Sunburst!" Starlight exclaimed before she galloped to him and jumped into his arms and hugged him. "This is kind of you."

"Kind is my middle name," Sunburst said. 

"I'll go see if Lylac wants to dance," Rainius said, leaving the two alone. 

"Dance with me?" He asked her. She steps closer to him and he picks her up to twirl her and then they start dancing. "You know, you'd think I'd be used to telling you goodbye by now. Since this is your last night as a mortal."

"Tonight's not my last night as a mortal." Starlight said. 

"I…I thought you…" Sunburst didn't know how to respond to that. 

"I just want to have a normal honeymoon with him." She said. 

"What’s the point? It’s not like you’re gonna have a real honeymoon with him anyway." Sunburst said, angry. 

"It’s gonna be as real as anyone else’s." Starlight said. 

"That’s a sick joke." Sunburst replies. Starlight gives him a look of confusion. "You are joking?"
Starlight still looks confused. "What? While you’re still mortal? You can’t be serious, Starlight! Tell me you’re not that stupid!"

"I mean, it’s really none of your business." She said. Suddenly Sunburst takes hold of her arms. 

"No! You can’t do this!" He objected. His tone hinted rage. 

"Sunburst!" She shouted. She was starting to get angry now. 

"Listen to me, Starlight!" He tried to reason with her. But she refused. 

"Let me go!" She yelled at him. 

Suddenly Rainius appears. "Sunburst, calm down." He said. 

"Are you out of your mind? Huh? You’ll kill her!" Before Sunburst could attack Rainius, Luna and Celestia appeared and took him away. With him resisting. 

"Sorry," Luna said, taking Sunburst away, along with her elder sister. 

"Am I really that stupid?" Starlight asked Rainius. 

"No." He replied. Come on, let's go. Everyone's waiting for us." The two then walked back to the crowd. 

As Starlight and Rainius are about to leave to go on their honeymoon. She is stopped by her dad. "So he really won’t tell you where he’s taking you?" Firelight asked. 

"No, it’s a surprise." Starlight said. 

"Well, wear a hat, sunscreen, take care of yourself," Firelight said. 
"Dad. You know what we said about treating me like a filly." She reminded him. 

"Right. Sorry. I just… I'm gonna miss you." He said. Starlight hugs him. "I love you, Starlight.

"I love you too, dad. Always." She said. 

"So much." He said. 

"I'm gonna miss you too." She said, letting go of him. "Well, I guess this is goodbye."

"I guess so. Bye, dad." Starlight said before leaving with Rainius. 

As Starlight and Rainius are about to leave for their honeymoon they are stopped by Twilight. 
"It’s gonna be strange. You’re not living under my roof." Twilight said. "Something me and Spike are going to have to get used to."

"Yeah. It’s gonna be strange for me too." Starlight said. 

"You know it will always be your home, right?" Twilight said. Starlight nods her head. 

"I love you, Twilight… Forever." She hugs Twilight. 

"I love you too, Starlight. I always have and I always will." Twilight said. 

"Thank you, Twilight… for everything." Starlight said. 

"Of course." She said. "Take care."

"I will." Starlight replied. "Don't worry."

"Everything's packed and ready to go," Luna said. 

"Looks like it's time for you to go. Goodbye, Starlight." Twilight said before sending her off. A tear trickling down her cheek. 

"Goodbye, Twilight." Starlight said before she and Rainius went on their way. They were now gonna be starting a life together. A life of love… and happiness. 
> Chapter Seventeen - The Honeymoon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, Las Pegasus?" Starlight asked as she and Rainius were on the train heading to the glorious Las Pegasus where they were gonna spend their honeymoon. 

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind." He said. "I thought it would be a great place to spend a honeymoon."

"I don't mind." She replied. "As long as we're together, I don't care where we go."

Rainius smiled. "I love you." He said, kissing her. 

"I love you too, Rainius." Starlight said as they kissed again. When they got to their hotel in Las Pegasus, Rainius picks Starlight up to carry her over the threshold. She giggled. "Is this totally necessary?"

"I'm nothing if not traditional." He chuckled. She smiled. "You're so beautiful." He ran his right hoof down her right cheek. She blushed at his statement. "Well, I promised that we'd try. If this doesn't work-!" Rainius was saying before Starlight put her hoof to his mouth, silencing him. 

"Shh. I trust you." Starlight said. They kiss again. 

"Well, thank you, Mrs. Songbird." He laughed as he said. "Now, shall we begin?" Ready to consummate their marriage. 

"Yes." She said. And then they both jumped onto the bed. Rainius took off his jacket and cape and kissed Starlight's neck. The kissing soon turned into sucking and then before they knew it, Rainius was on top of Starlight, she had both her hooves around his neck, bringing him closer to her. Her lips pressing roughly against his. Rainius put both front hooves on the bed frame, it immediately snapped under his strength. They both were breathing rapidly. 

"Sorry," Rainius said, embarrassed. 

"It's okay." Starlight said, before grabbing him and kissing him. As like two teenage lovers, they were rolling like thunder under the covers. And it went on for a while until Starlight moaned softly in great pleasure. They continued on for a few more hours before Starlight had passed out. 

The next morning, after they had made love. Starlight had awoken to feathers of ripped up pillows around her. And without Rainius next to her. Which was a shock to her at first, and kinda startling. But she didn't let that lessen her mood. She felt so elated. Is this what it felt like the next morning after having sex? If so, then this was a feeling she could get used to. She got up and went to the mirror. She stands there looking at her reflection, remembering the previous night. "Starlight, you're hurt," Rainius said when he entered the room. 

"What?" She asks confused. He shows her the bruises on her arm. She turns away. Not caring about the bruises. 

"No, Starlight. Look." He says as he pulls her white robe down her shoulder and shows her the bruises on her shoulder. "Starlight, I can't tell you how sorry I am." He turns and walks away. She follows him. 

"Well, I'm not!" She exclaims. "Really, I'm not! I'm fine!!" 

"Don't say you're fine!" Rainius says agitated at himself. "Just don't."

"No, you don't!" Starlight said. "Don't ruin this!!"

"I've already ruined it…" Rainius muttered. 

"Why can’t you see how perfectly happy I am? Or was, five seconds ago? I mean, I’m sort of pissed off actually." She admitted. 

"Well, you should be angry with me," Rainius said. 

Starlight sighed. "We knew this was going to be tricky, right?" She said. "I think we did amazing. I mean it was amazing for me."

"Is that what you're worried about?" Rainius inquired. "That I didn't enjoy myself?" He grabs her arms. "Starlight, last night was the best night of my existence. I wouldn't trade it for the world." They kiss for a bit, but Rainius eventually pulls himself away from her. 

"You’re not gonna touch me again, are you?" She asked. He touches her face. "You know that’s not what I mean."

He sighed. "Let me make you breakfast." He says before he walks away from her to make her breakfast. Many nights had passed, but one struck out to Starlight as she was awoken by a dream. She woke up crying. "Starlight, are you having a nightmare?" He was worried about her now. 

"No." She replied. She turns to face him. "It was just a dream… a really good dream."

"Then why are you crying?" He asked, concerned. 

"Because I wanted it to be real." She said, still crying. She brings him down towards her and kisses him. 

"Starlight, I can’t," Rainius said, not wanting to hurt her again. 

"Please. Please!" She begged. 
He sighs, giving in to her and they make love again. 

The next morning, Starlight awakes with morning sickness. Releasing bile into a bucket. "Starlight?" Rainius came to her concerned. 

"You don't want to see this." She claimed. He didn't care though. 

He walks in and kneels in front of her. "In sickness and in health, remember?" He reminded her. He sees her look at him strangely. "What is it?"

"How many days has it been since the wedding?" She asked, curious. She wasn't a hundred percent sure what was going on, but she had a pretty good idea. 

"Fourteen? Why?" Rainius inquired. She didn't respond. "Starlight, what's going on?" He was starting to get more concerned and worried about her now. "What is it?" 

To test her hypothesis she walks over the mirror and looks at her stomach. "Is this even possible?" She asked Rainius. He had no idea what she was talking about. She turned around to face him. "Woah!" She clenched her stomach as she felt something move inside her. She then started rummaging through her saddlebag until she found what she was looking for. A quill and scroll. 

Dear Princess Celestia. 

I need your help!

Sincerely, Starlight Glimmer Songbird. 

And with magic, she sent the message off to Celestia. And almost immediately, she got a response. She opened up the scroll to read it. 

Why? What's going on?! Has Rainius been harmed?! 

The letter said. She decided to write back. 

No. I'm not a hundred percent sure actually, but… I know that it might not be possible, but… I think that I'm pregnant. 

She sent the letter off to Princess Celestia by her magic. This time she didn't get an immediate response. Instead, Celestia came to them. She felt Starlight's stomach. "This could be worse than I thought." She whispered to herself. She felt Starlight's stomach again. 

"Aunt Celestia, what's going on?!" Rainius stressed. His anxiety was starting to overwhelm him. 

"Woah!!" Starlight exclaimed as she felt whatever it was move again. "Celestia, I swear I just felt something move inside me!"

"... Death." Was all she said. Rainius read her mind. His worst fear was finally coming true. "We'll have to take her back to Ponyville." 

"Okay," Rainius nodded, showing his agreement. 

"Rainius." Celestia whispered to him as they walked into the other room. "Your curse." Rainius was reminded of his course that was placed upon him by his father as revenge against his mother and aunt Celestia. 

"Aunt Celestia, don't let her die!" Rainius pleaded. "Please?!"

"I can't promise anything, Rainius. What happens, happens, there's nothing you or anyone else can do to change this." Celestia said. "You're just gonna have to accept what is. Even if it may hurt."

"I… I… I can't live without her!" Rainius exclaimed. "H-how could I love? Let alone tolerate it, if it killed her?" He was beginning to sob. He didn't want to lose her to this curse. His curse. This was his burden to bear. Not hers. And she was gonna be suffering because of it. 

"I know, Rainius. I promise I will try everything in my power to try to keep her alive, but you'll have to help with that too. You could maybe keep her alive until she delivers." Celestia said. 

"That's all I could ask for," Rainius replied. "Thanks, aunt Celestia. 

" No problem, nephew," Celestia said with a smile. "Now, let's get going." 

"Agreed," Rainius said following the white Alicorn. 

"Maybe they'll say she died doing some complicated spell, or that she tripped and fell off a cliff," Sunburst said to his timberwolves as he went through a list of options for how they could say Starlight had died. "But at least I'll get one thing out of it." He pictured himself ripping Rainius's head off. 

"No, you won't!" Shining Armor said. "Rainius is not a danger or threat to anyone."

"Well, he's either gonna kill her or change her," Sunburst said. 

"That's her choice, not any of ours. So, leave it be." Shining Armor replied. 

Sunburst stared at all the ponies in the Crystal Empire. Each of them had something he desperately wanted. Somepony to love. "Heh. None of them belong to themselves anymore. And the sickest part is they tell themselves they're happy about it." 

"Maybe if you found somepony else, you'd finally forget about Starlight." Shining Armor said.  "I mean, being any kind of happy is better than being miserable about someone you can’t have."

"If only it were that easy," Sunburst replied. 

"Well, don't timberwolves imprint?" Shining Armor asked. Wondering if maybe that could have an impact on his feelings. 

"Yeah." He answered. He then thought about what Shining Armor was saying. "Where are you going with this?" He inquired. Hoping to figure out Shining's motives. 

"Well, I'm thinking that if you were to imprint on some pony, you'd finally forget about Starlight." Shining Armor suggested. 

"Imprinting is something that's easier said than done," Sunburst replied. "It's not like you can do it with just anyone. It's gotta be that somepony you were meant to be with. It's basically love at first sight. Like when you see them, everything changes. Suddenly it's not gravity holding you down, it's her. You would do anything for, be anything for her, a friend, a brother, a protector." 

"It really sounds like you know the feeling." Shining Armor stated. "Have you already imprinted on somepony?"

"No. I just researched it." Sunburst said. "I don't need to imprint though. And I believe you would know if I did."

"You sure about that?" Shining Armor said. "It would be more healthy for you than just moping about Starlight all the time."

"I'm tired of everypony telling me what's healthy for me. Or what I should want. Cause it wouldn't change anything about how I feel for her." Sunburst said, stating his point. 

"I suppose you're right." Shining Armor said. "Though I still don't feel so sure about that. I would think that you'd want at least somepony in your life to love and care for you. Probably even more than Starlight would." Sunburst didn't say a word instead he just got up and left. Leaving Shining Armor with the timberwolves. 

Later that night, in the castle in the Crystal Empire the guards were at their normal routine of scanning the halls of the castle looking for anything out of the ordinary, like an intruder or something. One of the guards got startled by the sound of a vase falling and breaking. "Who's there?!" He called out. He got no response. "Show yourself!!" Still nothing. Curious, he walked over to the broken vase and examined it cautiously. However, there was no trace of anything that had passed by. He got up, but before he was able to move he was pinned to the wall by an invisible force. What he now saw before him was a black, gray, and green shadow-like creature. It must be a pony cause it had a hoof just like a pony's. But this pony was different. The shadow pony had his hoof held against the guard’s mouth, suffocating him. This pony was indeed different, but awfully familiar. But before the guard could even put his hoof on it, he was suffocated to death by the shadow pony. 

A peal of dark, maniacal laughter was heard from the pony before he went on to his next task. "Once I find and destroy Rainius. Revenge will finally be mine!" The creature said. His voice, dark and sounded like something to be feared. 
> Chapter Eighteen - Sombra
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sunburst. Just the stallion I was looking for." Shining Armor said as Sunburst was walking down the long hallway of the Crystal Palace. 

"What's going on?" He asked. 

"Cadence received a message from my sister, Twilight." Shining Armor answered. 

"And?" Sunburst began. "Is it about Starlight?" He finished. Shining Armor nodded gravely. 

"Follow me." Shining Armor requested. 

"Lead the way," Sunburst said as he began to follow him. 

As they entered the throne room, Princess Cadence was rereading the scroll that contained the message that Twilight had sent her. "Oh, Sunburst, you came!" Cadence announced as she saw the orange unicorn. "Flurry has been very excited to see you." She looked down at her daughter who was now bigger than before as she was getting older. 

"Woah!" Sunburst said as Flurry ran over to them. "You've grown half a foot. Like seriously six inches." Flurry giggled. He turns his attention back to Cadence. "So, what's going on?" Cadence knew he wouldn't like the answer. 

Meanwhile, Rainius was in his room in Twilight's castle reading books, looking for an answer to help him save Starlight. But alas, he came with nothing. There was no magical or non-magical cure for this curse. "Ugh… Dammit!!" He shouted while he threw the book at a wall in rage. A burst of familiar, sinister laughter came from somewhere in the room. Rainius quickly turned around. "Who's there?!"

The evil laughter returned and an image of the creature revealed itself in the mirror. It was a pony whose coat was as dark as coal. He had eyes of a bright burning red with green smoke coming out of them. This was a face that Rainius recognized all too well. "Hello, Rainius." He said in his dark voice. 

"Sombra," Rainius said through gritted teeth. His eyes narrowed, glaring at the pony who he knew to be his father. 

"Oh, come now, son. Don't be like that." Sombra said. 

"You lost your right to call me that!" Rainius said, coldly. Making sure it came out as harsh as could be. 

"You're right. I had, but maybe we could be like that. A real father and son." Sombra proposed. 

"Hah." Rainius scoffed. "Never! I will protect myself from you. You won't get to me this time." 

"Such a shame," Sombra replied. "You say you will protect yourself. Them. But you cannot stop what's going to happen. Hahahahaha."

"No," Rainius said, knowing he's right. 

"My poor little Rainius, you're still so young and naive. I don't know why you can't see that there's no stopping me." He laughed. 

"Just shut up! I won't let you chain me up as your slave again!!" Rainius yelled at him. "Look, listen to me! You will not succeed. I won't travel down this path. You know you promised me a hateless world… you promised me!" 

"And I filled that deed." He said. "But a stallion like you can't have his dreams. A stallion of his own deception. A stallion such as you." He came out of the mirror. 

"I've become a fearless stallion!" Rainius said loud and proud. 

"Fearless stallion?! Don't make me laugh." Sombra scoffed. "You can't protect the ones you love. And I'll show you just how weak you are. I'll make you watch her suffering." 

"I am warning you, Sombra!!" Rainius threatened. "All you are is my childhood fear."

"The seed has been planted now. And now it's time to watch it grow. What's about to happen to her is all your fault. You have caused her downfall." Sombra said. "And I'll make you watch as I transform that baby into its true self. The self that it is meant to be. A monster… just like you! Hahahahaha!!" Sombra left, shattering Rainius's mirror. 

"No!" Rainius screamed before falling to the floor, sobbing. 

"Is it true?!" Sunburst inquired as he burst through the doors of Twilight's castle. 

"Hello, Sunburst." Celestia greeted him. He didn't return her greeting. 

"Look, just give it to me straight…" Sunburst began. 

"She's here. They came home two weeks ago." Celestia said. "And she's doing just fine as of right now. Though it is growing fast. And we're not sure when exactly it will be here, but we're expecting it by tomorrow afternoon." Sunburst left the room and headed upstairs where she might be. And there she was. Except Rarity was standing in front of her. All the mane six were there, along with Lylac and Princess Luna. Celestia shortly followed. 

"That's close enough." Rarity said to Sunburst. 

"Rarity, it's okay." Starlight said. Rarity stepped aside so Sunburst could see her. She looked awful. Her mane was all damp-like and her coat was pale, she was very weak and couldn't even stand on her own. She had to have help from Rarity and Applejack to get to her hooves. Her skin was even ice cold like Rainius's due to lack of blood flow. 

"Well, I must admit… you look terrible." Sunburst said. 

"Wow, thanks." Starlight replied. "I can see you hadn't changed much." She giggled. Sunburst liked seeing her smile. But he didn't like the burden she was left with by Rainius. 

"Sunburst? Will you come here for a sec?" Rainius insisted of him. He followed. 

"Well, I always knew you'd kill her." He said as they both went into the other room. 

"Look, Sunburst." Rainius began. "I need you to do something for me." Sunburst turned away. "For her." Now he got Sunburst's attention. "Try to change her mind. She has a special bond with you that I will never understand. Maybe you could keep her alive. She's hoping that Celestia could make her an Alicorn at the last minute, like what my mother did with me." 

"Well, can she?" Sunburst asked. 

"The probability is slight… If Starlight dies… then you get what you always wanted." Rainius said. "To kill me." Sunburst liked the sound of that idea. 

That afternoon, Celestia was checking Starlight and the baby's supernatural magical aura. "It's magic is beyond that of a newborn unicorn. It might be an Alicorn." Celestia said. "And it seems to have cracked one of your ribs."

"Great. It's breaking her bones now." Rainius muttered. A hint of irritation was heard in his voice. "It's crushing you from the inside out!" He turns to Celestia. "Tell her what you told me."

"Rainius." Celestia said sternly. She then walked over to Starlight, who was laying on the bed. "The fetus is incompatible with your body. It’s too strong, it won’t allow you to get the nutrition you need. It’s starving you by the hour, I can’t stop it and I can’t slow it down. At this rate, your heart will give out before you can deliver." 

"Well, then I'll hold on as long as I can and then-!" Starlight said before she was cutoff

"Starlight," Celestia interjected. "There are some conditions that even magic can’t overcome. You understand? I’m sorry." Celestia left the room. Leaving the couple alone with each other. 

Starlight turns to Rainius. "Rainius, I'm sorry. It looks like you're just gonna have to accept what is." She said. 

"Yeah." He said calmly. "BECAUSE YOU'VE GIVEN ME NO CHOICE!!" He was going through a mix of emotions. "Starlight, we’re supposed to be partners, remember? But you decided this on your own, you’ve decided to leave me.

"Don’t see it that way!" Starlight exclaimed. 

"Well, I have no other way to see it. Cause it’s me who’ll lose you, and I don’t choose that. I don’t choose that." He says before he turns and leaves her. 

Later that night, Starlight was in her room, in her bed crying. "Oh, why am I even still doing this?!" She asked herself. "I must be crazy doing this!! Oh, what am I even to do?!"

"Well, you could start by joining me." The voice of Sombra said.

"Huh?! Sombra?! What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be dead!! Rainius!" She called. "Rain-!"  Sombra silenced her. All that was heard from her were muffled mumbles. 

"Listen here. You will do as I say. Unless you want to die. You got it?!" He said. Starlight nodded, showing her agreement. "Good." He released her from his grasp. "Now, you have been burdened with this foal. So, instead of crying over it, you should embrace it. Now, I am here to help you. I can make you into the pony you were meant to be! A strong and powerful leader. A pony who could never get hurt again. I can give you everything you could ever want."

"I already have everything I want!" Starlight said. "And nothing you say will change my mind!" 

"You don't understand. I'm stronger than you now. And you will be mine, even if I have to change you myself." Sombra threatened. 

"Ha! You don't understand, Rainius is stronger than you. When he gets here, he'll defeat you. He has no weaknesses!" Starlight threatened back. 

"Oh, I think he does my dear. I truly think he does. And when I destroy him that'll leave you no choice, but for you to be mine and rule by my side. Whether you choose to or not. And by tonight we can make the world anew and finally let our sorrows be free. So, come with me and embrace the dark and unleash the power you have. It's been far too long since you've had any kind of joy in your life." Sombra promised. 

"Do you really think I'd ever join you?!" Starlight mocked. "Do you really take me for a fool?! I know the only thing that you're offering me is fear inside their eyes. And that is not the path I wish to go!" 

"Oh, why can't you see that all they've brought you is pain?!" He exclaimed. 

"All I can see is the hatred that blinds you, so keep your revenge plans away from me!" Starlight demanded. 

"This just isn't about me, this concerns you too! They've taken everything you had! Don't you agree that they should pay for all your tears?!" Sombra suggested. 

"My past is not a game, Sombra!! I am not that mare no more!! Why can't you see that revenge will not bring you love and peace?!" Starlight said. 

"I decide what this brings!" Sombra screamed at her. "And my plan will succeed to the end! Even if you die, I'll still live on!!" 

"No, she won't!" Rainius said when he came into the room. "Not if I have a say in this! You'll be stopped by me alone!"

"Ha! It's too late, you can't save her. I'll be reborn when the foal arrives!" Sombra stated. 

"I've felt the anger in my past and my family, and being alone, but I have grown stronger. And I have redeemed my throne, which you will never gain!" Rainius replied. 

Sombra laughed. "You cannot change her future and fate! She'll soon die and I will live on!" He said. "And my spirit will grow in the foal, giving it all my power. And it will rule one day as the true ruler of the world!" He said. 

"Sombra, can't you see it's over now?! Your time is done!" Rainius said. 

"You will die by me and I'll be reborn!" Sombra egged on. 

"You won't live when I'm done with you, Sombra!" Rainius promised. 

"Oh, please. You may be strong, but you're not wise…" Sombra remarked. 

"Please Sombra, leave us be." Starlight begged. 

"With your child, I'll never be gone," Sombra said. 

"It'll never be you!" Starlight said. 

"Ah, think what you want, but it will be me!" Sombra growled. 

"No, never!!" Starlight screamed at him. 

"Yes! FOREVER!!" Sombra said. 

"No, it won't! Now take all your deeds Sombra and rot in Tartarus!!" Rainius told him. 

"I'll see you there, Rainius!!" Sombra claimed before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Leaving the couple alone with their unborn child. 

"I'm sorry, Starlight," Rainius said. "Anyway, tomorrow's a big day, you need to get some rest. I'll watch out for Sombra." She listened and went back to bed. Only tomorrow could tell what her future holds. But Rainius was going to make sure that Sombra will not be a part of it. 
> Chapter Nineteen - The Birthing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How can you even do this to your own son?!" Luna demanded to know. "Just leave him be Sombra! This has nothing to do with him! This is between you and me alone!"

"Oh, but he is Princess. As I no longer have a body as you can see… so with his gifts and mine he'll make a fine and powerful king." Sombra said. Luna glared at him angrily. "Oh Luna you're still as beautiful when you're mad, it's a shame you and I never got our happiness… We could have gotten our dreams together. I still think of you and what we had until we lost everything because of your sister!"

"No! The only thing you lost was yourself when you choose to harness darkness as your ally, instead of I who could have been yours forever...but no you choose your desire that destroyed the one I loved..so I will spare you once but if you cross my family once more I shall be the one to end you! And give you permanent release! Leave!" Luna threatened. 

"Oh, come now, Luna!" Sombra said, putting his hoof to her face, but she smacked it away. 

"Leave!" She exclaimed. 

"Fine," Sombra agreed. He then disappeared in a cloud of smoke. 

Starlight sat in her room, thinking about the possibilities. How she could die before even seeing the baby's face. She was trying to sleep but was woken up by the baby that startled her to wake by kicking her really hard by her ribs making her sit up weakly as she leaned her head against the bead stand so she'd be able to not fall. 

Starlight gasps looking down with a small smile "Hey you be nice I'm trying to sleep we have a long trip tomorrow morning. So do me a favor and let me sleep okay?", she grunts chuckling when it kept kicking "Hey why are you so mean huh? You're probably just excited to see me don't know why I'm pretty lame...Ow! Fine, I'm..um..functional?" 

Quietly she looks down waiting but nothing happened, she smiles softly placing her hoof on her belly gently "Oh now you quiet..sorry mommy is okay I guess..although your daddy is very handsome and a prince so that means one day you'll be a prince or princess...and one day you'll be here...and...um…" She sniffs, crying. “You probably don't even understand what I am saying but…I just want you to know that even though I may not see you, at least you’ll know that I loved you just…"

Weakly she began to sing a soft lullaby to her baby, her goodbye, and the love she had for it. It was final words to her baby alone, letting it know that she would always be there, even after she dies, and that this was the only way to be with the baby, the only way to feel it, where she was still breathing, and alive.

She covers her mouth in tears unable to hold back her emotions knowing that she was dying, and may not live to see her baby, not even its face. She whispers in tears "I love you so much my little bundle of joy… always."

Filled with sorrow Rainius leaned his head against the wall after hearing her lullaby, and her last words to their child, he couldn't fight the tears any longer. He begins to cry as he says a prayer whispering to himself. "Please… spare her… she deserves to be alive after all she's done for me… for her sake please don't let her die let her see her baby… take me instead… If anypony deserves to go it's me… I destroy everything I touch… don't take her away from me… I'll do anything to keep her heart beating… just tell me and I'll do it… please… spare her… both of them…" 

Tears fell down his face ashamed, and broken "I love them… so much it kills me to see them suffer… don't punish them for my mistakes… my sins… they don't deserve it… it’s my fault… it's all mine… let her live… let her and my baby live..." He cried to himself. 

Trying to be strong he opened the door that was barely closed, he goes to her bedside, touching her shoulder. "I truly can't tell you how sorry I am, for how angry I've been," Rainius said as he kissed Starlight. 

"I probably would be too." Starlight admitted after she wiped away her tears. 

"I’ve left you alone in this. There's no excuse for that." Rainius said. 

"Marriage!" Starlight laughed. 

"Well, they say the first year is the hardest," Rainius replied. Then all of a sudden he heard an unfamiliar voice. "What was that?"

"What?" Starlight asked, curiously. 

"I thought I just heard…" Rainius said before he put his hoof on Starlight’s stomach. "Just say something else."

"Like what?" She asks. Rainius smiles. Rainius what’s going on?"

"She likes the sound of your voice," Rainius said. 

"You can hear her?!" Starlight asked, amazed. 

"In mind. She likes my voice as well." He replied. Starlight began crying tears of joy. She and Rainius both giggled at each other. 

Sunburst watched from a distance. He glared at the happy couple only thinking of how he plans to kill Rainius when Starlight dies. "Sunburst!" Celestia called out to him. 

"So, what's going on?" Sunburst asked Celestia and Luna. 

"We're going to be heading to the Crystal Empire today," Luna said. 

"What?! Why?!" Sunburst blurted out. 

"The earliest Starlight will deliver is this afternoon. It would be better if we delivered the baby in the Crystal Empire. There's more protection there." Celestia said. "More defense against Sombra."

"Alrighty then," Sunburst said. "Let's get this show on the road." 

Everyone was wearing bags on their backs minus Starlight who was pregnant with a foal, she was laying on one of the thrones exhausted. With magic, Rainius was looking through the Alicorn transformation spell one last time before he looks at Starlight, saddened by her suffering that he wished to take from her. In the distance, his friends were saying their goodbyes to their families before leaving for the Crystal Empire.

"Hey, you okay?" Rainius asked Starlight. 

"Yeah, I’m just the one who's carrying a demon that's trying to kill me." She replied. 

"This is pretty important, Starlight. Why don’t you tell Rainius what you’ve decided?" Rarity says. 

"What…what now?" Rainius asked, confused. 

"Rarity is trying to talk Starlight out of her baby names," Sunburst said. 

"She hates them." Starlight said. 

"Well, then I’m on your side no matter what you pick," Rainius said. 

"They’re not that bad. If it’s a boy, Rainius. Named after his father." Starlight said with a smile shot towards Rainius. 

"Okay, fine. That one’s not awful. Why don’t you tell them the girl’s name?" Rarity said. 

"Me and Rainius were discussing girl names earlier and there was one that we decided on… Galaxy Swirl." Starlight said. "Too weird?"

"No, it's not too weird, in fact, it's beautiful. Which would certainly fit for her since she's going to be as beautiful as her mother." Rainius's comment made Starlight blush lightly. 

"He likes it." Starlight said. She tries to pick up something for Rainius but her magic fizzles out. And she broke her back trying to pick it up. Rainius grabs her before she completely falls to the ground. She was now thrown into labor. They rush her to the castle library where Spike prepared a bed for them to lay her on. 

"Rarity, pass the morphine," Rainius commands her. 

Twilight shows up to the scene. "The placenta must have detached!" She said. Rainius gives Starlight the morphine shot. "Celestia's coming as fast as she can.

"We’ll have to do it." Rarity says as she takes a scalpel to cut Starlight’s stomach open but Rainius stops her. 

"No! Let the morphine spread." Rainius said. 
 
"There’s no time. The baby’s dying!" Rarity exclaims. 

"Just get it out, now!" Starlight shouted at both of them. Rainius let's go of the scalpel. Rarity cuts her stomach. 

"Look at me, Starlight," Sunburst said, holding her hoof. She screams in pain. As Rarity cuts Starlight’s stomach the sight of the blood disgusts her. 

"Ow!" Starlight screams in pain. 

"Save her! You gotta change her!" Sunburst yells at Rainius. 

"I can’t! Not whilst the baby’s still in there. I gotta get it out first." He replies. 

"Stay focused. Keep your heart beating." Sunburst says to Starlight who’s screaming in pain. 

"The baby is suffocating!" She exclaims. 
With magic, Rainius rips the embryonic sac and pulls the baby out, causing Starlight to scream again. 

"It’s Galaxy Swirl," Rainius said as he showed Starlight their baby. Galaxy was a white Alicorn with bat wings just like Rainius, she had her father's bright blue eyes. She had a dark red dragon-like tail with fur on the end of it. Her mane was long and wavy and greatly resembled Starlights. Purple with cyan streaks through it. 

"She's Beautiful." Starlight said. 

Rainius gives the baby to Starlight, the baby bites Starlight which Rainius takes her back after that. Starlight then becomes unresponsive and doesn't appear to be breathing. "Starlight?" Sunburst tried to get a response out of her. "Starlight?!" He shook her body. Still no response. "STARLIGHT?!" He began to perform CPR on her. 

"Sunburst, take the baby!" Rainius tells him. 

"You keep that thing away from me!" He exclaimed. "I'm only trying to save the mother of that thing, not the thing itself!"

"Here. Rainius, I'll take her." Rarity says as Rainius gives her the baby. 

Rainius then gets out a scroll and reads it over. "What's that?" Sunburst inquired. 

"The Alicorn transformation spell," Rainius answered. He charges up his horn and with magic he zaps her. But nothing happens. "It's supposed to be working." 

"Perform CPR. Get the magic flowing through her veins." Twilight suggested. He does just that. 

"Come on, come on!" Rainius screamed as he continued performing CPR on her. 

Sunburst looks up at him in tears. "I won't kill you. That'd be too easy. You deserve to live with this." He said harshly before he left the room. Rainius is still desperately trying to revive Starlight. 

"Come back to me, please! Please! Starlight! Starlight! Please!" Rainius cried. 

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Ponyville, Sombra was approaching in his shadowy veil. "RAINIUS!! YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO ME!!" Sombra called. 

Rainius, who was still in the library with Starlight, stopped as he heard Sombra's voice. "Rainius, it's time," Twilight said. He nodded. 

He kissed Starlight's forehead. "You're gonna be okay." He whispered to her before leaving to fight Sombra. 

All the mane six, but Rarity rushed out with Rainius to assist in the battle with Sombra. "We're here fer ya, Rainius." Applejack said. 

"I won't let him hurt my family." He said. 

"You won't have to worry about that!" Celestia said as she flew down from the sky, along with her sister, Luna. 

As Sunburst watches the conflict outside he goes into the living room of the castle where Rarity was with baby Galaxy Swirl. And as Sunburst and Galaxy met eyes, suddenly everything changed. His words about imprinting that he told Shining Armor suddenly replayed in his mind. He suddenly felt moved by this notion. He felt lighter than air. He was to be her friend, her brother, and her protector. It was then he knew. Sombra couldn't harm her, not on his watch. He wasn't gonna allow it. 

"If you kill her, you kill me!!" Sunburst announced as he rushed out the door to Sombra. The rest of the mane six, Celestia, and Luna looked at him strangely. Since when did he suddenly care about Galaxy? Rainius knew why from reading his mind, though the idea disgusted him. 

"I'm sorry, everypony." Rainius said. They all looked at him confused. In an instant, he tackled Sombra, teleporting him and himself. Everypony gasped as they disappeared. But where did they go? No pony knows. This was Rainius's fight, and he was going to face it alone. 
> Chapter Twenty - Confrontation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where are we?!" Sombra growled. His bright red eyes glaring at Rainius, full of hatred and fury. 

"Somewhere you can't hurt anyone." Rainius said. "It's over! It's time you and I end this once and for all, Sombra!! You will not hurt my family! Not as long as I'm breathing!" Growling the Alicorn attacks hitting Sombra across the face leaving a scratch that healed by his magic without using his horn, laughing the unicorn quickly charged up his horn and blasted Rainius into a rock. And with his magic and holds him up by his neck. 

"You fool! I should've taken your magic the day when I faced you in that war long ago. I would have made this world free from love, that is made by lies and betrayal! Just like your pathetic family who took everything from me! And now I'm going to take away the one thing they hold dear by destroying you!"
Rainius tried to break free, then he looked at him and saw himself, a stallion that was hurt, a path he could have chosen long ago… one he almost did. But thankfully, he didn't. 

Understanding his thoughts Rainius realized that this stallion who hurt him gave him the very thing he needed, a family, love, and peace to live a life he dreamed, and hoped for after years of searching. Trying to breathe he spoke "Don't you see? You can't win. Not even darkness can cover the world because even the smallest amount of hope and love can create a light strong enough to overcome all darkness! Because no one deserves to be alone… And you shouldn't be either. Please. End this madness. Stop this Sombra. Let me help you." He says extending his hoof out to him, wanting to give the stallion peace and a chance at redemption. 

Sombra looks at him shocked, his pupils soften that he lets him go, backing up "No I can't after all I have done no one would want me! You might as well kill me! It's what you want!" He said, looking up at Rainius. His son. 

Slowly the stallion rose up, standing as he spoke. "That's where you're wrong. Everyone deserves to have someone in their life, no matter how bad they were. I didn't realize that until now. I hated you, so much that I wanted revenge by destroying you! But with the help of my family and friends, they showed me a new way." He walked forward extending his hoof, trying to forgive and create peace "Please Sombra. You can be happy again you don't have to do this. You can be free. You can be my dad again if you just open your heart, and with friendship, things will get better, and you'll receive peace."

"No! I. Will. Not. Bow to you. Or anyone else!" He replies, then flies up becoming a shadow with only eyes in the dark mist and then starts to use more of his magic to create more clouds making the world darker than before.

Rainius looked down "I'm sorry Sombra but you leave me no choice…" Quickly he flies up and teleports, flying in the air to face Sombra to end him once and for all by shooting magic at one another as the rest could only assume the worst. Helplessly afraid.

"I'm worried about him!" Twilight said. "What if he doesn't kill Sombra, but instead Sombra kills him?! What if-!" 

"Twilight, stop! You'll scare the baby!" Celestia said, cutting her off. "I'm worried about him too! But all we can do is just hope he's okay, and that he makes it through this… alive." 

As the battle rages on, Sombra grows tired and annoyed. He yells growling "ENOUGH! This ends now!"

"You're right it does!" Rainius said as he glared at Sombra while creating a golden ball in his hoof and throws it at Sombra that begins to make small holes that shined in areas of his shadow body "It's over Sombra and no longer will you harm anypony else with your darkness! I, Rainius Songbird, the son of Princess Luna, the Prince of Redemption, and the future King of Equestria vow you will never hurt another pony, and that you will never exist again!!"

"Noo! Nooooooo!" Sombra screamed as he was incinerated into nothing but clouds that quickly faded away. 

Rainius then teleported back to the castle, where everypony cheered for him, celebrating his triumphant victory over the ruthless King Sombra. "Come, Rainius." Celestia said. "I think Starlight is about to awaken from her near-death experience." Rainius quickly followed his aunt into the castle library where Starlight was gonna be waiting for him. 

Starlight still appears to be dead. Rainius stands at her bedside as they had bathed her and Rarity put her in a nice dress. She also had wings now, but not bat wings like Rainius, regular Alicorn wings like Twilight, Cadence, Celestia, Luna, and Flurry Heart. She was also a little taller as Rainius could tell. "She shouldn’t be this still." He said, looking at her. 

"It’s the morphine, Rainius." Celestia assures him. 

"Maybe I was too late," Rainius said, worried. 

"No, Rainius." Celestia said. Listen to her heart… she's alive. And it's all thanks to you. You saved her." He smiles elated as Celestia leaves the room, so he could be alone with her for when she wakes up. 

Later, in Hollow Shades a young mare brings the three bat syndicate a message on a silver platter, Shadow Mark takes the message. 
 
"Oh, it’s from Celestia. Which is spelt with a C, sweet Moonlight." Shadow says. He motions for his guards who appear beside Moonlight. He reads the message. There's a new Alicorn to her family.

"Ah." Said Crimson Moon as he turned to Shadow. 

"Increasing her power." Duke Tail added. 
Suddenly Shadow’s guards drag Moonlight away as she screams. 

"First it’s the spelling, then the grammar," Shadow said. He gives the message to Crimson. 

"It seems our dispute with them is finally over." Crimson Moon said. 

"Over?" Shadow questions. Goodness, no. Our dispute goes far beyond the fate of a mere unicorn."

"And what might it be?" Duke Tail asks. 

"Why I thought you understood, brother," Shadow said. "... They have something I want!"
> Chapter Twenty One - Awakening
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As light and colors once again filled the sky to declare the end of the battle and bring about a new dawn, Rainius lay rested after the fight against his father, King Sombra. And awaited the rebirth awakening of his beloved wife. As Starlight was finally coming around he grew relieved to know that he had managed to save her from death. Her eyes shot open instantaneously and glanced all around the room until finally, her eyes met Rainius’s. He stared graciously back at her. He gently offered her his hoof which she grabbed ahold of without hesitation, pulling herself up and being enveloped in his arms. With his right hoof, he gently stroked her mane, which finally had life brought back into it. “You’re so beautiful,” He commented. 

Starlight walked over with Rainius to the mirror. And she was happy with what she saw. Finally, she looked like she belonged when she stood next to him. She had wings. And she was Twilight's height now. She turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck and yanked him into her embrace, hugging him tightly. "I love you," She said softly. 

Rainius was rather startled by the surprise hug. "Starlight, you're a lot stronger than I am right now," He stated, almost out of breath. She let him go. "I love you, too." They kissed. 

Starlight then remembered their daughter. "Where's Galaxy?" She asked. "I have to see her." She was very eager to see her.

"She's sleeping right now. I wouldn't want to disturb her nap," He answered. "But we could use this time to practice your flying." He points to her wings. "I believe she'll be awake by the time we get back." 

Despite how much Starlight wanted to see Galaxy, she knew he was right. It would be best if she let her sleep, and plus, she could use the flying lessons. “Okay,” She replied.

"You gotta really flap them hard," Rainius instructed as they were out in the Ever free forest practicing Starlight's flying. 

Starlight grunts as she tries again to fly. "Whoa!" She exclaims as she flapped her wings a little too hard. 

"Uh, maybe not quite that hard," Rainius said as he flew by her side. 

"Whoa! Oof!" Starlight said as she hit a tree. 

"Ooh," Rainius said. "Um, you did well up there, Princess!" He tried to make her feel better. 

Starlight blushed at his compliment. "Please, I'm no princess." She said, her expression changing. She wasn't even coronated yet. 

Rainius puts a hoof to her chin and lifts it up to look at him and so he could look at her. "You are to me," Rainius said. Trying to lift her spirits up. She smiled. He holds her in his arms. "Now, close your eyes." She does. "Now, tell me, what do you hear?" 

She starts hearing an owl. "I hear an owl," She said. Then she hears a squirrel. "A squirrel." And then she hears a deer. "And a deer." She loved her new supernatural hearing abilities. As well as sight. 

Rainius then heard the strange voice of Galaxy through her mind. "I think I heard Galaxy, we should head back." He flew off. Starlight soon followed. 

"I don't think I should fly," Starlight said. Still uncomfortable with the whole idea of flying. Of course, she had done it magically, but it wasn't the same as flying with pegasus wings. 

“Hey, everypony has trouble at the start. I mean you did better than me when I first practiced flying,” Rainius said as they made it back to the castle. 

Starlight giggled, imagining how he was when he first practiced flying. Then she felt comfortable with it. They walked back to the castle. She then noticed Sunburst coming out of the castle. “Sunburst, you’re still here!” She said, shocked.

“And you’re still you. Apart from the wings and being taller,” He smirked. 

Rainius sighed. “Well, this has been fun,” He muttered, turning to Starlight. “Want to come and meet our daughter?” Starlight nodded eagerly. 

“Starlight should get her Alicorn magic under control before she gets anywhere near the baby,” Sunburst said, blocking them from entering. 

“Since when do you care so much about Galaxy?” Starlight questioned, though both Rainius and Sunburst knew she wouldn’t like the answer of him imprinting on Galaxy, so they both kept quiet about it. 

“Well, despite me hating the father of that baby, and the fact that she nearly killed you… she still is your daughter. Still a part of you.” Sunburst answered. It was the truth, but it left out the most important detail. The fact that Sunburst had imprinted on her, though Starlight didn't know that… not yet, anyway. 

“Well, let’s not keep everypony waiting, shall we?” Rainius suggested. Sunburst galloped inside. Rainius and Starlight soon followed. 

Inside, Celestia, Luna, Lylac, Spike, Twilight and the rest of the mane six had been waiting for Starlight’s awakening. “Welcome to the family. Somepony's been waiting to meet you,” Celestia said to Starlight as they walked up to Rarity who held Galaxy in her arms.

Rarity turned to face Starlight. "Here you go, darling," She said, giving her the baby who looks a few months old. That surprised her. 

Starlight grabs Galaxy. Galaxy tenderly touches Starlight’s face, she starts seeing a few images of herself of when she gave birth to Galaxy. "What was that?" Starlight asked when it was over. 

Rainius smiled. "She showed you the first memory she has of you," He said. 

"Showed me how?" Starlight inquired. Curious of her daughter's powers. 

Rainius chuckled. "How do I hear thoughts? How do I control them? How do I see the past and the future? She's gifted!" He stated. 

Starlight notices though how big Galaxy has gotten. She doesn't even look like a newborn foal anymore. "I've only been out for like what? A day or two? How'd she get so big already?" She asked as she looked at the baby who looks a few months old. 

"Her growth rate is unprecedented," Celestia said. "Most likely because she's an Alicorn. Like Cadence and Shining Armor's daughter, Flurry Heart." 

"Alright, that's enough experimenting for one day," Sunburst says as he starts getting protective of Galaxy. 

"Sunburst, she's doing great," Rainius said. 

"Yeah, but I'd say it's best if we don't push it," Sunburst suggested as he reached out to grab Galaxy. "Starlight hasn't gotten her Alicorn magic under control yet."

Starlight, who is still holding Galaxy, gets offended and backs up, preventing him from grabbing her. "What's your problem?" She asked, glaring angrily at him. 

"Oh, this should be good," Lylac said as she shot a menacing grin over to Sunburst. "Do tell her, Sunburst."

Rainius takes Galaxy from Starlight as Starlight starts stepping closely towards Sunburst, her horn lit. "It's um… um… it's a timberwolf thing," Sunburst said, his voice shaky as he started stepping back, afraid of what Starlight could do. Especially since her magic was a lot more stronger and powerful now. 

Starlight stepped closer to Sunburst. "What's a timberwolf thing?" She growled as she was about to attack him. 

"We have no control over it. And we can't choose who it happens with," Sunburst said. "And it doesn't mean what you think it means, Starlight. I promise." Sunburst was getting nervous. 

"Rainius, take Galaxy!" Starlight said. He took Galaxy and held her in his arms. His hoof on Starlight's shoulder. "Rainius, don't touch me right now. I don't want to hurt you." He listened to her and let go. 

Lylac looks at them. 'Well, there's one way to move this along.' She thought to herself. She then begins to fake cough and in between, she says "Imprint!" 'That should speed things up.'

Starlight then shot magic at Sunburst, hitting him in the neck. He cried out in pain as she didn't realize how strong it was. "You imprinted on my daughter?!" Starlight shouted at him. 

"It wasn't my choice!!" Sunburst exclaimed. 

"She's a baby, Sunburst!!" Starlight yelled as she blasted him again with magic. 

"it's not like that! Do you think Rainius would let me live if it was?!" Sunburst tried to reason with her. He looked at Rainius who looked back at him. 

"I'm still debating it," Rainius muttered while trying to keep Galaxy calm. 

"You're gonna stay away from her!" Starlight threatened, charging up her horn again. 

"You know I can't do that," Sunburst said more calmly. Starlight hit him again with magic. He cried out in pain again. 

"Rainius, stop her," Luna said. Not wanting this to get too violent where Starlight ends up killing Sunburst. 

"It's fine," Rainius replied. "She's amazing, right?" He chuckles. 

"Do you remember how much you wanted to be around me three days ago? That’s gone now, right?" Sunburst asked her. 

"Long gone!" Starlight exclaimed. 

"Because it was her. From the beginning, it was Gal who wanted me there," Sunburst said. 

"Gal?" Starlight questioned. "You even gave her a nickname?!" 

"Look, Starlight," Sunburst began. "All I want is for Gal," Starlight gets angry at the mention of her nickname. "Galaxy to be safe, happy. Look nothing ever made sense before. You, me, any of it. And now I know why. This was the reason." 

No matter how much Starlight wanted to deny it, she knew he was right. Later that night as Sunburst sleeps on the couch, Starlight and Rainius watch from the window as the mane six come back from their friendship problem. Rarity comes into the castle first looking at Galaxy in Starlight’s arms. "My turn," She said. 

Starlight gives Galaxy to Rarity. "Where does she sleep?" Starlight asked. 

"In my arms," Rarity answered. "Or Rainius's or Luna’s."

Sunburst wakes up as the others enter the castle, Pinkie walks up to Starlight. She decided to surprise Starlight with a birthday. "Happy Birthday!!" Pinkie announced. 

"I stopped aging three days ago," Starlight said. 

"Well, we're celebrating anyway!" Pinkie said. "With spending your first night living in Canterlot!" 

Starlight looked at Rainius then back at Pinkie ecstatically. "Wait, really?!" She asked. Pinkie at a supernatural speed; nodded her head. 

They head to Canterlot where they stop at the castle. "Well, go ahead," Celestia said. 

Rainius takes Starlight's hoof as they go inside. Rainius shows Starlight around. "I've been here before, Rainius," She remarked. 

"I know," He replied. "Just some things might've changed since your last visit." 

"Like what?" Starlight teased. 

"Like this now being Galaxy's room," He said, showing her a room with a crib and a lot of stuffed animals. "You want to see our room?"

"Well, of course!" Starlight said. He led her into their room which had a massive walk-in closet, that was filled with dresses. "Lemme guess? Rarity stocked it for me?" Rainius nodded. 

Starlight continues looking at the what would've been expensive dresses that Rarity had made for her. "Now, follow me," Rainius insists. He takes her to their bed in their room. 

"We don't sleep," Starlight said. Stating that the bed was absolutely useless. 

"Well, it's not intended for sleep, my love," Rainius said as he began kissing her neck. She smiles then pushes him onto the bed. She then jumps on top of him, joining him. She presses her lips against his roughly. With his hooves, he takes the back of her dress and rips it off. She lunges towards him. Rainius took his jacket and cape off. Starlight moaned in pleasure. Kissing sometimes turns into nibbles. And including a lot of rolling around in the bed. Once the two finished they lied in each other's arms. 

"You really were holding back before," Starlight said, amazed. "I’m never gonna get enough of this. We don’t get tired, we don’t have to rest, or catch our breath or eat. I mean, how are we gonna stop?"

Rainius smiles. "Well, I've seen couples that I couldn't even stand to be within five miles of," He chuckled. She laughed as well.  

"I think we're worse," Starlight said. 

"Definitely worse," He said as he kissed her again. And they had begun to make love again. Waiting for what tomorrow held for them and their daughter. 
> Chapter Twenty Two - Alliance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everything seemed to be going well, the only enemy really left was time. Galaxy Swirl was growing too fast. She was only five years old now but looked like a twelve-year-old. But by the age of seven Flurry Heart had become full-grown, so maybe it would be the same in Galaxy's case. But still, it made every moment more precious. "Look, mom, a snowflake," Galaxy said as she had caught a snowflake out in the snow. Sunburst was there as well, keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't get in any kind of danger. 

"It's beautiful, sweetie. Why not go and try to catch another one?" Starlight suggested. She turned to Sunburst who was in timberwolf form. "Rainius thinks we might be able to find answers in Whinnychester. A small town far south of here. Even farther than Appleloosa. He thinks they might know something," Galaxy flew up and caught another one. Then out of the corner of her eye she noticed a brownish unicorn with pink hair standing on a cliff. Glaring angrily at her. 

Galaxy flew back down to her mother and Sunburst. "Who was that?" She asked. 

Starlight looked up at the cliff. She was shocked to see who it was. "I think that's Diamond from Canterlot," She said as she looked harder. "Diamond!!" She flew up after her but Diamond must've teleported away because once Starlight got there, she was gone. 

Hollow Shades was home to the species known as the bat ponies, so Diamond was an outsider, but the information she had was going to determine the fate of the royal family. As she walked down the torch-lit corridor of the castle of the Bat Syndicate, she felt a little guilty of what she was about to do. When she came into the castle library where Shadow Mark, Crimson Moon, and Duke Tail was, her feeling of guilt only grew stronger. "What do you want?" Duke Tail demanded as he turned to face her. "Hm?"

Diamond took a deep breath and exhaled nervously. "I have to report a crime," She spoke up. That caught the rest of their attention. "The royal family has done something terrible." Now, this really got their attention. 

Shadow Mark raced over to her. "Allow me, my dear," He grabbed her hoof and read through her thoughts and memories. Seeing the image of Galaxy, Starlight, and Sunburst. He let's go, eyes wide. "Oh my," He says petrified. 

Meanwhile, Starlight, Rainius, Celestia, and Luna were talking about Diamond as Rainius was teaching Galaxy how to play the piano. "I wish I could've just gotten the chance to talk with her, even for just a second," Starlight said. 

"Seeing Sunburst must've been too much for her," Luna thought. 

"I wouldn't worry too much about it," Celestia said. "Diamond is like family. She'll come around." 

"I sure hope so," Starlight replied as she watched Rainius teach their daughter how to play piano by playing a few simple keys and making a melody out of it. Rainius then had a vision of the Bat Syndicate coming to Canterlot to kill them all. 

Starlight, Luna, and Celestia noticed him staring off, horrified. "Rainius, what is it?!" Starlight asked, concerned. 

"It's the bat syndicate," He said. "They're coming for us. Shadow, Crimson, Duke, the guard, and… Diamond." 

"Sweetie, come here," Starlight gestured for her daughter. Galaxy obeyed, going over to her. 

"Why?" Celestia asked. "What did Diamond see?" 

"We were just walking," Starlight said. 

"Gal was catching snowflakes," Sunburst added. 

"Of course," Rainius says. "Diamond thinks Galaxy’s an immortal child." He goes to explain. He created an illusion outfit of a memory of his and showed it to them. The immortal bat children were very beautiful, so enchanting. To be near them was to love them. But their development was frozen at the age they were turned, they couldn’t be taught or restrained. A single tantrum could destroy an entire village. Ponies heard about the devastation, stories spread, the bat syndicate were forced to intervene. And since the children couldn’t protect our secret, they had to be destroyed. 

An image of Rainius, Shadow, Crimson, Duke, and Amber were seen capturing a family of bat ponies and burning the corpses of several dead ponies. "The creators grew very attached, fond, and fought to protect them. Long established covens were torn apart, countless ponies slaughtered. Traditions, friends, even families, lost." He shows them the flashback of a bat pony mother running to save her baby. 

"Pain," Amber said, as she used her ability to make the pony fall to the ground in agonizing pain. The pony tried to run to save her baby but was grabbed by the guards who held her against her will. Not going to let her go. 

"So, she made an immortal child?" Starlight asked, looking at the mare in the flashback. 

Rainius nodded. "Yes," He answered. "And she paid the price…" They see the bat syndicate decapitate the mare and tear her limb for limb and throw her body into the fire. Amber takes the foal and throws it into the fire as well. The flashback ends. Rainius had winced at the memory. 

"Galaxy was born not bitten. She grows every single day! She's nothing like those children," Starlight exclaimed. 

"So can’t you just explain that to the bat syndicate?" Sunburst proposed. 

"Shadow has enough proof in Diamond’s thoughts," Rainius said. 

"So we fight," Sunburst said. 

"Their offensive weapons are too powerful. No one could stand against Amber Night," Lylac said. 

Dark Meadow's even worse," Rainius said. 

"Well, then we convince them!" Starlight suggested. 

"They’re coming to kill us, not to talk," Lylac said. 

"No, you’re right. They won’t listen to us. But maybe others can convince them," Rainius murmured. He turned to Celestia. "Aunt Celestia, we can round up a few of our friends."

"I won't ask them to fight," Celestia replied. 

"Not fight, witness," Rainius said. "If enough ponies knew the truth, maybe we could convince them to listen." 

"We can ask this of them…" Luna said. 

Celestia thought about it for a moment. "Alright," She said. "Let's do it! Well, start off with Bow, Coral, and Flower Blossom."

Once they arrived at Crystal Empire; Bow, Coral, Flower Blossom, Shining Armor, Cadence, and Flurry Heart were all surprised to see them. "Dad, is everything alright?" Cadence asked, worried. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

"Is it Diamond?" Bow asked. "Have you heard from her?"

"Not directly, no," Rainius replied. 

"Why is your bride waiting over there?" Shining Armor asked. 

"I need your help. My family's in danger!" Rainius said. 

"Why?! What's happened?!" Flower Blossom inquired. 

"It's hard to explain, but I'll need you to be open-minded, can you do that?" Rainius asked of them. 

"Of course," Was Coral's response. Rainius signaled for Starlight to let Galaxy come forward. Once they all had seen her, they began to panic. "Get back!!" 

"The bat syndicate will come for all of us," Bow said. 

"You get that thing out of here!" Flower Blossom demanded. 

"She’s not what she looks like," Rainius tried to assure them. 

"This is a crime!" Flower screamed. Then she suddenly attacks Rainius and he quickly pushes her aside, Bow then attacks Rainius, but Starlight quickly jumps in and throws Bow aside, then both Bow and Flower move to attack Rainius and Starlight. 

"Stay back!" Starlight said, her horn charged up. 

"She has blood in her veins, you can feel her warmth. I’m her biological father. Starlight’s her mother," Rainius said. 

"How?" Coral asked. 

"Sombra's curse," Rainius replied. "He cursed me a long time ago. And apparently the curse was a foal that would kill her. But I managed to make her an Alicorn to save her."

"Ah, okay," Coral said, satisfied with the answer. "I didn't believe we can help you." 

"Thank you," Rainius said. 

As they got more and more ponies as witnesses and even creatures like Griffins, Yaks, Dragons, Hippogriffs, and Changelings, even timberwolves thanks to Sunburst. With that things were really turning around, it meant their plea was being heard all around the world, while others searched for witnesses that were more closer to home. Like Melody who was a vampire pony and was a leader of a group of medic ponies. She was very strong and powerful. 

Melody's abilities would make it through a fight if there was to be one. She was a vampire pony, except she had no horn or wings. She was an earth pony. Ready to catch her prey which was a lone pony walking down the dark alley of Manehattan. She finally got ahold of him, pinning him up against a wall. "Shut up!" She told the pony who tried to scream. 

"Really, Melody?" Celestia muttered. 

"What?!" Melody remarked. "You know I need blood for my survival."

"Anyways, we need your help," Luna said. 

"Sounds interesting," Melody replied. "But first, let me finish my meal." She goes over and finishes drinking her victims’ blood. 

By the next morning, they had arrived with Melody. "How many came?" Luna asked. 

"A lot," Starlight replied. Luna hugged her. 

"Well, we’ll all be on Shadow’s list now," Melody said to Celestia. "Centuries on the run, that’s what you brought me. Some friend, Celestia."

"Melody, come meet everyone," Celestia offered. 

"I already told you, if it comes to a fight, I won’t stand against the bay syndicate," Melody stressed. 

It shouldn't come to a fight," Celestia said. 

"We'll see," Melody said before heading off inside. But she said one last thing before truly heading inside. "It's such a shame, Shadow's witnesses will be so disappointed."

"Wait, Shadow's witnesses?" Starlight turned to Rainius. "Do you know about this?" She asked. 

"It happened every so rarely. I didn't know it was a pattern," He began. When Shadow wants something from a coven, it’s never long before evidence turns up proving that coven committed some crime… He gathers a bunch of bat ponies, ones from Hollow Shades, and even ones from the Equestrian Badlands to stand with him. Apparently he always pardons one pony whose thoughts he claims are repenting. This pony always has an ability, and always given a place with the guard."

"But why?" Starlight asks. "Why does he need witnesses?!" 

"To spread the word that justice has been served... after he slaughters an entire coven," Rainius replies. 

"Smolder, we're leaving! Now!!" Ember said. 

"I'm not going anywhere!" Smolder replied. "I will do the right thing, Ember. You may do as you please."

"We will all stand with you!" Gallus said. There were nods from all around the room as all the creatures of Equestria were coming together. 

"Packs will fight," Sunburst said. "We've never been afraid of bat ponies, nor anypony in that case."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Rainius said. 

"Well, that didn't take much," Rainbow Dash whispered in Applejack's ear. 

Everyone showed courage, though they knew that Shadow’s army was moving against them. Soon they would face the dark gifts of Amber Night. And worse the paralyzing vapor of her brother Dark Meadow, who could rob you of sight, sound and touch, as well as smell and taste. Amber and Dark chase down a dark blue coated unicorn, Moonstar, they corner her. "I refused her! I'm not with Celestia!!" Moonstar exclaimed.

Dark releases his vapor, nearly killing her when Shadow, Duke, and Crimson arrive. "Dark," Shadow says, commanding him to stop. Dark takes back his power, releasing Moonstar from his vapor. Shadow moves closer to her. 

"I would never go against you!" Moonstar said. 

"Of course not, my dear Moonstar," Shadow said before grabbing her hoof to read through her thoughts and memories. "Hmm, It seems Celestia is still expecting you." Shadow and the others turn and start walking off, leaving Dark and Amber to deal with Moonstar. They disembodied her with the help of the guards. 

"Celestia is all but ensuring her own destruction," Duke stated. 

Shadow sighed. "Sad, isn’t it?" He said, the group walking away from the hellfire going on behind them. 
> Chapter Twenty Three - The Final Battle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twas Hearthswarming day, Rainius and Starlight were both at Twilight's, along with Galaxy and Sunburst. Opening presents and singing songs. Everything was absolutely perfect. Of course Twilight made sure of that. But as Starlight looked outside she noticed that they were running out of time. "The snow is sticking," She said. 

"We still have today," Rainius replied. "No one's giving up here, don't worry."

"Bat ponies are strong and unrefined," Starlight said, then realized Rainius's reaction to her statement. "Well, not all bat ponies are unrefined." She smiled at Rainius nervously. 

Galaxy watched as her parents talked. She could see that her mother seemed worried about something, but she wasn't sure what it was. She wished there was something she could do, to help her, but Sunburst tried to get her mind off it. "This is from me," Sunburst said, giving her a present that had a necklace in it. 

"It's beautiful," She said. 

"Want to put it on?" Twilight asked her as she sat down next to her. Galaxy nodded. Twilight puts the necklace around her neck. "It's really pretty on you."

"Well, I'm glad you like it, Princess," Sunburst said. He turned to Rainius and Starlight who both smiled. 

"We got a big day tomorrow and it's starting to get late we should head out if we want to find a place to camp for tonight," Twilight said. 

Later that night, Sunburst had set up camp for all the creatures who were with them. They were sleeping out on a snowy mountain where tomorrow the bat syndicate would come. brings some wood and drops it on the ground, then he uses his magic to start a fire. "That’s what I’m talking about. A little pre-battle bonfire… telling war stories," He said. 

"Like the Prench Revolution," Melody interjected. 

"You fought in the Prench Revolution?" Sunburst inquired. 

"Well, not really," She answered. "I was a medic. Me and a group of other medic ponies helped with soldier’s injuries during the rebellions in Prance."

As they were all telling stories Rainius and his mother Luna were watching them all laughing and smiling. Rainius wondered how they all could be happy when the danger that was to come was bigger than all of them. "I can't help thinking that all these creatures are willing to risk their lives and put themselves in danger all because I fell in love with unicorn," He said. 

"You found your mate," Luna replied. "You deserve to be happy." 

"But at what cost?" Rainius egged on. 

"Everyone here has something to fight for. I certainly do," Luna said. "You. And your wife and daughter. As well as my sister." Luna looks over at Celestia. 

Rainius looks at Starlight and Galaxy who were in their tent. Starlight was reading a book to Galaxy. He turned to Luna. "Mom, I've never thanked you!" He said, guilty. "For this extraordinary life. I'm sorry… for everything. I know that you were choosing my happiness over yours when you gave me away…" He grimaced. "And I forgive you for it."

"It's okay, son," Luna said. Rainius looked back at the tent where his wife and daughter resided. 

In their tent, Galaxy opens the locket containing a photo of Starlight and Rainius and the message ‘Plus que ma propre vie’ engraved in it. "This means ‘more than my own life’ in Prench," Starlight said. "That’s how much I love you. Tomorrow I’m gonna need you to stay with Sunburst, no matter what. Even if I tell him that… that he has to take you somewhere." Galaxy starts crying and Starlight takes her into her arms. "Hey, sweetie, it’s alright. You’re gonna be safe… Always."

When tomorrow came, the day of the arrival of the bat syndicate and their witnesses was all in order. Every creature stood bravely and courageous as what lies ahead was a formidable foe that was to fight against them. They all were gathered in a large, snow-covered field. Suddenly Shadow and his army become visible. And it is clear that they even-out in armies. But even with that, the bat ponies are still stronger than them all. 

As Shadow and his army get closer, the timberwolf packs come out to join the royal family and their witnesses. Sunburst; in his timberwolf form, goes and stands next Starlight, Galaxy and Rainius. Shadow and his army stand in a line facing the royal family and their witnesses, Rainius walks forward. "Shadow, let us discuss things as we used to… in a civilized manner," He said. 

"Fair words, Rainius," Shadow replied. But a little out of place given the battalion that has been assembled against us."

"I can promise you, that was never our intent," Rainius said. "No laws have been broken."

"We see the child! Do not treat us as fools!" Duke interjected. 

"She is not an immortal!!" Rainius shouted at them. "These witnesses can attest to that… Or you can look. See the flush of pony blood in her cheeks." 

"Artifice!!" Duke shouted in objection. 

"I will collect every facet of the truth," Shadow said, cutting off Duke. "But from someone more central to the story." He turns to Rainius. "Rainius… As the child clings to your now Alicorn mate… I assume you are… involved." Rainius looks at Starlight then makes his way towards Shadow. As Rainius reaches Shadow he extends his hoof, Shadow takes it and uses his power to read through his thoughts and memories then realizes that Galaxy is not an immortal child. "I’d like to meet her."

Rainius turns and looks at Starlight and Galaxy, then Starlight, Galaxy, Sunburst, then joined by Twilight walk towards Shadow. "Ah, young Starlight. Immortality becomes you."
Shadow smiles and then shrieks with laughter as he hears Galaxy’s heart beating. "I hear her strange heart," He said. Shadow holds out his hoof. 

Galaxy walks closer to him. "Hello, Shadow," She greets him. Galaxy then touches Shadow's cheek, using her powers on him. 

Shadow becomes transfixed by what she shows him. "Magnifico," He says, amazed. He turns to his army. "Half mortal, half immortal. Conceived and carried by this Alicorn, while she was still a unicorn. Shadow turns and looks at Starlight. 

"Impossible!!" Duke objected. 

"Do you think they fooled me, brother?" Shadow questions him. 

Starlight, Rainius, and Galaxy walk back to join the other witnesses. 

"Bring the informant forward," Duke demanded. 
Diamond was brought forward to Duke and Shadow. "Is that the child you saw?" He pointed at Galaxy. 

"I’m not sure," Diamond answered. 

Amber?" Duke said. He was going to have Amber use her powers on her. 

"She’s changed!" Diamond cut them off. "This child is bigger."

"Then your allegations were false?" Duke asked. 

"The royal family is innocent," She replied. "I take full responsibility for my mistake." She looked towards the only family she had ever known. "I’m sorry."

Rainius sees that Diamond is about to be executed. "Duke, no!" He shouts in objection. 

Duke then steps forward and hits Diamond and snaps her head off. "Diamond!!" Bow and Flower Blossom screamed in unison. Duke then sets fire to the rest of Diamond’s body, Bow and Flower Blossom run towards Shadow and his army, Melody gets hold of Flower Blossom. Applejack grabbed ahold of Bow, holding them tightly as to not let them go. "We have to attack!" Bow said. 

Rainius then talks to them. "Bow, this is what they want. If you attack now, then we'll all die!" He says. Understanding, they calm down. Applejack and Melody release their grip on them. 

As Bow and Flower Blossom stop their attack on Shadow and his army, Amber looks at Rainius. "Pain," She says before she uses her power to bring Rainius down in pain, but Starlight manages to use her powerful magic to shield Rainius, he gets up and walks towards Starlight. 

"It’s working," He says as he walks back towards them. Starlight smiles as Amber realizes her powers are useless against her shield, then Dark steps forward and tries to use his deadly vapor but Shadow stops him. "Shadow, you see there’s no law broken here."

"Agreed," Shadow said. "But does it then follow that there is no danger?" He turns to his army. "For the first time in our history, ponies pose a threat to our kind. Their modern technology has given birth to weapons that could destroy us. Maintaining our secret has never been more imperative. In such perilous times, only the known is safe. Only the known is tolerable, and we know nothing of what this child will become. Can we live with such uncertainty? Spare ourselves a fight today, only to die tomorrow." His words bring fear into the bat ponies. 

Rainius then has a vision. "Wait! I have evidence that Galaxy won’t be a risk to our kind," He says. Shadow looks at him with suspicion. "Let me show you." He walks to Shadow and extends his hoof, Shadow grabs it. 

"Brother?" Duke said, trying to get his attention. 

As Shadow reads his thoughts. Rainius realizes that Shadow won’t change his mind. He sighs. "It doesn’t matter what I show you. Even when you see, you still won’t change your decision." At that moment he turns and looks over to Starlight and whispers, "Now!"

Starlight looks at Galaxy who’s sitting on top of Sunburst. Then Starlight looks at Sunburst. "Take care of my daughter," Was the last thing she said before Sunburst turned and started running into the woods with Galaxy. 

Shadow's guards saw Sunburst running off into the woods with Galaxy. "Get them!" Duke commands. 

Suddenly Rainius attacks Shadow, kicking him with his leg, sending him flying, but he manages to land back down and orders his guards to take hold of Rainius. "Take him away," He orders. 

The mane six, the royal family, and the witnesses become angry as they see Rainius being held. "Let him go!" Celestia demands as she runs forward to attack. Her and Shadow meet each other mid-air, where he shoots magic at her and lands to the ground with Celestia’s body landing soon after. Dead. 

The mane six, the royal family, and their witnesses watch in horror as Duke burns Celestia’s body, this causes them and the timberwolf packs to launch into an attack. "Aunt Celestia," Rainius murmured. 

Chaos breaks out with both sides undergoing deaths, which Discord absolutely adores. Starlight tries to use her magic to help shield  Shining Armor from Amber’s power, but Dark attacks Starlight. Then she uses her power on Shining Armor and he writhes in pain from Amber’s power and then is beheaded by bat pony. Cadence and Twilight scream in fury. "Dad!!" Flurry cries out. 

Twilight rushes in and beheads Dark, then a timberwolf is killed by a bat pony. 

As Sunburst is running in the woods with Galaxy, one of Shadow’s guards catch up to them. "Sunburst!" She calls out to him. Sunburst!" He doesn't respond. "Sunburst!" Still no response. "Sunburst!" Just then a bat pony jumps onto Sunburst from above. "Watch out!" Sunburst attacks, managing to kill and behead the bat pony. He continues to run in the woods with Galaxy. 

Back at the battle scene, Discord uses his power to create a chasm in the earth, which kills many of the armies of bat ponies and nearly takes Luna and Rainius down, but they manage to escape, but not without the sacrifice of another timberwolf. Rainius then kills one of the guards in the process. Then Cadence attacks Amber with Starlight's help by shielding her. Cadence throws Amber to a timberwolf and it kills her. 

Duke then joins the battle, then immediately gets his skull ripped in half by Bow and Flower Blossom. 

Then, Melody and Applejack attack Crimson Moon. "Finally," He says before they kill him. 

As Shadow watches most of his army die he finally joins in the battle and Rainius and Starlight attack him and together they manage to rip his head off and set fire to his body, killing him. With Shadow dead, the battle is now in their favor as the other side now surrenders after witnessing the death of all the bat syndicate. They run off in fear as Starlight and Rainius show them the head of Shadow Mark before burning it. "Well, would you look at that," Starlight says. "We won!!"

Everyone cheers and rejoices in the fact that they were victorious in the battle with the bat syndicate. Rainius and Starlight then look back at the woods. "We should go find Sunburst," He suggested. 

"Oh, definitely," Starlight agreed. The two shared a kiss as they celebrated their triumphant victory over Shadow Mark and the rest of the bat syndicate. 
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Luna stared out the window of Twilight's castle, her son Rainius came up to her. "Hey," He greeted her. 

"Hey," She replied. 

"You gonna be alright?" He asked her, concerned. 

"Heavy is the crown we wear, son," She said. "Loss is not something new for me. Though the loss of my dear sister is probably the most hardest loss I'll ever go through." They both turn and look at Galaxy as they were saying goodbye to all the creatures that had assisted them in the battle with the bat syndicate. 

Sunburst comes up to them. "She's gonna be around for a long time, isn't she?" He asked Rainius, looking at Galaxy. 

"A very long time," Rainius replied. "I’m glad she has you." 

Sunburst smiles. "Should I start calling you dad?" He asked. 

Rainius shook his head. "No," He answered. 
Sunburst laughs, then Galaxy runs into Rainius’s arms and Starlight joins them. 

"Hey," Starlight says. Starlight then takes Galaxy’s hoof and puts it on her cheek to listen to Galaxy’s thoughts. "Yeah, we’re all gonna be together now." As Galaxy hugs Starlight, Rainius has a vision of Galaxy grown up. She’s with Sunburst and they are happy together and him and Starlight were in the vision as they join Galaxy and Sunburst. Rainius smiles as he sees Galaxy grown up and happy. That's all he could want for his daughter. Was to see her happy. He smiled at Starlight. 

Later that day, Rainius and Starlight were in the meadow. "I wanna show you something," Starlight says. 

"What is it?" He asked. Starlight uses her magic and shows Rainius her thoughts and memories of their time together from the first time they met to everything that’s happened to up to now. "How did you do that?"

"I’ve been practicing," She replied. "Now you know, no creature’s ever loved anyone as much as I love you."

"There’s one exception," Rainius says. Starlight nods understanding that he feels the same for her and they kiss. "Can you show me again?"

Starlight smiles and chuckles. "We got a lot of time," She answered. 

"Forever," Rainius replied. 

"That sounds exactly right to me," Starlight said. "... Forever."

Rainius and Starlight kiss once again. "And then we continued blissfully into this small but perfect piece of our forever," Rainius narrated as he closed the book. Then he looked down at his daughters. Galaxy was now seven years old and full-grown. Next to her was her little sister, Athena who was now two years old and also a bat Alicorn. Athena was the name of Rainius's grandmother who was the Alicorn goddess of war and wisdom, but she died long before he was born. 

"Wow, daddy, that was an amazing story!" Athena said. 

"I told you it would be," He responded. Then Starlight came into the room. 

"Mommy!!" Athena exclaimed as she galloped/waddled over to her. 

"Hey Atti," Starlight greeted her daughter by her nickname. She picked her up and put her on her back. Athena wrapped her arms around Starlight's neck. Starlight giggled. She went up to Rainius. "And how is my handsome King doing?" She said as she kissed him. 

"Why, I'm doing fine, malady," He replied romantically before he went in and kissed her. Athena stuck her tongue out in disgust as they kept kissing. Starlight put Athena down next to Galaxy. "We have big news."

"What is it?!" Athena asked anxiously. Her tail wagging like crazy. 

"We're having a baby!!" Rainius and Starlight said in unison. The two sisters looked at their parents for a moment before turning to face each other and squealed in excitement. 

Starlight chuckled. "Girls, girls!" She said, getting them to calm down. "We don't know if it'll be a boy or a girl, but I hope you two will love it just as much as it will love you." 

"Of course we will!" Galaxy said. "You can count on us!!"

As Rainius watched his two daughters he couldn't help but shed a tear as he looked at his family and saw a bunch of happy faces. This was all he could ever want and as he glanced over to his wife who he loved with his life, he thought about what the future holds and how no matter what happens, they would get through it together. Then that word replayed in his head. Forever. That sounded quite alright to him. Forever… and forever… and forever. 

The End
> Stellar And Rainia (Midnight Sun Reimagined)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Long ago, well, not all that long ago. It was just a few days before Prince Dusk Shine's coronation as the new leader of Equestria and everypony from every part of the land was preparing for this occasion. Solaris and Artemis have been ruling Equestria for over a thousand years, so this shift of power was going to be a big change. Stellar Gleam, who was at one point Dusk's student was getting ready to take his place as headstallion of the school of Friendship that Dusk had built and was headstallion for quite some time, but it was time for a change. "Hey, Dusk." Stellar greeted. 

"Hey, Stellar." The lavender Alicorn replied as he packed up a few more things of his in boxes that were all around the castle as he was packing up to prepare for his move from Ponyville to Canterlot. 

"Is everything ready for your big move to Canterlot?" He asked the prince as he looked at all the boxes that were around the castle. The place seemed kinda empty now to Stellar as he watched Dusk pack more of his necessities into a box. 

"Almost." He replied. Then his expression changed from glee to saddened. "I just don't feel ready to leave. And this coronation is all that anypony's been talking about, but-" 

"But what?" Stellar inquired. He could see the expression that Dusk's face held and just by looking at him, he saw one emotion that he knew all too well… fear. 

"That I'm not gonna be what they're looking for," Dusk answered. "Even after all this time. Even after all me and my friends have done… I'm just not sure if it would be enough."

"If protecting Equestria from any sort of harm for years isn't enough, then I'm not sure what would be." Stellar reminded him. He then remembered all the obstacles he and his friends have faced over the years. And how they have always come out triumphantly. 

"But I won't always have them there to help me! They'll be off living their lives and I'll just be doing everything by myself." Dusk exclaimed. "What if something goes wrong?!"

"Like what?" Stellar asked. "I've seen you be able to handle just about anything, I'm pretty sure that whatever comes your way that you'd be able to stop it. It's not like there's always a monster that threatens to destroy or rule Equestria-!" Stellar was interrupted by the sound of a loud bang outside. "What was that?!" They then took no hesitation and ran as fast as they could outside only to see a horrifying sight. A bugbear attacking Ponyville. 

"A bugbear!!" Dusk shouted. A bugbear was a hideous bear-like creature but with a brightly-colored fur like a bee, along with bug-shaped wings, and four extra limbs of an insect that were twisted with thorns. The monster was powerful, angry, causing full destruction to the small town full of terrified ponies that watched helplessly from the safety of their homes as Dusk and his friends face the large monster. "Come on guys, we need to get this Bugbear away from the village!" Dusk encouraged of his friends. 

"Easy for you to say; this thing is huge!" Rainbow Blitz yelled irritated.

"Stellar run!!" Dusk screamed for him to get as far away from the hideous monster attacking the village as soon as possible while he and his friends try to hold it off. 

Stellar obeyed and tried to run as far as his hooves would take him. The bugbear caught a glimpse of him galloping away and it lunged its claws to attack him. Stellar turned to head and froze in terror as he saw the sharp claws coming towards him. But just as he was about to get scratched by the razor-sharp claws, a mysterious force zapped the bugbear with its magic, vanquishing it. Stellar and everypony there was astounded by the sight that had seemed supernatural. The pony who stood in front of and protected the now bewildered Stellar looked down at him. "Are you alright?" She asked him, holding out her hoof. 

Stellar looked up at where the sweet angelic feminine voice was coming from and his eyes had locked with a pony who was so indescribably beautiful. She was a sky-blue pony with a blond mane and tail, as well as enchanting blue eyes. She wore a dark blue cloak that covered the rest of her body, all except for her tail and her bat-like wings. And she also had a horn. She was an Alicorn! But not like any that he had seen, or any of them have seen. He grabbed ahold of her hoof which was ice cold, which surprised him as the weather outside was warm and humid. 

"You alright?" She asked him as she brought him up to his hooves. "You hurt?" 

"No, I'm fine." He replied. "But, who are you? And what are you doing here? And how are you an Alicorn?!" She put her hoof to his lips. 

"I will discuss all that later, right now it is best if you guys head home. I'll keep watch for any more monsters that'll threaten to attack the village." She said. 

The ponies began to gallop back to the castle. Dusk turned around to face the mysterious Alicorn bat pony. "Thank you for helping us defeat that bugbear, um…" He began. 

The mare turned her head. "Rainia. Rainia Songbird." She said. "And it was my pleasure."

Dusk smiled before he ran back to his castle, catching up to the boys. As he ran, he began to think. 'Hmm, Rainia Songbird? Such a peculiar name. And how is she an Alicorn?..." He tried to focus his thoughts, but there were just so many questions he wanted to ask. 

Rainia had read his thoughts, but her mind was still focused on that one stallion… Stellar Gleam. She presumed. She turned to look back at Stellar who she caught a glimpse of him looking back at her before he immediately went back to looking in front of him. 

Meanwhile, in the castle. Rainbow Blitz was lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling and its elegant design. "Ugh… I'm so hungry and so bored. How long do we have to wait in here?" He said irritated. 

Elusive softly laughs as he cuts Butterscotch's hair. "Oh, I'm sure we won't have to stay in here for long, darling. And we have so much to talk about after all Rainia is the first Alicorn that can possibly be a princess!" Filled with the brim with excitement Elusive's magic pulls Butterscotch's mane leaning it to one side almost pulling Butterscotch to the ground.

With a small yelp Butterscotch taps the white stallion's leg "Um, Elusive, I'm thrilled that you're excited about Rainia, but can you um not pull my hair, please?" He asked him kindly. 

"Oh, sorry, darling. But I'm just so excited!!" He squealed. "Did you just look at her?! She was so beautiful. Ahh." He pretended to faint. 

Stellar caught Elusive in his magic and brought him back up to a standing position. "We know, she's beautiful." He chuckled. 

"Oh, and don't forget she could be a princess!" Elusive reminded them. "Maybe she might ask me to the Gala. And we would dance, and maybe even share a kiss or two." He blushed softly just thinking about it. 

"But did ya see how she looked at you though, Stellar? I think she likes ya. As in like likes." Applejack teased her. 

Stellar laughed. "Pfff. Please. I don't need no mare to come in and sweep me off my hooves." He remarked. 

"Uh-huh. And what about that Sunnyflare gal? You seem to take such a strong liking to her?" Applejack went on; making Stellar blush. 

"What?! No, I don't!!" Stellar shouted while blushing bright red that even Dusk could notice it from the other side of the room. 

Everypony started laughing, then the castle doors flung open, and standing there was Rainia, letting them know that the coast is clear. "Well, everything's fine. There shouldn't be any more attacks any time soon." She said. 

Dusk ran up to her. "Thanks, Rainia." Then he had an idea. "Hey, would you mind joining me tomorrow on a trip to Canterlot to see the Royal brothers?" He requested of her. 

"Um… sure." She said nervously. She wasn't really sure if she was going to be up to it though. As it would involve digging deep into her past. "But where am I going to stay tonight?"

"Oh, right," Dusk remembered. "Me and Stellar will set you up with a room here for the night if you want." He told her. 

"Oh, okay." She replied calmly with a sigh. She really wasn't sure if she wanted to do this, but it looks like she'll have to, even if it means reminding her about her past. 

Later that night, it was late and everypony was asleep, well, almost everypony. There were still some ponies awake, mainly those on night shifts at their jobs. One Royal guard at Canterlot castle was packing up from the day shift and as he was about to head inside he heard the sound of hoofsteps. She turned to see no pony there. "Hello? Who's there? Show yourself!" She commanded. 

"Hehe." A masculine voice giggled softly. The guard quickly turned towards where the voice was coming from. She saw a figure of a pony, specifically a stallion. She lit up his horn to get a better look at him. 

"Oh, why hello." She said in a flirty kind of way. As the stallion she sees in front of her was probably the most beautiful stallion she's ever seen in her life. He was a unicorn that had a marine-blue coat, a turquoise mane and tail, and beautiful green eyes, his cutie mark was a lightning bolt. "What are you doing out so late?" Just as she was about to walk closer to him another pony landed behind her. The guard pony quickly turned around to face the pony behind her. "Who are you?"

The pony let out a sigh before coming into view. She was an orange Alicorn with bright red eyes, her mane was long and shone like fire with a yellow and red mix. Her cutie mark was a sword, meaning that she must've been some kind of warrior. "It's always the same inane questions, isn't it? Who are you?"

"What do you want?" The stallion egged on while smiling menacingly at the guard pony, joining in with the Alicorn. 

"Why are you doing this?" The orange Alicorn continued on. She glared down at the guard pony who was in fear with menacing eyes. 

Out of nowhere, another pony flew down. This one had a blond mane and tail both with brown streaks going through them. She was green-coated and she wore glasses as well as a green bandana around her neck which matched her coat color. She was a pegasus, but she had bat wings instead of normal wings like regular pegasi. "Flurry. Let's not toy around with our victim here." She said. 

Flurry sighed. "Fine." She then trotted up to the mare. "Now, we'll let you go if you answer this one simple question." She told the guard. "Where is Rainia Songbird?!" 

The guard pony coward down in fear, looking up at the Alicorn petrified. "I… I don't know…" She answered. 

"WRONG ANSWER!!" Flurry half yelled half screamed at the guard pony before she charged up her horn and shot a blast of magic next to the guard pony to scare her. "Now, let's try this again… Where is Rainia Songbird?!"

"I already told you. I don't know!" The guard pony said terrified. "Now, will you please just leave me alone and let me go home?"

"What should we do, Flurry?" The stallion asked. His eyes focused on the guard pony. 

"Well, that should be quite obvious, Silver, my dear." Flurry said. "What do you think, Lunar Night?" 

The green bat pony looked up at Flurry. "Whatever you tell us to do, Flurry Flight." She answered. 

Flurry smiled. "Kill her." She said. "And disintegrate the body when you're done." As she flew off, Silver and Lunar jumped on top of the guard pony and as Lunar bit her, Silver shot a death spell out of his horn. The only thing that was heard was one blood-chilling scream that came from the guard pony before she was no more. 

The next day, Rainia flew around with caution with a small gaze towards Dusk. It was early in the morning and they were heading to Canterlot castle to introduce her to the Royal brothers as she was a mysterious Alicorn that had bat wings and Dusk had thought they would know what all this is about. He was very ecstatic as he was flying her to Canterlot. He was talking very fast that some of his words slurred into sentences that would leave one perplexed. 

"Um… Dusk?" Rainia spoke up to try to get the lavender Alicorn's attention. 

Dusk looked over at her curiously. "Yes? What is it, Rainia?" He asked. 

"I'm not sure if I really want to do this." She replied. "I just don't think I'm ready."

Dusk put his hoof around her. "I can assure you that nothing will happen. Don't be afraid. I'm here and I know Solaris and Artemis won't let any harm come to you." He reassured her. 

"It's not that," Rainia said. "I know they won't hurt me." Her facial expression didn't change. 

"Then what is it?!" Dusk asked in a kinda demanding tone, wanting to know the answer. 

"My past." She answered. "That's why I'm afraid to come back here. I might run into old comrades, or foes, or something like that."

Dusk looked at her with sympathy. "Rainia, you can't run away from your past. One day it'll catch up to you and you'll have to face it head-on." He told her. "It's time you stop running away from your problems, and it's time you start facing them, starting with this visit."

Rainia sighed. "I guess you're right. But what if-!" She was interrupted by Dusk putting his hoof over her mouth, shushing her. 

"Rainia, it's gonna be alright, I'm going to be there with you, so there's nothing that you have to worry about," Dusk said, sympathetically. 

Rainia felt a bit better, but her anxiety was still getting the best of her. "Alright, if you say so." She replied nervously, but a little more calm this time. She took a few deep breaths in and out, then followed Dusk in landing after such a long flight, her wings were tired. 

They landed in front of the gate where two guards were seen laughing until they were near crying. Rainia's stomach churned when she recognized who those guards were. They were two of Artemis's guards that she had trained back when she was captain of Artemis's guard force until she was discharged. "Well, well, well, look who it is. Ms. high and mighty. Ain't you a sight to sore eyes. Lemme guess you're here for your royal crown and shoes?" One guard said laughing as hard as she could. 

The other guard joined in. "Yeah, last time we saw you, Artemis kicked ya outta the guard force!" They continued to laugh as Rainia stepped back nervously. "Probably thought you were gonna end up taking his place as ruler." 

Prince Dusk then stepped up. "We are here to see the prince's!" He declared. The two guards then dropped to the floor laughing hysterically. Dusk was not impressed by this inappropriate behavior towards his new friend. In fact, he was downright annoyed that royal guards were acting like this. Like they were young foals when they are supposed to act professional while on the job. 

Immediately, the gate swung open and an angry mare stood at the gate displeased with the guard’s behaviors. "Hey, you two knuckleheads! It's time for the day swift, so pack it up!" Before she lets them go she pounds their heads together, almost knocking them unconscious, but hopefully enough to knock some sense into them. 

"Y-yes, mam!" They rushed off in what would be considered a flash. 

"That's Captain Sparrow to you two!!" The mare yelled. "Sorry about that. You can come in if you'd like." She gave them a smile. She was a bright orange pony with golden-yellow eyes. Her mane and tail were dark blue with dark purple streaks going through them. She was also a Unicorn. A unicorn who Rainia recognized and blushed a bit by. 

"H… Hey, Lylac." She said, chuckling nervously while trying to hide her flushed cheeks. 

"Ah, Rainia. It's good to see you again. At least there will be somepony I know that actually has a brain that'll be working with me. Glad to see you came back home all in one piece." Lylac said, with a smile. 

"I've missed you too, my little sparrow." She said to her old marefriend, chuckling a bit and blushing bright red. 

Lylac blushed a bit from her comment. But then went back to being serious. "Here is the door that'll take you to the throne room." She said. 

"Congratulations on the position of captain by the way," Rainia told her before she gave her a small wink. Their eyes locked for a mere moment before Lylac used her magic to disappear to escape the void of an awkward situation. 

Dusk looked back at them, wondering how Rainia actually was with Lylac and why they had split up. But he decided it was best not to worry about that as of right now because right now, all he was focused on was introducing Rainia to the princes. "This way." He instructed. "They're just through this door."

Rainia could tell that Dusk was just a bit too excited about this, but she thought it would be best if she did not call him out on it. "So, just through here?" She questioned him. 

"Yep!" Dusk said, nodding. "Sorry… I'm just so excited!! You could possibly be the first Alicorn to be a princess and it's just-!" He blushed embarrassed. "Sorry."

Rainia chuckled, making Dusk blush even more with embarrassment. "You're fine." 

Dusk shot off a glare that looked like it was saying, 'I'm watching you, Rainia.' But Rainia didn't pay too much attention to it. 

"Alright, you ready?" Dusk said, putting his hoof to the doors to the throne room. 

Rainia let out a sigh. "As ready as I'll ever be." She said before Dusk opened the doors. 

When Dusk opened the doors they could see the throne room in complete chaos. Solaris and Artemis had a lot of paperwork they were looking at and they looked like they were at the point of full-on panicking. Dusk immediately ran to Solaris as fast as he could. "Solaris!! What's going on?!" He asked, concerned. 

As Solaris wasn't responding, Artemis put a hoof on Dusk's shoulder before responding. "Thy brother is a little stressed this morning, with all the paperwork concerning a missing guard from his force." He said. 

It took Dusk a minute to process everything he just took in from Artemis. When he finally processed it all, he was shocked. "What happened to her?!" He asked, worried. 

“She went missing mysteriously last night while she was packing up to go home for the night,” Solaris said once he calmed down. “Her husband showed up last night asking Artemis where she was, then Artemis came to alert me about it and-” Solaris looked behind the lavender Alicorn to see another Alicorn behind her. One he recognized. He turned to his younger brother Artemis. “Brother, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” 

Artemis nodded, then he began to walk up to the sky-blue Alicorn standing by the doors, making her nervous. But what made her more nervous was the stern expression he gave her before speaking. “Rainia. After all these years; thou finally returns to me.” He said, sternly.

Rainia coward down as she looked up at him and seeing his darting eyes glare at her. “H...Hi dad.” She finally said, nervously. And by the looks of it, she seemed to be sweating like crazy.

Dusk froze in place. He was astonished by the bat-winged Alicorn’s words. “Wait! Father?! You’re her father?!” He said, pointing a hoof at Artemis, freaking out. “But how did this happen?! With whom did this happen?!” He had no words. Just left confused and surprised. He would’ve never had thought the prince of the night would have a child.

“Dusk, calm down. This happened a long time ago, and now it is time that Artemis tells the truth about his past.” Solaris said, looking over at his brother, giving him a quick nod.

Artemis sighed. “Thy has not been very honest about thy’s past, but hopefully thou wouldst listen to thine words.” He said. Artemis took in a deep breath and exhaled, then began to tell them the story. “When Rainia was just a baby, thy and thy brother were trying to escape the Empire without her seeing Rainia, she would kill me if she was to know I kept the fact that Rainia was her daughter from her.” 

“From who? Who is my mother?!” Rainia demanded to know. And she wasn’t going to stop until she did know. But she probably wasn’t ready for the answer she was about to receive.

“I don’t know the best way to put this, but… Your mother is Queen Sombre.” Solaris said. 

Rainia stepped back; eyes widened. Her breathing became more shallow as she took all this in. "My mother is Queen Sombre?!" She blurted out. "The same Queen Sombre that tried to kill me over a thousand years ago in the war?! The same Queen Sombre that curs-!" She stopped before saying that last bit. She didn't want Dusk to know about her curse that was placed upon her by her mother. 

Artemis's facial expression changed as he stared at his daughter and the hatred for her mother that was held within her. He sighed. "Yes. That Queen Sombre." He said grimly. 

"So, what happened to Rainia after you escaped from the Crystal Empire?" Dusk asked, more calmly now. 

Artemis began to choke on his words as he began to speak. "Th… Thy had become so stressed with everything and having to be a strong ruler with a lot of responsibilities, and on top of that, thy had to take care of thine child all alone. Thy was afraid and thy… thy… thy can't." He stuttered, a tear shedding from his eye; left him unable to carry on the story. 

"You… you gave me away…" Rainia said. Artemis could barely hold back his tears because as much as he didn't want to believe it, it was true. He did give her away. 

"Rainia… daughter," Artemis said, trotting up to her and putting his hoof on her. She smacked it away. This broke Artemis's heart. 

"Niece. Please." Solaris spoke up. Hoping he could get her to see reason. "Forgive your father, even though what he did was wrong and wasn't the best thing to do in that situation. He only did it for you and your happiness."

"What do you mean for my happiness?" Rainia questioned her uncle. "I would've been happier living with you and him rather than living with adoptive parents and not knowing who my birth father was until I was 98."

"He gave up his happiness, which was you, for your happiness. You wouldn't have been happy here." Solaris said. 

"How would you know?!" She said angrily, demanding to hear a suitable answer that would satisfy her. 

"Your father and I would be too busy with royal duties and meetings, we wouldn't have time to take care of you. You would feel neglected. And it just wouldn't work." Solaris tried to explain. 

Rainia took a few minutes to calm down. "I won't be able to forgive him right now, but maybe eventually I will. But as of now, I just can't. Even after over a thousand years." She replied, though her thoughts were still focused on Queen Sombre being her mother. The thought of it disgusted her. 'How could her father ever fall in love with that?!' She thought. 

"Okay." Was Artemis's only response to her statement as he tried to hold back his tears. 

"Now, can we just please move on from this conversation?" Rainia pleaded. The Alicorn brothers nodded. "Now, what more about this missing guard?" 

"We've told you all that we know so far. There hasn't been any more evidence to what could've possibly have happened to him." Solaris said. "Dusk, I'm afraid with this unexpected occurrence; your coronation will have to be pushed back a couple of weeks."

Dusk smiled. "Oh, that's okay." He replied with a wide grin, trying to sound convincing. 

Rainia though could read right through him. She could tell he was afraid of leading the whole country. 

Meanwhile, later that night, Lunar Night, Silver, and Flurry were still searching for answers as to the location of Rainia, but alas they had no luck. "If you hadn't had let her escape in the first place, we wouldn't have to be doing this!" Claimed Flurry. 

Lunar glared at her insulted. "You're really blaming me that you couldn't keep an eye on one pony?!" She shouted. 

Flurry trotted over and glared at her. "You'd best watch what you say to certain ponies, farmer girl. Oh wait, maybe they didn't teach you that on your family's farm." Flurry said, intimidating her. "So, maybe it was a good thing you got attacked by those vampire fruit bats."

"You take that back!!" Lunar exclaimed. "I've helped you search for this pony "princess" that you lost!!" 

Flurry sighed. "Just shut up and help me with finding her, because this time I'll get my revenge on her and her father and uncle." She said, recalling what happened with her and Rainia in magic school. "They'll never know what hit them." She grinned as she schemed of a way to capture Rainia when they find her and how she's going to take out her revenge on her. 

Meanwhile, back at Canterlot. "So, what is this about you and your coronation?" Rainia asked Dusk. 

"H-How'd you know about that?" Dusk asked confused and nervously, as well as a little creeped out, but he didn't dwell too much on that last feeling. 

"Oh, right, I forgot, I hadn't told you yet." Rainia began. "It was a gift from an old friend. It gives me the power to read the minds of those around me, and the more I get to know a specific person, the louder their thoughts are over those I don't know." She explained. 

"So, you can read anyone's mind?" Dusk asked curiously. 

"Well, anyone that doesn't have a mind block spell cast upon them." She retorted. 

"Interesting," Dusk said as he continued to be intrigued by this ability of hers. 

"I can also control minds with my eyes, and I can see into the past and future." She said, opening up about her abilities. 

"That sounds amazing!" Dusk said. "Was this something you had to get used to when you first obtained your gifts?" 

“Oh, definitely,” Rainia replied. “It wasn’t something that I was able to get used to overnight… it got annoying sometimes."

Dusk giggled into his hoof. He then stared off dreamily at Rainia. They had locked eyes for a brief moment before closing them and moving their heads closer to one another and before they knew it, their lips were together. The feeling was blissful, but once Dusk found out what they were doing, he immediately retracted himself off of her, blushing scarlet red. "Sorry! Sorry!" He freaked out. 

Rainia put a hoof on him. "Dusk, calm down. It was just a kiss." She reassured him. 

Dusk then calmed down, listening to her words from her sweet angelic voice. He couldn't help but get lost in her looks. Those beautiful blue eyes that shimmered in the night calling him in. "You're right. It was just a kiss… A very good one at that." He put his hooves to his mouth as he couldn't believe what he had just said. He blushed again. 

"What?! Don't tell me that you're falling for me already?!" She teased him. Making him blush immensely. She chuckled as she looked at him. 

Dusk couldn't stop blushing at her remarks, but he did begin to ponder. 'Did he like her?' 'And was he even ready for a relationship?'

"If you're not ready then that's alright. I wouldn't force anything upon you." Rainia said, reading his thoughts thoroughly. 

"C… can we just please fly back to my castle? I don't really want to continue this conversation?" Dusk begged. She nodded showing her agreement to fly back to the castle of friendship and change the subject. 

It was late at night that Rainia and Dusk had returned to his home in Ponyville; the large crystal castle that outstood every other building in Ponyville, even the town hall. Dusk flew up to the balcony with her following and he slowly lowered himself to the ground, landing softly just before Rainia did the same. “Well, I’ll be doing some reading before I go to bed. You can join me if you’d like?” He requested. 

“No thanks, I think I’ll be heading off to my room now if you don’t mind?” She said, rejecting his offer. When she read his thoughts and stared at him, she could tell he was a bit hurt by her response. Then she thought that it wouldn’t hurt to join him in his reading. "Fine." His expression changed from a frown to a smile. 

Meanwhile, Stellar opened his door and peeked outside it, making sure the coast was clear before he made his way towards the library, his horn lit up to light the room. He examined the bookshelf, skimming around the book titles, looking for one that could explain more about Rainia's origins. But alas, he had no luck. "Ugh. There's gotta be one around here somewhere." He groaned. 

He then looked up at the higher shelves. "Hmmm… maybe it would be up there." He said to himself. Being the quick-thinking unicorn he was, he used his magic to levitate himself up to get to the higher shelves in the castle library. He carefully read the titles of each of the books as he was skimming through to find an answer to all his questions. "C'mon! C'mon!!" He yelled in a whisper, agitated. As he trailed his hoof along the books, one titled 'Equestria's Creatures of the Night' caught his attention. He opened the book to the table of contents and skimmed through till he found one on bat ponies. "Page 373." He turned to that page and began to read. 

Meanwhile, Rainia and Dusk were in Dusk's room reading, well, Rainia was mainly reading while Dusk just thought about her kissing him again. Rainia tried to focus as much as she could on the book just to ignore his thoughts, but with how loud they were it was very difficult to do that. "Um, Dusk? Could you maybe try to keep your thoughts to yourself?" She asked politely while trying not to hurt his feelings. 

"Oh… sorry." He said apologetically. “But… how do I do that exactly?"

"Try thinking about something else. Focus your mind on that." She told him. 

"O… okay. I'll try…" He stuttered a bit as he spoke, but tried thinking about something else, like the book he was reading. That is until he yawned. "Maybe I should go to sleep."

"You do look awfully tired, so I think that would be best," Rainia replied. "And while you do that, I'll go and look at some of the books in the castle library." She smiled. 

He closed his book, placing it on the table beside his bed where his lamp stood; he turned off his lamp and went to bed, falling asleep almost immediately. 

Rainia chuckled as she watched him fall asleep before she went to head for the room that was the castle's library. Meanwhile, in that library, a lilac unicorn sat down reading about bat ponies to seek answers about their new visitor. "Hmm… cold skinned. Check." Stellar said to himself. "Wait, what's this?" He carefully read about how bat ponies used to be demons of Tartarus and of how they could either be fruit eaters or blood drinkers. The thought disturbed him a bit, but he kept reading. "Hollow Shades? What's that?" 

"The town where the bat ponies reside," Rainia said, startling Stellar. 

Stellar hastily turned around to face the Alicorn that startled him. "Ahh!! Don't do that!!" He exclaimed. "And what do you mean the town where the bat ponies reside?"

"I'm sorry for startling you." She chuckled. "Hollow Shades is a place where most of the bat pony tribe migrated to after the Everfree forest became corrupted. It was no longer suitable to live there after that. So they had to find a new home. They relocated east of Canterlot in a dark forest that had a canopy thick enough to block out the sun's light for most of the day. The bat ponies then constructed houses there for them to live in. And it is there they've stayed for centuries."

Stellar listened as she explained the history of the bat ponies to him, but another question came to his mind. "Wait, you had said most of the bat ponies migrated from the Everfree forest to Hollow Shades… so, where did the others go?" He asked intrigued. 

"It was believed that they went to the Badlands." She said. "And it was there that they could live inside of a vast cave network embedded into the Badlands crags where they built large, underground cities, dimly illuminated by magic or other means… at least that it is what is believed. Not even I know for sure though." She stared at him as he stared back at her. He was unable to stop staring. 

Rainia tried to study his thoughts, but every time she tried all she could get was absolutely nothing. 'That's impossible,' She thought. She couldn't read his thoughts and he wouldn't have a mind block spell cast on him. This is something that made her more curious about him, as well as more interested. "You okay? You seem to be staring." She chuckled. 

Her remark made Stellar blush without any control. "Sorry," He said, grinning. 

As Rainia stared into his indigo eyes she saw a glimpse of an amazing future. A future with him as her husband. And with their future children. She quickly inhaled and exhaled as she continued to stare at Stellar. Without thinking, she put a hoof to his cheek and slowly stroked his mane. He didn't mind at first, in fact, he quite enjoyed it. Part of him really did have feelings for her, whether or not he wanted to admit it to himself or anyone else. 

Dusk stared at them from a little crack in between the doors of the library and he watched both of them and then realized that her and Stellar's friendship was much stronger than that of his and hers. Their friendship grew into a very unique relationship. This pained Dusk that all he wanted to do was go back to his room and cry his broken heart out, but as he ran back upstairs to his room, his thoughts were overheard by Rainia. 

"Um, Stellar? Could you give me a moment?" Rainia asked before quickly giving him a little peck on the cheek. 

"Um… sure." He said, without having any context to what was going on. 

As she ran off to chase after the heartbroken Dusk Shine, a stallion was staring through one of the library's windows and he had an evil smile come stretching across his face. 

Meanwhile, Flurry and Lunar Night were discussing plans for how Flurry could take her revenge out on Rainia, but came to no success… that is until Silver arrived. Once he arrived, he and Flurry started smooching up a storm as Lunar just turned to the side. "Lovebirds." She commented. 

Flurry stopped. "What?" She replied to Lunar's remark with a tone that held a sense of annoyance. "Well?" She egged on. 

"We need to focus on the task at hoof here. Which is finding and destroying Rainia Songbird." Lunar reminded them. 

"Oh, speaking of Rainia. I found her!" Silver blurted out. 

"Where?" Flurry and Lunar asked in unison. "Where is she?" Flurry then asked. 

"In the crystal castle in Ponyville. And she was with some stallion." Silver told them. 

"Maybe a coltfriend?" Lunar inquired. 

Flurry turned to him. "Hmmm… maybe. But if he is her coltfriend then maybe I can take my revenge on her without having to lay a single hoof on… her." She said viscously as she began to devise an evil plan to take out her revenge for all those years of humiliation. 

"It'll be perfect," Silver said with a menacing smile. "They wouldn't know what hit them." 

Meanwhile, back at the castle, Rainia galloped up to the room of Prince Dusk Shine in what could be mistaken for a flash. "Dusk?" She asked as she opened his door just a crack. "You okay?" She could hear him crying and decided to walk over to his bed. 

"Go away!" He said sobbing. Rainia felt guilty seeing him like this, but it wasn't her fault. Stellar was the one she was meant to be with, not Dusk. 

"Are you sure that's what you really want?" Rainia asked him. 

Dusk pondered for a moment. 'What did he want?' As he continued to think, the answer came to him. "What I really want is you." He said, letting it out. "There, I said it! Happy?"

Rainia sat back. She knew he liked her and she liked him, but she didn't know that she was gonna fall for Stellar. "No. I can't help it though. It wasn't my fault! I wish there was a way that I could make you both happy." She said, looking at him full of sorrow. 

"I'm an Alicorn, meaning I could live forever. I could be there with you for all eternity. Stellar will eventually grow old and die; leaving you." Dusk said, making her think of the cold hard truth that was her future. A future without him. 

"You never know. He could eventually become an Alicorn. Like you, he could complete a prince-worthy deed and become an Alicorn like you, or he could become one as I did…" Rainia paused. 

Dusk now seemed very intrigued by this statement. "Wait… what do you mean by as you did? How did you become an Alicorn?" He asked, perplexed and curious. 

"Well…" Rainia began, unbeknownst that Stellar was standing right outside with one ear on the door, eavesdropping on their conversation, albeit Rainia couldn't find out since unlike Dusk, she couldn't read his thoughts. "It was a long time ago and I was just a unicorn at the time. During the war with Queen Sombre and the Crystal Empire. I was just 17 when I fought with my father and my uncle Solaris against my mother, who I didn't know was my mother at the time…"

"So, what happened?" Dusk interjected. "I want to know." He seemed very interested in what she had to tell him about her past. 

"Well, I was severely wounded in the battle by my mother, and while the battle raged on, I was hospitalized with no hope of survival." Rainia continued to tell the story. 

"But, you did end up surviving as you are here now to tell me this story. So, how was it you survived?" Dusk begged for her to tell. 

Her expression changed. "When I was on the verge of death my father came to my side after the battle was over and he used his magic to change me into an Alicorn… but I'm guessing with me being a pony born into the night and shadow, my transformation was different from most others. Instead of normal pegasus wings, I got bat wings." She said. 

"So, are you nocturnal? But I've seen you awake in the day, so that can't be…" Dusk said, wondering how she is awake during both the day and the night. 

"Actually, I don't sleep at all," Rainia said. "I never get tired, I don't catch my breath, I don't have to eat. It's quite different from normal Alicorn's. There's supernatural hearing, supernatural sight." She smiled. 

"That's amazing, even without your gifts," Dusk said, quite astonished. 

"Yeah. On the topic of my gifts… I can't read Stellar's mind and I highly doubt he has a mind block spell cast upon him. And I can't see just his future alone. The only time I can see him in my visions is if it's with me. Which has only happened once." She explained. 

Dusk looked at her. "So, is it true?" Dusk asked.  "Is he really the only one for you?"

"I do believe so…" She said with a grin. "I do believe you will find the one for you soon enough, Dusk." 

"You really think so?" He asked in high hopes. Because he wants to be happy as well. 

"Yes." She said nodding. "I do think so. And whoever they are, they will be a very lucky mare for having a stallion such as you."

Dusk blushed bright red from her compliment. He giggled a bit. But as they were sharing a "moment", the doors to Dusk's room soon fell open with Stellar falling to the floor. The sight had left both Dusk and Rainia bewildered. Both of them speechless by his little eavesdropping stunt. 

A long time ago. It was a cold and dark morning out on the farm that was located in the middle of nowhere. A young mare was harvesting the grain early in the morning. The sun hadn't even risen yet. Most likely not even Solaris had woken up yet. But that didn't concern the mare. She had always gotten up early to harvest the grain for the day… but she didn't know this was going to be her last time. Out in the orchard lurked a vampire fruit bat, or at least that's what it seemed to be at first. 

As the green pegasus began to harvest the grain, she tightened her bandana around her neck and pushed her glasses back to their correct position on her face. While she was harvesting grain, a noise came from the bushes that caused her ears to perk up. She stopped what she was doing and went to investigate what caused the sound. She cautiously trotted to the bush, making her way closer to the source of the disturbance in the orchard. And as she began to peer behind the bush, she immediately retracted herself as a sharp pain emerged in her neck. "Ow!" She yelped. She started rapidly shaking her head to try to get whatever was biting her neck off of her. 

Once the creature left, she put a hoof to her neck only to see blood and lots of it. The last thing she got a glimpse of was a bat flying off into the distance. Then everything went black as she passed out on the ground. 

Lunar Night shot up from her bed nearly hyperventilating, terrified. "Oh good. You're up!" Silver said. 

Lunar Night stared at him almost in anger. "What did you do?" She growled at him. 

Silver giggled. "Oh, just a little nightmare/flashback spell. Nothing much." He said cheerfully with a smile. 

Lunar sighed. "Why you sonuva-!" She growled, slightly aggravated. 

"Tee hee. Oh, I know." He said unable to control his giggling. 

Lunar stretched her forearms and forelegs and rose up out of her bed. "So…? What is so important that you had to wake me up from my peaceful sleep?" She asked annoyed. 

"Oh, why I'm sorry, your majesty." He replied in a snarky tone. "But after what happened last night with Rainia, Dusk, and Stellar, I found out that she is going to be staying with his father for a few days in Sire's Hollow."

"And?" Lunar egged on, ready to just be done with the whole conversation. 

"And Rainia is joining him, meaning it'll be easier to take out my revenge on her." Flurry spoke up. "She will rue the day she ever crossed hooves with me!! Cause I'll make sure that this'll be something that she won't forget."

"What was it that happened last night, Silver?" Lunar inquired. 

As Silver tells the story, the scene transitions to the castle of friendship the night before, where Dusk, Stellar, and Rainia were in Dusk's room, where Stellar had got caught in the act of eavesdropping on their conversation. 

“I can’t say I’m not disappointed in you, Stellar… What were you thinking, eavesdropping on our conversation?!” Dusk exclaimed. 

Stellar looked down at his hooves, feeling guilty. “I’m sorry…” Was all he said. 

Dusk turned around, looking away from Stellar before he coldly said, “I think it would be best if you leave.” A statement that shocked Stellar to the core. He had never been asked to leave the castle. 

"B-but I don't have anywhere to go!" He exclaimed. He tried to reason with the Alicorn, but it seems like he just wasn't having it. 

"What about your fathers in Sires Hollow?" Dusk suggested. "He might have a place for you to stay." Stellar shuddered in disgust at the thought of having to stay with his father, and in his old room from his teenage years. 

"But what about Rainia? I'm not leaving without her!" Stellar said. 

"I'll go with you," Rainia said, running to his side, leaving Dusk feeling betrayed. 

"Fine," Dusk said, making himself clear with his answer before turning away from them and going out to the balcony of the castle and watching them leave, a tear trickling from his face as he did so. 

"I thought he was my friend…" Stellar said nearly crying. "I can't believe he's doing this. Some Prince of Friendship. More like the Prince of hatred, because he can't even be a friend. All those times, thinking I was his friend when really all I was… was his pupil."

"He didn't mean it. I read his mind, he didn't mean it." Rainia said. "If only I could read your mind I would be able to figure out if you really meant what you said or not. You have to tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking we should head to Sires Hollow. At least for a couple of days. Until he calms down." Stellar said before he and Rainia headed off to Sires Hollow.

Silver watched the whole thing from a distance, in a bush, chuckling to himself. "Oh, Flurry's gonna love this." He said. 

"So… Here's the plan." Flurry said before huddling together with them and discussing the plan cautiously and thoroughly with them. 

Meanwhile, Stellar and Rainia were staying at Firelights in Stellar's hometown of Sires Hollow. He was very happy and surprised that he had come, as well as Rainia, but Firelight didn't look like he seemed to like Rainia all that much. Probably because she was with his son. But he didn't know that. He was just assuming. They stayed in Stellar's old room, which was just the way he left it. Which made him uneasy. "I don't think your dad likes me very much." Rainia blurted out while kissing Stellar upon the lips. 

"Don't worry about him… he just has to get to know you a little better." Stellar tried to reassure her, but she didn't seem convinced. 

"Your old room is quite…" Rainia tried to think of a word, but Stellar put his hoof to her mouth to silence her. 

"Horrifying. I know. Now can we just please get back to what we were doing? Please?" Stellar begged of her. 

Rainia looked at him, presuming what he was talking about… she wanted to, but her curse was the one thing that kept her from it, so without trying to seem suspicious, she said, "I'm sorry. Just not right now. I’m going to go get a few things from one of the shops down the way…" She stopped at the doorway. "Also, I was going to go with the word 'interesting'."

He faked a chuckle at her response. Then as she left he dropped his little facade and decided to go after him. Cause one thing was for sure, it was dusk, no shops were open. He went out to follow him, walking down the lonely streets of Sires Hollow brought back a lot of old memories of his childhood which he longed to forget. It was then that something caught his attention. It was the sound of his father's voice and it held a tone of panic. "Stellar! Stellar!! Help!!" The voice he believed to be his father’s said. He followed it. 

"Dad? Dad?!" He ran over to a strange building that not even he remembered in a panic to save his father from whatever or whoever had him captured. He ran inside the building and closed the door behind him and searched every nook and cranny for his father, but had no luck. "Dad?!" 

Laughter was heard from behind Stellar. He quickly spins around to face the voice. “Who are you?” He asks her.

“Oh, where are my manners? My name is Flurry Flight.” She said. “Also, if you’re wondering; no he’s not here.” She cackles. Stellar was filled with two emotions. Relief and rage. Flurry laughed at him. “But you know. You just made it too easy, so I have a way of making things more… entertaining.” She lit up her horn to record everything she was about to do. “I’m going to make a short film about our time together if you don’t mind. Good. And action! Oh, this’ll break my poor little niece, Rainia’s heart.” She chuckled, getting closer to him. 

“Rainia has nothing to do with this!!” Screamed Stellar. He stared into her menacing eyes that glared at him. 

Flurry cackled again. “Oh, she does, I really think she does.” She said, intimidating him.

Stellar then teleported to the other side of the room and began to make a run for it. “An escape attempt! My favorite!” She teleported in front of Stellar; he froze immediately. Amused, she flings him across the floor like a bowling ball. He smashes hard into a mirrored column. Flurry filmed it all. “Ah, beautiful. Very visually dynamic as well.” 

She approaches him as he puts his hoof to his head and finds out his head is bleeding. She grabs his blood-stained hoof tightly and yanks it closer to her. “You are so stubborn, aren’t you? Is that what makes you so special to her? Because if I’m being totally honest here, Which I am, I don’t see it.” She glares angrily at him. “But I must congratulate you. You’ve succeeded in pissing me off!” 

She stomped on his upper leg as hard as she could. She could hear his tibia bone in his leg snap. Stellar screams in agony from the excruciating pain. It was enough to get his eyes to water, tears began falling to the floor uncontrollably. Flurry laughed. “Tell Rainia how much it hurts! Tell her to avenge you! Tell her! TELL HER!!” She screamed in his face. 

“No, Rainia don’t!!” He screamed. Flurry then stopped recording. A large grin came across her face as she watched Stellar scream. But as she was to celebrate her victory she was suddenly grabbed by something and thrown across the room. She arose to see who it was, then she came face to face with Rainia herself. 

Filled with anger, Flurry charges at Rainia, pushing her into one of the mirrored columns. "You're all alone. I don't know what makes you think you're strong enough to face me." She said, before taking Rainia's head and banging it onto the glass, making it crack. 

"I'm strong enough to kill you!" Rainia smirked. Rainia then kicked Flurry into a mirror, making glass go all over the floor. "I'm sorry." She said when she rushed over to Stellar. She picked him up in her hooves then was about to fly off, but was stopped when her bottom right hoof was grabbed and being held by magic. 

"Oh, no you don't." Flurry said before she threw Rainia to the floor which caused Stellar to be thrown to the floor, breaking some of his ribs from the impact. Rainia began to run over to him, but Flurry immediately grabbed her, enveloping her in her bright orange aura and launching her into a window, shattering it into pieces. 

One of those pieces managed to cut Stellar's broken leg and get stuck. Using his magic he pulled it out. That was the most he could do other than lay in a pool of his own blood. As Rainia sat up, Flurry walked over to Stellar and grabbed his right front hoof and used dark magic that pierced his skin, and burned as it did, making Stellar scream louder. She formed it into the shape of a circle on his hoof before she was grabbed by Rainia who pushed her down to the floor and savagely plows her through the floorboards. 

Stellar watched the whole thing but was unable to focus because of the burning pain of the dark magic that was traveling through his veins that could kill him. All he was able to see was two figures twist and fight in and out of focus. His eyes suddenly opened when he saw the horrifying reality of Flurry kicking Rainia. The two were delivering what would be death blows to normal ponies, but since they were Alicorns they were able to withstand the attacks. 

Rainia kicked Flurry into a wall then pinned her against it, both began to growl at each other until Stellar’s earsplitting scream fueled Rainia’s rage. His scream of pain slicing through her. She then charged up her horn with dark magic herself, then did the same thing Flurry did to Stellar. Rainia’s magic pierced through Flurry’s neck, flesh, and bone. 

Flurry sent out an agonizing scream. Rainia realized she took it too far when her father and uncle Solaris made it to the scene. “Daughter. Stop! Remember who you are. We’ll handle this, Stellar needs you.” She nodded and rushed over to her coltfriend’s side. “I’m sorry it had to come to this…  sister,” Artemis said before he and Solaris used their magic to kill Flurry. 

Solaris and Artemis then rush over to the injured unicorn who screams again. Solaris works fast to assess his wounds, focusing on a massive bleed from his leg. But clearly, his hoof hurts the most. He writhes in pain. Solaris applies pressure to the gash on his thigh. “His femoral artery has been severed, he’s losing too much blood,” Solaris told Rainia.

"No, my hoof! It's burning!!" Stellar screamed.

"It's dark magic," Rainia said, examining the wound. 

"Rainia, niece. You have to make a choice." Solaris began. "You can try and save him, or you can let it kill him." 

"I choose to save him. I love him!" Rainia said, admitting her feelings about Stellar. 

“Then you’re gonna have to be careful. Removing dark magic from a pony’s bloodstream is very dangerous if not done properly-! Rainia!!” He exclaimed as Rainia used his magic to try to absorb all the dark magic from Stellar’s bloodstream. Except it didn't work. 

Rainia was beginning to panic. "No… NO!!" She cried out. She tried again. And again. And again. "Why isn't it working?!" Tears began falling from her eyes in fear that she may lose Stellar. 

"Rainia, stop!" Solaris exclaimed. "You'll only kill him trying to remove the dark magic from him," 

"WHAT ELSE CAN I DO THEN?!" Rainia screamed through her tears. "ANSWER ME!!" 

Solaris took a breath and exhaled. "The only other option is to turn him into an Alicorn," He said. "Then he'll be immortal and he'll live."

"What?" Rainia said. "No! I can't curse him to live forever and watch everyone he cares about die. I can't take his soul like that. There has to be another way!"

"There isn't," Solaris replied. "Unless you want him to die."

"I don't want that, neither of it," Rainia muttered. 

"Well, you're gonna have to choose one," Solaris said. "By the looks of it, he doesn't have much time left." 

"No," She said. "I won't be the one to choose." She turned to Stellar. "He will." She looked at Stellar, crying still. "Stellar? Do you want me to turn you into an Alicorn and you and I can be together forever. Or would you like me to kill you quickly and not be in any more pain? Stellar?"

"I want you," He said. "All I want is you." Him saying that made her smile and blush happily. 

"Alright, so make you an Alicorn?" She asked him just to make sure. 

"Yes," He said. He gave a smile as he looked at her beautiful face before his vision became very blurry to where he could hardly see her. 

Rainia turned to Solaris. "How do I do the spell?!" Rainia asked in a near demanding tone. "How do I save him?!" 

Solaris whispered in her ear. Rainia nodded. “Okay," She said. But she wasn't gonna do it here, so she teleported them all back to her place at the Canterlot Castle. 

Once they were there, Rainia prepared the Alicorn Transformation Spell which could only be cast by an Alicorn and she used it on Stellar. After a few minutes, Stellar was all healed up, no broken bones or wounds. His body was stronger, harder, and a bit taller, plus he now had wings, but the ring scar on his right hoof was still there, he also had super hearing. Rainia wanted to cry seeing him alive. "Hey," She said. 

"Hey," He replied, blushing bright red as he stared at her beautiful face which looked very different now through Alicorn eyes. It looked… even more, beautiful somehow. 

When Stellar stood next to Rainia it actually looked like he belonged with her. Both of them had admired her creation she made.
The others had left the room to give them some alone time. Rainia looked deep into Stellar's indigo eyes just as he did with her dark blue eyes. The two were very quiet until Stellar broke the silence. “Well.” He started. “Now that I know you love me too, there's something I want to ask you.” He continued.

Rainia looked at him perplexed. “What is it, Stellar?” She asked him. 

Stellar got down on one knee and held both of Rainia's front hooves. “Princess Rainia
Songbird… Will you do me the honor of marrying me?” He proposed. Rainia looked at him shocked, she didn't know what to say.
“Is that a yes or a no?” Asked Stellar.

Rainia smiled like she never smiled before. “Yes! Of course, I'll marry you Stellar Gleam!!” She said, hugging him tightly. What they didn't know was that the others were eavesdropping by listening through the door. Artemis cried tears of joy, his little girl was finally getting married.

Stellar puckered up his lips and moved them closer to Rainia's until at last, the two were kissing. Their kiss had felt eternal. Once they broke off their kiss they could hear the others through the door giggling. Artemis was crying, happily. “Forever and ever and ever.” Rainia murmured.

“That sounds just right to me,” Stellar responded. “I love you, Rainia."

“I love you too, Stellar,” Rainia said as they kissed again. Everyone was so happy for the couple as they now shared their Eternal Love, which would last for eternity.