> Solar Deception
>  by theSilentInventor401
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Scorched Equestria
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She had her hood up. The rest of the garment was draped over her form and nearly covered her entirely. The landscape around her was barren and quite dry in most areas. Though some areas were so choked with water that permanent mud seemed to infect the ground itself. 

It wasn’t too bad though. She was able to pull clean water from the semisolid using her magic. Though her mind again reconsidered it as it seemed to stick to her hooves like glue. Requiring her to pull up her hooves harder, and that only drained her energy even more. She was already tired. Tired of fighting the woodland creatures that had been severely morphed by the sunlight radiation caused by more recent events. It didn’t help that the princess liked to burn everything in her path. 

Even ponies.

She had seen the princess’s rage cover entire towns with fire that seemed to consume even the souls of their victims. She had been one of the few that had been able to escape the clutches of the solar Princess’s anger. Though she was unsure if she’d be able to escape a second time. She knew she was a powerful unicorn, and she lent her strength to those who needed it. 

Though that also meant she had to keep on the move otherwise she’d be caught and likely be either killed or changed by the corrupted Elements of Harmony. 

The mud suddenly seemed to eat her leg and she had to pause to decide if the mud pit was a creature trying to take a bite out of her. She sighed, noting exactly how the last few days had grown on her. All she wanted was a nice semi-soft bed, a quiet place, and a nice authentic Apple family cider. Non-alcoholic. She had enough with plants trying to mess with her mental sanity. She didn’t want to give the plants any other advantage that it already had. 

She felt her back hoof fall into the same mud hole her front hoof had fallen into. Though she didn’t immediately pull it out. She let it remain, contemplating exactly how stressed she was. The mud was quite annoying, and at times, perilous. Though it did come with a good omen.

Despite the terrain, the mud brought water that could easily be distilled. With water, brought civilization and potentially, a place to stay for the night. She sighed, and slowly yanked her back leg out of the mess it was stuck in. It came loose with a loud squelch that seemed to hang onto her ears for some time. She took in another breath and let her legs carry her forward. She headed in no direction in particular. She had no idea where she was nor where she was to go. Though she knew that civilization needed a source of water, food, and some sort of materials to build a shelter with. 

She was nearly covered in mud. Water? Check.

The trees around her had plenty of fruit. Food? Check.

Many half-scorched trees. Materials? Half check.

She had seen ponies make use of charred wood for building materials. It wasn’t very aromatic, but it was a shelter nonetheless. So she continued forward, keeping a keen eye out for any signs that ponies could be nearby. Heck, she’d be okay with a dragon settlement! A pile of gems was much more comfortable than the solid ground! As long as you knew how to lay in them. A small trick she had learned from Spike. 

The thought died in her mind. The little dragon had gone missing a few months ago. The Elements, minus Twilight, had been captured by Celestia and modified to her bidding. With the Elements out of the way, no pony could stand up to Celestia’s might. Even Discord was banished to his realm with Celestia’s power. A power no pony had seen her use, nor think she had. 

Soon after, Luna and Twilight disappeared and Spike followed soon after. No creature had seen them since. She wanted to believe that the alicorn was in hiding, merely waiting for an opportunity to save them and her friends. Yet, that hadn’t happened for years. She looked at her hooves, completely covered in mud and whatever may be hiding in the brown muck. 

She looked at the appendage with disgust, probably for the thousandth time, and then noticed something in the muck. 

She pulled it up to reveal a small scrap of clothing. A scarf? Maybe a sock? She didn’t know. Though she didn’t care. She left the clothing where she had found it and looked deeper at her surroundings. She -didn’t see a pony that could be nearby. Though she didn’t dare call out. That was the quickest way to alert deadly forest critters to an easy meal. She again paused and pulled up the article of clothing from the mud. She folded it the best she could and squeezed out the murky liquid. She gave it a shake and sent half-dry flakes of mud flying into the trees beyond. She again folded it up and then winked it to her personal pocket dimension. 

Whoever had lost it might be close by, and returning it may allow her to gain a better favor with at least the owner. Any pony’s trust was a commodity in this time. She sighed and continued to walk. Though she did not get far before she noticed the ground become a bit harder and more uniform. It was as if it was trampled down.

A trail!

Her heart soared and her body agreed to forget her aches for a moment till she was in a nice soft bed. Or, anything other than the ground. She’d be happy for a small blanket at that point. 

With that in mind, she quickly trotted along the path. And felt her patience begin to wane before she saw a small building with no lights on the front porch. It was a tad too big for a house. It had several stories and seemed to have blackened windows. Though that was normal at this time. The constant sunlight was made bearable by the black tint. She found herself galloping towards the building, with happy haste in her mind.

Once she came to the door, she was about to knock when she saw a sign saying she could walk in. It seemed to be a bar of sorts. Though that made her wary. Many creatures used alcohol to cope with the times. Which only caused more trouble when it came to social interactions. Something that did not help in the slightest. 

She sighed, feeling her body sway with exhaustion. She was physically tired, though she was still able to use her magic quite well. So any pony, provided that the pony didn’t have several magical friends, wouldn’t pose too much as a threat to her. 

She felt her posture fall even more. She hated to have to keep her guard up around her fellow kin. She wasn't exactly social like Pinkie, but she didn’t hate being social. Now that it was almost cut out of her life, she found she really missed it. She wanted to have Pinkie open the door and pass her an invitation to some elaborate party. 

Though the door remained closed. So she sighed and delayed her entry further by magically pulling off the mud from her hooves. She flung the remains away and examined her hooves. It was hard enough to keep clean hooves clean, a whole other to keep buildings clean. She wanted to leave a good first impression on whoever was going to see her first. 

She steeled her body and pushed in the door. She kept her hood up just out of habit and found herself looking around the room.

Most of the conversations continued regardless of her entry. Though that didn’t quite matter. She wasn’t going to start a conversation with a random group. Many had suspicious natures and may react hostile. Not to mention that there was quite a bounty on her head. Though she wasn’t thinking about that. Her bounty was only taken on by the strongest of groups. And by looking around at the groups, she didn’t sense any strong auras. Nor did she see any massive weapons that could indicate strong opponents. Though that wasn’t the only factor that she needed to watch out for. But she didn’t see anything else that would indicate a threat. So she focused on the room itself.

It was spacious and roomy, with several types of tables and chairs for differing types of creatures. Everything was a blackened brown and she could see a few of the tables looking like they came out of a bonfire. Surprisingly it held the dragon that was sitting on it. Very little decorating things furnished the room, making the room look quite wooden in fashion. It was as if a unicorn decided to make the building out of a large tree. Then let a kirin get mad and scorch the entire place before letting everyone in. 

It wasn’t the worst thing that she had seen. 

There was a set of stairs that seemed to peek out from behind a large bar table just in front of her. There were a few ponies on the bar stools accompanied by a Kirin and a dragon. There were a few empty, separating the parties by a stool or two. She chose one closet to the kirin simply because of the center position to the bar. It was simply a choice of preference. Since she had saved quite a few buildings because she was able to stop the attack, being in the center. 

She swiveled in her seat a bit before turning to the bartender. She smiled, enjoying the childishness it gave her. The bartender also smiled.

“Guests tend to like the spinning stools. You one of them?” The bartender asked in a gruff but friendly voice.

Starlight grinned awkwardly, “I suppose. It’s nice to feel like a foal again.”

“And forget the troublous times right?”

Starlight nodded.

The bartender smiled. Judging from his voice, it was a he. Though she couldn’t discern much else. The pony-like figure was well equipped with armor and seemed to have a horn. Though that could mean he was either a unicorn, kirin, or a changing as it was covered with a protective metal spike.

Though the species was revealed when the creature held up a glass and the liquid inside began to boil. That was a specialty of a kirin. Using their natural heat with to clean glasses with hot water.

“So,” the Bartender asked as he emptied the glass and began to dry it, “What would you like to have?”

Starlight gave the kirin a smile, “By chance do you have any Apple Family Cider? Non-alcoholic?”

The Kirin gave her a sad smile, “Unfortunately that has to be reserved. We don’t tend to get many shipments out here and we have to source them from quite far away.”

“I’m not worried about the price,” Starlight replied with a small smile. That was true. Her magical abilities have given her a chance to get quite a bit of money. And she had stockpiled quite a bit. 

“All of our stock has been reserved. Mostly by one fellow,” The bartender replied. He placed the glass that he had cleaned under the bar in its place, “A fellow that has quite a bit of money and a knowledge of when we get the shipments is the first to order most of the shipment. Then use that to—” his words stopped as the main door was thrust open. A large stallion then walked in with an air of seniority. His superiority seemed to radiate from him like her magical aura when she didn’t suppress it. Yet this energy wasn’t a magical sense it was more of an observation of his appearance.

Golden armor adorned with a royal purple and serval worn badges. The stallion didn’t have a helmet to obscure his horn but his red hair seemed to do plenty of a good job. She could just barely see it, and if she hadn’t trained herself to assess any creature for threats she would have missed it. Though she could plainly see the muscular frame the pony supported. She could tell it was a pony since he didn’t even bother hiding it. 

Very little magic radiated from him, so she had the edge with magic if the pony wanted a fight. Yet, there was a large sword on his right side. It was sheathed at the moment but the grip seemed to be able to attach to his gauntlets, judging on the matching fittings, as well as be held in the mouth for a quick draw. She could see another weapon on the other side of the pony as well. Though she was unsure if it was a hammer or a large axe that had a protective cover so things he walked by wouldn’t be harmed. 

Regardless, she could see the muscles in the pony’s neck and legs trying to escape the confines of the armor they were in. She doubted that a blow with the mystery weapon, protective cover or not, wouldn’t still be very painful. She’d have to be careful on close-range combat. Probably have to use long-range magic or her bow. She doubted her weapons could block such large weapons. Overall though, she doubted the unicorn could win in a battle. Unless he got a jump on her. Though the smug look on his face didn’t seem to provide evidence of that kind of strategy.

“Are you by chance a mare?” The bartender suddenly asked. 

Starlight gave the kirin a dark, worried look, suddenly conscious of her look, “Why?”

“Did you happen on this bar by chance or know of its origins?”

“Why?” Starlight asked again.

The bartender frowned, “Well, he is the reason you don’t see many mares around. He seems to be able to sniff them out and always tries to hit on any that are alone. A bit of a creep if I may add.”

Starlight frowned, again looking around. The kirin was right. There were only two other female creatures in the bar. A dragon who was armored head to toe and looked very fierce. Starlight was sure she’d win a battle against the dragon if needed, but she wouldn’t start the battle unless she needed to. Though another mare was in a small enclosed table with five other creatures with her. She seemed to be in a protective bubble as if she was a prized asset. Which she probably was. Other than the obvious, she seemed to be adorned with healing apparatuses. She was probably a good healer. Though the pony didn’t seem to have magic, her wings suggested a quick flyer. She would love to be friends with the pony for that reason alone. Healing with magic had its downsides. Though the group seemed to not like outsiders, judging how the group was taking turns keeping watch around them.

She returned her gaze to the bartender, “I’ll be fine.”

She got a frown in response, “Are you sure? He won’t try anything with so many watching. Though he will push and try to sway you to go with him..”

Starlight smiled, that kind of pony huh? It wouldn’t be the first time, “I’ll be fine. Thanks for the warning though, it's appreciated.”

“Alright, but do not accept any drinks he may offer. He has been known to spike them with powerful love potions that have ensnared many mares.”

Starlight nodded and was about to respond when she noticed the mystery pony take a seat next to her. He didn’t spin in the stool like she had, rather, just enough to face her. He didn’t say anything at first but pulled a bottle of Apple cider from the tightly packed pack on his back. He floated it to the table and gently slid it over to her. 

Starlight watched the bottle and debated on using her magic to scan the bottle for the alleged love potion. Though that kind of spell would definitely give away how much magical energy she had. So she lit her horn and pushed the bottle back to its owner.

“No thanks,” She said with a polite tone and turned to the bartender, “Do you have any lemonade?” 

The kirin nodded but it was the mystery pony who spoke, “This is authentic Apple family cider. A treat you wouldn’t want to give up! I’m giving it to you in return for a conversation! A simple trade, costing me much more than you.” His voice was smooth and he was certainly not bad to listen to. It was quite obvious that he had done quite a bit of smooth-talking. 

“Exactly,” Starlight replied, “One wouldn’t just give away such a pricy item if it didn’t have a cause.” She angled her head slightly towards the pony. Not enough to show her face, but enough to show that she was talking to him.

The pony laughed, “So careful! You’ve had your share of trouble.”

Starlight shared a bit in his mirth with a sad smile, “I have many enemies.” A single glass of lemonade floated over to her and was set on the table. She warped a few bits from her dimension and held it out to the bartender. Though he only accepted half of the bits and gave the rest back. She had offered those for the warning about the pony next to her. Though the kirin seemed to refuse them. So she took a sip of her drink and found it was quite good. Something uncommon with farms barely able to grow crops in the scorching wasteland; at least sunlight wasn’t an issue. 

She again offered the remaining bits, “This is quite good, thank you! And thank you for your hospitality,” She said, allowing her eyes to ever so slightly look towards the pony next to her.

The kirin shrugged, “Of course!” He said, taking the bits and storing them somewhere behind the bar. 

“So what kind of enemies have you made?” The mystery pony tried again with a conversation. 

“I do not speak of them,” Starlight said simply, filling her mouth with the tart taste of her drink. It was sweet a moment later. She gave the bartender another smile. The kirin returned it before helping the kirin next to her.

“You do not speak of them? Why is that?”

Starlight scoffed, “You do not know the power of those who live in shadow.”

The pony’s voice grew confused, but he tried to again to get on her good side, “I wouldn’t mind traveling with you on your journey! I’d be a great bodyguard!”

“Really?” Starlight wanted so badly to reveal the nature of her true power. Yet, that could be very dangerous. She’d light up like a beacon to those looking for her.

“Aye! I’ve led a group of 30 ponies through the Dark Everfree. I’ve battled almost every creature that we know about and even stood my ground against an Element of Harmony.” The pony bragged. 

That was actually impressive, provided his story was true. Though the Dark Everfree forest bit made sense. This pony did seem capable of doing what he said. There weren’t very many longer-range enemies in that part of the wood. Though which element was he able to withstand?

She was about to ask when another pony burst through the doors and collapsed on the floor. She was clutching her front leg. It was clearly ripped open, blood mixing with mud. Though, if Starlight wasn’t mistaken, it looked like it was hit with a heavy-ended ax or a spiked club. Her clothes also were ripped and there were a few arrows sticking out of her. Her breathing was ragged and labored. 

“Help…” She got out with her current breathing. 

The mystery pony started to get up but Starlight beat him to it, leaving her drink on the counter. She summoned the mystery clothing from her dimension along with the meager first aid supplies she had. Though when she was about to rip the clothing item she stopped as someone urgently asked her to.

“Wait! Please don’t use that!!” It was the medical pony from earlier. Her group advanced on her, and Starlight instinctively took a fighting stance.

The medical pony didn’t react but continued to talk, “That’s mine. I lost it when we were fighting the forest goblins. It’s a family heirloom,” She paused, reaching into her bag to pull out a more advanced medical kit, “May I?”

Starlight relaxed and levitated the found heirloom to its owner. She wasn’t too worried if the pony was lying. It was a non-magical piece of clothing. If she wanted it, she could have it.

The pony gave her a cautious look, “I owe you one,” She said and went to give medical aid. 

“Nah,” Starlight said purposely putting herself between the injured and the mystery stallion, “Keep it. It’s just a—” Though she was cut off when the injured pony pushed away from the Pegasus’s first aid kit.

“No…” the pony said in a feebly desperate voice, “Help, my…” Her breath seemed not existent. Barely able to say a few words at a time. Though Starlight understood immediately. 

She reached forward and placed a hoof on the pony’s forehead, “Think of where your friends are. I’ll teleport there and help them,” She looked around, “Anyone who wants to help place a hoof on me.”

The stallion of course placed a hoof on her flank, much to her annoyance, but she allowed her magical energy to connect to his. 

“We’ll come with you,” the medical pony said looking at the group, “It’s the least thing we can do.”

“For what? I just met you,” She asked, as the pony placed a hoof on her side. The other creatures in her group doing the same. It was a dragon, two changelings, an earth pony, and a unicorn. Each was silent with armored bodies, ready for battle. 

“Giving that family heirloom back,” The earth pony said as the pegasus placed the article of clothing in her pack.

Starlight shrugged, “I’ll ask later,” She looked back at the injured pony, “Think about where your friends are, I’ll take care of the rest.”

The pony nodded and closed her eyes. Starlight also closed her eyes and vividly saw a scene in her mind. She activated the specialized teleportation spell and allowed it to travel along the attached energies along her coat. With a flash, the group disappeared.

Then reappeared next to a foggy area. The air immediately tried to eat at her lungs but she magically forced it away, purifying it in the process. She melded her magic into a shield prematurely, expecting an attack to come her way. Though nothing came immediately. So, she made sure every creature had made it, then surveyed the environment.

They were still in the forest as before since the trees were similarly charred. Though there was a toxic green fog that filled the area, making it harder to see. Though her shield protected the group from the fog, she didn’t have it too powerful; she didn’t want to alert anypony looking for her. But she had back up, so she wasn’t too worried.

The problem was the air. It was a very specific poison floating in the air. A poison she was accustomed to and knew what created it. 

A Poio-lin. A goblin-like creature that could expel the fog from its skin and mouth. They normally traveled in groups and were generally small, only the size of a foal. Except for the leader, which could become as big as a house. Groups generally ranged from 40 to 90 per group and Starlight never found any issues with them. Though she never encountered a large enough group to fill a forest with their smog. Despite the arrows the little ones could send in volleys of 50.

She gave her surroundings a closer look. The injured pony must have broken away to get help, which meant she had some way to stop the fog. 

“Or she was teleported out of it.” She thought and turned back to the injured pony. She wasn’t able to tell her if she was or not, but that didn’t matter, Starlight would be able to tell. So she told the pony to hold still again and extended her magical energy towards the pony. Immediately she felt the lingering effects of a teleporting spell. The spell’s energy still clung to the pony’s magical energy, and she could feel it wasn’t her own and quite strong. Which meant the spell had happened recently. She clung to the hope of her not being too late. She closed her eyes and reversed the spell, finding out where the spell had started. Once she had the location in mind, she opened her eyes towards the location. She lifted the injured pony with her magic and spoke quietly, “Follow me,” and trotted in the direction. 

It took only a minute to get nearby, then she channeled her magic into her shield and created an air vortex towards the area. The air forced the fog to dance crazily, fading as it did. Once it had faded enough, Starlight saw a bright, but cracked, blue shield. It was small, only able to cover three ponies huddled together and a pony in a flattened fetal position. Her hooves were on her head as she seemed to put her entire being into her shield. Her horn was glowing fiercely, but Starlight could see it was fading. The pony was crying, covered in nicks and cuts, eyes tightly closed in pure desperation. 

The shield cracked again. Though there was no fog to block what had caused it this time. A poio-lin, the size of a house was pummeling the shield with a massive ax. Dozens of smaller poio-lins were hitting the shield with little clubs or their little fists. She looked at the group, then noticed another large poio-lin which cause panic to blossom in her chest. Groups of poio-lins only had a single larger entity cause of their social structure. Why were there two of them? Maybe they were fighting over the ponies?

She shook her head as she watched the other larger one smack the shield with another massive ax. She took a breath and summoned her gas mask. She turned to the rest of the group before putting it on.

“Can you take one of the larger ones down?” She asked quickly, forgoing stealth as the group noticed their presence.

The medial pegasus nodded, “Yeah. We can and with the big guy’s help, it shouldn’t be too big of an issue. Though the other one will be a problem.”

Starlight shook her head, “No, it won’t. I’ll take care of the guy further away. I’ll also place a shield over the ponies in that shield. You guys familiar with the Poio-lins?”

The unicorn nodded, “Yeah, we’ve run into them before. Though this is the biggest group I’ve seen.”

“You know the magic trick with the small ones?”

Another nod, “Bright light, frequency of 742 THz.”

Starlight nodded impressed, “Great! Let's do a combined blast, then jump into action.”

The stallion frowned, “I’d rather stay with the other unicorn, it may be unwise to leav—”

“No arguing,” Starlight said firmly, “We don’t have time. That shield of theirs is about to break. Stay with your group, or I may blast you just because.”

The stallion frowned but nodded.

“Ready?” The unicorn asked, lighting her horn in a bright yellow.

Starlight nodded and lowered the color frequency of her shield to allow the light to pass through unaffected. The two unicorns let the magic form into a massive flash of violet light that filled the area with color. 

The smaller poio-lins stopped what they were doing and stumbled around, dazed. The bigger ones looked at the shield with infuriated expressions and the closer one charged forward, green fog coming from its skin and mouth as it emitted a feral warcry. The other continued to pound the shield. The shield now showing more cracks than shield. Starlight was glad the trick had worked on the smaller ones or the shield would have been destroyed at that very point. She quickly placed another shield around the cracked blue one and had it emit torrents of air in all directions. She let her original shield go as she gave the group a warning. Once it went down, the group scattered, avoiding the larger Poio-lin’s attack and Starlight floated over to the other mega poio-lin. It had tried to hit her shield, only to find it harder than the original shield. Its anger seemed to leak from its face, and it tried to smother her with fog breath. The air, however, whisked it away.

Starlight smiled, and stood on her shield, and baited the creature to take a swing at her. It did, with a furious cry it swung its mighty ax, aiming true. Though Starlight teleported to the right a bit, avoiding the blow. She also morphed her shield upwards to envelop the weapon’s head, trapping it in the process. The creature tried to tug its ax out but found it couldn’t. So it attacked with a punch, but, found its hand stuck as Starlight repeated the process. The Poio-lin tried again but found its other hand stuck in the light blue shield. 

Starlight smiled. Poio-lins were easily tricked, being creatures with a straight line kind of thinking. She took a battle stance and had the shield spread the creature’s arms apart, exposing its chest. It roared with frustration, again trying to smother her with its toxic fog. She gave the creature a sad smile as she summoned her blade. It was a simple, small broadsword. Though it had a magically sharpened edge and tip, able to go through even stone. It required to be resharpened at that, but the mega poio-lins skin was not as tough as stone; regardless of how magic resistant it was. 

She magnetically attached the sword to her leg, and with a breath, leapt at the poio-lin’s chest. She aimed for the creature’s heart and sunk the blade home. The creature roared in pain but slowly crumpled to the floor within seconds.

She removed her blade, cleaned it, and returned it to its dimension. She felt bad but not as bad as the one the rest of the group took care of. It looked as if it was beaten to death, large wounds and cuts covering the creature’s body as several limbs seemed broken. 

Her method of taking out the heart caused a critical failure in the creature’s fog ability. Normally, with the heart functioning, the toxin is retained in the blood through a special hormone gland. When that gland is destroyed, the poison is released throughout the body. It was a quick, and painless death as the poison would be activated in the brain within seconds. It was quite simple to take care of the larger Poio-lins at that point. Though she was still sad that such weakness was right behind the creature’s heart.  

Her sadness only grew when she saw the last Poio-lin was in fact, still alive, just being taunted by the stallion on its chest while the rest held its limbs down.  She popped over and removed the stallion on its chest. She resummoned her blade and took out the gland just behind the creature’s heart with a single stroke. It shuddered once, then went still. She again removed her blade, cleaned it, and sent it back to her dimension. 

Darkly, she then said, “Do not toy with lives. At least not with me around,” she paused and turned her head slightly towards them, “This will be your only warning.”

The medical pegasus nodded, “Yeah! Mr,” She paused, “Whatever your name is! Don’t go gloating over a poor creature we had to nearly beat to death to subdue! Gosh, if it wasn’t for you, it would have gone over much smoother!”

“Please,” The stallion retorted, “If you all had listened, I could have ended it in a single blow.”

“Really?”

“Yes! I have done it before and would do it again!”

Starlight said nothing but allowed her magic to create a magical glow around her. It made the ponies go quiet, but that wasn’t the reason she called it. It was to make the little Poio-lins know to leave them ponies alone and when they got over the effects of the violet light, they got the message and ran off. 

Starlight sighed, letting the magic go back into her body. The glow left the forest with a darkness that seemed to eagerly reclaim its spot, like a foal and their favorite seat. Once every poio-lin had disappeared, she floated over to the shield and released her spell. The shield vanished, leaving the group inside vulnerable.

The unicorn who had been maintaining the shield finally collapsed when Starlight was fighting the poio-lins. She was still lying on her side, panting, and looking quite pale. The rest of the group rushed over, and the medical pegasus took one look at the unicorn and turned to her unicorn friend.

“Magical exhaustion, think you can help?” She spoke in a quick tone.

Starlight nodded, “I’ve got it. You help the rest.” The other unicorn paused but then nodded. Starlight smiled and gently lifted the unicorn with her magic. This caused the pony to violently open her eyes and thrash but stopped when she saw what was holding her.

“Thank Luna…” She said as she went limp in the magical grip. Starlight nodded and placed the pony in a sitting position right in front of her. Then she placed her hooves on either side of the pony’s head. Channeling her magic between her hooves, she saw the unicorn’s horn glow with her color. Though as she allowed the unicorn’s body to soak in the magic, she slowly watched the glowing color become a deeper shade of light blue. Once Starlight’s color had completely disappeared, she removed her hooves and gave the pony a hug.

“You okay?” She asked, letting the pony rest her weight on her shoulder.

She felt the pony nod, “We just got ambushed, and—” she suddenly jumped up. Well, tried to. Her strength failed her mid-jump, “Wait! I teleported a pony out of harm’s way. I just could get the shield over her! We need—”

“It’s okay,” the medical pegasus said with a smile, “She’s the reason we found you. She was teleported to the near,” she paused, “Nearish bar. She came in and this pony here was able to track you down!”

Though the pegasus smiled as she noticed the unicorn had passed out. Starlight lifted her with her magic and held her close, “Okay,” She said, lifting the other limping pony with her magic as well, “Can the rest of you walk?”

The others nodded and Starlight sat down, “Alright, everyone, hooves on me. Let's go back before more come over.” The others nodded, and since she sat down, the stallion was forced to place a hoof on her shoulder otherwise he’d look bad. Though the pony placed his hoof a lot lower than she would have liked, and would have physically moved it if the rest of her hadn’t been covered in hoofs. She frowned and let her magic teleport the group back to the bar. She teleported to the outside of the building, and when the others had removed their hooves, she sparked the mystery stallion’s hoof off. The pony didn’t respond but rather grinned. She let her face form into a deeper frown and walked into the bar. She used her magic to clean the mud off the ponies the best she could and walked in. The bartender quickly welcomed them in and moved tables and other furniture to make room on the floor for the injured ponies. Within minutes, the injured were wrapped up, conscious, and had a hot meal in front of them. 

At this time, she was able to get what had happened. The unicorn had her head bandaged with a small ice pack held to her head with another on top of her horn. She had a weak smile but that had been bolstered after a hot bean soup.

“We were just walking towards the settlement in the east. We had a map and everything. Though we got in an argument just a little while ago. That allowed those stupid poio-lins to know our location,” She paused and looked at her hooves, “I’m not sure what happened. I just felt that I had to save my friends. I put up the shield and did the whole, purification thing. When it was done I realize that she was outside my shield! I saw her get hit and I couldn’t let down the shield because of that stupid fog!!”

“You teleported her right?” Starlight said, sitting across the table from her.

The unicorn nodded, “Yeah, though that’s the weird part. I can’t teleport myself or anything else!”

“Huh?” The other unicorn said simply, “Somepony else then?” Though Starlight let that thought roll in her head for a bit but ruled that out since she was the only unicorn of the group. 

But the unicorn answered her question, “No, it was definitely me. I felt the magic leave me when she vanished, and the flash was my color.”

“Yet you don’t know the teleportation spell?” The dragon from the group asked, confusion in their voice.

Starlight nodded, “I’m not too surprised,” She gestured around the area, “Ever since Celestia scorched the lands, she left behind a wealth of magic. Most unicorns can’t tap into it, but when very stressed, they instinctively pull on its power. That and any unicorn can technically mimic a spell after they’ve seen it once. It’s dependent on them if they have enough power to use it.”

“So because I saw the teleportation spell before, I was able to pull from the magic in the area, and use it?” The injured unicorn asked, thoughtful.

Starlight nodded, “Yes. In time you may be able to consciously pull the magic from the environment, but that’s a bit too high of a level for you to do consciously.” Starlight chuckled and shook her head, “Magic is quite strange in unicorns. When we are very young we can perform spells that, most of the time, never be able to do again.”

The dragon chuckled, “Aye, I’ve had to babysit a unicorn before. I somehow became a cat. Not very pleasant.”

The group chuckled but Starlight waited a few moments to ask her next question, “Though now that every pony is safer, what was that family heirloom?”

“You want it back?” The medical pony asked sadly. 

Starlight shook her head, “No. I’m just curious. It looks like a plain sock or scarf to me.”

The pony nodded, obvious relief on her face, “Well it’s a scarf. Passed down for four generations. It was originally created without magic but the material was able to hold enchantments!”

Starlight gave the pegasus a look, “Enchanted? I didn’t sense any magic in it.”

The pegasus smiled, “Yeah, It needs to be charged otherwise you can’t use nor sense the magic. But the enchantment is a cooling ability that can heal whoever it's on.”

Starlight nodded, admiring the pegasus’s medical armor, “I suppose that it’s a very good tool for you.”

The pegasus nodded, “Yeah, though it’s hard to recharge it though.”

Starlight gave her a questioning glance, “How do you recharge it?”

“Just by giving it magic,” The pegasus replied carefully, “Though I have to thank you for giving it back. It's quite a useful tool for healing on the go.”

Starlight nodded, “Well I may be able to help with that.”

The pegasus shook her head, “No, thanks but no. I don’t want to tire you out.”

Starlight smiled, “I’m a high enough level to pull magic from the surrounding area. That’s why I’m able to use magic while running off of no sleep for two days!”

The group merely gave her a stare but said nothing.

“I might also be able to allow it to regenerate its magic on its own, though that will be a beacon to those around you.” 

“Eh,” The medical pony stated, “Can you make it able to turn on and off? It doesn’t need to charge all the time.”

Starlight nodded, “Sure. It may take a little while, and you won’t be able to turn it off without a unicorn.”

The pegasus smiled, and wrapped a hoof around the unicorn’s shoulder, “That’s not a problem, he’s my brother. We won’t be going anywhere apart.” 

The brother smiled and nodded, “Most definitely, though you’ll have to show me the trigger.”

Starlight nodded but was cut off before she could speak by the injured unicorn. 

“Well, as much fun as that sounds, I’m going to rest with my group. The bartender was generous enough to let us stay for two nights, free of charge. I’m going to get as much sleep as I can get.”

Starlight nodded, “Go ahead. I hope you all feel better soon.”

The unicorn nodded, “Thanks, we owe ya one.”

Starlight shook her head, “Nah, it’s not a problem.”

“Really?”

Starlight nodded, “Yep. That’s how I roll.”

The unicorn smiled, and a happy feeling seemed to penetrate the room. With a grateful nod, the unicorn took her leave. Leaving Starlight and the group she had just met alone.

“Shall we do the magical things?” Starlight asked, and the muddy scarf was brought out and left on the table. She placed her hoof and it and let her magic seep into the fabric. It was immediately pulled in as fast as a stranded pony in the desert finding water. She then looked at the article with magical eyes and saw the enchantment on the scarf.

“Wow…” Was all she could say as she examined the intricate lines forming into complex spell arrangements. Each segment was cleverly hidden in the strings of the garment to hide it when it wasn’t charged. It was obvious to her now since she was giving it energy, but the scarf had been made to hide well if the spell wasn’t in effect.

“Who made this?” Starlight asked, trying to find a good spot to place an environmental energy siphon.

“It was made a few years ago, by my grandmother’s grandmother. It’s a special piece of clothing that has been in my family for as long as I can remember.”

“It hasn’t been placed in safekeeping?” 

The unicorn shook her head, “It was the will of our great, great grandmother to keep it in use.”

The pegasus nodded, “Yeah, so we as a family have been trying our best to keep it safe while allowing ponies to use it.”

“Then our family decided to enchant it with protective spells cause the younger ones tried to use it for tug of war.”

Starlight smiled.

“Yeah, you should have seen the look on our parent’s faces when they barely were able to intervene.”

“I can only imagine,” Starlight said, finding a spot for the addition she was trying to add, “One sec, found a good place for this spell.” The group nodded and went quiet. Starlight then closed her eyes, and begin to weave her spell into the spell that was already there. She tried her best to mimic how the spell was originally written and was surprised the spell seemed to adhere to the material itself, much like a gem would. She pocketed the thought and continued her work, writing many lines of magic that only a unicorn could read. 

A thud on the table disrupted her thoughts, and the now annoying stallion was talking, “Why are we so quiet? It's time to—” 

“Shhht!” Starlight said, putting her free hoof on the talking mouth.

She then lifted her other hoof, and everyone at the table could see a floating diagram filled with a magical script and various amounts of shapes, all encompassed by a large circle. It was glowing blue, and as the group watched, was connected to the scarf by two purple lines reaching up from the scarf. Starlight then gently lowered her hoof where the entire glow was smothered. When she lifted her hoof, the scarf seemed unchanged.

“Wow!” The unicorn said, hovering the scarf over, “I can’t  feel the enchantment!”

Starlight nodded, feeling her head sag with physical tiredness. Perhaps she might have overdone it. Though she put on a smile and replied, “Yeah, I readdressed the hiding ability and tried to mimic it the best I could. But to turn on the recharging ability,” She pulled one end of the scarf over to her, “Just fill your hoof with energy, and make a twisting motion on the end here. See?” She demonstrated with a glowing hoof.

The other unicorn nodded, and repeated the movement a few times, “Wow,” He muttered, “I can feel it pulling magic from the area!” He turned on and off the magical component, and Starlight smiled as she felt the environment's energy swell and compress to the scarf’s pull.

“Wish I could do that…” The unicorn muttered, turning the scarf on and setting it back into the bag on the pegasus.

Starlight laughed, “No, you really don’t. I’ve been blessed since I was young with great power, but that also means I’ve got strong enemies,” She let her head fall onto the table with a thunk, “Very strong enemies…”

The unicorn chuckled, “I suppose, but I’d have to spend days charging that thing for it to be any use on its enchantments.”

“Really? So you don’t use it too much?”

The dragon this time shook his head, “Nah we use it often. The spell on it can reattach severed limbs,” he paused, “Provided you still have the limb nearby.”

Starlight stared at the dragon and then at the ponies who confirmed his words, “Wow.” Was all she could say. She didn’t realize the spell was that powerful, “But healing with magic isn’t very good! It has side effects! Annoying ones at that.”

The pegasus nodded, “Yeah, but the spell was created to circumvent that at the cellular level. It’s more stable than standard unicorn magic and is able to use the pony's natural energies to generate a healing field of sorts. It can’t regrow limbs, but if brought into that healing field, then the limb can be reattached with a little external help.”

Starlight nodded, “Huh, I guess that makes a sort of sense. Who made the enchantment?”

“Originally it had only a protective enchantment, but the member of my family was wearing it while he was working in the Canterlot Castle. Twilight Sparkle was able to sense the enchantment and was curious. After a bit of discussion, we agreed to let her enchant it further since my great grandmother was quite a healer of her time.”

Starlight recalled the spell structure and careful lines and formations of the magical symbols, “That was Twilight huh?” She thought, “Should have realized that, but where are you now?” 

While Starlight was lost in thought, another two ponies came in. Both were mares and seemed to be just out of a battle. Scorched armor, frazzled manes and tails, and weary faces all betrayed that fact. Starlight could almost feel the stallion begin to hover in the air at the two new ponies. 

Now, normally she wouldn’t intervene in situations like such, but this pony was really getting on her nerves. So she magically pulled him down in the seat, much to the pony’s dismay.

“Oye! What’s the magical idea? You wanna try to sit me down again?” He said, not bothering to hide his anger.

Starlight frowned, “You’ve annoyed enough ponies today.” She paused, “Creatures.”

The group around her nodded, “Agreed.” Said the pegasus.

“Annoyed!? Do you mean helped?” The stallion retorted with a snap.

The cloaked unicorn let out a little snort, “Don’t kid yourself. It sounds like you were in the way more than helping.”

“Oh please,” The pony’s voice was getting louder with anger, “That Poio-lin was nothing! I’ve knocked down bigger ones! They insisted that I get the arms when I am much more suited to take it down!” 

“You were assigned to help them, not take over. We have no proof that you could have taken down the creature on your own. I, on the other hoof, was able to show my abilities.”

“Oh please,” the stallion retorted, “A simple teleportation and a shield don’t prove anything. I’ve been able to hold my ground against Rarity.” 

That made Starlight start to burst out laughing. Her laughter seemed to come out of her mouth till she could barely breathe. Even then so she laughed till the entire room was watching the choking unicorn.

“Breathe!” The pegasus said urgently, trying to hold back a laugh of her own.

Starlight nodded but still took a few more breaths for her body to stop laughing, When she could talk, she turned to the stallion and replied, “Oh that makes a lot of sense,” She still had to take a breath before continuing, “Rarity is more of a dancing fighter. It’s not surprising that you were able to hold your ground against her. Though, still, not as impressive.”

The stallion gave her a look that plainly asked, You dumb? Starlight merely smiled in response.

“What?! Being able to stand our ground before any Element of harmony is a testament to one’s strength!” This time, the group agreed with the stallion’s words as they nodded.

Starlight’s smile didn’t falter, “Agreed. But you could rank them in levels of strength, right?”

Another nod from the group.

“Now had he been able to stand against Applejack in hoof-to-hoof then I would actually be impressed. Though, knowing his fighting style, it’s not so impressive that he was able to stand against Rarity since she uses her crystal nature to store energy to fire back at their opponents. So had you’ve been a unicorn that uses their magic in fights then I would be more inclined to be impressed.”

“And who are you to judge the strengths of others? What gives you the right? Have you been able to survive in a fight against a Ele—”

“Fluttershy.” Starlight interrupted. She knew that her identity would be blown out of the water, though she knew she’d have to leave anyway in the next day or so. They were already on her trail. She just wanted to shut him up

It was the stallion’s turn to laugh, “Ha! My left cutie mark! There is only one pony who has been able to survive an encounter with her! That would be, uh,” He trailed off as Starlight removed her hood, exposing her signature hair.

“Starlight?” She finished, enjoying the smug look melt off the stallion’s face.

The group was quiet as she replaced her hood. 

“You’re Starlight?” The medical pegasus said in a sort of awe. 

Starlight merely nodded, “Yeah. That’s me!” She turned to the stallion, a dark look in her eyes, “Does that cool your ego a little?”

The stallion said nothing.

“I know that you’ve been trying to, ‘pick up,’ mares here in this bar with your special drinks. That is found to be very annoying…”

“And how do you know this?” The stallion accused, turning his head to the bartender, but Starlight turned his head back to her with her magic. She then promptly brought his head to her level and gave him a cold stare, “You think I’m dumb? You go googly eye around any mare. The only mares that are here are either not ponies, or surrounded by other stallions. That and the moment you offered that drink. You’ve seen my magic. Do you think your drinks could hide from me?”

The stallion swallowed nervously.

“Thought so. Now, quit your shenanigans and quit being such a love-struck fool. Or I’ll make you stop. Understand?”

The stallion nodded and Starlight released him. The stallion then huffed and left the table, taking his drinks with him. Though he didn’t stop there as promptly left through the front door.  The group around her said nothing, but Starlight didn’t care. She was accustomed to ponies being quiet around her. They were all strangers and even basic social practices could get one killed. That’s why she never asked for names. It was taboo.

“Well,” The pegasus said after a full minute of silence, “Since we now know your name, I’m Asa Deventa, and—”

“That’s enough.” Starlight interrupted her, “Knowing me puts you all at risk if you let every creature know you know me. I’ve got quite the bounty on my head.”

The dragon frowned, “Why would you tell us that?”

“Cause you all are not a threat to me,” Starlight said simply. She replied in the best voice she could. She didn’t mean it to be rude or egotistical. 

The dragon’s frown grew, then paused, and shrunk as he nodded, “I do suppose you have a point…”

“Yeah, how egotistical does that make me sound?” Starlight asked, with a half-laugh. The group around her chuckled but stopped when a small bottle was placed in front of her. 

The magical glow vanished as it rested on the table. Its glass surface had already started to collect moisture which told her how cold the drink was. Though the bottle had a large sticky note attached to the front, she knew exactly what it was.

A fresh bottle of Apple Family Apple Cider, non-alcoholic.

She looked at the sticky note and found a simple note on it. 

Thanks for showing that pony up for his actions. If I remember correctly, you wanted a bottle? It’s on the house. 

Starlight frowned and looked towards the bar where the bartender stood. He returned the look with a smile and nodded.

“Is that Apple Cider?” Asa asked, slight jealousy in her voice.

Starlight nodded and merely stared at the drink. She watched the bubbles slowly form from the disturbance the bottle had. Once big enough, they rose and popped at the top of the bottle where a small air pocket rested.

She had seen the bubbles many times before; shared many of them with her friends before the Solar phenomenon had occurred and they all became servants to Celestia’s mere thoughts. But she stayed in the happy memories the bottle brought. The color, smell, and even the label brought a smile to her lips. The label remained unchanged for the years since she had the opportunity to have a bottle. 

Her thoughts cracked as a bottle opener magically floated over and popped the lid. She watched it fly away as another sticky note was laid next to her drink. 

Enjoy. I’m serious. You’ve helped me out a lot more than you think. Please enjoy my gift.

Starlight swallowed, her mouth screaming at her to take a drink of the crisp apple-flavored fluid. Though she had learned the hard way that such a treat often came with strings. So she lit her horn and wrapped her magic around the bottle. She’d have to magically reveal how much power she had to scan the bottle, but the group already knew her identity so she wasn’t worried. 

The bottle glowed a light blue as her spell took effect. A small disk of magic appeared at the bottom of the bottle and began to spin. Then, at Starlight’s command, it slowly rose, making the glow of the bottle fluctuate in a steady pattern. Starlight stared at the bottle, feeling the magic give her information on the bottle’s contents. Though, when the spell finished and reported nothing but authentic Apple Cider in the bottle, she immediately brought it to her lips and drank a third of the bottle in a single swallow. 

She sighed with content and paused. She looked towards the bar to give the bartender thanks. But saw the kirin stifling a laugh. Though when he noticed her look, he nodded with a smile. 

Starlight returned the smile and kept it as she turned back to the group. She then looked at her drink and frowned. She then summoned a few magical holograms in the shape of tiny shot glasses. She then poured a mouthful in each glass and offered it to the group. The action took half of what she had left, but she was feeling good about it. Though the group hesitated.

Starlight smiled, “It’s not alcoholic,” She said and raised her bottle, “To our safety?”

The group smiled and each took their glass, and added to her cheer, “To our safety!”

It was quiet after that. The group ahead of her was talking quietly about where they were going to go. They had invited her to join them on their travels but she had declined, stating that her bounty would only cause them more harm than good.  They had argued with her for a bit but Starlight eventually won the argument, stating that Fluttershy was still after her. If they traveled together, they’d make them a serious target and potential hostages. And since Fluttershy’s main invisibility ability was almost undetectable, it wouldn’t be hard for her to take out Starlight’s new friends. 

So she enjoyed the company while she could, gently sipping on the cider as they talked about each other’s troubles in the wastelands. Poio-lins, Tar hounds, or even the burnt trees. 

Starlight had laughed as the brother cautioned her against using the ground around trees as a bathroom. Starlight had already learned that lesson the hard way but listened with giddy as the brother recounted being smacked by a tree branch even before he started doing his business.

Starlight felt the last of her drink fall into her mouth and she frowned after a swallow. She sighed and sent the bottle to her dimension. She’d be able to recycle it later. Glass could be very useful if one knew how to use it. Not to mention, if etched in the right way, was perfect to hold spells.

“Well, it’s been great meeting you,” Starlight said, drawing the attention of the group, “But I think I’m going to rent a room and try to get some sleep under this cursed sun.”

Asa smiled, “No worries. Keep an eye out for us though, we’d be happy to say hello!”

“Though if it’s in the middle of a battle that hello may have to wait,” One of the changelings said with a smile, “ But we’d love to say hello!”

“Sure, maybe even a,” Starlight replied and added a chittering noise. This caused the changeling's eyes to widen in surprise.

“You can speak changeling?” 

“Eh,” Starlight said, awkwardly adjusting her hair from behind her hood, “Just a little. I’ve had a few changeling friends.”

The changelings smiled and spoke in their language. It was a goodbye of sorts, but more of a hope for a quick reunion. She smiled and slowly responded in kind. Though she yelped as she nipped her tongue, but brushed off the looks of concern from the others.

“Changling’s speak uses a lot of the sound one would call chittering. Though it’s a little more than that, it’s much more varied. A pony’s mouth can make the sounds, but with the danger of biting one’s tongue. Gosh, I haven’t done that in a while!” Starlight said with a  smile. The group returned her smile.

“Well, we actually just, ‘woke up,’ she said, raising her wings to make air quotes, “So we may not be here when you wake up. So, stay safe out there! I hope to see you again!” 

Starlight chuckled, “Trouble follows me where ever I go, you sure about that?”

The earth pony laughed with the group, “Oh please, we are surrounded by trouble, what’s with a little more?”

Starlight chuckled, “Alright if I see you again I’ll say hello if it doesn’t compromise the fact I know you. I don’t want to put targets on the back of your heads.”

The group nodded, stating a final farewell. Starlight returned it, smiling. It was one of the first time’s that she had been able to make a friend out in the Scorched Equestria. She felt herself smiling more than she normally did, and let the feeling permeate through her mind. She then called to the bartender and greeted him.

“Hello! Thanks for the drink! It was wonderful!”

“I should be thanking you,” The Kirin said with a smile, “This bar has gotten a reputation with that stallion. So bad in fact that most ponies know not to come if they are female.”

Starlight gave the kirin a shocked look, “Really? That bad?”

The kirin merely nodded, “Yep.”

“Well, I’m happy to help!”

“Of course, I’m glad you are, but you didn’t come over to take care of local problems did you?”

Starlight awkwardly smiled, “Well, yes and no. I always seem to be followed by trouble. But I did come in hopes to have a bed to sleep in, have a spare room?”

“Of course!” The kirin said, and the two creatures exchanged bits for the room. Starlight was given a key and she quickly climbed the stairs to the rooms above. She went four doors down, and turned to the right. 

“Room 9,” She muttered and levitated the key into the lock. It clicked open with ease. The door squeaked a little, but Starlight wasn’t going to complain. There was a nice bed in the back corner. Clean white sheets lay folded so well that magic was the only explanation. Next to it lay a small night table and table lamp on top. It was a small clay lamp with a lampshade hiding the illumination crystal inside. Per instructions from the kirin, she gently tapped the clay portion and watched the room lit up in a gentle yellow glow. She smiled and closed the door behind her. Once closed, she saw a bathroom revealed in the other corner. She took a breath and looked around a bit more.

The bathroom had all the necessary utilities, including a secondary lamp. The bedroom only had a bed and nightstand for furniture but the bed had a set of chores built below the mattress. A simple but comfortable rug lay on the ground, covering up the scratchy wood beneath. Its colors were simple, just rings made up of red and gold till the rings became too small to distinguish colors. Her body was screaming at her to lay down but she had some things she had to check first. 

So she closed her eyes and lit her horn. She extended her magic through the room and checked every nook and cranny for traps, spells, or spy holes. Though she didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. Just the two enchanted crystals meant to light up the room. Though she did double-check the enchantment and found it was a light spell based on kirin magic. With a sigh of relief, she extinguished her horn and quickly trotted to the bathroom. After she had refreshed herself, she practically ran to the bed. She half got on and half fell onto the bed and was delighted to feel the bed cradle her. Almost immediately she felt sleep tackle her consciousness over and her eyes nearly shut in the process. She wearily reached over and turned off the magical lamp, but didn’t have the time to pull her hoof back before she fell soundly asleep.



Starlight was enjoying the sleep she was finally getting. The mattress was like sleeping on a cloud, but it didn’t drain her magic as the actual activity would do. Nor did she have to worry about falling off the cloud in open skies. She also was in complete darkness, something that she hadn’t been able to do in a long time. Though her foreleg twitched, and a searing, inextinguishable pain sliced through it. She jolted upright with a small gasp and found her breath catching in her throat. She tried to get up but knocked into the night table in the darkness. She heard a crash as the lamp shattered onto the ground, filling the room with darkness. She also fell onto the ground, but luckily, avoided any clay shards.

She rolled up as the pain continued to spark in her foreleg and brought up the appendage to her eyes, breathing heavily. She lit her horn and filled the room with a light blue light. She normally would tweak the color output but she didn’t care at the moment. She was staring intently at her leg. So intently that her vision would waver before she had to blink. 

Though her coat shimmered and began to change colors in front of her eyes. Quietly, she watched the colors appear on her coat. A light pink and cyan colors slowly morphed into three very familiar butterflies. 

“Oh no…” She muttered as she looked to the broken lamp on the floor. She quickly reassembled it with her magic and tidied up the room. Then, she wrapped her key in her magic and rushed out the door. She thought she’d have more time!!
> Dimensional hidey hole
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The hallway was dimly lit. Just enough light to see forward and the grime along the stone walls. The light source was nowhere to be found but she assumed it was magic. 

Though the reason had long since lost meaning as she felt her body walk along the hallway. Her metal-clad hooves clicked along the floor and the robotics covering her hummed and whirred gently. It then came to a stop as she came to a wall. 

After a moment of waiting, another wall came down from behind her. Normally this would make her panic, but she felt nothing. Not even as the enclosed space started to fill with water. It quickly flowed around her metal-clad hooves, legs, and belly in moments. The chill seeping through the metal covering her felt refreshing and she wished she could remove her helmet. Just to soak her hair!

Though that wish had lived many lifetimes. She couldn’t remember the last time her helmet was taken off. She didn’t even know if it was capable of coming off.  

The water continued. Past her clad sides and metal wings, her covered cutie mark, robotic tail, and eventually reached her helmet. Though it too was submerged after a moment. Her vision blurred as she felt powerful soundwaves pierce the water. With the sounds, she saw bits of material float off her helmet’s visor. 

Remains from her last mission. Remnants she’d much rather not think about. 

75 more names would be added to her list. She felt like crying again. But she knew that she couldn’t do that. Her initial crying had ruined something with her helmet. So, that ability was removed. Permanently.

The water once more became clear and began to drain. This process took longer than filling the little cube, but she wasn’t really in a hurry. She knew she couldn’t fight time nor the energy controlling her. She’d just have to wait.

Though as the water reached past her knees, she couldn’t help but feel excited. She was looking forward to seeing her friends. It had been hours. She hoped the card game was still intact and that the others were in somewhat good spirits.

The wall in front of her slid down, allowing her to pass. A little of the water remained and flowed forward. Though that too was normal. She walked past the little gap where the wall slid into, then promptly fell to the ground in a heap.

“Fluttershy Darling!” Rarity’s voice called out, “Ready for the cards?”

Fluttershy blinked and slowly got up. The feeling of control would always suddenly leave them. Giving them control when they weren’t expecting it. Though, that too, was expected.

“Of course!” Fluttershy said muffled through her helmet. She shook herself a bit, shaking the little droplets of water into the air. She then trotted over to the table and took a seat.

The room she was now in was her home for the last 5 years. A simple wooden table with five seats stood in the middle. Here was where she’d spend most of her time. In the walls were five ancloves with thin uncomfortable mattresses. Well, they were empty now. The ancloves were separated into three groups, leaving one on its own. Since the group refused to separate, when they had freedom of choice, they pulled the mattresses out of the ancloves and lined them up on the floor. They lay in the back of the room, far enough away from the table to not cause issues. Though the tiny room would barely allow it.

“Don’t forget to plug in darling,” Rarity said with a smile.

Fluttershy nodded. She then got up and located the plug in the wall. It was a large rectangular device connected by a long wire or tube; she was never sure which. For all she knew it could be both. She did know that she needed to be plugged in otherwise she’d die. And she wouldn’t be allowed to not plug in; even if it was tempting at times.

She pulled the plug from the wall and held it close to her side. There was a click, and a matching port was revealed by a moving metal plate on her side. She pushed it in firmly till she heard a click and walked back to her seat.

“How many this time?” Rarity asked gently.

Fluttershy hung her head low, “75…”

Rarity smiled in an effort to comfort the pegasus. It didn’t work well but it was better than nothing.

“Well, the others aren’t quite here yet. Feel free to do your thing darling. I can wait.”

Fluttershy nodded and smiled, even though it was not visible, “Thanks.”

Rarity nodded and lit her crystal horn to shuffle the cards. The originally white cards were beginning to change color with use. Though, they didn’t care. It was a commodity that Celestia allowed them to use. Why? They didn’t know. Didn’t want to know if it meant the possibility of it being taken away.

Fluttershy emptied her lungs and closed her eyes. In her mind, she began to recite the names of the ponies who had fallen to her hooves. She started with her family, the hardest names of all to say.

It didn’t matter that she wasn’t the one controlling her hooves, they were still hers. She couldn’t take the blame off herself. Maybe there was something she could have done? Maybe there was a part of her mind the energy didn’t control and thereby use to stop herself?

No. Simply put it wasn’t possible. She had been trying for five years. So, in some way to pay respects, she memorized every single name of the ponies she had been forced to kill. 

Her list.

She didn’t know how long her list was, but she could find out if she wanted to. But she didn’t want to know. She couldn’t know. She just wasn’t sure if she could handle that. 

So, it was just name after name. Each name said held her apology. Some sort of plea for forgiveness for something she knew wasn’t her fault. 

It just made her feel better. In a small way…

It didn’t matter to her that it would take hours to complete. She would just recite names till she hit the end of her list. Then, she’d add the new ones. 

Some days it wasn’t too bad. One or two. Others, she’d have to add another hour to the time. She tried to not dwell on the number. She just added it to her list. The number would then become irrelevant. Less painful.

She was almost done with her list when the other two arrived. The wall opening and closing were followed close by several thunks of her friends regaining control. Though they said nothing as Fluttershy silently hung her head low. 

The one nice thing Fluttershy could say about her transformation was the ability to remember. Whatever Celestia did to her mind, it allowed her to vividly bring back words, numbers, and…images.

She frowned as she refocused on the words she was reciting. Not the images. Never. The images.

She did eventually lift her head and open her eyes. 

Rarity was still there. Though that was expected as she could go nowhere else. Though Applejack and Rainbowdash were now at the table. Each one had a small fan of cards on their hooves. 

“You good Sugarcube?” Applejack asked, gently putting a blue number card on the pile centered between the three ponies. Her metallic forelegs whirring gently in the action. The tubes on her legs had a perk of accidentally moving the cards around. Though the pony had learned to be careful over the years. Though her smile was slightly hidden by her eye augment, Fluttershy could still see the pony’s tired eye behind the green glass. But metal covered most of the pony’s face. Her left side was nearly completely obscured.

She also had a large metal plate covering her back. It had indents and grooves that allowed the pony to bend however she needed to. But it protected the materials necessary for her “nuclear hits,” as it had been dubbed. The pony was also not wearing a hat. Her blonde hair left free to roam in the air. It was weird at first. Though it was hard now to see her with a hat.

Fluttershy nodded.

Rarity smiled, “Here you go,” Her magic levitated a small pile of cards to her where she accepted them from the blueish purple glow. 

While the others had gotten mostly robotics augments, Rarity had gotten something quite different. Rather, her body was infected with a type of growing crystal. It would eat at her body, turning her into a living gemstone. Though the crystal was still quite durable it was mainly used to absorb magic. Rarity could win a pure magic fight hooves down. No magical opponent could touch her as the crystal had nearly consumed her entire back half. Her tail, flank, back legs, and half her sides were completely a semi-translucent purple hue. With the exception of her right back leg. The fetlock and hoof had not quite been consumed yet, but it was expected for it to happen in the next year or so. Though the infection had been supplemented at her horn and guided to her back. So, she also had a purplish-white horn looking like a raw geode rather than a unicorn’s pride. The section had also consumed one of her eyes. Though the unicorn said it hadn’t affected her ability to see, it was odd to see the glass-like orb move. 

It was hard to see though as the infection hadn’t fully gotten through her head like the crystal on her back half. So unless she was in the light it was just a purple hue where her eye was supposed to be. Tendrils of crystal reached out from the hue, slowly converting the rest of the unicorn.

Rarity had expressed concern about fully turning into a gemstone. Though, now it wasn’t really thought about. She had taken spears into her crystal side leaving nothing; not even a scratch. So, her worries were quelled a bit. She wasn’t too happy about one day turning into a gemstone, but she didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“Sorry Flutters,” Rainbow said with an apologetic smile, “It’s my only blue…”

She then placed a power-up card that would skip the next player. Which was her in this case. Though the yellow pegasus merely chuckled and shrugged.

“No worries. It just gives me time to organize my fan,” she said, beginning to organize her fan by color.

Rainbow nodded, “Awesome. Was pretty sure it was fine but you know.”

Rainbow had by far the least number of modifications done to her. Her wings had been removed but that was pretty much it. Well, except their insides but only Rarity had her’s untouched. 

Rainbow now sported a new set of wings that were metal in nature and didn’t look like normal wings. Rather, they were a set of flat rocket propulsors that propelled her much quicker than her biological wings could. Each jet, for a total of four, had gyroscopic movement on all axis. Allowing her to be just as agile as she originally was. Her chest was covered by a large knight-style chest plate with a small rhombus gem in the center. It was stark grey at the moment but would glow white when the pegasus’s shield was active; allowing her to plow through pretty much anything in her way.

A large, translucent visor covered the pony’s eyes. It looked like a more bubble-like ski mask that helped diffuse the wind. It also had a heads-up display that one could see. It was inverted for those on the other side of the visor, but the group found they could read it if Rainbow held still for long enough.

Though the last seat remained empty. The odd mattress remained next to the four used ones. 

An odd detail that no pony was willing to elaborate on. It was just too difficult to discuss. 

“Let’s make it green,” Applejack said, placing a wild card. 

Rarity huffed but said nothing as she drew a card.

Fluttershy placed a green card on the pile, then looked to Rainbow.

The pony placed down a card and the round continued. Though such rounds never seemed to end. It wasn’t a problem though. Time seemed to warp inside the tiny room they were in. They could be in there for years, hours, days… They never knew. The tiny sense of time was comforting. As little as it was.

Though Fluttershy felt the familiar blanket start to stuff its way into her every cranny of her body. 

“Already?” She thought glumly as the feeling penetrated her mind. 

She then jumped up and slammed her fan onto the card pile. A frown attempted to form on her face, but she could feel it smile.

“I win!” She said shrilly. She then laughed heartily and got up. She unplugged the wire from her side and started to walk to the entrance she came in from.

The others merely frowned and silently picked up the cards to reshuffle them.

Her vision became a movie as she felt herself walk, regardless of her commands. The hallways were the same grimy stone walls till they would suddenly shift into another blank slate. Black stone walls while a few torches lit up the space. They were surprisingly effective. Effective enough to make out tiny little devices embedded in the walls. She had no idea what they did but she’d likely never find out about those either. She passed a few ponies but even she couldn’t even ask. So, the mystery remained. Though it continued to perpetrate the walls in an ever so familiar pattern. So, she had little clue where she was going. But she had a pretty good idea.

Left, left, right, two straights then a diagonal strafe through the odd security door. Forward twice then four consecutive rights.

The launching tunnel. Why was she being deployed so soon after a mission? Did she leave some pony?

No. That never happened. Celestia was way too thorough to miss somepony. Nor was the makeshift camp able to support a hiding spot that could hide from her scans. 

The door to the tube opened in front of her. She got into the tiny space and grabbed the little rod that pierced both walls. The door closed behind her and hissed with an air-tight seal. She felt herself look upwards to see the tiny little light at the end of the tunnel.

The walls around her hummed as the tunnel rotated into a position. It clunked as it locked, and she could feel the air around her thrumming. The little bar then shot along the tunnel, pulling her along with it. It got faster and faster and the G force she could feel was strong but familiar. 

The light at the end of the tunnel expanded till it took up the entirety of her vision, revealing it to be daylight. Her eyes had the ability to auto-adjust so she was still able to see the moment she was outside. 

For a brief moment, she got to see a little part of where she was kept. The edge of the Canterlot castle was now blackened. Very little of the white surface remained now. Technology seemed to anchor itself into the palace like a parasite, spewing black smoke from its buildings filled with light. She soared past the half-ruined houses and struggling shops and saw a massive wall. Though she was already past it before she could blink. Only seeing it so many times helped her make a picture. That and when she came back. 

But she was normally too distraught to care.

She continued her airel trajectory and only opened her mechanical wings after a few minutes of flight. There she continued over little towns, both alive and dead. She also passed over Ponyville. Or what was left of it. 

It was utterly destroyed. Only Sweet Apple acres remained under a massive force field. Not even the Everfree forest existed anymore. Celestia had already vaporized the entirety of the magical forest. The only landmark left was the old castle of the two sisters. Its scorched remains giving a reminder to those who could remember it. 

She continued past it to another forest. Though this was common. Trees were pretty much everywhere now. It was the quickest way to provide shade in the scorched lands. But even they didn’t last as long as they used to. Burnt alive under the constant sun. Though they were more hearty than the old tree she was used to. The ones that were left anyhow.

She suddenly felt her wings extend sharply outwards, slowing her down significantly. She dropped in altitude and quickly landed. She quickly slinked forward through the trees and brush. Her mechanical legs not pausing in the deep mud. She also had scanners to help her avoid the deep pits that would eat a hoof or leg. So, she had little difficulty traversing. Transversing to where though?

The destination came into view a few moments later.

A small bar was built out here. Its wooden building and blackened windows looked like an eyesore as it stood among the trees. Why would somepony build a bar out here? 

There was a pathway leading to the bar and she could see it leading outwards to somewhere outside her vision. 

It must have been built along a path through this forest. So, it probably wasn’t just a bar but rather a small hotel. A resting spot even. Though why would Celestia call her out here? What was out here that was so important?

That answer too revealed itself as she felt panels along her skin fill with energy. She silently exited her foliage cover and trotted towards the building with intent haste.

An assassination.





Starlight practically used the wall of the stairwell as a cushion to slow herself down. The key to her room was floating in her magic as she threw herself down the stairs. She magically caught and reorientated herself at the bottom then launched out the stairwell. Fluttershy’s cuite mark was still burning on her leg but didn’t change in intensity as she continued to run. 

“Thanks for the room!!” She said urgently as she placed the key on the kirin’s table, not stopping her run. He gave her a concerned look, but she turned away as he began to speak.

But any sort of cognitive resources needed to understand were immediately yanked away as she felt her leg burn. Though on the front side of her leg.

Front, slightly up… She thought as her mind calculated a practiced motion. She ducked and slid, lowering her head as much as she could.

Her hair was caught in a sudden air current as something whipped above her, removing a small chunk of her hair. She covered herself with a magic shield and charged forward, using her shoulder like a ram. As expected, she hit something that her eyes couldn’t see. She pushed into it, magically amplifying her efforts.  

Something moved out of her way. That something then smashed into a table, reducing it to splinters.

The impact caused the object to flutter in and out of view. A black-suited pony. Glossy metal armor and a familiar metal helmet.

“Shyborg!!” Rang out among the bar, spoken by a few bystanders.

The single word seemed to cause panic. Filling the room with sound as the group tried to get away from the pony. Though she was already gone. The table shifted; the only clue of her presence.

Starlight was already gone as well. She was out the door as soon as the pony was out of her way. She only heard the cursed nickname follow her out. She hated that nickname for her friend Fluttershy, no matter how fitting it was of her situation. 

She just couldn’t believe the pony was doing it of her own free will! Nor the rest of the Elements of Harmony. She shook her head, she needed to focus. She had gone through those thoughts before, and she’d dwell on them later.

So, she continued to gallop away from the bar. She was now using her magic to harden the mud into a suitable running surface, paying close attention to the pain on her foreleg. It wasn’t too strong but was steadily growing with every step. 

She heard the air thrum before the sound of some pony landing nearby. She didn’t even look back. The action would be useless as Fluttershy would no doubt be cloaked. 

The pain on her leg started to grow sharply, making her eyes flick to her right.

Right, higher up, she thought then dove left just before the pain spiked. She manifested a shield on her side and used it as a sled to avoid another hidden blow. She pushed herself forward a little with her back legs before she could get herself up onto her forelegs.

Top, she noted, and delayed getting onto the rest of her legs by ducking. Again, her hair flew into motion as something whirled right above it. Starlight then strained her forelegs and threw herself forward. She again used her magic to harden the mud she would be landing at, then used it to scrape the top layer, arising a large dirt cloud to land among.

Then she surrounded herself with it, tightly weaving it around to avoid it getting into her eyes. The last thing she needed was to be blinded. 

The cloud glowed slightly brighter as she ground the dirt into fine dust. She held it around her on standby. She had prepped for this…

She idly shifted her legs, waiting. Painfully aware of her surroundings. Her leg was slowly burning with more intensity as she waited. Though it was slow, gradually reaching a peak.

She struggled to control her facial expression but maintained a controlled face, waiting ever so patiently.

Fluttershy was right in front of her if her magic was telling her right. While she had trained for this, her nerves would not settle, no matter how hard she tried to quell them. She felt her lungs demand more air and she wanted to jump back, teleport back, something! But she had gone through this scenario. She already knew she couldn’t teleport with her around. Too risky. But if her plan worked out, this battle could turn in her favor.

So, she waited. Slowly feeling the pain increase. Then, when she saw a tiny puff of dust spawn just in front of her, she threw herself back, using her back legs as a fulcrum. Her magically protected forelegs snapped to her chest where she caught an invisible object. Continuing the motion, she then threw the hidden object over her head, rolling onto her back in the process. She winced with effort and pain as the object had cut her face. But it was too small to warrant any concern.

A large skid mark marked the landing of the invisible object. Though it was much larger than the object she had caught. She rolled to a crouched position and aligned the dust cloud to her will.  She shot the cloud towards the skid mark, accelerating it to a blur.

The hardened mud made tiny little puffs as the granules hit. Though there was an area where no puffs spawned. Rather, white-edged color streaks appeared midair. They appeared and disappeared for a few moments till parts of the metal-clad pegasus were phasing in and out of view.

Starlight smiled. Her plan had worked! Though she frowned as the phasing stopped and the metal cladded Fluttershy stood in front of her in all her infamous glory.

She was covered hoof to mane with metal. Black and glossy, if a bit scratched at this moment but the metal still looked quite intact. The metal covering her friend looked like a slightly thicker jumpsuit with extra plates around joints and where saddlebags would be. Her wings were no different. Metal feathers glimmered silver along their black fittings. Her robotic tail idly shifted back and forth as she faced Starlight. Its triangular pieces brushing against one another without a sound.

She couldn’t see the pony’s face with the helmet she was sporting. It seemed to be made of the glossy metal, but portions of the helmet reflected the light just a little bit more. It also wasn’t spared from Starlight’s attack with large scratches scoring the helmet. Some deeper than the ones on the rest of the body. Though she could still envision her friend’s gentle eyes beneath it. Her being wanted to rip off that helmet and give her friend a big hug. Though she knew under Celestia’s control it would end very poorly.

“Very clever Starlight, very clever…” Fluttershy said but not how a pony should talk. Rather than a single voice, there were two. Fluttershy’s timid worried voice was in the background, while Celestia’s smooth voice spoke with amused boldness. The princess’s voice was quite prominent, nearly smothering the timid pegasus’s voice.

“But I can assure you it’s merely cosmetic damage,” The two voices made a strange harmony of fear and amusement.

“Then why aren’t you cloaked if it’s cosmetic?” Starlight replied taking a step back.

The pegasus laughed. A slightly muted laugh that contained mirth and fear, “Because I want me to be the last thing you see…” The pegasus’s helmet gained two glowing orbs where her eyes ought to be. Orange circles that contained a smaller circle of redder color that wasn’t obscured by the scratches in the slightest.

Starlight’s ears plastered themselves to her skull as the golden eyes stared at her. She took another step back, but fear locked her mind.

Every line on the pegasus’s armor glowed with a fiery orange, only for flames to emerge from the lines. They expanded as the armor plating moved and shifted, allowing the pegasus’s form to grow. The legs lengthened, sporting solar flames that tasted the air. Starlight heard a whimper of pain for a moment as her barrel lengthened as well, allowing more flames and light to emerge. Her wings extended and began to enlarge into a massive wingspan of dancing flames. The robotic tail made up of several segments sparked and turned into a tongue of flame, bouncing to and fro.

The helmet of the pegasus clicked and clanked as it too changed shape. The muzzle piece lengthened, while the overall height shrunk slightly. Portions of the helmet swung into hidden compartments, allowing more fire and light to emerge. A large swathe of flame swung behind the pony’s head to become a familiar fiery mane. A long horn made up of dancing flames swirled up from the pony’s approximate forehead while Celestia’s cuite mark glowed red hot on the pony’s metal flank.

In a matter of seconds, there was an alicorn. An alicorn using the form of another pony. But still had the strength, size, and intimidation as one. She still couldn’t see the face but the glowing limbs and dancing flames among the metal sure sent a message.

Starlight swallowed gently, unsure of what she should do next.

Celestia chuckled, her voice still mingling with Fluttershy’s now pained voice, “Let’s make this fun, shall we?” 

Starlight shook her head and took off. Though she had barely taken three steps before she felt the mark on her leg burn sharply. She ducked to avoid another blow. And when she looked up, the alicorn landed briskly in front of her. Starlight couldn’t see her smile, but she could vividly imagine one stretched along her friend’s lips.

“Oh Starlight, no escape this time…” Celestia said with a gleeful voice while Fluttershy’s voice carried despair.

Starlight found her mouth far too dry. Though she couldn’t help but notice a tiny red dot along the alicorn’s shoulder. It was quivering slightly but vanished as the alicorn dashed forward. Starlight barely jumped backward to avoid the bladed forehoof that swung at her. Though she had forgotten about the mass behind the pony which smashed into her, sending her flying. 

She landed with a roll to avoid getting hurt too bad. However, the impact site was burned, and she could feel a bruise in the area. Since it was directly on her chest, every breath caused a small amount of pain to flood the area. 

Starlight turned to face her opponent once more. She had been hit harder, battled under much more serious injuries, and had trained herself to overcome much harder obstacles.

Though Celestia wasn’t something she planned for in its entirety. She considered the chance the Princess may come in pony to face her but never truly prepared for it. The Princess never possessed the Elements to do their job. Only when the resistance had mounted a defense powerful enough to need it. 

The resistance would then be crushed. Utterly.

Starlight had planned that if the Princess were to show her face, then she would need to get away. There was no way for her to fight the alicorn. If the Princess had shown up in her form, well, there would be nothing she could do.

Here though she had a chance. Celestia was possessing Fluttershy, so her magical abilities wouldn’t be as strong. Still strong enough to flatten her but not decimate her.

She took a step back, summoning her sword from her dimension. She had a very finite amount of magic around her. And since it was fueling her sleep-deprived body, she needed to make sure that store didn’t run out. Or she’d probably just fall asleep. 

In front of a fiery, death alicorn that wanted her soul.

She took in a breath, letting the alicorn close the gap to her with slow steps. She so badly wanted to just teleport away. She had plenty of firecrackers that when charged with magic, would disrupt the magic that could be used to trace her. 

Though the last time she tried when she was in view of the Elements, she reappeared with an iron spike in her mane. Somehow, they had tracked her, then shot at where she was going to appear. Before she had materialized into the physical space!

If it hadn’t missed, then it likely would have been the end right then and there. So, she didn’t dare risk teleporting till she was sure of her cover and the location of Elements. She still didn’t know who had fired the spike. She only got away from Fluttershy last time because of some paint and thick steel buildings.

But here, Celestia wouldn’t care about paint nor buildings. Starlight swallowed dryly and pulled her gauntlet out as well. It would allow her to connect her sword to her foreleg without the need for magic. But she still hovered her sword close.

“Are you ready yet?” Celestia asked, Fluttershy’s timid voice full of hopelessness. She had almost closed the entire gap.

Starlight shook her head, stalling for as long as she could. It didn’t work.

“Oh, okay,” Celestia said but Fluttershy’s voice relayed warning in tense tones. Starlight tensed as Celestia dashed forward. Her sword clanged as she deflected a blade. She made extra care to avoid the tongue of flame flowing behind the alicorn as it contained Fluttershy’s razor-sharp tail. Though Starlight barely had a moment to breathe before the alicorn spun on a hoof to attack once more.

Clang!

Her sword reverberated in her magic as it deflected the blow. It however chipped the blade. A tiny triangle bit by the alicorn’s hoof blade just near the top.

Clang!

Again, Celestia jumped over her, wildly swinging the red hot blade. Though, when she landed, flames appeared on the ground and stayed as she attacked once more. 

Clang!

Starlight’s mind was racing as she watched the alicorn place another section of fire. It was probably magic as there was only mud and little brush. Not nearly big enough to sustain the bonfire that sprung to life. Celestia chuckled and leapt at the unicorn again.

Starlight parried the blow but received a cut along her shoulder. She looked at it briefly to check if it needed care, but it had been cauterized. She turned her attention back to the alicorn in time to block another blow.

What could she do? She couldn’t teleport until she desperately needed to. Though she couldn’t help but feel that she was only alive because the alicorn was playing with her. She had been seen vaporizing an entire city with a single flare. Her magic could melt through 150 mm steel with ease. Yet, she, a mere unicorn, was still alive. Why?

Qui-ting!

The top half of her sword snapped, sending the shrapnel glancing along her flank. She winced as a healthy cut appeared just above her cutie mark. Fortunately, it wasn’t deep, or at least her initial inspection told her that before she had to block again. But it was bleeding, not heavily, and it stung every time she moved her back leg. 

She also noticed that she was now completely surrounded by fire. Though that wasn’t completely terrible. The fire was magic in nature, and she could use that energy to sustain herself. The terrible thing? Celestia was now using those thick flames to hide herself before attacking. 

Starlight still wasn’t terribly frightened. Despite seeing the fiery creature reminding her of demons straight out of Tartarus. She could still feel where the alicorn vaguely was because of the mark on her foreleg. 

Starlight yelped as the alicorn leapt at her, but her sword was on her other side. She instinctively used her gauntlet to block, jarring her shoulder from the blow. It also made her stumble back. Far enough that her tail caught fire. She growled as she put it out with a little magic. She blocked another blow but still received another cut along her shoulder. She ignored it and poured a little magic into the flames surrounding her, attempting to put them out. The flames dimmed but rose back up as she aborted her spell. She could put them out, it would require quite a bit of energy though.

But what would she do when she got out of the ring of fire? She needed cover, yet the thin coverage of trees would not help her. She needed something larger that wouldn’t be so easy to guess where she was hiding.

She couldn’t hide behind a tree when any shot through it would go through her as well. 

Celestia jumped again through the flames, though, this time she was a lot lower than Starlight had anticipated. Her broken sword was way too high.

Clang!

She blocked it with her gauntlet once more. This time it dislocated her shoulder. She cried out accordingly, feeling tiny shards of metal cut into her skin from the piece. She gave it a look of pain and noted that the locking mechanism for her blade was still intact. She gritted her teeth and grabbed her leg with her magic, intending to put it back into place. Then she froze.

The flames in front of her were swirling together, unnaturally so. The thin lines of light came together and formed a long waving rod. From the top of the rod formed a large, recognizable blade.

The fiery ax slowly materialized from the magic fire and hurled itself at her.

Starlight immediately brought up a shield. It exploded with a thud and emitted a torrent of burning sparks. 

Starlight heightened her senses of magic, wildly looking around for another to appear. Her foreleg burned and she whipped around to hastily block another blow before the Princess once more disappeared in the flames. Her ears perked as she felt magic forming behind her, so she whipped her shield to face it. 

Sure enough, the front side exploded as another axe collided with it. Though she knew what it felt like now. She wouldn’t have to look. 

She instead focused on the burning mark on her leg, making sure she was facing Celestia at all times. Her shield spun around her, blocking the axes while distracting her for a mere moment. Though she could feel her eyes flickering to every movement past the waving flames of light.

Celestia laughed after a tense minute, “How interesting! Oh, how fun!! I didn’t expect you to last this long!”

Starlight growled, “Cut the crap! I know you could have ended me at any moment; why are you playing with me?”

She only got a light chuckle before a response, “I’m surprised that sword can block mine. Most get cut clean in half. You should see the looks on their face when that happens!”

“Made it myself,” Starlight muttered unhappily. The heat from the circle was beginning to make her sweat. The little burning sparks from the axes along with the Princess’s unwillingness to tell her were not helping her mood either.

“Why is that?” The Princess’s head pushed through the flames, making Starlight twitch, “Got no friends to make it for you?”

Starlight snarled but said nothing. 

The alicorn laughed, “Oh? The Great and Powerful Starlight has no help?”

Starlight thought her teeth would crack with how much pressure they were under. But she slowly released her jaw. The Princess was just getting under her skin, trying to make her mad. Which would make her sloppy.

She took a deep breath of hot air and stared at the head, “Well? Come on then! I don’t got all day!”

“Oh! I’m sorry! I just need one more thing,” Celestia said in an unnaturally timid tone, “I mean, if you don’t mind that is,” 

Starlight growled once more as the alicorn maniacally laughed and withdrew her head. It then came back with another flying hit. She blocked it, once more chipping her sword.

The conversation had left her blood boiling and her mind turning. Her great and powerful friend had shown her how she made her famous smoke bombs. She even added a bit of magic to prevent magical eyes from seeing her. Though it was useless when the opponent had thermal vision. Though she might be able to use the heat of the flames to her advantage…

She had a way out. She just needed to know where to go. She blocked another hit, losing a small chunk of her sword. She felt her shield reorientate itself to block another axe. They were getting more frequent but the magic around her was still strong. She wasn’t worried.

Her leg was still stinging, so she pulled magic into her leg and reset the joint, blocking another swinging hit from Celestia. Her worry was bouncing around her head. Why was she still alive? 

She wasn’t complaining. Though, she would have to make a much better plan for the next time. Though, if she got out of this, she dearly hoped there wouldn’t be a next time. 

She pocketed the thought and began to fire magical blasts through the flames. She made sure to fire them close to where Celestia was, to hide her true intentions. She blocked another hit, listening to the trees crash to the ground. She didn’t dare smile. But she had aimed well.

“Does the little pony want to fight back?” Celestia taunted, “Or does she have a plan?”

Starlight didn’t respond but held what was left of her sword at the ready. Celestia came through the wall of fire again, walking menacingly. Well, it was just her walking, but Starlight’s heart seemed to stop, restart, and skip a beat, all at the same time. She swallowed and located the smoke bomb within her pocket. 

Celestia jumped forward and swiveled on a single back hoof, throwing her entire body into a deadly swing. Starlight moved back, allowing her sword to slow the momentum. Though, Celestia’s hoof blade only slid across it, leaving much of the momentum.

Celestia used it to continue to spin, catching Starlight’s sword in the kinks of Fluttershy’s tail. It stuck fast and was ripped around. Starlight let the sword go and summoned the smoke bomb to her hoof. As she jumped to avoid the fiery tail, she made sure to land on the smoke bomb. 

It exploded in a sparkly blue that obscured the air with a tight haze. Starlight however wasn’t using her eyes to guide her movements. Trixie had helped train her to guide herself without the need to see.

“When Trixie uses the smoke bomb, the audience can’t see her. Even Trixie can’t see Trixie! The Great and Powerful Trixie must plan, visualize, then act to perform her stunning escape.” The words rang through her mind as she felt for the fire surrounding her. She poured her magic into it, quenching it. She then dashed through and out of the cloud. 

The moment she could see, she realized she had made a slight error.

She had exited the cloud where she had anticipated but the trees, which she had collapsed into a makeshift barrier, were farther than she had thought. She didn’t stop to think but ran as fast as her little legs could take her. 

She heard hoof steps behind her along with the burning on her foreleg increasing. At the height of the burn, she whipped around and put up a special shield.

Fluttershy had become infamous for her hoof blades. They were very sharp, capable of cutting through a lot of metal before stopping. Though, it was also really good at cutting straight through magic. She had heard numerous stories of her cutting straight through personal shields. 

This shield was different though. It was meant to be cut through, delivering an explosion that would send herself away. Hopefully, in this case, to where she wanted to go. She also put on her own personal shield moments before.

As expected, Celestia’s blade was moments from entering her back. Though, it entered the shield with Starlight’s action. The spell took effect, sending Starlight flying with a small magical explosion. Starlight grunted as the flight suddenly stopped with her hitting the fallen tree. 

She let her personal shield go and scurried up and over the tree. She crouched and moved a bit to the side to hide her true location. Her back felt the rough bark as her lungs enjoyed the cooler air. She ignored it and charged her horn. 

She had made several checkpoints as she traveled. In case she ever needed to get out of a sticky situation. She had only used them twice but was glad she made them now. She thought about the nearest one and let the spell go.

The energy flooded her body and reacted with the air around her. Making a small flash. 

Though her location didn’t change. Her eyes went wide.

But she was suddenly shoved forcibly into the mud by the tree behind her as it was sent flying. She tried to get up but was forcibly pushed to the side till she was on her back, looking towards the sky. Unfortunately, the pressure had been applied to her injured shoulder, making it twinge in response. 

Celestia was above her, and with a swift movement, placed a hoof on her chest. The sides of her legs fell outwards and down till they became a clamp, anchoring her to the ground.

Starlight tried using her hooves to buck, kick, and pry to release herself despite the mud obscuring her vision. She, again and again, tried to use her teleportation spell, but it got blocked every time. Her forelegs were then forcibly pushed outwards till they were straight out on either side. Warm magic held them there, despite her efforts.

The warmth spread to her head as it was forcibly turned to face the burning alicorn. Her mind went quiet as the mud was gently removed from her face.

“Last thing, you see. ME.” Her voice was filled with dark determination, followed by desperation. She reached back her fore hoof, where it again sprouted a large thin blade. She brought it down, flames engulfing it.

The blade froze as Starlight pulled the residual magic from the area and tuned it to the blade. Since it was filled with Celestia’s magic, it acted like a magnet. Her instincts created the magic without thought but she consciously poured energy into it. Keeping the spell alive.

But it required a lot of magic and she had to spin the energy, giving the spell a fiery line spinning around the blade.

Celestia chuckled with both amusement and worry, “Clever as always Starlight! But this little spell won’t help you now…” She physically put her body onto the blade, leveraging her weight and strength. The blade dropped an inch before stopping.

Starlight’s heart seemed to edge away from the blade as much as it could. Nestling itself somewhere in her back. What could she do?! 

Celestia laughed, “Finally got you! It took way too long to put this plan into place.”

Starlight frowned, “What?” Her voice was strained and cracked when the blade dropped a little more.

“Well, you love to teleport all around your enemies, easily outmaneuvering them. That’s how you avoided Rareflect! As you clearly couldn’t use magic against her and that’s your thing. So, I had to stop that little habit of yours.”

Starlight’s heart jumped once more as the blade dropped again but noticed what she was getting at. 

She must have shown it on her face cause Celestia chuckled, “Put it together so fast?”

“You had something else shoot that spike at me,” Starlight said with a growl. Her concentration broke a bit as she saw another small, bright red dot appear on Celestia’s shoulder. 

“Right you are! I had to make you think I had something to track your teleport and shoot you before you materialized. It’s a shame it missed but it’s much too big to put into these things,” she said, using her wing to tap her head as both legs were occupied.

Starlight wasn’t in the position to frown but she didn’t like the Princess referring to her friends as, “things.”

Celestia continued, “Though you had no idea! You just thought you got fortunate and never teleported again! Unless you had an impenetrable cover... So, I had to let you plan. Make you think you had a chance to get away. You obviously wouldn’t fight me, cause, well, duh! While your little brain was running around in circles, I was placing an anti-teleportation field coded to your energy.”

“And you’re telling me this now because?” Starlight said straining. The blade was now close enough that her eyes couldn’t focus on it.

She chuckled darkly, “What’s the fun if the pony doesn’t know they got outsmarted? You’d do the same thing in a game, right?”

“So this is just a game?” Starlight said. She had an idea but needed time to gather the energy. The blade was magic resistant, and she couldn’t teleport. But it was still technically metal, and she could use magnetism to warp it. Hopefully, that would weaken it enough for it to break on her personal shield.

“Yep! Game over…” she said chirpily, then darkly. Hopelessness and anger were in Fluttershy’s voice.

The blade dropped again but Starlight managed to stop the blade just in time. Well, sort of; the tip of the blade had pierced her chest a bit. It barely broke her skin; instantly cauterized.

Starlight gritted her teeth, trying to focus on her magic. Though she seemed to get a lucky break when a small dome-like chunk of metal appeared on Celestia’s shoulder. 

Celestia gave the object a curious look, then chuckled, “Ah, Sunset shimmer. It’s been a while! Do get in line though, dealing with somepony else at the moment,” She turned to something Starlight couldn’t see, “You’ll get your turn,” She added darkly.

“Well, that’s my friend. I’m sure she won’t mind me going first,” The voice of Sunset shimmer reached Starlight’s ears. 

Celestia laughed again though this time much more heartily, “You think this little piece of human tech can stop me? Humans have no magic! Little heat resistance!” She said mockingly. The little dome attaching itself to Celestia’s shoulder started to glow as her heat was fed into it.

“Well, one thing I’ve learned about humans: they like to find solutions to impossible situations,” Sunset said with a smile that Starlight could hear.

The little dome suddenly started to glow as a white ring of molten metal appeared on the dome. It popped and lost the top part of itself. Then, a white-hot flame burst out of it. It applied a massive amount of thrust to the alicorn, sending her flying off Starlight. But the flame vanished a few moments later.

Celestia growled and the flames dancing around her grew brighter. The blast had sent the pony into the surrounding trees and mud. Though the mud was already flaking off as dirt as the pony got up.

She growled but exclaimed in surprise as the device exploded into a tan foam that hardened in moments. She then gave a shout of frustration as the foam cracked with her struggle but held fast.

Celestia chuckled, “You better run,” she said in a sing-song voice, further pushed by Fluttershy’s urgency. 

Starlight took the cue and stood up, despite her body’s complaints. She looked for Sunset and found her easily. 

She was in her human form that Starlight had met her in. Black jacket and all. Though she was carrying a device that she didn’t recognize. It was a tube of sorts. With a tiny little visor on the side and a carrying grip meant for human hands. 

Sunset was crouched with the tube over her shoulder. Her face was by the visor, covering one of her eyes. There was a click, and a thoom as another projectile was shot out of the tube. It was another dome device she had seen earlier. It landed on the foam blob that contained Celestia and started to blink red.

“That won’t hold long! Quick, follow me!” Sunset said, looking Starlight dead in the eye.

Starlight nodded and rushed to her. Her steps faltered a bit as she threw the tube into the air. She then pressed her necklace and disappeared in a flash of light. When she reappeared, she was back in her pony form. 

The discarded tube now floated along in the air, suspended by a bright red glow. Starlight felt the question rest of her tongue but didn’t get a chance to say it.

“Later,” Sunset said urgently, “We need to move!”

Starlight swallowed her question and followed the unicorn as she took off into the trees. The unicorn wasn’t caring about the mud along the ground, sending it flying as she ran.

Starlight made sure to be to the side of the unicorn to avoid the muck but noted that she wasn’t doing any better on the ground. She was tempted to use her magic to solidify the ground but decided against it. She wasn’t sure where she was going. For all she knew she could be going to where little residual magic was. She’d rather have energy at the ready, little as it would be.

There was a thunderous crack behind them, shaking the branches of the trees and the dust on the bark.

“Already!?” Sunset exclaimed, worry set in her voice, “Hurry Starlight! Double time it!”

Sunset increased her speed, Starlight following suit. She heard the princess behind them take to the air in a blast that could be heard from a mile away.

Though she then saw where Sunset was taking her. 

Tucked among the trees with a little foliage barely covering it, was a truck. 

Starlight only knew about the vehicle because she visited the human world. It was like a wagon but didn’t need pony power to get it moving. It could also move a lot faster than a carriage. Well, more times than not. This variant of the vehicle had a large flatbed on the back, sacrificing passenger space for storage. Though it still had room in its cab for about 5 humans, depending on the model.

“The truck?” Starlight asked plainly.

Sunset nodded.

Starlight gathered her magic with a nod and teleported them both to the vehicle. Sunset dug her hooves into the now hard ground to stop but gave Starlight a thankful look. She hovered the tube close and magically opened the passenger side door. Starlight would have gotten in but found she couldn’t.

Both the back seat and the passenger side were taken up by some sort of device. It looked like something Twilight would have made years back. Metal fittings, glowing wires and tubes, and a mess of wires and diodes to boot. The dashboard of the vehicle was covered in a multitude of multicolored buttons, switches, and leavers. Underneath was a mess of wires that contained an inconceivable amount of wires. She could even follow the path of a single one.

But a glowing cylinder rested in between the two seats caught her eye. It had a simple turning device on the front, kinda like a “T.”

Starlight was about to ask where she was going to go but Sunset had already started to speak as she tossed the tube into the depths of the back seat, “Hop in the bed! The floor is magnetic, so I think Megnes’s Spell of Metal Allurement would help you stay in place.”

Starlight nodded and quickly levitated herself into the bed while Sunset traveled around the front. She tapped on her necklace again. She disappeared once more as she transformed back into her human form. This time, Starlight was able to glimpse a look at the jewelry as she opened the door.

It was a simple dull red metal piece. A circle plate that had a small engraving of a circle with lines inside leading to a smaller square. A silver chain held it in place.

She lost sight of it as the human got into the driver’s seat of the vehicle. Though both creatures jumped as Celestia landed hard in front of the vehicle. 

“I told you,” Celestia taunted, “Humans have no magic! So are inferior to mine!” She then blasted the windshield with a magic bolt of fire. Starlight ducked and saw Sunset brace.

“Oh Glyph! Do not fail me now!” She cried out.

Starlight had seen the magic penetrate bunkers of full steel. Buildings were cut in half and even mountains were gouged with this attack. Though, the glass seemed to take it in strides, fully dissipating the energy harmlessly. 

Starlight merely blinked as she stared through the truck's open back window, impressed.

Though Sunset didn’t react much. She instead began to hastily press buttons and switch switches along her dashboard. Though froze momentarily when Fluttershy’s hoof blade went through the windshield next to her. Though the glass didn’t shatter. Rather, it bent and stretched while filled with thousands of cracks. It looked like it had been turned to fabric!

Celestia then began to tear the crinkly fabric away from the truck in large chunks. Sunset’s dashboard suddenly pulled Starlight’s attention with the appearance of a bright green button. It looked as if Sunset was about to hit it when she froze, trapped in a bright orange glow.

Starlight paled as Sunset struggled against the magical levitation to no avail. She was gently lifted out of the truck and levitated over the hood.

“Fun tricks from everypony today!” Celestia said with a chipper voice, “It’s so much more fun when they can actually fight back! Right Shyborg?”

Starlight growled and once more banished the anger out of her mind. What was she going to do now? She felt utterly hopeless as she watched her friend float in midair. She had to hurry, cause Celestia’s favorite method of execution was not fun.

Celestia laughed with mirth while it echoed with sadness and anger.

“It’s not your fault Fluttershy!” Sunset said with her efforts to get free.

“Oh? But it truly is! This is her body after all!” She then cackled for a few moments, “Well, I’ve never toasted a human before! Let’s see how long you last!”

Sunset paled as the energy surrounding her glowed brighter. Sweat immediately formed on her brow and her breathing quickened. A blue circle suddenly started to glow on her belt. It beeped and Sunset was surrounded by blue pulsing rings that overlapped each other as they circled her. Her face immediately relaxed and she muttered silent words.

Celestia turned her head a bit, “What’s this? Another fun toy?” The magic surrounding her began to glow brighter, causing the blue to glow brighter too.

Though Starlight wasn’t truly paying attention. She was trying to figure out the dashboard. Sunset was obviously trying to do something in the face of the Princess. Though she saw the green button, was there anything else she needed to press?

She frowned and condensed air with her magic, just in front of the little button. She pressed it, hoping that other buttons would light up and guide her to victory. Though the button went dark, and nothing happened. 

At least inside the vehicle.

The outside clicked twice before a large section of the vehicle swiveled outwards, just behind the headlights. Two large cannon-looking devices snapped out and shot two bullets of foam.

They exploded on Celestia’s face, covering her in more tan liquid that expanded and began to harden. The alicorn took a few steps back, wiping off the unpleasant-smelling chemical. Though it stuck to her hooves, still expanding and hardening. 

It cracked as Celestia poured heat into it, making it start to flake off. But the cannons shot again, scoring more hits. Then the cannons took turns firing, each shot hitting the Alicorn with hardening foam. The Princess merely growled as she was nearly completely covered in blackening foam. 

The initial shots had been able to push her back, but she was making slow progress back to the truck. Starlight watched with worry as the human Sunset crawled back into the truck. She got back into her seat and pulled something she had to crouch to reach, just to the left of the steering wheel.

The broken windshield hissed as it was blasted off with pressurized air. The hood then lifted a few centimeters, and a new windshield began to slide into position. Though Sunset didn’t wait for the windshield to get into position. She quickly buckled herself up and grasped the steering wheel. The truck lurched into motion, throwing Starlight back a bit before she caught herself. It took a hard left and quickly gained speed. 

Starlight heard the cannons click as they folded back into their hidden compartments. But she wasn’t looking at them. She was instead looking back towards the Princess slowly getting free of the foam. Starlight swallowed, her mind reviewing what she was saved from. Then her thoughts bounced as the truck took a sharp right, left, and right in rapid succession. The poor unicorn bounced against the walls of the bed but managed to stay in.

“Are you okay?!” Sunset called through the back window.

Starlight nodded, “Yeah! I’ve been through worse!” She had to shout over the wind.

“Do you know Megnes’s spell?!”

Starlight nodded again, “Yeah!”

“Use it on the metal floor! It’s going to get bumpier!” Sunset repeated urgently.

Starlight gathered magic to her hooves and lifted one at a time to enchant them. When she put them back down, they snapped to the smooth bed as the spell turned her hooves into magnets. She carefully walked towards the center of the bed, then crouched to lower her center of gravity. She was still able to see over the gate of the truck, but it was a lot easier to stay on when it took a sharp turn. 

Her hair was flowing wildly in the wind the truck was pushing through. She gave it a sour look as she could see now how much her vanity had suffered in the past few years. Rarity would have a heart attack if she saw her, so she resolved to fix it before that happened.

Though her thoughts popped as she felt the mark on her leg burn. Her head snapped up and she saw a bright glow above scorched leaves.

She tensed and began to pull up a magical shield but paused as the sides of the bed opened up and two large cylindrical pieces of metal came out. They were just a tad longer than she was and looked a lot like rockets. 

They swiveled upwards and the sharp cones faced the sky. A few moments later they launched, a bright light propelling them upwards. They ran towards the much brighter light Celestia was producing as she dived down. They didn’t hit her though, rather came near her and snapped to her sides. The little lights on the ends glowed brighter as they gained more power.

The alicorn then was subjugated to an uncontrollable flight as she fought against the rockets for a few precious seconds. The flight was ended on the ground as the rockets melted off the sides of the red hot alicorn. Starlight felt fear gather in her chest as the glowing eyes glowed brighter. Her jaw tightened as she poured more magic into her shield.

Celestia fired a fiery bolt at the truck, only to have it hit Starlight’s preemptive shield. Though in blocking the shot she could feel the energy of the environment get pulled into the shield through her. She felt like a riverbank. One wrong move and she’d feel the full force of the magical current she was channeling. It lasted a few seconds, but her shield successfully blocked the blow. Her legs shook for a moment as if she had just finished a marathon she hadn’t trained for. 

She wearily kept up the shield as she watched Celestia charge forward, chasing the truck on hoof. She thought it was odd as she had wings and there was still room to fly around the speeding vehicle. Though that could just be a ploy. Or maybe she knew something about human technology she didn’t. 

She frowned, hating not knowing. But she kept the shield up and kept the solar Princess in her sight. She turned her head back a bit and called out, “What’s the plan?! I can’t keep her off us forever!”

“There’s an old train tunnel nearby! We need to get to that!”

Starlight had to cut off her question why, “Okay? I know the tunnel you’re talking about, I can teleport us there!” She began to gather her energy for such a big target but stopped when Sunset shouted.

“No! Don’t! You’ll mess up the Quantum resonation signature!” 

Starlight was now even more curious but let it go as she blocked another shot from Celestia. The pony was now gaining on the truck, making Starlight’s gut turn into knots.

How was a tunnel going to help them now? If she had some superweapon, then that could make sense but surely the Alicorn wouldn’t allow herself to be such a big target.

She fired lasers from her horn, directing them at trees around them. They crumpled with their bases destroyed and landed in front of the alicorn. Yet she either crashed through them or hopped over them. It slowed her down a fraction of a hoof step.

Starlight looked at her surroundings, suddenly recognizing the riverbed she had put one of her checkpoints at. The abandoned beaver dam still stood above the flowing river as the heat caused its levels to drop considerably. 

“Sunset! We are getting close to the tunnel! What’s the plan?!” She cried out desperately. She was now able to make out the scratches along Fluttershy’s armor. She could only see the large ones across her helmet but that would change soon. 

Sunset didn’t respond for a moment, turning the truck sharply to avoid a tree.

“Sunset?!”

“I can’t tell you! She might hear us!” Starlight shouted over the wind, “Just get down when I say!!”

Starlight gulped. Normally she’d challenge that since it could be a Changeling in Sunset’s form trying to get the bounty on her head. Or some elaborate spell she didn’t bother to check because she was just in the hooves of death. 

Though Sunset’s outfit and the truck strongly suggested that she had come from the human dimension. Though Sunset probably hadn’t seen Equestria’s downfall, right? How did she know so much? And why did she have devices specifically made to counter Celestia’s overwhelming powers?

She watched another makeshift barrier get blasted to bits by the Princess. Was that why she wasn’t flying around them? Surely she could get in front of the vehicle! Why was she trying so hard to catch up?

Had Sunset and Celestia fought before?

Starlight blocked another shot, feeling her limbs lose all their energy and gain it again. Assuming that, what was Celestia weary of? A thought ran through her brain coupled with the memory of the glass not shattering under Celestia’s attack. She blocked another attack and shot a laser of her own. 

It wasn’t aimed at the Solar pony chasing them, rather, at the bed itself. It wasn’t high-powered in case it bounced but it didn’t do that. The material merely seemed to absorb the energy, leaving a faint light blue mist that was whisked away. 

She blocked another shot and then dropped down below the gate. She kept up her shield, however, placing it by the open window behind her.

The truck was mostly magic-proof! So, she would be able to stay safe by staying low. Likely using the Deepstone crystal the changli—

Thunk.

Starlight looked up to see the head of a grappling hook lodged in the top of the gate. There was a whirr and before Starlight could remove it, there was a flaming head above her. 

Celestia’s hoof clicked as the grapple disengaged and retreated into her leg. The rest of her legs were holding onto the gate, with the exception of one as it was waving at her. Starlight could almost see the smile on the alicorn’s face as she looked down on her.

“Hello!” She said cheerfully, her waving hoof sprouting a hoof blade.

“Hi!” Starlight said curtly, reaching her magic into the gate. While she couldn’t touch the truck itself with her magic, she pressurized the air inside the latch. It clicked open and Starlight gave the gate a push.

The gate swung open, taking the Princess with it. Heavy-duty strings stopped the gate from going too far, but the Princess was tall enough to say hello to the ground with the force of a moving truck. 

She was thrown off, tearing up the ground before disappearing into a large dust cloud.

Starlight watched the dust cloud intently as the surroundings suddenly changed to a scorched dirt plain. Dozens of holes remained of countless explosions on the too scorched dirt and sand. There were remnants of metal carriages and other devices too destroyed to recognize. 

A battleground. Starlight felt her frown increase as she dared a look around. This happened cause Celestia decided to quell an uprising herself. At least there was a lot of residual magic sticking to everything.

Her thoughts popped as her eyes snapped back to the Princess as she erupted from the dust cloud, sending it everywhere till it was no longer visible. 

Her head looked up as the alicorn shot to the sky. Her figure seemed to be blotted out by the sun for a moment as she dove down, her hoof blades already drawn.

Starlight immediately wished she had finished making those extra swords she had planned, “Oh, they’d never break! You said,” She pulled two ingots of metal from her pocket dimension. The ingots she was going to use for the tools. While their grainy, grey surface didn’t look good, they’d work as shields at the moment.

The Princess came on her like a diving eagle, delivering several blows before soaring back into the sky. She did this repeatedly, gouging the sides of the truck.

Starlight was acutely controlling her breathing. She had to make sure the tires of the truck weren’t hit, nor could she allow Sunset, the device in the back, nor herself to be hit. She also noted that Celestia didn’t go in front of the truck. 

Her two ingots of metal were quite chipped when Celestia rose much higher than before. Her form glowed, nearly blocking her out from view.

Starlight immediately put up a large shield above the truck, almost immediately feeling a large magic blast collide with it. She held it, pulling energy from the environment through her like a young foal would a straw and chocolate milk. 

Her shield suddenly shattered, and she felt herself get pushed onto the back of the truck. Her hooves snapped to the leg that was holding her down, her eyes locked on Celestia’s.

“Last thing you remember…” Celestia said darkly. Her other hoof came down quickly, but Starlight used the gauntlet still on her leg to divert it away from her face. Though it was much too close for Starlight’s comfort. She quickly gathered some magic to her back legs and bucked the alicorn’s chest.

She heard a crack as the metal cracked, lifting Celestia up in the air a bit. Though not enough to get her off the truck. She came down as Starlight tried to get up, crashing on her like a bag of rocks. 

This time Starlight had to use the spell she had used earlier to stop the blade, another vortex of orange sparks barely holding back the blade. She grunted as the blade was slowly inched towards her. 

A loud bang left her ears ringing as Celestia’s shoulder suddenly jerked back. Starlight growled with discomfort as she heard Sunset shout in annoyance.

“Oh of course you’re bulletproof!”

Celestia chuckled, but Starlight heard the confusion in both voices, “I didn’t even know that!”

Starlight was again looking at the blade much too close to her face. Though as she continued to struggle, she realized something and disappeared with a pop. She reappeared around the alicorn’s neck and pulled back as hard as she could. The motion got the alicorn off balance, pulling her off the back of the truck as she tried to stab Starlight. Though she defended with her trusty bricks of metal. 

Before the Princess of the sun hit the ground, she teleported back to the truck but missed her margin a bit. She hit the roof of the truck with a jarring thud, stunning her for a moment as her magnet hooves grabbed the roof for her. She shook her head, trying to clear her head. 

She also caught a glimpse of two large craters next to them. If they were much closer, they’d become a single crater. Though the ground between the two seemed unstable as it suddenly dissolved with the truck rushing over it. Starlight hung to the roof as the truck seemed to slide on ice and quickly changed directions. 

Starlight’s foreleg burned and she quickly put another shield above them, quickly feeling power rush through her. She also felt the truck turn sharply. Throwing her unsecured back legs around painfully. 

Her shield stopped consuming power, so she looked behind and saw the Princess getting up from another mini crater. She had missed, though she was quickly catching up thanks to her wings.

Starlight felt her face trying to further the frown she was sporting. The alicorn had to be grounded for the two to get away. Otherwise, the pony could quickly catch up at any moment. She teleported to the back of the bed and quickly closed the gate with a hoof. She then pulled the empty glass bottle of Apple cider from her pocket dimension and quickly inscribed a spell onto it. She then pulled off the label and inscribed a spell to it before the Princess was above her again. 

“Don’t stop!” She shouted behind her and teleported to the Princess. She teleported to the back of the Princess with an anti-fire spell wrapped around her and grabbed one of her wings. She gave it a good yank, pulling the pony out of the air and to the ground. She held the wing till the ground was close enough, and then teleported to it. 

Celestia landed with a thud on the ground, bringing up more dust. Though it was spun around as Celestia quickly regained her footing, launching a flurry of attacks her way. 

Starlight teleported back to avoid them, quickly placing the sticker from the bottle on the ground. It began to glow as she teleported back to the Princess in a swift kick from below her. Her form vaporized and she reappeared above her with one of her ingots in hoof. She brought it down on the Princesses’ s head with a sharp crack. 

Celestia growled and jumped back. Her steps were slow and wary.

Starlight had the now three pieces of metal orbit her. She needed about 15 seconds for her other spell to complete. Then, provided her timing was right, she’d be able to take out a wing.

“Oh? Well come on then! I’ve don’t got all day!” Celestia said with an annoyed tone.

Starlight took a breath, paused, then obliged. She rapidly teleported around the Princess, putting in hits where she could.

She hated to have to hurt her friend, and avoided particularly painful spots, but she needed to make sure the pony would be grounded. She needed to look like a pony going all out, not a pony aiming for a particular spot. 

So, she threw in hits where ever she could, teleporting as frequently as she needed to. She also destroyed any devices Celestia left from her back hooves. She couldn’t afford to have her teleportation stopped now. 

Though her teleportation was being analyzed by Celestia, and she was getting good at predicting where she was going. Twice the sword missed her by centimeters. Once it got close enough to cut the fur off her face.

Though it didn’t faze her. She felt her spell complete, and she warped to the alicorn’s back. She warped the spell’s completed spear to her hooves and reared up. 

The sticker’s spell grabbed residual metal from the environment and compacted it together into a magically compressed piece of metal. It would decompress the moment the magic ran out, but the ends were sharpened to unbelievably sharp points. 

She rammed the sharp point down into the joint of the alicorn’s wing. It sparked and she heard a harmony of Celestia and Fluttershy screaming in pain.

Starlight teleported off and faced the pony, ready to enact part two of her plan. Though she paused as she watched the cursing pony.

The flames were much darker, and Celestia’s voice sounded miles away. The helmet looked up towards her, the glowing circles no longer.

“I’m sorry…” Starlight mouthed, unable to use her voice.

The pony didn’t respond but rather shook her head and motioned forward with a swift movement of her head. Then she painfully grunted as the flames roared back to life. The glowing circles in the helmet blazed back to life and Celestia’s voice returned with a vicious growl.

She turned her head to her broken wing, now laying limp on her side. The edge of the wing was resting on the ground and no flames emerged from it. It glowed with Celestia’s magic and was ripped off. It was glowing orange in her grip till she threw it away. It caused it to crumple into a ball as it bounced, making a line of glowing glass where it rolled along.

She whipped her head back to Starlight, “Oh you will pay for that!!” She screamed with fury and pain. Her whole form began to glow as rays of light seemed to extend from the lines of Fluttershy’s armor.

Starlight had so badly wanted to talk back, but quickly activated her return spell she had etched into the glass bottle in the back of the truck. She switched places with the bottle and promptly crashed into the gate of the truck. She shook off her pain and quickly looked above the gate.

Behind the truck, right where she was, suddenly was enveloped in a flash of light. It extended for a good bit before slowly diminishing. Though a large cloud of dust was quickly approaching them.

She placed her shield back on the open window behind her and ducked behind the gate. The soundwave hit first, assaulting her ears much more than the weapon Sunset had used. She quickly filled her lungs with air and held it, hearing the approaching dust cloud.

It fell on them like a large storm. Depositing dust and debris wherever it could. It quickly settled, and Starlight let out her breath with a sharp gasp, then a cough as she breathed in more dust.

“Starlight? What happened?!” Sunset’s shrill voice said.

“I took out one of her wings!” Starlight replied, removing the shield she had placed and getting closer. In a much quieter tone, she said, “We weren’t going to get away with Fluttershy able to fly. So, I had to take a risk. Though it was much easier now that I know I can teleport around them.”

“Wait, how did you get back? The truck’s magic-proof and moving! You couldn’t have placed a return marker!”

Starlight smiled, “I had an empty glass bottle.”

Sunset laughed, “Of course you did! But how did you--”

Another voice filled the cabin, demanding for Sunset, “Sunset! Do you copy?”

Sunset quickly pressed a button on the steering wheel and replied, “Yes, I copy!”

“Rainbowdash has been deployed! We do not know if it’s related to you but it was a very quick departure!” The voice said, bringing curiosity into Starlight.

“Wait. You can tell when they are deployed?!” She asked.

Sunset merely nodded and pressed the button, “Roger! We are coming up close to the relay point, is the deck ready?”

Starlight took a moment to look behind her, feeling her hooves hold her in place as Sunset took another turn. 

There in the distance was a glowing pony running along the ground towards them. Though, much more concerning was the fading rainbow ring in the far distance.

“Sunset! I think Rainbow is coming this way!” She hastily turned back to the window, “I saw a rainboom!” 

Sunset pressed the button, “Be advised! We just saw a rainboom! The deployment of Rainbow is probably for us!”

“Is this a code Solar?” The voice was a restrained calm, fear and worry underlying her words.

Sunset took a moment to reply, “I don’t think so, but we should treat it as such. Just in case.”

“Okay, code Solar confirmed. Bay 4 is ready to accept. Are you ready for the resonation code?”

“Yeah,” Sunset replied, a keypad appearing in the center of the wheel.

Starlight looked through the front windshield to see a large hill in the near distance. The large dark tunnel carved into it stood for longer than she had been alive. She could still imagine the pink train chugging through it. Its tracks were long gone because of looters and Celestia, leaving behind a solid tunnel made of stone. 

Sunset avoided another crater while putting numbers into her keypad. But she then lined up her truck with the tunnel and accelerated. 

Her keypad however gave her a beep and blinked red.

“Sunset! You need to turn off the Spatial tear engine before loading the Resonation code into the QRC!” The dashboard said in a panic.

“Right, right!” Sunset said hastily, her voice equally panicked.

Starlight frowned nervously, keeping her mouth shut as Sunset messed with the dashboard and turned the “T” on the cylinder. Its glowed dimmed but remained.

She looked behind her as her fear demanded it. The glowing pony running along the ground was still far away. Not too much of a worry. Though she could now see a streak of color ripping open the sky.

“Sunset! She’s getting far too close for comfort!” Starlight said with panic riding her voice.

“I know!” Sunset said firmly and laid a finger on a button on the dashboard. She turned to Starlight for a moment, “Get down!”

Starlight immediately obeyed, getting as low as she could. The top edges of the bed sunk into the gouged frame, allowing glowing rectangles to take their place. Soon after a semitransparent, something, appeared above her. It looked like a fabric if fabric could be made out of glass.

Starlight gulped and made sure her hooves magnetized to the floor. She jumped out of her skin when she heard the back window slam shut but hit her head on the solid glass fabric that was above her. She rubbed her head and gave the mystery material a glare. But saw something that erased it.

Lightning. White and sharp bolts of lightning were flying around the truck. She blinked and saw tiny spatial tears appear around the truck, only to vanish in a little flash. 

Starlight immediately put a protective shield around herself, staring at the appearing flashes. Then, the tunnel vanished with a loud crack. She saw the edge of the universe for a brief moment, then a very large white room. 

Though her curiosity vanished as she heard the sound of supersonic engines entering a tunnel. Then they vanished. 

She gently lifted her head, finding that she was able to, and looked around. She was still in the truck. Though the truck was now in a very large room and on a conveyor made up of tiny wheels. The truck’s wheels were still spinning but they weren’t moving. And she could feel them slowing down.

She allowed her lungs to breathe normally only for them to stop in shock. To her right was the barrel of a very large laser cannon. It was the size of Ponyville’s former town hall and glowed along tubes and panels with a very intimidating glow. It was only intimidating cause she had seen one fire. Only once.

It had destroyed the wall around Ponyville. Made in haste after Celestia’s take over. One-shot had dismantled the work of a year. Dismantled nearly 20 meters of stone and metal. 

The discovery of what happened to her friends happened soon after they breached the walls. She had barely gotten out, after seeing several of her close friends fall. 

She swallowed hard, warping the purple star encrusted hat to her hooves. She held it close as the truck stopped, and then some. 

“You, okay?” Sunset said after she had entered the bed of the truck. She sat on the edge of the truck, still in her human form.

Starlight sniffled, “Yeah, sorry. That cannon brought back some bad memories is all…”

Sunset nodded and had a comforting smile when Starlight looked towards her.

“Well fortunately it’s not a cannon,” Sunset began.

Starlight warped the hat back to her pocket, “It looks like one…”

Sunset frowned, “I suppose I can’t say I’ve seen one. But this is a photon force disrupter. It shoots condensed light that can absorb the kinetic energy of its target and push them away. It’s designed to stop intruders trying to enter the portal.”

Starlight gave the large device another look, then looked at the plain wall it was facing, “Portal?”

Sunset nodded with a smile, “Yep! Welcome back to the human world Starlight!”

Starlight gave her an incredulous look, “What?”

Sunset chuckled, “Yep! Come on, I’ve got some friends you’d probably want to see.”

Starlight frowned, knowing who she was referring to. The mane 6’s counterparts in the human world. The thought of seeing them didn’t instill hope in her.

“And one friend who has been positively dying to throw you a party,” Sunset said with a wink.

Starlight gave her a wary look but got out of the truck. She took care not to touch the edges as they seemed to smoke with water vapor. The truck suddenly had a thin layer of ice on its metallic skin. She took a wary step on the conveyor but found the wheels not moving. She gave it an odd look, “Uh, these don’t turn? I thought they would,” she said confused.

“They do. The people on the control deck can control it. Right now, it’s locked, so we can safely walk on it.” Sunset replied walking a little past her.

Starlight nodded and followed her. She took a look around the room they were in but found it to be quite bare. It was just a white room with a photon force disrupter, an ice-covered truck, and a large conveyor reaching from the targeted wall, around the cannon, and further along the edge of the wall.

She looked back at Sunset, her height only matching her waist, “So, you’re telling me you’ve taken me to another dimension? And that truck was just a vehicle for dimensional travel?”

Sunset stopped next to the wall and gave it a knock. A large door-sized panel slid inwards then out to the side.

She then nodded with a smile, “The one place that Celestia couldn’t get to. Well, maybe the moon but that’s relatively harder than dimensional hopping.”

Easy?! Starlight shook her head, making her feel lightheaded but it didn’t fade. She frowned as her reply was lost in her mouth. Her legs trembled as they struggled to stay upright. Her breathing suddenly became much faster.

“Starlight?!” Sunset said worriedly and walked over to her. 

Starlight fell to the ground but lifted her head the best she could and chuckled, “There’s no magic here…” 

Sunset ran over shouting something, but her mind was already going to sleep. She blinked and fell soundly into blackness.



Fluttershy was back in the cube again once more being surrounded by water. Though this time a little arm had emerged from the wall and placed a little panel where her broken wing joint was ripped out. The memory made her frown, but she was now impatient. 

She finally had good news for once!

She could feel the need to twitch as the water rushed over her back and began to cover her helmet. The coolness of the water no longer enticed her, she just wanted it to go. The excitement continued to build as the water then began its journey downwards. 

Much too long later the door in front of her opened and she walked through to fall to the ground in a heap. This time she practically jumped back up and rushed to the table.

Another section of the wall opened up, near the opening she had just come through, and Rainbow walked through to fall to the floor. She didn’t get up quite as quick but was at the table in a moment or two.

“Welcome back,” Rarity said in a forced cheerful tone.

The two pegasi nodded their heads. And Fluttershy opened her mouth to talk but stopped when she noticed the others were looking at her with concern.

“Wow. You alright?” Rainbow asked, “I saw that you had lost your wing but sheesh! What did you fight?”

Fluttershy tilted her helmet at her to show her confusion.

“Sugarcube, you look like you had a fight with a hundred Timberwolves in a glass pit. You got scratches everywhere!” Applejack remarked.

“I do?” Fluttershy asked looking at her leg. Indeed, she did. Long white scratches covered the black metal adorning her, no matter where she looked.

“Can you see alright darling? The worst ones are on your helmet.” Rarity asked getting up to get a closer look.

Fluttershy nodded, “I didn’t even notice.”

Rarity got close and ran a hoof along her helmet, “Hmm, the glass seemed to hold up fine, but your holographic plates are completely ruined. They are probably going to send you in for that.”

Fluttershy frowned. She hated the repair clinic. She never got a chance to see it as they blackened her vision when she got hooked up to the various machines. She would then be left in darkness to feel unknown devices poke and prod her while her limbs would lose all feeling in them. 

She shook her head, shuddering.

“But before ya are taken to the repair clinic, what in tarnation did you end up against?” Applejack asked incredulously.

“Yeah! Did the resistance make something strong enough to stop us?” Rainbow asked excitedly, “This is the first time they have been able to do damage that’s not cosmetic! Well other than, well, you know…” Her gaze drifted towards the extra mattress.

Fluttershy shook her scratched helmet, “No, unfortunately not.”

“Darn,” Rainbow said then took a deep breath of resignation.

Fluttershy cleared her throat of the sadness that seemed to tighten her muscles, “No, I was sent after Starlight again.”

“Oh, do you need to go through your list again? She put up quite a fight to get you in your current position.” Rarity asked with an understanding smile.

Fluttershy shook her head happily, “I didn’t kill her! She got away!”

The group gave her a collective look of incredulousness.

“She escaped you twice?” Applejack said in disbelief.

Fluttershy chuckled, “Yes!”

“Sheesh! Her name is going to get mighty popular if any pony gets to know that little tidbit.” 

“That’s not all!” Fluttershy said excitedly, “She survived because Sunset Shimmer saved her when Celestia took my hooves!”

“Whoa whoa, whoa. Celestia took you over? And she survived?” Rainbow asked, asking the question on the surprised Rarity’s face.

Fluttershy nodded quickly, “Sunset had some, human tech that completely immobilized me! It didn’t last long and I don’t think it was easy for them to, you know, stay alive. But after Starlight broke my wing, she was able to teleport away!”

“Hmm, were they in some sort of, black carriage?” Rainbow asked, putting a hoof to her chin, “Celestia deployed me to that old train tunnel. I saw a glimpse of a, white room? And a black carriage thing. Four wheels could move on its own. It disappeared in front of me and she had me destroy the hill.”

“Is your displacement core still giving you issues?” Applejack suddenly asked.

Rainbow shook her head, looking to her, “Nah. Whatever they did in the Repair clinic fixed it,” She turned back to Fluttershy, “But you’re saying she was in that carriage? I, I didn’t see her.”

Fluttershy frowned, “She may have not teleported back to the carriage, but I know she teleported before Celestia flared.”

“Sheesh! Celestia must not have been happy!” Rainbow replied.

“Yeah, she wasn’t,” Fluttershy replied with a faint smile on her lips, “She’s the one that tore off my wing.”

“Well fortunately it can be replaced,” Rarity said with a smile, “The one benefit from our situation I suppose,” She paused, her face wrinkling in thought, “Rainbow, you have footage, don’t you?”

Rainbow slowly nodded and took a seat at the table. Fluttershy followed suit.

“Don’t forget to plug in darling,” Rarity said with a faint smile.

Fluttershy nodded and quickly grabbed the plug that went into her side. The panel took a little longer to open and complained as it ran over scratches. But soon she was sitting back on the table, fervently watching the hologram of Rainbow’s vision from her flight.

The group watched as the previous Rainbowdash flew towards the large hill. The carriage rushed through it through the large train tunnel. She gave pursuit easily flying through the tunnel, but the tunnel seemed to lead elsewhere.

“Freeze it!” Rarity said quickly, and the video froze mid-frame. 

The tunnel had led to a large white room. By the time Rainbow had entered the tunnel the carriage was already in the room and moving sharply to the left. 

“Okay, go slowly forward,” Rarity said quietly.

The video snail-paced forward. Showing the truck move out of the way of a very large, laser cannon. The group could stare down the glowing barrel. But it didn’t fire. Rather, the room simply vanished; cannon and all. 

It simply left behind the tunnel how it should have looked. Black darkness that would make Fluttershy scrunch up in fear.

The video vanished as Rainbow’s visor darkened and she looked thoughtful once more, “I then destroyed that little hill and displaced out of it.”

“Hmm, could you go back before the truck vanished?” Rarity asked.

Rainbow nodded and the holo-video appeared once more. The white room was once more visible with the truck getting out of the way of the cannon.

“Well,” Applejack started, “It looks like a portal if ya ask me.”

Rarity nodded, “I agree. Rainbowdash? Could you zoom in on the back of that carriage, thingy?”

Rainbow nodded and the details in the image got larger and began to pixelate. Though they could still very clearly see the purple mane of the pony hiding in the back.

“Oh my word! Her mane is turning brown it’s so filthy!!” Rarity complained.

Applejack laughed, “Oh not that’s she’s alive!” Her voice wasn’t accusatory but filled with mirth.

Rarity chuckled herself, “I do suppose old habits die hard… But it is filthy.” She added softly.

Fluttershy nodded, a grin on her face, “Yeah, she also lost chunks of it during her fight with me and Celestia.”

Rarity laughed in mock despair, “Oh! The horror!!”

The group laughed for a few moments, enjoying the mirth they rarely got to feel.

But when the laughter died down, they looked back at the video floating above the little table.

“Where do you think that portal leads?” Applejack asked curiously.

“Well, because Fluttershy saw Sunset I’d assume the human dimension.” Rarity answered.

Fluttershy frowned in thought, “She did look like what Twilight described as a human…”

“That’s, odd…” Rarity said, “Aren’t ponies supposed to turn to humans and vice versa when they go between dimensions?”

“Wait!” Rainbow suddenly exclaimed, the video fizzling away, “Do you think that’s where Twilight has been?!”

The group didn’t have an answer.
> A Duel's Beginning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starlight woke up with something on the boundaries of her mind. It was screaming at her, shouting for her to get out of her bed. She started obliged, unwillingly. 

Until she felt it. A tiny little scurrying over her back legs. She yelped, tearing off the covers with her magic to reveal a mouse. A mouse that had decided to find cover underneath her covers while she was asleep. She growled, grabbing the suddenly terrified mouse and brought it close to her face. 

She stared at it, while it struggled in her magic. She took a moment to decide what to do, then sighed and rushed to the window. She was about to teleport it to the Everfree forest where she paused. She examined the mouse once more, looking for a pet collar but finding none. She put a hoof to the creature and inscribed a small spell onto it. Then she threw open the window to hurl the mouse towards the Everfree forest from which it likely originated. 

“And stay out!!” She shouted at the mouse that was already long gone. She stayed at the window, confident that her spell would protect the mouse upon landing but not from the dangers of the forest. It would have to obey the laws of nature in that regard. 

She too found herself in that circle. Hunted. Buried in a tiny hole hoping the fox wouldn’t be able to dig her out. Though she wasn’t alone, the remaining citizens of Ponyville had banded together to survive the everlasting sun. In the span of a year, they had been able to build and fortify a wall around the entire town. Two doors were lodged in the walls, heavily protected with pony power and magic. 

“You alright Starlight?” A voice wafted up from the ground below.

She looked down, seeing a guard with makeshift armor, “Huh?” She asked, confused.

“And stay out?” the guard asked curiously.

Starlight chuckled, “A mouse decided to use my bed while I was using it…”

The guard laughed, “Again?”

Starlight nodded, “Yeah, guess Twilight’s magic on her castle is fading a bit. Or there’s a hole in here somewhere.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me with the last attack. It took quite a beating last month.” The guard said looking up at the castle, “Well, I hope you don’t have any more mice to worry about. Have a nice morning!”

Starlight smiled and replied likewise before turning her attention back to the wall. It was at least 20 meters thick of concrete, metal, and magic. A height that overshadowed many of the smaller homes under its protection. It stood unwavering against the little attacks that were sent their way. Raiders, thieves, Celestia’s mechanical puppets, or even those who followed her.

But she never saw the Elements of Harmony. She hoped that forming a near unbreachable stronghold around their hometown would guide them back home. But she hadn’t seen any of them.  

She sighed, looking at the wall with frustration. It was still annoying to defend though. Especially when Celestia’s mechanical beasts brought something that could shoot over the wall. Last month an attack had flown over the walls to hit Twilight’s castle. It lost a huge chunk of the adorning star at the top that crushed a good portion of the right side of the structure. Fortunately, no creature was killed but a few were severely injured by the bits that fell below. 

Cracks had then spread through the entire building letting in all sorts of pests. Causing all sorts of problems with food and furniture. Though Starlight had quickly enchanted the library to keep such pests out. She had also backed the entire library up onto a large piece of crystal. The spell was magically etched into the piece and was the size of her head. But it was critter-proof, so a much more secure option should another attack destroy the library. 

She kept it in her personal dimension, using it from time to time to read stories to the young creatures. She didn’t let any others use it, mostly because a majority didn’t have magical capabilities to do so, but mainly because she was worried about breaking it. That and the library was open to every creature.

But mainly it was because it contained the memories the roots of the Golden Oak library held aloft. All backed up securely in case the castle was to fall to bits. Starlight was worried about being in the castle should such an event occur, but she just couldn’t help herself. Its halls offered many more memories that supplied much-needed comfort in such, troubled times.

She had to ignore the massive cracks that spanned much of the castle but it was at least contained to the upper levels. The entry hall and the levels below all remained intact. Both of which were no longer used for their original purpose.

The entrance hall was now a gathering for the spreading of information. A conference hall or meeting grounds. It was often used as well for plays and other theatrics as the thick crystal walls provided a coolness that wooden walls could not. It was also easy to close off the windows and doors, creating a darkness that was now a commodity. 

The basement and the levels below it were now a bunker. Filled with food storage and weapons that would make it very hard for an attacker to get in once they had bunkered down. It was maintained well and only had to be used once. Though after the wall was constructed, threats seemed to merely bounce off. Except for the occasional mortar.

“Starlight!” Trixie called, announcing her presence in the room, “You’re going to be late!” She said in a singsong voice.

Starlight rolled her eyes and warped the two ponies to the stairs leading to the conference hall.

“One is rarely late when one can teleport,” Starlight said.

“Trixie wishes she can teleport…” Trixie said, following Starlight down the stairs.

Starlight smiled, “You can teleport an orange and others! You’re doing much better than most!”

Trixie poshed, “Pfft, please. The Great and Powerful Trixie is already doing that with her amazing skills! But the praise is welcome.”

Starlight chuckled then said in a quieter voice, “How’s the wall?”

Trixie shrugged, “Sturdy as always I guess. Though some are complaining about their shifts of the wall.”

Starlight frowned, “Did the mortar damage not get repaired? What are they complaining about?”

Trixie rolled her eyes, “What they always complain about,” She gestured upwards, “The sun! Oh, it's too hot!” She said in mock mimicry, “Oh why do we have to stay on this wall alllll day? I mean, nothing is getting in!!”

Starlight frowned, “Except when the day comes when something can get in. What if Celestia comes? I doubt it's going to hold to an Alicorn!”

Trixie nodded strongly, “Oh Trixie mentioned that but they didn’t believe her! Why would she come to Ponyville!? Why would she have any reason to come here?! Oh, I don’t know, to kill us?!”

Starlight nodded, “Agreed. Not to mention that Ponyville was the Elements' home. Maybe she’s hoping for the same reason we are.”

“Have we gotten any word of them?”

Starlight shook her head, “No. Information has been quiet for a while. Though, it doesn’t surprise me with all the battles that are happening. Appolusa was demolished only a week ago.”

Trixie nodded, “Yeah. I heard about that. Wonder when it’ll be our turn…”

Starlight gave her friend a not-so-serious frown, “Don’t say that! You’ll jinx us!”

Trixie smiled and pulled off her hat, with a little wave of her hoof, she pulled out a wooden board with her magic. She proffered it to Starlight.

“Care do dispel the jinx? Or does the Great and Powerful Trixie need to?” She said.

Starlight chuckled and knocked on the wood twice. Trixie returned the board to her hat then the hat to her head. The two remained in silence, finishing the last of the steps to the hall. There stood a very large table. A circular table that had many holes and slides was designed to transform it into a stage when required. This time it wasn’t a stage, rather it was just a table with a multitude of chairs. Almost all the chairs were occupied as Starlight and Trixie took their seats. Starlight exchanged looks and smiles with those around her. Though the group merely waited.

Little chat was happening around the table as the group was just appreciating the cool shade of the castle halls. A comforting silence that held a peace the group rarely got to feel.

Starlight let her eyes wander around the table, seeing all matter of creatures. Griffins, Yaks, ponies of all types, dragons, and even a few bird pirates. Each one had faces of hope but of tired complexion. They were all tired. So was the way of life at this point. It was difficult to even survive let alone thrive. But they made do with what that had. 

Starlight felt a smile tug at her lips as she saw each creature bore a necklace, even as she did. They were all bound together with a special blue gem necklace. While the gem was held on by differing types of metals and woods when you got to each individual, each one had the pale blue gemstone. 

They were of her making. A final escape plan that she dearly hoped to never be forced to use. An escape that would teleport everypony in the town to the underground bunker. This section of the bunker held a flying blimp vehicle built with help from the former pirates. It would then take off and teleport the entire blimp to a safe spot that had been previously scouted and planned out. There they built an underground facility, using magic to guarantee its upkeep. Though it had been a month since its last checkup, the previous checkup turned up just fine.

The gems were all part of the castle they were currently in. It was the only material strong enough to handle such a magical burst. Each necklace would be tested and each month every necklace would be retested. 

Starlight had spent a lot of time making the spells and devices to support an escape. She wasn’t going to let down her town just because a tiny gear refused to move when it was required. But she pushed that back to the depths of her mind. She wasn’t going to let herself Twilight. She already had a plan and every creature, no matter the age, knew just what to do when the little gemstones began to glow.

A sudden trumpet shattered her thoughts. 

Hers and every creature’s head shot to the entrance from where the sound came. It was the first door, sounding the alarm for an attack. Long distance.

Starlight swiveled her head to Trixie a question in her eyes. Trixie smiled and tipped her hat in a nod. Starlight turned back to the door and warped the two to the top portion of the wall above the East gate. She stood off the designated teleportation area and rushed to the main guard. 

She looked past the wall as she went, seeing a very large machine crawling towards them. It stood much taller than a house, but not too tall to dwarf the castle. But if it were to run through the base, it would likely topple it. 

This device was foreign to Starlight, and she warped a spyglass from her pocket. With it, she could see quite a bit of detail. It was like a large tank or Trebuchet. Only, it had no swinging mechanism the older piece of human history had. Rather this machine held a massive barrel supported above the treads. The supports were blocky and equally as massive. From her spyglass, she saw multitudes of pipes and tubing. Wires and blinking lights among its steel and red colors.

This thing wasn’t going to be as easy as taking down the tanks that shot plasma rounds. But, before she could figure out what the device was supposed to do; she had to worry about the small army of mechanical wolfs surging ahead of the tank. 

She frowned. She couldn’t call it a tank. It was the size of a house! It was more of a building on wheels if anything. She let the thought slide as she pulled away from the spyglass and sounded another trumpet to signal the activation of the wall. 

The wall was powered by all the unicorns of the town. Powering it with magical energy to shoot simple lasers at the oncoming enemy. They weren’t as effective as the physical weapons and the crude plasma lasers they were able to make. But if aimed well, it could destroy a few legs of the attackers, rendering them useless.

The bigger units they called trolls were a much bigger pain. But the group could use energized crystal chunks and a slingshot to effectively launch an explosion at them. Sometimes it took two, sometimes three. But this time there weren’t any. Which worried Starlight. 

It made her think the rolling building was meant to destroy the wall and let the wolfs through. So, she tied her magic to the wall, energizing it with her own energy. She quickly formed her magic into a shield, ready to use at a moment’s notice.

Though the wolves hit first, their sharp claws allowed them to crawl up the stone walls with ease. Each one was covered in devices that could launch sharp bits of lead at hypersonic speeds that made a tiny boom with each shot. They also had laser fire and razor-sharp teeth that had an electrified edge to immobilize the target. 

Scanners.

See in the dark eyes.

Hardened metal bodies.

Fearless.

But they were dumb. Pretty easy to outmaneuver provided you weren’t facing a hundred of them at a time. At that point, they’d just mow you down as simply as a Big Mac would plow a field.

The thought tinged her mind with sadness.

The wolves continued to hammer the wall, their destroyed frames piling up. After the battle, they could be retrieved and dismantled into useful parts. Parts they used to make pumps, lights, and the blimp in its hidden entrance. Though, they’d only be useful if they survived.

Starlight gave the approaching building another look, letting her allies take care of the wolves.  Now it wasn’t too far from their wall. While it wasn’t quite close enough to act as a support for wolves to jump off of it, the barrel worried her. She felt a sense of doom build up in her very soul. 

It only multiplied as it stopped, out of range of their strongest long-range attacks. Only 200 meters away. There was a loud thoom as the machine suddenly seemed to power up, its barrel beginning to brighten with a golden glow. 

Starlight activated the magic she was connected to, filling the wall with runes of protection and a light blue glow. It took a few seconds for the machine to respond, but it did so with a plasma laser that grew as it went along, easily able to swallow a house with its light. The beam of energy hurled itself towards the wall, colliding with Starlight’s shield. She felt her energy feed into the spell, and even though she made it as efficiently as possible, she knew she wasn’t going to be able to hold it.

“Move away! I can’t hold it!!” She shouted, remaining still as she put her foucus into her spell. She was changing it now, maintaining its shielding but adding resistance, hoping to weaken the laser before it hit the wall. But the laser was getting stronger. Ramping up in its energetic might.

“Move!!!” She shouted, feeling her throat protest at her volume. She heard the troops around her clink around as they moved with their armor. She could feel the panicked movements of those below her as well. She closed her eyes, straining with her magic. Buying as many seconds as she could. 

But it was only a few.

The shield shattered allowing the full force of the laser to collide with the wall. It burned through the wall as if it wasn’t there and kept going, vaporizing the original town hall and several other buildings. Then, due to the slope the town was on, it kept going and ran into the wall on the opposite side. It took a bite out of the top of it, leaving a perfect half-circle as it went. 

Only then did the laser stop. Revealing a massive hole that was keeping out the machines trained to kill. Starlight slumped to the ground, drained. She struggled to breathe but pulled a strip of paper from her mane. It had the word lock written onto it with magic. She struggled but managed to lift it to her mouth and rip the paper in half.

Immediately, she felt a surge of energy that revived her. She shook herself and turned around to the inside of the wall. The concrete was smoking around the near-perfect circle that had contained the gate. Though it was gone, allowing the wolves to pour in. The creatures stationed inside the wall fought and were able to keep them at bay. Thankfully, the blast hadn’t destroyed the wall’s ability to fire lasers, so a good portion of them was stopped before they could enter. 

She jumped down, using her magic to land safely. Her horn glowed as she formed a shield and pushed the wolves back out of the town. Her shield was a perfect fit to the wall, creating a seal that no creature could get through. 

“We have planned for this! Let’s get it sealed!!” Starlight shouted, getting several unicorns to the left side of the hole. There they pulled at a section of the inner wall. After a few tense moments, the section moved, revealing a curved stone slab that matched that of the wall. Once they got it out of the torn edges, earth ponies and other creatures grabbed onto the grooves of this inner wall that were carved along the entire length. 

Together they gently pulled the slab out, pushing it to the other side. Creating a more durable and less expensive seal to the hole. Starlight had made this ring of stone in the wall. Several of them. So in the case of a breach, the rings could be rotated to show undamaged stone. This slab also had grooves and slots in the top to allow for metal grates to be placed to help seal holes taller than the stone rings. It had been a pain to make, but even as she watched griffins place the metal grates she smiled. It was well worth it.

Though as she watched the unicorns clear the damaged stone to allow the rings to slide, she didn’t see Trixie. Which was odd as she would surely be helping. The doom that Starlight could feel in her soul seemed to ring, like that of a church bell. It made her bones shake with the unheard harmony, making Starlight feel weak.

“Trixie!?” She felt her voice call out, her head swiveling around.

A pony walked up to her. He was adorned in metal armor that showed the welds along the plates. But the armor did little to hide his expression. Even less to hide the large, blue starry hat he was carrying.

“She didn’t make it,” The pony said, “She used her magic to teleport everyone behind the gate to her hat.”

“What?” Starlight said gently, feeling dread in her mind, a terrible cold that threatened to take her over. Her magic sparked, making her shield change color and fade a bit. Though it remained.

“I didn’t think she could teleport…” The pony continued, looking at the hat, “But she did. She saved every creature behind that gate. Sending them to this hat…”

Starlight gingerly grabbed the hat from the pony’s hooves. She could feel the spell etched into the gem’s interior. While the Great and Powerful Trixie couldn’t teleport herself due to her inability to calm her inner magic, she found no trouble teleporting things and creatures to her hat. The teleportation marker replaced the end of the teleportation, allowing the pony to focus on the beginning. It became a simple thing for her. Something that she could use with her shows. But she still needed help from Starlight to teleport herself. 

Starlight felt a terrible sadness as she could imagine the pony’s final moments. She shook her head, refusing to dwell on it. She instead warped the hat to her personal pocket. She felt anger build up in her heart and mind. She growled, half shouting as it filled her body. Her magic responded, making her horn fizzle and snap. 

She warped back to the top of the wall, making those already there jump back in alarm with her anger. She stared daggers into the machine that took her friend from her. Its smoking barrel and torrents of steam emerging from hidden vents on the back were its only response. She lowered herself into a crouch, staring into the barrel of the machine. 

She cooled her mind for a moment, allowing her to breathe. She needed to destroy the machine. But it would take a blast from Celestia herself to destroy the no doubt magic-resistant metal covering. Though, it was a machine. It couldn’t adapt like a creature. It had a hard weakness, something that could be exploited. The wolves had flexible joints, but when destroyed, they shattered into shards that only damaged it when it continued to try and move. The trolls were back-heavy. Big explosions could knock them over to reveal gaps in their armor only accessible as their weight crushed their armor.

This machine would be no different. And Starlight would make sure to destroy it utterly. As it had her friend.

And she had an idea of how to do it. She charged her magic, its response to her anger was difficult to control but the power boost was most welcome. She shot a single thin laser at the machine, aiming directly for the center of the barrel. Once it reached inside, it blossomed into arcing currents of electricity, hitting everything inside. She maintained it, noticing with a smile that the steam coming from the back was getting visibly thicker.

Though as it thickened, it turned out not to be steam. But rather pure heat that mixed in with the dirt and dust the sunbaked planet gave freely. It distorted the light further as more came out. She could see the edges of the sides becoming black as they were burnt to a crisp. 

Yet the inner barrel began to glow once more. Prepping another shot even if it killed itself. Starlight angrily growled and sent more magic through her horn, increasing the amount of electricity that was jumping around in the barrel. The glow just brightened, outshining the blue glow with a golden hue.

Starlight took in several deep breaths, feeling her body begging her to stop. But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. 

She wasn’t going to let her friend die in vain!!

The golden glow suddenly stopped increasing in strength, disappearing quite suddenly. But Starlight didn’t stop. Rather, she shouted, pushing harder on her magic. The glow was starting to become white with the amount of magic collected in such a tiny spot. 

The external of the barrel was beginning to glow red now as the metal began to heat up, its internal cooling system no longer able to supply enough cold. Starlight continued, pushing her lungs hard as they struggled to give her body the oxygen it needed. But her efforts were rewarded a few moments later when the rolling building vanished in a bright flash of light. A shockwave accompanied the explosion, hitting her like a slap in the face. But it felt like a victory to her. Even as a piece of it cut her on the shoulder. 

She grimaced as the wound had been cauterized immediately by the red-hot piece of metal. But after a close look, she’d be okay. It stung a little when she moved but not enough to bother her.

“Look out! Take cover from above!!” Some pony shouted, making Starlight look up.

The barrel of the machine had been ripped away to be shot into the sky. Now it was right above them, looking as if to say a final word about her friend.

“No you don’t,” She muttered and flung her magic up towards it. There she created a magic barrier for it to bounce off of. Altering its trajectory to the outside of the wall, rather than inside the wall. It took a moment, but it landed with a thundering crash that seemed to shake the ground around her. Starlight gave the smoking barrel a questioning look. That material was quite heavy, she felt it bounce off her shield. But it was also very temperature resistant. What was it made out of?

But her questioning mind came to a halt as her body reminded her of the energy she had used to destroy the device. It came on her like a bag of bricks, making her fall to the ground with a dull thunk. She heard others ask if she was alright, but she couldn’t respond. Rather, she called a piece of paper from her personal dimension. It was another strip with protection written on it. She tore it, feeling her energy return to her.

“Only two left…” She muttered and nodded to those who had asked if she was okay. She had made large crystals that could absorb quite a bit of energy. She then over the course of several months made four of them. Four containers of magical energy that could re-supply her at a moment’s notice. She only had to break the lock she placed on them and the energy would return to her cutie mark, replenishing her energy. 

But she already had used two of them. She looked to the inside of the wall, seeing her friends take out a few wolves that got in when she collapsed. But in that time the wall seemed to have been patched enough to keep the wolves out. 

Starlight breathed a sigh of relief. The wolves were not a problem. They attacked all the time. Now they just had to destroy the remaining ones and reap the salvage. She doubted the rolling building would have much to salvage but they’d just have to check.

“Once more, from above!” The pony called again.

Starlight’s face curled into a silent snarl, expecting to see another piece of the rolling building trying to get a last word in. But she saw a flaming comet only two house lengths up. The anger drained out of her like water would a sink. Dread slowly slinked in after, filling her bones with cement. 

The comet landed in the wall with a fiery thud. Thankfully the blast wasn’t as large as she was expecting. Actually, the blast was tiny! More like a thud than a blast. 

But Starlight gulped as she watched Celestia step forward from the mini dust cloud she had created. Her hair was ablaze as her original colors were replaced with the orange-yellow tones of pure flame. The white coat seemed to glow like molten metal and seemed without blemish. Her golden armor was plain and seemed more cosmetic than protective. But it stood as a challenge, warning those dumb enough to challenge her that she didn’t need armor. But the red rubies studded here and there along with the centerpiece on her petyal. Its red glow replacing the purple glow for those who could remember it.

The air seemed to be silent for the arrival of the Alicorn. But then it shattered as her allies began to unload the physical weapons at their disposal. Though none dared to charge her directly. 

The flung ammunition: spears, salvaged blasters, arrows, and slingshot ammo all vaporized before it got close and spun around Celestia in a molten ring. It took a minute, but the weapons stopped firing. Once it did, the molten metal condensed together in a ball the size of a pony. Then, it shot upwards to come back down as molten rain. 

Starlight ignored the shouts of fear from her allies and once more threw her magic up. She doubted she could catch every spec, so she just pulled the heat out of the area till she couldn’t see glowing metal. The cold air then descended upon them, making Starlight shiver. She then looked down to see Celestia staring directly at her. The cold emanated from within, making her blood crawl like ice as the metal pellets rained harmlessly.

“There you are,” Celestia said in a carefree tone, “I’ve been looking for you everywhere! Though I really ought to have looked here first!”

“Everyone! Evacuate!” Starlight shouted, tapping on the blue necklace with a magic hoof. The gem glowed blue, along with everyone else’s. She then shot a beam of magic at the castle, its crystal walls glowing in response. 

But the glow was overshadowed by a golden one. The castle then shuddered as it was ripped upwards, leaving only a stump in its place. The castle was then cast aside, landing just outside the wall with a mighty crash. The force pulled up a dust cloud that stormed its way across the town, obscuring everything in view. Starlight held her breath and once more sent a beam of energy at the stump that was the castle. She felt her magic click, and felt the spell begin. 

Though a sudden air current rushed past her, pulling her tail and mane in a flurry. The dust cloud was being drawn in, collecting into a small space in front of Celestia. Once the dust cloud had fully gathered there, it became a sphere, then shrunk to the size of a baseball.

It fell to the ground with a soft thump, hard as a rock.

Starlight stared at the pony with shock, her mind screaming at her for action. But she stopped herself. Here was the pony who destroyed Appolusa in a single hit. Vaporizing the entire town and leaving a crater. 

She had to be careful.

But her mind asked her why the pony didn’t do that to Ponyville. Her mind settled on a single answer. She wanted something. Something that was in Ponyville. Something that she couldn’t destroy.

Was it the Elements? Well, those weren’t here. No pony had seen them.

“No fancy magic from you Starlight,” Celestia said, pulling her full attention, “As much fun as it would be to see what magic a student of Twilight could think of I nee—”

She stopped as a pony next to Starlight vanished in a flash of blue light. Starlight swallowed carefully. That meant the bunker had been evacuated to the blimp. Which meant the spell was now targeting those outside the castle.

A pony next to her vanished in a flash of light. She dearly wanted to be in the blimp. But, she had made the spell make her last. She had also placed a marker in the blimp, so she could teleport to it at any time.

Provided she was still alive.

But somepony needed to stay and make sure the blimp launched safely and was protected. It did have protective measures, but not all magic could stop a balloon from popping.

Especially from a blast of Celestia’s magic. She needed to make sure the blimp got to safety. Regardless of her getting a seat or not. She took a step forward, taking a deep breath.

She was about to say something when Celestia pulsed in a golden hue of magic. Her horn remained lit, and she turned to the glowing stump of the castle which dimmed in response.

Starlight frowned. That meant the spell had targets but couldn’t finish the teleportation. She had an hour before the crystals holding the energy would drain to the point of failure. And their escape couldn’t fail with Celestia in their walls. Or they would say hi to their fallen comrades.

Starlight took another breath and studied the magic she felt from Celestia. It was simple. It was merely distorting the energy around her, changing the magical energy of that around her ever so slightly. It wouldn’t affect them. But the spell would no longer be able to target the necklaces with the interference. But it wouldn’t affect teleportation from within.

She quickly calmed herself then shouted, “Well I guess you get to see the crazy magic the student of Twilight can do!!” She then teleported next to Celestia and transmitted an energy of her own. It was an inverse of the one Celestia was transmitting so it would cancel it out. A few pops sounded her success.

“To battle!!” A pony shouted and she heard a resounding battle cry. 

Starlight felt her eyes widen as she heard the cry. She faced the Princess, a plan formed in her mind. She watched the eyes of the pony light up with glee, horrible golden yellow eyes full of power, then Starlight summoned the ground up to surround the alicorn and harden once more. She then jumped up and kicked the alicorn downwards. She sunk six meters before stopping. Starlight landed and charged her forelegs with magic. Containment magic filled the ground but it was immediately put under strain.

“NO!! Every creature get away! I will hold her for as long as I can!!” Starlight shouted, looking towards the approaching horde of her allies.

“No! We will take her down together! She dares to step hoof on our land! Then she’ll pay the price!!” The pony responded getting a shout in return.

Starlight desperately shook her head, feeling the magic crack. A golden beam of light shot out of the ground, warming the already warm air. 

“NO! Remember what happened to Appolusa!? The only reason we are still alive is because Celestia wants something!” Starlight rebuked as another beam of light pierced the ground.

“What is that?” The pony asked as another creature vanished with a pop of blue light.

“ME!” Starlight said, her exceptions to the ground below making her scream, “I’m the one she’s after! I don’t know why but I’m going to use that to let every creature get away!! So go!!”

The ground shook as another level of her spell failed, letting more light spill out of the ground.

Cheeraliee stepped forward, her face stern and serious. Her steps were accompanied by the clicks of her armor as she spoke, “Then Pinkie Promise us you’ll teleport to the blimp the moment you can!!”

Starlight shuddered as her body felt the effects of the magic for the third time. But she painfully pulled up a forehoof to make the signs, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

Cheerilee nodded and the group made their way to the castle, a few vanishing in the process. Starlight warped a third piece of paper to her mouth as the final strand of her spell cracked. She dove out of the way as the ground exploded leaving a small but deep crater.

Starlight panted through clutched teeth, pooling the saliva into the paper in her mouth.

“Really Starlight? You can only bury me when I’m dead,” Celestia said with an amused tone, elegantly stepping out of the hole as if nothing happened. 

Starlight then used her tongue to rip the weakened paper, feeling her energy resupply once more. Though she got pinned down before she could act and found herself face-to-face with the Solar alicorn.

Her face was warm, radiating that heat to Starlight only a few centimeters away. Her voice came as a quiet whisper, “Well said Starlight. Indeed, I could vaporize this entire town if I wanted to. Destroy every creature within your pathetic walls. But you’re right, I do need you.”

“What could you need me for?” Starlight asked, feeling sweat form on her brow.

Celestia laughed, “Oh I don’t need you, I need your knowledge.”

Starlight frowned, “What would you want me to tell you?”

Celestia chuckled, “Oh I’m sure you can think of many things. But I do know you are stalling for time…”

Starlight gulped, prepping a teleportation spell in her mind. She still transmitting the inverse signal Celestia was transmitting, so she didn’t need to hide her magic.

“Where is Twilight Sparkle?” Came the question, serious and bold.

Starlight swallowed again but stayed quiet. She had no idea where the Princess of Friendship was. But she couldn’t let the Alicorn know that. She heard the sound of a large metal door open, pushing away a meter of dirt and dust. Sounds of propellers then filled the air.

Celestia looked past Starlight with an incredulous look, “Really? A big balloon is your big escape? Miss Pinkie too much?”

Starlight growled, envisioning the large yellow blimp rising from the hidden hangar below. 

“Last chance Starlight!!” Celestia cooed, “I don’t think I can miss such a big target!” Her horn glowed and a small ball of golden energy blossomed on her horn.

“No!” Starlight said struggling in the alicorn's grip. Though the air was knocked out of her as she was subjugated to the alicorn’s full weight on her chest.

“Then where is Twilight Sparkle!? If you tell me, I’ll let your friends go!!” Celestia said, her voice suddenly full of anger.

Starlight coughed, getting air back into her lungs, “Why should I trust you?”

Celestia smiled, “Because you really don’t have a choice…”

“There is always a choice…”

Celestia laughed, “Oh you really want to be the bad guy? Doom your friends to a fiery doom? Okay!” She then turned away, the ball on the end of her horn growing brighter. Starlight then teleported above Celestia, and slightly to the side, then smacked her as hard as she could on the head with a forehoof.

She heard the crack as her horseshoe made contact. She was aiming for the pressure point that would make a unicorn let go of their magic. She knew for a fact that it worked on alicorns.

Celestia’s head tilted down, releasing the ball of energy into a powerful beam of pure power. Because of the sudden head movement, the beam missed the blimp and carved a four-meter-deep hole in the ground. It cut buildings in half leaving them to catch fire, the wall caught in the blast vaporized, leaving a cut cleaner than the rolling building, and the ground became black with a faint mist of ash dancing in the air.

All in a single head movement that lasted for half a second.

Starlight teleported back to the ground, swallowing her fear and replacing it with anger. She couldn’t back down, not now!

Celestia was laughing, however, throwing off her emotional balance. She turned back to Starlight with a wild look in her eyes, “Oh it’s been a long time since I’ve been hit! It’s not as fun when the prey can’t put up a fight! Simply, easier, and probably better to nuke them where they stand… But where’s the fun?!”

Starlight frowned and said nothing.

Celestia chuckled, “My offer still stands!” She said as a salespony would, “The location of Twilight Sparkle for your friend’s lives. What will it be?”

Starlight remained mute, prepping another teleportation. Luckily, the pressure point was also mirrored on the opposite side of the head, so she could be unpredictable.

“Silence? Oh, the witty Starlight has nothing to say?”

“Not to you…” Starlight said.

“Ha! So you do have a voice! So, what will it be?” Celestia said. 

Starlight remained silent, bidding her time. The blimp should be high enough to activate its teleportation. The moment she heard the blimp teleport, she’d teleport. 

But she didn’t hear it.

“Last chance Starlight!!” Celestia said with her horn glowing brighter.

Starlight wrinkled her face in a frown and was about to speak when the alicorn shrugged.

“Okay,” She said with a grin and her horn shot a large beam of fiery orange energy at the blimp. Starlight’s face wrinkled more as she threw up her will to the blimp. It was filled with her magic and would respond faster than her sending her magic up. 

She pulled the energy from the blimp into a shield. It would only take from the blimp’s energy for a moment as Starlight’s energy reached it. Her energy drained as the shield deflected the beam. It drained further as she again teleported up to kick the pressure point once more. 

But the beam ceased as Celestia released her magic and turned her head. She avoided the blow and caught Starlight with her head and horn, its long edge running along the side of Starlight’s skull. Starlight’s head seemed to fit perfectly into this notch, which Celestia used to throw the pony away. 

She flew for a bit, her neck complaining from the force it was subjected to. She then tumbled on the ground for a moment before colliding back first into the wall. It knocked what little breath she had out of her lungs, leaving her gasping for air. She dearly wished she had gotten her helmet before going to battle. She wasn’t wearing any armor, which her body was confirming with aching sensations. 

She finally got air into her lungs and stared at the fiery alicorn with anger in her eyes. It was met with equal annoyance in the form of a forced smile. 

“I’m really trying not to kill you!!” She said through the gritted teeth of her unpleasant smile, “But you are really making that hard!” 

Starlight didn’t respond, instead letting her body rest and recuperate. She was still broadcasting the energy that was interfering with Celestia’s, so she gently put the spell out. She then rerouted the energy into a refreshing spell. She watched the alicorn take slow steps toward her. Like a monster out of Tartarus that had been given the freedom to rid the world of her. 

The alicorn was still watching her as her body recovered using her magic. It wasn’t a full recovery but a full night’s sleep would have to wait. She calmed her breathing as the alicorn got closer but she stopped. 

“The tree, limiting my power so I didn’t vaporize you when you buried me, now,” She said with a voice that held back a tidal wave of rage, “But, I do need you. Though, if I really need to. I can use other methods to get the information I want… Not so, pleasant methods.”

Starlight got to her hooves and stared the fiery angel of death in the eyes, “If it wasn’t clear,” She gathered her magic in a ring of projectiles and summoned it in front of her, “I’m not telling!” Her magic flurried forward in a blast of light blue projectiles. 

They homed onto Celestia and all hit their mark. Though, they weren’t designed to hurt the solar Princess. Her shield would no doubt be effective. But it was designed to be destroyed. 

The projectiles exploded in a bright flash of light. Celestia laughed at the effects though, her eyes glowing bright.

“Really? That’s all you got?! I eat light shows like that for breakfast!” She shouted, her energy spilling out of her armor in translucent rays.

Starlight struggled to keep her smile from emerging on her face as she dissolved the magical ring. She summoned it forward in a large beam that hit Celestia square in the chest. She enjoyed the look of surprise on the alicorn’s face but did not enjoy the look of glee.

She ignored it and turned her attention to the blimp. She charged her horn with a spell key that would activate the spell built into the blimp. 

It would force the activation of the teleportation of the blimp.

She could imagine the ponies ready on the switch, ready to teleport the moment that she got on. But if she did, Celestia would no doubt burn their little balloon into a molten crisp. She had to make sure that her friends, now family, would survive. 

She could still teleport to the blimp; she was still in range of the secondary bunker. She did have her teleportation scramblers…

Her ring pushing the alicorn back was almost gone, so she sent the spell key to the blimp. The little ball of magic popped on the yellow material and caused the entire thing to glow with several hundred carefully etched symbols and thick lines of sparking magic. 

The air around the entire vehicle warped as if it was consumed in fire and glowed brighter. Starlight frowned as her ring vanished, leaving the alicorn free to move. Though, she watched the blimp’s spell work its path. Starlight prepped a shield in her horn, feeling her magic stores getting empty. She quietly pulled the last lock out of her dimension and lodged it in her mane. 

But the alicorn straightened her stance and looked at the blimp with curiosity. A resounding thoom filled the air as the teleportation took place. 

Celestia laughed, unable to look at Starlight with her mirth, “Really? Teleportation?! Goodness, you are soo predictable! Do you think I can’t track that? Can’t just appear next to them and vapor—” 

She stopped speaking and her mirth seemed to vaporize on her face. Her head snapped to where the blimp was and she stared at the spot for a few moments. Starlight’s lungs wanted to hold onto air, but she slowly let it out. 

“Well played Starlight,” Celestia said slowly, “Well, played…” Starlight could envision the venom dripping from her metaphorical fangs. 

Starlight gulped and then summoned her shield as Celestia sent a blast in her direction. Thankfully it wasn’t too strong but it was just strong enough to blast her shield to bits. The shield exploding sent her flying once more into the wall. She laid against the wall, feeling exhausted. She started to pull the paper from her mane when a mechanical leg burst from the wall and wrapped around her neck. It cinched tight, pressing her against the wall. Her instincts prompted her legs to the metal object in a vain attempt to get it off.

“It seems my negotiation card is gone,” Celestia said calmly, “But that means we get to do it the fun way…” She grinned, trotting forward.

Starlight ignited her horn but felt her weakened magic get smothered by the alicorn’s. She pushed with her legs, once more attempting to get free from the mechanical restraint. She kicked and pushed, trying to leverage her back legs to push. But she was just left to contort her body in desperate actions. Celestia merely smiled at her attempts and sat down in front of her.

Starlight attempted to light her horn but her weak magic was still smothered by the alicorn’s magic. Celestia’s grin seemed to grow wider as she placed both hooves on Starlight’s temples. Starlight couldn’t control her lungs as they demanded air. She was forced to look into Celestia’s glowing eyes as her mind seemed to be ripped open with searing hot magic. 

She screamed, once more straining in a wild attempt to free herself. She felt herself running through her memories. She was watching her battle with Celestia in Celestia’s eyes. Her eyes went wide.

Mind magic!!

Celestia chuckled, watching her battle going backward, “How far back will we have to go? How long will your brain last?”

Starlight shuddered, feeling the searing magic scuttling through her mind like a spider stuck in a small box. She vainly tried to fight the magic but simply didn’t have the stores. She shuddered, using the mind tactics she had learned long ago. If she could hide the information before Celestia saw it, then it would be much harder to find.

She first hid where the blimp’s final location was, then started with the layout of her bunker—

She gasped when the magic receded from her mind. Starlight shakily took breaths and looked up at Celestia. She was looking at her with a frown. 

She noticed the unicorn’s look and got close to her face, “Starlight, you try to hide your deepest secrets but forget the tiny little things. Remember the conversation you had with the late Great and Powerful Trixie? Just before your little meeting?”

Starlight’s eyes twitched as she remembered her conversation with the unicorn about the elements. Her internal thoughts about the missing alicorn.

Celestia turned back to where the blimp had vanished. She stared at the spot intrigued by something. Starlight gently reached her magic up to her mane and pulled the piece of paper out. She tried to tear the paper but it got surrounded by a golden glow before she could.

The alicorn didn’t turn around as her magic pulled the paper away from her and the mechanical arm released her. She fell to the ground in a heap but levitated as she got surrounded by the golden glow. It was warm, like that of a heat blanket.

“You don’t know where Twilight is. You set up camp here hoping that she’d come back. I left the town standing for the same reason. Though I felt her magic. Or at least, Alicorn Magic. But that doesn’t matter. You don’t know,” Celestia said, turning slowly to her, “So you are now no use to me!” 

The magic surrounding Starlight hurled her into the town, making her scuttle along the ground like a discarded pebble. But gravity pulled her down, slowing her path with painful scrapes. She shakily got to her hooves but collapsed. She was still able to look at the Alicorn as she walked towards her. She was staring at her piece of paper, reading the spell etched into it. 

She laughed and the little piece of paper erupted into flames. Immediately she felt her magic rebuild, slowing her breathing. The air next to Celestia glowed with a golden hue, obscuring the area. Her battle axe appeared when the light faded. The weapon was a large golden axe, covered in molten cracks. It spun once in the air, seemingly excited.

“It makes sense how you seem to be able to block my magic. Or,” She mused, “Part of it. Either way, let’s have some fun! It’s been so long since I met an opponent that could actually hit me!”

Starlight chuckled slowly getting to her hooves, “No thanks. I really thank you for the offer and the compliment! But no.”

She charged her magic, prepping teleportation. She also located her teleportation scramblers in her pocket dimension and thought up a pattern for elusion.

She gave the alicorn a grin and let her magic pop. She felt her form flash with light as she summoned a scrambler from her pocket dimension and activated it in front of her. A moment later she felt her teleportation take effect, obscuring her vision. But saw the Alicorn when her vision returned. Her grin vanished, replaced with a look of horror.

She jumped back as her scrambler opened up sharply, letting a blast of condensed magic out, ripping apart any magical patterns that were connected to teleporting. She looked at the device with horror. Normally, those devices weren’t harmful in the slightest. They were just designed to break the quantum resonance that teleporting left behind. Leaving no trace to anypony to track her. 

However, standing right next to the device would impede her ability to interact with the quantum realm at all. She wouldn’t even be able to touch the fabric of her dimension. Which meant she wouldn’t be able to teleport for at least ten minutes.

Celestia laughed, her axe falling to the ground with a thunk with her mirth, “Oh Starlight! You are hilarious! Do you really think I would take you on without some way to stop your teleportation?!”

Starlight felt her mouth dry up as she looked up at the alicorn with shock.

“I’ve got my mechanical wolves all along your little wall. Each one projecting a field that teleportation spells can’t pass! Not even mine!!” She cawed, “Now you’re stuck inside a dome, with me!” Her hair flared with energy.

Starlight frowned. The field couldn’t be completely solid because the blimp was able to teleport. Or was it because the blimp was able to pass through the dome while not in time-space? Was she just lucky with how high the blimp was set to get to?

Celestia smiled, picking up her axe once more in a golden glow, “So, once more Starlight. Let’s make this interesting, shall we?”

Starlight felt a shiver pass through her. 

“Awww,” Celestia cooed, “Cat got your tongue? You going to lay down and accept your fate?”

Starlight shuddered, her sudden lack of escape rooting her legs in the ground. They seemed to be suddenly in quick set cement. No, they were filled with it.

Celestia frowned and her axe glowed with flames sticking to the metal edge. Starlight shuddered once more, her body feeling the shock of adrenaline. She then dove to the ground to avoid the weapon as it was hurled at her. She shakily got to her hooves.

Hopelessness filled her soul as she found she could take a few steps back. How was she supposed to take on Celestia!? Without teleporting?! Without her extra reserves, she couldn’t block any hits without being completely drained! Even if she was able to hold her ground for the scrambler’s effects to wear off, how was she going to get out of town? Did the dome cover the tops of the wall? Could she teleport to the top of it?

Wait. Starlight’s head twitched as she felt the urge to look behind her, trying to see the hole that Celestia had made when Starlight first hit her. She could use that to get out of the field. But surely Celestia would see her attempts and maneuver her mechanical creations to cut her off. There was no way she could fight an alicorn and the metal, magic-resistant creations while crossing the entirety of Ponyville! 

But she had to try right? She couldn’t just stand there and take it!

But running across the town was just going to be a death sentence! Especially when Celestia’s magic could just plow through anything here!

Celestia was smiling, letting flames exit her mouth through the slits in her teeth. Starlight shivered, her mind frantically running through the things in the town, trying desperately to think of something that could block Celestia’s attack. Even just a little bit!

Starlight gulped. There was only one place in the town that could block Celestia’s attack even for a minute. 

The bunker underneath Twilight’s castle. Though it was not a castle anymore, the underground bunker would still be intact. Well, enough for her to use. But what then?! She’d just be a mouse in a trap!

“Tick tock, Starlight…” Celestia said slowly, with evil intent that seemed to smother Starlight’s hope.

Starlight was partly shaking now. She had to go to the bunker and hope to lose the solar Princess in an unknown place. Any other choice would lead to her untimely demise. 

So she took off running. She was practically gasping at the very first step. Laughter boomed behind her as Celestia taunted.

“Think you can run? Hide?! Oh, did I scare you that badly?” 

Starlight didn’t respond but threw her magic behind her. It stuck to the air like a cloud, filling the air with sparkles. It wasn’t any sort of attack but a precautionary measure against her falling over. She needed to keep her eyes up front but the magic would shift if something passed through it. So if Celestia threw something at her, she was confident that she’d be able to dodge. 

The warm glow of magic started to surround her, but she tuned her magic to the opposite of it and pulsed it on her skin, vaporizing it.

“Oh fun! So many unicorns forget about the simplest of grab breaks!”

Starlight pushed the memories of reading through combat books after several battles had caught her unprepared. Though those were from Twilight, long before Celestia gave the throne to Twilight. 

Ugh! She thought, Focus!! She desperately needed all her attention on the stump of the castle. But she spared some as her magic shifted behind her. 

She jumped left, getting showered with dirt and pebbles as Celestia’s battle axe gouged the ground with a black streak. She ignored it and kept running. Her legs were burning as the castle became a frisbee throw away.

This time she felt a shift in the magic cloud. But, it didn’t pass through but instead kept disturbing the magic. She felt her breath quicken as her subconscious screamed at her to move faster. Her conscious mind fought the use of energy and took a peek behind her. 

She saw the alicorn gaining ground on her. Flames poured from her smile, joining her flowing mane and tail. Her eyes were glowing with bright auras that flowed away as her horn was sparking with lava-like magic. 

Starlight shrieked and pumped magic to her legs. It wasn’t the best way to speed up and she was definitely going to be sore later but sore was better than being barbequed. 

“Oh Starlight!” Celestia’s voice came behind as Starlight had whipped her head forward, “I’m right behind you!!”

“Shut up!” Starlight said.

Celestia laughed, “Oh, this reminds me of some, rhyme that I can not remember its origins…” There was silence for a few moments, only Starlight’s breathing filling it.

“Run, run, fast as you can,” Celestia sang in an unknown tune, “You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man!”

“I’m not made of gingerbread!!” Starlight cried, suddenly very worried.

“Slow down! Let’s find out!”

“NOO!” Starlight shouted and pushed her legs harder. Though no matter how hard she pushed her legs, her magic remained disturbed behind her. Though she didn’t dare look behind her this time. She just focused on pumping her legs. Her mind was screaming questions at her. 

Why was Celestia toying with her!?

How come she was still alive?!

What was the alicorn magic Celestia was talking about?!

Were her friends alive?!

She felt tears well up in her eyes as thoughts of the potential fate of her friends. She shook her head. She had worked for days on the blimp. The spell was perfected and had been tested. Her friends were safe. She just now had to survive long enough to get back to them.

She took a breath, feeling determination seep into her fear-soaked brain. The castle was close now, and she threw her magic forward to it. She rummaged around the broken tables and décor for the door to the bunker. She found the large door and swung it open with her magic. 

She steadied her frantic heart and focused on the rhythm of her legs. She planned the jump into the hallway as she covered the staircase with ice, creating a ramp. She ran through the fractured doorway of the crystal castle, careful of the razor-sharp debris. 

She heard Celestia crashing through the debris sending it flying. She wrapped herself in her magic to protect against it, making her way to the hallway. 

“That won’t save you Starlight!” Celestia taunted, “But you know that, so what is your brain coming up with?”

Starlight ignored the pony, jumping over the table that she had sat at for so many meetings. Though it had survived the destruction of the castle, it did not survive the solar Princess charging through it. 

Starlight’s shield protected her from the chunks of flaming wood and ash as she jumped into the hallway with the open door at the end. She landed on the ice she had created and used the lack of friction to spin herself around. She then shot a beam of energy at the Solar Princess in hopes to slow her down a bit.

Her momentum and her magic pushed her down the iced steps, already lit by the little spell lamps activated by the blimp’s activation. Her beam hit Celestia in the tiny hallway and managed to put some distance between her and the angry flaming pony. 

Though not enough to think.

She continued her slide till the slippery slope became flat and she passed the large door to the bunker She slammed the door shut as she slide by, her ice path stopping shortly after. She used the sudden traction to roll into a forward position. She rotated the large locking ring on the door as she ran down the hallway, maneuvering large metal poles into locking positions. 

She also threw her magic into the walls of the dimly lit hallway, causing them to glow blue. Large blue rectangles of blue magic blocked the hallway behind her, offering several levels of protection. This all took only a few seconds, a speed only given by days of practice. Though she hit a roadblock.

She hadn’t thought to open the axillary door while she was running to the castle. She had forgotten that it had already been used, the bunker already active. She didn’t pause though, instead throwing her magic into the door. The magical seals recognized her magic and allowed it through the thick metal door hiding dozens of magic spells and mechanical mechanisms. She grasped onto the locking ring on the other side and began to rotate it. It rotated rapidly but this one was designed to be stronger and took longer to lock and unlock. There hence the magic shields and the primary door.

A sudden thunk made her whip around. There in the primary door was a glowing horn. The door hissed as it turned red, then orange, yellow, and began to bulge inwards. It then became white and lost its shape as it liquidifed. The molten lavafall fell over Celestia as she walked forward, the liquid doing nothing to her smile as she took casual steps forward. 

Starlight gulped as she watched the liquid metal capable of vaporizing her run over the Alicorn’s open eyes like water. Fear permeated her mind once more as she desperately tried to move the locking mechanism faster. But it was designed only to go so fast, allowing it to be stronger.

But it meant she was stuck in a metal box with a crazy alicorn Princess who could control the sun.

“Comon, come on come on!!” She pleaded, listening to the door’s mechanisms click and slide.

Celestia laughed and seemed unaffected by the cooling metal around her. She walked up to the blue forcefield separating her and Starlight and rose a hoof to it.

“Boop,” She said simply, her words not blocked by the magic. Her hoof tapped the shield, causing it to shatter into thousands of condensed magic shards that bounced and faded.

“Bop,” Celestia said in a playful voice, causing another shield to shatter under her hoof.

Starlight felt the fear move back into her face as she watched the spectacle. But she heard a thunk and practically tackled the door in to push it open. She spun on the edge of the door and swung it closed, fighting its momentum swinging it open. She ran from it, turning the locking handle as she did so. She didn’t bother trying to push it too fast. It wouldn’t hold long anyway. 

She didn’t hear a thunk like last time, only a hiss of vaporizing material. She whipped her head back for a second to see the door liquefy and splash outwards as Celestia burst through it. Starlight returned her head forward and pushed the speed of her gallop to her physical limit. 

The hallway remained slim and dim, little lights lined up along the walls. But she could see the hallway getting brighter as she ran. No doubt because of the glowing threat behind her. Though she passed through an entrance into a much, much larger hallway. 

This was like an elongated coliseum. Rows of seating ran along both sides room, slightly curved to face the entrance she had just entered. At the base of those stands were makeshift turrets that snapped into motion. Starlight looked down the carefully crafted barrel to the messy wires and magic-infused crystals. They were tracking her movements, and she had to double-check to make sure her necklace was still around her neck. 

But they suddenly snapped to something behind her and opened fire with blazing beams of magic. Starlight smiled, knowing that the full force of hundreds of unicorns imbued into those turrets wouldn’t be enough to stop Celestia. Hopefully though, it would slow her down.

At the end of the room was another door. This one was thick and strong, like the others. But this one wasn’t as hard to open with its differing mechanisms. She found herself missing her teleportation as the door slid into the wall. She dashed through it, closing it behind her. 

She was now in the main connection room. Here, she could get anywhere she wanted in the bunker. The blimp launch bay, living quarters, recreational rooms, the agricultural section, and more. She paused for a moment, taking precious seconds to figure out where she wanted to go. 

A massive explosion made her pause and look behind her. Those turrets were likely gone and the room a blackened mess.

The door began to change colors forcing Starlight to take off. She ran to the living quarters, its multitude of hallways and rooms hopefully providing enough cover for her to stall. She just needed to stall Celestia long enough for the effects of her scrambler to wear off. Then she could teleport out of the bunker and to that hole in the wall. Once there, she’d use the scramblers properly and get back to her friends. 

Hopefully in one piece!

The door exploded in a hot gooey mess, sending molten metal everywhere. Starlight heard the explosion, imagining the scene in her head as she put up a shield behind her. She felt her magic drain as several droplets hit the shield. 

“Clever Starlight! Imbuing unicorn magic into crystals to then fire out of machines! Took that right out of my book, didn’t you? You even used my machine’s targeting systems, only switched its enemy and friend directory huh?!”

Starlight didn’t respond but continued to run toward the hallway that lead to the quarters.

“Acting just like a gingerbread cookie huh? Just keep running and running!? Where’s your fancy magic I’ve heard so much about?!”

Starlight stuck out her tongue and turned to Celestia for a moment to satisfy her ego before turning back around. She passed into the much smaller hallway that lead to the quarters. Luckily the door had been left open, but she closed it with her magic as she passed by. Or, at least tried to.

Celestia smashed through the half-open door, liquefying it with her mere presence, “Oh Starlight!” She called, “Don’t you learn? I don’t care if your entire little base is a door, IT WON’T STOP ME!”

Starlight felt magic build behind her, making her mind fill with worry. She pushed magic to her legs speeding her up. The first doorway was only a meter away, so she barely made it to the doorway before the magical blast reached her.

Though it was close enough to shorten her tail, leaving a blackened husk that smelt terrible. Luckily it only cooked hair and wasn’t enough to reach her tail. Though the experience left her lungs taking as much air as she could give them.

“Aww, that was close,” Celestia’s said in a motherly tone, her hoof steps slowing to a walk, “I apologize. Next time I’ll make sure not to miss…”

Starlight felt sick to her stomach with how Celestia was talking. She could vividly envision Celestia before she went nuclear on Equestria. But this tone was a mockery of that past and she could hear it vividly. She calmed her lungs and continued into the room. She didn’t dare leave it as the hallway was no doubt too hot to transverse through. The metal reinforcements would see to that. 

But she had planned for that. Well, kinda.

She had designed the quarters to make sure that there were no dead ends. Every single room had at least two exits, most had three or four. That way, if a threat did break through all the bunker’s defenses then families wouldn’t be screwed over because of their quarter’s placement. 

Now she could use them to sneak away. She made sure to quietly step around to not alert the solar Princess of her actions. Though she was sure the hissing of the molten metal touching drywall and other flammable items would cover her. She didn’t have to worry about the smoke as the ceiling was covered in vents for that purpose. The fire suppression spells would kick in here in a moment so she wouldn’t have to worry about fire.

She walked into the quarter’s kitchen, quietly opening the door between the stove and cooling unit. There she stepped into another quarter’s living room. She quietly made her way through the room, moving towards the bedrooms. There was another door in between the door doorways for the two bedrooms. It was a dark green, signaling that it lead through the quarters in a clockwise fashion. A dark orange was for the opposite direction. A few had fought her over the colors, but she had only relented on its shade. 

She slipped through the doorway and into another quarter’s set hallway. She then passed through quarter to quarter till she was ten quarters away from the entrance. She slid against the dark orange door, landing in a sit that rested her sore legs. Her use of magic with them was starting to affect her. She massaged them a bit before letting herself relax. 

She had a few moments. She would have to move rooms but she could relax. There was no way Celestia could track her through all these rooms. Especially with the magic flowing through the walls to satisfy heat and lighting. 

She was safe for the moment. Now she just had to wai—

A searing pain ripped into her ear, an intense heat that vaporized all thoughts. She screamed and pulled away. Though that only succeeded in making it worse, causing her entire ear to scream as it was cut in two. She put a hoof to it, feeling the membrane in two pieces. She then looked to the door in confusion and fear, hoping not to see what had cut her.

But her heart knew it, no matter how much her brain wanted not to. She watched the burning horn smoke off the remains of her ear, then grow into a head as the alicorn pushed through the door. Starlight remained there in shock. 

Celestia chuckled, “You know, if I were to fry you to a crisp, then you might resemble a cookie!”

Starlight didn’t respond, the words rolling off her ear. How had she tracked her? Through so much magic? Did she see her enter the doorways? Was she right behind her this whole time? No! She couldn’t have!

Celestia chuckled, “Oh, did I break your little brain?” Her form emerged as she pushed through the door, leaving the molten metal to roll off her armor. It would then cool, except for the material that got stuck in her armor. That would remain glowing bright.

She took a step forward and looked Starlight directly in the eye, “You aren’t getting away. Magic or not, you will not escape my sight.”

That got Starlight to her hooves as she scrambled away as fast as she could, “We’ll see about that!” She shouted as she ran into the adjourning living room. She noticed that she was holding her ear as still as she could, but it had cauterized so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Celestia smiled and walked after her, “Ah, there you are. Now show me some magic! I’ve been patient enough.”

Starlight growled as she threw open another green door, “Oh, you really don’t want to see what I can do!” She then slipped into the next room, closing the metal door behind her. Though the Princess didn’t walk through the door but rather took a straight line to her through the wall. Smoke and molten metal followed her as she emerged. 

“Oh please Starlight,” Celestia said, “I know what you are doing! We’re just stalling till the scrambler’s effect wears off!”

Starlight frowned noting that even though the Princess was just walking fast, her longer legs were helping her gain ground on her. So, Starlight reached out with her magic and opened everything that felt like a door. That ought to help her.

She then passed into another room, escaping the smoke behind her. She had emerged into a kitchen and she had just opened all the cupboards. Starlight growled with annoyance and ran through, pushing them closed as she passed. But one section of doors closed the opposite way than she was expecting, making her open the door even more. She heard the hinges creak as they strained against her chest but she was moving too fast to avoid the obstacle and tripped over it. She caught herself with her magic and levitated herself forward out of the room.

“Starting to panic now?” Celestia said in a singsong voice, “How about I turn up the heat?”

Starlight growled again, prepping a heat shield in her mind, but the expected heat waves didn’t come. Rather, she merely spoke.

“Four minutes and 38 seconds till the effect wears off. And do you think I’m going to let you live past that point?”

Starlight’s blood ran cold.

Celestia laughed, her voice being cut off a bit as Starlight weaved in and out of rooms and among opened cupboards. How was she able to time it so well? Though it made a sort of sense as Celestia began to talk.

“I’ve been keeping time for over a thousand years, did you not think I could count to 600? It’s not that hard!”

Starlight merely growled in response, trying to think of a plan of action. She simply needed more space! Why couldn’t the quarters be larger? Give her a tiny bit more room to maneuver! 

She sighed running through yet another room. She had made sure the quarters were the same size throughout and at a moderate size for every creature to avoid disputes. The last thing they would have needed when they had to hunker down would be inner fighting about the size of their rooms. They had tried to make her take a larger room as she was, “the strongest one” but she refused. Though after days of arguing, she relented to having a separate office where she could relax and recuperate if needed.

That made her pause in her tracks. Her office!! She had gotten tired of returning to the ground surface as the bunker completed. Such trips took time and she loathed that. She could teleport but had several close calls when she’d teleport next to creatures and almost make a creature hybrid. 

So she made a teleportation tunnel to her room. She had made the magic only respond to her magic. Though it could be activated if some unicorn knew about it but her protective measures made sure very few could activate it. But if she were to use it now, she’d be able to get out of the bunker!

Starlight frowned as she remembered where her room was now. She growled, closing yet another door as she ignored Celestia’s taunts. 

The tree had been chucked over their wall…

Starlight frowned thinking about the nature of her spell. It worked by maintaining a quantum tunnel between her office and her bedroom in Twilight’s castle. Since the quantum tunnel was still active when the tree was thrown over, would the anti-teleportation dome have formed around it?

It was worth a shot. If she could get to her bedroom, then she’d be out of the dome! From there she could lose Celestia with her teleportation and get back to her friends!

She now had a plan. She walked into quarters and cycled through the rooms till she ran into a dark orange door. She opened it to get a face full of smoke. It wasn’t too strong thankfully but it was enough to curl her face with the smell.

“Oh, does Starlight have a plan? Only a few minutes left!!” Celestia coed, her voice making Starlight wanted to clock her in the face with her hoof. But she resisted the urge and continued through the ruined quarters. She ignited her horn,  wrapped herself in a heat shield, and took off through the hole Celestia made. Her form was smaller than an armor-wearing alicorn so she fit just fine. She made sure to be careful though, she didn’t want to run herself through on a searing hot piece of metal. 

“Oh, we leaving already? But you haven’t shown me everything!” Celestia’s voice followed after her, “But I guess you don’t have enough time…”

Starlight didn’t respond, despite the many comebacks on the tip of her tongue. She focused on the red-hot path ahead of her. The moment Celestia’s internal timer ran out, she’d no doubt use the same type of magic that she used on Appolusa. 

She would likely be vaporized at that point.

She shook her head. Minutes is all she had and she had no time to imagine the poor future that would be. She made it to the main hallway and followed the massive crater through the remnants of the hallway. She ran till there was a hole in the wall, created by the solar alicorn, and took a left. But the wall started to glow red as she turned the corner. She used her magic to throw herself forward to avoid.

“Nope!” She cried returning to a full gallop. 

“Yes, Starlight! You can only run for so long!!” Celestia called. Starlight could feel the warmth from her magic rushing over her like a hot bath. Though it did not bring comfort to the forefront of her mind. 

Starlight growled, “Watch me!”

Celestia laughed behind her, her laugh being interrupted by the walls she was walking through. Starlight ignored the oscillating sound and continued through the maze that was the living quarters. Though she knew the twists and turns to her office. Slowing down likely meant Celestia would torch her, but thankfully the teleportation was quick so there was no need to slow her down.

She rounded another corner and flew open the door to her office. It was a simple dark door with her cuite mark etched into the wood. It was etched after the stain was applied, so it stood out among the darker wood. Though it didn’t matter as the solar Princess crashed through it.

The room was a simple room, resembling her office at the school of Friendship. But this one had side rooms that had a sleeping space and a small kitchen. She made sure they were small and made the desk movable, making a large empty room for tinkering, spell making, or games with other creatures. It was much like her original office but this one was rarely used. She had just planned to be there for a long time. Yet, this time was different. 

Behind the desk was a large comfy red chair. She levitated into it and sat down. Her aching body enjoyed the cushions but she refused to allow her body to relax. She steadied the chair as it tried to take some of her momentum and stared at Celestia who was standing there in the scorched doorway. 

There was a large amount of magic resting on her horn and a smile on her face, “Did you want to die here?”

Starlight filled her lungs and let them go, “No, no I do not.”

Celestia laughed, walking closer, “Oh? Need to take a break? You’ve only got about a minute left.”

Starlight smiled, “Well that’s perfect then!” She then placed her forelegs on the rests of the chair and pushed them down slightly. They clicked, making two crystals touch and allowed a magical current to flow into the cushion. She allowed the energy to flow through her and she felt a familiar tug of teleportation. Her vision flashed bright gold then nothing.

Starlight cataloged her senses. She couldn’t see nor hear, which was a bad sign but she could think and she could feel her, essence. She felt it being compressed and pushed as if she was going through a tiny tube. It was uncomfortable and if she could feel her face it would show on it. Though after a few moments, the pressure vanished and everything returned with a flash of light blue light. Only, she was sideways. 

Gravity snatched her and pulled her down, making her land on, a wall? Her head tilted as she examined the room. It was her bedroom in the castle, much to her relief, but it was tilted on its side. The floor had become the wall and the windowed wall had become the ceiling. Her bed was smashed on the wall next to her, with the bookshelf and pictures scattered around in hundreds of various pieces. Her back complained and she got up feeling the stiffness and soreness of using magic to increase her physical strength. 

The room clicked and groaned as the crystal tree continued to settle, shifting the room ever so slightly. Starlight added to the noise with a groan as she pushed herself to a sitting position. She had landed on a hardcover book but it had saved her from the multitude of glass shards. There were several little ones in her tail and flank. They were small, however, so they didn’t get the chance to pierce her skin. She took several breaths, sitting on the hardcover book in a minefield of glass, waiting for her heart to stop beating out of her chest.

She suddenly clenched, feeling immense pressure on her mind. She clapped her hooves to her temples to try to release the pressure, but she knew it was futile. She’d just have to wait as the magic rushed back to where the scrambler had pushed it from. It took a few seconds and she was left with a slight headache, but she could feel the fabric of space again! So, she should be able to teleport.

But that wasn’t the main concern. She had felt something on the side of her head when she clamped her hooves to it. She pushed her magic from her hoof into it, grabbing it and pulling it. It held on with some sort of adhesive, pulling the sensitive hairs of her coat but it wasn’t supposed to be there! So she grimaced against it and gave it a yank. 

Her coat hair screamed in pain as some were pulled from her skin. But it was a small price to pay for the removal of the device she was now holding in her hoof. It was shaped like a horseshoe and was small enough to fit within her horseshoe if a groove had been etched into it. It was blinking quietly with several hundred tiny lights all contained within a metal housing. 

Though her inspection of the device stopped when the ground rumbled. Starlight quickly levitated herself to the ceiling, where the window had been before the castle’s impact had shattered it, leaving a clean hole in the crystal. She carefully peaked over the edge of the now trapdoor and looked towards Ponyville. She looked in time for it to explode like a volcano. 

The ground shuddered and shifted as if it was hit by an immeasurable hammer from below. Buildings were thrown off the solid ground like play bricks on a rug. Then a mighty hole burst through the ground, pulling up larges chunks of the ground as a new mountain formed. Though it lacked the material to hold itself up, so it almost immediately fell back to a large hill that was immediately covered in molten metal and debris. Rock flowed in tandem with the molten metals of the bunker. The buildings, the stump of the crystal tree, and the wall all were simply blown away. But the blast had seemed to be contained within the wall’s perimeter, so even though Starlight was pelted with dirt and a massive heatwave, she was safe. But the explosion had made her pull her head back into the room.

She could feel her soul quivering knowing she had been seconds away from being caught in such an explosion. She shook her body, shaking the shakes off and she refocused on the window above her. Though the explosion had thrown chunks the size of homes into the sky, she saw one such chunk glowing above her. It was pretty high up, but, it was glowing brightly and coming closer. Even if it had been molten metal, it would have cooled with the air rushing by. Sure, the air around them was hot but it wasn’t that hot!

Starlight eyed the chunk for a moment, only to realize that it wasn’t debris, it was the thing that had caused the debris!

She looked at the device still in the grip of her hoof, realizing that Celestia must have been using it to track her this entire time. She tossed it aside and teleported away. She reappeared in the forest next to Ponyville. She peeked around one of the trees to see the castle get consumed by a fireball of bright orange flame. It didn’t last long as it slowly morphed into a blackened ball of ash.

Starlight gulped seeing that she had barely escaped the solar Princess’s wrath twice.

Though a sudden beam of magic blasted towards her direction from the cover of ash. Starlight barely had time to widen her eyes as she brought up a shield to deflect the beam. She then jumped out of the way and let her shield go. She laid on the ground, breathing heavily as most of her magic stores had been entirely consumed. 

In a mere second of deflection, almost the entirety of her magic had been consumed. 

“Did you really think that you’d be able to get away?!” A voice said as the solar Princess landed with a thud next to her, “I can sense your magic!!”

Starlight couldn’t respond as her lungs were still busy trying to resupply her body with oxygen. But she lit her horn and vanished with a flash of light. She teleported away and teleported herself onto her hooves. They were shaking as she summoned a scrambler from her dimension. It was hovering next to her when she heard a pop of another teleportation. Laughter appeared next to her as Celestia followed her teleportation. Starlight teleported again, this time to a large field, leaving the scrambler to explode in her place. 

But she summoned another and once again the Princess was before her, this time with a greedy smile and her battleaxe.

“Starlight!” She said gleefully. Though if she said something else Starlight didn’t hear it as she used her magic to teleport once more. This time in the middle of a desert with a heat that could cook her alive. She pulled another scrambler from her dimension and vanished with a flash of light the moment she heard Celestia’s spell appear. 

Though this time she appeared in another forest, she almost immediately heard Celestia appear next to her. She growled, noting that she had teleported too fast and had allowed Celestia to get the teleportation location before the scrambler went off. She teleported a few meters forward to avoid a swing from the axe, her legs far too tired to move. 

She summoned another scrambler and held it on her forehooves. She activated it but held the little device closed. Only then did she teleport farther away. This time to a field of overbaked and brown grass. She hoped the scrambler would have immediately gone off the moment she had disappeared. She had to be careful though as if she messed up the scrambler would stop her ability to teleport. 

And she would be very dearly dead.

Another scrambler appeared in her forehooves, activated and ready. She flicked her ears around to the tiniest of sounds, waiting. And she didn’t have to wait long for Celestia to appear in a blaze of fire. Starlight teleported before the heat had consumed her but felt her skin dry in the mere moments it reached her. 

She was now in a mountain cave, far from any civilization she knew. She didn’t want to curse anypony with the solar Princess appearing on their doorstep. But the scramblers should be masking her teleportation! How was the pony tracking her? She summoned another scrambler to her hooves and quietly waited. 

She had removed the little device Celestia had placed on her, was there another one giving her location away?

Starlight’s instincts pulled her head up and to the right where a section of the cave split into a smaller cave. There were two glowing white eyes. Once she locked her eyes on them, a glowing smile appeared and the cave filled with light as the rest of the alicorn appeared.

Starlight blinked, changing her location to the bottom of the ocean. Her magic protected her from the crushing depths. She summoned another scrambler, giving it a bubble of air so as to not fry its sensitive magical components. Though that gave her pause for thought. 

Celestia had said she could feel her magic when she had first teleported. She just thought that the pony had used that ability to aim at her while Celestia was covered in ash and fire from her divebomb on the castle. Could she really feel Starlight’s magic across Equestria?

Starlight frowned and began to restrict her magic, reducing the amount of magic her body would naturally give out. Immediately Celestia appeared in front of her, her rage burning a blazing bubble of steam and ash that turned into a mini explosion. Though the water didn’t allow the shockwave to reach her before Starlight vanished in another flash of light. 

She reappeared on a mountain and had another scrambler ready to go. She continued to restrict her magic, reducing her magical signature even further. She was halfway done when Celestia appeared once more in a ball of fire. Starlight vanished and reappeared in a destroyed crater that was Appolusa. 

She remained in a sitting position with the scrambler in her hooves. Her eyes were wide as she looked around the blackened crater. The scorched stones gave off a smell that only could be matched with dinner left on the stove for several days on full heat. But nothing remained of the town, only her memory and the large crater that remained. 

Celestia reappeared this time throwing her axe the moment she appeared. Starlight teleported, being carefully sure that her teleportation would only catch her and not the axe being hurled in her direction. She reappeared in a swamp, trees and plants around her seemed to be working together to turn the swamp into a forest. 

She let out a breath as she finished restricting her magic. But she didn’t dare breathe normally. Celestia could still be around. Could still be trying to throw he—

Starlight fell to the ground as a force shoved her down. She managed to keep the scrambler closed but she didn’t sense magic behind the force behind her so she took the scrambler with her in a teleportation only a meter away. From it, she saw a wolf with a grey coat looking at her with confusion. She sighed with relief and teleported once more, leaving the scrambler in her escape.

This time she reappeared in the Everfree forest. She had done this to hide her magic further in the magic of the forest and to see what was left of Ponyville. All she could see of it was a large hole covered in red hot metal, ash, and debris. The homes and buildings that managed to escape with scorched walls were barely standing and at odd angles. Slabs of stone and earth surrounded the hole like a sunken crown. Its edges were scorched black but sections seemed relatively untouched. The wall was completely gone, well, mostly. The extended portion of the wall that extended around the Apple farm seemed to have escaped most of Celestia’s wrath. Most of the apple farm seemed intact, surprisingly. It lost a few trees and there were a few fires along the fields but they were arranged far enough apart that they wouldn’t destroy the entirety of the crop. Though even as she surveyed the destruction, she noticed Celestia walking around. 

She felt her blood cool as the alicorn threw up debris and destroyed piles of half-obliterated homes. Starlight frowned. If Celestia thought she’d teleport back here, why not just nuke the place? She frowned further and looked towards the Apple farm. The hardy trees had been able to withstand the eternal sun and were even able to thrive! Did Celestia want the farm intact? That the real reason she didn’t nuke Ponyville?

Starlight shrugged then walked more into the trees, tired slow steps that made her want to replace her legs with metal. Ponyville was lost but the inhabitants had been able to evacuate successfully. She had lost Celestia, so it was time she rejoined her friends. She sat down and immediately felt the soreness of her legs as her weight rested on her haunches. A tired smile was on her lips as she charged her horn with what little magic she had left. Then activated her specialized teleportation spell. It would take her directly to the blimp.

The forest around her flashed with light as the spell took effect. But the trees did not disappear. Starlight felt her eyes go wide as she subconsciously stood on all fours, the complaints of her limbs absolutely ignored.

NO! Her mind screamed, begging the magic to work. 

She tried again, and again, and again. But the magic did not work! She closed her eyes, her urgency only halted with cation. She had to be careful using magic with Celestia around or she’d be thrown right back into the ring. 

The magic flowed how it should in her mind and body. The spell was being cast correctly. She could use teleportation so that wasn’t the cause. She cast it again, restricting the magic to slow it down for her to analyze. It flowed from her to her horn, along the spell’s carefully planned states then, 

The magic froze, then crumbled as Starlight realized the problem. Her magic was fine, but it couldn’t find the marker on the blimp. Which was impossible because Starlight had weaved the marker into the blimp itself. So, the reason her magic couldn’t target the blimp was because the marker was destroyed. 

And the only way for the marker to be destroyed was for the blimp to be destroyed.

Starlight shook, tears covered her eyes and fell down her cheeks in the matter of seconds. But she shook her head, refusing to believe it. Her mind ran like a mouse stuck in a wheel, trying to come up with another solution.

Maybe the blimp was out of range? 

Starlight scoffed at the weak answer. She was very proud of her ability to teleport. She could teleport very, very far. And there was no way for the little blimp to travel far enough in the time she had fought Celestia. 

Maybe the magic ran out? Maybe the blimp’s magical signature was suppressed for stealth? Maybe the full blimp full of magical creatures had caused her mark to fail? Maybe—

Maybe….

Starlight felt her mind counter every one of her suggestions. She had planned the blimp well. The blimp’s magical stores would last for weeks of continued use, magical suppression did not affect her teleportation mark, and the cabin of the blimp was shielded from the rest of the blimp’s magic. Isolating it so even if a unicorn foal had a magical outburst the blimp would stay intact.

Which meant the blimp had to be destroyed. Along with her friends.

The realization fell on her tired body like a pile of bricks, bringing her to the ground. She was half tempted to walk over to Celestia in defeat and accept the fireball that would be sent her way. At least it would be quick.

She remained on the ground for a bit, her eyes streaming tears along her cheeks. Her heart was aching with the pain of loss. Her lungs didn’t want to breathe and her limbs and body shook from her battle. The ground beneath her felt like pillows despite being made out of stone and rock. She sighed and closed her eyes. Maybe she should check, maybe she could go to the bunker and double-check. There could be many things wrong with her magic. But there was—

She shook her head, scraping her chin along the ground. Maybe there was a chance! She had to check! She slowly pushed herself to her hooves and lit her horn for a teleportation to the secondary bunker. But after she let the teleportation spell loose, her body slumped to the ground with her breathing even more so.

She had reached her body’s limit of function. She couldn’t even teleport anymore. Her body shuddered as she pushed herself into a sitting position. Her nerves seemed to stretch with anxiety, just waiting for Celestia to appear behind her, taunting her. 

But thankfully it didn’t occur. She took in a shaky breath and lit her horn. She pulled out a simple protein bar from her dimensional pocket feeling her magic pulling on her horn as if a string was being pulled through it. Then, the string snapped and the bar fell to the ground. A frown appeared on her face as she stared at the protective cover. She sighed, feeling the action travel through her like a ripple in water. 

Had she ever opened a protein bar with her hooves? She shakily grasped the bar with two hooves trying to use her hoof magic to tear at the tiny perforations along the top. She just had to grab the tiny little corners and pull in opposite directions then downwards. Easy.

Only her magic exhaustion seemed to be affecting her ability to use her hooves. She growled and placed the bar on the ground, directly on a large rock. She then grabbed each side of the top and pulled them apart. The material resisted for a bit and then gave way, splitting the seal apart. She gently grabbed the bar inside the foil, wrestling with it for a minute before it came free. 

She took a bite of the bar, happy to find she had grabbed an apple-flavored one. It was apple pie flavored if she wasn’t mistaken but she was eating it too fast to fully catch onto the flavor; nor did she care. The bar was consumed in seconds, and she grabbed the wrapper and warped it into her pocket dimension out of habit.

But the action caused her to fall to the ground, grasping her chest as she could only focus on breathing and not breathing in the dirt of the Everfree forest. She held the position, feeling the pressure in her body slowly release. Once it did, she remained staring forward with a dull glumness that consumed the forefront of her mind. 

She needed to sleep. Her protein bar was highly filled with calories and would likely be enough to allow her to walk once more. Water was a priority but she wasn’t going to be able to get it right now. She needed a place that was secluded and somewhat shady. She sighed, looking around at the floor of the dangerous forest. 

A very bright orange caught her attention in the form of a large pitcher-like plant. This plant was huge, looking to resemble a barrel rather than a plant. Though the large pink and green flowers caught her attention and she got up with a groan. 

This particular flower was part of the carnivorous plant that used the magic of the forest to digest its prey. It was quite effective in doing so, easily destroying Timberwolves, chickens, or just about any creature that gets entranced by its sweet aromas. Except for ponies. The magic that was inside the ponies was a natural safeguard to the potent magic inside the plant. So a pony could safely use it as a hiding spot. It wasn’t without side effects though, the enzymes inside the plant were still strong enough to bleach her coat and irritate her skin after an extended period of time. But it was much better than trying to sleep in the open with the potential to have Celestia stumble across her.

She wearily shuffled to the plant and reared up to place her forehooves into the top of the plant. After a few breaths to steady her shaking limbs, she lifted the rest of herself into the pitcher. She slide, half fell into the plant, barely managing to get her head up out of the fluid and getting into a sitting position. 

There she stayed. Feeling her body settle into her position like a sandbag. She sighed and looked towards the opening of the plant, seeing sunshine filtering through like a grim reminder of what was nearby. But the sun disappeared as the plant closed up. Starlight smiled, letting her weight rest against the wall of the plant. 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t completely dark when the plant closed. Her magic was interacting with the liquid surrounding her, making it glow. But that meant it was protecting her and she’d not have to worry. 

She wouldn’t have to worry about Celestia as the plant’s magic would mask her suppressed magic. No creature would see her, nor would the plant accept anything else while she was inside. She could take a nap then when she woke up she’d just teleport out. 

The plant wouldn’t be harmed. She wouldn’t be harmed. 

She scoffed as she heard her mind rant. She closed her eyes, pushing her mind to go to sleep and rest. It was difficult with the unbearably sweet aroma that seeped into her mane.  But she heard another sound, a foreign sound.

A steady, beep? 

She didn’t react though, as her body refused to move. She felt her breathing slow as she gently fell to sleep. And she welcomed the blackness that muted her body’s complaints.

A door clicked as it swung open, “Is she alright?”

A faint sigh, “Yes, we believe so.”

A worried but now slightly relieved voice, “That’s good. What happened?” The voice was now confused and worry tinged its tone.

“Simply put, she ran out of magic. It seems that she was using her magic to satisfy her body’s need for sleep.”

“But if she was using magic to satisfy sleep, why did she just fall asleep when she came through the gateway? Without the mirror’s magic, ponies are unaffected by traveling between dimensions, right?”

“Yes. You are correct. But it seems that she wasn’t relying on her stores of magic. Her magic lines are noticeably more developed towards her skin rather than her core and horn. It's not much but it's noticeably so. So, we believe that she was using the residual magic from her environment to fill her magic and sustain her brain’s operation even after prolonged times of no sleep.”

“Why would she do that? Wouldn’t that be harmful?”

There was a pause, “Yes, technically it is. But she is more magically developed than most. So I do not think that much harm would come to her. If she was an alicorn then I’d have no worries but she’s comparably close to one so I worry a little. If she was just a normal unicorn, I’d doubt she’d wake up from her sleep.”

“Why take that risk?”

“We’ll just have to wait for her to wake up for that answer.”