The Darkest of Stars

The Badlands.

Life as any sane being would define it did not exist here. There was nothing but sand, rocks and jagged mountains and cliffs to be found here. Strong wind gusts arrived occasionally to kick up sand and dust into the air. Even in the midday sun, the heat was nearly unbearable. Without a cloud in the sky, it was free to scorch the earth into fine, nutrient-deprived particles.

Even so, Princess Luna flew through the air with a determined expression on her face and the cursed Alicorn Amulet clenched tightly in her teeth. The princess was on a mission and had been on one for the past two days. The going was tough – finding the place she needed to get to was nearly impossible. She had spent the entirety of one afternoon going around in a circle, for instance.

The voice that had called out to her a few days ago was also an occasional nuisance. She tried to ignore it and sometimes it went away for a while, only to come back some time later.

She was tired and hungry and could feel her strength waning, but knew she could not stop no matter what. She had to do this to save Equestria once and for all from the Darkest Star. If she didn't...they might get to it first.

The location she wanted to find was deprived of any magic. It siphoned it and drained it like a collapsed star devours light. In the same way the Crystal Heart radiated love and joy all over Equestria, this place siphoned magic from all over the Badlands. The irony of it all was that no matter how much it fed itself with magic, it was never full and could never produce its own. This is why it was called...the Blackest Heart.

Luna could feel the hunger of the Heart as she flew onward. She knew that she was getting closer and poured on all the speed she could muster. It only took a minute before she finally reached a cave that contained the Blackest Heart.

The Princess of the Night landed, quite unsteadily in front of the Heart. The thing took the form of a...void of some sort. It was like looking into a tornado from atop the clouds, except that it was black with the tiniest white streaks funneling down into it. Still with the Alicorn Amulet clenched tightly in her teeth, Luna approached the Heart.

“You are not going to do what I think you are about to do are you, lunar princess?”

Luna turned around, not looking particularly surprised to see the pegasus standing behind her. “Allis Yahn,” she greeted, talking around the amulet. “I would say that it is a pleasure to see you again if that were true.”

Allis shook his head. “There's no need for hostility, princess of the night,” he said placidly. “We are after the same thing after all: what's best for Equestria. Is that not correct?”

“Except that your way involves endangering the lives of every pony you come across,” Luna said with disgust, looking at him right where his eyes would be if they were visible. “Possibly even letting them die if that fit into your master plan.”

“Would it be right to let one pony live if that meant it would lead to hundreds more dying?” Allis asked, slowly walking up to her.

Luna stepped back towards the Blackest Heart, stretching out her neck and also the Alicorn Amulet over it. “Come any closer and your plan is ruined,” she threatened.

Allis stopped and stepped backwards. “Don't do this, lunar princess,” he warned. “The wish has to be made and it cannot be done without the Amulet.”

Luna held her position. “Nothing has to be done except to destroy this cursed thing,” she affirmed. For a moment, she brought herself out from over the Heart. “This jewel almost cost me the greatest relationship I've ever enjoyed.” She turned back towards Allis, new determination plastered on her face. “I won't allow any others to be brought to harm because of it!”

Allis sighed. “I'll give you one last chance, lunar princess.” He placed a hoof on the back of his blindfold. “Give me the amulet willingly or I'll have to resort to drastic measures.”

Luna faced the Blackest Heart. Taking a deep breath, she said quietly, “I'll take my chances.” She held the Alicorn Amulet over the seemingly endless funnel of darkness, poised to drop it.

Then, she froze. She tried to move, but all of the feeling in her body was gone. Something felt like it was digging into her spine, like the claws of a hungry manticore. She could feel these claws compelling her to turn around. She had no choice but to oblige, despite her attempts to struggle against them. She was now facing Allis Yahn. Finally, she remembered why he always wore the blindfold.

His eyes were almost completely white, devoid of any color except for a red streak that went from his top right eyelid and straight through his eye down to his bottom lid. “Now, princess of the night, give me the Alicorn Amulet,” he commanded calmly.

Luna wanted to turn around and toss the amulet into the Heart, but was unable to resist Allis's call. She silently cursed herself for not doing so before and instead choosing to get caught in a moral debate with this demonic pegasus. Against all of her wishes, she dropped the amulet at his hooves.

“No no,” Allis said, keeping his eyes on her. “Put it on for me, dear princess.”

Seething inside, but unable to take any action, Luna picked up the amulet and tied it around his neck. “Good,” Allis said, smiling. “This could have been so much more pleasant for the both of us if you had simply done what I had asked in the first place. Oh well, nothing worth having ever comes easy.”

Allis continued to stare at Luna, speaking slowly and clearly. “Now, lunar princess, these next instructions are very important. You will forget everything that has happened up until three days ago. Fly back to Canterlot, behaving as if nothing has happened because nothing has happened. I'm sure your sister is worried about you as well.”

And with that, all of the anger and determination drained from Luna's face, replaced with deadpan obedience. She then exited the cave and took to the sky. Allis watched for a while before replacing his blindfold. “Kids these days,” Allis said to himself. “They can be so ungrateful...” He took to the sky in a slightly different direction than Luna.

~

It was peaceful day out under the midday sun in Ponyville. The brightest star in the sky warmed the air just enough to create a cool, flowing breeze. The birds were singing joyfully and emphatically while a bunny hopped across the ground.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were sitting in the park right on the  edge of the town. There was food and picnic baskets on a blanket spread out before them.

Dash jumped up into the air and groaned aloud. “That's it! I can't wait anymore, I'm starving. Give me that apple pie!” She started flying straight towards one of the pies.

Pinkie intercepted her with a hoof to the throat, knocking Dash to the ground. “NO!” she said, staring her down as she lay on the ground. “You promised Twilight you'd wait for her to come before you started eating. We all did!”

Dash looked completely miserable, but relented. “Fine...but if I start to waste away into nothing, could you at least give me an apple?” she said in her most pathetic voice.

“Sure!” Pinkie agreed, bouncing up and down. Then she came to a stop. “But come to think of it...” She fell down on her back beside Dash. “I'm starving too! Where is Twilight?”

“Oh, you two are such drama queens,” Rarity commented, rolling her eyes. Everyone turned to look at her. She flipped her hair and smiled nervously. “Present company excluded, of course.”

“Give 'er a chance guys,” Applejack said, balancing a stack of apples on her back. “She probably got caught up with some 'princessy' business or such. She's got a heap 'a responsibilities now”

“It's too bad we don't get to see her as much anymore...” Fluttershy commented, a hint of regret in her voice. She tossed a few seeds onto the ground, attracting a small group of birds.

“Yes it is,” Rarity agreed, coming to stand beside Fluttershy. “The poor darling doesn't seem to have time for anything else anymore.”

“Yeah, she does seem pretty busy...more than usual anyway,” Dash chimed in. She tried to reach for an apple nonchalantly, but Pinkie smacked it away giving her a hard stare.

Pinkie jumped up into the air, a big smile on her face. “Still, I'm so happy for her! I mean, she's a princess now! A princess! That's like, so amazing!”

“Umm, girls?” Fluttershy spoke up in a voice far too low to hear.

“It's a pretty big deal, I have 'ta say,” Applejack agreed. “And for such a lil' pony.”

“Well duh!” Pinkie said, jumping straight into Applejack's face. “That's why I'm using italics!”

Everyone turned to look at her. A full ten seconds passed before Dash groaned and said. “You're so random Pinkie Pie...”

“Girls, I think she's--”

“Oh well,” Rarity relented, stretching. “I suppose we'll have to try again at a later date.” She picked up her yellow sun hat with a blue ribbon and flower and put it on.

“It is getting kinda late,” Applejack said, glancing at the sun. It had nearly begun to sink below the horizon. “Gotta get back to the farm ta help Granny Smith get ready for Zap Apple season!”

“Oooh, it's almost Zap Apple season!?” Pinkie repeated, bouncing up and down. “I can't wait! I just love Zap Apples!” Then, she began to ramble. “I like candied Zap Apples, Zap Apple jam, Zap Apple pie and Zap Apple cider! I don't think I've ever had Zap Apple cider? Why don't you guys make Zap Apple cider!? I mean I love cider season but just think how amazing Zap Apple cider would be! It would be electrifying! Or maybe ciderific? How about electriciderific!?”

“GIRLS!!”

They all looked at Fluttershy with shocked expressions on their faces. She immediately shrunk back. “Oh...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to yell...” she said quietly. She pointed behind them “But, umm...Twilight is here...”

Finally, everyone noticed her. “TWILGHT!” they all screamed at once.

“Hi, girls!” Twilight set down her baskets and embraced all of her friends happily. “It's so good to see you all! How've you been? Oh, we have so much to catch up on!”

Dash was the first to let go. “Totally! But first – what took you so long?”

Applejack punched her in the shoulder. “Rainbow!” She addressed Twilight. “Don't listen to her. We're just as pleased a family a' worms in a barrel a' apples to see you!”

“Oh girls, I'm sorry for being so late,” Twilight apologized. “These two ponies showed up at the library and held me up.”

“Oooh, who was it?” Pinkie asked, resuming bouncing. “Cheerilee? Big Mac? Lyra? Bon-Bon? Derpy? Time Turner? Colgate? Octavia? Vinyl? Berry Punch--”

Rarity stopped her before she went too far. “So who were these visitors of yours?”

Twilight shrugged. “I have no idea. They said they had something important to talk to the six of us about.”

Dash had her face buried in an apple pie. “Something important?” she repeated with her mouth full of pie.

“It was something about the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight said, scratching her head. “And about the spell.”

“You mean the one written by Starswirl the Bearded?” Rarity clarified.

Twilight nodded. “Yeah. Question is, how would they know about the spell?”

“Well where are these ponies?” Applejack asked. “They sound like in'trestin' folk.”

“They wanted to come along with me, but said they had somewhere to be all of a sudden...” Twilight said cautiously. She then waved her hoof dismissively. “Let's not worry about them! We have so much to talk about. I feel like I haven't seen you all in forever!”