The Darkest of Stars

Twilight rolled out of the way to avoid Luna colliding with her. The dark purple princess hit the cobblestone ground hard. Twilight was sure she heard a crack that didn't come from the ground. Luna just stood back up, unfazed.

Quickly standing back up, Twilight looked frightened out of her mind. “Luna, what's wrong with you!?”

Luna looked angry but slightly amused as well. She spoke while taking deep breaths. “You....haven't figured it out...either, have you?” She laughed aloud in a raspy voice. “Ha....ha ha ha....ha....that's amusing. The princess understood, though it took her....a while...”

“What are you talking about?”

“Luna...of course. She figured it out....but she...paid the price...”

Before Twilight could ask what in the world she was talking about, Luna rushed her with her head lowered. Twilight quickly ducked out of the way, inadvertently tripping her. Luna flipped straight over her, head over hooves, landing some distance away.

Twilight was beginning to get what was going on. She stood her ground, lowering her head aggressively. “Who are you and what have you done with Princess Luna?”

“Luna” smiled maliciously. “Now...you get it...” she said, sounding like she was struggling. “Your princess....is fine...I just...needed her...for a short...while...”

“For what?” Twilight asked, keeping her head lowered. “Who are you!?”

“You'll find...that out...soon enough...” Suddenly, her good humor vanished. “For now...I'll ask...again...where is...my heart...?”

Twilight's curiosity got the better of her. “Heart? What heart?”

Luna was directly in front of her in an instant. “Don't play...stupid with me...” she threatened. “You were...in possession of it...just a few months...ago...”

“I have no idea what--” Twilight's eyes got twice as large. “You don't mean...?”

Luna stood up above her, scowling. “So you...do know where...it is?”

Twilight tightened her expression. She didn't want to implicate anyone. “No, I don't know where it is. I don't have it either.”

Luna looked directly into her eyes. A few seconds passed before she started smiling. “You're a...good liar, Twilight Sparkle...but a liar nonetheless...”

Twilight gulped, readying herself for a confrontation. “What makes you s-so sure?”

“That zebra...didn't have it...so that leaves...only you...”

Twilight looked immediately grave. “What did you do to Zecora?”

Luna was still smiling crookedly. “Nothing you need...to concern yourself...with...she's in...a better place...” She cackled aloud.

“What have you done to her...?” Twilight seemed to be losing her strength all of a sudden.

“Don't worry...you will...be joining her...soon...” Luna lunged at Twilight, aiming for her neck. Twilight flew backwards, flipping over in midair and firing a blast of energy at the same time. The blast hit Luna in the face, causing her to stagger backwards. She growled loudly, raising her head up.

Luna's eyes glowed with dark energy. Suddenly, a black circle formed around the area Twilight was standing. She quickly got out of the way, just in time to avoid a dark pillar of energy firing up from the ground. She had to run to avoid another pillar and then another. She then rose into the air to avoid another.

Luna growled again, looking like she was about to take flight. Then, she just collapsed to the ground. Twilight hadn't noticed before, but she was sweating and breathing hard, almost hyperventilating. “The princess...is fighting back...well...” she said, out of breath. “If I...can't come to you...I'll bring you...to me!” Her horn and eyes glowed black again.

Twilight found herself surrounded by this energy. Just a few moments passed before she started plummeting out of the sky. She tried to recover her flight, but failed. In fact, she found that she couldn't even feel her wings. She looked at her sides and noticed that they were gone. “My wings...they're gone!” she cried out. She saw the ground approaching fast. She just knew that she would sustain an injury from this...or worse.

“I got you!”

Twilight gasped when she saw a familiar light blue pegasus swooping in to save her. “Rainbow Dash! I'm so glad to see you! Thanks so much!”

Dash grinned cockily. “Don't sweat it!” she said, lowering her to the ground. “Those weird friends of yours told us something was going down here.”

Twilight looked skeptical. “New friends?”

Dash gestured towards Luna, who was beginning to look worried. She looked around frantically, trying to spot any more assailants. “It's the...Elements of Harmony...” she growled.

“Fluttershy, go for it!” A somewhat familiar voice called out.

The yellow animal caretaker came diving off of the roof. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!” she repeated over and over again. She landed on Luna's back, grabbing her by the neck. Luna bucked and bucked to get her off of her, but she would not budge.

“Pinkie Pie, distract her!”

The hyperactive pink Earth pony came bouncing out from behind a nearby building. She got up close and personal to her, ducking and dodging all of her bucks and kicks and swings as she talked at full speed. “Oooh, Princess Luna! Or should I just call you Luna? Or Princess? If I just called you Princess that would get confusing. I mean, how would you know if I was talking to you or your sister? Speaking of which, where is Princess Celestia? What do you guys do together? Talk? Do puzzles? Have sleepovers? Play sudoku? I don't even know because we haven't seen you guys together a lot except for that one time with the book--”

“Applejack! Rarity! Truss her up! Fluttershy and Pinkie, stand aside!”

Fluttershy hopped off of Luna. Pinkie Pie looked disappointed. “Aww, but I didn't even get into Larson's development-”

Dash grabbed her and pulled her away. “Quit being random and get back!” she commanded.

Just then, Applejack and Rarity came out, Applejack with her trusty rope between her teeth and Rarity with her own brilliant ribbons. “Yee-HAH!” Applejack yelled out, spinning the lasso around in the air.

Rarity took the ribbons and spun them around Luna, tightening them around the princess's legs. “Such a waste of good material,” Rarity complained. “But I suppose it's for the best. We are stopping a villain after all.”

Applejack rolled her eyes before lassoing Luna around her neck and pulling her down to the ground, creating a loud thud. “That's how we do it on tha' farm!” she said proudly, crossing her legs.

“Good work, girls,” Radley Kane said. He was followed by Kassandra and Allis. “That went better than I had expected.”

Kassandra walked over to Twilight, who turned her head away. “Hey...you alright?” she asked.

“Fine,” she answered curtly. She then turned to Rainbow Dash ans smiled. “Thanks for coming...”

Dash could tell something was going on, looking slightly uncomfortable. “Yeah...no problem! But it was these three that told us something was up.”

Twilight didn't say anything. Kassandra lowered her head and went to join her two friends around Luna.

Luna looked up and smiled crookedly. “So...it's my biggest...fanclub...” she said sarcastically. “The Order...of the Darkest Star...it's good....to see you...all again...”

“Silence yourself, princess,” Allis ordered. “It's time for you to go.”

Luna closed her eyes, looking like she was sniffing the air. “Hmm...so it wasn't...Twilight Sparkle....that had my heart...” Her eyes locked onto Allis Yahn. “It was...you...Allis Yahn...” She tried to lunge forward, but failed due to the bonds. She looked incensed. “Do you think...you can stop...me with these...miserable chains...?”

“Don't even try it, Blackstar,” Kassandra threatened. She kicked Luna in the face, knocking out a tooth.

“HEY!” Pinkie Pie stood inbetween Kassandra and “Luna”. “That wasn't very nice at all!!”

“We told you this before we arrived her, pastry chef,” Allis said, sounding exasperated. “That isn't your princess. At least not now.”

“I don't give an apple's core who it is,” Applejack said, taking charge. “But Princess Luna is still in there somewhere. There's no excuse for excessive force.”

Rarity stepped in. “Applejack is right. There's no reason for us to become barbaric in this situation.” She suddenly looked worried. “But what is stopping her from breaking free?”

Kassandra still looked steamed, but relented. “A seal has been placed on her magic for the time being.”

Twilight and Rainbow Dash stepped forward. “A seal on magic? Is that possible?” the unicorn asked, her scientific curiosity temporarily overriding her distaste.

“Not with unicorn magic, it isn't,” Allis explained. “But one of the fundamentals of magic is that if it can be done--”

“--it can be undone,” Radley finished.

Dash glanced at Twilight. “Oh look! You're wings are back.”

Twilight looked at her sides and stretched them out. “Oh yeah, they are!”

“Can any of you please explain what the hay is going on here?” Applejack asked.

“In due time,” Allis assured. “But first, we have to expunge the Darkest Star from the princess's body.”

“I have a question for her before we begin the exorcism,” Radley said. Allis and Kassandra stood back. He looked Luna right in the eyes. “Blackstar...how did you do this?”

“Do...what...?”

“You know exactly what. How were you able to inhabit the body of Princess Luna?”

“I am...the Master of...the Darkest Star...” she answered. “Is it really...so hard to believe...?”

“It is when the Darkest Star has yet to arrive for another five months. Your power should have been dormant until then.”

She smiled crookedly. “What can...I say...? I have great...inner strength...”

“Radley...she's not going to tell us anything else,” Kassandra said. “Let's get this over with.”

The Earth pony sighed. “Yeah, you're right.” He closed his eyes for a second. “Give me the dagger.”

“You can...go ahead....” Luna said, sounding exhausted. “This body...is so hard to...control...”

Allis dropped an elegant dagger at his hooves. It was bright red with a golden trim around the edge. The hilt was decorated with many different runes and symbols. Radley picked it up between his teeth. The blade had the cutie marks of Allis, Radley and Kassandra on them.

“Hey...what's going on here?” Rainbow Dash said, looking skeptical. All six of the ponies were wary.

“You might want to look away,” Allis suggested to everyone. “Rest assured, the Princess of the Night will not be harmed during this process.”

“P-process?” Fluttershy repeated.

Radley came closer to the hogtied princess, standing directly over her. He stood on his hind legs, taking the dagger inbetween his hooves. He closed his eyes as he began to chant loudly in a strange language. “Sanguinare de eo, fodiendo altius iustus proice. Sanguinare de eo, fodiendo altius iustus proice. Sanguinare de eo, fodiendo altius iustus proice...!”

Twilight gasped. “He's going to kill her! Stop him!”

Rainbow Dash flew forward to intercept Radley. Allis was immediately in her path. “Come no further, weather pony!” He almost seemed to be staring her down through his blindfold. “Do not interrupt the ritual.”

“Get out of my way!” Dash commanded, trying to shove Allis aside. He would not move.

“If you interrupt Radley before the incantation is complete, your princess will be sure to die!” he warned in such a forceful tone, Dash back down a little.

Radley stabbed the dagger into her chest. He continued speaking in that strange language and voice. “Cicatricibus aperiam...” He dragged the dagger down, opening up a huge wound. A sickening squelching noise was heard as the blade tore through her skin. “...Hoc faciam coram te.” No blood came out, but rather a large cloud of black smoke rose from the wound. It vanished into thin air. The Earth pony backed off, handing the dagger back to Allis. “It's done,” he said finally.

“Princess Luna!” Twilight and the others rushed towards the wounded princess, but Kassandra halted them with an outstretched hoof.

“Give her some time,” she said. “Her soul needs to take back control. Blackstar did a number on her.”

Applejack took off her hat. “She's gonna be okay, right?”

“If I got the spell right,” Radley said. “It's been a while since I've had to exorcise Blackstar's influence from another body.”

Rainbow Dash was upon Radley in a second, knocking him to the ground. “What do you mean if?”

Kassandra pulled Dash off of him. “Easy there,” she said. “There's very little chance of anything like that happening.”

Dash turned on her. “Little chance of what?” There was more than a hint of challenge in her voice.

“Do not despair,” Allis interjected. He turned to face Kassandra for a second before addressing the entire group. “Even now, the princess of the night is returning to her body.”

A few seconds passed before the wound started to seal itself up rapidly. Then Luna's eyes shot open. She coughed violently and turned to her side. Something black and gooey came out of her mouth. She looked around and saw everyone standing around her. Addressing Twilight, she said in a perplexed voice, “Did you invite all of your friends to see your lesson? I wish that you had told me this sooner.”