Luna's Missionby kalawoofChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 10Chapter 3Chapter 1Starburst, a gray Pegasus mare with a black mane and tail with a white stripe through it, walked out her front door to another day in Ponyville. She heard her little brother, Night, lock the door behind her like he did every morning, without any luck. Night was a colt with one prosthetic wing and scars. He had the same coloring as Starburst, except he had a blue stripe instead of white. He didn’t have a cutie mark yet. Starburst’s was a shooting star. “You know that never works!” Starburst yelled through the door at him. “Shut up! They’ll know I’m here if you’re talking to me!” he yelled back. Soon after he said that, she heard a crash in her house. She put her ear up to the door and heard Night screaming, “No! No! Why?!” Suddenly, silence came. The door unlocked and she saw Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo dragging Night out. “Come on, we told you we had a crusader meeting!” Sweetie Belle said. “I was forced! I didn't even want to join!” he argued. They let him stand up, and he gave up. He followed without another word knowing that he had lost this time. Starburst grinned, then noticed the cross-eyed mail pony flapping towards her. “Uh… letter for you!” she said, handing an envelope to Starburst. “Thanks!” she replied. Derpy flew away as Star started to read. “Starburst, while the representatives of the Elements of Harmony are on their own mission given by my sister, Princess Celestia, I have my own mission for you. Please gather a team of strong, trustworthy ponies and meet me at the royal castle in Canterlot. Signed, Princess Luna,” the letter read. “What? What’s going on?” Star said to herself. She put the letter in her saddle bag and started off to find her friends. The first place she went to was Vinyl and Octavia’s house. “Hello?” she yelled as she knocked on the door. She then noticed a paper taped to the door. “Off camping for some roommate bonding time,” it said. Star scratched her head with a hoof and mumbled, “Camping? They both HATE camping!” She started walking again, looking for more ponies that might be willing to help. She bumped into Derpy again, and immediately said, “I got the letter from Princess Luna, do you want to come on a mission with me?” Derpy looked a little sad as she replied, “Sorry, but I have work… and I have to fix a roof that I fell through yesterday.” Star shrugged and said, “It’s fine! I’m sure I can find someone else!” Derpy waved as Starburst walked off again. She ran into more and more ponies who all seemed to be busy, or just didn't want to go. “Hey, Big Mac! You’re strong! Do you want to come on a mission from Princess Luna with me?” she asked the big red stallion. “Nope!” he replied. She sighed as she said, “Let me guess, you have too many chores?” He nodded and stated, “Eeyup!” He started to walk off with a big load of apples. “Wait! Do you think you could watch Night for me while I’m gone?” Starburst yelled after him. He looked up in thought, then nodded his head. She thanked him, then soared into the sky toward the Everfree forest, for some desperate need of help. Chapter 2Starburst swerved through the trees. Ducking under branches, turning sideways through split boulders, until she got to a hut carved into a tree. She knocked a few times, then realized that it was completely dark inside of the hut, even though it was still midday. “Zecora’s usually home right now!” she complained. “She went to Phillydelphia. Some kind of weird flu broke out there and they needed her help,” a calm, stallion’s voice spoke. Star whipped around to see her friend, Darkecho coming out of the shadows of the trees. The black unicorn, who had some zebra blood in him that gave him three white stripes on his neck, white muzzle and hooves, walked up to her and smiled, showing his sharp teeth. “Hey! I was actually just going to ask her for some help. Everyone back at Ponyville is busy and I need to go meet Princess Luna in Canterlot for a mission! I’m supposed to gather a team of ponies, but I can’t find anyone!” she whined. Darkecho put up a hoof to shut her up. “I can go, I never have anything to do,” he said. Starburst beamed and yelled, “Then lets go!” She shot up into the sky and flew off. Darkecho’s horn glowed light blue, and he started to float. His main magic talent was levitating himself. He followed as quickly as he could until she stopped above the train station. They payed for their tickets and took the Canterlot train. It took until the next morning to get there. A royal pegasus guard was waiting for them. “Is this all you could gather?” he asked Star. She sadly nodded. He shrugged and started to fly, waving a hoof for them to follow. They both started flying and the three of them went straight to the castle. Darkecho stared in amazement at all the windows and the interior decorating, since he lived in the Everfree Forest. Luna entered the main room, looking a little disappointed. “I’m sorry, everyone else was busy! I could only get Darkecho!” Starburst instantly apologized as she bowed. “It’s okay, maybe it’s better to have a smaller group, but I’ll be going with you, too,” Luna explained. Starburst stood,raised an eyebrow and tilted her ripped ear a little. “What? But you’re a princess! If you… get hurt, how do you think that would affect Princess Celestia?” Star asked. “She’ll be fine, she’ll do as she did when I was banished to the moon. She will raise the sun, and the moon,” Luna argued. Star decided it was pointless to try to persuade her. “Okay… so what are we up against?” she asked. “There’s a new threat. A unicorn pony has discovered some of the dark crystals that King Sombra has left behind. They attached themselves to his horn and made it so he couldn’t us his magic, so he came running to us for help. Apparently, they are made by some of his followers. They are attempting to capture as many ponies as they can and resurrect their king. The crystals have also been attaching themselves to pegasus wings to take away their flying magic so they can’t escape, and earth ponies’ hooves to take away their strength so they don’t fight back. They are collecting an army of slaves to present to him when he returns,” Luna informed. Chapter 4Starburst entered the hotel first, then bumped right into the rhyming zebra. “Zecora! I forgot that you were here!” she yelled. Darkecho and Luna entered next. They quickly told Zecora what was going on, which she connected to the mysterious flu that had started to take over Fillydelphia. “A sickness of crystals, that is what ails. But let me join in your quest, I will surely try my best,” Zecora said. “Good! I went to your hut to see if you would come, but you weren't there! I’m glad we ran into you!” Star said, hugging the zebra. Zecora nodded. “We leave in the morning for the cave,” Luna said, walking up the stairs to her room. In the morning, they took no time to have fun or explore. They gathered in the hotel lobby, checked out of the hotel, and took a carriage to the edge of Fillydelphia. “Here we go," Luna said, turning herself back into what she usually looked like. “Princess, do you disguise yourself often?” Star asked as they approached the mountain. “Yes, I like to go around Canterlot like that and act like a normal citizen,” Luna replied. Luna began to fly up the mountain, leaving Star and Darkecho to carry Zecora up together. “Are you sure, Princess, that in this cave we will find success?” Zecora asked when they landed. Luna took a breath, ready to reply, then gave up and started walking into the cave. Darkecho used his magic to make a light blue glow to show the cave. They walked through tunnels, and there was no sign of any inhabitants. “Maybe we’re in the wrong cave?” Star asked, then jumped when she heard a smashing sound. “This is the right cave. They just covered it up very well,” Luna said, lifting her hoof to show a shattered black crystal. “This was inching across the floor towards me. I’m sure it was trying to get to my horn to disable my alicorn magic,” she explained. The light in the cave shifted as Darkecho started walking to a boulder in the center of the room. “This has a hoof print etched into it,” he observed. Luna joined him at the boulder and said, “That’s not some picture etched into it, somepony has moved this several times in the same spot,” she said, placing her own hoof on the print. “Here, let me try,” Starburst said. She shoved with all her might, but without success. “Why don’t we try in a team? If anypony is under they could show a light beam,” Zecora said, placing her hooves on the boulder. With everypony pushing, it finally slid out of place, showing a hole. “Well, see you at the bottom!” Star yelled, jumping onto the underground slide. She held in cheers of excitement, in case there was an enemy at the bottom. She heard the others follow, one at a time. Once they were all at the bottom, Darkecho lit up his horn again. They found that they were surrounded by cloaked ponies. “Oh, I guess we should have suspected this,” Darkecho said. Chapter 5They tried to turn back to the hole they entered through, but it was blocked by two stallions. Immediately, Starburst went into action. Her fighting was a main talent of hers. She kicked, punched, and even bit some of the enemies. She dropped from shock to the floor when a unicorn threw some black crystals at her wings. She grunted on the floor in pain, trying not to let any weakness show, but passed out from too much energy use. Darkecho was next. His eyes crossed when the crystals were thrown at his horn, then he fell. Zecora’s hooves were covered in the crystals that made her strength leave her. Luna was the only one left. She stopped the crystals in midair with her magic and kicked out with all her might at any who approached her. Finally, every single one of the enemies threw crystals at the same time, putting her strength, flight, and magic to a stop. “That was easy, Kitestring, go check outside to make sure they didn’t leave any of their friends out there. Hurley, gather your guards and take them to the prison. Make sure they don’t steal any of your necklaces! Those are the only things that identify you as one of us, remember!” a yellow Pegasus ordered. The two unicorns nodded and went to do their duties. “Looks like we’ve caught ourselves some royalty!” the Pegasus chuckled as he saw Luna being dragged away. He noticed his army standing around. “What do you think you’re doing?! Get back to work! We have to resurrect Sombra!” he growled. The others panicked and scrambled to where they were working before the intrusion. The unicorns focused their powers into regular rocks, it took an extremely long time of using dark magic that turned the rocks into dark crystals. They threw them into a growing pile, and worked on more. There was little time for rest. The Pegasus leader turned to another Pegasus and said, “You, go and deliver a message to the other hideout in that wrecked castle. Get them over here. I can tell that the time is nearing for our king to come back to the world of the living.” The other Pegasus nodded and replied, “Yes, sir, Luckyblaze.” The other Pegasus darted out and dashed through the air to an abandoned castle on the other side of Equestria. “Our plan is coming together,” he muttered to himself. He turned to the slide bottom as two ponies entered. One was a big, strong earth pony with a red body and blond hair. The other was a gray Pegasus colt with black and blue hair, and a prosthetic wing. “Who are you?” Luckyblaze asked, noticing the necklace on the colt. “Uh, I’m Shadow Wing, and this is my brother… Big Red?” he said. Luckyblaze raised an eyebrow seeing that Big Red didn’t have a necklace. “Oh, he lost his, can we get another?” Shadow Wing asked. Lucky Blaze sighed and nodded, then said, “You two look strong, can you smash the bigger crystals into smaller sized? They can be used easier like that. Also, make sure you take a potion from that table first, or else the crystals will attack you.” He walked away without another word, leaving Big Macintosh and Night to look for the others who had been taken prisoner. Chapter 6Big Mac and Night went into quick action two nights later when Midnight struck.. None of Sombra's followers worked during the day. They tiptoed out of the bunk room and past the crystals, picking up some potions on their way to the prison. Night went up to the guards and tried to persuade them to leave. “We were send by Luckyblaze to take over,” Night said. It didn’t take much convincing. The guards were tired and relieved to get some rest. When they were gone, Night plucked off one of his metal feathers. Big Mac gave him a concerned look. “Don’t worry, they can slip right back in, I just unlocked this from its place, I’ll put it back,” Night explained about his prosthetic. He picked the lock with the feather and ran in to his unconscious sister. Big Mac ran to help Luna. Big Mac tilted Luna’s head back and dumped the potion in. She woke up coughing after the crystals fell off. Soon, Star was awake, too. “What was that?” she sputtered. Night held up the empty bottle. “What are you doing here?! Big Mac, you were supposed to watch him, not bring him on some dangerous journey!” Star lectured. Luna placed a hoof on Star’s shoulder that made her go quiet. “Give some of that potion to Darkecho and Zecora, then we’ll leave to see if we can gather a force big enough to take over this cave and operation,” Luna commanded. They quickly got the others conscious and began to sneak out. “How did you even get in here?” Star whispered. Night explained, “Well, we went to Canterlot since Big Mac finished his chores early and found out that you had already left for Fillydelphia. One of the guards told us that you were looking for a cave, so we got on the train and found the cave, but you were already inside being captured, so we listened to what was going on.. We hid from a pony that was checking the surroundings and Big Mac knocked him down and I took this necklace. After that it was easy.” “Eeyup,” Big Mac said in pride. The team froze at the end of the tunnel from the prison where they saw almost the whole army that was there. “Did you really think I didn’t suspect anything?” Luckyblaze yelled. Night’s ears flipped back. “Hold them back, I’ll do the ritual when the others get here. They should arrive any minute,” Luckyblaze said. Starburst knew it was pointless to fight this many ponies, so she stood frozen with her friends. “Run back to the prison. Release the prisoners and give them what’s left of the potions we used. I’m sure they’ll help us,” Starburst whispered through her gritted teeth. They shot off running back to the prison. Starburst used her fighting in the small tunnel that made it easier. Those that were knocked out by her hooves helped make a barricade between them and Sombra’s followers. After a few minutes, more ponies were running to the rescue with Luna, Big Mac, Night, Zecora, and Darkecho at the lead. They burst out of the tunnel fighting the supporters, until a bloodcurdling scream echoed through the cavern. The supporters, and Starburst’s team froze in fear as they saw the crumpled form of Luckyblaze on the ground. He writhed on the ground in pain. Purple smoke was streaming out of his eyes and his wings turned to dark crystals. A red, jagged horn tore itself through his skull and his fur turned black and gray, with armor covering it. He stopped screaming when Sombra completely took over his body, transforming it into his own. Chapter 7Sombra stood up tall, glaring at the ponies around the room. His supporters shook in fear and excitement. They bowed as his sharp gaze went over them. He locked eyes with Starburst, who glared back at him. “And who do you think you are,” he said in his strangely soothing, rich voice. “I-I’m Starburst, and these are my friends. We’re here to stop you from taking the Crystal Empire, and the rest of Equestria!” she announced. There were a few chuckles from the followers, knowing the fate of those who defied Sombra. Sombra laughed deeply, then teleported inches away from her. She flinched, but held her gaze. “You’re a brave one,” he said, looking behind her at the cowering prisoners. “Do you really think these useless jokes can help you?” he sneered, looking back at her. Luna stepped up, which cause him to glare at her with a snarl. “Yes, we know they can,” she said defiantly. Sombra threw his head back and started laughing. The crystals that made a summoning circle on the floor, plus the ones his followers used as weapons began to surround him in a sharp, dangerous tornado. Starburst went into a trance that cause tears to begin streaming from her eyes. She was the only one of her team that was close enough to go into Sombra’s nightmare world. The others ducked in fear. The crystals surrounded his followers as well. Some of them shrieked, and others smirked. The loud clinking sounds of crystals, and Sombra’s malicious laughed echoed through the cavern. Suddenly, everything fell silent. Sombra and his army disappeared, along with the crystals. Starburst stood straight up, still in her nightmare. Night ran up to her and tried to shake her awake. “Star, Star! Wake up!” he yelled. She still didn’t return. Big Mac tapped him aside and shoved Starburst down. She rolled until she stood up, then started wiping away the tears. “What happened to you?” Night asked. Starburst started stammering, “I.. I was… It… Mom, she got sucked into her o-own tornado and she just… She got hurled to the forest! I f-found her, she was on a tree…. It.. the branch was sticking out of h-her…” Darkecho walked up and put his front hooves over her mouth. “It’s fine, you told me that happened years ago. It’s over now, you’re fine,” he reassured her. She relaxed a little and took a deep breath. “What happened? Where’s Sombra? I have to kick his butt,” Starburst got back to her normal self. “He vanished, and took all of his minions with him,” Darkecho said. Starburst kicked the ground and growled. “Then lets find him! Where would he be? Because I’m guessing the Crystal Empire!” she yelled. There were murmurs of agreement from the small crowd. “Then lets go!” Star ordered. While half the crowd, including her friends, starting going for the exit, the other half didn’t move, and looked nervous. “What’s wrong?” Star asked. The unicorn in the front said, “Well, we have families, and we want to return to them… alive and free.” Star glared at the ground, wrinkling her nose. She looked back up and said, “I understand… but we’d better get more of an army if we’re going to defeat Sombra.” Chapter 8The small herd of ponies rushed to the train station. For the day long trip to Canterlot, Starburst decided it would be a good idea to get to know the five ponies who had joined their group. The first one was a brown pegasus stallion named Jimmy Casket. He had spiky, dark brown hair. His cutie mark was a skateboard with smoke and sparks behind it, and he was a time lord. The second was a light blue pegasus stallion with slightly fluffy, white hair. His name was Zephyr and his cutie mark was a lightning bolt with a checkered flag. The third was another pegasus stallion. He was a darker yellow with an orange mane. His cutie mark was two crossed blacksmith hammers with a burning piece of coal between them. He had a rifle strapped to his back, and told them that he was very skilled with making them, and shooting them. The fourth was another pegasus, but this time it was a mare. She was quiet when introducing herself. She had long, pink hair, and a white coat. Her cutie mark was a heart with a crown over it. In the middle of her introduction, she shyly said, “You two would make a great couple.” Starburst and Darkecho looked straight at each other with wide eyes, then Darkecho said, “Okay, lets talk about something else!” “So lets talk about the plan n--” Starburst got cut off by Salvage who coughed for attention. “You forgot someone,” he said. He looked behind him and gave a short nod. A tan colored pegasus mare with golden hair that was styled like Star’s friend, Octavia. Her cutie mark was a blazing sun. Her wing tips were also gold. “What’s your story?” Star asked. “W-well, I was actually part of the Crystal Empire when Sombra took over. My name's Era. Before we disappeared and lost our memories, my wing got injured by a crystal spike. I was very grateful to the small dragon that saved us when he was about to return. When my wing healed, I decided to travel a little. I went to Fillydelphia, but soon got captured. Now I’m grateful to you and your friends for setting me free and I’ll help however I can!” she said. “Great, because we’ll need all of the help we’ll need! So, Princess, what’s the plan?” Star asked, looking to Luna who looked deep in thought. “We’ll gather a few of my night guards. They are elite fighters and always ready for a mission. If we get our team too big, it’ll be hard to travel if we have too many with us.” She looked to Star and continued, “Maybe someday if you’re looking for a job, you can become one of them? I’ve noticed how well you battle.” Star quickly beamed and nodded, then got serious. “Okay, we’ll gather them then find Sombra. The first place we look is the Crystal Empire. Is everyone up to it?” Star asked. Everyone put on their serious faces, and nodded. (The other OCs in this are created by people on Google+ so I put their names at the end of each chapter from now on) Owner of Salvage: +Collin Parks Owner of Jimmy Casket: +Jimmy Casket Owner of Zephyr: +PeaceyPraps Owner of Keylime Cutie Pie: +Linnisa B Owner of Ruby Love: +Rayelle Kushner Owner of Era: +Xx AuraLight xX Chapter 9At Canterlot, Princess Celestia met them at the station. “How did your mission go?” she asked with a smile. The group got off, looking sadly at the Princess. “Oh, what happened?” she asked. Luna walked off last and said, “I will tell you tonight before we leave again. I need to gather three of my night guards so Canterlot can still have enough protection at night.” Celestia nodded and began walking to the castle. “Where are we going to sleep?” Zephyr asked. Luna turned her head and said, “We can sleep on the train.” Zephyr looked a little sad, but accepted it. Star stopped Big Mac and Night. “You two, go back to Ponyville. I want Night out of danger and if any enemy gets to Ponyville, you had better protect him,” she lectured. They didn’t look very happy, but they went back to the train. That night, they boarded the train with three night guards. They didn’t seem like they were the type to talk, so Starburst left the introductions for themselves when they felt the need. The army of thirteen sat in their own car. Everyone stayed awake going over battle plans or playing little games. They realized how close they were to the Empire, then Salvage slipped his rifle off his back. “His followers are already capturing the crystal ponies!” Jimmy Casket yelled. They shoved their faces against the windows, watching as some ponies tackled, punched, or kicked others. Those that were captured lost their crystal shine and were put into shackles. There were lines and lines leading to the castle. “We took too long. We have to get past them and to the castle,” Keylime Cutie Pie said with a glare. “Good idea, lets go!” Star yelled as she started to open the window. “Jumping from a moving train, will probably bring us a world of pain,” Zecora said, putting a hoof on Star’s shoulder. “Oh, please. We have nine pegasi with us, along with an alicorn, plus a unicorn who can fly. Keylime and you can hitch a ride with some of us!” Star said, not meaning to disrespect Zecora, jumped out of the window and took shelter in a bush. The guards helped Zecora out while Era and Ruby helped Keylime out. “Lets go,” Star ordered when they had all met up. “Wait, we need to rest. We haven’t slept for a couple days,” Luna said. Star realized at that comment how tired she was. They huddled in the bushes, except for the night guards who had been sleeping all day. They watched through the branches, making sure they weren’t attacked. The team was spread out in three large bushes, which was luckily how many guards were with them. They could see each other, and two saw one of them sit up straight, and alert. They looked to where he was staring and saw an earth pony stallion with ruffled hair walking past the bushes. He stopped, feeling like he was being watched. He flicked a piece of his white mane out of his eyes. His fur was electric blue, and cutie mark was a pencil with paper. “Wh-who’s there?” he whispered, not wanting to be caught by anyone. One of the guards nodded to the others, and they surrounded him as quickly as they could. “Who are you,” one spoke. The stallion stammered, “I-I’m Flicker!” He crouched in fear. “Are you a supporter of King Sombra?” the guard interrogated. “N-no, please don’t take me to him!” he begged. The guards relaxed. The commotion woke up Era, who trotted out of hiding. “Please, go back in the bush. We’re leaving in the morning,” a guard said. She shook her head and helped Flicker up. “You can stay with us, we’re planning to take back the Empire,” she told him. He let out a sigh of relief to see a friendly face. The guards ushered them into hiding, and continued their watch. Owner of Salvage: +Collin Parks Owner of Jimmy Casket: +Jimmy Casket Owner of Zephyr: +PeaceyPraps Owner of Keylime Cutie Pie: +Linnisa B Owner of Ruby Love: +Rayelle Kushner Owner of Era: +Xx AuraLight xX Chapter 10Morning light shined through the leaves and branches. Jimmy Casket was the first to wake up. He noticed the newcomer that was sleeping in the bush. “I’m not going to question it,” he told himself. He wandered out into the open, where he saw some followers walking past. He dove back into his hiding place. “Star, hey, Starburst!” he whispered. She blinked her eyes open and yawned. “What,” she whined. He nodded his head in the direction of the followers. That woke her up. She smiled and flew out. “Hey, you lousy idiots! Why don’t you take down someone who can actually fight!” she yelled. The three supporters glared at her. She landed and folded her wings. The fight began. It was over in a few minutes with three knocked out enemies, and bruised Starburst. “That’s a good way to wake up!” she giggled. By then, everyone was awake. “Lets go,” Luna said, standing up. They walked straight for the castle. Lucky for them, the Sombra followers were spread out. It didn’t take long to get all of the ones outside of the castle taken down by the three night guards. They stayed outside with Zecora to make sure no one attacked them from the outside. “Now to chop off the head of the serpent,” Ruby Love said. They made it to the main room. “Spread out to your attack positions,” Darkecho said. Everyone took spaces in the room. Some attack from above, while some from the ground level. It took only a few minutes for Sombra to wander out to see why no one was coming in. Salvage went straight into action. He zipped through the air, shooting at Sombra as he went. Sombra put up dark crystals to protect himself, then hurled one at Salvage. He ducked, but got hit in the foreleg by a shard. Zephyr, who had become a friend to Salvage, abandoned his post and head butted Sombra. He reeled and fell over. Zephyr began kicking him, not knowing about the focused crystal power under Sombra’s hoof. He got hit by a crystal that knocked him into the wall. “Zephyr!” Ruby yelled. She ran out. Before Sombra could use his crystals to stop her from doing anything, she swerved and ran toward a beam that was holding the room up. Sombra shot a crystal at her, and she dodged. It hit the beam, which started falling to Sombra. He rolled out of the way, and it clipped Ruby’s wing. She fell to the ground. Jimmy ran out. He ran circles around Sombra and started to confuse him. He stopped running and bucked him. Sombra fell backward in a daze, but shook it off. Jimmy started running at him again, but he used his dark magic to shoot a shadow beam at Jimmy. He fell into his worst nightmare, in a pile on the ground. Keylime was doing her own work. She had been lifted into the rafters by Luna, and they were working together to fasten ropes. In the center of the web of ropes, was a giant rock. The duo stood on opposite ends of the web. They whispered to themselves, “3,2,1!” then cut the ropes. Sombra was in perfect position. The rock fell right on top of him. Cheering began by the injured, and the strong, until Era piped up. “He went to the underground part!” They could see slightly through the crystal floor at the figure running down the stairs. “I’ll stay behind to help them, you guys go!” Keylime yelled. She started to try and wake up Jimmy. Era, Starburst, Darkecho, and Flicker moved the boulder so they could chase him. They followed to the underground cavern with a spiral staircase. To go faster, Era and Starburst flew down, while Darkecho levitated himself and Flicker down. They caught Sombra as he was going through a door. They chased him up more stairs for what seemed like hours. “Lets fly up, and cut him off, Era. Darkecho, Flicker, you two stay behind him!” Star ordered. Era seemed nervous, but did as was told. They flew to the top and waited until finally, Sombra arrived. “You fools have ruined my plans, but I can still win,” he said, crouching low. He lunged at Era, but Starburst jumped in front and bucked him in the face. Darkecho and Flicker made it to the top in time to have Sombra nearly fall on them. Flicker tackled him screaming, “I’m so dead! I’m so dead!” Darkecho helped in the attack and growled, “You’re not dead yet!” Sombra kicked and jumped, trying to get them off. He shot crystals from the ground trying to kill them. The fight went on. Everyone took turns, or went in teams of two to attack him. Finally, he was weak. “Stop the fight and surrender, I still have enough power to kill you all, right here and now!” Before he could say another word, a booming sound came from the stairs. Sombra fell with a small hole in his head. “Famous last words,” Salvage said, with a bandaged leg and a smoking rifle. “And now you’re going to have a statue in the Crystal Empire, right next to Spike’s!” Starburst panted with a smile. Salvage smiled back with a bit of an eye twitch. In the end, everypony went back to their homes. They would never forget each other. Flicker decided to stay in the Crystal Empire. He was an exploring writer, but said that there was just something about the empire. “You two should stay together for a while, just get to know each other!” Ruby said to Flicker and Era during the team goodbyes. Starburst was right, Salvage did get a statue in the Empire. When Starburst, Darkecho, and Zecora finally got back to Ponyville, Zecora said, "I must go home now to discover, a way to make the potion that helped ponies from the crystals stay undercover." Star nodded and said, "There's still all those ponies in Fillydelphia that need the potion. Luckily we still had a bit of it left!" Zecora nodded, and disappeared into the Everfree forest. Owner of Salvage: +Collin Parks Owner of Jimmy Casket: +Jimmy Casket Owner of Zephyr: +PeaceyPraps Owner of Keylime Cutie Pie: +Linnisa B Owner of Ruby Love: +Rayelle Kushner Owner of Era and Flicker: +Xx AuraLight xX Chapter 3The trio boarded the train the next morning after getting plenty of rest. “Where are we going?” Darkecho asked, looking around at all the amazed faces on the train. “I suppose it is not common for a princess to use a public car on the train. Anyways, we are going to Fillydelphia, there’s a cave a few miles to the west of it where it is suspected for the supporters of King Sombra to live. “Oh, okay, but only suspected? Why’s that?” Starburst asked. Luna sat down on a bench, so Starburst and Darkecho sat on the one across from her. “The stallion that came to me and my sister seeking help, he was exploring that area,” Luna said. Star nodded then leaned back, putting her forelegs up on the back of the bench. “Do we even have a plan for if we do run into these supporters? How do we even know they exist?” Starburst said. Luna used her magic to open Starburst’s saddlebag and pull things out. “What are you doing?” she asked. Luna’s eyes flickered around at the floating objects until they rested on the letter she had sent. “Did you look at the back of this?” she asked, getting everything else back into the bag. “No, why?” Star asked, sitting normally again. “Because I wasn't finished when I signed it. Read the back,” Luna ordered. Star plucked the letter out of the air and pulled it out of the envelope. She flipped it to the back, where she read, “P.S, there have been small attack on Manehattan, Fillydelphia, and Las Pegasus. There have been no deaths, but there have been prisoners taken. These ponies strike quickly and take what they can. They leave behind flags that say, “All hail King Sombra.” “Oh, that’s how we know. But Fillydelphia and Las Pegasus are across Equestria from each other!” Star said. Then continued, “Does this mean we have to find different hideouts to attack?” Luna nodded, then stared out the window for the rest of the trip. When they reached Fillydelphia, Star got of the train, yawned, and stretched. “There was a big aisle on the train, you didn’t have to sit in one place for the whole trip,” Darkecho explained. Star shrugged and started walking, then paused because she didn’t know where they were going. She looked to Luna for help. “We are going to get a hotel. I want to keep my cover low so ponies don’t get too excited,” Luna said. Her horn began to glow and she started to shrink to a normal sized pony. Eventually, she was just a dark blue unicorn with a dark blue mane without a crown. Her cutie mark stayed as a crescent moon, but without the black patch that surrounded it. “Lets go,” she said, walking away. “I didn’t know she could do that,” Star said, following. Darkecho looked around, taking in as much as he could. When they left the station, he noticed that a pair of ponies was watching them.
Chapter 1Starburst, a gray Pegasus mare with a black mane and tail with a white stripe through it, walked out her front door to another day in Ponyville. She heard her little brother, Night, lock the door behind her like he did every morning, without any luck. Night was a colt with one prosthetic wing and scars. He had the same coloring as Starburst, except he had a blue stripe instead of white. He didn’t have a cutie mark yet. Starburst’s was a shooting star. “You know that never works!” Starburst yelled through the door at him. “Shut up! They’ll know I’m here if you’re talking to me!” he yelled back. Soon after he said that, she heard a crash in her house. She put her ear up to the door and heard Night screaming, “No! No! Why?!” Suddenly, silence came. The door unlocked and she saw Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo dragging Night out. “Come on, we told you we had a crusader meeting!” Sweetie Belle said. “I was forced! I didn't even want to join!” he argued. They let him stand up, and he gave up. He followed without another word knowing that he had lost this time. Starburst grinned, then noticed the cross-eyed mail pony flapping towards her. “Uh… letter for you!” she said, handing an envelope to Starburst. “Thanks!” she replied. Derpy flew away as Star started to read. “Starburst, while the representatives of the Elements of Harmony are on their own mission given by my sister, Princess Celestia, I have my own mission for you. Please gather a team of strong, trustworthy ponies and meet me at the royal castle in Canterlot. Signed, Princess Luna,” the letter read. “What? What’s going on?” Star said to herself. She put the letter in her saddle bag and started off to find her friends. The first place she went to was Vinyl and Octavia’s house. “Hello?” she yelled as she knocked on the door. She then noticed a paper taped to the door. “Off camping for some roommate bonding time,” it said. Star scratched her head with a hoof and mumbled, “Camping? They both HATE camping!” She started walking again, looking for more ponies that might be willing to help. She bumped into Derpy again, and immediately said, “I got the letter from Princess Luna, do you want to come on a mission with me?” Derpy looked a little sad as she replied, “Sorry, but I have work… and I have to fix a roof that I fell through yesterday.” Star shrugged and said, “It’s fine! I’m sure I can find someone else!” Derpy waved as Starburst walked off again. She ran into more and more ponies who all seemed to be busy, or just didn't want to go. “Hey, Big Mac! You’re strong! Do you want to come on a mission from Princess Luna with me?” she asked the big red stallion. “Nope!” he replied. She sighed as she said, “Let me guess, you have too many chores?” He nodded and stated, “Eeyup!” He started to walk off with a big load of apples. “Wait! Do you think you could watch Night for me while I’m gone?” Starburst yelled after him. He looked up in thought, then nodded his head. She thanked him, then soared into the sky toward the Everfree forest, for some desperate need of help.
Chapter 2Starburst swerved through the trees. Ducking under branches, turning sideways through split boulders, until she got to a hut carved into a tree. She knocked a few times, then realized that it was completely dark inside of the hut, even though it was still midday. “Zecora’s usually home right now!” she complained. “She went to Phillydelphia. Some kind of weird flu broke out there and they needed her help,” a calm, stallion’s voice spoke. Star whipped around to see her friend, Darkecho coming out of the shadows of the trees. The black unicorn, who had some zebra blood in him that gave him three white stripes on his neck, white muzzle and hooves, walked up to her and smiled, showing his sharp teeth. “Hey! I was actually just going to ask her for some help. Everyone back at Ponyville is busy and I need to go meet Princess Luna in Canterlot for a mission! I’m supposed to gather a team of ponies, but I can’t find anyone!” she whined. Darkecho put up a hoof to shut her up. “I can go, I never have anything to do,” he said. Starburst beamed and yelled, “Then lets go!” She shot up into the sky and flew off. Darkecho’s horn glowed light blue, and he started to float. His main magic talent was levitating himself. He followed as quickly as he could until she stopped above the train station. They payed for their tickets and took the Canterlot train. It took until the next morning to get there. A royal pegasus guard was waiting for them. “Is this all you could gather?” he asked Star. She sadly nodded. He shrugged and started to fly, waving a hoof for them to follow. They both started flying and the three of them went straight to the castle. Darkecho stared in amazement at all the windows and the interior decorating, since he lived in the Everfree Forest. Luna entered the main room, looking a little disappointed. “I’m sorry, everyone else was busy! I could only get Darkecho!” Starburst instantly apologized as she bowed. “It’s okay, maybe it’s better to have a smaller group, but I’ll be going with you, too,” Luna explained. Starburst stood,raised an eyebrow and tilted her ripped ear a little. “What? But you’re a princess! If you… get hurt, how do you think that would affect Princess Celestia?” Star asked. “She’ll be fine, she’ll do as she did when I was banished to the moon. She will raise the sun, and the moon,” Luna argued. Star decided it was pointless to try to persuade her. “Okay… so what are we up against?” she asked. “There’s a new threat. A unicorn pony has discovered some of the dark crystals that King Sombra has left behind. They attached themselves to his horn and made it so he couldn’t us his magic, so he came running to us for help. Apparently, they are made by some of his followers. They are attempting to capture as many ponies as they can and resurrect their king. The crystals have also been attaching themselves to pegasus wings to take away their flying magic so they can’t escape, and earth ponies’ hooves to take away their strength so they don’t fight back. They are collecting an army of slaves to present to him when he returns,” Luna informed.
Chapter 4Starburst entered the hotel first, then bumped right into the rhyming zebra. “Zecora! I forgot that you were here!” she yelled. Darkecho and Luna entered next. They quickly told Zecora what was going on, which she connected to the mysterious flu that had started to take over Fillydelphia. “A sickness of crystals, that is what ails. But let me join in your quest, I will surely try my best,” Zecora said. “Good! I went to your hut to see if you would come, but you weren't there! I’m glad we ran into you!” Star said, hugging the zebra. Zecora nodded. “We leave in the morning for the cave,” Luna said, walking up the stairs to her room. In the morning, they took no time to have fun or explore. They gathered in the hotel lobby, checked out of the hotel, and took a carriage to the edge of Fillydelphia. “Here we go," Luna said, turning herself back into what she usually looked like. “Princess, do you disguise yourself often?” Star asked as they approached the mountain. “Yes, I like to go around Canterlot like that and act like a normal citizen,” Luna replied. Luna began to fly up the mountain, leaving Star and Darkecho to carry Zecora up together. “Are you sure, Princess, that in this cave we will find success?” Zecora asked when they landed. Luna took a breath, ready to reply, then gave up and started walking into the cave. Darkecho used his magic to make a light blue glow to show the cave. They walked through tunnels, and there was no sign of any inhabitants. “Maybe we’re in the wrong cave?” Star asked, then jumped when she heard a smashing sound. “This is the right cave. They just covered it up very well,” Luna said, lifting her hoof to show a shattered black crystal. “This was inching across the floor towards me. I’m sure it was trying to get to my horn to disable my alicorn magic,” she explained. The light in the cave shifted as Darkecho started walking to a boulder in the center of the room. “This has a hoof print etched into it,” he observed. Luna joined him at the boulder and said, “That’s not some picture etched into it, somepony has moved this several times in the same spot,” she said, placing her own hoof on the print. “Here, let me try,” Starburst said. She shoved with all her might, but without success. “Why don’t we try in a team? If anypony is under they could show a light beam,” Zecora said, placing her hooves on the boulder. With everypony pushing, it finally slid out of place, showing a hole. “Well, see you at the bottom!” Star yelled, jumping onto the underground slide. She held in cheers of excitement, in case there was an enemy at the bottom. She heard the others follow, one at a time. Once they were all at the bottom, Darkecho lit up his horn again. They found that they were surrounded by cloaked ponies. “Oh, I guess we should have suspected this,” Darkecho said.
Chapter 5They tried to turn back to the hole they entered through, but it was blocked by two stallions. Immediately, Starburst went into action. Her fighting was a main talent of hers. She kicked, punched, and even bit some of the enemies. She dropped from shock to the floor when a unicorn threw some black crystals at her wings. She grunted on the floor in pain, trying not to let any weakness show, but passed out from too much energy use. Darkecho was next. His eyes crossed when the crystals were thrown at his horn, then he fell. Zecora’s hooves were covered in the crystals that made her strength leave her. Luna was the only one left. She stopped the crystals in midair with her magic and kicked out with all her might at any who approached her. Finally, every single one of the enemies threw crystals at the same time, putting her strength, flight, and magic to a stop. “That was easy, Kitestring, go check outside to make sure they didn’t leave any of their friends out there. Hurley, gather your guards and take them to the prison. Make sure they don’t steal any of your necklaces! Those are the only things that identify you as one of us, remember!” a yellow Pegasus ordered. The two unicorns nodded and went to do their duties. “Looks like we’ve caught ourselves some royalty!” the Pegasus chuckled as he saw Luna being dragged away. He noticed his army standing around. “What do you think you’re doing?! Get back to work! We have to resurrect Sombra!” he growled. The others panicked and scrambled to where they were working before the intrusion. The unicorns focused their powers into regular rocks, it took an extremely long time of using dark magic that turned the rocks into dark crystals. They threw them into a growing pile, and worked on more. There was little time for rest. The Pegasus leader turned to another Pegasus and said, “You, go and deliver a message to the other hideout in that wrecked castle. Get them over here. I can tell that the time is nearing for our king to come back to the world of the living.” The other Pegasus nodded and replied, “Yes, sir, Luckyblaze.” The other Pegasus darted out and dashed through the air to an abandoned castle on the other side of Equestria. “Our plan is coming together,” he muttered to himself. He turned to the slide bottom as two ponies entered. One was a big, strong earth pony with a red body and blond hair. The other was a gray Pegasus colt with black and blue hair, and a prosthetic wing. “Who are you?” Luckyblaze asked, noticing the necklace on the colt. “Uh, I’m Shadow Wing, and this is my brother… Big Red?” he said. Luckyblaze raised an eyebrow seeing that Big Red didn’t have a necklace. “Oh, he lost his, can we get another?” Shadow Wing asked. Lucky Blaze sighed and nodded, then said, “You two look strong, can you smash the bigger crystals into smaller sized? They can be used easier like that. Also, make sure you take a potion from that table first, or else the crystals will attack you.” He walked away without another word, leaving Big Macintosh and Night to look for the others who had been taken prisoner.
Chapter 6Big Mac and Night went into quick action two nights later when Midnight struck.. None of Sombra's followers worked during the day. They tiptoed out of the bunk room and past the crystals, picking up some potions on their way to the prison. Night went up to the guards and tried to persuade them to leave. “We were send by Luckyblaze to take over,” Night said. It didn’t take much convincing. The guards were tired and relieved to get some rest. When they were gone, Night plucked off one of his metal feathers. Big Mac gave him a concerned look. “Don’t worry, they can slip right back in, I just unlocked this from its place, I’ll put it back,” Night explained about his prosthetic. He picked the lock with the feather and ran in to his unconscious sister. Big Mac ran to help Luna. Big Mac tilted Luna’s head back and dumped the potion in. She woke up coughing after the crystals fell off. Soon, Star was awake, too. “What was that?” she sputtered. Night held up the empty bottle. “What are you doing here?! Big Mac, you were supposed to watch him, not bring him on some dangerous journey!” Star lectured. Luna placed a hoof on Star’s shoulder that made her go quiet. “Give some of that potion to Darkecho and Zecora, then we’ll leave to see if we can gather a force big enough to take over this cave and operation,” Luna commanded. They quickly got the others conscious and began to sneak out. “How did you even get in here?” Star whispered. Night explained, “Well, we went to Canterlot since Big Mac finished his chores early and found out that you had already left for Fillydelphia. One of the guards told us that you were looking for a cave, so we got on the train and found the cave, but you were already inside being captured, so we listened to what was going on.. We hid from a pony that was checking the surroundings and Big Mac knocked him down and I took this necklace. After that it was easy.” “Eeyup,” Big Mac said in pride. The team froze at the end of the tunnel from the prison where they saw almost the whole army that was there. “Did you really think I didn’t suspect anything?” Luckyblaze yelled. Night’s ears flipped back. “Hold them back, I’ll do the ritual when the others get here. They should arrive any minute,” Luckyblaze said. Starburst knew it was pointless to fight this many ponies, so she stood frozen with her friends. “Run back to the prison. Release the prisoners and give them what’s left of the potions we used. I’m sure they’ll help us,” Starburst whispered through her gritted teeth. They shot off running back to the prison. Starburst used her fighting in the small tunnel that made it easier. Those that were knocked out by her hooves helped make a barricade between them and Sombra’s followers. After a few minutes, more ponies were running to the rescue with Luna, Big Mac, Night, Zecora, and Darkecho at the lead. They burst out of the tunnel fighting the supporters, until a bloodcurdling scream echoed through the cavern. The supporters, and Starburst’s team froze in fear as they saw the crumpled form of Luckyblaze on the ground. He writhed on the ground in pain. Purple smoke was streaming out of his eyes and his wings turned to dark crystals. A red, jagged horn tore itself through his skull and his fur turned black and gray, with armor covering it. He stopped screaming when Sombra completely took over his body, transforming it into his own.
Chapter 7Sombra stood up tall, glaring at the ponies around the room. His supporters shook in fear and excitement. They bowed as his sharp gaze went over them. He locked eyes with Starburst, who glared back at him. “And who do you think you are,” he said in his strangely soothing, rich voice. “I-I’m Starburst, and these are my friends. We’re here to stop you from taking the Crystal Empire, and the rest of Equestria!” she announced. There were a few chuckles from the followers, knowing the fate of those who defied Sombra. Sombra laughed deeply, then teleported inches away from her. She flinched, but held her gaze. “You’re a brave one,” he said, looking behind her at the cowering prisoners. “Do you really think these useless jokes can help you?” he sneered, looking back at her. Luna stepped up, which cause him to glare at her with a snarl. “Yes, we know they can,” she said defiantly. Sombra threw his head back and started laughing. The crystals that made a summoning circle on the floor, plus the ones his followers used as weapons began to surround him in a sharp, dangerous tornado. Starburst went into a trance that cause tears to begin streaming from her eyes. She was the only one of her team that was close enough to go into Sombra’s nightmare world. The others ducked in fear. The crystals surrounded his followers as well. Some of them shrieked, and others smirked. The loud clinking sounds of crystals, and Sombra’s malicious laughed echoed through the cavern. Suddenly, everything fell silent. Sombra and his army disappeared, along with the crystals. Starburst stood straight up, still in her nightmare. Night ran up to her and tried to shake her awake. “Star, Star! Wake up!” he yelled. She still didn’t return. Big Mac tapped him aside and shoved Starburst down. She rolled until she stood up, then started wiping away the tears. “What happened to you?” Night asked. Starburst started stammering, “I.. I was… It… Mom, she got sucked into her o-own tornado and she just… She got hurled to the forest! I f-found her, she was on a tree…. It.. the branch was sticking out of h-her…” Darkecho walked up and put his front hooves over her mouth. “It’s fine, you told me that happened years ago. It’s over now, you’re fine,” he reassured her. She relaxed a little and took a deep breath. “What happened? Where’s Sombra? I have to kick his butt,” Starburst got back to her normal self. “He vanished, and took all of his minions with him,” Darkecho said. Starburst kicked the ground and growled. “Then lets find him! Where would he be? Because I’m guessing the Crystal Empire!” she yelled. There were murmurs of agreement from the small crowd. “Then lets go!” Star ordered. While half the crowd, including her friends, starting going for the exit, the other half didn’t move, and looked nervous. “What’s wrong?” Star asked. The unicorn in the front said, “Well, we have families, and we want to return to them… alive and free.” Star glared at the ground, wrinkling her nose. She looked back up and said, “I understand… but we’d better get more of an army if we’re going to defeat Sombra.”
Chapter 8The small herd of ponies rushed to the train station. For the day long trip to Canterlot, Starburst decided it would be a good idea to get to know the five ponies who had joined their group. The first one was a brown pegasus stallion named Jimmy Casket. He had spiky, dark brown hair. His cutie mark was a skateboard with smoke and sparks behind it, and he was a time lord. The second was a light blue pegasus stallion with slightly fluffy, white hair. His name was Zephyr and his cutie mark was a lightning bolt with a checkered flag. The third was another pegasus stallion. He was a darker yellow with an orange mane. His cutie mark was two crossed blacksmith hammers with a burning piece of coal between them. He had a rifle strapped to his back, and told them that he was very skilled with making them, and shooting them. The fourth was another pegasus, but this time it was a mare. She was quiet when introducing herself. She had long, pink hair, and a white coat. Her cutie mark was a heart with a crown over it. In the middle of her introduction, she shyly said, “You two would make a great couple.” Starburst and Darkecho looked straight at each other with wide eyes, then Darkecho said, “Okay, lets talk about something else!” “So lets talk about the plan n--” Starburst got cut off by Salvage who coughed for attention. “You forgot someone,” he said. He looked behind him and gave a short nod. A tan colored pegasus mare with golden hair that was styled like Star’s friend, Octavia. Her cutie mark was a blazing sun. Her wing tips were also gold. “What’s your story?” Star asked. “W-well, I was actually part of the Crystal Empire when Sombra took over. My name's Era. Before we disappeared and lost our memories, my wing got injured by a crystal spike. I was very grateful to the small dragon that saved us when he was about to return. When my wing healed, I decided to travel a little. I went to Fillydelphia, but soon got captured. Now I’m grateful to you and your friends for setting me free and I’ll help however I can!” she said. “Great, because we’ll need all of the help we’ll need! So, Princess, what’s the plan?” Star asked, looking to Luna who looked deep in thought. “We’ll gather a few of my night guards. They are elite fighters and always ready for a mission. If we get our team too big, it’ll be hard to travel if we have too many with us.” She looked to Star and continued, “Maybe someday if you’re looking for a job, you can become one of them? I’ve noticed how well you battle.” Star quickly beamed and nodded, then got serious. “Okay, we’ll gather them then find Sombra. The first place we look is the Crystal Empire. Is everyone up to it?” Star asked. Everyone put on their serious faces, and nodded. (The other OCs in this are created by people on Google+ so I put their names at the end of each chapter from now on) Owner of Salvage: +Collin Parks Owner of Jimmy Casket: +Jimmy Casket Owner of Zephyr: +PeaceyPraps Owner of Keylime Cutie Pie: +Linnisa B Owner of Ruby Love: +Rayelle Kushner Owner of Era: +Xx AuraLight xX
Chapter 9At Canterlot, Princess Celestia met them at the station. “How did your mission go?” she asked with a smile. The group got off, looking sadly at the Princess. “Oh, what happened?” she asked. Luna walked off last and said, “I will tell you tonight before we leave again. I need to gather three of my night guards so Canterlot can still have enough protection at night.” Celestia nodded and began walking to the castle. “Where are we going to sleep?” Zephyr asked. Luna turned her head and said, “We can sleep on the train.” Zephyr looked a little sad, but accepted it. Star stopped Big Mac and Night. “You two, go back to Ponyville. I want Night out of danger and if any enemy gets to Ponyville, you had better protect him,” she lectured. They didn’t look very happy, but they went back to the train. That night, they boarded the train with three night guards. They didn’t seem like they were the type to talk, so Starburst left the introductions for themselves when they felt the need. The army of thirteen sat in their own car. Everyone stayed awake going over battle plans or playing little games. They realized how close they were to the Empire, then Salvage slipped his rifle off his back. “His followers are already capturing the crystal ponies!” Jimmy Casket yelled. They shoved their faces against the windows, watching as some ponies tackled, punched, or kicked others. Those that were captured lost their crystal shine and were put into shackles. There were lines and lines leading to the castle. “We took too long. We have to get past them and to the castle,” Keylime Cutie Pie said with a glare. “Good idea, lets go!” Star yelled as she started to open the window. “Jumping from a moving train, will probably bring us a world of pain,” Zecora said, putting a hoof on Star’s shoulder. “Oh, please. We have nine pegasi with us, along with an alicorn, plus a unicorn who can fly. Keylime and you can hitch a ride with some of us!” Star said, not meaning to disrespect Zecora, jumped out of the window and took shelter in a bush. The guards helped Zecora out while Era and Ruby helped Keylime out. “Lets go,” Star ordered when they had all met up. “Wait, we need to rest. We haven’t slept for a couple days,” Luna said. Star realized at that comment how tired she was. They huddled in the bushes, except for the night guards who had been sleeping all day. They watched through the branches, making sure they weren’t attacked. The team was spread out in three large bushes, which was luckily how many guards were with them. They could see each other, and two saw one of them sit up straight, and alert. They looked to where he was staring and saw an earth pony stallion with ruffled hair walking past the bushes. He stopped, feeling like he was being watched. He flicked a piece of his white mane out of his eyes. His fur was electric blue, and cutie mark was a pencil with paper. “Wh-who’s there?” he whispered, not wanting to be caught by anyone. One of the guards nodded to the others, and they surrounded him as quickly as they could. “Who are you,” one spoke. The stallion stammered, “I-I’m Flicker!” He crouched in fear. “Are you a supporter of King Sombra?” the guard interrogated. “N-no, please don’t take me to him!” he begged. The guards relaxed. The commotion woke up Era, who trotted out of hiding. “Please, go back in the bush. We’re leaving in the morning,” a guard said. She shook her head and helped Flicker up. “You can stay with us, we’re planning to take back the Empire,” she told him. He let out a sigh of relief to see a friendly face. The guards ushered them into hiding, and continued their watch. Owner of Salvage: +Collin Parks Owner of Jimmy Casket: +Jimmy Casket Owner of Zephyr: +PeaceyPraps Owner of Keylime Cutie Pie: +Linnisa B Owner of Ruby Love: +Rayelle Kushner Owner of Era: +Xx AuraLight xX
Chapter 10Morning light shined through the leaves and branches. Jimmy Casket was the first to wake up. He noticed the newcomer that was sleeping in the bush. “I’m not going to question it,” he told himself. He wandered out into the open, where he saw some followers walking past. He dove back into his hiding place. “Star, hey, Starburst!” he whispered. She blinked her eyes open and yawned. “What,” she whined. He nodded his head in the direction of the followers. That woke her up. She smiled and flew out. “Hey, you lousy idiots! Why don’t you take down someone who can actually fight!” she yelled. The three supporters glared at her. She landed and folded her wings. The fight began. It was over in a few minutes with three knocked out enemies, and bruised Starburst. “That’s a good way to wake up!” she giggled. By then, everyone was awake. “Lets go,” Luna said, standing up. They walked straight for the castle. Lucky for them, the Sombra followers were spread out. It didn’t take long to get all of the ones outside of the castle taken down by the three night guards. They stayed outside with Zecora to make sure no one attacked them from the outside. “Now to chop off the head of the serpent,” Ruby Love said. They made it to the main room. “Spread out to your attack positions,” Darkecho said. Everyone took spaces in the room. Some attack from above, while some from the ground level. It took only a few minutes for Sombra to wander out to see why no one was coming in. Salvage went straight into action. He zipped through the air, shooting at Sombra as he went. Sombra put up dark crystals to protect himself, then hurled one at Salvage. He ducked, but got hit in the foreleg by a shard. Zephyr, who had become a friend to Salvage, abandoned his post and head butted Sombra. He reeled and fell over. Zephyr began kicking him, not knowing about the focused crystal power under Sombra’s hoof. He got hit by a crystal that knocked him into the wall. “Zephyr!” Ruby yelled. She ran out. Before Sombra could use his crystals to stop her from doing anything, she swerved and ran toward a beam that was holding the room up. Sombra shot a crystal at her, and she dodged. It hit the beam, which started falling to Sombra. He rolled out of the way, and it clipped Ruby’s wing. She fell to the ground. Jimmy ran out. He ran circles around Sombra and started to confuse him. He stopped running and bucked him. Sombra fell backward in a daze, but shook it off. Jimmy started running at him again, but he used his dark magic to shoot a shadow beam at Jimmy. He fell into his worst nightmare, in a pile on the ground. Keylime was doing her own work. She had been lifted into the rafters by Luna, and they were working together to fasten ropes. In the center of the web of ropes, was a giant rock. The duo stood on opposite ends of the web. They whispered to themselves, “3,2,1!” then cut the ropes. Sombra was in perfect position. The rock fell right on top of him. Cheering began by the injured, and the strong, until Era piped up. “He went to the underground part!” They could see slightly through the crystal floor at the figure running down the stairs. “I’ll stay behind to help them, you guys go!” Keylime yelled. She started to try and wake up Jimmy. Era, Starburst, Darkecho, and Flicker moved the boulder so they could chase him. They followed to the underground cavern with a spiral staircase. To go faster, Era and Starburst flew down, while Darkecho levitated himself and Flicker down. They caught Sombra as he was going through a door. They chased him up more stairs for what seemed like hours. “Lets fly up, and cut him off, Era. Darkecho, Flicker, you two stay behind him!” Star ordered. Era seemed nervous, but did as was told. They flew to the top and waited until finally, Sombra arrived. “You fools have ruined my plans, but I can still win,” he said, crouching low. He lunged at Era, but Starburst jumped in front and bucked him in the face. Darkecho and Flicker made it to the top in time to have Sombra nearly fall on them. Flicker tackled him screaming, “I’m so dead! I’m so dead!” Darkecho helped in the attack and growled, “You’re not dead yet!” Sombra kicked and jumped, trying to get them off. He shot crystals from the ground trying to kill them. The fight went on. Everyone took turns, or went in teams of two to attack him. Finally, he was weak. “Stop the fight and surrender, I still have enough power to kill you all, right here and now!” Before he could say another word, a booming sound came from the stairs. Sombra fell with a small hole in his head. “Famous last words,” Salvage said, with a bandaged leg and a smoking rifle. “And now you’re going to have a statue in the Crystal Empire, right next to Spike’s!” Starburst panted with a smile. Salvage smiled back with a bit of an eye twitch. In the end, everypony went back to their homes. They would never forget each other. Flicker decided to stay in the Crystal Empire. He was an exploring writer, but said that there was just something about the empire. “You two should stay together for a while, just get to know each other!” Ruby said to Flicker and Era during the team goodbyes. Starburst was right, Salvage did get a statue in the Empire. When Starburst, Darkecho, and Zecora finally got back to Ponyville, Zecora said, "I must go home now to discover, a way to make the potion that helped ponies from the crystals stay undercover." Star nodded and said, "There's still all those ponies in Fillydelphia that need the potion. Luckily we still had a bit of it left!" Zecora nodded, and disappeared into the Everfree forest. Owner of Salvage: +Collin Parks Owner of Jimmy Casket: +Jimmy Casket Owner of Zephyr: +PeaceyPraps Owner of Keylime Cutie Pie: +Linnisa B Owner of Ruby Love: +Rayelle Kushner Owner of Era and Flicker: +Xx AuraLight xX
Chapter 3The trio boarded the train the next morning after getting plenty of rest. “Where are we going?” Darkecho asked, looking around at all the amazed faces on the train. “I suppose it is not common for a princess to use a public car on the train. Anyways, we are going to Fillydelphia, there’s a cave a few miles to the west of it where it is suspected for the supporters of King Sombra to live. “Oh, okay, but only suspected? Why’s that?” Starburst asked. Luna sat down on a bench, so Starburst and Darkecho sat on the one across from her. “The stallion that came to me and my sister seeking help, he was exploring that area,” Luna said. Star nodded then leaned back, putting her forelegs up on the back of the bench. “Do we even have a plan for if we do run into these supporters? How do we even know they exist?” Starburst said. Luna used her magic to open Starburst’s saddlebag and pull things out. “What are you doing?” she asked. Luna’s eyes flickered around at the floating objects until they rested on the letter she had sent. “Did you look at the back of this?” she asked, getting everything else back into the bag. “No, why?” Star asked, sitting normally again. “Because I wasn't finished when I signed it. Read the back,” Luna ordered. Star plucked the letter out of the air and pulled it out of the envelope. She flipped it to the back, where she read, “P.S, there have been small attack on Manehattan, Fillydelphia, and Las Pegasus. There have been no deaths, but there have been prisoners taken. These ponies strike quickly and take what they can. They leave behind flags that say, “All hail King Sombra.” “Oh, that’s how we know. But Fillydelphia and Las Pegasus are across Equestria from each other!” Star said. Then continued, “Does this mean we have to find different hideouts to attack?” Luna nodded, then stared out the window for the rest of the trip. When they reached Fillydelphia, Star got of the train, yawned, and stretched. “There was a big aisle on the train, you didn’t have to sit in one place for the whole trip,” Darkecho explained. Star shrugged and started walking, then paused because she didn’t know where they were going. She looked to Luna for help. “We are going to get a hotel. I want to keep my cover low so ponies don’t get too excited,” Luna said. Her horn began to glow and she started to shrink to a normal sized pony. Eventually, she was just a dark blue unicorn with a dark blue mane without a crown. Her cutie mark stayed as a crescent moon, but without the black patch that surrounded it. “Lets go,” she said, walking away. “I didn’t know she could do that,” Star said, following. Darkecho looked around, taking in as much as he could. When they left the station, he noticed that a pair of ponies was watching them.
