Starlight Rising

Chapters

Starlight's Visit to Ponyville
Mission Planning and Odd Studies
Changeling Attack!
Starlight Takes Charge
Training for Battle
The Journey South
Counter Attack!
The Transformation
The Coronation
Prelude

Starlight's Visit to Ponyville

Six months had passed since Starlight became Celestia's protege. All seemed to be going well for her. She was learning more and more all the time and was able to visit her friends on weekends. Celestia was amazed by how quickly she was able to learn new material as she learned it much faster than any other protege she ever had, even faster than Twilight.

Saturday morning had arrived in Canterlot as the morning sun shone into Starlight's tower. Starlight woke up and yawned, "Spike, wake up. It's Saturday. I want to get down to Ponyville in time to meet up with our friends."

Spike woke up and wiped his eyes, "Ugh, we have to leave already? The sun has just been up for a few minutes and what about breakfast?"

Starlight replied, "We'll have breakfast down with our friends. I'll take us all out to the cafe."

Spike sighed, "Oh alright but can we take the train? I know you prefer to fly everywhere now but with as tired as I am, I'm worried I might fall off your back."

Starlight sighed, "Oh alright, let's get going."

They headed to the train station and headed towards Ponyville. While Starlight was genuinely excited to see her friends, she still couldn't help but get a little bit of satisfaction that she was partially responsible for Twilight being under Trixie's complete and absolute control. As they pulled into Ponyville Starlight looked at Twilight's castle and wondered, "Hmm...I wonder if one day Twilight will be deemed incapable of fulfilling her duties and somepony else will be made an Alicorn princess and replace her."

Once they disembarked from the train they headed straight to where their friends usually gather on Saturday mornings, Sugarcube Corner. As they headed in Pinkie rushed to them and hugged them, "Starlight, Spike! How are ya doin'?"

Starlight replied, "Oh, I'm doing ok."

Spike added, "I'm doing great." He rushed to Rarity and hugged her, "And I'm doing even better getting to see you!"

Rarity blushed, "Oh thank you Spike!"

Pinkie asked, "Hey, do you want something sweet to eat?"

Starlight replied, "No. I was thinking I could take us to the cafe for breakfast. Some eggs sound so good right about now."

They all cheered that their friend was that generous as she had been taking them out to breakfast every Saturday morning. On the way there Starlight asked, "Hey, have any of you heard from Twilight? I know I ask this every week and you say no, but I'm just curious."

Applejack replied, "No, we haven't. We tried to go check on her a few days ago but like always, Trixie tells us that her weak and subservient Twilight has been bad and isn't allowed to have any visitors."

Starlight gasped, "Wait a minute, she isn't allowed to have any visitors?"

Fluttershy replied, "Nope. Trixie puts up this force field at the door and won't let us in."

Starlight held her head high and said, "We'll see about that. I'll break it and force her to let us in."

Rainbow asked, "Now how the hay are you going to force her to let us in?"

Starlight laughed, "Well let's just say that I could steal something from her for a bit and if she doesn't want to lose it forever, she'll let us at least check on Twilight."

Rarity asked, "Are you going to do what I think you're going to do?"

Starlight replied, "Yes, if I have to, I will." She saw her friends get concerned looks on her faces and continued, "Don't worry. I will only keep it until we leave."

Fluttershy asked, "But what if she was to have Twilight tell Celestia that you stole a cutie mark? Celestia might throw you out."

Starlight sighed, "Oh you're right. I'll still shatter her force field though."

After they ate their breakfast they headed towards Twilight's castle. The castle just didn't seem to have the grandeur it used to, it almost seemed foreboding, like a place that one would not want to approach. When they arrived Starlight pounded on the door.

The door creaked open and out came Trixie. She asked, "What are you doing here? Trixie thought she said that none of you were to disturb The Hot and Dominant Trixie ever again."

Starlight pushed the door all the way open, shoved Trixie back and ordered, "Now lead us to where Twilight is, we are going to visit her."

Trixie put up a force-field and replied, "No, you will not visit her. The Hot and Dominant Trixie has decided that Twilight will not be allowed any visitors anymore. Seeing other ponies might cause her undue stress."

Starlight broke the force-field, grabbed Trixie in her aura and continued, "Tell us where Twilight is."

Trixie sighed, "Ok, The Weak and Subservient Twilight is in her room." Trixie began to laugh, "Or should Trixie say she is in The Hot and Dominant Trixie's bedroom!"

They rushed up the stairs and headed to her room. When they got in they would not be impressed with what they saw. There was Twilight, laying on the bed sleeping with a bulge in her stomach."

Trixie followed them and sighed, "Ok, you saw Twilight. Now go, The Weak and Subservient Twilight needs her rest."

Applejack gave her a glare and nudged Twilight, "Twilight, are y'all ok?"

Twilight woke up and asked, "AJ, what are you doing here?" She sat up and saw the rest of her friends, "What are all of you doing here?"

Starlight put her hoof on Twilight's belly and asked, "What the hay is Trixie trying to do, fatten you up and kill you?"

Trixie boasted, "No! Twilight wrote a fertility spell, cast it on Trixie and The Hot and Dominant Trixie got her Weak and Subservient Twilight pregnant!"

Applejack asked, "Now how the hay does that even work?"

Trixie giggled, "Well Twilight cast a spell on Trixie so The Hot and Dominant Trixie could shoot sperm out of her horn." Trixie pointed to her larger horn and continued, "And after that, Trixie rammed her horn in Twilight and got her pregnant!"

Twilight stood up and yelled, "Look, I'm fine girls. Now just leave me alone and don't bother The Hot and Dominant Trixie or The Weak and Subservient Twilight ever again."

Trixie began to push them out of her room, "You heard her, now get out!"

Despite not having a whole lot of magic she could still access, Twilight fired some energy at them and continued, "I'm fine. I love Trixie and I'm carrying her foal so get over it."

Starlight sighed, "Fine." She glared at Trixie and growled, "This isn't over yet Trixie. One day we will free her from your control, whether it be before or after the foal is born but mark my words, we will free her." She got in Trixie's face and continued, "Unfortunately for you, your fate may not be so pleasant."

As they left the castle they were frustrated. While for months Starlight found delight in seeing Twilight under Trixie's control, after seeing the state that Twilight was in, this was no longer the case. Things began to cross her mind. She remembered how Twilight did save her from being punished after the time travel incident and realized that finding delight in Twilight being controlled was wrong.

Mission Planning and Odd Studies

Deep in the wastes of southern Equestria, in a foreboding cave sealed with green ooze, sat Queen Chrysalis and her changeling army. Even though it had been a few years, she sat on her throne with a scowl on her face. The fact that she could not take down the princesses in Canterlot and claim Equestria for herself still consumed her. After being flung a great distance by the energy from the love of Cadence and Shining Armor, she was sore for quite some time but no longer. She got a smile on her face and decided that the time had come to give it another go but using different methods.

While most of her changelings were mindless drones who could do nothing more than hiss, she did have a general that could speak and think for himself. Chrysalis called out, "General Green Ooze, we need to talk."

Green Ooze sped to her and asked, "Yes my Queen? What is it that you wish to discuss?"

Chrysalis replied, "The time has come, the time to punish those princesses for what happened so long ago has arrived. The time has come to go to Canterlot, kidnap Celestia and Luna and take Canterlot as our own. After that, we'll take all of Equestria."

Green Ooze asked, "But what about Cadence and Shining Armor? What if they are there and use their love to throw us back again? What about Twilight Sparkle and her friends? What if they use the Elements of Harmony on us?"

Chrysalis replied, "General, many things have changed since their wedding."

Green Ooze asked, "What all has changed."

Chrysalis replied, "Well for starters, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor now rule the Crystal Empire so they won't be any kind of threat to us. They have their own problems to deal with." She began to laugh, "Oh and you know what happened to Twilight Sparkle?"

The general replied, "Yes my Queen, she became a princess but why are you laughing?"

Chrysalis laughed, "Well one of our scouts recently returned from Ponyville and she has become the mindless sex slave of some show pony named 'The Hot and Dominant Trixie!'" She started laughing so hard she could hardly speak, "Is-Isn't that funny!" She continued to laugh for another minute before calming down, "Ok, back to Twilight. She may be an Alicorn princess but the fact that she is under the complete and absolute control of a unicorn that only knows street magic is hilarious! Without her being able to lead her friends, this should be a cakewalk!"

Green Ooze asked, "So I take it you are going to want to do this as soon as possible?"

Chrysalis replied, "Yes, I am. Without Twilight Sparkle in the way, nopony will even be able to stop us. All we'll have to do is take on the form of other ponies when we go there, cover them in ooze and bring them back here!"

Green Ooze asked, "I have heard rumors that Celestia has a new protege, one that is far smarter than Twilight Sparkle. I have even heard that this one has mastered time travel."

Chrysalis replied, "Well I doubt she will be able to tell any of us apart from whoever we duplicate. The only reason Twilight could tell me apart from the real Cadence is because they were close. This one is from eastern Equestria and from what I understand she has no close relationships with anypony."

Green Ooze sighed, "Well alright. I would suggest that we take the form of other ponies, preferably pegasi when we go in and take the princesses."

Chrysalis added, "Oh, and we will be going into Ponyville and taking Twilight's friends just for the fun of it."

Green Ooze replied, "Ok, you are our Queen and whatever you say goes."

Several days had passed and Starlight and Spike were back up in their study tower. It had been a rather boring that day as Celestia had been in meetings all day so she was pretty much left to do her own thing. Spike noticed that Starlight had been studying battle tactics, geography and changelings that day. He asked, "Starlight, why have you been studying such strange things today? I honestly don't see how those subjects are going to help you with what Celestia has you working on right now."

Starlight replied, "Spike, I don't know what it is but something in the back of my mind is telling me to study these things, almost as if I have to learn it."

Spike replied, "Oh alright. Don't get upset if Celestia isn't happy over you studying these things."

Starlight pretty much brushed off what Spike said. She knew that she should be studying more of Starswirl's works but deep down she felt this stuff was beyond important. While she would never admit this to Spike or anypony else, she felt almost as if learning this stuff would not only be beneficial to her, but that all of Equestria might depend on it.

Evening had arrived in Canterlot and Celestia's busy day had drawn to a close so she decided that before sitting down to dinner, that she would go and see what Starlight did that day. She headed up to Starlight's tower, knocked on the door which was promptly answered by Starlight. "Celestia, how did your meetings go today?"

Celestia replied, "Tiring, very tiring." She noticed that Starlight had a few books laying around on the tables in her library. She asked, "And how was your day? What have you been studying?"

Before Starlight could even reply Celestia headed in and took a look at the books. She asked, "Battle tactics, geography and changelings? Why in Equestria have you been studying stuff like this today? You were supposed to be studying advanced magic today, not doing leisure reading."

Starlight replied, "Celestia, I don't know why but something in the back of my mind told me to read this stuff."

Celestia sighed, "Well alright but I have a completely empty schedule tomorrow so we are going to study extra hard, none of this simple informational material." Her expression changed to a glare as she continued, "And what the hay possessed you to read up on changelings?"

Starlight replied, "Like I said, something in the back of my mind told me to study these three things today. When I get a nagging voice in the back of my mind, I pay attention to it."

Celestia sighed, "Well alright, see you tomorrow."

Starlight replied, "See you tomorrow."

Celestia slammed the door behind her as she flew off of Starlight's balcony. While she knew that Starlight had tendencies like this, it bothered her that she would study what she considered such menial subjects. It especially bothered her that she would be reading things about changelings given the past interactions she had had with them and the fact that they were pretty much irrelevant at that point.

Changeling Attack!

Heading Out

In the wastes of southern Equestria, Queen Chrysalis had decided the time had come. She decided the time to get revenge on the princesses and the ponies in Ponyville had come. She called out to her general, "General Green Ooze, prepare our troops, the time has come."

Green Ooze replied, "I take it you have decided the time to attack has come?"

Chrysalis replied, "Yes, the time has come. Now gather our changelings and bring them to me. I will pick the ones that I will take to Canterlot to abduct the princesses while you will take the others and abduct those troublemakers in Ponyville."

Green Ooze replied, "Yes my queen."

The general headed off to various parts of the cave to gather the other changelings. In an hour he returned and the queen began inspecting the changelings. While none of them could speak, Chrysalis had the ability to tell which ones were smarter. She decided that she would take half of them with her and that Green Ooze would take the others. Once she had them sorted out she said, "Alright General, let's get going."

Green Ooze asked, "Your Majesty, don't you think we should wait until it is dark to do this?"

Chrysalis replied, "General, it will take us several hours to just reach the edge of the wastes. By then the sun will be setting and then we can proceed north from there."

Green Ooze asked, "By then we won't have enough time to reach Canterlot and Ponyville by the following morning. It is no short flight."

Chrysalis snapped, "And you think I don't know that?" She got in his face and continued, "We will take the form of pegasi once we reach the edge of the wastes." She pointed her hoof towards the exit of the cave and ordered, "Alright general, let's get going."

As the day ended they reached the end of the southern wastes where Chrysalis ordered them to land. She again inspected her forces, looking to see which ones were less exhausted after the long flight. She said, "Alright troops, we need to transform into pegasi that resemble the ones we encountered in Canterlot a few years back." She immediately changed herself into a pegasus guard pony. She cast her gaze out at them and ordered, "Now you all do the same."

Immediately her forces resembled her, they all looked like white pegasus guards. Chrysalis continued, "Alright troops, this is where we will part ways. General, you take your forces with you to Ponyville and I'll take mine with me to Canterlot."

Green Ooze asked, "Your Majesty, by the time we reach our destinations it will be dawn. Don't you think the ponies will wonder why there are suddenly so many white pegasi guards around?"

Chrysalis replied, "General, there are plenty of guards that resemble us in Canterlot so we shouldn't have any problems."

Green Ooze asked, "But what about Ponyville? It is a small town and I highly doubt they have a large number of pegasi guards running around, if any at all."

Chrysalis sighed, "Well once you reach Ponyville transform yourselves into other ponies, hunt down the troublemakers, put them in ooze cocoons and then haul them home."

Green Ooze asked, "By the time we get there, it will be daylight. Wouldn't it be better to attack at night?"

Chrysalis replied, "If we are quick enough, we can do this during the day." She pointed her hoof off towards the northeast and ordered, now go."

Chrysalis and Green Ooze took flight with their forces. They knew it would almost be dawn when she arrived in Canterlot, but that is exactly what she wanted. Both princesses would be awake yet fatigued, making them easier to abduct.

Attack in Canterlot

In Canterlot the time had come for Luna to lower the moon and for Celestia to raise the sun. Like she is at the end of every night, Luna was fairly tired and like she is every morning, Celestia was not fully awake.

As they headed out to the balcony Luna yawned, "Ugh, what a long night."

Celestia asked, "What happened?"

Luna replied, "We ran into some unruly manticores that were approaching the edge of the forest. One nearly headed into Ponyville."

Celestia asked, "They usually don't do that, do they?"

Luna replied, "No, they usually stay within the forest boundaries." She heard Celestia yawn loudly and continued, "Thou sounds most tired. Didst thou not get enough sleep?"

Celestia replied, "No. I couldn't sleep. I kept on having the same nightmare over and over....."

Luna interrupted, "We take it thou means the nightmares of Chrysalis and her changelings kidnapping us?"

Celestia replied, "Yeah, us and Starlight's friends."

Luna couldn't help but laugh, "Don't worry big sister, we dost not think we have anything to worry about. Chrysalis knows better than to try and invade." She looked at the sky and continued, "Well big sister, it is time to lower the moon and raise the sun."

Celestia nodded and they began to do their duties. As they did this a voice yelled, "Attack!"

Chrysalis and her changelings took their own form, charged at the princesses and covered them in ooze, leaving the moon still half up and the sun only half up. Celestia looked at the changeling queen and yelled, "Chrysalis, you let us go or I'll have to summon Twilight and her friends to come take care of you!"

Chrysalis laughed, "Don't make me laugh Celestia. I know all about everything that has happened. The Elements are back in the Tree and your precious Twilight is under the spell of some unicorn named Trixie." She yelled at her changelings, "Alright troops, put them in cocoons, we need to take them home."

Before they could finish covering the princesses the unicorn guards arrived. The captain ordered his forces to begin firing on the changelings. While they did that, he blasted the ooze away from the princesses and they also joined in on the fight. While Luna was busy knocking out changelings, Celestia confronted Chrysalis. Celestia growled, "You seriously think you can take us captive? I have news for you Chrysalis, you aren't so strong and we will defeat you."

While the unicorn soldiers were doing their best to take out Chrysalis's forces, many of them were becoming covered in ooze, rendering their magic useless. Chrysalis saw this and laughed, "Oh don't be so naive Celestia. Your forces are vastly outnumbered and more and more of them are being immobilized every second!"

At first Luna was able to handle the changelings but soon she had to go to freeing soldiers from the ooze, which the changelings quickly took advantage of. It did not take them long to get Luna covered, put in a cocoon and immobilize the rest of Celestia's forces. Chrysalis pointed her hoof out towards the battle scene and laughed, "Ha! Your forces and your sister have been taken out! Now it is me versus you!"

Celestia shouted, "You will not prevail Chrysalis."

As soon as she said this Chrysalis covered her in ooze and put her in a cocoon. Once they got the princesses secured, Chrysalis yelled, "Come on troops, let's get them home."

While they tried to put up a good fight, all the unicorn soldiers could do was watch as the princesses were carried off towards the south and hope that somepony would come along and free them from the ooze.

Attack in Ponyville

In Ponyville things did not seem right. The ponies looked out their windows and noticed that the moon had not fully been set nor had the sun been fully risen. This reminded them of the time that The Tree of Harmony was ill yet this time the forest was not growing out of control. Applejack stepped out and took a look around. She said to herself, "What the hay is up with the sky? It can't be the tree this time because the elements are in it."

She decided she would go wake her friends up and see what they think. She first headed to Fluttershy's. When she knocked on the door a very tired Fluttershy answered, "Oh hi Applejack. What are you doing up so early?"

Applejack replied, "Fluttershy, come on out here. Something's wrong with the sky."

When Fluttershy stepped out and saw what was going on, she was horrified, "Aaah! What's going on?"

Applejack replied, "Ah'm not sure but let's gather the rest of our friends and figure out what to do."

One by one, they went and woke up their friends. Each one of them reacted in their own way although Pinkie seemed to find it more humorous than anything since nothing else seemed out of the ordinary. Once they had all gathered Applejack asked, "Well ladies, what do y'all think is going on here? This ain't like it was last time."

Rarity replied, "Well I'm not sure but I think we should see if we can talk to Twilight."

Rainbow yelled, "Are you nuts Rarity? You know that Trixie won't let anypony talk to Twilight, much less ask her about something like this."

Applejack added, "And besides, given the control Twilight is under now, I doubt she'd be able to even think of anything."

Fluttershy suggested, "Well it's worth a shot isn't it. We won't know unless we go and see."

Rainbow sighed, "Oh alright but don't be surprised when Trixie won't let us in to see her."

The five headed towards Twilight's castle to see if they can see her. Applejack pounded on the door, "Twilight, we need to talk to you. We think something's wrong."

Trixie opened the door and snapped, "What do you want?" She saw who it was and continued, "Trixie thought she said for you five to leave The Hot and Dominant Trixie alone!"

Applejack got in her face and yelled, "Look, we need to talk to Twilight. This is important."

Trixie sneered, "Trixie is sorry but The Weak and Subservient Twilight is not allowed visitors. She has been bad so The Hot and Dominant Trixie has grounded her."

Rainbow yanked Trixie out by the hair and showed her the sky, "Now do you see why we need to speak to her? She might know what the hay is going on."

Trixie laughed, "You seriously think The Weak and Subservient Twilight would know what is going on? She can barely get around without The Hot and Dominant Trixie leading her around." She fired some energy at them and yelled, "Now be gone with you, Trixie has a little weakling she must go and punish."

Trixie slammed the door in their face causing them to sigh in frustration. Applejack said, "Ya know girls, if what Trixie is saying is true, we've got to convince Celestia to intervene. Who knows what could happen to Equestria with Twilight out of commission."

Fluttershy whimpered, "What if some villain were to attack?"

Just as she did this they heard, "They're they are, get them."

What they first thought was a huge group of pegasi transformed into changelings and immediately covered them in ooze. While most of them focused their attack on Applejack and her friends, a few drones felt drawn to Twilight's castle. Green Ooze saw this and yelled, "Troops, there is no need to worry about Twilight. Our queen said she is under the control of another pony, remember?" The changelings turned around and their general continued, "Help us get them put in cocoons and haul them home."

The drones did as directed and they began to haul their prisoners home with them. For both Chrysalis and Green Ooze, this was easy beyond their wildest dreams. As she was carrying Celestia home, Chrysalis couldn't help but laugh, "You failed Celestia! You failed your kingdom, you failed your subjects and you failed your sister! Soon Equestria will be mine, all mine!"

Starlight Takes Charge

A half an hour after the attack and abduction of the princesses, Starlight finally woke up. She peeked out the window to see what was going on as usually the sun wakes her up. When she saw that the sun was only half-way above the horizon she was stunned. She said to herself, "Now why the hay would Celestia only half-way raise the sun?"

The little sunlight there was shone in and woke up Spike. Spike wiped his eyes and asked, "Starlight, what's going on? Why are you looking out the window?"

Starlight replied, "Come with me, we'll be able to see more outside."

Spike followed Starlight outside and was stunned by what he saw. In the eastern sky he saw the sun only half-way above the horizon and in the west he saw that the moon had only been lowered half-way. He asked, "What do you think is going on?"

Starlight replied, "I'm not sure but let's head over to the palace. I'm sure the princesses will know."

Starlight headed towards the palace but at the gate she was met by something she did not expect, a unicorn guard covered in ooze. She asked, "What happened? Why are you covered in ooze?"

The guard replied, "The city was attacked by Chrysalis and her changeling army this morning. They have taken both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna captive and are taking them home with them."

Starlight fired some energy at the guard to melt away the ooze. She ordered, "Help me free the other soldiers that have been covered in ooze and then meet me back here so we can discuss this further."

Starlight and the guard headed off to free other soldiers. While they were doing this Spike asked, "Starlight, did you know this was going to happen? Is that why you were studying changelings and battle tactics?"

Starlight was not thrilled over the question as she took it as him accusing her of setting this up. She snapped, "Are you accusing me of making this happen?" She got in his face and continued, "No, you should know I would never set something like this up."

Spike asked, "I didn't mean it like that. I meant were you getting a feeling this would happen, like a sixth sense?"

Starlight replied, "Yes, I was. That is why I was studying battle tactics, changelings and geography. I have done enough studying that I think I know how we can take them on and I know where they live."

Spike asked, "And how is that?"

Starlight replied, "I'll discuss that with the guard once they are all freed of ooze. Now let's go, there are plenty of guard ponies to free."

After an hour all of the guard ponies were freed of their ooze and they gathered at the castle gates. Starlight arrived not much later and ordered, "Alright, follow me into the throne room, we need to discuss some things."

One of the guards asked, "Don't we need to get the pegasi guards too?"

Starlight replied, "No. This issue will only be relevant to the unicorn guard."

He nodded as Starlight led the unicorn guards into the throne room. Once she got them in there she called them to attention, "Alright, I'm pretty sure you know why you are all here."

The guard she talked to earlier replied, "Yeah, we are here about what to do regarding the capture of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

Another guard asked, "What are we going to do about it?"

Starlight replied, "Excellent question." Her voice became more stern as she continued, "We are going to have to march on Chrysalis's cave, rescue the princesses and wipe them all out."

One of the guards asked, "What? But we are royal guards! We are not an army built to go on the offensive."

Another guard added, "Princess Celestia never thought Equestria would need such an army so she never established one."

Starlight replied, "Well we're going to have to study battle tactics and train to be an army built to go on the offensive." She gave them a salute and continued, "As of right now, you are no longer guard ponies, you are soldiers and will train as such."

Starlight taking charge like this was not taken well by some of the now soldiers. One of them asked, "Oh, and what makes you so special? I don't even know who you are and who gave you the right to suddenly act like the one in charge."

Starlight replied, "I am Starlight Glimmer, Celestia's protege. Given that both she along with Princess Luna have been taken captive, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor are in the Crystal Empire and Princess Twilight is under the control of another pony, I have decided I will take charge."

One of the soldiers asked, "Wait a minute, so you, a unicorn mare, thinks she is going to be able to lead us into battle against Chrysalis and her changeling army?"

Another soldier added, "You do know it took a great amount of love energy from Shining Armor and Cadence to simply cast Chrysalis and her army back to their own lands don't you? You can't just march in there and defeat them without love magic."

Starlight replied, "Actually soldier, yes you can." Her voice became more determined as she continued, "We will march in there with spears and swords. While they may not seem like it, changelings are flesh and blood creatures like us and can be taken down in battle." She began to levitate and finished, "Why simply use magic to cast them out when you can kill them? It seems rather pointless to merely cast them out if you ask me."

One of the soldiers asked, "Wait a minute, how can you fly? You're only a unicorn."

Starlight replied, "I have had this ability for an extremely long time and it will aid us in battle."

A skeptical soldier asked, "Back to this battle you are talking about. How are you going to take part in battle when you have never even taken part in any kind of military exercise." He laughed as he continued, "I bet you'd snap like a twig in battle."

Starlight fired some energy towards the ceiling and replied, "I'm tougher than you think soldier and regarding military exercises, I will be training with you so I will be prepared." She and Spike headed for the door as she continued, "You are all dismissed. I am going to get fitted for armor and we will reconvene at 1300 hours at the base of Canterlot Mountain to begin training."

Now this impressed the soldiers as they did not expect Starlight to take part in their exercises. The fact that she would be training with them and had more of a warrior mentality when it came to dealing with enemies caused some of them to see this unicorn mare as more than just Celestia's protege, but as something more while others thought she was simply full of herself and would crack under pressure in training.

While they were headed to the armory Spike asked, "Starlight, are you nuts? I know you have studied battle tactics and have a tough personality but we are talking about going to war here."

Starlight snapped, "You know what Spike? I have been through a lot in my life and that nagging voice in the back of my head has been telling me that I'm the one to do this, that I will lead us to victory."

Spike asked, "If you were to lead them to victory and free the princesses, what do you think would happen?"

Starlight replied, "Well I think that once this happens, all of Equestria will see that magic alone isn't going to truly defeat an enemy. To truly defeat them, they along with their soldiers must be slain. With any luck, perhaps Celestia will see that a real army is needed and perhaps I could be put in charge of it."

While Spike pretended to support this, deep down he thought this was a bad idea. Not only did he believe that Starlight was being overconfident, he also had a feeling that she would not be able to free the princesses but would likely die in this battle and put the whole nation at more risk.

Training for Battle

It was not long after dismissing the troops that Starlight arrived at the armory. When she arrived Steel Mane, the head of the armory asked, "Hello, may I help you?"

Starlight replied, "I need to be fitted for armor as soon as possible."

Steel Mane couldn't help but laugh, "What, you need to be fitted for armor?" His laughing only grew louder as he continued, "But you're a mare! Why in Equestria would you have to be fitted for armor?"

Starlight grabbed him in her aura and sternly replied, "Listen, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have been taken captive by Chrysalis and her changeling army so I am going to lead the unicorn guard ponies into the wastes of southern Equestria to rescue our princesses."

Steel Mane continued to laugh, "Oh come on, an ordinary unicorn mare is going to do that?" He calmed down but sneered, "Oh and what makes YOU so special? Why isn't the royal guard contacting Shining Armor or getting Twilight and her friends to go use the Elements on Chrysalis?"

Starlight was slowly growing furious with Steel Mane. She ripped his cutie mark off and snapped, "Listen, I am Celestia's protege and I have knowledge in more than just magic. We don't have time to contact Shining Armor and because of Twilight being under the control of another pony AND the Elements being in the Tree of Harmony, those are not viable options." She released her hold and allowed his cutie mark to return to him, "Listen, I am training with the new army this afternoon so I need to be fitted ASAP."

Despite getting his cutie mark back, he was still a bit shaken up but realized that he had best measure her. He replied, "Ok, I'll measure you but I can't just make your armor right away. Creating armor takes time."

Starlight laughed, "Wanna bet? Just measure me and I'll take care of the rest."

Steel Mane sighed, "Ok but I doubt you can just make armor appear."

He measured her and using those measurements, Starlight grabbed the proper materials and like she did with making a cake several months ago, she quickly turned those materials into armor. He looked at her and gasped, "Wait a minute, how did you do that?"

Starlight laughed, "When you're as powerful as me, you can do anything you want." She looked around and continued, "Now I'll just need a helmet, a sword and a spear."

Before he could reply she grabbed a helmet that would fit her and grabbed a sword and a spear. She glared at him and continued, "Oh, and I think it would be best if you don't mention Twilight being under the control of another pony nor the fact that our princesses have been captured to any civilians. We don't need ponies panicking around here."

With the confidence Starlight carried and how she seemed to know so much about what was going on, Steel Mane could tell she was running the show. He replied, "Ok Starlight, my lips are sealed."

Starlight nodded and took off towards the base of Canterlot Mountain. When she arrived she saw the soldiers laughing over simple things and speculating over her legitimacy. She yelled, "ATTENTION!"

This caused the troops to stand at attention. She continued, "Alright troops, I want us to be ready for battle as soon as possible."

One of the soldiers asked, "And how are we going to train for this? None of us even know anything about how to attack changelings. The most we know about is freeing one another by firing energy at allies that are covered in ooze and using magic to reveal changelings that have taken the form of other ponies."

Starlight replied, "Excellent question soldier. I have done plenty of research on changelings and I have learned that they aren't as tough as they are made out to be."

One soldier asked, "Oh, and what makes you say this?"

Starlight replied, "Well, as you all remember the first time Chrysalis and her army attacked Canterlot there were no casualties and given the nature of that attack, if they are as strong as they are made out to be, there should have been casualties." She began to levitate and intensely continued, "While they can't kill us we can kill them."

One of the soldiers asked, "Oh, and how do we do this?"

Starlight pointed at her chest, her neck and her head. She replied, "By striking them where they are vulnerable. Now you can strike them in the lower abdomen or their legs and it won't harm them that much. However, like us, they do have hearts so if you strike them in the heart they will die. Also, if you behead them or ram a spear into their brain, they will die."

One soldier sneered, "Oh, and how are we supposed to practice for this?"

Starlight used her magic to create some replica changelings. She pointed at them and replied, "Like this." She began her attack and like real ones, it could move around the same way as a real one. While it took her a little while, she was able to bring it down. She turned to her troops and asked, "Any questions?"

One soldier replied, "Yeah, what about Chrysalis? I'm sure she has to be handled a different way."

Starlight replied, "You don't need to worry about that. I will handle her myself." She pointed towards her replica changelings and yelled, "Charge!"

Immediately Starlight and her troops began firing at the changelings, knocking them out of the sky. The soldiers were quick to strike them with their weapons before they could recover from being stunned. Throughout the exercise, Starlight continued to create more and more replicas to keep the exercise going. After three hours of non-stop training, Starlight stopped creating replicas and the last of them were taken out.

Starlight saw this and was impressed. She said, "Well troops, we did well. A couple more days of training and I think we should be ready to launch our counter attack and save the princesses."

Given that Starlight had trained just as hard as they did, they were all sold on the plan of following her into battle. They could tell she had the knowledge, self-confidence and composure to do this. The only thing that they were unsure about was how they would handle the march to the southern wastes as it is no short journey.

The Journey South

Three days had passed since Starlight began training the new unicorn soldiers and the morning sun woke up Starlight and Spike. While Spike was slow to rise Starlight jumped out of her bed and immediately began fixing them breakfast. She fixed an extra large meal as she knew she would need it. Spike was still unsure on whether Starlight should do this or not. He asked, "Starlight, are you sure you should do this? Are you sure you shouldn't just get in touch with Shining Armor to handle this."

Starlight glared at him, "Spike, I have been training with the soldiers and I am doing this. I have this feeling that it may very well be my destiny to do this, that the whole fate of Equestria rests on whether I lead the troops into battle."

Over the past three days Spike had seen a change in Starlight, a change that he did not particularly care for. He said, "Starlight, you don't even seem to be the same pony anymore. Just a few days ago you were kind and caring, now it seems like all you care about is killing Chrysalis and fulfilling this destiny you keep talking about." He looked her in the eye and asked, "What is this destiny you keep talking about? I have a feeling it is something much bigger than simply taking control of the new army you are creating."

Starlight replied, "Spike, I just have a feeling it will lead to a whole lot more for me. It could be taking control of the new army or it might be something else. Like I said, this nagging voice in my head is saying that the fate of Equestria hinges on this and perhaps my own fate rests on it too."

Spike realized that Starlight was not going to reveal any details on this and began to eat his breakfast. While he was eating his rather slowly, Starlight was devouring her's. It was not long until she finished it and got into her armor. He gave her a nervous look and asked, "But Starlight, what if you were to die in battle?"

Starlight replied, "If I do, I do. As long as we can get the princesses freed that is all that matters. After all, if they remain captive Equestria could collapse. It could fall to Chrysalis or some other foe."

Spike asked, "What do you want me to do? Do you want me to come too?"

Starlight replied, "Spike, a battle is no place for a baby dragon. I want you to stay here and hope for the best." Starlight headed towards the door and continued, "Now I must get going. I do not want to be late in getting us off to do this. See you later."

As Starlight headed out Spike couldn't help but worry yet at the same time he couldn't help but wonder what he had truly gotten himself into. He wondered what his role would be if Starlight were to succeed and take over the new military. He wondered if he would still be an assistant or if he would be more of an errand boy and he still wondered what the whole "it might be something else" if she succeeded. He wondered if she knew something that nopony else did.

When Starlight arrived at the base the unicorn soldiers were ready to go. One of them asked, "Starlight, so how are we going to do this? Are we going to march to the wastes from here or what?"

Starlight replied, "No soldier, we will not. We will be taking a private train from here to Dodge Junction where we will refresh and refuel. After that we will march southwards into the wastes and attack Chrysalis's cave." She pointed her hoof towards the train station and continued, "Alright troops, let's get going. The train is waiting."

They headed to the train station and got on board. While Starlight was full of confidence and her troops did have confidence in her, a few couldn't help but wonder if dealing with the changelings would be as easy as she claimed given that the replicas she made did not shoot out ooze. A few even felt like they were headed to their doom.

It was a bit after noon when they arrived in Dodge Junction and disembarked from the train. Ponies were giving them odd looks as they headed down main street towards Cherry Hills Ranch.

Starlight ordered her troops to wait back a ways while she headed into the farm where she was greeted by Cherry Jubilee. She had a shocked look when she saw a pink unicorn mare in armor approaching her. She nervously asked, "Hi, what can I do you for?"

Starlight replied, "Ma'am, before I tell you that I need to see if you can keep a secret."

Cherry said, "Well yeah, what is it."

Starlight replied, "I have tried my best to keep this secret from civilians but in this case I can't. A few days ago Queen Chrysalis and her changeling army attacked Canterlot. They took Princess Celestia and Princess Luna captive and I am leading an army into the wastes to free them. I am wondering if my troops could fuel up before we start our long march south."

Cherry had a stunned look on her face. She asked, "Seriously, the princesses were abducted and you're the one leading the rescue mission?"

Starlight replied, "Yes, I am. I am Celestia's protege, Starlight Glimmer and given that I have knowledge in battle tactics, I decided I would be the one to free them."

While she did have a fair amount of cherries readily available to eat, she was not counting on an army of 100 showing up. Cherry said, "Well I really don't have enough cherries ready to eat."

Starlight looked around and saw that there were plenty of ripe cherries that had yet to be harvested. She levitated one off a tree and ate it. She suggested, "Well my troops and I could always levitate the cherries off that we would eat."

Cherry replied, "You know, I can't afford to just feed your army. I do have to make a living."

Starlight suggested, "Well once I free the princesses and let them know about this I'm sure Celestia will make sure you are reimbursed."

Cheery looked outside the gate at the hungry army. She replied, "Oh alright. Come on in boys, y'all look hungry."

The troops rushed in and began to remove the cherries from the trees and eat them. While she knew it was important that the princesses be saved, she couldn't help but scowl as the hungry unicorns were starting to eat her out of house and home. After ten minutes of scarfing down cherries, Starlight yelled, "Stop! That should be enough."

The troops stopped despite still being hungry. One of them replied, "Starlight, I know you said to stop but we're still hungry."

Starlight replied, "Look, as we journey south out of the desert there is one small area where there is vegetation before we reach the wastes. We will fill up more there. Besides, I don't want us eating Miss Jubilee's entire crop."

Cherry added, "I would certainly hope not. I do have to make a living."

Starlight replied, "Don't worry, I'll see to it that you are reimbursed. I am Celestia's protege and after freeing her and Princess Luna, chances are I will be more than that and can arrange it much more easily."

Starlight was beginning to feel like they had overstayed their welcome with the way Cherry had been mentioning having to make a living. She yelled, "Alright troops. Let's get going, it is a long march to the wastes."

Starlight headed towards the ranch's exit, followed by her soldiers and headed south. Again, like they did when Starlight first arrived, the ponies in town gave her and her army strange looks. While they were not nervous given that the town was not attacked, they still couldn't help but wonder why an army would march into town.

Counter Attack!

Several hours had passed and Starlight and her army continued their march south. Many of the soldiers were beginning to slow down as they were hungry, thirsty and tired. Starlight turned around to see that her soldiers had fallen a bit behind and was not amused. She stopped and waited for them to catch up. When they arrived she ordered, "Keep up, I want to get this rescue mission done as soon as possible."

One of the soldiers said, "Look, we're tired, we're hungry and we're thirsty. When are we going to reach this vegetated place you were talking about?"

Starlight looked off to the south and saw a faint green tinge, the edge of the wastelands. She replied, "We should reach it here shortly. I can see the edge of the southern wastes from here. Come on, I want to reach that vegetated place as bad as you do."

All the troops could do was sigh as Starlight continued marching southward. Thirty minutes later they arrived at more than just a river, but a lake surrounded by bushes. When the troops saw this, they began to cheer loudly before they began drinking and eating. Starlight herself, despite putting forth a tough attitude, let out a sigh of relief as she followed suit.

Starlight had never been more tired in her life and her soldiers could tell it. One of them asked, "Starlight, I take it you are tired too?"

Starlight replied, "Very much so." She laid down in the grass and continued, "Tell you what troops, how about we rest here until we are fully hydrated, not hungry and completely alert."

The soldiers began cheering loudly realizing that not only will they not have to go into battle hungry and tired but also that Starlight does actually care about them. One of them replied, "Thanks Starlight, this really means a lot."

Starlight replied, "Don't mention it. It just hit me that I've been pushing all of you too hard. I should have taken that into consideration instead of being in such a hurry." She yawned and continued, "Let's get some rest. We have a tough battle ahead of us tomorrow."

The soldiers looked at the sky, which still had the sun only half up and the moon only half down. One of them asked, "Starlight, when exactly is tomorrow with the way the sky is?"

Starlight sighed, "Well once we are all well rested and ready to go then. The day doesn't matter as long as we complete this mission."

Once they all finished eating and drinking they laid down to get some sleep. While it was not what they were used to, the bushes filled their stomachs quite well. While a few were a bit restless, most of them and especially Starlight got several hours' worth of good sleep.

Eight hours had passed by the time Starlight and her soldiers were waking up. With the exception of just a couple, they were fully alert and well rested. Starlight saw this and said, "Alright troops, let's get some food and water in our systems and get going." She pointed her hoof off to the south and continued, "You see that green haze on the horizon? That is the edge of the wastes so our march there should just be a few hours. Unfortunately there isn't any water or food south of here so we need to drink and eat as much as we can. We can't go into this battle hungry or thirsty."

The soldiers shouted, "Here, here!"

Starlight again pointed her hoof south and began to march. Temperatures had dropped some since they left the desert so the final march would be quite comfortable. The further south they marched the more foreboding the landscape looked and the sky began to appear green. While some of the soldiers were taking it in stride, a few were unnerved by it. One of them asked, "Starlight, is the sky supposed to be green like changeling ooze?"

Starlight replied, "Yes, it is. We are now officially in the southern wastes, home of the changelings so be on the lookout. I'm pretty sure they're all in Chrysalis's cave aiding her in guarding the two princesses but you never know."

The soldiers simply nodded and followed Starlight further and further south. Soon the very air itself had become a green mist. Starlight knew that this had to be the place so she levitated up towards a hillside and confirmed her suspicions. She returned to her soldiers, pointed her hoof towards an opening in the hillside and said, "You see that troops? We have reached our target. Have your weapons and magic ready, I'm sure the changelings won't take kindly to us invading their home."

The troops shouted, "Yes ma'am!"

Starlight shouted, "CHARGE!"

The soldiers began to cheer loudly as they charged towards the cave. When they got there they saw that it was sealed with ooze so they began to blast away at it. Starlight fired a powerful beam at it, causing it to vaporize. While they were expecting to immediately be greeted by changelings once they got in, they were surprised when they were greeted with entrances to tunnels and silence.

One of the soldiers asked, "Starlight, you don't think they're hiding out somewhere else do you?"

Starlight replied, "No. I can sense they are here. We are going to have to split up and go down every tunnel. They are likely scattered all over the place."

The soldier asked, "What about Chrysalis?"

Starlight replied, "She is likely in the very back where our princesses are being held captive." She quieted down and continued, "Alright, let's do this!"

The troops split up and not too long after entering the tunnels, they would meet their foes and just as expected, the changelings began to cover them with ooze and just as expected, others had to free them.

Starlight headed down a tunnel with some of the younger soldiers where they were quickly ambushed. The changelings began to hiss and fire ooze at them. While a few of them panicked a little, most of them began to stun them and wipe them out. Starlight would soon be greeted by the only changeling with a mind of his own, General Green Ooze, "What are you ponies doing in here?"

Starlight fired a powerful ball of energy at him causing him to scream. She stood over the stunned general and sneered, "We're here to save our princesses! What did you think we came for, a friendly chit chat?"

Unlike the other changelings, Green Ooze could recover from being stunned much more quickly. He hopped up and lunged at Starlight. Starlight however was expecting this. She jumped out of the way and as he hit the wall, she struck him with her sword, leaving a gash in his lower abdomen. She yelled, "Where are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna? Tell me and I might make your passing a little less painful."

Green Ooze laughed, "Ha! Me tell you where your precious princesses are? I think not!"

He fired some ooze at Starlight, covering her in it. She yelled, "Troops, I need some help over here." One of the youngest soldiers went over and fired energy at her, releasing her. Starlight said, "Thanks!"

The young soldier replied, "Don't mention it."

While he returned to taking down changelings Starlight returned to handling Green Ooze. She grabbed him in her aura and began slamming him violently into the cave wall over and over again until he was in just a semi-conscious state. She stood over him and demanded, "I'll give you one more chance, tell me where the princesses are and your passing will be more immediate."

He shouted, "Never!"

Starlight laughed, "Alright, you asked for it!"

Starlight began cutting his limbs off with her sword, causing him to squeak in pain. Starlight laughed, "A squeak? Is that all the more you little scum give out? Pathetic, absolutely pathetic!"

She levitated the general and with one swing of her sword, she beheaded him. While she wanted to stand there and celebrate, she knew that she needed to hunt down Chrysalis and save the princesses. She headed down multiple corridors until she finally reached a large opening in the back of the cave. In it she saw what would horrify her. Not only were the princesses in green cocoons, but so were her friends.

She was getting ready to fire on the cocoons when she heard a voice sneer, "So Celestia's new protege finally decides to show up."

Starlight turned around to see Chrysalis herself. Given that she was alone, she knew she had to use other measures to battle her so she put a protection shield around herself. The only bad thing about doing this was that with her energy being invested in the shield, that she would not be able to use her magic. She mocked, "So, I see little miss swiss cheese legs has arrived."

Chrysalis fired ooze at her but it simply bounced off of her. She shouted, "What? What did you do? How is my ooze not covering you?"

Besides not being able to fire energy at Chrysalis, she also dropped her sword so this would wind up being a hoof to hoof battle. She lunged at Chrysalis, tackling her. She shouted, "What I did is only my business." She looked at the ponies she had imprisoned and continued, "Now free them and perhaps I won't have to put you out of your misery."

Chrysalis kicked her off of her and laughed, "Don't make me laugh. A simple unicorn beat me in a hoof to hoof battle? I think not!"

Starlight sneered, "Alright little queen, you asked for it."

The two lunged at one another and began to throw punch after punch at one another. Both were in a state of rage, violently throwing one another up against the walls, stomping one another and kicking one another. Eventually Chrysalis grew tired of this so she bit Starlight. Starlight screamed, "Oww! So that's how you want to do it? Get ready to die you pathetic wretch."

Starlight clamped down on Chrysalis's neck and bit hard, so hard that she ripped some of her flesh off. With her mouth covered in black blood, Starlight looked much more intimidating to those trapped in cocoons who were watching this but it didn't bother Chrysalis any. Starlight yelled, "You know something, changeling ain't all that bad! Come here queenie, I want more!"

Chrysalis licked her chops, "Not until I get some unicorn meat!"

Chrysalis lunged at her but missed when Starlight leaped to the side. Starlight again grabbed Chrysalis and began to hit and bite her until she finally slammed Chrysalis into the wall face first with as much force as she could, breaking her horn off in the process. Starlight grabbed her horn and looked down at the injured changeling queen. She knelt over here and laughed, "And now queenie, I shall feast upon your pathetic corpse."

Starlight grabbed her horn and slashed open her upper abdomen, exposing her rib cage and what lie underneath it. Chrysalis was screaming in agony as Starlight knelt down and ripped her rib cage apart leaving her inner organs vulnerable. Starlight pulled her heart out and laughed, "Any last words little queen?"

All Chrysalis could do was cry in agony the pain was so bad. Starlight laughed, "Well I guess not. It's not like anything you'd have to say would be important anyway."

She put the heart in her mouth and bit down, ripping it out. As she began to eat the heart, a blinding flash of light spread out from Chrysalis's body, freeing Chrysalis's captives but in the process, Celestia and Starlight disappeared. Luna, despite being woozy rushed to the fallen queen's remains, "Big Sister, Starlight, what hast happened to thee?"

The blinding white light freed all of them and the others joined Luna. They all began to weep, especially Fluttershy. "Princess Luna, what do you think happened to them."

Luna had a feeling that something special had happened but was not going to speculate, "We are not sure Dear Fluttershy but we do think that they have not perished. We simply think they have teleported elsewhere and shall return soon."

The five knew that Luna would know what she was talking about so they breathed a sigh of relief but couldn't help but wonder what had happened. Then it hit them. The light they saw was the same type of light they saw when Twilight disappeared before her transformation, yet Celestia was not there when she disappeared so what really happened they were not completely sure of.

The Transformation

Author's Note

A large portion of this chapter will be dialogue between Starlight and Celestia.

The Transformation

When Starlight came to she found herself in a dark realm of stars. She stood up and looked at herself, she was still covered in the blood of Chrysalis. She said, "Well at least I'm not just a spirit. At least I'm not dead."

She saw a white figure in the distance and continued, "Hello, where am I? What is this place?"

The figure replied, "Wow Starlight! I know you are tough but I never knew you were this tough!"

The figure got close enough Starlight could make her out. She rushed to her, "Celestia, I am so glad to see that you are free!"

Celestia pulled her close and replied, "Thank you for freeing us all Starlight." She stood back and asked, "Why Starlight? Why would you take it upon yourself to do this? Why didn't you get Shining Armor to rescue us?"

Starlight replied, "You know those nagging voices I get? I got one saying that I was the one to train the guards to go on the offensive and save you."

Celestia asked, "Wait a minute, you turned some of the guard into an army to save us?"

Starlight replied, "Yeah, I did. This had to be done and I couldn't do it alone." Starlight looked around and asked again, "But where are we? Why are we here?"

Celestia replied, "Starlight, what you did today has never been done before. Not even the greatest warriors have ever killed a foe with her bare hooves." She got down to eye level with Starlight and continued, "I know you have done many bad things in your life Starlight Glimmer, but today you have proven that you have changed. You have proven that you have a warrior mentality and the fact that you would put your life on the line not just for me, but for all of Equestria has proven that you are truly deserving."

Starlight asked, "Deserving of what?"

Celestia plastered many images of Starlight's life to the side of them and sang,

"You've changed so so much

And you've grown since that very first day

You've had your bad times

You've had your good times

Some have seen what you've been through

And all the ways you've influenced those around you

It's time now for a new change to come

You've shown loyalty and your new life has begun

To fight where you will fight

To lead where you will lead

To find what you will be

For it's time for you to fulfill your destiny!"

Starlight began to be encircled in the same white energy that she was earlier. She felt wings begin to sprout from her back, she felt her horn start to grow, she felt herself begin to increase in size as a whole and she felt her armor shatter. While she was not completely sure what was going on, the nagging voice in the back of her head was telling her that she achieved what she never thought possible. It was telling her that she was going to be crowned as an Alicorn princess.

When the light subsided she found that her and Celestia were in the back of the changeling cave. She discovered that she was the same size as Luna. Her friends rushed to her and hugged her. Fluttershy remembered what happened with Twilight and asked, "Princess Celestia, does this mean that she is a princess?"

Celestia replied, "Yes, she is a princess."

Starlight gasped, "A princess?"

Celestia replied, "Yes Starlight, a princess. You have shown true leadership, you have shown true loyalty, you put your life on the line just to save those you care about and most importantly, you killed an enemy of Equestria."

Starlight asked, "But what do I do now? What is a princess supposed to do?"

Celestia replied, "We can go over that later. Let's gather your troops and return to Canterlot."

Applejack interrupted, "Now wait a minute. When Twilight was transformed into an Alicorn she pretty much stayed the same size, why has Starlight grown to be the same size as Luna?"

Celestia replied, "Because the role she will be taking on will require that she be larger. It will make performing her duties much easier." She looked towards the tunnels and continued, "Now let's round up the troops and get going. We have a coronation to get ready for!"

It would not take them long to round up the troops and what made Starlight happy was that there was not one casualty and she was equally impressed when not a single changeling survived. As they left the cave and headed back towards Canterlot, Starlight knew that she had a bright future ahead of her. She thought to herself, "Am I going to be an army princess of some sort?"

The Coronation

A day and a half later everypony returned to Canterlot completely exhausted. While they were able to ride the train from Dodge Junction, the march from the cave took a lot out of most of them. Once they arrived the soldiers headed to the base while the rest headed to the castle. Celestia said, "Wow, I didn't know I was in that poor of shape. I wouldn't think that kind of march would tire me so much."

Luna added, "Even we are a bit tired." Luna headed up towards her sleeping chambers and continued, "We are going to retire to our sleeping chambers. Later today we will aid in planning for Starlight's coronation."

Starlight asked, "So how does a coronation work anyway?"

Celestia replied, "Well normally we hold a ceremony here in the throne room and then the new princess goes out to the courtyard to meet with everypony that couldn't get inside but yours will be different as your role is going to be different."

Starlight asked, "So what is my role going to be?"

Celestia replied, "I will announce it at your coronation but you are going to need new armor, a breast plate and a special helmet, one that signifies your royal status."

Starlight got a huge smile on her face. She had a feeling that her suspicions that she would be a military princess would come to pass. Shortly that smile turned to a look of sadness which concerned Celestia. She asked, "Starlight, what is wrong? Suddenly you seem so sad."

Starlight replied, "I just wish my parents could be here. I know they would be so proud of me."

Celestia realized that she needed to do some research on Starlight's lineage. Given her obscure origins, finding her parents and where they live would likely be impossible but she decided to try to find out. She was bound and determined to make the new princess's dreams come true.

Two days had passed and Celestia had finally found the information she was looking for in the vast genealogy wing of the Equestrian birth records so she arranged for a royal train to travel to eastern Equestria and pick up Starlight's parents. She also wanted to make sure that Starlight had the proper regalia. She headed up to Starlight's tower, where she, Spike and her friends had been staying. She knocked on the door and was promptly greeted by Fluttershy, "Uhm, Hi your Majesty. I take it you are here to talk to Starlight?"

Celestia replied, "Yes, I am." She headed in and found Starlight, "Starlight, we need to go to the armory and get you fit for new armor. We also need to get you a new helmet so I can alter it to fit your new status."

Starlight replied, "Alright. Ladies, Spike, I have to get going. Feel free to do whatever you want to do."

Once they left they flew towards the armory. Forgetting she had wings Starlight continued to use her magic to fly. Celestia pointed at her wings, "Starlight, you have wings now, remember?"

Starlight blushed, "Oh yeah. I keep forgetting about that!"

Like other new Alicorns, Starlight had trouble getting used to having wings so her flying was a bit wobbly as they headed to the armory. When they arrived they were greeted by Steel Mane. He said, "Princess Celestia, Star.....wait a minute, Starlight, is that you? You're so much bigger."

Starlight replied, "Yes, it is me. I am here because I need to be fitted for new armor."

Celestia just realized something, she realized that armor can not just be made quickly. She asked, "Steel Mane, could you try to get it made as quickly as possible?"

Steel Mane pointed his hoof at Starlight and replied, "Don't worry your Majesty, Starlight can make some as soon as I give her her measurements."

Celestia asked, "What?"

Steel Mane measured Starlight and gave her the measurements. Starlight levitated the necessary metal into the air and transformed it into armor. Celestia saw this and was stunned, "Starlight, how...how did you do that?"

Starlight replied, "Well when Twilight was trying to force me to make friends, Pinkie took me to Sugarcube Corner. I offered to help Mrs. Cake with her baking and made a cake solely using my magic."

Celestia couldn't help but laugh a bit yet was serious, "Wow Starlight, that is amazing!" She looked around and continued, "Now we just need to find you a good helmet and a good breast plate."

Given that Starlight had made her armor out of titanium, she realized that a helmet and breast plate made out of the same material would be necessary. She looked at Starlight and continued, "Which helmet and breast plate do you think would look good?"

Starlight pointed her hoof at the accessories that she found the most desirable. Celestia continued, "Alright, those it shall be then."

As they left the armory Steel Mane felt a bit bad for initially questioning Starlight when she first came in to get fitted for armor. He had a feeling that Starlight was going to be crowned as a princess and not just that, but become his boss as well.

Two more days had passed and it was the day for the coronation. While the princesses, Spike and Starlight's friends were very excited, Starlight was nervous, very nervous. She worried that she may screw up in the formalities of the ceremony. She headed from her tower to the throne room where she found Celestia and Luna in their special regalia. She asked, "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, so how are we going to do this?"

Celestia replied, "Rather than holding a normal ceremony in the throne room like what was done with Twilight, I will begin to address the crowd while you and your troops will gather several blocks away. When the signal is given, you will begin to march your troops into the courtyard below the balcony. Upon your arrival, you will fly up to the balcony, using your wings, and then address the crowd."

Starlight breathed a sigh of relief, "Alright, that sounds easy enough. I led a whole army into the southern wastes so leading them into the courtyard will be a piece of cake!"

Celestia replied, "Good. Now I think you need to head over to the base and let your troops know of what the plans are." She tapped Starlight on the shoulder and continued, "Oh, and be ready to march your troops in by noon. That is when the ceremony starts."

Starlight nodded and headed towards the base. Luna couldn't help but wonder why Celestia was referring to the guard as "your troops" to Starlight. She asked, "Big sister, why art thou referring to the royal guard as Starlight's troops? They are just guard ponies, not actual troops."

Celestia replied, "I am doing that because she is going to be in charge of them. She had to transform the unicorn guard into a force that is built to go on the offensive to save us. I'm pretty sure she has the same plans for the pegasi guard and I have a feeling she has plans on how to increase the size of what is now the military."

Luna asked, "But what about the royal guard? Will we no longer have a royal guard?"

Celestia replied, "Little sister, do not worry. We will still have a royal guard, it will just be a matter of them having more training in battle tactics. Personally I think that under her control, they will be far more ready for attacks than they were when Chrysalis and her changelings attacked and captured us."

Luna sighed, "Alright, thou knows what would be best."

It was almost noon in Canterlot as the time had come. Starlight and her troops were lined up at the exit of the base, Celestia and Luna stood at the edge of the balcony while Starlight's friends, Spike and two special guests waited further back.

The clock tower began to sound as noon had arrived. Once it stopped Celestia stood tall and began, "Citizens of Canterlot, I want to thank you for attending this very special event, for it marks not just the crowning of a new princess, but a new era in how Equestria will handle it's enemies. Also, a new era of tougher and stronger guard ponies has arrived."

At the base Starlight could see a bright light shining from the castle balcony. She looked back and said, "Alright troops, that is the signal. Let's march!"

Starlight began to march her troops towards the castle courtyard as Celestia continued, "The royal guard, now known as the military, will be more ready to handle invading forces. I present to you, for the very first time, The Warrior Princess, Princess Starlight Glimmer!"

Rather than cheering loudly like they did with Twilight's coronation, they watched in silence as Starlight led her troops into the courtyard. Once they arrived she ordered, "Halt!"

She gave them a salute and flew up to the balcony. As she arrived the crowd waited in anticipation to see what their new princess had to say. She stood there nervously as Celestia nudged her and said, "Say something princess."

Starlight headed to the edge of the balcony, spread her wings wide and began, "Citizens of Canterlot, ponies of Equestria, I want to thank you for coming to see my coronation." She gulped and continued, "I'm going to admit that I'm not real good with public speaking but here I go. When I was a filly, I will admit, I was naive and knew little about the world outside of my hometown. While I did have some good things happen when I was a filly, I also had bad things happen which led to me being a very unpleasant pony, even one that could be considered a foe of all of Equestria."

When the crowd heard this a couple of ponies booed. While this made Starlight more nervous she knew she couldn't lose her composure, she continued, "It was after I had a nasty battle involving time travel and Princess Twilight that I realized that trying to alter Equestria's future from the past was not the way to do things. Under Princess Twilight's guidance I made plenty of new friends," She turned around and signaled for her friends to step to the front of the balcony. She put her wings around them and continued, "And it was with Twilight's guidance that I became friends with these six, the first ponies that truly cared about me since I was a filly." She hugged them tightly and continued, "Thank you my friends, thank you for caring...." She then looked at Spike and finished, "And Spike, thank you for being my assistant and dear friend. I don't know what I would have done without you. Thank you friends, thank you all!"

The crowd began to cheer loudly as Starlight threw them all a salute before heading in. Her friends surrounded her once they got back inside. Applejack said, "Way to go princess!" Pinkie added, "Best coronation day ever!" Fluttershy continued, "We all love you Starlight!"

Starlight replied, "I love you too ladies."

Celestia nudged Starlight, "Princess, I think there are a couple of other ponies who wish to speak with you."

Starlight followed Celestia to these other ponies. When she saw them she gasped, "Mom? Dad?"

*Starlight's parents, Primrose and Stone Cutter rushed to their daughter and began to cry tears of joy. Primrose cried, "Starlight sweetie, we're so proud of you!"

Stone Cutter added, "Congratulations Starlight, you truly deserve this."

Starlight broke down crying and pulled them close, "Mom, dad, I'm so happy to see you!" She calmed down a bit and asked, "How did you know to come?"

Primrose replied, "A few days ago we had a couple guard ponies come and tell us about everything that happened and brought us here."

Stone Cutter added, "And when we heard that you killed Chrysalis with your bare hooves, we were shocked."

Primrose took a close look at her daughter and realized she had changed, "Starlight honey, you have grown so much, and my goodness you have become an Alicorn!"

Stone Cutter continued, "And that armor looks amazing on you! You have your cutie mark on your helmet and is that a bloodstone in your breast plate?"

Starlight replied, "Yes, it is a bloodstone. Celestia thinks it will give me good luck when leading my troops either into battle or leading them against any attack we may have."

Primrose said, "And when other villains hear about how you took care of Chrysalis, they'll know better than to mess with you and your army!"

Starlight blushed, "I certainly hope so."

Celestia interrupted, "I know you are all happy to see one another again but it is time for the post coronation lunch."

Starlight asked, "Can I bring my parents and my friends to it? It would mean so much more if I can have those I hold so dear to me present."

Celestia replied, "Of course you can! It is tradition for a new princess to have her family and friends present for this."

Starlight smiled at her parents and friends and headed towards the dining hall, "Mom, dad, friends, follow me to the throne room for our meal. I'm sure you're going to love it!"

Everypony headed into the dining hall where they feasted on the largest meal that Starlight and her parents had ever eaten. While Starlight was definitely happy that she had wiped out Chrysalis and became The Warrior Princess, what made her the most happy was that she was able to be reunited with her parents after so many years. She vowed to herself, "From this point on, I will stay in much better contact with my parents and protect Equestria at all costs, to keep them and everypony else safe."

Author's Note

* Starlight's parents are brought up and do play a role in the alternate ending of "An Unlikely Love: The Tale of Two Friendship Students."

Prelude

Not too long after Starlight was taken in as a friendship student by Twilight, she was ordered to go out and make a friend on her own. She did what Twilight asked of her but this friend turned out to be an old foe of hers, Trixie Lulamoon. At first Twilight tried to stop this friendship but eventually realized that she should give Starlight the same leverage in making her own friends as Celestia did her.

Twilight not only accepted Starlight's friendship with Trixie, she even took Trixie in as a friendship student when Starlight asked her to. It would not take long for Starlight and Trixie to become much more than friends. This was something Twilight did not like and when they became inseparable and intimate, Twilight knew she had to do something to end their relationship so one night she joined Starlight and Trixie in an intimate encounter but that would cause an unexpected result, Trixie fell for Twilight.

It would not be long after Trixie fell in love with Twilight that she lost interest in Starlight and Starlight lost interest in Trixie. With this being the case, Trixie and Twilight decided Starlight must go, so Twilight asked Celestia to invite Starlight up to Canterlot for a few days and sent Spike with her. During their absence, Trixie took full control of Twilight, cast a fertility spell on her and got her pregnant. During Starlight's time in Canterlot, she accepted a position as Celestia's protege and would be relocating to Canterlot permanently.

When they returned to Ponyville so Starlight could get her possessions, Twilight and Trixie decided that Spike must go with Starlight for good and was able to get Celestia to allow that. Now Trixie has complete and absolute control over Twilight while Starlight is beginning her new life as Celestia's protege. While Twilight is falling deeper and deeper into the abyss of Trixie's control, Starlight sees nothing but a bright future, a future in which she could one day become much more than Celestia's protege.