Shoreline and her daughters finally arrived at the ruined castle, followed closely by Chrysalis, Scott and Trixie. The latter trio had managed to prevent the witches from teleporting all the way there. They had succeeded in slowing them down. But they were in the castle now, and there was still no sign of Starlight or Sunburst.

“See? You were only delaying the inevitable,” Shoreline said, faking a pathetic look. “Now look at this cute little army of yours! What are you going to do?”

As if on cue, the remaining half of the castle’s gate broke, and two unicorns tumbled inside.

“Our ‘cute little army’ has just become bigger!” Trixie beamed. And cuter.

With his eyes spinning, Sunburst stood up and rubbed his head, . “I warned you from using Accelero!”

“Did you have a better idea?” Starlight replied, dusting her coat. Brick and Harvest then jumped out of her mane, followed by Lavender jumping from under Sunburst’s cape.

“This is the last time I take the Starlight Express!” Harvest said, heaving on the ground.

“Ugh, what’s that ugly bug?” Brick asked in disgust, pointing at Chrysalis.

“Excuse me?” Chrysalis raised her eyebrow. “Aren’t you a bug, too? At least I’m not microscopic!”

“At least I don’t look like a net!”

Chrysalis sighed, muttering to herself, “This day is quickly climbing up the list of the worst days in my life.”

“Well, well, well! If it isn’t Miss Glimmer herself!” Shoreline said in a sarcastic tone. “I thought the Cocoon would ‘blow you away’.”

“Ugh!” Chrysalis groaned loudly. “Shoreline, look, please, do whatever horrible things you want to do with us, but PLEASE stop making these terrible jokes! It takes away so much of your intimidation factor. Do you know nothing about being a villain?!”

“I know something about being a villain: Stop what you’re doing and redeem yourself while you can!” Trixie scolded as she scowled at Chrysalis.

“In your dreams!” Chrysalis snapped.

“This is it, Shoreline,” Starlight said, glaring fiercely at the sand-colored unicorn. “You will pay for everything you’ve done, to me and to Jinjabannera.”

“What do you know, she even speaks like her mother!” Shoreline laughed, mocking the purple unicorn.

Starlight gritted her teeth, tempted to take all her pain and wrath out on the witch who had cost her everything. “You find this funny?! Do you have any idea what your actions caused?!”

“Not really, and I couldn’t care less,” Shoreline replied, polishing the necklace on her neck. “No one here cares, actually; a few memory spells here and there was enough to make Jinjabannerans forget about Centaria and accept me as their ruler.” She laughed. “You just don’t understand what I’m trying to do, do you?”

“Here comes the monologue!” Chrysalis sighed, face hoofing.

“Look who’s talking!” Trixie shot, but Chrysalis ignored her.

“Can’t you see?” Shoreline continued. “Jinjabannera is full with powerful magic. And what do the Jinjabannerans do with it? Stupid things, such as fluttering by!” She pointed at the three Flutterbreezes.

“Hey, I do many other things than fluttering by!” Brick snapped.

“Ha, you’re just jealous you can’t flutter as majestically as we do,” Lavender added, raising her nose in the air.

“And the rest of the population don’t benefit from the magic.” Shoreline paced. “But unicorns do! With this weapon I created—”

“We created,” Chrysalis interrupted calmly, scratching her temple. “And you still haven’t paid me.”

Shoreline gave a short sigh. “With this weapon, not only will I be able to harness the magic of Jinjabannera, but I’ll also be able to keep the magical boost outside of this place! I was so frustrated when I discovered that the magic enhancement was limited to Jinjabannera. I mean, can you imagine?! I finally found a place that appreciates unicorns and then it forces us to stay in it?! But not anymore. With the necklace, I will lead the unicorns of Equestria to rule the world as the master race they are, and I will be considered a hero!”

“Wait wait wait wait...WHAT?!” Trixie exclaimed in utter disbelief, rubbing her head.

“You are insane!” Sunburst yelled.

“Maybe I am, but at least I’m better than the three pony tribes who founded Equestria, don’t you think?” Shoreline responded. “They fought with each other then crowned two foreign creatures as their rulers because they were too dumb to rule the land themselves! Just think about it: Alicorns don’t belong in Equestria, heck I doubt they’re even ponies, yet we so stupidly accepted them as our rulers! At least when my plan is complete, ponies will rule ponies, instead of aliens leading our lands! My weapon will make us stronger than any alicorn.” She extended her foreleg. “We don’t have to fight, my fellow unicorns. Join me, and then maybe I’ll forget about your mother, Miss Glimmer. Together—”

“SHUT UP ALREADY!” Starlight exclaimed. Unable to contain her temper anymore, she released a powerful blast in Shoreline’s direction.

Shoreline shielded herself with dark magic, the blast only pushing her a few feet back.

“I agree with my secondary enemy. Your monologue was very boring and too insane for my liking,” Chrysalis yawned.

“Starlight, why did you bring the Flutterbreezes with you?” Trixie asked.

“Because they have six limbs—” Starlight answered, lighting her horn. “—and because my spell works on small creatures.” She released the spell on the three Flutterbreezes, and within seconds they grew in size until they were almost as tall as the castle’s wall. Their ears scraped the ceiling, and in loud and enormous glee, they found that even Shoreline was in shock.

“Holy Flutterbreezes!” Trixie awed.

“Yeah, bring it on, you tiny pests!” Brick mocked.

“Make it quick! The spell is temporary and I won’t be able to cast it again,” Starlight instructed, as she, Chrysalis and Scott galloped towards Shoreline, the latter making her way to the door that led to Centaria’s statue.

“Cloudy, Cinnamon, let loose,” Shoreline called with a smirk.

“So...we have to deal with these two?” Trixie asked, nudging Sunburst.

“Nothing to worry about, sweetie!” Brick assured. “Just look how big I am!”

Cinnamon laughed. “You’re big, but are you tough?” She ignited her horn, making rocks and bricks float around. Green vines rose from under the ground, connecting the rocks around her. The mixture of plants and rocks formed a stone giant as big as the Flutterbreezes were now, with Cinnamon being in its chest.

“Uh oh,” Brick said, folding his ears back.

Cinnamon charged at brick in her giant stone suit and swung her fist. Trixie quickly created a shield in front of Brick, blocking the attack, but the sheer force of the punch caused the shield to tremble.

“This is going to be harder than I thought,” Trixie gulped, a drop of sweat running down her forehead.

“Sweet dreams, witch!” Lavender said, attempting to stomp Cloudy with her hind limb.

Cloudy engulfed her body with snow, which turned into a cover of thick, hard ice. Lavender brought her limb down on her again and again, but to know avail. Cloudy giggled, mocking Lavender’s attempts. Annoyed, the purple Flutterbreeze kicked Cloudy, sending her clean through a pillar.

“Not so funny now, huh?” Lavender chuckled.

Cloudy stood up, still maintaining the ice cover around her body. She released an ice blast at Lavender, but a fireball interrupted the attack mid-air. Before she could react, another fire ball hit her, melting away a small part of the armor on her shoulder, but she quickly recovered it.

“Interesting,” Cloudy said, slowly approaching Sunburst. “Let’s see for how long you can maintain your heat in this cold weather.” She conjured three ice spears and launched them at Sunburst.

The crystaller dodged two spears and melted the third with a beam of fire, before quickly shielding himself with magic to counter another beam fired by Cloudy.

As Shoreline galloped towards the door, Harvest stomped a limb in her way.

“Not so quickly!” Harvest said, bringing an upper limb down towards the unicorn.

Shoreline dodged, striking the giant Flutterbreeze in the face with tentacle made of dark magic. Harvest stepped back and rubbed his face in pain, unaware of Shoreline charging her horn.

“Ah!” Shoreline yelled in pain upon something colliding with her side so forcefully it sent her rolling. She stood up, and saw Starlight charging her horn with another attack. This time, the blast was huge, and Shoreline used a shield to redirect it to somewhere behind her. The floor gave in to the blast, revealing the room where the books and Centaria’s statue were kept.

Scott fired a beam, which Shoreline easily countered with a tentacle. She was then thrown off balance and into the ground as Chrysalis collided with her side. The queen resumed her assault by striking Shoreline with a green zap of magic.

“You little…!” Shoreline gritted her teeth, firing a beam of her own.

Scott stepped in the beam’s way and conjured a portal, swallowing the attack. Another portal opened above Shoreline and released her attack on her.

“I’m really liking this trick,” Chrysalis admitted with a nod.

Shoreline stood up and extended a tentacle into the portal above her, and it exited from the portal in front of Scott. The tentacle grabbed Scott by the neck and dragged him throw his own portals, before slamming him on the ground in front of Shoreline. Before she could hurt Scott any further, Harvest slapped her with an upper limb, slamming her on one of the castle’s walls.

“I need to get close enough to that necklace quickly so I can disable the curse,” Chrysalis whispered to herself.

“Chrysalis,” Starlight trotted up to the changeling queen, barely making eye contact. “I know that I’m probably the last pony you wanna talk to, but please hear me up.”

“Speak.” Chrysalis rolled her eyes, before Starlight moved closer and whispered something in her ear.

Cinnamon aimed another punch at Brick, and the latter avoided it barely. Trixie then threw a shield at the giant’s face, but it did little to no damage. Trixie was starting to get tired of it. Brick punched the giant square in the face, only to rub his fist in pain afterwards, barely causing a crack. Cinnamon chuckled, bringing her two fists together and attempting to slam them on the giant Flutterbreeze.

“That’s it!” Trixie exclaimed, creating a giant magic shield around Brick and blocking the attack. She then made the shield explode outwards, sending Cinnamon’s suit tumbling on its back. Trixie channeled more magic, creating an armor around Brick’s body, then creating two big fists around his four upper limbs.

“Now this is what I’m talking about!” Brick cheered, punching his new fists against each other. As Cinnamon attempted to attack him again, he held her fists with two limbs and used the two spare limbs to punch the suit until it fell to its knees, then delivered one more punch to its face.

Cinnamon pushed Brick away and stepped back in an attempt to recover. Trixie took the opportunity to jump on Brick’s shoulder and untied her saddle bag. When Cinnamon charged towards them again, Trixie threw her saddle bag at the suit’s face, followed by a zap of magic. All the fireworks and smoke bombs inside the bag exploded, blinding Cinnamon.

“Now!” Trixie commanded, pointing a hoof forward.

Brick charged forward and punched the giant in the face, then again in the chest, pinning it to the wall. He then used his huge fist’s to crack the suit’s damaged chest open and extract Cinnamon from it.

“Here you are! Why are you so shy, kid?” Brick said sarcastically, using Cinnamon’s tail to hang her on a pillar.

“Hey, put me down!” Cinnamon demanded loudly. “You will pay for this, you insignificant son of—”

Brick silenced Cinnamon by hitting her on the head with a finger, knocking her unconscious.The victorious Flutterbreeze high-fived Trixie, but his fist was so big and strong that he knocked her off his shoulder.

A blast of ice and a blast of fire met in the air and exploded, spreading icicles in front of Sunburst and flames in front of Cloudy. Sunburst was panting, while Cloudy still had much more stamina due to the ice protecting her.

Cloudy caught Lavender pulling her fist back, and fired a beam at it. An ice cube formed around Lavender's hoof, but she didn’t give up, proceeding to slam her fist down on Cloudy. The attack caused several cracks on Cloudy’s ice armor, and she began recovering them. Lavender’s hoof was freed from the ice trap. Even from his viewpoint Sunburst could tell Lavender was in pain.

A huge fire ball threw Cloudy off balance. Sunburst lunged and slammed his burning forelegs down, only to hit the ground instead of Cloudy, creating a small crater and melting the snow nearby. Cloudy then punched Sunburst in the face with her ice-covered hoof, knocking him into the ground. Before Lavender could do anything, Cloudy froze her hind limbs to the ground, preventing her from moving.

“Cloudy, wait!” Shoreline yelled as she rushed to her daughter’s side.

“What’s wrong?” Cloudy raised an eyebrow.

Shoreline placed a hoof on Cloudy’s shoulder, pausing to catch her breath. “This is wrong!” she said before punching Cloudy in the face, creating a big crack in the armor. She continued with a green blast of magic, which broke a part of the armor on her face and sent her rolling on the ground.

“You can thank me later,” Shoreline said as a green glow switched her appearance to Chrysalis’. She was given no time to celebrate, as a black tentacle wrapped around her neck and pulled her towards the real Shoreline.

As soon as Cloudy stood up, she was met with four limbs slamming on her from Lavender, who had freed herself from the ice. Lavender was about to kick Cloudy and send her out of the castle, but she suddenly shrunk back to her normal size.

“No!” Lavender yelled in frustration.

“Not so funny now, huh?” Cloudy said with a wicked grin, charging her horn, pieces of ice falling from her severely damaged armor.

“No, it’s not!” Sunburst said, releasing a stream of fire at Cloudy. The mare shielded herself with her forelegs, but the armor was melting quickly, and the powerful attack was pushing her backward. When the stream stopped, Sunburst used his burning forelegs to strap Cloudy of what was left of her armor.

“No...no…” Cloudy pleaded, crawling back in horror until she met a wall. She squeezed her eyes shut as Sunburst pulled his foreleg back and thrusted it toward her. When she didn’t feel any pain, she opened her eyes, gasping at the sight of the wall near her head. There was a hoof mark where the bricks were melting.

“This is over,” Sunburst said, trotting away.

“So...hot…” Cloudy muttered, before passing out, her now broken glasses falling off.

Harvest grabbed a pillar and attempted to smash Shoreline with it, but the mare released a powerful beam that sliced most of it, leaving only a small portion of the pillar. Harvest then tried to hit Shoreline with what was left of his weapon, but the time for Starlight’s spell was up and he shrunk back to normal.

“Oh, snap!”Harvest cursed under his breath.

“Hey, Shoreline!”

Shoreline turned to the source of the call and found Starlight standing in front of Centaria’s statue.

“What do you think will happen if I destroy this statue?” Starlight threatened, charging her horn.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Shoreline snapped, her wide eyes showing fear.

“Try me.” Starlight faced the statue.

“NO!” Shoreline used the tentacles to lunge at Starlight, tackling her and pinning her to the floor.

Starlight chuckled devilishly, gaining a look of confusion from the witch. A green glow surrounded Starlight before her form shifted to Chrysalis.

“What?!” Shoreline yelled, realizing that she had fallen in a trap.

Chrysalis grabbed Shoreline by the neck and fired a beam at the necklace, before Shoreline grabbed her with a tentacle and slammed her on the ground several meters behind her. Chrysalis was laughing at the success of her trap, but her smile quickly faded when Shoreline charged her horn.

As soon as the blast was released, a purple blur snatched Chrysalis from harm’s way. When the ex-queen opened her eyes, she found herself face to face with none other than Starlight.

“Wait, did you just…” Chrysalis asked. Her face read disbelief. “Why did you save me?”

Starlight sighed. “First, I still need you. Second, I’m better than you!”

“You wish.” Chrysalis pushed her savior away. “I just disabled the curse. You can now use the Cocoon.”

Starlight gave a faint smile, which was quickly replaced with narrowed eyes. “How can I be sure?”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes, before pulling out the cocoon from Starlight’s bag and touching it with her hoof. Starlight covered her face in defense, but nothing happend. “Are you happy now? Go!” Chrysalis yelled.

“Finally,” Shoreline chuckled, approaching Centaria’s statue. Before she could reach the monolith, a magical shield struck her in the head, and this time it was so strong that it made her fall on the ground. “What the hay!” She turned around just in time to block a huge fire ball.

Soon, Shoreline found herself surrounded. Chrysalis, Scott, Trixie, Sunburst and Starlight were all ready, approaching her with charged horns.

“Enough...I’ve had enough of this!” Shoreline bellowed in wrath. Her horn was overcharging with rage filled magic..

Trixie created a shield, but it was of no use as Shoreline grabbed her with a tentacle and launched her at Sunburst like a cannonball, slamming the two of them at a pillar. Scott and Chrysalis attempted to attack, but Shoreline whipped the deer with a tentacle and sent him flying away, before punching Chrysalis out of the room. Shoreline saw Starlight charging at her and fired an aura based missile.

“I’ve waited long enough!” Shoreline levitated the necklace off her neck. “Time to end this!” A thin zap of magic connected the necklace with Centaria, freeing her from the stone state. Centaria’s colors became visible: she had a white body with thin blue embellishments, her eyes emerald-green. The necklace was making her weaker, as she bent forward and lowered her head until it was at Shoreline’s height.

“Shoreline...stop,” Centaria pleaded. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Yes, I do!” Shoreline said as the beam faded, the necklace now glowing crimson. She turned around and trotted out of the room, showing off the glowing necklace. “The true power of Jinjabannera, is now mine!”

As soon as Shoreline placed the necklace on her neck, a powerful shock wave emitted from her, an invisible force causing her to float. Dark fog surrounded her, leaving only the crimson glow of her eyes visible. When the fog subsided, the resulting scene left everyone gasping in horror.

Gone was the sand-colored unicorn. Instead there was a tall equine, even taller than Celestia, her body made of dark vines similar the tentacles Shoreline had been used, only these ones looked more sickening, their brown color so dark it was almost black. Her horn was now much taller, her eyes were simply black orbs with two red dots in the center, no sign of any emotion, and her mane and tail were replaced by flowing tentacles. The air felt heavy and everything seemed to become colorless, as if the color was being absorbed from the surrounding.

“Blech!” Trixie said with a disgusted face, shivers running down her spine. “If we survive this, I will suffer weeks of sleepless nights”

“Don’t worry.” Chrysalis patted the blue unicorn on her shoulder. “We won’t survive this.”

Trixie gulped. “You’re not helping!”

Shoreline let out a loud, demonic laugh. “Behold the true power that Centaria had kept away from us!” she spoke with a distorted, low-pitched voice, resembling little to nothing of her original tone.

“Uh...mom? Are you okay?” Cloudy asked, slowly approaching Shoreline along with her sister.

“Aren’t you going to share the magic with us?” Cinnamon added.

“Oh yes…” Shoreline used the vines in her body to grow claws on her hooves, allowing her to easily balance on her hind legs. “Enjoy this!” She formed a ball of magic in her upper claw and launched it at her daughters, blasting them out of the castle.

“You have lost your mind!” Scott shouted.

“Say whatever you want, I have the upper hoof now! ” Shoreline formed another orb of magic in her claw, releasing a massive, continuous beam towards the buildings of Jinjabannera, cutting one of them in half. The citizens began running around in terror.

“STOP!” Starlight exclaimed, using Acelero to swoop at Shoreline and hit her in the chest, pushing her several feet back.

“How pathetic!” Shoreline said before once again attacking Starlight. With another magical blast, her body fell into the rough stonework.

“Starlight!” Sunburst gasped, rushing to his friend’s side.

“Is this all you’ve got?” Shoreline made a quick slashing motion with her upper claw, generating a powerful shockwave that knocked everyone into the ground.

Shoreline received a big blast to the face, again from Starlight. “Still haven’t given up?” she said as the purple unicorn charged at her. Right before Starlight released the beam, Shoreline hit her on the face with a vine, making her roll on the ground backward and release the beam to a whole new direction. “Oh, look what you’ve done! You almost destroyed your mother!”

Starlight opened her eyes wide, not believing what she had heard. She quickly stood up and found Shoreline gesturing to her right. She followed the gesture with her eyes. Her beam had broke the wall of one of the castle’s chamber, revealing the statue of a unicorn mare. The mare was rearing, a fierce glare on her face. Starlight gasped in shock, unable to move.

“Would you just look at her?!” Shoreline faked a sympathetic tone, which quickly shifted back to a poisonous, cruel one. “So arrogant, so sure of herself, so confident that she could defeat me...just like you, Miss Gimmer!” She started playing with an orb of magic in her claw, which made Starlight’s heart race. “Back then her behaviour got on my nerves, but now when I look back at it, it CRACKS me up!” Before anyone could react, she released the orb as a magic blast, shattering the statue.

“NOOO!” Starlight screamed at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her cheeks as she watched her mother turning into small pieces. Shoreline was laughing, but it was barely audible to her. All she could hear was the sound of the statue’s pieces hitting the ground. For a moment, her body went numb, and she couldn’t hear anything, her mind trying to register what had just happened. When it finally did, her breathing’s speed began to pick up, rage burning her from the inside. Now that all the statue’s pieces had hit the ground, the only thing she could hear was Shoreline’s laughter.

“Starlight...no…” Sunburst muttered, having no idea how to react.

Starlight’s horn glowed blindingly, her mane and tail flapping in a wind that blew only around her. She levitated herself with her magic, small particles on the ground around her floating under the effect of the sheer magical power in the air.

Shoreline kept laughing.

“SHUT UP!” Starlight screamed, releasing a massive beam of energy at Shoreline. The beam was so big that it enveloped her completely, before creating an earth-shaking explosion, destroying several pillars inside the castle.

When the dust cleared, Shoreline was standing in the middle of a deep crater that had a trench linking between it and Starlight. She released a beam as Starlight flew towards her, but the wrathful purple unicorn teleported to her side, striking her with a huge blast that sent her digging another trench into the ground.

Starlight didn’t give Shoreline any break, as she flew to her, grabbed her and threw her away with all her might, launching her through the castle’s wall. As Shoreline continued to fly under the effect of the throw’s great momentum, Starlight teleported above her and blasted her into the ground, creating a huge crater. Starlight then flew down towards her enemy at full speed, pulling her hoof back for a punch. The attack produced a powerful shockwave, deepening and widening the crater.

Standing on top of Shoreline, Starlight prepared to punch her again, but Shoreline quickly grabbed her by the neck.

“You’re such a pain in the flank, Miss Glimmer,” Shoreline hissed, standing up with a squirming Starlight in her grasp. “Just like your mother!” The monster extended the vines holding Starlight, then used them to slam her on the ground several times, before blasting her inside the castle with a beam of magic.

The attack sent Starlight through the castle’s wall and a pillar, before the momentum was lost and allowed her to fall on the ground. She barely managed to stand up, hooves shaking, her breathing still fast and her cheeks still wet with tears that were now mixed with dirt. Her body was sore, and her outburst had exhausted her, but it didn’t hurt more than the burning rage inside. She couldn’t see the others where she had left them, which confused her. She touched her saddle bag, but there was no sign of the cocoon.

What the hay?! She thought, looking for the cocoon. She finally found it resting beside a rock. Before she could move, Shoreline entered the castle through the hole in the wall, floating with her dark magic. Starlight gritted her jaws at the sight of the monstrous equine.

Letting anger control you will do more damage to you than it will to Shoreline, Starlight remembered Centaria’s words, squeezing her eyes shut. “But…” she muttered. She used all her might to take a deep breath and exhale slowly, allowing her body to stop shaking. Trust your friends. Starlight opened her eyes just in time to see Sunburst, Scott and Trixie sneaking behind Shoreline, but there was no sign of Chrysalis.

“NOW you’ve given up?” Shoreline said, standing beside the cocoon. “Oh well, it was kind of fun while it lasted.” Starlight chuckled, her eyes hidden in the shade of her mane, drawing a look of confusion on Shoreline’s face. “What’s so funny?”

“You will lose, Shoreline,” Starlight said, her eyes still hidden.

“And why are you so sure?”

Starlight finally looked up, frowning confidently. “Because you are alone!”

Shoreline wanted to speak, but a portal opened in front of her face. From the portal she could see ...the top of a pillar.

Scott was standing on one of the castle's walls, a portal in his forelegs and a pillar in front of him, the top of the broken pillar reaching only half the way through the wall’s height. He jumped, and as gravity pulled him down quickly, he passed the portal on the pillar's entire length at high speed.

Shoreline gave a cry of pain as the pillar thrusted through the portal in front of her and straight into her face like a fist of stone, flinging her several meters back. As soon as she stood up, Sunburst released a thick stream of fire at her, to which she raised her forelegs to try and shield her eyes.

From behind, Trixie conjured a big circular shield with a sharp edge, then threw it with all the might she could muster at Shoreline's left hind leg, forcing her to her knee.

Finally, a rock beside Shoreline transformed into Chrysalis, using her shapeshifting magic to turn her foreleg into a sword, then slashed at Shoreline's right hind leg, forcing her completely to her knees.

"Now!" Sunburst called.

Not wasting any time, Starlight managed to use Accelero to charge at Shoreline, using what was left of her strength to blast her into the other side of the castle.

"Oh yeah!" Trixie cheered, throwing a hoof in the air.

"Centaria wants to speak with you," Scott said, trotting up to Starlight. The way he trotted made it clear that the fall had strained his hind hooves. "Go. We will keep Shoreline busy."

“Shoreline is getting stronger as time goes, so hurry up!” Chrysalis added.

Starlight nodded, scooping the Cocoon of Liberation in her foreleg and galloping toward Centaria. When she reached her, Shoreline had recovered and was preparing to fight her friends. The elder Centipede was curled into a circle, but she raised the upper quarter of her body upon seeing Starlight.

“Shoreline used the weapon,” Starlight spoke, staring sadly at the relic in her hooves. “Is there still any use of the Cocoon?”

“Yes. Come closer,” Centaria replied. She conjured a spell between her mandibles in the form of a blue sphere of light, then released it at the cocoon. In seconds, the relic glowed blue.

“Now what?” Starlight asked, staring in awe at the cocoon.

“Now there’s only one spell you have to cast on it,” Centaria answered, using her magic to wipe some dust off her forehead. “The spell your mentor had completed before ascending.”

“What?!” Starlight’s eyes grew wide, taking a step back. “No, that spell is very hard! There’s no way I can cast it! And who knows what effects it may have on me?!”

“Just do it, Starlight! It’s our only hope now.”

“O...okay,” Starlight gulped. Lighting her horn, she began to recite the spell, stuttering, “F-From all of us together, together we are friends, with the marks of our d-destinies made one, there is magic w-without end!” Her horn glowed bright pink for a second before returning to normal. “See? I failed!”

“Try again!” Centaria said. “Cast this spell with your heart, not just your horn.”

Starlight took a deep breath, fixing her position. She recited the spell louder than the first time, her horn glowing bright, “From all of us together, together we are friends, with the marks of our destinies made one, there is magic without end!”

Shoreline grabbed Chrysalis by the neck and slammed her on the ground, pinning her down, the great pressure causing the ground underneath her to crack.

“So much for a queen,” Shoreline the vines on Shoreline’s spare foreleg took the shape of a spear.

“Stop right there!”

Shoreline turned her face to the call. Starlight was trotting towards her with steady steps, a pink-glowing cocoon in her magic grasp. Her whole body was glowing pink, and her Cutie Mark was pulsating with magic. The small army began to pulsate with similar magic.

Shoreline frowned, throwing Chrysalis at the wall. “What do you want now?! I’m sick of you! You can’t defeat me and you know it, so stop trying!”

“No matter how strong you are, I still have something you don’t have,” Starlight said, grabbing the cocoon with a foreleg and raising it high. “I have friends!”

The pink glow began to flow from Starlight’s body to the cocoon, then three red beams shot from Sunburst, Trixie and Scott towards the magical relic in Starlight’s hoof. Once the beams faded, the Cocoon glowed blindingly.

Suddenly, a hoof landed on Starlight’s hoof that had the Cocoon, a hoof of the same color. Starlight’s heart skipped a beat as she lowered her face to see who was holding her hoof, and it was exactly who she had suspected.

“You thought you could run away from me just like that?” Starlight’s clone said, grinning wickedly.

Everything around Starlight slowed down until it stopped. Time stopped moving. The only things moving were her and her evil copy. Her hoof began to ache.

“You thought you could forget about me?” The copy tightened her grip on Starlight’s hoof, forcing her to kneel and close her eyes in pain. “You can never erase me, Starlight! I will always be there! You spent your whole life hurting others. It’s true that Shoreline had a hoof in what you’ve done, but in the end, it was all your deeds and choices. You can’t change that! YOU CAN’T UNDO THE PAST!”

Starlight opened her eyes, grabbing the clone’s hoof with her spare foreleg, slowly standing back up. “You are right, I can’t undo the past,” she said, breaking the clone’s grip on her hoof. “But as a friend once told me, the past is not today! You belong in the past, and in the past you shall stay!” She punched the clone with the Cocoon, causing her to vanish into thin air and causing time to move again. With that, Starlight quickly slammed the Cocoon on her chest.

Starlight was engulfed in a sphere of light and levitated off the ground. All the colors of the rainbow spun around the sphere, then two butterfly wings sprouted from it. Finally, the sphere shattered, revealing a scene that had everyone in awe.

Starlight was now tall and slender like an alicorn, and her mane and tail were much longer and had small white sparkles sprinkled on them. Her horn was short, with two, long antennae on her head that folded back in a spiral way. Her muzzle was short but pointed, she had a thick collar of purple fluff around her neck, and her translucent butterfly wings were iridescent.

Harvest’s eyes almost poked out of his face, sighing dreamily before passing out.

“So what, you’ve become pretty?” Shoreline chuckled. “You have to do better than that!”

“This ends now!” Starlight said, her voice slightly deeper than before. She lunged forwards, preparing her foreleg for a punch, and so did Shoreline.

The two mighty punches met, causing shockwave that obliterated from the ground around them and almost sent everyone off balance. Shoreline swung her foreleg again, but Starlight ducked, slamming both of her forelegs on Shoreline’s side. The attack was unexpectedly strong, as it sent Shoreline out of the castle and digging a long trench in the soil.

Starlight flew out of the castle and glided towards Shoreline, firing a mighty blast of magic, which Shoreline countered with a blast of her own. The resulting explosion was closer to Shoreline, which stunned her temporarily. Starlight took advantage and fired another blast, creating another trench in the ground.

Shoreline jumped out of the resulting cloud of dust, using vines to grab Starlight and slam her on the ground. She followed the attack by shooting a beam, which Starlight dodged barely, leaving it to destroy more earth.

The two magically enhanced beings continued to clash, throwing blasts and beams around in every direction and causing more destruction.

“If this fight goes on for too long, they will destroy everything!” Trixie exclaimed.

“It might be already too late,” Chrysalis said, trotting with one foreleg on her waist to cover an injury. She had taken the most pounding from Shoreline.

“No, I’m sure Starlight will find a way to stop this,” Scott responded, turning to Sunburst. “Right?”

“I hope so,” the crystaller replied, letting out a sigh. “I trust her. Come on!” With that, he started out of the castle.

“Yeah, sure, let’s follow the two overpowered beings who are fighting with magic strong enough to level Equestria! What could possibly go wrong?!” Trixie commented, before following Sunburst, along with Chrysalis and the Flutterbreezes.

“Will you be okay alone?” Scott asked Centaria.

“Don’t worry about me,” the centipede answered calmly, closing her eyes, before Scott left after the others.

“Shoreline—” Starlight said, blocking a punch then punching her opponent in the chest to push her away. “Just...stop!” Another blast was dodged. “It doesn’t have to end like this!”

“Yes it does!” Shoreline snapped, charging at Starlight. The latter side stepped, knocking Shoreline into the ground with a blast. The demonic unicorn stood up again. “I will rule the world and lead it into a golden age for unicorns, and you will not stop me!”

Starlight dashed at Shoreline and delivered a mighty punch to her face, slamming her at the ground. She then grabbed both Shoreline’s forelegs in one hoof and pulled them behind her back, using the other hoof to push against Shoreline’s head to keep her from moving.

“Look at this...just look!” Starlight forced Shoreline to stare at their surroundings. Craters, ashes and wreckage everywhere, and everything was colorless. Shoreline fell silent for a moment. “You’re not going to rule Equestria in a golden age, you’re going to rule a barren wasteland! You are only thinking about yourself, about your own power. Power that has corrupted you, and it will make you hurt everypony around you, even the ponies you love!”

“I DON’T LOVE ANYPONY!” Shoreline barked, trying to turn her head back at Starlight.

“Are you sure?” Starlight forced the demonic pony to turn her head to the castle

Beside the huge, ruined structure, were Shoreline’s daughters. They were covered in wounds, and Cinnamon was helping her sister to stand up with shakey hooves. Upon seeing that scene, Shoreline’s glaring face softened, and for a split second her eyes flashed green.

“You only cared about gaining more power that you neglected your own daughters and their future,” Starlight continued. She could feel Shoreline’s muscles slightly relaxing. “ You said you would be considered a hero. Tell me, Shoreline, do you feel like a hero now?”

Shoreline roared, suddenly jerking her body until she freed herself from Starlight’s grasp, pushing her away. She placed her front hooves on her head and growled. “Starlight...stop me!” she pleaded, taking shaky steps back. “You have to destroy me, Starlight!”

“Mom, no!” Cinnamon screamed, tears welling in her eyes, while her sister was outright crying.

“Please, snap out of this, mom!” Cloudy pleaded.

“I...can’t! Destroy me, Starlight, before I hurt my daughters again!”

“Resist, Shoreline! Don’t let this be your future, fight it with all you’ve got!” Starlight added.

Shoreline extended the vines in her forelegs and wrapped them tightly around Starlight’s neck, then raised her in the air. A pink glow began to flow through the vines and toward Shoreline.

“Starlight!” Sunburst and Trixie exclaimed in fear.

“You should have taken the chance to destroy me,” Shoreline hissed, her demonic eyes glowing. “You are using a part of Jinjabannera’s magic. Give it to me! GIVE ME WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY MINE!”

“Y-You want my magic?!” Starlight choked out, spreading her wings and charging her horn. “TAKE IT!” A massive stream of energy was unleashed, destroying the vines around her neck as it rushed toward its target.

Shoreline raised her hooves in front of her face, creating a magic shield around herself. The beam was extremely powerful, pushing her several meters back and obliterating the ground around and behind her, but she was still standing.

“Aghhhh, you...can’t stop me!” Shoreline growled, pushing against the attack.

“She’s still moving!” Trixie yelled.

“Not for too long,” Sunburst said. He stepped closer to Starlight, then released a magic beam of his own at Shoreline.

Quickly, Scott and Trixie joined in. Starlight’s beam seemed to get more powerful as her friends joined, and Shoreline’s shield began to crack.

Suddenly, Shoreline’s right eye turned from red to green, and her right foreleg began to retract slowly. “No...stop...no!” Her foreleg was finally retracted, causing the shield around her to tremble even more. Still, she kept pushing.

“We need more help!” Scott shouted.

“Chrysalis!” Trixie called. “Why don’t you join us?!”

Chrysalis took a clumsy step forward, almost stumbling. She charged her horn, only for the magic to fizzle out quickly. “I...I can’t,” she sighed. “I’m... too exhausted.”

Sunburst thought for a moment, his eyes widening in realization. “There is a way for you to help us! You have to share—”

“NO!” Chrysalis snapped back, glaring. “Don’t even think about it!”

“Ugh, we don’t have time for this argument!” Trixie exclaimed, sweating as she tried to channel more magic.

“Do you want Shoreline to throw you in the basement again?!” Sunburst said.

Basement, Basement, Basement...

Upon hearing Sunburst’s words, Chrysalis’ eyes grew wide. She felt a sudden strength inside her, as she hovered near Starlight with a death glare aimed at Shoreline. “SHORELINE WITCH!” she called, folding her forelegs against her chest just as it began to glow pink. “TRY TO ABSORB THIS!” She released an echoing shout, and her pink light engulfed her nemesis.

Chrysalis’s attack was all Shoreline’s shield needed to collapse completely.

Shoreline screamed, as Starlight and her friends’ attacks hit her, producing a mighty, colorful explosion. As the explosion occurred, a warm wind washed over the land, restoring the lost colors.

“No…,” Cloudy muttered with tears in her eyes, dropping into her knees.

“Don’t worry,” Starlight reassured, landing beside the crying unicorn.

The cloud of dust left by the explosion cleared, revealing a great, deep crater, in which Shoreline, in her normal form, was trying to stand up, injuries coating her body. Her necklace was lying in front of her, shattered into small pieces.

“Mom!” Cloudy perked up, rushing to her mother’s side, followed closely by Cinnamon. The two sisters helped their mother to her hooves.

The three unicorns looked up at the edge of the crater where Starlight was standing. Tears were running down Shoreline’s cheeks, but she didn’t say anything. The trio then ignited their horns, preparing to teleport. At the last moment, Cloudy’s lips muttered a “Thank you”, then they vanished in a flash of light.

“C-Chrysalis?” Trixie uttered, approaching Chrysalis slowly. The changeling’s back was facing her, but the sight had her in awe. It was so regal, so majestic. She couldn’t believe she was actually admiring Chrysalis’ appearance. “Did you…”

“What?!” Chrysalis turned around, removing Trixie’s smile.

Trixie didn’t know if her eyes were tricking her, as Chrysalis was still in her original form, even though she could swear she had seen something entirely different a few seconds ago. “N...nothing,” she stuttered.

“I figured so!” Chrysalis said, turning her face away.

“Chrysalis, I want to—”

“Don’t,” Chrysalis interrupted Starlight’s statement, already knowing what she wanted to say. “Don’t thank me.” She paused. “But...I thank you...for saving my life.”

Starlight perked up.

“But now because of your stupidity, Shoreline escaped and I have to find her to take my revenge from her! Oh, and you will regret saving me when I take my revenge from you!” Chrysalis continued, engulfing herself in green flame, before vanishing.

Starlight sighed, heading back to the castle with her friends. Once inside, Starlight flew to the remnants of her mother’s statue. She stared at them for a moment, before squeezing her eyes shut, letting out a long breath that spoke of pain.

Centaria moved closer to Starlight, fully recovered and in her full strength now that Shoreline’s weapon was destroyed. She conjured a spell, and the remnants of Aurora’s statue floated and began to join together. Starlight couldn’t believe her eyes. In less than a minute, the statue was completely reassembled. Centaria gave her a nod, saying “Use the magic of the Cocoon.”

Starlight lit her horn and casted a beam of magic at her mother, freeing her from the curse.

Aurora Glimmer dropped on her front hooves, still glaring. “What...what did you do, Shoreline?! You will pay for—Agh! My back!” She rubbed her back in pain, before twisting it, gaining a loud ‘POP’ sound. “What the hay happened to me?! I feel like I was broken to pieces!” She widened her eyes upon seeing the group of two unicorns, a deer, a giant centipede and a purple-mutant-butterfly-pony. “Whoa! Who are you?! Not you, Centaria, I know who you are but...wait, Centaria? You’re not a statue anymore?! What the hay is happening?! And you, deer, you look like...Scott?” She took a step back as realization hit her like a wall of bricks. “Oh no...it must have been a long time ago.”

“It was indeed a long time,” Centaria said.

“Okay okay,” Aurora shook her head. “I understand how Scott became older, but could you please explain this creature to me?!” She gestured at Starlight. “No offense. You look pretty...but really weird at the same time.” She smiled sheepishly.

A purple light washed over Starlight, turning her back to her normal form, the light then accumulated in a small sphere that floated beside her. She took a step forward, her lower lip quivering. “M...Mom? I-It’s me.”

Aurora squinted her eyes at the purple unicorn for a moment, before gasping. “Starlight? It’s you?!”

Starlight nodded, unable to stop a tear from escaping her eye. “I grew up...got stronger...m-made friends...” Her voice trailed away in emotion.

“Oh my gosh!” Aurora brought a hoof to her mouth, giving a wide, teary smile, before rushing to her daughter and taking her in a tight embrace. Starlight immediately broke into a river of tears that quickly soaked her cheeks and her mother’s mane. “It’s okay, Starlight. I’ll never leave you again.”

As Centaria, Sunburst, Trixie, Scott and the Flutterbreezes shed tears of joy at the scene, Sunburst used Trixie’s cape to blow his nose.

“Use...your own cape!” Trixie scolded.

"Boy do we have a lot to catch up on!" Starlight chuckled, wiping tears off her cheek as she broke the hug.

"Sure we do!" Aurora beamed, giggling. She took a moment to let her misty vision fully take in the sight of her daughter, the daughter she had left a baby what felt like less than a day ago, but was actually long, long years. "You have no idea how it feels to see you a full-grown mare...even if it's a little weird that my own daughter is now almost as old as me." She laughed, placing a hoof around her daughter's shoulders.

"Yeeeaah, I don’t think anypony will believe that you’re my mother," Starlight chuckled, the remaining tears in her eyes glistening in the faint moonlight.

"And look at you, Scotty!" Aurora trotted up to Scott Free, giving him a friendly punch at the shoulder. "You're a big, handsome deer now!" She winked, making the magical deer’s cheeks flush.

"It's such a joy to have you back, Aurora." Centaria laughed.

“Oh man, this so calls for a celebration!” Brick suggested, throwing a fist in the air.

“Yes, but we have to check the citizens of Jinjabannera,” Starlight responded. “We have to make sure that Shoreline’s attack didn’t hurt anypony.”

The sphere of light floating beside Starlight split in four, one went to Starlight herself, one to Sunburst, one to Trixie and one to Scott. The magical spheres formed amulets around their necks, each amulet containing a symbol of its owner’s Cutie Mark inside a gem, except for Scott, whose amulet contained a symbol of two antlers with whisp of magic between them. Starlight’s amulet was deep blue, Trixie’s was silver, Sunburst’s was dark orange, and Scott’s was green. Starlight’s amulet created a black cloak for her with three blue diamonds on its back, while Scott’s created a yellow one with green plant embellishments. Everyone simply stared in awe.

“Hmm, fancy,” Lavender commented, admiring the new costumes.

-oOo-

By the time they were done helping the citizens, the sun had begun to rise, the bright bands of sunlight reflecting off the snow and illuminating the damage done by the battle. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries, and the damage was limited to structures, including the restaurant Shoreline had cut in half, a few craters here and there, and a whole in the wall of the mansion where Shoreline had resided.

When the citizens had seen Centaria and Aurora, they had quickly begun to retrieve their memories of them. Some of them had hesitated due to their memories being tucked away for so long. Others rushed to greet the long-lost queen and their saviors: Starlight, Sunburst, Trixie and Scott.

“Oh my, that was quite an adventure you went through!” Aurora said, after Starlight had explained to her how she had found Jinjabannera and defeated Shoreline.

“Oh, wait until you hear about the other adventures I went through,” Starlight giggled, but her smile faded when she remembered things she had to tell her mother, too. “And...other things that I’m...not so proud of.”

“STARLIGHT!”

Starlight turned her face to the voice she could never mistaken. She saw Twilight and her friends running towards her. The element bearers and Spike skidded to a halt in front of the, panting.

“I saw the letter and the map you had left for me in the castle and I have a very important question: What the hay is going on?!” Twilight exclaimed, waving a hoof at her surrounding.

“On our way here, we began to glow pink and our Cutie Marks pulsated! And I was like ‘Awe!’ and Rarity was like ‘Oh, this looks so divine!’” Pinkie yelled, rubbing her frizzy mane. She gained a frown from Rarity for her sarcastic mimicking of her voice. “And then we faced a herd of giant wolves! I know Rainbow Dash enjoyed it for the most part, but they were so creepy!”

“What is this place?” Twilight asked.

“Uh...my kingdom?” Starlight answered with a sheepish grin.

“Wait a moment, does this mean YOU’RE A PRINCESS NOW?!” Pinkie gasped.

“No, no, no! What I meant is that this is my home,” Starlight placed a hoof on her mother’s shoulder, smiling proudly. “Mom, this is my mentor: Princess Twilight Sparkle of Friendship! Twilight, this is my mother: Aurora Glimmer!”

“Oh, such a pleasure to meet you, Princess!” Aurora bowed, before shaking Twilight’s hoof eagerly. “And thank you so much for mentoring my daughter!”

“Hold on a second,” Twilight shook her head. “You are Starlight’s mother?!” Aurora nodded with a wide smile. “But...you look as old as her!”

“That’s because she is as old as me,” Starlight giggled.

“How in Equestria is this possible?!” Rarity asked, rubbing her head.

“Magic...dark magic, to be precise.” Starlight laughed nervously. “It’s a really long story.”

Rarity opened her mouth to speak, but instead she sneezed, accidentally releasing a powerful beam of magic. Trixie quickly blocked the beam with a shield.

“Easy there, Rares! This land has seen enough magic beams in the last few hours,” Trixie commented with a giggle.

“Wha...how did that happen?!” Rarity’s eyes grew wide in shock.

“That’s a part of the long story.” Starlight grinned, scratching her neck.

"Oh my goodness! You two are pegasi?!" Scott practically flash-stepped toward Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy with a large, goofy smile, gently unfolding and inspecting one of the latter's wings. "I haven't seen any pegasus in...well, I don't even remember!" He then turned his attention to Applejack and Pinkie. "Earth Ponies?! This is so awesome! And ...wait a second ..." His eyes finally met Twilight, growing so wide that they almost poked out of his face. "AL...ALICORN!" He finally collapsed to the ground, the smile never leaving his face.

"O-okay then," Twilight said, weirded out. "Um, I guess it's nice to meet somepony eager to learn?"

“Oh, that monster looks cool!” Pinkie Pie remarked, pointing at Centaria.

Starlight’s eyes widened. “It...she’s not a monster, she’s the queen of this land!”

“What?” Pinkie rubbed her frizzy mane. “But...queens are evil!”

Twilight face hoofed as everyone tried to stifle their laughs. “No, Pinkie, not all queens are evil!” She corrected calmly

“Equestrian stereotypes…” Centaria muttered with a deadpan. She then turned to Starlight. “I hope you’ve found the answer to your question regarding your destiny, Starlight.”

Starlight faced the queen, a proud smile adorning her face. “Yes, I think I did.” She turned to gaze at the buildings around her, her new cloak flapping in the cold wind. “My destiny is to be a protector of this land and Equestria, a guardian of Harmony!” She looked back at Centaria, who gave her a nod. “With the help of my friends, I will use my magic to make the world a better place. I used to hate being a hero, used to think that I wasn’t capable of handling big responsibilities, because I was always afraid of screwing up. But our destinies aren’t always the thing that we’ve always dreamed of. Sometimes, our destiny is something we usually avoid or hate. But we have to be strong and face it, because...because the world isn’t a story in which we are the main characters, in which we are the center of the universe. Each one of us has a role, a part to take in this life, and once we realize that part and embrace it, we will grow to love it!” She let out a sigh, feeling embarrassed upon realizing that she had been talking like Twilight.

“Aw, isn’t she just cute when she’s all deep and thoughtful?!” Aurora chimed with a goofy smile, taking her daughter in a hug.

“My student is growing up so quickly!” Twilight sniffled, hugging Starlight as well.

“Yay, a group hug!” Pinkie exclaimed, joining the embrace.

“Guys...I’m not...a stuffed toy!” Starlight yelled as she tried to free herself. Still, she was flushed with happiness.

Aurora, Twilight and Pinkie broke the hug, giggling.

“Does...does this mean you will leave Ponyville?” Twilight asked with worry in her eyes.

“Nah,” Starlight replied, placing a hoof on her mother’s shoulder. “My mom created a portal to Equestria in that big mansion long time ago. If we use it to link the mansion with the Castle of Friendship, I can be with you and with Jinjabannera at the same time!”

Twilight sighed in relief.

“Starlight!” Sunburst called, rushing to stand in front of the pony in question. “There’s something very important!”

“What is it?” Starlight asked worriedly.

Before Starlight could react, Sunburst slammed his lips on her cheek and retreated quickly, leaving the mare in shock.

“S-Sorry...I really had to do this. Please don’t be mad,” Sunburst stuttered, his cheeks radiating.

After a few seconds of standing in shock, Starlight grabbed the crystaller by his cloak's neck. He prepared himself for the worst, but he didn’t prepare himself for Starlight giving him a quick kiss on the lips. The two unicorns’ cheeks were as red as ever. Very soon, Sunburst fell to the ground unconscious.

-oOo-

That night, most of Jinjabannera’s citizens gathered for celebration. Despite the restaurant being cut in half by a magical death beam, everyone was having a great time.

Trixie was telling everyone stories about her adventures, especially how she helped defeat Shoreline. Twilight knew that she was exaggerating, even Centaria wore an expression that made it clear that Trixie was glorifying some parts, but neither of them wanted to ruin the fun everyone was having.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were having a cup of cold Jinjabanneran tea, a drink that quickly became Rainbow’s second favorite after cider. Pinkie was digging into a cake at one table, while Fluttershy was busy talking to the deers, Changelings and Flutterbreezes, and Spike was busy with the wingless dragons.

Starlight was sitting on the table behind Pinkie’s. Beside her sat Rarity, and on the other side was her mother. When Rarity got busy talking with one of the deers, Starlight levitated her cup of coffee and took a sip.

It was cold.

She had been caught up chatting with Rarity and the others that she had left her coffee to get cold.

“Do you want a new cup?” Aurora said, smiling warmly. Starlight just stared at her with no reply. “It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?” Aurora turned to gaze out the window.

Starlight ignited her horn, teleporting to her mother’s side. Slowly, she lied down on the wide seat, resting her head on Aurora’s lap. “I don’t want a new cup coffee,” she said, closing her eyes. “I just want to be with you.”

Aurora stared at her daughter in surprise, then smiled, giving a faint chuckle, before gently caressing Starlight’s mane.

“It’s a beautiful night indeed.”

Author's Note

Thank you for reading! Have a song: