Be Careful What You Wish For

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

Chapter 1

Be Careful What You Wish For
By
Darkstone57
Chapter 1

The time is ripe. Everything is ready.

Starlight Glimmer stood at the end of the room, which was a part of the dilapidated old castle that lay deep in the Everfree Forest, with a confident smile across her face.

She could hear them coming now.

She turned methodically at the sounds of the group of galloping hooves rapidly approaching her, and then coming to a halt after a great slam was made that followed with call of disdain from a voice that she knew well.

Starlight stepped proudly and with a sinister grin walked up to the ones she blamed for all her recent misfortune, in the middle of the room.

“Hello, girls.” Starlight greeted with venom, the Elements of Harmony.

“Starlight,” Twilight responded with disdain at the sight of Starlight standing in front of her, “What are you planning?”

“What?” Starlight replied with facade of surprise, “Don’t care how I’ve been? How I’ve been living my life?” Starlight’s rage was plastered all over her face, “You know, since you took my old one away from me!?!” She roared at Twilight.

“Save it, ya snake,” Applejack jabbed, earning a sneer from Starlight, “We wanna know what ya stole from the Princesses’ so we can take it back!”

“Yeah!” Rainbow chimed in with vehemence, “And, what’s with this shield, afraid you can’t take us?!” Rainbow Dash taunted as she brought herself as close she could Starlight, glaring at her with disgust.

“Oh, I know better than deal with you mindless force. I have better idea instead.” Starlight simmered her anger as she remembered what she was going to do.

“Explain.” Twilight demanded, sharply.

“You girls won’t get past my shield, no matter how hard you try. From where you are, it protects me and the rest of the room behind me and it has enough force to withstand the strength of meteor strike.” Starlight confidently rambled as she gestured to the room itself.

“Then, why shut yourself in?” Rarity asked, perplexed at Starlight’s efforts.

“So you can watch.” Starlight stated with sadistic glee.

“Watch what? You play the longest game of sitting in a dark room before you chicken out?” Pinkie asked.

“No, you dolt,” Starlight snarled at Pinkie before proudly proclaiming; “My victory.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight demanded, again.

Starlight turned her head to her saddle bags, her horn surrounded in her magical colour as she uses her magic to open the seal, pulling out two large scrolls that seemed to become slightly torn by age and levitated them over to her position.

“Tell me something, Princess;” Starlight began, her confidence on full display, “What do you think a unicorn like me can do with these spells?” Starlight asked as she brought the two scrolls in front of Twilight, not going outside of the shield, for her to read.

Twilight didn’t take her gaze off of Starlight but decided to humour her and began to quickly scan over the two scrolls that she came to understand used to belong to Star Swirl the Bearded. As she read them and began to think whilst putting a hoof to her chin and closing her eyes, her friends looked between in each other in genuine cluelessness as to what the scrolls where talking about.

Then, like a shot to the head, Twilight knew what she meant and it shook her to her core. Her eyes shot open in genuine horror at the thought of what her plan was and breathed a fearful and honest; “No...”

Her friends felt their confidence wane at the sight of Twilight truly horrified, Applejack placed a comforting hoof on Twilight’s back to try and comfort her. “Hey, Twi?” Applejack asked, starting to worry, “What is it?”

“Don’t worry, girls.” Starlight feigned care as she began to turn around, “She’s just realised that she can’t stop me.”

“What in the hay are you yammering about now!?” barked Rainbow Dash.

Starlight didn’t reply but instead began to walk toward the altar at the end of the room but stopped halfway, the scrolls hovering just above her.

“This time,” Starlight began with anger once more at the forefront, “You and your precious friendship won’t stop me from having my way!”

“Speak plainly, you fiend!” Rarity yelled at Starlight with frustration.

“DON’T DO IT!” Twilight cried out fearfully as she rammed her hooves against the shield, her friends surprised in her sudden outburst were left with more questions than answers.

“Twilight, what’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked with genuine concern.

Twilight dropped her hooves and turned to her friends who all had no clue what was going on.

“What Starlight has in her possession are two of Star Swirl the Bearded’s scrolls that contain two extremely powerful spells,” Twilight sucked a fearful gulp, “A spell that affects the fabric of time and a spell that affects the fabric of space.” Twilight stopped before bringing her gaze back to Starlight whose smile split her face with sickening joy. “She...” Twilight tried to say it but she couldn’t.

“I,” Starlight interjected from across the room, gaining all of their attention, “was originally going to use this time spell, to alter the timeline so that six of you would have never met and would have never have ruined my town that I worked so hard for!” Starlight snarled, once more, before regaining her composure.

“But, that would be problematic as I would more than likely have returned to a different reality altogether, one where I can’t have my ways of equality and harmony shown properly because the ponies of that town may have led different lives, entirely.” Starlight stopped and took look around the room for a moment.

“However, with this spell that revolves around bending space, I can combine the two together to build something even better than a town – A WHOLE NEW WORLD!” Starlight proclaimed proudly, her hooves shot up in celebration. “One, where my ways of Equality and Harmony will give everyone true friendship for eternity! And, no one will be able to stop me!”

“BUT YOU’LL DESTROY THIS WORLD IN THE PROCESS!!” Twilight screamed, slamming her hooves against the shield again.

“And, that, dear ‘Princess of Friendship’, is my victory.” Said Starlight, eerily calm, “Right here, in this room, where you six came together to create the elements and become victorious over one enemy, is where you will undeniably lose to me.” With that, Starlight began to chuckle proudly as she shot beams of magic simultaneously at the two scrolls.

After a moment, the scrolls emitted a continuous wave of magic that was aimed in the space between Starlight and the Mane Six. The magic collided and little white ball of contained energy appeared and hovered in midair, for all to see, one that was slowly growing larger, much to Starlights fulfilment.

Desperation became the forefront emotion as all the girls did was do everything that they could think of to try and breaking the barrier. From slamming hooves, to shooting beams, to firing party cannons and more, but, nothing even left a crack in the shield.

“Just a little bit longer and then my equality will become reality.” Starlight mumbled to herself with glee as she watched the magic ball increase in size.

As it increase in size, something began to change in the atmosphere, the sky around the castle began to darken all of a sudden, despite it being midday and for some reason that even Starlight couldn’t put her hoof on, something felt strange.

Even the girls, as they began feel defeated, felt that there was something else going on besides Starlight’s spell.

And after a moment they all felt an immense pressure forcing them down. They all tried to stand up right and even Starlight managed to keep her spell going but this pressure wasn’t from the gravity of space, it felt like something powerful was holding them down. Something, that Starlight felt was aimed directly at her. Something was enraged.

The spell stopped halfway as Starlight’s ears dropped as indescribable sounds of something coming from behind that broke her concentration. With dread, she turned her head. Starlight saw the floor of the altar behind blacken and disappear as well as the wall and ceiling around it.

Starlight stood up again after a moment of silence as her fear became her most prominent emotion as she stared into the black abyss. Then, she saw them.

Two large furious red eyes poked out from the darkness and bore its attention right at Starlight Glimmer.

The Mane Six huddled together in fear at the sight of those enraged eyes.

Starlight couldn’t even light a hoof at the sight and began sweating bullets as the eyes continued to stare right at her with a large red mouth that hung open.

An angry growl filled the silence that burst out into a deep and powerful roar that shakes the very foundation of the castle ruins.

When it stopped, sounds of multiple cracks began to fill the air behind Starlight. She turned to see and was shocked to find that her plans had literally begun to break apart. Her shield and her white sphere quickly gained more and more cracks in front of her eyes and before she could even react, they both shattered into pieces and disintegrated into nothingness; even the scrolls were torn beyond repair.

Starlight Glimmer’s plan was ruined.

A sinister growl grabbed her attention as she turned again to the dark creature only to be scared stiff, once again, at the sight of the creature suddenly having a pair of three large crimson tendrils that were aiming forward, directly at Starlight.

The creature slowly began to rise higher it seemed and Starlight could do nothing but follow its face as it rose with a vengeful rumble in its growl.

Starlight Glimmer, who was so confident and proud a moment ago, was now scared for her life and was a still as a statue at the sight of, what she assumed to be, her end.

The creature roared, Starlight screamed and the Mane Six covered their eyes as the darkness almost instantly swallowed Starlight Glimmer.

After a moment, Twilight opened her eyes to see the area before them was enveloped in darkness and silence but then she realised, the darkness began to shrink away, back towards the altar.

Something in Twilight sparked to life for a moment as she realised what she was looking at. She gently removed herself from the girls who all began to see the darkness as well slip away.

They separated themselves and stood in confusion and shock at what they just witnessed.

“What... in the hay... was that thing?” Applejack spoke up, in complete bewilderment.

“It saved us all...” Rarity stated.

“But,” Fluttershy interjected, “...what did it do with Starlight?”

“Do you think she’s... okay?” Pinkie asked with surprising worry.

“I don’t think so...?” Rainbow said, unsure.

The conversation of the five girls began to slowly become heated over the discussion of Starlight’s well being. Twilight, however, continued to watch as the darkness retreated to the altar and as she did, spoke a simple word, firmly, “No.”

“What did ya say, Twi?” Applejack asked.

Twilight suddenly charged forward to Applejacks and her friends shock as she passionately dashed towards the darkness surrounding the altar.

“What are you doing?!” Rainbow called out, perplexed.

“Saving Starlight!” Twilight called back.

To which her friends replied with a unified cry of; “WHAT!?!”

They suddenly found their vitality as they tried to stop Twilight but she was already too far ahead.

Twilight gained momentum and dived head long first into, what was left of, the darkness that the creature came from.

Before they could reach the darkness their friend vanished into... it was gone and they came to screeching halt as they all cried their friends name.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

So, did I do good? Let me know. Good night.

Chapter 2

Be Careful What You Wish For
By
Darkstone57
Chapter 2

Her body was launched out of the ether and continue to carry forward. She opened her eyes to see that she was shooting towards a rock formation and with quick thinking she pushed her wings away from the rock to bring herself to halt midair.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Twilight began to get her bearings and take a look around the area to gather where she is. As she turned to find out, her jaw dropped.

“What...the...heck?” Was all Twilight could muster as she struggled to comprehend the sight before her.

Various rock formations in different shapes and sizes were all, somehow, hanging aloft in the air, each in facing various directions; left, right, upside down and every other direction. What was more peculiar was there were trees planted on some of them and even more perplexing was that, from what she could see, was there were connected to each other by long streams of water. But, the most confusing thing that caught her eye was, what Twilight assumed to be, the sky. It was hard to tell if it was far or near but no matter where she looked, the sky twisted in a circular motion of various shades of dark blue, similar to that of a vortex.

As Twilight tried her best to make sense of it, she turned back to realise that the rock formation that she was going to initially crash into if she didn’t stop was also another platform facing horizontally. Deciding not to argue against it, she hovered toward and held out all four of her hooves forward.

Feeling sceptical, she made contact and the platform felt like a solid chunk of earth. As she straightened her body and brought her head up right, her whole world vision altered with her and what should make her nauseous from her angle position felt normal.

“What in the name of Celestia is this?” Twilight asked to no-one, “It’s as if the laws of space don’t apply here... How is that possible?” As Twilight continued to inspect this peculiar world, trying to understand it, she something at the corner of her eye that became; the focal point of her attention.

In the distance, far beyond various platforms, a black snake like creature with red markings and red eyes effortlessly flew through the world’s atmosphere.

“This place must be that creature’s home,” Twilight observed as it disappeared from sight. Putting a hoof to her chin, she began to wonder about the creature itself, how was it able to appear into her world? Was it sent by some higher power? Is it intelligent? Is it a monster, or something more?

Regardless, Twilight put aside her curiosity and decided to act upon what she came here to do; finding Starlight Glimmer and bringing her back. But... what would she do when she brought her back to Equestria? Twilight decided that would be a question for later and it would prominent to find Starlight before the creature found Twilight. Who knows what it would do with her, if she was seen by it. ‘Would it be easier to fly there?’ Twilight pondered, ‘Yes, but I can’t risk being seen by the creature, I’ll stick to the platforms and try to stay out of sight.’

Looking at the direction the creature came from, she could see that there platforms of all sorts leading to that general direction, assuming Starlight is there, still it was better to start somewhere.

She saw that the closet ones was two facing in opposite directions, she hoped that traversing across this place won’t make her sick but it had to be done. ‘Wait a second,’ Twilight’s mind lit up when a simple solution came to mind, ‘I can just teleport across to the platforms, it will be sure to save me time in finding Starlight.’ She cast her gaze on the first platform that was tilting to the left and bore a confident smile as she lit her horn and within a second she teleported with a purple flash from where she was to where she was going to be.

It was a success and she was proud of it as she saw world view alter again. “I could get used to this.” Twilight quietly claimed with a smile as she looked to the platform that was opposite the one she was on, in this case it was above her. Focusing on her target, she concentrated and in seconds she teleported from point A to point B.

With a repeated success of her test, she felt more confident than before as it showed in her bright smile as she confidently said; “I’ll have Starlight out of here in no time.”

Before she took a step forward to look where the next platform she could feel something close by and, not before long, looked to the floor of the platform to see it was darkened slightly, her ears dropped at the feeling of dread as she hesitantly looked up. She held her breath at what she saw; the creature was slowly flying above her, traversing the atmosphere away from her general direction. As she froze from the sight of its size, it being so close, she saw that it had various red markings across its snake like body and its shape was still unclear because of the darkness surrounding it. But, she could see that what appeared to be attached to its back, were two sets of three long tendrils with red spikes on the ends.

Twilight began to panic, if the creature decided to turn around and see her there, an intruder in its world, who knows what would happen. Seeing the best way to stay out of sight, she knew what to do.

A sound came from the behind the creature that made its body stop and swirl around to look at what made that noise. Its red eyes focused intently on the closet platform and when it saw nothing on said platform it let out a deep growl as it slithered across the atmosphere toward it.

The black creature stopped short before coming near it as it gave it a look over again to see there was nothing on the platform, a sound was heard again and then it turned its instantly turned its gaze to the adjacent one.

There was nothing on that one either. Its eyes narrowed as it gave it another look over.

Nothing...

The creature was not taking too kindly to this as it let out a frustrated grumble before it slithered away and headed off out of sight in the blink of an eye.

After a few moments of silence, Twilight appeared on the platform, her whole body was laid against it, clinging on to the platform for dear life. Her breathing rapid and panicked as she was sweating bullets of having the creature so close to her face. Taking another moment to regain her composure and slow fast breaths, she wiped the sweat from her forehead.

‘Alright,’ Twilight thought frantically, coming to terms with her situation, ‘New rules; No teleporting and no magic.’

Elsewhere, the creature was effortlessly swimming through its home as it made its way past various rock formations of various scales and effortlessly weaved around some water as it connected between two places and headed off into the distance.

From her position in a crevice, watching the creature slink past for the fourth time, Starlight looked over her being as she could see what light this place had to offer inside the crevice, she was bruised and had a couple of small cuts across her hooves.

She breathed a heavy sigh as she looked up to the swirling vortex that was this world’s sky as she thought with sadness, ‘What did I do to deserve this?’

Deciding not to dwell on it too long, she rested her head against the wall, closed her eyes, and drifted away to sleep.

Not long after she fell to sleep, something outside of the crevice looked down upon her with interest and scoffed.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

So, go on, tell me what you think? Eh?

Chapter 3

Be Careful What You Wish For
By
Darkstone57
Chapter 3

She was getting closer to her goal.

As Twilight landed another landed platform, her vision changed once more and everything that was upside down before was upside down again. After taking a moment to get her bearings once more, she placed a hoof against her head, ‘Ugh,’ Twilight groaned mentally, ‘It was some much easier to teleport before. All this rolling around is making me feel dizzy.’ She exhaled a frustrated sigh as she looked ahead, ‘No use complaining, the longer it takes to Starlight...’ She stopped herself as she didn’t want to go too deep into worrying for Starlight’s well being; she needed to focus on finding her first.

As she took a couple of steps forward to find the next place to traverse to, she was stopped suddenly by group of tress that shot out of the ground and scaled upward rapidly to a great height that blocked her view ahead completely, the whole ordeal left her flabbergasted. “How...? Why...?” Twilight mumbled with confusion until she screamed her head; ‘I have so many questions!’

After staring at the sight of the appearing trees for a moment, she shook her head and decided to take to the right and find a platform in said direction only to be stopped before she could get the edge another row of tress shot out of the ground, much to her confusion and annoyance.

When she looked toward to first set of trees that appeared to find a peculiar sight, the last two trees near the corner had disappeared.

Twilight’s brows furrowed at the sight but decided not to question it as she approached the now accessible edge.

When she reached it, she came across a sight that left her wondering if she would ever find Starlight in this place; around various places, some of the platforms were moving around in different directions freely and stopping at random places.

Shortly after that, a platform appeared right in front of her and stopped on equal level to that of the one she was on. Feeling things were starting to go in her favour; she jumped onto the platform and noticed in the centre there was an indentation. She looked at it with apprehension as she slowly approached it and as she stopped before it, with no trees blocking her way, she lifted her right hoof and began to wonder if what would happen might happen.

She gently pressed hoof on the indentation and put pressure on it. At her action, the platform shook slightly for a moment causing her to pull it back and then to her surprise; the platform began to move.

As it took away from where she was before and change its general direction to a downward path, slowly rotating as clockwise it did, Twilight began to think about her friends, ‘They’re probably trying to tear that castle apart to find me,’ Twilight thought as she was unwittingly carried across the air, ‘Am I doing the right here?’ When her doubt made it to the surface of her mind, Twilight shook her head, ‘No, no time for that, Twilight,’ Twilight chastised herself for that as she looked ahead, ‘your goal is find Starlight and get her out of here.’

Her eyes widened at the location the platform was bringing her to, a large mountain shaped platform that rose very far upward. She brought her attention to what was front and could see that there was a path that led around the mountain. She breathed a small sigh of relief, thinking that she would have had to stick to the mountain like glue if she had to fly around it.

As it came toward the pathway at the bottom of the mountain, the platform stopped just near for Twilight to cross with ease. She trotted toward the edge and gave a light jump as she landed softly onto to the pathway. As she did, she heard the platform rumble behind her. Twilight turned her head to see that the platform had already began take off and head, not in the direction it came from but more in the northeast direction of where Twilight was facing. Watching it leave with furrowed brows, she thought ; ‘Discord and Pinkie would be having a ball at this place.’ she stopped for a moment to take a look around, ‘then again, they would definitely want to give this place one heck of a makeover.’

Twilight began to walk once more in the direction of the path, her drive to get to Starlight not wavering even a little.

An ear piercing roar called out to every corner of the world, scaring Twilight to her core, as she realised something, it was aimed in her general direction.

Panicking, she looked around franticly to find a place to hide. Then, she saw that just ahead of her was a crack in the mountain side. Forcing herself with every fibre of her being, she dashed toward the crack, which was large enough for her hide. She brought herself the ground as she squeezed into the crack, keeping herself facing outward so she could see outward; she held her breath once more and did her best to hold her nerves.

It was a mere few seconds after she was in that she saw the creature shoot past her location with great speed. Not taking any chances she kept herself still and silent as best she could.

Another roar bellowed from the creature that seemed to echo everywhere around her.

Then, after a minute of total silence, Twilight released herself from the crack and took a few deep breaths.

She brought herself to the edge of the pathway to get a good look of the area of where the creature went, as well as everywhere else she could see.

Though she knew she was safe, she now knew one thing was certain, that creature... was a dragon.

‘Starlight...’ Twilight thought for her well being for a moment. As she did, she could feel body fill with determination as she looked in the direction of where the path led, ‘I will find you.’

Starlight woke to sound of the powerful that loomed overhead, the sound of it left an imprint in her brain, and she began to hyperventilate as she looked at her general location. Only to find that she was still in the crevice that she had escaped into.

Taking a few moments to regain her composure, she looked down at herself again to see the cuts that she had obtained were still there. She glared at them and cursed her powerlessness.

She let out an aggravated groan as she slammed the back of her head against the wall as she mumbled through gritted teeth, “I was so close!” A second slam, “If that blasted dragon didn’t appear, I would have had the world I always wanted and all of those stupid ponies would have been nothing more than a bad memory...” Starlight prattled on about her plans for another minute before stopping herself to stare the vortex like sky once more.

“No matter...” Starlight began, her voice low, “I will just have to heal my wounds and escape this blasted place and start all over again and I will make sure that dragon won’t stop me!” Starlight proclaimed with pride.

“If only it were that simple.” A deep, controlled, masculine voice called out to her from the darkness to her left, the sound of it made her gasp in shock.

When it didn’t speak for a few moments, Starlight took a deep gulp as she called out to the recipient, “Who... Who’s there?”

Her only response was the sound of steps slowly approaching one after the other; Starlight held her nerve and readied herself, shown by her horn alight.

Stepping into the light, was a tall bipedal creature, covered from neck to bottom in a mixture grey and black clothing, a striking feature was that of a gold ‘G’ symbol on what appeared to be its grey jacket. His face was what caught Starlight’s attention the most, he didn’t have any fur on him but what Starlight assumed to be his skin was pale but seemed to be natural to him. His hair a striking blue but what seemed to scare her most was his eyes and expression. Though his eyes had colour, blue like his hair, they and his face were expressionless and that seemed to put her off.

“I,” He spoke with a firm but cold tone, “am Cyrus. And, I know one truth of this world.”

“And... that is?” Starlight asked, apprehensively

“Escaping this world on your own is nothing short of impossible.”

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

He's here. So, thoughts?

Chapter 4

Be Careful What You Wish For
By
Darkstone57
Chapter 4

“What do you mean, ‘impossible’?” Starlight demanded of Cyrus as she focused her magic on her wounds.

“I meant what I said.” Cyrus replied bluntly.

The two of them stared each other down for a short time before Cyrus began to walk toward her.

Starlight steeled herself, running on the assumption that this male creature was a pawn of the dragons, only to be surprised when Cyrus positioned himself across from where she was and gently sat down with his legs crossed. He rested his elbows on his knees and continued to inspect Starlight. The continuous frown on his face still seemed to make Starlight feel uneasy.

“There is only one way to leave this world.” Cyrus stated flatly.

Starlight’s eyes narrowed at him, feeling she knew where he was going, she decided to ask anyway, “And, that is?”

Cyrus said nothing.

Starlight began to feel frustrated with this creature as it continued to stare her down until she noticed that it took, from Starlight assumed to be its right claw, and pointed one of its straight upwards, toward the crevice exit.

“Is this a joke!?” Starlight snarled at Cyrus, feeling she was being made fun of. But, the only reply she got was the sound of dragon’s earth shaking roar as she looked up and saw it fly over head and disappear almost instantly.

“That,” Cyrus began after the roar’s echo ended, “’Giratina’, is your only hope of escape.”

Starlight did nothing but scoff at that, “I figured as much...” Then she realised something, “Wait... You called the dragon by name.” Starlight observed as she looked again at Cyrus’ unchanging expression.

“Yes,” Cyrus replied, his tone unchanging, “His name is; ‘Giratina’. He is a deity that is connected to the world I am from; he serves the God of my world by protecting the balance of reality.”

Cyrus looked over his conversation partner again for a moment before scoffing, “To think it wasn’t just my world he would keep check on.”

Starlight didn’t know what to make of what Cyrus just said, ‘Deity? God? Another world?’ taking a moment to try and think of what to say, Starlight decided to speak her mind, “How do I know that anything you just said was true?”

Cyrus’ frown deepened slightly as he began to slowly chuckle.

Starlight began to feel more uncomfortable at the sound of his hollow laughter and asked with unease, “Wh.. What is so...”

“Let me guess,” Cyrus began, cutting her off, “You tried to use a powerful of means of, what I can gather from looking at you, magical prowess to rip apart time and space to create the world that would be made of what you desire the most?”

Starlight said nothing but her jaw dropping was just what Cyrus needed to see.

“Gathered as much.” Cyrus said, condescendingly.

“How...” Starlight began, still flabbergasted, “How did you know that?”

“Because I tried to accomplish the same thing.” Cyrus replied, bluntly.

Starlight was left baffled by his words. This being, whose face, displayed nothing but apathy and anger, wanted to create a new world in his image. There were so many questions rolling around in Starlight’s head.

“I am interested in one thing about you though.” Cyrus admitted.

Starlight was throw off when he spoke up and decided to indulge him, “What is it?” She asked, feeling cautious.

“When Giratina thwarted my plans and brought me here, I woke up here with him observing me with caution,” Cyrus began, as he recalled the day he came here, “After those meddlers bested me and satiated his rage, he left me be as I came to realise over time that maybe this is the world I sought after all...” Cyrus realised he went off topic as he was looking at the vortex above and then redirected his attention to his conversation partner, “Yet, as for you, you’re sitting here with cuts and bruises; meaning you attempted to defend yourself.” Starlight looked over her well being with furrowed brows as he spoke, “So, I ask you out of interest, what happened?”

Starlight flinched at the thought of reminiscing how afraid she was. But, as her magic continued to do her work, she looked at Cyrus whom still was staring at her, not as a victim, but more as an observer who truly couldn’t care less about her well being. Knowing her magic will still take some time, she relaxed a little and began to tell her tale.

She couldn’t look away from them. Those eyes seething with rage as the creature loomed her.

Her breathing quickly began to increase in pace as the seconds went on. Then, it dived toward her, roaring with power and all she did was scream for her life. But, at the last second, instinct shot through her brain and she cast the strongest shield she could think of.

It worked but the creature was not pleased. Those red eyes and that gaping crimson mouth was pressed against the shield as Starlight put every ounce of her being into retaining the spell for as long as she could. Darkness surrounded the two as the creature slammed its head into the shield, causing it to crack.

Starlight braced herself for another blow against her shield, slamming her eyes shut. But nothing came.

As she opened her eyes, she couldn’t believe what she was looking at. She was in another dimension and it was nothing like she had ever seen before. Everywhere that there was land was all disconnected and hanging from the air in different angles. Water streams stretched far between separate platforms and the sky, what she assumed to be it, was swirling in streams of dark blues endlessly.

“Where in the world am I...?” Starlight asked aloud as she observed it all from inside her shield. Then, like a pin drop, she froze as she realised one thing. Where was the creature?

Doing her best to keep it together, she scanned everywhere frantically, every second she didn’t see it made her more afraid.

Her heart dropped as the sound of a raging roar came from behind her. She only saw its face for a split second as it collided into Starlight’s shield with fury. The impact sent her soaring helplessly across the atmosphere and it wasn’t until she felt the shield collide into a solid chunk of earth that left her winded, gasping for air.

“Celestia on high...” Starlight winced, through pained breaths, “That hurt.”

Starlight was in precarious position, the shield was wedged in the platform she crashed into and left her dangling in the atmosphere, if the laws of space applied in this dimension; she would have been plummeting to the ground.

Starlight looked around and saw that various platforms were a fair distance below, some had trees, another had a stream of water crashing endlessly into it, like a waterfall but there was another that caught her eye, beyond them.

At the sound of another furious roar, directed at her, Starlight looked at the creature and jaw dropped at the sight of it.

Thought its body was still shrouded by darkness, she could make out its shape. It was a snake like body that dwarfed her in size, easily. From what she assumed to be its front, she saw a pattern of red lines glowing over its body. Connected to what appeared to be its upper body with two sets of three long black streams like limbs with red spikes on the end. Starlight came to one conclusion about this creature that made even more afraid with a long gulp, ‘It’s a dragon...’

The black dragon opened its maw and reared its head back slightly. Starlight began to sweat at the sight of the dragons actions, as sphere of blue was forming at the tip of the dragon’s mouth. She looked at her attacker and then the area below and then back to the dragon. She only had one chance...

The dragon allowed the sphere gather more energy for a few more moments before it thrust its head forward and launched the ball, at break neck speed, directly at its target.

But, just at it came into contact; the dragon was forced to use its stream like wings to shield its eyes as a blinding light erupted from the blast.

Moments passed before the light dissipated and the dragon allowed itself to look at its handiwork. Only to be left stunned by the sight before it.

Where did the perpetrator go? The dragon flew in closer to where they were to inspect the crash area only to find that there were no impact marks of where the attack would have left and there was no body.

Somehow, the criminal had managed to counter the attack and escape.

The dragon looked below and saw that there were several places that the criminal could have escaped to. Not wasting any time, it dived down to investigate.

It searched all of them, thoroughly. The dragon searched the water, but she wasn’t there. It searched the undersides, but she wasn’t there. It searched all of the crevices the dragon assumed she could escape into, but couldn’t find a hair.

The dragon moved itself away from the platforms, its blood boiling with anger as it growled deeply until it reared its head back and released a world shaking roar of pure rage that seemed to last for a long time.

Eventually, the dragon calmed itself and then flew away in a random direction, knowing that eventually, she would show herself.

Far in the distance, watching from the shadows, Cyrus couldn’t help but smirk as he looked toward the place she had escaped too.

Not long after, Starlight released her spell and became visible once more. She inhaled a lungful before sighing in relief. Though she had managed to escape into the crevice, she barely had any strength to protect herself from the cracks and pointed edges she rolled down.

She winced as she felt her cuts bleed out. She felt relieved at how lucky she was but cursed herself for not thinking fast enough until she decided to rest and pray that the dragon wouldn’t find her before she thought of a plan to escape.

“And I have been here ever since...” Starlight finished with a defeated sigh.

Cyrus did nothing but stroke his chin with his left hand as he listened to the tale.

“You should have just let him capture you.” Cyrus stated.

Starlight scoffed, “What, and let him kill me?”

“Giratina doesn’t kill.” Cyrus replied bluntly.

“How would you know that?” Starlight demanded of him.

“Because, I’m still here, or have you forgotten?” Cyrus asked rhetorically and flatly.

He was right. He was still alive and as she realised it, Starlight groaned.

“You understand now, don’t you?” Cyrus asked rhetorically, again, before going on to make his point clear, “By retaliating, Giratina will see you as even more of a threat and unless he is somehow convinced otherwise, you are, in his eyes, a prime threat that must be dealt with.”

“How in the hay am I meant to convince that dragon to not kill me... Before he blows me to bits!?!” Starlight cried out to Cyrus, who simply replied with an apathetic shrug, to which Starlight simply groaned.

Then, something caught Cyrus’s attention as he looked up.

“Strange...” Cyrus mumbled.

“What now...?” Starlight complained.

“I half expected Giratina to be searching for you right now, but for some reason; his attention is divided. And, I know for a fact he doesn’t care where I am and only comes to me when I seek him out.” Cyrus said as he stared at the exit.

Starlight realised the truth in his words as she too looked up.

“Did someone follow you, per chance? Cyrus asked.

Starlight heard the question but didn’t want to admit the answer but only one question plagued her mind at that moment; ‘She wouldn’t.... Would she?’

At that time, Giratina halted in midair as he silently observed an array of platforms far from where he was, floating in the atmosphere.

Then, when he saw what he was looking for, he reared his head back and unleashed a deafening roar.

He had found the intruder...

And she was looking right back at him...

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

A conversation between two villains. Gotta love the exposition.

Only thing for Twilight to do now... RUN!

So, what do you think? Please, answer honestly and constructive criticism is appreciated.

Chapter 5

Be Careful What You Wish For
By
Darkstone57
Chapter 5

As she stood on the lone platform, Twilight stared at the dragon, her heart pounding heavily in her chest as it stared right back at her.

She couldn’t turn away from the dragon’s eyes. She knew if she did, it would not end well.

The seconds felt like an eternity as she waited for the dragon to strike, forcing all of her being not to blink.

Then, like a bolt of lightning, the dragon charged head on toward her.

She inhaled deeply as it came closer by the second. Then, within inches of impact, Twilight disappeared in purple flash. The dragon went through the spell and quickly brought itself back around to search for the intruder.

Twilight was flapping her wings with anticipation, her breathing quickening as she watched the dragon stare her down. She panicked and as it slowly approached her, Twilight dived down.

Twilight weaved her way through various platforms, forcing all her might into increasing her speed.

As she made her way over an array of stalagmites aimlessly drifting through the air, she made a quick glance behind her, to find that the dragon was on her tail.

Twilight decided to change tactics as she saw several columns of water connecting between platforms ahead of her; she took a deep breath and put more power into wing beats.

Taking a sharp right, she swayed around the first column of water and took a nose dive toward the second, she glanced back to see the dragon was effortlessly keeping up.

As she aimed toward the end of one the columns she increased her speed as the dragon cried out toward her, making her instincts force to keep going.

Just as she was about to touch the columns end, that touched a large lake, Twilight lit her horn and dived right into the bottom of the column and, with a shield of magic in front of her, forcing the water out of her way with ease, she flew upward.

The dragon, however, dived down head long into the water with a resounding crash as Twilight suddenly went up.

Twilight dared not look back as she kept going upward, her teeth clenched as she continued to push.

The shadow dragon bellowed in frustration as it shot out of the water and gave chase. Twilight was almost as the other end.

The dragon was breathing down her neck as it gained momentum toward the intruder and was almost close to having the intruder in its grasp.

Twilight looked back, still forcing her way up, and gasped as she the dragons’ huge maw wide open as it was almost close enough to bite her tail.

She looked ahead and could tell she was almost at the other side. With a sideward glance, she saw her destination and before she touched the other end of the column, she vanished before the dragon could get a hair off of her.

The dragon kept going and, once again, made a resounding crash into the water, this time though, the impact sent the water shooting out in various directions.

On a platform, near a large column that had a corner of darkness for one to hide, Twilight reappeared, dropping to one knee as she caught her breath.

She glanced over toward the shadows and, through ragged breathing; she began to slink her way over.

As she did, she looked over to where the dragon had crashed.

Only to freeze on the spot at what she saw...

The platform erupted with a massive explosion, the force of it billowed powerful gusts of wind in every direction, forcing Twilight to use her wings to shield her eyes.

When the dust settled the dragon dived downward in spiral fashion only to stop in the middle of the air, set itself upright and unleashed a furious roar.

The dragon hastily looked in every direction for the intruder with its brimming with frustration. It looked ahead for a moment and with a growl and flash of its crimson eyes, it vanished...

Twilight rested her head against cliff wall, as her body was covered by the shadows. She slowly took her time to regain her composure, taking deep breaths and relaxing her nerves.

When nothing but silence lasted for a few minutes she breathed a sigh of relief. “That was close...” Twilight mumbled quietly, “But, I think..., I managed... to get away...” Twilight said through heavy breaths, feeling victorious in her escape.

“You thought wrong!” A deep, booming, masculine voice, shot through her head. Dread overcame her as she looked around to find the source.

Only to see the dragon appear right before her frightened eyes...

It’s titanic body looming over her. Their heads metres apart as he snarled at her.

Twilight began to sweat at the sight of the dragon being so close to her, afraid of the possibility of her doom.

“You have been elusive, little intruder,” The dragon spoke, unimpressed by Twilights actions, “But, the games end here.”

Twilight sucked down a long gulp as it spoke to her.

“I, Giratina, defender of the Distortion World and all realities, demand to know; who you are and why you are here!” Giratina demanded as he narrowed his gaze at Twilight.

Twilight began to realise she was shaking at the mere presence of Giratina being, covered in black and red. Feeling that making him wait wouldn’t help her situation, taking a deep breath and a long exhale, she stood up and tried to remain calm as she spoke; “I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship from Equestria. And...” Twilight hesitated as she decided to choose her next words carefully.

“And?” Giratina prompted her on, his voice low and threatening.

“And, I am here to bring Starlight Glimmer, the one you brought here, back.”

Giratina reacted to her statement with annoyance, shown by his deep growl and squinting eyes.

He observed her quietly, watching her to see if she would hesitate under his gaze seeing if there any signs of hesitation.

Nothing...

After a moment, Giratina retreated away a few feet and turned his head left, toward a large rock near Twilight.

Twilight wondered what he was up to, only to find she didn’t have to wait long.

Giratina opened his red mouth and after sucking in a lungful, bellowed out a torrent of swirling air that crashed into the rock. The rock didn’t break but instead a purple hole expanded in front of it that stopped at the size of Twilight herself that had a white centre.

Twilight was left even more confused, and when she looked at Giratina, she found him looking back at her as he said with certainty; “That, is a portal that will lead you back to your world. Take it, and Starlight will remain here forever.”

Twilight was shocked at the prospect of the possibility placed right in front of her.

“However,” Giratina spoke up, gaining her attention, “If you truly think that she is worth saving,” Giratina turned his head to the right and his crimson eyes flashed again. After a moment, a small platform with an indentation in the middle appeared out of the ether, much to Twilight’s awe. “Take this platform and it take you to a place where we can speak over Starlight’s well being.” Giratina looked at Twilight with annoyance, who looked back at his shadowy being with apprehension, “I doubt you will be able to convince me, but, you are welcome to try.”

With those words, Giratina began to rise up from the platform, still keeping his gaze on Twilight. “Don’t keep me waiting...” Giratina warned her before his eyes flashed and he vanished instantly.

Twilight was left stunned by what had just transpired before. The all powerful dragon called Giratina was offering her a chance to bring her home. The portal, however, caught her eye and she was left doubting herself once more as she looked back and forth between the platform and the portal with that question she was dreading to ask looming at the forefront of her mind; ‘Is Starlight... really worth it...?’

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

As they say; "Less is more." I was honestly trying to make that chase scene longer but I felt it would get redundant really quick and I didn't want to spend a long time on it when we all know Giratina can out speed Twilight, especially in the Distortion World.

Now, the choice has been given to her? What would you do? Leave? Or try to convince Giratina?

Again, honest opinions and constructive criticism is appreciated. Take care.

Chapter 6

Be Careful What You Wish For
By
Darkstone57
Chapter 6

Taking a deep controlled breath, Twilight placed her hoof on the platform’s indentation.

It reacted to her touch, making the platform shake for a moment before it began its descent. Twilight looked back and saw the portal had vanished from where Giratina placed it.

But, Twilight didn’t feel worried. She was certain that this was the right thing to do and the one thing she had to do now; was convince draconic deity that had the power to travel between realities that the pony that was willing to destroy her reality was not going to do it again.

Her brow furrowed, realising how ridiculous the position she put herself in was.

Despite that, her heart didn’t waver on what she set out to do, she was going to get Starlight back to Equestria and this was her only chance to make that happen.

Twilight watched the Distortion World above her, as she descended, stay in place as she went deeper downward.

The deeper she went, there were barely any platforms around; only floating stalagmites hanging in the atmosphere, just like everything else.

The vortex sky began to spin faster and faster as she kept going down.

Eventually, the platform stopped in a section where stalagmites hanged round the air and the vortex became darker as it spun round more.

A nervous chill went down her spine as there was nothing but the sounds of her steady breathing.

In front of her, out of the ether a single step platform appeared, then another and then a third.

Taking that as her cue, she walked patiently toward the first.

A screeching roar reverberated around the air as she stopped before it.

With a deep breath and a firm conviction to see her mission through, she hopped onto the first.

When she landed, she saw Giratina’s shadow bolt across the atmosphere in the distance.

Onto the second one and Giratina shot upward, in front of the third.

‘This is it...’ Twilight thought, adamant on remaining calm.

Her hooves landed on the third and the vortex began to spin in the other direction as Giratina descended methodically toward her.

It was then and there, as darkness surrounding him faded, she saw his true form.

Giratina’s body was mostly covered in grey. Circling round from the back of his neck was three gold ring like features that lead up to his head, which seemed to be like claws. Surrounding his head was gold helmet that covered the majority of his face, bar the top of his head. Those blood red eyes were quietly observing the Princess. Toward the middle of his body, Giratina had two sets of three grey spikes with gold ends and its tail had a gold end with four gold spikes, just set into pairs of two on either side of his tail that swayed to and fro slowly.

Though, mentally, she was in awe at his true appearance, her expression remained confident in front of the dragon deity.

“So,” Giratina greeted, calmly, “You’ve come.”

Without missing a beat, Twilight responded confidently, “Yes, to follow through on your offer, Giratina,” Twilight nodded curtly, “Which I am grateful for.”

Giratina gave a small nod in response, “So... Explain to me, Twilight Sparkle, why I should allow Starlight, a being willing to destroy reality, to return to your world,” He spoke with a small hint of animosity in his voice, “But, I warn you now, choose your words carefully,” His eyes narrowed, “Or this, shall be the briefest of conversations...”

Twilight understood his threat perfectly with a silent nod; one slip up of the tongue and she’ll be out of the Distortion World faster than she can blink.

“Starlight Glimmer,” Twilight began, using every fibre of her being to keep calm as she looked at those eyes, “Is a pony who certainly, without question, has the audacity to commit such terrible crimes on a whim. That I cannot deny,” Twilight shook her head over the thought of the lengths Starlight’s ambition has driven her too, that smug superior smile on her face; flashed briefly in her mind, “However...”

Giratina’s tail swished quickly at the word.

“Starlight is still a pony of Equestria; one that, under Equestrian law, deserves to stand trial. To be judged for her actions and given the proper sentence accordingly under the eyes of our ruler.” Twilight explained calmly, she looked at Giratina and could tell he was not convinced.

“We are grateful that you intervened when you did, Giratina,” Twilight said with a warm smile, “Our world would have been lost if you hadn’t. That much I know to be true,” Giratina’s expression softened slightly, “All I ask of you; is that you allow me to take her back and give her the proper punishment.” Twilight knelt before the dragon saying; “Please?”

Giratina remained quiet as he watched the Princess plead for the criminal’s life.

Moments passed and neither of them moved or made a sound.

“Tell me something, Princess,” Giratina became curious, Twilight rose up at the sound of his voice, “For argument’s sake, let us say I allowed the criminal Starlight to return to your world, let her face judgement and she was allowed to come out a citizen that had to pay her dues through trials of redemption, is there no one of your kind who would disagree with that?” Giratina asked, leaning in slightly, as Twilight listened to his words, “And what of Starlight herself; can you really say, that once she is allowed freedom through service, she would not be aiming her revenge towards you anymore? Nor your friends? Or your family?”

Twilight felt herself tense up at the prospect of it but remained calm.

“Is there no one who holds a grudge against her?” Giratina continued his voice lowered, “No one that mocks her? No one that really needs her?” Giratina drew his face closer as he asked once more, his eyes narrowing; “Is there truly no one in your world... that wants to kill her?”

Under the barrage of questions, Twilight felt her heart sink into her chest a little. Despite that, she kept her eyes locked onto Giratinas.

He bore his red eyes into hers; waiting for the opportunity to see her resolve crumble, if it did then this dispute will be done with.

But, it didn’t. The stare down seemed to last for an eternity but Twilight remained strong under his baleful gaze.

“You’re right.” Twilight said.

Giratina pulled back a moment, genuinely surprised.

“I cannot deny that there would be those who would object to Starlight’s possible freedom and there will be those who would have a vendetta towards her,” Twilight smiled at what she knew could definitely be Starlight’s future, “But, times change and the ponies of my realm have forgiven a being that holds more power than Starlight ever will.”

Giratina gave her an incredulous look, “...Explain yourself.”

“There was a time, when a Spirit that embodied chaos named Discord, who has the power to warp all of the world’s reality to his whim for his own pleasure, once ruled over the lands for his own insane pleasure,” Twilight spoke more confidently as she bore an honest smile, “With the help of my friends, we defeated him. However,” Giratina’s wispy wings twitched, “We also gave him, Discord, a once tyrannical overlord, a chance to accept our hoof of friendship. And, despite his stumbles and mistakes, he has become a close friend to us and a powerful ally that helped us bring an end to another enemy who’s ambition was to swallow all of my world’s magic and use it to turn it all into a wasteland,” Twilight stood tall as she said proudly, “And it is one of the best decisions our ruler has ever made.”

Giratina couldn’t help but feel impressed by her confidence as he watched her stand proudly and whole heartedly professing about her world’s ways.

The dragon brought himself upright as he did nothing but observe her for a few minutes, mulling over her words in his head with an audible ‘hmm’, ‘The Princess of Friendship, huh?’

“You have overcome many obstacles; to stand here before me.” Giratina said calmly.

Twilight smiled a bit more at the compliment.

“This, Twilight Sparkle” Giratina began, spreading his wispy wings, “Is my decision.”

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

Did she do it?

Wait and see.

Take care, all. I'm going to bed. It's 2:30 in the morning.

Chapter 7

Be Careful What You Wish For
By
Darkstone57
Chapter 7

Cyrus and Starlight sat in silence for what the latter felt like days, despite the laws of time and space holding no meaning here.

Ever since their conversation about Starlight's attempts at world recreation where abashed by Giratina and the possibility of her enemy coming to this realm to follow after Starlight, neither of them had much to say. Starlight focused solely on healing on her wounds whilst Cyrus sat quietly observing Starlights every move, his cold eyes never averting from her for.

Starlight did her best avoid looking at his eyes. Simply knowing that her 'roommate' was doing nothing but staring was putting her off.

'Almost done,' Starlight thought, 'Once I'm all done, I'll use my magic to make him speak to that accursed dragon!' The thought of confronting Giratina was scaring her but also enraging her, 'With him in my corner, I will--'

"STARLIGHT!"

Hearing her name being called out to her in that voice she came to loathe over the last few weeks broke her concentration entirely as Starlight immediately looked up as well as a curious Cyrus.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" Twilight called out from above.

"It is her..." Starlight commented with shock and anger.

"Interesting..." Cyrus said.

"I CAN GET YOU OUT OF HERE! I'VE SPOKEN WITH GIRATINA AND HE'S AGREED TO LET YOU LEAVE! PLEASE, COME OUT!" Twilight shouted with certainty that was followed by an ear piercing roar which reverberated the walls around her, filling her with dread at the thought of confronting the both of them right now.

Starlight didn't want to believe it and every fiber of her being told her not to take the offer. But, she knew she would be a fool not to take this opportunity right now. With that in mind, she took a deep breath, sighed, got to her hooves, and began to dust herself off.

"Smart choice," said Cyrus flatly.

"It's the only choice," Starlight replied sardonically, "Besides, she has a way of making things happen that I can't." Starlight commented venomously.

"I see," Cyrus replied, monotonously, as he began to stand, "Well, Starlight, thank you for presenting me with some interesting entertainment." With that cold show of appreciation, Cyrus left the way he came.

"Yeah..." Starlight mumbled, thankful that he had left so quickly.

Deciding not to waste any more time, Starlight enveloped herself in her magic and began to levitate herself upward to the clearing's exit.

As she revealed herself, out in the open, she saw her first enemy, Twilight, standing on Giratina. The sight of which shocked her but what truly made her stop midway for a moment was seeing Giratina's true self for the first time. The grey body, the black and red stripes, the gold armor, the black wispy wings and those red menacing eyes once again made her feeling nothing but one thing - scared.

This time, though, it lasted for a few seconds as she regained her composure and brought herself to ground a fair distance away from the two.

"Starlight!" Twilight called happily as she leaped off Giratina and hovered to the platforms ground, landing close to Starlight, giving her a smile, "I'm glad you're alright."

Starlight's left eye twitched with blinding rage for a second but managed to suppress it enough to give Twilight a calm but annoyed response, "I guess I should say thank you but let's wait till we get out of this Tartarus looking place, first."

Twilight expected such a response but knew she was not going to like this as she looked away for a moment, "It's not that simple Starlight."

Her rage returned again but had enough control emit with gritted teeth, "What...?"

"Stay your anger, criminal," Giratina warned harshly, his red eyes flashing as they got her attention, his voice booming through her head, "You WILL be released but," His eyes softened slightly, as he turned his focus to Twilight, "The Princess needs to prove herself to me."

Twilight turned to Giratina with a firm stance, ready for what was to come.

Starlight, however, was confused at the sight in front of her and couldn't help but ask apprehensively, "What do you mean 'prove herself'?"

Giratina looked to Starlight for a moment but looked beyond her and out to the world, "Cyrus," Giratina called out calmly, "I sense your presence. Reveal yourself."

At his command, the sound of a nearby platform shaking was heard to the left of Giratina, all three of them observed as Cyrus rose up, hands behind his back as the platform he was standing connected with the one they were on.

Twilight reared her head back slightly at the first sight of Cyrus. She recognized his species from her time in the other world but who he was, why he was here and why he had such cold looking eyes had to wait as she watched Cyrus methodically step off of his platform and onto the one all four of them shared, stopping a few feet away from them all.

"You summoned me, Giratina?" Cyrus asked, flatly.

"Indeed." Giratina replied calmly and returned his attention to Twilight, "Twilight, this is Cyrus, a being who, like Starlight, tried to assimilate all of reality by creating a new world."

"Really?!" Twilight said, shocked, hearing his acts of villainy for the first time.

"He speaks the truth." Cyrus said, coldly, as he closed his eyes, "I was within a hair's breath of obtaining my perfect world, a world without spirit, and even though that Champion tried her best to thwart me, it was Giratina that undid all of my work within seconds. He freed his kin of time and space, who I had under my control, and brought me here."

He opened his eyes to see the two ponies looking at him with shock having heard his tale, even Starlight was - now knowing it was Giratina's family who had that kind of power.

"But, as I said to you, Starlight," Twilight focus shifted between the two of them for a moment before he finished with a slight smile, "Being here, in the Distortion World, has given me clarity that this world was the one I sought..."

For some reason, Twilight couldn't help but feel glad for this man as he turned his attention to Giratina.

"I assume you brought me here for something other than my life story, right?"

Twilight and Starlight looked at the dragon as he nodded once more.

"Twilight Sparkle. If you truly wish for Starlight to return to your world, then your words will not be enough. You will have to prove your resolve by defeating ONE of Cyrus' Pokemon in a battle."

The notion of a battle made Twilight's eyes shrink in shock. Starlight smiled, out of sight, at the thought but both of them wondered what Giratina was asking Cyrus to do.

Cyrus raised a brow slightly, feeling a little confident, as he asked, "Will I get to decide which one?"

"You may." Giratina replied before turning his sight once more to the Princess, who was evidently getting a little anxious. "Starlight and I will be watching from a spot nearby, and I will warn you now," His eyes glared at Starlight as he growled, "Should you attempt to flee from this, should Twilight be aided in any way by you or should she fail - you will NEVER return to you world, understand?"

Under the baleful gaze once more, Starlight flinched and her ears dropped.

She found herself, surprisingly to her, looking to Twilight who looked right at her with a scared but firm look. That look. The one she saw when she was confronted at the mountains and the same that was at the ruins castle was back once more and though Starlight had grown to vehemently despise that look, Starlight knew that her enemy was her only ally in all of this.

"Starlight," Twilight smiled, confidently, "I've got this."

Starlight wondered if she did as she watched Giratina fly over to a nearby platform that overlooked the current one they stood on. His eyes, once again, glaring at her.

She weighed her options as she turned to Twilight as she saw that same expression didn't change nor did the posture falter.

Starlight swallowed her pride and said two firm words; "Don't lose."

Twilight responded with a faithful nod as she watched Starlight reluctantly levitate herself to join Giratina above.

"It will be a nice change of pace to have a Pokemon battle after so long," Cyrus said from the other side of the platform, quite a fair distance placed between the two of them.

"So, how does this work, Cyrus?" Twilight asked, honestly unaware of what she will have to do. "I've never even heard of a Pokemon before."

"Well, you've met one." Cyrus stated, pointing directly at Giratina.

Twilight was surprised as she looked up once more at the giant dragon but looked once more to Cyrus for an explanation.

"Pokemon are creatures of great power. They come in all shapes and sizes. There are those who hold immense capabilities like Giratina, who is in a small class called 'Legendary', but there are many others whose powers that don't quite match those of the 'Legendaries' but are still indeed powerful all on their own."

Hearing this information about such powerful beings from another world intrigued but also scared Twilight, though she did her best not to show it.

"From the world I originated from - humans and Pokemon lived prosperously. They aligned with each other as humans found a means of capturing them in a unique fashion. They could be raised as a part of the family, used to help improve lives, or most commonly," Cyrus began to stand confidently despite exuding a cold demeanor, "Used for battling."

Twilight didn't like where this was going.

"Trainer and Pokemon become a unified team as they aim to become victorious through battle and this what we will do - if you manage to render the Pokemon I choose unconscious, you win. But, the reverse applies as well. Understand?"

The Princess took a moment to compose herself as she processed the information and implications of what she had to do. Remembering that she swore to herself, on her journey through the Distortion world, that she would find Starlight and that before she came she swore her friends, her best friends, that she would save her. With that in mind, she stood strong, wings outstretched and her form ready for what was to come.

"You know that I don't intend to lose to you, Princess." Cyrus warned, coldly.

Without missing a beat Twilight replied, "Neither do I."

Cyrus closed his eyes, lowered his head and placed his arms behind his back, feeling nostalgic as looked at Twilight with a cold, confident, hard stare as he asked rhetorically, "Ready?"

To Be Continued...