Starlight's Great Adventure

Chapters

The night everything changed
Dangerous trip
Crystal Madness
The show must go on...
Sweet Apple Acres: At the Apple Orchard
Sweet Apple Acres: Inside the barn
Giggle at the Castle of the Two Sisters
Precious nightmare
The Town Hall shall resist!
Last confrontation

The night everything changed

That night was going to be eternal, and no, I'm not talking about Nightmare Moon.

No, something else happened...

__________________________________

In Starlight’s room, inside the Castle of Friendship, Twilight’s protege was getting ready for Nightmare Night.

The day went well: walking through Ponyville, having fun with Trixie, and now Nightmare Night! It wasn't anything like the other days, when Starlight was a villain barely reformed. Those first days were a little difficult for her, but now she had Twilight, Trixie, Sunburst...

Good friends for me. Just what I always dreamed of. thought Starlight.

Knock Knock

"Come in!" she yelled.

The door of Starlight's room opened, revealing Twilight and Spike.

"Hi Starlight!" They said.

"Hi Twilight! Hi Spike! Ready for Nightmare Night?" asked Starlight.

"IT WILL BE SUPER AMAZING!! YOU WILL SEE TONIGHT, STARLIGHT!!"

Starlight and Spike looked at Pinkie in both surprise and confusion. Twilight giggled at their reactions.

"Calm down. As for your question, Starlight, this will be a Nightmare Night you won't forget!"

Starlight smile, "Then I'm looking forward to it. See you tonight!" Twilight and Spike leave to get their costumes ready.

It would definitely be an unforgettable night...

__________________________________

The sun was setting down, and everypony was outside (Twilight and her friends, Starlight, Trixie, the CMC, everypony), watching as the stars twinkled in the sky.

But there was something different... different and wrong.

"Look right there! In the sky!" yelled Cheerilee.

"What is that?" asked Fluttershy suspiciously.

"Is it a shooting star!? Huh?" said Sweetie Belle.

Everypony answered that question with a beautiful "Ooooooh".

And everypony was looking at the star with joy in their faces. Until they realized something:

It wasn't a shooting star... More of a falling star...

And it was approaching fast...

Panic was now in every face. Some ponies ran to hide in their homes. Unicorns, including Trixie, Starlight, and Rarity, tried their best to cast spells in an attempt to stop the meteor to no avail.

That Nightmare Night, the meteor struck Ponyville.

And Starlight was...

Teleported just one second before?

"Wait. What happened? Am I dead?" Starlight said in fear.

She didn't understand what was happening. What did happen? She waited until she saw the faces of two familiar alicorns.

"Hello, Starlight Glimmer."

__________________________________

MUSIC

Starlight looked around at her current location. White walls, windows with crystal figures, two thrones, and the Royal Sisters in front of her...

"Hold on...this is Canterlot, right?" asked Starlight.

"Yes, Starlight. You are in our castle right now." answered Princess Celestia.

"But…” She paused in realization, “I get it. You teleported me here." said Starlight.

"That is the most curious thing, Starlight Glimmer. Thou teleported thyself to our castle." said Princess Luna, slipping a little into her old Equestrian.

"Really? How’s that even possible?" Starlight asked confused, but Celestia was quick to explain.

"In a moment of danger, when you really need something, more specifically when you need to get away from danger, the most common thing for unicorns is to cast a spell. In your case a teleportation spell, to get away from any possible damage. Even if you were nervous, you decided the only way for saving you was to teleport away."

Now, Starlight was thinking about that. It sounded simple enough but after a few seconds, she remembered why she was there, in Canterlot.

"What is happening?! Some sort of meteor struck Ponyville! Was I the only who--?"

"Yes. We know that. The magic meteor did hit Ponyville, but it didn’t just affect Ponyville." said Celestia.

Luna clarified, "Some sort of curse fell from the meteor and spread to all of Equestria. Canterlot is, for the moment, the only safe place to stay."

But it wasn't really safe. As if on cue, Canterlot became flooded with screams and ponies trying to hide in their houses, while what looked like dark magic was spreading to the throne room's door. When it reached the door, it was blown up, and somepony entered.

It was... Twilight?

Starlight smiled, relieved, "Twilight! I'm so glad to see...you?" her smile faded to shock, her shock into panic when she saw Twilight.

Her hooves were encased in dark shoes.

Her mane was up, in darker colors.

Her horn was larger, and it was glowing like her eyes.

Her wings were bigger and darker.

And a sinister smile completed the description.

"Oh Starlight. You remember my name! That's so cute!" she said that with a creepy laugh.

"What happened to you?" asked Starlight, both worried and scared.

"Good question. First let get across that my name is Midnight. Second, what you say if I told you that a meteor spread dark magic around Equestria, and now everypony blames you for that!" explained Midnight her voice becoming a snarl as she spoke of the meteor.

"How can it be my fault?!" asked an angry Starlight.

"Oh come on, Starlight. After you stepped in Ponyville, all you were was a problem for the rest of us! Not to mention the whole time-travel drama you put me in! Did you really know what were you doing?" explained Midnight. "So the meteor was the only way I could show you what we could do if we decided to fight against you."

"But you are not Twilight!" said Starlight.

"I am afraid that you are wrong Star. I am still Twilight, I’m just now more powerful than ever. Also, I have a magic shield here in Canterlot, so you can’t stop me!" shouted Midnight gleefully.

"Dare to pass through it and my friends will have some words with you, Starlight."

"Let’s show you an Equestria without Harmony!" and with that, Midnight Sparkle disappeared.

Starlight and the Princesses took a moment to process what just happened inside the castle.

"Wait a minute. Where is Spike?" asked Starlight concerned and worried.

"I’m here." answered Spike, who was hiding behind the thrones. "I think I got teleported with you...and I saw everything."

"So, what do we do? There’s the shield, and if Midnight didn't lie, our friends are monsters now." Starlight said distrought.

"I want to help!" said Spike suddenly.

"Spike, I don't think--"

"No, I'm serious. I want to go with you, Starlight. I will help you in anyway I can, even fight if we need to do that. Please, just give me a chance!"

Starlight didn’t want to put Spike in danger but she could see the hurt in his eyes. She agreed reluctantly.

"Thanks a lot, Spike. But I don't think that just the two of us could do anything against Midnight and our former friends."

"I HAVE IT UNDER CONTROL!" boomed a very familiar voice in the castle.

And then, he appeared.

"Discord! Now I'm so glad to see somepony, even if it isn't a pony and it is floating between...uh...cakes." Starlight said, glancing momentarily at the pastries.

"I supposed you would say something like that, but I forgive you. Meanwhile, the fate of Equestria depends on us." said Discord smiling.

"And how do you know that?" Spike asked.

"Because I read the book and it explained everything! By the way I would have told you more but the editor took that bit out." explained Discord.

Now it was the Princesses turn to speak.

"The three of you look like a good team. But before you take a step in Ponyville, you need to visit the Crystal Empire and take Sunburst with you." explained Celestia.

"Sunburst! I almost forgot about him! How is he?" Starlight asked ernestly.

"We don't know if he is cursed or not. All we know is that he is still in the Crystal Empire. So please, go ahead, take the train at the station and go there." told Luna.

And they did. Starlight, Spike and Discord easily ignored the magical barrier (chaos powers and all) and took the only train that would take them to Crystal Empire.

________________________________

While this occured, an old instrument started to play its creepy song...

Dangerous trip

"Now, we have monsters roaming Equestria. Ha! I could do that with some chaos if I wanted to!" said Discord full of pride.

"Yeah, whatever. I hope Rarity is okay." admitted Spike.

"We don't know who will be a monster until we have him/her in front of our faces. But first, let's focus on taking that train and going to the Crystal Empire." said Starlight.

When they arrived to the deserted station, there was the train, waiting for them. They boarded it and stayed in there for the trip.

The train was at a half of the trip when things started to go wrong.

"Hey, guys! I see three ponies running towards the train! They look like alicorns!" said Spike.

"Alicorns? I see one flying, and the other two running." said Discord very surprised.

Indeed, they were not alicorns, but armored alicorn-sized nightmarish versions of three ponies they kney so well.

One was white, with fashionable armor, purple and pink mane, and a great horn.

The middle one was yellow, with reddish mane. She had so much power in her legs, so she was the fastest and the strongest.

And the third one was the flying one. Orange, with purple mane, and her wings were so big.

At that moment, the adventures knew who were their enemies:

The Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Come on, guys! We want to play with you! Stop that train and let us in!"

"If that is a game, I don't wanna play anything that isn't Checkers." told Discord.

"We need to escape the train! But how??" shouted Spike, really nervous right now.

After some thinking, Starlight came up with an idea.

"Got it! We can go to the last wagon and jump out of the train!".

With the other two approving her idea, they started running from wagon to wagon. Soon, they discovered that was an uneasy thing to do.

"What does beauty mean when there isn't anypony to admire you? Stop right there and watch me... as I tear apart your precious train!!"

The first wagon was zapped a few times by Sweetie Belle's horn. Spike was almost hit by one zap, buy they still ran.

"Don't you dare ignore me, guys! Now that I finally have wings, I will use them to destroy all of you!!"

The next wagon was getting its roof teared by Scootaloo, who was breaking more each passing second. They avoided her wings and hooves with some problems, and continued their race.

The next one...

Nothing happened until Apple Bloom started breaking the wagon's walls, thing that encouraged the adventurers to run to the end of the train.

"We know ya want ta ignore our game, Starlight. But Ah'm still sure ya will fail!!"

The CMC attacked them all the way, until they finally reached the last door, which would be used by our friends to escape the infernally fast train. Because the attacks affected it, causing it to go faster.

And it was going to crash...

Discord used some of his magic to zap away the evil CMC, giving Starlight a little more time to think. But he still wanted to save magic for the most important moments. And he was a little tired after the first battle against some ponies who were now more agressive than before.

As for Starlight... Tired of resisting the attacks of the CMC, she had energy left for one teleport. She was ready to teleport herself until she saw Spike.

Before Spike knew what happened, he was touching ground. He understood the fact that he had been teleported away.

And ten seconds later, to his horror, the train finally crashed...

But Discord and Starlight were coming down the way towards him.

"Guys! I was so worried about you!" admitted Spike.

"But we did it. And that is the important thing." said Starlight.

"If those were the CMC, I'm worried about what happened to my dear Fluttershy." said Discord.

"I still want to know if Rarity is ok. Or what happened to her. Maybe she is good." said Spike.

Seeing her friends so concerned, Starlight decided to interfere, reassuring them because she would need her team ready for whatever could happen.

"I really hope our friends will be okay. But we will reassure about that later. For now, I think I see the Crystal Palace from here. We should go and see how things are there. Also, we will try to find Sunburst so he joins the team." explained Starlight.

And there were them, walking the Wastelands' last distance to the Crystal Empire.

Meanwhile, the mysterious cloaked mare was still between ancient walls, sitting in front of that instrument, playing a song that everypony should remember...

Author's Note

If you are trying to guess what the Nightmare CMC look like, you'll find the answer here:

http://giuliabeck.deviantart.com/art/The-Frenemies-277017527

All credits to the creator.

Crystal Madness

Some time later, they finally arrived to the Crystal Empire, but they found it like an abandoned house: there was nopony besides them.

"Normally, this place is full of crystal ponies, but I don't remember why." said Discord.

"The Crystal Heart has so much magic, so everypony must protect it, because it can happen anything with the Heart." said Starlight.

"I remember that. With Twilight's help, I saved not just the Crystal Heart, but all the Crystal Empire. I did that some time ago, when it was attacked by King Sombra." told Spike, remembering the moment in which King Sombra almost won.

"Of course, I had some help. Heheheh."

Starlight already knew that, but Discord was surprised and amused at the same time. He tried to think about that while he was eating a box of popcorn (including the stripes of the same box).

At some point, they started to think what could have happened when they discovered the trap they just got in.

In just a couple of seconds, ponies started to appear, surrounding them. They were the crystal ponies, but they looked so different...

Red eyes...
Zombie-like behavior...

It was clear: they were monsters too.

________________________________

"Right. Midnight Sparkle said that the meteor spread its dark magic to all of Equestria." said Starlight.

"Tell me. We don't have to fight them, do we?" asked Spike.

"When we are done with you, there won't be anypony to remember your story!"

"Okay, we need to fight. Get ready." demanded Discord.

The next moments were tiring for the three of them. The crystal zomponies attacked them from all places. But they didn't have it so easy.

With Spike's determination, Discord's fun and Starlight's magic, the battle was looking bad for the zomponies. Even when they attacked in groups, they barely scratched Discord's belly, which made him laugh.

"That tickles! Hahahahaha!!" said Discord, before firing some pies against them.

After some minutes of fight, magic and more pies, the zomponies retreated, leaving our friends alone once more.
________________________________

"Okay. Now that we dealed with that problem, which one of these is Sunburst's house?" asked Discord.

"Maybe... Yes... I think I remember it from the last time I was here!" answered Starlight, with pride on her face.

Instead of walking, they ran because there wasn't going to be long until the zomponies returned. After a couple of minutes looking between streets and houses, they found the way to Sunburst's house. Starlight knocked on the door, but there was no response.

"Maybe he is not inside. Maybe he is a zompony too. Or maybe..." said Starlight.

"Maybe he is deaf." finished Discord, approaching the door.

Spike and Starlight prepared themselves for Discord's great knock, but somehow, he slipped his arms and mouth under the door, materialized a megaphone and shouted:

"SUNBUUUUURST!!! WE KNOW YOU ARE IN THEEEEEEEERE!!! COME OOOOOUT!!!"

And five seconds later, a confused (and barely deaf) Sunburst appeared on the door. He opened it a little, revealing Discord's face.

"Ugh! What do you want? You nearly got me deaf!" demanded Sunburst.

"Open more." said Discord. Sunburst did that, revealing Spike and Starlight.

"Oh! Hello there! Come in now!" said Sunburst, making them enter inside his house.

________________________________

"It's so good to see you, Sunburst. We thought you were a zompony." said Starlight

"We? Please..." said Discord.

"I'm glad to see that we are not the only survivors of the meteor. When the meteor stroke Ponyville, its magic started to spread around, so I casted a shield to protect me. Then, I hid in my house because out there is really dangerous with the other ponies being infected."

"But those are not zomponies. They look evil, with red eyes and that, but they don't eat other ponies." explained Sunburst.

"Still, we can call them 'zomponies' without any problem." said Spike.

"Wait. You said 'we'? Are there more survivors?" asked Starlight.

"Yes. Cadence, Shining Armor and Flurry Heart! They are in the palace right now! Like me, they summoned a magic shield against the meteor's magic, but they are trapped because some crystals are blocking the doors!" explained Sunburst.

"Okay. We need to save them. And then, we will go to Ponyville and see how is the panorama in there." said Starlight.

________________________________

So the group got out carefully and quietly, because they didn't know if the zomponies would come back.

Eventually, they arrived to the center of the Crystal Empire, where the palace was.

"So there it is." said Spike.

"I saw it so many times, but it is still amazing!" admitted Discord.

"We need to find an entrance. If we don't see any not-crystallized door, we will have to break them." said Starlight.

So they began to search around the palace for an entrance. If it was just Starlight, it would take so much time to find it. But Sunburst, Spike and Discord were there to help, taking just a minute to find a crystal-covered entrance.

"Look at those crystals... They look... Delicious..." said Spike.

"Are you sure?" asked Starlight.

"Let him do it. Dragons have a special taste in crystals and gems. I think it cannot be a big problem." said Sunburst.

"Okay. Here I go." said Spike, preparing his teeth.

________________________________

And Sunburst wasn't lying. Being really hungry, Spike took a few minutes to eat the crystals, revealing the door.

"I'm impressed..." admitted Discord. "But there could be more blocked doors, so let's hope you still want to eat."

Fortunately for Spike's stomach, there was just one door left. When Spike ate all the crystals blocking it, the door opened, revealing Cadence, Shining Armor and Flurry Heart, who were surprised of Spike's hunger.

"Wow. A dragon beating my magic." said Shining.

"I forgive you." responded Spike.

"That's because the crystals were made from magic capable of beating other magic, but too weak against a dragon's mouth." explained Sunburst.

"Okay. So we are ready to go to Ponyville." said Starlight.

"We still have a problem, Starlight. The train was destroyed by the CMC." said Discord.

"Then, what do we do?" asked Spike.

Everypony thought about it, until Cadence talked.

"If we combine our magic, we can repair the train and take it!"

"Then, don't waste more time. Let's go back to the Wastelands and find it." said Starlight.

________________________________

After a good walk at the Crystal Empire's streets, some fights with zomponies and the Wastelands, they found the crashed train.

"To think that the CMC did this... That's horrible..." said Sunburst.

"How is Twily, Starlight?" asked Shining.

"She transformed into some pony called 'Midnight Sparkle', and she is the responsible of this madness." answered Starlight.

"My Celestia..." muttered Shining.

"Let's just combine our magic with this spell I have here. It should work." explained Sunburst, showing the spell to Starlight, Shining Armor, Cadence and Discord. Meanwhile, Flurry Heart and Spike watched as they charged up all the magic needed to restore the train.

When they finished, Discord teleported to the locomotive to try and make it work. A couple of seconds later, his voice boomed.

"All aboard!!"

So they did as told, and took the train to visit whatever was Ponyville right now.

________________________________

And that mare smiled as she continued to play a song on the organ, inside that creepy and ancient castle...

The show must go on...

Some moments later, our "good guys" are arriving near Ponyville. However, they saw that the train was stopping in one place they didn't want to be at the time...

A place that the eternal night made horrifying...

The Everfree Forest.

"Now that you’re inside the Everfree, I hope my friends can tell who’s responsible for all that is happening, Starlight." Midnight Sparkle said to herself.

"The show MUST go on... What do you think, Trixie?"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Discord abandoned the locomotive, which was currently emanating smoke.

"Big problem. The track ends here. And even if it didn't, we’d still have to fix the train again." Discord explained removing his hat and hitting the side of his head causing a gnome to fall out.

"So we’re stuck in the Everfree." Cadence said, annoyed. “Couldn’t we use a teleportation spell?”

"Due to us not knowing what’s becoming of Ponyville, that could be a great mistake. For all we know we could teleport into the wall of a fallen building. We need to save our magic and energy for important things." Sunburst said.

"We’ll have to walk to Ponyville. Better cover ourselves, just in case something like the 'CMC Attack' happens again." Starlight said.

"I don't think Trixie will be enough for them. What am I doing wrong?" Midnight thought before realization splattered across her muzzle, “Oh right! I can always separate them! And I know just the perfect pony..."

They had crossed about half of the distance made in the forest when they saw something strange on the sky.

"Wait. Is that a storm cloud?" Spike asked. Flurry Heart was getting worried.

Discord measured the cloud (with a ruler in his hands and a song in his heart), and said, "It’s too big for a normal storm cloud. And judging from the fact that it’s way thicker than any other cloud base form, it might actually be..."

“Cloudsdale.” Starlight finished.

Discord nodded, “Smart as a whip and able to finish other ponies/draconequus sentences. That’s what I like about you Starry. You’re the perfect main character.”

"I’ll try and go up there with my levitation spell, and investigate." Starlight said. But two of her companions interfered.

"Wait, Starlight. I’ll go too, I have wings after all. Shining, could you take care of Flurry?" Cadence said.

"Of course, darling. I’ll stay down here." Shining Armor answered.

"I’m coming too." Discord said as he pulled out a paintbrush. “Always thought Cloudsdale could use a little color to it.”

"Okay. Meanwhile, Sunburst, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart and me will wait and cover ourselves if something appears." Spike said.

"Very well. See you later, guys." Starlight said.

A couple of seconds later, Starlight, Cadence and Discord arrived at Cloudsdale. It looked like a ghost town: ruined, and there wasn't a living soul.
There was one exception. Just one solitary pegasus waiting for them...

"Hello? Who are you? Are you ok?" Starlight asked curiously.

To their surprise and horror, the pegasus approached, allowing them to see who it was.

A pegasus wearing a shadowbolt outfit, with red aviator glasses and a darkly multicolored mane.

Rainbow Dash.

"No! Not you, Rainbow Dash! Not you!" Starlight exclaimed.

"Yes, Starlight. It's me. But you can call me Dark Spectrum, cause it sounds 120% cooler!"

"If I knew I was going to fight you again, I would not have come up there. I prefer getting coffee. It’s so much easier." Discord said as a cup appeared in his hands, one with contents he downed quickly.

"Too late for that. You’re in my training field now, and I’m not letting you get away." Dark Spectrum said.

"Stop this madness.” Cadence said. “When Sunburst and the others get up there, you’ll lose, Rainbow!"

"Hey! I told you not to call me that! It sounds weak compared to...well, this. Besides, we have a great surprise for them." Dark Spectrum said
.
"Surprise?" Starlight questioned, fearfully.
Her answer came up with a booming voice.

"THE SHOW MUST GO ON!!!"

Starlight recognized that voice, unfortunately.

"Oh no..." she muttered, as Dark Spectrum approached them menacingly.

As the others ascended to Cloudsdale, Sunburst stayed down with Shining Armor, Flurry Heart and Spike.
They could see the events with Rainbow Dash, until some type of circus music started to play.

"Music in the middle of the forest? That's a bit strange...then again, everythings strange at this point." Spike said.

"You think? We’ll have to see where it comes from." Shining answered.

With that they made their deeper into the forest where they found a show stage. The music resounded from it.

Then, a bunch of smoke exploded, after which Trixie appeared, standing on the stage.

"Hello, my friends! The Great and Powerful Trixie is going to show you some of her magic tricks!" Trixie said.

They’d heard Rainbow Dash arguing with Starlight, Cadence and Discord. Enough reasons to keep concentrating on that.

"We don't have time for this! Your show is not going to help us at this moment!" Sunburst said.

The problem here was simple. If Trixie invited you to her show, you should be okay with it. So, seeing that nopony wanted to see her...

"THE SHOW MUST GO ON!!!"

And then, she disappeared...

Or more exactly, her hologram vanished.

Because now, a monster appeared.

It was as big as cerberus, but it had a pony-body, with three pony-heads that Starlight knew so much, and three pairs of glowing red eyes.

Starlight was shocked but she returned her attention to Rainbow Dash.

"You are so pathetic. The real show starts now!!" the three heads of Trixie boomed like a hurricane of voices.

Flurry Heart casted a magic shield to surround them just in time to avoid a powerful hit of Trixie.

"Trixie! You don't need to do this! We are your friends!" Sunburst yelled desperately.
"Did The Great and Powerful Trixie's friends help her when that meteor fell? You are not my friends!" Trixie exclaimed, hitting the shield.

"We need help!" Spike said.

"I just hope Cadence and the others are well..." Shining Armor said.

Meanwhile, at Cloudsdale, the two bands were injured by the battle. Some clouds separated from the original one during it.
Dark Spectrum now had her glasses half-broken, and her mane was a mess, like the others.

Oh, and Discord actually got hurt. A Dark Rainboom had left some bruises on his body.

"Well, the colors of the rainbow are worse than I thought. Maybe I’ll refrain from giving this place a makeover." he said.

They were tired, but they weren’t going to give up.

Dark Spectrum attacked furiously, diving like bird after it’s prey. Her aim brought her to Cadence, but the pink alicorn was too injured to react accordingly. Starlight rushed over in a hurry to save her but she wasn’t near close enough to do so.

It looked like the end for Cadence, but out of nowhere, Discord popped into existance full speed and rammed into the pegasus.

When Dark Spectrum tried to hit Discord, Cadence struck her with a zap, sending her all the way down...

Dark Spectrum fell inside the shield casted by Flurry Heart, where Sunburst, Shining Armor, Spike and Flurry took refuge. They were going to attack her when they heard her...

Crying?

"Wait a minute. Rainbow Dash...is crying?" Spike asked, as confused as the others, while Starlight, Cadence and Discord came back. Flurry Heart dropped down the shield due to there being no sign of Trixie anywhere.

"No! I’m not crying! I just...got something in my eye."

All of them were a little surprised by that. She didn’t correct them and she sounded like herself. Discord was the first to speak up.

"I don’t think we just beat Rainbow Dash. We also reformed her!" he said pulling a club from his non-existent pockit, “A good conk on the noggin and she’s good as new.”

"Yeah, like we did with you, remember?" Rainbow said.

"But you’re still in the whole 'villain' outfit. Aren't you supposed to...like...go back to normal?" Starlight asked.

Rainbow wiped away a few tears and sat up, "I know. I still have the outfit, and the powers... It's awesome! But I’ll lose them as soon Twi...uh...Midnight is defeated. The same happens with the others...I think." Rainbow explained.

"So we need to find her and fight!" Spike shouted, wanting his Twilight back.

"Hold on there, buddy! Did you see her new powers? Before we fight, we need to make her weaker. And for that, you’ll need to fight against the other monsters, like Trixie." Rainbow said. The others looked at her curiously. “What? I may be a bit of a hothead but I studied war tactics with the Wonderbolts.”

Starlight nodded approvingly until something occured to her, "Speaking of which, where is Trixie?" she asked.

"RIGHT HERE!!!"

Trixie jumped from some bushes of the Everfree. Flurry Heart had just a second to raise another shield, but Trixie's impact against it broke it.

"T-T-Trixie??" Now, Starlight was really frightened.

"Hello there, Starlight! It's so good to see you!" Trixie said.

"Why a-are you a c-cerberus??" Starlight asked.

"It seems that The Great and Powerful Trixie was weaker before, so Midnight Sparkle gave her new powers!" Trixie said.
"Oh, and I see you already met my companion, Dark Spectrum."

"There you are, Trixie. I was almost about to fly to Ponyville to search for you. You’ve got these fools to have fun with now!" Rainbow Dash said. Trixie had luckily not heard the previous conversation and suspected nothing.

"You’re injured, but nothing that I cannot repair!" Trixie said, conjuring a spell on Rainbow, so now her body was as athletic and unbeaten as before.

"Wow, that's awesome! Thanks, Foolish and Stupid Trixie!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Oh, you don't have to... Wait, what?" but before Trixie could say anything else, Rainbow stroke her with a Dark-Rainboom, seriously hurting her.
"Traitor!!" Trixie shouted in a rage.
"Try it, if you want to do this the hard way..." Rainbow said.

So Trixie tried to attack Rainbow, but her actions only encouraged Starlight, Discord, Spike and the others to fight against her.

Discord tried to throw an explosive pie at Trixie, but he had to move out of the way before Trixie crushed him with one of her hooves.

"Why can't you stop for a second, you freaking draconequus??" Trixie asked, really frustrated.

"Because I am the chaos, and that cannot be stopped! And I have a story to fill up for the writer." Discord answered, summoning another pie.

So there was Trixie, trying to hit them, smash them, and while Starlight and Sunburst zapped her, Discord attacked her with funny things that must’ve been copyrighted, Spike tried to climb her body to distract her, Shining Armor, Cadence and Flurry Heart used their combined magic to weaken her...

And Rainbow helped them...

After a while, Trixie was on the floor, crying, like Rainbow had been. Starlight approached towards the three giant heads of her former best friend.

"Why are you doing this? If you were by my side, I could show you some magic tricks, so useful against our enemies!" Trixie said.

"You came here, and the first thing you did was attack my...our friends." Starlight answered. This made Trixie cry more.

"Do you want to be my best friend again, Trixie?"

Suddenly, Trixie's glowing red eyes stopped crying and saw Starlight's hoof raised towards her. Trixie doubted, but then she raised one of her hooves and touched Starlight.

A light surrounded them during a couple of seconds, and when it vanished, Trixie was still a cerberus, but now she had her normal eyes on each head.

She was reformed...

And happy...

"Hey, Starlight!" Trixie said.

"Hey, Trixie!" Starlight said.

Because of the emotional moment, Discord conjured a couch, which the others were using to appreciate. Even Discord was crying chocolate tears that sparkled into pixie dust when applied with lotion, should ever need it.

"Well, we have another pony reformed!" Sunburst claimed.

"Yeah! Now, what do we do?" Spike asked.

"We should continue our way to Ponyville, to see how are the things there." Starlight said.

"Then, what are you waiting for, Starlight?" Trixie said.

"Yeah, you should go! We will stay here, just in case somepony else wants to fight." Rainbow Dash said.

So they did. They said "goodbye" and they took the rest of the way towards Ponyville.

The smiling mare was still playing a song, but now the organ sounded louder each passing second...

Author's Note

Just for letting clear one thing I forgot to say:

Dark Spectrum is not mine. That character belongs to Bootsy Slickmane, who created a cool story about that evil Pegasus. :rainbowdetermined2:

You can make a visit and read that story; you need to search for Dark Spectrum on its title. Bootsy sure will like that detail. :twilightsmile:

Sweet Apple Acres: At the Apple Orchard

Starlight, Sunburst, Spike, Discord, Shining Armor, Cadence and Flurry Heart finally got to the fence separating the Everfree Forest from Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack's home.

"Okay, this is the first place to look on Ponyville. It seems like the forest animals took control of the farm. Look at those bats!" said Starlight.

"Yes, but why are there timberwolves near the barn?" asked Discord.

"It is really strange. Normally, bats and timberwolves are enemies between themselves. But I think they fought, bats for the apples and timberwolves for the barn's wood..." explained Sunburst.

"Right! Because they need wood!" said Spike.

"Then we need to stop them. But first, let's deal with the bats. We don't have other way." said Cadence.

_______________________________

At some point, they started to hear some strange music far away.

"What is that? It's a really creepy music." said Starlight.

"Oh! I remember that! I was once in the castle of the Two Sisters with Twilight and the girls, and that music was the ancient organ that activated some traps on there! Since that moment, the organ sometimes plays music alone!" explained Spike.

"Still, we should go investigate after we are done with this 'animal problem'. Keep going." said Sunburst.

________________________________

At the center of the Apple Orchard, Starlight was the first one to stop. She saw a vampony with its tail hung on a tree.

"Careful. We don't know what it can do to us." said Starlight.

They approached more, towards the vampony resting on a tree. When they were at a good distance to see, Starlight talked to it.

"Ummm... Hello? Are you a real vampony? Because we are not sure about it..." said Starlight, confused because she talked to somepony who looked more like an animal.

But it didn't answered.

So Starlight tried again, a little frustrated.

"Helloooo? I'm talking to you! Listen to us!" said Starlight.

This action caused the sleepy vampony to wake up and open its wings, making the others freeze in place.

That wasn't a normal vampony.

That was a yellow vampony with a pink messy mane.

Now, Discord knew who it was...

Flutterbat...

________________________________

"Fluttershy... No..." said Discord, with fear on his face.

"What happened to her??" asked Sunburst.

"As the result of a bad spell of Twilight, Fluttershy transformed one night, a long time ago. She had the abilities of the vampire bats. And she still has them. Now, because of Midnight, she is Flutterbat again!" explained Spike.

"When I came back to Ponyville, I corrupted Twilight and her friends, playing with their feelings. And now, she is doing exactly the same... I don't want to fight against her" said Discord.

"But we have to do it! Or Midnight wins!" said Cadence.

"Okay..." answered a depressed Discord.

So they approached where Flutterbat was, waiting for them...

And then, the organ started to sound louder...

_____________________________

At some point, Flutterbat got off the tree, flying in all directions. It was an odyssey for them to catch her.

They separated around the orchard's zone used by Flutterbat to rest and drain apples.

Starlight tried to zap Flutterbat with a spell, but failed.
Spike ran, tripping with an apple, which was eaten by Flutterbat later.
Sunburst had some magic spells to stop Flutterbat but not enough to leave serious injuries. Even that was useless against her.
Shining Armor, Cadence and Flurry Heart didn't want to hurt Fluttershy, but that was Flutterbat chasing them.

All the time, Discord was in shock, not just because of Flutterbat...

But also because of the organ music...

"Wait a minute, why is she not going anywhere else?" thought Discord, snapping of his shock.

While Flutterbat was fighting against her former friends, Discord experimented a little with the place where they were.

The organ music could be heard inside that place, so Discord stepped away, away, away...

Until the music stopped...

"Yes! That's it!" said Discord.

"Guys, it's the organ music! She doesn't go anywhere else because the music gives her more power!"

The others heard that, and hope began growing in them.

So Spike tried to lure Flutterbat away of that music, but she was smart enough to not doing that.

"We can't lure her away!" he said.

"So, if we can't lure her away, we can fight the music... with other music!" said Discord.

Two seconds later, he was holding a music box on his hands. A music box so special for him...

He grabbed it and started to play the song...

MUSIC

The new music had its effect, because the organ couldn't be heard anymore. Also, Flutterbat stopped flying, and went slowly towards Discord and his music box. She looked like she was hypnotized by the music.

But Discord's hand was getting tired.

"I don't have all night! Transform her now!" he said.

So Starlight and Sunburst combined their magic to keep Flutterbat still, so they could use a reverse spell Sunburst had.

And twenty seconds later, Flutterbat was still there, but she had Fluttershy's behavior.

"Oh... A vampire... Again..." muttered Fluttershy.

Discord approached and gave her a hug.

"I thought I lost you..." said Discord.

"Don't be like that, Discord. I am here." answered Fluttershy.

"You are just a little different. That's it, Flutters." said Spike, making her laugh.

"Do you know what happened?" asked Cadence.

"I was out there like everypony, when that scary meteor fell of the sky. Then, there was Twilight, and the monsters, and... *squeee*"

"Don't worry, my dear. Finish your story." said Discord.

"Oh... Ok... So Twilight transformed me into Flutterbat. I just stayed there eating apples and sleeping. Then I hid because the timberwolves were getting out the forest, going to the farm." finished Fluttershy.

"Wait! Did you see Applejack!?" asked Spike.

"I saw her inside the barn, just before the door closed. She is a monster too... *squee*"

"Ok. We need to enter the barn and defeat her too." said Starlight.

"But... the timberwolves..." said Fluttershy.

"Don't worry. We already saw them. You can stay here if you want, just in case." said Sunburst.

"Um........ Ok." muttered Fluttershy.

"When we defeat Applejack, there's just Ponyville." said Starlight.

"And the organ. Don't forget it." said Spike.

"We will see that later. Now, let's focus on the wood..." said Shining Armor.

________________________________

The organ sounded louder, and the mare playing it was already angry.

"Come on! I'm doing this party for you! Don't ruin it now with your stupid magic tricks!"

________________________________

Midnight Sparkle was feeling nervous, but still confident.

"I have no idea where Flutterbat is, but I still have enough cards to play."

"Wake up, Applejack. You have a special visit..."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Sweet Apple Acres: Inside the barn

MUSIC

There were just a few meters between the group and the barn's door, when they started to see wood moving.

"Timberwolves!!" exclaimed Spike.

The always-feared beasts were surrounding them, but they were going to continue their way to the barn.

"We just have to clear the way!" said Starlight.

So they zapped, hit, avoided and "pied" the timberwolves, until they arrived to the barn's door. They opened it and ran inside, closing it before one timberwolf bit Flurry Heart.

"Ok, we are inside. Finally. Now, we have to find Applejack and..." said Starlight.

"Ah'm right there."

All of them turned to see Applejack standing at the other end of the barn, looking at them with anger on her face.

"Applejack! Good to see you!" said Starlight.

"Ah could say the same if Ah wasn't angry..." said Applejack.

"Why are you like that?" asked Starlight.

"Ya didn't protect us when that meteor fell! That's why!" exclaimed Applejack.

"I'm getting really tired of everypony blaming me about the meteor disaster, you know? It's not my fault!" said Starlight.

"Ah'm afraid you are wrong, sugarcube. As the Element of Honesty, what Ah'm telling ya is the sad truth." answered Applejack.

"Now let's stop talking about useless things. Ah have some friends who wish to say some things."

And then, green eyes started to glow from everywhere, surrounding them...

Even Applejack's eyes were glowing...

As wood appeared on her body...

"We are hungry, Starlight..."

________________________________

Starlight and the others watched with horror as Applejack began her dark transformation.

Her eyes glowed like the timberwolves' ones.
Her hooves were now covered in wood, looking more like claws.
Her teeth changed to powerful jaws.
And some small wooden pieces appeared randomly on her body.

By the end of the transformation, there was Timberjack howling at the eternal night, watching them as she waited for them to commit a big mistake.

And when the organ started to play its song again, the battle was on.

"Guys, this is the plan! Cover me and don't let the timberwolves win! I'm going to fight Timberjack!" said Starlight.

"I will help you, Starlight! I saved her once, when timberwolves attacked us, and we can do the same thing again!" said Spike.

"Ok. We need to... Whoa!" Starlight was interrupted by the sound of the door breaking. But Sunburst and Discord blocked the door, while Cadence, Shining Armor and Flurry Heart were already fighting against the other timberwolves.

"We can't hold the door all night! Beat Timberjack now!" exclaimed Sunburst.

Starlight and Spike, agreeding with that, ran where Timberjack was waiting...

________________________________

"It's so fun when your friends transform into monsters and receive even more power because I'm playing this old organ! Hahahahaha!"

________________________________

Timberjack jumped towards Spike, but he avoided the attack just for a few milimetres. Starlight took advantage of that weakness and zapped Timberjack, causing her to nearly scratch Starlight with a wooden claw.

Spike lunged at Timberjack and tried to punch her several times, at head, body...

Until he remembered he couldn't do more than some pain thanks to his smaller claws.

Timberjack growled like she was laughing, and sent Spike across the wall with a strong hit. Then, she avoided another zap of Starlight and tried again to scratch her.

The result was a poor Starlight Glimmer with a scarred eye.

MUSIC

She zapped Timberjack to another wall and conjured a mirror so she could see her face. And when she saw her scarred eye...

A powerful rage grew inside her...

"You scare my friends, then you hurt a little dragon without mercy... You even dare to give me this permanent mark! I REALLY HATE YOU RIGHT NOW! AND THAT IS THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH, MONSTER!" exclaimed Starlight.

Then, she charged towards Timberjack, who already recovered from the zap, and was waiting for her...

Timberjack's body was full of bruises, but it looked like she didn't care about it.

She growled something strange, but Starlight knew what was that.

"Finally, ya decided ta do somethin'! But ya lost so much time..."

"IT'S TIME TA EAT!"

She roared, receiving a scream from Starlight as an answer, before the two of them charged against each other...

________________________________

Meanwhile, Discord and the others were having troubles with the timberwolves.

"It's useless! They are going to break the door!" said Sunburst.

"Keep holding the door!" said Discord, as he used his magic to destroy all the beasts he could.

Outside the barn, Spike recovered and got up. With the timberwolves busy with the door, they didn't see the other wall broke by him.

He was hurt, but he needed to resist.

He saw an injured and "eye-scarred" Starlight fighting against a weakened but still agressive Timberjack.

He also saw the others holding a nearly broken door.

He decided to help the others; Starlight was going to win eventually, being so angry with all that was happening.

"I could run away and let them chase me, but then what? I don't wanna die!" said Spike.

Suddenly, he remembered something. Fluttershy was still waiting at the Apple Orchard.

And that gave him a really good idea...

________________________________

"This is no longer a door! It will fall!" said Shining Armor.

They thought the timberwolves were going to enter anyway, until they saw someone throwing rocks at the beasts.

"I'm here, stupid beasts! Come on! Catch me!" said Spike, running to the orchard as the timberwolves started to chase him.

Now, there was no problem with the door...

"But Spike is in danger! We need to save him!" said Sunburst.

"I don't think we have to do that." said Discord.

Just as Sunburst was going to question the Spirit of Chaos, all of them heard sounds coming from the orchard.

And when they looked, they saw bats and timberwolves fighting against each other.

"Fluttershy still communicates with the vampire bats. Amazing!" said Discord.

"Indeed. But what about Starlight?" asked Cadence.

That battle was already ending: the battle between Starlight and Timberjack. The two of them were so tired, due to big efforts they made.

________________________________

And later, after a couple of minutes, Timberjack was on the ground, with sadness on her face.

(Actually, Applejack cries on her inside...)

Starlight approached towards her, and started to talk.

"Look, I'm so sorry for saying those horrible things, but I was so nervous thanks to our battle. Please, do me a favor, and let us finish with this misery."

"Grab my hoof; I promise you won't have any problems. And that is REALLY the absolute and good truth."

Timberjack doubted, but then she gave a chance to Starlight, grabbing her hoof.

Suddenly, there was a brilliant light covering them.

And later...

"Whoa ther'! Am Ah supposed ta keep being like tis?" said Applejack, adding a few growls.

"Yes... But you will fully transform back when we defeat Midnight" said Starlight.

"Okay. Ah can wait fer that." said Applejack.

Meamwhile, Spike and Fluttershy came back to the ruined barn.

"Thanks, Fluttershy! I really thank you for your help!" said Spike.

"Um... You're welcome..." muttered Fluttershy, as she received another hug from Discord.

She saw the scarred eye of Starlight, causing her to scream a little.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy. Timberjack just scratched the eye barrier. I lost the color of it, but I still can see." said Starlight, calming down Fluttershy.

"Okay. What do we have to do now?" asked Discord.

"We will split in two groups. One will investigate the organ on the castle, and the other will go to Ponyville to find something." explained Starlight.

The others approved the idea and, bidding farewell to a still timberwolf Applejack, they went by their ways.

________________________________

Meanwhile, in the castle, the mare at the organ was losing her patience.

"Don't you wanna die? Do it so I can celebrate my great victory. IT'S NOT VERY HARD TO DO THAT THING!!"

Giggle at the Castle of the Two Sisters

After bidding farewell to Fluttershy and Applejack, Starlight was going to choose the members of the two groups, until Shining Armor spoke.

"We need to go back to the Crystal Empire, guys." he said.

"Wait! What about Ponyville? We need the three of you so we can win!" said Spike.

"I think I have an idea for that. Ponyville has some corrupted ponies, like our Empire. But, if we bring our own army..." explained Cadence.

"...they won't know what is happening until their last seconds!" said Starlight.

"We still have to reform them, because I think they still are zomponies. Furthermore, I don't know how long will the trip be, without train. But we will do that." explained Shining Armor.

"Okay then. Meanwhile, the four of us will split up. Me and Discord will do a visit to the Castle of the Two Sisters."

"Good combo. I visited it years ago, so I should remember its halls." said Discord.

"Sunburst and Spike, you are going to investigate Ponyville. Contact us if you see anything strange, right?" said Starlight.

"Very well. You remember the 'message spell', Starlight?" asked Sunburst.

"I do. We can communicate between us anytime." she said.

"Okay. See you later, guys." said Discord.

And they went by their different ways...

_______________________________

"Watch out, Pinkie. Sure you will need to fight." said Midnight Sparkle.

"Of course, silly! I was preparing just a little party for them!"

"Perfect. And I've been informed that the CMC are coming back."

"Oh, Starlight. You won't escape my hooves..."

________________________________

Starlight and Discord went through the Everfree Forest, in search of the mighty Castle of the Two Sisters.

At some moment, Discord turned to see Starlight's scarred eye. No colors at all, but she said she could still see with it.

"How are you doing, Starlight?" asked Discord.

"Eh? Oh, you mean about my eye! I'm doing well. It's just that I didn't see that coming..." answered Starlight.

"It looks like it will be permanent." said Discord.

"I hope not. After saving everypony, I don't know how they will react when they see my face." said Starlight, starting to cry.

Discord grabbed her face with his hands, wiping out tears.

"That is the face of a great hero, Starlight. And if that scar is really permanent, everypony will recognize you as a hero. I'm sure of it." said Discord.

"Thank you..." said Starlight.

"Anytime, dear. Anytime."

________________________________

After some minutes of walking, they finally arrived at the pit separating them from the ancient castle. The only bridge was broken.

"Aaah... Now, we don't have any way to go across the pit!" exclaimed Starlight.

She heard a finger snapping and, when she looked, she saw Discord holding a giant pencil.

"There we go! Now, we just need to..." said Starlight, but she was interrupted by Discord, who placed the giant pencil like a bridge across the pit.

This left Starlight so confused.

"What? You were not thinking I was going to draw a bridge with the pencil, were you?" asked Discord.

"Eeeeeh... No?" said Starlight.

"Nevermind. Let us move." said Discord.

Some seconds later, after crossing the "bridge", they were standing at the castle's doors.

"The Castle of the Two Sisters. With this night, it looks too scary." said Starlight.

"Indeed, Starlight. It was a creepy castle since Celestia abandoned it, some time after Luna was banished to the moon." said Discord.

"Remind me why we are here." said Starlight.

The loud organ's song answered her question.

And that was because an...

_____________________________

(Hey! That's my sentence! Steal another one's book!)

Oops! Sorry, Discord!

GETTING BACK TO THE LAST SCENE...

_____________________________

The loud organ's song answered her question.

"Because a REALLY old instrument doesn't play songs by its own. We need to enter there and search for it." explained Discord.

"Got it. Do you have a map?" asked Starlight.

"Yes." answered Discord.

"Then, we are in." said Starlight.

And they entered through the big doors of that castle, looking for the song's source...

________________________________

Meanwhile, Sunburst and Spike went into Ponyville. Walking through the town wasn't hard at all, it just included some zomponies.

"Wait a minute..." said Sunburst.

"What is it?" said Spike.

"I just realized something. Do you see the moon?" asked Sunburst.

"Yeah, it is too close to the ground. Why?" said Spike.

"Normally, when that thing happens, the moon is just on top of the town hall. But it seems like it chose another place for tonight." said Sunburst.

"Really strange. Come on. Let's see!" said Spike.

And the two of them ran towards the place where, on top, the moon was resting.

Knowing exactly what was happening, Spike was so worried...

Because the moon was above Carousel Boutique...

________________________________

Starlight and Discord walked through the main hall of the castle. After watching the multiple corridors, Discord pointed at one.

"This way." he said.

Starlight nodded, following Discord through the corridor, until the organ sounded louder, activating a trapdoor just in front of them.

The Castle of the Two Sisters was popular not just by itself, but also because the old organ was perfect for secret passages and, most importantly, traps (so, if you go there with some friends, DON'T PLAY THE ORGAN unless you are sure that everyone is on the room).

Anyways. The trapdoor surprised them, but Discord knew about the traps.

"Some places of the castle have traps or secrets. We have to avoid them. Lucky you, I remember where they are. I don't think we should have any problem." he explained.

"Okay. Let us continue our way." said Starlight.

________________________________

The Crystal Family were doing well on their trip back to the Crystal Empire.

Shining Armor was basically running, teleporting himself sometimes.

Cadence flew all the time, with Flurry Heart sitting over her.

"Even if we didn't have the train, we still can do this. We will arrive to the Crystal Empire without problems." said Shining.

"Now that I think about that, how are we going to convince the zomponies to fight against Ponyville's monsters?" asked Cadence.

"Like we did with Sombra a long time ago. Our love will be their courage." said Shining.

Cadence nodded at that, while Flurry Heart laughed. And then, they continued to make their way.

________________________________

MUSIC (for this part, I recommend putting the music with loop)

After avoiding more traps and one secret passage leading to the big dragon statue, Starlight and Discord finally arrived to the organ's room, where some pony was playing it.

"Excuse me! Who are you?" asked Starlight.

"Hihihihihi! And I thought you already knew my name, Starlight!"

And when she turned around, Starlight gasped in surprise, while Discord said "not this again".

It was Pinkie Pie...

But she was covered with a black cloak, revealing just her face and her hooves.

What made Starlight so nervous was the fact that Pinkie's eyes were glowing yellow, and the pupils could not be seen.

"Wait a minute. Where is my legends book?" asked Discord. Then, as if cue, a big book appeared from nowhere.

Discord put on some glasses, opened the book and started searching for something. After five seconds, he found it.

"There! Pinkie is... the Pony of Shadows!" exclaimed Discord.

"Oh, don't be silly, Discord! I'm not that mysterious, creepy and legendary pony. I'm something more like... Eeeemm... Oh right! Shadow Pinkie!"

"Whatever." said Discord, before he ate the book. (Do I have to say that he CAN EAT PAPER!?)

"We came here because your organ is so dangerous, Pinkie! Stop playing it!" said Starlight.

"But this is a party, Starlight! This is an 'I-am-going-to-play-the-organ-so-my-friends-will-have-awesome-powers-and-destroy-Harmony' party!! Enjoy it!" said Shadow Pinkie, touching some notes on the organ, making it sound louder.

Starlight and Discord were already noticing the growing cracks on the walls...

"You don't need to tear the castle to pieces, Pinkie! Think about it, and stop playing that!" said Starlight.

"I don't think so. But you know what? You two should stop being party-poopers! Don't you see the things you are doing? You just need some FUN!!" exclaimed Shadow Pinkie, as she left her place on the organ.

It was still playing music, but she was already away, as she started to chase our friends through the ancient castle's halls, now full with fully-activated traps.

"Stay close to me, Starlight. I know how to handle these traps." told Discord.

"But what about Pinkie Pie?" asked Starlight.

"We will keep her distracted until we can find some way to defeat her. Let's go!" said Discord.

And they ran through the halls, avoiding traps and a raging Shadow Pinkie.

"Oh, come on!! Would you two stay still just for once??"

________________________________

They ran to the main hall, but the door was closed, and there was no way to open it.

"Oh, please! Can we stop with the bad luck?" said Discord.

"This means that we MUST reform Pinkie Pie. That is the only way to finish this!" said Starlight.

"Come back! Don't you wanna enjoy the party?" asked Shadow Pinkie.

"Come here and fight, Pinkie!" exclaimed Starlight.

"Hihihihihi! Finally, the party will be FUNNIER!" said Shadow Pinkie, appearing from one of the multiple halls to attack our friends...

________________________________

Spike and Sunburst were still staring at that door. Carousel Boutique's door.

They were a little unsure about what to do.

"Let's just open the door and see what we find inside, shall we?" said Sunburst.

"Eeeeh... Okay... Yeah, I will open it." said Spike.

And so he did. A few seconds later, the door was opened, and they entered.

Inside, the boutique was really dark, with broken clothes everywhere.

"I don't think anypony is here. Maybe Rarity left before." said Sunburst.

"Maybe. But why is the moon above her boutique? I don't get it..." asked Spike.

"I think I already know why, Spike..." answered Sunburst.

"What do you mean?" said Spike, looking at Sunburst, but his eyes were looking at something.

When Spike looked, there was somepony else with them...

Was it... Nightmare Moon?

No, it was...

"Oh... No..." said Spike.

________________________________

The Crystal Family arrived to its destination: the ghost version of the Crystal Empire.

Flurry Heart prepared herself, just in case she needed to summon another magic shield. Cadence and Shining Armor smiled at that.

"Seeing our daughter train her magic... It is a big satisfaction." said Cadence.

"She is still with the shields, but that is a good way to learn: being defenssive." said Shining.

After looking at Flurry Heart during some seconds, receiving sounds and smiles from her, the three of them decided that it was time to enter the Empire and try to bring the zomponies into their side.

"If they unite with us, our army will be ready, and then we can return to Ponyville with them!" exclaimed Shining.

"That is a very good idea! Let us try it now!" answered Cadence.

And our beloved family entered through the mess of ruined streets and abandoned houses, with the zomponies starting to circle them...

But they were ready to fight...

________________________________

After a bunch of moves, hits and spells, the battle was almost finished. Shadow Pinkie was as exhausted as Starlight and Discord were.

But the three of them were still up, looking between themselves.

"...Wow... You really... know how to... how to make a... party... more intere... interesting, Starlight... said Shadow Pinkie.

"I just... learnt magic... I needed to... do that... One way or... another..." said Starlight.

"... Me... too..." said Discord.

They didn't say anything else until five seconds later, when Shadow Pinkie talked.

"The... The party..." that was all she could say, before she fell to the castle's floor.

Starlight was shocked, but the calm invaded her when Discord, dressed as a doctor, examined Shadow Pinkie's body.

"She is just unconscious." he said.

"*phew* Okay then. I suppose the reforming spell will work now, right?" said Starlight.

"I think so. Try it." answered Discord.

Discord got away from Shadow Pinkie's body, while Starlight aimed her horn and fired the spell...

And then...

Then...

Finally, Pinkie opened her eyes. Our friends were surprised because, now, those were her normal eyes.

And yes, she still wore the black cloak.

"Well, Pinkie Pie, we already saved you! What do you think of your appearence?" asked Starlight.

"Oh, I think I look very creepy! But you should take care of that eye, duh!" exclaimed Pinkie.

Just as Starlight tried to answer, they received sounds from the "message spell".

*Starlight! You... need to... come right now!*

"Wait, Sunburst. What do you say?" asked Starlight.

*We have big problems... Come now!*

"What are you talking about?" asked again Starlight.

Before the spell broke, the last message was:

*Stop there, darling. Don't do anything stupid.*

Precious nightmare

When the message ended, the three of them were shocked.

"Tell me that wasn't Rarity's voice..." said Starlight.

"So she is a monster too... At least she doesn't have an organ to scare other ponies until they run away, hihihi!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

"Her voice sounded so different. Like she was not transformed, but possessed." thought Discord.

"In that case, confronting Rarity will be dangerous, but Sunburst and Spike are still with her." said Starlight.

After some thinking moments, Pinkie came up with an idea.

"I know! I will stay in the castle and, if you have problems, maybe the organ can be helpful!"

That was what Starlight was looking for.

"Wait a minute! Are you sure about that?" asked Discord.

"We must try. There are no many options to choose." answered Starlight.

"Then, you must go then. If I'm not wrong, Rarity is still at Carousel Boutique. You two will fight her there! Don't mess with her dresses!" said Pinkie, making them laugh with her jokes.

"Okay then. See you later, Pinkie!" said Starlight.

"Hope you can prepare some parties after all of this, Pinkie Pie!" said Discord.

"You can be sure, Discord!" answered Pinkie.

And the two heroes got out of the ancient castle, heading towards Ponyville.

________________________________

"Aaaah, not Pinkie! Not her!! Why do they have to disappear like that!?"

Midnight Sparkle was in her castle, watching madly as the map was slowly losing more information about what were her friends doing.

"Okay, calm down. Whatever it is, maybe the others can resist. But still, if I want Ponyville for myself, I need to be her queen. But how?"

And after some minutes of thinking, she came up with a sinister idea...

"Of course! My castle will be the only important building!"

Then, she sent a message for certain ponies, which were making their way...

________________________________

"I swear. If I find those ones, I will kill them!" said Scootaloo.

"Ya remember ya are not the only one, do ya? And Discord..." answered Apple Bloom.

"Throwing us some spell so we would fly away must be so fun for him, right!? I could return him the favor!!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle.

So there were those three nightmarish CMC, talking about looking for revenge upon Starlight and the others, until a little explosion was made and they received something...

"Maybe it's a message from Twilight! Open it!" said Scootaloo.

When Sweetie Belle opened it, they saw what things Twilight wanted for them...

"So Twilight wants ta have Ponyville fer her own desires..." said Apple Bloom.

"And for that, all we have to do..." said Scootaloo.

"...is get rid of the Town Hall!" finished Sweetie Belle.

And then, the CMC laughed maniacally, while going towards Ponyville to accomplish their mission...

________________________________

When our heroes arrived to Ponyville, they saw Carousel Boutique. However, the path was full of zomponies waiting to kill anypony.

"Here is the plan. I distract them while you run to the boutique." said Discord.

"Are you sure, Discord? I could help you with some spells..." asked Starlight.

"I'm really sure, Starlight. It's now or never." answered Discord.

Starlight thought about it during some seconds, and then, she came with an answer.

"Let's do it."

"Very well." said Discord.

So there were the zomponies, walking around everywhere, until they saw a certain draconequus in front of them.

"Hey guys, you know what? YOU ARE THE UGLIER ZOMPONIES IN THE WORLD!!" said Discord, mocking them.

Those cannibals growled furiously and chased after Discord, who was getting away and throwing some spells to them.

And when the last zompony disappeared, Starlight came out of her hiding spot and galloped towards Carousel Boutique, ready to open the door and discover what was happening...

________________________________

After getting out of the Everfree Forest, the Nightmare CMC finally arrived to Ponyville.

"That was a really exhausting forest walk, ya know?" said Apple Bloom.

"Yeah, but I didn't see Rainbow Dash or Trixie, even with those three big heads." said Scootaloo.

"And Pinkie's organ isn't playing itself. There's no music!" said Sweetie Belle.

"Everything turned so strange... But don't worry, girls. We got this! All we have to do is... Apple Bloom couldn't finish before they started to hear things.

Magic spells being used...

Zomponies growling...

And a very familiar laugh...

Until they saw it...

"There's Discord! He's fighting against the zomponies! We have the opportunity!" exclaimed Scootaloo, spreading her wings.

"Wait! We have a mission ta acomplish! Besides, if they cannot kill him, we'll do it." said Apple Bloom.

"You are right, Apple Bloom. To the Town Hall! said Sweetie Belle.

And then, they ran (except for Scootaloo) towards the Town Hall to begin what Twilight had told them earlier...

________________________________

MUSIC

Inside Carousel Boutique, Starlight saw no lights, just the moonlight made everything a little easier to see.

Starlight walked around until she saw Spike and Sunburst trapped in shadow coils. In front of them, she saw...

An alicorn?

With no armor?

And a purple mane?

"Oh! Good evening, Starlight Glimmer! What are you doing in such a dangerous place, darling?"

Starlight couldn't believe what she saw.

"Rarity? B-But you look l-like Nightmare Moon!" exclaimed Starlight.

"That is the same magic that transformed everypony else, dear. Everypony... except for you." said Nightmare Rarity, approaching Starlight.

"The only one different thing I see in you is that awful scarred eye. Timberjack, right?"

"Yes, she did..." said Starlight, sighing.

"But, before you say anything, it was not my fault that the meteor decided to fall on Equestria and infect everypony with its dark magic, ok??" exclaimed Starlight.

After a few seconds, Rarity talked.

"I would rather NOT judge you, dear."

"Wait, what?" asked Starlight, confused.

"It is easy to judge anypony because something bad happened, but I won't do that." said Rarity.

"You would not do it?" asked Starlight.

"Yes, Starlight. But there's still one problem. The others think you are responsible for that, so they want you sleeping... with the worms." said Rarity.

"And that means..." said Starlight.

"... I have to kill you, darling." Rarity finished the sentence, charging her horn and firing a spell...

... which Starlight narrowly avoided.

"Ok then. Let us fight, Rarity." said Starlight.

________________________________

"Hahahahaha! This was so much fun!" exclaimed Discord.

He already finished with the zomponies. His spells would leave them confused during a lot of time.

Then, he heard some noises and, being curious, he turned his head around.

"The CMC again? And they are destroying the Town Hall, hehehe." said Discord.

2 seconds later...

"They are destroying the Town Hall!! I need to tell Starlight!" he said, running towards Carousel Boutique's door.

________________________________

MUSIC

"Wait. Why is Discord trying to open that door?" asked Sweetie Belle, surprised.

"No idea. Maybe something is happening inside the Boutique." answered Scootaloo.

"It could be that. At least, he is not there. So we'll continue ta..." Apple Bloom was interrupted.

CRACK

Something appeared from the ground, trying to attack the Nightmare CMC.

"What are these golden things?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Organ pipes!" exclaimed Scootaloo.

Indeed, those were organ pipes. And they appeared at random places, attacking the zomponies but ignoring Discord's frantic attempts to enter Carousel Boutique.

"I guess Pinkie Pie isn't evil anymore!!" exclaimed Scootaloo.

"A traitor, right? We'll deal with her later! Keep going on the mission, girls!" said Apple Bloom.

________________________________

Meanwhile, the battle against Nightmare Rarity was getting bad for Starlight.

Rarity was very injured, but Starlight had more problems.

And now, she was lying on the floor...

"I must say you were quite the opponent, Starlight." said Rarity.

"You are right, Rarity. This was a tough fight for both of us." said Starlight.

"I agree with you. But this came to an end, and I have to do what the others want." said Rarity.

"Will it be harmless?" asked Starlight.

Rarity stood still for a few seconds, thinking about it. She wanted to tell her the truth, but she was Rarity, not Applejack.

So, just for making Starlight a little happy, she said:

"Yes, darling. I promise."

"Thank you." said Starlight, closing her eyes.

She heard Rarity's horn charging, and waited for the moment to come...

But it didn't came.

Instead, the door was blown up, and Discord entered fast, attacking Rarity.

Seeing the enemy distracted, Starlight run towards Spike and Sunburst, freeing them from the shadow coils, weak enough to break.

"Sweet Celestia, Starlight! We thought we were going to lose you!" said Sunburst.

"I was really scared..." said Spike.

"Don't worry, guys. I'm still alive." said Starlight, giving them a hug.

And the three of them sat around, watching as Discord and Nightmare Rarity fought each other.

________________________________

At the Crystal Empire...

Cadence, Shining Armor and Flurry Heart finally finished their hard task.

"Everypony is reformed!" said Shining, while Flurry laughed.

"It was tiring, but now we are ready!" said Cadence.

"Ponies! Come to Ponyville and fight for us!" they exclaimed in unison.

And there were they, a powerful family followed by a massive army of crystal zomponies, ready to help everypony else to reclaim Equestria as their own...

________________________________

Back to Carousel Boutique...

Nightmare Rarity lost the battle with Discord's last spell, and Starlight came by her side.

"It is just a beautiful night. I just wanted others to enjoy it." said Rarity.

"And we will, when we remember this story and spread it around. And all will recognize you as one of the greatest villains. Will you give them that happiness?" said Starlight, raising a hoof.

Rarity, seeing Starlight's hoof, raised her own and touched it.

"Of course, darling..."

After her transformation, Nightmare Rarity stood at the same place, but now as Rarity.

"Welcome back, Rarity." said Starlight.

"Rarity!" exclaimed Spike, running to Rarity's side.

"Spikey-wikey! You still look adorable..." said Rarity, giving Spike a kiss.

CRASH! BAM! CROCK!

"Oopsie-doopsie! I almost forget it! The CMC are here! And they are destroying the Town Hall!" said Discord.

"What??" said Starlight.

"I would never imagine my sister and her friends doing something like that!" said Rarity.

"You know what we have to do now, right?" asked Sunburst.

"Yes. We must beat them! Come on!" said Starlight, running towards the Town Hall, with the others following her...

The Town Hall shall resist!

The CMC continued smashing the Town Hall. They had a lot of work to do, but the three of them were doing it at a great speed.

It was clear: at some point, the entire building would fall down.

"We are goin' well! Midnight is gonna be so proud of us!" said Apple Bloom.

"Not if I have anything to say!!"

Then, Apple Bloom received a magic blast, getting hurt. When she and the others searched for the source, they found Starlight and her friends in front of them, so angry...

"Starlight Glimmer... You again..." said Sweetie Belle.

"Yes. Here we are." said Starlight.

"Discord! You crazy draconequus!!" exclaimed Scootaloo.

"Good to see you too!" said a sarcastic Discord.

"Ah see mah sister already gave ya some gift, Starlight." said Apple Bloom.

"You are right, Apple Bloom. There's just a little problem..." said Starlight.

"What?"

"I did the same for her..." Starlight smiled, while Apple Bloom started to get angrier.

"Control it." said Scootaloo, trying to calm Apple Bloom.

"All of you are just a bunch of traitors! You thought you could come here, invade the town, beat our sisters and all! That's it, we are going to...!" Sweetie Belle couldn't say more cause her mouth was suddenly zipped.

"Yes, yes. We already know what's next." said Discord, mocking Sweetie Belle.

"STOP WITH YOUR STUPID MAGIC!!" exclaimed Scootaloo, flying and giving a hit to Discord's body.

And then, the fight started...

________________________________

In her castle, Midnight Sparkle was really furious right now.

"My friends!! Beaten!! Five allies!! FIVE!! And now, there's just the CMC!! Yes, they are bigger and more powerful, but still!!"

After her outburst, she calmed down.

"Nevermind. Whatever happens, I'm still here."

"I am waiting, Starlight."

________________________________

The battle was getting bad for Starlight and the others. The CMC were just three ponies, but they were fighting like they had to kill Tirek or something.

Discord couldn't avoid more of Scootaloo's hits, even if her wings were hurting.

Sunburst was already aweakened by Sweetie Belle's spells.

Spike and Starlight were finally cornered by Apple Bloom, inside the ruins of the Town Hall.

"Any last words, Starlight?" she asked, raising her front hooves.

"Do it fast." answered Starlight.

Apple Bloom prepared her hooves to stomp on Starlight, but she got distracted because Spike jumped and started scratching her face.

Her screams alerted the other two, who came as fast as they could, only to see the little dragon's violence against her friend.

But, a few seconds later, Apple Bloom finally tossed Spike to a side, leaving him unconscious. Then, she opened her eyes.

Two bloodthirsty eyes...

And, with a mighty rage shown on her scarred face, she got to Spike's side, ready to kill him first.

"What do ya think ya are doin!?" yelled a growling voice.

When Apple Bloom turned around, Timberjack pounced on her, and both of them exchanged punches and bites.

Seeing the danger, Sweetie Belle tried to run, only to come face-to-face with an alicorn-sized pony, bigger than her, who looked like it was her sister.

"Sweetie Belle! Stop this madness right now! That is an order!" said Nightmare Rarity.

After some seconds, Sweetie Belle talked.

"I don't think so!"

And then, she fired a laser beam, which Rarity avoided easily.

"Then, let us fight, shall we?" said Rarity.

________________________________

Scootaloo was flying high on the sky, looking at the battle that was happening below.

She was absolutely not sure about who she could help.

For a part, Sweetie Belle, no capable of resisting against Rarity's magic. And it looked like something was scaring her...

For the other part, Apple Bloom struggling against Timberjack. The first was so strong, but her sister was a really aggresive timberwolf.

While she was thinking, a loud thunder surprised Scootaloo. But she became even more surprised about what came with that thunder...

It was the pegasus she always admired...

Even if she was dressed like a Shadowbolt wearing a half-broken pair of reddish glasses...

Rainbow Dash. Or Dark Spectrum?

Whatever...

"Rainbow! Good to see you!" said Scootaloo.

"What is happening here?" asked Rainbow.

"Everypony is fighting, and I don't know which one of my friends I can help!" said Scootaloo.

"Hmmm... I think I have a solution..." said Rainbow.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You can ignore them and help yourself."

"What? But you are Loyalty!"

"Yeah. But you cannot help your friends if you are still a monster!"

"I don't believe you!!"

"You don't believe me? Then we'll do this the hard way!" exclaimed Rainbow, hitting the clouds so she surprised Scootaloo again, with another thunder.

At that moment, Scootaloo didn't see Rainbow as the pony she admired, but a raging enemy.

And that encouraged her to fly to the clouds and fight against that pegasus who betrayed her.

________________________________

After some time, Discord recovered from his injuries. But, when he discovered what was happening, he stood with shock on his face.

Timberjack and Apple Bloom equally strong.

Nightmare Rarity driving Sweetie Belle crazy with endless nightmares.

Scootaloo and Dark Spectrum fighting between an enormous sea of stormy clouds.

But the most horrible thing was that it looked like they didn't care about killing each other. Each one just wanted to win.

"This is a madness!" exclaimed Discord. He didn't know what to do.

Fortunately, he came with an idea.

"Pinkie Pie!" he said, and he teleported away.

________________________________

Meanwhile, at the Castle of the Two Sisters, Pinkie Pie was laughing. For her, this was one of the most exciting parties, not a battle between ponies and monsters.

"So much fun! Now, what else can I do?" she said, thinking about more possibilities.

And then, a short flash brightened the organ's room, disappearing and revealing Discord.

"Oh, Discord! This is going so well!" said Pinkie.

"No time for it. Pinkie, keep playing the organ." said Discord.

"Did the battle get worse?" asked Pinkie.

"Yes, the CMC don't want to give up. So, I think the organ will make everypony decide something..." answered Discord, smiling at Pinkie.

"Uuuh! I got it! You can go back to Ponyville!" said Pinkie.

"Very well. See you later, Pinkie!" said Discord, teleporting back.

________________________________

Discord arrived again to Ponyville's Town Hall. The scene was almost the same, but it changed.

Spike was helping Timberjack, both of them being a complicated match for Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Belle could only scream inside hallucinations, as Nightmare Rarity laughed.

Scootaloo could not do so much against a lot of stormy clouds controlled by the dark-colored Rainbow Dash.

As for Starlight and Sunburst, they ran to Discord 's side.

"They are going to kill themselves!!" exclaimed Starlight.

"Shhh." said Discord. "Just watch... and listen."

When Starlight tried to answer, a very loud noise made everypony stop, as organ pipes appeared from the ground.

Pinkie just played one chord during an entire minute. After that, the organ stopped, and its pipes got away.

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo flew to the ground and reunited with the others. Just after that, it was Discord 's turn to talk.

"That was a great madness! Except for me and my friends, the rest of you are monsters, you know? And you were going to destroy each other for the sake of a good victory! If it wasn't from me, you would've never realized until it was too late!"

When he finished, everyone was looking at him in shock. His words were hard, but right.

"Yes, it is our own fault." said Nightmare Rarity.

"We were so focused on fighting that we didn't see we were going to kill our friends!" said Scootaloo.

"Ah think we should forgot about what happened now." said Timberjack.

"Me too." said Apple Bloom.

"We are really sorry." said the others.

Then, Starlight talked.

"It's ok. We had a very big problem, and we solved it. But we didn't finish yet."

"That's right. Midnight Sparkle is awaiting inside her castle." said Sunburst, pointing at the former Castle of Friendship. "We'll have the real fight there."

"We will help you! It will be a good way to fix our errors." said Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom accepted too.

"Sure thing! So, we should try to..." Starlight was interrupted by some sounds... "What is that?"

Everyone were thinking about those sounds, until Discord gasped, terrified.

"THE ZOMPONIES ARE COMING BACK!!

Last confrontation

Starlight and the others could only watch in horror as zomponies appeared from everywhere, growling at them with faces telling that they were famish.

Maybe a teleport would have made things easier for our friends, but they didn't have enough magic. In addition, they wanted to keep something for the ultimate battle.

"If we don't make it, I just wanted to say that it was an honor to meet all of you..." said Discord, getting ready for the worse.

"Same for me..." said Starlight, receiving an equal answer from the others.

But, when the zomponies were a few meters from them, something happened...

Starlight and co. were being surrounded by some type of magic bubble, shining more each second.

The zomponies looked, with surprise on their faces, as that bubble floated on the air and then flashed a blinding light before disappearing.

A few houses away from the Town Hall, they reappeared in Sugarcube Corner.

"What did exactly happened?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Me happened!" said a familiar voice. They turned around to see the three giant heads of the cerberus-pony Trixie.

"Trixie! It's so good to see you!" exclaimed Starlight, hugging one of Trixie's hooves.

"Me too! But... what happened with your eye, Starlight?" asked Trixie.

"Well, it is a long story..." answered Starlight, looking at Applejack, who made a nervous laugh.

"Right... Anyway, I came here to help, so everypony must be ready before we go out, ok?" said Trixie.

"We already had a nice rest; I think our magic has recharged." said Sunburst.

"That is a good thing to hear, darling." said Nightmare Rarity, getting a smile from Sweetie Belle.

"What do you think, Spike?" asked Apple Bloom.

Everypony looked at Spike, waiting for an answer, until he finally spoke.

"Let's go! We have to save Equestria!" he said, receiving a good cheer from everypony.

And there were them, getting out of Sugarcube Corner, and going to the Castle of Friendship to finish all that madness.

Midnight Sparkle was waiting...

________________________________

When they arrived to the path in front of the Castle of Friendship, Discord stepped on something. When he looked down, he saw it...

"It's a trap!!" he exclaimed.

Too late, the zomponies were surrounding them again.

And then, the castle's doors opened, and Midnight Sparkle stepped out, going towards Starlight, while the others watched with anger.

"Well, well, well. It seems that somepony finally committed an error! Game over, Starlight. I win." said Midnight.

"Listen, Twilight! I want to help you!" said Starlight.

"Help me? Why? I feel so good! You tried to defeat me, but YOU FAILED! I don't see what you can do for me." said Midnight.

"I can reform you!" said Starlight. Midnight stared at her with confusion.

Then, her face changed to anger.

"You cannot reform me, Starlight. I am your mentor!" she said.

"My mentor would not try to conquer Equestria and transform everypony into monsters!" said Starlight, and the zomponies growled.

"Don't tell me what to do, Starlight!" said Midnight, retreating to the castle's doors.

"You know, I was going to let you live. You would command Equestria as well, by my side! But I think I realized the truth. You don't deserve it." said Midnight. " So this is the end of the way, Starlight! Say goodbye..."

Midnight kept watching as the zomponies stepped forward, going to get rid of her former student and her friends.

Wait, what was that approaching dangerously?

________________________________

Starlight felt something was going on... Midnight and the zomponies were really surprised by something...

When she and her friends turned around, they felt the same surprise...

Ponyville was overrun by a horde of timberwolves, a swarm of bats, with Flutterbat between them, and an army of crystal zomponies, commanded by Cadence, Shining Armor and Flurry Heart.

All of them had the same expression on their faces, and they were looking at our friends' predicament.

"Twily! You still have enough time! Surrender now and end this madness!" yelled Shining Armor.

"Listen to your brother, Twilight! Do it for all of Equestria!" yelled Cadence.

Midnight stood there, thinking about what she heard.

But some seconds later...

"Forget about me! This is MY reign! And I don't wanna surrender against you!" she said.

After hearing that, Shining Armor spoke.

"We'll force you to do it then! Everybody, ATTACK!!"

With those words, timberwolves, bats and crystal zomponies ran, pouncing on Midnight's zomponies.

Our friends didn't waste more time, and they joined the battle.

Seeing what was happening just in front of her, Midnight turned around and ran inside her castle. But Starlight saw this and decided to do the same.

She needed to make Twilight change her mind...

________________________________

Spike saw Starlight chasing Midnight and he wanted to go behind them as well, but Discord stopped him.

"We have enough problems here, Spike. Fight with us!" he said, giving Spike a nice smile.

Spike reassured himself and, with a good "Yeah!", he fought alongside his friends.

The evil zomponies were not a match for Trixie's big heads and hooves.

"Is that the best you got? You can't defeat the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

Some zombie pegasi tried to attack Trixie, but they were outsmarted by Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Flutterbat and the swarm of bats.

Discord, Spike, Apple Bloom, Timberjack and the timberwolves were handling half of the evil zomponies, the rest of them being outnumbered by the Crystal Empire's army.

One zompony tried to make a surprise attack on Shining Armor, but...

"CAKE!!" exclaimed Discord, before a cake landed on the zompony's face. After that, Shining Armor left him unconscious.

"Thanks, Discord!" he said.

"Anytime!" said the draconequus.

Spike, having scratched some zomponies' faces, was ready to do it to another one, when he saw that it was... extremely terrified?

"I think her nightmare was too strong, am I right?" said Nightmare Rarity.

"Maybe." said Sweetie Belle, firing some spells at the zomponies.

And the battle continued...

________________________________

Meanwhile, inside the Castle of Friendship...

Starlight was trying to find Midnight Sparkle on the multiple halls of the castle. It was really hard to do that because there were so many rooms.

When she entered the Cutie Map's room, Midnight fired a spell, which Starlight avoided for a few centimeters, but the evil alicorn used that to escape.

However, she didn't go away before an organ pipe emerged through the doors and a minor chord was heard...

"Grrr! I can't believe it! Everypony betrayed me!!" exclaimed Midnight.

"You are going to lose, Twilight! Give up now!" said Starlight.

"Stop calling me 'Twilight', you fool! I would want other thing before giving up!" said Midnight, really angry.

Then, she flew past Starlight, towards the library, and our friend ran behind.

Meanwhile, the organ pipes continued to appear, and they were tearing apart the castle...

________________________________

Outside, the battle had already finished. The few remaining zomponies prefered to be reformed instead of waiting for the animals' attack.

The others were really tired after all, but Spike remembered something.

"Starlight is still inside the castle! We need to do something!" he said.

Despite being tired, Sunburst used some magic to create a giant shield, surrounding the entire castle.

"This will make sure that Midnight Sparkle doesn't try to escape elsewhere." he said.

Meanwhile, the organ kept sounding and breaking the castle...

________________________________

At the library, things got worse for the two confronting ponies. The organ's pipes made her fight very difficult, but they continued.

At some point, Midnight Sparkle got out to the castle's balcony, charging the ultimate spell.

"I hope you can find a new mentor in Tartarus!! Goodbye, Starlight!!" she said.

Starlight prepared herself, until one organ pipe appeared, crashing through the castle's walls, destroying the balcony and hurting one of Midnight's wings.

Midnight saw herself plummeting to the floor, and she closed her eyes.

Suddenly, she felt like she wasn't falling anymore. And she knew why.

Starlight catched Midnight with her own telekinesis to avoid the impact on the floor.

When she touched the surface gently, the spell broke. After a while, Starlight walked out of the ruins of the former Castle of Friendship.

"You... you saved me. Why?" asked Midnight.

"Being a villain doesn't keep you from being someone with feelings. When I saw you falling, I knew I had to do something." answered Starlight.

"I don't think you should forgive me... I was so bad. Sweet Celestia, I even tried to kill you!" said Midnight.

"After all those things, forgiving you can be an easy one. What do you think?" said Starlight, reaching a hoof.

Midnight saw Starlight's hoof and doubted. But then, she saw everyone: Sunburst, Spike, Discord, Trixie, the CMC, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Cadence, Shining Armor and Flurry Heart. All of them were looking at her, each one smiling.

Finally, Midnight reached with her hoof to touch Starlight's and, after a flash, she transformed back into Twilight.

"Thank you for forgiving me, Starlight." said Twilight, with tears on her eyes.

"Your welcome, Twilight." said Starlight, hugging her.

Later, everything started to give a blinding flash, engulfing everything, so everyone needed to close their eyes.

After a while and a final color explosion, Starlight opened her eyes... and she saw Ponyville.

Everypony was recovering and standing up.
All of them had transformed back into their own selves.

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" It was Pinkie Pie, running to hug her friends. "The good side wins again! Like always!"

For Starlight, there were good news everywhere. And even better, Discord appeared at her side, summoning a mirror.

"Your eye is better, Starlight!" he said.

And it was true. Starlight was almost crying for it.

"Hello there!" Starlight turned around, only to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had appeared in Ponyville.

"Finally, after you defeated Midnight Sparkle, the spell broke, and the shield trapping us in Canterlot vanished, allowing us to come here." said Celestia.

"And we came to honor you, Starlight Glimmer, as a hero and Equestria's rescuer!" said Luna.

Starlight could only wait while everypony cheered her.

"Of course, your friends are also honored, Starlight." said Celestia. This caused more cheers.

"This is the perfect moment for a 'The-most-awesome-Nightmare-Night' party!! Let's celebrate, everypony!!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

________________________________

That night, at the repaired Castle of Friendship, the party was so good. Everypony was having the best time on their lifes.

Twilight called Starlight, and both of them went to the library.

"I already told you, but I'll say it again. Thank you for everything, Starlight." said Twilight.

"Your welcome! You told me once that whenever I could need it, you would always be there, right?" said Starlight.

"That's right, I told you that!" said Twilight.

"Then, I believe it is my turn to say the same thing." said Starlight, smiling and hugging Twilight, who returned the hug.

"Ok. Now, would you like to taste the cake Pinkie Pie made for you?" asked Twilight.

"I'd like that very much..." said Starlight.

And the two of them got back to spend the rest of the night with their friends.

________________________________

The End