Luna sat down next to her sister, taking a small sip of tea. She was trying to ignore the scorched fur that blackened Celestia’s chest.

“So… how was Day Court?”

Celestia looked at her younger sister with slight irritation.

“Oh, the usual for this week. Ponies looking at my chest in horror. Some begging me to explain why I've been injured.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “To be fair, I'd blast you too if you said to me, ‘I‘ll tear you apart molecule by molecule.’” She said, impersonating her sister for the quote.

Celestia sighed. “I know, the anger of that day just piled up, and when the root of most of it was floating in front of me, I just broke.”

“But molecule by molecule? Where did you get such vocabulary?”

“I had to spend several hours with the GIW going over defense plans.” Celestia deadpanned. “They said that phrase enough times to make it easy to roll off the tongue.”

The blue alicorn nodded, understanding just how violent the GIW were with their descriptions.

“But they get the job done. There's been a steady decrease in spirit activity across the country. So I'm willing to accept their behavior… for the time being.”

The two went back to drinking their tea in silence, with Luna having one resolve in mind.

Tonight, I need to get in contact with Star.

Star Phantom in:

The Talk

When a Halfa and an Alicorn love each other very much…

Luna floated around in the Dreamscape. Hundreds of doors and windows appeared around her, each one leading to a different dream. She was looking for one door in particular.

It wasn't hard to find, only one door has two designs on it. On one side, it was mostly white with black stars and a moon. On the other, it was mostly black with white stars, and a moon. In the middle was a star split down the middle between the two colors. Curving around the star was a small, blue ghost.

StarShine Apple/ StarShine Phantom’s dream. Luna reached for the door, but recoiled in shock when something slammed against the door from the other side. As that something repeatedly slammed against the door, the Princess of Dreams took notice of something. The door was sealed, the entire frame was encased in stone.

The alicorn stared at the door for a few seconds before uttering the one word that came to mind.

“Dammit. Now I have to get my tools.”

Inside the dream, Star kept banging on the stone sealed door.

“Stupid.” *Bang* “Cock-a-trice!” *Bang* “Why didn't.” *Bang* “I see it.” *Bang* “Coming?!”

When the next slam didn't work, the halfa slouched down to the ground. “Oh great. Just great!”

“I almost wish Luna was here.”

A loud thud got his attention, standing in a small impact crater was none other than the alicorn of the hour.

“Luna!” Star immediately got up and ran toward her. “I'm so happy to see-” A wall of blue magic erected itself between the two. The halfa recoiled in shock. “L-Luna?”

The dark blue alicorn suddenly glared at him, her eyes glowing white. “You! You dare attack MY SISTER! I allowed you near my subjects because I trusted you, but that trust is gone! Farewell, Star Phantom!” Her horn lit up with magic, and she fired. Star barely managed to dodge the shot, which left a huge scorch mark on the ground.

“W-wait! I can explain!”

“Thou had all week to explain!” Luna fired another blast, the shot slamming into his shoulder. Star twirled around before hitting the ground. In an instant, an army of GIW agents surrounded him.

“Freeze Phantom!” Star attempts to get back up, but Luna’s magic holds him down.

“P-please, I didn’t mean to-”

“Silence, freak!” Agent M shouts, his weapon whining for a shot. The halfa closes his eyes, preparing to let the agents finish what the book started.

*Wham!* All eyes turn toward the door, a small crack forming around the stoned door.

*Wham!* Almost all agents aim their blasters at the door. Luna summons a scythe.

*Boom!* The door is blown to bits, revealing the real Princess Luna holding a giant white battering ram. She looked at the bewildered Star before smiling.

“I respected your privacy by knocking, but then I realized you needed me to assert my authority by coming in anyway.” She then saw the army of GIW led by a false Luna.

“Okay, not what I expected.” Star took the opportunity to escape, blasting away several agents. Luna followed suite, using the battering ram to force her way through to army of agents. The fake Luna fired a spell, which was dodged by Star. In return, he fired an ecto-blast, landing the shot right in her face.

With the shot, the fake Luna disappeared, her body fading into mist. Silence reigned over the dream, neither halfa or alicorn spoke. Instead, they stood still, waiting to see who would do something first.

Luna sighed, and took a deep breath. That breath was quickly forced out her lungs when Star crushed her in a back breaking hug.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyoutankyou! I’m so sorry I didn’t talk to you sooner, it’s just-”

“Star… end hug first, talk… second.”

The halfa blinked, blushed, and released her while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

“Now… we need to talk.” Star gulped, then nodded.

The two were sitting in a small circle of grass, letting a small awkward silence stay between them. Star decided to break that silence.

“So… about your sister. Is she…?”

“Alright? Yes, it was only a minor burn thankfully. Although, I’m sure you held back a bit.”

“Yeah, I was panicking. Hearing a Princess of Equestria say ‘I’ll tear you molecule by molecule’ tans to freak you out.” Star blinked, then raised an eyebrow.

“Where did she get that vocabulary anyway?”

Luna giggled. “I asked the exact same thing. Spending time with the GIW certainly helps one learn.”

“Heh, true. Is the lab fixed up?”

Luna nodded. “Only minor damage was sustained, pretty easy to fix with magic.” A small smile grew on her face. “Though I have to ask, what was that dog?”

“Oh yeah, Cujo. I think he was one of the guard dogs that the lab used to own. But when they got that new security system, the dogs were… put down.” Star looked down in sadness, which Luna copied.

“Yeah, turns out he came back to get his chew toy. I found it at the Coliseum.” Star tried to hold back a laugh. “In Celestia’s mane.”

Luna did not hold back her laugh, it boomed across the dreamscape. “I can’t believe it! So that’s why you were there!” Star joined in, feeling a huge pressure fly off his chest, his laugh died as a sad smile came to view.

“I’m sorry… about not speaking to you, I was just… scared.”

Luna stopped laughing, instead she patted the halfa on the back, offering her sympathies. “I can understand why, but know this. I will never treat you like that other hag you dreamed up.” Her sly grin brought Star’s hope up.

“I don’t know.” he said, his own grin facing her. “I think my dream did a good impersonation.”

The two laughed, but quickly stopped when the dream began to collapse around them.

“Good, you’re waking up.” Luna flapped her wings and took off toward the door. “Remember, you can always speak to me, about anything,” With that, the lunar princess disappeared in a bright flash.

Star smiled before the dream ended and reality set in.

The halfa woke with a start, in Phantom form. Not far away was the cockatrice. It’s glaring red eyes focused on another. Star’s eyes widened when he saw his little sister, AppleBloom, and her friends hiding behind a glaring Fluttershy. Her body was almost completely encased in stone. His eyes flared a toxic green glow.

“Hey! Get away from them!” Everypony looked over in surprise, not expecting Star Phantom to be standing right there. He fired a green blast at the cockatrice, sending the creature flying into the woods.

Star stopped in front the group of ponies, only the older pegasus was shaking in fear.

She can glare down a cockatrice, but she’ll shake in fear of me. If it were any other day, Star would have been hurt by that. But not tonight.

“Get outta here, I’ll hold it off, go!” The three girls nodded before heading back down the small road, dragging a petrified Fluttershy with them. With the girls safe, Star took off into the woods, ready for round 2 with the beast.

Author's Note

Another short, but sweet chapter complete.

(And here, more fuel for the Shipping Fire. Burn! Burn Brightly! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! )