In the Castle of Canterlot, Celestia was going over several new bills and proposals by her Administration. Most of it was harmless, unnecessary tax increases, unwarranted security details, and other stuff the nobles love to throw at her. It was meditative, in her mind. It meant that everything was alright with Equestria. Especially when involving the recent spirit attacks. They have decreased significantly since the creation of the GIW, much to her relief. It was then that she pulled out a document.

It was signed by Head Pony, the leader of the GIW. If he sent her a document, it could only be something extremely important. She put her other papers down and looked it over. When she finished reading, her eyes were wide, her heart racing, and her anger rising.

To summarize the document, it was a report of the Manehatten Incident. It was confirmed that a spirit was kidnapping mares, hoping to use them as a host for its mate, even though spirits cannot physically mate or have relationships, and Star Phantom was spotted attacking the spirit, while also assaulting and evading police.

Celestia growled. Star Phantom was becoming a menace. GIW Experts believe that the reason he fights other ghosts is purely for territory. She was willing to accept that he had Ponyville as his territory, at least he could be contained there. But now he was claiming Manehatten. How long before he claimed all of Equestria? The World?

Head Pony was also asking permission for a base to be established in Manehatten. She immediately approved, and wrote it down in a messenger scroll. As the messenger left the room, Celestia sighed and looked out the window, thinking about what evils Star could be committing right now.

Star groaned as he put the crate of apples onto the cart. He may be strong, but lifting boxes that weighed more than Big Mac for over an hour was tiring, added onto the fact that he had to work double time to make up for missing two days at the Acres. AppleJack watched as she was attached to the cart. It was her day to man the cart at the Market.

“AJ, you are evil.” AJ just laughed.

“Is the heroic Star Phantom havin’ trouble liftin’ crates o’ apples?” She joked. Star just rolled his eyes and lifted the last crate into the cart.

“Alright, you should be all set, oh brave and strong AppleJack.” Star gave a mock bow and was about to walk back to the field, when he heard his twin sister grunt. He turned back to see her struggle with the cart, the wheels beginning to sink into the loosely dirted road. He smiled smugly at her sheepish face.

“Would the heroic Star Phantom help a young mare pull a cart?” AJ asked, a blush forming on her cheeks. Star laughed as he hitched himself to the cart, and the two began to pull. The cart moved forward with ease, making Star feel pretty smug about himself. AJ rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah laugh it up Ghost Colt.”

Star Phantom in:

A Diamond in the Ruff

Big Beautiful Diamonds!!!!!!!

The two arrived in Ponyville in near record time. The other stalls were still being set up, getting ready for another day at the Ponyville Market. More than a few had their stalls ready to close at a moment’s notice, pretty normal for Ponyville these days.

The Apple Siblings found their usual spot and unhitched from the cart. It didn’t take long for them to setup, since they had a much simpler cart design compared to most in the town.

“How was Manehatten by the way? Get a chance to enjoy the sights?”

Star shook his head. “I spent most of my time chasing a shadow, you spent more time there than me, why ask?”

AJ shrugged. “Eh, tryin’ tah make conversation. Haven’t been there since… you know…” Star nodded solemnly, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

It was shortly after their parents died. They were all hurting. Star and AppleJack took it the worst. Star refused to leave his room, barely ate, and just felt no emotion at all. AppleJack lashed out at everything, even her younger sister AppleBloom.

One day, Star woke up to see AppleJack packing a rucksack, in it was a picture of her family, a train ticket, and some apples. Star got out of bed and simply stared at her. Her eyes shifted over to meet his, and she could see the words behind them.

“Ah can’t stay Star. There’s too many memories here. Ah’m headin’ tah Manehatten tah live with Auntie and Uncle Orange.” Star said nothing. He just continued to stare. He didn’t say anything as his sister finished packing, not when she walked away from the farm, leaving a heart broken Granny Smith and Big Mac behind, not even when she got on the train, and disappeared into the horizon.

He said and did nothing for several weeks, he just sat in his room. He ate even less, actually having to go to the hospital to be force fed safely. To the world, StarShine Apple was gone, only a hollow shell was left.

“Yeah, but don’t forget, you came back.” Star said with a smile. “Besides, it helped you earn your Mark, didn’t it?” AJ looked at her Cutie Mark with a sigh.

“Your right, ah did.” The two embraced in a strong Apple Family Hug. “And ah’m glad fur it.”

Once the hug ended, Star walked away into town. He made his way through the growing crowd of ponies enjoying the market, having to use his powers every so often to phase in and out of large clumps of ponies. After several minutes of dodging, he reached his destination. Carousel Boutique.

The Gala was only a few weeks away, and Star needed to get everything done before the big night. Firstly, he needed a tuxedo. 'Can't show up in my jumpsuit, now can I?' He knocked on the door, and waited a few seconds. Then a few minutes, nothing. Strange. Star put his head next to the door, he could clearly hear voices inside, one belonging to Rarity and some mare he couldn’t recognize. The halfa checked to make sure no pony could see him, then turned his head intangible and ducked inside.

Inside, he could see Rarity, stiff as a statue, on the ground, a wide eyed smile on her face. A mare with cream colored fur and a blue mane stood nearby, not even looking at the her. “Yeah, I do have that effect on ponies.” She said casually. The first thing that popped into Star’s head was GHOST! Then he quickly reminded himself that he wasn’t one to jump the gun. So he watched for a minute longer as Rarity slowly got up.

“Of course, Sapphire, I’ll have those dresses ready for you in two weeks.” The seamstress said, her dreamy eyes practically glowing with excitement and anticipation.

“Perfect. Thank you honey. I can’t wait to see ‘em baby.” With that, Sapphire started trotting toward the door. Star ducked back away from the door, turning tangible again. The door opened, and the creamy mare left. When she was gone, Star stepped inside. He had to wait a little while before saying anything, as Rarity was off in dream land. He would call Luna to get her out, but that would take to long and, if he was honest, Star didn’t want to bother the Princess. He was sure she had more stuff on her plate.

Instead, he simply coughed into a hoof. This gained Rarity’s attention. She took a moment to compose herself before speaking. “Oh StarShine, what a surprise. How can I help you?” Star could clearly see how excited she was behind her professional posture.

“Hey Rarity, I was just looking for help in getting a tuxedo.”

“Ooh, a tuxedo. And what would the occasion be?” The mare gave a strangely sly wink, making the halfa blush.

“Uh, for the Grand Galloping Gala.”

“The Gala!? But, how did you get a ticket?!” Star’s eyes widened as the seamstress practically tackled him to the ground, if not for his ghostly strength.

“Uh… A friend?” He said, putting on an honest not-so-honest grin. Rarity wasn’t convinced. She stared hard at the stallion with her “investigative eye”, then blinked with a smile.

“Oh that’s lovely. Simply devine. May I take your measurements now, darling?”

Star shrugged. “Sure, if you’re not busy.” Rarity dismissed the thought with a weirdly sounded scoff.

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all StarShine.” She gestured for him to step onto the small stage. She grabbed her measurement tape and got to work. She looked over each measurement, height, width, hoof size, etc.

Once done, she asked him to step down. “Excellent, now.” She used her magic to grab several different color hues. “Which color should it be? I have Bamboo, Black, Turquoise-”

“I’d like it in black, please.” Rarity looked him over, analyzing the color of his fur, mane, and eyes.

“I think that’s perfect darling!” She threw the other colors to the side and carried the black material over to one of the many ponyquins in her shop. “I’ll have it ready by next week.”

Star brightened up. “Thanks Rarity, how much do I owe ya?”

“Oh think nothing of it, consider it a gift from a friend.” Star dimmed down.

“Rarity, no.” The mare turned in confusion.

“No, what do you mean no?”

“I won’t freeload. I’m ready to pay for it.”

“StarShine, I do not need your bits, I just recieved an order from Sapphire Shores! She’ll pay more than enough to cover her order and yours.” She got back to work, but Star didn’t back down.

“I’d rather pay my dues, so… how about I help out around here.”

Rarity turned back to him. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, whatever help you need.” Rarity looked over to her empty gem box, and got an idea.

“Well… there is one thing.” Star smiled.

His smile was gone as he dragged a little red wagon across the rocky ground of the nearby quarry. Sitting in the wagon was Spike, who was more or less spending his entire time gushing over Rarity.

“Wow, Sapphire Shores, the Pony of Pop. You must have been freaking out!” He stated, earning an eye roll from Rarity.

“Spike, a lady does not ‘freak out.’ However, I was rather flustered.” Rarity said with a giggle towards the end of her sentence. Star just sighed. He didn’t know Sapphire Shores that well, Pop wasn’t his thing. Now, Country was his favorite. He could listen to country all day, especially since his family was good at country.

He tuned out the rest of the conversation in favor of letting a tune play through his head. He was so distracted that he almost ran into Rarity as she suddenly stopped.

“Alright, this looks like a good spot.” She stated, then activated her magic. In an instant, the ground below her started to glow. She signaled Spike to get going, which he did. He ran over to the glowing spot and used his tail to start digging. Star just watched the operation take place, unaware that he wasn’t the only one watching.

In the bushes nearby, three slouched over figures watched the young dragon dig. “Ooh, small scaly thing dig good. Maybe he dig for Diamond Dogs.”

“Yesss, little thing dig for Pack.”

“Spike, over here!” Their eyes shifted to the pony using magic to find the gems.

“Oh, we don’t need scaly thing, we just need gem hunting pony!”

“Yes! We get pony, we get more gems!”

Star decided to take a seat, he wasn’t going to be needed for a little while. At least, not until Spike got really hungry and tries to eat everything in the wagon. He got comfortable and closed his eyes. Then he immediately opened them again as a chill ran up his spine and exited his mouth in a misty breath. He shot up and got into a subtle defensive pose. This one felt familiar, but he wasn’t sure what.

All of a sudden, Rarity ran off, chasing a “Moving Gem?” Star’s eyes widened. It was probably the ghost! He ran after the mare and dragon, forgetting about the wagon. He never noticed the small green shape coming out of the bushes.

Star finally caught up to the two when they stopped in the middle of a massive clearing. Star looked around, something was definitely wrong here. Rarity didn’t seem to notice, as she was too excited about the gem she found. “Wow, Spike, this is huge! Get ready to dig it up!” Spike stuck his tail in the ground, but before he could dig, something grabbed it. In an instant, he was flung up into the air, landing not far off near a tree.

Rarity and Star watched it happen with stunned expressions. Star shook his away first, noticing that this ground was disturbed, all over the place. “Rarity. Run.” He commanded. The mare did so, but didn’t get far as a pair of paws spouted from the ground and grabbed a hold of her.

Star looked back as he heard the scream, and immediately ran towards her. In a flash, two dogs popped up from the ground, teeth bare and claws sharp. Star looked past them in horror as Rarity is dragged into the ground with a horrid scream. He then looked over at Spike, who was unconscious from the impact of his head.

“Give up pony! We outnumber you.” One of the dogs growled.

“I don’t give up.” Star said. “I Go Ghost!” A bright light surrounded him, blinding the two dogs. A ring split in two around his waist, his fur changed to black as the rings passed over. In less than a few seconds, Star Apple became Star Phantom. The dogs recoiled in shock.

“You… the Pony who Smells of Death!” One said.

“Please, have mercy!”

Star raised an eyebrow. The first one apparently decided to not want the mercy, as he pulled out a dog whistle. He blew it loudly, which summoned several armored dogs with spears. Star looked around in shock. ‘Where did these guys come from?’ He got into a defensive stance and waited for them to attack.

He didn’t have to wait long, as the armored dogs charged at him from all directions. Star jumped up, dodging the spears. He landed behind one of the dogs, grabbed his tail, and yanked him into the air. He didn’t waste time watching as a second dog rushed toward him. The halfa turned intangible, letting the dog faze through him. The dog looked around completely confused, an ecto blast to the back ended his confusion. Star looked toward the last three remaining armored dogs. He could see them trembling in their armor. He smiled slyly.

“Boo.” The dogs screamed and dove into a large hole in the ground. Star dusted off his hooves, then his eyes widened in realization. “Rarity!” He dove for the hole, only to be surprised when a large mound of dirt replaced it. “Wait, what?!” He watched as several other holes were replaced with dirt mounds.

For a moment, Star thought he was going to have a hard time getting in. Then he remembered his ghost powers. He turned intangible and invisible, then flew through the dirt mound. It didn’t take long for him to find a tunnel, he followed it into a massive room. When he saw what was inside, his eyes widened. The room was filled with many tunnel entrances, this was going to be a maze. Well, time to start looking.

In another room, the dogs placed a rusted harness around Rarity, who began her most powerful fighting technique, whining. “Ow, not so ti~ght!” The dogs groaned as they covered their sensitive ears.

“Agh! Stop whining, Pony!”

“But I thought you wa~nted whin~ing!”

Star stopped as he heard a very shrill and annoying voice echo from another tunnel. He recognized that whining anywhere. Rarity! He charged down the tunnel the voice came from, his hooves glowing greed with ecto energy.

He burst into the large room, surprising the dogs and pony inside.

“The dead pony!” One of them shouted. Rarity had a look of shock on her face. He was the last thing she expected today, above being ponynapped by dogs.

Star smirked at the fearful expressions the dogs carried. Good, this should be a bit easier. “Boo.” The dogs screamed and went into a panic. All except one. Star noticed the specific dog and glared at him. The dog glared back and pulled out a strange looking dagger.

Star studied the dagger, it was long, sharp, and glowing green. Glowing green things were not a good sign.

“Dead Pony not scare me.” The dog growled. “Me destroy dead things bigger than you, Pony.” A ghost hunting Diamond Dog? Okay, not what Star expected. The dog got into a defensive stance.

“Fight me Pony.” Star fired a blast from his hooves, a blast which the dog easily dodged. The dog charged forward, catching Star off guard. He barely managed to dodge the dagger, its blade sliced along his shoulder.

Star screamed in pain and clutched the wound. He looked at the wound in surprise, then glared at the dog. The dog bared his teeth and charged again. Star avoided the blade and landed a swift kick across the dogs face.

“Ha! Is that the best you got?!”

“Hi~Ya!” Both Star and the Dog turn their heads to see Rarity standing in a kung fu pose over an unconscious guard. She looked at them in confusion and got into a normal stance.

"What? Just because I'm a lady doesn't mean I don't know how to defend myself.” She back hoofed another dog that tried to sneak up behind her without batting an eye. Star blinked, then smiled. He fired an ecto blast at the big dog, who was still distracted by the mare. The dog went flying into the wall, dropping the glowing blade. Rarity fought off another dog, but was grabbed by a second one that snuck up behind her.

“Ah! Let me go at once, you ruffians!” The dog laughed.

“Ha, got ya now, pony!” Star turned to help, but was stopped when the dog put her into a shield position. “Not so fast, dead pony. You come closer, we ripe her inside out.” Star growled, then a gasp of cold air left his mouth.

No no no. I don't have time for this, and why does this one feel familiar?

“Now, we walk away with gems and pony, and you go away!” The Diamond Dog never noticed the giant green creature appear behind him. “Deal?” Star just relaxed and crossed his front hooves with a sly slime. The dog was greatly confused. “What dead pony smiling about?!”

All Star did was point behind him. The dog turned and screamed when he saw a massive green ghost dog. Rarity gaped at the massive creature, but kept silent.

“Oh Cujo, sick him.” The diamond dog screamed and dropped Rarity as Cujo tried to chomp at him. The other dogs scattered in every which way, hoping to get away from the massive ghost dog. Star grabbed Rarity and took her from the room.

He vigorously checked he over. “Are you okay?!” He never noticed the dreamy gaze Rarity started giving him.

“I am now, thanks to you.” Rarity suddenly got too close for comfort, making the halfa raise an eyebrow and back away.

“Okay then, I'll just… get Cujo. Be right back.” He flew back into the room, and the sight before him was one to behold. Every single dog was down on the ground, cowering before the might of Puppy Form Cujo, who just sat in place while wagging his tail and letting his tongue hang out.

Star cooed at the puppy. “Awe, who's a good boy? You are. Yes, you are.” Cujo yipped at the praise. “Right, now back to the bad dogs.” He looked down to see the leader try to crawl away. He grabbed him and brought him to face. “Now, you're going to let the mare go, leave her alone, and never bother her again. Got it?”

The dog vigorously nodded. “Yes, yes. Of course, anything you want!”

“Rarity?! Ya down here?!” The voice of AppleJack can be heard echoing through the tunnel. Star smiled. If AJ was here, that meant the others were as well. Good. His job was done, he could hear Rarity call out, leading them to their location.

“Also, one more thing…”

Twilight, AppleJack, and the others followed the trail of gems down the tunnel. Rarity's voice became louder and more tangible than before. They were getting close. AJ was confused, the prim and proper mare didn't sound scared, she actually sounded relaxed. The country mare smiled, quickly realizing why.

Saved the day again Star.

They came into a large room, and to their shock, they found Rarity being pampered while large dogs piled mountains of gems into carts. The white mare noticed them and waved.

“Girls! So wonderful to see you! I could really use the help.”

Later that night, Star was back at Sweet Apple Acres. His wound was wrapped in gauze. He told his friends and family that he was injured when the diamond dogs attacked, a half truth. It didn't hurt much, but thanks to the ecto nature of the blade, it wouldn't heal fast.

His door opened, letting AppleJack inside. She smiled slyly at her twin brother. “Mah brother, gettin’ good with the mares now?”

Star raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?” His twin laughed.

“The entire way back, Rarity started gushin’ over you. ‘Oh, Inviso-Bill is so brave. He came all this way to save me. He truly is a knight.’” AJ explained, impersonating her friend. Star laughed.

“I bet Twilight and Rainbow weren't happy.” AJ shook her head with a smile.

“Eenope. But hey, ya got another supporter, an admirer tah boot.”

“Hey, as long as there isn't a hidden shrine in her boutique, she can admire all she wants.” The two laughed, not knowing that Rarity already started gathering photos for her Inviso-Bill shrine.

Author's Note

Eh. RariStar. Not my favorite ship, but a ship none the less.
LunaStar forever!!!!

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and as a gift for being gone for so long between E12 and E13, here's a preview of the next chapter's main antagonist: I AM THE BOX GHOST!! FEAR MY WRATH!!!