As Stars Fill The Sky

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1: A Storm of Trouble
Chapter 2: The Great Escape

Prologue

The Friendship Festival was in full effect.

Ponies from all over Equestria had came to Canterlot to celebrate a day of peace and harmony. Pegasi from Cloudsdale, earth ponies from Appleoosa and even a dozen yaks from Yakyakistan had shown up. The rest of Equestria was silent that day.

The sounds of joy could be heard from afar. Celestia's powerful sun was still awakening, thus creating a beautiful, orange sky. Hundreds and thousands of ponies gathered together in the streets of Canterlot, including Princess Twilight's student, Starlight Glimmer.

With her, Starlight also brought along her best friend, the great and powerful unicorn known as Trixie. The two shared a lot in common, once enemies of Twilight, being badly affected by the princess and attempting revenge in some form. But after being given a second chance and saving Equestria with help of the Spirit of Chaos and a reformed changeling, the two were seen as heroes.

"I can't believe you convinced me to come with you to this place, Starlight." Trixie moaned.

"Come on, Trixie, this will be fun. I don't think I've ever seen so many ponies in one place before." Starlight explained with a smirk on her face.

"I only enjoy parties when I'm the centre of attention." Trixie claimed.

"Why am I not surprised?" Starlight rolled her eyes and continued to trot down the street.

*** *** ***

"You got the box of fireworks, Trixie?" Starlight asked.

"But of course. The great and powerful Trixie would never forget to bring something important." she said boastfully and raised the box with her magic.

"What about that time at the magic show?" Starlight's eyebrow rose.

Trixie scoffed. "I meant to leave those props in the wagon! I had much better ideas planned!"

Starlight chuckled. "Right, sure you did."

The two unicorns arrived at the plaza, just half a mile from the castle in-which the princesses settled. The area was surprisingly empty with only around ten ponies, most of them chatting with friends and preparing for Songbird Serenade's arrival.

"You sure about this, Trixie? I don't want to cause any trouble."

"Relax, Starlight. Everything will be fine, trust me."

Most of the ponies in the plaza noticed what the two unicorns were about to do and watched as they prepared the fireworks. Trixie bent down and started to active her magic, causing a small spark on the firework's string.

"Here we go.. I'd step back if I were you.." Starlight cautioned.

After several seconds, the string was charred and the light blue fireworks launched into the sky at a swift speed, causing Trixie's hat to fly from her mane. All eight of them exploded high into the sky, causing a flash of colour. The ponies cheered, Trixie stood on her hind hooves.

"I knew those fireworks were a great idea!" Trixie said gleefully while standing back on all fours.

Starlight levitated Trixie's hat back onto her head. Trixie smiled at Starlight and gave a smug grin. "Why, thank you. So, what do we do now?"

*** *** ***

Chapter 1: A Storm of Trouble

The next hour felt like just a few minutes.

Starlight inspected the ponies arriving at the Festival. She wanted her mentor to have a great time, free of any ponies wanting to cause trouble. Trixie, on the other hoof, was starting to feel bored.

"Starlight, Cantelot has hundreds, maybe even thousands of guards working to protect the Princesses. There's no need to freak out. I will admit, however, I'd love to show up Twilight in front of everyone."

Starlight glared at Trixie and seemed to ponder for a moment. "Maybe you're right. I guess I shouldn't worry too much."

Suddenly, Starlight's eyes widened as a large frown stretched across her face. "Wait, aren't the Guards on break right now?"

Trixie rolled her eyes and looked at her fellow unicorn. "Starlight, listen to me. I know you look up to that hotshot princess and all, but she's more than capable of handling herself."

Starlight sighed and looked down at the wooden floor of the Canterlot Train Station. "I know..."

Trixie lightly frowned and wrapped her hoof around Starlight. "Hey, how about we buy a souvenir for her? Would that cheer you up?"

Starlight raised her head as her expression changed to a smirk. "Sure thing. I think Twilight will appreciate a small gift."

*** *** ***

Several minutes later, the two ponies entered a small gift shop in the south of Canterlot. The store was entirely made of wood, looking fairly out of place compared to the rest of town. The business mostly sold merchandise of the princesses. Mugs, shirts, decorations and even masks of the alicorns filled the store.

"I guess somepony is trying to cash in on the festival." Trixie whispered into Starlight's ear, resulting in a brief giggle of laughter.

Starlight observed the store's shelves, looking for a gift that was perfect for Twilight. After minutes of searching, Starlight found a snow globe on one of the many wooden shelves that blended with the rest of the store. Inside the snow globe was an image of the princesses together, standing regal and tall.

"I think this should do." Starlight grinned and looked to Trixie.

"That looks nice and all, but you could give Twilight a burnt book and she'd still see it as an amazing gift." Trixie claimed with a complacent look.

Starlight began to levitate the snow globe with her magic, trotting to the shopkeeper.

"That'll be five bits, ma'am." The brown pegasus addressed.

As Starlight unbuttoned her saddlebag and levitated several bits onto the shopkeeper's desk, Trixie trotted outside and took a sniff of fresh air. The music was filling the ears of everyone in town, the decorations were some of the best Trixie had seen and the ponies were having the time of their lives. Everything was perfect.

*** *** ***

Suddenly, the sound of thunder blared from the sky. High above ground, heavy, bleak clouds began to flood the atmosphere. Was one of the pegasus ponies playing a prank? Trixie raised an eyebrow and looked to Starlight, whom was leaving the shop.

"Any idea what's going on?" Starlight asked while getting a closer look.

"Let me guess, that rainbow doofus thought it would be funny to mess with the weather." Trixie moaned.

Moments later, a blaring horn could be heard from the clouds. Deafened by the noise, Trixie cowered to the floor. Starlight levitated her unicorn friend onto her back and began to gallop to the castle.

"We need to make sure Twilight and the rest of the princesses are okay!" Exclaimed Starlight as she galloped as far as her hooves could take her. Trixie's ears were still ringing from the sounds as she nodded.

Starlight turned her head and let out a faint gasp. From the shadows of the clouds, a colossal, floating ship emerged.

Trixie raised her head and her eyes widened. "Something tells me this isn't part of the event..."

The airship sluggishly lowered to the ground. It would still take Starlight several minutes to arrive at the castle courtyard. In the distance, she could see the doors of the ship slowly open and a small creature walking towards the crowd of ponies nearby.

"Maybe they're just visitors. I'm sure the four princesses can handle a single airship if things were to go wrong." Trixie reasoned.

Starlight ignored Trixie and continued to gallop with the mare on her back.

*** *** ***

After a minute of running towards the castle, the two arrived at a street filled with stores, all selling a variety of goods. Multiple ponies populated the area, one of which was holding onto a pair of binoculars. Starlight trotted up to the young, caramel-coloured colt.

"I don't suppose I could quickly borrow your binoculars?" Starlight asked with a large grin.

"Aren't you the pony who saved the princesses from the evil Queen Chrysalis?" Asked the colt, with a soft gasp.

Trixie climbed from Starlight's back and gave a smug smile. "Why yes, she is. She didn't do it alone, of course."

A huge smile stretched across the small colt's face. "I want to be just like you two when I grow up! You can have my binoculars!"

Starlight blushed gently as the colt passed his binoculars into her hooves.

"Thank you, young man. What you said means a lot to us."

Starlight and Trixie ran to get a clear view of the castle. Levitating the binoculars in front of her eyes, Starlight inspected the courtyard. The four alicorns stood in-front of the large crowd of ponies, including the element bearers. Starlight was too far away to hear anything, but she noticed something alarming. Emerging from the ship was a strong, tall, purple unicorn. After trying to get a closer look, Starlight realised that the unicorn's horn was in-fact shattered. Suddenly, the sounds of more airships could be heard. They weren't alone...

*** *** ***

Chapter 2: The Great Escape

Emerging from the bleak clouds, a dozen airships blared their horns. Huge, bulky soldiers wearing masks leaped from their ships and landed on the grounds of Canterlot. Observing from afar, the two ponies gasped and kept watch of the transpiring events. The rose-coloured unicorn leapt several metres into the air and kicked a strange, black orb at the princesses. As the orb shot towards to four alicorns, Cadence attempted to create a shield spell. Her horn glowed a shade of blue and a magical bubble formed around her, Celestia and Luna. Moments later, when the orb collided with the shield, Cadence managed to stop the orb from breaking the barrier for several seconds. The shield became weaker, Cadence was tired and orb was too strong. The wall shattered and Cadence was hit in the torso. A cloud of green particles steamed from the remnants of the orb. Still watching from the distance, Starlight focused the binoculars and ran closer to get a better look. A moment passed and Starlight took another look at the Princesses, now with a better view. Starlight gasped as she set her sights on Cadence. The princess of love had been completely turned to stone. Her pink, flowing coat had been paved in grey, solid rock.

"Twilight, get out of there!" Starlight muttered to herself. Trixie didn't say a word, she had nothing to say. The blue unicorn's face was filled with sweat. She was obviously just as terrified as Starlight. Turning her head, Starlight saw another orb, now targeting the eldest of the alicorns, Celestia. The rather lanky, white alicorn was hit in the chest, turning to stone with her niece (or was it her daughter?) Luna began galloping away, blasting one of the soldiers with her magic. She flew as far as her feathered wings could take her, but she couldn't outfly the third orb. After being hit in the rump, her stone body crashed through the stage in-which Songbird Serenade was supposed to preform on.

"I can't watch anymore of this!" Starlight shouted as she threw her binoculars to the ground with a tear in her eye.

"We need to leave Canterlot! There's no way I'm getting turned into a doorstop!" Trixie exclaimed was she began to gallop in the opposite direction of the castle courtyard.

"But what about Twilight? I'm not letting her get captured too! I'm going to protect her no matter what!" Starlight cried with a stomp of her hoof.

Trixie stopped, sighed and stared at her friend in the eyes. "Starlight... It's too late. By the time you'll get to her, she'll be turned to stone too. We need to leave Canterlot and figure it all out later."

Starlight looked towards the courtyard and back to Trixie, her eyes were filled with tears. "Okay, Trixie... Let's go."

*** *** ***

The two mares galloped through the streets of Canterlot, avoiding any soldiers in their way. The sky was flooded with airships by now, all carrying seemingly hundreds of troops. Trixie and Starlight had managed to run an entire mile in just a matter of minutes and were now close to the city border. They knew that there were was most likely going to be multiple soldiers ready for ponies trying to escape, just like them. While running, the two discussed a brief plan of attack if one of those goons got too close to them. Trixie and Starlight galloped towards the edge of Canterlot and prepared their teleportation spells. Their horns glowed pink and blue as they approached the balcony, hundreds of feet in the air. Subtle vibrations flowed throughout their bodies and a magical humming could be heard coming from their foreheads.

"Now, Trixie" Starlight called as she vanished into thin air.

"I've always hated the location of this city" Trixie cried as she began to teleport with her friend.

Within moments, the two unicorns suddenly appeared in the wooded fields below Canterlot, scaring away a couple of birds in the area. Exhausted and disturbed, the two unicorns panted and lay down on the soft, woodland grass. The sounds of shouting could still be heard from Canterlot, along with the blaring of the airships.

"Well, what do we do now? Last time this happened, we were against an army of shape-shifting bugs." Trixie moaned, obviously still exhausted. Starlight remained silent and watched more airships flew towards Canterlot.

"I suppose we should try to visit the dragons, yaks and the changelings. Chances are, they'll be willing to fight for us." Starlight explained to Trixie, turning her head towards the blue unicorn.

Trixie nodded and looked back at Starlight. "Where's that draconequus when you need him? He's a nuance, but his magic would be useful."

Starlight smiled, but it quickly turned to a frown. "I didn't actually see what happened to Twilight. What if she wasn't turned to stone like the other three princesses?"

"I don't know, Starlight, but we can't take chances. That unicorn with the broken horn didn't exactly look friendly. The longer we wait to attack, the more power she could potentially gain."

Starlight groaned. "I'll take days to walk to the changeling kingdom and even longer to get to Yakyakistan and the dragon lands."

Trixie thought for a moment. "What if we don't have to?"

Starlight shot Trixie with a confused look. "What do you mean? Who else could possibly help us save Equestria?"

Trixie gave Starlight a smug grin. "Maybe we could form a resistance of escaped ponies and rise against this storm army."

Confused, yet intrigued, Starlight stared at Trixie and thought for a moment. "I guess that could work, but we'll need to think this all though first. Maybe we could figure out what that unicorn's intentions are. I just don't see why she'd imprison the princesses like that."

Trixie nodded and sat closer to Starlight. "I'm not the sappy type, but I can promise you that we'll get through this. You're one of the most powerful unicorns I've ever met."

Starlight blushed and gave Trixie a friendly hug. "Thanks... I just hope you're right about this. We'll think of a plan, take back our home and save the princesses".

Trixie smiled back. "Of course we will, Starlight. Of course we will."

*** *** ***