The Island of Tambelon

Chapters

The Story of Tambelon
Getting on Board of the Destiny’s Bounty
The Trap of the Siren
An Island With a Hairy Mystery
A Changeling Can Change
Arriving to Tambelon
The Stone Army
The Curse of Tambelon
The Mysterious Generals
The Unicorn With the Broken Horn
The Diamond Sword
The Dorment General
Hurt Spirit
Infinite Labyrinth
The Plan is Enacted
A Tempestuous Will
The Power of the Original Light
Back to Freedom
The Shadow of Tambelon
The Indecipherable Dream
The Awakening of the General of Destruction

The Story of Tambelon

Star was arranging his mane as he was preparing to go take the breakfast. When he was about to get out, he said to Kurama in their plane:

“I decided to tell my parents about Tambelon.”

“And here was I thinking that they would get to know only when you were ready to go there” Kurama joked.

“Ah, ah, very funny” Star replied, sarcastically. “I just hope they will let me do this.”

“After everything you did at the war, I think they will let you clean your great-grandfather’s mess” Kurama replied. “And even if they don’t, I don’t think you’re the kind pony that can sit still.”

That caused Star to drop a laugh and then said:

“Yeah, you’re right. Well, I better get over with this.”

Before leaving his room, he turned to Timber, his pet timberwolf, who was sleeping at the edge of his bed, and said:

“Come, Timber, it’s time for breakfast.”

Awakening, Timber barked once before following Star. They went to diner room, where he found his parents and sisters taking the breakfast. Due to the laters’ presence, he waited until they finished to talk with Twilight and Blue. When Sunny and Midnight ended eating, they asked Star if they could play with Timber outside, what he allowed. At the moment they exited, Star said:

“Mom, dad, I need to talk with you.”

Twilight, who was reading a book while eating her toasts, and Blue, who was reading the paper, looked at him and the former commented:

“And, for you to say that when your sisters left, it’s because it’s something serious.”

“Well, I was wondering when I should tell you this, but I guess it’s for the best to tell you now” Star said.

“By the way you’re saying that, it looks like something even more serious than we think it is” Blue said.

Star took a deep breath and then he proceeded to say:

“Before he died, great-grandpa Star Shield asked me to do something. He asked me to help one kingdom that he had enslaved while he was working to the Lord of Chaos as Grogar. He wanted me to help them and prevent something really bad from happening there.”

Listening to that, Twilight and Blue shared a look, with the former saying:

“Star…”

“I know what you will say, mom” Star said. “You will say that I’m too young to something like that. But I say that I have already proved what I’m capable of. And, no matter what both of you will say, I will honor great-grandpa’s wishes and save…”

“Tambelon?” Blue asked.

When his said that, Star looked at him surprised.

“How do you know that, dad?” the young prince asked.

“Let’s just say that I dreamt about it” Blue replied.

Remembering the reason why he didn’t train with him at the day before, Star realized:

“Was that the reason why you went to see Princess Luna?”

“Yes, I have been having some premonitions that are linked to it” Blue said. “You’re right, there’s something happening there.”

“Then we have to do something now!” Star exclaimed. “We need to go to Tambelon!”

“Calm down, Star” Twilight said to her beloved son. “We understand that and we already started to delineate a plan. And don’t worry, son, after getting to know your desire to participate in this, we won’t prevent you from joining us. Even if we did, we know you would disobey anyway, am I right?”

The young prince had to admit that his mother got him there.

“Beyond that, we may need your help and Kurama” Blue said.

“Although it’s for the best if you use that power only when necessary” Twilight advertised. “We believe that the first thing we must do is infiltrate in Tambelon and analyze the situation before we do something. Don’t forget that we don’t quite know much about what’s going on there.”

“But do you know where it is?” Star asked. “I searched in many books about it and I didn’t find that much.”

“Don’t worry about that” Twilight said. “Don’t forget that we have the Mirrored Library at our service. And, when the others get here, we can start to plan our trip.”

“The others?” Star repeated, confused. “Who are you talking about?”

Turns out she was talking about her friends and holders of the Elements of Harmony. They have reunited at the meeting room and Twilight said:

“Thank you for coming girls” Twilight said. “I know how long the trip is from Equestria and I called you in such short notice.”

“What tha hay, Twilight” Applejack said. “Ya know ya can count on us for anything.”

“Yeah, you just need to call and we come in a dash” Rainbow Dash said.

Pinkie Pie laughed and then said:

“Good on, Dashie! Good one!”

And then she returned to her serious look, saying:

“Now we just need to know the reason for Twilight to call us here.”

Adopting her extreme exciting look, she asked:

“Are we going to throw a very big party and you need our help to held it? You know, I have a new party cannon that is bigger and fires cake with buttercream and…”

“No, it’s not a party, Pinkie” Twilight said, rolling her eyes with a smile.

“Of course it’s not a party, Pinkie” Rarity said. “Do you really think that Twilight would call us urgently for a party?”

“An’ also, what could we possibly be celebratin’?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, Applejack, obviously you can’t see, after all the years we’re friends, that anything can be celebrated” Pinkie Pie said. “Yesterday, I threw a party for the anniversary to my first travel to the dentist.”

“I called you all here because we need your help with something” Twilight said.

And she put at the center of the table a book, opening it, and a projected image of Tambelon appeared, before her friends’ amazement.

“This is Tambelon, a kingdom located in an island somewhere in the South Luna Ocean, a little far from Equestria” Twilight told.

“Wow, it’s gorgeous!” Rarity exclaimed, while images of Tambelon appeared, including its golden city.

“I agree” Fluttershy said, in her quiet way.

“Why do Ah have tha feelin’ it was not tah show us how great this place is ya called us?” Applejack said.

“Because it is not the reason” Star said. “Something bad is happening there. My great-grandpa told me.”

“Wait, ya mean Grogar?” Applejack asked.

“The one that helped the Lord of Chaos and the General of Chaos conduct a war against all of us?” Rainbow asked.

“He told me about Tambelon before he died, when he was already on our side” Star said. “He wanted to make up for his evil deeds.”

“What do ya mean with that?” Applejack asked.

“That leads us to the Tambelon of today” Blue replied, charging his horn to turn the page, making the darkened kingdom to immerge.

“That doesn’t look so beautiful now…” Fluttershy said, nervously.

“I don’t know, it kind of looks great if we look it at the right angle…” Pinkie Pie said inclining her head in many angles.

“Some decades ago, Grogar invaded Tambelon under the Lord of Chaos’ orders, overthrowing its leader, Queen Nova” Twilight continued. “The information about what happened to her was concealed by Grogar with dark magic, as Mirror Coat was not in charge of the Mirrored Library when that happened. But one thing is certain. Since that moment, he ruled Tambelon with iron hoof, replacing the happiness there with despair.”

“But… Grogar is no more” Applejack said. “Doesn’t that mean that now Tambelon can return to what it was?”

“Unless there’s somepony that had replaced him” Rarity suggested.

“That must be truth, otherwise I wouldn’t be seeing signs about it” Blue who, seeing the other five’s confused look, added. “It’s a long story.”

“So, why do you need our help for” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It’s simple actually, but, at the same time, not that easy” Twilight replied. “We’re planning go to Tambelon and see what might be happening there. However, we need to go as much prepared as possible. I thought that we could count with the power of the Elements of Harmony for that.”

She made a gesture to her crown that also contained the Element of Magic. Twilight then summoned the chest that had the other elements, opening it and revealing the necklaces that contained them, each one matching their respective owners’ Cutie Mark.

“I can’t force you to come with us, mainly when it can be extremely dangerous, but…” Twilight started.

“You convinced me with dangerous!” Rainbow exclaimed, going to take the Element of Loyalty.

“Ya know an Apple can’t ignore when one a’ their family or friends is in need” Applejack replied, taking the Element of Honesty.

“And it is my duty to recover that kingdom’s magnificence, just like I did with the Crystal Empire and the Light Kingdom” Rarity declared.

But seeing everyone looking at her, she gave a nervous chuckle and corrected herself:

“I mean, just like we did.”

And she took her Element of Generosity.

“Uh, a journey full of adventures with the possibility of facing a foe that can reduce us into a pile of nothingness… I can’t wait to participate!” Pinkie Pie said, while taking her Element of Laughter with the tip of her puffy mane.

There was only one element left: the Element of Kindness that belonged to Fluttershy. Everypony looked at her, expectant.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do this” Fluttershy said. “After what happened at the war… I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave my children at a time like this to go on an adventure.”

There was a short silence. Everypony knew she was talking about Thunder Night, her husband who had died to protect Star and Twilight during the war against the Lord of Chaos and Ten-Tails.

“But, Fluttershy, we need you” Twilight said. “Without the Element of Kindness that you represent, we can’t use the combined power of the Elements of Harmony.”

“I know that, and I’m sorry for this, but I simply can’t go and leave Moonlight and Dark Cloud when they just lost their father” Fluttershy replied.

“But, Fluttershy…” Rainbow Dash said.

“No, Rainbow, I’ll not change my mind” Fluttershy said, with an assertiveness that surprised everypony.

Star understood what Fluttershy was feeling, but he also knew they need her help. It was that what drove him to approached her and say:

“Aunt Fluttershy, I know that it must be hard to leave Moonlight and Dark Cloud, but you must know the importance that you are to us. We need you and the power and abilities that you have to end a threat to Tambelon, but to all the world. Please, if you really want to save them, then you have to help us.”

Star’s words caused Fluttershy really to think about it. It was then that she took a deep breath and then said:

“Okay, you can count on me.”

And she took her necklace, while the others cheered.

“Okay, guys, listen up” Twilight said. “Heartbeat is the one that is taking care of our trip. Apparently, she knows a way for us to get there, what is something that we all fear to ask. Once she gets it, we depart to Tambelon. So, be prepared for when the time has come.”

After the meeting, Twilight approached Star and said:

“Thank you, Star. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have Fluttershy to help us.”

“I just did what you would do” he replied. “I inspired another to help.”

Twilight smiled, with tears on her eyes, and said, while hugging her son:

“I’m proud of you, son.”

That night, Blue was patrolling the castle, something that he did in order to not sleep to avoid the nightmares. It was then that he passed through Princess Aurora’s figure in relief with the Generals of Order that also hid the entrance to the Diamond Domain, where the Diamond Heart, the General of Balance’s matrix and the one thing that kept the Light Kingdom standing, rested. At that moment, Blue started to hear something calling him. It was a very sweet sound that had a hypnotic effect on him.

As if his body was moving on its own, Blue advanced toward the figure and casted a beam of magic to Princess Aurora’s horn and her eyes started to shone. Blue was then teleported to the Diamond Domain, that he walked through until arriving to the center of that place, where the greatest and most shining diamond was, the Diamond Heart. Blue approached it and extended his hoof, ready to touch it.

As his hoof approached the diamond’s surface, the voice from his dreams kept telling:

“The Talismans… We need the Talismans… To bring destruction…”

Blue then touched the Diamond Heart and it released an intense light that obfuscate everything around…

Getting on Board of the Destiny’s Bounty

The Light Express crossed the land, going to the east of Equestria, where the express arrived at the station of Las Pegasus after making a quick stop at Ponyville. The station was located at the top of a mountain with a bridge connecting it with the city. When the train stopped, Twilight and Blue got out, with the former asking to the latter:

“Are you really fine, Blue? You don’t look so well.”

“Honestly, I don’t quite know that” Blue replied, a little tired. “Somehow, part of last night was washed from my head.”

“Probably it was another of your nightmares” Twilight suggested.

“Maybe, although normally I remember every single of them…” he replied.

After them, the one to get out was Star, who was with nopony than Moonlight.

“Okay, I tried to believe that you managed to convince to convince your mother to come, but now I want the truth, Moonlight” Star said. “How did you do it?”

“What, I can be very convincing” Moonlight replied. “And I know my mom and how to make her change her mind.”

It didn’t took that much time to Star to get how she that.

“Please, tell me you didn’t use your voice.”

Moonlight would say something, but then stopped herself, what pretty much confirmed Star’s theory.

“I can’t believe this… You charmed your own mother, Moonlight?”

“I didn’t charm her” Moonlight replied. “I just… hummed a little. Sorry, Star, but I had to come. I had to set aside while you passed through the war and everything else, including when I was a villain. You did everything you could to save me and even when I did the same, I only made things worse. I can’t let you go face another threat… not without doing anything to help you. I love you and I can’t stand lose you.”

Those words really moved Star, who smiled and then said:

“Okay, but you’ll have to promise me you’ll be careful.”

“Don’t worry, I will” Moonlight promised.

The two shared a hug and then continued to advance. A second later, Twilight’s friends got out the train, with Applejack saying to Fluttershy:

“Ah can’t believe that ya let yer daughter tah come after what ya said earlier.”

“I know, but…” Fluttershy said. “Moonlight is getting older and more assertive… clearly she’s taking after her father. She would stay home, but when she got to know that Star was coming too… Well, I was not able to convince her to stay. I doubt that, if I even forbade her, she wouldn’t try to come by anyway possible.”

“Yeah, it was tha same with Jona…” Applejack replied. “But mah brother an’ Cherry were very firm with him.”

“Oh, yeah, I noticed that Jona was not very happy when I went to let Cloudy with Cherry” Fluttershy commented.

“By the way, do you think our beloved husbands will be able to take care of the children?” Rarity asked. “It’s not like they are little foals, but…”

“Yeah, Ah know what ya mean” Applejack replied. “We can be out fer some moons and that’s sayin’ tha least. We don’t even know what threat we will be facin’.”

“Relax, we will be fine” Rainbow Dash said. “Have you forgotten all the bad guys whose butt we kicked?”

“Well, duh, of course not” Pinkie Pie said. “There was that time with Nightmare Moon, and then with Discord, followed by…”

And her mouth was covered by Applejack who told her:

“Ah don’t think that’s what Rainbow want’d to say, Pinkie.”

Together, the group advanced through the city, with some of ponies paying their respects to Twilight, Blue and Star, mainly to the latter, as he was the great savior of both Pony World and the Enchanted Forest. At some point, Rainbow asked, while flapping her wings:

“Do we even know where to go?”

“Heartbeat said to meet her by the airship port” Twilight said. “Don’t worry, we’re not far.”

Arriving to the airship port, where many airship were moored, floating in the air, they noticed that Heartbeat was in no way to be found.

“Oh great, fastest being in all Pony World and she can’t even be here at time.”

“Uh, she does remember us of a certain somepony” Applejack replied, with an ironic smile to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash crossed her front hooves, while pouting.

“For your information…” a voice said, while Heartbeat appeared suddenly. “…I was already here when you arrived. But you were taking too long, so I went to buy some sweets.”

“Uh, what did you take?” Pinkie Pie asked, interested.

“Oh, you won’t gonna believe the new kind of treats the new store at Manehatten is selling” Heartbeat replied. “There’s a new chocolate with a new flavor that you won’t believe it…”

“Heartbeat, as much as I appreciate your and Pinkie’s enthusiasm for candy, I think that I speak for the rest of us that we want you to take us to our ride to Tambelon” Twilight said.

“Okay, princess, follow me” Heartbeat replied, starting to advance.

“Oh, but I wanted to know more about that chocolate” Pinkie Pie sighed, disappointed.

They all advanced through the airship port, passing by many vessels, until they arrived to one specifically, where the prow had the shape of a bird.

“And here we are” Heartbeat said. “This is the Destiny’s Bounty.”

Everypony seemed impressed by the ship and Blue said:

“Wow, Heartbeat, you really impressed us.”

“Yeah, I thought you would get us something small and breakable” Rainbow Dash commented.

“I’m touched by the faith you have in me, Rainbow Dash” Heartbeat replied sarcastically.

“Don’t take what Rainbow said to the wrong side, darling” Rarity said to the little General of Affection. “It’s just you tend to surprise us… and not always in the right way.”

“Jest tell us that ya got a crew tah drive this thing” Applejack said. “A ship like this will take more than us to be operated, mainly when there’s jest a few of us who can sail.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I got you a crew” Heartbeat replied.

“And that’s my crew” a voice replied.

From the ship, five figures got down, revealing to be five anthropomorphic parrots, all using corsair clothing. The one that had spoken was a tall female parrot with light gambogeish gray body feathers with pale, light grayish harlequin head feathers with lighter tips and grayish emerald green, long sap green tail feathers, moderate raspberry eyes and a right peg leg. There was also a slender male parrot with an eyepatch that had moderate sea green body feathers with moderate raspberry head feathers and black eyes with very light pistachio sclera. The third one was also a male parrot, but much burlier and with a false right hand with a hook attachment, with grayish emerald green body feathers with the feathers on the chest and shoulders being dark sea green, dark cyan head feathers and dark grayish cyan with pale, light grayish olive sclera. The fourth one was a short and plump female parrot with a false tail tip with a pale, light grayish rose body feathers, light sap green head feathers and black eyes with pale, light grayish apple green sclera. The last one was a wall-eyed male parrot with a false beak with grayish malachite green body feathers, dark crimsons head feathers and moderate crimson eyes with pale, light grayish spring bud sclera.

“Ahoy, little ponies, I’m Captain Celaeno and I will be the one to take you to where you want to go” the first parrot said.

“Wow, you hired pirates to help us?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Now that’s the twist I knew that would come” Star whispered to Moonlight, who chuckled.

“We prefer the term swashbuckling treasure hunters” the slender male parrot said.

“Allow me to introduce you to my crew” Captain Celaeno, motioning then to the slender male parrot and then going through the burly parrot, the other female and the wall-eyed parrot. “This is my first mate, Mullet, and those are Boyle, Lix Spittle and Squabble.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, captain” Twilight said to Celaeno. “I’m…”

“Yes, we know who you are, princess” she replied. “You are quite famous, even between the non-pony.”

“Yeah, I wish we could have done half the things you and your friends have done” Lix Spittle said.

Turning to Heartbeat, Blue asked:

“Heartbeat, I don’t want to get suspicious, but are you sure we can trust them?”

“I know that they are pirates, but they are good pirates” Heartbeat replied. “Trust me when I say that they love a good adventure. Beyond that, I paid to them very well. You won’t believe what parrots will do for shining diamons.”

“I really hope so…” Blue said. “Wait, you said shining diamonds? Please tell me you are not taking diamonds from the Diamond Domain again.”

“What?! Of course not!” Heartbeat replied in a way that didn’t convince Blue. “Okay, I took a few. But I don’t know where’s the problem. Those things are like crystal, growing from the ground.”

“The problem is that the Diamond Domain needs the diamonds to help the Diamond Heart to sustain the Light Kingdom” Blue said. “Even if they can grew back, at this point after what happened…”

“Yes, yes… Don’t worry” Heartbeat replied. “The most important thing is that you now have a way to go to Tambelon.”

“I still have my reservations” Mullet said, with his arms crossed. “The journey ahead of us is as cursed as the place you want to go.”

But Heartbeat just made appear a piece of diamond in front of Mullet who got it and then said:

“But, since we’re experienced with life-threatening danger, I guess helping these ponies going to where they want go is the least we can do.”

“That’s right” Celaeno said. “And, if we want to take advantage of the currents, we must go at once. Boyle, go get the rest of the supplies. We don’t have time to waste.”

“Aye, aye, captain” he replied, going to take his captains orders.

“And you better get on board, little ponies” Captain Celaeno.

Everypony went to the boat, with Applejack saying:

“Well, Ah have tah say that Ah’m a little worri’d ‘bout flyin’ on this thin’. Ah never flew over the sea.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Applejack” Rarity said. “I’m certain that Captain Celaeno and her crew are very competent.”

“Yeah, beyond looking awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, while hoovering. “Did you see how cool is their cloths?”

“Oh this will be so amazing!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “I’ll finally be able to use my pirate eyepatch in the pirate way and not using to occlude an eye that had been dazzled by the sunlight through a telescope lent, like that time when Twilight went crazy trying to avoid a great calamity after being warned by her future self.”

“Pinkie, we agreed to not talk about that again” Twilight replied. “Beyond that, I must remind you that we are on a mission.”

After everything was dealt with, it didn’t take long for the Destiny’s Bounty to set sail, starting to advance through the air. At the beginning, it advanced slowly, but went the crew, following the captain’s orders, opened the sails, the airship looked like it had opened wings made of colorful feathers, much to the amazement of everypony.

As the airship moved, Star put himself at the front, looking ahead, as he was heading to the place that was once ruled by his great-grandfather. Moonlight approached him and asked:

“Are you okay, Star?”

“It’s just… I’m now heading to do what my great-grandpa asked me to do” Star said. “I wonder what is happening there and if I will be able to help.”

Moonlight placed a hoof on his shoulder, giving then a kiss on his cheek and told him:

“You’re the savior that ended the great war between Order and Chaos and the one who defeat the Lord of Chaos. Don’t worry about that. You will succeed. Believe in that.”

That caused Star to smile and he said:

“Thank you, Moonlight. Just for that, I’m happy that you’re here with me.”

And she leaned her head over his shoulder, while the two watched the sky ahead, as the airship moved forward. Blue was nearby and smile, seeing how his son had Moonlight to help him dealing with his insecurities, just like he had Twilight.

At that moment, the General of Balance found himself being invaded by a brief vision of destruction, the same one that tormented his dreams. Those visions were becoming more intense and Blue wondered about their meaning.

Author's Note

Captain Celaeno’s airship’s name comes from the Ninja’s sailing ship from Ninjago.

The Trap of the Siren

The Destiny’s Bounty was cruising through the sky, heading towards Tambelon. Nothing seemed to be able to preventing it from taking its course… except one thing.

The Lord of Chaos was sitting on his throne (what had become more uncomfortable to him since he got the chains), watching through one of his mirrors the airship moving, what didn’t please him.

“No…” he said. “No! This cannot be! I can’t have those pesky heroes interfering with my plans again! I have to do something to prevent them from getting to Tambelon… or at least delaying them long enough… But how will I do that with these chains preventing me from having influence outside my realm?”

He thought for a moment and then he noticed the route they were taking and had an idea.

“Wait a minute, I know that place.”

The Lord of Chaos gave a laugh and then continued:

“Now that’s what I’m talking about. The only thing I need to do is to make them put that ship on the water. And, although I don’t have the same power, I can still do the normal things a Lord of Chaos can do.”

And he pointed his spear to the mirror, while chuckling evilly. Dark stormy clouds started to be formed ahead.

At the airship, everypony was enjoying the trip.

“I have to say it” Rarity said, while putting sun cream on her face. “Even though we’re in a mission, it is quite nice enjoying the little time of peace that we still have.”

“Ah have tah agree with ya, Rarity” Applejack said. “Beyond that, it will give us time tah think of a plan for when we get tah Tambelon.”

“What’s to think about?” Rainbow Dash asked. “We get there, we kick some butt and we save the day with the Elements.”

“I wish that could be that easy, but we have to act carefully” Twilight said, approaching with Blue. “Tambelon has been under the influence of the darkness for decades. We may have some difficulties to get it back.”

“Yeah, but it was Grogar who used to rule it, right?” Rainbow Dash asked. “So, now that he’s out of scene, we may have our work eased.”

“I don’t know about that” Blue said. “Don’t forget that Grogar helped the Lord of Chaos preparing everything to resurrect Ten-Tails for years, gathering the tailed beasts and participating in the war.”

“What do you mean with that?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Ah think what Blue is tryin’ to say is that Grogar may have had a helper tah rule the kingdom durin’ his absence” Applejack said.

“Uh, that’s not good…” Fluttershy said, getting to the conversation.

“Oh, don’t worry, Fluttershy” Pinkie Pie said. “We can get over anything. Have you forgotten that we even survived to the attack of a meanie villain that destroyed the Light Kingdom?”

That caused everypony to look at her and Applejack asked:

“Really, Pinkie? Of all tha examples you could give, ya had to give that?”

“What?” she asked back, noticing then on Twilight and Blue. “Oh, right… Sorry.”

“Don’t worry, Pinkie, it’s okay” Twilight said. “That’s all in the past. And the Light Kingdom is now as good as new.”

Star and Moonlight were a little away, observing the adults talking.

“They must be talking about what to do once we get to Tambelon” Moolight commented.

“Well, I have a feeling that, no matter what they plan, we will never be ready for what’s ahead of us” Star said.

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that if there’s something I learned is that the other side will always get ways to overcome whatever we do. The only thing we need to be prepared for is for that.”

Moonlight turned Star to her and told him:

“Whatever may happen, I will be by your side always.”

Star smiled and replied:

“I know that.”

The two shared a kiss and then noticed Mullet, the first mate, nearby looking ahead through a telescope. He seemed worried.

“That doesn’t look good…” he said, turning then to his captain who was at the rudder. “Captain Celaeno, we have a storm ahead!”

“That’s not good” she said. “Prepare to land on the sea!”

And she pulled a lever that she had beside the rudder.

“Oh, great… And when I had refueled the stabilizers” Boyle muttered, while he and the others prepared to pull the sails ropes.

Curious about what was going on, Twilight flew to Captain Celaeno and asked her:

“What’s wrong, captain?”

“We have storm clouds ahead of us, princess” she replied. “Because of that, we’ll need to go by the sea.”

“Wait, this airship is also a regular ship?” Rainbow Dash asked, while hoovering beside Twilight. “That’s so awesome!”

“Come on, Rainbow, all airships can do that” Twilight replied to her.

The Destiny’s Bounty descended from the sky, with Celaeno’s crew holding up the sails. It then landed on the surface of the sea, with the sails now using the wind to advance. A slight mist involved the area.

“Captain, for how long will we be delayed without flying?” Twilight asked.

“Well, princess, it all depends of how long we have those nasty-looking clouds” Celaeno replied. “But don’t worry, as soon they disappear, we’ll return to the sky. Mullet!”

The first-mate approached her and Celaeno told him:

“Take hold of the rudder, while I’m going to my cabinet take a look to some marine maps.”

“Aye, aye, captain” he replied, taking the rudder.

“Do you mind if I go with you?” Twilight asked to Celaeno. “I would love to see what lays between us and Tambelon.”

“Do as you please, princess” she replied.

And the two advanced to the captain cabinet, where they start to look to some maps.

“I don’t like what I see here” Celaeno said.

“What?” Twilight asked.

“Normally, I wouldn’t get worry, because we use to fly, but now that we’re sailing on the ocean… We’re close to a location that is known to be where many ships were lost.”

“That doesn’t sound good…”

“Don’t worry, princess, we just have to do a little detour” Celaeno replied. “And, as soon those nasty clouds disappear, we can get back to the sky.”

Mullet was riding the Destiny’s Bounty quietly when, from nowhere, a beautiful sound, a melodic voice, caught his attention. It was an entangled music that it didn’t last to the first mate to be filled by the desire of following that voice and he turned the rudder in a way that made the ship to do a sharp turn.

“Ah!” Rarity exclaimed, when she was caught by surprise by that turn. “But what is going on?”

“Ah don’t know, but Ah don’t like it one bit” Applejack replied. “What do ya think, Blue? Blue?”

She then noticed something odd was happening with Blue. He seemed to be in a dreamy state, just like Mullet, and, just like him, he was hearing the same music. Applejack moved a hoof ahead of Blue, but he didn’t react.

“Somethin’ is wrong with Blue” Applejack said.

“He’s not the only one” Rainbow Dash said.

She was right, as Boyle and Squabble were also affected in the same way. Lix Spittle tried to wake them up with a blow with her paw, but they didn’t react.

“Wow, they’re really out” she said.

Fluttershy approached her daughter and asked:

“Are you okay, dear?”

“I’m fine, mom, but Star is not” Moonlight replied.

She was right, as Star was also in a dreamy state, like the others.

“Whatever is affecting them, it’s only affecting the guys” Rainbow Dash observed.

At that moment, Moonlight noticed the same song that put the guys under that dreamy state. It was subtle, but she recognized that kind of music.

“It can’t be…” she said. “But this is…”

But she didn’t finished, as the Destiny’s Bounty did another sudden turn. From the mist, a stone passage appear, with the great stones that made that passage starting to close, as the ship crossed it. Twilight and Celaeno got out.

“But what is going on?!” the later asked.

Noticing what was happening, with a jump, Celaeno went to Mullet and tried to recover the control, but it was too late, as the passage closed behind them. At that moment, a giant stone pillar immerged from the pillar, what caused the captain to take the rudder from Mullet and turn it quickly. The ship turned, but the stern hit hard on it. Fortunately, the ship was stopped at the land. It was then that the guys got out of their dreamy state.

“Bloody hell…” Mullet said, a little confused. “What happened?”

“The las thing I remember is being here looking ahead and then my mind got cloudy” Blue said.

“Yeah, me too” Star said, holding his head.

“Me three” Boyled added.

Squabble squawked, agreeing with them.

“I don’t know what happened” Star said. “Even Kurama was affected.”

“I may know what’s happening, and I don’t like it one bit…” Moonlight said.

However, Moonlight didn’t continue, as everypony’s attention went to Captain Celaeno who was trying to pull the lever to take flight, without success.

“Shiver me timbers!” she exclaimed. “Now we can’t get up. Probably the stabilizers were damaged when we hit.”

“Sorry, captain, it was my fault” Mullet said.

“No worries, mate, I know you weren’t yourself” Celaeno told him.

“Wait, does that mean we’re stuck here?!” Rarity exclaimed. “No, it can’t be!”

“Calm down, Rarity, we’re going to be fine” Pinkie Pie said. “Look, we were not the only ones to get here.”

She was right, there were other ships, all wreaked and skeletons as the only sign of any life, being what was left from each ship’s crew.

“Okay, that’s not very soothing” Rainbow Dash said.

“Let’s not panic, everypony” Applejack said. “I’m sure there’s a way to get out of here.”

Getting her hooves on the ground, Twilight said:

“Okay, we have to look around. Say anything if you see something.”

They all nodded and get out as well. It was at that moment that the same melodic voice was heard again. Noticing that, Moonlight said:

“Oh no, it’s happening again…”

And Blue, Star, Mullet, Boyle and Squabble were caught again under the music’s influence, getting into the dreamy state.

“Blue… Star… What’s happening?” Twilight asked to her husband and son, but they didn’t replied, starting to follow the voice that was controlling them.

“So beautiful…” Blue said.

“That song… amazing…” Star added.

Twilight tried to touch his son’s shoulder, but an energy tail came out of him, ready to attack her. Fortunately, she was fast to retreat with a flap of wings, making the energy tail to retreat.

“But what tha hay is goin’ on” Applejack said.

“They’re being controlled by some music” Moonlight said.

“What do you mean, Moonlight?” Twilight asked.

“I heard it earlier” Moonlight said. “It was that music that is causing all this to happen.”

“But how can a music do all that?” Captain Celaeno asked. “It makes no sense.”

“It makes when it has the Thirteenth Note” Moonlight said.

“Wait, are ya sayin’ a Prodigal is doin’ all this?” Applejack asked.

“I don’t know that, but I’m certain that the Thirteenth Note is involved” Moonlight said. “I now can feel it quite well.”

“That explains everything” Twilight said. “Someone is using the power of the Thirteenth Note to lure every sailor that comes near this place. That’s why ships disappear.”

“Yeah, but why didn’t affect us?” Rarity asked. “Is it because of the Elements?”

“Maybe, but I don’t have any Element and the same goes to Captain Celaeno and Lix Spittle” Moonlight replied.

“Obviously it is only in a frequency that only affects males” Twilight said. “But that doesn’t answer of whom is causing this.”

“Well, there is only one way to find out” Celaeno said, motioning to the hypnotized ones.

“Yes, we have to follow them” Twilight said. “Moonlight, as you are a prodigy, we may need your help.”

“Yes, aunt Twilight” Moonlight said, confidently.

“But, wait, it can be dangerous…” Fluttershy said.

“Mom, we need to save Star and the others” Moonlight said.

“I promise I will take care of her, Fluttershy” Twilight said.

Although not completely sure of that, the yellow pegasus ended up nodding her head.

“Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie, I need you to be here and make sure that we’re not ambushed.

“Ya can count on us, Twilight” Applejack replied, with the others agreeing.

“Lix Spittle, you stay here with them and make sure the Destiny’s Bounty is ready to go” Captain Celaeno ordered.

“Aye, aye, captain” she replied. “I’ll repair the stabilizers and the ship will fly like never before.”

After that, Twilight, Moonlight and Celaeno followed the enchanted ones. They then saw them entering a cave, where a mysterious yellowish glow was coming from. As they were approaching, the voice became clear to Twilight and Celaeno. When they arrived to its source, they became astonished by what they saw. The guys were standing on a big boulder that was in front of a small island in the pool of the cave, where, sitting on a rock was…

“I can’t believe it…” Twilight said. “It’s a siren!”

She was right, it was a siren. It had a clear similarity with Adagio, Aria and Sonata’s siren form, but with yellow as a color and the fact that she didn’t had a pendant. She had yellow colors and had a more sickly appearance, having not one bit of the beauty that characterized her kind.

“Oh, I heard about those nasty creatures, but I’ve never encountered one in all my years as captain” Celaeno replied.

“But how can that be?” Twilight asked. “Adagio is away with Ulysses and Aria and Sonata are in Tartarus.”

“Do you think it can be one of the others that were defeated by Melody?” Moonlight asked.

“If that’s so, then how can she has the Thirteenth Note and that form?” Twilight said.

The guys continued to look at siren with a captivated look. At their perspective, the siren had a very appealing beauty that caused them to say:

“So beautiful…”

“Okay, now I now they’re under a spell” Captain Celaeno said. “I would never call that beautiful.”

“What do we do now, aunt Twilight?” Moonlight asked.

Twilight thought for a moment and then she had an idea.

“Moonlight, do you think you can nullify her music with yours?” she asked.

“I don’t know…” she replied. “I mean, I only started to have control of my new power. Everything was easier when I was a siren and had Adagio by my side.”

“But probably you can disrupt her song with a supersonic scream” Twilight said. “We just need to make her stop so they can awake.”

Moonlight nodded and, focusing enough, she casted a supersonic scream that echoed in the cave and affected the siren who stopped singing and brought her hooves to her ears. The guys woke up and then also covered their ears.

“But what’s happening?!” Star asked.

They then noticed the siren and adopted an offensive position.

“What creature is this?” Mullet asked.

“It’s a siren” Twilight said, while she, Moonlight and Celaeno joined them. “She was the one to brought you here and encase us in this island.”

“I never thought there was another siren, even more here in the Pony World” Blue said.

“Why did you imprison us here… siren… or monster?” Star asked to the siren. “Or whatever you are?”

The siren got offended by that and said:

“Monster? You’re the only monsters here. Just like the ones that came to destroy my island.”

“What are you talking about?” Celaeno asked. “I and my crew may be pirates, but we don’t destroy anything.”

“We don’t care about your island” Twilight replied. “We just want to get out here.”

“You always came with the same excuses” the siren said. “Isn’t that right, Captain Redbeard?”

She was talking to a pony skeleton of a captain that was sitting on a rock near her, what caused some confusion to the others.

“What should we do with them?” the siren asked to the skeleton, waiting for some answer and then giving a chuckle. “Captain, you’re so smart.”

The siren turned to her adversaries and said:

“Captain Redbeard and I have agreed that all of you’ll be my prisoners, along with the ones outside… forever!”

“I’m sorry, but we don’t want any trouble” Blue said. “We have a very important mission and we need to…”

But he didn’t finished, as the siren began to sing again, putting Blue, Star, Mullet, Boyle and Squabble again under her influence.

“She’s doing it again!” Captain Celaeno exclaimed.

“Moonlight, do it again!” Twilight exclaimed.

She prepared to scream again, but the siren used her power to raise the three of them in the air and then launched a supersonic scream of hers. Fortunately, Twilight defended them with a shield, but it didn’t prevent them from being thrown to the ground.

“We have to do something” Captain Celaeno said.

“The only way to defeat her is defeat her in her own game” Twilight said. “And, you, Moonlight, are the only one capable of doing it.”

“I don’t know if I can do that” Moonlight said. “You saw what happened. She was able to repel us easily.”

“But you have more than she has, Moonlight” Twilight said. “You have the pink pearl that is capable of channeling your love into your voice and, more importantly, you have us. We will distract her long enough for you to subdue her.”

“You really think I can do this?” Moonlight asked.

“My dear, you’ve done so many things with your voice” Twilight said. “Some of them were dark, but others not. You helped Adagio find her way and you helped her save Ulysses. You have what you need to do this.”

Those words gave Moonlight the confidence she needed to decide to do what needed to be done. She nodded and then Twilight said to Celaeno:

“Very well, captain, we’re going to be the distraction Moonlight needs.”

“That sounds good to me” she replied, taking her sword.

And so the two of them advanced to face the siren with the latter doing everything she could to take them out.

Meanwhile, Moonlight tried to focus the power of the pink pearl inside her locked. A little piece of doubt was still preventing her from getting full access to its power, but when she saw Star under the siren spell, she remembered all the things he did for her and only made her more determinant to do that.

It was then that the young one felt something. It was coming from the siren voice. There was a bit of sadness and suffering, beyond having some wildness as well. All that made Moonlight realize that the siren also needed help. Knowing now what to do, she advanced and said, after the siren deflected her adversaries’ attack:

“You don’t have to do this. Please, stop this madness and I can help you.”

“Help me?” the siren sneered. “I don’t need help! There’s nothing you can’t do for me!”

“That’s what you think, but I can prove otherwise to you” Moonlight replied, touching her neckless. “Pink Pearl Voice!”

And her pearl released a pink light that involved Moonlight. Seeing that light, the siren had to protect her eyes.

“This light… No, it can’t be…”

The light went out and Moonlight reappeared. She had a form similar to the one she had during her time as villains with translucent pink webbed ears, but this time with pink beautiful fin-shaped wings. That form amazed Twilight and Celaeno.

“You have the pink magical pearl” the siren realized. “How can you have that?!”

“The Lord of Order gave it to me… and I’ll show you why” Moonlight replied, starting to sing.

It was a beautiful song that showed all Moonlight’s feelings and wishes. The song itself was a light that filled everyone’s heart with it. The siren, listening that music, started to feel an immense pain, taking her hands to her ears. All the ones that were under the siren’s control were released and became amazed by what they were seeing.

The siren, getting weaker as she heard Moonlight’s song. She tried to move away, but she barely could move. Deciding to fight back, the siren tried to sing again, but Twilight was quick to create a gag on her mouth that the siren wasn’t able to take out.

“I think we have enough of your singing” she said.

Moonlight finished her song and descended, returning to her normal form. After that, Star came to her, hugging her and telling:

“That was amazing! I didn’t know you had that power.”

“Yeah, I didn’t know that either” she replied, blushing slightly.

Boyle, Mullet and Squabble went to their captain and the first-mate said:

“I’m sorry, captain, we let ourselves get under the control of that monster.”

“You don’t have to be sorry” Celaeno replied. “That creature was really powerful.”

Approaching Twilight, Blue said:

“I hope I didn’t do or say anything stupid.”

“Oh, don’t worry, you just acted like a mindless zombie drooling to a siren” Twilight replied, in a playful way.

Blue chuckled and said:

“Very funny, Twily. Very funny.”

Everyone turned to the siren and, when Twilight made the gag disappear, Moonlight said:

“Very well, it’s time for answers. Tell us why did you do all of this?”

The siren, whose dangerous side was calmed down by Moonlight, took a few seconds before telling:

“My name is Allegro Shine and I was one of the seven original sirens. After my defeat to the General of Music, I was forced to get out of my realm home. I came to the Pony World and I found this island. It was like a paradise, so I decided to stay and try to redeem for sins. With the magic that I’ve stored from my pearl, I created that passage, in order to form a safe-place where ships could rest. But that didn’t last for long.”

“What happened?” Blue asked.

Inside his mind, Star was told by Kurama:

“I think I know what happened. Star, can you feel the aura that siren is emanating?”

Taking his advice, Star get into his sage mode for a moment and then he realized what the tailed beast was talking about.

“Wild energy…” he said. “I now can feel it… It’s on this island.”

“Yes…” the siren confirmed. “One day, a ship arrived. Its crew wanted to take this island… to turn it into one of their hideouts. I tried to explain the island was meant to everyone, but they would listen. Using the power that I had left, I sank their ship and expelled them. However…”

“They should have a source of wild energy in their ship and it infected something in the island” Twilight said.

“The island became withered and even I changed” Allegro continued. “I changed back to my siren form, that became even more different. But I also got my music power back and it was at that moment that I realized that I could make sure the same thing didn’t happen again, so I used my power to attract every ship to here… I let myself be consumed by the betrayal and I became just like I used to be.”

And she started to cry, while saying:

“I feel like awakening from a nightmare!”

“In a way, that’s truth” Star said. “Thanks to Moonlight, your mind was cleared from the wild energy.”

“And now it’s too late to recover my beautiful island” Allegro lamented.

Twilight thought for a moment and then she said:

“Maybe not. I have a plan, but I need you to take us to the place where that ship sank.”

Allegro did that with the place being the one where the Destiny’s Bounty hit the large rock, being it the source of the wild energy that was infecting the island. Twilight and her friends reunited at the shores. The others were nearby, watching, while Allegro was at the water.

“Are ya sure this will work, Twilight?” Applejack asked.

“I believe so” she replied. “Wild energy is the dark side of natural energy. With the power of the Elements of Harmony, we can neutralize the wild energy.”

“Well, there’s only one way to know” Rainbow Dash said.

The six bearers of the Elements of Harmony focused and so the latters were linked by the rainbow link that charged Twilight’s Element of Magic. She then casted a rainbow beam that hit the rock that neutralized all the wild energy that was there. After that, there was an explosion of harmonic energy that cleared the sky and caused the island to recover its beauty.

“You did it…” Allegro said, very happy. “You really did it!”

She turned to everyone and they all became amazed, as Allegro had recovered her original self. The upper body was of a pony, with the forelegs having fins instead of hooves, and the lower body of a fish, having as well translucent wing-shaped fins at their backs. Her body was unmellow yellow, her mane and fins being canary yellow and her eyes being goldenrod.

“Wow, now that’s a beauty” Boyle whispered to Mullet, who agreed with him.

“Thank you, everyone” Allegro said. “You did so much for me. Mainly you, Moonlight.”

“I did what I had to do” she replied. “And I could feel through your music how you truly were. I noticed that you were like Adagio: that you were seeking repentance.”

“Adagio too?” Allegro asked, surprised. “And I was thinking she would be the hardest to notice the wrong of our actions.”

“Fortunately, that’s what happened… and the same happened with you” a voice replied.

There was a burst of light and the Lord of Order appeared, causing everyone to kneel before his presence.

“My lord…” Allegro said, bowing her head respectfully.

“Allegro Shine, I’ve been watching you and I noticed the change in your heart” the Lord of Order said.

“I have to thank Moonlight for that” Allegro replied, turning to her, smiling. “If it wasn’t for I wouldn’t be who I was.”

“Even so, you have showed that you regret your wicked actions of the past and, for that, you deserve a second chance” the Lord of Order told.

Before Allegro, a yellow pearl appeared. Seeing it, a smile appeared on her.

“My pearl…” she said.

“You can have it back” the Lord of Order said. “But use its power wisely. I don’t want you to disappoint me again.”

“That won’t happen again” the mermare replied.

“I really hope that, Allegro” the Lord of Order said, disappearing next.

A locked like Moonlight’s appeared, where the yellow pearl was placed inside. After that, Allegro took it and placed it around her neck.

It didn’t take long for the time for everyone to continue their travel to Tambelon. When everyone was already on board on the now repaired Destiny’s Bounty, Allegro approached them and asked:

“Are you sure you can’t stay a little longer?”

“Unfortunately, yes” Twilight replied.

“We have a very important mission ahead of us” Blue added.

“Okay, then, I’ll open the entrance for you” Allegro said. “And thank you all for everything. I just hope you come to visit.”

“Now that we know about this safe-place, you can bet we will” Celaeno replied.

Allegro used her voice to open the entrance the ship advanced, starting to get out, while saying goodbye to Allegro before the passage closed again.

Without any dark clouds on the sky, the Destiny’s Bounty was able to take flight again, continuing to go to Tambelon.

Author's Note

The videos added to this chapter belong to xXxTeaChanxXx.

I have to inform those who hadn’t seen the update in the chapter “The Song of the Siren” that, due to the film, I decided to change the term merponies to seaponies, however I'll keep mermare, as I want to use it to describe the females of this kind of equines.

An Island With a Hairy Mystery

Advancing through the sky towards Tambelon, the Destiny’s Bounty was sailing calmly through the clouds, while a new day started anew. Moonlight was already awake, seeing the sun rising gloriously. Thanks to her thestral blood, Moonlight didn’t need to sleep that much during the night.

She then listened hoofsteps and Star appeared by his side, still a little tired.

“Good morning…” he said, giving a kiss on his marefriend’s cheek. “You woke up early.”

“I didn’t wanted to get in bed sleeping, mainly with all the snoring” she replied.

Star dropped a laugh and said:

“Yeah, I get what you mean.”

“But you should have stayed in bed a little longer” Moonlight said. “You still may have some residues of Allegro’s magic inside.”

“Don’t worry about me” the young prince assured. “You know I can recover quickly… mainly with you by my side.”

“Oh, Star…” Moonlight sighed.

The two were about to share a kiss, when it happened a big noise, followed by a strong shake.

“But what was that?!” Star asked.

The noise was such that it awoke all the passengers of the ship. While the others waited on the deck, Lix Spittle went to see what happened. When she returned, she told:

“Well, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that one of our stabilizers is dead, maybe because of the damages that it had yesterday. The good news is that we can still fly.”

“That is not as comforting as it looks, Lix” Mullet said.

“What do ya mean?” Applejack asked.

“It means that, although we’re still flying, nothing guarantees that the other stabilizer won’t die as well” Boyle replied.

“Does it means we’re all doomed?!” Rarity exclaimed. “Oh no, we’re going to fall! And I that still wanted to create much more beautiful dresses!”

Everyone looked at Rarity who said:

“What? It may not seem important to you, but the world of fashion would suffer a lot without me. Have you imagined if some aspiring designer would be able to convince ponies to use horrible print fabric and gaudy colours?”

“Yeah, Rarity, that would be a catastrophe” Applejack ironized.

“The world will end if something like that happens” Rainbow Dash added.

And the two bumped their hooves, while they laughed.

“Because I am a lady, I will just ignore those rude comments of yours” Rarity replied.

But that didn’t stop Applejack and Rainbow Dash from continuing to laugh.

“Fortunately to us, Miss Rarity, we can pass to the nautical mode and continue our journey through sea” Captain Celaeno said. “Once we find land, we can moor so we can repair the stabilizer.”

“But that will change our itinerary completely” Twilight said.

“I’m sorry, princess, but it is safer if we do this” Celaeno answered.

"The captain is right, Twily” Blue said. “It’s the safest option we have to take.”

Twilight sighed, knowing that Blue was right.

It was then that Squabble squawked up there at the crow’s nest, while he looked through the telescope.

“What is it, Squabble?” Mullet asked. “You’re seeing land?”

He squawked, while nodding with the head.

“That is strange” Twilight said, while consulting the maritime map that she had with her. “I don’t have any indication about any land nearby.”

“Maybe something has skipped your attention” Fluttershy replied. “We’ve been sailing without stop since we left Allegro’s island.”

“Uh, maybe it is a magical island full of monsters that we’ve never heard about and that are just waiting that unwary sailors land at their island to devour their flesh and bones” Pinkie said in her spooky and dramatic voice, causing some shivers at some of her friends, changing quickly to her normal voice. “Or maybe it is a deserted and lost island with nothing special on it. There’s only one way to know.”

“Let me guess” Twilight said, with a raised eyebrow. “We have to go there to investigate?”

“Yeserooni positooni!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed with a large smile.

“Well, it’s not like we have any other option” Celaeno said to Twilight. “If you really want to get to Tambelon quickly, the best thing to do is to land on that island and fix the stabilizer the best way possible until we can get to a dock.”

The princess of the Light Kingdom thought for a while and then said:

“I think we have any other alternative.”

And the Destiny’s Bounty advanced to the mysterious island, mooring.

“As we’re here, we can restock the food” Boyle said, talking to Celaeno. “What do you think, captain?”

“Good idea, mate” she replied. “A good way to take advantage of our time while the stabilizer is fixed.”

“Ah can help” Applejack said. “After all, Ah have experience in this type of things. We can find food more quickly with mah help.”

“I’ll go too” Rainbow Dash said. “We can see who can get more food, AJ.”

“Ah accept the challenge, Rainbow Dash” Applejack replied.

“Be careful, you two” Twilight advised. “I don’t have to remind you the problems that you get when you compete against one another.”

“Please, Twilight, we are grown mares” Rainbow said, while Applejack nodded. “We can control our competitive side really well. Tell us the last time we got carried away.”

“At the day before our departure to Tambelon when you tried to see who could drink more pumpkin juice” Twilight answered.

That statement caused the two mares to blush and rush to follow Boyle.

Star approached his mother with Moonlight and asked:

“Mom, can I and Moonlight go explore the island, while the stabilizer is fixed?”

“I don’t know, Star…” Twilight replied. “You know Pinkie Pie normally exaggerates in what she says, but, sometimes, what she tells, inexplicably, ends up to be quite real.”

“Don’t worry, you know that we can defend ourselves” Star said.

“Yeah, and we’ll be careful” Moonlight added. “Beyond that it will be for just a while.”

The alicorn princess thought for a while and then replied:

“Ok, you can go, but be careful.”

The young couple got very happy with the answer and took flight. Seeing them go, Fluttershy said to Twilight:

“I don’t think that was a good idea, Twilight. And what if there’s really dangerous monsters at the island.”

“I know what you’re feeling, Fluttershy, but Star and Moonlight have a point when they tell they can take care of each other” Twilight replied. “Beyond that we have to belief that’s just Pinkie Pie exaggerating the facts and inventing stories for every occasion as she likes to do.”

“Wait, I like to do that?” Pinkie asked, having listened what Twilight said. “Oh, yeah, I do like to do that.”

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy, I’m sure they will be fine” Twilight reinsured.

“I agree with Twily” Blue said. “Don’t forget Star has Kurama to help him and Moonlight is not exactly defenseless, having in count how powerful her voice is.”

“I know, but…” Fluttershy started. “A mother never stops getting worry.”

Although nopony noticed, there was something watching them, hidden in the vegetation. The thing then moved away with heavy steps.

Star and Moonlight flew a little over the island, admiring its vegetation. However, for some reason, Star was feeling himself unrested, as if something was bothering him.

“This island is really beautiful” Moonlight admired, noticing then the thoughtful look that her coltfriend was showing, asking him then. “Is everything okay, Star?”

“Yeah, I think…” he replied. “I don’t know why, but I don’t feel comfortable here.”

“Maybe you’re still tired” Moonlight said. “What if you rested for a bit. It can be that you get better.”

Star agreed with her and prepared to go down and land with Moonlight. But, when they started to do it, they noticed in two grouping of houses, not very distanced from each other. Those houses were now in ruins.

Landing in one of the groupings, Moonlight said to Star:

“I didn’t know that there were ponies living here.”

“Well, not anymore” Star replied.

Now that they were there, the young prince managed to feel that something wasn’t right. Focusing for a few moments, he accessed momentarily to his sage mode and finally managed to know the reason to feel himself quite unease.

“This island… is full with wild energy” Star declared with his eyes getting to normal.

“You mean there’s a source of wild energy here?” Moonlight asked, starting to get nervous.

“Don’t worry, Moonlight, I didn’t felt any wild energy concentration” Star calmed her. “But I can still feel its residues in the air.”

“I think it’s for the best if we get back and warn the others” the young half-thestral advised.

“First, we need to know with what we are dealing with” Star answered. “Who knows, we may be just making a storm in a teacup.”

Although not sure, Moonlight agreed with Star and the two started to investigate the ruins. After a few moments investigating, Moonlight said:

“I didn’t find anything. Just everyday objects and things without interest. What about you, Star?”

“Well… I did find this” Star said, returning and bringing what looked to be a notebook with his magic.

“What is it?”

“It looks to be a journal. I found it in the middle of the debris. It may have the answers we need.”

Having said that, Star opened the journal and started reading it. After a while, he said:

“Interesting… It seems this island was once inhabited by two pony families: the Hooffields and the McColts. This journal belongs to one of the Hooffields. The two families didn’t get along at all, always competing with each other for the resources of the island.”

“Really?” Moonlight asked. “I don’t know if I would live in a feud like that.”

“Me neither, but you how ponies moved by pride are” Star said, continuing to read. “By what I’m looking here, they involved themselves in fights every other day, until… it happened a disaster.”

“What happened?”

“The two patriarchs involved in an intense fight that resulted in the death of the Hooffield. His family got so resented that they decided to take revenge.”

“That doesn’t sound so good…” Moonlight said.

And Star read in high voice:

“And with a great thirst for revenge for the death of our father, we, the Hooffields, used a source of a mysterious magic that we have found to make the McColts pay for their heinous crime. Focusing all our magic and hate, all the McColts were affected by our spell and forced to adopt the form of the monsters they were. Their bodies became covered by thick fur and they had five legs getting from them. ”

Such description made Moonlight close her mouth with her hooves, full of horror.

“That’s horrible…!” she exclaimed.

Star continued with the reading:

“However, the satisfaction of accomplishment didn’t last long. After our act of revenge, we soon realized the great mistake that we have done. The McColts didn’t have just turned into monsters on the outside, but also in the inside. They turned wild and, with an innate resistance to the majority of spells, started to attack my family, feeding on them. I don’t know if reason had abandoned them or not, but what is certain is that the McColts became our ruin. But a ray of hope appeared on us when we found out that this Quintaped (the name we decided to give to these monsters) had a phobia for water. With this knowledge, we made an escape plan and we hope to be able to abandon this island before it’s too late. However, we’ll leave this journal behind just in case some unlucky one finds this island, with me and my family turning it unplottable. We just hope our greatest shame disappears forever from this world and that nopony comes to have their path crossed with these Hairy McColts.”

After reading the last phrase of the journal, Star said:

“That’s why there’s residues of wild energy in the air. The Hooffields must have used it to turn the McColts into these… Quintaped. And the reason for my mother not be able to find this island on the map is because it is unplottable.”

“Star, when do you think this happened?” Moonlight asked, observing the journal.

“I don’t quite know, maybe some decades” he replied.

“So, if that’s so, don’t you think…” she started.

The young prince realized what she meant to say.

“The Quintaped can still exist on this island!” he exclaimed. “We have to warn the others and get out of here!”

With this, the two prepared to get out of there, but they found themselves with the exit blocked by what fixed the description of the journal about the Quintaped. It was a beast with a big round body with a feral face at the front, showing extremely sharp teeth, and five legs ended with clubfeet surrounding the body. A thick red-brown fur covering everything.

The creature started to approach the two youngsters, while grunting and saliva came out from its mouth full of fangs.

“Great…” Star said.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Boyle started heading back to the ship, carrying a lot of fruit.

“You see, Rainbow, I told you I could get more fruit than you” Applejack said.

“That’s what we’re going to see, AJ” the Pegasus with the rainbow mane replied. “Once we get to the ship and we count the fruit, you’ll see who’s the winner.”

“Wow, you really like to compete” Boyle observed. “It’s unbelievable that you are friends despite everything.”

“Yeah, we try to not put our rivalry in front of our friendship” Rainbow Dash said.

“Although we not always manage tah do that” Applejack confessed.

At that moment, a grunting was heard.

“Wow, Rainbow, ya mest be really hungry, gal” the earth mare with the hat commented.

“Ah, that was not me…” Rainbow replied.

“If it was not, ya, then… who…” Applejack started.

They turned, while heavy steps were heard. At that moment, two Quintaped immerged, starting heading towards Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Boyle.

“Are ya two seein’ what Ah’m seein’?” Applejack asked.

“If you’re seeing two enormous five-legged monsters and with an hungry look coming our way, then yes” Boyle replied.

“Run!” Rainbow exclaimed.

And the three of them started running, while the Quintaped started tailing them.

At the ruins, Star casted a magic beam against the Quintaped, but it didn’t caused any scratch on it, causing it only to become angrier.

“It really looks like they are invulnerable to magic” he said.

The creature jumped to attack Star and Moonlight, but the young alicorn was quick to create a barrier to protect them. The Quintaped didn’t give up and started trying to break the barrier. Star was able to feel the tremendous force that beast had and knew he wouldn’t be able to hold it for long.

“What do we do, Star?” Moonlight asked.

Star thought and then remembered what the journal said about the Quintaped. In his mind, he said to Kurama:

“Kurama, I need you to contact Isobu. We’re really in need of his water nature.”

“I’m already taking care of that” the nine-tailed fox answered.

While they waited for Isobu’s help, Star continued to defend the Quintaped’s attempts to break the barrier. However, cracks started to appear on Star’s barrier, indicating it was almost breaking. He needed to hold the Quintaped’s attack until he had Isobu’s help. An idea came to him.

“Moonlight, I need a sonic scream!” he exclaimed.

She nodded and got ready. At the moment the barrier disappeared, Moonlight unleashed a sonic scream that launched the Quintaped back and against a wall.

“Great!” the couple celebrated.

But the happiness didn’t last long as the Quintaped quickly recovered and restarted its attack. At that moment, Kurama’s voice said:

“Isobu’s here, Star.”

The young prince gave a sigh of relief and went to the inside of his mind, where he found Isobu, the Three-Tails, beside Kurama.

“It’s a good thing you’re here, Isobu” Star said. “We need your help.”

“Sure, what do you need?” he asked.

“We’re being attacked by some monsters that, apparently, don’t like water very much. I need one of your best water spells.”

“Something specific?”

“Moonlight told me that her uncle used a water wave against her and Adagio. What about that one?”

The three-tailed turtle nodded, agreeing.

At the real world, when the beast was about to give the blow on its preys, Star, using Isobu’s energy, charged his horn with magic and stomped with his hooves, yelling:

“Take this!”

And a great water wave appeared and washed the Quintaped, throwing it away.

“You did it, Star!” Moonlight exclaimed.

“This is not over yet” he said. “We have to help the others.”

The two got out of the house in ruins and took flight. While moving away, Star noted that the Quintaped he had hit was upside-down, clearly affected by the spell.

At the Destiny’s Bounty, Lix appeared on the deck and said:

“I did my best and I believe that the stabilizer won’t give us any problems for now.”

“Perfect!” Celaeno exclaimed, turning to Twilight. “Well, princess, it looks like we’re ready to set sail.”

“Okay, then now we just have to wait that the others return” she said.

At that moment, Rainbow Dash arrived, completely breathless.

“Rainbow, what happened?!” Twilight asked.

“We have to go now!” she exclaimed.

“Why?” Blue asked.

“Because of that!” the blue pegasus replied, pointing.

And everyone saw with great horror Applejack and Boyle trying to reach the ship while being pursued by the two Quintaped.

“But what are those?!” Rarity asked.

“Duh, isn’t it obvious?” Pinkie Pie said. “Clearly it’s a type of monster that we have never heard about and that devours flesh and bones. Who would have guessed they really existed?”

“Captain, put the ship working!” Twilight said.

Celaeno went to do it, while Twilight, focusing, managed to teleport Applejack and Boyle to the ship safely.

“Thanks, Twilight” Applejack thanked.

“Yeah, princess, thank you” Boyled said.

There was a scream that belonged to Fluttershy and everyone turned, seeing another one of the creatures getting in the deck, while grunting. Its preys get closer and retreated. Twilight and Blue tried to attack with a combination of magic beams, but they got surprised when that didn’t work.

The Quintaped was almost attacking when Star landed right in the middle of his friends and the creature and summoned another wave that washed the creature out of the ship.

“Star!” Twilight exclaimed, happy to see her son.

Moonlight also landed and said:

“Don’t worry, Star can handle them.”

“Captain, I think you should start getting up” Star said.

“I’m already doing that” she replied, while spinning the rudder.

The ship started to turn to take flight, but it looked like they wouldn’t be able to get out before the two Quintaped to get them. Knowing that, Star threw another wave, against them, hitting them. Moments later, the Destiny’s Bounty took flight, starting to move away quickly from the island.

When they were in the air safely continuing their trip, Star and Moonlight told what they had found. While observing the diary, Twilight said:

“Amazing! I knew that wild energy could do unimaginable things, but I never expected it could be used for something like that.”

“Mainly when used by regular unicorns” Blue said. “When we get back, I will have to talk with Leaf Mane and Golden Paladin about this.”

“Fortunately for us, we had Star tah get rid ov those monsters” Applejack said.

“Are you kidding?!” Rainbow Dash asked, while flying. “That was one of the most awesome things I’ve ever seen!”

Messing Star’s mane, the blue pegasus said to him:

“Good job, kid! You really kicked those things’ butts… Well, at least I think so… They have a butt, right?”

“Thank you for congratulation, aunt Rainbow, but the credit goes to Isobu” Star said, while arranging his mane. “If it wasn’t for his water nature, I think we wouldn’t be able to escape the Quintaped.”

In his mind, Star told to Isobu:

“Thank you for everything. You saved us from becoming Quintaped food.”

“You’re welcome, boy” the Three-Tails answered. “After what you did for all of us, it was a pleasure. Don’t think twice in calling, if you need help again.”

And, having said that, Isobu disappeared.

“Well, that was a close one” Kurama commented.

“You tell me…” Star said. “But there’s something that is bothering me.”

“What?”

“That island was unplottable and normally something like that also has a part that prevents it from being found accidentally, like we did.”

“I see…” Kurama said. “You think that there’s someone trying to prevent us from moving forward.”

“I know it looks like paranoia…” Star said.

“No, Star, you do well thinking like that” Kurama replied. “It seems too coincidental we found this island magically hidden soon after our meeting with Allegro. And if there’s really someone conducting us to those obstacles, then there’s only one being that can be behind all of this.”

The young alicorn prince didn’t have to think twice to know who Kurama was talking about:

“The Lord of Chaos…”

Sitting on his throne, the Lord of Chaos was watching the heroes as they continued they journey through one of his mirrors.

“I can’t believe the luck those fouls have” he said. “Not even the Quintaped can end them. I have to keep trying to stop them or at least delaying them as much as I can.”

Author's Note

As you can see, the Quintaped and the island where they live are inspired on the Harry Potter Saga. I also used the Hooffields and the McColts from MLP to be the two rivaling families.

A Changeling Can Change

Author's Note

The idea to this chapter and some of the lines came from the sixteenth episode of season 6 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic titled “The Times They are a Changeling”.

A Changeling Can Change

The journey of the heroes continued, with the Destiny’s Bounty sailing without any complications. It looked like the stabilizer that had been damaged was holding pretty well.

Star was inside the ship, heading to one of the quarters. He knocked and Twilight’s voice said:

“Come in.”

The young prince did that, opening the door and finding his mother sitting and writing a letter behind a desk.

“Mom, can I talk with you for a minute?”

“Of course, Star” she replied, while writing. “Just let me finish this letter to Princess Celestia. I have to warn her about that island full of Quintaped. Sure I have to give her a much generalized location due to the island being unplottable, but I’m certain that this way she will be able to warn others about the Isle of Dread.”

“The Isle of Dread?” Star asked, frowning in a confused look.

“It’s the name I decided to give it” Twilight replied, ending the letter and wrapping it. “I believe it fits it quite well, don’t you think? Now I just have to send the letter along with the journal. This will give me the opportunity to write a very interesting article once we get back and I want you to help me.”

“Me?”

“Of course, it was you and Moonlight that discovered the journal and it was you who defeated the Quintaped. I am certain that will be a good story to tell when he go back to the academy… beyond the ones you already have from the war.”

Noticing her son’s worried look, Twilight asked:

“Is everything all right, Star? You seem very concern.”

“It’s about these mishaps that we had” he replied. “First, we faced Allegro, then it was the Quintaped… Mom, I believe the Lord of Chaos is interfering with our journey to Tambelon.”

There was a pause and then Twilight replied:

“Yes, I have already considered that hypothesis. The Lord of Chaos may be imprisoned in his own dimension, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any influence on the Pony World. But you shouldn’t worry about that.”

“But… he can place an even bigger obstacle on our way” Star said. “You want me to not worry when I know that fact?”

“I have been watching the maps with Captain Celaeno and we’re close to Tambelon” Twilight declared. “Besides, we can deal with anything the Lord of Chaos sends against us, like we always do. Star, that doesn’t seems you. Normally, you’re not that pessimist.”

Twilight’s son sighed and the confessed:

“I think this all mission is making me nervous. I can disappoint great-grandfather Star Shield, failing to release Tambelon.”

The princess rose her child’s chin, making him look at her directly, and told him:

“Listen to me carefully, Star, we will free Tambelon. And even if we can’t, we will give all the fight we can. Don’t worry about grandpa Star Shield. I am sure, wherever he is, he is proud of you, as long you keep being the pony you are.”

That caused Star to smile and then say.

“Thank you, mom. You’re the best.”

The two hugged and then Star got out. After his exit, Twilight prepared to send the letter and the journal to Princess Celestia when, suddenly, a vision invaded her. It was a very vague vision, but it clearly showed an immensity of ruins. However, on a pillar, there was an equine figure posing while unleashing a strong light. At that moment, the vision stopped.

Twilight asked herself what had just happened. Could it be a vision about Tambelon like the one Blue had? And who was the figured involved in light? Not finding an answer that could justify the vision, the alicorn princess thought it was better to put that aside while she didn’t understand it. So she sent magically the letter and the journal to Princess Celestia.

An island appeared at the horizon and the ship started to go down until landing at the ocean and moored.

“Okay, scallywags, let’s make a stop to rest and inspect the stabilizer!” Captain Celaeno exclaimed.

Some of the passengers got down to the beach of the island to feel again the sensation of being on firm ground.

“Ah, how Ah miss’d the sensation ov bein’ on tha ground” Applejack said. “Last time, Ah couldn’t enjoy it ‘cause Ah was competin’ with RD and runnin’ from five-legg’d monsters.”

Moonlight turned to her mother and asked:

“Mom, can go for a walk on the island?”

Fluttershy thought carefully on her daughter’s request, having in count what had happened. However, remembering she had been able to get out fine, replied:

“Okay, but don’t go too far.”

Moonlight made a large smile, hugged Fluttershy and then moved away. A little while later, Star came down from the ship and asked:

“Where’s Moonlight?”

“She went for a walk” Fluttershy answered. “If you hurry, you may catch her.”

“Thanks, aunt Fluttershy” he thanked.

And the young prince went to the inside of the island.

The young half-thestral was walking happily through the woods when she heard strange sounds. Curious about what could be causing them, Moonlight advanced with caution, using the nearby vegetation to hide herself. When she arrived to a small clearing, she managed to know where the sounds were coming from and it was a good thing she hid herself.

She was seeing Scorpio, one of Chrysalis’ mutant changelings, who was corning a normal changeling. That changeling didn't look like the changelings she knew, having vivid opal eyes and an immensely scared look.

“You have been very naughty for running from home, Thorax” Scorpio said, cynically. “It’s time to go back home. Mommy will love to see you again.”

“Please, Scorpio, don’t take me back!” Thorax said. “I beg you!”

“Do you really think I will let a deserter like you wander out there to tell everything he knows to our enemies?” Scorpio asked. “If you think that, then you’re a great dumb. Don’t worry, you’re going to feel just a scratch…”

And the mutant changeling prepared his sting, what terrorized the other changeling even more.

Although knowing changelings were ponykind’s natural enemies, Moonlight just couldn’t let Scorpio hurt anyone helpless. Getting out of her hideout, she said:

“Leave him alone, Scorpio.”

Stopping him just in time, the mutant changeling turned around and said:

“Well, well, just look who she is. Our little traitor. If you’re here, that must mean your coltfriend is not very far. Maybe I should use as bait to capture him and return to the Changeling Kingdom with two traitors and the pony the Lord of Chaos hates the most.”

“That may happen, but only if you manage to capture me and defeat Star, what is highly improbable” Moonlight said. “And believe me, defeating me won’t be that easy too.”

Scorpio laugh from what Moonlight just said and asked:

“What can a little filly like you do against me?”

But she smiled and replied:

“You would be surprised.”

Accessing to the power of the pink pearl, she said:

“Pink Pearl Voice!”

And she transformed into her siren form. Despite the surprise, Scorpio didn’t let himself get intimidated and prepared to attack with his sting. It was then that Moonlight started to sing the song Adagio had taught her. Listening her singing, Scorpio started to moan in pain, while feeling the effects of Moonlight’s voice. Thorax observed, impressed. He had heard about the siren power, but he never thought it was that strong.

Star was looking for Moonlight when he felt the Thirteen Note’ vibration in the air. The power was so big that even him could feel it, even though musical magic was not one of his skills. That could one mean Moonlight had accessed to her pearl’s power, something she would only do in a dangerous situation. Because of that, he hurried to find her.

Scorpio was holding as much as he could, but her voice was too much powerful.

“This… is not… over yet” he said.

And, using the energy he still had, he ran away. Moonlight stopped singing and returned to her normal form.

“That was… amazing” Thorax said, approaching.

Acting in a reflex, Moonlight adopted a defensive position that made Thorax stop, with a disappointed look, and say:

“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you. Although I understand the reason for you to do that. I know you don’t wanna be friends.”

Those words confused Moonlight who said:

“I don’t understand. Changelings are supposed to be evil… right?”

“Evil?” Thorax repeated. “Oh, not me. All I’ve ever wanted is a friend.”

Flashback…

At the nursery of the former changeling nest, there were many eggs, from where the changelings hatched before continuing their development inside the combs. Thorax hatched from one of those eggs with a smile.

“I wanted a friend ever since the moment I first split my egg in the nursery hive…”

Thorax’s smile quickly disappeared once he saw his larvae brethren, all hissing around in a threatening way against each other, while going to Chrysalis, who was accompanied by her three mutants, who at the time were youngsters. She had an evil smile that made Thorax to shrink in fear inside his egg.

Thorax was also at the war, having been part of Crunch’s army against the Second Unit.

“I was part of the army sent to the war between the Alliance and the General of Chaos for the tailed beasts, but I’d never seen true friendship like that! And I couldn’t just steal it and feed on its love. I wanted to share it!”

In the present…”

“After that, I knew I couldn’t live with my kind anymore. I set off looking for love to share, but…”

“But what?” Moonlight asked.

“I’m starving!” Thorax exclaimed. “It had passed already a lot of time ever since I fed on love and I can’t keep tricking my hunger with my self-control.”

“Well, I can only imagine how hard it must be for you” Moonlight said, approaching.

At that moment, Thorax started hissing in a threating way to her, but he quickly stopped and said, obviously ashamed of himself:

“Oh sorry! I’m just so hungry! If I had a friend, maybe the love we shared could sustain me, but I don’t think any creature wants to be friends with a changeling.”

He started to move away with a sad look. Seeing that, Moonlight couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. It was obvious he was not like the other changelings and that his desire to have friends was honest.

“Wait!” she asked, making him stop and turn around. “What if I told you that you could have friends, tons of them, at this moment?”

“If only that was true” the changeling sighed.

“But it is” Moonlight said. “Don’t you know who I am?”

Thorax stopped to think, but ended up shaking his head.

“I’m Moonlight and I was once a follower to the Lord of Chaos, one of the sirens.”

“Sorry, but no” Thorax said. “I mean, I heard the power of the sirens had returned to the side of Order, but I never met any siren. After all, I was raised by an evil queen and she just used us as an attacking army. I’m Thorax, by the way. I can’t believe you want to help me.”

“Why?” Moonlight asked kindly. “Hasn’t any pony ever just been nice to you? Not even a changeling?”

Managing to feel the kindness Moonlight was showing, Thorax lost control for a moment again, hissing to Moonlight. Recovering the self-control again, he hurried to said:

“Uh! S-Sorry! Kindness like that kind of bring it out. Do you still wanna be my friend?”

“Of course!” Moonlight replied, smiling. “And I am one hundred percent sure I can get my friends to be yours too.”

Losing control again, Thorax hissed to Moonlight who added:

“But… maybe I should, uh, talk to them first.”

The two started to move away, heading to the shore. But what they didn’t know was that Scorpio was watching them, showing a wicked smile.

While walking, Moonlight asked:

“Thorax, I’m sorry to ask, but why was Scorpio after you?”

“Well… I am a deserter after all” he replied. “Scorpio was trying to bring me back so could be… reeducated.”

“I don’t like the sound of that” Moonlight commented.

“That’s because it’s not nice at all” Thorax replied. “Because of his poison, Scorpio is the queen’s personal deserter hunter.”

“Well, now you don’t have to worry, Thorax” the young half-thestral said. “Once I convince the others that you are our friend, we will protect you.”

A smile appeared on Thorax’s face and he said, with tears on his eyes:

“Thank you…”

After advancing a little more, however, Moonlight didn’t notice the sting that, in a quick move, stung her on one of her legs. She released a moan of pain and she soon realized what was happening when she felt the effects of the venom paralyzing her body.

“Moonlight!” Thorax called, going to help her.

At that moment, Scorpio appeared, blocking his path.

“If I was you, I wouldn’t do that” the mutant changeling said. “Unless you want to face me.”

Fearing Scorpio terribly, Thorax started to retreat, but in a hesitant way.

“Thorax, don’t worry about me!” Moonlight exclaimed. “Run!”

Although his instinct told him to do what Moonlight said, his will was stronger and he said, doing his best to not stutter:

“Leave Moonlight alone…”

That only caused Scorpio to drop a laugh and then say:

“And what can a weakling like you do stop me?”

With his legs trembling, Thorax took a deep breath and tried to attack Scorpio, but he casted a magic beam that threw him against the ground. He got up again and tried to attack again, only to be thrown away again by Scorpio.

“Is that enough?” Scorpio asked, advancing to him. “Or you want to keep playing this game? The best thing to do is to end you so I can focus on more important matters.”

And he charged his horn for another attack, but before he could do it, a magic beam hit Scorpio strongly, throwing him against a tree. When the mutant recovered and got up, he saw Star appearing, covered by Kurama’s energy.

“Scorpio…” he said. “What are you doing here?”

“If you want to know, I was trying to solve an internal affair, while trying to capture you and the traitor you call marefriend” he replied, while passing the hoof over the place he had been hit. “But it looks like I’m out of luck.”

Noticing the mutant changeling trying to move, Star charged his horn and warned:

“If I was you, I would choose my next move carefully.”

Scorpio observed the situation he was into and realized that, in those circumstances, he couldn’t compete against Star, not when he had the advantage. Because of that, he decided to get out of there quickly.

“You can enjoy this victory, little prince, but believe in me when I say that it will come the day you will fall” Scorpio declared.

Having said that, he moved away flying. Thorax sighed in relief, although for a brief moment, as Star turned to him with his horn charged and told him:

“Give me just a reason to not hit you right now with my strongest magic.”

“Star, stop!” Moonlight exclaimed, while fighting against Scorpio’s poison and managing to get up. “He’s on our side.”

“What?!” Star asked. “Moonlight, he’s a changeling! You know his kind feeds on love.”

“Please, Star…” Moonlight said, getting to his coltfriend’s side and placing a hoof over his shoulder. “Trust in me. Thorax is a deserter changeling. He just wants to have friends… true friends. I can feel the kindness inside him and I am certain you can too.”

Listening those words, Star stopped to consider their veracity. Because of that, using his jinchuriki power, he analyzed Thorax’s intensions and got surprised when he saw Moonlight was right. Returning to his normal mode, Star said:

“It looks like you’re right, Moonlight. I can’t feel any ill intention coming from him.”

“I told you so” Moonlight said.

“Yes, you did” Star agreed, turning to Thorax. “I apologize, Thorax, but you know that the relationship between our kind and yours is not very good.”

“I know and I understand” he replied. “I just hope we can… be friends.”

The young prince traded a look with his marefriend who nodded to him. Sighing, Star adopted his friendly smile and extended his hoof, saying:

“Of course, Thorax, we can be friends.”

Thorax became full of joy, while shaking Star’s hoof, saying:

“Thank you.”

Collecting his hoof, Star told to Moonlight:

“You know, it will be a little hard to explain to our parents and the others that now we’re friends with a changeling.”

“I know, but I am certain that we can convince them all once they see Thorax is our friend” she replied.

After helping Moonlight recovering from Scorpio’s poison, Star headed back to the ship with her and Thorax.

The others were ready to get on board the ship and Twilight, getting down from the deck, asked:

“The kids didn’t get here yet?”

“No, and I’m starting to get a little worried” Fluttershy said. “They are gone for some time.”

“We’re here, mom” Moonlight said, while she and Star got out of the woods.

“Great, now we’re ready to go” Twilight said. “Let’s go, time to get on board.”

“Wait, mom, before we go, there’s something we need to tell and show you” Star said.

“Something we found in the woods” Moonlight added.

“I just hope it’s not something that tells there are giant carnivore monsters on this island, because we already had enough of those” Rainbow Dash said.

The two youngsters moved apart, revealing Thorax, what caused a great shock to everyone.

“A changeling!” Blue exclaimed, while he and the others placed themselves in an offensive position.

“Let’s get him!” Rainbow Dash said.

But before anyone could do anything, Moonlight placed herself defensively in front of Thorax, saying:

“No, I won’t let you hurt him.”

“Moonlight, what are you doing?!” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, don’t ya know ya’re defendin’ a changelin’?” Applejack asked. “Get away from that thin’!”

“No” Moonlight said in a determined way. “And he’s not a thing. His name is Thorax… and he’s my friend!”

That caused everyone to gasp.

“And she is not the only one to feel that” Star said, placing himself beside Moonlight. “Thorax is my friend too.”

And the stupor became even bigger.

“Wow… two ponies friends with a Changeling?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Now that’s something that breaks the wall of weird.”

“Have ya two by chance got too much sun?” Applejack asked. “How can ya be friends with a monster that sucks love?”

“He’s not like that, aunt Applejack” Moonlight said. “Thorax is different than the other changelings. He doesn’t want to steal love, he wants to share it, making friends.

“But, Moonlight…” Fluttershy said.

“Mom, no, please, listen to me” Moonlight said. “All of you, listen. You taught me friendship doesn’t know any borders, that it can be found in anyplace. Well, Thorax proved to me that he is my friend and that for me is enough.”

Tears filled Thorax’s eyes due to the emotion he was feeling listening those words Moonlight was saying.

“But he is a changeling!” Rainbow Dash protested.

“So what? Not a very long time ago, dragons didn’t have any interest in making friends and griffons were not known for their sympathy. Even Discord stopped being the villain he once was… mostly. And all that because he gave an opportunity to friendship. And don’t forget that… I was once a villain as well.”

“That was different, sweetie” Fluttershy replied.

“No, it was not” her daughter disagreed. “Yes, was manipulated at the beginning, but after some time it started to be voluntarily. And if I, after what I’ve done, deserved a second chance, then Thorax deserves it too.”

There was a moment of silence that was interrupted by Star who told:

“I understand that you’re all hesitant. A few moments ago, I was just like you. But don’t let your hate stop you from seeing the possibilities. I also let my instinct of survival take over when I met Thorax, but when I cleared my mind from all the preconception, I could finally see… I used my jinchuriki power and it tells me Thorax is not bad. If that was enough for during the war, then I’m sure it will be now.”

There was another moment of silence and then Twilight started to advance to them. Arriving to their side, the young couple wondered what would she do. It was then that, for their surprise, she hugged them and said:

“I’m so proud of you two.”

“You are?” the two asked at the same time.

“Of course!” Twilight replied with a smile. “You faced your friends and family to protect another friend, even when we didn’t accept him. It’s actions like those that really makes us reevaluate what we really know about friendship. You two today taught us that a new friend can really come from anywhere, even from the most unexpected place. And if you two say Thorax is your friend, then he’s my friend too.”

And Twilight extended her hoof to Thorax who, with tears of joy on his eyes, accepted, saying:

“Thank you, Princess Twilight.”

The young changeling couldn’t believe that he had been able to do that without even feeling the impulse of hissing. That could only mean that he didn’t have the necessity of stealing love, as now he could just share it with others.

After Twilight gave the example, the others ended up advancing and making ties of friendship with Thorax. While observing Thorax getting to know his new friends, Star said to Moonlight:

“You know, Moonlight, you just did a wonderful thing.”

“I just did what anypony would do” she replied.

“No, you didn’t” Star told. “Not everypony would give an opportunity to a changeling. Even I was willing to attack. But now that Thorax is at our side, maybe there’s hope to the other changelings and we may eliminate one of the greatest threats to the Order side.”

“I think I haven’t thought of that” Moonlight said. “But I think that, for now, we should focus on the mission we have on hooves and only then think in teaching changeling how to share love.”

That caused Star to drop a laugh and then say:

“Good point…”

And the two shared a hug and then a kiss.

After that scene where everyone accepted Thorax, they all returned to the ship with their new changeling friend joining them…

Arriving to Tambelon

With their journey to Tambelon approaching its end, the heroes continue to face the Lord of Chaos’ obstacles. This time, it was a great storm that prevented the Destiny’s Bounty from continuing to go by flying, obligating it to go by sea. However, the storm was causing a great amount of big waves that was making damages to the ship.

Twilight went to Captain Cealano who was stirring the ship the best she could, while shouting orders to her underlings.

“How are things, captain?” she asked.

“Not good, princess” she replied, trying to make herself be heard over the sound of the ravaging waves. “This storm is like anything I have seen. It’s like a cursed storm.”

Hearing that, Twilight realized that was another trick from the Lord of Chaos, a way to deviate them from their path. But she noticed that storm didn’t have the power it should have, perhaps because the Lord of Chaos didn’t have the same power he used to. If that was so, then Twilight had an idea.

At the deck, the others were helping the parrot pirates keeping the ship from being washed out by the storm. While helping Star keeping the sails with their magic, Thorax said:

“I have to say when I agreed to come with you I didn’t expected this.”

“Hold on tight, I believe we’re almost out of the storm” Star told him.

Twilight approached them and said to Star:

“Son, I need your help. Let’s combine our powers to dismiss this storm.”

“But… I thought using magic to meddle with nature itself was not a good thing” he replied.

“And you think this storm is natural?” Twilight asked him.

Realizing what his mother was saying, Star nodded and then asked Thorax:

“Can you handle this?”

“Well, I can try…” he answered.

And Start let go his hold on the sail and Thorax almost tripped when facing that. Then, mother and son took flight, while charging their horns. They did a great effort, while casting the spell that would clear the sky, having to endure the cold rain and the strong winds. It was then that their spell worked and the dark cloud dispersed, ending the rain, while the wind stopped blowing, what caused the ocean to cease the waves.

They landed on the deck, tired from the spell they casted, and were welcome by everyone who congratulated them.

“Well, Ah be a dancin’ chicken, that was a great magic show!” Applejack exclaimed. “Ah’ve forgotten how good ya were with that horn ov yers, Twi. Ya too, Star.”

“That was… so awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Yeah, I never saw anything like that” Thorax said, impressed.

“Well, that’s no surprise for me” Blue told, going to kiss his wife on the cheek, while Moonlight went to embrace Star.

“Whatever you did, princess, it really saved our ship” Captain Celaeno said. “A bit later and we would be fish food. And it was just in time, look, it seems we have land ahoy.”

She was right, as a small inhabited island was approaching. The Destiny’s Bounty anchored at the docks and everypony got out (with Thorax adopting a form of an earth pony to conceal his identity), with Captain Celaeno going to deal with a mechanic to do a major repair to the ship. When she returned, she went to Twilight, along with her crew and said to her and the others:

“Well, it was a honor to serve you all. But it seems this is the end of the journey for me and my crew.”

“What do you mean the end?” Rainbow Dash asked, while hoovering in the air. “If I recall, you were supposed to take us to Tambelon and I believe this island is too small and not too dark and creepy to be it.”

“Are you talking about that big island some miles away and that have a big and dark storm cloud that make it spooky?” Pinkie Pie asked, pointed.

That made everypony look and, indeed, there was a big island that was obscured by a big dark cloud.

“Is that…” Star started, not wanting to believe what he was seeing.

“Eyup, the island of Tambelon” Captain Celaeno said. “The sailors from this island don’t even dare to approach it. They say they have peace as long they don’t meddle with Tambelon… As if somepony smart would dare to go there. That’s why this is the end for us. But don’t worry, we found you a way to go to the island.”

And she made a gesture to a simple rowing boat with room for everypony.

“Thank you, captain, you and your crew did a great job in bringing us this far” Twilight said, bowing her head respectfully.

“Well, like you said, it was our job” Celaeno said. “But I have to say that, with all of you, we could have adventures no other pirate had. Well, farewell, y’all. I hope your mission runs well for you.”

And so Captain Celaeno and her crew moved away.

“So, what’s the plan now, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“What we can do now is wait” she replied. “Once the sun is down, we’ll go to Tambelon and get in hidden by the night.”

“Sounds good to me” Blue said. “It wouldn’t be good to go there with the enemy seeing us coming.”

“I don’t know…” Fluttershy said, looking to Tambelon. “That place looks very scary. I can’t imagine how it can be at night…”

“Don’t worry, mom” Moonlight said. “Everything will be fine. What about you, Thorax. We understand if you don’t want to go.”

“I admit… I’m scared to go to that place” he said. “The stories I heard about Tambelon… are to give nightmares to anyone. But you’re my friends and I will do everything to help you.”

“Thanks, Thorax” Star said, while looking to Tambelon. “Because something tells me we’re going to need it.”

As the night began, the heroes get on board on their boat, using black cloak to better blend in and hide their identities. Rainbow Dash and Star pulled the boat towards the island. It didn’t take long for them to arrive to the shore. After Twilight casted a spell to hide the boat to make sure their presence was noticed, they started to advance until they found a road. A slight mist covered the air.

“We’re here for a few minutes and I’m already wishing to go home” Fluttershy said.

“I agree with you, darling” Rarity said. “So far, what we’ve seen is even worse than in the book.”

“Yeah, and there’s nothing here that seems funny or happy” Pinkie Pie observed.

“Maybe that’s ‘cause this is an island rul’d by one ov tha Lord of Chaos’ villains” Applejack replied.

“Oh, yeah, you may be right” Pinkie Pie said.

“All I want is to kick some butt and defeat this villain” Rainbow Dash said.

“I would be careful with the words, Rainbow” Blue advised. “We don’t know what kind of villain we’re dealing with.”

“Blue is right” Twilight told. “We must lay low for now.”

“Oh, come on, we have the Elements, a General of Order, a changeling, a siren and two alicorns with one being the jinchuriki and the one who defeated the Lord of Chaos” Rainbow Dash replied. “I think we’re good.”

It was then a big commotion was heard nearby, along with a scream and roars.

“What was that?!” Moonlight asked.

“I don’t know, but I can sense a big deal of fear” Thorax said, nervously.

Star quickly turned into his tailed beast state and, using his jinchuriki power, he was able to sense it.

“Somepony is in danger. I can feel a great evil nearby.”

In fact, there was a pony in great danger. That pony was pulling a cart with apples that now was fallen on the ground. He was being attacked by what appeared to be a pony, but made of black stone, having a mane made of shadow and red eyes. It looked like to have no intelligence whatsoever, acting like a beast and growling at its prey.

It was then that Rainbow Dash, using her speed, made several attacks to the creature. She then stopped in the middle of the air and told:

“Hey, you, why don’t you mess with somepony of your size?!”

The creature just growled at her, only to be caught by Applejack’s lasso.

“Not so fast!” she exclaimed, while holding the lasso with her teeth.

But the creature was so strong that was able to break free.

“Wow, that thin’ sure is strong” Applejack commented.

Star then landed beside her and told:

“Not to me.”

And he summoned his tailed beast form and created three tails, extending them to hold the creature. Despite being stronger in that form, Star could feel it fighting.

“Hurry, I don’t know how long I can hold him off!” he said.

And Twilight and her friends positioned themselves and started to use the power of the Elements of Harmony. When the other elements charged Twilight’s, she casted a spell that emitted an intense light that hit the creature that was vaporized by it.

Star returned to his normal form and commented:

“Well, that just happened.”

“I thought the Elements of Harmony just purify, not destroy” Moonlight said.

“Unless the target is made of pure evil” Blue said. “I could feel that thing was only made of darkness.”

Applejack then turned to the pony the creature attacked and approached him.

“Are ya okay, sir?” she asked.

“Yes… Ah am” he said, while starting to get up.

And then Applejack saw the pony putting on his head a hat that was just like hers. She then noticed him, observing his pale, light grayish olive coat with a half of green apple with a star in the center as a Cutie Mark, pale, light grayish gamboge hooves and a brilliant red mane.

“No… It can’t be…” Applejack said.

And the pony turned to her, revealing his face that contained moderate harlequin eyes and was very similar to the one of her brother Big Mac.

“Pa…?” the orange earth asked.

The Stone Army

At the chamber in the tallest tower of the Tambelon castle, the Dark Mistress was sitting on the stairs that separated the place where the statue was from the fountain, holding a staff with a black stone. In front of her were five unicorn mares, each one having a scheme of one color: red, blue, yellow, green and purple, kneeling.

“It would seems the lights that are trying to prevent our master’s plan from coming true have arrived to our island” she said. “I can sense they have destroyed one stone pony with a powerful light magic. But I have to say I didn’t allow any attack.”

“Forgive us, Dark Mistress” the yellow one said.

“Don’t worry about that” the Dark Mistress told. “Because now we know our enemies are in Tambelon. These anomalies…”

She hit with the staff on the ground once and cards with the image of the heroes appeared.

“The alicorn princess with the original light and her little squad…” the Dark Mistress said. “They have been in our master’s way for too long. It’s time to eliminate them!”

And the Dark Mistress destroyed the cards with the staff, making them disappear like they were shadows.

“I have a new mission for you, my witches, so listen well” she said to the five unicorns. “Remove this anomalies. I want them gone. You can use the Stone Army, but be quickly. We have no time to lose.”

“Yes, mam” they replied at the same time.

“And to do it more efficiently, you will attack them individually, starting with one of the bearers of those elements” the Dark Mistress said, standing up and heading towards the fountain. “And I know who the perfect victim is.”

And Applejack’s image appeared on the water of the fountain.

“This one is particularly vulnerable at this moment” she continued. “It’s the perfect moment for one of you to attack.”

“Let me do that, mam” the red unicorn said. “I’ll get rid of that earth pony and destroy the element she represents.”

“Very well, I’ll trust in your capable hooves… Scarlet Burn” the Dark Mistress replied, without looking at her. “Now, all of you can go.”

The five unicorns bowed and then disappeared.

Applejack didn’t know how to react to the fact that her long-lost father. It was like seeing a ghost.

“No… It can’t be…” she said.

When he looked at Applejack more carefully, Jonagold Apple recognized her.

“Applejack… Is that ya?”

And, without any other thought, he hugged Applejack. It took a few seconds for her to also hug him back.

“Wait, that’s AJ’s dad?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I thought he was dead?”

That made Twilight to look at her in a disapproval way.

“What?” the blue pegasus asked.

“I think Twilight didn’t like the way you AJ’s dad is dead when it’s pretty obvious he is not, because he’s right in front of us” Pinkie Pie said. “I thought it was pretty obvious.”

“So that means that’s… Jona’s grandfather” Star said.

“Yeah, but his name is also Jonagold, so I think it’s better for you to specify who you’re talking about from now on, son” Blue told him.

After a few seconds, Jonagold finished the hug and said, with tears of joy:

“Ah can’t believe ya’re here…”

But then his happy look became worried and said:

“Oh no, ya’re here. That’s that mean that…”

“That we came to Tambelon following a dream and the request of a dead ram wizard to help defeat an evil plan from the lord of all villains?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Yeah, that’s exactly what it means.”

That caused Jonagold to express a confused look and Rarity told him:

“Don’t worry, just go with the flow.”

“Well, independently tha reason why ya’re here, we need to go now” Jonagold said, while putting the apples on the floor in the wagon again. “It’s not safe here.”

“But, wait, Ah want tah asked…” Applejack said.

“Please, not now, dear” Jonagold replied, while connecting the wagon to him. “We have to go, before more stone ponies arrive.”

And he advanced, with the others following him, although Applejack took a while to do it, with a million of questions in her head.

After her minions disappeared, the Dark Mistress sat on the edge of the fountain and said:

“Scarlet Burn may be successful in taking down one of the Elements of Harmony, but that doesn’t put our plan from out of danger. I need to find the other light the Smooze warned me about, the light that brings destruction. I cannot allow it to prevent the master’s plan.”

Charging her hoof with darkness, she passed it over the surface of the water and said:

“Show me what the Smooze saw. Spirals of light… One… Two… Three…”

And three lights appeared, positioned in a triangle, being blue, sea-green and lilac in color. It was then that a voice said:

“Awakening… The time has come for the light guided by the three talismans… Let the destruction begin!”

That voice resonated in her head, as the voice was very familiar. It was then that there was an explosion on the water that caused the Dark Mistress to retreat, panting. That disturbance was also felt by Blue, who had a headache as he felt the same feeling like his dreams.

“Those three lights…” the Dark Mistress said. “I was so close to find out what they were. But somepony interfered with my sigh.”

While following Jonagold, Blue thought about the voice he heard. It was asking for awakening, telling about the destruction and the three talismans. Was it trying to tell them to collect them or not?

Following her father closely, Applejack asked, a little exasperated:

“Can ya please tell me what happen’d that day? How can you be alive when everypony else think ya’re dead?”

“Applejack, Ah know ya want answers, but…” Jonagold started.

“But what?!” Applejack asked. “Ah have tah wait ‘til we get tah another place? Why can’t ya tell now?”

“Ah, Applejack, I think it’s because of that thing that attacked us” Fluttershy said.

“What brings the question: what was that thing?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It was a stone pony” Jonagold replied. “Grogar used to use them as law enforcers, but with him not here, the Dark Mistress and her minions have been use them to harass all the inhabitants.”

“Oh, I heard rumors about them through the other changelings” Thorax said. “They are statues reanimated by dark magic. They have no emotions, no life…”

“That’s why the Elements destroyed it” Twilight realized. “It was pure evil.”

“Wait, did he say the other changelings?” Jonagold asked.

“Yeah, I am a changeling” Thorax said.

“But you don’t have to worry, he’s good and our friend” Moonlight told.

Although apprehensive, Jonagold just went along with that statement.

It was then that, suddenly, stone ponies appeared from the ground, corning them.

“Oh no, they found us!” Jonagold exclaimed.

“This is bad…” Thorax said, nervously.

“Don’t worry, Thorax, we can handle this” Star told, while covering himself with Kurama’s energy.

“Hold on, Star, we can handle this” Rainbow Dash said. “It’s time for a rainbow show.”

And she and the others prepared to use the Elements of Harmony, but when the rainbow link started to appear, a fireball appeared and hit Applejack on her shoulder, throwing her against the ground and breaking the link.

“Applejack!” everypony called.

“Ah’m okay…” she said, sitting and taking her hoof to her burned shoulder. “It’s jest a li’le burn.”

And an evil laugh was heard and, levitating in the air above them appeared Scarlet Burn, who said:

“Well, well, so you are the invaders I was talked about, the ones who came to disrupt the master’s plan.”

“Who is she?” Blue asked.

“She’s Scarlet Burn, one of the Dark Mistress’ top minions” Jonagold said. “Be careful, she’s dangerous.”

“Please, we already face a ten-tailed monster with hundreds of her size” Rainbow Dash said. “She’s nothing compared to that.”

“I don’t think you should say that, Rainbow” Fluttershy said.

“You should listen to your friend, because without that friend of yours that got burned, you can use those things you have around your neck and I‘ll make sure it stays that way. Stone ponies, attack!”

And the evil monsters, ready to attack. Everypony started to fight as well as they could, but t seemed that nothing could hit them. Only Twilight, Blue and Star’s magic seemed to be working, but it wasn’t enough.

“This is not good…” Twilight said. “These things won’t go down!”

“Of course they won’t” Scarlet Burn replied. “They were created by pure dark magic. There’s no power in this world capable of defeating the stone ponies.”

“That witch talks too much” Kurama said to Star. “I know the stone ponies and I know they have one weakness, beyond the elements.”

“And now you tell me?” Star asked cynically. “You know, that information would have come in handy a few minutes ago.”

“Uh, don’t be such a crybaby” Kurama said. “You were only facing one and you dealt with it quite nicely.”

“So, what do we do?”

“These things are made of dark magic, but without a body, they cannot exist and that is made of stone” Kurama explained. “And…”

“As they are made of stone, they can be melt by using lava” Star concluded.

“Good, I can see this place hasn’t turned you completely dumb” the nine-tailed fox replied. “Do you still can do it or you want me to call Son Goku to help.”

“And hear him complaining about disturbing his peace, no thanks. Don’t worry, I think I can still use the lava nature in a way to destroy them. I just have to use my specialty…”

Turning then to his mother, he said:

“Mom, protect everyone. I’ll use that spell.”

Realizing what his son was talking about, she nodded and created a barrier to protect the others.

“Do you really thing a barrier can stop my army?” Scarlet Burn said. “How pathetic…”

“Of course not, but you really shouldn’t underestimate us” Star told. “That’s because… we won’t never let you win.”

And, having said that, he rose his hoof and started to create his Spiraling Star, adding the lava nature he got from Son Goku, the Four-Tails. Scarlet Burn was caught by surprise with that. She couldn’t believe the power Star was showing. She had never seen anything like it.

The young alicorn prince then threw the Spiraling Star, throwing it in a way that caused it to go around while passing through the stone ponies, catching it then. After it hit the stone ponies, they just started to melt like an ice cream until they were nothing more than deformed stone, now solidified because of the natural temperature.

Scarlet Burn couldn’t believe a simple child had been able to destroy her stone ponies, but she wouldn’t allow herself to get out of there completely defeated. So, she disappeared.

Twilight undid the barrier and everyone went to congratulate him.

“That was amazing!” Moonlight exclaimed, while hugging her coltfriend and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks, Moonlight” he replied.

“How did you know you had to use the Spiraling Star with lava nature to defeat them, son?” Twilight asked.

“Well, a friend helped me realize how to get to that” Star answered.

Applejack, still feeling the pain of the burn, had let herself get behind, relief that they were now safe. It was then that, appearing a few distance from her was Scarlet Burn, who created a fireball, aiming it to Applejack so she could end what she has come to do. But Jonagold, who looked at her daughter, noticed the evil unicorn, ready to attack.

“Watch out, Applejack!” he shouted, while advancing.

Applejack turned and saw, with terror, Scarlet Burn throwing the fireball at her. But then Jonagold positioned himself in front of her, ready to receive the attack, much to Applejack’s astonishment. But the fireball then disappeared suddenly.

“What the…” the witch asked.

“I think you really should have made your homework about us” Blue said, still with his horn surrounded by magic.

And then Twilight created magic binds that immobilized Scarlet Burn.

“Now, what should we do with her?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I propose to get rid of her.”

“Rainbow Dash, don’t say nonsense!” Rarity’s exclaimed. “We’re not savages!”

“I agree with the rainbow head” Kurama said to Star. “End her.”

“But, Kurama…” Star started to protest.

“Don’t come with your sentimental speeches” Kurama told. “Try to see beyond the appearances.”

At first, Star didn’t know what he meant, until he realized he wanted him to use his empathic powers. He used his power and then noticed what he wanted to say.

“She’s not what she appears to be” he said.

“What do you mean, Star?” Twilight asked.

“You’ll see” he said, extending his hoof.

The young prince then created a Spiraling Sphere, adding the lava nature to it. Taking flight, he advanced to Scarlet Burn and hit her. To everypony’s surprise, her appearance cracked until it broke, revealing she was also a stone pony, who then melted like the others.

“So she was one of them” Moonlight said.

“Wow, I clearly didn’t expect that” Thorax said.

“Me neither” Pinkie Pie said.

Applejack was still astonished by the fact her father was about to let himself be hit to protect herself.

“Ah can’t believe ya would sacrifice yerself tah save me” Applejack said.

“Of course, Ah would” he replied, with a smile. “Ya’re mah daughter and ya’re very important to me.”

And so, Applejack smiled and went to hug his father again, this time without any resentment, and he hugged her back. The others observed that scene, happy to see they have made peace with each other.

At that moment, Blue felt like he was being watched. He looked around, but he saw nopony, despite his instinct was telling him otherwise. Twilight noticed that and asked:

“What is it, Blue?”

“Nothing…” he replied, deciding it was just his imagination playing tricks on him and then advanced.

Observing them on a higher altitude were two ponies, with their identities hidden with hooded cloaks. A slight light could be seen irradiating from their bodies.

The Curse of Tambelon

It didn’t take long for them to arrive to what appeared to be a small farm. There was a small orchard of apple trees and a cottage. Getting to the cottage, Jonagold opened the door and got in, followed by the others. The main room was very simple, with a loft serving as room. The fireplace had a warming flame that filled the room with warm. There was two old armchairs placed beside it and there was somepony sitting on one…

“Buttercup, Ah’m home” he said. “An’ Ah’ve brought somethin’ ya’ll love.”

“Jona, if it is anything that comes from the city, I rather don’t want to know what it is” she replied.

Listening that voice, Applejack became again speechless, as heart raced like when she met her father earlier. It was then that she got the will to say:

“Mom…”

Listening her voice, Pear Butter, better known as Buttercup, got up and turned to Applejack. She had a pale gamboge coat with a jar of preserves as Cutie Mark, a brilliant gamboge mane and brilliant turquoise eyes. She was Jonagold’s wife and Applejack’s mother.

“Applejack?” Buttercup asked, not wanting to believe what her eyes were seeing.

And she run towards her and hugged. Just like with his father, Applejack’s only response was to hug her back. After they finished their hug, Buttercup said:

“You don’t know for how long I wanted to do this. I missed you, AJ… You and your brother and sister. I know you must be wondering what happened, but everything will be explain. Please don’t hate us…”

Hearing her mother telling those words made Applejack to make tears appear on her eyes and soon fell over her face, something that surprised her friends.

“Is Applejack… crying?” Rainbow Dash asked to Pinkie Pie with a whisper.

“Yeah, I know” Pinkie replied. “And I always thought she cried in the inside.”

“Don’t worry, mom, I don’t hate you” Applejack said with a smile, looking then to Jonagold, who positioned himself beside Buttercup with his foreleg around her neck. “Both of you.”

A smile appeared on the two parents’ face.

For the next moments Applejack told her parents about their family and also things that they have accomplished, telling also about their journey to Tambelon (including about Thorax who now had his real form). After finishing, Pear Butter said with a smile:

“I can’t believe how much my children have grown… You and Big Mac both now have a family of your own…”

“Yes, I have a son called Apple Storm and Big Mac have two, a colt named Jonagold and a little filly named Apple Flower” Applejack told.

“I can’t believe Big Mac gave my name to his son…” Jonagold said. “I feel so honored…”

“I know Jona, he’s one of my friends” Star said. “He’s one of the best ponies I know.”

“I’m sorry to ask this, Mr. Apple…” Twilight said.

“Please, call me Jonagold… or Jona, as ya prefer” he replied. “Any friend ov our children is our friend as well.”

“Well, it’s just we all want to know how you two ended up here, in Tambelon” Twilight said. “I know it’s going too far asking this…”

“No, if you want to know, we will tell you” Buttercup said, saying then to Applejack. “You, particularly, have the right to know, Applejack. All begin in that trip we take to Vanhoover… to talk with your grandfather.”

“You mean grampa Grand Pear?” Applejack asked.

That caught both Buttercup and Jonagold by surprise.

“You know him?” Buttercup asked.

“Yes, some years ago he came to Ponyville and he connected with us” Applejack told.

“That’s hard to believe having in count happened that day…” Jonagold said.

In the past…

Jonagold and Buttercup had arrived to Vanhoover with one objective in mind: to talk with Grand Pear, Buttercup’s father. They found him, closing his pear-stand. Grand Pear was an old earth pony with a light amber coat with a green pear as Cutie Mark, a mane that, due to old age, had become white and light gray but retaining some grayish gamboge highlights and brown eyes. He was with his back at them, not noticing their presence until Buttercup talked:

“Hi, dad…”

The old pony was clearly surprised for hearing his daughters’ voice, but he regained his composure and chose to pretend she wasn’t there at all.

“I know we don’t see each other for almost twenty years… ever since I married Jona, but… Please, dad, we can’t keep this stupid feud. I am your daughter… and also the mother of your grandchildren.”

Grand Pear continued silent, while pretending Buttercup wasn’t there.

“Big Mac is a sweet and hardworking colt who always want nothing more than help the others” she continued. “Applejack has a strong and honest spirit like nopony I have ever seen. And then there’s Apple Bloom. She has just born and the reason why I and Jonagold are here. Big Mac and Applejack have lived without knowing you, but I want them and Apple Bloom to know you. Come on, dad, we have to let bygones be bygones.”

But he continued to ignore her and Buttercup sighed, defeated. Not liking to see his wife that sad, Jonagold advanced and said:

“How can ya jest stand there an’ not even dare tah look at her in tha eyes?! An’ Ah was thinkin’ it was possible tah convince ya tah forget tha past after all these years.”

“Jona…”

“No, he has to listen what Ah have tah say” Jonagold replied. “Ah was always a stallion that speaks out his mind an’ Ah’ll stop being that now.”

And Jonagold continued to say his truth to Grand Pear:

“Ya know, things have not been easy fer her after ya left her… Or rather when ya kicked out ov yer family ‘cause she follow’d her heart. She was heartbroken! An’ now she’s here, tryin’ tah make amends and ya jest ignore her? What father ya are.”

Despite everything Jonagold told him, Grand Pear decided to remain as if they were not there. For that, Jonagold told Buttercup:

“Come, Buttercup, looks like it was a mistake to come here.”

And he started to move away. Buttercup took a few seconds, still hoping that her father would talk to her, but she eventually followed her husband, while a tear appeared on a corner of one of Grand Pear’s eyes.

In the present…

“Yeah, grampa Grand Pear told us ‘bout that” Applejack said. “He said it was hard fer him tah hear all that. So what happen’d then?”

“We were returning home and that’s when it happened…” Jonagold spoke.

In the past…

The couple was walking back to Ponyville in great silence. Buttercup had a very sad look, what saddened Jonagold. Trying to cheer her up, he said:

“Come, honey, everything will be fine.”

“How can you say that?” she asked. “My own father pretended I didn’t even exist.”

“You know how he is” Jonagold told. “He’s very stubborn and doesn’t like to lose an argument. We will try once again an’ perhaps he will be more willing tah forget tha past.”

Buttercup smiled and then said, while holding her head on Jonagold’s neck:

“You’re the best.”

At that moment, they heard a buzzing noise and, when they found themselves, they were surrounded by changelings, who looked at them with an angry look. Deciding to protect her wife at all cost, Jonagold said:

“Don’t worry, darlin’, Ah take care ov this beasts” Jonagold said.

“No, wait, Jona, they’re too many” she replied.

But he ignored her and tried to fight the changelings off, only to be overpowered by them.

“No, Jona!” Buttercup exclaimed, wanting to help her husband, but was not able to do so because the other changelings didn’t allow it.

At that moment, a wicked laugh was heard and Chrysalis appeared. She approached the couple and told:

“Well, well, well, looks like we got here good addictions to our storeroom. How nice…”

When she was about to charge her horn to suck some of Jonagold’s love, a high noise was heard, causing Chrysalis and her changelings to feel pain that drove Jonagold to be released. He then went to his wife’s side, while the noise disappeared.

“Who dares to hurt the Queen of the Changeling like that?!” she exclaimed, looking around.

“I did” a voice replied.

And Grogar appeared from the shadows.

“Grogar…” Chrysalis said. “What are you doing in Equestria? This is my territory.”

“Believe me, I would rather be in my beautiful island, but I’m lacking inhabitants that can contribute to the island’s care and I have to say that an Apple and a Pear would be the ideal addictions” Grogar replied.

“Forget it, old ram” Chrysalis replied. “I saw them first, they’re mine. I need to feed myself and my subjects and there is too strong for me to just let them go.”

“You can kidnap any pony you want” Grogar told. “But those two are benefic to me. Beyond that, should I remind you that I have a better record when it comes to do the master’s will? I bet he would easily get on my side.”

Chrysalis hated to admit it, but Grogar was right. He was the one that was in the most of Lord of Chaos’ regard. In order to keep her pride intact, she told:

“As you wish. Their love was also too sweet to my taste.”

And having said that, she and her changelings took off and moved away. After they were gone, Grogar turned to the couple and told:

“Well, it’s time for you to come to your new home.”

“We’re not going anywhere with you!” Jonagold exclaimed.

And he tried to attack him, but Grogar launched a spell that casted Jonagold back, with Buttercup going to him to see if he was right. After Grogar hit his bell and then the three of them teleported away, reappearing on Tambelon, at the outside of the city.

“Where are we?” Buttercup asked, while she helped Jonagold to get up.

“In my own island” he replied. “Welcome to Tambelon, your new home. I recommend you to feel grateful because I’m giving you this piece of land for you grow apple and pear trees. I can promise you that, as long you don’t rebel against me, you’ll have all the peace you want.”

“If ya thing we’re goin’ tah comply, ya’re terribly mistaken” Jonagold said.

“Anyone who comes in my island during my watch will never get out” Grogar said. “That’s the key rule around here. I like to call it the Curse of Tambelon.”

“But we have a family” Buttercup said. “You can’t keep us away from it.”

“Actually, I can” Grogar answered. “And you know what? That was another reason why I chose you. You see, even I need to pay my tribute to the Lord of Chaos, so I give them the fear and despair of my own subject. And your fear to never see your children will work just fine.”

There was pause and then he said:

“I’ll let you get comfy with your new home.”

And having said that, he disappeared, while Buttercup hugged her husband crying.

In the present…

“So it was Grogar who kept ya away from us” Applejack said, turning then to Twilight. “Sorry, Twi, but yer grandpa was a nasty piece ov work when he was Grogar.”

“Despite everything, it wasn’t everything bad” Buttercup said. “Grogar kept his word and left us alone.”

“But everything changed when the Dark Mistress took over” Jonagold said. “She started to torment the inhabitants even more.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that because we’re going to defeat that Dark Mistress” Star said. “After we do that, Tambelon will return to be what it was and you can return home.”

“Well said, son, and we’ll do that as quick as possible” Blue said.

At that moment, he had again the feeling he was being watched. Twilight noticed Blue’s look and, dragging him to a corner, while the others talked with Applejack’s parents, and asked:

“What’s wrong, Blue?”

“I have the feeling we’re being watched” he said. “That happened before, after defeating that witch and her stone ponies, but I thought it was just my imagination, but now…”

“We better get to know if you’re not imaginating, but it’s for the best we do that quietly” Twilight said.

Blue nodded, agreeing with her.

Outside, the same figures that were watching the heroes before were now watching the cottage. It was then that a light illuminated them and they turned, facing Blue and Twilight. The light was coming from Twilight’s horn.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“And what do you want?” Blue asked.

At that moment, the General of Balance noticed something that left him surprised.

“Wait, you’re… light ponies” he said.

Taking advantage of his surprised, one of them casted a spell that obfuscated Twilight and Blue. When they were able to see again, they noticed the two light ponies were gone.

“But who were them?” Twilight asked.

“I… don’t know” Blue said.

The Mysterious Generals

It was morning, despite there wasn’t that sunlight, and Jonagold and Pear Butter were doing their chores. Meanwhile, Twilight and Blue had summoned the other bearers of the elements to discuss with them what happened last night.

“Can ya tells us why ya want’d tah talk with us?” Applejack asked. “Ah could be helpin’ mah parents with tha chorus an’ spend time with them.”

“And I wanted to stay in bed sleeping” Rainbow Dash replied. “If we’re going to kick butt, I need my hours of sleep.”

“I’m sorry, but it happened something that you all need to know” Twilight said.

“Is that the reason why the kids are not here?” Rarity asked.

“In a way, it can said that” Twilight said.

“Star and Thorax went to the capital see how things are there” Blue told. “We have to know how much we can about this island, if we want to set it free.”

“And Moonlight went for walk nearby” Fluttershy said. “I just hope she doesn’t get in trouble.”

“So, what do you want to talk with us about?” Applejack asked.

“Uh, is it something exciting, like throwing a party to cheer everypony in Tambelon up so they can join us to defeat the Dark Mistress?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Ah, no, Pinkie, and it’s for the best if you keep that idea for when our last hope is gone” Twilight replied.

“Last night, we found two ponies watching outside” Blue told. “And they have also stalked us.”

“Do you think they were enemies?” Rarity asked.

“If they were, Ah believe they would have attacked us” Applejack said.

“Yeah… I agree with Applejack” Blue said. “They were light ponies… and I could feel something more, like they were…”

“Generals of Order?” Pinkie Pie asked, making everypony look at her. “What? I’m just expressing my opinion.”

“But, Pinkie, if they were Generals, Ah’m pretty sure they would have come tah us tah help” Applejack said.

“Well, Pinkie, it’s not that far from the truth” Blue said, causing the others turn to him. “I did feel a strong aura coming from them, an aura that only Generals have.”

“But why didn’t they show themselves?” Rarity asked. “Isn’t their duty to help their princess.”

“The thing about the Generals is that each one has their own mission” Twilight replied. “The ones in the Light Kingdom do help me in everything I ask them, but the others… Well, I can give you Gentle Light as an example.”

“They may be independent Generals” Blue said. “I just hope they’re not here to complicate things for us.”

Moonlight had gone to the lake that was nearby. According to Jonagold and Buttercup, that lake was called Mist Spring Lake because of the sweet mist that covered the area by Spring. But, ever since Tambelon was conquered, that mist was no more. The young half-thestral was curious to see the mist, but it looked like she woundn’t until Tambelon was freed.

To clear her mind from worries, Moonlight started to sing the song Adagio had taught her. It was a way to make her feel closer to her, wherever she was, beyond that was the song that led her to get her pearl. When she finished, a voice said:

“Wow… that was a beautiful voice.”

Moonlight turned and saw a mare with a blue cloak. She was a unicorn, but, unlike the others, her horn was broken. She had a dark orchid coat, a moderate rose mane with lighter edges and moderate opal eyes, with a scar on one. Seeing her, Moonlight’s first thought was to get out, but then the mare said:

“Please, don’t go. I just loved your song.”

“I’m sorry, but…” Moonlight started.

“Yeah, I know, talk with strangers in an island covered by darkness is not a good thing to do, but… I haven’t heard or seen something so beautiful for a long time” the mare said.

Hearing her saying that and looking at her eyes, she could see the honesty of her eyes. But she knew exposing herself was a bad idea, so Moonlight decided to go away, saying:

“I have to go.”

“Wait… My name is Tempest Shadow. What is your name?”

“Moonlight… Moonlight Sonnet.”

And then she took flight and moved away. While seeing her flying away, Tempest smiled happily, but then a sudden ache in her head caused her to groan terribly and then darkness invaded her eyes, while her serene look turned dark. With electricity coming out of the horn, she was covered in darkness and disappeared.

She reappeared on the sanctuary of the Dark Mistress, while the darkness that surrounded her created the staff. All that was only confirming she was the Dark Mistress… at least they shared a body, with Tempest and Dark Mistress having their personalities sharing control, despite the former not knowing about it.

At that moment, the Dark Mistress was a little unease, as she had lost control to Tempest without letting it.

“I don’t know what happened back there” she said. “How could my other self awake like that? Probably is someone of the new comers. Could it be the princess? Or her son? Whoever or whatever it is, I have to find them. I can’t have my weak self awakening just like that. Perhaps I can even use that light to the master’s plan. But I can’t forget our enemies are quite strong.”

She looked to the water in the fountain and continued, while looking at the image of Twilight and her friends defeating the stone pony that they had destroyed when they arrive and Star defeating Scarlet Burn:

“They defeated Scarlet Burn and my stone ponies… That prince really have a power unlike the others. He who was the one to defeat my master… I must capture him and take his light as well. But first… I need to identify the three talismans that I saw in my water mirror. The talismans were foretold to bring destruction to us. It is imperative I seize them and destroy them as soon as possible.”

She then hit on the fountain twice and the image of her minion with yellow shades of color appeared.

“I’m here, mam” she said. “How may I be of service?”

“Scarlet failed us, Light Fire” the Dark Mistress replied. “You must make up for it.”

“Of course, leave it to me” Light Fire said. “I’ll use my dark music power to collect a lot of negative energy to the Smooze. With my voice, I’ll make the sirens look like amateurs.”

“Don’t forget Princess Twilight and her group will try to interfere” the Dark Mistress told. “So make sure you’re prepared.”

Light Fire giggled and replied:

“You don’t have to worry.”

At the capital, Star and Thorax (who was using his pony form) were looking around them, using their cloaks to hide their identity. To wherever they look, they only saw sad ponies.

“Wow, it’s like they had given up their own hope” Star commented.

“I know and it’s disturbing” Thorax told. “That’s the reason why changelings never come here. This place is so depleted of love and hope that we wouldn’t survive here. It’s a good thing I don’t have to steal love anymore.”

At that moment, a voice started to echo through the capital, saying:

“Attention you all, by the Dark Mistress’ orders, you must go to main square to pay your tribute… right now.”

And, like they didn’t have any other choice, the inhabitants of the capital started to advance to there.

“I don’t like the sound of this” Star said. “We should follow them and see what’s happening.”

“I don’t know, Star, we probably should ask for help…” Thorax said.

“Come on, Thorax, you can’t just wait for others to do everything for you” Star replied. “You don’t have to worry, I’ll be with you.”

Despite the fear he was feeling, Thorax ended up accepting in going with Star. When they arrived, they saw a stage in the middle of the main square, with stone ponies guarding it.

“But what are they planning?” Star asked.

Suddenly, a music started to play, while lights started to dazzle the stage. And Light Fire appeared, while she asked to the inhabitants:

“Hello, everypony! Are you ready to my special concert for you?”

They cheered poorly, something that irritated Light Fire, who then said:

“I said: are you ready to my special concert for you?”

When the stone ponies made a threatening look to the ponies, they started to cheer with more intensity.

“That’s what I wanted to hear!” Light Fire exclaimed, again in her cheerful tone. “Let’s begin.”

“What’s she’s planning with this concert?” Star asked.

And Fire Light started to sing.

The song didn’t look too dark, being actually flashy, but with an annoying tone. Listening it, everypony started to feel indispose, like their insides were on file.

“What is this?!” Thorax asked, whose pain was causing him to change between forms.

“She has a dark musical power, just like the sirens!” Star exclaimed, giving his best to resist the music. “We have to stop her!”

Light Fire then summoned a dark light ball that started to absorb dark energy from the audience.

“That’s right… give all that pain to the Lord of Chaos so his plan can come true!” she exclaimed with a smile.

Getting the strength he could, Star charged his horn and casted a beam against Light Fire. Because of his own pain, Star’s aim wasn’t the best, missing the target by inches. Fortunately, that caused her to stop singing, what relieved everyone’s pain and caused the energy gathered to disperse.

“Who dared to attack me?!” she asked, angrily.

Due to her anger, the crowd dispersed, revealing Star who, now released from the effect of her singing, stood up, along with Thorax and revealed his identity.

“I did” he said.

Looking at him, Light Fire recognized him.

“Wait, you’re that kid…” she told. “You’re the one that sealed the Lord of Chaos. Well, I’ll be well rewarded once I deal with you.”

“Many have tried” he replied. “What makes you think you can do it?”

“I have these” she answered, making a gesture to the stone ponies.

And some of them combined to create three bigger stone ponies. They advanced to Thorax and Star who jumped to retreat and, while the young changeling remained back, the alicorn prince advanced to attack. He created his Spiraling Star with lava nature, throwing it and being able to destroy one. However, the other two quickly surrounded Star.

Suddenly, the stone ponies were surrounded by a rainbow that involved them with a light that destroyed them.

“What the…” Light Fire said.

Twilight, Blue and the others arrived, with the Elements of Harmony still glowing.

“Are you two okay?” Twilight asked to Star and Thorax.

They nodded and then Twilight turned to Light Fire and said:

“Let’s end this.”

“I’m the one that’s going to end you!” the evil witch exclaimed.

And she created a big ball of light that she then fired. The attack was coming with a great speed and Blue positioned himself in the front to prepare to negate the attack, when a voice exclaimed:

“Reversal Time Spell!”

A beam of light hit the attack that then returned to Light Fire and was undone, as if time had retreated around it. After that, another voice, said:

“Bubble Dimension Implosion!”

And a type of bubble surrounded Light Fire. She tried to get out, but nothing she did could undo it. It was then that the bubble started to get smaller, and smaller, and smaller, until she didn’t have any space left and she was crushed, as the bubble simply disappeared.

Everypony turned and then saw the two mysterious light ponies.

“It’s you…” Blue said.

And the two ponies took off their cloaks, revealing themselves. They were both light unicorn, with one being a stallion and the other a mare. The stallion had a sage colored coat with an hourglass as a Cutie Mark, an olive and pickle colored mane and sea-green eyes. The mare had a pearly purple coat with a crescent-shaped key as a Cutie Mark, a very dark purple and old mauve mane and lilac eyes.

“I’m a loyal servant of the Lord of Order” the stallion declared. “The Guardian of the Ocean of Time, the one who protects the past, watches the present and ensures the future. I’m Time Turner, the General of Time.”

“I’m also a loyal servant of the Lord of Order” the mare told. “The Guardian of the Ethereal Divide and the keeper of all gates that connect all the realms and universes. My name is Bright Night, the General of Portals.”

That presentation caught all the others off-guard. Blue then said:

“So it’s true… You are Generals of Orders.”

“Are you here to help us?” Twilight asked.

“With all due respect, princess, but that’s not of your concern” Time Turner replied.

“Hey, watch the others, you’re talking to the ruling princess of the Light Kingdom!” Rainbow Dash admonished.

But the two Generals just ignored her. It was then that Bright Night made appear what appeared to be a crystal hoof mirror. Seeing it with his own eyes, Blue was able to recognize it.

“But that’s…”

“Yes” Bright Night answered. “This is the Light Mirror, my talisman.”

That caused everypony to gasp.

“A talisman?” Twilight repeated.

“Ya mean one of those thin’s Blue has been dreamin’ ‘bout?” Applejack asked.

“Are you the reason why I have been having those dreams about collecting the talismans?” Blue asked.

“As a General, you should know that dreams like those are not dreams, but a reflection of what’s coming” Time Turner told. “Those dreams are nothing more than dark premonitions.”

“If you know something, you need to tell us” Rarity said.

“Yeah, we kind off are acting blind here, so…” Pinkie Pie started.

“Don’t get the wrong idea” Time Turner replied. “We have no intention in teaming up with any of you… almost nopony.”

“What do you mean with that?” Star asked.

“You will know in due time” the General of Time answered. “But be certain we’re not as reinforcements.”

“But… right now, you saved us” Twilight said.

“I wouldn’t call it saving…” Rainbow started, before being silenced by one of Applejack’s stares.

“Just because we saved you once, that doesn’t mean we’re friends or allies” Time Turner affirmed.

When they prepared to go, Star said:

“Wait, you’re Generals of Order, so, if you’re here, you must want to stop the Lord of Chaos and his plan, just like us. Can you tell us about what he’s trying to do?”

“Again, you don’t need to know” Bright Night replied.

And then Time Turner charged his horn, saying then:

“Slowing Wave Spell!”

Waves of magic were released and hit the others. They started to feel like time was slowing around them, but what was happening was that they were the ones moving slowly. Twilight, Blue and Start both tried to fight the spell, but they couldn’t do it. They then saw Bright Night using her mirror to open a portal that she and Time Turner passed. Once they were gone, the spell put on them wore off.

“Okay… that was unexpected” Pinkie said.

Author's Note

The video added to this chapter belong to xXxTeaChanxXx.

The Unicorn With the Broken Horn

After what happened, they all returned to the farm, meeting at the cottage’s main room. Buttercup made everypony some tea and said, while placing herself beside Jonagold:

“I have to say you’re doing quite an impression.”

“Yeah, ya already dealt with two of the five witches that serve tha Dark Mistress” Jonagold said.

“Well, that’s good” Rainbow Dash said. “It means we only have to defeat three more.”

“I don’t know, Rainbow” Rarity said. “They really seem to be quite powerful.”

“Rarity’s right” Applejack said. “Have ya forgotten that the last one was defeat by those Generals.”

“About that, what just happened there?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Did they just attack us?” Rarity asked.

“Well, perhaps we misunderstood them” Pinkie Pie said. “Maybe they… Well, they wanted… Yeah, maybe they really attacked us.”

“Blue, you’re a General of Order” Twilight said. “What do you know about these Generals?”

“Not much” he replied. “Of course I already heard about them, mainly Bright Night. But, beyond commonly known facts, there is not much I can tell.”

“But, dad, whatever you know can help us analyze what they may be doing here” Star said.

“Well… much like Gentle Light, they are Generals that have their own purpose” Blue told. “They are the ones that guard the structure of the Lord of Order’s creation, being responsible for time and space. They even have separate domains: the Ocean of Time that connects both past, present and future and the Ethereal Divide that is the space between realms and universes. They are Generals shrouded in mystery. I never expected to meet them.”

“Perhaps we’re dealing with a far more serious situation” Twilight said. “If they’re here to stop the Lord of Chaos’ plan…”

“Then perhaps we can make friends with them” Fluttershy ended.

“Exactly” Twilight said. “They serve the Lord of Order, just like us.”

“Are you two forgetting what just happened?” Rainbow Dash asked. “They attacked us for no reason, including you and Star, Twilight.”

“You’re talking like I am a foal that can’t protect himself” Star replied.

“That may be true, Star, but don’t forget they attack’d us without a reason or explanation” Applejack replied. “We cannot consider them as friends, even if they are Generals of Order.”

“Yeah, what they think they are, just because their power comes from the Lord of Order?” Rainbow Dash said, looking then to Blue. “No offense.”

“None taken” he replied.

At that moment, Moonlight came in and said, looking to everypony’s faces:

“What happened? You don’t look well.”

“It’s a long story” Star said. “I’ll tell you later. Hey, where have you been?”

“I went for a walk by the lake” Moonlight told. “I even met somepony there.”

“What?” Fluttershy asked, a little worried. “And are you okay?”

“You don’t have to worry, mom” Moonlight said. “She wasn’t a stone pony. Well, at least, that’s what I think… She was a unicorn with a broken horn.”

“Ah, you met Tempest” Buttercup said.

“You know her?” Moonlight asked.

“Yeah, she runs a fruit stand at the capital” Buttercup told.

“We use tah make deals with her” Jonagold added. “After all, we are tha main producers of apples and pears.”

“Tempest is a sweet, but she possess a troubled past” Buttercup said. “Poor thing…”

“I can image, if she really has a broken horn” Twilight said. “There’s nothing more sacred in a body of a unicorn or alicorn than the horn.”

“Perhaps I can visit her” Moonlight said. “She loved my voice and maybe I can help her feel better.”

“That’s very dear of you, Moonlight” Buttercup replied. “I’m certain she’ll appreciate it.”

“And I’ll go with you” Fluttershy said. “I can’t let you go to the capital on your own.”

Moonlight nodded, agreeing with that.

The night fell and everypony went to sleep. While Jonagold and Buttercup were sleeping at their bed, the others were sleeping on the main room, with Rarity sleeping on the couch and Twilight at the armchair with Blue by her side. The others were lying on the floor with blankets.

Twilight was sleeping with Blue’s hoof over hers. At that moment, she had a dream that was the same vision she had have at the Destiny’s Bounty, about the mysterious figure. She woke up and Blue did the same. Looking at him, she noticed:

“You had the same dream I had?”

“If you’re talking about that figure, then yes” Blue replied.

“Could that be… the one that will bring destruction?” Twilight asked. “Maybe the Dark Mistress?”

“I believe it’s for the best to not estipulate” Blue replied. “We don’t know the meaning of this.”

Twilight nodded with her head, agreeing with him.

The morning started to break and the Dark Mistress was beside the fountain, seeing the reflection of Twilight and her friends battling Scarlet Burn and Light Fire.

“Those heroes are starting to be a thorn in our plan” she said. “Their mere presence is causing everypony in Tambelon to start to feel hope. We cannot allow that to happen.”

“Then let everything to me” a voice said, while the witch with light blue shades appeared. “I make sure Scarlet Burn and Light Fire’s mistakes are forgotten. With my power and my patience, I will capture the weakest of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and use her dark emotions to feed the Smooze.”

“Interesting…” the Dark Mistress told. “Dark emotions from somepony with a great light… That will certainly speed up our plan. Do that, Crystal Frost… I don’t fail.”

“I won’t” the witch replied, bowing. “My plan is flawless.”

And she disappeared.

“Meanwhile, I must return to my humble disguise” the Dark Mistress said.

She disappeared.

Using their cloaks, Fluttershy and Moonlight went to the capital, hoping to find Tempest. They eventually found her at her fruit stand.

“Hello” Moonlight said, arriving. “Remember me?”

Tempest got surprised for seeing her, saying:

“It’s you… The filly I saw by the lake.”

“Yes, I am” Moonlight said. “And this is my mom, Fluttershy.”

“It’s nice to meet you” Fluttershy replied.

“It’s nice to meet you too” Tempest replied back.

“Buttercup told us about you and I thought I could make you a visit” Moonlight replied.

Happy to have visits, Tempest brought Fluttershy and Moonlight to her house, serving them some tea. While drinking it, they started to talk.

“Amazing…” Tempest said. “So, you really are from Equestria. I have to say I miss my former home.”

“Wait, you’re from Equestria?” Moonlight asked.

“Well, yes” she replied. “Some of the ponies that live here, like me, aren’t actually from Tambelon. They were taken by Grogar or the Dark Mistress, so…”

“I’m sorry to ask, but how did you…” Fluttershy started.

“How did I end up here?” Tempest said. “Well, that’s something I would never forget… maybe because it was shortly after my horn… You get it. I was just a filly and I was playing with my friends with a ball, until we lost it. I went to get it back, but I ended up getting in a cave where… an ursa minor was and… it broke my horn and scared me.”

“That’s terrible…” Fluttershy said, affected by Tempest’s story.

“After that, I and my friends grow distance, until I got so isolated that I decided to run away” Tempest continued. “It was at that moment that I saw him… Grogar. He took me. And now I’m stuck here… so my anguish can feed villains and their power.”

At that moment, Tempest started to feel a pressure in her head again. It was causing a great pain. Seeing her like that, Moonlight advanced, put a hoof over one of hers and started to sing to her, the same song she heard her sing. Her pearl emitted a slight glow inside her locket and that glow really eased Tempest’s pain.

“Are you better, Tempest?” Moonlight asked, after finishing singing.

“Yes… I think so…” she replied. “But what did you do… It was like yesterday at the lake.”

“Well, I am a prodigy, so I have a power over music” Moonlight told. “But I guess I was only able to help you with this.”

And she opened her locket, revealing the pink pearl to Tempest. She got amazed and also attracted by it. Its light, along with Moonlight’s voice, was a great comfort. A certain desire to get it took over her, but when she realized it, Tempest got the hold on herself.

“It’s… very pretty” she said.

“I know and it’s very precious to me” Moonlight said.

“I can understand why” Tempest replied.

The time came for Fluttershy and Moonlight to return to the farm. While they were heading to there, Moonlight asked Fluttershy:

“So, what do you think about Tempest, mom?”

“Well, she seems to be very nice” Fluttershy replied. “However, I do feel something off about her. But, having in count what she has been put up through, I guess it’s normal.”

“I can’t wait to end this mission” Moonlight said. “How long do you think it will take to release Tambelon?”

“Honestly, I don’t know, dear. But, knowing Twilight and Star as I know them, they will make sure they find a way to defeat our enemy.”

At that moment, they heard an evil laugh that caused them to stop and a voice said:

“You’re really naïve if you really think that.”

And, before them, Crystal Frost appeared.

“As if you have any chances against us” she added.

Seeing her, Fluttershy quickly realized that she should be one of the Dark Mistress’ witches, so she told to her daughter:

“Moonlight, run, now…”

“But, mom…”

“Do it now!”

Despite not wanting to leave her mother, Moonlight obeyed her and tried to run away.

“I don’t think so” Crystal Frost said.

And she charged her horn and released a freezing wind that froze Fluttershy and Moonlight’s hooves to the ground.

“Ice nature…” Fluttershy said, surprised to see another pony with that nature besides Queen Ingrid.

“That’s right” Crystal Frost said, with a cold smile. “My name is Crystal Frost and I’m here to do what the others two couldn’t.”

“And what’s that?” Fluttershy asked, a little fearful.

“Why, take down the threats to my master’s great plan” Crystal Frost said. “Starting with you…”

And saying that, she casted a beam that hit Fluttershy.

“Mom!” Moonlight shouted with tears on her eyes.

The spell elevated Fluttershy, involving her in a sphere of light blue light with shards of ice and causing her pain.

“That’s my Mosaic Sphere” Crystal Frost said, giggling. “It hurts, doesn’t it? Right now, my ice nature has entered your body and its slowly breaking from inside out. It won’t last until there’s nothing left but an empty shell, while all your suffering will be channeled to help our cause.”

Moonlight had to do something. She prepared to use the power of her pearl, but Crystal Frost, noticing she was up to something, made the ice cover her body.

“Don’t even think in making a single move, my dear” she told to Moonlight. “You will spoil my fun.”

And she continued to watch Fluttershy feeling the pain caused by her spell. But, suddenly, a combined magic beam was casted against Crystal Frost, forcing her to dodge. Twilight and Star appeared, followed by Blue who used his magic to free Fluttershy and Moonlight. Rainbow caught Fluttershy and brought her to safety.

“Are you okay, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I… think so” she replied.

“And you, Moonlight?” Star asked to his marefriend.

“You don’t have to worry about me” the young half-thestral answered.

Noticing the disadvantage she had now, Crystal Frost exclaimed:

“Stone warriors, come!”

And two big stone ponies appeared, ready to attack. The heroes were ready to fight, but then Time Turner and Bright Night appeared before them, with the former saying:

“Looks like it’s time to reveal ourselves to our enemy.”

“Well, not all missions must be done in the shadows” Bright Night said.

“Bright Night… Time Turner…” Twilight said.

The two Generals looked at Crystal Frost and their eyes shone for a moment with their respective color, what made the witch to flinch a bit. Then, Time Turner raised his hoof and proclaimed:

“My magical tool, come to me!”

And what appeared to be a glowing, spinning, metallic sphere.

“Chronosphere, my talisman, give me your power to defeat the ones who threat Order!” he exclaimed. “Forward Decaying Ray!”

Aiming the Cronosphere to the enemy, Time Turner fired with it a powerful beam that hit Crystal Frost and her stone ponies, what caused them an excruciating pain, while their bodies quickly deteriorated until they turned into nothing more than dust.

Everypony got stunned by what just happened, impressed by the ease Time Turner an Bright Night defeated that witch and her stone ponies. Beyond that, they got to see what was the second talisman: Time Turner’s Chronosphere.

Time Turner made the Chronosphere disappear and then he and Bright Night prepared to teleport away.

“Wait, Time Turner, Bright Night…” Twilight asked.

But it was too late, as they disappeared.

The Diamond Sword

At the castle of Tambelon, the Dark Mistress was at the sanctuary, talking with the Smooze who was contacting her.

“The time for us to fulfill the master’s plan is approaching, but I still don’t have energy enough. This is unacceptable!”

“Calm down, don’t act like a baby” the Dark Mistress told. “I want to fulfill the master’s desire as much as you. I will give you tons of energy soon. I could be gathering it faster, if it wasn’t for the anomalies.”

“Princess Twilight and her friends…” the Smooze said. “They possess a light so strong that can prevent us from carrying on the plan. With their Elements of Harmony and Prince Star Knight’s lava nature, they can wipe out our stone ponies in an instant. But they are not alone. I see an ominous light hidden near, one that will bring destruction. And the time for its awakening is ahead.”

“Maybe that light is connected with the three talismans” the Dark Mistress said.

“Eliminate the destruction that’s coming toward us and obtain more energy to me” the Smooze told. “We need to get enough energy as soon as possible. We shall bring chaos and destruction and not only to Princess Twilight, but to all Pony Reality. We will turn everything into our master’s domain!”

And having said that, he ended the contact. After that, the Dark Mistress headed to the fountain and touched it with her staff, causing the image of the witch with shades of green to appear.

“Did you summoned me, mam?” she asked. “How may I be of service?”

“The Smooze requires a greater quantity of energy, so I need you to gather it” the Dark Mistress told.

“As Wild Pollen, ranked as one of the best of the five witches, I will bring energy of the highest quality” the witch said, making a bow to the Dark Mistress. “And I will do that using the great power of wild energy.”

At the farm, everyone was helping Jonagold and Buttercup with the chores. Twilight, however, was at some distance, watching them, a little distracted.

“Twily…” Blue called, while approaching her. “Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know…” she replied. “I can’t stop thinking about Time Turner and Bright Night. They are Generals of Order. We both serve good and they have been helping us, so why do we have to act as if we’re in different sides? They know they can trust in us.”

Blue hated to see Twilight like that, so he decided to say something to cheer her up.

“You don’t have to be like that, Twily” he said. “I know you care about everyone and that’s what makes you who you are. I’m sure they also know that. Like you said, they are Generals of Order and, whatever their mission is, I’m certain they are on our side. You know how Generals are hard to understand. Well, except for me, of course…”

That caused Twilight to drop a laugh and then said:

“Thank you, Blue, I think you may be right. I have to trust they are on our side.”

She then kissed him on his cheek and then went to help the others. Blue prepared to go too when suddenly he got a vision about the talismans again. This time it was more intense. He doesn’t know what was that, but it was more than just warnings.

Moonlight had gone visit Tempest again, this time on her own.

“You know I always like your visits, Moonlight, but I don’t think you should risk coming here that bluntly” Tempest said. “After all, the witches are after you and your friends.”

“You’re also my friend, Tempest, and I can’t just let you here all by yourself” Moonlight said.

“The ponies of Tambelon are all talking about what you all are doing” Tempest said. “They’re all hopeful because they know the witches are being taken down one by one. I don’t know a day here that has been so… bright than the last ones.”

“It’s good to know that” Moonlight said. “And be certain we won’t stop until this island is all free.”

After saying that, Moonlight noticed a curious plant at the window. It was a flower whose petals looked like big leaves.

“What is this?” she asked. “I’ve seen this kind of plants growing back at the farm.”

“Well, I don’t know exactly” Tempest replied. “They all grew through all the island and many ponies are taking care of them. They are very pretty, aren’t them?”

“Yes, they are…” Moonlight agreed.

At that moment, the plant emanated a sweet aroma that gave both Moonlight and Tempest a desire to fall asleep. Tempest didn’t take long to almost fell into that desire, but Moonlight noticed something that prevented her from doing it. The plant had bulbed in an instant, but the most disturbing part was the other plants that had died.

It was then that the bulbs started to blossom. Fearing what could happen, Moonlight went to it, dropped it on the ground and stomped on it, crushing it. The plant then disappeared on energy that Moonlight recognized.

“Wild energy…” she said, remembering then the ones that existed on the farm.

Tempest, free from the effect of the plant, started to wake up and asked, a little confused:

“Moonlight… What happened?”

“That plant… it’s dangerous” Moonlight said. “I need to go. My mom, Star and the others are in danger.”

And, having said that, she got out and flew away. Along the way, she noticed that other ponies had succumbed to the plant which was absorbing their energy. It didn’t take long for her to arrive the farm. However, by the time she got there, Star was pulverizing the last plant.

“Thank goodness you’re okay” Moonlight said. “I was so worry.”

“So was I” Fluttershy said, approaching her daughter. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

“Yes, I am, you don’t need to worry, mom” Moonlight replied. “Tempest is also fine. Fortunately, I noticed the plant in time.”

“Yeah, but we have tah thank Star” Applejack said.

“Yes, he was the one who noticed the danger those nasty plants” Rarity said.

“And then we all took them down as easy as planning a big party in just a minute” Pinkie Pie added.

“Yeah, easy…” Rainbow Dash whispered ironically to Applejack, who dropped a laugh.

“It was amazing how Star was able to sense them” Thorax said.

“Well, I do have a certain ability to sense wild energy” Star replied.

“I don’t understand how they could do that” Jonagold said.

“Yes, we co-exist with them for some time” Buttercup added.

“Well, the answer is quite simple” a voice said. “They’re my creation.”

They all turned and saw Wild Pollen at certain distance.

“Oh no…” Buttercup said.

“She’s one of the witches” Jonagold told.

“My name is Wild Pollen and I’ll make you adore my dear plants” the witch said.

With a stomp, she made wild energy flow to the ground and many of the plants appeared, bloomed. They released their pollen that started to affect everyone, starting to absorb their energy and making them weaker.

“Our energy… is being taken” Twilight said.

She tried to use the power of the Elements of Harmony, but she couldn’t pull the spell together. The same was happening with Blue, who couldn’t use his power as General of Balance, and Star, who couldn’t do any of his elemental powers.

“What marvelous life energies” Wild Pollen said, while gathering the energy. “And to think the mighty heroes that defeated the Lord of Chaos so many times were so easy to catch off-guard. Lucky me. These plants are part of me. They are extensions of my power over the wild energy and they cover all the island. They thrive on life force, what makes them perfect to collect more energy than the others could ever imagine. And all that collected energy will go to my master.”

Star tried to fight the effects of the pollen, but it was hard, mainly when he had to watch all his loved ones suffering, like his parents and marefriend. He tried to create a little spark of fire to burn all those flowers, but he couldn’t.

“I don’t think so” Wild Pollen told to the young prince. “To you and all the greater threats I have brought the most powerful of my plants. Not even you, alicorns, will be able to use your magic. I can’t wait to finally give your lifeless bodies to the Dark Mistress. My reward will certainly be immense!”

And she dropped an evil laugh.

Blue was starting to get very frustrated, as he couldn’t save his family and friends. He closed his eyes, almost giving in to his fate. At that moment, a light appeared in the darkness he was seeing. It was a warm light, similar to his, like it was a part of it. It was calling him, it wanted Blue to get it.

“Wake up” it said. “The time has come.”

Wishing to comply, he approached it and took it.

At that moment, at the real world, Blue opened his eyes which were glowing with the same blue as his aura. He then unleashed a wave of magic that caused all the plants to wither. With that, everyone recovered their strength back.

“What?!” Wild Pollen exclaimed, not wanting to believe. “No, it’s impossible!”

With his eyes still glowing, Blue said to her, while advancing:

“You dared to hurt my family and my friends. Now, I will be the one to hurt you.”

Everypony was astonish for seeing Blue like that. Wild Pollen, on the other hand, was feeling a twinge of fear. She tried to attack with magic beams, but Blue kept blocking them with his magic.

“It’s time for you to meet your end… with this!” Blue exclaimed, rising his hoof.

And he summoned a sword. The grip was blue and round, while the blade was made of the same diamond as the ones at the Diamond Domain. He hold it with his magic and said:

“Behold the object of your demise: my talisman, the Diamond Sword.”

Blue rose up the blade and created an orb of energy. When he made a slash in the air with the sword, the orb was thrown and hit Wild Pollen, who screamed while being pulverized.

A silence was made after that moment. Star was the first to speak:

“Dad… that was amazing! I didn’t know you could do that.”

But he was not replying. Twilight looked at him, worried. She then looked at the sword. She had heard Blue call it talisman. Could that be the third and last talisman? But how could Blue have it?

“Blue… are you okay?”

He then turned to them, with his eyes still glowing.

The Dorment General

Everypony was astonished, seeing Blue’s eyes glowing.

“Blue…” Twilight called again.

It was then that the glow ended and Blue now had an illuminated look.

“Now I understand…” Blue said.

“What do ya understand?” Applejack asked.

“Those dreams and visions I had…” he said. “They were all about this…”

“Does that have something to do with that sword” Rainbow Dash asked. “Seriously, dude, where did you get it?”

Looking to the Diamond Sword, Blue remembered the night before starting the journey to Tambelon.

“At the Diamond Domain” he said. “It was inside the Diamond Heart… My talisman…”

Everypony shared a look and then Pinkie Pie said:

“Okay, guys, I think Blue had just lost his marbles. I think it is better if we put him to bed.”

Twilight approached Blue and asked:

“Blue, when you say talisman, are you referring to the three talismans?”

He didn’t reply, but it was obvious what the answer was.

“Wait, so you had a talisman and you didn’t tell us?” Rarity asked.

“Dad, how could you?” Star asked. “You should have told us.”

“I didn’t know about that” Blue replied. “It was only moments ago that I remembered everything. I remembered the sword… It was like my mind was being reset. Now, I know what my mission is.”

“What mission?” Twilight asked.

“His mission… is the same as ours” a voice replied.

Time Turned and Bright Night appeared beside Blue, each one on one of sides. It was Time Turned who had spoken.

“A mission that we shared” Bright Night added.

“Ow, where did you guys came from?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yeah, because appearing from nowhere is really not very nice” Pinkie Pie said, causing the others to look at her. “What?”

It was then that Blue, Time Turner and Bright Night kneeled before Twilight and the General of Time said:

“We’re here to pay our respects to you, Princess Twilight. I am Time Turner, the General of Time and the keeper of the Ocean of Time.”

“I’m Bright Night, the General of Portals and the keeper of the Ethereal Divide” Bright Night said.

“And I’m Blue Sword, the General of Balance and the keeper of the Diamond Domain” Blue told.

Twilight didn’t know what to say to that, mainly when Blue was also kneeling before her.

“Princess, my actions and Bright Night’s has been disrespectful and we’re ready to atone for them in any way you see fit” Time Turner said. “But know this: we only did what we did to protect you. You are the owner of the original light of all Pony Reality, the Lord of Order’s greatest creation. Forgive us.”

“Our job is to protect the Pony Reality from the greatest threats that come from out of it, while covering for the Generals of the Light Kingdom in times of great need” Bright Night explained.

“While mine is, not only preserve the balance, but also watch for the safety of the original light” Blue said, smiling lovely to his wife. “A job that I’m taking much better than Perfect Scale, don’t you think?”

“However, it seems we’re too late” Bright Night said. “After the Lord of Chaos’ defeat at the war, we never expected that he would carry on with a former plan, one that I and Time Turner have hopped he would forget about it.”

“Once we realized the plan has been resumed, we could only hope the General of Balance would fully awake in order to fight them” Time Turner continued. “Only with our power combined we can really prevent a great calamity from happening.”

“The Dark Mistress… what is she doing?” Star asked.

The three Generals got up and Blue replied:

“She’s trying to bring to our world a terrible monster that will cover everything in chaos and darkness.”

“Oh dear, that really doesn’t sound good” Fluttershy said.

“We don’t know very much about this new threat, but there is a dark aura around this island” Bright Night said, summoning her mirror and looking to it. “A powerful one. The light of this kingdom was what attracted Grogar to carry on this evil plan. If we don’t deal with this right now, the situation will only get worse.”

“I have tried to see what the future can bring to us, but there’s too many variables for me to perceive anything” Time Turner replied. “Because of that, we’ve been watching from the shadows. However, now that we’ve revealed ourselves, that cannot be done now.”

“We only wanted for Blue Sword to come to help us, but we didn’t think so many of you would come as well” Bright Night told.

“But we came exactly to help” Twilight said.

“Yes, I made a promise to my great-grandfather I would free Tambelon” Star said. “And I know can do this with the help of everypony.”

“The Dark Mistress is our enemy” Bright Night said. “We’ll deal with her and stop her plan by ourselves.”

“Hey, don’t you dare to put as side” Rainbow Dash said. “We are just as capable of dealing with this Dark Mistress as much as you. We have already stopped very powerful villains, while you just kept watching.”

“With my power you could…” Star started.

“The threat you are facing is far worse than you know!” Time Turner replied.

“This is our job” Bright Night told. “We’ll handle it.”

“And for this mission to be successful, we can’t waste more time” Blue said. “We have to attack now.”

“I understand, but that’s why we’re saying you should let us…” Twilight started.

“No!” Blue exclaimed, surprising everypony. “I’m sorry, Twily. When we decided to come together, I didn’t know the full extension of this threat. Now that I do, I don’t want to risk the lives of the ones I love.”

He approached Twilight and, telling her, while caressing her cheek:

“Please, let us do this. Honestly, I didn’t want things to be like this, but it is my duty as General.”

Twiligh didn’t know what to say to that. Despite having total faith on Blue, she simply couldn’t let him face the Dark Mistress when she could help him.

“We three are between the most powerful Generals of Order” Blue said. “We possess weapons that can boost our powers. We won’t fail.”

“And those weapons… Are they the talismans that will bring destruction?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, that’s a good question” Applejack said.

Star had to agree with that. In the plane he shared with Kurama, he told to the nine-tailed fox:

“My father and the others are hiding something. I know that.”

“How can you tell that?” Kurama asked.

“I know how my dad gets when he hides something” Star replied. “Call it personal experience.”

“Then we have to be certain” Kurama said.

Using his ability to detect negative emotions, he was able to confirm that his father and the other Generals were hiding something.

“If those talismans will bring destruction, then they shouldn’t be reunited” Star said. “Are they just weapons? Tell us your true mission. Why are you really here?”

Blue smiled and said:

“You really have improved your jinchuriki abilities.”

“These talismans are more than just weapons” Bright Night replied. “They are the keys to perform our ultimate mission.”

“That is also our greatest enemy… the Bringer of Destruction” Time Turner replied.

That made everypony trade a look.

“Oh, the Bringer of Destruction…” Pinkie Pie said. “The name does sound scary… Amazing!”

At the Dark Mistress’ sanctuary, she was talking to the Smooze.

“The energy is still not strong enough” he said. “I want more and we have no time to lose!”

“I know that, you don’t have to remind me” the Dark Mistress told. “I may have found the perfect energy for you, but I need to wait for the right moment.”

The Smooze released a grunt and then ended the communication.

The Dark Mistress advanced to the fountain and tried to perceive the lights that were threating their plans. She then noticed three lights shining brighter. When trying to perceive who they were, the images of Blue, Time Turner and Bright Night with their talismans appeared briefly. That surprised the Dark Mistress, while the water of the fountain was agitated like last time she did the same.

That disturbance made the Dark Mistress realize how powerful her enemies were getting. It wouldn’t last until they decided to invade the castle and face her. She had to get an idea to delay them, while she try to get what she needed to summon the Smooze. To do that, she summoned the last of her witches: the one with purple shades.

“Yes, Your Excellency?” she asked. “How may I serve you?”

“Shadow Velvet, the failures of your fellow witches have brought shame upon me” the Dark Mistress said. “They have allowed the ponies of Tambelon to feel hopeful again. Because of that, the Smooze still doesn’t have enough energy. My wish is for you to make up for their mistakes.”

“As the last member of your witch servants, rest assure that I, Shadow Velvet, shall eliminate our enemies” the witch said. “Trust in me, Dark Mistress. The Smooze and the Lord of Chaos will be pleased.”

“I’ll leave it to you” the Dark Mistress replied. “Protect our castle and our plan.”

“As you wish” Shadow Velvet told, bowing.

Back to the farm, Twilight asked:

“But who is this Bringer of Destruction?”

The three Generals traded a look and then Blue said to Time Turner and Bright Night:

“They deserve to know.”

The General of Time and the General of Portals looked at each other and, after considering, they nodded. Bright Night then told, while they showed their respected talismans:

“There is a moment when the three talismans resonate, a moment that is very dreadful for us. It’s when hope is no longer at reach to a world and the best thing to do is put it out of its suffering. When the talismans resonate, we, the three Generals who should never meet each other are gathered and our objects call upon the one who brings destruction, the servant of the Lord of Order who sleeps in the darkness until a moment of great need… the General of Destruction.”

That revelation was such a shock that caused everypony exclaim:

“WHAT!”

“Okay, it’s in moments like these that I need to have a glass of water at hoof” Pinkie Pie said.

“What do ya mean with tha General of Destruction?” Applejack asked.

“You mean there is another General that works for the Lord of Chaos, like the General of Chaos?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Haven’t you heard?” Time Turner asked. “The General of Destruction is a servant of the Order, but not like us.”

“What do you mean with that?” Star asked.

“There has been a few Generals of Destruction” Bright Night explained. “They have always reincarnated, with their star seeds becoming filled with a dark light, as they awake to do their job: causing a world’s ruin, making them fall quietly in the empty. And the talismans are the key to call him… or her. That’s their purpose. As Generals of Time, Portals and Balance, each of us protect one of those keys.”

“When we get together and our three talismans activate, it will cause the awakening of the General of Destruction” Blue continued.

“If this General should ever awake, then the world as you know it will meets its end” Time Turner concluded.

“How awful!” Buttercup exclaimed, while leaning over Jonagold.

“That’s why… the talismans will bring destruction” Thorax realized.

“Because we live in different planes, we don’t meet and that keeps the General of Destruction from awakening” Bright Night said. “However, after Perfect Scale’s fall and Blue Sword’s ascension as the new General of Balance, we ended up being pushed into this current situation, where we are facing the current reincarnation of the General of Destruction, triggered by the Dark Mistress’ plan. Her identity… is Tempest Shadow.”

When Bright Night revealed the General of Destruction’s identity, everypony was speechless and astonished.

“No way…” Fluttershy said.

“It can’t be…” Buttercup added.

But nopony was more shocked than Moonlight.

“So you’re saying… it’s her?” she asked. “Tempest is… the General of Destruction?”

Star didn’t know what to say, seeing his marefriend like that.

“Moonlight…”

“It was her voice in my dreams” Blue told. “It was Tempest’s soul calling for the talismans.”

“The time for the General of Destruction’s awakening is approaching” Bright Night said. “Her body is preparing itself. And she’s starting to feel it.”

“Since the Light Kingdom had returned and the Lord of Chaos was sealed away, the future has never been so bright” Time Turner said.

“That’s why the General of Destruction can never be awaken” Blue told.

“So what are you going to do?” Jonagold asked.

There was a pause and Blue replied:

“We must kill Tempest and then seal way the General of Destruction’s soul for good.”

That answer was a great shock to all the others, mainly Moonlight.

“No… you can’t!” Twilight exclaimed.

“We don’t know if the three talismans will activate” Rarity said. “Maybe they won’t.”

“Yeah, and how can you even consider that option?” Rainbow Dash asked. “You are supposed to be the good guys.”

“We are servants of the Order and we do everything to protect it” Time Turner said. “Besides, we can feel our talismans being called to do their job. We can hear the General of Destruction calling for them. We can feel the power overflowing in them… just like all the times we had to summon her. It’s not a matter of if she’s going to wake up, but when. And I can feel it’s very near.”

“But we’re talking about murdering!” Star exclaimed. “There’s got to be another way. Dad, you know that I proved there’s always a third option.”

“Unfortunately, son, in this situation, there’s not” he replied. “Besides, even if we don’t kill her now, she’ll die soon enough. Her body is feeling the changes and not waking up is turning her ill. You all have seen it… isn’t that right, Moonlight?”

That caused Moonlight to look towards the ground.

“When she was a filly, she was attacked by an ursa minor” Time Turner told. “Tempest was severely injured, but, miraculously, she recovered. Perhaps it was fate, but she was never the same after that. She was scared in more than just one way. But her time is coming to an end. Tempest’s body will fail her and her fragile life will be slipped away.”

“Isn’t any way to save her?” Moonlight asked. “Does she have to die?”

“At this point, there’s only one way to save her body or her life” Blue replied. “She would need to turn into the General of Destruction… with the powers of a General. However, we cannot allow that to happen.”

Moonlight didn’t want to believe there was nothing they could do to save her. When she was starting to lose hope, Twilight said, with tears starting to appear:

“No… Don’t you see that’s wrong?! You can’t kill Tempest, you just can’t! There has to be a better way. After all, the future exists. You said that yourselves. The world will not end. We all will pass through this. We can save everything. I know it. So she doesn’t have to die!”

Those words were backed-up up by the others, who nodded with their heads. Moonlight couldn’t help but smile because of that. However, the three Generals were not convinced.

“That’s exactly what we thought you would say” Time Turned told.

“Which is why we can’t work together” Bright Night said, while she, Time Turner and Blue started to turn their backs at the others. “And it’s also why we can’t be allies, regardless what we may be feeling.”

“You can hate us” Blue continued. “If you rather want to see us as enemies, we don’t care. We have a job to do, our own mission to save the world. And we’re going to carry them out. And that includes the Dark Mistress and the rest of her minions.”

“Wait, don’t go!” Twilight called. “Blue, please, don’t!”

But there was a flash of light and they disappeared. Twilight was heartbroken for seeing her husband, the love of her life, simply going like that, with them apparently on different sides now. A tear run down her face and the sadness was overwhelming. It was then a gentle touch reached her hoof. It was Star who told her:

“I’m certain dad loves a lot, mom. He loves us with all his heart. But he’s a General and he can’t escape his orders. Maybe we can still persuade him.”

Hearing her son telling those words made Twilight feel better, but Moonlight, on the other hand, didn’t want a good friend like Tempest to be killed just because she was fated to become the General of Destruction. With that thought in mind, Moonlight took flight and started to fly away.

“Moonlight, where do you go?” Fluttershy asked.

But she didn’t answer, continuing to fly away, with her speed powered by the moon that was now covering the land with its light.

“Don’t you think she went to Tempest’s, do you?” Thorax said.

“Oh no…” Star said, worried about what could happen.

Then, he also took flight, deciding to follow Moonlight. Twilight then followed her son.

Moonlight didn’t take long to arrive to near Tempest’s place. The three Generals, who were watching Tempest, hidden nearby, noticed her arrival.

“Wait, but that’s Moonlight” Blue said.

The young half-thestral took a deep breath, while deciding to move forward with her decision. When she get to her store, Moonlight noticed Tempest lying on the ground, unconscious.

“Tempest!” she called, running towards her to help.

It was then that she opened her eyes and sat up, looking at Moonlight, while releasing a great shock wave that caused the half-thestral to stop and protect herself, with the same happening to the three Generals. The windows broke and the few ponies that were nearby run away.

Star and Twilight landed, arriving there with Star calling:

“Moonlight!”

They stopped, when they saw what was happening.

“What’s that?” Twilight asked.

And a wicked smiled appeared on Tempest’s face, with her rising up. Her eyes were now cold and cruel and a dark aura surrounded her. That was no longer Tempest. Extending her hoof and with her horn releasing sparks, she caught Moonlight magically and rose her in the air.

“Oh no!” Twilight exclaimed.

Star took flight and charged his horn to release Moonlight, but lightning coming from Tempest hit him and forced him to retreat and land.

“Are you okay, dear?” Twilight asked, while approaching her son.

They then saw Moonlight locket, while extracting a light from her chest. And the locket and a ball of light were taken from her. Her eyes lost their light and Moonlight then fell on the ground, staying then immobile.

“Moonlight!” Star called, advancing toward her.

Twilight looked at the one she thought was Tempest. She got Moonlight’s locket and the ball of light that Twilight recognized as being her own soul.

“Is that the General of Destruction?” Twilight asked. “She’s awakened already?”

The other Generals also thought of that, but, looking at their talismans, they noticed one thing.

“But our talismans are quiet” Blue said.

“Then who is that?” Bright Night asked.

The one they thought to be still Tempest laughed and then said:

“Thank you so much for getting what I needed. Now I can carry on my master’s plan. He will be so pleased and it was me who did it. Me, the Dark Mistress.”

And she laughed evilly.

Hurt Spirit

After what happened, Star went to Moonlight and, while holding her, started calling her:

“Moonlight, please, wake up.”

But she remained unconscious. Tears started to form on Star’s eyes, as he continued to say:

“No, Moonlight… You have to wake up.”

Seeing their son like that, both Twilight and Blue could feel their hearts heavy.

The Dark Mistress, holding Moonlight’s locket and soul, said, while giggling:

“It’s time for a new era, where this world will be covered with chaos. And I owe that to that stupid half-breed.”

And she gave an evil laugh. Hearing her talking like that about Moonlight caused such rage to Star that he couldn’t contain himself.

“You’ll pay for this…” he said.

At that moment, his Nine-Tails energy started to flow out of his body, bubbling and forming the coat, while his eyes became red, like it happened at the times he was overwhelmed by Kurama.

“Oh no…” Blue said.

“Star, no…” Twilight told.

She tried to do anything, but the first tail was formed and it waved, causing a shock wave that made Twilight stop. The Dark Mistress couldn’t believe the immense power Star was emanating. She hadn’t see anything like it in all her existence.

Two more tails appeared and, using the three tails, he tried to attack the Dark Mistress. However, Blue appeared and used his magic to block the attack. The villain took advantage of that to disappear.

“How dare to you to put yourself in my way, dad?!” Star exclaimed.

“You can’t do this, Star” Blue said. “Remember every time you went on a rampage.”

“Oh, I do remember” Star replied. “And I also remember it was because of you that she came here. And now… I will do much more than give you a scar!”

And he prepared for another attack, but, suddenly, he stopped, as if something was holding him off. The truth was that Kurama was holding Star against the ground.

“Release me, Kurama!” Star demanded, while trying to get free from the tailed beast.

“No until you put yourself together” Kurama replied. “I’m not watching you do stupid things and do nothing. Believe me, you will thank me later.”

“I’m the jinchuriki and you’re tailed beast, now let me go!” Star said, charging his horns.

And a golden chain appeared and hold Kurama’s neck. Star was using the seal to hold him and get the upper-hand.

“I know you’re only doing and saying all this out of grief and rage…” Kurama said. “Believe me, I know all that. But I won’t allow you do something that you’ll regret later.”

At the real world, Star continued to try to move his body until he got still, with his head down, and the energy cloak disappeared.

“Star…” Twilight called.

Star then rose up his head, but whisker marks appeared on his cheek and, when he opened his eyes, they were still red, but not glowing. It was Kurama who had managed to get the control. He looked at Blue and told:

“Star is under control. You don’t have to thank me.”

“Kurama?” Twilight asked. “Is that you? How is Star?”

“Angry… very angry” the tailed beast replied. “And also very destructive. I have to say, it was hard to contain him. It made wish to return to the time I used to make him angry on purpose. But don’t worry about him, right now. He just needs a time-out. I believe Moonlight needs our attention instead.”

Twilight went to the young half-thestral and, observing her, she noticed how her body was losing her vitals.

“What’s happening to her?” Twilight asked. “She’s dying.”

“We have no time to lose” Kurama told. “We need to take her back to the farm and stabilize her as soon as possible.”

And they returned to the cottage, where Moonlight was laid on Jonagold and Buttercup’s bed, with Fluttershy by her side, holding her hoof and crying. Twilight was passing her magic through her body, keeping her alive.

“She took Moonlight’s soul, that’s why she’s like that” Kurama told. “The soul and the star seed have a symbiotic relationship: the star seed is the source of life and the soul is the source of being, but the two cannot hold an individual alive by themselves. They need each other. Without the star seed, the body turns into stone and, without the soul, the body slowly loses its vital signs until…”

“So Tempest was the Dark Mistress all this time” Rainbow Dash said. “I knew something was off with that broken unicorn.”

“Ah believe it’s too late tah say somethin’ like that, Rainbow” Applejack said.

“I just can’t believe it…” Buttercup said. “I know Tempest since she got to the island when she was a little filly. How can she be the Dark Mistress?”

“Could the Dark Mistress be the true form of the General of Destruction?” Jonagold asked.

“That’s a great question” Rarity said.

“The answer for that is no” a voice told. “That was not the General of Destruction.”

They all turned (except for Fluttershy who kept looking to her daughter) and saw Blue, along with Time Turner and Bright Night. It was the him who had talked and he continued:

“The General of Destruction hasn’t awakened yet. If that happened, the talisman would have activated. But they have not.”

“The Dark Mistress seems to be a total different entity” Bright Night continued. “A second personality that Tempest wasn’t aware off.”

“A personality created by the darkness of the Lord of Chaos” Time Turned told. “We were so focused on our mission to realize that.”

“But know, we will do what we must do” Blue said. “And we’ll also save Moonlight’s soul… and there’s only one way to do it.”

Listening that, Fluttershy turned to Blue and asked:

“What is it? Tell me. How can we save my daughter?”

Blue took a few seconds and answered:

“We must… kill Tempest.”

The look on the others’ faces was a little pessimistic and Blue continued:

“That pony… She’s not Tempest anymore. She’s now a servant of the Lord of Chaos. She’s an enemy now. Moonlight’s soul and her pearl are now on her hooves.”

“With that amount of light, we fear she may enact her plan” Time Turner said.

“That makes sense, because they both possess a light capable of spreading hope” Kurama told. “With her voice, she can bring up the best in anypony. A light like that can produce a great darkness, like the original sirens.”

“That’s why we must retrieve Moonlight’s soul and not only for that reason” Blue continued. “And that means destroying our enemy.”

“Destroying?” Thorax repeated, nervously.

“There has to be another way” Rarity said.

“Yeah, I mean, do I have to tell all the circumstances where it seemed there was no hope, but we end up doing any way?” Pinkie Pie told.

“The General of Destruction may not have awakened, but, if we don’t act, all Pony World will be covered in chaos and destruction” Blue answered. “So, the three of us are going, not only to save Moonlight, but to save everything else.”

And they started to go to the exit.

“No, Blue, wait…” Twilight said, while keeping her magic passing through Moonlight. “You can’t do this. We can find another way…”

Blue stopped, causing Time Turner and Bright Night to stop as well, and told, without turning to her:

“I’m sorry, Twily, but you can’t stop me. Our own son blames me for what happened to Moonlight, so I must to make up for him.”

And, having said that, he teleport, along with the other two Generals.

“Well, that didn’t go as expected” Pinkie Pie said.

“We need to do something before Moonlight…” Fluttershy said, not being able to finish the phrase.

Twilight tried to find a way to resolve all that. Then noticed she wouldn’t be able to do anything with Star like the way he was. She turned to Kurama and asked:

“I need to talk with my son. Can you put him in control?”

“He’s awake, you can talk” the nine-tailed fox replied.

“Star, I know that what happened was… overwhelming. I understand the pain you’re feeling. I have seen many of my loved ones getting hurt… you inclusive. But you need to overcome it. We need you, son. Moonlight needs you. She can still be saved. Because of that, you need to overcome it.”

Star was pinned to the ground by one of Kurama’s paws and was listening to Twilight’s words. They were really getting into him. It was then that Kurama said to Star:

“Did you hear that? Your mother is right about that. You can still save Moonlight. The way you acted is not something the stubborn and sometimes reckless Star I know would do. It was your will to always resist hate that has brought you this long, your will to even resist my influence, control my power and, most important, change me.”

All that caused Star to think back and realize how much he had let his anger to take over him and forget what caused him to be him. With that realization, he said to Kurama:

“You’re right… Thank you for remind me of that. And sorry for trying to cage you again.”

“As if that bothered me now” Kurama replied, while releasing Star. “But I’ll bite you if you ever do that again.”

That caused Star to laugh and then said:

“I think it’s fair. You can now give me back the control.”

And so he did that, with the whisker-marks disappearing and the eyes turning to their true color.

“You’re right, mom” Star said, while advancing towards her and Moonlight. “You all need me. And I’ll do my best to help.”

“Star…” Twilight said, with a smile and tears on her eyes.

The young prince then looked at her marefriend and continued:

“I was not able to save her and all that… It caused me such pain and anger that I got blind. I blamed and attack dad… despite knowing he’s just doing his duty as General to protect as all.”

“You don’t have to think about that” Twilight said to Star. “Your father loves you and he knows you love him too. He knows you didn’t mean what you said. But don’t worry, everything will work out. It always does.”

“You’re right, mom…” Star said. “That’s why you and the others must go. Go retrieve Moonlight’s soul and defeat the Dark Mistress.”

“What about you?” Twilight asked.

“I’ll stay here… with her” Star answered, looking to Moonlight. “I’ll carry on what you’re doing and keep her alive with my own energy. I won’t let her go until she’s awake or… there’s no more hope.”

He looked to Fluttershy who smiled at him, as if thanking him for what he was doing. Twilight also smiled at her son, filled with pride for what he was doing. It only showed the immense love he had for Moonlight. So, she stopped her magic, while Star lay down beside Moonlight and held her with his forelegs, starting to flow his own energy through her body.

Twilight then turned to her friends and told them:

“Let’s go.”

They all nodded.

“I’ll stay here and watch over Star and Moonlight” Thorax said.

“We’ll do everything to help too” Jonagold told.

“You don’t have to worry about that” Buttercup guaranteed.

And so, with their elements, Twilight and the others got out heading towards the castle.

At the castle, the Dark Mistress was walking through the foyer, holding Moonlight’s locket and soul, with Shadow Velvet greeting her and bowing:

“It looks like you were successful in getting what we need.”

“Yes, my weaker self proved herself to be quite useful” the Dark Mistress said. “I knew from the moment I came to be that broken pony would allow me to get what I wanted to make the master’s plan become real. And she did it. She allowed me to get close to that half breed and get what I needed.”

“So, that’s what happened…” a voice said in the Dark Mistress’ head.

Before that, the Dark Mistress held still. She wondered how could Tempest still be around after taking full control. But that didn’t bother her much, as she now was in control. However it was something she couldn’t help but be surprised.

“Are you okay, mam?” Shadow Velvet asked.

Returning to reality, the Dark Mistress told her:

“Yes, I am… Now, remember, the enemy will come. Eliminate those anomalies. Failure is not an option.”

“Don’t worry, I have something special planned” Shadow Velvet replied with a wicked smile.

The Dark Mistress went then to the sanctuary, heading towards the Smooze who had come to contact her. Sensing Moonlight’s soul and the power of her pearl, he couldn’t help but getting excited by them.

“Oh, what’s that you have there?”

“It’s a present for you” she replied, while opening the locket and revealing the pearl. “Take it.”

“What is this power?” the Smooze asked, as he made shadow arms approach it. “It’s so full of a delicious light…”

“This is one of the seven magical pearls once owned by the original sirens” the Dark Mistress told. “It possess a great light magic…”

And then her thoughts started to wonder how could one pearl have such soothing light, when Tempest voice told her:

“But of course, that pearl is protect by a pure soul, the beautiful soul of a filly.”

She was being held in the Dark Mistress’ mind by a great amount of thorn vines. The villain continued to ignore her, while trying harder to push her away.

Meanwhile, Shadow Velvet was in a room, getting ready to put her plan into action.

“Hear me, my fellow witches, I command you to rise from the dead and curse the anomalies” she said, while casting a spell using the melted wax of a candle.

The wax started to took the form of the deceased witches and Shadow Velvet then summoned the cards with the image of Twilight and her friends, saying then:

“Bind them with your power for eternity.”

Twilight and her friends were approaching the dark castle, when the alicorn princess sensed something that made her look away. She could feel Blue was closed. She just hopped they could return to be the family they used to be along with their children once that nightmare ended.

Blue, Time Turner and Bright Night were at the top of a building looking to the castle. The General of Balance couldn’t wait any longer to end that mission and return to his happy life with Twilight, Star and the twins at the Light Kingdom. He only wanted that mission wasn’t one that was putting them on different sides.

“Let’s go” he said to the other two.

And they gave a strong jump, heading to the castle as well.

Infinite Labyrinth

Twilight and her friends advanced towards the castle, finding some stone ponies guarding the entrance. However, together, the six of them were able to get rid of them and burst in the foyer.

“Okay, where’s that Dark Mistress?” Rainbow asked. “We have a lot of pain to give her.”

“Hello there…” a voice said.

They turned and saw Shadow Velvet at the other side of the foyer, with her evil smile.

“Welcome to the Tambelon castle. What can I do for you?”

“Who tha hay are ya?” Applejack asked.

But Twilight knew exactly who she was.

“You are the last witch that serves the Dark Mistress” she said.

“My, my, you’re really clever… Princess Twilight” Shadow Velvet commented. “Now I see how the other witches were defeated.”

“And the same will happen to you, loser” Rainbow Dash told.

“Normally, I wouldn’t agree with the choice of words Rainbow Dash normally says, but I have to say I agree with her” Rarity said.

“And then we will get my daughter’s soul back” Fluttershy said, with a determination that was unusual to her.

Shadow Velvet laughed and then said:

“If you think it will be that easy, you’re fairly mistaken.”

“Oh please, you don’t scare us” Pinkie Pie said. “Okay, maybe a tiny little bit, but not more than that.”

“After I’m done with you, you will be scared” Shadow Velvet replied. “I am the most powerful witch that serves the Dark Mistress and I’ll show you why. Enjoy your stay… in the Infinite Labyrinth.”

And her eyes glowed with a strange glow and Twilight and her friends found themselves falling to an abyss…

Applejack found herself in what seemed to be her parents’ cottage.

“What tha…” she started, not knowing how she got there.

“You really should watch your words” a voice said.

Applejack turned around and, much to her shock, she saw Scarlet Burn, sitting at the table while taking a cup of tea.

“You really need some discipline” she told.

“Ya’re… Scarlet Burn” Applejack said, not wanting to believe.

Using a compass of quick moves, Scarlet Burn quickly caused Applejack to fall and subdued her. Charging her horn to intimidate Applejack to not move, the witch told:

“I don’t really think you want to keep fighting all these battles.”

“What…?” Applejack said.

“You lack a fighting spirit” Scarlet Burn, while approaching her muzzle to Applejack’s ear. “I can tell. What if I told you that you didn’t have to fight for Twilight Sparkle or the Lord of Order ever again? Wouldn’t it be so much better if you just kept living here, with your parents? Haven’t you have enough time apart from them?”

Those words seemed to be working on the orange earth mare.

Fluttershy was flying at a hallway, trying to find a way out. She had to retrieve her daughter’s soul as soon as possible.

It was then that the environment around her changed to be the one of a forest clearing and then animals started to appear. Fluttershy was astonished with amazement. Some of those animals were something she had never seen and wanted to know.

“I can’t believe it…” she said. “It’s like a dream…”

“Of course it is…” a voice said.

Fluttershy turned and saw…

“Crystal Frost…” the yellow pegasus said.

“Yes, it’s me” Crystal Frost replied. “Did you miss me? I’m too glad that I got to have you in a place you like… so you can suffer!”

Having said that, she launched her Mosaic Sphere, hitting Fluttershy and encasing her.

“For how long have you waste your time and abilities fighting for Good?” Crystal Frost asked, smiling. “And how much did you lose because of that? Wouldn’t you prefer to be with your animal friends? They understand you and, better, they don’t make you lose the ones you love.”

Just like happened with Applejack, Fluttershy let herself be carried away by Crystal Frost words and just stopped fighting.

Pinkie Pie was hooping around, unlike the others, was not very concern.

“Oh, this is fun. It’s not every day we get sucked into a deep pit. Although every time we get separated, bad things happen. Well, I guess I just have to stay away from creepy balloons.”

It was then that, suddenly, Pinkie Pie found herself in a stage with many ponies watching and lights over her.

“Okay, guys, everypony up for the one and only… Pinkie Pie!” a voice exclaimed.

Pinkie turned and saw Light Fire.

“Hey, I know you” she said. “You’re one of those mean witches.”

“And I know you, Pinkie Pie” Light Fight told, while surrounding Pinkie Pie. “And so do all these ponies.”

“They do?”

“Of course” the witch whispered. “They all came to see you so you can make them laugh. Isn’t that what you want, to make ponies laugh? You don’t want to keep fighting. That can only spread sadness and pain. But you can stay here… an make ponies laugh as much as you want.”

Pinkie Pie was listening to her and being seduced by her words.

“Yes, that’s what I want…” she said.

When Rarity found herself, she was on a field of beautiful flowers.

“But where am I?” she asked.

“In my personal garden” a voice said.

Rarity turned around and saw…

“Wild Pollen?” the white unicorn asked.

The witch hold her hoof and dragged her around the garden, while saying:

“Let’s not fight today. Just look.”

And then she showed Rarity a part of the field filled with the most exotic and beautiful flowers she had ever seen.

“I can’t believe it…” Rarity said. “It’s… absolutely divine. The colors… the shapes… the smells…”

And she kneeled to appreciate the flowers. By doing that, her will to fight started to fade away until she didn’t want to continue anymore. She then just laid down on the flowers and fall asleep. But the truth was that those flowers were Wild Pollen’s that started to absorb Rarity’s energy, while the green witch watched.

Rainbow Dash was flying around when darkness surrounded her.

“Okay, just show your face so I can kick your ass!” she exclaimed.

And a laugh was heard and Shadow Velvet’s voice said:

“So aggressive… Why do you want to fight for Princess Twilight?”

“She’s my friend and because we’re saving the world” Rainbow Dash replied.

Shadow Velvet appeared as a shadow behind the blue pegasus and laughed in a mocking way and then told:

“And by that you mean that alicorn princess will get all the credit and not share with any of her friend.”

“No, Twilight would never do that!” Rainbow Dash reclaimed.

“Suite yourself, but I can give you a heroic act all for you” Shadow Velvet whispered. “Think about all the glory you would get. Everypony would admire you… You always wanted that, didn’t you? More than being a Wonderbolt even. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“Yes, it would…” Rainbow Dash said, while giving in to the witch’s words.

Twilight was surrounded by darkness. She looked around, but there was nothing to see.

“Where am I?” she asked. “Where is everypony?!”

And, before her eyes, images of her friends started to appear before her, but without any sign of the good and joy they all expressed beside her.

“Rainbow… Applejack… Rarity… Pinkie… Fluttershy…”

“Look what you have done to us…” Rarity said.

“We’re all fallin’ apart!” Applejack exclaimed, as she and the others started to advance towards Twilight, while turning into wax.

“We’re sick and tired” Rainbow Dash said. “We don’t want to fight for you!”

And they all melted away, much to Twilight’s shock. The shock was such that she tripped back to the ground. It was then that Star appeared over her, trying to suffocate her with her hooves. She couldn’t believe the hate she could see in her eyes.

“You could have stop her from taking Moonlight” he said. “You have power and you didn’t use it to protect her!”

Twilight tried to loosen Star hooves, but she couldn’t.

“I can’t… breath.”

After a few moments, Star let Twilight go, causing her to cough as she felt the air filling her lungs again, while he laughed evily. It was then that, behind him, appeared Time Turner and Bright Night.

“Need a hoof, my prince?” Time Turner asked. “Let us help.”

“I always found Princess Twilight very annoying” Bright Night told. “She’s nothing like Princess Aurora.”

Looking at them, Twilight asked:

“Time Turner? Bright Night?”

And Blue finally appeared, behind Twilight, saying:

“I can get rid of them all.”

Twilight turned at him, while Blue continued:

“Moonlight… Tempest… and you, Twily… I’ll kill you too!”

And he advanced towards Twilight. Her shock was such that it was even felt by the real Star, using his jinchuriki power, while holding Moonlight. He just hopped that his mother wouldn’t let herself be deceived by their dark magic.

“Please, mom… fight it” he said.

Like if hearing him, Twilight got to know that dark magic was at working on her and said:

“You’ll not trick me!”

And so, she focused her magic as much as she could, while accessing the light magic in her star seed. That caused an immense blast of light to happen and obliterate the fake Star, Blue, Time Turner and Bright Night. The blast also caused the darkness around her to dissipate, with Twilight now finding herself in a dark hallway. Twilight then realize that, if they did that to her, then the same could have happened to her friends.

“I have to worry” she said.

And she continued to run.

Blue, Time Turner and Bright Night were fighting stone ponies, but it looked like they had no end to their numbers.

“These things seem to be endless!” Blue exclaimed, while cutting through the stones ponies with his Diamond Sword. “No matter how much we destroy, they keep coming. Time Turner, how much longer until that special spell of yours?”

“It’s almost there…” he replied, while focusing his magic on his Chronosphere. “Done!”

And, having said that, he rose up his talisman and multiple shots of magic where fired from it, hitting all the stone ponies.

“There, I stopped them in time with my Pausing Spell” the General of Time said. “Now they are really just a bunch of stone statues.”

“Statues that are about to become dust” Blue said, while preparing his sword.

But, before he could do anything, Bright Night said:

“Guys, look!”

And she showed them her mirror, where the reflection showed Twilight’s friends imprisoned in a column made of wax, unconscious.

“Oh no…” Time Turned said.

With anger starting to boil, Blue waved his sword, releasing a powerful wave that destroyed all the paused stone ponies.

Twilight returned to the foyer, only to see her friends.

“Girls!” she called.

And she heard laughs, turning and seeing all the five witches together. They then started to attack her.

“Princess Twilight is in danger!” Bright Night exclaimed.

“Then we have to force our way through!” Blue Sword declared, while rising the Diamond Sword and creating an orb of energy, launching it then.

Meanwhile, Twilight had to fight the five witches alone. Scarlet Burn threw fire at the alicorn princess who was able to dodge, only to face at the place she landed a bunch of Wild Pollen’s flowers she summoned. Twilight hasted to hold her breath to not inhale their pollen, but that only turned her into a sitting duck to Light Fire’s beam. Fortunately, Twilight created a barrier to protect herself, even from Shadow Velvet subsequent attack. But that attack broke Twilight’s shield and, taking advantage of that, Crystal Frost imprisoned Twilight in her Mosaic Sphere. The witches laughed, as they watched Twilight screaming in pain.

“Bubble Dimension Implosion!” a voice shouted.

And the witches were surrounded by bubbles with the ones where Scarlet Burn, Light Fire, Wild Pollen and Crystal Frost were soon imploding. Twilight was released and started to fell only to be catch by Blue.

“I got you, Twily” he said.

Twilight smiled, seeing her husband, and said, while passing her hoof through his face:

“Blue… you’re here. I knew you would come and help us.”

“Yes, you were right” he replied, turning them to the others imprisoned by the wax and releasing them with his magic.

“You’re too late” Shadow Velvet said, inside her bubble. “You won’t stop what’s coming. This victory is nothing! You didn’t win anything!”

“Bright Night, can you please shut her down?” Time Turner asked. “She’s giving me a headache.

“With pleasure” she replied, while charging her horn.

And the bubble also imploded.

The others started to wake up and the two Generals went to check on them.

“Are you guys alright?” Time Turned asked.

They all nodded to them.

“Thank y’all” Applejack said. “Yer timing was perfect.”

“You don’t have to thank” Bright Night replied, with a gentle smile. “We’re all fighting for the same end, despite everything.”

Twilight couldn’t help but smile, while hugging her husband. She knew she could count with him whenever she needed. Blue was also glad he had followed his instinct to save the mare he loved. Star was able to feel all that and smiled, glad that everything between his parents had come to normal.

Blue helped Twilight to get up and she then noticed her friends and the Generals and now she could see they now were a team and that made her happy.

“Well… Let’s save Moonlight and Tempest” Twilight declared.

The others nodded.

At her chamber, the Dark Mistress was able to sense what happened to her witches, while in the Smooze’s presence.

“So, Princess Twilight and her friends even managed to defeat Shadow Velvet and her combined force with the other witches” she said. “No matter. The time has come to make the Lord of Chaos’ vision come true. And so long we have the siren pearl nopony can stop us. We have nothing to fear!”

She then removed the pearl from the locket, throwing the later away, and the pink pearl turned into light and was absorbed by Twilight. A slight light involved the Dark Mistress and a wicked smile was drawn on her face, while she licked her lips.

The Plan is Enacted

After consuming the pink pearl, the Dark Mistress soon started to feel its great light power, something that only fueled the darkness inside.

“Amazing…” she said, continuing to smile. “This power… I can feel it passing through all the inches of my body. And it’s energy… it’s powerful enough to enact the plan.”

The Smooze, sensing the power, told:

“Hum, so that’s the power of one of the seven magical pearls…”

“Yes, it is, Smooze!” the Dark Mistress replied. “Behold the power I obtained to you so you can carry on our master’s desire.”

“Oh… Look how much it irradiates… I can feel the binds that hold me weakening.”

And a slimy dark hand came out and destroyed the statue that was there.

“It is finally the time for me to get out and cover everything in this pathetic world. I can now turn everything into our master’s vision. Yes, magic pearl… Give me more! I WANT MORE OF YOUR POWER!”

At Applejack’s parents’ house, Moonlight’s body started to glow, what surprised the others.

“Moonlight!” Star called.

“Okay, I’m not a great specialist in pony physiology, but I think that’s not very common” Thorax said.

“What’s happening?” Buttercup asked.

“Ah don’t know, but Ah don’t like it one bit” Jonagold replied.

While feeling the power passing through her body, the Dark Mistress laughed manically and said:

“More… Release more of this incredible power!”

It was then that spines started to get out of her back, as if something was trying to get out. That caused a deal great of distress to Moonlight’s body. Tempest, still trapped in her mind, sensed that and, trying to get out, she said in a desperate way:

“No, stop it! This can’t go on… Don’t increase the power any further! It doesn’t belong to you! Do not release anymore of its power!”

And a light was released from her. The Dark Mistress felt Tempest fighting against her inside her mind and that caused a lot of pain, while a glow came out of her forehead.

“My forehead… is burning!” she said. “It feels like it’s going to split open!”

It was then that the pain was relieved and the Dark Mistress regained control. She could feel Tempest fighting her way out, but if she could hold it a little longer she would do her part. She just had to wait until the Smooze was released and then she wouldn’t need that body any longer. She would rip it open and rule the world. But when she prepared to do that, Tempest shouted, while continuing to try to break free:

“I will never allow that!”

And the vines that bonded her started to get loose…

Moonlight’s astral form was floating around an immense darkness. She wondered where she was, while trying to contain the fear she was feeling. It didn’t take long for fear to overwhelm her.

At that moment, a soft pink glow appeared and a voice called:

“Moonlight!”

She looked and, to her joy, she saw her pearl, while it played a song that Moonlight recognized as being the song Adagio taught her. Not wasting any time, Moonlight went to it and grabbed it.

“Thank goodness…” she said. “I was so nervous for not having it. This pearl has become now a part of me and I can’t bear to be without it.”

Tempest, that was now free and had brought the pearl to Moonlight, said, while observing her:

“That’s right. That pearl is a part of you, Moonlight. It’s like your heart. Don’t ever let it go out of your sigh again. And don’t be so eager to show it to others. Keep it safe and secure.”

Moonlight was then involved by a strange presence. She felt so secure with that presence that she fell asleep. She was with her head resting on Tempest’s lap, who was caressing her mane, while saying:

“It’s okay. I will protect you, Moonlight. Nopony will land a hoof on your soul or on your pearl… because I won’t let them. I will save you, I promise.”

Both the Smooze and the Dark Mistress could feel the power of the pink pearl getting weaker to their shock. At Applejack’s parents’ house, Moonlight’s body stopped glowing.

“It stopped” Star observed. “And I can feel her warm again.”

Star wondered if somepony else was protecting Moonlight’s soul.

At the castle, Twilight, Blue and the others started to search the castle for any sign of the Dark Mistress, but they couldn’t find anything. Once they get together, Applejack said:

“We couldn’t find anypony.”

“We neither” Blue told, as he arrived with Bright Night and Time Turner.

“It would be expected to exist some guards around” Rainbow Dash commented.

“I couldn’t detect anypony with my magic too” Twilight said.

“The force of Grogar and Dark Mistress relied mainly on stone ponies and we destroyed them all, before” Time Turner said.

“Well, that’s arrogant for sure…” Rarity replied.

“Let’s try the dungeons” Bright Night suggested. “We may find something there.”

“Then we’ll examine tha central tower” Applejack said. “We will search floor by floor an’ then move tah tha other towers. Twilight, ya should go with Blue, Time Turner an’ Bright Night.”

“But, Applejack, you and the others will need my element to activate yours” Twilight said. “I need to go with you.”

“Don’t worry, Twi, we will be fine” Applejack ensure.

“Yeah, don’t worry” Rainbow Dash said. “We already faced bigger threats than this one.”

Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy nodded, agreeing with them. Then, Twilight ended up accepting their idea.

“Okay, but be safe” Twilight replied.

Her friends nodded to them and then advanced to the central tower.

“Don’t worry, Twily, they’ll be fine” Blue said to his wife.

“Yeah… I guess” she replied.

Twilight and the three Generals went down to the dungeons that was even darker. Using their horns to have light, the four of them explore the place. It looked like the cells were all open and there was a lot of statues of ponies there, many of them being warriors.

“Wow… I didn’t know it could exist these many statues in a dungeon” Blue commented.

“Blue… these are not regular statues” Twilight said, while approaching one of them.

“What do you mean with that?” Blue asked.

Twilight touched the statue and she could feel the light of a soul inside, stuck in a body that just lost its light. Removing her hoof, she said:

“I think we’re before the Tambelon guard, and that’s saying the least.”

“Wait, are you telling me these statues are…”

“Ponies that lost their star seeds?” Time Turner asked. “You can bet your horn on that. That’s why Grogar created an army made fully of stone ponies.”

“He took the star seeds of all the ones that were close or loyal to Queen Nova so he could have no rebellions” Bright Night realized.

“I have to say it… He was a brilliant mastermind” Time Turner commented.

“Wait, if there’s these many statues here, then maybe…” Bright Night started.

“Then maybe Queen Nova is here too…” Twilight finished.

At that moment, a great tremor started to crack the ground under them.

“It’s looks like something is coming” Blue said. “Bright Night!”

She nodded and then created a sphere of light around them that started to took them away.

“Wait, what about them?” Twilight asked, looking to the petrified ponies.

“You don’t have to worry, my princess” Bright Night replied. “The stone of a being without a star seed can only be broken by a very intense dark magic. They will be fine.”

It was then that Twilight remembered something.

“The others are still up there!” she exclaimed.

The sphere got out of the castle and get to a certain altitude, before stopping. Twilight’s element started glowing as her worry for her friends increased.

“Girls…” she said.

Twilight’s friends were at one of the middle floors at the central tower when they felt the ground shaking.

“But… what’s going on?!” Rainbow Dash asked.

Applejack was able to sense something coming…

“Down there!” she exclaimed.

And an explosion happened, catching them, what caused them to scream. The bond that connected all of them through the Elements of Harmony allowed Twilight to hear that and her element lost its glow, as if it had lost its power out of grief for had lost its sister elements. Blue and the other two noticed that and became shocked.

“Twily!” Blue called.

Tears appeared on Twilight’s eyes, as she let herself fall on her own hooves. She knew through the cut of their connection that something bad had happened.

Blue looked up and told to the others:

“Guys, look at the sky!”

They did it and saw the clouds above the castle had become even darker and were thundering. They could see the top of the middle and highest tower and its roof was broken and a great darkness with demonic eyes started to emerge, but it wasn’t alone.

“Look down there!” Time Turner said.

Beside the Smooze was the Dark Mistress. She looked at them with a wicked smile.

“It’s Tempest…” Twilight said.

A Tempestuous Will

The clouds above the castle were getting even darker and thunders were getting louder, while the sky was being ravaged by lightning. With all the power that was coming from the Smooze, Bright Night was able to sense one thing…

“I can feel a space anomaly” she said.

Looking to the Dark Mistress, Twilight said:

“I can’t believe… that’s Tempest… No… That’s somepony else!”

The Dark Mistress dropped one of her evil laughs and then a powerful shock wave destroyed the central tower completely. Fortunately, the bubble that Bright Night had created protected them all, but they could nevertheless feel the tremendous power it was emanating.

It was then that, from the smoke of the tower’s destruction, a piece of the secret chamber containing the fountain immerged in the end and floating around it were…

“No…” Twilight said with tears on her eyes. “Rainbow! Applejack! Rarity! Fluttershy! Pinkie Pie!”

Her friends seemed to be unconscious… like they were losing their life force. Without able to contain herself, Twilight exclaimed:

“My friends… Hang in there!”

And she got out of Bright Night’s bubble, flying then to where her friends were, only to find a barrier preventing her from advancing and pushing her back to the edge of Blue and the others.

“No…” she said.

The Dark Mistress then appeared near Twilight’s friends. Seeing her and sensing no light in her, the alicorn princess said:

“That thing… is no longer Tempest.”

Tempest’s evil persona laughed evilly. Bright Night could sense the space around them becoming even more distorted in a way she had never seen before.

“But what’s this?” she asked. “I can feel something trying to get in by ripping off the fabric of space.”

Time Turner could also feel the future changing quickly before his eyes. The outcome of that battle was now an uncertainty.

“This is bad…” Time Turner said. “The future of this world is now at the edge of ruin.”

“Yeah, I can also feel the imbalance that is forming” Blue told. “It looks like they have succeeded in enacting their plan.”

And, from the ruins of the central tower, a giant purple blob started to sprout.

“But what is that?” Twilight asked, not knowing what that thing was.

“The moment is here!” the Dark Mistress shouted to the air. “At long last, the Smooze had accumulated enough power to break free and cover this world! The time has come to bring the chaos and destruction to everything that exists!”

“To bring chaos… and destruction?” Twilight repeated.

“The Smooze’s essence is made of pure darkness and chaos” the Dark Mistress said. “He carries the destruction that comes from Discordia itself. It won’t last for the Pony World and all this reality to belong to the Lord of Chaos!”

Twilight couldn’t believe that was happening. If they didn’t do anything, that thing would cover Tambelon and then all the Pony World, possibly then advancing to other realms. It was then that Blue, Time Turner and Bright Night advanced quickly and landed each one at the top of one of the other three towers.

“We will use our powers to put a stop on this invasion!” they all exclaimed at the same time.

And the three Generals raised up their respective talismans that started to glow.

“For the Lord of Order and this reality…” Time Turner said.

“For Twilight Sparkle and all the ones she love…” Blue continued.

“We must protect them from any evil” Bright Night ended.

“That’s our mission!” the three exclaimed together. “And we will not fail!”

They all emanated light that come together to form a pyramid of light from which a barrier was created, preventing the Smooze from advancing. Seeing that, the Dark Mistress said, not very pleased:

“Trying to seal us, hein? Well, you’re wasting your efforts.”

And she tried again to get rid of that body where she was, while saying:

“The Smooze will cover everything and I won’t need this disgusting body!”

A crack appeared on her back from where big spikes emerged. Twilight couldn’t believe what was happening. If that continued, Tempest’s body would be destroyed.

Suddenly, the Dark Mistress could feel her control over the body disappearing, as the spikes started returning to the inside.

“What’s happening to me…” she asked, as her eyes moved like the ones of chameleon. “I’m stuck… I can’t move… or break free!”

“I won’t let you escape!” Tempest’s voice exclaimed inside her head.

“You!” the Dark Mistress exclaimed, while sensing Tempest’s spirit above her preventing her from getting out.

“You don’t control this body” Tempest told. “It still belongs to me. And I don’t have any intension in letting you leave it. While I’m here, you’ll never get out!”

And the Dark Mistress could feel the spikes continuing to return to the inside. Despite the pain she was feeling, the Dark Mistress started laughing manically and then said to Tempest:

“I never thought you would become this troublesome. I thought you were now just a little speckle wandering in my darkness without knowing where she is. But somehow you managed to break your way through.”

It was then that hooves made of darkness appeared and grabbed Tempest’s front hooves, much to her shock, and the spikes started to get out again.

“Swallowing that pearl had made me much stronger” the Dark Mistress said. “A puny little host like you couldn’t possibly keep control over me!”

And the dark hooves started to stretch Tempest’s, causing her to scream, until she just disappeared. Twilight got shocked when she saw that.

“This is bad” the princesses said. “If I do nothing, she will destroy Tempest’s body.”

And a determined look appeared on Twilight’s eyes and she prepared to use her magic to defeat the Dark Mistress. Charging her horn with as much light magic she could hold, Twilight was able to cast a very powerful magical beam against the villainess. The attack hit her strongly, but it didn’t cause any effect on the Dark Mistress, despite being able to anger her.

“How dare you!” she shouted to Twilight.

And she casted powerful dark lightning from the broken heart that hit Twilight and caused a lot of pain and pushed her back.

“My full power…” she started.

“It didn’t work” Blue, Time Turner and Bright Night exclaimed, not wanting to believe.

“I refuse to let anypony get in my way” the Dark Mistress said. “I’ll get free of this body and tear it into pieces!”

She started to tear Tempest’s body apart again, but, to her frustration, she couldn’t do it. The truth was that Tempest, feeling her spirit starting to fade away because of the Dark Mistress’ attempts to destroy her body, extended her hooves over Moonlight’s soul and pearl, while saying:

“We’re running out of time… My body is being ripped apart… But still…”

And she got hold of the soul and the pearl, saying, while putting them close to her as possible:

“I have to protect Moonlight’s soul and her magical pearl. No matter what happens, she won’t get them! Do you hear me? I’m not going to lose!”

Outside, before her inability to get out of Tempest’s body, the Dark Mistress asked:

“What’s happening? I can’t draw power from the magical pearl anymore.”

Realizing what was happening, she said:

“Your little troublemaker… You’re not going to interfere.”

Extending the hooves over Twilight’s friends, she said:

“I need more power… so I’ll have to take the power of these elements!”

And a dark light started to flick over them. Seeing that, Twilight, still recovering from the Dark Mistress’ last attack, said:

“Rainbow… Applejack… Rarity… Fluttershy… Pinkie Pie…”

From their bodies, their souls containing the power of the elements linked to them got out and headed towards the Dark Mistress who got hold of them.

“No!” Twilight exclaimed, flying to the fountain, as her friends’ bodies fell on it. “Girls, please wake up!”

But they didn’t do that. They were exactly like how Moonlight was.

“I can’t believe it…” Twilight said, turning then to the Dark Mistress, who devoured the souls. “She actually extracted my friends’ souls…”

Watching the villainess licking her lips with satisfaction, Twilight said:

“You monster…”

Inside the Dark Mistress, Tempest was able to see Twilight’s friends’ souls and asked:

“Are those… Princess Twilight’s friends’ souls?”

Noticing they were really their souls, she exclaimed, while advancing and extending her hoof to them:

“I have to save them!”

And she grabbed them, holding them tightly along with Moonlight’s soul and pearl. The Dark Mistress was able to sense that and her rage just increased.

“That’s it, your annoying little bug!” she exclaimed. “Hand over those souls to me right now!”

And she made her hooves be covered in darkness and penetrate her body, trying to reach Tempest. Despite the suffering she was having, Tempest remained holding the souls.

“I can’t hold on their souls!” she said. “Her power is too much for me! I want to protect everypony so badly… but I may not be able to…”

At that moment, she bit her lower lip, realizing one thing:

“And yet, it’s strange… My physical body has been taken over. At this point, I’m nothing more than a soul. That means… I’m already dead, right? So why am I still fighting so hard? I have no family or friends, so… what’s left for me to fight for? So how is that I have power to fight at all? Where does it come from? I don’t remember ever being this strong before.”

It was then that Moonlight’s image appeared before her, with her warm smile and docile eyes. That caused tears to appear on her eyes, while Tempest said:

“Moonlight…”

She also could feel another presence with her, somepony greater and more powerful, telling her to use all the strength she had left to help everypony. Even though she was now only a soul, Tempest knew she could still save all those souls and the magical pearl with them.

“I’m going to take them out of here!” she exclaimed. “Right now!”

Holding the souls even tighter, Tempest emitted a strong light. The Dark Mistress could feel Tempest abandoning the body along with the souls and the pearl.

“What?!” she exclaimed.

And light came out of her.

“She left and took all the souls…” the Dark Mistress said.

However, despite having lost all that power, she smiled and said:

“That’s fine… because now I can finally be free.”

And she started to get out of Tempest’s body.

Twilight’s friends’ souls returned to their respective owner and it was with great joy that Twilight saw them awakening and starting to get up, a little confused.

“You’re awake” the princess said with a smile. “Your souls returned to your bodies.”

The six of them then looked and saw Tempest’s spirit, smiling at them and holding Moonlight’s soul and her pearl.

“Tempest…” Twilight said with a smile, happy to see her.

“She’s the one who rescue us” Rarity told.

“She saved our souls” Fluttershy said.

“All of them” Pinkie Pie added.

“From tha hooves ov tha Dark Mistress” Applejack told.

“I’ve never seen such bravery” Rainbow Dash commended.

Tempest gave them a last smile and then turned into a ball of light and started to move away.

“Tempest, wait!” Twilight called, but to not avail.

At Applejack’s parents’ house, Star, still holding Moonlight, could feel something.

“What is it, Star?” Thorax asked.

He then looked and Thorax, Jonagold and Buttercup followed his look and saw Tempest’s spirit, smiling.

“Tempest…” the young prince said.

“I can’t believe it…” Buttercup said, with tears on her eyes.

“Can it be really her?” Jonagold asked.

Tempest released Moonlight’s soul and her pearl and they advanced to her, going into her body. When they did that, Moonlight took a deep breath and woke up.

“Moonlight!” Star called, hugging his marefriend.

Thorax, Jonagold and Buttercup couldn’t help but be happy with what had just happened.

“Star…” she said, while being hugged by her coltfriend.

The two traded a passion look and then a kiss. Star told her:

“I thought I had lost you.”

“Thank goodness you’re okay” Tempest said to Moonlight.

She looked at her and said:

“Tempest!”

“I’m so glad I was able to save you, Moonlight” Tempest said. “I really am. I’ve been thinking, Moonlight. It may sound strange, but I believe destiny brought us together.”

Smiling with her cheeks a little blushed, the young half-thestral said:

“I do too. I feel exactly the same. It was destiny.”

Tempest nodded to her and then the two of them tried to touch each other. But when they were about to give hooves, Dark Mistress was able to get out of Tempest’s body, destroying it. She now had the front half of a pony made of solid darkness with spikes covering the place where the mane should be, with some on the shoulders and the foreleg. The lower part looked just like a bloomed dark flower, also with spikes. With her body now destroyed, Tempest’s spiritual form started to dissipate, with her giving a little scream of pain.

“Tempest!” Moonlight called, while trying to catch her.

“It’s okay, Moonlight” Tempest told her, still smiling. “I’m so happy because we could be friends. You were… best thing that ever happened to me. Thank you… for everything. Goodbye…”

And she dissipated before Moonlight could hold her and tears came to her eyes.

“Tempest, don’t go!” Moonlight called.

But there was no response. Star, Thorax, Jonagold and Buttercup watched quietly.

“It’s not fair…” Moonlight said, while tears went down through her cheeks. “Why does her fate have to be so sad?”

Star wanted to comfort her, but he knew that was not the time. So, he said:

“Moonlight, my parents, your mother and the others need help. We have to help them. Are you up to it?”

Despite the sadness she was feeling, Moonlight knew the best way to honor Tempest was to stop all that evil once and for all. She then cleared her tears and got up, saying:

“Yes, I can fight. I have to. Tempest gave her life to save me. I owe her.”

Star smiled at her and nodded, proud of Moonlight for getting to that conclusion. Moonlight took the light that involved her pearl and it appeared, along with the locket. She placed the locket with the pearl around her neck and then said to Star:

“Let’s go.”

And the two then got out of the cottage and took flight.

“Good luck for you!” Thorax said, as he, Jonagold and Buttercup watched them moving away.

At the castle, the Dark Mistress was now stretching, as her power increased after having freed herself from Tempest’s body.

“It’s just me or that thing is getting bigger?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, it’s that or we’re the ones who are getting smaller, what I think is improbable because I’m certain we still have the same size” Pinkie Pie said.

“Pinkie, I don’t think this is the best time for jokes” Rarity said.

“She’s now just bigger” Twilight told. “Her power is also increasing too.”

The Dark Mistress, sensing the great power in Twilight’s star seed, said, looking at her:

“That power… The power of the original star seed of this reality…”

Knowing she was targeting her, Twilight kept a defensive position.

“Give it to me now!” the evil being shouted, while advancing towards Twilight.

Her friends placed themselves to protect Twilight, but then the Dark Mistess was hit from behind by sonic waves and a powerful beam. Before that attack, the six mares looked up and saw, to their delight, Star and Moonlight.

“Impossible…” the Dark Mistress said, while starting to fall into the Smooze.

“Moonlight!” Fluttershy called, with a smile and tears on her eyes. “You’re okay!”

“You don’t have to worry, mom” Moonlight replied with a smile too. “I’m okay… And it’s all thanks to Tempest. She saved me.”

Tears returned to her eyes, while she continued:

“She protected me… by giving everything she had… including her life.”

That caused a lot of sadness to Twilight and her friends.

“So… Tempest… is gone?” Fluttershy asked.

“No, Tempest is not gone!” Moonlight said. “She’s alive in our hearts.”

“In our hearts…” Twilight said, as she and the others took their hooves to their hearts.

“In this way, she’ll always be with us… forever” Moonlight continued.

That did bring comfort to everyone that was listening and the sadness disappeared.

Suddenly, a great bang happened and the Dark Mistress emerged from the Smooze, shouting:

“I will never, ever forgive you!”

And she roared in a way that caused the barrier created by Blue, Time Turner and Bright Night to crack much to everyone’s shock.

“The barrier is failing…” Star observed, turning then to his mother. “We have to act fast, mom, otherwise the enemy will invade the Pony World.”

She nodded to him, saying:

“You’re right, Star. We can’t let Tempest’s sacrifice be in vain. She saved us and we will save the Pony World.”

“And we’re here fer ya, Twilight” Applejack told to her friends.

The others nodded and her elements started to shine, along with Twilight’s that reacted with the others and got super charged.

Inside his mind, Star asked to Kurama:

“I’ll need your power, buddy, if you don’t mind.”

“All right, but you won’t be able to use full power after serving as life support” the tailed beast replied. “Just don’t die. I wouldn’t like having to gather my energy to regain my physical form.”

“Yeah, I love you too” Star teased.

Star then was covered with Kurama’s energy and he and Twilight rose in the air.

“Are you ready, Star?” Twilight asked.

He nodded to her and the two then turned to the Dark Mistress, ready to face her. The two combined the tip of their horns and started to charge their magic together, ready to attack.

The Power of the Original Light

As Tempest swung her glaive, the winds became even stronger and stronger, as they prepared everything for the destruction. The Smooze was placed in check, unable to move, while the General of Destruction was holding the glaive with a serene smile.

All the others looked to be conformed with their inevitable fate, as if there was no hope to prevent the destruction Tempest was about to inflict on the Pony World.

Twilight was inside the Smooze, with her star seed still visible, however she seemed to be unconscious, not giving any movement. It would appear she hadn’t been able to neutralize the Smooze from the inside.

Tempest continued to execute her role as the General of Destruction, waiting for the moment she would put that world out of its misery.

Star couldn’t believe it was really the end. The world they knew was about to be destroyed and there was nothing he could do to prevent it from happening. He just wanted that his mother was there… just so they could be together once everything ended. Unable to contain himself, he called again:

“MOM!”

And Twilight awoke. At the first, she was a little confused, but when her mind put itself together, she noticed she was in the middle of a vastness of light, without ground and anything at all.

“Where… am I?” she asked.

“In the depth of your own self” a voice replied.

Hearing that voice, Twilight got shocked, as she recognized it. Turning around, Twilight got to see…

“Princess Aurora…?” she asked.

It was her, the first alicorn princess and former ruler of the Light Kingdom, being also the owner of the original star seed before her.

“Yes, it’s me” she replied with a warm smile.

“No, it can’ be” Twilight said. “You are dead. Your star seed broke when the Light Kingdom went into its stone sleep.”

“Yes, that happened and I ceased to exist” Aurora confirmed. “Well, at least, physically.”

“I don’t understand…”

“Dear Twilight, what I’m going to tell you is something that not even my… I mean, our Generals know about. The fact is that another General placed another defense: Gentle Light.”

“The General of Death?” Twilight asked. “But what kind of defense could she possibly do?”

“The Reincarnation Blessing” Aurora replied. “The counterpart of the Reincarnation Curse, capable of allowing a dead soul to reborn. I waited too long for this to happen, but it is a good thing that took all these centuries, just to have you as the next carrier of the original star seed. I just never expected that you would look so closely like me.”

“So I’m… really you?” Twilight asked.

“Not at all” Aurora replied, approaching Twilight and putting a hoof over shoulder. “You may be my reincarnation, but you’re your own self. However, despite our differences, we are one and we are connected.”

“If we are connected, then why is that only now we are talking?” Twilight asked.

“Because it was only in this precise moment that you fully embrace the sacrifice that you did, just like I did when Sombra invaded my kingdom” Aurora replied.

When Aurora mentioned Sombra, Twilight couldn’t help but remember her encounter with the dark king during the war.

“Speaking about him, I was wondering…” Twilight started.

“You were wondering about my relationship with Sombra, right?” Aurora said.

“The Lord of Order told me that you two were once a couple. It must have been hard for you to have the love of your life as enemy. I know it would be for me with Blue.”

“It was hard… more than you can imagine. But let’s not talking about that. That’s in the past now. What we need to do now is to end all this madness.”

“How?” Twilight asked. “The Smooze is to strong…”

“Nothing is stronger than the light” Aurora told. “And I’ll help you. But before that, I want you to know that, no matter what, I’ll be always there for you.”

Twilight smiled at her and the two hugged each other.

At that moment, Twilight opened her eyes, which were glowing, and the original star seed started to shine strongly, as it never did, and she let her body be engulfed by it. That light was so strong that it could be seen from the outside. It started to go up. Pinkie Pie, seeing that, exclaimed:

“Hey, guys, look! It’s pretty!”

They all saw the light and how it made the part of the Smooze around it dissipitate. Everypony stood there looking to the light in amazement.

“But what’s going on?” Moonlight asked.

But Star was able to see through the light and, with a mix of happiness and admiration, he said:

“No way…”

Twilight was inside a bubble of light, being lift by it.

“Mom…” Star said, smiling.

Noticing it was her, everypony was extremely happy. Her light became even stronger as Twilight descended and landed on a pillar, where she kneeled, looking up.

However, it looked like the Smooze hadn’t give up yet and started to immerged, heading to the black hole bridging the Pony World and Discordia, saying:

“At least… let me… go back to my home… Discordia…”

But it was hard for him to reach the black hole due to the effects of Tempest’s power on him. She then said:

“So beautiful… the deep agony of destruction.”

Taking a more determined look, Tempest started to ascend with her glaive raised, while saying to the Smooze:

“For you, the end is near. As the General of Destruction, I, Tempest Shadow, will lead you into a world of nothingness!”

Looking at her, Twilight called:

“Tempest!”

As Tempest continued to lead the Smooze to the black hole, Bright Night said:

“What is she doing? If she continues, she will be also sucked into that black hole as well.”

“No, Tempest!” Time Turner exclaimed.

“What is she thinking?” Blue asked.

“Don’t do it, Tempest!” Moonlight told.

Noticing the worry in everypony’s looks, Tempest said:

“Do not despair. There is no need. With every end, comes a new beginning, one filled with hope and rebirth.”

Extending her hoof towards Twilight, she continued:

“And the one to bring that is you… Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Tempest…” Twilight said.

“You released the true power of the original light, combined with your own element” Tempest told. “So now, thanks to you, this world can be saved.”

“It can?” Twilight asked. “Really?”

“I am the General who brings destruction, but only to create rebirth” Tempest said. “This reality is the Lord of Order’s master piece and its sacred power is your ally.”

“Tempest…”

Sharing one last tender smile, Tempest prepared her glaive and then told to Bright Night:

“Bright Night, close this black hole on both sides! Don’t let it reach its destination!”

“But, Tempest…” Bright Night started.

“Hurry!” the General of Destruction exclaimed.

Without any other choice, Bright Night extended her mirror and said, while charging her magic, while tears came down through her face:

“By the power over Portals given to me by the Creator, I order for this door to be shut down. Let this evil to be doomed to wonder the Limbo… forever! Dark Dome Close!”

And the mirror unleased a powerful light that caused the opening to Discordia to close. The black hole, however, continued to suck the Smooze into it, along with Tempest.

“No, Tempest, don’t go!” Moonlight called, with her eyes full of tears.

Hearing her, Tempest looked at Moonlight and gave her a sweet smile, remember all the moments they lived together, and then she went through the portal along with the Smooze, with it closing behind.

“Tempest!” Moonlight called.

Meanwhile, Twilight remembered Tempest words and she knew their meaning. It was the same principle that allowed the existence of the two Lords, something that allowed life to exist. In an act of instinct, Twilight connected herself with her star seed and to Princess Aurora. The light involved her and the first alicorn princess manifested herself through Twilight. That surprised everypony, with Applejack asking:

“Wait, is that…”

“It’s Princess Aurora…” Time Turner said.

Extending her hoof, Aurora summoned the original star seed, releasing its tremendous light that restored everything damaged by the Smooze. Everypony had no words for what they were seeing, but Blue then realized the meaning of that dream he and Twilight shared.

“So, it was you all along…” he said.

The light also cleared the dark clouds, letting the island be welcomed by the rising sun, that returned to the capital its golden color that was the kingdom’s pride. Many ponies came out and, seeing that, they got to know that they were now free from the tyranny they were forced to live for centuries, expressing their happiness with great cheers.

Being able to noticed that the darkness had been vanquished, Thorax said, looking everything through the window of the cottage:

“Looks like they did it.”

Jonagold and Buttercup let out a cheer of joy, before exchanging a hug and a kiss.

A sudden light came down the sky and hit one of the pillars of the destroyed tower. When it dissipated, a baby cry could be heard. Listening that, Time Turner and Bright Night went immediately there. Approaching, they found a baby filly that looked very closely to Tempest. It was then they could see the aura that belonged to the General of Destruction.

“Tempest…?” Bright Night asked, not wanting to believe.

“She return to her baby form, instead of reincarnating in another life” Time Turner said, as much surprised as Bright Night.

Using her magic, Bright Night took the baby only to then hold her on her foreleg. Looking at her, baby Tempest giggled, what caused the General of Portals to give a tender smile.

“The power of our princess doesn’t stop amazing us” Bright Night said. “Looks like we’ll have to make sure she is raised to be a good pony, so nopony uses her power for evil.”

“Yes” Bright Night agreed.

After the damages were undone, Twilight returned to her true self and her star seed returned to the inside. She descended and was greeted by everyone, who hugged her with joy, mainly Star and Blue.

“You did, mom” Star said. “You saved us all. You saved Tambelon… like grandpa Star Shield desired.”

“I couldn’t have done it without all of you” Twilight said. “The actions of you all lead to this.”

“It looks we finally got to see the meaning of that vision” Blue said.

“Yes, you’re right…” Twilight said.

“My princess…” Time Turner’s voice said.

They turned and saw him and Bright Night, who was holding baby Tempest. They kneeled before Twilight and the General of Time said:

“It was an honor to fight alongside you and all of your friends.”

“You all have taught us to hold on faith, even when the situation is dire” Bright Night continued. “For that, we’re thankful.”

“You’re welcome…” Twilight replied, blushing a little bit.

She then noticed the baby and asked:

“Who is that baby?”

They smiled and then Time Turned said:

“It’s time for us to leave and return to our respective domains. But not before carry on this mission that was given to us by our beloved Princess of the Pony Reality.”

“You mean that baby is…” Moonlight started.

“We’ll make sure she has a family that will care for her until the day she is ready to face her fate” Bright Night told. “You can be sure of that.”

Hearing those words from the General of Portals caused Moonlight to feel so much relieved.

“We hope you and the other Generals take good care of this world and our princess” Time Turner said to Blue.

“Like we always do” he replied, while placing his foreleg around Twilight’s shoulders.

The two other Generals nodded and, after a last nod to everypony, they teleported away with Tempest.

Back to Freedom

Now with the shadow that covered Tambelon gone, happiness slowly invaded the inhabitants’ hearts as they tasted the freedom that they had. But, despite everything, there were things that needed to be done.

Twilight, Blue and Star went to the treasure room, finding a vault that was heavily protected.

“Looks like this is it” Blue said. “I have to say I’m disappointed. Grogar was very smart and he hid the star seeds in a regular vault in the treasure room?”

“A vault that is protected by a lot of spells” Star observed, while using his magic to detect the safe’s defenses. “And the metal used to do the vault is impervious to magic.”

“And I’m certain the star seeds are in there” Twilight told. “I can feel it. Very well, Blue, you can use your magic to nullify the defensive spells, so Star can then remove the vault’s door.”

“If you say so, Twily” Blue replied, charging his horn with magic. “Let’s do this.”

And he casted a beam that hit the defenses of the vault that started to fade away. Once there was no more defensive spells left, he told to his son:

“Go for it, buddy.”

So Star covered himself with Kurama’s energy and then summoned two tails that grabbed the vault’s door and pulled, eventually taking it out. After he placed the door down and returned to his normal mode, the three of them entered in the vault.

The vault was filled with many objects, most of them looking to be valuable or magical. But their attention went to the ceiling, where, floating in dark bubbles, were numerous star seeds.

“There they are” Blue said. “Let’s go take them out and bring them to their respective owners.”

“We have to be careful, dad, as normal star seeds don’t retain their lights for long” Star said. “Those bubbles are keeping them from being deployed of light and filled with darkness.”

“What just makes me even more surprised that Grogar didn’t take advantage to turn them into dark ponies” Blue said.

“My grandfather, despite being Grogar, still had his honor, Blue” Twilight said, while looking around. “He would never create unnecessary slaves or break star seeds for no reason. Besides, he already had the stone ponies, so he didn’t have any use for dark…”

But she stopped what was saying when something caught her attention.

“So that’s where she was…” Twilight said.

“Who?” Blue and Star asked, at the same time.

And they saw what she was seeing: a statue of a beautiful unicorn mare. The crown on her head didn’t lie about her identity.

“That’s…” Star started.

“Queen Nova” Blue completed. “Of course he had put her where nopony could reach.”

Twilight looked around the bubbled star seeds and then was able to locate the one that belonged to the queen, bringing it to herself and releasing the star seed. Immediately after, the alicorn princess handed the star seed to her rightful owner. The stone started to crack and turned into coat and Queen Nova got to life again.

The unicorn queen had a light blue coat, a mane with a unique combination of shades of purple and bright pink eyes.

She took a deep breath and, looking a little confused, she asked:

“Where am I…?”

The thought of Grogar came to her and, noticing Twilight, Blue and Star, she got into a defensive position, while asking:

“Who are you?! Where is Grogar?!”

“You don’t have to worry, Queen Nova” Twilight told. “Everything is fine. You and your kingdom are now free.”

She then proceeded to tell Nova about how Grogar took over Tambelon and ruled for decades, being succeeded by the Dark Mistress who proceeded to enact the Lord of Chaos’ plan to bring the Smooze to the Pony World. After knowing what happened, Queen Nova got very thankful for everything Twilight and the others did.

After using magic to reconstruct part of the central tower and to recover the other ponies that had their star seeds removed, Twilight, Star and Blue were able to return the other star seeds to their respective owners. With that, Tambelon could now have its freedom back completely.

It was then that the time to return home arrived. Queen Nova, in order to repay partly what the saviors of her kingdom have done, prepared for them a ship that would take them back to Equestria. At the docks, the ship was now prepared to take everypony back. Twilight, her friends (except for Applejack), Star, Blue, Moonlight and Thorax were saying goodbye to Queen Nova, who was accompanied by two of her guards.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay a little longer?” Queen Nova asked. “I wanted to, at least, make a feast to honor you all for everything you did to save me and Tambelon.”

“The honor would be ours, your highness, but we have to return to Equestria” Twilight said. “I have my own kingdom to rule and a desire to see my daughters, and I assume my friends want to return to their families as well.”

“I understand” Queen Nova said. “Please send my regards to Princess Celestia. It will be nice to finally meet her again, even more when her sisters are back.”

“Don’t worry, I will” Twilight said.

Applejack was with her parents, who were coming along with them. But they shared with her some unexpected news.

“So ya decid’d tah keep livin’ here after everythin’?” Applejack asked.

“We know it sounds weird, but we get us’d tah tha place” Jonagold said.

“We have lived here for twenty-five years and you and your brother and sister have already built your own lives” Buttercup continued. “We will keep seeing each other, but… We don’t think we can live in Ponyville after being away for so long.”

Despite not liking her parents’ decision, Applejack couldn’t blame them for feeling that way. Besides, she was too happy to have reunited with them to be able to argue with them.

“Ah understand… and Ah’ll support ya” she replied.

And the three of them shared a hug.

So, they all got on board on the ship, with Rarity saying:

“Oh, I can’t wait to get home and see Shadow Claw and Silver Wind again. Also this all journey had given me a lot of ideas for a new collection.”

“Really, you were able to get inspiration from all the danger and near-destruction that we just faced?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Oh, Rainbow, darling, you should know I can get inspiration from almost anything” she replied.

“Yeah, it is just like when I can get any inspiration to plan any kind of party” Pinkie Pie said. “Can you imagine how it would be if I only used balloons, streamers, confetti, cake, punch… Okay, now that I think about it, I may have said most of the things used on a party, but the point is still valid.”

“I was wondering if we can visit Allegro at her island” Moonlight suggested.

“I guess so” Twilight said. “We just have to say the captain where to go.”

“Despite the trouble we had there, her island is really a good place to rest” Fluttershy said.

“As long we don’t return to the Isle of Dread” Star said. “I don’t want to deal with those five-legged beasts again.”

“Don’t worry son, now that we know the generic area where that place is, we can pass it” Blue said.

“I’m just a little worried about how the other ponies will react when they see me” Thorax said.

“Don’t worry, Thorax, everything will be fine” Moonlight reinsured him. “They will get to know your true nature, mainly after getting to know that you faced one of Chrysalis’ mutant changelings to save me.”

“I hope you’re right, Moonlight” he told.

“Ah can see ya weren’t exaggeratin’ ‘bout the adventures ya had on yer way tah Tambelon” Jonagold commented.

“Well, I normally say things how they are” Applejack replied. “But, ya know, that’s what made tha journey interesting.”

And so they started their way back to Equestria.

After a few days of traveling, making the way around the Isle of Dread and resting on Allegro’s island, the Tambelon ship finally arrived to Equestria. Twilight, Blue and Star returned to the Light Kingdom, where they were reunited with the twins and (in Star’s case) Timber, who licked all of his owner’s face.

Twilight’s friends returned to their families, with the reunion being emotional. But the most emotional one was the reunion between Jonagold and Buttercup with their parents and children. Big Mac couldn’t believe when he saw his parents coming to Sweet Apple Acres along with Applejack with his only reaction being going to hug them. Granny Smith and Grand Pear were also shocked to see their son and daughter respectively, but the shock quickly turned into tears of happiness. Apple Bloom, who had never met her parents, initially approached them timidly, but then to embrace them. The same went to Jonagold (the young one), Apple Flower and Apple Storm.

Thorax moved to Ponyville where, much like how Moonlight told him, he was received warmly, despite the initial suspiction. Because it was vacant, Twilight allowed him to stay at the Golden Oak Library.

Peace had once again returned to the Pony World, as another threat had been stopped. Everyone was enjoying that peace… except for one being.

The Lord of Chaos was watching how everypony was happy and that only irritated him.

“I can’t believe this!” he exclaimed, while hitting his fist on the arm of his throne. “Another big plan ruined by those light lovers. Can it be that I won’t have any glory against those miserable insects? But I won’t let them think they have won. Someday, I will have the upper hand and that reality will be mine! I just have to be patient and wait for my next chance…

The End

The Shadow of Tambelon

The kingdom of Tambelon used to be a land full of light and love. Everypony that lived there was always happy and filled with hope, guided by their queen, Nova, a powerful unicorn that always kept her kingdom safe… until the day the darkness arrived.

Grogar, one of the Lord of Chaos’ most loyal servants in the Pony Reality, arrived and was able to take down Queen Nova’s reign and conquer Tambelon. No one knows what happened to the queen, but one thing is certain. From that day on, the laugh and the hope left, only to be replaced by sadness and fear, with those feeding the Lord of Chaos’ power and influence.

But there was something much bigger happening in Tambelon, a plan to bring chaos to the Pony World in a way that would put the Lord of Chaos in charge. However, that plan was put into hold when the Lord of Chaos decided to put the Plan Eye of the Moon into action. With the latter’s failure, that plan was retaken…

The castle of Tambelon, formerly shining with a golden bright, stood with a dark color, having a three-pointed-star shape, with a tower at each three points and a central one that was taller. At the top of the tallest tower, there was a chamber with a fountain at the center and a statue on an altar that was glowing with a dark light.

It was then that somepony entered at the chamber, wearing a black hooded robe. The mysterious pony advanced to the statue and then took out a sphere full of darkness and then said, with a female voice:

“I have more negative emotions for you…”

And the darkness started to be absorbed by the statue and, when it ended, the mysterious mare said:

“Although I think it’s useless, since it has been a long time… Beyond that, Grogar hasn’t come here for a long time and…”

“Rest assure, my dear…” a voice said. “Now you and Tambelon have my full attention.”

The mare turned to the water fountain that was there and the water arose to took the form of the Lord of Chaos.

“My lord…” the mare said, caught by surprise, knealing. “I thought you had forgotten about us.”

“I have to admit, I focused too much of my attention on casting the Eternal Nightmare Curse” the Lord of Chaos said. “But, not only that plan was a complete disaster, I got sealed in my own realm by a disgusting kid… However, there’s a way to undo that seal. I may not be able to go against the Natural Order, but that doesn’t apply to my villains. If they create enough chaos to disrupt the balance, then I will be able to break free… And we will start with my original plan. Dark Mistress, you’ll be in charge now. Make sure that you release him from his bounds.”

“You don’t have to worry, my lord” the Dark Mistress replied. “I’ll make sure that everything goes according to plan. And when I’m finished, the Smooze will come and will cover all the Pony World.”

“I really hope so” the Lord of Chaos replied. “I’m done with disappointments. Don’t fail me, Dark Mistress, or you’ll have the same fate as Grogar.”

And, having said that, the water that made the Lord of Chaos’ image just fell down to the fountain.

“Did you heard that?” the Dark Mistress asked to the statue. “Finally our time has come.”

And darkness came out of the statue and red eyes appeared on it, with a voice coming from it saying:

“Yes… The time has come for me to get out and cover everything. But a word of caution… I can feel a great danger approaching… A light will bring destruction over us. I can see other lights along with it… very powerful lights. But only one will cause our end. That light is guarded by three others. Once they are reunited, they will summon it. But we must carry on our master’s will. We shall turn this world into his own design! We can’t let anyone get in our way. Eliminate any foreign substance!”

“You don’t have to worry about that” the Dark Mistress replied. “I will not let that light to awake. You can be sure of that.”

It was night at the Light Kingdom and Twilight and Blue were sleeping quietly… at least Twilight was. Blue, on the other hand, was having a weird dream that was leaving him restless. He was dreaming with a castle that he never saw before with then three figures appearing, each one holding an unknown object and a voice saying:

“The time has come. The light guided by the three Talismans… will bring the beginning of doom… Let’s start with the destruction!

And Blue woke up, breathless and sweaty. He wondered what was that dream… if it was really a dream or not. And what were the Talismans and how could they lead to destruction. All that was causing a great confusion to the General of Balance.

At that moment, Twilight also woke up and, seeing her husband like that, asked:

“Blue, are you okay? You looked… unsettled.”

“Yes… I am okay” Blue replied, trying to calm down. “It was just… a strange dream, nothing more.”

Although knowing that he was just saying that just to not worry her, Twilight smiled and then told him, while caressing his face gently with the hoof:

“You don’t have to play tough with me, Blue. We have passed a very hard time with the war. It had only passed a few days and we’re still recovering from all the damages it caused.”

His dream hadn’t nothing to do with the war and, if it was more than just a dream, it could meant that a new threat was coming. However, like Twilight said, they were just recovering from the war with the Lord of Chaos and Ten-Tails. He couldn’t cause any more stress to his wife, even more because of a dream that could be just that… a dream.

“Yes, you’re right, Twily” Blue said. “I think… I just need to relax.”

“And I’ll be here to help you in any way I can” Twilight replied.

And the two lay down on the bed again, with Twilight cuddling on Blue and him placing his foreleg around her shoulders. Twilight quickly fell asleep, but Blue couldn’t sleep again, still thinking about the dream…

The Indecipherable Dream

Star, the young prince of the Light Kingdom, was at that moment at the library reading intensively a pile of books. It had passed some weeks since the war and the young prince had passed most of that time at the library, doing nothing but reading all the books he could about all the places in the Pony World.

Ever since the end of the war, Star had been trying to fulfil his great-grandfather’s last wish before dying: to release the kingdom he had conquered to the Lord of Chaos when he was Grogar called Tambelon. However, his research was not going very well.

“Ah, this is pointless!” he exclaimed, while he put aside another book to the already big pile of other books. “There’s nothing here about Tambelon. I mean, there is, but it’s only references.”

“I’m surprised to hear you say something like that” Kurama, the Nine-Tails, said to his jinchuriki in their plane, with a sneering smile. “The great hero of the war against the Lord of Chaos, the one who never gave up even before the greatest of all the evil beings, declaring defeat over a bunch of books.”

“Very funny…” Star replied to him sarcastically. “But there must be a book with the information I need. The library of the Light Castle has only references of Tambelon and the fact that it was petrified for over a millennium doesn’t help very much.”

“Well, I know a place where you can get all the answers you need” Kurama said. “Why searching in this limited library, when you can search in the center of all knowledge?”

“You know that if I go to the Mirrored Library, Mirror Coat will know that I’m there and it’s very possible that he will tell my parents” Star replied.

“But it’s not like they will never found out about what you’re doing” Kurama replied. “Unless you’re planning to do it on your own.”

“Of course not, but…” Star Knight replied with a sigh. “What if, when I explain this to my parents, they put me out of it, just like they did at the beginning of the war? My great-grandfather asked me to release Tambelon. I can’t let him down.”

“Ah… you never cease to be a naïve foul, don’t you?” Kurama asked. “Well, do as you please.”

After their talk, Star used his magic to put the books at their respective places and then headed to the exit. When he was about to open the door, it opened and Twilight appeared.

“Star, so you’re here” she said. “I was wondered where you were?”

“Yeah, I was… just reading one of grandma’s Daring Doo books” the young alicorn prince lied.

“You have been here for a long time since the end of the war” Twilight noted. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, sure…” Star replied. “Sorry, mom, but… I’m late to my training with dad.”

“That’s the reason why I was looking for you, son” Twilight said. “Your father had to go to Canterlot, so you two won’t be able to do your daily training.”

“But why, is everything okay?” Star asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing to worry about” Twilight replied. “He just went to talk with Princess Luna because of some bad dreams that are bothering him.”

“I see… Well, I just hope he can get over it.”

At Canterlot Castle, Blue had come to meet with Luna and, while they got inside the princess of the night’s office, he said:

“Thank you for receiving me at this time of the day, Princess Luna. I believe you must be tired from the night.”

“Don’t worry, Blue Sword” she replied, while sitting behind her desk. “I’m always available to help when it comes with dreams. So, what is bothering you?”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m having a very strange dream that has been haunting me for time” Blue told.

“I normally choose to stay away from the Generals’ dreams” Luna said. “That is because you developed powerful defenses in your minds after what happened when Oogie Boogie entered in Heartbeat’s dreams.”

“Well, this dream…” Blue said. “I don’t know how to describe it. It is like it is a warning, because, even if I remain awake during the night, I end up falling asleep just to have it.”

Luna made a thoughtful look, while trying to find an explanation, and then she said:

“You may be right. This can be a warning. Can you describe it, please?”

“Well, I’m in a strange place, one that I never saw before, as well three mysterious figures” Blue told. “And then a voice that I never heard before said the time was coming for destruction. I believe a new threat is coming, but I want to be sure of it. Maybe, with your help, it is possible to know more.”

“We can try” Luna replied. “Very well, I can induce sleep to you, so I can get inside. I will take a look to that dream and see what I can get from it.”

Blue nodded, agreeing with that approach. Luna then charged her horn and released a scent that, when Blue inhaled it, put him asleep. After the General of Balance fall asleep, Luna focused her magic again and she got in the Dream World.

Arriving there, she started to pass through the corridor full of doors that were the entrance to every sentient beings’ dreams. At that moment, most of the doors were sealed, as their respective owners were awakened, but Luna paid no attention to those, as the only one she had in mind was Blue’s. It didn’t take long for her to arrive there: a dark blue door with silver waving lines. Luna opened and enter it.

For a moment, she didn’t see anything, but then images appeared, like the place that appeared in Blue’s dream. Luna, looking around, couldn’t believe what she was seeing. That place… She recognized it from the time before her banishment to the moon. It was then that everything around turned into ruins, while a voice said:

“The three Talismans… The Talismans must be collected… For the bringer of Destruction.”

And the image of the three mysterious figures appeared, along with their respective objects. With that, Blue woke up, forcing Luna to return to the real world.

“I… don’t know what to think” Luna said. “You were right in being concern about this dream.”

“But can’t you find an explanation?” Blue asked.

“Dreams like this one are very vague and difficult to interpret” Luna replied. “If we follow the most likely hypothesis and, if the dream is really real, then we can assume that the Lord of Chaos may be planning something with these talismans.”

“And how can we be sure of that?” Blue asked.

“You can start with the place in your dream” Luna replied.

“You know it?”

“Before I was banished, yes” Luna replied. “But right now, it is consumed by darkness. Nopony exactly knows what happened to it, only that the villains were able to conquer it to their master.”

“And what’s this place’s name?” Blue asked.

“Tambelon…” Luna replied.

The Awakening of the General of Destruction

With their powers combined, Twilight and Star shot a powerful beam against the Dark Mistress who went against them. The beam hit her strongly, with the villainess trying to resist. The force of the attack was so strong that everyone close had to protect themselves from the shockwave created.

It was then that the Smooze started to move strangely, as if trying to escape the barrier that was imprisoning him. Now sensing all that, Bright Night realized:

“This particular distortion on the space… Now I recognize it… The Smooze is coming.”

The battle Twilight and Star were having against the Dark Mistress was becoming more intense, with mother and son doing their best to defeat the enemy. However, it looked like the Dark Mistress was resilient to their power.

“We need more power in order to blast her into tiny pieces!” Twilight exclaimed.

Star agreed with her and they increased the intensity of their attack. The Dark Mistress was trying to block their attack the best she could, but the attack was getting to much intense even for her. She then was blast away by the attack. Soon after that, the Smoozer’s eyes appeared, catching the attention of everypony.

“Come, Dark Mistress, I have been waiting for this moment” he said.

“Yes, Smooze, let us become so we can carry on the master’s desire!” she replied.

She went down and was caught by the Smooze who dragged the Dark Mistress into his inside.

“She disappeared…” Rarity said.

“What tha hay…” Applejack started.

And the Smooze started to have his body bubbling, while shouting to the air:

“I’m overflowing with power!”

“But what’s that?!” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Duh, obviously it’s a monstrous blob that has been sealed in Discordia and now has been released by the Dark Mistress using the dark energy she has been gathering so they can cover the Pony World in chaos and destruction to not only ensure the rule of the Lord of Chaos, but also to free him from the chains Star put on him” Pinkie Pie replied.

That caused her friends to look at her, openmouthed. The pinky earth pony said:

“What, this is all in the story.”

“Well, one thin’ is certain” Applejack said. “At tha rate that thin’ is growin’, it won’t last tah cover everythin’.”

“Let’s go, girls, we have to do something” Twilight said to her friends. “We can’t let that cover the entire world.”

And they all nodded. Twilight’s friends, focusing on their elements, charged them with magic that caused them to raise in the air and then fire beams of magic against the Smooze. Moonlight helped by casting one of her strongest sonic screams.

“Ready, son?” Twilight asked to Star.

“Yes, mon” he replied.

And the two of them, together, shot another of their powerful beams that joined the others’ attacks. The combined attacks hit the Smooze and Twilight told him:

“It’s the end for you, Smooze!”

They all continued to attack, while Blue, Time Turner and Bright Night do their best to hold the great evil inside their barrier.

But it was then that the Smooze started to laugh, as he created a bubble that was holding the attacks.

“So, this is the energy of the ones with powerful lights…”

While they were performing the attack, Star could feel himself getting out of power. Kurama was right, the time he had spent sustaining her life had consumed a good part of his energy. He only hoped he could have enough to defeat the Smooze. But he was wrong, as his energy came to an end and he started to pass out and falling.

“Star!” Twilight called.

“Son, no!” Blue exclaimed.

Seeing that, Moonlight hasted to catch Star, doing that. But, because he was too heavy, she could only to slow his fall, eventually landing on one of the highest walls of the castle. The others also started to get out of power, starting to fall as well, one by one.

“What powerful lights to feed my darkness…” the Smooze said. “The power is absolutely magnificent!”

“Oh no!” Twilight exclaimed, as she saw her friends falling.

Rainbow Dash landed on the tower where Blue was, while Rarity and Fluttershy landed on the tower where Time Turner was and Pinkie Pie and Applejack landed on the one where Bright Night was.

“Oh no, girls!” Blue exclaimed.

“Are you okay?” Time Turner asked.

“Hang in there!” Bright Night told.

And the Smooze continued to increase in size, while laughing. Seeing that, Twilight couldn’t believe that, after all that, the Smooze continued to grow. Could it be that their attacks were only making it worse.

Not being able to pass through the barrier, the Smooze said:

“I can’t move! Is this a barrier?”

He tried to break through and, despite causing the barrier to flicker a bit, it remained standing.

“We are not letting you out of the castle” Bright Night declared.

“Listen to us, Smooze” Time Turner said.

“The three of us will prevent you from invading the Pony World” Blue told.

But the Smooze only laughed at their words and said:

“Try as much as you want. It’s already too late!”

He increased the pressure on the barrier, only for the three Generals to now having a lot of difficulty to hold on.

“It won’t hold much longer” Time Turner said.

Seeing what was happening, Twilight called:

“Blue! Time Turner! Bright Night!”

Losing all the patient while trying to break through, the Smooze exclaimed:

“I will crush every one of you!”

And the Smooze cause a blast that caused his essence to increase even more and attack the barrier with all power. The pressure was such that the three Generals of Order couldn’t hold any longer and the barrier broke, allowing the Smooze to get out.

“He broke through the barrier!” Twilight exclaimed.

The Smooze started to cover Tambelon, not taking too long to cover the capital. Dropping his sword, Blue fell on his knees, while saying:

“Damn it… Is this it.”

The others Generals were also exhausted after spending every last energy they had on the barrier.

As the Smooze continued to advance, a black hole appeared on the sky, with the clearance of a chaotic world revealing itself at the other side. Everypony was seeing that and Applejack asked:

“What is that?”

“It can’t be…” Bright Night said. “That’s… Discordia!”

Watching everything from his mirror, the Lord of Chaos laughed and said:

“Yes! That’s it, Smooze! Continue to cover everything! It won’t last until everything is under my control and I have my freedom at last!”

As the Pony World started to fell under the chaotic and destructive effects of Smooze, the Lord of Chaos could feel the seal Star put on him getting weaker and weaker.

“Yes, master!” the Smooze replied. “This world will be yours! I’ll make sure of that!”

Part of his essence arrived to the shore, but even in that way, he continued his way, covering also the ocean and starting to cover the nearby islands. If he continued like that, the all world would succumb to him.

While he laughed, Twilight found herself surrounded by nothing more than darkness. She was paralyzed, not knowing what to do now. Even her friends didn’t know what to do, as they had already hit him with everything they had.

Moonlight tried to awake Star.

“Star, please, wake up” she said.

And he opened up his eyes, smiling when he saw his marefriend.

“Moonlight… you’re here…”

Twilight looked to everypony and saw they had all reached their limit. Nopony had any strength left. What she could do now, alone? Could that possibly be the end of everything?

At that moment, a light covered her. That light was like a shower of warmness and tranquility. The others also noted that, including the Smooze, who shouted:

“What’s this disgusting light?!”

And the moon let itself be noted in all that darkness. Seeing it, Twilight breathed and could sense hope filling her heart. But, it was more than that. It was also love and care, like the one she had for both her family and friends who had always being by her side, supporting and watching over her.

She now knew what that meant. The moon was the light that illuminated the darkness of night, watching over all the things the Lord of Order had created. And, at that moment, Twilight had to do everything to stop the Smooze, even if she had to sacrifice herself… just like Tempest did. With the power and the light she had inside her, Twilight knew she was the last chance they had. She was the only one that could fight, after all.

“Now, my star seed, appear before me and lend me your power!” Twilight exclaimed.

And the flower containing her star seed appeared and opened, revealing the original star seed that started to charge Twilight with power.

Seeing that, Star asked:

“No, mom, what are you doing?!”

“Twily, no!” Blue exclaimed. “Please tell me you’re not thinking in doing something stupid!”

Letting herself be involved by that light, Twilight looked to both her husband and her son and smiled at them, putting all her love for them on that smile.

“Twily!” Blue called.

“Mom!” Star shouted.

And Twilight let herself fall. During the fall, Twilight said in a whisper:

“I’ll stop him by releasing the power of the original star seed from inside his body.”

“No, don’t… MOM!” Star cried.

And Twilight dived into the Smooze, much to everypony’s shock. Her friends couldn’t believe what had just happened and neither could Blue and Star.

Having watched what happened, the Lord of Chaos dropped a laugh and said:

“I never thought that little princess would do such stupid action. But she had always been like that. Just as well. Now I can be certain the Pony Reality will be mine!”

Tears came to Star’s eyes, after his mother was completely absorbed by the Smooze.

“Mom…” he said.

“Star…” Moonlight said, understanding his pain, as she also had lost her father.

“No, this can’t be…” Blue said, also crying. “I let you die alone… right in front of me. I didn’t protect you…”

Thinking about all the moments they shared and all the battles they fought together, Blue couldn’t believe that one would be the one to separate them.

“After our love bloomed, the only thing I wanted to do was to protect her with my own hooves…” he said. “That was the only thing I ever wanted.”

The other two Generals were also grieving for Twilight, as it was their mission to protect Twilight as well. The grief was also shared by her friends with whom she had shared many adventures, as well very profound bonds. The sadness that was in the air was almost unbearable.

At that moment, something happened. The Diamond Sword started glowing and, seeing that, Blue looked and noticed that Time Turner’s Chronosphere and Bright Night’s Light Mirror were also glowing. He then said:

“The talismans…”

“They are…” Time Turner started.

“…resonating” Bright Night ended.

As if somepony had taken control of his body, Blue and the other two found themselves rising up and raising the talismans, making them shine even more. After that, a pillar of light was created around the three Generals of Order, each one matching their respective colors. The light that was originated by them started to bath the Dark Mistress’ body that was inside the Smooze. A dark and yet bright light started to came out of the Smooze, right at the center of the ruins of the central tower. The villain said in pain:

“What is this light emanating from my body?”

And he scream in agony, as a pillar made of dark violet light emerged, hitting the dark hole made at the sky. Its appearance created a very powerful shockwave that caught everypony by surprise.

“Now what?” Rainbow asked, as she and the others endured the shockwave.

The area of the Smooze where pillar of light immerged started to spin like a whirlpool and, from it, an orb of light came out of it and rose in the air, starting to up. Seeing that, the three Generals got to know what happened, what caused Blue to bit his lip in a mix of terror and frustration.

“Oh no…” Bright Night said.

“It can’t be…” Time Turner told.

Inside the orb was Tempest Shadow, but she looked completely different, as her scar had disappeared and her horn was all again. She was also holding what appeared to be a glaive. Tempest’s body was raised in the air and then she was put over her hooves, while a star seed with a dark violet light immerged on her, involving her body with the same light. The star seed then returned to her flower that then disappeared and Tempest opened her eyes, that now had a very much intense color that were cold and yet so full of life.

She spoke with a very calm and profound voice:

“I’m a servant of the Lord of Order, created in the darkness of Creation and the Bringer of Destruction. My name is Tempest Shadow, the General of Destruction.”

Her sudden appearance was like a slap to the others, who were still in shock for what had happened to be able to process the meaning of her awakening. Moonlight was the most caught off guard with her appearance, as she was the friend that had just sacrifice herself to save her.

“The General… of Destruction…” she said.

“Again, she has awaken” Bright Night said.

“She’s here…” Blue told, with a tremor in his voice.

“We’ve failed” Time Turner said.

“So, then, is this… the end?” Star asked.

“From where I stand, it doesn’t feel like much time has passed since the last crisis that had trigged my previous awakening in another life” Tempest said.

Noticing the looks everypony was giving to him, Tempest couldn’t help but making a slight smile and say:

“It seems as though I remain an uninvited guest.”

Taking her glaive with her magic, Tempest started to descend, while saying:

“The gradual overlap of coincidences has caused a dangerous aberration in the course of events. As a result, history itself has been slightly altered.”

When she was near the surface of the Smooze, she hit him with the glaive, causing a great pain to the villain.

“I can’t move!” he shouted.

“What happened in that ursa minor’s nest was supposed to be the end of this incarnation of mine. Tempest Shadow should have entered in an eternal sleep. Instead, she survived and, despite her end would have come, her hurt has caused her to cross path with Grogar who brought her here, starting the beginning of the Dark Mistress. The latter’s mere existence was a great shock to her body and also caused a great disturbance to my soul who should have stayed asleep. At last, and it could not be helped, there’s a reason why we were all drawn to this place. This was the chosen land to my awakening that fate had predestined since the beginning, a path that leads to Destruction. And now that I have awaken…”

She removed the glaive from the Smooze, placing it by her side, and declared:

“…I must fulfill that destiny and swing this Silence Glaive.”

Hearing that, Bright Night hasted to say:

“That glaive was created by the most destructive power of Order.”

“All she has to do is swing it and it’s total annihilation” Time Turned told.

“Damn it!” Blue exclaimed, hitting the floor with his hoof. “I refuse to let this be our fate. Not one second!”

And Tempest started to rise up again in the air. While doing that, everypony wondered if that could really be the end. Tempest stopped and prepared her glaive. Before she could do anything, Blue shouted:

“No, Tempest! Don’t do it!”

But she didn’t listen and, focusing her magic to her destructive spell, she exclaimed, while raising the glaive:

“Death Reborn Revolution!”

There was a flash of light and strong winds started to blow with great intensity, something nopony had ever seen before and that effected everything around, along with a pillar of light that hit Smooze and made him to start screaming painfully.

“My power… is being sucked out of me!” he yelled.

All the others were trying to resist to the strong winds that were blowing, a task that was being difficult to do. With that, the Smooze said:

“This massive negative aura is the same dormant power that surrounded this island. I now see that power that has awakened as the light that brings destruction. It was you!”

The light became more intense, as it started to pull him up.

“She’s moving him out of the surface” Star observed, while holding Moonlight. “Such frightening power…”

Turning to the Smooze, Tempest declared:

“Abdominal existence, you invader, I condemn you and this land to total annihilation!”

And the blade of her glaive started to glow, as the intensity of the winds and the light increased.

“This is the end…” Star said. “We can’t stop it. She’s about to swing her Silence Glaive which will destroy the Smooze and the world along with him.”

Tempest then hold her glaive and prepared to swing it down. Seeing that she was about to do it, Star couldn’t help but calling:

“Mom!!”

And Tempest swung down her glaive…