A reunion with a Star pupil.

Starlight felt all sorts of emotions:
Surprise, anger, fear, mortify, horror.
But strangely enough the one emotion she felt most was confusion.

"Master?" Starlight said not believe that after 10 years he would just show up like this. "....It's been such a long time since I've seen you."

"You remember me?" Grogar asked.

"I spent 5 years following your every word.... of course i remember you."

"And yet you don't call, you don't write. I thought we were friends Starlight. We had an understanding... what happened? Why did you turn on me?"

"Because Twilight Sparkle and her friends showed me that what you were doing was wrong... what I was doing was wrong. They showed me true friendship."

"Wrong? I took you in when you were lost, I showed you the path to everything you ever wanted, You wouldn't be here without me..... YOU WOULDN'T BE ALIVE WITHOUT ME!!! Trust in your teacher and don't lose your way. I said that to you every... single... day."

"I'm grateful for everything that you taught me."

"Clearly i didn't teach you enough. Because i turned my back on you for five minutes and now you are on the enemies side"

"Five minutes?..... FIVE MINUTES!!!! YOU LEFT ME ALONE FOR 10 YEARS!!!"

"I had faith that you could accomplish all you set your mind to."

"I practically begged you not to leave me..... You can't tell me you don't remember."

"My dear old pupil..... I don't forget.... ANYTHING..... I remember that day as clear as though it were yesterday."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was 10 years ago.

The builders had just begun construction on Starlight's old village. And Staright was speaking to Grogar via spell.

"And so we have everything in place.... like i said."

"Then why did you call me Star? I'm extraordinarily busy i have to rearrange the cosmos to free a Nightmare creation."

"Well.... you see the thing is.... there is one tiny little flaw."

"Uh huh." Gorgar replied in an impatient tone.

"Everything is in place except.... i don't have a way to contain the cutie marks."

Grogar put his hoof to his face and sighed. "So let me get this straight.... After 5 years of me holding your hoof every step of the way, I finally give into your demands of doing thing independently and now your calling me, begging for my assistance?"

"Master please..... i am desperate..."

"Starlight if your going to do this job you need to overcome hurdles on your own. I'm sorry but I've got bigger problems in the southwest region to deal with."

"WAIT MASTER PLEASE I NEED YOU!!"

"FIGURE IT OUT FOR YOURSELF!!" And the spell stopped working.

Starlight began sobbing.... She felt like this was another friend who had left her..... two times she felt shunned abandoned and alone.

It took her 2 days until she finally tried to find something that could help her. And to her unbelievable luck it only took 2 days until a certain pony came to the place for her rocktorate dissertation. Starlight mustered her courage and approached her.

"Psst! Do you know a lot about rocks?" She asked with a hint of what Pinkie Pie has commonly called 'nervouscitedment'

However the other pony had less emotion in her voice. "Yes." She said in the most monotone deadpan voice Starlight had ever heard.

"Have you ever come across some kind of super-powerful stone that can store the cutie mark magic of... I don't know... an entire village?" Starlight asked in a more persistent tone.

but the other pony replied using the exact same amount of deadpan "Yep. In the big cave." She pointed to a cave at the foot of the tallest mountain in the area.

Starlight quickly ran to it and found the most extraordinary thing she has ever seen. It was a room filled with hundreds of thousands of glass cases. Starlight had finally found what she had been looking for.

Starlight repeated the words her mentor had said to her many years ago.
"Equality Starlight, Equality is key. Equality Starlight, Equality is key. Equality Starlight, Equality is key."
She would say that to herself every morning. Until of course she lost her own evil despot town to the ponies who would one day befriend her.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"And for 10 years you became more and more powerful....You were on your way to being what i always needed you to be." Grogar said with clear pride.

"Well you taught me well......" Starlight said with a little twinge of embarrassment to her expression.

"And even after you failed me the first time and lost the village we had spent years preparing, plotting and concocting I was willing to look past it. Because i gave you one of the most powerful spells in Equestrian history. Star Swirls ancient time turning transmogrify spell. But then you didn't just fail me a second time. You became a backstabbing Traitoress."

"Sometimes i wish i never met you."

"I SAVED YOU!!!"

Starlight started to cry remembering how foolish she was to trust in this liar before her. She thought back to when they first met.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(19 years earlier in Sires Hollow)

"Let's play Jenga" Starlight said to Sunburst.

"Ugh... again? Why don't we play something a bit more exciting like... Dragon Pit.

"Awwwww but i wanted to practice our magic."

"But how would we be practicing our magic? It's just tiny wooden blocks?"

"No silly we wouldn't be using the actual game.... We could play Book Jenga."

"Ugh.... fine."

After 5 minutes.

"DO IT DO IT DO IT" Starlight said with excitement. "go on Sunburst."

"Ummmm are you sure that's safe"

"Yes, absolutely, trust me."

"Alright." Sunburst said as he carefully tried pulling another book from the bottom of the pile and added it to the top.

Starlight watched in amazement and clapped her hooves once Sunburst had successfully gotten another point.

Starlight wanted to get a point herself. But unfortunately she was a little too clumsy and the pile started falling towards her. Luckily Sunburst managed to get a hold of the pile before it descended upon poor Starlight and with the great display of magic he had shown Sunburst had gotten his cutie mark.

He was so exited he couldn't even talk. He ran to his parents and they were thrilled.

But poor Starlight was left behind.... she didn't even have time to comprehend what just happened. And before she could say anything a mysterious voice spoke behind her.

"How unfortunate."

Starlight turned around with a fright. And standing before her was an intimidating figure. A creature she had never seen before. But he spoke softly and kind to her.

"Oh, I know. You miss Sunburst . You feel betrayed, abandoned. You're a loyal friend, unlike him."

Starlight finally got her tongue back and managed to ask. "Who are you?"

"Grogar. I'm an aficionado. And i have a gift... an amazing gift i have this powerful item called a palantir it allows me to see into Ponies dreams. Their want's and desires. Oh, I know yours. You dream of power, ruling over others. You dream of leading a great army."

Starlight was even more afraid now..... How did this creature know what she wanted.... How did he know that she would love to rule over others. She was a rebellious kid after all, but it was hard to blame her. She did have a father who was always too distracted with History to pay her any attention and a mother who had recently passed away, She felt so much built up anger. But with Sunburst she always had her mind kept in check.... Without him she felt lost.... but maybe this creature was giving her a chance to get a new outlet. But even in her young state she knew that everything has a price.

"...And what do you want?"

"I want to see a marvelous war." Grogar said with an evil expression on his face.

"I more or less meant... What do you want with me? I'm just a normal pony?"

"Oh you're not normal. I despise normality. Can a normal pony travel through time? I think not. Can a normal pony create a new type of Cutie mark? Please. Can a normal pony bring about the apocalypse and rule the world? No. Sadly, neither can I, not without help. I need a champion. One of two dear friends who betray each other."

Starlight got quickly defensive.
"Sunburst didn't betray me. He was a loyal friend."

"Oh, really? What if I told you he's taken your place? He was watching you your whole life. Watching you perform magic stealing your talents. He was a bad pony"

When Grogar said the word "bad" he said it in an insulting tone. Which just made Starlight more defensive.

"DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT!!! HE WAS..... NO HE IS MY BEST FRIEND!!!"

"Then why did he leave? He has forgotten all about you."

Starlight started sobbing. "No.... your wrong."

Grogar sighed and held his palantir to Starlight. "I wish i were young one. But observe...."

It showed images of Sunburst saving the crystal empire at The Crystalling.

Starlight was mortified.

"Is there any way i can prevent this?"

Grogar smiled and held his hoof out to the little pony in a comforting way.

"Yes.... there is. Come with me."

Starlight took Grogars hoof. "Where do we start?"

"Equality Starlight, Equality is key."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"You remember those days.... don't you Starlight." Grogar said. "I was like a father to you... after all i am the father of monsters."

Starlight clenched her teeth through her tears. "I... am not..... a monster."

"You may try to be a hero. But you cannot deny it...." Grogar said as he came closer towards Starlight.

"GET BACK!!!" She shouted.

"It's in your nature." Grogar said walking closer and closer to Starlight.

Starlight used the same power she did on Discord to banish him from school grounds a little over a year ago. But Grogar was not affected by it. Starlight was horrified.

Grogar came right up to Starlight's face.

"You are mine... YOU ALWAYS WILL BE!"

Suddenly the front doors burst open and Celestia and Luna were standing there.

"STOP NOW GROGAR!!!" Celestia ordered in her Royal Canterlot Voice.

Grogar smiled again and turned to face the two Alicorns.

"Hello Tia."