Star Phantom flew above the streets of Ponyville, on patrol for any ghosts or other trouble. Most would ask, what other trouble could there be? Everypony in Ponyville could give them a long list of the things this town has been through in the past year.

The halfa smiled as nothing popped up. “Huh, maybe I’ll have a normal day afterall.”

A large ecto-blast argued against that statement. The Blue Huntress appeared from behind a building, this time she carried a large bazooka instead of the usual blaster. While her face was well hidden under her mask, Star could tell she was livid. Why, he could never guess.

“Never mind, it’s back to the routine.” With that little quip, he took off away from the pegasus. She didn’t hesitate before firing a volley at the halfa, who expertly dodged every single one. Each round slammed into the ground, leaving charred impact craters in the ground. Ponies ran for cover as the two flew over the town. Star noticed and winced. He knew how destructive the Huntress was and wanted to avoid collateral damage at all costs. Maybe he could lose her in the Everfree.

He turned toward the Everfree Forest, picking up the pace. The Huntress pushed more power into her hoverboard in an attempt to catch up.

Rainbow Dash was livid. This morning, she was just passing by the CMC Clubhouse, where she heard that a meeting was being held for fans of the coolest ponies in town.

The rainbow maned mare flew low over the trees of Sweet Apple Acres. She wanted to see just how many ponies adored her for her awesomeness. Now, she normally didn’t like to brag. (Which we all know is a blatant lie.) But she was happy to know that ponies appreciate coolness when they see it.

“Attention, everypony! Attention!” That was Scootaloo’s voice. She knew that the little squirt worshipped the very clouds she’s slept on. If there was anypony who would be running this club, it’s her.

“I would like to call this meeting to order.” Rainbow perched herself on the roof above the window, where she could hear the shuffling of hooves of dozens of little fillies and colts.

“Thank you, as you all know. This club was created to give our appreciation to the coolest, awesomest, most daringest pony ever!” Ponies clapped their hooves while a few hollered in excitement. Rainbow couldn’t help but feel touched, and highly ego’d, by the love they were giving her.

“So I would like to dedicate this club to that very pony, Star Phantom!” What?!

Star Phantom in:
Phandom Rivalry
All of these adoring Phans!

That no good Star Phantom stole her fans! She went to tell Twilight about it, but she was more concerned about something else.

Twilight was in full blown panic mode. She ran around her tree home, grabbing random notes and other junk, studying them as if they carried the answers to life’s great mysteries. “Oh no oh no oh no, this is bad1” She declared. “If those foals are worshipping Phantom, then he may be able to warp their realities! They may start worshipping ghosts instead of thanking Celestia for her good deeds. He may lead them into rebellion against Equestria! Or…” The unicorn gulped. “They may start playing with ghosts instead of studying!”

Rainbow sighed. Twilight wasn’t getting it. Those were her fans, and Phantom took them away! Well she wasn’t going to stand for it. She was going to do something about it. While Twilight continued to ramble, RD snuck over to the lab and grabbed her Ghost Hunting Equipment. Her unicorn friend had no idea she took them until she blasted out of the house, going off to hunt that ghost freak.

Now here she was, chasing Phantom through the town. She didn’t care if her shots missed or not. She was going to hit him eventually. Star shot up into the air, she followed. He flew through clouds, she chased him in. He dove, she dove. He disappeared through a tree. She slammed right into it. With a resounding crash, she might add.

The pegasus was flung from her board, which embedded itself into another tree. She hit the dirt with a loud thud, sending her helmet flying from her head. Her vision blurred as the wind was knocked out of her. In the distance, she could see a black and white speck disappear into thin air.

Rainbow Dash growled, this wasn’t over.

Star was back onto his routine. As soon as he arrived back in town, a ghost had shown up. It was easy, just another ecto-puss that managed to escape the Realm on random. It only took a couple minutes of chasing to catch it; he hadn’t even broken a sweat.

“HELP!” His head shot in the direction of the scream. It was on the edge of town, towards the main road to Canterlot. He took off in that direction. He didn’t notice the ponies watching him from below.

“Help!” It sounded closer, and a lot more… echoey? Star looked down. Right below him was the old well. The wooden boards that once covered it were broken. “Help, help!” Somepony was down there! From the size of the hole in the boards, it was a filly. The halfa wasted no time and dove down, smashing through the remaining cover into the darkness below. His body gave off its unnatural glow, illuminating the deep, dark pit. As he went down, he could see the outline of an earth pony filly at the bottom.

Star slowed down so as not to hit her, and soon all of her features were revealed. She was indeed an earth pony filly, with very light purple fur and a minty green mane. She was covered in dirt and some garbage the must’ve fallen between the cracks.

Her eyes were shut as she began to cry. Star took a deep breath before putting on his caring smile. “Hey there.” The filly gasped as she opened her eyes and looked up at Phantom. “Now how did you get stuck down here?”

The filly sniffed. “I was playing near the well and I tripped.” Her eyes were watering again, prompting Star to enter comforting brother mode.

“Hey, it’ll be okay. I’ll get you out.” Star lowered himself onto the ground, and sat on his haunches with his back facing the filly. “I need you to climb on my back, and hang on tight, okay?” The filly nodded and climbed up. Once Star felt a small pair of hooves wrap around his neck, he slowly took flight. At first, the filly gasped in fright, then started giggling as she realized she was flying for the first time. Star couldn’t help but smile as the filly began to laugh and cheer.

He flew through the hole and over the grass. He decided to do a loop to make the filly’s ride more enjoyable before coming in for a landing. Once his hooves were on the ground, the filly jumped from his back, running toward a mare standing nearby. The mare grabbed the filly in delight.

“Oh, my sweet baby. You’re alright!” Star watched the moment with a content grin on his face, only for it to disappear when he heard cheering coming from all around him. That’s when he realized he was surrounded by dozens of towns ponies.

For a moment, Star was ready to take flight; months of dealing with angry mobs instilled that instinct in him. But an orange hoof on his back made him stop. He looked to see his sister, AppleJack, giving him a confident smile.

“Nice Job there, Star.” Star blushed as he put together what was happening. He was being congratulated by the town, instead of chased.

“Uh, thanks, just… doing my job.” He stuttered, not really sure of what to say. “It was no big deal-”

“To me it was.” The filly declared as she made her way through the crowd. “You’re my hero, Phantom!” This led to more cheers as Star rubbed the back of head and took off.

AppleJack watched him go before turning to Twilight Sparkle, who was watching him from a few feet away.

“Told you he was a hero.” The earth pony mare said as she walked past the unicorn. Twilight could only stare, as she had no comeback or logic to present. Perhaps she needed to reevaluate her research.

Rainbow Dash was napping on her cloud, in a very angry manner. She tossed and turned in the comfy cloud, getting little to no comfort from it. She was too angry about Phantom to sleep. He was getting more popular, and even Twilight was having doubts that he was evil. Well not her, she was smart enough to know his game. He was playing the hero, making the town love him until he grew tired of it, then he would destroy the town when he wanted to. She was not going to let that happen. She was going to watch him like a hawk.

A loud scream pierced her thoughts. She looked below the cloud to see a baby carriage rolling out of control down the hill. She could hear a baby crying out from within. Without a second thought, she dove toward it. The cart was speeding down the hill, past dozens of ponies who only watched in horror as the cart made its way toward a cliff.

Rainbow went full speed toward the cart, hoping to grab it before it went over. She caught up to it and grabbed the handle bar with her teeth. Once she had a grip, she planted her hooves into the dirt. Turns out the carriage was heavier than expected as it continued to drag her toward the edge. RD continued to pull against the carriage, leaving tracks in the dirt road. The edge neared closer and closer. The first wheels were at the edge, and it stopped.

Rainbow Dash waited until she couldn’t feel the pull anymore before pulling the cart back from the edge. She opened her eyes to check on the foal inside, only to find it empty. Panic spread throughout her brain. Did the foal fall out? Was she too late?!

“My baby!” The mother called out in… relief? Rainbow turned back to the top of the hill to see Star Phantom handing back the mare’s foal. The mare carefully checked her baby over before wrapping Phantom into a back breaking hug.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Star chuckled.

“Don’t worry about it. Sorry about the carriage.” He said, not knowing that it didn’t go over.

“It’s okay, I’m just happy my little foal is safe.” The mother said as she turned to the cliff. “Oh, never mind. Rainbow Dash saved it.” She began waving at the cyan pegasus. “Thank You, Rainbow Dash!”

Only Rainbow Dash didn’t listen. She was already flying away, grumbling to herself as she did so. Star watched her go before going to grab the carriage.

He did it again. Took her glory right out from under her nose! Well not next time! She was going to get him. She just needed her hunting equipment.

Star Phantom had just finished catching another ghost animal, a coyote this time, which was kind of cool, and was about to make his way to the Everfree to dump the thermos. “Hopefully this is it today, because I want to sleep for a long time.”

“I’ll make you sleep, creep!” A raspy voice echoed through the air. Star looked to see a large ecto-blast heading his way. On instinct, he ducked to avoid the hit. He watched as the shot flew over his head and sailed toward the elderly home.

The bolt hit one of the upstairs balcony support beams, burning away the wooden structure. The balcony began to wobble, knocking the four elderly ponies standing on it off their hooves. Ponies below watched in horror as the balcony started to list. The remaining support beam cracked under the weight.

Star’s eyes widened and instinct took over. He ignored the Huntress as he took off toward the home, floating under the balcony and catching it with his hooves. The last support beam snapped as the weight became unbearable. Everypony screamed as the balcony fell. Star felt the weight immediately and began pushing back against it. The balcony held. Emergency ponies ran through the front entrance to get to the second floor. Star could see them running through.

“Hurry, I’m not sure how long I can hold!” Within seconds, he could feel hooves slowly moving toward the door. He just had to hold it long enough for workers to get the elderly to safety. He felt the weight lighten slightly as the first pony was safely back inside, then the second, and the third. The fourth was about to climb in when a shot rang out. Star could only stare at the ecto-blast striking him in the chest.

He screamed in pain and collapsed slightly. This caused the balcony to buckle and the last elderly stallion on it to tumble toward the railing. The Huntress took aim, ready to shoot her prey once more. Only she never got the chance as a lasso wrapped around her blaster and yanked it from her hooves. The Huntress stared at the mare who took her gun. AppleJack smashed it to pieces before glaring at her.

With a final push, Star raised the balcony high enough to allow the last pony to escape. The emergency crews cleared the building, and the last one gave him a nod, signalling that they were clear. Star nodded back and allowed the balcony to slowly drop. Once it was at a safe distance, he let it crash to the ground by going intangible.

He phased through the other side, and was immediately hounded by a cheering crowd. Star would’ve normally flown away, but he was too tired to even try. So instead, AppleJack helped him onto a cart before taking him away.

Her excuse was that she knew where he hung out, and was going to take him there. Some Phans attempted to follow, but they were blocked by Vinyl and Octavia, who were standing nearby. Doctor Hooves was in the cart, giving Star some medical help to make sure his body was over strained. Lyra grabbed the thermos from the halfa and promised to dump it in the Everfree, grabbing her own personal blaster to deal with any monsters she encountered.

Rainbow could only watch in dismay as she saw just how many ponies were willing to ally with Phantom. A loud cough caught her attention, turning to face an angry Twilight Sparkle.

“We need to talk.”

Rainbow Dash sat in Twilight’s tree home. The unicorn was pacing around the room, putting away every single piece of ghost hunting equipment.

“You have been getting more and more reckless, Rainbow Dash. I let it slide because you were protecting the town, but now this is just petty rivalry!”

“It’s not petty, Twilight! Phantom is evil, I know it!”

“Well I don’t!” Twilight shouted, silencing the pegasus. “In the past, I thought he was a villain. But his recent actions have caused me to change my views.” Rainbow was stunned by that statement. Twilight was willing to trust Phantom?! No way was she going to let it happen.

“Twilight, you can’t be serious!”

“Oh I am. So much so that I am taking away your equipment, and all of my equipment!” The pegasus was shocked, she didn’t want to believe it. But the sight of the purple unicorn dumping all of the hunting equipment into a container before Spike took it all down to the basement proved that she wasn’t bluffing.

“I can’t trust you anymore, Rainbow. Not after that stunt today.”

“I’ll prove it.” RD muttered. Twilight gave her a questioning look.

‘What did you say?”

“I said I’ll prove it!” Rainbow bellowed before taking off through the open window. Twilight could only stare as she watched the rainbow trail disappear into the night sky. She shook her head and decided to call it an early night.

Rainbow flew angrily toward her house. In a flash, she flew through the door, through her halls, and into her bedroom. She slammed her bedroom door shut and screamed. It lasted a good couple of seconds before her lungs demanded air. The mare took a few shallow breaths and readied to scream again, when something caught her eye.

It was a box sitting on her bed. With caution, she grabbed it and looked it over. On the top was a note. She took the note and read it over.

He has everypony else fooled, but not you. So here, some personal gear for you. Consider it a gift.

~ Blau Sango

Rainbow looked curiously at the note, then at the box. She dropped the small piece of paper and opened up the box. Her eyes widened in surprise before her teeth bared with a malicious grin.

It was a new day in Ponyville for Star Phantom as he once again flew over the town. He planned on having a much shorter patrol day than normal, as per recommendation by the Doc. Lyra and Octavia promised to take over after their orchestra practice in the afternoon.

Maybe he could go over and listen. They always sounded great. He wasn’t aware of the pink targeting scope locking onto him, the pony looking through grinned as she readied the trigger.

Star stopped to look around the market, when he heard somepony call his name. “Phantom, down here!” He looked down to see one of AppleBloom’s friends, Scootaloo, waving at him. She and some of her friends were wearing different kinds of Star Phantom memorabilia, from shirts to wigs shaped and colored to his mane. The halfa smiled before diving down.

The targeting scope beeped rapidly as it locked onto his ecto-signature. The pony pressed the button, and a missile launched from the bazooka.

Star heard the small explosion and looked over to see a pink missile heading right for him. On a dime, he shot up, the missile followed closely behind. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that it was locked onto him. He fought Skulker enough times to know that. Normally, he would’ve shot the missile and be done with it. But he didn’t want to risk sending shrapnel across town. So he had to lead it away. Thankfully, he was close to the edge of town. Once he was clear, he could blast this thing to smithereens.

So the chase began, he took off away from town. All eyes were on him as he flew away, including a pair hidden behind a face mask.

Star was about to clear town when something blocked his way, forcing him to stop. He didn’t have time to see what it was when the missile struck. The concussive wave of the blast sent him falling toward the ground, and the heat singed his fur. A small crater formed around the area he impacted. He was in a daze as he struggled to clear his vision. A blue figure hovered into his sightline.

With a few blinks and the shake of his head, Star’s vision cleared to reveal a new and improved Huntress hovering over him. Her once all blue suit was now midnight black with blue lines. Her hooves were planted firmly on a much sharper hoverboard.

"Wow." He said through gritted teeth. "New toys?"

"I made a few upgrades." She said smugly. Her voice sounded more synthetic than it did before. Star gave her a look before standing up.

His body was covered in cuts, bruises, and burns. But that was normal for him at this point. The pain was minor, so he could care less if his joints ached. Star looked at her and asked, “Why?”

That caught her off guard. “Why, what?”

“Why are you so dead set on hunting me?! I haven’t done anything to you, I help the town, and I keep the ghosts at bay. You don’t even try to hunt other ghosts, you just want me, so I want to know why, dammit!” The halfa had to take several breaths to recover the air he lost from his small rant. Silence fell between the two as an epic stare down began.

“Why?” The Huntress snarled. “Because ghosts are evil, so you’re evil. You act all cool, but you’re just faking. I know it because you tried to take my fans away from me!” She stopped, realizing what she said. Now the pegasus has put her hoof in her mouth, she just gave away her secret identity. There was only one pony in all of Ponyville with fans, and that was Rainbow Dash.

Phantom stared at her as if she just grew a second head. That look carried deadly daggers behind it. “Fans?” He growled. “Fans, are you kidding me?!”

Rainbow felt a chill go down her spine, and it wasn’t because she was scared. Her HUD was giving her a sudden temperature drop, almost below freezing and still falling. Star’s normally messy mane began to transform into bright white flames. His teeth sharpened, and his eyes were now blood red.

“You mean to tell me you want to kill me because of some petty jealousy?! You risked ponies lives because of your stupid ego!” His voice bellowed in baritone. “I’m through with this, it ends tonight!” With a charge of his hooves, Star Phantom opened fire with his ecto-blasts. Rainbow had no time to dodge before she was hit with the twin blasts.

The pegasus was sent flying from her board, so she was forced to use her wings to keep from hitting the ground. She pressed the recall button on her suit, sending a signal for the board to catch her. With skilled precision, she flipped over and landed on the board. RD smiled to herself for her skillful catch, but another blast from Phantom reminded her of her current situation.

She dared to look back and saw a livid Star Phantom coming up behind her. With a scream, she pushed her board to its limits, yet still the halfa was catching up. Rainbow made for the town, she could hide there and lay low until Phantom calmed down, if he calmed down. It took only seconds to fly over to the town center, where she dove to take cover in an empty shop.

But the Huntress never made it to the shop, for she was tackled off her board by Phantom, and pile drived into the ground. He stood over her with sharp teeth bare. Deep, animalistic growls echoed from his throat.

“I’ve had it with you, Rainbow. I was going to let bygones be bygones, but you crossed the line. Now, I’m going to end this!” He raised a hoof, then slammed it down onto her helmet, cracking the supposedly unbreakable glass. He delivered another, further cracking the helmet. He kept on going, creating dozens of large and small cracks. Rainbow’s suit was giving off warnings, but she could do nothing but accept each hit. With one last powerful punch, the helmet shattered.

Now Rainbow could see her prey turned hunter with her own, frightened eyes. He stood tall over her, giving off an aura of pure anger and hatred.

“There, now we can do this face to face.” His sick smile made the situation all the more terrifying. He winded up another hit, activating his ecto-hooves. This was it, the kill shot he had been preparing for all night. Just one good hit.

“Star, stop!” The familiar accent of the Apple Family drew Star’s attention from his victim. He saw AppleJack and the others standing a few feet away. Each of them were carrying ecto-weapons, all were pointed at him. But they were not alone. A few late night workers heard the commotion, and went to see what was going on. Twilight stood there, her notes held in her magic. Her face showed horror and regret.

Star could only look around, his hoof powered down and lowered. After an endless silent staring match, he backed off of Rainbow Dash, who was immediately dragged away by Twilight.

It was dead silent. An aura of fear and uncertainty fell over the town. Without a word, Star took off and disappeared into the night sky. AJ turned to the rest of Team Phantom. “Find out what happened with Rainbow, Ah’ll deal with Star.” They nodded without a word and walked over to question the cyan pegasus. Bon Bon decided to clear out the onlookers and find a way to explain what just happened, but that was easier said than done. AJ ran off back toward the Acres, where she knew Star would be waiting.

It wasn’t hard to find him, he was in his usual hiding place in the barn, still in his new form. He was just standing there, seething. Before she even stepped inside, he turned and glared at her.

“Why did you stop me?”

“You were going tah kill her.” She said simply.

‘So?” On the outside, the orange mare was blank. But on the inside, she was crying. When had her brother changed this much?

AppleJack took a step forward. “This isn’t you, Star. Star Phantom wouldn’t hurt somepony like this.”

The halfa glared. “Well maybe Star Phantom needs to change.”

“If he needs a change, then he’s no better than BlueBlood.”

Star shot forward and bared his teeth. “Do not compare him to me, I’m much stronger and bolder than that faker!” Now AJ couldn’t hide her pain, tears began to flow and she backed away from her twin. That made the halfa stop and look at himself from a nearby piece of glass.

What happened to him? Why was he like this?

She doesn’t get it, she’s too soft. That’s his sister, his twin. They did everything together. They would never hurt each other.

She’s just in the way. No, she cares.

He should get rid of her. “NO!” Star said, turning the mirror into ashes with a single blast. AppleJack yelped. The air was still as Star stared at the charred ground where the glass once stood.

“I… I didn’t….” He looked to his sister, who only stood there in shock. His flaming mane died out. His teeth were flat once more, and his tear filled eyes were once again green. “AppleJack… I’m so sorry.” The halfa collapsed to his knees, the white ring transformed him from Star Phantom to Star Apple. AppleJack wasted no time in running to her brother’s side.

She wrapped her hooves around him as he cried into her shoulder. “I’m sorry.” He muttered over and over again. They held each other close long into the night, until Star passed out and his twin carried him to his room.

Watching the scene through one of the many Time Portals was Clockwork, a frown was the only show of emotion he could display. Behind him stood two ghostly creatures. They wore special robes, floating there with only Giant Eyeballs for heads. They were the Observants, members of the Council of the Spirit Realm.

“As you can see, Clockwork, that stallion is becoming a danger, and if the future is like you foretold, then we will all be destroyed.”

The Alicorn of Time turned to face them. “And what shall you have me do?”

“You already know, Clockwork. That pony must be destroyed first.” Clockwork said nothing, instead choosing to turn back toward the Time Portal. The Observants continued to stare, they would not leave without a response.

It was a while before he gave one. “I shall continue to observe, if he becomes too unstable, then I shall be left with little choice-”

“There is no more time, Clockwork. He must be destroyed-”

“Never interrupt me and never tell me about time!” Both Observants recoiled. Clockwork was never one to be angry.

“I shall deal with the events as they happen. Time has rules, I cannot interfere unless the situation is dire. There is still time to prevent this, and I will take those opportunities as they appear.” The Observants said nothing in return.

“Now leave, your visit has been overstayed.”

“Very well, Clockwork.” The two left without another word, leaving Clockwork alone with his thoughts. He stared at the portal for a moment before looking at another.

Within this portal was a burning world, and a stallion of black and white laughing over it all.

Time was running short, change had to happen, and it had to happen soon.

Author's Note

And there we go, first chapter of 2020! Horray!

It wasn't easy to work with this, as I wasn't a big fan of the original episode. (I just hate episodes were big egos go to far, mostly a pet peeve for than a problem IMO.) But I hope I did some justice.

Star is not doing good, and I feel bad for hurting my baby like this!

The next chapter should be here soon and, hopefully, its a bit more light hearted than this one.

Happy 2020 Everybody!!!