Diablo III: Fall of Equestria

Chapters

Act 1 Ch.1: Sunset's Return
Act 1 Ch. 2: Possession
Act 1 Ch. 3: The Hunter
Act 1 Ch. 4: A Heart in Turmoil
Act 1 Ch.5: Departure
Act 2 Ch.1: The Crystal Empire
Side Story 1: Shining Armor
Act 2 Ch.2: Work for the Glory of the Empire
Act 2 Ch.3: Wounds that Never Heal
Act 2 Ch.4: Nyx Investigates
Act 2 Ch.4: Chicken Soup for the Unicorn's Soul
Act 2 Ch.6: Of Bat-Ponies and Unicorns

Act 1 Ch.1: Sunset's Return

Author's Note

First and foremost, I plan for this story to be VERY dark. Some of the content might be a bit disturbing for some, and that is okay. If you've played any of the Diablo games, then you know what I'm talking about. Hopefully, this story will tie everything together with what I started in An Unusual Request. Feel free to hit me up for comments and feed back.
This goes without saying, but I don't own any of this.

Act 1 Ch.1: Sunset's Return

Starlight Gimmer was starting to panic.

Scratch that, she was way past the point of panic, and approaching a full on mental break down. Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends, the Elements of Harmony, had been missing for almost a month now. Normally, this would be classified as A Very Big Deal, but these were not normal times. Everfree Forest had grown even more wild and chaotic and was once again encroaching on the outer limits of Ponyville. The monsters that lived deep within the forest began to stir and waken, causing trouble for everypony. The weather had become very unstable, forcing Cloudsdale and the all of the Pegasai to work frantically around the clock to prevent one disaster after another. Contact with the Crystal Empire, difficult in the best of times, was virtually impossible. A raging snowstorm howled night and day through the north. Griffonstone had ceased all contact, nopony had heard from Mount Aris, the Dragons became more hostile, and the yaks had retreated to bolster their own border.

The biggest change, was Princess Celestia. The monarch of the Sun, normally poised and in control of her emotions, had become erratic and unstable. She re-instated the draft of all military aged ponies, mares and stallions alike, and called up reserve units to active duty. The Wonderbolts, Equestria’s premier flight squad was reassigned to combat air patrols over Equestrian airspace. The Canterlot police force had tripled in size to accommodate the increased patrol rotation. Scouts were sent to beef up border security.

During this time of suspicion and unrest, Twilight’s Friendship School was closed and the students returned to their respective countries. To Starlight’s dismay, the order had come from Celestia herself, saying everypony should stay with their own kind. This blatant racism was a slap in the face to everything Twilight stood for, and Starlight was secretly glad the Princess of Friendship wasn’t around to see this. Princess Luna, despite her best effort, was largely ineffective in her attempts to curtail Celestia’s actions. The lunar princess spent most of her time trying to keep the kingdom from falling apart. Discord was nowhere to be found, having disappeared after Fluttershy went missing.

Starlight had practically worn a circle in the crystal floors with her worried pacing. Spike had gone with Twilight and the others, leaving her all alone in the big castle. Trixie stayed for a little while to keep her company, but ended up leaving. She said it was to go out and spread cheer to other ponies in this sad time, but Starlight suspected Trixie wanted to get as far away from Ponyville as possible. She didn’t blame her friend. Starlight wanted to leave as well, but what would that solve?

Starlight was so caught up in her worries that she didn’t see the mirror portal come to life. Bright flashes appeared in the mirror and a familiar pony with a red and gold mane stepped through.

The first thing Sunset Shimmer saw was Starlight Glimmer pacing nervously back and forth. Her coat had lost its luster and her mane was a tangled mess. Sunset saw the dark circles under Starlight’s eyes and wondered how she was keeping it all together. “Starlight?” Sunset cautiously called out.

Snapped out of her thoughts, Starlight looked up and relief flooded her face. She practically threw herself at Sunset, who gaped in surprise and stumbled to prevent falling over. “You came! You actually came!” Starlight cried.

“Of course,” Sunset replied, clearly confused. “Why wouldn’t I?” She pushed Starlight away and took a good look at the teary unicorn. “Starlight what happened? Where is Twilight?”

Starlight sniffed. “You better come with me,” she said. Frowning, Sunset followed behind. Thinking back, Sunset found it strange that Starlight Glimmer had started writing in the journal. The entries had started out a bit odd and quickly devolved into pleas for assistance. The final straw for Sunset was a single word scrawled across two journal pages:

HELP

Starlight sat at the table and slumped over, looking completely defeated. They hadn’t really had a chance to talk and get to know each other, and everything Sunset knew of Starlight came from Twilight. Sunset knew Starlight as a smart and very capable unicorn, and seeing her in this state caused her to worry even more. “What happened here?” she asked.

Starlight looked to Sunset with confusion. “Didn’t you read the journal entries I sent?” she asked.

“I did,” Sunset nodded, “but most of them didn’t make any sense.” Sunset reached into her saddle bag and pulled out her journal. “’Hello Sunset Shimmer, this is Twilight Glimmer. I know we don’t know each other very well, but have you seen Twilight? Has she gone to visit you?’” Sunset turned a few pages. “’Sunset, its Starlight. Are you sure Twilight isn’t with you?’ It goes on and on and ends with this.” Sunset turned the journal and showed Starlight the last entry. “Why is Twilight missing?”

“I wish I knew!” Starlight exploded in frustration. She then looked down at her hooves, embarrassed by her outburst. Sunset was momentarily stunned, then moved next to Starlight and embraced her in a big hug. Starlight grabbed her tightly and tears flowed freely down her face. “Starlight, I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on,” Sunset whispered in her ear.

Starlight let out a big sigh and leaned back. “I’m sorry.” She smoothed her mane back and cleared her throat. “I guess you could say it started when Celestia publicly executed this strange looking bipedal creature.”

Sunset heard what Starlight said and it took a second for it to sink in.

When she finally comprehended what was said, her mind went blank.

Sunset.exe has stopped functioning. Re-boot? Y/N

Re-boot in progress.

Re-boot complete. Sunset.exe unexpectedly shut down. Re-open previous thought? Y/N

Previous thought re-opened.

“WHAT?!?” Sunset shrieked.

Starlight recoiled at Sunset’s outburst. “After that, Princess Celestia has been acting more and more out of character. It’s almost like the Princess thinks this is the early days of Equestria when everypony was fighting with everypony else.”

“Stop, stop, stop,” Sunset quickly interrupted, waving her hooves in the air. “Go back to that earlier part. You said Princess Celestia executed somepony?”

“And publicly too,” Starlight added. “The whole thing was odd from the start. Celestia claimed the creature had snuck into Equestria to cause mayhem and destruction. To top it all off, Celestia accused the creature of killing Lord Tirek.”

Sunset’s brain suffered another reboot. “WHAT?!” she shrieked again.

Starlight narrowed her eyes and slowly sipped her tea. “Really? You should learn to control you outbursts.”

“Oh that’s rich, coming from you,” Sunset said angrily. “Three seconds ago you were a hot mess, clinging to me like your life depended on it.”

“And it still might,” Starlight added. Sunset smacked herself in the face with her hoof. This was definitely not what she was expecting when hurried through the mirror. Whether it was Sunset’s presence or the tea, Starlight seemed to have regained some measure of her composure. “Also, I think the castle is haunted now,” Starlight added matter-of-factly.

“Of course it is!” Sunset exasperated, throwing her hooves in the air and falling backwards out of her chair. As she lay there on the floor staring up at the ceiling, Sunset tried to figure out what to do next. “Oh, and you still haven’t told me what happened to Twilight and the others,” she said.

Starlight hummed to herself and furrowed her brow in thought. “About a week or so after the execution, Princess Celestia summoned Twilight and the others to Canterlot. As it turns out, the unrest and bad things Celestia had warned us about were happening much faster than anticipated. She told them the source of everything was deep in Tartarus. And so Twilight led her friends on a journey to the depths of Tartarus, on the orders of Celestia herself.” Starlight took another sip of her tea. “They haven’t been seen since.”

“Hmm,” Sunset thought out loud. “Did anypony actually see them enter Tartarus?”

“Of course. Celestia was there to wish them luck, along with some of her guards,” Starlight replied.

Sunset looked to Starlight from where she was on the floor. “And where were you during all of this?” she asked.

“Here in the castle, trying to keep everything from falling apart. For all the good THAT did me,” Starlight grumped.

When Sunset gave her a questioning look, Starlight continued. “You see, since Twilight is the Princess of Friendship, Savior of Equestria and all, that means she’s constantly called away. And that means leaving me in charge of her school. And naturally, when Twilight goes anywhere, some, if not all, of Twilight’s friends accompany her. And guess who happens to be instructors at this school? If you guessed the Bearers of Harmony, then congratulations, you win the jackpot!” Starlight was huffing angrily at the end of her little rant.

“Wow. Tell me how you really feel,” Sunset replied sarcastically.

Starlight let out a sigh and rubbed her temples. “Look. It’s not that I dislike Twilight and her friends. I am grateful that Twilight basically risked the end of Equestria to show me that I was wrong. I just can’t help but feel that none of them take any of this seriously. I mean, Twilight is in charge of AN ENTIRE BUCKING SCHOOL FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!”

Starlight hopped out of her chair and stood over Sunset. “I mean, do any of them actually think any of this through? It completely baffles my mind that all of them have normal lives, in addition to being the Elements of Harmony. How do any of them have time to manage any of this? How is Rarity’s boutique still in business? How has Fluttershy not been locked up for animal abuse? Pinkie needs no explanation.”

“Wow. You’re really worked up about this,” Sunset said and picked herself up off the floor. Starlight was still unhappy, but at least neither of them were shouting anymore. “Okay. I feel like we’ve gotten off topic here,” she added.

Starlight’s anger melted away and she lowered her gaze to the floor. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I asked you for help and so far, all I’ve done is cry and complain about everything.”

Sunset smiled and gave Starlight a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that sometimes you just need to vent to a sympathetic ear.”

Starlight let out a small chuckle. “I suppose you’re right. It is nice to have sompony to talk to about all this. Twilight doesn’t really get it.”

“Perhaps it’s because she’s always been a slightly neurotic goody-two shoes, whereas we are former villains of the highest order,” Sunset offered.

Starlight shot Sunset a sly grin. “Perhaps. Speaking of which, who decided it was a good idea for two baddies to have complete run of the castle?”

Sunset found herself amused by Starlight’s proposal. “As much fun as that would be, I think it would be best if we focused on our main problem.”

Starlight frowned and sat on the floor. “I’ve already driven myself crazy over this. Any ideas?”

Sunset frowned and tapped her chin in thought. “You said something about the castle being haunted now?”

“Ah! Yes I did,” Starlight nodded.

“What proof do you have?” Sunset asked.

“For starters, I’ve only noticed it at night,” Starlight began.

“Because of course,” Sunset interrupted.

Starlight glared at her before continuing. “I think it would be quicker to just show you,” she said and set off with Sunset following behind. As Starlight led her through the castle, Sunset began to appreciate just how big it actually was. “Wow. This place is so much bigger than it looks.”

“That’s funny. Dr. Hooves said the same thing,” Starlight said. She finally stopped before a simple wooden door with a single key lock. Starlight’s horn flared to life as she began to manipulate the lock.

Sunset watched for a few moments and said, “Wouldn’t it be easier to use the key?”

“This is Twilight’s research room. She has the only key,” Starlight said simply.

Sunset narrowed her eyes. “And you don’t think she would have warded the lock to prevent you from doing exactly what you are doing?”

“Twilight is a genius, but that doesn’t mean she’s smart,” Starlight said. “Of course she warded the lock, but getting past it is easy when you know she used Keep Out, Keep Away, instead of Lock Tight.”

Sunset considered this, and realized it made a bit of sense. “Well in that case, by all means, continue breaking into a Princess’s private study.”

Starlight winked and made a face at Sunset. “Reformed baddie, remember?”

Sunset rolled her eyes and Starlight finished picking the lock. She pushed the door open and cast an illumination spell to light the room. Sunset stepped inside and looked around in awe. “For some reason, this is exactly how I imagined it,” she said as she casually browsed through the room. She stopped and read the titles of a few books. “Oh. So that’s what happened with ‘Of Mice and Magic Volume IV.’”

Starlight scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Of course little miss Princess of Friendship would keep all of the best books and scrolls to herself. But that’s not the best part.” She then showed Sunset the desk in the middle of the room. A thick manual lay open on top and Sunset hopped up into the chair to read it. She frowned as she browsed the pages.

“When she’s not on an adventure or saving Equestria, Twilight spends most of her time holed up in here studying that book,” Starlight said. She then pointed to a large chalkboard covered in scribbles and equations. “I mean sure, light speed travel is cool and all, but what’s the point if you can’t actually make it work?”

At this, a memory bubbled up in Sunset’s brain. Her eyes went wide and she quickly closed the book to the front cover. Sure enough, she recognized what it was. “I know what this is,” she said.

“Besides a book on space flight and near-light speed travel?” Starlight offered.

“Sure, but that’s only part of it,” Sunset said. “More importantly, this book comes from an alternate reality!”

Now it was Starlight’s turn to be confused. “Wait. Stop. Hold up. What do you mean? How would you know that?”

“Because I know the person that gave it to her,” Sunset replied sheepishly.

Starlight’s eyes slowly grew until they were the size of dinner plates. “You. And me. Are going to have a little chat when this is over,” she said, quite seriously.

Sunset smiled and nodded in reply, then became serious again. “So this ghost?”

“Right,” Starlight said, getting back to the point. “At first it was small things. Books were switched around or misplaced. A book would disappear on night, then show up in a completely different room later.”

Sunset frowned. “Is there some kind of pattern to the missing books?”

“At first I didn’t think so, but after a while I noticed a theme,” Starlight said and erased a corner of the chalkboard. “The first few book were on the history of this world and the founding of Equestria. Then an entire section of Starswirl’s spell books went missing, followed by Clover the Clever’s journals on Magic theory and application. Lately, the ghost has taken an interest in biographies of Princess Celestia.”

As Sunset thought about this, Starlight went to a corner and pulled out a small table. “Then one night, this appeared. I haven’t had the chance to look into it yet.”

Sunset’s eyes went wide. The object in question was a metal square with what looked like a red square-cut gem in the center. Two rings, an inner and outer were mounted to the square. Six metal fins were mounted to the outer circle, three on each side. The whole thing looked like a fancy gyroscope, but Sunset suspected it did more than just measure angular momentum. She quickly tore through the pages of the book, until she found what she was looking for. “Starlight, come look at this,” she said.

Frowning, Starlight hopped up on the chair next to Sunset and looked where she was pointing. Her eyes scanned the pages and Sunset watched with some satisfaction as realization lit up Starlight’s eyes. She looked up at Sunset in awe. “I think our mysterious ghost is a traveler from a different world,” Sunset said.

“But…how is that possible?” Starlight sputtered. “There’s only one mirror portal, and that’s the one here in the castle. Right?”

Sunset frowned. “Apparently not.”

Starlight jumped down and began pacing in circles. “So does that mean Celestia was right? A bipedal being from another world came here to cause trouble? But Celestia killed it right?”

Sunset stared at the NLS drive sitting innocently in Twilight’s study. “If what I know is true, then Celestia has made HUGE mistake, and she doesn’t even know it yet.” Fearing the worst, Sunset asked, “The creature that was executed. Do you know what it looked like?”

Starlight thought for a moment and shook her head. “I was stuck here in Ponyville during the execution. However, I did hear that the creature looked like a human with blue skin.”

A wave of relief washed over Sunset. She didn’t think that Celestia had executed Hildr, but it was the only thing that made sense. But there was another, or at least appeared to be. This thought cause Sunset to jolt with surprise. Did this mean that there were Vex portals active in this Equestria as well? Sunset fought a wave of panic. If that was true, at least she knew how to stop them.

Act 1 Ch. 2: Possession

Sunset was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn’t notice Starlight’s eyes glaze over. Her normally light blue eyes turned sulfur yellow with slit pupils. Starlight slowly stalked toward Sunset with a crazed look on her face. When Sunset turned around, Starlight jumped and tackled her to the ground.

“Starlight! What’s gotten into you?” Sunset grunted as she tried to push Starlight off.

“The same thing that is going to get into you!” Starlight hissed. She leaned in close to Sunset and opened her mouth wide. Sunset struggled to free herself, but she was no match for Starlight’s manic strength. A dark miasma formed in Starlight’s mouth and slowly oozed toward Sunset.

Sunset shrieked and turned her head away, but Starlight clamped her hooves to Sunset’s face, forcing her to be still. In her panicked state, Sunset desperately tried to think of a solution. Finally it dawned on her, and Sunset momentarily felt silly. She was a pony again and had access to all her magic and abilities. Focusing her magic, Sunset’s horn started to glow red and she blasted Starlight across the room. The possessed unicorn knocked over a bookshelf and disappeared under an avalanche of books.

Sunset took a deep breath and shakily rose to her feet. Her horn kept its red glow as she cautiously approached the pile of books. The pile shifted slightly and a blast of magic vaporized the books, revealing a crazed Starlight Glimmer, whose own horn was primed with magic.

Sunset glared at Starlight and considered her options. She didn’t want to hurt Starlight, and certainly didn’t want to destroy Twilight’s castle on accident. Unfortunately, Starlight made the choice for her when she sent a beam of magic at Sunset. Sunset ducked out of the way and a small table was reduced to dust instead.

“Really? Annihilator magic?” Sunset asked incredulously. Starlight responded by firing at Sunset again. This time, Sunset used teleportation magic to appear in the doorway behind Starlight. Sunset cast a paralyzer spell, but Starlight teleported herself to safety down the hall. They stared at each other, then Starlight took off with Sunset in hot pursuit.

Starlight held a slight advantage since she knew the layout of the castle, but Sunset hit her with a sneaky tracking spell, allowing her to teleport to Starlight’s location. A brief scuffle would ensue, with both gifted unicorns trying to get the upper hand, before Starlight ran away again. Eventually, Starlight led Sunset into a cellar that led deep underground.

Sunset took a moment to catch her breath. She was glad to be able to use familiar spells again, but her lack of practice left her winded and using more magic than normal. As she traveled deep and deeper underground, Sunset felt a chill roll down her spine. She stopped and carefully looked around. She didn’t notice anything, but could feel eyes staring intently at her. The pathway had become uncomfortably claustrophobic and the walls were slimy with condensation. Sunset had to use an illumination spell to light the way, which only added to the creepy atmosphere. She suppressed a shudder and used her magic to teleport to Starlight’s location.

When Sunset appeared from her last teleport, she found herself in a large cavern. What she saw turned her stomach and nearly made her vomit. Piles of bloody bones were scattered around the cavern and to Sunset’s horror, they appeared to be fresh. An altar of rocks and wood dominated the center of the cavern. Strange patterns had been carved into the ground and filled with a dark, viscous red liquid. The scent of copper overpowered Sunset’s sense of smell. Pale green bioluminescent moss covered the ceiling, acting as a pitiful source of light. Starlight stood in the center of the altar, chanting in a language Sunset had never heard before. Hearing the words made Sunset feel like needles were stabbing her brain though her ears. Starlight held a large bowl overhead in her magic and Sunset noticed her cutie mark had been covered in what she hoped was red paint.

This whole scene was like something out of Sunset’s nightmares, or her favorite video game series “Tirek’s Revenge.” Starlight’s foreign words penetrated deep into Sunset’s soul and icy fingers slowly gripped her heart. There was a strange and unnatural magic in Starlight’s words and it was starting to affect Sunset. She found herself rooted to the spot, unable to move or even look away. It was then that she realized Starlight had intended to bring her here from the start. It made Sunset feel disgusted and betrayed. Anger began to build in her belly and the warmth slowly spread through her body.

Starlight stopped her chanting long enough to turn in Sunset’s direction. “I am so glad you could make it,” she said.

“Not like you gave me much of a choice,” Sunset growled. An unnaturally wide smile spread across Starlight’s face as she levitated into the air and floated closer to Sunset. Sunset was taken aback when she saw that Starlight was doing this without using magic. “There was never a choice. You were meant to be here,” Starlight said.

It was at this point Sunset finally realized that this was not Starlight Glimmer. She saw the unnatural eyes and heard the strange distortion in her voice. “Where is Starlight?” Sunset demanded.

“Is she not standing before you?” Not Starlight asked and slowly turned in a circle.

A plan was starting to take shape in Sunset’s mind. It would be risky, but she saw little choice. Rather than use her horn, Sunset focused the magic internally, so as to not arouse suspicion. “That may be Starlight’s body, but what do I call the one possessing her?” she called out.

“Your primitive language cannot pronounce my true name, but you may call me Unum, for I am one of Many,” Not Starlight spoke.

The building magic in Sunset’s chest was starting to cause her discomfort, but she did her best to keep it off her face. “So what is all this for then?” she asked and gestured around the cavern. “Are you trying to summon your evil overlord?” At this, Starlight, rather Unum, chuckled. “There is no need for such a thing since the Prime Evil already walks among your kind.” This gave Sunset quite a shock and she nearly lost control of her spell. The magic was becoming difficult to control and Sunset doubted she could hold it much longer.

Unum then moved until it was hovering right above the altar. “This simple gathering is so that I might be born into this world,” it said. With a wave of the hoof, the bowl floating above the altar slowly tipped over and a rancid liquid poured over the altar. Rather than spill everywhere, the liquid formed into a long cylinder with a rounded end. The phallic shaped object floated up and Sunset could only watch as it penetrated Starlight Glimmer. When it was fully inserted, Starlight’s eyes went wide and she doubled over in pain. To Sunset’s growing horror, Starlight’s stomach ballooned outward. Starlight rolled over on her back with her legs spread out, still floating in midair. Her belly began to shift and contort, as if something was trying to get out. Starlight screamed in agony and Sunset’s spell was finally ready. The magic that had been building inside her rushed to her horn and poured out. Delirious with the rush of magic, Sunset pointed her horn at the altar and focused there. A speck of light appeared and quickly grew into a raging inferno of red and gold. Once again, Sunset had cast her most powerful spell: Starfire.

The magical flames burned through the altar like dry kindling and engulfed Starlight Glimmer. Unum’s wail pierced Sunset to the core. It almost made he falter and lose control, but she stubbornly held on. The altar was reduced to nothing and the Starfire began burning up the rest of the cavern. All of it had to go. If one speck of this unspeakable evil remained, it would fester and grow like a tumor, until all of Equestria was consumed and turned into Hell.

“This is nothing!” Unum screeched and thrashed about in the flames. “The Prime Evil walks this land and none can oppose him! My brothers and sisters will reshape this world to suit his needs. It is inevitable!”

“SHUT UP!” Sunset screamed. Her growing rage added fuel to the Starfire, causing it to grow bigger and burn hotter. Black liquid was boiled out of Starlight’s body and Unum’s screaming finally faded away, returning her to normal. Mercifully, she had passed out.

Sustaining the Starfire drained Sunset’s magic at an alarming rate. Her limbs grew heavy and her vision started to blur and fade. Sweat poured off her body from the heat and Sunset found it difficult to breathe. She wasn’t sure if she had the strength to end the spell.

Vaguely, she felt something touch her shoulder and Sunset started to feel just a tiny bit better. Realizing this was her chance, Sunset carefully ended the Starfire. The great red and gold flames shrank until they disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The cavern had been completely torched. Nothing remained of the altar, the bones, the symbols on the ground, or the liquid that filled them. The stone walls glowed red with heat and cracked as they cooled. The air was hot and dry, and it was a wonder that all of the oxygen hadn’t been consumed by the flames.

Sunset was emotionally and physically exhausted. Her legs finally gave out and she collapsed in a heap. The ground was so warm and she was so tired. Sunset closed her eyes, just for a quick nap.

Act 1 Ch. 3: The Hunter

When Sunset woke up, everything hurt. Her eyes were scratchy, her mouth felt like sandpaper, the hairs of her coat were hypersensitive, her joints were slightly swollen, and she had a pounding headache. Sunset closed her eyes and sighed. Her best guess, she was suffering from a rather severe case of Magic Exhaustion and dehydration. Her whole body felt like a dried up sponge. As she lay in the soft bed, Sunset’s eyes suddenly snapped open and she shot up. Once the wave of dizziness passed, she winced from the pounding in her skull and looked around. Clearly she was not in her apartment, nor lying in the remains of a burned out cavern deep underground. The sun shone warmly through the closed drapes, causing the room to light up with muted colors and deep shadows.

Sunset noticed a glass of water and a pitcher on the nightstand, and she almost fell out of the bed in her mad scramble. It was all she could do to not gulp down the pitcher and make herself sick. Sunset finally came up for air and let out a sigh of relief.

“Careful. You wouldn’t want to make yourself sick,” a raspy voice gently called out.

Sunset let out a little shriek in surprise and nearly dumped the pitcher on the bed. The raspy voice chuckled and Sunset glared at the shadows. “Who’s there?” she called out. When she tried to use her horn, it only sparked and sputtered. A spike of pain deep between her eyes caused Sunset to grab her head in agony.

“Try not to over exert yourself. Your magic still hasn’t recovered yet,” the voice said.

“Gee, thanks for pointing that out,” Sunset muttered. Suddenly, she gasped. “Starlight! What about Starlight?”

“Relax,” the voice soothed. “Starlight Glimmer will be fine, physically at least. It will take much longer for her mind to recover from her ordeal.”

Memories of what happened came flooding back. “So that really happened, huh?” Sunset asked and looked down at her hooves sadly.

“Yes,” the voice affirmed.

Sunset slowly looked to the ceiling. Somehow, it felt wrong for her to be sitting on this comfortable bed and relaxing, while Celestia-knows-what was happening out there. “Is what Unum said true?” Sunset asked hesitantly. She was afraid of the answer. Part of her hoped that this was all just a bad dream.

“Yes,” the voice replied.

Sunset squeezed her eyes shut and let out a deep sigh. Questions began to fill her mind. As if knowing her thoughts, the voice stated, “You have questions.”

“Many,” Sunset nodded. “I suppose the first question ought to be, who are you?”

The shadows shifted and a tall, humanoid figure appeared. Sunset couldn’t really tell, but it looked like a person, a human, wearing a long, dark poncho. Two lights, one red and the other blue, shone brightly from the depths of the hood.

“My name is Nyx. I am a Hunter Guardian and a friend of Hildr,” Nyx said.

Sunset’s eyes went wide and she gasped. “You know Hildr?”

Nyx nodded. “I do. I also know of you, Sunset Shimmer. Hildr speaks of you often and quite fondly.”

This caused a deep blush to appear on Sunset’s face. She shook her head and frowned. “Why are you here? How are you here?”

Nyx pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed. What little lighting there was in the room revealed to Sunset that Nyx was wearing light armor under her poncho. What really grabbed Sunset’s attention was Nyx’s scarred face. Nyx noticed Sunset staring and cocked her head to the side. “Does my appearance bother you?” she asked and gently drew her fingers down her cheek.

Sunset frowned. “Not as much as the rest of you.” She leaned forward to get a closer look. “What are you?”

Nyx hummed to herself. “I am an Exo. Perhaps I used to be a human, but not anymore.”

“What does that mean?” Sunset asked.

“Exactly what I said,” Nyx said simply. “I might have been a human, but it was so long ago, I simply can’t remember.” She sat back and folded her hands in her lap. “You are taking this surprisingly well.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m freaking out a little on the inside,” Sunset admitted. Her body shivered and she rubbed her foreleg with her hoof. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I find you unsettling.”

“I’ve been accused of worse,” Nyx replied.

“But you said you were a friend of Hildr, so I guess that’s good enough for me,” Sunset said. “I take it you were the one who brought us back.”

“Indeed,” Nyx nodded.

Sunset thought for a moment, then asked, “Back to my earlier question, why are you here and how did you get here?”

“To answer that requires a bit of a story first,” Nyx said. “But first let me ask you this: What if I told you there is more than one crystal mirror portal?”

Sunset’s eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. “But how-“

Nyx held up a hand to interrupt. “Just dwell on that thought for a moment. I was asked, very politely I might add, by a little Pink Balloon to come here and take care of a very particular problem. As I am sure you are aware, every action has consequences. The reason I am here in Equestria now, is the consequence of those actions.”

Sunset’s brain spun in circles trying to figure out just what Nyx was telling her. “So, basically you came here as a favor, did something of questionable behavior, and now you are here because of it?”

“For the most part,” Nyx nodded.

Sunset started to put two and two together. “So Celestia wasn’t lying then.” Sunset looked up at Nyx with a bit of fear in her eyes. “Did you really come here to cause mayhem and bring misfortune to Equestria?”

Nyx sighed. “No more than Discord on a Sunday afternoon. Celestia greatly exaggerated my actions to prove her point, and cut off my head.” She drew her finger across her throat to emphasize her point.

“But since you’re a Guardian, you came back to life,” Sunset stated. She sighed and rubbed her face with her hooves. “Why is it every time I come here to visit, something always goes wrong?”

“But then the Story wouldn’t be as interesting,” Nyx reasoned. “Of course there are fans of Slice of Life, but everyone likes a good action story, with compelling characters and amazing fights.”

Sunset stared stupidly at Nyx. “Sorry. That was a strange thing to say,” Nyx apologized.

Sunset pushed the blankets back and rolled out of bed with a groan. “Starlight is probably in the kitchen,” Nyx said, also getting to her feet. As she walked through the castle with Nyx following behind, Sunset idly wondered what Hildr was up to. She chuckled at the thought of Hildr administering first aid, or fighting off a small army of Vex. What would Hildr do if she were here? Probably kick down the door to the throne room and try and beat some sense into Celestia. Watching two titans of the Sun throwing down would be amazing and terrifying at the same time.

Hildr never mentioned other types of Guardians. How many were there? How many of them were like Hildr? And just what was a Hunter anyway? Based on Nyx’s appearance, Sunset guessed if Warlocks were mages, Hunters must be scouts and spies. She glanced over her shoulder at Nyx. She wasn’t lying when she said Nyx made her uncomfortable. Was it her scarred face, mismatched eyes, or the fact she was neither human or pony? Her unblinking gaze seemed to look through you, like she was staring into your soul, trying to learn your innermost secrets. What secrets did Nyx hold? What things has she seen? Unlike Hildr who wore her emotions on her sleeve, Nyx was a closely guarded secret.

Sunset was still pondering these things when she arrived in the kitchen. Although the castle could support a sizeable staff, Twilight still lived alone with Spike. Therefore, the kitchen was very large which made Starlight Glimmer seem even smaller in comparison. She sat alone at the table, staring blankly at the plate of muffins and fruit in front of her. Her coat was dull and unbrushed, her mane hung limply around her face. Starlight looked pitiful and Sunset couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. She walked up and gently rubbed Starlight on the back. “Hey Starlight,”

Starlight let out a sigh and turned to look away from Sunset.

Sunset wasn’t sure what to do. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” Starlight replied softly.

Sunset moved closer and put her forelegs around Starlight, who flinched slightly at the contact. “I need you Starlight. Twilight is missing and you’re the only one I can count on.” Sunset gently pulled Starlight into a hug. “Help me help you.”

Starlight shook herself free of Sunset’s embrace. “Don’t touch me!” she hissed. “Don’t look at me, don’t talk to me. You want to help? Leave me alone!”

Sunset frowned. “I’m pretty sure that’s the last thing you need right now.”

“How would you know?” Starlight shouted. “You don’t know what it’s like to have your mind taken over, to be a passenger in your own body.” Tears began streaming down her face as she choked back angry sobs. “That monster, that…thing…took something from me that I will never get back!”

Sunset’s heart broke as she watched Starlight collapse under the weight of her grief. Her own sorrow was tinged with anger over what happened to Starlight. “What happened?” she asked.

“What happened?” Starlight shouted and angrily turned on Sunset. “You were there! That thing RAPED me Sunset! It violated me with that vile and disgusting thing. It used me like some king of sick breeding incubator!” Starlight collapsed to the floor and wailed loudly. “I can still feel that disgusting sliminess. It penetrated deep inside me to places I didn’t think could be reached.” Caught up in her memories, Starlight started to dry heave. She lay on the floor completely spent. “No matter how many baths I take, no matter how hard I scrub, the dirty greasy feeling never goes away.” Starlight closed her eyes and sighed. “And you want to know the worst part? I couldn’t stop it. I was aware of everything the whole time, and could do nothing. I tried to stop it. I almost killed you.” Her breathing slowed and became steadier as she calmed down. “I did unspeakable things. Where do you think all of the blood came from? Do you think Fluttershy will notice all of her animals are missing?”

Sunset’s mind was completely blank. She literally could not process what Starlight was telling her. It was beyond her comprehension. “But, that wasn’t you. You were possessed by a demon or something right?” It sounded pathetic, even to Sunset’s ears.

Starlight opened her eyes and glared up at Sunset. “Is that what you tell yourself?” she asked, slowly getting standing up. “’It wasn’t me that stole the crown and turned into a demon.’ ‘That wasn’t me who brainwashed an entire school.’ ‘It wasn’t me that tried to kill Twilight and her human friends.’” With each accusation, Starlight slowly walked toward Sunset, until she was right in the orange unicorn’s face. “IS THAT YOUR EXCUSE?”

“No,” Sunset mumbled and looked away, unable to meet Starlight’s eyes. “It sounded pathetic as soon as I said it.”

“THEN WHY WOULD YOU THINK TO SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT!” Starlight shouted. She shook her head and turned away. “I’m not hungry.” Starlight walked the long way around the table, making a show of putting as much distance between her and Sunset as possible. “Where are you going?” Sunset asked meekly.

“To take a bath,” Starlight replied angrily. “I know it won’t help, but it makes me feel better.” With that, Starlight left, letting the door close loudly behind her, causing Sunset to flinch.

“That could have gone better,” Sunset muttered and collapsed into a chair.

“Let Starlight have her grief,” Nyx said, slowly peeling an orange.

Sunset turned to look at the Hunter. “How long have you been here?” she asked.

“The whole time,” Nyx replied simply, and pushed the plate of orange slices toward Sunset, who stared down at them. “I’m not very hungry,” she said.

“I already peeled it and I don’t need to eat, so too bad,” Nyx replied with a shrug.

Sunset rolled her eyes and reluctantly bit into the offered fruit. “I wish I could help Starlight.”

“You are,” Nyx replied, picking up an apple. She hefted it in her hand, then pulled out her knife and started cutting. “You of all people should know that being there and being a shoulder to cry on is more than enough.”

“But I don’t even know what she’s going through,” Sunset protested, rather lamely in Nyx’s opinion. “Maybe not her exact circumstances, but you know what it’s like to be completely consumed and turned into something you don’t even recognize,” Nyx said.

“But it’s not the same!” Sunset insisted. “If I used my Empathy touch, maybe-“

“Yeah, that’s a hard ‘NO.’” Nyx interrupted, crossing her arms in an X in front of her.

“Why?” Sunset asked, clearly confused.

Nyx leaned forward and counted on her fingers. “One: I didn’t know you were a hard-core masochist. Two: Seeing Starlight’s memories and experiencing her emotions against her will makes you no better than the demon that possessed her. Three: Empathy is not experiencing someone’s pain, it’s understanding and relating to their pain, thoughts or feelings. It’s hard enough trying to manage your own. And four: Starlight is just one individual. I am willing to bet dimes to dollars that this exact thing is happening, not just in Equestria, but all over the world. Are you going to do this for all of the victims?” Nyx finished cutting and peeling the apple and slid the plate across the table. Sunset saw the apple skin had been cut to look like bunny ears. “What’s this?” she asked.

“An attempt at brevity and light heartedness in these troubling times,” Nyx replied. “Is it working?”

“I don’t know,” Sunset replied and took a bite of apple. She ate in silence and Nyx watched with bored interest. “So you really don’t eat?” Sunset finally asked.

“No,” Nyx replied.

“So how do you not die or whatever?” Sunset asked and immediately face-hooved. “That didn’t come out right.”

Nyx cocked her head to the side. “Why the sudden interest?”

“I don’t know,” Sunset shrugged. “Something to do I guess.”

“Isn’t there something we should be doing instead?” Nyx suggested.

“Like what?” Sunset exasperated. “Everyone is missing and Equestria is falling apart!” She slumped on the table, knocking over several plates. “I don’t know what to do.”

“What happened with you and Hildr?” Nyx asked.

“That was different,” Sunset insisted. “I happened to find her and got caught up in her situation.”

Nyx leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers. “Based on what you DO know, what do you think should be done?”

“Go to Canterlot and speak with Princess Celestia?” Sunset guessed.

Nyx considered this. “Not a bad thought, but since Celestia has been acting way out of character, do you think talking to her would provide anything useful?”

At this, Sunset frowned. “Perhaps not. But it wouldn’t hurt to try.”

Nyx spread her arms in an empty gesture. “I can’t stop you, but I won’t go with you. As far as Celestia knows, I’m dead and I would like to keep it that way.”

Sunset stared long and hard at Nyx. “Why? It’s not like she can kill you permanently. What’s stopping you from going up there right now?” Sunset hopped out of her chair and walked right up to Nyx. “What do you know that you aren’t telling?”

Nyx leaned down until her face was inches from Sunset’s. She pulled off her glove and held up her hand, saying, “Take a look if you really want to know.”

Hildr’s Stare was heavy and oppressive, like it wanted to grind you into dust and burn the rest, whereas Nyx’s Stare was sharp and piercing. It cut straight to the soul with surgical precision, and Sunset could feel the electricity building in the air. For the first time, Sunset realized just how dangerous Nyx truly was. She was a coiled serpent, waiting for the right moment to strike with ruthless efficiency. Sunset had no doubt Nyx could kill her and not think twice about it. A chill came over Sunset and she shivered. “I…I’m going to go now,” she stammered and left Nyx alone in the kitchen.

Act 1 Ch. 4: A Heart in Turmoil

Sunset wandered aimlessly through the castle, her thoughts a jumbled mess. What should she do? She was in way over her head. She had no friends and no Hildr for help. What she DID have, was Starlight Glimmer and Nyx. Sunset stopped and narrowed her eyes. “Enough of this pity party,” she said. “The one kind of party Pinkie doesn’t like.” Thinking of Pinkie brought a slight smile to Sunset’s face.

Up ahead, Sunset noticed a door slightly ajar with steam billowing out. Curious, Sunset poked her head inside. She couldn’t see anything, but did hear something that sounded a lot like sobbing. “Starlight? Is that you?” Sunset cautiously called out.

“Who else would it be?” Starlight replied, rather annoyed.

Sunset rolled her eyes and carefully walked in. The heavy steam obscured everything except what was directly in front of her. As a result, she tripped over a small stool and ended up falling into the bath with a big SPLASH. Sunset broke the surface, coughing and sputtering.

“You just can’t leave me alone, can you?” Starlight asked, wiping water out of her face.

Sunset brushed her mane out of her eyes and said, “I’m sorry.”

Starlight sighed and looked down into the water. Sunset wondered if her eyes were red from crying or the heat. Probably a bit of both. “I…I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier,” Starlight said.

Sunset said nothing and let her continue. “I know you’re just trying to help, but I can’t help it. When I close my eyes, I can see their lifeless faces. I can hear the screaming. I can feel the sliminess inside me, the bulging and pushing.”

Sunset moved closer and could see the patches in Starlight’s coat. The skin was reddened and raw from being scrubbed so hard. Sunset found the brush and soap floating nearby. “Starlight, may I wash your back?” she asked.

Starlight didn’t say anything, but turned and offered her back to Sunset. Sunset worked up a lather on the brush and started scrubbing gently. The two unicorns sat in the heat and silence, the only sound coming from the brush on Starlight’s coat. Finally Sunset asked, “Starlight, why did Celestia send Twilight to Tartarus?”

Starlight let out a groan of appreciation. “She said the prisoners were causing trouble and needed to be taken care of.”

Sunset stopped scrubbing. “How did she know what was going on in Tartarus?”

Starlight gave an imperceptible shrug. “Why did you stop?”

“Sorry,” Sunset apologized and resumed her brushing. “What do you think we should do?”

“What do you mean?” Starlight asked.

“I mean, should we try and rescue Twilight and the others?” Sunset asked.

Starlight thought to herself. “You know, this happened one other time.”

“Which part? Equestria falling apart or Twilight getting trapped in Tartarus?” Sunset asked.

“Well when you put it THAT way, nothing ever changes,” Starlight admitted. “It was a little over a year ago. Magic was disappearing in Equestria. Celestia thought Tirek was behind it and sent Twilight to investigate. Turns out he was and they were trapped.”

“How did they get out?” Sunset asked.

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Twilight convinced the monsters in Tartarus, including Tirek, to give up their magic so Twilight could teleport out.” She waved her hoof in the air and added, “Once again, Friendship saves the day.” Her hoof fell back into the water with a splash.

Sunset stopped for a moment, then continued, asking, “Does that bother you?”

“The friendship thing?” Starlight asked and Sunset nodded. “A little bit. I mean, I’m not sure I understand it.”

“How so?” Sunset asked, moving from Starlight’s back to her mane.

Starlight closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the brush through her mane. “I’m not completely stupid. I know that ponies deserve a second chance, but what happens when somepony is so far gone, has done such terrible things, that they shouldn’t get another chance?” Starlight let out a tired sigh and held up her hooves. “Where do you draw the line between forgiveness, and imprisonment?”

Sunset stopped to think about this. “Basically, you are wondering why Twilight showed you mercy and not a cell in Tartarus?” Starlight nodded. “Sometimes I wonder the same thing,” Sunset continued. “I think the reason is that sometimes, ponies just do bad things. Does that make them a bad pony? Not necessarily. For all her faults, Twilight has the uncanny ability to see into the hearts of others, to see the good buried deep inside. I think that’s why she is the Princess of Friendship. Yes, you did some terrible things, fought with Twilight, nearly upset the space-time continuum out of spite, but in the end, Twilight saw the good in you. She decided you could be saved, that you were worthy of friendship. But you are right that there are those who are unredeemable, no matter what.”

“But who gets to make that distinction?” Starlight asked softly.

“You do,” Sunset replied. “After everything was said and done, you accepted Twilight’s offer, didn’t you?” Starlight nodded glumly. “In this case, Twilight helped you save yourself.”

Starlight’s shoulders sagged and she sank up to her chin in the water. “I just did something pretty bad.”

“I don’t know if possession really counts,” Sunset offered.

“How can it not?” Starlight argued. “If I weren’t so weak, if I believed in myself more, maybe it wouldn’t have happened.”

Sunset thought back to a conversation she had with Hildr. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s you have to own up to your mistakes, take you licks, brush yourself off, and keep moving forward. Someone I admire greatly told me the reason we have eyes in the front of our heads is so we can see where we are going, not where we’ve been.”

Starlight nodded. “I get that, but it’s so hard to do. I can’t help but think that I’m not worth of a second chance.”

Sunset smiled. “Princess Luna told me the same thing once. Even if you don’t believe it, that doesn’t make it any less true. We all slip, stumble and fall, but you can be sure that Twilight, or me, will be there to pick you up again.”

A faint smile appeared on Starlight’s face. “Are you sure you’re not Twilight in disguise?”

“Yep,” Sunset grinned. “I just had some great teachers.”

Starlight’s smile faded and she became melancholic again. “I’m sorry for what I tried to do to you.” She frowned and added, “That spell you used was Starfire, right?” Sunset nodded. “I saw what happened. How am I not burned to a crisp right now?”

Sunset never thought of that. “I honestly don’t know,” she admitted. “I guess that’s something to look into later.”

Starlight rose to her feet and shook herself off, sending water flying everywhere. “I think I’ve spent enough time in the bath,” she said.

Sunset sputtered and glared at Starlight, wiping the water out of her face. “Thanks for that.”

Starlight gave an insincere smile in return and stepped out of the bath. “You up for a late breakfast?” she asked.

“I could eat again,” Sunset replied, climbing out of the bath. Starlight gave her a quick hug. “I don’t deserve somepony like you.”

After a quick stop at the kitchen, Sunset and Starlight went back to the main library. When they entered, Starlight stopped. Her mouth fell open and her eyes went wide. “What’s wrong?” Sunset asked. With a shaking hoof, Starlight pointed to the Cutie Map.

Three giant symbols were displayed over the map. Sunset recognized the first two as hers and Starlight’s cutie marks. The third she didn’t recognize, two crossed knives over a lightning bolt inside a circle. The whole emblem was bright electric blue. “What’s that?” she asked.

“I think that one is mine,” Nyx said, appearing from around a corner. Both unicorns shrieked in surprise. Starlight quickly regained her composure and took a defensive stance, with her horn glowing brightly. “Who are you? What do you want?”

Sunset put her hoof out to stop Starlight. “She’s a friend. I think.”

Nyx looked down at the Cutie Map. “Interesting. It seems the map wants us to solve a problem somewhere.”

Still wary, Starlight moved closer to the map. “That’s strange. I’ve never seen the map do this before.”

“How so?” Sunset asked, moving next to Starlight.

“Usually the displayed Cutie Marks are much smaller,” Starlight said.

“Maybe this means there is a huge problem,” Sunset offered. Starlight stared at her, looking very annoyed.

Nyx pointed and asked, “What’s this location?”

Starlight looked to where Nyx was pointing. “That’s the Crystal Empire.”

Nyx pulled out a letter and held it out for the two unicorns to see. “This letter just came.”

Starlight took it from Nyx with her telekinesis. She frowned and said, “It’s addressed to Princess Twilight, from Princess Cadence.” She opened the letter and read the contents. Starlight frowned and said, “This doesn’t make any sense.”

“How so?” Sunset asked.

“For starters, it’s written in Old Equish,” Starlight said. “I need to find a book to translate.”

“This one?” Nyx offered and held out a book. Both unicorns stared at her in shock. “How did you know we would need this?” Sunset asked.

“A hunch,” Nyx replied with a shrug.

Sunset took the book and quickly got to work. A few minutes later, the letter was translated and Starlight looked it over. “Um, I don’t think we did this right,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked with a frown.

“It’s just a bunch of gibberish,” Starlight replied, holding the letter out. “Did we use the wrong book?”

“That was the first thing we checked,” Sunset said. “Maybe it’s some kind of code?”

“But then we would need-“ Starlight started when Nyx handed them another book.

Sunset glared up at her while Starlight merely took the book in a state of mild shock. “How did you know where to even find this book?” she sputtered.

“I made a catalogue of the library when I first arrived here,” Nyx replied.

Sunset could see the wheels turning in Starlight’s mind. “You’re the ghost in the library!” she shouted.

“Guilty I guess,” Nyx replied.

Starlight teleported directly into Nyx’s face. “At least have the decency to put the books back where you found them!”

“But I did,” Nyx replied evenly.

Starlight’s eyes went wide and Sunset cautiously looked around. The library suddenly felt very cold and empty.

“W-well in any case, let’s see what the letter says,” Sunset stammered. While the Unicorns worked, Nyx disappeared into the stacks. Starlight quickly glanced up to where Nyx had been standing. “Were did you find her?” she asked in a hushed whisper.

“I didn’t. She found me,” Sunset replied and recounted her first conversation with Nyx. Starlight could only stare at Sunset. “So you’re telling me that everything that’s happened is Nyx’s fault?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Sunset said.

Starlight began to tremble and Sunset could see the rage building in her eyes. “Starlight, listen to me. It’s not Nyx’s fault for what happened to you.”

“You don’t know that!” Starlight shouted. “All of this started because Tirek died and SHE killed him!” Before Sunset could stop her, Starlight ran off into the library.

Starlight tore through the stacks, looking for Nyx. If she had been thinking properly, she would have stopped and taken the time to think logically. Screw logic! Her mind was clouded by anger, and it started to consume her. The tiny part of her brain still thinking tried to tell her that correlation does not equal causation, but Starlight didn’t care. To her, Nyx killed Tirek and that was the reason she had been violated by a demon. Nyx was a physical thing she could use to vent her rage and pain.

Tears began to blur her eyes, and a dull ache formed in her chest. Starlight stopped running and bent over gasping for breath. She wanted to cry and scream at the same time, and the pressure building in her chest made it hard to breathe. Starlight started to feel lightheaded and before she passed out, Nyx appeared in front of her.

Nyx said nothing and stared down at her.

Starlight snapped. She screamed and lunged at Nyx, her horn glowing brightly. Nyx stood there and let Starlight crash into her. Starlight bounced off Nyx and landed awkwardly on her hooves, and fired a blast of magic, knocking Nyx back. Starlight continued to scream like a mare possessed and kept throwing magic at Nyx while stomping on her as hard as she could. Nyx deftly rolled away and came up to her feet some distance away. She continued to say nothing and let Starlight throw magic at her.

Starlight grew more and more angry, especially when she finally noticed her magic had little to no effect on Nyx. Her spells were either nullified or bounced off harmlessly. Twilight’s library was starting to get trashed from the increasingly destructive magic she was throwing around.

Starlight finally trapped Nyx in her aura, lifted her off the ground, and started throwing her around like a rag doll. The chandelier shattered into pieces, and bookshelves fell apart. Cracks started to form in the ground and walls from the impacts. With one last shout, Starlight threw Nyx through the stained glass window and outside.

Act 1 Ch.5: Departure

When the crashing stopped, Sunset carefully peeked out of her hiding place. The library was destroyed. There was no other way to put it. Books and scrolls littered the floor. Pieces of wood and glass crunched underhoof. Fortunately, the Cutie Map was still in one piece, and the mirror portal also survived. Sunset carefully picked her way through the wreckage to find Starlight sitting in the middle of a shallow crater, sobbing quietly. Sunset sat next to her and put her leg around Sunset’s shoulder. “What have I done?” Starlight sniffed. “No matter how hard I try, I keep messing up.”

“It’s okay to be mad,” Sunset said. “Keeping all that emotion bottled up isn’t good for you.”

“I know,” Starlight said and wiped her eyes. Her breath shuddered as she looked around the damage. “Twilight is going to lose her mind.”

“Probably,” Sunset agreed. “Do you feel better now?”

“No,” Starlight admitted and summoned a handkerchief to blow her nose. “If anything, I feel worse for breaking everything.”

Sunset looked back to the Cutie Map. Their cutie marks were still emblazoned over the Crystal Empire. “I finished decoding the letter from Princess Cadence,” she said.

“What does it say?” Starlight asked, blowing her nose.

Sunset frowned. “That’s what I don’t quite understand. The message says that Cadence wants Twilight to visit for a ‘personal matter,’ but doesn’t say what that is. To make matters worse, the letter is dated four weeks ago.”

“That’s right before Twilight went missing,” Starlight said.

“But Nyx said the letter just arrived,” Sunset argued.

Starlight shrugged. “A blizzard moved in, cutting off all contact with the Crystal Empire. I’m sure it just took that long for the letter to arrive.”

“It’s the middle of summer,” Sunset deadpanned. Both ponies turned to the Cutie Map. “I think it’s trying to tell us something,” she added.

“And it wants us to take Nyx with us,” Starlight muttered angrily.

Sunset sighed. “I can’t say I know what you’re feeling, but can you at least put aside your anger long enough to figure this out? I’m not saying you have to be all buddy-buddy, but it will make things easier if you aren’t trying to kill Nyx every ten seconds.”

Starlight let out a big sigh. “I’ll do my best, for Twilight’s sake.”

That was good enough for Sunset. Just then, there was a knock at the door. Startled, the two shared a look, then ran for the door. “Are you expecting guests?” Sunset asked quietly.

“Not that I know of,” Starlight whispered back.

Sunset activated her horn, but a wave of dizziness passed over her. Starlight nodded and stood to the side of the door, horn ready and waiting.

Sunset took a deep breath to calm her nerves and opened the door.

Nyx stood there, waiting patiently. “Oh. Nyx,” Sunset said. Starlight slowly peeked around the doorway and glared at Nyx. “So. Have you decided what to do?” Nyx asked and Sunset nodded her head. “We need to get to the Crystal Empire.” She stole a glance at Starlight and added, “And we need you to come with us.”

Nyx stepped inside, taking care not to step on the ponies and Sunset closed the door behind her. “How do you plan on getting there?” she asked.

“Normally we’d take the train, but the routes have been cut off due to snow,” Starlight said.

“And since it would take forever to walk there, do you have a ship?” Sunset asked. Starlight gave her a confused look.

“I do,” Nyx replied.

“Can you take us in your ship?” Sunset asked hopefully.

“I can,” Nyx said.

“Hold on,” Starlight spoke up. “The Crystal Empire is nowhere near the ocean and none of the rivers are big enough to take a boat. Why would we go out of our way to take a boat all the way north?”

Sunset’s grin spread from ear to ear. “You’ll see!”

“But first, you need to prepare for the journey,” Nyx said, putting a slight damper on Sunset’s enthusiasm. “If what you say is true, it will be very cold up north.”

Starlight glared at Nyx. “I hate to say it, but I agree with Nyx. A blizzard this time of year has to be magical in nature, and we have to prepare for the worst.”

Sunset grudgingly agreed and they spent the next hour getting ready while Nyx waited patiently at the castle. When they were done, Sunset and Starlight led Nyx a little ways out of town so they wouldn’t be bothered. Sunset could barely contain her excitement and it was starting to get on Starlight’s nerves. “Will you either calm down or tell me what’s about to happen?” Starlight exasperated.

“I’m sorry, but you’re going to love this,” Sunset gushed.

Starlight rolled her eyes in annoyance. When they were far enough from town, Sunset stopped. “This should be good enough.”

Nyx held out her hand and a little metal ball with a floating ring around it appeared. Sunset’s eyes were sparkling. “Is this your Ghost?” she asked excitedly.

“Ghost? Like a dead pony?” Starlight asked, recoiling slightly.

“No,” Nyx chuckled. “But yes, this is my Ghost John Carter.”

“Like that one guy in those stories who lived on Mars?” Sunset asked in awe.

“Finally! Someone gets it,” Nyx whispered. Not hearing Nyx, Sunset carefully got up next to John Carter. “Hey there little guy. I’m Sunset Shimmer.”

John Carter looked around nervously. “Why are we here? What’s going on? Are we in trouble? Never mind, we’re always in trouble.”

Sunset frowned. “Is he always like this?”

“Yes,” Nyx replied. “Don’t worry, you’ll learn to ignore it.”

“Like you do?” John Carter asked. “You always ignore me.”

Starlight finally found her voice. “I’m confused. What’s going on?”

“John Carter, my Ghost, is my partner and helps me out with stuff. Mostly he acts as my conscience,” Nyx said.

“I see,” Starlight said, not really getting it.

“Anyway! Let’s get going!” Sunset spoke up. Nyx nodded to John Carter and his ring split into four and started spinning. White lines appeared in front of them, and Nyx’s ship materialized. Sunset ran around excitedly, while Starlight could only stare. “Were you the one to give Twilight that book?” she finally asked.

“No, that was someone else, but I did leave a little present for Twilight,” Nyx said, looking over her ship. She did a quick walk around, making sure everything was still one piece.

“This is amazing!” Sunset shouted. “It’s so much different than Hildr’s ship. Yours is so much…newer I guess.” Nyx’s ship was also much larger than the one Hildr had. It was shaped like a letter “E” with rounded corners. The cockpit was in the middle. Engines poked out from behind the outer arms. The whole thing was painted blue with orange and yellow stripes on the sides.

Nyx sat back and rubbed her chin. “Will this one be big enough?” she thought.

“I think so, but it will be very cramped,” John Carter spoke up. The landing ramp lowered and Sunset ran up. Nyx looked down to Starlight, who still wasn’t sure how she felt about all this. “I’d like to tell you to take all the time you need, but the sooner we leave, the better,” Nyx said. Starlight was still uncertain how she felt about all of this, but walked up the ramp to join Sunset onboard. Nyx followed and went to the cockpit.

To avoid unwanted attention, Nyx pointed the nose of her ship straight up and rocketed out of the atmosphere. The two ponies were stuffed behind Nyx’s seat in a small cargo hold. Since there were no seats, they had to strap themselves in as best they could with straps. Sunset was vibrating with excitement, but her mood was dampened by Starlight’s melancholy. She reached out and gave her friend a light rub on the shoulder. “Hey. Everything will be okay.”

“Somehow I doubt that very much,” Starlight said with a sigh.

To Sunset, it seemed they had just taken off when Nyx tipped the nose over and headed back down to the planet. Ponyville and Canterlot were left far behind as Nyx steered for the Crystal Empire. The weather quickly became overcast and stormy. Soon the ship was buffeted by heavy winds and snow. The turbulence grew worse and Sunset wondered if the ship would shake itself apart. If Nyx was worried, she didn’t show it, so Sunset took some comfort in that. The shaking and bouncing caused the straps to dig painfully into their skin. Starlight’s horn glowed as she cast a small shield around herself and Sunset.

Nyx finally broke through the cloud layer and the rest of the flight smoothed out considerably. Sunset worked her jaw around and briefly wondered if any of her teeth had come loose. She unbuckled herself and nudged Starlight to do the same. The two ponies slowly crept up to the cockpit. Without taking her eyes off the indications, Nyx said, “I wouldn’t be up and about if I were you.”

“Instead you rattle us around like dice in a can,” Starlight replied grumpily.

“You knew what you were getting into,” Nyx said.

Sunset looked over the control panel and out of the forward window. “Too bad you can’t see anything through the storm. This area is supposed to be pretty this time of year.”

“How would you know?” Starlight interjected. “The Crystal Empire didn’t come back until well after you ran away.”

“That’s true, but when I came back to steal Twilight’s crown, the mirror was in the Crystal Palace,” Sunset growled.

The two unicorns glared at each other until Nyx knocked them both on the head. “Calm yourselves.”

Starlight rubbed her head and blinked her eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

“You said this blizzard could be magical in nature. I’m sure that might have something to do with it,” Nyx said.

Starlight watched the thick snowflakes streak past the window. “Something’s been bothering me,” she finally said.

“What’s that?” Sunset asked.

Starlight blushed slightly and looked down at her hooves. “Back in the castle, why didn’t my magic have any effect on you?”

“But you threw Nyx out the window with your telekinesis, right?” Sunset pointed out.

“Well, yeah,” Starlight replied, “But that was the only thing that seemed to work.” Both unicorns looked to Nyx, who remained silent. When it was clear she wouldn’t comment, Sunset and Starlight retreated back to the cargo area, whispering between themselves. “Is she always like this?” Starlight asked.

“How should I know?” Sunset whispered back. “I’ve known her five minutes longer than you.”

“Didn’t you say you met somepony like her before?” Starlight asked.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Sunset exclaimed in a harsh whisper. “And besides, Nyx and Hildr have nothing in common!”

Starlight frowned. “But they’re both Guardians right?”

“And we’re both Unicorns!” Sunset nearly shouted. They quickly glanced up at Nyx, who either didn’t hear, or was ignoring them. “My point being, even though we’re both Ponies and Unicorns, we’re very different,” Sunset added.

Starlight rolled her eyes. “I get that you dummy. I thought that since you’ve had experience with Guardians, you would know if they always act that way, or just Nyx.”

“Well, Nyx IS kind of distant and aloof,” Sunset admitted.

Starlight stole another glance in Nyx’s direction and leaned into Sunset. “Don’t you find her whole circumstance odd? She shows up here in Equestria, Celestia loses her freaking mind and cuts off her head, and Equestria starts to fall apart.”

“Okay. Now you’re just making up wild accusations,” Sunset pointed out.

“Am I?” Starlight shot back. “Not to mention, she ‘magically’ shows up in the right place at the right time to rescue both of us. AND, she’s been sneaking around the castle since who knows when!”

Sunset quickly stuffed her hoof in Sunset’s face. “Shh! Do you want to make Nyx mad at you?”

“And that’s another thing!” Starlight continued, unfazed by Sunset’s interruption. “Why is she so secretive and mysterious? What is she trying to hide?”

“Well, gee, don’t you think you’d be a little wary after getting killed by ponies in a strange new world?” Sunset asked.

“Speaking of which,” Starlight added, causing Sunset to groan in despair. “How DID she do that anyway? I know there is Dark Magic that can bring back the dead, but nothing like this. Nyx acts like nothing even happened! She could be immortal for all we know!”

“Probably because death and dying is just another Tuesday afternoon for Guardians,” Sunset deadpanned.

Before Starlight’s brain could explode, Nyx spoke up. “We’re here.”

Both ponies looked toward the cockpit as the ship landed with a bump. John Carter appeared and scanned a section of the floor, causing a large bag to appear. “Oh. I wondered what happened to that,” Sunset said.

“Y-you should get dressed,” John Carter stuttered. “The wind is blowing and it’s very cold. Frostbite would be bad and painful. Can ponies even get frostbite? I wish I knew more about ponies, then I could be more help.” He continued to mumble to himself as he floated back to the cockpit. The two ponies shared a worried look, then opened the bag and got dressed. Both wore heavy snowsuits with fur lined hoods, and boots on all four feet.

As they were finishing up, Nyx came out of the cockpit. “Listen to me very carefully,” she said. From the seriousness of her voice, Starlight and Sunset made sure to pay close attention. “Be wary and on guard. We do not know what to expect, so plan for the worst.” Nyx indicated to herself. “I will assuredly attract a lot of attention, so do not be alarmed if I disappear for some time.” Both ponies swallowed nervously and nodded. “Remember why we are here and don’t let yourselves get distracted.”

“What exactly IS our plan?” Starlight spoke up.

“Huh. I guess we never did actually agree on a plan of action,” Sunset admitted.

Nyx thought for a moment. “For now, finding Princess Cadance should be a top priority.”

Starlight nodded in agreement. “Then we can figure out what’s causing the storm and put a stop to it.”

Nyx lowered the ramp and the wind and snow blasted the interior. Sunset and Starlight quickly pulled up their masks and put goggles on. John Carter scanned the bag back into his inventory, and Nyx led the way out into the storm. Starlight watched over her shoulder as the ship was quickly swallowed up by the blizzard.

Act 2 Ch.1: The Crystal Empire

The harsh wind roared across the snowscape, making communication nearly impossible. Nyx seemed unaffected by the wind and snow, so the ponies followed stoically behind. The clouds covered the sky in a thick gray haze that allowed very little sunlight to shine through. To make things even more difficult, the sun was setting. Both unicorns lit their horns to try and light the way, and to keep from getting lost.

The featureless landscape and constant wind made Sunset’s brain start to go numb. The act of placing one hoof in front of the other and following in Nyx’s footsteps became almost mechanical. How long had they been walking? Nyx never actually said how far they had landed from the boarder of the Crystal Empire. Did Nyx even know where she was going? How could she see in this weather? Sunset’s legs started to feel heavy, making it hard to walk. The cold was seeping deep into her bones and she shivered. Sunset slowed down, causing Starlight to bump into her. She looked up and panic started to set in when she didn’t see Nyx.

Fear raced through Sunset’s heart and she started to run, hoping to catch up to Nyx or at least follow her footprints. She quickly tired and slowed to a stop to catch her breath. Sunset looked around frantically and her heart dropped. The wind and snow had erased Nyx’s footsteps. Sunset wanted to cry. Nyx had abandoned them and now they were lost. Tears started to form in her eyes and Sunset quickly blinked them away, not wanting her eyelids to freeze, or fog up her goggles. She felt a nudge at her side and turned to see Starlight awkwardly trying to give her a hug. This made Sunset feel a tiny bit better. Her horn lit up and an orange bubble appeared around them, blocking the snow and wind. “Are we lost?” Starlight spoke up, pulling her mask down.

“Seems that way,” Sunset replied with a weak smile. Before Starlight could reply, a blinking blue light caught Sunset’s attention. “What’s that?” she pointed.

Starlight frowned as the light seemed to be blinking in a pattern. “Well, it can’t be any worse than here,” she said and Sunset agreed. Feeling a surge of energy, the two unicorns bounded across the snow in pursuit of the blinking light. Before long, an enormous black shaped appeared out of the snow, and the blue light winked out.

As they drew closer, the black shape turned into a large door, made from black crystal. A smaller door opened and two stallions dressed in heavy black armor stepped out. What unsettled Sunset the most about their appearance was the green glowing eyes of their helmets. One of the guards lowered a spear at Sunset. “State your name and purpose of business,” he said and an oddly mechanical voice.

Before Sunset could speak, Starlight interrupted. “Excuse me good sirs, but my sister and I became lost while traveling in the storm. Tell me, is the Crystal Empire?”

“Indeed it is,” the guard replied.

Starlight pushed her goggles up and gave her best puppy eyes. “Could you please let us in out of the storm? We would very much appreciate it if you point us in the direction of the nearest inn.”

The guard however, was unfazed. “First you two will come with us,” he said, pointing his spear at Starlight. “All visitors to the Empire will be questioned and searched.” He turned back to the door they had come through. His partner none too gently prodded Sunset and Starlight to follow. As they passed through the door, it closed behind them with a loud BANG. After the ceaseless howling of the wind, the sudden silence was almost deafening.

The guard’s metal boots clacked on the floor, echoing loudly in the hallway. Torches on the wall offered both light and some heat, to Sunset and Starlight’s relief. The guard opened a door and showed them inside. Once they were in, he shut and locked the door behind him. The room had no windows, but they could hear the guard’s footsteps disappear down the hall.

Sunset and Starlight shared a worried look. “It wasn’t like this the last time I was here,” Starlight said.

“Did you see those guards?” Sunset asked, pulling down her hood. “There was something off about them.”

“I noticed it too,” Starlight said, looking around the room. In the center was a simple wooden table with chairs. There was no visible light source, but the room was well-lit. And very warm, Starlight noticed. She unzipped her snowsuit and let out a sigh of relief.

“We should probably come up with a cover story,” Sunset said, peeling herself out of her own suit.

“What did you have in mind?” Starlight asked. Before Sunset could answer, the door opened loudly, startling both of them. In walked in a pony that caught both of their attention. Her coat was midnight blue with a mane to match. Her eyes were a vibrant gold color that contrasted with her dark coloring. She wore a white shirt, black vest and black tie. What really caught the unicorn’s attention was her wings. Instead of feathers, her wings were a leathery texture with a single claw protruding at the joint. Her ears were much bigger than a normal, and two little fangs were barely visible on her muzzle. Sunset and Starlight could only watch as this pony sauntered across the room, oozing confidence. Noticing the looks she was getting, she smirked and sat down in one of the chairs. “Please be seated.” Her voice was smooth and husky, with a layer of sexiness.

Sunset and Starlight finished stripping out of their snowsuits and cautiously sat at the table across from the stranger. Starlight found her voice first. “You’re a-“

“-Bat-pony?” Sunset finished.

The bat-pony laughed with a hissing sound. “Are you surprised?” she asked.

“Well yeah,” Starlight said. “Bat-ponies are pretty rare.”

“But not so rare that you haven’t heard of us,” the bat-pony replied. She crossed her hooves on the table and said, “My name is Onyxia, and I am here to determine the purpose of your visit to the Crystal Empire.”

Sunset and Starlight shared a quick look. “You see, my sister…Sunbeam…and I were traveling to Canterlot when we got lost in the storm,” Starlight said.

Onyxia shook her head and tsked. “Aww, you poor things. It’s a wonder you didn’t freeze to death.”

Sunset nodded. “Fortunately, we stumbled across the Crystal Empire.”

Onyxia hummed to herself. “The Empire is rather large to simply ‘stumble upon.’” She gave a little shrug. “It does happen to sit along a major road between Canterlot and the rest of the North, so I guess it isn’t improbable.”

Sunset and Starlight relaxed a tiny bit. It was hard to tell but Onyxia seemed to be buying their story. “Um, if it isn’t too much trouble, would it be possible for us to find a place to stay for the night?” Sunset asked. “I know this is sudden and it is getting late. We will be on our way in the morning.”

Onyxia shook her head. “Unfortunately, I can’t do that.”

Starlight felt dread creeping into her stomach. “Which part?”

Onyxia gave her a sideways look. “Of course you can stay, but you will not be permitted to leave.”

“And why not?” Sunset asked with a frown.

“Why, it’s simply too dangerous,” Onyxia replied. “By your own admission, you nearly perished on your way here. What kind of host would we be if we allowed travelers out into the deadly storm?” She looked almost hurt, and Starlight immediately felt bad. “Oh I didn’t mean it like that,” she quickly tried to cover, but Onyxia moved on. “You will be permitted to stay in a refugee status,” she said, pulling out papers and setting them on the table. “Just sign these forms and you will be free to go.”

Starlight read over the paper and frowned. “What does this mean? ‘Sedition and treasonous behavior will not be tolerated and is punishable by confinement up to one year?’”

“Exactly what it sounds like,” Onyxia cooed.

Sunset narrowed her eyes. “And Princess Cadance is okay with this?” At the mention of Cadence’s name, Onyxia’s fur bristled and her smile faltered. “We do not mention the Usurper’s name,” she cautioned.

This took Sunset and Starlight by surprise. “Usurper? Then who is the ruler of the Crystal Empire?” Starlight asked.

“King Sombra, of course,” Onyxia answered, rather matter-of-factly.

“SOMBRA?!?” Starlight and Sunset shouted. They looked at each other in confusion. “But, I thought-“ Sunset started.

“That Sombra was missing!” Starlight quickly interrupted. “When did he return?”

Onyxia narrowed her eyes and looked between the two unicorns. Sunset and Starlight smiled nervously and began to sweat under the intense scrutiny. Onyxia leaned forward slowly and asked, “Just where did you say you were from?”

“We didn’t,” Starlight replied with a frown.

“My sister Pixie Dust and I are world travelers,” Sunset explained. “I apologize for our rudeness, but news travels slowly.”

“Indeed,” Onyxia replied, not quite convinced. “When King Sombra returned from exile with the Crystal Empire just over five years ago, he was defeated and cast out by the Usurper and those meddling ponies known as the Elements of Harmony. King Sombra was so weakened, it has taken until now to restore his power. He finally made his triumphant return, overthrew the Usurper, and took his rightful place on the Crystal Throne.”

“And when did King Sombra return?” Starlight repeated.

Onyxia smiled. “Just one month ago yesterday.”

Sunset and Starlight’s eyes went wide. Starlight recovered her wits first and said, “Thank you for informing us. As my sister said, we are travelers and news travels slowly. We will endeavor not to make this mistake again.”

“Of course,” Onyxia replied with a smile. She gathered the papers and looked them over. “Everything is in order I see. Again, welcome to the Crystal Empire. We hope you enjoy your stay.”

Onyxia let them out of the room and down the hallway. When they reached the end, she opened the door and stepped through. Sunset and Starlight’s mouths fell open.

The Crystal Empire had become a totalitarian nightmare. Jagged black crystals littered the ground everywhere and grew on most of the buildings. Crags of black crystal burst out of the ground, towering over most of the buildings. Most disturbing of all, the crystal tower that once housed the Crystal Heart had been smashed to bits. In its place stood an enormous statue of King Sombra. His face was carved in an eternal scowl as his gaze looked to the horizon in the direction of Equestria and Canterlot. Guards wearing the same black armor and disturbing helmets patrolled the streets. Banners with Sombra’s symbol draped from streetlights and fluttered in the breeze. Behind them, an enormous wall stretched to the horizon in either direction. Was Sombra trying to keep ponies out or keep them in? Oddly enough, there didn’t seem to be citizen ponies out and about. “Where is everypony?” Starlight asked.

“Tucked away at home for curfew,” Onyxia explained.

The storm still raged, but it was considerably lessened inside the Empire’s borders. The white snow contrasted eerily with the black crystal. Sunset noticed the statue of Sombra was oddly free of snow. Must have some kind of enchantment, Sunset thought. Onyxia led them down the quiet streets. The Crystal Empire held a sizeable population, but with nopony outside or on the streets, it was downright spooky.

Onyxia stopped before a nondescript stone building. She knocked on the door twice and a little viewport opened, revealing two tired looking eyes. The door opened and Onyxia led them inside. Sunset and Starlight looked around while Onyxia talked to the clerk. The lobby was clean and the décor was very plain. Sunset noticed a distinct lack of color or personality. It wasn’t bad by any stretch of the means, but very utilitarian in its execution. “Given your current refugee status, your arrangements have been taken care of,” Onyxia said with an easy smile. “Come. I will show you to your room.”

Both Sunset and Starlight thought this was very strange. Why would a customs agent, at least that’s what Onyxia appeared to be, go so far out of her way for them? Sunset doubted it was out of the kindness of her heart. Starlight caught on to Sunset’s thinking and carefully readied her horn, just in case. Onyxia took them upstairs and down the hall to their room. She gave them a sultry smile and opened the door. “After you.”

Sunset steeled herself and carefully went inside. Her senses were on high alert and she discretely cast a Reveal All spell to check for hidden surprises. Onyxia entered after Starlight and shut the door behind her. When it clicked shut and locked, Starlight quickly turned on Onyxia, but the bat-pony suddenly appeared at her side and whispered, “Cast a privacy spell.”

Taken aback, Starlight’s current spell fizzled out and it took a second for Onyxia’s words to sink in. She then cast the requested spell and the entire room took on a slightly turquoise glow.

“All right, who are you really?” Sunset asked, turning on Onyxia. “Why the sudden interest in us?”

Onyxia hissed with laughter. “Such untrustworthy ponies! Is this what Celestia is teaching you these days?”

“Celestia isn’t much for teaching anymore,” Starlight frowned.

Onyxia’s face fell and she became serious. “I am aware. Her increased persecution of my kind and my Mistress is proof of this.”

Something about Onyxia’s statement caused the wheels in Sunset’s mind to turn. “Bat-ponies? Mistress?” Her eyes lit up. “Of course! You’re one of Princess Luna’s!”

Onyxia grinned, prominently showing her fangs. “Indeed. I am a loyal servant to the Mistress of the Night.”

“What are you doing here in the Empire?” Starlight asked.

“This is my assignment,” Onyxia explained. “Since Sombra returned and the storm set in, it has become difficult to maintain contact.”

“How did you know to expect us?” Sunset asked.

Onyxia walked to a chair and sat down. “Before Sombra, before the storm, before the current troubles, myself and the others were told by the Mistress to aid you in any way possible, and to be on the lookout for the one called Nyx.”

Starlight and Sunset gasped in surprise. “You know her? Is she here?” Sunset asked.

Onyxia shook her head. “I have not seen her, but I expect she is nearby.” She motioned for them to sit and they did so. “I have a message to share from the Mistress.”

Sunset and Starlight stared intently as Onyxia spoke. “She says, ‘My little ponies, I deeply regret having to place this burden upon you. Your journey will be difficult and dangerous. Trust in yourselves, trust in each other, and trust in me. Most of all, have faith in Nyx. You may feel otherwise, but know that I went to her for help. I give you my word she can be trusted. I wish with all my heart to be with you, but my responsibility is to Equestria and all pony kind. Be strong, my little ponies.’” Onyxia closed her eyes and bowed her head. “You should be honored that the Mistress has so much faith in you. I might be a little jealous.”

Listening to Onyxia’s soothing voice made Sunset and Starlight realize just how tired they were. The adrenaline finally wore off and the events of the day caught up with them. Onyxia noticed they were barely staying awake. “Sleep. Catch your rest. I will be in contact tomorrow.” Before she left, Onyxia looked back over her shoulder and winked. “Good night ponies. May the Mistress bless you with sweet dreams.”

Sunset stared at the door long after Onyxia left. It was hard to believe it had only been two days since she came through the portal. So much had happened, it felt like much longer. She looked to Starlight, who was dozing in her chair. Sunset quietly picked her up in her telekinesis and tucked her into bed. Sunset crawled into her own bed and was out before her head hit the pillow.

Side Story 1: Shining Armor

Deep underground, the dungeon of the Crystal Empire was full of ponies that had displeased or defied King Sombra in some way. Most were former nobles who tried to hold on to their titles, only to lose them and have their lands repurposed by Sombra. Even then, there is a place in the dungeon reserved for special prisoners, and right now, he was the only occupant. His mane was greasy and matted down to his head, and his pristine white coat was hidden under layers of grime and filth. Tiny black crystals spotted his horn, preventing him from using any magic. The cell wasn’t well-lit, so he couldn’t see how pathetic he had become. Dark circles ringed his eyes, displaying his exhaustion. Ghostly green flames covered his eyes, showing him horrors from the darkest corner of his mind. Shining Armor was at his breaking point, physically and emotionally. If he closed his eyes, the visions and nightmares plagued his mind, driving him to madness. Staying awake to avoid the dreams was no solution, but his sleep depraved mind didn’t care.

He was separated from his family. He didn’t know if they were even still alive. Celestia and Luna had forsaken them. Twilight was nowhere to be found. Discord couldn’t be counted on in the best of times. His cell was cold, and it slowly seeped into his bones. Nothing he did would keep him warm. He hadn’t been fed in some time and he couldn’t remember the last time he had a drink of water.

When Sombra returned, he tried to fight back. They all did. They all failed. Sombra was different this time, stronger, meaner. As Prince and Captain of the Guard, Shining Armor tried to rally his troops. He failed. He tried to maintain the barrier around the Kingdom to keep Sombra out. He failed. He tried to keep his family safe. He failed. In a last ditch effort, he tried to fight Sombra one-on-one. He failed. Shining was a failure and he knew it.

Two lights appeared in the dark, one ice blue and the other burning red. In his delirious state, Shining couldn’t tell if he was hallucinating again. What new nightmares would his mind visit upon him this time?

“So. This is where you find yourself,” a raspy mechanical voice said. “What are you going to do about it?”

Shining blinked slowly, trying to focus his eyes. The shadows shifted in the dim light, revealing a cloaked figure. The two mismatched eyes glowed from deep within the hood. He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like one of those Humans Twilight talked about. He tried to speak, but his mouth felt like sand and his tongue was thick and heavy.

“Poor Shining Armor. You married a Princess. Does that make you a Prince, or nothing more than a Royal Consort?” the shadow person said.

Shining wasn’t sure, but he thought he had just been insulted. “How does it feel to know that you, a big and strong unicorn stallion, were completely useless? Again. A poor side character attached to another side character?” the shadow asked. “Your only claim to fame is your sister and wife are Princesses. At least you can take solace in knowing they are both as useless as you are. Perhaps it runs in the family?”

Something stirred deep in Shining’s heart. It was a strange sensation. At first, he didn’t know what it was. Soon his chest began to burn and he realized this was an emotion called Anger.

“What does Cadance see in you?” the shadow asked as it slowly circled the room. “Why did she agree to marry a nobody like you? That’s what you are, isn’t it?”

“S…st…stop,” Shining croaked. His throat and voice hurt after not being used for so long.

“Or what? Are you going to hurt me?” the shadow asked. “You are pathetic. You let Chrysalis nearly trick you into marrying her, and did nothing to stop Sombra. Not once, but TWICE!”

The green in Shining’s eyes faded away and was replaced by his growing anger. “I said stop!”

“You are WEAK!” the shadow said, stopping in front of him. “What kind of man can’t protect his own family? Are you even a man, or a coward who hides behind his wife?”

“SHUT UP!” Shining roared. He tried to cast a spell, but the black crystals stuck in his horn caused it to short circuit. The shadow slapped Shining across the face, momentarily stunning him. “You’re awake now. Good.”

Shining forced his tired body to stand up and glared at the shadow. His exhaustion made it hard to focus properly. “I don’t appreciate the things you said.”

“Why, because it’s true?” the shadow shot back. “Here in Equestria, mares vastly outnumber stallions. Women are in charge, and women hold all of the power and make all of the decisions. It’s only natural to feel marginalized and left out. Why would Cadance ever need you, except to make babies?” Shining had no answer. “Because she loves you. In this crazy place, where Friendship is actual Magic, love is the deepest and truest form of friendship. You chose her and she chose you.” The shadow leaned back and repeated, “So. Here you are. What are you going to do about it?”

Shining’s mind was reeling from the shadow’s words. “What CAN I do? Like you say, I’m locked up in this cell. I don’t know where my wife is, where my child is, I don’t know what happened to my sister.”

The shadow got right in Shining’s face. He didn’t flinch or back away. Good. “What do you WANT to do?” the shadow asked softly.

Shining narrowed his eyes. “First, I want to get out of this cell. Next, I want to find my wife. Then, I want to punch Sombra so hard, his ancestors and descendants will feel it,” he growled.

The shadow leaned back. “Good. That is the answer I hoped was inside you.” A hand appeared, holding a key. “There are two options. Either sit here and wait to be rescued.” Shining snorted loudly in disgust. “Or take this key.” As Shining reached for the key, the shadow’s fist closed. “If you do this, your safety cannot be guaranteed. You are angry, yes, but you need to be smart. You can’t help Cadance if you are dead.” The shadow offered the key to Shining and he took it. “Start acting like the Captain of the Guard and the stallion Cadance fell in love with. Show her that you are, her Prince Shining Armor.” The shadow melted back into the darkness, leaving Shining alone.

He looked down at the key in his hoof. He wanted so badly to rush out and find his family, but the shadow was right. He was exhausted and had no magic. For the first time in a while, Shining Armor’s mind was clear. He knew what he had to do and he had some idea of how to do it. But first, he needed to sleep. He lay down on the pile of straw and closed his eyes. The nightmares did not come.

Act 2 Ch.2: Work for the Glory of the Empire

When Starlight woke, the sky was still dark. Still half asleep, she pushed the covers aside and slowly go out of bed. She bumped her muzzle on the wall and the brief jolt of pain snapped her out of her morning fog. Starlight blinked the tears out her eyes and remembered where she was and what she was doing there. Across the room, Sunset was still asleep, snoring softly. Starlight went to the bathroom and checked the mirror, mostly to see if her nose was bleeding. Satisfied it was not, she spent a few moments brushing her mane and coat. “Now that we’re here, where should we even start?” she wondered out loud. The Crystal Empire was a big place and not exactly friendly right now. “If Twilight were here, she would rush right up to the castle and demand to see Cadance, or she would find some book that somehow was relevant to the current situation,” Starlight mused. She stopped brushing and rolled her eyes in the mirror. “Oh who am I kidding? She’d probably have a meltdown and Twilight as hard as Twilight has ever Twilighted.”

“Saywhutznow?” Sunset mumbled in her sleep. Starlight couldn’t help but chuckle. Sunset’s mane was a mess and she hadn’t bothered to open her eyes. She picked up a brush and started untangling her mane. When Sunset’s head dipped and she started brushing air, Starlight laughed. “Not a morning pony?” she teased.

“It’s right in my name,” Sunset muttered.

Starlight let out a sigh of content and put her brush down. “Ready to get the day started?” she asked.

“It’s almost over,” Sunset mumbled. She had stopped brushing her mane and was now brushing her teeth.

This brought Starlight up short. “What do you mean?”

“It’s already past noon,” Sunset replied with a yawn and spit in the sink.

Starlight’s eyes went wide and she zoomed out of the bathroom. Sure enough, when she looked at the clock, it was well into the day. “But where did the sun go?” she wailed.

Sunset emerged from the bathroom. At least her eyes were open now. “Probably because of the storm,” she said.

Starlight sat on the bed. Her mind was going a million miles an hour, but wasn’t finding any traction. “What should we do?” she asked.

“Get some food,” Sunset replied simply.

Starlight’s stomach gurgled in agreement and she blushed. “You don’t suppose anpony will recognize us, do you?” she asked and Sunset shrugged. “A disguise wouldn’t hurt.”

Starlight looked around. “Oh yeah, we don’t have our bag,” she said and her face fell.

“And we left our snowsuits in Onyxia’s little office,” Sunset added.

“I guess we don’t have any choice,” Starlight said. After locking the door and casting several privacy and protection spells, Sunset and Starlight cautiously went downstairs. As they were about to leave, the desk clerk spoke up. “A package arrived for you this morning.”

Sunset frowned. “How do you know it’s for us?” she asked.

The clerk raised an eyebrow. “It has your names on it and you two are the only patrons at the moment.”

“Oh,” Starlight said and went to the counter. The clerk pulled out a large bag and set it on the counter. “The immigration official you were with last night dropped this off,” he said.

Starlight opened the bag and looked inside. “Hey, it’s out snowsuits,” she said. After digging abound some, she pulled out a note and a small pouch. “’Good morning. Enclosed you will find your temporary residence papers, along with your first stipend.’” Starlight lifted out two pieces of parchment and handed one to Sunset.

“What else is in the bag?” Sunset asked while looking over her document.

“A small amount of bits,” Starlight replied, shaking the bag.

Sunset made a face and looked at the big bag. “I don’t feel like wearing that big heavy snowsuit around town.”

“Then don’t,” Starlight huffed. She thanked the clerk and took the bag. “We’ve got money now. Let’s just go buy some clothes.”

Sunset waited in the lobby while Starlight took the bag back to their room. Every so often, she would catch the clerk looking in her direction, and it was starting to make Sunset feel uncomfortable. Finally, he spoke up. “Refugees, huh?”

“That’s right,” Sunset replied.

The clerk made a face like he didn’t believe her. “Just where are you refugees from?” he asked.

“I don’t see how that is any of your concern,” Sunset said with a frown.

“Of course it is,” the clerk said, walking out from behind the counter. “It’s ponies like you that cause problems for the rest of us.”

Sunset was taken aback. “What is that supposed to mean?” she asked.

“You flee your country and come here, increasing our population, yet contribute nothing. You bring your problems with you, adding to the already rising crime rate. You get to stay for free in this in, and we give you an allowance from the government. Who do you think pays for all of your free stuff?” the clerk asked, slowly walking toward Sunset until they were muzzle to muzzle. “I’ll tell you. It’s me and every other Crystal Pony working honest jobs and paying high taxes, so that ponies like you can live on the Empire’s coin. The Crystal Empire is for the Crystal Ponies. All others get out.”

Sunset was shocked, not just by the clerk’s attitude, but the blatant racism he displayed. “Is that what you truly think, or just propaganda fed to you by King Sombra?” she finally asked.

“What does it matter what I think?” the clerk replied. “Since King Sombra returned, he has put the Crystal Empire on the path to becoming a true empire, just how it used to be.”

“Whether you agree with it or not, my sister and I are still guests to the Crystal Empire,” Starlight spoke up as she came down the stairs. She didn’t look very happy and Sunset was secretly glad to have some backup.

“Either way, I don’t buy your refugee story,” the clerk said. Starlight ignored him and pulled Sunset with her out the door. Once they were down the street, Sunset let out a sigh. “Thanks for coming to my rescue back there.”

Starlight continued to stare straight ahead with a scowl on her face. “We need to find Princess Cadance and fix this.” Sunset nodded in agreement.

Despite the hour, the streets were still eerily empty. The sun was a barely visible dot in the sky as the storm continued to rage. Before long, the unicorns were shivering from the wind. Starlight found a clothing store and they went inside. At first they were wary about repeating what happened with the inn clerk, but the mare in the store was rather cordial. Both Sunset and Starlight opted for fleece lined cloaks with hoods that covered their whole bodies. Like everything else currently in the Crystal Empire, the cloaks were a bland gray color. Sunset paid for the purchase and they left.

Feeling significantly warmer, Sunset and Starlight continued their tour through the city. “I don’t even know where to start looking,” Sunset admitted.

Up ahead, Starlight noticed a group of ponies. She gave Sunset a nudge and they headed in that direction. As they drew closer, Starlight could hear somepony speaking. She carefully picked her way through the crowd, taking care not to cause a commotion. In the center of the gathering, a stallion wearing a fancy uniform stood on a platform. “The time is drawing near, and King Sombra demands everypony do their part for the glory of the Crystal Empire,” he said.

Starlight glanced around. None of the gathered ponies seemed too excited over the stallion’s words. In fact, most looked tired and downtrodden. Nopony seemed to want to say anything until a single voice spoke up. “How much longer must we continue with this?”

The stallion frowned. “Who said that? Show yourself!”

The crowd parted, revealing an older mare. “King Sombra has already squeezed every last bit out of us. I can no longer afford to keep my business open because I can’t pay for new goods, and I have no customers because every pony of working age is sent to the mines, or conscripted into the army! How am I, or any other business pony supposed to support our families?” Heads nodded as the other ponies agreed with the mare.

The stallion narrowed his eyes. “Sacrifices must be made if the Empire is to succeed.”

“Sacrifices? Haven’t we sacrificed enough already?” another voice spoke up. “This winter storm has killed mine and every other farmer’s crop. How will any of us be able to eat with rising food costs and dwindling supply?”

“The Crystal Empire has always been a net importer of foodstuffs and processed goods,” the stallion pointed out. “Shipments have more than doubled since King Sombra returned.”

“Because less than half of the goods actually make it through the storm!” a pony shouted. The crowd was getting more and more agitated. Other voices spoke up and ponies began crowding around and jostling each other. The stallion nodded to the guars nearby and they lowered their spears to break up the crowd. During the confusion, Sunset and Starlight were separated. Starlight looked around frantically and accidently called out Sunset’s real name. She suddenly found herself in front of the stallion. He glared down at her and said, “Who are you?”

“I’m, uh, a traveler who was stranded by the storm,” Starlight stuttered.

“Let me see your documents,” the stallion demanded, holding out his hoof. Starlight fumbled around in her cloak and held up her letter. The stallion snatched it from Starlight and his frown deepened as he read. “It says here that you are on a temporary work permit.” He looked up at Starlight. “Why aren’t you working?”

“I…uh…guess I didn’t read that part?” Starlight offered with a weak smile. The stallion was unimpressed. “Refugees and freeloaders are scum and should be dealt with as such.” He leaned down threateningly in Starlight’s face. “You’d better be prepared to work for the generous benefits the Empire is giving you.”

Starlight glared up at the Stallion. She really wanted to give him a piece of her mind, but didn’t want to cause a scene, so she held her tongue. Sensing a small victory, the stallion sneered at her. “The guards will escort you to a work camp.” As she was led away, Starlight only had one thought on her mind: Where was Sunset?

After getting separated, Sunset had no choice but to go with the flow of ponies. She tripped on a loose paving stone and curled up in a little ball, hoping to avoid being trampled. She was kicked and stepped on a few times, but otherwise unhurt. When the crowd passed on, Sunset slowly uncurled herself and stood up. As she shook herself off and checked herself over, Sunset realized she was standing in front of the main gate to the Crystal Palace. Somehow in the faded light and depressing atmosphere, the castle looked cold and foreboding. The once colorful crystal had faded to dull colors, and Sombra’s black and red banner few from the tallest tower. Guards were posted by the gate, stoically deterring anypony without official business from entering.

“Hey! You there!” a voice called out and Sunset flinched. She turned to see a worn-out looking stallion gallop up and stop next to her. “Thank goodness I found you,” he gasped between breaths.

Sunset looked around and realized she was the only pony. “Who, me?” she asked and pointed to herself.

“Yes you,” the stallion said. “Come with me. You are very late and the Headmaster hates to be kept waiting.”

“Um, I think you have the wrong mare,” Sunset tried to explain, but the stallion waved her off. “Nonsense! If we don’t hurry, both of us will be in even bigger trouble than we are now!”

“I don’t-“ Sunset started, but he stallion ran off, dragging her behind. He led Sunset to a smaller side door and entered a narrow passageway. Sunset could hear noise echoing from up ahead and silently hoped she wasn’t being led to her death. They emerged from the tunnel into complete chaos.

Ponies were running around frantically, carrying stacks of armor, weapons, battle gear, cookware, and food. Off to one side, ponies sweat profusely working the armor forges. Next to them, other ponies shaped the metal into weapons and armor. On the other side of the large yard, ponies baked bread and other food items in portable kitchens. In the center of it all, a large Clydesdale pony oversaw everything and shouted orders. “Pick up the pace! We still need another hundred loaves of bread and fifty gallons of potato soup! The army isn’t going to feed itself!” A crash sounded from somewhere and the big stallion bellowed. “What in the name of Tartarus are you doing? Did you wake up this morning and bathe in a tub of lard? If any of those breastplates have so much as a scratch, you’re going to polish every one of them until my blind grandmare can see her reflection!”

He finally noticed Sunset and her escort. “You! Where the buck have you been all day!”

Sunset opened her mouth and was immediately interrupted. “Never mind! Get your sorry flank to the kitchens and start slingin’ bread like your life depends on it. BECAUSE IT DOES!”

Sunset decided not to argue and ran to the closest kitchen tent. One of the baker ponies noticed her arrival. “Hey! Get dressed and start pulling the bread out of the ovens.” Sunset quickly shucked her cloak, tied her mane back, and grabbed a smock. She ran to one of the giant ovens and started pulling bread pans out with her magic. Unfortunately, some of the loaves were a little too brown on top. “Be quicker next time!” the baker pony berated her. “We can’t afford to let any go to waste.”

“Yes sir,” Sunset replied and quickly got back to work. Everything was moving so fast, Sunset didn’t have time to question anything. Unfortunately, Sunset was a unicorn, this meant she could carry more and work faster. She thought her experience working in the mall sushi store would help, but Sunset was woefully unprepared for the sheer workload. She was constantly on the move, running from one place to the next. The constant yelling from the Headmaster pushed everyone to the limit with no end in sight. Sunset didn’t have time to think about what happened to Starlight.

Act 2 Ch.3: Wounds that Never Heal

The guards led Starlight to the outskirts of the city. She couldn’t help but be awed by the crystal mining operation. Deep holes had been opened in the side of a mountain. Long lines of ponies wearing hardhats and carrying shovels and pickaxes trudged into the mines. At the same time, ponies covered in rock dust slowly exited. Large mine carts overflowing with rocks and crystals were pushed into a sorting area and dumped. Other ponies, mostly unicorns, sorted the crystals from the rocks. The crystals were passed on to another area where they were sorted by type and clarity. Only the highest quality crystals were kept for further use.

The guards pushed Starlight to the sorting area where an elderly mare was supervising the operation. Her mane was pulled back in a severe bun and her face had a permanent scowl as she surveyed the workers. She didn’t even turn to look at Starlight. “So. Your name is Pixie Dust,” she said as a statement.

It took a second for Starlight to remember her name, but it wasn’t fast enough for the mare. She carried a riding crop and smacked the ground at Starlight’s hooves. “Too slow!” she shouted.

“Yes, my name is Pixie Dust!” Starlight shouted in surprise and jumped back.

“Wrong!” the mare shouted and slapped the ground again. “You will address me as Ma’am! Is that clear?”

“Yes ma’am,” Starlight replied.

The mare turned toward Starlight with a look of distain on her face. Starlight noticed she wore an eyepatch over her left eye and an angry red scar stretched down her face. “So. You are wondering how this beautiful visage came to be?” she asked.

“Not particularly,” Starlight mumbled.

“Speak up!” the mare shouted, hitting the ground again. “I lost my eye in glorious service to the Empire. It was an honor to do so.” The mare glared at Starlight with her good eye. “You young ponies know nothing of hard work or sacrifice. Everything is given to you on a crystal platter. This makes you soft and weak.” She snorted and turned back to look over the production lines. “No wonder King Sombra was able to retake the throne so easily.”

Starlight forced her rising anger back down. It wouldn’t do her any good to cause a scene. “Since you are late, you will be docked a half day’s pay and you will stay to make up your hours,” the mare said. When Starlight didn’t move, the mare lashed out with her crop, catching Starlight across her forelegs between the knee and fetlocks. “Get to work before you lose all of your pay!”

Unsure of where to go, Starlight ran off and joined the sorting line. No sooner did she sit down when an entire mine cart was dumped in front of her. Her eyes went wide with shock. Apparently she delayed lone enough to warrant a whip crack above her head. Startled out of her daze, Starlight quickly got to work.

As she settled in, Starlight quickly grew bored with her mundane task. She idly thought about Rarity and her gem finding talent, when an idea struck her. She cast a spell over her entire pile, covering it in her light turquoise aura and highlighting the crystals. Starlight pulled them all out in one go. She made sure all of the crystals had been removed before dumping the useless rocks aside.

Before she could feel pleased with herself, another mine cart was dumped in front of her. Starlight frowned and did the same thing. The result was another mine cart. Starlight quickly looked around and saw none of the other unicorns were doing what she was doing. Before she could wonder why, the whip cracked above her head again. She ducked on reflex and heard snickering behind her. Growling with frustration, Starlight went back to work.

She quickly found out why the other unicorns were just picking through their piles. Constantly using so much magic quickly tired her out and made her head start to hurt. Not wanting to endure Magic Exhaustion, Starlight slowed her pace to match the others. The day dragged on, and Starlight found it mind-numbingly boring, which left her a lot of time to think. Unfortunately, her mind focused on what happened with the demon.

Up until now, she and Sunset had been constantly on the move, or planning what to do next, not leaving her much time to herself. It started to catch up with her. Her body grew cold and Starlight shivered. She tried to find anything else to focus on, but it was no use. All of her thoughts circled back to one thing: She was weak. She was worthless. Starlight Glimmer, the mare who pushed Princess Twilight Sparkle to the brink, had become a demon’s play toy. If she were stronger, it wouldn’t have happened. If she were smarter, she would have seen the signs. If she were more powerful, she could have defeated the demon on her own. If she were pure of heart, the demon would never have come after her.

The demon had used her. It put its nasty thing inside her. Starlight wasn’t stupid. She knew how foals were made and used to be interested in the process, from an academic point of view. Remembering the shape and strange stiffness of that thing as it slowly penetrated her most private of places made Starlight want to throw up. The way her body reacted made her feel ashamed and disgusted at the same time. Was there something wrong with her? Was she now damaged in some way? Starlight felt a tingling in her body somewhere below her stomach. Why was her body betraying her like this? What else had the demon done to her? Did this mean she was susceptible to possession again? Deep down, did she secretly desire to be used like that again?

Everything around Starlight faded into the background. Her eyes became unfocused as she slipped further and further down the rabbit hole of darkness. A gentle shaking snapped her back to reality. She looked up and saw a unicorn stallion standing over her, looking very concerned. “Your shift is over,” he said.

Starlight looked down and saw his hoof on her shoulder. A stallion was touching her.

A stallion.

Stallions penetrated mares to make foals.

The demon penetrated her to make a baby.

Stallions and demons penetrated mares.

Stallions were demons.

A demon was touching her.

Starlight’s mind shattered. “GET AWAY FROM ME!” she screamed and fell backwards. All around, ponies stopped what they were doing to stare. The poor stallion recoiled in horror. “I…I’m sorry,” he stammered.

Starlight scrambled to her feet in a wide-eyed frenzy. “Don’t touch me! Get away!” she shrieked. Other ponies moved to help, but this only agitated Starlight further. She looked around, feeling everything closing in around her. They know. They know I had sex with a demon. They’re coming to get me. I have to get away. I have to get away. Ihavetogetawayihavetogetawayihavetogetaway.

Starlight’s horn sparked to life and she teleported away in a flash of light.

Sunset was exhausted. Her legs hurt, her hooves hurt, her back hurt, her horn hurt. Somehow her mane hurt. She slowly waked up the stairs and pushed open the door of the inn. Fortunately, the desk clerk from the morning was nowhere to be found. Sunset didn’t want to deal with him right now. She made it up the stairs to her room. She pulled open the door and was greeted by a wall of steam. The thick moist air brought tears to her eyes and made her cough. Sunset’s horn lit up and a quick whirlwind spell cleared out the room. Now slightly more awake, Sunset cautiously closed and locked the door behind her, and walked inside.

The bag with their snowsuits was sitting on one of the chairs and Starlight’s cloak was thrown on the floor. Sunset picked it up and draped it over a chair. Steam covered the bathroom and slowly seeped out into the rest of the room. Sunset noticed a pile of blankets on Starlight’s bed, but paid it no mind. She poked her head in the bathroom and frowned when she found it empty. Where was Starlight? Clearly she had come back to the room at some point. Sunset then noticed tiny drops of red liquid on the bathroom floor. She bent down to take a closer look and a faint coppery smell filled her nostrils. Sunset quickly recoiled back. Her mind quickly sifted through the information. Starlight missing, steam in the bathroom, drops of blood on the floor. Sunset’s eyes grew wide.

She heard sniffling from the pile of blankets and she dove across the beds. Sunset pulled the blankets back to find Starlight. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her damp mane was plastered to her head. Her eyes were glazed over as she stared vacantly into the distance.

Swallowing back her growing dread, Sunset slowly peeled the blankets back and noticed a damp red spot on the bed. Starlight didn’t seem to notice as Sunset gently spread her hind legs and gasped. Starlight’s sensitive nethers had been scrubbed raw to the point of bleeding. Patches of hair were missing from her belly and rump.

Sunset’s heart broke. “Oh Starlight,” she whispered. Tears formed in her eyes and she reached out to her friend.

Starlight snapped out of her daze. “Don’t touch me!” she said and scrambled away from Sunset, and covered herself with the blankets again.

Sunset just sat there hesitantly reaching out. “What do you want me to do?” she asked softly.

“Nothing,” Starlight sniffed in reply.

“I can help you,” Sunset offered.

“How?” Starlight asked. “How can you help me? Nopony knows what it’s like.”

“How would you even know that?” Sunset asked.

“Because this is Equestria!” Starlight shouted. “Ponies don’t get impregnated by monsters. This is the place where Friendship is Magic! Ponies always get along and sing songs about friendship. This is the land of eternal happiness and rainbows!”

Sunset hung her head in shame. “You’re right. I don’t know what it’s like to go through the same trauma as you.” She inched closer to Starlight, who shied away. “But I do know what it feels like to have everyone abandon you, to feel like you are completely alone. But you’re not alone Starlight. I’m here for you, if you let me.”

Starlight balled herself up tighter and began to sob quietly. When Sunset gently peeled the blankets away from Starlight’s face, her hoof brushed her cheek. Sunset’s eyes blazed white with power as her Empathy Touch activated and she saw…

Darkness. Heavy, oppressive darkness weighed down on her like a wet blanket. She shivered from the chill. What was happening? The last thing she knew, she was in Twilight’s study talking to Sunset Shimmer. A sudden loud screeching noise made her wince. Her vision slowly faded in and she found herself in a cave, hovering above an altar. Then she heard it, the sickly sweet whisper that had been plaguing her since Twilight disappeared. It hissed in her ear and the sound sent shivers down her spine. She couldn’t understand what it was saying. Then she saw “it” and she understood.

She had never been intimate with a stallion, it just wasn’t something she was interested in at the moment. It looked just like she thought a stallion’s member would. She tried to struggle, but her legs were held firm in an invisible grasp. The voice continued to whisper and the thing came closer. She wanted to scream. She wanted to run. She wanted to bite, claw, scratch, anything to get away. It was futile. It pressed against her nethers and she almost bit her tongue. She knew what was about to happen, and she would have made a deal with Grogar himself if it meant getting away from this.

It felt cold and slimy, and it stank like rotting flesh. It pressed harder, trying to gain entry. She clenched her muscles until her body shook. It didn’t matter. Something had to give. From a simply biological standpoint, her mare’s body did what it was supposed to do in this situation. Something finally gave and it pushed slowly into her.

She screamed. She screamed until her voice gave out. It didn’t feel good at all. It stretched her out as it slowly pushed farther and farther inside. The cold numbed her belly and groin. The pain, oh gods the pain. If this is how it was supposed to be, she never wanted to do this ever again. How much longer would this last? It felt like she was going to be impaled on this hard thing. It pushed up against her stomach and she wanted to vomit.

It finally stopped pushing, but then it seemed to melt and her womb suddenly expanded. Her vision went white and her mind was overcome by pain. Why was it so painful? Bleary eyed and delirious, she looked down at her bloated belly. Something was forming inside her and it pressed against her, trying to break free. Every movement sent a new wave of agony through her body.

Her entire existence was pain. All she knew was pain.

Starlight screamed and released a blast of magic, throwing Sunset across the room, through the wall and into the bathroom. Starlight continued to scream as she frantically untangled herself from the blankets. She fell off the bed and began crawling across the floor, crying and mumbling intelligibly. Sunset groaned and slowly sat up. Her vision was blurry and she rubbed her head. Sunset winced and her hoof came away bloody. She felt around and gingerly picked the splinters out of her scalp. There was a POOF and a brief flash of light. Sunset let out a pained sigh and lay back. Her face bunched up in anger and she slammed her hoof in the ground. She really needed to get better control of her Empathy Touch. Sunset realized she passed out when she woke to a gentle knocking on the door. Groaning, she got to her hooves and cast a spell to somewhat fix the hole in the wall.

Starlight ran. She had no idea where she was going, but she knew she had to get away. She choked back a sob. Sunset Shimmer. Starlight thought they were friends. Starlight thought she could trust her. Starlight was wrong. Sunset was no different than the demon. Well, she DID turn into a demon before, who’s to say she wasn’t still one? The only difference was the demon violated her physically, while Sunset violated her mentally. Sunset had seen her thoughts, her memories.

So now she knew. To be honest, Sunset was there when it happened, but now she knew what it felt like, all the trauma and anguish she had gone through. Sunset probably hated her now, and thought she was some kind of disgusting freak. Sunset pitied Starlight and Starlight hated it. She didn’t want pity, she wanted to be left alone, and she wanted revenge for what happened. Even that was denied her since Sunset burned it all away with her Starfire spell. Starlight had never seen the Starfire spell before, only briefly read about it in a book. She didn’t think Starfire had the ability to burn the evil and corruption out of a pony. The Starfire flames matched Sunset’s cutie mark, so maybe that had something to do with it?

Starlight continued to run and teleport away. She wanted to get as far away from Sunset and the Crystal Empire as possible. Sunset didn’t need her help. She was a former pupil of Celestia. She could take care of everything herself. Starlight was extra baggage. She only came because she had nothing better to do. What has she done? Nothing but sit around the castle and have a meltdown. She should have gone with Twilight, demanded to go along. Maybe then, a demon wouldn’t have possessed her and used her.

Starlight was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t realize she had teleported outside the boundaries of the Crystal Empire. The howling wind tore at her mane and the severe cold bit deeply into her bones. Starlight didn’t care. Numbness seeped into her feet and slowly spread up her legs. Her teeth were chattering so hard, she wondered if any had cracked or broken. Starlight was shivering to the point that walking became difficult. Slowly, the noise faded to a dull roar. Starlight became very sleepy and her body grew heavy. Her legs finally gave out and she collapsed in the snow. Starlight didn’t even find it cold anymore. In the fog of her mind, Starlight knew her feet were probably frostbitten and she was in the latter stages of hypothermia, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. This was her punishment, her karma for her actions.

Starlight closed her eyes and sighed. Was there such a thing as the afterlife? It wasn’t something she had studied, and the princesses never spoke of it. She guessed that when you were an immortal alicorn princess, death wasn’t something you worried about very often. Starlight didn’t care. The snow covered her body, making her body feel strangely warm. Her mind went blank and Starlight floated off into unconsciousness.

Act 2 Ch.4: Nyx Investigates

Under normal circumstances, the castle of the Crystal Empire was an impressive sight to behold. At any given time of the day, the sun’s rays refracted off the multicolored crystal, displaying an impressive array of rainbow colors. Since Sombra took over, the castle had become an imposing fortress. The crystals had become dull and gray, intermixed with Sombra’s addition of black and red colors. Giant walls made of black crystal circled the castle, daring anypony to enter. Inside, the castle was heavily fortified. Guards patrolled the corridors constantly. If the guards didn’t get you, the numerous magic traps and banishment spells hidden throughout would, further deterring wannabe heroes.

The throne room was at the top of the tallest tower. From here, one could look out and see the vastness of the Crystal Empire. Sombra kept the throne room pitch black at all times. It was his retreat, his place of refuge. It was also Number One on Nyx’s list of Places to Break Into.

On the level of asthetic, Nyx decided Sombra could take lessons from the Hive on how to properly create Gothic Nightmare-themed architecture. She also found the castle surprisingly easy to break into.

Nyx had felt bad for losing the ponies so early in the snow storm, so she had sent John Carter back to guide them to the wall. Nyx herself was able to sneak inside, avoid several guard patrols, and temporarily set up camp in an abandoned building. She and John Carter spent the first few hours scanning and surveying the city. Before leaving Twilight’s library, Nyx made sure to get a set of blueprints for the castle. At least now she had an idea of what lay ahead.

Once she was satisfied, Nyx had decided to make her assault on the castle. There were no buildings within one hundred meters of the castle wall, and the wall itself was tall enough she couldn’t jump over, and mirror smooth, so she couldn’t climb over. Guard towers were spaced evenly across the top, and guards patrolled the perimeter.

The shield that surrounded the city and kept the worst of the storm out was virtually impenetrable, so flying over and dropping in was out. The main gate was the only way in or out, and it was closely guarded. Nyx watched the patrol rotation and had come up with a simple, yet brilliant idea: Follow the guards inside.

As a Bladedancer, Nyx had the unique ability to render herself invisible for up to ten seconds. This meant she had to be absolutely perfect with her timing. Nyx had waited patiently in the shadows for the guards to change shift. Once the doors opened, she crouched down. By the time the new guards appeared, Nyx’s invisibility activated and she slipped through the door. Once inside, Nyx ducked into the shadows, just as her invisibility wore off. The door do the inner courtyard was closed, so when her invisibility kicked in again, Nyx dashed up the stairs to the guard house, and hopped down the wall. From there, it was matter of using the shadows and invisibility to get to the castle.

Based on the blueprints, Nyx knew there was a small garden with a service entrance nearby, so she made her way in that direction. When she found the door, it was a simple matter of picking the lock and going inside.

Sombra’s bland redecorating of the inside mirrored the outside. Random bits of black and red crystal poked through the floors and jutted out of the walls at irregular intervals. This made simply walking from one place to another a hassle. Nyx idly wondered how the ponies put up with it.

When John Carter had first resurrected her, the first thing Nyx did was learn how to tap into the Magic of Equestria. Hildr had explained the basics to her a while ago, but Nyx fount it quite difficult. She wondered if it was due to the fact that she was a mechanical being, not an organic one. Instead, John Carter used Raven’s notes and books from Twilight’s library to learn how to detect and analyze different types of magic. Now that they had successfully infiltrated the castle, Nyx and John Carter were on the lookout for magical traps, security triggers, and surveillance spells.

The high vaulted ceilings, crossbeams, and deep shadows had afforded Nyx plenty of places to hid and observe from. She made her way to Princess Cadance’s room, but found the way heavily guarded and covered with magic traps and alerts. Fortunately, the princess had a balcony, so Nyx had simply climbed outside and worked her way over. The door was warded of course, but John Carter was able to dispel it, and Nyx went inside.

It was clear from a quick search that the princess hadn’t been in her room for some time. Where else could she be? Nyx checked the rest of the rooms on the blueprints, but found nothing. On a hunch, she had John Carter scan for secret passages and hidden rooms. He turned up a few, but no princess. Nyx pulled up all of the information she had on King Sombra. He was egotistical and curel, as most tyrants were, but he was also smart. Cadance was a shining symbol of hope for the Crystal Ponies and the Crystal Empire as a whole. Generally you keep something like that on a tight leash so you can keep an eye on it.

Nyx also remembered that Cadance had been held in the dungeon when Crysalis impersonated her. She figured that was as good a place as any, but she wanted to look around more first. By now, the castle was starting to wake, even though it was still dark outside. Nyx left the princess’s chambers and hid in the shadows, spending the day sneaking around the castle. The guards didn’t say much, but the castle staff talked in hushed whispers, as if the walls could hear them.

“Sombra has quite a lockdown on this place,” Nyx said as she watched from her current hiding place above the doors to the throne room.

“We’re going to get caught,” John Cater whispered nervously. Nyx shrugged. “What are they going to do, cut off my head?”

“That would still be a very bad day for both of us,” John Carter replied.

“More of a minor inconvenience for me,” Nyx decided. A mare ran by, catching Nyx’s attention. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?” she wondered and decided to follow. The mare worked her way through the castle and through a large set of wooden doors. A window was open at the top, so John Carter reluctantly floated through to eavesdrop.

Nyx heard muted shouting from the room. “What’s going on?”

“Oh dear. This is not good, not good at all,” John Carter whimpered.

“Focus!” Nyx hissed.

John Carter gave a running commentary. “Um, the stallion the mare is talking to is some king of mid-level administrator. She’s waving papers around and yelling about missing prisoners and increased funding for a project called ‘Dark Arrival.’ The administrator is saying it’s not a big deal, and the mare is saying the treasury is spending too much money on projects of questionable repute, and not enough on social programs. Oh. They’re yelling now. Oops. It looks like the mare is leaving.”

Nyx watched as the mare exited below and stomped off. Nyx shook her head. Bureaucracies were the same everywhere.

“Um, it looks like the stallion is leaving,” John Carter reported.

Nyx waited for him to leave, then hopped down and slipped inside. “Okay Johnny-boy, scan everything,” she said and made a circling motion above her head with her finger. While John Carter went about his task, Nyx shuffled through the papers on the desk. She hadn’t become fluent in the ponies’ written language, but she knew enough to get the idea of what she was reading. The doorknob turned and Nyx’s attention snapped to the door. John Carter disappeared through the window above the door. Nyx put the papers back where she found them and ran to the door. By the time the stallion entered, Nyx’s invisibility activated and she slipped out the door. She then deftly jumped back up into the rafters to meet John Carter. “What did you find?”

“I found news and progress reports of current activities by the Crystal Empire,” John Carter said. “The crystal mines have ramped up production, and the army has begun advanced training maneuvers.” He looked around nervously. “What is going on here?”

Nyx stroked her chin in thought. “If I had to guess, Sombra is preparing to go to war.”

“Against whom?” John Carter asked.

“Against what,” Nyx corrected. She spent the rest of the day mulling this over while sneaking into other offices. When night rolled around, Nyx had suspicions of what Sombra was planning. “What are you thinking?” John Carter asked.

“Remember what I told Sunset Shimmer about the demons?” Nyx asked.

“Y-yes,” John Carter stuttered.

“I think Sombra is hiding a demon army somewhere,” Nyx said.

John Carter flitted around nervously. “But where did they come from? How did they get here?”

Nyx tapped her chin. “All equally valid questions, but I think the most important question is ‘who?’”

“Why does that matter?” John Carter asked.

Nyx held up her finger. “If you know ‘who’ they are, you will know ‘where’ they came from, ‘how’ they got here, and ‘why.’”

John Carter’s eye jittered around. “But…but Equestria doesn’t have demons.”

Nyx rolled her eyes. “Did you not hear what I just said? Besides, we already have a lead.”

“Really?” John Carter asked. Nyx nodded her head. “The demon that possessed Starlight Glimmer mentioned that something called a ‘Prime Evil’ was already here.”

John Carter searched his memory banks. “There’s nothing I know that names a ‘Prime Evil’ or even mentions one.”

Nyx had a sudden thought. “What about ‘Lord of Terror?’”

“What does that mean?” John Carter asked.

“No idea,” Nyx shrugged. “It was something I said to Celestia right before she cut off my head.” She hummed to herself. “I have a hunch this Prime Evil and Lord of Terror are related. I’ll need to visit the Princess.”

John Carter’s eye started to blink. “Um, Nyx?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yes John Carter?” Nyx replied sweetly.

John Carter hummed nervously to himself. “Um, you might find this strange, but Starlight Glimmer just started teleporting randomly all over the place.”

“Show me,” Nyx said and John Carter displayed a map of the Crystal Empire. A white dot appeared and started jumping all over the place. Nyx noticed the dot had jumped outside the Empire’s borders and was getting farther and farther away.

“Where is she going?” John Carter asked.

“Are you sure this is Starlight?” Nyx asked and John Carter nodded. “The bursts of magic match Starlight Glimmer’s unique signature.”

The dot finally stopped moving. “That’s not good,” John Carter mumbled.

“Nope,” Nyx agreed. “Transmat me to the ship.”

“But we haven’t tested the network yet,” John Carter explained.

“DO. IT. NOW,” Nyx said forcefully. John Carter’s ring split apart and Nyx faded in a flash of light.

Once she arrived, Nyx put on her helmet and lowered the ramp. “Put a range and bearing to Starlight’s last location on my HUD,” she commanded.

“O-okay,” John Carter said. Before the ramp finished lowering, Nyx jumped out and ran off into the blizzard. She couldn’t see anything in the driving snow, and had no choice but to follow the arrow. Nyx arrived seconds later and began searching. “Scan for her body.”

“Already done,” John Carter said. Nyx knelt down and began brushing the snow away, until she uncovered Starlight’s body. “Her vitals are very weak,” John Carter murmured.

Nyx quickly dug the frozen pony out of the snow and sprinted back to her ship. She gently laid Starlight on the deck and pulled out an emergency blanket, a wool blanket, and a heater. While the heater warmed up, Nyx carefully wrapped the blankets around Starlight. She then ripped into an emergency supply box and set a can of soup on the heater. Once this was done, Nyx sat down to wait.

Act 2 Ch.4: Chicken Soup for the Unicorn's Soul

It was warm. It also hurt. Starlight didn’t think the afterlife would be painful. At least she wasn’t cold anymore. With great effort, Starlight opened her eyes. It took a while for her eyes to focus, and Starlight found herself in a strange cave. She also realized she couldn’t move, and had a brief panic attack until she realized she was wrapped in blankets. A heater glowed bright orange and gave of delicious heat. As her mind woke up, Starlight reasoned that her body hurt because her heart was trying to pump warm blood through her frozen extremities. Two glowing lights, one blue and one red, appeared out of the darkness. “You’re awake. Good,” Nyx said.

Starlight shuffled backwards until she hit a wall. “What do you want with me?” she asked suspiciously.

Nyx slowly moved until she was sitting across from Starlight and pushed a large cup of steaming liquid in front of her. “Drink.”

Starlight narrowed her eyes and looked at the cup. She wiggled one of her legs loose from the blankets and reached for the cup. When her hoof touched the cup, she jerked back and winced. Starlight tried to focus her magic, but her horn sputtered and died. “I guess my body is still trying to recover,” she mumbled.

Nyx sat for a moment, then picked up the cup and held it to Starlight’s muzzle. Starlight huffed and rolled her eyes, but Nyx remained unmoving. “You’re not my mother you know,” Starlight pouted.

“I am aware,” Nyx replied evenly.

Starlight stared at the cup, then turned away. “Why did you rescue me?” She looked around and added, “Where are we?”

“In my ship,” Nyx replied.

Starlight stared at her out of the corner of her eye. “How did you find me?”

Nyx put the cup on the floor. “All of you ponies have a unique magic signature, like a fingerprint for humans. I had Johnny-boy scan you and Sunset Shimmer back at the library so I could find you if anything happened.”

Starlight faced Nyx directly and glared. “So you’ve been stalking us?” she accused.

“I brought you here,” Nyx pointed out.

“And then you abandoned us!” Starlight shot back, raising her voice.

Nyx was unmoved. “I told you from the start it would be like this,” she replied evenly. “There are somethings that only you and Sunset can do, and some things that only I can do.”

Starlight said nothing and stared at the heater. Nyx picked the cup back up and held it out. Starlight grudgingly put her lips to the edge and Nyx slowly tilted the cup so Starlight could drink.

Starlight braced for the scalding liquid, but found it was a manageable temperature. The warmth flowed down her throat and into her belly, where it spread to the rest of her body.

Nyx refilled the cup and set it down in front of Starlight. They sat in silence as the wind gently rocked the ship. “How did you find me?” Starlight asked again.

“My Ghost picked up your erratic teleporting and triangulated your location when you finally stopped moving,” Nyx explained.

“I didn’t ask you to,” Starlight mumbled.

Rather than ask the obvious question, Nyx said, “You and Sunset had an altercation.”

Starlight sighed. “You could say that, but I don’t want to talk about it.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Nyx asked.

“Nothing!” Starlight shouted. “I don’t want to talk about anything! Everypony should just stop asking how I am! I’m fine!”

To Starlight’s surprise, Nyx didn’t say anything and remained silent. Finally, somepony who respects my decisions, she thought.

Feeling started to return to her hooves, and Starlight slowly gripped the cup. Whatever was in the cup was delicious and not only filled her belly, but warmed her up. “What is this?” she asked.

“Chicken noodle soup,” Nyx replied and Starlight stopped. Her eyes went wide and she looked down in horror at the cup. “You mean-“

“There was no chicken, just noodles, broth and vegetables,” Nyx assured her, and Starlight sighed with relief. After a while, Nyx asked, “How well do you know Sunset Shimmer?”

“Not very I’m afraid,” Starlight replied. “We met a few months ago when she came to get a new journal, and we hung out a little, but that’s all. Since she lives in the Human World, we don’t interact all that much.”

“Yet she was the first one you reached out to for help,” Nyx pointed out.

“What other choice did I have?” Starlight asked. “Twilight was missing with all of her friends! Celestia has been no help at all, Luna even less so, and Discord is Discord. There was nopony else.”

Silence settled in again. Starlight didn’t quite understand it. Anypony else would have been fussing over her, talking to her, trying to take care of her, or at least trying to make conversation. Nyx seemed to be content to sit in silence. At least she wasn’t staring to the point it made her feel uncomfortable. Starlight got the impression that Nyx was used to being along with her thoughts. Unfortunately, that was the last thing Starlight wanted. “Tell me about where you come from,” she asked.

“Princess Luna has been there. You should ask her,” Nyx replied.

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Princess Luna isn’t here right now and you are.”

“Rehashing the same story over and over is boring, especially for the readers,” Nyx said.

“What?” Starlight asked, clearly confused.

“Perhaps I will tell you when the story is focused on a different character. That way, it won’t take up needless word count,” Nyx said.

“What?” Starlight repeated.

Nyx looked up to face Starlight. “I am not a therapist, nor the kind of person who can help you deal with the trauma you experienced.” That really threw Starlight for a loop. “I am sorry that happened to you, and I sincerely wish it didn’t have to,” Nyx continued. “But a punch to the face is the quickest way to realize the gravity of this situation. Nothing you have faced before can prepare you for this. What’s happening now could be the end of Equestria.”

“Hold on,” Starlight said, leaning forward. “What do you mean? How can you know any of this?”

“What else could it be?” Nyx asked. “You said yourself how dire everything is.”

“True, but Equestria has faced big threats before,”

Nyx stared into the lantern. “I hope you are right.”

To be honest, Starlight wasn’t so sure herself. What she said was true. Equestria has faced challenges in the past, but not like this and not all at once. Looking at the big picture, it was easy to be overwhelmed and lose hope. Maybe the best solution for now was to focus on the most immediate problem. Right now, that meant accomplishing the task the Cutie Map had sent them to do in the Crystal Empire. Just from the short time they had been here, Starlight guessed it was rescuing Princess Cadance and defeating Sombra.

Starlight frowned. “If the princesses are supposed to be all-powerful Alicorns, why do they need rescuing all the time?”

“That, is the right question,” Nyx spoke up. “I believe the best way to answer that question is with Sunset’s help.”

Starlight frowned and made a face. “You don’t trust her,” Nyx stated.

“How can I after what she did?” Starlight asked.

“And what did she do?” Nyx asked, leaning forward.

Starlight sat back, suddenly uncomfortable with how intently Nyx was staring at her. “She used her magic to look into my mind and made me relive what happened to me,” she said.

Nyx stroked her chin. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe Sunset can’t quite control when her Empathy Touch activates?”

Starlight frowned. “How could she not?”

Nyx leaned back. “I believe that is a question best answered by Sunset.” A light beeping sound from the cockpit caught Nyx’s attention and she went to investigate. Silence settled around Starlight and for the first time, she realized the wind had died down somewhat. She pushed out of the blankets and stretched, before heading to the cockpit. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the snow falling gently outside. “Storm has calmed down some,” she said.

“How are you feeling?” Nyx asked.

Starlight thought for a moment. She was tired and hungry, which was to be expected. Now that she had calmed down some, Starlight felt okay. Darkness whispered from the corners of her mind, but she pushed it away. “Tired but okay for now I guess,” she said.

Nyx looked up from her console. “The sun will be up in a few hours. You had better get back.”

Starlight’s face fell. “Yeah,” she replied glumly.

“If you are worried about Sunset, don’t be. She understands,” Nyx said.

Starlight shook her head. She didn’t think she would ever understand Nyx. Her horn lit up and just as she was about to leave, Nyx spoke up. “One quick question. How does you teleport spell work?”

“Huh?” Starlight asked with confusion.

“Teleporting. How does it work?” Nyx asked.

The glow on Starlight’s horn faded. “The mechanics of the spell are pretty complicated and there are a lot of variables you have to account for, such as planetary motion, spatial awareness, and a few other things. There are safeguards built in so you don’t accidently teleport yourself into a wall, or another pony.” Starlight frowned. “Basically, you form a picture in your mind of where you want to go, the clearer the better. Ideally, someplace you have already been to. However, there are variants of the teleportation spell. For instance, always returning to a single location, or adding a tracking spell to always arrive at the pony or thing you are tracking.”

Nyx nodded her head. “I suppose that all makes sense.”

A faint smile appeared on Starlight’s face. “Like right now for instance. Since I have already been to the room where Sunset and I are staying, it will be no problem to appear there.” Starlight’s horn lit up and she disappeared in a flash of light and a quiet POP sound.

Nyx stared at the spot where Starlight had just been standing. “Very interesting indeed.” She held out her hand and John Carter appeared. “Our turn Johnny-boy.”

John Carter mumbled nervously to himself as his ring split into four parts and started spinning at high speed. Nyx’s body turned into light and vanished.

Act 2 Ch.6: Of Bat-Ponies and Unicorns

When Starlight returned to the room, she found Sunset snoring quietly on her bed. All of the lights were turned off except for a small wall light next to Starlight’s bed. She winced and immediately felt guilty when she saw the hastily repaired hole in the wall. Starlight made a mental note to fix it better before going to work. She looked around the room. Nothing appeared out of place, but a chill rolled down her spine. She felt like she was being watched. Did Nyx somehow make it back before she did? Starlight found this unlikely. Once again, her eyes gazed over the room, trying to see the shadows hidden in the dark. A light hissing laughter made Starlight jump and she clamped her hooves over her mouth to keep from screaming. “You ponies are so amusing,” Onyxia giggled.

“What are you doing here?” Starlight hissed after her heart climbed down out of her throat. “Won’t you get in trouble?”

“Not necessarily,” Onyxia said. “You and Sunset are guests to the Crystal Empire and it is my duty to keep an eye on you.”

Starlight narrowed her eyes. “So you’re spying on us then. Who are you reporting to, King Sombra or Princess Luna?”

Onyxia’s eyes became hard and her smile turned predatory. “We have no love toward the False Shadow, and the Mistress would be saddened to hear your accusations.”

Starlight rubbed her face and sighed. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’ve had a long day.”

“So I have heard,” Onyxia said.

Starlight sat on the bed and stared at the bat-pony. Her coat and mane color blended perfectly with the shadows. What little light there was in the room danced hypnotically in Onyxia’s golden eyes. She sat at the table, completely stone still like a castle gargoyle.

“You have questions,” Onyxia stated.

“A few,” Starlight admitted.

“About our mission, or about bat-poinies?” Onyxia purred.

“Both actually,” Starlight said. “Do all bat-ponies work for Princess Luna?”

Onyxia shook her head. “Most do, but a small number prefer to keep their independence. However, all bat-ponies have sworn to protect the Mistress and come to her aid when called.”

“Wow,” Starlight said. “Sounds kind of cultish if you ask me.”

“Says the unicorn who convinced and entire town to give up their Cutie Marks and individuality, in the name of equality for all,” Onyxia countered.

“Okay, you got me there,” Starlight admitted. “Where do bat-ponies come from? There isn’t much written about you.”

“Silly mare,” Onyxia chuckled. “You see, when a mother bat-pony loves a father bat-pony very much-“

“Okay! I get it. Never mind,” Starlight hurriedly interrupted.

“The first bat-ponies were created by the Mistress,” Onyxia explained. “Back in the early days of Equestria, a large majority of the ponies looked up to and swore fealty to the Sun Princess. However, a very small number chose to follow the Mistress. She took us in, trained us, and used her magic to remake us in her image to better serve her.” Starlight wasn’t sure if Onyxia was blushing, or if it was just a trick of the light. “Those who follow the Mistress are few in number, and as such, she loves us all fiercely.”

Starlight leaned back and digested Onyxia’s words. It was well documented that during the early years of Luna’s banishment, various cults dedicated to worshiping either the moon or Luna herself appeared across Equestria. Some were more…fanatical…than others. Unfortunately, some even attempted to assassinate Princess Celestia. By the time Luna returned, moon worship had all but died out. “What happened during Luna’s banishment and the whole Nightmare Moon thing?” Starlight asked.

Onyxia’s face fell. “There are none who remain from that time, except the Mistress herself, and she is loath to talk about it. Through the lore that is passed down, we are taught that the Mistress’s chosen fought by her side, despite any misgivings there might have been. It was a time of great sorrow, but an oath sworn is an oath upheld.” Onyxia sighed and gathered her thoughts. “After the Mistress was banished, the Sun Princess, in her great foresight, offered pardons to those who survived. As you would expect, this was not a popular decision. For a time, we were hunted down and killed in a misguided attempt at justice and retribution. Those who survived this purge settled away from Equestria and large population centers. We survived in the shadows, waiting for the day the Mistress would return.”

“Wow,” Starlight said. “Whole villages of bat-ponies?” Onyxia nodded. “But how have you maintained your populations? I hate to ask, but wouldn’t inbreeding be a problem without enough diversity in the gene pool?”

Onyxia hissed softly. “My sensibilities are not so easily upset, little unicorn. There were those who worried about such things in the beginning, but it is not a problem now.”

“How so?” Starlight asked, adjusting her position on the bed.

‘You see, back then there were normal ponies who sympathized with our plight. It was not uncommon for normal stallions and mares to be accepted into the bat-pony tribes. The Mistress also had the foresight to ensure that as long as one of the parents was a bat-pony, the offspring would be born as such.”

Starlight’s eyes went wide. “That is quite terrifying,” she said.

“Indeed,” Onyxia agreed. “Whether by accident or design, bat-ponies could breed out the other pony species within a few generations, if we chose to do so.”

The implications boggled Starlight’s mind. Looking at it from pure logic, it made sense on Nightmare Moon’s part. If her goal was to cover Equestria in eternal darkness, it made sense to have ponies that could thrive in that environment. Starlight suppressed a shudder.

“On to more important things,” Onyxia said, changing the subject, “as I have already discussed with Sunset Shimmer.”

“Oh. Okay then,” Starlight said, moving to the edge of the bed.

“As I have said before, Sombra returned a little over a month ago. His return and rise to the throne was swift and bloody. In one night, Sombra took control of the castle. Within a week, the storm set in, and in the time since it is as you have seen.”

Starlight gasped in shock. “How did this happen, and so quick?”

Onyxia sighed and gave a shrug. “Sombra was very thorough in his conquest. He used his Dark Magic to take control of the guard ponies first, then moved on the castle. I was not here when it happened, however I was able to learn from sources that Sombra had help, in addition to the guards under his control.”

“What kind of help? Changelings? Gryphons?” Starlight asked, but Onyxia shook her head. “The Changling hive has been dealing with problems of its own, and the Gryphons have not moved from Gryphonstone.”

Starlight sat back and thought to herself. “Dragons or Diamond Dogs perhaps?”

Onyxia’s eyes glowed like molten gold in the dark. “I think you know,” she said softly.

Starlight looked to Onyxia and frowned. What was she missing? Onyxia made it sound like it was painfully obvious. Obvious how? She looked up and saw the sympathetic look Onyxia was giving her. And then it hit her. Starlight’s body deflated like she had been punched in the gut. But how? Why?

The anxiety started to build, and Starlight’s breath became short. Panic began to overwhelm her mind. Starlight frantically looked around the room. The darkness was closing in. She was suffocating. The whispers grew louder. Icy fingers slowly gripped her heart and began to squeeze. Starlight’s heart jumped to her throat and she wanted to vomit. I have to get away I have to get away…

“Starlight Glimmer,” Onyxia’s smooth voice broke through Starlight’s mind. “Starlight Glimmer. Look into my eyes. Listen to the sound of my voice.”

Starlight felt compelled to listen to Onyxia’s voice. Warmth slowly crept into her shaking body. “Starlight Glimmer. Breathe in. Hold it. Let it out slowly. Breathe in. Hold. Out,” Onyxia intoned and demonstrated. Starlight’s shaky breathing slowly steadied. Onyxia slowly leaned forward, bringing her face into the light. “Listen to me, Starlight Glimmer. This is a safe place. You are safe. The bed is safe. The room is safe. Starlight Glimmer is a talented and much-loved friend. Ponies trust you. Ponies love you.”

Starlight closed her eyes and focused on the luxurious sound of Onyxia’s voice. “I am safe. I am loved,” she repeated while concentrating on her breathing.

“Yes Starlight Glimmer. This is real. You are real. The bed is real. Feel the softness of the blanket. This table is real. See the simple, yet sturdy wood. I am real. Listen to the sound of my voice,” Onyxia said.

Starlight did as instructed. She touched the blanket with her hoof, and traced the patterns of the weave. She looked to the table. Onyxia was right. It was a simple, solid wooden table. She listened to the sound of Onyxia’s voice. It was easy to listen to, the kind you could sit and admire for hours.

During all this, Starlight found her heart rate slowed and her breathing returned to normal. She opened her eyes and found Onyxia staring at her. “Better?” she asked.

“Yes,” Starlight replied and let out a long breath. “What did you do? Hypnosis?”

Onyxia chuckled. “Not quite. During the onset of a panic or anxiety attack, ideally find five things that you can associate with one of the five senses. Something to touch, something to see, taste, hear, smell. Even one thing to do all five. The idea is to find something real you can focus on to help ground yourself.”

Starlight thought about it for a while. “You are a pony of many talents.”

Onyxia chuckled. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”

Starlight nodded and closed her eyes. She was real. This was real. She could do this. “Back to what we were talking about earlier. How did Sombra get-“ she took a moment to clear her throat and center her thoughts. “-demons, to help him overthrow the Crystal Empire? Where did they come from? Where are they now?”

Onyxia shook her head. “I am sorry, but I do not have those answers for you right now. You and Sunset will have to keep your eyes and ears open.”

“And the Royal Family? What of them?” Starlight asked.

“Not much more I am afraid,” Onyxia admitted. “The family was captured when Sombra took over. Shining Armor is in the dungeon. Princess Cadance and Flurry Heart have not been seen in some time. I imagine they are in the castle somewhere.”

“So how do we get in the castle?” Starlight asked.

Onyxia grinned and her fangs showed in the light. “I admire your enthusiasm, but I believe that particular task is better suited to one with a ‘particular set of skills’ as she put it.”

“Oh. Nyx,” Starlight replied and made a face. “You’ve met her then?”

“Only briefly,” Onyxia said. “I like her. I can see why the Mistress trusts her.”

Starlight frowned and kept her thoughts to herself. She yawned and realized how tired she was. “I hate to be rude, but I need to sleep.”

“Of course,” Onyxia said and slipped out of the chair with practiced ease. “I will be in touch. May the Mistress grant you peaceful dreams.”

Starlight didn’t even hear Onyxia leave. She lay back, pulled the covers up and closed her eyes. Starlight hoped she would fall asleep quickly. If yesterday was any indication, her immediate future would be filled with long, tiring days. After some time, Starlight fell asleep. Fortunately, the nightmares did not come.