Moonshine, the Solar Princess S1

It's been three months since Moonshine became the Princess of Friendship and since she and Twilight moved into their Castle of Friendship. Toothless, Lycanroc, Rockruff and Mudbray adored the castle and specifically Moonshine's bedroom which had a queen sized bed, several smaller beds for the pokemon a large rock slab for Toothless to sleep on. There was a dresser adjacent to her bed with a mirror over it and there were two small desks on either side of her bed; one that held a small lamp and the other held a picture of her Mother and Princess Luna.

Moonshine right now was walking into the castle with her friends, Toothless and Pokemon. "Ugh, Twilight, we've been over this. Moonshine recovered from the Hopeless Magic, she defeated the Mean Six, the evil clones of us and she got this sweet castle. End of story!" Rainbow Dash explained for another the hundredth time to the unicorn as she sat down on her throne along with the other girls, save for Moonshine.

"Yes, but why?" Twilight asked. "Moonshine has chosen by the Tree of Harmony to become the Princess of Friendship cause the Tree gave her her Element of Hope and now this castle, so why would it just want her sit in a Castle in Ponyville? It doesn't make any sense."

"Well... maybe the reason will come up later on, Twilight." Moonshine figured sitting in her throne before the cutie mark symbol on her throne glowed brightly along with her Element of Hope.

Both of them shot out a beam of light in the center of the floor and the yellow star in the center opened up and what came out looked like a crystalline artifact but it was in the shape of an Alicorn, specifically, it looked like Princess Luna! The crystal matched the colors of Moonshine's Element of Hope to a T as well.

The girls were jaw dropped at the crystalline alicorn floating in the center of the room, before the crystalline alicorn spun around and around before it unleashed a very powerful shockwave of light, making the girls, Toothless and the pokemon cover their eyes from the brightness. When the shockwave was gone, everyone stared at the crystalline alicorn. "What... just happened?" Rainbow asked aloud, confused as to what just happened.

"M-Moony's throne just made a crystalline alicorn in the shape of Princess Luna appear." Pinkie Pie said. Twilight looked at the crystal alicorn.

"Jumpin' Junebugs, well then where do you suppose this came from?" Applejack asked.

"I have no idea. I've never seen anything like this before or read anything about it." Twilight added. "Spike!"

Spike saluted, grabbed a quill and scroll, "Ready Twilight." he called and he wrote down what Twilight wanted to be put in the scroll.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

My friends I have just discovered the appearance of a crystalline alicorn that is in the shape of Princess Luna that came from a blast from Moonshine's throne and Element of Hope, we are hoping that you or Princess Luna may know anything about this. Please write back.

Twilight Sparkle"

"Done!" Spike exclaimed before he rolled up the scroll and breathed his fire, sending it to Canterlot. In no less than a second later, Princess Celestia and Luna appeared in the throne room. "We got your message, Twilight." Princess Luna said.

"Wow... that was fast." Fluttershy remarked.

Celestia and Luna noticed the crystalline alicorn floating in the center of the thrones, "So this just appeared out of the center of the throne?" Princess Celestia asked.

"Yes Mom." Moonshine confirmed. "After it did, it sent out a powerful shockwave of light, but we don't know why?"

"Hmmmm...." Princess Celestia thought.

"What I want to know is why is this shaped like me?" Princess Luna asked, seeing the great resemblance in the crystal.

"I don't really know why it has that look either, Auntie Luna..." Moonshine said.

"There's nothing in the books about another crystalline artifact other than the Crystal Heart." Twilight added. Princess Celestia nodded, "Hmmm, maybe the library in Canterlot has something that might pretain to this.... Crystal Alicorn..."

Twilight and the girls nodded. "Until we know more about, I suggest you don't try to tamper with it."

"Okay, Mom..." Moonshine grinned and the two Princesses.

Soon a couple days have passed since the Crystal Alicorn appeared in the center of the throne room. So far, it hasn't really done anything except float there. While the Princesses tried to figure out what it was, Moonshine was reading in her library and just finished another book on magic spells. She then took another book in her magic but this one looked to be very old...

Moonshine was intrigued by this book, "Huh? Wonder what this is..." she opened the book and the first introduction page read, "Starswirl the Bearded"

"Starswirl the Bearded? Whose that....?" Moonshine echoed.

"Starswirl the Bearded! He's the most famous unicorn that ever existed. How could you not know who he is!" Twilight exclaimed, getting in Moonshine's face. Moonshine gently pushed away Twilight. "Sorry Twilight, but I haven't heard of him, but let's go and see if my mom has..."

Twilight nodded and the girls, along with Twilight's friends, Toothless, Lycanroc Rockruff and Mudbray went over to Canterlot and Moonshine presented Princess Celestia and Luna with the ancient looking book before she went to the first page and read it.

(Play until 1:21)

After Moonshine was finished reading it, the Princesses looked at her in awe, "Incredible..." Princess Luna asked. "Ihave always wondered what became of our old teacher." Luna said while Celestia looked kinda nervous for some reason.

Twilight stepped forth, "So it's genuine? You can verify that this journal really belonged to Star Swirl the Bearded?!."

Luna levitated the book up to her, "Indeed. From the looks of it, the last thing he wrote before facing the Pony of Shadows."

"Hold it! The Pony of Shadows was real?!" Applejack exclaimed in shock.

"It appears so." Celestia stated.

"We never met the other Pillars, and we were too young to understand the danger they faced." Luna added.

"Hold on a second now. All those legendary ponies were real, too? And they went off with Star Swirl to face the Pony of Shadows, and then none of them were ever heard from again?" Applejack asked.

"They must have defeated the villain, since Equestria is still full of light and hope." Rarity stated.

"But how? And where did they go?" Kaede asked.

"My Olde Ponish is a bit rusty, but I wonder if the answers can be found somewhere within the pages of this book." Celestia stated.

" Well, I just happen to be an expert in Olde Ponish. I mean, I've practically memorized every ancient text about Star Swirl there is!" Twilight said with glee.

"Seriously, all of them." Spike added to confirm. Luna explained, "We have fond memories of our old teacher. If you could discover what happened to him, we would be most grateful." she levitated the book over to me. "Solving a thousands-year-old mystery could take forever! Think of the research! The re-reading! The re-re-reading!" Twilight said with a smile.

Rainbow groaned in dismay. Moonshine looked at her mother who was still nervous about something, "Mom...? What's wrong?" she asked. "You look nervous. Do you.... know something about Starswirl the Bearded?"

Princess Celestia sighed, knowing that it was time for Moonshine to know.....

"Moonshine, there's a secret that I've been keeping from you." Celestia replied, confusing everyone, including her sister.

"What secret...?" Moonshine asked.

"That Starswirl the Bearded..... is your father...." Princess Celestia said, earning gasps from everypony.

"H-How is Starswirl the Bearded Moonshine's father?!" Twilight exclaimed.

Princess Celestia sighed and explained that when Celestia and Luna first became adults, Starswirl was very proud of them for completing their studies of magic. During the teaching Celestia developed a crush on her teacher, but they knew that naturally having a child together would arouse unnecessary attention so, Starswirl used a spell that would create a biological child (Moonshine) by combining the DNA of both him and Celestia, bringing Moonshine into Equestria.

However, when he went off with the other Pillars to face the Pony of Shadows, they disappeared, leaving Celestia to raise Moonshine, which only got harder when Celestia was forced to banish Luna to the moon when she turned into Nightmare Moon.

"Since then, I've had to raise her alone, cause she never really got to know about her father." Celestia replied sadly. Moonshine was beyond surprise; the greatest unicorn that ever lived in history was her father! "And that there may be a clue to his disappearance, I don't really know what to feel."

"We'll find out what happened to Starswirl and the other pillars, Princess. We promise." Twilight vowed.

Three Days Later...

Twilight was looking through Starswirls journal for any clues as the disappearance but couldn't find anything. She was staying glued to the book. "Figured out anything?" Moonshine asked Twilight.

"Nothing. I mean, Star Swirl was a genius, obviously. But forget Olde Ponish. There's parts where his horn writing is like another language!" she groaned.

Applejack came over to her, "Twilight, we've been studyin' and referencin' and cross-referencin' for three days straight now."

Rainbow stretched, "Ugh. I haven't spent this much time reading since the last Daring Do book came out."

Rarity was nearby wearing some reading glasses. "Perhaps it is time to take a break. This mystery is over a thousand years old, after all. Another day or two won't make a difference."

"Two days?! I don't want to waste two seconds!" she went over to a chalkboard where there were notes, allowing Moonshine to get a chance to read it. "I'm close to an answer. I can feel it."

Moonshine looked at some of the words and said them aloud, ""Hearg sylfum se Ponhenge". What's that?"

"The Temple of Ponhendge. You can read that?!" Twilight exclaimed.

"The writing is kinda sloppy but still readable." Moonshine said. "Toward dol grimlic of Fola Firgenbeorg"?

"At the base of Foal Mountain." Twilight said.

"User endemest scield". Twilight gasped, "Our last stand."

"Looks like we found our first real clue." Twilight levitated a book over to us and it revealed a small clearing with rock formation on it. Soon we made our way to Ponhenge where there were some vines on the rocks and dirt on a rock formation that were six rocks placed in a circle around what looked like a slab.

"I'm not sure we'd find out what happened here over a thousand years ago." Fluttershy said. Twilight was holding the book and she placed it on a rock. "Well who knows maybe the answer will just magically appear." Suddenly the book began to glow. "Uh, Twilight." Spike said.

Twilight gasped and looked at the book as it opened up on it's own and appeared a holographic image of Starswirl. Everyone was jaw dropped while Twilight was amazed. "Star Swirl!? I... I've wanted to meet you my whole life! I can't believe you're here!"

Moonshine waved her hoof through image. "I don't think he is here. I don't think any of them are." Moonshine pointed to the other rocks and the holographic images of Mage Meadowbrook, Rockhoof, Somnambula, Mistmane, Mom and Flash Magnus appeared as well.

(Skip to 1:20)

Starswirl blasted the center and the Pony of Shadows appeared. It was about as tall as Blitz with a long curved horn. "You summon me at your peril, Star Swirl! Once I defeat all of you, this realm will embrace the darkness as I did so long ago!" he launched out black ropes, ensnaring the Pillars. "Drawing me here will only make me stronger. You will never defeat me!" My mom broke free and charged the Pony of Shadows but the Pony of Shadows blasted her and sent her flying.

"Sapphire!" Starswirl exclaimed in fear as he watched Sapphire flying out of sight. The POS laughed. "You miserable ponies will never defeat me."

"We did not come here to defeat you." Starswirl said as he used his magic to break free. His book glowed and sent out a magical line to the mask, shovel, blindfold, flower and shield. "What are you doing?" The Pony of Shadows asked.

"We came to contain you." Starswirl said. They and the POS were lifted into the air and vanished into thing air, leaving their items behind.

"Well do ask for a magical explanation." Pinkie said.

"Uh... what just happened?" Rainbow asked.

"It looked like Star Swirl cast a spell that banished the Pony of Shadows." Kaede said.

"Of course! Powerful magic like that would leave an impression on this place. Bringing the book back here let us see what happened." Twilight said.

"Which was what?" Applejack asked.

"Star Swirl and the rest of the Pillars sacrificed themselves to save Equestria." Twilight said, making Moonshine to become very sad. Twilight nuzzled her best friend, "But I'll keep figuring out exactly what the spell was."

Moonshine smiled and nodded.

Back at the Castle of Friendship, Moonshine was walking through the hallway towards the throne room with Toothless, Lycanroc, Rockruff and Mudbray. The four of them sensed that Moonshine was sad and they comforted her when she and the girls returned.

Moonshine entered the throne room and saw Twilight popped up, "I think I understand Star Swirl's spell!" she said.

"I know I've finished one of Star Swirl's spells before, but this one was on a whole different level! Was it an explosion of magical feedback? An evocation? A kind of incantation? It's Star Swirl, so the possibilities are endless! And once Starlight set me on the right track with his crazy hornwriting. I mean, he was a genius, so I guess we can forgive a little messiness – I went through the journal again, and it's amazing!"

"Twilight, darling. We understand you're excited, but that's all we understand." Rarity said.

"What exactly is so amazing?" Rainbow asked.

"Only how Star Swirl and the other Pillars sent the Pony of Shadows to limbo!"

"They did what now?" Applejack added. Twilight made a small diorama of Ponhenge. "They used their magic to open a portal between worlds – to limbo – and pulled the Pony of Shadows inside." the diorama exploded.

"Darling you diorama!" Rarity exclaimed.

"I made more." She pointed to a pile of them and I sweat dropped.

"Star Swirl thought the only way to trap the Pony of Shadows in limbo was for the Pillars to take him there." Twilight explained.

"So they got stuck too." Applejack added. Fluttershy shivered, "The Pony of Shadows must have been really awful for them to do that."

"I suppose being trapped for all time with a super-duper bad guy in limbo might be okay if you were doing the limbo, but that's still pushing it." Pinkie added.

"The thing is I think I can get them out." Twilight said, much to our shock.

"Twilight, are you serious? You can save the most legendary ponies of all time?" Moonshine questioned, "I-Including my dad?"

"I-I don't know. Opening portals between worlds didn't work out well for me. Are you sure it's safe?" My mom asked.

"First of all, you opened portals through time." Twilight said. "Which is different than time." My mom still looked hesitant. "But how do you know they'll be okay even when you bring them back?" Rantaro asked

"That's the thing about limbo. It iisn't one place or another. It's in between, so time stands still. If we can pull them out, it'll be like they never left, right?" Twilight suggested.

"So what can we do to help?" Spike asked.

"If I'm right, we need to find items that are connected to the Pillars in some way." Twilight said.

"You mean like stuff that belonged to them?" Rainbow asked.

"Exactly and if I remember correctly Moonshine had gathered all the items that belonged to the Pillars while we were growing up in Canterlot, which she brought here."

"So now that we have the items what do we do with them?" Rarity asked.

"Easy, we go to Ponhenge and get the Pillars back." Twilight said. Everyone nodded and soon they were back at Ponehenge with the Pillars items placed on each of the rocks.

"I can't believe I'm gonna meet Star Swirl the Bearded! You know, outside of my dreams." Twilight said with glee. My mom, on the other hand us still concerned.

"I can't believe you're actually going through with it." Moonshine said with worry.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm all for pushing the envelope, obviously, but this is pretty out there for you, Twilight."

"What's "out there" about saving the most legendary ponies of all time from a thousands-year-old prison? Including your father so you, Celestia, Luna can all be a family again."

"Well... nothing when you say it like that. Unless "the most legendary ponies of all time" knew what they were doing, and we shouldn't mess with it."

"I'm sure Star Swirl and the Pillars did the best they could back then, but magic has come a long way. Mostly because of the work they did. Sapphire, Star Swirl the Bearded is the greatest wizard who ever lived. The chance to have him back in Equestria is worth the risk."

Moonshine sighed, "Well then I can't stop you."

"Alright.. here we go." Twilight said. We all backed off as Twilight used her magic to perform the spell and in an instant, the Pillars of Equestria reappeared. I used my magic to catch them all and placed them on the ground.

"What... What has happened?" Starswirl asked as he looked around.

"D-Dad...?" Moonshine gaped at Starswirl who looked at her, "Moonshine... my child..."

"Dad...." Moonshine grinned, with tears developing in her eyes, which she wiped away.

"It worked! We brought you back!" Twilight said.

"To where?" Starswirl added.

"You and the others have been trapped in limbo for over a thousand years, but I figured out how to get you ho—"

"What?! No, no, no, no! You must undo what you've done!" Starswirl said in a scared voice.

Twilight was confused, "What? Why? I mean, I don't think I can."

"You cannot bring us back!" Starswirl said.

"But I did. I brought all the Pillars back." Twilight said.

"You cannot bring only the Pillars back!" Starswirl added. Lightning flashed in a large cluster of shadows. The Pony of Shadows appearance! "Oh no!"

The POS laughed, "Your pitiful attempt to imprison me has failed, Star Swirl!" Starswirl looked at Twilight, "You must return us to limbo. It's the only way to stop him."

"I only figured out how to bring you back." Twilight said.

"Allow me to assist." POS said before lashing out vines of dark magic and destroying the rock formation! "There! Without the power of Ponhenge, your banishing spell is useless!" Starswirl exclaimed to Twilight, "You have studied my writings. Surely you have some other plan."

"No. I just wanted to save you. I didn't think—" Twilight stammered before Moonshine stepped up. "I'll handle this." Moonshine flew up to the POS, who laughed, "What can a tiny thing like you do against me?" The activated she activated her Element of Hope and she blasted a rainbow beam at the POS who cried in pain.

Starswirl and the Pillars were shocked.

The POS growled and launched his vines at her but her Element of Hope created a barrier around her, protecting her from the vines.

"Argh! This one is almost as... strong as you, Star Swirl. But even in my weakened state, she cannot stop the might of shadows!" The POS blasted his shadows at Twilight and the others but Moonshine counter with her Element which pushed back his shadows and struck him. "GAH!"

"Know this, fiend! We will not rest until we find a way to return you to limbo!" Starswirl declared.

"Never! Your days of glory are through, Star Swirl. Now my dark power will reign, and you six will bow to me!" Then the POS vanished into his shadow form. "Um... where'd he go?" Rainbow asked.

"That is a riddle we must unravel. And quickly." Somnambula added.

"How long have we been gone?" Meadowbrook asked.

"Over a thousand years." Fluttershy added.

"Then my spell worked – before it was meddled with – and the realm has been at peace for a millennia!" Starswirl said.

"Weeeeell... we did have to save everypony from Nightmare Moon and Discord and Chrysalis and King Sombra and Lord Tirek, and there was that one time when Moonshine signal handedly faced down six evil clones of us and the Elements of Disharmony. But that's all in the past." Pinkie pointed out.

"If you are truly this accomplished, we will stop the Pony of Shadows twice as fast together." Flash Magnus said.

"We shall see. It is an easy thing to say you have saved the world. It is quite another to do it." Starswirl stated.

"Excuse us beardo, but your daughter has saved the world." Rainbow said.

"Be that as it may, the problem of locating the Pony of Shadows remains, and this land is vast." Starswirl claimed.

"Well... maybe...." Moonshine through and the group was back in the throne room of Moonshine's castle where they looked at the crystallin alicorn. Moonshine gently let her Element touch the crystalline alicorn and it glowed before it showed a holographic image of the world of Equestria and the image of the Tree of Harmony.

"Just as I thought. This map, and indeed this very castle are grown from the seed we planted over a thousand years ago." Starswirl added.

"Then it did work!" Rockhoof exclaimed.

"What worked?" Ren asked.

"Each of us infused a crystal seed with our magic in hopes that it would grow into a force for good." Somnambula said.

"We wanted to leave something to protect the realm in our absence, but we never dreamed our gift would become so powerful." Mistmane added.

"Y'all mean the Elements came from you?" Applejack asked.

"You know, the sparkly crystal things that grow from the Tree of Harmony and represent each of us? Laughter, honesty, generosity, loyalty, kindness, and magic! And Sapphire's new Element: Faith." Pinkie explained.

"They are reflections of our own elements of hope, strength, beauty, bravery, healing, and sorcery." Somnambula said.

"We had no idea our small seed would bloom into the living spirit of the land. I am glad our mantles have passed to such capable ponies." Meadowbrook said with a smile.

"More importantly, we no longer need Ponhenge to send our foe back to limbo. We can use the stored magic in this Tree of Harmony." Starswirl added.

"But doesn't a banishing spell take a lot of power? We'd have to sacrifice the Elements for that." Twilight stated.

"Mm-hmm." Starswirl nodded.

"They'd be gone... forever?" Fluttershy added.

"Star Swirl, I don't think the Tree can survive without the Elements. If it dies, Equestria will suffer."

"If the Pony of Shadows has his way, your land will not exist. So unless you have a better idea..." Starswirl added.

"I do. We only use my Element!" Moonshine declared. Everyone gasped in shock. "Moonshine, no! You can't sacrifice your Element of Hope." Twilight said.

"Where did that one even come from? We only planted six seeds." Rockhoof added.

"The Tree gave it to me." Moonshine stated.

Starswirl scoffed, "The Tree of Harmony did no such thing. That thing is just a half baked gem." I gasped at that insult and Applejack stepped forth, "Beggin your pardon Mr. the Breaded but Moonshine's Element is anything but a half baked gem."

"It's as real as the other Elements of Harmony." Applejack added. "She used it to defeat the evil clones of us and defeated the Elements of Disharmony, the evil counterparts to our Elements of Harmony."

Starswirl huffed before a bright light glowed overtop of the Hollow Shades, "It seems there are fewer dark corners in the realm these days." Starswirl said, looking at the map.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Rainbow asked.

"True. The Pony of Shadows will have a hard time regaining power. When he rears his head, we'll be ready!" Flash stated.

"Isn't there some way to banish him without losing all of you?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, I wish there were. But to save our home, we are willin' to leave it." Meadowbrook said.

"You don't have to." Moonshine said, stepping forth. "I can use my power to reform the POS."

"The Pony of Shadows was not interested in reconciliation. Once a villain, always a villain." Starswirl said, glaring at me. "That is so untrue! Not every villain stays a villian." I stated boldly.

"Stygian wanted more power than he had, and that desire led him down a path from which there is no return!" Starswirl said.

"Whose Stygian?" Fluttershy asked.

"Stygian was the name the Pony of Shadows gave up when he turned to darkness." Meadowbrook said.

"And I'm just trying to figure out why." Moonshine stated. "I know I can reform the POS/Stygian is my duty as the Princess of Friendship and the Element of Hope."

Starswirl used his magic to take my Element off of my neck! "You and your Element are nothing more than a bunch of fakes!" he exclaimed in anger. Everyone gasped. "Stygian wants to destroy all that is good in this world. There's no way to befriend a pony like that." Starswirl exclaimed to me with a serious face.

"Yes there is!" Moonshine exclaimed back with a fiery temper. "My mother has always taught me about the Magic of Friendship and she entrusted me to spread the Magic of Friendship throughout Equestria and if you don't believe Princess Celestia, then you're just a jerk! I thought I would be happy to finally meet my father after he was gone for many years, but now.... I just regret it...!" Moonshine cried before she ran out of the room, sobbing and slamming the door behind her.

"Moonshine, wait...!" Twilight called but she was long gone.....

Twilight and the girls were left in distraught over what they just witnessed between Starswirl and Moonshine, "Starswirl how could you say such a thing to her!" Twilight scolded.

"Yeah, you totally disrespected your own daughter!" Rainbow added. "That is not how a father should act!"

"Rainbow Dash is right, Mr. the Bearded. Moonshine just figured out that your her father and what do ya do? You reject something that makes her special. That's disrespectful!" Applejack added.

"Mhm." Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity agreed.

"Even I have to agree with them, Starswirl. That was pretty harsh." Flash Magnus added.

"Yeah, all the little lass wanted to do was help defeat the villain." Rockhoof said.

"She just didn't want to lose you again, like she already had." Mistmane added.

"Spoken like a true daughter." Meadowbrook stated. Starswirl, who was still in shock from what happened with Moonshine, heard what the others said and sighed sadly. "Y-You..... right..... it's just..... when I left to fight the Pony of Shadows, I left Celestia all alone to raise our daughter. That's something that can't be forgiven. I left her to raise our daughter alone and I didn't try to reunite with them moons ago."

"But you couldn't do anything in limbo." Twilight defended.

"And that's the problem... I couldn't do anything. I felt.... useless. While my loving wife raised our child alone... I couldn't do anything..." Starswirl said with great remorse. The Mane Six lowered their ears, feeling sad for Starswirl.

"Come on, ya'll we should go and see if she's okay." Applejack suggested and the Mane Six agreed before they left the Pillars to go to Moonshine's bedroom along with Toothless and her pokemon. But to their surprise, they found it empty. They didn't see any sign of Moonshine except that there was a note on her bed. "A note?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight took the note in her magic and read it before she gasped in horror, "Oh no! Moonshine's gone off to face the Pony of Shadows alone!"

"WHAT?!" The girls gasped in horror.

"S-She can't do that!" Fluttershy added.

"That big meanie will do Celestia knows what to her!" Pinkie Pie said with worry.

"W-We have to find her!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"But we don't know where the darling could be!" Rarity pointed out. Suddenly, the skies in Ponyville became dark as dark black clouds rolled in near Town Hall and they were followed by a familiar laugh. "I think I have an idea..." Rainbow whimpered.

"Spike, alert the Princess immediately! Tell them to bring the Elements of Harmony as well." Twilight ordered and Spike nodded before sprinting off to get a scroll and quill. "Come on girls, let's go get the Pillars and head over there."

"Right." The girls said and they sprinted off.

Moonshine meanwhile, with her Element of Hope ready to use confronted the Pony of Shadows, "Hahaha, one measly little pony cannot defeat me..!" The Pony of Shadows growled.

"You wanna bet!" Moonshine snarled.

"Hahahaha, I'll take my chances, especially cause I've found some help..." The Pony of Shadows smirked as he looked to the right and Moonshine gasped, seeing Starlight Glimmer and the Mean Six with the Elements of Disharmony.

"Long time no see, Princess Moonshine." Mean Twilight mocked. "We've been planning our revenge against you."

Moonshine snarled at the bad guys before Starlight smirked before she used her magic to remove Moonshine's Element of Hope. "Hey! Give me that back!" Moonshine ordered.

"After what you did! You disrupted the peace of my village and turned everypony against me! You ruined my harmony so now I'm gonna ruin yours!" Starlight yelled in anger before turning to the Mean Six and they nodded. The Mean Six activated their Elements of Disharmony and this time they glowed black with purple and green dots around them. Starlight levitated Moonshine up in the air, right in their path. "Let me go...!" Moonshine snarled and Starlight laughed at her pathetic order.

"I don't take orders from pathetic alicorns like you...! Now!" Starlight ordered and the Mean Six blasted Moonshine with the Elements dark magic, sending the blast right into her heart! Moonshine screamed and winced in the upmost pain, just as the girls and the Pillars arrived.

"Moonshine!" The girls gasped in horror.

Just then, the Princesses arrived with the Elements of Harmony, "Moonshine, honey, no!" Princess Celestia cried in horror seeing her daughter in pain.

Princess Luna snarled and flew up to the Mean Six and blasted them and Starlight with her magic, interrupting their spell and causing Moonshine to fall to the ground. "How dare thou harm thy niece!" Princess Luna snarled, angry with Starlight and the Mean Six.

"Hahahaha, she had it coming, Princess." Starlight mocked which made Princess Luna furious.

"Thou shall pay for hurting thou precious niece!" Princess Luna yelled as he eyes turned white and wind started to stir around her. Luna glowed white and she began to transform into a tall pony, the same size as Celestia and shared many similarities towards her as well. Her fur color is pitch black, and her mane and tail flow in a starry midnight complexation.

This was Luna's evil alter ego.... Nightmare Moon!

Starswirl was horrified and at the same time in awe that Luna could transform into such a pony as well as the other Pillars. Starlight and the Mean Six just smirked at the furious transformed Alicorn. "You think a transformation will stop us?" Mean Rainbow smirked. "Pfft. Loser."

Nightmare Moon snarled before she made the tip of her horn glowed and she blasted a beam at Mean Twilight, who created a barrier around herself and the others. The Pony of Shadow laughed, "Face it Starswirl, this world will soon meet the darkness...!"

"We'll see about that Pony of Shadows." Princess Celestia growled before she gave Twilight and the girls their Elements of Harmony. The girls nodded at each other and they activated the Elements of Harmony, sending out images of their respective elements around the Pony of Shadows. Soon, the girls opened their eyes and came together, sending out a large rainbow beam of powerful magic at the Pony of Shadows. "NOOOOOOO!" The Elements Magic consumed the Pony of Shadows in its magic and destroyed the dark magic shadows, revealing an unconscious unicorn pony who was small in stature and just wore a simple, short brown cloak and he had a moderate cerulean, arctic blue and roseish black mane and tail.

The girls stopped the spell and the pony fell on the ground. "Oh word.... Stygian...!" Meadowbrook gasped.

Meanwhile, Nightmare Moon/Luna broke through Mean Twilight's barrier and blasted the Mean Six and Starlight injuring them.

Starlight snarled, knowing they at least completed one part of their secret plan and she dropped Moonshine's Element of Hope on the ground, "You may have beat the Pony of Shadows but we completed what we came here to do. Soon, that precious Princess of yours shall be nothing but a shadow of her former self...!" Starlight declared before she teleported herself and the Mean Six away.

When they were gone, Nightmare Moon changed back into Princess Luna and she flew over to her precious niece. "Moonshine, sweetheart?" Luna called.

Moonshine groaned as flashes of dark magic arose from her heart, where she was struck. Celestia, the girls and the Pillars rushed over to her. "How-How is she?" Fluttershy asked.

"I sense a great deal of dark magic inside of her heart." Starswirl said grimly, seeing the flashes coming from her heart.

"Those ruffians must have done it when they blasted her with those ghastly Elements of Disharmony." Rarity scoffed.

"I-Is there's something we can do to help...?" Twilight asked, worried about her best friend.

Starswirl and Celestia looked at each other grimly, "Curing dark magic in someone's heart, is a very difficult process and its rarely been recorded in Equestrian History, but my sister and I shall searched the library of Canterlot for anything that may help Moonshine."

Twilight and the girls nodded as they just looked at their unconscious friend as the dark magic still radiated from her heart, hoping there was someway to help her cure the infection that has plagued her heart.

After the battle, everyone took Moonshine and Stygin to the hospital in Canterlot Castle where the medical doctors immediately looked over the two of them while Twilight, the Princesses, the Mane Six and the Pillars were in the waiting room, anxiously waiting for any news on the pair.

After what seemed like forever, the doctor came out. "How are they doctor?" Princess Celestia questioned.

"Stygian is stable right now and he'll make a full recovery since he only appeared to have suffered from magical exhaustion." the doctor replied before his face turned grim. "As for Princess Moonshine..... I'm afraid it's not very good."

"W-What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"I'm afraid Princess Celestia was right, when she said that dark magic infected Moonshine's heart." the doctor made a screen appear showing Moonshine's heart. They noticed a black splotch of dark magic festering inside. "The dark magic that was shot from the Elements of Disharmony is now progressing inside of Moonshine's heart, turning it from pure to black. If this keeps up, soon her heart will be consumed by dark magic completely which means that the Princess shall become a darker version of herself."

The girls gasped in horror.

"I-Is there anything that you can do to stop this ghastly symptom?" Rarity exclaimed in worry.

The doctor sighed, "If it was just her mind, then yes. But with her heart..... its such a fragile part of the body. If we try to remove the dark magic and mess up, it could lead to a fatal consequence." the doctor explained the large risk. "I know how you all feel and I feel the same way too, but its just too risky to remove dark magic from the Princess' heart without causing a near fatal consequence if there is an error in this process."

Twilight and the girls looked at each other with great worry.

Suddenly, an ear piecing scream echoed through the hospital!

"Moonshine!" Twilight exclaimed as she and the group rushed past the doctor as he followed, with their hearts beating fast. The group made it to Moonshine's room where they saw her screaming and squirming in pain as the dark magic in her heart started to take its form. "Oh no! The dark magic! It's mutating...!" Princess Luna gasped in horror.

Moonshine screamed in alot of pain as the dark magic started to come out of her heart as green and purple smoke before it glowed in a black light and sent out a large shockwave of dark magic. Princess Celestia and Luna used their magic to create a force field around the group and the doc to protect them.

Moonshine continued to scream as the dark magic came out of her body.... and began to form another pony! This pony was just like Moonshine, except, she was completely gray with blood red eyes and she was wearing the Alicorn Amulet on her neck and she had the look of evil in her eyes. "Haha... haha.. HAHAHAHAHA!"

The girls and everyone were shocked and horrified at what just happened. "W-Who are you...?" Fluttershy shivered, holding Rainbow Dash.

"Hahaha.... why I'm your precious friend, Fluttershy..." the gray Moonshine smirked.

"No you're not! You are not our friend!" Applejack rejected.

"Hahaha.... then you can just call me Eclipse... or as you would say it.. the evil alter ego of your friend." Eclipse smirked before she looked at Princess Luna, "Like Auntie like niece, huh, Princess Luna?" she smirked. "I am your niece's worst instinct come to life and I only have one royal duty now... to destroy you!" Eclipse suddenly launched a blast at the Princess' but Twilight countered her magic. "You are not hurting the Princesses!" Twilight exclaimed.

Eclipse laughed before she coated herself in magic and rammed Twilight, sending her through the hospital wall and knocking her unconscious! "Twilight!" Applejack and the girls exclaimed in horror while Eclipse laughed, "Pathetic!" she smiled with a wicked flare.

"Nothing can stop me! Not even your precious student, Princess Celestia!" Eclipse gloated before Moonshine's Element of Hope appeared and blasted Eclipse with its magic. "Agh! Pesky Element! I don't know why I even chose to have you around! You should be destroyed along with the other Elements of Harmony!" Eclipse yelled before she launched a powerful fiery beam of dark magic at Moonshine's Element, but it blasted back with more power and struck its bearers' evil side. "Agh!"

Suddenly, Moonshine's Element of Hope glowed extra brightly and began to spin around and around very fast before it sent out a shockwave of light that blasted Eclipse out of the hospital and out of Canterlot. Eclipse landed on the outskirts of Canterlot, "OOF! Grrr..... annoying Element of Harmony... I'm going to see to it that they are all destroyed along with their bearers..... starting with my goody two shoes double... AHAHAHA!"

In the hospital, Twilight started to stir before she began to come too and she saw the girls relieved faces, "Twilight, thank goodness you're okay."

"W-What happened? Where's Eclipse?" Twilight asked as she looked around.

"Moonshine's Element banished her from Canterlot." Meadowbrook explained. "It was quite an amazin' feat."

"Indeed. The Element of Hope responded on its own and acted on its own free will." Mistmane added. "Like it was alive."

"Even I haven't seen anything like that before." Flash Magnus stated.

"B-But what about Moonshine?" Twilight questioned. "What will happen to her now?" The doctor examined Moonshine and found no more traces of Dark Magic in her heart. "The dark magic has been completely removed from her heart, but.... only time will tell is she'll ever awake."

"So..... what does that mean....?" Twilight asked.

"It means that..... our niece is in a comatose state because of what happened...." Luna confirmed grimly. "And only time will tell if she'll ever awake again..."

"No........" Twilight gaped as tears filled her eyes and she collapsed into Applejacks' arms as she cried. The girls and the Pillars were horrified as was Starswirl. They couldn't do anything to wake Moonshine up from this severe illness. The only thing they could do........ was wait......