Sunburst and the Shadow Pony 2by MinerChaptersThe story continuesLost treasuresA missing ponyThe story continues"If you need anything. Don't be afraid to call." "Thanks, I will keep that in mind. Goodnight," I close the door to my room. It was a simple room with two beds and a desk. Slowly I move through the darkness before lighting a candle on a desk by the window. It's been a week since we have last seen Chrysalis. It was hard to believe that she would turn herself in so that we had a chance to getaway. Even though I was there, I still can't believe she did it. I guess what they say is true; not everyone was born evil. I can only hope that that the Princess has given her a fair trial. Right now, me and Melody are at a remote village stay in for tonight. From what I can get from the townspeople, Starlight had a bit of history with them. They were hoping that she would come back to become their mayor. Not wanting to take a chance of them telling Starling that we were here, I kept my relationship with her secret. To which I feel my heart harden. I miss her. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye. I can only hope that we find Sombra's Tomb before everyone starts to worry. I'm writing a letter to the crystal empire to let them know that something urgent has come up, and I'm going to be off the radar for a bit. I can only imagine the earful I'm going to get once I come back. I looked to my left to see Melody sleeping soundly in one of the beds. Try as she might, it appears that her father's magic is something she can't seem to get ahold of. But then again, she is only a filly. And not every pony can be like Twilight Sparkles. I can only hope that I can help her understand how to use her father's magic to help guide us to him with some guidance and teachings. She only gets a feeling at the moment, but I don't want to travel across Equestria with just a feeling. Her lessons will begin again in the morning. However, a more pressing matter comes to my attention. I'm running low on bits. I will have to see if the local town's ponies here can help us out before we head out again. I have been going over some of the maps and from what I have been getting from Melody. It looks like we are going to heading northwest towards the Crystal Empire. But I have doubts that we will be going there. Looking at my saddlebags, I pull out the book that Crystal gave me. I run my hoof over the cover. It turns out that this is Sombra's journal. His last entry mentions making a last stand at Fort Ambre north of the Empire against the Umbra. I must have gone over my notes of Sombra's research a dozen times, but I haven't found any mention of a Fort Ambre anywhere. It's not on any maps, and I don't remember finding anything in the Crystal Library either. Not to mention that the notes say that the Fort is north of the Empire. But the only thing north of the Empire is the Frozen North. I remember something about an ancient citadel, but hopefully, we won't have to go that far. I am not sure if we can do this alone, but I can't ignore Chrysalis' warning. As much as I don't want to admit it, she is right. The princesses would not hesitate to remove the magic inside Melody. So far, her father's magic hasn't shown any signs of endangering Melody's life. But to be on the safe side, I have cast a spell to monitor Melody's magic for any signs of admiralties. It is not the best, but it gets the job done. I know that this is going to be a difficult journey for just the two of us. But I have no choice. Shining Armor would remove the magic from Melody before I blink. Queen Twilight would do the same. Thorax is too busy looking after the hive and his family. I lost track of Trixie long before this happened. I have no idea how to contact Discord. Starlight would… I reach down in my saddlebag and pull out a picture of Starlight. I track the edge of the image with my hoof. She would have come along. She would drop what she was doing and help us. But I can't do that. It's not that I doubt her abilities or anything. It's just that ever since we parted with Chrysalis and started this journey. I haven't been able to shake this feeling that we aren't coming back. If anything were to happen to her… "Sunburst?" I turn around to find that Melody is awake, looking at me with sleepy eyes, "Yes?" "Are you okay?" "I am fine. I just remembered somepony," "Who?" "A dear friend of mine. I got to see her at Pony Ville before we fought that Umbra. But I didn't get a chance to say goodbye." "Is she pretty?" "A… well yes. She is." "Is she your special somepony?" "No, I never got the chance to ask her," "Do you love her?" I couldn't help but blush as I answered her, "Something like that. But this stays between us, okay." "Okay. Why don't you write her a letter, telling her how you feel."? "It's not that easy." "Whenever Daddy had to leave to fight for the Empire. He would write a letter to Mommy and me every day telling us that he loves us very much and can't wait to see us again. And whenever he came home, he would give her Mommy a big kiss, and he would play with me and tell me bedtime stories and always find a way for us to laugh together. Then when I asked him why he must leave us behind in the Empire. Daddy told me that he fights so that bad guys won't get to us." She looks away sad, "Then one day he didn't come back home." She looks back with determination in her eyes, "But I knew that one day would find him again. Nothing can take down Papa." I move toward her bedside, smiling gently at her, "Sounds like your daddy was a very good stallion." "He is the best. I know that the Empire didn't like him when he became king. During his reign, he hid me away in the castle, away from everypony. He was very mean and didn't smile as much as he did before. But that was because of the Umbra inside of him. I knew that he was still my daddy in there. We just need to find him." "Get some rest, Melody. We got a long day ahead of us." "Goodnight, Sunburst." "Goodnight, Melody," I tuck her in bed and move to my bed but stop and look at her sleeping form. Such a brave and smart filly. Even after she lost her father to the Umbra, she still believed that he was still good. I don't know what became of her mother, but I can only fear the worst with what the Umbra said in the mindscape. After a moment, I moved toward my desk and began to write a letter, "Dear Starlight," Somewhere in Las Pegasus, A lone mare walks down the street of Las Pegasus. She is not in a hurry, but she can't help looking around her. So many lights, some many ponies are going about their day. Some familiar faces, but she never got their name. Then again, she never tried. She stops as a stallion tries to hits' on her, but she ignores him. He has been trying to get her attention for a while now. But she was not looking for a date. No matter how many bits he says he has or what he had done. She is not interested. She waits patiently as he goes through his routine before waiting for her answer, which is the same as every other day. Nothing. She moves around him and continues her way as he calls out to her. She enters Station Wagon Park, where her home awaits. It was a little worn down and broken with a need of a little T.L.C., but it is home. Her Wagon. As she moves to enter her home, one of her neighbors calls out to her. He was a red Pegasus with a bright orange mane. He has been nothing but kind to her ever since she came here. To be honest, she can always look forward to seeing him. "Hay Trixie. How are you doing?" "Trixie is fine Red Comet." "Rough day?" "Nothing that Trixie can't handle," she moves to enters her wagon when he calls out to her, "Hay Trixie," she looks at him, "I was wondering if you are going to be busy this Friday?" she tilts her head, "It's just that I got some tickets for an amusement park nearby. And I was wondering-" "Trixie appreciates the offer, but Trixie will be busy for the foreseeable future," She lied, "Oh," he looks down dejected, "Maybe next time?" he asks hopeful, She doesn't say anything as she enters the wagon. She closes the door and quietly moves to the window. Looking outside, she could see Comet kicking an imaginary rock before entering his wagon. Trixie lets out a sigh. Before jumping in her hammock, sighing into her pillow. "Trixie is sorry, Comet. You seem like a good stallion, but Trixie is not ready to date. Trixie is still hurting." As she lays there until a knock comes on her door. She ignores it, thinking it was Comet but the voice that follows it wasn't Comet's "Hello, Excuse me. I am looking for a Trixie Lunamoon. I was told that I could find her here." Confused, She moves to the door cracking it open. A pony in a dark red cloak greets her, "How can Trixie help you?" She can't see his face clearly, but she is taken back when he smiles back at her, "What is it that you desire?" Lost treasures“Come on, slow poke.” Melody calls out, jumping in place, “I am waiting.” “Hold on. I just got up.” I say as I rub the top of her head, “You are full of energy today.” “You bet.” She stands proud and tall with her head up high. “I feel like I can take on anything.” I smile warmly at her. “Anything?” “Yes. Anything.” She turns around, calling out to the door. “Come on, Equestria! Show me your worse!” Just then, the door to the room opens, causing Melody to dunk under the bed as an unknown mare stands by the door. I hold in a chuckle as Melody calls out from under the bed. “I didn’t mean it! I am sorry!” “Oops, sorry, wrong room.” The mare says quickly before closing the door. I call out to the departing mare before checking in on the brave little filly. “No problem.” I dunk my head to see that Melody has covered her eyes with her forelegs shaking like a leaf. “Going alone on a train didn’t scare you. Neither did a Queen of the changelings or an all-powerful Umbra. But a door suddenly opens, gets you?” She stops shaking before lifting a hoof to look at me. “I didn’t see it coming. How can I be ready for something that I can’t see?” I chuckle softly as she gets out from under the bed. “So, I guess you never had any surprise parties, I take it?” She shakes her head while dusting herself. “No. I don’t do well with surprises. Mom and dad had to tell me in advance about surprise parties so that I didn’t run away screaming.” I scratch the back of my head in disbelief at what I am hearing. “How have you survived so long alone if the smallest things can scare you?” She huffs, lifting her nose in the air. “I can take care of myself. I am just not very good with surprises.” “I guess everypony has something that they are good with and something that they are bad at.” “Where are headed next?” “From what I can get from your father’s journal. We are going to have to go north from the crystal empire. But we are going to have to stay here for a bit. Until night fall.” “Is that a good idea?” “No. But I thought about it. Your magic right now would notice the moment we enter the Crystal Empire. But we will have to enter the Empire for supplies before we can continue our journey. That is why we came here.” “Whatever for?” “An old friend of mine used to live here. She is very skilled in magic. I am hoping that she left something behind that we can use.” “Why did she leave? Did something happen?” Thinking about what Starlight did, I thought it best not to tell her about it. “Nothing that you need to worry about. Let’s just say that she had to leave town in a hurry. I hope that the town ponies haven’t touched her stuff since then.” We kept ourselves for most of the day, only going out when we needed to gather some supplies for our journey. As night fell, Melody and I moved quickly to the town hall. Surprisingly besides some yellow tape, we found that the building was unlocked. Lightening my horn with magic, we enter the remains of Starlight’s old job, and I can safely say that no pony has been here for a while. If the dust is anything to go by. Guess no pony wanted the job. Finding the Mayor’s office, we split up to search the office for anything that we could find. So far, I found maps of the town, blueprints for buildings, and a picture of a pure white stallion with an equal sign cutie mark. I think his name was Double Diamond, one of the residents of the town. I wonder why Starlight had this. “Hay Sunburst, look what I found.” Moving to Melody's side. She had found a secret passage leading somewhere. “Do we have to go down the dark spooky staircase?” “I am sure that it is not that scary,” I said, going down the stairs. Besides a squeaky step, nothing scary happened. Melody slowly follows me down the steps. Once at the bottom, we find an old study with old charts and maps lining the wall. The was a desk with some books on it in the far corner and an old oil lamp sitting near the edge. Judging by the dust everywhere it safe to say that no pony has been here for a while. And I made the mistake of blowing some dust off some books. We both spent the next three minutes sneezing and couching out our lungs. Melody stares at me with rage in her watery eyes. “Sorry.” I say turning on the lamp. After going through the books, I found out that Starlight had good reasons to set up her village here. During one of her journeys in the caves nearby, is where she found a hidden room. That is where she where she found the Staff of Sameness. Starlight mentions that there were more magical artifacts lock away with the staff. Some were broken beyond repair, others that she couldn’t identify while others she did not care for. She mentions how to find the room and some notes about some of the artifacts she was able to figure out. Not wasting a moment. We made our way to the secret room in the caves. Well, we did after fending off some bats, hidden spider webs, and one angry rat. And if anypony asks it was Melody that screamed earlier. Once inside, I could see old display cases, some intact while most were destroyed however most of the loot was gone. Old banners line the wall to which I quickly identify to be from the Crystal Empire. “This must be one of the Empire’s old treasure rooms. I wonder why they hide these treasures so far away from the Empire?” “Hay Sunburst what is this?” Moving next to Melody I could see marking on the walls telling a story. “Any ideas what this means?” “Give me a second. Let’s see here. A long time ago an Empire shines like the sun spreading joy, love, and happiness across the lands. That must be the curse of Empire.” Melody nods, “But where there is light darkness follows. The Umbra came to destroy the light. These race of shadow ponies spread fear and despair in their wake. They attacked the Empire terrorizing the Crystal Ponies and burning their homes for fun. But they were imprisoned into another realm by the ruler of the Empire Princess Amore using the Crystal Heart. Where they remain. But they fear of their return. And place artifacts in hidden locations away from the Empire to be used in case they ever return.” “At least they were prepared.” Melody says thinking out loud, “Is there anything else?” “Yes, there is one last thing.” I had to move some empty boxes to read the rest of the translation, “Only a pony of royal blood may find the artifacts hidden away.” “But that doesn’t make any sense.” I looked at her confused, “What do you mean?” “I mean if this place is where the hidden the artifacts are. How did we find this place? I mean you just said that only a pony of royal blood can find the artifacts. But Starlight found this place and she’s not of royal blood.” My eyes widen in realization, “You’re right. That doesn’t make any sense. Maybe there’s something we’re missing.” I started looking across the walls hoping to find any clues. However, as I was doing this, I heard Melody contacting me after hearing a strange sound coming from behind me. Turning around, I see Melody next to the wall but there is a door there that was not there earlier. “What happened?” “I don’t know. All did was lean on this wall I felt a tinge then this door appeared.” “That’s right! You’re the daughter of King Sombra.” I rushed over next to her and brush my hoof across the surface of the door, “There must have been an ancient ruin on the wall that would activate only when you touched it.” “So, the real artifact is in there, but then what are all these?” “They are most likely fakes to help deter thieves from not sticking around too long in case this place was ever discovered.” Opening the door I find two old books, a large brown cloak, and a small silver necklace with a blue gem in the center. I put the two books in my saddlebag handed Melody the necklace and put on the cloak over my current one without thinking. We both notice my blunder as I blush in embarrassment. “Why did I put on a cloak when I am already wearing one?” Melody giggles. Next thing I knew was that the cloak shines a deep blue before it disappears leaving me in my original cloak. Feeling around I couldn’t find the new one as if it wasn’t ever there. “What happened?!” “Where did it go?” “I’m not sure. It must be magic in nature. The only question is what for?” I say scratching my head, “Any idea what your necklace does.” She taps the center jewel a few times only for nothing to happen, “Maybe the books have something about them?” “Maybe but right now.” I say yawning “We better head back before any pony notices we’re gone.” Meanwhile back in Ponyville at castle friendship A lonely mare stares out the window into the night sky holding the picture in her hooves. Looking down she sees a picture of herself hugging a dear friend in happier times. Both ponies look so happy as a tear falls onto the picture. “Why did you leave me again?” She sniffs and wipes the tear off the picture still staring at it. “I know we don’t get to see each other very often. But we made a promise not to leave each other like last time.” She sets the picture on her nightstand, “Where are you, my Sunburst?” A knock echoes throughout the castle catching her attention. Slowly she makes her way to the door and finds two strangers in cloaks waiting for her. And yet one of them seems to be familiar. “May I help you?” “Hello, Starlight.” “Trixie?!” A missing ponyIt’s the next day. I got an idea of what the artifacts we found do. According to one of the books, I equip the Cloak of Moonlight Shadow. It says that the seen will be like shadows. I think it means that I can change into a shadow. But I have no idea how to do that. Maybe it only works at night? But if that was the case, why was it brown? With the name Moonlight Shadows, I was hoping for something shiny or silver light for its namesake. Maybe somepony forgot to clean it before I got it. As for Melody, she found Luna’s eye. It says that the shadows will become like the day. Wasn’t sure what it meant until we got out of the cave. On our way back, Melody asked why it was day already. To which I told her it was still night. It turns out that Luna’s eye allowed her to see in the dark as if it were day. The other book was a surprise. It has a detailed list of other vaults with artifacts and their location. It will take some time to find them, but the question is should we find them? After all, our original goal is to find King Sombra’s resting place and release him from his prison. I can look for the other artifacts later. My train of thought was cut short when a hyperactive filly jumped next to me, “Hi, Sunburst!” “AH!” I jump and land next to my bed and… and… what happened? I felt like I teleported, but I couldn’t cast that spell. Sure, I know the rules and principles behind it, but I was never able to do one before. I feel fine, but what happened? Looking around, I can see something is very wrong. Everything looks distorted like the world has lost its color, and I can hear a constant wind blowing in my ears. I can see Melody looking around for me and calling out to me. But she sounds so far away; however, she is only two feet away from me. Remembering my cloak, I look at my back to see that my cloak is covered in dark shadows and starlight like the night sky. “And the seen will be like shadows. It must be the cloak of Moonlight Shadow doing.” Taking this moment to test its abilities, I moved around Melody and touched her shoulder a few times. She could feel me, but she could not see or hear me. “What a fantastic artifact. It must have activated when I panic earlier. If that is the case, it must react to the user’s state of mind, or certain conditions were meant.” Focusing, I thought of being able to be seen again, and then the blowing wind stopped. The moment the wind stopped, I got the wind knocked out of me, courtesy of Melody tackling me, “Sunburst!” “Melody, ow.” I rub the top of her head as she looks up at me, “I thought something terrible happened to you.” “It’s ok. Your little jump scare inadvertently activated mine, turning me invisible.” She breaks the hug taking in what I said, “Oh, so that is why I could see you?” I nodded, “Melody, could you tell me exactly what happened when I disappeared?” She touches her chin, looking up in thought, “Well. You screamed like a filly,” “No, I didn’t,” I grumble to myself, “And jumped next to the bed,” She demonstrated by jumping next to the bed and then hiding under it, calling out, “And then you weren’t there.” “I want to run a few tests with my artifact to find its limitation. It might come in handy later.” After some trial and error, I found that my cloak lets me go invisible indefinitely. However, I can only hide when no pony is looking at me. And I had to touch another shadow that was not mine for it to work. Any sound I would typically make is muffled to a whisper, and only I can make myself visible again. I know because I had Melody blast me with some magic to see if it disengages the invisibility. I can painfully say that it can’t. In hindsight having a filly with the power of a powerful unicorn blasting me with magic wasn’t the best idea I ever had. It took me an hour to calm down Melody when I didn’t say anything for a few minutes after getting knocked into next week. Why does dealing with a filly have to be so complicated? I may have a more muscular body now, but muscles can’t fix everything. I am going to need to find a book or something to help with how to take care of foals. Moving on, I still can’t believe how powerful these artifacts are. I can see why the ponies of old didn’t want just any pony to get their hooves on them. Makes me wonder how they made this, to begin with. But enough of that. With the moonlight shadows with me, I can now enter the Crystal Empire, and no pony will know I was there. Only one problem. I can’t take Melody with me. The cloak only works for the one that is wearing it. And I have no idea how to get it off. And trust me, I tried. After looking through the book again, I found something that I believe should have been a warning label for these things. To many sure that Umbras couldn’t steal the artifacts from the users. They gave them the ability to soul bond to the pony using it. Only when the current user ceases to exist can there be a new user. In other words, the moment that I put on Moonlight Shadow, it became mine until I die. Also, I found out that current users of an artifact can not have two artifacts simultaneously. I guess they did this as a safety measure to ensure that no one could have them all. It makes me wonder if any other ponies found some of these artifacts themselves. Hard to tell since the only way to find out is to ask them. That is what you get when you make such powerful artifacts look like everyday objects. Ah, who am I kidding. It is not like I will have to watch out for any pony coming after me with artifacts from the Crystal Empire coming after mine, right? Why did I shiver just now? Meanwhile, at the school of friendship, Fluttershy walks to her class and notices a rather long line by Starlight’s office door. “Oh, my did something happen?” She says to herself but some of the students heard her. “Miss Fluttershy!” They cried as they circled her causing her wings to flare out above her in alarm. She looks to and fro between the children as they bombard her with questions she couldn’t keep up with; her eyes start spinning as she tries to keep up. “I have a question about the friendship lesson from Applejack regarding fruits!” “I-,” “How do we know if we are cool enough?” “I am not sure-,” “Why did a giant bubble of magic send changelings flying after a kiss?” “Well that’s-,” “What is going to happen with this week’s snack time?” “ENOUGH!” Fluttershy shouts, quieting everyone, but it was no better than somepony talking a little bit louder. But nopony wants Miss Fluttershy of all ponies to shout at them, “One pony at a time, please.” “Is class canceled today?” Ocellus calls from behind everypony, “Whatever gave you that idea?” “Miss Trixie didn’t show up today.” “Oh, that’s because Trixie is taking a little vacation. Starlight should be covering her class today.” “But that the thing. She didn’t show up either,” Gallus added, “Really? Oh, dear. That is a bit concerning.” “That’s why we came here to her office to see what could be keeping her. And found everypony else waiting in line.” “I have been waiting here since lunchtime,” Somepony added, which everypony looked at, “I wanted to know if she wanted some cookies, but she hadn’t shown up.” “Okay, then everypony had back to class. And those who are in Miss Starlight, please join Miss Pinkie Pie’s class.” They all mumble an agreement before leaving Fluttershy alone in the hallway. Fluttershy opens the door to Starlight’s office and finds it empty. She knows that Starlight isn’t the kind of Pony who would leave somewhere without telling somepony. It is not like her to up and leave everything behind when so many ponies are counting on her. However, the longer she searches the office, the more concerned she becomes. Nothing. She has found nothing. No letter, no scroll, no sticky notes, no nothing. It’s like she did come in today. “Maybe she is sick today and could make it today?” Fluttershy says to herself. She closes the door and starts making a mental list of ingredients for soup. “The poor thing much be so sick that she couldn’t leave the castle this morning. I better drop by to make sure that she is doing all right.” Unbeknownst to her, Spike had returned to the castle to reclaim some of his old comic books and found the front doors to the castle were left open. As if somepony left in a hurry. He didn’t think much about it and went inside all the way to his room. “Now, where did I put them?” He searched all over the place and couldn’t find them. “That odd. I thought that I left them right here.” He rubs that back of his head for a bit before he snaps his claws, “I saw Starlight reading them that one time before Twilight started dating Thorax.” Quickly, he goes to Starlight’s room to find that her door was left open much like the castle's front doors, and her bed wasn’t made. “Sheesh, didn’t any pony tell Starlight to make her bed before getting up?” Spike goes through Starlight stuff, tossing a long stick over his shoulder, finding the other half of Starlight’s staff, and looking back at the stick on the floor. He shrugs his shoulders, puts it with its other half, and continues his search. He found a picture of her and Sunburst, a light purple book with a lock on it. Spike quickly makes sure no pony is looking and sticks a claw in the lock, only for him to receive an unpleasant shock. He coughs a small smoke cloud before putting the book down and started looking elsewhere. He eventually finds his comics and checks to ensure they are okay before making his way out the door. On his way out. He found Fluttershy coming to the castle with a saddle bag full of goods. “Hi, Fluttershy,” He greets her at the base of the stairs, “Oh, Hi Spike. You didn’t happen to see Starlight by any chance?” “No, actually. The castle was empty when I got here. Why?” “Wait, she is not here?” “Oh, course not. She should be at the school right now,” “But Spike, she was not there either. I came here because I thought that she was sick and couldn’t make it today.” “What?” Spike says, dropping his comic books. Fear crossed both as they ran through the possibilities of what could have happened. “Spike, could you make sure that she is not in the castle and if anything is missing? I will ask the rest of the girls to see if anypony has seen her.” “Got it. Where do you want to meet up?” “Back here in about an hour. I am getting a bad feeling about this.” She says as they split in different directions leaving a small cloud of dirt behind them as Mailpony land where they were earlier with a letter in her mouth. Confused not seeing them, she puts the letter back in her bags and takes to the skies to find them again. Author's Note Now, what do you think happened to Starlight?
The story continues"If you need anything. Don't be afraid to call." "Thanks, I will keep that in mind. Goodnight," I close the door to my room. It was a simple room with two beds and a desk. Slowly I move through the darkness before lighting a candle on a desk by the window. It's been a week since we have last seen Chrysalis. It was hard to believe that she would turn herself in so that we had a chance to getaway. Even though I was there, I still can't believe she did it. I guess what they say is true; not everyone was born evil. I can only hope that that the Princess has given her a fair trial. Right now, me and Melody are at a remote village stay in for tonight. From what I can get from the townspeople, Starlight had a bit of history with them. They were hoping that she would come back to become their mayor. Not wanting to take a chance of them telling Starling that we were here, I kept my relationship with her secret. To which I feel my heart harden. I miss her. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye. I can only hope that we find Sombra's Tomb before everyone starts to worry. I'm writing a letter to the crystal empire to let them know that something urgent has come up, and I'm going to be off the radar for a bit. I can only imagine the earful I'm going to get once I come back. I looked to my left to see Melody sleeping soundly in one of the beds. Try as she might, it appears that her father's magic is something she can't seem to get ahold of. But then again, she is only a filly. And not every pony can be like Twilight Sparkles. I can only hope that I can help her understand how to use her father's magic to help guide us to him with some guidance and teachings. She only gets a feeling at the moment, but I don't want to travel across Equestria with just a feeling. Her lessons will begin again in the morning. However, a more pressing matter comes to my attention. I'm running low on bits. I will have to see if the local town's ponies here can help us out before we head out again. I have been going over some of the maps and from what I have been getting from Melody. It looks like we are going to heading northwest towards the Crystal Empire. But I have doubts that we will be going there. Looking at my saddlebags, I pull out the book that Crystal gave me. I run my hoof over the cover. It turns out that this is Sombra's journal. His last entry mentions making a last stand at Fort Ambre north of the Empire against the Umbra. I must have gone over my notes of Sombra's research a dozen times, but I haven't found any mention of a Fort Ambre anywhere. It's not on any maps, and I don't remember finding anything in the Crystal Library either. Not to mention that the notes say that the Fort is north of the Empire. But the only thing north of the Empire is the Frozen North. I remember something about an ancient citadel, but hopefully, we won't have to go that far. I am not sure if we can do this alone, but I can't ignore Chrysalis' warning. As much as I don't want to admit it, she is right. The princesses would not hesitate to remove the magic inside Melody. So far, her father's magic hasn't shown any signs of endangering Melody's life. But to be on the safe side, I have cast a spell to monitor Melody's magic for any signs of admiralties. It is not the best, but it gets the job done. I know that this is going to be a difficult journey for just the two of us. But I have no choice. Shining Armor would remove the magic from Melody before I blink. Queen Twilight would do the same. Thorax is too busy looking after the hive and his family. I lost track of Trixie long before this happened. I have no idea how to contact Discord. Starlight would… I reach down in my saddlebag and pull out a picture of Starlight. I track the edge of the image with my hoof. She would have come along. She would drop what she was doing and help us. But I can't do that. It's not that I doubt her abilities or anything. It's just that ever since we parted with Chrysalis and started this journey. I haven't been able to shake this feeling that we aren't coming back. If anything were to happen to her… "Sunburst?" I turn around to find that Melody is awake, looking at me with sleepy eyes, "Yes?" "Are you okay?" "I am fine. I just remembered somepony," "Who?" "A dear friend of mine. I got to see her at Pony Ville before we fought that Umbra. But I didn't get a chance to say goodbye." "Is she pretty?" "A… well yes. She is." "Is she your special somepony?" "No, I never got the chance to ask her," "Do you love her?" I couldn't help but blush as I answered her, "Something like that. But this stays between us, okay." "Okay. Why don't you write her a letter, telling her how you feel."? "It's not that easy." "Whenever Daddy had to leave to fight for the Empire. He would write a letter to Mommy and me every day telling us that he loves us very much and can't wait to see us again. And whenever he came home, he would give her Mommy a big kiss, and he would play with me and tell me bedtime stories and always find a way for us to laugh together. Then when I asked him why he must leave us behind in the Empire. Daddy told me that he fights so that bad guys won't get to us." She looks away sad, "Then one day he didn't come back home." She looks back with determination in her eyes, "But I knew that one day would find him again. Nothing can take down Papa." I move toward her bedside, smiling gently at her, "Sounds like your daddy was a very good stallion." "He is the best. I know that the Empire didn't like him when he became king. During his reign, he hid me away in the castle, away from everypony. He was very mean and didn't smile as much as he did before. But that was because of the Umbra inside of him. I knew that he was still my daddy in there. We just need to find him." "Get some rest, Melody. We got a long day ahead of us." "Goodnight, Sunburst." "Goodnight, Melody," I tuck her in bed and move to my bed but stop and look at her sleeping form. Such a brave and smart filly. Even after she lost her father to the Umbra, she still believed that he was still good. I don't know what became of her mother, but I can only fear the worst with what the Umbra said in the mindscape. After a moment, I moved toward my desk and began to write a letter, "Dear Starlight," Somewhere in Las Pegasus, A lone mare walks down the street of Las Pegasus. She is not in a hurry, but she can't help looking around her. So many lights, some many ponies are going about their day. Some familiar faces, but she never got their name. Then again, she never tried. She stops as a stallion tries to hits' on her, but she ignores him. He has been trying to get her attention for a while now. But she was not looking for a date. No matter how many bits he says he has or what he had done. She is not interested. She waits patiently as he goes through his routine before waiting for her answer, which is the same as every other day. Nothing. She moves around him and continues her way as he calls out to her. She enters Station Wagon Park, where her home awaits. It was a little worn down and broken with a need of a little T.L.C., but it is home. Her Wagon. As she moves to enter her home, one of her neighbors calls out to her. He was a red Pegasus with a bright orange mane. He has been nothing but kind to her ever since she came here. To be honest, she can always look forward to seeing him. "Hay Trixie. How are you doing?" "Trixie is fine Red Comet." "Rough day?" "Nothing that Trixie can't handle," she moves to enters her wagon when he calls out to her, "Hay Trixie," she looks at him, "I was wondering if you are going to be busy this Friday?" she tilts her head, "It's just that I got some tickets for an amusement park nearby. And I was wondering-" "Trixie appreciates the offer, but Trixie will be busy for the foreseeable future," She lied, "Oh," he looks down dejected, "Maybe next time?" he asks hopeful, She doesn't say anything as she enters the wagon. She closes the door and quietly moves to the window. Looking outside, she could see Comet kicking an imaginary rock before entering his wagon. Trixie lets out a sigh. Before jumping in her hammock, sighing into her pillow. "Trixie is sorry, Comet. You seem like a good stallion, but Trixie is not ready to date. Trixie is still hurting." As she lays there until a knock comes on her door. She ignores it, thinking it was Comet but the voice that follows it wasn't Comet's "Hello, Excuse me. I am looking for a Trixie Lunamoon. I was told that I could find her here." Confused, She moves to the door cracking it open. A pony in a dark red cloak greets her, "How can Trixie help you?" She can't see his face clearly, but she is taken back when he smiles back at her, "What is it that you desire?"
Lost treasures“Come on, slow poke.” Melody calls out, jumping in place, “I am waiting.” “Hold on. I just got up.” I say as I rub the top of her head, “You are full of energy today.” “You bet.” She stands proud and tall with her head up high. “I feel like I can take on anything.” I smile warmly at her. “Anything?” “Yes. Anything.” She turns around, calling out to the door. “Come on, Equestria! Show me your worse!” Just then, the door to the room opens, causing Melody to dunk under the bed as an unknown mare stands by the door. I hold in a chuckle as Melody calls out from under the bed. “I didn’t mean it! I am sorry!” “Oops, sorry, wrong room.” The mare says quickly before closing the door. I call out to the departing mare before checking in on the brave little filly. “No problem.” I dunk my head to see that Melody has covered her eyes with her forelegs shaking like a leaf. “Going alone on a train didn’t scare you. Neither did a Queen of the changelings or an all-powerful Umbra. But a door suddenly opens, gets you?” She stops shaking before lifting a hoof to look at me. “I didn’t see it coming. How can I be ready for something that I can’t see?” I chuckle softly as she gets out from under the bed. “So, I guess you never had any surprise parties, I take it?” She shakes her head while dusting herself. “No. I don’t do well with surprises. Mom and dad had to tell me in advance about surprise parties so that I didn’t run away screaming.” I scratch the back of my head in disbelief at what I am hearing. “How have you survived so long alone if the smallest things can scare you?” She huffs, lifting her nose in the air. “I can take care of myself. I am just not very good with surprises.” “I guess everypony has something that they are good with and something that they are bad at.” “Where are headed next?” “From what I can get from your father’s journal. We are going to have to go north from the crystal empire. But we are going to have to stay here for a bit. Until night fall.” “Is that a good idea?” “No. But I thought about it. Your magic right now would notice the moment we enter the Crystal Empire. But we will have to enter the Empire for supplies before we can continue our journey. That is why we came here.” “Whatever for?” “An old friend of mine used to live here. She is very skilled in magic. I am hoping that she left something behind that we can use.” “Why did she leave? Did something happen?” Thinking about what Starlight did, I thought it best not to tell her about it. “Nothing that you need to worry about. Let’s just say that she had to leave town in a hurry. I hope that the town ponies haven’t touched her stuff since then.” We kept ourselves for most of the day, only going out when we needed to gather some supplies for our journey. As night fell, Melody and I moved quickly to the town hall. Surprisingly besides some yellow tape, we found that the building was unlocked. Lightening my horn with magic, we enter the remains of Starlight’s old job, and I can safely say that no pony has been here for a while. If the dust is anything to go by. Guess no pony wanted the job. Finding the Mayor’s office, we split up to search the office for anything that we could find. So far, I found maps of the town, blueprints for buildings, and a picture of a pure white stallion with an equal sign cutie mark. I think his name was Double Diamond, one of the residents of the town. I wonder why Starlight had this. “Hay Sunburst, look what I found.” Moving to Melody's side. She had found a secret passage leading somewhere. “Do we have to go down the dark spooky staircase?” “I am sure that it is not that scary,” I said, going down the stairs. Besides a squeaky step, nothing scary happened. Melody slowly follows me down the steps. Once at the bottom, we find an old study with old charts and maps lining the wall. The was a desk with some books on it in the far corner and an old oil lamp sitting near the edge. Judging by the dust everywhere it safe to say that no pony has been here for a while. And I made the mistake of blowing some dust off some books. We both spent the next three minutes sneezing and couching out our lungs. Melody stares at me with rage in her watery eyes. “Sorry.” I say turning on the lamp. After going through the books, I found out that Starlight had good reasons to set up her village here. During one of her journeys in the caves nearby, is where she found a hidden room. That is where she where she found the Staff of Sameness. Starlight mentions that there were more magical artifacts lock away with the staff. Some were broken beyond repair, others that she couldn’t identify while others she did not care for. She mentions how to find the room and some notes about some of the artifacts she was able to figure out. Not wasting a moment. We made our way to the secret room in the caves. Well, we did after fending off some bats, hidden spider webs, and one angry rat. And if anypony asks it was Melody that screamed earlier. Once inside, I could see old display cases, some intact while most were destroyed however most of the loot was gone. Old banners line the wall to which I quickly identify to be from the Crystal Empire. “This must be one of the Empire’s old treasure rooms. I wonder why they hide these treasures so far away from the Empire?” “Hay Sunburst what is this?” Moving next to Melody I could see marking on the walls telling a story. “Any ideas what this means?” “Give me a second. Let’s see here. A long time ago an Empire shines like the sun spreading joy, love, and happiness across the lands. That must be the curse of Empire.” Melody nods, “But where there is light darkness follows. The Umbra came to destroy the light. These race of shadow ponies spread fear and despair in their wake. They attacked the Empire terrorizing the Crystal Ponies and burning their homes for fun. But they were imprisoned into another realm by the ruler of the Empire Princess Amore using the Crystal Heart. Where they remain. But they fear of their return. And place artifacts in hidden locations away from the Empire to be used in case they ever return.” “At least they were prepared.” Melody says thinking out loud, “Is there anything else?” “Yes, there is one last thing.” I had to move some empty boxes to read the rest of the translation, “Only a pony of royal blood may find the artifacts hidden away.” “But that doesn’t make any sense.” I looked at her confused, “What do you mean?” “I mean if this place is where the hidden the artifacts are. How did we find this place? I mean you just said that only a pony of royal blood can find the artifacts. But Starlight found this place and she’s not of royal blood.” My eyes widen in realization, “You’re right. That doesn’t make any sense. Maybe there’s something we’re missing.” I started looking across the walls hoping to find any clues. However, as I was doing this, I heard Melody contacting me after hearing a strange sound coming from behind me. Turning around, I see Melody next to the wall but there is a door there that was not there earlier. “What happened?” “I don’t know. All did was lean on this wall I felt a tinge then this door appeared.” “That’s right! You’re the daughter of King Sombra.” I rushed over next to her and brush my hoof across the surface of the door, “There must have been an ancient ruin on the wall that would activate only when you touched it.” “So, the real artifact is in there, but then what are all these?” “They are most likely fakes to help deter thieves from not sticking around too long in case this place was ever discovered.” Opening the door I find two old books, a large brown cloak, and a small silver necklace with a blue gem in the center. I put the two books in my saddlebag handed Melody the necklace and put on the cloak over my current one without thinking. We both notice my blunder as I blush in embarrassment. “Why did I put on a cloak when I am already wearing one?” Melody giggles. Next thing I knew was that the cloak shines a deep blue before it disappears leaving me in my original cloak. Feeling around I couldn’t find the new one as if it wasn’t ever there. “What happened?!” “Where did it go?” “I’m not sure. It must be magic in nature. The only question is what for?” I say scratching my head, “Any idea what your necklace does.” She taps the center jewel a few times only for nothing to happen, “Maybe the books have something about them?” “Maybe but right now.” I say yawning “We better head back before any pony notices we’re gone.” Meanwhile back in Ponyville at castle friendship A lonely mare stares out the window into the night sky holding the picture in her hooves. Looking down she sees a picture of herself hugging a dear friend in happier times. Both ponies look so happy as a tear falls onto the picture. “Why did you leave me again?” She sniffs and wipes the tear off the picture still staring at it. “I know we don’t get to see each other very often. But we made a promise not to leave each other like last time.” She sets the picture on her nightstand, “Where are you, my Sunburst?” A knock echoes throughout the castle catching her attention. Slowly she makes her way to the door and finds two strangers in cloaks waiting for her. And yet one of them seems to be familiar. “May I help you?” “Hello, Starlight.” “Trixie?!”
A missing ponyIt’s the next day. I got an idea of what the artifacts we found do. According to one of the books, I equip the Cloak of Moonlight Shadow. It says that the seen will be like shadows. I think it means that I can change into a shadow. But I have no idea how to do that. Maybe it only works at night? But if that was the case, why was it brown? With the name Moonlight Shadows, I was hoping for something shiny or silver light for its namesake. Maybe somepony forgot to clean it before I got it. As for Melody, she found Luna’s eye. It says that the shadows will become like the day. Wasn’t sure what it meant until we got out of the cave. On our way back, Melody asked why it was day already. To which I told her it was still night. It turns out that Luna’s eye allowed her to see in the dark as if it were day. The other book was a surprise. It has a detailed list of other vaults with artifacts and their location. It will take some time to find them, but the question is should we find them? After all, our original goal is to find King Sombra’s resting place and release him from his prison. I can look for the other artifacts later. My train of thought was cut short when a hyperactive filly jumped next to me, “Hi, Sunburst!” “AH!” I jump and land next to my bed and… and… what happened? I felt like I teleported, but I couldn’t cast that spell. Sure, I know the rules and principles behind it, but I was never able to do one before. I feel fine, but what happened? Looking around, I can see something is very wrong. Everything looks distorted like the world has lost its color, and I can hear a constant wind blowing in my ears. I can see Melody looking around for me and calling out to me. But she sounds so far away; however, she is only two feet away from me. Remembering my cloak, I look at my back to see that my cloak is covered in dark shadows and starlight like the night sky. “And the seen will be like shadows. It must be the cloak of Moonlight Shadow doing.” Taking this moment to test its abilities, I moved around Melody and touched her shoulder a few times. She could feel me, but she could not see or hear me. “What a fantastic artifact. It must have activated when I panic earlier. If that is the case, it must react to the user’s state of mind, or certain conditions were meant.” Focusing, I thought of being able to be seen again, and then the blowing wind stopped. The moment the wind stopped, I got the wind knocked out of me, courtesy of Melody tackling me, “Sunburst!” “Melody, ow.” I rub the top of her head as she looks up at me, “I thought something terrible happened to you.” “It’s ok. Your little jump scare inadvertently activated mine, turning me invisible.” She breaks the hug taking in what I said, “Oh, so that is why I could see you?” I nodded, “Melody, could you tell me exactly what happened when I disappeared?” She touches her chin, looking up in thought, “Well. You screamed like a filly,” “No, I didn’t,” I grumble to myself, “And jumped next to the bed,” She demonstrated by jumping next to the bed and then hiding under it, calling out, “And then you weren’t there.” “I want to run a few tests with my artifact to find its limitation. It might come in handy later.” After some trial and error, I found that my cloak lets me go invisible indefinitely. However, I can only hide when no pony is looking at me. And I had to touch another shadow that was not mine for it to work. Any sound I would typically make is muffled to a whisper, and only I can make myself visible again. I know because I had Melody blast me with some magic to see if it disengages the invisibility. I can painfully say that it can’t. In hindsight having a filly with the power of a powerful unicorn blasting me with magic wasn’t the best idea I ever had. It took me an hour to calm down Melody when I didn’t say anything for a few minutes after getting knocked into next week. Why does dealing with a filly have to be so complicated? I may have a more muscular body now, but muscles can’t fix everything. I am going to need to find a book or something to help with how to take care of foals. Moving on, I still can’t believe how powerful these artifacts are. I can see why the ponies of old didn’t want just any pony to get their hooves on them. Makes me wonder how they made this, to begin with. But enough of that. With the moonlight shadows with me, I can now enter the Crystal Empire, and no pony will know I was there. Only one problem. I can’t take Melody with me. The cloak only works for the one that is wearing it. And I have no idea how to get it off. And trust me, I tried. After looking through the book again, I found something that I believe should have been a warning label for these things. To many sure that Umbras couldn’t steal the artifacts from the users. They gave them the ability to soul bond to the pony using it. Only when the current user ceases to exist can there be a new user. In other words, the moment that I put on Moonlight Shadow, it became mine until I die. Also, I found out that current users of an artifact can not have two artifacts simultaneously. I guess they did this as a safety measure to ensure that no one could have them all. It makes me wonder if any other ponies found some of these artifacts themselves. Hard to tell since the only way to find out is to ask them. That is what you get when you make such powerful artifacts look like everyday objects. Ah, who am I kidding. It is not like I will have to watch out for any pony coming after me with artifacts from the Crystal Empire coming after mine, right? Why did I shiver just now? Meanwhile, at the school of friendship, Fluttershy walks to her class and notices a rather long line by Starlight’s office door. “Oh, my did something happen?” She says to herself but some of the students heard her. “Miss Fluttershy!” They cried as they circled her causing her wings to flare out above her in alarm. She looks to and fro between the children as they bombard her with questions she couldn’t keep up with; her eyes start spinning as she tries to keep up. “I have a question about the friendship lesson from Applejack regarding fruits!” “I-,” “How do we know if we are cool enough?” “I am not sure-,” “Why did a giant bubble of magic send changelings flying after a kiss?” “Well that’s-,” “What is going to happen with this week’s snack time?” “ENOUGH!” Fluttershy shouts, quieting everyone, but it was no better than somepony talking a little bit louder. But nopony wants Miss Fluttershy of all ponies to shout at them, “One pony at a time, please.” “Is class canceled today?” Ocellus calls from behind everypony, “Whatever gave you that idea?” “Miss Trixie didn’t show up today.” “Oh, that’s because Trixie is taking a little vacation. Starlight should be covering her class today.” “But that the thing. She didn’t show up either,” Gallus added, “Really? Oh, dear. That is a bit concerning.” “That’s why we came here to her office to see what could be keeping her. And found everypony else waiting in line.” “I have been waiting here since lunchtime,” Somepony added, which everypony looked at, “I wanted to know if she wanted some cookies, but she hadn’t shown up.” “Okay, then everypony had back to class. And those who are in Miss Starlight, please join Miss Pinkie Pie’s class.” They all mumble an agreement before leaving Fluttershy alone in the hallway. Fluttershy opens the door to Starlight’s office and finds it empty. She knows that Starlight isn’t the kind of Pony who would leave somewhere without telling somepony. It is not like her to up and leave everything behind when so many ponies are counting on her. However, the longer she searches the office, the more concerned she becomes. Nothing. She has found nothing. No letter, no scroll, no sticky notes, no nothing. It’s like she did come in today. “Maybe she is sick today and could make it today?” Fluttershy says to herself. She closes the door and starts making a mental list of ingredients for soup. “The poor thing much be so sick that she couldn’t leave the castle this morning. I better drop by to make sure that she is doing all right.” Unbeknownst to her, Spike had returned to the castle to reclaim some of his old comic books and found the front doors to the castle were left open. As if somepony left in a hurry. He didn’t think much about it and went inside all the way to his room. “Now, where did I put them?” He searched all over the place and couldn’t find them. “That odd. I thought that I left them right here.” He rubs that back of his head for a bit before he snaps his claws, “I saw Starlight reading them that one time before Twilight started dating Thorax.” Quickly, he goes to Starlight’s room to find that her door was left open much like the castle's front doors, and her bed wasn’t made. “Sheesh, didn’t any pony tell Starlight to make her bed before getting up?” Spike goes through Starlight stuff, tossing a long stick over his shoulder, finding the other half of Starlight’s staff, and looking back at the stick on the floor. He shrugs his shoulders, puts it with its other half, and continues his search. He found a picture of her and Sunburst, a light purple book with a lock on it. Spike quickly makes sure no pony is looking and sticks a claw in the lock, only for him to receive an unpleasant shock. He coughs a small smoke cloud before putting the book down and started looking elsewhere. He eventually finds his comics and checks to ensure they are okay before making his way out the door. On his way out. He found Fluttershy coming to the castle with a saddle bag full of goods. “Hi, Fluttershy,” He greets her at the base of the stairs, “Oh, Hi Spike. You didn’t happen to see Starlight by any chance?” “No, actually. The castle was empty when I got here. Why?” “Wait, she is not here?” “Oh, course not. She should be at the school right now,” “But Spike, she was not there either. I came here because I thought that she was sick and couldn’t make it today.” “What?” Spike says, dropping his comic books. Fear crossed both as they ran through the possibilities of what could have happened. “Spike, could you make sure that she is not in the castle and if anything is missing? I will ask the rest of the girls to see if anypony has seen her.” “Got it. Where do you want to meet up?” “Back here in about an hour. I am getting a bad feeling about this.” She says as they split in different directions leaving a small cloud of dirt behind them as Mailpony land where they were earlier with a letter in her mouth. Confused not seeing them, she puts the letter back in her bags and takes to the skies to find them again. Author's Note Now, what do you think happened to Starlight?
