Star-Strider

Twilight took shaky steps as she struggled to follow behind Star Strider. She knew why they moved with such haste, but wished she had just a second to process all that had happened over the last month or so. I feel disgusting. The thought pestered her mind as she thought about what she had done as her evil alter-ego. And what had happened to me. Twilight found it hard to stop tears from escaping her eyes as they went. She wanted so desperately to lean on Star Strider or anypony for that matter. As her thoughts turned to the stallion, she felt her face flush red. She had kissed him only a few hours ago, but the embarrassment hung with her as they went. She didn’t entirely know why she did it, but then again she really did. The only stallion to make me feel normal. While her interactions with him had been limited, she easily recalled how casually he treated her. When training Spike, when planning for the Lichen, and when in the throne room itself he treated her like a normal pony. Twilight had been a princess for only a few years, but the crown already hung heavy upon her. I want somepony to be with me too. Her mind berated her as she thought about how undeserving she felt of another pony. I’m a monster.

They continued their journey towards the clearing that Star Strider had originally banished the Lichen in silence. Star Strider noticed the weakened heart and blushing face of the alicorn princess and sighed as they passed by another grove. “What troubles you?” He asked in slight reluctance. He turned to look at her to see a red flush fill her cheeks as she stumbled through the dirt.

“It’s… nothing. I just—no. It’s nothing.” She lowered her head to watch the ground as she regained her footing. Star Strider finally slowed his pace to walk along sider her.

“Princess, if it is about what happened earlier—”

“No! Well, sort of I guess.” She interrupted him hastily. “I just, you really came to me at a bad time. No, a good time. But I wasn’t in the right mind.” She spoke softly just above their pounding hooves.

“I know. I am sorry. But I had to help you, and I am glad for your safe return. Twilight, if you feel wracked with the guilt of Dusk Bringer, please try to push against it. You are not responsible for the actions of that monster.” He held his head stoically, hoping what he had said helped soothe her slightly.

“But she was me. I was her. I had selfish desires and horrible dreams and even jealousy. I’m just as horrible as her.” She choked out the words and felt Star Strider’s hoof cross in front of her to stop her movement.

“Twilight.” He raised her head. “We all have them. We all have a Lichen inside of us. You are just the same as any other pony. Do not be ashamed of such pains but strive to overcome them. Do not become as I have.” He bent down to level his eyes with hers.

“But some of the feelings I had were so… hateful. I didn’t even think I could have them. They were about…” She glanced up at Star Strider and quickly back down to the dirt floor as his eyes met hers.

“Go on.”

Twilight sighed and squeezed her eyes shut. “They were about you. They were about Luna. I want… no I wanted you and I wanted her to disappear. I just can’t believe that I would feel such a way about such a close friend.” Twilight winced in anticipation for the lecture that was bound from Star Strider. It never came.

“Twilight, I understand.” His voice was soft and deep. Twilight opened her eyes and saw his long face burdened with shame.

“You do?” she asked.

“Yes. It is not unreal to expect yourself to deserve more. Especially when you rescued Luna from Nightmare Moon and saved Equestria many times over. I am honored you would look upon me in such an amorous way, but I cannot contain the wants of my heart as much as anypony else. I fell in love with Luna. After so much struggle between my inner thoughts and fights with her, I felt my heart escape me more and more every day I was with her. It is not your fault, Twilight. I know that you will one day find a stallion just as loving of you as you are.”

Twilight wiped her eyes before any tears fell from them. “That’s beautiful Star Strider. And I never wanted to come between you, but I did feel like maybe I should’ve gotten more time with you. But I am grateful for the time we’ve had.” She flittered a smile at him which he returned with his own grin. Twilight quickly let it drop from her face as she remembered the journey they were on. “Is dying really the only option?” Now it was Star Strider’s smile that dropped.

“I do not know. But as of now, it is the most viable. I will do what needs to be done. For Equestria.” He turned away from her again so that Twilight could not see his face. She took a small step forward and rested a hoof on his shoulder, well above her head.

“You didn’t tell Luna you left, did you?” She whispered up to him. His face swung to look at her, a tear tracing his cheek.

“I… could not bring myself to. I am a coward. I only hope she may find it in herself to forgive me.” Twilight felt her heart break for this pony. Despite having wanted to be his special somepony, she knew that he and Luna were meant for each other. Hearing his regret and pain caused Twilight to well up as she empathized with the two of them. Their somber moment was cut short as a loud boom echoed across the forest. Birds took off in every direction as the shockwaves rattled the trees around them. Star Strider turned his head to the sky and Twilight followed suit. In the distance, they could see a plume of smoke. Coming straight from Ponyville.

Luna scrambled off the ground as her team recovered from being knocked over. She glanced around to make sure everyone was alright. Streak was helping one of the pegasi to their feet. The other sibling pegasi raised a hoof to Luna as another shockwave vibrated around them. Streak shouted out once he regained his stance. “Take off! We all have wings if we stay above the ground we won’t get knocked!” Everypony quickly spread their wings into a small hover above the ground. Luna strained in pain as her wing that had suffered so dearly kept her aloft for a few seconds before the pain kicked in. The dirt kicked up around them as their wings and the vibrations shook the earth. They hovered a few moments before touching down on the ground again. Luna expected another shock, but none came, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“What was that?” She asked as she surveyed the trees around her.

“Unknown. But it was close. Westward by the feel. Ponyville territory.” One of the crimson pegasi spoke in a gruff voice. They raised their hoof to point towards the direction Luna assumed was where Ponyville lay.

“You’re right.” Streak Lighter walked up to Luna. “We should get back to them. I don’t know what that was, but it was big. My guess is the commander is there too, or if not just close behind.” Luna let a worried expression cross her face.

“We set out to find him, I think we ought to keep going.” Her voice was strained with concern.

“Ma’am, we need to protect those ponies. That was a pretty bad explosion and certainly not natural. If Cosmic Sunder is at the Ponyville line, then he’s already winning. I would bet that the commander is close in pursuit. Please Luna.” She looked down to the light-blue Pegasus before her, eyes pleading in a worried shake. She let out a frustrated sigh.

“Okay. You’re right. Anything that intense is sure to draw out Star Strider. Or maybe it was him. Let’s get going quickly.”

“Yes ma’am.” He saluted and began galloping out of the forest. Luna followed, dodging thin branches and blistering brambles along the way. She couldn’t tell if the sound that was growing louder was her breath or shouting in the distance. She ducked her head under another low-hanging branch and sprung forward faster, passing Streak as she went. Her hoofbeats fell into a heavy rhythm of rapid succession as she beat the dirt underneath. Glancing through the thick forest, she thought she caught sight of the edge. Motivated by the proximity of discovery, she pushed herself harder. She didn’t know if the other three were close behind or not. With a few more rapid gallops, she emerged from the Everfree tree line and reared backwards as she almost stumbled into a trench that had been dug by the troops. Pausing a moment to catch her breath, she looked around at a horrendous scene. Streak Lighter came to a grinding halt to her right and the other pegasi stopped just shy of her left. Luna’s mouth hung agape as she witnessed the disaster before her. Streak Lighter was the first to break the dumbfounded quiet.

“The whole line… burned.”

A massive burn scar traced the opposite side of the trench. The embattlements all lay smoldering in hunks of what may have been barricades. Charred bones littered the field as a trail of massive hoofprints led away from Ponyville. In the distance, Luna saw a horde of bodies staggering further and further away.

“He must have taken some and burned the ones he didn’t.” One of the siblings spoke. Luna carefully took a step down the trench and summited to the other side. She reeled back as a crunch fell between her hooves. She shook off her hoof from the broken bone of a pony. It took everything inside her not to wretch.

“Princess, we need to go. If they stand any chance against that advance, we need to be there.” Streak walked in front of her and pointed at the fading horde.

“Yes. Yes. Let’s make that bastard sorry he ever left the chaos realm.” She grit her teeth as she trudged forward with a new form of hatred harboring itself in her heart. That monster will know the wrath of a thousand stars. Luna caught her thoughts and shook herself mentally. That’s still Starswirl too. I need to save him. Oh, Star Strider please have a plan. Please save him. Save us. She galloped forward with her entourage, ready to face the marching fire.

Star Strider rushed out of the woods with Twilight close behind. They came out of the trees to a panicked crowd rushing past them. Star Strider pushed his way through the fleeing ponies as Twilight tried to follow. She shoved past the ponies as her shoulders hit against them. “Star Strider! What’s happening? Why are the soldiers fleeing?” She shouted over the trampling and clanking armor.

“I know not why, but we have no time to worry we must hurry towards our foe!” He pushed through more clamoring soldiers. Some slowed their retreat to look upon their commander braving the crowd. Twilight noticed some of them turn with them and begin pushing back. As they kept going, the sounds of fire and screams became louder. Twilight tried her luck with one of the soldiers next to her.

“What’s going on? Why is everypony retreating?” She could barely hear herself over the noise. The soldier began mouthing words, but Twilight was unable to hear from the clamoring. She shook herself and pressed on. She turned behind for a moment to see the tide of retreat turned to a push of resolute as the soldiers rallied to their commander. Some of them caught sight of Twilight looking at them and nodded. Are they rallying to me? She put together that Celestia was still in Canterlot and Luna was off in the forest still, so she was the only princess for them to salute. It filled her with a shaking fear. All these soldiers, relying on me? She knocked into Star Strider as he had stopped his advance. Twilight moved to his side to see what he was looking at. Her jaw dropped at the sight. A massive fire raged across the southern part of Ponyville with soldiers running and collapsing as their fur caught flame. The houses, thankfully evacuated long ago, stood ablaze in the evening sky. Twilight turned to look at the town hall just a few meters ahead. The flames licked at its base, but she saw her friends battling them as nurses continued evacuating wounded soldiers. “Rarity!” Twilight shouted and rushed through the line of troops to help. She cast her own magic to help the already exhausted looking alabaster unicorn. Rainbow dash was speeding with Fluttershy to bring rain clouds over the area as Applejack, Pinkie, and Spike all rapidly dug small trenches to deter the fire. Twilight could already feel the fire wearing her mind down. Her friends all grunted in effort and Twilight couldn’t help but wonder what the soldiers were doing, or where Star Strider was. Twilight heaved in effort and closed her eyes as the fire dried her irises. Suddenly, the heat seeped away, and the red background fled from her closed eyes. Twilight cracked open her eyes to see Star Strider walking towards her… from the fire.

Star Strider danced with the flames in his hooves as he spread them apart and smothered them into the ground. His face was covered in soot and sweat as he conjured rune after rune to battle the inferno. Twilight stood amazed as the wizard controlled the wall of flames as easily as a dancer flowed with their movement. Soon enough, the flames died into gentle licking sparks across the burnt floor. The wall had retreated what looked to be a few hundred meters away from the hall, but not completely extinguished. Twilight wondered what had caused such a devastating tide, but she knew better. Looking to Star Strider’s heaving form, she realized he was wobbling on his feet. Before he could take a fall, Twilight rushed to him and caught him as his head nearly hit the ground. His metallic gray coat had been charred and scorched along with covered in soot, so he appeared as a char-black stallion. His mane seemed somehow even darker from the fire and his fur smelt of burned hair and flesh. His eyes fluttered gently as he smiled up at Twilight.

“Thank you for the save, princess.” He hacked up a cloud of soot and spittle as Twilight reared her head away. Applejack came to Twilight’s side and helped to lift the enormous stallion to his feet. He stood shakily for a moment as Pinkie Pie approached with a cupcake in hoof. Where does she keep all those? Twilight wondered as she offered it to Star Strider.

“Here, eat this! Aside from being extremely tasty, it also helps ease pain! I call it: ‘Pinkie’s remedy for all!’” She smiled brightly as he took it. He slowly opened his mouth and carefully bit down on the treat. It was as if the simple act of chewing was hurting his whole body. As he bit more off, his normal composure seemed to return to him. Upon licking the last crumbs up, he smiled brightly and straightened.

“Very impressive. Your knowledge of baking is only rivaled by your apothecary skill young one.” He winked down at the bouncy pink pony who giggled in delight. Just as quickly, he turned his attention to Rainbow Dash hovering just a bit a ways. “Rainbow, what happened? Why were the soldiers fleeing?” He nodded his head to the line of troops that had followed him back to the fray. It was a despairing sight as the once mighty Canterlot divisions only stood thirty or so strong before them. Rainbow snorted and tossed her colorful mane away from her ashen-covered face.

“Well, some reports came from the trench lines that the big creep Cosmic Sunder broke through and burned down the embattlements. Hardly any of them stayed to fight and ran back here with a wall of fire chasing them. We started fighting it as soon as we could, but it just kept sweeping over the town.” Star Strider frowned.

“The general, did he return? And where did Cosmic Sunder go?” He asked hurriedly. Rainbow shrugged.

“No idea.” She spoke. “If Flash Magnus made it out of the forest, no pony saw him. As for that glorified prick, he just kept marching north after he sent the fire.” Everypony gasped in realization as Rainbow relayed the information. “Uhhh, what did I say?” She asked carefully.

“If he marches north, his destination is clear. Canterlot is in his sights. We must act quickly.” Star Strider answered. He looked around the town and to the ranks of soldiers nervously standing aside. His eyes went wide as Twilight saw what he was missing. “Luna, where is Luna?” His tone went to panic. Twilight decided to step in.

“I’m sure she’s okay. She may already be headed to Canterlot. I think the best thing to do is start heading there and hope we see her along the way. My brother—I mean General Armor is waiting with no idea what’s about to hit.” Twilight had an idea click in her head and turned to Spike. “Spike, quick, send a letter to Celestia. Tell her that Ponyville is lost, and Cosmic Sunder is headed her way. We’ll try and delay them, but we have no idea where they are.” Her young dragon companion scribbled quickly and blew away a scroll. Twilight got another idea as she watched the paper wilt away into the magical fire. “Write another scroll. Copy it. Send it to all the creature leaders and ask them for whatever help they can give. Tell them to meet us at my school as soon as they can.” She looked to Star Strider for approval but saw him instead shift uncomfortably. “Is everything okay Strider?” She asked him. His eyes flitted between her and Spike.

“Yes. I just, I know not of how the other kingdoms will aid ponies.” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“You judge them too harshly. Times have changed. We saved the changelings, brought friendship to the dragons and griffins, and brought the hippogriffs back to the world. I’m sure they’ll help however they can. That’s what friends are for.” She spoke confidently as her friends moved to stand by her side. “Let’s get going. We can gather ourselves at my school. I say we wait the better part of the afternoon for help. Heaven forbids we get nothing, we move out. Does that work?” She raised an eyebrow at the commanding stallion. He sighed and bowed his head.

“Yes princess. Your command is mine own. I shall lead a few of these ponies to scour what supplies we can from the rubble. I shall see you back in an hour.” He raised himself and went back to the line of troops. They fell out with about five following Star Strider and the rest following Twilight to her castle. Please let this be the right decision. Twilight silently pleaded as her façade of confidence wavered under the immense pressure. Thirty ponies and a prayer are all I have to work with. Let’s hope it’s enough to make a difference.