The Legend of Starlight-Book 3: The Good, The Bad, and the Trixie

by twow443

Rating: teen
Tags: Human, Main 6, Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna, Gore, Original Character, Trixie, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Romance, Adventure
Length: 5977

Starlight learns more about his destiny as he prepares to deal with a new threat.

When the unicorn Trixie returns to Ponyville with a personal vendetta against Twilight, Starlight must find a way to protect her and protect his own heart. As the dark forces start to rise, will the young prince survive what lies in store?

Published 2012-09-15 16:44:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-09-24 19:31:59 UTC

The Carnival of the Sun

Chapter 1-The Carnival of the Sun

“Ahhhhh!!!” The three fillies, known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders ran down the hill by Sweet Apple Acres. They were in the process of being chased by a rather large boulder. “Ah told you that rock-climbing was a bad idea!” Applebloom yelled.

“You didn't say that when we were almost at the top!” Scootaloo yelled back, also running. Sweetie Belle was silently running.

“We're almost at the farm!” Scootaloo yelled.

Behind them, the boulder was getting closer. “We ain't gonna make it!” Applebloom said in a panic. Suddenly a lightning fast blur came out of nowhere and slammed into the boulder, pushing it back. The three fillies turned to look. They saw a human dressed in cyan and rainbow and holding a dark blue sword.

“It's Prince Starlight!” Sweetie Belle yelled. The prince kicked the boulder statight up and launched into the air. With a couple of lightning fast slashes, he reduced the big rock to rubble. He then turned and flew over to the young fillies. “Hey there guys. Pardon me for asking, but why were you playing tag with a boulder?”

The CMC bowed to the prince. “Umm, we thought that rock-climbing would help us get our cutie marks.” Sweetie said.

“So we kinds sorta made out own.” Scootaloo finished.

Starlight shook his head, smiling. “If you needed help, you should have gotten me. I was at Twilight's all morning.”

The fillies looked up in shock. “You really mean it, Prince?”

“You know I love helping you crusade.” Starlight told them, desummoning his sword. “Aren't you three going to get ready?”

“Ready for what?” They asked simultaneously.

“The carnival!” he said. “It's today.” The three fillies gasped and dashed off in excitement. As Starlight prepared to take off, Scootaloo ran back and said, “Thank you for saving us.” She ran off after her friends.

…

The Carnival of the Sun. Ponyville had three major “carnivals” This one, Nightmare Night and another one that I couldn't remember. As I flew, I remembered what this celebration was about. The carnival was to celebrate when Celestia defeated Nightmare Moon after I had been sent to Earth. What made this year special was that Celestia had given me permission to try out a special spell. The carnival took place in Canterlot and Ponyville and usually, several strong stallions would volunteer to pull carriages to take ponies back and forth. But Twilight had found a special portal spell and wanted to open up a pathway from Ponyville to Canterlot so everypony could enjoy what both towns had to offer. I flew faster, knowing I was late.

“You sure this'll work, Prince?” Twilight asked me when I arrived.

I walked around and examined the area we were going to create the portal. “Don't see why it won't. Let's do this already. I'm excited for this.”

I knew that even though I was a alicorn, I didn't know a lot about magic in general. Most of the spells I had used were in the heat of the moment. This was a perfect chance to try out some focused magic.

Twilight and I stood about 12 feet back from the portal area. The pegasus in the area had moved everypony back from the spot. “You ready?” I asked. She nodded. I raised my right hand at the ground and my horn necklace started to glow. I shot a thick white beam at the ground, then moved it upward in a circular shape. I created a circle with the beam then looked at Twilight. Taking the hint, she flashed her horn and shot the middle of the circle, making the area inside ripple like the surface of a lake. I ended the beam seeing the circle was intact, then started the next part of the spell. I walked up and plunged my arms into the rippling middle of the circle. “Canterlot!” I yelled, my eyes glowing. A brilliant flash of light appeared and blew me backwards. I made a neat landing on my feet as everypony in the area gasped. I turned and saw Celestia walking from the circle.

She walked over to Twilight and said, “Well done Twilight. It seems that your portal was successful.” She turned and looked at all the ponies, who were all bowing. “Let the carnival begin!”

…

Picture one of Pinkie's parties. Then imagine that she threw the party for Canterlot, Ponyville and Cloudsdale at the same time.

You wouldn't even be close to how insane this carnival was.

There were games everywhere, snack booths all over the place. Everypony was helping or playing or just being downright silly, and it was awesome. The first 3 hours of the thing was pretty much me and Celestia getting pulled around to check out the different attractions. This celebration was mostly about her,so it made sense. I was mostly being pulled along because I was her little brother. I can't even count how many times I had to go though that bucking portal we made. All my friends were doing something special for the carnival too. Rarity was making special garments, Twilight was preforming spells for ponies, Fluttershy was taking care of animals, Pinkie was baking treats like crazy, Applejack was selling special apple treats I spent 4 hours with her making and Rainbow was going to preform her Sonic Rainboom in the evening.

Speaking of which, I hadn't seen my cyan-colored marefriend all day, until she ran into me by Applejack's stand.

“Hai Prince!” Rainbow said, suddenly all formal as she bowed to me.

“What, no sarcastic comment?” I asked her as she looked at me.

“Course not.” She said, looking completely innocent. “Gotta be on my best behavior around royalty.” She pointed in the direction of Celestia.

“Oh and what am I?” I asked, smirking.

“Not as important?” She said, smirking. “Come up to the sky if you wanna see some of the moves I'm gonna use in the celebration!” She shot up into the air.

Applejack shook her head. “Ah don't understand why you let her talk to you like that.”

“That's how she is?” I said. “See you a little later, AJ” I launched upwards.

In the air, I was tackled by Rainbow. We spun around from the force of her kiss. Breaking free, I asked, “Couldn't wait to see me?”

“I missed you all week, where were you?” She asked.

“Helping with the preparations in Canterlot.” I said. “Everything turned out great.”

Rainbow giggled, something completely out of character for her. “It sure did. Now you're mine until evening.”

“Oh the horror!” I mock-yelled. She laughed and pulled me to our cloud.

…

I did a copy spell on the portal, making it so it would stretch across the sky. That way, everypony in Canterlot and Ponyville could see the air show. First, it was Pinkie's fireworks that I helped her make. Then the Wonderbolts did a performance. Finally, it was Rainbow's turn. She was absolutely beautiful in the air. Finally, at the end she rose to preform her Rainboom and suddenly fell. Everypony gasped and I jumped up from next to my sister and shot into the air. Rising to her, she flipped over and gave me a mischievous grin. “Ready?”

I nodded and we shot down, then created a twin Rainboom that spread across the portal. When we landed, the applause was amazing. The Wonderbolts went to do a encore as we flopped down by my sister.

“Wonderful job, Starlight.” Celestia said. “I need to return to Canterlot. Would you mind staying in my place?”

“You knew we were gonna do that, didn't you?” I said. Celestia nodded. I smiled and said, “Fine, I'll see you at the palace later.” Celestia flew upward and went back to Canterlot.

Rainbow sneakily snuggled up next to me. “We did good, didn't we?”

“Yes we did.” I said. We sat there as the Wonderbolts finished. Just as everypony was about to started heading home, Rainbow nudged me. “Starlight, look!” We saw a strange wagon roll onto the stage, covered in stars.

Still Haven't Learned

Chapter 2- Still Haven't Learned

Not a lot of ponies were left in the field,but the ones that were moved away from the stage as the wagon started to violently shake. I motioned my friends back and moved up to the stage, sword in hand. I reached up to open the door, and the wagon opened up in a burst of magic, knocking me backwards.

“Ponies of Ponyville! The Great and Powerful Trixie has returned!” A blue unicorn, a little lighter then Luna stepped out among a sparkle of lights. I flipped around in the air and hovered over, my friends trotting up to the stage.

“Oh great! It's her again!” I heard Rainbow said.

I flew down and hovered over my friends. “You know this unicorn?”

Twilight glared at the prancing unicorn. “She came here a couple of months earlier and brought a Ursa Minor into the town. Almost destroyed the whole place.”

I decided not to ask what that was, instead looking at the unicorn. “So, her name is Trixie?”

As my friends nodded, the unicorn noticed us and stopped talking. I saw her visibly pale and crouch down. “H-hi there.”

I flew around the field, telling ponies to head on home as my friends started talking to Trixie.

“What are you doing back here?” I heard Rainbow say.

“I decided to come grace Ponyville with my presence once again.” Trixie said. “I-um...” She stopped as I landed next to Fluttershy. “The truth is, I wanted to try again here.”

“What do you mean by trying again?” I asked.

“Last time I was here, I didn't make the best impression.” the blue unicorn said.

“She brought a Ursa Minor into Ponyville and wasn't able to control it.” Twilight said. I notcied that she had been glaring at Trixie this entire time. She must have seen my confused look because she said, “Think of a bear covered in stars.”

“Ahh.” I said. I looked back at the unicorn. “So, why are you back?” I asked kindly.

“Just as I said. I wanted to try again.” Trixie said. “I'm tired of being alone. I've traveled all over Equestria being a stage pony. I heard about the crowning about a month ago and started back here. Maybe-maybe I could stay here for a while?”

The ponies looked at me expectantly. I sighed, knowing I was going to make at least one of my friends upset with me. “Trixie, I don't know much about what happened before, but as long as you don't bring another giant bear to trash the place, you can stay.”

Trixie's face lit up and she hugged me. She then backed off, realizing who she was hugging. “Oh thank you Prince!” She lit up her horn and started moving her wagon away.

I told my friends to head home to get some rest. As I was about to take off, Twi tugged on my shirt.

“Why did you let her stay?!” she said, seething.

I stepped back, surprised by the force of her anger. “I don't think it's bad to give everypony a chance.”

“She has some evil reason to be here, Starlight.” Twilight said. “I can feel it oozing from her.”

I cocked my head. “Are you sure it's not just because you're still mad at her?”

Twilight snorted. “No. It isn't.” She started walking away. “Are you coming back to the house?”

“I'll teleport inside so you don't need to wait up.” I said. She nodded and walked off with Spike. I sighed, knowing that I wasn't heading back to the house. Whenever Twilght was in one of her moods, I would just sleep on the cloud that Rainbow and I had made. Before I shot into the sky, I flew around, making sure the field was clean. After the sweep I headed off into the air.

The sky was beautiful. Luna's moon was full tonight, lighting up the night. I looked at the stars. “They seem fine already.” I thought. “How do I represent that part of the sky?” I reached the cloud and sat, thinking about the day.

Suddenly I heard a voice from behind me. “Thought you were at Twilight's.” Rainbow flew around and sat next to me.

“She's mad at me because of how I dealt with Trixie.” I explained. “I come and sleep here whenever she's upset.”

Rainbow nodded. “If you want, you can stay with me tonight.”

“You sure?” I asked. “I'd rather not be in the way.”

She nodded. “Why not? Come on!” She took off and I followed.

At Rainbow's, she disappeared into another room as I changed in her bedroom. I looked around in wonder. I hadn't been in Cloudsdale ever since the day that Rainbow had taken me on a quick tour. So I was in wonder at her house, being made completely out of clouds. It truly was a beautiful house. Buuut, not as beautiful as the mare that walked in front of me. She sat next to me and said, “Apparently, by the look of awe on your face, you like what you see.”

I closed my mouth, then proceeded to open it in a yawn. “Why not? You are a very likeable mare.”

She punched me, then kissed me. “Come on Prince. We're both tired.”

We climbed into the bed and laid down under the covers. I wrapped my arms around my mate and relaxed. “Starlight?” she said.

“Hmmm?” I responded.

“When should we tell everypony about us?” she asked.

I was quiet for a moment. “Whenever you're ready to.” I felt her relax and then I heard her breathe deeply, signaling that she was asleep. I laid my head down and also fell asleep.

…

8 Months Before

Celestia stood her ground in front of Nightmare Moon. “Come on now, Princess. I already have your sister. Just tell me where you sent the little prince and we can all be a family again.”

“Never!” Celestia said. Her horn glowed brightly.

Nightmare Moon laughed. “Come now. It's been a thousand years, not to mention the 6 I've waited. I don't need to wait any longer. You might find me a little less......playful.” At the last part, she narrowed her eyes.

Celestia's horn fizzled out. “Leave Starlight out of this. He's perfectly fine where he is.”

“I just want to know where he is.” The evil alicorn said. “He deserves a few birthday presents.”

Suddenly Nightmare's horn flashed and shot at Celestia. It hit her in the horn and stunned her. When Nightmare ended the spell, Celestia fell to the ground, unconscious. Nightmare walked up and looked at the fallen alicorn. “It would be so easy for me to take over now. But I have bigger and better things in mind for Equestria. Enjoy the last few months of your rule. After you have your sister back, I'll have your brother very soon after.” She suddenly disappeared.

Celestia stirred and raised her head, “You won't find him for quite a while...”

…

About 3 days later, I helped Fluttershy lead a group of rabbits to a carrot field that we had been growing. “Thank you, Starlight. This is really good for them.” the quiet pegasus said.

“I should hope so.” I said. “Took me forever to get the right seeds for this.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I-I should be able to handle it now, unless you want to stay.”

I rubbed Fluttershy's head. “It's okay. I'm going to see how Rarity's holding up with the order I gave her." I flew off, waving to my friend.

Luna had asked me to ask Rarity if she could do an express order of dresses for her. Rarity had been working very hard to complete it, so I was surprised to have convinced her to attend the carnival last night. Landing at her shop, I was going to head on in.....before I heard a crash in the town. I quickly flew to where I heard the crash, and gasped at what I saw.

Author Note: Sorry for the wait! Writer's block sucks! Expect to see more constant updates and thanks for reading!!!

Star-crossed and Moonlit

Chapter 3- Star-crossed and Moonlit.

Spike was Twilight's assistant at her library. He was a purple baby dragon with green spikes. He and I had bonded rather quickly after my landing in Equestria. Being a baby, he only reached up to about the middle of my legs. So imagine my surprise when I flew to Twilight's and saw my dragon friend as big as the house. He seemed to be screaming in pain, so I dashed over to him.

“Spike?! What happened to you?!” I yelled. I reached out and could feel that a spell had been used on him. Spike turned and seeing me, decided to blast me in the chest with a green fireball. “Whaaaaa!” I yelled, slamming into the ground.

I heard Twilight yelling at me. “Starlight! Drain it!”

Drain? Oh, his magic! It was a constant spell, like when Gilda had messed with Twilight to drain her magic. I leapt up and tapped into Twilight's cutie mark, turning my clothes purple. “Stay back, Twi!” I yelled, then shot into the sky.

…

Twilight had heaved a big sigh of relief after the prince had arrived. Not only did that mean that Spike would be alright, but she was free to do her next task. Yelling at Trixie.

“What were you thinking?!” she yelled at the blue unicorn.

“He volunteered to help me Twilight.” she said. “I must have accidentally overcharged the spell.”

Twilight was furious. “He doesn't understand that much about magic yet! The last time this happened he almost destroyed all of Ponyville! Now you go and make him giant again?!” The two unicorns flinched as Starlight flew past them and slammed into the ground. He had a blue line of magic leading from Spike to his hand. Spike seemed to be growing smaller also.

“Not too much longer now!” he yelled to them, flying back up. Twilight turned back to the unicorn.

“Well sense you are the all-powerful Twilight, maybe YOU should go help him instead of making the prince do it.”

Twilight scoffed, “I wouldn't of cast that spell anyway!” She stopped talking, trying to relax as a fireball almost hit her. “You just need to relax around here, Trixie. Don't make me try to get you on a magic restraint.”

Trixie gave a mocking laugh. “Oh look at the great Twilight. Just because you're the princess's student and the prince lives in your house, you think that you're better then anypony. Well, let me tell you something.” She walked closer to Twilight in a almost threatening matter. “Someday a unicorn is gonna show up that you aren't stronger then. Then what are you going to do?”

“Learn their secrets.” Twilight said in a dangerously calm voice. The two unicorns continued to stare each other down. They both turned to the side as they heard a explosion. Spike suddenly shrunk down to the ground, and apparently the blast of magic had been so strong it had blown Starlight clear though Twilight's bedroom window. Twilight winced as she heard crashing inside the house. Suddenly, the prince burst out the front door and landed infront of them, completely unconscious. His clothes changed back to their blue colors.

Spike slowly walked up to them and looked at Twilight. “I know you're mad, and you have a right to be, but can you chastise me later? Tired....” He passed out next to Starlight.

Twilight angrily stamped her hoof. “Nice job, Trixie. You've been here 3 days and you successfully knocked out the prince and almost destroyed the town using my dragon assistant.”

Trixie shook her mane, “Well, I can't say that my experiment wasn't a success.”

“No. You can't” Twi said. “Because it failed.”

“Why you.....” Trixie started.

“SILIENCE!” Both of the mares jumped and bowed down as Princess Luna landed next to them. Wait, Twilight thought. Princess Luna was HERE. In the DAY. This can't be good.

“Twilight Sparkle.” Luna started. “We were coming to visit our brother when we sensed very powerful magic here. Now, my brother is unconscious on the ground with thy dragon assistant. We wish to know what transpired here.”

Twilight visibly paled and started to speak. “Well Princess. Trixie was attempting to cast a growing spell. She used it on Spike, but because she didn't ASK,” here she glared at Trixie, “she didn't know that growing that suddenly would trigger his natural dragon instincts. Basically, to destroy everything.”

“I did get his permission first, your highness.” Trixie chimed in.

“Quite...” Luna said, thinking. She pointed her horn at her brother and channeled her magic to effectively restore the energy he had lost. He stirred, then slowly opened his eyes and stood up.

“Boy, for being the so-called “Most Powerful Alicorn Ever,” I sure don't know much about magic.” he said, half-joking. His eyes slightly widened as he saw his sister. “Luna? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be sleeping about now?”

“We thought that you could use some help here.” Luna said. She saw that Starlight noted that she was talking in the royal speech, but she very slightly shook her head. Seeing him acknowledge not to mention it she said, “Twilight Sparkle, take your dragon inside and take care of him. Trixie, return to thy home, We must talk with our brother.” As both mare started to do what they were told, Luna turned to Starlight. “Come,” she said, flying off, Starlight not far behind.

…

Luna and I were walking down the road that led from Ponyville, her initiating the conversation. “Truthfully, I should be asleep, brother. But I did want to talk to you.”

“Why were you using your royal voice?” I asked. “I thought that you didn't talk like that after the Nightmare Night that Twilight told me about.”

“I was rather aggravated, having to wake up in the day. Seeing you have to deal with that spell drove me over the edge.” Luna said. “You had to deal with things like this before?”

“I had to stop Rainbow's old friend from taking over the town.” I said, avoiding the real reason.

Luna smiled, “I know what you went though,brother.” she said. “I just wish I could help you more.”

We walked in silence for a bit. “Starlight. We need to talk about our sister.”

“Celestia?” I asked. “What about her?”

“I believe that she is hiding something from us, or more importantly, you.” she said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“After you landed here, Celestia contacted me immediately for me to return to Canterlot.” Luna said. “But when you were on your way here with Rainbow Dash the day of your coronation, we sensed that Nightmare was attacking you. My first impulse was to come to your rescue, but Celestia wouldn't allow me.”

I knew that neither of my sisters would have left me to myself if I had been in danger. “Why do you think she wouldn't let you help me?”

“She said it was because I was weaker in the daytime and that if she left, the ponies would worry. She also said that it was your test.” Luna said. “Personally, I am glad that you beat Nightmare on your own. It would have been a rather “harsh” ending to the day if you had been captured.”

“Don't I know it.” I said. “Luna? When she possessed you, what happened exactly?”

My older sister thought for a moment. “I was horribly jealous of Celestia. That gave her the power to possess me, my own darkness. I felt much stronger and Nightmare was guiding me...to overthrow Celestia. When I had been banished for that thousand years, I fought Nightmare for control. I had weakened her enough for the Elements of Harmony to remove her from me. But it isn't enough, we need a way to eradicate her forever.”

I rubbed my right arm, where my true cutie mark was. It was a beautiful star with light beaming from it. Above it was a sun and below it was a moon, symbolizing that I had Cutie Stamped my sisters.

“This stamping thing is more trouble then it's worth.” I said, slightly annoyed. “And maybe I should just walk around as a pony all the time.”

Luna forcefully shook her head. “No, the stamp is your greatest weapon against Nightmare. In fact, I think you unlocked some of the marks true powers.” She inspected the hand that had my friends marks on it. “The butterflies indicate that you will, control butterflies when you have that active. The rainbow cloud means that you will control electricity and the apples mean that you will control farm foods.”

“So what was the deal with them before?” I asked.

“When this ability was more common long ago, many ponies could not fully control their powers. Thus, the marks would go int a “panic” mode and do random things, but it would tie into what the mark actually symbolized.”

I was quiet. Luna had given me a lot to think about. “Starlight, I don't want you to doubt what Celesta’s plan is for you. I just want you to know that if you ever want to talk, just look to the moon.”

“Thanks, sis.” I said.

She smiled and lightly punched me. “We will figure out how to uncurse your body, but for now it's better that you have a way to wield your sword.” She gave a huge yawn then.

“Go get some sleep sis.” I said. “And thank you.”

Luna nodded and lifted off into the sky toward Canterlot. When she was gone, I thought about what had happened in the past month. Landing in Equestria, meeting the Mane 6, becoming the prince....

“Man,” I thought. “This really is my home.” I turned to start walking back to Ponyville, and got shot in the chest with magic. Hitting the ground I saw....Trixie. “Hey! What the buck are you doing?” I yelled.

“Awful sorry about this, Prince. No hard feelings?” She said, then disappeared. I stood up, and saw Nightmare Moon.

“Well then, it's been quite a while.” she said. “How have you been?”

“I'll be a lot better after you're gone!” I snarled, summoning Stormtide.

“Oh, you naive little alicorn.” Nightmare said. “I hope you know that I'm not going to play nice anymore. We have a lot to talk about when I get you back.”

“Back where...Ahh!” I stared before getting blasted to the ground again. I used a simple teleportating spell to warp above Nightmare, kicking her in the head. She gracefully landed on the ground, where then I beaned her in the head with a magic bolt. I landed and switched to Rainbow's cutie mark. Rainbow colored electricity danced around my body. “Well, this is new.” I said.

Nightmare recovered and flew at me, turned to buck me in the chest. I spun though the air and stopped upside down. I sparked my hand and shocked Nightmare's legs, making her shudder and unable to move. I landed, summoned Stormtide backhanded and rose upward, braining Nightmare in the head. As she flew upwards, I sparked my hands and blasted her again. She rose above me and started shooting magic at me. My speed enhanced by the mark, I dodged them all with ease, then shot above her. I pointed my hand her like a gun and basically sniped her between the wings, sending her to the ground. I fell then, slamming in front of her and proceeded to beat the living hay out of her. I punched and kicked her as hard as I could. She sparked her horn and a dark blast of magic came out, knocking me away from her.

I summoned Stormtide again and rushed her, stabbing her deep in the shoulder. She roared and whipped around, kicking me in the head. Dizzy, I backed off. She looked at me, clearly upset in all the times I've seen her. “Enough playing for now.” she said softly. She stepped back and launched a small ball of magic in front of her. It suddenly zoomed at me and slammed into my chest. It exploded, draining ALL the energy from my body. I felt the worst pain I'd ever felt and fell to the ground, Stormtide desummoning. The last thing I saw before I passed out was Nightmare walking up and saying, “We are going to have a lot of fun, Prince......”

The End of Pretending

Chapter 4-The End of Pretending

Rainbow flew toward Twilight's house, worried. Starlight and her were supposed to hang out at the race track on Cloudsdale about 3 hours ago. But, she hadn't seen him since yesterday. Rainbow knew that Starlight was busy, but he was never late to anything without at least arriving and explaining if he would have to cancel. “I bet Twilight roped him into doing some magic experiments.” she fumed. “And he's so considerate that he won't ask to leave.” Rainbow shook her head. “He's like Fluttershy, except that he looks like a human and carries a sword.” As Twilight's house came into view, she shot toward it.

Landing, she knocked on the door, Twilight answering. “Hello, Rainbow. What's going on?”

Rainbow slightly tilted her head. “Hey, Twi. Is the prince here?”

Twilight shook her head, “Nope, he left with Princess Luna after I had a little “incident' with Trixie.”

Rainbow turned around, thinking. “Why such a big deal, Dash? You act like you have to know where he is all the time.”

“What makes you think that?” Rainbow asked, whipping around to face Twilight.

“Well,” Twilight slightly hesitated. “Ever since what happened with Gilda, you're with him all the time.”

Rainbow paled, hoping her friend didn't notice. “I-I just like to hang out with him.”

“Are you sure it isn't anything else?” Twilight asked with a smile.

“No.” Rainbow said as calm as she could. “Sorry to rush Twilight, but I need to go. See you later.” She lifted off and flew in the direction of Cloudsdale.

…

Twilight shook her head as the pegasus flew off. “There's something she's not telling about her and Starlight, but it's not my business.” Shutting the door, she turned to return to her book when she heard a knock today. “Hmm, wonder why I'm so popular today.” she said. Opening the door, she saw Trixie standing there. “Oh, hello Trixie.”

“Surely you haven't forgotten our outing today, Twilight.” The blue unicorn said. “You said that you would help me gather some herbs in the Everfree Forest to use for my magic.”

Twilight inwardly sighed, remembering that she had indeed said that. Now Twilight was still upset with Trixie for what had happened with Spike, but she never broke her word. “Sure, Trixie. Are you ready to go?”

“Yes!”, she exclaimed. “Let's head out to the forest!” Twilight quickly checked on Spike, who was sleeping and left the house with Trixie.

…

Princess Luna was sitting with her sister, Celesta in the dining room. “So, were you able to diffuse the situation in Ponyville?” Celestia asked.

Luna nodded. “Starlight had it taken care of before I arrived. He passed out from the strain, so I gave him a little of my power.”

Celestia nodded as they sat in silence for a while. “Sister, Starlight is not immortal, is he?”

Celestia nodded as Luna continued. “Then it is as worse as I thought. I've been having, nightmares. About me....letting her back in.”

“Don't worry.” Celestia said. “That will never happen again. Starlight can more then handle her.”

“Stop putting everything on him!” Luna suddenly snapped. Celesta’s eyes widened, but she remained quiet. “We are expecting too much of him! He even told me today how he doesn't understand how he is supposed to be so strong! We should be the ones fighting Nightmare, not Starlight! He needs time to mature his magic.”

“Are we sure that is isn't already mature?” Celestia asked softly, knowing how Luna could be when she was upset. “You've seen what he can do.”

“You can't look at him in a fight and honestly think that he planned every spell he was going to use.” Luna said. “He was still in panic mode for all of the marks he had! This isn't fair to him!” As Celestia looked at her with love, the princess of the night looked down.

“Luna.” Celestia said, walking over and hugging her sister. “I want nothing more then for Starlight to be safe.”

“Then why isn't he here?” Luna asked. “We are here, we could keep him safe.” A realization suddenly came to her. “It's me, isn't it? You're afraid that if I tried to fight Nightmare, I would give in again.”

Celestia took a deep breath and looking into the eyes of her sister. “Luna, I was never sure how much of Nightmare's influence was left on you when the Elements of Harmony freed you. I couldn't think of anyway to keep you safe.”

Luna sighed. “Don't worry about me sister. We need to give Starlight the choice to where he wants to be. Putting him virtually on the front lines isn't truly fair.”

“That was a mistake on my part.” Celestia said. “I need to tell him the truth. I will go write a letter to Twilight....”

Suddenly all the lights in the room went out, then lit back up with a strange blue tone. A swirling cloud of darkness appeared in front of the two princesses then dispersed, revealing none other then Nightmare Moon. As the two sisters gasped and prepared to blast Nightmare into oblivion, she stopped them by holding up her hoof. “Unless you wish to never see your brother again, you probably should calm your magic.”

Celestia barely stopped her spell as Luna's spell shot forward and struck the dark alicorn in the shoulder. Nightmare yawned, “Hmm, I'll have to hurt your brother for that one.”

“Where is he?!” Luna yelled.

“Oh you relax.” Nightmare said, sitting. “He's fine...for now. I really came to talk to you two.”

“What could you want?” Celestia said, barely keeping her composure.

“Well, I could go on about how I want eternal night and all that, but I want something different. You see, night is good and all but I've been finding myself rather enjoying the daytime. So, I want you and Luna over there to give up your positions as rulers and hand it over to me.” Nightmare explained

“You can't really believe that would happen.” Luna scoffed. “Besides, you don't have the strength to raise the sun.”

“I might not, but I believe little Starlight does. Or maybe it was my imagination that saw the sun on his hand? Kinda looks like that.” At this, she pointed at Celesta’s cutie mark.

“He doesn’t know how to use it.” Celesta said, struggling.

“He will.” Nightmare turned her back on the alicorns. “Oh by the way..” she started. “In case you're thinking that he'll just be able to escape me, remember this. You two might be immortal, but I don't think that Starlight's there yet.” Laughing, the dark clouds swirled around her and she disappeared.

Luna unfurled her wings. “We need to go help him, sister!”

Celestia nodded, “Stay here, Luna. I will go help him.”

Luna quickly flew out the door before Celestia reached it. “No. Ponies will wonder if you suddenly just leave the castle. It won't be a problem if I go and take care of this.”

Celestia slowly nodded. “Good luck, Luna.” As her sister flew off, Celestia ran toward her room. She needed to write a letter.