Starlight opened her eyes. Her vision was blurred, but she could still tell that something was definitely not right. She would have rubbed her eyes if her hooves weren’t glued to the ground. She pulled and pulled, but it was really hard. Eventually, she just gave up and decided to teleport out of the glue. But, surprise, her magic didn’t work either. Starlight almost cried at the thought of not being able to use magic. She couldn’t even see anything in the darkness.

She jumped, or would have jumped, at the sound of a taunting voice. “Welcome, Starlight Glimmer! I hope you’re ready for my feast!”

Starlight’s ears dropped at the sound of the voice. It was the voice she dreaded to hear the most, the voice of the pony, or creature, she hoped would never be back for her. And just as she opened her mouth to respond, the lights turned on, blinding her and making her scream. She squeezed her eyes shut, and then blinked them open, squinting, but still not being able to see. “What do you want?” she asked, her vision slowly becoming clearer.

“It’s the same as I’ve always wanted since the day I ruled Equestria. Since the day you stopped me,” the voice answered.

Starlight gritted her teeth. “Listen, Chrysalis. I know you want revenge on me. I wanted revenge on Twilight when she first defeated me. And when I went back for it, Twilight showed me that friendship is better than revenge.”

Queen Chrysalis laughed. “Oh, but you are so terribly wrong. It’s so fun to get revenge, and so fun to watch as the pony you are getting revenge on is helpless. It’s especially fun to watch what happens while the pony you get revenge on is stuck.”

Starlight gasped. Being stranded, stuck in a cage without magic, she hadn’t even thought about Twilight and her friends. “What if my friends notice I’m missing?” she asked.

“Oh, they haven’t,” Chrysalis seethed.

“What? How? It’s been… well… I don’t know how long I’ve been here, but it’s been a while,” she argued.

“How pathetic,” she mocked. “Well, I guess I have to tell you that your friends are in danger right now, but they don’t notice you’re missing. Maybe that’s because they don’t care about you,” she grinned, keeping the truth from Starlight.

“That’s a lie! I don’t believe you!” Starlight tried to shoot a laser beam at Chrysalis, but then realized her magic didn’t work. “How did you even stop my magic from working?” she wondered.

Chrysalis laughed. “Oh, I don’t know. Someone had the brains behind using magic crystals that soak up magic.”

“But I thought the hive was destroyed, and the last of the Changeling Crystals were, too,” she thought out loud.

“It soaks up all kinds of magic. Changeling crystals are rare, you know,” she said, flying off the top of the cage and hovering in front where Starlight would have to face her. “Anyways, why don’t we see what I’ve done back in your sweet hometown, Ponyville?” Chrysalis activated her horn, bringing up a screen of what was happening at the School of Friendship. “I have big, big plans to destroy you!”

“Wait a minute, I thought you were the only evil changeling left,” she noted, amazed, but nervous.

“Oh please. You act as if I can’t do things in the time it takes you to gain consciousness again.”

Starlight looked at the screen, realizing Chrysalis was right. Her ears dropped as she saw her replacement and the things that had happened.

“Ugh!” the changeling disguised as Starlight, Chrysalis, groaned. “Please. Everything I’ve done here isn’t the problem.”

“Yes it is!” Twilight and all her friends, except Fluttershy, shouted.

“Um… Maybe?” Fluttershy squeaked, causing Rainbow to facehoof.

Starlight stormed out of the school, and walked into the castle, and fortunately, the camera changeling followed. When they arrived in her room, Starlight (the real one), screamed and soon cried at the sight she saw. One of her blocks was split in two, a plant on her windowsill was wilting, and worst of all, her kites were ripped, and thrown carelessly all over the place. Chrysalis smirked when she saw Starlight’s terror. She stopped showing the events from Ponyville and flew away, only to look back. “I’ll carry out my full plan for you once you fall asleep. Once you lose consciousness again.”

Starlight bit her lip. “Why? What is it?” she asked.

“Again, I don’t want to spoil the surprise. Just bear with me, okay?”

“No! I can’t bear with the thought that you might hurt my friends! I’m not going to sleep tonight!” she argued.

Chrysalis just cackled. “That makes it easier for me. The more you stay up, the more tired you’ll be. When you don’t have the energy in you anymore, you’ll fall asleep on your own. Then I can finish you.”

Starlight sat down in an uncomfortable position, where her hooves were flat against the bottom of the cage, positioned as if she were standing. Then, a changeling flew into the room to keep an eye on her. Starlight gaped at the sight of it. It was one lone changeling, and she hadn’t seen any evil-looking changelings since the time she and her friends defeated Chrysalis. She wondered who it could be, since it obviously wasn’t a baby. She sighed as the changeling placed a glass of water near her. She didn’t want to drink it, in case it was poison or something else incredibly dangerous.

She wasn’t in the mood to solve a mystery, so, with nothing to do, she stood up, looking for a way out of the whole situation. But then, something caught her eye. A window to the small room next door, and inside were four rock-like objects that displayed a screen of the events in Ponyville. Starlight couldn’t take her eyes off of the screen.

“Please! Please!” Rarity begged, crying. “Not the dress, NOT THE DRESS!”

Starlight ignored the comment and continued pouring Pinkie Pie’s jug of chocolate milk on Rarity’s dress. Luckily, Rarity wasn’t wearing it. But still, it was terrible. Soon enough, Pinkie’s cries were heard too.

“That’s a big waste of chocolate milk!” she screamed, heavy tears flowing down her cheek. “My chocolate milk!”

Twilight walked into the room, and seeing the whole scene, she grew incredibly angry. “ENOUGH!” she grunted, giving the jug of chocolate milk back to Pinkie Pie, and pulling Starlight out of the room. “You aren’t worthy of running the school, Starlight. I honestly didn’t believe you for a minute there. I still don’t. I have no idea why you’re acting like this, but it has got to stop!” Twilight set Starlight down on the ground, where Starlight just shrugged it off and walked away.

Starlight watched as Twilight dropped tears. She could hardly hear anymore, but Twilight’s voice was still slightly audible. “She just doesn’t like me,” Twilight said. Starlight’s ears dropped, and she remembered the last things she had done and said to Twilight.

“Ugh! You always twist things to make it sound like you’re right!” And then she stormed off.

Starlight cried tears of her own, knowing that her angry words were wrong to say. She knew that she couldn’t make it up to Twilight, and that she might never be able to.

Starlight sat down to take a nap, because she had nothing better to do, when she realized she couldn’t sleep. She stood up quietly and sang to herself.

“I have to find a way
To make this all okay.
I can’t believe this small mistake
Could have caused so much heartache

Oh why? Oh why?

Something is wrong it’s plain to see
This isn’t how it’s meant to be.
And you can’t see it like I do,
It’s not the life that’s meant for you.

Oh why? Oh why?

Losing promise
I don’t know what to do
Seeking answers
I fear I won’t get through to you

I’ll try, and I’ll try.”

She eyed the screen again, wondering what her friends were going through.

Twilight sat on her throne, alone, crying to herself. Spike opened the door and rushed over to Twilight. He lifted her head up and pushed her to sit up straight. “I know Starlight’s been bothering us all, but-”

“Bothering us?” Twilight shouted. “That’s not even close to what she’s doing! I thought I had helped her change!” She buried her head into her hooves again.

“And I think I just found out why,” he said, patting Twilight’s head. She looked up at him, waiting for the answer. “She’s not actually Starlight.”

Author's Note

Yay! Another chapter finished, and I'm glad it's not just Starlight being cruel. She still has to figure a few things out, but she knows a lot more now. Also, I added Twilight's "I've Got to Find a Way" because I thought it fit the situation perfectly, and 'cause it's a beautiful song I thought we should revisit. Thanks for staying tuned!

Edit - 9/29:
I have edited the chapter based off of a comment showing me how off I was. Anyways, I hope you check out the new version, and if there's still a bit of confusion, that's the point. Hope you enjoyed it!