In the throne room, Twilight paced back and forth. Meanwhile, Spike was sitting on his throne watching Twilight hyperventilate. "Starlight... gone... taken... Chrysalis?" Spike pet Twilight's head. "It can't be true. Chrysalis is gone."

"Actually, it is true. I saw Chrysalis behind the school after I went to look for Starlight. You know, after she ran off," he explained.

Twilight sat up. "I'm just glad Starlight isn't a menace. But now we have to locate her, alongside stopping Chrysalis." Spike nodded in agreement.

"Maybe we should go get our friends to help," he suggested.

She smiled. "Spike, you're a genius!" So, Twilight and Spike ran out of the castle to go gather their friends for an important meeting. A really important meeting.

"Chrysalis!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "Oh, I wonder what she wants."

"Probably just to get revenge on Starlight for reforming the changelings," Spike supplied.

"She's a dastardly beast, that's for sure," Rarity jumped in.

"Yeah! And whatever we do, we need to stop her!" Pinkie continued.

"Well, that sure explains it," Applejack responded. "Starlight would never act like that!"

"Once we find her, I'll be sure to kick her sorry butt out of here!" Rainbow added, kicking the air for good measure.

"That's just it. I have no idea where to find her, let alone how we're going to stop Chrysalis!" Twilight vented. "I know Starlight is an amazing pony, and I'll do anything to help her, and Equestria, but I don't know how! What if I fail?" Twilight started to pant again, and Spike went over to comfort her.

Once she was calm again, Twilight was ready to take charge. "Okay, everypony. Our first step is to make a plan. First, we-"

"Ugh!" Rainbow Dash groaned, pulling her hair. "Can we get onto the action already? Plans make every fun thing boring."

Twilight, along with Spike, shook her head. "I'm sorry, but we really need to be organized and plan ahead of time if we want to have anything close to a chance of saving Starlight."

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes and yawned as Twilight explained the gameplan.

Starlight's eyes were heavy with sleep. Too heavy. She felt around for the glass of water. If she wasn't going to drink it, she might as well put it to good use. Finally, she found it. But after not getting any rest at all, she didn't have enough energy left to levitate the glass with her magic. She would've groaned but she was too tired even for that.

Within the next couple minutes, she fell asleep despite the effort she put into staying awake. You know, that effort probably took up some of her energy as well.

The changeling drone went to notify Chrysalis. Chrysalis stepped into the room with a look of satisfaction on her face, making sure Starlight was really asleep. She was, lying against a bar of the cage. So tired, she didn't even have time to sit down before sleeping peacefully. Or, sleeping warily, since Chrysalis was now a threat to everyone. Nodding, she morphed into Starlight's form and teleported to Ponyville.

She appeared behind the School of Friendship. The girls were all looking at some piece of paper. Chrysalis was sure they didn't notice her. She took the form of a bush and snuck even closer, hoping to catch bits of the conversation.

"I think it would be more of an abandoned place," Twilight noted, pointing to a point on the paper. It was a map! "The Everfree Forest doesn't have much of a civilization. Other than wild creatures and Zecora, I don't think anyone lives there. Maybe she brought Starlight there to be alone?"

"Or maybe she went to Mount Fillymanjaro. The weather there's so plumb crazy, you couldn't find an blossoming orchard of apple trees through all the snow. Then a few feet farther, you couldn't find a single snowflake in all the apple trees," Applejack suggested.

"Nah, 'Out of Control' seems more like a Discord thing. Besides, we'd totally expect stuff like that," Rainbow argued. "She'd go for something we'd never expect. Something more civilized."

"Canterlot! Ooh, or Manehattan!" Rarity exclaimed.

Fluttershy shook her head. "No, of course not. Too many ponies who could call her out if they saw her. There are even royals in Canterlot."

Chrysalis smirked, though as a bush, it was hard to tell. Those pathetic wannabe heroes will never find out where I've hidden their "friend!"

Spike rubbed his chin. "I've got it!" he shouted, snapping his claws. "It's not too populated, but it's not to empty either. It's got the perfect weather, and it's the perfect place to unexpectedly hide Starlight!"

"Where?" all six girls demanded in unison. Chrysalis might have, too, if she wasn't trying to disguise herself.

"Ponyville!" Spike said, motioning to the rest of the town. Chrysalis was shocked. Spike had, indeed, found the city that Starlight Glimmer was in. The rest were shocked, too. How could they have overlooked such a simple problem? Of course Starlight would be right where she started. The problem was, Ponyville wasn't too small of a city. It still had many crannies and nooks for Chrysalis to hide Starlight in.

"Looks like we gotta spread out," Twilight announced, directing everyone to their areas. Once she finished, she started heading on her own path.

Starlight Glimmer was in Ponyville. She saw it, she felt it, she was sure of it. She looked down at her hooves. No sticky, green slime. She activated her horn. No magic-banning crystals. She was free. But how? And why?

It didn't really matter though, did it? Not if she was taken home, not if she was granted freedom. Now she could finally talk to her friends. Have fun and just relax. Maybe even start working at the School of Friendship...

Starlight shook her head. No need to jump too far into the future, she thought. First, she would have to explain everything to Twilight and her friends. Luckily, Twilight was right at the castle door when Starlight opened it. "Twilight!" she greeted, hugging her. "It's so good to see you in person again!"

"Err... Starlight," Twilight muttered akwardly. "So... strange seeing you again."

"Uh... really?" Starlight asked. Was it strange that she was home? Okay, maybe unexpected, but strange had a negative connotation.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Yeah, after everything you've done, and then you show up at my castle, hugging me and greeting me like we're... friends."

Starlight was confused. "But, we're friends! Aren't we?"

Twilight's gaze was very serious, and gave Starlight a bit of a fright. "No, really. What I'm saying is true. You don't deserve to be my friend."

Starlight's ears sank as she bit her lip and tried to hold back heavy streams of tears.

Starlight opened her eyes with a start. Her breath was choppy and heavy. Was that a dream? No, a nightmare? It had to have been; Twilight would never treat her like that. Plus, if it were real, how had she ended up here again, with slimy hooves and blocked magic and bars-

Wait. She wasn't behind bars. But she was still a prisoner. She was wrapped up in a cocoon, and her bangs were... flowing in the wind? She was moving! But how? She couldn't even move her own limbs.

Looking up, she saw Chrysalis carrying her. She must be taking me somewhere new, Starlight thought. But where would that be?

Author's Note

So sorry to keep you waiting for like 2 weeks. I had writer's block for a long time, even while I was writing this. So I'm sorry if it sounds super rushed or lazily written.