~2 days earlier

Trixie slumped over the soft pearwood table in the center of the school library, resentfully regarding the pile of half-opened tomes piled around her. She, along with Starlight and Shining had spent over twelve hours rotating between reading as many books on obscure magic as they could and taking power naps when their heads started to hurt.

It was like being in school again, but worse, if only because being in school hadn't involved this much studying. She glanced at the few teachers who, being unable to contribute to sustaining the barrier around the school, had been available to help in the book-hunt. They were the ones who said that if there was an answer to what had happened to the princesses, it would be in the library.

She groaned, internally. Why couldn't it be like in story books, where as soon as you found the wise old sage, they just TOLD you the thing you needed to know to move the plot along? Instead, they were cooped up in a room that smelled like mothballs, stumbling through the overly long and not terribly exciting descriptions of magic as written by exceedingly old and universally verbose authors of centuries past.

She lifted her head to glance at the text of the index of The Magic of Rock Gardening. It had been a longshot she might find anything in it, but then it felt like they'd raided half the library at this point. And she needed to sleep, a nice proper sleep, hopefully uninterrupted by nightmares of big mean storm creatures.

With another, much more verbal groan, she ran her hoof along the page, stopping over the words "Dangerous minerals" and slowly began turning the pages of the book. If they ever got their city back, she wanted a medal for her service and an honorary degree from this stuffy old school. As she flipped to the correct page, her eyes narrowed on a list of impenetrably boring scientific names. Next to each one was the more common name. There was Rock Candy, Amplification crystals, Fool's Geld, Fillyosopher's Stone, Miserable Malachite...

Miserable Malachite?

"Miserable Malachite! I-I found it!" Trixie fell off the bench in her excitement, quickly picking herself up and levitating the open tome over to Starlight for inspection.

"This strange substance is believed to have originated from some ancient war and can only be removed from your garden through the use of Alicorn magic." Starlight read. "In the event that no alicorns take an interest in your rock garden, or there are none currently in existence, consult Livery d’Eibon."

Trixie dropped the book at that point and let out a scream embodying the frustration of students across the multiverse. "AUGGGGH! We just found the right book, now we need to find another one?"

Starlight picked up the book and handed it apologetically to a nearby, frowning teacher. "We can do this, Trixie. The Livery d'Eibon isn't in this library, is it?"

The teacher shook his head, as he returned the volume to its placement in the intersection of Earth Pony culture and magical hobbies.

"Then it's probably in the Library of Magic." She turned to Shining Armor. "I can tell you're wiped out. Go check on your daughter, me and Trixie will track down this book and be back with an answer before you know it."

Shining blinked in the universal language of sleep deprivation and then nodded, stumbling to his hooves and slinking off in the direction of the staircase.

Starlight turned back to Trixie. "We're almost done Trixie. You ever been to the Library of Magic?"

Trixie sighed. "No. I assume it's a library...with a lot of books in it."

"I actually don't know. I guess we'll find out together. C'mon, we have to figure this out before the Storm King's forces break through the barrier."

Shining Armor wandered through the familiar halls of the school, stopping only when he ran into his father and a half dozen other unicorns, currently contributing to the barrier protecting the building.

Night Light smiled when he saw him, but Shining Armor recognized the strained look on his face. It was the same tinge of irritation and exhaustion which Shining Armor had felt, leading up to his wedding. He'd been so drained from maintaining the shield around Canterlot, he hadn't even fought back against Chrysalis' mental attacks.

He'd almost lost everything that day. Twilight. Cadence. The whole kingdom. He'd sworn it would never happen again.

He was supposed to be ready for attacks like this one. He was supposed to have been present and ready to throw himself in between Cadence and the petrifying poison. But he'd been too busy looking after Flurry Heart.

"Your mother told me you were hard at work downstairs, trying to figure out a way to bring Cadence back." Night Light said, as he trotted over. His smile faltered and his voice lowered. "You should get some rest, son. I know, I know, you're doing everything you can." Then he smiled again. "But even royalty have to sleep."

Shining Armor nodded slowly, almost too tired to care about the strangers watching this heartfelt interaction. He nodded, slowly. "Just need to...check on Flurry before that."

Night Light nodded. "She's upstairs with your mother...you know...I thought I was a goner for sure when it all went down. Your mother really is something else..."

Shining Armor nodded with the faintest return of a smile. "Yeah, dad. I know."

As he made to the bedroom, he was comforted by the cool breeze which permeated the stone chamber of the school, which had always been too stuffy for his tastes. Then his eyes widened and trained on the open window in the corner of the room. He turned to inspect the makeshift crib which he'd assumed he'd find his daughter inside of.

It was empty.

He rushed over to where his mother, no doubt worn out from using magic all day, was lying on what might have once been the headmaster's desk.

"Mom! Mom, wake up!"

Twilight Velvet opened her eyes and stared at him blearily. "Wha-oh, hello, Shiny...what-what's wrong?"

"Where's Flurry Heart?"

If the library in the School for Gifted Unicorns was a sea of knowledge, the Library of Magic made it look like a pond. Its labyrinthine halls would have been difficult to navigate by an unseasoned scholar under normal conditions. In its current state, with tables overturned, shelves ransacked, and its stewards imprisoned, it would have been impossible to find the book you were looking for.

It would have been impossible, if you hadn't, like Starlight had, spent years planning how to enslave your town and brainwash any visitors. In her search for magic powerful enough to remove and contain a Cutie Mark, she had dug into the depths of some very nasty grimoires. And while she hadn't heard of the Livery d'Eibon, she could guess that its contents were forbidden, if it discussed something as horrible as petrification. And that meant it was in the restricted section, an area of the library which only Celestia and Luna could access.

And Starlight, given that she was the most powerful magic user in Equestria.

Not that it was easy, untangling the magic which shielded those tunnels from entry, and which had protected the vault of sacred volumes beyond from the Storm Creatures' pillaging. But there was some satisfaction at being able to stretch her magical muscles against a spell of almost equal power to her own. She'd never seen this area before, only heard legend of it and of the power held in the grimoires it contained.

The Livery d'Eibon was almost a disappointment, in comparison to the cavernous interior, only barely illuminated by an ever-burning fire. It was simple, black book, with no actual title on its spine or its cover. Instead, it had been chained alongside a number of other, more grotesque and obscure titles, with a little metal plaque identifying it. As she wrapped her hooves around it, she knew at once that it was not a magical object by any means. It was not hazardous on its own, no. Only by some creature reading it, could it be said to possess some opportunity for danger. She wondered briefly, why it had not been destroyed, if its secrets were so destructive as to warrant the silvery, enchanted chains which encased it.

She supposed that it was not uncharacteristic of Celestia to keep around something that she knew to be dangerous, just because she thought it might be useful someday. That's what she had done with Discord, wasn't it? She and Luna could have smashed him to pieces, had they wanted to. It ended up being a good thing they didn't, although that decision had almost destroyed Equestria at least three times in the past two years and could hardly be described as having saved it, as of yet.

Unlike Twilight, she'd always been reluctant to trust Celestia, or any alicorn for that matter. They embodied everything she had once despised. They were more powerful than any other pony in Equestria. They could barely be said to be ponies at all, for how long they lived. She considered, briefly, how quickly Cadence and Twilight would outlive Shining Armor. Even his daughter was bound to live thousands of years. It seemed like the most unfair thing in the world, when she was younger, that some creatures not only be granted the powers of all three types of ponies, but also age gracefully for an eternity. It had seemed to her, that the only way to overthrow the shackles of immortal oppressors was to do away with all other forms of inequality, creating an army of ponies who would never bend the knee to a creature which claimed to be more powerful than them.

She shook the old hatred from her head. She wanted to be mad at Celestia and Luna, at having once again failed to defend Equestria from outsiders. But just as she had learned the value of friendship, she had also learned that the world could not be fixed, all at once, maybe ever. The fact was that ponies wanted Alicorns to be in charge. They liked bowing to the princesses, and even praying, under extreme circumstances. Having someone in charge was always preferable to taking control of your own life, no matter how deadly the consequences.

Still, she planned to have a nice long talk with Twilight about national security when this was all over.

Without hesitating, she snapped the silver chains around the book and opened the forbidden tome to its first page.

After a brief and unsuccessful sweep of the school, Shining Armor and Twilight Velvet set out to brave the streets of the city, which, thanks to the effectiveness of the Storm Creature's invasion strategy, had quieted from a series of riots to a low, oppressive atmosphere.

Despite the fact that she clearly was just as exhausted as he was, his mother managed to cloak them both with invisibility long enough for them to reach the palace plaza. Shining Armor had a pretty good idea of where Flurry would go, if she woke up and couldn't find her mother. What he had not counted on was that the petrified forms of all three princesses were no longer in the plaza.

"The must have taken them to the palace." Velvet said, sternly. "They probably wanted to ornament their new seat of power."

Shining Armor nodded, although his face betrayed his confusion.

She smiled a little. "Oh, come now dear. Do you think it's a coincidence you and your sister both ended up in the Celestia's court at a young age? I served the throne back in the old days. I know a thing or two about psychological warfare."

Shining nodded again, too distracted and dumbstruck to find a proper answer. It was not that huge of a revelation. His mother's daredevil thrill-seeking and her nostalgic reflections on her adventurous youth had long ago clued him in that she had some experience with the dangers of the world.

Still, he'd never expected her to admit it so readily. He supposed that desperate times called for desperate measures.

As they slipped past the guards standing sentry over the courtyard, he was relieved to hear the sound of a familiar foal's wails. Although no parent wished to hear their child cry, he was only thankful that she had not been petrified in her time away from him.

Following the cries to the throne room, he discovered that his mother was right. The statues of Celestia, Luna and Cadence had been arranged inside this room, as if they were trophies. He had already known that the invaders had no value for the lives of others, but his hatred for them still flared.

And just as he had suspected, his daughter flew beside the statue of his shocked wife, clinging to her cool stone form and crying in an attempt to awaken her mother from whatever sleep must have held her. All around Flurry Heart, Storm Creatures who had likely attempted to extricate her from the circle of statues, or else capture her to impress their superiors, lay about on the stone floor, groaning. Although Flurry Heart still didn't know how to cast a spell, her magic was powerful to send creatures twice the size of these flying across the hall and Shining tried to ignore the bit of pride he felt that she had been able to defend herself so thoroughly at such a young age. It made him confident in how powerful an empress she would one day be. Still, he was relieved that at the very least the Storm Creatures appeared to be unconscious, not dead.

As his mother dropped the spell, he raced over to his daughter, gently wrapping his hooves around her.

"I know...I know...I miss her too." He said, as he pressed his muzzle against her tiny head.

She pulled back against him, refusing to let go of her mother's statue. Tears still poured down her face, wetting the stone, as she blubbered nonsensically and clung to the lifeless surface. He thought, if this was one of the bedtime stories he read to her, it would have worked. The amount of love in Flurry's tears would have ended the curse and freed Cadence from her obsidian prison.

If this were a story for foals, she would have broken out of the shell and told Flurry and Shining Armor that she had missed them and that she was never going away. He almost believed it could happen too. Flurry had been able to shatter the Crystal Heart, after all, with just one wail. Why couldn't she break through this cheap, heartless shell with a dozen?

But it wasn't her fault. None of this was her fault. She was too young to understand. He hoped she wouldn't remember this. He hoped, when she was empress of the Crystal Empire, she'd never have to worry about invasions like this one. She'd never fear losing a loved one like he now did.

Somehow, though, he very much doubted that was a realistic possibility.

His mother approached from behind and stopped to stare at the morning light, filtered through the ornate stained glass of the classroom, glinting off of the sleek surface of Cadence's form.

"I don't care what it takes..." Shining Armor said, in a low voice, clouded with rage and grief. "I'm not leaving her again."

Velvet stared at her quivering son and her sobbing grandchild. She wished she could say something to balm the loss. Something which would be uplifting, but not glib. More than anything, she wished she could wrap them both up in a big hug and make it all better.

Instead, she focused on the long-range teleport she'd already used too many times this day. This time though, she brought an object with her, an object which she knew her son loved as much as she loved her husband. A cold, lifeless piece of stone, but one with a heart, buried somewhere inside it.

Trixie waited in the darkness of the tunnel beneath the library. It was a bummer to find out that Starlight could only bring herself through the magical barrier protecting the restricted section. On the other hoof, it offered an opportunity to get some much-needed shut-eye, something she was in no position to turn her muzzle up at.

As she folded her legs beneath her body, she promised Starlight that she would only be asleep for a moment. All this rushing around the city had taken it out of her, and it wasn't like reading a bunch of tedious books had helped matters either. No, she just needed a few minutes of shut eye. She was sure that Starlight would understand...

She was jolted awake, by a strange sound. One she hadn't encountered before. As she stood up, unsteadily, she recognized it as the sound of crying. But it was coming from beyond the barrier...

"Starlight? Are you...are you alright in there?" She called out, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable in this dark, damp tunnel, unable to return to the safety of the school without her companion.

The sobbing continued on for a few minutes and Trixie eventually gave up on trying to comfort Starlight. She'd never been good at this...at being there for other ponies when they couldn't handle everything anymore. She'd always been able to move on to the next town, when things got too real.

She wanted to say the right thing. But she wasn't even sure if Starlight could hear her. After the twelfth attempt at reassurance, she just sat down again, too exhausted to contemplate anything other than trying not to burst into tears herself. This was supposed to be a fun trip to the capital, a chance to set off some fireworks and maybe get hired by some Canterlot aristocracy for a birthday party or two.

Instead, it was a nightmare, one that reminded her of wearing that horrible amulet. Except this time, instead of her body acting without her knowing what how to stop it, it was the whole world. Everything had changed so drastically and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

She couldn't even comfort her best friend.

Eventually, the sobbing died down and Starlight re-appeared, her eyes red rimmed. And in her hooves was a little black book.

"Is...is that it?" Trixie asked. She was too overwhelmed to think of anything better to say, but she realized what a stupid question it was as soon as she spoke.

Starlight nodded, slowly. "I...I'm sorry...I shouldn't have left you alone so long."

"No, it's-it's fine...umm...we should probably get back to the school now." She said.

She remembered the night she'd made Starlight go running from her caravan with tears in her eyes. This was somehow worse. The two of them, trapped in this city, unable to rely on anyone, unable to even comfort each other. She was sure that if Twilight and her annoying friends were here, they'd have some kind of song or they'd all hug and tell each other how much they appreciated one another as friends.

Instead, they both stood in the darkness, pretending they didn't feel as utterly defeated as they surely were.

"Does...does it have what we need?" Trixie asked.

Starlight shook her head. "No...but I know who does."

~Present

Grubber didn't know much, which wasn't surprising. But he had been able to give her a pamphlet entitled "So you want to join the Storm King's army!"

It told her basically everything that she needed to know. That the Storm King had gotten his start attacking small, defenseless nations. That he had held some control over the weather more profound than the strongest Pegasus. And that he loved to talk about himself.

He was not a strategist. He used his minions to get what he wanted, and he punished anyone who stood up to his law and anyone else who happened to be around just for good measure. He was the kind of person who would consider killing a defenseless creature, as a sign of great strength.

He was the worst kind of leader. Flippant, vain and destructive. He didn't seem to have any plans for what he was going to do with the power he wanted to acquire. Having it was reward enough.

She could not afford to underestimate him or allow him to escape justice. For the good of not just Equestria, he needed to be removed from power.

But not through brute force. That was his forte. No, this would require something else, something he was unfamiliar with. She had to get the staff away from him, before he could hurt any creatures with it. And that meant using guile.

She returned to Tempest's quarters and used the Pearl one last time. It was strange, being a body bigger than her real one. It was even stranger, shrinking back down. Losing the modifications, made her feel almost...weak. She knew, deep down, that the Storm King never would have invaded the land of the dragons or the yaks. They weren't easy pickings. They were used to defending their territory.

Still, she pushed down these notions. She was stepping up to the challenge. She was doing what needed to be done to protect her home. After today, no one would ever think of Equestria as vulnerable again.

Author's Note

Although no longer a power mad collectivist ala Harrison Bergon, I like to think that Starlight would remain an iconoclast for most of her life. I imagine coming to terms with the immortality of creatures which walk amongst you would be difficult, even if you didn't have anger/control issues.