"Twilight, this isn't going to work!" shouted Starlight at her former mentor who sat in her desk looking back at her with a frown. They had been looking into resurrection for a few weeks now and they had been quite successful, just not in the way Twilight wanted. The test subjects didn't fully come back, as in they weren't really alive, which was the opposite of what she wanted. What they were creating were essentially zombies and very aggressive ones at that.
"Just look at them, the test subjects can barely be considered living!" Starlight kept on with her onslaught, and to be honest, Twilight could not blame her. She had roped her student into something that shouldn't be played with. Though who else could she ask? Celestia? Luna? Cadence? They wouldn’t understand, heck they wouldn't even consider helping her.
But Starlight would.
Twilight would admit that she took advantage of her former student in a way, and she was remorseful for it. Yet she needed her for this, she was the only one with both the talent and willingness to go as deep as her into this excursion.
"Not to mention the stench and how morally bankrupt this all is..." Starlight paused for a few moments to regain her composure. "...and look at yourself. You haven't gone outside for who knows how long. And-and that thing... I know it's doing something to you! It has turned you colder, more calculating... And you're just letting it happen." Starlight then turned to where they had been keeping their test subject; one of many by this point. A dead bird she had found close to the Everfree forest. Starlight quickly shot off the power switch that had been feeding it a relatively new and relatively unknown element called Mc-15. Of course that wouldn't kill it outright, it just kept it from becoming even more aggressive.
After a few seconds of silence between the pair, Starlight zapped the bird, putting it to rest.
“I-I can’t do this anymore Twilight... I-” before she could finish Twilight quickly closed the gap between the two and now stood but a couple of inches with a small frown apparent on her features. It had been so fast, Starlight stepped back out of instinct.
From this close, Starlight could see her mentor’s eyes. The once brilliant purple that would inspire hope and friendship was gone, replaced by reds and faint yellows that covered her sclera whole, which now brought uncertainty to her heart.
“Listen, I won’t force you to do anything you don't want...” Her words sounded too cold to Starlight, yet she could still recognize other, very faint, emotions. “I know that I have asked too much these past couple of weeks and for that I am sorry. I’m also very thankful for your help and if you wish to leave and not partake in any of this... I won’t stop you, even if I do need you for this. But I must continue, I owe them as much, even if it means losing everything.”
“But what would they think of this, all of this! Do you really think they would want you to slave away at something that might not even be possible?” Starlight stumped her hoof, making Twilight almost step back. “And what if you succeed? How will you face them? You and I already know what needs to be done to make this even remotely viable. Not only that we don't even know if it will work..." Starlight took a breath. "I’m telling you that thing is messing with your head... I-I just...” They stood there for a few moments in what felt like eternal silence.
What could she say to all of that? Was Twilight really willing to go as far as to take one life for another? She also knew that Starlight was correct, the Element they had “found” was slowly changing her, but she knew it was just to a point. It was only enhancing what was already there, pure rage and guilt.
“I won’t face them, if I have too, I'll simply disappear from their lives. I’m willing to do anything if it means getting them back.”
Starlight looked down for a second before glaring at her mentor. She could not believe what she was hearing, from her teacher no less. Maybe she had truly been lost.
“What about us a-and Spike!?” Starlight was on the verge of losing it. She was now yelling at the top of her longs, which she didn’t like doing, especially towards the one she most respected but maybe she could get through to her.
It was a long shot.
“I-I...” For the first time, Twilight was having a hard time answering, which brought some hope to Starlight. She guessed it was harder to dismiss other’s feelings when they were alive and present.
Twilight pondered over the question for a few seconds while avoiding eye contact. She knew she couldn’t say I’ll just disappear from your life as well! to her face. She could never do such a thing, but she might have too, eventually.
Just not right now.
“We’ll see what happens when the time comes...” Twilight almost cringed at how weak of a response it was, but she couldn’t do it. Not now.
As for Starlight, while it wasn’t the response she was looking for, it at least told her that she was conflicted about all of this. Still, she was afraid for her friend, she didn’t want to lose her. She had been her rock... and maybe it was her time to be just that.
Even if it meant continuing with all of this.
Starlight sighed, and looked at Twilight, who appeared uncomfortable and was avoiding her gaze. Starlight walked towards her friend and wrapped a hoof over the other’s neck, leaving the other stunned for a second before returning the gesture.
“The I guess I’ll just have to be there until then.” she simply responded and tightened the hug.
“But you said-” before Twilight could finish a hoof stopped her. Both Unicorns gazed into each other’s eyes for a few moment before Starlight broke it off, to both of their disappointment.
“I guess I’ll see you later...”
“Yeah...”
***
“So, what did she say?” Spike looked at Starlight—concern very apparent in his features—from across the table where they were having lunch, without Twilight, again.
Starlight looked at him while levitating her spoon and spinning it around lazily.
“She didn’t say much... What I do know is that we need to do something, but I don’t know what. She has made it very clear that she would do anything to get them back. And I can’t just leave her, not after all she has done for me.” She then looked at her probably cold soup and started eating.
”It’s cold alright.”
Spike simply nodded and looked at her friend for a while, pondering what to say next. The loss of the element bearers had been hard on all of them, especially Twilight. He knew that she wouldn’t stop until she succeeded and for the first time he found that scary.
“You told me that you need a soul for a soul to actually pull off resurrection, right? Do you think she’ll actually... You know...” Spike didn’t want to say it, it felt unnatural to think of her maternal figure like that.
“I-I don’t know Spike; I know she wouldn’t hurt any innocent pony but... there is a chance that she goes after Opaline.”
"Hopefully she dosen't. I wouldn't want to lose her too."
Ever since the incident, Opaline was nowhere to be found. She had been greatly wounded after the death of the element bearers. Presumedly by Twilight herself, but she would not speak of it when asked.
Celestia and Luna have been scouring all Equestria in search of the Alicorn, who had frankly appeared out of nowhere. Apparently, the princesses had history with them.
They had been too busy with that to pay too much attention to Twilight, at least until a few days ago. It seemed that they sensed something was off about their youngest princess, which prompted them to make a visit in the coming days.
Twilight had forced Starlight and Spike to keep quiet, well maybe that was a bit much, it was more akin to begging in Starlight opinion.
And like the fool she was she, of course, Starlight accepted.
Sometimes she worried how much she was willing to do for Twilight, it had to be unhealthy, right? She knew she wanted to repay her for everything she had done but sometimes she did things that didn’t make sense, and she liked being close to her and well... maybe it was not the time to be thinking about inconsequential nonsense! There were more important matters at hoof.
“Are you going keep helping her? Will you go with her if she goes after Opaline?”
She looked back up at Spike with a small frown. She didn’t know how to respond to that. She was afraid to say either yes or no, because she truly didn’t know what she’d do in that situation.
“We’ll see what happens when the time comes...”
“I...”
“It’s okay, I know that it was a loaded question. Sorry, I just... hope that both of you come out fine from all of this.”
“I think I'll be fine. It’s Twilight that you should be worried about.”
“Hmm, I don’t know, you do stuff that makes me worry, you know?” Starlight raised a brow.
“What? Like what?” She asked curios.
“I just... I just don’t want to see you with a broken heart...”
”A broken heart? What is that supposed to mean?”
“I think I’ll be fine. I don’t know why I would have a broken heart over this or whatever may come but I won’t so don’t worry!” Starlight responded hurriedly. She also felt the room temperature rise for some reason, which was very strange.
“Uhu, yeah sure. Just be careful and try not to bite off more than you can chew.” He said as he took his plate to the sink.
“I would never! Plus, I’m only going to be keeping an eye on Twi, nothing more, nothing less.”
“Good. Hopefully things don’t escalate more than they already have.”
***
Things did indeed escalate, not only for the three inhabitants of the Castle of Friendship but for Equestria as a whole. There had been a battle between the two raining monarchs of Canterlot and the rouge alicorn named Opaline a few hours ago. Once they had found her, both thought it would be an easy victory but were surprised to see that the Alicorn was not alone. Six dragon Golems, fueled by dark magic surrounded Opaline on all sides, roaring at the intruders that dared trespass.
The beasts were large, larger tha most creatures in Equestria. Their surface was rough and ghostly pale, and their bodies were snake-like, with the addition of thin arms and legs. In their chest area they had what looked to be a gem, though they were actually their cores, that powered them to do Opalines biding. Their heads were large and long and slightly angled upward. Their eyes black as night and lifeless, signifying that they weren’t truly alive and were more of a weapon of war.
This did not deter the two sisters however, for they flew straight into battle with the beasts and Opaline.
It took a few hours to dispatch the beasts, but by that point they were fatigued, yet Opaline, who had not had to use much magic, was in perfect condition to keep going.
She easily dogged any attacks that came her way and her own were stronger than both her adversaries. The fight went on for a while longer, up until Opaline got a clean shot on Celestia, who fell to her side in anguish.
In a moment of pure anger, Luna threw the most powerful spell she could at her enemy who had been gloating at them for a few seconds. The shot of magic managed to cut through one of Opaline’s wings in half. Yet Luna wasn’t done, noticing her enemies surprise she kept firing, fatigue be damned.
This made Opaline retreat out of the abandoned castle, still she knew that the confrontation between both parties had favored her. Soon all Equestria and its magic would be hers and no one would stop her.
***
The news broke out like wildfire, the princess of the sun had been gravely injured. Eventually the news arrived at Twilight’s castle.
Starlight made her way hurriedly through the castle, until she found the stairs that lead to the tunnels below the castle. The tunnels had gone unused for most of her stay there and Twilight had even told her that she herself hadn’t gone exploring much of it. That was up until a few weeks ago when they started to repurpose them for their experiments. This place always irked her, but even more now and it was partially her fault. The more she thought about their experiments with deceased animals, the more she wanted to throw up. If Fluttershy were here she would probably either have a hard attack or beat their flanks. She almost smiled at the thought.
She wondered what she could say to Twilight. Her teacher, her maternal figure had been almost killed by the same pony who took her friends away. She knew that there was probably not much she could say or do... but maybe just being there might help. Though she knew it was a matter of time before something happened.
Starlight searched through the tunnels for a few minutes. After not finding her friend on the main part of their “Lab” she went on to the only chamber with a door in the entirety of the underground. Yet before she entered, she hesitated, this place was very important to Twilight, she didn’t want to disturb her while she was in there.
It also disturbed her, quite frankly she did not feel comfortable being in that room.
Before she could go back to wait for her friend somewhere else, the door opened, making her back up in surprise. She hesitated, again, but if any other pony knew what was in there they'd be unnerved as well.
She took a breath and started walking inside slowly, looking around. There was basically no light, apart from the healing chambers that emitted a faint greenish glow that caressed the whole room. She could faintly see Twilight’s silhouette in the back of the room, staring up at her friends.
Starlight stopped a few feet away from her, not wanting to potentially scare her. She cleared her throat in order to get the others’ attention, but Twilight did not turn around. But before she could do it again, Twilight interrupted her.
“Come” She simply said, making every hair on Starlight body stand up. She also noticed that the air felt heavy, if that was even a thing. She was not sure. But for some reasoned she was terrified. Yet she moved forward.
She trusted Twilight with her life, there was no reason to be afraid.
She slowly made her way to the others’ side. Starlight glanced at Twilight, discerning the almost unnoticeable expression of pain the other had. It broke Starlight to see her like this, she wished she could do something, anything to cheer her up and maybe even get her to stop all of this. Heck maybe they could find another way, a way where Twilight didn’t have to go through all of this.
Before Starlight could continue her inner thoughts, she felt something shift to her side. She glanced once more at the other’s direction and noticed that her wing was hovering over her back as Twilight looked at her with a frown as if she was judging her, or at least that’s what it would look like to anyone else other than her closest friends. She was actually asking for permission, which was odd, since Starlight thought they had moved past this stage. In the past she would have been grateful for the gesture and while she appreciated the other respecting her space, Twilight should already know that it was fine. Maybe she thought she had done something to upset her? And to be frank she had upset Starlight, but not to that extent.
Regardless of her thoughts she nodded and felt Twilight’s wing drape along her back, which sent slight shivers through her body. For some reason she felt elated from the small gesture and even more so after a few seconds later Twilight rested her head on hers. Weirdly she felt the room growing warmer, which was strange because only a few seconds ago it was rather chilly in there.
Then Twilight spoke.
“It’s almost time Starlight, for me to go...”
“Yeah...” If it where any other moment Starlight would have asked where she was going but she was enjoying her current situation a bit too much. Twilight found odd the lack of a question; Starlight is usually more focused. She wondered briefly as to why she was acting odd but decided to ignore it for now.
“I’m going after Arcana, we both know the only way to succeed in reviving them is to supply a replacement for their souls, usually it would be a soul for a soul but since Arcana isn’t an ordinary pony, just hers would suffice to bring them all back.” Now Starlight was paying attention, at first, she stayed put and listened but as the other finished she ended the embrace.
“B-But Twilight, you know what that mea—”
“Yes, yes I do.” Twilight looked to her side, almost in shame. It didn’t matter, in her mind she needed to do this.
“Twilight, listen to me. Even if she deserves it, do you think this is the right path to take? You will have to live with it for the rest of your life!” Twilight thought over it for a moment. Though the voice told her that it was the right thing to do. As it always did.
”No, no, you need to do this. it’s the only way.
“Yes, I will manage... and even if I can’t, it doesn't matter if I succeeded.”
“But what if there is another way? A better way. A way that doesn't involve revenge. And I’m not saying we shouldn't stop her, but I know for a fact that if it was any other pony in your shoes, you would have told them that revenge if never the answer. Plus, I don’t like saying this… but death is a natural part of life… And I think you need to accept that.” Starlight said, unsure if her words would change the other’s mind.
Twilight shook her head, her words, the whole situation was starting to annoy her. They had been fine a few minutes ago, enjoying each other’s company and now they’re here, again.
“Maybe revenge wouldn’t be the answer any other time but this time it is. Consider that there is a key difference here from any other potential situation, If I don’t go through with this my friends, your friends and not to mention, arguably the most important group of ponies that have ever lived, will be lost. Do you think that’s fair!? Do you!? Say something!” She screamed at Starlight, who shrunk in on herself.
Silence followed for a few seconds, just enough time for Twilight to feel guilty about screaming at one of her best friends. One of the only ones she had left.
She took a deep breath to try and compose herself. It had been a hard day for her, her mentor being injured, her continued failings in resurrecting her friends and now screaming at the one pony she had left. It was eating away at her, and the effects of the element was not helping in the slightest.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn't have screamed... I just...” She looked at Starlight who was staring at her in what seemed like terror. It made Twilight think of herself and whether she was terrifying. She knew that she had probably changed slightly in her appearance, or maybe her voice had changed or... Who knows, maybe the thing that’s most terrifying about her current state is what she was potentially becoming.
“Look, let me put it this way.” She attempted to get closer but instinctively Starlight took a step back, which crushed her heart, yet she managed to continue. “If I was the one killed and the only way to get me back was to do what I'm doing, would you do it.”
Starlight seemed to think it over, would she? Well, the answer was obvious. “Yes, yes, I would. But there is a key difference here. We aren’t the same pony, are we?” Twilight raised a brow at this, not really understanding her point.
“Same pony? What does that have to do with anything?” She asked genuinely confused at what the other was getting at.
“Twilight, I wasn’t a good pony remember? I was willing to do anything to get what I wanted. Even if I never did kill anypony, I sure was close. And that very pony that I would have killed without a second thought, is standing right in front of me.” Twilight’s eyes widened. “And I feel ashamed about it Twilight...” Tears were starting to fall as Twilight listen. “I feel terrible. Every day I remember who I was and— N-now Imagine you off al ponies goes through with this. The purest, most selfless pony I’ve ever met, having to deal with something like that? Under an unknow and powerful influence no less. How will you cope with all of it after it’s set and done? The amount of regret that you would feel would be incomprehensible and I’m afraid of what will happen to you. Will you still be that same pony that I... That I love?”
Twilight didn’t know how to respond, how could she? Starlight was probably right. She knew that she was wrong. Twilight shook her head, her head screaming at her that she should drop all of this, maybe they could find another way, together. Then there was that voice, that lone voice telling her that Arcana needed to pay with her life for what she did and reminded her that this was the only way. It didn’t matter if Starlight was correct, this was the only way to go on.
“Starlight, I’m sorry” she said and quickly as she encased her friend in a ball of pure magic.
“What the—” Before she could answer Twilight shot the barrier she was in with an unknown spell, at least unknown to starlight. “Twilight listen to me, please, I-I...” Before she could finish, she fell unconscious.
Twilight went up to the orb with Starlight inside and put one of her hooves on the surface. Tears started to fall; this was all so wrong.
”Arcana will pay for this, all of it." that voice that had been at the back of her mind for all this time was now more powerful than ever. It now was a part of her and there was no going back.
“I l... I’m sorry for all of this but it will be okay, you’ll see.”
***
“...Starlight?” Starlight awoke and got up on her hooves in an instant. She was breathing sporadically as her eyes darted everywhere.
“Starlight—”
“Where is she!?” She asked a bit too loudly, now looking directly at Spike. Before he could answer, another voice was heard from further back.
“She is believed to be somewhere in the badlands, searching for Opaline Arcana.” said the princess of the night.
Princess Luna slowly got closer to the pair; her face plagued by a concerned expression. She quickly looked over Starlight, then sighed in relief.
“When Spike informed us of your state, we rushed here as soon as we could, we- I’m glad you are well.”
“Yeah, I got scared when I saw you in that orb thing, Luna managed to destroy it, but you wouldn’t wake up...” Spike had been very worried when he saw her in that state. He was afraid that Twilight might have done something.
He felt guilty for thinking like that.
“I’m okay... how long was I out?” she asked, as she rubbed her head.
“Probably about a half an hour or so. I mean the last time I saw you was about an hour ago…”
“Ugh, why does she have to be so-UGH!” She grounded in frustration. “We should get moving, we need to stop her before she does something she’ll regrate later.”
Starlight was going to stop her one way or another. It was funny really it felt like a role reversal to her. Now she was the one trying to stop the other from doing something dangerous.
Though she will admit she took the cake by a mile in the dangerous department.
“Agreed, the state she was in reminds us of our own. Hopefully she does not go as far as we had once done… Let us part, we have a carriage waiting outside.” Said Luna as she walked off.
Spike and Starlight simply nodded and followed suit.
***
Ten minutes later.
Wind hit Twilights face as she flew across the Skies of Equestria. Her appearance had changed further through her short flight. She now wore black steel boots—similar to the ones used by her own mentor— and a black crown, similar to her old one with a cyan stone in the middle. As for physical futures, not much had changed apart from an additional cyan streak on her mane. Her eyes also had shifted colors, instead of the reds and yellows that she had for the last few weeks were now replaced by light tones of cyan.
Twilight had been too focused on flying to even notice those changes.
She had gotten word from a secrete source from inside Canterlot castle of Arcana's whereabouts and it pointed to somewhere in the Badlands. She would find her in no time at the speed she was going.
Suddenly, at the very spot where Dodge City and the Badlands were divided and between two mountains that could be considered the unofficial entrance to the Badlands, she could spot Solar Guards and... Cadence and Shining Armor.
”Great.” She thought already annoyed at the inevitable conversation.
She was about to speed up and simply continue but suddenly a barrier stopped her in her tracks. She was now stuck in a dome of magical energy, presumably made by her brother to stop her.
Twilight looked down at them from above and saw them awkwardly waving at her. She rolled her eyes and started her descent. The Solar guards took a step back and stared at her wide eyed as so did Cadence and Shining.
“Hi, Twily, what brings you to these parts of Equestria?” He said in a poor attempt to stall time, which he needed to do a lot of if they wanted to stop her from doing anything rash.
“I think you already know why we’re-I’m here... You aren’t stalling, are you?” She said with a small frown as she made her way towards them.
“Of course not, we wanted to talk.” He said with a bit more authority this time.
“And I think there is much to talk about.” Then came Cadence from the side, who looked very worried about her state it seemed.
“No, I don’t think there is much to talk about. You two already know what I’m planning to do. I won’t stop until I get them back. I ask you to please lower your shiel or—”
“Twilight listen to me; you know that nothing about what you’ve been doing for the past few weeks has been a good thing. If you do this, what makes you better than her?”
Twilight felt her whole being burn at the question, was he seriously asking her such a thing? It was different, of this she was correct, and she knew it. Compering her to Arcana was simply insulting to say the least.
“What makes me better? Are you insane!? we'd be bringing back the most important line of defense since The Pillars of Old. Not only that, but Arcana is also a cold-blooded killer. I’m only doing what is fair. Now step aside!” Twilight stomped forward, very clearly irritated. Shining took a few steps back and grimaced at his poor choice of words.
But before she could pass them, Cadence stepped in the way.
Twilight glared at her but surprisingly didn’t say anything, which gave an opportunity for Cadence to speak.
“I know you have probably thought about this, probably more than anyone else. But I want you to consider this: What if you fail?”
Fail? Why would she fail? She had everything under control. Everything was fine, how could she fail, especially now? Sure, she technically lost before but...
“After all of the planning you probably did, you never once considered what you would be leaving behind if you were to fall?” Cadence walked towards Twilight slowly. “I think I should remind you then. You’d be leaving behind Your brother, who loves you very dearly, me who adores you. Celestia, who is very proud of all you have done. Now imagine when she wakes up and you’re not there anymore. She would never live it down.” Twilight started to shake slightly; tears threatened to come out, but she managed to hold them back for now. “And don’t forget about your roommates back at the castle. How would Spike deal with his big sister being gone? And Starlight? You know she cares a lot about you? Even more than what you probably think. From what little I know, she stood by you, even if she didn’t agree with you. Even when you were a bad friend.”
“stop it please, I-“
“I doubt that you haven’t heard this before, but death is part of life, sometimes we simply must let go and move on… What happened to your friends was a tragedy that has been felt by many but rest assured that they rest in peace.”
Twilight was stunned to say the least, she was utterly speechless
“I’m not going to stop you. Not that I think I could anyways. But I do hope you reconsider and think about what you could potentially be leaving behind if you go through with this.”
Twilight took a few steps back, with her wings now fully extended. She needed to go otherwise... She just needed to get out of there.
With one singular flap of her wings, she ascended at top speed and broke the shield barrier like nothing.
“So much for that.” Shining sigh. “Oh Twilight... Do you think she’ll listen?” He asked his wife, as he stood at his side.
“I don’t know. But I hope so.” She responded as she watched Twilight disappear from her vision.
After a few minutes of silence, the sound of a carriage landing caught their attention. Quickly the door opened revealing Luna, Spike and Starlight who quickly made their way towards the pair.
“Luna, Spike, Starlight. Good to see you all.” Cadence gave a small bow to them as they approached her.
“The feeling is mutual.” Luna spoke up as she searched around the perimeter. “I'm guessing we just missed her?” She said her sister’s student was nowhere to be found.
“Yes, she just left.” she said sadly as she looked behind her.
“Was she ok?” asked Spike as he went up to Candence who embraced him with her wings.
“Yes, she was... for now at least.”
“So, what’s the plan going forward?” Asked Starlight who wanted to get things moving along and couldn't stand still.
she just wanted to find Twilight and wanted to get this over with.
“The plan is to split up, since stalling failed, we need a group to go help the rest of the solar guard find Opaline before Twilight does. It will probably take a few hours to do so but we have more information on her potential whereabouts than my sister does. I say Cadence and Luna should go after Opaline, while me and Starlight go after Twilight.”
“Hey! what about me?” asked the young dragon.
“Sorry champ but you might want to sit this one out. Twilight is unstable and Opaline is very dangerous.”
Spike was about to protest but thought it over and concluded that there wasn’t much he could do really. He crossed his arms and sighed but ended up nodding in agreement.
“Speaking about Twilight being unstable...Maybe you should come with us?” Said Cadence to Shining with a nervous smile.
“What? Why?” He asked confused.
“Let’s just say you aren’t the best with words, you almost made Twilight blow a fuse for Celestia's sake!” Shining grimaced at the thought.
“B-But I-! Ugh, alright... Wait so we are just letting Starlight go in alone?” As soon as he said that all eyes were on the aforementioned. Frankly she didn't care if she went alone or not, she just wanted to go already.
“It’s fine. I can handle myself. I only need to buy you guys enough time to find and capture Opaline. It’ll be ok.” She said already casting her self-levitation spell.
Spike ran toward her before she could go and gave her a tight hug.
“Be careful, ok?” He whispered to her. She simply nodded and gave a smile before turning around and flying off towards the Badlands.
As for Luna, Cadence and Shining armor, they separated towards different directions to track down Opaline.
***
After a few minutes of flying around, she had still not found Twilight and it was Starting to scare her.
What if she had found Opaline already? What if she already went through with it? Even worse, what if she had fallen to the unknown alicorn?
To make things worse, it seemed a storm was about to hit the Badlands, an electrical storm to be exact. Like the Everfree Forest, the Pegasi did not control the weather in this territory, since it be too dangerous considering, there were still remnants of Chrysalis army that where still loyal to her. Though interestingly enough, it was dry most of the time, but of course a storm hits in the worst time possible.
She could see clouds in the distance gathering, as well as red lightning cutting through the air. To make things worse It was also becoming nighttime.
Starlight wished Luna would have ignored her duties for once. These things were really not helping ease Starlight in the slightest. It felt as if something bad was going to happened, though, logically she knew she was just paranoid over Twilight.
For the next half an hour she continued searching until she saw a cyan dot in the distance going extremely fast.
“That must be her!” She said out loud in relief. Now was the hard part, catching up with the element possessed alicorn.
Sha started to fly in the direction of her friend, quickly gaining speed, yet she was barely making any progress. So, she started Teleporting as much as she could to keep closing the gap. Even with all of this it still took about five minutes to be in shouting distance from the other. Tired of going so slow, she stopped and prepared herself for her biggest teleport jump yet. Which if she managed to pull to off, would land her right Infront of Twilight!
As she did the spell, Starlight realized her mistake as soon as she saw Twilight was an inch away from crashing into her. She forgot to take into account that she was stationary when she teleported, which meant that once she appeared in front of Twilight, she would still be stationary.
Then Twilight crashed into her. Starlight held on to Twilight who quickly recovered and saw with who she had collided.
Her eyes widened in realization but quickly Twilight regained composure as she extended her winds to slow their descent. Slowly, Twilight landed on the top of a thin but tall rock formation. Twilight let go of her gently, to Starlight’s disappointment. For a moment Twilight wanted to say something, anything but nothing came out.
Eventually Starlight spoke up.
“Twilight... I.” but really there wasn’t much to say. They had already said everything, and it was clear that Twilight was doing this no matter what. Yet she needed to buy time, but how? If only—
“I’m sorry.” Twilight simply said as she looked to the side, unable to look the other in the eye. Starlight looked at her raising a brow. A bit unexpected but she could work with this.
“Sorry about what?” She asked, though her best guess as to why she was apologizing was because of her leaving her unconscious.
“About everything really.” She said with her head slightly tilted downward while maintaining eye contact. “I-I... I haven’t been the best of friends lately and that’s probably an understatement, truly I've been simply awful. Even if I didn’t want to take advantage of our friendship, It was still wrong to pressured you into helping me do the experiments.” Starlight was about to interrupt but Twilight raised a hoof to signal she wasn’t done. “And yes I know it was your own decision, but I still was pushing you to do it. Because I knew that you’d say yes to almost anything I would ask you to do... And I truly feel awful about it.” She finished as she turned around to look at the chaotic storm that had formed, yet it still didn’t reach where they were.
“I l-I appreciate you immensely not only as my student, even if you technically graduated, but also as one of my dearest friends... I just wanted to get that off my chest before I go.” She extended her wings to fly away but Starlight stopped her.
“Wait!” ”Dammit Starlight, think! Say something.
Twilight looked back at her expectantly, but Starlight was struggling to come up with anything to stop her. So, she came up with the next best thing.
She decided to tackle her to the ground.
Quickly Starlight teleported on top of Twilight, ungraciously landing on top of her with an “oof”.
“S-Starlight, what the hay!?” she asked in bewilderment. Starlight on her part ignored the rare instance of Twilight cursing and focused on wrapping herself around the alicorn. Twilight tried to shake her off but was unsuccessful. So, she flapped her wings once and shoot up through the sky so fast that most ponies in Starlight’s place would have fallen.
But she was no ordinary pony.
She managed to stay attached to her friend and thankfully their ascent was slowing down.
“What has gotten into you!? This is childish. Now let go.” She said as she tried and failed to flick her off herself but to no avail.
“No! I’m not letting you go, you idiot! I won’t lose you and I’m not going to let go until you stop this!” She said as she tightened her hold on Twilight, who rolled her eyes.
“We’ll see about that.” Twilight said through gritted teeth and a smile that could simply be described as terrifying.
“Huh?” was the only thing she could say before Twilight started gaining speed as she headed towards the storm in the distance.
“Twilight!? Stop!” She screamed at the other as tears started to force their way out do to the high speeds they were going at. This made Starlight hold on even tighter, which only made Twilight more irritated.
Now instead of just going in one direction at top speed, she started doing barrel rolls and diving until she was near the ground, just to ascend back up at top speed and do it all over again and again.
Finally, after a few tries of this, Starlight lost her grasp on the alicorn. She quickly activated her self-levitation spell and looked up at Twilight, who gazed down at her. It had started raining as well and a flash of thunder painted their bodies red.
“That was stupid, Starlight. Just...stay out of this.” she said as she turned around and squinted. Visibility had reduced because of the rain and fog that was appearing in chunks, which didn’t help at all since she still didn’t know where Arcana was exactly. Still the Lightning was a benefit since it could light up most of the area.
“No! Like I said-Hey! Wait!” Twilight had ignored her and proceeded to start searching again at top speed. Quickly Starlight went after her and used the same trick to catch up to her but this time she did it while in motion so as not to repeat the same mistake.
She appeared beside Twilight who instinctively widened the gap between them, but Starlight teleported again and now being closer she once again grabbed her as tight as she could.
Twilight groaned in frustration and was about to do what she had done before, but Starlight Activated her self-levitation spell and now pushed back at the alicorns movement. Twilight surprised by this lost control and for a few seconds they were descending uncontrollably. Quickly with a powerful flap of her wings she negated the pressure that came from Starlight but just for only a second. Starlight pushed even harder with her magic, making them both descend at a rapid pace. Then as a last-ditch effort to regain control Twilight tried using the self-levitation spell on herself, to counter act Starlight’s but it was too late already.
Then they crashed into a rocky structure, sending them both crashing in different directions.
Dust raised from their falls, further obscuring visibility, yet Twilight did not care about that right now, her previous irritation had turned into concern once they hit the massive rock to her side. She hadn’t been the one to take the hit when they collided with the structure, it had been Starlight. If it had been her instead, she would have been fine since she possessed earth pony strength, which would have allowed her to tank the hit and even then, it would have hurt. Starlight didn’t have such a thing, which is why she was panickily looking for her.
“Twilight!” came a voice from behind which caused slight relief to flow through her body. Though she could hear the pain in the other’s voice.
Before she could turn around fully, she was tackled yet again.
“Starlight what the- Star...?” suddenly she was at a loss of words. A deep gash that ran along Starlight’s left side of her body. She was bleeding, bleeding because...
”I-I did this... I should have been more careful, I-”
“Twilight?” she looked down at her friend, who looked worried, worried about her.
Guilt plagued her body, even now, Starlight cared more about her than she did herself.
Quickly, she levitated both herself and Starlight to their hooves and guided her to the side of a rock where she could lay. Starlight winced as she sat, making Twilight even more worried. The wound wasn’t that bad, yet Twilight couldn’t help feeling guilty at having been the one to cause it.
“Twi-”
“Relax, you’re going to be ok.” Twilight quickly conjured a healing spell that rapidly regenerated any damaged tissue in a matter of minutes. The only downside to it was that it made the subject extremely tired. She’d have to leave her again, leave her alone here until she was done.
She hated how bad she felt about it.
“I’ll... I’ll be back for you just... don’t move, please.” she stood up, yet before she went on her way she kissed Starlight on the forehead, then she turned away and flapped her wing quickly ascending once more.
***
Midnight’s Fury
After a few minutes she finally felt it, the presence of the rouge Alicorn, known as Opaline or how Twilight referred to her, Arcana. The Thunderstorm had gotten worse by this stage, rain was pouring harshly against her fur and lighting strikes were occurring every few seconds or so, painting the world in red light. Yet none of that mattered she only had two thoughts on her mind. How she wanted to get this over with and Starlight.
Though Starlight took much more of her mind than she would like. She knew if she kept this up, she would ruin her relationship with the unicorn. How Starlight still cared about her was a mystery. She wanted to go back to her and just stay there with her. Then again, she had said that she would do anything to get her friends back.
Anything was beginning to weigh more and more on her mind.
She pushed it back and continued fallowing her senses, which led her towards a huge sink hole, around two times as wide as her own castle. As she got closer, she could also feel the unmistakable presences of Luna and Candance. Quickly she raced down towards the bottom, that to her surprise wasn’t as deep as she thought.
She slowly glided to the bottom, watching as Luna, Shining Armor and Cadence fought the dragon golems, who were pushing them back. She then shifted her gaze elsewhere, to the one pony she had been hunting down for weeks now.
Opaline Arcana stood behind her creatures with a smirk. She had not been doing much apart from the occasional cheap shot at her enemies. The golems were doing just fine without her. Though her expression quickly changed as she felt dread creep up in her heart. But it wasn’t just her, Luna and Cadence felt it as well, soon the Golems stopped, sensing something was off as well.
Suddenly all eyes were on Twilight as she gently landed on a rock stuck to the wall of the sink hole, that gave her a perfect view of everything. Yet her eyes were only focused on one pony.
The feeling of uneasiness persisted on the others, the mix of Twilight’s fury and the leap in raw magic reserves caused by element MC-15 was making her presence heavy on all who were there, especially the alicorns. Luna and Cadence were about to intervene—they knew what was about to happen— but were stopped by an attack that was nullified by Shining Armor’s shield spell.
The four Dragon Golems split up, three went on to keep fighting with the trio and one went towards Twilight.
The dragon shot purple flames at Twilight who quickly summoned a shield, dispersing the flames around her. Seeing this the Golem went in for a bite. Without moving, she used a levitation spell on the dragon’s head, changing its trajectory and making it slam against the sink hole’s walls behind her. As its head was stuck, Twilight shot at the core that powered the beast with an unknown spell, which provoked it too crumble.
Without wasting much time, Twilight descended and came face to face with Opaline.
“Well, well, look who came crawling back to me. And it seems there’s something new about you!” She started walking, circling Twilight as she spoke. “While you seem to be more determined than before...” She stopped pacing around her, and now stood once again where she had been. “I hope that you don’t think you can take me on, especially considering last time.”
Thunder could be heard from outside, yet no response from Twilight.
“Nothing? I guess you’re still traum—” Before she could finish Twilight shot a bolt of lightning from her horn that hit Opaline square in the chest. She recoiled back, almost falling to her side but managed to recover.
“...All right...Let’s get to it then. ” Opaline snarled at Twilight who wore a neutral expression.
Opaline used a self-levitating spell and quickly shot a burst of magical beams at Twilight who quickly summoned a shield that dispersed the energy. Straight after the shots hit the shield, Opaline teleported behind Twilight who upon hearing the unmistakable sound of teleportation behind her teleported as well, appearing to the others side and fired a concentrated beam that nearly hit Opaline, yet she manage to dodge in time.
Opaline went airborne once more and shot purple flames from her horn, mostly to obscure visibility. Then in an instant she Teleported above Twilight who noticed yet didn’t teleport, instead opting to summon a shield against the incoming flurry of attacks by Opaline.
Once Twilight saw an opening in between attacks, she timed a stunning spell that froze Opaline in the air, which gave her enough time to teleport right below her, facing the alicorn. Opaline put up a shield preemptively which didn’t affect Twilight’s plan in the slightest, that plan being forcing Opaline into aerial combat. Since Opaline lacked one of her wings and movement with the self-levitating spell was only ever mastered by one pony—that being Starlight— Twilight knew that it would make things harder for her opponent. In fact, Twilight could tell the only reason she could even pull of the spell was due to being an Alicorn, Opaline’s technique was very flawed, she could even tell when she lost focused because the aura the spell provoked would disappear for a fraction of a second.
She was just powerful, not very skilled.
Though her raw power was still nothing to scuff at. Yet Twilight was very confident, she was more skilled and thanks to MC-15 she had more magic reserves than before. However, she would never underestimate her opponents, which would make it even more difficult for Opaline to find anything to exploit.
Twilight then used the spell that would take them to the skies, which was commonly called “Burst of Wind” which as the name implies, sends a powerful shot of concentrated air and when released, sends the target flying.
Opaline, in a matter of a second, found herself just beneath the mahogany-colored clouds that spewed crimson lighting at an alarming rate. Suddenly the feeling of whiplash hit her like a truck but before she could even compose herself properly, Twilight was already on the attack, which made her pull up her shield in response.
To her dismay Twilight started to teleport everywhere, to the point where it was becoming hard to keep track of her. In a panic she started to shoot in every direction. Twilight took this opportunity to teleport beneath her once more and buck her into one of the clouds. As soon as she made contact with the clouds above, she was hit by lightning which sent her falling to the ground.
A few seconds after Twilight descended close to the rouge Alicorn, who was panting and groaning in pain.
“You are far more formidable than I initially thought... But it doesn't matter, you aren’t taking me as long as breath.” She spat, though Twilight simply offered her a sad smile.
“You know, I didn’t come here to take you in, at least not in the way you think. I came here, because you are the missing piece.” She said as she started circling her opponent. “Resurrection has been a difficult puzzle to solve, but it starts and ends with you.” She said now back to her more neutral expression.
“Resurrection? Interesting…” Opaline knew at what she was hinting at, there were studies about the practice since even her own time. Though it was theorized that by taking a soul you could trade it for another and bring the one you wished fully, it was never properly tested due to its dubious nature. No one knows if it actually works, no one even knows who even makes the trade itself. It was all a huge mystery, yet here was Twilight, so sure that it was one hundred percent true. She almost laughs at her for her insolence.
“A soul for a soul?” Opaline smirked yet Twilight remained stoic.
Twilight simply nodded.
“What a fool”
“Then, let’s get this over with.” the ground started rumbling as the three dragon golems came out of the sink hole. However, before they could even make their way towards them Twilight was once again on the attack, quickly managing to force the other off ground.
Luna, Cadence and Shining and some of the remaining solar guards got out of the Sink hole as well and they quickly raced to the other beasts before they could even attempt flight, though one did manage to escape towards the battle in the sky. As for the other two Golems that stayed on ground level, they were already weak due to the fight down at the sink hole. Luna and Cadence quickly surrounded the creature and started firing volley after volley of attacks until it could no longer support itself properly. Then both princesses proceeded to take out the core from the fallen beast and quickly destroyed it.
Suddenly their attention was grabbed by the ongoing fight above them, Twilight was managing to fight off both Opaline and the Dragon Golem, though she was struggling to get proper hits on either of them.
Luna and Cadence decided to follow the remaining golem and assist Twilight. Before they went off, Cadence told Shining Armor to wait for them down there and to watch the perimeter for any more of those beasts.
***
Starlight was livid. She was fighting drowsiness from the spell Twilight had cast on her which she was appreciative of. What she was not appreciative of was that Twilight, seemingly by accident, put too much into it, basically leaving her looking like a drunken oaf, roaming around to seemingly nowhere.
But she did have somewhere to be. She could see it from where she was now. The light show that Twilight and the other Alicorn that she couldn't remember the name of was where she needed to be. She had to be there.
Without the use of her magic mind you, Starlight would probably crash the second her hooves left the ground or get stuck somewhere if she used her teleportation spell.
She wanted to buck Twilight in the face right now. At the same time, her mind kept wondering back to the kiss she had given her back there. Though she would rather stay mad right about now, so she definitely pushed the thought to the back of her mind.
“Why is it so hot out here, it's literally raining and I’m wet…! No, that’s not-”
She continued her way through the treacherous terrain, now muddied due to the rain which made it almost impossible to not fall on your face, which definitely didn’t happen to Starlight a few times, and she definitely wasn't almost fully covered in mud.
At least after a while the water got rid of a large portion of it.
A few minutes went by, and she was feeling a bit more like herself again, so she tried using her most practiced spell, self-levitation. She was a bit wobbly still, even in the air, but she had much better control than earlier.
Now a bit more confident that she wouldn’t crash face first into mud, she quickened her flight, inching closer and closer to where her former mentor was.
Ten Minutes later...
Starlight made it, well technically anyways, she was on ground level as of now. She had seen Shining Amor and the Solar Guards in the distance, so she decided to head there first.
“Starlight? What happened you? We were worried that Twilight-”
“She would never. Trust me.” She said as she looked at the sky, both Alicorns were going at it, Twilight having the edge over the other. As for Luna and Cadence, they stood close to the battle, finding getting involved to be too dangerous. “I would go up there, but at this point I think she has made up her mind...” Starlight said with a sad smile as she looked on as her friends kept attacking the other. Maybe things wouldn’t be as bad as she thought, it didn’t look like Twilight would die, which was one of her many fears. Her other biggest fear was that she would lose herself and give up all that made her her just to go through with it... but so far, she hadn’t seen much of a change.
Sure, she was a bit more stoic now than before, but it had been a result of what had happened to her friends, not killing Opaline, since it hadn’t happened yet. Though it still could happen after the fact, and if it did, she would be there for her.
“I think she has, hopefully she comes to her senses... I know it’s hard for her to lose her friends like that, but it’s how things go sometimes.” Shinning said solemnly. “She knows this isn’t right, Opaline needs to face justice, not her twisted version of it.”
Starlight simply nodded in agreement.
***
Opaline had never been this outmatched.
Twilight was completely outsmarting her, countering every move, every spell. Not to mention there was no more relying on her pets anymore. The other two had already destroyed two of the three that had remained, and the last one was discarded quickly by the two other Alicorns. Worst of all she couldn’t even mess with her head, let alone even attempt to speak.
Twilight Sparkle was unrelenting.
This made Opaline terrified, she had been confident before, that even if she were to lose their encounter, she could still escape but it looked like that wasn’t going to be the case.
Then she felt a buck straight to her face, once again launching her straight to one of the many electrified clouds for perhaps the seventh time.
Then she knew it was over.
Opaline hit the ground so hard that any other pony would have died straight on impact, she almost wished that was the case.
“Ugh...” She pathetically let out as she tried to get to her feet, just two seconds later she crumbled right then and there. She looked up to her side and saw Twilight standing over her. She gasped in terror as she had not even heard the other land. Opaline tried to scurry away, but Twilight stomped on her tale before she could get further.
Maybe now was her chance to use her words.
“Wait! You can’t! In fact I know that-” Before she could finish Twilight cast a spell and she felt... almost as if she was flying? And also, nauseous, very nauseous.
She was extracting her soul.
She fought back as hard as she could but couldn’t do much of anything, her magic reserves were depleted, she was fiscally exhausted, and her mental was a mess. Before her soul could get ripped out of her, the other two alicorns tried to intervene.
“Twilight! Stop this at once!” called out Luna, who stood beside Cadence.
Twilight quickly put up a shield that encased Opaline and herself, it wouldn’t hold for long if the others tried breaking it down, but it should give her enough time to finish the spell.
“Twilight!” called out Starlight as she got closer to the shield. Twilight's eyes widened; her first thought was how did she even make it over here?
”She should still be unconscious!” she thought as she watched her from inside the shield.
She looked back at the other alicorn, who had paled considerably since she had started the process of snatching her soul, her eyes had sunken, and she was barely breathing.
Could she actually go through with this?
But she had gone through all of this trouble, she couldn’t just stop here. Yet Opaline was withering away, and she could barely take it, watching someone die. Especially by her hand.
But what about her friends? If she didn’t do this, they'd be gone forever! Would they even want to come back? Would this even work as she intended? Was it fair to only bring them back? Was it responsible to take Opalines life? Especially now as she lay on the floor helplessly and in pain.
She couldn’t do it.
It hurt so much. Twilight fell to the ground with a sob, stopping the soul snatching spell and taking down the shield. Opaline regained her colors and looked better than she had a few moments ago, yet she had been zapped out of energy, causing her to pass out.
Quickly she was apprehended by the Solar Guards, while Starlight, Luna, Cadence and Shining Armor went straight to Twilight. Starlight quickly embraced Twilight in a bone crushing embrace that was reciprocated quickly.
“It’s ok. I’m here Twi, everything is going to be fine.” She whispered into Twilight’s ear as she cried.
To be Continued
Author's Note
Yeah I kinda lied, IDK if I'll continue this but the possibility is pretty big that I do. Kinda depends on how this does. Also this was a bit longer, about 800 words more but I scrapped the original ending and might use that for the beginning of the potential sequel.
Also I have no idea if this is good or not, I kind of just came up with it while i was listening to music, there is a lot more that I could explore with this concept but I’m just not confident if it’s even worth it lol. Hope you enjoy it anyways.
