The Monument to All Your Sins.

Starlight was sitting in her old student counseling office, due to the faint rain outside the room was bathed in a gray light, staring at her desk, which was full of half drafted documents, the mare was lost in her thoughts, going over the steps to follow over and over again, while with her magic she absentmindedly levitated a pen soaked in ink.

Suddenly a memory burst in, projecting itself in her mind vividly and intensely, to her mind came the image of Sunburst's face in her last moments, he bright blue eyes losing their luster little by little as the colossal spear pierced her body.
The unicorn dropped onto her desk, the quill fell to the floor in silence as the slight impact of her face against the wood caused a thud, she placed her hooves on her head, covering herself and letting a few tears fall onto the papers, choking back a sob, staying like that for a long moment.
Suddenly the sound of someone knocking on the door caused the mare to stand up abruptly, a couple of papers stuck to her face falling at the second, by the time Starlight wiped her tears and looked up to see in the direction of her door, she found Trixie's face, peeking out slightly.

“Starlight....Can I come in?”

“Trixie? Yeah, yeah sure, go ahead...”

The blue unicorn entered cautiously, closing the door behind her and walking quietly until she sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

“What do you need Trixie?” she said as she quickly arranged the papers on her desk.

“Well...” began Trixie, hesitating for a moment ”The students are a bit restless...many still don't understand why they have to go home and, well...most assume it's because something bad happened to Twilight and the others...”

“Well, they're not entirely wrong...” Starlight realized how insensitive she sounded, looking up and noticing Trixie's confused look “Sorry Trixie...I'm just still digesting this....”

“Don't worry Starlight, you're not the only one....” Trixie replied, quickly recovering and giving her friend a small smile, but her smile quickly disappeared, putting on a serious expression, clearing her throat before continuing “Starlight ahem...you know the great and powerful Trixie would never question your amazing management and strategy skills, but I would be lying to you if I told you I didn't share some of the students concern, you Are you really sure you want to do this?”

Starlight found herself somewhat surprised at her friend's newfound doubts, still she didn't judge her, Trixie had proven to be reluctant for what she respected to do anything about her current situation, opting for a passive and low key attitude, perhaps thinking that they had already done their part, unfortunately for her, in Starlight's eyes, this was just beginning.

“Trixie, I understand you have concerns, but you can't expect me to stand on my hooves, even more so if the evil we saw in that horrible past is still going on today...”

“But why don't we let Twilight and her friends take over? They have more experience than we do at this saving the world thing...” Trixie said, in a fleeting moment of courage to confront Starlight.

“That's just the problem Trixie, this isn't like the previous times at all” Starlight replied curtly, refocusing on the documents in front of her.

“Yeah but...wouldn't that be a bigger reason to keep us out of it? I mean, if it really is that bad, the best thing would be...”

“The best thing would be what!” Starlight exclaimed tapping the desk loudly with her hoof.

Trixie was startled at the sudden outburst, Starlight's patience had reached its limit and her look went from calm to anger in a second.

“Would it be best to just stand still like imbeciles!!! Pretend absolutely nothing has happened!!! Sure, let's do that, let's live happily and quietly until the bitch who controls the sun decides we have become a threat to her millennial empire!!!!! Please Trixie even you are not that naive!” Starlight began to gasp catching her breath, realizing her unnecessary waste of blind rage, she was about to apologize when she was interrupted by Trixie, who, to her surprise, spoke calmly and solemnly.

“Starlight, I know you are saddened by Sunburst's death, we all are, and I understand that you feel you must do something about it, I know you, you are like that...you don't like to feel powerless...but to start a cold war with the regents of Equestria, who for all we know now may be the greatest and most powerful beings to ever walk this earth, and on top of that without consulting Princess Twilight...sounds very reckless...”

“Trixie...” replied Starlight after a moment ”I know you think that because of my mourning I am in no condition, but I can assure you that I have never in my life been so sure of anything, nor more prepared, you need not worry, Twilight will be informed in due time, but for now, we must remain with our heads down, quietly preparing ourselves...”

“Yes but...Starlight, preparing for what...?” Trixie didn't hide her concern, nor did she hide her discontent, but she couldn't argue against Starlight's spite, she knew there was nothing in this world that could do it anyway.

Starlight simply lowered her gaze and didn't respond.
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“..So, due to the recent disappearance of friendship princess Twilight Sparkle, along with that of the other elements of harmony, I have decided to temporarily close the friendship school...!”

Starlight was saying in a firm voice to the students gathered in the main hallway, the unicorn was standing on a small dais while using a spell to make her voice perfectly audible throughout the large room, while Trixie and Maud were standing on either side of her and Spike a little further back, all the students shared looks of confusion as they muttered.

“But counselor Starlight...” said one of the closest students ”How long will the school be closed?”

“Unfortunately Princesses Luna and ....Celestia...” began Starlight feeling a lump in her throat at having to utter those names ”They have given us no information about the possible whereabouts of Twilight or her friends, nor have they been very forthcoming about whether their disappearance is related to the coronation ceremony bombing, so I am very sorry but until we receive proper answers and assurance about anything, the school will remain closed indefinitely, I recommend that you pack up and prepare to go home, that's all...”

The students watched Starlight descend from the small dais before disappearing with her magic in an instant, walking away down the hallway accompanied by Trixie, Maud and Spike, still muttering but beginning to retreat to their rooms, all except for a peculiar group of six, all of whom were not entirely happy with the unicorn's speech.

“Counselor Starlight wait!” shouted Silverstream as she stepped forward and landed in front blocking the way ”You can't close the school!”

Starlight was a bit surprised when the hippogriff landed in front of her, taking her a moment to respond.

“Silverstream I'm sorry but it's not safe for the school to stay open..”

“But why not?” asked another voice ‘Yona understand that school sad because we lost teachers, but that no reason not to continue learning friendship...’ the young yak was followed by the rest of young six who joined the barrier Silverstream created.

“Silverstream is right!” exclaimed Galus ”You can't close the school, we have already had classes when the teachers and the principal are not present, there is no reason not to do it this time no? Besides, some of us really aren't too keen on going home...”

“I'm sorry guys seriously but there is no discussion in this matter...” started Starlight calmly but was interrupted with more questioning.

“Did something bad happen to the headmistress and the teachers?” asked Smolder without much decorum ” Is that the reason?!”

“O holy hive...” said Ocelus upset.

“If that is the reason you have to tell us what counselor, if there is a problem we can help solve it” said Sandbar also concerned.

At this Starlight didn't know what to answer for a moment, stuttering a bit at the boys seemingly incredible powers of deduction.

“Starlight said we haven't received any information and therefore that is so...” said Maud, to everyone's surprise ”Starlight is as worried as you are, she is doing her best to keep calm and make the hard decisions, I suggest you trust her and stop asking questions...”

As always the mare's tone was forceful as the young men slowed their assault, but on their faces the uncertainty was obvious.

“Could you at least please tell us if everything will be all right?” Sandbar asked hesitantly.

“Everything will be fine...” said Starlight finally, forcing a smile and a calm expression ”I promise you it will be...”

There were no further explanations, Starlight and company resumed their mark, leaving aside the boys who could only watch as they walked away.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Alright, I guess I'll have to be the one to say that this is by far the strangest thing that has ever happened in this place...” said Smolder as they all walked in the direction of their dorms.

“Yona will agree, this not being like other times, Starlight counselor decision seem much more...”

“Permanent...?” Said Silverstream “Yes...I can't remember a single day when I've seen her talk like today, not even on her bad days...”

“Everything has been very strange since what happened at Princess Twilight's coronation, ever since that...crazy unicorn attacked everyone...” said Galus with a serious countenance.

“Maybe Princess Twilight and the teachers are hiding since they haven't caught that pony yet, maybe she threatened them all and is looking for them to do horrible things to them...” Ocelus let out a squeal of fear as he cowered.

“Wow wow, calm down...” began Snadbar ”There's no need to get carried away with the worst possible situation, hey I know this is out of any regulations we're used to but, well, you heard the counselor, everything will be fine...”

Everyone stared at the pony with disbelieving and somewhat mocking looks, until Smolder exclaimed.

“Oh please, even you don't believe what you just said!”

At this, Sandbar frowned, blushing slightly before resuming his speech.

“Well yeah, I might not be entirely sure, more so when it was said in such an unreliable tone but, think about it for a second, if Princess Twilight and the elements of harmony were in real danger don't you think Princesses Celestia and Luna had already reported about it? I mean, they are the greatest heroines in all of Equestria, if something happened to her it couldn't just go unnoticed...right?” It seemed as if the young colt was trying to convince himself with every word, even so, he did his best to transmit security to his friends who only continued to look at him, only now with expressions of uncertainty and concern before the new idea that had just been proposed to them.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After making sure every last student left the premises, Starlight ended up exhausted, even with the help of her friends it took a ridiculous amount of time to get the job done, not to mention all the apology letters to parents and guardians.
Now the unicorn walked through the silent and huge corridors of the empty school as the sun finished setting on the horizon giving way to the starry night.

The mare wandered back and forth, alone with her thoughts as a huge feeling of guilt and sadness filled her and made her shudder, remembering Sunburst, if only she hadn't been so arrogant, if only she had been more prepared.
She shook her head pushing those thoughts away, stopping in front of one of the huge windows on the outside facade of the school, she was not to let herself mourn, she had a more important job now, and this time, she would make sure she was prepared.

Suddenly she felt a hoof on her shoulder which made her startle, turning quickly only to find a completely unfamiliar pony standing in front of her, at least in appearance.

“Oh, I'm so sorry Starlight, I didn't mean to startle you...” said a familiar voice, the stallion in front of the mare was tall, lean, lime green coat and a bright vermillion mane, his cutie mark was a honeycomb of bees.

“No worries...thanks for coming so quickly...” said Starlight recovering from the scare.

“No problem but, well not to be rude but in your letter you mentioned absolutely nothing about him because you needed to see me so urgently...I also found it strange that you asked me to come without anyone knowing what exactly is going on?”

Starlight then changed to a serious countenance, looking over her shoulder at the bright moon in the sky before turning again.

“Follow me...”

They both walked down the halls in silence until they reached Starlight's office, upon arrival the mare closed the curtains and lit a single candle to illuminate the room, sitting down in one of the armchairs in the room and indicating to the stallion to sit in the other, once they were both in place the stallion finally let out all of his concerns.

“Starlight is everything all right? I'm starting to get worried...”

“Well, answering that question may be a little more complicated than you think..” said Starlight letting out a sigh ”I mean right now everything is technically fine, but it's possible that in a very short time everything will go to hell...”

“Starlight, please speak up...”

“Yeah, sorry, it's just, I've been trying to rehearse a way to make this conversation as concise and clear as possible but...well, I still can't come up with something convincing enough...”

“Maybe I can help you, let's just start with the basics...” began the pony noticing the nervousness in the mare's words ”Tell me why did you need to see me?”

“I need your help...” she answered quickly.

“Okay, help with what?”

Starlight fell silent, the pony sensing the tension slowly rising let out an uncomfortable chuckle eh nintendo relaxed with an eloquent comment.

“Well that's a record, with you there is usually silence until question number five...”

“I'm sorry...” Starlight began “It's just...it's all kind of...complicated...”

“Well, we're friends, I promise I'll do my best to understand, whatever it is...”

Starlight let out a sigh, taking a deep breath before closing her eyes and gathering her courage to begin.

“I need...you to lend me your services, yours and your people's...”

The pony definitely expected anything but that.

“Okay...wow, well, that's certainly an unusual request, one that you'll well understand I'll need you to clarify further...most of all the 'services' part...what exactly do you mean?”

Once again the mare did not respond, but this time the pony cleared his throat by way of encouragement, as he was now more intrigued and concerned.

“Well...I, I mean...it's just...” Starlight let out another sigh “I need them to spy on the princesses...”

“What?” the stallion asked almost, almost believing he had misheard.

“What you heard...” Starlight lowered her head, not having the courage to look her guest in the eye.

“I hope you don't think I'm going to settle for just that or do you...?”

“I told you, it's complicated...”

“Well I hope you make it less complicated because right now I don't like the way you're putting it to me at all” the stallion frowned.

“It's just that you don't understand, it's necessary, for everyone's sake...”

The stallion arched an eyebrow and gave her a look that bordered on distrust.

“Starlight...”

“I know....listen to me, I know it will sound crazy to you, but Equestria and all the other kingdoms of this world, are in danger beyond anything ever seen, and the ones responsible for that latent danger are Celestia and Luna, or at least Celestia...”

“And this is when you say something to keep me from leaving...”

“I don't have to tell you anything, I can show you” Starlight rudely interrupted.

The stallion looked even more confused at the mare who began to light her horn, holding a faint glow, and in an instant Starlight's memories were projected in front of her, it wasn't a very long journey as the unicorn knew exactly what memories to show, still, for the pony it felt like a slow motion ride, the brutality of the images in front of him sent a shiver down his spine, as did the voice from beyond the grave of the fire maned alicorn, more so when Sunburst's agony in her last moments was projected he could feel his very resilient insides churn and turn inside him.

By the time Starlight's magic faded and the projection disappeared leaving a halo of blue-green dust, the stallion was glued to his seat, pressing his hooves firmly against the plush couch, his expression a mixture of disgust and the look of disbelief Starlight had grown accustomed to by now.

“Starlight...what is this?”

“I told you, it's what we're up against now, there's no more, they know we know and we're all in danger...”

“And you want me and my people....”

“Be our eyes and ears inside Canterlot castle, we need a head start on them, we need to start preparing for what's coming...”

“Starlight...” at that moment the stallion glowed, a flash of blue covered his entire body and suddenly a more imposing figure took his place, tall and with huge horns, large fully purple eyes rested on the mare and a pitiful sigh came before he continued ”If all this is true, do you have ide of what thing you are asking me to do?”

Starlight didn't understand the question, but before she could reply Thorax continued.

“You are asking me to put my subjects in mortal danger and not only that, but you want us to resume the practices that earned us the hatred of the ponies of old, the deceit, the lying, the manipulation...”

“But, it's for a good cause, it's for the welfare of all...”

“To me it seems like a way to shake the hornet's nest, and in my experience I can tell you that that is never good, if what you want is to prepare yourself I can provide help in any other way, maybe with groceries or a shelter in case...”

“NO!” the mare suddenly exclaimed suddenly over jumping the changeling ”That's not good enough, I need them there, I need to know everything she knows, I need to know so I can be prepared...!”

Thorax could see tears begin to stream down the unicorn's face, as well as a deep resentment in her gaze, deciding to try a more personal approach.

“Starlight...we are friends, and I to you I owe a lot, if it wasn't for you neither I nor my people would be what we are now, you showed us that there was another path away from violence and anger, so, I can't help but notice that there is something behind this facade of a defender of what is right, rather, I can feel it, I taste the rancor emanating from your essence....” Thorax paused, tasting the bitter emotion in his mouth, it was like chewing on brimstone, an experience sadly familiar to him “I know I would do anything for you, damned if I ever don't hold out my hoof to those who need it, but my hive is the most important thing, the survival of my people, if I am going to put them at risk I need to know the reason, the real reason...”

“I...I already told you, I want to be prepared...”

“Ready for what Starlight?”

The mare ducked her head and assessed herself, she pondered whether it was wise to share her thoughts with in changeling, those thoughts that had kept her awake for nights on end and tormented her, finally, she decided not to stop, to be honest.

“Since Sunburst's death it's as if a ball has been forming inside me, it clings to my insides and takes over my thoughts, I thought I knew the feeling, but now, not even all the stars in the sky, even if they were multiplied a million times and that million were added by the total amount of space in the universe, surpass the pure hatred I feel for Celestia.... I could see it perfectly, the golden spear that pierced my friend's chest, as tall as an apple tree, and adorned with the figure of the sun...” Starlight could see how Thorax sat beside her and comforted her with an embrace as she vented “There is no forgiveness for this, not in my heart and yet...I fight with all my might against that feeling, I believed that, if I gave in, if I accepted it, I would be no better than them, consumed by violence and the whims of their emotions.... for a moment I came to think that visiting that forgotten and rotten time had changed me, but no, that's me, spiteful and vengeful...I want revenge, I want to see her fall and writhe in the remains of her perfect lie and then I.... ”

At the pause Thorax dared to speak.

“But I thought you said you wanted to do it for the good of all Equestria...”

“That's not quite true...yes it may be that your defeat will benefit everyone but, that doesn't matter to me, I just...” Starlight gritted her teeth.

“It's okay, you can tell me.... I promise I won't judge you.”

“I...I want to be watching, when the weight of her shit makes her kneel and beg, and when everyone has finally had enough of hearing her screams, going home, I want to walk up to her stepping in her fucking blood, sit next to her and then, and only then...pour my disgust and hatred on her, bit by bit, like burning acid, until, finally....she dies, I want her dead...” Starlight felt a huge weight released from within her, at last she had admitted it.

Thorax was left speechless by the insidious revelation, still, he didn't react, he held back, he had made a promise to his hurt friend.

“Well, I'm not going to say I'm not surprised coming from you Starlight, but I think...if anyone can understand, it's me...”

Starlight turned quizzically, finally looking at her friend.

“I mean, my people harvested love from ponies and I know the vast majority of ponies know that but...only we know what that actually entailed..... taking someone's love by force is not just about sentiment, it is a feeding process and like any predator that consumes its prey it involves harm to the prey, in this case it is harm that goes beyond the physical, cutting out the souls and hearts of our prey, consuming part by part until there was nothing left...I know what it is like to cause pain and agony...”

“But it's different, yours did it to survive, love was their livelihood, this I feel is a mere sick whim...born of my selfishness, something I promised myself I would never allow again...I don't want to fail Twilight, she taught me to forgive and forget, but I...”

“Starlight...” Thorax thought for a second, he considered his options, trying to assimilate the scale of what he now had between his hooves, he couldn't just back out, but he wasn't sure if he would put the lives of his changelings at stake “I...I will help you.... the best I can, but I think, before you make any drastic decisions, you should reconsider why you want to do this, because, doing it from pure hatred, will not lead to anything good.”

“Thank you Thorax...” said Starlight finally.

The two stood in silent embrace for a long moment, until they finally separated, Thorax walked to the office window, followed closely by Starlight who used her magic to open the curtains and subsequently the window itself.

“Me, I'll go back to the hive, tell them about this and look for volunteers...”

“Be very careful, we don't know what will happen if they find out what we are planning...”

“Don't worry, if there's one thing we're good at it's keeping secrets” At that moment Thorax turned into a pegasus with brown fur and yellow mane, landing on the window and preparing to take flight ‘See you Starlight’ he said dedicating a smile before leaving.

The unicorn could only watch him walk away, getting lost in the distance, inevitably refocusing her sight on the moon, before closing the window she muttered something between her teeth.

“You better be on our side Luna....”