My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic — Season Ten

Chapters

Ashes to Ashes (Part 1)
Ashes to Ashes (Part 2)
Advice by Twilight
Dawn of the Dread
The Stroke of Midnight
Eve of Despair
Dust to Dust

Ashes to Ashes (Part 1)

Danger Dash, a yellow unicorn mare with long orange hair and wearing an adventurer's outfit, dropped down into a large cavern. The rope in which she descended hung just above her head. Dash looked around the dark environment to see a whole lot of wet stone and moss. At the far end of the room, she spotted a wide tunnel that led further in.

"Bingo," she said with a proud smile as she trotted forward, the sound of her hooves against stone echoing off the walls.

She stopped at the entrance and lit up her horn, the light illuminating more mossy stone. She looked around the edge of the tunnel to find a strange writing. She gasped with glee and leaned in for a closer look.

"Ancient Lumerian," she said in awe. "It is here." She examined the writing and found where it began. "To those who enter here, a most treacherous fate will befall you." Dash scoffed. "Come on. I've dealt with plenty of traps before."

She moved into the tunnel and stopped when her horn lit up a long row of stone tiles with a Lumerian letter carved into each one. Danger looked around for a clue as to what she needs to spell out. The layout was five tiles across and looked to be seven long. A couple of large tiles were gone, implying another tried and failed. Her eyes scanned the remaining tiles in the first row.

"U. P. H. And... C." She looked at the next row. "O, W, T, R, and G. Well, the first one I can test," she said as she walked over to the C and placed one hoof on it. "Nothing, huh?" She asked as she stepped on fully. "Alright. First letter is C. So..."

Her eyes fell on the farthest tile, which was O, and then one diagonal from her which was R. She shrugged and stepped on the R. Safe. She fully committed and jumped onto the tile.

"C-R."

The next row had I, L, T, W, and F. Danger took a running jump and landed on the I tile, sliding into the wall with a grunt.

"C-R-I?" Danger asked as she looked at the next four rows. "Crimson." She jumped to the next three tiles with relative ease. When she landed on the O tile, she saw the N at the other side. "Oh, boy. That's a jump." She tapped on a T tile next to her to see it crumble into a dark pit.

She backed up and did another running jump. Her hooves landed on the wrong tile and she kicked off as it crumbled. She fell through but managed to get her forelegs on the correct tile. Her hind legs dangled over the pit as she tried to pull herself up. With a few grunts of effort, she managed to swing her hind legs up and onto the safe floor before she pulled herself up. She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.

"That was close."

She got up and looked down the tunnel. The walls were covered in what appeared to be ash. Danger moved forward and came to a doorway with a carved message. She wiped away some of the ash and read it aloud.

"Speak her name?"

Dash looked back and then at the ash. "Crimson Ash?"

There was a loud clank as the door slid up to reveal another long tunnel. At the end, she could see a floating red crystal over a stone pedestal. She took a step forward into the room when a large, pendulum blade swung past her face, making her fall backwards. More and more blades began to swing down the tunnel.

“Okay,” she said as fire shot out from the sides at regular intervals. “You got this.”

Danger ran forward and dove past a blade before sliding under a spinning saw blade. She had to jump to the side to avoid being burned before she jumped over a blade in the floor. After expertly dodging three more, she jumped past the last one and landed by the artifact.

“Yes! In your face!” She shouted triumphantly at the taps. Safe then turned to the red crystal and moved in closer. “It’s amazing.”

She picked it up in her forelegs and looked it over. It looked like it had a black smoke cloud inside. Danger put it in her pack and turned around to face the traps again.

“Alright… Here we go again…”

Danger climbed up the rope and found herself back in the main cave. As she left the darkness and stepped out into the light, she had to shield her eyes.

When her vision returned, she saw a group of stallions surrounding the mouth of cave. Danger took a step back before they turned a circle around her.

One brown unicorn stallion stepped forward. “Thank you for retrieving the crystal for us. Now, if you’d be so kind as to hand it over.

Danger Dash looked around at the other unicorns. “Did you put a tracker on me?!”

The leader chuckled. “Of course. Now hand it over!”

Danger sighed and pulled her pack off before tossing it. The stallion caught it with his magic and levitated the crystal out. His eyes lit up as he dropped the pack.

“There she is,” he said in awe, before he raised it and smashed it on the rocky floor.

“Hey!” Danger yelled angrily. “I worked hard for…”

She trailed off as a black smoke came out of the broken crystal. It swirled around before them before it began to form into an alicorn. The body became red as the smoke became the mane and tail. Her yellow eyes shot open as she let out a loud yell.

“Finally!” She exclaimed, making Danger yep and fall backwards.

She scooted backwards as the lead stallion approached the alicorn. “Crimson Ash,” he greeted. “My name is Doctor Shard. It is an honor to meet you.”

“The honor is all yours,” Crimson sighed. “What year is it?”

“2052,” the doctor answered.

“So, it has been a while.”

“I-I would just like to say, Miss Ash, that we are willing to pledge ourselves to you.”

The red alicorn glanced at him with a confused expression on her face. “Who are you?”

“Um… Doctor Shard?”

“Huh. Well, Doctor Shard… even though I would normally welcome anypony under my command… I have simply been asleep for far too long… and I require energy.”

“W-Well, we can find you energy.”

“This is easier.” Crimson lit up her horn and blasted the stallion with magic which caused him to burst into smoke. Crimson sighed as the smoke merged with her mane. “Better. But I need more.”

Danger scrambled to her hooves and pushed past a couple stunned unicorns as they watched the alicorn vaporize another. When Danger looked back, she saw some of the stallions were attempting to fight the alicorn while others tried to run. It was no use. Crimson simply blocked the attackers and used her magic to vaporize the runners first.

Danger looked forward just as she ran through a bush and tripped on a root. She tumbled down a hill and landed at the bottom with a grunt of pain.

Crimson trotted past a few piles of dark red ash as she looked around with a sigh. “Well, that was boring. I could’ve sworn there was somepony else here.”

She simply shrugged and unfurled her wings before she took off into the air like a rocket, leaving a trail of black smoke behind her.

On the beach of the ocean town Silver Shoals, two alicorns rested on beach chairs while basking in the sunlight. The white alicorn simply had her eyes closed while the dark blue alicorn wore tinted sunglasses.

“Almost time for our yearly visit back to Ponyville, sister,” Luna said with a smile.

Celestia smiled. “Twilight’s been handling things pretty well, hasn’t she?”

“Yes. I admit, I was worried at first. But she certainly has proven herself.”

They suddenly heard a commotion and sat up to see a yellow unicorn mare running across the beach towards them.

“Isn’t that… Daring Do’s daughter?” Celestia asked.

Luna shifted her shades so she could see over them. “Yes, it is. And she looks rather worried.”

“Celestia! Luna!” Danger exclaimed as she skidded to a stop by their chairs.

“What’s wrong, Jewel?” Asked Celestia with a concerned look on her face.

“What do you know about… Crimson Ash?”

Both ex-princesses went wide-eyed and looked at each other with worry.

The doors to Canterlot Castle’s throne room closed as the ruler of Equestria let out a sigh of relief.

“That was a lot of meetings,” the purple alicorn muttered.

The purple bipedal dragon beside her approached her throne. “You did good, Twilight.”

The alicorn giggled. “I did well. And, thank you, Spike. I can’t believe it’s been 40 years since I took over.”

“I know what you mean. Feels like only yesterday we were battling Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, and Tirek.”

“Well, not much has changed since then. My friends got older and we passed the Elements to Smolder and the others. The kirin have integrated back into society. And there’s been peace ever since. What could possibly go wrong now?”

Before Spike could reply, he burped out a letter and caught it. He eyed Twilight, who just stared at him. Both had a bad feeling about this letter. Spike cleared his throat and unrolled the scroll.

“Twilight. Trouble is coming. Her name is Crimson Ash. If you still have that book I gave you, give it a read. We will arrive shortly start we finish up here.” He then looked at Twilight.

“Celestia?” Spike nodded. “Do you know which book she’s referring to?”

“I think so,” Spike said as he took off running for the castle library.

Spike soon returned with the book and Twilight levitated it in front of her. She flipped though the pages, noting it seemed to be a journal written by a variety of ponies. She found an article written about Crimson Ash.

“Is this real?” Twilight asked when there was a flash of light near the doors. She looked up to see Celestia, Luna, and a yellow unicorn she didn’t recognize.

“Oh, you found the book,” Celestia said as the trio trotted down the carpet towards the thrones.

“Is this real? Crimson Ash can vaporize ponies?”

“She turns them into smoke and absorbs their essence, becoming even stronger.”

“What happens to the pony she absorbs?”

“I’m afraid there’s no way to help them. Which is why it is of utmost importance that we deal with her quickly.”

Crimson Ash landed with a thud outside a small town tucked between two small mountain ranges. "Ah, Cirrostrata," Crimson sighed as she moved forward. "It has been a while."

She lit up her horn as she cast an invisible aura around her, making all the ponies see her as a yellow unicorn with long red hair. She trotted through the town until she came upon a newspaper stand. She trotted up to it and glanced at the front page news.

"Over 30 Years of peace," Crimson read aloud.

The gruff stallion behind the counter chuckled. "Oh, yeah. Princess Twilight sure turned things around. With the help of the former princesses, of course."

Crimson eyed him. "Come again? Former princesses?"

"Yeah. Where have you been? Under a rock, or something?"

"Or something." Crimson slowly leaned in and placed her hooves on the table. "What... happened?"

The stallion took a step back, clearly intimidated. "Around thirty years ago, Celestia and Luna turned over Equestria to Twilight Sparkle."

"Why would they do that? Did this... Twilight Sparkle do something worthy of being ruler?"

"I'd say. I wasn't there, myself, but I heard she took on Lord Tirek, Queen Chrysalis, and a filly named Cozy Glow, turning them to stone. Because of this, peace was restored to Equestira and she became princess."

Crimson stared at him, before a smirk spread across her face. "Thank you for the information."

Luster Dawn stood in Ponyville as she watched a dark-colored hippogriff in the distance. She let out a sigh and was about to move forward when Twilight appeared in front of her. Luster yelled loudly and stumbled backwards as all the ponies in the area stopped and looked. A small commotion started up when they saw the princess in town.

Twilight waved at everyone before she leaned in close. "Meet me by the old crystal castle," she said, before she teleported away.

Luster smiled nervously at the other ponies before she slowly slipped away to go see what the princess wanted.

Twilight stood before the abandoned crystal castle, her mane blowing in the wind. Luster came down the walkway and saw her mentor. "I'm here," Luster announced as she trotted closer. "What's going on?"

"Before that," Twilight said before she turned to face her student. "what about you? How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine, thanks."

"How are your friends?"

"I wouldn't all them friends yet. More like... acquaintances."

"Oh. What's wrong?"

Luster sighed loudly. "I don't know. I just can't seem to connect with them, you know? Shade seems distant. Brutus is too... crazy. Moss Glow and Sundial seem... okay, I guess."

"That's only five..." muttered Twilight.

"Come again?"

"Oh. Nothing. Let's not worry about that now. The current threat is Crimson Ash. I'm sure you came across her in magic studies?"

"Briefly. I've heard that name mentioned as one of the most powerful alicorns to ever exist. Is she back?"

"Yes. Unfortunately. And I fear our thirty years of peace is about to end."

Crimson landed in The Prairies just outside Canterlot and Ponyville where the statue she sought rested. "Well well well. Queen Chrysalis and Lord Tirek," she cooed. "And the small one. I know you can hear me in there," she said as she tapped the statue. "I can free you from there, of course, but I demand your unwavering loyalty. The three of us... and the... filly... will show the ponies of this land what true fear is. We shall worm our way inside their minds and turn them on each other in ways they could never imagine. And just when their hope is withered down to a speck, we shall shatter it beneath our hooves."

She lit up her horn and the stone began to crack. The statue suddenly exploded as the three villains collapsed to the ground. They let out a groan as the filly sat up first.

"Um, did you say something?" Cozy asked. "Sorry, it was kinda muffled in there."

Crimson stared at her as her eye twitched.

TO BE CONTINUED

Ashes to Ashes (Part 2)

"So..." Chrysalis began. "You want to take a shot at overthrowing the princess? A tactic we all tried and failed?"

"Yes," Crimson cooed.

"How? When they have Discord on their side?"

"Discord is susceptible to my magic just like everyone else is. He won't be a problem."

"And what makes you so confident, huh?! What makes you think you can succeed where we have failed?!"

Tirek and Cozy Glow stood nearby and watched. "Should we... stop her?" Tirek asked.

Cozy shook her head. "Nope. I don't wanna get on that alicorn's bad side."

Crimson's eyes narrowed. "If you feel so uncertain in my abilities... try and hit me."

"What?" Chrysalis growled. "Are you serious?"

"Quite. Unless you're afraid."

Chrysalis growled and fired her magic at the alicorn. The attack seemed to go through the alicorn and turn her to smoke. The changeling gasped and stared where the alicorn once stood.

"Nice attack, Chryssie," Crimson's voice cooed.

Chrysalis gasped and looked all around as the light from the world around her began to turn red as a black smoke filled the area. She stumbled through the smoke, trying to see anything.

"It's quite a mess in here," Crimson sighed from somewhere unseen. "Ooo, this looks interesting."

Chrysalis whipped around to see a young changeling get thrown to the ground by a group of other young changelings.

"Look at her," one of the changelings chuckled. "She can't even fight back."

"I can't believe I ever wanted to be her friend," another muttered.

The third scoffed. "So weak."

"What is this?!" Chrysalis shouted as she heard a noise behind her and whipped around again. She gasped when she saw a taller changeling that resembled her, but had a slightly shorter mane and a differently broken horn. "M... Mother?"

"How could you let your sisters push you around? Why don't you fight back?"

Chrysalis blinked and found herself the size of a filly. She looked up at her mother with tears in her eyes. "I tried. They're just better than me!"

"That's no way for the future queen to act! I chose you as my successor because I sense a great magic within. I need you to tap into that potential and stop letting them bully you."

"STOP!!!" Chrysalis yelled as she fired a magic bolt at her mother.

The ghostly image disappeared as Crimson walked up beside her. "That explains your lack of trust in friends," the alicorn said with a sigh. Chrysalis realized she was tall again and started to turn to attack, but Crimson bumped her with her wing and knocked her over. "That urge to push yourself. You were nothing. You were weak."

Tears started to fill Chrysalis' eyes. "Stop it now!"

"Or what? You can't beat me just like you couldn't beat your bullies of the past. Or the current princess. Or me. You are a constant failure." Just when Chrysalis was about to lash out again, the queen watched the alicorn squatted down beside her. "I can help you. I can help you get your revenge on Twilight Sparkle."

Chrysalis' breathing began to slow back to normal as she sniffled. "And Starlight Glimmer."

Crimson smiled and stood up before she held out her hoof. Chrysalis accepted it and stood up, the two staying at each other. Chrysalis seemed nervous while Crimson appeared calm. The alicorn then leaned in and put her foreleg around the changeling, hugging her.

“I think this is the start of something beautiful,” Crimson cooed into the changeling’s ear.

Twilight and Luster stood on the path leading back to Ponyville. They could see the town and various ponies trotting about. "You'll need friends if you expect to stand up to Crimson."

"Why can't you deal with it? Or Celestia or Luna?"

"We won't always be here to help you. You'll eventually need to make decisions for yourself. As I have had to do."

Luster sighed and closed her eyes. "Alright. I'll try."

"Even if there wasn't a threat, you still need friends, Luster."

"Alright," the young unicorn said as she began to trot forward. "Wish me luck."

"I don't think you'll need it."

Luster made her way through Ponyville until she found Shade hovering by a music shop window. Luster took a deep breath and moved closer. The griffin noticed her and landed before she turned to face the unicorn.

"Hiya, Shade," Luster greeted.

"Luster," Shade replied in a gruff, (the pony equivalent of) British voice.

"I was wondering if... you'd like to hang out?"

"I... was actually plannin' on practicin' my music later."

"Oh. Maybe tomorrow, or... not, I guess. I don't know." Luster then gasped loudly. "Can I watch you play?"

"I don't... exactly like an audience..."

"I can be quiet."

Shade raised an eyebrow. "Um... Okay, then. Meet me by the big tree in the Prairies."

"The Prairies?"

"I practice there at night since it's far from town."

"Alright, then. I'll catch you... later," Luster said before she trotted away. She exhaled sharply. "That was intense."

She found her yak friend, Brutus, by the town's water fountain. He pulled a sports hat out of a paper bag and set it on his head.

"I love it!" He proudly exclaimed, before he saw Luster Dawn. "Pony friend! What do you think of the hat?!"

"It's... lovely," Luster said as she trotted up to him. "Hey, Brutus? Care to hang out later?"

"What mean hang out?"

"Well, you, me, and a couple other friends hang out by that big tree in the Prairies and just... talk? Hang out? Get to know each other better?"

The yak stayed silent, hopefully in thought. "Okay. I will... hang out with you later."

"Great, cool, thanks," Luster said as she went to find Sundial and Moss Glow.

As Luster trotted through the town, she heard someone calling for her. She looked around and saw a cloaked figure in an alley. "Alright. This isn't creepy at all," she muttered to herself as she cautiously approached the figure. As the figure turned to head deeper into the space between the buildings, Luster caught a glimpse of the tail. "Luna?" She asked as she sped up.

When she arrived in the tiny alley, the figure turned around and lowered her hood. It was, indeed, the former princess of the night. "Luster Dawn. I have some bad news."

"Oh, no. What now?"

"Do you remember Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow?"

"Yeah?"

"We have word that their statue is gone. Twilight is afraid they may come after you, as myself and Discord came after her."

"Let me get this straight... Not only do I have Crimson to worry about... but now three of Twilight's villains, too?"

"Yes. We will help in any way we can, but you should be ready in case the worse should happen."

Luster groaned and rubbed her head. "Alright. I'll do my best."

"We know you will. Just... be on your guard at all times. Crimson likes to play with your mind. It will be hard to trust anything you see with her around."

"I understand." Luna gave her a smile before she teleported away. "Alright, well... good-bye, I guess."

Luster found Sundial and Moss Glow drinking smoothies by a café and trotted over to greet them. "Hey, you two," she said with a smile. "You busy later?"

"How later?" Moss asked.

"Um... like... in a couple hours, I guess?"

"I should be free."

"Me, too," the orange stallion replied. "What's up?"

"Just getting a few friends together by the large tree in the Prairies," Luster said as she waved the waitress over. "Though, I could go for a smoothie first." When the unicorn waiting on customers came over, Luster gave her a smile. "Strawberry, please."

The waitress nodded and went to fetch the drink.

"How's your magic training with Twilight?" Sundial asked.

Luster sighed and sat down. "Good, I guess. It's kind of intimidating, you know? Being trained by the princess."

"Sounds fun," Moss said as she sipped her blueberry smoothie.

Luster eyed the kirin before the waitress returned with the smoothie. Luster paid her and took the drink in her magic. "She's got me on another task, too, that... I'm not sure I'll be able to pull off."

"Like what?" Sundial asked, sipping his orange smoothie.

"I'd rather wait until we're all together to say it. It's... not something I wanna keep repeating."

The kirin nodded. "Fair enough."

Luster took a sip as she stared at the ground.

A couple hours later, Luster headed into the Prairies and found the griffin by the large tree. Shade saw her and waved her over before she sat down and held her guitar. "Hey, Shade," Luster greeted. "I hope you don't mind if I invited others."

"Others?" Shade asked, before she looked past the unicorn and saw the other three. "Luster, come on, I said I didn't want an audience."

"I know, I know. I have a very good reason for this. I promise."

"You'd better."

"So..." the kirin said with a smile. "you said you had some big news?"

"Yes," Luster said as she turned to face her. "Big news. I was visited by Twilight Sparkle."

"The princess?" Sundial asked. "What for?"

Luster looked at the orange stallion with a sigh. "Something big is coming, and she wants us to be prepared."

"Big?" Shade asked, leaning her guitar against the tree. "What do you mean?"

"Crimson Ash." The other four all eyed each other, not saying a word. "Crimson Ash," Luster repeated. "Really, none of you?"

"Sorry, Luster," Mossy apologized. "Never heard of a Crimson Ash."

Luster groaned. "She's only one of the most powerful alicorns of all time. She's been trapped for thousands of years and now she's coming back. And the only way to stand up to her is with friendship. So we all need to stick together in case she shows up."

"Why would she attack us?" Shade asked.

“Celestia and Luna’s enemies became Twilight’s enemies. Now Twilight’s worried that her enemies will become mine.”

Mossy thought for a moment. “Twilight’s enemies? You mean those three that took over Canterlot thirty years ago?”

Luster nodded. “Those ones, yes.”

“Is it, like… too late to back out of this friendship?”

“Come on,” Luster said with a smile. “We can do this.”

“How?” Shade asked. “You’re the only one with magic. What can we do?”

“I don’t know, just… trust me? Stick with me? I can’t do this alone.”

Shade, Sundial, and Mossy all eyed each other. Brutus was the first to speak. “Pony liked my hat. I like pony.”

Luster gave him a smile, when suddenly black smoke began to fill the area. Luster and the others all looked around as they sky turned red. "She's here," Luster gasped.

"So, you're Twilight Sparkle's protégé?" Crimson asked.

Luster couldn't find her in the smoke. "What do you want?"

Crimson dove through the smoke and held Luster's cheeks. "I want you, dear. I can sense a strong magic inside of you just waiting to come to fruition."

Luster pulled away and backed up. "You know others have tried to take over Equestria, right? And they all have failed."

Crimson smirked. "I'm not others." She then eyed Shade, Mossy, Brutus, and Sundial. "Trying to work on your friendship? So it can protect you?"

"I was making progress before you showed up."

"Oh, really," Crimson cooed evilly, before she disappeared.

"W-Where'd she go?" Shade asked.

"She's still here!" Luster called out. "She's just making us think we can't see her!"

"But, we can't see her!" Sundial said as he backed up, looking all around.

"Ooo, this is interesting," Crimson cooed as Luster felt a piercing pain in her head. "Are you only being friends with them so you can stand against me?"

"No!" Luster yelled with a pained groan.

"What's she talking about?" Asked Mossy.

Crimson chuckled. "You think they're annoying? Impossible? Those aren't thoughts a friend should have, is it? And, worst of all, you're only using them for your own benefit. So sad."

"Shut up!" Luster yelled as she frantically looked all around before she fired a magic bolt.

Sundial jumped to the side to avoid being hit. "H-Hey, watch it!"

Luster gasped and backed up before she turned around. She saw Crimson and quickly fired at her. Shade let out a yell and ducked, avoiding the attack.

"Hey!" The griffin yelled.

Luster stumbled backwards and fell on her flanks, staring in horror at what she almost did twice now. "She's... She's in my head!"

"I'm everywhere," Crimson cooed as the smoke around them swirled and danced. "But it's not your fault they don't like you, Luster. You've always been bad at making friends. Always using them and then discarding them when you no longer need them. And I thought I was evil."

Tears filled Luster's eyes. "That's not true!"

"Isn't it? I might be assuming some things but your memories don't lie. You do."

The smoke cleared as Crimson appeared standing in front of the crying unicorn. "You're nothing right now, Luster. But I do find you interesting. I will give you a chance to get stronger. I could use the energy boost." She then unfurled her wings and shot off into the sky.

Luster slowly and shakily got to her hooves as she looked at the others.

"You're just using us?" Shade asked. "Because friendship will protect you against her?"

"N-No, that's not..." Luster stammered. "That's not it at all."

"I thought pony liked my hat," Brutus said as he turned and began walking back towards town.

"I-I do!" Luster pleaded.

Sundial joined Shade as they followed Brutus. Luster looked over at the kirin, who just shook her head and joined the others. Luster fell on her flanks and just watched them leave.

Crimson landed near the Foalorado River where Chrysalis and Tirek were waiting. "I don't think she'll pose much of a threat, even at full power."

"I still think you should just take her out now," Chrysalis said as her eyes narrowed. "These protégés always seem to come out on top."

"I concur," Tirek said as he crossed his arms. "Best to eliminate the threat before it can pose a problem."

Crimson sighed, before she looked at the filly. "And what about you, tiny pony? Anything to add?"

"As long as I get to have my revenge on those school creatures, I'm fine with whatever you want."

"I see you all have grudges. Chrysalis and Starlight. Cozy Glow and the school creatures. And Tirek?"

"It used to be just Celestia and Luna," Tirek said. "Then I added Twilight to the list."

"Well... If you follow me, I can guarantee that you will have your revenge. It may not be this week, or next week... but it will happen. Equestria... and the lands beyond... will be ours."

TO BE CONTINUED

Advice by Twilight

Author's Note

This one's shorter, but I felt like it's perfect as is. Next one will be normal length, if not longer.

Advice by Twilight

As the sun was setting and the rain started falling, Luster slowly made her way back into town. Ponies were all heading indoors to avoid getting soaked while Luster found the rain rather appropriate for her situation. To her, she deserved to get soaked. With a sigh, she trotted through the wet dirt, her fur becoming drenched as she made her way through town and towards the path that led to the castle. She passed by Shade's house and Moss' house and didn't bother to stop and knock.

Eventually, she left the wetness of the earth and stepped onto the path. The only sounds were that of the rain hitting the ground and her hooves on the stones. Her thoughts raced with what she had done and how she could've done better. She felt a tear begin to form in her eye, which she wiped away. Once she got to the castle, she turned and sat down with her back up against the door.

The balcony high above her provided shelter from the rain, but not the cold. Luster closed her eyes and sniffled as she just listened to the sound of the rain, when she suddenly heard hooves coming down the path towards her.

"Luster?" Came Twilight's voice.

"I messed up, Twilight," Luster said without opening her eyes. "I ruined everything."

Twilight trotted up to the unicorn and sat beside her. "We all make mistakes, Luster. And mistakes can be fixed."

"Right, when have you ever made a mistake? Thirty years of peace? Some mistake."

Twilight smiled and looked out at the rain. "Decades ago, the Storm King tried to take over Equestria and my friends and I had to see the Sea Ponies for help. I didn't trust them and I tried to steal their most precious artifact. When Pinkie Pie confronted me about it, I told her I might've been better off without friends like her."

Luster opened her eyes and gasped. "You... said that?"

Twilight nodded. "I did. I didn't mean it, of course. It was just something said in anger."

"What happened?"

"Well, they forgave me when we met back in Canterlot."

"Yeah, see? Your friends forgave you because they were already your friends."

Twilight nodded. "True. But that wasn't my point. Your friends, even if they say they hate you, may have only said it in anger."

Luster thought for a moment and nodded. "I did... sort of... force them all together... and Shade seemed really upset by that. But, Crimson made them believe I only wanted to be their friend so I had protection against her."

"Was that true?"

Luster hung her head in shame. "In a way. I do want them as friends, but... Ah, I rushed things because... I was scared. I was scared of Crimson, even before we met."

Twilight patted her back. "Did I ever tell you about the time I almost ruined Starlight and Trixie's relationship?"

Luster looked up at her again. "N-No? Really?"

"Yes. I didn't trust Trixie for the longest time. So, when I told Starlight to make new friends... and she came back with Trixie... I didn't approve. I tried everything I could to get Starlight a different friend."

"Just because you didn't trust Trixie?"

"That's it. And look how close they became. That was almost ruined because of me."

"Wow... You really have made a lot of mistakes."

"That isn't all, either," Twilight went on. "One time, Celestia gave me a deadline to report on a friendship problem. I couldn't find one, so I made one. It resulted in a, uh... Well, a lot of innocent ponies fell under a spell where they really wanted my old doll. Luckily, the princess stepped in and fixed it, but... it was still my mistake."

"Is that why you don't give me deadlines?"

Twilight giggled. "One of the reasons."

Luster looked out towards town. "So, what should I do? I really messed up. Even if Crimson didn't show up... I still really hurt Shade."

"Admit you were wrong," Twilight said. "That's the first step in asking for forgiveness."

"It's not gonna be easy."

"Asking for forgiveness never is. It takes the strongest of us to admit we've made a mistake. Even stronger still to make it right."

"Did you get that out of a book?"

Twilight giggled again. "No, Luster. A very wise alicorn told me that years ago."

Luster smiled and stood up. "Alright, well... wish me luck. Again."

"You don't need luck, Luster. You need faith in yourself. Now, go. Make some friends. Crimson can wait."

"But... I thought she was really dangerous."

"Celestia, Luna, and myself will be watching over the land while you prepare. No need to rush anything, okay?"

Luster's lips trembled before she hugged the purple alicorn. "Thank you."

Twilight put her foreleg around her. "You're welcome, Luster."

Luster trotted back into town and over to Shade's house. She stopped and stood in front of the door, her heart racing with worry. With a deep breath, she slowly trotted up to the front door and raised her hoof. She almost lowered her hoof and trotted away but pushed herself to knock. She took a step back and waited when she heard hoof steps inside. The door suddenly opened, revealing the dark griffin.

"Luster?" The griff asked, surprised.

The unicorn had her head hung, her fur dripping wet as the rain continued to pour. "Shade, I... I-I... I'm so sorry, I..."

Shade opened her beak in a silent gasp before she took a step forward. "Have you been out there this whole time?"

"I-I've been thinking... a-a lot, and, uh... I don't..."

Shade looked around before she held up a claw. "One second," she said, before she ran inside. She soon returned with a towel. "Come inside. You're soaked."

Luster felt the tears return before she started to openly sob. "I'm sorry, I didn't wanna cry, but..."

"Shh, come on," Shade said as she motioned for the mare to enter.

"A-Are they that... visible?" Luster asked, referring to the tears. "E-Even with the... the rain?"

"Oh, yeah."

Luster sat in front of the lit fireplace, towel draped over her back while the fire crackled peacefully in front of her. Shade walked up and sat beside her. The griffin reached out to grab the fire poker and proceeded to poke the fire with it. Luster stayed silent while the griffin did her thing.

"Getting warmer?" Shade asked, her yellow eyes on the fire.

Luster nodded. "I don't... deserve a friend like you."

"No, you don't."

"And what I did was... bad."

"Yes, it was."

"Then... why be nice to me? Even after what I did?"

Shade stopped poking the fire and sighed. "We're friends, Luster. Even if some of us don't act like it."

Luster eyed her before returning her gaze to the flames. "I'm sorry I brought the others. I was just... scared. I was told Crimson Ash was coming and the only way to stop her was with friendship. So, I... I pushed things. I made it seem like... like all I cared about was myself. It... wasn't my intention. In fact, my intention was to tell you four everything. But... Crimson showed up." The unicorn looked over at the griffin. "I'm sorry, Shade."

Shade gave her a smile. "So... Do you still want to hear me play?" Luster sniffled as her lips trembled again. Shade quickly held up a claw. "Only if you promise not to cry again."

Luster breathed quickly to try and stop the tears. Feeling successful, she nodded and swallowed. "I'm good. I promise."

The griffin quickly got up and ran down the hall, presumably to her bedroom. She returned with her guitar and sat down next to the unicorn. Shade then repositioned her guitar and began to strum. Luster smiled as the griff played a gentle, soothing tune. Luster looked at the fire and watched the flames dance while her friend played.

Shade watched her with a light smile as she played. The unicorn seemed to be getting tired as her eyelids began to flutter. Shade stopped playing and stood up. "You're tired."

"It's been a long day. Come on. My bed's big enough for two."

"I-I'll just... sleep on the couch."

"You're not sleeping on the couch. Trust me, it's not that comfortable. Come on."

Luster sniffled and stood up. "Okay..."

Shade backed up towards the hall, making sure the pony followed her. "This way, Luster. You could use a good night's rest. You are dry now, right?"

A purple pegasus flew down over the Badlands and landed by a cave in Dustmane Ridge. When she entered, the pegasus was engulfed in a green energy before she turned back into Chrysalis. She trotted further into the cave where she found Crimson sitting in front of a wall of smoke, watching an aerial view of Ponyville.

"Anything new?" The changeling asked.

"Her friendship is growing," Crimson said. "It's gotten harder to observe her. That was fast, too. I'm sure I did a number on them."

"Then we strike!"

"Relax, my sweet little bug. Her time will come. Until then, you and the others can do whatever you want. So long as you leave Luster, and her friends, to me."

A black hippogriff with yellow claws, beak, eyes, and a long yellow mane, sat beneath a tree just outside the School of Friendship. Around her neck was a necklace that had a beautiful gemstone which displayed all the colors of the rainbow.

The hippogriff gently gripped it with her right claw and lifted it up to look it over. “Soon…” she muttered in a raspy voice.

The next morning, Luster awoke and quickly sat up, not recognizing the room. She then sighed when she remembered last night. A small smile spread across her face as she left the bed and the room and trotted down the hall. She found the griffin in the kitchen, making pancakes.

"I don't know how to thank you," Luster said as she entered the kitchen. "Last night I was..."

"It's okay," Shade said without turning around. "Pancakes will be ready shortly."

Luster trotted over to the table and sat down. "That was beautiful, by the way. The... music."

Shade smiled as she flipped the cakes. "Thanks. I came up with it in the moment."

Luster looked towards the front door. "I guess I should... speak to the others today."

"I can help," Shade said as she carried the pan over to the table. "If you want."

Luster shook her head as the griffin loaded the plates with pancakes. "I need to do this myself. I honestly thought you'd be the hardest one to..." Luster stopped suddenly and sighed. "You know, because of..."

"Glad to disappoint you, then."

"Sorry, I'm... still new to all this. The... friendship thing. I thought you'd hate me. That look on your face was... I felt it inside. Like some pony was squeezing my lungs. I-I couldn't breathe. Is that normal?"

Shade smiled. "You just felt bad."

"You looked... betrayed. I never want you all to feel like that again."

Shade sat down across from her and grabbed her fork. "You should... eat them before they... get cold."

"Right," Luster muttered as she grabbed her fork.

Chrysalis stood by the bridge leading into the School of Friendship, disguised as a pink mare with long white hair. She knew they'd be on high alert once the word got out that Tirek, Cozy Glow, and herself were free. Her eyes narrowed as she saw Starlight Glimmer through one of the school windows.

"Soon, Starlight," she growled under her breath.

"Hey, there," came a voice from behind her.

Chrysalis gasped and turned around, seeing an orange dragon with purple spikes on her head. "Oh. Hello. Who are you?"

"I'm Smolder. Are you looking to join the school?"

Chrysalis thought for a moment, before she sighed. "I was, yes, but... I don't know if I'll be able to. I've never been good at friendship."

"That's okay. That's the whole point of the school."

"Are you a teacher here?"

"I'm taking over Rainbow Dash's classes."

"I see... A-And, who's the principal?"

"Still Starlight Glimmer. Although, she's looking to retire soon, too."

Chrysalis gave a light smile. "Are you looking for new students? I might like to try this... friendship thing out."

Smolder nodded. "Every creature's welcome. What's your name?"

Chrysalis went wide-eyed. "Um... Posey."

Smolder raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"

Chrysalis' eyes shifted left and right nervously, before Smolder let out a chuckle. "I'm just messing with ya, Posey. I'll go inform Starlight immediately."

"Immediately?" Chrysalis asked. "Didn't classes already start?"

"We're always taking in students. In fact, we took one in today

Chrysalis smiled. "Oh. Well, then... please, do. I can't wait to get started."

Cozy Glow stood near the destroyed Ponyville library. It had been turned into a monument, honoring where Princess Twilight began her journey of friendship. The filly trotted up to the sign that read: In honor of Princess Twilight, here lies the ruins of Golden Oaks Library, destroyed during her battle with Tirek. Cozy's eyes narrowed as she trotted into the destroyed tree library, looking around at the damage.

"It seems like only yesterday I was here with you," she said as she sat down in the rubble. "I should never have left. But I promise you... one day the magic will be gone. And I'll be the only one with power. But first things first... I have to deal with those meddling kids at that dumb School of Friendship."

TO BE CONTINUED

Dawn of the Dread

Smolder opened the door to Starlight's office. "Come on in, Posey."

The disguised Chrysalis entered the room and froze up when she locked eyes with the purple unicorn. Smolder left the room and closed the door as Starlight left her desk.

"Posey, was it?" Starlight asked as she trotted around the desk to greet the newcomer.

Chrysalis cleared her throat and nodded. "Yeah, that's me. Posey. And you're... Starlight?"

"That's me," Starlight replied with a smile. "So, Smolder tells me you're unsure about friendship. Care to share why?"

Posey sighed and sat down on the floor. "Whenever I tried to connect with ponies, I messed it up. I guess I just didn't understand what I was doing wrong."

"Like what?"

"Well... I played a prank that I guess I took too far?"

Starlight chuckled. "That sounds bad. Pranks are a tough thing to get right. To little, and it isn't worth doing. Too much, and you're in trouble. That's why I don't even try."

"See? You know what you're doing. I clearly need help."

"You certainly do," Starlight said with a smile. "And this place can help you. You're sure to make many friends during your stay here."

"My... stay?" Posey asked.

Starlight nodded. "We expanded the dorms, so you can have your own room, if you want."

Posey stared at her before jumping to her hooves. "Yes, I will take a room."

Luster left Shade's house as the griffin followed close behind. "Alright. Today's the day."

Shade walked up next to her and patted her back. "You got this. Just be honest."

The unicorn nodded. "Alright, Shade. I'll see you... later?"

"If you want."

"Cool! See ya!" Luster called as she took off towards Moss' house. "Time to get more forgiveness!"

"I didn't say I forgave you."

Luster screeched to halt and turned around. "Huh? What?"

"You betrayed my trust," Shade said bluntly. "And all you did was show up in the middle of the night. During a rainstorm. Crying."

Luster sighed heavily. "You're right. I guess I'll... think of something." She then began to back away. "I'm gonna give you the best apology ever!" She called out, before she took off again.

Shade just raised an eyebrow.

Smolder led Posey to her dorm room. "Today's already started, so your classes will start tomorrow," Smolder explained. "For now, just relax."

"Most appreciated," Posey said with a forced, but believable smile.

Smolder gave her a wave and left. The fake pink unicorn's smile faded and she closed the door before she turned to look at her bed. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes.

~~~

Chrysalis entered the bedroom just off her throne room where her stone bed lay. She sighed and dropped onto it. She had stolen a very thin mattress, but it was still hard rock underneath.

~~~

Posey opened her eyes and trotted over to the bed before she ran her hoof over the soft sheets. She even pressed down on it a few times before she climbed onto it. As she rested on her back, she closed her eyes again.

~~~

Chrysalis disguised as Cadance entered the large royal bedroom with Shining Armor and made her way over to the bed. "I'm sorry," the mare cooed, feigning drowsiness. "I'm not sure what came over me."

"Just rest," the stallion said with a smile. "Tomorrow, we have wedding business to attend to. And I still need to write to Twilight about us."

Cadance smiled. "You go do that. I'll be okay."

Shining gave her a kiss on the forehead before he left. Cadance then climbed onto the bed and sighed at the softness of the sheets and nuzzled the pillow with a smile.

~~~

Posey opened her eyes and rolled onto her side, her frown deepening before she closed her eyes to take a nap.

Luster spotted Moss Glow trotting past Fluttershy's cottage into the Everfree Forest. Now that the Elements of Harmony were gone, the forest was alive once more but seemed to have calmed down over the years. Now it was only mildly dangerous. Luster quickly followed after the kirin as the thick tree canopy blocked out the sunlight.

"Hey, Mossy," she greeted.

The kirin stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Oh. It's you." She then leaned to the side as if to look behind Luster.

The pink unicorn looked over her shoulder to see what the kirin was looking at. When she saw nothing, she gave the kirin a confused look. "What?'

"I don't see Crimson."

Luster frowned, understanding what the kirin meant. "Ha ha." She then moved forward. "Look, Mossy, I... I wanted to apologize."

"Did you talk to Shade yet?"

"Yeah, why?"

"When we headed back to town, she seemed... pretty upset. I just wanted to make sure you spoke with her first."

"Oh. Well, I did."

"And did she forgive you?"

Luster's ears dropped. "N... No, not really, no."

"Why not?"

"I sort of... showed up on her doorstep during the storm... crying. She said she was being nice to me because we're friends, but... that she hasn't forgiven me yet."

"Have you just... apologized?" Mossy asked. "Like you just did with me?"

Luster went wide-eyed. "I... I just... thought she needed a special apology, you know? Like a cake, or something."

"Sometimes the best apology is just saying you're sorry," Moss said, before she turned away and continued on into the forest.

Luster quickly trotted after her. "But... you forgive me, right?"

"No. You'll have to do better than that."

Luster stopped following and sat down as the kirin disappeared through the brush. "This friendship thing is hard."

Chrysalis awoke the next morning, still in her Posey disguise, to a knock on her door. She groaned and sat up. "Yes?" She called out. "What is it?"

"May I come in?!" Came Starlight's voice.

Posey went wide-eyed and checked herself to make sure she was still pink. "Y-Yeah! Yes! Come in."

The door opened as Starlight trotted in. "Good morning, Posey. Sleep well?"

"Very well. Yes. Thank you."

"Good. Now... where did you come from?" Starlight asked as she walked over to stand beside the bed.

"I... don't want to talk about it..." Posey said as she looked away.

"It's okay. You're safe here."

"I don't want to talk about it," Posey snapped angrily as she looked at the unicorn.

Starlight's smile faded a little. "I apologize. In your own time, of course. I came to take you to your first class, if you're ready. And later the princess is stopping by."

Posey's expression went from angry to surprise. "Princess... Twilight?"

"Of course," Starlight said as her smile returned. "Are you ready to start your day?"

Posey slid out of bed and dropped to her hooves. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Starlight led the pink unicorn out of her dorm and down the halls to where Fluttershy was teaching a kindness class. "Here you are, Posey. Have fun. Make friends."

Posey forced a smile. "I can't wait to... make all the friends."

"Glad to hear it," Starlight said, before she waved good-bye and trotted off.

Posey watched her leave before she sighed and trotted into the classroom. She found a desk near the back and dropped down. With a groan, she let her head fall on her desk with a THUNK.

"Yeah, I know how you feel," a raspy voice came from her right.

Posey sighed and looked over to see a hippogriff female with black fur with a long yellow mane, yellow eyes, yellow beak, and yellow claws. "Who are you?"

"My parents named me Evening Stars," the hippogriff scoffed. "Something to do with their first date, I guess. You can just call me Eve."

"Well, Eve... Something tells me you'd rather be anywhere else."

The hippogriff smiled. "I can guess the same about you."

Princess Twilight landed by the front door of the school where Starlight waited to greet her. The two hugged before Starlight used her magic to open the door.

"Anything new?" The unicorn asked with a smile.

Twilight trotted past her. "Unfortunately," she said before she stopped and turned to her friend. "Cozy Glow, Tirek... and... Chrysalis... are free."

Starlight went wide-eyed. "What?!"

"And... Crimson Ash is back."

"Who?"

After explaining, the two were by the guidance counselor's office. "So, we're in trouble," Starlight said as she opened the door.

"Welcome," Trixie said with a smile. "How can I... Oh. Starlight. And Twilight?" She said as she left her desk. "Welcome, princess," Trixie said with a bow.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Hello, Trixie."

"So," the blue unicorn said as she stood upright. "What's up?"

Twilight sighed and got ready to explain again.

"So, we're in trouble," Trixie muttered as she slumped in her chair.

"Have you noticed any creature acting strange?" Twilight asked both mares. "Anything at all?"

"Can't say that I have," Trixie said with a shrug.

Starlight thought for a moment. "Two come to mind."

"Two?" Asked Twilight.

Starlight nodded. "We gained a new student yesterday. Posey, She began her classes today. Snapped at me when I asked where she came from."

"The timing is interesting," Twilight muttered.

"But the day she showed up, we also had a hippogriff join us who... was anything but kind."

"Really?"

"Yes. Eve. She doesn't talk about her past either."

Twilight thought for a moment. "So, they both showed up the day after Chrysalis is freed."

"Well, we can't just go and blast both of them," Trixie pointed out. "We don't even know if one of them is Chrysalis."

"Trixie's right," Starlight agreed. "We can't be certain either of them is Chrysalis. And if we attack the wrong one..."

"It would undo everything we're trying to do here," Twilight finished.

Trixie eyed them both. "So... what should we do?"

"Keep an eye on them," Twilight said. "We all know how much Chrysalis hates you," she said as she looked at Starlight. "Maybe... if you spent time with them..."

"I could get her triggered," Starlight said with a smile. "Make her slip up and reveal herself."

Twilight smiled and nodded. "Do you have a class with her?"

"Sunburst is covering my class right now," Starlight said. "I can take over the next one. Eve is in the next and Posey is in the one after."

"It's a plan, then," the alicorn said confidently. "Just be on your guard. Stay safe. Remember, Cozy Glow is also free and she most likely has a grudge against this school as well."

"What about Tirek?" Asked Trixie.

"Tirek will most likely focus on Celestia, Luna, and myself."

"And... Crimson?" Starlight asked nervously.

Twilight eyed the floor. "She seems interested in Luster Dawn."

"Your student?"

Twilight nodded. "Luster had a run-in with her a couple days ago. Celestia and Luna are keeping a watchful eye on the area, as am I, just in case Crimson shows up again."

Trixie let her head fall on her desk. "And I thought we were done with all this."

"There will always be someone who will try and shatter the peace," Twilight pointed out sadly. "Which is why we must never let our guard down. Remember Opaline?"

"How could we forget?" Asked Starlight. I still can't believe you managed to shield all of Equestria from her."

"So, Crimson, Tirek, Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, and now Opaline?" Trixie asked.

Twilight shook her head. "Opaline is not an issue right now. The shield I cast will hold her off. For the time being, we must focus on the others. Especially Crimson and Chrysalis."

"Right," Trixie said. "If either of them come by, I'll see what I can get out of them."

"And I'll keep an eye on them in class," Starlight said with a smile. "We got this."

Luster headed back into town, her head hung in defeat. As she trotted through Ponyville, she saw Sundial talking with a shop pony in the market. She turned and headed for him, arriving just as he finalized his purchase. He put the item in his saddlebag before he noticed Luster.

“You look terrible,” he said, pointing out the obvious.

“Hey. So, I’m, like… sorry for the other day.”

“That’s a horrible apology.”

Luster sighed and sat down on her flanks. “I felt like I gave a good one to Shade, but she didn’t forgive me. I felt like I gave a better one to Mossy, but…”

“She said no, too?”

“She said no. What am I doing wrong, Sunny?”

The stallion smiled and trotted up beside her. “Sometimes, being sorry isn’t enough. Sometimes… it just takes time. They’ll come around.”

“What about you?” Luster asked hopefully. Sundial patted her on the shoulder as he went to continue his errands. “Yeah. That’s about the answer I expected.”

Chrysalis sat down in her History of Magic class, once again sitting as far back as she could. As the other students took their seats, Starlight Glimmer entered the room. The disguised changeling did her best not to stare, but the mare who took her hive away was right there. Chrysalis went wide-eyed when she spotted a changeling student a few seats away. Since they were no longer part of her hive, they wouldn't be able to sense her, but she still thought it awkward.

“Alright, listen up, students,” Starlight announced. “I’m pleased to report that we have a new student joining us today. So, if every creature could make Posey feel at home…”

Chrysalis put on her best sincere smile as she looked around the classroom.

After class, Chrysalis collapsed under a tree just outside the school with a heavy sigh. Eve peeked out around the tree and chuckled as she walked around to where Chrysalis lay.

“Didn’t enjoy class, either?” She asked.

Chrysalis groaned. “Starlight wouldn’t leave me alone. She kept having ponies help me catch up, and kept asking if I was all set.”

Eve raised an eyebrow. “Me, too.” She then sat down next to the pink unicorn. “You don’t think it has something to do with that missing statue, do you?”

Chrysalis picked up her head. “Come again?”

“The statue of those three that Princess Twilight and her friends defeated? It’s gone. And one of them was the changeling queen.”

Chrysalis thought for a moment. “She’s testing us.”

“Because we’re the new students.”

Chrysalis eyed the hippogriff. “But we have nothing to worry about, right?”

Eve smiled. “You tell me.”

Chrysalis sighed and stood up. “See you later, Eve,” she said as she trotted away.

Eve set her bag on the grass and pulled out her gemstone necklace. The rainbow colors in it swirled around frantically. The further Chrysalis went, the more the swirling calmed down.

“Interesting…”

TO BE CONTINUED

The Stroke of Midnight

Eve passed by a few students as she made her way down the hall towards the school’s library. Since it had been started by Twilight, the library was the biggest room at the school and full of tons of books.

The hippogriff entered and found the section where the history books were kept. She examined shelf after shelf until she found the one she was looking for.

Eve pulled a book on modern Equestria history off the shelf and found an empty table. She opened the book to the battle with Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, and Tirek. She skimmed the pages until she found a passage that mentioned Chrysalis' relationship to Starlight. Her beak curved into a smile as she thought back to class and how Posey seemed focused on the teacher. As well as how her gem stone reacted to the unicorn’s presence.

"Hello, bug," she cooed to herself.

Luster trotted up to the window of a shop selling hats. She smiled and entered and began to peruse the various styles. She pictured the hat that Brutus bought for himself and tried to find a similar one.

As she eyed a wide selection, the shop owner pranced over to her with a warm smile on her face. She was a violet unicorn with a wavy red mane and tail. “Hello, and welcome to Hats, Rings, And Random Things where I sell hats, rings, and random things. Can I help you find something?”

Luster just stared at her. “Do you have to say the whole thing every time?”

“No.”

“Ah.”

"So, can I help you find something?"

Luster looked around. "I'm looking for a hat. For a yak."

"Oh, a yak, huh?" The other mare asked as she trotted around the hat stand. "What does this yak like?"

"Well... anything, I guess. He likes a lot of hats. But I need to find a good one. An, uh... apology hat."

"Ahhhhhh," the shop owner said with a knowing nod. "I see. I see. Well, if he likes any hat, then I would guess just getting him one will make him happy."

"True, but it needs to be really good."

"You're thinking about it too hard," the mare scoffed. "Just relax and pick anything out. You'll see."

“Why am I so bad at this?” Luster muttered to herself when a particular hat caught her eye. “Huh… That one looks good.”

Eve waited outside of the History of Magic classroom for the class to finish. When she saw students filing out, she gently pushed past them and found Starlight behind her desk, putting away various papers she was going over. When she noticed Eve, she smiled and face her.

"Hello, Eve," she greeted. "What can I help you with?"

"I read something in a history book that I'd like to ask you about."

"Such as?"

Eve stopped about a foot away. "It mentioned you fought the changeling queen and that the queen seemed to be targeting you. Why?"

Starlight smiled. "Simple. I caused her hive to see the good in themselves and they left her. She blamed me for taking her hive away."

"Which, you... did, though... right?"

"She was forcing them to starve without love. I gave them another way."

"I see..." Eve said before she took a step back. "Thank you, headmistress," she said, before she turned and walked away.

Starlight watched her leave before her smile faded.

Luster saw Brutus sitting in the park and took a deep breath. "Okay. You got this," she said as she looked in the bag she was carrying. Inside was a hat with a propeller. "I hope this works." The unicorn casually trotted over to the relaxing yak and gave a little wave. "Hey, there."

Brutus looked up at her. "Ah. Pony. How are you?"

"I'm good," Luster said as she sat beside him. She then sighed. "I wanted to... apologize," she said as she slid the bag over to the yak. "For before, you know?"

The yak sat up and looked in the bag. Without saying a word, he picked up the hat before knocking the propeller to make it spin. Luster watched him with a hopeful smile, before the yak put it on his head. "How does it look?"

"Looks great."

The yak gave her a smile and roughly patted her back. "Thank you, Luster."

"I didn't mean to make it seem like... I was using you all to protect myself. I do want to be friends with you. I just rushed it out of fear."

"Fear?" Brutus asked, before he nodded. "That red pony?"

Luster nodded. "Crimson Ash. She's coming after me, and friendship magic is the only thing that can hold her back. I fear she's out there right now, spreading disharmony throughout the land to make herself stronger. And I need to be ready to stop her. I-I can't do that by myself, I... I've never done anything like that. I panicked."

"Understandable. Red pony was pretty scary. But we have each other."

Luster eyed him. "Does that mean you forgive me?"

"Pony gave me hat. All is forgiven."

Luster exhaled deeply. "You're the only one. The others are still mad at me."

"Did you apologize?"

"I did, yes." Luster then had a thought and shot up to her feet. "Brutus, you're amazing!" She exclaimed, before she took off.

The yak watched her almost knock over Lyra and Bon Bon. "I know."

Starlight trotted into the throne room where Twilight was getting ready to turn in for the night. "Starlight?" The princess asked.

The purple unicorn trotted down the carpet towards the alicorn. "Sorry to bother you so late."

"I assume whatever you told the guards was really important, so... what is it?"

"Eve came to me," Starlight explained, stopping a couple feet away. "She asked me about Chrysalis and why she hated me. When I told her why, it... seemed like she was sympathetic towards Chrysalis."

Twilight thought for a moment. "Then, she's either Chrysalis, or... a supporter?"

"Either way, I think she's dangerous."

"Be absolutely certain, Starlight. She could just be curious."

The unicorn nodded. "I'll keep you posted. Good night, Twilight."

Twilight smiled. "Good night, Starlight."

Luster put her pencil down and looked over her plan of action. “This will surely show them all that I’m sorry.”

She got up from her desk and blew the candle out before heading to bed. As she got comfortable, she stared up at the ceiling and began to imagine a perfect tomorrow, where all her friends forgave her. She smiled and closed her eyes before she drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Silverstream was walking through the halls as students were going to their assigned classes. When she passed by Starlight's class, she caught a glimpse of Eve sitting next to Posey. She kept walking but something felt off to her.

Eve eyed Posey as the other students took their places. "How ya feeling?" She asked.

Posey eyed her. "Uh... Same as ever?"

The hippogriff smiled when Starlight entered the room. "You must really hate her, huh?" She asked, making Posey eye her questioningly. "I'd hate her, too, if she took my family from me."

As Starlight took her place at her desk, her eyes briefly fell on Posey and Eve,

"I don't know what you're talking about," Posey replied.

Eve peeled her eyes from Posey and looked at Starlight again. "Yeah, I'm sure Chrysalis had it coming."

Posey quickly glared at her, which got her another smirk from Eve.

Moss Glow was sitting in a field in the Everfree Forest, looking in her basket. She had collected a bunch of various flowers from the forest, some of which she’s never seen before. As she examined her haul, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

Luster sat down beside her, holding a bouquet of flowers. “So… I found these for ya. The seller in the market said they were somewhat rare, so… I figured you didn’t have these yet?”

The kirin accepted the bouquet and looked over the flowers. They were purple with yellow spots. “You’re right. I don’t have these.”

“They’re also supposed to glow at night, so…”

The kirin looked over at her. “Is this your apology?”

Luster tapped at the ground with her right hoof. “Yeah, I… I’m really sorry, Mossy.”

The kirin gave a very light smile.

Later that day, Silverstream made her way over to Starlight's office and knocked on the door. She heard the unicorn inside tell her to come in, so she did.

"Silverstream," Starlight said with a smile as she rearranged things on her desk. "How can I help you?"

"It's... that hippogriff."

"The hippogriff?" Starlight asked. "Which one?"

"That black-and-yellow one. The one that just started."

"Eve? What about her?"

"I remember a hippogriff like her from my home. She was a loner. Always wandering off and she had this nasty attitude whenever someone tried to be friendly with her."

"Well... it seems like this school is perfect for her."

"Maybe," Silverstream muttered. "But... she seems different now. The lesson's are either working really really fast, or..."

"Or she's faking it."

Silverstream nodded, before she rubbed the back of her head. "A coincidence, right? Her joining right after Chrysalis and the others are freed."

"Are you worried about Cozy Glow?"

The hippogriff sighed. "Not really. I'm sure we can handle her, but... Tirek and Chrysalis?"

"I know. Stay alert. And help me keep an eye on Eve and her friend, Posey."

"Her... friend?"

"She's been seen hanging around a pink unicorn named Posey, who also joined recently."

"I don't like this, Starlight."

The unicorn nodded. "I don't like this, either."

Luster and Mossy parted ways in Ponyville, waving bye to each other as each one headed for their home. She had spent more time with Moss Glow than she had planned, but she was glad she did. She knew the kirin really liked flowers, just like Brutus really liked hats, but she didn’t know how much. She heard plant names she’s never heard of as well as the scientific name for each one. She felt like she was in plant school. But it also meant that, since Mossy did a lot of talking, they were friends again.

Chrysalis waited for midnight to ensure every creature was asleep. She then teleported herself out of her room and on the front lawn of the school. She glanced around to make sure no one saw her before she ran off. Once she was far enough away, she changed into a pegasus version of herself and took off into the night sky.

She flew back to Crimson's hideout in the Badlands. Upon arrival, she landed and looked around before she entered. She found the red alicorn laying on her back on a rock, still watching the surrounding lands with her smoke magic.

"Anything to report?" Crimson asked without looking.

"They're looking for the changeling queen at the school," Chrysalis explained as she changed back to her normal self. "Even one of the students is on to me."

Crimson lifted her head up to look at the changeling. "Will she squeal on you?"

"Unsure. Can't you see what's going on in there?"

Crimson scoffed. "There's so much friendship in that school, I can't see anywhere near it. That's why you make the perfect spy."

"I thought the school was Cozy's thing. Speaking of... are you really letting that child work with us? You do know she plans on wiping out all magic, right?"

Crimson chuckled. "Of course I do, silly. With Tirek's help, however... we can rework that spell so that all the magic goes to me." Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. "And I'll make sure the spell doesn't affect you, okay?"

Chrysalis sighed. "Whatever. Just hurry up, will you? All this friendship is making me sick."

Crimson looked at her with vacant eyes. "Past trauma?"

Chrysalis jumped back. "You stay out of my head!"

The alicorn chuckled. "Don't worry. I won't go rummaging around in there. Besides, it doesn't take a super sleuth to see that you. are. messed. up."

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes but said nothing. She just turned and trotted away, before she changed back into the pegasus version of herself. When she left the cave, she came to a sudden stop and her eyes went wide. Standing there with a smirk on her beak was Eve.

"Funny," the hippogriff said. "I thought you were a unicorn."

TO BE CONTINUED

Eve of Despair

A young, black seapony filly with yellow hooves, fins, mane, and eyes quickly swam through the ocean away from Equestria, her tears mixing in with the water. "I don't need friends," she grumbled to herself.

She continued to swim until she found an island miles away from Equestria. She knew she probably wasn't even in Equestria anymore. And she was one for exploring. She swam up to the surface and jumped out of the water, changing into her hippogriff form and landing on the solid land. It was full of trees and had a large mountain in the center of the island. There was a dark cloud over the mountain, making it look rather ominous. But the young hippogriff didn't care.

She left the sandy shore of the island and pushed her way through bushes as she made her way further into the island. She didn’t see or hear any wildlife. The only ambient noises were the rustling of leaves as the wind blew past.

The hippogriff soon found herself in a clearing near a large mountain. Before her was a cave that led inside. The hippogriff made her way inside and found a pathway spiraling up the inside of the mountain. At the top was an opening that overlooked an eerie-looking castle sat atop another mountain. A stone bridge connected the opening to the castle. The hippogriff slowly made her way across the bridge. When she was about halfway, she let out a gasp and jumped back as a magic bolt struck where she was standing. A purple alicorn with curly white twin-tails landed in front of her.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?!" The alicorn demanded.

The hippogriff narrowed her eyes and took a step forward. "You almost hit me!" She shouted angrily.

The alicorn raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry?"

"You better be!"

"You 've certainly got a mouth on you, little one."

The hippogriff looked past the alicorn at the castle. "Do you actually live in there?"

"Of course. Why?"

The hippogriff shrugged. "It's cool."

The alicorn then smiled lightly. "Say... Would you happen to be from Equestria?"

"Yeah?"

"Hmm... My name is Opaline Arcana. Yours?"

The hippogriff eyed her suspiciously. "Eve."

"Would you like to come inside?"

"And then she brought me inside and gave me this necklace," Eve explained as she held up her gemstone.

Crimson leaned in with a smirk. "An opal. a precious opal, to be exact. So, she enchanted this to detect magic and that's how you found Chrysalis out?"

"That. And I picked up on her interest in Starlight."

Crimson stood upright. "And what did you hope to gain by following Chrysalis here?"

"I was hoping if I helped you, you'd help me."

Crimson was about to reply before her eyes fell back on the opal necklace. "Opaline trusted you. I don't see why I can't give you a shot. Besides, having two of you at the School will be much more useful. Though, you two should probably head back before anypony notices."

Chrysalis, still disguised as Posey, eyed the hippogriff before she turned and trotted away. Eve noticed and quickly trotted after her. As they left, Cozy and Tirek walked up behind Crimson.

"Can we really trust her?" Asked Cozy.

"Doesn't matter. If she betrays me, it'll be the last thing she does." Crimson then turned around and stopped suddenly, her eyes falling on the filly. "What's your name again?"

Cozy frowned. "It's... Cozy Glow."

"Oh. Right," Crimson muttered, before she made a disgusted "Ugh" sound as she trotted away.

Chrysalis and Eve returned to the school under the cover of night. "Don't think this makes us..." Chrysalis began.

"Friends?" Eve finished. "Don't worry. I prefer the term... partner."

The changeling shrugged. "Works for me. Now get to bed and say nothing. Crimson isn't a pony you want to upset. Trust me."

"Are you scared of her?"

"Everyone should be scared of her," Chrysalis said before she teleported back to her room, leaving the hippogriff alone.

Luster sat up in her bed and quickly trotted over to her game plan she had on her desk. "Alright. Sundial and... Shade." She sighed heavily and looked out the window. "Today's gonna be interesting."

Posey left her dorm and turned around to see Eve standing there. "Um... What do you want?"

"I was just wondering," the hippogriff said as the two began walking to their class. "Are you ever gonna show me the real you?"

"We're at school," Posey said as she looked around to see if any creature was listening to them. "In a public place. I'm not risking it."

"What about when we go back to our private place?" Eve asked. "You know, our... hideout?"

Posey glared at her. "Would you like to keep it down?"

"Would you like to answer the question?"

Posey sighed. "Fine. Tonight."

Eve smiled. "Cool."

Luster found Sundial and Shade by the music shop. When they noticed her, they stopped their conversation. "Uh-oh," the griffin said with a smile. "I think she wants to try another apology."

"Ha ha ha," Luster said as she trotted up to them. "Actually, I've been thinking."

"Oh, we're really in trouble," the stallion said.

Luster ignored him. "I have figured that everyone requires different methods of apology. For example, I think Sunny, here, just needs time and you, Shade... I betrayed your trust so I need to get you to trust me again."

"Really?" Shade asked. "Any ideas?"

"Absolutely none. Because I didn't simply betray your trust. I could've gotten you all killed. There's nothing I can do to make it up to you. No amount of time can fix that. But I'm gonna keep trying. I'm gonna be the best friend you've ever had."

Shade chuckled and trotted up to her. "No need to get obsessive. I forgive you."

Luster went wide-eyed. "What, really?"

"Yeah, why not?" Sundial asked with a shrug.

"W... How come?" Luster asked. "What'd I do?"

Shade smiled. "You clearly feel bad and are trying really hard. That shows you care."

"Exactly," Sundial added with a nod.

"I came to you crying in the night," Luster said plainly. "In the rain."

"True," the griffin said with a smile. "But you were caught up in the moment. You've had to calm down since them. Now, don't think you've earned my trust back. But you can stop trying to get an apology out of me, okay?"

Luster smiled and nodded. "Okay."

"Good. Now... wanna help me pick out a drum set?"

Luster gasped happily with a wide smile.

Celestia and Luna flapped their wings as they soared through the sky side-by-side. "Anything yet?" Luna asked.

"Nothing."

"Maybe she is biding her time? If so, I think we should land and rest. We have been flying for hours."

Celestia sighed and nodded. "You're right. I just hope Crimson doesn't try anything while we aren't looking."

Silverstream entered the throne room as Twilight stood up from her throne. "Silverstream. Welcome."

"Starlight said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes. She said you mentioned that you knew Eve?"

"I remember a hippogriff like her from back home. That's it."

"Has she told you about Cozy Glow and the other two?"

Silverstream nodded. "She told me everything before she sent me here."

"I need you and the other five to be prepared for anything. Cozy now has the support of one of the most dangerous alicorn's we've ever faced. I want to keep this hush-hush. Just for now. We don't want to start a panic."

"I understand. I'll go tell the others immediately."

"And... tell the teachers, too. Just no students. And try and make sure Posey or Eve aren't around when you do."

The hippogriff nodded. "So, that's why you wanted to see me here."

"Yes. We can't trust either of them. Not until we know for sure."

"Of course."

Posey sat in Fluttershy's class with a bunny on her desk, smiling at her. "This is torture."

"It's not so bad," a mare next to her said as she nuzzled her bunny. "They're really cute." She was a purple pegasus with spiky white mane and tail. Her green eyes moved from the bunny to the pony next to her. "You don't like bunnies?"

"I don't like... cute things," Posey said as she stared at the bunny.

"That's weird. But that's what this place helps with."

"Why must I like cute things?"

The pegasus shrugged. "It's really supposed to help loosen you up. Get you relaxed so you aren't so tense. You could make more friends if you were a little more... calm?"

Posey sighed and eyed her before she looked at her bunny. "Hi, there, you... cute... little... creature," she said through clenched teeth. The bunny squeaked happily. "Looking at you... doesn't make me want to throw up in my mouth."

"That's... a start. I guess. I'm Violet Skies. Some call me Vi Sky, but... most just call me Violet."

Chrysalis eyed her. "Posey."

"Well, Posey. Nice to meet ya." Violet then went back to her bunny.

Chrysalis kept her eyes on the pegasus before she returned them to her own bunny. With a sigh, she reached a hoof out and gently rubbed the bunny's head.

That afternoon, Luster sat with Shade by the big tree in the Prairies while the griffin played her guitar. "So..." Luster began. "Gonna try the drums tonight?"

"Probably tomorrow," Shade answered as she strummed away with a mellow, calming tune. Luster looked up at the stars. It was a cloudless night and the stars shown brightly in the sky. Shade eyed her as she played. "What's on your mind?"

"Everything. Crimson. Twilight. Chrysalis. Tirek. My friends. There's a lot happening and it's all happening at once."

The griffin nodded. "Yeah, I... I know this must be pretty stressful for you. Bein' the princess' prized student and bein' expected to deal with this threat. I'll try and be more supportive, but... if it comes down to a fight... I don't have any magic."

"I know. I don't expect you or the others to stand up to Crimson. Just... don't leave me alone."

Shade stopped playing. She gently set her guitar down before she put an arm around the unicorn. Luster leaned against her. "I'm not goin' anywhere."

Starlight, Silverstream, Gallus, Smolder, Sandbar, Yona, and Ocellus were all gathered inside the old Ponyville castle's throne room. "I can't believe they're back," Gallus said. "And Cozy Glow."

"Without the Tree Of Harmony, there are no Elements, right?" Ocellus asked worriedly.

"True," Starlight said. "The physical Elements are gone. But, remember, the power they had resides in you six. Until it's officially passed down, that is."

"How do we do that without the Tree?" Silverstream asked. "Wasn't it the Tree that gave us this power?"

"Also true," Starlight replied with a sigh. "I'm going to investigate the site of the Tree tomorrow. See if there's anything there to help us. But no one's seen anything in thirty years."

"Maybe with Crimson back..." Smolder began.

Starlight nodded. "The Tree was always there for Twilight and her friends in the past. Now that there's another threat... perhaps we can find a way to bring the Tree back."

"That seem like big if," Yona pointed. "If this no work... we're all doomed."

"Oh, don't feel so down, Yona," Sandbar said with a reassuring smile. "Sure, times look tough. But we have each other. Not to mention Luster Dawn. We'll be fine."

"I hope Sandbar right."

"What should we do?" Asked Smolder.

"For now?" Starlight started. "Keep an eye on Eve and Posey. Report anything. Be cautious. If Posey is Chrysalis, and she finds out we're on to her, she could attack and endanger the other students."

"What if we find out for sure she's Chrysalis?" Asked Gallus. "How do we confront her safely?"

"Either way, the other students are in danger," Sandbar added.

"Let's just take this one step at a time," Starlight said as she looked around at all of them.

Ocellus let out a sigh. "I think I have a plan. But I'm not going to like it."

This made everyone turn to look at her.

Posey and Eve landed outside Crimson's cave before they both entered to see the red alicorn stretching as she stood up. "What's up with you?" Asked the changeling.

"I'm heading out," Crimson said as she approached them.

"Out?" Asked Posey. "Aren't the princesses looking for you?"

"I was watching them. They seem to be taking a break. My patience has worked. Good night, you two," she cooed, before she shot off out of the cave in a burst of smoke.

Posey and Eve eyed each other, the hippogriff's smile widening. "Well?" Eve asked.

Posey sighed and, in a pillar of green magic, changed back into her changeling form. Eve gasped loudly. "Wow! You're cool-looking."

"I don't know about..."

"And you have holes in your legs! Would you feel it if I shoved something through them?"

Chrysalis sighed. "This is going to be a long night."

Luster awoke the next morning, feeling pretty good at her friendship progress. After she showered and made breakfast, she went to sit at the kitchen table to eat her food. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. She set her fork down and swallowed what was in her mouth before she went to see who it was. She let out a sigh as she opened the front door.

"How can I help..." She began to ask, before she stopped, her eyes going wide.

"Good morning," Crimson Ash greeted. "May I come in?"

TO BE CONTINUED

Dust to Dust

Celestia and Luna awoke in their home at Silver Shoals. They shared a bedroom but they each had their own bed. Celestia had white sheets with suns all over it while Luna had black sheets with crescent moons. Luna was up first and stretched as she let out a yawn. As she hopped out of her bed, Celestia sat up in her own bed. "Well... back to monitoring?" The white alicorn asked with a yawn.

"Of course," Luna said with a smile. "I hope nothing's happened while we were asleep."

Luster Dawn stood in her doorway, her eyes wide and her pupils dilated as she stared at the red alicorn at her doorstep. "Uhhhhhh..." she said, her eyes darting left and right as she tried to see if any other ponies saw her.

Crimson looked around, too. "Oh, don't mind them. They're all seeing me as an orange unicorn about your height. May I come in?"

"Come in?" Luster asked. "You're... You're trying to..."

Crimson sighed heavily, interrupting the stammering mare. "I have no intentions of hurting you. Yet."

"Then why are you at my house?!"

"I wanted to get to know you. Simple."

"Simple?! You're the enemy!"

Crimson chuckled. "Doesn't mean I can't get to know my opponent. See what makes you tick. And what ticks you off."

"You're ticking me off."

"Shame, that," Crimson said, this time, her voice sounding like it was coming from behind.

Luster gasped and whipped around to see the alicorn standing in her kitchen, looking at a picture of Luster and her mom on the wall. She looked back outside to see no one. She groaned and closed the door. "Fine," she said in an irritated tone. "Please, come in."

"Oh, thank you so much," Crimson cooed as she turned to the pink mare.

"Shall I make you some eggs? Veggie bacon? Or do you prefer real bacon?"

Crimson smiled. "Cute. I actually wouldn't mind some bacon and eggs." Luster raised an eyebrow. "Veggie bacon."

"Please, have a seat," Luster said through gritted teeth.

Posey trotted through the school, heading to her Loyalty class. As she entered the classroom, she saw Violet stretching. When the purple mare spotted her, she waved. Posey sighed and trotted over to her. She didn't view her as a friend, of course, but she was the only pony she knew in this class.

"Violet," she greeted.

"Hiya, Posey. How ya doin' today?"

"Fine," Chrysalis replied plainly. "You seem... full of... energy."

"Thank you," Violet said with a nod. "I am. I'm a morning pony."

"I can see that."

"I know we just met, but... I really hope w can become friends."

Posey raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"You seem really cool. And nice. Do you... not want to be my friend?"

Posey opened her mouth to say something, but ended up closing it and looking away. When Violet was about to say something, Rainbow Dash, Smolder, and Scootaloo entered the room. When Smolder spotted Posey, she smiled and waved. Posey forced herself to smile and wave back.

"Alright, every creature," Rainbow announced. "Class is in session."

Luster dropped a plate in front of the alicorn. On it was the veggie bacon and eggs. She even slid a glass of orange juice next to the plate. "Please. Enjoy."

"You're too kind," Crimson said as she picked up her fork and knife with her magic. "It had been a while since I had a real meal." She cut some of her egg and ate it before she brought a piece of bacon to her mouth. After she swallowed her egg, she bit half of the bacon and chewed. "Mmm..." She swallowed. "You're a good cook, Luster."

"It's bacon and eggs," Luster said as she sat at the table across from the red alicorn. Aren't you at all worried that Celestia, Luna, and Celestia might know you're here?"

Crimson cut more of her egg and eyed her. "Oh, they fell asleep. That's when I snuck into town." She smiled and ate more of her egg.

"Of course they did," Luster muttered.

Crimson sipped some of her orange juice with a smile. She set the glass down with a sigh. "Hmm... You don't trust your mentors?"

"It's not that. It's just my luck."

"That's right," Crimson cooed as she picked up the other half of the bacon she started. "You always said you had bad luck."

"I never told you that."

The alicorn chuckled as she swallowed her bacon. "You didn't have to. I saw it when I was in your head." She said as she picked up her knife and pointed it at the unicorn. "You were always bad at making friends, weren't you? One, in particular, scarred you, didn't she? Made you put off friendship until you became Twilight's student."

Luster's eyes narrowed. "Shut up."

Crimson just smirked.

Rainbow had her class gathered outside near a somewhat tall stage. "Alright, class. Trust falls!"

"Gimme a break," Posey muttered.

"Aw, come on," Violet said with a smile. "This'll be fun."

"Who wants to go first?" Rainbow asked.

Violet nudged Posey. "You go. I'll catch."

The disguised changeling eyed the pegasus. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Go. Come on, don't be scared."

Posey's eyes narrowed. "I'm scared of nothing." She then raised her hoof.

"Great!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Come on up."

Posey left the group and made her way up on the stage. She then took her place at the edge of the stage and looked down. She was about five feet off the ground. Hitting the hard bottom would only slightly hurt. Nothing too dangerous. She sighed as she saw Violet raise her hoof.

"I wanna catch!" Violet announced.

"Go for it," Rainbow said with a chuckle.

The violet pegasus pranced up to the front of the stage and got ready. "Okay. Fall backwards."

Posey eyed her and looked down at the ground. She closed her eyes as she turned around. Memories of the past with her and her changeling siblings rushed through her head. Not wanting to look weak, or frightened, she quickly stood up on her hind legs and fell backwards. Instead of slamming into the ground, she felt someone catch her. Opening her eyes, she saw that Violet was hovering a foot off the ground. With a smile, the pegasus lowered her back down to the ground.

"Great work, girls!" Rainbow cheered.

Posey turned to Violet, who was just smiling at her.

Crimson finished her meal and washed the food down with the last of her juice. "That was a lovely meal." Her eyes then fell on the unicorn. "If you weren't fated to become a powerful unicorn, I may have taken you in as my personal chef."

"There are better options out there."

"Perhaps. But you're fun. Now, are you sure you don't wanna talk about... oh, what's her name?"

"I'd prefer not," Luster practically growled.

"Fine. Then, let's talk about you. And you're horrible grasp at friendship. From what I've seen, you are bad at understanding the core values of friendship."

"What do you know about friendship?" Luster snapped. "I bet you've never had any friends!"

Crimson's smile faded as her own eyes narrowed into a scowl. "You don't know anything about me," she said, her teeth appearing more sharp than before.

Luster gulped in fear as she leaned back in her chair.

Posey left the Loyalty classroom before Violet caught up to her. "I had fun today, Posey. See ya tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Sure," Posey said, before Violet pranced off. Posey stopped and stood there as Violet rounded a corner and disappeared. "See ya."

Eve walked up beside her with a smile. "Making friends, bug?"

Posey glared at her. "Of course not. And don't call me bug," she said as she continued walking.

"Fine," Eve cooed as she followed. "Getting any closer to Starlight?"

Posey sighed. "With her and her friends watching us, I need to play along. I'm not sure for how long, but if it takes any longer I may snap."

"Ooo, I hope I'm there to see it," Eve said with a chuckle. "Are you as powerful as you were before?"

Posey shook her head. "I need to feed. But I haven't had the time to."

"Well, get to it, Posey. We got work to do."

Posey watched the hippogriff walk off before she stopped in thought. She thought back to when she first met Violet and to just a moment ago when Violet caught her. The entire time they were together, she felt a surge of magic within her, as if she was being fed love. "Interesting."

Crimson stood up quickly, making Luster stumble backwards and knocking over her chair. The alicorn's eyes started to glow as the room was filled with a black smoke. Luster looked around as she lost sight of the alicorn. Her breathing intensified and she felt like she was hyperventilating.

"You know what?" Came Crimson's voice. "Let's take a look at that friend who ruined you."

"No!" Luster shouted. "Not that one!"

When she whipped around again, she saw a shy-looking brown pegasus filly with a long white mane. She was sitting in a puddle of mud as a sigh escaped her mouth. The bushes behind her rustled, making her gasp. Her sudden movements caused the mud to splash, dirtying her even more. A pink unicorn filly with a yellow mane stepped through the brush and gasped.

"W-What happened?" She asked, moving closer to the dirty filly. The brown pegasus averted her eyes and said nothing. "It's those bullies again, wasn't it?" She asked, getting a small nod. "Come on, Ginger. Let me help you out of there."

"You started off so well, didn't you?" Crimson cooed.

Luster clenched her teeth as she lit up her horn. She then remembered she was still in her home and a stray magic attack could hurt somepony outside. "Stop it."

The eerie figures changed and now depicted the brown and pink ponies talking.

"They usually attack me on my way to school," the brown filly said sadly.

The pink unicorn smiled and put a foreleg around her. "Don't worry. Tomorrow, I'll walk you to school, okay?"

The pegasus smiled. "Okay. Thank you, Luster."

Tears began to fill the pink mare's eyes. "Stop it!"

"But, why?" Asked Crimson. "The best part is yet to come."

The young Luster Dawn left her house late due to oversleeping and ran down the path towards school. She soon came across the bullies pushing her pegasus friend through a line of bushes, laughing.

"Hey!" Luster yelled, making the bullies scatter as she lit up her horn.

When she got to the bushes, she pushed her way through to see that they were hiding a steep hill. She could see the brown filly resting on her back at the bottom.

"Ginger!" Luster shouted down, before she checked the slope.

She knew she would slide right down. After taking a deep breath, she braced herself and stepped forward. Sure enough, she slid all the way down while she kicked with her forehooves to try and slow herself down. She failed and tripped at the bottom, falling on her face. She grunted and stood up to see her friend lying on the ground, staring up at the sky.

"Ginger?" Luster asked, running over to her.

Her friend looked at her, tears in her eyes. "I can't feel my wings."

Luster went wide-eyed. "W... What?"

"Where were you? You promised to walk me to school."

The young Luster fell on her flanks and stared at her injured friend. "I... I..."

The older Luster let out a yell of frustration. "STOP IT!!!"

"Oh, fine," Crimson sighed as the smoke cleared, leaving the two standing in the unicorn's kitchen. Luster fell on her flanks just as her younger self did. "You shut off all friends after that, didn't you? You were afraid to fail them just as you failed Ginger. What makes these new ponies any different?"

Luster just stared blankly ahead. "I'm a bad friend."

"The worst, apparently." Crimson trotted over to Luster and put a hoof on her back. "You were always bad at friendship. You will always be bad at friendship. So, I'll make you a deal, little Luster. Join me. Become my little assistant pony. Share your magic with me. And I won't destroy you like the others."

Luster looked up at her. "What?"

"I know. It surprises me, too, but you're just way too interesting to absorb. So, you can either join me and and share that potent magic of yours... or you can join the rest of your friends at the receiving end of my wrath. Think it over, Luster," Crimson said as she left the pink unicorn's home, casually trotting through the town towards the exit.

Luster just kept sitting there. "I'm a bad friend," she repeated.

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Note

This concludes the first half. The second half will continue here once I have enough written. Stay tuned to my blogs to be notified when the rest will be published.