Starlight's Story

Starlight's Story: Violent Change

 I snapped awake and turned to look at the sky. The moon was retreating behind the distant hills and the stars faded from view. Then I heard a pop and turned to find Nat-mo standing behind me breathing heavy as sparkles floated about her.

"You got here quick." I said, getting out of my bed and approaching her.

"Yup." She replied, taking out Stellar Sights and Their Origins. "You need to absorb as much as you can from this book, so I'm going to help you."

"But I thought you can't read the text." I replied, cocking my head in confusion.

"I can't, but I know a spell that can put you into a book, and allows you to absorb information really fast. I've developed a strategy we can try to defeat the Dark Royals, but if you knew more about how your abilities work, I can make it more fool-proof." She explained, her horn starting to glow.

"Umm...the Dark Royals?" I asked.

"Oh! It's a name I came up with for the Queen of Corruption and the King of Fear. Their names are too wordy." She joked.

"Yeah, okay." I replied, sticking my tongue out.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Sure." I replied. A flash of turquoise light and I was among the text. Diagrams, pictures and information floated about me. When the spell ended I had a deeper understanding of my abilities than anything else I had ever known. I gained power from ponies being in Dreamworld or dreaming in their subconscious, and, likewise, Nat-mo gained power from ponies being in the Thought Plain, or being awake and creating ideas and thoughts in their consciousness. We discovered that the Dark Royals could gain power by reading off of ponies' fear, rage and jealousy and take over their minds and hearts against their will, and, most unfortunately, that no matter what the personality, the ponies would fall to fear or corruption. By the Dark Royals working together, they could bring anypony under their control.

Not knowing what time the royals would strike, more specifically which of us would have the most power when the time came, we planned and discussed how to use our abilities to keep each other safe while dealing with the two. By the time we felt prepared it was noon. Nat-mo decided that it was pointless to waste energy seeking the Dark Royals out. They knew where we were and would come to us. We stepped out of my tree house and clopped to the middle of the prairie with bravery, sitting down to wait the two out, confident in each other's abilities. We were ready. Without a doubt.

We sat there for hours without intrusion. Then there was rustling in the woods, as all of the trees shook and an eerie cold started to envelop us. We both stood, flank to flank, looking for the enemy.

"Umm...S-Sta-Star-Starlight?" Nat-mo stuttered. I slowly turned to look at what she was looking at. I followed her gaze up to the sky and watched as the moon rose, and slowly made its way up in front of the sun, creating the illusion of a dark sky with a red ring scorched into the middle where the sun and moon had been moments before. I suddenly felt all Dream energy fade. I watched as even my coat seemed to dim. The ghostly wind continued, making the trees whisper. I galloped forward and jumped into the air, only to fall harshly back onto the ground, my mane in my face now colorless, drained of its yellow and blue highlights. I paled. I was already light grey, so I must've looked pure white.

"I-I-can't...f-fly?" I said in shock. I looked to Nat-mo, who was struggling to use the same horn she's had all her life, only to achieve mere sparks. The color of her coat and mane faded until it matched the shade of her sweater, and her mane matched the color of her glasses. Her ears folded down as she turned and looked at me with the widest eyes. I returned her look and turned to look behind me to see movement in the sky, clouds started to turn black and disperse across the land.

"N-nightmares." I whispered.

Rumbling was heard off in the distance, Canterlot shuttering as large pillars of dark crystal overtook the Princesses' castle. I was frozen, I couldn't think, let alone move. Nat-mo and I moved together, shaking from what we were witnessing. A low rumbling started coming from the town and trees started shaking from the force. A large mass of ponies emerged, their eyes glowing a harsh crystal blue.

"The mark of corruption." Nat-mo said, as we shakily lowered into the tall grass to hide. They clopped forward and stopped, staring straight ahead. I could recognize Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, Pinkie Pie, Miss Rose, Miss Cheerilee, the mare from the apple cart, all of the residents of Ponyville.

"M-maybe they hadn't s-seen us yet..." She whimpered. I was two horrified to reply. Then four figures emerged from the distant castle, carrying a large slab of crystal. When they neared their forms were revealed. The four princesses, chained with crystal harnesses flew the slab down onto the grass in front of the mob. On the slab sat two elegant dark red and crystal blue thrones, on the thrones sat two smoky beings, one of a black stallion, and the other a dark blue mare, who were staring down at us with toothy grins.

"N-nope. They see us." I squeaked.

"Seize them!" The mare roared, the mob surged forward, and we turned and screamed as we were pursued by pounding hooves. I panicked as we ran right for the Everfree Forest, a place where no philly ever dared to go. When we entered the woods Nat-mo's sweater snagged on a branch. Out of desperation for my friends safety, I grabbed her mane in my mouth and pulled, forcing her along side me. As we ran through the thickets the rumbling stopped, and shadow ponies took chase instead, seeming to force us straight ahead. When we emerged we found our selfs approaching the cliff to Ghastly Gorge.

Nat-mo slammed on the beaks, skidding us to a stop. We turned to watch as the town emerged from the woods and the princesses lowered the Dark Royals in front of us. Nat-mo and I hugged each other, our vision of success becoming a distant memory. The colt stepped down from his podium and stamped his hoof, causing a crystal wall to rise between us, separating us from each other, I galloped forward to move around it when the mare stepped down, stamped her hoof, and caused familiar black vines to come up from the ground and wrap around my limbs and mouth, inhibiting movement and speech. She moved towards me and reached for my forehead. I struggled against the restraints, but it was to no avail, I closed my eyes and prayed to the stars that it was all just a dream, then everything went white.