Too Many Problems
Much time has passed since Prince Lunar Nights and Princess Twilight Sparkle were reunited. Things have slowed down to a point of normality and neither pony could have wanted it any other way. At the present moment, both ponies were busy with their royal duties. Princess Celestia knew that the two always worked together on pretty much everything and often times assigned both of them dual duties for them to complete together. Currently, Twilight and Lunar were hosting delegates from Saddle Arabia as they tried renewing a peace treaty between the two larger kingdoms in the world.
The delegates were pleased with the hospitality that Twilight and Lunar had offered and were in a much pleasant mood as they compromised for a new treaty. The new treaty called for twenty years of peace and gracious hospitality – if it were needed in a drastic catastrophe against Saddle Arabia – and left the delegates eager to agree on the spot, to which they did.
Twilight and Lunar beamed brightly with delight. They knew that Princess Celestia would be proud of their achievements and even more proud that the delegates agreed to the new treaty. They all signed the treaty together and immediately sent it to Princess Celestia for approval. Twilight turned to the delegates and thanked them both for their agreement and for making the journey to the far away Ponyville. The delegates both smiled in response and acknowledged Twilight's comment, saying that the pleasure was all theirs. Twilight smiled and noticed the treaty come back with Princess Celestia's seal of approval; the treaty was ratified.
After thanking the delegates once more, the two alicorns escorted them to their train and wished them a happy Hearth's Warming as they both traveled back to Saddle Arabia to deliver the good news to their subjects. As for Twilight and Lunar however, once the delegates were finally gone from sight, they both left the station for home again, tired and ready for bed.
As both ponies entered their room together, Lunar rested himself on his side of the bed. As for Twilight, she left the room for a brief moment and towards a washroom. She was in a very happy mood and wanted to let Lunar know it – again – but knew he was very tired and exhausted from all the compromising that was done today.
Twilight went into the washroom and noticed her medicine cabinet lurking over the crystalized sink. She opened it up and skimmed between the common items – cough medicine, allergy relief, toothpaste – while stopping her eyes on the very last item she had on the bottom shelf: a pregnancy test. She and Lunar had a little fun a few nights ago and she was curious as to what the result may be. She took it, eager for the results.
Back inside the bedroom, Lunar had nearly fallen into a deep sleep. He wanted to wait for Twilight to return so they could fall asleep together, but he was growing more and more tired by the second. As he was closing his eyes, he heard Twilight scream from down the hall, calling out his name. Lunar was surprised by the sudden sound and rushed out of the bed and towards Twilight. He wanted to see if she were alright and the scream was just a false alarm.
Lunar arrived at the washroom a couple of moments later and saw that Twilight was jumping up and down with joy. This confused Lunar, leaving him to ask what Twilight was beaming with delight about.
"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh!" Twilight squeaked.
"What," continued Lunar, "what is it?"
Twilight showed Lunar the pregnancy test and was even more excited now. "We're gonna have a baby!"
"W-We are!?" Lunar gasped, exchanging glances between the positive test and Twilight. He found it difficult to conjure up the correct words. "D-Does that mean…?"
"You're going to be a father!" Twilight beamed, hugging Lunar tightly.
"And you're going to be a mother!" Lunar smiled, hugging Twilight back just as tight.
"Our very own family, Lunar!" Twilight cried happily. "I can't wait for it!"
"Neither can I, Twily," Lunar replied, "neither can I."
The next day, Twilight and Lunar invited all of their friends into the castle for the big announcement. They were both eager to declare Twilight's pregnancy and were even more eager to see how their friends would react to the news. Rarity was the first to arrive, closely followed by Reticent, Orange Apple, Princess Cadance, and Pinkie Pie. They were all greeted happily and wanted to know why they were called.
"Wait until the others come, Orange Apple," Twilight smiled, "the news will be spectacular with all of you here together."
"Alright, Twi," Orange Apple smirked.
Immediately thereafter, the others joined in, as if they were summoned on cue. Lightning Dash, Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia all flew in from Canterlot, standing next to Reticent in a long line that ranged from one end of the room to the other. Eager to get things started, Twilight bounced happily up and down in place. Princess Cadance smiled, asking what it was that Twilight wanted to tell everyone.
"Everypony," Twilight began, "hold on to your hooves because we have something very special we wish to tell you all."
"What is it, Twilight?" Reticent quietly asked.
"Well-"
"Ooh, ooh!" Pinkie Pie gasped. "Is it super amazing, awesomerific news!?"
"Well, Pinkie," Lunar smiled, "the reason we've called you all here today is because…"
"Because what!?" Pinkie Pie responded, trying to contain her excitement.
"We're having a baby!" Twilight declared to everyone.
The others were shocked to hear the news, but were also very happy for Twilight and Lunar. Princess Cadance hugged Twilight for an extended time and told her that her brother would be proud of her and for all of her accomplishments she's done over the years. Twilight cried tears of joy as everyone congratulated both her and Lunar for their incredible gift.
"When are you due?" Rarity asked.
"Seven months, Rarity," Twilight answered happily.
"Oh, I'm so happy for you, Twilight," Rarity continued, crying tears of joy with Twilight.
"We are too, Rarity," Twilight replied, hugging Lunar tightly.
The group celebrated with Twilight and Lunar for the whole day and were all excited to welcome in the new child to the wonderful world of Equestria in the near future.
Over the next few months, Twilight had begun to develop a belly for her child. She soon found performing royal duties more and more difficult as time progressed. Eventually, she was grounded in her bed with Lunar dealing with most of the duties on his own. When available, Twilight had her friends help her out and take care of her a bit. It was a lot of work, but both Twilight and Lunar looked past them and towards the future for the end result: a family.
Twilight sighed greatly, exhausted from carrying her child for the last several months, but she was still very happy with her life. Lunar would also help Twilight feel better after his royal duties were complete. He was very excited to welcome in the new child to the family, whom was due any day now. Things have been long for the royal couple and news was spreading around like wildfire about the baby alicorn.
Lunar smiled and rubbed Twilight's belly once more, feeling the baby kick inside. He was happy about becoming a father and looked at Twilight. Twilight smiled happily as well, enjoying both the feeling of Lunar rubbing her belly and the baby kicking playfully inside of her.
Soon enough, both ponies fell asleep for the night and rested up. The night was very long and tiring, especially for Twilight, who was having her own problems trying to fall asleep. She stared out the window and up towards the sky, watching the billions and billions of tiny stars lighting up the night sky. It was at that moment when Twilight figured out a name for the little foal.
"I'll call you Starry Nights." She whispered to the baby, rubbing her belly softly.
Moments later, Twilight began feeling pain from inside her body. She screamed out in pain and woke up Lunar in a start. Lunar looked over and asked Twilight if everything was alright.
"Ugh," Twilight grunted, "I th-I think the baby is coming, Lunar!"
"Right now!?" Lunar gasped.
"YES!"
"We need to move now!" Lunar called, helping Twilight out as they began to make their way towards the hospital.
The time was almost near to welcome the new royal baby to the world.
At the hospital, Twilight was rushed into a delivery room and was in more pain than she was before she arrived. Lunar, ordered by Twilight herself, stayed out and contacted their friends as the baby was being delivered. It was late at night – almost three in the morning, to be exact – but Twilight's friends understood the situation and came as quickly as they could, hoping that they could witness the birth of the new royal baby.
Lunar was nervous about Twilight. He had never heard her scream out in pain like that before, not even when they faced powerful foes together. He was pacing nervously around in the waiting room, hoping to see Twilight and their new child all fine. Moments later, Twilight's friends arrived in the waiting room and greeted him.
"Evenin', Lunar." Orange Apple said.
"Hello, Orange," Lunar responded, continuing to pace around nervously.
"Is everything okay, Lunar?" Reticent asked.
"I'm nervous about Twilight," Lunar admitted.
"She'll be fine, dear," Rarity assured, "she's dealt with worse before and you've known it."
"I know," continued Lunar, "but I've never heard her scream like that before."
"She's delivering a baby, Your Majesty," Rarity said, "it's a lot more painful than you might think it may be."
"How would you know?" Lunar questioned.
"Because my parents have told me," Rarity answered.
Lunar silenced himself thereafter and continued pacing around in the waiting room, nervous about seeing Twilight and their new baby.
A few moments later, the screaming stopped and all was silent. Lunar looked at the double-wide doors and awaited for Twilight to come through them, holding their child in her hooves. Instead, he saw a doctor come through the doors, approaching him in the process. The doctor was smiling, asking Lunar if he wished to see Twilight.
"Of course," Lunar quickly answered, being escorted by the doctor into the delivery room.
He walked through the double-wide doors and saw Twilight – exhausted and smiling – holding their little foal in her hooves. He smiled, nearing the break of emotional joy, as he approached both Twilight and the new royal baby. He kissed Twilight, then stared at the new child. It had a small horn and tiny wings, as well as a dark coat color and mane. It had specks of white inside a black mane and a coat color that was dark, but lighter than Lunar's coat.
"Congratulations, Princess Twilight and Prince Lunar," the doctor chimed, "your new child is a baby girl."
"Hey there, little one," Lunar whispered.
"She has her father's eyes." Twilight smiled.
"And her mother's beauty." Lunar added.
"What do you wish to name the new princess?"
"I was thinking about naming her Starry Nights." Twilight said.
"Starry Nights…" Lunar repeated.
"Do you like it?"
Lunar glanced at Twilight again, kissing her muzzle. "I love it, Twily."
The two new parents smiled brightly, watching their new bundle of joy flail slightly in Twilight's hooves.
After her birth, Starry Nights was quickly given a crown and a celebration by the royal ponies of Equestria. It was their way of revealing the royal princess to the common pony. Things worked out for a fairly long time and time itself seemed to fly by both Twilight and Lunar.
Soon enough, Starry Nights could walk and talk and even perform magic spells. She was far better than anyone else her age in magic, although her flying abilities could use a bit of help. She definitely takes after her parents, seeing how both of them had trouble flying and still do from time to time.
At school, Starry Nights was a bit of an outcast because of her title and appearance. It wasn't often that the school would come across a young alicorn princess – in fact, they have never come across one – so the other schoolponies teased her about it, especially her flying abilities. Starry Nights often came home and questioned why she was different. Twilight never liked hearing that question, nor did Lunar, but they always answered their daughter the same way.
"You're special, Starry," they told her, "you're a princess, you know."
"How come other ponies don't have both a horn and wings?" Starry Nights asked.
"Because very special ponies have both of them," Lunar would say.
"And you're our special little pony, Star," Twilight smiled.
Starry Nights felt happier after hearing her parents' response. She hugged them both, then left to go play in her room. As for Lunar and Twilight, they began talking amongst themselves quietly. Twilight sighed slightly, looking at Lunar with heavy eyes.
"I'm worried about Star's happiness, Lunar," she admitted to him.
"Why's that?"
"I feel as if she's being picked on for being an alicorn." Twilight explained. "This is the fourth time this year she's questioned about her appearance."
"You're right," he agreed, "but that's what kids do. They're curious about others."
"But enough to pick on them?" protested Twilight. "We don't know how it felt like; we both grew up as unicorns."
"Right…" Lunar answered.
"Should we talk to the class about the rarity of alicorns in Equestria?" Twilight wondered.
"I mean we could," Lunar replied, trailing off at the end.
"Buuut…"
"But what would that bring to Star?" Lunar continued. "She would just be picked on more for being different."
"Maybe the children need to come to terms with the differences." Twilight said. "We need to help Star…I want her to have a happy childhood."
"So do I, Twily," Lunar added, hugging Twilight, "I just want the best for us all."
"I know, Luny," giggled Twilight.
Lunar blushed. "So you wanna walk Star to school tomorrow and we talk to the teacher for a class discussion?"
"Sure thing, Prince." Twilight winked.
"Alrighty, Princess," Lunar chuckled, kissing Twilight on her cheek.
"I see somepony is affectionate." Twilight smirked.
"You started it," laughed Lunar.
"Oh did I now?" Twilight responded, kissing Lunar on his cheek.
Lunar smirked, kissing Twilight on her lips. Twilight giggled, then pulled away from Lunar, staring at him lovingly.
"Gotta work for them, big guy," Twilight winked.
"Oh alright, Princess," Lunar chuckled.
The two lovebirds laughed some more and went to their room for the night.
The next morning, Twilight and Starry Nights walked to school together. Lunar went ahead and flew to the school, asking to give a small lecture to the class on alicorns in Equestria. Starry's teacher agreed and allowed Lunar and Twilight to talk to the class, saying it would be a good lesson for the fillies and colts to learn about.
As more children began flooding the room, they all started discussing amongst each other how cool it was that an alicorn Prince was watching their class. A couple fillies came up to Lunar and said hello to him, to which he returned the favor, smiling and waving back in the process.
Eventually, Twilight showed up with Starry Nights and walked into the classroom together with her. A couple of the children started snickering and pointing at Star, making her feel uneasy and sad on the inside. Twilight noticed this and used her wing to rub Star's back. This made Star feel a bit better, but not much. As soon as Star left Twilight to sit down at her seat, the teacher, Sunny Delight, stepped in front of the class and made a very important announcement.
"Okay class," she smiled, "today we're lucky to have our very own Princess Twilight Sparkle and Prince Lunar Nights come in and discuss the rarity about alicorns in Equestria."
"Ooooh!" rang the students in unison.
"I want you to pay close attention to what they have to say, okay?"
"Okay, Miss Delight," answered the students.
Sunny Delight turned to Twilight and Lunar. "Whenever you're ready, you two." She smiled.
"Thank you, Miss Delight," Twilight replied, "good morning, fillies and colts."
"Good morning, Princess Twilight," the children replied.
Twilight flared her wings. "Who can tell me what these are?" She pointed to her wings.
"Ooh! Ooh!" A small, yellow unicorn was eagerly raising her hoof in the air.
"Yes?" Twilight asked, pointing to the yellow unicorn.
"Those are wings!"
"Very good!" praised Twilight.
Lunar stepped up, "Now who can tell me what this is?" He pointed to his horn.
"I know!" An orange earth pony shouted.
"Can you tell me?"
"That's a horn!"
"Very good." Lunar smiled.
"Now," continued Twilight, "What type of ponies have horns?"
"Unicorns have horns and Pegasus ponies have wings!" A green Pegasus called out.
"That's right!" Lunar smiled.
"And what type of ponies have both?" Twilight asked.
The children in the classroom laid silent. Not a single one knew the answer to it. Truth be told, they know – Starry Nights is one – but they don't know what they're called.
"Alicorns are the ponies that have both a horn and a set of wings." Twilight told the class. Just then, a pink unicorn raised their hoof. Twilight called out to her.
"Why do alicorns have both?" the unicorn asked.
"That's a good question," praised Twilight, "Alicorns have both a horn and wings because they have been born with them. When a pony is born as an alicorn, they are usually related to somepony else of royalty. It is their job to look over all the other ponies in the land and help balance everything across Equestria."
"But what about you, Princess?" Sunny Delight asked.
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.
"Well," continued Sunny Delight, "in our books, you appear to have been written as a unicorn who became an alicorn." She turned to Lunar. "Same goes for you, Prince."
"We were indeed unicorns at birth many years ago," Lunar explained.
"But," continued Twilight, "there is another way a pony can become an alicorn, and that is through years and years of vigorous studying."
"It's harder than it sounds," Lunar added, "Princess Twilight and myself are the only two ponies to have been transformed under those circumstances."
"Can I study with you, Princess?" The pink unicorn from before asked.
"Maybe one day," smiled Twilight.
"So, children," Lunar said, "alicorns are very important to the structure of Equestria. They provide much stability to our fine kingdom."
The two royal ponies stood by in the school for the remainder of the day, watching the little ponies learn and play together. The little ones now understood more of alicorns and now appreciated Starry Nights a little bit more, albeit not much more.
By the time Star got to high school, she was performing some of her royal duties on her own. Unfortunately for her, they required more time than anything else. In her down time, she would study very much, resembling her mother very much. However, she also resembled her father in that she was emotionally unstable. Twilight and Lunar both knew this and tried their best to raise Star around that bump. Unfortunately for them, someone else knew this as well and tried using it to their advantage.
Discord, the Lord of Chaos, often spent time with Star behind her parents' backs. Star knew of the draconequus' past and knew that he could be up to no good at any point, although she never could figure out when Discord was serious and when he was joking unless it was obvious. In fact, they often spent time together. In her earlier years as a filly, Discord would show Star the wonders of magic and how it could be used. Lunar and Twilight always kept a close watch over Discord and his antics, but now that Star was a teenager, that was becoming more difficult to do.
Presently, Star was away in Ponyville conducting a couple of tasks for her father. He had sent her to town to buy him a bouquet of roses – Twilight's favorite flower – for their anniversary that was coming up soon. Lunar was unable to do this himself because his royal duties called him away for the last couple of weeks. Star obliged to the message Lunar sent her and she set out at once. Discord noticed Star leaving the castle and kept close to his friend, hoping she wouldn't notice him.
As Starry Nights entered the town square, she noticed something out of place in the far distance ahead of her. She rubbed her eyes, thinking she was seeing things again. After her vision focused once more, she noticed Discord was standing rather close to her, causing her to move back slightly, startled by the sudden appearance of Discord. She yelped a bit, then laughed. Star liked Discord's sense of humor, even if her parents didn't.
"Hey there, old guy," Star laughed, "how've you been?"
"Oh, y'know," replied Discord, snapping his fingers. He appeared as an elderly pony in front of Starry Nights. "Hangin' in there, kiddo."
Star laughed again. "Oh, Dip-cord, you always know what to do to make me laugh."
"I know, dear Star," Discord said. He then crept closer to Star. "But it doesn't seem like your parents do, don't they?"
"What do you mean?" Star responded, slightly offended by the remark.
"Well, let's think for a second," Discord smirked, staring directly at Star now, "when was the last time you had an enjoyable experience with your parents?"
"Mom and Dad?" Star repeated.
"Yeah, they're the ones. Mommy Twilight and Daddy Lunar." Discord rolled his eyes and put air quotes around "Mommy" and "Daddy."
Star thought for quite some time. Growing up, her parents started spending less and less time with her. Twilight allowed Star to focus on her studies while Lunar continued to show distance between them both. However, these were all due to the amount of royal duties increasing. Star didn't know this yet, but threats were being made against Equestria. Twilight and Lunar opted not to let Star know and protect her, however this took Lunar away from Star and Twilight.
Discord noticed how long it was taking for Star to answer and decided to jump on the opportunity. "Not long ago, huh?"
Star continued to think, but was starting to feel more hurt inside. She wondered where it went wrong between her and her parents, namely Lunar. She hadn't spent too much time with him in the recent years due to his royal duties, but didn't know that it was only to protect her from whoever was responsible for the threats to Equestria. She turned away and started to cry. Discord, knowing Star was in the palm of his claw now, wrapped an arm around Star and comforted her. He smirked behind Star's back, although one couldn't tell that by the sound of his voice.
"There, there, Star," he oozed, "I'm sure they love you. You see them every day, after all."
Star turned her head to face Discord. She had even more tears falling from her eyes now. "I haven't seen Daddy in a long time!"
Discord was shocked, but he knew of Lunar's absence in Ponyville. He continued playing the puppet master to Star. "Oh say it ain't so, Star!"
Star cried, hugging Discord tightly. This made Discord quite uncomfortable. "I miss Daddy Lunar!"
"Whoa, there," Discord responded, splitting his body in two and motioning away from Star. Star fell over, but Discord picked her right back up and smiled at her. "Where is he now?"
"I-I…" Star actually didn't know where Lunar was and Discord knew this well. Staring into Discord's eyes, Star replied. "He didn't tell me, Discord…"
"He didn't tell you!?" Discord wailed. "How awful!"
Star felt herself cry even more. She wasn't too sure of anything anymore. Discord knew this and acted upon it, although Star spoke first.
"Does my Daddy still love me?" Star asked, hoping that it wasn't out loud.
"Oh, I'm sure he does," Discord smirked, "He wouldn't leave you without telling you if he didn't love you…or he may. Who knows? He could've left Twilight and your happiness is the casualty for it. Poor Star…Starry Nights…"
Star grew even sadder now. Her heart was breaking and her emotions were spiraling out of control. As for Discord, he was pleased with himself. Knowing exactly where Lunar was at the present moment, he took Star to see him, although he took her in his way.
Star looked around and noticed they were someplace else. She saw her father standing with another pony – Princess Luna – and saw that he had a wing wrapped around her body in a way that he would do with Twilight. Star was shocked at the notion and wanted to confront Lunar about it, but the way Discord teleported them here, that was impossible.
"She can't find out about this, Luna," Lunar said in a soft voice.
"Agreed," spoke Luna, voice as soft as Lunar's, "she'll be heartbroken if she finds out about this."
Star was in shock while Discord grinned with glory. Looking at Discord, Star spoke to him. "Is Daddy…?"
"Where's the paparazzi when you need 'em!?" Discord laughed.
"Discord!" snapped Star. "This is serious!"
"I know," answered Discord, "so am I!"
"If Daddy is cheating on Mommy…" Star spoke, slowly trailing off at the end. She turned back to Lunar and felt her anger rise tremendously. "How dare he do that to Mom!"
"Why don't you go tell her?" Discord grinned. "Let Mommy Twilight know that her knight in shining armor is betraying her!"
"I can't let Mommy know that." Star said. "But I will let Daddy know not to mess with Monmy!"
"This should be interesting!" Discord smirked.
Moments afterward, Discord lifted his spell of invisibility and hid away from sight. Star started following Lunar and did not allow him to leave her sight. He followed him to a room elsewhere in the castle. Hiding behind a tall mimic tree, she spied on Lunar and Princess Luna. She was shocked when she found Lunar kissing Princess Luna, although she couldn't tell where it was.
"Good night, Luny," giggled Princess Luna.
"Good night, Lulu," Lunar chuckled, watching Princess Luna disappear into her room. He turned around and started patrolling the halls for the night while Star followed close behind.
How dare you cheat on Mommy, Daddy, Star thought as she followed Lunar outside the castle and into the courtyard.
Lunar, unaware of his daughter following him, took in some of the fresh evening air. He felt content and basked in the glory of Luna's night. He stared at the stars and smiled slightly, thinking about what he was doing. Star closely carpet behind Lunar, trying not to think about Lunar and Luna.
"Hope she's okay." Lunar said out loud after a while.
Huh? Star thought, stopping in her tracks. She stared at her father's silhouette and listened closely.
"She means more to me than anything else," continued Lunar, sighing briefly, "Not even Twilight's happiness can make things better. Luna's happiness is more than anything."
"You, bastard!" snapped Star.
Lunar jumped, then turned around to see Star. He went to hug her, but Star forbade. She stared at Lunar, eyeballing him deeply.
"Star!" Lunar exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Finishing you off!" Star shouted, firing off a beam of magic at her father.
Lunar jumped out of the way. "Starry Nights! What in Equestria is your problem!?"
Star ignored her father's question and blasted him away with a wave of dark magic, something her mother told her not to use. Lunar was concerned, hoping that he wasn't losing his daughter to an incompetent fight. He tried getting closer to her, but Star wouldn't allow for it. Instead, she slammed Lunar down with some powerful alicorn magic. Lunar looked into Star's eyes and noticed that he had lost her, but even he forbade from fighting his own child. When given the opportunity, Lunar flew away towards Ponyville, hoping that he could beat Star to Twilight.
Star saw Lunar fly away and immediately chased after him. "Get back here!" she screamed. "I'm not done yet!"
Star bolted into the sky and chased her father all the way to Ponyville. She nearly caught him a few times, but Lunar was smarter when it came to aerial maneuvers. He dodged Star's attempts to grab him enough times to put distance between the two of them.
"Stop running away, Father!" Star called out angrily. Her eyes flashed red. "I just want to hold you!"
Lunar flew into the castle through the bedroom window, waking Twilight in a start. Twilight looked over and saw Lunar, who had crashed into the wall and laid there in a daze. Rushing over to him, Twilight asked what was wrong.
"It's Star," Lunar alerted, "she's-" Lunar was cut off by a beam of magic slamming him back into the wall. Twilight turned and saw who it came from.
"Star!?" Twilight gasped.
"You leave Mommy alone, Father!" Star shouted at Lunar.
"Starry Nights!" Twilight yelled, casting a halting spell on her.
"Let me go, Mommy!" Star grunted. Her eyes were still flashing her abnormal red color.
Twilight would not let go of Star, despite her antics and flailing. Twilight eyed Star and was very angry with her.
"What is the matter with you, young lady?" Twilight scolded. "You don't speak to your father like that!"
"Let me go, Mom," Star called, starting to break free from Twilight's halting spell, "he's planning on hurting you!" Star broke free and attacked Lunar again. "I shall not have that!"
Lunar, opting not to fight his daughter, turned to Twilight, evading each of Star's attacks. He nodded to Twilight and they both casted a halting spell on Star. Lunar approached Star angrily, though he did not strike her.
"Why would I hurt your mother, Starry Nights?" Lunar asked. "I love your mother just as much as I love you."
Star did not respond. She grunted and looked away. Lunar spotted her abnormal red eyes and knew that Star was acting through emotions. He tried to put her at ease, but it failed.
"Don't talk to me father," Star said. She casted a spell that sent both Twilight and Lunar backwards, freeing her from their grasp. Lighting her horn, she threatened Lunar. "Next time you see us, it won't be pleasant." She teleported away before Lunar or Twilight could say anything.
Twilight fell to the ground, crying over Star and her uncontrollable emotions. Lunar comforted her as best as he could, but Twilight knew that she had lost her baby girl.
"Don't worry, Twilight," Lunar said, "I'll get her ask if it's the last thing I do."
A couple of weeks went by after Star's encounter with Lunar and Twilight. A search was called by Twilight for Star's whereabouts and was scattered throughout Equestria. Unfortunately, nobody was able to find Star, leaving Twilight and Lunar with very heavy hearts. They missed their little girl dearly and longed for her to return home.
"I hope she's okay…" called a grim Twilight. She hadn't been able to get any sleep since Star's disappearance.
"I'm sure she is," comforted Lunar. He too had been unable to get proper sleep since Star's disappearance. His coat was starting to fade as well since the threat levels were increasing in Equestria, especially during the last few days. Extra guards had been called and he was the one in charge of leading them.
"I miss our family time, Luny," Twilight admitted, "the time we had spent together while Star was growing up…"
"She was a very bright and playful foal," Lunar added, "I'd give anything to experience those moments again…"
Just then, one of the castle guards barged in on Twilight and Lunar, panting heavily. Lunar glanced over and noticed the guard and approached him.
"My apologies…for running in…like this." The guard spoke, trying to collect his breath.
"What has you coming in with no breath, Sky Patrol?" Lunar asked.
"It's the…the…"
"Out with it, private!"
Sky Patrol gained his breath just enough to utter what it was that had him feeling uneasy. "The Crystal Empire is attacking Equestria."
"Princess Cadance?" Lunar questioned.
"She would never do that." Twilight said.
"Princess Cadance has apparently been overthrown as leader by an unknown assailant." Sky Patrol advised.
"Overthrown?" repeated Lunar.
"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Sky.
"By who?" Twilight wondered.
"The new ruler is unknown as of now," admitted Sky, "we're trying to figure that out as we speak, Your Highness."
Twilight and Lunar both began wondering if any of their villainous foes could be the ones responsible for overthrowing Princess Cadance and taking over the Crystal Empire, but even their antics didn't seem natural. Sure, they had their own reasons for wanting to take over Equestria, but their way of doing it wasn't like that of taking someone out of power for it. Not even King Sombra overthrew someone when he came back all those years ago.
"Who could it be…?" Lunar wondered.
Meanwhile, sitting alone in a room by herself, Star was sulking, looking very different from the last time anyone has seen her. Surrounded in a dark room, Star was wearing dark colored armor that covered most of her face. She overlooked the army of turned ponies – most of them batponies – and smirked as she saw the progress that was being made on a certain sector. One of her generals came in and bowed to her.
"Greetings, Queen Nights," he spoke out.
"To what do I owe for this meeting, Dark Fangs?" Star asked, paying more attention to her army's progress.
"Our head general has alerted us that we are near Ponyville," replied Dark Fangs, "What shall you do once we enter the town limits?"
"Find and destroy the Prince." Star smirked. "There can be no room for a traitor!"
"The Prince?" Dark Fangs repeated, hissing sadly. "No disrespect, my Queen, but isn't that your father?"
Star growled angrily. "I have no father!"
"But-"
"Are you questioning me, Dark Fangs?" Star threatened. "Need I remind you of what happened to Cadance? Do you wish for that to happen to you?"
Dark Fangs gulped. "I, uhh, n-n-no, my liege."
Star sat back in her throne. "Good. You won't like me when I'm angry."
"Noted." Dark Fangs said, trembling slightly. He had experienced Star's ferocious power once before and longed to not feel that kind of pain again.
"I shall deal with that Prince myself." Star stated. She had wanted to be the one who saw Lunar fall before her eyes.
"But, my liege, Lun-"
Star roared with anger. She struck down Dark Fangs and towered over his collapsed body. Eyes flaring red, smoking as well from anger, she yelled at Dark Fangs in the royal Canterlot voice.
"DON'T EVER SAY THAT NAME TO ME!" She boomed. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?"
Dark Fangs grew even more fearful of Queen Star. He apologized for the use of Lunar's name and finally admitted to Queen Star that she was right, even though he knew that she was wrong. Star knew what she was doing and had everything planned out in perfect order, something she inherited from her mother.
"Fear me, father," she said to nobody in particular, "for when you see me next, it shall be our last!"
Setting her destination on Ponyville, Star bolted out of her throne room, flying high above her secondary army of batponies. She flew rapidly, wanting to end her father and his antics once and for all, even if they were a mistake.
Back in Ponyville, Twilight and Lunar saw the army of batponies and ordered a town-wide evacuation. Some of the ponies managed to escape to safety via the Friendship Express, but once the attacking army seized control of the railway, everyone was trapped. Most of the remaining citizens were captured by the batponies, tied up and held as hostages. Twilight and Lunar saw this and tried helping the ponies, but soon found themselves trapped as well. They were forced to flee back into the castle, although the troops were close behind on their tail.
Star had flown into Ponyville and was pleased with herself. The batponies were doing a terrific job in capturing ponies and torturing them. She eyed the castle and blasted a hole through the crystallized wall, flying through it. Dust and debris went everywhere in the castle as it rumbled and shook violently. Star glanced around and immediately recognized that she was in the east wing of the castle, one of the main halls to the throne room. She flew down the hallway and blasted away some pillars that were in her way.
"STOP!" Shouted a few guards, throwing their spears at Star.
Star smirked, dodging the spears with ease. She turned and summoned a few of her batpony soldiers and ordered them to destroy the guards.
"At your wish, Queen," one of them replied.
"You shall not pass!" The castle guard declared, although he was quickly surrounded and captured by Star's batpony soldiers.
Star was delighted by her batponies and their abilities to overpower almost any pony. She flew away down the bedroom hall and blasted through the door, eyeing Lunar and Twilight. She smiled, eyes flashing red and coat getting darker. Lunar eyed Star and recognized her almost immediately. He stepped up in front of Twilight, protecting her from Star.
"Starry Nights," Lunar said heavily, "figures it would be you."
"Father," Star responded. She exchanged looks between Lunar and Twilight. "I see mother still accepts you for who you are. But will she really accept you for who you really are?"
"Star," Lunar continued, "Why are you doing this?"
"Silence, father!" Star commanded. Two batpony generals came in behind Star and slowly approached her sides. "You do not have authority to speak to us."
"I am your father, Star," Lunar responded, "and I will talk to you how I want to, when I want to."
"Silence, Prince!" Dark Fangs growled. "Queen Star won't be spoken to like that!" He struck down Lunar in front of Twilight.
Twilight snapped. "Starry Nights! Stand down! How dare you have somepony beat your father!"
Star smirked slyly. "Oh come now, mother. Let's be realistic for a moment." She pointed to Lunar. "We both know he's too old for this. Why not put the traitor out of his misery?"
Twilight was appalled. "Are-Why would you say such a thing!? That's your father, Star!"
"I have no father, mother," she eyed Lunar, "not anymore."
Lunar looked into Star's eyes and was greeted to another punch from Dark Fangs.
Dark Fangs laughed. "Pitiful, weak Prince."
Star approached the fallen prince, towering over his body greatly. She stared at him with her glowing red eyes and smiled evilly at him.
"All good things must come to an end," Star told him.
Lunar, coughing, looked at Star. He saw Dark Fangs winding up for another pummeling, but Star stopped him and told him to watch Twilight.
"As you wish, my liege." Dark Fangs bowed, transitioning from Lunar to Twilight.
"Now, where were we…?" Star chuckled darkly, casting a powerful spell in her horn.
Lunar, blurry vision and all, looked at the spell being casted, then shifted his sight down towards her eyes. He mumbled out words, but Star had trouble hearing him.
She stared down at him, continuing to charge up her spell. "Sorry, father…but this is your end."
Lunar, completely out of breath and beaten, mouthed out 'I'm sorry' to Star. She turned away and used all power to charge up the spell. Twilight, freeing herself from Dark Fangs' custody, tackled Star just in time and caused her to miss Lunar, saving his life. Star was outraged and angrily looked at Twilight. Slamming her hooves on the ground with each step she took, Star approached Twilight. Each step she took, the ground below her rumbled and cracked slightly around her hoof. Finally reaching Twilight, Star spoke out against her.
"Oh, mother," Star glared, "I always thought you were the smart one…"
"I am smart," defended Twilight, "smarter than you believe, Star."
"You claim that you're smart," continued Star, "yet you're too ignorant to notice a traitor in front of your eyes."
"I'm not ignorant and I do see a traitor," Twilight said. She pointed to Star, "It's you."
Star laughed. She wiped a tear from her eye and sighed contently. "Oh, mother…you're so naïve…"
Twilight raised her guard, preparing for a surprise attack from Star. Star figured this and toyed with Twilight a bit. She paced around Twilight maliciously, eyeing her the whole time. Twilight felt nervous, not knowing what Star was intending on doing.
"Mother dear," Star grimaced, "Why do you fail to see father's poor choices? You know what he did, so why do you deny it?"
"Because I love your father, Star," Twilight replied, "and you should too!"
"Oh, stop it!" Star declared, slamming her hoof into the ground. "You know what he did and stand by his side! What in the hell is wrong with you?"
"Watch your mouth, young lady!" Twilight scolded.
"Don't talk to the Queen like that, peasant!" Star's other general, Phantom Menace, shouted. He approached Twilight in an attempt to strike her down, but Star stopped him.
"No," she said, "it's okay." She turned back to Twilight, smiling. "It'll be the last time we speak in my world."
"Young lady," Twilight said, trembling a bit from the buildup of hello fear, "it is not your world. I will do everything in my power to stop you."
"Then that shouldn't take long," Star insulted.
"And why's that?" Twilight asked.
"Because, mother," continued Star, "I know all your tricks."
"So what does that have to do with anything?" Twilight said.
"I know what you'll do, when you'll do it, and how you'll do it," Star uttered, laughing coldly, "But you not know how, when, or what I'll do."
"You might be surprised, Star," Twilight answered, "it takes a lot more than brains to defeat your enemy."
"Au contraire, mother," Star smirked, "brains and brawn will overcome you, and the one who will defeat you…" she stopped to stand right in front of Twilight, "…is standing right in front of you."
"You know that I will beat you, Star," Twilight responded, "I know spells that you don't know."
"Oh," Star said, cocking an eyebrow, "and what spells are that? That pathetic, little halting spell, hmm? News flash, mother, I know spells you know nothing about."
"Don't push it, Star," Twilight told her, "I've seen plenty of villains, foes, and monsters and know how to overcome any challenge."
"So overcome this one, mother," Star replied, turning to face Twilight.
Star approached Twilight, stopping a couple of inches away from her face. She charged up a powerful spell quickly and unleashed it on Twilight. Twilight, however, knew that Star was trying to attack her quickly and in a secretive matter, so she teleported herself out of harm's way just as Star unleashed her power. This angered Star, but Twilight wouldn't care.
"I'm not going to fight you, Starry Nights…" Twilight sighed. "You're my daughter and I don't want to hurt you."
"Oh how convenient," Star smirked, "Because I will destroy you!"
Aided by her blinding power, Star tried blasting Twilight again, missing all of her shots to her. The guards Star brought tried helping, but Star ordered them to stand down, telling them she wanted to do this herself. Obeying her orders, they stood by and watched as Star was failing to destroy the ponies she wanted to get rid of.
Battered and tired on the other side of the room, Lunar finally found some strength to stand up. He saw Star trying to attack Twilight and stumbled over to them, standing between them both. He turned to Star, coughing and vision getting even blurrier.
"How nice," smirked Star, "Father wants to die first."
"Stop this, Star," coughed Lunar. He tried approaching Star, but lost his balance from the blurred vision, tripping over in front of her.
"Allow me, father," Star continued, slamming her front hooves onto the ground in front of Lunar. She started charging up her dark magic, hoping it would end Lunar.
Lunar looked at Star, shutting his eyes. "I'm sorry…"
Using the last of his strength, Lunar kicked Star away with his back hooves. He turned to Twilight, who had jumped on the opportunity and pushed Star back to the wall, aiming her horn directly at her neck. Star's generals acted on the situation and made Lunar pay for his actions, beating him even more. Star laughed, then acknowledged her mother.
"What now, mother dear?" she teased. "You can deal with me and lose the one you love, or you can help him and leave me wide open for attack…tick tock, mommy, you don't have a lot of time."
Twilight frantically shifted her look between Star and Lunar, not knowing what to do. The guilt of Lunar being beaten was eating at Twilight, while the thought of letting Star go unguarded for a few seconds loomed in her head as well. Gritting her teeth, Twilight made her decision.
"Stop!" she yelled, turning away from Star to take care of the generals beating Lunar.
Star smirked slyly. "Just as I thought."
Twilight blasted the two generals off of Lunar and sent them flying to the other side of the room. The spell she casted on them had stopped them in their tracks and stopped their movements; her halting spell. Twilight ran over to Lunar and tried helping him up, but wasn't sure if he was still breathing. She started crying over Lunar's body, burying her face in his chest. Star was pleased with herself and towered over her mother.
"Why did you do this?" cried Twilight. "Wh-what happened…to our family…?"
"Father became a traitor and you stood by him." Star replied. "Now that he's out of the picture, there's nothing stopping me from taking over this kingdom."
"Nothing but me!" Twilight screamed at Star. Out of anger, Twilight struck Star down, then stopped and assessed what she just did; she hit her own daughter.
Star flew to the opposite side of the room and collided with the wall. She brushed off her pain as if it were nothing and gazed at Twilight, whom was frozen from the realization of hitting her only child. Star shook her head, then charged at Twilight, pointing her horn at Twilight's neck, trying to pierce and tear into it. Twilight saw Star charging at her and fell apart emotionally.
"Do it…" She told Star.
This got Star to stop in her tracks. "What did you say?"
Twilight wiped a tear from her eye and repeated herself to Star. "Do it. Kill me…"
Star was very confused. "Kill you? You're joking, right mother?"
"Finish me off," Twilight requested, looking Star in her smoky red eyes, "I don't deserve to live after failing Lunar and striking you down."
"Humph," grunted Star, "now she wants to die."
"Yes!"
Star smirked. "Now things will get interesting." She turned to her generals and freed them from Twilight's halting spell from earlier. "Dark Fangs, Phantom Menace!"
The two generals bowed in front of Star graciously. "What is it, Your Highness?"
"Take these two pitiful ponies to the dungeon," Star commanded, "rather than giving them a quick death, it'll be a slow, battering, destructive death."
"As you wish, my liege," the two replied. They pulled Twilight and Lunar away towards the nearest dungeon.
Twilight, shocked at what Star was now doing, begged for her death, but Star wouldn't allow it.
"It'll come in due time, mother," laughed Star as she sat on Twilight's throne.
Twilight's heart sunk even further as she and Lunar were dragged out of their former throne room.
Inside their own dungeons, Twilight had sunk to a new low and laid down on the ground. She stared at Lunar's body and started crying, telling herself that she failed greatly. She felt as if she was responsible for Lunar's current predicament and for Star's corruption, but she didn't know what to do. She laid on the ground, hooves worn out and mane messed up, wanting so desperately to die. However, even her request for death had been declined.
A few moments of eerie silence fell amongst the two ponies. Nothing was said and silence was broken by the occasional sniffling. Twilight had never felt this powerless before, not even when she defeated Tirek the first time. She had given up on herself and all it took was the power of another alicorn to destroy Twilight's spirit.
"What am I going to do…?" Twilight softly spoke, her voice echoing slightly in the dungeon cell. No one had responded to Twilight, only silence. She sighed, then looked over to Lunar. "I'm sorry, Lunar…this never should've happened…"
She rested her head on Lunar's chest and felt worse than ever. Twilight rested her head until she was startled by a slight "thump" from Lunar's chest. She pulled her head back, then looked at Lunar.
"L-Lunar…?" Twilight stammered. "Are you there…?"
Inside the virtual world, Lunar was meandering about, trying to find his way. It was weird for him mainly because it was different to him. Normally, he knows when he is in the dream world, but he couldn't comprehend where he was at the current moment.
"Hello?" He called out, but no one answered.
Lunar continued wandering around until he started to hear some hoofsteps echoing around him. He stopped in his tracks and looked around, seeing nothing but the pit of darkness he was encased in.
"Who's there?" He asked.
"Relax, Prince," called a voice from elsewhere in the void, "We are not foes."
"Show yourself, please," Lunar responded, still unsure if this unknown being was telling the truth.
"As you wish, Prince," the voice spoke back.
The hoofsteps then started getting louder and closer to Lunar's position. Emerging from the shadowy darkness came Princess Luna, but Lunar was confused even more.
"Princess Luna?" Lunar called. "What are you doing here? Where am I?"
"Your mind is in a temporary state of limbo," Princess Luna alerted.
"What does that mean?" asked Lunar.
"It means that you're neither living nor dead, Lunar," Luna answered, "But you're not exactly in purgatory either."
"So…?"
"It's as if you're in a coma," Princess Luna explained.
"A coma?" Lunar repeated. His heart sank when he heard that.
"Be no afraid, my pony," continued Luna, "with my power, it will only be temporary."
"You can influence comas?" Lunar questioned.
"Comas are long slumbers if you think about them, Lunar," Luna stated, "But that's beside the point. I wish to discuss Starry Nights with you."
"Star…"
"It seems as if she's gone rogue and is falling under the path we both once stepped hoof on." Luna said. "We shan't let that happen to her."
"I know, Luna," Lunar acknowledged, "and I know we need to fix this before things get too out of hoof, but I've tried everything to help make this right…nothing seems to work."
"Have you explained to her what can happen to a fully corrupt pony?" Luna asked. "Have you told her our pasts?"
"She learned about them in school at a young age." Lunar said.
"Why not tell her again?" Luna suggested. "Young ponies often forget about the things they learn and need to be reminded of them."
"I'll try, Luna," Lunar told her, "But what if it doesn't work?"
"Then…" Luna paused and looked away. "We both know what must be done…"
Lunar gulped, then promised to make things right. Luna nodded, then disappeared back into the dark void. Lunar called out to Luna, thanking her for her help, but was cut off by some new voices.
"Lunar? Are you there?"
In the dungeon, Twilight rested her head back on Lunar's chest once more. She silently cried as she was fearing the worst. Suddenly, Lunar began twitching his front right hoof, but Twilight didn't notice this. When he started softly rubbing Twilight's wing, Twilight looked into Lunar's eyes, hoping that he was still with her.
"L-Lunar?"
"…I…I'm here…Twily…"
"Lunar!" Twilight smiled, crying happily. She hugged Lunar softly, tending to his wounds as well.
"We…we need…"
"Take it easy, Lunar," Twilight said, "you're badly injured…"
"Tell…Star…my past…"
"Your past?" Twilight repeated. "What for?"
"Luna's…past…corr…upted…" Lunar coughed. He was feeling very weak.
"But how can we get out of here?" Twilight asked. "They stole my magic from me while they dragged me here."
Lunar, using the last bit of his strength, teleported Twilight just outside of the dungeon. He fell over from exhaustion and hoped that Twilight would pass on the message to Star of both his past and Luna's past.
Outside the iron bars now, Twilight promised Lunar she would do her best to try to save Star. She looked to her right and noticed the generals Star had sent were looking away at the current moment. Turning the other way, she started leaving in a stealth manner. Unfortunately for Twilight, when she turned the corner out of the dungeons, there, waiting for her, were two larger guards.
"HEY!"
Acting quickly, Twilight sprinted away down a different hallway in her castle. The guard that saw Twilight, Bat Country, alerted Star right away of Twilight's escape. He flew directly to Star's newest throne room, knowing she wouldn't be too happy with Twilight's escape.
"Your Highness," Bat Country called, bowing to Star, "there's an emergency!"
"What is the emergency?" Star snobbishly asked.
"Twilight Sparkle," he continued, "she's escaped!"
"WHAT!? How is that possible!?"
"She's on her way here now!" Bat Country concluded.
"So if it's a fight you want mother," Star growled, using her magic to strengthen her abilities, "it's a fight you'll get!"
She dismissed Bat Country from her sight and waited for Twilight in secret, hiding herself from all possible locations to the visible eye.
Evading most of the guards, Twilight eventually flew out of her castle and up towards her throne room. Star's generals followed Twilight out of the castle and tried chasing her down in the air, but Twilight managed to outsmart Star's guards, easily evading them in the air. She set her target on her throne room and busted into it, slowly walking to the center of it. She was alarmed, not seeing Star anywhere in the room.
"Well, well, well," Star spoke from an unknown location, "look at who we have here…"
"Come out, Star," Twilight called, "I know you're here."
"Oh, mother," continued Star, "kudos to your ability to escape my generals…but this is where it all ends."
"Star," Twilight said, ignoring Star's words, "it doesn't have to be like this…you're becoming like your father and Princess Luna: corrupted."
"Corrupted?" Star growled. "I am not like father and Luna. They became corrupted because of their weak willpower! I have strong willpower and will not fall!"
"But you are," protested Twilight, "faster than you may or may not think you are!"
"Enough!" shouted Star. "I am not like those two weak ponies! I am strong! I've taken over the Crystal Empire, thrown Cadance into an undisclosed prison, and took over Ponyville! Father couldn't do that, nor Luna!"
"Star…"
"Stop, mother," Star snarled, "You won't say another word."
"I'm only trying to-"
"I don't care what you're trying to do, peasant!" snapped Star. "You've been standing in my way one too many times! Now it's my turn to lead! And that'll happen now!"
Staying in her hiding spot, Star fired a powerful ball of magic towards Twilight. Twilight stood still as she was unaware of the attack, but was alerted of it when a cloud of smoke appeared behind her. Twilight stood her ground, waiting for a possible physical attack from Star, but one never came.
Star knew how Twilight was feeling and decided to toy with her emotions. She flew around above the cloud of smoke, creating the illusion that she was everywhere at the same time.
"How does it feel, mother," Star began, "to know that…that everypony you once loved and cared for is now…now just a distant memory, to know that they've abandoned you and left you for naught?"
"I haven't been abandoned by them," Twilight answered, "Show yourself!"
"If they haven't abandoned you," continued Star, "Where are they now? Where's Rarity? Where's Fluttershy? Applejack? Rainbow Dash? Pinkie Pie? Spike? How about Shining Armor?"
Twilight gulped. She never once spoke of her original friends' names to Star and they didn't teach their names in any school in Equestria – just six ponies bearing the power of the Elements of Harmony.
"Where's Twilight Velvet?" Star smirked, telling Twilight her mother's name. "Where's Night Light?"
Twilight was growing even more nervous. She hadn't heard those names in centuries and wondered how Star knew about them.
"How about Lunar?" Star teased. "How's he doing?"
Twilight was starting to get annoyed. "Stop it, Star!"
"What's the matter?" Star smirked. "Feeling alone?"
"Star," Twilight said, "I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work."
"Who says I'm trying to do anything, mother dear?" Star questioned. She used her magic to show flashbacks to Twilight via holographic projections in the smoke. She showed her when Twilight met her friends originally. "Ring a bell?"
Twilight stared at the projection as it played her first moments with her original friends many years ago. She started to break down internally, but didn't show anything on the external side.
"Oh," continued Star, "What about this?" Star changed scenes about and showed Twilight her coronation from when she first became an alicorn. Again, her friends and family were shown in the flashback.
"Stop, Star," Twilight coughed.
"This must surely be familiar to you," Star laughed, showing Twilight when she married Lunar.
Twilight started to shed some tears, but fought back from crying, although it was proving to be tough.
"This one is my favorite," Star smirked, showing Twilight the time she had to imprison Lunar in the moon.
Twilight's emotions were shattering as she was being shown her past memories over and over again. She felt herself losing her grip over her emotions as she saw the same scenes again and again.
"Where are your friends now, Twilight?" Star asked, emerging through the cloud of smoke with a sinister smile on her face.
Twilight felt her heart shatter. "They've been dead since before you were born."
"Leaving poor old Twilight lost and alone." Star continued, pacing around Twilight.
"I…I have Lunar…" Twilight protested.
"Look how well he's been recently, Twilight." Star pointed out.
"Because of what you did, Star!" accused Twilight.
"Because of what he did, Twilight," Star said, "He brought it upon himself."
"You put him in that predicament!" Twilight snapped, "It's your fault."
"Temper, temper, Twilight," Star toyed, knowing that Twilight was slowly landing in the center of her hoof, "nopony likes an angry princess."
"Stop, Star!" Twilight yelled. "As your mother, I'm telling you to stop!"
"Or what?" Star laughed. "What are you gonna do about it? I've got everything and you've got nothing!"
"Star, I swear to Celestia if you don't stop-"
"What was that?" teased Star. "I couldn't hear you."
"STARRY NIGHTS!" Twilight roared, voice echoing throughout the room. She had finally snapped and lost all her patience. Star knew that she was now in control of Twilight and started influencing her opinions into Twilight's mind via telekinesis and magic.
"Mother dear," Star said after a couple of moments, "Tell me…what…what do you think of Equestria?"
Twilight grunted, trying to fight Star's attempt of influencing her mind. She was losing the battle, falling under Star's control, albeit it was a very slow process. When Twilight finally stopped fighting Star's urge for control, she spoke to her.
"What kind of question is that?" Twilight asked.
"What do you think of father?"
"Father?" asked Twilight.
"Lunar."
"Forget about Lunar," murmured Twilight, "He means nothing to me now." Twilight's sense of thought was now alarming herself. Deep down, she knew she loved Lunar. But under Star's control, that was not the case.
Star had manipulated Twilight with her magic to the point where she no longer needed to use it to control her. Twilight's sense of thought and rationing was lost, thanks to Star and Star knew this well. Pacing around Twilight, Star looked her over. She was rather displeased with how Twilight was displayed currently and used her magic to change Twilight's appearance.
"What are you doing?" Twilight growled.
"Fixing your appearance," Star answered, "You look hideous."
Within minutes, Twilight now had a darker colored mane and tail. Star conjured up a black and red cape for Twilight and placed it over her back and through her wings. Twilight now looked more like a villain than ever before. When Star finished Twilight's transformation, she overlooked Twilight again and was pleased. After that, Star told Twilight her plan and what would happen next.
"In order to claim my kingdom for myself," Star smirked, "We need to destroy Canterlot and watch them fall."
Meanwhile in Canterlot, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were both well aware of Princess Cadance's disappearance and the fall of the Crystal Empire. They had prepared themselves for an attack, we're one to happen on Canterlot soil. As more news reached the princesses, it became more imperative for them to prepare for the worst. They now found out about the fall of Ponyville and the disappearance of Prince Lunar, despite Princess Luna seeing him in the dream world.
As the guards started securing a perimeter around Canterlot, Princess Celestia grew more worried. She had a hunch as to who might be behind Princess Cadance's and Prince Lunar's disappearance, but wasn't too sure if her hunch was right. Princess Luna looked over and noticed the worried look in her older sister's eyes and tried confronting her about it.
"Everything will be okay, sister," Luna said, "there's no need to worry about Princess Cadance and Prince Lunar…they'll turn up before we know it."
"It's not that, Luna," replied Celestia, "it's just that I'm worried about who may be behind the attacks and y he disappearances…first Princess Cadance and now Prince Lunar…what'll happen next?"
"We'll get to the bottom of this at once." Luna assured, although she wasn't tto sure if they could.
If Ponyville fell, Celestia thought, there's no telling what can happen to the rest of Equestria…
Discord appeared thereafter and saw Celestia and her worried face. Toying with her emotions, he stepped forward and spoke to her about them.
"Funny how one little push can trigger an entire series of events," he said, smirking, "wouldn't you say so?"
Both Celestia and Luna weren't in the mood for Discord's fun and games.
"What are you doing here, Discord?" Celestia asked.
"Can't a draconequus visit his two favorite ponies?" Discord joked.
"This isn't funny, Discord," Luna said.
"Who said it was?" Discord replied, peering his face a few inches away from Luna's.
"Not now, Discord…" Celestia sighed. "We need to prepare."
"Prepare?" Discord repeated. He smiled and busted out laughing. "Prepare for trouble and make it double!"
"Discord," Luna sighed, "This is a serious matter. Joking around is of the utmost disrespect right now."
"Starry Nights," Discord said, "Does that name sound familiar?"
"Princess Starry Nights?" Luna repeated.
"What about her?" Celestia added.
"You might find that some surprises aren't worth waiting for." Discord said, snapping his fingers and disappearing from the room in a ball of smoke.
Celestia and Luna were baffled and confused.
"What do you think he meant by that, sister?" asked Luna.
"Don't worry about him." Celestia responded. "He's just trying to get inside our heads."
Little did they know that Discord's words were words of wisdom and warning. Celestia and Luna did not know that it was Starry Nights that was behind the attacks in Equestria; not yet, anyway.
Some time later, preparation had been completed. For the most part, Canterlot was impenetrable from the ground. The same could not be said for the skies since most guards were unicorn guards and, since Shining Armor had long since passed, nobody but Twilight knew the protection spell that he once knew, and since Twilight was unresponsive at the moment, the skies were partially left vulnerable for attack, and Star assumed this. She initiated an aerial assault and was in pursuit towards Canterlot with Twilight flying as her right-winger pony. She was confident that she could overthrow Celestia and Luna and eagerly awaited to add Canterlot to her vastly growing empire.
As the batpony army reached Canterlot air space, they were greeted to Pegasus guards and a few blasts of magic from the unicorn guards on the ground. Most of the batponies double teamed the Pegasus guards and a few of them struck the unicorns on the ground. Within moments, aided by Star's magic spells, the batponies overtook the skies and started their assault on Canterlot citizens.
Inside the castle, Luna and Celestia were watching the attacks and ordered all citizens to evacuate Canterlot immediately, sounding an alarm throughout the city. It came much too late as many of the citizens were already captured by the batpony army and currently being held as hostages or being tortured right now. As Celestia gazed down at the terrifying events, she felt something snap inside of her. She flared her wings and opened the window. Luna saw this and called out to her older sister.
"Celestia!" Luna called. "What are you doing?"
"I cannot sit here and watch as Canterlot is being attacked and innocent ponies are being injured." Celestia responded. She flew out the window with Luna following closely behind her.
"What do you intend to do?" Luna asked.
"I'm going to find out who is responsible for this…" Celestia answered.
"And then what?"
Celestia didn't answer Luna's second question as she flew even faster into the skies. She looked over the horizon and saw the army of batponies approaching her. Focusing on the center of the army, she saw two ponies that stood out from the rest of the army.
Star glanced at the sky ahead of her and saw who was approaching her. She ordered her army to come to a halt and stopped in the air, hovering slightly. Celestia stopped about seventy yards away from Star and noticed who she was now.
"Starry Nights!" She called. "You're responsible for this?"
"So what?" Star replied. "You cannot stop us now. Just surrender now and we'll go easy on you."
"Starry Nights," Celestia said, "I am a ruler of Equestria, and it is my job to keep and protect the ponies all throughout it. I will never give up to you."
"Well look at the good job you're doing," teased Star, "the ponies of my Crystal Empire are slaves, digging up crystals for my new castle. The ponies in my Ponyville are now being forced to work on destroying the Ever free Forest, the place for my new castle. Where was the high and mighty pony for them when they needed it most, hmm? So much for being a princess…that's why I am queen of my Equestria!"
"Starry Nights," Celestia continued, "I am ordering you to stand down now or risk the consequences."
"There won't be any consequences, peasant!" Star snapped, rushing to Celestia and attacking her.
Celestia managed to dodge Star and fired back at her, striking her between her wings. Star lost patience and ordered her army to attack Celestia and Luna. Obeying, the batpony army flew straight for Celestia and immediately surrounded her. Star flew up from below and slammed Celestia between her wings. As for Twilight, she tried attacking Luna but before she reached her, Luna had teleported out of the sky and was unable to be found. She decided to focus her attention on Celestia and make her pay. She slammed Celestia between her wings and blasted her down to the ground with her magic. Celestia cried out in pain as she slammed into the ground, forming a cloud of dirt and dust around her body. Star and Twilight followed Celestia and towered over her collapsed body.
"You too, Twilight?" Celestia coughed.
"Twilight is under my control now," Star said, "and you will soon be as well."
"Why are you doing this?" Celestia asked, coughing again.
"Because," Star responded.
"Because why?"
Discord appeared next to Star and Twilight, smirking evilly at Celestia. "Because madness, like you know, is like gravity: all it takes is a little push!"
"Discord!" Celestia gasped. "I should've known it was you…"
"And there's more where that came from once I take back what's rightfully mine!" Discord laughed, trampling Celestia into the ground.
Star and Twilight both laughed as Discord grounded Celestia. For these three, victory was nearing completion and it looked as if nothing else could stop them.
Elsewhere in Equestria, Princess Luna reappeared in a dark field by herself. Ponies hardly ever roamed around these parts as they were very dangerous. These were parts where changelings loved to cause trouble.
It was here that Luna was hoping she would find a few changelings. She had a plan, but she needed their help first. After spotting a few changelings that were passing by, Luna called out to them, hoping they would respond.
"Hey!" She called.
One of the changelings heard the call and looked back, spotting Princess Luna.
"Pony…" the changeling said, redirecting course towards Princess Luna.
Perfect. Luna thought to herself.
Within seconds, the other changelings spotted Luna and dove from the sky towards her. They surrounded Luna and demanded that she surrender herself to Queen Chrysalis.
"I surrender." Luna said, knowing very well that she could overpower these changelings easily. She needed to see Queen Chrysalis in order to put her plan into action anyway.
"Very well," the lead changeling said, "now move!"
The group of changelings led Luna away towards the Changeling Republic to Queen Chrysalis.
All or nothing now… Luna told herself as she was taken away.
Inside the dark and stormy Changeling Republic, Princess Luna was receiving mixed emotions from all the changelings she passed by. They were either shocked at how an alicorn such as Luna could be captured or angered by the presence of an alicorn in their home. As they continued down a main pathway, the changelings that "captured" Luna ordered her to move quicker. They tried revoking Luna's crown from her, but were too short to reach it and eventually gave up on that idea.
As the center castle neared, Luna started getting feelings of doubt. She wondered what would happen if Chrysalis denied her help. She wondered what would happen if Chrysalis really did capture her and forced her to work as a slave. She even wondered what would happen if all of Equestria fell to the likes of Star and Twilight.
The changelings pushed Luna inside the castle and led her down a main hallway to some guards. It was dark and cold inside the castle, the perfect temperatures to please these dreadful changelings. Once the escorting changelings reached the end of the hallway, they handed Luna over towards castle guards, whom were just as short as the other changelings, when compared to Luna.
"We come bearing a gift for the queen." The lead changeling said.
"An alicorn…" the guard replied, looking over Luna from top to bottom. "How delicious."
"She will bring much happiness to the queen." The lead changeling smiled.
"Very good work, cadet," the guard responded, "you're relieved. We'll take it from here."
The three changelings saluted the guards then walked away in formation. The guards then took control and started escorting Luna to Chrysalis. These guards, however, were more demanding than the three changelings from before. They shoved Luna down each hallway and pushed her up the staircases.
"Stop pushing." Luna said, glaring at the guard walking behind her.
"Quiet, prisoner!" The guard responded, threatening the use of force on Luna.
Luna stopped talking as the guards led her down another hallway. As they walked down this hallway, Luna started feeling pain in her head. She rubbed the area, but this only made it worse. After that, she knew the source of her pain: it was Celestia trying to tell her something.
What's the matter, sister? Luna silently responded back.
She tried listening in for an answer from Celestia, but one never arrived. Soon after, Luna was shoved into the throne room in the changeling castle. It was dark and cold, even darker and colder than it was in the halls. Luna shivered a little bit, trying to warm her body up, but it was little good. The guards surrounded Luna, lining up with two of them on her left side and one on her right. They bowed down and spoke to the darkness.
"Your Highness," the head guard spoke, "We come bearing a gift to you."
The room was completely silent. Luna waited for an answer, but one didn't come; not quickly at least. After a few minutes of silence, a voice finally spoke from the darkness.
"A gift? For me…?"
"Yes, Your Highness," the guard continued, turning to Luna, "and I think you'll like this one."
Candles started burning around the room, poorly lighting it all around. It was much to see clearly, but it was better than the darkness. Hooves could be heard as someone was walking towards the center of the room, but still, nobody could see. The voice spoke louder than before and was generally pleased.
"I see…I see an elegant flowing mane…could this be who I think it is…?"
"It's been a while, Chrysalis," Luna smiled, "I see you're doing well."
"Oh, Luna," smirked Chrysalis, revealing herself from the darkness and looking down towards Luna, "it's always a joy to see a pony who has given up to us." She turned to her guards. "You may leave…I'll take care of this one…hehe…"
The guards, suspecting a grand punishment for Luna, obliged to Chrysalis' comments and left the room abruptly, leaving Luna alone with Chrysalis. Chrysalis towered over Luna and smirked delightfully at her. Luna smirked in response as well. Chrysalis and Luna secretly had a close bond over the years and always liked each other's company, even if it were for a short while. Speaking lowly, hoping that nobody else would hear them, Luna asked Chrysalis for her assistance.
"With what?" Chrysalis responded.
"There is terror ahoof in Equestria." Luna explained.
"Again?"
"Again," continued Luna, "and the one responsible has captured and taken over most of Equestria as well and has my sister held hostage…"
"Who is responsible for that?" Chrysalis wondered. "The only one who can take over Equestria is myself."
Luna chuckled silently. "Have you heard of Starry Nights?"
"The alicorn baby Princess of Twilight and Lunar?" Chrysalis asked.
"She's the one who is responsible for the takeover." Luna confirmed.
"How did she overpower Celestia…?" Chrysalis asked. "She defeated me and I'm stronger then most."
"She's the daughter of Twilight Sparkle," Luna said, "Starry Nights' gift for magic must have descended from her."
"Any idea as to what we can do to help?" Chrysalis replied.
"Starry Nights has an army of batponies aiding her attack and assault," Luna advised, "and we need somepony to help aid a defensive assault on them. Starry Nights' attacks have all been surprise attacks, even though we knew they were coming."
"If you knew they were coming," Chrysalis thought, "Then why did you get captured?"
"Her forces simply overpowered ours and we didn't have any time to react," Luna answered, "by the time we could react, most of our forces were already captured and we were forced to surrender."
"Sounds to me like she knows how to command an army," praised Chrysalis, "I like her."
"Not helping…" Luna sternly responded.
"Right," Chrysalis continued, "so you want my changelings to help lead an army against her batponies?"
"Yes." Luna nodded. "We're desperate for anything at this point."
Back in Canterlot, Star had just thrown Celestia into one of the old, raggedy dungeon cells in the castle. They hadn't been touched for a long time and gave off plenty of cold feelings. Star smirked as she watched Celestia's body roll against the ground and slammed the door shut, leaving Celestia alone to herself. Her horn had an anti-magic spell casted on it and her wings were poorly damaged. Star was pleased with herself and left Celestia to rot in her prison. Discord soon appeared after and started teasing Celestia.
"Oh, look at me," He started, prancing around gaily, "I'm Princess Celestia. I'm the ruler of Equestria! Nothing can defeat me!"
Celestia rolled her eyes. "Do you know who is missing?"
"Who?"
"You fail to notice something so obvious…" Celestia answered. She refused to speak to Discord thereafter.
"Who's missing?" Discord wondered.
"I'll lead my army of changelings in to Canterlot. Chances are, she's still there and is looking for you as we speak."
"Hopefully, and once we get there, we need to focus our attack on pony-to-changeling coverage, a few aimed at Starry Nights and Twilight Sparkle."
Chrysalis gazed over her balcony. She was surrounded by hundreds, possibly thousands of changelings below her. She cleared her throat and spoke out to them.
"My little changelings," Chrysalis said, "We are going to deploy out and defend our friends' home territory! It is a place we once invaded ourselves, I know, but this time it is for defense. Not all of you agree with the mutual pact signed recently between myself and Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, but we must help them in their time of need. We'll be going against fearsome batponies and they are powerful foes, but us changelings are more powerful than they will ever be!"
The large crowd of changelings roared with anticipation and were ready to help their Queen with whatever she needed. They set out for Canterlot, hoping they would overthrow Starry Nights and her army of despicable batponies.
Back in Canterlot, Star was making her preparations to leave and head back to the Ever free Forest to watch the progress of her newest castle. She was just about to leave when Twilight spoke up, whom was still under Star's control.
"Don't you find it odd?" Twilight asked.
"Odd?" Star repeated, snarling at the remark. "What's so odd about mass destruction and the overthrowing of pitiful princesses?"
"Well that's just it," said Twilight, "How did you end that?"
"What?"
"How did you end that question?"
"Princesses." Star answered.
"But there's only one in that dungeon." Twilight pointed out. "Where's Luna?"
"Cadance is in the Crystal dungeons, Father is in Ponyville dungeons, Celestia is in Canterlot…"
"But where is Luna?" protested Twilight.
Star started growing nervous. She didn't take count of Princess Luna. Playing off her fear of the unknown, she answered Twilight harshly.
"Who cares where she is? She ran away probably like the weak little pony she is."
"Whatever you say…" Twilight replied, rolling her eyes.
"Over there."
Luna pointed out to Canterlot and saw a number of batponies flying through the air, patrolling the skies. The batponies were facing away from Luna, Chrysalis, and the changelings, so they had the element of surprise on their side. Nodding, Luna and Chrysalis aided the attack, flying past the two batponies. The batponies then started rushing Luna and Chrysalis, but were soon surrounded by the changeling army. The changelings showed no mercy to the batponies, pummeling them to a pulp.
Chrysalis then aided her changelings towards the castle, prompting them to attack at will. The changelings obeyed, blasting through the badly damaged walls. They were immediately overtaking all the incoming batponies that were responding to the attacks. However, something troubled Luna and that was the fact that Star was nowhere to be seen.
As the army invaded the castle even further, more guards came under center and were either captured or defeated by the army of swarming changelings. Luna started wondering where Celestia was kept and where Twilight and Star were. She hadn't seen them and, were Luna on the opposite end of this assault, she would've shown up by now.
Luna and Chrysalis watched as the changeling army captured the remaining guards and were pleased when others started rushing away and retreating. Looking elsewhere, Luna saw a dark colored hoof rounding a corner and running straight for them. This pony had poised for an attack on the changelings, firing strong beams of magic towards them.
"Starry Nights!" exclaimed Luna.
"I figured you would rear your ugly head here again!" Star shouted, destroying some nearby changelings with her powerful magic. "But I never thought you would stoop so low as to bring in dirty changelings to help you!"
"Neigh, Starry Nights," Luna responded, casting a defensive spell on the changelings, "You know little of our past! Let's us formally explain to you!"
"It's the other way around, peasant!" Star snapped. She shot down more changelings around her as they tried dog-piling on top of her.
"Hand over control of Equestria now and there won't be any problems later on!" Luna declared, standing tall.
"Enough talk," Chrysalis said impatiently, "Down with the princess!"
Chrysalis and Luna both jumped onto Star, but Star blasted them back with her powerful magic. She seemed to have gained magic since their last confrontation and Luna sensed this, but she also sensed something off with Star as the fight dragged on.
"Take this!" Star screamed and she summoned a wave of dark magic in the area.
The dark magic rose up from the floors and held grips on most of the changelings. Star was getting even more powerful by the second while the opposition grew weaker and fewer in number.
"How is this possible?" Luna grunted, shooting Star with some alicorn magic.
"She's not even…tired…" Chrysalis added. "It doesn't make sense!"
"There's no fun when things make…sense." Star laughed. Her laugh skidded off and sounded just like Discord towards the end and Luna immediately recognized it.
"Discord!" Luna shouted.
"The one and only!" Discord beamed. He was inside Star's body and controlling her with his chaotic magic.
"Have they…have they…merged?" Chrysalis wondered.
"Why bother trying?" Star said, ignoring Chrysalis' comment. She blasted Chrysalis away with powerful dark magic again. "You've already lost."
"No!" Luna declared. She tackled Star to the ground and forced Discord out of Star with her Nightmare-making abilities.
Star was left vulnerable as Luna dealt with Discord, which left Chrysalis fighting her. Star, shaken by the sudden change, fired off more dark magic at Chrysalis, but it was of less power now that Discord was freed.
"Foolish pony!" Chrysalis smirked, channeling her changeling magic. "This is where it all comes to an end."
Just before Chrysalis unleashed her changeling magic, someone shouting from the end of the hall disrupted everything and caused everything to fall into a silence.
"STOP!"
The fighting between the ponies and the changelings came to a halt as the new voice echoed throughout the hall. The voice belonged to a pony who had flown in from the center gateway. Their shadow was covering their face, but as they came to a rest between Chrysalis and Star, it became apparent who this was.
"Who are you?" Chrysalis said.
"I want this ceaseless fighting to stop…" The pony said removing a hood from their head. It was Lunar.
"Lunar!?" Luna gasped.
"F-Father…?" Star slowly said.
Lunar turned to Star and apologized from his heart. "I'm sorry for not being there for you much throughout your childhood. I'm sorry for letting you down, Star. I'm sorry for whatever it was that you may have seen that caused you to act out this way. But more importantly, I'm sorry for failing you, Starry…"
"Father…?" Star softly spoke. "Is it true…? Did you hurt mommy?"
"I would never hurt your mother, dear," Lunar answered, "I love your mother and she loves me. Together, we both love you…and nopony can take that love away from us."
"Daddy…"
"I know I haven't been a good father," Lunar said, "But let's try to fix that…" He held out his hoof to Star. "…Together, as a family."
Star, looking at Lunar's hoof, finally started to see more clearer now. Her eyes finally changed back to the lilac eyes that she inherited from Twilight and she finally calmed down. She embraced Lunar in a hug and was joined by an incoming Twilight. She flew in joyfully and tightly squeezed Lunar and Star in a much overdue family hug.
"I'm so glad you're back with us, Star…" Twilight happily cried.
"Now, we're a family again…" Lunar added.
The royal family hugged tightly in the center of the hall a bit longer, bringing many tears to the eyes of the changelings while also serving their need for love.
About a year later, everything has returned to a sense of normality. Star has learned to control her emotions just a little bit better and now has a system for Twilight that let's her know if she's in trouble. As for Lunar, he and Star now spend as much time together as possible, teaching Star everything he knows about the virtual world and his past. It was long overdue, but the father-daughter moments that were shared between Star and Lunar were some of the best moments for those two. Discord, who had escaped Equestria briefly, had been captured by the changelings and handed over to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who prompted to turn Discord back into stone unless he pay his debt to society. As a punishment for controlling Star and manipulating her, he had to replant every tree that was cut down in the Ever free Forest. Star would help him out, but found more joy in teasing him over his punishment.
It's been a long ride, but Star has learned to come to appreciate herself for who she really is. She still learns plenty from Twilight and Lunar and considers them to be the greatest parents ever.