~Outskirts of Ponyville, Everfree forest, 11:45am~
Star Shield and the others stood just outside the dreaded forest, determined to get Twilight and Spike back safe.
"So, what's the plan Star Shield? If they're here, we can't just charge in directly." Spoke Shining as he stared at the path that seemed to vanish into the darkness of the forest.
"Well, considering there's still so much unknown I would have to say that we go in a diamond formation. That way we can have eyes in each direction as we head towards the old castle." Said Star as he began drawing a basic diagram of the forest and the castle.
Swift looked at the drawing and spoke concerned,"Sounds good but then what do we do once we reach the castle? We can't just barge in and rescue them. We have no idea where they are being kept or how many ponies there may be inside and around guarding."
"We'll scout the surrounding area for anypony and once we make it inside, you and Shining will search through the top levels of the castle while my brother and I search the lower levels where the dungeons are. Any questions?"
"I do. If any of us encounter anypony or even Crimson Shadow himself, what do we do?" Asked Cloud zapper while looking over to his brother.
"We restrain them and use any force necessary. If you should somehow Crimson Shadow then try to avoid confrontation until we've secured Twilight and her friend. However, if that can't be avoided then give him everything you got and bring him down. One way or another, Crimson Shadow will pay for what he's done." With that, Star walked into the dark forest with the others following behind.
Although, Cloud seemed a bit troubled because just as his brother walked off, he saw a glint of red in Star's eyes. He told himself that maybe it was just his imagination but kept a close eye on Star just in case.
~One hour later~
The four ponies looked around as they walked along the path. It was oddly quiet in the forest,not a chirp of a bird or even the whistling if the wind. It was so quiet that it seemed like every hoofstep they took echoed.
"Isn't this forest full of animals?" Asked Cloud zapper.
"It is. The forest has hundreds of different animals living here..." Answered Star Shield as he wondered why it was so quiet.
"Then shouldn't there be noises coming from the animals? I mean it's almost as if all the animals disappeared or something." Replied Swift as she hovered over the others.
"Well I guess we can consider ourselves lucky as that means we'll get to the castle quicker. Maybe after we complete our objective, we can figure out what happened to the animals. However, until then we must focus on what we cane here for, understood?" Said Star Shield sternly.
"Yes sir!" The others replied except for Shining.
Swift flew ahead as the path showed the castle was near and the sun seemed to shine. Although as soon as she made it out in the sun, she stopped and turned to the others. "Um guys, I think we may have a bit of a problem."
The stallions looked confused and walked towards her. Once they arrived, they realized what she meant. The castle was being guarded by some of the many dangerous animals in the forest. They saw packs of timberwolves and at least three hydras.
"Well, at least we know why the animals weren't around but what are they doing out here? Hydras are usually in the swampy areas and bog while timberwolves mainly stay in the dark to catch their prey by surprise." Questioned Cloud.
Star took a closer look at the animals and noticed they all had violet red eyes, "I think I know why they're here...these creatures are being controlled using some sort of mind control so they can guard the castle and prevent anypony from going near it."
"It's possible but who could be able to control these animals and all at the same time?" Shining inquired as he stared at the large creatures.
Star remained silent as Nova spoke to him. 'Star, you don't really think it's possible that-'
'I don't know what to think Nova but no matter who it is, I'm going to get Twilight and Spike and I'm not letting anything get in my way.'
'Yes but you're not doing this alone, remember? Don't do anything too reckless.'
'Can't promise I won't but I'll try not to Nova. However, if things get desperate...I may need Night's help.'
'Very well, if that's what you think. In the meantime, I'll supply you with my power Star Shield. Just try to conserve your strength because if we're right...then we're going to need everything we have.'
'Understood, I'll keep that in mind Nova.'
Star stepped forward and lifted his sword with his magic, "Right now that isn't important. What matters right now is doing what we came here for and not letting anything get in our way, not even these creatures."
Shining stepped forward beside him with a spear in his hoof, "You're right, no matter what we're getting back my sister and Spike. No dumb hydra or pack of timberwolves is gonna stop us, right?!"
"Right!" The others responded.
"Alright then,so anypony got any ideas on how the four of us do this?" Asked Shining armor.
"Well, I'd say we split up like we planned except two of us stay to hold off these creatures and the other two go in the castle. Once we've found and rescued them then we retreat immediately until we get more reinforcements. Is that clear?" Star said loudly.
"Yes sir!" They replied.
Star took off his cloak revealing his bracelets, his silver armor, and mostly his shimmering white wings."Cloud zapper, you're with me...I can't trust you and Shining alone. Swift and Shining, go into the castle right now. We'll cover you and defend the entrance to the castle. Once you have Twilight and Spike, we'll go back the way we came now let's go!"
Shining and Swift went galloping to the entrance of the castle, attracting the attention of the timberwolves as they growled and ran before being knocked into one another by being tackled from the side by the Star and his brother. Cloud and Star Shield smiled as they charged again towards the wolves head on, knocking down many of them in one well placed attack.
They were however outnumbered and with the hydras now coming, they were forced to back away to the front of the castle to defend until the others came back. Star Shield used his magic to put a force field around himself and his brother while they tried going on the offensive. The wolves were quite easily to defeat but the hydras were resilient and difficult as each head they struck went it went near them would only grow two heads in place.
Meanwhile with Shining and Swift, they were searching from top to bottom but finding no sign of anypony yet. It was beginning to frustrate Shining armor as the constant thought of Twilight being in the hold of a pony liked Crimson Shadow boiled his rage within.
"Where in this castle did this monster hide my sister? I feel like he's just toying with us!" Shouted Shining angrily.
Swift was starting to wish she'd have been able to be with Star Shield instead of him. "Shining will you calm down already? It's a big castle and there's lots of places they could be in. Now how about instead of just shouting, you go search the dungeons while I go up to the throne room and see if I can't find anything."
"Alright fine, I'll come find you when I'm done. The sooner I have my sister back,the better." Shining then ran off down to the dungeons. Swift simply shook her head and flew through the halls as she headed up the the throne room, not really expecting much to be found as all she really wanted was some peace and quiet for herself.
She could hear the echoing booms coming from outside as if there was a war going on. She started to worry but had to trust that they'd be alright. They were counting on her and Shining to find the young dragon and pony so she focused on that as she neared the double doors of the throne room.
She pressed her ear against one of the doors and could hear somepony talking inside faintly. She thought over what she could do.
'If I go in right now with no back up and it turns out to be Crimson Shadow inside, I'm not sure if I could fend him off let alone defeat him all by myself. However, if I go to get somepony, would Crimson Shadow even be here when I return? And if he's inside with them, would he kill them? Would he run away and take them with him?'
She took a deep breath and smashed the doors open, spotting a small dragon tied up in the center of the room.
"Spike!" She shouted as she ran towards him. However as soon as she stepped into the room, the doors behind her slammed shut and the room seemed pitch black as if a darkness had seeped inside.
"What's going on?" She turned her head around and saw a pair of red eyes looking at her then heard cackling that echoed through the room.
"Well well well, I see Star's not alone this time. It's a shame he isn't here yet, I was hoping to play with him but I guess I could toy with you instead." The darkness began to recede and swirl around in front of Swift as it formed the body of Crimson Shadow. Swift spotted Spike stuck to the wall with some black web-like substance as Crimson sheathed his sword.
"It's over Crimson Shadow, you can't win so just give up and surrender." Swift declared in the most serious tone she could muster.
Crimson Shadow merely grinned, "Give up? Now why would I do that when I'm going to win..." He looked behind her and then nodded, "Take her down."
Swift only had enough time to turn her head and see the silhouette of a pony before being knocked out.
"Tie her up and put her next to the dragon. Once Star Shield comes in, we'll get rid of them all permanently." Crimson Shadow spoke to the pony who just assaulted Swift. The pony smiled and nodded as in the light, looked exactly like Crimson but was younger like a teenager, slightly smaller body, had a green and black striped mane, and a unicorn while the other pony was a pegasus.
"Should we get rid of the unicorn guard as well?" Asked the unicorn.
"No, for the moment his impatience and frustration are his own enemy. We must focus on eliminating the strongest of the group. If that unicorn or anypony else gets in our way, then we get rid of them or if we just get bored. Star Shield needs to know just what suffering he caused and show him who the real monster is." Replied Crimson.
"Is it true that he got rid of his entire kingdom?"
"Yes and no, he did finish off what was left but there's more to it than that. However, we only need to have Star Shield believe he is the sole cause of the destruction and loss of his family."
"Alright, I just hope you know what you're doing. You're going to be pushing him and if he snaps, he won't hesitate to end us."
"Don't worry about me, I can handle Star Shield. You just need to make sure that you get out of here Shadow stalker."
Shadow seemed shocked and angry at what his brother just said, "What? Are you crazy? I'm not going to leave you-"
Crimson glared at his brother and shouted, "That wasn't a request Shadow! When they all come, I'll hold them off while you run, is that clear?!"
Shadow remained angry and didn't say anything. Crimson repeated himself, "Shadow, is that clear?"
"Yes, it's clear brother..." Shadow responded quietly as he grabbed Swift's body and tied her up beside Spike. He left quietly out the door after leaving Crimson alone with the two captives in silence.
Meanwhile with the brothers Cloud Zapper and Star Shield, they had moved forward away from the castle and had eliminated half of the monstrous beasts attacking them but were still severely outnumbered.
"Um brother, I think we're a little outmatched here! We should get some help soon!" Shouted Cloud as he swung at one of the timberwolves that pounced towards him.
"Right now, we have no help brother! Just us against them!" Yelled Star Shield as he slammed into a hydra to bring it down.
"Then what do we do?! We can't keep this up!" Cloud narrowly avoided the jaws of another timberwolf as it was getting hard to keep track of every single one.
Star thought for a moment then spoke inside his mind, 'Nova? Are you there?'
'Yes, what is it you want from me?' Responded the dragon.
'I'm going to make a temporary force field then once it breaks, I need to push these beasts away. Think we could try to bond ourselves now?'
'It's possible but it'll only work for a few minutes.'
'That's all I need Nova...'
Star removed his now tattered cloak and flew back to the castle, picking up his brother and setting him down beside himself. "Alright Cloud, I'm going to make a force field and I need you to make sure nothing gets inside it. It'll only be temporary and I'll need to concentrate once the force field is done, think you're up to the challenge?"
Cloud grinned and nodded, "I'm ready brother, just go when ready."
Star's horn lit up and soon enough, a light blue force field was starting to form while Cloud was swinging his sword left and right as he knocked off heads of timberwolves and kicked head of the hydras away.
In a minute, the force field was fully made and Star Shield closed his eyes while his horn dimmed. He concentrated as he was sent to his mindscape where Nova was waiting.
"Are you ready to feel the strength of a dragon Star Shield?" Nova asked as he smiled.
Star nodded and smiled as he raised his right forehoof up to the dragon. The dragon closed his right claw in a fist and gently brought it to touch Star's hoof. The two bodies glowed and everything went white as the two merged.
Cloud began to panic as the force field cracked from the attacks of the beasts. The remaining beasts attacked the force field simultaneously and shattered it to pieces just as Star Shield glowed and rose up.
Both the beasts and the pegasus stopped and looked towards the Alicorn as his form changed. His body grew larger and scaly with spikes running along its back, his hooves grew razor sharp claws, his pony tail was replaced with a spiky dragon tail and his head stretched and slimmed to a dragonlike head fit with bone crushing teeth. He had fully become a white blue-eyed dragon like Nova except his eyes and mane remained normal.
Star roared loudly and glared at the beasts, daring them to attack now. The beasts roared back and attacked Star Shield in his new dragon form. However, they quickly realized what a mistake that was as he threw them off with his claws and opened his mouth wide, setting them ablaze with his blue flame. The sounds of whining and yelling of pain was echoed throughout the forest as the few who survived ran away as far as they could go. To those who were caught in the blaze however, they had been burnt to a crisp. They were just black ashes that stained the ground now.
Cloud couldn't believe it, he had just seen his brother turn into a ferocious dragon right before his eyes. He looked up at the dragon as it towered over him and flew up to his face while he wondered just what else he didn't know about the pony he called brother.
Star turned his attention to the castle and smashed the ceiling of the castle, looking inside every time until he finally spotted Spike and Swift tied up in a room with Crimson seated nearby on a throne. He roared and narrowed his eyes at the dark pony.
"You're just full of surprises aren't you Star Shield? I never thought you would actually turn into a dragon." Crimson said while sheathing his blade.
Star flew above and slowly shrunk himself to a pony sized dragon then floated down to face Crimson."When I have friends to protect, there's little I won't do for them."
"Well then,how's about we finish this once and for all? Just you and me, no guards and no beasts... Simply you and I fighting to the death."
"Very well but not here, I don't want them to get hurt."
"Fine, it'll be your resting place anyways. Let's go." Crimson shrugged and dashed out of the castle.
Star Shield flew up to his brother who was hovering over watching the scene unfold and placed his hoof on Cloud's shoulder, "Cloud, get them loose and take them back to the castle. I'll take care of Crimson Shadow."
Cloud nodded and flew down to the room to untie them while his brother and Crimson had flown far from sight.
The two ponies flew fast for a minute before landing in a clearing with their blades sheathed.
"So Star Shield, think you can kill me as easy as your subjects?"
"Be quiet, I did not kill them and you know it so shut your mouth before I do it for you!"
"Your threats are meaningless Star Shield and once I kill you, maybe I'll kill your brother next and put your bodies beside each other. After all family should stick together."
Star gritted his teeth and ran, slicing the ground with his weapon as Crimson Shadow did the same. Both ponies held their potent weapons as they rushed towards each other, closing the distance between them as they look to end their rivalry once and for all.