Naomi stared down at her cellphone, listening to the dial tone. It was after midnight - curfew had come into effect over two hours ago. It was way too late to be calling. Which was why she was so surprised when the call was answered on the second ring.

'Aidan?'

'Naomi! Hey!' Despite the god-awful day she'd just had, a bit of Naomi's melancholy lifted at the sound of Aidan's voice chirping down the line. 'I'm so glad you called! How was Gardenia! Was it sunny? I've researched this 'California' place, and according to the net, it's very sunny. Did you wear sunscreen?' Aidan paused. '…Naomi? …Why are you calling at half past midnight?' Naomi lay back on her bed, playing with her hair nervously.

'Aidan, I need a favour.'

'Sure.'

'But you can't ask questions.'

'About the favour or just in general? Because I was really hoping to ask you to get some coffee at some point.' Naomi laughed weakly, a light blush creeping up her cheeks.

'Just about the favour.'

'Oh, good, because I've really been looking forward to asking that question.'

'Well, I'm looking forward to answering yes.' There was a very quiet 'Yes!' from the other end, and she smirked. 'Aidan?'

'Yeah?'

'Are you doing a celebratory dance?' There was the sound of Aidan sitting down.

'Not anymore.' He cleared his throat awkwardly. 'So…you need a favour? And I won't ask questions, promise.' Naomi breathed a sigh of relief.

'You're good with tech, right?'

'I'm alright.'

'Your room is littered with tech and gadgets in various states of creation and repair, and you have a commendation from the University of Zenith.'

'Okay, so I'm very alright. Why? Oops, sorry, that was a question.'

'I'll bring something by tomorrow, and I need you to try and get anything you can from it.'

'Okay. So…does that mean I get to see you tomorrow?' Aidan asked hopefully. 'I know that was a question, but…'

'Yeah, you'll see me tomorrow. And probably Roxy too.'

'Yes! Oh, and yay Roxy too, obviously. But mostly you. I'll see you tomorrow then.'

'See you tomorrow.' She hung up, letting the phone fall away from her ear, staring up at the ceiling, listening to Roxy sleep. Should she have told Aidan what was going on? She certainly trusted him, but…did she want to drag him into this? He'd surely want to help, and she didn't want him to get hurt. No, she should keep the hand's origins a secret. Of course he'd want to know where she'd got a dismembered robot hand, but he'd promised no questions, and she trusted his word.

Putting her phone onto the nightstand, she rolled over and went to sleep, actively focusing on not thinking about what had happened today. She didn't want another nightmare…

She had to keep running. From what? What was she running from? She got her answer as a bolt of electricity slammed into her back, sending her tumbling forwards.

She tried to scramble to her feet, but felt cold metal close around her wrist, slamming her back down. Groaning with pain, she opened her eyes, staring up into a malicious green gaze.

'Objective achieved.' She gasped, trying to summon her magic, but nothing happened. She could shift. Couldn't transform. She was completely at Endgame's mercy.

'Finally.' Her eyes widened at the voice. It wasn't Endgame. It was alive. And female. And…familiar. Horribly, horribly familiar, though she didn't know from where.

She started to turn to look, but Endgame tightened its grip on her wrist, almost shattering the bone. She screamed, blind panic taking over as the pain got worse. No…no…no!

'Naomi! Naomi, it's just a dream!'

'No!' she screamed, sitting bolt upright in bed, finding Roxy staring worriedly down at her.

'Naomi, it was just a nightmare.' She took a deep breath, realising she was trembling. Just a nightmare. Again. Same as all the others. Except…

'Who was she?' she muttered to herself, remembering the woman she'd heard speak.

'Who was who?' Roxy queried. Naomi looked up, rubbing the fog of sleep and panic from her eyes.

'I heard a woman. I was being captured by Endgame, and I heard a woman say 'Finally'.' Roxy frowned.

'Finally?' Naomi shrugged.

'You know as much as I do, Princess.' They just stared at each other for a minute, neither quite sure what to say. Yet another piece had been added to the puzzle, but it had only made whatever picture they'd thought they were making even more incomprehensible.

'…You said you think Endgame's being remotely operated?' Roxy said after a minute as Naomi got up and started getting dressed.

'Yeah. It received a directive change. Had to come from someone.' Roxy nodded slowly, thinking.

'So maybe this woman you heard…maybe she's the one controlling Endgame.' That would make sense. But…

'How would I know what Endgame's operator sounds like?' That was the million dollar question. Along with every other million dollar question they'd acquired over the past month. If they answered all these million dollar questions, they'd be the richest fairies in the dimension.

She shook her head, pulling a sweater over her bed-head hair. They were gonna show the hand to Aidan later; she was sure he'd come up with some answers.

She headed into the bathroom, absentmindedly brushing her teeth, her mind stuck on the answers she needed so desperately. She wished she could ask her family about this. Ogron would have a million suggestions of what to do…while she only had one. And she was putting all her faith in it.

'Uh, Naomi…?' Roxy called nervously from the bedroom.

'What?' she mumbled back through a mouthful of toothpaste.

'Um, I don't know that much about the Magic Dimension, but…is the sun supposed to be going out?' What the hell? Naomi quickly spat her toothpaste out, sprinting out of the bathroom. Her jaw dropped open as she looked out of the window.

'What on Earth?' An eclipse? But the next total eclipse of Valeria, the star that illuminated this area of the dimension, wasn't for seventy-two years.

'Is this supposed to be happening?' Roxy asked, staring nervously up at the weak ring of light above them. Naomi shook her head.

'No…Valeria's next eclipse isn't for seventy-two years.'

'Valeria?'

'The sun,' Naomi explained. 'On Earth, we only have the one sun, so we just call it 'The Sun', but the Magic Dimension has hundreds of stars that illuminate different planets. It's commonplace to just refer to the star illuminating the planet you're currently on as 'the sun', but they all have names. The star illuminating Magix and the surrounding solar system is called Valeria.' Roxy blinked.

'…And you know this how?'

'I read a lot.' Roxy bit her lip.

'But why is Valeria going dark?' Naomi snapped her fingers, levitating over her phone.

'I don't know. But it's gotta be in the news by now.' True to her guess, the first thing on her screen when she unlocked her phone was a news feed of a concerned-looking newscaster pointing at a feed of a darkening sun.

'Experts are at a loss as to why Valeria, the sun of Magix, began to darken roughly five minutes ago. The next total eclipse not being due for seventy years…'

'Seventy-two years,' Naomi muttered.

'…scientists are baffled by this event.' The newscaster's face blanched as she got some news through her earpiece.

'You're f*ing kidding me!' Naomi couldn't help snorting as the reporter realised she'd just sworn on dimensional television, affixing an expression of professionalism to her face. 'Um, I mean…'

'That you'll be being replaced with someone as inoffensive as possible as soon as this report is over?' Naomi snarked quietly.

'I'm getting reports that…Lumenia is going dark.' Naomi's mouth dropped open, and she repeated the reporter's unfortunate verbal slip-up.

'Naomi?' Roxy asked nervously. 'What's Lumenia?'

'The star that illuminates Solaria, Stella's home planet. It's the brightest in the dimension.'

'So two eclipses are happening at once?' Naomi nodded.

'But Lumenia's next eclipse isn't for…' She clicked on a note on her phone. '…Four thousand, six hundred and twenty-three years, fourteen days.'

'Naomi…? Do you have all the eclipse schedules of the dimension in a document on your phone?'

'Of course I do. Eclipses are very significant in dark magic. Ogron had a document just like it, except his was on paper, and way less portable. I tried getting him to put it on his phone, but he felt that took a lot of the magic out of eclipses and dark sorcery.' Roxy just stared at her for a full minute.

'…Right. Cool.' Both girls' attention was drawn back down to the phone as the newscaster began full-blown panicking, apparently having realised that after swearing on the news, she could screw professionalism and just flip out.

'Oh my Dragon! Hypsos has gone dark! Iridia! Coralya! Gorgol! Peripla! Could this be the end of days?!' Roxy looked at Naomi.

'…Those are all stars, right?'

'Yeah. They all illuminate systems, too.'

'What could be causing this?' Roxy asked, rolling her eyes as the newscaster began being escorted off the television by security, who turned out to be no match for a woman whose career was crashing down and her heeled shoe.

'Remember when I told you guys about those pillars?' Roxy nodded.

'Yeah, the pillars of balance, control and…' Roxy trailed off, her gaze drifting to the still-dimming sun. '…light.'

'Yeah. I'm guessing Tritannus hit the Pillar of Light, grabbed the seal, and now every star in the dimension is feeling the effects.'

'Dammit. That's not good.' Roxy spun back to face Naomi. 'How do we fix this?'

'We can't. Not unless you earned Sirenix while I was in the bathroom.'

'So it's up to the Winx to put the seal back?' Naomi nodded. Wow, the fate of the universe coming down to the Winx. How original.

'Yep. But they better get there before the pillar crumbles. Cause then we're all pretty much doomed to fumble around in the dark until the plants stop photosynthesising and we all starve to death.' Roxy blinked.

'…Wow. That was pessimistic, even for you.'

'Something being depressing doesn't stop it being true.'

'How do we know the pillar hasn't already crumbled?'

'Because the stars are still glowing, even if it's weak.' Something seemed to occur to Roxy, and she gasped and grabbed her phone.

'My parents! They'll be so panicked!' She pulled up a news feed from Earth, her face quickly switching from panic to confusion. '…The Sun is fine.' She turned the phone around. 'Look. The biggest story is about Joe Biden's presidential campaign.' Naomi sighed.

'I feel bad for the guy. Getting stuck as president when it's suddenly revealed that 'Oh, wait, magic is real and there's suddenly a new country of fairies'. Gotta be stressful.' Roxy nodded distractedly.

'Uh-huh…the Sun's still shining, Naomi. How come it's not going dark?'

'It's not in the Magic Dimension,' Naomi explained. 'Plus, the Pillar can't really affect the Sun in the same way as magical stars.' Roxy raised an eyebrow.

'Just found out about magic four months ago, Naomi. Gonna need a little more exposition.' Right, right, of course she did.

'Okay. So, you know how the Sun works, right?'

'I know about nuclear fusion of hydrogen releasing huge amounts of heat and light.'

'Good enough. Well, the Pillar can't stop the hydrogen nuclei fusing, and energy has to be released from that, and that energy is released in the form of light and heat, which travels to Earth in the form of waves. The stars of the Magic Dimension aren't lit by nuclear fusion. Instead, they're more like…small planets. They have incredibly powerful cores, filled with ridiculously powerful light magic, which is released and powered by creatures made of light called lumens. It's these beings that are connected to the pillar. They're made of light, so when the Pillar is crumbling, their life-force is fading. And without the lumens to release the energy in the cores, the stars will stop shining. And if the Pillar crumbles completely, the lumens will all die, and no amount of convergences will be able to undo that.' Roxy gasped with horror.

'So all these lumens will die?! That's awful! We need to get up there and help them!' Naomi held up a hand.

'Slow your roll there, Princess. First, we can't do anything. Only thing that'll help is restoring the pillar. Second, you'd fry if you stepped foot on a star.' Roxy frowned.

'But you said they were like planets.'

'They're still burning hot, Princess. Everything on them is made of solid light.' Roxy raised an eyebrow.

'Light can be solid?'

'You sprout wings and throw animal-themed balls of energy at people. Are you seriously questioning whether light can be solid?' Roxy shrugged.

'Fair enough. So light is hot?'

'You ever touched one of Stella's attacks?' Roxy shook her head. 'My advice? Don't.' Roxy bit her lip.

'So we just sit around and wait for the Winx to sort everything out?'

'Isn't that the dimensional protocol?' Naomi asked sarcastically, eliciting an eye-roll.

'Naomi! I'm serious!' Naomi was about to reply when a large gathering in the courtyard caught her eye.

'Looks like Faragonda's holding court…' The headmistress was standing in the middle of a crowd of panicking students, evidently trying to calm them down with the help of faculty and several upperclassmen.

Roxy joined her at the window.

'We should head down there.'

'Couldn't agree more.' Roxy didn't even have time to gasp as Naomi flung the window open and hopped out, shifting into a hawk a few feet above the ground, beating her wings to slow her fall, her feet lightly touching down a moment later.

'Show off!' Naomi grinned up at an indignant Roxy. 'Some of us don't have shapeshifting powers, y'know!'

'And that's my fault? C'mon, Princess. Get down here.'

'You seriously want me to jump out a window?' Naomi shrugged.

'Jump, take the stairs…but I promise I'll catch you.' Roxy puffed out her cheeks in irritation, glancing back at the door. She rolled her eyes, before hopping up onto the ledge.

'You're a bad influence!' she called as she hopped down, shrieking as she hurtled down, before landing on Naomi's back, staring down at the pink lioness beneath her.

'Guilty as charged.' Naomi turned human again as Roxy jumped off. 'But wasn't that fun?' Roxy lightly punched her on the arm.

'Maybe I come up with the next ideas.'

'Good idea, good idea…but I was thinking I could just keep thinking of ideas. Since they're all so awesome.' Roxy rolled her eyes as she began pushing her way through the crowd.

'Excuse us, excuse us…sorry, coming through…pseudo-Winx coming through…' Roxy finally broke through the crowd, reaching Faragonda and the Winx, who seemed to be comforting Stella. It only took Naomi a moment to figure out why. Lumenia was going out, and the monarch of Solaria's life-force was directly tied to that star. And the current monarch of Solaria was Stella's father. If the star was going out… Well, Stella's tears made the situation rather obvious.

'Stella!' Roxy cried, running over. 'What's going on?'

'The sun…Solaria…my father…' Stella sobbed. 'The sun…without the sun…he could…he could die!'

'We're pretty sure Tritannus has hit one of the Pillars of the Infinite Ocean,' Tecna explained. Roxy nodded.

'Naomi and I were just saying the same thing. You guys need to get there and fix it!' Tecna sighed deeply.

'There's a glitch in that plan. We don't know where the Pillar is. And the Infinite Ocean is…well…infinite!'

'Well since we don't have any better ideas, I say we just get into the Infinite Ocean and start looking!' Musa pitched in. 'We can get the selkies' help.'

'Will that work?' Flora asked nervously. 'The Infinite Ocean is huge…'

'I'm all ears for any better plans.' Nobody said anything. Musa clapped her hands. 'Right then. Searching it is.'

'Not me,' Stella choked out. 'I have to go to Solaria. I have to go home. I have to know what's going on with my dad.'

'I can go with you,' Bloom offered, but Stella shook her head.

'No…no…you go. You should be searching. I'll go on my own…I'll…I'll be okay…' In the entire history of time, never had anyone looked less like they'd be okay.

'Naomi and I'll go with to Solaria.' Stella looked up at Roxy's words.

'R-really?'

'Sure. The Winx need to go search the Infinite Ocean, and, no offence, but no way should you be on your own. So, as the base-level no-Sirenix fairies with absolutely no use to the situation, we'd be happy to come be emotional support.' Stella managed a weak spectre of a smile.

'You're sure?' Roxy nodded emphatically, and Naomi shrugged, though she couldn't help feeling that maybe she wasn't really close enough with Stella for this not to be weird.

'Sure. Besides, it's not like classes are going on today, since everyone seems to be taking today as a chance to work on their hysterical panic skills. Like Kyral over there.' She pointed to Kyral, who was running around shrieking the end was nigh, before dramatically fainting right into a very confused Palladium's arms.

'Stella! Stella? Ooh, sorry, was that your foot? Sorry, sorry, coming through…calm down, Amaryl! You fought the army of darkness; this is not as high-pressure!' Naomi raised an eyebrow to see an incredibly worried specialist elbowing his way through the crowd. 'Stella!' Stella broke away from Bloom's arms in an instant, throwing herself across the courtyard and into Brandon's arms.

'Brandon…' Brandon clutched his beloved princess in his arms, softly stroking her hair.

'Shh…it's okay, Sunbeam… I got you.'

'Brandon…' Stella pulled back, staring up at him, teary-eyed. 'I have to go to Solaria…my father…' Brandon nodded.

'I know. I'm coming with. The other guys are helping calm down panicking civilians in Magix, but I got Codatorta to let me off; no way I'm letting you go to Solaria without me.' Stella clung to him again.

'Thank you…' She sniffled, wiping her eyes. 'Oh…Roxy and Naomi offered to come too…'

'Really?' Brandon smiled at Roxy and Naomi. 'That's awesome of you guys.' Roxy nodded and Naomi gave him a casual salute.

'No problem.' Stella slipped a ring off her finger, taking a deep breath.

'Okay. Everybody ready?' Naomi nodded, eyeing the ring.

'…Is that the Sword Ring of Solaria? The ancient relic of Solarian monarchs forged with a spark of the Dragon Flame?' Stella nodded. 'Wicked…'

'You're pretty into artefacts, aren't you?' Stella asked. Naomi nodded sheepishly.

'You could say that.'

'Well, then you're gonna love this. Solaria!' Naomi grinned with excitement as one of the most legendary artefacts in the Magic Dimension elongated into a staff, glowing with celestial power as Stella slammed it into the ground. In an instant, the Alfea courtyard vanished around them, replaced with an endless pink infinity that inexplicably smelled like raspberries.

'Are we falling or flying?' Roxy called nervously.

'Both!' Naomi replied, grabbing the confused Fairy of Animals' hand.

'You know that makes no sense, right?!'

'Totally!' A second later, Naomi felt her feet touch down on stone, followed by the sound of Roxy stumbling forwards and faceplanting.

'Ooh…' Stella winced. 'Sorry…my sceptre is tad more disorientating than Zoomix.'

'That woulda been great to know sooner…' Roxy moaned into the ground. 'Hey, Naomi, are we at a stage in our friendship yet where you'll hold my hair back?' In response, Naomi flicked her finger, making Roxy's hair rearrange itself into a tight braid. Roxy gave her a thumbs-up in response.

'C'mon, Princess. Let's go.' Roxy allowed herself to be pulled upright, still looking a little green.

'Next time…next time we just take Brandon's ship.'

'It's not really my ship…' Brandon began. Roxy held up a hand.

'Don't take that distant hope away from me, Brandon.' Naomi and Brandon smiled as Roxy's remark elicited a weak laugh from Stella.

'Hey, so Sunshine's still got her smile,' Naomi quipped, nudging Stella playfully. Stella managed a weak smile.

'Are you kidding? With a smile this fabulous, it'd be a crime to deprive the dimension of it.'

'I couldn't agree more, Sunbeam.' Brandon wrapped his arms around Stella. 'Let's go find your dad.' Stella nodded, the dark cloud returning to her expression.

'Mhm. We…we need to make sure he's…he's okay.' She set off. 'C'mon.' Roxy looked up and her jaw dropped open.

'Have we just been standing in front of this giant palace this entire time?' Naomi nodded.

'Yep.'

'…So those guards saw me faceplant?'

'Yeppity yep.' Roxy was silent for a moment.

'…Gyah!' Naomi patted her on the shoulder as her roommate's face burned crimson.

'We've all been there. I mean, I haven't, nor anyone else I know, but some people. Somewhere. Probably.'

'Thank you, you're so helpful.'

'I try.'

'You fail.' Naomi laughed at Roxy's irritated tone.

'C'mon, Princess.' She pulled a grumbling, flushed Roxy inside the palace, trying not to stare at the ancient artefacts these people just had up on their walls, like they were child's art made with macaroni. Actually, no, they were being displayed more casually than child's art made with macaroni, since her own macaroni pictures from when she was three had been framed and hung on the walls, with a small plaque underneath them. Ogron had suggested that might be overkill, but Anagan had insisted he was very proud of her, and this was the appropriate way to show it. Duman, while appreciative of the art, had been a tiny bit miffed, since he had actually been planning on eating aforementioned macaroni before it had been turned into a happy face.

'Wow…' Roxy breathed. 'This is Stella's house? It's huge!' She raised an eyebrow as she walked past a guard. 'And full of men with pointy objects. You think that's weird? Growing up surrounded by armed guards?' Naomi shrugged.

'You're the princess, Princess.' Roxy rolled her eyes.

'I am the least princess-y princess there is. Look. I'm at a royal palace, and I'm in a hoodie and muddy sneakers.' She froze. 'Oh my God. I'm at a royal palace in a hoodie and muddy sneakers! What was I thinking?! Why didn't you make me change?!'

'I'm not your PA, Princess. And nobody cares what you're wearing.' An unfortunately-timed butler walked past, glancing disdainfully at Roxy's sneakers.

'That guy cares.'

'Well, find it in you to remember that you're never going to see him again.' Roxy still frowning at her (admittedly not super appropriate) footwear, they girls walked into a spacious throne room after Stella and Brandon.

'Stella!' A man with chestnut-brown hair called over to Stella from the far side of the room, starting to hurry over. Naomi raised an eyebrow as Stella froze, her entire body going rigid, her heartbeat audibly speeding up.

'Stella?' she asked quietly. 'You okay?' Stella nodded, her lips pressed together in a stressed line.

'Of course.' She walked over to meet the man. 'Allan…hi. What…what are you doing here?' The man, Allan, apparently, frowned.

'I'm here with Luna, Stella. She's…she's with your father.' Stella paled.

'Why? They can almost never be in the same room as each other…' Her voice faded to a whisper. 'How serious is it?' Allan sighed deeply.

'I'm so sorry.' Stella turned red.

'Don't tell me you're sorry, tell me how serious it is!'

'He collapsed. He's fading…fading fast. If the sun goes…' Stella made a choked noise.

'No…no!' She fell into Brandon's arms, sobbing into his shoulder. After a few minutes, she straightened up, wiping futilely at her eyes. 'I want to see him.'

'I'm not sure he's up for visitors…' Allan started.

'Last time I checked, you weren't a doctor, Allan! And stealing a doctor from my dad doesn't make you a medical expert!' Allan flinched, and a couple of puzzle pieces as to who this random guy was started falling into place.

'Let me guess…' she murmured to Roxy. 'Stella's mom's boyfriend?' Roxy nodded.

'Think so. Allan…Mason, I think. Stella mentioned him on Earth.'

'And Stella's not a fan?' she asked, watching Stella fume at Allan. Roxy shrugged.

'It…varies.'

'Stella.' Stella froze at the new voice. Everyone turned to see a woman with ice-blonde hair standing in the doorway. Stella's eyes spilled over with fresh tears as she flung herself across the room to her.

'Mom!'

'Stella…' Stella cried into her mother's arms, Luna stroking her hair soothingly. 'Shh, sweetheart, it's alright…'

'No…no it's not…Dad…he…he…'

'Is resting,' Luna assured her. 'As long as the sun still shines, he will live.' Stella pulled away.

'But the sun is going out! The sun is going out, and the only plan we have to fix that is to go on a scavenger hunt in the Infinite Ocean!' Naomi had to acknowledge that that was a bad situation. And also that the Winx always seemed to rely on luck, which always seemed to reward them and pop up when they needed it most. Except now, apparently.

'Stella…' Luna tried. Stella shook her head, sniffling.

'Why did you bring him?' she muttered, gesturing to Allan. 'Did you have to ensure I remembered that you and Dad are divorced?'

'No, Stella, of course not!' Stella folded her arms.

'Really. Because it sure feels like that. Why else would you bring him to a family crisis for a family he's not a part of?' Allan and Luna flinched in unison.

'Sunbeam…' Brandon murmured, putting a hand on Stella's shoulder. 'Calm down.' Stella laughed, the sound veering slightly into the crazy.

'Oh, of course. Calm down. Because now is the most conducive time for peace and serenity! Why don't I just get out my yoga mat and do cat pose?!' The incredulity fell away from her expression, and she just looked scared and lost.

'It's all gonna be okay…' Brandon reassured her.

'Really? What makes you say that? Have you seen something I missed? Maybe you've realised the Second Sun is actually on a dimmer switch, and all we gotta do is turn it back up?!'

'Hm…' An idea occurred to Naomi.

'What?' Stella asked, turning to look at her in confusion.

'What if we turn the sun back up?'

'That's…an idea…' Roxy said. '…The sun doesn't actually have a dimmer switch, right?' Naomi looked at her incredulously, and she folded her arms. 'I just found out the stars are fuelled by tiny light beings; nothing will surprise me now.'

'You're the Fairy of the Shining Sun,' Naomi offered. 'If anyone can give the sun a boost, it's gotta be you.' Stella frowned, deep in thought.

'…Will that work?' Naomi shrugged.

'I honestly have no idea. But since nobody is pitching any better plans…' At those words, Stella's gaze hardened with resolve.

'You're right. Good idea. Let's do it.' Luna's jaw dropped.

'Stella, I don't know if…'

'You just focus on helping Dad,' Stella replied tersely. 'I'm sure you and Allen have lots you can do.' Before Luna could reply, Stella stalked out of the throne room, presumably heading towards the Second Sun Spire. Brandon hurried after her, while Naomi waved languidly to Allen and Luna.

'Looks like Sunshine's a girl on a mission; catch you later.' Roxy made a sort of quiet choking noise, half bowing, half curtseying, all stumbling towards the door.

'It was…um…nice?…to meet you?' she mumbled, before Naomi mercifully grabbed her hand and dragged her into the hallway.

'Smooth, Princess.' Roxy folded her arms.

'It's not like I know what I'm doing here; I'm hardly a real princess. I'm like ninety-percent dog hair.' Naomi rolled her eyes.

'Not an excuse. Just…act like a human person.'

'In case you've forgotten, as of about four months ago, I found out I'm not a human person, Naomi,' Roxy huffed irritably.

'Yeah, well, that should just make you even less intimidated by people with fancy headwear,' Naomi replied. 'You weren't scared of a giant killer robot; aristocrats should be easy.'

'Endgame wasn't silently judging me…'

'So? People silently and verbally judge me all the damn time,' Naomi rebuffed. 'Doesn't mean I start giving a damn what they've got to say. Now c'mon, this is about Sunshine right now.' Their conversation coming to a swift end, Naomi and Roxy stepped through a huge pair of double doors into a large, imposing space with floor-to-ceiling windows through which dim light from the greying sun streamed through, weakly illuminating the even greyer orb of light hovering in the heart of the chamber. The Second Sun of Solaria. Though, right then, it looked more like a sad LED bulb desperately holding onto life as a hyperactive child flicked the light switch on and off.

Stella stared at the heart of her planet's magic for a moment, letting out a strangled choking noise.

'I swear to the Great Dragon, if Tritannus is responsible for this, I will make fish sticks out of him!' she snarled viciously. 'Magic Winx! Enchantix!' Naomi had to cover her eyes as Stella transformed in a huge, blinding burst of light, her Enchantix wings glowing brighter than normal with her not in any way restrained rage. 'Breaking Dawn!' The light spilled forth from Stella in waves, forcing Naomi to cover her eyes and squint through her fingers as the Second Sun glowed weakly in response to Stella's desperate attempt to rekindle it.

'Work!' Stella screamed with frustration. 'Seriously, powers, of all the times I've used you, now is the time to work!' Unfortunately, her powers seemed to be steadfastly ignoring her, as the sun flickered miserably in her light rays, before practically sputtering a few shades deeper into grey. Naomi sighed as Stella dropped to the ground, her Enchantix vanishing as she lay panting on the floor, the sun continuing its descent into darkness.

'I'm sorry, Stella,' she murmured. 'I thought…'

'It was worth a try,' Stella replied quietly. 'I appreciate you pitching suggestions. …I don't suppose you have any more?' Naomi shook her head.

'Sadly, nope. I'm fresh out of suggestions.' Stella nodded despondently.

'I figured. This is a pretty solution-less situation.' Brandon knelt next to her, folding the depressed princess into his arms.

'Hey, Sunbeam…' he soothed. 'We'll figure this out. Promise.' Stella sighed weakly, turning to stare at the sun.

'It won't last much longer, Brandon…'

'Couldn't you use your fairy dust?' Roxy asked tentatively, but Stella shook her head.

'It's not dark magic; fairy dust won't do anything.' Naomi bit her lip, her mind racing for an idea. Any damn idea would do. Her brain promptly ran with that lack of restrictions, suggesting they point a bunch of lamps at the sun. …Okay, maybe they need to be borderline-feasible, brain. Unfortunately, her usually very helpful mind was fresh out of borderline-feasible suggestions, leaving her with tumbleweed and disappointment. Well, we're now officially screwed.

I wanted to give the Second Sun going out a little more attention, letting Stella do a little more than unlock a generic new spell. And Allen is a character from the comics, and I thought he might help to add a little extra tension. Also, Luna is a doctor here. Her career was never stated in the show (maybe it was just 'royal') and I headcanon her as a doctor.

I included the explanation about the lumens because, even if I'm not totally certain that season eight's arc is going to feature in this story, I wanted to incorporate the lumens into the lore so they're not a sudden addition. And yes, of course Naomi has a document on her phone with all eclipse scheduling. It wouldn't cross her mind not to.

And can we please just take a quick moment to appreciate what an adorable little puppy dog Aidan is? I love him so much. He's this big ball of loving energy and enthusiasm! If you like the story, please leave a review; I love reading your thoughts so much!