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MLPFiM: The Stars of Darkness pt. 2

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Less than an hour later, Twilight had gathered her friends from all around Ponyville and brought them to the library- Rainbow Dash, a blue Pegasus; Fluttershy, a yellow Pegasus; Rarity, a white unicorn; Applejack, an orange pony, and Pinkie Pie, a pink pony.  They had all begun to argue with Twilight when she had come to get them (well, except for Pinkie Pie; Pinkie had been busy trying to catch a butterfly) but the look of concern and worry on her face had been enough to encourage their cooperation.  Now, all five of Twilight's friends spoke in hushed tones as the purple unicorn closed the curtains and shades… except for Pinkie Pie.  Pinkie Pie had found the message on the shelf and was opening and closing it rapidly so Princess Celestia's voice kept repeating, "Twilight Sparkle- Twilight- Twi- Twi- Twi- Twilight Sparkle-,"

Pinkie giggled as she continued.  "Boy, the Princess sure does sound SERIOUS and grumpy!  Maybe she could use a party to perk her up!  I know that always makes ME feel better!"

"She sounds serious because this IS serious, Pinkie Pie," Twilight said.  Her horn glowed and the message floated out of Pinkie's hooves to hover amidst the six ponies.  Twilight unrolled the message and allowed it to replay for her friends.

"Twilight Sparkle, my most trusted student…"

The ponies watched in rapt silence, even Pinkie Pie.  By the end of the message, Twilight's look of worry was painted across every face, although not across Pinkie's for long.  The pink pony with the curly pink hair sighed and rolled her blue eyes.

"WHEW!  At least it wasn't anything reeeally serious!"  She grinned and bounced in place.  "Oooooh, cupcakes!  I want a cupcake!  Who wants one?"

"Pinkie Pie, please, this is serious!" Twilight insisted, her ears drooping.  "These ponies, especially this Dark Star, seem…"

"Unfriendly?" Pinkie offered helpfully.

"More than just unfriendly," Twilight said.  "They sound… well, downright dangerous.  In the message, Princess Celestia said that they know about the Elements of Harmony, and from the sounds of it they know that the Princesses don't control them anymore."

"Anymore?" Rainbow Dash said, her wings rustling.  "When did they ever?"

"When they defeated Discord, before Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon," Twilight said.  "They wielded them together and locked him in stone.  And then, when Luna became Nightmare Moon, Princess Celestia used them alone and defeated her.  But now…"  Twilight cast her amethyst eyes to the second floor of the library, where the very objects they discussed were kept.  After Discord had so easily removed them from what Celestia had thought to be a secure location, the Princess had suggested that it may be best to let Twilight keep them safe with her in Ponyville.  Now, Twilight was beginning to regret accepting the suggestion.  "If they know that the Princesses don't control them, it won't take them long to figure out who does."

"Well, why's that?" Applejack asked, arching an eyebrow at Twilight.  "I mean, it's not like we put up a huge sign sayin' "Attention Evil-doers: Elements of Harmony here!"  Any reason we cain't just hope this Dark Star'll just pass us by?"

"Really, Applejack, have you already forgotten?" Rarity tossed her purple mane.  "There are no less than two windows in Canterlot with our pictures on them, and in both of them the six of us are using the Elements of Harmony.  Princess Celestia has held two ceremonies for us, celebrating the fact that we used the Elements to defeat grievous foes."  The white unicorn shook her head.  "I'm afraid that hiding may not avail us for long, darling."

"We could move the Elements somewhere else," Rainbow Dash suggested, rising into the air and hovering over the group.  "We could take 'em into the mountains, or the Everfree Forest, and hide 'em.  Somewhere no-pony could ever find 'em!  Oh!  Or we could just take 'em to a Pegasus city, like Cloudsdale.  Only Pegasus ponies can go there!"

"That could work… except that we don't know anything about these generals."  Twilight flipped through a few pages of a book before her, but she shook her head sadly.  "For all we know, some of them could be Pegasus ponies; or they could be magically talented like me, and make themselves able to walk on clouds… so they very well may be looking in Cloudsdale right now."

Rainbow settled back to the ground, her feathers wilting slightly.  "Oh, well… never mind then."

"Then… what can we do, Twilight?" Applejack asked.  "I mean… suppose'n they do come here.  What do we do?"

"I…"  Twilight's eyes narrowed.  "I guess we'd have to fight them.  Use the Elements and defeat them.  Just like Nightmare Moon, just like Discord."

Applejack grinned, a feisty glint in her green eyes.  "Well, I cain't say that don't sound like a plan!"  She tossed her golden mane and stamped a hoof.  "If'n those troublemakers show up here, you can bet that we'll give 'em a fight to remember!"

Rainbow Dash nodded vigorously and flew a quick loop before hovering over Applejack.  "Yeah!  A fight like no-pony has ever had before!  They'll regret coming to Ponyville, lookin' for trouble!"

"Um… well…"  Everypony turned to Fluttershy, whose wings instinctively drooped slightly at being the center of attention.  She swallowed inaudibly before continuing.  "Well… I suppose that would work… if we knew who they were… but what if they come, and we don't know who they are?  I mean, we don't know what they look like, or anything… so how…"  She trailed off, and Twilight picked up for her.

"…How will we know if they're the evil ponies or not?"  She mulled that over.  Fluttershy has a good point… she thought.  And we can't just immediately suspect every pony that comes into Ponyville; that borders on paranoia.  She flipped through a few more pages of her book before sighing and closing it.  "I can't seem to find any pictures of these ponies or even a description of them; we only have what the Princesses told us to go on, and unfortunately that's not much."  She hopped down from her podium with a clop and turned to Spike.  "Spike, take a message."

The purple-and-green dragon pulled out a piece of paper and an ink quill as Twilight began dictating.  "Dear Princess Celestia; we thank you for your timely warning, but if we are to face this threat head-on, we must know more about our opponents.  Princess Luna seems to have known them the best, perhaps if she could give us a more detailed account of them, we could be better prepared.  Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."  Spike promptly rolled the message, ran to the window, and sent it to the Princess; he held it in one hand and blew green flames onto it, sending it immediately into flames that burned it completely.  It wasn't really burning, of course; it was being magically transported to Princess Celestia and would arrive in a matter of seconds.

"Done!" he reported, dusting his hands off as he walked back to Twilight.

"Thank you, Spike.  Now we just have to wait for the Princess to reply.  I don't imagine it will take long."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As Spike sent the letter, the clock in Ponyville chimed lunchtime, and everypony in town set out for lunch.  They milled about, each happily minding his and her own business- so much so that nopony noticed four black-hooded ponies observing the town from a nearby hill.

"So, this is where the six ponies who wield the Elements reside," Dark Star mused thoughtfully.  "Quaint little town.  The perfect hiding place for Celestia's most powerful weapon."  The wind rippled his cloak as he gazed down at Ponyville.  "What did that pony in Canterlot tell us, Morningstar?"

Despite herself, Morningstar winced.  That pony was going to spend the next several days thinking she was a donut, and then probably a few weeks in multiple leg casts after what Dark Star had done to her.  "She told us that the six ponies who controlled the Elements lived in a small town called Ponyville, and that their names are Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle."

"And the one in Manehatten?"

Another wince- that one had tried to fight Dark Star; his hooves would stay glued to the floor for at least another week, and who knew if his eyes would work correctly ever again.  "He told us that Twilight Sparkle is Princess Celestia's favorite student and that she is a uniquely gifted unicorn because her special talent is magic."  The last was said through gritted teeth, and Dark Star smiled.  Few things riled Morningstar up like competition.

The black stallion paced the hilltop slowly, his mind working furiously as he gazed down at the small town.  There were several options available to him, the first and fastest option was to simply reveal themselves and attack the town.  Of course, that was also the fastest way to defeat, if things went wrong.  The next option was safer, and while it was against Dark Star's hasty nature, it was the better plan; a covert strike, consisting of sneaking into Ponyville and disabling Twilight Sparkle and her friends.  Dark Star knew he could just kill them, but he was not a fan of senseless violence- better to make them believe they were celery stalks for the rest of their lives, but even ponies as powerful as Dark Star and Morningstar had to make physical contact with their targets for a spell that powerful to work.  His brow furrowed; it was certainly the better plan… but undoubtedly Celestia had contacted these ponies by now.  She had ways of getting messages to her subjects quickly when she wanted to.

After a few minutes, Dark Star turned to the three other ponies, his face grim.  "My friends, we have a very short amount of time to act.  You must follow my instructions precisely, with no deviations.  Understand?"

"Yes, sir," the others responded.

"Good."  He turned to each one in turn.  "Each of you is in possession of one of the Elements we constructed, and each will serve you in this endeavor.  Use your Element to find one of Twilight Sparkle's friends… and use it to corrupt them."

"Sir, if I may."  Morningstar lifted her hoof inquiringly.  "Couldn't we simply find and destroy the Elements of Harmony?  Wouldn't that end this threat entirely?"

"You cannot destroy Harmony completely, Morningstar.  It, like Discord, must exist to some extent in this world.  The best way to attack this problem is through the wielders.  If they are not pure enough to wield them, then they will not be able to stop our plans."

"Should I avoid spellcasting, sir?"

"Without a doubt.  Trying to influence their minds through a spell, however powerful, would not be as effective; we need this to be deeper than what an outside magical force could manage.  We need these ponies to decide that what we're trying to get them to do is the right thing to do, and by the time they figure it out…"  Dark Star smiled.  "It will be too late.  Now, on to our targets.  Wild Star, what were the different parts of the Elements of Harmony?"

Wild Star responded immediately.  "Generosity, Laughter, Kindness, Honesty, Loyalty and Magic are the Elements of Harmony, sir."

Dark Star nodded, his smile widening slightly.  "Very good.  Morningstar?"

"Sir?"

"Generosity a wonderful thing… but swayed the wrong way, with the wrong things whispered in its ear… what do you get?"

The white unicorn smiled, and a green light shone in her eyes.  "Jealousy, sir."

"And Wild Star; honesty is important, but when we get angry, one can tend to be more honest than is prudent, isn't that so?"

Wild Star grinned maliciously.  "Anger can do that to a pony, sir," his eyes sparked with dark red light.

"Falling Star, I fear that you have the most difficult assignment; none of the Elements will be easy for you to target… but I feel that if you were to introduce a healthy fear into a truly loyal pony, you may be able to change her priorities."  Falling Star just nodded and turned back to face Ponyville, his eyes cold.

Morningstar frowned.  "But sir, won't Princess Celestia have warned these ponies that we're coming?  Told her what to look out for?"

"I'd say it's not only possible, but probable," Dark Star agreed.

"Then how do we infiltrate them?  How can we get them to trust us if they know who we are?"

Dark Star's smile became insidious. "What is the next town over, Morningstar?"

Morningstar arched an eyebrow.  "Whinnyapolis, sir."

"Keep your eyes open; you'll know your chance to infiltrate when it happens."  Dark Star's horn began to glow.  "Hide, and watch."  With a flash, he was gone.

~*~*~*~

The cave was dark, dank and hot; so hot that a perpetual cloud of steam swirled along the craggy ceiling, making the stalactites seem to hover out in mid-air.  A low, steady rumbling filled the cave, accompanied by a rhythmic flow of air in and out of the entrance and tunnels.  It was into this cave that Dark Star appeared with a bright white flash; the light filled the cave for just a moment, but it was long enough for the flow of air to jump suddenly and change, moving inward for three beats longer than expected before flowing out again.

Dark Star moved carefully amidst the cave debris as he advanced deeper.  Holes dotted the cave floor, vying for prominence with fallen rocks that threatened to catch his hooves and send him to the floor; but Dark Star was a seasoned warrior with excellent balance, and had no problems navigating the cave, even as dark as it was.  As he moved forward, however, the cave debris changed, becoming smaller and more prevalent the farther he went; miscellaneous piles of coins and gems lay strewn carelessly about the cavern, filling the space from wall to wall with barely a path between.  Certainly not typical things to find randomly in nature, but Dark Star knew what inhabited this particular cave, and the treasure was just a part of it.

Ahead of him loomed a huge, dark mound that rose and fell ominously in time with the rumbling and the wind.  There were few ponies in Equestria who would dare to stand where Dark Star now stood, and fewer still who could survive the encounter that was soon to follow.

The black stallion stomped his hoof against the hard stone floor, sending a sharp clack echoing throughout the cave.  "Excuse me," he said loudly, with all the propriety of a concierge issuing a wake-up call to a guest, "but your nap time is done, I'm afraid."  With surprising swiftness the mound moved, and a huge head lunged out of the shadows to stop mere inches from Dark Star's nose.

"WHO DISTURBS ME?!" the thing's voice demanded.  Its words echoed in the cave, making it sound as if the earth itself were questioning him.  The black stallion merely smiled.

"My name is not important."  The stone he wore around his neck began to glow, emitting a purple-black light that washed over coins and scales and talons and teeth.  "The only thing that is important is how you're feeling right now."  The amulet blazed with dark power, and suddenly the huge shape had eyes, eyes that glowed with the same color as the amulet.  Dark Star smiled coldly.  "And what are you feeling, my friend?"

The huge red dragon grinned gruesomely, his sword-like teeth bright.  "…HATE."


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As it turned out, Twilight and the others didn't have to wait long at all; Spike had barely returned to the group when the air behind him shimmered and flashed with bright white light, and when the light faded, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood in the library, their wings folded tight against them to avoid knocking things over.  The other ponies gasped and immediately dropped into bows, but Celestia extended a hoof.  "Arise, my little ponies.  I fear that this crisis affords us little use for pleasantries."  She smiled at Twilight, who looked flabbergasted.  "I know that this is not the way I usually travel, but surely you can understand my desire to remain… discreet."

Twilight nodded.  "Oh, of course, Princess, of course… but you could have just written me another letter."

"True, but it's just as easy to come here and tell you ourselves."  Twilight shook her head slightly at her tutor; teleportation was not an easy spell, and teleporting a great distance was even harder; Canterlot was a long way from Ponyville, and Celestia had done it for two, and she didn't even look tired.  She's amazing, Twilight thought.  The unicorn looked from her mentor to Princess Luna, and her eyes widened.  Luna looked terrible; her eyes were heavy and red, her mane was in disarray, and her cheeks were still wet with recently shed tears.  She looked like she hadn't slept all day, but considering what she had said in the message it wasn't really a surprise.

Celestia looked around at the gathered ponies and gave them each a warm smile.  "It's good to see you all again, though I wish it could be under better circumstances."  She stepped forward and bent her front legs, then her back legs, settling herself comfortably down on the floor; her wings rustled gently as she readjusted them, making sure Luna had enough room to settle next to her.  Her younger sister squeezed as close as she could to her, leaned her head against Celestia's graceful neck and closed her eyes.  Celestia smiled down at her sister, but Twilight saw the look of concern on the Princess' face before she turned back to the others.  "Now, your questions, ponies; I will answer them as best I can."

Twilight looked at Applejack, Applejack looked at Fluttershy, and Fluttershy looked out the window, and so on and so on until finally Pinkie Pie sighed.  "Oh, for pony's sake!" she said.  "Let's ask the question that's on all of our minds!"  She leaned forward and whispered harshly, "Why are these general-ponies so angry?  Did someone forget their birthdays??"

Twilight sighed in vexation.  "Pinkie, I'm sure nopony forgot their birthdays."

"Well then why are they so mad??  I can't think of anything else to get that mad about!"

"Maybe we should ask a more relevant question, like how can they destroy the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight suggested.

Pinkie arched an eyebrow.  "Relevant?"

"Ugh… Important.  A more important question."

"Pffffffffffffft!  What could be more important than a birthday?!"

"Please, ponies, please," Celestia said, her voice firm.  Twilight and Pinkie Pie both fell silent, and Celestia smiled slightly.  "I think I can answer both your questions at once."  Her white wing extended slightly, folding itself over Luna and holding her close, as if to shield her from the past.  "When Luna decided that she was going to try and maintain a never-ending night, she knew that I would try to stop her, so she began recruiting ponies to her cause, ponies who would assist her in her goal."

"She… started building an army?" Twilight asked incredulously.

"Yes, Twilight; she can be very persuasive when she puts her mind to it.  Unfortunately, at that time, we know what was lurking in her heart; the very essence of Nightmare Moon."  Beneath Celestia's wing, Luna sobbed quietly, and fresh tears trickled down her cheeks.  Celestia winced, but continued.  "The first pony she approached was a young captain of my royal guards, a gray stallion named Brightsteel.  He was a unicorn whose special talent lay in the art of the sword, and he was the best in Equestria.  He was smart, patient and kind, but a fierce warrior if challenged."

"He sounds positively dreamy," Rarity said, leaning her head on her hoof and sighing dramatically.

"I'll never forget his eyes… he had such kind green eyes, before." Luna said quietly.  "He accepted my plans completely, but that wasn't good enough for me… I… I manipulated him.  I fueled his hate towards Celestia… told him that she was holding me back, that she was…"  She sobbed silently, and everypony averted their eyes.  "…I told him she was a tyrant, and that we had to overthrow her."

Now Celestia winced slightly, and Twilight was struck with a sudden realization; how difficult it must be for these two sisters to forgive one another for things said and done a thousand years in the past.  Both had seen things and done things that Twilight couldn't begin to imagine; Luna had tried to overthrow her sister, betrayed her in just about every way you could… and Celestia had responded by locking her sister away for a thousand years, alone, in a lunar prison.

"Brightsteel joined her, and three others soon followed.  The next was another unicorn, one of our most gifted magic users in Canterlot at the time- a unicorn named Morninglight.  She was incredibly talented, even rivaling you, Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said, giving her apprentice a kind smile.  "But that was never good enough for Morninglight.  She wanted to be the best, and unfortunately that's what Luna used against her."

"Jealousy," Luna whispered.  "I told her that Celestia would always be more powerful than her, and that Celestia was constantly talking about how inferior Morninglight was to her.  I told her that if she helped me, she could prove once and for all how powerful she was."

"Then there was a talented young Pegasus pony named Wild Wings, one of-,"

Rainbow Dash shot forward, her light purple eyes open wide.  "THE Wild Wings?!  The Pegasus pony who led the Wonderbolts for five years straight?!  The only pony to ever navigate the Everfree Rally Run in less than a minute?!?!"  Rainbow Dash's look of awe caused Celestia to chuckle slightly, and that seemed to break the spell; Rainbow's wings drooped and she blushed, looking abashed.  "Oh…sorry guys… but Wild Wings was an awesome flier, and somepony the pegasi up in Cloudsdale still talk about.  We never knew what happened to him… 'til now, I guess."

"He was very talented," Celestia agreed.  "He flew for the Wonderbolts, yes, and he also flew for us, undertaking special errands for Luna and I."

"But he was proud," Luna said, again without opening her eyes.  "It didn't take much to turn his pride to anger, and that anger burns in him still."

"Sounds like some other Pegasus pony we all know," Applejack said, arching her eyebrow at Rainbow Dash.  Rainbow stuck her tongue out at Applejack, and Applejack giggled.

Celestia smiled again.  "It sounds like it runs in the Pegasus bloodline," she said.  "The last general, however, was also a Pegasus, and he was very different.  He was always quiet, reserved, polite, but other ponies told me that they were afraid of him."  She shook her head.  "I always asked them why, but they could never place it.  They always just said that he had a way of seeing into them, of knowing them better than they knew themselves.  His name was Shooting Star."

"Fear," Luna said, opening her deep teal eyes.  "Shooting Star knew fear, had looked it in the eyes, and knew how to make others feel it, too.  He was as cold as the highest skies, and he agreed to help me make others feel the fear he lived with."  Luna's ears drooped and she hung her head low.  "These four ponies trusted me, and I only helped lead them farther astray.  Now they control the most dangerous weapon Equestria has ever been threatened by."

"The Elements of Destruction," Celestia said, her violet eyes hard.  "I had hoped that something like this would never happen, but after witnessing Luna's rebellion, I realized that it was a very real possibility."

"Elements of Destruction?" Twilight asked.  "But… none of my books have ever-,"

"That is because it was ordered to be kept out of any text, historical or otherwise," Celestia said.  "The very idea could have spurred the actions to attempt them, and even attempting to make something so powerful could result in tragedy."

"So Brightsteel made the Elements of Destruction… which are..?" Applejack asked, arching an eyebrow.

Twilight was the one who answered.  "Brightsteel wields Hate, because Luna encouraged his hatred of Celestia.  Morninglight is Jealousy; Wild Wings, Anger; and Shooting Star is Fear."

"You are perfectly correct, Twilight- Hate, Jealousy, Anger and Fear are the Elements of Destruction.  Dark Star is what Brightsteel became when he officially joined Nightmare Moon.  Morninglight became Morningstar, Wild Wings became Wild Star, and Shooting Star became Falling Star.  It was because of them that the prophecy is worded the way it is: …Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the Stars will aid in her escape.  Stars with a capital 'S'.  However, subsequent versions of the prophecy began to simply write 'stars' without the capital 'S', so the meaning became lost."

"And didn't you try to correct it?" Twilight asked.

Celestia laughed.  "My dear Twilight, can you imagine trying to keep track of every copy of Predictions and Prophecies or every book with the tale The Mare in the Moon just to make certain that the word Stars was capitalized?  I tried for a very long time, but eventually I became distracted, and soon it was simply the way it was written.  I knew that somepony would understand it, and even if they did not grasp the nature of the 'stars' mentioned, they would know that Nightmare Moon was returning."  The Princess dropped her eyes to the floor.  "As I said in my letter, however, I did not expect Dark Star to react as he did.  I had hoped he would simply surrender… but his hatred of me runs too deeply.  Even with Luna present I could not dissuade him."

"What… what could drive a pony to hate so deeply?  So blindly?"

To Twilight's surprise, it was Luna who answered.  "Love," she said miserably.  "Love is what drove Dark Star to his hatred."

"What?!"  It was simultaneously repeated by every pony present except Celestia.  Twilight shook her head, tossing her mane about wildly.  "No!  No no, hate can't have been brought about by love!  That… that's just not how it works!"  She felt as if someone had just told her that her best friend in the whole world had betrayed her- that sickening, prickly feeling in the pit of her stomach and the back of her throat.

"But that is what happened, Twilight Sparkle."  Fresh tears sprung to Luna's eyes.  "He… he loved me.  I knew he did, and I used that to sway him in his hatred for Celestia.  It is because of the love he had for me that he hates my sister so."

The ponies were silent for a long time, trying to absorb that information.  Twilight had never heard of anything like it; love being used to fuel hate… it was something that she just couldn't wrap her mind around.  The others seemed to be having similar trouble, each with a look of disbelief or shock on her face.  Every one of them knew that she loved her friends, and that love like that was special… but the kind of love Luna was talking about, the romantic love between two ponies… that was supposed to be beyond special.  It was something that fillies whispered about late at night, blushing from nose to mane; something that young mares like Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack and the rest dreamt about having someday.  To hear of something so sacred being used to further a goal rocked Twilight to her core… and suddenly Luna's tears were easier to understand.

"What…"  Twilight blinked against tears that threatened to spill over.  "So what can we do?"

"We must face them together," Celestia said.  "I fear that the Elements of Harmony may not be enough to defeat them, but I know that if Luna and I stand with you, together we can defeat Dark Star and his minions."

"Um…"  Again, every eye shifted to Fluttershy, and the small yellow Pegasus did her best to fade into the background while speaking.  "Well… I mean, if it's all right, would it be OK if… you told us what they looked like?  That way, we'll know them if we see them… if that's a good thing…"

Celestia smiled and began to speak, but at that moment Spike the dragon made a hurrrk! and belched green flame, sending a message whirling towards Celestia.  The Princess' magic caught the note and unrolled it; she scanned the page quickly, and as she did her lavender eyes grew grim.  She sighed softly as she finished before rolling the message up with her magic and tucking it beneath her other wing.  "I fear that the rest of this conversation will have to wait, my little ponies," she said, rising to her feet.  "Something dreadful has happened, and Luna and I are needed."

Luna stood as well, her eyes hard.  "What has happened?"

"Whinnyapolis is all but destroyed," Celestia said grimly.  "At the time of this message, nopony was hurt, but the Mayor has begged us to assist, and we cannot ignore his request.  According to this, a red dragon has decided that it did not like Whinnyapolis where it was, so he decided to remove it.  This has displaced hundreds and hundreds of ponies, some with absolutely nowhere to go."  She turned back to Twilight.  "I will be sending a message to the Mayor of Ponyville, Twilight; some of these now homeless ponies will be sent here.  I beg you, all of you," her gaze swept the gathered ponies, "assist your Mayor as much as you can.  Do your best to make these poor ponies feel at home."

"Of course, Princess," Twilight said, bowing.

"You can bet yer pretty mane on it!" Applejack agreed.

"Ooooh, I bet they'd like a party!" Pinkie Pie gushed.

"I assure you we shall be the most gracious of hosts, your Highness," Rarity assured her with a bow of her own.

"We'll do… our best, Princess Celestia," Fluttershy said softly, her eyes never rising above Celestia's hooves.

"You'll see, Princess!  They won't even know they're not at home!" Rainbow Dash said with a grin.

"But… what will you and Luna do, Princess?" Twilight asked.  "I mean, there's not much you can do against an angry red dragon."

Celestia's eyes held a hint of mirth as she gazed down at her student.  "We'll see about that."  She leaned down close to Twilight, close enough that her breath tickled the young unicorn's ear.  "Don't worry about us, dear Twilight; I assure you that Luna and I can handle one dragon."  She straightened, favored Twilight with a fond smile then turned to her little sister.  "Luna, we must go.  I fear Whinnyapolis may not have much time, and if we have any hope of saving the city, we must go now."

Luna's face was much more confident now, as if having something to focus on besides her past made her stronger.  "Of course.  Let us be off."

"We will return as soon as possible, ponies," Celestia said as her horn began to glow.  "Be careful."  Another white flash and the Princesses were gone.

The ponies immediately began talking among themselves, each chattering about what they could do to help the impending guests… but Twilight Sparkle felt her ears droop.  "I have a really bad feeling about this…" she muttered.
The second part of Stars of Darkness. Twilight and her friends discuss Celestia's letter and send out one of their own. Will they be able to come up with a plan to stop Dark Star?

Part 1: [link]
Part 2: <--you are here
Part 3: [link]
Part 4: [link]
Part 5: [link]
Part 6: [link]
Part 7: [link]
Part 8: [link]
Part 9: [link]
Part 10: [link]
Part 11: [link]
Part 12: [link]
Part 13: [link]
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HopeKrystalheart's avatar
The plot is thickening.... :w00t: