Nightmare Moon - part 2

"Thank you girls.Starfall, do you think we can get through the forest alone?" Asked Twilight as they arrived at the edge of the forest.

Everyone came with them, and it was quiet clear that they fully intended on helping them in saving Equestria, yet Twilight still asked such a silly question. It's not surprising then that the girls instantly shot Twilight's down and proclaimed that they weren't going to allow the duo to go alone.

"Apples! Twilight! You didn't think we would let ya go there alone! Even with Starfall it would be quiet dangerous and who knows what dangers lurk in the shadows other than Nightmare Moon!" Exclaimed Applejack, clearly putting The Stallion as the stronger of the duo.

"I agree Darling! As much as I wish to believe in prince Starfall, I can't in good conscience let you go there with only the two of you! My conscience would kill me otherwise!" Added Rarity.

"And I would faster eat my tail than allow to pass a chance for such an awesome adventure!" Exclaimed Rainbow.

Starfall smiled seeing their conviction and said.

"While I wouldn't normally feel alright with endangering such beautiful and exceptional mares like you six, I can understand that the road ahead is dangerous and any help we get is appreciated. I already consider you all my important friends though, so I forbid you from getting hurt! Is that clear?" He asked firmly but with a smile.

Everyone smiled hearing his words and after another minute of convincing, Twilight also agreed with the decision.

Inside she felt happy to receive so much support from the girls but she was also starting to feel slightly threatened so she clinged close to Starfall as they walked into the woods.

Starfall recognized the signs though and whispered into her ear...

"I'm not going to stop caring for you only because I have more friends. You were always my best friend for the better or worse and... I..." He stammered, realizing what he were just about to say.

Suddenly as if an earthquake hit him, the dam finally broke and the words escaped his lips.

"I...I Hope we can get even closer one day..." He said And Twilight momentarily turned to look at his face with shock.

Did he really just said what she thinks he said? Oh Sweet Celestia, he did!

Twilight couldn't help but she'd a small tear of happiness as she snuggled her head into his neck while they walked down the overgrown road.

In the back, everyone else were looking at the silent spectacle in different stages of Jealousy mixed with varying feelings of other types like amusement, embarrassment or smugness...

"They are so cute together..." Said Fluttershy quietly, wishing that she could be in Twilight's place or at least walk beside them.

The other had similar thoughts as they involuntarily started to talk about relationships and Stallions in general, quickly realizing that they all most likely had a common target now, so they started to talk about Starfall.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help herself as she bragged about seeing his member up close and personal when she crashed into him the day before.

Surprisingly, the one most interested of all the Ponies present was Rarity. She couldn't help but want to confirm that he compared to the Prince of her dreams and she couldn't help but be amazed when Starfall shattered her dream once again with a girth that surpassed anything she dreamed off. And it was still just the flaccid state...

Starfall was unaware of the discussion happening beside him as he was now focusing on detecting the corrupted Magic which was proving to be very hard to achieve as The entire forest was completely filled with magic of different kinds.

He could recognize the magic from the seeds of evil underground, and the multicolored magic that barely suppressed their growth that must have been the work of the Tree of Harmony. Add to it the magical plants and the natural ancient magic that passively moved through the glens of the forest and you get an environment where a tiny speck of dark magic would be really hard to distinguish...

The place was actually a treasure trove of knowledge and he considered coming here when there was no looming threat, if only to examine the magic around...

Everyone soon began chatting with each other regarding different topics, and Starfall found himself the target of multiple question about his likes and dislikes which he returned to the girls in earnest. But even then he found himself loosing the battle as they were mostly focusing on his person so he skilfully redirected many of them at Twilight as he didn't want her to feel left out.

While they were going towards the Castle, Starfall suddenly spotted the familiar corrupted magic of dreams that impacted the ground around them. Before he could warn everyone though, a landslide appeared causing everyone to slide down towards a cliff!

Starfall's first instinct was to grab everyone in levitation but he stopped himself remembering that part from the show and the significance of it.

He saw Applejack catching Twilight right on the edge of the cliff while he levitated himself and Rarity down to the other side Holding the white mare in a princess carry. Pinkie got a Pegasi ride from Rainbow and Fluttershy.

Starfall saw that everyone were ready to catch Twilight as Applejack said her most nonsensical part in the entire series. Only standing here and watching it in person did he finally understood that Applejack was simply overcome with emotions and the idea of telling Twilight that the others were about to catch her didn't cross her mind at the time.

He jumped to catch Twilight as she let go of Applejack and while helping her land safely, he admired the agility of the orange mare.

Twilight couldn't help but to blush when she realized the position she was in at the moment. She couldn't avert her eyes from the beautiful and gentle eyes of the Stallion holding her so closely. Rarity could sympathize with the purple unicorn as she was in the same situation not too long ago. Those eyes of his were really something...

"Is everyone alright?" Asked Starfall and he received confirmations from all the mares.

"Good. Let's go, and be careful everyone. This landslide wasn't accidental..." He warned them, reassured that they were alright.

They continued on their Journey until another obstacle blocked their way.

*ROAR!!!*

It was a manticore!

Starfall instantly jumped in front of the girls and deflected a paw attack with a magical barier. He wanted to test himself against this magical creature before Fluttershy interfered like he assumes she would.

His magic flared to life as it spread through his muscles and formed into symbols meaning speed and strength. A blast of magic pushed the Monster away as Starfall dodged an attack from its tail by rolling away.

He suddenly teleported to its back and inflicted a roundhouse kick to his flank as it tried to turn.

The Manticore tried to chomp on him but he teleported again and prepared a strongest kinetic blast from his horn. He didn't want to kill it so he didn't use lethal spells but he would certainly use them if the life of the girls came into danger.

He was about to use the spell when Fluttershy finally decided to stop him. She must have seen the rage inducing thorn in his front paw when it swiped at him after it's failed chomp.

"Wait! Starfall let me do it!" She jumped in between him and the Manticore.

The other mares instantly became worried about her but Starfall just smiled and stepped back. He could already see the magic in her words that Fluttershy could use thanks to her Cutie Mark, fighting the anger induced by the thorn and calming the Manticore down.

That explained a lot about the yellow pegasus. She wasn't even aware that she was using magic or how strong her actual power was. Starfall also knew that she was capable of achieving such effect only thanks to how nice and kind she really was.

She easily subdued the Manticore and removed the thorn to the elation of the monster. Starfall still kept watch in case something went wrong, but he felt relief seeing that everything went well so far.

He patted Fluttershy's Head and helped her with her hairstyle that was messed up by the tongue of the magical creature that already left, and said-.

"You did great Fluttershy. That was really amazing and brave of you." He praised her and the yellow pegasus turned crimson hearing his words but she didn't shy away but smiled and replied.

"It's just how it is. Everyone deserves a little bit of love..." Her blush depended as Starfall smiled at her.

"Of course they do." He added and moved closer to her face upon which she finally couldn't take it anymore and run to hide behind the girls from embarrassment ,where she was barraged with another wave of praises for her accomplishment.

Starfall turned to the thorn that still lied on the ground, and was yet to turn back into the corrupted Magic Mist.

He cast a spell that enveloped the thorn in a crystal sphere made out of Crystalized Mana enchanted to 'contain'.

It was a spell he developed to secure and contain potentially dangerous magical objects in order to protect the object from the surroundings or the surroundings from the object... He gave the spell a very original designation, SCP container.

Starfall stored the ball in his saddlebag and followed the girls.

Applejack Saw Starfall storing the Thorn and became curious so she approached him to inquire about it.

"Why did ya need that thorn fer Starfall?" She asked curiously.

"He looked at the orange mare and smiled before taking the sphere back out and showing it to her.

She looked at the Crystal ball and opened her eyes in surprise as the thorn that she saw Starfall storing was replaced by a wisp of a wildly acting dark blue mist!

"What in tarnation is that thing?!" She asked taking a step back from the wildly struggling blue mist.

"Nightmare Moon's dark magic, in simple terms. She is clearly trying to stop our advances. Good thing that were such a good team, right?" He said with a smile.

She smiled back at his words but then furrowed her brows.

"But you still didn't answer my previous question. What do you need it for?" She asked as they continued on their wayt to through the forest side by side.

"Well... you could call it an academic curiosity. This thing, as far as I can tell, is made from dream magic infused with negative emotions. I was wondering whether it was possible to purify it in some way, because as far as I can tell, Nightmare Moon appears to be acting under some kind of possession. If the Elements of Harmony are what I believe them to be, then we might actually be capable of achieving just that..." He explained and Applejack nodded her head in understanding.

"Ya should become a teacher Starfall. I'ma just a farm Pony and this Magic flapdoodle is usually way over my head yet somehow I understood most of what ya said." She gave him a wry grin and Starfall laughed.

"That's just because I explained it so that you could understand. I could always go into the details and technicalities or explain the meaning of every single magical symbol which forms that mist." He laughed in amusement.

"Symbols? What Symbols? All I see is a blob of mist trashin' 'round like some a wild ferret." She asked in her countryside accent making Starfall laugh even harder on the comparison of dark magic to a wild ferret.

"Hahaha! Well, that's because you can't see those symbols without a specialized equipment or without being as awesome as me." Said Starfall proudly. "I Studied those symbols most of my life upon learning a way to perceive them. I'm actually close to finishing my lifework of describing all the seven thousand seven hundred seventy seven different symbols that formed the magic around us. This is going to completely change how we understand magic and I am proud to be the one to achieve it!" Said Starfall with passion in his voice and Applejack couldn't help but admire the Unicorn Prince walking beside her. He might have been a royalty, but he was not a ponce nor was he in any way arrogant or cocky. He really had a passion for what he was doing and he was also strong and talented. The yellow mare couldn't help but feel attracted to the handsome Stallion that showed so many good traits over the short time they knew each other...

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