Chapter 16:

'Magic and Destiny'

After splitting up, Twilight Sparkle trotted off towards her home to see Spike and Starlight, the latter who she was quite concerned about. By the time she had arrived, she was relieved to find the two casually sitting about inside her home, doing what they usually do, talking to each other. She managed a smile when she noticed Starlight appeared to be pretty happy, but she could still tell that his happy expression was just slightly forced.

Despite the importance of her crown, or rather, her Element, she had remembered in Spike's last letter that Starlight was in quite a depressed state after hearing about what happened to Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, and she wanted to make sure he was fine before looking for her Element. She also remembered how she had forgotten to return to Ponyville to hang out with him like she said she would, and it only made her feel guilty.

As soon as Spike noticed Twilight standing by the door, he waved to her. "Hey Twilight!"

Twilight smiled slightly as she approached the two. "Hey Spike..." She slowly turned and tried to keep her smile up as she spoke to Starlight. "Starlight."

Starlight faced her and returned her smile. "Hey Twilight, how are you feeling?" He asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"I'm feeling...fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Twilight replied.

The smile on the red Pony's face faded as he got to his hoofs and approached her. "Spike told me what happened back in Canterlot, about how you were attacked and how the Elements were stolen. The Stallions that he told me about...was it the same Stallions back at the Everfree Forest?"

Twilight cast a quick glance towards Spike before replying. "Yes it was..." She said, which caused Starlight to frown a little. "But don't worry, they didn't hurt me. The worst thing I got was a headache, that's it, you don't have to worry about me Starlight, I'm perfectly fine."

Starlight nodded before sitting back down next to Spike. "I understand. I just...I just wish I was there when it all happened. If I was...I...I could have...I could have..." He stopped and looked at the floor, clenching his eyes shut in order to stop the tears that were threatening to show. "I could have done something to stop them!"

Twilight exchanged a quick worried look with Spike before slowly walking over to the red Pony. She sat down next to him and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "It's ok Starlight. Not even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were able to do much yesterday, besides, it's a good thing you weren't there, you would have been hurt."

Facing her again, Starlight said, "What about Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, the three of them were foalnapped and I-"

"Don't!" Twilight said out loud, silencing Starlight. "You weren't there when that happened so don't you dare try and blame yourself for that!" She said, her tone still slightly loud.

Starlight looked back at the floor and sighed. Twilight noticed he was still blaming himself and continued. "Stop taking the blame for something that clearly wasn't your fault Starlight. The situation at Canterlot was far more serious than you think, and Blitz Bolt foalnapping the fillies was definitely not your fault because you weren't there at the time. There was no way you could have known what was going on."

Blitz Bolt, the name of the one who foalnapped the fillies. Starlight swore he would never forget that name. He then recalled the events that took place just outside the Everfree Forest, causing him to let out a sad sigh. "Twilight...I'm useless. I couldn't even stop those Stallions back at the Everfree Forest, back when we first met them."

"We didn't expect any of that to happen at the time Starlight..." Twilight replied before getting back to her hoofs. "Now stop blaming yourself for things that weren't your fault and let's go already."

Starlight looked up at her with a confused expression. "Go where?"

"Didn't Spike tell you? Me and the others are out searching for our Elements, I'm going to go and find mine, you coming?" Twilight asked with a slight smile on her face.

Spike stepped forward. "Well I know I'm going. After what happened yesterday, somepony has to keep an eye on you."

Twilight giggled a little before turning back to the red Pony. "So what do you say Starlight? You coming with us?"

"Sure..." Starlight replied as he stood up. "Considering I've got nothing else to do today, this'll be a good way to spend some time."

"Oh it won't take too long..." Twilight said as she charged up her horn. "I can feel my Element calling to me, so finding it should be easy." She said as she teleported the three of them outside.

Spike sighed. "Would you let me know when you're going to do that?"

"Sorry Spike." Twilight said before turning to walk off. "I'm focusing on my Element right now. Let's keep walking in this direction, the closer it's presence gets, the sooner I'll be able to teleport to its exact location."

Spike rushed on ahead. "Well what are we waiting for, let's hurry up already!" He said, eager to find the Element as soon as possible.

Starlight walked alongside the mare as they casually strolled through the town. He looked at her for a moment and noticed she was still looking up ahead, clearly still focusing on her Element. Despite how much he wanted to start conversation with her, he didn't want to break her concentration and refrained from saying anything, atleast until she had gotten a better lock on her Elements location.

Twilight saw at the corner of her eye that Starlight was indeed eager to say something, but she knew he was staying silent to allow her to focus, which she was grateful for. She immediately reminded herself to spend the day with him as soon as she found her Element. But that also reminded her that she needed to speak with him about why she hadn't come back to Ponyville to spend time with him like she said she would. If he was still dwelling on that too, then he was certainly doing a good job at hiding it.

Since he was already ahead of them, Spike was taking the time to look around in various shops to find anything of interest. Though, when he reached the jewellery store, he was so caught up in looking at all of the nice looking gems and diamonds for so long that the two Ponies eventually got of ahead of him.

Again, Starlight looked at Twilight, wondering if she had gotten a lock on her Element's location yet. He immediately got his answer when she stopped walking. "Ok...I should be able to teleport us near my Element from here. Where's Spike?" She asked as she looked around for the young dragon.

"Right here Twilight!" Spike shouted as he ran towards the two Ponies.

Starlight rolled his eyes. "You should've just stayed with us Spike. It would have saved your energy having to catch up with us."

Spike raised a brow at him. "Give me a break Starlight. I wanted to see if there was anything new in the jewellery store that I could probably buy Rarity. After all, I do have some bits that I've been saving up and I know she's been looking at some things in there for a while now."

"Good luck with that." Starlight said with a chuckle before turning back to Twilight. "You were saying Twilight?"

Twilight giggled a little at the two before replying. "I should be able to teleport us near my Element, after that it won't take us long to find it." She charged up her horn. "Stay close to me now." She added.

Starlight and Spike braced themselves as a light purple aura began to surround them. The dragon and the two Ponies disappeared in a purple flash, which caused a few other nearby Ponies to look on in confusion before returning to their own things.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Reappearing in a large open field with a small number of trees nearby, Starlight and Spike looked around to find out where they were. They could see Ponyville just downhill from where they stood, fortunately it wasn't too far, but it still looked like a long walk.

"Well, this was a good a way to save time I suppose." Spike said.

Starlight nodded. "Totally."

Twilight looked in the direction of the nearby trees and made her way towards them. "Twilight? Where are you going?" Starlight asked as he started to follow her.

"My Element is somewhere over there..." She said gesturing towards the trees.

Starlight rubbed the back of his head. "Umm, I can go and get it for you if you want."

"Thanks Starlight but it's ok, I can get it myself. Besides, if it's in one of the trees then I can just fly up there." She looked back and smiled at him. "And I wouldn't want you climbing up there and risk falling out and hurting yourself."

Starlight looked away, thankfully, since his coat was red, it was more than enough to hide the blush on his face.

Spike noticed the look on his face and snickered a little. Twilight made her way back towards the line of trees, Starlight and Spike followed.

As they were approaching the trees, Twilight smiled a little as she felt herself getting closer and closer to her Element.

Thump, thump.

Twilight stopped walking.

Spike and Starlight stopped and looked at her. "What is it Twilight?" Spike asked.

Thump, thump.

It sounded like a heartbeat. A very, loud heartbeat. "Can you guys hear that?" Twilight asked as she faced the two.

Starlight furrowed his brows in confusion. "Hear what?"

Thump, thump.

"That! Right there! Did you hear it?" Twilight replied.

Spike and Starlight exchanged confused looks before turning back to Twilight. "Uh Twilight, we don't hear anything. Are you okay?"

Twilight closed her eyes for a minute to listen for the sound again, but it stopped. She opened her eyes and faced the two, who were still looking at her with confused expressions. "I...never mind, let's go and find my Element." She continued on. Whatever it was, she didn't like the sound of it.

After looking at her for a few seconds, Spike and Starlight once more exchanged confused looks before catching up with the Alicorn.

Upon reaching the trees, Twilight quickly rushed over to where she felt her Element calling from. There were atleast four trees that the Element could be in, so she waste no time and carefully flew up to start searching through the leaves and branches.

Starlight, knowing it could be in one of the other trees, climbed up another and also started searching. Spike remained on the ground and just watched the two Ponies.

Atleast five minutes went by and Twilight hadn't found the Element. She slowly flew back down and noticed Starlight wasn't with Spike, she rolled her eyes and let out a quiet chuckle, knowing he climbed up one of the other trees to help find her Element.

The Alicorn made her way up another tree and once again, spent a good number of minutes looking for her Element. But again, she didn't find it. She let out a quiet sigh and slowly flew back down again.

"Still nothing?" Spike asked.

Twilight shook her head before making her way up the third tree. She knew Starlight was probably having difficulties because he didn't have wings, which meant that he had to climb around the tree he was in, whereas Twilight, who did have wings, could just fly around in the tree.

She looked around for a good long moment, but once more, she didn't find her Element. Just then, she heard Starlight shout out to her. "Twilight! I found it!"

Letting out a sigh of relief, Twilight flew out of the tree and landed next to Spike. She waited until Starlight appeared, brushing aside a number of leaves to reveal himself sitting on a large branch, holding on to what Twilight was looking for. A golden crown with a star-shaped gem. "My Element!"

Starlight chuckled as he looked at the crown. "I just found it sitting in that birds nest there."

"Great going Starlight!" Twilight said.

Returning her smile, Starlight slowly began to climb back down the tree. "Just give me a minute Twilight..." The red Pony said as he carefully climbed down while holding the crown with his teeth.

However, just as he made it nearly halfway down, he slipped. "Whoa!"

"STARLIGHT!" Twilight spread out her wings and flew up to the red Pony.

As soon as she was in the air, Twilight held out her forelegs, ready to catch him. Starlight braced himself as he fell towards the Alicorn Princess. Eventually, he landed in her forelegs, but the Alicorn wasn't prepared to catch something as heavy as him and ended falling also.

Spike then opened his arms and attempted to catch the two, but immediately decided against it and jumped out of the way. Before they hit the ground, Starlight swung his forelegs around Twilight and repositioned them so that he would end up hitting the ground while she would be safe from the impact.

The two eventually hit the ground and Starlight let out a painful grunt. The two remained where they lay for atleast a few long seconds before Twilight opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Starlight's face. "Starlight...?"

Starlight smiled a little at her. "H-Hey...Twilight..."

Spike slowly lifted his head and raised a brow at the awkward position the two were in.

Pulling her head away, Twilight noticed she was laying right on top of Starlight. Blushing hard, she quickly rushed off of him. She turned back to him and noticed he was struggling to stand. "Are...are you okay?"

"Yeah...I'm fine. The impact from the fall hurt my back a little but I'll be fine." Starlight replied as he slowly made it back to his hoofs. He saw her Element on the ground and walked over to it. After picking it up, he made his way over to Twilight and held it out to her. "Here Twilight."

Twilight smiled at him. "Thanks Starlight." She used her magic to levitate the crown out of his hoof. "Now that we've got my Element, let's head back to Ponyville."

Spike approached them. "You think the others managed to find theirs too?"

"I hope they did." She replied.

However, before Twilight could put on her crown and teleport the three of them back to Ponyville, a large silver aura appeared around her crown and prevented her from putting it on. "W-What? What's going?!"

"What is it Twilight?!" Spike asked.

Twilight's eyes widened with her horror as she watched her crown fly off. "MY ELEMENT!"

Starlight quickly sprinted after the crown, Twilight and Spike wasted no time and followed.

As the three made it back out into the open field, they saw the crown floating in the air just up ahead, still surrounded by a silver aura. Twilight charged up her horn and attempted to get a hold of her crown, but to no avail. "Something isn't right, my magic won't work on it!"

Starlight looked at her. "What? Your magic can't get a hold of it?"

Twilight shook her head. "No!"

Turning back to the crown, Starlight walked over to it and slowly raised his hoof to touch it.

They were met with the biggest shock of their life, for as soon Starlight's hoof was an inch away from touching the crown, he was thrown back a powerful blast of wind.

"STARLIGHT!" Twilight and Spike rushed over to the red Pony's side and helped him up. "Are you okay?!"

"I...I'm fine." Starlight stuttered a little as he looked back at the crown.

Spike scratched his head and furrowed his brows in confusion at the floating Element. "Why is it doing that?"

Twilight narrowed her eyes, knowing full well what the problem was. "There's somepony else here..."

Silence followed. For a long moment, they just stood in silence as they waited for something to happen.

Eventually, they got their wish.

"You are quite perceptive, Princess Twilight Sparkle."

A loud voice boomed through the air, rivalling that of the Royal Canterlot Voice itself.

Twilight, Starlight and Spike looked around for the source of the voice, their attention then went back towards the crown.

A large silver flash appeared next to the crown, their eyes all widened at what appeared before them.

Standing before them, was a tall, metal armoured Stallion.

He was a tall Stallion, taller than Princess Celestia herself. They could tell that he was an Alicorn, due to his very long and fierce looking horn along with his wings. His coat was a dark grey colour, the rest of his features however were covered up by the silver metal armour he was wearing.

He was wearing a jagged metal helmet that covered the whole top part of his head and face, with two eyes holes that revealed his eyes. His left eye was a blood red colour, his right eye however was pale and almost all white, his horn stuck out from a small hole that was carved into the helmet. His hoofs were covered by large metal bracers and he had a large metal breastplate covering his whole chest and the lower part of his neck. There was also a small design of a dark grey crown decorated on the front of the breastplate, as well as the large bracers.

Although the jagged helmet covered up almost his entire head and face, there was a burn mark slightly showing on the right side of his face, which immediately explained the reason for his pale right eye. His armour expanded over his back and covered his flank, which prevented them from seeing his Cutie Mark.

What froze them in their place however, were the wings when they looked at them again. Large metal wings that stuck out the back of his armour. The wings looked a lot like a dragons wings and they looked as sharp as a sword.

Just by looking at this tall, metal armoured Alicorn, it didn't take a genius to figure out who he was. The wings gave Twilight the answer.

"M-Metal...Wing."

Metal Wing smirked at the terrified Alicorn. "So you have indeed heard of me, I'm honoured, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Of course, I would expect no less from Princess Celestia's former student."

Starlight attempted to move but found that he couldn't, almost as if he was literally frozen against his will.

Twilight kept her eyes on Metal Wing and spoke quietly enough so that the metal armoured Unicorn wouldn't hear her. "Spike...go and find the others, quickly." She said, her tone filled with nothing but fear.

Spike looked at her for a moment and was about to object. But as soon as he saw the serious and terrified expression on her face, he decided against it and quickly ran off to find the others, praying in his head that they had found their Elements.

Metal Wing smirked at Twilight. "Sending your little friend to get help?"

Twilight said nothing.

Chuckling at her silence, Metal Wing said, "My dear, you're merely wasting your time. I know you sent him to get the other Element wielders. Let me just say this, don't bother. My officers have probably already found and taken your friends Elements before they could find them, and the Elements of Harmony are useless unless they are all together. Alone, they are nothing but mere jewellery."

He looked at the crown that floated next to him. "Interesting how your Element has now become your crown..." He stopped and looked up at Canterlot which sat on the side of the mountain in the distance.

"But...do you believe you're worthy of such an honour, Twilight Sparkle? Do you believe you're experienced enough? Do you believe you have what it takes to be a leader?" His smirk lowered a little as he narrowed his eyes at her. "Do you believe you deserve such a thing as being a Princess?"

Twilight, once again, remained silent.

Metal Wing took a small step forward. "Speak."

Knowing she was only going to make things worse by staying silent, she spoke. "I don't believe I'm worthy of the honour. And I admit, I am very inexperienced, but I'm willing to try my best to be a great leader. And..." She closed her eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath. "And I am willing to do my best to be a great Princess, just like Princess Celestia herself. I am willing to do whatever it takes, and I know, I know I will be able to meet her expectations!"

Metal Wing's smirk fully lowered upon hearing Celestia's name. "Then you cling to a dream."

"What?" Twilight replied, her expression changed to one of confusion.

With a sigh, Metal Wing said, "You will never be a true Princess, Twilight Sparkle. No matter how many times you say you will do your best, it won't matter. In the end, you being a Princess, won't make a difference in Equestria. You are just another Pony, being given an abused title that belongs to only one Pony. Celestia herself."

Twilight mustered up her confidence and stepped forward. "What makes you say that?"

Metal Wing chuckled. "Believe me, I know Celestia is the only one deserving of the title, Princess. She has managed to keep Equestria going for a long time, albeit her decision to banish her sister Luna and do so alone left me quite surprised, she nonetheless proved that she is capable, if only slightly."

Starlight frowned at the metal armoured Alicorn, he wanted to say something to defend Twilight but he didn't want to risk saying something that would anger him.

Metal Wing smirked again at the Princess. "Equestria has need for only one Princess and that is Celestia herself. If I remember correctly, there are currently four Princesses including yourself."

His smirk then lowered into a frown. "And that, is unacceptable. I need Celestia, for, personal reasons. As for her sister Luna, she'll have an important role to play in the future, as for Princess Cadence, well, let's just say that she'll be stepping down as Princess of the Crystal Empire very soon."

Twilight's eyes widened at his words, but before she could reply, he spoke over her. "And as for you Twilight Sparkle, you were never worthy of becoming a Princess in the first place. You bring shame to the title and as such, you must step down."

Refusing to take his insults, Twilight said, "You don't know anything Metal Wing!"

Metal Wing raised a brow. "Believe me Twilight Sparkle, I actually know a lot more than you think. I have been gone for a long time and now that I have returned to Equestria, I shall fulfil my destiny by becoming its King! That, is my goal, and every King needs a worthy Queen, and only one Princess is worthy of being my Queen. Celestia herself. You're not fit to be a Princess, Twilight Sparkle, do yourself a favour and step down now while you still can."

Returned to Equestria? Destiny? Before Twilight could ask him anything, Starlight finally mustered up the confidence to speak.

"Twilight is a wonderful Pony and she makes a great Princess! She may have only been a Princess for a year, but she definitely has what it takes to be a great Princess just like Princess Celestia! Your words mean nothing!" Starlight said, trying to keep a brave face.

Metal Wing narrowed his eyes at the young Stallion. He looked back and forth between Twilight and Starlight for a minute before smirking again. 'Ah, I see what's going on here. How sweet.'

Starlight slowly made his way in front of Twilight, trying to keep the confident look on his face, but inside, he was absolutely terrified. "Twilight, stay behind me." He said.

"Starlight..." Twilight gave him a worried look, knowing he was ready to do something reckless.

Metal Wing chuckled. "Protecting your Princess, how precious."

"I won't let you hurt her." Starlight said as he continued to keep up his confidence. "You'll have to go through me first!" With that, Starlight sprinted towards the Iron King.

"STARLIGHT! NO!" Twilight shouted.

Metal Wing sighed a little before lowering his magic hold around the Element, letting it fall to the ground. "Brave, but foolish."

Starlight jumped at the metal Alicorn and was prepared to strike, but just as he within to land a hit, he suddenly found himself frozen in mid-air.

"STARLIGHT!" Twilight called out to him again.

The red Pony looked and saw he was surrounded by a silver aura, the same aura was around Metal Wing's horn. The metal Unicorn smirked as he levitated Starlight towards him. "Put me down!" Starlight yelled.

Again, Metal Wing smirked. "As you wish."

The silver aura around Starlight disappeared, causing him to fall to the ground. Just as he was about to get back up, something heavy came down on top of his left foreleg. He looked and saw it was one of Metal Wing's large armoured hoofs.

"You wanted to be put down, and that's exactly what I'll do." Metal Wing said with a dark chuckle before pushing his armoured hoof down.

A loud crack filled the air and Starlight let out a loud painful scream.

"STARLIGHT!" Twilight refused to stand by any longer and charged up her horn. She teleported her Element towards her and levitated it onto her head, which now prevented Metal Wing from getting it. Afterwards, the Alicorn turned back to Metal Wing and fired a beam from her horn.

Metal Wing saw it coming but did nothing to stop it, much to Twilight's confusion. As soon as the beam hit him however, she understood why he didn't stop it.

The beam collided with Metal Wing's armoured chest, but nothing happened, no magical explosion, no damage, nothing. It was almost as if the armour had just swallowed the beam up.

"What?!" Twilight said as she stared in shock.

Metal Wing chuckled again. "Your magic is too weak Twilight Sparkle. You don't seriously think that I wear this armour just for show do you?"

Twilight just stared at him, still unable to comprehend what just happened.

Metal Wing continued. "The armour I wear is enchanted. It is called the Magical Wings of Metal. The enchantment on it protects its wearer from almost any type of magic. It's almost like it has a mind of its own too, for when I first put it on, it became one with my mind, and the wings became my new wings." He flapped up his large metal wings and smirked, the sunlight reflected off of them and almost blinded Twilight.

Twilight didn't exactly understand what he meant by new wings. At the moment however, that didn't matter, her attention went back to Starlight, who was still being held under Metal Wing's large armoured hoof. "Let Starlight go! Now!"

Metal Wing frowned and slowly pulled his armoured hoof back, allowing Starlight to move.

"T-Twilight..." The red Pony muttered painfully as he faced her.

Before Starlight could attempt to crawl back to the young Alicorn Princess, Metal Wing's armoured hoof came crashing down on him again, this time, on Starlight's head. "AAHHH!"

Eyes widened at seeing Starlight's head being pinned to the ground by the Iron King's hoof, Twilight fired a barrage of magical beams from her horn, all of which however, were merely swallowed up by Metal Wing's armour and did no damage whatsoever.

Starlight began to scream in pain as Metal Wing slowly pushed his hoof down even further, and since her magic had no effect on him, Twilight tried something else she believed would get him away from the Iron King. She attempted to use her magic to teleport Starlight out of Metal Wing's grasp, but to her horror, she couldn't do that either. She soon figured out why when she noticed Metal Wing's horn was glowing, creating a silver barrier that surrounded both him and Starlight.

Out of ideas, Twilight resorted to the only thing left that she believed would save her friend. "METAL WING! STOP! PLEASE!"

Surprisingly, the Iron King did indeed stop. He slowly looked over at the Princess and said, "You wish for your friend to live Twilight Sparkle?"

Nodding, Twilight said, "Yes...please, don't...don't hurt him."

Metal Wing narrowed his eyes at her. "I shall allow him to live, only if you give me back the Element."

Before Twilight could reply, Starlight shouted out to her. "DON'T DO IT TWILIGHT! THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTS! DON'T GIVE HIM YOUR ELEMENT JUST TO SAVE ME!"

"Quiet." Metal Wing said as he pushed his hoof down on the red Pony's head once more, earning another loud painful cry.

"STOP!" Twilight shouted. She could feel tears forming in her eyes as she saw blood slowly dripping down Starlight's head.

Metal Wing looked back at her and smirked again. "If you want your friend to live, I suggest you do as I say Twilight Sparkle. Give me your Element." The silver glow around Metal Wing's horn began to get brighter.

Along with the bright silver glow, Metal Wing's eyes were consumed by a white light, much similar to when Luna was angered back during a previous Nightmare Night.

Twilight Sparkle watched in pure horror as the sky began to darken.

Eventually, before her very eyes, the sun itself was being eclipsed.

The area they were in began to shake slightly as the glow around Metal Wing only continued to get brighter and brighter.

"If you refuse, you can say goodbye to your friend. Make your choice Twilight Sparkle. The Element of Magic, or the life of your friend."