After boarding the train to the Crystal Empire, Twilight could not shake the feeling that something bad happened. The very thought of something bad happening over at Cadence and Shining Armor's castle was enough to make her skin crawl like a swarm of spiders ready to claim their newly-caught meal. The fear that was all over her just felt too unbearable for her to fathom. Let alone thinking back to what she has done to Spike.

"Are you alright, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, feeling worried about Twilight.

"I'm fine Applejack. I just can't shake the feeling that something bad has happened to Cadence and Shining Armor." Twilight replied, filled with worry.

"Don't feel distressed, Twilight. I'm sure that the two can handle themselves."

"I know, but I just have this strange feeling that they have been captured or-"

Applejack put her hoof on Twilight's mouth to get her to calm down.

"Relax. As soon as we meet up with those two, we'll cook up a plan on how to get Spike back. Besides, they have guards everywhere in the Crystal Empire. What's the worst that could happen?" Applejack said with a casual look on her face.

Hearing this made Twilight feel even more worried as they were riding all the way over to the Crystal Empire. Seeing the Royal Sisters ride the train made the Main Six fill with unease. Especially Twilight, whom actually went over the border with throwing Spike out of the castle and unawarely betray every teaching that Princess Celestia passed onto her when she was her student. She could only hope that her relatives were out of harm's way. After a whole hour of riding the train, they made it towards Crystal Empire and immediately got off. They ran towards the castle in a huff to see if they were safe.

"I hope they're okay! The last thing that I need is more bad news!" Twilight said in a frantic manner.

"Don't sweat it, Twilight. I'm sure they know what they're doing." Rainbow Dash boasted.

Twilight seemed unsure about Rainbow Dash's statement, but she had to trust her judgement. She is aware that Shining Armor and Cadence are capable of handling themselves, but even concerned her even more was Flurry Heart. She could not bear the thought of anything terrible happening to her. As they made towards the castle, they were greeted by two guards at the front gate.

"Your Highnesses, we are glad that you made it." one of the guards said.

"What is the situation?" Celestia asked.

"So far, we have only one casualty in this kingdom." the other guard said.

Hearing this shook the girls when they heard that.

"The Princess will tell you about it in her throne room. She is expecting you." the other guard said.

They nodded and went up to the castle at top speed. They were scared of who the casualty was. It could be either Shining Armor or Sunburst. The thought of it all shook them to their cores as they ran to the throne room. Upon arrival, they saw Cadence and Shining Armor with Flurry Heart in hoof. They had melancholic looks on their faces, with Cadence having tears in her eyes. As soon as they entered, Shining Armor approached Twilight and hugged her.

"Thank Equestria you're safe." Shining Armor relievedly said.

"I know. I thought that you were killed." Twilight said with tears nearly coming out.

"What happened?" Celestia asked.

Cadence looked at her with sorrow as she showed them Sunburst's glasses. Upon seeing the glasses, Starlight's eyes widened out. She shook as she went towards the now disregarded specs that Sunburst had.

"Oh no..." Starlight said with her voice nearly breaking.

After grabbing and looking at them, tears poured out of her eyes and started crying. Luna went to comfort her while the Mane Six spoke too Cadence about Starburst with Celestia.

"What happened to Sunburst?" Twilight asked.

Starlight raised her head after hearing that question.

"When we first heard about this, we rushed over to his house. The guards were already there. They took us into the remains of his house and we were shown his body. He was horribly burnt everywhere. We inspected his body further and we saw that his throat was ripped out by some monstrous creature. It was so huge that it looked as if it were ripped by a manticore. And to top it off, his house was burnt down along with his books. It was like it didn't want to leave any trace of what it did. I can only hope that it doesn't come for us next." Shining Armor explained.

Starlight looked at him and asked,

"Where's the body?"

"What?" Shining Armor asked.

"Where is the body?"

"Starlight-" Cadence said before Shining Armor was levitated by Starlight.

"WHERE IS THE BODY?!" Starlight shouted in an upset manner.

Not wanting to anger her any further, Shining Armor said,

"Downstairs in the morgue. It's in the basement."

Starlight put him down as she rushed downstairs to the body. After twenty minutes, she made it to the morgue.

"Sunburst?" Starlight asked with her voice nearly breaking.

She looked around the area to see where his body was. After two minutes of searching for a body bag, she saw one on the far left corner. After unzipping it, she noticed the charred body and the mangled throat that Shining Armor mentioned.

"Sweet Ce-" Starlight said as she covered her mouth.

After looking at the body, she finally broke down and cried her eyes out. Never before has she felt this sad. Her childhood friend, Sunburst, was dead. She could never have imagined a loss even greater. All these years of being alone and not being able to think about anypony else, but Sunburst. He was the one thing that Starlight had to think about when she was growing up. And now he was gone for good. Everypony that followed her could not imagine the pain that she was going through.

"So what do we do now?" Rainbow Dash whispered.

"I dunno. But this is bigger than we think." Twilight whispered back.

Author's Notes:

If anybody wants to know about how this all happened, I will write about how it all happened while the Mane Six, the Royal Sisters and Starlight were busy. But this will be after I finish this story. If you want me to do this mid-story, give me your reasons in the comment section down below. Take it easy and I'll see you all on the other side.