“Ooh,” awed foal Starlight. “Are we up-up in the sky?”
The periwinkle Unicorn was surprised her younger self was still with her after escaping from her runaway memory.
“Yeah…,” she replied. “I’m sort of on a journey.”
“A what?” asked the foal as she climbed atop Starlight’s head to see all there was to see.
“Like a story,” stated the grown-up. “I think you are supposed to come along with me.”
“I like you,” foal Starlight stated with a giggle. “You make me happy.”
Adult Starlight felt a warmth in her heart upon hearing her foal self say such a compliment.
“You make me feel happy, too,” she beamed. “Now let’s go see what’s next.”
“Holding on tight-tight!” cheered the foal.
“I’m ready,” stated Starlight.
FWOOM
KA-CLICK
“Oh, wow!” awed foal Starlight while watching the door rise from below them and open itself up. “You do good magic.”
“It takes a good magician to know a good magician,” complimented Starlight as they entered into wherever the door would take them.
***
“Books!” cried foal Starlight. “Let’s read ‘Ugly Duckling’!”
Adult Starlight took in the area around them. It appeared to be a library. However, it was dark with nobody in it. Nobody with the exception of a slightly older, filly version of herself flipping through the pages of a book with her magic.
“I’ve just about got it,” whispered the filly with determination. “If this is the book I’ve been looking for, I can unite the curse removal spell with the magic nullification spell to remove my cutie mark once-and-for-all.”
“What’s she doin’?” the foal asked. “Why does she look like you?”
“She’s learning a new spell,” stated Starlight somberly. “And, uh, I don’t know why she looks like us, uh, me.”
“Yes!” delighted filly Starlight while she removed a piece of parchment from her saddlebag and wrote some words down upon it. “Now I need only splice the spells together to create the cutie mark removal spell I’ve been long seeking to end my misery.”
“She seems unhappy,” foal Starlight said. “Do you think we should go and try to cheer her up?”
Adult Starlight didn’t know what to say. However, it didn’t matter as the foal hopped from her back and trotted towards her filly self.
“Hi!” she greeted. “My name’s Glim-Glim. What’s yours?”
Filly Starlight looked at her younger self. However, she didn’t recognize that Glim-Glim was a younger version of who she was. Instead, Glim-Glim turned into a dark, shadowy pony with pitch-black eyes.
“I’m nobody,” scoffed the filly while packing up her things and trotting away.
Worried for Glim-Glim’s well-being, Starlight quickly made her way towards the foal.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
The color returned to Glim-Glim upon seeing the grown-up come near her.
“I’m worried,” she said. “She looks so sad.”
“Don’t you worry, Glim-Glim,” stated Starlight while lifting the foal upon her back. “I think I know how we can help her.”
FWOO
The scene changed to a small campsite within a desert oasis. Here, an even older version of filly Starlight was packing up books and scrolls in preparation to journey further away from any pony who could possibly hurt her as all others had.
“The spell worked,” she thought aloud. “However, it appears I need my cutie mark in order to tap into my full, magical potential.”
“What she talking about?” asked Glim-Glim. “I’m confused.”
“I’m not,” thought Starlight. “This is when I decided to paint my flank to hide my cutie mark. It is also when I discovered what I’d come to call ‘The Staff of Sameness’.”
“Can we go swimming?” Glim-Glim asked. “Maybe she’d want to go swimming, too?”
Starlight was still lost in thought when Glim-Glim darted for the filly.
“Hey!” cheered foal Starlight. “Wanna’ go swim?”
The filly scowled towards where she heard the tiny voice. As she did, Glim-Glim started to turn totally black in color.
“Now I’m hearing things,” she said. “Best to move on before the desert really messes with my head.”
Filly Starlight finished packing up her tent, supplies, and documents. She then headed off into the desert.
“Glim-Glim!” called Starlight upon realizing her younger self was almost a literal shadow of her former self. “Are you okay?”
Glim-Glim looked up to Starlight. Seeing her brought her colors back, but tears were now in her eyes.
“What’s wrong with her?” she asked. “She ignored me.”
“She’s confused,” stated Starlight. “She needs our help.”
“Can we help?” sobbed Glim-Glim. “There’s no love in her eyes.”
Starlight thought back on this time in her life. How she felt worthless, empty, and hated everything to do with cutie marks. This was certainly not what her foal self needed to hear. It wasn’t even anything she wanted to hear either. However, something told her she needed to see it all through.
“Friendship,” she said. “She just needs to know she has friends.”
“Will she want to be our friend?” asked Glim-Glim.
“We’ll definitely do our best,” assured Starlight while lifting Glim-Glim onto her back. “Let’s go.”
FWOO
“Brr,” shivered Glim-Glim upon their sudden arrival on a snow-covered mountain. “I’m cold.”
Remembering how this was a dream, Starlight imagined a heavy coat for her foal self to wear.
POOF
“Here,” she said while using her magic to put the coat on Glim-Glim. “This will keep you warm.”
“You’re so nice,” cooed the foal while nuzzling into Starlight’s coat and mane.
Up ahead, Starlight noticed what she thought she might notice. This being her older-filly self meeting up with Double Diamond.
“…Why did my talent have to be skiing?” he asked sadly. “Nobody likes to ski with me.”
The older filly appeared annoyed at Double Diamond’s blubbering.
“Hey!” he exclaimed. “You don’t have a cutie mark!”
“No,” filly Starlight said. “I don’t.”
“I wish I didn’t have mine,” he said. “It’s just a reminder of how alone I am.”
Filly Starlight smiled.
“You say you don’t like your cutie mark?” she asked.
“No,” replied Double Diamond as he slipped off his skis and sat them down upon the snow. “I wish I never got it.”
SHING
Filly Starlight levitated the staff-like stick she had found in the desert. It’s original intention was to help defend her along with aid in her walking if she needed a brace. However, a new idea had come to her.
“What if I could remove your cutie mark?” she asked.
“You can do that?” asked Double Diamond.
“That’s what I did to mine,” she replied. “I can do the same for you.”
“That would be great!” cheered Double Diamond. “No pony would ask me about my special talent, or tell me they don’t like skiing!”
“We’d be equals!” beamed filly Starlight while raising the staff. “Are you ready?”
“Yes!” cheered Double Diamond. “Let’s be equals!”
***
“What’s she doin’?” asked Glim-Glim.
“She’s taking away his cutie mark,” Starlight replied.
“We got to stop her!” cried Glim-Glim. “Cutie marks are important!”
“We can’t,” stated Starlight. “Double Diamond wanted his cutie mark removed.”
“Why?” wondered the foal. “Why does he not want his cutie mark?”
“He’s confused,” she replied. “He wanted a friend and felt this was the way to get one.”
“We should be his friends!” squeaked Glim-Glim.
“We will be,” assured Starlight. “He, like her, just need to learn the power of friendship.”
“And we’re going to do that?” asked Glim-Glim.
“We are,” replied Starlight. “We just need to wait for the right time to show her and Double Diamond that they are more than what they think they are.”