//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Starlight's Dawn // by The Lord Thunder //------------------------------// Starlight Glimmer would never have guessed that losing somepony could hurt this much. The word “heartbreak” hadn’t meant much to her until Sunburst, her best--and only--friend moved away to Canterlot to attend Celestia’s school after getting his cutie mark. One week had done nothing to alleviate the pain. Starlight lay on her belly on her bed, face buried into a tear-soaked pillow. Heartbreak indeed. It truly did feel like an Ursa Major stomping her heart into countless tiny pieces. And the worst part about it… “Starlight!” her mother’s voice yelled from downstairs. “You’d better be studying like I told you to!” Starlight grimaced, squeezing out more tears. Studying was the last thing on her mind, but she knew her mom would have nothing else. “Starlight?” her mom repeated. A few seconds later, Starlight heard the wooden clopping of her mom’s hooves coming up the stairs. Starlight kept her face in her pillow, not looking up even when the door to her room opened. “What are you doing, young lady?” Sniffing, Starlight looked up at her mom with puffy, tearful eyes. Mom rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Oh, for pity’s sake. Don’t tell me you’re still on that!” “Mom,” Starlight said, her voice cracking. “He was my only friend.” “Well, boo-hoo. Life’s not fair, get used to it.” That response struck Starlight bluntly as she stared at her mom in disbelief. It was like her mom didn’t notice or even care how much pain her own daughter was in.  Against Starlight’s better judgement, she tried turning the tables. “How did you feel when Dad left?” Starlight’s ears drooped instantly at her mom’s retaliating glare. Bad call. Mom stepped closer and Starlight cringed, bracing herself to be struck. It never did come. “You’re walking on dangerous ground there, young lady,” Mom warned, lowering her voice into a venomous tone. “Your only concern is to study for that big test next week. I’ve told everypony to expect good things from you, so you’d better not embarrass me by screwing it up. Because if you think you’re hurting now, you’d better think again. You will be hurting if you make me look bad.” Starlight hung her head when she could no longer take that cold, piercing glare. “Yes, ma’am,” she mumbled. Mom turned for the door, pointing towards the stairs. “Good. Now stop whining, get up out of that bed and get your flank over to the library.” “Yes, ma’am,” Starlight repeated. With that, Mom stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her. On the one pony who needed her, leaving a sad and hurt little filly alone. All alone. The worst part about it was nopony even bothered to try and help her through her pain. Not even her own mother. Dad had left them, her mother had changed and now, with Sunburst gone, there was nopony who could understand the little filly’s pain and loneliness.   Starlight wiped away the tears and put her hooves to the ground. She draped her saddlebag over her back and sulked down the stairs, through the living room where Mom sat with her nose in a book as usual, and stepped out under the orange pre-dusk sky. On the block across the road were two little fillies about Starlight’s age, playing a game of tag, giggling and having a great time together. Of course, they both already had their cutie marks, completely oblivious to how easily a cutie mark could shatter that bond. Grumbling, Starlight hung her head and pressed on towards the library a few blocks away. She passed through the school playground, noting the group of fillies laughing and playing with each other. All happy, all with their cutie marks, none of them alone like she was. She supposed she could have asked to joined them, but it was as if those cutie marks had set up a wall she couldn’t get through and those lucky enough to have them were blissfully unaware of the pain they could cause. Even if Starlight wanted to join in the fun, she couldn’t. Her mother would see to it that she wouldn’t be able to sit for the rest of the week if she came home too late. Just thinking about it made her flank sting. She'd been on the receiving end of such paddlings before, seemingly more so since Dad left. Starlight huffed, wiped away fresh tears and continued on towards the library with her head hung, not lifting it until she arrived and found herself surrounded by the countless books. There, she felt safe. Secure. Books were a veritable source of information and they couldn't hurt you like ponies could. She needed three books for the test, a research paper on a subject of her choice. As a unicorn, it would make sense to do it on magic. There were all kinds of magic, however. Teleportation, shield spells, energy blasts, telekinesis. The possibilities seemed endless. Starlight’s mind raced to settle on one until she read the spine of a particular volume. The Principles of Cutie Mark Magic. It all made sense; it was the perfect subject to do her report on. She’d learn everything she could about cutie marks and the magic behind them. She’d ace that test; finally make her mom proud of her. If it was studying her mom wanted, it was studying she was going to get. Starlight would study magic as a whole, devote her life to learning all there was to know about magic until she became powerful enough to CONTROL cutie marks. Equestria would be better off without them. Yes, far better off. In that moment, the filly made herself a silent promise. Starting with acing her report on the hidden evils of cutie marks, she’d do everything in her power to make sure cutie marks and special talents would never again drive friends apart. Starlight grabbed the book with her magic and scanned the shelves for another suitable title. One called Cutie Marks and You: How to Find Your Calling caught her eye. She picked it up and continued her search until her eyes stopped at a particularly intriguing title: I Hate My Cutie Mark: A Collection of True Stories of Ponies Whose Cutie Marks Led Them to Tragedy. Well at least I know I’m not alone in hating cutie marks Starlight thought to herself as she added the book to the other two. With her quota of three books in tow, she trotted up to the receptionist to check out. There was no way the filly could comprehend that the seeds of darkness had already been planted; the insanity of it all and how it would change her life forever. What she did know was she would do whatever it took to never be left alone again.