//------------------------------// // Not the General Vicinity of Kansas // Story: The Persistence of Destiny // by Cold Bolt //------------------------------// "Uuuuuuuugh." The intense throbbing in Starlight Glimmer's head told her it was probably going to be one of those days. With a displeased groan, she sat up in bed and rubbed her aching head. Disoriented as she was, it took her several seconds of glancing about the room to realize something was wrong. "It... It can't be...?" Undecorated walls, sparsely stocked bookshelf, boring throw rug... This was her old bedroom, in her old town on the edge of Equestria. She had left this place behind ages ago, but in defiance of all logic, here it was; if not for the headache, she would have written it off as a strange dream and half expected Princess Luna to barge in. No such luck, sadly. Still groaning, she climbed out of bed and staggered her way over to a mirror on the incredibly plain dresser. Yet again, it took several seconds for what she was seeing to register in her mind: her mane was still done up the way she always used to wear it back then. "How is this possible...?" She ran a hoof through it as though expecting to find that her eyes were lying to her. Frowning, she shook her head, magically grasping a nearby brush and getting to work. A few minutes later, and her mane now sported the style she had come to prefer after leaving her old life behind. The familiarity brought a small smile to her face. Peering out the window, she spotted several ponies already up and about, busying themselves with their assigned morning chores. The sight sent a painful twinge through her heart. Starlight took a seat on the edge of her bed. There had to be an explanation for what was going on, and by Celestia, she was going to find it! Closing her eyes, she racked her brain as hard as she could in search of the last thing she could remember. Images flashed in her mind. The Castle of Friendship... A scroll containing temporal magic, a spell she had been working on for weeks... Two other ponies, one purple, one orange; Twilight and...? "Aaugh...!" She doubled over and clutched her head, the visions vanishing as the throbbing pain resurfaced. She likely wouldn't be getting much more than that for now, but at the very least she could piece together what she hoped was the important part: a time spell gone awry. Her blood went cold. There was a myriad of good reasons why most unicorns never set hoof anywhere near time magic; it had the smallest margin for error of any known branch of magic, and the greatest potential for disaster should anything go wrong... not to mention the questions it raised regarding things like ethics and predestination that most ponies didn't even want answered in the first place. Starlight took a few moments to slow her breathing and calm her pounding heart. "So... what do I do now?" The empty room offered her no answers, of course. She needed to know exactly what the spell had done to have any chance of fixing it, and she wasn't likely to make any progress out here in the middle of nowhere... at least, not unless she still had the scroll with her (and as a cursory glance about the room quickly revealed that she did not, that point was moot). Ponyville. That was the logical place to start, right? At least, it was the first thing to come to mind, and she had precious little else to work with. Unfortunately, she couldn't just slink her way out of town and expect nopony to notice. Robbed of their purpose in life, the townsfolk were highly dependent on her for direction; they would likely be unable to fend for themselves without their cutie marks. If nothing else, that made her first objective obvious enough. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, making her way to the stairwell. Why did it feel like she was forgetting something? She shook the thought out of her head; this was no time to be second-guessing herself. She needed to gather all the townsfolk together as quickly as possible and bring them to the vault where their cutie marks were stored, or so she assumed - she hadn't exactly given her unmarking spell the most rigorous testing, and so wasn't sure from how far away the severed marks would still be able to return to their owners... but she wasn't willing to take chances she didn't need to. A nearby pony took notice of her as soon as she'd stepped out the front door. "Good morning, Starlight Glimmer." Starlight couldn't help cringing at his vacant grin and toneless voice. How had she tolerated it for so long? Even without the guilt tacked on, it was grating at best. "Uh, good... good morning, Double Diamond!" She tried mimicking his expression, only to find she'd lost the ability; the grin she wound up with was strained and sheepish. "How are you doing this morning? Is there any - " Double Diamond stopped mid-word, carelessly dropping his well-trained grin in favor of an open-mouthed stare. Starlight blinked. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Double Diamond slowly raised a shaky foreleg to point at her flank. "Y, you, your... cutie mark...?" Oh. Well, that explained the strange feeling she'd gotten a minute ago. She had neglected to cover up her cutie mark, a necessary part of maintaining the illusion of equality in her little town. She bit her lip - would they still listen to her long enough to get them as far as the vault if they knew about it? She really wanted to save their inevitable questions until after she had returned their marks, but if they started making a fuss before that... "Double Diamond," said Starlight, "I need you to gather everypony in the center of town for me, okay? This is really important." "But..." Double Diamond's gaze shifted slowly between Starlight's face and her flank. "But... why do you have your - " "I'll explain later, okay?" Starlight cut him off with a hoof on his muzzle. "No questions just yet. It's really important that we get everypony together right away." She held her breath as Double Diamond hesitated, but let it out again when he spoke. "Of course, Starlight Glimmer." With that, he trotted over to a pair of ponies next door to explain the situation. Starlight sat back on her haunches for a moment and closed her eyes. Her headache hadn't subsided entirely yet, but at least for the moment it settled for a dull background throb she could mostly ignore. In a matter of minutes, the air was filled with quiet murmuring as the entire town awaited their leader's instruction. Some did their best to mask their apprehension with their cookie-cutter smiles, but most simply glanced between Starlight and one another as they tried to deduce amongst themselves what was going on. "I'm really sorry to pull everypony away from breakfast, but this can't wait." Starlight raised her voice only just enough that she could address the entire crowd at once. A mare spoke up, one that took Starlight a moment to identify as Sugar Belle. "Please tell us what's going on, Starlight Glimmer. We don't understand... why do you have your cutie mark?" "You'll have your answers very soon, I promise." Starlight pointed a hoof toward the rocky hills beyond the town. "We're going to visit the vault. I'll explain what's going on when we get there." The murmuring grew more insistent, but to Starlight's relief, the crowd began filing their way down the path toward the vault. She stayed well to the rear of the group as they walked, far enough that their chatter blended together and she could mull over her thoughts along the way, for whatever good she thought it might do. It certainly kept them from asking her more questions, for which she was thankful. In a matter of minutes, the townsfolk found themselves gathered in a dusty old cave before an enormous sheet of glass, behind which all their cutie marks were sealed in individual containers. An ornate wooden staff jutted out of a pedestal in front of it. "Mage Meadowbrook's Staff of Sameness," declared Starlight as she lifted the staff with her magic, the assembled crowd looking on in awe. With all the ceremony one might offer a used napkin, she snapped it in half and flung it aside. The crowd gasped. "It wasn't real." Starlight hung her head. "None of this was. I've been lying to you all this time." "About what...?" asked a voice from somewhere within the crowd. "All of it." Starlight forced herself to look up and turn back toward the crowd. "The staff was just a piece of wood I found out in the desert, and I've been covering my cutie mark with makeup." The murmurs picked up once again, but quieted down as Starlight raised a hoof. "This was never about equality," she explained. "Giving up your talents and living identical lives barely counts as life to begin with. What are you living for, if you're not working toward finding things that make you happy?" A dark pegasus she recognized as Night Glider stepped forward and spoke. "So why did you do it? And why are you telling us all this now?" Starlight sighed and closed her eyes. "It was a... coping mechanism for a childhood trauma I never really got over. Controlling the lives of other ponies was a way to fool myself into thinking I had some control over my own." She paused before continuing to give her words a moment to sink in. "As for why I'm telling the truth now... it's because I have to leave the village." She spun around before waiting for their reactions. "And before I can do that... I need to do this." With a glow of her horn, dozens of little glass doors opened on the front of the vault. Immediately, the cutie marks contained within leapt free of their prisons and soared through the air, their light shining on the walls of the cave as they flew back to their proper places upon the flanks of their owners. "Your destinies are yours again," declared Starlight, "and so are your cutie marks!" A jubilant roar erupted from the crowd. Unicorns shot sparks from their horns, pegasi took to the air, and earth ponies stomped their hooves and cheered. Their elation was infectious; Starlight couldn't help smiling as she stood there for a moment and watched them celebrate, her heart lighter than it had been all morning. Her first objective complete, she quietly made for the cave entrance, the better to let them find themselves once more without her influence. "Starlight?" Before she could disappear, however, Starlight was approached by Night Glider and Sugar Belle. Her cupcake cutie mark once again proudly perched on her flank, Sugar Belle spoke up. "I still don't really understand what's going on, but... thank you. I feel like a brand new pony now." Starlight waved her off. "You don't owe me that. I had no right to take it from you in the first place." Night Glider tilted her head. "Are you really leaving?" "Yeah, I am." Starlight stared at the ceiling. "Something really, uh... well, something's happened, and I can't do anything about it if I stay here. I would try to explain, but... even if you understood, I don't know if you'd believe me." She looked back at Night Glider. "What about all of you?" "What do you mean?" asked Sugar Belle. "You don't have to stay here anymore," said Starlight. "You can go back to your old lives now." Sugar Belle lowered her gaze, grinding her hoof into the floor as she spoke. "I think a lot of us have been here a little too long for that..." Starlight winced, her ears folding back. "Oh..." "Don't worry about it too much," said Night Glider. "What's done is done. Like it or not, this is our home now; we'll just have to make the most of it. Besides, not all of us had anyplace we could've gone back to, anyway." Starlight glanced past them. Sure enough, the townsfolk had already begun to file out of the cave, chattering happily on their way back to the village. "Where are you headed?" asked Sugar Belle. "A town called Ponyville," said Starlight. "It's south of Canterlot." "Oh gosh, that's a really long way..." Sugar Belle glanced at Night Glider, who nodded. "You'll let us send you off when you go, won't you?" Starlight sighed quietly, her smile returning. "You're too good to me... Thank you." Sugar Belle's idea of a send-off was apparently a bit more elaborate than Starlight had bargained for. A few hours after she had returned their cutie marks, Starlight stood at the end of the railroad tracks. Her saddlebags were laden with provisions - food and water mostly - and a hoofcar sat on the tracks before her, newly repaired and ready to go. About a dozen ponies stood nearby; the rest were busy back in town. "You'll be back to visit sometime, right?" Starlight's smile was tinged with melancholy. "I don't know if I can make a promise like that, Double Diamond, but I'll try." Sugar Belle fiddled with the straps on Starlight's saddlebags, causing her to flinch. "Hey!" "Sorry! Nervous habit..." Sugar Belle backed off. "Well, whether we see you again or not... take care, okay?" Starlight nodded. "You too, all of you. Goodbye, everypony, and... good luck." The assembled crowd waved their farewells as Starlight hopped aboard the train cart, grasped the handle in her magic, and began her journey to civilization. For a long time now, a part of her had wished for an opportunity like this, to go back and free her villagers on her own terms. To have fulfilled that desire was a silver lining on the dark clouds hanging over her. Of course, that meant the easy part was out of the way. A chill ran down her spine. The badlands weren't much for interesting scenery, leaving her little to occupy her mind beyond her predicament... the thought of which still gave her shivers. She had some severe doubts about how much help it was going to be for her to even make this trip in the first place, but she didn't see any alternatives. She wasn't sure how far the spell had sent her into the past, but with any luck, Twilight would be there. She wouldn't remember who Starlight was, of course, but that didn't make her any less capable of helping to fix a spell. Never mind that that very pony had failed to foresee the problem to begin with... but it was still all she had to go on for now. Starlight sighed. It was going to be a long trip back.