The realm of unconsciousness, the Aether, or the World of Dreams. The World of Dreams is strange, and most of the time, we can’t remember the dreams we have while there. However, such was not the case for Starlight Glimmer. She certainly remembered this one quite clearly. After all, it tormented her every night for years on end, ever since she was little. It went like this: She had many friends and had a wonderful life. However, when her friends forgot her one by one after they got cutie marks, she felt alone and bitter in a harsh world. A chilling wind would blow in and speak. “Oh foolish Starlight, don’t you see? Friendship will only leave you crying in the end, Starlight. There’s no reason for you to ever go back. Accept the truth of reality, and it will set you free!" Then, Starlight would wake up. She hated that dream, that nightmare, because it constantly reminded her of what she once enjoyed but no longer did. It was agony. At least it caused no physical pain, though. Well, this time she was experiencing such because of a run in she had with a fast moving magenta blur. As she was waking up, the first thing to return to Starlight was her hearing. She heard two people talking, about her, no less.
“Oh crap, I’m so dead! I'm so dead!"
“Calm down Berry, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing to worry about!?! Cheerilee, are you freakin nuts? Don’t you know who this is? It’s Starlight Glimmer, King Eclipse’s prized protéjé! She’s known to have quite the temper!”
“Now Berry, I’m certain that’s just a baseless rumor. I’m sure she’ll be understanding and forgive you.”
At this point, Starlight’s eyes started to open slowly.
“Oh no! I’m burnt toast, now! Do me a favor and write my obituary, okay?”
“Berry, you’re not going to die.”
Berry was about to refute when Starlight opened her eyes. In front of her were two magenta mares, one with a trio of smiling flowers for a cutie mark, while the other had a bunch of grapes with a strawberry next to it for hers. Starlight narrowed her eyes, and spoke with a touch of venom in her voice. “Pain meds. Now.”
Cheerilee and Berry straightened up, and spoke in unison. “Yes, Starlight!” They then zipped off somewhere, to get away from the angry Starlight.
Starlight rolled her eyes at the display. Honestly, I’m tired of people fleeing from me like some kind of monster. You blow up at a noble one time, and everyone holds it over your head forever. Starlight sighed. Perhaps I’ll be able to calm them down a bit after the meds start to work.
The two mares returned to the room carrying the meds and a glass of water, trembling. Starlight took the meds and the water, and downed them both, and let out a sigh of relief as she felt the fast-acting meds go into effect immediately. Then, the grape bunch with a strawberry next to it Cutie Marked mare spoke. “So, uh, Miss Glimmer, could you consider not having us killed?”
Starlight rolled her eyes in exasperation. Seriously, does everyone think I have the kind of power to have them executed? I’m not some kind of maniacal princess or something. Sunset Shimmer* would be more likely to act like that. "What happened was an accident. Consider it forgotten and forgiven. And please, call me Starlight. Calling me ‘Miss Glimmer’ makes me sound like a stuffy ingrate.” Sunset would want them to grovel at her hooves instead. It’s a good thing King Eclipse sent me here instead.
The two mares sighed with relief, and the one with the smiling flowers cutie mark spoke. “See, Berry? Nothing to worry about.”
The one dubbed “Berry” glared at the other mare. “You were with me in my opinion for a while, so don’t act all innocent Cheerilee!” the now dubbed “Cheerilee” looked down in shame.
Starlight then spoke. “Berry? As in, Berry Punch, the one doing the entertainment for the Extravaganza?”
Berry nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, that’s me.”
Starlight sighed with relief. “Okay, maybe it’s not so bad that you happened to run into me. I’m helping organize the Extravaganza, so I’ll need to know what kind of entertainment you’ll be providing.”
Berry’s eyes widened. “Oh! Uh, I’ll be setting up some gaming booths across the town! A few of them are up already, in fact.”
Starlight beamed. “Okay, that’s great. Let me guess, classic carnival games?”
Berry nodded vigorously. “Yeah, but with a slight twist! Some of them will be like competitive tournaments with consecutive prizes! Those are sure to be a big hit!”
Starlight smiled. “Great, I can’t wait for the Extravaganza! Now, I should get going…” Starlight got up, and moved to leave.
“Wait!” Berry cried out in alarm, “You still need some rest!”
It was true that Starlight was still in pain, but she’d been through worse. “Eh, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry ‘bout it." she dismissed. “I’ve been through much worse than this before. See ya at the Extravaganza!" And, before Berry could say another word, Starlight was gone. Once the door shut behind her, she sighed with relief. Well, that certainly could’ve gone worse, much worse. Now, to find the next pony on my list… As she walked away from the house, a blur of indigo shot towards Starlight. Oh, crud, not this again. She thought as she experienced a world of pain for the second time that day. Why does this have to happen to me?
*= The other, much more violence prone student of King Eclipse. She’s currently on probation in a small town known as Hayburg not too far from Ponyville. This small tidbit isn’t crucial to the story, just a fun little fact. Or is it?