My History, Rise, Fall and Return: Starlight's Story

by StormLuna

My Hunt for the Artifacts

Preparing for My Trip

I have learned many things in the library in the caves and now the time has come for me to begin to search for the artifacts of Meadowbrook, the items that will I will need to liberate the eastern part of Equestria. The first item I must search for is the jade skull, which is an item I have seen before so finding it will be easy, getting to it and acquiring it will be incredibly difficult. I say this because back when I was expelled from Celestia's school I was also banished from Canterlot. When I was forced out the guards warned me not to return because if I did, much worse things could happen to me.

I have made a decision though, I will return to Manehattan, close the bank account which I hopefully still have, buy a cloak, buy a saddlebag and then take a train to Canterlot that will arrive at night. That way I should be able to get the artifact I need and then move on. Getting back to Manehattan would take several days as I would have to walk there given that I had no money to take the train. When I finally arrived in the city I just had to hope that I would not run into any of my former coworkers. I just wanted to get what I needed and go.

Unfortunately when I went into the bank I ran into Professor Red Star. He gave me an odd look and asked, "Professor Starlight, is that you? I thought you had died or something."

I decided I would lie. I did not feel like him making a scene in the bank. I replied, "Well I was out on a quest to find Meadowbrook's lost artifacts."

He asked, "Seriously? You couldn't have applied to the university for this to be a university sanctioned trip? Do you know how much inconvenience you caused us?"

I sighed, "Yes, I know. I'm really sorry about that but this was something that I had to do."

He replied, "Well, whatever. I hope all is going well for you."

I had to put my hoof up to silence him as I had got to the front of the line for the teller. The teller asked, "Hi, how may I help you?"

I replied, "I need to close out my account. I am moving to another part of the country."

She asked for my ID and luckily I had it on me. She took a look at it and then me. After spending five more minutes convincing her that I was who I said I was, she gave me my money and closed my account. One the way out I bid farewell to Professor Red Star and headed to a fairly affordable clothing shop and bought myself a cloak. That way I can get to Canterlot unnoticed, get the jade skull and then get back out to the caves.

Quest for the Jade Skull

That afternoon I headed to the train station and bought a ticket to Canterlot. The pony at the ticket counter gave me a strange look but did not say anything. I received similar looks on the train, especially from a couple guard ponies. I was thinking to myself, "Oh crap, they're probably Canterlot guards and I will get discovered."

The guards did come over to question me and I was suddenly so nervous. One of the guards asked, "Ma'am, what is up with the cloak?"

I replied, "Well I, you see, I am kind of a nervous pony and I feel more comfortable when I am covered."

The other guard replied, "Hmm....my mom was like that so I understand where you are coming from."

I was relieved when the guards headed back to their seats. While I was tired I knew that I could not just take a nap on the train as it would not take much for somepony to remove my cloak and discover my true identity. After what seemed to take forever, the train finally arrived in Canterlot at 2330. The few of us that were on the train got off and I headed straight towards the Celestial Museum, which is next door to the palace so I will have to be extremely careful.

Even though it had been over five years since I was kicked out of Canterlot, I still knew the city like the back of my hoof. Guards were patrolling the perimeter so I had to hide in the bushes as I approached the entrance. Finally I saw the door and was ready to head in. I unlocked the door and when I there were no guards present, I rushed in and closed the door. I figured there would probably be guards in the museum as well so I remained alert.

While I didn't know my way around the museum perfectly, I knew my way to the ancient artifacts wing, where the skull was located when I was last in there six years ago. As I headed further in, I saw a guard heading this way so I ducked behind a corner. Luckily for me, he did not see me. Once he was gone I headed on and soon found myself in the ancient artifacts wing. I was looking around and in the back left corner there it was! Underneath a glass case sat the artifact that I was looking for ,the jade skull. This is where being a unicorn has it's advantages. Rather than smashing open the display case, I was simply able to remove the glass case. I used my magic to pick up the skull and placed it in my saddlebag.

I began to head back towards the exit making as little noise as possible but as I saw the exit I had to jump around the corner. I muttered, "Damn it, another guard."

I had to crouch down behind the corner as he passed by. A couple minutes later I looked around and there were no guards present so I ran out the door and luckily for me, there were no guards in the area. I ran like the wind and was able to get back into the main part of the city, where there were no guards.

I really wish that there would have been something that told of where the rest of these artifacts were located. I had a feeling that another one of them was here in Canterlot somewhere but I couldn't figure out which one it was. Suddenly my eyes began to glow white and I saw a sword made out of silver in the Canterlot Armory. I stood there in a daze for a minute but I quickly snapped out of it.

This brought a smile to my face yet at the same time I got sick to my stomach. The good news is that I know where the sword is, the bad news is that I will have to find a way into the armory without getting caught, steal that artifact and get out with it. It was going to be even harder carrying that skull in my saddlebag but I knew I had to do this.

Quest for the Silver Sword

I was walking through the streets of Canterlot towards the armory and looked up at the clock tower. When I saw that it was only 0030, I breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, I thought it would be a lot closer to dawn than that!"

The closer I got to the armory the more numerous the guards became so I was basically ducking behind buildings the whole time. It took me what seemed to be forever but when I got to the armory it was 0115. Apparently the soldiers must know of somepony that works there that wears a cloak as I had been spotted but nopony was doing anything. This was going to be a cakewalk!

It didn't take me long to navigate the mazes since I had actually seen the sword in my vision. Finally I see my target in the back most room. Like the jade skull, it was encased in glass. Also like that time, I removed the covering and took the sword. This was going to be much more difficult because I can't carry a sword in my saddlebag, I will have to levitate it with my aura.

As I was heading out one of the guards asked, "Who are you and why are you taking that sword out of here? Does Celestia need it for some reason."

I knew that I would have to figure out a clever way to get past this guard. I replied, "That information, both on who I am and why I am taking this sword out of here has been classified."

The guard said, "Well ok. It must be for Luna because I know how paranoid she can get. She classifies just about everything like this."

My first reaction to his comment was, "Wait a minute, isn't Luna still on the moon?" Then I realized that I do not need to have such thoughts running through my mind if I want to get out of here. As I was approaching the exit I wound up tripping over my cloak, ripping it off and causing the jade skull to fall out of my saddle bag. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" I yelled

One of the guard ponies recognized me and yelled, "It's her, it's Starlight Glimmer! Seize her!"

I grabbed the jade skull, put it back in my saddle bag, grabbed the sword and bolted out of the armory. I knew that I could not take the train out of here now so I would need to find another route of escape. I knew that the Everfree Forest was not too far off to the northeast so I began to run as fast as I could. I was able to get out of the city but three of Celestia's guards were still pursuing me. One of them grabbed me with his magic and shouted, "You're coming back with us Starlight. You will answer to Celestia for your crimes."

I broke free from his aura quite easily and then grabbed the three with my aura. I took their cutie marks which caused them to drop to the ground immediately. What a shame I didn't have something to put these marks in. As the equals sign cutie mark appeared on their flanks I yelled, "Not so special now, are you?"

They laid there as I continued to hurl insults at them and mock their beloved Celestia. After getting a good distance away from them and getting a ways into the forest, I let go of their marks. How long it took for them to get them back I'm not sure but now I know one thing for sure, I need to be careful because there are plenty of dangerous creatures that live in the forest that would have no problems turning me into it's next meal.

Rather than walk all the way through the Everfree Forest to Marentreal, which would take several days, I decided to journey south to Ponyville since it was still dark. I knew that this would be dangerous given that Celestia's precious little Twilight lives there but I really didn't feel like spending days walking all the way back to the caves. Around 0530 I boarded the early train for Manehattan. Yes I got some strange looks from the other three ponies on board but it was nothing serious.

Finally around 1400 I arrived in Manehattan ready and raring to get back up to the caves. It would be very late when I would reach the mountains so I had decided that I would rest for the night in the high meadows. After all, trying to navigate the narrow, rocky path in total darkness would not be a very wise idea.

After a night's rest in the high meadows and a filling breakfast, I finally head back up to the caves. I pretty much have the path that leads back to the library memorized so all I need is a bit of light from my horn and I was all set. I went into the inner chamber and got my artifacts out. I laid the jade skull on it's pedestal and suddenly it lights up! I do the same with the silver sword and it's pedestal also lights up. I realized that when all eight are lit up something special must happen to reveal the ninth. What I wondered though was what happened when the ninth was found?

My eyes began to shine white and suddenly I saw the location of the next artifact, the diamond dagger. It was located in the Museum of Weapons located in Fillydelphia. I thought to myself, "Excellent. This shouldn't be too hard to get to. I've been to that museum before and the security is quite loose."

Quest for the Diamond Dagger

I had recently discovered that the next artifact on my list, the Diamond Dagger, was located in Fillydelphia. This was very significant because during the time that Meadowbrook ruled, the capitol city was Fillydelphia. I decided that rather than resting for a day that I would get started on this quest at once. Given that daggers aren't all that large I would be able to fit it in my saddlebag easily but I would need to buy a new cloak for my trip into the museum since my old one got ruined in Canterlot. I figured I would do that in Marentreal since I would be breaking an entering in Fillydelphia. After all, I don't want somepony to perhaps notice me.

The journey down from the mountains and across the desert took me three days, three long days in the sweltering heat. By the time I reached Marentreal the first place I rushed to was the local cafe to get myself hydrated and get some food in my system. Luckily for me they don't charge for the water because I wound up downing three pitchers of the stuff. Once I felt ready to go, I paid for my meal and headed off to the clothing store to buy a simple cloak. I noticed that out of all the colors, the only ones that they had similar but not exact shades of were brown, so I purchased a darker brown one. Once I finished this, I headed to the train station and bought my ticket for the train to Fillydelphia.

It was around 2200 when I finally arrived in Fillydelphia. Luckily for me the museum was not too far away from the train station so it was a quick journey. Unfortunately for me though, since there had been a couple break-ins recently, they had several guards patrolling the perimeter and who knows how many guards on the inside.

When Sunset and I came here on a trip with Celestia back when we were in school this was one place we visited. I remember that the curator talked about how she would sometimes come here during the nights to do extra research on some of the artifacts when nopony else was around. I figured I would use this to my advantage and just hope that she was still working there.

I headed towards the door and before I could unlock it, a guard stopped me. He pointed his spear at me and shouted, "Halt, who goes there?"

While the curator was middle aged back then, I assumed she would probably sound a bit more elderly at this point so I faked what I thought her voice would sound like, "I am Golden Goblet and I am coming to do some late night research."

The guard raised his spear and said, "My apologies Madame Curator. Let me get this door for you." He unlocked the door and then radioed the guards on the inside that "Madame Curator" was heading in to do some research.

This would make my life much easier but I knew that I couldn't just go in, grab the dagger and then head out. From what Golden Goblet told us back when we visited her she would often times stay until 0200 she would get so enveloped in her research. As I headed towards the rare weapons wing of the museum I came across several guards and they just nodded at me and let me go on my way. I ran across one who apparently was closer with the curator. He smiled and said, "Nice cloak Madame Curator. I was wondering when you were going to replace that old, tattered one."

Again in what I assumed she would sound like I replied, "Thanks, it was getting in really bad shape and I decided it was time for a new one."

He wished me well and I continued on my way. After what seemed to be a relatively short trip I arrived at my destination, the rare weapons wing. I lit up my horn and I began to look in the cases around the walls. I was beginning to get frustrated because I knew this is where I saw it in my vision. Finally in the final case I discovered it. I stood there in awe for a moment before I unlocked the case and placed the dagger in my saddlebag.

Now would come the toughest part of this quest, finding Golden Goblet's office so that I can pretend that I am doing research on this artifact. I was walking around for what seemed to be forever until I finally saw a hallway off to my left and a sign that said that the offices were down this corridor. As I headed down the hall I noticed that there were many, many offices. I was beginning to wonder if I was going down the right hall until I reached the very end, where I ran smack into a door that led into the curator's office.

"Jackpot!" I said to myself. I headed in and turned on the lights. I looked around and damn, her office was a complete mess with various artifacts laying around all over the place. I began to wonder if perhaps she had any other of Meadowbrook's artifacts in there but unfortunately, she did not. All I could really do was watch the clock and anxiously wait for it to hit 0200 so I could get out of there.

Finally 0200 arrived and I headed back into the hallway and proceeded towards the exit. I did have to talk with a couple of the guards on my way out but it was nothing serious, just wishing one another well and once I got outside, my eyes began to shine white again. What I saw next was another one of the artifacts. I saw a golden bowl in the Museum of Natural History in Manehattan. The good thing was that it wasn't that far away but the bad news is that it belongs to the university. I knew that if I was to get caught breaking into that museum, that a bad fate would await me, especially given that I just up and left after my first year there.

Quest for the Golden Bowl

When I arrived at the train station it was 0330 and the next train to Manehattan would not leave until 0500 so when I got there it would be close to dawn. That would create quite the inconvenience for me because I would have to spend the whole day in Manehattan carrying a stolen artifact with me. Oh well, I've done quite well so far in concealing things that I have acquired illegally. As the train left Fillydelphia I breathed a sigh of relief. I thought to myself, "Good job Starlight, another break in, another city, another getaway."

Around 0645 the train pulled into Manehattan and the streets were abuzz with activity as the morning rush had begun. I decided that I would go and get some breakfast at the diner that I used to work in. When I headed in and took a seat, I was promptly waited on by one of my former co-workers, an earth pony named Cherry Fizz.

She said, "Welcome to The Downtown Diner!" She handed me a menu and continued, "May I get you something to drink?"

I replied, "Yeah, could I get a large glass of water and some orange juice."

She said, "You bet."

I was looking through the menu and damn the prices have gone up since I worked there. While I had enough money to get something to eat, I was beginning to think that I may have to start taking alternative modes of transportation further down the line, such as a stagecoach if one is available or I may have to do things the old fashioned way, walk.

Soon Cherry Fizz returned with my drinks and asked, "So, have you decided on what you want to eat?"

I replied, "Yeah, I have. I would like your Eastern Breakfast." The Eastern Breakfast included four eggs, four sausages, six slices of bacon, a bowl of oatmeal and two slices of toast. I could see Cherry Fizz giving me an odd look and trying to see my face under my cloak. She also paid close attention to my voice. She asked, "Wait a minute, Starlight, is that you?"

I removed the hood of my cloak and asked, "Yes Cherry, it is me. How did you figure out it was me?"

Cherry replied, "I could tell by your voice and by what you ordered to eat. You are the only pony who ever ordered that."

I put my hood back up and said, "You have a good memory Cherry." I grabbed her and pulled her face down close to mine and whispered, "Don't tell anypony I'm in town, alright? The Canterlot Royal Guards are searching all of Equestria for me because I violated Celestia's banishment and went back there."

She asked, "Why would you do that?"

Before I could reply a very familiar voice shouted out, that of the manager. He yelled, "Cherry Fizz, get back to work or you're fired!"

She replied, "Sorry boss!" and headed back to the kitchen. It was quite obvious that he was still the same asshole he was back when I worked here, not letting the servers talk with their customers. If the place were packed I could understand but there was only one other pony in there and he was in the middle of his meal. Perhaps it was good that he got her back to work though because I didn't want to accidentally reveal any more information than I already had.

When she brought me my bill she asked, "So Starlight, what are you doing in town?"

I motioned for her to get closer and I whispered, "I'm here on business." My tone became more serious as I continued, "I wasn't here, ok? Do not tell anypony that you saw me."

She nodded nervously as she headed to check on the other customer. After paying for my meal I headed out and decided to just look around like any ordinary tourist would. This seemed to be the longest day I had experienced in ages but finally after many, many hours darkness set in over the city. It was at this point that I decided to head over to the university and wait until the right time to break into the museum.

Finally around 2300 I decided that it should be safe to go after the golden bowl. Just like it was when I worked there, the night time security was minimal, no guards patrolling the outside. I knew there would be guards inside so I knew I had to be careful. I unlocked the door and headed in. The place seemed to be deadly quiet as I walked through the dimly lit halls. Unlike the other places, I knew this place like the back of my hoof as I would often come here to study magical artifacts during my time as a professor.

Suddenly I bumped into a guard. He pointed his taser at me and yelled, "Freeze!"

Oh great, if he uses that thing on me my magic might become disabled for a while so I knew what I needed to do. I needed to knock him out of commission so I grabbed him with my aura and removed his cutie mark. He fell to the ground and dropped his weapon, which I quickly took for myself. I laughed, "I'm so sorry but I can not allow you to endanger my mission!" Unfortunately I had nothing to place his mark in so I had to just levitate it with me as I went to grab the artifact I came for.

As he was laying there a black equals sign cutie mark appeared on his flank and he sighed acting like he had no clue where he was. It wasn't much longer after I took care of him that I arrived at my destination and saw my target, the golden bowl. They did not even have the thing behind glass! The only protection they had in there was a security camera and by the time they would get a good look at this I would likely be long gone so I grabbed the bowl, placed it in my saddlebag and went on my way.

Suddenly I realized something, the security camera would see me holding that mark with my aura. I thought to myself, "Oh shit, when they see this footage they will know it is me who broke in."

It was at this point that I realized that I would have to rush out of there as quickly as I could. As I was rushing out the guard I had earlier encountered fired some energy at me but it did not even slow me down given how weak it was. I knew that I could not just take the train at this point. I would have to gallop out of town and hope that I would not get caught.

After what seemed to be an eternity of galloping towards the northwest I finally stopped to catch my breath once I could no longer see the glow of the city. I would not be able to rest for long though because chances are the university had contacted the city police to send pegasi police patrols out looking for me. I finally relinquished the lock and key cutie mark I had stolen so that if I was to be approached by any police I would not have that mark in my possession.

I was dead tired but I had to continue on. By mid afternoon I had reached the massive northeast desert which had absolutely no places to hide from patrolling pegasi and it wouldn't be long until I would be approached. Suddenly a large white pegasi with blue mane and tail swooped down in front of me, accompanied by a tan pegasus with a red mane and tail. Both were wearing a police uniform and I knew that I was in trouble.

The white pegasus grabbed me and said, "Freeze Starlight Glimmer, you're not going anywhere."

The tan pegasus continued, "It is believed that you are the perpetrator of a theft that occurred at the University of Manehattan's Museum of Natural History. You are coming with us."

I removed my cloak revealing my identity. I sneered, "Oh I am huh?" I grabbed both of them with my aura and continued, "Don't get too confident you two. I'm not going anywhere with you."

I began to laugh manically as I ripped their cutie marks off of them. They fell to the ground as the equals sign cutie marks appeared on their flanks. I laughed, "Maybe you two will be the ones coming with me!"

Like other ponies who I take marks from, at first they were a bit disoriented. Despite just barely being able to stand up they began to demand that I return their marks to them or I would face further charges. I kicked some dirt at them and sneered, "You're not getting your marks back until I show you a little something." I grabbed the diamond dagger out of my saddlebag and laughed, "You boys are right, I did steal the golden bowl but I acquired this baby down in Fillydelphia. I'm surprised their pigs aren't looking for me as well."

The white pegasus glared at me and said, "They are searching for the thief but they never thought the thief would come this way." I saw him reach for his radio to call for help which prompted me to zap them both with some energy.

I replied, "You might want to think twice before trying that again." The tan one then reached for his radio. This is something that I could not allow to happen if I am to fulfill my destiny. I jumped on him and began to stab him repeatedly with the dagger until he was dead. The white one jumped on me and tried to take my dagger away but was unsuccessful. I began to stab him repeatedly until he was dead as well. Once they were both dead I let go of their marks, which simply fell to the ground since their owners were deceased.

I put the bloodied dagger back in my saddle bag and before I left, I kicked their lifeless bodies for shits and giggles. Once I knew they were dead, I took off towards the mountains and the caves. After a couple of nervous days of mostly running, I arrived at the caves and headed in.

I lit up my horn and headed towards the back, where the pond and entrance to the hidden chamber was. When I reached the pond, I began to guzzle water like there was no tomorrow. My nerves had calmed down because I figured that nopony would even be able to navigate these caves, much less find me in here. Hell, most ponies don't even know these caves exist.

Finally I headed into the chamber and laid the dagger and bowl on their pedestals and they lit up. Half of the circle is now lit up! Suddenly my eyes start to shine white again and I see the next artifact, the ruby necklace. It is in a dress shop in Ponyville. Ponyville, the place where my lavender coated enemy lives. To make matters worse, I have a feeling that the dress shop the necklace is in belongs to one of the troublemakers that exposed my true self to my villagers back when I was ran out of town.

Well this would give me a chance to get some revenge. I would wait a while to go after this artifact though as I am most likely on Equestria's most wanted list for not only the artifacts I have stolen, but the two cops that I have killed. I will just lay low for a while and when I feel the time is right, I will head towards Ponyville to get that necklace.

Quest for the Ruby Necklace

Six months had passed when I decided I would go out after the ruby necklace. Hopefully by this point I would not be detected so easily. While I did soak my cloak in the water quite a bit, the blood stains were still visible so I would have to be careful. I decided that I would walk to Marentreal and then take the train to Ponyville from there. It was late autumn when I crossed the desert so it was not that uncomfortable of a walk and luckily there were some ponds along the way because of recent heavy rainstorms.

Three days later I arrived in Marentreal and headed to the train station. When I got to the station I saw a wanted poster by the ticket window. It was of me, offering a one million bit award for my capture, dead or alive. While this did bother me, it kind of made me smile realizing that they thought I was worth that much money. When I arrived at the ticket counter the clerk gave me an odd look but didn't say anything. Luckily for me the train was set to depart just five minutes after I bought my ticket. After all, I do not want to stay anywhere for too long, especially in broad daylight.

Six hours later the train arrived in Ponyville, shortly after dark. This is one place that I knew I had to be careful in since my six worst enemies live there. I could just imagine how much joy they would take in capturing me, especially that rat Twilight. Chances are if one of them were to capture me, not only would Tia give them a million bits, she would likely make them a princess as well.

While I waited for it to get dark enough that I could break into the shop where the necklace is located, I spent most of my time hiding in bushes. Yes it was uncomfortable and the branches were scratching my legs but it was worth it. I did not want to get caught, be hauled off to Canterlot and locked up for the rest of my life.

Finally the lights in town were all turned off by 2300 so I headed to this building that looked a bit like a carousel. On it it said, "Carousel Boutique." Given the design of the place I could tell it belonged to a rather snobby pony, perhaps Twilight's friend Rarity. As I headed in, it was completely dark so I lit up my horn like I always do. While I knew what the room looked like that it was in, I had no clue how the place was laid out. Given that it appeared to be in a bedroom, it was most likely upstairs.

I found the stair case and made my way up to the second floor. There were two rooms at the top of the stairs, one I could hear snoring from and the other was silent. I figured that it would likely be the one with snoring coming from it where it was. When I headed in I saw a filly laying in a bed. I accidentally thought out loud, "Damn it Starlight, it must be the other one. I doubt a young filly would have a ruby necklace."

Unfortunately my speaking woke the filly up and she screamed. I pointed my horn at her and yelled, "Silence!"

She quieted down a bit and nervously asked, "Who-who are you?"

I replied, "A friend of your sister's. Do you know where she is?"

She said, "She is over at Twilight's castle." I saw her look at her alarm clock and she continued, "She will probably be home around midnight so if you want you can just wait here."

I replied, "Alright, I will do that."

I heard the little filly begin to giggle, "You know, you should just wait for her in her room. When she gets in there you could jump out at her and scare her."

I replied, "You know, I might just do that!"

The filly yawned, "Alright, I'm going to try to get back to sleep."

I nodded and headed to the other bedroom. I quietly began to go through the jewelry boxes but I wasn't finding anything. This was really frustrating me because in my vision it was in one of these boxes. I began to go through her drawers and then her closet. Just as I was getting ready to start tearing the whole place apart I heard hoofsteps. I thought, "Oh crap, I'm going to get caught."

As I was getting ready to hide in her closet the lights came on. I saw her walk in and she was wearing what I was looking for, the ruby necklace. She was humming some tune that only she would find interesting and as she turned around she let out a shriek when she saw a hooded figure. This woke the filly up and she came running in and asked, "Sis, did your friend find you?"

Rarity looked at her and asked, "Sweetie Belle, who is this in my room?"

Sweetie Belle replied, "Well she said she was a friend of yours so I told her to just wait in your room and scare you when you got home."

Rarity began to yell at her younger sister when I pounced on her. I was wrestling with her on the floor trying to remove the necklace when she kicked me off of her and yelled, "Get out of here or I'm calling the cops!"

I grabbed her in my aura, removed the necklace from her and placed it in my saddle bag. I sternly said, "You might want to think twice about that or it will be more than your pretty necklace I take." She lunged at me and I began to panic. I didn't mean to do this, especially being in Ponyville, but I took her mark from her. She fell to the floor and her sister began to giggle as her mark was replaced with a black equals sign.

She giggled, "Sis, you look so funny with that new cutie mark!"

Rarity tried to get up but all she could do was glare at me as she growled, "Starlight Glimmer, what are you doing here?"

I replied, "Retrieving something that your kind stole from the ponies of the East a long time ago."

I realized that I had best get going so I raced downstairs and on my way out I grabbed a glass jar to put her cutie mark in. I ran off towards the north into the Everfree Forest so that I would not so easily be caught. Once I got a ways into the forest my eyes began to shine a bright white again, revealing the location of the next artifact. The next artifact was the amethyst ring and it was in a gray vault located in the basement of Twilight's castle.

"Oh great," I thought to myself, "just great, the next artifact just had to be located in the absolute worst place possible now didn't it?"

I realized that I had probably find somewhere fairly well protected to hide out until the following night as I knew that there would likely be everypony and his dog searching for me, trying to retrieve Rarity's cutie mark. This might not be such a bad thing though. Maybe if Twilight is out taking part in this search the following night, getting into her castle will be less of a hassle than I thought.

Quest for the Amethyst Ring

I had ran a ways into the forest and realized that I had best do something with Rarity's cutie mark. My aura holding the glass jar I had it in would easily give me away if I were being pursued. I eventually came upon an old castle that lay in ruins. I had always heard rumors about there being an old castle in the Everfree Forest that Celestia and Luna called home but always thought it was just an old pony tale. As I headed in I became very nervous as a chunk of ceiling fell in and landed right in front of me. I realized that perhaps this may not be the safest place to hide out until the following nightfall but it would likely provide me with the most cover.

As dawn arrived I was navigating the corridors of the old castle when I saw an opening in the wall. I was curious as to where it led so I went in. On the other side was a small room with some very old books, most likely the oldest written by ponies of the West. Given how well hidden this place was, I decided that rather than start reading the books, I would simply take a nap given how tired I was. Also, I decided this would be the place where I would hide Rarity's mark. It is secluded and the chances of them ever looking for it here was next to zero. After all, other than Twilight, Rarity was the one who most deserved to remain equalized for the rest of her life.

Finally night had fallen upon the forest and after a good day of rest, I headed back to Ponyville. Whether Twilight was home or not, I had to get that ring, if I didn't, I would not be able to fulfill my destiny. As I was heading towards the edge of the forest I heard ponies talking so I jumped in some bushes. It was Twilight, her friends and some guard ponies saying that they were going to catch me and make me pay for my crimes. I thought to myself, "Don't get too confident Twily!"

Once they were far enough into the forest, I headed into town and right towards her castle. The palace grounds were surprisingly silent and empty. I thought to myself, "Is Twilight really so stupid as to leave her castle unguarded when it is known that a thief is in the area?"

I unlocked the door and headed in. Much to my dismay, there were still a few guards patrolling the inside so I had to be careful. While I knew where the ring was there was one problem, I did not know my way around the place and finding the basement would likely be impossible until I heard some guards talking."

A white pegasus guard asked, "Can you believe what is going on? I wonder if it is the same pony that took Rarity's cutie mark that is responsible for all the other crimes across Equestria over the past year?"

A gray unicorn guard beside him replied, "You know, it very well could be. This pony is obviously very good at covering it's tracks and has some sort of hideout."

The pegasus said, "Probably. I know there probably isn't anything wrong, but I'm going to go check out the basement. Who knows, the thief could have got in here and went there since the outer guards left with Twilight."

The unicorn replied, "Good plan."

I thought to myself, "Excellent! All I have to do is follow him down there without being seen and this shouldn't be too difficult."

As he headed down the stairs to the basement I slowly crept behind him. When I saw him open the door and head in I thought of a perfect plan. I will simply take his mark and cause him to be disoriented for a while. That way I can get that ring, get back upstairs and get the hay out of here!

The basement of that castle was huge. This would not cause me any problems though as I knew exactly where the vault was that the ring was in, it was on the back wall. While he was walking around I was able to sneak back to the vault without being seen. Opening the vault would not be much of a problem because of the kind of lock it had on it. I whispered to myself, "Damn, Twily takes all her outer guards with her, has a basic lock on her castle doors AND has a vault with a basic lock? She is FAR too trusting!"

I entered the vault and right in front of me, on the back shelves was the amethyst ring! I grabbed it and placed it in my saddle bag but would not be amused by what I saw. Right in front of me was the pegasus guard. He shouted, "Freeze!" He grabbed me with his wings and continued, "You are coming with me. You will answer to Princess Twilight for this."

I headed butted him so hard it knocked him to the floor. I began to rush towards the exit and right before I locked him in the vault I laughed, "Wanna bet! I answer to nopony!"

I quickly rushed out of the basement but had to hide behind a corner as a couple unicorn guards were walking by. I had a feeling that getting out of this place would be far harder than getting in was. Once they were out of sight, I headed towards the exit confident that I would be home free. Right as I got to the door it swung open and she was there. Twilight saw me in front of her. I was wearing a cloak so she did not know who I was but she tackled me and yelled, "Who are you and what are you doing in my palace?"

She was able to remove the hood from my head and saw that I was the one she had held down. She yelled, "Starlight Glimmer, I knew that you were sneaking around when I saw Rarity with that equals sign cutie mark." She head butted me and yelled, "Where is Rarity's cutie mark? Tell me and I may just take you up to Celestia rather than do what I really want to do!"

I sneered, "I'm not telling you where that spoiled brat's cutie mark is. Other than you, she is the one out of you who needs equalizing the most!" I gave her an evil grin and laughed, "Oh, and what are you going to do if I don't tell you where her mark is, kill me?, make me listen to one of your idiotic lectures?"

She began to press one of her hooves on my neck and yelled, "Yes, I will kill you if you don't tell me where her mark is!"

I lowered my head and despite her pressing down on my neck, I was able to ram my horn into her chest and throw her off of me using a great amount of magic. This caused her to scream in agony and go flying and I was able to make my escape. Unfortunately, since I had stabbed her with my horn, it was covered in blood and I had some blood stains on my face, but this was irrelevant at the time as I needed to make my escape.

I galloped as fast as I could off into the forest and then began my journey to Marentreal. I know now more than ever that I had better lay low as my list of crimes is increasing. Not only have I broke into six different places, stole six different artifacts and murdered two cops, now attempted murder of a princess is on my list as well. Well once I acquire all the artifacts I need, it will be worth it. I don't know what the transformation the prophecy mentioned is, but I'm sure it will give me enough powers that I won't be able to be captured.

After four days of sneaking under the cover of darkness in the forest, I finally exit and come across the city of Marentreal. I knew I had to be careful because I probably had every law enforcement officer in the country trying to hunt me down. Rather than walk through the city, I stayed to the north of it as I headed out into the desert. Numerous times I saw pegasi circling the skies over me but fortunately for me, I was able to avoid detection by hiding in shallow caves and under rock formations.

Finally after another four days I was able to get back to the mountains and the caves. I felt a sense of relief as I entered their dark and covered protection. When I got back to the chamber in the back I placed the necklace and ring on their pedestals and they lit up. "Only two more to go until I have to search for the ninth!" I thought to myself. While I had six of the first eight, where ever the last two are, I knew that they would be by far the most difficult to get, not because of where they might be located, but because I am most likely the most wanted pony villain in all of Equestria.

Suddenly my eyes began to glow white again and I saw the location of not one, but two artifacts. Both of them are located in the museum in Marentreal, just in opposite wings of the place. Well this would make my life easier as the next two were under the same roof, I would again have to lay low for a while. While this was incredibly frustrating, I knew this is how it would have to be. They aren't just going to give up searching considering the fact that I tried to kill a princess. Chances are I will likely be killed if I was to be caught.

Quest for the Bronze Helmet and the Copper Goblet

Another seven months would pass until I would finally decide it was safe to go out on my mission for the next two artifacts. As I have traversed the desert multiple times, I have figured out which route would be the safest to get to Marentreal. It would not be the most direct route, it would be a route with many cliffs and gullies. Yes this route would add an extra half day but it had caves to sleep in and cliffs to hide my presence. As I headed out I said, "Ok Starlight, you can do this. Once I get these two and the ninth is revealed, I will get it and discover what this transformation thing is all about."

It did not take me long to get to the gullies and cliffs. As I headed towards the west I would look skywards to see if there were any pegasi patrolling the area but much to my delight, none were present. Perhaps since I had not done anything in seven months, they let their guard down. While this made me happy I still did not let my guard down, I knew that one could swoop down behind me at any moment. I really didn't want to have to kill anypony and go back into hiding without finishing this.

After four days I arrived at the edge of Marentreal shortly after dark. I thought to myself, "Excellent! Time to go get those artifacts."

I headed towards the museum and unfortunately for me, the damn thing is in the absolute center of the city, which meant I had to be extra careful. As I navigated the city streets I got strange looks from many, many ponies. I expected this though because it isn't everyday that you see a pony in a blood stained cloak walking down the street.

Around 0000 I arrived at the entrance to the museum and there were very few ponies around, but still too many. I hid in the bushes outside the doors until nopony was present. When I saw this I unlocked the doors and headed in. The hallways were dimly lit and there were security cameras watching my every move. I finally realized that I didn't have to put up with this, I shot a powerful burst of energy at each one, destroying it. Too bad I didn't think about that in my other quests.

I reached the end of the hall, where it met a much longer hallway that ran the opposite directions. There was a sign that pointed in two directions. To the left was the ancient warfare wing and to the right was the ancient Saddle Arabian artifact wing. This was the hallway I was looking for. First I decided to make a left towards the warfare wing. I had to fry several more security cameras on my way towards the artifacts but what surprised me the most was that there were absolutely no guards present, well that I had ran into yet. Maybe it was because Marentreal had yet to have any break-ins.

After what seemed to be forever I finally reached the ancient warfare wing and began to look at the artifacts. While there were many bronze helmets, the ones I looked at first were not the one I was seeking, because in my vision it sat next to a bronze dagger and a bronze skull. After twenty minutes of searching I found the one I wanted. I unlocked the case, grabbed it and put it in my saddle bag. Now there was only one more, the copper goblet.

I was not sure what time it was but given how late it was when I got in here, my time was probably running short so rather than sneaking, I galloped down the hallway that led to the Saddle Arabian wing. When I got there I ran into a security guard. "Oh crap!" I thought to myself.

He pounced on me and began to try to restrain me. He shouted, "Hold still and this will make both our lives easier." He then slammed his hoof on my head and said, "Wait a minute, you're the thief that has been breaking in to so many places stealing artifacts, aren't you?"

I kicked him off of me and grabbed a copper jar that I saw on one of the shelves. I held him in my aura and removed his cutie mark. After securing his mark I laughed, "Now what would give you that idea? I would never do such a thing!"

He angrily yelled, "Not only have you stolen artifacts, you've killed two cops and tried to kill Princess Twilight, didn't you?"

I smacked him and yelled back, "Well no shit, of course I have! I have a destiny to fulfill and nopony, not you, not everypony's precious little Twily nor anypony else is going to stop me."

I smacked him again, knocking him to the floor. Given that he now has an equals sign cutie mark, getting up was not so easy for him. While he was laying there saying he was going to turn me in, I began my search for the copper goblet. It took me a bit because during my search the guard would get back up and grab me but given his weakened state, I was able to easily kick him off of me. Finally after thirty minutes I finally found it. "Jackpot!" I shouted. "Now to get out of here, get back home and I'm home free!"

Before I left he asked me one more question. He asked, "Where is home for you?"

I thought this was one of the dumbest questions I had ever heard. All I would have to do is give a false location and all the cops would go on a wild goose chase. I replied, "Vanhoover. That is where I live."

He said, "Damn you're dumb. All I have to do now is tell the authorities that is where you live and this crime spree of yours will be over."

I replied, "Oh we'll see about that!"

As I headed out and got to the exit, there were a few ponies around but I knew that I could not wait as the morning rush was not too far away. I rushed out of the museum and began my journey back to the caves. Once I reached the desert I again took the path with the caves, gullies and cliffs to provide myself maximum cover. Apparently all the authorities zeroed in on Vanhoover as I did not see one single pegasus patrolling the skies.

Four days later I arrived back at the caves and headed to the hidden chamber where the library and pedestals were. As I placed the final two artifacts on the outer pedestals, the outer part of the circle began to shine brightly. Suddenly I found my eyes shining a bright white and I saw the final artifact, which was not far from here. I was amazed when it was the staff of sameness! That staff did mean quite a bit to me, which the prophecy said the ninth one would.

In my vision it was still in the cave where the cutie mark vault was located. After all this time, it is still in there! This would make acquiring the final artifact a cake walk. With it being so close and with all the authorities being led on a wild goose chase up to northwestern Equestria, I could easily go and get it. I could already feel it, soon this transformation would take place and my destiny will likely be easy to fulfill.

Comments

[StormLuna]

6075844 Thanks! I'm glad you like it! I will admit that sometimes I do go faster than I should on some chapters.

[Nox Knock Jokes]

I did not expect Starlight to become a murderer...I LOVE IT! This story has gotten me quite entertained and I can't wait to see the transformation. Honestly those cops are stupid.

Cop 1: I KNOW WHERE SHE IS!
Cop 2: Really?! Where!?
Cop 1: In Vanhoover!
Cop 2: Wait how would you know?
Cop 1: Well she told me.
Cop 2: Then it has to be true!
Me:

[RDDash]

I wish there were more background on the eastern ponies because the whole destiny thing is kind of really weak motivation to do it. Maybe mage Meadowbrook was just a tyrant. Maybe life back then was just that difficult. Starlight comes of as an entitled brat that wants for Celestia to just hoof over half the country to her. Um, okay.