The Little Pony Legend: The Redeemers

by eric-emanwu

Prologue II: The Start of a Beautiful Friendship

Prologue 2: The Start of a Beautiful Friendship

Twilight’s Castle: 3 days after the defeat of Chrysalis

Starlight Glimmer was pacing back and forth in Twilight Sparkle’s Friendship Castle. She had just learned that she’d been invited along her many friends be awarded for her work in protecting Equestria from Queen Chrysalis in 2 days. She felt nervous, but excited at the same time. In fact, she finally understood what Pinkie Pie meant when Pinkie talked about being ‘nervicited’. But at the same time, something was eating at the back of her mind. Something that made her feel uncomfortable about getting this award.

Finally she made her way to another room in the library. There, she found a shimmering mirror, attached to a machine she didn’t quite recognize. She’d asked Twilight about this mirror a few times, but each time Twilight had giggled and replied, “It’s a secret and a surprise. I’ll let you know soon.” Eventually, Starlight had just assumed Twilight was pulling her leg. After all, what was so special about a mirror?

Now though, Starlight stared deep into the mirror’s depths. “So, you’re the hero of Equestria, huh? But that still doesn’t change that you’re an indentured servant to the airbenders.” Starlight blinked at hearing that from her mouth. “Oh, don’t give me that. They’re your true family now. You’re lucky they threw you in with them rather than in prison.” Then she scrunched her eyes a moment. “I know, but what if Sunburst…” she trailed off a bit at that. “No, he’s happy here. You’re happier than you’ve been in a long time. So why are you still bothered? What is it that’s driving you haybrained?”

She suddenly felt compelled to reach out to touch the mirror. Feel her hoof on the cool glass. But as she leaned forward and moved her hoof to make contact, suddenly her hoof went straight through the glass. Starlight was so startled that instead of pulling back, she couldn’t stop herself and instead toppled forward…into a rainbow vortex. Starlight screamed at the top of her lungs as she was magically carried elsewhere.

---

Starlight groaned as she began to regain her senses. Then she heard a voice talking to her.

“Hey, you’re not anyone I know.”

“Nnngghhh” Starlight grunted. She began to open her eyes, only to see…a human standing in front of her. And yet...

“What the hay?” Starlight suddenly felt herself jump back. Yes, there was definitely a human in front of her, but this was NOT any human she’d seen before. This girl had the bright skin of an anthro pony, but her proportions were all off. Her head was bigger. Her eyes were bigger. And her outfit looked oddly cartoonier compared with the new world the Great Change had created.

“Who are you? Where am I? Why is your head so big?” Starlight’s questions began flowing out before she looked down at her hands…only to see she had human hands now. “Why am I human when I didn’t will myself to be so?” Then she noticed some other very important things about her being a human. First, she could see that she definitely wasn't in her airbender garb she often had on in anthro form. Instead, she was wearing a black vest over a two colored shirt that was green with a purple sections around the ends of her sleeves and collar. She also had black sneakers on with purple laces, but what Starlight found most confusing was that the grey skinny jeans she now had on were full of holes on her upper thighs and lower shins. “What am I wearing right now??!!??" Then Starlight made the most horrifying discovery of all. "AND WHERE’S MY HORN??!!??”

*SLAP*

Starlight was slapped back to sense. The other girl had a deadpan look on her face. “Are you done now?”

Starlight took a deep breath. “Yes. I’m done.”

The other girl then smiled. “Now, first thing’s first. I know you’re actually a pony. And guess what? So am I.”

“I figured that with your bright skin.” Starlight replied quickly.

The other girl gave an odd look at that. “Okay, clearly you don’t know where you are.” Then she gestured to the statue Starlight had been leaning against. “You came through a portal to another dimension. Welcome to Canterlot High. I’m Sunset Shimmer.” Sunset extended a hand to Starlight.

Starlight’s mind was still a bit scrambled, but finally something came to her. Sunset Shimmer? I know I’ve heard that name before, but I can’t quite remember it right now. Then she got her head on and extended a hand back. “Starlight Glimmer, Airbender and Princess Twilight Sparkle’s personal pupil.”

Sunset frowned a bit at this, then suddenly perked up. “Oh! So you’re the student that Twilight told me about recently!” Then she gave Starlight a dirty look. “But seriously, what were you thinking in trying to MIND CONTROL others?!? How did you even do that??”

Starlight felt herself blushing at that. “It was an ancient spell I once found in my studies. One of the forbidden knowledge spells in Canterlot’s secret library. I think I must’ve picked it up while I was also working on my Cutie Mark removal spell.”

Sunset blanched a bit at this. “Cutie Mark...REMOVAL???” Sunset’s mind mind began racing. “But in order to have some kind of spell that could extract that kind of magic would need to carry some essence of Changeling magic, only tuned to a pony’s talents rather than their emotions. You’d need some kind of medium to amplify magic beyond conventional unicorn limits. And then the spell structure would need to remain stable so as to be lasting beyond a short period of time, and the...how did you do this??”

Starlight shrugged. “I made it up. I experimented for a while, and my thirst for revenge on cutie marks gave me all the passion I needed to see it through.” Then she realized what she was saying to a new pony. “Uhh, I got better I swear!”

Sunset laughed at this. “Oh Starlight. We have a lot to talk about.”

Starlight suddenly paused. “Wait, I can’t just hang out with you! I have an award ceremony in a few days! I need to get back to..”

Sunset held up a hand. “I’ll write to Princess Twilight and tell her that I want you for a little bit, and that way we can have all the time we need. Besides, time in this dimension tends to flow a little slower compared with Equestria.”

Starlight could feel her wheels turning unconsciously. “How much slower?”

Sunset paused. “Well, last time we got an accurate measurement, it’s something like 3 weeks here is more like 7 months in Equestria, but the truth is it might be a bit inconsistent. Like that with Equestrian magic introduced into this world, time is speeding up to match between the 2 worlds. It’s hard to say since the Equestria Games were...some time ago, but I forgot to ask how much time passed for Princess Korra.”

“You know Korra?” Starlight put a hand on her head, which she just noticed had a beanie on it. “This is way too much to take in.”

Sunset gently took Starlight by the hand, then began to lead her away. “Come on Starry Eyes. Why don’t we sit down and talk? Less magical law, more our lives.”

Starlight gave a bit of an uncomfortable laugh at that, but allowed herself to be lead away.

---

Next thing Starlight knew, she was sitting at a sweets shop, having an ice tea placed in front of her. Sunset meanwhile had ordered a double fudge sundae.

Sunset was giving Starlight a playful look. “Why so humble with your food choices? You’re my guest here. Live a little!”

Starlight bowed her head at that. “Sorry. It’s just, I’ve been living humbly for the last 6 months, and these new habits aren’t exactly easy to break.”

Sunset gave an awkward scratch on her head. “Oh. Well, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Anypony could live humbly.” Sunset chuckled at the phrasing. “Though if you got to be Princess Twilight’s personal student, that’s quite the honor. Usually when an alicorn takes you on as their pupil, it means they see you as being something above and beyond any normal unicorn.”

Starlight gave Sunset a look. As if she’d only just seen her 2 seconds ago. “How would you know that?”

Sunset gave a gentle smile. “Because I was once Princess Celestia’s personal student.”

Suddenly something in Starlight’s mind clicked. “Wait a minute..Sunset, are you the penpal that Twilight sometimes talks about in casual conversation?”

Sunset smiled. “Yes.”

Starlight gave a small gasp. “Oh hayseed. I just realized...you’re that unicorn who the princesses sometimes mention! The one with the firebending who’s ‘far away’!” Suddenly Starlight’s eyes really lit up. “Oh I am such a big fan of yours! The way you rose like a phoenix to save the worlds! Twilight sometimes alluded to you in her friendship lessons as her ‘2nd success story.’ Proof that ponies can rise up to be far more than their mistakes!”

Sunset waved her hands. “Whoa whoa, slow down there. I’m not some big celebrity.” Then a strange thought arose in her head. “Am I? Is Celestia..”

Starlight tilted her head at the mention of Celestia. “Is she what? What are you talking about?”

Sunset gave little sigh. “Sorry it’s just, my time in Canterlot High is almost over. I don’t know what’s going on in Equestria really. Just what Twilight tells me about. I was wondering if Celestia mentioned me being the Duchess of Forgiveness to the world at all.”

Starlight looked like she was about to fall out of her seat. “A DUCHESS!!???”

Sunset immediately grabbed Starlight’s hands. “Breathe. Breathe Starry Eyes. No need to go full prancing pony on me. I don’t consider it a big deal, and neither should you.”

Starlight took a calming breath from that instruction. “Sorry. Sorry. I just, wow.”

Sunset laughed at that. “I know. I was surprised too. Especially after all the bad I’d done, that day was pure magic.”

“Bad you’d done? Such as...?”

Sunset gave Starlight an incredulous look at that. “What? You mean you sorta knew me but didn’t know what I’d done?”

Starlight now awkwardly scratched her head, before adjusting her beanie hat again. “Well, Twilight only alluded to you. She didn’t go into too much detail. Something about, ‘respecting your privacy’ or something like that.”

Sunset gave a light smile at that. “Well, Starlight Glimmer, the truth is, you’re looking at a former bad pony.”

Starlight gave a small scoff. “No way Sunny. There’s nopony who’s worse than me.”

Sunset smiled. “Well you better believe it. The truth is, I was once a jealous, haughty mare who was Celestia’s pupil, but never understood the value of hard work and friendship. So when I was denied power, I knocked out the guards, took over the student body of the school I was at, stole the element of magic, and transformed into a raging she-demon bent on conquering what I deserved.”

Starlight felt her eyes bug out at that, but then gestured with her hands. “But you’re not a demon now. What happened that stopped you?”

Sunset laughed. “A rainbow blast to the face.”

Starlight had to laugh at that too. “If only they’d done that to me. Perhaps then I wouldn’t have done all the bad things I did.”

Sunset then gave Starlight a look of curiosity. “Yes. I am quite curious to know why you wanted to remove Cutie marks.”

Starlight felt her nerves come back. This pony was way too sharp about her actions. Then she reminded herself, of course she is. If she was Celestia’s student that she obviously had some skill in knowing ponies. But, Starlight had promised herself she was going to live openly from now on, so Starlight began. “I once had a friend. My best and only friend Sunburst. But then he got his Cutie Mark before I did, and he got so busy with his special talent that he seemed to forget about me.”

“Seemed to?” inquired Sunset.

“He actually wanted to stay friends, but different situations kept pulling him away at inopportune times. Eventually I got so mad about him leaving because of his cutie mark, I convinced myself that cutie marks were evil things that only break ponies apart and swore to create a place where they’d never hurt me again.”

Sunset suddenly felt empathy rising up inside her. But she only asked, “And did you?”

Starlight looked Sunset hard in the eyes. “In a way. But in order to do that, I did some...awful things. I lied to other ponies about losing my own cutie mark while trying to find a place to where I could give everypony I came across the same equal mark to show that being equal and the same is the only way to be friends with anyone.”

Sunset wanted to raise her voice in protest to this, but then remembered what happened during the music showcase, and grimaced. “Even though that’s wrong, I think I can see how you could come to that conclusion.” Taking another bite of her sundae she commented, “I mean, I love my friends to death, but I could just as easily run out of fingers before I run out of times they got into fights over their differences. Anyways, how long did this go on?”

“Years! I first got inspired for the idea when I found an Equalist poster during my wanderings. That would have been around...2 years ago. Then when I found a remote pony village in Equestria, I put all my research, all my anger and all my experiments into action, creating my own cutie markless village. And I was the secret master through my stealing talents of all who came.”

“And then?”

“And then Team Avatar Harmony happened.” Starlight gave a rueful smile. “They have this magical map..”

“Which I know about,” Sunset quickly said.

Starlight gave a slight glare of annoyance to Sunset, but kept going. “They used this Cutie Map which lead them all to my village as a friendship problem. And while I managed to steal all their marks and talents at first, they used some tricks and water to expose me for the liar I was. Not only about still having my own mark, but also for knowing about my inspiration Amon.”

“So...they captured you?”

Starlight gave an uneasy chuckle at that. “No. I escaped. Before I could though, Princess Twilight put a suppression spell on my magic, ensuring I could never steal another cutie mark again. Although...it did keep me from using any magic for over a month too.”

Sunset gave a little chuckle at that. “That doesn’t sound too awful.”

Starlight gave Sunset an incensed look. “It was tartarus! Do you realize how awful that feels? To have a part of you suddenly cut off? To feel powerless again? To know for all your efforts you have nothing to show for all your hard work?? To know you have no magic at all despite your previous unbelievable strengths?”

Sunset then gave Starlight another deadpan look. “Yeah. How do you think I adapted to living here?”

Starlight paused on hearing that, then slowly began to hyperventilate as Sunset’s words suddenly took on a terrible new dimension to her. Realizing what was happening, Sunset quickly grabbed Starlight’s vest she was wearing and looked her in the eyes.

“NO Starry Eyes! You are NOT going to pass out on me! I get enough of that from Rarity. Deep breaths. You’re okay. Magic isn’t everything, and you can survive without it here.”

That tone. That no nonsense tone she occasionally heard from Korra on her bad days eventually snapped Starlight out of her fear. Though it did take a few extra breaths before she could calm down. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just....”

“It’s alright. You should’ve seen me the first week I was here.” Sunset chuckled at that. “I was pounding at the Statue begging to go back once I realized I couldn’t use magic like before. But anyways, what happened afterwards?”

“Well, I spent weeks working odd jobs, just trying to stay on my hooves. But then I got my big break when I managed to make my way back to Canterlot. Turns out some pony managed to come up with a solution to magical suppression spells, so got my magic unblocked. Of course, I somehow managed to catch a glimpse of Twilight and her friends around the same time, so I tailed them for a bit while they were in Canterlot, trying to figure out the best way to get my hooves on them for the humiliation I suffered at their hands.” Starlight paused for a second. “Though for the life of me I don’t know how they didn’t recognize me when I only had a menu covering my face.”

Sunset shrugged, with a bit of ice cream on her chin. “You weren’t the focus.”

“In thinking about how I was going to revenge myself on Twilight, I also spied on them while they were talking to Discord, but ultimately I got the inspiration I needed when I went to one of her and Korra’s lectures on Cutie Marks, and that’s when it hit me. To get my revenge on the elements, I’d just stop them from getting their cutie marks altogether.”

Sunset gave Starlight a deadpan look. “And just how were you going to do that?”

“I’d travel back in time and stop the Sonic Rainboom from happening.”

And it was on that day that Starlight Glimmer learned that people can even do spit takes with ice cream.

Author's Note:

This chapter I ended up splitting as well, in part because I ended up loving the ending comedy beat way too much.

One thing I did have trouble with was trying to keep myself from re-summarizing Sunset's story too much since we just had a chapter for that before. I hope I did an okay job with it.

Also, one thing I always wondered about the mirror world is how the magic picks out new clothes for you. What's up with all that anyways, especially since ponies tend to enter it naked.

Next up: More life stories, some foreshadowing, and an offer.

Comments

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

XD, that ending!

[EquestrianKirin]

8441205
couldn't agree more XD