The Path Stretches...

Tired. That's all Starlight felt as she traveled the unending path to Equestria's Capital, Canterlot. She was beaten, battered and bruised. Entering those mountain caves was one of the worst mistakes of her life. She still could hear the pondering of footsteps behind her as she fled through the darkness. Still, it was a better fate than surrendering herself to Twilight Sparkle and her friends. She caused all this, this pain. If it weren't for her, Starlight's little community would be perfect, like it should be. She got a good look at some citizens after getting their wretched cutie marks back. Who were they? Starlight racked her brain in search of memory. Ah, of course, Double Diamond, Sugar Belle, Party Favor and Night Glider. Some of her most trusted members, now brainwashed into being different. Didn't they see the superiority of the pony that brought this? An alicorn. A princess. Starlight couldn't say she wasn't shocked by the arrival of one in her little village. That was one of the times she had felt true fear, after all, how could she equalize an alicorn? Though a part of her was excited about the challenge she would have. This would have revolutionized everything! If Twilight Sparkle had become of them, Starlight could get to the next step of her plan. Obviously, having an alicorn living in the village would disrupt the flow of everything. If only she could remove the alicorn part of her. Clearly, Twilight previously used to be a unicorn, that much Starlight knew. Magic was her cutie mark. Starlight truly wished she could've studied the princess a bit more before everything went to Tartarus, but now she couldn't give it another thought. The more she reflected on it, Twilight did not deserve the wonders of equality that Starlight had to offer. After all-

"Ow!" Starlight cursed herself for being such a clumsy fool. She had just tripped on a particularly large stone, now paying the price for sinking too deep in her thoughts.

She glared at the open wound as it was the source of her suffering. It was fine, if this cut delayed the inevitable. Starlight will get her revenge, no matter the cost.

The wounded pony stared at Celestia's sinking sun now losing the sky to Luna's rising moon. It was fine, she didn't need to sleep. Sleeping would get her nowhere, only causing doubts. As she taught herself growing up; you can't have a nightmare, if you never dream.

As she carried on, Starlight spotted a nearby train station. She could just take the Pony Express, however it might cause too much attention. I'm sure I'm a wanted pony by now, ⁣/i] Starlight thought bitterly. That princess probably told every pony in sight an overdramatic story of how she was forced to be the same as every pony else. How pitiful. I'm sure it was horrible to be at the same levels as common ponies.

As powerful as her magic may be, she probably wouldn't be able to fend off an entire army of ponies and guards. Starlight would be drawing to attention to herself. No, she had to stay low for a while. She glanced at her new piece of clothing she was able to snatch from an unsuspecting wanderer at the start of her journey. A cloak with a hood attached. At first, she wanted the cloak for temperature reasons, as the nights here were quite chilly. The hood was just a bonus.

A surge of cold breeze ensnared the lilac unicorn. Starlight shivered and used her magic to pull the hood up tighter. Night was approaching quickly. She sighed as she looked at Canterlot in the distance. She felt like she hadn't walked at all. It was still a good week away, if Starlight was being generous. At first, she wondered if she could teleport there, except realizing that motion sickness as a thing. Teleporting without proper precision was extremely dangerous, and the huge distance only added to that. Maybe she should have tried, after all, what does she truly have to lose?

Starlight paused her trotting and lowered her horn. She took a deep breath and concentrated on the simple spell, hoping she had enough energy for that. As the spell charged, she gazed at the distance looking for something, anything. That's when she saw it. Light. It was a good ten minutes away, but she was confident. Starlight sharped her gaze, looking only at the light. Then, she vanished.

Whenever she teleported, Starlight always felt like she was falling through the sky, but never hitting the ground. She saw only darkness for a moment, then it faded for her to see a house. As she felt reality catch up to her, she suddenly felt very ill. The world started to spin around her. This never happened when teleporting before.

Well, I guess I'm paying the price for using magic when I shouldn't be, Starlight thought as she collapsed on the hard ground and fell into darkness.

…

"Will she be alright?"

"I'm not sure…this pony sure hasn't eaten a lot these past days."

"Can you go prepare something?"

Starlight groaned as bright light filled her eyes. Where was she?

"Oh good, you'e awake!" Starlight's eyes landed on a yellow coated mare in front of her.

"What happened?" Starlight inquired. She looked around at her surroundings. It seemed as though she was in a bedroom yet less personalized.

The unknown mare's amber eyes meet hers. "I was out picking flowers when I found you," she explained.

Starlight snorted. "Flowers, at this time?" she questioned suspiciously. She wasn't liking this, not at all.

The mare fiddled with her orange colored mane. "Well…you know what, never mind," she replied, looking everywhere except Starlight.

Starlight just rolled her eyes. "Alright, well thanks for the hospitality," she said, starting to climb out of the bed she was rested on, "but I really have to get going."

The mare's eyes widened. "Wait!" she cried, blocking the exit. "Can't you at least stay for the meal that's being prepared for you?"

Starlight's stomach wanted to give in to that question, however she forced its opinion away. The longer she stays here, the more danger she's in to be recognized. But then again, it is free food, and she hasn't in a good while so...

Ugh! Fine!

"Alright," she sighed, agreeing to this desperate pony's proposition. "This pony could use a good meal."

Author's Note:

Alright so to be clear this will be taking place before the whole finale. It's basically just an alternate universe for a different plot that could've been used. There will be more chapters to this.

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