Prodigy. Cultist. Student. Starlight has been known by many things in her short lifetime but how did it all come to be? Now she tells her story.
Prodigy. Cultist. Student. Starlight has been known by many things in her short lifetime but how did it all come to be? Now she tells her story. A story of how a fractured friendship drove her to her conquest of ridding cutie marks for good and bringing in an age of equality, and how six ponies destroyed everything she worked for but in the end gave her a second chance at redemption.
“You know, I think I’m finally getting the hang of this place,” Starlight thought as she walked down the large hallway. For many weeks, this castle had proved a challenge to the young unicorn. It didn’t help that every room looked almost the same and at the beginning Starlight could’ve sworn the castle itself was playing tricks on her. But after much traveling and memorization (and marking down locations), she finally had a grasp of where everything was.
Luckily, the door to the library was left open, which prevented Starlight from having to count out each door separately. Twilight had called for her this evening, which in a castle as large as hers it wasn’t hard for everything to echo, and Starlight immediately made her way over. She saw her former teacher studying something at her desk inside and knocked on the door gently. “You needed to see me?”
Twilight quickly turned in her chair and grinned at Starlight. “Oh good, you’re here! I hope you’re not too busy because I wanted to ask you something.”
“Sure, what’s up?” Starlight asked.
“Well, all this time you’ve been here I’ve gotten to know so much about you…but then I realized I don’t know a whole lot about you.”
“Uh…come again?”
“What I mean is I don’t know a whole lot about your background,” Twilight said as she got up and walked over to her. “I mean, aside from the cult, what happened with Sunburst, and…well the whole time-traveling thing…”
“Oh.” Starlight’s ears drooped slightly. “Honestly it’s…not something I’m really proud of. I spent almost half my life dedicated to an ideal that was…well, something I thought was good for society but in reality it really wasn’t.”
“I know…but its something I’d be interested in listening to,” Twilight smiled. “Of course, if you’re not comfortable talking about it, you don’t have to.”
Suddenly, the two heard footsteps behind them. “Well Twilight, I think I went through every file I could in the archives but I couldn’t find anything on Starlight’s origin or-” He stopped as soon as he came into the room and stared at the two rooms. “Oh hi Starlight!”
Starlight gave the alicorn a look. “Looking up on me huh…?”
“Ahehe…” Twilight grinned sheepishly. “To be fair, I didn’t want to ask you about anything traumatic and make you feel like you had to tell it…”
“But you already asked.”
“I did…”
Starlight sighed. “Well, it’s definitely a long story so…” She magically floated to one of the chairs. “You might as well pop a seat as well.”
“How long is ‘long’?” Twilight asked.
“Hey, I want to hear this too,” Spike said. “But you have to promise that if it takes awhile you’ll let me sleep in tomorrow.”
Twilight rolled her eyes slightly. “Fine Spike, you can sleep in tomorrow if Starlight’s story takes more than four hours.”
“You know, I could just condense it down-”
“Nope! I want the full uncut version!” Twilight insisted.
“O…kay,” Starlight replied. She then took a deep breath. “Well, it all began on that day…”
Starlight wasn’t exactly sure what just happened. One moment she was playing jenga with her best friend Sunburst, the next thing she knew was that he was being carried off by friends and family and Starlight was left behind with wooden pieces all over the floor. Of course she was happy for her friend; getting one’s cutie mark was a rite of passage of sorts. It all but determined the kind of career you were going to have.
Starlight was certain Sunburst would return the next day after the celebration had died down. Knowing him, he’d be going off a mile a minute about the things he could do. He wouldn’t rub it in though, at least not intentionally. However, Sunburst never came by the next day, or the day after that.
Finally, after almost a week, Starlight was more than worried and finally asked her parents about Sunburst. That was when they broke the news: Sunburst had been sent off to Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Starlight could only stare at her parents for a few moments before she ran up to her room, the tears forming in her eyes.
She sobbed for almost an hour into her pillow. Her friend was gone, the only friend she had and he wouldn’t be coming back any time soon. Her sadness then turned to anger. How could he not have written to her, telling her where he was? Was he that busy all of a sudden to spare time to write a bit of parchment, or did he just not care anymore? Starlight looked at her blank flank as her mood continued to sour. “If Sunburst hadn’t gotten his stupid cutie mark, we would still be together,” she thought.
Over time, Starlight eventually did get her cutie mark, although she wasn’t nearly as excited as her parents were. They told her now she’d be going to the same school as Sunburst so she’d be able to see him again. Their words apparently fell on deaf ears as it did nothing to improve Starlight’s mood.
Her cutie mark represented what appeared to be a falling star. What did that mean? That she was meant for failure? Starlight was bright for her age, there was no doubt about it, and already she was starting to see the downside of cutie marks. A stupid stamp on your flank determined your life.
Hypothetically, a young colt gets a cutie mark of an airship. That would mean he would be involved with airships, whether piloting them, fixing them, or maybe serving drinks. But what if he originally wanted to be involved with science or potions? What if he went against the norm? What would happen?
“Wow, you really put a lot of thought into this at an early age,” Twilight commented.
“Well I wasn’t wrong,” Starlight pointed out. “Even you have to admit it’s a bit unfair.”
“Hmm, I suppose in a way you’re right,” Twilight sighed slightly.
Starlight had her bags packed and she soon started school in Canterlot. Like most foals her age, it was a lot to take in. While many friendships began to form between the students, Starlight was slightly more hesitant. She wasn’t sure if she would bump into Sunburst and if she did, she wasn’t sure what to say to him.
Classes weren’t all about magic of course. While magic to a unicorn was like wings to a pegasus, there were also classes on potion making, care for magical creatures (and what to do when you met the not-so-friendly ones), and of course defense against the dark arts. The teacher for that class was as unpleasant as the class itself.
With a black mane that looked almost greasy, the teacher spoke in almost a monotone but at the same time one could tell he was knowledgeable and passionate about the spells they learned. His name was Professor Flintheart.
“Oh no, I know exactly where this is going,” Spike said.
“…Spike, do you want me to tell the story or not?” Starlight glared at him.
“Sorry, carry on.”
In the months that passed, Starlight performed rather well in most of her classes, although her scores were slightly higher in Flintheart’s class and it didn’t go unnoticed. As time went on, he would keep an eye on her as he was lecturing and would often call upon her to answer a question, which she answered straight away, causing him to smirk in response.
Despite being a large school, the staff was limited which meant students pretty much had the same teachers throughout their school career. That wasn’t an issue for Starlight of course, as she found herself bonding with Professor Flintheart. He was now actually praising her in front of class, which only made Starlight’s heart swell with pride. Little did she know that he would be the one who would put her on her future path.
“You wanted to see me professor?” Starlight asked as she came into Flintheart’s office. It had been about four years since she first came to the school and she had come a long way. Her magic skills were among the best in the school, although she knew she wasn’t right on the top. Sunburst was probably at the top, even though she still hadn’t had the opportunity to bump into him, despite all this time. And there was another mare who was very skilled but Starlight forgot her name. She probably wasn’t that important anyway.
“Glimmer.” Flintheart nodded and Starlight closed the door behind her and took a seat. “As long and memorable as this journey for you has been, it seems to be coming to an end.”
“An end?” Starlight asked.
“You’ve learned a lot and I dare say that you’re perhaps the best student I’ve ever had,” Flintheart smirked. “But unfortunately, there isn’t much more that I can teach you.”
“But sir, I still have two more years,” Starlight replied. “I haven’t even gotten into the advanced spells yet.”
“Trust me Starlight, to everypony else it may be ‘advanced’ but to you it’s mere foal’s play,” Flintheart said. “However, despite what I just said, there are…other spells that one can learn, spells that unfortunately I’m not allowed to teach in class.”
Starlight suddenly looked interested. “What kind of spells?”
“Spells that some consider…immoral,” Flintheart said. “You’ve heard me talk about the spells that you have to fight against…but what if you actually had to use them?”
Starlight hesitated. “Sir…are you asking me about…private lessons?”
“If you’re interested,” Flintheart said with a wave of his hoof. “I wouldn’t judge you any differently if you said no. You definitely have a future ahead of you and I’d be very surprised if Celestia herself didn’t consider taking you on as a student.”
That was a very big deal. Starlight smiled. “I would say I’m definitely interested.”
“That’s what I thought. If I may ask a personal question…I noticed throughout the school years you haven’t made nor attempted to make a friend here. I’m slightly curious why.”
Starlight looked down towards the floor. “Honestly, I’m not sure why. I had a friend once but…circumstances happened and I guess that was the end of it.” She then met his gaze once again. “Besides, I’ve been focusing more on my schoolwork anyway.”
“I see. That will be all then. We shall meet here on Friday after school. Understood?”
The next few months that passed were among the toughest Starlight had ever faced. These private lessons took place in the basement area of the school, which only contained archives upon archives of documents as well as some books that had been left behind by faculty members supposedly. With any student, advanced magic had a large learning curve but with Starlight some spells came naturally, others not so much.
Levitation was the simplest of spells, usually the first thing a unicorn foal learns, mostly on their own. It was one thing to manipulate another object, but it was quite another to make one’s self levitate. “If it were so simple,” Flintheart had said, “Unicorns would be flying all over Equestria.”
Needless to say, it was much more difficult than it sounded. Time and time again Starlight tried, but she wasn’t able to lift herself up, not even a centimeter. “It’s not working,” she panted slightly.
Flintheart didn’t offer any sympathy, but then again he never did, even to his best students. “You have to clear your mind as well as your body. Make yourself feel as light as a feather. If you can’t accomplish that, then you have no chance of mastering this spell.”
Starlight gritted her teeth in frustration and tried again as her magical aura surrounded her body. She then took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It took a moment and finally Starlight could feel her hooves lift off the ground, but it was only for the shortest amount of time and she then dropped back onto the ground. She then snorted angrily, her temper starting to get the best of her.
Flintheart sighed slightly. “Pitiful. To have come this far and be thwarted by a levitation spell. I suppose it can’t be helped since only so few unicorns can even master these kind of spells-”
“I’m not weak!” Starlight almost shouted.
“Then prove it!” Flintheart snapped. “Let go of your emotions! Bottling them up inside you won’t do you any good!”
“My emotions…” Starlight thought. Lately all she could feel was sadness and anger, sadness because she was alone, anger because she felt as if she had been abandoned, as if Sunburst felt she was no one special anymore. The anger inside her started to flow through her body and again she took a breath as she tried the spell once again.
This time, she felt a rush of energy that hadn’t been there before and again she felt her feet lift off the ground. However, this time she didn’t fall back onto the earth and instead she slowly felt herself go higher and higher. She looked down and grinned like a little schoolfilly. “I did it!”
Flintheart nodded slightly. “As I suspected. The power you contain fluctuates with your emotions. The stronger the emotion, the stronger you become. It’s not a common trait in unicorns surprisingly, but in your case it could mean the difference between life and death in a dangerous situation.”
Starlight finally touched ground again and bowed her head slightly. “And I have you to thank for, Professor. I guess even your best students need words of wisdom every now and then.”
Flintheart smiled slightly. “I think that will be all for tonight Glimmer. Remember my words carefully and I will see you here next week.”
Starlight’s private lessons also gave her an advantage in the classroom. She excelled where others struggled and many of her teachers were surprised, all except Flintheart of course who treated Starlight as a regular student. Finally, the end of the term was here and with it came the end of her private lessons.
“I can officially and unofficially declare that I’ve taught you everything I know,” Flintheart said to her that final night. “You’ve clearly outdone even the best of my students before and that is a compliment I don’t make often. Wherever you go from here, I have no doubt you will be successful.”
“Thank you sir,” Starlight said. “It’s…unfortunate though that I wasn’t chosen for the entrance exam to possibly become one of Princess Celestia’s students.”
Flintheart smirked. “My dear, you don’t need a princess to tell you how exceptional you are. Although I do admit, her choice for apprentice was…surprising. But enough of that. What will you do now?”
“I’m…not sure exactly,” Starlight said. “I mean, I’ve thought about it but I don’t want to spend my life in a school or library or anything that would have me contained. I think I would want to see what’s out there, and maybe then find something I belong to.”
“An interesting choice. You no doubt want to continue to learn.”
“Yes…but there’s something I’m curious about,” Starlight said. “Professor, how familiar are you with Eastern Unicorn magic?”
She could’ve sworn she saw her teacher’s eyes widen slightly, which was a rare sight to see. “I see somepony has been reading from the restricted section.”
“Is…is it really that bad?” Starlight asked innocently.
“It depends on who you ask,” Flintheart replied. “Unicorns from the east have different philosophies and different…practices of magic so to say. Some are innocent, like those that ward off disease or evil spirits. Others…have a slight darker image. Like…removing cutie marks.”
Starlight’s eyes widened. “Removing…cutie marks?” Unconsciously, she looked down towards her flank. She hadn’t heard about that particular spell in her readings and while the thought terrified her she was also…intrigued.
“Oh yes,” Flintheart nodded. “A fate worse than death some would say, although others would possibly consider it a freedom.”
This was a lot to take in, even for Starlight. “Are you…familiar with the spell Professor?”
“No,” Flintheart shook his head. “It’s not a well known spell, more of a myth more like. If you really wanted to find out about it, it would make sense to go to the place of origin, and that’s on a completely different continent.” He then smiled. “I know that look Starlight. Your curiosity is getting the better of you.”
“I…um…” Starlight looked down. “East you say…so Neighpon? Saddle Arabia?”
“Again, I do not know,” Flintheart said. “But even to an exceptional student such as yourself Starlight, this is way out of your league. Spells and artifacts such as these are hidden away for good reason.”
“No, I understand,” Starlight said, looking disappointed. “Maybe one day when I’m out exploring the world I’ll look into it but for now maybe I should focus here instead.”
Flintheart smiled with a hint of amusement on his face. “Whatever the case Starlight, I foresee big things in your future.”
Later on that night, Starlight was in her room trying to sleep but much was on her mind. What was she going to do? Magic could only get her so far and unfortunately since she wasn’t the lucky one to be picked by Princess Celestia herself and didn’t have to worry about room and board, she’d have to find a career for herself somewhere.
“Maybe being a teacher isn’t so bad,” she thought. After all, she did learn a lot from Professor Flintheart and it would be a waste not to teach what she had learned. If anyone was up to it, of course.
But then her thoughts turned to their last conversation. A spell that could remove cutie marks. Flintheart did have a point, the spell does sound like it belongs in the “dark” category. However…such a spell would be useful against say, an evil wizard. Then again, if it fell into the wrong hooves that would spell disaster for all Equestria.
“Imagine if I had that kind of power…” Starlight thought. “I could easily surpass any unicorn in Canterlot, or even Equestria for that matter.” She still didn’t quite understand what her cutie mark represented; as with all cutie marks, their meanings could easily be misinterpreted.
She then quickly got out of bed. Her mind was now made up. The choice she was about to make wasn’t an easy one, and no doubt she was putting herself in a lot of danger, but now it felt like destiny. She quickly packed what she could into her little bag and brought out a large bag of bits, her “savings” that she had kept for times like these. She also packed a large canteen as well as some food, mostly things that were non-perishable.
She opened her window and was about to go out but stopped. She looked back into her room as guilt started to fill her heart. She was running away, that was how everyone would perceive it. No, she had to make her motives clear, at least to her parents. She quickly got some parchment and a quill and ink and began writing.
Mom and Dad,
I know by the time you read this you’ll most likely be in a panic but I want to assure you that I’m fine and I’m neither running away nor have been kidnapped. There’s something I need to do, and that involves me going overseas. I know you’re worried, but you both and I know just how capable I am as a unicorn. You also know how stubborn I can be when I have a goal set in mind.
That goal I’m not entirely sure yet, but I know I want to do good in this world. You may not hear from me for quite awhile but I will try to write every now and then. I want you both to know I truly appreciate what you’ve done for me and I promise those fruits of labor won’t go to waste. I know I’m capable of great things and I’ll prove it. Again, please don’t go looking for me, I know what I’m doing, even if you disagree. I’ll write to you soon.
Love,
Starlight
Once she was finished writing, she sighed slightly as she took one last look around her room. To be honest, she wasn’t sure when she would be coming back, hence why she made no promises that she would be home soon. Hopefully her parents would understand. Starlight then took a deep breath and went out the window. “It’s too bad I’m going to be missing the Summer Sun Festival…”
Fortunately, she was old enough now that she wouldn’t have to worry about getting a train ticket and they ran all the way through the night. Luckily, not many ponies were up at this time of night which meant fewer ponies noticing her. She had done some research earlier and figured the best route to get to Saddle Arabia was to go from Manehattan which had many ships coming to and fro. Of course, she could probably also take a Zeppelin but they were known to be expensive. She’d have to do more finding out once she got there.
Starlight went up to the ticket counter. “One ticket to Manehattan please.” The ticket pony looked half asleep as he punched her ticket after being paid. Luckily, she didn’t have to wait long before her train arrived and she quickly got on.
For a moment, as she looked outside the window next to her seat, she was slightly worried her parents would come running up to the station, screaming her name. Thankfully, that didn’t happen as the train started to depart. The mare on the PA system announced that the trip to Manehattan would take about a half hour and reminded all passengers to have their tickets ready.
Once the large stallion came around and collected her ticket, Starlight relaxed in the rather cozy seat and felt herself starting to drift off a bit, despite her excitement. She was really doing this and there was no backing down now. Of course, her cynical side was practically screaming at her that this was a terrible idea. Starlight allowed herself to doze off for that half hour. The upcoming day was going to be a long one.
She had seen plenty of pictures of Manehattan during the day but during the night it was a completely different experience. The city was lit up like a Hearth’s Warming Tree as carriages, taxis, and trolleys went to and from the city, causing a never-ending sea of lights. She managed to catch a glimpse of the center of the city, Times Square, which had large advertisements of such things like perfume and soda. Starlight took all of this in and part of her was disappointed she wouldn’t be staying in this city very long. But if things work out, maybe she’d come back for a visit.
As the train finally stopped and Starlight departed, the air was quite different here than it was in Canterlot. She felt as if she was going to learn a lot about her world on her new journey. However, it was probably fortunate that she left when she did, for it was this upcoming night that Nightmare Moon would return and descend upon Canterlot once again.
