Starlight glimmer, travels all around equestria to save it from it's horrible fate.
(story has been cancelled, but if i ever feel like it i might finish it) Equestria, a land once filled with life and joy, is now in ruin, and all because of the curse of the undead. first it lead to panic, then to anarchy, and then to insanity. most ponies were lost to the curse and became hollow.
this is a story about starlight glimmer, who is an undead, and her quest to try and save Equestria.
The dark sign. A curse. a brand on the skin of every undead.
The undead. Poor souls that are brought back to life after death, but in exchange, they slowly lose sanity and intelligence, and their skin starts rotting away. they'll start to crave souls. killing other undead, killing the living, and other creatures. This is called hollowing. Every time they die, the more they spiral into insanity. Once they go completely hollow, there's no going back. However, there is a way to reverse the hollowing before an undead goes past the point of no return. Effigies. They return an undead back into their normal state. not much is known about them.
Long ago, Equestria was full of life, love, and friendship. After a while, something happened that changed Equestria for the worst. The princess of the sun, Celestia, started to refuse to lift up the sun and bring the day. . After countless days of having no sun. That was when the Curse of the undead started to appear. The in inhabitants of Equestria were outraged. When Celestia came out to speak to the public, she blamed her sister, Luna, and sent her to the moon.
Celestia ignored the curse, pretending like it never existed in the first place. Once her sister was out of the way, she once again raised the sun. But when she raised it the light emitting from it was weak. A dark orange colour covered most of Equestria. After that Celestia vanished, and no one knows why she did all this, and unless celestia returns, no one ever will.
After that, many years of war followed. the dragons fought against the ponies. The dragons blamed the ponies for the damage done to the sun, and for bringing about the curse. There was also in-fighting with the ponies. which cause more problems, more ponies died, more ponies went hollow. In the end, the dragons won. There was just no saving Equestria at this point.
But, there is a legend of an undead that would stand up and change the land of Equestria, forever.
Starlight Glimmer woke up next to a bonfire. She doesn't remember what happened. She assumed that she died. Her body looked like it was rotting away. and she was giving off a god awful smell. She got up and looked through her saddle bag. she took out an Effigy and used it. "There. Good as new." She thought to herself.
Starlight observed her surroundings. the floor was damp. mold was all over the walls. Starlight kept her distance from them. She was probably underground. The sound of monsters stomping above them proved that. A fog wall was at the end of this long underground corridor. it was barely visible, even with the bonfire, it was incredibly dark.
Starlight was about to get up, but then she saw somepony sitting on the opposite side of the bonfire. A pony with Yellow fur and a pink main. Her face, hidden with her hood. Only her glowing blue eyes could be seen. Starlight didn't feel threatened though.
Suddenly, the hooded pony spoke up. "Fellow undead," Her voice was soft and calming, which surprised Starlight. the mysterious pony took off her hood. "It is not wise to enter these parts without being equipped with the proper equipment. in fact you had nothing but that bag. no amour, no Estus, nothing. what were you thinking?"
Starlight took a while to respond. She hadn't talked in ages. She couldn't even remember what she sounded like. "W-Well, y-you see, usually, dying isn't a problem." She spoke quietly. Her throat was dry. "I just get my supplies and then run back to my hideout... also, where am I?"
The hooded pony laughed. "You are in the Ponyville sanctuary. Here, Take this. I have have enough of these things to spare one for you" She threw an Estus flask over to Starlight.
Starlight caught it. She got up. "I've got to get going. Thank you." She walked away towards the fog wall. The warmth of the bonfire was fading.
"Find a weapon, Starlight. Your magic can only take you so far. Equestria isn't what it used to be. Magic has been getting weaker recently."
Starlight turned around. "How do you know my-" The sentence was left unfinished. The hooded pony was no longer at the bonfire. She had disappeared. Starlight shuddered, cleared her mind and walked over to the fog wall.and hesitantly walked through it... Only to be met face to face with a Chimera.
The Chimera was terrifying to Starlight. It was an amalgamation. the head and front legs of a Saber-toothed tiger, The head and hind legs of a goat, and a snake for a tail. It noticed Starlight, and the tiger head Roared, and the Chimera leapt over to starlight and swiped at her.
Starlight tried to get out of the way but she was to slow. She was sent flying into a wall. It hurt like hell, but she pushed through the pain and got up as fast as she could and ran to the other side of the room. It was a very spacious room. In one corner there was a short sword. Starlight knew what to do. she sent a bolt of magic into the Chimera. The creature staggered. This gave Starlight enough time to run over and get the sword. she held the hilt in her mouth.
Though Starlight was a unicorn, using her magic to pick up items was impossible. The curse of the undead drained almost all magic from Equestria. the only beings that were able to keep all their magic were alicorns. The alicorns godlike powers are seemingly the only things immune to the curses effects. Even living unicorns that use magic have trouble with it. Only the very small amount of undead unicorns can use magic properly, and Starlight was not a part of that small amount.
Starlight had to think fast. What she lacked in magical ability, she made up for with her strategic intelligence. As the Chimera regained concentration , starlight backed herself up against a wall and prepared herself.
The Chimera once again charged in the direction of Starlight, and was about to ram directly into her, but She jumped out of the way, and the goat head got stuck in the wall. This was Starlight's chance.she slashed at the snake tail. it fell off and turned into dust. she slashed away at the body. soon enough, the Goat head was free.
Starlight was shocked at how fast the thing got out of that trap. She backed off. but at this point, Starlight knew it was close to death. It was limping towards her. this time it was her turn to run towards the Chimera. She jumped and stabbed straight down into the tiger head. Blood splattered everywhere as the creature collapsed. Starlight pulled her sword out of the head and the Chimera was no more. it turned to ash, just like the snake. Starlight caught her breath. She couldn't believe she just defeated a Chimera All by herself. She noticed it dropped something. She picked it up. It was a key. She put it in her saddle bag and walked slowly out of the room and up a staircase.
The hooded pony was waiting for her at the top of the staircase. "I see you have passed my test." Her voice was as calm as it was before. "Then it seems you are the one who is destined to save Equestria..."
Starlight didn't respond. She was at a loss for words.
"My name is Fluttershy. I've been waiting for someone like-" she was cut off.
"Wait, you're that Fluttershy?!" Starlight exclaimed.
"Yes, the one and only. the element of.... kindness..." Fluttershy looked up. "The elements... I'm the only one left... as far as I know." She coughed. "where was I? Oh yes. I've been waiting for someone like you to show up. And now you've proven to me that you are Who I'm looking for." She turned to Starlight and took off her hood. "That key you got From the Chimera. It grants you access to the castle of the two sister, which is located in the Everfree forest... That will be your next destination"
Starlight gulped. "you want me to go to the Everfree forest? what makes you think I'll do that?"
Fluttershy laughed. "Starlight, I don't think you are going to go into the Everfree forest, I know you will. This is your purpose. and us undead need a purpose in life to keep us sane. your words are denying it, but your heart will make you follow your destiny, whether you think you want to or not."
Starlight sighed. She knew Fluttershy was right. "okay, fine! I'll go."
"Looks my job is done" Fluttershy put back on her hood. "We will meet again, Starlight. I look forward to it. just ahead is the exit, I wish you the best of luck... you have blood in your mane by the way." and then she vanished into thin air again.
Starlight frowned. and walked slowly towards the exit. She could feel the fresh air already. She didn't know how to feel about this at all.
Ponyville, at this point in time, was in ruins. Some buildings were on fire. Some looked like even the slightest touch would make whatever was left of it crumble and collapse. And some were just piles of bricks and wood, completely demolished. not all were ruined, but it was only a matter of time until they were. Though Starlight was aware of this, the thick fog limited her vision, only letting her see maybe fifteen feet ahead. It wasn't like this when she was here last time. And since Ponyville is filled with hollows, Starlight was on edge, fearing that a hollow would jump out at her when she wasn't ready. And sure enough, two hollows entered Starlight's field of vision. She had dealt with hollows before, using the environment as a tool to trap them. But this time, she had a weapon.
The two hollows mindlessly ran towards Starlight. One of the two started slashing aimlessly. Starlight got out of the way, and attacked the other hollow. She defeated it in three swings of her sword. Unfortunately, she was attacked from behind by the first hollow. "Ow!" She screamed. She quickly turned around and sliced her sword through the hollows neck, decapitating it. "T-That would've ended badly." She took a sip of her Estus.
One of the hollows dropped a wooden shield. Starlight picked it up and strapped it on one of her front hooves, and continued moving. With luck, she didn't run into any more hollows, but she did run into more trouble on her journey. Once she got to the town square, Starlight could hear the sound of wings flapping. It sounded nothing like the wings of Pegasi. They sounded bigger. "So if it's not a Pegasus... Then that means...." Starlight looked up and through the fog was a giant dragon, with purple and green scales. When it landed all the fog got pushed away and Starlight could see it quite clearly. A fully grown dragon. Right in front of Starlight. looking directly at her.
The dragons scales looked as they were made out of stone. Its claws were long and sharp. Its tail was long. Longer than the actual dragon itself. The Dragons tail had destroyed many buildings when it landed, and caused a small earthquake.
Starlight didn't like her chances. She immediately turned around and ran. The dragon roared. It nearly made Starlight trip up. She looked behind her. The dragon was breathing green fire and it was going in her direction. Starlight ran quicker. looking for an alleyway or anything to protect her from the flames when they caught up to her. She didn't have much time left. She decided to improvise. She jumped through the nearest window into a building. It was the only option for her, other than burning to a crisp and start hollowing when she returned to the previous bonfire after death. Starlight felt a chill when she thought about dying that way. Though she got out of the way of the fire, she wasn't out of the way just yet. The house she was now in had caught on fire. To complicate matters, an armoured hollow was in there with her. So she ran up to it and tried to land a surprise attack on it. But this hollow was surprisingly quick. It turned around blocked Starlight's attack with its own sword, and quickly followed by an attack. Starlight blocked it with her shield, But she didn't get an opening to attack. The armoured hollow just kept attacking over and over again. Starlight managed to push the Hollow back, which made it stagger. "I don't have time to be dealing with you!" she exclaimed, as she finally stabbed it in the chest. The hollow wasn't dead yet, but Starlight ran away. her main concern was getting out of the burning building and get away from the dragon.
the dragon, however, was a step ahead of Starlight. It was waiting for her outside. It was ready to kill Starlight where she stood. It raised its claws and was about to crush Starlight like a bug. But before that could happen, the sound of a bell ringing was heard, and the dragon just stopped what it was doing, and flew away in direction of the ringing bell.
Starlight stood there for more than a couple minutes, scared and confused about what just happened. After regaining her senses, She continued onward. Her legs were shaking. Her breathing was erratic. And for a while her vision was blurry. she hoped that she wouldn't have to encounter another dragon in a long time.
***
Starlight had finally made it to the Entrance of the Everfree forest. She never thought she'd be happy to see it. To the right of the pathway into the forest was a bonfire. Starlight happily sat down by it. The warmth was nice. it took her three hours to get here in some really cold weather. She could've fallen asleep next to this bonfire, but the strange creature that was sitting at the bonfire with her kept her on guard. the creature had a helmet on, hiding its face. on the creatures torso was armour with a sun emblem on it. It wasn't hostile, she knew that much. It looked at her through its helmet. "oh!" It said. "i didn't see you there. uh, you look quite confused. as am I. It seems I've stumbled into another world. and that the inhabitants are all talking horses. It's like a dream i had once. Except that dream was much less bleak."
Starlight raised an eyebrow. "What are you?" he voice cracked a little, obviously still shaken up by that dragon.
The creature laughed. "Oh right, I am Solaire of Astora. A warrior of sunlight. It's a pleasure to meet you." Solaire held out his hand to offer a handshake.
Starlight put her hoof in Solaire's hand. "It's good to know that a creature who's supposedly from another world knows about hoofshakes." she said jokingly. "I'm Starlight Glimmer"
"Ah, so that's what they call handshakes here. That makes sense." Solaire put his hands close to the bonfire. "Are you undead as well?"
Starlight nodded. "So it's not just Equestria then..."
Solaire got up and stretched. "Sorry to leave so soon. I must find a way back to my own world, But i have a feeling we'll meet again. If you are in any need of help, you can summon me as a spirit , and we can engage in some jolly co-operation! just find my summon signature.you wont have trouble finding it, it has a brilliant aura." He started walking away. "If you miss it, you must be blind. Hah hah hah!" and just like that he was gone.
Starlight laughed nervously. She thought Solaire was an odd creature. Out of all the things that had happened to her today, this was by far the weirdest thing to happen to her. But she thought He was nice enough. It was getting dark. Starlight wondered if she was ready to enter the forest. Soon she got up from the ground. With nothing but a Wooden shield and a short sword that was close to breaking, Starlight took her first steps into the Everfree forest.
The only source of light that Starlight had was moon. It wasn't much but at least she could vaguely see where she was going. She felt like she was being followed, but she couldn't see anything other than trees, or hear anything other than the wind. There was nothing but old withering trees. Starlight had once heard that the forest was full of all sorts of monsters. She first stepped into the forest hours ago, but she had not seen a single monster. No hollows either. Nothing. She let her guard down, assuming she was safe. She looked up at the sky. Despite everything, the night sky was as beautiful as ever. Starlight bumped into something. She jumped back and got a good look at what it was she hit. It was a tree. Starlight took a deep breath, thankful it wasn't anything dangerous. She was wrong to think that. She looked behind her, Expecting to see nothing. But what she saw was a row of trees blocking the road. Starlight walked over to the trees and hesitantly poked one of them. She backed away and started running. She had a bad feeling about the trees.
After ten minutes of running, Starlight ran into another row of trees. She looked back. The trees had some how chased her all this way. She tried chopping the tree's down with her sword, but it was a useless effort. "Okay..." She whispered to herself. "If that's the case, i'll just go around them." She tried to run around them, but the trees reacted faster than her and formed a circle around Starlight. "Damn it! What do I do?" She started panicking. She heard the sound of someone talking. Starlight couldn't see who was talking, but she couldn't understand them either. It sounded like someone was casting a spell. Seconds later the trees started fading. The next thing starlight saw was a zebra.
"Yet another Undead has fallen for this trap" The Zebra said. "And here I thought I'd finally find some food."
Starlight felt relief. "Looks like another friendly face."
The zebra chuckled. "What else did you expect? My name is Zecora. I am an Undead like you." Zecora frowned. "But unlike you, I fear that soon I may go hollow. I have nothing out here. the wild life here is dying faster that i expected. i'm out of effigies. I'm slowly losing my memories... I don't even know how to rhyme anymore."
Starlight raised an eyebrow. "I have no more effigies, if that's what you're trying to say. I'm sorry" She lied. "Well, thanks for getting me out of that trap."
Zecora didn't believe Starlight. "It's not wise to lie to me. Open your bag and give me half of the effigies you have."
"Look, I'm really sorry, but i can't give you anything. Why don't you leave the forest? Like you said, there is nothing here... not even monsters." starlight walked past Zecora, wasting no more time with the decaying zebra. She thought it was a little mean, but she really couldn't sacrifice what she had. All of a Sudden, Zecora jumped at Starlight. She bit Starlight and pulled her bag away from her. She started running away. Starlight rubbed her neck. "Geez, Did she have to bite me?" she said as she pulled out her sword and ran after Zecora. Despite the fact that Zecora was decayed so much to the point you could see her bones, she was surprisingly fast. She wasn't fast enough though. Starlight caught up. and slashed her sword at Zecora's hooves. Zecora fell. She tried to keep going, but Starlight took her bag back. Starlight stabbed Zecora's leg, making sure she can't move. "That's for taking my bag."
"It looks like my time is up... how pathetic. dying like this. I don't think i'm coming back this time..." Zecora mumbled. she faded away.
Starlight felt cold. she ran away. The way Zecora faded away was different than what should happen when an undead is killed. "so I can die permanently eventually..." she gulped. "Looks like going hollow isn't my only worry now..." She saw the castle of the two sisters in the distance. she was nearly there. A much shorter journey than expected. the light of a bonfire could be seen reflecting off the castle.
Once Starlight got to the castle she immediately sat at the bonfire. It was already lit. She guessed that that weird creature, Solaire, had gotten here before her. A fog wall blocked her path into the castle. She decided to wait until dawn before she enters the castle. She fell asleep.
***
"So..." someone said. "It seems Fluttershy finally found her 'Chosen undead'." The voice of Twilight Sparkle. She got up from her throne. "Thank you, Spike. This information will be very helpful."
Spike, once the size of a small drawer, was now a fully grown dragon. He was sitting outside Twilight's throne room, poking his head through the giant doors. his voice was very deep, but almost calming. "She wont make it to Celestia." he said, chuckling. "The second she saw me in Ponyville, she ran away."
Twilight walked over to Spike and pet him. "Still, lets not underestimate her. The reason I called you back was because i want to defeat her myself. if she even makes it to me. she'll probably go hollow before then." Twilight laughed. Since Twilight was immune to the power of the dark sign, she aged at the normal speed of an alicorn. She was old. Her main had turned white and her face was wrinkled. Though, ponies who underestimate her would surely regret it. Twilight was powerful. She wasn't, however, a good pony. She betrayed her friends. After finding out that the curse of the Undead was incurable, something snapped. She decided to take advantage of the tragedy that took place ten thousand years ago. She knew that the inhabitants of Equestria trusted her, so she manipulated them into doing work things to help her. she promised them that a cure would be made if they all did what she said. Twilight's friend didn't agree with her way of thinking. They tried to talk her out of doing these things. Twilight killed them without a second thought. Except for Fluttershy. who barely escaped. Twilight was long gone. she had her army of Undead build her a castle in the side of a mountain. She didn't think her old castle was good enough. It is unfortunate what happened to her. "Spike, go after her" Twilight smiled. Despite the changes she had gone through, she still treated Spike the same. "But don't let her know you're there, i'm sound proofing your wings. when you come back there will be a bowl of gemstones just for you" She pet Spike's snout.
"Understood, my queen" Spike said, as he got up and flew away.
Twilight went back to sitting on her throne. Enjoying the view of the sunrise. She had nothing better to do but wait for the supposed chosen Undead to show up.