Starlight's Valley

by viofriedsevey

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Sad, Dark, Adventure
Length: 5154

A young mare with emotional and family based issues is thrown into a world where ponies are willing to do whatever it takes to survive. She sons discovers a part of herself that was hidden even from her, a part of herself that her already unstable mi

It's bad enough to be thrown in a world where ponies are willing to do whatever it takes to survive, but what if you gave in? What if you let the cold instincts of mother nature take over, and turn you into what you were born to be? Young Starlight faces this dilemma every day of her life. She must fight an internal fight, should she stand proud, and keep her virtues? Or is worth giving into the forces that tell her to survive? Even if it means throwing away the only thing she has left in the world, her sanity.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-08-14 20:31:48 UTC

Survivng

The cool, moist grass, damp from the morning dew. It sparkles, and shines in the sunrise, moving slowly and smoothly in the breeze, almost like the ocean. It covers the ground, giving many smaller forms of life a place to call home. It helps hold together the ground, and it helps the ecosystem flow. Without it, this wouldn't be the edge of a field, but most likely a desert. Yes, delicious grass. It usually looks so appetizing. This was not one of those times. Currently it does nothing but sit there, growing and mocking me. Reminding that this is still real life, and i'm in danger.

I hear hoof steps go by, I would guess ten feet away. I don't know for sure since i'm looking in the other direction, and I dare not make the mistake of moving even one muscle.

The side of my blue face is laying the ground, along with the rest of my body. Thank Celestia it's the peak of summer, for if I wasn't hiding in the grass I would be dead by now. My dark blue mane hangs limply in front of my eyes, I can see the small pieces of dirt, mud, and even what looks to be blood in the cerulean strands. What I would give to be able to wash it.

"Come on Starlight, you didn't fall asleep did ya?"

"Nah, just fazed out for a moment, you know me". I purposely tried to close out the world every time my brother, Moonlight, took a life. I forced my body to stand up, it took more effort than should have been necessary. I felt the tingling sensation of my fore legs coming back to life. I must of been laying down longer than I thought.

The blood on my brothers knife shimmered from the sunrise like the dew on the grass. I've never been alright with my brother killing, but I know what will happen if he doesn't. Celestia knows I can't defend us. So I deal with it. It does disturb me however, that he's become so jaded to it. Again I deal with it, he's the reason i'm still breathing.

I can barely look at the freshly slain stallion laying in the grass before me without cringing, but for some reason, I  can't look away. It's not the first time I've seen death. Far from it, it seems to be at least a weekly, if not daily routine to see some poor stallion or mare being in wrong place at the wrong time. I guess I'm always waiting for that mare to be me. I truly don't know how a mare like me, who can barely handle pain, could have survived for so long.

"Hey little sis, you alright? If you need to sleep a little more I'll keep watch. The sun hasn't come up much yet, you've got time," said Moonlight.

"Huh? oh, no that's fine, besides, we need to keep moving" I said.

"Well, if you say so."

That's just like him, always taking care of me. Like I said, i'd be dead without him. so now we keep moving north, towards hope. We don't talk much while we move, some pony could hear us and there's no need to take unnecessary risks. Plus we don't talk a whole lot these days anyway.

The popular theory is, there's civilization somewhere up north. A real city, with laws, and food besides grass. So that's all we do, move towards what might be something worth living, or dying for, Eat, sleep, and breathe. It's a fulfilling existence I know, but what else can we do? I can't simply lay down and die, as tempting as that is.

The world hasn't always been this way though, not even 3 years ago I was living in peace. Just normal, boring life. Funny how I always wished something exciting would happen. But waking up to the news that we've declared war on Griffonia was not what I had in mind. Supposedly the princesses are still out there, waging this war, not willing to give up. But this part of Equestria was left behind. Now we fend for ourselves. Hopefully if they ever finish this war, they'll still have enough soldiers left to come help us.

I couldn't imagine being a soldier, i'm still lucky enough to not of had to kill any pony yet, I don't think I could do it anyway. I was always that timid, shy filly. And needless to say, I never had many friends. Didn't bother me though, I was never real social anyway. I've always been good at entertaining myself. So there's really no point for me to have friends. Besides, being so used to loneliness helped me prepare for the modern world.

My brother is the exact opposite, usually loud, always the center of attention. One of the first in his class to get his cutie mark, he was always very popular. Always looked out for me too. Well, I guess I cant say always, when we were younger we didn't really get along. As a matter of fact, he helped some other colts bully me one time. But I've long since forgiven him for that. We all make mistakes, i'm no different. When he hit about fifth grade we started to get along. He would walk me home from school, and play with me instead of hanging out with some of his friends. I think he just grew a conscience and always regretted how he treated me in my younger years. Him being mean to me when I was little is probably one of the reasons i'm so shy, but like I said, I've long since forgiven him. I think it always bothered my parents though, or at least my mom.

My parents were just simple working class ponies. My dad was a construction worker and my mom a secretary. We lived in a nice house, had nice things, my dad worked very hard for his paycheck, and made sure my brother, my mother and I lived comfortably. Something I've always been grateful for. My father loved me, but in his own way. He would rarely tell me he loved me, but I knew by the way he genuinely cared about how my day at school was, my grades, and my happiness that he loved me. That was enough.

My mother was very different, tucked me in almost every night. She finally had to stop in my teenage years since I was simply a little to old for that type of thing. She was always sad to see me grow up. I could tell she missed me being her little filly. I couldn't blame her. In a way I missed being her little filly too. Back when the world was innocent and kind, and the most there was to worry about was my grades.

I always did very good in school, somehow everything just clicked and made sense. My mother said she was the same way, so her giving me help with schoolwork anytime I needed it was a definite factor in my school success. Sometimes I wonder what became of my parents.

My brother and I were visiting Grandma and Grandpa in Canterlot when Princess Celestia gave a speech that would change the fate of the world forever. My grandparents thought it was best for my brother and I to head home. The train stopped halfway due to a griffin attack at our destination. We ended up just walking to the nearest village, and surviving. We've been doing the same thing ever since. Only now, in this part of Equestria, things have gotten a tad more violent as ponies are willing to do anything for the supplies they need to survive. I think, once they give in to their instincts for the first time, it must be easy after that. That's probably why so many have become simple animals, only doing what it takes to survive. I can't talk bad about them for that though, for my brother and I are doing the same thing.

Lately we've been walking through a lot of grass. So hopefully we're nearing the coast. Supposedly that's where this little piece of civilization lies. It's funny, you don't think walking through grass could hurt, but when you walk through these tall rough blades everyday, they start to feel more like little needles, rather than leaves. And I can feel the little needles pushing their way around my hoof and into my skin as we continue to walk, Ignoring the echos of a gun shot. It's an eerie feeling that takes over your body when that sound resonates across the valley. You know there's danger, but it also could be food, fresh water, or any supplies dropped by whoever was unlucky enough to of been on the receiving end of the lead projectile. Never the less, we move that way, against my common sense, but agreeing with my instincts. We could use some fresh water, and more fulfilling food.

The shot sounds like it came from the west, on the left side of valley and over a large, but not very steep hill. All made of the same dirt and grass that we've been walking through for three days. This is exactly why my brother uses a blade rather than a rifle. Attracts too much attention, easy to track.

As we make our way up the incline, we naturally lower our bodies and start to crawl, rather than walk. I follow my brothers exact path. This is something I've begun to do out of habit. If were ever tracked, it will look like there's only one of us. So we could have the upper hand in an ambush. That is, if the pony whose ambushing us isn't expecting two ponies.

I've gotten pretty good at this, if you look at our tracks, you'd be astonished to know there was more than one pony in this group.

Being one of the few mares left in this part of the world isn't an easy lifestyle to maintain. most of them weren't strong enough to survive, or just weren't stronger than the stallions. It's like the worst part of the stallion comes out when they see me. At this point my brother kills them even on the off chance that they could pose a threat. Better safe than sorry, that's the name of the game nowadays, survive.

I hit something with my foreleg as we continue to walk through the tall grass. At least I know we won't go hungry. Oh, would you look at that. The body of a filly laying out here in the open. Looks like the bugs have gotten to her too. She looks so peaceful, curled up in a ball. I could see the veins in her limbs, she probably died of dehydration. To young to take care of herself. Her parents probably died, but it wasn't unheard of for a foal to become a liability, and be abandoned. What a world.

Don't do it Starlight, come on, you're tougher than this. She's just one filly, you've seen your share of death, no big deal. A single tear rolled down my cheek. She was just so young, she had so much life left to live. Then another. she doesn't even have her cutie mark yet. I was now openly crying.

"Dammit, i'm so sick of this!" I yelled, catching moonlight off guard, he turned to look at me."Why the hell does this have to happen? Where the hell are the princesses? I thought they were super immortal beings who loved their subjects! How could they just abandon us like that?" I sobbed, hard. For the life of the filly, for my innocence, for the fate of our race, and for this once beautiful land, plagued now by pain, and sorrow. I could feel my brother hug me, he was so much stronger than me, like none of this affected him. How could it not? He was a monster. Someday i'll confront him on that, but right now I needed him. Needed him to hug me, and keep me alive. I insisted we bury the filly.

My brother and I took turns digging. He loosened up the soil with his knife, and now we were digging by hoof. It was very time consuming. I looked over her poor pale, once beautiful body. she was a light blonde with a dark blue mane, just like mine. Neither of her eyes were open. That was definitely for the better. Sure I was curious about her eye color, it would of been cute if it matched her mane. However, she's been dead probably 3 days at least, by my best guess. I wouldn't want to see eyes now anyway. You don't want to know how quickly insects take a hold of the body, and begin breaking it down. Soft areas, such as the eyes, are usually the first to go.

I gently picked up her body and set it in the hole. We had worked hard, gotten it about four feet deep. At least enough to keep predators away. I pushed all the dirt back over her corpse. I would have said something, but I didn't know what to say.

I stood there for a minute, looking over the dirt mound. I thanked my brother for helping, since I knew he thought it was just a waste of time, and we were on our way again.

"We've been walking a few hours now sis, wanna take a break?"

"Hey why not, but lets wait. I see some coconut trees up ahead, and i'm thirsty. Race ya?" That was all that needed to be said, he immediately darted towards the trees, and I followed. Minus well have a little bit of fun. He beat me there, he's usually a little faster than me, but he also got a good head start. At least the water looks a little clean, looks can be deceiving though. We've found more than a few bodies rotting on the edge of a watering hole. I suppose anything from a heart attack, to the more likely reason, the water being poisoned, could have killed them, but why take the chance?

"Hey you!"

I jumped and turned quickly to the voice, I wasn't expecting any pony else to be here, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He stood on the other side of the pond, his gray mane stretching across a grayer coat, down to a machete he held in his magic.

"Waters not free pal, but maybe we can make a trade," Said the gray stallion.

Maybe he hasn't seen me yet, he seems to only to be talking to my brother.

"What are ya looking for?" Said moonlight.

"Well, I could always use me a nice mare around here."

Shit.

"Not happening", spoke moonlight, in a much sterner voice.

"Come on, you can't possibly think you could beat me if I attacked you right now. Make this easy on yourself. I'll give you food, and water and whatnot, no need for you to get hurt."

What the hell was he talking about? there's two of us and one of him, I didn't speak to soon did I?...Nope, still just one of him. I figured right then ten of his buddies would jump out, that would be just my luck.

"Come on, there's two of us and one of you, it ain't worth the risk pal, just let us get a quick sip and we'll be on our way" Said Moonlight, as if he was reading my mind.

He gave a very strange look at us, then nodded and took a seat on a stump. For some reason he payed very close attention to me as I drank. More than a little unnerving, as I was still waiting for his friends to pop out of nowhere and hog tie me. We finished drinking and I started walking away, then it dawned on me that I no longer Know which way north is. Moonlight must of realized it too since he gave me a nervous glance. We usually looked for the north star at night, then just followed that direction during the day. I completely forgot what direction that was however. Almost as if reading my mind again, Moonlight said,

"Um, I think we came in from that way? So north is probably the opposite direction." Spoke Moonlight.

"We might as well just take the afternoon off and relax, we'll look for north tonight. I see a little patch of trees over there,  that should be far enough away from the creepy gray pony" I said.

"Yeah, if you say so."

Not a whole lot happened that afternoon, I took a nap, moonlight kept watch, then we switched. The only real thing worth of note is that it looks like there's a small town about a mile away, hard to tell how many buildings since it's right in the sunset, but i'm guessing probably five.

Night came quickly and we continued to sleep and keep watch, switching whenever we felt like it. There's something I always loved about night. It relaxed me and made me feel comfortable. Almost like home. It makes sense since my cutie mark consists of stars, I never really knew what that meant though. Maybe I was supposed to be an astronomer? My brother's confuses me even more though, it has stars like mine, but also a hammer, weird.

I love the coolness of night, especially during the summer months. I guess I always just preferred being a little to chilly, over a little to warm.

Well, I suppose I should get some sleep. Oh buck me, I turned around to see that there was one faint orange glow about a half a mile away. Now I could make out six of them.

"Moonlight!" I loudly whispered,"Moonlight come on wake up!", I shook his body a bit before his eyes opened, and consciousness over took his body. He gave me a "what the hell is your problem" look. I just pointed and he noticed. They've gotten much closer, I couldn't make out what any of them looked like yet.

"Oh shit" said Moonlight.

"Do we run or hide?" I said.

"Run, definitely run!"

I turned and began to crawl across the ground towards the village I saw earlier, I crawled about ten feet before I noticed Moonlight hadn't been following me. Was he really gonna try to fight them all?

"Moonlight!, come on you can't take them all!" I said, a little louder than a whisper this time. He was standing up to get a good look at them, he turned his head to me quickly.

"I can try!" he said, much more loudly than a whisper I should add. I heard some commotion in the distance, and I heard some pony yell.

"Go! run starlight, I can at least distract them!"

I didn't like this, but he was tough, really tough. So I wasn't to worried. I stood up to run and I turned to get a glimpse of these ponies.

"There she is I knew I heard something, come on get that psycho ass mare! Said the creepy gray stallion.

I had a weird feeling we weren't far enough away from him. And now it looks like he has his buddies. I ran as fast as I could towards the village. Hopefully there are some nice ponies there, at least nice enough to hide me for the night. Not every single pony has gone savage around here, just a lot. I kept running, as fast as I could. Oh how I wish my brother and I could be pegasi right now, instead of simple earth ponies. But at least I was strong. I kept running. I could see orange light dance off a few unbroken windows as I got closer to the village. My legs were beginning to get sore, but I was close. And hearing them yell behind me was more than enough motivation to keep myself moving forward. so I kept running, through the pain building up in my legs, and through my shortness of breath.

The deep grass brushed against my legs, slowing me down, always mocking me. At least it slowed down the crazy ponies too.

I finally made it to the village, and I must of been a lot faster than most of the other ponies because they were a ways back, except for one, he was probably less than 30 seconds away. I frantically started knocking on doors and yelling for help, that pony was getting closer.

"Come on, any pony! he's gonna kill me!"

I was on the verge of tears, no one was coming to their doors, if any pony lived in these houses at all. He ran up the street towards me, I backed into the corner of two houses meeting each other, terrified. I was openly crying now.

"Did you think I was gonna let you go after my foals? I'd die first!" Said the crazed stallion as he threw his sword down upon me.

I'm so sorry Moonlight, I tried, I really did. He was probably dead if they were here anyway. Time seemed to slow down as the blade came closer. I'll know what it's like soon. Hopefully it's quick. I'm sure it'll be plenty painful. I wonder if i'll see my parents again.

My mind raced faster than words can describe as I awaited the inevitable. I remembered all the fun times I had with my mom and my brother. I couldn't remember any with my dad. Actually,  I couldn't remember many fun times in general. Wow, I think I may have lived a crappy life. All I've been doing is surviving. Now what's the point in that? Was my time really a complete waste? I've never accomplished anything! But it was my time to go? No fair. I have to die a young mare that never had any reason to be on this planet. That stung, almost as much as this blade was going to.

No, not gonna happen. There's no way i'm going out like this. I've gotta do something, I've gotta make all of this count. This couldn't have been a waste. Even my boring life should mean something.

I turned and bucked the stallion in the stomach faster than I thought I could. He dropped his sword and he hit the ground, hard. I went and reached for the sword, he yelled and took off towards a small building on the edge of the village. I didn't think, I just followed. Carrying the handle of the blade in my mouth, I ran down the one cluttered road. I felt my hooves tear through dirt and trash as I ran. I could see the glow of the other ponies torches, entering the village now. I'll deal with them next.

I made it to the building, he ran inside and I followed. It was solid black. Not even the light of the stars made it in here. I heard voices outside, the rest of the gang had caught up. They swarmed the building, but I wasn't giving up. In a rage I had never felt before I thoughtlessly swung the sword everywhere. It felt so surreal, and in a way natural. I felt like I had done this before. I heard many screams, and felt a lot of pain. I could feel the burning of fire on many parts on my body, surely they're  attacking me with their torches. I'll deal with that later. But I didn't slow down. Rage now completely overtook me. I could see blood, a lot of blood. And I no longer saw any ponies! This was it! I had won! I had to of won.

I felt a hard thump on my head, and everything went dark.

The sweet relief of awakening

BUZZZZZZ!

Hmm, that's funny. I thought death would be painful. Which is kinda weird when you think about it. I mean why would I assume death to painful? I've never done it before, For all I know it could feel good. But who would have guessed it to be loud and annoying? Definitely not me!

BUZZZZZZ!

That wretched sound feels like It's crawling through my ears, sliding It's way around my cranium and scraping on my brain! Maybe this is hell? That would make sense.

BUZZZZZZ!

Come on! Give me five seconds of peace before damning me for all eternity!

BUZZZZZZ!

"Hey sweetie are you gonna get up? I know you don't like Mondays, but you're gonna be late for school!"

I can feel my eyes gently start to open, then immediately close again. It's way to bright out there to be waking up.

"Come on Starlight! I'm almost done with breakfast!"

"Coming mom!" I yelled. Alright, attempt number two for waking up. My eyes lazily flutter open, I resist the urge to slam them shut. My mother was wrong, I don't "not like" Mondays, I hate Mondays. I somehow find the inner will to fight my body trying to force me to go back to sleep. Finally my eyes adjust, and I crawl out of bed. Almost falling on the floor. As I walk down the hall I check myself over in the mirror. Like I do everyday. My mane looks perfect, as usual. I can't help but notice that it's a beautiful day outside as I stroll past a window in the hallway, the dream still in the back of my mind, but fading rapidly. I wonder what a dream like that could mean? I always believed that we must dream for a reason, and the most likely reason is that our mind is trying to tell us something. Even though sometimes It's nearly impossible to decode the minds language.

This, and my other random thoughts are swept from my mind as I relish in the sweet aroma of Pancakes. Paying no attention to where i'm going, I nearly fall down the stairs at the end my hall. An odd floor plan I always thought, putting stairs at the end of an upstairs hallway parallel, rather than perpendicular to said hallway. Grasping my bearings I walk down the stairs which open up to living room/kitchen/dining room. Essentially one large room where no visible barrier gives any way to distinguish the fact that there are in fact three purposes of this space. Besides of course the obvious kitchen counters, the couches, and the dining table complete with a cloth that just had to match the carpet. Or else it would drive my mother nuts.

I take a seat at the wooden dining table. It's got a light stain to it, making it match the also wooden trim of the house, also making it match the very neutral colored beige walls. I think my mother said something about how it can make the room feel bigger, when you use light colors I mean.

My mother, as you can tell, is in charge of all the decorating. Not that my father even cares. He's always as work anyway. I usually only see him the weekends.

"Your brother already left for school, you should eat quick, its already 7:30." My mother said from across the room as she brought over my pancakes on an obnoxiously  white plate.

"I think i'll be fine mom". I very un-delicately took a large mass of already cut pancake with my fork, and shoveled it into my mouth. Breakfast was always my favorite meal of the day. Which I guess is funny in a way because everyone else I live with almost never eats breakfast. Never the less, I cherish every moment that I get to spend with the delicious flapjacks. As much as I don't want it to end, not really because I love pancakes that much, but because I really hate school that much. It inevitably does, and i'm forced to comply with the forces of time and motherly persuasion, I must leave to go to school.

So I say goodbye to my mom, "Love you sweetie! have a good day at school!" I don't reply. Instead I walk out into the endlessly busy streets of Manehattan, the place I've called home since I was born, soon to be 15 years now. I walk past all the buildings, all the food stands, all the holograms, all the ponies, and the few robots. But finally I make it school, which, in hindsight, isn't all that far of a walk, three blocks.

There it stands, my prison of solitude, my fortress of misery, my asylum of loathing, Celestia I hate this place. I take the escalator up to the front of this establishment of "learning". Well I guess I do learn somethings, I learned that my special talent in no way will help me earn a living. I also learned that we should all be good little ponies and do what our perfect rulers tell us to do. I could also say I learned that luck and money are more important than talent and hard work, but I don't think I learned that here. I think I learned that while watching my dad waste away at his job, bringing home merely an above average pay. And having no real friends, or honestly, family to account for it all. Just a bit of money.

I walk down the halls, keeping my head low as usual. There's my brother with all his friends, they surround and worship him as if he were some god. I never understood popularity, I mean he's great don't get me wrong, he's one of my only real friends, but seriously, like a god. I just hope he doesn't see me, he always likes to put me in spot light. I know he's just trying to help me, he feels like my unsocial behavior is making me depressed, if only he knew. I don't know how he can just go on like nothing is happening when we have a mom we see twice a week, and a father we see half that if were lucky.

I finally make it to my classroom for the hour, and sit at the nearest V.L.C. I'm usually one of the first ones to class, and today is no different. I scroll through the screen on my Virtual Learning Center to check today's assignments. Hmm, looks like we'll learn a bit about the rise  and fall of king Sombra. Oh and something about the elements of harmony too. Well that's cool I guess, history isn't my favorite subject, none of them are. But honestly i'm not to opposed to learning something new, especially something that laid the foundation for how our world is today, even if it says here that it happened over two hundred years ago.