The End of Starlight Glimmer
Starlight Glimmer walked out of the mountains on the other side, tired, cold, hungry, and very, very angry. There was just one more tunnel to pass through, and then she would be on the Canterlot side of the mountains once more.
Those ungrateful foals! she steamed on, inside her head. We had built a Utopia! Absolute equality and friendship on every level!
And then, those…oppressors, that’s it, oppressors from Ponyville…especially that monarchist ruling-class Princess, Twilight Sparkle, came and smashed it! Destroyed it! Destroyed it to maintain the bourgeoisie class, like Rarity and that hick Applejack, so they could serve the idle monarchy. To force even more sitting-room culture on the proletariat!
At one fell swoop, she had ended the class struggle! All of her ponies were equal in every way possible with each other! No more exploitation! No more ‘mine’ and ‘yours’! Everything was owned by everypony!
And no one was excluded from friendship…
Suddenly she sat down in the road. “From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs…” she quietly whispered to herself, as her eyes filled with tears.
Yes, she held on to her Cutie Mark, and her magic. But only to serve them, as was proper. Some would simply be required to do so. That handsome Pegasus she had her eye on, for example. He would have to have been allowed his Mark once more. Weather there in the desert was frequently unpredictable. A Pegasus would have soon become necessary to protect all from the ravages of storm. And if he was a proper Consort to her…?
So much the better. Children would have validated her leadership. They would have all served everypony. To lead them all into the bright future of classless equality and friendship.
Gone. All gone.
The anger suddenly collapsed. All that was left was the bitter ash of failure, still warm in her mouth.
The flavor of it was not to her liking. It was even worse than those muffins of Sugar Belle’s.
“Excuse me…” said a male voice.
Starlight looked up. A strong stallion stood before her. As she watched, he smiled.
A bright, strong smile. A smile she had become used to. A smile like her ponies…like her former ponies once had for her and for each other. A smile of bright friendship. A smile that spoke to her.
The image of it brought a flash of anger and disappointment back.
“Go away,” she said quietly, as her eyes bored into the stallion.
“But miss…you seem so sad. Can I help you? I’d like to try, if I could…”
She blinked in surprise, and then lowered her head. “No. No pony can help. Everything I tried to do…is gone now.” she said mournfully.
“Everything? What was it you tried to do? Did somepony hurt you?” he said kindly, warmly.
“I tried…I tried to make things better for everypony. To help everypony be equal. To find friendship without any one pony being better than another,” Starlight sobbed quietly.
She sensed a second presence draw near the first. A mare this time. Larger, like that hateful Twilight Sparkle Alicorn.
“Ah. You met those Elements of Harmony, didn’t you?” A melodious voice, charming, sympathetic.
“Harmony? They were oppressors! They destroyed us! Our Utopia, safe, secure, equal! They ruined it for their own special interests! To keep those monarchists in power. To oppress the underclass ponies. To use them, their labors, so they can stay in power over all of us! To hold out their useless opiate of ‘friendship’ so we would self-medicate ourselves into a stupor. And my comrades fell for it. They turned their backs on what we built. They tore it all down, so they could be ‘unique’, to have the chimera of ‘special talents’. They turned out Utopia. They turned me out. All for a mark on their flanks.”
She has stood up during her tirade, the anger in her rant driving her to her feet. She paced around in a small circle, trying to release the resentment.
“I understand, young one. We also fought against them. They are very powerful. But they are not as they once were. Their Elements are gone. They are much weaker now.” the mare said candidly.
She continued to explain. “We are now as you once were. Our collective is much stronger, though. We did not break, though they defeated our plan.”
She gestured toward her flank, then the flank of the stallion.
Starlight Glimmer drew in a sharp breath. The sign of equality was stamped upon both of them.
“We learned of your defeat, and your plight. We sought you out. We sought you out, to offer you to join us against Canterlot. Our strength grows every day, as more join us against those that would defeat us, break us and scatter us in the wind. Celestia’s power is great, ancient, but unwieldy. Luna follows her sister, and cannot conceive anything else. Cadance is far away, and unable to resist before it is too late. All we have to do to bring down this rotten class of corrupt power simply lies with the young and inexperienced Twilight Sparkle. Break her, bring her to equality, and the rest of the decay will fall.”
Starlight thought about it. The sense of it reached deep. To throw down Twilight, like she had been thrown down…the thought of it was mesmerizing. She wanted it. Wanted to revel in it.
Then, once the Alicorns were brought low, the proletariat would be able to easily seize the reins of power. Everypony would become equal. Perhaps some would resist at first…but Starlight had methods for those. The others, after learning of their oppression at the hooves of the upper-class, would gladly step forward to become better.
Starlight Glimmer smiled, one that would bring no reassurance to anypony seeing it.
“How many ponies do you have? Can you show me?” she asked. If there were a vast number, perhaps she would be chosen to lead her own group of them. Her ideology was pure, he devotion unwavering. And if their form-concept of the science of equality was weak, she could help them. And if too weak, she certainly could help purge and remove the impure reactionaries among them. She had learned much, as the science of equality demanded, after her fall. The ideologically impure must be confronted and rooted out, then destroyed.
One must have vision of the future…and the ruthlessness to pursue its evolution…she thought.
“Of course you may. Come, this way, down the tunnel, to our cave…”
Starlight was temporarily blinded by the darkness, but she felt the emptiness of a great room. A great room…filled with…some odd sort of rustling, chittery sounds…
Suddenly, the light sprang up. Starlight didn’t bother looking for the source. She was suddenly overcome by the terrifying sight before her.
It was horrifying, nightmarish, macabre beyond belief. Gestational cells, some filled with normal ponies, others with chrysalis containing embryonic Changelings, hung by vast numbers from the ceiling. Others busily pursued the business of the hive, not even sparing a glance in their direction.
“You see?” the stallion said…as a flash of green flame traveled up his body. An insectoid body, with compound faceted, blank, emotionless eyes.
The mare laughed. A laugh that chilled, then froze Starlight Glimmer motionless. The flame also traveled along her body.
Queen Chrysalis’ horn glowed with her aura, as the huge stone rolled into place over the cave opening.
“I am so glad you decided to seek equality, Starlight Glimmer,” Chrysalis said lovingly, horrifyingly, candidly.
”All you see before you is equality. All my Changeling children are equal with each other. None are greater than another. The peace and tranquility of the hive. No strife. No conflict. No dissension. After all, they are here to serve their Queen. To serve me…”
She rounded on Starlight, a sickening, sweet smile on her face. A smile like her ponies once had. Below a face of horror. Horror…and hunger.
“As you shall, also. A nearby cell awaits you. But first; I am a bit peckish…”
No pony could hear the screams in the tunnel beyond the rock…
Author's Note
Be careful of what you wish for...lest the universe decide to grant it...
