Starlight, star brightby Dusty HoovesChaptersPromises promisesA Glimmer of hopeBingo!Well of SoulsBuried TreasurePromises promisesStarlight Glimmer was a young pony with a bright future. A unicorn born to a good family in the city of Canterlot, the capital of Equestria, she was blessed with all the advantages a pony could have. From as far back as she could remember, Starlight was always fascinated with magic. She wasn't what anypony would call a natural at it but even as a filly, she was dedicated and enthusiastic about learning it. She spent more time studying and practicing magic than she did playing with her friends. All of that hard work boosted her to the top of the class in the study of magical arts. A fact that her teachers did not fail to notice. One of the happiest times for young Starlight was when she got her "cutie mark". Being taught, as young ponies were, that your cutie mark was a sign of a pony's "special talent", Starlight was sure that her cutie mark would relate to magic and she was right. Hers was a bi-colored star and what looked like two swirling magical auras. Encouraged by her mark, she threw herself even deeper into the study of magic and was rewarded one day with an invitation to attend "Princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns". A school that every young pony dreams of attending. Life at this point could not be any better for young Starlight but this was all about to change. You see, Princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns was for "gifted unicorns", ones who show a special talent in the magical arts. Not unicorns that just study hard. No matter how much time Starlight spent in the library studying spells or how many sleepless nights she spent practicing her casting ability, the teachers soon came to see that her abilities were not advancing as quickly as the other students. Because of this, poor Starlight soon became the target of some of the meaner students in her class and having a magic themed cutie mark just made it worse. While many ponies remember how badly it hurt to be called a 'blank flank' when they had not yet gotten their cutie marks, that pain was nothing compared to how Starlight felt when her classmates started asking if she "just painted that cutie mark on" and calling her a "pretender" among many other hurtful names. One especially mean young stallion even went so far as to tap her horn, laughing as he did, asking if she was really a unicorn or if she just made that horn and glued it to her forehead. She spent many a night crying herself to sleep, cursing what she came to think of as the "cutie mark lie". An empty promise of talent. She often asked her parents "What's wrong with me?" Her parents, feeling so badly for their daughter, had only consolation and sympathy to give. "Oh Starlight, there's nothing wrong with you sweetheart. Cutie mark magic is one of the least understood in all of Equestria. It's up to each pony to find out how their cutie mark relates to them. Some ponies understand right away how their mark inspires them and for others it often takes more time to discover it. We wish we had better answers for you." Though kind and meaning well, Starlight could not take any comfort in her parents words. It's very hard, she thought, not knowing where you fit in. Then, if things couldn't get any worse for Starlight, on the last day of class before the semester break, she was called into the headmasters office. He informed her that she was being expelled from the school. The headmaster was gentle and kind explaining it to her. Although far from one of his favorite duties, he did have a lot of practice. After all, the dropout rate for this school was rather high. But poor Starlight was unconsolable. She was in shock! She had worked so diligently, studied harder than any pony else in her class. Why was this happening to her? Starlight was so full of emotions, sadness, disappointment and anger, all swirling around in her head, that she felt like she was looking at herself from down a long hallway. She was startled back to reality by the headmaster who was calling her name and lightly tapping his hoof on his desk. "Miss Glimmer, miss Glimmer, can you hear me?" he called. "I'm sorry, I truly am. I know this comes as a shock to you. I've waited until the end of the semester so you will have some time to adjust. It's already been arranged for you to resume class next semester in your old school." Wiping the tears from her eyes, Starlight composed herself as best she could. She then asked the headmaster, "B-But why? H-Have I not studied hard, p-passed all my exams? Why is this happening to me?" The headmaster, using his magic, removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes with his hoof before continuing. "I'm sorry miss Glimmer. Although your grades were acceptable academically, it's not enough to just study hard and learn the spells. This school was founded to train the most gifted unicorns in Equestria to focus their natural talents in magic beyond what can be learned just from books. You see, although you are a good student, you just don't have what it takes to progress to the next level. It's nothing to be ashamed of," the headmaster continued, "some ponies just have a special talent for magic. I'm sure your talent, whatever it is, will become apparent to you in time." With this, Starlight was dismissed. Her head low, she cleaned out her locker and went home. You would be hard pressed to find a more dejected pony in all of Equestria. Returning home, Starlight refused to leave her room for days. Nothing her parents could say had any effect on her. Nopony came to visit her because what friends she did have were not what one would call close. Starlight was a dedicated pony you see, and she spent most of her time with her studies, in the company of books and not socializing with friends like her peers did. She didn't blame them, it wasn't their fault. Why would anypony want to come see a failure like her? A week went by before Starlight came out of her room. She was done feeling sorry for herself. That was not who she was. She had a plan and she was determined to put it into action. Her cutie mark had set her up for failure. What was a cutie mark anyway but a brand, a way to make a pony feel special, to single them out from the rest. What good did that do? As far as she was concerned, it did not do a bit of good. In fact, Starlight thought, the root of all trouble in Equestrian society could be traced back to those infernal marks. Individualism, Starlight thought, causes disharmony. In sameness, there is peace. Where did these marks originate? Did ponies always have them? These questions were at the forefront of Starlight's mind. Questions she was determined to get answers for. Starlight remembered one of her teachers at Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns talking about a land far to the west where strange ponies practiced unusual magic. Perhaps she would find her answers there. If nothing else, it was a good place to start. Her parents were distraught when Starlight told them she was leaving but nothing could deter her from the path she had chosen. There was nothing left for Starlight in Canterlot. With a tearful goodbye and no small amount of trepidation about the journey ahead, she packed what small supplies she thought she would need in her saddlebags and left the very next day. A Glimmer of hope"Days." Starlight muttered to herself, "It's been days since I left Manehattan looking for this old settlement I read about. One full day by train just to get to Las Pegasus and two days from there on hoof." As she trudged through the seemingly endless expanse of the San Palomino Desert, Starlight thought back to that scroll she found in the Manehattan Museum of Antiquities. She knew she was not supposed to have read it. It was tucked away in the restricted section of the archives, labeled "Not For Public Display" along with various other ancient unicorn artifacts. She remembered thinking it odd that this museum would have any unicorn artifacts to begin with. Although now a multicultural city, Manehattan was, long ago, a traditional earth pony settlement. Who would have thought that the search for an old unicorn town would unravel one of the best hidden secrets in Equestria's past. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Four days earlier... Upon arriving in Manehattan, Starlight Glimmer immediately set about finding one of the many museums a city of this size probably had. All it took was a trip to the nearest hotel and a polite conversation with the concierge there to find out that there were three museums in town. Hotels were a wealth of information. Starlight giggled to herself. All one had to do is be polite and just about anything you needed to know about a strange place would be right there for the asking. One museum she disregarded straight away. The Museum of Modern Art. Starlight knew there would not be anything of value to be learned there. That left two yet to explore. The Royal Manehattan Museum and the Manehattan Museum of Antiquities. Starlight went to the Royal Manehattan Museum first because it was the closest. One look around told her that this place was not going to have what she was looking for. Still, she was already here and she was not one to leave any stone unturned in her hunt. When she located the curator, Starlight asked her if she had any information about any ancient unicorn ghost towns. The curator squinted her eyes and said, "Hmmm, a ghost town you say? That was once populated by unicorns? I'm sorry. As you can see, this museum specializes only in artifacts and memorabilia related specifically to the princesses and their rule. Our main visitors are children on field trips from the local schools. The princesses are so very popular with the young ones." she giggled. "Have you tried the Manehattan Museum of Antiquities dear?" the curator asked. "They would be the ones to have information about anything that is as old as what you are interested in." Starlight thanked the curator for her help and set off for her last stop. She thought, I sure hope I can find something there, it's my last lead. Manehattan is a large city and difficult for a newcomer to navigate but Starlight has always been a determined and resourceful mare so after asking a few different ponies for directions, she successfully arrived at her destination. Upon entering the museum, Starlight instantly knew that if any place had the answers she was looking for, this would be it. Looking around, she saw the skeletons of manticores and griffons displayed in ferocious poses and she was amazed at the skeleton of a huge dragon suspended from the ceiling. There were ancient pony weapons, clothing and household items in glass covered displays. There were even full scale dioramas showing life in early Equestria. But no caveponies. she giggled to herself. After looking about at the curiosities, she finally located the pony she was after. Upon approaching him, the curator, a light blue coated earth pony with greying mane and tail and sporting a pair of thick glasses, was eager to answer Starlight's questions. Starlight started with the ordinary. How long has this museum been here, did they have more artifacts that were not on display, how far back in history did the artifacts go and many more. She then snuck in the question she had really come here to ask. "What about old settlements," Starlight asked, "Would you have information about any of those?" "Of course!" He answered, obviously very happy to find some pony as interested in Equestrian history as he was. "What about an ancient unicorn settlement," Starlight asked, raising an eybrow in a very nonchalant way. "Supposedly abandoned since before Princess Luna was banished to the moon?" "Well," the curator replied, peering over the top of his glasses at the young pink mare, "If we had any information about an old unicorn settlement, it would be in the archives." He continued. He turned his head back as he walked away toward another area of the museum. "We don't have a lot of artifacts relating to unicorns here." Starlight trotted forward, quickly catching up to the older stallion. "For many centuries," the curator continued, "Manehattan was populated almost exclusively by earth ponies. As such, our displays and artifacts are mostly earth pony related. But let me go and have a look in the back. Please wait here, the archive section is not open to the public." And off he went, passing through an area that was roped off and marked with two signs. One that said "Administration" and another that said "Archives". That left Starlight alone with her thoughts. This was the closest Starlight had come to to finding the ancient city she had heard about since she left Canterlot. It took all of her willpower to restrain herself from following the curator in the back to help him look. Starlight decided to wander around the area looking at the exhibits to keep her mind from spinning out of control. She found herself in front of a fair representation of what was labeled on a small brass plaque as "A typical day in medieval Equestria". What Starlight saw was a life size, three dimensional reconstruction of an ancient earth pony village which included a number of ponnequins wearing funny costumes similar to what she used to see in "Hearth's Warming Eve" plays when she was younger. These ponnequins were posed doing what ponies still did today, trading items at stalls and talking among each other but in a replica of a more primitive looking village with dirtier streets and poorly constructed buildings. Deep in thought, Starlight was startled when she felt the light touch of a hoof on her shoulder. "Miss," the curator said, "Sorry to startle you." The curator had apparently returned. He was wearing what Starlight thought was a puzzled expression on his face. "I-I'm sorry miss, the curator continued, clearing his throat. "We don't have any scrolls that make mention of the ancient unicorn settlement you were inquiring about in the archives." he said. "M-May I ask what made you think we might have any such documents?" More than slightly puzzled by the obvious discomfort the curator was in after returning from the archives section, Starlight proceeded to tell him what she knew. "It was something I overheard two of my professors talking about one day while I passed by the teachers lounge back in Canterlot." Starlight said. "They were talking about some old cult, formed just after the unification, that was made up of unicorns. Ones who did not want to follow the new laws laid down by the princesses." "Apparently," she continued, "From what I could make out of the conversation, these ponies wanted to return Equestria back to the way it was before the princesses arrived. They believed that unicorns were responsible for raising the sun and the moon and when that task was taken from them, they lost their prestige and power. The last thing I overheard," Starlight continued, "Was that the cult was disbanded by earth ponies. Since I was already in Canterlot when I heard this story, I first looked for any information there. When I found no record of anything like this in the central archives, I thought to look in the oldest and largest earth pony city since the story mentioned that earth ponies were responsible for breaking up this so called cult." "Well", the curator said, "That is a curious story. "And you came all the way out here just to see if it were true? I'm sorry your search did not bear any fruit." he continued, "But it was probably just the plot from a book that your two professors were discussing. I'm afraid you've wasted you time." Starlight was more than a little suspicious at the curators behavior. He was acting like a foal caught steeling a sweet from the store. And what did he just say about scrolls? I never mentioned scrolls. Starlight thought. She decided to play along. "Yes, it does seem likely that what I overheard was, like you said, probably just a story." she replied. "And since I have come up with nothing, I guess it's time I return home." Starlight turned away from the curator and started looking around at all the items on display before continuing. "You do have an impressive museum here and since I traveled all the way from Canterlot, there's no sense going home until I have seen all your wonderful exhibits." "Yes! Of course!" The curator said. Obviously relieved to change the subject. "Please, enjoy. There are many exciting..." the curator went on, pointing out different things to Starlight, seeming extremely relieved to have something other than the unicorn settlement to talk about. After the impromptu tour, the curator excused himself. It was getting late and he said he had some things to take care of before closing. "Oh, no problem. Thank you for the tour and all the information!" Starlight said. "I just want to see a couple more things and then I too, will be on my way. Thanks again for all of your help!" And with that, the curator disappeared back into the administration area while Starlight, pretending to look at some funny hat that resembled a cup of chocolate pudding, waited until he was gone before putting the next phase of her plan into action. Looking around to be sure she was alone, Starlight then ducked under the red velvet ropes that separated the early pony village diorama from the visitor area. Quickly making her way to one of the replica homes, she tried the door hoping that the designers were accurate and realistic in their reconstructions. Yes! Starlight thought to herself. The door is operational. She quickly opened it and went inside, closing the door behind her. Now all I have to do is wait. She said to herself as she got as comfortable as she could in the unfinished interior of the replica home. Bingo!It was hard for Starlight not to fall asleep, tucked in as she was in the dark, cozy replica home but she knew she needed to stay alert. She waited patiently in her hiding spot for an hour or so after the museum closed and in that time, she had not heard a single hoofstep. Time for me to go, she thought, I'm fairly sure everypony has gone home for the day. Even so, as Starlight carefully exited the replica house she remained very quiet in her movements. Starlight knew the curator was keeping something from her. He was far to anxious when he had returned from the archives. That and she thought he slipped up when he mentioned not having any scrolls. Starlight never said anything to him about scrolls. He was hiding something and she knew it. Starlight carefully went through the roped off area to the archives section. Upon reaching the door, she read a large sign painted on it. EMPLOYEES ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT She tried the door, it was unlocked. That's rather curious, she thought. why would the curator leave this door unlocked? Especially if there was something in here that he was trying to keep secret. Maybe I'm all wrong about this. Starlight found her mind beginning to fill with doubts about what she had thought was suspicious earlier. Well, since I have already come this far, Starlight thought, I might as well see it through to the end. Slowly opening the door so it would not make any noise, she cautiously went inside. The room was large, about the size of two average ponies houses put together. There were no lights on and the only illumination came from a skylight overhead. The area was cast in shadows. Starlight thought, It's awfully dark in here. Closing the door behind her so no light would escape, Starlight lit up her horn so she could see. The room was full of shelves that dominated the space. They were loaded with relics consisting of old domestic items like pots and pans, furniture, some costumes and farming tools. There was a reading desk in one corner and next to it, another door. Starlight started down the isles, looking for something, anything that might be a clue. Coming close to the end of the room, she turned the corner and almost jumped out of her skin as she spotted what appeared to be half a dozen ponies standing together in the shadows near the reading desk. "Ahhh!" she cried out. With her hoof over her heart, trying to keep it from exploding out of her chest, she tried to slow down her breathing and looked more closely at the group of ponies who had not moved or uttered a word since she had seen them. Ponnequins. They were just a collection of unused ponnequins. Starlight, you silly mare. Why must you be so jumpy! she admonished herself. With her breathing returning to normal, Starlight continued with the task at hand. She glanced at the door near the reading desk. It had writing on it similar to that of the archives door but in bold, red letters: RESTRICTED ACCESS This looks promising. Thought Starlight. Looking at the door, the first thing that caught her attention was the old and rather large padlock securing it. Now, she thought, What is so valuable that it needs to be locked up in a room within a room? Being a city of mostly earth ponies and seeing how the curator was himself an earth pony, he had locked the door with a old fashioned mechanical lock and not a spell. Easy-peasy. Thought Starlight. She enveloped the lock in her magic aura and quietly whispered "alohomora" but nothing happened. It was worth a try she thought, slightly amused with herself for even considering such a thing. Bringing herself back to reality, Starlight tightly closed her eyes as she tried to picture what the internal mechanism of the lock looked like. Straining with concentration, her tongue starting to poke out of the corner of her mouth and beads of sweat popping out on her forehead, she manipulated the parts within the lock. Within seconds the lock made a loud "click" and was open. Startled by the noise of the lock opening, her ears flattening against her head, Starlight froze in place, listening for the sounds of hoof steps approaching. After hearing nothing for a couple of tense minutes but her own heart thumping, trying to beat it's way out of her chest, she proceeded to open the door and go inside. "And my teachers said I was not good enough to remain in their oh so precious school. Harrumph! I popped that lock probably faster than any of them could." She whispered to herself with more than a little pride in her voice. The room behind the door was so small, Starlight could illuminate the entire area with the light from her horn. It was not much bigger than a closet. Against the far wall was a series of shelves and besides some old jewel encrusted items, rolled up tapestries and other stuff Starlight was sure wasn't related to her search, there was a chest, about the size of a foal. Written on the lid was: "Not For Public Display!" It was secured with a lock similar to the one on the door of this room and Starlight, being a fast learner and now familiar with this type of lock, quickly had it open and lifted the lid. Inside were three very old scrolls. Carefully picking them up in her magic, she left the small room and took the scrolls over to the reading desk. Using great care so as not to damage them, she unrolled each one in turn, reading what was written on them. The first one had something about a treaty between the griffons and the ancient earth ponies. She set it aside. The second was full of dates and names and some kind of reward or titles. Not interested in this one either, she opened the last one. This one looked more promising. What she read was that there were indeed a group of unicorns that did form some sort of settlement and that these "cultists" as the scroll referred to them, were planning some kind of coup and that a detachment of earth ponies, under orders from Canterlot, raided and disbanded the cult, apparently many years before Princess Luna was banished to the moon. According to the writing on this scroll, which being written in an obscure form of Equestrian was proving difficult for Starlight to read, the earth pony detachment was ordered to arrest all the unicorns and relocate them. Breaking them up into smaller groups and resettling them in different parts of the land. Warning them that they could not re-estabilish their community under threat of imprisonment. Reading on, it looks like 38 mares, 21 stallions and 6 children, all unicorns, were resettled. The unicorns, the scroll detailed, did not offer any resistance. Apparently, the "cult" as the scroll referred to them, was non-violent and accepted the conditions placed upon them. "Incredible!" Starlight whispered, "It's no wonder the curator was so nervous. If this was ever made public, it might prove difficult for the princesses to explain." Tucked inside the scroll was a faded map showing the location of the unicorn settlement. Bingo! Starlight thought. Looking around for something to write on, she found a tablet and a pencil and quickly copied the map. Replacing the scrolls in the chest exactly how she had found them, she closed and relocked both the chest and the door. Starlight made her way through the dark to the front entrance. This place is scary at night with all the lights off and deserted like this. She thought as the shadows from the skeletons on display seemed to follow her every move. After checking to make sure nopony was around, (she did not think there were guards here, but better safe than sorry) she used her magic to unlock the entrance door (I'm getting rather good at this. Starlight thought) and she quickly left, making sure to re-lock the door after she was out. Now safely on the street, she could allow herself to relax somewhat. With the map securely tucked into her saddle bags, she would find someplace to sleep and in the morning, buy whatever supplies she needed and make her way to this place she hoped would have some answers! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back to where we started... Two days, Starlight thought. I've been wandering alone in the desert for two days and as she shook her canteen, hearing barely anything slosh about inside it, I'm almost out of water. I'd better find something soon or I'll end up like these tumbleweeds that I see, just another dried up husk on the desert floor. Well of SoulsStarlight couldn't last for much longer. It was midday and she had no water left. She was exhausted, sunburnt, (who would have thought ponies could get sunburnt with hair covering their entire bodies?) and in just the last hour she had tripped on a stone and sprained her left hind leg. Starlight was beat. It's been three days now, she thought. Three days all alone, wandering in the San Palomino Desert. After finding a map showing the location of a lost unicorn settlement, Starlight Glimmer headed out to search for it. She had heard that some unicorns had, many centuries ago, developed or practiced certain strange forms of magic. Magic that Starlight hoped would help her understand the origins and purpose of cutie marks. After tracing the story to Manehatten, she found out the location of this mythical unicorn settlement which was, she also discovered, a secret that had been kept from the general population. Starlight was not, at the moment, concerned about why it was kept secret. All she knew was that there was powerful magic in a cutie mark and maybe, just maybe, this unicorn ghost town held some answers. As she made her way along the hard packed sand, Starlight couldn't help but start to second guess herself. Maybe I made a mistake while copying that map. She thought to herself, I should have come across that village already. She paused and sat down. "Ouch!" she exclaimed as she quickly stood back up on all four hooves. "That sand is hot." Starlight rubbed her bottom where it had touched the sun-baked earth. Reaching into her saddlebags, she removed a worn cloak and laid it down, providing a protective barrier between herself and the ground. "Ah," she said as she finally had a chance to take her weight off the injured leg, "That's better." How could I have been so stupid, Starlight thought as she proceeded to massage her sore leg. Tripping on a rock. Come on Starlight, she admonished herself, you really need to pay better attention. You're all alone out here and if you're not careful, you could just as easily end up being an unsolved mystery yourself. Having rested as much as she could afford to, Starlight packed up her cloak, checked her map against the compass she bought before leaving Manehattan to be sure she was on course, and continued on her way. Squinting against the sun's glare, Starlight almost missed seeing a rather strange-looking stick poking up out of the ground directly in her path. She stopped to examine it, using her magic to free it from the earth. It was almost the length of her body with a shaft that twisted like a corkscrew and terminated at one end in a perfect fork shape. "What an interesting stick." she said. "Finally a good piece of luck. I really needed something to help me keep the weight off my leg." She picked up the object and, using it as a hiking staff, the way some mountaineering ponies did, continued on her way at a slightly faster pace. Starlight was quickly approaching a small mountain range when she spotted something nestled in a valley between two hills. The closer she got, the more she realized this was some kind of pony-made structure. There was a large pavilion as well as a series of low buildings; At least she assumed that they were buildings at one time. All that was left of them now was a series of weather beaten low walls not much taller than herself and the same color as the surrounding ground. Even though it was well worn from centuries of disuse, the pavilion was still recognizable - thanks to its construction of white marble, which was less susceptible to wear. It had what looked like gold-colored accents in the style favored by unicorn architects. Starlight headed past the pavilion toward the center of the town (if it could still be called that) where there was a short, round stone structure she recognized as a well. With some trepidation and no small amount of hope, she used her magic to levitate layer upon layer of sand and debris out of the hole. As she got deeper, and more exhausted, she started to notice that the sand was getting darker, a telltale sign that there was still moisture down there. "Yes!" Starlight exclaimed. "Success!" She removed a few more layers of sand until she saw real water beginning to pool at the bottom of the old well. Taking a well earned break, she decided to explore the ruins while the well filled itself and the sediment in the water cleared. Walking around the ruined buildings, Starlight noticed broken pieces of pottery, gardening tools and other items scattered half buried in the sand. Things a pony would not leave behind if they were moving. That, along with the pavilion, erased any doubt in her mind that this was the lost unicorn village she was searching for. After an hour spent poking around the smaller buildings, Starlight returned to the well to see how things were progressing there. She was pleased to see a large pool of clear water had gathered at the bottom of the newly excavated well. With her magic, Starlight levitated her canteen down below the surface of the water, filling it. She brought it back up and carefully sipped some. "What a relief!" she exclaimed as the cool water soothed her cracked and dry lips. The water tasted fine. Careful not to drink too much too fast, she spent the next hour sipping and refilling the canteen until she was no longer thirsty. Digging through her saddle bags, Starlight removed a large sack full of oats. Having consumed the last of her fresh food over a day ago, it was all she had left to eat. While somewhat bland on their own, oats were the perfect travel food, light and full of vitamins and minerals. One just needed some water to make them more palatable - which, Starlight was happy to say, she now had in abundance. The unicorn quickly gathered up some of the sticks scattered about and used her magic to start a fire with them. Taking a small pot from her belongings, she quickly heated some water from the well and made herself a nice porridge. After finishing, Starlight noticed that the sun was quickly nearing the horizon. "Time to find somewhere to bed down for the night." she said. She walked over to the pavilion and examined it more closely. It was a circular structure about twenty meters in diameter. Built with a floor about one meter off the ground, it was encompassed by a series of steps made of the same marble as the structure itself. The walls were just smooth marble columns supporting a domed roof that was about four meters high and partially collapsed. In the center of the pavilion stood a dais about half the height of a full-grown pony. Tumbleweeds, sand, and other debris littered the floor. Starlight started cautiously up the steps, watching them crumble slightly under her weight. "Not good" she said aloud. But she made it to the top and carefully walked around the dias, looking for a good place to roll out her sleeping bag for the night. Crack! Starlight froze as she felt the floor under her move with the sound. She looked down to see a large, uneven crack forming beneath her hooves. All of a sudden a section the floor gave way and she felt herself falling! Her hooves flailed in a momentary panic but being a quick thinker, Starlight regained her composure, closed her eyes and enveloped herself with a levitation spell, pausing safely in midair. She she waited a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. When she was again able to see, she noticed the whole area beneath the pavilion was hollow! Just below the earth's surface, an underground chamber spread out before her. Starlight lowered herself to the stone floor and examined her new surroundings. There was a circular staircase that was fixed to the walls and led to a hatch in the ceiling above. Hanging from the walls were several tapestries. They were worn and faded, but with some light from her horn, she was able to make out the various scenes they depicted. All of them featured some variation of ponies grouped together and raising either the sun or the moon. Magic auras emanated from their horns and converged before being directed to the heavenly bodies. Starlight realized that these ponies in the tapestries had horns but no wings. They were not alicorns, as she would have expected, but just regular unicorns! Along one wall was a bookshelf with few dozen volumes left on its shelves. There were also marble tables and benches to sit on scattered around the floor. Everything was covered in centuries worth of dust. In the center of the room was a marble pedestal and sitting on top of it was a statue. It was sculpted in the shape of a unicorn rearing up on it's hind legs. It was slightly smaller than a filly, made of gold with rubys for eyes. The unicorns must have had to leave this place in a hurry. Starlight thought, Otherwise they would have never left all of this behind. It's far too valuable. Starlight decided to explore this place further in the morning. It had been an exhausting day and she really needed to rest. This room had been here for more than a thousand years; it would still be here tomorrow. Starlight carefully made her way up the staircase and using her magic, opened the hatch. From above, it was indistinguishable from the surface of the pavilion. She placed the fork-shaped staff on it so she would remember where it was. She decided to sleep in the open, in the corner of one of the ruined buildings. Gathering up a load of sticks, she started another small fire to keep the cold at bay as the desert got very chilly after the sun went down. Curled up in her sleeping bag near her fire, Starlight drifted into her first good night's sleep in weeks. Author's Note Special thanks goes out to Diannaria and TailsIsNotAlone for helping me see the individual trees within the forest (pre-reading and editing). Buried TreasureWaking with the dawn, Starlight felt refreshed both physically and mentally. Not only had she located the abandoned unicorn settlement, she had also found a secret room full of books that, she hoped, might hold the secrets of cutie mark magic. She could not wait to get reading. After her breakfast of oats and water, she once again made her way to the pavilion and the secret room she found hidden beneath it. Carefully making her way down the steps, she noted that being locked away from direct exposure to the sun and weather kept them from deteriorating unlike the crumbling building above. The morning sun coming through the open hatch and the broken floor she fell through yesterday was enough to light the chamber so she did not have to use an illumination spell to see. Making her way to the bookcase, she picked out the first book in the lower row. Blowing off the dust she thought, I sure hope these won't fall apart the moment I touch them. Taking the book in her magic, she found that the book, while old and dry, was still legible and not so fragile that it would disintegrate under her touch. Pleased that being locked away down here in a controlled environment keep the books in good condition, she cleared off a couple of tables and proceeded to stack all the books on them to go through. Closing on midday, Starlight was about halfway through all the books in the room. While she had not found any that mentioned cutie marks, she had found two that contained powerful spells that were unknown to her. These she set to the side while the others, as she finished going through them, were replaced on the shelves where they came from. Skimming quickly through these two spell books, she noted that one contained a powerful attack spell and the other had a spell that doubled a unicorns magic output! It further said that the spell was created to allow fewer unicorns than it normally took to raise the sun and moon. There were many other interesting spells in the books that she would study later. Taking a break for lunch, she went up to her campsite. Restarting her fire was a simple matter given her strength had returned and so she set about boiling some water to make some porridge. After lunch she tucked the two books into her saddlebags and returned to the underground chamber. Halfway through the second stack of books, she came across the journal of the leader of this unicorn settlement. It detailed how the group, unhappy with the new role of unicorns in pony society, set off on a trek to form a new settlement where they could live in peace, choosing to find their own path away from the constraints of the new order. The journal further explained that in this collective, each pony would be responsible for one specialized task and also assist in the work common to all. As a small society, the talents assigned by a ponies cutie mark would not necessarily be applicable or needed in the settlement so using an ancient spell contained in another, now forbidden book, unnecessary or irrelevant cutie marks were magically removed, leaving the affected pony a "blank slate" and free to fill a needed job in the community. I must find this other book, Starlight thought. That spell is something I'm very curious about. The journal further went on to say that the ponies that had their cutie marks removed, did so voluntarily, of their own free will for the good of the community. There was even a section of the journal that detailed how they set up everything from the organization and construction of buildings to farming, including the irrigation and planting of crops. "Judging by the dates in this journal," Starlight said, "this place was occupied for over 15 years. It seems they were not only successful but thriving as no children accompanied them when they first settled here but the scroll I read back in Manehattan said there were 6 children among the ponies that were relocated." There was a hoof drawn picture in the back of the journal. It appeared to be a view of this community. It showed concentric rings of houses around the central pavilion and a little ways to the east, there was a very large farm looking like it could produce enough food for double the population. There were even, from what she could tell, irrigation pipes running from a central, wind powered pumping station to all the homes and to the fields as well. Incredible! Starlight thought. What ingenuity they had, forming a completely self sufficient society so far away from civilization. Placing the journal down on the table, Starlight went through the remaining tomes looking for that old, forbidden book. It just happened to be the last one in the stack. "Figures," she thought. On the cover was the title, "The history of the marks of talent" and under that, crudely scratched into the leather cover were the words "cutie marks". The marks of talent, Starlight thought, I've never heard them referred to by that name before. The book which was, by Starlights calculations, published sometime around the unification, detailed the origins of the marks of talent (cutie marks) and why they were created. So this is it, Starlight thought, this is the origin of cutie marks. They were created, they were not natural. Very interesting. According to the book... in the time before the marks of talent, ponies chose whatever work they wanted to do or whatever was available. But they weren't always happy. They did not feel special or unique. That is when a group of powerful unicorn mages, with the approval of the leaders of not only the unicorns but also the earth and pegasi ponies, developed a spell that would create the marks of talent. Using the combined magic from more than one hundred unicorns, The spell was cast, covering all of Equestria. According to the book, a pony would receive their mark of talent after a certain level of maturity was reached. At that point, the spell took note of the mood of a pony. When that pony was happy or content doing a particular activity, on more than one occasion, a mark would form that was related to that activity. The end result was that the residual magic left over after the mark was created, released endorphins into a ponies system each time they thought about or engaged in the activity the mark was created from. The real beauty of the spell was that it needed only to be cast the one time. Every pony in existence at the time the spell was cast would pass the magic on to the next generation. Upon reading further, Starlight came upon a section detailing the spell necessary to remove a "Mark of Talent". According to what was written here, if by some chance a pony was unsatisfied with their mark, it could be removed using this spell. Allowing another mark to form triggered by the same formula outlined above. Not that the unicorn mages thought this a possibility but they did develop it, as the book put it, just in case. Starlight had found everything she had come for. It was time to go. As it was getting late, she decided to leave first thing in the morning. What she had discovered was a revelation. She had found the lost unicorn settlement and discovered the magic and origins of cutie marks. She realized that ponies were not being allowed the freedom to be who they wanted. They were brainwashed by their cutie marks, made to believe that whatever their cutie mark represented, was what they were destined to do. They were, in essence, slaves to the marks they were given. No, Starlight thought, This is going to change. I'm going to continue what these unicorns started, she promised herself. She was going to learn from their mistakes and, one step at a time, give ponies the chance she never had. No longer would a pony with a bakers cutie mark be forced into being a baker. A pony with a radish cutie mark would not have to be a farmer if she didn't want to. Without cutie marks, all ponies would be equal. Yes, Equal, Starlight thought, what a good, honest word. She would use this new magic she found in these books, free as many ponies as she could from oppression and eventually, spread the message of equality throughout all of Equestria. With that, she packed up her books and started to leave the underground chamber. She paused as she passed the gold unicorn statue. This is my foundation, she thought. With the bits I can get for selling this statue, I can fund a new colony. With the cutie mark removal spell, the new citizens of my village will live life for the first time in centuries, free of the cutie marks that have oppressed them. Starlight picked up the statue in her magic and took it with her out of the chamber. The next morning, as the first rays of the sun woke her from another peaceful night's slumber, Starlight packed up her stuff and, finding room in her saddlebags for her new treasures, filled her canteen and headed out for Las Pegasus. According to her map it was only a day's walk from here. I'm not going to build a new sanctuary on the bones of the old, Starlight thought as she looked down at the twisted piece of wood she had been using to help her walk. As she did, an idea popped into her head. You're coming with me, she said. I've got a very important job for you. As Starlight left the ruins of the unicorn city she thought, I'm going to start fresh. I'm going to start new. I'm heading north. I'm going back to Manehattan. The population there is so large, there are bound to be plenty of disenfranchised ponies willing to join me in my quest. And with that final thought and a new feeling of purpose, Starlight, her head held high, left the ruins behind her and began the next chapter in her quest. Author's Note Special thanks to Diannaria for pre-reading this chapter.
Promises promisesStarlight Glimmer was a young pony with a bright future. A unicorn born to a good family in the city of Canterlot, the capital of Equestria, she was blessed with all the advantages a pony could have. From as far back as she could remember, Starlight was always fascinated with magic. She wasn't what anypony would call a natural at it but even as a filly, she was dedicated and enthusiastic about learning it. She spent more time studying and practicing magic than she did playing with her friends. All of that hard work boosted her to the top of the class in the study of magical arts. A fact that her teachers did not fail to notice. One of the happiest times for young Starlight was when she got her "cutie mark". Being taught, as young ponies were, that your cutie mark was a sign of a pony's "special talent", Starlight was sure that her cutie mark would relate to magic and she was right. Hers was a bi-colored star and what looked like two swirling magical auras. Encouraged by her mark, she threw herself even deeper into the study of magic and was rewarded one day with an invitation to attend "Princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns". A school that every young pony dreams of attending. Life at this point could not be any better for young Starlight but this was all about to change. You see, Princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns was for "gifted unicorns", ones who show a special talent in the magical arts. Not unicorns that just study hard. No matter how much time Starlight spent in the library studying spells or how many sleepless nights she spent practicing her casting ability, the teachers soon came to see that her abilities were not advancing as quickly as the other students. Because of this, poor Starlight soon became the target of some of the meaner students in her class and having a magic themed cutie mark just made it worse. While many ponies remember how badly it hurt to be called a 'blank flank' when they had not yet gotten their cutie marks, that pain was nothing compared to how Starlight felt when her classmates started asking if she "just painted that cutie mark on" and calling her a "pretender" among many other hurtful names. One especially mean young stallion even went so far as to tap her horn, laughing as he did, asking if she was really a unicorn or if she just made that horn and glued it to her forehead. She spent many a night crying herself to sleep, cursing what she came to think of as the "cutie mark lie". An empty promise of talent. She often asked her parents "What's wrong with me?" Her parents, feeling so badly for their daughter, had only consolation and sympathy to give. "Oh Starlight, there's nothing wrong with you sweetheart. Cutie mark magic is one of the least understood in all of Equestria. It's up to each pony to find out how their cutie mark relates to them. Some ponies understand right away how their mark inspires them and for others it often takes more time to discover it. We wish we had better answers for you." Though kind and meaning well, Starlight could not take any comfort in her parents words. It's very hard, she thought, not knowing where you fit in. Then, if things couldn't get any worse for Starlight, on the last day of class before the semester break, she was called into the headmasters office. He informed her that she was being expelled from the school. The headmaster was gentle and kind explaining it to her. Although far from one of his favorite duties, he did have a lot of practice. After all, the dropout rate for this school was rather high. But poor Starlight was unconsolable. She was in shock! She had worked so diligently, studied harder than any pony else in her class. Why was this happening to her? Starlight was so full of emotions, sadness, disappointment and anger, all swirling around in her head, that she felt like she was looking at herself from down a long hallway. She was startled back to reality by the headmaster who was calling her name and lightly tapping his hoof on his desk. "Miss Glimmer, miss Glimmer, can you hear me?" he called. "I'm sorry, I truly am. I know this comes as a shock to you. I've waited until the end of the semester so you will have some time to adjust. It's already been arranged for you to resume class next semester in your old school." Wiping the tears from her eyes, Starlight composed herself as best she could. She then asked the headmaster, "B-But why? H-Have I not studied hard, p-passed all my exams? Why is this happening to me?" The headmaster, using his magic, removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes with his hoof before continuing. "I'm sorry miss Glimmer. Although your grades were acceptable academically, it's not enough to just study hard and learn the spells. This school was founded to train the most gifted unicorns in Equestria to focus their natural talents in magic beyond what can be learned just from books. You see, although you are a good student, you just don't have what it takes to progress to the next level. It's nothing to be ashamed of," the headmaster continued, "some ponies just have a special talent for magic. I'm sure your talent, whatever it is, will become apparent to you in time." With this, Starlight was dismissed. Her head low, she cleaned out her locker and went home. You would be hard pressed to find a more dejected pony in all of Equestria. Returning home, Starlight refused to leave her room for days. Nothing her parents could say had any effect on her. Nopony came to visit her because what friends she did have were not what one would call close. Starlight was a dedicated pony you see, and she spent most of her time with her studies, in the company of books and not socializing with friends like her peers did. She didn't blame them, it wasn't their fault. Why would anypony want to come see a failure like her? A week went by before Starlight came out of her room. She was done feeling sorry for herself. That was not who she was. She had a plan and she was determined to put it into action. Her cutie mark had set her up for failure. What was a cutie mark anyway but a brand, a way to make a pony feel special, to single them out from the rest. What good did that do? As far as she was concerned, it did not do a bit of good. In fact, Starlight thought, the root of all trouble in Equestrian society could be traced back to those infernal marks. Individualism, Starlight thought, causes disharmony. In sameness, there is peace. Where did these marks originate? Did ponies always have them? These questions were at the forefront of Starlight's mind. Questions she was determined to get answers for. Starlight remembered one of her teachers at Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns talking about a land far to the west where strange ponies practiced unusual magic. Perhaps she would find her answers there. If nothing else, it was a good place to start. Her parents were distraught when Starlight told them she was leaving but nothing could deter her from the path she had chosen. There was nothing left for Starlight in Canterlot. With a tearful goodbye and no small amount of trepidation about the journey ahead, she packed what small supplies she thought she would need in her saddlebags and left the very next day.
A Glimmer of hope"Days." Starlight muttered to herself, "It's been days since I left Manehattan looking for this old settlement I read about. One full day by train just to get to Las Pegasus and two days from there on hoof." As she trudged through the seemingly endless expanse of the San Palomino Desert, Starlight thought back to that scroll she found in the Manehattan Museum of Antiquities. She knew she was not supposed to have read it. It was tucked away in the restricted section of the archives, labeled "Not For Public Display" along with various other ancient unicorn artifacts. She remembered thinking it odd that this museum would have any unicorn artifacts to begin with. Although now a multicultural city, Manehattan was, long ago, a traditional earth pony settlement. Who would have thought that the search for an old unicorn town would unravel one of the best hidden secrets in Equestria's past. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Four days earlier... Upon arriving in Manehattan, Starlight Glimmer immediately set about finding one of the many museums a city of this size probably had. All it took was a trip to the nearest hotel and a polite conversation with the concierge there to find out that there were three museums in town. Hotels were a wealth of information. Starlight giggled to herself. All one had to do is be polite and just about anything you needed to know about a strange place would be right there for the asking. One museum she disregarded straight away. The Museum of Modern Art. Starlight knew there would not be anything of value to be learned there. That left two yet to explore. The Royal Manehattan Museum and the Manehattan Museum of Antiquities. Starlight went to the Royal Manehattan Museum first because it was the closest. One look around told her that this place was not going to have what she was looking for. Still, she was already here and she was not one to leave any stone unturned in her hunt. When she located the curator, Starlight asked her if she had any information about any ancient unicorn ghost towns. The curator squinted her eyes and said, "Hmmm, a ghost town you say? That was once populated by unicorns? I'm sorry. As you can see, this museum specializes only in artifacts and memorabilia related specifically to the princesses and their rule. Our main visitors are children on field trips from the local schools. The princesses are so very popular with the young ones." she giggled. "Have you tried the Manehattan Museum of Antiquities dear?" the curator asked. "They would be the ones to have information about anything that is as old as what you are interested in." Starlight thanked the curator for her help and set off for her last stop. She thought, I sure hope I can find something there, it's my last lead. Manehattan is a large city and difficult for a newcomer to navigate but Starlight has always been a determined and resourceful mare so after asking a few different ponies for directions, she successfully arrived at her destination. Upon entering the museum, Starlight instantly knew that if any place had the answers she was looking for, this would be it. Looking around, she saw the skeletons of manticores and griffons displayed in ferocious poses and she was amazed at the skeleton of a huge dragon suspended from the ceiling. There were ancient pony weapons, clothing and household items in glass covered displays. There were even full scale dioramas showing life in early Equestria. But no caveponies. she giggled to herself. After looking about at the curiosities, she finally located the pony she was after. Upon approaching him, the curator, a light blue coated earth pony with greying mane and tail and sporting a pair of thick glasses, was eager to answer Starlight's questions. Starlight started with the ordinary. How long has this museum been here, did they have more artifacts that were not on display, how far back in history did the artifacts go and many more. She then snuck in the question she had really come here to ask. "What about old settlements," Starlight asked, "Would you have information about any of those?" "Of course!" He answered, obviously very happy to find some pony as interested in Equestrian history as he was. "What about an ancient unicorn settlement," Starlight asked, raising an eybrow in a very nonchalant way. "Supposedly abandoned since before Princess Luna was banished to the moon?" "Well," the curator replied, peering over the top of his glasses at the young pink mare, "If we had any information about an old unicorn settlement, it would be in the archives." He continued. He turned his head back as he walked away toward another area of the museum. "We don't have a lot of artifacts relating to unicorns here." Starlight trotted forward, quickly catching up to the older stallion. "For many centuries," the curator continued, "Manehattan was populated almost exclusively by earth ponies. As such, our displays and artifacts are mostly earth pony related. But let me go and have a look in the back. Please wait here, the archive section is not open to the public." And off he went, passing through an area that was roped off and marked with two signs. One that said "Administration" and another that said "Archives". That left Starlight alone with her thoughts. This was the closest Starlight had come to to finding the ancient city she had heard about since she left Canterlot. It took all of her willpower to restrain herself from following the curator in the back to help him look. Starlight decided to wander around the area looking at the exhibits to keep her mind from spinning out of control. She found herself in front of a fair representation of what was labeled on a small brass plaque as "A typical day in medieval Equestria". What Starlight saw was a life size, three dimensional reconstruction of an ancient earth pony village which included a number of ponnequins wearing funny costumes similar to what she used to see in "Hearth's Warming Eve" plays when she was younger. These ponnequins were posed doing what ponies still did today, trading items at stalls and talking among each other but in a replica of a more primitive looking village with dirtier streets and poorly constructed buildings. Deep in thought, Starlight was startled when she felt the light touch of a hoof on her shoulder. "Miss," the curator said, "Sorry to startle you." The curator had apparently returned. He was wearing what Starlight thought was a puzzled expression on his face. "I-I'm sorry miss, the curator continued, clearing his throat. "We don't have any scrolls that make mention of the ancient unicorn settlement you were inquiring about in the archives." he said. "M-May I ask what made you think we might have any such documents?" More than slightly puzzled by the obvious discomfort the curator was in after returning from the archives section, Starlight proceeded to tell him what she knew. "It was something I overheard two of my professors talking about one day while I passed by the teachers lounge back in Canterlot." Starlight said. "They were talking about some old cult, formed just after the unification, that was made up of unicorns. Ones who did not want to follow the new laws laid down by the princesses." "Apparently," she continued, "From what I could make out of the conversation, these ponies wanted to return Equestria back to the way it was before the princesses arrived. They believed that unicorns were responsible for raising the sun and the moon and when that task was taken from them, they lost their prestige and power. The last thing I overheard," Starlight continued, "Was that the cult was disbanded by earth ponies. Since I was already in Canterlot when I heard this story, I first looked for any information there. When I found no record of anything like this in the central archives, I thought to look in the oldest and largest earth pony city since the story mentioned that earth ponies were responsible for breaking up this so called cult." "Well", the curator said, "That is a curious story. "And you came all the way out here just to see if it were true? I'm sorry your search did not bear any fruit." he continued, "But it was probably just the plot from a book that your two professors were discussing. I'm afraid you've wasted you time." Starlight was more than a little suspicious at the curators behavior. He was acting like a foal caught steeling a sweet from the store. And what did he just say about scrolls? I never mentioned scrolls. Starlight thought. She decided to play along. "Yes, it does seem likely that what I overheard was, like you said, probably just a story." she replied. "And since I have come up with nothing, I guess it's time I return home." Starlight turned away from the curator and started looking around at all the items on display before continuing. "You do have an impressive museum here and since I traveled all the way from Canterlot, there's no sense going home until I have seen all your wonderful exhibits." "Yes! Of course!" The curator said. Obviously relieved to change the subject. "Please, enjoy. There are many exciting..." the curator went on, pointing out different things to Starlight, seeming extremely relieved to have something other than the unicorn settlement to talk about. After the impromptu tour, the curator excused himself. It was getting late and he said he had some things to take care of before closing. "Oh, no problem. Thank you for the tour and all the information!" Starlight said. "I just want to see a couple more things and then I too, will be on my way. Thanks again for all of your help!" And with that, the curator disappeared back into the administration area while Starlight, pretending to look at some funny hat that resembled a cup of chocolate pudding, waited until he was gone before putting the next phase of her plan into action. Looking around to be sure she was alone, Starlight then ducked under the red velvet ropes that separated the early pony village diorama from the visitor area. Quickly making her way to one of the replica homes, she tried the door hoping that the designers were accurate and realistic in their reconstructions. Yes! Starlight thought to herself. The door is operational. She quickly opened it and went inside, closing the door behind her. Now all I have to do is wait. She said to herself as she got as comfortable as she could in the unfinished interior of the replica home.
Bingo!It was hard for Starlight not to fall asleep, tucked in as she was in the dark, cozy replica home but she knew she needed to stay alert. She waited patiently in her hiding spot for an hour or so after the museum closed and in that time, she had not heard a single hoofstep. Time for me to go, she thought, I'm fairly sure everypony has gone home for the day. Even so, as Starlight carefully exited the replica house she remained very quiet in her movements. Starlight knew the curator was keeping something from her. He was far to anxious when he had returned from the archives. That and she thought he slipped up when he mentioned not having any scrolls. Starlight never said anything to him about scrolls. He was hiding something and she knew it. Starlight carefully went through the roped off area to the archives section. Upon reaching the door, she read a large sign painted on it. EMPLOYEES ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT She tried the door, it was unlocked. That's rather curious, she thought. why would the curator leave this door unlocked? Especially if there was something in here that he was trying to keep secret. Maybe I'm all wrong about this. Starlight found her mind beginning to fill with doubts about what she had thought was suspicious earlier. Well, since I have already come this far, Starlight thought, I might as well see it through to the end. Slowly opening the door so it would not make any noise, she cautiously went inside. The room was large, about the size of two average ponies houses put together. There were no lights on and the only illumination came from a skylight overhead. The area was cast in shadows. Starlight thought, It's awfully dark in here. Closing the door behind her so no light would escape, Starlight lit up her horn so she could see. The room was full of shelves that dominated the space. They were loaded with relics consisting of old domestic items like pots and pans, furniture, some costumes and farming tools. There was a reading desk in one corner and next to it, another door. Starlight started down the isles, looking for something, anything that might be a clue. Coming close to the end of the room, she turned the corner and almost jumped out of her skin as she spotted what appeared to be half a dozen ponies standing together in the shadows near the reading desk. "Ahhh!" she cried out. With her hoof over her heart, trying to keep it from exploding out of her chest, she tried to slow down her breathing and looked more closely at the group of ponies who had not moved or uttered a word since she had seen them. Ponnequins. They were just a collection of unused ponnequins. Starlight, you silly mare. Why must you be so jumpy! she admonished herself. With her breathing returning to normal, Starlight continued with the task at hand. She glanced at the door near the reading desk. It had writing on it similar to that of the archives door but in bold, red letters: RESTRICTED ACCESS This looks promising. Thought Starlight. Looking at the door, the first thing that caught her attention was the old and rather large padlock securing it. Now, she thought, What is so valuable that it needs to be locked up in a room within a room? Being a city of mostly earth ponies and seeing how the curator was himself an earth pony, he had locked the door with a old fashioned mechanical lock and not a spell. Easy-peasy. Thought Starlight. She enveloped the lock in her magic aura and quietly whispered "alohomora" but nothing happened. It was worth a try she thought, slightly amused with herself for even considering such a thing. Bringing herself back to reality, Starlight tightly closed her eyes as she tried to picture what the internal mechanism of the lock looked like. Straining with concentration, her tongue starting to poke out of the corner of her mouth and beads of sweat popping out on her forehead, she manipulated the parts within the lock. Within seconds the lock made a loud "click" and was open. Startled by the noise of the lock opening, her ears flattening against her head, Starlight froze in place, listening for the sounds of hoof steps approaching. After hearing nothing for a couple of tense minutes but her own heart thumping, trying to beat it's way out of her chest, she proceeded to open the door and go inside. "And my teachers said I was not good enough to remain in their oh so precious school. Harrumph! I popped that lock probably faster than any of them could." She whispered to herself with more than a little pride in her voice. The room behind the door was so small, Starlight could illuminate the entire area with the light from her horn. It was not much bigger than a closet. Against the far wall was a series of shelves and besides some old jewel encrusted items, rolled up tapestries and other stuff Starlight was sure wasn't related to her search, there was a chest, about the size of a foal. Written on the lid was: "Not For Public Display!" It was secured with a lock similar to the one on the door of this room and Starlight, being a fast learner and now familiar with this type of lock, quickly had it open and lifted the lid. Inside were three very old scrolls. Carefully picking them up in her magic, she left the small room and took the scrolls over to the reading desk. Using great care so as not to damage them, she unrolled each one in turn, reading what was written on them. The first one had something about a treaty between the griffons and the ancient earth ponies. She set it aside. The second was full of dates and names and some kind of reward or titles. Not interested in this one either, she opened the last one. This one looked more promising. What she read was that there were indeed a group of unicorns that did form some sort of settlement and that these "cultists" as the scroll referred to them, were planning some kind of coup and that a detachment of earth ponies, under orders from Canterlot, raided and disbanded the cult, apparently many years before Princess Luna was banished to the moon. According to the writing on this scroll, which being written in an obscure form of Equestrian was proving difficult for Starlight to read, the earth pony detachment was ordered to arrest all the unicorns and relocate them. Breaking them up into smaller groups and resettling them in different parts of the land. Warning them that they could not re-estabilish their community under threat of imprisonment. Reading on, it looks like 38 mares, 21 stallions and 6 children, all unicorns, were resettled. The unicorns, the scroll detailed, did not offer any resistance. Apparently, the "cult" as the scroll referred to them, was non-violent and accepted the conditions placed upon them. "Incredible!" Starlight whispered, "It's no wonder the curator was so nervous. If this was ever made public, it might prove difficult for the princesses to explain." Tucked inside the scroll was a faded map showing the location of the unicorn settlement. Bingo! Starlight thought. Looking around for something to write on, she found a tablet and a pencil and quickly copied the map. Replacing the scrolls in the chest exactly how she had found them, she closed and relocked both the chest and the door. Starlight made her way through the dark to the front entrance. This place is scary at night with all the lights off and deserted like this. She thought as the shadows from the skeletons on display seemed to follow her every move. After checking to make sure nopony was around, (she did not think there were guards here, but better safe than sorry) she used her magic to unlock the entrance door (I'm getting rather good at this. Starlight thought) and she quickly left, making sure to re-lock the door after she was out. Now safely on the street, she could allow herself to relax somewhat. With the map securely tucked into her saddle bags, she would find someplace to sleep and in the morning, buy whatever supplies she needed and make her way to this place she hoped would have some answers! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back to where we started... Two days, Starlight thought. I've been wandering alone in the desert for two days and as she shook her canteen, hearing barely anything slosh about inside it, I'm almost out of water. I'd better find something soon or I'll end up like these tumbleweeds that I see, just another dried up husk on the desert floor.
Well of SoulsStarlight couldn't last for much longer. It was midday and she had no water left. She was exhausted, sunburnt, (who would have thought ponies could get sunburnt with hair covering their entire bodies?) and in just the last hour she had tripped on a stone and sprained her left hind leg. Starlight was beat. It's been three days now, she thought. Three days all alone, wandering in the San Palomino Desert. After finding a map showing the location of a lost unicorn settlement, Starlight Glimmer headed out to search for it. She had heard that some unicorns had, many centuries ago, developed or practiced certain strange forms of magic. Magic that Starlight hoped would help her understand the origins and purpose of cutie marks. After tracing the story to Manehatten, she found out the location of this mythical unicorn settlement which was, she also discovered, a secret that had been kept from the general population. Starlight was not, at the moment, concerned about why it was kept secret. All she knew was that there was powerful magic in a cutie mark and maybe, just maybe, this unicorn ghost town held some answers. As she made her way along the hard packed sand, Starlight couldn't help but start to second guess herself. Maybe I made a mistake while copying that map. She thought to herself, I should have come across that village already. She paused and sat down. "Ouch!" she exclaimed as she quickly stood back up on all four hooves. "That sand is hot." Starlight rubbed her bottom where it had touched the sun-baked earth. Reaching into her saddlebags, she removed a worn cloak and laid it down, providing a protective barrier between herself and the ground. "Ah," she said as she finally had a chance to take her weight off the injured leg, "That's better." How could I have been so stupid, Starlight thought as she proceeded to massage her sore leg. Tripping on a rock. Come on Starlight, she admonished herself, you really need to pay better attention. You're all alone out here and if you're not careful, you could just as easily end up being an unsolved mystery yourself. Having rested as much as she could afford to, Starlight packed up her cloak, checked her map against the compass she bought before leaving Manehattan to be sure she was on course, and continued on her way. Squinting against the sun's glare, Starlight almost missed seeing a rather strange-looking stick poking up out of the ground directly in her path. She stopped to examine it, using her magic to free it from the earth. It was almost the length of her body with a shaft that twisted like a corkscrew and terminated at one end in a perfect fork shape. "What an interesting stick." she said. "Finally a good piece of luck. I really needed something to help me keep the weight off my leg." She picked up the object and, using it as a hiking staff, the way some mountaineering ponies did, continued on her way at a slightly faster pace. Starlight was quickly approaching a small mountain range when she spotted something nestled in a valley between two hills. The closer she got, the more she realized this was some kind of pony-made structure. There was a large pavilion as well as a series of low buildings; At least she assumed that they were buildings at one time. All that was left of them now was a series of weather beaten low walls not much taller than herself and the same color as the surrounding ground. Even though it was well worn from centuries of disuse, the pavilion was still recognizable - thanks to its construction of white marble, which was less susceptible to wear. It had what looked like gold-colored accents in the style favored by unicorn architects. Starlight headed past the pavilion toward the center of the town (if it could still be called that) where there was a short, round stone structure she recognized as a well. With some trepidation and no small amount of hope, she used her magic to levitate layer upon layer of sand and debris out of the hole. As she got deeper, and more exhausted, she started to notice that the sand was getting darker, a telltale sign that there was still moisture down there. "Yes!" Starlight exclaimed. "Success!" She removed a few more layers of sand until she saw real water beginning to pool at the bottom of the old well. Taking a well earned break, she decided to explore the ruins while the well filled itself and the sediment in the water cleared. Walking around the ruined buildings, Starlight noticed broken pieces of pottery, gardening tools and other items scattered half buried in the sand. Things a pony would not leave behind if they were moving. That, along with the pavilion, erased any doubt in her mind that this was the lost unicorn village she was searching for. After an hour spent poking around the smaller buildings, Starlight returned to the well to see how things were progressing there. She was pleased to see a large pool of clear water had gathered at the bottom of the newly excavated well. With her magic, Starlight levitated her canteen down below the surface of the water, filling it. She brought it back up and carefully sipped some. "What a relief!" she exclaimed as the cool water soothed her cracked and dry lips. The water tasted fine. Careful not to drink too much too fast, she spent the next hour sipping and refilling the canteen until she was no longer thirsty. Digging through her saddle bags, Starlight removed a large sack full of oats. Having consumed the last of her fresh food over a day ago, it was all she had left to eat. While somewhat bland on their own, oats were the perfect travel food, light and full of vitamins and minerals. One just needed some water to make them more palatable - which, Starlight was happy to say, she now had in abundance. The unicorn quickly gathered up some of the sticks scattered about and used her magic to start a fire with them. Taking a small pot from her belongings, she quickly heated some water from the well and made herself a nice porridge. After finishing, Starlight noticed that the sun was quickly nearing the horizon. "Time to find somewhere to bed down for the night." she said. She walked over to the pavilion and examined it more closely. It was a circular structure about twenty meters in diameter. Built with a floor about one meter off the ground, it was encompassed by a series of steps made of the same marble as the structure itself. The walls were just smooth marble columns supporting a domed roof that was about four meters high and partially collapsed. In the center of the pavilion stood a dais about half the height of a full-grown pony. Tumbleweeds, sand, and other debris littered the floor. Starlight started cautiously up the steps, watching them crumble slightly under her weight. "Not good" she said aloud. But she made it to the top and carefully walked around the dias, looking for a good place to roll out her sleeping bag for the night. Crack! Starlight froze as she felt the floor under her move with the sound. She looked down to see a large, uneven crack forming beneath her hooves. All of a sudden a section the floor gave way and she felt herself falling! Her hooves flailed in a momentary panic but being a quick thinker, Starlight regained her composure, closed her eyes and enveloped herself with a levitation spell, pausing safely in midair. She she waited a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. When she was again able to see, she noticed the whole area beneath the pavilion was hollow! Just below the earth's surface, an underground chamber spread out before her. Starlight lowered herself to the stone floor and examined her new surroundings. There was a circular staircase that was fixed to the walls and led to a hatch in the ceiling above. Hanging from the walls were several tapestries. They were worn and faded, but with some light from her horn, she was able to make out the various scenes they depicted. All of them featured some variation of ponies grouped together and raising either the sun or the moon. Magic auras emanated from their horns and converged before being directed to the heavenly bodies. Starlight realized that these ponies in the tapestries had horns but no wings. They were not alicorns, as she would have expected, but just regular unicorns! Along one wall was a bookshelf with few dozen volumes left on its shelves. There were also marble tables and benches to sit on scattered around the floor. Everything was covered in centuries worth of dust. In the center of the room was a marble pedestal and sitting on top of it was a statue. It was sculpted in the shape of a unicorn rearing up on it's hind legs. It was slightly smaller than a filly, made of gold with rubys for eyes. The unicorns must have had to leave this place in a hurry. Starlight thought, Otherwise they would have never left all of this behind. It's far too valuable. Starlight decided to explore this place further in the morning. It had been an exhausting day and she really needed to rest. This room had been here for more than a thousand years; it would still be here tomorrow. Starlight carefully made her way up the staircase and using her magic, opened the hatch. From above, it was indistinguishable from the surface of the pavilion. She placed the fork-shaped staff on it so she would remember where it was. She decided to sleep in the open, in the corner of one of the ruined buildings. Gathering up a load of sticks, she started another small fire to keep the cold at bay as the desert got very chilly after the sun went down. Curled up in her sleeping bag near her fire, Starlight drifted into her first good night's sleep in weeks. Author's Note Special thanks goes out to Diannaria and TailsIsNotAlone for helping me see the individual trees within the forest (pre-reading and editing).
Buried TreasureWaking with the dawn, Starlight felt refreshed both physically and mentally. Not only had she located the abandoned unicorn settlement, she had also found a secret room full of books that, she hoped, might hold the secrets of cutie mark magic. She could not wait to get reading. After her breakfast of oats and water, she once again made her way to the pavilion and the secret room she found hidden beneath it. Carefully making her way down the steps, she noted that being locked away from direct exposure to the sun and weather kept them from deteriorating unlike the crumbling building above. The morning sun coming through the open hatch and the broken floor she fell through yesterday was enough to light the chamber so she did not have to use an illumination spell to see. Making her way to the bookcase, she picked out the first book in the lower row. Blowing off the dust she thought, I sure hope these won't fall apart the moment I touch them. Taking the book in her magic, she found that the book, while old and dry, was still legible and not so fragile that it would disintegrate under her touch. Pleased that being locked away down here in a controlled environment keep the books in good condition, she cleared off a couple of tables and proceeded to stack all the books on them to go through. Closing on midday, Starlight was about halfway through all the books in the room. While she had not found any that mentioned cutie marks, she had found two that contained powerful spells that were unknown to her. These she set to the side while the others, as she finished going through them, were replaced on the shelves where they came from. Skimming quickly through these two spell books, she noted that one contained a powerful attack spell and the other had a spell that doubled a unicorns magic output! It further said that the spell was created to allow fewer unicorns than it normally took to raise the sun and moon. There were many other interesting spells in the books that she would study later. Taking a break for lunch, she went up to her campsite. Restarting her fire was a simple matter given her strength had returned and so she set about boiling some water to make some porridge. After lunch she tucked the two books into her saddlebags and returned to the underground chamber. Halfway through the second stack of books, she came across the journal of the leader of this unicorn settlement. It detailed how the group, unhappy with the new role of unicorns in pony society, set off on a trek to form a new settlement where they could live in peace, choosing to find their own path away from the constraints of the new order. The journal further explained that in this collective, each pony would be responsible for one specialized task and also assist in the work common to all. As a small society, the talents assigned by a ponies cutie mark would not necessarily be applicable or needed in the settlement so using an ancient spell contained in another, now forbidden book, unnecessary or irrelevant cutie marks were magically removed, leaving the affected pony a "blank slate" and free to fill a needed job in the community. I must find this other book, Starlight thought. That spell is something I'm very curious about. The journal further went on to say that the ponies that had their cutie marks removed, did so voluntarily, of their own free will for the good of the community. There was even a section of the journal that detailed how they set up everything from the organization and construction of buildings to farming, including the irrigation and planting of crops. "Judging by the dates in this journal," Starlight said, "this place was occupied for over 15 years. It seems they were not only successful but thriving as no children accompanied them when they first settled here but the scroll I read back in Manehattan said there were 6 children among the ponies that were relocated." There was a hoof drawn picture in the back of the journal. It appeared to be a view of this community. It showed concentric rings of houses around the central pavilion and a little ways to the east, there was a very large farm looking like it could produce enough food for double the population. There were even, from what she could tell, irrigation pipes running from a central, wind powered pumping station to all the homes and to the fields as well. Incredible! Starlight thought. What ingenuity they had, forming a completely self sufficient society so far away from civilization. Placing the journal down on the table, Starlight went through the remaining tomes looking for that old, forbidden book. It just happened to be the last one in the stack. "Figures," she thought. On the cover was the title, "The history of the marks of talent" and under that, crudely scratched into the leather cover were the words "cutie marks". The marks of talent, Starlight thought, I've never heard them referred to by that name before. The book which was, by Starlights calculations, published sometime around the unification, detailed the origins of the marks of talent (cutie marks) and why they were created. So this is it, Starlight thought, this is the origin of cutie marks. They were created, they were not natural. Very interesting. According to the book... in the time before the marks of talent, ponies chose whatever work they wanted to do or whatever was available. But they weren't always happy. They did not feel special or unique. That is when a group of powerful unicorn mages, with the approval of the leaders of not only the unicorns but also the earth and pegasi ponies, developed a spell that would create the marks of talent. Using the combined magic from more than one hundred unicorns, The spell was cast, covering all of Equestria. According to the book, a pony would receive their mark of talent after a certain level of maturity was reached. At that point, the spell took note of the mood of a pony. When that pony was happy or content doing a particular activity, on more than one occasion, a mark would form that was related to that activity. The end result was that the residual magic left over after the mark was created, released endorphins into a ponies system each time they thought about or engaged in the activity the mark was created from. The real beauty of the spell was that it needed only to be cast the one time. Every pony in existence at the time the spell was cast would pass the magic on to the next generation. Upon reading further, Starlight came upon a section detailing the spell necessary to remove a "Mark of Talent". According to what was written here, if by some chance a pony was unsatisfied with their mark, it could be removed using this spell. Allowing another mark to form triggered by the same formula outlined above. Not that the unicorn mages thought this a possibility but they did develop it, as the book put it, just in case. Starlight had found everything she had come for. It was time to go. As it was getting late, she decided to leave first thing in the morning. What she had discovered was a revelation. She had found the lost unicorn settlement and discovered the magic and origins of cutie marks. She realized that ponies were not being allowed the freedom to be who they wanted. They were brainwashed by their cutie marks, made to believe that whatever their cutie mark represented, was what they were destined to do. They were, in essence, slaves to the marks they were given. No, Starlight thought, This is going to change. I'm going to continue what these unicorns started, she promised herself. She was going to learn from their mistakes and, one step at a time, give ponies the chance she never had. No longer would a pony with a bakers cutie mark be forced into being a baker. A pony with a radish cutie mark would not have to be a farmer if she didn't want to. Without cutie marks, all ponies would be equal. Yes, Equal, Starlight thought, what a good, honest word. She would use this new magic she found in these books, free as many ponies as she could from oppression and eventually, spread the message of equality throughout all of Equestria. With that, she packed up her books and started to leave the underground chamber. She paused as she passed the gold unicorn statue. This is my foundation, she thought. With the bits I can get for selling this statue, I can fund a new colony. With the cutie mark removal spell, the new citizens of my village will live life for the first time in centuries, free of the cutie marks that have oppressed them. Starlight picked up the statue in her magic and took it with her out of the chamber. The next morning, as the first rays of the sun woke her from another peaceful night's slumber, Starlight packed up her stuff and, finding room in her saddlebags for her new treasures, filled her canteen and headed out for Las Pegasus. According to her map it was only a day's walk from here. I'm not going to build a new sanctuary on the bones of the old, Starlight thought as she looked down at the twisted piece of wood she had been using to help her walk. As she did, an idea popped into her head. You're coming with me, she said. I've got a very important job for you. As Starlight left the ruins of the unicorn city she thought, I'm going to start fresh. I'm going to start new. I'm heading north. I'm going back to Manehattan. The population there is so large, there are bound to be plenty of disenfranchised ponies willing to join me in my quest. And with that final thought and a new feeling of purpose, Starlight, her head held high, left the ruins behind her and began the next chapter in her quest. Author's Note Special thanks to Diannaria for pre-reading this chapter.
