Chapters The wind whispered through the quiet little town. Sweet silver moonlight smiled upon thatched roofs. It reflected off the brilliant crystal castle that guarded over the slumbering settlement, upon the ground its refracted rays danced.
The scene was as peaceful as it was beautiful. “Such a shame to think about all the ponies who miss out on sights such as this” Starlight Glimmer thought to herself as she examined Ponyville from her grassy perch.
It had taken her quite some time to get herself out of the caves, and even more time traveling to her destination. She had traveled through all kinds of settlements, talked to all kinds of ponies. But no matter where she went she couldn’t help but see pain and strife everywhere she wandered.
“These ponies, they think they’re happy but they aren’t. I can tell” she thought to herself as she continued to scan the village. “Why can’t they see how much pain and strife cutie-marks cause? How… Un-equal everypony is with those stupid things” .
The unicorn took a few deep breaths, forcing herself to relax. Her violet orbs moved to Princess Twilight’s Castle. A host a feelings rose in her: Anger, confusion, distrust, and jealousy all churned in her gut. She was about to break into the princess of friendship’s very home.
The pink pony pulled up her hood and started down into the village. She had been waiting days for the perfect time. Not only was the full moon important for visibility, but she knew as well as any educated unicorn that it was also the best time to perform magic.
There was often an assumption among the lesser educated the a full moon only helped energize dark magic, and then of course there were those who felt that the moon had nothing to do with magic at all. The fact was that the sun and moon both played an integral part in the limitations of a mage at any given moment.
The world and thus the universe around it moved and flowed with magic. Every little thing contained its own strain of magic. The moon and sun of course were no different, and theirs was a magic so powerful that it radiated itself outwards and unto everything it could touch.
What made the moon special was that it did not radiate just its magic alone. The moon reflected the sun and thus the suns magic as well. It was under a full moon that Starlight successfully cast the cutie-mark removal spell. She knew very well what kind of power a full moon held and fully intended to use it to her advantage.
Speaking of… She was extremely close to the castle now. She mentally reviewed her plan, and it was quite a simple, if extremely risky, one. She was to infiltrate the castle, find Princess Twilight, cast the cutie-mark removal spell once more, wait until the daytime upon which Twilight’s five friends would have awoken to find distress letters on their doors and rush to the princess’ aid, cast the spell on them and then hold the whole lot hostage until she had a direct audience with Princess Celestia.
That’s where things get complicated… If Starlight played her cards right, if the new spell she designed worked as it should, then she should in theory have the skill to cast the cutie-mark spell upon the sun princess herself and whatever guards she may have with her. In the chaos she will incapacitate the guards, then present herself and Celestia for all to see.
But of course like all grand schemes it started with the first step which Starlight was currently carrying out. Breaking into the crystal castle was extraordinarily easy; there was practically no crime in Ponyville so Princess Twilight didn’t see it fit to lock her door. Princess Twilight also didn’t see it fit to have any guards or charms protecting her castle.
No, the difficulty in infiltrating the castle was that Starlight unfortunately had to go in blind. Thus she needed to waste precious moonlight trying to find the Princess’ sleeping quarters. Considering the castles size and the fact that there was one singular permanent occupant it was going to be quite the hassle.
Unfortunately for Starlight she found out that at least one part of that assumption was false. After wandering around quietly for about 15 minutes she finally opened a door to what was obviously a bedroom.
She narrowed her eyes trying to adjust to the low lighting. She felt like something was off but she couldn’t place her hoof on it. Perhaps it was the snores that were emitted from the bed, they sounded awfully… Masculine.
Starlight frowned; she was getting herself worked up over nothing! It was now or never! So without a second thought she fired up her horn and put all her energy into the intricate yet oh-so familiar spell.
The scream that ripped through the air was definitely not Princess Twilight.
With a gasp the unicorn dropped whoever it was and turned tail. Running at a full gallop she realized quickly with some horror that she had no idea where she was going. She had been so focused on her task that she hadn’t bothered keeping track, one would think after living in caves for who knows how long it would be instinctual!
The walls seemed to bend and twist as the panicked unicorn ran. Her echoing hoof beats pounding in her ears and the purple and blue crystal colours blurred together in her vision. She became so hysteric she did not see the distinctive purple flash of magic in front of her, nor the purple alicorn that came with it.
She did however, sense the magic burst and shut her eyes as she tried to skid to a halt. The floors in the castle were very unforgiving however and she only managed to slide right into the pony in front of her.
The two wound up entangled on the floor and for a moment they lay like that. Starlight felt fatigued and confused. “Twilight!” a coltish voice called, his cry echoing throughout the halls. Upon noticing the noise Starlight jolted back to her sense.
She and Twilight quickly untangled and faced one another. “Spike! I’m alright! Just stay where you are!” Twilight called out. Starlight gritted her teeth at the purple princess’ sweet voice. ‘The foal doesn’t even see me as a threat to her! Even after what happened last time!’ she thought to herself.
Without even thinking she fired her horn up with haste, drawing upon her massive reserve of power and the power she felt around her. She didn’t have too much time to act so she needed to act now. The last thing she saw before she fired her spell at Twilight was the alicorn’s vivid purple eyes shrink in horror.
The purple mare let out cries of agony as she experienced the horrendous sensation of her cutie-mark being ripped from her. Starlight knew what it felt like; she had to try the spell on herself before she could’ve been sure it would work. It felt like a piece of your very soul was being ripped away. Your inner magic shrinks to a miniscule size and whatever it was in life that gave you purpose was forgotten.
Regardless of that, she knew very well ponies could live much better without their marks than with them. Sure the initial feeling was painful and a bit horrible. But without ones cutie-mark one was free to shape ones destiny as one pleased. The life one had would no longer be dictated but such a trivial thing as a cutie-mark.
Starlight felt fatigued as she finished but maintained her composure. The now dulled alicorn flopped to the floor in exhaustion. Grinning, Starlight then bottled the princess’ cutie-mark. “You know princess I would think somepony like you would take more precautions”, she spoke in the most stable and calm tone she could muster.
Slipping the jar into an enchanted saddle bag she continued to speak as the princess struggled to get up. “After all you must have made loads of enemies, a unicorn and now alicorn of your notoriety and power… Why, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s already groups dedicated to taking you out!”
The pink mare let out a bark of laughter as she watched the other finally stand up straight. The princess opened her mouth when all of a sudden a third voice joined them. “Twilight!” the same voice coltish voice from before rang out.
Starlight turned and couldn’t stop her eyes from widening at the sight of a young purple dragon running up to them. He stopped and eyed her fearfully “Twilight…What happened? What did she do to you?!”
Starlight was quick to answer him, putting on her sweet and caring voice. “Why hello there little one, I’ve never seen a dragon such as yourself before. My name is Starlight Glimmer, I’m afraid me and your… Care taker have some unfinished business to attend to”.
The dragon’s emerald orbs widened. “Star… Starlight Glimmer? You’re the pony who took cutie-marks and brainwashed other ponies!” he shouted accusatorily.
“I liberated ponies from their cutie-marks” she corrected, her voice barely containing her anger and annoyance. She whipped around to Twilight who seemed to be trying to sneak off. Tutting loudly she picked the now powerless alicorn up with her magic.
“Now, now, princess don’t you know it’s rude to leave guests?” she plopped the struggling pony down next to her dragon companion. With practiced precision she pulled a magically reinforced rope from her saddle bags and tied the two up, making sure to add a flame proof enchantment.
When she was finished the rope has a distinctive teal glow to it while its captives struggled in its bind. “You won’t get away with this!” Twilight snapped. “My friends will come and help me”
Starlight laughed “Oh please don’t think I haven’t thought about those troublemakers”. Shaking her head she fired up her horn yet again. She took a deep breath as she repeated the process she had done before, drawing upon her only slightly smaller magic reserves and the magic in the air. This time however she weaved a far more complex spell than the one she cast before. She felt her heart beat faster as she tried to channel the magic and wave it in the correct way.
But instead of firing the spell on Twilight, she fired it upon Twilight’s cutie-mark. With a great amount of effort she then shifted the channel to herself, using the piece of the spell that was the same as her first one she started to remove her own cutie-mark.
Sweet Celestia did it hurt! Her eyes watered, she had to work past this! She was so close to victory and then suddenly her horn winked out. With a gasp the unicorn fell to the floor and all was silent.
After a moments rest the now exhausted unicorn rose to her hooves. Her whole body felt extremely funny, but… In a good way. Her magic reserves starting to come back to life, quicker and larger than ever before! She channeled magic into her horn and it lit up even brighter than before. This enabled her to see her own reflection in the crystal walls.
She gasped at the sight of herself…. No… That couldn’t be possible and yet… Slowly the pink pony extended two beautiful wings. She then turned to her side, making her flank visible. Starlight gasped audibly at what she saw, a beautiful six pointed star surrounded by five others.
She had won .
“You’re wrong!” snapped Twilight. Starlight whirled to face the alicorn, stretching her lovely new wings out. Oh Celestia did that feel good ! One would think wings would need adjusting to but Starlight felt like she was born to have them.
“Oh really? I already told you that your friends cannot help you! Especially now that I have your cutie-mark my magic is stronger than ever. I sense your purpose inside of me. Your drive to learn everything about magic, your natural talent to wield magic, everything about you I now possess inside of me! Even your precious wings! Finally I’m not just a power mage, I can actually do something with my magic!”
“No. You don’t understand Starlight Glimmer” the alicorn responded, her violet orbs bore into Starlight’s with a fierce seriousness the unicorn was not expecting. “You never will because all you care about is power. I knew somepony who was just like you and all she did was nearly destroy herself in the end.”
Before Starlight could respond the princess continued, but with a strange softness to her tone. “Please, I can tell you have a gift, you can do good in this world. You have no idea what having my cutie-mark might do to you! I don’t want to see you end up like Sunset Shimmer…”
There was a heavy pause in the air, Starlight Glimmer’s mouth opened in surprise. ‘Sunset Shimmer’ she thought. She’d been just a little bit older than the arrogant unicorn when the brat was chosen as the princess’ prized pupil.
Suddenly a surge of anger flashed through her like lightening. Starlight could not prevent the words that leapt from her mouth. “Sunset Shimmer is dead!” she shouted, the volume of which could almost rival that of the Royal Canterlot Voice. “You are nothing but a pathetic liar! You are just as unworthy as she was for the position of Celestia’s prized pupil!”
The unicorn spun around, starting to pace furiously. ”I should have been her student! I had all the talent! I had all the power What made you two so special!?
The pause in the air was so silent one could hear even the tiniest mouse shuffle. Twilight’s body crumpled and shifted in slow motion. Starlight had to fight down the nausea that grew in her gut at the horrific sight.
Shutting her eyes the unicorn turned away. Her stomach knotting and twisting as the dragon started screaming in horror. ‘No’ she thought to herself, ‘How could I have done that?! I’m not a murder! I didn’t mean to’ .
Adrenaline surged into her veins, her heart started to pound and her muscles tensed. Without bothering to untie the now traumatized young dragon, without bothering to even spare another glance at what she had done, Starlight turned tail and started running yet again. Faster and faster she ran, as if to try and escape what she had just done. To try and escape all the emotions she had pent up inside of her.
But no matter where she ran she kept stumbling upon the now gruesome scene of the former living princess and her anguished dragon companion. The castle seemed to grow darker and darker when suddenly voices came from all around her.
“Ya’ll are nothing but a dishonest murderer!” shrieked an orange pony with a country accent.
“Applejack!” cried Starlight, skidding to a halt and looking around, but as soon as she stopped the image in the wall disappeared and was replaced by another.
“You’re pathetic! No wonder you couldn’t amount to anything!” yelled the Pegasus with the rainbow mane.
Starlight backed away, eyes wide with shock. She charged up her horn and tried to strike at Rainbow Dash’s image in the crystal walls, all she accomplished was blowing a hole in it. With a yelp the mare first attempted to fly, crashing mercilessly into the ground.
“And they considered me a weak flier!” a soft yet cruel voice rang out mockingly. Tears now flowed freely down the pink mare’s face as she pulled herself up and continued to run.
More and more voices joined them and Starlight could swear she saw the ponies as she ran. Rarity and Pinkie Pie joined the other three in a cacophony of insults and accusations. “I didn’t mean to!” she howled. “I just wanted to take what was supposed to be mine!”
Suddenly she saw a bright and warm yellow glow and instinctively skipped to a halt. Her heart felt like it stopped for it was none other than Princess Celestia herself. The regal white alicorn’s eyes held rage as she stared down the sobbing pink mare.
She stood over the princess’ body, the dragon was now gone and so were the voices of the elements. It was only her and the sun princess now, and for once in her life Starlight wished it weren’t so.
“Starlight Glimmer” the other spoke, her voice was professional but had a strong undertone of rage.
“Please princess I-“
“SILENCE
Starlight felt nothing but horror as Celestia’s horn charged up with powerful sun magic. Her eyes glowed white. The pink unicorn could not find any words so she simply shut her eyes before being hit with the burning magic.
The Path Our Dreams Reveal
Starlight felt as though the world has stopped functioning completely. Shivering the unicorn slowly opened her eyes and found herself in a beautiful pale blue area. It seemed to stretch on for miles and miles and it was dotted with many star-like lights. She looked down and noticed with a lurch that she seemed to be standing upon nothing.
“Starlight Glimmer”, a voice called out. The unicorn jumped and whirled around, she gasped at who she saw. “Nightmare Moon?!” the unicorn cried, scrambling backwards. The other pony did not respond and simply studied her with completely neutral sea green eyes.
The pink mare met her gaze with a stare, taking in the alicorn's appearance. After a split second she noticed that there was something…. Not right about her. For one thing she didn’t have fangs and the regalia she wore was not armour but rather a black and silver set molded not unlike Celestia’s.
“My little pony” the other finally spoke, her voice rich and calm. “I will give you the benefit of the doubt for it is my understanding you have been isolated for quite some time. I assure you, I am no Nightmare Moon, nor do I plan on being her ever again”.
The beautiful dark blue mare approached Starlight who was still cowering some hoof steps away. She walked right up to the unicorn and stopped, her gaze still very neutral. “You carry a lot of pain inside of you” she continued. “This, I can understand from personal experience. But recent events have caused you to doubt your chosen path and your philosophies.”
She paused for a moment, as if to see if Starlight wanted to speak. The pink unicorn however hadn’t moved from her defensive position though she did feel a bit calmer. She looked upon the regal alicorn with awe.
As the new pony opened her mouth to continue Starlight finally found her voice. “Um, who exactly are you?” the pony asked and finally straightened her posture to a slightly guarded sitting position.
To her surprised the other pony gave her a small smile. “I am the princess of the night, guardian of dreams” the alicorn explained pointing a hoof at herself. “It is my duty as such to protect my little ponies from chronic nightmares, to help guide them when they are plagued by fears that they cannot banish on their own”
She swept a hoof slowly and gracefully out towards the area around them. “This is the celestial realm, it is how I can access the dreams of others. When I sense a pony in continued distress I try and see if I can help them”.
Her eyes settled upon Starlight, her smile disappearing. “You have had troubles for quite a few nights, but because of your location and guarded mental state I could not reach you before now. I know of what you have done Starlight”.
The pink pony gulped and for once felt all of her resolve fade away. A thousand arguments popped up in her mind but suddenly they all seemed worthless in the presence of this pony. Instead she feebly tried to continue on the subject of the other pony.
“So uhm… Are you a princess?” she asked. The dark blue pony sighed “I suppose I did forget to tell you my name, but after this I’m afraid I cannot let you delay this discussion any further. I am Princess Luna of the night skies but for now you may call me Luna.”
Starlight’s heart skipped a beat at the notion of calling a princess by her first name, even though she did it for Twilight this regal pony seemed far different. Her ethereal mane seemed to hold the galaxy and for once Starlight felt there was nothing more for her to say.
“Now, the first thing I want you to know is that what you did can indeed be considered quite the crime” Luna spoke. “It is one thing to perform such magic upon a pony who is willing, but to brutally strip not only a princess but five national heroes of their cutie-marks and imprison them is high treason”.
Starlight shrank back down again a surge of guilt taking her by surprise. ‘No’ she thought to herself ‘This cannot be!’ . But a more logical voice in her mind spoke up. ‘Are you seriously surprised? That’s why you ran in the first place, to avoid punishment!’
The rose unicorn sighed. “I… I just wanted to make life better for everypony” she finally spoke. The mare before her raised an eyebrow. “No, really! Think about it, your cutie-mark is a part of who you are yes? But, don’t ponies grow and change? Doesn’t the world grow and change? Your cutie-mark binds you to the pony you were when you got it! By getting rid of your cutie-mark you are free to be whatever pony you desire!”
She didn’t realize until she saw the stern look on Luna’s face that her voice had rose above speaking. She moved to cover her muzzle with her wings and froze, realizing for the first time that she no longer had them. Twisting around she saw with a sinking heart that she did indeed have her cutie-mark and her non-wingless body back.
“Starlight Glimmer” the princess spoke. The mare in question turned back to the other. “I believe there is more here that you are not telling me, do you wish to deny this?”. Starlight paused, anxiety creeping its way into her body once more. What would happen if she did lie? Was she even lying in the first place?
“I… I don’t know princess” she said, figuring it was her best response. Luna’s eyes narrowed slightly. Starlight could no longer face her princess and looked to the ground. “I just… I just wanted to be good, like Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle” she finally said, letting the truth deep inside her break out.
“I always thought if I tried hard enough I could become Celestia’s student. I knew I was powerful enough, I was the most powerful mare in the entire school until Twilight came along. I was even more powerful than Sunset Shimmer… But…”
Starlight turned away from Princess Luna completely, seeking comfort in the star riddled abyss. “But I just couldn’t focus my magic like either of them”, tears started to form in the unicorns eyes. “I just wasn’t good enough! It wasn’t fair! Why did I have to be born with so much power and not be able to use it?!”.
Her voice rose up again and tears flowed down her face. “My cutie-mark clearly says I’m talented in magic! But if that’s the case then why didn’t it give me the destiny I was clearly meant to have?!” she shouted. The unicorn burst out into sobs and slumped over.
For a minute there was no sound but her crying. Then she felt a firm but gentle metal clad hoof upon her back. Instinctively she flinched away and turned to meet the pony who had touched her. To her shock there was nothing but sympathy and warmth in the dark blue mare’s eyes.
“I understand how you feel, to an extent” the pony said. She moved over and sat beside Starlight. The latter felt awed yet again by the power the other radiated, but it didn’t feel like she thought it would. It was a controlled power, a comforting power. This power was almost the very same she felt from the silver rays of the moon.
“When I got my cutie-mark at first I was amazed and delighted. My sister and I found our destinies in places no non-alicorn pony could have ever hoped. For we could control heavenly bodies that took teams of unicorns to lift. Twas truly a remarkable day indeed”
“But as time went on I saw that ponies seemed to shun my beautiful night. I grew envious of my fair sister. I couldn’t understand why they could not see my talents for what they were. I could not understand what made her so much more special than I. I even grew to envy her cutie-mark, thinking that perhaps if fate had been different I could have been blessed with the sun and her cursed with the moon”.
The dark alicorn paused and closed her eyes. Starlight watched her with intense curiosity, never in a million years would have guessed that ponies like Celestia and Luna could feel these kinds of things. She always thought that being an alicorn meant that you were blessed and perfect.
“That is why I turned into Nightmare Moon” the older mare quietly finished. “I let the shadows that fed off of my rage and envy turn me into a monster. It wasn’t until Twilight and her friends reformed me did I realized I was wrong the whole time. It was not my destiny that I needed to curse nor was it my sister. It was simply the fact that I let my emotions over shadow the good things that I had and blind me to the love my subjects and my sister felt for me”
She turned to Starlight who was surprised to see the fire in the other’s eyes. “I would never wish you to turn down the same path” she said firmly. “I beg of you to please consider what I have told you tonight. You are indeed an extraordinary unicorn. Not becoming my sister's pupil does not mean you are worth nothing”.
The alicorn stood and turned to face Starlight fully. “Thus, I will give you this one chance and one chance only. If you wish to redeem yourself and use your abilities for the betterment of Equestria I ask you to come to Canterlot Castle within a months time. I will inform all guards as to who you are and what you look like. You will then be granted a private audience with myself and my sister so we can discuss what will happen to you.”
Starlight could not believe what she was hearing. Her mouth was wide open in shock as she stared at Luna. Before she could recover Luna continued.
“I cannot promise you will not be punished, but I can promise you this: You most certainly will not be executed nor banished to the moon. Trust me I know from first hoof experience what it takes to earn that sentence”.
Starlight realized after a moment that Luna was joking. Despite all the different emotions inside of her she found herself smiling along with the princess. “Th-Thank you Luna… This means a lot to me” she managed to say.
Luna’s expression turned serious and she raised a hoof. “Tis no problem my little pony. Though I must warn you, should you try anything tricky whilst meeting with us, or should you decline my offer I will unfortunately have to press far more serious charges against you. Do I make myself clear?”
Starlight nodded, despite the scary implications of Luna’s words she felt determination build inside of her. The mare in front of her closed her eyes and the world started to warp and disappear around her.
“Remember Starlight Glimmer! There is always a second chance!” called the princess of the night. That was the last thing Starlight heard before she opened her eyes.
The first thing Starlight smelled upon returning to consciousness was apples. Groaning in confusion she struggled to remember where she as. Her dream…. That had been so real! But if she wasn’t in Ponyville then…
With a jolt the unicorn realized she was at a small inn in Appleoosa just a few miles outside of Ponyville. She ran to the window and sure enough, there was the dusty town right in front of her eyes.
She then looked around her room, there were her enchanted saddlebags containing the rope and jar. On the chair was her cloak to help hide her identity… Everything was just as it were before. But despite still having everything she needed the pony turned to the window with a frown.
She had indeed heard of Princess Luna, but she had never paid attention to what she heard. She had assumed it was empty gossip and rumours. But after that dream she wasn’t certain at all what to believe.
She still felt hatred towards Twilight and her friends but now… After seeing yet again how horribly her plan could go wrong she was starting to feel doubtful about it. That combined with Princess Luna’s visit… If that was indeed what happened… Made Starlight want to scrap the plan entirely.
But then what? Princess Luna had said to come to Canterlot Castle within a months time and that she would be able to speak to her and Celestia face to face. But could she honestly trust a dream? Her eyes followed the various ponies in the street as they plodded along.
Suddenly a knock startled her out of her thoughts. Heart racing she trotted over to her cloak and swiftly put it on. “Come in!” she called once she was snuggled in her outfit.
A light gray pegasus mare opened the door and in a sweet voice she said, “Delivery from Canterlot for Starlight Glimmer!”
Starlight felt shocked, immediately she picked up the envelope with her magic and looked at it with wide eyes. The seal on the envelope was unmistakable for it matched the very cutie-mark Princess Luna had.
The dream was true… This was her chance to redeem herself and perhaps even... Become something truly amazing.
With a grin the pony tipped the wall eyed Pegasus pony and ripped open the letter. In due time she will fulfill her destiny. Her true destiny.
