Chapters I Took the Road Less Travelled...
A Split in the River
"So try again! Make new friends—"
Make new friends?
Starlight Glimmer could hardly believe she'd just heard those words.
"Are you serious?" she snarled out.
Starlight wanted to feel proud as she glared at her opponent. Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn "Princess of Friendship", had been cut short mid-speech by her yet again. Her eyes were wide, her mouth gaping at the very idea that she'd been interrupted. Even the dopey-looking baby dragon by her side seemed stunned into silence.
All around them, the foals of Cloudsdale were cheering. They were all too absorbed in the spectacle of the blue filly chasing two colts around the track to even notice the two dueling ponies nearby. None of them even suspected that the race would be cut short for an eighth time.
Eighth and final time, Starlight reminded herself, feeling the flimsy paper of the time travel spell tear just a bit more. Just one twitch and her rival, the pretty, perfect, purple princess was going to lose. Everything she cared about, her friends, her title, all the way down to her cutie mark, would vanish in an instant. This time for good.
And yet, the pink unicorn couldn't find any joy in the scene.
Because perfect Princess Twilight had opened her perfect mouth and managed to spit out the perfect words that were like a branding iron to her.
"So that's your big solution, huh? 'Make new friends!?'" Starlight didn't even care as strands of her purple mane frayed out of place. All she could focus on was the red swimming across her vision. "Just what the hay did it LOOK like I was doing in my town?"
Twilight stumbled away, Spike clinging desperately to her back. The alicorn looked as though she'd just been slapped in the face. Starlight simply scowled as she advanced on the other mare, her hooves leaving visible dents in the clouds as she stomped forward.
"I was making friends! But noooooo, I had to stop because 'The Princess of Friendship' decided I was doing it wrong!" Starlight's hoof jabbed forward, shoving Twilight back another step. "What gave you the right?! Why do only you get to decide what friendship is or isn't?"
"Starlight, please!" Twilight's eyes were wide, desperate. There were tears forming in the corners as she shook her head. "I wasn't trying to hurt you! I only wanted to show you—"
"More of the same pain I'd already been through?!" Starlight interrupted with another shove. "Seeing all my friends leave because their stupid talents and cutie marks tell them they need to be somewhere else?! Well guess what, Twilight?"
The horror on the alicorn and the dragon's face. Starlight smiled and drank it in as she looked back to the scroll again. It still hung together by a few fibers, gripped tight in the teal glow of her magic.
"Starlight, don't—"
RIIIP
"Now it's your turn," Starlight said, releasing the two halves of the scroll.
Twilight didn't react at first. The despair, however, was clear. Tears were already streaming down her cheeks. Spike had grabbed the two fragments of parchment and was pressing them together. As though the spell scroll would magically fix itself.
Starlight just smiled as she turned back around. Her victory was complete. All she needed to do now was—
KRACK-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Starlight completely forgot for a moment what she was supposed to do as a massive blast of wind suddenly tore past her. Her magic barely flared to life in time, catching her with a levitation spell before she was flung from her cloudy perch. Her head was spinning from the sudden shockwave, her vision blurring as she struggled to refocus.
What in Equestria was—
"Twilight! Look!"
That had been Spike's voice. Starlight looked back to the dragon with a scowl, unable to fathom just why he sounded so excited. He didn't even look her way though. His claw was pointing in the completely opposite direction, just a bit below where they'd been arguing. Starlight's pink eyes followed the small purple claw...
"No..."
She rubbed her eyes, unable to believe what she was seeing.
But there it was.
A massive ring of light shining with every color of the rainbow spread below them. And from the center of it all, racing straight up, was a sky-blue pegasus filly leaving a rainbow contrail.
"No, no, no, no, NO!" Starlight shouted, shoving Twilight as she raced for a better look.
There was no denying the evidence before her though. The Sonic Rainboom, the very thing she'd come back to prevent, was unfolding before her. Already, the young Rainbow Dash racing past had a cloud with a tri-colored lightning bolt forming on her flank. No doubt five other, very particular fillies, were experiencing similar events across Equestria.
"This can't... how..." Starlight's mouth froze. Suddenly, the answer occurred to her and she spun in place. "YOU!"
Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, was still standing there. One hoof was covering her mouth, a few last tears reflecting the Rainboom as it faded.
"You did this!" Starlight shouted, startling the alicorn away from her awed stare. "You distracted me! You... you..."
The spell. The time travel spell. She only had to cast it again. Spike still held one half of the scroll in each clawed hand. Though now they hung limp at his sides as he watched the filly Rainbow Dash streak across the finish line.
He nearly toppled from Twilight's back as Starlight's magic yanked the papers from him. Her breathing came in short, shallow gulps as the teal light trembled, straining to realign the torn edges. Starlight's eyes narrowed as she tried to push the parchment back together, desperate to stop the magic she could feel leaking from it like water through a sieve...
"Starlight... please, just stop." Twilight's voice was gentle, calm, but firm. So was the purple hoof laying itself on the unicorn's shoulder. "It's over now, don't you see that?"
"This isn't over!" Starlight shouted, shoving the hoof off. "I can still—"
A sudden wind cut her off. On instinct, Starlight looked straight up, and her heart leapt to her throat.
Hanging above the trio was a bowl of pure, white light. One which was emitting a powerful column of light that fell over Spike, Twilight, and Starlight and began drawing them into the air. Away from the past and all of the pink unicorn's plans. Back to the present...
The same present that she'd just escaped from.
"NO!" Starlight howled.
She pushed, she kicked, she strained every muscle in her body trying to free herself from the light.
Nothing worked.
In an instant, all three of them had been pulled through, and the gateway to the most important moment in Twilight Sparkle's life had disappeared.
Forever.
"Twilight!" Spike could barely shout and cling to his friend's back at the same time, but like so much else the young dragon did he somehow managed. "What are you doing?"
Twilight didn't answer. Not a wholly unexpected result. Spike could already tell that she was trying to move closer to Starlight, both hooves reaching out to the maniacal unicorn.
What made him nervous was the... time stream? Magic? Whatever it was that flowed around them, it felt chaotic. Like a river that had been trying to flow in so many different directions suddenly crashing back together and trying to go one way again.
Making it worse was the fact that he could see what could only be described as a split further downstream. Two shimmering currents of bluish green and those ticking white clocks, flowing in very different directions, with himself and Twilight positioned perfectly between them and approaching very quickly.
More than anything else, Spike did not want to know what getting caught in that split would be like. Unfortunately, Twilight had stopped moving. Her body was shuddering, and he could feel a familiar warmth of magic moving through her as she cast some kind of spell.
"Starlight!" Twilight shouted, through what sounded like a great deal of strain.
Starlight Glimmer was still there. Hovering just a few feet away, staring despondently at the pieces of her time travel spell that lay limp over her hooves. Twilight's magical aura was glowing over her, trying to pull the mare closer. For some reason, however, the unicorn didn't budge.
"Starlight, please! I'm truly, truly sorry that your life turned out the way it did!" Twilight pleaded, hardly seeming to notice as Spike tightened his grip on her mane. "You have to see we can still fix this!"
The other mare lifted her head, simply staring at Twilight. Spike glanced to the side and swallowed hard. The split was getting dangerously close.
"Together?" Starlight's weak voice somehow came through over the din of ticking clocks. "Me and you?"
"Yes!" Twilight had a smile on her face as she nodded vigorously. "Together we can make things better. That's what friendship is all about!"
The alicorn extended one hoof, reaching for Starlight. Spike looked frantically toward the split in the stream again. They'd be reaching it any second, and Twilight was reaching out for this mare that had tried time and again to destroy them.
And she deserves this?
Spike grit his teeth and drew in a deep breath.
Then leaned over Twilight's neck, reaching one claw down alongside her hoof.
Everyone deserves a chance...
If nothing else, he'd learned that much from his time around Twilight and the others.
Starlight, however, was just staring at the two of them. She looked to the side as well, staring for an instant at the fork in the stream.
The hollow smile on her face as she looked back at them sent a shudder down Spike's spine.
"You know what? Fine..." she said, reaching out with one hoof.
Twilight sighed with relief, ready to hook the unicorn's leg with her own and pull her close.
Starlight's hollow smile turned to a sick grin. Spike's eyes went wide as she pulled her leg back at the last moment, leaving nothing but half of the spell scroll hanging over Twilight's hoof.
"What are you—" Twilight shouted.
That was all she could get out before the scrap of parchment flared with purple light. Spike and Twilight both gasped as they were shoved away from Starlight.
What was worse though, and what would haunt the young dragon's nightmares for weeks to come, was the way she was laughing.
"You might have won, Princess," Starlight shouted to be heard over the clocks and her own echoing, deranged laughter. "But that doesn't mean I have to lose!"
That was the last Spike ever heard from her. In the next instant they passed by the split, flowing inexorably down one path and watching helplessly as Starlight Glimmer was whisked away through the other.
Author's Note
Alright! Fielding some incoming questions first:
No, I'm not quitting on any of my current stories or Flipverse. Also no, I'm not starting a whole new verse here.
After watching the Season 5 finale, this idea just wouldn't leave me so I figured I'd post the first half of what I thought up. It's probably not as polished as I'd like, but really this is one of those sorts of fics you write to get out of your system more than anything.
It's not that I hated the Season 5 finale or anything, I quite enjoyed it! I just thought that the "Redeemed Villain" thing was getting a bit played out.
So yeah, will probably come back to this eventually with the second half of the story. One of two possible ones, actually. After all, there's one that the show could have gone with...
Then there's another way it could end that's decidedly darker.
Might or might not post the latter.
Castle of Friendship...
Twilight caught herself looking up at the crystals dangling from the ceiling again. While each jewel was valuable to be sure, what they contained made them all the more precious. It was an unspeakable relief to see each of the pictures they held were exactly as she remembered them.
Check
"Twilight?"
The voice startled Twilight, drawing her eyes down again. Right to a pair of worried green ones that were staring from the seat near hers.
My friends... Che—
"Twilight, yew sure yer alright?" Applejack spoke up again, hopping out of her crystal throne to trot to the princess's side.
Twilight sighed, pushing her mental checklist aside. Even old, comforting habits had their time and place. Sitting at the crystal map, under the worried gazes of her closest friends, was not one of them.
"I'm fine, Applejack, really," Twilight tried to assure the farm pony. "Neither Spike nor I got hurt—"
"Yew know that ain't what I mean," Applejack interrupted.
The Princess of Friendship's wings slumped a bit. Somehow, she'd known the orange mare would want to cut right to the chase.
She knew they meant well. Still, Twilight couldn't help the discomfort she felt with the way the others looked at her. The mixture of shock, worry, and sorrow Fluttershy's eyes held; mirrored almost perfectly by Rarity and coupled with a few brimming tears to boot. Rainbow Dash had been listening with rapt attention, but her excitement over the story had quickly drained near the end. The Wonderbolt hopeful who had seemed on the edge of bragging about the importance of her fillyhood achievement now just sat in a very uncharacteristic silence. Even Pinkie Pie was sitting still, her mane looking a bit deflated after hearing about the final confrontation with Starlight Glimmer.
The room was utterly silent as Twilight's friends awaited her answer. Broken only occasionally by Spike's gentle snoring, the baby dragon having given into exhaustion halfway through the retelling of their adventures. That didn't change the fact that Twilight's stomach felt like it had a knot in it as she lowered her gaze from Applejack's sympathetic eyes.
"I... I'm not sure..." she admitted.
An orange hoof gently placed itself on her shoulder. Before Twilight was even sure what she was doing, her wings and forelegs reached out. If Applejack had any protests to being suddenly embraced, she didn't speak them. She simply patted Twilight's back as the princess drew in a shuddering breath.
"I just... I wanted to help Starlight. She showed me what happened to her and..." Twilight's voice hitched as she struggled to find the right words. "I don't know if it justifies anything but... but she was hurt! She needed help and... and..."
"And you tried." Applejack's voice was gentle. Soothing. "Even after everything she put yew through, y'tried to help her."
Twilight swallowed hard. She managed to draw in another breath.
"I thought it would be like it was with Moondancer," Twilight said as she slowly broke away from the hug. "I'm the Princess of Friendship, after all. But in the end..."
Her gaze was drifting down to her hooves. She could still hear Starlight's final, maniacal laughter ringing through the time stream.
"In the end it feels like I let her down." The words were heavy as they left her mouth.
The unexpected feeling of feathers brushing her back caused her to turn her head instead. Fluttershy was there, a reassuring smile on her face.
"Twi, Ah can git taking yer job and title seriously. Yew've given plenty of baddies more of a chance than they probably deserve," Applejack spoke up again. "But Starlight made her own choice, and yew can't blame yerself fer that. Not after all y'did."
Looking around, Twilight could see the other three gathering around her as well. Even Spike had stirred from his sleep, a mixture of confusion and worry on his tired face. Twilight sniffled a bit, rubbing at her eyes as she nodded.
"You're right," she admitted with a small nod. "I just can't help feeling that if I had one more chance—"
"Well, why can't you?" Pinkie Pie suddenly spoke up.
The earth pony was up on the table before Twilight could blink. Pink hooves were pointing from the magical image of Canterlot and up towards the ceiling as their owner jabbered on.
"Starlight was using Starswirl the Bearded's spell, right? We know where that is!" Pinkie was practically bouncing, somehow returning to Twilight's side without visibly walking. "We could go get it and make the same changes she did—"
Amazing even herself, Twilight managed to get one hoof on Pinkie's mouth and stop her talking. The alicorn did her best not to wonder how she'd managed the feat. She simply shook her head and let out a weary sigh.
"It's not that I wouldn't want to try, it's just..." Twilight could already feel the numbers and magical diagrams pouring through her mind. "Starlight somehow coupled the time travel spell with the Tree of Harmony's power through the map. Even if I could duplicate it..."
She could still remember the parchment and its myriad of formulas. Even as the half that had travelled with her and Spike crumbled to dust. Twilight knew she could copy it, likely fill in the missing portions, possibly recharge the spell.
But no matter how she sorted through the problem in her mind, it only led to one conclusion.
"Even if I could duplicate it, I wouldn't know where or when to go," Twilight explained, putting one hoof on the map. "After getting swept away like she did, Starlight probably isn't even in the same history as the rest of us."
Her leg lowered back to her side. Her friends were looking at her, probably expecting some epiphany. A moment of clarity that would give their friend the solution she sought, and one which Twilight knew was not going to come. All she could do was shake her head as the map continued to glitter.
"There's millions of possible Equestrias out there. One for each way she could have changed the past," Twilight said, just as much to herself as the others around her. "I just hope, whichever one she's in, she's finally happy."
"Alright. For the last time: Who are you?"
"I told you! I'm Starlight Glim—"
BAM
Starlight Glimmer nearly jumped from her chair as a dull gray hoof slammed against the table before her. It was all she could do to stay upright as the owner of that hoof, an earth pony stallion easily twice her size and gray as the stone walls around them, glared down at her.
On instinct, she tried to call up her magic. A feeble warmth in her horn was the only result. The barest remnants of power she had left, the rest of it scattered like the ashes of the scroll that had connected her to the Tree of Harmony. No chance of having enough to cast any spells anytime soon.
If ever again...
The thought sent a chill running through her.
"That will be enough, Ironhide."
A new voice had chimed in. One that made Starlight's ears fall flat. The stallion turned away, giving her a clear look at the mare that had spoken up. Even with the light pouring in from outside after so long and nearly blinding her, Starlight recognized the mare that stood in the doorway.
And she could feel her blood freezing in her veins as she walked in.
"Ma'am, are you sure?" Ironhide asked as he stepped away from the table. "This-this miscreant—"
"Is a pony just like you and me. One that needs our help," the unicorn mare said as she brushed past, her voice filled with so much sweetness Starlight was amazed she wasn't choking on it. "Just give us a few minutes alone, alright?"
The stallion grumbled something that sounded like consent before turning away. Starlight couldn't speak. She could only stare, pleadingly, at Ironhide's equality cutie mark as he marched out the door.
Don't. Don't leave me with her!
CLANG
The door shut. There was nopony left in the room but herself and the other unicorn mare. Said mare was smiling as she levitated a manila folder onto the desk, laying it down neatly before herself and opening it to check the contents.
"Well, it seems you made quite the stir didn't you?" The sugary coating never left her words. She almost sounded like a teacher, eager to praise her student. "Then again, it's not everyday we have ponies dropping out of magic portals. Not even in Canterlot!"
Her smile faltered. Even though it was only for a split-second, Starlight was certain she'd seen it. The smallest frown breaking through her happy veneer.
"Not anymore at least... but that's in the past!" The smile was back in full force, and Starlight could feel her stomach twist at the sight of it. "Let's focus on the important stuff. Just who are you and where did you come from?"
"I..."
Starlight's voice hitched in her throat. Hundreds of possible answers were flying through her head at once. None of them seemed likely to satisfy the pony before her. For a moment, she considered flipping the table and running for the door. Only for a moment, however, as she remembered the huge stallion waiting outside.
"You're not going to believe me... but you have to listen," Starlight finally said, her voice barely a hoarse whisper. "I really am Starlight Glimmer! Just a different one than the one you probably knew!"
"Mm-hmm..."
Starlight's eyes widened as her captor scribbled something down. Something sparked in her chest as she stared at the other mare. The pink unicorn's teeth ground together as she watched the unicorn on the other side of the table. Seething under the feeling of being silently judged by her —
BAM
"It's the truth!" Starlight shouted the table threatening to crack from the weight of both her forehooves on it. "Why won't you believe me?!"
The other mare's smile was gone. Quietly and calmly, she lifted the folder and papers again. Starlight could feel the steam pouring from her nostrils as she watched the other pony walk towards one of the room's blank walls.
"You want to know something?" she said, her voice no longer cheerful. "I want to believe you. I really do."
Starlight nearly slipped onto her face. Her anger was gone, replaced by shock as she turned to follow the mare.
"When I was at my lowest, when I felt like there was no place for me in Equestria, that's when I met Starlight." The unicorn's voice was heavy, like she was fighting back tears. "She gave me a purpose and somewhere to belong. She was my friend, and one that I'd give anything to have back!"
Click
The sound of stone sliding over stone began to fill the chamber. A section of the wall was sliding away, letting light pour into the room once more. Starlight didn't have time to be blinded, however. She was too busy staring at what was on the other side of the hidden door.
A massive wall, one easily surpassed the one from her town. The light of countless cutie marks pouring down from it.
And standing in the spotlight they made, stood Twilight Sparkle. A normal unicorn Twilight Sparkle with a simple, black equal sign on her flank.
"But I accepted the truth. Starlight gave everything to complete our Grand Equalization plan. Poured every last ounce of magic she had into the Harmony Tree to spread our message. She's gone forever..." Twilight's voice had hardened as she walked up to the base of the wall, stopping just short of it to cast a hard glare at her captive. "And even if she did return, she'd never have something as unsightly as that cutie mark ."
Starlight couldn't say anything. She was too captivated by the wall Twilight stood under. The marks of likely every mare, stallion, and foal in Equestria, leaving their former owners branded with her equality mark. Just as she'd always dreamed. Just as she'd been overjoyed to see when she'd landed in the streets outside...
Right before realizing that her own, glimmering star mark was plainly visible.
"Twilight..." Starlight tried to speak again. "Twilight, please listen—"
"Do you know how many ponies like you have tried this? Pretended to be Starlight? Trying to spread some new 'revelation' that cutie marks are anything other than sources of misery?" Twilight was picking something up from a small altar under the cutie mark wall as she spoke. Her smile seemed frighteningly eager as she turned back around. "But, fortunately for all of you ponies that our revolution somehow missed, I have this !"
The purple unicorn was balancing a length of wood in her forehooves. One that split at the end, almost making it look like a large tuning fork. Starlight's fear was forgotten as she raised an eyebrow at the sight of her old "staff."
"Uh... that's just a piece of wood," she said.
"... That's true. For now. I don't have the raw talents that Starlight did in order to make the Staff of Sameness work," Twilight admitted as she dropped it back on the altar. "But that doesn't mean I've stopped trying! And until I do get it working, everypony has been helping to work on other ways to finish what Starlight and I started!"
Twilight Sparkle tapped the wall as she walked back into the chamber. The hidden door slid closed and, almost as though a signal had been sounded, the door back into the hallway swung open. Ironhide was out there, with three other rather intimidating looking stallions accompanying him.
No!
Starlight tried to run, only succeeding in reaching the far side of the room before all four stallions reached her. In an instant, her hooves were shackled and she was being dragged towards the exit.
The whole time, Twilight Sparkle's overblown smile had returned. Starlight could feel the sight of it burning into her mind as she tried to struggle free.
"Take her down to Ponyville with the rest of the trainees," Twilight ordered the guards. "I'm sure the rest of those poor, marked souls will love having a new friend joining their re-education!"
Starlight tried to scream, but they'd already shoved a muzzle over her mouth, preventing it from opening. All she could do was kick and struggle as she was dragged outside.
Out into exactly the world she'd wished for.
THE END
