“This is amazing!” Twilight inwardly squeed. Not only does she have the chance to look at Starswirl's PERSONAL NOTES, but she also gets to meet Starswirl himself! “No” she snapped at herself, “Ponyville is in great danger from a wendigo!” she thought, “but he said I can time travel!” She reasoned with herself...
“I think I might just take a small peek,” Twilight concluded after a few minutes of debating it to herself, but deep down, she knew she was going look through 90% of Starswirl's notes, and of course, peeks turned into pages and pages turned into books. Twilight just can't bring herself to stop…
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Years later, princess Luna had returned to the side of her sister. She landed right next to her with a thump and helped her sister to cast the shield spell. Celestia gave a quick glance to Luna before continuing to cast her part on her spell as well. She then opened her mouth and asked, her voice a bit strained “So it’s done?”
“Aye” Luna replied with a nod as she continued to hold the shield in place to protect the ponies from Ponyville. Just then a very familiar pony walked into Luna’s vision from a corner head facing down, outside of the shield. Luna watched in horror as the wendigo looked at the pony and wailed “YOU!”
The pony slowly looked up and stared at the wendigo without fear, and with a pair of very familiar set of eyes, she wore a tired smile as she began to slowly walk towards the windigo. She then slowly said with the voice nopony had before she transformed “yes, it’s me”
The windigo snarled as she said in a dangerous voice “You were my best friend and you betrayed me. WHY!?” That's when it hit the royal alicorn sisters. The pony was, or is, Starlight Shimmer, still alive after all those years! Celestia and Luna can’t believe their eyes as the scene unfolds before them.
The Starlight Shimmer let out a sigh and wore a calm smile on her face as she continued to walk towards the enraged wendigo, she then opened her mouth and replied simply “for the greater good of course”, she said with a smug tone her eyes never stop staring at the pair of glowing white orbs of anger and hatred with any emotion.
Nopony then let out another snarl as she ask Starlight Shimmer another question in a tone cold as ice“ What ‘good’ did you bring honestly?” she scoffed at the mare “You stole MY body, MY studies, MY knowledge, MY LIFE!” she was screaming on top of her wendigo lungs as hard as she could.
“Ah yes, hatred, he did warn me about it, but I owe you at least that much”, Starlight Shimmer said in a understanding tone and a nod, unintimidated by the wendigo that’s standing in front of her as she continued to walk towards nopony a little faster, this kind of behaviour was starting to piss nopony off
“ANSWER THE QUESTION!” Nopony wailed, thunder struck everywhere but was redirected by the lightning rod all across town, the residents of ponyville screamed and whimpered as they hid behind the shield the princesses had cast,all except one... The princesses can just watch what’s happening right in front of them, there's nothing they can do without endangering the innocent.
For the first time Starlight Shimmer laughed, but it’s not a normal laughter. No it's a laugh only the princesses can recognize, the laughter of someone who’s been broken and would accept death at anytime… Hopelessness loneliness…Madness... The princesses widen their eyes as they looked at each other should celestia or luna help the mare? That’s when Starlight Shimmer said in a maddening tone with a matching mad smile on her face.
“Thats for me to know and for you to find out!” Starlight Shimmer laughed tauntingly, as she continued to walk a tiny bit faster towards nopony, snow was starting to fall from the sky as the vindigo let out a cry of hatred, then with all the windigo could she blew a blast of the coldest winds that would put the winds at the crystal empire to shame out of her mouth.
When the blast of cold air and mist settled, all was left was a pony encased with a thin layer of ice, making Starlight Shimmer white from head to hoof 64 hooves away.(32 feet or 10 meters)
‘No living creature can survive such extreme temperature’, the princess thought to herself darkly. The wendigo then looks at the giant dome the princesses had casted and begins to laugh tauntingly herself, making the residents of ponyville shudder in fear except the one before...
“You really think this small dome can stop me?” Was all she was able to manage before hoofsteps made itself audible behind nopony, BEHIND, which means- nopony looked back and so does the princesses, they all saw, to their surprise, Starlight Shimmer still dotted in ice crystals, continued to walk towards nopony not even shuddering from the cold, sickening crunches can be heard emitting from her body.
The wendigo let out yet another angry growl as she turned to look at her murder, Starlight Shimmer still with a smile frozen on her face said through her teeth making her voice slightly muffled “kill me if you can, for him and for you” Nopony did not need to be reminded twice, princess luna and princess celestia can only watch in horror about what nopony was going to do.
Nopony blew again, not as cold as before, but still enough to be lethal. Starlight Shimmer continued to walk towards the angry wendigo anyway, though slower. Starlight Shimmer’s leg suddenly stuck to the ground , the freezing mare looked at her hind hoof slightly caught off guard.
Then to the princesses and the ponies in Ponyville’s surprise, Starlight Shimmer forcefully tugs her leg off shattering with a clang, hind hoof still stuck to the ground as she began to limp instead. She walks without showing any pain on her smiling face 32 hooves away (16F or 5M)
But it’s what inside the hind hoof, or the lack of something that left nightmare fuel for months to ponies and even the princesses...there’s no blood, no bone, no muscle, there’s only silver and nothing else. The same goes for her left forehoof when it got stuck to the ground. The wendigo then blew a little harder at Starlight Shimmer, the mare in turn just had a smile on frozen on her face.
Then she stopped, finally frozen solid after a few minutes of freezing air blowing at her, and two missing limbs. She was just a few hooves away from the windigo. The wendigo in question just stopped her deadly attack at that moment, she walked towards the frozen Starlight Shimmer still with a maddening smile fixed on her face, nopony looked directly at Celestia’s eyes as if setting an example.
Nopony, with the entire town watching, lands a powerful punch filled with hatred straight at Starlight Shimmer’ frozen body. It shatters into thousands of silver pieces and scatters to the ground with clings and clangs. The wendigo had just killed her once good friend, but something caught the wendigo's eyes.
The princesses don’t even dare to lower the shield, but the princesses still have their limits. Darkness was starting to crawl at the edge of their vision, if Twilight doesn't arrive soon, the town will be doomed.
A crack was heard, from the pile of silver that was Starlight Shimmers “body” a stallion’s voice spoke in a unsettling and distorted voice. The voice continued to to speak for about a minute, nopony was so filled with confusion and panic at the time, she failed to notice Twilight Sparkle’s spell was quickly approaching at a rooftop a few blocks away.
Her spell crackling with energy when it left her horn, it zapped through the air splitting the very air molecules in two. Screams of pain rang through the air as nopony was blasted with a spell Star Swirl made. And just like that, the wendigo faded into nothingness.
Princess Luna and princess Celestia looked at each other. Sensing that the danger is over,lowered the shields, and by then fainted, exhausted by the use of heavy magic and covered in sweat. Twilight looked at the pile of silver bits with a confused look on her face as she asked the nearest pony, who’s not either shivering in fear or whimpering on the ground. A mare with a grey coat, a white and gray mane with a pair of cyan eyes.
The mare named Tech told her everything, that’s happened since she was gone, Twilight after hearing that, proceeds to pick up the pieces of the frozen mare. She quietly whispers to no one in particular, “no one was born evil”...
Tech walks up and asks Twilight a question with confusion painted across her face and a surprised tone, “what's going on here anyways, we were just minding our own business and suddenly a wendigo appeared out of nowhere. Discounting the fact that wendigos actually exist in the first place, we still need answers and a conscious princess to calm everybody down…”
The mare pointed at the two downed princess with a raised eyebrow. Twilight after hearing that, gave a gentle push at the mare to give herself some personal space, the mare’s fur feels off and familiar but Twilight dismissed the thought however, she have work to do…
She then cast a amplifying spell on herself as she commanded the entire population to clean up the town, and to twilight's credit,the entire ponyville was clean up within five hours, with all glass windows fixed, snow cleared and everything returning to normal… almost..., give this task of managing the entire town’s activity to anypony and it could easily take up an entire day or two.
The princesses also offered to help, but got shot down by their subjects, once they came back to their senses. Saying that they’re too important to do such task, so Celestia rolled her eyes and decided to go to back to Canterlot, while Luna was stationed here in case of any more accidents…
“Excuse me, princess, but can I have a moment?” Tech asked Twilight with a tilted head. Twilight looked around the town once more to check if anything needs her attention before agreeing the mare with a smile. “Sure, anything you wanted to know?”
“I am curious, what happened when you were gone? You’ve just left us a few minutes, then you suddenly know how to ‘kill’, or at least disable the wendigo. Now, I know you didn’t know how to do that before, because none of this would have happened if you knew the spell pre-wendigo.” twilight was starting to back away from the mare and tech proceed to walk towards her.
“AND you know a mare made completely made out of polyalloy nanorobotics which have never been to ponyville before and seen for that matter, and judge ‘her’ by stating ‘no one was born evil’. so what really happened? Princess?” The mare asked Twilight with narrowed as she leans in closer, not in a mean way but slightly suspicious...
Twilight taken aback by the mare’s thinking and ability to put things together this situation quickly was shocked to say the least. She hastily looked around to see if there’s any bystanders listening. Luna still has not removed the memory from her so with a slightly panicky tone, she answered, “it’s classified?…” Tech backed off with a roll of her eyes before turning and walking away muttering darkly.
Before she was gone from Twilight’s sight, Tech looked at her and said with an indescribable tone, “you are being watched from the moment you set hoof in this town, I suggest you make your decisions carefully in the future… as for who is watching you, and why…” she smiled as she stared into Twilights eyes directly into her soul as she continued mockingly, “it’s classified too, and not by your “princess”, that's for sure...” The mare gave a mocking and slightly familiar laugh as she turned the corner.
Twilight gave chase for some explanation only to find no one there. Only a trashcan and a dead end greeted her. Tech was an earth pony, so she can’t teleport or fly away… Twilight can't help but feel that she knows that mare from somewhere. Somewhere outside of ponyville, but she just can't seem to recall it. She flew away to a location she was sure nopony was, she needs a private moment with the ghost…
The sounds of sorrow filled the forest as nopony laid crying. She was now in her ghost form again, passing through anything she touches, and worst of all, she can’t leave the forest no matter how hard she tried. Something was there to stop her every time, a barrier perhaps- she was not sure. So after a few more tries, she left with a broken heart.
And here she was, at the centre of a clearing, nothing dared to approach. Manticores flew away as far as possible, timberwolves ran away with tails between their legs for no good reason, the forest of everfree had never been so quiet save for the crying from the ghose, devoted of hope…
Sounds of approaching hooves stopped nopony dead. She looked around frantically, trying to identify the source. Angry tears flow down her nonexistent face, a pony with a black robe and a white mask as white as snow, walked into view. The pony’s gender was hard to identify, but nopony didn’t care. She was just filled with anger towards the world, living such happy lives, oblivious to the pain and suffering of others…
“Who are you, and what do you want?” Nopony asked the stranger, her voice showed anger and hopelessness towards the stranger. The pony approaches with a smile, the flowers and grass withering away where the pony’s hoof landed leaving a trail of slightly withered plants behind.
“Promises you heard are nothing…” the pony said in a strange voice as they approach the centre. Nopony stood up to walk towards the stranger only to bump into the pony.
She sat down hard as the pony looks directly into her eyes. Whoever it was continues giving the confused ex wendigo a chill, “I know how it feels, to be alone… To be helpless… Abandoned… BeTrayeD… FoRgOtTeN…” the pony said eyes starting to glow white between the black eyeholes…
“Come WiTh mE…And DeStRoY WhAt YoUr ‘frIenD’ CrEatED… AnD FiNAlLy GEt ReVeNge” nopony was about to ask who was speaking, but somepony called her name nearby. Both figures looked at the general direction of the source as the pony said one final thing before he/she has to go, the pony said in a low and dangerous voice “join me and get what you Truly deserve…” the pony then walked out of sight of nopony disappearing without a trace...
Then suddenly the world stopped, the shouting of her name also stopped. Nopony can feel it, it’s like the world suddenly decided to hit the breaks. Another pony walked into view, a stallion wearing a tidy blue suit with a steel-gray coat emerged from the shadows.
Walking towards the ghost. The stallion had a two tone mane of grey and white. His hair was clean, without a single strand out of place. Nopony took a good look at him… He looked deformed. He seemed healthy with his appearance, but his eyes made him look much older…
“Starlight Shimmer in the flesh, or rather, in the state of a wendigo-” The way the stallion said those words made nopony uneasy. The voice sounded just like any stallion, but… not, at the same time. For some reason Nopony can't seem to bring up any extremely negative emotion towards him, as the stallion stopped in front of her…
The stallion continued without emotion in his voice, “I took liberty of controlling you and your emotion, most of them are not yours anyway, as for the rest you feel right now? Well, I think you deserve to feel them, hopelessness and such… You would need a clear head for this...” the stallion said as Nopony’s world flashed white, when nopony opened her nonexistent eyes, she was in front of where her real body had been smashed to silvery pieces.
“Your body had been buried here by Twilight Sparkle for the time being, you’ve shattered your own body into solid silver, quite a nasty work you’ve done there. I’m impressed-” the stallion tidied his suit with a hoof as nopony took reach out and touch her own destroyed body.
“That’s why I’m here, Star. On behalf of what your friend started, What you created with your mind, I have recommended your services to my...er-” he fidgeted a little as if he was thinking something, only to continue on talking a second later “-employers and they agree with me that you, star still have high potential in you…A burning fire...” Starlight’s world flashed white again, and this time she found herself in her own house before she died, she remembers every detail now…
The stallion then spoke in the same manner as before, nopony looked up directly into his eyes as he spoke, “you’ve proven yourself to be a strong mare by not going insane without someone even remembering you for so long. I think you will not have a hard time to choose, if your interested, just go back to your room. If, however you're not-” the stallion fidgeted a little before continuing “I can offer you a whole new body and a life of fame, rather anticlimactic after what you’ve been through, but I promised you to end your suffering, so-” he paused a last time, his eyes piercing into nopony's soul as his voice became dark “choose wisely”
Nopony bit her nonexistent lips as she asked the stallion: “What, and who are you? What did you do to my head?” She finished her sentence with a flinch for some reason, the stallion in turn shifted a little as he tidied his suit. She then begins to walk towards the stallion, closing her distance so he can look more approachable. As she got closer, the stallion began to twitch involuntarily, he then open his mouth to reply
“I am what you, or rather your mind and body created. As for what I’ve done to your head, I’ve removed the emotion inserted into you when you became a wendigo, by the pony you saw earlier-” The stallion stopped to take a slow breath “-the memory was my fault since your friend was tired of making you suffer for so long, it’s been eating her from the inside since she'd said those things to you.” The stallion finished with a sigh.
Nopony closed her eyes as she made her decision, not knowing what she’s done....
Her eyes snapped open as she sat up on her bed in an instant. She looked around the room and found that she was in her own room, and in her own bed… “I’m alive!” she said to nopony in particular, “alright? I survived then, I love it when I do that...”
She then looked around the room some more and found a window with Celestia’s sun shining through, birds chirping and flying about in the autumn breeze. Drawings littered across her room, she drew them after all. When she was small anyways. She then looked at her forehooves and said in amazement, “hooves, yes, i still have them- voice!”she touches her neck with a forehoof and then touched the top of her head with the other hoof to find nothing. Just her soft and slightly messy mane.
“I could wear a hat,” she said with a shrug. Muffled Voices made itself known to her as she looked around with confusion, she then determined that those voices came from the door. It sounds like somepony was talking downstairs.
She stood up and proceeds to shuffle towards the door, the wooden floor let out small creeks as she slowly walks towards the closed door. She then pressed her ears towards the wooden door as she let out a slight shiver when her sensitive ears touched something for the first time in a while…
“Honey, can you pass me the milk please?” A stallion’s voice called out in a deep and warm tone.
“Sure” replied a mare’s voice somewhere a little distance away.
She then walked around the room looking at her stuff lying around her room, it’s a mess but she can re-organise it- “Good morning~” the mare from before said in a sing song voice as the door from her room flings open revealing a mare who’s levitating a tray with what she assumes was her breakfast.
She was taken aback as her mom walked towards her and placed the tray on her head “you’re my mom… oh my gosh i have a mom!” She said slightly dumbfounded.
The mare tilted her head a little as she said in a slightly confused tone “what’s the matter with you? Of course I’m your mum…” the mare said as she resumes back into the same joy filled tone as before.
“Oh, and this is your breakfast. Your dad made it, so feel free to throw it out the window~” her mom said jokingly as she trotted towards the door. Before she went out of sight however, she turned and said in a reminding tone: “downstairs, ten minutes?” She said with a voice filled with excitement before leaving the room.
She looked at the tray of delicious food on her bed as she asked nopony in particular, ”of course she’s my mum, why is that suddenly surprising?” She then quickly ate her breakfast as fast as possible. Not really very fast, she almost wanted to savour the food... When she's done she proceeds to walk downstairs, her hooves clip-clop as she walked downstairs inside her fairly big house.
She then peeked into the living room, a stallion greeted her with a friendly smile when he saw her
“Ah! Did you like the breakfast I cooked for you?” The stallion asked her who’s still only poking her head through the doorway, she then ran towards the stallion as he finally recognized him half a second later saying “And you’re my family-loving dad!” excitedly as she pounces at him with a squee of pure uncontained joy.
Her dad, who’s caught slightly caught off-guard by her daughter who’s currently hugging him to death.
“Huh? Why are you behaving as if you’ve never seen us before?” Her mum asked as she walked into the living room from the kitchen as she gave dad a cup of steaming tea.
She just smiled and ran out of the house.
The cool autumn air hit the excited mare in the face as ponies walked around the streets, minding their own business as they walk happily through the streets with crunches of the leaves every once in awhile. She then proceeds to run towards a very familiar house down towards a very familiar street, laughing like a school filly as she did.
Russells of the leaves was heard when she galloped along the way, the smell of flowers nearby and the smell of bread a few blocks away. It all made her stop as took a long relaxing sniff before she continued running down the streets. Ponies greeted her by her name all the way as pegasus shifted a few clouds to create a very relaxing shade under the big blue sky.
After a few moments of running she skidded to a stop in front of a normal house with a garden filled with various pretty plants and a stone walkway that leads directly towards a wooden door River galloped towards the wooden door and knocked a few time politely.
A moment later a very handsome stallion greeted her with his best smile she ever saw.
He proceed to speak towards the gasping mare with an enthusiastic tone, “Hello!” he greeted the mare before shoving a toothbrush inside his mouth.
She smiled, and when her breathing went under control she asked the stallion a question with a smile of her own, “Do you ever get the feeling that you’ve forgotten something really important?”
The stallion then put up a thinking face as he said a few moments later with a slightly muffled voice, ”yep”.
She asked the stallion again with a bigger smile than before, “are you just saying this because you’re scared of me?”
He paused for a moment then continued with a simple “yep” again.
She then put on her best, sweetest smile as she gave him a kiss on the cheek saying “I love you”.
“Yep,” the stallion said again before quickly saying, “I mean, love you too,” before she ran away laughing with joy. Then suddenly the world stopped, the ponies on the street also stopped.
She can feel it, it’s like the world suddenly decided to hit the breaks. Another pony walked into view, a stallion wearing a tidy blue suit with a steel-gray coat emerged from the background. Walking towards the frozen mare.
The stallion had a two tone mane of grey and white. His hair was clean, without a single strand out of place. She took a good look at him… He looked deformed. He seemed healthy with his appearance, but his eyes made him look much older…
“Here you are, ‘nopony’ in the flesh” The way the stallion said those words made her uneasy. The voice sounded just like any stallion, but… not, at the same time. For some reason River can't seem to bring up any emotion towards him.
As the stallion stopped in front of her…” I take it that you like your new life then?” The stallion asks the still frozen mare who can’t respond, he then continued as if he’s not expecting an answer anyway. “I welcome to your new life,” the stallion nodded towards her without showing any emotions,she who in turn just stares, unable to do anything else.
“As I’ve promised, here’s your new home,” the stallion looked around and after a few seconds. He said coldly… “The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world, I wish I could do more than keep an eye on you, but I have agreed to abide by certain... restrictions,” He then walk closer to her and said close to her ear:
“Well... now... listen carefully, my dear. When your time comes round, I will be there to get you… In the meantime, this is where I get off,” The stallion said before he walks away. He adjusts his tie, and walks into a white opening… the world resumes is if nothing has happened, she looked around in confusion as she tried to remember what happened… the walk from home was spent thinking about what happened, with an oh-so familiar feeling of forgetting something…
