Starlight's Dream Therapyby Yosh-E-OChaptersChapter 1 - Ghosts of the PastChapter 2 - An Unloved FoalChapter 3 - First FriendChapter 4 - The Forgotten FillyChapter 5 - Path to InequalityChapter 6 - The Vengeful MareChapter 7 - Starlight's EpiphanyChapter 1 - Ghosts of the Past“Hello…?” wondered Starlight Glimmer as she found herself in a dimly lit void. *** The periwinkle-colored Unicorn trotted onward through the emptiness. The only sound being that of her hooves clacking upon an an invisible sidewalk. SHING Starlight used her magic to cast an illumination spell. “What the…?” she wondered as she found herself surrounded by numerous, pitch-black colored ponies. “Hey!” she panicked. “Where am I?” No pony answered. They just carried on as if Starlight wasn’t there. “Hello?” she cried. “What’s with every pony?” SHING “What the…?” gasped Starlight as she found herself magically bound. “You were supposed to be keeping an eye on her!” snapped a mare from behind Starlight. “I was busy!” growled a stallion. “Doing what?” asked the mare. “Does it matter?” snorted the stallion. Starlight felt her heart pounding as the two ponies bickered. There was something about it that seemed unpleasantly familiar. “…Let’s just get her back in her room,” stated the stallion. “You’re so lazy,” remarked the mare. “Can’t even spend time with ‘your’ daughter.” Starlight gasped upon hearing the cold way in which the mare referred to her as the stallion’s ‘daughter’. “And what does that say about you?” countered the stallion. “You’re ‘her mother’ “I don’t have time for this,” stated the mare. “Whoa.” Gasped Starlight as she felt herself being magically lifted into the air. THWUMP! Starlight suddenly felt herself tossed hard upon a bed-like surface. “There,” the mare said. “Your father will come get you when it’s time for dinner.” KA-THWUMP! CLICK! Starlight looked in the direction of the sound in time to see that a door had just been slammed shut and quickly locked from the other side. “NO!” she cried while dashing with all her might towards where she saw the light fade into total darkness. BAF-CRIK! “OUCH!” groaned Starlight as she found herself quickly smashing against a hard, wooden surface. The pink Unicorn felt tears begin to form and stream from her eyes. She then noticed herself whimpering upon coming to a sudden realization. One that she felt familiar, awful, and desperately wanting out of. PWIF-OOM! “ENOUGH!” proclaimed a strongly authoritative voice. Starlight pulled her hooves from her sobbing eyes to see that Princess Luna had entered into wherever it was she had been locked into. “Starlight Glimmer,” stated Princess Luna. “I can bear to see these nightmares no more and have come to intervene.” “Nightmares…?” wondered the Unicorn who now saw herself dressed in an untidy onesie while feeling very unclean. “This is just a dream?” “It is,” replied Luna. “And it isn’t.” “…,” Starlight gazed towards Luna with confusion. “Allow me to explain as best I can,” stated Luna. “This is far from the first time you’ve dreamt of this situation, correct?” Starlight didn’t like the way she was feeling. Foul smells filled the air while her anxiety made her tremble. “…No,” she moaned. “But, why? Why do I have these dreams? Why do I feel like they are more than just dark thoughts haunting my mind from what I did to that town? To Twilight and her friends?” Luna used her magic to lift the foal-sized Starlight from the confinement of the crib she had been placed into. She then went about creating a neutral space with her dream powers that returned Starlight to normal and put them both in a state of levitation within the night sky. “Your nightmares do not have anything to do with the town, nor Twilight,” said Luna with a sigh. “They are derived from memories deeply embedded within your mind. Memories you suppressed, but still torment you as the memory of Nightmare Moon once did to me.” “I don’t understand,” said Starlight. “What do you mean by ‘suppressed memories’?” “Since returning to my duties of watching over the dreams of ponies,” replied Luna. “I’ve noticed how there are those that cannot be remedied simply through shining light on that which is afflicting the dreamer.” “I’m sorry, princess,” said Starlight. “I still don’t understand.” FWOOSH! With a gesture of her hoof, the blue Alicorn caused a series of doors to appear around both herself and Starlight. “Behind these doors lie the dreams of ponies to whom I’ve been able to talk through whatever it may be that is causing them disrupted slumber,” stated Luna. “Each were able to recognize what they needed to do to end their nightmares once I stepped in and brought light upon what they perceived as darkness.” “What does this have to do with me?” asked Starlight. “I’ve been having these kind of dreams ever since I first moved into ‘The Castle of Friendship’ with Princess Twilight and Spike.” “I know You have,” acknowledged Luna. “I’ve observed them and now come to help do what I can to assist in purging such inner torment from your mind.” “But…,” trailed Starlight. “Didn’t you just say this had nothing to do with Twilight, or the town of ponies I brainwashed?” “That I did,” replied Luna. “However, as I’ve learned myself, some nightmares remain latent until certain events occur. For you it was embracing true friendship that has managed to open up much of what you unknowingly sealed away to protect yourself. Now we must journey through your deepest memories through the dream world in order to finally put an end to what created the Starlight Glimmer that once was so the Starlight Glimmer that is may thrive without the shackles of her past.” “…,” Starlight blinked as she tried to grasp what the Princess of the Night was trying to say. “Tomorrow night,” stated Luna. “You and I will begin a journey that will heal your mind while freeing you to succeed in your friendship studies without fear.” FWOOSH! The doors all slid down into the night sky they were standing on. “You shall free yourself through doing that which could not be done before!” proclaimed Luna as she rose into the sky. “You shall be whole again.” Starlight watched as Princess Luna disappeared towards the moon. Then, with a flash of bright, white light, she was gone and the periwinkle-coloredUnicorn shot up from her bed to greet the new day that had just begun. Chapter 2 - An Unloved FoalThe sun was shining and the birds were singing as Starlight Glimmer trotted into a small town. “Good afternoon, Starlight,” greeted a pastel-green stallion. “How are you today?” “Good…,” replied the periwinkle-colored Unicorn. She didn’t recognize the stallion. “Perhaps Twilight told every pony here to expect me?” she thought to herself as she continued along the dirt road that ran into the heart of the town. *** Starlight got very uncomfortable as she was given a lot of very energetic greetings from nearly every pony in town. All were colored in pastels with bright smiles on their faces. “What’s going on here…?” she wondered while trying to not show how concerned she was with how every pony was acting. She’d understand more if it were Trixie, Twilight, Spike, or one of Twilight’s friends. However, all these ponies were complete strangers who had no reason to come off as if they’ve known her all her life. *** Starlight continued into the town until her eye’s caught notice of a sign outside of a door that read, ‘Welcome Home Starlight!’ “Welcome home?” she asked while looking towards the house. Alarms were going off in her head about this, but something in her drove her to approach the home, magically open the door, and walk inside. *** KA-KLUMP! SHICK-CLICK! Starlight turned to see that the door had shut and locked itself. “Saw that coming,” she sighed. “Good evening, Starlight Glimmer,” stated a calm voice from a nearby room. The Unicorn turned towards the sound to see Princess Luna walking into what appeared to be an untidy living room. “Princess Luna?” asked Starlight. “Am I-“ “-Dreaming,” stated Luna. “Yes.” There was a brief pause before Starlight spoke. “What is this place?” she asked while sniffing the offensive scents in the air. “Why am I here?” Luna gestured towards a playpen off in a dimly-lit corner of the living area. “You want me to…” trailed Starlight as she slowly strode towards the playpen. The nauseating smells growing stronger as she grew closer. Starlight looked back towards Luna upon arriving at the foul smelling playpen. It was dark and everything about being near it made the Unicorn’s fur stand-on-end with a feeling of dread. However, the Princess of the Night just nodded to encourage Starlight to look inside. Upon gazing into the playpen, Starlight gasped with surprise upon seeing what was in it. “Momma?” asked a diaper-clad, dirty-looking version of what hauntingly Starlight believed to be herself as a foal. Her purple mane was very untidy with the blue streak that ran through it nearly unnoticeable. Her fur looked greasy and her diaper was showing definite signs of use. FWOO “Not now!” shouted a familiar, female voice. “Momm’as busy!” Starlight turned to see a lavender-colored, Unicorn mare using her magic to sort through some random items. There was also no sign of Princess Luna. “Momma!” called foal Starlight as she launched herself at the padded wall of the playpen. “Momma!” “Why can’t you ever ask for dada?” the mare asked without turning her attention away from what it was she was doing. “It’s his turn to watch you anyway.” “Momma-momma!” foal Starlight seemed to plead as tears welled up in her tiny, blue eyes as she pushed to get out of the soiled playpen. “Hush!” snapped the mare. “Or I’ll give you a real reason to cry!” “HEY!” exclaimed Starlight as she faced towards the inconsiderate mare. “CAN’T YOU SEE SHE NEEDS YOU!” FWOO The world around Starlight quickly changed from the living room to a playground. Here she saw a slightly older version of her foal self sitting in a swing all by herself. “…We on for tonight?” a stallion asked to a white Unicorn who had a teal-colored mane. “You bet!” the Unicorn replied. “What about your kid?” the other asked. The white Unicorn looked back towards where a struggling, lonely, foal Starlight was stashed. “She’ll be fine,” he said. “Throw a new diaper and some clothes on and she’ll be good until mom gets back.” “Are you sure?” asked the other pony. “Didn’t your landlord say something about all the crying the last time you trusted mom to take over?” “It’s my night!” stomped the white Unicorn. “She knows it and it’s not like Starlight cares as long as she has her toys.” Starlight Glimmer gasped in horror upon hearing how her foal-self was treated like she were nothing more than some sort of inconvenience. “Dadda…,” pouted foal Starlight. “Dadda?” The white Unicorn turned to face the fussing foal. “Looking good, sweetie!” he replied before returning his attention to his friend. Foal Starlight watched as other mothers and/or fathers played with their children. She heard them all giggling while running around with big smiles on their faces. “DADDA!” she desperately called. There was no response. Her father was too engrossed in his conversation with his friend and sharing a laugh that he didn’t even notice baby Starlight’s desperate plea for attention. Adult Starlight was furious. “HEY!” she boomed while conjuring her magic. “SHE’S YOUR DAUGHTER!” SHING! Starlight tried casting a spell to bring the unattentive father over to her younger self. However, it had no effect. “My magic?” she said with disbelief. “Why isn’t it-” Adult Starlight was cut off by the whimpering of her foal self. The beautiful, blue eyes of the foal filling with tears as she snorted and sobbed. “No,” said Starlight as she dashed towards her foal self. “I won’t let this happen!” FWOO “No, no, NO!” cried Starlight as everything disappeared in front of her. The next thing she knew she was in that nursery she had been in the night before. KA-THWUMP! CLICK! “Momma!” cried her foal self. “Dadda!” The room looked and smelled awful. It also seemed too familiar to Starlight as she felt herself start to quake from the anxiety that was quickly causing her chest and stomach to ache. “I wish I could’ve been there for you, Starlight,” said Princess Luna as she appeared alongside the struggling Unicorn. “Is this…,” sniffled the Unicorn as tears formed in her eyes. “My past?” “Alas,” sighed Luna. “It is but one of the dark memories you had suppressed to protect yourself.” Starlight Glimmer moved towards the crib. Her stomach feeling the need to vomit upon taking in what she saw of herself within it. “No…,” she gagged upon seeing how stained the bedding was within the prison-like confines her younger self was in. It was even worse to see how upset the foal was. Starlight felt her emotions run rampant. It was as if she felt everything her younger self was feeling. All of which was awful. Loneliness, hurt, sadness, pain overwhelmed her mind. This all made adult Starlight cough and dry heave. “Princess,” she wheezed. “Why?” “You need to make peace with your past,” stated Luna. “Assure yourself that everything will be okay.” “But it’s not!” snapped Starlight before a violent series of coughs overcame her. “This is not alright!” “But it must be,” stated Luna. “And only you can make it that way.” Starlight didn’t like how the Princess of the Night was downplaying all the anguish she and her foal self were experiencing. “Let me wake!” she cried. “I’ll use time magic to fix this!” “You mustn’t alter the flow of time,” Luna said. “To do so would do as what you witnessed when you did so to keep Twilight and her friends from ever meeting.” “But this is different!” wheezed Starlight. “This isn’t right!” “I agree,” nodded Luna. “However, this trauma is one that can only be healed through yourself.” Starlight dry heaved again. Her whole body felt awful as her head pounded from all the crying and fierce coughing she was experiencing. “And how do I do that?” she asked. “Talk to her,” said Luna. “Assure your young self that she is not alone. That she will make friends and feel loved.” Starlight felt a lump in her throat as she looked into the crib to see her foal self’s blue eyes now reddened from crying. “Go on,” encouraged Luna. “You can do it.” Starlight felt as if her foal self had become aware of her presence. She needed to act, but she also knew she had to pull herself together. “It’s okay,” she assured while using her magic to lift her foal self out of the crib. “I’m here.” Foal Starlight appeared confused at the sight of her adult self. However, having someone else in the room with her got her to stop crying. “Okay,” gulped Starlight. “I’m going to clean you up. Make everything better.” *** Adult Starlight used her powerful magic to manipulate the room. She first cleaned her foal self, put new clothes on her, and then changed the bedding in the crib so it no longer was a rancid mess. “Ooh,” awed foal Starlight. “You’ll be able to do more than this when you get older,” stated adult Starlight. “You’re going to become a very powerful Unicorn.” Her foal self seemed to smile. She may not have understood what her older self was saying, but the tone was definitely one that made her feel happy. The periwinkle-colored Unicorn felt herself crying again. However, these tears were not of sadness, but of joy in knowing she was making a difference for her foal self. “You’re going to be okay,” she said while sobbing. “Everything is going to be just fine.” “Momma?” asked the little one while she snuggled into Starlight’s fur. “Yes,” cried Starlight. “You can call me momma.” *** Adult Starlight used a clean blanket to swaddle her foal self. She then took her into her hooves, held her tight against her chest, and began to rock from side-to-side while humming a simple tune. “Momma…,” yawned her foal self. The pain, sadness, and loneliness had all appeared to have gone. She now looked comfortable, happy, and relaxed. “That’s it,” sniffled Starlight as she watched the foal fall to sleep in her hooves. “Everything’s okay.” *** A few moments passed before the foal fell to sleep. Once she did, Starlight went to put her back into her cleaned crib. However, she couldn’t bring herself to let go. So she instead found a rocking chair, sat in it, and continued to hold and sing to her younger self until she fell asleep and quickly awoke to another day in The Castle of Friendship. Chapter 3 - First FriendStarlight found herself standing across the road from a large, brightly colored building. “Greetings, Starlight,” greeted Princess Luna. “Are you ready to face yet another ghost from your past?” “Another?” asked the periwinkle-colored Unicorn. “Yes,” the princess replied. “You did quite well last night. I truly believe you are ready for this next step towards putting your past behind you.” “Step?” asked Starlight. “How long will I have to go through this?” “That depends on you,” replied Luna. “Only you can know when you’ve truly coped with your past and shall not be haunted by it.” Starlight looked towards the building. The sound of children playing could be heard coming from within. She then noticed the sign next to the front door that had a pair of ducks holding hands that read, ‘Happy Duck Daycare’ “I’m guessing I have to go in there?” she more said than asked. “Yes,” nodded Luna. “What happens next is up to you.” FWOO Everything went dark for a moment before the Unicorn suddenly found herself standing within a large playroom. Her eyes taking in all the foals carrying on and having a good time while a number of caretakers ensured everyone was properly attended to. “Okay,” she said as her anxiety began to rise. “Where am I?” *** Starlight’s heart thumped faster-and-faster as she carefully scoured around the room in search of her younger self. Each second that passed made her feel increasingly stressed. “Where am I?” she asked. “Am I even here?” *** Starlight’s stomach was beginning to feel upset after the fifth trip she made within the playroom. There was no sign of her younger self. However, she did notice a familiar looking Unicorn with golden hair curled up with a book next to one of the bookshelves. “Sunburst?” she wondered as the colt kept his face buried in a picture book. He was quite content just minding his own business while reading whatever story he had gotten his hooves on. “Mmf,” he groaned while shutting his book and getting up on all four hooves. “Gotta’ go potty.” Starlight watched as young Sunburst went to find a caretaker to help him to the bathroom. As weird as it felt, something told her she should follow along. “Okay,” she blushed. “Perhaps Sunburst will lead me to, uh, me?” *** The yellowish-orange Unicorn trotted eagerly alongside a powder-blue colored Earth Pony mare. Encouraging words were being exchanged between the two. “I’m not following them into the bathroom,” stated Starlight as her blush deepened. PANG! “Ouch!” the periwinkle Unicorn cried as she felt a sharp pain burst within her head. This was followed by a tightening in her chest that caused her to stop her forward motion and catch notice of a door that had been slightly left ajar. “Could this be…?” she wondered while making her way towards the door and pulling it open. Sure enough, foal Starlight was sitting all alone within a dark closet. Her eyes bloodshot from crying as a foul smell came from her. “How can this be?” gagged adult Starlight. “Why do I look so awful?” Foal Starlight trembled upon noticing her adult self. “I…,” she mumbled. “I didn’t, mean to…” “Didn’t mean to do what?” asked Starlight. However, the scent of manure gave away what was likely the cause of her younger self’s anguish, shame, and fear. Adult Starlight, as with the night before, felt the tightness in her chest build while a growing desire to vomit came over her. She knew she had to resist these feelings, though, if she were to not cause additional trauma to her younger self. It’s, okay,” she struggled while sitting down on her haunches to better face her terrified, younger self. “No,” whimpered foal Starlight. “Mom and dad will be mad. The older ponies will be mad. No pony wants to play with me.” Each sentence from her younger self felt like a knife was being stabbed through Starlight Glimmer’s heart. She felt very sick, very uncomfortable, and extremely anxious. It took everything in her to not want to run away from the foal she was facing. “I…,” she choked. “I’m not mad.” “You’re… not?” asked foal Starlight. Her bloodshot eyes opening wide with a look of hope in them. Adult Starlight felt her throat tighten as she realized her next words had to really count. “Everything’s okay,” she said while forcing a smile. “Come here and give me a hug.” Foal Starlight seemed to smile as she gathered herself enough to trot towards her adult self. “I got you,” said Starlight as she reached for the outstretched hooves of her younger self and brought her in for a tight hug. The scent from her unwashed body and manure loaded diaper was overwhelming. However, Starlight knew she had to be strong for the younger self that was desperate for love and affection. “There, there,” she said softly. “Everything is alright. You’re going to make friends and be a big filly every pony will want to play with.” CLICK-CLOP CLOP-CLICK From a short distance away, Starlight could hear ponies approaching her as they talked. “Good job, Sunburst!” a mare cheered with extreme enthusiasm. “Thanks, Ms. Cuddles,” he replied. “You haven’t had an accident all week!” cheered Ms. Cuddles. “You’re parents will be so proud of you!” CLIP-CLOP CLOP-CLICK Ms. Cuddles was the powder-blue Earth Pony that had walked Sunburst to the bathroom. She was now right beside the opened, closet door that foal Starlight was in. “Glim-Glim?” asked Ms. Cuddles upon spotting the foal in the arms of adult Starlight. “Is everything okay, lil’ filly?” Adult Starlight didn’t know if the caretaker could see her, but she thought she’d respond on behalf of your younger self just-in-case. “She had an accident,” she stated. “She’s worried she’s in trouble.” Foal Starlight saw Sunburst and cringed. Adult Starlight took this as panic upon being gawked at by a young colt who was acting more his age than she was. That he’d make fun of her. That he’d be just another pony in the daycare to make her feel as lonely and unwanted as she was at home. “Don’t worry,” assured adult Starlight. “Sunburst is a good pony. He’s your friend.” “Yeah,” agreed Ms. Cuddles. “Actually, I think you and Sunburst could become great friends.” “Me?” asked Sunburst. “Yes,” Ms. Cuddles said with a smile. “Glim-Glim here isn’t all rowdy like the other foals. I’m sure you two could have lots of fun reading books together.” “You like… books?” asked Sunburst. “Uh-huh,” answered foal Starlight. Her feelings of fear, shame, and doubt seemingly leaving her mind. “I also think you can help Glim-Glim with her potty training, too!” cooed Ms. Cuddles. “Glim-Glim needs a big colt to help her be a big filly!” “I…,” blushed Sunburst. “I can do that.” “Great!” cheered Ms. Cuddles. “Now how’s about I get you back into the playroom so I can help get Glim-Glim all cleaned up so she can read some books with you?” “Okay,” he said. “See you, Glim-Glim.” “I got this,” stated adult Starlight as she used her magic to place her younger self upon her back. The two then made their way to the changing room where Starlight took good care to properly clean her younger self. As she did she told foal Starlight about how Sunburst was going to be her best friend. This made the little one smile while her once bloodshot eyes returned to normal. “Friend?” asked foal Starlight. “Yes,” replied the adult Unicorn as she felt tears forming in her eyes. These ones were not of sadness, but of knowing how wonderful it felt to be assured of such a thing when you otherwise felt so alone and unwanted. *** Starlight couldn’t resist giving her foal self a kiss on the cheek before helping her back out to the playroom. Here, she found Ms. Cuddles waiting with young Sunburst. “Hi, Glim-Glim!” greeted Sunburst. “I got a great book!” Starlight gently placed her younger self upon the floor and watched as she gleefully joined Sunburst in reading over a picture book about using the potty. “You’re new, right?” asked Ms. Cuddles to Starlight. “Me…?” gasped the Unicorn. “I’m worried,” continued Ms. Cuddles. “I have the feeling Glim-Glim isn’t getting the love and care she needs at home.” “You do?” wondered Starlight. “I’m not the pony to judge,” whispered Ms. Cuddles as she got closer to Starlight. “However, her parents are always the first to drop off and last to pick up. They also seem to bring her in without cleaning her up and it doesn’t seem like they feed her before she comes here either.” Starlight felt the sickness in her stomach begin to return as the powder-blue, Earth Pony shared her thoughts. “I wish I could do more for her,” Ms. Cuddles continued. “However, I don’t know how I could without making her an orphan. There’s no other relatives listed on her intake paperwork.” Starlight felt the world around her grow cold. Her anxiety also started to rise as thoughts flew through her mind about the numerous possibilities of what these memories were foreshadowing. Ms. Cuddles sighed and smiled. “I’m glad she is making friends with Sunburst,” she said. “Sunburst isn’t like the other colts and fillies here. He is very hyper focused and really seems to like it when some pony pays attention to what he’s into.” The ill feelings Starlight was getting faded away upon seeing her foal self smiling alongside young Sunburst. “I think they’ll be great friends,” she said. “I’m glad you think so,” said Ms. Cuddles. “I really wanted to get a second opinion on an idea I had.” “What’s that?” asked Starlight. “Sunburst’s parents have found it hard to find their son a pladate friend,” she stated. “I’m thinking of recommending Glim-Glim to them. They’re a caring pair and the two could certainly help each other feel happy.” “Of course!” Starlight beamed. “You should definitely do it!” “Super!” cheered Ms. Cuddles. “Could you watch the darlings while I get some paperwork together? I want to make sure I catch both sets of parents so we can get these two spending as much time together as soon as possible.” “You can count on me!” cheered Starlight. She then happily watched as her foal self and Sunburst kept smiling and talking until she found herself suddenly awaking in her bed within The Castle of Friendship. Chapter 4 - The Forgotten Filly“Good evening, Starlight,” greeted Luna. Starlight found herself walking along the night sky as the Princess of the Night stood before her. “A dream?” she asked. “Yes,” replied Luna as her royal-blue mane flowed elegantly against the night sky. “This time things are going to be a bit different.” “Different?” asked Starlight. “What do you mean?” FWOOM Starlight watched as Luna brought a door up from the invisible floor they were standing on. “Tonight’s session will consist of a chain of memories,” stated the princess. “I shall endow you with the ability to enter and exit these memories as you see fit.” “I don’t understand,” stated Starlight. KA-CLICK The door opened as Luna spoke. “You will,” she assured. “You need only say, ‘I’m ready’ to leave a memory. This will return you here where, upon feeling prepared, you will say, ‘I’m ready’ for the next memory’s door to appear before you.” Starlight felt a sense of anxiety pour over her. “So I’m on my own this time?” she asked. “Yes,” replied Luna. “And no.” “…,” Starlight didn’t like the cryptic answer she was given. “Now I must bid you farewell,” stated Luna. “There are other ponies who need my aid on this night.” FWOOM KA-CLICK Starlight watched as Luna lifted another door from the invisible floor, opened it, and walked inside. FWOOSH! The door Luna had gone through vanished leaving behind only the one she had brought up for Starlight. “Okay…,” gasped the periwinkle-colored Unicorn. “Here goes.” *** Starlight heard the sound of cheering as she stepped into a very familiar looking room. “This…?” she gasped while feeling her stomach turn. “…Sunburst…” It didn’t take long for Starlight Glimmer to notice her distraught self as a filly gazing out towards her colt friend who was being celebrated for having just acquired his cutie mark. “No…,” trembled Starlight as she could only watch her younger self look with dread as Sunburst was lead away by the other ponies. “Go after him! Don’t let him go!” Filly Starlight didn’t move. However, the atmosphere in the room definitely changed. “What the…?” wondered the observing Unicorn as she felt herself growing sick. Everything felt cold. It also felt like her heart had been removed from her chest due to how empty she felt on the inside “She needs me,” she coughed. “I have to fix this.” Starlight Glimmer tried to approach her distraught, filly self. However, the closer she got the sicker she felt. “Ungh,” she choked upon feeling pain pulse throughout her entire torso. It was overwhelming. What made it worse is how she couldn’t bring herself to move another step. She wanted to talk to her filly self, but felt an immense urge to vomit each time she even attempted to open her mouth. “All I can do is watch?” she wondered with horror. “There’s nothing I can do?” *** Filly Starlight didn’t move for about ten minutes. Each second of this time felt like an eternity to adult Starlight who could only watch as they both cried from the pain, hurt, and immense loneliness they were apparently sharing. “What is the point in this?” she wondered. “If I can’t do anything why did Luna send me here?” Starlight then remembered how the princess told her how to escape from the memories she was being exposed to. “I’m, ready,” she choked. FWOO Everything went dark before Starlight found herself lying upon the invisible floor in the night sky. Her body feeling less traumatized and more like itself. “I remember,” she said while thinking back on that day. “However, there’s more to what happened that day then my disliking of cutie marks.” The periwinkle-colored Unicorn thought for a moment. She had an idea what may be coming next, but knew she needed to see it through. “I’m ready,” she stated. FWOOM KA-CLICK! Starlight watched as another door flew up in front of her and opened itself towards an unknown destination. “Okay…,” she said with a deep breath. “Here goes.” *** The new location was hauntingly familiar. “This…,” she said with disbelief. “It’s my old room.” Starlight gazed about her old room. The coloring was a bit faded. There were pictures on the walls, but they were very difficult to make out. “All I need to do is get my cutie mark,” stated her filly self while reading a book off in a corner of the room. “Get my cutie mark and I’ll get to be with Sunburst again.” Starlight felt such a strong sensation of anger, loneliness, and pain surge through her body. It wasn’t long before she fell to the floor from a headache that grew in intensity with every passing second. “Argh!” she groaned while finding it hard to even open her eyes due to the degree of discomfort that was throbbing through her head. “Why?” FWOO The room disappeared to reveal a classroom. Starlight felt able to open her eyes and noticed how the classroom seemed even duller in color than her bedroom did. She also took notice of how all the other students appeared to be black-and-grey. The only ponies that looked even close to how they should were her filly self and the teacher. “…Well done, Starlight!” commented the instructor. “You’ve definitely been paying attention to your magical studies.” SHING! The entire classroom grew quiet upon Starlight Glimmer acquiring her cutie mark. “Starlight!” cheered the instructor. “You just got your cutie mark!” There was cheering and clapping throughout the classroom. However, adult Starlight couldn’t help but feel a sinking sensation in her stomach. “Something isn’t right,” she said. “This doesn’t seem-” FWOO Adult Starlight now saw herself back in what she believed to be her home. The place looked like a tornado had gone through it and the mare and stallion in front of her foal self were almost as dark as shadows. “…No,” said the mare. “We don’t have the bits to send you away to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.” “But…,” pleaded filly Starlight. “You heard your mom,” stated the stallion. “The answer is ‘no’.” Filly Starlight dropped the letter of recommendation she was holding in her mouth and ran for her room. “NO!” cried adult Starlight. “YOU KEPT ME FROM MY FRIEND!” FWOO Starlight found herself back in her room. It wasn’t long until her body was filled with intense rage, frustration, and an unmatched disliking of her cutie mark. “What’s the point,” sniffled filly Starlight. “No pony cares about me. No pony cares about what I can do.” Filly Starlight took a moment to stare at her cutie mark. “I hate you!” she cried. “I want you gone!” Adult Starlight suddenly recalled what was about to happen next. “No!” she called. “Don’t do it, Starlight!” FWOO Starlight’s fears were realized when she noticed the scene change to where she ran away from home. “I don’t need any pony!” her filly self growled. “All I need to do is get this pointless cutie mark off of me so I can be the no pony I’ve always been!” “Starlight!” cried her adult self. “That’s not true! You are some pony!” *** The scene did not change as Starlight Glimmer could only watch her younger self disappear off into the distance. The world around them growing colder and duller the further apart they became. “I’m scared,” said a foal version of Starlight as she wrapped herself around the adult Unicorn. Starlight was surprised to see her foal self again. She could certainly feel the fear coming from her. “Don’t you worry,” she stated. “I’m going to make things right.” “Promise?” the foal asked with the deepest of blue eyes. Starlight scooped up the foal and placed her upon her back. “I promise,” she replied. The area around them was nearly pitch-black. It was certainly scaring her foal self as the little one closed her eyes, wrapped her hooves around Starlight’s neck, and started to whimper. “I’m ready,” said Starlight. FWOO Starlight felt as if she fell through the ground as the darkness was quickly replaced by the night sky with the invisible floor. Chapter 5 - Path to Inequality“Ooh,” awed foal Starlight. “Are we up-up in the sky?” The periwinkle Unicorn was surprised her younger self was still with her after escaping from her runaway memory. “Yeah…,” she replied. “I’m sort of on a journey.” “A what?” asked the foal as she climbed atop Starlight’s head to see all there was to see. “Like a story,” stated the grown-up. “I think you are supposed to come along with me.” “I like you,” foal Starlight stated with a giggle. “You make me happy.” Adult Starlight felt a warmth in her heart upon hearing her foal self say such a compliment. “You make me feel happy, too,” she beamed. “Now let’s go see what’s next.” “Holding on tight-tight!” cheered the foal. “I’m ready,” stated Starlight. FWOOM KA-CLICK “Oh, wow!” awed foal Starlight while watching the door rise from below them and open itself up. “You do good magic.” “It takes a good magician to know a good magician,” complimented Starlight as they entered into wherever the door would take them. *** “Books!” cried foal Starlight. “Let’s read ‘Ugly Duckling’!” Adult Starlight took in the area around them. It appeared to be a library. However, it was dark with nobody in it. Nobody with the exception of a slightly older, filly version of herself flipping through the pages of a book with her magic. “I’ve just about got it,” whispered the filly with determination. “If this is the book I’ve been looking for, I can unite the curse removal spell with the magic nullification spell to remove my cutie mark once-and-for-all.” “What’s she doin’?” the foal asked. “Why does she look like you?” “She’s learning a new spell,” stated Starlight somberly. “And, uh, I don’t know why she looks like us, uh, me.” “Yes!” delighted filly Starlight while she removed a piece of parchment from her saddlebag and wrote some words down upon it. “Now I need only splice the spells together to create the cutie mark removal spell I’ve been long seeking to end my misery.” “She seems unhappy,” foal Starlight said. “Do you think we should go and try to cheer her up?” Adult Starlight didn’t know what to say. However, it didn’t matter as the foal hopped from her back and trotted towards her filly self. “Hi!” she greeted. “My name’s Glim-Glim. What’s yours?” Filly Starlight looked at her younger self. However, she didn’t recognize that Glim-Glim was a younger version of who she was. Instead, Glim-Glim turned into a dark, shadowy pony with pitch-black eyes. “I’m nobody,” scoffed the filly while packing up her things and trotting away. Worried for Glim-Glim’s well-being, Starlight quickly made her way towards the foal. “Are you okay?” she asked. The color returned to Glim-Glim upon seeing the grown-up come near her. “I’m worried,” she said. “She looks so sad.” “Don’t you worry, Glim-Glim,” stated Starlight while lifting the foal upon her back. “I think I know how we can help her.” FWOO The scene changed to a small campsite within a desert oasis. Here, an even older version of filly Starlight was packing up books and scrolls in preparation to journey further away from any pony who could possibly hurt her as all others had. “The spell worked,” she thought aloud. “However, it appears I need my cutie mark in order to tap into my full, magical potential.” “What she talking about?” asked Glim-Glim. “I’m confused.” “I’m not,” thought Starlight. “This is when I decided to paint my flank to hide my cutie mark. It is also when I discovered what I’d come to call ‘The Staff of Sameness’.” “Can we go swimming?” Glim-Glim asked. “Maybe she’d want to go swimming, too?” Starlight was still lost in thought when Glim-Glim darted for the filly. “Hey!” cheered foal Starlight. “Wanna’ go swim?” The filly scowled towards where she heard the tiny voice. As she did, Glim-Glim started to turn totally black in color. “Now I’m hearing things,” she said. “Best to move on before the desert really messes with my head.” Filly Starlight finished packing up her tent, supplies, and documents. She then headed off into the desert. “Glim-Glim!” called Starlight upon realizing her younger self was almost a literal shadow of her former self. “Are you okay?” Glim-Glim looked up to Starlight. Seeing her brought her colors back, but tears were now in her eyes. “What’s wrong with her?” she asked. “She ignored me.” “She’s confused,” stated Starlight. “She needs our help.” “Can we help?” sobbed Glim-Glim. “There’s no love in her eyes.” Starlight thought back on this time in her life. How she felt worthless, empty, and hated everything to do with cutie marks. This was certainly not what her foal self needed to hear. It wasn’t even anything she wanted to hear either. However, something told her she needed to see it all through. “Friendship,” she said. “She just needs to know she has friends.” “Will she want to be our friend?” asked Glim-Glim. “We’ll definitely do our best,” assured Starlight while lifting Glim-Glim onto her back. “Let’s go.” FWOO “Brr,” shivered Glim-Glim upon their sudden arrival on a snow-covered mountain. “I’m cold.” Remembering how this was a dream, Starlight imagined a heavy coat for her foal self to wear. POOF “Here,” she said while using her magic to put the coat on Glim-Glim. “This will keep you warm.” “You’re so nice,” cooed the foal while nuzzling into Starlight’s coat and mane. Up ahead, Starlight noticed what she thought she might notice. This being her older-filly self meeting up with Double Diamond. “…Why did my talent have to be skiing?” he asked sadly. “Nobody likes to ski with me.” The older filly appeared annoyed at Double Diamond’s blubbering. “Hey!” he exclaimed. “You don’t have a cutie mark!” “No,” filly Starlight said. “I don’t.” “I wish I didn’t have mine,” he said. “It’s just a reminder of how alone I am.” Filly Starlight smiled. “You say you don’t like your cutie mark?” she asked. “No,” replied Double Diamond as he slipped off his skis and sat them down upon the snow. “I wish I never got it.” SHING Filly Starlight levitated the staff-like stick she had found in the desert. It’s original intention was to help defend her along with aid in her walking if she needed a brace. However, a new idea had come to her. “What if I could remove your cutie mark?” she asked. “You can do that?” asked Double Diamond. “That’s what I did to mine,” she replied. “I can do the same for you.” “That would be great!” cheered Double Diamond. “No pony would ask me about my special talent, or tell me they don’t like skiing!” “We’d be equals!” beamed filly Starlight while raising the staff. “Are you ready?” “Yes!” cheered Double Diamond. “Let’s be equals!” *** “What’s she doin’?” asked Glim-Glim. “She’s taking away his cutie mark,” Starlight replied. “We got to stop her!” cried Glim-Glim. “Cutie marks are important!” “We can’t,” stated Starlight. “Double Diamond wanted his cutie mark removed.” “Why?” wondered the foal. “Why does he not want his cutie mark?” “He’s confused,” she replied. “He wanted a friend and felt this was the way to get one.” “We should be his friends!” squeaked Glim-Glim. “We will be,” assured Starlight. “He, like her, just need to learn the power of friendship.” “And we’re going to do that?” asked Glim-Glim. “We are,” replied Starlight. “We just need to wait for the right time to show her and Double Diamond that they are more than what they think they are.” Chapter 6 - The Vengeful MareStarlight was surprised when she suddenly found herself awake in The Castle of Friendship. She felt she was making some real progress in understanding all that had lead up to her brainwashing the ponies she and Double Diamond had gathered in the valley below the mountains where the pair had first met. “Perhaps,” she thought while climbing out of bed. “Princess Luna wanted me to have some time to fully understand all that Glim-Glim and I were going through?” The periwinkle Unicorn used her magic to comb her mane as a sudden realization came over her. “Wait…,” she gasped. “Why was Glim-Glim with me? Why did she seem so determined to make friends with my unpleasant self as a filly?” *** Night came and Starlight was excited to see Princess Luna greeting her immediately upon entering into the dream world. “How was last night?” asked Luna. “I think I am starting to understand what you’re trying to do,” replied Starlight. “Oh!” grinned the Princes of the Night. “Do tell.” “You’re showing me how making friends with my past selves can make my present self more open to friendship and foregiveness.” Princes Luna nodded as her mane flowed against the night sky. “You are indeed as wise as my sister and Princess Twilight have told me,” she stated. “You should have no trouble with tonight’s session.” FWOOM! KA-CLICK! “As before,” continued Luna. “You need only mention that you’re ready to move past anything you may encounter on your journeys this evening.” FWOOM! KA-CLICK! “I now must bid you farewell,” the Alicorn Princess stated. “Other ponies need my services.” *** As Princess Luna and her door vanished, Starlight was surprised to see her foal self, Glim-Glim, reappear on her back. “Yay!” Glim-Glim cheered. “I’m so happy to see you again!” “Me, too,” beamed Starlight. “Let’s see what’s beyond this door.” “Whee!” Glim-Glim exclaimed as the pair entered into the door Princess Luna had opened for them. *** “That’s you!” called out Glim-Glim upon noticing a fully-grown, Starlight Glimmer using a paintbrush and can of paint to place an equal sign upon her flanks. “Who’s there!” growled mare Starlight. “State your business!” “She doesn’t recognize me?” wondered Starlight. “Of course not!” snapped filly Starlight upon appearing from behind mare Starlight. “You’ve abandoned her and all she fought for!” Glim-Glim narrowed her eyes and pawed her front hoof upon the wooden floor of Starlight’s house within ‘Equal town’. “She wouldn’t abandon anybody!” squeaked the foal. “Oh, please!” waved off filly Starlight. “She thinks things are better now that she’s a subordinate to some princess.” “Friends with a princess!” squeaked Glim-Glim. “And we’ve got more friends than that!” “Who needs friends when you control a whole town!” growled the filly. *** Starlight Glimmer felt pain in her chest along with a pounding in her head as her foal and filly selves argued. “It hurts,” she moaned. “Why does it hurt.” “Is this true?” the mare version of herself asked. “Is what true?” struggled Starlight. “That you’ve abandoned all we worked so hard to achieve?” she asked while spotting the exposed cutie mark. “That you gave up on all I’ve built?” “This,” groaned Starlight while wincing in pain. “It was a mistake.” “You’re calling years of neglect, loneliness, and misery finally paying off with power, compliance, and devotion of an entire town wrong?” she growled. “You call building an entire town based on equality where no pony ever feels the pain of losing a friend to a cutie mark a mistake?” “But, you, have, yours,” struggled Starlight. “And soon you won’t,” sneared mare Starlight as she evoked the cutie mark removal spell. “NO!” protested Glim-Glim as she ran in front of the struggling Starlight. “Please! Stop!” “What does a foal know of adult matters!” snarled mare Starlight. “You don’t know the pain of losing your best friend to a cutie mark! You don’t know the agony of having every accomplishment you make being treated as nothing!” “And you forgot what it is to be a friend,” sobbed Glim-Glim. “Real friends don’t say angry things to other ponies!” “That’s enough out of you!” shrieked filly Starlight as she darted with her horn poised to force Glim-Glim out of the way. Starlight felt herself filled with a strong desire to protect Glim-Glim. So, with all she had, she conjured a levitation spell that lifted filly Starlight over Glim-Glim. This caused the anger-driven filly to smash into the wall and become stuck into it by her horn. “I may not be able to stop you,” struggled Starlight as she rose to her hooves. “But I can keep you from ruining the best part of yourself.” “That foal?” wondered mare Starlight. “How is this foal ‘the best part of me’?” “You’ll find out soon enough!” replied Starlight as she made her way for the door of her former home in ‘Equal Town’. “Is that a threat?” challenged mare Starlight. “No,” said Starlight as she opened the door. “It’s a promise.” *** FWOO The scene changed to that of a cavern that was dimly lit by an ethereal torch. “All I built…,” sobbed mare Starlight. “Taken away just like that…” Starlight remembered where she was. This was a secret place she had set up within the maze-like caverns that made up the mountain outside of ‘Equal Town’. “See what you’ve done?” asked filly Starlight while walking out from the shadows. “You made her drop her guard and allowed us to be hurt again.” “What do you mean?” asked Starlight. “That friend of Twilight Sparkle! Ssnarled the filly. “You should’ve never let her out. You should’ve never allowed her to trick you into allowing Twilight to expose our secret!” “Hey!” Glim-Glim protested from atop Starlight’s back. “That’s not fair!” “You again,” growled the filly. “You’re the reason we lost the town. You’re the reason we let our guard down. You’re the reason we’re stuck in this cave!” Starlight felt numerous emotions flowing throughout her body. Her foal self was scared while her filly self was very angry. She imagined these may be what her mare self was feeling while working by candlelight on a makeshift table. “Starlight…?” she asked while approaching the mare. “Go away!” snapped the mare without even turning away. “Leave me alone!” “See?” spat filly Starlight. “You ruined everything by lowering your guard! Why should anything ever change after all we’ve been through!” “What about Sunburst?” asked Glim-Glim meakly. “He was a good friend.” “Was,” emphasized the filly. “And he left us without so much as a goodbye!” “And we’re still friends!” countered Starlight. “He now lives in The Crystal Empire and is the official Crystaler of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor!” “I don’t believe you!” snapped filly Starlight. “It’s that weaker, foal-side of yours that is making up more preposterous stories to take you away from what really matters!” “And what’s that?” asked Starlight. Mare Starlight turned away from her reading. Her eyes bloodshot from sobbing and lack of sleep. “Revenge,” she said. “Once I gather the right materials, I’ll be able to take from Princess Twilight Sparkle what she took away from me.” Glim-Glim yelped as she hid behind Starlight’s neck and mane. “We can’t keep doing this,” stated Starlight. “Forcing respect and exacting revenge does nothing but cause more hurt and pain.” “Hurt and pain that Princess Twilight Sparkle has never known in her entire privledged life!” cried the mare. “Pain I’m more than happy to give her once I have all the information and magical spells to fully execute!” “Yeah!” proclaimed the filly while stomping her hoof. “It’s about time we showed that pony the misery she’s never known! The anguish we’ve suffered! The solitude of never having a friend, or loved one!” “What about Sunburst?” whispered Glim-Glim. “What about Double Diamond?” Starlight felt the rage she was being subjected to subside as her mind flickered with memories of Sunburst, Double Diamond, and other ponies she had met over the years. “Ms. Cuddles?” giggled Glim-Glim. “Wasn’t she nice?” More memories came to Starlight. Memories of those who did show her love, care, and genuine friendship. Positives that she never thought much on as a result of being so clouded with how her life seemed filled with nothing more than negativity. “All our magic, too!” chirped Glim-Glim. “We learned a lot and got really good at it!” The periwinkle Unicorn smiled while looking towards her filly self. “Revenge is not the answer,” she said. “Dwelling on negative emotions only gives way for more negative outcomes.” “Fine!” stomped the filly as she turned pitch-black, formed into a cloud, and merged with mare Starlight. “Nobody can stop our revenge!” mare Starlight boomed. “Not you! NOT ANY PONY!” “I may not be able to stop you,” stated Starlight. “However, you will be stopped and will see the error of your ways.” Starlight turned away from her furious, mare self who had been possessed by her disgruntled, filly self. “I WON’T LET YOU LEAVE!” growled mare Starlight while casting an attack spell. SHING PA-SHOO FIZZLE “What?” wondered mare Starlight as her magic deflected off her present day self. “Do what you must,” stated Starlight while trotting off. “But know that darkness in your heart will only continue to bring you pain until you learn to let it go.” Mare Starlight furiously went about casting attack spells. However, each deflected harmlessly off of Starlight as she used Princess Luna’s magic to summon the door, walk through it, and wake up in her bed within The Castle of Friendship. Chapter 7 - Starlight's Epiphany“Greetings, Starlight,” welcomed Luna as the two stood in the night sky. “It would seem your journey through your past is at its end.” “It would seem that way,” replied Starlight. “What have you learned from your journeys?” asked Luna. “That I was a very bitter pony,” the periwinkle-colored Unicorn sighed. “That I allowed emotion to override common sense.” “Did you ever think of how your foal self and filly self played their respective parts in bringing you to where you are now?” questioned Luna. POOF! POOF! Starlight watched as Glim-Glim and her filly self appeared in front of her. “Yay!” exclaimed Glim-Glim as she spit out her pacifier and ran alongside Starlight. “Harumph!” scoffed the filly while turning her head. The sight of Glim-Glim made Starlight feel happy. However, her filly self made her sad due to how she was so unpleasant. “I think…,” thought Starlight while looking into Glim-Glim’s innocent eyes. “I think I understand.” “Ah,” grinned the Princess of the Night. “Would you care to elaborate?” Starlight faced her filly self before sharing her thoughts. “My years as a foal may have been full of neglect from my parents,” she said. “However, there were ponies who genuinely cared about me and wanted the best for me. In particular, Sunburst.” “And you see where that got you,” grumbled filly Starlight while scraping her hoof on the invisible floor. “I’m not finished,” stated Starlight while using her magic to get her filly self’s attention. “No pony was there for us to understand that Sunburst didn’t abandon us. He, like we were, was only doing what his parents felt was right for him to be the best he could be. His mom and dad cared while ours were too caught up in their own affairs to see how much we were struggling.” “It’s all because of his cutie mark!” snapped the filly. “His talent. Their talent. They felt they were better than us because they were so ‘special’.” “I know why we felt this way,” stated Starlight. “We were never properly socialized. Our parents didn’t know how to raise a child. We also didn’t have the care and support we had when we were a foal.” “All the reason we needed to get vengeance!” snarled filly Starlight. “Show the world how painful life is to be a no pony! To be nothing special at all!” “That’s what I used to think,” stated Starlight as she levitated Glim-Glim onto her back. “But it was that kind of thinking that made us no better than our parents. We were doing nothing more than continuing a vicious cycle that had no need to be repeated.” “How can you say that?” wondered filly Starlight with a stomp. “The pain. The agony. The solitude. It’s… inexcusable!” “But,” Starlight calmly replied. “It’s the past and holding onto such feelings only causes us more pain. Pain that would keep us from seeing the good in ourselves that we never took notice of during those hard times.” “Good?” gasped filly Starlight. “Are you saying our suffering was a good thing!” “No,” replied Starlight. “I’m saying we achieved a lot of self-accomplishments that we shouldn’t let bad memories take away from who we are now.” “Like what?” scoffed filly Starlight. “We worked very hard to be recommended for Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns,” stated Starlight. “AND WE DIDN’T GET TO GO!” boomed the filly. “WE WERE STILL TREATED LIKE NOTHING AND HAD A POINTLESS CUTIE MARK!” Glim-Glim hid behind Starlight’s mane as the present-day version of herself stood her ground. “Our parents may not have cared,” stated Starlight. “However, we did get a rare recommendation while learning of our talent in the magical arts.” “But no pony cared!” proclaimed the filly. “It didn’t matter! It was all for nothing!” “That’s because we failed to see how determined we were to make something of ourselves,” replied Starlight. “We failed to acknowledge our own achievements. “Like what?” sneered the filly. “I know even Twilight Sparkle hasn’t dabbled in hybrid magic as much as we have,” stated Starlight. “We learned a lot of magic that no other pony knows that we can now use for good.” “We had good!” cried the displeased filly. “We had our town! We had our equality!” “No,” sighed Starlight. “We didn’t.” “That’s because you threw it away by trusting that Pegasus!” growled the filly. “You let your guard down!” Starlight thought for a moment before answering. “I’m glad I let my guard down,” she replied. “It needed to happen for us to end the vicious cycle of control and inequality we allowed to happen. We had taken advantage of Double Diamond along with all those ponies who felt we were providing a haven for the misunderstood. We robbed them of their identity while selfishly keeping exactly what we spoke out against.” “We had to!” snapped the filly. “How else could we collect their cutie marks? How else could we make sure we would never feel so hurt, neglected, and uncared for ever again?” “Two wrongs don’t make a right,” sighed Starlight. “And showing others the same disrespect we felt is no way to make friends.” SLIP THUMP Glim-Glim slid off Starlight’s back and made a book magically appear before her. It read ‘Bedtime Stories’. “I love you,” the foal said while levitating the book towards her filly self. The angst-filled filly didn’t know what to say as the foal grew closer. “You….,” she gasped. “Stay… Stay away.” “You need love,” Glim-Glim stated. “I love you.” “But…,” stammered the filly. “You’re… you’re the reason… The weakness.” “No,” smiled Starlight. “She’s the part of us that opened our heart towards having a true, second chance.” The foal sat beside the filly and levitated the book in front of her filly self. “Want to read with me?” she asked. “Reading is fun.” Starlight smiled wide as a great warmth filled her body. “I love you both,” she said merrily. “And I won’t forget how you both are truly very important in making me the pony I am today.” Filly Starlight seemed to lose her anger as the bright, blue eyes of Glim-Glim looked into hers. “Perhaps…,” she said. “One story couldn’t hurt…” “That’s the way,” encouraged Starlight. “We need to appreciate all we are in order to move on to a better tomorrow. To be the pony we always knew we could be.” SHIMMER FSSSH PWOOF! Starlight watched as Glim-Glim and her filly self merged in a flash of light. The combined mass shot straight towards her and effortlessly fused with her body. “Well done, Starlight,” congratulated Luna. “You seem to have finally come to terms with your past.” Starlight smiled as she could hear her filly self reading a story to Glim-Glim from somewhere within her head. “Thank you, Princess,” she bowed. “I honestly can’t tell you the last time I felt so at peace.” “It will be a feeling you’ll only find gets stronger with time,” stated Luna. “Glim-Glim and your filly self needed to understand how much they needed each other. How much they played a part, good, or bad, in making you who you are. We can’t truly change the past, but we can change how we perceive it.” “I understand,” acknowledged the periwinkle-colored Unicorn. “Now what should I do?” “I think you may already know what you need to do,” replied Luna with a nod. “Return to ‘Equal Town’,” stated Starlight. “Apologize for what I’ve done in the past, acknowledge my mistakes, and further my friendship studies in doing so.” The Princess of the night smiled while raising another door before herself. “It seems my work here is done,” she said while opening the door. “I trust you will do well in making amends while further accepting yourself by acknowledging how only you can make good on your past. I also trust you will seek guidance from all your new friends, along with those you will make, if ever you need help being the best pony you can be.” “I will,” assured Starlight. PWISH! There was a bright burst of light as Princess Luna went through the door. Once the light was gone it was replaced by the sunlight of a brand new day for Starlight Glimmer within The Castle of Friendship.
Chapter 1 - Ghosts of the Past“Hello…?” wondered Starlight Glimmer as she found herself in a dimly lit void. *** The periwinkle-colored Unicorn trotted onward through the emptiness. The only sound being that of her hooves clacking upon an an invisible sidewalk. SHING Starlight used her magic to cast an illumination spell. “What the…?” she wondered as she found herself surrounded by numerous, pitch-black colored ponies. “Hey!” she panicked. “Where am I?” No pony answered. They just carried on as if Starlight wasn’t there. “Hello?” she cried. “What’s with every pony?” SHING “What the…?” gasped Starlight as she found herself magically bound. “You were supposed to be keeping an eye on her!” snapped a mare from behind Starlight. “I was busy!” growled a stallion. “Doing what?” asked the mare. “Does it matter?” snorted the stallion. Starlight felt her heart pounding as the two ponies bickered. There was something about it that seemed unpleasantly familiar. “…Let’s just get her back in her room,” stated the stallion. “You’re so lazy,” remarked the mare. “Can’t even spend time with ‘your’ daughter.” Starlight gasped upon hearing the cold way in which the mare referred to her as the stallion’s ‘daughter’. “And what does that say about you?” countered the stallion. “You’re ‘her mother’ “I don’t have time for this,” stated the mare. “Whoa.” Gasped Starlight as she felt herself being magically lifted into the air. THWUMP! Starlight suddenly felt herself tossed hard upon a bed-like surface. “There,” the mare said. “Your father will come get you when it’s time for dinner.” KA-THWUMP! CLICK! Starlight looked in the direction of the sound in time to see that a door had just been slammed shut and quickly locked from the other side. “NO!” she cried while dashing with all her might towards where she saw the light fade into total darkness. BAF-CRIK! “OUCH!” groaned Starlight as she found herself quickly smashing against a hard, wooden surface. The pink Unicorn felt tears begin to form and stream from her eyes. She then noticed herself whimpering upon coming to a sudden realization. One that she felt familiar, awful, and desperately wanting out of. PWIF-OOM! “ENOUGH!” proclaimed a strongly authoritative voice. Starlight pulled her hooves from her sobbing eyes to see that Princess Luna had entered into wherever it was she had been locked into. “Starlight Glimmer,” stated Princess Luna. “I can bear to see these nightmares no more and have come to intervene.” “Nightmares…?” wondered the Unicorn who now saw herself dressed in an untidy onesie while feeling very unclean. “This is just a dream?” “It is,” replied Luna. “And it isn’t.” “…,” Starlight gazed towards Luna with confusion. “Allow me to explain as best I can,” stated Luna. “This is far from the first time you’ve dreamt of this situation, correct?” Starlight didn’t like the way she was feeling. Foul smells filled the air while her anxiety made her tremble. “…No,” she moaned. “But, why? Why do I have these dreams? Why do I feel like they are more than just dark thoughts haunting my mind from what I did to that town? To Twilight and her friends?” Luna used her magic to lift the foal-sized Starlight from the confinement of the crib she had been placed into. She then went about creating a neutral space with her dream powers that returned Starlight to normal and put them both in a state of levitation within the night sky. “Your nightmares do not have anything to do with the town, nor Twilight,” said Luna with a sigh. “They are derived from memories deeply embedded within your mind. Memories you suppressed, but still torment you as the memory of Nightmare Moon once did to me.” “I don’t understand,” said Starlight. “What do you mean by ‘suppressed memories’?” “Since returning to my duties of watching over the dreams of ponies,” replied Luna. “I’ve noticed how there are those that cannot be remedied simply through shining light on that which is afflicting the dreamer.” “I’m sorry, princess,” said Starlight. “I still don’t understand.” FWOOSH! With a gesture of her hoof, the blue Alicorn caused a series of doors to appear around both herself and Starlight. “Behind these doors lie the dreams of ponies to whom I’ve been able to talk through whatever it may be that is causing them disrupted slumber,” stated Luna. “Each were able to recognize what they needed to do to end their nightmares once I stepped in and brought light upon what they perceived as darkness.” “What does this have to do with me?” asked Starlight. “I’ve been having these kind of dreams ever since I first moved into ‘The Castle of Friendship’ with Princess Twilight and Spike.” “I know You have,” acknowledged Luna. “I’ve observed them and now come to help do what I can to assist in purging such inner torment from your mind.” “But…,” trailed Starlight. “Didn’t you just say this had nothing to do with Twilight, or the town of ponies I brainwashed?” “That I did,” replied Luna. “However, as I’ve learned myself, some nightmares remain latent until certain events occur. For you it was embracing true friendship that has managed to open up much of what you unknowingly sealed away to protect yourself. Now we must journey through your deepest memories through the dream world in order to finally put an end to what created the Starlight Glimmer that once was so the Starlight Glimmer that is may thrive without the shackles of her past.” “…,” Starlight blinked as she tried to grasp what the Princess of the Night was trying to say. “Tomorrow night,” stated Luna. “You and I will begin a journey that will heal your mind while freeing you to succeed in your friendship studies without fear.” FWOOSH! The doors all slid down into the night sky they were standing on. “You shall free yourself through doing that which could not be done before!” proclaimed Luna as she rose into the sky. “You shall be whole again.” Starlight watched as Princess Luna disappeared towards the moon. Then, with a flash of bright, white light, she was gone and the periwinkle-coloredUnicorn shot up from her bed to greet the new day that had just begun.
Chapter 2 - An Unloved FoalThe sun was shining and the birds were singing as Starlight Glimmer trotted into a small town. “Good afternoon, Starlight,” greeted a pastel-green stallion. “How are you today?” “Good…,” replied the periwinkle-colored Unicorn. She didn’t recognize the stallion. “Perhaps Twilight told every pony here to expect me?” she thought to herself as she continued along the dirt road that ran into the heart of the town. *** Starlight got very uncomfortable as she was given a lot of very energetic greetings from nearly every pony in town. All were colored in pastels with bright smiles on their faces. “What’s going on here…?” she wondered while trying to not show how concerned she was with how every pony was acting. She’d understand more if it were Trixie, Twilight, Spike, or one of Twilight’s friends. However, all these ponies were complete strangers who had no reason to come off as if they’ve known her all her life. *** Starlight continued into the town until her eye’s caught notice of a sign outside of a door that read, ‘Welcome Home Starlight!’ “Welcome home?” she asked while looking towards the house. Alarms were going off in her head about this, but something in her drove her to approach the home, magically open the door, and walk inside. *** KA-KLUMP! SHICK-CLICK! Starlight turned to see that the door had shut and locked itself. “Saw that coming,” she sighed. “Good evening, Starlight Glimmer,” stated a calm voice from a nearby room. The Unicorn turned towards the sound to see Princess Luna walking into what appeared to be an untidy living room. “Princess Luna?” asked Starlight. “Am I-“ “-Dreaming,” stated Luna. “Yes.” There was a brief pause before Starlight spoke. “What is this place?” she asked while sniffing the offensive scents in the air. “Why am I here?” Luna gestured towards a playpen off in a dimly-lit corner of the living area. “You want me to…” trailed Starlight as she slowly strode towards the playpen. The nauseating smells growing stronger as she grew closer. Starlight looked back towards Luna upon arriving at the foul smelling playpen. It was dark and everything about being near it made the Unicorn’s fur stand-on-end with a feeling of dread. However, the Princess of the Night just nodded to encourage Starlight to look inside. Upon gazing into the playpen, Starlight gasped with surprise upon seeing what was in it. “Momma?” asked a diaper-clad, dirty-looking version of what hauntingly Starlight believed to be herself as a foal. Her purple mane was very untidy with the blue streak that ran through it nearly unnoticeable. Her fur looked greasy and her diaper was showing definite signs of use. FWOO “Not now!” shouted a familiar, female voice. “Momm’as busy!” Starlight turned to see a lavender-colored, Unicorn mare using her magic to sort through some random items. There was also no sign of Princess Luna. “Momma!” called foal Starlight as she launched herself at the padded wall of the playpen. “Momma!” “Why can’t you ever ask for dada?” the mare asked without turning her attention away from what it was she was doing. “It’s his turn to watch you anyway.” “Momma-momma!” foal Starlight seemed to plead as tears welled up in her tiny, blue eyes as she pushed to get out of the soiled playpen. “Hush!” snapped the mare. “Or I’ll give you a real reason to cry!” “HEY!” exclaimed Starlight as she faced towards the inconsiderate mare. “CAN’T YOU SEE SHE NEEDS YOU!” FWOO The world around Starlight quickly changed from the living room to a playground. Here she saw a slightly older version of her foal self sitting in a swing all by herself. “…We on for tonight?” a stallion asked to a white Unicorn who had a teal-colored mane. “You bet!” the Unicorn replied. “What about your kid?” the other asked. The white Unicorn looked back towards where a struggling, lonely, foal Starlight was stashed. “She’ll be fine,” he said. “Throw a new diaper and some clothes on and she’ll be good until mom gets back.” “Are you sure?” asked the other pony. “Didn’t your landlord say something about all the crying the last time you trusted mom to take over?” “It’s my night!” stomped the white Unicorn. “She knows it and it’s not like Starlight cares as long as she has her toys.” Starlight Glimmer gasped in horror upon hearing how her foal-self was treated like she were nothing more than some sort of inconvenience. “Dadda…,” pouted foal Starlight. “Dadda?” The white Unicorn turned to face the fussing foal. “Looking good, sweetie!” he replied before returning his attention to his friend. Foal Starlight watched as other mothers and/or fathers played with their children. She heard them all giggling while running around with big smiles on their faces. “DADDA!” she desperately called. There was no response. Her father was too engrossed in his conversation with his friend and sharing a laugh that he didn’t even notice baby Starlight’s desperate plea for attention. Adult Starlight was furious. “HEY!” she boomed while conjuring her magic. “SHE’S YOUR DAUGHTER!” SHING! Starlight tried casting a spell to bring the unattentive father over to her younger self. However, it had no effect. “My magic?” she said with disbelief. “Why isn’t it-” Adult Starlight was cut off by the whimpering of her foal self. The beautiful, blue eyes of the foal filling with tears as she snorted and sobbed. “No,” said Starlight as she dashed towards her foal self. “I won’t let this happen!” FWOO “No, no, NO!” cried Starlight as everything disappeared in front of her. The next thing she knew she was in that nursery she had been in the night before. KA-THWUMP! CLICK! “Momma!” cried her foal self. “Dadda!” The room looked and smelled awful. It also seemed too familiar to Starlight as she felt herself start to quake from the anxiety that was quickly causing her chest and stomach to ache. “I wish I could’ve been there for you, Starlight,” said Princess Luna as she appeared alongside the struggling Unicorn. “Is this…,” sniffled the Unicorn as tears formed in her eyes. “My past?” “Alas,” sighed Luna. “It is but one of the dark memories you had suppressed to protect yourself.” Starlight Glimmer moved towards the crib. Her stomach feeling the need to vomit upon taking in what she saw of herself within it. “No…,” she gagged upon seeing how stained the bedding was within the prison-like confines her younger self was in. It was even worse to see how upset the foal was. Starlight felt her emotions run rampant. It was as if she felt everything her younger self was feeling. All of which was awful. Loneliness, hurt, sadness, pain overwhelmed her mind. This all made adult Starlight cough and dry heave. “Princess,” she wheezed. “Why?” “You need to make peace with your past,” stated Luna. “Assure yourself that everything will be okay.” “But it’s not!” snapped Starlight before a violent series of coughs overcame her. “This is not alright!” “But it must be,” stated Luna. “And only you can make it that way.” Starlight didn’t like how the Princess of the Night was downplaying all the anguish she and her foal self were experiencing. “Let me wake!” she cried. “I’ll use time magic to fix this!” “You mustn’t alter the flow of time,” Luna said. “To do so would do as what you witnessed when you did so to keep Twilight and her friends from ever meeting.” “But this is different!” wheezed Starlight. “This isn’t right!” “I agree,” nodded Luna. “However, this trauma is one that can only be healed through yourself.” Starlight dry heaved again. Her whole body felt awful as her head pounded from all the crying and fierce coughing she was experiencing. “And how do I do that?” she asked. “Talk to her,” said Luna. “Assure your young self that she is not alone. That she will make friends and feel loved.” Starlight felt a lump in her throat as she looked into the crib to see her foal self’s blue eyes now reddened from crying. “Go on,” encouraged Luna. “You can do it.” Starlight felt as if her foal self had become aware of her presence. She needed to act, but she also knew she had to pull herself together. “It’s okay,” she assured while using her magic to lift her foal self out of the crib. “I’m here.” Foal Starlight appeared confused at the sight of her adult self. However, having someone else in the room with her got her to stop crying. “Okay,” gulped Starlight. “I’m going to clean you up. Make everything better.” *** Adult Starlight used her powerful magic to manipulate the room. She first cleaned her foal self, put new clothes on her, and then changed the bedding in the crib so it no longer was a rancid mess. “Ooh,” awed foal Starlight. “You’ll be able to do more than this when you get older,” stated adult Starlight. “You’re going to become a very powerful Unicorn.” Her foal self seemed to smile. She may not have understood what her older self was saying, but the tone was definitely one that made her feel happy. The periwinkle-colored Unicorn felt herself crying again. However, these tears were not of sadness, but of joy in knowing she was making a difference for her foal self. “You’re going to be okay,” she said while sobbing. “Everything is going to be just fine.” “Momma?” asked the little one while she snuggled into Starlight’s fur. “Yes,” cried Starlight. “You can call me momma.” *** Adult Starlight used a clean blanket to swaddle her foal self. She then took her into her hooves, held her tight against her chest, and began to rock from side-to-side while humming a simple tune. “Momma…,” yawned her foal self. The pain, sadness, and loneliness had all appeared to have gone. She now looked comfortable, happy, and relaxed. “That’s it,” sniffled Starlight as she watched the foal fall to sleep in her hooves. “Everything’s okay.” *** A few moments passed before the foal fell to sleep. Once she did, Starlight went to put her back into her cleaned crib. However, she couldn’t bring herself to let go. So she instead found a rocking chair, sat in it, and continued to hold and sing to her younger self until she fell asleep and quickly awoke to another day in The Castle of Friendship.
Chapter 3 - First FriendStarlight found herself standing across the road from a large, brightly colored building. “Greetings, Starlight,” greeted Princess Luna. “Are you ready to face yet another ghost from your past?” “Another?” asked the periwinkle-colored Unicorn. “Yes,” the princess replied. “You did quite well last night. I truly believe you are ready for this next step towards putting your past behind you.” “Step?” asked Starlight. “How long will I have to go through this?” “That depends on you,” replied Luna. “Only you can know when you’ve truly coped with your past and shall not be haunted by it.” Starlight looked towards the building. The sound of children playing could be heard coming from within. She then noticed the sign next to the front door that had a pair of ducks holding hands that read, ‘Happy Duck Daycare’ “I’m guessing I have to go in there?” she more said than asked. “Yes,” nodded Luna. “What happens next is up to you.” FWOO Everything went dark for a moment before the Unicorn suddenly found herself standing within a large playroom. Her eyes taking in all the foals carrying on and having a good time while a number of caretakers ensured everyone was properly attended to. “Okay,” she said as her anxiety began to rise. “Where am I?” *** Starlight’s heart thumped faster-and-faster as she carefully scoured around the room in search of her younger self. Each second that passed made her feel increasingly stressed. “Where am I?” she asked. “Am I even here?” *** Starlight’s stomach was beginning to feel upset after the fifth trip she made within the playroom. There was no sign of her younger self. However, she did notice a familiar looking Unicorn with golden hair curled up with a book next to one of the bookshelves. “Sunburst?” she wondered as the colt kept his face buried in a picture book. He was quite content just minding his own business while reading whatever story he had gotten his hooves on. “Mmf,” he groaned while shutting his book and getting up on all four hooves. “Gotta’ go potty.” Starlight watched as young Sunburst went to find a caretaker to help him to the bathroom. As weird as it felt, something told her she should follow along. “Okay,” she blushed. “Perhaps Sunburst will lead me to, uh, me?” *** The yellowish-orange Unicorn trotted eagerly alongside a powder-blue colored Earth Pony mare. Encouraging words were being exchanged between the two. “I’m not following them into the bathroom,” stated Starlight as her blush deepened. PANG! “Ouch!” the periwinkle Unicorn cried as she felt a sharp pain burst within her head. This was followed by a tightening in her chest that caused her to stop her forward motion and catch notice of a door that had been slightly left ajar. “Could this be…?” she wondered while making her way towards the door and pulling it open. Sure enough, foal Starlight was sitting all alone within a dark closet. Her eyes bloodshot from crying as a foul smell came from her. “How can this be?” gagged adult Starlight. “Why do I look so awful?” Foal Starlight trembled upon noticing her adult self. “I…,” she mumbled. “I didn’t, mean to…” “Didn’t mean to do what?” asked Starlight. However, the scent of manure gave away what was likely the cause of her younger self’s anguish, shame, and fear. Adult Starlight, as with the night before, felt the tightness in her chest build while a growing desire to vomit came over her. She knew she had to resist these feelings, though, if she were to not cause additional trauma to her younger self. It’s, okay,” she struggled while sitting down on her haunches to better face her terrified, younger self. “No,” whimpered foal Starlight. “Mom and dad will be mad. The older ponies will be mad. No pony wants to play with me.” Each sentence from her younger self felt like a knife was being stabbed through Starlight Glimmer’s heart. She felt very sick, very uncomfortable, and extremely anxious. It took everything in her to not want to run away from the foal she was facing. “I…,” she choked. “I’m not mad.” “You’re… not?” asked foal Starlight. Her bloodshot eyes opening wide with a look of hope in them. Adult Starlight felt her throat tighten as she realized her next words had to really count. “Everything’s okay,” she said while forcing a smile. “Come here and give me a hug.” Foal Starlight seemed to smile as she gathered herself enough to trot towards her adult self. “I got you,” said Starlight as she reached for the outstretched hooves of her younger self and brought her in for a tight hug. The scent from her unwashed body and manure loaded diaper was overwhelming. However, Starlight knew she had to be strong for the younger self that was desperate for love and affection. “There, there,” she said softly. “Everything is alright. You’re going to make friends and be a big filly every pony will want to play with.” CLICK-CLOP CLOP-CLICK From a short distance away, Starlight could hear ponies approaching her as they talked. “Good job, Sunburst!” a mare cheered with extreme enthusiasm. “Thanks, Ms. Cuddles,” he replied. “You haven’t had an accident all week!” cheered Ms. Cuddles. “You’re parents will be so proud of you!” CLIP-CLOP CLOP-CLICK Ms. Cuddles was the powder-blue Earth Pony that had walked Sunburst to the bathroom. She was now right beside the opened, closet door that foal Starlight was in. “Glim-Glim?” asked Ms. Cuddles upon spotting the foal in the arms of adult Starlight. “Is everything okay, lil’ filly?” Adult Starlight didn’t know if the caretaker could see her, but she thought she’d respond on behalf of your younger self just-in-case. “She had an accident,” she stated. “She’s worried she’s in trouble.” Foal Starlight saw Sunburst and cringed. Adult Starlight took this as panic upon being gawked at by a young colt who was acting more his age than she was. That he’d make fun of her. That he’d be just another pony in the daycare to make her feel as lonely and unwanted as she was at home. “Don’t worry,” assured adult Starlight. “Sunburst is a good pony. He’s your friend.” “Yeah,” agreed Ms. Cuddles. “Actually, I think you and Sunburst could become great friends.” “Me?” asked Sunburst. “Yes,” Ms. Cuddles said with a smile. “Glim-Glim here isn’t all rowdy like the other foals. I’m sure you two could have lots of fun reading books together.” “You like… books?” asked Sunburst. “Uh-huh,” answered foal Starlight. Her feelings of fear, shame, and doubt seemingly leaving her mind. “I also think you can help Glim-Glim with her potty training, too!” cooed Ms. Cuddles. “Glim-Glim needs a big colt to help her be a big filly!” “I…,” blushed Sunburst. “I can do that.” “Great!” cheered Ms. Cuddles. “Now how’s about I get you back into the playroom so I can help get Glim-Glim all cleaned up so she can read some books with you?” “Okay,” he said. “See you, Glim-Glim.” “I got this,” stated adult Starlight as she used her magic to place her younger self upon her back. The two then made their way to the changing room where Starlight took good care to properly clean her younger self. As she did she told foal Starlight about how Sunburst was going to be her best friend. This made the little one smile while her once bloodshot eyes returned to normal. “Friend?” asked foal Starlight. “Yes,” replied the adult Unicorn as she felt tears forming in her eyes. These ones were not of sadness, but of knowing how wonderful it felt to be assured of such a thing when you otherwise felt so alone and unwanted. *** Starlight couldn’t resist giving her foal self a kiss on the cheek before helping her back out to the playroom. Here, she found Ms. Cuddles waiting with young Sunburst. “Hi, Glim-Glim!” greeted Sunburst. “I got a great book!” Starlight gently placed her younger self upon the floor and watched as she gleefully joined Sunburst in reading over a picture book about using the potty. “You’re new, right?” asked Ms. Cuddles to Starlight. “Me…?” gasped the Unicorn. “I’m worried,” continued Ms. Cuddles. “I have the feeling Glim-Glim isn’t getting the love and care she needs at home.” “You do?” wondered Starlight. “I’m not the pony to judge,” whispered Ms. Cuddles as she got closer to Starlight. “However, her parents are always the first to drop off and last to pick up. They also seem to bring her in without cleaning her up and it doesn’t seem like they feed her before she comes here either.” Starlight felt the sickness in her stomach begin to return as the powder-blue, Earth Pony shared her thoughts. “I wish I could do more for her,” Ms. Cuddles continued. “However, I don’t know how I could without making her an orphan. There’s no other relatives listed on her intake paperwork.” Starlight felt the world around her grow cold. Her anxiety also started to rise as thoughts flew through her mind about the numerous possibilities of what these memories were foreshadowing. Ms. Cuddles sighed and smiled. “I’m glad she is making friends with Sunburst,” she said. “Sunburst isn’t like the other colts and fillies here. He is very hyper focused and really seems to like it when some pony pays attention to what he’s into.” The ill feelings Starlight was getting faded away upon seeing her foal self smiling alongside young Sunburst. “I think they’ll be great friends,” she said. “I’m glad you think so,” said Ms. Cuddles. “I really wanted to get a second opinion on an idea I had.” “What’s that?” asked Starlight. “Sunburst’s parents have found it hard to find their son a pladate friend,” she stated. “I’m thinking of recommending Glim-Glim to them. They’re a caring pair and the two could certainly help each other feel happy.” “Of course!” Starlight beamed. “You should definitely do it!” “Super!” cheered Ms. Cuddles. “Could you watch the darlings while I get some paperwork together? I want to make sure I catch both sets of parents so we can get these two spending as much time together as soon as possible.” “You can count on me!” cheered Starlight. She then happily watched as her foal self and Sunburst kept smiling and talking until she found herself suddenly awaking in her bed within The Castle of Friendship.
Chapter 4 - The Forgotten Filly“Good evening, Starlight,” greeted Luna. Starlight found herself walking along the night sky as the Princess of the Night stood before her. “A dream?” she asked. “Yes,” replied Luna as her royal-blue mane flowed elegantly against the night sky. “This time things are going to be a bit different.” “Different?” asked Starlight. “What do you mean?” FWOOM Starlight watched as Luna brought a door up from the invisible floor they were standing on. “Tonight’s session will consist of a chain of memories,” stated the princess. “I shall endow you with the ability to enter and exit these memories as you see fit.” “I don’t understand,” stated Starlight. KA-CLICK The door opened as Luna spoke. “You will,” she assured. “You need only say, ‘I’m ready’ to leave a memory. This will return you here where, upon feeling prepared, you will say, ‘I’m ready’ for the next memory’s door to appear before you.” Starlight felt a sense of anxiety pour over her. “So I’m on my own this time?” she asked. “Yes,” replied Luna. “And no.” “…,” Starlight didn’t like the cryptic answer she was given. “Now I must bid you farewell,” stated Luna. “There are other ponies who need my aid on this night.” FWOOM KA-CLICK Starlight watched as Luna lifted another door from the invisible floor, opened it, and walked inside. FWOOSH! The door Luna had gone through vanished leaving behind only the one she had brought up for Starlight. “Okay…,” gasped the periwinkle-colored Unicorn. “Here goes.” *** Starlight heard the sound of cheering as she stepped into a very familiar looking room. “This…?” she gasped while feeling her stomach turn. “…Sunburst…” It didn’t take long for Starlight Glimmer to notice her distraught self as a filly gazing out towards her colt friend who was being celebrated for having just acquired his cutie mark. “No…,” trembled Starlight as she could only watch her younger self look with dread as Sunburst was lead away by the other ponies. “Go after him! Don’t let him go!” Filly Starlight didn’t move. However, the atmosphere in the room definitely changed. “What the…?” wondered the observing Unicorn as she felt herself growing sick. Everything felt cold. It also felt like her heart had been removed from her chest due to how empty she felt on the inside “She needs me,” she coughed. “I have to fix this.” Starlight Glimmer tried to approach her distraught, filly self. However, the closer she got the sicker she felt. “Ungh,” she choked upon feeling pain pulse throughout her entire torso. It was overwhelming. What made it worse is how she couldn’t bring herself to move another step. She wanted to talk to her filly self, but felt an immense urge to vomit each time she even attempted to open her mouth. “All I can do is watch?” she wondered with horror. “There’s nothing I can do?” *** Filly Starlight didn’t move for about ten minutes. Each second of this time felt like an eternity to adult Starlight who could only watch as they both cried from the pain, hurt, and immense loneliness they were apparently sharing. “What is the point in this?” she wondered. “If I can’t do anything why did Luna send me here?” Starlight then remembered how the princess told her how to escape from the memories she was being exposed to. “I’m, ready,” she choked. FWOO Everything went dark before Starlight found herself lying upon the invisible floor in the night sky. Her body feeling less traumatized and more like itself. “I remember,” she said while thinking back on that day. “However, there’s more to what happened that day then my disliking of cutie marks.” The periwinkle-colored Unicorn thought for a moment. She had an idea what may be coming next, but knew she needed to see it through. “I’m ready,” she stated. FWOOM KA-CLICK! Starlight watched as another door flew up in front of her and opened itself towards an unknown destination. “Okay…,” she said with a deep breath. “Here goes.” *** The new location was hauntingly familiar. “This…,” she said with disbelief. “It’s my old room.” Starlight gazed about her old room. The coloring was a bit faded. There were pictures on the walls, but they were very difficult to make out. “All I need to do is get my cutie mark,” stated her filly self while reading a book off in a corner of the room. “Get my cutie mark and I’ll get to be with Sunburst again.” Starlight felt such a strong sensation of anger, loneliness, and pain surge through her body. It wasn’t long before she fell to the floor from a headache that grew in intensity with every passing second. “Argh!” she groaned while finding it hard to even open her eyes due to the degree of discomfort that was throbbing through her head. “Why?” FWOO The room disappeared to reveal a classroom. Starlight felt able to open her eyes and noticed how the classroom seemed even duller in color than her bedroom did. She also took notice of how all the other students appeared to be black-and-grey. The only ponies that looked even close to how they should were her filly self and the teacher. “…Well done, Starlight!” commented the instructor. “You’ve definitely been paying attention to your magical studies.” SHING! The entire classroom grew quiet upon Starlight Glimmer acquiring her cutie mark. “Starlight!” cheered the instructor. “You just got your cutie mark!” There was cheering and clapping throughout the classroom. However, adult Starlight couldn’t help but feel a sinking sensation in her stomach. “Something isn’t right,” she said. “This doesn’t seem-” FWOO Adult Starlight now saw herself back in what she believed to be her home. The place looked like a tornado had gone through it and the mare and stallion in front of her foal self were almost as dark as shadows. “…No,” said the mare. “We don’t have the bits to send you away to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.” “But…,” pleaded filly Starlight. “You heard your mom,” stated the stallion. “The answer is ‘no’.” Filly Starlight dropped the letter of recommendation she was holding in her mouth and ran for her room. “NO!” cried adult Starlight. “YOU KEPT ME FROM MY FRIEND!” FWOO Starlight found herself back in her room. It wasn’t long until her body was filled with intense rage, frustration, and an unmatched disliking of her cutie mark. “What’s the point,” sniffled filly Starlight. “No pony cares about me. No pony cares about what I can do.” Filly Starlight took a moment to stare at her cutie mark. “I hate you!” she cried. “I want you gone!” Adult Starlight suddenly recalled what was about to happen next. “No!” she called. “Don’t do it, Starlight!” FWOO Starlight’s fears were realized when she noticed the scene change to where she ran away from home. “I don’t need any pony!” her filly self growled. “All I need to do is get this pointless cutie mark off of me so I can be the no pony I’ve always been!” “Starlight!” cried her adult self. “That’s not true! You are some pony!” *** The scene did not change as Starlight Glimmer could only watch her younger self disappear off into the distance. The world around them growing colder and duller the further apart they became. “I’m scared,” said a foal version of Starlight as she wrapped herself around the adult Unicorn. Starlight was surprised to see her foal self again. She could certainly feel the fear coming from her. “Don’t you worry,” she stated. “I’m going to make things right.” “Promise?” the foal asked with the deepest of blue eyes. Starlight scooped up the foal and placed her upon her back. “I promise,” she replied. The area around them was nearly pitch-black. It was certainly scaring her foal self as the little one closed her eyes, wrapped her hooves around Starlight’s neck, and started to whimper. “I’m ready,” said Starlight. FWOO Starlight felt as if she fell through the ground as the darkness was quickly replaced by the night sky with the invisible floor.
Chapter 5 - Path to Inequality“Ooh,” awed foal Starlight. “Are we up-up in the sky?” The periwinkle Unicorn was surprised her younger self was still with her after escaping from her runaway memory. “Yeah…,” she replied. “I’m sort of on a journey.” “A what?” asked the foal as she climbed atop Starlight’s head to see all there was to see. “Like a story,” stated the grown-up. “I think you are supposed to come along with me.” “I like you,” foal Starlight stated with a giggle. “You make me happy.” Adult Starlight felt a warmth in her heart upon hearing her foal self say such a compliment. “You make me feel happy, too,” she beamed. “Now let’s go see what’s next.” “Holding on tight-tight!” cheered the foal. “I’m ready,” stated Starlight. FWOOM KA-CLICK “Oh, wow!” awed foal Starlight while watching the door rise from below them and open itself up. “You do good magic.” “It takes a good magician to know a good magician,” complimented Starlight as they entered into wherever the door would take them. *** “Books!” cried foal Starlight. “Let’s read ‘Ugly Duckling’!” Adult Starlight took in the area around them. It appeared to be a library. However, it was dark with nobody in it. Nobody with the exception of a slightly older, filly version of herself flipping through the pages of a book with her magic. “I’ve just about got it,” whispered the filly with determination. “If this is the book I’ve been looking for, I can unite the curse removal spell with the magic nullification spell to remove my cutie mark once-and-for-all.” “What’s she doin’?” the foal asked. “Why does she look like you?” “She’s learning a new spell,” stated Starlight somberly. “And, uh, I don’t know why she looks like us, uh, me.” “Yes!” delighted filly Starlight while she removed a piece of parchment from her saddlebag and wrote some words down upon it. “Now I need only splice the spells together to create the cutie mark removal spell I’ve been long seeking to end my misery.” “She seems unhappy,” foal Starlight said. “Do you think we should go and try to cheer her up?” Adult Starlight didn’t know what to say. However, it didn’t matter as the foal hopped from her back and trotted towards her filly self. “Hi!” she greeted. “My name’s Glim-Glim. What’s yours?” Filly Starlight looked at her younger self. However, she didn’t recognize that Glim-Glim was a younger version of who she was. Instead, Glim-Glim turned into a dark, shadowy pony with pitch-black eyes. “I’m nobody,” scoffed the filly while packing up her things and trotting away. Worried for Glim-Glim’s well-being, Starlight quickly made her way towards the foal. “Are you okay?” she asked. The color returned to Glim-Glim upon seeing the grown-up come near her. “I’m worried,” she said. “She looks so sad.” “Don’t you worry, Glim-Glim,” stated Starlight while lifting the foal upon her back. “I think I know how we can help her.” FWOO The scene changed to a small campsite within a desert oasis. Here, an even older version of filly Starlight was packing up books and scrolls in preparation to journey further away from any pony who could possibly hurt her as all others had. “The spell worked,” she thought aloud. “However, it appears I need my cutie mark in order to tap into my full, magical potential.” “What she talking about?” asked Glim-Glim. “I’m confused.” “I’m not,” thought Starlight. “This is when I decided to paint my flank to hide my cutie mark. It is also when I discovered what I’d come to call ‘The Staff of Sameness’.” “Can we go swimming?” Glim-Glim asked. “Maybe she’d want to go swimming, too?” Starlight was still lost in thought when Glim-Glim darted for the filly. “Hey!” cheered foal Starlight. “Wanna’ go swim?” The filly scowled towards where she heard the tiny voice. As she did, Glim-Glim started to turn totally black in color. “Now I’m hearing things,” she said. “Best to move on before the desert really messes with my head.” Filly Starlight finished packing up her tent, supplies, and documents. She then headed off into the desert. “Glim-Glim!” called Starlight upon realizing her younger self was almost a literal shadow of her former self. “Are you okay?” Glim-Glim looked up to Starlight. Seeing her brought her colors back, but tears were now in her eyes. “What’s wrong with her?” she asked. “She ignored me.” “She’s confused,” stated Starlight. “She needs our help.” “Can we help?” sobbed Glim-Glim. “There’s no love in her eyes.” Starlight thought back on this time in her life. How she felt worthless, empty, and hated everything to do with cutie marks. This was certainly not what her foal self needed to hear. It wasn’t even anything she wanted to hear either. However, something told her she needed to see it all through. “Friendship,” she said. “She just needs to know she has friends.” “Will she want to be our friend?” asked Glim-Glim. “We’ll definitely do our best,” assured Starlight while lifting Glim-Glim onto her back. “Let’s go.” FWOO “Brr,” shivered Glim-Glim upon their sudden arrival on a snow-covered mountain. “I’m cold.” Remembering how this was a dream, Starlight imagined a heavy coat for her foal self to wear. POOF “Here,” she said while using her magic to put the coat on Glim-Glim. “This will keep you warm.” “You’re so nice,” cooed the foal while nuzzling into Starlight’s coat and mane. Up ahead, Starlight noticed what she thought she might notice. This being her older-filly self meeting up with Double Diamond. “…Why did my talent have to be skiing?” he asked sadly. “Nobody likes to ski with me.” The older filly appeared annoyed at Double Diamond’s blubbering. “Hey!” he exclaimed. “You don’t have a cutie mark!” “No,” filly Starlight said. “I don’t.” “I wish I didn’t have mine,” he said. “It’s just a reminder of how alone I am.” Filly Starlight smiled. “You say you don’t like your cutie mark?” she asked. “No,” replied Double Diamond as he slipped off his skis and sat them down upon the snow. “I wish I never got it.” SHING Filly Starlight levitated the staff-like stick she had found in the desert. It’s original intention was to help defend her along with aid in her walking if she needed a brace. However, a new idea had come to her. “What if I could remove your cutie mark?” she asked. “You can do that?” asked Double Diamond. “That’s what I did to mine,” she replied. “I can do the same for you.” “That would be great!” cheered Double Diamond. “No pony would ask me about my special talent, or tell me they don’t like skiing!” “We’d be equals!” beamed filly Starlight while raising the staff. “Are you ready?” “Yes!” cheered Double Diamond. “Let’s be equals!” *** “What’s she doin’?” asked Glim-Glim. “She’s taking away his cutie mark,” Starlight replied. “We got to stop her!” cried Glim-Glim. “Cutie marks are important!” “We can’t,” stated Starlight. “Double Diamond wanted his cutie mark removed.” “Why?” wondered the foal. “Why does he not want his cutie mark?” “He’s confused,” she replied. “He wanted a friend and felt this was the way to get one.” “We should be his friends!” squeaked Glim-Glim. “We will be,” assured Starlight. “He, like her, just need to learn the power of friendship.” “And we’re going to do that?” asked Glim-Glim. “We are,” replied Starlight. “We just need to wait for the right time to show her and Double Diamond that they are more than what they think they are.”
Chapter 6 - The Vengeful MareStarlight was surprised when she suddenly found herself awake in The Castle of Friendship. She felt she was making some real progress in understanding all that had lead up to her brainwashing the ponies she and Double Diamond had gathered in the valley below the mountains where the pair had first met. “Perhaps,” she thought while climbing out of bed. “Princess Luna wanted me to have some time to fully understand all that Glim-Glim and I were going through?” The periwinkle Unicorn used her magic to comb her mane as a sudden realization came over her. “Wait…,” she gasped. “Why was Glim-Glim with me? Why did she seem so determined to make friends with my unpleasant self as a filly?” *** Night came and Starlight was excited to see Princess Luna greeting her immediately upon entering into the dream world. “How was last night?” asked Luna. “I think I am starting to understand what you’re trying to do,” replied Starlight. “Oh!” grinned the Princes of the Night. “Do tell.” “You’re showing me how making friends with my past selves can make my present self more open to friendship and foregiveness.” Princes Luna nodded as her mane flowed against the night sky. “You are indeed as wise as my sister and Princess Twilight have told me,” she stated. “You should have no trouble with tonight’s session.” FWOOM! KA-CLICK! “As before,” continued Luna. “You need only mention that you’re ready to move past anything you may encounter on your journeys this evening.” FWOOM! KA-CLICK! “I now must bid you farewell,” the Alicorn Princess stated. “Other ponies need my services.” *** As Princess Luna and her door vanished, Starlight was surprised to see her foal self, Glim-Glim, reappear on her back. “Yay!” Glim-Glim cheered. “I’m so happy to see you again!” “Me, too,” beamed Starlight. “Let’s see what’s beyond this door.” “Whee!” Glim-Glim exclaimed as the pair entered into the door Princess Luna had opened for them. *** “That’s you!” called out Glim-Glim upon noticing a fully-grown, Starlight Glimmer using a paintbrush and can of paint to place an equal sign upon her flanks. “Who’s there!” growled mare Starlight. “State your business!” “She doesn’t recognize me?” wondered Starlight. “Of course not!” snapped filly Starlight upon appearing from behind mare Starlight. “You’ve abandoned her and all she fought for!” Glim-Glim narrowed her eyes and pawed her front hoof upon the wooden floor of Starlight’s house within ‘Equal town’. “She wouldn’t abandon anybody!” squeaked the foal. “Oh, please!” waved off filly Starlight. “She thinks things are better now that she’s a subordinate to some princess.” “Friends with a princess!” squeaked Glim-Glim. “And we’ve got more friends than that!” “Who needs friends when you control a whole town!” growled the filly. *** Starlight Glimmer felt pain in her chest along with a pounding in her head as her foal and filly selves argued. “It hurts,” she moaned. “Why does it hurt.” “Is this true?” the mare version of herself asked. “Is what true?” struggled Starlight. “That you’ve abandoned all we worked so hard to achieve?” she asked while spotting the exposed cutie mark. “That you gave up on all I’ve built?” “This,” groaned Starlight while wincing in pain. “It was a mistake.” “You’re calling years of neglect, loneliness, and misery finally paying off with power, compliance, and devotion of an entire town wrong?” she growled. “You call building an entire town based on equality where no pony ever feels the pain of losing a friend to a cutie mark a mistake?” “But, you, have, yours,” struggled Starlight. “And soon you won’t,” sneared mare Starlight as she evoked the cutie mark removal spell. “NO!” protested Glim-Glim as she ran in front of the struggling Starlight. “Please! Stop!” “What does a foal know of adult matters!” snarled mare Starlight. “You don’t know the pain of losing your best friend to a cutie mark! You don’t know the agony of having every accomplishment you make being treated as nothing!” “And you forgot what it is to be a friend,” sobbed Glim-Glim. “Real friends don’t say angry things to other ponies!” “That’s enough out of you!” shrieked filly Starlight as she darted with her horn poised to force Glim-Glim out of the way. Starlight felt herself filled with a strong desire to protect Glim-Glim. So, with all she had, she conjured a levitation spell that lifted filly Starlight over Glim-Glim. This caused the anger-driven filly to smash into the wall and become stuck into it by her horn. “I may not be able to stop you,” struggled Starlight as she rose to her hooves. “But I can keep you from ruining the best part of yourself.” “That foal?” wondered mare Starlight. “How is this foal ‘the best part of me’?” “You’ll find out soon enough!” replied Starlight as she made her way for the door of her former home in ‘Equal Town’. “Is that a threat?” challenged mare Starlight. “No,” said Starlight as she opened the door. “It’s a promise.” *** FWOO The scene changed to that of a cavern that was dimly lit by an ethereal torch. “All I built…,” sobbed mare Starlight. “Taken away just like that…” Starlight remembered where she was. This was a secret place she had set up within the maze-like caverns that made up the mountain outside of ‘Equal Town’. “See what you’ve done?” asked filly Starlight while walking out from the shadows. “You made her drop her guard and allowed us to be hurt again.” “What do you mean?” asked Starlight. “That friend of Twilight Sparkle! Ssnarled the filly. “You should’ve never let her out. You should’ve never allowed her to trick you into allowing Twilight to expose our secret!” “Hey!” Glim-Glim protested from atop Starlight’s back. “That’s not fair!” “You again,” growled the filly. “You’re the reason we lost the town. You’re the reason we let our guard down. You’re the reason we’re stuck in this cave!” Starlight felt numerous emotions flowing throughout her body. Her foal self was scared while her filly self was very angry. She imagined these may be what her mare self was feeling while working by candlelight on a makeshift table. “Starlight…?” she asked while approaching the mare. “Go away!” snapped the mare without even turning away. “Leave me alone!” “See?” spat filly Starlight. “You ruined everything by lowering your guard! Why should anything ever change after all we’ve been through!” “What about Sunburst?” asked Glim-Glim meakly. “He was a good friend.” “Was,” emphasized the filly. “And he left us without so much as a goodbye!” “And we’re still friends!” countered Starlight. “He now lives in The Crystal Empire and is the official Crystaler of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor!” “I don’t believe you!” snapped filly Starlight. “It’s that weaker, foal-side of yours that is making up more preposterous stories to take you away from what really matters!” “And what’s that?” asked Starlight. Mare Starlight turned away from her reading. Her eyes bloodshot from sobbing and lack of sleep. “Revenge,” she said. “Once I gather the right materials, I’ll be able to take from Princess Twilight Sparkle what she took away from me.” Glim-Glim yelped as she hid behind Starlight’s neck and mane. “We can’t keep doing this,” stated Starlight. “Forcing respect and exacting revenge does nothing but cause more hurt and pain.” “Hurt and pain that Princess Twilight Sparkle has never known in her entire privledged life!” cried the mare. “Pain I’m more than happy to give her once I have all the information and magical spells to fully execute!” “Yeah!” proclaimed the filly while stomping her hoof. “It’s about time we showed that pony the misery she’s never known! The anguish we’ve suffered! The solitude of never having a friend, or loved one!” “What about Sunburst?” whispered Glim-Glim. “What about Double Diamond?” Starlight felt the rage she was being subjected to subside as her mind flickered with memories of Sunburst, Double Diamond, and other ponies she had met over the years. “Ms. Cuddles?” giggled Glim-Glim. “Wasn’t she nice?” More memories came to Starlight. Memories of those who did show her love, care, and genuine friendship. Positives that she never thought much on as a result of being so clouded with how her life seemed filled with nothing more than negativity. “All our magic, too!” chirped Glim-Glim. “We learned a lot and got really good at it!” The periwinkle Unicorn smiled while looking towards her filly self. “Revenge is not the answer,” she said. “Dwelling on negative emotions only gives way for more negative outcomes.” “Fine!” stomped the filly as she turned pitch-black, formed into a cloud, and merged with mare Starlight. “Nobody can stop our revenge!” mare Starlight boomed. “Not you! NOT ANY PONY!” “I may not be able to stop you,” stated Starlight. “However, you will be stopped and will see the error of your ways.” Starlight turned away from her furious, mare self who had been possessed by her disgruntled, filly self. “I WON’T LET YOU LEAVE!” growled mare Starlight while casting an attack spell. SHING PA-SHOO FIZZLE “What?” wondered mare Starlight as her magic deflected off her present day self. “Do what you must,” stated Starlight while trotting off. “But know that darkness in your heart will only continue to bring you pain until you learn to let it go.” Mare Starlight furiously went about casting attack spells. However, each deflected harmlessly off of Starlight as she used Princess Luna’s magic to summon the door, walk through it, and wake up in her bed within The Castle of Friendship.
Chapter 7 - Starlight's Epiphany“Greetings, Starlight,” welcomed Luna as the two stood in the night sky. “It would seem your journey through your past is at its end.” “It would seem that way,” replied Starlight. “What have you learned from your journeys?” asked Luna. “That I was a very bitter pony,” the periwinkle-colored Unicorn sighed. “That I allowed emotion to override common sense.” “Did you ever think of how your foal self and filly self played their respective parts in bringing you to where you are now?” questioned Luna. POOF! POOF! Starlight watched as Glim-Glim and her filly self appeared in front of her. “Yay!” exclaimed Glim-Glim as she spit out her pacifier and ran alongside Starlight. “Harumph!” scoffed the filly while turning her head. The sight of Glim-Glim made Starlight feel happy. However, her filly self made her sad due to how she was so unpleasant. “I think…,” thought Starlight while looking into Glim-Glim’s innocent eyes. “I think I understand.” “Ah,” grinned the Princess of the Night. “Would you care to elaborate?” Starlight faced her filly self before sharing her thoughts. “My years as a foal may have been full of neglect from my parents,” she said. “However, there were ponies who genuinely cared about me and wanted the best for me. In particular, Sunburst.” “And you see where that got you,” grumbled filly Starlight while scraping her hoof on the invisible floor. “I’m not finished,” stated Starlight while using her magic to get her filly self’s attention. “No pony was there for us to understand that Sunburst didn’t abandon us. He, like we were, was only doing what his parents felt was right for him to be the best he could be. His mom and dad cared while ours were too caught up in their own affairs to see how much we were struggling.” “It’s all because of his cutie mark!” snapped the filly. “His talent. Their talent. They felt they were better than us because they were so ‘special’.” “I know why we felt this way,” stated Starlight. “We were never properly socialized. Our parents didn’t know how to raise a child. We also didn’t have the care and support we had when we were a foal.” “All the reason we needed to get vengeance!” snarled filly Starlight. “Show the world how painful life is to be a no pony! To be nothing special at all!” “That’s what I used to think,” stated Starlight as she levitated Glim-Glim onto her back. “But it was that kind of thinking that made us no better than our parents. We were doing nothing more than continuing a vicious cycle that had no need to be repeated.” “How can you say that?” wondered filly Starlight with a stomp. “The pain. The agony. The solitude. It’s… inexcusable!” “But,” Starlight calmly replied. “It’s the past and holding onto such feelings only causes us more pain. Pain that would keep us from seeing the good in ourselves that we never took notice of during those hard times.” “Good?” gasped filly Starlight. “Are you saying our suffering was a good thing!” “No,” replied Starlight. “I’m saying we achieved a lot of self-accomplishments that we shouldn’t let bad memories take away from who we are now.” “Like what?” scoffed filly Starlight. “We worked very hard to be recommended for Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns,” stated Starlight. “AND WE DIDN’T GET TO GO!” boomed the filly. “WE WERE STILL TREATED LIKE NOTHING AND HAD A POINTLESS CUTIE MARK!” Glim-Glim hid behind Starlight’s mane as the present-day version of herself stood her ground. “Our parents may not have cared,” stated Starlight. “However, we did get a rare recommendation while learning of our talent in the magical arts.” “But no pony cared!” proclaimed the filly. “It didn’t matter! It was all for nothing!” “That’s because we failed to see how determined we were to make something of ourselves,” replied Starlight. “We failed to acknowledge our own achievements. “Like what?” sneered the filly. “I know even Twilight Sparkle hasn’t dabbled in hybrid magic as much as we have,” stated Starlight. “We learned a lot of magic that no other pony knows that we can now use for good.” “We had good!” cried the displeased filly. “We had our town! We had our equality!” “No,” sighed Starlight. “We didn’t.” “That’s because you threw it away by trusting that Pegasus!” growled the filly. “You let your guard down!” Starlight thought for a moment before answering. “I’m glad I let my guard down,” she replied. “It needed to happen for us to end the vicious cycle of control and inequality we allowed to happen. We had taken advantage of Double Diamond along with all those ponies who felt we were providing a haven for the misunderstood. We robbed them of their identity while selfishly keeping exactly what we spoke out against.” “We had to!” snapped the filly. “How else could we collect their cutie marks? How else could we make sure we would never feel so hurt, neglected, and uncared for ever again?” “Two wrongs don’t make a right,” sighed Starlight. “And showing others the same disrespect we felt is no way to make friends.” SLIP THUMP Glim-Glim slid off Starlight’s back and made a book magically appear before her. It read ‘Bedtime Stories’. “I love you,” the foal said while levitating the book towards her filly self. The angst-filled filly didn’t know what to say as the foal grew closer. “You….,” she gasped. “Stay… Stay away.” “You need love,” Glim-Glim stated. “I love you.” “But…,” stammered the filly. “You’re… you’re the reason… The weakness.” “No,” smiled Starlight. “She’s the part of us that opened our heart towards having a true, second chance.” The foal sat beside the filly and levitated the book in front of her filly self. “Want to read with me?” she asked. “Reading is fun.” Starlight smiled wide as a great warmth filled her body. “I love you both,” she said merrily. “And I won’t forget how you both are truly very important in making me the pony I am today.” Filly Starlight seemed to lose her anger as the bright, blue eyes of Glim-Glim looked into hers. “Perhaps…,” she said. “One story couldn’t hurt…” “That’s the way,” encouraged Starlight. “We need to appreciate all we are in order to move on to a better tomorrow. To be the pony we always knew we could be.” SHIMMER FSSSH PWOOF! Starlight watched as Glim-Glim and her filly self merged in a flash of light. The combined mass shot straight towards her and effortlessly fused with her body. “Well done, Starlight,” congratulated Luna. “You seem to have finally come to terms with your past.” Starlight smiled as she could hear her filly self reading a story to Glim-Glim from somewhere within her head. “Thank you, Princess,” she bowed. “I honestly can’t tell you the last time I felt so at peace.” “It will be a feeling you’ll only find gets stronger with time,” stated Luna. “Glim-Glim and your filly self needed to understand how much they needed each other. How much they played a part, good, or bad, in making you who you are. We can’t truly change the past, but we can change how we perceive it.” “I understand,” acknowledged the periwinkle-colored Unicorn. “Now what should I do?” “I think you may already know what you need to do,” replied Luna with a nod. “Return to ‘Equal Town’,” stated Starlight. “Apologize for what I’ve done in the past, acknowledge my mistakes, and further my friendship studies in doing so.” The Princess of the night smiled while raising another door before herself. “It seems my work here is done,” she said while opening the door. “I trust you will do well in making amends while further accepting yourself by acknowledging how only you can make good on your past. I also trust you will seek guidance from all your new friends, along with those you will make, if ever you need help being the best pony you can be.” “I will,” assured Starlight. PWISH! There was a bright burst of light as Princess Luna went through the door. Once the light was gone it was replaced by the sunlight of a brand new day for Starlight Glimmer within The Castle of Friendship.
