Starlight's Kingdom

“Look, Starlight, I know I told you that I was specialized in defeating evil queens, but there’s a limit to the size of the queens I can defeat!” Trixie exclaimed, waving at the huge stoned worm in front of them.

“Just calm down,” Starlight said. “We don’t know if this is just a statue or—”

Starlight was interrupted when the statue’s eyes glowed bright green. Everyone took a step back, and Trixie hugged Starlight in fear, instinctively smothering the two of them with four magical shields.

“Trixie, let me breathe!” Starlight coughed, freeing herself from her friend’s grip.

“What are you waiting for?! RUN!” Trixie shouted, ready to take off.

“Wait,”

Starlight turned to the statue as the sound called from it, but when no one else turned to the statue, it became clear that only she could hear it

“Guys, stop,” Starlight said, placing a hoof on Trixie’s shoulder. “Did you hear anything?” Everyone shook their heads. “Well, I did!”

“I am not your enemy,” the statue spoke again with a voice strong and feminine.

“What did you hear?” Sunburst inquired.

“The statue,” Starlight answered, stepping closer to the stone worm. “She’s talking to me.”

“‘She’?” Trixie raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll try to make you all hear her through me. Just give me a second,” Starlight said, her horn glowing brighter than before. A small ball of magic floated from her horn and landed beside the statue, taking the form of a speaker. “This should do it.”

“Greetings, everypony,” the statue said, and this time everyone could hear it. “And greetings, Scott Free. It has been so long since I last saw you.”

Scott’s yes grew wide, everyone turning their gaze to him.

“H-How do you know me?” Scott stuttered. “Who are you?”

“I see. It looks like you have used your last resort.”

“Ahem,” Trixie cleared her throat. “Don’t want to be rude, but would you please explain what the hay are you talking about?!”

“You are the one who called me in my dreams, aren’t you?” Starlight asked. “ Why can’t anypony else hear you naturally? And why couldn’t Princess Luna notice my dreams?!”

“Easy, Starlight Glimmer. Everything will be explained in due time.”

“We are listening,” Starlight said, sitting down and motioning the others to do the same. Trixie hesitated, but she sat down eventually.

“Would you allow me to use your magic? To illustrate my thoughts to everyone through you?”

“Um, sure?” Starlight replied.

“My name is Centaria, queen of Jinjabannera. Years ago, I ruled this land in peace. I took under my wing a number of mages, hoping that one of them would one day become strong and wise enough to be my successor, since I’m a very old centipede.”

Starlight’s magic automatically created a colored, three-dimensional projection, representing a huge worm and three unicorns (two mares and one stallion). One of the mares, however, was clearly Shoreline Whisper, and there were two little fillies standing beside her, obviously her daughters. What caught Starlight’s attention the most was that the other mare looked almost exactly like the yellow unicorn she had seen in her dreams. Her manestyle was similar to Rainbow Dash’s, and her cutie mark was a blue silhouette of Starlight’s but with three blue sparkles around it.

“Aurora Glimmer, her husband Midnight Glimmer, and Shoreline Whisper were my students.”

“A-Are these two…,” Starlight muttered, placing a hoof on her mouth.

“Yes, Starlight. Midnight and Aurora are your parents.”

Everyone took a loud gasp at the news Centaria had just broke.

“All three of them were promising, but Shoreline and Aurora kept butting heads. With their great talent with magic, they grew big egos that clashed with each other.”

The projection showed Aurora and Shoreline locking their foreheads, Shoreline glaring at Aurora’s smirk.

“Aurora’s behaviour was harmless for the most part, but Shoreline had more than just a big ego; she was so power-hungry, always wanting more no matter what the consequences were, and her rivalry with Aurora soon grew into pure hatred towards the latter, not to mention how she thought that unicorns were supperior to other pony races. While both Aurora and Shoreline were good at magic, Aurora was still better at the moral aspect of the lessons. It did worry me, but I hoped that Shoreline would learn with time.”

“Midnight Glimmer, on the other hoof, loved adventure more than learning about magic. One day, when Aurora was pregnant with you, Midnight went on a journey, one that he never came back from.”

An image then appeared of a unicorn stallion trotting away from Aurora and disappearing.

“In his absence, a young deer called Scott Free, who had been a friend of Midnight’s, stood beside Aurora in her time of need.”

Then there was an image of a deer patting Aurora on the shoulder. It resembled Scott, but it looked much younger.

“As time went, the rivalry between Shoreline and Aurora continued to grow, and Shoreline’s actions began to truly scare me, to the point where I feared that her hatred would lead her to hurt Aurora’s baby. So when you were born, Starlight, I secretly cast a spell that created a link between my mind and yours. A link that would allow me to see through your eyes, hear through your ears and communicate with you telepathically. That way, I would ensure your safety. And on top of that, we hadn’t told Shoreline what your name was, not that we had time to...”

The projection showed Aurora carrying a baby and showing it to Centaria.

“Things only got worse from there. Shoreline learned that I was connected to this land, and she wanted to know if she could use that connection to harness the magic of Jinjabannera. When I refused to answer her, she saw red.”

Shoreline was then shown rushing out of the castle in rage and leaving Centaria behind.

“Apparently, Shoreline had learned dark magic, and one night she ambushed me and used a dark spell to turn me into stone in a rush of anger. That spell didn’t work like the Elements of Harmony; it was going to but me into a coma and make me unable to feel anything. But luckily, I managed to defend myself just in time, thus keeping my consciousness.”

Shoreline was then shown standing in front of Centaria’s statue, her face distorted in anger. “You stay here, and I’ll figure out later how to use your connection with this land!” she hissed, turning away from the statue. “But right now, I have to deal with a certain unicorn.” Her lips forming a wicked grin, she started out the castle, effortlessly defeating any guard that would dare to stand in her way.

The projection then showed Aurora and Scott rushing inside the mansion, with Starlight in Aurora’s magic grasp and wrapped in a blanket, while Shoreline caused Centaria’s castle more and more damage as she fought the guards.

“What are we going to do?” Scott—in the projection—asked.

“We must face her,” Aurora replied, bumping her forelegs against each other, a confident frown on her face. “That witch needs a hard kick in the flank, and I’ll be happy to deliver it to her! But first, we must put Starlight somewhere safe.”

Aurora then proceeded to open a portal in the mansion’s hall. On the other side of the portal, there was a town full of small houses.

“What is this?” Scott inquired, inspecting the portal up close.

“It’s a portal to Equestria. A secret exit I created,” Aurora replied, quickly stepping into the other side of the portal. “Come on, we don’t have much time.”

Scott and Aurora trotted up to one of the buildings, making sure that no one was there to see them. It was late at night, so the streets were empty. When they reached the building, Scott realized that it was an orphanage.

“An orphanage?! Aurora, what’s wrong?” Scott widened his eyes.

“Don’t worry, we’ll defeat Shoreline and come back here to get my daughter,” Aurora said, keeping her head high. She then turned her face away from Scott and muttered, “Hopefully.”

Aurora placed Starlight at the orphanage’s doorstep, and as she did so, the baby cooed and placed her tiny foreleg on her mother’s nose. Tears formed in Aurora’s eyes as she stared at her daughter, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

“Don’t worry, Starlight, I’ll come back for you,” Aurora said, caressing her baby’s mane. She then leaned closer as she continued to speak. “But if I don’t, then you come back for me. Grow up, get strong, make friends along the way, then come back to your kingdom.” With a last kiss on the forehead, she wiped her tears and left Starlight on the doorstep, failing to notice that Starlight’s blanket had ‘Starlight Glimmer’ written on it, before trotting back to the portal to Jinjabannera along with Scott. Starlight began to cry for her mother, louder and louder, but Aurora had already disappeared.

The projection fizzled out, letting silence fill the room, save for the sound of sniffles.

“My...my parents…” Starlight said, struggling against her stream of tears. “They actually cared about me! I...I…”

Sunburst quickly took Starlight in a tight hug, allowing her to sob into his chest as he let out tears of his own.

Trixie and Scott were crying as well, and Trixie used Sunburst’s cape to clean her nose.

Sunburst snapped his cape from her, frowning and muttering, “Use your own cape!”

“I remember everything now,” Scott said, rubbing his head. His fur suddenly seemed to become brighter than before. “When I realized that I couldn’t defeat Shoreline, I used a spell on myself to erase my memory, to make sure that Shoreline couldn’t know where we had hidden you no matter how much she interrogated me.”

“W-What happened to my mother?” Starlight inquired, sniffling.

“I...I don’t know,” Scott stuttered. “Shoreline had blasted me out of the castle before she defeated Aurora. I have no idea what did she do to her. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Starlight.”

In response, Starlight broke the embrace and started towards the stairs with strong steps that sounded like they would break the floor. “She’s so dead!” she hissed, her eyes blazing with anger.

“Whoa, hold on there!” Sunburst said, placing a hoof on Starlight’s shoulder to stop her progress.

“Where the hay you think you’re going?!” Trixie said, copying what Sunburst had done. But Starlight kept pushing.

“Let me go!” Starlight exclaimed.

“Calm down, Starlight.”

Starlight turned to Centaria’s statue, wiping her tears. “Do you even know what did Shoreline’s actions cause?! Do you know what happened to me because of her?!” She raised her voice, her body shaking in rage. “When I was a filly I had no parents, no pony to guide me or stand with me in my time of need, so I blamed Cutie Marks for stealing my only friend. When I grew up I started a cult of equality, and then I spent the rest of my life stealing Cutie Marks. I lost my whole life because of her!”

“Yes, I know. I saw everything through you, remember?”

“Then why didn’t you communicate with me?!” Starlight inquired loudly, more tears streaming down.

“Shoreline’s spell damaged my ability to communicate with you telepathically, but only lately the spell grew weak enough for me to contact you in your dreams from this great distance.”

Starlight gritted her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Letting anger control you will do more damage to you than it will to Shoreline. And revenge can’t undo the past. I thought you’ve already learned that lesson, Starlight.”

Starlight stomped her foreleg down forcefully, causing the ground underneath it to crack. She lowered her head, exhaling and inhaling slowly until her rage subsided, her breathing returning to normal.

“You are a better pony than you give yourself credit, Starlight. You value friends more than anything else, to the point where losing Sunburst caused you so much damage. But I was so disappointed to see you drifting in the wrong way. It seemed like all hope was lost back then. You can only imagine how happy I was when Princess Twilight Sparkle took you under her wing. Since then, you’ve come a long way in learning about friendship and magic. You’ve become as good of a student as, if not better than, your mother. Perhaps Princess Twilight is a better teacher than me? Who knows?” Centaria finished her sentence with a faint chuckle, allowing a tiny smile to appear on Starlight’s face.

“We can only guess,” Starlight muttered.

“So...why didn’t Princess Luna notice your dreams, Starlight?” Trixie asked.

“I’m not sure, but it’s most likely because Princess Luna is very busy at night time, and those dreams were too weak and short.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Starlight interrupted, wiping the rest of her tears. “We need to make a plan. Is their anyway to free you or stop Shoreline’s weapon?”

“Yes, there is a way. It’s a secret weapon, a last resort for situations like this.”

“Please tell us quickly,” Sunburst said.

“It’s called the Cocoon of Liberation. East to this castle, you’ll find something that looks like a gravestone. Using a certain spell will reveal the Cocoon. Bring it to me and I’ll show you how to use it. Take the spell, Starlight.”

As Centaria finished her statement, she showed the spell to Starlight telepathically. Educant interiorem daemonia, Starlight repeated the spell in her mind, but for some reason she didn’t like how it sounded.

“Be careful. Aquiring the Cocoon isn’t easy at all. But I believe that you’re strong enough to beat the obstacle that will face you there.”

Starlight hesitated for a moment, dropping her ears. But she quickly took a deep breath and regained her posture. “I’ll try my best. For you, for my mother, and for all of Jinjabannera!”

“That’s the spirit!” Trixie cheered, wrapping a hoof around Starlight’s shoulder.

“Guys, I don’t want to interrupt, but we should go back to the mansion quickly,” Scott said worriedly. “If Shoeline notices our absence, we’ll be in so much trouble!”

As soon as Scott said that, everyone rushed towards the stairs.

“Remember, Starlight,” Centaria called, making Starlight slow down to hear her. “Trust your friends, and don’t let your past slow you down.”

With a confident frown, Starlight nodded, before hurrying after her friends, and with her disappeared the magical speaker from beside Centaria.