9 years old
Starlight held a kite string down with her hoof and watched it soar in the air, free like a bird. A foal came up to her and showed her a page in the book. She lifted the kite string with a levitation spell, being careful not to make a mistake.

“As long as you practice magic with something you don’t want to lose control over, you will have control.”

Starlight looked at Sunburst. “You. I don’t ever want to hurt you. I don’t ever want to lose you, or control you. I just want you as my best friend.”

Sunburst laughed, sticking his tongue out in effort and teleporting a kite over to fly it with Starlight.

12 years old
“I hate this life! I hate everything!”

“Come here, silly filly. Calm down, have some cookies. I have your blankie-wankie waiting for you on the couch!”

“BUT I DON’T WANT THAT ANYMORE!”

12 years old
Starlight ran all the way to the train station, just in time to board the train. She sat in the luggage cart, all alone, for hours and hours. She undid her bun and made it

“We’ve arrived at Neighagra Falls!”

“Good.” Starlight walked past the big mountains, past the beautiful waterfall, past the fresh flowers and grass. Terribly exhausted, she laid down in a big abandoned house in a desert. “Forget about friends. Forget about cutie marks,” she mumbled, falling asleep. She didn’t even notice that she was tightly hugging a fancy-looking wooden stick.

16 years old
Starlight lit her horn up and blasted a beam of magic at the sheet of paper, and it floated into the air. Then, it spun around, spitting out copies of itself. Once it was finished, she smirked. Her manifesto now had multiple copies, and she could finally finish what she had dreamed of so long ago. Now, she could create a utopia where friendship could never hurt her, where cutie marks were forbidden. Now, she could live by her own standards. Now, all she needed was a few ponies who were willing to be a part of her master plan.

She walked into the building that had been her home for years. She teleported a powder that matched her coat color and wiped some onto her flank, covering her cutie mark. Then, she got black powder and used an equal sign cutout to make a perfect equal sign appear. Her smirk got even bigger.

16 years old
“Psst,” Starlight whispered, approaching a pony who was doing something with rocks. “Do you know a lot about rocks?”

“Yes,” the mare answered blandly, picking up a stone and examining it.

Starlight consciously looked around, deciding to take her chances. “Have you ever come across some kind of super powerful stone that can store the cutie mark magic of, I don’t know, an entire village?” she asked, stressing that last part.

“Yup,” the mare answered, setting down the stone and surprising, but more intriguing, Starlight. “In the big cave,” she continued, pointing past the place Starlight had decided to set up her village. Starlight grinned and quickly sped to the village to get everything she needed ready. She could probably set up a cutie mark vault in a few days, with the needed materials, of course.

17 years old
Starlight cowered in fear as the pony on skis came closer and closer to her. He was about to crash into her! And just when she thought her life was over, all because of this stupid pony who was skiing in the way, she didn’t feel anything. She braced for the impact, but it never came. Shaking, she stood up, lifting her hooves off her eyes.

“Uh… hello? Why were you here?” she demanded.

“My friend and I were here to have fun in the snow,” the stallion answered, taking his helmet off, revealing an earth pony with blue eyes and white hair. He motioned for another pony to come over. A blue-coated unicorn, with blue eyes and a blue mane, walked out from behind a snowpony. Noticing her cutie mark, the earth pony asked, “What’s your name?”

“Starlight Glimmer,” she hesitated to answer. “Why? What’s yours?”

“I’m Double Diamond,” the white one responded. “And this is Party Favor. Your name isn’t as… equality-related as I expected.”

“Well, no, I used this staff,” she said, pointing to a twisted piece of wood that she was levitating. “It rips off my cutie mark and replaces it with this equal sign here. It really is a beautiful experience.” She rubbed her chin, a wide smile across her face. “Would you two like to try?”

19 years old
“Welcome to Our Town!” she exclaimed. Starlight had managed to gather a few ponies, about 15, but still enough for a small village. Once more ponies came to her little village, she could store their cutie marks as well.

She showed everypony their place to stay, and grinned to herself as she walked into her own cottage. “You really have created the perfect paradise, Starlight.”

24 years old
Twilight and her friends backed away as the ponies from Starlight’s village surrounded them. “It’s a trap!” she shouted, getting ready to fight. She teleported herself into the air, where she got ready to strike Starlight, but she just grinned. A beam of magic shot out from the center of the staff, and held Twilight still, though she still made sounds as if she was in pain. Starlight’s grin got even wider as she ripped the Princess of Friendship’s cutie mark right off her flank.

She placed the mark in her vault, and sure enough, and equal sign appeared where the princess's cutie mark should have been.

Earlier today
“Welcome home, Twilight!” she smirked, tilting her head and casting a spell with the help of a time-travel spell she had altered. The scroll floated into the air even higher than it already was. So high, it practically touched the roots of the Golden Oak Library. Then, a teal streak of magic flowed down from the scroll, touching the map and activating it.

Princess Twilight ran forward, looking around at the map, then clenching her teeth at Starlight. “What are you doing, Starlight?”

Starlight cackled in response. “I’d tell you, but I don’t wanna ruin the surprise!” She grinned, crumpling the scroll up into a ball. “Won’t be needing that anymore,” she spoke with a fakely soft voice, throwing the scroll away. Twilight activated her horn, but Starlight beat her to it. She laughed maniacally and shot magic up into the air, creating a portal of time and space. She gave one last smirk to Twilight, and levitated herself into the portal.

Starlight opened her eyes, breathing heavily. All those memories, so overwhelming. She stuck her fork into her carrot. She twirled it around a few times, a cold expression on her face. She didn’t want to take a bite of it. After everything that had happened, she knew she didn’t deserve it.

“Starlight?” a voice said, and Starlight felt a hoof on her shoulder. In shock, she dropped the fork.

“Sorry, Princess. I’ll just go now,” Starlight said, backing away from the table.

“No, no, it’s fine. I was just wondering why you were staring for an hour without eating. Also, I think I’d prefer it if you called me just ‘Twilight.’”

Starlight took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I know I don’t deserve it, not after everything I’ve done.”

Twilight shook her head. “But you’re in a much better place now. You have friends, a home-”

“But I shouldn’t! I don’t deserve any!” Starlight argued. “I’d like friends, yes, but I don’t deserve a home. Especially not a castle.”

“Listen, Starlight. To me, it doesn’t matter if you were evil or not. As long as you’re willing to be friendly now, that’s enough for me to let you stay here.”

“But what if I’m not? What if…” Starlight trailed off, looking back at the carrot. It reminded her so much of Sunburst’s unicorn horn. “What if I lose another friend?” she asked incredibly quietly.

“You were thinking about Sunburst, weren’t you?” Twilight asked, receiving a nod from Starlight. “Listen, I want you two to be friends again. And I want you to make even more friends. Anything that happens, I just want you to know that I’ll be there for you. But for now, I’ll give you some space. I’ll give you about a week to adjust, and by then, I should have some friendship lessons set up for you. My student deserves great things like this.”

“Me? Your student?”

“My pupil,” Twilight corrected.

“No! I was terrible! I can’t! I don’t want to risk hurting you, or your friends! If I stay here, I might hurt you!” Starlight protested.

“Listen, you saying that is all the proof I need that you won’t hurt me. I trust you, Starlight,” Twilight advised.

Starlight burst into tears, quiet tears like she cried when she’d first lost Sunburst. “I want to stay, Princess. I do, but…”

Twilight wrapped her wing around Starlight, finishing the sentence for her. “But you don’t think you’re worthy. You think you need to be perfect. And after everything that’s happened…” Starlight nodded without Twilight finishing her sentence, her hooves covering her eyes, her back turned to Twilight. “Well, I know for a fact that no one is perfect. Not even me. So as long as you are willing to stay…”

Starlight turned around to face Twilight. “I’ll do it.” They smiled in unison, and Starlight closed her eyes, thinking of her memories with Sunburst. Her last tears fell, and she stood up. “See you in the morning, Twilight.”

As Starlight stood up, Twilight noticed a slight scar on Starlight’s left hoof. “Where’d you get that scar?” Twilight asked before Starlight could leave.

Starlight lifted her hoof up to her eye level, and then set it down, a gloomy look on her face. One that reminded Twilight of a timeline in Equestria where Starlight had come close to destroying it. “I… had my reasons for a lot of things, didn’t I?” she finally answered, walking away.

Starlight sheepishly chuckled and turned around. “Which one is my room?”

Twilight rolled her eyes, giggling. She walked over to where Starlight was, wrapping her wing around her. “Anywhere you want. This is your home now, too.”

Starlight smiled. With freedom, friends, and a nice place to call home, who could ask for anything more?

Author's Note

Finally done with the story! It took a while to finish, but I finally made it. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. Maybe even more. Thanks to all of those who stayed tuned until the very end! I really appreciate your patience with my inconsistency!