One Moment

Chapters

An Fun Day
L.S.H.M.S.
Tension
Runaway Discussion
The Friend I Always Needed
Snapped
Hidden
Strained
Embark
The First
Soon Engraved
The Main Arrivals
Another One

An Fun Day

Author's Note

Yup! Its here like I promised! The first few chapters will be short and slow at first, but as we get to the good stuff hopefully it will be a more interesting read.

I love writing Starlight as a filly, but when it comes to Firelight, writing the words "Pumpky-Wumpkin" makes me cringe internally and I hate it lol. But that's the pains of being an author :trollestia:

An Fun Day

In the outskirts of Ponyvile, was the town of Sires Hollow. A peaceful town that while is not as popular as Ponyvile, it was still a good town to live in.

And usually the people in Sires Hollow are very friendly. Fights were as rare as finding the sixth element of Harmony (this took place before the first episode), and the only times they did fight, it was only for small disagreements.

And in the neighborhood part of the town, lived a bright unicorn filly named Starlight Glimmer. She had a lilac coat, her mane and tail had three shades of purple, and had a aquamarine streak on both. She had eyes as the color of lavender, and she was a blank flank, at least for now.

She was reading a silly children's book with illustrations. She giggled when the book showed the picture of the villain being defeated by the heroes, and saving the day. This book that her father bought had always been her favorite ever since she saw the first picture. As for the reading material, she had always preferred pictures over reading anyway.

After putting her book away with her magic as the color of light teal, Firelight, Starlight's father, entered the living room with a batch of chocolate cookies on a tray that was floated by his orange magical aura.

"I made cookies for my Pumpky-Wumpkin!" Firelight said in a baby voice.

"Cookies!" Starlight gazed at them, wide-eyed. Her mouth started drooling at the sight of them.

"Thank you Dad!" Starlight squealed as she took a bite out of one. She then hugged his dark purple leg.

Firelight wiped the tears off of his face. "You're welcome, little one."

Starlight looked at him with a giddy smile.

Firelight looked at his daughter with a warm smile. He then looked outside, and saw the friendly neighborhood. It gave him an idea.

"Say, pumpkin. Why don't we go out for a walk in the park? And maybe we can fly some kites?

"Did you just say kites?" Starlight asked with a smile. Before Firelight could reply, Starlight dashed into her room, grabbed the kites next to her dresser, and carried it to the front door.

"Wow, you are quick! Firelight joked. "You really like them, huh?"

"Of course I do!" Starlight jumped up and down like a frog.

Firelight went to his room and grabbed a large kit also. "I don't have a lot of energy as you, but I have the same love of kites as you do!"

"Maybe, but I love them a million times as you!"

Firelight shrugged. "Yeah, that might be true."

Firelight opened the door with his magic, and Starlight and Firelight got out and played with the kites, and having a father and daughter time together.

The sky got darker and darker as Celestia lowered the moon. Firelight walked with her daughter to her bedroom. He turned on the light with his magic.

Firelight gently tucked Starlight in to bed. And kissed her goodnight.

"Good night, my little-" Firelight's loving words was interrupted when Starlight pointed at the moon.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed. "Why is there a unicorn's face on the moon?"

Firelight turned his head, then looked back at Starlight. "I thought I told you the story." he said teasingly.

"Could you tell me again?" Starlight started to give him puppy eyes.

Firelight rolled his eyes playfully. "As you wish."

Firelight grabbed a book in his library, called "Mythical Tales of Legends." and he opened it up to read it to her.

"Once upon a time, many moons ago, Princess Celestia had ruled over Equestria, alongside her sister, Princess Luna. However, she became jealous that ponies would bask in Celestia's sun, while they shunned Luna's night."

"That's a little silly." Starlight interrupted the story. "She does know that ponies can't stay up at night, right?"

Firelight chuckled. "But Princess Luna ignored that fact, and soon grown jealous of her sister. And when she had enough, she turned to Nightmare Moon!"

Firelight quickly made a scary face, which made Starlight hide herself with her blanket.

"Don't worry, Punpky-Wumpkin, the story has a good ending!" Firelight reassured her. When Starlight stopped hiding, he continued the story.

"Even though Celestia tried to reason with her, she saw no hope with saving Luna now. So, she summoned the mysterious Elements of Harmony, and used them against her, banishing to the moon for a thousand years." Firelight grabbed one of Starlight's colorful blocks as an illustration to the Elements.

Starlight clapped. "Good story! Again! Again!"

Firelight chuckled warmly. "One day, you will remember that story in your head."

"But, I'm not smart enough." Starlight added sadly.

"Nonsense!" Firelight looked as if he couldn't believe his ears. "Who told you that?"

"Um, myself?" Starlight whimpered.

"Well, you're not." Firelight comforted her. "You are anything but that. You are a kind filly, and you have potential magic inside. You're a unicorn! You may encounter great feats!" Firelight roared in pride, but then his eyes turned to sadness. "You may have the magical abilities like your mother had."

Starlight cried at the mention of her mother. Starlight still remembered her voice, even when the months flew by. She remembered the snuggles, and the great time they had together. She even taught her how to fly a kite. Starlight would always be grateful for that. Firelight kept telling her that she was a powerful unicorn, like he said.

Firelight hugged her daughter. "I know, I miss her too, but we have to stay strong for her. She would've wanted that."

Starlight wiped the tear from her eye.

Firelight stared at her for a few moments. "Well, its time for me to say goodnight." Firelight kissed her daughter on the head, walked out of the room, and turned off the lights when he closed the door.

Starlight suddenly forgotten that she was scared of the dark. She scanned around her room while using her horn as a light. She saw a stuffed animal that was in a form of a tiger, called Hobbes.

She hugged it tightly, and knowing that her stuffed tiger would be with her, she slowly dimmed the light from her horn, until it was darkness once again.

L.S.H.M.S.

Early in the morning, Firelight took Starlight to the Local Sires Hollow Magic School, or L.S.H.M.S. for short. Starlight had packed a lot of books that were loads of information about magic. She was so excited to try them out when she had the chance.

As usual, Firelight said his goodbyes, and Starlight walked into the school on her own. And when she walked to the classroom door, not even five minutes had passed and she missed her father already.

Starlight got to her desk and took out an apple from her bag (which she and Firelight bought yesterday while they were out flying kites). She levitated the apple to the teacher's desk, and stared at the teacher, expecting her to notice the apple and thank her.

However, the teacher was reading the newspaper and when she noticed an apple at her desk, she grabbed it with her magic and took a bite out of it, and continued reading.

Starlight felt a pang in her heart, so she got the teachers attention by waving her hand.

"Erm, Mrs. Willow? I gave you that apple that you just bit." Starlight said when she pointed at the apple.

Mrs. Willow pulled down her glasses and gave her the look, which made Starlight instantly regret her decision.

"Ponies do not do kind things to be thanked. You should've known that." She said, annoyed. She took another bite from the apple and continued reading.

"Yes, I do, Mrs. Willow! Starting now!" Starlight replied back, the hurt in her heart growing more.

Her classmates around her started laughing at her. And Starlight hid her face with a book, shame showered down her face. She should've kept her mouth shut.

After a few moments, Mrs. Willow finally set down the newspaper when a black colt walked into the room with a smug look. Starlight rolled her eyes. It was him.

"Bunker!" Mrs. Willow stared at the filly harshly. "You're twenty minutes late! I expected more from you."

Bunker just dipped his head. "My apologies, Mrs. Willow."

Starlight was amazed that Bunker kept his cool. If she were in his spot, she would start crying and run outside to look for her father for comfort.

"Go to your seat, and don't be late again. I want this class started with already." Mrs. Willow commanded with her hoof.

Bunker just shrugged and walked over to his desk, which he was two desks behind Starlight. He was greeted by hoof bumps from his friends, and turned and gave a look at Starlight, which she glared back.

"Alright, now its time for our class to start, finally." She said, giving Bunker a stare before moving on. "We are going to learn a very unique spell that makes Sires Hollow special. All ponies reside there know this spell."

"What spell? Anyone could know any spell anywhere!" Bunker interrupted the teacher.

Starlight grew annoyed of him and turned her head to face him. "Maybe if you shut up, Bunker, then maybe you would know why this is special in Sires Hollow."

"Maybe if you two shut up then maybe I could explain." Mrs. Willow glared at the two foals before continuing. "You know how some ponies have their cutie marks, and its stuck to them forever? Well what if I told you, that you could take them out?"

The foals in the classroom stared at the teacher in awe. Especially Starlight. She was very intrigued.

But of course, Bunker was the only one that wasn't. "What's so special about that? Anyone could do it."

Starlight was about to open her mouth to let out another harsh comment, but Mrs. Willow was staring at her, and she closed it. I swear to Celestia, that pony drives me crazy.

But it seemed that Mrs. Willow did the job for her. "Bunker? Would you like to be expelled early?" she asked in a icy tone.

Bunker lowered his ears, and stared at the ground. Starlight looked at him with a smug look.

"Then for the final time. Shut. Up. And let me continue. If you interrupt me one more time, I'm sending you home early." Mrs. Willow still glared at the foal. "Do I make myself clear?"

Bunker just nodded his head and sat down at the desk. But for some reason, he gave Starlight the death glare.

She was confused. What did I do? Its not my fault that he was being stupid and annoying.

"Now, this spell has been around ever since the founding of Sires Hollow. One of the founders was a unicorn named Feverfew."

Starlight let out a snicker, trying her best not to laugh. What kind of name is Feverfew? She looked around the classroom. Even Bunker was amused by that name.

Mrs. Willow chuckled a little bit. "Funny name, I know. But he was the one that created this magical power. And even though he was an underrated founder, he wanted to be remembered at some way. So he taught all the unicorn foals his magical power, and he stated that he wanted this power to only be exclusive to Sires Hollow."

"So what stops these said unicorn foals from teaching this magic worldwide?" A random class pony asked.

"Only some did, but other ponies never really paid attention, since they didn't care. I don't know." Mrs. Willow stammered. "But anyways, anyone want to try this magic trick?"

Every pony raised their hand. Starlight raised the highest, while Bunker was less enthusiastic.

"Come on, Bunker." A orange unicorn beckoned him. "It'll be fun!"

"Fun? More like boring." He yawned.

The unicorn playful rolled his eyes and ushered Bunker outside where the others waited.

"Everyone, meet Everest. He will be our test pony for today."

Everest, who was an old, sky blue unicorn with white hair, looked at Mrs. Willow in a dumbfounded expression.

"Test pony? You never told me that when you asked me to step outside with the foals!" he exclaimed.

"And you didn't ask why I brought you out. That's on you for not asking questions." Mrs. Willow replied to the unicorn, then she turned to the foals. "For today, you will all witness a pony getting its cutie mark removed with this magical power."

"Hold on just a moment I didn't sign up for this-" Everest was cut off with Mrs. Willow blasted a magical beam, chasing him to lift in the air. Starlight watched in wonder and amazement, but cringed when she saw the pony's cutie mark being pulled off of Everest, and instead replacing it with an equal sign.

Mrs. Willow looked at Everest's broom cutie mark and showed it to the class.

"See that? That's a cutie mark being ripped off from his body." she explained.

They stared at it in a mix of disgust and intrigued looks.

The turned to see Everest staggering on the ground. "Can I have it back now?" he said in a deep husky voice.

"Of course." Mrs. Willow gave his cutie mark back, and after brief white transformation, he was back to normal.

"Remind me to not follow you ever again." he said, then he returned to the building.

Mrs. Willow watched him leave. She then faced the class. "Now you know what it looks like to have your cutie mark stolen. This magic is very powerful, and can be very dangerous if one were to abuse it."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Willow!" Starlight stepped in front of her. "I won't use it for power, I promise!"

Mrs. Willow looked down at her. She was unconvinced for a moment, but then rubbed Starlight's mane. "Cute foal. How can I expect anything evil to come from you?"

Tension

Author's Note

Just a fair warning, this is, to me, a sadder chapter than the last two ones. Even I felt sad when writing this, and I normally don't feel that way with writing sometimes so :/

Just a small heads up.

Tension

It was another day of school. Most foals roam the hallways with tired and bored expressions, but Starlight was not one of them. She gleefully carried a handful of books with her aura. Sure the other subjects were boring but what Starlight was most excited about was magic. How could anyone not be excited about magic?

After magic class, it was lunchtime. She grabbed a tray and grabbed an apple and some carrots with her magic and placed it on one of the lunch tables. She set down her books and flipped through the pages of the information that she hadn't even touched yet.

Starlight took a bite from an apple and began to read about teleportation. It was a trick that she always wanted to learn for quite a while. Of course, the teacher said that teleportation is a tricky spell to do, and usually foals like her don't really learn it until they were older. But a detour like that did not effect Starlight. If there was a spell that she wanted to learn, she wanted to learn it now.

As she began to read more, another foal came to her table. She looked up to see an orange colt with a white streak on his stount, and he had white socks on each of his legs. His mane was the color of the evening sky.

"Hello!" The colt greeted.

"Oh, hello." Starlight waved shyly. She didn't expect anypony else to sit at her table. She normally preferred to sit alone, but she didn't mind company.

"Reading about teleportation, huh?" Sunburst leaned over to look at Starlight's book. "That's a complex spell, you know."

Starlight rolled her eyes. "As if that will stop me."

But the colt still looked concerned. "It's not easy to do one though."

"What do you know about teleportation?" Starlight asked, starting to get a little irritated.

"For starters," the colt grabbed a book from Starlight with his light yellow aura. "You have to know the exact place and time of where and when to teleport. The location needs to be clear in your mind. If you mess up, then a malfunction can happen and the magic fails." He looked up to face Starlight with a sheepish look. "And have a headache that can last a few days."

Starlight giggled, with her hoof covering her closed mouth. "I guess I haven't thought of that."

"We don't know what to experience until we tried them out." The colt reached his hoof to Starlight. "I'm Sunburst. Even though I've seen you around a lot, I never gotten to know you and I want to change that."

Starlight stared at the hoof for a brief moment, and she reached and shook his. "I'm Starlight Glimmer."

They both gave warm smiles to each other.

Sunburst looked at Starlight's food tray, and let out a worried whinny. "I forgot to get my tray!"

"You can have my carrots if you like." Starlight levitated the carrots to Sunburst.

"Really?" Sunburst looked at them, then back at Starlight. "You need them more than I do."

"I don't mind. Plus, sharing is caring, right?"

Sunburst was still unconvinced, but let out a grin in the end. "When you say it like that..."

Sunburst grabbed one carrot, and Starlight grabbed the other, and they both ate it together while sharing some laughs.

"Awwww!" A voice of another colt was heard nearby.

Starlight and Sunburst turned to see Bunker looking at them with a mocking expression. He was also with two other colts.

"The two nerds are eating carrots together." Bunker said with his tongue sticking out. "Who even likes carrots?"

Starlight gave Bunker a hostile expression, while Sunburst looked at Bunker with a nervous frown.

"What d-d-d-do you want?" He asked, stammering.

"Oh, nothing." Bunker acted innocent. "Except I want to know whats in this book!"

He forcefully grabbed the book with his dark grey aura and began reading the contents of it. "I feel like we should rip out the boring stuff, what do you guys think?"

His friends both nodded eagerly.

"You will not!" Starlight got up from the seat and was face to face with Bunker. "Give me back the book. Now!"

"Why should I?" Bunker teased.

"Because I got that book from home. My dad would throw a fit if he saw it being ripped!" Starlight could imagine her father scolding her in the face at the very moment, all because of this stupid colt.

"Too bad, so sad." Bunker said as he ripped a page from the book, not even bothering if the content was boring or not.

"No!" Starlight gasped at the fallen pits of paper that fell on the floor. She looked up at Bunker with pure anger. She lit up her horn and her magic surrounded the book, but Bunker's friends quickly ran up to her and grabbed her horn with their hoof, making it difficult for her to cast magic.

"Hey!" Sunburst called out, finally getting angry. "Let her go!"

"Or what?" The other friend of Bunker's loomed over him. He was a lot bigger than Sunburst, with his legs a little longer than the others.

Sunburst sat in silence.

Meanwhile, Starlight kept begging Bunker to return the book.

"Give it back!" Starlight pleaded.

"Oh relax, there is a lot of books in the bookstores in Sires Hollow that are exactly like this. You'll be fine." He said as he continued to rip more pages.

By the time this went on, the other fillies in the lunch room all watched the scene, while the staff in the kitchen were not paying attention.

As Bunker went through the pages, a piece of paper floated down from the book.

Starlight's pupils turned small. "Sweet Celestia, no." she whispered.

Bunker levitated the picture. It was a quote that her mother made for her moments before she passed away, with her signature at the end.

It said:

You can do many great things. And no matter how hard you fail, I will always be there you guide you. I love you.

Silverflower

Bunker turned to Starlight and showed the note to her. "What is this? Is this some inspirational note with your fake name at the end?"

"Silverflower was my mother." Starlight whispered the words.

"Really? Interesting." Bunker looked at it for a moment. "But I have a feeling that this should be spared."

Starlight looked at him with mercy. He can rip any page in the book if he wanted. She would not care. She would even put aside Firelight's scolding, but that note was the one thing that she can't bear to see ripped to shreads.

"Or should it?"

Her heart lurched when she saw the center of the note rip a little bit.

Starlight now glared at him, hatred now started to seem into her mind towards the colt. "Bunker, I swear to Celestia..."

"What are you going to do?" Bunker said, antagonizing her further. "You made a fool out of me days before. And this is a little thing called revenge."

Starlight looked aghast. "Are you serious? That's what its all about?"

The paper torn even further. "Yes."

Starlight now felt tears flow from her eyes. "You spare that note, RIGHT NOW."

"How about, no?" He tore the note further.

Both of Bunker's friends are now starting to look at him nervously.

"Bunker, I think you're taking this too far." A light red unicorn said, who was covering Starlight's horn. Which was now not for bullying anymore, but for the protection of what Starlight could do to his friend.

"Yeah, dude." Another unicorn friend agreed. "Just drop the note and leave it."

Sunburst looked a the unicorn's side. He was frozen like stone, not daring to take part of the heated moment.

"Not until she gets the message." Bunker teased her even further.

Starlight looked at the note, then back at Bunker. Even though she really didn't want too, she had no choice.

"I'm sorry, ok?" Starlight pleaded. "I won't stand up to you ever again! But please spare that note! I'm begging you!"

Bunker still stared at her for a few moments. His gaze finally softened.

"Glad we could agree in something." Bunker said, and he safely put the half-torn note onto the table.

Eventually, one of Bunker's friends released Starlight with a sigh of relief.

She ran up to the note and hugged it deeply. Maybe some tape might fix it. But she didn't care. She was happy that it was saved.

"I'm sorry for not helping enough." Sunburst raced over to Starlight when the other colt finally left him alone.

Starlight shook her head. She was too relieved to be mad at him. "It's ok. As long as my note is ok, nothing matters."

Just then, the same dark grey magic levitated the note out of Starlight's grasp. Before she can get it back, it was being torn to shreds right in front of her.

"NO!" Starlight screamed.

She looked at the side, and saw Bunker stare at her with a smug expression. "Don't think that a note you made by yourself will let you have a way to guilt trip me."

He looked at his friends, obviously expecting support, but they all stared at him with appalled faces.

"DUDE!" A light red unicorn screamed at him. "Do you not realize what you have DONE?!"

"Relax, she won't do anything to me. She's not a very strong unicorn, even though she keeps saying and believing that she is." Bunker said as he walked away.

Starlight looked at the note, tears were streaming down her face like a waterfall. She wept and she closed her eyes.

All the fillies that were watching the whole time all stared at Starlight, expecting her to do something.

Sunburst placed a hoof on Starlight's shoulder.

"Starlight? Are you ok?"

Quick as lightning, Starlight opened her eyes. The sadness in Starlight's eyes were nowhere to be found, they were replaced with tiny pupils in an expression that was filled with hatred.

Her horn glowed a bright turquoise and, remembering the lesson she learned a few days ago, she quickly cast a spell on Bunker. When he was hit, he let out painful noises as he was levitated to the air. While his colt friends, who luckily dodged the attack, looked at him in fear.

Most of the fillies in the background were freaking out too, while some of them watched very contently, as if this was the drama that they had been missing out on in this boring school.

Starlight made Bunker face her as she painfully forced to take his cutie mark out of his flank. Screams of pain flooded the lunchroom. And it was bad enough that even the kitchen staff fled the scene.

Starlight grinned when Bunker was then dropped to the hard floor, and watched with sadness when his cutie mark was levitated by Starlight, who looked at him with a smug expression.

"Starlight!" Sunburst shaked his new friend. "Snap out of it!"

"Not until he learns a lesson." Starlight calmly said to the colt.

Bunker still looked at her in fear.

"It must be hard seeing the things you love being ripped away from you." Starlight said to Bunker. "Must be a shame."

Before Bunker could respond, another pony entered the lunchroom with a very angry expression.

"STARLIGHT GLIMMER!" Mrs. Willow yelled at the unicorn.

Snapping out of it, Starlight whipped her head to face the mare. She quickly gave the cutie mark back to Bunker, who went through a brief transformation. After getting up, with the help of his friends, he quickly fled the scene with the colts right behind him.

"Hope you get expelled, you mind controlled freak!" Bunker yelled as he quickly left the room.

But even Starlight ignored that. As she was face to face with a very angry teacher.

Runaway Discussion

Starlight Glimmer was quickly sent to the teacher's office with a magic barrier on her horn. She winced in pain when she tried to fold her ear downwards. The teacher grabbed her by the ear a little too much. But did she deserve it? Maybe.

But Sunburst didn't deserve to be with her to the office. But the teacher called on him too for whatever reason. Sunburst kept looking aghast at Starlight, as if he was trying to process what just happened moments ago at the lunchroom.

Trying her best to ignore his gaze, Starlight stared at the teacher, who sat at her office chair with a disappointed expression.

"Starlight, you should've known not to start fights like that." she began.

"Me?!" Starlight couldn't believe what she just heard. "But I didn't start it! It was Bunker-"

"No 'buts'" Mrs. Willow silenced her. "Even so, you shouldn't have used that magic onto him. Even though I said the other day to only use it for good."

"But she didn't start the fight though." Sunburst interjected. "Bunker kept pushing her buttons and ripped a very important note that meant something to her."

"I was just about to go to you." Mrs. Willow quickly ignored what Sunburst just said. "Where were you when all this happened?"

Sunburst looked shocked at the question. "Me? Well, I was with Starlight-"

"And did you try to stop her?" Mrs. Willow kept pushing on.

"Well, no..." Sunburst rubbed his hooves nervously. "But it was only because a pony blocked me!"

Mrs. Willow snorted in disbelief. "So you were willing to stand by, watch a pony potentially injure someone, and leave serious damage, because you were being blocked?!"

Starlight just stared at the ground. She now felt worse than ever.

"The colt was bigger than me! If I tried to go around, he'll just find ways for me to stop!" Sunburst argued.

"Well, you should've asserted yourself anyway!" Mrs. Willow retorted back.

Starlight couldn't hold it any longer. She didn't want to see her friend get yelled at for an event that was all her fault.

"Leave him alone! He didn't want to be part of my blind rage!" Starlight shouted at the teacher. She instantly closed her mouth afterwards.

The teacher twitched her ears.

This is it, I'm dead. Starlight thought grimly. Why did she say that. Just why?

"Say that again." The teacher spoke to her quietly. "Would you?"

Starlight looked at Sunburst's worried face, then back at the teacher's angry expression. "I... I..." she struggled to find the words.

"Well?!" The teacher raised her voice at the filly.

Starlight's legs were now shaking in fear. She never dealt with this kind of confrontation before. She didn't know what to do...

Then she heard a knock on the door. The door opened to reveal Bunker.

"Teacher? Are you busy at the moment?" Bunker asked the mare. He turned and saw Starlight. "Oh, you."

Starlight now made up her mind. It was bad enough getting lectured by the teacher, and now has to deal with Bunker in a humiliating position?

She had no choice now.

While she had the chance, Starlight leaped out of her chair and bolted beside Bunker, knocking him at the side. Sunburst and Mrs. Willow stared at her as she ran down the hall.

"Starlight!" They both called out to her.

"You get over here right now!" Mrs. Willow's horn glowed and teleported in front of the runaway filly.

By the time she did, Starlight took off the magic barrier and she quickly teleported away from the school. Leaving behind an angry teacher, a very concerned Sunburst, and a confused Bunker.

Starlight instantly teleported into her bedroom, and crawled under the blankets and began pouring out all the tears that were mentally hidden inside.

She heard a knock on the door. She quickly rolled her watery eyes. Just what I need.

"Starlight? What are you doing here?" Firelight asked with shock.

"Go away, please." Starlight barely said the words. She was so sad that it was hard for her to speak without stammering in sadness.

"You won't scare me off that easily." Firelight chuckled a little bit. He closed the bedroom door and sat down next to Starlight.

"I will, once you know what I've done to the school." Starlight said as she continued crying.

He looked at her confused. "What did you do?" he asked, with no trace of anger anywhere. Just plain confusion.

Starlight's head popped up from the blankets, and tearfully told him the events that happened that afternoon.

Firelight gasped in shock when he heard the part about the note. "That Bunker did that, huh?" Starlight sensed anger in Firelight's voice. "We pay repair it with magic but that foal needs to learn to respect people's things. I'm going over there right now and-"

"No!" Starlight grabbed Firelight's leg with mercy. "Don't do anything! I've done enough damage already."

"But you haven't." Firelight reassured her. "You just defended yourself and you wanted to put him in his place. No one would criticize you for that."

"Except Mrs. Willow." Starlight whispered, which Firelight didn't catch. She didn't even think that Firelight's words were true.

A loud knocking sound was heard from the door. "Firelight!"

Starlight hid in her blankets again.

Firelight nervously opened the door. He was uncomfortable when he met Mrs. Willow's hard gaze.

"Where is she?" Mrs. Willow demanded. "Where is that stupid daughter of yours?"

Firelight's ears lowered downwards. "Rather bold of you to call a daughter dumb in front of the father."

"I'm sorry, Firelight." Mrs. Willow rubbed her forehead tiredly. "She has been unusually hard to deal with today. She ripped Bunker's cutie mark off and she ran away from the school!"

"Well, while I agree that Starlight shouldn't have done that." he explained, trying his best to be calm. Which to Starlight, was a thing he would master anytime. "But she was in the right, you know."

Mrs. Willow looked at Firelight, clearly frustrated and shocked by his words. "What do you mean in the right? Do you encourage your daughter to harm ponies?"

"Of course not!" Firelight gasped. "But she did put that pony in his rightful place. Did you really expect my daughter to let him do that in front of her and not get punished for it? I think not."

"Over a note?!"

"A special note." Firelight corrected.

Mrs. Willow facepalmed, and she sighed deeply, trying her best to remain calm. "Firelight, paper can easily be fixed with magic. We're unicorns for crying out loud. I see no reason why she would throw a dangerous fit over a note that can either be fixed by her or you."

"Oh I know we can repair the note." Firelight explained. "But that's not the point I'm trying to make. According to Bunker's story, he kept ripping the pages from her book, and his friends forced her to watch the scene happen."

Mrs. Willow's fierce expression finally died away. "He did?"

Firelight nodded. "And the special note was the one Silverflower wrote before she passed away. But he clearly disregarded Starlight's warnings and ripped it anyway."

"That part was never told me." Mrs. Willow still looked skeptical. "But she might be lying."

"I'm not." Starlight spoke up as she finally got out of her bed. She quickly wiped the tears away. "Sunburst, along with many ponies, saw what happened. Ask every one of them and they will tell you the same thing."

Mrs. Willow rolled her eyes. "That still doesn't excuse your behavior at the office." she looked towards Firelight. "You're lucky that I'm not expelling her at the moment."

"Why not?" Starlight turned her head away bitterly. "You might as well do it, since I'll just cause more trouble for you."

Mrs. Willow stared at her for a moment. "Because I believe in you."

"Believe?" Starlight repeated Mrs. Willow's words in confusion. "Believe in what?"

Mrs. Willow ignored her and turned to Firelight. "Make sure she doesn't do this again. I don't want to encourage other ponies to copy what she did."

Firelight only nodded.

The unicorn faced Starlight. "Starlight, please don't pull that stunt again. You got out of it easily this time, since this is the first time you did this escape attempt. But if you continue to repeat your actions... Well, that's the gateway to being expelled."

"I understand now." Starlight nodded like Firelight did.

Mrs. Willow smiled a small bit. "See you in Friday."

As Firelight closed the door, he looked down at her. "Was that so bad?"

"Yes?" What kind of dumb question was that?

"I do agree with certain things though, but the most notable being to not teleport out of school grounds again. Can you promise that you won't act out of rage? And when a tormentor is torturing you, then tell them to stop.

"And if they don't?"

He closed one of his eyes teasingly. "Well, if its outside school grounds, then I suggest taking his cutie mark away and store it for a long time."

Author's Note

Wild chapter? Yes. But Starlight's gotta escape this one somehow

The Friend I Always Needed

Starlight picked up her tray and sat down onto the table that was at the far left corner of the lunchroom. She used to sit near the center, but that changed when the incident happened just a few weeks ago. The other fillies have tried their best to be separate for her as possible. They either gave her hostile looks or they ran away from her out of fear of what she would do to them like what she did to Bunker. Since then, she had been outcasted in the school. No one sat near her desk, and no one even dared to offer her a seat at their table.

However, the only pony who didn't dislike Starlight is Sunburst. Which is surprising since Sunburst is one of the most timid students in the school. And ponies started questioning him because of it. Questions like if he was forced to be friends with her, and something like that. But he kept shrugging it off and still continued to sit beside Starlight every school day. And maybe he was outcasted because of that too.

Sunburst got his usual treats and headed over to table where Starlight sat alone. While he walked there, A few of the foals gave Sunburst questionable looks and kept whispering to one another.

Sunburst put his food down onto the tray and he sat down to face Starlight. He gleefully took a bite out of a cucumber sandwich.

"Starlight, you're missing out!" Sunburst said to her as he took a bit out of the sandwich. "This is super good!"

But Starlight declined. "No thanks, I prefer just apples and carrots." She said humbly.

"More for me!"

Starlight giggled. Something came to her mind right away. "You know, Sunburst, your reputation doesn't need to be ruined because of me." Some parts of amusement was in her tone.

"What reputation? The most timid pony in L.S.H.M.S.? I'd rather let that reputation shatter." Sunburst wiped his mouth with his napkin.

"That's not what I meant." she continued. "From the looks those ponies gave you, you may be shunned away too. Just because you want to be my friend." she whispered the last words.

"Starlight, I don't care what other ponies think. If they think I'm weird, then so be it. Its not going to stop our friendship." Sunburst said with determination. "And besides, the worse of the worse comes from Bunker. But ever since you stood up to him, he finally left us alone."

The only good thing that came from my outburst. Since that day, Bunker didn't tease the two of them as much as usual. In fact, he barely even talked to them and made eye contact. Whenever he did, he would just give tiny nods and continued what he was doing.

Sunburst bit more of the sandwiches as he went on. "If Bunker shut up, then the others will shut up too."

"Will they?" Starlight looked and sounded dubious. If there was one thing she learned when it came to these students: they never forget a disastrous event. Even if it took place months ago, and even a year ago, they would still talk about it no matter what.

Sunburst shrugged. "I don't know." he said. "But even so, we'll still be good friends, right?" Sunburst placed a hoof on the center of the table.

Giggling, Starlight placed a hoof onto Sunburst's white-tipped hoof. "Always."

Days gone by and Sunburst now became a usual guest of the house. Whenever he would come over, he would either practice magic with her, or play Dragon Pit with her, and sometimes with her father. Two of the things Starlight loved the most.

When it came to practicing magic, Starlight practiced simple spells with Sunburst in the backyard. He would casually read a magic book, and instructed Starlight to do it, and used certain objects as test objects in some spells.

Starlight instantly mastered them the moment she was told to do it. Sure it took a few steps, but she had it all under control. Sadly, she can't say the same for Sunburst. He was very good at memorizing spells and the origins and histories of it, but actually doing the magic is a different story. But whenever he struggled, Starlight always loved to help him.

But another thing she loved is when Sunburst would come to play with her in the house. When they weren't doing magic, they would get out her old toys, and played the toys with the colt. Starlight never usually does this when other foals come to the house. She was always scared that they would think it was "too babyish" and that Starlight needed to grow up, or she thought it was going to happen. But she was grateful that Sunburst acts nothing like that.

Maybe Sunburst was the friend she was missing in her life.

It was the fireworks show tonight, and Firelight bought tickets for Starlight, Sunburst and his parents, Stellar Flare and Sunspot. And with permission, Starlight and Sunburst got a spot together on an empty spot of the hill, under the watchful eye of the parents. Especially Stellar Flare.

The foals both sat down, talked a lot about magic stuff. And soon, the fireworks began to start. Starlight and Sunburst looked at them in awe, and sometimes, Starlight jumped at the loud bangs they make. Whenever she jumped, Sunburst just giggled at her. Much to Starlight's playful annoyance.

The fireworks went on for about 10 minutes. Starlight stopped jumping at the fireworks now, and instead just stared at them thoughtfully.

Sunburst looked at the side and noticed her gaze. "What are you thinking about?"

Starlight sighed, taking in the beauty of the smoky sky and the fireworks that came with it. "I wonder if she is up there."

Sunburst looked up too. He already knew what she meant by she. "I believe she is. Probably watching over us."

Starlight turned to Sunburst. "Do you think she is happy that I found you, and that we were able to be best friends?"

Sunburst looked shocked as she said the last words. "Best... friend?" he looked away awkwardly. "No one ever called me that before."

Starlight looked at the colt sympathetically. She placed a hoof onto his. "Well, I'm happy to be the first."

Sunburst quickly turned his head, and he gave a big smile.

Author's Note

For those who are curious, no, this is not Starburst shipping right here. They are just very good friends who enjoy each others company. That's it 😂

Snapped

Few months later

It was Saturday and of course, it was the perfect time for Sunburst to drop in for a visit at her house.

They read over magic books while they drank apple juice together. She was reading, and learning more about telekinesis, while Sunburst looked over ancient magic tricks that have been preformed over the years.

Eventually, she closed the book and yawned. "I'm getting bored." she said.

Sunburst turned to face her. "How can you be bored? Studying and learning the history of unicorn magic is exciting!" He continued reading again.

Starlight rolled her eyes. "Suit yourself."

She walked outside the room and entered the living room. She looked at the bookshelf that lay at the center wall of the room. It was filled with big, old, boring books. Then she looked at a box nearby that was filled with games.

She got an idea.

"Sunburst!" Starlight ran into the room. "I got a fun idea!"

He was quickly startled by her sudden excitement. "Oh, ok. What is it?"

"How about we play a quick game of Stack The Books? Not only is it fun, but it would help practice our telekinesis!"

Sunhurst titled his head in confusion. "But I thought we mastered telekinesis."

"On small things." She explained. "But these books are thick and big. And we never really carried big things a lot. Usually our parents do it for us."

Sunburst was thinking for a few seconds, but he nodded. "Sure. That could be fun."

The two foals exited the room and Sunburst looked at the bookshelf with wide eyes.

"We have to carry all of that?!" he said in disbelief.

"Not all of them. Just ones that are enough to reach the ceiling."

Sunburst gulped.

Starlight powered up her horn and lifted two or three books from the shelves and placed them on top of another. Sunburst did the same, but kept grabbing one book at a time. Together, and after maybe ten minutes, they finally stacked all of the books to the point where they almost touched the roof.

Sunburst painted while Starlight pranced in excitement. "It's so fun playing this game with you! I usually play it with my dad."

Sunburst now looked confused. "That's nice and all but... how do you play this game?"

"Come on Sunburst!" Starlight teased. "You never played this game before?"

He shook his head.

"Really..." Starlight pondered. She assumed that every filly knew this game. But she simply shrugged it off. "Well I don't mind teaching you, if that's ok."

"Be my guest." he said to her.

"Ok." Starlight clapped her hooves excitedly. "So, you have to take one book from this pile, and the goal is to not make the books fall of the ground. The pony who makes the books fall is the loser!"

"The books will fall on the floor?" Sunburst sounded nervous. "But what if we don't catch the books on time and wake your father up?"

Starlight was caught off guard by what he said. "Ok, one, we don't catch the books as they fall. It would be considered cheating. Second, my dad is a heavy sleeper, so we'll be fine."

"If you say so..." Sunburst now turned looked at the books. "Who goes first?"

"I will, since you can watch how it works." Starlight quickly grabbed a book from the pile, and it wobbled a little bit, but still standing.

"See? Its that simple."

"Oh, ok!" Sunburst now looked like he got the idea now. His light yellow aura grabbed another book and yanked it from the pile.

"Don't pull it like that!" Starlight warned him. They two foals looked up and saw the pile was dangerously close to falling down, but somehow, it didn't.

They both sighed in relief.

"Try pulling a little lighter." Starlight instructed. "Like this."

She pulled out a book and the tower seemed to shake just a little.

"Oh, so I do this." Sunburst copied what Starlight did and took another book lightly. But luck was not on their side, and it came crashing down in between her and the colt.

"But- what- I did what you did!" Sunburst stammered.

"Well, even if it looks safe, always have doubts." Starlight reminded him.

Sunburst stared at her. "I want to play again."

Starlight grinned and gave him a knowing look.

"What?"

"Loser has to pick up the books."

After 15 minutes, and following Starlight's instructions, he finally placed the final book on top of the tower. Starlight clapped her hooves as congrats. Sunburst sighed in exhaustion.

"And the winners always go first." Starlight said to him. And when Sunburst was ready, she grabbed a thick, book with a lime-green color. But when she pulled it out, the books suddenly gave way, and they were about to fall ontop of her. Starlight didn't expect or realize that the books were at her direction. Sunburst looked at the books in utter shock as they were about to crush her.

Instead of getting out of the way, Starlight was frozen in fear and braced herself for the books. She closed her eyes and she covered her face with her hooves.

...

She didn't feel the books.

Thinking that its safe, Starlight opened both of her eyes, and was surprised when she saw the books were being covered by Sunburst's aura. However, instead of setting them on the ground, Sunburst kept holding onto them and soon he levitated himself and all the books formed into a circle around him. Just then the barrier inside glowed into a bright light, which made Starlight shield her eyes.

The way the books were circling him and the way he glowed is like the sun, hence his name Sunburst. But what could this mean?

Afterwards, he quickly put all the books away in the shelf they were in at the start. Starlight stared at him in awe as he finally stopped levitating. Then a tiny light formed onto his hind leg. He turned and a cutie mark appeared onto his leg. It was a sun that sent out rays and had six blue and light blue stars.

Sunburst looked at his cutie mark in delight, and with an excited whinny, he trotted out of the room, and bumped Starlight as he went, completely ignoring her.

Confused by her friend's behaviour, Starlight watched as Sunburst was being congratulated by his parents, Stellar Flare and Sunspot, and a few ponies from the town. Sunspot carried his son with his aura and he carried their son to the house.

Starlight stared off, trying to process what just happened in front of her eyes. She heard the words "Celestia" and "magic school" from the ponies, and Starlight was no stranger to what they were saying and what they meant.

They're going to send him away.

Starlight couldn't help herself and she let out a few teardrops on the floor. She sadly walked back to the house. She went to her room and laid on her bed and began crying silently.

Her friend, her only friend, the only pony that wasn't scared of her, the only pony that she was closer to than ever (not counting Firelight and Silverflower), is now going to be sent away to magic school.

She should be happy, since he got his cutie mark, but how can she be happy if that cutie mark was the one thing that took him away from her?

Cutie mark.

Starlight repeated the word in her head. And slowly, she suddenly felt bitterness rise inside her. Normally she didn't feel this way, or want to feel it, after her dispute with Bunker, but this was different. Bunker didn't exactly take something important from her away. She got the note fixed and it looked like nothing happened to it. But his cutie mark took him away from her. Her closest friend.

This time, she welcomed the feeling.

Maybe I'm being too possessive. Starlight thought after thinking it through.

It took my best friend away. Now thanks to that stupid mark, I'll be alone again.

Starlight would now be alone in the school again. Sunburst coming into the lunchroom and sitting down with her was the one thing that kept her happy, and felt like she had a place. But now she will feel isolated. And forever shunned by the students. And she knows that no one would dare stand up for her.

Stupid cutie mark. Starlight's face formed in rage and she hid her face with her pillow, and now she was soaking it with tears from sadness and anger.

As of today, Starlight thought in her head. I used to love cutie marks. But now...

With her magic, she cracked a photo of her and Sunburst that was on her drawer.

That will change. For good.

Starlight would no longer be naive and foolish. And she now feared and despised the idea of making new friends, and now she despised something even greater.

Cutie marks.

Author's Note

Tried my best to capture Starlight's emotions on how she felt when Sunburst was sent away to magic school. More shall be explained in more chapters.

Hidden

Starlight begrudgingly went to L.S.H.M.S. with her father right beside her. Normally she would love the thought of learning more about magic, but the love died away the moment Sunburst abandoned her for Canterlot.

In fact, everything that she loved now meant nothing to her now. She didn't go kite flying with her father as much as she used too, and even the thought of that seemed impossible, but Starlight didn't care anymore.

She even distanced herself from her father at times. She still loved him, of course, but she now saw him as annoying and overbearing. But she now hated that her father keeps calling her "pumpky-wumpkin". For days, Starlight kept telling him to stop with the corny nicknames, but does he ever listen?

Firelight dropped her off at the doorstep to L.S.H.M.S.. She bent his head and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Have a good day of school, Pumpkin." Firelight whispered in her ear.

"Stop calling me that, Dad." Starlight grumbled under her breath.

"Aw, cheer up, sweetie." Firelight lightly nudged her cheek with his dark purple hoof.

Starlight just rolled her eyes and walked inside the school, with Firelight watching her with a sorrow and hurt gaze.

She sat down onto her usual desk and pulled out several magic books from her bag. She looked at the chalkboard and it said:

Turn to Page 87 in Advanced Magic Guides

She quickly turned the page, and couldn't help but feel surprised when she saw the page was about magical blasts. If there was one thing that she didn't stop loving, its magic.

Starlight turned her head to a desk with a happy expression. "Sunburst, look! Magical blasts and-"

She stopped when she realized that no one was at the desk. Just an empty seat.

Starlight noticed that her classmates were staring at her, confused.

"Sorry..." Starlight mumbled. She was so used to Sunburst being there that she forgot that he wasn't.

Stupid cutie mark. She thought of them hatefully.

"Alright class," Mrs. Willow said to the students. "Today, we will be going outside and teach you the basics of how to fire a beam. This would help if you were in times of crisis, and if you need to help someone in need."

Starlight was about to put her book in the bag, but before she can, Mrs. Willow's horn glowed, and in matter of seconds, they teleported ouside.

Every student gasped, including Starlight.

"Mrs. Willow!" One student exclaimed at the teacher. "I didn't know you could do that!"

"Me neither." Bunker agreed. And when he looked at Starlight, he playfully nudged his hoof on Starlight's shoulder. "One of the many things you can't do?" He added teasingly.

Starlight rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up, Bunker." It's going to be a long, long time when I forgive you for ripping up my mother's note. Starlight resented. I can't blame cutie marks for that one.

"I can do more than what you fillies think. I just don't use to often." Mrs. Willow said, with a somewhat sheepish smile.

She headed over to stands of targets that were lined up side by side, each one representing each student.

"For beginners, shooting beams will take a lot of energy to do, but as you get more experienced, then it will not be much of a hassle." Mrs. Willow instructed.

Mrs. Willow walked far from the fillies, and placed her own target in front of her.

"Once you know where to aim," Mrs. Willow called out to the foals. "You summon up as much magical energy as you can, then you put it all in your horn, and then you RELEASE!"

Mrs. Willow lowered her head, and her horn glowed orange. Once her head was lowered, a giant, orange beam boomed out of her horn. And it hit the target, destroying it instantly.

All the ponies watched in awe. Starlight looked at both sides. Bunker looked nervous for some reason? And next to her was a yellow foal quickly taking notes.

"Write that down, write that down!" It muttered to itself as it quickly wrote tips with its bad hornwriting.

"Now, you try to do what I do." Mrs. Willow instructed them now. "And for some unicorns, the stronger they feel, the stronger the magic."

As the unicorns lined up side by side, they went at shot beams at their targets, one by one. Starlight tried her best to remember what her teacher said. And after Bunker did his turn, to which his beam was average, she lowered her head and powered her horn.

She looked at her side and saw that the same yellow unicorn, who was watching her with a notepad in his blue aura, reminded her of Sunburst. She now recollected memories of her and Sunburst having fun together... learning things together...

With bitter tears running down her face, white rings around her horn appeared and quick as lightning, she released the beam. But the beam was unlike the rest so far, and when it hit the target, it exploded into pieces.

The students looked at the destroyed target in awe. Even Mrs. Willow looked astonished. Meanwhile, the yellow pony nervously took a step away from Starlight, and continued writing down notes.

Panting hard, she felt something sparkly running through her hind legs. She turned and saw a white orb going through her leg. It later disappeared and left behind a cutie mark. It was a purple star with turquoise streaks above.

Oh, great, the one thing I now despise is now attached to my body. Starlight thought bitterly. She knew someday that she was going to get a cutie mark, but she didn't expect it to be so recently after Sunburst left.

But she noticed that her classmates were starting to congratulate her. She quickly put on a fake smile and said thanks to everyone.

"Wow, that was some powerful stuff." Mrs. Willow observed her.

"I didn't expect it, too." Starlight said shyly. At least there was some truth in that.

"Even so, your magical abilities are getting better and better." Mrs. Willow looked to the rest of the fillies. "Better than what the rest of you can do so far!"

"Wow, you're so special!" Bunker stook his tongue out at Starlight. "You must be a good teachers pet!"

Mrs. Willow glared at the colt, and he was silent.

At least one good thing happened today.

"Pumpkin! I can't believe you got your cutie mark! And a week after Sunburst got his, too!"

"Dad-" Starlight tried to correct her father, but she knew that it was pointless. And her heart still grieved when he mentioned Sunburst.

Firelight noticed her daughter's sadness. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy you have your cutie mark?"

Starlight just shrugged. Somewhat.

"Well, I'm proud of it. Very proud." Firelight kissed her cheek. "And your mother, and Sunburst would be proud of you too."

With the reminder of her mother and her best friend, tears began to flow down her face. She now had lost two important figures in her life. She immediately hugged Firelight for comfort. He didn't even mind that her tears were making his shirt wet.

"I know." Firelight soothed her. "I know."

Author's Note

I have writers block for the other stories so now more of this!

A friend of mine suggested that this is how she got her cutie mark so I went with it, and hoped it worked out.

Strained

A few years had flown by since Sunburst left for Canterlot, and Starlight got her cutie mark. Starlight had now gotten older, with her legs being longer than they were, and she got rid of the pigtail hairstyle that she had. Now her mane was starting to go down her neck, while her bangs remained the same.

And her style has changed too. Her room was no longer filled with butterfly posters, and her kites were nowhere in sight. But instead was replaced with skulls, edgy posters, and maybe a few purple crystals were scattered around her room.

Starlight sat on her bed with a book in her aura. She had been studying magic for quite a while ever since she got her cutie mark. Despite hating it, she understood what it meant: magic.

Ever since that day, Starlight had been excelling at her magic studies. She soon became one of the talented ponies in her class, and when she gotten older, she transferred to another school. But even there, she became popular the moment she went to her first class, much to her confusement.

Her classmates even wanted her to sign their papers, as if she were a celebrity. But most of them wanted to hang out with her, and wanted to be her "friend". But Starlight quickly shunned the ponies, and friendship in general. After the ordeal with Sunburst, she refused to make more friends. She got hurt once by friendship, she would not let it hurt her again.

And besides, Starlight could tell that they don't want to be her actual friend. She could tell that they only want to be around her so they could be popular, and be the star of the school. Hanging out with Starlight Glimmer herself would be a hot topic.

Give me a break. She rolled her eyes. She did not enjoy being used like that. In fact, how can anyone enjoy that?

And while being in her moody stage, her father has not made things any better. He would constantly call her corny nicknames, which is not surprising. She keeps giving her a blanket, and for his idea to make her "comfortable", he keeps tying it around her head, making her look like a baby. He would offer her cookies and milk whenever she was sad. But Starlight just kept glaring at him whenever he does this, hoping to signal him that she dislikes everything that he is doing, but continues to do it anyway.

Not even my own father knows me anymore. Starlight thought bitterly, but had sadness tainted in it.

She got out of bed, and brushed her mane. She headed to the kitchen to get something to eat. She grabbed an apple with her magic and bit off of it, relishing the juicy taste.

"Starlight!" Firelight exclaimed when he saw his daughter. "You never come out of your room unless you have class!"

"Oh, finally!" Starlight rolled her purple eyes. "You actually called me by my actual name and not those stupid cheesy nicknames that you give me every day."

Firelight chuckled. "Oh, Starlight, even though it may seem cheesy, I make them out of love."

"Whatever." she turned away from her father and kept eating the apple.

Firelight stood there awkwardly, until he noticed Starlight's ears.

"Starlight!" Firelight exclaimed. She rushed over and grabbed one of ears with his aura, making Starlight drop her apple. "Your ears have black tips!"

Starlight pushed him away with an annoyed look. "Calm down, Dad! Its just paint. Its not like I put piercings in them or anything."

"But what if the paint hardens?" Firelight looked aghast at the thought.

Starlight facehoofed. "Dad, it dries easily." she said slowly.

"How do you know that for sure?"

Starlight groaned. "You're so unbearable!"

"But sugar-bun." Firelight quickly hugged his daughter, which made Starlight even angrier. "You're going to be an adult in a few years, and I just want you to feel loved and appreciated while you can. Not to mention be a guide to you. You desperately needed one since your best friend left."

Starlight felt her patience snap.

"A guide?" Starlight shoved him away hard, which made Firelight lose his footing. She faced her father while her horn was glowing threateningly. "Here's a guide to you: learn to stop calling me names, stop treating me like I'm a little foal, and most importantly, STOP REMINDING ME OF SUNBURST WHEN HE LEFT ME WITH A BROKEN HEART!"

Firelight raised his hooves to calm her down. "Starlight! Starlight! Sweetie!" he stammered while sweat was starting to run down his face, clearly uncomfortable being scolded down by his own daughter. "I-I-I-I just don't understand how Sunburst could lead you down a path like this. After all, he is only a colt after all."

Starlight took deep breathes, trying her hardest to calm herself down. She is so close to practically injuring her father that even the tiniest wrong thing he says could possibly trigger an attack that she has stored in her horn.

"He's more than that." Starlight told him as calmly as possible. "And I don't expect you to understand."

"Starlight, I do understand." Firelight rose to his hooves when Starlight kept wiping the tears from her eyes.

Starlight opened her eyes and stared at her father with pure anger. "Well, you have a weird way of showing it!"

Before Firelight could respond, Starlight's horn glowed and instantly teleported away.

When he stared down at the spot Starlight was just moments ago, Firelight kept facehoofing his forehead until he felt he was starting to get a headache.

Starlight teleported on the hills that looked over the town of Sires Hollow. She had been to this spot many times. It was where she would calm down, and recollect her thoughts. Away from the town, and away from her father.

Starlight continued to wipe tears from her eyes, now beginning to get angry at herself.

Stop crying like a baby, damn you! Starlight scolded herself. But it was pointless.

Starlight laid on the wet ground and stared at the blue sky. It was starting to turn orange. Celestia is about to lower the sun, and raise the moon.

She wiped a few tears away, and noticed her cutie mark that was on her flank.

Starlight's ears lowered and hate instantly showed in her eyes.

"Its your fault that I'm broken! You ruined my life!" she snarled at her own flank.

It made no response.

Starlight sighed in defeat. She was making herself look stupid.

She looked back up at the sky, going through her thoughts. "You know, I wish there was a village where no one had cutie marks. That could be my forever home so I can no longer be reminded of your existence and how much you ruined my life."

But she knew that it was a dumb wish. A village with no cutie marks sounded extremely stupid, and not to mention unrealistic.

...

Or is it?

Starlight lit up her horn and teleported a book to herself that was labeled Spells and Tricks Exclusive at Sires Hollow.

Remembering a distant memory, she opened the book and scrolled through the pages until she found the spell that she had learned at her old school.

The Unmarking. Starlight found the spell in the book. Made by Feverfew himself.

Starlight stared down at Sires Hollow, and looked at the mountains and hills that were in the distance.

She now had an evil smirk on her face, and gazed down at the book.

"Mrs. Willow said to not use it for evil." Starlight said, remembering her old teachers words. "But she can't boss me around anymore, and besides, I'm not using it for harm, anyways."

She formed a plan in her mind, and her goal was set. She was going to build a village, far away from this town, and far from Firelight's eyes. Where cutie marks are nothing but burdens, and that it leads to misery, and sadness.

But would it work? Starlight now got to thinking. She had to be realistic about this plan. Would anypony really agree with her philosophy? A successful village needs to have a lot of residents after all.

But Starlight looked in the distance, and nodded with determination.

I will make it work.

Embark

Starlight packed up her things in her bag, and set them outside her doorstep. She, of course packed the most important things: snacks, books, especially magic books, and how could she forget a spell that had the instructions to The Unmarking?

Before leaving her room one last time, she looked at herself in the mirror. She sighed at herself. She was a grown pony now, finally leaving the nest. Her mane now reached the side of her chest, with a twirl at the end. Her bangs never changed at all since foal-hood. She looked next to the mirror and saw pictures of her tiny self. She was eating ice cream with her father, and had happy expressions on their faces.

Next to the picture was a note from her mother. She had almost forgotten that Bunker ripped it in her childhood. It looked completely brand new as if nothing ever happened to it.

Then the mention of the note being ripped reminded her or Sunburst once more, since the two met on that same day, and since then became fast friends. Or at least they were.

But good things never last. Starlight thought while gazing down at her cutie mark. Which now became a highlight of her journey: create a village where cutie marks were treated like enemies.

She put the note safely into her pack and she looked back at her room. It was the same as it was before, edgy, moody, things that reflected Starlight. She didn't even try to make the bed.

My dad can do it. Starlight said to herself as she closed her bedroom door one last time.

Firelight was eating breakfast until he saw Starlight walk down the stairs with her things. He rushed over and hugged her tightly. Starlight would normally push him away, but since this was going to be the last time she would see her father for a while, she might as well embrace it.

"Please be careful in the open world." Firelight said lovingly. "And you are always welcome to visit here."

"Thanks, Dad." Starlight said awkwardly, but she hugged him back. Even if their relationship has been strained over the years, Starlight never stopped loving him, and Firelight never stopped loving her.

It almost makes me feel bad. She gazed at her father, with love finally appearing in her eyes. And she felt happiness... an emotion that she rarely felt in the recent years. Its as if she wanted to stay.

No. Starlight was fully committed on what she must do, and even if she didn't have the cutie mark hate, she needed to leave at some point. Firelight couldn't cling onto her any longer.

"So... I need to go now." Starlight stopped hugged her father and walked out the door and grabbed her things.

"Of course." Firelight walked after her. "I'll see you around, Pumpkin."

"Yeah..." Starlight said a little awkwardly. "Bye."

Finally, her magic grabbed the door knob, and she closed the house door.

I'm actually doing it. Starlight couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of excitement rush inside her. She could do what she wanted now. And she wouldn't have to worry about the terrible nicknames wherever she went.

She turned and saw her old magic schools. She remembered when she graduated from her other magic school a year ago. Some even started calling her a very talented unicorn, and even prophesied a great destiny for her. To which she found silly.

But as she remembered the school she went to as a filly, memories of Sunburst kept flying into her mind. Why did she like that unicorn so much? They hadn't even known each other for years, yet his departure left her a great deal of sorrow, and anger.

One of my many reasons why I want to get out of here. Starlight thought. Sires Hollow was too big of a reminder of when Sunburst abandoned her for his stupid school.

Starlight had entered outside Sires Hollow. She looked back and stared at the town. She also remembered great things that happened in the town. But the happy memories were only but a fraction of what she remembers now.

Goodbye.

With a deep sigh, Starlight turned her back on the village, and didn't look back.

Days had gone by since her departure from her home. She stopped at a few hotels to get a night's rest, but continued onward until she found an empty spot of land to build her perfect town. But that task is a lot harder than she predicted.

She found open spots of land, but they were in the middle of nowhere, and were always owned by one pony. How these ponies manage to take care of a big chunk of land, she had no idea. Starlight would be able to persuade the owners to give her a piece of land, but she disliked the idea.

If she wanted to build her town, it would have to be where no one would find her. Which is ironic since she wants ponies to find her town and persuade them to give up their cutie marks.

Away from suspicious ponies. Starlight meant to say.

She took out a map that she had bought in a store. The good land pieces were too valuable. By the time she would get there, it would be sold already. So she decided to go beyond that. And go to a spot of land where rarely any ponies would go, and wouldn't even dare to buy the land, or even mark it as a property.

After scanning the map, she finally found the spot.

The desert. Starlight looked, but she hesitated. Deserts were always hot, and water sources were always scarce. Did she really want to have her village in the desert?

But she has been known to take bold risks. And so she will.

Plus its near the snowy mountains. Starlight also thought.

After much consideration, she decided to give the desert a try, and see if it will suit her needs. But the chances of that are slim to none.

"Hm." Starlight thought as she stared down at the sandy spot. "This could work."

She got down from the rocks and walked to the land. It was barren, extremely hot, and surrounded by hordes of cactus.

She now imagined the town of her dreams. The houses would line up in one line, and the other side would too. They would all look the same, with only one house in the middle of it. Which would be Starlight's own house. She was important after all.

"Not exactly my best choice." Starlight muttered. "But I'll make it work."

After she made her decision, she booked another train back to a town, and went to get building manuals and tools.

Building will be a tease, but I can make it work. Starlight thought in her head. Maybe.

The First

After many stressful days of constructing, and planning, and making tedious blueprints, she finally made her first building in her new town: her own house.

I have somewhere to sleep, finally. Starlight thought with relief. Since she didn't want to go on the train everyday, she eventually teleported herself to the hotel that she has booked in. Now she could just grab her things and bring them to her vacant house.

But even that took days. Starlight looked out the vast property. She had to build more houses, albeit in a different shape. The good news is that the rest of the houses will have the same blueprint. The bad part is actually putting them together.

She decided to take a break. Even though she is determined to make her town into the town she envisioned in her mind, she did not want to overwork herself. Building was a difficult job for a beginner with no help except her own brain and the manual.

Some fresh air should help. Starlight decided. She wanted to get out of the dusky desert and instead head to somewhere colder...

She walked up the cold mountain, with her body shivering from the cold, and her hooves feeling the unforgiving chill. The cold wind breezed through her, chilling every bone in her body. But it was either this or the humidity of the desert.

She walked up to a big cave. She had heard about this mysterious cave. She had heard in the map that this cave could lead to many tunnels, and that it was nearly impossible to track a pony down. Most likely due to the darkness.

But ponies can hear me from my hooves. So what's the point? Starlight criticized in her mind. But she would keep the caves in her mind. In case all of her plans go wrong in some way.

She decided that her trip to the mountains should come to an end. So she walked back down from where she came.

Next time I should buy mittens so my hooves won't get cold. Starlight thought. If she was going to visit here again, she had to bring some accessories.

As she continued to walk back down, she heard a shocked yelp in the distance, and heard a crash in the snow.

Starlight suddenly became alert. She was not alone. Who could be up here with me?

Following the source of the sound, she dashed downward, until she finally spotted a white pony with their upper body buried in the snow. She noticed that the pony had three, big blue snowflakes as their cutie mark. Of course.

After looking at the pony long enough, an idea beamed into her mind.

Her horn glowed and her magic grabbed the pony out of the snow. After she put him down, he quickly took off his ski helmet and shook his head to shake the snow out of his mane. Afterwards, he gazed at Starlight with his sky-blue pupils.

"Thank you." He said thankfully.

"Oh, of course." Starlight responded. If it weren't for the idea that she had, she would've watched him struggle with a smile. She did like seeing others in pain after all. Especially in situations that they themselves had put them in.

"You should be more careful when you're skiing." Starlight advised him with invalid concern. "Snow can be unpredictable at times."

"I guess..." The earth pony somewhat agreed with her. "But I've been skiing my whole life and I didn't have a problem with them."

"Skiing is your special talent?" Starlight said while nodding towards his cutie mark.

"Of course. Ever since I got it as a foal, I've been skiing ever since." He explained.

"And you said you never had a problem with them, but you clearly did something wrong." Starlight explained. She now wanted to get to the point.

"So what? Just because I made one mistake doesn't mean that I'm suddenly bad." The pony suddenly got hostile, much to Starlight's surprise. "Are you calling me a bad skier?"

"Of course not." Starlight said calmly. "But its something to think about."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what if you do a dangerous ski stunt? What if you ski on top of a dangerous mountain top? What if you slid on the snow? What if you cause an avalanche? What if you get killed?" Starlight provoked. She saw fear appear in his eyes. It was working.

"I'm... I'm not going to die." He stated, but Starlight knew that he was starting to doubt his words. "I have been skiing for almost my entire life. And I got my cutie mark for a reason because of that."

"You foolish pony." Starlight softly chuckled. "You may not know this, but you probably should have. Cutie marks lie. And are nothing but dangerous things."

"Lie? Dangerous?" He looked suspicious. "You're stranger than I thought."

"Call me strange but hear my words. Cutie marks are just pictures on your flank. They don't really mean anything. They just... appear in coincidence. Nothing more."

"Uh..."

I'm luring him in. Now I just need him to bite the hook. Starlight snickered inside. "You see, once you get your cutie mark, you don't get the chance to try new things. Things that you like better, but instead you are stuck with a cutie mark because coincidence."

When he didn't say anything, she continued on.

"And are you seriously going to risk your life because a cutie mark calls you to do so?" Starlight continued to question him. "You could do so many things. But you never know. They might be too boring, and as I stated before, too dangerous."

"So you're saying that cutie marks are... evil?" he questioned her.

"Correct."

"Wait wait wait. Are you telling me that if I continue this job, because my cutie mark said so, I'm going to die?"

"Dying is not the only option." Starlight turned away to face the mountain. "You could also get bored, and question whether your cutie mark and your special talent is genuine. When you could do so many things that would suit your needs and hobbies."

"But... I love skiing though." he quivered.

She just shrugged. "Sure, but you could've loved something else."

The pony sat down to comprehend her words.

Before he came to a decision, she wanted to say one final thing. "You don't have to take my word for it. You can continue to ski if you please. But don't forget the risks of doing that."

He looked at her thoughtfully. A tiny bit of Starlight told her that her words would not affect this pony. He would just ignore her and call her crazy, and continue to do his job, making her words completely useless.

"If you have made up your mind about what to do, you can always find me in my village in the desert. Or a to-be village." Starlight suggested him. "A village where your cutie mark won't command you any longer. Where you can finally be risk free, and of course, live a happier life, not worrying about death and the chances of greater injury. All because of a picture."

Once she felt she had said enough, she passed the earth pony and walked downward to her direction of the village.

Once she reached the sandy part of the desert, she could hear hoofsteps behind her. She turned to see the same earth pony run up to her.

"I've thought about what you said." he said to her. "And while what you're saying is weird, you may be right." he then lowered his head. "Its best to not risk my life because of my cutie mark. And since I have it forever, I can't change my hobby, or my special talent."

Starlight smiled. "Perhaps I can help you with that."

"You can?"

She nodded. "I have the power to take away your cutie mark off of your body. But under one condition."

"Sure?"

"If ponies want to have their cutie marks removed, they must be residents of my village."

"Wait, really? I'm not ready to move out of my home just yet-"

"Oh, ok, then you can completely ignore what I said, and just enjoy your life with a burden." She said with fake disappointment. "But until you change your mind, I'll be here."

As she walked to her town, she heard the earth pony bound up behind her.

"Its... its fine." he said. "I didn't have a lot of things anyway, since the house was recently bought."

"So you want your cutie mark removed?" Starlight asked. "And you must be really sure. Once you say yes, you can't go back."

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Starlight could hear the earth pony say that under his breath. "Yes I am." He said clearly.

"Good, the houses have not even started. So until then, you will be sleeping with me." Starlight said happily. "Mind if I ask, mind if I know your name?"

"Double Diamond." he said to her. "And I assume that your name is Aurora? Since your mane colors look like aurora lights in the sky."

"Interesting assumption, but no." Starlight responded. "Its Starlight. Starlight Glimmer."

Author's Note

Sorry if this felt a little rushed. I had to get Double Diamond to join her town somehow, and this is what I came up with. So I hope that you enjoy reading it anyways.

And yes, DD thinking that her name was Aurora actually is a reference to how Starlight's name was originally going to be in the show. :twilightsmile:

Soon Engraved

Months had flown by since Starlight founded the village and met Double Diamond and Party Favor, and since then, things had been going pleasant for her.

Since she wanted her town residents to have the same manestyle for stallions and mares, she cut Double Diamond and Party Favor's manes, and they now have a clean-cut style compared to the frizzy and rough ones that they had before.

She also came up with a rule that all villagers in her town should have a wide grin, no matter what they were feeling. To which Double Diamond and Party Favor both hesitated at first, thinking that it was a little creepy to put on a fake smile and have it for as long as they were in public. But they knew better than to question her. So, they did as they were told, and eventually, the two got the hang of it, or so Double Diamond did. Starlight can see that Party Favor is still struggling with it, but she would eventually mold him into the way that she wanted too.

But the best news was that other ponies started to enter her town, curious about what the deal was, and as to why three ponies had the same cutie mark. Starlight put on her usual fake persona and welcomed the ponies with kindness and calmness, hiding the fact that she was extremely excited for new followers.

And as she learned over the years due to being depressed and socially isolated most of her life, she was very good at manipulation. She was able to convince these ponies to remove their cutie marks, and whenever they felt nervous about their cutie mark, she would dive straight to the core without hesitation.

And because of those tactics, at least 18 ponies had joined her town, which even surprised Starlight herself. She never really expected the village to grow that quickly.

Thankfully some houses were built by the time they came. Starlight thought, relieved.

But unfortunately for her, due to more ponies joining quickly, she was starting to run out of room for the cutie mark jars. She could not store them into her space forever. Or else one of them would break and would return back to their owners.

Starlight, not wanting to deal with the confusion that would lie ahead, she decided that she needed to store them somewhere near the town, where everyone could see them but would not steal them.

"I'm going out for a bit." Starlight told Double Diamond, who was watching her leave. "You're in charge until I get back, but don't make drastic changes." she said with more edge in her tone.

While normally she disliked the idea of anyone else being in charge of her town, she could at least trust Double Diamond to at least run it while she was gone to do things. More than Party Favor anyway, who had been here for as long as Double Diamond did.

"Of course." Double Diamond dipped his head calmly, and watched her go with a wide, creepy smile.

Starlight had peeked through magic books at another dusty, old library, that wasn't really inhabited by anyone except elder ponies. She wanted the marks to be encased in something magical, so the chance of them being stolen by an earth pony or pegasus would be highly unlikely.

She scrolled through pages and pages of the magic books. She needed to find one that fitted her category. Somewhere where it could be found near her village, and where her villagers can easily go to in a breeze.

She immediately stopped when she found one thing that caught her attention and may have a trick that could work: rocks.

Starlight started reading more about them, suddenly becoming interested. She started flipping through pages about them, now learning that these rocks can be used to store magical things and somehow, can bear the magical properties of a magical object.

This has to be a joke. Starlight said, getting skeptical at first. There is no way that rocks can do that.

But something told her that she should at least give it a chance, but she had to play it safe, of course. She can't risk her entire town going wrong because of one stupid test attempt. And if she was going to do it, she needed to find which stone was the most magical stone. And are there magical stones near her area?

Pondering, she teleported out of the library, and headed back home.

Teleported to the outskirts of town, she walked to the village. But something caught her eye when she looked at her side and saw a pony investigating rocks.

Suspicion immediately rose inside her for a brief moment, until she saw that the pony was just investigating small rocks by cracking them open with her pickaxe. Plus, the pony was an earth pony. So Starlight doubted that this earth pony would want to try to fight with an unicorn. A talented one for that matter.

And she looks like a petrologist. Starlight thought in her mind. Maybe this gray mare would be of use to her after all. This pony could give her answers to if the rocks around this area were powerful or not. Its as if the timing was perfect!

But Starlight had to be careful. She did not want to try and be too suspicious to her. Even if she doesn't look like she would do any harm, she may do other things that may harm Starlight and the village if she knew the actual truth. But why would she have to worry? She wasn't hurting anyone in her village.

With her guard extremely high, she finally walked up to the pony, who just cracked open a rock, and was sorting through the pebbles.

Starlight nervously looked around, making sure that no ponies would hear their conversation that they were about to have.

"Psst." Starlight tried to get her attention. "Do you know a lot about rocks?" she asked nervously.

"Yes." The pony said with a monotone voice as she investigated a pebble that she picked up.

Starlight looked at her with a tiny bit of nervousness. She, and her town, may be in danger if she did this stupid mistake, but she might as well take the chance.

"Have you ever come across some kind of super powerful stone that could store the cutie mark magic of, I don't know." she said with a bit of humor at the end, but now gazed at her with intimidation and her voice had hardened. "An entire village?"

"Yup." The pony replied shortly after with the same monotone style. "In the big cave." she pointed her hoof at the mountain. Starlight turned to where her hoof was pointing at. She could see the mouth of the cave in the distance.

Almost at once, Starlight put on an evil smile and abandoned the mare by dashing off to her village. Thankfully, and surprisingly, the mare didn't mind.

She actually helped me! Starlight thought. She couldn't decide if she wanted to be thankful that she wasn't questioned, or snicker at the mare for letting out a magical secret that easily.

"Starlight!" Double Diamond greeted her, but she quickly ignored him.

She dashed into her house, grabbed some leftover glass windows, a chisel, and a handful of cutie mark jars.

The moment she stepped out of the house, Double Diamond and Party Favor looked at her in surprise.

"Starlight? What are you so excited for?" Party Favor asked her with concern.

"And what's with the tools?" Double Diamond added.

Starlight stopped herself. She had no idea why she was this confident, and instead acting like a foal. The mare could be lying, or there might not be enough room for these cutie marks to fit.

But she already envisioned at what the cutie mark cases looked like, in many shapes and forms. And if the mare was correct, the stone would somehow hold the magic that was inside these cutie marks. Plus, she was happy to get rid of the jars. They were making her perfect house too cluttered.

Starlight looked at the two confused stallions with a confident smirk. "We're building a vault, boys."

And with that, she walked out of the village, and followed the direction to where the gray earth pony had pointed the cave at. She was ready to get to work.

The Main Arrivals

Author's Note

Thank you so much for waiting a month for this next chapter lol-

I was preoccupied with stuff. Now hopefully I will be able to focus on this story whenever I can. It desperately needs an update, along with the others :twilightsheepish:

The Main Arrivals

Starlight took out the blueprints that she had laid out on her wooden table. Although it was a blueprint for another cottage, Starlight was relieved that she didn't have to worry about building anymore. Since more and more ponies started joining her town, thanks to her manipulation skills and the backup of several ponies that joined, especially Double Diamond, she just decided to let the ponies build the buildings on their own. And so far, nothing went wrong, much to Starlight's relief.

However, the rooms were getting more and more crowded. And while Starlight could easily build these buildings herself, it took a lot of work, and she did not have time to deal with nails and hammering and all other construction. But she wanted it to be done right away. Those ponies needed to get to work anyway.

Then, a few weeks ago, she decided to make a song for the town, telling them about how equality and how cutie marks are always a key to strained friendships. While the villagers were just doing what they were told, only Starlight knew the true meaning of that moral.

Just a day after that, she thought about a town name for her village, since the lyrics she made included the words "Our Town". But after sleeping on it, she just shrugged and left the town unnamed. She didn't want her villagers to memorize the lyrics again, with "Our Town" being replaced with something else. Plus, Our Town sounded rather fitting.

Now Starlight was just sorting through papers and putting them in her wooden drawers. She levitated the book and was about to put it away, when she saw a tiny white corner from a photo. She levitated that too, and revealed to be a picture of her as a filly, and of her mother, Silverflower.

I hope you are proud of what I am doing. Starlight formed a tiny smile when she looked at the photo.

Suddenly she heard two knocks on her door.

"Starlight!" Double Diamond's voice can be heard once the door automatically opened. "We have some new visitors."

Not expecting any visitors that quickly, she brushed her mane quickly and once again put on her fake persona and faced the door.

"Be ready to fight." Starlight could hear the muffled voice of a female pony. "We don't know what's gonna come through that door."

Figuring the time was right, Starlight opened the door, and stepped out of the shadows with a grin.

"Welcome!" she greeted them warmly as she exited the room that she was in. "I'm so pleased to have you here."

Afterwards, a blue pegasus groaned, which Starlight was a little confused. What did she expect? Some dangerous monster?

"This is Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle." Double Diamond introduced them. But Starlight didn't care about the others, but once Starlight's eyes were on Twilight, she quickly assessed her, with a hoof on her chin.

An alicorn here? In my village? Starlight pondered. This could lead to an interesting turn of events...

She then noticed that Twilight fluffed her wings, and grinned at her nervously.

"Forgive my bluntness." Starlight flatly apologized. She didn't want the alicorn to be unnerved by her that quickly. "But I'm assuming its Princess Twilight Sparkle? We don't get many alicorns here."

"Yes, but Twilight is fine." She told her, still looking at her with a nervous grin.

Starlight then decided to change her tone. "So, how did you hear of our little village?" Starlight energetically asked, while grinning at her with a wide smile.

"It's a long story." Twilight informed her, her uneasiness starting to fade away a little bit. "Let's just say we found it on a map."

"Technically, it's a Tree-chest-castle-map!" Pinkie Pie butted in cheerfully, before giving Starlight a glare and peering away, while the group gave her weird looks, including Starlight. But she dismissed her antics.

"Well, however you found us, we're happy to have you!" Starlight told them happily. "We're happy to have anyone who wants to experience true friendship for the first time." she finished after narrowing her eyes while saying the word "true".

"Say what?" Applejack asked, clearly unconvinced.

"Oh, indeed. That's what's so unique about our village, you see." Starlight said while walking to a crooked picture frame on the wall. "Around here, we don't flaunt our special talents because we don't have any special talents to flaunt." she finished after tiling the picture back to its proper position.

"Is that why you all have those cutie marks?" Twilight asked as she pointed a hoof at her flank, to which Starlight looked at her equal sign with a frown. She never really liked looking at her flank in particular. Because whenever she did, she would be reminded of her own cutie mark that was hidden underneath the makeup. The one thing that destroyed her life forever...

But she looked at the six with a smile. "Perhaps it would be easier to understand if I gave you a tour of the village!"

In song form! Starlight thought while smiling once again at the six. She immediately headed over to the door. This was now the time where the song ritual would now take place, and she hoped that none of the residents would mess up.

Somewhere, the drums started playing, and Starlight opened her door.

"Banded by equality, by our cutie mark!" The ponies finished, while Starlight was at the end of the row, staring at the six with a menacing smile, and with a banner with an equal sign that flew over their heads.

Starlight's smile faded away slightly when she heard the blue pegasus laugh.

"You're kidding, right? Give up your cutie marks? No way!" she boasted amusingly.

"Rainbow Dash!" A yellow pegasus called her down. "Don't be so rude. I don't think we should judge them. They seem perfectly happy with their choice."

Starlight smirked. She was starting to like this pegasus already.

"Don't believe their smiles, Fluttershy." warned the pink pony from before. To which Starlight was starting to grow a dislike of.

"I'm sorry, I guess we're just a little confused by all of this." Twilight told her, genuinely confused by the song and the morals of the village.

"We have no judgements here in our village. Each of us was confused once as well, blinded by the false promise of our cutie marks." Starlight told them calmly. And it was a pain too. Starlight told herself. Most of them were quick to trust Starlight's words, while some of them took a while to consider her words.

"Woah, woah, woah, is she for real?" The same blue pegasus asked, then Twilight narrowed her eyes at her. The princess now walked up to Starlight.

"When we were sent to this village, we assumed it was to help in some way. But, well, it doesn't seem like you need any help." Twilight told her, while smiling just a little bit.

But Starlight was not about to let Twilight go so easily. "Have you considered perhaps that you might have been sent here so we could help you?" Starlight asked the alicorn. She looked satisfied that she looked in deep thought when she heard Starlight's words.

"After all, no one has ever come to our village, and wanted to leave." Starlight said as she walked away, then looked back at the group. "Why should you be any different?"

All of them looked at each other, confused, while Pinkie just glared at her still. Starlight looked at them with a satisfied smile. She had casted her hook; all she needed was for them to take the bait.

"But that is entirely your choice." Starlight finished, pretending that they were allowed to have a free choice.

"Please, enjoy our little corner of Equestria. We're all quite fond of it." Starlight told them as she walked past the group and headed towards her house.

"No doubt you will be as well." Starlight concluded with a neutral smile. "Double Diamond, please help out our guests with whatever they might need." she ordered the earth pony.

"Of course." Double Diamond said, then gave a big grin to the group. They all flinched by his smile.

"Well, this will certainly provide a boost to our little community." Starlight started talking to herself as she started to walk away, careful that they didn't hear what she was saying. "When the rest of Equestria sees that a princess gave up her cutie mark to join us, they'll finally understand what we're trying to accomplish."

She finished as she peeked behind her, and grinned evilly at Twilight. Then she entered her house and closed the door.

Another One

"Wow! You lost your cutie mark!" Double Diamond exclaimed when he saw that her flank was replaced by an equal sign.

Starlight nodded. "Indeed I did. It was painful, but it had to be done."

"Wow," Double Diamond continued to stare. Starlight was getting uncomfortable by his gaze so she blocked her cutie mark with her tail.

"Sorry." Double Diamond dipped his head. "I just didn't think that the spell was actually possible. And if your cutie mark had been removed, how are you able to do magic?"

"With this, of course." Starlight picked up a stick on the ground and presented it to Double Diamond. The stick had two ends that extended upwards and had swirls around the body. "This is the Staff of Sameness." Starlight introduced the stick. "It's one of Mage Meadowbrook's items and it just so happened that it had been found here in the desert."

"What does it do?" Double Diamond accessed the stick.

Starlight grinned. "Glad you asked."

She pointed the stick at the white earth pony, and he was surrounded by light green aura. He winced in pain when he felt his cutie mark being stripped from his flank. Finally, once his cutie mark had been removed, his coat tone slightly turned darker, and his cutie mark was now an equal sign.

“My cutie mark!” Double Diamond groaned. “Oh wow, that hurt.”

“And it will hurt in a few days.” Starlight told him. “The little magic that I have left powers through this staff, so whenever this staff is used, a unicorn will be able to take away a cutie mark.”

“That’s powerful stuff...” Double Diamond gazed at the artifact. “And all that from a stick?”

“Precisely.” Starlight answered before turning away. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to put this away in a secret place, so other ponies won’t steal it.”

With that, she darted out of the village. She couldn’t help but put on an evil smirk. He was so easily fooled, and he absorbed everything that she said, and actually believed it. Her plan was going well than she thought.

And she was smart enough to fake her equal cutie mark once Double Diamond had left to say goodbye to his home one last time, and his hobbies. She was actually surprised that there was a coat product that was the color of Starlight’s lilac coat. And of course, she used it to her advantage. Plus, a cutout of an equal sign that was extremely similar to the cutie mark one makes it ten times better.

And he actually bought the stupid Mage Meadowbrook lie. Starlight snickered quietly. This is like taking candy from a baby. In this case, taking a cutie mark from a baby.

But she stopped herself. She just now remembered that a cutie mark must be kept in a container, or else they would return to its original owner. How did I forget that? And just when I laughed about Double Diamond being the dumb one... Starlight got angry at herself. Annoyed, she teleported a jar to herself and put his cutie mark inside it.

There.

Afterwards, she had put the stick somewhere deep into the mountains, and by deep. She meant she put it inside one of the pools that resided in one of the caves. If her plan was going to live on for a long time, she needed to take extra precautions.

When she arrived at her village, she was surprised when she saw Double Diamond with another pony. The pony was a light blue unicorn, with a poofy mane.

Keeping her guard up, she walked up to the ponies with a smile.

“Oh! There she is!” Double Diamond pointed at Starlight. The other pony followed and met Starlight with a smile.

“Hello!” the pony greeted with a wide grin. “Are you Starlight Glimmer that Double Diamond told me about?”

“Uh... yes...?”

“Nice to meet you! I’m Party Favor. And I want to join your village!” he started hopping up and down excitedly.

“Uh, why?” Starlight tilted her head, genuinely confused. And if he’s going to stay here, the excitement must be toned down right away. Something about his energy reminded her of herself when she was a foal. So happy... carefree... and thought that her life was perfect.

“You see, when Double Diamond told me yesterday about this village, I felt that no one wanted me around. And when I showed my special talent, which is making balloons, no one appreciated it, and some called it boring.”

Yeah and you’re stupid enough that you don’t know why no one wants you around. “And your point is?”

“Well, I came here to... escape?” Party Favor sighed. He finally sounded serious. “I don’t know. It's hard to explain.” he then got to the ground and stared down in sadness.

Double Diamond stepped in. “What he means is that he felt that he wanted to start over in a new town, and if other ponies join us, then he will be able to adapt, which he never had the chance to do.”

That... kind of makes sense? Starlight thought, puzzled. But she looked at the light blue unicorn. “Get up.”

“O-Ok.” Party Favor was shocked by her sudden assertion.

“You can join the town.” Starlight told the light blue unicorn. “But you must-”

“Remove my cutie mark?” Party Favor interrupted her. “Oh, I know that by now. I’ll totally do it!”

“And...” Starlight got closer to the light blue pony. “Your overexcitement must be cut down if you wish to stay here.”

“Oh, ok.” Party Favor responded. “Yeah my bubbly attitude can be annoying at times.”

No, really? Starlight thought sarcastically, but she restrained herself to say that out loud.

“Party Favor,” Double Diamond wrapped his hoof around his friend’s neck. “You will be able to make yourself home in Starlight’s town.”

“Yeah, but is it too rushed for me to make this decision?” Party Favor now questioned himself.

“No, you made the right one.” Double Diamond smiled. “Now I won’t be lonely in this boring-” he stopped himself when he saw Starlight glare at him with narrowed eyes. “I mean, lovely town. Just you wait, you will be welcomed and you won’t be shunned anymore!”

We’ll see about that. Starlight thought darkly. She didn’t like Party Favor at all. At least Double Diamond was bearable, despite his grating surfer-like tone in his voice. But him? If he was going to be welcomed in her town, he better act like a decent pony and not an overgrown foal. Or else Starlight will boot him out without hesitation.

But she was also amazed that she had gained another follower, and she didn’t even attempt to use her manipulation skills. Things were now starting to go her way. And soon, ponies from all over would join her, remove their cutie marks, and be her residents.

Now I has to sleep in another guest bedroom in my house. Starlight said. She was starting to run out of guest rooms. She looked at her property again. If her village was going to actually happen, she needed to get to building.

Yay...

Author's Note

Yeah, this chapter was short, but once again, this was all I came up with and didn’t think of another option. Hope you enjoy it anyways :twilightblush: