Part 1: Times of Good and Bad
I poked Queen Dawnspirit again. "Mom, when can we leave? I'm BOOOORED!" She pushed my hoof off of her flank and told me in a minute. She continued what she was doing, but I could tell that something was bothering her. She had never liked my best, and only, friend, Princess Violet. I knew it wasn't her, it was her mother, but she had always stayed away when she could manage. "Mom?" "Yes, Starshine?" "Why is it you don't like Violet?" She sighed and told me, "Now's not the time. Remind me later and I'll tell you. now come on, she's probably waiting for you." I flapped my wings enthusiastically and headed for the door, almost knocking over a jeweled pot until Dawnspirit called, "Careful!" and I swerved out of the way and slowed down.
After a while we got to the park, it was faster after Mom agreed to fly if I would take some of the weight. She was right. Princess Violet had been waiting. I could tell because she was pacing like she did when she got impatient. Once she heard the *Whiiiish* of us flying, she flapped up to meet us. "Hello Queen Dawnspirit! Hi, Princess Starshine!" I poked her with one of my gold shoes and said, "How many times do I have to say it? Don't call me Princess!" and then playfully tackled her. We air wretsled until Queen Rose flew up and led us up to a broad cloud for the picnic. Violet and I chased each other in circles for about 5 minutes, while the two queens sat, silently making sure neither of us fell. At one point, I noticed then shooting a look full of hatred at each other.I shuddered and thought, "If looks could kill..." and then we were called over to eat. It was uneventful until we went home.
On the flight home, I had an empty basket in my mouth, bringing it home, while mom had the other. Suddenly I heard thw WHOOSH of a pegasus flying fast. It was Violet! She was breathing hard and pointed frantically in the direction we had come from. "Must... hide... Mother... angry... don't know... why..." Before any of us could react, Queen Rose was speeding at Queen Dawnspirit full speed, with an inferno of hate in her eyes. She rammed into mom as hard as she could, flew up and ran, and mom began falling. "MOM! NOOO!" I cried, and pelted after her. Mother was unconscious, otherwise she could have spread her wings and broken her fall. I could feel heat gathering by my front hooves as I shrieked to Princess Violet for help. She looked at her mother once, fixed her with an ice cold stare, and chased after me. By now I could see a barrier of light forming before my eyes. Just as I felt my wings could take no more, an explosion of stars formed around me, assisting my speed and making me go fast enough to catch Mom and break her fall just before she hit the ground, and held her up until Violet could take some of her weight. "I thought it was only an old mare's tale..." she breathed. "What was?" "The Sonic Starboom! You're the first pony to pul it off. I knew you were stong, but not that strong!" By this point, I was gaping in amazement at what I had just accomplished. Violet was staring at me with a new kind of respect in her eyes. Suddenly it broke off and she said, "Come on. We'd better get your mom home."
Later, when Mother had woken up and I told her the story, she was awestruck. Then she shook herself and said, "I cannot say how proud I am of you. You are an amazing filly. Now let me keep the promise I made earlier. Long ago, when we were younger, Queen Rose and I were very close friends. Than a prince came along. We were only princesses then, and we had been looking for a prince to be our kings. As luck would have it, we both fell in love with this prince, and this developed into a year long war of trying to win his heart. In the end, Queen Rose won him over, because they knew each other as foals. And we never forgave each other for what we had done. But once you and Violet came along, you became such good friends that neither of us could deny you the other as a friend. So we let you be friends. We hoped it would never come together like this, but it did. I presume that's what povoked Queen Rose to try and knock me to my death. Than you two stepped in. I commend you and Princess Violet for saving me in the face of Queen Rose." "What else could I do? Watch you die at her hoof?" What about Princess Violet?"
"She's a more loyal friend than most ponies would believe." "Speaking of that, Starshine." She said this as I was walking away to check on something. I turned around obediently. "Why, of all ponies, did Princess Violet have to be your friend?" "Because she's the only pony at school who cares about me!" I screeched, easily provoked by the subject. "It wasn't my fault! I didn't know you didn't like her mom!" "YOU COULD HAVE ASKED AND I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU!" "AND MAYBE I DON'T WANT MY LIFE TO REVOLVE AROUND YOUR NEEDS!" "You ungrateful wretch" Mom said in her quiet voice that always meant she was furious beyond words. I began to back away, but it was too late. She levitated me in the air, and I couldn't fight it, no matter how hard I tried. She threw me against a mirror and it shattered. then mom picked up all the shards with magic and they began to bombard me before I could react. I screamed as loud as my voice would go, but to no avail. I was bleeding and bruised and fighting for my life. Eventually I managed to fly out a gap and escape, but I could hardly walk, let alone fly. I just barely made it to a secret spot in the forest I knew Princess Violet would be studying. When I got there, she stared at me in shock, got up, and ran to my side. I gasped, "Help.... me... please...." and everything went dark.
Next thing I knew, I was at Queen Rose's castle, in a bed at the royal hospital. Princess Violet was watching me with concern in her eyes. "You're awake!" she exclaimed. "What HAPPENED to you?" "Nothing. I'm fine." I tried to move and was immediatly rendered incapable of getting up by an incredible stab of pain, and fell back. "You are NOT fine. Tell me what happened." I told her the whole story, and she listened attentively. "Now what do we do?"I asked. "I don't know," Princess Violet admitted. She leaned down and rested her head on my shoulder. "But whatever it is, Everything will be fine."
"I promise."
When I woke up again, Princess Violet was gone. I asked a passing nurse where she went, and she said, "I think she was grabbed by a light blue alicorn, I believe it was Queen Dawnspirit." "Ohnononono! This is bad! What did Mother do to her? I MUST go and find her! There's no knowing what will happen to her! Please! You HAVE to let me go!" "Well," the nurse replied, somewhat reluctantly, "If you're that desperate, you may go." I flew out the gates as fast as my scarred wings would take me. I checked every part of the forest, and only found a thin trail of blood leading towards home. I followed it as far as it went, then flew the rest of the way home. When I got there, Mom wasn't home, so I checked every corner of the house until the only place left was the basement. I stared down the long, dusty stairway, gathered my courage, and climbed down.
After a few steps I heard myself step on a button, and I flinched. suddenly all the lights in the room came on, and it became clear what had happened. Mother had gone completely crazy and captured both Violet and Queen Rose, knocked them out, dragged them back, and put them in the basement. Now, before my eyes, they were strapped to a wall, unable to move or make a sound, surrounded by clearly starving alligators, who were slowly advancing. I could see all the terror anyone could imagine and more in their eyes, and they were helpless. In an instant they recognized me, and while Queen Rose tried to growl at me, unsucessfully, Violet turned her bright purple eyes towards me. The pleading in her eyes was unbearable. Despite the pain, I lifted myself in the air and even though the cast on my right front hoof fell off, I didn't care. The lives of these ponies were all that mattered to me now. I zipped over to them, kicked some of the alligators in the face, and they backed off. I undid the bonds, and they were free. they could both fly, and we were out of there, as fast as we could go, and headed for the Everfree Forest to hide.
We were all panting by the time we got to a patch of clear ground to rest. Queen Rose suddenly whipped around in my direction. "Tell me what happened. Now. That's an order."
So I explained the fight with Mom, how Princess Violet had saved my life, and how I believe Mother had gone insane. Queen rose watched me with a look of contempt in her eyes that slowly faded as I told my story. Violet knew most of it already, but she was an attentive listener, as she usually was. When I was done, Queen Rose rested her open wing over my shoulders. "Thank you, Princess Starshine. That was a very brave deed. We owe you our lives." In all of the years I'd lived, I never believed Queen Rose would praise me, of all teenaged ponies. It came as a great schock, and all I could stammer out was, "What else could I do?" I gulped, holding back tears at the memory of how Mother used to be and how much I missed her. "Watch you die? No, that wasn't an option." I flinched as my scrapes and scars began to ache again, and I gritted my teeth. Since Violet was a renowned healer, she knew what was happening. "You, missy, are going to lie down. Now. Those scrapes aren't gonna get any better if you keep forcing yourself to go further than you can normally go." I lay down, not feeling like arguing with her. Once again exhausted from the day, I immediately fell asleep.
When I woke up, right in front of mine were a pair of strawberry pink eyes. I jumped, literally, backwards into a bush. I emerged with wide eyes. "Who ARE you?" I asked her. Violet answered for her. "This is Heartglow. She's an orphan, and lives at a nearby orphanage, with her sister, Straberry Mint. Come on out, sweetie. Starshine won't hurt you, I promise." As Princess Violet spoke, another small filly emerged from behing her purple-pink sister. The second was a lighter strawberry color with a slighly darker colored mane, and lime green eyes. They were both earth ponies, and clearly terrified of me, considering what shape I was in. And I understood. "I'm not as scary as I look. I won't hurt you, like Violet said." I could see them relax at my words. "Queen Rose? Violet? We should get moving. We need to find someplace safer than the Everfree Forest." Strawberry Mint piped up. "Can we come with you?" "Oh come on! how can you resist? They're so cute!" Violet appealed. Her mother and I agreed. I was strong enough to carry them on my back when I traveled. "I have a question, Starshine. Where, exactly, are we going?" I admitted, "I don't know. But right now, anywhere is better than here."
As we lifted into the air, with Violet and Rose carrying the fillies because they had insisted upon it, we began to fly towards the rising sun. For a moment I was blinded by the glare of light. When I could see again, I was alone. Princess Violet and Queen Rose... had abandoned me? I stared helplessly in the directions I could. No sign of them OR the fillies. At first I felt miserable that my best friend had suddenly deserted me, with her mother, taking two helpless fillies with them. Then it mobilized into fury. I could feel my cheeks flush in rage. Why had they left me? I had saved their lives and this is how they repay me? Either way, I had to calm down and survive. I went to the nearest forest and grabbed some sticks and leaves, and built a rough shack. Almost feeling like I was on fire, I went to sleep.
A year had passed. I was technically a grown pony now. Along the line somewhere I had made myself a star shaped earring and pendant to match my recently acquired shooting star cutie mark. But this morning, this was different. I opened my eyes, and, just like the year before, woke up with a pair of eyes before mine. Except they were PURPLE. I raised my head slowly. Princess Violet and her mother stood in front of me. I felt my previous hate and infuriation rise like a flame engulfs wood.
"What do you want?" I snarled. "Starshine, don't you recognize us? We searched Equestria to find you!" "First, yes, I recognie you. Second, why did you bother? I saved your life, you abandoned me to a life alone in the wild. Why search for me?" "We.. didn't realize we'd left you until a half hour later." "A HALF HOUR?!? I MEANT THAT LITTLE TO YOU?!?" I screamed so loud my throat hurt. "No, Starshine. You meant the world to me." "Then why, in the name of Celestia, would you leave me like that? AND ONLY REALIZE IT A BUCKING HALF HOUR LATER? DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE PUT ME THROUGH?" "I... I..." Princess Violet stuttered. I knew exactly why. She was trying to get me away from the fillies. She was afraid I'd turn on them for no reason. Even though we'd been best friends our whole lives. I barged past them both, carrying some of my belongings with me. After walking a few feet to fly, I turned and spoke. "Remember today. Remember it well. It will be ponykind's last. If the world can't learn to love me, I will teach it to fear me." Saying nothing more, I turned and flew away.
On my flight, I saw a blue alicorn sitting in a clearing below me, weeping. Mother! I flew down and poked her in the flank like I had that day, before the picnic. She turned and when she saw me, she tried to hug me, but I was in an unforgiving mood. I knocked her hooves aside easily and said, "Tell me what happened. Now." I could see the hurt in her eyes, but I didn't care. All of this was her fault, as far as I was concerned. Finally she took a breath and spoke.
"I- I don't know. After that day where I was throwing glass at you, after you left, I saw a small cloud of red smoke jump at me. Unable to avoid it, I couldn't do anything against it. It engulfed me. I don't remember anything from there. Where's Violet and Rose?" So I sat down and told her my story. Mother had also always listened well. her eyes faded into pity near the end, which further infuriated me. "And I saw you down here, so I decided it was time to find out how this mess had started." I finished. " And I don't want your pity either." As I said that, her expression morphed into guilt, and sadness. I cared not for the fate of the world, or anypony. And suddenly I realized. I brought this on myself. By purposely disagreeing with Mother, and arguing with her. If I hadn't done that, we wouldn't be in this mess. Not able to bear what I had done, I collapsed and tried to hide my face with my front hooves. Mother walked over and pushed them aside. "What's wrong, Starshine?" "I... I..." "You what?" And I finally blacked out.
I was awoken by the screeching of familiar voices. I sat bolt upright in panic. My eyes locked onto where Queen Rose and Princess Violet, bloody and beaten, at Mother's hooves. And she was screaming at them at the top of her lungs. "AND DON'T YOU EVER HURT MY LITTLE GIRL EVER AGAIN!!" I walked over, a cold glare embedded in my now awake expression. They had come to find me. I wasn't sure exactly why they wouldn't accept that I was never going to forgive them for the horrid year they'd put me through. I believed Mother had remembered what I had told her yesterday, and attacked them for it. I slapped Violet on the face with my front hoof and said to her in a frosty tone, "Why? Just leave me alone. You mean nothing to me now." Her bleeding eyelids parted to reveal dull purple eyes. I knew them well. But though she and her mother had put me through a horrible year all alone, I couldn't help but remember all the happy memories we shared. Playing at school. Studying together in the forest. Despite the tears welling in my own green eyes, I pushed them away. She truly should have meant nothing. But deep down, I knew I cared.
As Mother and I turned towards an open patch of ground to fly away, I heard a hoofstep behind me. I turned around, and to my surprise, it was Strawberry Mint. She had certainly grown since I'd seen her last year. She was almost as big as I was. And right away, I read the look on her face. She hated me. She had grown up with Violet like a mother. I had chosen my own over her foster mother and my own best friend. But to me, a filly who hadn't cared about me either, was something beneath my notice. I turned my back on her stare, and flew off toward the castle I remembered so well. On the flight there, I thought. Does Violet really care about me? Was I wrong to hate her? What do I do now? When we arrived at the castle, Mother went inside, but I went to the garden. I found my small place and picked a daisy. I pulled off the petals, mumbling under my breath, "She cares, she doesn't, she cares, she doesn't" Over and over. I finally pulled off the last petal, on "She cares."
As I was flying back to where I had seen Violet and Queen Rose, I accidentally crashed into another pegasus. We fell to the ground. Neither was hurt, and when we looked up, I was instantly in love. He was a lightish brown pegasus with a mane and tail, shaped and colored like lighting had frizzed it up.We stared at each other for a moment, and then I spoke, even though I stammered constantly. "O-o-oh, s-s-sorry f-for cra-ashing i-into you-u-u" He stared at me and mumbled, "That's ok." I got up and said, "So, uh, s-see you around?" I instantly blushed and prayed that he wouldn't think i was weird. He flew off and I stood there I wanted to fly after him to get his name, but my feet were firmly planted on the ground. I stood there thinking if I'd see him again, I wondered if he was new. but then I herd a familiar vioce. Not the vioce of Violet, but of an old friend, so to speak.
"Hey Starscrew!!" said the rough and imitating voice. "How've you been crashing?" she asked. I turned around to find Dullheart, her name true what she has. I turned around, I closed my wings, and fell out of my dreamy illusion. "Oh, ... it's you. Why are you back here? I told you never to bug me again, after a horrible year of you bullying me." I snarled, narrowing my eyes. I hated her, more then I did Violet. "Oh, just checking on the greatest loser in town. That's all." she teased. I ground my teeth and held my urge to fight. "You done hanging with your retarded friend Violet?" she asked, giving me an evil grin. I let my wings out and said: "I don't have to put up with you any more." I turned to fly away, and flew about 4 seconds before it acctually began.
"HEY I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU STARSHINE!" She yelled, as she flew into the air and bumped into me in rage. I caught myself before landing on the hard soil below. "Heh, you've gotten somewhat better since the last time I saw your cruddy face!" she said, kicking her back legs to my face. I did a 3 loop summersault in the air and earned a black eye. "Why are you doing this!?" I asked, trying to keep balance. "Because somepony has to tell the losers to get lost!" she yelled as she ripped the star necklace off my neck. "GIVE IT BACK NOW!" I ordered. I couldn't hold it back, I fought, and I fought hard. I gave her a bloody nose, a black eye, and a broken hoof. I snatched the necklace out of her hooves and stood there to watch her bleed. Tears welled up into my eyes, noticing I've become a monster. And of course, right behind me, the colt of my dreams, I turned around with my black eye and bruised leg. My eyes flooded again at the thought of never getting him to love me. I flew away in tears, I didn't look back to see his expression, but I did look back to find him crying by Dullheart. Did I just beat his girlfirend? Best friend? Sister? Cousin? I cried more at the thought and flew up into the castle and up the tower to my room. I plunged into my bed, pulled the covers over my face, and had a nice long hour of crying.
Eventually Mother came in and asked me what was wrong. "Nothi-i-i-ing," I sobbed. "If you say so. Somebody's here to talk to you." And the one who opened the door astounded me. It was that pegasus from earlier. "I'll leave you two to talk.", with a knowing look in my direction. She left the room and the pegasus told me his story.
"My name is Lightning tumble" "Mine's Starshine." "Okay. Anyway, let me tell you something. Do you know who you beat up earlier?" "Yeah, Dullheart, she used to bully me and she stole my necklace." "She-she's... my sister..." I was dumbstruck and upset, unimaginably. Was he here to tell me he hated me for beating up his sister because she attacked me first? Lightning Tumble continued. "And to have this make sense, I have a confession to make. When I saw you earlier, when we ran into each other, I realized you were the love of my life. I don't care if you beat up Dullheart. The reason it worries me is because she'll tell my parents that it was you. Then they won't let me have anything to do with you. If this sounds weir-" I stopped him with a whisper. "I love you, too." And I leaned over and kissed him. His eyes stretched wide, and then he relaxed, closed his eyes, and accepted it. Mother walked in just then, and I hoped it just looked like we were hugging. She smiled at me and walked back out. After a little while, we came apart. He lookedme in the eye and told me, "No matter what it takes, we'll be happy together. And those aren't just empty words."
"That's a promise."
As Starshine flew away with Dawnspirit, I felt utterly defeated. She hated me, and I was miserable. Queen Rose lay next to me, asleep, trying to recover. I forced myself to my feet and surveyed my surroundings, and myself. We were in a small clearing in the middle of the forest between my castle and Starshine's. I was covered in scrapes and bruises, but thankfully Mother was better. I slowly dragged her back to our castle, and to the royal hospital. Entrusting her to the castle nurses, I headed towards my favorite spot to process what had just happened. And waiting for me, I found Dullheart, the bully from school. She had called me retarded and Starshine a loser. I bared my teeth like a cat and said through them, "What do YOU want? Haven't you done enough to me?" She shook her hooves in a 'calm down' motion.
"Whoa, whoa. I'm not here to do anything to you, Violet. I have a message from Starshine." "From Starshine?" "Yes. Now let me tell you what she said. She and I had a conversation. She brought you up. This is how it went. I told her you still cared about her, but she replied that she didn't care about you. I tried to reason with her, because, what did you do wrong? Anyway, she said she didn't want to smell the scent of the flowers of madness, like you. I reminded her that you were helpless and she chose bad over good. Then she said this: Nobody will care about you until you stand up for yourself, stop being a wuss, until you learn to fight back. Until you can beat me in a fight and earn your right to be called a woman. She claims she earned that plaec by choosing her mother over you. If you choose to fight her, I'll help you." By now I was burning with hatred for the pony I used to think was my friend. "So, Princess Violet?" Dullheart said impatiently. "What will you choose?" I mumbled one phrase under my breath.
"She's going down."
We made our way towards Starshine's castle, all the while I was getting angrier and angrier. Once we finally got there, I was redy to tear the place down stone by stone. But I contained myself. I needed all my wits about me if I was to fight Starshine. She was a tough fighter and I knew it well. We snuck inside, my spell giving no sign of Queen Dawnspirit, but a good signal of Starshine. It pointed to where she'd told me her bedroom was. "Stay here. I'll get her outside for more space." I whispered to Dullheart. She nodded and headed to the door to be ready. I opened the door and looked around the room. Then I remembered Starshine was a pegasus, and looked up. She and another pegasus I had never seen before were hovereing near the ceiling in the shadows in an attempt to hide. "I see you up there, Starshine. Can you come outside? I need to tell you something alone." She glanced at the colt for a moment, and with a wary look in her eyes, she replied. "Okay."
We walked outside, slowly, not saying a word. when we got to a secluded clearing, I turned to face Starshine. Dullheart gave me your message. I'll show you who's a wuss! RRRRRRRAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!" And I flew up, dive bombed her, and wrested her to the ground before she could react. I bit and kicked, twisted, wriggled, and attacked in any way I could think of. The shock in Starshine's eyes was clear. But I had her at my mercy, and she knew it. I continued fighting, and just as Starshine began to fight back, Dullheart raced in and held her down.
Why was Violet attacking me? She had led me away on purpose, then tackled me. What message? From Dullheart? Then I put two and two together. Dullheart lied to make Violet do her dirty work for her, as revenge. I began to push back against the relentless flurry of bites and kicks, and just as it seemed like it couldn't get any worse, Dullheart herself ran in and held me down for Violet, and bit me repeatedly. The corners of my vision blurred, and then the
world turned dark.
Starshine screamed and went limp. I backed off in horror. Had I killed her? No, her chest was rising and falling as she breathed. But she was in very bad shape. She mumbled one thing before entering the oblivion of a coma. "Dullheart lied." I stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded. Then it all made sense. Starshine had never said any of that. Dullheart made it all up, to make me fight Starshine in revenge for something. I had gone close to killing her, all based on a lie. I spun around to confront Dullheart, but she was flying away. I chased her down a yard away, and dragged her to the ground, held her by her shoulders, and made her tell me what Starshine had done to provoke her. "She attacked me first!" Dullheart protested. I raised an eyebrow and pressed harder on her sensitive wings. "Ow! Okay, okay, I teased her and took her necklace and she beat me up." I heard a grief stricken wail in the direction Starshine was in, and I turned my head and perked my ears up. I let go of Dullheart and flew back.
I was dreaming, and I knew it. I was flying high in the clouds, hovering in place, and I landed on a cloud next to Lightning Tumble. But as soon as I landed, he began to fade. By the time i had sat down in confusion, he was gone. Dullheart showed up in his place, and shoved me off. "NNOOOOOOOO!!!"
I yelled as I fell. And nopony came to help me.
I was flying faster than I had ever flown in my life, even faster than at flight school in Cloudsdale, where I met Starshine. Everything had come to this. I didn't care if Dullheart chased me down or not. I dropped down into the clearing to find the brown pegasus from earlier standing by Starshine, one hoof on her face, tears streaming relentlessly down his face. He heard me step up behind him, and I said "Hi, um, I'm Violet." He immediately crouched down, shielding Starshine from me with his body. "What did you do to her? WHAT DID YOU DO?" I was tricked int-" "You've nearly killed her! Do you realize that?" "Yes, I realize that. But I regret what I did and I've come to help." He nodded suspiciously and stepped aside. "My name is Lightning Tumble." He informed me. I looked around and found some good healing herbs growing nearby, I picked a few and chewed them up. Once I spread them on Starshine's wounds, she flinched, but I knew it'd hurt a lot less later if she could take this now. "We need to get her inside somewhere." Lightning Tumble blinked and pushed his head under Starshine's shoulder, and I picked up her rear. Slowly, we made our way to her castle and lay her down in her bed.
After a little while, a guard's voice came on the speakers in the room. "We have found two dead fillies. Would you like to see them?" "Yes, please!" I replied. A few minutes later, a couple of guards came in with the fillies. And to my suprise, they were all too familiar. Strawberry Mint and Heartglow! The guards informed me that they had been found in the nearby lake, supposedly drowned. I knew who did it, and I had to find her. "Can you stay with Starshine?" I asked Lightning Tumble. He nodded. "I have somebody to find."
I flew out to a cliff above the lake the poor fillies had been drowned in. As I expected, Dullheart was sitting there, wings out, a smile on her face. "DULLHEART!" I roared. She whipped around to face me, and bared her teeth. "I knew you would come here, Violet." "I knew you were a bully, Dullheart, but I never expected you to turn into a murderer!" She looked at me calmly and replied, "YOU were supposed to be one. You didn't, however, kill Starshine like I wanted you to. This is your punishment." "Only the most despicable of mentally ill ponies would murder not just one but TWO innocent fillies!" I turned and kicked her in the face hard enough to break two of her teeth out. She fell over, then sat up. "This isn't over." she hissed. Dullheart lifted into the air and flew away. I watched her go, Hating her more than I had ever hated before.
I went into Ponyville for some peace and quiet. Suddenly a familiar purple pony with bright green eyes walked up to me. "Hi, Violet! remember me?" "Grape Vine? Is it you?" "Of course it is, silly! I moved to Ponyville after flight camp." I hadn't seen her in years. "You want to come to my house?" "Uh... sure..." Grape gave me a concerned look. "Is everything okay, Violet?" "Let's go to your house and I'll tell you." We began walking, and there was this glow of happiness radiating from her, because we used to be the closest of friends. I, on the other hoof, was still worried about the issue with Dullheart. If Starshine thought she was a monster, it was nothing compared to Dullheart, who would murder the two fillies I had raised, just to hurt me.
After I had told Grape Vine what had happened, her eyes closed, as if a bad memory was surfacing. I heard her growl under her breath, "She has to be taught a lesson" I reminded her, "No, Grape Vine. If you fight back against her, she'll do worse next time." Grape Vine had a furious expression on her face. "I can't let her get away with this. Because... because... I was their sister. The fillies were stolen from me when they were just old enough to not need constant attention. I tried to track them down, but I never found them. And now Dullheart has killed them, as revenge for a provoked attack. She needs to learn her place."
After I calmed Grape Vine down, it was getting dark. She invited me to stay the night. I wanted to go home, but flying in the dark confuses me. So I agreed. She took me to her guest room, and we sat and played a couple board games. Then she brought in some milk and cookies, and she explained what had happened since I had last saw her. Nothing much, aside from the fact her mother died and that's why she had to take responsibility for her little sisters. After that she headed to her own bed and left me to sleep. Over the course of the day, I had forgotten about Starshine. I felt better, not having to worry, but Grape Vine's words from earlier rung in my head. "Maybe you and Starshine just weren't meant to be friends." I considered it while my vision lulled itself into the darkness of sleep.
I woke up back in the castle with a horrible headache and a sore body. To my surprise, Lightning Tumble was laying on the bed next to me, watching me, with his front hooves tucked under his chest and his hind pointing forward. As soon as he noticed I was conscious, he leaned over and hugged me. I returned it and asked, "What happened?" He responded, "I'm not sure. All I know was that I heard you scream and I flew out. I saw Dullheart." My eyes widened and my headache had a burst of pain. I rubbed my head and then I remembered. I remembered flashbacks of Violet kicking me, and biting me. My wounds hurt at the thought. I looked at my body and noticed, I was at the hospital again, covered in bandages again, and sore... again. A nurse came and asked if I would like another visitor. I shrugged and said, "Sure, I guess. Why not? But Lightning Tumble has to stay." I replied. The nurse nodded and opened the door. There I found standing there was an unrecognized pony. It was a mare with a teal coat, and lime green mane and tail, and yellow eyes. "Uhh... I don't recall knowing you." I said as the pony walked closer to me. "Remember me? I'm Tealcloud, your cousin!" She reminded me. I widened my eyes to find that it was her! My favorite sibling, my cousin! I forgot the pain and jumped up to hug her. She hugged me back. Lightning Tumble smiled.
Tealcloud and Lightning Tumble exchanged names, and then Tealcloud opened her wings and placed her hoof on mine. "What HAPPENED to you?" she asked in shock, noticing my injuries. Lightning Tumble headed out to get all of us some lunch while I told Tealcloud all that had happened. When I came to the part about my recent fight with Violet, tears welled up in my eyes and I couldn't go on. Tealcloud had know Violet and I were very close friends, and she rested her head on my shoulder to comfort me. She was my favorite cousin and we both knew it, and I hadn't seen her since I was a small filly, small enough to ride on her back. I was overjoyed to see her again, but at the same time, I was depressed that Dullheart, the notorious bully, had managed to make my own best friend fight me, and injure me enough to let me see the other side of life. Where ponies go to meet their maker. There was nothing there. Nothing to help me hide from the terrible reality of all this. Just then Lightning Tumble walked back in with lunch. While we were eating, He told me something I never expected to hear. That Strawberry Mint and Heartglow had been drowned, and by Dullheart. His theory was that is was in revenge for Violet not killing me, since Violet herself had practically mothered the two. All I could do was stare in shock while he watched with concern. I had had somewhat of a relationship with the fillies, too. Even if it wasn't a close one.
The next day, Lightning Tumble and Tealcloud came back to keep me company. Behind them was the pony I could never have expected to see. Violet stood in the doorway, looking unsure of what to do. I instantly started shaking in fear, wondering what she wanted to do to me this time. I tried to hide under the blanket, and Lightning Tumble pulled them away gently, telling me that Violet had told them she wanted to tell me something. I watched Violet, waiting for her to speak, still terrified she'd come back to finish me off. Instead she looked at the floor and explained. "Starshine, I know what I did, and all
I can say is that I'm sorry beyond words.
Dullheart lied to me, and she claimed you had said I had to earn my right as a woman by beating you in a fight, and that you called me a wuss. She told me other things to make me angry, and eventually fury took over my thoughts. I agreed to fight, and she offered to help. Afterwards when you were going unconscious, you told me she lied. Then I realized what I had done. I chased her down and forced her to tell me what she'd done. I heard Lightning Tumble wail, and I flew back. Eventually he trusted me enough to let me help. I found some healing herbs and tried to undo what I had done, and to get you to somewhere safe. When we got to the castle, the guards told us that the fillies had been drowned. I flew out to that cliff above the lake, and she was sitting there, and worse yet, she had a smile on her face. I ended up breaking two of her teeth, and she told me it wasn't over. I let her go and she flew off. I went to Ponyville to try and not feel as guilty, and to convince myself you'd be okay. I ran into Grape Vine, remember her? She invited me to her house and she told me something I never would have guessed. Strawberry Mint and Heartglow were her little sisters. They were taken when they were little, and Grape Vine couldn't find them. And now they're dead. Grape wants to put Dullheart in her place once and for all."
"Where she belongs is in the Netherworld," I mumbled. Nopony heard me, but Tealcloud remembered Dullheart all too well. She never told me where from, though. "Maybe we should put Dullheart in her place. We could all fight her at once, and she'd be outnumbered." Suprisingly, Lightning Tumble agreed.
"Even thought she is my sister, I agree. She's gone too far."
Lightning Tumble and I sat side by side, watching the stars and moon. I leaned against him and he put his hoof around me. I could see Violet hanging back, in the midnight shadows. Even though I had managed to be a pegasus instead of an alicorn, being a princess, I had some special powers. One was being able to tell how others were feeling. I unintentionally read Princess Violet's emotions, and felt waves of jealousy radiating off of her. It wasn't because she also loved Lightning Tumble. It was that I had a boyfriend and she didn't. I knew for a fact that there was no predicting what Violet would do when she was jealous. Before I turned back around, I could have sworn I saw a flash of red eyes like Dullheart's lurking in the forest undergrowth.
.:NOTE:. Sorry if the spacing is weird, i did it on notepad, which sorta makes me do the spacing in a weird way XP
