Hello there! Those who are used to my usual stories must be really surprised to see me post a my little pony fanfic! Well I really like that show and I wanted to write a story about my favorite character, Starlight Glimmer. This story takes place in the human world shown in the Equestria Girls movies. It's about how the human version of Starlight could have end up doing the same mistakes as her pony counterpart. I hope you'll like it!
ps: I'm not an English speaker so they might have some mistakes. Sorry about that.
It all began when Starlight Glimmer lost her best friend, Sunburst. Not that he died or anything bad happened to him, quite the contrary. Sunburst was viewed as a prodigy: he excelled in every class, his grades were ones of the highest of the school and his competences were by far superior to those of his age. This is why he was allowed to skip the last elementary school's grade to go immediately in middle school.
This is how Starlight was separated from her only friend. At first she tried to be happy for him, after all it was quite impressive that he managed to be able to skip a grade. But it didn't take long before she couldn't feel this way anymore. She couldn't help herself from being frustrated over this. But mostly, she felt sad. Sunburst was her sole friend, and now that she lost him, she was alone.
It took a while before Starlight could somewhat accepted the situation. She was still mad about it, but she considered that this situation wouldn't be definitive. After all, she would eventually go to middle school too. All she had to do was to be patient and wait a year before she could be reunited with Sunburst. Sure it was a shame that she wouldn't be in the same class as him, but at least they could be in the same school…
…but it wasn't the case either. Of course. Why someone as talented as Sunburst would have gone to the common middle school of their neighborhood? A genius such as himself obviously went to one of the most prestigious middle schools, in the big city. How could Starlight know? He never deigned sending a letter to her! It was with a heavy heart that Starlight learned that she wouldn't not only be in the same middle school as Sunburst but that he also moved out since a while now.
But it wasn't enough to break her. Starlight wasn't the type of person to give up so easily. If she couldn't be in the same middle school as Sunburst, then she only had to make sure she will be in the same high school as him. To her it was the only logical solution to the problem. But of course, there was only one high school that a prodigy like him would end up in: Crystal Prep.
Starlight did have rather good grades, some of them were even excellent. But she knew that they weren't enough good to a school such as Crystal Prep. She was smart, probably smarter that the average, but not a prodigy. Unlike Sunburst, if she wanted to have a chance to go there, she would have to work hard to improve her grades, which meant goodbye eventual friendships in middle schools and her hobbies.
Her lack of friends didn't really bother her. In fact, she couldn't care less. She had no time for this. Friends would only get in the way of her studies. Anyway, she didn't want to get close to other people. If she became too friendly with her classmates, she would end up hurt when she would have to leave them. She didn't want to feel the pain of losing a friend again, never.
On the other hand, forsaking her hobbies was hard, especially her passion for kites and magic. Of course, it wasn't actual magic, since she knew it wasn't real. But she did like to study mythology and legends about magic. But she had to priories her studies over her hobbies. Sacrifices must be done to achieve your goal.
This is how Starlight ended up living a studious and successful, yet friendless and quite boring, middle school life.
Starlight's last middle school's year was almost over. She almost always had the highest scores in every class. Well, with all the dedication, efforts, perseverance and sacrifices she had done for the sake of grades, she deserved nothing less. She became one of the best students in her school, not because she was a prodigy, but because she had worked hard to achieve this. It was something she could be proud of. But she didn't. To her it was only a means to achieve her ultimate goal: to be reunited with Sunburst.
During the last month of school, Starlight was summoned in the principal's office. Apparently the principal wanted to talk with her about her high school's options. It was the moment she was waiting since years, the moment where she would know if she was accepted at Crystal Prep.
Starlight was surprised to discover that the principal wasn't alone in his office. Inside there were three students that she knew too well, unfortunately. One of them was the captain of the football team. He was a guy who had clearly been born with an excellent genetic, which allowed him to be so performing in sport. But he was also a bully who was using his strength to intimidate those who were weaker than him.
The second one was the daughter of a rich business man. She was quite popular among the other students and known for her talent in art, especially in music and theater. But she was in fact a spoiled brat who, behind her angelic face, hided an egotistical and manipulative personality. She never hesitated to use her money or reputation to make others do what she wants and obtained everything she desired. For those who dared to disobey her or get in her way, she made sure to ruin their life in any means she could.
The last one was a boy with a genius intellect. He excelled in almost every academic class, especially those related to science, mathematics and literature. He was quite snobbish with others and condescending with those who were less smart than him (so pretty much everyone in the school). He was also Starlight's classmate in some classes and she never saw him listening or taking notes. He was the kind of person who just needed to study a little to understand fully the subject, a true prodigy. Just like Sunburst…
Starlight suddenly noticed that there was another person in the office, someone she never met before. It was a middle aged woman with a stern appearance. She was standing near the principal.
"I believe you know why I summoned you here." the principal began to say. "You are here because you all took part to Crystal Prep's entrance exam. I'm happy to tell you that you all passed the exam. You can be as proud as I am of you. The headmistress of Crystal Prep is here to speak with you personally about it. I'll leave the rest to her."
The woman remained emotionless. She wasn't smiling, she was even staring at them with a cold and somewhat haughty glare, to Starlight annoyance.
"I'm principal Cinch and I'm here to inform you that you are all accepted to join my school. You should feel honored to be able to attend such a prestigious school as Crystal Prep. You all proved your worth, not only by you test score, but either by your talent in sport and art or your impeccable academic grades. I believe that performant students such as you would be a positive addition to Crystal Prep. You are far from being average, you are above the commoners. If you join my school, you'll be part of the elite, those who are superior, and it will ensure you to live a successful life. But most importantly, you'll have the honor to contribute to the legacy of Crystal Prep."
The three other students looked all quite happy by what they heard. Of course they were. They just learned that they will be able to attend a prestigious school that will allowed them to have everything they wanted and to be viewed as superior, just like they always acted or considered themselves.
Starlight wasn't sure how to feel about this. She should be happy to learn that she will be able to go to Crystal Prep like she always wished for, but now she was in doubt. Was it really what she wanted? To be part of the elite, to be viewed as superior to others? She couldn't care less about that, she would in fact preferred to be average, to be like everyone else. All she did was for the sake of being reunited with her childhood friend.
A terrible thought pop up in her mind. The three other students who were accepted to Crystal Prep just like her, the three of them were jerks in their own way. If those kinds of people were allowed to attend Crystal Prep, maybe it meant that this school was full of students like them, which could mean that…Sunburst became like them.
"No, it can't be true!" Starlight thought. "He wouldn't become like that! Sunburst, he was so kind with me, how could he…changed…"
She then realised that the last time she saw him, they were both still kids. It's been years since they were separated, it's be years that he went to a prestigious middle school, and he must already be at Crystal Prep, which meant that he hobnobbed with this kind of people, those who were born lucky enough to be either a prodigy or talented without much efforts. People can changed, either for the best or the worst. Starlight couldn't bear to meet up with Sunburst only to discover that he changed for the worst and became a snobbish person.
This thought made her realised something worst: she may herself eventually changed for the worst if she go to Crystal Prep. She was already paired up with those three jerks, it was only a matter of time before she became one of them, one of those who think they are superior to others and used it as an excuse to bully others.
This made her also realised that all the efforts and sacrifices she did to raise her grades worth nothing. She lost her time for a goal that she may never be able to accomplish. All she wanted was to have her friend back, but if he really had changed, that it would be impossible. Starlight focused too much on the past and the future rather than the present. She could have tried to make new friends and enjoyed her life like anyone else, but instead she only focused on her studies in the hope of being reunited with someone who may not even want to be her friend again.
But maybe it wasn't too late to make the right choice, to change for the better and be among the average again. Starlight didn't want to risk discovering that her childhood friend changed for the worst, she preferred to never know the truth and abandoned her initial goal.
Principal Cinch approached from them and offered her hand to each of them. The three other students gladly accepted it and shook her hand. Each time one of them grabbed her hand, Cinch showed a smile that seemed quite sinister.
But when she arrived in front of Starlight, the young girl recoiled slightly. Cinch looked both surprise and offended, while the other students seemed confused. The principal on his part seemed quite nervous.
"Uh, Miss Glimmer…are you alright? Is something wrong?" her school principal asked her.
"Yes, everything is fine. I see clearly now. I'm sorry sir, but…I won't attend Crystal Prep." Starlight replied.
Starlight's decision caused a lot of indignation, from her teachers, the students, the principal and Cinch. Of course it would, she had refused to accept the invitation to one of the most prestigious high school. But Starlight didn't mind. She didn't regret her decision in the slightest. She didn't want to go to Crystal Prep anymore. She didn't want to be with snobbish people, to be viewed as superior to others. She wanted to be normal, to be equals to others and to be treated the same as anybody else.
This is why she chose the most average and common high school she could find to attend to. It was neither a poor of wealthy school, just a regular one. Starlight thought that it was what she needed to feel normal and to get over what happened in middle school.
This time, Starlight wanted to change. She wanted to get over the loss of Sunburst and make some new friends. There were some people she got to know a little at her new school: Double Diamond, a white haired cool-looking boy who liked skating, Sugar Belle, a curly haired girl who was good at baking, Night Glider, the captain of the soccer team, and Party Flavor, a cheerful boy who liked to threw party. Starlight would have wanted to become friend with them.
But she couldn't. She didn't have the courage to. It's been years since she avoided any kind of social interaction. The only friend she never had was when she was still a child, she had no idea how to make friends. The days passed and she was still friendless. Starlight began to feel anxious, she was scared that she might never be able to make friends. She was afraid that she would pass the rest of her life alone. This anxiety caused her to experience the same nightmare each night. A terrible dream where she met up with Sunburst and discovered that he became an horrible person, and where she spend the rest of her life alone and miserable.
Her lonely time allowed her to notice several flaws in her school. The students were divided by group depending on their interests and skills.
Segregation.
Those who were weaker were often bullied by the strongest.
Abuse of power.
Those who were different were rejected by others.
Discrimination.
No one stood for those who were oppressed.
Individualism.
Those who were talented where treated with higher respect from the teacher.
Favoritism.
All of this, they were elements of…disharmony. Segregation, abuse of power, discrimination, individualism and favoritism, they were all caused…inequality. If people wanted to live in harmony, they needed to be united, to protect the weakest, to accept difference, to be collectivist, and to treat everyone equally despite the fact if they were talented or not.
That's it. Starlight finally realised what was causing inequality between people: talents. If talents didn't exist, then Sunburst wouldn't have leaved her and she wouldn't have the problem she had now. Starlight began to consider that talents were the cause of all her problems.
This is when she began to dream about a world of equality. A world where everyone shared the same interests, where they all have the same strength, where everyone had the same opinions, where there was no conflict and especially where talents didn't exist. Such a world seemed perfect to her.
Someday, one of her classmates dared to tell her this: "Wow Starlight, you're so talented! Why someone as good as yourself is in our school? You should totally be in a better school such as Crystal Prep!"
Even if it was meant to be a compliment, Starlight took it as an insult. It made her fell different, like she was unequal to them. Like she was unworthy to be treated like everyone else.
This comment made her enough upset to run away from school and went in the forest near the school. Unfortunately, she kind of got lost until the evening. She found her way back, but before she left the forest she noticed a rather strange stick. It looked like a staff. The end was separated in two tips. Curious, Starlight grabbed it and pressed it against the ground. It left a mark on the land that looked like an equal sign. It only managed to enforce her current obsession about equality. Suddenly, she spotted what seemed to be a shooting star, which made her thought about a wish she would like to be granted.
"I only everyone was equal…there would be no weakling or strong ones, everyone would have the same interests and opinions, there would be no talented people, and everyone could get along…no one would lose friends, I…could still be friend with Sunburst…in order to be equal, everyone needs to be average, to be…the same. I wish that I would have the power to make everyone equal!"
The "shooting star" suddenly began to fall from the sky. It seemed that it was about to hit the staff Starlight was holding. Too shocked to properly react, she dropped the stick, and the shooting star that was in fact some kind of light glimmer hit her head-on and Starlight felt a warm a powerful sensation browsing in all of her body.
Starlight rushed toward her bedroom and immediately went to her bookcase, after she threw the staff on her bed. She grabbed some of her books and went to sit at her desk to read them. They were her books about magic.
Despite her passion about magic, Starlight never believed it was a real thing…until now. Since she had been hit by this "shooting star", she felt a strange energy in her body, she could even saw a glimmery aura irradiated from herself. She knew by instinct that it could be only one thing: magic.
Now that she had magic, it was time for her to learn how to use it. But unfortunately, none of her books seemed to help her to practice actual magic. They were all just a bunch of made up thing. When Starlight was about to lose patience, she noticed a particular book under her bed. She took it and recognised it. It was strange book about magic that she had bought in a flea market. Starlight always found that this book was the one who seemed the most…credible? No, not credible, it was the one were the author seemed the most convinced about what they wrote in it. Starlight almost had believed once in what was written inside, until she noticed that this book was about unicorn magic. This is why it got tossed under bed since such a long time and forgotten.
She read the title: Equestrian magic, advanced spells. There was a horseshoe on the cover.
Starlight then opened it and immediately knew that it was the real thing. Now that she had magic, she could feel that what was written in it was the truth. The aura surrounding her even became brighter.
A sinister smile appeared on her lips when she found a really interesting page: the spell of sameness.
"Well, that's exactly what I need." Starlight said to herself with a dark giggle. "With this, my perfect world of equality, where everyone would be the same and average, can finally become a reality."
