8 The History of a Grade "A" Asshole

Of all the names that could have come out of that woman's mouth, "Starlight" was the last I had expected to hear. Frankly, I had expected some obscure name that didn't ring any bells given the fact I only know a handful of people in this world by name. Three, in fact. 4 if you count Phil, the creepy mask guy.
"Starlight?" I repeated.
"Starlight," She confirmed grimly. "That self righteous, sorry excuse for a lump of rotten flesh single handedly destroyed unicorn culture."
"He did?" I questioned, though it wasn't exactly surprising. I mean seriously, what kind of unicorn endorses child sacrifice?!
"You bet your sweet biscuits he did!" The woman sighed. "Sad thing is, he wasn't that bad in the beginning. Just a well meaning young buck with lots of ambition."
As you might've guessed, I wound up following this woman home as she recited the infuriating story of Starlight. Why, you might ask? Mostly because I really had nothing better to do and she offered food. I guess there was also a twinge of curiosity. Always wise to get as much dirt on the people who wanted you dead as possible. As I stuffed myself with bread and stew, I listened to the most pathetic biography I had ever heard.
Starlight was born during a winter blue moon beneath the starlight. Ergo the name I suppose. Evidently his mother's first words to him was that he was "born for greatness." Greatness my as. In my experience, the only thing that bully was "great" at was being a bossy pain in the neck. Anyway, convinced her baby boy, the first male born in over a decade, was pretty much born to rule the world, she enlisted the tutelage of the most powerful unicorn known to the species, another male known as Weist.
Coincidentally, Weist happened to travel with the nomadic herd that had often passed through the town I was currently visiting. From what I understood of the woman's tale, he was something like a wiseman to the herd, looked to for advice and direction, but didn't actually lead it. Anyway, in the beginning all seemed well as Starlight studied under Weist, but you know as well as I do that didn't last. Between his mother's constant insistence that he was god's gift to the world and his growing fame as Weist's apprentice, by the time the bastard hit his teens his ego had exploded past the far boundaries of the universe.
I mean, don't get me wrong, every teen in the world has their moments where they think they know everything, I get it. Starlight took that to a whole different level though, beginning by killing Weist, claiming the older male was old and senile. Nevermind, the guy was in his prime. From the sounds of it, nobody quite understands how the fool did it. Weist was stronger, more experienced, and a lot smarter. Contrary to Starlight's claims, unicorns didn't really ever age out of their prime, so it should have been impossible for him to win that duel.
Starlight's admirers insisted it must've been evidence of some divine blessing, or fate at work. Everyone else knew otherwise. There was no way naive, foolish, inexperienced young Starlight could've not only beaten but slain Weist, a wise and respected hero even by unicorn standards, in fair combat. Their was no doubt some sort of foul play had occurred. The problem was that there wasn't any evidence. In fact, Weist's body had evidently disappeared and from what I understand unicorns don't actually twinkle away or whatever. They are buried and decompose like any other creature.
Nevertheless, since nobody could prove that he cheated any more than they could prove he didn't cheat, Starlight was acknowledge the most powerful unicorn. Ever since then, unicorn culture went to pot. They became reclusive and apathetic to the rest of the world and generally just turned into a bunch of undying Karens. Somewhere down the line they evolved into a cult, ritualistically killing their young, particularly the males. Now, I had to wonder at this point how much of these sacrifices where actually for the purpose of maintaining the seal of the demon prison, and how much of it was actually Starlight taking out potential threats.
"That's probably the worst story I have ever heard," I shook my head as the woman finished her tale.
"I'm surprised this is the first time you've heard it," she replied with a shrug. "but yeah, it's awful. So what's your story?"
"Nothing special," I shrugged back. "Just grew up out of the loop, got bored with the isolation, then decided to see the world."
"Ah," she nodded with a smile. "Do you plan to go anywhere in particular?"
"As long as I don't have to cross paths with any other unicorns, I am pretty much good to go wherever."
"You'll want to avoid the Mystic Grove then," She advised. "Obviously, there are others who wander, such as yourself, but most congregate in the Grove."
"I'll keep that in mind." speaking of the demons, I had to ask... "Have there been any ill tidings this last decade or so?"
"Ill tidings?" the woman regarded me with confusion. "You'll have to be a bit more specific. I mean, not a day goes by that there aren't some news of plague, war, and so on."
"well ..." I hesitated to ask the question and risk revealing myself. I wasn't exactly a popular person. After a few moments deliberation, I decided I would just do it and get it off my chest. "I had heard rumors... rumors of demons that is."
"Demons?" The woman laughed. "No such things exist! They're nothing but the boogymen the priests invented to scare people into being good."
This coming from a woman who seemed an expert on unicorns? Then again I suppose it's harder to accept the existence of creatures with the taste and talent to destroy the world as you knew it. Nevertheless, this wasn't the behavior of a person who had survived a demonic Armageddon.
"Thank you for your time," I smiled,s deciding it was best to let the subject drop. "I should probably be on my way."
"You in some kind of hurry?" she questioned.
"Not necessarily," I shrugged. "Just feel like moving on. Thank you again for your hospitality."
Before she could protest, I turned and hurried off. After sitting so long, I yearned to stretch my legs, so I ran. I ran right out of town, down the well traveled dirt road, and kept running through the night until sunlight peaked over the distant horizon. I ran, and ran, heedless of the new batch of trouble I was running headlong into.