//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15: Step Two 
// Story: Equal Equestria Enlightenment 
// by stupidhand14 
//------------------------------//


Intercepted Letter

	I am worried about this village. Everypony has strange smiles and stranger ideas on what a cutie mark is. Some of my stallions are speaking about staying here and forfeiting their cutie marks. I would like to request permission to search the entire town for anything suspicious. I have seen Twilight and most of her friends, and they all seem different. They all accepted this town's ideas, yet I worry about the one that is not present: Rainbow Dash. I have yet to see her, and I doubt she would accept this town. Everypony dodged the question, which only worries me further. I will do what I can without violating anypony's rights.
Awaiting orders,
Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard 




Starlight Glimmer's Diary Day 404

Even though I was not necessarily needed for the second day of the festival to begin, it is always important to show up so everypony knows who is in charge. I also had many things to prepare before anypony was awake. As such, I awoke two hours before dawn to prepare some ponies to quietly leave the town. The second day of the festival could not be interrupted, and I needed time to talk to a few troublesome friends. 
I was forced to walk in the cold light of the moon to get to Storm Pedal's house. Some of Shining Armor's stallions were still walking around, so I had to be very careful. I am near certain that nopony saw me before or after I knocked on Storm Pedal's door. After a few minutes of waiting, she opened the door to let me in. Storm Pedal was part of the wood collecting group, though she did not actually collect wood or chop trees. It was her job to look for animals that might be living in that part of the forest, so she knew how to move quietly and stealthily through an area. She was the perfect mare for the job.
"H-hello, Starlight," she greeted me while opening the door. Her eyes were still filled with sleep and her hair was in slight disarray.
"Hello. Mind if I come in?" I asked as I trotted into her house.
"Um... sure," was the timid reply.
"Now, I hate to make my visit mostly about business, but we have a slight... problem," I told Storm Pedal.
"P-problem? W-w-what problem?" She asked. She seemed scared, and was shaking slightly.
"Prior to the festival some ponies wanted to collect some extra wood, to help out their friends. The only problem is that they chopped trees in an undesignated area." I let that sink in.
Storm's response was just as I had hoped. "WHAT?!" she shouted before remembering what time it was and lowering her voice. "They would dare to chop trees if it meant that some animals might be hurt?"
"I know, its horrible," I agreed. "However, I cannot let this go without having somepony to look into it. That is where you come in."
"So... you want me to go and see if everything is okay in the area?"
"Exactly... but I must ask for one favor. If anypony asks you when you had left, tell them you left a few days ago, at request of a friend."
"B-but why? Why would I lie?" she asked in horror.
"For a friend. These friends are very, very sorry for what they have done. Their guilt is their punishment, and I'd rather not have all of us, their friends, mad at them."
"Oh... I see. So I am lying to help a friend. I get it now! You can count on me, Starlight! Where do I have to go?"
I gave her a map which showed where to go. It was only about a day there and back, but it should suffice for what she had to do. I repeated this process with two other ponies, though for different reasons. In the end, one pony was going to the forest, one was going towards the train station, and the last was going off into the wilderness with directions designed to get him lost. By the time I was done, it was almost sunrise. I hurried back to my house before anypony else saw me.
Inside, I found Twilight was already up and was reading one of the books from my library.
"Good morning, Twilight," I greeted as I walked in.
"Good morning," she replied without looking up from her book.
"Twilight, I've been meaning to ask you... how good are you at public speaking?"
She finally looked away from her book. "I suppose as good as anypony else, now."
"That's... not entirely true," I admitted to her. "Anypony can be good at public speaking, but the one thing most ponies lack is confidence. Have you spoken in public before?"
"Well... a few times, yes. I need plenty of note cards, though."
"Good... good," I turned away. I went upstairs to find that the quill had rewritten a letter that Shining Armor had written to... who I assume is Princess Celestia. After reading through it, I got into one of my moods. Unfortunately, I'll have to replace the guest chair soon. I need to plan someway to get Shining Armor's suspicions off, and today would make a good distraction for him. After hiding the letter, I returned downstairs to get breakfast.
I left the house an hour after the sun had risen into the sky. The day was going to be a warm one, which was nice. I looked for Shining Armor and found him practicing with his soldiers. I assume it was to intimidate some ponies in the town, of which I find appalling. I waited a short time after he had finished to approach him with my problem.
"Shining Armor, I need your help," I said in a low tone as I galloped over to him.
"Huh? What is it?" he asked with curiosity filling his voice.
"Some ponies have gone missing," I said with a quiver at the end, hoping I sounded convincing.
"WHAT?!" he nearly shouted before turning to the guardsponies that were taking off their armor. "Put that armor back on! I need to give you all a new assignment!"
I heard groans from the collection of stallions in the area. I began to tune them out, knowing that they would spend all day searching for the "lost" ponies, leaving me freedom to act today.
After a an hour of "helping" the guardsponies look for the missing ponies, I excused myself, saying I had to keep the festival going. I did, however, wait until all the guardsponies were out of the village before actually staring day two of the festival.
Day two was very different from day one. Day one focused on general discussion and socializing. Day two, on the other hand, was based around building trust and strengthening friendships through exercises. Ponies were split into pairs, and they switched partners every thirty minutes. Most ponies picked their partners for most of the exercises, but the five new friends were assigned to other ponies that they had probably not met.
My first partner was Sugar Belle, though that was no coincidence. I needed to have a little talk with her while we did some basic trust strengthening exercises. After some general discussion, I decided to push my luck slightly.
We were doing a game where one of us, myself, was blindfolded. Sugar Belle, as my friend, had to guide me through the town without having me bump into anypony or anything.
"I am so glad friends can trust each other, aren't you?" I asked Sugar Belle.
"Yes... I am so glad about that," was her delayed response.
"I mean, really, other ponies never get to experience true friendship because of their cutie marks. It is really sad, isn't it?"
"Um... yes, sad. Truly."
"And we can all trust each other, without any fear of betrayal to strangers... well, except for Party Favor. But he confessed, so it is all okay."
"St--Starlight. I... I was thinking about telling Shining Armor about Rainbow Dash!" Sugar Belle finally confessed.
I gasped in mock surprise. "You were... going to betray us? All that we stand for?"
"I'm sorry, Starlight, but I am worried about her. I am so sorry for nearly telling him." She spoke with conviction. I could hear tears hitting the ground.
"Sugar Belle... You didn't tell him, right?" I asked reproachfully.
"No... No, I didn't tell him. I was planning on doing it today."
"Well... you didn't tell him, and you confessed. I don't think we need to tell anypony else about this, right?"
"Y-yes! Thank you Starlight!" she said before giving me a hug.
"Of course... but is anypony else thinking about doing this, Sugar Belle?" I asked.
"Yes, there are a few other ponies that agreed with me," she informed me. "I... I need to tell them not to do it!"
"I'll leave that to you, then. I hope you can convince them, otherwise I might have to explain matters... personally."
"Thank you, Starlight! Thank you!" she said with emotion filling her voice.
"However, there is one final thing you have to do. You must confess your thoughts tomorrow, during the ceremony," I commanded her. She paled at my order, knowing that our friends would be horrified at her even thinking about betraying everypony.
By the time our conversation was done, we had finished the exercise. I changed partners a few more times before finally getting a more interesting partner.
"Hello, Starlight," Rarity greeted me. "It says here that you are my next partner."
"Yes, I thought you and I could talk for a while about how you are adjusting to our town. Is that okay with you?"
"Of course," she responded with a happy smile.
We ended up doing some falling and throwing exercises. This particular group of exercises required two unicorns. It consisted of one pony throwing and stopping an object from hitting the other pony. This could be anything from an orange to a bowling ball. From my conversation with Rarity, it appears that her move in is going quite well. She seems to be fitting into our manufacturing department very well. I was even told about a few new outfits she had designed, with some help from other ponies, of course.
Sadly, the time was up before I could learn anymore. There was only enough time for a few more partners, so I had to choose the ones I thought needed to be talked with. The first was my ally and confidant; Double Diamond.
"Hello, Starlight," he greeted me as I approached.
"Hello, Double Diamond. I would like to speak with you, mind if I join you on these exercises?"
"Please do. I always have time for you," he said earnestly.
We took a much quieter activity. The activity forced the two ponies to be tied together by their hooves. It was a walk around town learning how to work together and rely on each other.
"So, anything I should be concerned about?" I asked him after we had stumbled away from the crowds.
"Nothing yet. It appears that you have taken care of those problems I told you about. Also, I have four groups of ponies patrolling, making sure nothing bad happens."
"Very good. Did you ever find more of those herbs I asked you to?" I need those herbs for the surprise for Shining Armor.
"I have. Do you want me to send them to you after the festival tomorrow?"
"Yes. It is very important I get them. Have Lightning Dust give them to me. The less ponies that know about the herbs, the better."
"Of course." We spent the remaining time idly talking. He has several good ideas on how to make the other ponies feel more secure in my leadership. I'll have to make use of those later. Once again, the time ran out much sooner than I'd hope for.
I spent my remaining turns with a few other ponies that support me. I need to make sure they are certain of who is in charge, and who their loyalties belong to.
With that the second end of the festival was coming to an end and I needed to make a speech. Everypony was gathered around the village center. There was a small stage and podium standing up front. It would be used more tomorrow, but for today it was only for me. I approached the podium. Once on the stage, my mind began to quiet. I was in my natural element here.
"Hello, friends. The second day of the festival is ending, and I see something has changed inside each and everypony here. I can see new friendships made and others strengthened. I can see it in many ponies' eyes here. Before coming here most of you were saddened and lied to by your cutie mark." Some ponies murmured in response, all of them agreeing. "Now that you're here, though, you have obtained true friendship. True friendship is what we seek in our equality, and we all have it." Everypony clapped, some even went as far as to cheer at my proclamation of the truth. "Please, do not forget this day. This day is a representation of our friendships. Without cutie marks, we have finally obtained happiness."
When I finished speaking, I raised my hoof into the air and shouted, "Equality for everypony!"
Cheers erupted around the town. The noise it made was deafening. I looked out across the dusty plains around the town. I wonder how Shining Armor's search is going.