//------------------------------//
// Self versus Equality 
// Story: Norrath, Earth, Equestria. A Construct's Journey 
// by Nimnul 
//------------------------------//

It was a hot day, apparently. Landshark only really noticed temperature extremes when they were damaging to her. It was easy to keep track of the weather in a great many other ways, but without the discomfort associated with excessive warmth, cold or rain, Landshark didn't generally spend a lot of time thinking about weather. 

Still, in order to maintain appearances, she'd taken up the habit of wearing little more than a heavy apron, as a marker of her job as a smith, and pants, because she liked pockets. It had the additional benefit of keeping the rest of her clothing out of harm's way.   

Of course, her workers never did tire of complaining about the heat. Greywack and Fleet Feather had taken to having Soft Rime chill their drinks, which he did without complaints. Hydration was very important for organics hanging around a forge all day, it turned out.

Because Landshark was a merciful master and they weren't exactly swamped with work, she had called it a day a little earlier. Presently the lot of them were hanging out at the back of the smithy, her apprentices enjoying a slight breeze as they conversed. Fleet Feather and Soft Rime shared a smoke, Greywack was enjoying an after-work beer. He'd claimed a pony-sized bottle didn't do much to him, in any case. 

"Appreciate getting off work early, boss," Fleet explained. "Meeting Miss Do later, could do with a splash in the lake beforehand, get the lather off. Now I don't gotta hurry." 

"Damn, Fleet. I get lookin' for some action, but you could be her dad." Rimey grinned. 

"Mind out of the gutter, kid." The pegasus appeared unperturbed. "Besides, maybe I'm old enough to be your dad, but she's got a kid what's at least ten." 

"Well, I'm glad you ran the numbers." 

"Don't be a bell end, Rimey. I'm not lookin' to court Miss Do, although I like a mare with some honest pessimism." 

"I figured she had something going on with Berry Punch, anyway." 

"Hardly be our bloody business, if so. Doubt it, though, nothing to be sneaky about in this town, far as I can tell." The pegasus rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Now listen up, kid. Since it's on your mind, there's two things you ought to have if you want a decent relationship, a'ight?" 

"Sure, pops, let's hear some wisdom." The unicorn snickered, but didn't attempt to escape.

Landshark crossed her arms as she listened, mirroring Greywack's stance. The minotaur probably was more competent to comment on courtship among organic people, but perhaps assumed his minotaur experience wasn't applicable to ponies.   

Grey did smirk at Landshark before taking a drink of water. He hadn't failed to notice that the older pegasus sometimes turned a bit paternal towards the young unicorn. 

"Now, number one, that's patience. You gotta be okay with not havin' a partner. If you get together with a lady just because being single bothers you, you'll probably lower your standards. If you're fine either way, you'll take 'em for who they are, not just as somepony who makes you not single." He frowned. "Mum always said that's more of a ground pony problem, cause earth ponies are all about family and unicorns all about legacy, so bein' single isn't equal to bein' paired up." 

"That's probably only true in Canterlot or anyway rich unicorns. Nopony cared back home," Rimey pointed out. 

"Eh, maybe. Mum's just a pony, too, doesn't know everything, specifically about groundside. But fact is, I knew just about every mare 'round her age growin' up, cause everypony helped everypony else to raise the foals. Some were single, some weren't, no big deal, and single mothers weren't alone raising their kids. We didn't have any young punks like you just hanging around, looking for trouble."   

Fleet raised a hoof. "Before you say anything, I didn't get in trouble until after I was grown up and moved on, and I'm hanging that on myself, not the way I grew up.  Anyway, that's why I don't think Miss Do and Miss Punch are a secret couple. Any pegasus raisin' a kid on their own is gonna look to make connections. That she's doin' it groundside with an earth pony is just to her credit, ya'know."   

He smiled grimly. "My late sire, he was from Cloudsdale. Maybe you ground folk don't know, but they probably got more sculptures of Celestia up there than any three other towns, even mixin' Canterlot in. He was a stern sort and never got over the 'dishonor' of sirin' a criminal. They're the Princess' laws!" Fleet pursed his lips. "Not my place to begrudge him that, but mum got so tired of it, she kicked him out. Ended up moving in with one of her female friends to help boss the kids and grandfoals around, heh. No loss of status for her, either." 

"Huh." Greywack grunted in apparent surprise. "Almost gryphon attitude. Bah." 

This was interesting to Landshark. Ditzy hadn't been particularly prone to making sweeping statements regarding the way pegasi did things, the only exception being her explanation that Cloudsdale pegasi had little patience for a slow-paced flier such as her, who also didn't have a useful weather talent. She'd have to keep in mind that people weren't always entirely objective, or perfectly well informed, when comparing their particular group to others. After all, many creatures of earth and stone disputed very hotly about which of them truly were the favored children of Brell Serilis, the Duke of Bellow, and in any case, many of them had been prone to disdain for the creations of other gods as well. 

Fleet shook his head. "Ramblin' off topic. Second thing is pessimism. Fool yourself into thinking there's the perfect pony for you out there, that'll set your expectations too high. It's like not getting a job because you might win the lottery. Everypony's got some bits that'll grate on you, you'll have bits they'll never understand. Good enough's got to be good enough, because ponies get mad about expectations what aren't met, so don't set yourself up for that." 

Rimey smirked and gave Fleet a shove. "Straight from the prison library's relationship section, huh? I'll keep that in mind. Maybe the guy who's already got a family wants to weight in?" 

It was probably a good sign that the young stallion was putting up with the older male trying to share advice, Landshark had found that sometimes people of Rimey's type were quick assume others were being patronizing, because they hadn't learned that some adults could be trusted to be well-meaning, or had some other hang-up which had carried over from their past. 

The organization had taught those sorts of citizens proper self-respect and given them a stable framework, but considering that there was always a risk of being called on to investigate the latest hairball the multiverse had spat up, the trade didn't always look like a good one. 

Although Landshark had never been a recruiter, and the cause had been a good one, it had also been true that they'd gotten a lot of people who'd never have agreed to join up if they'd been better positioned in their lives, or in their Selves, and it had sometimes reminded her uncomfortably of the sort of tactics her preaching sisters had learned to use to spread the Cult, coldly calculating who'd be the easiest targets. 

Greywack snorted. "Fleet's advice is good." He scratched the base of a horn. "Get honest mare. Honest about herself." The minotaur balled his meaty fists and smashed them together. "Both sides need to be honest about what they feel, want. Then you can lock horns, see if you can hammer out something that works." 

"Bah. Make me miss my family." The minotaur put down the bottle he'd been nursing. "Maybe take vacation. Equestrian Bits still go far, back home." 

"Just lemme know a couple weeks ahead of time so I can plan with it." Losing Greywack for a while wouldn't be terrible, but he could still work harder and longer than her other two apprentices when push came to shove. And although ponies could do more with their hooves and tails than they really should and Rimey had magic, Landshark would still miss an extra pair of hands. Biped bias, perhaps. 

Their conversation was interrupted by Twilight Sparkle rounding the corner, followed by an unknown unicorn. Landshark had contemplated fencing in her property, but hadn't really seen a reason to. It wouldn't make her home significantly more secure. 

"A'ight lads, looks like it's time to hit the road." She snapped her jaws. "Don't have more than the regulation amount of fun now. Fleet, deliveries tomorrow." 

"Heh." Fleet grinned smugly as he and the others excused themselves. "Sure is a shame, having to fly around the region all morning instead of being cooped up by the forge." 

"Yeah yeah, rub it in. You hitting the bar tonight, Grey?" 

"Bridge night at Mr. Donkey's place, sorry." 

Rimey rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I doubt that'll be more than regulation fun. Seeya tomorrow, then." 

Twilight watched the workers leave while the new unicorn watched Landshark with measured interest. The princess spoke up first. "I didn't know you had a cart." 

"I'm renting." Landshark shrugged. "Ditzy put me in touch with a guy. It's not worth owning one, most people around here don't want to pay extra for delivery. Farmers have their own carts if they need to pick up something larger, so it doesn't come up that much." 

"True enough," Twilight agreed before changing the topic. "So why do you call them lads? Two of them are older than me. Just seems like an odd affectation." 

Landshark shrugged once more. "I could smooth out my mannerisms, but people have idiosyncrasies, so I have them, as well." She gestured towards the unicorn. "Why don't you introduce us, Twilight?" 

"Of course. Starlight Glimmer, this is Landshark. Her people are all physically identical!" 

The construct assumed that Twilight had something particular in mind, considering the princess hadn't made a habit of coming by and introducing every random acquaintance. "Yep. Start to finish, as well. We're built this way." She raised a hand to her smooth head. "Although wigs were standard issue. Largely identical as well, I assure you." Another accessory she preferred to keep safe from the work day's dirt and grime. 

A strange look of understanding crossed the unicorn's features. "So how are tasks assigned in your society? I know gryphons and minotaurs have quite a bit of freedom, but individuals have different aptitudes and are exposed to different influences from family and social status. But if you're all identical?" 

"Our duties were assigned by our elders, who derived their authority from our master. Most of my teachers were centuries older than I am. We received training and only rarely got shuffled to some unrelated task at a later time." 

Starlight Glimmer frowned. "Seems like a shame, to be stuck doing the same job all your life." 

"Remember, Starlight, most ponies enjoy their work," Twilight reminded the other pony. 

"I agree," Landshark snapped her jaws. Twilight was used to it, Starlight flinched at the unfamiliar noise. "I'm not in a hurry, but I will branch out at some point. My emotional attachment to this job is very limited, but it was prudent to start with something I'm familiar with." She emitted a sigh. "To be honest, it was not bad at the time, not at all. We all felt useful, we all did our part, working towards a great cause." 

"Why did you leave?" Starlight's interest differed from that of other ponies, it seemed. A lot of ponies exhibited a sort of blithe dismissal of other ways of life.   

Of course, Twilight had been interested in a similar way, and written down all the answers Landshark had given. Perhaps she'd felt uncomfortable sharing the construct's history with the newcomer without explicit permission? She looked at the princess and cocked her head. 

Twilight just nodded. 

"Twilight has most of the answers written down. In brief, it was discovered that our master and creator did not live for the cause or according to the beliefs he had given us." 

"Oh." This seemed to affect Starlight more than Landshark had expected. Curious. "What happened then?" She'd hesitated notably before asking. 

"There were strong disagreements among my sisters whether we should remain loyal to our creator, or to these ideals he taught us. They were not without merit, after all." 

"Well, there's no reason to abandon a good idea outright. The best ones take on a life of their own even if their creator is flawed," the unicorn stated, somewhat uncertainly. 

"That's my opinion as well," Landshark agreed. "In hindsight, it was not at all surprising that this schism occurred. Even before, my sisters developed different approaches to the teachings. Yet most of us had never imagined we'd one day fight one another."   

"What happened to your master?" 

"Alive and well. The schism foiled his immediate plans and revealed his evil to the true lord of that realm, but gods are not easily destroyed. It's why I originally left. We renegades were obviously not welcome in our old territories, and our kind had done too much damage to other parts of the realm to feel particularly welcome there." 

"Ah. I'm sorry to hear that," Starlight Glimmer looked downcast. 

"You mentioned starvation, when we first spoke about it," Twilight remarked. "How did that come about?" 

"Hm. The Underfoot requires less food than you might think, but some of its people do need to eat. Once, all agriculture was performed by the cliknar, a race of insect creatures. Most of them are little more than animals, the queen controls the whole of the race, coordinating them with information and orders encoded in scents and secretions fed to sub-leaders." Landshark shrugged. "Quite strange to contemplate, but the Duke of Bellow is a greater artisan compared to our master." 

"Oooh, a single point of failure?" Twilight had obviously listened and remembered. 

"Precisely. Our envoys managed to convince the queen of the supremacy of the Self and personal freedom. She was no longer fulfilled by her god-given purpose and, exercising her will, chose conquest, adding to the chaos in the Underfoot. Although the cliknar grew hostile to our kind as well, this still suited the plans of our master. After all, none of his servants required food. None of us were flesh." 

"That's terrible! Do you know if they ever solved that problem?" Twilight gave her companion a meaningful glance. 

Starlight nodded, indicating a shared interest in the answer to Twilight's question. "And what was your master's plan?" 

Landshark looked up into the sun as she spoke. "Once you awaken a creature to their free will, you can't easily take it away. The cliknar remained hostile when I left. But individualism may also bring initiative, and the sporali, a race of sapient fungus folk, had started the first farms to fill the void. Similarly, the great Underquarry once again supplies the servants of Brell with raw materials, even though its overseers must take into account that most of their workers have been awoken to ... choice, I suppose. Most creatures of the quarry truly enjoy mining, but they are more willful now. More people, less servants." 

Of course, many workers in the quarry were the spirits of mortals who found satisfaction in the work. For many of them, contact with bellikos envoys had merely been a reminder that they were individuals, not cogs in the machine of the Underfoot. They held no hostility for their god and could be reasoned with, even if their superiors were very much unused to having to do more than invoking Brell's name and receiving immediate obedience. 

"I remember, not long before the schism, we equipped an army of constructs to take control of the quarry. Lady Envy, one of my sisters, was eager to destroy any worker who wouldn't submit. I'm sure she would have remained loyal, had she survived. Deeply unpleasant, saw everyone else as tools. One of her own construct servants is said to have exercised his will and chose to side with Brell's people, killing her. The quarry remained free, if more chaotic than before." She shook her head. "Is there some particular reason why Starlight Glimmer should hear all this?" 

"She founded a small community where everypony was meant to be exactly equal, even giving up their cutie marks for the ideal," Twilight explained. 

"But I didn't give up my own mark, since I needed my talent for magic to cast the spells to do it," Starlight added. "My citizens weren't happy with me when they found out, and ran me off. I hadn't been kind enough to them to earn the benefit of the doubt." 

"She had an indoctrination room," Twilight helpfully pointed out. "Fluttershy pretended to cave in, fooling Starlight was instrumental to our success." 

"Ah. Sounds repulsive." She was pretty sure ponies were already equal before the law, more or less, and Twilight had introduced Landshark as being identical to her sisters. "To be honest, I might miss some of my sisters, but not because they were the same as me. We've got living minds, we all turned out a bit different where it counts." She shrugged. "The schism is proof enough." 

Twilight tried to comfort her new friend. "We're still trying to show her that different cutie marks don't have to get in the way of friendship." 

"I'm still not really in the habit of checking out cutie marks." Ponies weren't even of one mind when it came to their significance. "Arbiter Kyzox taught us that people will eventually create order from chaos, without imposition by greater powers. She was a true believer. Would have been a renegade, if she'd lived to see the schism. I understand that position is not popular around here." 

Starlight smiled. Perhaps she felt understood, to a degree. "See? I was trying to help ponies. Without cutie marks dictating where their lives take them, they could make their own choices and focus on their friendships." 

"Even if your ideology has some merit, you've lessened people, and I will never accept 'for your own good' excuses," Landshark snapped coldly. "I follow the Cult of Self, and I welcome anyone to carry out their will as far as they are able. Make your pitch, and some may follow you without prodding. People are as free as they allow themselves to be, and that is fine. Self-limitation makes coexistence more expedient. Equality is a protection people invented to make coexistence easier and to make it harder to subjugate the wills of others, it is a laudable and useful tool to counter people's pettier impulses, but not an ideal. If you treat it as one, you start resenting people who excel in their life." 

The construct shook her head, slipping into a preaching tone almost without noticing. "Here we are then, Twilight. This was part of my initial discomfort upon arrival. I distrust moral certitude. A society which thinks it is ruled by a higher being makes both the leader and the people more dangerous. I should know! You get authorities who mistake their own pettiness and cruelty for the will of their master. They will be ruthless with the full approval of their conscience, and their kinder instincts will seem like dangerous temptations."   

She gestured at Starlight. "Those who subjugate our will for our own good will never let up. It's an insult. Cure me of something I don't experience as a malady and you put me on the same level as children and domestic animals." 

With an instantaneous switch from her accusations to warm approval, she continued. "Of course, I've learned to give you alicorns more credit, and I'm glad Starlight is willing to change her ways." 

"I understand where you're coming from, at least," Twilight stated. Ever since Landshark had made her peace with Celestia, Twilight seemed have a much easier time accepting the construct's stances. 

Starlight seemed a little caught off guard by the construct's ability to instantaneously switch tone and apparent mood. "Yes. I did think I knew better than anypony else. That's why I also tried to get revenge on Twilight."   

"Starlight, you don't have to tell that story if you don't want to!" 

Landshark generated a chuckle, hopefully good-natured. "Well, you are leaving me a bit torn. It's none of my business, really, and Twilight has a string of defeated villains to her name, but I can't deny that I am interested in how someone who isn't an ageless menace tries to get back at an alicorn. Was there an ancient evil artifact involved, perhaps?" 

She turned. "C'mon in, front office shouldn't be all that hot, we got some cold drinks if Rimey hasn't been slacking. No snacks, though." Most of it was water, in truth. Her workers had to watch their hydration, after all. 

"I spied on Twilight for a while to collect information," Starlight stated evenly while following along. 

"I appreciate an operative who knows the value of good intel."  Landshark took a seat at her desk and begin twirling a pencil between her fingers.

Twilight rolled her eyes. She helped herself to a glass of water without waiting for Landshark to play good host.   

"I was aware you existed, but judged that you wouldn't be relevant to my plan, or interfere. Even if you had been created by Twilight, you weren't in her inner circle of friends." 

A lot of ponies knew comparatively little about the world, so few, if any, would assume outright that Landshark was an alien. Just a strange foreign creature. As an inorganic entity, it wasn't unnatural that some would assume a skilled magic user had created her. Technically true, but Landshark didn't think of herself as a synthetic intellect. Being crafted by gods was the natural origin of most species to her. 

"Of course. Whatever you did passed me by entirely. It's probably for the best, I never got the impression that Twilight would need me for her adventures." Landshark twitched her jaw. "Or that she had the inclination to request my help." 

"That is true," Twilight conceded. 

Starlight acknowledged this with a nod. "Once I knew how to hurt her properly, I prepared and executed my plan." 

Time travel wasn't something Landshark had knowingly encountered before. It was likely beyond mortal wizards back in the realms connected to the Underfoot, and she'd only encountered it as a device in fiction. 

She listened to Starlight's story, as well as Twilight's brief explanations of the divergent futures she'd encountered. Although these seemed to upset Starlight, the construct assumed that Twilight only shared what was absolutely necessary.   

"I'm impressed! The total loathing required to come up with a plan of this magnitude is almost laudable!" Landshark snapped her jaws again. "It was invigorating, wasn't it? The certainty that you had something good and right, until it was taken from you. Your life's work and purpose in ruins. Not just sabotaged, but tainted. You could never quite get it back, even if you tried, people would only remember the bad." 

She affected a bitter laugh before continuing in a droning monotone. "The sanctimonious will tell you that hatred corrupts you and eats you up, degrades you, but they know nothing. What else is there to keep you going, once everything you thought was good about yourself is gone? So you tend to it, until it seems to vibrate in your chest where your heart should be. It focuses you. Ignorant people hate things they fear or don't understand, but we know our target, and their existence makes you angry enough that moments of levity start actively causing discomfort. Am I right?" 

"More or less," Starlight admitted morosely. 

Twilight eyed the construct warily before placing a comforting wing across Starlight's back. "I'm glad you managed to let go of that, Starlight." 

"I agree," Landshark noted evenly. "Hatred isn't natural for meat creatures, I'm told, and there's more pleasant ways to get through your days." 

"Well, what about you, Landshark?" Twilight frowned. 

"I hate a callous force of evil, and I'm not going to get ulcers. There's really no incentive for me to stop. The First is a god, Twilight. Confronting an entity like that puts a lot of things in perspective, and so does hating it. There's a purity to it. The First was evil ages before I came along, and He will still be evil long after we're gone. You hate another person and you have to ignore the fact that they're fragile and finite, that they weren't born evil and whatever warped them is regrettable, and that you might have ended up the same under similar circumstances. Hating normal people is bad for your introspection. I don't have to do that. It's entirely clean energy." 

And, of course, it was hers. Not the dull antipathy that seemed baked into her, but a real, genuine feeling. It was earned. It was also, admittedly, somewhat distant to her daily life. The First was entirely beyond her power, and Landshark likely entirely beneath and beyond His notice by now. As it turned out, gods couldn't be hated to death. 

Living well might or might not be the best revenge, but it was the only option available to Landshark. 

Twilight sighed. "Fine. Whatever helps you sleep, I suppose." 

"So you never hate anypony?" Starlight didn't seem wholly convinced. 

"That's the aspiration, anyway! I get angry, sure, but there's no need to escalate beyond that. I don't need to hate someone to fight them. Sometimes two wills can't coexist, that's unfortunately unavoidable." Landshark shrugged. "I'm very glad you've turned over a new leaf. But in Twilight's shoes, it wouldn't have caused me any moral injury to kill you, because I'd be less interested in your potential for good than in ending a threat to myself and whoever might be with me. Spike is a child, for example." 

"And that's why I prefer to leave Landshark to her own life, Starlight." Twilight shook her head. "I appreciate the will to protect our fellow ponies, but you're not unique in that, you are a civilian here, and I'm not asking you to stick your neck out. You're under the protection of the princesses, the same as anyp- anyone else in Equestria." 

Landshark made a retching noise. "You just said that to get under my skin. I'm on to you." It had been an obvious thing to point out, and Landshark was reasonably sure Celestia had already said something of that nature. Although perhaps Twilight was trying to illustrate some kind of point for Starlight's benefit, and not just trying to make Landshark squirm at the thought of being looked after by a bunch of powerful immortals. She wasn't exactly equal to a pony in structure and composition. 

She did appreciate her retirement, of course. This world had its own troubleshooters and Landshark saw little point to getting back into the business without her old colleagues. 

"I suppose if I was dead, you couldn't have convinced me that you were right all along. We both want to spread the word, Twilight, and you can't convert a dead pony," Starlight pointed out calmly. 

"I'm not just doing this to be right, you know!" This seemed to upset Twilight considerably. 

Starlight snorted. "Don't kid yourself. I nearly ended the world. If you weren't a true believer in what you're selling, I'd be rotting in a cell right now at best!" 

"Well, I guess you're lucky that Celestia is on the same page, then!" 

"I absolutely am," Starlight agreed. "I'm still getting comfortable with the special treatment. It's not exactly equal." 

"I appreciate that, and a lot of ponies would think it unfair, but I'm still just one pony. Not being able to help everypony isn't a good excuse for helping nopony. Especially since even Princesses are normally encouraged to obey linear time." Twilight smiled encouragingly. "It's a bit like making friends. Most ponies won't be friends with everypony they meet, but life is still better if you're friends with somepony. Even if they have nothing in common, like Landshark here." 

"Hey, I so have things in common with my friends!" 

"I'm sorry, even if they have nothing immediately obvious in common," Twilight amended contritely before frowning. "Come on, you knew what I meant." 

"Well, I'd love to hear this," Starlight remarked.   

Landshark assumed this pony was much better at noticing differences rather than commonalities. It wasn't that uncommon a problem. Still, she was put a tiny bit on the spot. "Hm. Lyra isn't as scared of the unknown as most ponies. She was the first to really strike up a friendship with me independently of Twilight's gang, and she likes thinking about the weird creatures of the world. I think, even though she's living the quiet life, she's happy that the world is strange. I've spent less than a quarter of my life above ground, so I understand excitement about what else there might be." 

That was the toughest one out of the way, at least, and at least Twilight didn't look incredulous about it.   

"I had to think a while about Berry, and at first nothing immediately sprang to mind, but the way she speaks about her mother, well. I know how it's like to realize that someone who made you who you are is much worse than they should have been, and it's not real easy to reforge yourself into someone better. As for Ditzy? We both like people, even though we know what people can be like." 

"That's it? You like people? That's what you have in common?" Starlight apparently wasn't sure whether to take the answer seriously. 

"Hey, gimme a break, I am still an alien construct!" 

Twilight grinned. "So what about Pinkie Pie?" It was nice of her to ask, because Landshark didn't care to tell Starlight what she had in common with Bon Bon. 

"Nobody needs to have anything in common with Pinkie to be her friend, but let me think." Landshark blankly stared ahead for a few moments, blinking slowly for effect. "We both have jobs with which we earn bits – which we both exchange for goods and/or services, depending on context." 

"That doesn't count," Starlight huffed. 

"Aww, we're just having fun," Twilight shook her head and smiled warmly. "The point is that there are many ways to be friends. You'll see once you learn more about how my friends live, and how they interact. We should get going, though. Landshark, I'll probably see you at the next party."

"Sure, Twilight. I won't even bill you for my time today! Welcome to Ponyville, Starlight."

Getting to preach at some manner of former cult leader was reward enough, really. Once the newbie had settled in, she probably wouldn't just stand there and take it when someone held her past over her head. Landshark resolved to pretend Twilight did her a favor in bringing Starlight along when she had.

Twilight rolled her eyes again. "I appreciate the generosity. C'mon, Starlight."