//------------------------------// // 126 The Visionary, Part Three // Story: Continuity Disrupted // by Doug Graves //------------------------------// Doug points to Sugar Belle, arm hovering for a brief second. Not steady, but wavering. The unicorn grins, taking a step forwards. Then his finger wanders away, pointing to Night Glider. Sugar Belle frowns briefly, taking a reluctant step back as Night Glider looks around at the other ponies in the room, confused. She hesitantly flaps her wings, taking to the air, only for the finger to move on, this time to Swoon Song. She grins, quickly hopping towards Doug as his finger returns to Sugar Belle. “You probably should make up your mind,” Starlight Glimmer states with a roll of her eyes, dropping the piles of tarragon on the table. An impromptu dance forms as Doug keeps switching which mare his finger is pointing at; they leap forwards every time the finger rests on them, slinking backwards when it moves away, grinning all the while. Doug winks at Starlight, his smirk plain on his face, “But why choose between them when I can have both?” His ring finger curls to touch his thumb, the other three extending towards each mare. Sugar Belle looks at Night Glider, then Swoon Song as they each leap forward, then stand still. She hesitantly offers, “Because there are three of us?” Starlight Glimmer shakes her head, “No, he’s quoting me. From back when we first met. You know what they say about imitation, right?” “Something about being sincere?” Doug says, scratching Starlight’s long mane and head, his other hand moving to his chin. Starlight nods, Doug’s hand chasing her ear. “Exactly. So, did you make your choice?” “Yup.” Starlight looks up, her eyes crossing to try to focus on one of the fingers next to her horn. “Excuse me?” “I made my choice.” Doug pats Starlight on the head. “Right here.” “What? Oh, no.” Starlight shakes her head free of Doug’s hand. “Nonono. You’re supposed to pick one of the other three!” “Really? You just said to pick one of the mares in the room.” Doug shrugs as the five ponies nod along. He cranes his head back, eyes going to Starlight’s tail. “Last I checked…” “But this won’t work!” Starlight angrily states, her long tail swishing to better cover herself. “I have to be the one to observe! How else am I going to figure this out?” “Why does it have to be you?” asks Sugar Belle as she steps forward. Her muzzle scrunches, eyes raising to the ceiling in recollection. “I thought we were all equal, Starlight. Nopony excels, nopony does their best, which makes us all the best and all the same! Isn’t that supposed to be our special talent?” “Yeah!” exclaims Night Glider. “We should all be happy to be picked, equally enthusiastic! We could all help, together, to figure this out.” The other four members nod, grinning muzzles slowly turning to frowns. “No differences among us!” “We are equal!” Starlight shouts, her eyes wildly flicking back and forth. “I… I am enthusiastic! I am happy! It just… it just came as a surprise! Yes! A pleasant surprise!” She spins to look up at Doug, her smile painfully large against his slight frown. “But we only need one of us for this test, and since Doug has made his choice, I need to go help with my half of the bargain! Yes! And you all need to keep practicing, right?” The five members of Our Harmony slowly glance around at each before nodding. Party Favor hesitantly offers, “If you say so, Starlight. You always know what to do!” “Thanks!” Starlight says as she and Doug leave the trailer, a turquoise aura slamming the door closed. The two walk towards the forest to the east, an uncomfortable silence lingering for several long seconds. “So, is that look a band thing, or does everypony in Our Town look like that?” Doug eventually asks, eyes focusing on the path ahead. Starlight glares up at him. “You know; the manestyle, the cropped tails, the dull pallor of their coats?” “Do you have a point?” spits out Starlight, stopping at the isolated treeline and spinning to face Doug. “Just an observation.” Doug stops next to her, sighing. “Are you happy?” “What kind of question is that?” Starlight stares daggers at Doug, wisps of red smoke escaping her horn. “You nearly cost me everything back there!” “Everything?” Doug asks, raising an eyebrow. “And here I thought picking one member of Our Harmony would destroy said harmony.” He chuckles to himself. “Unless they are all replaceable. I suppose that could be the case, too. Just rotate out the pregnant ones as needed, since they all sound the same anyway.” “That’s-” Starlight cuts herself off, fuming. “Are you deliberately trying to provoke me? Or just plain stupid?” “Enlighten me, then. What’s the harm in you going through with this? I thought your sincere intention was to help all of the ponies in, well, Our Town?” “It is! It just won’t work with me! Not in a way that will help them. That little stunt back there nearly lost those ponies their faith in me! What would happen if word got out to the other ponies? Everything would be ruined!" Starlight snorts. "And without the bits from Our Harmony, we wouldn’t be able to continue growing.” Starlight draws in the dirt, two long rectangles, dividing each into six squares. Little arrows spring leading towards and away as she explains, “We live in a barren wasteland, cut off from the rest of Equestria. The bits provide amenities for everypony that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to make for ourselves, and allow us to send ponies to find others who are upset with their lot in life, whose cutie marks don’t bring them the joy they’ve been promised all their lives.” “Look, I agree that’s a noble goal. And I’m trying to help, Starlight, I really am. I’m trying to be a friend, even if I think you’re going down the wrong road. And, honestly, I think it’s an absolutely terrible road. But I can’t help you if you’re going to withhold information, or delude yourself about what is going on.” Doug turns, staring Starlight in the eyes. “Or are you going to lie to me about that as well?” Starlight looks away. “I never lied to you.” “Fine.” Doug grits his teeth. “You deliberately qualified your statements in such a way to mislead and let me draw a false conclusion.” He slaps his hand against his pants, where Starlight had put her hoof back in the trailer. “You tried to excite me, seduce me, get me more willing to accept your ‘offer’. And then when I later choose you, to have a foal with, you balk at it?” “That’s not why. I can’t be the one you have a foal with, because it will prove nothing! It will only cause differences and hurt and pain among us. The same reason I have never tried with any of them.” Starlight swings her hoof back towards the trailer, “And I can’t tell them why, either, because it will destroy everything Our Town is built upon!” Doug points back at the trailer. “Those ponies trust you, Starlight. They want to be your friend. Your confidants. Your lovers, even! But your own words damn you, because you don’t see them as equals. Or do you want to tell me the real reason?” “Oh, and you’re so different? Why would you choose me, then, unless you think I’m inferior to you? That’s how this works, right? I’m the gold digger, and you’re the knight in shining armor, come to save me from my wretched ways?” “No.” Doug sighs heavily, dropping down to sit next to Starlight. Anger fades from his voice, “I admire your drive, your intellect, your dedication to making the world a better place. But you’re going about it quite possibly the worst way imaginable! A way that stifles their ability, their value, their potential! And the worst part is, you don’t even believe your own lies! Because if you did, that” -Doug points at the equals sign on Starlight’s flank- “would be just as dull and lifeless as theirs!” “Th… That’s not true!” “Oh? So, how were you going to help my foals? Were you just going to walk up to them, say ‘Nope! Can’t do anything! Sorry!’ Because the deal you offered me seems just as rotten as the one you offer everypony else.” “No! Don’t you see, I can’t cast the spell on myself! I’ve tried!” Starlight sniffs, shaking her head. “As soon as I rip my cutie mark off, I lose my talent, and the cutie mark snaps back to me! You don’t know how many times I’ve tried! With every time ending the same way!” Doug folds his arms across his chest. “And so you have no compunction about lying to them, no sense of superiority, no lust after the power that you wield over everypony you’ve managed to subjugate? You would give it up, if you had the chance, to have your own chance at what you think will bring you true happiness?” Starlight turns, eyes blazing. She resolutely nods. “I would.” The light in her eyes fades as she shakes her head, “But you would call those words just as empty as the rest, since I have no way to prove it.” Starlight slumps over, her head resting against Doug’s knee as Doug taps a finger against his chin. She mutters, “Maybe you should just rut all four of us. At least, then, we’ll still be able to learn something from it.” “Starlight…” Doug says, his hand resting against the mare’s head. His fingers entwine into the purple mane, teasing out the aquamarine strand. “You know, I may know a way to help. If you’re serious about that.” “Not a Princess?” Starlight says, looking up hopefully. “Not a Princess,” Doug confirms with a shake of his head. “One of my mares, Twilight Sparkle, is a bit of a magical prodigy. She might be able to learn that cutie mark removal spell of yours, and cast it on you. And then help with whatever observation or research spells you want, should it work between us.” “Really?” Starlight says, glancing towards the forest. “You think she would?” “I do,” says Doug, Starlight grinning. “Just, answer me this, please. Why are you so dead set on this? Why do you think losing your cutie mark, and who you are, will fix whatever problems you have?” “I…” Starlight shudders, hind legs pulling next to Doug as she tries to curl into a ball, her forelegs wrapping around his leg and squeezing tight. “I had a friend. Back when we were fillies. One day, we were playing in the library, just the two of us.” Starlight looks wistfully up at Doug, “It was always just the two of us. And the stack of books we were making started falling on me, and he saved me. It was a lot of books, and we were young,” her tone turns mocking, “and everypony was sooo happy for him when he got his cutie mark from that!” Her mocking laugh becomes cruel and angry, “So happy, that they took him away! They sent him off to Canterlot, to study at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns! And I never saw him again!” Doug slowly nods. “That must have really hurt. To have your friend, your only friend, torn away from you like that.” Starlight glares up at Doug, though her voice is flat and emotionless. “I don’t need your false sympathy, or your pity. Nothing you say can make it better.” Doug nods. “That’s true. I can only offer you a shoulder to cry on. Maybe a leg in this case.” Starlight spins away, staring at the ground, though her head doesn’t leave his leg. “You’re mocking me again.” Doug shrugs. “If you see it that way, I’m sorry. I can only offer what I hope you see as genuine friendship. I enjoyed our letters, those detailing your struggles, and the ways you overcame them. Even if, now more so than ever, I think you are heading in the wrong direction. I’m not sorry I helped. I’m only sorry I didn’t help more.” Starlight snorts. “I wish I could derive as much pleasure from platitudes that you do.” “Sure.” The two sit quietly for several minutes, Starlight’s breath slowly getting less labored. Doug finally breaks the silence. “So, if you don’t mind me saying, I’ve always been impressed with your ideas. And a spell to rip cutie marks from a pony sounds both novel and complex. Why did you never go to Princess Celestia’s School?” Starlight sighs, getting up. “If you must know, my parents were never as attuned to my studies as my friend Sunburst’s. So I spent a lot of time in the library, researching and practicing on my own, nopony the wiser as to how powerful my abilities were becoming.” Doug chuckles to himself as he gets up, leading the way back to their campground. Starlight looks up at him, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, just thinking to myself how much pain and suffering you can prevent if your system works, and it gives distraught or outcast ponies a community to join instead of embarking on whatever harebrained schemes they come up with, like you did.” “I don’t know if that is a compliment or an insult,” Starlight flatly states. Doug smiles, “Well, what I found funny was how much better their life would be if you, and them, were able to use your abilities to better Equestria instead of sequester yourself.” Starlight shakes her head. “Pretty sure Seaquestria is a myth. Sorry to burst your bubble.” “No, it’s… Nevermind.”