Starlight Glimmer’s Progress Report on Unnamed Filly
Entry Number 3
Oh brother. We’ve got another stubborn fool on our case here. It’s been three whole days since the unnamed filly was placed into our care. So far, whatever is blocking my magic from getting the job is still in effect. And now I’ll have to bring in extra food and water so that the filly doesn’t dehydrate while she refuses to listen to reason.
Side note: The filly must have gorged herself on food for days before she came here. She has been given the same bare minimum amount of food and water that all the previous fools received before they finally saw reason and accepted equality. And yet she has shown zero signs of hunger or thirst, beyond a few requests for sweets. But if I don’t give her more food Fluttershy is going to be unbearable.
Entry Number 6
She’s strong willed, I’ll give her that. Over a week of non-stop conditioning and my magic still won’t work on her. That kind of resistance has only shown up in less than a dozen ponies so far. Princess Twilight’s friends and family also took a long time before they accepted equality. But this girl is just a lonely filly. No friends. No family. She’ll be begging to join our town once my magic takes a hold of her.
Side note: I have Princess Twilight and a few other ponies looking for any signs of her past. So far, nothing. No medical records. No records of any kind. Ridiculous. She didn’t just step out of thin air, did she?
Entry Number 8
If I thought filly’s constant giggling was annoying, her laughter is just aggravating. What in the world does she find so funny? Nothing else to report.
Entry Number 15
It’s been over two weeks.
Two whole weeks and nothing.
HOW?
Only the princesses have lasted this long. Princess Cadance lasted two and a half weeks before I got her husband to sort her out. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna lasted three weeks. But they’re alicorns! This is just a filly!
What is her secret? What is she hiding from me?
After today, I can’t wait any longer. I’m sick of seeing that filly’s smug smile every. Single. Morning. I need results.
Starlight closed her progress reports on the filly and waited for her friends to come. She was sitting in the throne room of Princess Twilight’s castle. A few changes had been made since the room was formed. As soon as Starlight saw the cutie marks on their thrones, she ordered her friends to scratch them off. As it turns out, the throne and the cutie marks on them were nigh indestructible. Instead, Starlight had her new Elements of Equality cover the tops of their thrones with banners depicting their devotion to equality.
Princess Twilight had also informed Starlight about an interactive crystal map of Equestria that previously stood in the center of the circle of thrones. However, when Starlight had tried to activate the map, the crystal platform had turned pitch black. Ever since then, nopony could activate the map.
Starlight tapped her hoof impatiently on the throne that had previously belonged to Spike the dragon. When it came to choosing her throne, there was only one seat available and luckily enough it was in a perfect position for Princess Twilight to sit by her side. The fact that it was the smallest throne didn’t bother her, as Starlight said she was willing to make the sacrifice for equality.
She smiled as her friends finally entered the throne room and took their seats. “Welcome my friends. I’m so glad you could join me to discuss this terrible problem that plagues our fair village. Pinkie Pie, it’s so good to see you again. I hate to pull you away from your family’s rock farm but I’m sure they understand the circumstances, yes?”
“Whatever,” Pinkie sighed. It was tragic really. Starlight wanted Pinkie to smile the same way every other pony in their kingdom did, but equality’s blessing was very thorough in crushing Pinkie’s talent. However Starlight was patients and she trusted Pinkie to be patient too. She didn’t need a cutie mark to be happy. Starlight believed that as long as everypony was equal, happiness would eventually come to them all.
“Right then. Let’s begin. First of all, have any of you found out anything about the filly.”
“Nope,” Applejack mumbled.
“What she said,” Rainbow muttered.
Starlight growled. “Nothing?”
“I’m sorry Starlight, but we’ve been searching for weeks now and still…no family records, no medical records, no records of any kind. I know how ridiculous it sounds but…” Princess Twilight sighed. “As far as official documents go, this filly didn’t exist before we met her. She just…appeared out of nowhere.”
Starlight sighed. “Fine, whatever. I didn’t want to hear her life story anyway.”
Rarity stared at the ceiling and smirked. “Oh my.”
Starlight glanced at her. “Excuse me?”
Rarity waved a hoof. “Nothing darling. The title of a book I read once just popped into my head. Haven’t the faintest idea why.”
Starlight sighed and turned to face Twilight again. “What about the guards? You spoke with them before you came here, right?”
Twilight nodded. “Yes. But they didn’t have much to say. The filly is kept in isolation for almost the entire day. She is not allowed to see another pony until she accepts equality. But from what the guards have heard, she doesn’t seem…bothered by her isolation.”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? A little filly like her has been alone for two weeks, and she hasn’t gone insane yet?” She shivered a little. “That’s weird.”
“The guards haven’t let up their…um, guard though,” Princess Twilight said awkwardly. “They’ve kept their ears trained on the filly. They said it sounds like she spends most of her time…singing.”
Fluttershy finally chose to speak up. “Singing? What does she sing about?”
“They…aren’t sure. Most of the time, the filly sings in a language they’ve never heard before.” Twilight frowned. “Even I don’t know what she’s singing about.”
Starlight’s eyes widened in surprise. “But…how? Most fillies her age are still stumbling over their vocabulary. How can she know more than one language?”
Princess Twilight shrugged. “Not all colts and fillies grow up the same way. Perhaps she was born in a bilingual family. Maybe she’s blended two or more languages to make a new one.”
Starlight snorted in disgust. “What does she think she’ll achieve with that? Things are so much easier when everyone speaks the same language.”
The other ponies shifted uncomfortably in their chairs but didn’t say anything.
“We need to get a little more personal in our approach. Hearing our message of equality within the House of Tranquility is obviously not enough.” Starlight turned and smiled at the yellow pegasus in their group. “Fluttershy, out of all your friends you were the first one to accept equality.”
Fluttershy blushed. “W-well, everypony was so nice in your town. And ever since you’ve brought equality to Ponyville, it seems like nothing bad happens anymore.”
“Things have certainly calmed down a lot around here. Even if a few sacrifices had to be made,” Princess Twilight mumbled.
“Sacrifices? What sacrifices?” Starlight asked, glaring suspiciously at the princess.
Twilight fidgeted a little. “Sorry. It’s just, earlier I was speaking to…never mind.”
Starlight sighed. “Fluttershy, the point is I think you might be the key to this little problem. If you spend a day or two with the filly perhaps you can get her to see reason.”
Fluttershy smiled. “I’ll try my best.”
The next morning after Starlight said good morning over the loudspeaker, the filly was already off to a fine start at annoying her. As Starlight unlocked and opened the door of the Equalization House, the filly came strutting out with a smile on her face, as always.
“Looks like another excellent turn out!” the filly giggled as she saw that everpony in Ponyville was gathered outside the Equalization House once again. “My, my, I understand that I’m quite a curiosity but I didn’t think I was the only source of entertainment in this quaint little village.” The filly giggled and began to blow kisses to all of them. “Of course, who am I to say no to such an adoring crowd?! Come on everybody, shower me with your pearly smiles! Ya know ya want to.”
“That’s enough out of you,” Starlight said as she pulled the filly back with her magic. Starlight grumbled and rubbed her horn. She always got a headache when she used magic on the filly, even if it was simple telekinesis. But at least the levitation spell actually worked.
The filly smirked at Starlight. “Up for another round, Starry? Here to tickle my brain and tickle my butt?” she said as her tail swished around her flanks. “Well how can I say no to that?”
The filly laid down on her side, belly facing Starlight. Her tail swished a little and her eyes were hooded. She winked at the older mare and said, “I’m ready when you are, Starry.”
Just about all the other ponies cringed at the filly’s behaviour. “Stop that!” Starlight snapped as she picked the filly up in her magic again and set her down so that she was standing on four legs once more.
The filly giggled. “Well, since you asked so nicely. It was just simple teasing, dearie. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Starlight rubbed her head and said, “Clearly, the equalization process is having little effect on you. Which is why today we will be trying something different.”
The filly’s eyes widened. “Ooh, that sounds promising.”
“I hope so.” Starlight waved Fluttershy over and smiled at the filly. “This is my good friend Fluttershy. She’s a hard-working and compassionate member of our village who believes in equality with all her heart. She’s going to be joining you in the Equalization House today. My hope is that she will show you how wonderful life can be once you’ve embraced equality and that the two of you will form a healthy friendship. Tomorrow morning, we will see if she has made any progress with you.”
The filly’s smile slowly grew into a grin. “Let me get this straight…you’re going to lock me and this Fluttershy girl here in the same room for an entire day and night?”
Starlight smiled and nodded confidently. “Yes.”
“…He he heh. Ha ha hah. Ah ha ha! Hoo a-ha hoo ha ha ha!”
Starlight frowned as the filly clutched sides and fell to the ground in laughter. “What’s so funny?”
“He…a-hee…oh nothing you need concern yourself with. An inside joke, my dear.” The filly stood back up and held a hoof over her mouth. “Oh, if only the boys and girls back home could see this.” The filly turned to Fluttershy and beamed. “But enough about that! A good morning to you, madam!” The filly grabbed Fluttershy’s hooves and began to dance in circles, pulling the older mare into a twirl. “This is gonna be so much fun! We can stay up late, give each over makeover…talk about boys?” The filly giggled as Fluttershy blushed. “Unless of course you prefer girls, I’m certainly not one to judge my dear.”
“Will you please take this seriously?” Starlight scowled.
“Oh, very well miss party pooper. I’ll refrain from anything that might make Miss Fluttershy here uncomfortable. There’s so many other things we can swap stories about!” The filly glanced at Starlight before turning back to Fluttershy and gave her a hug. “Old childhood stories and the like.”
Starlight smiled. “That’s more like it. You two have a wonderful day and we’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Of course!” The filly’s eyes swept along the crowd until she spotted a brown earth stallion who was looking at a pocket watch hanging on a very long, gold chain. “Excuse me sir! Could we pretty please borrow that?”
Starlight blinked in confusion before she levitated the stallion’s golden watch over to the filly. “Why do you want this? You’ve never been interested in what the time was before?”
“Oh, I just want to make sure I spend the time I have with Fluttershy here wisely. Wouldn’t want to waste a single minute with her.” The filly examined the watch in her right hoof, staring at it as she swung it back and forth. “Yes, this will nicely.”
“Well, goodnight everyone! See you in the morning!” The filly waved at the crowd before she placed her hoof on Fluttershy and steered into the Equalization House.
Starlight blinked in surprise as the filly slammed the door behind her. She didn’t know why the filly was so excited about being interrogated by Fluttershy, but she going to complain. She locked the door and turned to the guards. “Be sure to give Fluttershy plenty of food, but don’t give the filly anything else that what she deserves. If the filly still won’t cooperate, perhaps we can at least make her jealous.”
“Of course Starlight Glimmer!” the two guards said, giving her the same smiles they had since they lost their cutie marks. Starlight nodded and walked away, confident that progress was finally being made.
The next morning, Starlight let Fluttershy’s friends go up and talk to her while she stayed in the crowd, keeping an eye on the filly.
“So? How’d it go?” Twilight asked.
Fluttershy yawned before she gave her friends a big smile. “Oh, it was wonderful. She was an absolute angel the entire night. So warm…and cheerful…such a good friend…” she yawned again and rubbed her eyes.
“Um, you okay there?” Applejack asked.
“Huh?” Fluttershy blinked a couple of times, her eyes looking a little glazed. She smiled again and said, “Oh, excuse me. We spent so much time talking. Did you know that’s she a fellow animal enthusiast too? She was telling me all about these amazing creatures that she’s encountered in her travels.”
“Really? What kind of animals?” Twilight asked.
“Oh where to begin…she talked about hummingbirds, loons, pink flamingoes, falcons, vultures, spiders, scorpions…she talked a lot about these two bats she…” Fluttershy drifted off as she yawned again.
“Um, Fluttershy?” Rarity said as she gently poked the dozing pegasus.
“Huh? Oh and she told me she has a pet named Mr. Nibbles!”
Rarity smiled. “A fellow cat owner? Well that’s nice to know.”
“Oh no, Mr. Nibbles isn’t a cat. He’s a snake.”
The other ponies stared at her with some alarm. “W-why would she name a snake that?”
“…He he he. Ah ha ha!” the filly laughed.
Rainbow glared at the filly. “What are you laughing at?”
The filly smiled. “Oh, nothing. I named him for rather…obvious reasons that are perhaps not so obvious to some people. I’ve always had a hidden talent with names.”
Starlight sighed. “It sounds like nothing has changed with you. Fluttershy, let’s just leave her alone.”
“Aw, now don’t say that. I like having Miss Fluttershy with me. She has such a relaxed attitude,” the filly said, giving the crowd a cute pout.
“This isn’t about what you want, it’s about what you need,” Starlight insisted.
“And clearly, I need to have more friends. That’s the goal of this exercise, isn’t it?” The filly glanced at Fluttershy and grinned. “Come now…we’re making such sunshiny good progress and I want you to stay with me.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened. She turned away from her friends and faced Starlight with a big smile. “I think she’s right Starlight. We’re making such good progress.”
“Can’t she stay with me just one more night?” the filly asked gently.
“Can’t you give me just one more night with her?” Fluttershy asked with a hopeful smile.
Starlight frowned thoughtfully. “Well…alright. But just one more night.”
The crowd began to go their separate ways as Fluttershy and the filly were sent back into the Equalization House. Meanwhile Starlight went back to her room in Princess Twilight’s castle and looked over a few chalkboards she had. Before the filly had arrived in town, Starlight had drawn a few plans that she had been brainstorming about. One plan she kept coming back to was time travel. She imagined that if she could go back in time and start her equalization campaign early, then stubborn cases like the filly wouldn’t be such a problem. Of course, this was nothing more than brainstorming.
Starlight shrugged and went back downstairs to look for a book to read. Even if the filly was troublesome, she wasn’t worth rewriting history for. Starlight had faith in Fluttershy’s persuasion and by tomorrow, she was sure that something big would happen.
The next morning, Starlight jumped out of a bed as a loud scream pierced the air. She rushed out of the castle as fast as her legs could carry her, hurrying to see what the commotion was about. She soon arrived at the Equalization House were Fluttershy was outside, crying her eyes out as the filly gave her a gentle hug.
“There, there. It’s going to be okay,” the filly whispered in her ear as she patted Fluttershy. The filly was smiling at her friend but it was a much sadder smile than what Starlight was used to seeing.
Starlight was about to ask what happened when she glanced at the door and screamed at the top of her lungs.
There was a large dead rat nailed to the door. The rat’s body was covered in bite marks, small pieces of tree bark, dirt, and dried blood. Most disturbing of all, the rat’s mouth was stretched open into a grin with two more nails.
Right above the rat, there was a note nailed to the door too. A note with only one word.
SMILE