“The bed’s feeling much harder than normal,” was Azure Moon’s initial thought upon waking. Her eyes still closed and her location still a mystery in the haze of partial sleep. Touching the floor with her hooves, her memories began to come back from last night. As soon as she remembered her Cutie Mark, her eyes shot open.
She looked around and saw that it was just after dawn, the light only just making its way across the area. Squinting her eyes, she got out from under her blanket, determined to see if it was all just a bad dream. Looking at her flank, her fears were affirmed, the cutie mark was still there; she was unequal.
Taking a deep breath to calm her already frayed nerves, she walked over to her bags to get out some water and breakfast. While she was mechanically eating, she noticed Double Diamond across the camp, still asleep.
Now, in the light of the sun, she noticed his coat looked a bit more vibrant, his hair disheveled. Getting a closer look, she saw that just getting his cutie mark made him look different. No longer looking as equal as everypony else, she noted that he did have a certain rugged charm to him. Not that she was looking at that sort of thing, of course.
While in her contemplations, she nearly didn’t notice that Double Diamond began to shift in his makeshift bed. Scrambling over to a place to sit down, Azure attempted an air of nonchalance.
Double Diamond got up, stretching and popping his body before he turned to see Azure trying not to look at him while also looking at him. Smiling good naturedly, he turned to her.
“Good morning,” he said. “How did you sleep?”
“I slept well enough,” she replied, though an escaping yawn betrayed her lie. She gave him a weak grin, and he returned it with a jovial nod.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get plenty of sleep later.” The two stood looking at each other for several seconds before one breached the gap that neither wanted to address.
“We’re unequal,” Azure said simply. “You showed me the explanation for the spell Starlight used but…” Azure looked at the papers again, a frown on her face.
“But, what?” Double Diamond questioned, getting closer to his only companion.
“I don’t understand most of it,” she admitted, tears forming in her eyes. “It’s a ton of magical theory and a bunch of stuff that we don’t learn in school. It could take me weeks to learn this spell.”
“Shhh,” Double Diamond said, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I know it’s hard, I understand this is going to be difficult, but you have to learn how to do it. I will be here to help you, to make sure you learn it.”
“You want me to test a spell I’ve never seen before on you?” Azure asked. She patted his hoof away, getting up. “That is dangerous, it could hurt you.
“That’s true,” Double Diamond conceded, “but we can use rocks as the tests for the first few tests, to make sure you don’t hurt anypony.” Double Diamond grabbed a couple of medium sized rocks and placed them close to Azure. Momentarily confused, Azure’s eyes opened a bit wider when she realized what he wanted.
“You want me to start testing the spell out, now?!”
“The sooner, the better,” came his reply, his full attention now on the young unicorn.
“Can’t we, you know, do this later?” Azure pleaded to no avail. After a brief staring contest, pleading eyes vs. authoritarian eyes, Azure gave in.
Looking at the paper, Azure began to channel her magic in the way described. It was a complex intermixing of both physical levitation and aetherial capturing. It was a very complex spell, with multiple factors that led to different levels of powers in certain areas of the spell.
Pointing her horn at the rock in front of her, Azure made her first attempt at the spell. It fizzled out before anything could even happen. Though her enhanced magical reserves aided her greatly, she was still wasting too much energy. She knew it would require, roughly, a tenth of her strength to do the spell on one, immobile target. The first attempt took about a twentieth of it.
Azure focused her magic into the proper spell weaving. Though she wasn’t used to such intricate spell casting, she made an attempt. The aetherial side would be more difficult than the physical. Focusing most of her attention on that, she began to weave the spell, making all the necessary changes of power. Her skill at weaving were subpar and unskilled, but it was the best she could do. Azure cast the spell towards the rock, focusing her magic into it, letting all her preparation come to fruition, only to see the spell fizzle apart upon leaving her horn.
“What happened?” Double Diamond inquired upon seeing the failure. Though he didn’t know how it felt to use magic, he had seen the spell cast hundreds of times and had read the instructions. He believed he could help through explanation, if not example.
“I… don’t know,” came Azure’s shaking response. “It didn’t have enough… uh… what’s the term…” She looked at the papers in front of her again. “Physical manifestation, I think.”
“Alright, try the spell again,” Double Diamond commanded, hoping to see something happen.
A moment later, a rock exploded where it stood, fracturing into many tiny pieces. A few pieces flew through Diamond Double who was suddenly rethinking his plan of having her test it on him after a few tries. Gulping to clear his throat, he allowed a small smile towards the pony who was clearly shocked at her own power.
“It’s okay, now that you’ve got the two extremes down, why not find the right balance?” Double Diamond instructed. He didn’t move from his spot, and kept a safe distance away from the rocks.
For the next hour, Azure continually edited her casting, refining it and it more energy efficient. Fortunately for her, the energy reserves she feared would deplete were being refilled between attempts. Not enough to offset the magic used, but enough to allow her to continue. After the hour, she was too tired to cast another spell.
Collapsing to the dirt, Azure said, “I can’t do this anymore. Even I have limits and right now, I need a nap.”
Looking at her, Double Diamond noticed a faint glow to her horn, and a sluggish movement in her limbs. “We can take a break, to talk over some things.”
Sitting awkwardly for a few moments, the two thought about what to talk about. For Double Diamond, he had prepared for this moment for years, knowing he’d have to answer any question she had. For Azure Moon, she had a million questions and didn’t have any idea on how to ask them.
“Why me?” she finally asked, as that was the most pressing concern in her mind.
“Excuse me?” he countered, confused.
“Why did you choose me, to be Starlight’s successor?” she repeated, getting closer to the only pony with answers. “What did I do to deserve this?”
“You did nothing to deserve this,” he said without any tact. “Rather it was your cutie mark that was most important.” Double Diamond was attempting to keep his voice calm, knowing that this was a touchy subject.
“What do you mean my Cutie Mark is what is important?” she replied, a hint of hostility entering her voice. “If not for you, I would still be equal.”
“With Starlight gone, we need a pony with a magical based ability to take over for her. You were chosen because of that.”
The two ponies stared at eachother again, in silence. Azure didn’t like being relegated to a simple convenience, but it was to be expected, she supposed. She wasn’t more special than anypony else, it was simply that they needed her.
“What happens once we return to the town?” Azure’s next question was. “Do I become the new mayor, taking over Starlight’s old job?”
“No, I don’t think that’d be the wisest choice,” Double Diamond answered, smiling at the possibility of a teenager being in charge of an entire village. “You’ll be assigned a new job in the town, one with special benefits.”
“What benefits?” Azure’s curiosity was peaked, now.
“Firstly, you’ll be on call to remove any cutie marks. Should anypony get a cutie mark or come into town wanting it off. You’ll also need to give speeches and, later, you will be given more responsibilities in the expansion of true friendship.” Double Diamond didn’t mention all her duties. He knew there was more she would have to do, but there was no point in dumping all of it on her for now.
“I’m not hearing anything about perks,” Azure pointed out, feeling slightly cheated at not getting any of the perks that she was hoping for.
“You’ll also have access to request funds from the town budget, should you need something or believe something will be a worthwhile addition to Our Town. You’ll have near total authority, besides myself, and will be able to propose new policies.”
Double Diamond watched as Azure’s mind drifted, thinking of everything she could do with a practical blank check. Double Diamond began to wonder shortly after hers, and a realization came that he would have to correct his statements.
“All of this,” he said, interrupting Azure’s thoughts, “within reason. I will need to approve any monetary withdraws and some of your authority.”
“I guess I can live with that,” she commented, her smile not diminishing in the slightest.
“Let’s continue practicing,” Double Diamond commanded, forestalling any more questions.
Another couple of attempts were required before the rocks stopped getting destroyed. The magic needed to have very little error, and even the tiniest different in either the aetherial or the physical would cause the spell to fail. Azure’s magic continued to hold steady, and she was able to continue the spell casting for several hours. At about noon, though, she was once again depleted.
“We can take a break now,” Double Diamond told her, walking back to the small camp. Azure followed, her ragged breath coming out quickly. She was sure that her horn would be hurting the following day.
Once back at camp, before either pony could sit down, a stomach growled very loudly. Blushing slightly, Azure gave a weak smile to the mayor.
“Using this much magic really drains the body as much as the mind.” Azure tried to explain.
“Don’t worry about it,” Double Diamond said, waving the problem away. “You need to keep up your strength, so eat up.”
The two ate in silence, the sun once again beating down over the land. Already, Azure could feel that the afternoon would be hot enough to force everypony inside and to stop working.
“So, are we going to stop to wait out the heat?” she asked hopefully, already knowing the answer.
“No, we need to get the spell working.” Double Diamond glanced up at the sun, and felt the sweat already forming on him. Sighing in discomfort, he amended, “Though I don’t believe a few extra breaks would be unwarranted.”
Azure returned to her spot by the rocks, and continued to adjust the spell. It required a deep level of concentration, something that she sometimes was unable to get. Slowly but surely, she was able to adjust the spell to a balance that simply felt right. Now using far less magic than she initially did, she was able to cast the spell a couple of times before feeling any sense of exhaustion.
At one point, she suggested trying it on Double Diamond, but that idea was shot down with a brief reminder of the rocks from earlier that day. The spell had to be perfect before he would allow her to test it on him. Unfortunately, the spell was not to be perfected in one day, and dusk soon consumed the landscape.
Calling off the exercises, Double Diamond helped prepare the camp for the night, adjusting his bags to be closer to the fire. Within an hour, both were enjoying the heat of a fire and each other’s companionship.
After a light dinner, with minimal water consumption, Double Diamond brought out a lamp from his pack.
“What’s that for?” Azure asked, pointing at it. In the village, there were only a handful of lamps, most of which belonged to the ponies that worked in the mines.
“It’s for you,” Double Diamond answered, handing it over. “A gift.”
“Really?” she exclaimed. “Why?”
“So you can read these at night.” Double Diamond brought out five books, each one different from the last. The first looked like a standard school notebook, the second a professionally made one, the third nothing more than pages that were kept together by some binding, while the last two were clearly from Our Town’s main store. Each one had one simple word on the front: Starlight Glimmer.
“What are these?” Azure asked, grabbing the books and putting them where she could see them better.
“They are the diaries of Starlight Glimmer,” he said in complete seriousness. “I’d suggest reading them. There are some insights in these that you can learn from. Plus they have some really good stories.”
Azure could see a strange look in Double Diamond’s eyes. It appeared that he was in pain, just by giving them away, as if he was giving up a part of himself.
“I can’t take theses,” she said, trying to return the gifts to Double Diamond, who simply forced them back.
“You have to. It is your duty to read and learn from them.”
After a very brief conflict, Azure gave up and accepted the gifts. The books were all in good condition, minus the third one, and each of them seemed to have good lessons in them. They would only help, probably.
While Double Diamond was getting into his bag, Azure turned on the lamp and began to read from the fourth book in the series..
Starlight Glimmer’s Diary Day 1
Finally, a new journal to begin writing in, one that isn’t just a bundle of papers I cobbled together. Ah, I can practically smell that new book smell. Sorry, Diary, I got sidetracked.
Today we built the first hut of many for our town, which I still need to name. Fire Hammer has been a great help, as has Double Diamond. They both seems to be good, hard workers, willing to help me out in making a new town. I’ll need to breach the subject of Cutie Marks another time.
Though I would like to equalize them now, I need their natural strength and abilities to get it started. It pains me to say this, but some Cutie Marks are necessary, my own included. Sometimes, we need natural abilities to get things rolling, but true friendship should be the goal. I’ve been lying to these two stallions for a while, now, and I hope they may never learn the truth. It eats at me, the guilt, but I know it’s necessary. Cutie Marks must be removed, they must be banished in order to make true friendship a reality.
I’m getting a bit too depressing, sorry. As soon as the first few buildings are done, I’ll tell them my plans for Equality. It’ll take some work, but the results will end with an Equestria that has embraced Equality.
Now, I’m sorry, Diary, but I’m a bit too tired to continue. I’ll get to writing down today’s events some other time.