My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition

by SuperPinkBrony12

Chapter 105: Crumbling Cards

With Starlight's cutie mark exposed for all to see, it didn't take long for the villagers to turn against her. But Starlight tried her best to deflect attention and regain control of the situation. "Wha... What are you all looking at?!" She hissed, frantically pointing to Shining Armor and his friends. "They're the problem, not me! Everything was going great until they came along!"

"Enough with the lies, Starlight!" Big Macintosh snarled. "You're only diggin' yourself into a deeper ditch, one that'll be impossible to climb out of!"

In desperation, Starlight began to lash out at random ponies, starting with Double Diamond. "How could you betray me like this, Double Diamond?! How could you let these strangers brainwash you into siding with them against me?! After everything I've done for you, this is how you repay me?!"

"Apparently, you didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth! Your entire society was built on a lie, a lie I want no part of anymore!" Double Diamond replied, glaring at Starlight. "I only regret that I didn't do this sooner. We're through, Starlight! I won't be your puppet any longer!"

"How could you lie to us, Starlight?!" Party Favor demanded. "You told us all that cutie marks were evil and no good! You said special talents just led to pain and heartache! But it was a lie, wasn't it?!"

"No, you've got it all wrong!" Starlight insisted, her anger building by the second. "You don't understand what I've been through, if you all knew what I knew about cutie marks, you'd understand why you're better off without them! Besides, are you really just going to believe these random strangers over me, the pony who freed you all from the burdens of your cutie marks and gave you true equality?!"

"But then, why?" Sugar Belle asked with concern. "Why did you take our cutie marks away, but keep yours? Why did you have to lie to us and make it seem like we were all equal when in fact we weren't?"

"I... I had to, you fools!" Starlight frantically replied. "I mean, how else could I collect your cutie marks without my magic?!"

"But the Staff of Sameness has all the magic we need, you said it yourself!" Night Glider protested.

"There is no 'Staff of Sameness'!" Starlight confessed. "It's just a stupid piece of wood I found in the desert and combined with a special rock that could store the magic of cutie marks! It's my magic that makes all this possible! Don't you think for a second I would've given up my cutie mark if I could've done so?! Do you think that if I despised cutie marks so much, I wouldn't try to be rid of my own?!"

"You've already lied so many times, why should we believe a word you say now?!" Double Diamond hissed.

Frantically, Starlight tried to change the subject. "Why are you all blaiming me?! Don't act like you're all innocent, the fact of the matter is you chose to follow me! Sure, maybe I influenced your decision a little with my words, but I never took away your free will! All of you willingly chose to give up your cutie marks and pledge yourself to my cause, to take up the banner of equality! Why, if it weren't for me, you'd all still be living your miserable lives thinking you're better than everypony else, or that your cutie marks bring you nothing but ridicule and shame!" Desperately, she added loudly. "I brought you friendship! I brought you equality! I created harmony!"

"But you lied to us!" Double Diamond protested with a shake of his head. "What don't you get about that?!"

"So what? E-Everything else I said is true! The only way to be happy is if we're all equal!" Starlight insisted.

"Except for you. How can we be equal if you won't give up your own cutie mark?" Party Favor demanded. "You've given us no reason to trust you anymore. Maybe we did choose to follow you, but it's a mistake we all regret. You never actually cared about us, we were just stepping stones for you to rise to power at our expense!"

"It's like I told you in the vault, Starlight Glimmer," Shining smirked. "There's a perfectly good four letter word that describes your 'philosophy', and you're full of it!"

"QUIET!" Starlight bellowed, turning towards Shining and make him recoil in surprise. It was clear to all that Starlight was on the verge of snapping, and what she'd do if she lost her temper was anyone's guess.

"You can't have a cutie mark, Starlight! That's not fair!" Sugar Belle complained. "Either we're all equal, or none of us are! Give up your cutie mark, or let us have ours back!"

"You'd better decide quickly, before we make up your mind for you!" Night Glider threatened. "Normally I detest violence, but in your case I'd be willing to make an exception!"

"Violence won't solve your problems, you'll just be stooping to Starlight's level," Soarin cautioned. "Though I must admit, I wouldn't blame you if you had to knock a little sense into that thick head of hers."

With much teeth gritting and horn sparking, Starlight raced off towards her cottage. "You'll pay for this, all of you!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. "You ruined everything!" And she quickly darted inside said cottage and locked the door tight.

---

"Come on, everypony!" Double Diamond shouted, quickly taking charge of the villagers. "To the vault! Let's go and get our cutie marks back! If Starlight's not gonna give up her cutie mark, what reason have we to let ourselves be inferior to her?! If she doesn't believe in equality, then there's no reason for us to believe in it either!"

"Yeah!" The villagers all shouted in unison, and then rushed off to the cave that housed the vault.

"Well then, I guess there's only one thing left to do," Shining concluded, and turned to Thunderlane. "Our cutie marks are still with Starlight, right?"

Thunderlane gulped as he nodded. "Yes."

"I was afraid of that." Fancy Pants remarked.

"But we've got no choice!" Shining said firmly. "Starlight's got our cutie marks, and we're not leaving until we've gotten them back! Besides, I think it's time Starlight and I had a little heart to heart about imposing your will on others through lies and half truths! If there's one thing I can't stand, it's those who build themselves up by putting others down!"

Author's Note:

And now, with this arc drawing to a close, we can explain why Double Diamond's role changed and what the reason behind it is.

In the show canon two parter, Double Diamond is shown to be completely loyal to Starlight and obeys her without question. The only time he shows any hesitation is when he questions why Starlight needs the mane six's cutie marks, and even then it's not him questioning orders as much as it is wondering why Starlight needs to hold onto the marks when they'd probably be safer in the vault. He still does as Starlight orders and obeys without question.

Yet, Double Diamond still defects when the truth about Starlight is exposed, and leads the villagers in their efforts to retrieve their cutie marks. The problem is, I think a lot of people likely saw Double Diamond's heel face turn as hypocrisy and saving face, rather than a genuine change of heart. Basically, they believe Double Diamond was only switching allegiances because it was convient to stand against Starlight rather than with her. Obviously in the time since, his redemption is genuine since there's nothing to suggest he's at odds with the other villagers, but I can see how his loyalty to Starlight could throw his later defection into doubt and leave people not all that thrilled with him (thus explaining perhaps partially why Double Diamond was so unfocused on in fanfics compared to the rest of the equal four).

To fix that, I had Double Diamond question Starlight's orders here and come to regret following her when he realizes she never trusted him enough to reveal her secrets.

I decided to add in the bit about Starlight's claim that she would've tried to remove her cutie mark, and pointing out that the villagers chose to follow her rather than be forced to do, as partial inspiration from Dr. Wolf's recent video about rewriting "The Cutie Map", where he suggested the ideas of focusing on why the villagers gave up their cutie marks in the first place and that Starlight had tried to remove her own but failed every time. Personally, I don't think either of those would've fixed what the actual problem he mentioned was (not the two parter itself, more what it ultimately led to), and in fact would've just made Starlight look worse and further made the case against her redemption.

But I felt that at least adding in the point about how Starlight never forced anyone to follow her, makes things less black and white in terms of morality.

Comments

[Comickook]

Once again, you did a great job on this latest chapter. Again, the exchanges are superb and you made some excellent points in the author's notes. The balance between episode faithfulness and subtle differences continues to be well done. Now, I DO have some possible stuff for the appropriate point of the ending:

1. Shining: Blast it! She got away!

Somebody of your choice: Yeah, but now we and everybody in this town know the truth about her, so we can make sure the Canterlot Guards AND the Crystal Guards are on full alert concerning her.

Somebody else of your choice: Not that it would make much difference. With the exception of Shiny, the Royal Guards tend to be jokes at best when faced with anyone more dangerous than a jaywalker.

Somebody else of your choice: Makes you wonder why Celestia and Luna even bother with the Guards. I mean, why would incredibly powerful immortals need bodyguards anyway? Anything powerful enough to pose a serious danger to THEM would obviously be beyond the abilities of anyone with the possible exception of US to handle anyway - and I apologize if it sounds like I'm bragging.

Shining: Actually, the guards are there more for companionship than protection - as well as keep the more normal ponies relatively honest. Still, I guess the point is that even competent guards would be little more than a minor annoyance to a pony as powerful as Twily, but with far less restraint and a lot more cunning.

Of course, if you don't like the exchange, I will understand completely. And I will still look forward to more of this, but will also be perfectly willing to be patient.

[Yoshifan30]

"QUIET!" Starlight bellowed, turning towards Shining and make him recoil in surprise. It was clear to all that Starlight was on the verge of snapping, and what she'd do if she lost her temper was anyone's guess.

That freaking face man she crazy

[Yoshifan30]

Looks like she done for it but it looks look like she not giving up that easy