The First Re-Mark

by iowaforever

"Invasive, Dark Magics"

“Invasive, Dark Magics”

Starlight noticed that her heartbeat had matched the drumming of the rain on her roof. The mantra of “stable, calm, orderly” would only do her so much, especially considering Revelation stood calmly before her, unaffected by the rising tensions.

“I think we’ve said all that needs to be said,” Starlight growled, eyes narrowing. “You may leave now, Revelation.”

“We both know that is not the truth,” Revelation countered. “There is still more that needs to be said. You have done little to convince me that your Equality is not but a lie to subvert ponies to your will, and I have not said my piece to draw you away from this dangerous path you tread.”

“Dangerous?” Starlight scoffed. “I hardly find my philosophy to be dangerous. Perhaps to established order, to those who hate and are confused by the mere concept of Equality as you seem to be, but to the common pony it is a liberating experience, a true validation of the natural order of things.” Now Revelation scoffed.

“If cutie marks were truly unnatural, would we still gain them?” Revelation moved around the house, inspecting it closely as she continued. “The universe has an order to it, a means by which natural and unnatural are kept seperate. Every once in a while you get a breach, a rift that opens to allow the unnatural through; Windigoes are a great example, mindless creatures fueled by pure hatred and disharmony, such that even the slight notion of friendship is fatal to their kind.”

“Again with stories?” Starlight rolled her eyes. “Windigoes are just another make-believe monster, perfect for tales like the Hearth’s Warming fable.”

“My point is,” Revelation said, seemingly ignoring Starlight’s comment. “That when something unnatural enters the universe, it is confronted and repelled by something that is natural. Were a cutie mark truly what you said it is, an unnatural blight upon Ponykind, then they would have long vanished from knowledge centuries ago. But they persist, even if modified in the sense of you and your fellows, and thus do not fit the divide of natural and unnatural.”

“That’s a pretty broad definition, Revelation,” Starlight said. “That’s basically saying an eclipse is unnatural because it blocks the sun from shining on a certain point of the globe for a few minutes.”

“Eclipses are well documented natural phenomena, though.” Revelation looked to Starlight. “But consider Nightmare Moon’s rebellion against Equestria; holding the moon in place as she did was an unnatural act, and Celestia’s use of the Elements of Harmony against her restored the natural cycles once more.”

“You’re just twisting stories and fairy tales to better suit your argument,” Starlight moved away, taking the now empty kettle back towards her kitchen. “None of the examples you have given me actually disprove my statement that cutie marks promote inequality, that removing cutie marks we can achieve Equality for all.”

“Neither would saying that to make a Pegasus equal to an Earth Pony, the Pegasus must have their wings removed. Yet there have been those that have suggested such lines of thought.” Starlight opened her mouth to object, but Revelation raised a hoof. “I understand those are two entirely different mutilations, but they remain mutilations nonetheless.”

“Mutilations...” Starlight repeated, turning her back on Revelation. “You think we’re barbarians that carve ponies up if they do not comply with rigid order? The cutie unmarking is completely painless and non-invasive, let me assure you.”

“I find it hard to believe that having one’s special talent ripped from their psyche is ‘painless’. Only the most powerful of dark magics can do anything like that, and the sorcerers and demons that conjured such powers were not one to make it a pleasant experience.”

“Then you should be happy to know that this is no ‘dark magic’.” Starlight turned around, smiling. “When I was travelling Equestria on my way to find a good site for our town, I discovered an artefact of great power: the Staff of Sameness.”

“The Staff of Sameness?” Revelation asked, ears drooping. “I cannot say I am familiar with that one.”

“Oh?” Starlight smirked. “High and Mighty Revelation does not know of the Staff of Sameness? Oh, what a shame; it truly is one of the most fascinating artefacts in Equestria.”

“If it is so fascinating, enlighten me.” Revelation took her seat again. “Tell me what you know of this ‘Staff of Sameness’.”

“Once I realized what I had was a relic of great power, I did all the research I could to identify what it was I had.” Starlight walked back to Revelation. “The Staff of Sameness is one of the last of nine artefacts enchanted by the great Mage Meadowbrook. A sage unicorn from the east, Meadowbrook fully understood the need for ponies to be Equal, and enchanted the staff of Sameness to be able to remove a pony’s cutie mark with ease.” Starlight sighed. “Unfortunately, she disappeared before she could use it, and the Staff was lost to time... until I discovered it again.” Starlight puffed out her chest. “And what do you say to that?”

Revelation said nothing. Instead, she threw back her head and laughed.

“Oh my dear Starlight,” she said, laughing further. “At first I had thought you had truly stumped me, but now I see you have gone straight to lying to keep up the facade.”

“L-Lying?!” Starlight cried, eyes going wide as Revelation continued to laugh. “How dare you accuse me of lying! I have been nothing but honest-”

“Then you would know that Meadowbrook had only eight artefacts, not nine.” Revelation said, her laughter dying down. “And of those eight, none of them were a staff. Additionally, Meadowbrook was not an eastern unicorn sage; that was her counterpart and friend Mistmane, who specialized in enchantments and other conjurings and celebrated the beauty of nature and the differences therein. Meadowbrook was an Earth Pony witch doctor from the southern swamps who specialized in healing salves and magic potions, nothing like cutie mark removal.” Starlight blinked, fighting the urge to have her jaw drop. Her brain tried and failed to come up with a good explanation, that perhaps there was some other Meadowbrook Revelation had not heard about, but every excuse that came up was just that: an excuse.

“S-so maybe it isn’t one of Meadowbrook’s artefacts,” she said finally. “The Staff of Sameness is still powerful, and not some means of horrific mutilation.”

“At this point I am thinking that perhaps it is merely an odd looking stick you found out in the desert,” Revelation mused. “... Oh, but I’m being rude again, aren’t I? Perhaps you did find some powerful artefact, and perhaps it does have the ability to remove a cutie mark. Did you not stop to think that perhaps whoever created it did not mean it for benevolent purposes?”

“Why wouldn’t they, considering Equality is what ponies were meant to achieve.” Starlight’s ears flattened against her head. Revelation once more did not appear to notice the threat, shifting in her seat before speaking again.

“There was a sorcerer named Arabus,” she started. “Who spoke of the theory that the cutie mark is the cornerstone of a pony’s personality. It appears when a pony makes the first concrete determinations about his or her identity, reinforcing what little they already have so that a greater whole can be built. Like a building, to change one cornerstone is to change the entire architecture, and thus to change a cutie mark was to alter a pony’s entire personality.” Revelation paused, looking back to Starlight. “Arabus used this to enslave the population of Neighples, breaking and remolding the populace’s cutie marks to better suit whatever whims he had at the time. He was defeated, but the scars of his manipulation remain to this day.”

“Using the example of one wicked soul is not going to-”

“Then perhaps another? The demon lord Tirek possessed the power to steal a pony’s cutie mark, taking their magic for his own. He used this power in a bid to overthrow Equestria, but he too was defeated by those who stood in defiance, united in one cause despite their disagreements and diversity.”

“Again, how is that supposed to-”

“Or even recently, when six mares from completely different backgrounds not only defeated and cleansed Nightmare Moon, but also overcame the powerful chaos spirit Discord, the queen of Changelings, and the Crystal Tyrant King Sombra?” Revelation rose to her hooves. “Do you not see, Starlight? Time and again wicked beings have come to impose control over all that we admire about Equestria. It is not sameness that has defeated them, but different ponies uniting despite those differences. In fact, that they brought new experiences and understandings often gave them strength against those that would see to crush them, and this made their friendship all the more greater. Would you deny them that? Would you crush the spirit of friendship and unification in some mad dash to make everypony just like you?”

“The difference is that I am right!” Starlight shouted, stamping her hoof against the floor.

“Spoken like a true demagogue.” Revelation said, eyes narrowing. Starlight’s eye twitched again.

“Alright, fine! If that’s what you want to believe, so be it!” she snarled. “You think I’m a monster, a dictator who wants to break ponies for their amusement!”

“I never said that,” Revelation countered. “I merely think your approach is an extreme reaction to what you see around you.”

“Extreme? Extreme?!” she stamped her hooves. “Is it extreme to want to help ponies? It is extreme to want to give ponies in need a second chance?! I am doing good for these ponies, and you would just take that away from me, from them?! For what, so you can leave them to their differences, so they can be lost and alone and judged?!”

“Of course not. If these ponies are truly lost, they can be helped. But denying what they crave the most, a chance to be who they are, that will only make them crave it all the more. They will not sit idle, they will only conform for so long, and then your little experiment here will come crashing down around you.” Revelation’s gaze softened. “I am only trying to help you see that.”

“You just don’t understand what I am trying to do.” Starlight shook her head, trying and failing once more to get her anger reined in. “These ponies were lost, confused, and I gave them purpose! I gave them friendship! I gave them a place where they don’t have to worry about being judged, being abandoned, of losing somepony they care about because of a cutie mark! Nopony here has to lose anything anymore, and nopony in Equestria will lose anything anymore because I will make sure they are equal!” With that Starlight’s horn lit up, the door of the house flinging open. “If you just don’t want to accept that, then you can leave! There’s no place for somepony so negative like you in my town!”

“What was their name?” Revelation asked softly. Starlight blinked, trying to refocus her anger.

“What difference does it make? You’ve outstayed your welcome, and now you need to leave!”

“You keep dodging the questions about your past, about what caused you to start thinking like this in the first place,” Revelation took a step towards Starlight. “What was their name? Who was the pony that caused all this?” Starlight gritted her teeth, fighting the urge to paw at the ground in frustration. Revelation had come and made a mockery of her beliefs, and now just wanted to rub salt into the wound. What a disrespectful mare...

“Fine.” Starlight slammed her door shut. “If that’s what you want, fine. I’ll tell you all the sordid details about my past, about why cutie marks have ruined mine and many others’ lives. And then you will leave, and never come back to this village again.” there was a pause, Revelation returning to her seat.

“Very well,” the other mare said. “Tell me everything.” Starlight resisted the urge to stomp too much as she crossed back to her chair, sitting down and fixing Revelation with a glare. There was a pause before Starlight began.

“I was born in the small town of Sire’s Hollow. Even for one who travels as you say, you’ve probably never heard of it. My mother was apparently a flighty mare who left shortly after I was born, leaving my father to raise me on his own.” Starlight closed her eyes and sighed. “He did mean the best for me, but his overprotectiveness meant that I didn’t really get a chance to meet other ponies my age. I was always shunted from one historical society to the next, always in the background, never noticed by anypony... except one colt.

“His name was Sunburst. He was about my age, and in the same boat I was; his father had passed in a magic accident, and his mother liked to push him out into the spotlight so he wouldn’t be too lost. We met one day at some town hall meeting, and we... we bonded over our shared pressures, confusions.” Starlight allowed herself a short chuckle.

“We were inseparable after that. We ate lunch together, studied magic together, played games together. Even with all the shuffling and the pushing we always had each other, and it seemed like there was nothing that could break us apart.” she closed her eyes, brow furrowing.

“Except one day, there was. We were playing some game where you try to stack up as many books as you can without them falling over.” Starlight looked up. “You know what I’m talking about, right?”

“I was a foal once too.” Revelation said. “Such games are good use for learning control over magic.”

“True, but that day I decided to be a little more daring... and I almost paid the price for it.” she looked away. “The stack got too high and fell on me. I probably could have caught the books, but I was so startled I didn’t know what to do. I could have been crushed, had Sunburst not caught the stack before it hit me. With a single burst of magic he caught the books, set them all in order, and shelved them perfectly... and got his cutie mark in the process.” Starlight found herself almost spitting that last sentence.

“From there, is was all celebrations and praise for Sunburst. They threw him a party, and the next day his mother packed him off to Canterlot to study magic in Celestia’s school. Me? I was left alone, watching as my best friend left, and forgot about me... and never wrote... n-never came back to visit.” Starlight fought back the urge to cry. “All because of his cutie mark. When I finally got mine the next year I begged my father to let me go to Canterlot so I could study magic. ‘Maybe’, I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll be able to see him there and we can be friends again’. But my father was in fine form that day, and didn’t want his ‘punky-wunky sweetie pie’ to go run off to a dangerous city like Canterlot.

“So I ran away. I packed up what little I had and left Sire’s Hollow, searching for somewhere I could be alone, where I could have meaning.” She scowled at the fire. “But everywhere it was cutie marks, cutie marks, cutie marks! It didn’t matter who you were, just what the stupid mark on your flanks meant to you! Oh, ponies tried to make friends with me, they really did, but it call came back to cutie marks.” she looked back at Revelation, scowl unwavering.

“That’s when I realized that cutie marks were only a divider among ponies. Cutie marks forced you down your own path, and nopony could ever change that. Cutie marks made some ponies too good for others, cutie marks made others feel inadequate if they didn’t have a good enough one. So I did my research, founded this town, and made a place where no one would be judged, no one would be unhappy, no one would leave because of their cutie mark.” there was a lengthy pause, Starlight rising to her hooves and glaring at Revelation. “Does that sate your curiosity, Revelation?”

“... For what it is worth, Starlight,” Revelation said, her voice soft. “I am sorry for the pain you have suffered.”

“Oh, now you’re sorry,” Starlight scoffed. “Only after I’ve told you everything do you see that I was right, and now you’re ‘sorry’ that you doubted me and tried to destroy everything I’ve worked to accomplish.”

“No,” Revelation said. “I am truly sorry for what you have faced. Sunburst does sound like a good friend, and to lose him in such a way is a fate I wish on nopony.” she looked away. “But understand, even though you have suffered so, it does not give you excuse to spread your own pain on other ponies. These citizens may have genuinely wanted to be your friend, yet you forced them to conform so you would not be hurt again.”

“It was the only way I could be their friend.” Starlight growled, tears forming in her eyes. “They would have left for some reason or another. I couldn’t go through that again.” She turned away. “What would you know about it? What would you know about being abandoned, forgotten, to have all your hopes and dreams crushed before your very eyes?!”

“... Too much.” was Revelation’s only reply. Starlight did not turn, reaching up to dry her eyes before speaking.

“Leave.” she said. “J-Just leave, please. Go away and never come back. There’s an old train station a few miles from here th-that runs now and again. Go to whatever home you have and forget this town ever existed. It would be better for both of us.”

“... If that is what you wish, I will leave.” Revelation said. “But if you would permit me, before I leave I would like to tell you one more story.”

“Haven’t you told enough?” Starlight asked, rounding on Revelation. “What does one more of your fairy tales have to do with anything?”

“This one, I think you will like.” Revelation motioned towards Starlight’s chair. “Please, sit down. Let your stress fade for a moment.” Starlight hesitated, looking between the mare who ruined her dream and the chair. Finally, she sighed and climbed back into the seat, waiting patiently as Revelation began her story.

Comments

[Zapper Frost]

Yeah, you definitely did starlight's backstory better than the show....

[badninja]

I wonder how long into the story it will take Starlight to realize just who Revelation actually is? Once again I hope she takes this chance and changes her ways.

[iowaforever]

9191724 This isn't going to be a very long story, so she'll learn sooner rather than later.

[mishun]

Well, discussing vague abstract (and arguably non-existing) stuff, as always, degenerates into heated "which side is more brainwashed and manipulative" competition At the end of previous chapter it seemed that they're switching to discussion of real world consequences of implementing Starlight's thing, but apparently not yet. Maybe next chapter?

[superfun]

9191687
I can't really agree there, especially considering the details that Parent Map added to her backstory.