The Mists of Time

by RangerOfRhudaur

Night Eternal

"Starlight, the search party just reported in."

"Nothing?"

"They said it was like no one was ever there."

"And they're positive it was the right place?"

"Sugar Belle said she would recognize it anywhere, and Night Glider verified it."

"Hm. Three-member watches from now on, and order them not to engage without reinforcements. I can't lose anymore of you than I have already."

"You won't, Starlight. I'll tell everyone as soon as we're done here."

"Oh? I thought that covered everything."

"My request for leave for Sugar Belle and Night Glider-"

"Oh, that."

"Starlight, they need to rest, even if it's just for a day or two, they're exhausted."

"I understand, Double Diamond, but the fact is that we can't spare anyone right now. The revolution is at stake."

"So are two of its revolutionaries. Night Glider's struggling not to fall asleep on watch, and Sugar Belle... Starlight, if I'm being honest, if we don't help her soon, she's going to end up dead."

"So you propose to help them..."

"Yes."

"... by supporting what they've sacrificed so much to fight?"

"Huh?"

"Giving them leave would be a hierarchical act, treating them differently than their fellow Equals. It might help us win this battle, yes, but only by helping us lose the war."

"I... but I thought..."

"You're a smart man, Double Diamond; you can see what this would lead to. Someone else would see Sugar Belle and Night Glider being given leave, they'd expect to be given the same, when they didn't receive it they would either resent or admire Sugar Belle and Night Glider, and the superstructure of hierarchicalism, the inequality of people, would have a new foundation to build itself on. No, we can't bring equality through unequal actions, and they need equality more than they need leave. Request denied."

"... I'll go tell the others about the changes to the watches."

"Bye."

*door closes*

"It's not enough that I lost Caramel and Lime Twist, now I'm losing Double Diamond. He was reluctant to obey me; he's never been that way before. If I told him something was unequal, he'd stomp it out with both feet, at least until now. How long until he refuses to obey me at all? How many would stand with him if he does? If Shining doesn't get here soon, we'll end up fighting ourselves for him."

She turned to her hooded, bound audience. "Where is he?" she asked. "Where is Homestria's brave captain? He should be a day away from us at most, but we haven't seen hide or hair of him. Where is he?"

No answer.

"He'd better get here soon, for your sakes. Otherwise, I'm afraid we might need a... demonstration."

A shiver went through her audience at that.

She smirked. "You all act like you're so above us, so above the poor commons. Whether you have wealth, heritage, social position, or magic, you all use them the same way, as a tower to look down on the commons from. But you're not really all that different, are you? You still need to eat, to drink, to sleep-and, of course..."

She drew a heavily ornamented dagger. "... you're still afraid to die. But don't worry; I won't teach you that yet. Shining still has a few days left before we start to fall apart. You're safe-for now."

She fell quiet for a moment, then chuckled, "You know, it's funny, in a way. You or one of the other elites killed Adagio to try to save yourselves, and in the process you may have doomed yourselves. How poetic; hierarchicalism devours itself, a serpent chasing its own tail. Such an apt description, don't you think?"

A voice, muffled but undaunted, rose up out of one of the hoods, saying, "Yes, of you."

---

The speaker's reeducation began again. Neither her magic nor her social status nor her relative wealth protected her, the current lesson taught her, and indeed did the opposite, inviting more harm. Distinction was a vulnerability, not a strength.

And as the sun crested noon, Starlight began preparing her for the upcoming exam, where she would learn that no distinction of her's would protect her from death.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

And there's why I said almost reassuring. This will end messily. The question is how much can be recovered from the mess.

Also, if I had any doubts that Starlight was completely insane, I've lost them now. At the very least, she has no discernible empathy.

[RangerOfRhudaur]

10951371

Also, if I had any doubts that Starlight was completely insane, I've lost them now. At the very least, she has no discernible empathy.

That's the 6400 bit question, isn't it? Is she crazy, or simply working on a different wavelength than the rest of us? Is she the chaos of madness, or a dark new order?

[Eroraf86]

Oh, fyay all kinds of duck. Well, at least DD is finally starting to shake off the kool-aid.

And for the record: if you kill off Rarity, I WILL END YOU.