> The Whisper of Freedom
>  by Gapeagle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Blessed Are The Cursed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I levitated a cold glass of lemonade to my mouth, quenching the horrid thirst that had built up from the previous two hours of wandering through the Equestrian village. The pink sun hat that rested over my mane sagged slightly as I leaned against a large elm tree, desperately trying to hide from the scorching spring sun. My eyes spanned over the grassy field in front of me, spying the numerous colts and fillies that played around with unhindered delight.

"If only..."

Of course these foals were hindered in their enjoyment of life. The symbols that tarnished their sides stung me like a red-hot iron rod pressing against my fur. However, there were some whispers of freedom among them. A few blessed colts and fillies who bore no cutie mark. I would have left the area in hopelessness, but these whispers held me there. My magic took hold of my large sunglasses, sliding them down slightly to get a more realistic view on these children. I then ruffled into a more comfortable position, adjusting the traveling dress I wore so that it wouldn't pinch my tail. I was going to be here awhile, might as well make it comfortable.

I wore such clothing to conceal who I was. After Princess Twilight and her allies took away my dream in Our Village, my name became a synonym for crime and brainwashing. The unholy Princesses that ruled Equestria placed a bounty on my head. 25,000 bits alive. I never thought I was worth this much, as I should be worth no more than my fellow pony, but that did not stop an iota of pride from swelling up in my chest. Though it was destroyed by the very fact that my face and name was on that poster. It was a startling reminder of all that I had lost. 

Not only was I wanted, but the equal sign was banned from non-mathematical use until I was apprehended and incarcerated. Thus I could not wear my fake cutie mark anymore. This was the most painful of all and it was the reason I made sure my dress covered my flanks. I could not stand seeing its horrid reminder of my imprisonment. Every night I dreamed that I could remove it, but that wish only remained in the false realm of imagination.

One of the little rascals who wore a tiara on her spoiled head was taunting a trio of blessed fillies. My ears pricked up at the nauseous sounds that emitted from her loose lips. It was the sort of annoyance that only fillies could conjure. I listened intently as she orally harassed the poor, but fortunate girls.

"Just another day without your cutie marks! Not a surprise you are all still blank flanks!"

I winched both mentally and physically at the phrase. Blank flanks. Such an awful, discriminating, atrocious, horrid, oppressing, disgusting, demoralizing, foul, abusive and above all, offending word. If that term were ever used in Our Village, be it adult or adolescent, a righteous beating would promptly ensue. I had banned the insult from our utopia and for good reasons. Not only was it a derogatory term for those whispers of freedom, but it implied that having a cutie mark was in some way superior. The cutie mark is a lie. No one is superior to their neighbor, cutie mark or not.

"Just you wait Diamond!" The orange pegasus filly shot back. "We'll have our cutie marks! And they'll be the best!"

Well that's not the proper response. My sunglasses almost fell off in my amazement of these fillies' misguided determination. I had to forcibly shut my gaping jaw in order to think clearly. The fillies had no cutie marks which was brilliant, but they were not satisfied? They wanted more? They wanted to relinquish their freedoms for the chance to show off their cutie marks like trophies? Such backwards thinking! I had to restrain myself from jumping in and showing the children why they were lost, but that would only attract the unwanted attention of the vigilant teacher who watched her students from the window. 

The trio laughed at the mocker until she stomped off in a gaudy fashion. They then proceeded to throw a frisbee about. The game was not a competition and thus did not make me twitch with disapproval. I took another sip of my lemonade, discovering that I had drunk all of it. This was rather unfortunate as the sun still rained its boiling beams upon me. 

"Maybe I should get a refill..." I mused.

Suddenly I felt the edge of a plastic disc collide with the temple of my unaware head. The impact made me lose my concentration on the glass I held and it tumbled upon the roots of the elm tree. I soon realized that the trio's frisbee had hit me. I gazed down at it with false confusion as the fillies trotted up to me worriedly.

"Are ya alright Miss?" The pale yellow one exclaimed.

"Yes, I am fine." I told her as I rubbed my temple with my hoof.

"Scootaloo, I told you not to throw it so hard!" The small unicorn scolded the orange pegasus. "I knew this would happen."

"You should have caught it Sweetie Belle." Scootaloo shot back.

The trio began to bicker in front of me. I frowned upon their nonsensical arguing. It was the short of arguing that ended friendships. And all over a frisbee. I sighed to get their attention, but my attempt failed horribly as I couldn't even hear myself above their perceptual squeaking. However, when I cleared my throat loudly, they inspected me in wise silence.

"It's just a frisbee. It didn't even hurt me. There's no need to fight about it." I said, trying my best to emulate my mother's gentle smile.

"Well, we're sorry." Sweetie pouted.

I waved a hoof at them. "Don't worry about it."

The yellow one raised an eyebrow at me. It was a similar action I had seen before, but from a different pony. "Not ta be rude, but who are ya? We haven't seen ya before here."

"I'm just a traveler from up north." I explained. "Thought I would stay here for a day."

"Wow, a traveler!" Scootaloo jumped up. "You've seen lots of cool stuff I bet."

I nodded. "Yes. Although I wouldn't call all of it 'cool.'"

They started to whisper among themselves. I could hear each of them clearly which destroyed the purpose of their supposed secrecy. I rolled my eyes at their behavior. Whispering was not allowed in Our Village as it was signs of mistrust toward their neighbors. If a pony kept secrets from other ponies, it would no doubt increase in both strength and size. Secrets were destructive to a unified society. I would have commented on their ineffective whispering, but I held my tongue and waited for them to spring back up from their small huddle.

The yellow one was the first to break from it. "My sister's a traveler too. Well, I mean, she doesn't always travel, but when she does, she goes on adventures!"

I chuckled at the filly. "Traveling is not my occupation. I'm just trying to get from one side of Equestria to the other."

"My sister, Rarity, travels for her business." Sweetie told me enthusiastically.

I parted my mouth and it hung open for some time. Rarity? I knew that name. My mind sorted through my mental folders of ponies I knew. It stopped abruptly on a pompous mare with a glorious purple mane. She was one of those defilers of Our Village. One of Princess Twilight's comrades. One of my enemies. The anger that swelled inside me stayed inside me only. I closed my mouth with care and looked at the girls with practiced patience. 

"That is interesting." I nodded.

"Rainbow Dash travels too!" The orange one boasted. "She goes through Equestria and beats up all the bad guys!"

I smiled at them, trying to retain my fake interest. "Really?"

"Yeah! She's taken down the worst of the worst." Scootaloo reenacted the fighting that supposedly happened. "Punching, kicking, flying, and defeating them with her awesomeness!"

Now it was personal. I kept my smile as sincere as possible, not exaggerating it or even making it last more than naturally. To be blunt, I wanted to strangle these girls for their insolence. However, such an action would not only be foolish, but these fillies did not even know the truth. If only I could tell them without forcing it. At the moment, I spied the tiara-wearing child talking with her silver friend. The idea that flew into my head made me grin in delight.

"So," I began carefully, "is that tiara girl a bully to you guys?"

"Diamond Tiara?" The yellow one spat. "Yeah, she's the worse! Always buggin' us about our cutie marks."

I tilted my head. "Oh, yeah, you three don't have your cutie marks, do you? That's no reason for her to act that way though."

"That's right." Scootaloo grumbled.

"The cutie mark is not important anyway." I grumbled absently.

"Not important?" the white unicorn squeaked in shock. "But...But that's our lives! We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We help blank flanks like us get their cutie marks as we search for ours."

"Do you really think that?" I asked.

They are nodded simultaneously. All their ignorance poured out on me like a waterfall. I could not bear to keep my smile and it faded from my mouth quickly as the sun hid behind a thick cloud, gracing me with pleasant shade.

"I don't see it that way." I concluded.

"Why?" They all asked incredulously.

"Because the cutie mark is a lie that plagues our society. It is something ponies seek to help nopony but themselves. A cutie mark embellishes only one flank at a time and it is shared among the masses."

"Well duh!" Scootaloo interrupted. "Princess Luna says that the pony makes the cutie mark, not the other way round."

"No, a cutie mark traps you into a singular state of life. Once you are cursed with it, it directs your path like a puppeteer. You get your cutie mark, but then what? You can't decide you don't like it and move on. You can't get rid of it. You are stuck with it as it commands your life. I say blessed are the ones who have no cutie mark. You are oppressed by those who flaunt their marks, I know, but it is a small curse, but in the end, it is worth it."

"But..." The yellow one rubbed her chin. "But cutie marks show your talent. If ya are good at something and have a mark for it, why change it?"

"For freedom. Once you free yourself from your mark, life is limitless. You no longer care about showing yourself better than your fellow pony. A cutie mark only is there to shove your talents into other ponies' faces. If all get rid of them, then they won't fight over who has the better mark. Simply put, it's equal among all. And when all are equal, they work together to progress society."

I knew I had lost the orange one as she gave me a blank and totally unresponsive stare, trying to comprehend my meaning. The other two had their brows raised, but were much more responsive than their pegasus friend. I gazed at each one of them, making sure they could still listen to me before sighing and rubbing my eyes.

"The bully, Diamond whatever, she is proof of my point. The filly chases and harasses you because you lack what she has. It makes her feel superior and such. Take away her mark and what is she? Well, not a bully because she has nothing to feel superior about. She would not be a bully unless her mark urged her to be."

"It seems like cutie marks have feelings..." Sweetie mused.

"No, they don't." I told her. "It is nothing more than a symbol that guides ponies to do awful things such as bullying. Your bully only became a bully after she earned her mark. If she never did, she would be a much kinder pony."

"Naw, she was nasty even before then." The yellow one shook her head.

I threw my hooves up in exasperation. "You know what I'm saying! Now, cutie marks make ponies feel superior to other ponies. But that's not all. This society has made the earning of a cutie mark something to be celebrated. This should not be the case. It saddens me that you try so hard to earn your marks. It's a horrid endeavor and I encourage you to stop even with all your peers urging you to get them."

"Wait, you're saying we shouldn't get our marks?" Sweetie asked in her high-pitched voice that irritated me to no end.

"Exactly. Be proud of being a whisper of freedom, something I like to call those who have no cutie marks. You should not worry about being better than another and you should not worry about being less than what you are. You're ponies, through and through, and no mark on your flank is going to make you any better."

The orange filly finally blinked but still remained silent. Sweetie and the yellow one stared at each other in mutual confusion. My words churned through their young and fragile minds. I had seen such confusion before when I was raising Our Village out of infancy. It was the type of wonderment that indicated that my message left an impression on them. 

"But if we don't seek our cutie marks, then what do we do?" The yellow one shrugged.

"You spread what I have told you. Prove to the world that being unique with your mark is fruitless and only leads to disagreement. Keep your friends close and never sever from them. Also choose your friends carefully. A bad apple in the bowl will ruin the bunch. Be nice and most importantly, never view yourself as above any other pony."

The school bell rang, calling all of its students back to class. The trio glanced at each other before promptly turning around. The white one looked back at me over her shoulder, a hoof waved at me happily.

"Uhh, thanks for the talk." She smiled.

As they returned to their studies, I levitated the empty glass into my visage. The sun revealed itself once again from behind the clouds, reminding me of my discomfort in its heat. I twirled the glass around absently. The dirt from the ground now spotted its previously immaculate finish. 

"I need to refill it."


=


I sat alone on a bench beside the main Ponyville cobblestone street. The sun was staring at me as it hovered over the western hills. It reminded me of the quiet evenings in Our Village, when I could watch the sunsets peacefully. I sipped the lemonade from the glass. I was ashamed that I was enjoying it so much for it came from a pony who bore a lemon cutie mark. However, the refreshing coolness of it certainly made up for its disgusting origins.

I heard hoofsteps approach me from the south. As with all the ponies who passed, I lowered my hat to cover my mane. The steps became louder and louder, each one of them emitting a typhoon of anger and rage. The steps ended beside me. I risked a gaze at the pony, only seeing firm lavender hooves standing next to the bench.

The tall pony said nothing and sat on the vacant side of the bench next to me. I heard wings shuffle into place as the pony made herself comfortable. A loud, aggravated snort blew from her nostrils, jumping my heart slightly. My hat prevented me from seeing who it was, but I had a good idea. When she parted her mouth, her voice whispered to me with restrained indignation.

"The girls you talked to visited me." She began. "They told me what you said. I thought you were still in the mountains, but no, you came all the way down here."

"I could not stay there forever, Princess Twilight." I explained. "I would starve in no time. I had to try elsewhere."

"Is this some act of revenge?" She demanded. "You just filled my friends' heads with your lies and your brainwashing. Sweetie is actually agreeing with you."

"Revenge? Nothing of the sort. I just talked and they listened. Nothing more."

"Who do you think you are? That you can just....just come in here and preach your lies?"

I removed my sunglasses and looked at the infuriated ruler. "I am nothing more than a visionary. My vision is that all will be equal. To do that, we must not have cutie marks. It's simply part of the whole equation. To get the right answer, you must have the equal sign beforehand. You should understand that. I am trying to save this society."

"No, you're trying to rip it apart, Starlight. I saw what you did in that village. You forced them to be equal. You placed yourself on top and ordered them to be what you wanted them to be. There's no freedom there."

"I am only necessary for this generation." I responded. "There has to be some form of order to establish a new regulation. Once it's established in the hearts of the ponies, such rule is no longer needed. I was never going to rule them once they could rule themselves."

"That's what they all say." Twilight huffed. "I'm going to give you this chance to run for your life. You have stepped so low this time, I'm not sure if I can forgive you. You run, or I'm dragging you to Celestia and letting her deal with you."

Her words were firm and to the point. I sensed no bluff in her statement. I stretched my weary legs and got up off the bench. I took another sip of my drink and started to walk eastward, toward Canterlot's tall mountain. The Princess of Friendship did not utter another word as I left her behind. 

So I walked away. My purpose in Ponyville was already accomplished. I had acquired three listeners. Three girls who would have my message gnawing at their young brains. They would realize the truth of my words. They always do. So I went with the hope of finding more foals to speak with; some more listeners to spread my message for me. The last generation would never believe my words without special care, but this new one could be easily influenced. I took a final sip of lemonade, accidentally tasting the grains of dirt that were in the glass from the previous events. 

"Hmm, reminds me of Sugar Belle's muffins."


=

> Tea With the Sun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bustling city was noise, noise, and more aggravating noise of the denizens hopelessly trying to live their lives happily. I could barely stand it as I quietly watched from the street corner bench I sat on. Not only did my ears sting with the shouts and lies, but my eyes burned with everypony's hideous personal styles that told the world how superior they were compared to their less fortunate neighbor. I yearned to climb onto a stand and shout my message to them, but that would draw too much attention to a fugitive like myself.

The three fillies in Ponyville were great listeners, innocent and curious about the truth, but adults with no spare time would only ignore me unless I forcibly told them. I remembered doing that with some of my former friends in Our Village. Some of them took weeks to comprehend my words. A few even took months to realize the truth that was knocking on their tightly closed minds. I visibly grimaced as I knew I had no chance to catch a potential listener alone in this overly populated Tartarus of a capital.

"Hey ya lady," said an excited voice next to me, "Want to try our new line of summer hats?"

My eyes shifted quickly to a young, smiling brown stallion that was holding a blue hat up with his golden magic. My eyes then darted to his flank which adorned an obvious hat cutie mark. He was trying to make a profit off of his talent, trying to take my money for his own gain. He would no doubt forget my generosity by tomorrow.

"Of course not!" I snapped back rudely, before clearing my throat and smiling. "Ahem, I mean no thank you, sir."

My awful attempt at being polite went unnoticed as the stallion bore a frightened expression and backed away quickly. In no time he was gone from my sight. My smile faded away faster than he did. I never meant to be rude to the fellow, as it would be unequal if I treated one stranger kinder than the other. However, I felt no remorse and soon forgot about him.

The ponies around me did not forget my action as they all stared at me with frightened bewilderment. I gave them an annoyed look through my sunglasses, but that did not deter them from gazing at me longer. My anger boiled a little over the boundaries I kept it in.

"What is your problem?" I demanded sternly. "I've just had a bad day, that's all."

This, to my relief, made them turn from me and continue on with their unending activities. I sighed a long sigh and ran a hoof lazily through my mane. These ponies were curious but in all the wrong ways. They would gladly grab any thread of a topic to spin a new rumor around, even something as minute as a mare rejecting a salespony's offer. They desired to know every little detail of another pony's life but never wanted to know any detail that could improve their own lives. 

I stood up and started to walk carefully down the street. There were far less unadorned flanks in Canterlot than in Ponyville, but that may have been just because young fillies and colts seemed to be rare in the capital. The pegasi flew speedily around the high spires that defined the city as the earth ponies trudged their heavy hooves along the pavement. Nothing like that would have been allowed in Our Village unless it was in times of need. A unicorn could use its magic and a pegasus could fly only as a convenience, but never to show off each race's special abilities.

I was so caught up in watching the Canterlotians that I bumped right into an armored chest. My sunglasses fell to the ground and my hat was askew when I recovered from the surprise. Before me were two large and intimidating unicorn Royal Guards; each bearing a solemn frown on their hard faces. My initial reaction was that of terror, but I soon regained my dignity and stood firmly in front of them.

"Is there a problem?" I asked warmly.

"Yes, we are looking for you." One Guard said in a deep voice.

"Well I am sure there is some misunderstanding. I can't think of why you will be searching for me." I told him innocently.

"Don't play dumb, Starlight Glimmer." The other snarled. "By order of the Princesses, you are under arrest."

I felt iron hoofcuffs be summoned around my front legs. I was about to resist and attack them with my magic when I felt a sharp pain in my horn. An anti-magic spell was cast on me. These Guards were more advanced than I had anticipated. One of the Guards punched me across the face, sending me to the pavement.

"That's for my cousin!" He yelled. "I thought I lost her three years ago. Naw, she was brainwashed in your village all this time. You're lucky I don't beat you senseless."

A second pair of hoofcuffs restrained my back legs. The nicer of the two Guards helped me up, only to order me to move. I licked the blood that oozed from my lips and held my head high. My heart was racing and fear gripped me from inside. I did not know what would happen next. I did my best to appear proud, but it was only a facade.


=


"This is not the way to the dungeons."

"Her Highness ordered us to bring you to her private quarters."

"I am having an audience with Princess Celestia?"

"Yes."

The Guards escorted me through the fine halls of the palace. The place was marvelous in every sense of the word. The drapes, stained glass windows, and embroidered rugs screamed the pretentiousness of royalty. Even the Royal Guards with their unmoving faces were decoration that complimented the white walls and gold spirals on the columns. 

I was quite the opposite of the ostentation that surrounded me. The chains hindered my stride, giving me a slightly hobbled gait. My mane was ruffled and unkempt as it came undone from its usual ponytail. My traveling dress, of which I actually paid for, was torn on the edges and backside. I never cared much about my appearance, but it was certainly uncomfortable to be in such ruined apparel.

The two stallions forced me to turn and face a large, round golden door. There was no doubt that this was Celestia's room. The nicer Guard knocked his armored hoof on the door four times in a quick but uneven beat. Without delay, a quiet, soothing voice uttered from the other side of the glorious door.

"You may enter."

The Guards each took one side of the double door and opened it simultaneously. A cool breeze blew through the doorway, making me wince slightly. I was nudged to go forward and I entered the room with the two Guards flanking me.

The circular room was smothered in gaudy, flamboyant, and ornate decorations that glowed in the sunlight that flooded through the open balcony. In the center of the mostly purple room was Princess Celestia, sitting on a large red cushion with a low table in front of her. The table was holding up a tea set, each small cup marked with the steam that gently floated above it. The sweet smell of the tea struck me no harder than being hit on the leg by a newborn foal. I sniffed the air and found out that it was Southeast Equestrian tea.

The princess sipped her cup of tea with the grace only trained royalty could achieve. Her smile was oddly friendly and warm, making me visibly cringe. Her smile soon faded as her eyes darted to my hooves.

"Oh, you may remove those chains. They are unnecessary." She stated in a motherly voice.

The Guards saluted before taking the cuffs off my legs. I rubbed the sore spots without thinking and glared at the Guards. My attention snapped back to the princess when she softly cleared her throat.

"You may leave us." She waved a decorated hoof at the Royal Guards.

The Guards bowed low and turned around, closing the door behind them. A deathly silence engulfed the chambers. It may not have been so deathly to Celestia as her smile returned in its usual manner. I stood my ground, holding myself fast against this agent of oppression. I did not know what were going to be her first words to me, but I knew they would be harsh and unforgiving.

"Come and have some tea." She pointed her muzzle at the cups before her.

Well, that was not what I expected. However, I hesitated. She placed a bounty on my head. She had me arrested! Chained and humiliated through the streets! I could not see a reason to obey her command.

"You placed a bounty on my head. Do not treat me with your fake hospitality." I told her sternly.

She giggled. "That was Luna's idea. I simply wanted ponies to watch out for you and not to hurt you. That's why you are wanted alive."

She offered a drink again, coaxing me like one would coax an animal to a treat. I decided to ignore her and took some steps around the room, never moving my sight from her. She watched me patiently.

"If you wanted a discussion over tea, you should of just asked instead of sending your Guards after me."

She cocked her head. "And just ask a fugitive to tea in front of everypony? I would if they wouldn't spread rumors about me afterwards. The nobles are always ready to pounce on me for something like that. No, it is better that it appeared like a normal arrest. I hope they didn't harm you. If they did, I am truly sorry."

The apology seemed sincere. I consider myself a master at discerning one's true intentions, but this princess had that smile and joyful eyes that I could not read. I leaned on a bedpost crossed my front legs. She replied to my actions with a raise of the eyebrow. 

"How did you know I was in Canterlot?" I asked.

"Twilight informed me of that. She said you were heading down the road to here." Celestia nodded. "She was very upset about how you talked with those girls."

"I did nothing wrong." I defended myself. "I simply gave them advice."

"To forget their dreams and move on?" The question was rhetoric. "That's not I would tell children."

I stood up. "You would tell them to excel and try to prove themselves the best. Teach them to use others as a means to an end. Make them care only about themselves." 

She sipped her tea again. I was not sure if she was even listening to me. She frisked her long mane back and gazed at me with a piercing stare that made me step back. Her mouth slowly parted, her stare remained fixed on me.

"Did you really have a whole village living your life style? That is truly an achievement I must say. You are a skilled persuader. Have you ever thought about what you could do with that?"

"I do what I must with it. I don't persuade them, Princess Celestia, I simply tell them the truth. My message has always been there, I just free it from the biased bonds of this society."

She nodded slowly. "The stereotype is that earth ponies are the most stubborn of all the races. I personally think it's unicorns. Unicorns are stubborn."

"What does that have to do with anything!" I uttered more as an annoyed cry than a legitimate question.

"Nothing. Just an observation." She waved a quick dismissing hoof.

I felt like she was mocking me. I made this obvious to her by tightening my eyebrows and giving her a suspicious look. This incited nothing from the princess as she refilled her cup with steaming tea.

"Do you know why you are here, Starlight?" She asked with a more solemn tone.

"You are here to incarcerate me and keep me away from ponies."

She chuckled. "If that was the case, we would not be having this conversation. I never talked to Tirek, nor Discord, nor Chrysalis. You are the exception. Do you know why?"

"Compared to them, I am just a simple unicorn."

She nodded. "Exactly. You are not some monster that needs to be kept in stone or Tartarus. That is not to say that I don't fear what you are capable of."

"What would you fear from me?" I demanded. "What? Is it that I can turn the ponies away from you and the lies you have drilled into their heads. Have them riot against Princess Twilight? That I actually know the truth?"

She shook her head." None of the above. "What I fear is what you can become: a misguided unicorn alone in this world because you are too stubborn to release these philosophies you have acquired."

"Like you care about my well-being."

"If I didn't, we wouldn't be having this conversation." She rebutted sternly.

She stood up from her cushion and walked over to me. Her massive size made me stretch my neck just to look at her. Her eyes, so warm before, were now cold and intrusive. I did not sense anger in her, but I was certainly afraid. She leaned close to me, our horns almost touching. 

"Starlight Glimmer," She began, "What happened? Why do you hold this philosophy that everyone must be like you? The cutie marks, equality, and having everyone work together, where did it come from?"

"Why should I tell you?" I shot back, trying my best to appear bold. "You wouldn't understand."

She backed off. "So be it."

"Was that your attempt at intimidation?"

She walked away with her smile returning. "Ha, of course not. I'm not trying to scare you at all. You would know if that was my plan."

"Then why am I here? Are we to discuss our differences? Are you trying to get some confession or deep apology out of me? I do not apologize for my actions in Our Village. I helped those ponies more than you know. I brought happiness, peace, equality, and harmony to them. I will not apologize for that."

"You forgot how you kept them there under their will and were lying to them the whole time."

I jabbed a hoof at my chest. "Lied? I only lied about one thing and that was it. It's not my fault I cannot take my own cutie mark off."

"And that cutie mark is the only reason you achieved what you did. Without it, you couldn't remove cutie marks could you?"

I fell silent. It was true. My head turned away from the princess in a sudden wave of guilt and regret. Why did she bring it up? It was the travesty of my life. But I was helping ponies, even when they didn't know it. One cutie mark to save rest, yes. If only it wasn't so.

"I'll take that silence as a yes."

"What does it matter?" I faced her again. "I use my magic to help them in their times of need. I-"

"You never helped any of them." Celestia interrupted. "Not a single one."

"I did. They were my friends. All of them were. Then...Then they betrayed me at the sight of my only mistake. They are ungrateful."

"If they betrayed you, they were never your friends." She pointed out. "Starlight, have you ever had friends?"

"Plenty." I said quickly, trying to picture any that came to my mind. "They saw my message. They understood."

"So, because they were just like you, they were friends?" Celestia asked curiously.

"Friends should be alike. Otherwise they would fall into disarray and bitterness." I explained.

"That's not how it works." She said simply.

Oh, she was no doubt going to lecture me now. She was Twilight's mentor after all. I snarled at her and tried to conjure my magic, only to realize that the anti-magic spell was still active. The princess noticed this and merely shook her head in disappointment. The action reminded me of my mother when she was quietly upset with me.

"Do not lecture me, Celestia." I told her. "Spare me your nonsense."

"Nonsense? Well, I guess an over 1000 year old ruler is always full of nonsense and clearly has no knowledge of the world she has lived in for all that time." She replied in clear sarcasm.

"Of course you don't. You hold to your old and decrepit ways because you can't handle the truth of progress and equality."

"Then I have more to learn I guess." She said in a matter-of-fact manner. "Enlighten me."

I cleared my throat. "This society has taught ponies to stand out above the rest, to flaunt their cutie marks with pride and to use them to get ahead of others who are less fortunate. I want everypony to be equal. Get rid of their cutie marks so they have nothing to flaunt. Simplify the variables of life by having them be the same. I want to unite Equestria in a single thought process: to work together and never be angry with another. The ponies will live without nightmares because they will not dream in the first place. No one will try to better their cousin. No one will argue over trivial matters. No one would think different. No one would be different. All will be friends. All will be equal. All will be happy."

"So...In short, you want to take all freedom away?"

"No. We will have much more freedom without the burdens of cutie marks dictating our every movement." I explained.

"Like how your cutie mark is dictating your movements?" She didn't let me answer. "Starlight, there is nothing wrong with being different. You are quite different yourself. Difference becomes a negative when you want others to be like you. I shall use my sister and I as an example. I am very different from Luna. She is bold when I'm hesitant, she is brass when I'm cautious, and hasty when I am methodical. That's just how she is. Is it wrong? Of course not. I'm glad she is different from me. Yes, we have stumbled and created crevasses between ourselves, but that is over because we forgave each other. Our differences let us have pleasant conversations, create new views of the world, and carefully decide what to do with this nation. I'm glad she says 'no' to me. I'm glad her differences allow her to see errors in my judgement. If she was the same as I, I would never change my ways for the better because I would not know what to change. Iron sharpens iron."

I hastily thought of something to throw back at her. She was now resting her front legs on the railing of the balcony, letting the wind whisk her mane gently. I felt myself sway to the right as all her words interrupted my thoughts and ideas. My eyes were focused on the ground, watching a line of ants pilfer crumbs of cake off the floor. The ants were equal. All of them identical and fulfilling their roles in their colony. I could use the ants as an example of my vision for Equestria. I parted my mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the sound of Celestia using her magic.

I glanced up to see her scribbling on a piece of parchment. her long phoenix quill flew across the page swiftly. She then rolled the paper up with her magic and sent it off with a pop. 

"What was that?" I hesitantly asked.

"Oh nothing," she said, "Just my letter to Twilight about reforming you."

"What!" I shouted.

"No need to yell. There is nothing to be upset about." Celestia smiled at me.

"No need?" I spat. "You think I need reforming! That itself is insulting and offending. Then you want me to be lectured to death by that pretentious princess!"

"Not to death, but hopefully close." She corrected casually.

"You think you can alter me with your friendship lessons? You think I'll give in like some weak fool? I know my words are truth! I will not believe the lies you have taught to your former student."

"We'll see." She shrugged. "But you start tomorrow. There is a guest bedroom in Twilight's castle where you shall be quartered. you shall live with Princess Twilight until she deems you "reformed."

I was never one for strong emotions, but a tidal wave of absolute hopelessness swept me away with no trace of dignity left. I dived at the princess's hooves, clutching them in desperately as tears formed in my eyes. I lost complete control of myself.

"Please don't!" I pleaded. "Anything but the princess and her so called friends! I have done nothing wrong! I am just a prophetess without any listeners! I am no threat to you! If I need to be punished, send me to the dungeons! Banish me to some distant land! Make me a statue for your gardens! I beg you not to send me to that princess who will force me to become an instrument of your friendship propaganda."

The princess was astounded by this reaction, blinking every two seconds in obvious confusion. She slowly pushed me away with her leg until I was no longer hugging her hooves. Her eyes perceived me with slight terror, but mostly bewilderment. 

"Uhh..." She began. "Starlight, you are going to live with Twilight whether you like it or not. I have faith you will see the merits of life and become a helpful citizen to our society. You are a free mare now. I do not want to punish you for I believe you have already been punished enough. This is not punishment, it is more like rehabilitation. Twilight is not going to be some monster to you. She is the Princess of Friendship for a reason." She paused. "Fine, as reassurance to you, I will keep communication with you. If she does something you find horrid or is purposely harming you without cause, you can report her to me. But I doubt she will ever do such a thing."

"I could be your maid....a butler... a-"

"No!"

My head fell flat on the clean floor in utter defeat. The tears had ceased and I was now in a pitiful state of depression. All of the horrors of brainwashing entered my saddened mind. She would use this as an act of revenge against me. The Princess of the Sun, in all of her vile majestic manners, sauntered over to me, placing me in her tall shadow.

"Starlight, one of Twilight's friends reformed the Lord of Chaos himself. I do not think you'll prove more difficult than him."

My head slowly rose, my anger now very present in my expression. She thought me weak, not being able to hold my ground against Twilight. Discord was reformed by them? So what? I was not Discord. I am Starlight Glimmer! Even though I did fear what would become of me if I fell to Twilight's ideals, but that would not happen. As sure as Tartarus it wouldn't happen. 

Celestia cleared her throat softly. "You may enter again."

The two Royal Guards opened the door and walked in with the speed of a chimera. They then saluted and awaited their ruler's orders.

"Gently take Starlight to the train station and give her a one-way ticket to Ponyville. Watch her until she safely arrives at Twilight's castle. Then report back to me."

They bowed before forcing me up to my hooves. I did not attempt to resist as I knew it would be futile. I was ordered sternly to march out the door. I huffed indignantly and held my head high as I walked out of the room. They thought they could reform me, their words for making me one of them, making me a servant to the princesses, a weak minded buffoon who accepted the flaws of this world, and making me accept my cutie mark as a part of me. I mentally laughed at the idea. They wanted to reform me?

"They would try."


=

> Day One: Hollow Promises
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	My ear flicked incessantly every time that annoying and loud and screaming tick echoed through the room. Now, it was not a clock that made this sound, but the pony princess on the other side of a broad crystal table. The princess was reading a book while absently tapping the pen she levitated against the table. The sound was sharp and aggravating. I planted my hoofs on the smooth table and hissed at the purple pony.

"Would you stop that?" I demanded.

Twilight raised her eyes from the book and blinked at me one time. She then realized what she had been doing and dropped the pen on the table. 

"Sorry, just a habit of mine." She said happily.

I knew her happiness was a facade. When I had arrived earlier, she greeted me with an authentic frown, showing me around her castle with a dull, dragging voice. She was obviously not on board with Celestia's plan of reforming me. Her pet (or was it servant?) dragon, Spike, was much chirpier than she. He spent the early morning asking me all shorts of questions. Most of them were about my former home which I answered to the best of my ability.

"Your reforming plan seems to be rather slow." I commented.

Twilight lowered the book with a sigh. "Starlight, I'm not going to reform you like how you make new followers. I'm not going to lock you up in your room and blare demoralizing phrases at you through corner speakers. I'm not going to force anything upon you. That's why we haven't started anything yet. We need to become acquainted with one another first."

"Then talk. I rather hear your nonsense than the sound of that pen hitting the table."

Twilight placed on a smile that was vastly different from her former mentor. Celestia's smile was genuine and warm while Twilight's was simply there for politeness. She wiggled into a comfortable position and placed her hooves carefully on the table before speaking.

"So, do you have any hobbies?" She asked.

She was avoiding the elephant in the room. Small talk? Please, in Our Village, we spoke hardly of such things. I enforced heavy thinking on the residents so that they would not bitter themselves with such worthless topics like weather and hobbies. With heavy thinking they would find deeper truth in my message. Double Diamond was the best at this and actually helped me spread my word among the village. He was my favorite of them all I must admit.

"I do not have hobbies." I told her, "I would never waste time when I could be spending every ounce of my strength to help ponies."

"Can't say I don't approve of that attitude," Twilight nodded, "Did you ever have any hobbies?"

I hesitated. Was she trying to pick at my past? This was unacceptable. First day in her gaudy home and she was already delving too far. I huffed softly before forming the words in my head.

I shrugged casually. "My mother taught me to sew, but I never used the skill."

"How was your mother?" Twilight leaned closer.

"What about her?" I hissed with such restrained anger that Twilight leaned back again and moved to another topic.

"Ummm....I guess we don't know each other enough for that..." she paused, "Hey! I'm sure Celestia would hate it if I kept you in here. Would you like to walk around Ponyville?"

"Your attempts at breaking the ice with me are amusing."

"Is that a 'yes' or 'no?'" She persisted.

Well, a walk wouldn't be bad. It would be nicer to be in a crowd of thatched roofs again and not be trapped beneath the high crystal ceilings. I never liked high ceilings or big places in general. However, there had to be some agenda on that mare's mind. I clap my hooves together with my elbows resting on the table. I lifted an eyebrow at her.

"And what would we do out there?" I inquired.

"It's a nice day. Maybe we'll visit Fluttershy and-"

"That wretch?" I growled. "The one who lied to me? The one who wouldn't give me information when I asked for it? The one who slept in my home with no gratitude? The one who is the reason for my downfall?" I leaned back, "I rather not see her."

"Maybe Rarity..."

"The pompous mare only thinks about herself." I waved the suggestion off.

"Fine. How about Applejack?"

"I would not like to be around her stubbornness."

"Pinkie?"

"She does not trust me."

"Rainbow Dash?"

"I bet she'll attack me on sight."

"Ugh!" Twilight groaned. "Do you want to hang around anyone?"

"The three fillies I met. They would be excited to see me again."

"No!" Twilight hissed. "They're off limits to you."

How hurtful. The closest ponies I had to friends were off limits? Seems the Hypocrite of Friendship was doing her job splendidly. Of course she would deny me my listeners. I frowned at the princess. Twilight rubbed her temples in clear annoyance. 

"Then we are at an impasse. I guess we shall stay here."

"Well then do you want anything to eat or drink?" Twilight asked. "It's almost noon."

"I shall cook for myself. It may surprise you that I was in fact, the best cook in Our Village. Sugar Belle and the other true chefs did all the baking for us so that I wouldn't be placed in a position where I had to show off my skills. It would have been unequal of me."

"That doesn't surprise me at all actually." Twilight deadpanned. "I bet you made the buildings too."

"Every one of them." I nodded, "None of us were trained in the arts of construction and so I tried my best, along with the others of course. I will admit, I did the most work, but the others aided me significantly. I was proud about how well each home came out."

I doubt that Twilight believed my words. Her eyelids were only halfway open in skeptical musing. She then stood up and removed herself from her seat, vanishing the book she was reading with a puff of magic. She walked away without looking back at me.

"Well, there's no way you can burn this place down and you're no Discord." She grumbled more to herself than to me. "Guess you'll have fun."


=


I munched methodically on my lunch consisting of a daisy sandwich. The princess, with her adorned kitchen and dining room, lacked the essential ingredients for baking. That, or I couldn't find any in the numerous cabinets and what not. The castle was a bit of a maze, very unlike the simplicity of Our Village. Having only been there for hours, I had already lost my way several times and had to be redirected by Twilight's midget of a dragon. 

Speaking of the dragon, my eyes wandered over to his approaching feet as he waddled to me. He held a bright smile that showed his long fang. I could tell he was still nervous around me, which was no surprise of course. The dragon was young and most likely foolish. I greeted him with a shallow grin as I did not want to reveal whatever food was stuck in my teeth. He was Twilight's butler, yes, but I could not see any of her zeal for inequality in him, thus being rude to him would not be beneficial to me or him.

"Hey Starlight," he waved. "Twilight just wanted me to check on you."

"Not surprising," I huffed with a nod. "She doesn't trust me does she?"

"Well yeah," he chuckled, "who would after what you did?"

"You know she exaggerates right?" I told him. "I'm not the monster she claims that I am."

"Sure, sure. So, how's your lunch?"

More petty talk! No doubt his orders from his mistress. I sighed in annoyance. What kind of reforming was this? Did she really think that simply being in her home was going to change me? I'm stronger than that! I placed down the sandwich I was levitating. 

"Is there any other reason why you're here, dragon?"

"My name is Spike."

"I asked you a question." 

He shrugged. "Nah, not really."

"Then shall I ask you some questions?"

"Uhh..." he stuttered. "I guess so."

"Do you believe everything you hear?"

He paused. I could see the thoughts of his young mind swirl around. He was expecting some sort of deceit or manipulation. Well, he would find none with me. 

"No," he said, "I don't believe everything. I mean, some ponies lie and some are just plain dishonest."

"True. Has it ever come to you that Twilight could be lying to you?"

"No. She would never lie to me. She also has no reason to."

"Everypony has secrets and reasons to be untruthful. Twilight always wants to view herself as some hero and will twist stories to her favor. You can't tell me she doesn't like being in control. Twisting such stories gives her popularity among the gullible ponies, thus giving her control. This happened with me when she branded me as some dictator. The truth is that we were all equal and happy in Our Village until she showed up. We welcomed her with open hooves and she rejected us. She tore down our establishment because it was different from hers."

"Yeah, not buying it."

"Were you there? Of course you weren't. Anything could have happened there and you wouldn't know. That brings this down to my word versus hers. I know you will take her side because she's your mistress, but remember that she could be wrong. You could be wrong. Knowing that what you believe in may be false is the first step to tolerance and equality. You remember that."

"Alrighty!" He mocked. "Oh, and she's not my mistress; she's my best friend. She's kinda my sister too. You remember that."

"One last thing," I stopped him from leaving. "Your age suggests that you're friends with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Is that right?"

"Yeah. How do you know about them?"

Twilight had not told Spike about my encounter with them. Good. "Tell them that I'm in town. Refer to me as the "nice traveler" and they will know."

"Um, OK?"

He walked off with the same waddle as before. I smiled to myself as I finished the sandwich. Did I convince him of the truth? No, but I planted the seeds of doubt whether he knew it or not. Was I going to simply sit here and let them rule over my every movement? Of course not. I am Starlight Glimmer. I always had a plan. In front of me was an opportunity to send out my message under the disguise of their reforming. Our Village was lost, but Ponyville was right here for the taking. I would take my recent misfortunes and turn them into opportunities! There were whispers of freedom here and bullies who would indirectly help prove my words. I would play along with Twilight's schemes since I knew I could not stand up to them without my followers. I would need my cunning, my zeal, my purpose, my patience, and some glass jars.

Nothing can stop equality from reaching this nation. Not the princesses, not their allies, not even their allies' allies. I am Starlight Glimmer, the prophetess of equality, freedom, and happiness. None will excel, none will be better than their friends, and none will be unique. All will be blissful in the sameness of both their thoughts and cutie marks. All will conform willing or not. And it all starts with the children. It always starts with the children. Mother would be proud.


"Choose equality as your special talent, Equestria."


=

> Day Two: Schemes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The morning came too quick. I opened my weary eyes with a yawn and stretched my legs out. I reeled back suddenly as the sun shined through the purple crystal window of my bedroom. Speaking of my bedroom, it was quaint and quite cozy, despite being made of cold dark crystals. It was nothing like my own previous home, but I had to admit, I could become acquainted to such design if it was not so covered in glittering walls.

My hooves touched the floor and I removed myself from my bed. My neck felt sore from the night and I stretched it as well. I was used to such soreness. In Our Village, our beds often gave us back or neck pain from their simple designs. It was not that they were poorly made, but more like not everypony slept the same, so some beds unfortunately were less effective to some than to others. However, we had to keep the beds the same to show equality, though I often considered revising that rule to end the minor inconvenience that was neck pain.

A knocking on my door startled me slightly. It was too early for such a scare. It was not the action that scared me, but the sound the crystal made when a hoof banged against it. The sound was high-pitched and sudden, like metal smacking metal. I regained my composure from the sound and cleared my throat. The knocking was too high on the door to be the dragon fledgling, so I rightly assumed it was the Princess of Friendship here to greet me in the early morning light. 

"Good morning," I said with a yawn in my throat, "Already have your plans ready for today?"

"Of course," the princess replied, "Spent most of the night thinking of you. So I have a surprise for you."

"I assume it won't be good for me?"

"Well, you won't like it, but I will not say that."

Twilight opened the door immediately after saying this. I had thought the door was locked, but obviously that was not so as she opened it with ease. Much to disapproval, she was not the only there to greet me. Her other comrades, all five of them, were present, giving me forced smiles that not even my former followers could conjure. 

"You see," she gestured at her companions, "since you didn't want to hang around my friends, I decided to bring them here."

"How kind of you," I growled with gritted teeth.

"It is," She smiled proudly, my sarcasm clearly went over her head, "I have your schedule all planned for you."

"What freedom you preach, princess," I mocked.

I sighed as she turned gestured me to come out of the room. She was obviously confident in her juvenile schemes. I was hesitant to leave my small sanctuary, but I felt that I had to play her game for now. I strode out while her "friends" watched me suspiciously. Rainbow had a scowl on her face and that farmer one had a deep frown. Hmm, they were not on board with their leader's plans it seemed. Not surprising that Twilight could not force the reluctance out of them. She lacked the leadership to do so.

Twilight led us through the long hallways. The five behind me and the princess in front. This formation had to have been planned to keep me within their boundaries. They did it so casually, yet with so much assertiveness. I was a mere unicorn to them. Six versus one. Did they fear me? I knew very well that they did not trust me, but it seemed more than that. My thoughts were interrupted when Twilight turned around and explained her plans to me.

"I have it that this week, you will spend one day with one of my friends. Applejack is for today. She volunteered, isn't that right, Applejack?"

"Hmm...Yeah," the farmer responded with indifference.

"You seem very ecstatic about this. I thought you couldn't 'forgive' me?" I asked.

"Oh, I was just exaggerating," the princess replied, "I mean, yeah, you hurt me, but if Celestia wants you to become a friend, then I'll have to push my grudge aside because friends don't keep such things."

What a liar! I could see right through her fake smiles and false gestures of kindness. She had no care for my well-being at all. Was I really the one that needed reforming? Here was a princess, a ruler, a leader, that couldn't be sincere even in the privacy of her own home. I hid my aggravation from their view and simply nodded at her. I did not want them to think I could see their true feelings.

"So you are going to help Applejack around the farm until three O' clock this afternoon. Then you and Applejack will come back here to discuss how the day went. Then it's Rarity tomorrow!" the princess giggled in her excitement.

"What!" the Rainbow one shouted, "Then why are we here?" 

"You four are here to tell me your own plans for Starlight. While she's at Applejack's farm, we'll discuss this," Twilight told her.

"That sounds so boring."

"Not with Pinkie here." Twilight pointed at the skeptical pink pony.

The pink, I think her name was Picky or something like that, jumped in joy with confetti all around. I had seen such behavior before, ah yes, Party Favor was like her. He was always obsessed with balloons and summoning them out of nowhere. He was one of the hardest to equalize because he fought us with his balloon weapons. I never knew a balloon could bruise somepony until he whacked me with one across the face. I made him remember not to do that again.

All of them except Applejack walked away toward the throne room. The farmer sighed and sat right next to me, her stetson blocking her eyes from the sunlight that swarmed through one of the high windows. She appeared far less enthusiastic than her leader. I raised a brow at her, but she did not notice. 

"Well," she began, "we better head on out. Not because I wan' to start my day with ya, but that we need to get bucking. Lots of chores need to be done."

I pointed to the door. "Lead the way." 



=



Unfortunately, since I was a "free mare" I no longer had the reason to wear my traveling dress, which meant my cutie mark was present to all who saw me. As Applejack and I walked through the town, I felt a constant hotness in my cheeks because of this. I desperately hoped that my pink coat would cover the redness. 

"What's with ya?" Applejack asked me.

"They can see my cutie mark," I answered.

"Uhh...so?"

"I don't want to give them the wrong impression," I explained, "I feel like I'm flaunting my mark. It's just so clear for all of them to see."

"Ya was dropped when you was a foal."

"There's no reason to be mean, farmer."

My eyes darted at each resident of the moderately sized village. They were so peaceful in their own little worlds where each was king or queen. They are greeted each other with the usual "how are you?" and always answer automatically with "fine, thanks" even if the statement was not true. Why they did this I will never know. It was a refusal of help from their fellow pony. Did they do it to not deal with the issue? Did they do it so that the other would not be troubled by it? It was a question that I've asked myself since I was little. Mother could not understand it either.

In Our Village, I made sure that everypony was sincere at all times. If they were troubled, they would say so and we would help them. It was a simple concept of helping your neighbor. However, this concept was foreign here. My theory was that they were too different to help each other. That each one would not fully understand the other and what troubles them. Some would say that the issue was nothing to be afraid of, another would be worried to death by it, and another would not care at all. Since they all lacked similar thinking, they could not understand one another and in turn, could not help each other properly.

"We're almost there. Just over this hill."

As she said this, I saw apple trees rise over the Ponyville huts. Apparently the farm was on the side of a hill that overlooked the village. Normally I would comment on how building your home high above others was unequal, but with a quick glance around and observing the terribly hilly terrain that was Ponyville, this could not be avoided and thus was most likely an accident. 

I could tell the farmer was not one for starting conversations. As we approached the farm, her eyes mostly avoided my direction. It was obvious that she was worried or in some way scared. She watched her hoofs more than looking in the direction she traveled. When she was in Our Village, I did not see such behavior from her. I remembered her being stubborn and with the hard face of a rock. It was not until I took her cutie mark did I see her not act so proud. She was not acting like that though. It seemed more of a sense of regret that she felt like she did not need to hide.

"How long have you had this place?" I asked to create conversation.

"Longer than I've been alive," she replied, "My ancestors came here over 50 years ago. Started from the ground up. Apples grew well and our family business grew. Granny can tell the story much better than I can."

"That's fascinating," I said.

"How 'bout ya family? I know ya probably didn't have much family in your village. All your brainwashed folk acted like they's unrelated to you."

I sighed in slight annoyance. "I'll have you know that all of them were my family. I do stress 'were' as they are no longer. My blood-related family...I uhh....I don't know much about them."

I should not have said this. In my attempt to brush off the question, I had only increased the farmer's interest and piqued her curiosity. That or I stumbled over my lie, which could be easily picked up by the former Element of Honesty. Either way, she was not allowing me to move on to a different topic.

"What ya mean, 'I don't know much 'bout them?' They's ya family."

I stopped and lifted a hoof at her to give a gesture of silence. Applejack moved back slightly as if she had been insulted by the gesture. It was a silent plea to forget the subject. However, it was no use as I was forced to answer.

"It's complicated. Look, I don't like discussing it with strangers. So, maybe some other time when...or if we are ever more friendly to each other."

Applejack huffed and continued up the hill, much to my relief. We passed the first scattered apple trees. I breathed quietly through my nostrils. My "reformers" seemed much more like "interrogators" to me. Why did they need to always try to pry open my past? Not only was it rude, but unnecessary for their purpose. Unless they tried to spread lies about my family like they did with me, there was no reason for them to gain the knowledge of my past.

"That's Big Mac over there. Usually I would have helpers go and take orders from him, but I rather keep ya under my eye."

I was delighted in the change of topic. "Oh, is that a sign of distrust?" I emitted a small giggle.

"Yeah, it is," she said unamused, "I won't have ya workin' out here alone. Twilight told me ya still under the anti-magic spell, so I don't worry 'bout that. I just worry 'bout the rest.

"Anti-magic?" I uttered in surprise, "But the Royal Guard placed that on me two days ago. It should have worn off."

After saying this, I tried to levitate an apple off a tree. To both my disappointment and my anger, I could not do even that. Anti-magic spells never last for so long. Twilight must have cast a spell on me when I was sleeping, the slimy princess. She preaches about "being your best" and yet she was preventing me from doing so by hindering my magic!

Applejack raised her brow at me. I found myself mumbling curses upon Twilight aloud. As it was not sensible to do this in front of her comrade, I quickly shut my mouth. It would have been foolish of me to anger the farmer. I could only hope she would not respond to my curses with violence.

"Here," she began, "We'll start on the west side of the orchard. Apple Bloom and Mac got this side for now."

She started to walk towards some apple trees after she had picked up a nearby basket. I assumed I was meant to follow and soon caught up to her side once again. We arrived at one large tree and stopped to look at the bright red fruit that hung from its sturdy boughs. 

"Have ya ever bucked a tree?" the farmer asked.

"Never to get the fruit," I answered with a slight nod. 

"Heh. I guess ya do have some humor in ya," she muttered.

I raised a brow at this. Of course I did. When had humor ever been against the message of equality? Laughter and humor were essential to any stable mind, especially through tough times. Joy and laughter were always promoted in Our Village. Now, it was only promoted when it did not include the ridicule of fellow ponies. Jokes were fine if they were not mocking. Even if it was lighthearted mockery, it indirectly promoted that making fun of another was alright. 

"I was known for my humor in Our Village," I told her.

She huffed. "Sure they didn't laugh just to make sure they didn't get punished?"

"How dare you! All you ponies think I am some monster!"

The response I received was not what I expected. Applejack started giggling uncontrollably. I could only glare at her as she mocked me. This giggling lasted far longer than what it should have. The farmer had to place the basket down because of how much she was giggling. It was not until she saw my stern face that she ceased her mocking. 

"Wait, ya really, really think ya not some monster?"

"Of course I don't!"

"Ya really believe in what ya do? Ya don't think you're some manipulative pony?"

"Of course I don't!" I repeated.

Applejack fell on her haunches. She blinked a couple of times before simply gazing at me skeptically. I knew my "reformers" thought that my ways were wrong, but I did not actually believe they thought I did them with the intention of being evil. This was a revelation to me and made me understand why they perceived me as some sort of villain. 

"I do not need reforming," I said decisively.

She was still confused. "Ya think what you do is right?"

"Yes. Equality is the only way for us to be happy. That's all I want to do: make ponies have happy lives."

She shook her head. "Ya don't do that very well. I can tell ya sincere though. Makes ya even worse than before."

She placed the basket beneath the tree and proceeded to buck the tree until its fruit fell into the baskets that surrounded it. Some of the apples almost collided with me. I did not try to avoid the falling apples as I was slightly stunned by her last sentence. "Worse than before?" How? My mind traveled through every circumstance that being "sincere" meant "worse." I could not find any situations where such a statement would be true. 

"How...How am I evil?" I finally asked her.

She sighed and quit bucking the tree. "Nightmare Moon wanted the night last forever cause she was jealous. Discord just wanted to have fun. That bug queen wanted to feed on love. Sombra enslaved ponies. Tirek was just a bully and wanted power. You...You want to make ponies happy."

"I'm not affiliated with that group of terrorists and dictators. I'm just a pony," I assured her.

"And that's why ya the most dangerous of them all."

She went back to her work after saying this. I would usually feel angry at one who spoke to me like so, but I did not. I felt sad actually. Was it that hard to make others see equality? I was just listed with some of the most horrid creatures that have plagued Equestria! My demonstration of equality was seen as an act of dictatorship? This society was more disillusioned with their own "freedoms" than I had previously imagined, and that was saying something. 

"I'm not evil, Applejack," my words seemed more like a plea than anything else.

"Well then, ya better get to helping. Evil ponies don't usually like workin' on farms."


=


I wiped the sweat from my brow. I had not worked this hard for some time and I was out of shape. Labor and I had been friends all my life, especially in Our Village, but the past few weeks have made me grown weak in the muscles. It was only noon and I had felt like I was working for the whole day.

I bucked the tree again. Lacking the strength of earth ponies, I had to kick every tree more than once. Of course, I would use my magic to aid me in this, but I apparently was far too dangerous to even let me use levitation. The apples finally fell into the baskets and I was done for now. 

Applejack was walking towards me with a cart of apple baskets behind her. Throughout the morning, we drifted farther apart. I would hope that it was a sign of trust, but I saw it as more of a recognition that I was no threat to her or her farm. She stopped right in front of me with her usual emotionless expression. 

"Ya done?" she asked.

"Yes. Lunch is next I presume?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Granny's got the meal all ready for us. I told her to expect a guest and she got all excited."

I loaded the baskets into the vacant spaces on her cart. It was a process we had done before, so I did not need any instruction. We then started towards the Apple's home. As we walked past the now fruitless trees, Applejack nudged me with her elbow.

"I jus' wanna remind ya that you're about to meet my family. They's good ponies, each one of 'em. I haven't told them who you really are. They think ya some traveler or something."

"You lied to them?"

"Nah. That's what they assumed ya were. I jus' said that a helper will be with us today. Twilight threw it on me all of a sudden. By sudden, I mean late last night. "Have Starlight for a day" she said."

"Hmph. I guess I'm some burden to you."

"Not yet. But once again, this is my family. You be nice to them. Granny made ya lunch. She already has done more than what you deserve. I respected your culture for a day, ya respect mine. It's only equal."

"Fine. I will use an alias to avoid those certain topics."

She shook her head. "Naw. Just tell 'em who you are. This ain't the first time we had a villain among us. Discord caused a lot of trouble when he was here. Well, at least his beavers did. I'll explain Twilight's plan to them later.

"Do you really believe Twilight's plan is going to work?"

"I can only hope, Starlight. Ya a very intelligent mare, just somehow misguided. I know what ya think you're doin' is right, but it's not. Not the way ya going about it. All I wish is to make you see that difference ain't that bad. That's all."

"And you'll see that equality is not bad either. That's all I hope," I told her.


=


I sipped my apple juice quietly as I sat at the square table. Applejack's grandmother, Granny Smith, was placing the dishes on the table. She had a limp to her back legs and she could only slowly get about the kitchen. Hmm. The elderly. They were a group of ponies I never thought much of. In Our Village, we were all middle age and below. I could never wrap my mind around the thought of when we were all old and feeble. What would we do then? We could no longer help everypony else like before. The young would have to aid us. Seemed unequal for the young to be always taking care of the old, who could not return the favor. I had thought of several solutions to this, but most of them were rather depressing.

"Here ya go, youngin'."

Granny Smith placed a bowl of a green salad with fresh apple slices dotting the top. It was not an extravagant meal, but it was fancier than I had anticipated. The produce that filled the bowl was far greener and healthier looking than anything we grew on the barren land that surrounded Our Village. One of my biggest mistakes was deciding that would be the starting place of the grand utopia. I should have been far more patient back then.

"It's rare for us to have a stranger on this farm. Ya know why?" Granny asked me with a twinkle in her aged eye.

"Why?" 

"Because we never have strangers here. They don't exist on this farm."

I placed a hoof to my lips and giggled politely. "That's sweet of you, Mrs. Smith."

"Not as sweet as you look!" Granny guffawed, "Oh, I remember when I was pretty and young like ya are now. I caught the eyes of many stallions. I'm sure ya get that trouble too."

"Can't say I haven't," I smiled, "But it's not as much as you may think. I don't really like showing favor to one stallion and not the other."

"Ah, so ya one that deals in the love triangles eh?"

I raised a brow. "What? Oh no. It's not like that at all."

"That's what they all say. Hehe."

Granny chuckled to herself as she went to get another bowl of salad. I could only roll my eyes at her behavior. I guess I did make it sound like I saw more than one stallion at once. What I meant to say was that I did not like being closer to one pony more than another. It seemed unequal to shield yourself away with one "special" somepony. Now, romantic relationships were not bad, as we had plenty of happy couples in Our Village. I just never fully understood how to go about such things myself, so I often avoided them.

I suddenly heard hoofsteps fly down the stairs. From the quickness of the hooves, I could tell it was a filly. Soon a bright red head with a pink bow entered the dining room. We both were instantly surprised to see each other. It was the young filly I met at the school. One of the three whispers of freedom I had talked to. It was clear that she recognized me.

"It's you!" she gasped, "I thought ya left Ponyville."

"I had to return. It's complicated. However, as far as I can tell, I'm staying in Ponyville for a while," I told her.

"That's great! I'll tell the others."

I raised a brow. "You mean Spike didn't tell you that I was still in town?"

She shook her head. "Nope. Ain't nobody said anything 'bout ya since Twilight told us not to listen to you."

"Did she?" I leaned back, "Well that's not nice of her. I guess she still holds a grudge against me."

The filly jumped on her seat at the table. Fortunately, Granny had not returned yet from the kitchen, so we were alone as Applejack and her brother were upstairs. I smiled at the girl like I did before. I did not know this filly who if I remembered correctly was named Apple Bloom, was a part of Applejack's family. It made sense as I saw plenty of Applejack's habits in her, like the way she raised her brow was reminiscent of her older sister. 

"So why would Twilight have a grudge?" Apple Bloom asked sweetly.

I answered her just as sweetly. "Oh nothing really. We've had some issues of course. Nothing that should have her say that about me."

"Well, she was pretty mad. Told us not to talk to strangers and then sent us home."

"I'm no stranger to you girls," I told her, "I'm just a traveler that's fallen on some hard times."

"We told Diamond Tiara 'bout ya," Apple Bloom said proudly, "We told her how she could be jealous of us since we don't have cutie marks. She kinda thought we were being stupid."

"Of course she did. When they are in denial like that, they lash out instead. It's almost predictable."

"She said we were lying. Twilight said you were lying. Is all that cutie mark stuff ya told us a lie?"

I shook my head. "The only liar here is Twilight. Her lies were one of the reasons why we never got along. I preach that cutie marks are a plague on this world. She preaches the opposite. Sometimes she preaches her lies right in front of my face, in front of those who respect me and purposely turn them against me. She is the reason I am traveler. Her words never allowed me to stay in one place."

Apple Bloom looked appalled. "But...Twilight would never do that to anypony. And why would she?"

"Some ponies are just like that. They don't like being argued with, or be proven wrong. They make sure this doesn't happen by running away from the argument or by making it personal, or even by running you off so that they don't need to deal with you."

"Twilight is one of the nicest ponies I know. She's always been nice to me. I'm her friend."

"And I'm sure Diamond Tiara is nice to her friends."

This made the filly fall silent. It was just in time as the rest of the Apple Family entered the room. Applejack paused in the doorway as her brother and grandmother took their seats. Her green eyes darted from her younger sister to my grin and back. She knew what had just taken place. Oh the fear of having a loved one know more about the truth. Truly something to be afraid right? Oh Applejack, if only I could feel the anxiety you were feeling. It would be identical to the emotions I felt when Our Village collapsed on itself.

"Ya gonna sit or what?" Granny Smith chastised Applejack.

"What? Oh...yeah."

The farmer took her hat off and sat at the table, next to Apple Bloom and across from Big Mac. She started to eat hesitantly. After her first bites, we all started the meal. The greens and apples were tasty. It was a fine meal indeed. It was the sort of food I had not eaten in years. Fresh food. 

The first five minutes were only covered by the noise of chewing. No words were uttered. Applejack kept glancing at me and then at her sister. Our eyes met several times and most of the meetings ended up with her looking away instantly. Her brother seemed completely calm as he ate with a stoic demeanor. 

"So where ya from, youngin'?" Granny asked me to end the silence.

"Up northeast. Just south of the mountains."

"Oh? That some far away land. Ya came all the way down here?"

"I guess I could not stay away from civilization for so long," I chuckled, "It's awfully cold up there."

"Heh. So what business are ya in? I saw your cutie mark, but I can't really tell what it is." Granny insisted.

Oh, a question on my cutie mark. A thousand stories formed themselves in my mind, all of them far from the truth. I hated lying. However, sometimes I could only lie to keep the peace. I swallowed my food and answered carefully.

"It's a stargazing cutie mark. Yes, it looks different from most, but that's what it is. The star is for well, stars. The green wisp is for the auras that go across the sky that up north. Not much of a special talent, I know."

"It sounds wonderful," Granny nodded, "Being a great apple baker can get boring sometimes, but hey, I make it work! I've always been fascinated in the stars. Sometimes I just watch him on a summer night."

"And you can do so without a stargazing cutie mark," I remarked.

"Ya sound sad about ya mark. Not what ya wanted?" Granny seemed sympathetic.

"No, it wasn't. Never been one to stargaze. My interests fall under..." I turned to Applejack, "Sociology."

"Wow! Miss Cheerilee talked about soc...whatever last week! She said it was cool stuff."

I smiled at the child. "And it is. Learning about how ponies form their thoughts. Keep their thoughts. Decide what's wrong and what's right. And also denying what's right for their own gains or believes. It's fascinating to study pony behavior and how they perceive the world around them."

"Does it go into the stuff about cutie marks?"

"Especially cutie marks."

Applejack coughed. "Alright! That's a...mighty fascinating, Miss Glimmer. So...Uhh...How 'bout the Wonderbolts? They came here last week to do some race. Rainbow was very happy to see them again."

Her change of topic was amusing. I could see the sweat on her fur, certainly not gained from the work she did outside. I could some desperate attempt at straying away from the topics I discussed most. However, she had forgotten how broad equality is.

"Ah, your athletes who show themselves off for money and attention," I huffed, "Certainly a great change of topic, Applejack."

This was my way of telling her that I knew exactly what she was doing. Applejack gulped and glanced at each of her family members before looking at me. It was the kind of look one would give another when they went too far. 

"Now, Miss Glimmer, ya don't wanna start anything. Ya just a helper remember?" Applejack tried to brush off my growing hostility.

"Applejack! That's no way to talk to a guest!" Granny grunted.

"She's right," I pointed at the grandmother while facing Applejack.

""C'mon Miss Glimmer, it was going well so far," Applejack sighed.

I opened my mouth to respond, but remained silent. The path that I was traveling would eventually lead to all in the room knowing who I was and probably an oral battle. They knew my name, but it had not clicked in them yet that I was the one Applejack faced in Our Village. Any previous knowledge of me, though false, would rise quickly to the surface. It could ruin the image I had shaped for them already, especially Apple Bloom's. I closed my mouth and nodded.

"Of course, Applejack," I said simply.

I refrained from speaking about such things again. It was hard to not voice my opinions on every topic that flew by, but I did so with my usual smile. Apple Bloom flooded me with petty questions, like what I liked to do, what hobbies I had, or what it was like back at home. I answered the last question with a rather truthful description of Our Village, much to Applejack's disapproval. Apparently all that she said about letting me be myself since they had "villains" here before were all air as she prevented me from straying too close to the topic of equality or anything that would lead to the topic itself. 

When we finished lunch, Applejack escorted me outside because we still had some chores to do. Once outside however, her smile faded. I expected some sort of chastising on my behavior, but none came as she placed a hoof on my shoulder.

"So what ya tell Bloom?" she asked rather casually.

"Nothing much. Well, not much that you didn't hear."

"Ya know Starlight, Twilight told me what ya tried to do to her and her friends."

I shrugged her hoof off in aggravation. "You act like I tried to poison them."

She started to walk away and I followed. "Ya did. They have dreams ya know. It seems like you wanna kill those dreams."

"You can't have a nightmare if you never dream," I reminded her, "They dream of getting their cutie marks. It's a worthless endeavor and they will regret it. I'm only trying to help-"

"Well, ya not!" Applejack hissed, "Starlight, think of what "helping" actually is. I know you think ya perfect in your mind, but ya not. You know that you could be wrong right?"

"If I can be wrong, so can you," I replied, "Have you ever thought that?"

"I do. And I know that what ya teach is jus' foolish. There's been no evidence for your claims. There's no reason why you act like ya do."

"Evidence? Evidence? Reason! I....I...."

I felt like punching that farmer's lip until it was black. Evidence? I had all the evidence in the world. I've seen ponies lead miserable lives because they earned the wrong cutie mark. Mistakes happen because they try to forge their own destines. Cutie marks were the evil that indulged themselves in ponies' lives. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were evidence of that! These fillies were spending their whole life chasing something as hurtful as a cutie mark. Cutie marks restricted ponies. Cutie marks tore ponies apart as they screamed their differences to the world! The question should not be "where is the evidence?" but "where is there not evidence?"

Reason, I had reason. I was enlightened with this truth that everypony else denied. Everypony believed themselves the top of the world, and thus could not see they were all equal. I was blessed to have the discernment to see this. I saved my ego just before it became of average size. Ponies are arrogant! Ponies are ignorant! Ponies are misguided by the society they live in. The same society that promotes diversity and the like. There is no diversity! We are all ponies! This was my purpose: to show ponies that they had never experienced happiness. Equality leads to happiness. I did what I did to help them see the light.

Applejack heard none of these words. All she saw was my distorted face and only heard my grumblings. My breathing became shallow as I stomped about. The farmer watched me with curious eyes as I basically showed her how upset I was. Of course, it was not a tantrum as I would never become that childish. 

"Really?" I shouted incredulously, "How? How can I ever tell you guys the truth if you keep denying my words? If I were Wisdom Incarnate, you still wouldn't listen to me! What is a visionary like me supposed to do? 

"Starlight..."

"No! No! I know what you're doing. You don't want to understand. I get it. You and your family have a good life out here. Your cutie marks did you well. You don't care about the rest out there who suffer because of their blasted marks! I get it. Just like the rest, you only look out for yourself."

"Starlight..."

"You'll see that I'm right. Apple Bloom is going to get her mark, and she'll be disappointed in it. Someone is always disappointed. It'll haunt her. You'll see. Her friends will split up since she was gained it first. She'll flaunt it and act like she loves it, but the truth will be that she hates it!"

"...Miss Glimmer?"

I turned to see Apple Bloom staring at me with wide eyes. She looked scared and worried. There was not doubt she was listening to our conversation as we were not far from the house. I parted my mouth as I gazed at her guiltily.

"I am sorry, Apple Bloom. You heard all that, didn't you?"

She merely nodded. The last thing I wanted to do was upset the filly. I already regretted lashing out at Applejack when in close proximity to the young girl. Applejack breathed heavily through her nostrils as I stumbled over my words.

"I....Uh...I should not have....have yelled at your sister."

These words were hollow to her. I could not stand the look on her face and turned away. I did not know exactly why I cared about how feelings at the moment. I saw some of myself in the filly at that time. Those eyes were so familiar. Not being able to think of anything else to say, I started to walk away. Applejack started to follow, her eyebrows tight across her face.

"Now ya see what ya did? Ya scared her!"

"Yes, I realize that!" I hissed back before quieting down, "Can I go back to Twilight?"

"I don't see why not. Why?"

"I...I just don't feel great. That's all."

"Alright. We didn't get everything done, but I can do it myself. Come on."

She gestured for me to follow. I risked a glance back at where Apple Bloom was standing, but she was no where to be found. She must of went back inside. I sighed a long sigh, making the farmer glance at me with curiosity. 

"What's with ya all of a sudden?" she asked.

"I didn't want to upset your sister. I hope I did not go too far by threatening her future. It's one thing to encourage her to cease chasing her cutie mark; it's another to condemn her prematurely."

"So even ya got boundaries? Heh," Applejack huffed.

"I know you perceive me as a monster. I don't go about trying to ruin every ponies' lives through shear malevolence. I want you to understand that I am not evil. I made the filly upset and that was not my intention."

"Well, ya can do better about it."

I sighed. "I know you may look at this like I am becoming "soft" or something. The truth is, I have always cared for the feelings of others. It's the reason I do this. If I was power-hungry like you believe I am, I wouldn't care for how ponies felt."

Applejack did not respond as we walked away from the farm. She did not believe my words. How typical. I could not remember the rest of that day. All I knew was that I was going to be with the pompous Rarity tomorrow. That meant seeing Sweetie Belle, I hoped. All I could do the rest of the day was hope that my words were not too much for young Apple Bloom. I would have never confronted a filly or colt with those words of condemnation. They could work for a mark-bearing adult, but never for such a sweet and innocent child. If I wanted to instruct this young generation about the ways of equality, I needed to be more careful. 

Twilight, Applejack, and I had a quick discussion when we arrived back at the castle. The farmer, surprisingly, put the day in good light. She said I helped and did my work with diligence. She also said that my interaction with others could improve. Like she knew how to interact with ponies. Applejack did not mention the end with Apple Bloom, much to my silent approval. I assumed she rather take of her sister by herself than let the princess do it for her. I remained silent throughout the report like I was some student and Applejack was a teacher explaining my grades to a parent. Although, it was far less frightening. Unlike a parent, I had no fear of Twilight.

Twilight's comrades held Ponyville in their tight grasp, telling everypony to be different. The denizens would see me as a lunatic. Trust was needed before I made my bold moves. Yes, I must realize that my plans were not always going to be precise and effective. My only tool was my tongue and I needed to sharpen it. The best way to sharpen a tongue was by using it, and using it to gain trust and respect. Trust and respect...



=

> Day Three: Contradiction (Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I wiped a tear away from with my right leg that was crusted with mud. The night sky watched me sob with its usual indifference. Stars blinked at me without a care or even a hint of understanding. The light wind gently flew through my loose mane and whispered some sympathy that I could barely hear. An occasional hoot from an owl or a bark from a Desert Coyote broke the surrounding silence. 

There were many questions that burned in the back of my mind. However, none were coherent. I was sad, I was miserable, I was depressed, all without knowing why. One of my tears slipped by my chipped hooves and pelted the dry ground with an echoing drop that disturbed the land so much that it gave me a start. I lifted my leg up in irrational fright. I felt like I had made a blunder and was expecting nature to retaliate at any moment.

"Star? Are you out here again?" a worried voice fluttered through the tranquil air.

I did not reply. The voice was soothing to my ears and made me tingle from muzzle to tail. I loved that voice deeply. I took a deep breath as heavy hoofsteps approached me. I kept my head low, too ashamed to look up at anything or anyone. As the sounds of a pony walking became louder, I became quieter. Soon the hoofsteps stopped right next to me.

"You always come out here when you're upset. So what happened today?" the voice asked with overflowing gentleness.

"They called me a blank flank again. I didn't get my cutie mark today neither," I replied with a quiver.

"Again? They just tease ya, Star. You shouldn't let them bother you."

"How? I'm the last one of my class to not have a cutie mark. Am I ever going to get one?" I asked with a sniffle.

"Of course," the voice chuckled lightly, "if ya keep chasing it like you are now, you'll get it no doubt."

"You said you were the first in your class to get a cutie mark."

"Indeed I was, pumpkin," the voice laughed, "Indeed I was."

"Then why am I last?"

"Because your mark is gonna be the most special of all," the voice assured me.

"You think so?" I smiled at the thought.

"Yeah I do. When you get your mark, it'll blow them away."

"Wow! I can't wait for that!" I gasped at the mental image of getting my cutie mark.

The voice huffed joyfully. "Well, ya gotta wait another night at least. It's past ya bed time. Better head in and get some sleep, pumpkin."

"Oh, right! Right away, Papa!"


=


I gently brushed back my mane. I had spent the last half-hour placing my mane in its usual ponytail with only my hooves. Not having my magic was certainly an inconvenience, but I knew very well that I could last. Having an earth pony mother taught me that ponies can easily survive without magic. This statement was proved even further with my previous day at Sweet Apple Acres. I may be a unicorn, but I was still a pony.

A knocking echoed on the door. This time I knew it was the Princess of Friendship waking me up for the day. It would be like her to believe me still asleep as the sun was not even over the horizon yet. I sighed through my nostrils. I could already tell it was going to be a long day.

"Come in," I said simply.

A magical aura wrapped itself around the handle and the door swung open. Twilight entered with her usual smile. Her eyes sparkled with her supposed cunning. I answered her smile with a shallow frown and disinterested eyes. 

"Good morning Starlight. How'd you sleep?" Twilight asked cheerfully.

"When will you give me back my magic?" I returned sharply.

"I slept well too, wait what?" Twilight paused in confusion. "Your magic?"

"Yes, my magic. I am a unicorn. I do magic. I'm sure you understand," I mocked.

Twilight darted her eyes across the room. Her anxious lips quivered slightly as she thought of something to say. I had noticed that Twilight was quick to worry and slow to recover from the worry. The "Don't think and just do" slogan was obviously foreign to her.  I always admired those who questioned their world and sought answers, but Twilight only sought problems instead. I used to be this way until I found out that leadership was built on more than just thinking and commanding.

"Why do you need your magic?" Twilight tried to play innocent.

"You know very well why. Is dictating my abilities part of her reforming plan?"

"No..."

"Then why do you keep coming into my room at night just to cast an anti-magic spell on me?"

"Because....." Twilight's face hardened, "Because of what you can do. Do you think I'll just give you back your magic so that you take our cutie marks away? I'm not stupid, Starlight. We have to be able to trust each other before I'm giving it back to you."

"And when will that be? Do you think I can trust you to keep to your word? All this could be some plot to humiliate me! You have me working for your friends and that's it so far. You know that I do not need reforming. I see that you simply want to hold me here as a prisoner to get your revenge on me."

"What? That's....That's ridiculous! All I want to do is help you reenter society as a unicorn and not some dictator. It's time for you to reconsider your ways. From what Applejack says, I'm starting to think you were sincere in your words back in your village.  This means that all we need to do is change your perspective. Show you that being unique is not wrong."

"That means my thinking is unique. If being unique is not wrong, then my thinking is not wrong."

"Ugh," Twilight facehoofed, "Then you are a hypocrite because you yourself are unique and thus are the very opposite of what you preach. Since we got that out of the way, do you want some breakfast before Rarity arrives?"

"I guess.....I still want my magic back."

"We'll negotiate it later. Come on."

She made a sharp turn and exited the room. I childishly mimicked her movements behind her back. This made her pause and look back at me suspiciously. I reacted in time to give her an innocent smile which made her continue down the hall. I didn't want to seem like a follower, so I sped up my pace until I was equal with her. Twilight raised a brow but said nothing.

We traversed the empty hallways in no time. A sweet smell entered my nostrils as we approached the dining room. Twilight opened the door with her magic. Upon entering I saw the dragon fledgling whistling a tune while placing colorful boxes on the crystal table. All the boxes said "Joe's Donuts" on them in ridiculously shaped letters. 

"Donuts?" I inquired.

"Yup. They are sweet round pastries with holes in the middle. They are usually glazed over with vanilla or chocolate and sometimes strawberry icing," Twilight explained.

"I know what a donut is!" I shot back, "Just because I lived in an isolated village does not mean that I lack the knowledge of Equestrian culture. Donuts were here long before you or me."

"Oh...right. Sorry," she tried to seem apologetic.

"You know, if you keep standing there, there may not be any donuts left," the dragon hinted.

Twilight gazed at his hungry face. She knew what he meant and levitated the boxes a few inches farther from where he stood. Without a word she walked over to the table. I raised a brow before joining her. There were far too many boxes of the treats for just the three of us. I assumed some were for the fanciful mare who was arriving soon. Twilight gestured for me to sit down while she herself sat in one of the crystal chairs. I obliged without much thought.

"I think you bought too many," I said and pointed at the stacked boxes.

"You may think that, but when you have a baby dragon, you can never be sure," she replied with a giggle.

"I've never seen this much food..." I muttered under my breath.

"What was that?" Twilight asked with her ears facing me.

"Er...nothing. Nothing. I just wonder why you purchase so much food for your own enjoyment while others struggle to get rations."

"Starlight, I am simply feeding Spike. He wanted donuts this morning, so I thought we could all have some. I am quite knowledgeable on the issues of starvation that have struck certain areas of Equestria. I do not eat to spite them or anything like that. Just to make sure I don't starve myself. Also, I have helped Joe not starve by trading money for his treats so that he can purchase what he needs."

"If you are so knowledgeable, why don't you do anything about them?"

"We do. Princess Cadance has plenty of organizations built to aid those in need. Just because we ourselves are not out there does not mean we aren't playing our part. If we were always out there, there would be nopony to lead the nation. We may be alicorns, but that does not mean we can do everything."

"Starlight, eat a donut," the dragon passed a box to me.

"Yes, you should. Rarity may not give you something so delicious. She cares a little too much about weight gain," Twilight giggled.

"I should not gorge myself," I said in protest.

"No need to. Just eat what you want. Nopony is forcing you to eat. You're just a hungry pony that I'm trying to feed, so I'm being generous," a sly smile formed on the princess's lips.

The dragon started to stuff his face with the pastries. Twilight levitated one to her muzzle and gently began to chew it, trying to be regal all the while. I hesitantly looked at the box before me. I won't lie, it smelled and looked delicious. The strong scent floating into my being, telling every part of my body to eat and be happy. In Our Village, such food would be split evenly among the ponies. None got more, none got less. However, it seemed like a free-for-all here. 

My stomach growled. I lifted a hoof and opened the box, letting even more of the smell punch me across the face. It felt wrong, but then again, I was hungry. I picked one pastry up carefully. It was soft and warm in my grasp. Might as well eat it, I thought. My mouth opened and I was about to take a bit when...

"Good heavens! You can't eat that! You'll feel terrible by noon."

The donut in my hooves was levitated out of my hands by a dark blue aura. I bit down on air as it left my grasp. The treat floating back in the box and the magic pushed the box away from me. My head turned slowly to see the mare who did this.

Rarity stood there proudly, every ounce of her body, immaculate. Her flowing mane was as showy and gaudy as usual. Her sapphire eyes peered at me with confidence. It was the very opposite of Applejack's humble demeanor. I scowled at her for many reasons. Although the most recent of stealing my food was the only one that formed in my mind.

"Good morning, Twilight. Spike too. I have arrived to complete my mission!" she announced.

"Hello Rarity. Want to join breakfast?" Twilight politely asked.

"I'm sorry darling, but I simply can't do that. You see, I have eaten my breakfast already. Thank goodness Sweetie didn't cook before I awoke. I've had enough of her "orange juice." So I have come prepared for the patient."

"Patient?" I growled, "Do you think I'm mentally ill?"

"Don't worry, we all do," she said in a matter-of-fact manner, "Now Twilight, what say you?"

Twilight glanced around, "Uh...I guess you can take her? She hasn't eaten."

"No issue. I'm sure we have leftovers at the Boutique," Rarity brushed it off with a graceful wave of her hoof.

"Can I please stay?" I begged Twilight, "She's terrible."

"Starlight," Twilight became firm, "You are going to spend the day with Rarity. This isn't about whether you like it or not. This is about you two getting to know each other."

"Even though I know everything about you," Rarity huffed at me.

"No you don't!" Twilight snapped at her before returning to me. "She isn't bad, trust me."

"I hope so..." I muttered.

"Come along, Miss Glimmer. I have a busy week ahead of me with the recent influx of clients. Your help is much needed at the Boutique."

"Straight to the point today, aren't you?" Twilight seemed flustered.

"Of course, darling. You know that I am an early riser and a hard worker. When there are things to be done, I do not waste time!"

Twilight's ears went flat. It was clear she was both confused and frustrated by Rarity's behavior. The pompous unicorn smiled innocently at the princess, but it did not work on the latter. My eyes darted between both of them. Some hope that Twilight may cancel my visit to the Boutique rose inside me. It was lost when Twilight's face softened to its usual chirpy state.

"Well, alright. As long as you are nice to Starlight, everything should be fine. You may take her," she gestured at me.

"I refuse!" I promptly demanded.

"Tough luck," Twilight chuckled, "I mean....It won't be bad. You two are unicorns and must have plenty in common. I doubt it will be hard for you two to get along."

"Twilight is right, my dear. Now, I'll supply you with a healthy breakfast instead of those...things," Rarity gagged.

Rarity's magical aura engulfed me and dragged me out of my chair. I was starting to miss Applejack as I was pulled through the hallways by the arrogant mare. Rarity started to giggle in excitement as she skipped across the castle. I could only cross my legs and scowl at her all the while.

"Oh, a mare like you needs to be educated in the ways of fashion. I remember all too well those nasty cloaks everypony wore. I certainly hope that wasn't your idea. It probably was not since you did not wear any yourself. Oh, and you keep your mane in that simple ponytail. A mare like yourself is still young enough to explore with your mane. You have lovely colors and a gorgeous highlight. I can work with that. I'll show you how fashion can show..." she blabbered on.

"Why couldn't Celestia throw me in a dungeon?" I complained.


=


The first moment of silence happened when we arrived at her home and business. The silence was no longer than two seconds, but even that relieved me. Rarity gently placed me down with her magic. It was fantastic that I could use my legs again and not simply float like I did through the town. I had been treated with many confused stares along the way.

"Starlight, welcome to Carousel Boutique! Please, make yourself at home. I'll cook up some eggs."

With that, she promptly opened the door and allowed me to enter first. The inside was just as decorated as the outside. Drapes, embroidered whatevers, and a whole lot of completely irrelevant items were carefully placed in every corner. It was a mess, but the not the ugly type of messes, the more self-imposed type of messes where one wants everything and gets everything despite not having a place for it. 

"And you can afford all this?" I blurted out.

"Of course," she said casually, "I am one of the most premiere fashion designers in Equestria and the number one designer from Ponyville. Though that's because I am the only designer in this town. Never mind. Ahem, my business is known throughout Canterlot and my clients are some of the richest nobles to behold. So yes, everything you see I have bought or created myself. Well, except for the building because my father built that."

"So this is all just a display of wealth?"

"Oh, I knew you would bring that up," she snorted, "No, Starlight, the majority of what you see is quite necessary for my business. I am terribly sorry if this place is not "equal" enough for you," she forced the last sentence out.

"I didn't expect it to be my taste. I just never been in such a place like this that's not owned by royalty."

"Well, I do my best to imitate. It makes Canterlotians feel at home," Rarity nodded.

She turned and walked into what appeared to be the kitchen. I was left in the large room. The soulless ponnequins stared at me creepily. I saw my reflection in the large mirror that sat behind a round stage. My mane had been rustled during the forceful magical dragging I had to endure. 

Rarity cleared her throat to get my attention. With a gesture of her hoof from the doorway, she told me to come in the kitchen. I blinked a couple of times before going into the room. She smiled at me until I was all the way in. Suddenly, her magic wrapped itself around the doorknob and she slammed it shut. 

Her mood had changed dramatically. Before I could react, she had levitated a silver fork up to my throat. I scrambled back against the wall as she pressured me further. Her breathing became loud and her nostrils flared. Her large eyes scowled at me threateningly.

"I know who you expect to see here, Starlight," she hissed, "You will not get close to my little sister. Do not think Applejack warned me. She told me how you spoke to Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle informed me of how you spoke to her when you first visited Ponyville. Watching foals play? Despicable I say! I see you have indeed lost the courage to spread your vile message to adults! You only target the young and naive now."

"Rarity, I have not harmed your sister at all," I defended myself, which only made the fork sink deeper into neck. "It's her choice to accept my teachings or not. I only gave her my opinion. You cannot see wrong in that."

"Her choice? I would believe the words if your actions would support it! I know you. You just want this world to be equalized in your mad vision!"

I swatted the fork away, making it land front first in the polished floor, much to Rarity's disapproval. She gasped at her now ruined floor before grunting and returning her hate-filled eyes upon me. She tried to appear intimidating, but her well-groomed mane and make-up did not help her. I stood tall before her.

"You know nothing of me. Do you really think that by spending a couple of days in Our Village will show you everything about me? It should have, if you were listening. But you can't listen, Miss Rarity. Arrogance is like loud banging on your head and all quiet and respectable thoughts cannot raise their voices enough for you to hear it! You walked in my village like the wealthy mare you are. Because of that, you turned down my message! Because of that, you could not see the fruits of equality. Because of that, you stand here trying to "reform" me when you know very well that I need no reforming."

"How dare you!" she shot back, "Arrogance may be a trait I am known for, but that does not make me blind to what you teach. Your vision is clear: make everypony the same and treated the same. It may sound wonderful, but the execution of it is absolutely dreadful. You force ponies to follow you. I have learned from following Twilight that followers must be earned through friendship. And believe me, it's easier than what you do."

"Friendship? Our Village was nothing but friendship! Friends who oppose each other, try to beat each other, try to earn more friends by saying what the others want to hear, are not friends at all. Friends are those who share your troubles with you and do not bicker, complain, or treat another better or worse."

Rarity paused. "Well, when you put it like that, then yes, those are friends too. However, friends do argue. Applejack and I are proof of this. I would jump off a small cliff for her any day, but we agree on far less than what we disagree on. Arguing is nothing wrong, Starlight. Opinions differ from pony to pony. And in the end, those differences are trivial."

"You may think that. You may think that. Even the closest of friends....or spouses.... can be wrecked by arguments. Small ones turn to big ones. Grudges last longer than forgiveness. If we are equal, we would have nothing to argue about and thus there would be no arguments."

"Darling, there had to be arguments in Our Village. It's impossible otherwise."

"We were not perfect, but we were happy. We forgave. We forget and move on in hope that it would not happen again. I was merciful when arguments arose. I taught them to stop their bickering."

"Merciful?" Rarity laughed, "You are insane when you think locking a pony up in a house without food, water, or proper plumbing is merciful."

The door swung open, silencing both of us. Our eyes darted to the doorway as Sweetie Belle entered the room, humming a tune. Rarity became horrified instantly. The little unicorn had her eyes closed and she did not see me at first, but when she glanced my way, a bright smile formed on her face.

"It's the traveler!" she squeaked.

Rarity placed herself between us. "Hm, yes, it is, Sweetie. Didn't you already have your breakfast?" She gave her sister a fake smile as nervous sweat gently rolled down from her temples.

"No. Opal took my food when I went upstairs. She threw it out the window too! So I came back down for more," Sweetie explained.

"Alright. I told you not to come down here," Rarity leaned in.

"I know," Sweetie said casually, "I know you don't like me around when you have clients."

"I'm not a client," I spoke.

Rarity stared daggers at me when I said this, much to my delight. I mockingly shrugged my shoulders at her. I loved to seize such opportunities before my opponent could react. Sweetie eyed her sister suspiciously, her young mind churning with the contradictory information.

"You said you were having a client..."

"Uh, she canceled her appointment," Rarity explained hastily.

"Or that there was never a client in the first place," I glanced out the window casually.

"Rarity? What's going on?" Sweetie questioned slowly.

"Um...I guess I just misinformed you. There's nothing going on at all," Rarity gulped.

"My, my, what a terrible liar you are," I muttered. "And to your sister as well."

"Rarity?"

"Ahem, this is Starlight Glimmer. Twilight wanted me to watch for the day," Rarity said in defeat.

"Starlight? Like the one from Our Village?" Sweetie gasped.

"At your service," I bowed.

The reaction I received bothered me as much as it confused me. Sweetie screamed in terror and ran out of the kitchen like she had just seen a demon, or worse. My eyes widened as I watched her flee. I could not comprehend it. She must have known my name from the lies of Rarity and the Princesses. It was the only reason.

Rarity huffed. "Good job, as Rainbow Dash would say."

"I...What?"

"You are a monster, Starlight," Rarity said monotonously. "You strike fear into the good ponies of Equestria now. How could one that strikes such fear go about thinking she does not need reform or a change of ways?"

"I'm not a monster! I would never want to hurt another, especially a filly! You have turned me into a monster with your lies! I am a victim of your false friendship and your corrupted harmony. I....I can't see why you would do something like that."

"Starlight. You are so stubborn..."

I pushed her out of my way and ran at the door. My tail was engulfed by her magic and I was dragged back to her. I needed to reach Sweetie. So her that I am not a monster. With a quick swipe of my hoof, I hit Rarity's horn, disabling her magic temporarily. This was all I needed as I rushed out of there and ran upstairs. I could hear the little hoofsteps down the hall. Since I had the superior speed and quickness, I soon caught up with her before she entered her room. The filly did not look back as her green magic took hold of the door and slammed it. I was quick enough to place my leg in its way, but it cost me.

"Owww...." I moaned.

"Get away!" Sweetie screamed.

The door flew back and slammed itself again on my leg. I tried to hold in the pain by only grimacing. I place my other leg in the way and began to forcibly open it. If only I had my magic, I groaned mentally. The filly backed herself against the wall on the other side of the room.

"Sweetie, I'm not a villain. I'm the same traveler that spoke to you on the playground. You saw that I was friendly, kind, and polite. I'm not here to harm you at all."

"You want to control me! You can brainwash ponies." she shouted.

"I do nothing of the sort!" I accidentally raised my voice. "I mean, that's not true. All that you've heard about me is lies. Your sister and I have had a less-than-pleasant interaction in my hometown. It's just misunderstanding."

"Rarity!" the filly screeched.

"Sweetie, listen. Remember what I told you. You know, about the cutie marks? That was what Rarity and I disagreed on. We argued. I...I got a little carried away in the end. It's all good now. It's all..."

I felt my breath be taken away. A forceful grip was around my throat and I could not speak anymore. I was being choked by Rarity's magic as she was now standing behind me. At first, I thought the mare would release me, but the choking continued and I felt my body tense up. My eyes started to bulge out and my heart beat faster and faster out of my chest. 

"You have the audacity to go after my little sister," Rarity growled. "Twilight was right about you being dangerous."

"Rarity, let her go!" Sweetie opened the door and stared at her sister valiantly.

"I was never going to choke her to death," Rarity released me.

I fell to the floor as I inhaled the most refreshing oxygen I had ever experienced. I leaned on the wall of the hallway, in between the two sisters. Rarity was not heeding me as she stared at Sweetie with concern while Sweetie stared back determinedly. 

"Are you alright Sweetie?" Rarity asked sincerely.

"Yeah. But is she alright?" the filly pointed at me.

"I've had worse," I said between gasps.

"Starlight," Rarity looked at me, "downstairs. Now."

"She can stay here," Sweetie protested.

"What? She just chased you," Rarity said incredulously.

"No, she was trying to explain herself," the filly corrected.

"Rarity, I was not..."

"Quiet!" Rarity cut me off.

"Miss Glimmer can't be as bad you say," Sweetie said.

"Sweetie, you don't know what you are saying. Starlight locked me up! Took my cutie mark! She even tried to take my mark permanently!"

"And yet she talked with us like we were friends," Sweetie retorted. "You guys probably just got her bad side."

The best action to take was to simply sit there and let them argue. Rarity had already shut me up once, she would no doubt do so again. I did not even finish my story to the child and yet she was on my side. It was relieving to me after what happened with Apple Bloom. These fillies need coaching, explanations, and above all, care, in order to be made followers of equality. 

"Sweetie Belle. You know far too little to make such a judgement. Let Big Sis handle this," Rarity ordered.

"No! Miss Glimmer is our guest. You of all ponies should know how to be hospitable to a guest."

"Fine! Have it your way! Go get some tea from downstairs.," Rarity commanded coldly.

Sweetie Belle smiled and did as she was told, leaving Rarity and I in the hallway. She watched her sister leave and then glared at me with those bright eyes of hers. She pressed a smooth hoof into my beating chest. 

"I don't know how in Equestria you did what you just did. She was terrified of you just moments ago. Now this? Preposterous! You manipulative fiend. We are going to have some mid-morning tea. If you make another move on my sister, I'll rip your mane out and feed it to you."

"You're no Celestia," I chuckled. "You don't scare me."

I felt a tug on my mane. Rarity's horned glowed and I knew what she was doing instantly. With a sharp pain, several strands of my mane were pulled out. The lime green hair was then levitated to my eyes, showing me what she had just done.

"You are right. I'm no Celestia. I'm far worse than her," Rarity snarled.

"Understood," I nodded.

"Now go down and have tea with us."

I arose and walked down the hall. With the choking still fresh in my mind, I did not want to upset the mare anymore. I could feel her eyes on me as I descended the curving stairs. It just occurred to me that I still had not eaten breakfast. Rarity was starving me now. Maybe it was her plan? I shook my head at it. Rarity couldn't form a plan like that. She was just running on emotion. 

We entered the kitchen where Sweetie had set up the tea. The white and gold china was neatly arranged on the table. The filly was already in one of the four chairs that surrounded the table. Without a word, I took up one of the chairs and moving the blue tablecloth that draped on the seat out of my path. Rarity took her seat with great care, and unlike me, did not rustle the tablecloth at all.

Sweetie carefully levitated the tea and poured it into our small cups. I could see the effort she had to place in her novice magic as her tongue has hanging out in concentration. A filly of her age should have no problem with magic, I observed. Magic came to me rather quickly in my youth. Her sister seemed competent in magic as well, though not as much as I or Twilight of course.

I took the warm tea cup with my hooves, much to the filly's confusion. She took a sip of her tea before putting it down slowly.

"Why don't you use your magic? You are a unicorn," she observed.

"Well, Twilight took my magic away. She, like your sister, see me as a threat," I decided to end there as Rarity stared at me coldly.

"We didn't want what happened in Our Village to reoccur," Rarity chimed. "The cutie mark removal process is something I rather not go through again."

"Would you take my sister's cutie mark away?" Sweetie asked me.

"No. I would not overstep my bounds," I said simply.

"A unicorn without magic is hardly a unicorn at all!" Sweetie squeaked.

"Indeed. I miss it. I just....I just can't understand why taking a cutie mark is evil and taking my magic away is alright," I leaned on the table.

"Starlight," Rarity warned me.

"Oh yes, no elbows on the table. I apologize," I took my weight off the table.

"Sweetie, I have plans for our....guest...while she is here. I think we could show her how the fashion business works. As you have probably noticed, Starlight doesn't have much knowledge on the fashion world," the last sentence seemed like a shot at me.

"I'll have you know, I had a fantastic traveling dress and sunhat. It fit me perfectly. Wasn't that right, Sweetie?"

"Yup! It matched her coat well and was for the right season too," Sweetie nodded excitedly.

"Hmph. Well, where is it now?" Rarity persisted.

"I lost it when I was brutalized by the Royal Guards in Canterlot. I guess I deserved it since I resisted arrest," I explained casually.

Rarity spat out her tea in shock. She drew the attention of her sister and giggled innocently. She then placed the cup down and looked at me with blinking eyes.

"Wait. You were beaten by the Guards? Unheard of," she gasped.

"Well, like I said, I did resist arrest. It did not take much for one to punch me right to the ground. Stallion twice as big as me and he just walloped me," my hoof mimicked a punch. "My face bled afterwords, but as you can see, my wounds have healed."

"Then I was dragged to the Palace like some common criminal," I continued cheerfully. "I mean, if I'm the monster you say I am, shouldn't I deserve better? Never mind that. They dragged to Princess Celestia."

"You had an audience with the Princess of the Sun?" Rarity inquired.

"Well, it was more like an interrogation. To put it plainly, she was furious with me. With the tales you six weaved about me, she perceived me as a villain worthy of Tartarus. It tells you how much a lie can do. Well, of course, I defended myself. She wouldn't listen. Not to me of course. She threatened to put me in a dungeon for life. I couldn't handle that. Who could? I begged for her not to do it. I wanted to show her that I wasn't a monster. I'm just a pony that has a different view on the world. In the freedom of Equestria, that should not brand me as evil. She accepted my plea. She's quite merciful if you think about it. She sent me down here to be "reformed" even though I don't need it. I have not changed at all since my first arrival here in Ponyville and here I am giving you two a delightful conversation. I'm here to show Celestia why I'm not evil. I'm just a victim of false information and grave misunderstandings."

"Indeed you are," Rarity said sarcastically.

"Wow, Miss Glimmer, that's terrible!" The younger sister gawked.

"Yes. That's it goes though. Everyone gets bullied once in their lifetime. Oh! How is that bully that you keep encountering, Sweetie Belle? Is she still bugging over cutie marks?" I ventured.

"Well yeah. She never stops. It's just the norm for her to ridicule us these days," was the answer.

"I wish I could help. I'm one to resolve conflicts. However, I know that I should not interact with the school colts and fillies while I am here. Twilight would not approve of such an action," I sighed.

"Starlight..."

"Well, I'm not sure about that, but if Twilight doesn't trust you, then Miss Cheerilee shouldn't either. Though she doesn't need to know about Diamond Tiara," Sweetie rubbed her chin.

"Sweetie!"

"Just think! If you can take a pony's cutie marks away, then you can take hers away! That'll teach her about being a blank flank!" The filly schemed.

"Sweetie, don't use the term, "blank flank" because it's much worse than you may think. No one deserves to be called that," I hissed back before containing myself. "Not even Diamond deserves to be called that."

"Oh, alright," she flopped her ears back in sudden sadness.

"Sweetie," Rarity started up. "I can't believe you will even think of such a thing."

"Well, maybe she wouldn't if her big sister did anything about the bully," I muttered aloud.

I did not mean to say this. It slid out of my mouth like a greased watermelon. I now feared for my scalp. Instead of her tearing my mane off, she simply took her tea and splashed me in the face with the hot liquid. It hurt considerably, but I retained my composure and simply took the pain. Rarity acted like nothing happened and her face was set like stone. Sweetie was the only one who reacted to the scene.

"Rarity! That was uncalled for!" she squeaked at a higher pitch than usual.

"I'm sorry, Sister, but it was," Rarity said flatly. "Starlight just said that I have never aided you with Diamond. She had just assumed she knew better and decided her rude input was necessary. If she is our guest, than I am the hostess and it is improper behavior to insult or criticize the hostess to her face."

"I apologize," I said as I wiped the tea off my muzzle. "I did not mean to offend you."

"Then drink your tea and we shall stop talking. Talking so far has only made our already bad relationship worse. I shall plan the schedule for this afternoon. Maybe work and customers will get our minds off of this horrendous morning."

"I heartily agree," I took a sip of my now cool tea.

"I hope that will not be the only thing we agree on after this," Rarity mused.

"Well it is not. Because I agree with on that hope as well."

"You silver-tongued fiend." She whispered with a smile.

"You arrogant drama queen." I whispered back with the same smile.

"Guys....Be mature..."


=

> Contradiction (Part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Double Diamond...What are we going to do with you?"

"Starlight please!"

"No, no, no, no. I have been patient with you for so long. All you've done is make life harder for all of us. No more begging, no more arguing, no more...of you. There must be some way for you to see the light. I won't stop until you do. You see, if I didn't love you like a brother, I would cast you out in the desert. Leave you in the snow of the mountains. But I care for you far more than you do for me. I can't let you suffer in your willingness to stick with the old society. You have wasted your whole life as a skier. Always showing off to everyone, especially yourself. I can't believe you still wish to ski like that. I guess that is my fault. I have not drilled equality into you hard enough."

I rubbed my aching temples in frustration. It had been a long day. Make that a long week. Ever since Double Diamond followed me into Our Village, he had been nothing but trouble. Sometimes he tried to runaway, sometimes he argued for his cutie mark back, and other times he was just a ruckus for the village. 

He whimpered pathetically as I pinned him to the wall of my house with my magic. I never had this much trouble with a new follower. Never. I flared my nostrils and snorted loudly. Tears rolled down his face as he cried like a foal before me. I growled at him and pinned him harder against the wood paneling. 

"Oh quiet! All this pain is self-imposed. You keep feeling so sorry for yourself. It's disgusting!"

"Starlight, I'm sorry," he cried.

"No, you are not! I've heard you say those very words seven times now! I'm not stupid or naive. I know you did everything on purpose and you lie to me now."

He did not reply as he hung his head low. I started to pace around the dark room. I had closed all the curtains to prevent the other residents from looking in. I wanted privacy. They never took to liking whenever I punished a free-thinker. I was fine with that as they should not enjoy another's pain, but they must realize its necessity. Without discipline, they would never learn, they would never grasp the concept of equality. I had to guide their weary minds to the vision of Our Village. Sometimes a stick was the best guide. 

"I have never had a pony as stubborn as you in Our Village," I muttered. "Most either see my message or after some persuasion accept equality. Some choose equality once the cutie mark is gone. You have done none of those. None! You've been here for a week now, without your cutie mark, and with all your friends here as well, and you still haven't come close to seeing my vision."

"I have no friends here. Starlight, I don't belong here. Can't you let..."

"No! You have friends here. Every single smile out there is your friend. Those are your friends. They want to be your friend. I want to be your friend, but it must be mutual. All you need to do is be my friend and all the troubles will go away. You belong here. You followed me here."

"You took me!"

"You followed me here. It was on your own terms. We gave you what you wanted: food, bed, and company. Those were your terms. You must realize, Double Diamond, that you don't simply leave here. Not in your state of mind. You're unfit for travel and certainly less ft to spread the message. Besides, it's far too early to start equality around Equestria. They aren't ready. All you will do is spread suspicion with your new cutie mark. They will ask you questions that you cannot answer. One slip of your rugged tongue and they'll swarm here and take all this away. I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend my life in a dungeon because Princess Celestia mistook my message of equality!"

I shook my head and released his legs of my magic. Like I predicted, he took the opportunity to run for the door. I grabbed him with my magic and slammed him to the ground. It pained me to do such a thing to him, but I forced myself to remain stern for his sake. 

"I didn't say you could leave," I told him.

He got up quickly and charged at me. I was quick to wrap my magic around his throat and lifted him in the air. He gasped for air and waved his legs about as I hung him there. With a sigh, I simply shook my head in disappointment.

"You know, I think I know what to do now. Simply telling you about equality will solve nothing. Something else must be done. There is a vacant house at the end of the row. We built it wrong and thus it only has one room. Windows are too small and the door jams quite a bit. It's a thick door too, far thicker than the others. I'm going to put you in there. You'll be in there until you accept my vision! No food, no water, no toilet breaks! And all you will hear, day and night, shall be my voice. I have some magic-powered recorders in the closet. I'll play my best slogans over, and over, and over again. You won't come out until you see my plan. Everypony will know you're in there too. I won't let them talk to you, aid you, or even look at you through the window. This is how it will be done from now on. If I pick up any ponies like you in the future, they shall end up in that house. I hope, I pray, and desperately wish that you'll come out like a new stallion, reborn in equality."


=


"You make your dresses with gems? Isn't that expensive?"

"Well, not when your cutie mark lets you find gems."

"Ah yes, because a cutie mark can make one life easier and one life harder. There's fairness in that, right?"

Rarity resorted to ignoring me as she made the blue night dress. I did not appreciate the tactic, but I decided to go along with it peacefully. She was a pony who was easily upset. I had no real reason to fear her, but why aggravate her? She was one of the six that destroyed my life's work, but she was also Sweetie's older sister. Sisters have such strong attachments and if I sever them too quick, they may affect more than just them.

"Miss Glimmer, would you bring the measuring tape to me from other there?" Rarity asked curtly.

"You have the magic," I replied.

"Yes, but I am trying to get you involved. Would you please retrieve it?" she pointed a hoof at the tape.

I nodded and walked over to it. The tape was white and slightly worn from use. I slipped a hoof under it and turned around. Rarity levitated a hundred objects through the air. I had to slide around several fabric rolls and pins. I accidentally poked my flank against one of the pins and jumped with a yelp.

"Gah!"

Rarity glanced at me with a raised brow before returning her attention to the dress. She had removed some of the gems and instead added a silver lacing on the edges. I rubbed my flank while I handed her the tape. She whistled a tune as she took it and spread the tape to my leg, inspected it, and then rolled it up again.

"I hope this dress isn't mine," I muttered.

"Do you see any clients?" Rarity questioned rhetorically.

"If you know me so well, you should know I would never where something so....gaudy," I gestured at it in disgust.

"Gaudy?" Rarity deadpanned, "If this is gaudy, you haven't seen gaudy. Oh, whatever, the customer is always right."

Rarity began to ruffle the dress about and started to sketch a design on a parchment that laid on the small table beside her. I leaned over her shoulder to see what she was drawing. It was a much more simple dress, though still classy in its own right. Sh took noticed of me and pushed me slowly away with a hoof.

"I may be doing this through my generosity, but I do require some personal space," she explained.

"Oh, of course," I backed off.

I did not understand it. Rarity was furious with me just two hours ago and now she was making me a dress? I was skeptical, of course, but there was nothing that showed some other plan under the surface. It was obvious she was doing it reluctantly, but that would suggest somepony told her to make the dress. The only one I could suspect of ordering her to do such an action would be Twilight. That or Sweetie Belle, but they had no private conversation since the tea and the following brunch.

"Is there any particular reason why you are making this dress?" I ventured.

"I started to think for once today. I've realized what you do. You argue, you never talk. So I thought we could do something together and keep our thoughts off anything that may offend the other. Also, I am not making this dress, you are too," was the answer.

"I talk quite a bit! In Our Village, I..."

"Starlight, you are not in your village anymore," Rarity reminded me. "It's easy to be at peace in your home. However, I...I can't start to describe how terribly uncomfortable you are outside your village."

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "Of course I'm uncomfortable. I'm among my enemies. I've lost my only friends. I know that everypony else do not hold my beliefs to be true."

"I understand why, Starlight. I may be inconsiderate towards you at the moment, but the reasons why you would be upset are obvious. I know how it is being among those who don't see eye-to-eye with you and I know how it feels to be cheated, manipulated, and even controlled. I just wanted you to know that we are trying to reform you, not control you or even force you to give up your beliefs."

"Lies. All you've done is give me more pain. You're trying to break me so that you can turn me into a satellite of your friendship propaganda. Well, guess what, you won't ever break me."

"Not again at least..." Rarity muttered casually.

"What are you suggesting?" I crept forward. "You think I've been broken before?"

"Everyone's been broken at one time or another, Starlight," Rarity nodded in self-agreement.

"Ha! Then you once again assume wrongly. Ever since I was a foal, I was strong-willed and determined. I wanted to excel and did."

"To excel is to fail," Rarity said flatly.

"Well, yes. I never said that was a good thing for me," I replied quickly. "I didn't always believe in what I do now. I earned it through my viewings on society and seeing the obvious errors that all seemed blind to."

"You were broken. To form such radical opinions on your own could not come any other way," Rarity stated.

"No, I just saw the blatant wrongs of ponies before everypony else. Scratch that, I wasn't he first to see it, but the first to do something about it."

She returned this with a shrug. Her magic picked up the new sketch of the dress and she displayed it to me. With a raised eyebrow she waited for my conclusion. I shook my head slowly.

"I...I can't wear that," I told her. "To wear something of such worth. It's....It's not like me."

"Forget the cost," she almost whispered.

"Others wear so little. Not only that, it's unnecessary..." I continued.

"It's very necessary, dear."

"...How could I accept it..."

"Easily."

"...It's not equal..."

"I don't care."

She crunched the paper and pitched it into the trashcan. Another paper soon took its place on the table and her black chalk ran across it once more. My ears were far forward as I listened to the chalk lightly scrap along the parchment, making elegant swerves and intricate loops. In little to no time, she displayed another sketch.

It was not simpler than the last but it was of a smooth design. It was more pleasing to my eyes, even if I may have said otherwise. Rarity was an artist, there was no doubt. I could not have had the precision with my magic to guide the chalk like she could. It was almost showing off, but I felt it was unintentional. 

"I guess it's better?" I shrugged.

"Hmph," Rarity grinned, "just as I thought."

Rarity pumped a hoof in the air before regaining her composure and commencing her work. She brought a ponnequin forward and moved the blue dress over to it. She then paused and glanced my way.

"I never asked, but what color do you prefer? I chose blue because it complements your pink fur. Though your personal preference is more important than my opinion."

"Your opinion is no more important than mine," I reminded her.

"Alright." She threw the blue dress away." Then I take back my opinion. It's all your choice. You have free choice and I make it. Fair right?"

"Not exactly..."

"Good! I thought you would say that!" she said quickly.

She ignored my slight protest and awaited my choices. I took a look at all the colored fabrics. Pink, yellow, blue, red, orange, purple, lavender, they were all there. I opened my mouth more than once to select a color, but ended up closing it right after. Rarity seemed very patient with me at the moment. I could only guess she was exercising some sort of restraint. That or she understood my hesitant choosing because she was a fashionista.

"Now that you mention it, the blue does fit me the best," I gave in.

"As you wish."

Rarity brought the blue dress back and began to adjust it accordingly. Like any logical pony I felt suspicious by this change of heart. Yes, she stated she was trying to keep the peace, but we could be doing that in a myriad of other ways. This felt specific to a purpose. A future purpose I wagered.

"Rarity, on what occasion would I even wear this dress? It's too elegant for casual wear," I observed.

"Huh? Oh, don't worry, darling, you'll have a time and place for it," she answered.

"Why the change of heart?" I asked.

She paused and blinked in confusion. I had purposely made the question sudden and out of the blue to increase the chances of her answering it truthfully. Sometimes I could catch ponies off guard and they would answer immediately with their true intent. However, Rarity caught my question as soon as I uttered it and turned around to face me.

"I have not changed heart at all. Things are just quieter at the moment. I do not think my actions earlier were unnecessary or harsh. I was defending my sister; I setting the tone of this household for you. I never wished for Twilight to send you here. In all honesty, I did not want to see you at all. It's Twilight's mad plan that has you here. As a friend, I should help Twilight and thus help with you. However, I know what you are capable of. Twilight thinks she has you under control because she took your magic away. To me, your magic was never the issue. It's your tongue. I've been cheated by those I thought I could trust. They weren't strangers or anything like that either. She was actually an old friend of mine that shared the fashion business with me. She burned me. She stole my work and did with a smile. I'll never forget that. It was my fault that she was able to steal my work. Her words, though much simpler than yours, went right through me. I'll never be tricked like that again."

"So you think I'll trick you?" I questioned.

"No, you already have," she stated.

"When?"

"Your false story of Princess Celestia. Sweetie Belle may believe it, but I know Celestia would never do that. Her letter to us concerning you was heartfelt and sincere. She said you begged to be thrown in a dungeon because you didn't want to see Twilight," Rarity told me.

"Fine. That may have been a lie. Everything else is sincere. You should know that my equal views are sincere. I do believe in what I say. I hope that the cutie mark incident in Our Village would not have you believe otherwise.

"Don't worry, I know you are sincere in that. Applejack told me. I thought you were just some deceiver, but no. I think you just don't know how to execute your plans," she nodded absently.

"My plans? I'm not some power-hungry villain. My plans are visions, and my visions are hope. I hope that Equestria would see what I am trying to accomplish. I hope they see that cutie marks only lead to frustration and bitterness. I hope they see that cutie marks give some ponies a life of wealth and others a life of poverty. That's my plan."

"Perhaps. However, that gives you no right to force your ideals onto ponies. If some ponies wish to be equal like you, that's fine, but if they don't, you must accept their denial. Being forceful is not going to get you friends, dear, only enemies and cowardly followers. Of course, there are exceptions, but that's different."

"I don't often use force. I use it when needed," I told her.

"It did not take long for you to use force on us," Rarity huffed with a roll of her eyes.

"That's because you six started snooping about and asking about the vault. I know ponies well. I knew what you were planning on doing and I had to stop it. I don't see anything wrong with that," I shrugged.

"It's all on perspective," Rarity nodded before returning to her work.

I soon found the measuring tape around my shoulders and legs before it floated away from me again. She took the information and continued to work on the dress. She was operating at such a pace that I could barely tell what she was doing. I watched her by dodging all the whirling materials that made the room a dangerous place to be. 

"Hey! Miss Glimmer!"

I turned to see Sweetie Belle enter the room. She was panting from fatigue and I assumed she had ran up the stairs to us. Rarity was still focused on the dress and so I was the only one who knew of Sweetie's presence. I casually walked over to the filly, making sure I would not receive any more bruises from the fabrics that soared around me.

"Yes, Sweetie?" I asked pleasantly.

"You know Diamond? Well, she's just down the street. Scootaloo and I ran into her. I think you can have some....words with her?"

"Certainly," I glanced back at Rarity," your sister may not think so."

"It'll be real quick I bet. When she's dressmaking, she wouldn't notice if the Boutique was on fire! Trust me, it's happened. By the way, the dress looks great so far! Who's it for?"

"Apparently me," I answered.

"Oh, huh," Sweetie said surprised. "Never though Rarity would make you a dress. Especially after what happened."

"Something's up; we both know it," I nodded, "but let us not waste time thinking about it yet. Lead the way."


=


The early afternoon was a bit too warm for my tastes. It was also rather humid from the spotty rain showers that the pegasi conjured an hour ago. I never understood why spotty showers were needed. Why not have a proper rain storm and be done with it? I mentally shrugged at the idea. 

Sweetie led me on. She had a skip in her stride that only a filly could do. I no doubt gave her a confidence like no other. I knew the feeling myself. Having an adult with you when you confront a bully is almost as powerful as a magical shield bubble. I also was confident in myself about resolving the issue of this bully, whether I had my magic or not.

That, and I was out of any Bearer of Harmony's vision. It was relieving to be out of their sight and influence. I could go wherever I wanted. Such freedom felt so fresh after the past few days. I could see the lemonade stand and finally get some more of that precious drink. I could leave town. Though, that may not be a smart option. I had done my running already, and at the moment, I did not feel like running again and abandoning these whispers of freedom.

"Sweetie, how lon-"

In less than an instant, I found my face in the soft dirt. My muzzle was the first to hit ground and it became numb upon impact. Somepony was sitting on me. That or standing. I sighed as I thought it was Rarity who tackled me. Wait, Rarity would not tackle me by hoof. This made me suspicious and I ventured a glance to my left. I saw a bright pink hoof on my shoulder and my ears picked up a joyous giggling.

"Hey ya!" the culprit laughed. 

"You!" I growled upon realizing who it was.

"You? My name's not "you," it's Pinkie, silly!" she jumped off of me.

"Not you...." I moaned.

"That's right!" she giggled even louder.

Pinkie started to "bounce" in place from some excitement I could not fathom. She did not help me up and I had to get my face out of the dirt. Sweetie Belle seemed unfazed by this mare's brutality on me and waved at her with a white hoof.

"Hey Pinkie! What brings you over here?" the young one asked.

"Oh nothing, just my Pinkie Sense and Starlight," Pinkie explained casually.

"Pinkie Sense? What did it tell you?" Sweetie questioned confusedly.

"That Starlight left Rarity and was actually trying to escape and also kick Diamond's rear for you," Pinkie said in a quick burst.

"I was not trying to escape!" I defended myself.

"But you were thinking about it," Pinkie shot back.

"How did you know?" I blinked.

"Just a hunch," she shrugged.

"So, are you going to report me to Twilight or something?" I crossed my front legs.

"What? Pfft, of course not silly! Twilight's orders were "keep Starlight under watch at all times." Pinkie imitated the princess. "So I see you and can watch you. Do I need to do anything more? Of course not! So I was thinking we could go to Sugarcube Corner, or the small shops, or...Oh wait...I have you one of these days. Whoops, I would have done the party before it was ready. My bad. Oh! That doesn't mean we can't hang out for the rest of the afternoon. I'm sure Rarity won't mind."

"When did you become so chirpy? Last I remember of you, you were the grumpiest of them all," I observed.

"Well, that was because all of your followers were actually pretty sad and sometimes heartbroken under the big smiles. That was why I was grumpy. Though we fixed the place up and they are all happy again! So there's no need to remain mad at you. I forgave you long before today!"

"You're the first to say that..." I muttered.

"So since I forgave you, this means we're friends right?"

The pink mare pressed her nose against mine. I tried to push her away with a hoof, but it was like pushing an oak tree. I actually pushed myself away from her, as her hooves were firmly planted in the ground, despite being on the tips. As I thought about it, there was no sense in how this happened. But then again, it made perfect sense when one takes the pink mare into account.

"We are not friends," I told her sternly.

"You sure?" she closed the gap between us and our muzzles met once more.

"Yes. Do you believe in personal space?"

"Personal space is just the separation of true feelings," she said in a matter-of-fact manner.

"I guess that means 'no,'" I sighed.

She finally backed off. "C'mon! Ponyville has so many places to hang out! We can go to-"

"I'm not interested," I hissed. "I was actually trying to help Sweetie here. I would like to go back to that."

"Pluhleeeese!" Pinkie waved a dismissing hoof. "You can do that any day. This opportunity we have right now is running away! We should go catch it. Sweetie can come along too!"

"You can watch me help Sweetie. That wouldn't break Twilight's rules," I suggested.

"Wow! Miss Glimmer is right," Sweetie squeaked.

The pink mare froze. Her face was twisted in a thousand emotions. I could not read her at all. There were very few ponies I could not read. One was Celestia, but with her age, it was understandable. Pinkie, however, was younger than me. Every frown, smile, twirl of the eye, and that flexible mane all disrupted my concentration. I could not predict her actions or her words.

"Well, I have a feeling Twilight wouldn't approve. I mean, she did tell me about how you spoke with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle last time you were here. And I know what you're "helping" her with," she rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Twilight isn't here. She doesn't have to know," I reminded her.

"Well, she kinda does," Pinkie rubbed harder. "Well, maybe not. But why would I keep it secret? It doesn't make sense..."

"When do you know about making sense?" I asked incredulously.

"Since 3rd Grade," was the casual answer.

"Ugh," I moaned. "Alright, I'll make it simple for you. Just let Sweetie and I go over there for a while and then we shall return. When that happens, we can do whatever you want."

Pinkie slid over to me and placed a leg on my back, leaning on me like I was some furniture. Her eyes were only half open, giving me a smug-like look. She slowly shook her head at me.

"You think I'm just some balloon-headed, pink-maned bimbo, but the joke's on you! I'm not actually naturally pink-maned," she boasted.

"What?" I shouted.

"Shhh," she placed a hoof on my lips. "If you were anyone else, I would let you go away like that, but, unfortunately you're Starlight Glimmer. Twilight gave me orders and by Celestia, I'll follow them! Hehehe! So that means I'll follow you over to Diamond. So I'll follow both you and Twilight, see?"

"Wow! Both of you are going to help me with Diamond?" Sweetie gasped excitedly.

"Brilliant..." I rolled my eyes.

With that, Sweetie started on her way again with the pink mare skipping happily behind her. I grumbled lowly and followed them, much less excited than moments prior. Pinkie was interfering with my interaction with the filly. Apparently forgiveness does not equal trust with this mare. She was trying to hide this under "Twilight's orders" but I could tell what she was actually getting at. She didn't trust me. I would have to either fix that, or somehow keep this pink mare distracted. It was not going to be easy. 
	
> Contradiction (Part 3)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Not again..."

I heard my father's whisper as I slowly walked into my parents' room, opening the large door with my weak hoof. Father was the first to notice me, as usual. He was sitting in his rocking chair, his burly hoofs had a small book. Mother only glanced my way before returning her distant stare out of the unclean window that let the evening sun into their room. Well, some of the sun, as the window was so filthy that it was no longer transparent.

"Star! Did they hurt you again?" he asked with absolute concern.

I pitifully nodded back at him. Every cut, bruise, and welt burned terribly. I was so used to the abuse by the other kids at the school that tears no longer flowed down my large and innocent eyes. Daddy bent over me, inspecting the small wounds with a fatherly concern that I was so grateful for. 

"Yes, Daddy. They always do," I moaned. "They always do."

"Oh, Pumpkin, why would they?" he more asked the air than me.

"Cause I'm what they are not: a blank flank," I stated.

He paused at my words. His long and mangled ears went up and his thick blue eyes searched me curiously. He ruffled in itch on his dark brown fur absently. I stared back at him with a stoic, emotionless face. 

"Star? What happened? You don't sound like you," he whispered.

His words haunted me. I did not know what he meant. I seemed me to myself. However, I made sure not to show any confusion in my face or movements. He would notice such things. He always did. Instead, I swallowed and gave him the first words that appeared in my head.

"I'm tired. I'm tired of being bullied. I'm tired of being treated like less. I'm tired of them not seeing me for who I am. All they care about is cutie marks! I don't have one! I will get one, I know it. Does it matter if I'm the last one? Of course not! It never did! It never will! Why can't they see that? Am I the only one that can see something that simple, logical, and by Celestia, reasonable?" I started to scream, my young and high-pitched voice echoed in the room.

"Star...You have never spoken that way before..." Daddy breathed.

I pushed myself away. "That's because I never understood the stupidity and selfishness of ponykind until now." I began to breath harder, my little lungs heaving in pure anger. Everyday, it was the same. Go to class, do well in every subject, get bullied after. Same everyday. Same everyday. Same everyday. They would insult me. "Blank Flank" was the just the most common. They had something else against me as well, I knew not what it was, but I understood it existed. I wanted to know exactly what that was.

"Star, I'm sure we can do something about it," Daddy reasoned.

"No, you can't," Mommy suddenly said coldly. "They aren't disciplined anymore. Kids these days, always showing off everything like they're special. No parents discipline their foals anymore. They need guidance, Starlight. Sometimes a stick is the best guide."

"Then I'll give them a stick that they'll remember," I growled.


=


I sighed as the pink mare and the white filly bounced around me. It seemed that Pinkie's energy was contagious to everypony but me. As the afternoon sun was being continually blocked by random clouds, we all walked to wherever Sweetie was leading us. Or maybe Pinkie was leading us now. I could not tell.

"So, how's life been since you lost everything?" Pinkie asked happily.

"Depressing I guess," I answered.

"Oh! That's terrible! Well, don't worry, we can turn your life completely around! Once you hang with us, you'll have so many smiles!"

"Brilliant. Like I lacked those before..."

"Well, those smiles were fake, soooo...."

"Mine were real. All of them. I may not be able to prove all of my followers' happiness, but I know I was happy. I was almost content in Our Village," I told her.

Pinkie made a face at me before skipping high the air without a care. We passed by a mint-colored unicorn that waved at us  and was received by one of Pinkie's suffocating hugs. I rolled my eyes at the scene. It was not that I did not like the happiness that Pinkie's....everything emitted, but that it was coming from one who rejected my own happiness. 

"So...." Sweetie began, "how's it like....taking a cutie mark?"

"You mean the ritual I do with followers of equality?" I inquired as I thought I misheard her.

"Mm hm," she nodded.

"Well, it is a solemn yet relieving experience," I began, "it starts-"

"It's reeeeaaaallly superduperly painful!" Pinkie exclaimed. "It's like burning your hoof on a really charred cupcake that you grabbed from a hot, I mean hot oven."

"What?" I raised a brow. "It's nothing like that!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!" She barked. "And I should be the one talking, because I was the one that had my cutie mark totally removed. Did you? Yeah, I didn't think so!"

Sweetie stopped were backwards pacing and gave me a inquisitive look. "Is it really like that?"

"Of course not," I smiled at her, "Pinkie here just has a sensitive flank, that's all."

The filly seemed strangely satisfied with this explanation. I was actually caught off guard by her sudden acceptance as she turned around and led us on. With her innocent eyes no longer inspecting me, my glare went back to the pink mare. Pinkie only grinned at me back with her disgusting false happiness. 

"You're a good liar," she whispered to me, "it's almost saddening."

"Oh please, like you don't lie," I whispered back, "and who says I was lying a moment ago?"

"Starlight, you know you lied. Just admit it."

"Alright, the cutie-unmarking may be painful, but it's necessary. From what I've heard, it only lasts for a minute and then the pain leaves," I stated.

"Nuh uh. You actually have a sore flank the next day," Pinkie said in a matter-of-fact way.

"Irrelevant either way."

"There she is!"

I had almost walked right into the small filly as she halted right in front of me. After some sudden blinks, I composed myself and waited for her next move. I did not wish to appear too eager to meet this school bully. With Pinkie's seemingly eternal presence, I was a prisoner under watch and had to act like one. Precaution was my true ally.

"Ah, yes, I remember her face now," I stroked my chin. 

Sweetie Belle pointed her dainty hoof at the pink filly that sat with another filly of a deep silver color. They both were enjoying a couple of milkshakes on the mushroom-shaped table they sat by. Though "enjoying" may not have been the best choice of words to describe the mood of the bully as she was clearly grumbling all the while. She was too far away to listen to, so whatever displeased her so was up to my imagination.

"There's Diamond. You should go speak with her," Sweetie uttered hastily.

"We'll go together, Sweetie," I placed a careful hoof on her shoulder. "Making me go alone won't help you in this. She'll only see me as some sort of threat you sent for instead of someone who truly cares about the ravine between you and her. I am here to settle disputes with negotiation, not scare her into submission."

"Yeah right!" Pinkie sung. "You totally want to take her cutie mark."

"I still don't have magic, Pinkie," I corrected her.

"And you still didn't deny the accusation! Just as I thought!" Pinkie grinned triumphantly.

I could only sigh and rub my face in my hoof. I could feel my heart jolt with aggravation. However, I couldn't let this mare get inside my head so easily. So I returned my attention to the task at hand, and with a deep breath, stepped up with Sweetie towards Diamond Tiara.

The silver one was the first to notice us. The bespectacled filly glanced at us in utter confusion before tapping the shoulder of her friend. Diamond reacted harshly with a severe removal of her body from the other's reach and demanding why the move was necessary. The other only pointed at us and that was enough for Diamond to see us coming.

"Oh look," she began rudely, "Sweetie's back. And with an adult..."

"That isn't part of her family," the other added with a whisper.

Sweetie and I stopped before them. I could tell the filly beside me was starting to have second thoughts about all this. The choice of reassuring her was mine, but instead I jumped right into the mission at hoof. I physically lowered my head to the bully's level, so that we may communicate as equals.

"Are you Miss Tiara?" I asked smoothly.

"Yes," she responded innocently. "May I help you?"

"Don't play coy with me, young one," I responded. "I am here on behalf of Sweetie Belle about how you and your supposed friend bully the Crusaders on their lack of a cutie mark."

Her face instantly became cold and her eyes shifted to me with annoyance. The other filly expressed deep concern and shuffled in her seat with anxiety. It was apparent who was the bolder of the two. Bolder, or more stupid, I usually get them confused. 

"Why should we stop? We're only trying to encourage them to get their marks sooner," Diamond explained mockingly.

"Even if that was your true intent, it still would not be right," I said. "Your cutie marks are nothing to be proud of. In fact, you should be ashamed of them. You worked so hard to gain them and yet they have done nothing for you. A tiara cutie mark? What does that mean? Anyway, Sweetie here is blessed to not have a cutie mark ans you all should respect her for it. A cutie mark makes you no better than anypony else."

"It actually does," Diamond rolled her eyes, "because it means you've found your talent and place in society. These three losers have done nothing for Equestria and are just trash that live in it. A blank flank is no better than an asylum patient. They do nothing and we have to be taxed to support them!"

The response surprised me. I had to restrain myself from yelling at her for using that horrid phrase. What intrigued me was her use of "taxing" as a problem. A young school filly saying that? It was not her words, I concluded, but her father's. Even though my view of Equestria was a poor one at best, such radical thinking was preposterous, especially from an adult. This girl was probably taking her father's words out of context and using them as a reason to bully whispers of freedom.

"I can tell you don't know any better," I shook my head. "You see yourself and whatever believes you have of other ponies to be greater than anyone else's. That's your first problem. You are never better than anypony else. You got that? Every single pony you see is no better or worse than you."

"Yeah right!" she shot back. "We have education so that we can separate the stupid from the smart. My daddy will only hire the most competent of ponies for his jobs. And he won't hire some fool from the streets because "no one is better or worse than the other."" The last words were of an insulting imitation of me.

"Education is meant for learning!" I returned. "We as a whole must teach the younger generations the discoveries and mistakes of the past. It's a simple concept that lets fillies like you not falter like your ancestors but instead continually progress. It does not mark the dumb from the smart. You aren't smart! No smarter than anypony. And if your father wasn't so greedy, maybe he could see passed his bigotry and pride to see he is equal with those he hires."

"Starlight..." Pinkie warned me.

"Oh yeah? Well guess what? I think you're just dumb to think about whatever it is you are trying to preach to me. I mean seriously, what do you expect? Me to just throw away my views because you want me to? I don't know who you are, but I think you're wasting your time in all of this. This is between me and those three losers."

"Such arrogance!" I shouted. "How dare you speak to an adult like that!"

"Why should I care?" she shrugged. "You're my equal. I can talk to you how I want."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Starlight!"

Pinkie's squeal awoke me from my tunnel vision. I found my hooves pressed deep into the table, causing the whole thing to be lopsided in my direction. The silver one had to hold her milkshake tightly otherwise it would have slid down the table because of me. The pink bully grinned at me with the most disgusting smile I had ever witnessed. 

I couldn't end the conversation like that. She would have won if I did. Now, this was no competition for me to triumph, but a chance to spread guidance to even the most messed-up of fillies. I took a deep breath, composed myself, and even got a smile in there.

"Now girls," I began softly, "What I preach is equality. A way of living in harmony with ponies to always help, maintain, and control friendships. No pony is better than the other. No pony is different from the other. No pony ever feels like less than they are worth. To achieve such a living, we all must be on the same level, no advantages or disadvantages should exist. So that's why the removal of cutie marks will solve many variables of equality. That's why I am here. Sweetie, who has no cutie mark, is a gentle reminder of what true freedom is. She has no special talent that keeps her doing the same job over and over again. Her mark does not put her in a certain social status either. She can be whoever she wants to be. Because of this, there is no reason to mock her. You and her are not on different levels because of your mark. In fact, she may be at an advantage because of lack of a mark and should looked up to as an example. Equality will only exist when ponies want equality and want to perfect it. When they see whispers of freedom like Sweetie going out with her life as if she had no care for a mark, only then will they see the beginnings of equality. So I ask you, nicely, gently, kindly, to treat her fairly, like how you would want to be treated if you had no mark."

Diamond only rolled her eyes at me this time. I could tell that my words had no impact on her. Not that I expected them to of course. Situations like these take time. Both parties have to make some compromises and some have to take risks. Now, this all could have been dealt with much easier if I had my magic. Showing the bully how life was without a cutie mark would change her fiendish behavior dramatically. But, it may have been for the better as doing so with Twilight watching over me could be the same as writing my death note.

"I hope you will see the happiness that is equality," I continued promptly. "It changes ponies. Always for the better of course. The more we understand that we are not so different from each other is a step towards harmony."

"Gah..." the filly let out her tongue. "Sounds like a whole sappiness to me. C'mon Spoon, let's leave this losers."

The bully and her friend stood up from their seats and trotted off. This made Sweetie Belle huff indignantly as if she was not pleased with the result of the talks. I for one saw some progress with the bully. Anything helps, I always say. Thinking that one talk or threat would end such bullying was foolish. If there was one thing I knew, it was bullying. So I simply rested a hoof on her shoulder again.

"This is just the beginning, Sweetie. You should have expected nothing more."

"She'll still bug us and hurt us..." Sweetie complained.

"And know that she can't do anything more than that," I told her.

"Woohoo! Now that that's over, let's party! I got soooo many plans already. But I just don't know which one to do first. How about a "get-bullied-again-soon" party or a "equalist" party.....naw, that sounds boring. Oh, oh! How abo-"

"None of them, thank you," I hissed.

The pink mare continued as if I said nothing. "I know! How about a "run-from-angry-Rarity-like-heck" party?"

It was at that moment I spied the pompous mare stomping over to us. Her eyes were sharper than daggers and her nostrils were flared hotter than a forge. The dark sapphire in her eyes twitched madly and her frown was deeper than the pits of Tartarus. At that moment everything became a blur and I....I kind of forgot what happened next. Such is the consequences of adrenaline when facing pure fear.

"RUN!! YEAH!!" was all I heard from Pinkie before losing all my senses.


=

	
> Day Four: Interpretation (Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

While sipping the coffee I made for myself, I gazed curiously at the large object before me. My back legs rested on the large circular table that was surrounded by the large thrones that these seven fools called their own. However, my attention was not to Twilight's rather uncomfortable throne, but the massive mirror that sat in a corner of the room. This peculiar mirror was lavished with jewels and gems. It seemed like it was taken straight from the Crystal Empire. Well, most of what resided in the castle looked like it belonged in that northern country. I took another sip and tried my best to come to a sound conclusion on why that mirror existed.

However, my thoughts were interrupted by the Princess of Friendship, who hobbled awkwardly into the room. Her mane was a complete mess and the violet bathrobe she wore was lopsided. Her droopy eyes were like that of a zombie and her her tail dragged behind her with any energy. I giggled as I knew I was the reason for her constant tiredness. Getting up in the early morning just to check on me and cast a anti-magic spell had taken its toll. 

"Good morning, princess!" I waved to her with my free hoof. "You look lovely this morning."

Her eyes darted to me with the speed of a sloth. Once she saw me sitting in her throne, her eyes widened and a surge of energy swept through her. Though it was not enough to get anything more than a bewildered expression. This was amusing, to say the least, and I felt my grin reach my cheeks.

"You're....You're in my throne," her hoof meekly pointed at me.

"There are six other thrones, your highness," I said, "pick one."

"You're in mine," she repeated.

I leaned back and placed my front legs behind my head. "And enjoying it." This made Twilight groan and walk slowly over to Rarity's throne. The grumpy princess grumbled to herself as she took her friend's throne. She was a little more awake now then moments prior, but I could tell she still couldn't be more than half-awake.

"So, are you teaching me about the undead today?" I chuckled. "It seems you are perfecting your best zombie impersonation."

"Great, you've formed a sense of humor..." Twilight moaned. "Just my luck."

"I've always had a sense of humor," I corrected her. "It's just that you ponies love to keep it from coming up."

"Yeah yeah." Twilight waved a hoof lazily through the air. 

"So how was your night?" I asked politely.

"Terrible. After Rarity dragged you back here and told me everything, Rainbow decided to skip out of today and went off to Cloudsdale. I chased her the whole way. She doesn't want to have you for today, it seems. So she ran away!"

"That's loyal of her." I grinned.

"I know right?" Twilight steamed. "Well anyway. That just kinda blew up my plans. I hate it when that happens..."

"I know the feel," I nodded with sympathy.

Her ears were folded back in annoyance and her hooves rubbed her face all over. I waited for her to continue and sipped my coffee again. The  princess noticed my mug and her eyes were dead set on it. 

"Where did you get that?" she asked without taking her eyes off the mug.

"Made some myself," I answered.

"Any left?"

"Yes."

Her horn lit up and the steel pitcher of remaining coffee floated into the room. Without pouring the warm beverage into another container, she brought the pitcher to her lips and chugged the rest of the coffee down in the most non-regal manner I had ever seen from royalty. To be honest, it took me by surprise. Not a pause for breath was present and the coffee was gone in no time. 

Twilight almost exploded into her usual chirpiness. Her ragged mane seemed to have brushed itself when she was down with the drink. It was an almost Pinkie-like change of mood. She gently placed the pitcher on the round table and smiled at me with a slight twitch.

"Ah! Much better! Now I can finally think," she clapped her hooves excitedly.

"I liked you better when you were half-awake," I groaned.

"Sure sure. Now, I can't just let you stay in here all day. I would look like I'm keeping you prisoner."

"Which you are," I reminded her.

She ignored me. "But I don't know what to have you do. You've been with me, Applejack, and Rarity thus far. Well, Pinkie too. You know, after Pinkie's disaster at watching you, I've scratched her from the list. She may not be ready to handle such a task just yet."

"You act like I did something wrong."

"Discuss it later," she dismissed it quickly. "Now that Rainbow's left, that only leaves Fluttershy..."

"No!" I yelled. "Anything but her. How about some rest? You should know that reforming a pony can be tough business on both the reformers and the pony being reformed. Rest from such activities is vital."

The princess paused at this. I knew instantly that I had sold her on the suggestion. I did need rest from hanging out with her "friends" anyway. She may be doing well on caffeine at the moment, but we both knew a collapse was prepared for a later time today. She needed the rest as well.

"Alright," she nodded. "You can rest for today. I guess taking it easy once a week won't be bad. It's not like your reforming has a deadline."

"Or a reason," I added before continuing. "Now, may I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What is with the mirror in the corner? I have seen nothing like it before."

Twilight turned to look at the mirror before returning her attention to me. A shrug formed on her shoulders and she took a long breath. It made me feel like she did not wish to tell me.

"Let's just say it's my last resort for you," she answered. "I think you would like it in there."

"I'm not sure I understand. It's a mirror."

"There's another world on the other side of that mirror. A world with no cutie marks."

"No cutie marks...." I muttered thoughtfully.

"But it's hard to explain, even to one as talented with magic as you."

My lips repeated my last words. No cutie marks? How could that be? For all I know, the mare could be pulling my tail. The mirror was extravagant, no doubt about it, but saying it held another world seemed far-fetched, even by Equestria's standards. And a world without the horrendous marks was too good to be true.

"Huh, that was weird," Twilight stated.

"What?" I returned my attention to her.

"I said that you were talented with magic and you didn't deny it!" she clapped her hooves again. "I think this is progress!"

My ears flattened themselves. "No, Twilight, I didn't listen to you on that part. And I know my magic is above average. I'm not stupid and I will not deny the facts. My talent for magic was not entirely gifted through my cutie mark. I earned it through nights of studying and my ambitious goals."

"Are you sure it isn't progress?"

"Twilight," I started, "talent exists and everypony has a talent. Saying that talent did not exist would be like saying the sun is false. Equality is not about eliminating talents but directing them into a more unified direction. Let's take Sugar Belle, that baker you met in Our Village. She had a talent of baking, no denying that. But the talent came from the mark and not the pony. It was a talent given to her and she did not earn a bit of it herself. Such talents are those that drives friendships away and create disharmony through jealousy and envy. I stepped in and replaced her talent. A talent of being equal, friendly, and kind. Yes, she lost the ability to make good treats, but that was a sacrifice needed in order to keep the happiness of the village alive. If you want to be talented at something, you might as well earn it through work and experience and not wait for it to be handed to you on a silver platter...or flank.

I continued. "Now, I am in an unequal state at the moment. I never had my talent replaced or redirected. So I still have a talent when it comes to magic. But like I said, I earned it. My magical abilities were good before I even had a cutie mark."

"I'll still take it as progress," Twilight nodded. "You know, since we are resting today, I want to find out more about you. I did some research the other day to see if there were any documents on you. I was certain that one as outgoing as you would make some dent in the news. Well, I found one article in the Vanhoover newspapers that mentioned your name. It was 14 years ago and..."

"No."

I felt a drop of sweat slide down my temple. I was astounded she found this much about me. I was hoping there was another named Starlight Glimmer, but the place and date was accurate to a part of my life I remembered all too well. 

"Come on, Starlight, it's not bad or anything. I was actually impressed." She began to read from a conjured notepad. "The article said you rushed a stallion who was injured in a buzz saw accident to the ER. He would have bled out if you didn't act so heroically."

Well, that was far from the truth. The Starlight in the article was no doubt me. I was split between taking the false credit or telling the princess the true story. I found my hoof rubbing the back of my neck nervously. This had caused the princess to eye me suspiciously right after she had been looking at me like I was some hero. 

"I did take him to the emergency room," I paused. "It was all I could do after I....I was the reason he was injured."

"What do you mean?" Twilight raised her brow.

"That stallion was one of the bullies that....You know what? Never mind."

"Starlight, whatever the story is, I won't treat you any different. I'm a friend, not your enemy. It would be good if you let out sometimes. I won't mind."

I considered this. She was my enemy and I wouldn't believe otherwise. However, I had already revealed too much and now I all did was act suspiciously. A sigh left my mouth and leaned back in the throne.

"He was a bully at my school when I lived in my hometown. A bully much like the one those poor fillies have to deal with. Well, I wanted revenge. When I was attending a university in Vanhoover, I heard he was in the city. So I searched for him and found him in an alley. I was going to cast a spell on him. A spell I had been studying and practicing for two years by then, but I had never used it on a pony. It was the cutie mark removal spell. He had insulted me for so long about my lack of a cutie mark that I wanted to take his. Well, when we met in the alley, he started to insult me like usual. I was so angry. The spell, unlike most, doesn't rely on equations and knowledge, but willpower and emotion. My anger overcharged the spell and I took more than just his mark. I ripped his flanks right off. It was a bloody mess. It was such a clean cut that it appeared like he threw his flank into a buzz saw. Well, I didn't know that I could have done something so horrid to him. I was shocked and scared. All I could do was take him to the hospital. I told the doctor that it was a saw accident. The stallion was too weak to tell the truth. I guess he never did say what actually happened. Funny thing, that was when I earned my cutie mark as well. Right in the hallway of a hospital."

Twilight blinked at me with frightened eyes. The tale no doubt startled her. It reminded me of the face she made when I interrupted her friendship speech in Our Village. Usually I loved seeing such a face on her, but I only felt regret. I shouldn't have told her. I had not only embarrassed myself, but brought back those horrid feelings I felt when I hurt that bully. It taught me to be careful with magic. It taught me never to let me emotions go wild went I take a mark. Fortunately, he was the only pony I ever injured in that particular way.

I noticed that her eyes would glance at my horn. This peculiar behavior was brought to my full attention when Twilight smiled at me both innocently and weakly. She was no doubt thinking about my magic. But something told me she was acting far too strange for it to be just my tale. 

I looked at the empty coffee pitcher. Without much effort, the pitcher was levitated by my magic. A wicked grin spread across my face. No wonder Twilight was so scared. She let me have my magic again and I told what her what I am capable of. It was a mixture of relief and excitement that I felt. Losing my magic was the same as losing myself. If my magic was a corporal being, I probably would have hoof bumped it at that moment.

"Don't worry, Twilight, I won't take your flank off," I assured her.

"After the talk we had yesterday, I thought it would be best to let you have your magic. It was wrong to keep it from you."

"Undoubtedly."

All the loose objects in the throne room were being swung around in a whirlwind over our heads. A bliss engulfed me. The cups, mugs, pitchers, vases, and whatnot were all under my control. With the simplest of thoughts, the objects lined themselves into two straight, parallel lines over our heads. A glorious equal sign was formed. 

"Now Starlight, because you have your magic back, don't think of doing something you'd regret," Twilight warned me.

"Wouldn't even think about it," I told her.

No, I wouldn't think about it, I would plan it. I would scheme it. I had enough torture under this princess. I came to Ponyville to start a new era. One of peace and harmony in equality. My tongue may be my best weapon, but my magic is my tool. A shovel to dig the widest ditch. A hammer and nails to secure the strongest bridge. A jackhammer to break the toughest concrete. And a brush to paint the most magnificent art. 

"Starlight, you have an evil grin on your face. I know what you're thinking," Twilight deadpanned.

This statement brought me back to reality. Twilight rested her head on her hoof in a very annoyed manner. My wide eyes blinked at her before I regained my composure. So I probably shouldn't plan right in front of her. It was dumb of me to think I could get away with something so bold.

"Hehe, sorry about that," I said innocently. 

"No problem I guess. Now since we are-"

She was interrupted by her pet dragon storming in like the castle was on fire. His puny arms flailed around much like a fish trying to return to water. Twilight had wide eyes when he ran up to her in such a manner. He stopped before her, panting and wiping his forehead of imaginary sweat.

"Twilight!" he panted, "it's from Princess Celestia!"

He handed her a letter which he took out from somewhere behind his tail. Twilight embraced the letter with her magic and ran her eyes over it quickly. When her eyes stopped moving, she was still for a brief moment before throwing the letter in the air and screaming at the top of her lungs. 

"She wants to know how Starlight is doing!" she cried. "What do I tell her, Spike? We've barely made any progress and it's been four days! Celestia may think I'm doing a poor job, not trying hard enough, or not being a good friend! I don't want to disappoint the princess!"

Spike slapped his face with a groan. "Twilight, it's only been four days. You can't make a pony do a 180 in just four days."

"I've seen it done," I jumped in. "And I've done it myself."

"Well, you can't make a pony change that quickly without forcing it," Spike stressed.

"But Spike, we reformed Discord faster than her! The Lord of Chaos! Celestia will think we've lost our touch. We have to reform Starlight without blasting her with rainbows. Ohhh....I don't know what to do!" Twilight slid her hooves down her face in panic.

"Ahem, I'm right here," I reminded her. "You can simply tell Celestia the truth: I don't need reforming. There is nothing wrong with me and I can be released back to society without being watched like I am on parole."

"Please," Spike rolled her large eyes, "Celestia is the reason you're here. I doubt she'll believe that."

"I got an idea!" Twilight flapped her wings once in crazed excitement. "How about we just don't reply at all!"

"Twilight....No." Spike shook his head. "This isn't that bad. Don't let your mane go wild. This isn't some test. Starlight is a pony, not some quiz. There is no tardy here. Just tell Celestia exactly how it's been going. Slow, but steady. Twilight, there's no reason to panic."

"For once, I agree with the dragon," I nodded.

"Oh...I guess you're right," Twilight looked down at the map.

"Why not let me reply to her?" I asked. "I am the subject of the matter. I might as well have my say."

"You're just use it to make us look bad," Twilight said with her muzzle planted in the table. 

"You think so little of me..."

"I wonder why..." Spike mumbled.

Twilight lifted her head. "You know what? Go ahead. Celestia will know the truth from whatever lies you put in there. Try to make us look like we aren't trying to help. It'll do you no good."

"I thank you, princess," I smiled. "I'll be truthful and sincere. You all see me as a liar even though I've lied only once. I might as well prove you wrong."

"Rarity told me about how you lied about Celestia," Twilight said monotonously. "So you've lied at least three times. Your cutie mark, the tale of Celestia, and you saying you've lied only once."

"Touche," I shrugged. "But I am sincere when I say I won't lie in the letter. I'll even let you read it before your pet sends it."

"Spike isn't my pet," she growled. "He's my brother and number one assistant."

"That's right," he said proudly.

"My apologies."

I summoned a piece of paper in front of me, along with the necessary quill to write with. I started writing immediately. Every word I wrote, even though it was in quick succession, was written with great care. I wrote about how they treated me thus far, put in the most tame of words. I was tempted to venture into the truth of their treatment, especially Rarity, but I felt it would be wise if I put that in good light as well. It was going along splendidly until my ink started to disappear.

"What's going on?" I uttered.

Not all of my words were disappearing, some sprouted legs and walked off the paper to perform a perfect swan dive into the crystal floor below. For a second, I thought I had consumed too much coffee. One word did a raspberry to my face, even showing off its tongue and spit flew through the air. 

"What the-"

Somehow, I kept writing. Every word I wrote did something different. The letters would disperse or sometimes form a vulgar word instead. My quill started to dance, completely ignoring my magic. All this happened in mere seconds and was followed by a chuckle from Twilight.

"Something wrong with your magic, eh Starlight?" she giggled.

"Quit it! I am trying to write a lett-"

Twilight waved a hoof at me. "I'm not doing it."

"Then who is?" I demanded.

Spike pointed right above my head. With a raised brow, I turned upward. My muzzle almost touched the goat-like face that was grinning at me evilly. One giant fang hung from his mouth and his nostrils were wide with deep laughter. My heart dropped faster than a falling rock. I felt like screaming, but my mouth refused to open. His cold breath swarmed over my fur as he spoke in a smooth, but intimidating voice.

"Hehe. Why hello there, my lady. Enjoying your stay so far? I hope it hasn't been too chaotic." 


=

	
	
> Interpretation (Part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Why is he here!?"

I jumped out of the throne and crawled across the ethereal map to get away from the draconequus. Discord, the true Lord of Chaos and Disharmony, laughed at me in his sinister manner. This dark laughter was a great contrast to the princess's supposedly "innocent" giggling.

"Starlight, you know very well that Discord is our friend now. There's no reason why he shouldn't be here," Twilight explained.

"It does not make a difference to me! He's a demon! A monster from Tartarus."

Discord raised his brow. "I'll have you know, Starlight Glimmer, that I have never stepped hoof, claw, toe, or paw into that forsaken place. I'm far too much fun to lock away."

I was on the other side of the map when he finished his mocking words. One could say that I was terrified at this moment, though I'd probably not admit to it, I was close to such a description. I already knew much of the Lord of Chaos, but to see him in person, in all of his horrid glory, it was humbling even to me who did not need humbling. 

"Oh dear me, do you think I'll bite?" Discord guffawed.

"I think that's enough Discord, we are trying to reform Starlight, so we shouldn't scare her," Twilight told the demon.

"Oh, you're no fun! Fine. Fluttershy did tell me to be nice to your priso-erm-guest."

Discord slithered down from atop the throne and instead stood on his back legs in a far less imposing manner. I was now sitting in Pinkie Pie's throne, which smelled sweet and sugary beyond measure. My eyes kept darted from Discord to Twilight in desperate hope that the latter would shoo off the former.

"Haha! Well Twilight, I do hope you're also teaching her the magic of bravery, because she appears to have seen a ghost!" Discord laughed.

"Discord, be nice. You have to admit, you're pretty scary to somepony who has never met you before. Starlight will get used to you," Twilight said calmly.

"Used to him?" I gasped. "Are you suggesting that I'll keep seeing him?"

"Well, yeah..."

My ears flopped onto the back of my head. I couldn't believe it. Of all the magical beings I had to meet at this hour, it was him. He was the epitome of everything I should against: chaos,disharmony, and most of all, inequality. How could I get used to anything if he was slithering about? It was absurd of the princess to even allow his presence.

"Princess, are you sure of this? If you think we disagree on philosophies, I doubt you want to see how opposite I am of him."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "It's just part of the process. Princess Celestia wants me to change your views. So I must show you that being unique is not a crime and being, well, talented, is nothing to be ashamed of. My plan is to help you realize that there is nothing wrong with disagreeing with ponies. I can see Discord helping with that, well, if he wants to."

Discord floated in the air above me. "Oh! I'd be delighted to help Starlight! It's what a good friend does, no?"

His large lion paw patted me on the head mockingly. The devious grin on his wicked face informed me of his true motives. I knew he was just going to toy with me. 

"Good!" Twilight clapped her hooves. "Maybe you should take Starlight to Fluttershy's cottage."

"I will not see that liar! She's the worst pony I have ever met." I screamed back.

A silence fell upon the throne room. Twilight's mostly calm face had worry written all over it now. The draconequus began to mumble something above me. I risked a glance upwards. His pointed teeth were barred angrily and his uneven nostrils were flared. Crossed were his mismatched arms and furrowed were his bushy eyebrows. 

"Fluttershy is not a liar," he told me coldly.

"Then you have not been around her long enough," I returned. "Back in Our Village, she tricked me into believing that she had accepted equality. She allowed my hope to get the best of me. My courtesy, generosity, and kindness to her was my undoing. She was nothing more than a spy and a deceiver."

"So what?" he began. "I know for a fact that she did that because of her friends. I'm going easy on you, Starlight, even after you locked my best friend up in a house without food or water. You should be glad."

"Discord..." Twilight said hesitantly 

"You know what? I'll take you straight to Fluttershy." He pointed his claw at me. "You can be a snob all you want, Miss Equality, but if you harm my friend in any way, I'll just have to flex my fingers and something'll happen to you."

"You can't force me, demon," I stood firm.

"Bahaha! That's the funniest thing I've heard all day!" He floated closer to my face. "Maybe you're not so boring after all."

The princess began to shout, but her voice was silenced when Discord snapped his talons. The next moment, I was no longer in the castle, or anywhere familiar for that matter. I was in the sky with Equestria below me. My heart jumped when I started to fall back to earth. I felt myself screaming, but the rushing air kept my ears from hearing it. 

I fell for what seemed like hours, but it was probably less than five or six seconds. The first object I hit was a tall tree. The force of the collision made me bounce off to another tree and then to another. Birds and tree critters began to fly or scramble about as my body rolled through her homes. After bouncing off the trees, I rolled down the trunk and onto the thankfully soft grass. However, I was still falling so fast that I skidded into the dirt and ripped up the ground.

As my body started to ache, I began to remove all the dirt from my face. The good side of this was that it reminded me that my magic was back and thus taking the dirt from my mane was now easy. When the grass was removed from my eyes, I stared right ahead of me. Just inches from my face was a pair of pale yellow hooves. My eyes followed the legs up to the pony's face, which was the face I never wanted to see again.

"Um...Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked me worriedly.

"You!" I shouted. 

"Eep!"

She jumped back away from me, dropping a basket of flowers she was holding on her side. Terror was in her eyes as anger was in mine. Discord teleported me right to her! That meant he was still around, watching me. So I forced myself to breathe calmly after my initial reaction. I would not risk upsetting the demon more than I had already done. After my calming breath, I was ready to speak with the horrid mare. My smile was false, but I pulled it off nicely.

"Why hello, Fluttershy," I said kindly, "Sorry I just dropped in! Didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright," she replied. "But are you really okay? You just fell from the sky."

"I've been through worse," I dismissed her worry. "I mean, I've tried skiing with Double Diamond on the mountains, that was far worse than a fall." I faltered in my act as I twitched from the pain in my right flank.

"Oh, okay." Fluttershy nodded. "I'm guessing it's my turn to host you? Twilight had me a couple of days later, but Pinkie messed it up I believe."

"Schedules often don't work like how you plan," I shrugged.

"Well then...um, would you like some tea? I set some on before I did my mid-morning check up on the animals," Fluttershy fumbled slightly over her words.

"I don't see why not?" I grinned happily. "Tea sounds wonderful!"

The yellow mare perked up. "Oh good! I was hoping you would say that."

Fluttershy then turned around and began to lead me to her cottage. It was a humble place compared to what I had been staying at the past days. Rarity's boutique, Applejack's orchard, and Twilight's castle shined brightly when compared to the vine-ridden abode that was Fluttershy's home. All these "good" friends still were separated by their homes. How can one be a friend of a mare with a castle when she has an old cottage? It made no sense to me.

"Please wipe your hooves before entering. Angel and I just finished sweeping the floor," Fluttershy told me as she dusted her hooves on the welcome mat.

I did as she asked with my usual beaming face. The mare then allowed me to enter first into the cottage. It was cozy but extremely messy as well. Bird feeders, cages, houses, squirrel homes, food containers, bowls, random dishes, and a small pet bath were all placed in on the sides like they were just lazily pushed out of the way of the walking paths. Now, to her credit, it did not appear like she was not taking care of her home, but more that she owned far too many objects to properly store. It was organized enough to show that she had put everything in place on purpose.

"Oh, this place is lovely," I said.

"Why thank you, Starlight. Angel and I worked hard to clean up. Some of the parrots fought this morning and knocked over just about everything. They get so angry at times, it's frightening. Luckily Discord was there to summon more food so that they could get equal shares."

"Yes, your...friend...seems quite a pal. I had the....honor to meet him earlier."

"Oh, you don't have to hide your feelings. I totally understand if you may not like him at first. He's a bit....eccentric at first. Once you get to know him, he's the sweetest thing."

"Oh I'm sure..." I grumbled sarcastically before returning to my chirpy self. "I mean, it's like that with everyone, right?"

"I guess so. Come along, the tea is in the kitchen," Fluttershy gestured to me and then walked off into another room.

I glanced around, trying to catch a peek of the draconequus that was no doubt watching me from the shadows. I could not spot him, however, and soon followed the pegasus into her small, but clean kitchen. 

Fluttershy poured a cup of tea for both me and her and we took our respected seats at the table. I kept my smile on for the traitorous fiend and drank from the cup without hesitation. The tea, though not the best I've had, was pleasant and warm. Just then was I reminded that I was still full from the coffee I had consumed just minutes earlier. It would not be proper to fill myself again once more.

"So, how has Twilight been? I know we may not have been the nicest to you, but we are trying to help," Fluttershy lied once more.

"Stressed. I guess I have been more trouble for her than expected. Well, it would be expected since I lack any need for reforming."

Fluttershy did not falter and took another sip of her tea. "Discord felt the same way, but he realized he had no friends. That's when he changed. Twilight always preaches about friendship-"

"I had friends, many of them. All of them were lost when you betrayed me. They turned on me when you lied to me. I am a victim of your deceit. The only reason I don't break you right now is your chaotic friend who is watching us. I'm not stupid and I know not to get on his bad side."

I only then noticed the shattered tea cup on the table. In my miniature rant, I crushed the cup with my magic and now the precious liquid was soaking into the aged wood. Fluttershy held her cup in her hooves, but the shaking in her legs made some of the tea spill out. Her body shook with fear but her face remained calm, or so one would think. I saw her jaw muscles tightened and I could tell she was just trying to hold in what she was really feeling. I cursed at myself mentally for breaking my act in such a rude and impulsive manner.

"I apologize. I'll pay for the cup," I placed a hoof on my chest. "I get emotional some times."

"I....can...see that..." she stammered.

I took a breath and tried to sound calm. "But I will not take the words back. I do not lie, Fluttershy. You must know that you have hurt me far more than anypony else has done in my life. That's saying something too. I am to forgive, but I have trouble getting myself to forgive and forget you. I can only hope you'd understand my position."

"I don't," she said faintly.

I blinked in surprise. "You...don't?"

"No. I....I was helping my friends. You trapped us in a house with no food or water. I was so scared. I gave up long before my friends did. I seemed to be good at accepting defeat easily. Twilight sent me out. We all knew you'd believe me before you'd believe any of my friends. I just wanted to escape. I just wanted to help my friends get away from your meanness."

"Are you the same pony I met in Our Village?" I asked the air more than her. "Are you so bold now because of Discord? Huh? I know you guys all too well. You'd run from fright if you saw me any other day. Or was that all a lie too? You seem pretty good at acting."

She gulped. "It's because I know you're wrong. I just want to help you. I once learned that harsh kindness is applicable. I think your problem is that you can't accept that you're mean and cruel. Discord knew he was wrong all along and ran with it. You see yourself as righteous."

"You think I'm wrong because you can't grasp my philosophy. I want to bless this nation with equality! I want to help every single pony that lives and will be living in the days to come. You all scramble about, trying to find your destinies where there are none! I only wish to end that. Ponies care too much about a  symbol on their flanks to get moving. They don't see the real picture: cutie marks are worthless and restraining. Thousands wander about with their cutie marks without hope because they lack any clue what they mean. If we remove cutie marks or make them all the same, no one would care. They'd focus on what's important: the pony next to them. How hard is it to grasp? You all look at me like I'm insane! Is it insane that I believe I can change the world? No! It's insane to think you couldn't!"

I slammed my legs on the table. Fluttershy was pale and her back was pinned to the wall. I could swear that a vein burst within me, probably around my temple. The fear in her eyes were just the normal Fluttershy I expected. However, her eyes were not looking at me, but above me. I knew right then and there that the Lord of Chaos was leaning over me. I had upset him once more. In false bravado, I took a deep and readied myself for any action he'd take upon me.

His lion paw took hold of my entire head and lifted me up. My heart raced, but I made sure to appear strong and able. A gasp flew from Fluttershy's lips. She jumped on the table and placed a loving hoof on Discord's snake-like body. Her eyes were no longer frightened, but full of care and kindness.

"Discord, no." she said softly. "Don't do anything to Starlight! Just because she disagrees with us doesn't mean she needs to be punished. We are better than that! Whatever you're thinking of doing to her, please don't."

"My dear," he began, "this foolish pony has threatened you and yelled at you! She needs to be taught some manners at least."

"No, she doesn't! I trusted you when you flooded Sweet Apple Acres and I trusted you when no one else did! This is no different. The only way we reformed you was through friendship. We must teach Starlight the same friendship. That means NOT sending her to a pocket dimension full of living sock puppets!"

The draconequus faltered as he held me. His claws were raised at me menacingly, but his face was full of hesitation and confusion. It was a standoff. I scrambled a little to get free from his paw, but it was no use and thus I folded my front legs and waited for his decision. I replayed Fluttershy's speech in my head as I waited.

There's a pocket dimension full of living sock puppets?


=

> Interpretation (Part 3)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I ran home with tears in my eyes. The horrid memories of moments past replayed themselves in my mind. The only sanctuary I believed I could find was in the walls of my beloved home. As my conscience screamed "why!" I choked on my own spit. My hooves brushed aside sticks and stones. All I wanted was to forget this day.

"Star, is that you?" Daddy called from the doorway. 

I did not reply. My breathing was uneven and my heart skipped every other beat. The light from the house showed me the final steps to my sepulcher. The closer I came to my father, the less calm I  became.

"Daddy, I did what mother said! I did it!" I pitifully yelped.

Father did not respond with his mouth, but with his eyes. The large saucers on his face were wide with the unknown. I passed him by through the entrance and ran straight for my room. The smell of dinner briefly entered my nostrils before being pushed away by the speed of my movement. 

"Star! Wait!" Daddy said desperately.

I ignored him and slammed my room's door with my magic. I was surprised I even retained the concentration to perform this act of magic. I then proceeded to throw myself on my bed and cry into my pillow. It was a pathetic sight to anyone, I'm sure. 

"Star, are you alright?" Daddy asked from the other side.

"Don't come in!" I screeched.

As usual, my father took no heed of my immature demand. The door opened slowly and his loving face looked in with concern. I could barely see him through the tears in my eyes and I hugged my pillow tightly like it was my only friend.

"Pumpkin...what happened?"

"I did as Mommy said to. I showed those bullies discipline," I answered through a sob.

"Oh honey..."

"I hurt them so much! I said such mean things! Daddy...I think I was more a bully than they ever were!"

He leaned over me and gently stroked by mane with his large hoof. His acts comforted me enough to compose myself only slightly. The sobs softened and I could speak with some fluidity.

"Daddy, I thought I would feel great and special after that, but I don't! I feel evil!"

"Evil? You're not evil, Pumpkin. I'm sure you just got the best pf them," he tried to relieve me. "They probably won't come after you anymore."

"Daddy! I didn't just stand up for myself. I attacked them! Oh, why did I do such a thing?"

"You just weren't thinking, that's all. You know, I've let myself go wild sometimes when anger gets a hold of me. It's a mistake we make, but we can get better from it. At least you know now how you feel afterwards."

"The worst thing is....I kinda enjoyed it..."





"Oh fine! But I'm only doing this for you, my dear."

Discord gently placed me back on the floor. The pegasus jumped up and hugged her monstrous friend. She then tried to give me a hug, but I pushed her back with an extended hoof. 

"Thank you, Discord," Fluttershy gave him a second hug.

"Alright, alright!" he pushed her away with his goat leg. "There's only so much of this hugging I can take."

"I second that," I muttered.

Fluttershy ignored both of us. "Well, with that...uhh...experience out of the way, we should get more tea! I can get Angel to-"

A bright flash of magical power cut the mare off. I covered my eyes with a hoof, but the flash was gone before I could shield them properly. The Princess of Friendship was in the living room, her eyes red with anger. It was almost warming to see her in such a frustrated mood. I think I even grinned at her unannounced arrival. 

"Discord!" she screamed. "I'm gonna turn you back to stone! You hear me! I'm gonna..."

Twilight paused when she faced the kitchen and saw the three of us. Her redness was soon replaced by a shade of bright pink as she chuckled innocently and rubbed the back of her neck. 

"Well, uh...nice to see you all here," she tried to recover.

"Nice to see you too, princess," I spoke. "You missed quite the action."

Fluttershy walked over and placed a hoof on the princess's shoulder. "Don't worry, Twilight, we got it all taken care of. We just had some talk about accepting differences and moving on from the past."

"We did?" I blinked. "Sounded more like an argument whether or not you were the one at fault for ruining my life."

"I guess it could be taken that way too...?" Fluttershy backed off.

"So..I'm not needed here?" Twilight hesitated.

"Of course you are," I answered. "Everything revolves around you and your ability to solve problems. Didn't you know that?"

"Alright Starlight, I don't need that from you," Twilight frowned.

"There is only so much pony talk I can take," Discord complained. "Sometimes I feel like I'll never understood you! You can deal with little Miss Order there, but I'll be back if she tries anything...not funny."

With a grand snap of his fingers, he disappeared in a flash. Saying that I was relieved at his departing would be a great understatement. I recall even tapping on the table in delight, but that was soon halted by the princess and her liar of a friend.

"Starlight, I'm...I'm beginning to reconsider my methods," Twilight started. "I don't think this is the best way to teach you friendship."

"Really?" I faked by astonishment. "Whatever made you make that conclusion?"

"You're right," her ears drooped. "I should have known it would be tougher to make you see. I just don't ever want to overstep the line. I don't want to brainwash you or blast you with magic. I just want to show you friendship. But I see it now. All I'm doing is trying to replicate what happened to me when I met my friends. I learned about each one of them, spent time, and had adventures together. I should remember that this doesn't work for everypony."

"You've already overstepped your bounds when you removed my magic."

"And I'm sorry!" Twilight quickly returned.

"Twilight," I began slowly. "The reason why your methods do not work is because you are forcing me to have friends with ponies I have a not-so-friendly past with. It's that simple. I do not see wrong in friendship at all, but I also believe your friendships are lies. You are far too different, too disagreeable to be actual friends. That's the problem. You see, I can make friends-"

"No you can't," Fluttershy shook her head. "I'm sorry to say this, but...you just can't make friends. All you can do is make them appear to be your friends."

Her words messed with me. I seemed better at handling criticisms from Twilight than this foolish mare. Oh, she appeared kind, she appeared shy and innocent, but there was more there. She thought I could not make friends? Well it wasn't my fault that I was bullied. It wasn't my fault that I had to be so vastly different that no one accepted me. It wasn't my fault that I had to teach ponies to love and be equal. They knew equality already and just deny it constantly. It was never my fault!

"You really believe that?" I shot back. "You didn't live with them. You never saw the true fruits of my success in Our Village. All you did was come in there, with your bigotry and biased outlooks, and saw nothing but evil. There was never any evil there. Ponies lived there in peace. I helped them live in harmony. They were my friends, until you all took them away!"

"Starlight, you're deceiving yourself," Twilight said simply. "They were never your friends."

My lip began to quiver. "You just spit that out without any proof!"

"Starlight, please listen..."

"No!"

I lit my horn and fired a beam at the princess. Twilight quickly raised a shield just in time to absorb my attack. Fluttershy screamed and threw herself under the table. The areas around where my beam passed were charred and some tiny embers glowed in the cottage's wooden walls. I fired again and again, each time making the princess take a step back.

"Starlight! Stop!"

"You always think you're in the right!" I told her. "You always think you're the answer to the world's problems. Cease with your overblown ego, Twilight! You're nothing but an overrated student who was doted upon by your teacher! You haven't learned anything. You've never suffered! You don't know how it is to feel defeated before you even begin!"

One of my attacks bounced off her shield and blow a hole in the cottage, sending all the animals around fleeing into the forest. With tears in my eyes, I fired and fired. The princess was not trying to counter at all and simply absorbed every blow. My anger kept rising, and with it, my magical skill.

"Keep still!"

I took hold of the floorboards with my magical grip and forced Twilight into the ceiling of the home. A scream left her as her magical bubble did not against the physical contact. She was much more resilient than I expected as she almost instantly recovered and fired a charged arcane bolt at me.

No shield was needed against such a simple attack. I instead took one step to the side and watched it melt through the floor. However, this move took away my offensive advantage as when I returned my attention to her, she was charging right at me. Before I could react, which is a minuscule amount of time, she tackled me into the floor.

"Starlight! Stop this! This is why we are trying to reform you. You resort to violence or other methods to get your way. Not everything needs to be your way!"

"Are you joking?" I scoffed. "Everypony resorts to such after negotiations fail. I try to explain my views to everypony before doing anything else. If they can't see the obvious, it's their fault!"

I created a force wave which sent the princess hurling away from me. Seeing that this battle was doing nothing but destroying a cottage, I teleported out and into the nearby woods. 

From the edge I could see the smoke rising from Fluttershy's cottage. She deserved it, yes, but I couldn't help feel guilty at starting the fight. In a way, I felt defeated. I always believed myself the best at reasoning, at showing others my point of view, but I failed here. I was in the wrong here.

I cursed loudly and threw my head into a tree. Not even a day after regaining my magic, did I use it to try to take down the princess. They had predicted me better than I did predicted me. That was not a feeling I ever wanted to experience. 

"Oh, Starlight, you insane fool! What have you done?" I yelled at myself.

I took one long look at the destruction I had created. Twilight was flying above it, not looking for me, but already trying to fix her friend's home. Discord had appeared again, but was not helping at all. Even at that distance, I could see an unholy fury emit from him. This all built up to him screaming madly at the heavens. 

Now it was decision time. Once again, I had the choice to stand my ground or flee into hiding. In all my life, I had picked the latter. I had always decided to run from my problems and create a home where they would not exist. Perhaps, it was time to pick something else...

I chose to flee once again.


=

> Day Five: Remorse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	My hooves ran through my mane nervously. Twigs and loose dirt fell out of it and onto the leaf covered ground of the forest. The edge of the Everfree was my new mountain cave, a hideout but certainly not a sanctuary. The sounds of the creatures that inhabited the Everfree were constant reminders of my recent failures.

"Why? Starlight you horrid fool! You caused all of this!" I slammed my front legs into the dirt.

This was the twelfth time I yelled this. The night hours that had long passed gave me little sleep, but at least my inherit fears kept my mind busy. Now the morning brought nothing but burning regret. The sun seemed to forsake me as it barely brought its light through the thick trees. My mind no longer worried about the monsters harbored within the Everfree and was free to recount every mistake I had ever made.

"Discord will kill me if I go back!" I added to my worries. "Why couldn't Celestia just keep me in Canterlot? Surely being brainwashed to follow her would be less painful than this!"

They no doubt were searching for me. I was shocked that the draconequus had not found me already. With such power, why wasn't I a turned into an ever-dying frog by now? It was indeed suspicious, but like always, I could not find reasoning.

"You fool! Why are you so stubborn!" I screamed at the woods.

This was the thirteenth time. I was hungry, I was miserable, and I had no plans. For the first time in my life, I felt that any planning would not save me. I had relied so heavily on my own capabilities, but that confidence had long left me. 

"I couldn't even keep my village..."

My depression made me collapse on the ground. My cheeks rested on a mossy rock and my eyes distractedly followed the bugs on a log. I felt like sighing, but I did not even muster the strength to do that. 

"So this is how it feels to have no hope..."

I would describe the feeling as awful, but also strange or foreign. Had I ever felt hopelessness before? It was a legit question in my mind. I had suffered being bullied, ridiculed, hurt, betrayed, misguided, unloved, and neglected. Through all that, did I have hope? This made me pause. Of course I did! Without hope, how did I push myself back up? I was accustomed to being on the ground, but I was also used to standing upright! No cutie mark brought me down, no destiny told me I was a failure. I made myself. Once again, I was knocked down and bloodied, but never have I stayed down. This would be no different.

"Get yourself up!" I ordered myself. "Laying down has never helped you!"

I threw myself back onto my hooves. If I gave up, Twilight would win! If I gave up, I would lose everything. If I gave up, I would betray the only thing I have left in this world: myself. This was not going to happen.

"I am not what they believe me to be!" I stamped on the ground. "I am no deceiver, I am no monster! What kind of visionary would I be if my vision is wasted in these woods? I am a crafted visionary! A messenger for the future generations. Everypony can live without cutie marks. Everypony can be equal! All they need to do is try!"

My face faltered. "Stop lying to yourself. You have lied and manipulated ponies for your own cause. You are no better than Twilight."

I blinked and paused. "How can you think this? I am trying to bring harmony to the world! How am I the villain?"

"You never had friends in Our Village. You know this."

"They were close to being my friends. Some were already there. Look at Double Diamond..."

"Who you beat into submission," I interrupted myself.

"It was necessary."

"And so was the bully you tortured?"

"Stop this, you know it was an accident."

"An accident you caused, Starlight."

"He needed to know how life was without a cutie mark."

"It was petty revenge."

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"Starlight, you know I've always been here, ever since you obeyed Mother's orders..."

I slammed my hooves in my forehead to make myself shut up. I was going mad. Twilight's tricks were working on me. I was weakening in my worldview. I buried my face in my hooves, trying to hold on to the future of equality. I could not succumb to madness. I had gotten so far! It was too sweet a vision to give up so easily.

"Did ya guys hear all that?" a voice echoed through the trees.

I recognized it as Rainbow Dash's gruff voice. My heart leaped and I fled behind a thick bush. She had undoubtedly heard my argument with myself. I levitated some branches over to me to improve my hiding spot. Her bold mane could be easily seen through the thick brush and foliage. She was not alone either. Her friends, all of them, were also searching the forest.

"Starlight! Starlight, where are you?" Twilight called.

"Don't ya worry none, we calmed Discord down," Applejack said.

"Guys! This is hide-in-seek! We are seekers. We are supposed to find her, not draw her out!" Pinkie said excitedly.

"Oh please, Pinkie," Rainbow sighed, "if she doesn't come out soon, I'll just have to search every inch and get her flank myself."

"I wouldn't, Rainbow," Twilight said in a lowered voice. "Starlight is not some average unicorn, she has great magical talent. If she is still upset, she may harm you or worse! We are trying to get her back, but we cannot do so recklessly."

Rainbow performed a spin in the air. "Pshaw! She can't hit me even if she wanted to! I'd blow by her bolts so fast, she wouldn't even know what hit her!"

"Rainbow, we also are not trying to apprehend her! We should think of her as a friend, not an enemy. We'll defend ourselves if need be, but combat will only happen as a last resort!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes at the princess, but said nothing more. They drew closer to my hiding spot. I now wondered if Twilight could feel my magical presence. Not that any unicorn or alicorn had ever felt me like that before, it was just an irrational fear. My head was filled with plenty of fears at that moment. I feared if they were actually concerned for me. I was afraid they were lying and trying to draw me out before attacking me or arresting me. I was afraid if I hid, that I would never return to civilization. Most of all, I was afraid of being in exile again, alone and unloved. Those mountains of the north did nothing good for me and I knew that this forest would only be worse.

I kept arguing with myself over the subject. Hide, attack, or give up? My hooves thumped my head, trying to get me to make a decision. As the six approached, my thinking started to become aloud. I felt my lips move and words emit from them.

"What to do...what to do?"

"Starlight?" Twilight asked the air.

I sighed. My decision was practically made up for me. "I'm here."

I stepped out from the bush with my eyes to the ground. My usual stubbornness had all but left me. I sat on the moss of some rocks as they inspected me with awe. None of them took many steps towards me once I revealed myself. Twilight was the closest, not surprisingly, and she had a smile on her face.

"There you are! We've been looking for you," she said.

"I know. I...I want to apologize for creating such a ruckus and...and you know," I did not want to be specific.

"That's fine," Fluttershy said happily. "It isn't the first time my cottage has been destroyed. You don't know the early days of when Harry the Bear moved in. Oh, and besides, Twilight has already fixed most of it."

"And Discord can finish it," Twilight concluded.

"How can you calm him? He'll skin me or worse if he sees me again," I told them.

"Naw, he just needs some days to calm down. He's a sweetie once you know how to control his moods. I will agree though, you two probably shouldn't see each other 'til next week at least," Fluttershy said in her soft voice.

"After this charade, I probably won't see the sun either," I said. "Go ahead, cast your spell, remove my magic. I bet I'm going back to Canterlot, right?"

"Not at all," Twilight shook her head. "And I will not remove your magic. I am disappointed that you became so angry, but I also believe some of the blame is my own. I'm not sure if I'm going the right route."

"What made you make that conclusion?" I sarcastically asked.

"Well, I think I'm forcing you to be friends with us. However, friendship is a choice, a very important one. So, you will continue to live in the castle, but you may choose who you hang out with. You can even speak with the Crusaders if you wish."

Rarity's eyes opened wide. "Good heavens, you cannot be serious, Twilight!"

"I am. Even though I shouldn't, I have full confidence in Starlight. It's no longer about reforming you, it's about teaching you another way. Friendship cannot be taught with a manual or single teacher. You have to go out and make friends or let friends find you."

She continued. "And we shall help you, Starlight. You shall be a kind of student, not a prisoner, under me. If you have questions or need a pony to lean on, I'll be there. We all will be there. What do you say?"

I scratched the moss with a hoof. "I still think you as an enemy, but I believe you do care for me. I've lost many friends, and now realize that my village made me no friends. I'm at the bottom. I...hope this works."

Twilight walked up to me and gave me a hug. I tried to squirm out of it, but her hold on me was surprisingly tight. "Don't worry, Starlight. It will work."





They escorted me back to Ponyville. It was a short and silent trip back to civilization. Half of me felt guilty, the other felt angry. Why was I going along with this? Was I just confused? Was I finally accepting Twilight's tainted ways? I had a myriad of questions but not a single answer. How could I understand these teachings if I did not understand my own emotions?

We soon arrived back at Twilight's castle. They allowed me to enter the crystal palace first. They treated me like some guest of honor. Though some of their smiles were fake and only a couple sincere, I still felt like they were changing their attitude towards me. It was odd that I was actually starting to think that they cared for me. 

We gathered in the throne room around the Cutie Map. Spike was not in attendance, so I tried to get comfortable in his tiny throne. With Pinkie's incessant giggling and Rarity's grunts of disapproval, we started some sort of improvised meeting. 

"Alright!" Twilight said happily. "Let's start this little meeting. Girls, we have a single task ahead of us: to let Starlight be able to make friends here and have a great time. Let us all agree that it's time to move on from the past and start anew?"

There answers were not all instant.

"Agreed," Applejack said first.

"Absolutely!" Pinkie giggled.

"Agreed," Fluttershy nodded.

"I guess so..." Rarity huffed.

"Sure why not?" Rainbow shrugged.

"Agreed!" Twilight said.

Then all eyes turned to me. I felt instant pressure upon myself as their large, but harmless, eyes looked at me. They also wanted my input. However, it was easy for them to get beyond their interactions with me. I was about to forgive them of all the chaos they brought into my life. Taking my home away, taking my supposed friends away, and taking part of my sanity along with it all.

"Agreed," I uttered.

"Well then! It's settled," Twilight was goofy in her joy. "From now on, Starlight shall have freedom to go as she must. She shall live here but will no longer be held as a prisoner in my castle. This time is meant for healing and discovery. It's time for her to discover her own friends, even if that means it's not us."

I felt my heart lift, or did it drop? Either way, these words hit me much harder than I should allowed them to. How was this possible? We both had such anger and hatred towards each other. I still believed that cutie marks were a lie, but they did not seem to care about that anymore. It was odd. It was confusing. It was almost unreal. Was this part of being a friend? Being able to forgive others so easily?

"Don't worry, Starlight," Applejack spoke with a smile, "we'll take good care of ya. If ya need help on anything, physical or emotional, jus' holla!"

"This calls for a party!" Pinkie jumped out of her throne and onto the Map.

"Not now, Pinkie," Twilight stopped her. "I think we should save any party for later. Unless Starlight wants one?"

"Of course not," I said a bit too harshly. "I rather have some more quiet time, if you don't mind."

Twilight rubbed her cheeks on mine. "And that's fine. The most important part of this mission is not only having you make friends, but also being able to go through it without much stress. These past days have been hard on you. If you need rest, by all means, your bedroom is still there for you."

I gently pushed her face away. "Thank you. I think I shall take up that offer."

With that, I got up out of Spike's throne and slowly walked out of the throne room. I did not look back, but I knew they all watched me leave. Here I was, leaving their sight while still having my magic and apparently new-found freedom. I could do whatever I wanted in those seconds. I had the power to match up with them. I had the capability to battle them to the last parcel of magic. However, I did not and simply went up to my bedroom in the grand castle.

I already knew this was a start of something bigger in my life. Like always, I thought of ways I could take advantage of their supposed kindness. They were sincere, I knew this, but was I? Could I fool them into thinking I had fell to their lopsided ways of thinking? It was true I wanted friends. It was true I built Our Village not only to spread equality, but also make ponies like me. Did I need friendship? That was the better question. Was it better to rule like I did in Our Village or was it better to lower yourself to such a level that you could be squashed by any passerby? I had to give up something to gain something. What I was giving up, I was not entirely sure.

"I guess I'll find out..."


=