Starlight Glimmer couldn’t help but smirk slightly at seeing three fresh new equal signs adorn three new flanks. The cutie marks of a wooden spatula, an ice blue arrow, and a red sled swirled around the unicorn as she spun them in the aura of her magic. After taking an abnormally long few moments to admire the new pieces to her collection, Starlight placed each emblem in its new home, the glass sliding each little door shut. “As promised,” she smiled, turning her attention back to the ponies she just stripped, "you three can come up here anytime you want to remind yourself of the misery these caused you!” She always loved giving that speech and even decided to put just a little more inflection on ‘misery’ than she did last time. She had to drive in the point, right?
A silver unicorn mare had to force out at least half of a smile as she looked back at her flank, trying to admire her new equal mark as the shine in her coat faded. Her mind flashed back to the day whenever she discovered her knack for sledding. It pretty much came as second nature to her and she’ll never forget the sight of her parents gleaming with pride at her discovery. Now, though...? “Th-thank you, Miss Starlight!” Getting used to this new way of life would take some time, but she had been convinced that it was indeed for the best. “I’m happy to do my part for the village now.” The other two ponies nodded.
“That is fantastic to hear, Rose,” Starlight grinned. “Consider this wonderful moment as your official welcome into the village! Thank you very much for seeing the light, all three of you. We are overjoyed to have you!” She gave a warm smile to three as they had their fill of examining their new equal marks. “You may go now. We will begin constructing your three cottages tomorrow!” Once she saw the two mares and stallion turn tail and trot back outside, she was free to place the Staff of Sameness back on its stand. Her eyes trailed up the vault as she did so.
Three new cutie marks to an already massive collection had her smiling from ear to ear. There was no telling how many ponies she had actually unmarked since the village began, but there was just something about the ‘ceremony' that never got old. Those ponies deserved true happiness, and there was no better gift than equality! Even so, she couldn’t help but pity the unicorn. It was pretty clear to Starlight how unsure that smile she gave was; the signs of a clear rookie were all there, but they’d pass with time. Such uncertainty was all a natural part of the equalization process, after all.
Starlight made her way out of the vault and trotted outside. There was a nip in the air as the cave’s entrance overlooked the happy little village down below. One could practically see their mile-wide smiles from up there! When attempting to spread such happiness, It was always a bit of a trot for anypony from the village to trek to this hidden wonder of Equestria. This winter also brought a little more snow than expected to the area around the village as well, adding just a bit more to the ascent up the trail. Snow or no, if it meant ceremoniously introducing new ponies to the equal way of life, it was a trip that Starlight Glimmer was willing to make again and again.
She smiled once more as she saw the three ponies from earlier already making their way back down the path. Certainly eager to get back to the village, I see! she thought to herself. They’ll be welcomed with open hooves! The unicorn took a few more moments to admire them trotting down the snowy path before her eyes wandered back up at a rather peculiar sight. “Double Diamond? Is that you?” She called out, noticing her assistant just sitting there with his back turned, eyes trailing down the mountain. He didn’t answer.
Starlight cocked her head to the side and trotted towards the lone pony. “Double Diamond?” she raised her voice a bit more, rewarded with snapping him out of whatever trance he must’ve been stuck in.
“Oh, umm…h-hello again, Miss Starlight!” he stumbled, turning his focus to the unicorn with clumsy grace. “I take it you just finished another cutie unmarking?”
“Indeed, we did!” she smiled. “Their cutie marks are tucked away in the vault and the newcomers are finally free from those burdens!” It was almost singsongy how Starlight announced the splendid news. “So what was that? What were you staring at?”
“Only this mountain,” he said, turning his head back towards the steep slopes now drenched in the winter’s glistening snow. “I…I was just thinking, that’s all.”
“Well as you know in this village, we work together and we think together, Double. What’s on your mind?” She didn’t want to try to be too forceful, but this was intriguing to her and Starlight wanted to know what made the white earth pony zone out.
Double Diamond fell silent again for a few more moments, his gaze dancing along the twists and bends that gave the mountain its unique character. “Do you remember whenever you first found me, Starlight?”
She nodded. “You were face down in the snow, if I recall,” she smirked, hiding a gentle chuckle.
“Heh, yeah, but you sure did patch me up good...” He gave a slight wiggle with his right fore hoof and left hind hoof. Even to this day, Double Diamond remembered the horrors of that near-fatal slip, the violent tumble, and the crunching crash of his bones against the solid earth. “I could very well have died in that pass, you know.”
“…You’re welcome, Double Diamond,” Starlight jumped right to the point that she did indeed save his life; the thank you was surely coming anyways. “And do you remember why I found you in such a helpless state?”
He never liked to admit it, but Double Diamond knew exactly what she was driving at. “Yes, ma’am. It was a big skiing accident. I didn’t turn sharp enough and gained too much speed, losing control. Before I knew it, I toppled over the side of a cliff."
“You’re lucky that cliff wasn’t very high up and you only trotted away with a few shattered bones, Double. It was reckless and unnecessary.” Even so, it was certainly one of the more unique ways Starlight met somepony new. “I hope that me bringing you back to this village made you realize that you didn’t need that in your life. You know as well as I do that you’re better off here with us."
Double Diamond huffed a puff of cold air through his nostrils, showing a little smile. “Yeah…yeah, you’re right…” He was indeed taught to be very happy in the village with Starlight and the other ponies. The introduction of such a culture with no hardship or even conflict was paradise; everypony moved as one, everypony acted as one, everypony was one. “I still would like to at least go back and find those skis I lost someday.”
Starlight raised an eyebrow. He was getting into some very dangerous territory with that kind of thinking and Starlight was bracing herself, getting ready to watch the stallion’s lips form the dreaded words: ‘I want my cutie mark back’. Much to her surprise, though, they never came. Strange, she was already loading up one of the several you-don’t-need-your-cutie-mark speeches she had to give here and there to ponies who started to daydream again. This, however, was something a little…different. There have been plenty of times when ponies kept eyeing the vault itself, fantasizing about getting the cutie marks back. And yet, even with the vault no more than fifty yards away, Double Diamond just sat there, looking in the completely opposite direction.
“You see this mountain?” he continued, his eyes sliding down the length to the rocky base. “If I had my skis back, I know for a fact that I would destroy these slopes like nopony else! That buck up that led to you finding me was nothing more than a mistake on the slopes, one that I would learn from. If anything, it’d help me get better and better, much like anypony else who would put a pair of skis on…" He paused for a moment and smiled to himself, remembering the unspoken connection and bond he felt with other ponies who loved to feel the same thrill he did anytime he sped down a mountain. “…be it on the other side of Equestria or even right here in our little village!” Starlight twitched a little at this, though Double Diamond didn’t notice. "Isn’t that what life is about, Starlight? Learning from mistakes?”
This was unacceptable. The very idea that Double Diamond would bring those kinds of selfish daydreams back with him to the village were harmful and destructive to everything she worked so hard to achieve. It would be nothing more than a distraction; this blasphemy needed to be shot down right now! Starlight took a quick breath and opened her mouth to right this wrong. “Ou-“
Before she could get another utterance in, though, Double Diamond obliviously cut her off, continuing on with his fantasy. “Do you know what that kind of rush is like, Starlight?” he asked, smiling at her. “To get watery-eyed and feel the wind screaming in your mane? It gets your heart racing like nothing else, ma’am! Everytime I did it, I just felt so…so complete. Almost like nothing else in Equestria made me feel so alive!” The slight dull in his coat was dangerously close to being restored to its original pure snow white as Double Diamond lit up while he spoke. "The best part about that is knowing you aren’t the only pony who feels that way! What I would give to speed down a slope with somepony else, be it on skis, a sled, whatever!” He happily sighed. This was the first time in quite awhile he revisited these thoughts. Perhaps it was the gorgeous view of everything from above that inspired him?
For a split second, Starlight Glimmer’s eyes widened. This was a pretty twisted coincidence considering one of the ponies whose cutie marks she just removed. Rose...That mare with the sled… It reminded her of that connection to other ponies that Double Diamond mentioned. Looking back on it, Starlight was actually a little relieved that the two never met, especially while she still had her cutie mark. Perhaps telling Double Diamond about Rose wasn’t the best idea right now?
“Maybe I could even introduce the idea to other ponies in the village?” He went on, much to Starlight’s inner displeasure. However, she let him proceed. “I felt so alive and whole whenever I’d ski, but I would love to share that passion again with others even more! I’m sure there would be others in the village who could pick up a pair and have so much fun with it! It’d be great to add just a little extra bit of that kind of happiness to our village."
The stallion’s daydreaming and way of thinking was wrong and illogical, but even so, Starlight couldn’t help but feel a little fascinated by this. Even as her assistant, the two have never really had an extended conversation about anything this meaningful. It was almost as if Starlight was talking to a pony she had never met before. It was very odd. She had no idea that Double Diamond thought about this kind of stuff, but she had to admit that it got her thinking too.
Starlight continued to stay silent for a few more moments, letting the food for thought marinate in her mind some more. Keeping these ponies under true equality mattered above all else, but would bringing in those two little skis really ruin an entire village? “I see,” she finally commented. Truth be told, she really didn’t know what to say anymore. She felt like something should be done about this kind of foreign free-thinking…but what? “Well, umm…please don’t try to stay up here for too long. It’ll be getting late before too long, Double Diamond.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” he grinned, waving goodbye to Starlight as she began her descent down the path. “Have a safe trip back down!”
“You…you too, Double Diamond…” she called back to him. Starlight Glimmer couldn’t remember the last time she was this confused as she turned back around, shook her head, and continued down the trail. Ponies have spoken their minds about their cutie marks several times before, and everyone of them was shut down with ease. This, however, was something completely different that she wasn’t prepared for how to deal with. Double Diamond never even once mentioned anything about his cutie mark, let alone beg to have it back. It obviously went against everything she had built for these ponies, but at the same time, it wasn’t a threat.
Double Diamond was well under the unicorn's hoof and he wouldn’t dare try to undermine her. Besides, what could he do without his cutie mark? He had nothing, so was there really any harm in letting him think all of that nonsense? The cutie mark vault was still standing tall and all of the cutie marks were secured inside. At the end of the day, that’s what mattered.
There was something else that was bothering Starlight in the back of her mind, though. As the founder of the village, she could very easily get a ‘yes, ma’am!’ out of anypony and get them to do whatever she said. That kind of equal obedience was exactly what she wanted, but this talk with Double Diamond threw something else into the mix that she didn’t account for: judging by the way he talked to her with such kindness, it was almost as if he legitimately cared about her.
The only thing Starlight valued here was control. Control and obedience. She knew that these ponies she was manipulating and taking on a ride would easily follow her obedience, but never did Starlight think they might also look up to her. They really do see me as their equal, don’t they? Taking that realization a step further, she never thought that it would be Double Diamond- of all ponies -that would open her eyes to this possibility.
Starlight sat at a lone wooden table outside, watching all of the villagers go about their evening without a care in the world. With her head resting on her left hoof, she lazily lifted up another one of Sugar Belle’s muffins to her mouth with magic. As enjoyable as it was for her, the cutie unmarking process could sometimes be a bit on the tiring side, and things didn’t get much better when her belly started growling.
She always hated these muffins, but like it or not, she had to settle on what Sugar Belle always threw together for everypony else. Starlight grimaced and forced down a loud groan in disgust at the bitter and dry taste. For some reason, they seemed to taste even worse today. That was actually possible? Suddenly that, ‘Equally delicious for everypony!’ slogan she made Sugar Belle use couldn’t be further from the truth. Not even adding a new assistant for Sugar Belle to work with changed a damn thing about the muffins!
“Good evening, Miss Starlight!” a stallion greeted her with a warm smile as he trotted by. “I hope you’re doing well today!”
She nodded in response while putting on a fake smile of her own. “Oh certainly~!” was the only kind of verbal response she gave. Too much was on her mind from earlier to deal with pointless small talk. While this stallion whose name and face she completely forgot -in her defense, though, there were at least eleven other stallions who had that exact same mane style- may just be wanting to be kind, but the last thing Starlight needed was other ponies proving Double Diamond’s indirect point that they cared about her. Speaking of Double Diamond, the start of this whole mess, Starlight looked up at the mountain off in the distance, thinking about the white earth pony. He’s still up there, isn’t he?
Before too long, she returned her attention back down to the plate of ‘muffins' in front of her. No matter how gifted and skilled anypony was in magic, even an alicorn princess would have to channel their entire focus into properly downing these monstrosities. Was it really too much to ask for some decent food now? It was almost impossible to believe that she had been forcing this garbage on these other ponies for so long. It’s like what prisoners in a Canterlot dungeon would be forced to stomach! For a moment, she even considered giving up one whole cutie mark just to get a passable meal again.
After forcing down another muffin, Starlight noticed a familiar pony from earlier trotting along. She just took his arrow cutie mark, after all. “You there!” she called out to the stallion, “Would you please come here?”
Confused but curious, the mocha-coated earth pony trotted over to her with a smile. “Sure thing. What can I do for you, ma’am?”
“I never got around to asking you earlier about your cutie mark.” Then again, Starlight never wanted to ask anypony about their cutie marks; the sooner they were removed from the flank, the better. Why talk about them? Why now? “What exactly did you do before you came to this village?”
“Ice archery,” he plainly said. “I was pretty damn good at it, too.”
What was he doing all the way out here then? Starlight thought to herself. “And am I to assume that you were some gold medalist that went on a luxurious vacation all across Equestria?”
The stallion’s ears dropped as he looked away for a few moments; she must’ve hit a bit of a soft spot with him by accident. “Umm…n-not exactly. More like getting hoofed a suspension from the next Equestrian Games.” Judging by the defeated tone, this wasn’t exactly something he was proud of.
“A suspension, hmm?” Starlight cocked her head to the side, surprised. Now that she thought about it, this was the first time in years that she had heard anything about the Equestrian Games. It was just yet another distraction for the village, after all. “What kind of mistake did you make to earn something like that?”
His head hung just a little lower at that. “Long story short, I, umm…I knocked over my quiver and kinda tripped over it…with a loaded arrow.” It was pretty much a story that didn’t need to be finished.
Starlight shook her head, almost letting a smirk get out. This was the kind of stuff to at least try and get her mind off of her talk with Double Diamond. “Tsk tsk tsk. I’m terribly sorry to hear that, but that’s probably all the more reason for you to stay with us in the village. Free yourself from failure!” She shut her eyes with a huge smile, putting on the little show she had put on numerous times before to win ponies over.
“Yeah…” The stallion sighed, hanging his head a little lower. “Yeah, that’s for the best…” He was clearly still very ashamed of his accident.
Starlight grumbled slightly. Damnit! Not you, too! She was starting to get really frustrated with both his defeated reaction as well as herself for sympathizing. Why the hay was she starting to feel bad for this sign of submission from him? She won an argument without even having to do anything that took effort! Why in Equestria was this bothering her? Double Diamond must’ve magically gotten to him first…somehow. “Do…do you miss it…?” she asks, immediately gritting her teeth. She hated herself for letting that question squeak out.
That seemed to get the stallion to quickly perk his gaze back up at her again…the one reaction she was hoping not to get. “Every single day, ma’am. I dreamed of getting a gold medal someday, and…and while I had to serve that suspension for something so bucking stupid, I had every intention of going back to the next Equestrian Games, more motivated than ever!”
Deep breaths through her nostrils kept Starlight from openly voicing her frustration. The last thing she needed was to see more of that passion-talk come from this other pony she just snuffed it away from. The worst part was looking back on it, she couldn’t even remember how she convinced this stallion to give up his cutie mark, along with his dreams. Which speech was it? “I see…” Once again, she was forced to admit to herself that she really had no idea what to say.
“It’s alright, though…” The stallion gave her a little smile as he picked himself back up. “I know you’re just looking out for me. You’re absolutely right, ma’am. That kind of stuff -passions, competitive drives, and pursuits- are all just distractions; the village comes first. Thank you for helping me realize that, Ms. Glimmer!”
It took everything in Starlight to not groan out loud. It was all really starting to pile up, and she was finding her patience running thin with it. She’d be able to feel better about this if he would just say something, anything, about wanting his cutie mark back! It’d give her something to easily shoot down and get back on track with shaking today off. Much like with Double Diamond, though, that didn’t even come up, making things difficult yet again.
“You’re…you’re…” She sighs, unable to say anything else in response. Even Starlight was finding it difficult to start up that fake smile she encouraged throughout the village up right now. She needed to, though, for the sake of this stallion. “…you’re welcome. Have a great evening then!”
The smile fell apart the very instant the stallion turned tail and trotted away, leaving Starlight alone again with her thoughts…exactly what she was afraid of.
The vault towered over her as Starlight’s eyes trailed up the massive wall. Cutie marks of all sorts decorated each little window, accompanied by the blue glow that illuminated across the cave in it’s majestic aura. Now that she thought it, this was the first time in quite awhile that she came to the vault all by herself.
We…we sure did have a lot of…unique ponies, didn’t we? her thoughts echoed, the word ‘unique’ having just an ounce less sting than it usually did. Starlight’s eyes danced from cute mark to cutie mark as she got lost in thought again. Even now -no, especially now- it was amazing to see the wide variety in the cutie marks she had removed from ponies. Music notes, pieces of jewelry, tools, scrolls, and everything in between sat in each window, restless but still. It was amazing to think that each one of these little emblems told a story. Everyone of them representing a pony that came from all corners of Equestria to this village for Celestia only knows how many reasons.
After her gaze coated the entire wall, Starlight’s eyes began to gravitate down and to her left towards the Staff of Sameness. It sat perched on its little pedestal, almost as if it was guarding the vault for her. As the pink unicorn walked slowly over to it, her memory began to recall a disturbing number of times the staff acted as an assist to her plans. How many times did she watch the shine and color dull on a pony’s coat when they lost what made them special? The more the thought weighed her down, the more Starlight realized that the fact that the staff actually did nothing at all made this whole situation even worse; it was all her that tore those ponies away from their cutie marks.
Perhaps that staff could be put to some good for once, though? Starlight surveyed the whole scene, cycling between the staff, the cave entrance, and the vault behind her. After a long few moments of pondering, her horn contributed it’s glow to the cave’s mystical aura, trapping the staff in its magic. She raised it out of the pedestal and carried it over to the wall. It may have been nothing more than a piece of wood, but glass would still be little to no match for it.
“I…I would make a lot of ponies happy…” she muttered to herself under her breath. The staff still hovered in the air and danced in the grasp of her magic while she watched the stick twirl around. Even now, this whole day has been nothing but a huge mess to her, but it could all go away with just a good swing or two.
"No!” No, this was all Double Diamond’s fault! If he didn’t slip this boneheaded line of thinking in her mind, Starlight would be back in her cottage right now, getting some much needed sleep like everypony else! It was too late for her to still be conflicted with something so illogical and counterproductive! Would a swing of the staff really make this bother go away for good? She could almost swear that at that moment, the glass gleamed just a little brighter, presenting how easy it’d be to crack.
Starlight bolted her eyes shut and snarled. For once in her life, she hated having all the power in Equestria to make a decision like this. Was Double Diamond so wrong for just speaking his mind? But he…he just wanted to be happy, right? They all do! He nor the other stallion ever once hinted to plotting to breaking the vault open. The only pony who ever even thought about busting the vault wide open was right here and now! It was well within her power to do so, too.
They just want to be happy…You can make them happy…They just want to be happy…You can give them that happiness…They just want to be happy...
She couldn’t take it anymore! Gripping it tightly in her magic, Starlight held the Staff of Sameness high above her head and shrieked at the top of her lungs, swinging forward and down…
When she opened her eyes, the staff’s prongs were buried in the dirt right in front of the still-standing vault. Her head dipped and rose back up with each heavy breath as she nearly froze in place at the sight. The village founder grit her teeth as she ripped the staff out of the dirt and turned back to its pedestal. Recollecting herself, she placed the staff back upright and made her way towards the exit. She looked over her shoulder one last time at the vault. The glass remained perfect and her collection still stood tall and proud; nopony was the wiser. With a dark smirk, she turned back around and trotted back towards the village.
“They are happy…"
Author's Note
This is the first time in a long time I've taken a little step outside of writing pony music and written something like this, but with as amazing as that finale was, I couldn't resist! A big thank you goes out to my friends Nevaylin for the cover art and Boardgamebrony for helping me edit this story. Hope you guys enjoyed it!
Be sure to check out my YouTube channel, too! ^^
