Life New and Old

"Do we really have to go there?" I asked.

"If you want the answer to your question, yes." Twilight replied.

The train came to a stop and we got off. Needless to say, I was pretty nervous.

"Don't worry, with me here, they'll open up." Twilight assured me as we approached the town.

I could see Double Diamond, Sugar Belle, Party Favor, and Night Glider in front of the nearest house. Night Glider turned to us.

"Hey, it's Princess Twilight," she scowled, "And she brought Starlight."

"It's okay, my new student has learned her lesson and will behave herself." Twilight said casually, a surprised look forming on their faces.

"How are you here?" Double Diamond asked suspiciously.

"I will get to that, but first, I need you to answer some questions for me." Twilight answered, "Double Diamond, can everypony ski as well as you can?"

"No."

"Sugar Belle, can everypony bake as well as you can?"

"No."

"Party Favor, can everypony throw a party as well as you can?"

"Nope."

"Can everypony fly as well as you can Night Glider?"

"Heck no!"

"Notice a pattern there, Starlight?" Twilight asked me.

I raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Not everypony can do everything as well as everpony else."

"Right, and because of that...?" Twilight gestured for me to finish the sentence.

I though about it for a moment. Originally, I thought our differences would jeopardize friendships, so I came up with a spell to rid ponies of them. A looked around me showed that the village was doing better than when I was the mayor. The ponies were genuinely happy, and looking healthier than when they had the equality marks on. Comparing that to my memories of my time here, using the equality marks to suppress everyone down, it was clear that my village was failing and slowly falling apart. Then I remembered that speech Twilight had started that I interrupted.

"Everypony has unique talents and gifts, and when we share them with each other, that's how rea—"

"We have to share our different talents with each other to make a functioning society. Because nopony can be good at everything, we share what we are good at with those who aren't so skilled in those fields to get we need as a whole. So long as everypony does their part, everypony is happy. "

"The same is true friendships. A real friendship is one where ponies can and will embrace their differences. Sure, they may disagree on certain things, but a true friendship is strong than that. In a true friendship, those ponies would be willing to hear each other out and understand the opposing viewpoints. Now Starlight, what happens if you try to get rid of the differences?"

"If everypony was lowered to the lowest common denominator, nopony would excel at anything. Society will fall apart because nopony can do anything well." I gasped. "The village would have failed sooner or later, and I wanted to spread my ideology across all of Equestria!"

So that was it. I really was as great a threat to Equestria as Nightmare Moon, or any one of those other guys Twilight showed me. I hung my head in shame. So imagine my surprise when I feel a hoof wrap around my back, followed by the warmth of four other bodies. Nopony needed to say anything. After a moment, Sugar Belle spoke up.

"Starlight, what happened after we cased you to that mountain?"

"I had traversed the tunnel system of that mountain before I found this little village. After I went in, I found my way out on the other side easy enough. I was angry that Princess Twilight and her friends ruined what I had created. Driven by revenge, I spent the next few months stalking Twilight and her friends."

"Stalking us?"

"Remember when you and those other ponies were in that restaurant in Canterlot? I was there, hiding behind a menu. Since you were a princess, I knew I'd find you there sooner or later. Of course, imagine my surprise when you and Pinkie Pie boarded the train for Ponyville after the party for that Moondancer pony. Then I saw that big castle you're living in and stayed in Ponyville. I saw that weekend your friends spent with that Discord character you missed out on, and the aftermath was delicious."

"I'm sure." Twilight replied, a look of revelation crossing her face.

"He was one of the baddies who tried to take over Equestria though. I was surprised to see him in that memory you showed me. What's the deal?"

"We got him to reform. Well, Fluttershy got him too. It took a while for the rest of us to warm up to him, but Equestria wasn't made in a day." Twilight chucked "He even taught me a thing or two about friendship after my coronation."

"The princess of friendship still having to learn about friendship?" I asked.

"Absolutely. Who knows? Maybe you'll teach me something about friendship in the near future."

"I doubt that."

"You never know, Starlight." Twilight said with a wink.

"Speaking of reforming, how did you get Starlight to change her mind?" Sugar Belle asked.

Twilight spent the next hour describing her ordeal caused by me. I couldn't believe all the terrible futures I had caused. Eyebrows were raised when she got to the part about Sunburst.

"Wait, Starlight started a this cult to make everypony equal because her friend moved away?" Night Glider asked incredulously.

"Oh sure, it's easy to criticize from the outside. I was a foal at the time facing a problem like that for the first time with nopony to turn to. My parents? Nowhere to be found. Sunburst got into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns when he got his cutie mark. Did I ever see him again? No. Why is that? Because with an education like his, he's some big important wizard somewhere. And there I was, left with nothing. What was I suppose to conclude from that?" I replied.

"You could have written to him."

"Yes, because that never occurred to me. Too bad it was too late by the time it had."

"So you decide that's good enough reason to declare war on cutie marks. I wonder what he would say."

"But that's just what made me change my mind. Twilight gave me a speech about how all friendships are important to Equestia, and that there are other ponies I could met and befriend. I realized that odds are, Sunburst had done this very thing, and that he would have nothing nice to say about what I have become."

It was silent for a moment. Then Party Favor spoke up.

"Well, since your a changed pony, let's have a party to celebrate your return. It'll give everypony a chance to hear you out."

I smiled. "That'd be nice."

"I think I speak for everypony when I say you'll always have a home here if things don't work out under Princess Twilight's tutelage. Unless you decide to go back to your old ways." Double Diamond added.

"Thanks guys." I thought I saw a look of concern out of the corner of my eye on Twilight's face when he had said it, but it was gone as quick as it had come. "Everything okay Princess?"

"Yes, let's just enjoy the party." she replied shorty. "If Pinkie is anything to go by, I'll bet Party Favor already has it set up."

She was right.