Author's Note

Whenever you feel like criticizing any one. . .just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.

-F. Scott Fitzgerald.

A Day In The Life

Enter Starlight Glimmer, who from first glance didn't seem as bad as I initially thought.

It was worse.

Graceful Wind told us that there if were to be someone who could help me and Rin get home, it may as well be her, and that possibility could only be realized if we had to do some more grunt work than was already being done, so yay to that. And also that we were not told of how. . .expressive she is.

If you had reason to doubt me, then check this out.

''Well, well, well; what do we have here?'' Starlight Glimmer asked in a sickeningly sweet tone, sizing us up and down as we explained why we decided to grace her little. . .town with our presence. After me and Daring explaining who we were and the mutual friend we had, or at least I hoped it was mutual so we would not be on yet another quest to derail all of us.

''If you were sent by a pony like Graceful Wind, then I am more than sure that I should be able to help you folk with whatever you may need,'' Starlight said, inviting us inside her little home, though the rest of it was just like the town; devoid of anything that really made it stand out, which was another flag in my books that maybe there could be more to this town than meets the eye. Couple that with an intermediate response of surprise at me and Rin, and that just brews up something for later. "The very first order of business I can see that you would want would be to pay for all of your hard work up to this point. Fortunately enough; bits are not an issue for me as we have all we could possibly want in our little town.''

I don't buy it.

Grass Song and Blank looked around at what they could see as me and Daring, Rin and Echo helped to count the 900 bits that Starlight brought from a sack that was in a brown and gold chest. We talked for about 15 or so minutes about some of the things that our crew did, and the mission that I and Rin had to see through. At first, Starlight seemed to be sympathetic to our cause, highlighting some of the wrongs that were seen in the work of Junko, as well as my shortcomings as opportunistic chances were presented to me. Something I noticed that began to fuel more of my idea of us being chased out of the village was her tone and ideology at unity and being an individual. And while that was riveting, it was her phrasing of unity meaning all as of one entity that made me stop in my tracks.

''Why does that seem so much as a problem to you? From what I hear, it sounds like too many heads doing too many things at once led to this situation, in the first place.'' Starlight said, sat in the middle of the room with us in a circle after moving some stuff around and the talks began to gain a little more ground. Her being standoffish at the hardships of the people before us and the people who currently had to deal with the long fight ahead. ''If they were all in the exact same frame of mind when they did this, then perhaps this wouldn't have had to happen, but that's merely just my own personal philosophy.''

''And where is this 'grand' philosophy of yours coming from?'' Rin asked, leaning against the window, calling Starlight out on her bluff of unified faith. ''What makes what you believe so right that everyone else here is doing it too?''

Starlight chuckled and began to list off her reasons. ''Why, less ponies get hurt and worry about less when things are done this way. Being the exact same makes it to where nopony will feel more or less important than the other. It brings a sense of. . .complete order when the same thought is the one that makes the most sense, then where is the fault in that?''

Daring narrowed her eyes and sat down, pointing a hoof at Starlight as she retorted. ''Of course, you don't see it, because you're the one making the choices for everypony in this village, it only makes sense that nothing decided by the pony in charge would seem almost perfect. When you don't give the option for a different choice, then it always falls to just what you want; that's the shortfall.'' Starlight chuckled at our leader's statement. ''Has anything in this village been decided by anypony else besides you And what about the Cutie Marks? Why are they all the same?''

''Of course, it has, I merely suggest, and everypony else merely sees the logic in my reasoning and just agrees. . .I'm sure that you have seen those kinds of things occur in your own world, or am I wrong?''

''Well, it's not like it is here, where nobody has no choice at all, people back home have the ability to make whatever choice they want and to voice their opinion on why they feel that way. However, I can guess that's not the case here if you become judge, jury, and executioner.'' Rin said, countering Starlight's words. I felt the same as well.

Even though a lot of people's choices or wishes aren't taken into consideration as much, they still have the conscience to make that choice versus it being made for them. ''What about those Cutie Marks that Daring was talking about? We saw a few ponies with the exact same one, does that mean that-''

''Everypony who has come here has been shown that the Cutie Mark that they were given was, in fact the wrong one. Thanks to the help of everyone in our village, we have helped others see that the way to go is to be the same; equality in every sense of the word!'' Starlight proclaimed proudly, throwing us for a loop. ''Why, when you think about it, it makes sense. If we are all the same, then there is nothing to argue or dispute.''

Rin scoffed and began to counter Starlight with her understanding of the situation, flaring her nostrils. ''Not having variety can be the downfall of a country, a state, even the world, if there's not a fallback option in cause your one way, does not work. There's a saying that I hope is the same for you which is; if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. You can't tell me that there has yet to be any problems or issues with your single, headstrong, dictator bullshit!" Rin smashed a hand on the window sill, splintering the wood.

Starlight stepped back a tad, as did Daring and everyone else but me.

I know Rin was just being passionate about one of her ideals.

Starlight cleared her throat. ''Well, I can see that my way of doing things is not something that you agree with-''

''-I don't.'' Rin harshly responded back with a small growly undertone. ''But continue.''

''R-Rin.'' Blank said, everyone looking at her for the moment. ''Are you sure you're. . .okay?''

Rin deflated a tad at the question, knowing she could have handled the situation better. ''Yea, sorry; I just. . .want to hear her side of this debate is all. It's no worry.''

''Yes, Blank, it's only a friendly conversation, but you have to remember that this. . .is not your place to say any of this. I appreciate your concern, but I am more than certain anypony else would agree with the way that things are, I assure you,'' Starlight trotted towards the door, stopping to throw Rin a small look of knowing. ''I know you know this, as well. What I can tell you is that everypony who has come through to our little town has come to understand our ways, and I hope you may come to feel the same as well one day.''

''And why do you say that?'' I asked.

''Well,'' Starlight hummed and smiled, saying her next sentence as if it was merely facts. ''Pretty much anypony who has come to our town has never wanted to leave; well that and they all have seen how much better it is to be part of the community that we've built over the years.'' Starlight said, paying a look of appreciation to the ponies that were going to and fro to their houses. ''Even with the current issue that they both of you are going through, I would hope when it gets resolved that maybe you would be willing to be a part of our quaint little home.''

''Don't count your chickens before they hatch,'' I said, personally getting tired of being thrown around like a merry-go-round. Granted, this. . .village has its own set of issues dealing with the seemingly sensible pony being a dictator to those under her, but we currently have different priorities. ''Graceful said you could be the one who can help us find a way back home, now is that true or not?''

Starlight proudly stood tall and touched a hoof to her chest as she responded. ''Why, of course! Not to toot my own horn, but I am pretty adept at magic. There's not much that I can't do when it comes to the way of Unicorn magic, but I will need some time to peruse my spellbooks to see what exactly I may need to do, I hope that won't be a problem.''

''Wellll, not really.'' Grass Song said, chuckling nervously. ''We would just hope for the earliest that you could so we can help our friends is all, but-'' Daring interjected into the conversation.

''-But, we also want you to get things right so there's no risk. I think we should take a break and settle down for a few. What says you, Rin and Jamir?'' our leader looked at us with a small smile on her face.

Hmmm.

''Fine,'' I said, shrugging and waving my arm in an uncaring motion. ''Rin?'' I called, seeing her still a bit miffed at what Starlight said earlier. Her arms were folded and she threw a predatory gaze, the red in her eyes beginning to brighten some. Underneath her hoodie sleeves, I could faintly see her muscles bulging a tad, though it never went past that. ''Red, focus. We're gonna have to take a break anyways, so let's just, I don't know; sleep?''

''Grrrgh,~'' Rin quickly breathed out before going silent, standing up from the wall and walking over to me, her attitude beginning to waver when she saw the look of no-nonsense that I had. Rin held a small staring contest with Starlight, who only smiled a bit and went over to one of her chests and began to rummage through it. ''. . .Fine. But only because you said so; I'm not the biggest fan of her ideal of one hive, one mind.''

''We could tell,'' Daring said, walking next to us. ''But honestly, it doesn't matter. We just need to be here long enough to get the two of you back home.''

''Yea, the quicker, the better,'' I said, running a hand through my hair. This day was only going to get worse and worse, I was more than sure of it.

Starlight uncovered a few books and began to sort them out. "Well, it's looking like I may just be up during the whole night, but I can assure you I will do everything in my power to help you. I only ask that you give me a little bit of time. In the meantime, I can have Double Diamond show you where we can put you folks up for the night,'' a surge of her magic went through her horn for a few moments before dispersing. A few minutes later, a knock on the door alerted us.

''Come in!~" Starlight's voice called out. Inside walked a stallion with a white coat, mane and tail, cut short with the bleakest of grey pupils reflecting back to our eyes as he walked in. There was that exact same Cutie Mark that we saw everypony else with, but the standout of his entire being here had to be the mile-wide smile on his face. He trotted in, past us and beelined towards Starlight before turning to face all of us.

''Oh my, Starlight. Do we have new friends coming here in to live in our wonderful village?'' Double Diamond asked, sizing us up and down. Then he pointed at us. ''I don't mean to be rude, but who are you two? you look very different from a pony. Could you be related to us, somehow?''

''No, no Double Diamond. At least I would hope that they are our friends. As to the matter of them being related us, I would say no,'' Starlight Chuckled, then put a hoof on Double Diamond's back. ''Would you mind showing our guests to their rooms for the night? I need to be left alone for a few to find out what I have in my tomes and spellbook to get these folks back to their own world.''

''Absolutely,'' Double Diamond grinned from ear to ear, showing off all of his teeth and further creeping me out. We were escorted to our rooms, but not before being stopped by a few of the locals, and being questioned for a few minutes before we were taken to our rooms to recover for the night.

But something just did not budge with me, or Rin for that matter.

''This is complete bullshit,'' Rin huffed as she paced back and forth in our room, looking out the window to view the quiet night of the town. Daring and Blank came over from the house adjacent to ours while Grass and Echo was sleep. The chirping of crickets and the tap of Rin's boots was all I heard before everyone got settled in. Rin called this meeting to say something that I know can only be for one reason. ''Am I the only who thinks that this Starlight is literally the pony version of Hitler in a way?''

''First off, they don't know him, so that reference is lost on them. and two; you're right, but you can't approach this the wrong way, Rin.'' I said, Daring nodding while Blank looked to agree with Rin. ''Nothing really seems that much out of the ordinary, but where would we start?''

''That's where we come in,'' Blank said, grinning. ''Me and Rin can do a little snooping. See what's on the up and up, unless they really are just here because they saw her 'ideals' for what they are like you guys say.''

Daring and I looked to each other and looked over what the two of them looked as a plan; they were going to go spy on Starlight and see what how much of her grand philosophy was actually real. The only problem with that was that we had no proof to go on, and if we were wrong, that would look pretty bad on us accusing someone who offered to help us get back home. Yet, I agreed with the initial suspicion of something not being right since when we landed here.

The entire vibe of the town, Starlight included, felt completely off. Almost like it was entirely scripted. And how did all of these ponies just come to the conclusion that whatever made them special was actually wrong? Being the exact same as the person next to you only breeds a recipe for problems down the road, and something tells me that Starlight knows that, but is only using this ruse as a means to do something bigger, but what?

''True as that may be, it still seems like we could be wrong if we approach this; I don't know if you noticed, but we've been watched since we got in here,'' Daring said, gesturing to the window, only I didn't see anything from where I looked. ''That's right, I forgot, you're not as gifted with perfect sight, like Blank is.''

Blank growled, her pale yellow eyes glowing like a cat's as she stared out said window for a few seconds, her pupils darting up and down for a few seconds before narrowing. ''Yep, I see two ponies ontop of the mountain that we came from, and another two watching the back of the house based on the smells I picked up before coming in here,'' Blank growled and sat down. ''It's likely for security reasons; a quick alarm system for Starlight if we try anything. And what about the Optiquest? Why did we just leave her to just sit out there?''

I chuckled a bit, and Blank took that as a lack of caring from me before I quickly explained. ''We didn't; I had Ai, Yuu and Snow pull security there, just in case,'' I said, pulling my sleeve up to show that my Life Drive was not on my arm. ''But if what you say is true, there's probably more of those clowns watching everything we're doing in here down to the smallest movement, so we have to approach this differently.''

Rin groaned and pulled on some of her hair, looking ready to punt something with the lack of action. ''So what do you suggest we do?''

''I suggest that we just wait until the morning. In the darkness, who knows what else she got set up for us. And this isn't our home turf, we'd be going in blind if we just up and did something.'' Daring said, taking her hat off and thinking for a moment before nodding to herself. ''That's probably the best thing we can do to help ourselves in this situation.''

Her logic was not lost on me; personally, even though I am more than sure that we could take this village and Starlight easily, I don't want jinx anything, not if I could help.

''Are you being serious right now, Boss? We can do this,'' Blank argued. it's probably 4 ponies on the lookout right now, max. If we cause a diversion and distract them, maybe we could-''

''-we could seriously get bucked if something goes wrong. I'm staying firm on this, this isn't like other ponies or average crooks we've put behind bars. I think. . .she's controlling them. Taken away their free will, tricked them; something. I don't like this one bit, and I don't want to risk it.''

Blank hmmmped and retorted. ''Even though you risk your life almost everyday?''

''Yea.'' Daring whispered harshly. ''Mine. Not yours. Not Echo. Not Grass Song, Graceful or even Rin or Jamir even though they just came into this world. Me. I'm always the one doing the dangerous stuff because I choose to put myself in danger instead of having my entire family, which makes all the more sense. I'd rather it just be me getting hurt than you, and you know that.'' Daring poked her friend in the chest with a hood sharply. Blank pushed her away, baring her teeth. Blank shouted a tad as she got closer into Daring's face.

''How the buck is this any different? And who gave you that choice to make for yourself?''

''Cause I'm the boss, and what I say goes!'' Daring whispered in rage. ''You chose to follow me, which means you play by my rules, and I'm not gonna have any more discussion on this. . .this is an order; we move in the morning. End of conversation.''

''But-'' Blank tried to retaliate.

''-That's final.'' Daring simply said and walked towards the door. ''And that goes for you too, Rin.''

Rin backpedaled and began to stalk towards Daring. ''I don't take orders from you, Daring. If I want to-'' I cleared my throat as she looked at me.

''-But you do from me. Red, we're going with her plan. It's better to wait. I don't want to chance shit either.''

''Are you fucking serious?!'' Rin looked at me as if I just smushed her favorite cake in her face before she had a chance to eat it. Then her eyes narrowed at me. ''We can do this with or without you.'' Rin said, then she did something that surprised me. ''Unless you think you can stop me from going.'' I felt her forehead against mine as she clenched her fists. ''We need to help these ponies and put a stop to her bullshit.''

''And I agree,'' not disagreeing, but also making sure that I stood my ground. ''But this is not the way to go about it, and I know that you know that,'' Rin scoffed at what I said, but she knew I was right. ''I'm sorry.'' I turned around.

''Yea. . .so are we.'' was I heard before I felt something thump the back of my head and my body go limp like a wet towel. Managing to crane my head, I looked to see Blank biting Daring in the neck as she thrashed about before falling to the ground.

My only thought at that?

Shit.