Tide and Effect

“Woah! You just got your cutie mark!" Sunburst said excitedly, the tears falling from his eyes, sadness replaced with wonder "...what's it mean?"

Starlight stared dumbfounded at her own flank as her brain struggled to start working again. Things were falling into place like never before. There was understanding thrust upon her so suddenly that she hadn't had time to properly process the emotions. It wasn't just that she got her cutie mark, it's what it means and how it makes sense.

"...it means… what I just said. Everypony should be equal. That's my special talent. Making Ponies Equal." Starlight, more aloud to herself than to Sunburst.

"What? How does that work?" Sunburst said, confused. "What kind of market is there in that?" Starlight's heart sank as she realized that such an obscure cutie mark didn't guarantee her income. Wouldn't have been the case if it was baking or sewing or some other menial task she could do easily. Her own words had rung in her head, though. Maybe the fact it doesn't help unemployment is the point. Maybe that's part of the Equality thing. Her brain carried this train of thought to its logical conclusion.

"Making Ponies Equal is broad enough to include income inequality, cutie mark inequality, hell even class differences." Starlight said, pacing back and forth. "...what if I was meant to find this spell because it helps achieve equality of a kind. If everypony is a blank flank, truly then will we all be equal."

"Hold on there Starlight. You're starting to talk crazy, what spell are you even talking about?" Sunburst said, worriedly walking over to her as she held out the book for him to read.

"Stygians Spell of Cutie Mark Replacement and Removal. One of the only cutie mark transfiguration spells I've found that seems actually permanent." Starlight said. Sunburst quickly read the passage, nervous of the manic excitement in Starlight's eyes as she seemingly spiraled into radical ideas.

"Erm.. not to disappoint you but this spell seems to have a few adverse side-effects. A world where you use this unchanged on everypony sounds absolutely miserable. Though I guess if you tweaked the ingredients you could possibly.." Sunburst rambled on, his hyperfixation on magic shining through as he played with the idea of modifying the spell slightly. The stallion sighed as he closed his eyes and pushed up his glasses with his hoof.

“... it could work. But, Starlight, I think you’re taking it the wrong way. Making ponies equal doesn’t necessarily mean upsetting the established system. Maybe you’re just supposed to be in social work or.. Or a lawyer or something.” Starlight held her hoof to her chin, pondering as the excitement of getting her cutie mark took over. She giggled excitedly, selfishly reveling in the brief joy of the fact ponies would no longer stare at her blank flank.

"Well whatever, we can figure out all that stuff later. What do you say we go out for drinks, huh? It's celebration time." Starlight said.

"Oh well.. I don't know.. I don't really drink." Sunburst said timidly, staring down at his hooves.

"Well neither do I but when are we gonna get to celebrate like this again? Besides, I saw a suit in the window on the way here that I liked. I'm gonna nab it on the way there." Starlight said excitedly, wanting to treat herself. She motioned Sunburst to follow as she went to go check out the book at the front of the library.

"A suit? Wouldn't you rather a dress?" Sunburst said, slightly confused.

"No." Starlight said.

Starlight and her friend then left the library and made their way out to the streets of Canterlot with the moon high in the sky. It was really late but both of them had been very used to pulling all-nighters recently. They made their way to the boutique just as it was closing. The bell ringing startled the pony behind the counter. Her meek voice barely registered as Starlight made a b-line for the suit she had seen in the window.

"Oh sorry but uh.. m-miss Polomare just left for the night and s-so that means we're uh.. uh closed." The mare weakly offered.

"Don't worry, I know exactly what I want. I'll be out of your hair in a jiffy." Starlight said, expertly levitating the suit off the mannequin as she waltzed up to the store counter, Sunburst flanking her nervously. The fashion pony sighed as she realized she wasn't able to dissuade the excited unicorn customer. Her name-tag read Coco. She took a look at the suit and then looked at the customers up and down, her fashion knowledge giving her confidence.

"I'm sorry but I can already tell you this suit is too small to fit him, just by looking at him." Coco said. "...no offense." Coco and Sunburst shared a smile as he mouthed a "none taken" while Starlight piped up.

"It's not for him, it's for me." She said, confused as she pulled the bits out of her bag.

"Right but this is a stallions- oh ok then." Coco said, lacking the energy to argue further as she rung up the suit and placed it in a bag for the unicorn. Sunburst then shot the fashion pony some kind of knowing look that somehow caused Coco to nod, understanding the situation much better. Starlight's heart sank as she felt like the butt end of some inside joke for a moment.

"Come back soon, but not too soon!" Coco said half-heartedly as Starlight and Sunburst left with the suit, before turning to officially close up shop.

The unicorn excitedly pulled the suit over her head and slipped her hooves into the sleeves. It fit her perfectly. Starlight felt dapper as she admired her dim reflection in the dark store window. The red tie stood out against its black undershirt, the maroon collar highlighting the shiny gold buttons on her lapel and cufflinks. It was very… her.

"You look nice" Sunburst said, not having seen the appeal initially and happy to be proven wrong.

"Thanks. Hey. Let's hit the bar!" Starlight said excitedly to the empty street. It was nearly 1 AM and most ponies were asleep already. The moon shone brightly upon Canterlot through the clouds as they walked through its empty streets to the only places still lit. The bars and pubs that kept the city awake and alive into the wee hours of the morning. Its denizens were the few homeless ponies who took the cover of dark to move about without the watchful eye of the royal guard, the drunken close friends off from hours of work, drinking their way into the relaxation-filled weekend and the poor saps still working to manage the bars through the graveyard shift. The dim blues of the sky left for the warm reds and oranges of the pub lighting. The busy street corners of the daylight had seemed packed into the small warm space to hide for the night. As Starlight and Sunburst made their way to the stools and ordered, they pondered that here was Canterlot in microcosm. It didn't take many drinks for both ponies to open their minds.

"I really think you could be a lawyer, I mean. You look like a lawyer right now." Sunburst said, 4 shots deep and already slurring his words.

"I don't want to be a lawyer-pony or a social worker-pony or a fucknn magic-pony. I just wanna be a pony! Why is that so fuckin hard?" Starlight replied, having had quite a bit more than Sunburst at this point.

"I mean I feel it, I realize- I mean I just, I'm not even- uh I- I can't even be a magic pony right. Like its my *hic* cutie mark but that doesn't mean I'm good at it, I thought that's how it worked.." Sunburst said, starting to become emotional again.

"I think everyponys too worried about their own fuckin ass-picture to see that something is really fucked up here, like. We should just not have them.. get rid of em! I'm gonna go and.. I'm gonna uh *hic* I'm gonna make it so nopony has to be a cutie mark! Then you don't have to be sad that you're a stupid magic horse anymore cuz you'd just be a horse." Starlight said, drunkenly trying to sum up her philosophy.

"Do you really think I'm stupid?" Sunburst said, tearing up.

"Yeah but like, I'm stupid too, I didn't even know what a cutiemark was until like. A week ago. I think you have a lot of pote- poten- a lot of skill in other stuff and it could be your cuiemar that's holding you back." The mare replied somewhat comfortingly though almost incoherently. Sunburst must've found some comfort in it because he smiled through his tears.

"Celestia.. my fuckin life is so fucked up and your so fuckin nice to me I- I love you so much you're so fuckin nice- I love you." The stallion said, wiping his tears with a bar napkin the bartender pushed towards him.

"I love you too" Starlight said without much thought, turning to order another hit from the bartender, who gave her a concerned look. When she turned back, Sunburst leaned forward to kiss her, sobering her rapidly. Her eyes widened as she pulled away from the kiss, pushing him back with her hoof.

"Woah! I, hey, I think you're really nice Sunburst but like, I uh, y'know don't uh.. exactly feel that way. Like that" Starlight said, blushing and wiping her mouth.

"Im sorry… yeah I could kinda tell I just sort of had to try y'know. Like. I get that you don't really swing that way and that's ok. I'm not like, broken up or anything I get it it was just like a stupid thing anyways." Sunburst said timidly. Starlight was really confused for a moment.

"What do you mean, don't swing that way?" She said, becoming more and more sober as her glass sweated on the table in front of her.

"Well like, aren't you more into mares? Like you're gay, right?" Sunburst said. As Starlight struggled to come up with a response, her drunkenness returned to impair her thinking. Most often when she pondered a concept it was quick and easy. Now the booze had coated her brain in molasses and fog which made it difficult and slow to think.

"I don't think so- well I mean- there was this one mare in high school but like everypony has that right? Like that fashion designer pony was cute but- those are kinda normal thoughts, right?" She said.

"Well I mean if you're not gay why do you dress like a lesbo. Not to be mean but like stallions prefer a mare in a dress. Plus like, did you think she was cute in a 'I want to be her' or an 'I want to have her' way?" Sunburst said, his inhibitions leaving with the latest shot. It didn't matter that her brain was foggy, the answer appeared to Starlight clear as day in her head. She felt her cheeks flush as she thought about the fashion pony, her body getting hotter thinking about talking to her. Even 12 shots deep the revelation hit Starlight like a truck. She was a massive lesbo and there was basically no evidence to the contrary.

"... let's talk about something else '' she said, staring down at the ice swirling in her glass, attempting to shake the gay thoughts from her head. As she lifted it up to drink it, she prayed the booze would erase this night from her memory.

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When Starlight lifted her head from the warm wood that had stuck to her skin via her sweat, she felt that kind of anxiety so often associated with the memories of sleeping in and being late for school. She frantically swiveled her head to find that the bar was completely and utterly empty. Sunburst was gone, as were all the other ponies she had been surrounded with mere moments ago. Furthermore, the chairs were all up on the tables and all the lights were off. The bar was closed and had been closed for some time. In front of her was a drool-drenched napkin she had laid on and a shot glass that had been tipped over, spilling its contents over the bar.

Starlight absent-mindedly touched her face and neck to feel the imprint of the wood grain that had been left on her skin. As she moved to pull herself off of the stool, she heard a noise from behind the bar. The back wall of the bar was an assortment of drinks lined along ornately decorated frosted glass that separated the lobby from the kitchen. The flick of a light switch in the kitchen shone through the glass and into the lobby. Starlight watched as the shape of a pony moved about the kitchen with the scuffle of dishes. She guessed the morning crew was here to open, and decided to politely remain seated so as to attempt to explain herself.

The mare's mind raced as she struggled to remember the events of the previous night. Had she said goodbye to Sunburst? Had she written to her father to tell him she'd arrived in Canterlot safety? Had she even paid for her drinks? Panic began to overtake her as she watched the pony in the kitchen stop and turn to her, having noticed her there. She cursed the brain fog that wouldn't subside as she began to hyperventilate, the kitchen pony making their way to the front to greet her. As the kitchen pony came out from the frosted glass to reveal herself, a cool, calming feeling overcame Starlight, like a cold glass of water. The hairs on her neck stood up and her breathing slowed as her heart rate calmed.

"Can we get you anything, Starlight?" Princess Luna said softly as she wiped up the tipped-over shot glass. Starlight instantly bowed her head in respect, blushing in embarrassment. Her thoughts raced as she wondered why the royal had seemingly taken a job at a local bar in Canterlot.

"N-no thank you. Princess. I'm ok I was just leaving… sorry I.." the mare stammered.

"You are currently in your hotel fast asleep, Sunburst accompanies you. You've had quite an eventful night but you owe nopony money." The alicorn said calmly and quietly. "We wanted to visit you, Starlight Glimmer." Starlight's eyes widened at the realization, her previous anxieties replaced with new ones.

"Oh! Well uh- I uh, I'm honored, your majesty. What brings you to my dreams?" She said, worried that her talk about cutie marks and revolution of the system had reached the princess and possibly even upsetted her.

"Our reasons don't matter as much as your feelings on the matter of your cutie mark. We have never seen anything like it in all our years." Luna said, holding Starlight's hoof under hers. The alicorn's soft voice worked to calm Starlight and help her think clearly and speak truthfully.

"I feel strange, like everything makes so much sense but it's all wrong. Something feels wrong like I've changed somehow and things are so much different. I think I know what my cutie mark means but I'm scared it's not right. If this really is my destiny why does it feel like the odds are against me?" Starlight said in clearer words than she'd ever been able to express in the waking world.

"Perhaps it is not that you must change for the world but the world must change for you now, Starlight. We believe your cutie mark represents a new era for you to bring about. From where you're standing the odds will seem insurmountable." Princess Luna said. Starlight felt that same cool feeling overtake her as the princess spoke, this time combined with the warm radiance that filled her with confidence.

"Our sister for the past thousand years has developed a plan for Equestria which we believe will not end in its prosperity. However, due to our exile, we were not able to offer our advice." The alicorn went on to explain. "...we believe the future of Equestria lies in ponies like you, Starlight. Ones with good hearts yet strange minds. We've been watching them for quite some time, and as with the fatal magnetism that governs us all, destiny will bring them together." Starlight swelled with pride as non-existent tears filled her eyes.

"You really think I'm that important?" She said, having been so certain of her inadequacy for so long that being told differently gave her determination unlike anything else she'd ever felt.

"We're certain you have the potential to be, but we oversee suggestion, not instruction. Truly only you can decide your own fate, regardless of our input. Choice is a value we extend to you so that you may extend it to all that you meet as well" Luna said, attempting to distance herself from Starlight somewhat. The unicorn nodded feverishly

"Let us also remember the result of the last time we defied our sister openly. We believe you to be a necessary force of change but there's no reason anypony but us needs to know that." The princess said with a wink. "...we simply ask that you neglect to mention our royal endorsement."

“Of course, princess.” Starlight said.

“The sun is beginning to rise, we must go. Remember the cover of night will grant you safety. Until we meet again, Starlight Glimmer.” Princess Luna said, bowing her head as she began to fade out from existence. Starlight smiled, nodding to her as the bar around her began to melt into dust, and the light of the waking world welcomed her back, unaware that she had changed into a traitor of the night.