My Little Pony: True Friendship or Equality

Chapter 5

Starlight Exposed

The next morning, Starlight Glimmer wanted to see if the mane 6 were ready to join them once again in their life of equality, Starlight unlocked the door and let them out, once they were outside, Starlight smiled at them and said, "I've got a good feeling about today! So, do any of you have anything you'd like to say?" The village ponies were hoping that they were ready to join them, but the mane 6 just gave them angry or depressed looks, meaning they were not ready, then Starlight said, "Aw, pity. Well, let's try this again tomorrow, shall we? No new friends today, I'm afraid!" Neo had been locked in there with them even though he had agreed to live up to Starlight's philosophy, but that was only to try and get the cutie marks back, Neo had failed to do so, but in the process, he had sent Chucky out the night before to get them, but instead, Chucky has discovered and startling secret about Starlight Glimmer, Neo and Chucky had talked about how they were going to expose Starlight to the village ponies and prove to them that she is a fraud, however the mane 6 had no knowledge of their plans, Neo thought it would be easier to keep it between himself and Chucky. Neo was holding Chucky in his hands and Chucky was acting like a regular doll, they were waiting for the right time to expose Starlight.

Neo said that he would like to lock the mane 6 back in the house, Starlight was happy to hear that, she said, "Marvelous, Neo! That's the spirit! Party Favor, will you join us, please?" Party Favor had been locked in the house with the mane 6 the night before because he took the blame for how the mane 6 and Neo found out about the cutie mark vault. Party Favor came over to the village ponies and said, "I'm sorry, Starlight! I'm sorry, everypony! I've seen the error of my ways! I never want to look at my cutie mark again!" Starlight was happy to hear that, she said, "It seems there's cause for celebration after all!" The village ponies cheered, Party Favor said, "They tried to break me! They wouldn't stop talking about how different they are, and that somehow makes their friendship stronger!" Starlight signed and said, "Such backwards thinking." Party Favor said, "But I didn't listen! I knew what they were up to, and I didn't listen!" Starlight said, "Well done, Party Favor! We welcome you back with open hooves!"

Then Neo said to Starlight, "Hey Starlight, one of my friends would like to join us." Twilight stepped forward, Starlight was very happy about this, she thought she had finally gotten a princess to join them, Starlight said, "Is this true?" As they were talking, Chucky slowly took out a small water gun and was going to use it as soon as he was close enough to Starlight, Twilight said, " I-I think so. But I just want to be sure. If I agree to leave my cutie mark in the vault, I'll really be happier?" Starlight said, "Just look around! Equality has given us more happiness than you've ever known!" Neo moved a little closer to Starlight, Twilight said, "And you wouldn't let me just live here in the village with my old cutie mark?" Starlight said, "Out of the question. A pony with a different cutie mark in our midst would destroy our entire philosophy. We are all equal here!" Neo said to Starlight, "Starlight." Starlight turned to Neo and said, "Yes Neo." Neo said, I just realized something... you're a terrible lair." Starlight said, "Excuse me?" Surprised by what Neo just said, Neo said, "Do you really believe that forcing everypony to be equal is the only way of true friendship?" Starlight said, "Of course I do." Neo said, "What about yourself, are you equal like everyone else here in the village." Starlight didn't like where this was going, she said, "Of course I am, I started this village, I made everypony equal, therefore, I am equal as well." Neo stood right next to her rear and said, "Then how do you explain this?" Chucky pointed his water gun at Starlight's rear, he squirted her rear and said, "Bang, you're dead."

Starlight freaked out for a second and so did the village ponies, even the mane 6 was surprised at what just happened, Starlight said, "I knew you couldn't be trusted! No! Get away!" Neo put Chucky on the ground and Chucky stood up, at first the village ponies stared at Chucky, Chucky used a rag to wipe Starlight's rear and he wiped off her equal sign and revealed her real cutie mark and Chucky said, "How's this for equality." The village ponies looked at Starlight and gasped, the mane 6 gasped as well, Starlight said, "Wha... What are you looking at?! They're the problem, not me!" Party Favor said, "How could you?" Double Diamond said, "You said cutie marks were evil! You said special talents led to pain and heartache!" Starlight said, "They do! Don't you see?! Look at them!" Suger Belle stepped forward and said, "Then why? Why did you take ours and not give up your own?" Starlight said, "I... I had to, you fools! How could I collect your cutie marks without my magic?!" Night Glider said, "But the staff has all the magic we need!" Starlight said, "The staff is a piece of wood I found in the desert! It's my magic that makes all this possible! You'd all still be living your miserable lives thinking you're better than everypony else if it weren't for my magical abilities! I brought you friendship! I brought you equality! I created harmony!" Double Diamond got angry and said, "You lied to us!" Starlight said, "So what? E-Everything else I said is true! The only way to be happy is if we're all equal!" Party Favor said, "Except for you." Twilight stepped in and said, "Everypony has unique talents and gifts, and when we share them with each other, that's how rea—" Starlight cut her off and said, "QUIET!" Sugar Belle said, "You can't have a cutie mark, Starlight! Either we're all equal, or none of us are!"

Starlight knew it was over, the village ponies has now seen the truth, Starlight began running back to her cottage, Neo said to the villagers, "Who wants their cutie marks back?" The village ponies all cheered when he said that, Rainbow Dash said, "Then let's go get our cutie marks back." Neo said to his friends, "One thing though, the cutie mark vault only has the villager's cutie marks, Starlight has all of yours." The village ponies ran towards the cave to retrieve their cutie marks while Neo and the mane 6 went to Starlight's house to get theirs, in the cave, Double Diamond broke all the glass casings, the cutie marks were released and they all went back to their respective owners. At Starlight's house, Starlight took out the glass casings containing the mane 6's cutie marks from under her bed and said, "They think they can come to my village and disrupt my life? Let's see how they like spending the rest of their lives without their precious cutie marks!"

After the village ponies got their cutie marks back, they came to Starlight's house to help the mane 6 and Neo break into Starlight's house, after a few attempts to break the door down, they got inside, Twilight said, "Where are the cutie marks?" Chucky said, "They were right there, that's where I saw them." He was pointing to a dresser where he had seen the glass casings with the cutie marks in them, Neo said, "Starlight must have taken them." Party Favor and Double Diamond saw Starlight in the distance making a run for the mountains, Party Favor said, "She's headed for the pass! If she makes it into those mountains, we'll never find her!" Neo said, "I'll get her." Neo went outside and began flying after Starlight, the village ponies saw him fly and they were so surprised by what he could do, the mane 6, Party Favor, Double Diamond, Night Glider, Sugar Belle and Chucky began pursing Starlight as well.

Meanwhile, Starlight was galloping as fast as she could, she had a small carriage attached to her with the jars containing the mane 6's cutie marks, Neo was flying after her, he was holding a small BB gun and he began shooting BB's at her, Starlight looked up and saw Neo flying after her, she couldn't believe he could fly, she tried shooting magic beams at him, he just dodged him and kept shooting her with BB's, and so the chase was on. Starlight also saw Double Diamond, Party Favor, Night Glider and Sugar Belle chasing her as well. Starlight looked back and said, "Are you all so willing to give up everything because of these strangers?!" Sugar Belle said, "We gave up everything for you, because we thought you were our friend!"

As the mane 6 joined in on the pursuit, Rainbow Dash said, "I can't believe we have to count on these other ponies to save our cutie marks!" Twilight said, "If we hadn't come here to help them, they'd still be living under her rules! Now it's their turn to help us!" Fluttershy said, "And I know they can do it." Neo kept flying through the air after Starlight, still shooting at her with BB's, Sugar Belle used her magic to pick up snow and make it into a pie, she said, "My newest recipe – snow pie!" She threw the snow pie at Starlight, causing her to fall and the carriage with the jars containing the cutie marks got destroyed, but before the jars could break, Starlight used her magic to float the jars behind her. Starlight ran across a bridge and when she got across, she blasted a beam of magic and blew up the bridge to keep them from crossing, she continued running but Neo was still flying after her. To get across the bridge, Party Favor made a bridge out of balloons that was strong enough to get them across.

When they got across, Double Diamond came across a pair of skis that once belonged to him, he remembered that this was the spot where he first met Starlight, Night Glider said there was no time for memories, but then Double Diamond had an idea. Double Diamond quickly put his skis on and began sliding through the snow, Neo flew through the air and was catching up to Starlight. Double Diamond slid down on the snow and came down to where Starlight was right before she was about to reach the cave where she could escape. Double Diamond brought down an avalanche of snow right down on Starlight as he came down, Starlight was pinned down by a lump of snow, Neo came down and he shot BB's at the jars, breaking them open. The cutie marks floated and flew towards the mane 6, the cutie marks were restored to the mane 6, Twilight had her wings back, their bodies were fully colored and they felt like their old selves again. Applejack was so happy, she reared, kicked her hooves around and said, "Yee-haw! Finally, I can buck like a five-bit snake herder in an Appleloosa ranch house again!" Fluttershy said, "And you got your countryisms back, too!"

Then Starlight came out of the snow and she was very angry, Double Diamond, Party Favor, Night Glider and Sugar Belle were afraid of what she was going to do to them, Starlight shot a beam at them, but Neo came down and blocked the beam from hitting them with his bare hand. Twilight came down to Neo's aid and helped him block Starlight's beam, Neo and Twilight blocked her beam and shot it back at her, Starlight gasped and moved out of the way, barely getting hit by her own beam. Starlight was so confused, she said, "Wh– I studied that spell for years! How can you—" Twilight cut her off and said, "I studied magic for years too! But what I didn't know then was that studying could only take me so far. Each of my friends has taught me something different about myself! It was their unique gifts and passions and personalities that helped bring out the magic inside of me! I never would have learned that I represent the element of magic without these five ponies and my friend Neo! And I certainly wouldn't be here to stop you now!" Starlight said, "Spare me your sentimental nonsense! I gave these ponies real friendships they never could've had otherwise!" Double Diamond said, "How do you know that?! You never even gave us a chance!" Neo said, "Yeah, you never cared about making the lives of these ponies better, you only cared about making your life better you selfish bitch."

Neo took out a stun gun and was about to stun Starlight, Starlight didn't say a word, she just smiled a sinister smile, she blinded Neo and the ponies with a purple beam, when the beam was gone, Starlight had disappeared and had escaped through the cave. Rainbow Dash came down and said, "She's getting away." Neo said, "Goddammit, and I didn't get a chance to stun her." Double Diamond said, "We'll never find her in there." Twilight said, "We just have to hope that when she's had a chance to think it over, she realizes that you all have taught her something." Neo said, "I seriously doubt that, I think she might try to get revenge on us." Twilight said, "Let's try not to think like that Neo, let's just try to be optimistic and hope that Starlight has learned from her mistakes." Party Favor said, " It's you who have taught us something. We all came to this village because we were searching for something missing from our lives. We thought Starlight had given it to us, but now... now it seems it was in front of us all along. It's us!" Twilight said, "Does that mean you'll stay in the village?" Night Glider said, "It's our home. I'm not going anywhere." Double Diamond said, "This is a chance for all of us to get to know each other again for the very first time!" Sugar Belle said, "And I finally have a chance to bake something besides terrible muffins!" Everypony laughed except Neo, he was still disappointed that Starlight has escaped, he was afraid that Starlight might come back for revenge, but if that ever happened, he would be ready for her.

Then Neo and the ponies went back to the village and the village ponies celebrated a new life with their cutie marks, village ponies were smiling cheerfully, which made Pinkie Pie very happy, she said, "Now those are real smiles." Suddenly, the mane 6's cutie marks started pulsing, the mane 6 wondered what that meant, Applejack said, "I'll never get used to that." Rarity said, "I think it's simply divine." Fluttershy said, " Does that mean that the map is calling us somewhere else?" Twilight said, "I have a feeling it means our work here is done." Applejack said, " Looks like you were right, Twilight. The map did have a reason for sendin' us here. We brought real friendship to these here ponies. Guess that's why you're the Princess of Friendship." Twilight said, "But the map didn't send me. It sent us. You're a part of me, all of you, including Neo. And there's no doubt you're a part of my mission to spread friendship too."

The mane 6 laughed while Neo put Chucky back in his backpack, Pinkie Pie said, "This feels like an ending! It doesn't have to be an ending yet, right? 'Cause that Sugar Belle can bake!" Neo said, "Yeah, she makes really good sugar cookies." Twilight said, "Maybe we can stay a little while longer, Neo, maybe you can put on a concert for them, they've never heard you sing." Neo said, "Maybe we should stay for a while, there's always time to make new friends and spend time with new friends." Twilight was happy to hear him say that, she said, "Come on!"

The mane 6 galloped happily to the village with Neo walking behind them, and so Neo and the mane 6 stayed in the village a little while longer to celebrate with the village ponies before going back to Ponyville, and Neo planned to put on an awesome concert just for them, I hope they like Heavy Metal.

End of chapter 5, chapter 6 coming soon.