475 - Inequitable Equanimity
“So over there’s River’s place,” pointed Sonata. “That’s where me, Lex, and Aria are all staying, along with the servants and some other ponies. Everyone else lives in the camp, that way.”
“Living in a mansion and being waited on by servants while everypony else is squatting in a camp?” tsked her companion, her expression one of patronizing disapproval.
A unicorn mare, her coat was a pale purple, offsetting the alternating shades of lighter and darker purple that made up her mane and tail. Blue eyes swept across the scenery, casual and yet missing nothing in their perusal. Her cutie mark was an equals sign, the same as the one now gracing Sonata’s flank.
It was a mark that the mare in question – Starlight Glimmer – was quite proud of.
That pride quickly manifested as her smile returned. “I can see that this place needs our help quite badly! Isn’t that right everypony?”
The four ponies behind her – a pegasus mare, earth pony stallion, and a unicorn of each sex, all likewise sporting equals signs for their cutie marks – nodded in unison, identical smiles on their faces. “I can’t wait to help everyone realize how much happier they’ll all be once they’ve given up their cutie marks!” gushed Double Diamond.
“I just hope we have enough jars to hold them all,” added Night Glider, glancing back at the two-wheeled carts she and her friends were pulling, each of them filled with empty glass jars. “It’d be terrible if we could only remove those awful cutie marks from some ponies and not others.”
“Don’t worry, I bet that once they see how wonderful it is not having to argue and disagree all the time, anyone who still has their cutie mark will want to come straight to our village and put it in our vault!” Sugar Belle reassured her.
“So, where should we get started?” asked Party Favor, looking to Starlight for guidance. “That big mansion, or head on over to the camp?”
“Oh, we definitely want to start with Lex Legis.” Starlight’s answer came easily, looking over at Sonata. “According to what our newest friend here has been telling me, he’s a poor pony who thinks that he needs to work harder and do more than anypony else, and it’s making him miserable! If we can show him how much better conformity is, then it should go a long way toward convincing everypony here of how much our philosophy can improve their lives!” She finished her announcement by lifting the forked wooden staff off of her back in her telekinesis, swinging it in a wide arc as though to encompass everything in front of her before putting it down. “So, Sonata, where is Lex most likely to be right now?”
“Well…” Gulping a little, Sonata made a show of thinking. “I guess he’d be in the camp right now? He usually watches over the market, so…”
Starlight nodded. “Wonderful! Then to the camp it is! I can’t wait for us to all become friends!” Without further ado, she started forward, Sonata keeping pace with her as the other four pulled their wagons behind them.
“Yeah,” she nodded, a little too vigorously. “This is totes going to be something…”
“He brought some ponies back to life?!”
The question, or some close variation of it, came from the lips of over a dozen different ponies in the assembled crowd. There were quite a few others as well, but they were lost in the clamor that had broken out in reaction to the news. Resisting the urge to sigh, Aria spoke up again, projecting her voice just enough to carry over the din. “Five ponies,” she clarified, “who lost their lives going into Vanhoover several weeks ago to retrieve supplies. Lex resurrected them early this morning using magic given to him by the Night Mare.”
“My daughter! Was one of them my daughter?!”
“Will he bring back anyone else?! I haven’t been able to find any of my family!”
“How did he decide on which ponies to bring back?! What makes those five so special?!”
The questions were coming rapidly now, but Aria narrowed her eyes at that last one. As much as Lex was currently adored by most of the ponies here, there was a sizeable minority who had only recently gotten back, and so were still in the process of coming to grips with just how bad things had gotten. For them, there was no debt of gratitude for the pony who was running things now, particularly when they heard that he’d sent Celestia and Luna packing, or that he’d slaughtered an army of monsters who used to be their friends and neighbors.
But Aria had no intention of letting this latest announcement be some sort of tipping point for them, nor let it make Lex look bad in the eyes of those ponies who were finally giving him the credit he deserved.
“LISTEN TO ME, ALL OF YOU!” she thundered, immediately causing everypony in the vicinity to settle down, wide-eyed. Satisfied that she had their attention, Aria returned her voice to its normal volume before continuing. “The Night Mare gave Lex the power to bring a small number of ponies back to life as a reward for everything he’s done here!” She had no idea if that was true or not, but it sounded good. That was the important thing. “Ever since he came to Vanhoover, Lex has worked tirelessly for everypony’s sake! He’s battled monsters, saved lives, and he’s never once asked for anything in return! He has given each and every one of you food, jobs, and medicine, all without expecting so much as a thank you!”
She made sure to glare at the crowd then, silently shaming them for asking for more after having received so much charity. But she softened her expression a moment later. For something as serious as having had their loved ones be passed over for resurrection, a gentler touch would be needed to seal the deal, she knew. “I know that a lot of you find Lex to be cold and off-putting,” she continued, her voice conciliatory. “He doesn’t smile, he isn’t interested in telling jokes or playing games, and he never, ever, seems to relax.” She gave a rueful smirk then, gauging the mood of the crowd by how many returned the expression. “But the reason he acts that way isn’t because he doesn’t care about all of you. It’s just the opposite: it’s because he cares so much.”
Aria fought down a grin as she saw the ponies in the crowd murmur at one another, their faces uncertain. That’s it little fish. That’s some tasty bait, isn’t it? And there’s more where that came from. “I know what a lot of you think about my relationship with Lex, but since we’ve been together, I’ve seen the parts of him that he keeps hidden from everyone else. The fear that he won’t be able to help everyone who needs it. The guilt that he can’t do even more than he already has. He has to push all of that down, each and every day, just so he can keep working so hard on your behalf.”
The crowd was quieter now, and Aria knew that she was winning them over. “I was with Lex when he heard that those five ponies had gone missing. We went into Vanhoover together to go look for them.” She smiled then, genuinely, as she remembered what had happened then. “Even though he was in a hurry to go looking for them, he still stopped and used a healing spell on me when I hurt myself on the way there. Can you believe that? He was as scared as I’d ever seen him, rushing to go find those ponies that had gone missing, and he still made time for me, because he didn’t want to see me hurt…”
It took her a few seconds to come back to herself, cursing inwardly as she realized the crowd was watching her with rapt silence. This wasn’t supposed to be personal! Clearing her throat, she continued the story. “When we got to the city, and he confirmed that those five ponies had died, Lex was beside himself with grief. It was written all over his face. They’d gone there because he’d sent them there, and he blamed himself for their deaths. And you know what he did then? He came right back here and went back to work, rooting out monsters, creating food, and doing everything he could for all of you. He didn’t stop to mourn, not because he didn’t care, but because he knew that everypony was counting on him.”
She could see them eating it up, hook, line, and sinker. Now she just had to bring it back around, and the resurrection issue wouldn’t be a problem anymore. And this would be a nice little boost for that religion he was starting too. Who doesn’t love a twofer? “The Night Mare gave Lex the power to resurrect those five ponies, and only those five ponies, because she knew he deserved to be rewarded-”
“Which wasn’t very fair to everypony else now, was it?”
Whirling, Aria had a torrent of invectives ready to cut whoever had interrupted her to shreds. But although she caught sight of the heckler – a unicorn mare who was all kinds of purple – the words died on her lips as she saw who was walking next to her. “Sonata?!”
Wincing despite keeping a pained smile in place, her sister raised a hoof awkwardly. “Hey Aria.”
Walking over to her, Aria didn’t try to hide her surprise at Sonata’s appearance. “What’s up with your hair? You hate braids! And, wait-” Her eyes widened as she caught a glimpse of Sonata’s flank. “What happened to your butt tattoos?!”
But before Sonata had a chance to so much as open her mouth, the purple mare stepped in. “You must be Sonata’s sister, right? I’m Starlight Glimmer. I helped Sonata realize that by getting rid of her cutie mark, she could find true happiness!”
The claim made Aria’s brow furrow in confusion, not seeing what one had to do with the other. “What?”
“Oh, it’s very simple,” replied Starlight without missing a beat. “You see, cutie marks cause division, which creates unhappiness among ponies. Case in point…” She stepped around Aria then, addressing the crowd. “Everypony! I heard what Sonata’s sister was telling you before, and it sounds like Lex Legis is a powerful pony with a strong cutie mark, wouldn’t you say?”
There was a general murmur of assent from the assembled ponies, which was all Starlight needed. “He must be,” she nodded. “How else would he be able to pull off such an incredible feat like bringing dead ponies back to life? Why, I don’t think even Star-Swirl the Bearded could have used magic like that! But just look at the result! He gets to have the ponies he cares for be alive again, while you don’t! His cutie mark drives him to excel, while you’re all left out!”
This time the noise from the mass of ponies was far less felicitous, and Aria knew that their ire wasn’t being directed as Starlight. “What are you doing?!” she snarled, circling around and interposing herself between Starlight and the other ponies. “Lex earned the right to bring those five back! He-”
“Didn’t think about how everypony else would feel.” Starlight kept her voice loud, playing to her audience as she replied to Aria. “Oh, I’m sure he had the best of intentions. Who wouldn’t want to see their loved ones again if they could? But all of these ponies here don’t have that chance, and because of Lex’s selfish need to be his very best, now they have to feel the pain of losing their friends and families all over again, knowing that Lex could have brought them back but didn’t!”
“If this Lex fellow really cared about everypony here, he’d give up his cutie mark!” remarked a snow-white earth stallion, apparently part of Starlight’s entourage.
“We did!” added a dark-colored pegasus mare, “and it was the best decision we ever made!”
Gritting her teeth, Aria slid her gaze over to Sonata, silently demanding an explanation. This time, her sister’s rictus grin fell away completely, and her ears folded back as she slunk over to Starlight’s side. “Maybe we should go,” she muttered anxiously. “Lex isn’t here, so-”
“Oh, we’ll keep looking for him in a second,” interrupted Starlight casually. “This is an excellent chance to demonstrate how true friendship can only be found in equality.”
Aria, however, had heard enough. “I don’t know what you did to Sonata,” she growled, glaring at Starlight as she moved into an aggressive crouch. “But if you think I’m going to just stand here and let you badmouth Lex after everything he’s done for this place, you’ve got another thing coming!”
Chuckling, Starlight pulled the wooden staff off of her back, her horn glowing as she swung it into a ready position, the ponies behind her blanching as they moved away from the brewing conflict. “You know, Sonata was reluctant to embrace our philosophy at first too. So I suppose it makes sense that her sister would be the same.”
Her smile turned dark as she pointed the forked end of the staff at Aria then. “And you’ll do exactly as well as she did when she put up a fight.”
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I'll just take this Mark, and this Mark, and how about that Mark? Oh, you know what? I might as well just take them all!
Glad to see stil story still moving on. Your regular updates are making this pandemic more bearable.
Hmm, I almost feel like Starlight might be working off of incomplete information since she seems to believe that all of Lex's feat of power is due to the special talent from his Cutie Mark. It would make sense if Sonata refrained from telling everything she knew about Lex but it also might be a case of tunnel vision on Cutie Marks and her scoffing at the idea of external powers at work.
Still, I wonder how much would removing Lex's Cutie Mark affect him since from what I remember, his special talent is governmental administration. Which could do something to his ability to quickly calculate and think of a course of action? Though Starlight will need to get through Aria first and given that she managed to defeat Sonata, her chances aren't good.
Though she still has Everglow magic so if she fails then things aren't going to look good for Lex either, especially after what Lex did to himself to bring everyone back.
Aria's only chance is to use her mind control... but the mind wammy is also Glim Glam's thing. This could be one hell of a fight between two masters of mob-control. With a size-able mob. Glimmer could take Sonata when she had the homefield advantage and the pre-brainwashed mob...
Aria could use Glimmers attack on Lex by lieing to the mob as her own faith source if Glimmer doesnt know how to manipulate Everglow Magic?
And then if Lex is just the right distance away so to overhear both sides and come to a decision, I wonder how effective Starlights mind and blast magic is against his Shadow Form and spells?
He has Banquet, but does he have Create Water, because I suspect you cant use it as a defensive spell, casting in front of you to absorb an impact, or offensive by casting it in someones open casting mouth or over head or body to disrupt spell cast rhough distraction?
Can you combine Create Water and Ray Of Frost as an Ice attack etc?
Sonatas Siren Voice is Everglow, due to her being there, or only Cutie Mark based?
10231608
The distraction might work if you readied an action, but it'd be a relatively easy concentration check since you're not actually doing damage (spell save DC + spell level). Spells in general can't conjure stuff inside other creatures (in particular water inside someone is 'Drown' which is something like 4th level instead of a cantrip).
10231209 Starlight is looking to expand her philosophy in quite the bold manner, isn't she? But when a bigwig moves into the neighborhood, she apparently couldn't resist.
10231236 This is one of the nicest things anyone has ever said about my writing.
If I can make these difficult times even a little easier for someone, then I'm glad to be able to do so.
10231251 Well, bear in mind that Starlight presumably got her information from Sonata, so you have to wonder just how much she knows, let alone how accurate she is. Of course, at this point Starlight is a bit of a zealot anyway, which means that she's filtering everything through the lens of her "equality through cutie mark removal" shtick. After all, we know from the show that she can run pretty far with something when she has her heart set on it.
As for Lex, it's hard to say what would happen if Starlight managed to take his cutie mark, but I'll offer one small correction: his special talent is "administration," and isn't specifically limited to government. That's actually a slight shift from the original game statistics that I wrote for him, where his bonus feat (i.e. the 6 unassigned Character Points that he receives as part of his racial build) were put into Skill Focus for the governance occult skill. But then, there'd be a lot of little tweaks to his character sheet that I'd make now, since the first one was written before most of this story.
Of course, for the moment it's Aria vs. Starlight, so it's anyone's guess if things will escalate to the point where Lex needs to step in. But still...Starlight apparently overcame Sonata, so take that for what it's worth.
10231311 You're in the metaphorical ballpark regarding one of the reasons why Starlight is such a strong character, even among other unicorns with spellcasting-boosting cutie marks. But it's not so much what she can do, as it is how she's able to do it. I won't say anymore than that, since I don't want to give any surprises away, but based on what we've seen in the show, Starlight has a few tricks up her sleeve that are likely to catch an opponent by surprise.
10231608
10231692 Terrycloth has the right of it. While previous editions of D&D allowed for some leeway where creative applications of spells were concerned, that's something that Third Edition (and Pathfinder First Edition), which is what this story uses, cracked down on rather hard. Presumably that was an attempt to try and rein in the overall power of spellcasters (which is why multi-function spells were broken up in the transition from D&D 3.0 to D&D 3.5), but if so it was far too small a gesture.
Of course, the major problem with that is (as always) that it doesn't present these limits from an in-character standpoint, leaving me out in the proverbial cold to explain why you can't use create water inside a creature's lungs. I've seen a few third-party products that do this, but it basically boils down to "the inherent magic within creatures resists that level of invasive magic, unless the spell is specifically designed to be invasive that way."
As for Sonata's voice...you're asking the right questions, Booster Spice. I suspect we'll find out the answer very soon.
Welcome to the show
We're here to let you know.
Aria had the crowd
No way she's backing down.
She's got the music, got smarts
And she's gonna want to prove it
Now she's upset at Starlight
Prepare for a fight
Careful, she is gonna lose it!
In our town
Got no frown.
Equality's your fate
Let's see how you win
Without blind luck
Or fate.
10232521 Wow, quite the epic poem this time! I assume someone's excited for the match-up, huh?
10232497
I wasnt meaning form the water Inside the person, as that is a explicit directed targetd attack.
I said, In their open mouth.
Modified I would propose, create just above the line of their eyes, with Unseen Servant in front of the head to deflect the falling water.
I suspect the equivalent of Pepper Cloud or Stench might be available to other classes, caster levels?
In fact, Unseen servant with only a few ounces of dirt can drop the particles in face, eyes etc to cause irritation, disruption?
10232740
That's also a targeted attack, is the thing. In fact, even "in someone's open mouth" is technically considered to be inside them, which is the same reason why you can't teleport inside the ribcage of a giant skeleton, for instance. (Now, you could try and make a called shot, but only attacks that allow for actual attack rolls, which doesn't include create water, allow for that level of targeted precision.) The best you could go for would be to maybe cast the water so it comes into being above them, soaking them, but that's not the best route to go if you want to cause an enemy to make a concentration check (and even then, you'd need to ready an action to do it while they're casting) to disrupt an enemy spellcaster. Of the listed conditions that force concentration checks, that would probably be "Affected by a non-damaging spell while casting." Now, the DC for that is "DC of the spell + spell level," but create water doesn't require a saving throw, so the text says that for this purpose, you treat it as if it did, with the standard formula of 10 + spell level (which is 0, here) + casting ability modifier. So in other words it's that plus the level of the spell the enemy is casting, and that's the DC...and most of the time, that will be an incredibly easy concentration check for them to make.
And that's really the best-case scenario, where trying to use low-level non-attack spells as a disruption in Pathfinder is concerned. Trying to do that to disrupt someone's attack (e.g. them swinging a sword) isn't really going to work at all. The benign nature of such spells, which are hyper-focused on their listed abilities to the point of not having much in the way of non-traditional uses, and the system's presumption of superheroic abilities/competence in even low-level characters means that such techniques, while they make for great ideas (and even reading), don't really work under the game rules. Trying to use "dirty tricks" are something you can do as a combat maneuver, but unless they're specifically made for it, your standard d20 spells aren't very good ways of doing that; they're simply hyper-optimized on doing other things. An unseen servant is simply too slow and too clumsy to throw sand in someone's eyes.
Now, admittedly, the game rules are sometimes a bit too focused in this way. For example, it seems odd that sneezing powder apparently doesn't cause any trouble for spellcasters, despite most of their spells needing precise, carefully-enunciated verbal components. But as listed, it doesn't cause damage or otherwise inflict a condition that would require spellcasters to make a concentration check. That's because the game designers didn't want there to be a cheap, easily-stocked way to potentially shut down the central ability of quite a few character classes, which makes sense, but it's still hard to explain from an in-character standpoint.
10232467
I don't know how you have so little traffic, it's a wonderful story.
10233971 Aw, thanks! I do wish I had more views.
Also, I'd like to thank you again for reviewing this story, back in the day. It was recently rejected from a review group here for being too long; to date, you remain the only reviewer to read the entire thing (albeit back when it was a quarter the length that it is now
).
10234113
I may need to review it again. lol. It's only, what, the length of my entire library?