Some time passes after Fluttershy’s talk with Rarity, she looks to see Starlight for a 1-on-1 talk with her too before genifying more of her friends. It takes some time for her to find where the self-proclaimed leader of Geniequestria is. If Starlight were out and about. She figures wherever magic is being thrown about is where she’d be, but given everything was oddly quiet. It’s more likely that somewhere Starlight is in her lamp somewhere. That makes Fluttershy’s search hard as one small lamp, even one as obvious as Starlight’s in an entire town is not going to be easy.
However, thanks to some genie ingenuity she eventually comes to a solution. She makes clones of herself to look all over the town and look in every nook and cranny for Starlight’s lamp.
Eventually, one of her many selves finds Starlight’s lamp in the hospital’s waiting room. Once Fluttershy pulls all of her selves back into one single body, she realizes that Starlight must have went to see Meadowbrook while she was genifying ponies here, Fluttershy also assumes Starlight might have helped Meadowbrook get every pony, not just the doctors and nurses but the many patients here. Though once they were genies, they certainly wouldn’t be patients any more. Regardless of their affliction, genification solves every problem.
Fluttershy gently rubs the lamp, the dark purple lamp immediately shakes and seems to briefly turn an angry red that makes it expand with a quick FWOOOSH out of the spout. Starlight immediately taking shape out of the lamp with no fancy entrance aside from glowing white angry eyes as her voice echoes “WHO DARES DISTURB MY SLUMBER! YOU’RE JUST ASKING TO BE BOTTLED IF YOU”RE NOT ALRE-“
“Ahem…” Fluttershy interrupts
“…Oh, it’s just you, Fluttershy” Starlight’s glowing eyes fade out back to normal as she calms down “You’re already a genie… so pardon me… for the outburst. Any pony who touches my lamp who’s not already a genie shall be genified on the spot though… but even with other genies I’m a bit averse to others touching it without my permission”
Fluttershy chuckles “Hehe, no worries. I understand. But… I wanted to urgently speak with you before I genified more ponies. I’ll at least tell you that I have gotten more than just Meadowbrook genified now, both my parents and my brother are now genies too”
Starlight raised an eyebrow. “…Well, I’m happy to hear you’ve genified more ponies. But I have a feeling that’s not the only reason you came to see me… I’m still trying to figure you out, Fluttershy… you genuinely want Geniequestria to come into fruition, but you’ve also proved more resistant to my requests then most of my genifications up to this point. So pardon me, if I’m a bit... suspicious of you still, as I remember when you were supposedly 'on my side' before…”
“I guess we could start talking about why that may be together, Starlight. Let’s go through who you’ve genified so far and maybe you’ll come to an understanding why.” Fluttershy suggested
“I see… well, obviously you already know who was my first genification. You were there just as her transformation was finishing! Trixie, my lovely mare friend.” Starlight closed an eye and put a hoof over her heart
“I still have yet to meet Trixie as a genie, but I promise I believe you that you two are truly in love. I must ask however, if you’d love her less if she wasn’t so willing to help with your plan. I know obviously that wasn’t the case of all, and she happily accepted being your second-in-command for this. But say that she simply wanted to enjoy herself as a genie and didn’t want to help spread this to others. Would you really love her the same way?” Fluttershy asked
“Huh…? Wha…? O… of course I’d still love her! Are you…. insinuating that my love for her is purely based on my goals?!” Starlight reacted a bit angry at the accusation
“No, that’s not what I’m saying at all. Obviously you would still love her, but my question is if in the long run you’d respect her wishes to keep out of what others may feel is a major conflict. Cause I mean... no offense to you Starlight, but the way you’re approaching this plan… is very militaristic and authoritarian. Spreading your fellow genies to take over the entire north part of the territory, invading cities. And then comes the occupation, where either the ponies are transformed into genies eventually or they go into hiding. The only exceptions of course are my friends, who are themselves part of a game you’re putting them through for your own entertainment. The way you’ve turned this into a conflict brings us into a deep divide, you wouldn’t eventually accuse Trixie of not being on your side if she didn’t want to contribute to this?” Fluttershy crosses her hooves
“A… conflict? You think I’ve started some kind of war?! This is no war! I’m spreading geniequality to Equestria! No one is dying, quite the opposite. They’re becoming immortal! Those who go into hiding or otherwise want to avoid genification just simply don’t understand yet…” Starlight huffs
“If this is no war, then remind me of what came about after you genified Trixie…” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow suspiciously
“Well… me and Trixie went to Our Town and started genifying ponies there… then we took over the Crystal Empire… so that we could have the army fo-“ Starlight then realizes that maybe Fluttershy isn’t so wrong.
“F-fine, I see your point… but even if this is a conflict. Do you see any real casualties? Is there any real damage to Equestria? What I want to spread across Equestria will make us greater than we could ever dream of!”
“Starlight, it’s not the country I’m concerned about. It’s how those who aren’t genies perceive us, your methods make us seem like an enemy. I do agree with you in a sense that genification works for every pony regardless of who they are. You are correct that this is an equalizer that actually works compared to your cutie mark stealing days.
But I would like their moment of genification to be a more comfortable experience, even better if they’re more willing to the experience rather than just pulling them into vessels right away, while they’re still afraid of you. Do you understand me on that?” Fluttershy sternly stared
“But… Fluttershy… that all changes the moment they feel their bodies enter their vessel! Sure they’re scared before that happens, but they come to realize how great it feels and any concern they have washes away once they’re genies, and released amongst their friends and family. What difference does making ponies more comfortable or willing when they’re transformed then what I’m doing if it all ends the same? I’m not forever mentally scarring any ponies…”
“Maybe so, but wouldn’t it be better if they weren’t trying to run away? Or if we were nicer to them prior to making them into genies?”
Starlight rolled her eyes “Ugh, again why does it matter?! What use is just being all friendly with every pony if for the most part I’m improving their lives to a point where they thank me enough for that. Wait… you’re the element of Kindness. Are you doing some sort of corny thing trying to teach me kindness? Ha! Please… I’m already doing plenty of kindness for all of Equestria!”
“Starlight, just think for a moment. Perhaps from a certain point of view you are being kind by turning ponies into genies, but can you think of a time you did something for some pony that you didn’t get in return? Even in the case of Trixie, genifying someone you love, you got something out of it. A right-hand mare to assist you in your goals. Genifying every pony afterward was either to assist you on your four-pronged invasion or related to a personal revenge of yours. And now with this game you’ve started with my friends, when you get the chance to genify another of them. that’s also partly in revenge for stopping you back in Our Town, not just wanting to share the ideal of genie hood to us. You don’t see genification as just a way to help ponies, you still have selfish reasons for doing this. There’s a part of you that’s still doing this more for yourself rather then for the sake of others”
Starlight was getting frustrated “Grrr…. so what! Even if so, more ponies will be thanking me afterward. And when everypony’s a genie then we will live happily ever after!”
“…Starlight, besides Trixie. Do you have any real friends?” Fluttershy asked bluntly
Starlight looks offended “W-w-what?! OF COURSE I DO! I became friends with Sunburst, or rather Sunstone, again when I genified him/her, I gave them what even Celestia’s school couldn’t! And then there’s Tempest! I restored her horn, and showed her the Storm King’s true colors! She owes her life to me, practically! How dare you suppose I have no real friends! What about you? Your friends almost abandoned you just because you were a genie now, they tried to replace you with that flower pony mere moments after you were transformed. If I don’t have any real friends, maybe you don’t either! The only thing truly binding you with the others are those Elements of Harmony, but once they become useless... you’re as expendable as a stranger to them!”
Fluttershy shakes her head “That’s not true, and you know it…”
“Do I, really? Regardless, it’s not any more true or false than your accusations about me, I can tell you that! Hmmmph… if it weren’t for the fact we are of equal power, I’d just shut you up and/or leave. I'd rather not be lectured about how I’m doing things. I won’t risk fighting you, as that’ll only make things worse.
But it does give me some concern about you, say you’ve finally genified every pony you wanted to genify. What are you going to do then? You’re not going to challenge me and try to use your “kinder” way of genifying ponies to rebel against my more loyal genies are you? It’d be ironic after your earlier accusation of me starting conflict if you start a civil war between us…” Starlight turns her back toward Fluttershy
Fluttershy shakes her head “No, I have no intention of beginning any kind of rebellion even when I’m done genifying. I won’t get in the way of how you want to do things, but I’m heavily suggesting you take my advice and tone down your current methods. Trust me when I say it’d pay off much better then what you’re doing now. Because what happens when every pony is genified but the only ponies you’re real close to is Trixie, and even if you add Sunburst and Tempest… it might not truly be enough.”
“Ha! Like I care… those three are all I need! Heck, I'd be fine if when all of Equestria is genified. It’s just me and Trixie together, I don’t need anypony else. When everyone’s a genie I’d leave them to do whatever they want, even if that includes never seeing me again!” Starlight insisted, though she had a nervous sweat as she stated this
“Starlight, have you forgotten that I saw Our Town when you were still its leader? If you were truly not doing your previous plan for some selfish reason. You’d have given up your cutie mark along with the others, or at least tried to. Maybe you did try, but noticed it would lead to a loss of magic you didn’t want to let go… but I have this strange feeling you never actually did. You wanted to maintain your power so that you could eventually expand your ideology past that small town. You wanted to be the leader of this so-called utopia, and that hasn’t changed despite having a much more improved way of reaching your goal.
You want others to see you as a leader, but to be the leader you want to be. You must make friends. The way you’re doing things now only works from a dictator’s point of view, where their only friends are their inner circle, and even then… suspicions arise in such a scenario. And this wouldn’t even be a normal dictator situation, usually the dictator would indeed have the power to rule by fear. But as you genify more, you’re a self-proclaimed leader of a nation that has no reason to fear you because every pony will be able to do what you can too.
You’re only eventually leading yourself into a world where yes, they’ll thank you for bringing every pony into a world where they can do anything and be with their friends and family without the worry of death. But will they actually consider you a friend? And if you tried forcing your way into their friend circles, you’d only get pushback. And regardless of your genie power, they would have the same powers. With your aforementioned dreams of being a leader, what is a leader with few friends and a citizenry with no obligations to said leader. They’d hardly be a leader at all. You’ll have this genified world that would be all because of you, but you won’t have the spoils you want out of it. You can try and tell yourself that all you want is the genified world. But you’d only be lying to yourself”
“Tch…” Starlight stepped back, she was surprised Fluttershy had just about gotten her spot on. “Ugh… but… getting to know every pony would take way too long. I can’t just willy nilly find out what would soothe every individual pony into accepting genification… that’d take way too long… it’s frankly… just easier for me to stuff them into a bottle, get a thanks from them and I don’t have to bother too much more with them. I don’t necessarily need to be friends with every pony… but… I guess you have it right that I seek… constant praise and admiration in this genie utopia I want to rule… I suppose I got some of that from the Crystal Ponies… heck, they even built a statue in my honor… but… I get that’s not exactly friendship… is it?”
Fluttershy’s a bit surprised she’s already got Starlight genuinely responding rather than shutting her out. Perhaps it’s partly because Starlight can’t do anything about her, but she still sees it as a positive sign. “Yeah, the Crystal Ponies honoring you the way they have shouldn’t be considered friendship just yet. You just came to them as a great hero that defeated the Storm King, showing them there was nothing to fear ever again. It’s praise for who they see as a hero, but they haven’t come to know the hero personally. They’re only admiring you for what you did, not for who you are. And I get that you don’t have the time to spend with each and every pony of Equestria. I’m not saying you should spend a day with every single pony to get to know them before genifying them. I also don’t expect you to change your tactics so soon, I’m just saying at some point… I want you to take heed of what I say, and consider applying it in the future.
I won’t stop you from using the more forceful tactics that you’re more comfortable with, but I want an opportunity to speak with you on occasion. We’re going to be genies for eternity, so I want to get to know you. We can become friends ourselves if you’re willing to work for it.” Fluttershy gives a gentle smile as she tries to welcome the idea of a friendship with her.
Starlight thinks this over, she first raises an eyebrow. “How… can I really trust you, though? If you can see right through me like this, then I might as well just say my past experiences with friendship… never lasted…”
“Trust takes time and communication, and I’m not saying that you need to spend time with me all the time”
“Heh, I was going to ask if this meant having to be there for every one of your tea parties or something… that’d be a bit silly…” Starlight chuckled
Fluttershy chuckles as well “Well, I wouldn’t be opposed if you really wanted to! But it’s not a necessity. I do however have something that may help a lot, do you remember when I pulled out the program called DisChaos. The same one I used to contact Discord?”
Starlight nodded though looked down a bit awkwardly “I do… though I mostly remember being scared of having to confront Discord more than anything… that made me so retroactively glad you were the first one of your friends genified. My plans may have already been foiled if any other result happened…”
“Hehe, probably. But all I’m doing now is offering to give you an account. I’ll let you sign up, then you can briefly close it, before testing it out inside your lamp while I remain out here. Does that like a plan?” Fluttershy smiles
“Uh… sure. I suppose… can you remind me what this is supposed to do? I admit I wasn’t paying much attention back when you first showed it since I was more focused on what I was going to do about Discord…” Starlight admitted
“Sure! It’s actually really simple…”
Fluttershy takes some time to explain much of how DisChaos works to Starlight. As soon as Starlight gets a full understanding, she is instantly intrigued and knows plenty of ways she could use this to her advantage.
Starlight smirks “This… sounds absolutely splendid, Fluttershy! I’d most certainly love an account of my own… will I have permission to give any pony who wants one an account too?”
Fluttershy nods “Of course! I actually encourage you to use this to keep in touch with as many of those you know as possible. I know with genie magic you could just teleport to where they are. But popping in on your friends like that can be rude if they’re not expecting it, the convenience of long-distance communication at least allows you to tell them beforehand that you’re coming. And I’ve already told you while explaining it you can still use it even from within your vessel
In fact, let’s just get you set up, and then you can try it out for the first time!”
Fluttershy raises a hoof with a pink glow, a screen pops out and a login screen floats.
“Ok Starlight, give the screen your magical signature as well as enter your name through the magic typewriter in front of you. And your account will be activated!”
Starlight listens to Fluttershy’s instructions “Alright, what now…”
“You don’t have to do it right this second, but you can customize your avatar to be whatever you’d like to take a photo of sorts. Whether it’s your face or something else, you can also tell it to display your genie mark, if that’d be preferable. Otherwise, I think you’re free to test things out. I could pull out my screen and just have us type to each other right here, but it might be a little weird to communicate via DisChaos when we’re literally in the same room and able to hear each other. Which is why I suggest you try going back into your lamp, and then we’ll use DisChaos to type messages to each other then.”
Starlight nods “Ok, so I guess I close DisChaos until I’m back in my lamp then?”
“Mhmm, all you need to do is click the x in the corner and the window will get sucked into your horn.”
Starlight does as told, and the entire screen warps and stretches into the point of Starlight’s horn. A rather weird sensation felt that wasn’t painful, but nonetheless a feeling Starlight feels like she’ll have to get used to. Her eyes go a bit dizzy as she recovers from the program entering her head. She soon shakes her head, and is back to normal.
“Alright, Fluttershy. I guess I’ll be headed back to the lamp then… anything else I need to do once I’m back inside?” Starlight asked
Fluttershy shakes her head “Actually, most of what will need to be done will be from my side. Once you’re slipping in, I’ll activate my own account and send you a friend request. All you’ll need to do is accept it, and we’ll be able to type messages to one another. Then we shall be able to contact each other through it at any moment at any time. That is unless for any reason you decide to block me, heh”
“Wait, blocking? What does that mean?” Starlight inquired
“If you don’t want to be contacted or find some pony too annoying, you can make sure they cannot send you messages on DisChaos. You will not be able to receive messages from them, and when public chatrooms are added, their messages will be hidden if you are in the same room as some pony who blocked you”
Starlight felt conflicted about that “Oh… I’ll admit I’m actually a little disappointed with that. I was hoping if I can get in contact with your friends on it, I’d have a long distance method of messing with them. If they can just silence me on it though, I suppose there’s no point. Oh well, I guess just seeing their faces as I do some mischief is a little more satisfying anyway.”
Fluttershy shakes her head. “No one likes to be messaged by ponies they don’t like. It’s a necessary thing, it’s why I want to help you become a little more likable. It does Geniequestria no favors if the very pony who started this movement turns more people off then it does bring them in''
Starlight grumbles “What are you talking about?! Ponies like me just fine! I had just about all the Crystal Empire standing attention, before they were even genified! You even saw some of them! They followed my orders to help surround you girls! AND I SAVED THEM FROM THE STORM KING SINGLE HANDEDLY!”
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, stood her ground and just about stared in Starlight's face asserting herself “Starlight, ponies you convinced with an oratory speech and/or regard you as a hero are not necessarily a friend. This goes back to what I said about dictators: ponies can like you as a leader, but can have a different opinion about you as an individual if they actually got to know you personally. A speech to a crowd is different from talking with individuals. And I’ll also say it again, they’ll have no reason to fear you, and you can’t do anything about them. They like you because you gave them so much power, but they’re not obligated to be your friend.
If they chose to follow your orders it’s because they believe in the Geniequestria cause, it’s not all for you. There’s a bit of irony here, you may enjoy flaunting your power in front of the ponies who aren’t genies. But the more ponies that are genies, the more the extraordinary becomes the new normal. Granted, it’s not a bad new normal, but how can you really claim to be the leader of a world where every pony can do the same things you can do. There’s hardly any reason for a government in such a world.
It could be argued your followers are seeking a world where they help give their friends and family a world they never have to worry about the inevitabilities of life. They may still thank you for genifying them, and even put you on a pedestal with art pieces dedicated to you. But you won’t have any power over them. Outside of Trixie, you may very well be more isolated from every pony else once the goal is reached. Because what is your end goal once Geniequality has been achieved? If you expect to be leader of this genie world like you were of Our Town. You may find yourself for a rude awakening. There will be no one to conquer, no one to convert to the cause, and your claim to others that every pony could be what they want to be may backfire if you attempt to lord over every pony else, not to mention make you look hypocritical. You’ll be stuck in a tight space, Starlight. And I don’t mean the spout of your lamp.”
Starlight just floated there in stunned silence (“Grrr… as more time goes by I’m not sure choosing to genify the Elements one by one was the best decision… even with the ABSOLUTE 1 out of 6 chance that was favorable to Geniequestria… they feel like a thorn in my side.”) Starlight begins to admit that Fluttershy was completely right that this is a bit of a double-edged sword. Once they’re genies, they’re not obligated to listen to her and view her as their leader.
But if she doesn’t genify ponies, then it’s contradictory to her goals of Geniequality. Perhaps Starlight was too encouraged by the results of genifying the Crystal Empire, thinking every pony would fall in line like they did. She did and will always have Trixie. Sunstone and Tempest were also quite willing, and Celestia and Luna didn’t seem to mind listening to Starlight either. Is it that maybe that the Elements of Harmony have this annoying resistance to being inclined to listen to her that’s exclusive to them? Whatever it is, Starlight doesn’t want to cross with Fluttershy. So she might as well continue to take her offer up about DisChaos.
That said, she also can’t make it seem like Fluttershy’s won this debate, as much as internally Starlight feel like Fluttershy has a point. But Starlight fills herself up with pride as she takes a big breath, before responding.
“Hmmmph, well… thank you for your… views on the matter, Fluttershy. I’ll be sure to think about what you’ve said, but I think we both know we need a little more time as genies to understand things before we draw a conclusion here. Who knows how every pony will feel once geniequality is achieved, maybe the majority will feel I deserve credit for starting this whole movement and let me be the leader as long as I promise not to get in the way of other’s genie magic.. I can be a fair leader, everyone’s vessels is their own private area while the world at large is a public canvas to shape it in the way everyone is most comfortable with. I only wish to help give everyone a… direction. I have no intention of bossing others on how to be their genie selves.
Though I should also say that because geniequality is a double edged sword, I can’t do anything about others. But the reverse is also true, no pony can do much to me. Not like I intend on fighting any fellow genies outside of playful magic duels, as that would be foolish. But you get the idea, let’s see how things play out a little longer Fluttershy before we decide to proceed.
To Starlight’s surprise, Fluttershy actually nods and agrees. “Certainly, more time will definitely be appreciated. Let’s see how the general populace feels as more and more of them become genies, get to know you, and eventually decide if we agree to give you the leadership position you desire. Or maybe,,, you will have changed your mind on how to approach Geniequestria after you’ve gotten to know me and the others as they become genies over time, how about that?”
Starlight rolls her eyes. “Sure, sure… whatever, I wouldn’t be so sure that I’ll change just like that. But enough talk, let’s just get this DisChaos thing over with. Shall we?”
Starlight takes a deep breath, focuses, and then slips herself into the lamp. Not too fast, but also not too slow. A gentle moan comes out of her lips as she warps inside her lamp. A satisfying schoomp sounds out as Starlight completely enters, the lamp slightly rattling.
Fluttershy then proceeds to open her own screen and sends a friend request to Starlight. The lilac pony genie inside the lamp opening the program from within the living room of the mansion-esque interior of her lamp. She can see a red circle with the number 1 on it and can see Fluttershy’s avatar. She then accepts Fluttershy’s request, and could now speak to each other through the program.
<Fluttershy> Welcome to DisChaos, Starlight!
<Starlight> Nice! It seems to be working perfectly, but is there really much else you need to tell me now that we know it works
<Fluttershy> Admittedly, not a whole lot that I haven’t already told you while we talked out here. But maybe I can at least ask for your first impression?
<Starlight> It seems… straight forward enough. Maybe a little bare bones at the moment since messaging ponies personally is all it can do right now. But I know you mentioned while explaining that eventually Discord will add the ability to create “Servers” that will allow people to join and talk even with those they have not friended yet, right?
<Fluttershy> Mmhmm, also technically you can also get multiple ponies in one DM already but again that’s with friends only. I will at least tell you that Discord will soon allow me to test out a sort of live streaming capability. I plan to record and show you my very next genification. And maybe make that a regular thing as I genify the ponies I want to get!
<Starlight> Oooo yes! I would love that, Fluttershy! Can you give me any hints as to who you plan to genify next?
<Fluttershy> I have a really good friend of mine who’s a veterinarian I really want to genify. I’m sure that she will be quite… sssssssatisfied
Fluttershy puts a symbol next to her text that looks like a cute little snake next to her words
<Starlight> Don’t know what you mean by the snake, but I’ll be looking forward to it. Whatever happens.
<Fluttershy> You’ll find out~. But for now, that’s all I have for you today. You can go back and rest now if you’d like, sorry if I interrupted your time of rest rather rudely.
<Starlight> Eeeeh, I guess it’s ok… it was a kind of important conversation to have. Thank you for coming by and showing me DisChaos, Fluttershy. I’ll always be delighted when you share the love for genie hood and willingly growing Geniequestria with me.
<Fluttershy> Of course! I will still say I thank you very much for genifying me in the first place, though please remember… I’m not done yet with asking you to tone down your more forceful methods. The faster you realize how detrimental your current methods are to your overall goal, the better.
Starlight just frowns and shakes her head. Almost not even sure how to respond, or even if she should respond.
<Starlight> …Yeah, yeah. I need kindness, and should get to know ponies. I should have known that even after genifying you, the cheesy lectures you and your friends always do were going to stay… but like I said out there. Don’t be so sure I’ll just change on a dime. You may just be surprised how much things work out for me, after all. Ta ta for now, Fluttershy. I’ll be sure to see you again, both on here... and I can’t imagine this will be our last meeting face-to-face either.
<Fluttershy> It most certainly won’t, I assure you.
Both Fluttershy and Starlight close DisChaos. Fluttershy walks out of the hospital, while Starlight goes back to the bedroom in her lamp. She does think over for some time what Fluttershy said to her. But she soon shuts her eyes, and falls asleep once more.
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