Where Starlight found herself (part 3) · 4:12am Mar 16th, 2016
So, how about the rest of the Mane Six?
Applejack, Champion for the Cause: The cause in this case being Twilight's Equilization plans.
Even without the Rainboom, her discomfort with big city life eventually brought Applejack back home and earned her her cutie mark. When the Equilization wave hit she was among the countless horrified ponies to lose her mark. At first she was lost. Losing her mark also cost her her connection to Sweet Apple Acres and the sense of belonging she had there. Plus, without her family's talent for tending the land, the farm was sure to fail.
When Twilight took charge however, she made sure that Sweet Apple Acres had plenty of help. It was, after all, one of the biggest apple orchards in Equestria. Applejack quickly took a liking to the way Twilight ran things. The farm was doing well even without her cutie mark and she had her family around, so really, what was the difference? Wen the purple unicorn started looking for a place to keep and re-educate ponies that had avoided equilization, AJ had the perfect suggestion.
"Well just send 'em down to Ponyville! We'll get 'em working on the farm in the good-ol' earth pony way. Ain't nopony standing above any other when we're all working the land together!"
AJ is hardly a slave-driver, but she certainly doesn't go easy on her charges. She's not as zealous about the equalization being good for Equestria, but she certainly doesn't find it to be a bad thing. Especially since her family's farm is prospering with all the added help.
Rarity, Agent of Rebellion: Not all ponies were pleased with the Equilization wave, naturally. Rarity was chief among them. She never forgot how proud she was, earning her cutie mark after designing a new dress for her little sister to celebrate her birthday. With her mark stripped away she lost her talents for gem-crafting and design. Two industries that were quickly shutting down as more ponies were sent to help out farms an other "more necessary" crafts.
Unfortunately, Rarity couldn't exactly voice her disapproval. Not without being branded a traitor by the numerous ponies that did follow Twilight's rule. She'd seen the state Ponyville was change to, and even if she had lost her fashion sense there was no way she'd be reduced to working in the dirt! Thankfully she and her family were able to move to Canterlot, where Rarity learned two important facts.
Not everypony in Equestria had been hit by the Equilization Wave, and not everypony that was was happy about it. And even if fashion and interior design weren't exactly in high demand any longer, Rarity still had her business sense...
She runs a small cloak shop out of Canterlot, happily selling shabby burlap capes and hoods to the populace of the city by day. By night, her shop is one of many secret meeting places for dissenters of Twilight's reign. The supply trade between shops in Canterlot and across Equestria also helps to smuggle messages between the rebels and move ponies that avoided equilization to safe hiding places.
Rarity knows she plays a risky game, but in order to help others that are suffering like she is she's willing to take that chance.
Rainbow Dash, Taking a Stand: When the Equilization Wave hit Equestria, someponies escaped by hiding. Others used magic.
Rainbow Dash, true to form, outran it. Successfully pulling off her first ever Sonic Rainboom as she carried her friend Fluttershy to safety. Both of them avoid equilization, only to watch as Twilight took over and began leading the ponies her spell had affected.
Rainbow Dash wanted to confront Twilight then and there, but two things stopped her. Fluttershy was still shaken up from the quick escape and sudden shockwave, and that strange unicorn from Canterlot, Sunburst, advised that they go to the Everfree Forest instead and figure out what happened before throwing accusations around. Of course, when they found that strange crystal tree and the spell scroll near it, they had their answer...
What they didn't have was a solution. Rainbow Dash went with her gut instinct: Go after the mare responsible.
She was captured in all of five minutes. That was how Twilight Sparkle found out some ponies had avoided her equilization spell.
Rainbow Dash isn't one to call it quits. She's been captured by Twilight's forces and escaped from them more times than anypony cares to count. In a world where nopony else has their talents, Dash's speed is a huge advantage to her and those that would fight to restore Equestria to its proper state. Unfortunately she has no patience for running messages from the frou-frou cloak maker in Canterlot or the egghead and his pet dragon.
The solution is simple after all: She just has to get her hooves on Twilight Sparkle and force her to undo the spell.
Flutterhshy, Forest Whisperer: Even after the Equilization wave, the Everfree Forest remains one of the most dangerous places in Equestria. It's part of what makes Ponyville such an effective prison: One entire side of the town is walled in by monster-infested woodland.
If Twilight Sparkle had any knowledge of Fluttershy, she'd move her re-education camp someplace else.
Thanks to Rainbow Dash's heroics, Fluttershy avoided losing her cutie mark. When Sunburst and his little dragon friend wanted to find out what happened, she was more than happy to go with them. The creatures of the forest were scary, certainly, but nothing that she couldn't reason with. She was more than happy to help and enjoyed feeling like her talent was useful for more than staving off her own loneliness for a change.
When they uncovered the nature of the spell that had warped Equestria, however, Fluttershy wasn't sure what she could do. Sunburst immediately set to work researching a way to reverse it, Rainbow Dash took off after that Twilight Sparkle pony that had cast it, and all Fluttershy could do was stay with Spike and wonder if there was anything she could do to help.
As time went on, the answer would turn out to be a resounding yes. Rainbow Dash's efforts to depose Twilight inspired more and more marked ponies to band together. Plenty of unmarked ponies wanted to help too. There were only so many places within the cities that they could meet however. The rebellion would need a base of operations, someplace nopony would find them.
Where better than the scariest forest in all Equestria? And thanks to Fluttershy's natural talents with animals, the biggest threats of the Everfree Forest could easily be convinced to leave them alone or even assist them! Though she's still not quite comfortable being the center of attention, Fluttershy truly feels like she belongs for once. So many ponies rely on her talents now, after all, and it's always nice to feel wanted. She just wishes that Rainbow Dash would stop getting herself arrested so much...
What about Pinkie Pie? Did I somehow inadvertently miss her when reading through all of this? *sifts back through these blog posts to double check but doesn't see her*
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Holy hay fries, did I forget Pinkie?
... Well how'd I pull that off? Guess I'll need to add an entry for her at some point. Or let folks make up their own minds...
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Well I'm interested in finding out her story either way, if only to cover all the bases.
While we're on the subject then, I also wanted to ask what you thought became of Zecora in this timeline, because she has a mark that looks like a cutie mark, that swirly sun thing, but it's never been confirmed (that I know of) if that's actually what it is and if it functions in similar manner, and thus would be subject to the same equalization process. If it's not, then she could be a viable ally to the "unequalized," we'll say.