//------------------------------//
// In Our Town 
// Story: Resurgence 
// by BronyWriter 
//------------------------------//

We arrived in Ponyville after a four hour flight and landed right outside the Golden Oaks library. Twilight was waiting for us with Rainbow Dash and Applejack, all of whom had come out to meet us. Kristen stumbled a little bit on her landing, but I held out a hoof to prevent her from face-planting completely. She glared at me, then brushed her coat like nothing had happened. I rolled my eyes, then turned to Twilight.

"So, what's going on?"

Twilight jerked her head to the library's door. "Earlier this morning somepony came into Ponyville and asked to speak with one of the town's leaders. Mayor Mare was busy, so..." Twilight grimaced and flattened her ears. "Yeah. He got sent to me."

"I see. And what seems to be the issue that I need to deal with?"

"Well, it's kind of weird, TD," Rainbow Dash said. "He's a little... off."

I raised my eyebrow and tilted my head. "Off? How?"

"You'll see." Rainbow Dash pushed open the door and let the rest of us inside. In the middle of the room I saw a gray earth pony stallion being given tea and cupcakes by Rarity. He turned his head when he heard us come in, and his eyes widened when he saw me. He yipped and shot to his hooves, nearly knocking the tea set over.

"Oh, uh..." He twitched as if he wasn't sure if he should bow or run. He settled on a quick little bow. "You're Prince Antares." His eye twitched. "Yeah, I guess you're in charge. I... grr... I never should have left!" He sat back down so quickly I briefly thought that magnets might have been involved and put his head in his hooves. "It seemed like a good idea at the time! There were some problems with her and so I wanted to leave but nopony else would come with me and... I never should have left!"

Okayyy. He seems a few books short of a library. Not the craziest pony I'd ever met, but definitely somepony who needed a little help. I gave him a comforting smile and sat down next to him, taking one of the cups of tea and putting it in his hooves.

"Calm down, okay? Why don't you start at the beginning?"

"Oh, yes, the beginning. Good." He took a quick sip of his tea, then set the cup down on the table. "Never should have left. Start at the beginning." He took a deep breath, then grabbed at his head again. "I live in this village a few day's walk from here. Nice place. Charming place. We're all really happy there. So, so happy. We had some problems, though. I guess every village does. Nothing we couldn't have worked through if I'd just stayed! We were all happy and equal and the best of friends!"

At this point, Kristen took a moment to poke me on the shoulder. "TD, look." I followed to where she was pointing and my eyebrow twitched up for a second. Where his cutie mark should have been, all he had were a pair of black bars in an equal sign.

Hm.

"So, I see your cutie mark. What does it stand for?" I asked.

"No! No! Not my cutie mark! We don't have cutie marks in our village!" He snatched up the cup of tea again and downed the whole thing. "That's what makes it wonderful! We're all equal, so nopony is better than anypony else!" His wild gaze turned to Kristen and he let out a huge gasp as he shot up again. "You! It's... you're so wonderful!" He grinned and pranced up to her, pointing at her flank. "You don't even have a cutie mark! You'd be the most equal of all of us!"

"That's not how it works, dude," Kristen said, taking a few uneasy steps away from him.

"Our mayor will want to know how you did it!" He sat back down and took a few deep breaths. "I never should have left!"

"Okay, that's enough caffeine for now," I said, taking the cup away from him. "You need to just slow down and give us some more details. We can't help you unless we know what's going on."

"Yes. Right. Quite correct." I subtly cast a spell on him to calm his nerves. It did the trick, as his breathing slowed and he flopped down on the ground. Whatever worked, I guess. "Like I said, I come from a village not too far from here. Our mayor Starlight Glimmer founded it. She said it was a place where we could be safe from things like the war. I'm slightly ashamed to say that it's where a few draft dodgers ended up. She didn't want us to feel stressed about anything. She wanted us to be totally happy. To do that, we just had to give up our cutie marks. Then we could all be equal and nopony could be better than anypony else."

"And... you were happy like that?" I asked.

"For the most part, yes. Our leader protects us from the outside world, even though we got attacked by bears every night. At least that's what she's told us." He sighed and draped his foreleg over his eyes. "She has a lot of control over the town. Total control, I think. It got to the point where I wasn't sure what to do. Sometimes a pony steps out of line and... Well, she just talks to them, I guess. I don't want to know what kind of talk she'd have with me for esca-- I mean, leaving."

Wow. Okay, there were all kinds of disturbing implications there. It sounded like this "Starlight Glimmer" person had a little more control than she should have. It wasn't illegal for small towns to have their own legal system, as long as they also followed Equestria’s laws. Small towns and villages had their own individual cultures and problems. If she really was just talking to ponies who got out of hoof, that was one thing, and it also depended by what this guy meant by "steps out of line."

That wasn't quite the vibe I got, though. I had to guess that this stallion wasn't a nervous wreck before living in the village. Maybe I was misinterpreting things and there were logical explanations for all of it, but somehow my gut told me that wasn't the case, and I'd gotten a lot of things right by following my instincts since starting this job. I stood up and turned to the rest of the ponies.

"If you'll excuse my sister and I, we have a few things to talk about."

"Of course, TD," Rarity said. "We'll be here if you need us."

"I'm sure." I herded Kristen out of the library and cast a small sound suppressing spell around us, glancing back to make sure that we hadn't been followed out.

"Okay, so I'm really not liking what's going on here with this guy. I mean, I don't want to get Jonestown vibes, but..."

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of, too. We don't have any concrete evidence of wrongdoing, and our only witness has some issues. Those issues likely stem from his time there, but I feel uneasy enough about this that it might be worth checking out."

"I agree. So are you just going to send in some guards or something?"

I shook my head. "Probably not a good idea. I think this requires a subtle touch."

"So the two of us should definitely stay as far away as we can?"

I rolled my eyes. "I've gotten better about that. I've actually learned a few things since starting this job."

Kristen gave me a flat look and returned my eye roll. "Oh, yeah, I'm sure. I've heard Blaze tell stories from the war. Something about you holding Purgle's head up while shooting fire out of your horn? Really subtle."

"That was war and I was trying to intimidate an opposing army into submission," I shot back. "I think we can do this. Besides, it's either this or you can go to your regularly scheduled session with Professor Blackboard."

"Oh, well, would you look at that?" Kristen looked directly into the sun and tapped her jaw. "Looks like the day's a-wastin'! Where are we going again?"

Yeah, I thought I'd get her on that one.


*  *  *  *


After leaving instructions with my staff, the two of us were off again. From what the stallion had told us, it was more or less a straight shot to the village. Plus a two day run was a half-day flight for us at a good pace. Given the time when we left, we did stop to make camp for the night, but at dawn the two of us were off again.

About four hours after we resumed our journey, I spotted something in the distance. I used a sight spell and saw that it was what appeared to be two rows of small houses in a perfect equal sign with one more beyond them.

"Looks like we've found it," Kristen said. "It has the equality decor I'd expect."

"For sure." I tilted my wings and began landing. I didn't want them to see us coming. It would ruin everything we were going for if they saw one of the rulers of Equestria flying right to them. We needed discretion. If this Starlight pony was dangerous, and especially if she had a group of loyal underlings, then making her feel nervous was the last thing we wanted.

"Okay, so it looks like it's just an hour away by hoof. It's probably a good idea to disguise ourselves before then." I lit my horn and cast a spell that shrunk me and turned my coat into a simple shade of red. I also cast an illusion spell so that my cutie mark was a plain quill. "Alright, your turn."

Kristen frowned and tilted her head. "Me? Why? I'm not some giant alicorn who led a war. Plus these ponies have probably never heard of me. It's not like I've made a bunch of big speeches."

"It's not something I'm willing to risk. Besides, if nothing else we need to get you a cutie mark. You saw what he was like when he saw that you didn't have a cutie mark. He just about lost his mind."

"More than he already had, you mean," Kristen grumbled. "But fine. I'll concede the point on the cutie mark. I might need one."

"Good. Just stand still. This won't hurt."

I cast the illusion spell on Kristen, and her coat turned into a nice shade of teal. A diving bell appeared on her flank, completing the disguise. I gave ourselves another once over, then nodded in approval.

"Alright, I think we're good," I said as I hid my horn with my magic. "Now we're just two weary travelers exploring the lands around Equestria. You'll be Diving Bell and I'll be Quick Quill."

"Quick Quill?" Kristen scoffed and shook her head. "Whatever. It's your disguise."

"At least I don't look like Prince Antares anymore," I said as we began walking in the direction of the village.

"Still sound like him, though," Kristen pointed out.

"Oh, good point!" With one final spell I changed the pitch of my voice to a little lower than it normally was. "How's this?"

"Better. Should be good enough to fool everyone."

"Well, that's all I need."

We spent the final hour of our journey in relative silence, each of us privately wondering what the outcome of this would be. I hoped that it would be a simple fix, and that Starlight was just talking to the villagers about minor infractions like... I dunno, littering or something like that. Maybe this is just a completely peaceful community.

Who had draft dodgers.

Eh, honestly, that wasn't a huge concern. It would take more effort to capture and prosecute them than it was really worth. It was a minor detail in the grand scheme of things. If we found out that this place was legit then we'd spend the day there then be on our way back to Baltimare.

We reached a hill overlooking the village and saw all of the hustle and bustle that a town of what appeared to be under fifty ponies could produce. There appeared to be a few small stalls, some kind of marketplace, all in front of the perfectly equal houses. So far so good.

However, as we got closer, things started to get a little weirder. Each one of the ponies had the equal sign cutie mark, and all of them had a couple of variations of the same mane style. Again, nothing illegal so far, but all of my instincts were telling me that things were really off here. I just couldn't quite place my hoof on what.

We were just about at the village's entrance when one of the locals spotted us. Her eyes widened and she instantly bolted to the two-story house at the end of the rows. More and more of the villagers spotted us as we drew nearer, and they began muttering among themselves. They didn't seem scared, more... curious. Kristen and I smiled at each of the ponies as we made eye contact with them.

Just as we passed the entrance, the door to the two-story house opened up and a pinkish purple unicorn mare walked out. She gave us a large, slightly overly friendly smile and trotted up to meet us.

I gathered it was Starlight Glimmer

"Hello, hello!" she said, stopping in front of us and extending a hoof. "My name is Starlight Glimmer--" Nailed it. "And as the mayor of this village, I welcome you!"

"Hello, Starlight," I said, taking her hoof and shaking it. "My name is Quick Quill and this is my sister, Diving Bell."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Starlight said, taking Kristen's hoof. "It's always wonderful to have new ponies in our village! We're pleased to extend our hospitality to you."

"Thank you, Ms. Glimmer."

"Oh please, just call me Starlight," she said with a wave of her hoof. "Why use formalities among friends?" She turned around and beckoned the two of us to follow her. "Let me give you a tour!"

The two of us followed behind her, exchanging a quick glance. Kristen gave me a little shrug that I took to mean "she seems nice so far."

We trotted a bit to catch up to her as she began her tour.

"We're ponies from all trots of life who have come here to live a simple, peaceful life," Starlight began, waving to each of the ponies as we passed them. "Some of us had struggles in our previous lives, some of us wanted to avoid strife, and some of us just wanted to live peacefully in harmony with other ponies. We've come together to build this wonderful place, and every so often somepony else arrives and we band together to make them a nice, cozy little home where they can be happy."

"Sounds... pretty relaxed," Kristen said.

Starlight giggled and nodded. "Oh yes, we want life here to be as stress free as possible."

"I think that's a noble goal," I said. "But... um... I couldn't help but notice... you know, the cutie marks."

Starlight stopped and whirled around to face us, her smile not faltering an inch. "That's the best part! You see, part of the stresses of life come from being unequal to other ponies. It simply causes undue strife and petty arguments that can break up relationships, even whole communities! Without cutie marks, each of us are equal and live without the torment that cutie marks bring."

"Okay..." Kristen frowned and tilted her head. "But isn't it a pony's special talent? A representative of what makes a pony... them?"

Starlight scoffed and waved her hoof. "Propaganda, I assure you. Everypony here is much happier now than when they were burdened by their marks. I ask you this: have you ever considered my position? Have you ever observed the potential truth of what I'm saying?"

"Um..." Kristen glanced over at me before shrugging. "I guess not."

"Well, then, I'd suggest at least thinking about it." Starlight said, putting her hoof on Kristen's shoulder. "I know that it sounds strange, dare I say even radical, but the proof is all around you." Starlight swept her hoof to motion to the village. "They're all happy here, I promise you."

"If you say so," Kristen said.

"I do say so. Tell you what..." Starlight walked between both of us and, when Kristen turned around, she used the opportunity to throw her foreleg around Kristen's shoulders. "Why don't you stay here for a day or two? You can see what life is like in our cozy, happy little village. Maybe you can even talk to some of the ponies around here. I'm sure they'll tell you the same things that I have. We have a spare cottage that you can use as long as you'd like. If you decide that you see our perspective and want to stay, we'd be more than happy to have you join our community!"

"But we'd have to give up our cutie marks to do that, right?"

Starlight's smile faded, and she gave me a solemn nod. "Yes, I'm afraid so. I know that's hard for some ponies, but we're all about equality here. If two ponies came in and kept their cutie marks, that would mean that they would be superior to the rest of us, and that goes against everything that we believe in here. Don't worry, though..." Her smile returned in full force. "The Cutie Unmarking is a painless, transformative, and even beautiful process."

I wanted to ask about if a pony wanted to leave, but that might be tipping my hand a little early. If she suspected that we were told about this place because of the stallion who left, that might cause some issues. Despite the outward facade, I wasn't completely satisfied that this place was what Starlight described. Everypony was smiling, but their smiles were too wide and none of them quite reached their eyes. The mane styles were uniform, but a little too uniform. Not a hair was out of place on any of them.

Basically, the place just lacked... personality.

"Well, I won't sell you on this place if we just stand around," Starlight said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Let me show you to your home!"

"You really want us to live here, don't you?" Kristen said as we followed Starlight to one of the houses. "I mean, you just met us."

"I know, but what kind of mayor would I be if I didn't extend to you my best hospitality?" Starlight said as we reached the door. "As for you staying, it's a celebration each time somepony decides to join our little community. We're all happy, so why shouldn't we want to share that happiness with everypony in Equestria?"

"That... makes sense, I guess?" Kristen said as Starlight opened the door. She stepped aside so that we could go in first, then followed behind us and shut the door. I half expected to hear a lock click.

"I know it seems strange to outsiders, but many of the ponies here feel the way you do now," Starlight replied. "Now they're as happy as the rest of us and, if I may be so bold, I think you would be too." Starlight nodded to each of us before motioning around the small room. "Here's where you'll be staying. The owner is out of town gathering supplies, but if he were here I'm sure he'd welcome you into his home. He'll be gone for a few weeks, so stay as long as you'd like. If you do decide to stay, we'll find you a nice, comfy home of your very own!"

"That's very kind of you, Starlight," I said, returning her smile. "Right now I think we just want to rest. We've been on the road for a few days, so a soft bed sounds lovely."

"Well then you rest up and come out when you're ready to meet the town! There's a shower in the main bedroom as well if you wish to use it. And of course, if you need anything, anything at all, just tell somepony and we will do everything we can to see it happen. For now, have a good rest, and we'll see you soon!"

With that, Starlight opened the door and backed out of the room, never breaking eye contact with at least one of us and her smile never fell an inch. When she was fully outside, she closed the door and once again, I expected to hear a lock click.

Kristen and I just stared at the door for a few moments, chewing over everything that had happened over the last twenty minutes. I walked over to the door and peered out of the peephole in case Starlight was listening in, but all I saw was the street. I glanced out a few of the windows, then turned to Kristen and shook my head.

Kristen let out a breath and sat down with a groan. "Hey, TD? Remember that time in grade school when we accidentally knocked over one of the walls for the set of the play our classes were doing, and we tried to pick it up and put it back so that nobody would notice, then a janitor and two teachers came by and saw us?"

"Yeah, why?"

"This is worse."


*  *  *  *


I took a deep breath and slowly opened the door to the house. We had talked about it and I decided that I'd go talk to the locals first while TD looked around the house for any clues on what was going on. He'd most likely join me in a few minutes. Really what we needed was a few minutes of uninterrupted conversation with a local or two. If they could expand on what the stallion back in Ponyville had said, we'd get a better understanding of this place. Maybe if something was going on they'd let a few things slip. Really, all I had to do as avoid--

"Diving Bell!"

Starlight.

I closed the door behind me and waved at Starlight. She walked up to me and, to my complete surprise, pulled me into a hug. She let out a little, happy noise and pulled away.

"Oh, it's so great to see you. You don't want to rest a bit?"

I forced a smile onto my face and shook my head. "Nah, travel always gets me energized. My brother is taking a nap, though. He'll probably be out soon, though. Just a quick power nap."

"Oh, well I completely understand," Starlight said, leading me into the main street where ponies smiled and waved at us. "I knew you'd want to get to know us as soon as you could. You seem like the friendly, open-minded, inquisitive sort. Let's introduce you to some ponies, why don't we?"

"Sounds good."

Starlight led me up to one of the shops where a gray-ish unicorn mare with a purple mane done up in a bun stood behind a stall that appeared to be selling... I couldn't even begin to describe what they were. I doubted that they were edible food, that was for sure.

"Diving Bell, I'd like you to meet Sugar Belle!" Starlight giggled. "You two almost have the same second name!"

"Ooh, we do!" Sugar Belle said. "That means we're going to be friends, I can already tell!"

"Uh, yeah... sure." My smile flickered a little bit. "Sounds great."

"It's always nice meeting a new friend," Sugar Belle said, pulling me into yet another unwanted hug. "What should we talk about? Friends talk about stuff, right?"

"Of course, Sugar Belle," Starlight said. "You and Diving Bell can talk as much as you want. I think she wants to know about our town and how happy we all are."

Sugar Belle let out a cute little squee, then dragged me by my hoof into her shop. Before I could say anything, she'd sat me down on a rickety chair before sitting at the one opposite of me.

"Oh, this is the most wonderful place in Equestria!" Sugar Belle began. "We're ponies from all trots of life who have come here to live a simple, peaceful life. It's sad, but some of us had struggles in our previous lives, some of us wanted to avoid strife, and some of us just wanted to live peacefully in harmony with other ponies. That's why it's so great that we've come together to build this wonderful place, and the best part is when somepony else arrives and we band together to make them a nice, cozy little home where they can be happy with the rest of us!"

"Um... s-so I've heard."

"But you don't have to just hear it; that's the best part!" Sugar Belle said. "When you come live here, you'll get to experience it for yourself each and every day!"

"Oh, um... well, my brother and I haven't actually decided if we want to stay yet."

Sugar Belle gasped and put her hooves up to her mouth. "Buh-but why wouldn't you want to stay? We're all so happy here, and I know you would be, too!"

"Yeah, I get that a-- hey!" I flinched back when I felt a hairbrush go through my mane, and I turned around to see Starlight standing behind me with said hairbrush. She smiled fondly at me and gently, but firmly pushed my head to where it was facing Sugar Belle again.

"Shh. Just relax, Diving Bell. You said you've been on the road for a while, right? When's the last time you had your mane brushed?"

"Just yesterday. I carry a-- ow!" I flinched when she straightened a knot in my mane. She chuckled knowingly and patted my shoulder.

"See? I'm just helping you out. Isn't this relaxing?"

Even if it was the best massage in the world, it still wouldn't be the least bit relaxing. I was about to voice that opinion when Sugar Belle took my hoof.

"Don't worry, Diving Bell. Starlight is just helping out. That's another thing that's great about this place! We all like to help each other. That helps make us happy."

You guys are really laying the happiness part on kind of thick, aren't you?

"Tell me, Diving Bell..." Sugar Belle put her other hoof on top of mine. "Are you happy where you are? I mean, truly content?"

"Who is?" I said through gritted teeth as Starlight straightened out another knot.

"We are, of course," Sugar Belle said with a light laugh. "But we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves. Where are you from?"

Oh. Dang. That's right. TD and I hadn't really settled on a detailed cover story quite yet. I needed to be careful here or our stories would conflict.

"Well, like my brother and I said, we're traveling the lands around Equestria. We're from Vanhoover originally, but we've lived in Baltimare for a while. After a while we finally saved up enough money to travel around and see the sights. It's kind of limiting to just experience what you're familiar with, isn't it?"

"Oh, I completely agree," Starlight said.

"We don't have money here," Sugar Belle said. "It just causes ponies to fight."

I was about to respond when I felt Starlight take my mane in her magic. I tried to stand up again, but she pushed me back down with a little more force.

"Shh. Just be still. Relax a little. Please? For me?" With a quick flick of her horn, my mane twisted into two separate braids, which she draped over each shoulder. She sighed contentedly and patted my back.

"There. All better. Doesn't that feel nice?"

I shot out of my chair and went straight over to a nearby dirty mirror. I flinched back at the sight of my new braids. I hadn't had my hair in braids since I was eight!

"Oh, um... thanks. Thanks a lot. It looks wonderful, but--"

"If you don't like it I can give you a different style," Starlight said. "Maybe a nice bun like Sugar Belle has? I thought this one would look best on you, though."

"Really kind of you, but I'm fine. Totally fine."

And completely freaked out. I probably would have punched Starlight through a wall the second she touched my hair if I didn't want to get more info out of Sugar Belle. It was a small price. I poked at my mane and inwardly grimaced when I felt that the braids weren't coming undone for anything short of magic.

Focus. Talk to Sugar Belle some more. I forced another smile back on my face and went back to my chair.

"Um... sorry. It's really lovely. Thanks."

"Oh, you're very welcome, Diving Bell," Starlight said, giving me another squeeze. "But please, don't let me get in the way of your conversation."

Like that wasn't going to happen. Still, if she didn't touch me again, I could probably handle it.

"Random question: do you guys have any flavor-aid here?"

Sugar Belle frowned and tilted her head. "No, what's that?"

I waved my hoof. "Never mind. So, um... you feel okay that you gave up your cutie mark?"

Sugar Belle's eyes widened, and she nodded vigorously. "Oh, of c-course I do! I'm happy that I did it! Happier than I've ever been!"

"Do you regret it at all?" Somehow her eyes got wider, and I flinched back. "Sorry if this is a private topic or anything but, you know, if I'm gonna stay I want to get all of the information that I can, right?"

Relief spread across Sugar Belle's face, and she patted my hoof. "I don't regret it for a moment, and I promise that you and your brother won't either. Not for a moment." Her wide smile appeared again and I began to wonder if she was going to eat me. "Not a single moment. I'm happy. We're all happy."

"Right. So, um... are there rules here?"

"Well of course there are, silly," Starlight said with a chuckle. "We have a town charter on top of following all of the normal Equestrian laws."

"Well, that's good. So what if, you know, somepony broke one of the rules?"

Starlight walked into my field of vision, a slight frown creasing her face. "Why? Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, you know. Like I said: I want to know everything before I stay."

"Well I suppose that makes sense." Starlight shrugged. "Well, whenever somepony breaks a rule, I have a talk with them and explain why things here are they way they are and why it's in the best interest of our community that the rules are followed. Don't worry, though: nopony here is ever violent, and I've never had to give that talk to the same pony more than once."

"Well, that's good. I'm sure you can imagine that crime is a bit higher in the cities."

"Well, then you can see the appeal of a place like this," Starlight replied.

"They're probably all fighting because of their cutie marks!" Sugar Belle said.

"Right, and that brings up my next question: what happens to your cutie marks when you get Unmarked? Do they just disappear or...?"

Starlight extended her hoof and helped me stand up. "I'll show you. It's the best part."


*  *  *  *


Well, so far my search had turned up nothing. There weren’t any diary entries about how Starlight was a madmare bent on destroying everypony in the village. The only thing I did find out for sure was that this was indeed the house of the stallion that had escaped to Ponyville. 

I was about to head on out to see what Kristen was up to when I heard the door to the house open, then quickly slam shut. I frowned and trotted down the stairs, my eyes widening when I saw Kristen standing on two legs with her back to the door as if somepony was going to break through it at any moment. 

“Dude, what happened to your mane?”

“Shut it, TD,” Kristen growled. “The ponies are absolutely crazy! They’re completely sure that we’re going to be joining them in this nutball town in just a few minutes here.” She grunted and patted at the braids. “And these braids aren’t coming out!”

“So... Starlight did that?” She groaned and nodded as she slid to the floor. “Right. That might be good. If you don’t take the braids out then she won’t suspect that you’re not happy with all of this. Keep them in and just play along for now.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kristen grumbled. “So I take it you haven’t found anything that blows this place wide open?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. It’s a very neat and organized house, but it’s not hiding any secrets that I can discover. You?”

“Oh, me?” Kristen scoffed and rubbed at her leg. “Yeah, I think I found something. They’re about to show me what they do with the cutie marks they remove!”

“Oh.” I smiled and walked over to Kristen. “Well, that’s good. Really good. To me that’s the detail that will clear up everything. So it’s like I said: you just gotta keep playing along for now.” I put my hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t be so nervous. I know this is unsettling, but keep in mind that they can’t actually hurt you. You’re the god of chaos.”

“I know, I know...” Kristen sighed and slowly got to her hooves with my help. “Instinct doesn’t instantly switch off because you become invincible, though.”

“Of course not, but we’re here for our subjects now. We can’t be hurt by Starlight, but they can. Maybe they already have been.”

“I get it.” Kristen groaned and leaned against the door, her eyes squeezed shut. “So I’m not just going to go to wherever Starlight is keeping the cutie marks alone. We need to have a plan in case things go south.”

“I agree. It might be a trap.” I patted her on the shoulder. “And we happen to have indestructible bait.”


 *  *  *  *


It didn’t take more than a few minutes for TD and I to come up with a fairly simple, straightforward plan. It wouldn’t have been my first choice if I was doing this alone, but I didn’t have as much experience with this kind of thing as he did. It was a simple plan. I couldn’t call it foolproof, though. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.

I slowly stepped out of the cottage and spotted Starlight and Sugar Belle standing a few yards away with another mare I didn’t recognize. Starlight noticed me and waved me over, and I returned her smile with one of my own. I shut the door behind me and trotted up to them. 

I just had to relax. I could do this.

“It’s so great to see you again, Diving Bell!” Sugar Belle said, pulling me into another hug. “Have you met Night Flier yet?”

“Uh, no, I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure,” I said, extending my hoof. “I’m Diving Bell.”

“Yeah, Starlight and Sugar Belle were just telling me about you!” Night Flier said, taking my hoof and shaking it. “We’re honored to have you in our village.”

“Cool.” I pulled my hoof out of her grasp and began walking with the three of them in the direction of Starlight’s house. “So... have you been here a while?”

Night Flier nodded. “Oh yeah. Four years, two months, nine days, and eleven hours. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.” She chuckled and patted my back with her wing. “This place is the best. Ponies from all trots of life who have come here to live a simple, peaceful life...”

I just tuned it out. I’d heard it enough by that point. I smiled and nodded as needed, but my mind was racing. I should have been a little more relaxed than I was. I was literally chaos incarnate, and TD and I had a plan in case things went wrong. They couldn't hurt me if they tried!

Still, it's hard to suppress instinct, and all of it was telling me that this was bad news. The worst part about it was that once Night Flier was done with her little clearly rehearsed spiel, none of the other mares said a word to me as they led me up a hill and toward a cave of all things. I hate being bait.

"Well, this is it," Starlight said, motioning into the cave. "This is where the cutie marks go." She stepped aside and beckoned me to enter. "Go on in!"

"Okay." I slowly stepped into the cave and was greeted with something I never thought I'd see. At the back of the cave was a giant, glowing wall filled with little squares. Inside each square was a cutie mark. In front of that was a stone pedestal holding a simple wooden staff. I just stood there and stared with my mouth wide open.

"Yes, I know it's quite a sight," Starlight said as she walked past me, taking a moment to close my mouth. "Everypony reacts that way the first time they see the Cutie Mark Vault.” Starlight lit her horn and picked up the stick on the pedestal, waving it in her magic.

"And this, dear Diving Bell, is the Staff of Sameness. It is what allows for the Cutie Unmarking to take place. With its magic, I have made all of the residents here equal, content, and happy." She pointed the staff in my direction, causing me to take an uneasy step backward. "I can do that for you, Diving Bell. You just need to say yes, and you can join our utopia."

"You kn..." I cleared my throat. "You know? I think I'm actually good. This has been really interesting, but I think my brother and I need to get out of here."

Starlight sighed and shook her head. "Diving Bell, if there's one thing I've learned in my time leading this community it's that sometimes ponies... don't always know what's best for them. Sometimes it takes a gentle, but strong, guiding hoof to get a pony on the right path."

Her smile returned, but I didn't miss the darkness in it as several ponies from the village came out of the shadows and surrounded me. I spread my wings and took a half-step back, but they had probably been waiting for that. Starlight lit her horn and encased me in her magic, rendering me being completely paralyzed. Starlight chuckled and slowly walked up to me, magic crackling in the staff.

"You'll be happy here, Diving Bell. I promise you."

"Doubt it," I wheezed. I glanced over at Sugar Belle, but she just stared at me with that wide, blank smile on her face. However, I couldn't quite miss the look in her eyes. It wasn't happiness. It looked like... unease.

"But I don't." Starlight pointed the staff at my cutie mark. "Now just you hold still, Diving Bell. This won't hurt a bit."

The staff began glowing with magic, just as my flank around my cutie mark did. I could feel it pulling at my fur and...

Nothing happened.

Starlight's smile faded into a frown and she powered down the staff, flipping it around so she could examine the top.

"What in the...?" She flipped it back around and powered it up again but once more, nothing happened.

"What's wrong? Is it not performing today?" I said, unable to keep the smugness out of my voice.

"Shut up, just let me..." Starlight groaned and poured enough magic into the staff that the tips began singeing. She growled in frustration before tossing it into the wall in frustration and trying to tear my cutie mark off with just her magic.

One of the townsponies gasped. “Starlight... I think you broke the--”

“QUIET!” Starlight roared, wheeling around to face the pony who had spoken up. Jeez, I think I saw a vein bulging in her neck. Starlight’s horn kept glowing brighter and brighter, until eventually I heard a little pop, and my fake cutie mark faded away entirely. A triumphant look crossed Starlight's face, but that quickly faded away when she saw that it hadn't been replaced by an equal sign, nor did she have a physical cutie mark to put into the vault.

"Jeez, lady, what did you do?" I said, trying to move my head to look at my now blank flank. "So am I superior to you guys now because I don't have a cutie mark at all, or am I inferior because I don't have a cutie mark to put in the vault?"

"Just hold on and..." Starlight bit her lip as she tried casting a spell on my flank. She smiled for a brief moment as an equal sign appeared, but it faded as quickly as the fake mark did.

"Should we try using the staff again?" one of the villagers muttered. “Maybe it’s not that broken.”

"No, don't..." She tried again with the spell. No go. Once more. It faded even faster than the last time.

"Am I intruding on something?" a familiar voice said. "I can come back."

The two unicorns trapping me stopped their magic, and I turned around to see TD still in his disguise looking at the proceedings with a slightly puzzled look. I smirked at him and motioned to Starlight.

"She took my cutie mark, dude. Made it completely go away. Pop."

"Well that's not good."

"Yeah, It's what we thought. I mean, not exactly as we thought, but we were right that something was wrong here."

"Hm." TD shrugged and walked over to us. "Guess I don't need this anymore."

With one quick spell, magic washed over TD's body. His horn reappeared and he grew back to his normal height, which of course meant that he towered over everyone else in the cave. His mane even went back to its weird wavy style. He smiled and stretched out his wings and legs.

"There. Much better."

I heard a thud next to me and turned to see that Sugar Belle had just flat-out fainted. The rest of the ponies in the cave had run as fast as they could in the opposite direction, but given that we were in a small cave, that just meant that they were huddled against a wall. The best part was Starlight, though. She had collapsed into a sitting position and was staring at TD with her jaw nearly on the floor and her pupils shrunken to nearly pinpricks. I smirked at her and closed her mouth.

"Everybody reacts that way the first time they see him."

Starlight let out a little gurgle and her eye twitched.

"So, Miss Glimmer. I guess you and I need to have a little talk about what exactly goes on here." He looked over at the ponies huddled in the corner. "Now be completely honest with me. I'll know if you're lying. Did you actually want her to take your marks?"

"I mean, at first I was fine with it, but I started having second thoughts," one of them said.

"Same here," said another.

"Me too," replied a third. "We knew we'd never be able to do it. Starlight would have put us in her 'reeducation room.'"

"Thought that might be the case. So, like I said, we need to have a bit of a talk, Ms. Glimmer."

Starlight snapped out of her initial shock and slowly put her head in her hooves and stared at the ground.

"Oh dear," she whispered to herself.

I chuckled and put my hoof on her shoulder.

"Yeeeah."


*  *  *  *


It turned out that fixing Starlight's actions was as simple as blasting the vault with my magic. The moment I did that, cutie marks began flying out of the vault and back to the individual ponies in the cave. The instant the marks were back, color returned to each of the ponies. It even fixed their mane styles into something a little less uniform. They looked more lively; more animated than before. Several of them bowed to me.

"So... is there any chance we can just..." Starlight chuckled and gave me a hopeful smile. "Just let this drop?"

"No can do, Ms. Glimmer," I said, wrapping magic around her horn and forelegs. "If nothing else we have attempted kidnapping and possible assault on a member of the royal family, and that's not including whatever you did to these ponies here."

"Th-they wanted me to take their marks! They wanted to be happy!"

"And I'm sure the reeducation room was filled with happy puppies and fluffy pillows," I said.

"It wasn't. It was three straight days of hearing her propaganda over a speaker," another pony said.

"Oh will you please stop talking?" Starlight said through gritted teeth. "You're not helping me here!"

"I think that might be the point, Ms. Glimmer." I sighed and encased Starlight in a shield. "So, let's get you back to Canterlot."