Sarah's Adventure's in Equestria

by Zipp Storm

Episode 35: Cutie Map

Kaede’s POV

I woke up on day, feeling really happy. The sun was shining and I got up, put on my clothes and looked at myself in the mirror and I started singing.

I mounted Storm and flew over to Ponyville along with the others, except for Sarah all riding their respective dragons.

Rainbow Dash came flying beside us, singing along

We hovered near Sugarcube Corner where we saw Pinkie Pie

Our dragons all soared into the clouds and dove right towards Ponyville and shot right through the town on the way to Sarah’s Castle.

We all shared a laugh as we landed in front of Sarah’s castle. “Hey Sarah, what’s going-?” I was cut off seeing a large table map in front of Sarah’s throne.

We all stared in shock at it. “What the hell is that?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know. I just sat down in my throne and my cutie mark glowed and my throne shot out a beam of magic and this appeared. Spike looked at it, “Incredible, it’s got all of Equestria and beyond!”

Suddenly, Sarah’s cutie mark and the Mane 6’s glowed and images of them floated out and moved over a specific part of the map. “But if this is Ponyville, why are our cutie marks over there?” Fluttershy asked.

“I don’t know but I think the map wants us to find out. The Tree, My Element, My castle and now the map, how can we not follow it?” Sarah inquired.

“She’s got a point.” Ren said. “I’m in.”

“Me too.” Mason said.

“Y'know what? There's a ton of room for dangerous adventure along that route. Count me in!” Rainbow said.

“Me too, you’re not going alone, newbie.” Jack added.

“Aw, shoot, I reckon you're right.” Applejack agreed.

“Well, I was planning on organizing my baking sheets, but okay!” Pinkie said.

Rarity sighed, “Very well.”

“I guess I could accompany you on this.” Nicole said.

“Fine…” Rantaro grumbled.

“Looks like it's time for a road trip.” Twilight said.

“I’ll stay here and watch your castle Sarah along with the dragons.” Spike offered.

“Thanks Spike, come on guys.” Sarah said. We all nodded and went to the train station. We rode the train until it took us to a barren area where we saw a utopia village up ahead.

“This is where the map sent us? It looks like the most boring place in Equestra.” Jack said.

“It's just an ordinary village full of ordinary pony folk.” Applejack said.

It could certainly use a few more architectural flourishes. Or any architectural flourishes.” Rarity added.

“I think it's lovely.” Fluttershy said.

“I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. I know smiles. And those smiles? They're just not right.” Pinkie said. I had to agree with her too. Those smiles were creepy.

“Forget the smiles. Look at the cutie marks.” We all looked at the cutie marks and saw the whole village had the same equal mark cutie marks. “Okay, that's weird.” Rainbow said.

“I agree, Skittles.” Jack said.

“An entire village with the same cutie mark? How can that be?” Twilight inquired.

“I bet there's some sort of horrific monster behind it.” Rainbow said.

“What makes you say that?”

“'Cause fighting a horrific monster would be super-awesome!”

“I reckon we just ought to head into town and talk to some locals, find out what's going' on.” Applejack said.

“Great idea, AJ. Let's go!” Rainbow said.

“Those smiles are bad news.” Pinkie said.

We walked into the village and all the ponies greeted us by saying welcome to us. “This must be the most pleasant place in Equestria!” Fluttershy said.

“I don’t know. There’s something going on here. I can feel it.” Sarah said.

“So what should we do now?” Ren asked.

“Maybe find whose in charge of this village.”

“Looking for me?” a new voice came. We all looked and saw a pink unicorn pony with a purple mane with an aquamarine streak in it. “Welcome! I'm so pleased to have you here.” she said. Rainbow groaned.

“Um. Hi, My name is Sarah and these are my friends; Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Fluttershy, Ren, Jack, Jamie, Rantaro, Nicole, Mason, Carrie and Kaede.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Starlight Glimmer. So! How did you hear of our little village?”

“It's kind of a long story. Let's just say we found it on a map.” Twilight said.

“Well, however you found us, we're happy to have you! We're happy to have anypony who wants to experience true friendship for the first time.” Starlight said.

“Say what?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, indeed. That's what's so unique about our village, you see. Around here, we don't flaunt our special talents because we don't have any special talents to flaunt.”

“Is that why you all have those cutie marks?” Sarah asked.

“Perhaps it would be easier to understand if I gave you a tour of the village!” Music started playing and we followed Starlight outside.

Rainbow Dash started laughing, “You're kidding, right? Give up our cutie marks? No way!”

“Rainbow Dash, don't be so rude. I don't think we should judge them. They all seem perfectly happy with their choice.”

“Don't believe their smiles, Fluttershy.” Pinkie said.

“I'm sorry, I guess we're just a little confused by all of this.” Twilight stated.

“We have no judgments here in our village. Each of us was confused once as well, blinded by the false promise of our cutie marks.” Starlight said.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Is she for real?” Jack asked.

“When we were sent to this village, we assumed it was to help in some way. But, well, it doesn't seem like you need any help.” Sarah said.

“Have you considered perhaps that you might have been sent here so we could help you? After all, nopony has ever come to our village and wanted to leave. Why should you be any different? But that is entirely your choice. Please enjoy our little corner of Equestria. We're all quite fond of it. No doubt you will be as well. Silverlay, please help our guests with whatever they might need.” Starlight stated.

Another unicorn appeared and this one resembles Twilight a lot. Except she was dark blue with a white and blue cracelt on her right front hoof. Her mane and tail were white with a light blue and gray streaks in it. And her cutie mark was a blue star surrounded by two white wings.

Also, she didn’t look very happy. “Yes, Starlight Glimmer.”

“Remember to smile.” Starlight said. Silverlay sighed and gave us a smile. “Good.” Then she walked off and Silverlay returned to her frown. “Anything you need?” she asked.

“No thank you.” Sarah said.

“Alright.” Silverlay sadly turned and walked away. We looked at each other, “She doesn’t look very happy, does she?” Applejack asked.

“No, and she’s the only one who isn’t giving a creepy smile.” Carrie said. “Maybe she knows what’s going on.”

“Hey Silverlay.” Sarah called. Silverlay stopped and turned back, “Yes?”

“Is there something you wanna tell us about this village?”

“Oh… no. It’s fine.”

“Silverlay, I can see something is clearly bothering you but we can’t help you until you tell us what the problem is.” Silverlay looked at us and whispered, “Come by my house in one hour.” and she walked away.

“Come by her house?” Jack repeated. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know, but I do know she knows something about this village and that unicorn that we don’t know. We need her.” Sarah said.

“I agree. She may be able to tell us why everyone is acting so weird around here.” Ren agreed.

The others agreed with us.

One hour later

We all arrived in Silverlay’s house which was near the end of the village. “Silverlay?” Sarah called.

“Psst.” We saw her waving to us, from what looked like a cellar door. “In here.” We all followed her into the cellar which was her basement. She turned on the light and we saw other unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi. “Woah!” Ren exclaimed. “What’s with all of them?”

“I’ll explain.” Silverlay said as she approached us. “Starlight took our cutie marks away.”

“WHAT?!” We all exclaimed.

“She took your cutie marks?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Yes and she replaced them with these.” Silverlay showed us her equal sign cutie mark. “She said that different talents lead to different opinions, which lead to bitterness and misery.”

“What? That’s bull crap.” Jack said. Silverlay sighed.

“But nopony should keep you from your cutie mark. It represents such an essential part of who you are.” Twilight said.

“And we all agree. Starlight keeps them in the vault up in the caves. We can visit them any time we like to remind us of the heartache of a life with special talents.” one unicorn grumbled.

“Can’t you just go and get them back yourselves?” I asked.

“No, Starlight has a powerful spell over the vault so only she can open it.” Silverlay sighed. “I tried to tell her that our talents make us unique and proud but she wouldn’t listen.”

That’s terrible. These ponies were robbed of their differences and forced to be the same! That’s just wrong. “I tried not to give up, but Starlight is persistent in keeping us all the same.”

“Then you need to fight harder, Silverlay.” Sarah said. “Show her that it’s our differences that make us shine.” Music started playing in the background as the two did a duet.

(Sarah)
There's always gonna be someone tryna tear you down
Mocking you for your mistakes, oh
There’s always gonna be someone messing your head around
Watching you to see you break, so

Don't you let me call you out
Brush away the shame and doubt
Remember what you're all about and then

Show ’em who you are
Show 'em that you're strong
Show 'em that you know where you belong
Open up their eyes, force 'em all to see
Let 'em know you are and you'll always be
Unbreakable, unbreakable
Unbreakable, unbreakable, yeah

(Sarah)
There's always gonna be someone saying you’re something less

(Silverlay)
Let ’em talk, you know your heart, oh

(Sarah)
There's always gonna be someone calling you second best

(Silverlay)
Shut ’em down, don't fall apart, no

(Sarah)
Don't you let 'em in your head

(Silverlay)
Doesn’t matter what they said

(Both)
Get up on your feet instead, and then

(Both)
Show 'em who you are
Show 'em that you're strong
Show 'em they've been seeing you all wrong
Open up their minds, throw away the key
Tell 'em that you are and you'll always be
Unbreakable, unbreakable, yeah

(Silverlay)
You define yourself, oh (Hey, yeah)
You and no one else

(Both)
Show 'em who you are
Show 'em that you're strong
Show them that you've known it all along
Open every door, own your destiny
Live as if you are what you were
And you've been and you'll always be
Unbreakable, unbreakable
Unbreakable, unbreakable
Unbreakable

The song ended and the ponies and the rest of us cheered loudly and proud. “That’s our Princess of Friendship!” Jack exclaimed.

Sarah giggled, “Thank you, Sarah. So how are we gonna get our cutie marks back?”

“Leave that to us.” Sarah said.

POV Ends

I had asked Starlight to show us the cutie mark vault high in the mountains. She was too obliged and she lead us through the mountain to the cutie mark vault. But passing one tunnel I heard something and paused. “Sarah?” Ren asked. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah… you guys keep going. I’ll catch up.” I walked down the tunnel using my horn to light the way. I heard was sounded like a growl of some sort. “Hello?” I called with no response.

I reach the end and saw a blanket covering what looked to ba a cage. “A cage?” I walked towards it and gently pulled back the cloth. I gasped. In the cage was a large robotic dog. It was silver and made of metal with blue eyes.

“Woah.. what are you?” I asked. The dog growled at me for a moment. “Shhh… it’s alright.” I unlocked the cage and carefully walked towards the dog. The dog looked at me and I reach out my hand and placed it on his snout. “I’m a friend, not an enemy.” I said to it. The robotic dog then nudged me. “Hehe, easy boy.” I said. Then I heard something, “It’s a trap!”

I gasped. “Twilight!” I rushed out the cave and down the main tunnel with the robotic dog following right behind me. I made to the opening just in time to see Starlight taking the Mane 6’s cutie marks and placing them in the vault. “Aw. I don't blame you for what you tried to do here today. You've spent your whole lives thinking those marks are a good thing.” Starlight said.

“Give them back you bastard!” Jack exclaimed.

“Well, now you can spend the rest of your lives here with us! And we'll teach you just how much better life can be without your cutie marks!” Starlight added.

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” I snarled.

“What?” Starlight gasped.

“Sarah!” The Mane 6 exclaimed in joy.

“Give my friends back their cutie marks!” I demanded.

“No, there's nothing you can do about it.” Starlight blasted a beam of magic at my but the robotic dog leaped in front of me and blocked the shot. “What the hell is that thing?!” Jack exclaimed.

“A robotic dog!” Ren added. “Cool!”

“How’d you escape? I locked you up.” Starlight snarled. “I let him out and now I’ll take back what rightfully my friends!” My element glowed and it shot out a large beam of magic at the vault, cracking it completely. “NO!” Starlight cried. The cutie marks flew out and went to their respective ponies, including my friends. “Alright Sarah!” Rainbow cheered.

Starlight turned red with anger. “You’ll pay for that!” Starlight snarled. I snarled back at her, ready to fight her. I took off my Element of Harmony, “Ren, hold this.” I tossed it him and he caught it. Me and Starlight circled each other like two big cats ready for fight each other for territory. In this case ‘territory’ was freedom.

Starlight sent a magic beam at me, but I made a shield in front of me and reflect it back at her, sending her skidding back a little. I changed into a Jaguar and charged at Starlight. She blasted the ground, but I jumped over the hole and grabbed her by her back and threw her into the wall. “Ugh!”

“Go Sarah!” Ren cheered.

“Yeah, kick her butt!” Jack added.

Starlight got up and growled. I changed back to my normal self. Starlight charged me but I leaped out of the way and blasted her with my fire magic, burning her a little. Starlight gave a angry roar, “YOU WILL NOT RUIN WHAT I HAVE CREATED?!”

“Ren, everyone, get out of here, now!” I called.

“What, but we can’t leave you!” Ren called.

“GO!” I yelled. The other reluctantly agreed and they and the other ponies rushed out of the tunnel. Starlight blasted me with her magic and held me in place, “Hey!” She smirked evilly at me, “Time to make sure you don’t disturb my peace.” she used her magic to take away my cutie mark on my cheek. “Gah… ugh..” I fell to the ground and Starlight put my cutie mark into a jar. She laughed evilly. “You shouldn’t have told your friends to leave so soon.”

I couldn’t keep my eyes open longer enough and everything went black

Ren’s POV

We all made it out of the cave and I turned back. “Sarah.” I whispered.

“Don’t worry, Ren. She’ll be fine.” Kaede reassured.

“Yeah, newbie’s a tough opponent.” Jack added.

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure.” Starlight said as she appeared behind us. We all gasped in horror, seeing Sarah unconscious in her magical grasp with her cutie mark gone. “Sarah, no!” I cried. “Let her go!”

Starlight laughed evilly. “Not a chance. After what she did, you’ll never see her again!” she then teleported away from us. “NO!” I cried.

“This is horrible!” Fluttershy added. “We gotta find them.”

“How? She could have took newbie anywhere!” Jack exclaimed in anger. “The idiot!” Oh, I hope Sarah’ okay… where ever she is.

POV Ends

I awoke with a small headache and found myself tied up and inside a deep tunnel within the mountains. I saw Starlight looking at my cutie mark. “Ah, I see your awake.” she hissed. I tired to use my magic but my horn wasn’t lighting up. “I took precautions.” She held up another jar and judging from the colorful colors, I could tell it was my magic. I tried to get free but the ropes were tied tightly. “Let me go.”

“After you destroyed what I created? No way. Now, I’m gonna destroy you, so you can never interfere with my plans.” Starlight hissed, getting right in my face. I tried not to show fear but to be honest, I was scared. “I hope my friends find me soon.” Starlight picked me up with her magic and she took me deeper in the mountains.

Ren’s POV

We all met back in the village with Silverlay. We were hoping she could use a spell to help us at least get a range on the area where Starlight could have taken Sarah. “Anything Silverlay?” Twilight asked.

Silverlay sighed, “Nothing. Starlight must have either taken her magic and placed a spell so I couldn’t detect their magic signatures.”

“Great.” Jack grumbled. “Now what? We have to find newbie before that creep unicorn hurts her.”

“But how are we supposed to track them? We can’t detect her magic.” Rarity said. We heard a bark and saw the large robotic dog outside the door. “What’s up with the big mutt?” Jack asked. The dog went to me and pulled on my pant leg. “I think it wants us to follow him.” Twilight said.

“Follow him? How could he help us?” Mason asked. The dog showed us a visual screen that showed Sarah picture. Underneath it said ‘Paired User: Sarah Gem’ and it showed a map of the mountains with s dot moving slowly. “This that?” I asked.

“That must be Sarah. It has to be!” Applejack exclaimed. The screen disappeared and the dog leaped outside and nodded towards the outside of the village. “Come on, guys.” I ran out the door followed by the others and Silverlay. The dog was quick for his size. He was leaping over small amounts of rocks and was about ten feet ahead of us. He would stop and looked back to see if we were still following. “Woah.. he’s fast and agile.” Twilight commented.

“He sure is. Let’s hope he can lead us to Sarah.” I said, worried for my best friend. The dog lead us deep into the mountains, through multiple tunnels and crossways. Finally, we made it to the end of the mountains. It ended into a large valley with mountains on the side and a large river in the middle. “Woah… beautiful.” I gasped.

“Hell yeah.” Jack added. The dog barked and looked down growling. “What is it, boy?” I looked down and saw Starlight with Sarah in her magical grasp. She had her hanging by a rope above the river. We saw Starlight had two jars by her side. “Her magic and cutie mark!” Silverlay gasped.

Jack clenched his fists, “That bastard.” he was about to jump down, but he was held back by Mason, “Jack, no! We need a plan to save her.”

Jack growled. “Fine… now how are we gonna get her magic and cutie mark away from that crazy unicorn?”

We heard the dog bark and we saw him crouched down and turned invisible. The only thing that was visible was his blue eyes. “Holy!” Ren gasped. The dog leaped down near Starlight silently. He was super silent. The sounds of his paws hitting the ground were muffled like a big cat stalking towards its prey. It crept behind Starlight as she said, “Hehehe, this is the end of the line for you, human.” Sarah looked really sacred as she looked the river beneath her. She gulped nervously. Starlight cut some of the rope and Sarah dropped a few feet. “Gah!” Starlight chuckled, but what she did noticed was the dog grabbing the jars and silently leaping up to us. “Good boy.” I praised.

“Great, now we have to save Sarah.” Twilight said. The dog leaped back down and revealed himself. He let out a large bark, frightening Starlight. She gasped, “How’s you find me?”

The rest of us leaped down beside the dog. “The dog has his ways. Now give us back our Princess!” Rainbow demanded.

“Soon your Princess will be no more. Hahaha!” The rope was broke completely and Sarah was falling towards the water. “YAAAAHHH!”

“Sarah!”

“Newbie!” The dog roared and jumped over the ledge and jets emerged from the sides so he flew over to Sarah and grabbed her. “Incredible!” Jamie exclaimed. The dog flew back towards us and set Sarah down near Silverlay. “Oof, guys. You came for me.”

“Of course we could, darling.” Rarity said. She and Twilight untied the ropes and Silverlay cracked the jars. Sarah’s magic and cutie mark returned to their respectful owners. “Ugh, that's much better.” Starlight growled as she was outnumbered.

“Now time to take care of you.” Jack said.

“Ha.” Starlight lit her horn but eh dog leaped in front of us and blasted a cage towards her and caught her. “It can shoot a cage too!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Epic!”

Starlight tried to blast her way out of the cage, but the cage ws magic proof. “You’re not getting away, Starlight.” Ren claimed. Starlight growled. Soon, we brought her back to Canterlot where she was placed in Taratus for kidnapping.

“Thank you, everyone.” Silverlay said.

“No problem.” Sarah said. “Glad we could help.” Then I felt my cutie map flashing, "Sarah, you're cutie mark is flashing again!" Ren said.

"Does that mean the map is calling us somewhere else?" Fluttershy asked.

"I think it means our mission is completed." Twilight said.

"You were right Sarah. The map did have a reason for sending us here. We brought real friendship to these here ponies." Applejack said.

"But the I couldn't have done it without you guys. You all are a part of me." Sarah said. We all hugged her with smiles. "So can we stay? That Sugarbelle and bake!" Pinkie said.

"Sure we can stay for a while." Sarah said.

"Sweet!" Jack, Rainbow and Pinkie rushed off to Sugarbelle while the rest of us shook our heads. "I thought they would do that." Mason groaned. We all shared a laugh and entered the now changed village.... and suddenly broke into song.