//------------------------------//
// Cutie Map part 2 
// Story: Prince Sonic the Hedgehog 
// by castroedgar316 
//------------------------------//

It's been about an hour after the group was captured, and we currently find them locked inside one of the houses in Our Town.

While being locked inside a house with little to nothing to do wasn't bad, what they had to listen to while inside was what made the experience unbearable. 

"In sameness, there is peace. Exceptionalism is a lie. Free yourself from your cutie mark. Choose equality as your special talent."

Through a single speaker, a recording of Starlight repeated those exact words over and over, and it was beginning to irritate most of the group. Rainbow Dash and Applejack tried knocking the door town but found it pointless. (Sonic tried to do so himself with a spindash, put found that he lost the ability to do so)

'Make. It. Stop!' Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she covered her ears with her hooves, resisting the urge to bang her head against the floor.

"This is getting pretty good." Pinkie said as she "read" a book that had the gray equal signs the mane six and townsponies had as cutie marks on every page.

Sonic was seemingly oblivious to the recording as he lay on his side while drumming his fingers against the floor, appearing to be deep in thought.

Having had enough, Twilight spoke up, "Ugh, we've gotta find a way out of here! I can't take much more of that voice!"

"This is terrible!" Rarity exclaimed as tears escaped her eyes.

"There, there, Rarity, it's not so bad..." Fluttershy said as she patted Rarity's back, trying to calm her down.

"Yes, it is!" Rarity exclaimed as she gestured toward a window, "Look at those drapes! I have no idea if they're tacky or not!"

"Well, I think they're nice." Fluttershy said.

Rarity's equal mark began to pulse, making tears well up in the mare's eyes as she bawled, "So do I!"

Suddenly, a bird appeared by the window, giving the group newfound hope as they realized Fluttershy could talk to it.

"Oh, thank goodness, can you help us out little birdie?" Fluttershy asked as she approached the bird.

However, as the bird tweeted, Fluttershy's mark began pulsing. 

"Go on, fly and get us some help!" Fluttershy pleaded.

Unfortunately, the bird didn't understand her, giving a confused chirp before flying off. 

"Oh no, even tweets don't make sense anymore." Fluttershy said, realizing that she lost her ability to communicate with animals.

"We really don't have our special talents anymore," Applejack said, "Why, this is worse than a ...summer of..." her mark began pulsing as well, making her brain unable to come up with a metaphor for their predicament. "...piglets in... Aw, shoot. I can't make countryisms no more."

"Maybe it'll be super fun to be all the same!" Pinkie exclaimed happily.

Just then, Pinkie's mark pulsed, changing her happy expression into a bored one.

"Sort of, more pleasant than fun, I guess..." Pinkie said in a bored tone.

"Looks like that staff of sameness did more than just take away our talents." Sonic said as he stood up, "It appears to be affecting us mentally as well."

"Speaking of the staff, there's something odd about it." Twilight said as she paced around the room, "I haven't studied eastern unicorns as much as I should have, but I'm pretty sure Meadowbrook only had eight magical items, not nine. And I don't remember any of them being a staff."

"There wasn't." Sonic said before explaining, "My mom had me study about different cultures, including eastern ponies. My studies eventually led me to Meadowbrook's artifacts. And out of all of them, absolutely none of them were a staff."

"Then without a doubt, Starlight lied, but the question is, why?" Twilight pondered, "There's also something else that's bugging me."

"What's that, Twilight?" Sonic asked.

"How is it that you were affected by the staff?" Twilight asked Sonic, "That staff seems to be made especially for ponies, but it was somehow able to affect you, Sonic. How is that even possible?"

"That's something I've been thinking about myself for the past couple of minutes." Sonic said, "Although, I think that I've come up with a possible theory."

After everyone remained silent for a moment, Rainbow Dash said in impatient tone, "Well don't leave us in suspense, tell us what it is."

"Well, this is a bit of a stretch, but I think that all sentient creatures are capable of earning a cutie mark." Sonic said, confusing everyone.

"...That doesn't make a lick of sense." Applejack said.

"Let me finish so that you can understand." Sonic said with a deadpan expression before continuing, "Anyways like I said, all sentient creatures are capable of earning a cutie mark, but ponies are the only ones capable of showing them without the need of magic."

After thinking about it for a moment, Twilight said, "Now that you mention it, it makes sense. Aside from the murals in Canterlot Castle, the only times we've seen your symbol was when magic was involved."

"Precisely." Sonic said.

"While that's interesting to hear, how exactly does it help us with our current situation?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Unfortunately, it doesn't." Sonic said before letting out a sigh, "In all honesty, I have no clue how we could get out of this mess. Without my speed, natural skills, and  the chaos abilities, I can't help but feel completely useless. The only redeeming thing I could do would be my use of magic, but I'm certain I've lost the ability to access it as well."

Just then, the book Pinkie was "reading" was surrounded by a blue aura before levitating off the floor, surprising the mare.

"While I still have a lot to learn when it comes to magic, I'd at least feel more helpful because of it." Sonic said, oblivious to the fact that his right hand was surrounded by a blue aura, "But since I don't, I'm pretty much left with nothing."

As Sonic spoke, he waved his hand around, causing the book to be flung around the room, making the rest of the group aware that he still had his magic (along with do their best to avoid being hit by the floating object).

"And what makes it worse is that I was getting good at using spells as well!" Sonic continued, "While I was having trouble with perfecting the levitation spell, I was getting close to doing so. But now I lost the chance to do so thanks to that stupid staff!"

Sonic then crossed his arms in annoyance, which made the book bonk him in the back of the head.

"Oww! Hey, what was that fo-" Sonic said as he turned around, only to see the book in his magical grasp, "What the?"

Checking to see that it was in fact his magic, Sonic moved his hand to the right, with the book mimicking the movement. He then moved his hand the left, which had the same result.

"I, still have my magic?" Sonic asked, surprised by this, "...Wait a minute."

Deciding to test something, Sonic closed his eyes and began to concentrate (releasing the book from his magical grasp when he did so). 

After a moment, Sonic opened his eyes before snapping his fingers, only for nothing to happen.

"That didn't work either." Sonic mumbled to himself, "Maybe..."

Sonic then extended his hand out and stared at it for a moment before one of the chaos emeralds appeared in a flash of light, which shocked the rest of the group.

'So far so good, now to see if I'm right.' Sonic thought to himself before raising the chaos emerald into the air and said, "Chaos control."

As soon as those words left Sonic's mouth, he disappeared in a flash of light. A few moments later, he reappeared only to clutch his head in pain and fell onto his knees, his entire body pulsing with a gray aura as this happened.

"Sonic!" Twilight exclaimed as she and the group rushed to his side, "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine." Sonic assured as the pain and pulsing stopped, "The staff's magic is negativity reacting to chaos control. But I'm glad that it still works."

"Thank Celestia!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "Now we can get out of here!"

"But, how?!" Twilight asked, surprised by this revelation, "How do you still have your magic and how where you able to call a chaos emerald?"

"To answer your second question, the chaos emeralds where bound to me." Sonic said he stood back up, confusing the mane six.

"What does that even mean?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"To put it simply, since I've been exposed to the chaos emeralds for practically my entire life, they've formed a connection with me." Sonic explained, "The connection allows me access to the emeralds whenever I need them, even letting me use their energy without actually having them with me. Although I do need to summon them if I need to turn into my super or hyper forms. I actually thought that the staff cut my connection with them considering it seemingly took all of my abilities. But since my magic is linked to that connection, it may have protected it from being completely severed. Although from the looks of it, using too much will give me and headache thanks to the staff's magic."

"So while you lost your physical talents, you still somewhat have those that involve your chaos abilities and your magic." Twilight said, "That's perfect! With this we could easily make our way back to the cutie mark vault and take our cutie marks back!"

"While we can do that, it's going to have to wait." Sonic said confusing everyone.

"Why's that?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well for starters, there's the possibility that someone could still be at the vault, meaning if I were to go there now, it could just be in vain." Sonic responded before adding, "There's also the fact that we're going to help all of the townsponies get their cutie marks back as well. If Starlight is forcing us to stay here, who's to say she didn't do the same to most if not all of the townsponies?"

After thinking about it for a moment, the mane six found that could be a huge possibility.

"The best way we could get that plan into motion is to convince them that we've accepted their philosophy." Sonic said as he put the chaos emerald in his quills.

"While that is a good idea, there's only one setback." Twilight said.

"What would that be?" Pinkie asked.

"I doubt they would be convinced that any of us would change our minds overnight." Twilight said before realizing something, "Except for Fluttershy."

"Me?" Fluttershy asked, unsure about what Twilight said.

"You've been saying how great this place is ever since we got here." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"But that's because everypony's so nice, and their village is so pretty, and, and..." Fluttershy argued before realizing why the group though she was the best candidate, "Oh, you're right. They probably would believe me."

"And I'm certain I could sweet-talk Starlight into letting me out as well." Sonic said, confusing the group.

"Why do you think so, darling?" Rarity asked.

"I'm certain you all could figure it out on your own if you think about it." Sonic said before turning to Twilight, "While we wait however, we should continue my magic training."

Twilight raised an eyebrow before asking, "While I wouldn't mind doing so, why now of all times?" 

"I need it to make up for my lack of speed." Sonic replied, "While my chaos abilities can get me out of most situations, it'll be best if I had a better understanding of magic, just in case I find myself in a situation where my chaos abilities would cause more harm than good."

After thinking about Sonic's words, Twilight nodded her head and said, "While I agree with you, I'm not exactly in the best condition to teach magic. The most I could do is teach you levitation magic."

"Then that's what you'll teach me." Sonic said, "While simple, I'll take any advantage I could get."

While a bit uncertain, Twilight nodded her head and said in a determined tone, "Let's do this."





After what the group considered to be the longest night ever, morning came at last.

The recording suddenly stopped before the group heard Starlight announce, "Good morning!" through the speaker.

A moment later, the door opened, revealing Starlight on the other side. (along with all of the townsponies who watched from behind the mare)

"I trust you all had a pleasant evening." Starlight said, earning a glare from the group (sans Sonic and Fluttershy). Starlight then gestured the group outside as she said, "Right this way, please." 

Being that they had no other choice, the group followed, feeling relieved about finally being outside the cramped house.

"There are so many friends here to make when you all realize you don't need cutie marks." Starlight said as the group stopped outside the house, "Or the talents that come with them."

"We have a welcome celebration for new friends!" Double Diamond said. "The whole village comes together to build your own cottage to-"

"Not interested!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, cutting Double Diamond off, "You may have them now, but we're going to get our cutie marks back!"

"You all don't understand, do ya?" Applejack asked as she glared at the townsponies, "You can't force nopony to be friends! It don't work like that!"

"Please join us!" one stallion begged.

"We love new friends!" a mare said, apparently not listening to anything the group said unless it came from Starlight herself.

"Settle down, everypony," Starlight spoke up, "This is normal for the equalization process. It takes a while for those who haven't seen the light yet."

"Actually, me and Fluttershy would like to join your community." Sonic spoke up, earning excited chatter from the townsponies, along from fake gasps from most of the group.

"Sonic, what are you doing!?" Twilight asked in a shocked tone, keeping the appearance that she and the others didn't see this coming.

"Sorry Twilight, but after seeing how friendly everyone is here, I couldn't help but think this type of philosophy could benefit all of Equestria." Sonic said, "While I will admit I was skeptical at first, the more time I spent here, the more I realized this type of philosophy could end disharmony among all ponies. Heck, it could probably help settle all differences between all sentient species in all of Equestria!"

"By forcing everyone to be exactly the same?!" Twilight asked in fake disbelief, "It'll never work, and you know it!"

"You never know until you try." Sonic said before turning his back from the group, "And I plan to do so, for the sake of everyone."

"Well said Prince Sonic." Starlight said as she approached him, "I'm happy that you have so much faith in our way of life."

"I only do things if I'm certain it'll help others." Sonic said with a determined tone.

Starlight smiled before turning towards remainder of the group and asked, "Would anyone else like to join?"

After receiving silence as a response, Starlight had the rest of the group walk back inside the house and closed the door on them, unaware of the knowing grins they had on their faces.

"Now then, there's just one more order of business." Starlight said, gaining everyone's attention, "It seems some in our midst might be...dissatisfied with the village life!"

Hearing this made the townsponies gasp in shock and disbelief.

"Will you two kindly tell us the names of those ponies?" Starlight asked both Sonic and Fluttershy, "These friends among us who so desperately miss their cutie marks and sneak around behind our backs discussing this with strangers? Just as a sign that both of your interests are pure."

Fluttershy gluped in nervousness as both she and Sonic noticed Party Favor, Sugar Belle, and Night Glider in the crowd, said ponies appearing to be very nervous.

'Aw crud, I should of known she'd question how we found out about the vault in the first place.' Sonic thought to himself as Starlight glared at both him and Fluttershy suspiciously, 'If we don't say something fast, we'll just be tossed back inside that house with the others!'

Luckily, that's when Party Favor announced, "It was me! But I only wanted it back for a while!"

"Is this true?" Starlight asked Sonic and Fluttershy for clarification.

Although he was hesitant, Sonic replied, "Yes, it was Party Favor. He told us how much he desperately wanted his cutie mark back."

"For shame." Starlight said as she shook her head in disappointment, "And you didn't even think of the pain you would have caused your friends. Such selfishness."

"I'm so sorry, everypony!" Party Favor apologized as he was pushed toward the equalization house, forced inside by Starlight for his shameful act. "I never intended on leaving the village! I love all of-!"

Before he could finish, Starlight slammed the door, making Sonic shoot a short glare at her when no one was looking.

"Ok, everyone, apparently that's all the new friends we'll be having today!" Starlight announced, "Maybe tomorrow we'll have more!" 

With that said, the townsponies dispersed and went about their daily lives while Sonic and Fluttershy followed Starlight. 

"Until your cottage is built, all new friends will stay with me." Starlight told the duo, "We'll get you two settled and then you'll enjoy everything our village has to offer. And whenever possible, I'll talk to you about when we could start spreading our philosophy to the rest of Equestria, Prince Sonic."

"Just call me Sonic, and that sounds like a plan." Sonic replied with a fake smile while thinking to himself, 'As if! There's no way I'd ever do that!'





Its now the middle of the night, and we now find both Sonic and Fluttershy making their way out of Starlight's home through the chimney. Fluttershy was the first to pop her head out first, coughing up soot after doing so.

"Ok, so far...so good." Fluttershy said through coughs as she shook off black ash that clung to her mane and fur, "Just...gotta get...the cutie marks...in the middle of the night."

Fluttershy then let out a yelp as Sonic pushed her out of the chimney, coughing up soot once he stuck his head out.

"Ugh, if it weren't for the fact that someone could see the flash, I would of used chaos control to teleport us out." Sonic mumbled to himself before shaking the black ash off his quills and fur.

"D-Did we really need to get out in the d-dark?" Fluttershy asked in a nervous tone.

"It's the only time we could go to the vault without anyone noticing us." Sonic replied, "If it weren't for the fact that my headaches would slow us down, I would of teleported us strait to the vault."

Sonic then took a quick look of his surroundings before spotting the mountain that contains the vault.

"Alright, here's what we'll do." Sonic said, "We'll quietly make our way out of the town and into the vault, avoiding anyone and anything we come across. Once there, we'll grab everyone's cutie marks and my symbol before I use chaos control to teleport us back to-"

Before Sonic could finish, the duo heard hoofsteps coming from the ground. Turning towards the source, they saw Double Diamond making his way from the mountain while pulling a wagon full of seven jars, each having something glowing inside, moving towards Starlight's home.

"Get down!" Sonic whispered before crouching low, with Fluttershy doing the same a second later.

Quietly making their way to the edge of the roof, the duo peered down, seeing Starlight waiting for Double Diamond at her front door. The duo had to hold in a gasp upon realizing the jars Double Diamond carried had the mane six's cutie marks along with Sonic's symbol.

"Excellent work, Double Diamond." Starlight said.

"Of course, Starlight, but I don't understand why you wanted me to bring these." Double Diamond said as Starlight levitated the jars out of the cart and brought them inside. 

Once the two ponies were inside, Sonic quietly jumped off the roof and moved beside a window, peeking inside while keeping himself hidden from their view.

"Sonic and Fluttershy are one of us now, surely they can be trusted." Double Diamond said as Starlight placed the jars down.

"These two cutie marks belong to two members of royalty in Equestria," Starlight explained as she levitated Twilight's and Sonic's marks, "These are very important to our cause, Double Diamond."

"But if Twilight Sparkle and the others becomes our friend, why do you care about bringing it here along with Sonic's?" Double Diamond asked.

"I just want to keep them close until everything is...settled." Starlight said, "You may go, Double Diamond."

Nodding, Double Diamond exited Starlight's home before closing the door behind himself, unaware of Sonic and Fluttershy's presence.

Once they were sure they were alone, Sonic let out a sigh.

"So much for that plan." Sonic said in a upset tone.

"How are we going to get the cutie marks back now?" Fluttershy asked with a concerned tone.

"It won't be easy, but if we can figure out where Starlight is keeping them, we should be able to-" Sonic said before being interrupted by the sound of water falling on the second floor, followed by the sound of Starlight grunting and groaning in annoyance.

"Urgh, Starlight, you clumsy foal!" Starlight said in a annoyed tone.

Curious about what happened, Sonic gestured towards the window above them.

Nodding, Fluttershy picked him up before flying to the window, making sure to stay low enough that Starlight won't see them.

Peering inside, the duo saw that Starlight had accidentally dropped a bucket of water on her back.

Setting the jars she had in her magical grasp down, Starlight grabbed a nearby towel before drying herself.

When she finished, Sonic and Fluttershy had to hold in their gasps when they saw that Starlight's gray equal sign cutie mark was gone.

In it's place was a eight pointed purple star, the four points in the corners being white, while two wisps of blue and aquamarine trails curled toward the star.

Unaware that she was being watched, Starlight proceeded to mask her real cutie mark with makeup powder that matched her coat perfectly. She then brushed gray-black powder over a stencil of an equal mark.

Unable to hold it in any longer, Fluttershy gasped in shock. Starlight appeared to have heard it as she suddenly stopped what she was doing.

'Uh oh!' Sonic mentally yelled when he saw this.

Acting fast, Sonic grabbed himself and Fluttershy in his magical grasp and moved himself and Fluttershy to the side of the building at blinding speeds before settling on the roof.

After ensuring they were in the clear, Sonic released his magical grasp, only to grasp his head in pain after doing so, his body releasing a gray pulse at the same time.

"Sonic!" Fluttershy quietly exclaimed, ,"Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine." Sonic assured, the headache and the pulsing suddenly stopping not long after, "Although I probably should of had a emerald with me just to be safe. But that's besides the point. Starlight still has her cutie mark!"

"It certainly wasn't something I wasn't expecting." Fluttershy said, "Why would a pony who wants everyone to be the same and give up their cutie marks, still have her's?"

"Whatever her reason is, we known truth." Sonic said, "And we're going to expose her for the hypocrite she is!"

"How do we do that?" Fluttershy asked.

"It'll take a little work, but if we..." Sonic said before explaining his plan to Fluttershy.





The morning soon came yet again as Sonic, Fluttershy, Starlight and the townsponies watched the rest of the mane six exit the home they were locked in.

"I've got a good feeling about today!" Starlight exclaimed as she approached the group, "So, do any of you have anything you'd like to say?"

As Starlight waited for a response, Sonic and Fluttershy could tell that the group was annoyed due to having to listen to the recording over and over.

"Aw, pity." Starlight said once she saw that no progress was made, "Well, let's try this again tomorrow, shall we? No new friends today, I'm afraid!"

As the group made their way back inside, Sonic spoke up.

"Actually Starlight." Sonic said before asking, "Would it be okay if me and Fluttershy locked them in?"

"Of course you can Sonic." Starlight said, "That's the spirit!

Having been given permission, Sonic and Fluttershy approached the group.

As this happened, Starlight called out, "Party Favor, will you join us please?"

Almost as soon as he was given permission, Party Favor ran out of the house before groveling at Starlight's hooves. 

"I'm sorry, Starlight!" Party Favor exclaimed, "I'm sorry, everypony! I've seen the error of my ways!"

"Well, it looks like there is a cause for celebration today after all!" Starlight announced to everyone, making the townsponies cheer.

While Party Favor continued exclaiming how wrong he was, Sonic and the mane six talked in the house.

"So what happened?" Twilight asked.

"Starlight has our cutie marks hidden somewhere in her room." Sonic said. "We barely got out of the house through the chimney before we saw Double Diamond come back with them in jars."

"Well that's perfect!" Rainbow Dash sarcastically said, "Now they're somewhere harder to reach!"

"Luckily there is some good news." Fluttershy said, getting the group's attention. 

"Starlight's gray equal cutie mark, it's fake!" Sonic revealed, shocking the group, "Turns out she's hiding her real one in under some makeup."

"Then that means the townsponies really do need help." Twilight said, "Starlight is stealing other's cutie marks while also lying about it!"

"Luckily, I already have a plan to expose her." Sonic said with a smirk, "But I'm gonna need you to distrack Starlight for a moment. To make this plan work, Starlight can't be allowed to focus on me."

Understanding, Twilight nodded her head before she, Sonic, and Fluttershy exited the house.

"Hey Starlight." Sonic called out, getting everyone's attention, "I think we might have one more friend joining us after all."

Shoving Party Favor aside, Starlight approached the trio while holding in her inner excitement. 

"Is this true?" Starlight asked Twilight. 

"I-I think so."Twilight replied before asking, "But I just want to be sure. If I agree to leave my cutie mark in the vault, I'll really be happier?"

"Just look around!" Starlight exclaimed, gesturing towards the townsponies' smiles, "Equality has given us more happiness than you've ever known!"

As Starlight spoke, Sonic moved his right hand to his back before summoning a chaos emerald, the flash being somewhat noticeable if someone were looking at him. He then activated his magic, the glow also being noticeable if anyone looked his way.

"And you wouldn't let me just live here in the village with my old cutie mark?" Twilight asked.

"Out of the question." Starlight said, "A pony with a different cutie mark in our midst would destroy our entire philosophy. We are all equal here!"

After the townsponies spoke their agreements, Sonic spoke up, "If that's the case, then how do you explain this!"

In one quick motion, Sonic moved his hand from behind his back and pointed it toward Starlight, causing several nearby buckets that he had hidden above the house to splash Starlight with the water they had contained. 

Starlight grunted in annoyance before exclaiming, "I should of known you couldn't be trusted!"

Blinded by her anger, Starlight didn't notice that the makeup covering her cutie mark was washed off, something the townsponies did notice, making them gasp in shock.

"Starlight, how could you?!" Party Favor exclaimed in shock.

Wondering what he was talking about, Starlight turned around, only to see that her real cutie mark was exposed. 

"Uh, it's not what it looks like!" Starlight nervously exclaimed as she tried to hide her cutie mark with her tail.

"Really?" Sonic sarcastically asked, "Because I think we all know what it looks like."

"You said cutie marks were evil!" Double Diamond exclaimed in disbelief, "You said special talents led to pain and heartache!"

"T-They do!" Starlight tried to argue.

"Then why?" Sugar Belle asked, "Why did you take ours and not give up your own?"

Unable to hide her secret any longer Starlight exclaimed, "Because I had to, you fools! How else was I supposed to take your cutie marks without my magic!?"

"But the staff has all the magic we need!" Night Glider exclaimed.

"The staff is a piece of wood I found in the desert!" Starlight exclaimed angrily, "It's my magic that makes all this possible! You'd all still be living your miserable lives thinking you're better than everypony else if it weren't for my magical abilities! I brought you friendship! I brought you equality! I created harmony!"

"By stealing the talents of others?" Sonic asked rhetorically, "True harmony should be created despite how different others can be from each other. But seeing how you had to lie to others to get your way, I doubt you knew that."

"So what!?" Starlight countered, "Everything else I said is true! The world would be better if all of us were equal!"

"Except for you." Party Favor said angrily. 

Hearing this made Starlight growl in rage.

"Everypony has unique talents and gifts." Twilight said, "And when we share them with each other, that's how rea-"

Unable to hold back her rage any longer, Starlight interrupted Twilight by angrily yelling, "QUIET!!!"

Having had enough, the townsponies began to surround Starlight.

"You can't have a cutie mark, Starlight!" Sugar Belle exclaimed, "Either we're all equal, or none of us are!"

Having no other option, Starlight created a barrier to pushed the townsponies away. Once she had an opening, she quickly turned the barrier off before rushing to her house, slamming the door shut once she was inside.

"Come on, everypony! Let's get our cutie marks back!" Double Diamond cheered.

Voicing their agreements,  the townsponies followed Double Diamond up to the cutie mark vault, eager to get their cutie marks back.

Glad to see that the townsponies no longer follow Starlight, Sonic turned to the mane six and said in a determined tone, "Come on girls, let's get our cutie marks back as well."

Not needing to be told twice, the group quickly quickly made their way to Starlight's house.

Once they reached the home, they found that the door along with the windows were locked.

Getting an idea, Sonic took a few steps back before using the chaos emerald to charge himself with some of its energy. Once he felt like he had enough, he charged towards the door, managing to knock it open once he made contact.

"Good work Sonic." Twilight said.

"Don't mention it." Sonic replied before grunting as his body pulsed with a gray aura once again, "Just, give me moment."

Once Sonic recovered, the group began to search the house. Making sure to check every nook and cranny. Luckily some of the townsponies returned to help with the search.

After searching for a bit, the group made their way to Starlight's room, only to see that her bed was overturned, revealing a secret passage way.

"Should of known that Starlight would have an escape route should she find herself cornered." Sonic said before everyone made their into the dim passage way.

After making their way through for a while, everyone exited the tunnel and found themselves on the outskirts of Our Town that led to a snowy mountain. 

Deciding to get a better look, Party Favor pulled out several balloons he had kept on him before blowing into them, making a multicolored pair of rubber binoculars. 

"She's heading for the pass!" Party Favor exclaimed. "If she makes it past those mountains, we'll never be able to find her!"

Deciding to look for himself, Sonic took the balloon binoculars and looked through them, and was surprised that they actually worked. He saw that Starlight was running in a trail while pulling a cart that contained the jarred cutie marks. 

"We need to get her now!" Sugar Belle said, "That mountain has a whole network of caves! We'll lose her in there, and your cutie marks are gone forever!"

"Then we better get moving." Sonic exclaimed, "I go on ahead, try to catch up as quickly as you can."

Without another word, Sonic grabbed himself in his magical grasp before flying into the mountain at breakneck speeds.

After a moment, Sonic was able to catch up to Starlight before landing in front of her, making the escaping mare stop in her tracks.

"Give it up Starlight!" Sonic demanded, "Your plans are ruined and you'll soon be outnumbered. Just make it easy for everyone and give back the cutie marks!"

"You're not exactly in the position to make demands, Sonic!" Starlight said, "You're weakened, meaning you pose little to no threat to me!"

To prove her point, Starlight fired a small beam of magic at Sonic, which the hedgehog was barely able to dodge.

However, as Sonic dodged, he tripped before falling down, with the chaos emerald falling out of his grasp, before falling of the mountain. 

"The emerald!" Sonic exclaimed.

Seeing, an opportunity, Starlight ran past Sonic, hoping to escape his sight.

Although he knew it would be bad on his body, Sonic stuck his hand out towards Starlight and activated his magic, grabbing cart and stopping Starlight in her tracks once again. 

Letting out an annoyed growl, Starlight shot more beams of magic at Sonic, which he was barely able to dodge yet again.

While Starlight was distracted, Sonic levitated the jar that had his symbol in it and slowly moved it toward himself. 

Unfortunately, Starlight quickly saw this and grabbed the jar with her magic, (her magical aura surrounding Sonic's) pulling the jar back towards herself. 

Releasing the cart and putting all his focus on the jar, Sonic was able to tug the jar back.

With the both unwilling to let go, this resulted in a magical tug of war.

As this happened, Party Favor, Double Diamond, Sugar Belle, and Night Glider arrived saw what was happening. 

While they wanted to help, they felt they would interfere and unintentionally give Starlight the edge she needs.

Back to the magical tug of war match, Sonic was actually starting to gain the upper hand, but let out a grunt as his body began pulsing again, making his magic weaker by giving him a headache. 

Seeing this, Starlight began to put more focus on her magic, slowly moving the jar to herself. 

Despite the pain he was in, Sonic put more focus on his magic as well, worsening the pain, but stopping the jar at least.

Sweat began to form on Sonic's face as he began to lose ground despite his best efforts. 

Unable to tolerate it any longer, Sonic cleantched his eyes shut and let out a scream before turning his hand into a fist.

As a result of this, the jar was crushed in Sonic's magical grip, breaking both his and Starlight's focus.

With Sonic's symbol now free, it quickly made it's way towards the hedgehog coming into contact with his chest. 

As soon as it did, Sonic felt his strength return to him as the colors of his body returned to normal.

Faster than Starlight could react, Sonic sped towards the cart before smashing it and the jars it held into pieces with a spindash. 

Now free, the remaining cutie marks flew away in order to reunite with the mane six.

Seeing that her advantage was gone, Starlight tried to run away, but Sonic quickly grabbed her with his magic, summoning the chaos emerald that fell down the mountain at the same time.

"It's over." Sonic said. 

Not long afterwards, the mane six arrived. 

"Alright Sonic!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

"We knew you can do it Sonic." Twilight said

"With how much was at steak, there's no way I'd let you guys down." Sonic said. 

"Woo hoo, let's celebrate!" Pinkie exclaimed as blew into a party horn.

Unfortunately, this ended up startling Sonic, unintentionally making him loose focus on his magic and letting Starlight go.

Now free, Starlight show a beam of magic at the ground, creating a dust cloud. 

Once the dust settled, everyone found that Starlight was gone.

"See got away." Twilight said.

"Oops, sorry." Pinkie said in a nervous tone.

Although a bit upset, Sonic said, "It's fine Pinkie, no point in worrying about it now."

"I hope Starlight at least thinks over what she had done." Twilight said before looking back at Party Favor, Double Diamond, Night Glider, and Sugar Belle, "One day, she'll realize what she did was wrong and was taught something by you four."

"It's you who have taught us something." Party Favor said, "We all came to this village because we were searching for something missing from our lives. We thought Starlight had given it to us, but now... now it seems it was in front of us all along. It's us!"

"Does that mean you'll stay in the village?" Twilight asked.

"It's our home." Night Glider responded, "I'm not going anywhere."

"This is a chance for all of us to get to know each other again for the very first time!" Double Diamond said.

"And I finally have a chance to bake something besides terrible muffins!" Sugar Belle exclaimed happily, making everyone laugh.





Some time after the group returned to Our Town, all the townsponies were celebrating, making friends with each other without being one and the same. Instead of forcefully being happy, they were all truly happy.

"Now those are real smiles." Pinkie said with a smile of her own.

The group then flinched as they all felt that strange feeling back in the castle came back when the map appeared. Looking down at their cutie marks, (in Sonic's case, he looked down at himself) they began glowing again, all of them still unsure what the sudden glowing was all about both then and now.

"I'll never get used to that." Applejack said.

"I think it's divine." Rarity said.

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

"I have a feeling it means our work here is done." Sonic said before he the mane six made their way out of town.

"I guess you were right, Twilight." Applejack said, "The map did have a reason for sendin' us here. We brought real friendship to these ponies. Guess that's why you're the Princess of Friendship."

"But the map didn't send me." Twilight replied, "It sent us. You're a part of me, all of you. And there's no doubt you're a part of my mission to spread friendship too."

"If that's the case, then what do you say we all try our best the next time the map sends us somewhere?" Sonic asked, with the mane six voicing their agreements. 

"This sounds like the ending of a chapter!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed, "It doesn't have to be an ending yet, right? Because I want to taste Sugar Belle's real baking goods.

Hearing about Sugar Belle's pastries made the group's stomachs growl, which was understandable seeing how the only thing they've eaten ever since arriving to Our Town was the terrible muffins Sugar Belle used to make.

"...Maybe we can stay a little while longer." Twilight said sheepishly, making everyone laugh yet again before they made their way back into Our Town.