Ponyville...
Considering what happened recently, the little town quickly returned to its normal and peaceful state. Only a few days have passed after Tirek's attack on Equestria but it didn't take long until all ponies recovered from his attempt to steal their magic. Some damage needed to be fixed, some things had to be repaired but it was nothing that the ponies of Equestria couldn't handle.
The ponies in Ponyville, however, had to deal with a completely different thing. A giant crystal castle was standing right in the middle of the town among them where the Golden Oak Library used to be. Tirek destroyed it while he came to look for Twilight's magic but the Tree of Harmony, which was used to defeat him in the end, transformed into this new castle. It was really standing out between all the regular looking houses next to it. Still, they had a princess, who lived among them. It only fits that she would reside in a castle just like all other princesses in Equestria so it made sense.
But that doesn't mean that there were some complications that came along with this castle...
Star Twinkle was walking around in the castle, looking left and right as he made his way through the hallways. The stallion opened a door and looked inside the room. "Nope..." he said before he closed the door again and walked to the next door in his way. He opened it. "Nope..." he said before closing the door again. The stallion let out a sigh. "Looks like I'm gonna be late for the meeting,"
"Star Twinkle!" Twilight then shouted from afar, causing the stallion to shift his attention towards her. "There you are," she said.
"Sorry," Star Twinkle apologized. "I was on my way but I...got a little lost in this castle,"
Twilight chuckled before she looked up. "Yeah, I know. This castle is pretty big after all," she admitted as she looked at the huge walls all around her. "Let's go, the others are waiting," she said before she led the way.
"Right," Star Twinkle replied relieved before he followed Twilight so that he could finally meet up with the rest of his friends. But after a few steps, Twilight stopped and looked around confused. "What's wrong?" Star Twinkle asked.
"I...err..." Twilight started while she moved her head back and forth from one door to another. "I kinda...forgot where I came from..." she admitted nervously.
"What do you mean you forgot!?" Star Twinkle asked frustrated.
Twilight smiled nervously and released an awkward chuckle. "Well, as you said...this castle is pretty...big..."
The awkwardness could be felt between them after they found themselves in this situation. "Great..." Star Twinkle replied with an annoyed expression on his face.
Meanwhile...
In the room where Star Twinkle and Twilight were supposed to be right now, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike already waited for them. Some of them were getting a little bored in the process.
"You think they will arrive anytime soon?" Rainbow Dash said annoyed.
"Maybe Star Twinkle doesn't want to come?" Applejack guessed.
Fluttershy disagreed. "Why wouldn't he want to come?" She asked confused.
"Well," Rarity began. "Didn't you notice how upset he looked once he saw that there was no seat for him? He probably feels left out," she said with a concerned look on her face just thinking about it.
"No kidding," Rainbow Dash agreed. "I mean, even Spike has a seat," she pointed out.
Needless to say, Spike got a little bothered by that statement. "Hey!" He just replied annoyed.
With everyone feeling a little concerned about Star Twinkle, Pinkie Pie was the only one who was her usual bubbly self. "I know I would feel left out!" She said casually while she bounced around the room. "I mean, he wasn't there when we defeated Tirek, then his friend Summershine showed up and left again before Star Twinkle could ask him some more questions...oh! And then there was the time when his Element of Harmony shattered back then when we first came across the Tree of Harmony! And now he doesn't have one of those fancy seats like us! If that isn't a reason to feel left out then I don't know what is!"
Having said all of that, Pinkie Pie got some glares from her friends.
Pinkie Pie knew what they were trying to tell her. "Okay, got it! Don't bring all of this up to make him feel upset!" She said accompanied by a salute.
Then suddenly, a flash of light appeared in the middle of the room and Star Twinkle and Twilight appeared. "Ha! You see?" Twilight said victoriously. "I knew we would appear here eventually,"
"Yeah, after teleporting all over the place," Star Twinkle said annoyed. "I don't know about you but I still prefer walking instead of teleporting..." he added while he held his head for a moment.
With all the friends finally being present, the meeting could finally start. Everypony approached the center of the room where the seven seats were at. All of the seats were forming a circle with the exception of one smaller one that was right next to Twilight's. It could be easily distinguished which seat belonged to whom because they had each of the girl's Cutie Marks on them. The smaller one belonged to Spike since there was no Cutie Mark on it. Given the size and that it was right next to Twilight's seat. Star Twinkle couldn't help but feel left out because he is the only one in the room who didn't get a seat but he tried his best to focus on what Twilight said.
"Let's go through this one more time," the Alicorn announced.
Rainbow Dash sighed. "We've been over it like a million times, Twilight! We found all six keys, defeated Tirek, and got this sweet castle! End of story!" She pointed out before she sat down on her seat.
"Yes, but why?" Twilight asked. As expected, she wanted to know the reason why the Tree of Harmony transformed into this castle.
"I dunno, sugarcube." Applejack replied. "Maybe it's just your new house and there ain't nothin' more to it than that," she guessed before she also sat down on her seat.
"I must say, speaking strictly on aesthetics, there really doesn't need to be more to it. It's all simply divine!" Rarity said before she also sat down in her seat. Of course, she was all positive about a castle like this, no matter where it came from.
"I agree with Twilight," Fluttershy said. "And Rarity. And Applejack. And Rainbow Dash. And Pinkie Pie, and Spike, and Star Twinkle," she added, trying not to get on anyone's bad side. She was also sitting down in her seat.
Pinkie Pie and Spike didn't comment on this issue and also sat down in their respective seats, leaving only Star Twinkle without a seat. "I...just go and sit here...on the ground...because no seat and all," he mumbled to himself, making sure that nopony would hear him at this moment.
As usual, Twilight wanted answers. Star Twinkle was wondering about this castle as well but she was straight out bothered because of it appearing out of nowhere. "As princess, I've been chosen to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria. So why would the Tree of Harmony want us to sit in a castle in Ponyville? It doesn't make any sense," she said before she eventually sat down on her seat as well.
Then something happened...
The seats, where the girls were sitting in, began to glow and shot out some magic beams towards the center, catching everypony by surprise. When the beams met at the center, something started to appear. A big round table made out of crystal, showing some kind of holographic map of Equestria.
Needless to say, they were all quite surprised.
"That is new," Spike said in awe. "I like it!"
"Well, now I want to know what is going on with this castle too," Star Twinkle commented after seeing what just happened in front of him.
Spike was walking on the table and took a good look at all the locations on the map. "This is incredible! It's got all of Equestria!" He said fascinated.
Pinkie Pie quickly found the rock farm where she used to grow up. "Hi, Mom and Dad!" She said happily before she saw how Spike was stomping on the farm while wandering around the map, leaving her with a sad face.
But things didn't seem to be done yet. The Cutie Marks of the girls were starting to glow and started to appear on the table as well. The started to gather at one spot, Ponyville, and the flew over to another spot on the map. Star Twinkle looked at his flank in the hope that the same thing would happen to him but there was nothing. He even tipped on his flank as if he wanted to make it work but nothing happened and the stallion frowned.
Fluttershy quickly noticed something off about the map. "But if this is Ponyville, why are our cutie marks over there?"
"I don't know," Twilight replied confused. "But it seems like the map wants us to find out. The Tree, the chest, this castle, and now the map. How can we not follow it?" She demanded.
Rainbow Dash took a good look at the place and then got really excited. "Y'know what? There's a ton of room for dangerous adventure along that route. Count me in!"
"Aw, shoot, I reckon you're right," Applejack figured.
Pinkie Pie didn't need too much convincing. "Well, I was planning on organizing my baking sheets, but okay!"
Rarity just let out a sigh before she agreed too. "Very well,"
But Fluttershy was another story, she didn't say anything on her own and Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie needed to look at her as if they expected her to come along. "Um, maybe I'll just stay here with Spike," she said. Of course, she was too afraid to go to some unknown place in the middle of Equestria.
"Awesome!" Spike said after he heard that. "Me and Big Mac have a huge weekend ahead of us talkin' hoofball, and... and trading hoofball cards, and arguing about hoofball stats..."
Fluttershy instantly regretted her words. "O-o-on second thought, m-m-maybe I'd better go with them. In case they need me," she then corrected, agreeing to go as well now.
Being happy to hear that, Twilight was ready to go with her friends to this unknown place. "Looks like it's time for a road trip," she announced before she led the way outside of the room with everypony following her.
Except for one pony...
"You girls have fun then," Star Twinkle said with a slight frown on his face.
Twilight turned around in surprise "What? You're not coming with us?" She asked confused.
Star Twinkle pointed towards the spot where the girls were heading to. "My Cutie Mark is not on there so why would I? Looks like the map thinks it would be best that I stay here," he figured.
It was true that Star Twinkle's Cutie Mark wasn't on the map, and normally the stallion would be happy that he isn't forced to go somewhere dangerous but after his Element of Harmony shattered, and the girls managed to defeat Tirek and create this castle with the help from the Tree of Harmony, he slowly felt like he didn't belong in this group, something that he didn't feel like for a while now. He told himself over and over again that he didn't want to think like this again but looking back at all those things made it really hard not to.
The girls looked at each other. They could tell that Star Twinkle was not too happy about this. Pinkie Pie tried to see the positive thing about that. "Well, just think about how many cupcakes you can eat while we are gone!" She suggested while bouncing up and down on the spot.
But that didn't help Star Twinkle to cheer up. Eventually, Twilight just walked up to him and grabbed his shoulder. "I'm sure it can't hurt if you still come with us," she said in a caring voice.
"But..." Star Twinkle said, appreciating the thought. "The map didn't-"
"We still don't know anything about this map," Applejack interrupted.
"Exactly!" Rarity agreed. "We just happen to travel to this location,"
"Yep!" Pinkie Pie said happily after she caught on to what her friends were doing. "And even if it did, I'm sure the map will understand if we want to bring a friend along,"
Star Twinkle smiled. He knew they were saying all of this just to find a reason to take him along. And the stallion was happy about that. "Thanks," Star Twinkle replied in his gratitude.
Spike was probably the only one who was a little upset about this outcome. "Well, suit yourself. Guess, Big Mac's Hock Fetlock rookie card is gonna find it's way into these little claws after I sweet-talked him a bit,"
As much fun as that sounded, Star Twinkle was still happier to be able to go with his friends. He started to convince himself that, if his Cutie Mark isn't on the map, then he had no reason to listen to it anyway. The map didn't show his Cutie Mark on this random spot in Equestria but he didn't plan to be the only one to be left out. No matter how many things would happen, that told him that he didn't belong, like a shattered Element of Harmony, a magic chest that didn't need a key from him, or a map that didn't show his Cutie Mark, the stallion planned on staying with his friends, no matter what.
Later...
Going by the Friendship Express was the fastest way to reach the spot that was marked on the map. There was also some walking after that but in the end, it didn't take too long until the group reached their destination.
And what a destination it was. A small little town, in the middle of a pale looking wasteland, hidden behind some mountains.
"That's it! That's the place on the map!" Twilight confirmed after she spotted the little town a little further away from the foot of the mountain.
"Right," Rarity said while she swept off some dust from her mane. "Let's get down there and find the spa," she added before she walked forward only to be stopped by Twilight who teleported herself right in front of her.
"Wait. We don't know why the map sent us here. We shouldn't just walk right in. It could be dangerous," she advised cautiously.
"Yes!" Rainbow Dash said excitedly with a grin on her face. She desperately wanted something to happen after all.
Star Twinkle was not looking forward to the "dangerous" part for this trip so he agreed with Twilight to proceed with caution.
It was eventually Pinkie Pie who took it upon herself to lead the group towards the town. "Stay behind me, everypony! I'm on it!" She said before she slid down the cliff and dashed from one boulder to another, hiding behind them, in her usual silly fashion. She even went so far hiding beneath one boulder.
The rest of the group slowly followed the mare until they eventually came really close to the town and could take a good look at it. Houses, all lined up in two straight lines, all of them looked the same, beige-colored walls and light brown roofs and one house at the very end at the end of the road. The citizens of the town looked normal and not dangerous at all.
"Um...what exactly are we hiding from?" Star Twinkle then asked after he took a good look at the town, causing some of the girls to shake their shoulders confused.
"This is where the map sent us? It looks like the most boring place in Equestria," Rainbow Dash complained.
"It's just an ordinary village full of ordinary pony folk," Applejack pointed out.
"It could certainly use a few more architectural flourishes. Or any architectural flourishes," Rarity said. She obviously was referring to the lack of color in this town.
Fluttershy seemed to be the only one who liked this place. "I think it's lovely," she shared with the group.
"Well, lovely is not what I would describe this place," Star Twinkle said. "But I mean, the ponies in this town look happy, right?" He said after he realized that every single pony in this town had a big grin on its face.
But out of all the ponies in Equestria, Pinkie Pie was the one who was not happy about that. "I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. I know smiles. And those smiles? They're just not right," she said with a serious expression on her face.
"Forget the smiles," Twilight then said. "Look at the cutie marks,"
It was only now that Star Twinkle noticed that every pony had the same exact Cutie Mark on their flanks. A gray equal sign. Star Twinkle had to admit that he didn't notice that at first but once he did, he began to get cautious, just like the rest of his friends.
"Okay, that's weird," Rainbow Dash had to admit.
The group was hiding behind the boulder again to discuss the situation. Twilight was asking the most important question right away. "An entire village with the same cutie mark? How can that be?"
Star Twinkle threw out the first thing that came to his mind. "Maybe they all have the same special talent?"
That answer was greeted with doubtful faces. "And what special talent would that be?" Applejack asked, trying to bite into this idea for a single second.
"Solving mathematics?" Star Twinkle guessed. He had to admit that he wasn't believing this explanation as well. It was just the best he could come up with at the moment.
In the meantime, Rainbow Dash was piecing together her own explanation for all of this. "I bet there's some sort of horrific monster behind it,"
"What makes you say that?" Twilight asked.
"'Cause fighting a horrific monster would be super-awesome!" Rainbow Dash replied, getting excited just by the thought of that.
"I reckon we just ought to head into town and talk to some locals, find out what's goin' on," Applejack then suggested.
"Great idea, AJ. Let's go!" Rainbow Dash said. She still was convinced that her theory was right and got really excited because of that.
It was really the only thing that the group could do. So far, no matter how weird all the ponies looked with their equal sign Cutie Marks, they didn't look dangerous or evil. Talking with them would be the only option.
The group walked inside the town with only Pinkie Pie staying behind a little bit. "Those smiles are bad news," she said with a serious expression on her face before she walked behind her friends.
As the group walked inside the town, every pair of eyes was focused on them instantly.
"Welcome!" One pony greeted.
Which was followed by another one...and another one...and another one...and another one...Literally, every single one of them was greeting the group with a welcome.
"This is starting to creep me out..." Star Twinkle thought while he looked back at the ponies who all greeted him. Once he turned his head forwards again, another pony stood right in front of him, making the stallion jump. "Ah!"
"Welcome!" The pony greeted him.
"Yes! Thank you!" Star Twinkle replied nervously before he walked past it. The green pony could still feel the eyes of the pony staring at him.
Unlike him, or the rest of his friends however, Fluttershy seemed to be the only one who enjoyed all of this. "This must be the most pleasant place in Equestria!" She said before she was greeted by another pony, causing her to giggle in response.
"Ugh. Thanks a lot, map," Rainbow Dash said annoyed. No matter how weird those ponies might act, there was no sign of something evil or dangerous, which is exactly what the mare was looking forward to.
As the group walked through town, two ponies decided to "officially" welcome them. One of them was a Unicorn with a light cyanish gray colored coat, a grayish azure-colored mane, and light cobalt blue colored eyes. The other one was an Earth Pony with a white coat, a white mane, and also light cobalt blue eyes. And of course, both of them had the same Cutie Mark like the rest of the town, a gray equal sign.
"Welcome!" The Unicorn greeted of course before he took a closer look at Twilight. "Pardon my forwardness, but are you an Alicorn?" He asked curiously.
Twilight found herself grinning nervously. She maybe didn't know how to react to the behavior of everypony in this town, something that everypony could understand.
Applejack was then the one to explain. "That there's the Princess of Friendship!" She simply said.
"Well, you've certainly come to the right place for friendship," the Unicorn replied while keeping his smile up at all costs.
"What brings you to town?" The white-coated Earth Pony then asked.
Twilight gave a quick and honest answer "We're not entirely sure,"
The Earth Pony didn't seem to mind this answer. "I see. Well, all are welcome here in our little village. My name is Double Diamond, and this is Party Favor," he said while he pointed to the Unicorn next to him.
Applejack took it upon herself to introduce herself and the rest of the group. "Howdy, Double Diamond. I'm Applejack, and this here's Star Twinkle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle,"
Double Diamond walked closer to the group, to the flanks of everypony to be exact. "And you all have your own unique cutie marks," he said in awe, causing some of the girls to hide their flanks under their tails because of Double Diamond's lack of respect for personal space.
"Anyway," Star Twinkle said before he took a step back from the two ponies. "You obviously all seem happy around here but..." he started with some hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Is there maybe some kind of trouble around here?"
Double Diamond seemed surprised to hear that, even though he still had a wide grin on his face. "Trouble? Why, I don't think we've ever had trouble in our little village," he replied.
"It's true. You'll see," Party Favor agreed on.
By now Star Twinkle just had to ask the obvious question. "Any particular reason why you all keep smiling like-"
But Applejack poked the stallion in the sides before he could finish that sentence. She probably thought that this question was a little rude but Star Twinkle could tell that she was also interested to know the answer.
Double Diamond ignored Star Twinkle's question and advised that the group should speak to their founder, Starlight Glimmer. Rainbow Dash instantly figured that this was the name of the evildoer that they had to fight, or at least she kept telling herself that so that this trip would not be a waste of time for her.
Again, everypony had their guard up, except Fluttershy, who was still enjoying her stay in this town. "I wish everypony in Equestria was as friendly as these ponies are," she shared.
"Yeah...friendly..." Star Twinkle thought before he looked back to see a bunch of ponies walking behind him with their grins and eyes glued at him. "Do they have to follow us while looking like that!? It really creeps me out!" the stallion thought before he focused his sight in front of him again.
"I've got my eye on them," Pinkie Pie said with a serious expression on her face. "Something's rotten in... whatever the name of this village is that we're in right now!"
"It's Our Town," Double Diamond said after overhearing Pinkie Pie's words.
"Thank you!" The mare replied happily for a second before her face got serious again in an instant.
As the group was following the two ponies, Twilight was keep looking at the flanks of them. "How can it be that two ponies have the exact same Cutie Mark? Let alone a whole town?" She asked herself.
"Maybe they really do all have the same special talent?" Star Twinkle guessed again.
"The whole town?" Twilight replied while she gave the stallion a look of disbelieve.
"Good point," Star Twinkle admitted.
The two stallions stopped in front of the house at the end of the road, the one that was in the middle. Of course, the one house at the very end would belong to the founder of this town. The stallions both knocked on the door a few times.
"Starlight, we have some new visitors," Double Diamond said before he entered the house together with Party Favor, followed by the rest of the group.
The group entered the house. From the inside, the house looked...normal, almost plain, exactly like how the rest of the town looked like. The ponies here don't seem to be much for decoration or colors in general.
Once inside, everyone waited for this Starlight Glimmer to show up. They could already hear hoof-steps from behind a door at the end of the room. Again, Rainbow Dash figured that danger was about to head straight towards them.
"Be ready to fight. We don't know what's gonna come through that door," she whispered to the others.
But Rainbow Dash's expectations were crushed once a Unicorn mare opened the door with a happy smile on her face. "Welcome! I'm so pleased to have you here," the mare said in a cheerful manner.
The Unicorn mare had a light pink colored coat, a dark purple and light purple colored mane with aquamarine colored streaks in it, and moderate blue eyes. On her flank was the same Cutie Mark that everypony else had in this town.
"You are Starlight Glimmer?" Star Twinkle asked.
The mare nodded. "Yes, I am!" She replied proudly. "Founder and Leader of Our Town!"
Needless to say, Rainbow Dash was not too happy after figuring out who this mare was. Starlight Glimmer didn't look dangerous at all, in fact, she looked like the friendliest pony that they've met so far, which completely eliminated any sign of there being something dangerous in this town.
Double Diamond introduced everypony to the mare. "This is Applejack, Star Twinkle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle,"
Starlight Glimmer walked over to Twilight who was smiling and felt like she was on display for being an Alicorn, something that the pink pony instantly noticed. "Forgive my bluntness, but I'm assuming it's Princess Twilight Sparkle? We don't get many Alicorns around here," she said excited.
"Yes, but "Twilight" is fine," Twilight replied a little awkwardly.
"So! How did you hear of our little village?" Starlight asked.
"It's kind of a long story," Twilight said. "Let's just say we found it on a map," she briefly explained.
"Technically, it's a Tree-chest-castle-map!" Pinkie Pie threw in happily for a second before she had a serious expression on her face again.
Starlight Glimmer didn't bother to ask for details. It would have made things needlessly complicated if she did anyway. "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,"
"Say what?" Applejack replied confused and with a doubting expression on her face.
"True friendship?" Star Twinkle asked confused.
"Oh, indeed," Starlight replied. "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," she explained.
"Is that why you all have those cutie marks?" Twilight asked.
"How did you even end up having all the same Cutie Mark?" Star Twinkle added.
Starlight Glimmer looked over to the stallion before she answered. "Perhaps it would be easier to understand if I gave you a tour of the village!" She said, completely ignoring Star Twinkle's question.
The mare then walked outside with everypony following her. "Heads high ponies! We got visitors! Let us all show them our beautiful town!" She shouted happily across the village.
Like on command, everypony stepped outside their houses and lined up on the road. Every single pony had a big smile on their face as Starlight walked past the line of ponies.
"Everypony here!?" Starlight asked.
"No one left behind!" Another pony replied while giving a salute.
Starlight nodded happily. "As usual,"
Star Twinkle and his friends walked up to Starlight Glimmer. It was astonishing how she and everypony else were so well coordinated. Everypony walked outside without hesitation and all of them kept smiling. If somepony asked Star Twinkle to come out of his house out of nowhere, he surely would have been bothered at least a little.
But things didn't stop there.
"What is our destiny?" Starlight asked.
"To emulate!" Everypony replied in unison.
"What are we?"
"The same!"
"What is the only thing that separates us?"
"Our name!"
It was almost scary how everypony had the same opinion and gave the same answers, almost like they all shared the same mind.
Starlight Glimmer turned towards the seven ponies. "Now, I know what you are all thinking. Why would we all want to be the same?" She asked.
"Yeah, that pretty much was my question," Star Twinkle replied.
"Yes," Twilight agreed. "I mean, being different is...well..."
"Normal?" Starlight Glimmer asked before she just raised her head proudly and explained. "Well. Being the same is much better! No one in this town is looking down on anypony. Nopony is better or worse at anything. This means there is no competition, and everypony wins! Being different means that you will always see things differently than somepony else but since we are all the same, we never argue and always see eye-to-eye. And knowing that puts a smile on each and every single one of us!"
Those words of her were only supported by all the smiles that were on the faces of everypony. Strangely enough, the way how Starlight explained things, it didn't sound too bad, at least for Star Twinkle. He got his Cutie Mark not too long ago and having one still didn't make him feel any different. Given how he likes his life normal and plan, maybe he would not feel too bad in this town.
"Now, what do you say?" Starlight asked. "It's not too late for you all to experience true friendship as well! All you have to do is to give up your Cutie Marks," the mare offered cheerfully with a whole town of smiling ponies behind her. It felt a little bit intimidating.
But Rainbow Dash was not aware of that and just laughed at Starlight Glimmer's offer. "You're kidding, right? Give up our cutie marks? No way!" She replied amused.
"Rainbow Dash, don't be so rude," Fluttershy scolded. "I don't think we should judge them. They all seem perfectly happy with their choice," she figured.
But Pinkie Pie disagreed. "Don't believe their smiles, Fluttershy," she advised something that she should probably think and not speak out, given how the whole town was standing in front of her.
Twilight then answered on behalf of everypony else. "I'm sorry, I guess we're just a little confused by all of this," she said.
Starlight Glimmer was accepting this answer. "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 and seeing them as something unnecessary," she explained.
"Somehow I can relate to that," Star Twinkle thought.
Twilight looked around town. All she could see were happy faces. No problem to deal with, no danger to protect those ponies from, nothing. "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," she figured.
Hearing that however, gave Starlight Glimmer a guess. "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." For some reason, the way how Starlight Glimmer said that it kinda sounded like as if it wasn't up to their choice but maybe Star Twinkle was just imagining this. " Please enjoy our little corner of Equestria. We're all quite fond of it. No doubt you will be as well. Double Diamond, please help our guests with whatever they might need,"
"Of course," the stallion replied happily.
And with that, the group found itself in a town, sent by a map form a magic table, in a magic castle, without any clue what to do here.
Later...
The group was sitting at a table in front of a little restaurant. If they were still trying to figure out what to do, then they may as well grab something to eat. On their way there, they were still greeted by everypony who walked past them, even though, all ponies in town already met them from that performance before.
As they waited for somepony to come out of the restaurant to take their order, Star Twinkle asked the most obvious question. "So, what do we do now?" He was greeted with puzzled looks on his friend's faces.
"I don't know," Twilight replied. "This place is just so strange. A cutie mark is a representation of a pony's unique talents and skills. How is it possible that they decided to get rid of them. And how?" She threw into the group, trying to find the answer.
In the meantime, Rarity was asking herself some different questions. "The only thing I want to know is how they are all fine with this blandness in this town." She was referring to how there was no decoration or any other sign of fashion to be found in all of this town. "It's like those ponies never heard of the word "color" at all,"
Fluttershy was a little disappointed to hear her friends talk like this. "Really, girls! They may do things a bit differently than we're used to, but that's no reason to be rude," she said.
Rainbow Dash had a quick answer ready. "No, the reason to be rude is that they all keep staring at us!" She said before she pointed at literally everypony in town who was looking at them.
Double Diamond was also close by and waved over to the group with a smile on his face, waiting for the group to ask him if they needed something.
"Fluttershy's right," Twilight whispered after feeling a little bit more cautious now. "If we're going to get to the bottom of why the map sent us here, we'll need the help of these ponies,"
"Maybe they don't need help," Star Twinkle said. He got a confused reaction from Twilight so he decided to explain. "I mean they look happy with their decision,"
Pinkie Pie instantly had to disagree. "Don't get fooled by them. Their smiles are-"
"Yes, I know!" Star Twinkle interrupted after getting a little annoyed from Pinkie Pie constantly pointing the obvious out. "What I'm trying to say is that we can't help them if they all think that they are already happy. This map should have given us a list to help us out or something," the stallion said bothered.
"Star Twinkle is right!" Applejack agreed. "We basically ran off to the end of Equestria before we even knew what that map was!" She said annoyed.
"If we were at the end of Equestria, we'd be sitting on a big 'A'!" Pinkie Pie said. She figured that this would be the best opportunity to tell a joke. "Get it?" She added with a smile on her face.
"Oh, please, Miss Pie!" Rarity said annoyed. "This is hardly the time for jokes! We've come all this way and for what?"
"Maybe you're right," Twilight said frustrated. "But we're here now, and it sure feels like something's wrong,"
"That and two bits'll get you a cup of cider," Applejack added.
While the group was talking, they did not notice the mare behind them who wanted to take their order. "Is this a bad time?" The mare asked. She was a Unicorn with a light pink grayish coat, a dark
purple grayish mane and light purple colored eyes.
Since the group was not making the best impression right now, Fluttershy advised everypony to behave. "We shouldn't be bickering like this in front of our new friends. Really, Applejack, you're almost as bad as Rainbow Dash!"
"Don't drag me into this!" Rainbow Dash said annoyed.
The mare was having a good idea of what was happening in front of her. "Is your friendship ending?" She asked casually which caused everypony to get a little surprised for a moment.
"Are you crazy?!" Pinkie Pie replied. "We'd never let a disagreement get in the way of food!" She explained.
The mare didn't seem to fully understand but kept up her smile as best as she could. "O-kay, well, my name is Sugar Belle. What can I bring you? We have: muffins..."
The group expected her to continued but she didn't. "And?" Star Twinkle then asked after the pause got longer and longer.
Sugar Belle looked a little embarrassed for a moment before she focused on smiling again. "That's it," she then continued.
Now the situation became awkward.
"Then I guess we'll take seven muffins!" Twilight said.
"Make that thirteen!" Pinkie Pie shouted after Sugar Belle, who was already walking away to prepare the food. Twilight just looked at the pink pony after she corrected that order. "What? I'm hungry!" She added.
Once Sugar Belle was gone, Twilight focused again. "Come on, you all. We've got to stick together. It doesn't matter what happened before, we're here now," she said.
Everypony admitted that what Twilight said was true. Fighting right now would only make this trip harder on them. "I guess you're right," Applejack said. "And the sooner we figure out why, the sooner we can go home,"
"Yeah..." Star Twinkle added. "If we all put our heads together, then we will find out what to do, as usual,"
In the meantime, Sugar Belle already returned with a plate of muffins that she placed on the table. As one would expect, even the muffins looked plain and colorless, which didn't make them look too appetizing.
Sugar Belle couldn't help but ask what this was all about what the group was talking about a minute ago. "Forgive me for overhearing, but just a moment ago you were disagreeing, and now it sounds like you're... agreeing," she said, causing the group to reply with confused looks as if they didn't know what she tried to ask. "Well, you had such differing opinions – and cutie marks yet you look like you're friends."
To an extent, Star Twinkle could understand what the mare tried to ask. Maybe judging from their little argument before, they looked like they weren't exactly friends but stuff like that happens all the time. The mare just didn't seem to understand that. Twilight even explained that a simple agreement would not be enough to break their friendship.
"I'm sorry, I'm just having a hard time understanding," Sugar Belle admitted. "Different talents lead to different opinions, which lead to bitterness and misery. So... why aren't you bitter and miserable?" She straight out asked.
By now Star Twinkle was lowering his eyebrows in confusion. "Who told you all of that?" He asked confused.
"Well," Sugar Belle started before she got interrupted by Pinkie Pie. The pink mare took the opportunity to taste one of the muffins only to spit it out immediately. They seemed to taste exactly like how they looked like, even if Pinkie Pie tried to smile to not hurt Sugar Belle's feelings. "It's all right. I know I'm not a very good baker. At least, I know I'm not any better than anypony else in the village," she said. Double Diamond seemed to have picked up the last sentence and looked over to the group, causing the Sugar Belle to get a little nervous. "Well, I... hope you enjoy our little village!" She then said nervously before she walked inside the restaurant again but not without quickly telling the group something. "Come inside before you go! Meet me downstairs!" She said hastily before she rushed inside. Needless to say, that behavior got the group a little confused.
"Okay, that was weird too," Rainbow Dash said.
Twilight Sparkle then whispered something to the others while keeping a close look on Double Diamond who was reading a newspaper just at the other side of the street, "Let's all sit here and eat these muffins and act normal. I think we're being watched," she said while she placed a muffin in front of her.
Star Twinkle rolled his eyes. "Whatever gave you that idea?" He said sarcastically while he turned his head around to see literally every pony in town looking at them.
"No, not like that!" Twilight corrected. "I mean somepony here doesn't want us talking to Sugar Belle," she added while hinting at Double Diamond who was enjoying a muffin himself.
Considering how Sugar Belle was keeping a smile up at all times, just like the rest of the town, she did seem as if she wanted to tell the group something that Double Diamond wasn't supposed to hear. It was definitely worth checking out what it was if they wanted to get anywhere in this place.
It didn't take long until Applejack had something in mind already. "I got an idea. But you gotta eat all of them muffins, Pinkie,"
Pinkie Pie's eyes popped open in shock. "Me?! Why me?!"
Star Twinkle looked at her confused. "Come on, Pinkie, they can't be that bad. Don't you eat rocks when you are with your family? We really need to get some more information if we want to get anywhere," he explained.
"And that filly in there might be our best chance at findin' out what the hay is goin' on round here," Applejack added.
Pinkie Pie looked at the plate of muffins in front of her. There were still twelve left and the mare was not looking as if she was looking forward to eating just one of them. But in the end, she got pressured to do it and ate one after another. Just watching her eat them was turning Star Twinkle's stomach around. They really must taste really bad if not even Pinkie Pie liked them.
After a little while, Pinkie Pie did manage to stuff down every single muffin. Her head was turning green because of the bad taste and she looked like she was about to spit them out any second but they were all gone.
Now was the time for the others to take action. "I can't believe you ate all our muffins, Pinkie Pie!" Applejack said loud and clear so that Double Diamond would not miss it. "We'd best go inside and get some more!"
The group then went inside to meet Sugar Belle. Hopefully Double Diamond would not suspect anything. Sugar Belle awaited them inside and told them to follow her down to the basement. The group followed close behind with Pinkie Pie crawling behind them and not feeling too well.
"I've accidentally eaten cardboard tastier than that..." She said with a sick expression on her face.
The seven ponies found themselves in a barely lit basement. "Thank you for coming!" Sugar Belle said happily.
"Why did you want us to come down here?" Twilight asked confused.
"So nopony could see what's about to happen," Sugar Belle said.
Hearing this sent shivers down the backs of the group. It was now that they realized that there were more ponies down there with them. They found themselves surrounded by Party Flavor and another Pegasus mare with a grayish azure-colored coat, a bluish-gray colored mane, and cerulean colored eyes. The three ponies were walking dangerously close to the seven ponies.
It was obvious that they trapped them so Twilight readied her magic to defend herself and her friends but before she could do anything, Party Favor was right in front of her face.
"Are you really the Princess of Friendship?" He asked.
"Do you know Princess Celestia?" The Pegasus mare asked.
Sugar Belle then grabbed Pinkie Pie's flank. "I love your cutie mark!"
"How can you be friends with different cutie marks? Don't you end up hating each other?" The Pegasus mare asked confused.
"Oh, look at this one!" Sugar Belle said after grabbing Fluttershy's flank this time. "This one's great too!"
The three ponies showed more excitement and emotion than all of the town combined so far. It was almost scary and too sudden. This caused Star Twinkle to stop them from talking so much for a moment.
"Okay! What is going on here!?" He exclaimed, causing the three ponies to stop for a moment.
The Pegasus mare explained. "I'm sorry, we just got too excited to see ponies with Cutie Marks after such a long time. I'm Night Glider, by the way," she then introduced herself.
"Yes," Sugar Belle said before she looked over to her own flank. "I'd love to have my special talent back even just for a day! Make something besides those disgusting muffins..."
"So what's stopping you?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Go get your cutie marks back,"
The three ponies were shocked to hear this. "Daydreaming is one thing, but you mean actually having it put back on? That seems extreme," Party Flavor said hesitantly.
"I'm not sure Starlight would like that," Sugar Belle added worriedly. "She wants us all to be happy in our sameness."
Star Twinkle was about to say that Starlight Glimmer was a little bit harsh if she demanded something like that but Twilight was asking a more important question.
"How do you take somepony's cutie mark anyway?"
Night Glider explained. "The cutie unmarking is a beautiful experience! Starlight uses the Staff of Sameness to magically take them away and replace them with these," she said while she and the other two ponies showed off their equal sign Cutie Marks.
"But nopony should keep you from your cutie mark," Twilight said. "It represents such an essential part of who you are,"
"Oh, we're not kept from them," Night Glider replied. "They're 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."
It didn't take long until Twilight saw an opportunity in this. She looked over to her friends who all nodded in agreement before she looked back at the three ponies in front of her.
"Can we visit this cave?"
Later...
Starlight Glimmer agreed on showing the seven ponies this Cutie Mark Vault. She was leading the way to the cave outside of town. It was quite a march and Starlight took her time to explain some things about her town.
"I'm delighted you're interested in our cutie mark vault. We hope someday every pony in Equestria will make a pilgrimage here to our little village to have theirs removed too, and our message of perfectly equal friendship can finally spread across the land,"
The group did their best to not show the mare their true intentions by visiting the vault. Twilight made sure to talk with her friends in a quiet tone. "This must be the reason we're here."
"Pilgrimaging?" Pinkie Pie asked confused.
"No, helping those ponies get their cutie marks back," Twilight said.
"Oh, are you sure, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "Maybe they miss them a little, but even they didn't seem all that unhappy,"
"Then why did they want to meet us in secret? And why did they ask us not to tell Starlight who told us about the vault?" Twilight asked.
"Obviously, Starlight Glimmer doesn't want to give them back their Cutie Marks," Star Twinkle pointed out. "She seems to be in control about everything in town after all," he added.
"Just through here!" Starlight Glimmer said before she stopped in front of a cave and walked inside of it. The group followed her inside and was shocked by what they saw. "Behold! Our cutie mark vault!" Starlight Glimmer announced proudly. There was a giant wall that had images of many Cutie Marks on it. They probably all belonged to the ponies living in the village. Somehow it was just wrong looking at that thing. To imagine that the special talents and destinies of all the ponies in town were on this wall was just something really unbelievable.
Starlight Glimmer walked up in front of the wall and picked up a staff that stuck out from the ground. "And here is the Staff of Sameness. It was one of the great Mage Meadowbrook's nine enchanted items. We are incredibly fortunate to have it here. This is the tool that allows us to free ourselves from our marks!" She said proudly before she turned towards the seven ponies, this time with a more devious looking expression on her face. "I'm curious – how did the subject of the vault come up?" She then asked.
"Oh, some ponies were telling us how much they missed their cutie marks, and—" Pinkie Pie then spat out without thinking, causing everypony to shut her up but unfortunately, it was too late and the damage was already done.
Starlight Glimmer gasped in shock. "Were they? Well, it seems you inspire all sorts of free-thinking, don't you?" She then said angrily while she walked up to the seven ponies with her staff floating next to her.
Rarity laughed nervously. "Well, w-we certainly didn't intend to cause any disruptions to your charming little—" she said trying to diffuse the situation as good as she could but Starlight Glimmer was ignoring that completely.
"Good. Let's just make sure of that, shall we?" Starlight Glimmer said confidentially.
It was then that ponies came walking out of the shadows and approached the group. They were surrounded, and unlike Sugar Belle, Party Favor, and Night Glider, those ponies did not intend to have a friendly talk with them.
"It's a trap!" Twilight exclaimed in shock before she took action and teleported herself up into the air and charged her magic.
However, Starlight Glimmer managed to hit Twilight with a magic beam from her staff and trapped her in place. Twilight groaned in pain, slowly her Cutie Mark was literally ripped off from her flank like a sticker that somepony removed from her body.
Star Twinkle realized that he was paralyzed in shock but quickly got a grip again and charged at Starlight in order to prevent even more damage. But Twilight already dropped down on the ground and Starlight aimed at Star Twinkle, freezing him in place and removing his white star from his flank and letting him drop on his face weakened.
The mare just laughed at the desperate attempt of Star Twinkle and walked past him to aim at the rest of the group, removing their Cutie Marks as well.
Once all the Cutie Marks were removed, they were all placed inside the wall as well. Starlight Glimmer was victorious and the seven ponies failed to help anyone.
"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," she said towards Twilight who was getting up on her hooves again and looked at Starlight angrily. "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!"
The town ponies walked up closer to the group, completely surrounding them. The girls tried to fight back but they all felt heavily weakened and could barely stand straight, let alone defend themselves.
Twilight didn't see Star Twinkle among them but she quickly noticed him behind Starlight, something that wasn't unnoticed by the pink pony.
Star Twinkle got up on his hooves again...barely. He was panting heavily and had a pain-filled expression on his face. The stallion looked over to his friends, who were all weakened by getting their Cutie Marks removed by Starlight Glimmer and replaced by gray equal signs.
Starlight was walking up confidentially to the stallion but then her eyes widened and she took a few steps back again. "What!?" She said in shock.
The stallion was not sure why she reacted like that. He was unaware of one change on his body. He had no equal sign on his flank after his Cutie Mark was removed. He had a different Cutie Mark on his flank.
Six little white stars...
It didn't take long until Star Twinkle got desperate and started to turn into a Unicorn to defend himself and his friends, ready to fight anyone who would come in his path even if he could not take everyone at the same time in this cave.
Seeing the stallion turn into a Unicorn all of the sudden only got Starlight more worried so she waited what Star Twinkle would do next.
But then, things got worse for the stallion...
As soon as he transformed, the transformation went away immediately and he froze due to the lack of strength. Star Twinkle felt even weaker and could barely see anything. His legs started to shake and he collapsed to the ground. "What is happening!? I feel so weak! So...very...weak..."
"Star Twinkle!" Twilight screamed in shock after seeing the stallion in this state.
Starlight Glimmer had a worried expression on her face and stopped pointing her staff at the stallion. She didn't know what was happening now but it was obvious that Star Twinkle was in no condition to go on.
Star Twinkle could see Starlight Glimmer walking up to him but as soon as she was right in front of him, his vision became blurry, and eventually, he could only see black and passed out...
To be continued...