Starlight Glimmer, Snap Shutter, Mane Allgood, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle arrives at the cave. Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood sees what the vault looks like for the first time.
"Wow, that is freaky," Snap Shutter said.
"And, all those cutie marks. They belong to-" Scootaloo cuts her mother off.
"Troublesome ponies that created a lot of trauma to everypony in the village," Scootaloo states.
"Yea. Last week, we caught Booster's dad wandering in the village. According to Booster, his dad would beat him mercilessly for not getting his cutie mark and he'll beat him mercilessly for not being part of the Wonderbolts like his sister has," Apple Bloom states.
"Who's his sister?" Mane Allgood asks.
"Lightning Dust," Sweetie Belle quickly answers. "They used to write to each other but, those letters have gone quiet. We can only assume that Lightning Dust has forgotten about her brother, Booster."
"Wow, poor shame," Snap Shutter said. "So, what was his cutie mark?"
"This one," Starlight points to a wrench and engine cutie mark. "Booster's dad was an engineer."
"Booster was so happy to get rid of his tormentor for good. After all those years of beatings, he gave one without raising a hoof," Scootaloo said.
"Wow. Talk about justice. Getting rid of the cutie mark as an ultimate punishment for all the wrong they have done and inflicted," Mane Allgood said.
Starlight and the girls nod in agreement.
"Alright, everyone get into hiding position. I'll bring your sisters and friends here. I'll make sure to take the long route for everyone else to catch up,"
"Thanks, Starlight," Apple Bloom said.
"You're welcome. See you in an hour and a half," Starlight said as she trots out of the cave.
Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood hides in the shadows next to the vault. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo goes behind a pillar in the cave. Half an hour later, Starlight returns to the village. She alerts the ponies to head to the cave as quickly as possible. She sees Double Diamond stationed across from the bakery.
"It's time. Who's down with our guests?"
"Sugar Belle, Party Favor, and Night Glider," Double Diamond reports.
"Excellent. Head down there to give the word. Everypony else is heading to the cave. We're taking the longer route to the cave."
"Understood, Starlight. I can't wait to see their reactions," Double Diamond said. He smiles widely and opens the bakery door. He goes downstairs to let everyone know that Starlight is back.
A few moments later, Starlight Glimmer is leading Twilight and her friends to the cave. Double Diamond, Party Favor, and Night Glider trot behind them, smiling widely. Pinkie has her eyes on them for not trusting their smiles. Twilight now knows their mission is to give everypony's cutie marks that Starlight has stolen from them. She figured out that Starlight is a dictator in the village. Dictatorship is a no-no in Equestria. An hour later, Starlight Glimmer trots a bit faster to the cave. She turns around to see the guests getting closer.
"Just through here," Starlight said as she enters the cave.
A bit of adrenaline is pumping in the veins of Twilight Sparkle. She's anticipating the worst of the worse that is yet to come, in case. The rest of her friends starts to feel unnerving a bit. Unsure for how they'll handle seeing the vault. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash hopes after they rid of Starlight Glimmer, everypony in the village can tell them any details of seeing Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. As they enter inside the cave, the girls are dumbstruck and awestruck.
"Thing of beauty, isn't it?" Starlight said.
"This is disturbing, Starlight? How can you do this to everypony, you dictator?" Twilight said.
"Yea! Out of anger and spite! What is wrong with you?!" Rainbow angrily shouts.
"I've done nothing out of anger and spite. I'm no dictator in my village. I have a question for you lot, have you done something out of anger and spite?" Starlight counters.
"No!" Applejack answers angrily. "We haven't done anything out of anger and spite!"
"We listen to what ponies have to say," Rarity said.
"We help create friendships," Fluttershy expressed.
"We show those that there are always better days ahead," Pinkie said.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo's jaw drops in disgust. Have they forgotten what has happened a year ago with the Gabby Gums incident? They were neglected, drenched with rainwater, turned, and rejected. Scootaloo pants heavily. Starlight nods quickly at Scootaloo.
"Oh, really?!" Scootaloo shouts angrily. Walking up to Starlight Glimmer.
Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Twilight jaws drop as they see Scootaloo walking up to Starlight Glimmer right side.
"You are a bunch of hypocrites!" Sweetie Belle shouts. She trots to Starlight's left side.
"I can't believe you have forgotten about the Gabby Gums incident. That you lied in front of Starly," Apple Bloom said. She is last to trot up to Starlight Glimmer.
"Ap-Apple Bloom," Applejack shakingly said.
"Sweetie Belle," Rarity said in tears.
"Scootaloo," Rainbow said as her body twitches a bit.
Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie gasps. They couldn't believe what they are seeing.
"Girls," Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity sincerely said in unison.
"Starlight! What's the meaning of this?! What have you've done to Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo?!" Twilight asks angrily.
"I've taken care of them while they were outcast by you all!" Starlight said.
"Yea, we heard the stories," Snap Shutter said, coming out of the shadows.
"We heard what you've done to our daughter, Scootaloo," Mane Allgood sternly said, coming out of the shadows as well.
"Wait, you're Scootaloo's parents?" Rainbow said.
"Aye mate, you are the enemy here," Snap Shutter responds.
Everypony else from the village gets closer to girls. They are angry, leaving no room for escape.
"It's a trap!" Twilight shouts.
"No!" The CMC said in unison. "This is justice!"
Twilight teleports high up, getting ready to launch an attack, Starlight uses her magic to levitate the Staff of Sameness. She uses the Staff of Sameness to remove Twilight's cutie mark. Twilight grunts and feels her cutie mark getting removed. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack are stunned as Twilight falls to the ground. Twilight's cutie mark is now replaced with an equal insignia.
"You shouldn't have retaliated, Twilight," Starlight said, putting Twilight's cutie mark in the vault.
In Canterlot Castle, Discord felt Twilight's magic disappearing. Recently, he's felt a handful of ponies meeting a similar fate. Now, it's getting out of hoof. Discord decides to investigate the matter.
"My.., cutie mark..., give it back..," Twilight said.
"You monster!" Rainbow shouts.
"Look who's talking," Scootaloo retorts.
"You can't be serious, Scoots!" Rainbow quickly responds. "Starlight is brainwashing you and your friends. She's an evil dictator!"
"No, she's not!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle said in defense of Starlight Glimmer.
"Have you've forgotten the time you drenched rainwater on us?" Scootaloo said.
"Have you forgotten the time when you refused to talk to me, Applejack?" Apple Bloom asks.
"Was it necessary to tell everypony in Ponyville of who we were as Gabby Gums, Rarity?"
"Well, it's obvious that you all had no remorse," Snap Shutter said.
"You all could have the decency to talk them about the rights and wrongs during the Gabby Gums incident. Instead, you gave them Tartarus. I am ashamed that you three have relations to our daughter and her friends," Mane Allgood said.
"I'm disgusted that you put your frustrations at three young fillies over a gossip," Snap Shutter said.
"We're sorry, okay!" Rainbow said.
"Too little, too late, Rainbow Trash!" Scootaloo said.
Rainbow Dash frowns.
"Apple Bloom? Is this what you want? To strip ponies of their cutie marks cause you aren't able to have one?" Applejack said with a level of concern.
Apple Bloom chuckles. "You know what's funny? I've decided not to have a cutie mark in my life!"
Applejack gasps in shock. She never heard anything obscure before.
"That is the same for me, Rarity," Sweetie Belle chimes in.
Rarity's jaw drop after hearing that.
"The Gabby Gums incident taught me a few things. Trying to get a cutie mark brings nothing but, chaos. Trying to get a cutie mark in journalism and the next thing I know, I'm getting drenched with rainwater, neglected by ponies, and getting hit with tomatoes!" Apple Bloom explains.
"Yea. Also, we were viewed as monsters. Do you know what it's like to be viewed as a monster?" Scootaloo said.
"The answer is no. You six are viewed as the heroes, saviors of Equestria," Sweetie Belle said.
"So, whatever you have to say, you are not worth our time. You belong in the past, where you'll never hurt us ever again," Scootaloo said.
Rainbow Dash is starting to think that Starlight has brainwashed them. Sure, she and her friends made mistakes but, they learned from them. To become better ponies. Also, the way Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle spoke, they don't sound like themselves. Twilight is struggling to stand after the weary effects from the Staff of Sameness. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie don't know what to do. They are surrounded by everypony from the village. Rainbow knows what to do. She needs to attack Starlight head-on. Rainbow flaps her wings.
"Release Twilight's cutie mark! Now!" Rainbow shouts.
"Unlikely. You and you friends will endure the same fate as she. Your day of reckoning has come to an end!" Starlight said.
Rainbow does a flip in the air and charges at Starlight Glimmer. She is aiming to destroy the Staff of Sameness. Rainbow moves so fast, Starlight is unable to react. Scootaloo shoves Starlight aside as Rainbow charges at Scootaloo. The collision causes Scootaloo to crash at the vault, breaking her back in the process. Scootaloo wails from the pain. Not only Rainbow missed her chance, she is shaken by hurting Scootaloo. Snap Shutter tackles Rainbow Dash in anger. Everypony else is in shocked. Mane Allgood flies over to her daughter. Scootaloo cries in pain and agony. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Starlight hurries over to Scootaloo. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle look away. Not only Scootaloo's back is broken, her wings are broken as well.
"You monster!" Sweetie Belle angrily shouts.
"You won't be needing this, anymore," Snap Shutter bites Rainbow's left wing and pulls it hard. A loud snap can be heard. Rainbow wails in agony.
Starlight is in tears a bit from the anger. She turns to look at Rainbow Dash and her friends.
"Now, this is personal," Starlight lividly states. Starlight uses the Staff of Sameness to rip Rainbow and her friends cutie marks. She stores them in the vault. Rainbow and her friends now have an equal insignia cutie mark. "For all eternity, your cutie marks will be a reminder of those wrongful ponies who causes trauma. You deliberately done this to yourselves."
"So, are we going to be with your village?" Fluttershy nervously asks.
Starlight Glimmer wipes the equal cutie mark out, revealing her actual cutie mark. The girls are in shock once more. Everypony around them does the same. Each one revealing that their cutie marks are intact. Twilight and her friends pants a bit. Realizing that they were dead wrong about the cutie marks and the vault's representation.
"Then why the equal cutie marks?! What do they stand for?!" Twilight asks. Wanting to know some answers.
"It's the ultimate punishment for ponies that wronged us. Clearly you six have wronged Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. That is why they reside here in our village. To get away from the hate and abuse they suffered from the hooves of you all. Your cutie marks will forever be in the Vault of Justice."
"Vault... Of... Justice..," Twilight fearfully repeats.
"Everypony, let's dispose of these monsters," Double Diamond said.
As everypony gets closer to the six, Applejack tries to buck them away but, her strength is gone, she is helpless. Pinkie tries her best to fight back but, she is unable to feel anything of her nature. Twilight is unable to use her magic properly. She is powerless against the ponies coming closer to her and her friends. Rarity tries to use her magic but, it's not working. Everypony grabs them and stuffs them in sacks. Snap Shutter stuffs Rainbow Dash in a potato sack. He made sure its uncomfortable as it could be.
"To the waters!" Double Diamond shouts.
Scootaloo can't stop crying from the intense pain from her wings and back. Starlight checks on Scootaloo and her parents.
"Go with the others. My wife and I will bring Scootaloo to your house, Starlight. We'll tend to our daughter," Snap Shutter said.
Starlight nods.
"We're coming with you, Starly. We want to see them go," Apple Bloom said.
"Alright, then," Starlight goes in front of her villagers. "Follow me to the waters. Brings the monsters with you. It's time to dispose of them."
The girls complain and demand to bet set free as Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood carefully bring Scootaloo to Starlight's house. Everypony in the village help carries the monsters to the waters. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle follow closely, next to their sisters.
"Apple Bloom. Please. Reconsider this. Let us go!"
"Sweetie Belle, please. You don't have to do this. Give our cutie marks back and we'll go home. We will never come back and leave you be, please!"
"There is nothing you can say or do to change our minds. All of Ponyville hates us thanks to you, Rarity. How can we show our faces?" Sweetie Belle said.
"Ponyville wants to apologize, Sweetie Belle. I want to apologize for my foolish behavior and start anew with you."
"Why would Ponyville want to apologize? Did Princess Celestia has a say in the matter?"
"Well, um..," Rarity struggle a bit with her answer. Sweetie Belle catches on.
"She did. She's making the town apologize for us to come home?"
Rarity goes quiet for a few minutes.
"Yea! Princess Celestia made us and everypony feel ashamed for what we've done. Granny Smith winds up using her bamboo belt on my behind and Big Mac's behind."
"Well, too little, too late. It's been nearly a year since the Gabby Gums incident. There is nothing you or anypony else can say to change our minds."
"What about Equestria? How would they survive without us, Apple Bloom?"
"That's why there are Princesses in Equestria. I'm sure that there is someone equally as powerful as they are to aide them," Apple Bloom responds emotionlessly.
Everypony arrives by the waters. There are two boats stationed.
"Alright, place them in the boats. Doesn't matter who's with who. They'll be gone forever anyway," Starlight said.
The ponies from the village place Twilight, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash on one boat. The rest on the other boat. Applejack and Twilight notice there are no oars to steer at the least.
"What happened to the oars?" Twilight asks.
"No oars for monsters. Wherever you go is led by destiny," Starlight said.
The girls turn to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. They wave goodbye.
"Would you two like to do the honors of pushing them away?"
"With pleasure," Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle said in unison. "For Scootaloo!" They push the boats off the shore. The girls look at everypony waves. The current is taking the boats in a different direction.
"Starly, we want to see our friend now," Sweetie Belle said.
"We're all coming to check on Scootaloo. She's our friend. Part of our family, Sweetie Belle," Sugar Belle said.
"Let's go," Starlight leads the way back to the village. Everyone follows.
An hour later, Pinkie continues to cry out for help. Rainbow asks Pinkie to shut it as no pony can hear. Discord sees them from afar and gets closer to them.
"There you are," Discord hovers down. "What happened to you?"
The girls sigh.
"We found them, Discord," Rainbow said.
"You went to the village?" Discord asks. His eyes fall out of his sockets and eats them.
"Yes," The girls answer except for Applejack.
"Village? Discord, you knew they were at the village this whole time?"
"Yes, Applejack. I'd best take you to Canterlot Castle to discuss any further with Celestia and Luna."
Discord snaps his claw and teleports his friends to Canterlot Castle. During this time, everypony is around Starlight's house. Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood had placed Scootaloo Starlight's bed. Scootaloo can't stop crying in pain. Starlight, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle are next to Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood.
"Scootaloo, thanks for shoving me out of the way. If you hadn't, Rainbow would have destroyed the Staff of Sameness. Then the cutie marks would have returned to those wretched ponies, especially Fire Flier. I promise you, I'm going to find the spell to heal you and make the pain go away."
"Until then, Sweetie Belle and I are staying by your side, Scootaloo."
"So are we, we're not leaving your side, kiddo," Snap Shutter said.
Starlight trots downstairs and out of her home to inform everypony of Scootaloo's condition.
"Thanks to Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo shoving me aside, Scootaloo has a broken back and broken wings." Everypony cringes after hearing Scootaloo's injuries. "I ask of you to please comfort Scootaloo the best way any of you can. She is our friend, our family. She saved the Staff of Sameness from being destroyed. She saved the day by protecting the Vault of Justice from getting destroyed."
"Starlight," Party Favor said. "I may speak for everyone here, we're going to do our best to help Scootaloo make a speedy recovery. You find that healing spell and we'll make Scootaloo as comfortable as she can," Everypony chats with each other and nods in agreement.
"Thank you, I know Scootaloo will appreciate you all."
"Let's turn a frown, upside down," Party Favor cheers.
Everypony cheers loudly as they start planning to help Scootaloo as best as they can. Starlight smiles and looks up at the bedroom window.
"As long as we stand, we won't let anyone harm you every again, Scootaloo. That is the same for you, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle," Starlight said as she trots to her office and start reading healing spells.