//------------------------------// // Ceremonial Un-marking // Story: A Society // by Cosmetanoia //------------------------------// The ceremony carried on.  Sugar Lily was accompanied by her family. They didn't seem concerned, only caring as they fed her and helped her onto her feet. Through it all, Twilight could only think of three things. One - how could a unicorn whose never studied magic nor uses it on a daily basis use it so effortlessly? Two - why was everyone here bare-flanked? Perhaps this ceremony had answered that - but even Starlight herself bore no special talent. It was...frightening, to say the least, that these ponies genetically still had cutie marks and yet still they had them taken away in a humiliating display. Three - Why? Why no cutie marks? Or magic, or flying? Why this ceremony?  It all frankly unnerved the six, especially when Starlight waved them over from across the fields, closer to town. Rarity winced. "Mmh, perhaps we don't follow her alone, away from the big crowd..?"  Rainbow shivered. "I'm with Rarity on this one. That pony's weird."    Twilight huffed. "Isn't it safer if we go together? It's six against one." She fiddled stressfully with a strand of her hair that fell out of the headdress.  The six came to a consensus; deciding to follow Starlight. Once they'd reached her, Twilight stood on guard, ready to spring with a spell at any moment. But Starlight didn't seem angered or on edge at all, she just stared out into the field with a smile on her features. "I'm glad you stumbled upon us on the day of our festival. It's a coincidence, but a welcome one." Starlight turned to the town, trotting deeper in. Frankly confused, the six followed in. Eventually, they'd reached town hall - but when they entered, Starlight had led them deeper in and opened a door previously thought to be locked, or even unseen as it blended into the walls seamlessly.  The room was tight-nit. Only two chairs, rusted and old, sat in front of an equally well-used desk, paintings mounted on the wall of majestic alicorns Twilight had never seen. They were bare-flanked, and even throughout the cluster of blank flank alicorns stood the tallest one, completely pure white with three eyes. This was...new. By the time their eyes had searched through the room, Starlight was waiting in the seat behind the desk. She looked as friendly as ever. "That's Mystic Haze. Our savior, I suppose. She is to us as Celestia is to you." Starlight explained. "You know Princess Celestia?" Rainbow blinked, surprised. "You've been to Equestria?" Starlight nodded. "Of course! I founded this garden as an escape for all those felt abused by the system. Everyone is completely equal here." The pale purple unicorn toyed with a stone carving of the three eyed alicorn weeping. "We all know of Equestria - all those who are older than a few hundred moons old, at least. This village casts a magical barrier that keeps our life spans much longer than an average pony. This of course means that anypony old enough to have known Equestria first hoof will…" she paused, searching for the right words. "...deteriorate. and as for newcomers.." Starlight chuckled. Pinkie only squinted further, a discontent scowl on her face. "What about them?" "Well," Starlight blinked innocently, "their magical abilities slowly dissipate."  The six stared at the unicorn trying to take the situation all in. On one hoof, they were sent here by the map - and leaving would be failing their mission. On the other hoof, this place had some spooky undertones and they had to fix whatever the problem was here...without magic. "Surely you've been sensing it? None of you have been flying to high off the ground, and by this point even the most skilled alicorn can only do a spell or two." She chuckled. "But not to worry! Magic here is only a burdon. It only upsets those without it." They all seemed silent, casting glances at one another before Fluttershy stepped forward. "I think what you're trying to achieve is certainly a kind gesture, miss Glimmer...but - wouldn't dulling down somepony else's special talents only make them...less...great?" "Oh Shutterfly dear, greatness is not great if others feel worthless for it. " Starlight waved the pegasus off. "How do you think those without the potential feel? They must be feeling so unimportant and frustrated that no matter what they try, they'll never live up to a great pony's standards." Fluttershy winced. "I...I suppose that's fair." She mumbled. "And...it's, uhm, Fluttershy." She corrected the unicorn. Starlight blinked. "Is it? Forgive me." Twilight had enough of this. She stood forth, wings expanding. "Starlight, surely you don't think this is fair!" Starlight looked bored, unintimidated. "Tell me, Twilight - did your own Princess Luna not turn on her own sister and kingdom when she felt as though she were not treated equally?"  Twilight's throat went dry. "Yes, but--" "And who's fault was that?" She purred, pleased that she'd backed the alicorn into a corner. "Nopony's. It was because she was not equal that she turned. You can't have a nightmare if you never dream." Twilight thought of this extensively as they exited, leaving Starlight behind in the office, slowly returning to festival grounds. Rarity spoke up. "Perhaps she's right, darling. These ponies seem happy, do they not?"  Rainbow, who was trotting beside them for her difficulty in starting flight, which was a strange feeling to say the least, scoffed. "Are you kidding me? You got bees in your brain? Everypony has a place in society!"  Fluttershy sighed. "You're only saying that because you can't fly anymore. Starlight has a point! There can't be evil if everypony feels safe and included." "You're only saying that because they've been kinder to ponies with duller coats!" Applejack hissed. "Duller!" Rarity repeated, eyes wide. "Applejack darling, Fluttershy and I are certainly not dull! How rude of you." "So you've noticed they've been kinder to you!" Applejack retorted. Pinkie rolled her eyes, screeching out. "Stop fighting! Can't you see this is what they want?" The group stared at the pink mare."...Want what, Pinkie?" Twilight mumbled, barely audible on its own but the silence throughout them made her voice loud and clear. Pinkie stood on edge, looking around before leaning in. "To prove ponies with cutie marks argue regularly! They want to establish a propaganda that equality is good! None of the bare-flanked ponies are arguing, but we are!" She explained, distress in her quiet voice. Fluttershy curled her lip, irritated.  "Maybe that just proves their point further." She hissed quietly, and the argument would have gone on endlessly if it weren't for a completely white stallion trotting up to them. "We were looking for you lot!" He grinned widely. "We were just about to start the welcoming dance. Gee, this festival is like...three pent up into one! Sugar Lily's unmarking, your welcome, and the spring ceremony! Isn't that great?" "Absolutely marvelous!" Rarity chimed in. "We would love to have a look around." Double Diamond's grin grew wider, but only seemed just that bit more like a grimace; like a snake waiting for its prey in the grass.  They followed into the field, each swept up by a group of dancers, a large swarm of ponies happily prancing about. Even Sugar Lily seemed to be having a grand time, but nopony but her family really wanted to be near her. Twilight frowned. "Why's Sugar Lily all alone?" Twilight mused to Double Diamond, who stuck to her side and was ogling wings, horn, and cutie mark. Twilight seemed not to mind - it was clearly a rare sight to see a mare this old with a cutie mark for this bunch.  The stallion shook out of his interest. "Well, the filly still has a little bit of magic left over from her mark. It's uncontrollable for a while, at least until the natural law of this garden to eat it out of her." He explained. Twilight blinked.  "Why uncontrollable? She's a unicorn afterall. Unicorns can control magic fairly well, right?" "Well," He cleared his throat, "I understand it's a little different from where you're from, but here - we are not taught flight or magic to assure nopony uses it, even when out of sight." He returned to prancing about, too caught up in the oncoming swath of mares twirling in the grass and inviting him over. Twilight worried greatly.  The day seemed like it went on forever. For years, maybe. It went from endless dancing to endless feasting to endless chatter and prayer, all completely alien to the newcomers. Rarity and Fluttershy seemed to have an open mind and enjoy it, but as for the rest...they just wanted to escape.   The stars had started to wink in, the moon slowly overtaking the sun. The sky was a gorgeous hue of scarlets and magentas. But they could not stop to admire it, as the village was packing up large wagons decorated with a lovely assortment of flowers. Rarity helped, doing what best she could without use of her magic. Fluttershy sat atop the wagon, giggling. She was clearly enjoying the day.  As Rarity hung a bouquet of petunias on one wagon, a bundle of jasmine on another. This seemed to catch a lot of attention from the surrounding ponies, but Rarity continued. A mare, pale blue with a cream mane stood forwards. "Rarity, don't you think you should decorate all the wagons the same?" She chuckled awkwardly. Rarity folded her ears back, a confused look gracing her features. "Whatever do you mean, darling? The composition is fully taken account of!" The mare leaned her head down in embarrassment, a poorly hidden frown on her face. "Well," she started nervously. "The ponies in the wagons might want to see lilies or roses or poppies...and one wagon shouldn't be hogging the flowers from the others." Rarity flicked her tail with a snort. "Please darling, they'll all look wonderful in the end!" She squinted, inspecting the uncomfortable pony's expression before exhaling with a bout of pity. "Well...I suppose I can fix it. Apologies." With a quick repositioning of the flowers so they all looked the same, the ponies were ushered into each carriage, even Starlight and the newcomers. Even the fillies. Nopony was left behind. The wagons began to creak as they moved, the randomly selected wagon carriers pulling the carriage through the fields. Rarity seemed disappointed at the change to keep each carriage completely unoriginal, Fluttershy comforting her. Twilight's attention was completely stolen away by the open back, watching the ground they crossed as they moved. There must have been a hundred or so carriages to accommodate all the ponies, at least a dozen in each wagon.  The altitude began to shift, Twilight noted, and soon enough she could recognize they were going up a steep mountain. The wagons shook violently against the stones beneath them, but they had stopped almost halfway up the mountain. The wagon screeched to a halt, everypony exiting. The six followed, Fluttershy quite excited. Once each pony exited, everypony waited for the rest of exit as well. But in the meantime… A large, gorgeously designed colosseum stood tall and proud inside the mountain side. It reminded Rainbow of her home land - cloudsdale had plenty of this architecture, but it wasn't common you'd see it on the ground. Starlight lined up all the ponies, Double Diamond by her side with a box. It didn't have a particular shape. One by one, they entered the colossal building, and by instinct, Twilight and her friends followed. It was bigger on the inside. Of course it was. It was built into the side of a mountain. But it didn't show - not really. It was nicely decorated, flames of ancient times burning out, reminding Twilight of the stone holds of the vestal flame of ancient times, though they seemed to serve no purpose other than illuminating the place. Starlight was far ahead, the only sound was of the echoing of the crowd's footsteps, and they only seemed to push the newcomers forwards. Starlight stood front and centre, turned to the crowd as she eyed the lavender alicorn and the five huddled around her. The crowd nosed them forwards. This certainly didn't look good. A screen. Large and glowing behind Starlight. Intricate designs coating it, the same cherry wood chest from earlier in front of it. Starlight cleared her throat, directing their attention back to her.  "I'm sure you're impressed? These are their cutie marks. They are welcome here at any time to recall their horrid times outside of Kenomare." Starlight waved a hoof towards the vault. Twilight winced.  Double Diamond stepped up with the box, handing it over to Starlight who opened it. A jar was inside it.  The jar was small, for sure - beautifully shaped, as all things were here...but it contained a small pink lily in it. Once Starlight screwed the jar open, the lily burst out and hovered into an empty spot in the screen, becoming nothing more but a carving. Twilight watched, shock on her face. Starlight heaved open the chest once again, levitating the staff with a turquoise glow of her horn. "This is a gift from Mystic Haze herself. Our goddess gifted it to us many moons ago through ritualistic prayer...oh, that day was so happy. We used it to erase our cutie marks, to achieve purity. Since then nopony's ever been sad." "But.." Starlight added, fiddling with the curved staff, "I've heard that you ponies have been going around making others feel incompetant with your skills."  Rarity stiffened up. "We did not mean to!" She blurted. Starlight cocked a brow. "Of course you didn't." She raised the staff. "But, I'd like to keep it all fair here. Ponies like you would destroy our entire system. And considering you can't exactly leave…" the staff began to glow, hovering the six - much to their anxiety as they flailed in the air with desperation.  "We'd like to have you join our paradise."