//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: The Cutie Map 
// Story: A Sparkle's Little Dusk III: Everlasting Family 
// by Mister E-Nonymous 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 5: The Cutie Map






In the Castle of Friendship Throne Room, Spike was asleep in the throne that was assigned to him. The Mane 6, Dusk, Nyx and the Tri-Pies were coming into the room. Pinkie Pie then sat in her throne with the Tri-Pies next to her. Then the symbol on the throne started glowing.

"Let's go through this one more time," Twilight said as Rainbow Dash was getting into her throne. Then the symbol on her throne started glowing.

Rainbow Dash sighed and said, "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!"

"Yes, but why?" Twilight asked.

"Ah dunno, sugarcube," Applejack said as she was getting into her throne. Then the symbol on her throne started glowing. "Maybe it's just your new house and there ain't nothin' more to it than that."

"I must say, speaking strictly on aesthetics, there really doesn't need to be more to it," Rarity said as she got into her throne, and the symbol started glowing. "It's all simply divine!"

"I agree with Twilight," Fluttershy said as she was getting into her throne. Then the symbol on her throne started glowing. "And Rarity. And Applejack. And Rainbow Dash. And Pinkie Pie." She then looked over at Spike, who was still asleep in his throne. "Oh, and probably Spike."

"As princess, I've been chosen to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria," Twilight said, walking towards her throne. "So why would the Tree of Harmony want us to sit in a castle in Ponyville?" She then got into her throne. "It doesn't make any sense." She then sat down, and then both her Cutie Mark and the symbol on the throne started glowing. Then all of the other thrones started reacting, shooting a beam of light towards the center.

Dusk, Nyx and the Tri-Pies went towards the door, the girls were behind Dusk as he spread his wings. Then from the center of the circle of thrones, a crystal table emerged, waking Spike from his slumber.

Spike groaned and then he saw the table. He then asked, "Is that new?" Everypony else was surprised. "I like it."

Dusk then put his wings down and then he, Nyx and the Tri-Pies walked towards the table. Dusk then asked, "What is this thing?" Then the table was showing a map of Equestria. Spike was then walking on the map.

"This is incredible!" Spike said. "It's got all of Equestria!"

Pinkie Pie was looking down at a certain part of the map, seeing her family's Rock Farm. She then said, "Hi, Mom and Dad!" Just then, Spike stepped on where the farm was, Pinkie's eyes shrank, then got bugger and full of tears. Then the Tri-Pies ran up to her and hugged her.

Dusk then looked around as he heard something. He then said, "Do you all hear something?"

Nyx looked around and said, "Now that you think of it, I hear something, too."

Twilight looked around, and heard that the noise Dusk and Nyx heard was coming from her flanks. She unfolded her wings and saw that her Cutie Mark was glowing and flashing outwards. The rest of the Mane 6 looked at their marks and saw that the same thing was happening to their Cutie Marks. Then copies of their cutie marks came from the ceiling and hovered above the map. Then it went to a certain spot and started circling. Twilight then used her magic to get Spike off the map.

"But if this is Ponyville," Fluttershy said, looking at a part of the map, then looking at where the marks were on the map, "why are our cutie marks over there?"

"I don't know," Twilight said. "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?"

"Y'know what?" Rainbow Dash said, looking at the path on the map. "There's a ton of room for dangerous adventure along that route. Count me in!"

"Aw, shoot, I reckon you're right," Applejack added in.

"Well, I was planning on organizing my baking sheets with Cherry, Blueberry and Raspberry, but okay!" Pinkie Pie said before squeeing. That made the Tri-Pies sigh in sadness. Pinkie then hugged the Tri-Pies and said, "Aw, don't worry, girls. We'll do something special together."

"Yay!!" the Tri-Pies said while hugging Pinkie back.

Rarity then sighed and said, "Very well." Then she and Pinkie looked over at Fluttershy, waiting for the shy pegasus's answer. She then stepped back but then she saw Rainbow Dash looking at her, giving the same look as the other two mares.

"Um, maybe I'll just stay here with Spike, Dusk, Nyx and the Tri-Pies," Fluttershy said, not sure that she should go.

"Awesome!" came Spike's voice. They all looked over and saw that Spike had a drinking helmet and a foam finger. "Me and Big Mac have a huge weekend ahead of us talkin' hoofball, and... and trading hoofball cards, and arguing about hoofball stats..." What Spike was saying was scaring Fluttershy.

"O-o-on second thought, m-m-maybe I'd better go with them," Fluttershy said, shaking. "In case they need me."

"Looks like it's time for a road trip," Twilight said. She then looked over at Spike and said, "Spike, you keep an eye on Dusk and Nyx." She then looked at the Tri-Pies, who were looking at her with a trio of pouty looks. Twilight then smiled and said, "Also find Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo for a sleepover. Have the Tri-Pies make a party out of it."

That made the Tri-Pies smile widely. Then they ran over the room, shouting excitedly. Spike then sighed and said, "This is going to be a long night."

"Tell me about it," Dusk said.





When it was already night time, Dusk was climbing into his bed. He was trying to get to sleep when their was music playing through the halls of the Castle of Friendship. He then tried covering up and even held the pillow over his ears. Just then, he felt something, his eyes open wide, his pupils shank, and he put a hoof to his chest.

He breathed heavily and asked, "What... was that? It felt like..." Just then, he looked around and noticed how quiet it was. He then ran out of the room and went into the room where Nyx, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Tri-Pies were staying in, but they were all breathing in and out. "Are you girls all okay?"

The girls looked over at Dusk with surprised eyes. Nyx walked towards Dusk and said, "I don't know what happened, but as we were dancing, we just got this strange feeling. Like... our hearts were being tugged by something."

"Ah don't know what happened, but Ah got a strange feelin' that our families are in trouble," Apple Bloom said.

"You think Rarity, Twilight and their friends are in trouble?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"It could be that," Scootaloo said. "But where could they have gone?" Just then, Spike came into the room.

"What are you all doing up?!" Spike asked, angrily. "I'm trying to sleep!"

Dusk and Nyx walked over towards Spike and Dusk said, "Spike, I think Mom and her friends are in trouble. Everyone else here had a similar reaction."

"What?!" Spike asked. "That's weird. Perhaps..." He then thought of something. "You don't think it has something to do with where the girls went to, do you?"

"I think it is," Dusk said. "We should go there to see what's happening."

"Well, that's a good idea, but we should wait until morning," Spike said. "That way, we have the energy to get there. So everypony, head to bed." The foals nodded and headed towards their sleeping areas."





The next day, Spike, Dusk, Nyx, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Tri-Pies left Ponyville early to head to the place where the Mane 6 were sent to by the map. Spike had written the directions to get there. They came across the village where the Mane 6 went. They all looked around at all the ponies there and saw the ponies giving off forced smiles.

"Okay, this is weird," Spike said. "Why would Twilight and her friends be sent here?"

"Something isn't right here," Dusk said. He then pulled out some binoculars from his saddlebags and looked at the ponies of the town. "What?"

"What is it, Dusk?" Nyx asked.

"Check out their Cutie Marks," Dusk said, handing Nyx the binoculars with his magic. Nyx took them in her own magic.

"What?" Nyx asked. "All of them have equal signs for Cutie Marks?"

"What?" Apple Bloom asked, taking the binoculars. "That ain't right. Nopony should have the same Cutie Mark. And Ah think this ponies ain't really happy." She then handed the binoculars to the Tri-Pies. "What do ya three think?"

The Tri-Pies were fighting to hold the binoculars, but Blueberry got the upper hoof and looked through them. She then said, "You're right, Apple Bloom. Their smiles are forced. They're trying to hide their unhappiness." She then looked towards one building and saw Rainbow Dash trying to bang the door down from the inside. "Wait! I see Rainbow Dash!"

"What?!" Scootaloo asked.

"Hold up!" Blueberry said, holding up a hoof. She then noticed the Cutie Mark on Rainbow Dash's flank. It was not her usual mark of a cloud shooting out a bolt of rainbow lightning, but an equal sign. "She has the same mark as all of the other mares there."

"Which might mean Twilight, Rarity and the others are in there with their marks changed as well," Sweetie Belle said. "What are we going to do?"

Dusk sighed and said, "We go in." He then pulled out Nyx's disguise and handed it to Nyx. "Of course, Nyx has to go in wearing her disguise."

"Oh, boy," Nyx said. She then used her magic to put the disguise on. As soon as she got the vest and the headband on, she used her hooves to put on the glasses, and her eyes looked like common looking eyes.

"Is that the disguise you wore when ya met us from your Equestria?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yes," Nyx said. "Or at least a copy of it."

"Alright," Scootaloo said. "Let's go." Then they all headed towards the town. But then they stopped when they saw the crowd of ponies heading over towards the building where the Mane 6 were. They all went behind a rock. Then they looked over the rock.

"Wait a minute," Nyx said. "Do the colors of all of those ponies look a little... faded?"

"Now that you think of it, you're right, Nyx," Sweetie Belle said. "And it seems that that one mare has the most brightness than the others."

"That's it," Spike said. "Let's go." Then they all headed towards the village."

"Not interested!" came Rainbow Dash's voice from the crowd. "You may have them now, but we're going to get our cutie marks back!"

That made the foals and Spike gasp and Scootaloo asked, "They forced their Cutie Marks off? That's why everypony has Equal Cutie Marks."

"Y'all don't understand, do ya?" came Applejack's voice. "You can't force nopony to be friends! It don't work like that!" Then some ponies tried asking politely to make the Mane 6 stay.

"It's all right, everypony," the mare with the brightest coat color said. "This is a perfectly normal part of the equalization process for those who haven't... quite seen the light yet. We'll try again tomorrow once you've had a bit more time to consider our philosophy!"

"Philosphy?!" Dusk shouted, getting the attention of everypony in the village. "Is that what you call inviting visitors into your village, stripping them of their Cutie Marks and forcing them to never leave?! 'Cause it sounds more like a prison than a village!"

"Dusk?!" Twilight asked. "Spike?! Nyx?! What are you and your friends doing here?!"

"Oh, good," the mare from before said. "More little foals who want to join us."

"Not... interested!" Dusk said. "Face the facts. You're keeping these ponies trapped here without any true happiness. Nopony is happy."

"You don't know what you're talking about," the mare said. "I, Starlight Glimmer, know everything about true friendship. You're implying that I'm enslaving these happy ponies? What makes you think that?"

"I've had experience," Dusk said.

"That's true," Twilight said.

"It's basically slavery," Nyx said. "I should've known you're the mastermind behind this with your bright colored coat and that fake equal Cutie Mark."

"Wait, what?!" everypony, sans Starlight, asked in unison.

"I looked at both of your flanks, and the equal mark on your flanks is different by five degrees," Nyx said. "Tri-Pies, soak her flanks."

Then the Tri-Pies zoomed off and doused Starlight with buckets of water, washing away the makeup on Starlight's flanks, revealing her true Cutie Mark, making the town ponies gasp in shock.



"You kept your real Cutie Mark the entire time?!" one of the ponies asked, angrily.

"Boy," Apple Bloom said. "Everypony here sure misses their Cutie Mark. Even Ah know that havin' different Cutie Marks don't make ya friends. It's doin' things together and havin' fun that does it."

"They're right, Starlight," Twilight said. "You must understand that..."

"QUIET!!" Starlight snarled at Twilight, angrily. "I care about all the ponies, and I want them all to be equal so nothing can separate their friendship! I'll make sure of it!" She then lit up her horn and teleported away.

"She's heading back to the cave where the Cutie Marks are stored!" came the voice of a mare, who was wearing an apron.

"Dusk," Twilight said, looking at Dusk. "The cave is over there. Take your friends and get the Cutie Marks out before Starlight can do something with them." Dusk nodded. He then lit up his horn, and he took Nyx, the Crusaders and the Tri-Pies with him to where the cave was. And they saw Starlight with a lot of jars. Starlight then shot a beam towards the foals, but Dusk used a barrier spell to block it.

"What?!" Starlight asked. "How is a colt that..." He then saw the wings on Dusk. "You're a male alicorn?! That's impossible! There shouldn't be male alicorns!"

"I'm the first," Dusk said. "Go!" Then the Crusaders and the Tri-Pies ran towards the Cutie Marks. Apple Bloom grabbed a staff and charged at Starlight. But Starlight teleported out of the way and the staff collided with the Cutie Mark safe. The safe cracked, and all of the Cutie Marks got out, and headed back towards their owners.

Starlight reappeared and shouted, "NO!! What have you done?!"

Dusk took Nyx and the other fillies back to town. They saw that all of the ponies had gotten their Cutie Marks back. Starlight reappeared.

"You have no idea what you've done!" Starlight shouted. "I'll get revenge on you, Twilight Sparkle. And your little colt, too!" She then teleported away.

"Should we be worried?" Nyx asked.

"Thank you," said one of the ponies. "Now that we've gotten our Cutie Marks and talents back, we can finally go back to our regular lives. Staying here."

"You're not leaving?" Twilight asked. "But Sugar Belle, why not?"

"It's our home," came a dark blue pegasus mare's voice. "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!" said a white unicorn stallion.

"And I finally have a chance to bake something besides terrible muffins!" Sugar Belle said. Then all of the ponies of the town started laughing.

Later, the Mane 6, Spike, Dusk, Nyx, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Tri-Pies looked down at the town, feeling good about what the town is doing now.

"Now those are real smiles," Pinkie said.

"Uh-huh!" said the Tri-Pies. Just then, the Cutie Marks on the Mane 6 started glowing again. This time, the marks were going inward.

"Ah'll never get used ta that," Applejack said.

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

"Does that mean that the map is calling us somewhere else?" Fluttershy asked, looking at Twilight.

"I have a feeling it means our work here is done," Twilight said.

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

"But the map didn't send me," Twilight said. "It sent us. The six of us. But if it wasn't for Spike, Dusk and these seven fillies, we would've been trapped here forever. You all are a part of me, all of you. And there's no doubt you're a part of my mission to spread friendship too." Then they all laughed together.

"This feels like an ending!" Pinkie Pie said, with the Tri-Pies holding freshly baked sweets. "It doesn't have to be an ending yet, right? 'Cause that Sugar Belle can bake!" The Tri-Pies hummed in agreement.

"Maybe we can stay a little while longer," Twilight said. "Come on!" Then all of them headed back towards town with smiles on their faces.