The Cutie Map (Part 2)
"In sameness, there is peace. Exceptionalism is a lie. Free yourself from your cutie mark. Choose equality as your special talent." Inside of one of the houses back in Our Town, the trapped heroes of Equestria and light heard the constant mantras of a recording from Starlight coming from a speaker in the only room.
It had only been an hour since they had been kidnapped, having their cutie marks stolen from them by force by the mare in charge of the village, which left them completely useless. Twilight, Kairi, and Aqua couldn't use any magic to break everyone out, only able to use basic levitation. Sora, Riku, Ventus, and Rainbow Dash could still fly, but they could barely fly fast enough to ram through the door as Rainbow constantly tried to break out with no results. Not even Applejack's, Pinkie's, or Terra's unique strength couldn't even break the door down or bend the iron bars of the small windows. Right now, they were all completely equal as ponies that didn't make them different from each other by the type they were; normal ponies.
Ventus growled in annoyance, covering his ears to drown out the recording of Starlight's voice being projected by the speakers. "I'm starting to get a headache listening to Starlight on repeat. And there's no volume control in here!"
"I'd rather find a way out of here," Sora said. He held out his hoof and tried to summon his Keyblade, but it wouldn't come to him. "Because of that stupid staff, we're unable to fight, use magic, or even call our Keyblades back to us."
"At least we didn't turn back into humans," Kairi said. "That would have probably surprised everyone if that were the case."
"Starlight has no idea what she's done to us," Terra said. "Without our ability to use the Keyblade, or even fight with them, if this world or any others are attacked by the Heartless, then we're all doomed."
"I don't think it's that bad," Fluttershy said. Everyone turned to look at the pegasus, some trying not to glare at her and upset the timid mare.
"Fluttershy, this is terrible!" Rarity exclaimed. "Just look at those drapes! I don't even know if they're tacky or not!"
"Well, I think they're nice." As they looked at the drapes, they were anything but: a pale light green, slightly tattered, and not even giving the room any sort of protection from the glaring sun if it shone through.
Rarity's equal mark began to pulse, tears welling up in the mare's eyes as she bawled. "So do I!"
A bird suddenly appeared by the window, a slight saving grace as they had a pony who could understand animals. "Oh, thank goodness! Can you help us out little birdie?" As the bird tweeted, Fluttershy's mark began pulsing. "Go on, fly and get us some help!" It didn't understand her, giving a confusing chirp before flying off. "Oh no. Even tweets don't make sense anymore."
"We really don't have our special talents anymore," Applejack said. "Why, this is worse than a...summer of..." Her mark began pulsing as well, her brain unable to come up with a metaphor for their predicament. "...piglets in...Aw, shoot. Ah can't make countryisms no more."
"Is that even a word?" Riku asked.
"Hey, who knows!?" Pinkie said. "Maybe it'll be fun being the same!" Now Pinkie's mark pulsed, her happy demeanor changing to boredom, though not as close as her sister, Maud's, tone. "Sort of. More pleasant than fun I guess."
"It's even affecting our personalities." Twilight paced back and forth, trying to remember what Starlight said about the Staff of Sameness. "I haven't studied much of Eastern unicorn artifacts, but I'm sure Meadowbrook only had eight magical items, not nine. I don't think one of them was even a staff."
"There wasn't," Aqua said, finally speaking up after they were brought in the building. She pulled out a book from her pockets, laying it down in front of her. "While on the train, I picked a book at random to read on the ride up here. Luckily, it was on Eastern unicorns, and at the mention of Meadowbrook, I knew Starlight was lying."
"Good thing they didn't frisk us for anything," Sora said, thankful to still have his hammerspace pouch strapped to his leg, though anything he still has stored in there wouldn't help them much, especially his summon buddies without his power to call them.
"There wasn't any kind of staff that makes anyone lose every bit of what makes them special," Aqua explained. "Honestly, the name of that staff could have been made up by a five-year-old and sound far more convincing than 'the Staff of Sameness'."
"I thought that name sounded off," Twilight said as she looked through the book. "I can't believe we fell for a trap. She must have known we would be there."
"Double Diamond must have tipped her off," Riku said. "He must have gotten too suspicious and snuck inside, hearing us talk about the vault and thought we would destroy it. And we need to now if we want them, and our talents, back."
"I also think Starlight's a complete hypocrite," the blue unicorn added. "Take a look at us now with these equal signs compared to her. There's a really big difference between her and the ponies she's making exactly the same." Everyone looked down at their hooves, their bodies slightly grayed and dull from the "cutie unmarking" Starlight forced them to take. "She seems a lot more colorful among everyone else. Not only does she look normal for a pony of Equestria, but she's in charge of the town when there should be no leader among those of equal talent."
"...That's right. She makes all the rules, puts everyone in line if she saw anyone out of place, and after seeing how worried Sugar Belle, Party Favor, and Night Glider were when they wanted to have their cutie marks back behind Starlight's back..." It soon dawned on the others that Starlight wasn't even remotely equal to everyone else in Our Town. And when they were struck by the Staff of Sameness, which was nothing but a fancy stick and not an enchanted item, she still had use of stronger magic. "That snake! She's been lying to everyone here in town!"
"But no one will believe us over her," Twilight pointed out. "And we can't fight back unless we're back to normal. I'm actually glad I didn't call my Keyblade and make Starlight panic knowing I had more power than I do as an alicorn."
"Then we need to find proof that she's lying in front of everyone, but to do that, we need to convince them that we've accepted their equality philosophy to let us out." Rainbow scoffed at Aqua's idea.
"Yeah, right," she said. "As if Starlight's going to believe all of us switched around after one night."
"Well, there is one of us they'll believe." Slowly, everyone turned their heads to who Aqua was staring at, which happened to be Fluttershy.
"...Me?" Fluttershy asked.
"You have been spouting out how great this place is," Ventus said. "But, Aqua, I don't think Fluttershy can handle doing something like this on her own. No offense, Fluttershy, but you might end up cracking under the pressure sneaking out when you're out and night falls to get our cutie marks back."
"I-I think I would," Fluttershy muttered, fidgeting her hooves nervously.
"Then one of us should pretend we've conformed as well," Aqua said. She looked around at the rest of her friends, gauging each pony from how they behaved as they first walked through the village. The rest of the Mane Six were out, especially Pinkie, who was supposed to be the most friendliest candidate if it weren't for the fact she was suspicious about everyone's smiling. Excluding herself, knowing she wouldn't be able to convince Starlight, Terra, Sora, and Riku were out too. That left the youngest of them by appearance, Ventus, and a girl with a heart of pure light, Kairi. "...Ven, I think you should join with Fluttershy."
"Why me?" Ventus asked.
"Since you're considered the youngest among us, Starlight could very well believe you since you're still a kid to her," she explained. "Younger minds are easy to mold with enough encouragement. And there were younger foals we saw in town who probably didn't even get their cutie marks yet before getting those equal signs."
Ventus looked at himself, then back at the others. Even though he was older than he seemed, he never did age while his heart was separated from his body after his battle with Vanitas. Compared to Sora, having a similar build to him with his lanky, agile appearance, he was a couple inches shorter than him. He was still considered a teenager, old enough to take care of himself, but young enough to still be taught what he's learned, even through the irritating mantras coming from the speakers if given enough time. The others thought Aqua's choice was better, even Ventus agreed as he nodded his head.
"Alright," he said. "Hopefully I'm a convincing actor when they check on us." As another random line from Starlight's recorded philosophy rang out in the room, Ventus groaned in irritation as he pressed his ears down against his head. "I think I'll end up being reformed if I have to hear all this over and over all night. That might help make it more convincing."
The evening couldn't have passed anymore slowly as dawn finally came. The speakers continued spurting out random lines from Starlight's philosophical ramblings, which mostly annoyed them more than brainwashed them. It was difficult trying to get any sleep as they tried to tune out the crazed unicorn's voice. Eventually, the endless recording finally stopped as the speaker let out some feedback.
"Good morning!" Starlight said over the speaker. A moment later, the door opened up, revealing the mare herself standing before them, the whole town outside watching the doorway. "I trust you all had a pleasant evening. Right this way, please." Having no choice, they followed her outside, freed from the cramped space of the single room in the house, along with the annoying speakers and pointless books in there that all had equal signs on every page. "There are so many friends here to make when you all realize you don't need cutie marks. Or the talents that come with them."
"We have a welcome celebration for new friends!" Double Diamond said. "The whole village comes together to build your own cottage to-"
"I don't think so!" Sora exclaimed. "Starlight, sooner or later, we're going to get our cutie marks back!"
"None of y'all just don't understand, do ya!?" Applejack said. "Ya can't force nopony to be your friends! That's not how it works!"
"Please join us!" one stallion said.
"We love new friends!" a mare said, apparently not listening to any of them unless it came from Starlight Glimmer.
"Settle down, everypony," Starlight interjected. "This is normal for the equalization process. It takes a while for those who haven't seen the light yet."
"Look who's talking after you force everyone to act under your word," Terra muttered.
"Wait!" Ventus called out as he stepped forward, Twilight nudging Fluttershy forward, making her stand by the young pegasus. "Fluttershy and I would like to join!"
The townsponies all suddenly grew excited at having two of their new guests coming forth to join their community. As they had planned, Starlight wasn't any the wiser at the sudden admission from two of them submitting so easily. The group feigned a gasp of shock to make their decision believable.
"Ven, what are you doing!?" Aqua asked. "You're betraying us!?"
"And Fluttershy, too!" Twilight said. "How could you both!?"
"I'd rather give up my cutie mark and be just like everyone else!" Ventus said. "I'm always sick and tired of being called a kid and want to be seen as equals among my fellow ponies!"
"Umm...M-Me too," Fluttershy said. "But, not being called little. I want to live in this lovely village with all these lovely ponies."
"Incredible!" Starlight said happily. "Anypony else wish to join?" Receiving silence from the others, she had them walk back inside the room and closed the door, unaware of the grins on their faces. "We have two new friends, everypony!" Everyone cheered in celebration for Ventus and Fluttershy, welcoming them as members of their community. "Now, there's one more order of business to take care of. It seems like some in our midst might be...dissatisfied with the village life!" The ponies all gasped in shock, the two pegasi noticing Party Favor, Sugar Belle, and Night Glider wincing from the accusation. "Yes, my friends! Unfortunate, but it is true.
"Will you two kindly tell us the names of those ponies?" Starlight asked Ventus and Fluttershy. "These friends among us who so desperately miss their cutie marks and sneak around behind our backs discussing this with strangers? Just as a sign that both of your interests are pure."
Fluttershy gulped nervously as the trio the group spoke with yesterday began to worry. From their silence, Starlight began glaring at them suspiciously. Their plan was going to backfire and be thrown right back in the house with their friends if they don't say something.
"It was me!" Party Favor called out, taking the blame for Sugar Belle and Night Glider along with him. "It was only me! But I just wanted it back for a little while!"
"Is this true?" Starlight asked, looking at Ventus and Fluttershy for clarification.
"Yes, it was Party Favor," Ventus replied. "He told us how much he desperately wanted his cutie mark back."
"For shame," the founder of Our Town said with a shake of her head. "And you didn't even think of the pain you would have caused your friends. Such selfishness."
"I'm so sorry, everypony!" Party Favor apologized as he was pushed toward the equalization house, forced inside by Starlight Glimmer for his shameful act. "I never intended on leaving the village! I love all of-!"
Starlight slammed the door on him, hoping the unicorn stallion will change his ways. "Ok, everypony, apparently that's all the new friends we'll be having today! Maybe tomorrow we'll have more!" The townsponies dispersed and went about their daily lives while Ventus and Fluttershy followed Starlight. "Until your cottage is built, all new friends will stay with me. We'll get you two settled and then you'll enjoy everything our village has to offer."
"That sounds great!" Ventus said, rolling his eyes as Starlight turned her head away from them.
Back in the equalization house, Party Favor rammed his head into the door, getting his horn stuck in the door as he moped miserably. "What was I thinking? I can't believe I ever considered asking for my cutie mark back."
"Alright, drama queen," Riku said, pulling the stallion's head out of the door and sitting him down. "Fluttershy and Ventus are going to get us out of here and we'll deal with Starlight."
"Didn't you see what happened!?" Party Favor exclaimed, grabbing Riku's shirt and shaking him in his panic. "Your friends have already accepted our ways! You all will too! It's only a matter of time!"
Riku slapped the stallion's hooves off of him. "Calm down before I slap some sense in you!...That is, if I can slap you hard enough to knock any sense at all."
"This guy's a barrel of laughs," Rainbow whispered to Applejack.
"Laughs don't come in barrels," Pinkie said monotonously. "They come from inside you as your body's response to delight."
"...I have no idea if I should laugh at that or not," Terra said, unsure if Pinkie intentionally made that joke or she said it due to the equal enchantment forced upon her.
"At least we won't break that easily," Sora said. "We just need to stay positive and wait for Ven and Fluttershy to get our marks back. Maybe Party Favor will finally realize how great we are as friends and get his mind out of the gutter."
Party Favor moped in the corner after his freak-out, not able to be convinced so easily in his state. The speakers sputtered feedback as Starlight's recorded philosophy brainwash program continued, making everyone except Party Favor groan.
"Unless we keep hearing that stupid thing," Riku grumbled. "We'll end up being conformed just to quit hearing Starlight's voice over and over..."
The day was unbearably long, finally turning to night as it was the perfect time for Fluttershy and Ventus to sneak out of Starlight's house. They knew the others could survive going through another day of Starlight's equalization process, though if they failed, they might end up being reformed just to get out of the claustrophobic room echoing so many philosophical quotes from the unicorn. As soon as the dead of night approached, the two pegasi made their move, sneaking out through the chimney.
Fluttershy popped up from the smokestack first, coughing out soot as she shook off the black ash clinging to her. "Ok. So far...so good. Just...gotta get...the cutie marks...in the middle of the night."
She yelped as Ventus pushed her up out of the chimney more until she was out, poking his head out as he coughed, clearing his lungs from the suffocating stack. "Ugh. How does Santa Claus do this on Christmas Eve? In fact, how did Sora do this???" He climbed out of the chimney and met Fluttershy on the roof, shaking off the soot from his body. "We need to get our cutie marks back, and fast. The others must be going insane listening to Starlight through that speaker all day." Ventus crept across the roof as he stood on the edge, looking out at the mountain where the vault lies. He turned to Fluttershy, the mare extremely frightened as her body shook. "Fluttershy, come on."
"D-Did we h-have to do this when it's so d-dark?" Fluttershy asked. "W-What if there are Heartless? Or any scary monsters lurk around here?"
Ventus resisted the urge to groan in annoyance, approaching Fluttershy to help calm her down. "Then we just run away. Now, come on. We need to get to the vault now while we have the-" He paused as he heard hoofsteps down on the ground. Looking out to the direction of the mountain, he spotted Double Diamond coming back into town, pulling a wagon with something glowing in several glass mason jars as he approached Starlight's house. "Stay down and keep quiet."
Fluttershy heeded the teen's advice, crouching low as she watched him crawl over to the edge of the roof. Peeking over while avoiding being seen, he saw Starlight waiting for him by her front door. He stifled a gasp as he saw what was inside the dozen jars Double Diamond carried; their cutie marks.
"Excellent work, Double Diamond," Starlight said.
"Of course, Starlight, but I don't understand why you wanted me to bring these," Double Diamond said as the unicorn levitated the jars out of the cart and brought them inside. Once both ponies were inside, Ventus slid down and hovered down beside the window, peeking inside while keeping himself hidden from their view. "Fluttershy and Ventus are one of us now. Surely they can be trusted."
"These two cutie marks belong to two very popular ponies in Equestria," Starlight explained, levitating Twilight's and Sora's cutie marks. "These are very important to our cause, Double Diamond."
"But if they become our friends, why do you care about bringing them here?" the stallion asked.
"I just want to keep them close until everything falls into place. You may go, Double Diamond. We'll check on our new friends tomorrow if they've finally opened up." Not questioning her any further, Double Diamond left with a nod.
Ventus hid around the side of the house as the stallion exited Starlight's home, making his way back to his cottage with a puzzled expression. "That's just great. Starlight's got them now. How are we going to get them back now? No one in this town will believe us if we tell them Starlight's-"
Suddenly, he heard a crash and water spilling over on the second floor, Starlight grunting and groaning in annoyance inside. "Urgh, Starlight, you clumsy foal." Ventus flew up to the window where the unicorn's room was, being mindful of getting caught as he saw Starlight had dropped a bucket of water, splashing some on her back by accident. "Wished we had indoor plumbing for baths, but that's a price to pay if I want to keep everypony from their talents."
She levitated a towel and dried herself off, but as Ventus was about to look away as Starlight began toweling off her flanks, his jaw dropped at what he saw. The equal sign cutie mark on Starlight was rubbed right off, revealing her actual cutie mark: an eight pointed purple star, the four points in the corners being white, while two wisps of blue and aquamarine trails curled toward the star. Ventus thought that Starlight's cutie mark was the equal sign, but the fact she hid her real cutie mark made a lot of sense and Aqua's suspicions on her were correct. There was no Staff of Samness; she used a spell on them and the ponies in Our Town to steal their cutie marks, along with what makes them unique among their peers.
He continued watching, the unicorn unaware of the peeping stallion as she reapplied her fake cutie mark with some makeup, covering her cutie mark with a colored powder that matched her fur, then brushed gray-black powder over a stencil of an equal mark. He ducked away from the window and flew back up to the roof, Fluttershy staying put as she was told.
"Looks like Aqua was right," Ventus said. "Sadly, we can't get our cutie marks. Starlight's keeping them in her room, so barging in and trying to steal them isn't gonna happen."
"Oh no," Fluttershy whimpered. "What are we going to do now?"
"There's some good news in all this. We can finally convince all the ponies who followed Starlight that she's nothing but a lying, stealing, equality-spouting hypocrite who's planning to do something with all those cutie marks." Ventus gently pushed Fluttershy back to the chimney, the mare having no clue what he was talking about. "Just head back in. I'll be back in a little bit. First, I'm going to need to find a bucket and fill it with water."
"Why do you need a bucket of water?" Fluttershy asked.
"We're going to melt ourselves a witch," Ventus said with a malicious grin before flying off to find himself an empty bucket to store by the cottage the others were trapped in.
"...What does that mean?" Fluttershy asked herself as she slowly made her way back inside through the chimney.
The next morning, everyone in town stood in front of the equalization cottage, where the remaining ten trapped ponies were freed only for a short moment to see if they were willing to conform. "I have a good feeling about today!" Starlight said excitedly. "Do any of you have something you'd like to say?" She waited for a response from the three stallions and seven mares, though they kept their peace. Ventus and Fluttershy could tell they were highly annoyed from constantly listening to Starlight's recordings, but that was going to end today. "Well, that's a shame. No new friends today, everypony! We'll have to try again tomorrow!"
"Wait, Starlight," Ventus said. "Can we lock them in?"
"Why, of course you can, Ventus!" Starlight said. "That's the spirit!" Given permission, the two pegasi approached his friends, though he understood their confusion as to why he and Fluttershy didn't get their cutie marks back. "Party Favor, will you join us, please?"
Party Favor ran out of the cottage as if the whole place were on fire, groveling at Starlight's hooves. "I'm sorry, Starlight! I'm sorry, everypony! I've seen the error of my ways!"
"Well, it looks like there is a cause for celebration today after all!" Starlight announced to everyone.
While Party Favor continued exclaiming how wrong he was, the Mane Six and Keyblade wielders waited until they were in the cottage to talk. "Well? What happened?"
"Starlight's got our cutie marks stashed in her room," Ventus said. "We barely made it out of the house through the chimney before we saw Double Diamond come back with them in jars."
"Oh, great," Riku groaned. "And knowing her, she keeps her room locked, and we're powerless to break down a simple wooden door."
"But, we can convince the townsponies to side with us," the young pegasus added with a smirk. "Her equal sign cutie mark? It's a fake; she has her real cutie mark hidden by makeup."
"I knew it," Aqua said. "When equalized, the only form of magic a unicorn can use is telekinesis."
"And if she wanted to steal ponies' cutie marks, she can't take her own away if she needs her magic to take them," Twilight said. "This town really did need help after all. Starlight's been lying to everypony this whole time."
"And I have a plan to expose her for the fraud she is. Twilight, Sora, I'm going to need you two to play along and divert Starlight's attention away from this cottage. Leave the rest to me." Twilight and Sora nodded their heads as Ventus and Fluttershy exited the cottage. They saw Party Favor was welcomed back by Starlight, the unicorn stallion grinning widely, but he and the others won't be for long. "Oh, Starlight? I think we might have two more new friends joining us after all!"
As the alicorn and brown-haired pegasus stepped outside, Starlight shoved Party Favor aside, holding back her inner excitement as her plans seemed to be coming to fruition. "Is this true?"
"I think so," Sora said. "But, will we really be happier if we leave our cutie marks in the vault?"
"Just look around, Sora," Starlight said, waving a hoof to the crowd of smiling ponies. "Equality has given us more happiness than you could ever know!"
"We can see it now," Twilight said, both ponies slowly moving closer, keeping Starlight's attention on them. When her head was turned, Ventus snuck over to the side of the cottage, grabbing the bucket of water he placed last night, waiting for his cue to strike. "And if we had our old cutie marks, you wouldn't let us live here in your village, correct?"
"Completely out of the question. A pony with a different cutie mark among us would destroy our entire philosophy." The other ponies nodded and murmured their agreements, which was the perfect time for Ventus as he hovered over to Starlight with the bucket in his hooves.
"Oh really?" Sora asked, he and Twilight looking at each other with a smirk. "Then, someone among us must not have been given the cutie unmarking ritual."
"Huh?" As Starlight questioned what Sora meant, knowing she unmarked everyone, Ventus tossed water all over the unicorn, making her shriek in surprise.
"Oops! Sorry!" he apologized sarcastically. "You got a little something on your flank, Starlight!"
"You little brat!" Starlight growled. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted you!" In her anger, she didn't notice the makeup covering her real cutie mark began running. The equalized ponies all muttered why her cutie mark was wondering while Sora pulled out a spare Elven Bandanna from his pouch. He began wiping off the rest of the makeup, making Starlight gasp in shock. "No! Get away!"
It was already too late. The townsponies all gasped in horror as they all saw her real cutie mark out in the open. Sora tsked and shook his head, the mare helplessly covering her exposed cutie mark with her tail.
"How ironic," Sora said. "You want everyone to be equal and one and the same, yet...you still have your cutie mark. I wonder why that is?"
"S-Starlight...How could you?" Party Favor asked in disbelief.
"You said cutie marks were evil!" Double Diamond exclaimed, utterly mortified. "You said that special talents lead to pain and heartache!"
"T-They do!" Starlight argued.
"Enough with the lies, Starlight!" Ventus shouted, tossing the bucket aside as the Mane Six and Keyblade wielders began to surround her. "You've done quite enough ruining everyone else's life here by showing 'true friendship' by taking away what makes them all unique in their own way! Along with forcefully taking ours!"
"Why did you take our cutie marks and not your own?" Sugar Belle asked.
Starlight stammered, unable to hide it anymore now that she was caught. "Because I had to, you fools! How else was I supposed to take your cutie marks without my magic!?"
"But the staff has all the magic we need!" Night Glider exclaimed.
"Oh for the love of-Are you serious!?" Starlight shouted. "That staff is just a stupid piece of wood I found in the desert! Seriously, 'The Staff of Sameness'!? That's something a five-year-old can tell it's fake!"
"And yet you're the one who named it that in the first place," Rainbow uttered.
"My magic was what made all of this possible!" Starlight said. "You'd all still be living your miserable lives thinking you're better than everypony else if it weren't for me! I brought you friendship! I brought you equality! I CREATED HARMONY!"
"You did not create any sort of harmony, Starlight!" Aqua exclaimed. "What you've done doesn't defend your actions, stealing away the talents of all these ponies, and ours as well, it's unspeakable! You're nothing but a liar, a manipulator, and a no-good thief!"
"So what!?" Starlight countered. "Everything else I said is true! The world would be better if all of us were equal!"
"Except for you." Hearing Party Favor's disgust, she glared at him, lighting her horn in fury.
Everyone leered at her, everything she told them all a lie as they actually gave up their talents to be friends. They actually believed her philosophies on equality, and she wasn't a part of the cult she created so she can have power over them and take what made them special to make her the only unique pony in Our Town.
"Everypony has unique talents and gifts-" Twilight began explaining the true values of friendship as the Princess of Friendship. Starlight swiveled her ears to her voice, her horn glowing brighter as her eye twitched, not willing to listen to a lecture on what was right and wrong about her ideals. Riku saw the rage in the mare's eyes, knowing she was about to snap and hit someone with a painful magic blast. He spotted the bucket Ventus discarded not too far from him, figuring if he wasn't able to be a better fighter than a normal pony, then maybe he can throw just as equally. "-and when we share them with each other, that's how real-"
"QUIET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Starlight shouted as she turned her head to Twilight, aiming her horn directly at her.
Riku quickly grabbed the bucket in his mouth, throwing it right at her head. He missed her face by mere inches, not used to tossing anything with his mouth, but he threw it just in time for the unicorn's spell to hit the wooden bucket, shattering it into pieces as the close range of the blast sent her sprawling back. While she was stunned, Riku pounced on her, holding her down while Sora, Ventus, and Terra rushed toward them to assist him.
"Oh, you're really asking to be thrown in jail for the rest of your pathetic life, aren't you!?" Riku shouted. "I thought you didn't tolerate violence in your little philosophy! Or was that a lie, too!?"
Starlight growled, her horn lighting up again, only this time, shoving the four stallions back with a force field, sending them flying back. She got up on her hooves and ran, ignoring the looks she was given by the ponies whose cutie marks she took as she fled into her cottage.
"Come on, everypony! Let's get our cutie marks back!" Double Diamond cheered, he and his fellow townsponies following him up to the cutie mark vault, no longer siding with Starlight and her lies.
Sora, Riku, Ventus, and Terra got back up on their hooves, feeling a little winded from the harsh push from Starlight's barrier. "Ow. Forgot what it was like to be normal before we got our Keyblades."
As Riku rubbed his back from the rough landing he received, Twilight tackled him and hugged him tightly. "Thank you. I thought she was going to hit me." She gave him a deep kiss on the lips, a little shaken up after seeing how aggressive Starlight was in her anger. "She would have blasted me straight through one of the houses and severely injure me while we're still like this."
"Even without my strength, I'm not going to let anything hurt you," Riku said. "...So, you're not upset with me for worrying about your safety this time, right?"
Twilight shook her head and nuzzled him. "I'll allow it."
"Hey, you two mind saving that for the bedroom when we get our cutie marks back?" Sora teased, making the couple blush. "Come on, guys! Let's get ours back, too!"
At the vault, the ponies of Our Town tried their hardest to bang on the glass and break their cutie marks out. But due to the effects of Starlight's spell, their equalized strength couldn't even leave a crack in the glass. Double Diamond needed to think fast; he brought their visitors' cutie marks to Starlight Glimmer, and once they got theirs back, she'll probably try to escape with them. He saw the fake staff, deciding to take Riku's lead and throw it hard at the vault.
"Stand back, everypony!" he warned before picking up the large stick.
Taking a running start, gripping the staff tightly in his maw, he swung his head hard, throwing it right at the center of the vault. Cracks began to form, webbing out more and more until the glass finally shattered. Everyone's cutie marks flew out, now freed as they flew around, searching for their owners. As their marks and talents were returned, so were their brighter colors and different hairstyles.
Double Diamond's cutie mark was a trio of blue six-pointed snowflakes, his hair more messy than the boring short cuts the stallions all had under Starlight's rule. Party Favor's mark was a pink balloon dog with streamers raining down on it, his hair curly, almost similar to Pinkie Pie's. Sugar Belle had a cupcake with purple icing and a cherry on top as her cutie mark, her hair curly and no longer in a bun, hanging low with a blue and white braid at the end of both her mane and tail. Night Glider's cutie mark was a crescent moon surrounded by two curved feathers that circled it, her hair more swept back and wild.
"I'm never going to leave behind my talent ever again!" Party Favor cheered. "I can't believe we believed Starlight after everything she said."
"We can't celebrate just yet," Double Diamond said. "Last night, I gave Starlight Glimmer our new friends' cutie marks from the vault. They won't be able to do much against her if they're still under that equal spell of hers."
"Then let's not waste any time!" Night Glider said. "Let's move!"
The four ponies quickly made their way out of the cave, cutie marks still flying out from the cave as they reached the town, returning back to any other ponies that had stayed behind while the majority of them had gone to the vault.
Terra roared and rammed his shoulder into Starlight's front door, grunting in pain as it didn't budge. "Agh. What I wouldn't give to actually have some muscle for my body size with this equal curse."
The group tried to find a way inside, get their cutie marks back, and arrest Starlight for stealing other ponies' cutie marks and attempting to attack a princess. Unfortunately, there was no other way: the only door inside was locked, Sora, Riku, Ventus, and Rainbow Dash couldn't pry off the bars that made up the windows around the cottage, even the chimney was blocked off from any pegasi sneaking in through the smokestack.
"It's no use," Sora said after trying one last time to pry through one of the windows. "We're completely useless right now."
"We need help," Kairi said.
Night Glider flew over, rearing herself to fly headfirst into the door. "Stand back, guys!"
Looking up, they spotted Night Glider as her actual self, along with some cutie marks flying overhead like shooting stars as they flew into other homes or back on their owner's flanks. Terra stepped back, giving the mare some room as she charged forward, breaking the door down and allowing them entry. Party Favor, Sugar Belle, and Double Diamond arrived right as Night Glider busted through.
"And the cavalry has arrived," Sora commented. They barged in and searched around the house, finding no sign of Starlight anywhere. "Starlight, you're surrounded! No use hiding, so give yourself up!"
"And give back our cutie marks!" Applejack added.
"Guys, come quick!" Hearing Ventus calling out to them, everyone entered what appeared to be Starlight's room. There wasn't any sign of her or their cutie marks, but her bed was shoved aside, which seemed to have concealed a secret passage she must have made when her cottage was built. "She must have escaped through here with them!"
They made their way through the dimly lit passage, wondering just how far it went and where Starlight was running off to. As they reached the end, they were out a far distance from Our Town, the exit facing a snowy mountain pass where they could see Starlight running down the path with a cart she pulled behind her. Party Favor decided to get a better look, pulling out several balloons he had kept on him as he blew into them, making a multicolored pair of rubber binoculars. He looked through them, finding the unicorn fleeing with not only the Mane Six and Keyblade wielders' cutie marks, but the wielders' Keyblades as well.
"She's heading for the pass!" Party Favor exclaimed. "If she makes it past those mountains, we'll never be able to find her!"
Sora took the balloon binoculars and took a look, letting out an impressed whistle at how well they worked. "Wow. These...actually work. You wouldn't happen to be Pinkie's long-lost cousin, would you?"
"Oh dear lord, please no!" Riku begged. "We already have one stallion who's exactly like Pinkie, and he's a wandering party planner! We do not need another pony from her family with weird, random party stuff they pull out of nowhere!"
"We need to get her now!" Sugar Belle said. "That mountain has a whole network of caves! We'll lose her in there, and your cutie marks are gone forever!"
"Then let's get going!" Rainbow exclaimed as they moved forward. Party Favor, Double Diamond, Sugar Belle, and Night Glider ran as hard as they could, but for the rest of the group, they were forced to move at jogging speed due to the cursed equal signs on their flanks. Rainbow Dash growled in irritation as she was forced to fly so slowly. "Oh, come on! I can't believe our cutie marks are in the hooves of somepony else!"
"Well, if we didn't come here to help them, they would have been stuck like we are now," Twilight said. "Now it's their turn to help us!"
"I hope Starlight doesn't use our Keyblades she kept as her personal trophies along with our cutie marks on them," Sora said with worry.
"Is it possible for somepony to actually use your Keyblades?" Rarity asked.
"In a way, yes and no," Aqua answered. "Others not chosen to be Keyblade bearers can hold one, but if it belongs to an owner who doesn't allow that person admission to wield it, it returns to the bearer. It's just a blunt weapon to them, the magic from a Keyblade only viable to the chosen wielder as their power is given to its owner."
"In other words, Starlight can use them as weapons, but they'd be more like swords without their power," Terra paraphrased.
"I'm sure they can do it," Kairi said. "They help us, we'll help them if Starlight becomes too violent."
"It better be soon, because I hate flying this slow!" Rainbow complained as she pouted, slowly hovering alongside the rest of her friends.
Starlight ran as fast as she was able to with the cart hitched to her, surely able to reach the caverns beyond the mountain pass and lose everyone. "How dare they come into my village and ruin my life!? We'll see who's really won when you all have to spend the rest of your lives without your special talents! And maybe I'll figure out just how these strange weapons work, giving magic to non-unicorns that nopony has ever seen before!"
"Starlight Glimmer!" She turned her head, finding Night Glider rapidly getting closer as she flew after her, Party Favor, Double Diamond, and Sugar Belle chasing her on foot with their cutie marks returned.
Night Glider swooped down to try to snatch one of the jars, but Starlight fired a beam of magic toward the mountain, sending a small avalanche of snow falling down on the pegasus. "You have to be kidding me! Are you all really to give up everything I gave you because of those strangers!?"
"We gave up everything for you because we thought you were our friend!" Sugar Belle yelled out. She ran on ahead of the others, Night Glider popping up out of the snow pile and resumed the chase with her friends. Sugar Belle picked up a large pile of snow as she ran past, forming it into a pie as Starlight ran down a narrow rocky bridge connecting the mountains on the path. "Taste my newest recipie; snow pie!"
Throwing the pie shaped snowball, the heavy mass striking the hitch of the cart and snapping it. Starlight yelped as she tripped from the sudden loss of weight she was dragging, the cart bouncing from the impact of its handles breaking off and sending the twelve cutie marks and six Keyblades soaring out and down to the chasm below. Starlight panicked, quickly using her magic to grab all eighteen objects before they hit the ground, barely managing to catch the jars before they shattered.
Levitating them back to her, she ran to the other side of the bridge, quickly turning around and blasting the bridge with her magic. She managed to stop Double Diamond, Party Favor, and Sugar Belle, though Night Glider was still able to flag her down as a pegasus. Satisfied with the roadblock, she continued running, getting closer to the caves with her items carried above her.
The lagging group managed to reach the top of the path where they overlooked more of the mountain pass, watching Starlight destroy the bridge before running again. "Wow. She has a lot of magical potential if she could destroy a stone bridge and steal cutie marks."
"How in tarnation are they gonna get after her now!?" Applejack asked.
Her question was answered by Party Favor's quick thinking. Using his balloon crafting talent, he managed to swiftly build a balloon bridge with several hundred tied balloons reaching one end of the broken bridge to the other. Night Glider helped set the other side down, making sure it was stable before the other three bounced their way across. If Pinkie wasn't without her cutie mark, she would have expressed her excitement at wanting to give the balloon bridge a good bounce, though the others were flabbergasted.
"...Ok, maybe Sora is right," Riku said. "Pinkie, that might be a long lost cousin several generations removed that you never knew about. Because...that's just not possible!"
"Freak out later," Terra said, pulling the exasperated white pegasus by his shirt as the others slowly jogged ahead. "We need to try to catch up to them!"
The pursuing ponies continued chasing after Starlight, the caves within sight as they began running out of time. They ran past a pair of discarded blue skis, a purple helmet with protective goggles, and a purple scarf. Double Diamond skid to a halt as he approached them, immediately recognizing them.
"My old skis," he said, reaching a hoof out to touch his abandoned gear. "This was where I first met Starlight..."
"Hey, reminisce later!" Night Glider said, snapping the stallion out of his memories. "Starlight's about to reach the caves!"
Looking back at his skis, then back down the path. There was a lot of snow along the upper peaks beside the pathway, quickly putting on his old gear.
"Feel like an air drop?" Double Diamond asked Night Glider, catching on to what he had in mind.
After putting on his skis, scarf, and helmet, the pegasus mare wrapped her hooves around his barrel, giving him a lift up as she flew over the canyon. Once she gained enough speed, she let go, dropping him as he slalomed across the snow to accelerate a bit more. Double Diamond caught up to Starlight, angling his hooves attached to his skis to cause a much bigger avalanche to fall on her than what she made to Night Glider. The unicorn looked up too late as she was caved in with snow, the stolen cutie marks and Keyblades held in her aura for a moment before her magic gave out from the freezing cold powder. The jars fell to the ground, shattering to pieces as the cutie marks flew off back to their owners.
The Mane Six and six Keyblade wielders reached the balloon bridge, looking up as they saw lights zip up into the air and head straight for them. Their cutie marks flew straight toward their flanks, ridding the curse Starlight gave them as their bodies flashed, returning them back to their brighter colors, personalities, and talents.
"They did it!" Ventus said.
"Hay, yeah!" Rainbow cheered, flipping around in midair with her natural speed finally back. "Now, let's go kick some unicorn flank!"
"Oh, let's," Riku said, slamming his hooves together before he, Sora, Ventus, and Twilight flew on ahead to catch up to Starlight and her ex-followers.
Double Diamond slid down the slope and skid to a halt before Sugar Belle, Night Glider, and Party Favor. "Man, I missed skiing a whole lot more than I thought."
Starlight crawled herself out of the snow, leering spitefully at the four ponies who stopped her. Looking down at the ground from the snow pile, the jars were broken, which meant the cutie marks she tried to steal were gone. However, the Keyblades laid around the shattered glass.
"So, you four are really going to betray me over them?" Starlight asked, glowering at the ponies she had conformed. She levitated the Keyblades in her aura, aiming the blades at them. "You're all going to pay for this! Every! Single! One of-!" One by one, the Keyblades began disappearing in a flash of light, startling her and getting her more frustrated as they mysteriously vanished. "W-What!? Where did they go!? What did you do!?"
"W-We didn't do anything," Party Favor said, just as confused as the others.
Starlight growled, lighting her horn again, her eye twitching as she has had enough of everything she gained taken away from her. Her aura shone brightly around the tip of her horn, the four ex-followers huddling together in fright at the dangerous spell the unicorn was about to fire at them. They flinched when a powerful beam shot out from Starlight's horn, but just as it was about to hit them, Twilight, Sora, Riku, and Ventus landed in front of them, blocking the beam with their Keyblades as they deflected it away from them.
"W-Wha-? How...?" Starlight stammered. Her spell was deflected so easily, her most powerful one she's ever learned, and the Keyblades, now in their hooves to her confusion, managed to knock it back. Not only that, but she was more enraged when she saw that Twilight had one as well. "You have one of those as well!? How!?"
"So many questions, but we're not going to bother giving you answers," Sora said. The rest of their friends arrived, Kairi, Aqua, and Terra standing alongside the other four wielders with their Keyblades out, all of them standing in their battle stances. "Like all utopias in history, yours has fallen, Starlight! It would have sooner and later, and we're glad to have come here to help the ponies whose cutie marks you stole!"
"I've studied magic for years!" Starlight exclaimed. "How can those key-shaped swords even block spells!?"
"They're a lot more powerful than they seem, and taking them from us was a big mistake," Aqua said.
"Starlight, I've studied magic for years as well," Twilight said. "But back then, I never knew that studying would only take me so far in life. All of my friends have taught me something about myself, their unique gifts, talents, personalities, and passions helped me discover the true magic of friendship." Starlight rolled her eyes, shrugging aside the alicorn's words in disdain. Twilight looked back at her pony friends as she continued her speech. "I never would have learned that as the Element of Magic with my five friends-" She then looked at her fellow Keyblade wielders. "-and so much more from everypony else. None of us would be here now to stop you if I never discovered friendship."
"Ugh! Spare me your sentimental nonsense!" Starlight said. "I gave these ponies real friendships that none of them would have ever had in all their lives!"
"How would you even know!?" Double Diamond exclaimed, taking off his helmet. "You never even bothered to give us a chance! I'd rather trust Princess Twilight to show us what real friendship is like than listen to anymore of your lies!"
Starlight lit up her horn, having had enough of the backlash against everything she knew was right compared to them as she charged her spell. "Oh no you don't!"
Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aqua, Terra, and Ventus rushed forward, readying their blades to stop whatever the unicorn was about to cast at them. Knowing she was outnumbered and outclassed now that she was no longer seen as a friendly pony to them, she cast a barrier around herself, blocking all six Keyblade wielders' blades as they came down on her. They pushed back, trying to break through and knock her out so she can be dealt with by Celestia after reporting her to what she's been doing for who knows how long she started her little cult.
Struggling to hold her barrier, she cast a bright light from her horn, blinding everyone and distracting her assailants. Expanding her shield forcefully, she pushed the Keyblade wielders back and ran into the caves, using up the last of her mana in her desperate escape attempt. As soon as everyone's eyesight returned to normal, they didn't see Starlight anywhere, the snowy hoof prints leading into the cave telling them she ran inside, losing her trail. They had no idea how big the network of caves were in this mountain, but even with all of them searching for her, she probably knows of another exit and would be long gone.
"She got away," Riku uttered. "She can't hide forever. As soon as we get back to Ponyville, we're putting her face on wanted posters all over Equestria and warn Celestia, Luna, and Cadence of her cutie mark stealing magic."
"I hope she at least thinks over what she had done," Twilight said, looking back at Party Favor, Double Diamond, Night Glider, and Sugar Belle.. "One day, she'll realize what she did was wrong and was taught something by you four."
"I think it was you who taught us something, Your Highness," Party Favor said. "All of us came to the village because we were searching for something that was missing in our lives. We thought Starlight gave it to us, but she didn't. And it was in front of us all this time. It was us."
The four ponies got together in a group hug, still friends even after Starlight's philosophical lies were ingrained in their minds with their different talents. "So, you guys are going to stay in the village?"
"It's our home," Night Glider said. "I'm not going anywhere."
"And this will give us all the chance to get to know each other again," Double Diamond added. "But as our true selves for the very first time."
"And I can finally start baking something besides those terrible muffins!" Everyone laughed, including Sugar Belle at her own relief to get back to enjoying her talent and spare everyone else's stomachs.
They returned back to Our Town, where all the townsponies were celebrating, making friends with each other without being one and the same. It was a lost cause for the Mane Six and the Keyblade wielders to search for Starlight in the mountains at the moment, but when she does show herself, they'll be ready for whatever scheme she has cooking. The road was a bit more colorful now as the town was decorated for the occasion, Sugar Belle baking a lot of better, delicious pastries for everyone to enjoy. The heroes stood on the edge of town, watching the party take place, satisfied with their duty, even if the villain got away from them.
"Now those are real smiles," Pinkie said.
They soon flinched as that strange feeling back in the castle came back when the map appeared. Looking down at their cutie marks, they began glowing again, all of them still unsure what the sudden glowing was all about before and now.
"Ah sure ain't gonna get used to this happenin'," Applejack said.
"Well, I think it's divine," Rarity said.
"Is the map calling us to go somewhere else?" Kairi asked.
"I don't think so," Aqua said, noticing how their marks were pulsing inward rather than outward back at the castle. "I think our job here is accomplished."
"I have a feeling that's exactly what it is, Aqua," Twilight said. "The map sent us here for a reason, and it was to help these ponies discover what real friendship is all about."
"So, the map sent us out to spread friendship?" Terra asked as he scratched his head in thought. "What about the galactic map? Are we going to be sent to other worlds to spread friendship? I'd rather not leave this world until Xehanort has been found and dealt with once and for all. I'm not risking him trying to take me over again."
"We need to figure out how the other map works, then. Those black specks that were on some of those worlds we skimmed through didn't seem like a good thing," Ventus said.
"Aww, this sounds like an ending to a chapter!" Pinkie whined. "Can it not be the end just yet!? I want Sugar Belle's real baked goods after I ate eighteen of those bad muffins!"
All of their stomachs began growling at the mention of Sugar Belle's pastries. Ever since they arrived here, the only thing they had to eat were those horrible muffins, and they were starving for something else to eat.
"I think we can stay a bit longer." Twilight looked at Riku, knowing they need to send a report to Celestia about what happened to them and warn the Royal Guard and officers in the cities to be on alert for Starlight.
He looked at her, seeing the pleading gaze in her eyes, sighing in defeat as Twilight and his empty stomach won him over. "Alright. For a little while. But while we eat, we're writing that message for the princesses for Spike to send."
"Deal!" Twilight hugged Riku, the stallion letting out a small chuckle as he shook his head, wrapping a wing around her back.
The group walked back into Our Town to celebrate with everyone, getting to know the other ponies there and enjoy the better food on the many tables laid out for the party. After being equalized for the past couple days, they figured a little fun wouldn't be that bad. They knew Starlight wouldn't show herself in public, the mare smarter than she appeared, though she would have a vendetta against them for disturbing her cult, destroying her utopia, and ruining her plans.
Far from the mountains miles away from the town she created, Starlight sulked in a cavern, stewing in her anger as her plans were ruined. "Curse you, Twilight Sparkle. Curse you, Sora. Curse you two and your stupid friends." Growling, she punched the wall of the cave she leaned against. "Everything I did to make Equestria better, you all ruined it! I'll get my revenge on you...but how?"
"Sounds like you're in quite a predicament." The unicorn gasped in surprise as she heard a feminine voice echo around her.
"Who's there!?" she asked, looking around the empty cavern. She lit up her horn to light the area, still finding no sign of anyone inside with her. "Who are you!?"
Green flames lit up in front of Starlight, making her press back against the wall in fear as Maleficent appeared before her. "I could not help but overhear you mention Sora."
"...Who are you? And how do you know Sora?" Starlight questioned.
"I have my own personal reasons for dealing with that boy," Maleficent explained. "He has been a thorn in my side for the past few years, along with his friends. Some of my plans were foiled with that imbecile of a minion of mine working for me, but regardless, he is quite a nuisance when he gets in my way..." The witch grinned as she approached Starlight. "We both have a vendetta against him. Why not work together to end him?"
"...Why should I trust you?" the heliotrope unicorn asked suspiciously. "If you can't beat him, what makes you think the two of us can?"
"Because I can help you achieve power you wouldn't believe." The robed mare tapped her staff against the ground, summoning a group of Soldier Heartless beside her. Starlight gasped in shock, recognizing the dark, yellow-eyed creatures that were reported in the news that had mysteriously appeared in a couple places in the past few years. She thought they would attack her, but the Heartless stayed put, occasionally twitching their head or limbs. "This is the kind of power you can have; the power of darkness."
"Darkness?" She remembered an event that had occurred back in the now returned Crystal Empire after it had been lost for over a thousand years. The evil unicorn stallion, Sombra, was affected by dark power that remained unexplained, and with how powerful the dark stallion was, he was defeated by Sora and his friends, along with the light of the Crystal Heart. "...But, that's dangerous...Even if I was desperate, I'm not going to resort to using dark magic. It makes a unicorn mad with power, throwing away any rational thought."
"But it can be controlled," Maleficent assured, tapping her staff again as she ordered the Soldiers to kneel down on one leg. "Learn to master it and not let it master you, you can become even more powerful than the strongest of foes with enough experience. Just from sensing your magic alone, you have quite a lot of potential."
"...You say you control it, you're powerful by controlling these...dangerous creatures, but you can't even defeat somepony like Sora?" Starlight stared at Maleficent, letting out a dry chuckle as she shook her head in amusement. "Why would I want to team up with somepony who hasn't been able to stop him for the last few years when I had him weakened by a simple spell I cast on him and his friends the day I first met him?" The witch sneered at Starlight, disliking the mocking tone of her voice. "What exactly is your talent then? Failure?"
"Don't you dare underestimate my power, child," Maleficent warned, dismissing her Heartless as she leered at the smirking unicorn. "I may command an army of Heartless, but I have powerful magic that the likes of you can never comprehend. I suggest you still your tongue and think before you speak ill of me."
"If Sora can beat you and these Heartless things, then don't waste your breath. I don't even know why you keep bothering trying if you lose to him over and over again." Maleficent grunted in irritation, having enough of Starlight's smart mouth as the mare began walking away from her. She fired a large ball of green fire at her, but Starlight cast a barrier, not even flinching as the fireball exploded behind her. "Was that really all you've got?"
"You impudent girl!" The witch was about to call her Heartless to deal with her, but Starlight shot Maleficent with her magic, freezing her in place as she grunted in pain.
She dropped her staff and bent over as Starlight cast the spell she used on everyone in her village, including Sora, Twilight, and their friends. She pulled the cutie mark that was hidden underneath Maleficent's black cloak, revealing it to be a black dragon's face with green flames surrounding it, framed by black thorns. The cutie mark was severed, stopping the pain the witch was feeling as she panted heavily. Starlight levitated the mark in her aura, waving it around mockingly with a grin.
"I'm sorry. What did you call me?" Starlight asked.
"Y-You...You will pay with your life, little horse." Maleficent tried to levitate her staff back up, only to fail as she could no longer use magic. "W-What? What is this!?" She grabbed her staff in her hooves, tapping it down on the ground to call her Heartless to her. After a moment of nothing happening, she tapped her staff down even harder, but no matter how hard she struck the ground, none of them appeared to aid her. "What have you done to me?"
"THIS is what I did to Sora, his friends, and everypony else back in the village I was run out of, the one I created," Starlight explained. She hovered Maleficent's cutie mark in front of her, keeping a firm hold on it to keep it from returning back to her flank. "The spell I cast has made you completely powerless. I took away what makes you special: your skills, talents, personality, even your magic."
"What?" Maleficent got a look at her cutie mark, never knowing its existence until now.
It did suit her considering her power, astounded and slightly nervous at the idea of being weak and powerless. Curious, she rolled up her lengthy cloak to get a better look at where those marks were on ponies in Equestria, noticing her grayed out green fur as a gray equal sign was in place of the dragon face that was supposed to be on her flanks. Looking back at the mare she thought was powerless, she grew worried at what she would do with her abilities, both in magic and control of the darkness.
"I managed to at least weaken Sora and his friends, taking them prisoner and hoping to reform them into my ideals against these accursed cutie marks," Starlight said. "Sadly, I got too careless trusting two of them, one who actually liked my philosophy while the other was still pretty young to win over. They won't fall for the same trick twice, so this spell is absolutely useless to me now that I'm sure to be public enemy number one in all of Equestria."
"Then...all the more reason we should work together," Maleficent reasoned.
"With an old hag like you who can't even defeat an 'impudent little horse' like me?" Starlight scoffed, not hearing the low growl Maleficent let out at the insult of her age. "I don't need your help. I'll find a way to get back at them...I just need to do some more research while I lay low."
Starlight began to walk out of the cave, making Maleficent panic as she was taking away her cutie mark; all of her power. "Wait! Give me back my magic!"
"Oh, I'm not stupid," Starlight said. "The moment I return this to you, you're going to sic those dark monsters on me or try to blast me with another spell! I can deflect your magic, but I know how dangerous those things can be, since the only ones who can destroy those things are Sora and his friends with those key-shaped swords I didn't have any time to study while I had them!" Maleficent glared at the unicorn, not willing to resort to begging to a pony like Starlight. "...You stay here until I'm far enough away from you. Maybe I'll give it back...Maybe I won't. It all depends on how generous I am."
Starlight continued on her way out of the cave, needing to do some research on Twilight, Sora, and the rest of their friends to get back at them for ruining her life, taking Maleficent's cutie mark with her. She didn't have anywhere to go to anymore, and now that she was wanted, she can't stay in one place for too long. After walking several miles away from where she hid, farther away from Our Town, she sighed and let go of the cutie mark, letting it fly back to the witch before moving on.
Maleficent didn't have to wait long as she saw her cutie mark return to her, slightly brightening her coat back to normal and returning her power. "...These equines are troublesome, whether or not darkness lies in their heart." Looking down at her covered flank, noting how much spite Starlight had when she discussed her previous plan that was ruined. "But her anger didn't lie on Sora or his friends...it was on these marks...For what reason, though?"
Deciding to rethink her plans, Maleficent teleported back to her world in a plume of green flames. She refrained from telling Pete what happened to her like before with the dragons in Equestria, not allowing herself to be humiliated by a unicorn that was able to steal away her powers with one little spell.
Stats
Page generated in 0.057 seconds
Total duration
1,067 users online
1,807,982 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
nice work
I'm not so sure Starlight should be Twilight's student.
Part of me was hoping she would actually work with Maleficent (if only because we haven't seen her in awhile lol) would have been fun if Starlight did more than just stalk Twilight until the finale.
I wouldn't be surprised if party favor is Pinkies long lost cousin, cause he certainly bends reality like she does.
8068527 She shouldn't, but she will at the end of the season because season six says she is redeemed and has to be. I must follow the rules, even if I made Starlight out to be even more dangerous in this story than in the show.
8068730 You can always just follow the rules of shounen. No matter how evil a character is, as long as the hero gets to the beat the tar out of them in the end they can be redeemed.
8068875 But MLP isn't shonen.
8068947 Doesn't really matter, such a rule isn't limited to shounen you just see it more often with it. Besides who cares this fic is already more violent then the show ever got lol.
Lol. Very well done bro! Also was hilarious seeing starlight humiliate Malificent
Yikes. Starlight seems to be a threat to anyone if she can take their cutie marks. Good thing Starlight did not fall for Maleficents words on to use the Power of Darkness and not team up with her. otherwise she could be a threat to not just Equestria, but to the other worlds as well if she did. but overall, this was really interesting and nice work.
Also on the plus side, looks like the Keyblade Wielders will finally be able to have a way to know what worlds need their help thanks to the Cutie Map. though I do wonder if Twilight will ever visit Destiny Islands or some worlds that Sora has visited.
Pretty sure that they can't read minds right now. Might want 'telekinesis' or maybe 'levitation'
I love seeing Maleficent getting her comeuppance in Equestria. You'd think she would've learned her lesson by now.
8071877
Thank you for reminding me of that mistake. Fixed it. 
How did I glance over that?
I get the feeling that even though Starlight may find a way to ruin Twilights friendship with the Mane 6, one that she can't break is the one with Sora and his friends since they are from other worlds. unless something bad happens to them when she messes with Time like Xehanort did. but I would find it more funny that Riku and the others get send to Canterlot High during the Friendship Games While Sora and Twilight are stuck having to deal with Starlight messing with Time.
With the help of some new friends from Our Town, Our Heroes have manage to stop Starlight from Equalizing Equestria and get their Cutie Marks back. But even though they have manage to stop her, Starlight has escaped and plans to seek revenge on both Twilight and Sora.
Will Starlight ever get her revenge on Sora and Twilight? What other worlds have Sora and the others have not visited? Will the cutie map have Problems in other worlds that our Heroes must go to? And will Riku and Twilight ever get a relaxing date off Equestria? The excitement continues! Next Time on My Little Pony Soras misadventures in Equestria!
8072576
Hey no need to beat yourself up. Get in the groove and Spellcheck is annoying.
Damn. Starlight really turned the tables on Maleficent.
Hmmmmmm? In terms of pony wouldnt it be nag instead of hag?
Also HOLY SHIT STARLIGHT U IS OP PLZ NERF LOL
Also also idk if i should read in order or skip a couple of upcoming stories i didnt like in cannon and seeing that the events happen pretty close to cannon minus the inclusion of keyblades soo i will prolly skim the chapters that cover the episodes i dislike
I'm sorry, but this is one of the biggest..."sins" I can't ignore. Why? What's the purpose, how could Aqua have been that lucky? There's no reason for this. And because of that, Meadowbrook can't be her canon self unless you twist its meaning. I can't be angry about the latter because the episode truly introducing her hadn't come out yet, but seriously, this kind of thing pisses me off. It's like in the original Equestria Girls when Flash just so happens to be able to save Twilight. It's not even deus ex machina at this level, just bad writing. At least say she read it in her off-time or something, cause this...
I can overlook a lot of things for the sake of something I like, but this is pushing it. At least with everyone losing their Cutie Marks, it can be blamed on Starlight being a really powerful mage, even if I do think a lot more innovation should come in the episode chapters since you not only have Sora, but Kairi, Riku, Aqua, Ven, and Terra here too. I can look past the play-by-play episode chapters for the sake of the original ones, but I truly hope that...this doesn't become a trend for future episodes.
...okay, seeing Starlight refuse the temptation of Darkness was nice to see, though. At least she's somewhat rational despite her insanity at that point in time. Maleficent really needs to learn how things in Equestria work, read a book or something, cause while her arrogance gets the best of her, she's still a threat. And I want to see the Heartless be more of a threat since the Real Organization XIII has yet to reveal themselves.
They have to wizard of oz in the land of departure?