Re-Earning The Mark
The next morning the entire village gathered in front of the education house. Starlight was in the center with Fluttershy just to her left, for Starlight it was to be used as a sign to the five other newcomers of that she is welcoming and willing to accept them into the commune. For Fluttershy, this was part of the plan to expose the truth of the situation and Starlight for her fraud. Double Diamond was next to the door, with Sugar Belle and Night Glider not far from him. Starlight nodded to Double Diamond as a silent command to open the door and let those in the house out. Double Diamond obeyed as he removed the last door bar and the last lock. “I've got a good feeling about today!” Starlight announced to the village as Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Party Favor all stepped out of the house in that order. The five women were each taking slight galops as their throats were dry, having been denied water since they were locked in the house following the removal of their aura marks. They also looked slightly thinner, as if the last thing they had to eat was one of the muffins that Sugar Belle made the day they arrived. Yet even in their dehydrated and hungry state, they scowled at Starlight in defiance, even Pinkie who was a few steps closer to crack than the others clung to her stance adamantly. Party Favor was in much better condition physically, having only been in the house for just the one day, but even then he looked terrible. However, he seemed to fare the worse psychologically, as if he could not believe something the five others told him yet they provided evidence to support their claim. In addition what he was told almost shook him and his beliefs to the very marrow. This current identity crisis that Party Favor was going through seemed to be lost on most of the people, but not Night Glider, Sugar Belle and even Double Diamond. Starlight’s focus was on the five women, she smiled in an attempt to get them to join, she nodded to Double Diamond and he gave each of them a full waterskin. Reluctantly the five accepted the water given to them. After they returned the now empty waterskin, “So, do any of you have anything you'd like to say?” Starlight asked. The five remained silent. After they had all waited about two minutes as it was clear that none of the five were going to join the commune. “Aw, pity.” She said with her head slightly dipped. She then rose her head, with her eyes closed and a shrug of her shoulders, “Well, let's try this again tomorrow, shall we?” The five started to walk back to the house, “No new friends today, I'm afraid!” Starlight continued as she turned to the rest of the village. She then turned back to six that were in the house, but her focus was on the one male that was in the education house that night, “Party Favor, will you rejoin us, please?”
Party Favor walked forward and fell to his knees, embracing Starlight’s leg, clearly frightened and remorseful, in a very childlike manner, “I'm sorry Starlight! I'm sorry, everybody!” Slowly he loosened his hold on Starlight’s legs and still on his knees turned to the rest of the commune. “ I've seen the error of my ways! I never want to look at my aura mark again!” This brought a smile to Starlight’s face. Unbeknownst to her and all but Night Glider and Sugar Belle, Fluttershy had taken this chance to go to Twilight and the others and spoke in whispers. Night Glider and Sugar Belle kept silent on that as they focused on Party Favor’s rejoining.
Starlight patted Party Favor on his head, glad to see that he was back, which prompted him to get back on his feet. “It seems there's cause for celebration after all!” Starlight declared feeling that the link had been successfully reforged and will not break. Everyone else, however, cheered with a massive “ Hooray!”
Party Favor, however, turned back to the house with his eyes partly closed and a frown on his face and pointed to the five accusatively, “They tried to break me! They wouldn't stop talking about how different they are, and that somehow makes their friendship stronger!” This caused all the others in the commune to gasp in horror, but Night Glider and Sugar Belle noticed something, Party Favor had said that with more force than he normally would. This was an act. The two however elected to keep quiet, as they choose to wait and see.
Starlight turned to the five that had not accepted what she deemed to be the truth of Aura Marks. She clutched the top of her shirt not unlike if she was wearing a string of pearls, “Such backward thinking.”
Party Favor turned to face Starlight and as he spoke the rest of the commune, “But I didn't listen!” he dropped his arm and his face soften as if he had returned to a haven after being adrift in a storm, “I knew what they were up to, and I didn't listen!”
“Well done, Party Favor!” Starlight then embraced what she thought was her wayward lamb. “We welcome you back with open arms!” The rest of the commune cheered in replied as they rushed to welcome back the black sheep into the fold. Yet Sugar Belle and Night Glider could tell he was now a wolf in sheep's clothing, not unlike them, but they weren’t certain what he was planning.
“Um, Starlight?” came the voice of the commune’s recent ‘convert’. Starlight and the others turned to Fluttershy who was standing next to Twilight. While the other four had gone into the house, Twilight elected to stay in the doorway, “I think we might have a new friend joining us today.” Fluttershy’s eyes were closed as she gave them a big closed mouth smile. Everyone else gasped at the revelation of Twilight being a possible new convert. Save Party Favor, he just opened and closed his mouth as if he did gasp, this went unnoticed by anyone.
Starlight took a couple steps forward to the education house, “Is this true?” she could not believe it. Fluttershy electing to join after one night, well impressive if she had to say so herself, but Twilight, Princess Twilight Sparkle, the one of the six that tried to escape, the first to have her aura mark removed, the one that challenged her and had to be forced to her knees. Starlight knew she was a convincing woman with the right set of tools and time, but this was almost too good to be true.
“I-I think so.” Twilight stuttered the ‘I’ with her head down and holding her upper left arm with her right hand, nervously as she stepped out of the house and walked a couple of steps forward, “But I just want to be sure.” She raised her head to look Starlight in the face. Her pupils wide, her irises small, like a child that was lost and found her way home. “If I agree to leave my aura mark in the vault, I'll really be happier?” She still held her arm and slightly lowered her head shifting her weight on her feet, not certain if what was told to her was the truth.
Starlight smiled and shook her head, before she placed her right hand on Twilight’s left shoulder and as gestured to the rest of the town with her left hand, “Just look around!” She declared. As Twilight obeyed and witnessed all of the people that made up the commune smiled in a slightly less creepy version of the big open mouth tooth smiles that made Pinkie Pie suspect the place in the first place but were still not Pinkie Pie approved smiles. Starlight closed her eyes and held her head up looking at the sky with her eyes closes confident in her answer, “Equality has given us more happiness than you've ever known!” As Starlight was focused on her emphasis on equality, she didn’t notice that Fluttershy had slipped away from the entire commune.
Twilight then relinquished her hold on her left arm and then held her chin with her right hand, after a second or two contemplation as she looked at the ground she looked Starlight in the eyes and asked, “And you wouldn't let me just live here in the village with my old aura mark?” Twilight’s eyes were wide.
Starlight took a step back and raise her left hand in protest, “That is out of the question.” As she hovered her hand towards all the villagers with what seemed to be a focus on the equal signs on their shirts and dresses, “A person with a different aura mark in our midst would destroy our entire philosophy. We are all equal here!” Starlight declared as she lowered her hand and scoffed as if she was dealing with a troublesome student. The crowd started muttering in reply as if they didn’t believe in Twilight’s conversion. Starlight, too, was starting to doubt it. Unless Twilight was not sincere, then why would she be questioning this, by now she would have heard the entirely of Starlight’s manifesto thrice. Something was not adding up.
“Then how do you explain this?” Everyone then looked at the sky and saw Fluttershy was above them and had a bucket of water with her. She then tossed the content of the bucket at Starlight barely grazing the bottom of her dress. It did not do much but it did enough for Party Favor to see part of the equal sign removed and a part of the purple star and one of the two streams revealed.
Starlight focus was not on what befell her dress, but on the Skyborn druid who hovered just above her and the now empty bucket of water in her hands. She gritted her teeth in anger and pointed at Fluttershy with her right index finger, “I knew you couldn't be trusted!” Starlight only then noticed that Party Favor was on his knees and wiping the area of her dress where the water barely glazed her with his shirt sleeve. “Get away!” she ordered with a kick that forced Party Favor onto his rear. The crowd gasped in horror at what they saw. That at the bottom of Starlight’s dress was four-pointed star purple in color over a white four-pointed star perpendicular to it with two glimmering streams both having the similar two tones of blue, an aura mark. “Wha... What are you looking at?!” Starlight asked as she failed to notice where on her personage everyone was looking at. She gestured to Twilight and Fluttershy, who had since landed and were in turn joined by Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie, all of them shaking their heads at Starlight, “They're the problem, not me!”
Party Favor got back to his feet, tears started to form in his eyes. He shut them and then open them with a scowl formed on his face as his eyes narrowed, “I wasn’t lying when I said I did believe them. I only went that far to show them that our way… the way you taught us was right. That you were a prophet of a long-ignored truth.” He then pointed his right hand at Starlight with his index finger out, “How could you?”
Double Diamond was the next to fully recover from the shock, “You said aura marks were evil!” he shouted as he walked to be side by side with Party Favor, a scowl matching the Magicborn. You said special talents led to pain and heartache!” The Earthborn continued as the town started to close in on their founder.
“They do!” Starlight tried to sway the slowly encroaching crowd. As she turned back to six that infected her village, “Don't you see?! Look at them!” she continued to order, but her commands fell on deaf ears.
“Then why?” Sugar Belle started to ask as she and Night Glider stepped to stand shoulder to shoulder with Party Favor and Double Diamond. “Why did you take ours and not give up your own?” her hands gestured at first to the rest of the commune before she pointed at the exposed aura mark on Starlight’s dress.
“I... I had to, you fools!” Starlight struggled to form a response at first while she panicked, but as she reached the second ‘I’ her panicked expression gave way to a harsh slightly narrowed eyed glare as she went on the attack, not unlike a cornered animal that realized that while it was outnumbered it could tear apart enough of those surrounding her that the rest would run away. “ How could I collect your aura marks without my magic?!” This was not a question that she wanted to be answered, as her goal in it was to point out that her magic was needed.
“But the Staff of Sameness has all the magic we need!” Night Glider countered as she began to rise in the air.
Starlight gave a groan before she responded to that, they already found out that she still had her aura mark and with it access to all of her magic, it was time for her to reveal how dependent they were on her magic after all.“The Staff of Sameness is not one of Mage Meadowbrook’s nine artifacts, you ignorant!” Starlight confused in wrath. This revelation did not have the impact she expected but she continued. “She only had eight, none of which are a staff!” Everyone took a step back, as Starlight continued, “That 'staff' we used to remove aura marks, is nothing more than a piece of wood I found in the desert!” This almost shattered the others faiths, it was one thing that there was one among them that was false, but the item they believed to be what they used for making their community as it is was a different matter. Starlight stepped forward, prompting the commune to take a step or two back as she asserted herself. “It's my magic that makes all this possible! You'd all still be living your miserable lives thinking you're better than everybody else if it weren't for my magical abilities!” As Starlight spoke she continue to assert herself, each time the rest took a step back, “I brought you friendship! I brought you equality!” She then took a step back and placed her hand on right her chest and almost roared, “I created harmony!”
Double Diamond shouted back, “You lied to us!” as he stood took a second to realize that Starlight had much less power than what she let on, while numbers alone don’t convey an advantage, quantity is a quality all it’s own.
“So what?” Starlight countered after she stepped back again. “E-Everything else I said is true!” She pressed on, she seemed to believe that part of her philosophy, at least in part, “The only way to be happy is if we're all equal!”
“Except for you.” Party Favor countered as the commune began to inch forward and encircle Starlight again.
As they approach her, Starlight’s focus gem glowed the light turquoise of her actual magic as she prepared to fight off her cult. Before anything could happen, Twilight stepped forward from her group, still on the other side of Starlight, “Everyone has unique talents and gifts, and when we share them with each other, that's how rea—” As Twilight spoke, Starlight’s spell died before it was cast as she frowned and started to growl in wrath.
“QUIET!” Starlight shouted as she turned to Twilight, a vein or artery in her neck extremely close to the surface. This caused Twilight’s eyes to narrow in fright as she took a step back.
“You can't have an aura mark, Starlight!” Sugar Belle stated which caused Starlight to turn back to the villagers. “Either we're all equal,” Sugar used her limited magic to form a circle of light, “or none of us are!” The villagers, Twilight, et al then started to fully encircle Starlight. As she saw no way out, Starlight conjured a shield spell bubble around her and forced everyone back as she bolted to her house and locked the door behind her.
“Come on!” Double Diamond shouted as he started to run towards the cave where the town’s aura marks were being held. “Let's get our aura marks back!” Everyone shouted ‘Yeah!’ in agreement as most of them joined in the run.
As she flew above everyone else, “Come on!” Rainbow shouted as she started to fly towards the same cave and the vault therein, “Let's go get our aura marks!”
Fluttershy flew up and grabbed Rainbow’s right arm, "Wait! Rainbow! Don’t you remember? I told you our aura marks aren't in the vault! They're in Starlight’s house, in her room!”
“Well, buck!” Rarity cursed. The other five turned to her confused, “Well if this is not the time to use the term when is!” she exclaimed as she ran to the house, only to be outpaced by Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow.
Inside the cave, everyone started to pond at the crystalline vault in attempts to break it. As it seemed that nothing work, “Stand back, everybody!” Double Diamond shouted as he threw the stick that they knew as the Staff of Sameness at the crystal wall at the empty block with all his might. The impact caused a series of cracks to form. Party Favor picked the stick back up and swung it at the empty vault and the crystal shattered as if it was cheaply blown glass. At the moment the aura marks jettisoned from the vault and flew to their rightful owner. Each aura mark circled around each around their owners while the owners' hair brightened and changed to be unique to them, and for some, their clothes also took on a few shades of more color. For Sugar Belle her clothes became a pale cerise, her hair become moderate magenta and it seemed to take on a slight bounce, while a cupcake with purple frosting topped with a cherry with four jellybeans red to yellow in color aura mark hovered around her heart. For Night Glider, her clothes lost the shade of gray and become a moderate azure, her hair changed to look like it was blown back by flying not unlike the Wonderbolts Spitfire and Fleetfoot. Around her chest was her own aura mark, a crescent moon surrounded by two curved feathers. Around Party Favor, a pink balloon animal and streamers aura mark hovered next to his heart as his shirt shifted to a bright cyan and his hair’s two shades of grayish azure become moderate azure and cornflower blue and took on a bounce that rivaled Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich. This was more or less the same for most of the villagers, however for Double Diamond, his hair shifted to be a masculine bangs style and his aura mark, three blue snowflakes in a blue triangle formation, hovered over his heart.
As the villagers that had gotten to the cave returned in a rash while the other aura marks flew towards their own, the effects of the return of the aura marks were not lost on Twilight et al, Rarity smiled “Even without my aura mark, I can tell this is beautiful!”
As she looked out from her bedroom window as aura marks flew towards their rightful person, Starlight finished packing the two bags, one with a few changes of clothes stored in the case of needed escape and one with the aura marks of Twilight and her friends, “They think they can come to my village and disrupt my life?” she asked rhetorically as she turned to the aura marks in their jars as she packed them, “Let's see how they like spending the rest of their lives without their precious aura marks!” She used her magic to throw her bed to the side and opened what looked like a cellar door and ran down the stairs into a tunnel she had set up a while ago.
At the same time, Applejack and Rainbow Dash alternated as they tried to break the door to Starlight’s house in, and it seemed to no avail. Just then the six heard a whistle and turned to see Night Glider, Sugar Belle, Party Favor and Double Diamond.
“Stand back, everybody!” Night Glider shouted. The six scattered so that she could dive bomb the door and forced it off of its hinges and down to the floor. The nine others then ran and flew in, Fluttershy at the front as she led the way to Starlight’s room.
Once she arrived she gasped in horror as she saw the overturned bed and the absence of the aura marks, “They're gone!” As the rest joined her in the room, “They were right over there!” she continued. However, everyone then proceeded to follow the staircase down.
At the other end of the tunnel that Starlight had set up for her house, the arrived at the beginning of a handful of mountain paths. As they all looked to see which way Starlight could have gone, Rainbow squinted her eyes and spotted the aura mark thief, “Look!” as she pointed to what looked a woman with a couple of packs running on one of the paths.
Party Favor and Pinkie both squinted to see but both could barely make out what Rainbow pointed out until Party Favor remembered his aura mark and how he got it and what he was, a trickster mage with a focus on balloons. He had never given up everything from his past keeping a small hand full of balloons in his pocket. He took one out and blew it up and started to bend it like those used at parties, fairs, etc. Pinkie watched in almost jaw-dropping awe as the simple balloon was turned into balloon binoculars. Party Favor then used them and saw what Rainbow point out. “She's headed for the pass!” Party Favor said as he lowered them and turned back to the rest there, “If she makes it into those mountains, we'll never find her!”
While he spoke Pinkie took the balloon binoculars and looked with them, finding that they did in fact work, “These are amazing!”
“There's a whole network of caves up there!” Sugar Belle confirmed Party Favor’s statement and clarified it, “If we don’t catch her before she reaches them, your aura marks will be gone forever!”
“Then let's get moving, Y'all!” Applejack shouted as she ran ahead as Rainbow flew ahead, however, the two were quickly outpaced by the four with their aura marks.
After the dust cleared, as Rainbow and Applejack saw that they were not that far ahead of their friends and eating the dust of the four that elected to help them, “Oh, come on!” Rainbow groaned.
Ahead along the path, Starlight looked over her shoulder to see the four, namely Night Glider, closing in on her, “Are you all so willing to give up everything because of these strangers?!” She shouted as sent a beam of magic that cut through the snow temporarily burying Night Glider, but Sugar Belle, Double Diamond, and Party Favor did not let up.
“We gave up everything for you because we thought you were our friend!” Sugar Belle countered calling that they had already made a similar sacrifice for a charlatan that promised a better life, at least these six were sincere about the chances of things not working out in the end.
Closer to the start of the path, Twilight et al more or less jogged save Rainbow Dash, who was flying at a much slower pace than she was used to, for her she might as well hover, “I can't believe we have to count on others to save our aura marks!” Rainbow could not help but complain. She hated being dependent on others.
“If we hadn't come here to help them, they'd still be living under her rules!” Twilight pointed out as they all tried to pick up the pace. Pinkie even tried to skip and bounce, but to no avail in increasing their speed, “Now it's their turn to help us!”
“And I know they can do it!” Fluttershy commented with a smile, “And if all else fails we can ask Discord to transport them back to us when I meet him for tea in two days.”
That comment brought the six to almost grinding halt as Fluttershy grasped what she said and the others recalled that they had a few more request that they were owed from Discord, “How many of those requests do we have?” Rarity asked as she fanned herself slightly.
“Fluttershy is the only one I know that used hers.” Pinkie Pie answered, “Unless Twilight used one when Discord decided to crash her day with Cadance.”
“Can wah deal with this another time?!” Applejack started to run ahead, slowly joined by the others.
“AJ’s right!” Rainbow shouted as she tried to dash forward, “Starlight's gonna get away!”
Back ahead along the path, Sugar Bella, Party Favor, and Double Diamond continued to chase after Starlight on foot, Sugar Belle looked at her aura mark and the snow on the mountainside. She had an idea. Her black focus gem glowed a strong cyan as she cast a spell on some of the snow making it take the shape of a pie, “My newest recipe –” she said as she prepared her recent creation, “snow pie!” She used her magic to hurl it at Starlight, the force of the impact caused her to lose the bag with the aura marks. As it fell the jars slipped out and were about to hit the ground. Starlight, however, recovered and used her magic to catch the jars and levitate them back up as she finished crossing a narrow bridge. She turned back and saw Party Favor, Double Diamond, and Sugar Belle were on the other end of it. Starlight then blasted the bridge and continued on the past.
Yet Party Favor was not deterred and after inflating another balloon started stretching and bend it all the while it seemed to grow as it a replacement bridge was formed. Just as it needed completion, Night Glider caught up and stepped on the bridge forcing it down so that it could be used. Once Party Favor’s balloon bridge reached the other side, the balloon master started to bounce across the bridge, not unlike Pinkie Pie would, followed by Double Diamond and Sugar Belle.
After getting to the other side the three started to run again, in their haste Party Favor and Sugar Belle did not notice a set of skis. Double Diamond, on the other hand, did see them and stopped as he looked at them, “These are my old skis.” He whispered as he touched one of the skis with his right hand. He then looked around where they were in the mountains, “This is where I first met Starlight.” he realized with a bitter sting of nostalgia.
Night Glider looked back and saw Double Diamond seem to revisit memory lane. She knew this was not the time to look back at the past, they were needed in the present, “Maybe you can reminisce another time! She's almost to the caves!”
Double Diamond looked at his skis and had a thought, “Feel like an airdrop?” He said as he put them on.
Up ahead Starlight was a matter of meter from the caves, but she was taken by surprise when she spotted Night Glider drop Double Diamond, on his old skis uphill in the snow. Double Diamond then started to ski, catching up and passing Starlight, forming a small avalanche in the wake of skis.Starlight was trapped in a matter of seconds and she could not focus anymore on levitating the jars. This caused them to fall to the ground and shatter. The six aura marks then flew to their owners, the apples replacing the equal marks on Applejack’s pauldrons, the sapphires replacing the equal sign on Rarity’s tiara, the series of stars replacing the equal marks that functioned as the shoulders of Twilight’s wing, the cloud, and three colored lightning bolt become Rainbow Dash’s hairpin, the three balloons returned to Pinkie Pie’s hat and the butterfly was once again Fluttershy’s brooch. All the while the six returned to their normal shade.
“Yee-haw! Now that’s more like it!” Applejack cheered as the six closed the distance between them and the four that had helped them reclaim their aura marks.
Starlight dug herself out of the snow and saw the four that had chased her along with the six intruders almost close in on her. She couldn’t escape, but she could fire back which she did, “Azarath Metrion Zinthos!” Before it hit Sugar Belle, Party Favor, Night Glider and Double Diamond, Twilight teleported to be right in front and she swatted the spell with the back of her left hand like Nightmare Moon when Twilight tried to use the spell on the dark demigoddess. Starlight couldn’t fathom what just happened, “Wh– I studied that spell for years! How can you—”
“I studied magic for years too!” Twilight interrupted Starlight as she blocked another spell by batting away like the last one. “Under the personal tutorage of Princess Celestia, the Arch-Mage herself nonetheless.” She continued as she walked forward sending each of Starlight’s spell into the ground and snow, while her five friends joined caught up. “But what I didn't know then was that studying could only take me so far.” She stopped as but up another shield spell that only covered her hand as she ‘absorbed’ another attack. She turned slightly back to allow Starlight to see the five that accompanied Twilight and the four that enable the return of their aura mark. “Each of my friends has taught me something different about myself! It was their unique gifts, passions, and personalities that helped bring out the most powerful magic I have from inside of me! I never would have learned that I represent the element of magic without these five! And I certainly wouldn't be here to stop you now!”
Starlight rolled her eyes, she didn’t care to hear all this, “Spare me your sentimental nonsense!” she protested, “I gave them real friendships they never could've had otherwise!”
“How do you know that?!” Double Diamond countered “You never even gave us a chance!” The ten had Starlight cornered, but she conjured a shield spell which seemed to be bound to a flash spell which allowed her to force them back so that she could escape into the caves.
Once the ten could see that Starlight had gotten into the caves, “She's getting away!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she was about to fly straight to the opening in the mountainside that Starlight used, only for her to be grabbed by her arm by Double Diamond.
Even though Rainbow Dash struggled at first, Double Diamond was able to bring her back down to her feet, “We'll never find her in there, not with the head start she has.” the re-discovered cryomancer said as Rainbow finally stopped struggling and pouted.
Twilight sighed and shook her head before she turned to the nine other Mysticans with her, “We just have to hope that when she's had a chance to think it over, she realizes that you all have taught her something.”
“It's you who have taught us something.” Party Favor said as he placed his left hand on Twilight’s right shoulder in a clearly comforting manner, “We all came to this village because we were searching for something missing from our lives.” As he spoke he gestured to the three others there, “We thought Starlight had given it to us, but now... now it seems it was in front of us all along. It's us!”
“Does that mean you'll stay in the village?” Twilight asked as the ten subdivided into the six from Magiville and the four from the town.
“It's our home.” Night Glider answered as she landed and was joined in a partial group hug, more of a line with each having their arms on each other’s shoulders by Party Favor, Double Diamond, and Sugar Belle, “We built it together. Not just us, but everyone there, one person at a time growing it. Sure the whole aura mark thing turned out to be a lie.” That got her a cross of a bemused and an annoyed expression from the others. “Sorry too soon, but we still made it what it is. There are other reasons why we left were we come from. But it’s what we built. I am not going anywhere. And I doubt most of the others will.”
“This is a chance for all of us to get to know each other again for the very first time!” Double Diamond declared as the four pulled into the first real group hug they have shared.
After the four ended their group hug, “And I finally have a chance to bake something besides terrible muffins!” Sugar Belle joked. Everyone then started to laugh at that.
“Yah think those were bad, Sugarcube,” Applejack laughed as she walked to and patted Sugar Belle on her back almost knocking the Magicborn baker over and off her balance. As she regained her balance, “yah should’ve had one of the muffins Ah helped Pinkie bake the last Apple Bucking Season before Twilight came tah our hometown.” As the paladin turned to her five friends, “yah’ll remember it was when Big Mac had to take it easy because he broke a couple of ribs during the Dodge Junction Rodeo Bull Riding. All-time record though and the two of us used that handcart. But that’s beside the point, never before and since has Pinkie ever used the term ‘baked bads’ to describe anything.” Applejack laughed at the memory, the four that lived in Magiville at the same time all groaned in response, will three Pinkie started dry heaving at the very memory of what the two baked that day. “And that’s why Ah ask yall tah let it go.”
About two hours later, as Twilight et al looked down at the village from the top of the stairs and watched as the people were celebrating the return of their identities, talents, etc. Party Favor was making various balloons. “Now those are real smiles.” Pinkie declared pulling from seemingly nowhere a piece of paper with most of the text being unreadable, but what could be made out were the words “CertiPied Smile” with the seal of Mystica and the town of Magiville on it. After she pocketed it, her the balloons on her hat, the apples on Applejack’s pauldrons, the sapphires of Rarity’s tiara, Fluttershy’s brooch, Rainbow Dash’s hairpin and the stars of Twilight’s wings all started to flash and pulsate for a few seconds before stopping.
“Ah'll never get used to that,” Applejack pointed out the near unnerving nature of this flash and pulsation, especially if this would turn out to be something that would accrue if they were to ever do something like this again. This was not lost any of the other five, “Well maybe it’s par for the course and wah’ll just have to accept it, the Rainbow of Light and the Elements of Harmony.”
“Does that mean that the map is calling us somewhere else?” Fluttershy asked the question on all their minds.
After a few seconds of thought among the others, Twilight spoke, “My working hypothesis is that this means our work here is done, the only way to find out is to get back home.”
Everyone just gave a soft smile and shook their heads, ‘typical Twilight’, they all thought. Applejack elected to once more glance down to the village, “Well, as those folks seem to be now, Ah’ve tah say, it looks like yah were right, Twilight.”
“About what?” Twilight asked before she too looked down at the village again.
“About that map.” Applejack started her answer before she turned back to face Twilight, “The map did have a reason for sendin' us here. Wah brought real friendship to these people.” She elected to nudge Twilight in the chest playfully like she and Rainbow would do time to time, “Guess that's why you're the Princess of Friendship.”
Twilight smiled at the compliment, but she then closed her eyes and shook her head still with a smile on her face, “But the map didn't send me.” She then opened her eyes and looked at each of her five closest friends. “It sent us. All of us.” She then started to pull the others into a group hug, which was completed by the others. “You're a part of me, all of you. And there's no doubt you're a part of my mission to spread friendship too.” They all shared a much needed and welcomed laugh before they all gave a happy sigh after which they enjoyed their group hug in silence for about a minute.
Pinkie was the first to break the hug, “This feels like an ending!” she exclaimed before she started to sniff the air as if she smelled something pleasant baking. After the initial sniff others also started to smell the air, each in turn giving a near-blissful ‘mhmmh’, Applejack licking her lips even. “It doesn't have to be an ending yet, right? Pinkie asked the others looking back at the village her focus on Sugar Belle’s house and bakery, “ 'Cause that Sugar Belle can bake!”
Twilight gave the question a second of thought and looked at the sky, nearby shadows and the position of the sun, “Maybe we can get something for the ro…” Before Twilight was finished Pinkie Pie bolted down and came back up with a wide assortment of Sugar Belle‘s baked good while eating an apple pie, “..ad.”
After Pinkie ate most of the pie as they all started towards the train station, “Sugar Belle’s apple pie isn't bad, but AJ’s are way better.”
Applejack took a bite of it, “Maybe she has what it takes tah be an Apple after all.” Everyone then had a laugh, as they were on their way home, and just in time to catch the train to Magiville.
Epilogue:
Deep within the cave system Starlight stopped running as she leaned against the wall to collect her breath. “I’ll have my revenge Twilight. A dish best served cold…” Starlight, however, reached into her bag and pulled out a spell book from her childhood, in it were a series of spells developed by many Magicborn of yore, including Star Swirl the Great, one of the spell was his time travel spell, “Oh perhaps before the order is even placed.”
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Wow, this story was the most on point with the show than the others, except for the occasional reference to future and past episodes.
Nice work.
8535962
Yeah sometimes there are not much I can change, but you might be in for a surprise in the next couple.
Not much of a change from canon. I don't have anything else to say. Although, Twilight deflecting those spells was pretty awesome.
8535995
Yeah most of the differences here are minor and subtle. But remeber Twilight bashing the spells part, it might not be the only time I employ it.
To me the more the stories directly follow the episodes the less interesting they become. Retellings are usually only interesting in the changes and the less the changes matter (particularly in what characters show) the less interesting it gets.
My favorite moments in the series are things like how Dash and Rainbow interact in the Gala story where your new setting and the slight changes in the characters show off something new.
I am not saying that you should not keep the basic plots but like the Gala story I think some of these stories should do more to show new things about the characters things that the show does not get to do.
8536306
There's not much that needed to change for this story in my eyes, a lot of what I thought could have made this episode better are more like nitpicks and minor things. Like for example having Fluttershy staying in Starlight's house and her waiting until Party Favor was saying that the others didn't 'break' to tell Twilight et al about Starlight, a call back to 'baked bads', debating who should act like they were converted before Fluttershy agreed to do it, and few other minor things.
So sometimes there aren't going to be major changes.
However, I do have quite a few plans for the few stories.
8536399
Oh do not get me wrong I do not think one needs o make major changes to the story. What I do think is that remaking a story needs to show something new that the original did not. The basic plot can remain the same but perhaps seeing a new side to a character or really adding depth. You have an excellent chance to do that and personally I think you should whenever you get the chance.
8536455
Sincerely speaking, I don't have much against the episode as it was, a few minor things here and there, but all in all I found the episode to be really solid.
Now the season 5 finale and season 6 openers. .... well lets say there are things in the works...
Very little I can say about this other than, well, great job on this story overall. Again, pretty faithful to the actual episode, but there are subtle details that make it more enjoyable. Overall, the exchanges, characterizations, action and future story set-up are all well done in all the right places.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that THIS version of "Friendship Games" will be going into detail concerning the adventure Twilight's friends are on while Twilight herself and Spike are busy trying to stop Starlight from messing up the time stream. But I will admit that I COULD be wrong.
At any rate, I will very certainly be looking forward to more of your work, but will also respect if I need to be patient.
8536870
Sorry, but no spoilers, Darling
8536876
Fair enough.
8843946
I get it was a forth wall break, but why that spisific piece of information?
8844496
Are you familiar with the expression "Go over like a lead balloon"
8844513
no i have not heard of that phrase, but i will look it up
8844513
ha, i just looked it up, now it makes sence!
Wait, was that Raven's spell?
11157782
It's a Voice Actor reference
11158116
Oh