The Town of Sameness
"Let's go through this one more time."
Rainbow Dash groaned. "We've been over it like a million times, Twilight! We found all six keys, defeated Tirek, and got this sweet castle! End of story!"
The alicorn had been going on about this castle for hours already. Come on! Why couldn't a stutter happen now? It would at least give her the chance to escape another lecture by flying out the window.
Well if there was one good thing about this place, it was the comfy-looking thrones arranged in a circle around the room. And with her eyelids drooping like they were, one of them was calling her name. Or at least her cutie mark, which was literally carved into the headrest. Rainbow Dash tuned out the voices of the other mares and glided down onto the soft cushion. As she sat down on the throne, a flash of rainbow light shot out from the cutie mark carving.
For a brief moment, there were vague and misty images of... ponies? All kinds of ponies, some familiar and some unknown, were scattered around the room, seemingly oblivious to her presence. An image of Fluttershy talked to Pinkie, leaning on a large table in the centre of the room that wasn't there. Another image of Rarity was hanging tapestries around the chamber. Image-Rarity walked right up to the real Applejack and passed through the farmpony like she wasn't even there.
There was even an image of herself, staring up at a massive orb of blinding rainbow light that hovered in the centre of the chamber. As image-Rainbow approached it, the orb exploded in a brilliant flash. When it cleared, every one of the ghost-like images had vanished.
Rainbow Dash blinked a few times. What in the bowls of Tartarus had that been?
She suddenly remembered that Twilight was still talking.
"...magic of friendship across Equestria. So why would the Tree of Harmony want us to sit in a castle in Ponyville? It doesn't make any sense."
No sooner had the words escaped the alicorn's mouth did a brillaint light shine out from the headrests of the thrones. As the centre of the chamber was illuminated by ethereal light, a tremble rocked the foundation of the crystal castle. Rainbow Dash leapt into the air. Sweet Celestia, the place was collapsing! She had to get her friends out now! But instead of crystals falling from the ceiling, they moved upwards to create the same table Rainbow Dash had seen briefly in those visions.
How odd.
The trembling woke Spike from his nap.
"Is that new? I like it." He walked across the table. "This is incredible! It's got all of Equestria!"
Rainbow Dash had to agree with the dragon. This map was certainly incredible! A tiny projection of Cloudsdale hovered high above the land. Rivers were barely more then trickles at this scale, cutting through valleys and towns. Even Ponyville could be seen, right down to every individual tree and household. Pinkie Pie quickly spotted a tiny image of her hometown, only to whimper as Spike accidentally stepped on it.
A pulsing flash of light caught her peripheral vision. Rainbow Dash looked around to see her cutie mark glowing. A projection of it shot off into the air to join the five others floating above the table. All six landed above a barren mountain range somewhere deep in the Northeast.
"But if this is Ponyville, why are our cutie marks over there?" Fluttershy asked.
Twilight peered down at the mountain range closely. "I don't know. But it seems like the map wants us to find out. The Tree, the chest, this castle, and now the map. How can we not follow it?"
Rainbow Dash glided over the map, mentally mapping out the route. It took them through the wilderness of Equestria, to places that only ponies like Daring Do ever visited. She grinned widely. This trip was going to be awesome.
"Y'know what? There's a ton of room for dangerous adventure along that route. I can totally find some big monster to try out that time pause thing on!" Rainbow Dash whooped, her wings shimmering with rainbow sparks behind her. "Count me in!"
"Aw, shoot, I reckon you're right," Applejack agreed.
As the others voiced their agreement, Rainbow Dash salivated at the thought of finally getting out and doing something awesome.
Adventure, here we come!
This. Was. So. Boring.
Apparently her fillyhood cartography class was a decade out of date. Instead of an awesome journey through Equestria's untamed wastelands, Rainbow Dash now had to take a nice... calm... and completely safe train ride. As Rarity would put it, how utterly pedestrian!
Twilight seemed rather happy about the situation. She was talking their ears off about some research facility nearby she wanted to visit on the way back.
"It would be so cool to be able to visit the facility! Aion Industries are at the forefront of magitech research, you know? I've read so much about their discoveries! Magical communication equipment, teleporters, devices that allow Unicorns and Earth Ponies to walk on clouds. All very exciting stuff!"
The alicorn grinned like a giddy filly.
"Well that sounds marvellous, darling. I'm sure we can spare the time to visit on the way back," Rarity smiled, then sent a glare at the four other mares silently commanding them to agree. Applejack and Fluttershy voiced their agreement. Pinkie Pie was busy drawing something with a permanent marker, but looked up when Applejack nudged her in the shoulder and nodded.
Reluctantly, Rainbow Dash nodded too. It all sounded like boring egghead stuff, but she'd suck it up for a few hours if it made Twilight happy.
Twilight beamed. "I'm glad you all are so interested. If we're lucky, we might even get to meet their founder Starbeam Remedy! I guarantee she'll go down in history as the Starswirl of our generation. Think about it girls, this is history in the making!"
The only thing Rainbow Dash was thinking about is how much she wished the next Daring Do book would come out already. Then she'd have something to entertain herself with on this long and boring train ride, instead of resorting to bouncing a ball off the opposite wall. But alas, the next book wasn't supposed to be released for months. Rainbow Dash was already dreading another long wait, but it wasn't like she could do anything about it...
...Or could she? According to Twilight, she'd accidentally time travelled once before. Why not again? Rainbow Dash filed that idea away for later.
"I ain't never heard of a pony named Starbeam Remedy," Applejack commented.
Twilight gasped. "How? Have you been living under a rock?! Her company is on the cover of every scientific magazine in Equestria!"
"I don't think Applejack keeps up to date with advancements in science quite like you do, Twilight," Rainbow Dash responded. Applejack rolled her eyes but nodded.
"Oh. Right," Twilight flushed red in embarrassment. "Well trust me, she's a brilliant mare. I'm hoping I can get Starbeam to look at some of my ideas if I see her."
Rainbow Dash felt a slight lurching sensation and looked around to see her five friends petrified in place. Great, another one of these. It was odd how quickly she got used to time freezing in place around her. Rainbow Dash threw the ball against the wall a few more times, up until it froze in place on the return. Damn it.
She flew up to the ball and tapped it lightly with her hoof. It shot off back to her seat, bouncing once before freezing again. Rainbow Dash was still figuring out the rules of this timeless state. It was slow progress. About the only thing she had identified was that small objects could move when she touched them, then stopped moving soon after she let go. Exactly how soon after letting go did the objects freeze again seemed completely random.
It would have been so much easier if her friends could move through the stutter too, instead of being frozen in place. Twilight could probably have figured this all out in only one go.
An idea just occured to Rainbow Dash. If objects could move in a stutter when she touched them, why not ponies? Slowly, she extended a hoof towards Twilight's petrified form. The skin felt normal and Rainbow Dash could move the alicorn's forelegs, but Twilight herself wouldn't react. Not even laying her hoof on the Twilight's head did the trick.
Sighing, Rainbow Dash decided to at least make the most out of the moment. She swiped Pinkie Pie's permanent marker and slowly approached the frozen Twilight, laughing quietly to herself. As her father always said, 'Never pass out when there are markers about'. That could easily be amended to 'Never get frozen in time when there are markers about'. But it just didn't roll of the tongue as easily. Or rhyme.
Now, just what should she draw?
Suddenly, Twilight's eyes locked onto Rainbow Dash. She shrieked and stumbled backwards, tripping over her own wings and landing on her back.
"Sweet Celestia, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight shouted, trying to calm her breathing. "Don't ever do that again!"
But Rainbow Dash only laughed. That was almost as funny as what she'd been trying to do. Soon, the others joined her. Twilight gave them a few stern looks but eventually joined in the laughing as Applejack and Rainbow Dash helped her back up.
"Hey, where's my marker?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Rainbow Dash whistled inconspicuously, quietly hiding the offending item under her wing.
In her comparatively short life, Rainbow Dash had never before seen a village this creepy. Unnatural smiles and identical cutie marks. Everything about this place put her on edge. The ponies seemed friendly enough, welcoming them gladly into their village. Their incredibly boring and dull village. Even the ponies sounded dull.
Creepy and boring. Those are two words Rainbow Dash never thought she'd use to describe the same thing.
"Thanks a lot cutie map," she muttered darkly. Why couldn't it have been a monster?
A unicorn stallion walked up to Twilight. "Welcome! Pardon my forwardness, but are you an Alicorn?"
Great, they're boring and blind.
"That there's the Princess of Friendship!" Applejack introduced, gesturing to Twilight.
"Well, you've certainly come to the right place for friendship!"
Rainbow Dash tuned out the conversation. She couldn't take much more of those monotonous voices. At least the other villains had sounded interesting as she kicked their flanks. Come on, they couldn't even give an overly dramatic speech like Chrysalis or look totally badass like Sombra?
Twilight nudged her out of her internal monologue. "Rainbow, pay attention!"
"What?"
"That unicorn Double Diamond just said the leader of this place is Starlight Glimmer!"
"No way!" Rainbow Dash's eyes widened. That name had come to her instinctively through time weirdness, she'd never actually expected to meet anypony by that name.
"And ya sure that this pony is our future friend?" Applejack asked.
Rainbow Dash shrugged. "I don't know. Like I said, it was a feeling. I think I was concerned about her. That's all I know."
"Maybe the map sent us here to meet her?" Twilight suggested. It made sense. A map in a castle of friendship leading us to a future friend made sense. But this village was still creepy. If Starlight was anything like the company she kept, Rainbow Dash would be unable to stand her.
"I don't know. I'm keeping my guard up just in case."
The white unicorn stallion Rainbow Dash was 80% certain was named Double-something knocked on the door.
"Starlight, we have some new visitors," He said.
Rainbow Dash leaned over to Applejack. "Be ready to fight. We don't know what's gonna come through that door."
Applejack nodded and prepared to charge while Rainbow Dash subtly gathered some of that sparkly rainbow energy to her wing. This creature tries anything and they'll be frozen before they can even blink.
But instead of some monster, a pink unicorn mare appeared in the doorframe.
"Welcome! I'm so pleased to have you here," she said.
Rainbow Dash groaned in disappointment and let the rainbow energy dispel. It would seem she was out of luck, there wouldn't be any monster to fight and drive away her boredom. Starlight and Twilight exchanged a few words. The unicorn seemed very interested in Twilight's princess status, though it wasn't like Rainbow Dash could blame her. In a place like this, Twilight was probably the most interesting thing these ponies had ever seen.
"We're happy to have anypony who wants to experience true friendship for the first time," Starlight said.
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Say what?"
"Oh, indeed. That's what's so unique about our village, you see. Around here, we don't flaunt our special talents because we don't have any special talents to flaunt."
If this was 'true friendship', Rainbow Dash would aid whatever evil creature that came along next in destroying it. And gladly. No thank you, Starlight. I'm happy with what I've got now. Five close friends here and a dozen more in Ponyville, an awesome special talent and above all else a place to live that isn't soul-crushingly boring.
The sooner they got out of this place, the better. All this talk of giving up her cutie mark was beginning to annoy her. What's worse, Fluttershy even seemed to respect them! How insane was that! At least Pinkie Pie was picking up on the same creepy vibes Rainbow Dash was.
But at least Twilight wasn't buying into their lunacy. Starlight Glimmer had tried to convince Twilight they were somehow sent here to be helped by her and that if Twilight gave up her cutie mark the rest of Equestria would as well. Like that would ever happen.
"A cutie mark is a representation of a pony's unique talents and skills. How is it possible to-"
"What in the name of Equestria is that?!" Rarity interrupted, pointing to a store that sold what appeared to be sacks of potatoes.
The salespony gestured to the identical selection. "Welcome! Care to sample some local fashion? We've got cloaks this month!"
Sweet Celestia... this was there idea of clothing. Rainbow Dash and Applejack's eyes met and they both shuddered. Even with the two of them having absolutely no tolerance for the kind of prissy fashion Rarity loved, neither would be caught dead in that kind of get up.
Rarity gagged. "Er, perhaps another time, good sir, thank you," She quickly pushed them over to a seat by a bakery and whispered to Applejack. "No wonder nopony's wearing anything!"
"Really, girls! They may do things a bit differently than we're used to, but that's no reason to be rude." Fluttershy scolded them.
"I thought that guy was selling potatoes, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash replied. Her mane stood on end and she turned to find the white unicorn stallion spying on them. "And they keep staring at us!"
As if to prove their point, Double Diamond shouted over to them. "Need something?"
"Uh, no! We're good!" Twilight waved awkwardly at the stallion then turned back to them. "Fluttershy's right. If we're going to get to the bottom of why the map sent us here, we'll need the help of these ponies."
"I think we ran off to the end of Equestria before we even knew what that map was!" Applejack retorted.
"If we were at the end of Equestria, we'd be sitting on a big 'A'!" Pinkie Pie giggled. "Get it?"
Not the right time, Pinkie. Rainbow Dash felt a headache coming on. They bickered for a while, until they suddenly noticed a serving lady trying to get their attention.
"Is your friendship ending?" She asked.
Pinkie Pie leapt up onto the table, laughing at the very thought of it. "Are you crazy? We'd never let a disagreement get in the way of food!"
"Okay..." The unicorn mare seemed confused, but didn't mention it. "Well, my name is Sugar Belle. What can I bring you? We have muffins..."
At first, Rainbow Dash thought another stutter had occurred. But her friends were still glancing between each other with disbelieving looks. Time hadn't stopped, the waitress had just finished her list. She really had to stop being surprised by the level of boring this town revelled in.
"Then I guess we'll take six muffins," Twilight replied, trying to keep a straight face.
Pinkie Pie leapt up out of her seat. "Make that twelve!" Seeing the looks her friends were sending her, Pinkie Pie shrugged. "What, I'm hungry!"
Big mistake. Rainbow Dash didn't need to see the future to know whatever that mare brought out was going to be borderline inedible.
Seeing the shared looks of irritation on everypony's face, Twilight spoke up. "Come on, girls. We've got to stick together. It doesn't matter what happened before, we're here now."
"I guess you're right," Applejack agreed. "And the sooner we figure out why, the sooner we can go home."
"And that sooner couldn't come any sooner," Rainbow Dash joked. Because just as expected, Sugar Belle returned with a plate of burnt and disgusting-looking items that scarcely deserved to be called food.
She set them down before Applejack, who couldn't even bare to look at them. Sugar Belle still seemed confused by how they could all be friends despite their differences and disagreements, while Rainbow Dash was confused by how anypony could make her wish for a meal cooked by Rarity's sister. Though in a way, Sugar Belle's confusion was rather sad. Had she really gone that long without a cutie mark she couldn't remember what it was like to have one, or had she just been unable to make friends with one?
Pinkie braved one of the muffins, and nearly choked for her efforts. She forced a smile on her face and rubbed her belly. "Mmmm... good!"
"It's all right. I know I'm not a very good baker. At least, I know I'm not any better than anypony else in the village."
"Equality? More like equally awful," Rainbow Dash muttered, ignoring the glare from Fluttershy. What she did notice was that Double Diamond had suddenly fixed Sugar Belle with a critical glare.
The baker ducked her head down. "Well, I... hope you enjoy our little village!" Her smile looked even more forced. The six mares were alarmed to see that there was genuine fear in her eyes. Before she could leave, Sugar Belle quickly whispered to Twilight. "Meet me downstairs before you go!"
She hurried back inside, closing the door as she went. Pinkie Pie was right, there was something weird about this town. Those smiles had never looked more sinister.
Twilight glanced at Double Diamond out of the corner of her eyes. "Let's all sit here and eat these muffins and act normal. I think somepony here doesn't want us talking to Sugar Belle."
As the unicorn's eyes switched back to them, Rainbow Dash looked away. "I can see that."
That stallion was bad news if she ever saw it. But there were too many people around for her to try her old strategy of punching him. Or her new strategy of petrifying and then punching.
Applejack spoke up. "I got an idea. But you gotta eat all of them muffins, Pinkie."
"Me?! Why me?!"
"You got a stronger stomach than any of us, and that filly in there might be our best chance at findin' out what the hay is goin' on round here."
Pinkie Pie swallowed nervously. She slowly picked up one of the muffins and forced herself to swallow a bite. The other five mares winced. That looked torturous. Rainbow Dash would've helped, if the mere smell hadn't made her feel like she was going to throw up. And if one of them spewed all over the table they could say goodbye to sneaking into the bakery without suspicion.
Two muffins in and Pinkie Pie suddenly stopped mid bite. In fact, everything had stopped. Ponies were caught midstride, staring into nothing with unblinking eyes. The pegasus shivered. When they weren't moving, they somehow looked even more lifeless.
Acting quickly, Rainbow Dash scooped up six of the muffins and chucked them up onto the roof of the bakery. She took her seat, just in time for things to start moving again. Pinkie glanced back down at her plate despairingly, only for her eyes to widen when she noticed the missing muffins.
"How did..." She began, only to look up and see Rainbow Dash sporting a smug grin. The pegasus gave her a wink.
"That was mighty fine of ya," Applejack whispered.
Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Eh, I wouldn't want to eat those muffins either."
The sun beamed down on the group as they made their way up the mountain. Rainbow Dash could hardly believe what they were about to see could be real. A vault of cutie marks? She'd read more realistic things in Spike's comic books. But those three ponies had been very insistent it was real.
Starlight was talking, but Rainbow Dash didn't bother to listen. It was probably something along the lines of 'blah blah cutie marks bad blah blah I'm not a cult leader'. Honestly, she was just as boring as the rest of this town.
"This must be the reason we're here," Twilight said in a hushed voice.
"Pilgrimaging?" Pinkie asked.
"No, helping those ponies get their cutie marks back."
Fluttershy didn't seem to like that idea. "Oh, are you sure, Twilight? Maybe they miss them a little, but even they didn't seem all that unhappy."
"Then why did they want to meet us in secret? And why did they ask us not to tell Starlight who told us about the vault?" Twilight glanced pointedly at the pony who was keeping pace behind them. It felt like they were being marched to their deaths. "They're scared of her. I know we expected Starlight to be our friend, but I don't think we can trust her. Applejack, you're good at telling if ponies are lying. See what you can get out of her."
Applejack nodded and cantered up to Starlight. "So... this is a mighty fine town ya have here."
"Why thank you!" Starlight gave the farmpony a beaming smile.
"I've been wonderin', what possessed ya to set it up here?"
Starlight looked away. "Oh... it's just such a lovely environment! We have everything we need here!"
Really? There was nothing but dry soil and rocks as far as the eye can see. Rainbow Dash knew the mare was lying. And from the way Applejack tensed up, she knew it too.
Applejack tried another question. "But wouldn't ya'll be able ta spread your message more if you were closer to other ponyfolk?"
"There are some people who choose to remain ignorant of the truth," Starlight waved off into the distance, where the lights of Manehattan could just be made out on the horizon. "They spread lies and slander, tricking good and honest ponies into rejecting true friendship. Why, just recently we've had some corporation try and drive us out!"
"A corporation?" Twilight spoke up.
"Oh yes. Aion Industries, I believe they called themselves. Tried to buy out the land from beneath us and shut down our little utopia. Just one of the many attempts others have made to stop me from spreading true friendship. Why one even claimed to be-" Starlight clamped her mouth shut. She glanced nervously between the six ponies. "Anyway, here we are! Our Cutie Mark Vault!"
Starlight guided them around a corner, bringing them face to face with a towering construct of glass and metal. Rows upon rows of cutie marks, stacked up to the ceiling of the cave. All locked behind a protective layer of enchanted glass. The vault cast an unnerving blue glow across the room. It was as impressive as it was terrifying. A cutie mark was like a soul of a pony. Seeing so many stacked up like books in Twilight's library.. it was weird.
"I've never seen anything like it!" Twilight gasped, drinking in the intricate runes caved into the metal.
"And here is the Staff of Sameness," Starlight gestured to a wooden staff set into a pedestal. "It was one of the great Mage Meadowbrook's nine enchanted items. We are incredibly fortunate to have it here. This is the tool that allows us to free ourselves from our marks!" She glanced at Twilight out of the corner of her eye. "I'm curious how did the subject of the vault come up?"
Pinkie Pie spoke up before anypony could stop her. "Oh, some ponies were telling us how much they missed their cutie marks, and-"
"Pinkie!" Twilight hissed.
But the damage was done. Starlight levitated the staff in a cyan glow and turned to them, her eyes narrowed. "Were they? Well, it seems you inspire all sorts of free thinking, don't you?"
As carefully as she could, Rainbow Dash summoned energy to the tips of her wings.
Rarity chucked nervously. "Well, we certainly didn't intend to cause any disruptions to your charming little-"
"Good," Starlight cut her off. "Let's just make sure of that, shall we?"
Rarity backed away nervously, only to collide with Double Diamond who blocked the exit. Dozens of other ponies stepped out of the shadows, surrounding the six mares in a tight circle.
Twilight's eyes widened. "It's a trap!"
As Starlight levelled the staff at the alicorn, Rainbow Dash leapt into action. She cast a pulse of energy at the unicorn, who looked up just in time to teleport out of the way. Where she had been moments before was now frozen in a rainbow bubble. The townsponies charged at them, but they too were halted in place by another rainbow burst of energy.
Starlight looked between her frozen comrades and the glowing wings of the pegasus.
"Time magic?! But you're not a unicorn! That's-" She was forced to teleport away again to avoid another magical burst. Starlight reappeared behind Rainbow Dash and quickly shot her down before she could react.
Trapped in a cyan bubble, Rainbow Dash writhed in agony as her cutie mark was forcefully ripped from her. A small image of a lightning bolt flew off into the vault to be sealed behind enchanted glass. The cyan magic disappeared and Rainbow Dash fell limply to the ground. Starlight had little time to gloat, as Twilight sent a blast of magic at the unicorn who ducked just in time and tore of the alicorn's cutie mark too. One by one, the other ponies fell until all six of their cutie marks were locked within walls of the vault.
"Pegasi using magic? How is that possible?" Starlight muttered. She beckoned forward one of the other ponies. "Bring those six marks to my house, I have some things to investigate."
Twilight managed to push herself back to her hooves. "Give them back!"
"I think not, Twilight. You've spent your whole lives thinking those marks are a good thing. Well, now you can spend the rest of your lives here with us! And we'll teach you just how much better life can be without your cutie marks!"
"In sameness, there is peace. Exceptionalism is a lie."
Rainbow Dash pounded on the door. Nasty bruises appeared on her forelegs, but she wouldn't relent.
"Free yourself from your cutie mark. Choose equality as your special talent."
She charged forward only to bounce off the reinforced wood and land in a heap on the ground. The pegasus groaned and rolled back onto her legs.
"Difference is frustration. To excel is to fail."
"Hey, this is pretty good!" Pinkie Pie pointed down at one of the books, that contained nothing but that same damned equal symbol over and over.
Twilight paced across the ground. "Ugh, we've gotta find a way out of here! I can't take much more of that voice!"
"Be your best by never-"
Rainbow Dash didn't let it finished. With an angry snarl she snatched the book out of Pinkie's hooves and threw it up at the loud speaker. It was silenced in a burst of static.
"Hey, I was reading that!"
"Well read something else!"
This was torture. Everything they had relied on for so long was gone. Fluttershy couldn't speak to animals anymore, Rarity's sense of style had vanished. Even Applejack couldn't make her 'countryisms' anymore! Rainbow Dash didn't even think that was a special talent, just something inherent to Applejack! And there was no doubt that whenever Starlight released them, Rainbow Dash would never even come close to flying like she used to.
If she thought she was bored before, it didn't even come close what she was experiencing now. Hours blurred together, with Rainbow Dash lying on her back looking up to the ceiling where the speakers still sparked valiantly. Not even time weirdness was saving them now. There hadn't been a single stutter since she lost her cutie mark. Or at least one where she wasn't frozen like everyone else.
Eventually, she decided to just sleep the hours away. It wasn't like they were going anywhere anytime soon.
"I've got it!" Twilight exclaimed, startling them all awake. "I know how we can get out!"
Rainbow Dash sighed. "Forget it, Twilight. This door's not opening."
"And I'm afraid the windows are much too small for escape," Rarity gestured a hoof to the tiny barred windows.
"But there is a third way."
Pinkie Pie leapt to her feet. "Of course! Eventually the wind and the weather will wear down the walls until they start to crumble! Then all we have to do is wait for a big enough hole to form and we can just walk out! It's the perfect plan!"
"I've been trying to accelerate time on the walls for hours. 'fraid we're out of luck there," Rainbow Dash replied.
"We don't actually have to escape. They'll just let us out when they think we've accepted their philosophy!" Twilight explained.
She gathered them close, outlying her plan of making them think Fluttershy had embraced their belief system. Rainbow Dash didn't want to get too excited, but this plan might actually work! Fluttershy had been the most accepting of these weirdos and they knew it. Of course Rainbow Dash still trusted her, but they didn't know that! It wouldn't be too hard to convince them Fluttershy had turned traitor. And then they could get their cutie marks back and Rainbow Dash could finally give Starlight the flank kicking she deserved.
Their plan had worked like a charm. Starlight had fallen for the deception hook, line and sinker. And were it not for the slightly irritating presence of Party Favour, Rainbow Dash would be happy with the world. He seemed even more stalwart in his support for this cult than he had been when he told them about the cutie mark vault.
When they were marched out next morning, Rainbow Dash sighed in relief. Fluttershy was ok. She'd feared that one of the ponies would discover Fluttershy wasn't really as loyal as she claimed and do something horrible to the yellow mare. But for now, her friend was safe.
"I've got a good feeling about today! So, do any of you have anything you'd like to say?" Starlight looked between the five mares expectantly, frowning at the identical looks of defiance. "Aw, pity. Well, let's try this again tomorrow, shall we?" She gestured from them to be sent back to the cell then, turned around to the waiting crowd. "No new friends today, I'm afraid!"
Starlight had the same smug holier-than-thou look on her face, but Rainbow Dash noticed her eyes seemed a bit red-rimmed. It was the same look Twilight got when got so obsessed over some research it kept her awake through the night. It was unnerving. Twilight could be a bit... volatile in this state. And Twilight wasn't a megalomaniacal villain. So just what would Starlight do?
"Wait!" Fluttershy interrupted. "I'd like to lock them in."
Rainbow Dash waited with bated breath, horrible visions playing out in her mind. Any moment, Starlight would realise her mistake and send Fluttershy back into the cell. Or incinerate Fluttershy for her disrespect. Or turn Fluttershy into some horrible monster.
But that moment never came. Instead, Starlight gave Fluttershy a wide smile.
"Marvelous, Fluttershy! That's the spirit! Party Favor, will you join us, please?"
As the unicorn literally grovelled at Starlight's feet, Fluttershy led them back inside. She quickly shut the door behind them.
"Starlight has a cutie mark," Fluttershy said to the gathered mares.
"You're kiddin', right?," Applejack said. "Miss 'I hate cutie marks'... has a cutie mark?"
Fluttershy nodded head. "Yes, I saw it! She spilt water on herself and the makeup she uses to cover her own cutie mark washed off!"
"So if we can reveal her as a liar, maybe the rest of the town will turn on her?" Twilight mused.
"And what about our cutie marks?" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Where are they?"
"They're in her house, that's all I know," Fluttershy replied. "I think she might have hidden them in a secret basement, I saw her moving her bed to cover a trapdoor."
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. A secret basement? Could you get any more villainy? Then again, didn't Twilight have a secret basement in her treehouse home? Or at least, she had a secret basement.
"We can get our cutie marks later," Twilight laid a hoof on her shoulder. "For now, let's try to reveal her deception. I'll pretend to have converted and Fluttershy can get a tub of water to dump on her."
"Sounds like a plan," Applejack agreed.
Fluttershy nodded and led Twilight back out into the courtyard. "Starlight? I think we might have one more friend joining us today."
The crowd gasped as Twilight emerged from the cell. Starlight pushed Party Favour aside and gave Twilight a suspicious look. "Is this true?"
"I... I think so," Twilight faked uncertainty. "But I just want to be sure. If I agree to leave my cutie mark in the vault, I'll really be happier?"
"Just look around!" Starlight waved a hoof around the village, a broad grin on her face that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Equality has given us more happiness than you've ever known!"
"And you wouldn't let me just live here in the village with my old cutie mark?"
Starlight shook her head. "Out of the question. A pony with a different cutie mark in our midst would destroy our entire philosophy. We are all-!"
Before she could even finish her sentence, Fluttershy threw the bucket of water at the unicorn. Starlight spluttered, brushing wet hairs from her face then sending the yellow pegasus a withering glare.
"Then how do you explain that!" Fluttershy pointed to Starlight's flank. The mare's eyes widened and she looked behind her to see a black streak of makeup running down her leg. The crowd gasped as her true cutie mark was revealed.
Desperately, she tried to cover it with her tail. "Wha... What are you looking at?! They're the problem, not me!"
But the crowd wasn't in the mood to listen.
"Liar!"
"How could you?"
"You said cutie marks were evil! You said special talents led to pain and heartache!"
Starlight backed away warily. "No, don't you understand?! It's my magic that makes all this possible! You'd all still be living your miserable lives thinking you're better than everypony else if it weren't for my magical abilities! I brought you friendship! I brought you equality! I created harmony!"
"All you've done is lied to us," Double Diamond spat. The crowd roared it's agreement.
"You can't have a cutie mark, Starlight! Either we're all equal, or none of us are!"
The former cult leader found herself trapped between the frenzied and vengeful mob and the element bearers. At once, the mob charged, only to collide with each other as Starlight teleported back down the street. She raced to her house, locking the door behind her.
"Come on!" Rainbow Dash leapt into the air, pointing up at the mountain. "You're cutie marks are waiting for you!"
Starlight Glimmer forgotten for the moment, the mob raced up the mountain intent on reclaiming what was stolen from them. But Rainbow Dash had other plans. She flew off after Starlight, disappointed at the sluggish speed of her own flying, and slammed into the door. It didn't budge. Applejack couldn't make a dent in it even with her powerful bucking. Not even Twilight's magic could help.
"Back away!" A pegasus shouted. She charged into the door, knocking it clean off it's hinges. The element bearers surged into the room after her, looking for their adversary.
"There, down the trapdoor!" Applejack pointed to the gaping hole in the floor. Rainbow Dash didn't wait for the others to catch up. She soared down, coming face to face with an intricate laboratory.
Strange devices and diagrams were strewn across the room. There was enough potions, books and research here to make Twilight jealous. A large device in particular caught her attention. It roughly the size of a small cupboard with a head-sized opening in the middle. What drew her attention in particular was the diagrams pined up next to the machine. A diagram of her cutie mark.
Writing Rainbow Dash couldn't even begin to decipher was written across it. Twilight would know what it meant, but she was busy looking at a diagram of her own cutie mark. There were four other diagrams here, but none of them had any writing. Starlight must not have gotten the chance to poke around the cutie marks of anyone else.
"Are ya'll coming?" Applejack shouted to them, pointing down at the tunnel carved into the wall. Right, they had to get their cutie marks back! The diagram forgotten, Rainbow Dash soared after the farmpony.
As Twilight left, she briefly glanced at the piece of paper fluttering in the wind. Three words stood out to the unicorn, written in small flowy letters at the very bottom of the diagram. If it hadn't blown past her eyes in the wake of the rainbow pegasus' flight, she'd have missed it entirely.
Time is Power
Just what was that supposed to mean?
The jars containing the cutie marks smashed to the ground, releasing their precious contents. Far away, the six mares watched in awe as the multicoloured jets of energy soured towards them. One by one, each was reunited with the missing part of their soul.
Rainbow Dash felt her strength return. Finally, she could fly properly again! Wasting no time, Rainbow Dash shot off in pursuit, sparks trailing behind each feather. Her flight was not the only thing to return. And she planned to give Starlight Glimmer a demonstration the second she caught up with the lying unicorn.
Starlight flung herself out of a snowpile just as Rainbow Dash arrived. The former equalists fanned around around their former leader. In a flash of purple light, Twilight appeared with the other element bearers. Starlight gulped as Rainbow Dash gathered energy around her wing, enough to warp the light around it.
A bolt of cyan energy was shot at the pegasus, only to be deflected by a purple shield. Starlight turned to the alicorn with wide eyes. "I studied that spell for years! How can you-"
"I studied magic for years too! But what I didn't know then was that studying could only take me so far. Each of my friends has taught me something different about myself! It was their unique gifts and passions and personalities that helped bring out the magic 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!"
"Then I'll make sure you never get another chance!" Starlight snarled. Magic gathered at the tip of her horn, but Rainbow Dash was ready. Light gathered on her own wings, ready to be unleashed upon the unicorn.
But Starlight didn't shoot the bolt of magical energy at Twilight like Rainbow Dash expected. Or even towards the rainbow pegasus herself, who Twilight could've easily cast a shield over. No, the deadly cyan bolt arced towards a different target. A far more vulnerable target.
"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash cried as the bolt sailed towards her. There was no time to react. No time to make a second shot. She twisted her body, redirecting the gathered energy at her yellow friend instead of Starlight. In a burst of rainbow, Fluttershy was frozen in time with the deadly beam mere inches from her heart.
Starlight took this moment to escape, teleporting back into the caves. None of them paid her any mind. Rainbow Dash shot off to her petrified friend whose face was still caught in an expression of petrified terror. Grabbing her torso, Rainbow Dash pulled Fluttershy out of the path of the deadly beam. She released her hold on the bubble, letting the magic fly off into the distance.
The yellow pegasus clung onto Rainbow Dash tightly, still quivering in terror.
"It's alright, you're safe," Rainbow Dash ran a hoof across her back.
"Thank you," She managed to say.
"Hey, no way am I going to let my friends get hurt!"
Fluttershy managed a weak smile and slowly got back onto her feet. She still looked utterly terrified, but a near death experience would do that to a pony.
Twilight looked at the display with a smile. Rainbow Dash could be unbearable sometimes, but she'd always come through for them. Her eyes then found their way to the entrance of the cave system. The others might have missed it, but Starlight hadn't left the village empty-hoofed. There was a book in her bag. And if Twilight was a betting mare, she'd guess it had something to do with the research she'd done on their cutie marks.
She could only hope that data would let Starlight discover the true meaning of friendship, but she wasn't going to hold her breathe.
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A good chapter, I liked it! That big ball of rainbow energy that Rainbow saw was no doubt the time portal that Starlight Glimmer used to go back and alter time.
All the same, I wish Starlight Glimmer had died in a fire. She is one of the few characters I actually despise.
Thank you for the update!
Cool
How many chapters is this going to turn out to be, do you know?
10541089
I'm not entirely sure. I originally wrote this as a oneshot, then decided to expand it. As some people have already guessed, it will cover Season 5 with a grand culmination during Starlight's time travel escapades though how many chapters that will take is anyone's guess.
10540687
Glad you think so.
10539841
I don't like spoiling things, but I'll admit I made that one pretty obvious. As for Starlight... stick around, you may be pleasantly surprised.
10541138
Alright
10541138
Oh I wasn't planning on going anywhere with this story, I'm rather liking it. I just despise Starlight Glimmer.
Got Starlight out of character. Even when a villian, she would never blast someone with a killing intent.
Plus her plans were never about power. That's what people fail to understand. It was about never losing another friend.
10667119
She wasn’t intending on killing Fluttershy. I thought I made it pretty clear the goal of that shot was to force Rainbow Dash to save Fluttershy, thus giving Starlight the opportunity to escape? I’m sorry if this wasn’t made clear.