Chapter 45: The Cutie Map Part 1 (Edited)
Sunset, and the rest waited for Twilight, Spike, Sam, and his team to return. Right now they were waiting around the mirror portal, playing a game of uno, and Rainbow had one card left. She was smirking at the fact that she was going to win. But Sunset, who was sitting next to her, also had one card left and was worried about what Rainbow might have.
‘She can’t win five times in a row right?’ she thought to herself.
“I’m gonna win again,” Rainbow remarked in a cocky manner.
“Oh, are you Sugarcube?” Applejack smirked, as she placed down a plus 4.
“What?!” Rainbow shouted, she couldn’t believe it.
“Sunset, what colour do you want?” Applejack asked as Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy burst into laughter.
“Red please,” Sunset replied politely.
“No!” Rainbow declared, “Don’t be like that!”
“The pile is red now Dash, pick up four cards,” Applejack grinned. Rainbow huffed as she reached over to pick up four cards, and Sunset placed down her last card and won the game.
“That’s not fair!” Rainbow shouted thinking they did that on purpose.
“Hey, you’ve won every other match, at least let someone else win,” Rarity spoke up as she wiped away a tear.
“Yeah, but come on, you didn’t have to just give her the win,” Rainbow remarked.
“After getting plus 2 by everyone I think I deserved to win,” Sunset responded.
Rainbow just pouted, suddenly, the portal started to glow, signalling that it was Twilight, Spike, Sam, and his team’s return. They all jumped up and ran to the portal to welcome them back. But to their surprise, it was the Dazzlings that came out the portal first and landed on the floor with a thud.
“Wow what a ride,” Aria remarked as the trio looked up at the ponies looking down on them.
“What have you done with Twilight?” Rainbow growled as she grabbed Aria.
“Ok, now take it easy,” she pleaded.
“Rainbow let go of her!” came Twilight’s voice as she stepped out of the portal.
“Twi!” The girls cried as Rainbow dropped Aria and went over to her.
“Why in all of Equestria did you bring the Sirens here?” Rarity asked.
“They’re no longer evil,” Twilight told them, “their gems were the things corrupting them.”
“Oooohhhh!” the girls all said, as they went over to help them off the floor.
“I still don’t trust them," Rainbow remarked.
“Just cool yourself there Rainbow,” Applejack told her to give them a chance to explain themselves. Presently Spike, Gwen, Ace, Nick, Chris, Devon, and Sam all came through the portal.
“Hello Equestria!” Sam shouted, “your heroes have returned!”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Gwen remarked.
“I hope our home hasn’t changed much,” Sonata stated.
“Don’t worry,” Adagio replied, “we were only gone for a few months.”
“Wait, Adagio, what do you mean, only a few months?” Twilight asked.
“Well, Starswirl banished us to that human world for a few months, right?” Adagio asked.
“Adagio you’ve been gone for at least a few decades, many even centuries,” Sunset replied.
“What?!” the Dazzlings shouted.
“That… That can’t be…” Aria stated.
“Y…You must be playing a joke… Right?” Sonata questioned hopefully.
“We’re sorry, but it’s true,” Twilight replied, “Star Swirl has been missing for centuries, so who knows how long ago he banished you before he disappeared.”
“So… that means… we don’t really have a home to go back to…?” Adagio asked.
“I’m afraid so,” Twilight replied.
Adagio had to sit down to take this all in, Sonata felt like crying as she hugged Aria tightly. Everything they know, their homes, families, friends, all gone. Lost to time. The girls all felt sorry for them, and tried to comfort them. To make them feel better, the Ultra Siblings decided to take them around Equestria to show them how much Equestria had changed since their days. Sam and Devon took Adagio to Manehattan, Gwen and Nick took Aria to Los Pegasus, and Ace and Chris took Sonata to the not-as-impressive Appaloosa. But during their trip, a monster appeared, two in fact, a Gudon and a Twin Tail. Ace and Chris fought hard, but Ace wasn’t strong enough to stop them, and left Chris at the mercy of the monsters, but he was able to defeat and destroy them. Ace would continue to have this losing streak for weeks to come, but that’ll get touched on later.
Weeks past, and the Dazzlings have calmed down and settled back into pony life. Trixie had offered them to stay in her wagon as she had her own house now, until they could find themselves their own homes. Each of them even got jobs they like. Aria helped Rainbow out with sorting out the weather, Adagio became Rarity’s assistant in making clothing, and Sonata enjoyed helping out Mr and Mrs Cake at Sugarcube Corner, and they enjoyed her help in making cakes as she wasn’t as bonkers as Pinkie, and she wasn’t a unicorn or Pegasus that could run them out of a job. They even had their cutie Marks carved into three more crystal thrones, courtesy of the Crystal Empire. This was a suggestion by Sam, as he felt like they should be part of his pony family he had. But in doing so, a reaction happened when all the thrones were activated. Here is what happened.
It was another beautiful morning in Ponyville, ponies were going about their day, and the ever-expanding Elements of Harmony entered the throne room and started to sit on their thrones, Spike was already there, sleeping on his own little throne. Twilight was wondering why the castle appeared after Tirek’s defeat.
“Let's go through this one more time,” she said, getting a groan from Rainbow.
“We've been over it like a million times, Twilight!” she complained, “We found all six keys, defeated Tirek, and got this sweet castle! End of story!”
“Yes, but why?” Twilight pondered.
“I dunno, Sugarcube,” Applejack remarked, “Maybe it's just your new house and there ain't nothin' more to it than that.”
“I must say, speaking strictly on aesthetics, there really doesn't need to be more to it,” Rarity chimed in, “It's all simply divine!”
“I agree with Twilight. And Rarity. And Applejack. And Rainbow Dash. And Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy commented, “Oh, and probably Spike.” Spike’s only response was a louder snore.
“As princess, I've been chosen to spread the 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,” Twilight told them, as she sat on her own throne.
None of the ponies realised that when they sat down, their cutie marks on their throne started to glow, and with each of them taking a seat, their cutie marks glowed brighter. Once Twilight sat down, all their cutie marks started to glow as well. As they glowed brighter than ever, the girls finally noticed beams of light from their thrones to shine upon the star-shaped platform in the centre of the room. The castle suddenly comes alive to construct an elaborate holographic map of Equestria. A bright flash caused Spike to awaken from his slumber, and he was just as shocked at the others.
“Is that new?” he commented, “I like it.” Just then The Ultra siblings were there as well, discussing their Team name.
“I’m just saying, Ultra Siblings don’t have that good sounding name,” Nick stated.
“Well we can’t call ourselves the Neo Ultra Brothers,” Sam remarked, “Because Gwen’s the only girl in the group.”
“How about The Ultra Rangers?” Chris questioned.
“That sounds better,” Devon replied.
They then noticed the Crystal table in the middle of the room.
“Woah, when did that get there,” Gwen commented.
“This is incredible!” Spike stated as he climbed onto the holographic map and walked across it, “It's got all of Equestria!”
“Hi, Mom and Dad!” Pinkie said as she looked down at the little holographic image of her old rock farm. Spike stomped down his foot onto the holographic rock farm, causing Pinkie to gasp and start building up tears.
As if things couldn’t get any stranger, the girls’ cutie marks started to flash as floating images of their cutie marks floated in the air and hovered over a point towards a location far off from Ponyville.
“But if this is Ponyville, why are our cutie marks over there?” Sonata asked, as Twilight levitated Spike off the map.
“I don't know. But it seems like the map wants us to find out,” Twilight replied, “The Tree, the chest, this castle, and now the map. How can we not follow it?”
“Y'know what? There's a ton of room for dangerous adventure along that route,” Rainbow stated as she looked over the route of how to get to their destination, “Count me in!”
“Aw, shoot, I reckon you're right,” Applejack agreed.
“Well, I was planning on organising my baking sheets, but okay!” Pinkie chimed in.
“Very well,” Rarity sighed, with a smile.
“We’re coming too,” Adagio called out.
“We want to have a taste of the fun and action!” Aria shouted.
“I’m in too!” cried Sonata.
“I’m not gonna let you have all the fun,” Sunset joked as she gave Twilight a nudge on her shoulder.
“Count the Ultra Rangers in!” Sam yelled.
“Maybe that doesn’t work after all,” Ace remarked.
Everyone turned to look at Fluttershy for what she was going to say. “Um, maybe I'll just stay here with Spike,” Fluttershy spoke softly.
“Awesome!” Spike exclaimed, wearing a soda hat on his head and foam finger on his claw, “Me and Big Mac have a huge weekend ahead of us talkin' hoofball, and... and trading hoofball cards, and arguing about hoofball stats...”
O-o-on second thought, m-m-maybe I'd better go with them,” Fluttershy retorted, “In case they need me.”
“Looks like it's time for a road trip,” Twilight announced as the girls and kids started to walk out the castle.
“Well, suit yourself,” Spike remarked, “But he's got a Hock Fetlock rookie card I plan to sweet-talk right into these hot little claws.”
“So why do you want to change your team name?” Sunset asked Sam.
“Well the others think it doesn't sound as good,” Sam told her.
“Ace, I’ve noticed that you’ve been more quiet than normal,” Devon stated, “are you ok?”
“Yeah, it’s nothing you need to worry about,” Ace replied.
“You’ve also been thinking about Sonata a lot as well,” Nick commented, “do you know how wrong that is. She’s way too old for you.”
“Well actually I’m…” Ace tried to say but Nick cut him off.
“I mean I can understand a close friendship, but a relationship is out of the equation,” he replied. They all continued to talk with each other as they walked out the castle, leaving behind the echoes of their conversations.
The train ride was almost as long as the train itself, it covered over desert lands, travelled on a bridge over a gorge, and in a tunnel in a mountain. The train soon came to the end of the line, out in the middle of nowhere. There wasn’t even a station, just buffers. The Girls and kids got off the train, and the train started to reverse away.
They continued on foot, following a map Twilight had drawn out. They walked over an old rope bridge, with Fluttershy holding Sam in her arms because he was scared of heights.
“Couldn’t you just turn into your Ultra form and fly?” Rainbow brought up, “Plus didn’t you have to jump off a cliff to save Diamond Tiara?”
“Not when I’m in a fit of panic,” Sam replied, “and I was only thinking about saving Diamond Tiara. You can’t overcome a fear like that.”
Soon they came over a hill and saw a little village in the middle of nowhere, where all of the houses—with the exception of one—are arranged in two parallel rows.
“That's it! That's the place on the map!” Twilight exclaimed.
“Right. Let's get down there and find the spa,” Rarity remarked as she brushed dust out her mane.
“A nice soak in warm soapy water is just what I need,” Adagio stated.
“Wait,” Sunset told them, teleporting in front of them, “We don't know why the map sent us here. We shouldn't just walk right in.
“Sunset’s right,” Twilight agreed, “It could be dangerous.”
“Yes!” Rainbow cried, she felt pumped for some action.
“Stay behind me, everypony! I'm on it!” Pinkie remarked.
“Careful, Pinkie!” Sonata called to her, as Pinkie rolled down the hill and hid behind a rock. She motioned everyone to come down. Then she dashed under some rocks and motioned to everyone that it was clear, before getting crushed by a rather large rock. But she was able to move with it on top of her.
“Since when did Pinkie become a ninja?” Nick asked.
“It’s Pinkie, don't question it,” Devon replied.
Pinkie shifted the rock closer to get a closer look, Twilight, Sunset, Rarity, Adagio, Applejack and Sonata poked up over the rock, Sam, Gwen, Nick, Ace, Devon, and Chris poked out from the sides, and Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Aria hovered above them.
“This is where the map sent us?” Rainbow questioned, “It looks like the most boring place in Equestria.”
“It's just an ordinary village full of ordinary pony folk,” Applejack remarked, she was right. From what they could see, there were Ponies going about their day.
“It could certainly use a few more architectural flourishes,” Rarity commented.
“Or any architectural flourishes,” Adagio agreed.
“You’re right there,” Chris agreed.
“It looks like everyone is stuck in Victorian times,” Sam remarked.
“I think it's lovely,” Fluttershy said.
“You think everything is lovely,” Nick spoke up.
“I just don’t want to hurt their feelings,” Fluttershy admitted.
“I don't like it. I don't like it one bit,” Pinkie declared, “I know smiles. And those smiles? They're just not right.” The Ponies seemed to have forced smiles on their faces.
“That’s really unsettling,” Ace commented.
“You reckon their cheeks hurt from smiling too much?” Sonata questioned.
“Forget the smiles. Look at the cutie marks,” Sunset pointed out.
“Okay, that's weird,” Aria remarked.
“An entire village with the same cutie mark? How can that be?” Twilight questioned.
“I bet there's some sort of horrific monster behind it,” Rainbow suggested.
“I doubt it,” Devon remarked, “they’re no alien or kaiju that can do something like this. Something close to doing that would be Neronga but he would just cause your magic to go all funny.”
“What makes you think it’s a monster?” Sunset asked.
“'Cause fighting a horrific monster would be super-awesome!” Rainbow shouted.
“Leave the monster fighting business to us,” Gwen spoke up.
“I reckon we just ought to head into town and talk to some locals, find out what's goin' on,” Applejack suggested.
“Great idea, AJ. Let's go!” Rainbow shouted, as they all started to make their way down the hill.
“Those smiles are bad news,” Pinkie remarked.
The girls and kids all walked into town, and almost immediately, the townsfolk turned and looked into the direction of them.
“Welcome!” An earth pony stallion named Sunny Song spoke up.
“Welcome!” called out a Pegasus mare.
“Welcome!” spoke a unicorn stallion.
“Welcome!” said a pony named Bacon Braids.
“Welcome!” greeted another unicorn stallion.
“Welcome!” an earth pony named Offbeat addressed.
“Welcome!” called out a group of fillies that were walking with Offbeat.
“This must be the most pleasant place in Equestria!” Fluttershy commented.
“Welcome!” A Pegasus pony named Night Glider greeted Fluttershy, causing her to giggle.
“This is giving me the creeps,” Ace remarked.
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” Sonata remarked, placing an arm around Ace’s shoulder. This caused Ace to smile up at her.
“Ugh. Thanks a lot, map,” Rainbow groaned.
“Welcome!” greeted a blue unicorn, with an old scarf around his neck, “Pardon my forwardness, but are you an Alicorn?”
“That there's the Princess of Friendship!” Applejack answered for Twilight.
“And here are her sweet, adorable kids!” Sonata cried motioning to Sam and Gwen.
“Well, you've certainly come to the right place for friendship,” the unicorn replied.
“What brings you to town?” asked a snow white earth pony.
“We're not entirely sure,” Twilight replied.
“I see. Well, all are welcome here in our little village,” the white pony told them, “My name is Double Diamond, and this is Party Favour.”
“Howdy, Double Diamond,” Applejack greeted before taking a deep breath, “I'm Applejack, and this here's Pinkie Pie, Ace, Fluttershy, Devon Rarity, Gwen, Rainbow Dash, Nick, Sunset Shimmer, Chris Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, Sonata Dusk, Sam and Twilight Sparkle.”
“And you all have your own unique cutie marks,” Double Diamond commented.
“If you don't mind, has there been any sort of... trouble here, lately?” Twilight asked.
“Trouble? Why, I don't think we've ever had trouble in our little village,” Double Diamond replied.
“It's true. You'll see. Hm,” Party Favour agreed.
“Perhaps you'd care to speak to our founder Starlight Glimmer,” Double Diamond told them, as he and Party Favour started to lead the ponies and kids.
“I wish everypony in Equestria was as friendly as these ponies are,” Fluttershy remarked.
“I've got my eye on them,” Pinkie stated, as she looked back to see the whole village following them, “Something's rotten in... whatever the name of this village is that we're in right now!”
Party Favour and Double Diamond both knocked on the door of the house that was at the end facing down the street, the door opened, and they walked in.
“Starlight, we have some new visitors,” Double Diamond called out, the ponies entered the house followed by Sam and his team. They all stood in the middle of a room, with a door and stairs leading to other rooms of the house.
“Be ready to fight,” Rainbow remarked to Applejack and Aria, “We don't know what's gonna come through that door.” The door opened slowly, and out from the darkness stepped a unicorn with lilac fur, purple mane and tail with pale aquamarine streaks and Persian eyes.
“Welcome!” she greeted politely, “I'm so pleased to have you here.”
Rainbow groaned that it wasn’t anything monstrous. “This is Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Sunset Shimmer, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, Sonata Dusk, Twilight Sparkle, Sam, Gwen, Ace, Devon Chris and Nick,” Double Diamond introduced them.
Starlight seemed interested in Twilight and had a closer look at her. “Forgive my bluntness, but I'm assuming it's Princess Twilight Sparkle?” She said, “We don't get many Alicorns around here.”
“Yes, but "Twilight" is fine,” Twilight replied.
“And I’m assuming that these two and you’re adorable children,” Starlight asked, looking down at Sam and Gwen.
“Yes, but how did you know?” Twilight asked.
“Oh the news gets everywhere in Equestria,” Starlight replied.
“We’re not that famous,” Gwen said to her brother.
“Better question, does she know who we are?” Sam questioned.
“So! How did you hear of our little village?” Starlight asked Twilight.
“It's kind of a long story,” Twilight replied, “Let's just say we found it on a map.”
“Technically, it's a Tree-chest-castle-map!” Pinkie chimed in happily, before turning back to a scowl.
“Well, however you found us, we're happy to have you!” Starlight told them, “We're happy to have anypony who wants to experience true friendship for the first time.”
“Say what?” Applejack questioned.
“Oh, indeed. That's what's so unique about our village, you see,” Starlight answered, “Around here, we don't flaunt our special talents because we don't have any special talents to flaunt.”
“Is that why you all have those cutie marks?” Sunset asked.
“I thought it was because you’ll good at equalling,” Sam remarked.
“Perhaps it would be easier to understand if I gave you a tour of the village!” Starlight said as she stepped outside, “Heads high, ponies! Marching proud! All together now! Every one of you! No pony left behind!”
“Oh no, don’t tell me they’re about to sing,” Sam remarked, “I’ve heard enough singing back into the human world.” And indeed she did start singing.
Life is so grand in Our Town
We're always filled with cheer
We never have to look around
To know that we're all here
In Our Town, in Our Town
We don't have to wait
To find out that our destiny
Is just to emulate
Let's see those big, happy smiles!
Life is a smile in Our Town
Our cutie mark's the same
Because we do not separate
Ourselves by more than name
In Our Town, in Our Town
We dare not compete
Winning only breeds the worst
Ego-filled conceit
You see? Now everypony wins!
Life is a joy in Our Town
We're all equal here
No one is superior
And no one shakes in fear
In Our Town, in Our Town
We work as a team
You can't have a nightmare
If you never dream
Other ponies argue
Do you ever wonder why?
When you think your talent's special
You don't see eye-to-eye
There's just too many differences
That lead to disarray
But when you learn to act as one
It's like a holiday
In Our Town, in Our Town
We don't complicate
When you learn to simplify
Life is oh, so great
Join in our utopia
Come out of the dark
Banded by equality
By our cutie mark!
Once the song was over and Sam uncovered his ears, Rainbow Dash burst into laughter, “You're kidding, right? Give up our cutie marks? No way!” she responded.
“Rainbow Dash don't be so rude,” Fluttershy told her, “I don't think we should judge them. They all seem perfectly happy with their choice.”
“Don't believe their smiles, Fluttershy,” Pinkie told her.
“I'm sorry, I guess we're just a little confused by all of this,” Twilight replied.
“We have no judgments here in our village,” Starlight told her, “Each of us was confused once as well, blinded by the false promise of our cutie marks.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Is she for real?” Rainbow questioned before getting a glare from Sunset.
“When we were sent to this village, we assumed it was to help in some way,” Twilight said, “But, well, it doesn't seem like you need any help.”
“Have you considered perhaps that you might have been sent here so we could help you? After all, nopony has ever come to our village and wanted to leave,” Starlight responded, “Why should you be any different? But that is entirely your choice. Please enjoy our little corner of Equestria. We're all quite fond of it. No doubt you will be as well. Double Diamond, please help our guests with whatever they might need.”
“Of course,” Double Diamond replied, Starlight nodded and turned away.
“Well, this will certainly provide a boost to our little community,” Starlight remarked as she walked away, talking to herself, “When the rest of Equestria sees that a princess gave up her cutie mark to join us, they'll finally understand what we're trying to accomplish.”
As the ten friends and six kids continue to take in what the village has to offer, and the townsfolk continue to greet them, Twilight was starting to find it inconceivable that a pony's cutie mark can be simply taken away.
“A cutie mark is a representation of a pony's unique talents and skills,” Twilight remarked, “How is it possible to…”
“What in the name of Equestria is that?!” Rarity gasped, cutting twilight off, and pointing at some old cloaks on display.
“Welcome! Care to sample some local fashion?” the pony named Burlap called out, “We've got cloaks this month!”
“Wha… Ooh, er, perhaps another time, good sir, thank you,” Rarity said kindly, before trotting to a table the girls had sat down at and whispering to Applejack, “No wonder nopony's wearing anything!”
“Really, girls!” Fluttershy spoke down to them, “They may do things a bit differently than we're used to, but that's no reason to be rude.”
“No, the reason to be rude is that they all keep staring at us!” Rainbow stated, she was right, the townsfolk were just staring at them and not letting their gazes go to anything else.
“Need something?” called Double Diamond from across the street.
“Uh, no! We're good!” Sunset called back before speaking in a hush voice, “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 remarked, as a pony from the bakery behind stepped out to greet them. She tried to speak up, but the girls weren’t letting her.
“If we were at the end of Equestria, we'd be sitting on a big 'A'!” Pinkie giggled at her own joke, “Get it?”
“That was a good one,” Sonata replied, as she let out a laugh.
“Oh, please, Miss Pie! This is hardly the time for jokes!” Rarity told her, “We've come all this way and for what?”
“Maybe you're right,” Adagio chimed in, “But we're here now, and it sure feels like something's wrong.”
“That and two bits'll get you a cup of cider,” Applejack stated.
“Is this a bad time?” the baker pony questioned.
“We shouldn't be bickering like this in front of our new friends,” Fluttershy said, “Really, Applejack, you're almost as bad as Rainbow Dash and Aria Blaze!”
“Don't drag me into this!” Rainbow snapped.
“What did I do?!” Aria retorted. Ponies hearing what they were talking about covered the ears of their foals.
“Is your friendship ending?” asked the baker pony.
“Are you crazy?!” Pinkie exclaimed, “We'd never let a disagreement get in the way of food!”
“O-kay, well, my name is Sugar Belle,” the unicorn mare told them, “What can I bring you? We have: muffins..." There was a long pause after she said that. The others waited to hear if she had anything else, but she didn’t.
“Then I guess we'll take sixteen muffins!” Twilight replied.
“Make that twenty two!” cried Sonata and Pinkie together, “What? I'm hungry!” Sugar Belle wandered off as the girls continued to discuss.
“Come on, girls. We've got to stick together,” Twilight told them, “It doesn't matter what happened before, we're here now.”
“I guess you're right,” Aria responded, “And the sooner we figure out why, the sooner we can go home.”
“Forgive me for overhearing,” Sugar Belle came back with a tray of steaming muffins, “but just a moment ago you were disagreeing, and now it sounds like you're... agreeing.”
“Uh-huh...” Applejack nodded, sounding a little unsure what Sugar Belle was getting at.
“Well, you had such differing opinions… and cutie marks,” Sugar Belle commented.
“We have differing opinions all the time, dear,” Adagio told her.
“But you look like you're friends,” Sugar Belle stated.
“We are friends,” Twilight said, “A simple disagreement wouldn't change that.”
“I'm sorry, I'm just having a hard time understanding,” Sugar Belle answered, she looked worryingly behind her to see that Double Diamond was overhearing.
“What’s so hard to understand?” Sam asked in return.
“Well, Different talents lead to different opinions, which lead to bitterness and misery,” Sugar Belle replied, “So... why aren't you bitter and...?”
“Blech!” Pinkie gagged, choking on one of the muffins, before realising she was gagging in full view of Sugar Belle, “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,” Sugar Belle could see Double Diamond getting from his seat with a stern expression on his face, “Well, I... hope you enjoy our little village!” Pinkie started to clean her tongue from the horrid taste of the muffin, before Sugar Belle spoke again in a hush voice,“ Come inside before you go! Meet me downstairs!” Before giving a big grin to Double Diamond as disappearing into her bakery. Satisfied, Double Diamond went back to reading his newspaper.
“Okay, that was weird too,” Rainbow remarked.
“Let's all sit here and eat these muffins and act normal,” Twilight said as she levitated over a muffin, “I think we're being watched.” They all look around to see all the townsfolk staring at them.
“You think?” retorted Rainbow, sarcastically.
“No, not like that!” Twilight replied, “I mean somepony here doesn't want us talking to Sugar Belle.” She motioned her head towards Double Diamond, who took a bite of his muffin.
“I got an idea,” Applejack said, “But you gotta eat all of them muffins, Pinkie and Sonata.”
“Me?! Why me?!” Pinkie cried.
“And why do I have to eat them as well?!” exclaimed Sonata.
“You two have got stronger stomachs 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,” Applejack replied, “Plus I’m being nice and letting you Pinkie not eat all of them by yourself.”
“Oh you are so Nice AJ,” frowned Sonata.
Pinkie and Sonata looked dreadfully at the pile of muffins. Soon enough, they both had eaten them all, but Pinkie and Sonata were green in the face, and felt very sick.
“I can't believe you ate all our muffins, Pinkie Pie and Sonata!” Applejack acted, “We'd best go inside and get some more!”
“Nice work, you two,” Twilight remarked, as they all entered the bakery and went downstairs into the basement. Pinkie and Sonata more or less tumbled down the stairs, because they felt so full and sick. The Basement was rather dark with only a single lightbulb in the centre of the room as the only source of light.
“I don’t feel so good,” Sonata groaned.
“I've accidentally eaten cardboard tastier than that...” Pinkie moaned.
“Hello? Sugar Belle?” Twilight called out.
“Thank you for coming!” came Sugar Belle’s voice, as she stepped out from the darkness, grinning widely.
“Why did you want us to come down here?” Twilight asked her.
“So nopony could see what's about to happen,” Sugar Belle responded, sounding menacing.
Suddenly, out of the shadows, Party Favour and Night Glider approached them, grinning as they did. Feeling scared and defensive, Twilight readied her horn to fire. And then…
“Are you really the Princess of Friendship?” Party Favour asked Twilight.
“Do you know Princess Celestia?” Night Glider inquired.
“I love your cutie mark!” Sugar Belle remarked, grabbing Pinkie’s rear.
“How can you be friends with different cutie marks?” Night Glider asked Rarity and Fluttershy, “Don't you end up hating each other?”
“Is it true you two are Twilight and Sunset’s children,” Party Favour questioned Sam and Gwen.
“Oh, look at this one! This one's great too!” Sugar Belle exclaimed touching Fluttershy’s rump, “I'd love to have my special talent back even just for a day! Make something besides those disgusting muffins...”
“So what's stopping you?” Nick questioned, “Go get your cutie marks back.”
“Daydreaming is one thing, but you mean actually having it put back on. That seems extreme,” Party Favour commented.
“I'm not sure Starlight would like that,” Sugar Belle responded, “She wants us all to be happy in our sameness.”
“Is ‘sameness’ even a word?” Chris asked Sam.
“It must be if it’s not getting spell checked,” Sam answered.
“How do you take somepony's cutie mark anyway?” Sunset asked.
“Cutie unmarking is a beautiful experience!” Night Glider declared, “Starlight uses the Staff of Sameness to magically take them away and replace them with these.”
“O-o-o-kay that’s a stretch,” Laughed Nick, “Staff of Sameness.”
“But nopony should keep you from your cutie mark,” Sunset responded, “It represents such an essential part of who you are.”
“Oh, we're not kept from them. They're in the vault up in the caves,” Night Glider told them, “We can visit them any time we like to remind us of the heartache of a life with special talents.”
“Can we visit this cave?” Twilight asked.
Later that day, Starlight Glimmer was leading the Mane Ten plus Ultra Siblings outside the village and to the Cutie Mark Vault, pleased by their interest in it.
“I'm delighted you're interested in our cutie mark vault. We hope someday every pony in Equestria will make a pilgrimage here to our little village to have theirs removed too,” she remarked before continuing under her breath, “and our message of perfectly equal friendship can finally spread across the land.”
This must be the reason we're here,” Twilight whispered to her friends.
“‘Pilgrimaging’?” Pinkie questioned, thinking that was the reason they were here.
“No, helping those ponies get their cutie marks back,” Twilight replied.
“Oh, are you sure, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, “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? Something's not right,” Twilight remarked.
“Just through here!” Starlight called out, as she entered a cave, “Behold! Our cutie mark vault!” The Mane Ten and Ultra Siblings all gasped at what they were seeing. It was like a giant cage holding all the townsfolk’s cutie marks.
“I've never seen anything like it!” Twilight remarked.
“It looks like a giant iPhone,” commented Sam.
“And here is the Staff of Sameness. It was one of the great Mage Meadowbrook's nine enchanted items,” Starlight told them, walking over to a table with the Staff placed on it, when she mentioned Mage Meadowbrook, Twilight pondered on that claim, “We are incredibly fortunate to have it here. This is the tool that allows us to free ourselves from our marks!” Starlight then realised something, “I'm curious… How did the subject of the vault come up?”
“Oh, some ponies were telling us how much they missed their cutie marks, and…” Sonata accidentally said aloud.
“Sonata!” Adagio and Aria snapped at her.
“Oops…” Sonata squeaked, covering her muzzle, and backing up.
“Were they?” Starlight gasped, her friendly demeanour disappearing, “Well, it seems you inspire all sorts of free thinking, don't you?”
“Well,” Rarity let off a nervous laugh, “w-we certainly didn't intend to cause any disruptions to your charming little…”
“Good. Let's just make sure of that, shall we?” Starlight remarked, getting close to Rarity, she backed up only to be blocked by Double Diamond.
Suddenly, ponies started to surround the group of friends. “It’s a Trap!” Twilight, unintentionally quoting Star Wars.
She teleported into the air and started to charge up her magic. But Starlight was faster, and she fired a beam from the staff at Twilight, striking her with magic. Twilight cried in pain as she felt her cutie Mark get pulled off her flank. It floated to Starlight, who threw it into a spare space in the vault. Twilight’s colour became muted as in the place of her cutie mark was the equal sign, the same as the others.
Twilight fell to the ground with a thud, she felt weak without her cutie mark. Her friends were all shocked, then Starlight hit them with the same blast of magic, and forcefully pulled their cutie marks off as well. Sam and his team got ready to fight, when the same magic struck them.
“Don’t think I forgot about you,” Starlight remarked, using her magic to lift them up in the air.
“Your magic is useless!” Sam called out, “we don’t have cutie marks!”
“No but you do have something else,” Starlight replied with an evil grin. Sam wondered what she meant, but then found it out when he felt his chest starting to hurt. “You see, I already knew the existence of Ultraman in Equestria. And so the moment I saw you and your little friends, I knew who you really were.”
He looked down and saw his Colour timer getting pulled from his chest. Him and his team all cried in pain, Starlight even grunted, taking their colour timers was a lot harder than taking cutie marks. Tears of pain were forming in their eyes, and then… the sounds of something tearing echoed around the cave. Starlight had pulled their Colour Timers off their bodies.
Their bodies felt limp, as she dropped them on the ground in front of Twilight and everyone. Twilight cried as she ran over to her fallen child.
“SAM!” she shouted. Sam was pale and looked more or less dead, she pulled down his t-shirt to reveal the torn skin on his chest where his Colour timer was. He was breathing quite slowly, “Speak to me!”
“You Monster!” Sunset shouted, “they’re just children!”
“Aw. I don't blame you for what you tried to do here today,” Starlight commented, seemingly not caring about Sam and his team, “You've spent your whole lives thinking those marks are a good thing.”
“Give them back!” Twilight shouted in a mother’s fury.
“Well, now you can spend the rest of your lives here with us!” Starlight responded, “And we'll teach you just how much better life can be without your cutie marks!”
The Girls were worried and angry at Starlight, as they stared at her, Sam’s breathing grew slowly.
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Nice to see you back my friend! And we’re now at the Start of S5
If you’re feeling stressed still, get plenty of rest. I hope things will get better for you and that everything will be ok
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Thanks my friend