> Flash Sentry Chronicles: Our Town
>  by Banshee531
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Cutie Map
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our story begins in the middle of the night, all on the streets of a bustling metropolis. On these roads was a single wagon, one being pulled by an earth pony with several unicorns and pegasi walking/flying around it. The whole group were constantly darting their eyes back and forth, paranoia obviously on their faces.

"See anything?" The earth pony asked one of the pegasi, a shake of the head being the reply.

"Nothing. We seem to be in the clear."

"Well I ain't gonna be happy until we're at the rendezvous point. Then we can hoof this stuff off and it won't be our problem anymore." But as these words left his mouth, a single dagger-like projectile flew out of the darkness, striking the ground right in front of them. The sight made the whole group hop in place, the pony yelping, "What the-"

"Up there!" One of them yelled as it pointed upward, the hoof directing to four shadowy figures standing on a rooftop. They were concealed in the darkness of the night, only their eyes giving off any light. "It's the legendary defenders!"

In the blink of an eye, one of the figures disappeared and reappeared next to the dagger. Before they could react, he slammed an electrified hoof into one of the unicorns, light now filling the area from the blow as it revealed the defender known as Lightning Blitz.

Seeing this, the other three figures leapt into the fray. "Flash Cutter!" Blades of light struck several of the pegasi, knocking them out of the sky as Flash Sentry landed with Lightbringer in hoof.

"Bone Breaker!" Springer added in his battle form as he knocked out one of the unicorns with his aura weapon. But as this happened, the unicorns tried to blast him with their magic, only for metal spikes to shoot out of the ground, deflecting the beams back at the casters.

Now seeing the incoming reflections, the unicorns tried to scatter, only to turn and see one grinning Iron Core. "Iron Saber!"

WHAM!

Three unicorns went flying as Lightning started his face off with the earth pony, tossing his daggers all around the criminal. "HA! You missed!" the earth pony laughed.

"Did I?" Lightning asked before disappearing, reappearing soon while slamming him in the face with another electrified hoof. He did this several times, warping around the earth pony as burn marks started to cover his body.

As this happened, the criminals are grouped together as they kept trying to dodge the defender's attacks, the unicorns now summoning a shield around them. Seeing this, Flash leapt into the air as he yelled, "Springer!"

"Got it! Batter up!" the jakhowl replied as he tossed an aura sphere into the air, Flash's sword glowing as he pointed at the ball.

"Flash...CUTTER!" He slashed the orb with his sword, rocketing it towards the shield as the light of his attack surrounded it. The criminals all scrunched up for the attack, only for the orb to disappear. This made them raise an eyebrow, causing the unicorns to drop their shield. But as this happened, the ground suddenly exploded, knocking them all into heaps around the street.

Flash chuckled as he flew down to the rest of his team, the four pointing at the criminals. "As a deputized protector of Equestria, it is my hope you have enjoyed you flank kicking experience!" The criminals began to pick themselves at this, only to go wide-eyed as they saw the four unleash one final attack.

"Flash/Iron/Lightning/Aura...FORCE!" Three beams of light and a tornado of metal flew at the criminals, consuming and ripping them all to shreds. And when the light of the attacks died down, they saw the street was completely destroyed and the criminals vanished without a trace.

"Huh..." Springer commented as he returned to his smaller form, "Maybe we overdid it a little."

"Ya think?" Lightning sarcastically asked.

Iron just shrugged, "Better here than the real world."

"True," Flash agreed before walking through the wreckage of the town. As he did, a large crystal phased out of the ground and floated a few inches in the air, which he touched. There, it made a blinding light, one that spread across the city in an instant. In a flash, the city dissolved and the four found themselves in a square room made entirely out of crystal.

Iron let out a happy sigh as they walked over to a table of drinks, "Sweet Celestia, I love this new training hall."

"Tell me about it," Springer added as he gulped down a whole water bottle. "Its too cool."

"No kidding. We can make any situation." Lightning finished. "Heck, I could I live here."

Flash said nothing, simply take a sip out of his drink. He had to agree in loving the new training hall, basically getting rid of their old training field in one fell swoop. Now his favourite part of his new castle home, all you had to do was touch the crystal and imagine the area you want, which allowed the room to show solid illusions of that location. Now they could train anywhere, from a volcano, to a dark forest, and even the middle of the ocean.

"What I wouldn't do to have one of these are my house," Iron sighed.

"You might just get it," Flash replied as he put his drink away. "Twilight's been studying this room and working to replicate its abilities."

"Seriously?!" Iron squealed, actually looking giddy at this as they left the room. It had a been two weeks since the battle against Tirek, and in that time they had all memorized the castle's layout. Soon enough, they found themselves in the throne room of the castle and saw Spike sleeping in his throne.

The doors on the other side of the room opened up next, showing Twilight and the rest of the Mane Seven. Flash saw this as he and Springer sat down on their thrones. "Hey girls. Say, are we gonna do something to fill the space between these chairs?" He looked down at the emptiness, "It just doesn't look right."

Springer nodded at this while watching Pinkie bounce onto her throne, "Yeah! Imagine the size of the table we could have in there."

Twilight glanced at the space before looking around the room, a frown on her face, "Alright everypony, let's go through this one more time."

Rainbow sighed as she sat in her throne. "We've been over it like a million times, Twilight! We found all seven keys, defeated Tirek, got kidnapped while those defenders over there were useless, Springer saved us, and we got this sweet castle! End of story!"

Iron and Lightning both growled at her while Twilight shook her head, "Yes, but why?"

"I dunno sugarcube," Applejack commented as she tapped her hat. "Maybe it's just cuz ya'll needed a new house and there ain't nothin' more to it than that."

Rarity nodded as she crossed her hooves. "I agree. Also, I must say, speaking strictly on aesthetics, there really doesn't need to be more to it. It's all simply divine!"

"I agree with Twilight," Fluttershy said while climbing up onto her throne. "And Rarity. And Applejack. And Rainbow Dash. And Flash. And Springer. And Pinkie Pie." She then turned to the sleeping dragon. "Oh, and probably Spike."

"Besides, why does it matter on why you have it?" Lightning spoke up, "You have a castle now, enjoy it. Start throwing those big gala things and whatever else you're suppose to use big castles for."

"She doesn't need to throw parties, she needs to start thinking of getting her own guard detail." Iron grumbled as he pointed at the princess. "After what happened the other day, it's obvious you need somepony to patrol the place. Heck, I've already found like, a hundred hiding places for an assassin to lay in wait."

Twilight rolled her eyes as she started pacing. "Iron, I'm not going to do a huge guard detail for this castle. I don't want everypony to be intimidated to come up here. 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?" She flew over to her throne, "It doesn't make any sense." She plonked her flank on the seat and as soon as she did, Flash noticed the image of her cutie mark on her throne suddenly light up.

He raised his eyebrow at this, only to see that the marks on all their thrones glowing, including his own. And he wasn't the only one who noticed the light. Before anypony could ask what was going on, the thrones all fired a different colored light out and hit the stared circle in the center of the room. There, the crystal of their thrones began to grow and spread towards the center. Lightning and Iron both stepped away while everypony else stared in shock as the crystals met, soon going up and unleashed a powerful light that almost blinded everypony.

And when the light faded, everyone opened their eyes and found that the empty space between their thrones was gone. Filling it was a large round crystal table, which began to emit a strange array of lights that took shape and formed a miniature representation of the land they knew as Equestria.

"What...just happened?" Springer asked before letting out a loud yawn.

They all looked over to the dragon, seeing him now noticing the new addition to the room as he woke up, only to go as wide-eyed as the rest of the group. "Is that new?" His shock quickly morphed into a smile, "I like it."





Scootaloo and her friends were been playing in the castle's ramp room when they suddenly heard a loud rumbling sound. Bringing their fun to a close, the three fillies ran to the throne room, Scootaloo yelling, "What's happening?" as she scooted into the room, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle in hot pursuit. They then spotted the crystal table, which both Spike and Springer were walking over. "What the-"

Flash interrupted his little sister with a glare, "Scoots...what have I told you about riding your scooter in the castle?!"

"Sorry..." Scootaloo jumped off her ride, "But I thought something was happening, and it looks like I was right!"

"Yeah! Where'd this thing come from?" Applebloom asked as she and Sweetie Belle walked over to their sisters. "Its all shiny and sparkly looking!"

"Your guess is as good as mine sugarcube."

"But it does look spectacular," Rarity added with Spike nodding.

"This is incredible!" The dragon announced, "It's got all of Equestria!"

"No kidding. It's got Rainbow Falls, the Crystal Empire, Appleloosa...even Dodge Junction." Springer commented as he leaned over to look at Equestria's seaside, "No Omniara though. Must be too far away."

"That is a six week trip on ship buddy."

"Hi Mom and Dad!" Pinkie said next to a miniature of her family's rock farm, only for Spike to step on it, making her tear up.

"So...what's it for?" Lightning asked as he tilted his head at the sight, "Why would the castle give you a map of Equestria?"

"Really life-like game of risk," Springer guessed before showing a glum frown, "Or a reminder of what we all went through with Shade. Though...this map looks a lot nicer than his machine."

It was here that the commentary stopped as seven pulsing lights appeared in the room. They then saw that the sources of the lights were the Mane Seven's cutie marks, each one sending a weird sensation through their bodies. And before anypony could ask what was happening, the lights flew off and took the shape of their cutie marks before flying over the table. Twilight levitated Spike and Springer off the map as they watched their cutie mark float over to the miniature Ponyville, Twilight's in the center with the others floating around it. It then began to float across the map to a spot up north, stopping right above a section that showed a few simple houses.

"Where's that?" Springer asked as he pointed back at Ponyville, "And why did the light show start at Ponyville?"

"I don't know," Twilight replied with crossed hooves. "But it seems like the map wants us to find out."

"Is that such a good idea?" Iron chimed in. "What if it's a trap? That Trickster thing could have set this all up in case he failed, which he did."

Springer shook his head. "Nah, I don't think so. That's way too forward thinking for Shade. I don't think the idea of me beating him even crossed his mind." Springer slumped back into his chair, "Besides, he's just after me and Princess Luna. I don't think he could care less about the rest of us or this castle."

Flash tapped the map next, "Not only that, I don't think Shade has the power or know how to mess with something the Tree of Harmony created."

Twilight nodded in agreement. "The tree, the chest, this castle...and now the map. How could we not follow it?"

Rainbow leapt out of her throne and hovered over the map, seeing what was between them and their destination before smirking. "Y'know what? There's a ton of room for dangerous adventure along that route! Count me in!"

Applejack chuckled at this, "Aw shoot, ah reckon ya'll are right."

Pinkie rubbed her chin, her lip exaggeratingly large while doing the motion, "Well, I was planning on organizing my baking sheets, but...okay!"

Rarity sighed with a smile on her face, "Very well, I'm in as well."

Every eye in the room then turned to Fluttershy, who looked over the map as she shrunk on the spot. Twiddlilng her hooves, she glanced over to the three youngest ponies of the group, "Um...maybe I'll just stay here and look after these three."

"Aww!" the girls moaned, "We don't get to come?!"

"Absolutely not!" Rarity replied with a glare.

"Sorry, but no dice you three. We don't know what we're going into. Besides, Springer and Spike can look after you." As this exited his mouth, memories of when they went to the Crystal Empire and left the two in charged flashed infront of his eyes.  Sweating at the memories, Flash then added, "Plus...Iron and Lightning will be here."

"Hey!" Iron barked, "I'm a Royal Knight! NOT a foalsitter!"

"Me too!" Lightning added.

"You'll get more free time in the training room," Flash countered, making them both go wide-eyed with huge grins.

"We're in!"

"Great!" Spike cheered, "Me and Big Mac had a huge weekend planned out already and you all can join us. We're talkin' hoofball, and...and trading hoofball cards, and arguing about hoofball stats..." This was making Lightning and Iron want to join this even more, while Fluttershy seemed...less happy about staying.

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

"That's the spirit," Flash added as they all hopped off their thrones. "Let's get packing and get going."

"Agreed. It's time for a road trip," Twilight finished as the group left the castle, Flash and Twilight going to their rooms.

It wasn't long till they were all packed and ready to go, though it took a while to convince Rarity she didn't need eight suitcases worth of stuff. While they did this, Twilight reviewed the map and found the fastest way to get there was by train, which was followed by a two day march through a forest and a small mountain peak.

With everything ready, their friends saw the seven off. Pinkie and Fluttershy took the longest to say goodbye, Pinkie needing to be dragged away from her make-out session with Wild while Fluttershy gave a full detailed instructions on her animals to Iron.

There, they climbed aboard the Equestrian Express, and as it was about to pull out of the station, Flash poked his head out the train window. "Remember, Springer's not allowed midnight snacks and Scootaloo needs to be in bed by nine!"

"We got it," Iron grumbled while rolling his eyes before the train pulled away. The Mane Seven all waved goodbye to their friends until Ponyville was out of view, soon popping their heads back into the train.

The train ride was long and uneventful, or as uneventful as a train ride with Pinkie Pie could be, and eventually came to a stop at the very end of the line. "This is it," Twilight mentioned as the seven got off before the train began to move backwards.

Flash tilted his head at the sight, "Ooookay. That's a big of a design flaw. Haven't they ever heard of turntables?"

"Come on, no need to question everything Flash." Twilight added with a roll of the eyes, pulling Flash along by the tail with her magic. As she mentioned before, they had to travel through a large forest, complete with a rickety rope bridge before climbing through a small mountain range.

"That's it!" Twilight announced as they looked down from a cliff face. They all squinted her eyes at the sight, now seeing a tiny village, one Flash had to admit that the town in Omniara was larger than this one. "That's the place on the map!"

"Right..." Rarity commented while trying to get the dust she had picked up on their journey out of her mane. "Let's get down there and find the spa." She began to walk down a nearby path, only for Twilight to teleport herself in front of her.

"Wait!" She squeaked in a near whisper. "We don't know why the map sent us here. We shouldn't just walk right in. It could be dangerous."

"Yes!" Rainbow cheered.

"That's not a good thing Dash," Flash told her before Pinkie suddenly popped between him and Applejack. "What the-"

"Stay behind me, everypony! I'm on it!" Pinkie leaned over the cliff face, making both hop in place.

"Careful Pinkie!" Applejack yelled as Pinkie kept leaning forward, only to fall over the edge. They watched as she performed a Rollout attack down the cliff, soon reaching a boulder. Once there, she gestured for them to follow.

Flash let out a long sigh, facehoofing. "It's Pinkie Pie, don't question it." He, Rainbow and Twilight grabbed the flightless ponies and helped them down the cliff as Pinkie continued to survey the area mission impossible style. And when the others caught up, they found she was gone, only for a large boulder to be lifted up to show Pinkie, her hoof waving before the rock fell back on top of her. Flash rolled his eyes as he watched the boulder be dragged along the ground, right over to the edge of a hill that overlooked the village. The six arrived at the rock while a severally deflated Pinkie pulled herself out, all now using it as cover to look the town over.

As they did this, Rainbow grunted in disappointment. "This is where the map sent us? It looks like the most boring place in Equestria."

"No kidding. Its nothing but a bunch of the same buildings. No variety or anything." Flash added with a tilt of the head. That is, till he started blinking at the smiles on everypony's faces. There were ones of the smiles of a parent who had just eaten something their child had made them, but didn't want to tell them it was bad.

Applejack nodded in agreement, "That might be true, but it is just an ordinary village full of ordinary pony folk. Ain't nothin' bad about that."

Flash sighed before pulling Lightbringer out, "Darn. Kind of a waste to bring this with me."

"Though it could certainly use a few more architectural flourishes," Rarity commented. "Or...any architectural flourishes."

"I think it's lovely," Fluttershy added.

Pinkie just grumbled at the sight, "I don't like it. I don't like it one bit." The others turned to her, surprised at the frown on her face, "I know smiles. And those smiles? They're just not right."

"Forget the smiles," Twilight told them. "Look at the cutie marks." Flash looked back and went wide-eyed. The cutie marks of every pony in town were exactly the same. And equal sign.

"Ooookay. That's weird." Rainbow said with a grimace.

"Super weird," Flash finished as all but Pinkie slid back down to hide behind the rock. "Maybe this town is some sort of secret facility for ponies that are really good at math and the only way they let you in is to have that cutie mark." He turned to the others, only to see looks that screamed 'seriously'. "Hey, after everything we've been through, can you really say it's not in the realm of possibility?!" One round of no answers later, "That's what I thought. Besides, I'd like to see you come up with a way to explain all this."

"I think I can. Its called not trying to get an explanation for everything Flash." Twilight replied, only to get nudged by Rainbow.

"I bet there's some sort of horrific monster behind it!"

"What makes you say that?" Twilight asked, only to see Rainbow shine a huge grin.

"Cause fighting a horrific monster would be super-awesome!"

Flash stuck his tongue out that, "Been there, done that, got the scar to prove it."

Applejack was the next to give her two bits. "Ah reckon we just ought to head into town and talk to some locals, find out what's goin' on."

Rainbow flew down beside her. "Great idea, AJ! Let's go!"

The group soon started down the path, Flash and Pinkie remaining behind as the pegasus turned to the earth pony. "You coming?"

"Those smiles are bad news," she growled before sliding down the rock, now ready to join the others.





"Welcome!"

"Welcome!"

"Welcome!"

"Welcome!"

"Welcome!"

"Welcome!"

"Welcome!"

Flash shivered every time he heard somepony say that word now. No matter which way he looked, his creep-o-meter was ringing like a bell.

"This must be the most pleasant place in Equestria!" Fluttershy commented before a pegasus mare flew up to her.

"Welcome!" She said, making Fluttershy giggle.

"Ugh..." Rainbow moaned, "Thanks a lot, map."

"I'm starting to agree with Pinkie. This place is giving me the creeps." Flash added while shivering like a leaf. In that moment, a unicorn with a dark blue mane and tail stepped up to them. He was wearing a small cloak that looked like it was made out of a potato sack.

"Welcome!" He announced before taking a closer look at Twilight. "Pardon my forwardness, but are you an Alicorn?"

Twilight gave the best forced smile she could give while Applejack spoke up. "That there's the Princess of Friendship!"

"Well, you've certainly come to the right place for friendship!"

A white earth pony then walked up, "What brings you to town?"

"We're not entirely sure," Twilight replied as she almost backpedaled at the ponies' creepy smiles.

"I see," the earth pony replied with the unicorn trotted over to Rarity. "Well, all are welcome here in our little village! My name is Double Diamond, and this is Party Favor." The unicorn looked away from Rarity for a moment, the mare having been a little creeped out.

"Howdy, Double Diamond. I'm Applejack, and this here's Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Flash Sentry and Twilight Sparkle."

Double Diamond nodded and then turned to their flanks, examining their cutie marks. "And you all have your own unique cutie marks."

"Yeah, that's kind of the whole point of 'em. Guess you didn't get the memo-urgh!" He glared at Twilight, who had hit him in the ribs.

"If you don't mind, has there been any sort of...trouble here, lately?" Twilight replied with a half smile.

"Trouble?" Double Diamond asked with a tilt of the head. "Why, I don't think we've ever had trouble in our little village."

"None?" Flash responded with a raised eyebrow. "No...disagreements? No issues that'll cause strife? Heck, not even a mild bug infestation?"

"Stuff like that doesn't happen in our town," a pegasus mare in the crowd told him.

"It's true! You'll see," Party Favor added as he let out a low level laugh.

He and Double Diamond turned to walk down the street. "Perhaps you'd care to speak to our founder Starlight Glimmer. She'll make you see."

Exchanging glances, the groups started to follow the duo, Fluttershy chiming in with a smile, "I wish everypony in Equestria was as friendly as these ponies are."

"I guess?" Flash added as he scanned the place over again, "Doesn't look like this place has any conflict whatsoever...and that's not a good thing."

"Why not? Isn't a world without conflict what we all want?"

"A world without big conflict, sure. But a world without a single disagreement? That's not a good idea."

"Hmph! I've got my eye on them!" Pinkie spoke up as she glared at the ponies. "Something's rotten in...whatever the name of this village is that we're in right now!"

They eventually arrived at a house on the far side of the town, which the tour ponies knocked on the door before it swung open. "Starlight, we have some new visitors." One by one they stepped inside, seeing the house was plain just like all the others.

Rainbow then whispered to Flash and Applejack, "Be ready to fight. We don't know what's gonna come through that door." Flash nodded and slowly reached for his weapon, only for a pink unicorn with a purple mane and tail that had a blue streak to trot out into the room. Like the rest of the ponies, she had the equal sign cutie mark but lacked the creepy smile.

"Welcome! I'm so pleased to have you here." This caused Rainbow to groan while Flash moved his hoof away from his weapon.

Double Diamond stepped up to introduce them. "This is Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Flash Sentry and Twilight Sparkle."

Starlight and Twilight locked eyes immediately, the unicorn scanning her over before spotting her twitching wings. "Forgive my bluntness, but I'm assuming it's Princess Twilight Sparkle? We don't get many Alicorns around here."

Twilight wanted to backpedal at the statement, "Yes...I am. But just call me Twilight."

Starlight nodded, "So, how did you hear of our little village?"

"It's kind of a long story," Twilight replied while twiddling her hooves. "Let's just say we...found it on a map."

"Technically, it's a tree-chest-castle-map!" Pinkie butted in, making Flash facehoof.

Starlight looked like she wanted to raise an eyebrow at this, but switched to a calm smile, "Well, however you found us, we're happy to have you! We're happy to have anypony who wants to experience true friendship for the first time."

The whole group glanced at each for a second, confusion on every face as Applejack spoke up, "Say what?"

"Oh, I see you're confused." Starlight replied as she patted her chest, "You see, that's what's so unique about our village." She then pointed to a picture showing an equal sign. "Around here, we don't flaunt our special talents because we don't have any special talents to flaunt."

"No talents?" Flash asked, blinking, "How is that possible?"

Twilight pointed at Starlight's flank, "Is that why you all have those cutie marks?"

Starlight nodded. "Perhaps it would be easier to understand if I gave you a tour of the village!" Before they could reply, she headed to the door while everypony's built in music maker began to create a marching drum sound. Once outside, Starlight announced to the town. "Heads high, ponies! Marching proud!" A whistle blew out of nowhere. "All together now!" The towns ponies followed her match, ones even coming out of the buildings. "Every one of you, no pony left behind!"

Once everypony was outside, Starlight began to sing.


(Starlight)
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


The Mane Seven trotted after Starlight, only for the townsponies to encircle them as they marched and sung.


(Citizens)
In Our Town, in Our Town
We don't have to wait
To find out that our destiny
Is just to emulate


Starlight marched past a group, "Let's see those big, happy smiles!" The ponies replied by smiling as largely as they could.


(Starlight)
Life is a smile in Our Town
Our cutie mark's the same
Because we do not separate
Ourselves by more than name

(Citizens)
In Our Town, in Our Town
We dare not compete
Winning only breeds the worst
Ego-filled conceit


As they sung this, a pair of pegasi flew up to Rainbow and pulled her down to the ground. Rainbow shined a horrified face, only to yelp in surprise as Starlight seemed to teleport behind her.

"You see? Now everypony wins!" Starlight exclaimed while marching off, leaving a very startled Rainbow in her wake.


(Starlight)
Life is a joy in Our Town
We're all equal here
No one is superior
And no one shakes in fear

(Citizens)
In Our Town, in Our Town
We work as a team
You can't have a nightmare
If you never dream


This statement put everypony on edge, only to have Starlight step up to Fluttershy and Pinkie.


(Starlight)
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

(Citizens)
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!


As the song ended, Rainbow began to laugh. "You're kidding, right? Give up our cutie marks? No way!"

"Rainbow Dash! Don't be so rude!" Fluttershy scolded the speedster. "I don't think we should judge them. They all seem perfectly happy with their choice."

But in that moment, Pinkie stepped up. "Don't believe their smiles, Fluttershy."

Flash nodded in agreement. "Yeah! And think of it like this, if you gave up your cutie mark, you'd be giving up everything that mark represents. It'd mean you couldn't understand Angel and the rest of your animal friends."

This made Fluttershy gasp as Twilight walked in front of Starlight. "I'm sorry, I guess we're just a little confused by all of this."

"We have no judgements here in our village," Starlight responded. "Each of us was confused once as well, blinded by the false promise of our cutie marks."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Is she for real?"

Flash tilted his head at this, "I know my cutie mark's never lied to me. I am who I am today because of the path it set me on."

Twilight nodded next. "Listen, miss....Starlight, we were sent to this village, we assumed it was to help in some way. But...well, it doesn't seem like you need any help."

Starlight rubbed her chin in thought at this, "Hmm...have you considered that perhaps you might have been sent here so we could help you?" Twilight raised an eyebrow at this. "After all, nopony has ever come to our village and wanted to leave. Why should you be any different?"

Flash leaned his head in-between the two, pointing to himself, "Well, speaking for myself here, but my sister and my duty as our town's defender of the peace. And my goal to one day become a Royal Knight."

"And there's nothing stopping you from bringing your sister here," Starlight instantly replied. "And as for those other two reasons, there's be no need for defenders and knights once Equestria learns to understand our philosophy. But anyway, this is entirely your choice." Starlight trotted passed them, "Please enjoy our little corner of Equestria. We're all quite fond of it as you no doubt will be as well. Double Diamond, please help our guests with whatever they might need."

"Of course," the earth pony said with his still creepy voice and smile. He turned with a silent grin, all but Fluttershy leaning back at the sight.

It was here that Starlight headed back to her house. "Well, this will certainly provide a boost to our little community. When the rest of Equestria sees that a princess gave up her cutie mark to join us-" Her smile faded to show a sinister smirk, "They'll finally understand what we're trying to accomplish."
> The Staff of Sameness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Welcome!"

"Welcome!"

"Welcome!"

"The next pony to say 'welcome' is getting a Flash Force where the sun don't shine," Flash groaned as the seven walked down the street.

Twilight was too lost in thought to tell the pegasus off, continuing to stare at the mark-less ponies around them. "A cutie mark is a representation of a pony's unique talents and skills. How is it possible to-" Her question was cut short by the horrified sounds of Rarity gasping.

"What in the name of Equestria is that?!" She pointed to one of the stores, where a bulky earth pony was standing next to a rack of potato sack cloaks.

"Welcome!" The store keep announced, Applejack and Rainbow needing to grab Flash before he drew out Lightbringer. "Care to sample some local fashion? We've got cloaks this month!"

Rarity almost vomited at the thought of wearing one. "Wha-ooh-er," she started to slowly back away. "Perhaps another time good sir, thank you." The group quickly moved away, only to find themselves at some sort of café, which they sat down at as Rarity whispered, "No wonder nopony's wearing anything!"

"Really, girls!" Fluttershy growled in a hushed tone, "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 grumbled back as she pointed at the now passing ponies, all staring with an accompanying creepy smile.

"I swear I've had a nightmare just like this," Flash said with a shiver down his spine. "This place better not have any clowns...or yellow rats."

"Need something?" Double Diamond asked from his spot across the street.

"Uh...no! We're good!" Twilight responded as she turned back to the group while a unicorn mare stepped up to them and began to speak in her own hushed manner. "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."

Applejack just tipped her hat down, "Ah think we ran off to the end of Equestria before we even knew what that map was!"

"If we were at the end of Equestria, we'd be sitting on a big old 'A'!" Pinkie giggled while Flash tried to hold back his own laughter. "Get it?"

"Oh please, Miss Pie!" Rarity reprimanded, "This is hardly the time for jokes! We've come all this way, and for what?"

"Maybe you're right," Twilight added while crossing her hooves. "But we're here now, and it sure feels like something's wrong."

"That and two bits'll get'cha a cup of cider," Applejack finished.

"Is this a bad time?" The unicorn mare asked, trying to maintain her smile.

"We shouldn't be bickering like this in front of our new friends," Fluttershy told the table before turning to the farm pony. "Really Applejack, you're almost as bad as Rainbow Dash!"

"Don't drag me into this!" Rainbow growled, Flash now noticing several foals being pushed away or having their ears covered.

"Hmm?" Flash muttered to himself, tilting his head in confusion.

"Um...are you all okay? Is your friendship ending?" He turned back to the shopkeep, raising an eyebrow at her question.

"Are you crazy?!" Pinkie asked her. "We'd never let a disagreement get in the way of food!"

"O...kay. Well, my name is Sugar Belle. What can I bring you?" She pulled out a notepad. "We have: muffins..." The group blinked at her, ready to hear more...only for nothing.

Everypony glancing at each other, Twilight decided to speak up. "Then I guess we'll take seven muffins!"

"Make that thirteen!" Pinkie cheered as Sugar Belle headed inside, seeing the others frown at her. "What? I'm hungry!"

"Same," Flash replied while his stomach let out a grumbling moan. "But with this place being so bland, I bet the food they serve has little too no taste as well."

Fluttershy was about to scold him, but Twilight spoke up first. "Come on everypony, we've got to stick together. It doesn't matter what happened before, we're here now."

"Ah guess you're right," Applejack continued while pushing her hat back up. "And the sooner we figure out why, the sooner we can go home." Before anypony could say anything else, a plate of muffins appeared on the table, only for everypony's noses to stiffen at the treats' pungent aroma.

Sugar Belle did a small cough as she pushed the plate to the middle, "Forgive me for overhearing, but just a moment ago you were disagreeing, and now it sounds like you're...agreeing." She looked them over, her grin shaking as they all gave her raised eyebrows.

"Uh-huh?" Applejack asked. "Yer point?"

"Well, you had such differing opinions...and cutie marks."

"We have differing opinions all the time, darling."

"But you look like you're friends."

"We are friends," Twilight added while placing a hoof on the table. "A simple disagreement wouldn't change that."

Flash nodded in agreement. "In fact, sometimes an argument can help strengthen a friendship."

Sugar Belle blinked at this, an almost pained look appearing on her face. "I'm sorry, but I'm just having a hard time understanding. Different talents lead to different opinions, which lead to bitterness and misery." Everypony rose an eyebrow again at this, "So...why aren't you bitter and...?"

She didn't finish her question as Pinkie suddenly spat out on of the muffins she'd just eaten. The pink mare let out a choking sound, only to see everypony staring at her, including Sugar Belle, "Uhhh...I mean, that was good..."

Sugar Belle smiled, the first genuine smile any of them had noticed from these ponies. "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." She then darted her eyes around, Flash noticing her gaze turn to Double Diamond, "Well, I...hope you enjoy our little village!"

As soon as she looked away, Pinkie unrolled her tongue and tried to get the remaining muffin parts off, Flash grumbling as he picked one up, "Oh come on, they can't be that bad."

He bit into it, only to instantly freeze before falling back like a lumber-jacked tree. The mares all looked down at the pegasus, who's soul was currently trying to escape from his mouth. That is, till Sugar Belle whispered to Twilight, "Come inside before you go! Meet me downstairs!" She then shot Double Diamond one last smile before rushing inside.

Rainbow tilted her head at this, "Oookay, that was weird too."

Twilight glanced back at Flash, only to see Pinkie pull a Dustbuster out of her mane and use it to suck up Flash's ghost before blowing it back into his body. Blinking at this, she looked away and saw all the townsponies staring at them. "Let's all sit here and eat these muffins and act normal. I think we're being watched."

"Ya think?" Rainbow spat as Flash woke up.

"No, not like that!" She gestured her head over to Double Diamond, "I mean somepony here doesn't want us talking to Sugar Belle." They all shot a glance at the earth pony as he ate one of the killer muffins.

"Ah got an idea," Applejack whispered before turning to her party planning friend. "But ya'll gotta eat all of them muffins, Pinkie."

"Me?!" The mare yelped while trying to hide behind her mane. "Why me?!"

"Ya'll got a stronger stomach than any of us." Applejack pointed at the store, "And that filly in there might be our best chance at findin' out what the hay is goin' on round here."

Pinkie did a long gulp as she stared at the muffins, tears trying to appear in her eyes. While she took the first muffin, Twilight gave Flash a knowing smirk, "So...what was it like to die?"

"Not...bad? Goldy one through twelve said hi."

"One through twelve? She asked before turning back to Pinkie, the pink pony munching down the last muffin as her face turned full green.

"Ah can't believe you ate all our muffins, Pinkie Pie!" Applejack said in a fake annoyed voice. "We'd best go inside and get some more!" The others all nodded and headed inside, Flash helping 'roll' Pinkie along the ground as her new fat body couldn't support her new weight.

Once inside, they looked behind the counter and spotted a trapdoor, the group following the stairs inside as Twilight called back, "Nice work, Pinkie."

"Even I wouldn't have had the guts to pull that off," Flash added as he helped Pinkie down.

Once at the bottom, she moaned while pushing herself up. "I've accidentally eaten cardboard tastier than that."

Twilight glanced around the cellar, but saw nothing. "Hello? Sugar Belle?"

"Thank you for coming!" They turned to the voice and saw the mare step put of the darkness, that horrible fake smile still plastered on her lips.

"Why did you want us to come down here?"

Sugar Belle's face started to morph, now showing an almost sinister smirk, "So nopony could see what's about to happen." As she said that, Party Favor and the pegasus mare they had met before walked out of the darkness. Together, the three trotted over with crazy looks on their faces.

Twilight sparked her horn while Flash reached for his weapon, only for Party Favor to hop in front of them, "Are you really the Princess of Friendship?!"

"Do you know Princess Celestia?!" The pegasus mare asked next.

Sugar Belle grabbed Pinkie's flank, "I love your cutie mark!"

Flash reflexively took to the air, "Oookay, this has gone from weird to straight up bizarro."

This got a laugh from the pegasus mare. "You're funny. I'm Night Glider by the way. So how can you be friends with different cutie marks? Don't you end up hating each other?"

Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "Why would I hate somepony for being different than me? I mean, I'd probably hate somepony who was just like me than somepony different...or at least be really annoyed." The others slightly nodded in agreement except Fluttershy, only for the pegasi to gasp as Sugar Belle grabbed her flank.

"Look at this one! This one's great too!" She pulled back and shined a dreamy grin, "Oh, I'd love to have my special talent back, even it was just for a day!" The unicorn let out a sigh next, "Then maybe I could make something besides those disgusting muffins..."

"So what's stopping you?" Rainbow asked as with a slight frown, "Go get your cutie marks back."

Party Favor did a big gulp, "Daydreaming is one thing, but you mean actually having it put back on? That seems extreme."

"I'm not sure Starlight would like that," Sugar Belle continued. "She wants us all to be happy in our sameness."

"But are you happy?" Flash asked next. "Were your lives before coming here really that bad? Heck, how'd you even end up here in the first place?"

Party Favor answered first, "I was travelling home after helping out at a birthday party. I came across this place and Starlight offered me a place to rest before returning home. One night turned into a week, which turned into a few weeks, and then...I just never left."

"Seriously?"

"The same thing happened to us," Glider replied with Sugar Belle nodding.

"So when did you decide to have your cutie marks removed?" Rarity asked, pointing at their equal signs.

Party Favor did a small shrug, "Well, I was a little skeptical about it at first, but then I saw how happy everypony was and decided to see what life was like after giving it up."

This made the whole group grimace, all exchanging glances before Twilight looked back at Party Favor, "Say...how do you take somepony's cutie mark anyway?"

Flash nodded in agreement. "Yeah! I don't think these things were designed to come off."

The three smiled back as Night Glider responded, "The cutie unmarking is a beautiful experience! Starlight uses the Staff of Sameness to magically take them away and replace them with these." They then pointed to the equal signs.

"But nopony should keep you from your cutie mark," Twilight told them. "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. We can visit them anytime we would like to remind us of the heartache of a life with special talents."

Flash and Twilight shared a glance next, the alicorn raising an eyebrow as she tried to not glare back at them, "Can we visit this cave?"





After their talk with the trio, the heroes headed over to Starlight's house and asked about the cave. Gladly accepting their interest, the unicorn started leading them to the tunnel, "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, and our message of perfectly equal friendship can finally spread across the land."

It was here that her rant kept going, but the seven blocked her out while Twilight went into a hushed whisper, "This must be the reason we're here."

"Pilgrimaging?" Pinkie asked, Flash resisting to facehoof at the response.

"No! Helping those ponies get their cutie marks back."

Fluttershy put her hoof over her mouth, "Oh, are you sure Twilight? Maybe they miss them a little, but they didn't seem all that unhappy."

"Then why did they want to meet us in secret?" Twilight countered before glaring back at Starlight. "And why did they ask us not to tell Starlight who told us about the vault? Something's not right."

"Well, don't worry," Flash assured her. "Whatever's up with this place, we can handle it. Heck, this'll be nothing compared to what we've faced before."

"Just through here!" Starlight said at the mouth of the cave, only for to flash her hoof at the group. "Just a moment," she pointed to Flash's sword. "I'm afraid this area is a no weapon zone. You understand, right?"

Flash pulled Lightbringer out and stared at it, a dark glare following this. He looked back up to Twilight, who nodded, making him sigh before putting it down against a rock.

As this happened, Starlight's grin slightly grew as she gestured them to go inside. Inside, they all looked up and went wide-eyed, "Behold! Our cutie mark vault!"

They followed her hoof and saw a large crystal wall that was split into multiple square slots. And within most of the slots were images they instantly recognised. Cutie marks.

"I've never seen anything like it!" Twilight gasped, putting her hoof over her mouth in disbelief.

As Flash scanned the vault over, he saw a wooden staff with a tuning fork like end sitting by the wall. "Is that-"

"Yes!" Starlight exclaimed as she pulled it off the wall, "Its the legendary Staff of Sameness! It was one of the great Mage Meadowbrook's nine enchanted items."

This made Flash and Twilight raise an eyebrow, glancing at each other as Flash leaned over and whispered, "Say, I know I didn't listen to you much over the years, but didn't Mage Meadowbrook have only eight?"

"Shh! We'll talk later." Twilight shushed back.

"We are incredibly fortunate to have it here. This is the tool that allows us to free ourselves from our marks!" Starlight continued, only to turn back to them, a look of pure skepticism and suspicion on her face. "I'm curious though..." she pointed at them. "How did the subject of the vault come up?!"

Pinkie spoke up here, "Oh! Some ponies were telling us how much they missed their cutie marks, and-"

"Pinkie!" Twilight interrupted.

"Zip it!" Flash added.

Pinkie slapped her hooves over her mouth. "Oops..." Before they could scold her, Starlight's gasp made them turn back to her.

"Were they?" Starlight trotted over to the others while spinning the staff, only to glare back at the Mane Seven, "Well, it seems you lot inspire all sorts of free thinking, don't you?"

"So what if we do? Free thinking is a common right of everypony." Flash casually replied, waving his hoof.

Starlight's glare intensified. "Free thinking leads to a difference in opinion. A difference in opinion leads to arguments and arguments lead to the breaking of friendships. That's why everypony must be the same, so that true everlasting friendship can be obtained." She pointed the staff at them, "Free thinking is a dangerous thing to inspire."

Rarity began to nervously laugh at the sight, "Well, w-we certainly didn't intend to cause any disruptions to your charming little-"

"Good," Starlight interrupted as she got right in Rarity's face. "Let's just make sure of that, shall we?!" Rarity started to backpedal, only to turn and Double Diamond. The rest all soon saw more of the townsponies appearing out of the shadows.

"It's a trap!" Twilight yelped before she spread her wings and teleported into the air. She sparked her horn, only for Starlight to point the staff and fire a blast of blue magic. The beam struck the alicorn and made her freeze up, which made her feel a strange sensation in her flank. She looked back and gasped when she saw her cutie mark begin to peel off her body.

The others saw this too as Flash shot into the air, "TWILIGHT!" But as he tried to save her, a second beam hit him and the group. A scream of pain followed as they all froze, Flash staring at Twilight as her cutie mark was yanked from her flank, only to be replaced with an equal mark. As this happened, Twilight fell to the ground like a rock, her form slumping over as Flash muttered, "No..."

Starlight's grin kept growing as Twilight's cutie mark moved over to the vault along with Rainbow's, Fluttershy's, Pinkie's, Applejack's and Rarity's cutie marks were ripped off at the same time. The whole group fell over as Starlight looked back at the Mane Seven, raising an eyebrow at seeing the still-standing Flash, "Oh? Looks like we have a tough one here." Her grin grew wider as she glared at the pegasi, "Don't worry, I will make sure your cutie mark is well taken care of."

Flash's hooves started to grind into the dirt as he felt his cutie mark being pulled off, his knowledge and skills about fighting behind yanked out with it. "No...no..." he groaned as he tried to open his wings, only to feel them be pinned to the ground. He glared back up at Starlight, now seeing a smirk on her face as her magic intensified over his body.

"Just accept it. You will become like all the rest, equal and-"

"NO!" Flash barked back, closing his eyes as he put every ounce of strength into his hooves. As he did this, something clicked. Power flowed through him, like a tap unclogged on a faucet. "Let...me...GO!" His eyes shot open, revealing pure gold over his pupils as the light from them shot out a shockwave. The resulting burst of energy shook the cave, hitting everypony and knocking them back.

Starlight let out a yelp of pain as she was thrown into the vault, the staff flying out of her magic and landing a few feet from Flash. The defender started to slump over again, his hooves holding his head as what felt like a thousand needles struck his brain, "Ugh...oh..." He started to stumble his hooves forward, only to tap the staff. Looking down, he grabbed the staff before looking back, a small smile appearing on his face as he saw his cutie mark was still there.

His ears perked up as he started hearing moaning all around him, his eyes glancing over to see his friends all still markless. Twilight then locked her eyes with Flash, the duo having a mental conversation as a new voice rang out, "How dare you!"

Flash turned to the voice's owner, seeing a now angry Starlight. He readied himself for a fight, only to feel his hooves shake like jelly. "Dang...that took a lot out of me." Flash whispered as he looked back at Twilight, now seeing a nod from her. Doubts were instantly cleared as he flared his wings, "I'll be back for you girls! Just wait for me for a little bit!" With that, he took to the air and shot out of the cave, the staff in his grasp.

"NO!" Starlight screamed as she picked herself up. "Somepony, stop him! He can't let him get away with the staff!"

The townponies all went wide-eyed, panic on their faces, "Oh no! What if he destroys it?!"

"He won't do that. He'd be fool to destroy the one thing that could return his friends cutie marks to them. Spread out and find him!" Starlight commanded, the others nodding before sprinting out of the cave. Smirking at the sight, she turned to the six remaining mares. "Don't worry, your friend will soon be back with you and will be freed from the evils of cutie marks."

"They're not evil!" Twilight growled as she tried to get up, only to fall over, "Give them back!"

"Oh, don't be like that. Now you can spend the rest of your lives here with us! We'll teach you just how much better life can be without your cutie marks!" The six mares all paled at the statement, now seeing Starlight's smile return as they turned to look at the exit of the cave, gulping as their hope now rested with the now gone defender.





Hours passed as the many townsponies continued their search for the escaped Flash and their precious staff. As Celestia and Luna swapped their celestial bodies, Double Diamond was trotting through some rocky terrain that surrounded the town. "Come out Flash! You're only delaying the inevitable. Soon, all of Equestria will be liberated from the shackles of a cutie mark. Don't you realize the danger you're putting Equestria in?"

His ears perked up next as the sound of rocks started to roll down the side of a cliff, making him look up at a nearby mountain side. He slowly walked up and saw a small cave, which he heard another sound of falling pebbles. "Huh?"

He started to walk into the cave next, his fake smile slowly shrinking as the sun finally finished setting, the cave now dropping into total pitch darkness. The sight made Double Diamond start to backpedal to the exit, only to feel something brush his back. The pony let out a yelp as he spun around, only to go wide-eyed as he saw a pair of blue eyes, and they did not look happy.

Double Diamond opened his mouth to scream, only for everything to suddenly go black. His consciousness faded next, time soon passing. It was quite a while before he reopened his eyes, blinking as his brain caught up to reality. The pony slowly lifted himself up, now seeing the moon's light filter into the cave.

Blinking again at this, he started to look around, now seeing several large rocks, bushes and a small spring. His now parched throat made him want to try and move over to the water, only to find he couldn't move anything below his head. Feeling a small tug, he glanced down and found his body had been tied to large rock.

It was here that the sound wings made him crane his neck around and see Flash fly past him, carrying several sticks in his hooves. He dropped them in front of Double Diamond, now glaring at him as he started to build a fire, "Welcome to the world of the living. Do me a favor and stay quiet. I'm not in the mood to listen to your fake happy voice."

"It's not fake! And let me go!"

"Criminals don't get to make demands."

"I'm not a criminal." This made Flash shoot him an glare before he leaned over, their eyes soon mere millimeters away from one another.

"Oh really?! So did my friends and I happen to cross a border?! The last I checked, theft, kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment are crimes in Equestria!"

"We're only trying to help you and your friends."

Flash blew a raspberry at this, "Oh please, help us from what?! Being who were are? You stole what made my friends who they are. Heck, you stole part of their very soul, and now you're holding them hostage!" Flash gripped Double Diamond's neck as a snarl release from the defender's nostrils, "You do realize what you've done, don't you? Not only have you captured six of Equestria's greatest heroes, but you've also kidnapped one of its princesses. By all rights, I should have flown straight to Canterlot and returned with an army to level this place!"

Double Diamond went wide-eyed at this, his smile wavering as sweat began to flow down his face. "We...we only wanted to help. To show you the evils of cutie marks."

"Tch." Flash growled as he let go of the pony and sat back down, now putting the sticks together. "I can't believe what I'm hearing."

"Its true! They're evil!"

"No they're not. That's just crazy talk if you ask me." Flash instantly replied as he started scraping a pair of rocks together. Glancing back up, a softer expression started to appear on the defender's face as he asked, "Say...what could have happened in your life to make you think cutie marks are evil? They're nothing more than a representation of you."

"But they lead to you thinking your better than everypony, which means you'll never have true friendship."

Flash rolled his eyes as the rocks made a spark, which ignited the sticks, "You're either really dumb, or this Starlight chick knows some kind of brainwashing spell."

"She didn't brainwash me. She's not able to. She has no special talent, which means she doesn't have the magical skill to do that kind of magic. That's what makes the unmarking so important. No special talents means we can't hide our abilities from one another. That's why you need to returned the Staff of Sameness, so we can continue to free ponies from the lie of their cutie marks." He blinked at this, "Say, where is it anyway?"

"Oh, I hid it somewhere nopony will ever find it." Flash smirked while crossing his hooves.

Double Diamond just gave him a flat stare before gesturing his head, "It's in that bush over there, isn't it?" Flash's eyes glanced at the bush, saying nothing before raising a hoof.

One bonk to the head later...

Double Diamond blinked his eyes open, his vision now seeing a fire properly blazing with Flash using a stick to keep it going. "Now it's hidden where you'll never find it."

"Please don't do this! Don't you see?! This is what the ancient ponies of Equestria want! Why else would Mage Meadowbrook wield the staff?!"

"I don't know what that staff is, but I know it didn't belong to Meadowbrook. Twilight loved to talk about her back in the day, and I don't remember Twilight mentioning a staff." Flash put the stick down, "For all we know, that thing was made by an enemy of Equestria so they could weaken the ponies and defeat them. It's evil."

"YOU'RE LYING!" Double Diamond yelled, his smile turning into an angry scowl for a second.

Flash blinked at this, now seeing the scowl morph back into the giant grin, "Wow. You actually emoted for a second there. Guess all you needed is a little time away from that place and you'll begin to turn back to normal."

"I am normal, and soon your friends will be normal too. Please believe me! What's happening to them is a good thing. I was one of the first to be saved by Starlight and the staff, and I've seen many ponies be saved afterwards! All of them are happy!"

"And how many of them had their cutie marks removed without their permission, like with my friends?!"

"I'll admit that some of them needed more convincing than others, but it was for the greater good." Diamond's smile started to waver again. "You'll see. Soon your friends will be happy they came here and had Starlight do what she did. They'll be normal."

Flash replied with a glare as he flexed his hooves' muscles, "You're right, because I'm gonna save them and get their cutie marks back. Heck, they're probably working on an escape plan as we speak." Flash cricked his neck as he got up, "But if I wanna help them, I need to be at full power. So...what did you do with Lightbringer?"

"Who?"

"My Celestic Gear. The sword I was carrying that your boss made me leave outside the cave. When I got back outside, it was gone."

"Starlight told us you wouldn't need it anymore, so she had us take it away. She's probably gonna melt it down for metal, like she did with all our belongings that showed individuality."

Flash almost had a heart attack hearing this, only for his brain's gears to shift. His memories told him that Celestic Gears couldn't be destroyed by anything other than Alicorn magic or another Celestic Gear. Gritting his teeth, he moved over to a patch of grass that was next to the boulder as he thought up a small lie, "Well, it'll take her a while to do that, so I'm going to bed. If I hear a peep out of you, expect another hoof to the face."

Double Diamond's smile started to turn into a frown as he glanced over to the spring. A sigh followed this, making Flash look up and see the pony actually emote. Following his gaze, he walked over and cupped his hooves into the water, soon bringing it back to Double Diamond, "Here, you're not gonna be much of a bargaining chip to me dead."

Double Diamond shined a huge grin before greedily drinking down the water, savoring its refreshing taste. Once he was satisfied, Flash spun around and slumped down to go to sleep. Seeing this, memories of his time before coming here returned for Double Diamond, making him feel a long lost sensation in his skin.

It was the feel of blasting down the mountain snow on his skis, the rush of icy wind in his face.

The memories continued as a new feeling entered his head. Regret. That thought invaded his head as he looked back at Flash, remembering his words about Starlight.

In a low whisper, he muttered out, "I…I don't understand. Am I...wrong?" Her stared back at the exit of the cave, "Starlight...are you wrong?"





The next morning...

As the sun and moon switched places, Flash arrived back at the cliffside where he and his friends first saw the town. Having left Double Diamond tied up with plenty of water and shade, he now stared at the town as he watched the ponies walk around the buildings.

"Looks like they're still looking for me." Flash commented to himself as he scanned each one over, "None of them are really a threat one on one, but there's no way I can take them all on without my trusty blade." Crossing his hooves at the sight, his left eyebrow lifted up as he saw Starlight walk around, announcing something, "Then again, she's my main target, though I'm not sure if I can take her without Lightbringer."

He watched the unicorn walk around, all the townponies following her. Seeing this, he flew over the village, hiding in the clouds till he could land on the roof of one of the buildings without being seen. There, he saw Starlight lead his friends out of a shack as she said, "Gather round friends, gather round! We've come to ask if any of you are ready to join us! There are so many friends to make once you realize you don't need your cutie marks or the talents that come with them."

"There's a welcome ceremony!" one of the townsponies added.

Another one nodded. "Then, the whole village joins together to help build-"

"Not interested!" Rainbow interrupted. "You may have them now, but we're going to get our cutie marks back!"

Applejack slammed her hooves down, "Y'all don't understand, do ya?! You can't force nopony to be friends! It don't work like that!"

"Please, join us!" A stallion asked.

"We love new friends!" A mare let out.

Starlight walked in front of the town group, "It's all right everypony. This is a perfectly normal part of the equalization process for those who haven't...quite seen the light yet." She turned back to the mane seven, "We'll try again tomorrow once you've had a bit more time to consider our philosophy!"

Flash watched as the girls headed back inside, only for Twilight and Fluttershy to come to a stop. There, the buttercream pegasus yelled out, "I'd like to join!" She then placed a hoof over her mouth as the townponies began to chatter at the sight.

Flash's heart began to sink as he watched the scene, only to glance over at Twilight. His brain immediately clicked as he watched her expression, one he knew all too well as the princess spoke up, "Fluttershy?! How could you?!"

Breathing a sigh of relief, Flash whispered, "You sly lying little minx."

Fluttershy walked over to Starlight while wearing a half nervous expression, "If giving up my cutie mark means I get to stay in this lovely village with these lovely ponies, then I'll do it."

Starlight shined a huge grin while directing Twilight back into the house, Flash spotting a smirk appear on the alicorn's lips, "We have a new friend, everypony!" The ponies all cheered at this while patting Fluttershy on the back, Starlight putting her hoof around her before glaring at the town, "Now, this is all and good, but there's a few more orders of business. For one, it seems somepony in our midst might be...dissatisfied with the village life!"

Flash watched as the ponies all gasped, making him now see Party Favor and the others. "Not good."

"Unfortunately, it's all too true my friends!" Starlight turned to Fluttershy, her grin now hiding a dark glare. "Will you kindly tell us the names of those friends who so desperately miss their cutie marks that they would sneak around in the shadows, all the while talking to strangers about it?! Its just so we can be sure your intentions are indeed pure."

Flash saw the sweat starting to appear on Fluttershy's face, her form shivering. He started to extend his wings as he watched Fluttershy reply, "Ummm…I don't know who they were. I'm sorry, I don't know your names or faces yet."

"Nonsense! Obviously these ponies must have asked you directly." Starlight pointed at the crowd, "Kindly point them out!"

Panic began to fill Flash's being, his hooves starting to press down on house's roof. Gritting at the scene, he was ready to go down and try to rescue the girl. "Twilight...sorry, but I might have to botch your plan. I can't let Fluttershy-"

"It was me!" Everypony's gaze turned to Party Favor, "It was only me!" He ran up to Starlight and got down on his knees. "But I only wanted it back for a little while!"

Starlight glared down at him and raised his chin to look up at her, "And you're quite certain it was only you?"

Party Favor looked away, "I just wanted to remember what it was like."

"And no thought to the pain you'd cause your friends," Starlight sighed in a heartbroken voice. "Such selfishness." She pointed at the building, Party Favor slowly walking into it.

"I'm sorry, everypony! I never wanted to leave the village!" Party cried as he walked inside, "I love all of-" The shutting of the building's door cut him off.

Starlight turned back while shaking her head, "Such a shame. Just shows the damage that free thinking can do." Her face morphed into a semi-glare, "Now, let's clear up the final matter. Has anypony seen Double Diamond this day?" The ponies all exchanged glances, the town replying with shakes of the head.

"It's as I feared then. Double Diamond must have been captured by that brutish Flash Sentry. Oh, who knows what that crazed pony is doing to our dear friend, attempting to corrupt him with ideas of trying to retake his cutie mark." This made all the ponies gasp. "We must find our friend and the staff, for the good of all of Equestria." The ponies all nodded in agreement as Starlight began to show Fluttershy around.

As she did this, her gaze spotted something on a nearby roof that made her do a double take. But as she stared, she saw nothing else, making her hum in response.

While she did this, Flash breathed a sigh of relief as he hid behind a rock away from the town. "That was way too close." The defender slumped over, sighing again, "Why couldn't the map have sent us somewhere relaxing?!"
> Starlight's Secret
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It began when the sun and moon swapped positions, making the townsponies go to bed. At the same time, Flash was at the vault cave, his hooves slowly moving as he tried to sneak in. Trying to be as silent as ever, he kept himself flying near the cave's ceiling, his eyes scanning for guards.

That is, till he saw that there weren't any guards. "Weird..." he commented as he floated down, his form quickly walking over to vault. There, he looked the wall over, trying to his friends' marks...only to rapidly blink, "Huh? They're not here. But if they're not here...." He spun around and glared at the cave's exit, "Starlight. She must have them and Lightbringer. If that's the case, this got a whole lot more complicated."

He quickly left the cave next, flying back to town. Here, he spotted movement near Starlight's house, soon seeing Fluttershy's head shoot out of the chimney. Soot covering and coughing followed this as she shook her head, "Oh dear...that was messy."

"Shy," he said in a hushed whisper, making her turn her head and gasp.

Quickly hopping out of the chimney, the two did a fast hug. "Oh Flash, thank goodness." She then pulled away, "We have to get our cutie marks back."

"I know. I already tried the vault, but they weren't there." Flash replied, making Fluttershy frown while covering her mouth with her hoof.

"What? But if they aren't there...where are they?"

"I don't know, but we need to-"

"Excellent work Sunny Song." said a sudden voice, making Flash reflexively push Fluttershy into the roof, covering her mouth before she could cry out. It was here that both leaned over the edge of the building, now seeing a dark gray earth pony with Starlight. The pony had a crate of jars with her, making him go wide-eyed as he saw it was his friends' cutie marks.

"No problem," the pony named Sunny replied as Starlight brought the cutie marks inside. "But why'd you want me to bring them here? Isn't Fluttershy one of us?"

"She may have opened up to our philosophy, but she hasn't fully accepted it into her heart." They closed the door, making Flash and Fluttershy fly down to look through the window. "If her cutie mark is returned, she may fall back under it's influence. And with that Flash pony still out there, he'll probably try some half baked idea to get them back. We can't let that happen." She then lifted a certain jar with a huge grin on her face, "Besides, this one belongs to a princess. It could be very important to our cause."

"I guess you have a point," Sunny commented before heading for the door. "Good night."

"Good night." Starlight responded as she looked the jars over, her grin growing wider.

Flash and Fluttershy then flew back around the house as Sunny left, Fluttershy letting out a whimper, "Oh dear. How are we ever going to get the cutie marks back now?"

"Simple. I'll just smash in there and take them back by force," he punched his hooves together. "Without any special talent, she's not gonna be be able to stop me."

But in that moment, a loud crashing sound let out, making them go back to the window. There, they saw Starlight nonw covered in water. "Ow! Oh Starlight, you clumsy foal!" She grumbled as she levitated the cutie mark jars to a nearby drawer. Flash's eyes went wide when he spotted Lightbringer was leaning against it, only for his vision to be pulled as Starlight grabbed a towel to dry off.

It was here that she dried herself off, removing the towel a second later. However, in that second, Flash and Fluttershy spotted something on her flank. The equal sign cutie mark was gone, now replaced by a purple diamondized star with small aquamarine colored wisps. Flash and Fluttershy's jaws dropped at the sight, only to then see Starlight summon up some make-up. She covered her real cutie mark with a dense pink powder before using a stencil and black powder to remake the equal sign.

Fluttershy gasped at this, Flash noticing Starlight respond to the sound. He pulled the pegasi under a beam below the window, praying Starlight didn't investigate. Eventually, he saw the light in the room go off and sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."

"Flash...d-d-did you just s-s-see what I just s-s-saw?"

"I did. That liar..." Flash growled as he clenched his hooves. "She didn't give up her cutie mark! She's a fraud!"

"But why?" Fluttershy asked. "Why make everypony give up their marks just so she can lie to them?"

"I don't know, but we need to show everypony what she's hiding. If they see she didn't give up her cutie mark, it might make them want theirs back." He glared back at the window, "Grrr...if only I had Lightbringer."

"So what's the plan?"

"You stay here and try to get this info to Twilight." Flash gave her a small hug, reassuring the frightened pegasus.

"Okay." Fluttershy replied as she ended the embrace, "But what are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna have a little chat with a new friend."





Double Diamond was still tied to the stone, unable to sleep due to doing nothing all day. Hunger was not a problem for him, as he had eaten several berries Flash had picked for him from a nearby bush. Also, the rock was in a spot where the sun's light didn't touch, making sure he wouldn't be baked by it. so he hadn't been baked by it.

Unfortunately, that doesn't cure boredom unless somepony is there to talk to. His ears perking, he now heard wing beats as Flash flew into the cave. "You're back. You mind getting me another drink?" Flash didn't answer, instead now pusing the rock he was tied to. Double blinked at this, now walking around the small boulder as he soon saw a small ditch that looked like it had been hastily dug out. "Huh?" He tilted his head at this, only to go wide-eyed as Flash pulled the Staff of Sameness out of the ditch.

Double Diamond let out a gasp at the sight of the relic, only to blink as he saw Flash tap it with his hoof. Sniffing it next, Double raised an eyebrow as Flash leaned over and licked the staff, "Uh...what are you doing?"

Flash started to spit and rub his tongue, only to toss the staff into Double's hooves, "Here. Its a fake."

"What?" Double Diamond barely replied.

"I said it's a fake. This hunk of junk isn't enchanted. If it was, you'd be able to sense the magic coming off it. Starlight lied to you."

"What are you-huh?!" Double Diamond yelped as he gripped the staff, "Th-that's not true! And what would you know about magical items?! You're not a unicorn!"

"I'm a royal knight...in training. I wield an enchanted item." He walked up and tapped the hoof with a flat stare, "You really think I wouldn't be able to tell when something else is enchanted?" Quickly snatching the staff away from the gasping pony, he kicked it away like it was a piece of trash. The stick started to hop on the ground as Flash pointed at it, "Trust me on this, that thing is as enchanted as that berry bush over there."

"But-but-but...you saw it remove your friend's cutie marks!" Double barked back as he picked the staff back up, "Heck, I've seen Starlight use it a hundred times!"

Flash just let out a single dry laugh, "HA! Yeah...about that." Flash shined a small smirk, one that made Double start to backpedal, "Has anypony other than Starlight ever used the staff before? Even once?"

He watched as Double think for a moment, only to shake his head. "No, I don't remember anypony else using the staff."

"Exactly. That's because the staff isn't what's taking everyone's cutie mark, it's Starlight. She's been lying to you."

"What?! She-"

"She hasn't given up her cutie mark. I saw it on her tonight." Flash interrupted as he crossed his hooves in frustration, "She just covered it up with makeup to make you think she did. Her magic is what stole your cutie mark and everypony else's."

"But that's...that can't be..." Double's smile started to falter as an angry glare began to appear, "You're lying!"

"Oh?" Flash's face shined the biggest smirk he could make, "Then riddle me this. If everypony removed their cutie marks, what does Starlight's look like? I mean, it has to be in the vault, right?"

"Well uh...er…." Double tried to reply, his brains reeling over each mark in the vault in his memories. "Um..."

"I thought so." Flash interrupted as he pointed at the pony, "You said you were one of the first ponies to have their cutie mark removed, so there couldn't have been that many in the vault when it happened. So tell me, what does Starlight's cutie mark look like?"

Double put his hooves to his head, now trying to think of the day he had first joined. One by one, the memories flowed through as he remembered the three other marks in the vault before his was added as the fourth mark. Here, he thought about the others, only to remember one thing...there were five ponies in town when he first joined, including Starlight Glimmer.

"You can't remember what it looks like because you've never seen it. It's been hidden from the world by Starlight cuz she needs her magic to take away everyone else's cutie mark." He placed a hoof on his shoulders, "She's been using you."

"No...that can't..." he whispered, his hooves now shivering, "This can't be true."

Flash sighed at the sight, now taking pity on the pony. He could see that Double just needed one more push. Patting the pony's shoulder, he spun around and untied the rope holding the earth pony to the rock. Flash then tapped the staff in Double's hooves, making Double look up as Flash stared right into his eyes, "Double, if this staff really is magical, then you'll be able to use it to remove my cutie mark." Double's eyes went wide at this as Flash did a 180. "Do it."

Double slowly pointed it at the apprentice knight, only for nothing to happen. He started to shake the staff next...but still nothing. "Uh...maybe um...maybe only a unicorn can use it."

"That doesn't seem very equal," Flash told him as he turned back around. "I'd think something called the Staff of Sameness would be able to be used by all breeds of ponies. And I'm pretty sure Twilight told me that Mage Meadowbrook was an earth pony, which means she should be able to use it."

Double started to swing it around wildly, trying to make it respond. Flash just sighed at the sight, only to frown as he saw tears start to appear in Double's eyes. His grin disappeared as his chin started to quiver, "Is it...is it all a...all a lie?"

Flash's ears flopped down at this as sadness showed itself on both ponies' faces. He went over to pat the earth pony's shoulder, only for Double to throw his hooves around the pegasus and cry into his chest. The defender almost reflexively backpedaled at this, but he then looked down and saw the tears go down the pony's face. Patting his head, he muttered out, "Its okay...it'll all be okay."

Double pulled away a few minutes later, sniffing as he rubbed his eyes, "I...I can't believe that Starlight has been lying to me this whole time. After everything we've been through. She...she even saved my life once."

"Really?!" Flash asked with a tilt of the head.

Double did a small nod. "I uh...I used to be a skier, and one day I was skiing up in the mountains when I lost control and crashed. I broke one of my legs and my screams of pain caused uh...caused an avalanche. I...I don't remember anything after that storm of snow fell on me, but...the next thing I knew, I was waking up in Starlight's house. She said she had found me and bandaged my leg while nursing me back to health."

Flash opened his mouth to do a counter argument, his mind screaming that Starlight maybe caused the avalanche...only to see the frown on Double's face get bigger. Sighing at this, he just continued to pat Double on the back. "Listen, I know this is hard, but it's the truth."

"But we were so happy."

"And you can still be happy with your cutie marks," Flash replied, his face now showing nothing but confidence, "Listen, a cutie mark is nothing more than a representation of who you are. And just because everypony is different, that doesn't mean they can't be friends." He pointed to his mark, "For example, I'm a great fighter, as that's what my mark means. So when there's a situation that needs a fighter, I know I need to be there because this mark shows that's what I'm meant to do. But here's the thing: I don't know anything about fashion, I can't calm an angry animal, and my hooves are the furthest thing from being green."

Double blinked at this, Flash smirking at his confusion as he continued, "As you can see, there's a lot I don't know, and that's okay. You know why?"

Double shook his head, "No, I don't. Why is that okay?"

"Its okay because I have my friends to help me."

"I...I don't understand." Double added as he let out a whimper. "Its okay to have friends that are different?"

"Of course! I mean, sure I might have more in common with a pony with a similar mark and skills...but what would l learn from them?"

"Learn?"

Flash shined a huge grin, "Twilight taught me to think in any situation. Pinkie taught me to meet every challenge with a smile. Fluttershy taught me that compassion can be as good a weapon as a sword. Applejack taught me to keep my word. Rarity taught me to see the world in another light, and Rainbow taught me to be confidant but not too over-confidant. Them and many other friends, all who are different, helped me become a better pony because I saw how they affect the world in a way I never could. And no matter the situation, we've been able to handle it because all our different talents came together and gave us a way to overcome any obstacle. That...that is what true friendship is."

Double tried to reply, Flash's words starting to sink in his head. "I don't...I..."

Flash put his hooves on Double's shoulders again, "Double Diamond."

"Yeah?"

"Look into your heart, and choose what you believe."

"I...I..." Double stuttered, making his brain go over his memories with Starlight. Despite Flash's words, he could still think up the happy times he had spent with her, making his mind push and pull in anger.

Seeing his struggle, Flash's hooves clenched on Double's shoulders, "Double? You okay?"

"I...I want to believe that you're wrong. That there's another side to this that I'm not seeing." Double looked back at him, "That my friendship with Starlight isn't a lie."

Flash sighed again while shaking his head, "I'm sorry, but there isn't. Starlight still has her cutie mark, and if you let me, I'll find a way to prove it to you."

"How?"

"I don't know yet," Flash spun around and stared at the sky, glaring at the moon, "But I'll think of a way to show you Starlight's lies. That and to free you from her reign of terror."





The next morning...

As soon as the sun rose, Flash and Double exited the cave. Double seemed to still be reeling from the revelation, but told Flash he still wanted to discover the truth for himself. Though he knew better, Flash agreed to this, but only if Double helped him show everypony the truth.

"So...what's the plan?" Double asked as they saw the village in the distance.

Flash held out the staff, "You return to the village saying you managed to escape. While everypony's concentrating on you, I'll sneak into Starlight's house and get the marks and my sword. Once we have them, Starlight won't have anything to use as leverage."

Double nodded and took the staff, his lips quivering as he stared at the staff, "Okay...but are you sure you're right?"

"I am." Flash patted his shoulder, making Double look back up at him, "Listen, its gonna be okay. I'll get in there and expose Starlight Glimmer of who she really is, alright?"

Double barely nodded again, gripping the staff with a glum frown. "Right...I can do this."

Doing a small gulp, he walked up to the edge of town, his big grin returning. And as he got there, the townponies let out a gasp, all yelling as they saw him walk up to the village. "DOUBLE DIAMOND!" they all exclaimed as they ran up to him, Flash seeing this as the signal. Quickly bolting above the village, he spread his wings as he flew over to the back of the houses.

"Double Diamond, my dear friend!" Starlight declared as she ran through the crowd and pulled him into a hug, "I feared that brutish Flash Sentry had done something horrible to you!"

Double's grin morphed to a frown at this, only to see Flash in the corner of his eye. Noticing that he was still trying to get to Starlight's house thanks to a few guarding ponies, he knew he had to think up something. Looking back at Starlight, he gripped the staff while giving the biggest frown he could give, "He uh...tried to..."

Seeing the sadness, Starlight patted his side, "What? What did he do?"

"He...he captured me, tied me up and refused to give me any food or water." This made all the ponies gasp, everypony now turning to him. Seeing the opening, Flash smirked as he zipped over to Starlight's house as Double continued, "He kept saying that cutie marks weren't evil and that he was going to Canterlot. He intends to bring a whole army to destroy our village and rescue the princess."

More gasps followed this, everypony in town now chattering in fear. But as this happened Double watched Starlight as her expression didn't change, calmness fully on her face her horn lit up, taking the staff from Double, "I see..." she rasied the staff, taking a small breath. "Everypony! Do not panic!" This made the town go silent, Starlight putting the staff down as she continued, "By the time they get here, Twilight Sparkle will have realized we're right and will have joined us. I'm sure once that happens, she'll be able to make everypony in that army realize what we're doing here is for the betterment of Equestria." She then turned to the house Twilight and the others were locked inside. "Come, I've got a good feeling about today!"





Meanwhile...

"Where is it?!" Flash growled as he rummaged through some drawers. Scanning each wooden section over, he let out a groan as he closed the drawer. "Come on...this house isn't that big! Where could she have hid it?!"

Still growling, he went over to the window, now watching Fluttershy go back to the building where his friends were. There, she opened the door, only to see Party Favor zoom out of the house, quickly rushing over to bow at Starlight's hooves.

"That's not good." he commented as he turned back into the room. "Come on Flash, you need to-" As he said this to himself, his wings extended, knocking an empty jar off the drawer. The container rolled under the room's bed, only for the sounds of something clicking following this. "Huh?"

He quickly gripped the bed and pushed it away, only to go wide-eyed at the next sight. It was a hidden trapdoor to a staircase, "Ah! Should've guessed that."

The defender glanced back at the window, biting his lip, "Girls...I'll be right back." With that, he descended down the stairs, hope in his heart to find the marks and his trusty blade.





Back Outside...

"It seems there's cause for celebration after all!" Starlight announced as the crowd broke out into cheers.

"They tried to break me!" Party Favor told her, his face repeatedly touching the dirt. "They wouldn't stop talking about how different they are, and that somehow makes their friendship stronger!"

"Such backwards thinking," Starlight sighed, shaking her head. As this happened, Double Diamond just blinked at the scene, now noticing how phoney what she just said sounded.

"But I didn't listen!" Party Favor yelled while showing a crazy, mismatched face. "I knew what they were up to, and I didn't listen!"

He got his face right up to Starlight's as the creepy smile appeared on his lips. Starlight pushed him back as a grin shined on her form, "Well done Party Favor! We welcome you back with open hooves!"

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Party cried, making Double's grin morph into a frown at the scene.

While this happened, Fluttershy spoke up, "Um, Starlight?" They turned to her, now seeing she was standing next to the open house. "I think we might have one more friend joining us today." In that moment, Twilight walked out, causing the town to gasp.

Starlight forcefully pushed Party Favor away, her grin slightly changing as she asked, "Is this true?!"

Twilight and Fluttershy shared a glance before replying, "I...I think so. But I just want to be sure." She slowly trotted upt to the town's leader, "If I agree to leave my cutie mark in the vault, I'll really be happier?"

"Of course! Just look around!" Starlight exclaimed as she pointed to the town, "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. After all, we are all equal here!" The crowd muttered in agreement.

"Then how do you explain this?!" Everyone looked up and saw Fluttershy flying above Starlight, a bucket of water in her hooves. Quickly tipping the pail, the liquid splashed everywhere as Starlight tried to sidestep the attack.

The mare yelled at the pegasi, "Why you-I knew you couldn't be trusted!" But as she said this, Party Favor went wide-eyed as he saw a drop of water land on her flank and roll down. Doing so wiped away the make-up, making him see the truth. He then removed his cloak and wiped into her flank, revealing the whole mark before Starlight could react. Gasping as she saw what had just been done, she yelped, "No! Get away!"

This just put more attention on her, allowing the villagers to see her mark and gasp as Double whispered to himself, "He was right..."

It was here that Starlight started to backpedal from the townponies, trying to hide her mark with her tail as the village glared at her, "Wha...what are you looking at?!" She pointed to Twilight and the others, "They're the problem, not me!"

As Twilight looked back at the town, a small smile appeared as she saw the anger on their faces. It was clear, Starlight's spell was now broken.





Meanwhile...

Flash really wished he had night vision.

While descending the staircase, Flash found himself in a cave with no light filtering, making him squint his eyes as he trotted through the tunnel. Groaning at this, his hooves made sure to go as slowly as possible, his wings reaching out to feel for any sudden walls.

"Figures. I'm guessing Starlight lights this place up with her horn...which is something I don't have." he grumbled as another minute passed, "Come on...where are you?!"

His wing now touched a wall, making him feel it with his hoof next, "Okay, let's take a left now." Turning, he kept his hoof to the wall as he went down the tunnel even more, only to see a light in the distance. Blinking at it, he started to walk towards it, only to find the light was at the top of a small ramp. There, his eyes went wide as he saw Lightbringer and his friends' cutie marks.

"YES!" he cheered as he instantly grabbed his sword, the familiar magical sensation now flowing through him as he held it in his hooves. "So good to have you back." The defender then turned to the cutie marks, "Now, let's get you-"

"Oh no you don't!" He turned to the source of the voice, only to reflexively jump away as a blast of blue magic flew past him.

"Starlight..."

The outed fraud growled at him, her magic levitating the jars over a cart right beside her. "You've ruined everything!" she almost screamed. "My perfect utopia is gone! All gone because of you!"

"Just give it up," Flash replied as he pointed his sword at her. "Don't make this any worse than it already is."

"NO! You think you can come to my village and disrupt my life?!" Her horn flared, the amount of magic flowing out even surprising Flash, "How dare you do this to me! All I wanted was to show everypony the evil of those marks, but you selfish idiots had to ruin it!"

"Oh please, how could something that shows who you are be evil?" Flash countered while rolling his eyes, "Just give my friends their marks back and-"

"Shut up!" Starlight screamed, "I'll never give these back! In fact, let's just see how your friends like spending the rest of their lives without their precious cutie marks!"

"Not gonna happen. I will get those marks back." A beam of magic shot out of Starlight's horn in response, which Flash deflected using his sword. The blast hit the wall, making the tunnel shake. Feeling this, Flash looked up and saw the cave's ceiling rattle, "That's not good." He glared back at the unicorn, "This place is about to collapse! Don't be stupid-"

"I'm the only pony in this town who isn't stupid!" Starlight interrupted as she fired another blast. This time, Flash blocked the attack, only to feel himself being pushed back with ease. His hooves now felt the ramp, making him look back for a second and see that ramp was the cave's exit.

Glaring at Starlight now, Flash yelled, "Stop! Don't-"

"SHUT UP!" Starlight screamed as she fired beam after beam, Flash unable to react as the spell struck his chest. The force of the blow instantly knocked him up the ramp, his body flying out of the tunnel before slamming into a nearby tree.

"Urgh!" he yelped as his form broke through the wooden pillar, making him hit the dirt before the piece of lumber fell on top of him. Pain flooded his body next as he closed his eyes, losing consciousness within seconds.





"Flash...Flash...FLASH!" His eyes flickered open, allowing him to see a certain worried somepony looking down at him.

"Twilight?" Flash gazed at his friend through unfocused eyes. "I didn't know you had a twin sister."

He then felt the weight of several hooves helping him up, Twilight responding, "Careful Flash, you might have a concussion."

"Oohhh...if that means 'in pain', then I'm definitely that." he moaned as he tried to get his balance. And as he stood up and spread his wings, he flinched in pain. Glancing at his feathers, he could see they were bent. "Damn it."

"What happened down there? You suddenly were flung out of the ground and we saw you crash into that tree." Twilight asked, only to get a sigh from Flash.

"Couldn't fight Starlight...her magic was gonna make the whole place collapse." He turned to Twilight with a grimace on his face, "She's strong Twilight. Like...your kind of magic level strong."

"That's not good." Twilight added, only for her ears to spike up at another voice.

"Look!" They turned to see Rainbow and Party Favor a ways off, everypony soon moving to them with Applejack helping Flash move. The two were staring at a path that lead to a snowy mountain range, Flash now noticing that Double Diamond, Party Favor, Night Glider and Sugar Belle all had their cutie marks back, along with more vibrant color schemes to their coats and manes.

He watched as Party Favor looked back at his cutie mark, soon pulling out several balloons before blowing them up and making a pair of balloon binoculars. He looked through them, Flash getting the feeling they actually worked like real binoculars. "She's headed for the pass! If she makes it into those mountains, we'll never find her!"

Pinkie took the binoculars and gasped, confirming Flash's guess. "These are amazing!"

"There's a whole network of caves up there!" Sugar Belle announced. "If we don't get to her, your cutie marks will be gone forever!"

"Then let's get moving, ya'll!" Applejack yelled as they all started to run. But as they did this, the Mane Seven found they couldn't go past the speed of a basic walk.

Even Rainbow Dash was having trouble, flapping as hard as she could, only to go at the speed of a snail. "Oh, come on!"

"That's not good." Flash admitted as he lifted his hoof off of Applejack, his wings making him flinch again, "Shoot. I can't fly or run..."





Starlight was in a full on sprint as she pulled the cart behind her, the cutie mark jars rattling like crazy. She glared behind herself, only to see Night Glider catching up. Growling at the sight, her horn began to flare, "Oh, you have got to be kidding me..."

"Come back here Starlight!" Glider yelled as she flapped up a burst of speed, now getting closer to the unicorn.

A beam of magic fired out of the unicorn's horn as she screamed, "Seriously?! Are you all so willing to give up everything because of these strangers?!" Another blast of magic hit a ledge above Glider, sending some snow on top of her.

The pegasi's head popped out of the snow pile as Sugar Belle ran past her. "We gave up everything for you because we thought you were our friend! But you...you lied to us all!"

"Flash was right! You're just a phony!" Double yelled as he appeared next to her with Party Favor, Glider now hovering above them as Double continued, "Everything...everything was just a big fat lie!"

But as these words exited his mouth, Starlight just kept firing beams of magic, her tone now just an angry mumble, "Grrr...stupid marked ponies!"





Further down the mountain pass, Flash and the girls were still slowly going. Rainbow groaned at the situation, "I can't believe we have to count on these other ponies to save our cutie marks!"

Twilight just shook her head at this. "Its fine Rainbow, we just need to believe in them. If we hadn't come here to help them, they'd still be living under her rules! Now it's their turn to help us!"

"And I know they can do it!" Fluttershy added.

Flash nodded in agreement. "Considering what I've seen, I know they'll do it. Now that they have their cutie marks back, they can show the world how great they really are."





Starlight was now getting closer to the cave as the four ponies started to catch up. It was here that they spotted a stone bridge, which Starlight began to cross. Here, Sugar Belle grabbed some snow off the ground. "My newest recipe..." She fashioned the snow into a certain food shape, "Snow pie!" She tossed the pie up into the air before it arched down at Starlight.

The mare looked up and saw it coming, but it was too late. A pile of snow hit her cart, smashing it as the jars went flying off the side of the bridge. Gasping at the sight, Starlight's horn flared as she snatching them in her magic aura. Smirking at this, she rand to the end of the bridge, only to fire a blast of magic at the stone construct.

KABOOM!

The bridge exploded, trapping her pursuers on the other side of the canyon. But no sooner had Starlight started to run, Party Favor pulled out several balloons and began to fashion them into a massive balloon bridge. Seeing this, Glider grabbed one end and extended it to the other side of the canyon.

This allowed them to pass as the Mane Seven made it to an overhanging ledge. There, they saw Starlight starting to get close to the caves. "She's gonna get away!" Rainbow screamed in horror, the others all feeling panic now as they saw her disappear into the distance.

And this happened, Double Diamond had made it to the other side of the canyon, only to let out a gasp, "Whoa!" He yelped as he stepped over a helmet and some equipment that were buried in the snow. "These are my old skis!" For the first time in years, he held the thing that made him the most happy. "Hey...this is where I first met Starlight!"

"Maybe you can reminisce another time!" Glider barked back, "She's almost to the caves!"

Double was about to leave the skis and continue the chase, only to remember what Flash had said last night. "Ponies with differing skills...if they come together, they can overcome anything!" he said to himself as he put his skis and helmet on. "That's true friendship!" Double glanced up at Gilder, "Yo! Feel like an air drop?"

Instantly getting what he meant, Glider nodded and picked the earth pony up, flying him up onto a higher part of the mountain. Quickly dropping him, he slid down the slope as he saw Starlight just about to reach her destination. Glaring at the sight, he did a spin, knocking a whole wave of snow loose.

Looking up, Starlight saw the incoming avalanche, but it was too late. Before she could react, a blanket of snow knocked her over, her horn no longer glowing thanks to the blow. And as Party Favor and Sugar Belle reached the scene, they saw the cutie mark jars fall, all six smashing into the ground.

Glass shattered everywhere as the marks flew out, all shining like stars before flying over their heads.

"We did it!"

And as the lights flew through the air, Flash and the girls reached the canyon. There, they spotted the six familiar lights, all of them quickly returning to their owners. The apprentice knight smiled as he watched them hit the girls' flanks, causing them to glow before returning to their normal selves.

"Yee-haw!" Applejack exclaimed before she started kicking the air. "Finally, ah can buck like a five-bit snake herder in an Appleloosa ranch house again!"

"And you got your countryisms back too!" Fluttershy added.

"Alright team!" Flash cheered, "Let's go show Starlight why you shouldn't mess with us!" They all nodded before continuing on, Twilight using her magic to carry Flash as they readied themselves to confront her.





Back at the cave, the four ponies were still cheering at their accomplishment. That is, till they heard the sound of shifting snow. Shifting their gaze back to the snow pile, they saw one angry Starlight Glimmer ascend from it. A blaze of magic covered her horn as she glared at them.

"That's it!" She screamed as she fired a beam of magic, this one several times bigger than anything she had used today. However, as it flew out of her horn, Twilight flew in front of the attack, her horn shining as well. A barrier of magic was instantly summoned, one that blocked Starlight's spell effortlessly.

Seeing that the spell had on effect, Starlight began to stutter, "Wh-what?! How did you-I studied that spell for years! How can you-"

"I studied magic for years too!" Twilight replied as she trotted up to her. "But what I didn't know then, was that studying could only take me so far. That shield spell I just used was one I learned from my brother and practicing with Flash. That's just one example." She looked back as Flash and the rest of her friends appeared beside Double and the others. "Each of my friends has taught me something different about myself. It was their unique gifts, 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 six!" She turned back to Starlight, "And I certainly wouldn't be here to stop you now! That's the power of true magic! It happens when true friendship-"

"QUIET!!!" Starlight interrupted, veins popping on her face as she death stared Twilight. She then rolled her eyes, "Spare me your sentimental nonsense! I gave these ponies real friendships that they never could've had otherwise!"

"How do you know that?!" Double Diamond countered as he pulled off his helmet, "You never even gave us a chance!"

Flash pointed his sword at her. "You forced your ways on them without letting them see how well they got along with their cutie marks. I don't know what caused you to hate cutie marks, but I know it doesn't give you the right to make other ponies choices for them." Everypony else nodded as Starlight's anger appeared to be reaching its breaking point. "Just come quietly."

"You..." Starlight growled as her horn began to flare one more time. Everypony got into a defensive stance, ready to for anything...only for the unicorn to fire off a blinding a blue light. Shielding their eyes, the light soon faded to reveal one vanished Starlight Glimmer.

"She's getting away!" Rainbow yelled as she flew into the mouth of the cave.

"Stop! We'll never find her in there!" Double barked back, making the athlete come to a stop.

"But-"

"Let her go Rainbow Dash." Twilight ordered as she shook her head, sighing, "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."

In that moment, Party Favor walked in front of the princess. "It's you all who have taught us something. We all came to this village because we were searching for something missing from our lives. We thought Starlight had given it to us, but now...." He gestured to the rest of his friends, "Now it seems it was in front of us all along. It's us!" The four all hugged one another, true genuine smiles adorning their faces.

"Does that mean you'll stay in the village?" Twilight asked.

They all nodded as Glider spoke up. "It's our home. I'm not going anywhere."

Double chucked at this, "Besides, this is a chance for all of us to get to know each other again for the very first time!"

"And I finally have a chance to bake something besides those terrible muffins!" Sugar Belle added, causing everyone to laugh before returning to the village. When they arrived, a pony who had been a doctor before coming to the town helped patch Flash up, soon declaring that after a day or two, he would be as good as new.

The ponies in the town all threw a party later that day, their special talents on full display.

"Now those are real smiles," Pinkie commented with the others nodding. As these words were spoken, a familiar sensation made them look back and see their cutie marks pulsing like they did in the castle.

"Ah'll never get used to that," Applejack stated.

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

Flash just chuckled at this, "Imagine if this became something everypony had. Coming this fall, top of the line butt pagers!" They all laughed as Fluttershy turned to Twilight.

"Does that mean the map is calling us somewhere else?

Twilight simply smiled back. "I have a feeling it means our work here is done."

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

"But the map didn't just send me, it sent us. 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." With that, the all shared a hug, all now knowing their new mission of spreading the magic of friendship throughout the land.

"This feels like an ending!" Pinkie exclaimed before pulling away. "But it uh...it doesn't have to be an ending yet, right? Cause that Sugar Belle can bake!"

Twilight giggled at this, "Well, maybe we can stay a little while longer."

"I'd prefer to travel when I'm fully healed," Flash added as he stared at his sore wing.

"Come on then!" Twilight gestured to go back into town, all true smiles on their faces as they went to hang out with their new friends.





Several days later...

After enjoying the town the way it was meant to be, and making sure Starlight didn't come back to cause trouble, our heroes found themselves returning to Ponyville. Stepping off the train, they made their way back to the castle.

"Well, glad that's over." Flash commented as they got to the front doors, "Here's hoping we're not immediately sent off somewhere again."

"I doubt it." Twilight remarked.

It was here that they got the front steps, only for the doors to swing open as Spike, Springer and the CMC leapt out. Spike threw himself at Twilight while Springer and Scootaloo did the same with Flash, pulling them into a hug. Lightning, Iron and Wild Smile appeared behind them, Pinkie and Fluttershy quickly embracing and kissing their coltfriends hello. Lightning just laughed at the sight as Wild started to go red as Pinkie kept making out with him.

"I'm so glad you all are back," Spike cried as he jumped off Twilight.

"So what happened?" Springer asked next.

"Did you have to fight some super evil pony?" Scootaloo added, making Flash laugh.

"In a way. Trust me, it's a story you all aren't gonna believe."

"Well, it'll have to wait," Iron remarked as he held up a scroll that had Flash's cutie mark on it. "This arrived for you two days ago."

"What is it?"

"No clue, but it's got a special seal so the pony it was meant for is the only one that can open it."

Flash nodded before undoing the clasp, unfurling it, "It's from Grand Hoof. He wants me to come to the Crystal Empire."

"Why?" Springer asked as Flash's eyes scanned it over, only to freeze up. Seeing this, Twilight took the scroll in her magic.

"Let's see...it says Flash is to come so he can be tested, and should he pass-" Twilight stopped and seemed to mirror Flash exactly.

"What?" Rainbow asked before groaning, "Ponies have got to start finishing their sentences."

"If Flash passes this test..." Twilight turned to him with shock in her eyes.

Flash's jaw fully dropped, "I'll...I'll finally be a Royal Knight."