The basement beneath Sugar Belle’s bakery was dark and dusty. Sugar Belle carefully made her way down the steps. Party Favor and Night Glider followed close behind her. Double Diamond was at the tail end of the group. As he took the first step down, he glanced behind them at the wide avenue. The other ponies were going about their business, and Starlight Glimmer was nowhere to be seen. Double Diamond turned back and saw Night Glider already halfway down. The others had disappeared into the darkness of the basement. Double Diamond hurried and closed the door quickly behind him.
“All clear.” Double Diamond whispered. For a few moments, he could not see anypony else in the room. The only light entering the room came from between the warped floorboards above and formed lines of dim light on the basement floor. The light played of a thin haze of dust in the air. As Double Diamond’s eyes adjusted to the new surroundings, the faint outlines of the three others came into view. Sacks of flour lay in one of the corners next to a stack of metal muffin tins.
“Great!” Sugar Belle whispered loudly. “Welcome, Double Diamond. I’m glad you decided to join us. Those six newcomers couldn’t free us from Starlight, but I’m sure we can. They showed us how strong friendship can be. That’s why they got away. But our fate is in our own hooves now.”
“Yes, but how do we defeat Starlight?” Party Favor grimaced. “We can’t just rise up against her ourselves, she’ll have the entire town on her side. And now none of the other ponies will join us.” He shuddered and sunk his head. “I don’t want to go back to that room.” Party Favor’s voice cracked as his irises shrank to a third their usual size. “I don’t think I can take much more of it.”
Double Diamond nodded. “I know.” He put a hoof on Party Favor to stop him from trembling. He stared at the ground in thought. There had to be some key they could use to get an upper hand.
“What if we were able to get our cutie marks back?” Night Glider said.
“Hmm,” Double Diamond thought, “that’s it! The Staff of Sameness!” He brightened. “Starlight would always keep it in the corner of her home by her bed!”
Sugar Belle clicked a hoof against the ground. “Of course! If you can sneak into her house you can get it and we can use it to get our cutie marks back!”
At the mention of getting their marks back, Party Favor almost immediately snapped out of his depression. He looked at the others as they smiled warmly at him. He returned them eagerly with a wide smile of his own. He had been imbued with a new purpose. “Yes! When the others see we can get ours back, we can show them how much they really miss theirs too1”
The four ponies continued to discuss until later that evening. As they left the basement, they parted ways. Party Favor and Night Glider went back to their houses. Sugar Belle hefted a sack of flour onto her back and went into her kitchen. Even with the subversion, the village’s ponies still had to eat. She nudged the bag off her back and levitated a fresh muffin tin out of the cupboard.
Double Diamond went to his own house for a few minutes. He waited, looking out the window as he watched Party Favor and Night Glider open the door to their house across the wide single street. Starlight Glimmer still hadn’t appeared, which meant she was probably still in her own house. He took a deep breath. The plan was tonight, and now was the best time to get Starlight away before the evening’s communal meal started. He trotted down the stairs and quickened his pace as he ran down the street.
***
Double Diamond reared and pounded his front hooves on the door of Starlight Glimmer’s hut. A loud clatter erupted inside and were soon accompanied by angry shouts. Double Diamond stood and waited as hoofsteps sounded closer and closer.
The door finally opened.
“What is it?” Starlight said flatly. Each word was dripping with annoyance at interrupting something important. When Starlight saw Double Diamond standing on the doorstep, her expression brightened several shades. “Oh, Double Diamond!” Nearly all the anger of Starlight’s initial greeting had disappeared.
Double Diamond glanced around nervously, eyeing the foyer. “Um, we may have a problem.” Double Diamond scratched his neck with a hoof. “One of the villagers said they saw one of those five ponies that were with the princess snooping around the ravine off to the north.”
Just as quickly as it arose, the brightness faded from Starlight’s face. She became dead serious. “Which one? And where specifically.”
“The pink one, She looked like she was trying to find a way to draw us away from the village. I thought it best to inform you right away.”
“Thank you Double Diamond,” Starlight Glimmer said. “Did they see any of the others with her?”
“No. It was just the one of them.”
“Then I should be able to correct that little mistake right away.” Starlight Glimmer retreated into the house and reappeared moments later with a saddlebag. Double Diamond stepped aside and Starlight began galloping out of the door.
“Wait, Starlight!” Double Diamond called after her leader. “Don’t you want me to go with you?”
“No,” she turned back to him, “I can handle these troublemakers on my own. I trust you to lead the town while I’m gone, Double Diamond. I shouldn’t be more than an hour.”
He saluted as Starlight ran down the center of the village. As she ran off, Double Diamond watched her and stuck a back hoof out. The front door creaked and hit his hoof with a small thud.
Once Starlight had reached the far side of the town and he could see her continue onward, Double Diamond backed quickly into the house. He left the door open as little as possible and closed it in front of him as soon as he was inside.
He turned and stood for a moment, realizing the situation. He was alone inside Starlight Glimmer’s cottage. He thought briefly about snooping around to see if Starlight was hiding anything. Sugar Belle had been hiding those meetings in her basement. Surely Starlight had something to hide if a resistance had grown against her.
Time was of the essence though. Double Diamond ran into the bedroom and skidded to a halt. There it was, the Staff of Sameness. The great magical item that took away the sorry life of false promises they had before and gave them a new life of happiness and comfort. He walked over to it slowly and picked it up. Nopony except Starlight had ever held the staff before. He caressed it, feeling each individual knot in the wood.
He looked at the equal sign on his flank and frowned. It had to be done. That same staff that gave him a new life could restore his old one. There had to be a second chance. Starlight had given him one when he was down on his luck. Why not give himself and his cutie mark one.
Double Diamond wrapped the staff in the bedsheet to hide it from prying eyes and rushed back to his house. He shoved the staff under his bed and prepared for that night’s dinner. The four ponies arranged to convene at the beginning of the dinner and leave as the crowd arrived and set up the long table in the center of the street.
***
Sugar Belle stood alone in her kitchen surrounded by pots, pans, and countless bags of flour, baking powder, and salt. She buttered five tins and began mixing the dough. As Sugar Belle stirred the batter, her mind raced. They would actually get their cutie marks back. It would be the last time she had to make these horrible muffins. She stared forlornly down at the beige liquid sloshing around the bowl as she methodically circled the whisk. Sugar Belle frowned. It had always been good enough, but now it felt bland, empty. The batter needed… something. Sugar Belle had no idea what it might need, but she knew there was something missing.
Sugar Belle thought hard, wracking her brain, trying to find something to add to the muffins. She only found a black void. Her mind struggled with find her way through the black spony caves that clouded her thoughts. As she pressed through, the blackness became sticky and tried to grab at her hooves as she lifted them off the ground. A soft whisper of Starlight Glimmer’s voice constantly sounded in her head. “Be your best by never being your best. Free yourself from your cutie mark. Free yourself from your talent. Creativity leads only to despair.”
“I can do this! I have to!” she screamed in her mind and in the kitchen. She ran forward through the void, ignoring the pounding in her head. The equal signs on her flank glowed dark as her mark stung at her. Sugar Belle’s head throbbed and she closed her eyes as she ran. Finally, in a brilliant flash, she was out of the void. Turning back it looked like a dense black forest. She stepped forward slowly and saw a white cube in front of her. She touched the grainy surface. Something inside Sugar Belle compelled her to lick the cube, so she did. It was sweet and the best thing she had ever tasted in months.
Sugar Belle’s eyes shot open. She was still in the kitchen. She rushed into the basement and grabbed a lone unused sack from the corner. As she dragged the sack up the stairs, the word finally came to her for what it needed. It was as if she was saying her own name again for the first time. The muffins… they needed sugar.
***
“Ponies, I’m afraid there is some distressing news.” Starlight Glimmer’s voice strained as she shouted from the head of the table. I have been dutily informed by our very own Double Diamond that there is an agitator in our midst. One of the ponies who was here earlier trying to destroy our society has returned. No doubt she intends to convert some of you to her cause and force you all to return to your miserable lives out there in the cruel world of relentless competition and heartache. But we won’t let that happen, will we everyone?”
“No ma’am!” The crowd bellowed in unison in response to their leader.
“We won’t let them lord their talents over us!”
“Special talents lead to division and suffering!” The crowd shouted again.
“We will preserve our way of life! Equality is harmony!”
“Equality is harmony!” The crowd was in a furious uproar growing louder by the second.
“Excellent! In the coming days I want you all to be vigilant and on the lookout for the nefarious agitator in our midst!”
The communal dinner as sermon was attended by everypony in the village save four. Party Favor and Night Glider were already starting off for the cutie mark vault. Double Diamond strapped the staff to his back and ran alongside Sugar Belle to catch up to them.
“What’s she talking about an agitator?” Sugar Belle hissed as they ran behind the buildings and up the path toward the cutie mark vault. “What did you tell her?”
Double Diamond huffed as the staff bumped against his back with every stride. “I had to get her away for enough time, so I told her one of the other ponies was back. The one that ate all the muffins.”
Sugar Belle glared at Double Diamond. “Why did you say something that would put Starlight more on guard for ponies like us!”
“It was the only thing I could think of!” Double Diamond was starting to get defensive.
“Look, calm down you too. We’ve gotten this far, she won’t catch on until after the dinner. By that time we’ll be at the cave.” Party Favor broke up the ensuing argument. “Besides, think of your cutie mark!” He said wistfully. They were silent as they kept on at full gallop.
***
The four ponies galloped the final way up to the cave. Passing through the entrance, they were greeted with the intense light of the cutie mark vault. It cast its cyan light over nearly every part of the cave, except the far wall back toward the entrance. The four ponies stared up at the vault as they drew closer. It was still a marvellous sight to behold even though they’d all seen it many times before.
Sugar Belle was the first one to run up to the vault. “Look, there’s mine!” She shouted! She stopped two feet away and pointed up with a hoof, nearly rearing with excitement. A blue cupcake with purple frosting and a cherry hovered surrounded by the magical aura the permeated the vault and lit the cave.
“Hey, there’s mine too!” Night Glider flew up and hovered next to her crescent moon flanked by two feathers.
“Hey, ours are right next to each other.” Sugar Belle said. Indeed, her cupcake was in the vault right below Night Glider’s moon and feathers.
“And there’s mine,” Party Favor broke in. “Just to the right of yours Night Glider.
In their excitement, Sugar Belle and Party Favor began scratching at the vault with their hooves. Night Glider rammed her body into the vault higher up, hoping it would make a crack in the wall separating them from their talents.
After a few attempts, Night Glider stopped tackling the wall and landed back on the ground next to the two unicorns. “It’s not working!”
The three thought for a moment before Party Favor said what everypony was thinking. “We need to use the staff! It was what took them away, it must be what will break the wall!” They turned to see Double Diamond. He had untied the Staff of Sameness from his back and held it upright with a forehoof.
“Come on Double Diamond, use the staff!” Sugar Belle shouted. Double Diamond was now alone standing in the center of the cave. Night Glider and Party Favor continued pawing and bucking at the vault. Sugar Belle’s eyes switched back and forth between Double Diamond’s steadfast gaze and the tip of the staff. Her determined expression slowly deflated as their newest recruit only watched them work in futility to regain what they had so longed for. “We need to do this now! You’re the only one who can get our cutie marks back!”
Double Diamond looked around the vault at all the different colors and shapes adorning it. He finally found his cutie mark in the assorted box of talents; three snowflakes. As he gazed up at his cutie mark, Double Diamond felt something he had not felt in a long time. A phantom wind whipped through his thick white mane. Snow sprayed his face as the adrenaline rush of barreling down a thousand foot slope at forty miles and hour start to well up within him. Even though it was imaginary, it felt so real.
No. Double Diamond closed his eyes and suppressed those thoughts. They were evil thoughts. In his mind’s eye a pegasus zipped past him using her wing power and flapped her wings as she jumped off a ramp. Double Diamond watched as she soared in slow motion. He was so distracted by the pegasus that Double Diamond veered off the designated path. All of a sudden, he crashed headlong into a tree.
No. That path brought only pain and suffering. He suppressed the thrill of skiing as he opened his eyes again. The other three were standing now, having given up their fruitless efforts. They slowly walked toward him. His gaze turned into a scowl as he squared off against the other three.
“No.” Double Diamond finally voiced what he - and the equal sign on his flank - had forced himself to believe.
***
“Well done, Double Diamond.” The familiar voice of Starlight Glimmer echoed around the cave. Starlight Glimmer soon appeared in the room striding up beside Double Diamond. The white pony did not look at the town leader, only keeping his eyes on the others. His forceful scowl soon disappeared as his mouth widened into the trademark smile of the equalized ponies.
Starlight and Double Diamond stepped slowly forward in unison. Their hoofbeats on the stone floor echoed sharply, each one like the beat of a sinister metronome. “I knew Double Diamond would never betray me,” Starlight smirked.
“You! But why!” Party Favor cried out as the three backed up against the wall. It shimmered behind them, the wide array of cutie marks flickering as the bright magical light surrounded Party Favor, Sugar Belle, and Night Glider in silhouette.
“Give me the staff Double Diamond.” Starlight said.
Double Diamond stopped about halfway to them and let go of the staff. It remained standing straight as Starlight took it with her magic. She continued to advance toward the three cowering ponies.
“Please, Double Diamond.” Night Glider pleaded. The three subversive ponies were pinned against the wall of cutie marks. Starlight’s insidious grin looked even more menacing in the blue reflection of the vault on her features. Her horn and the center of the staff glowed turquois.
Double Diamond remained where he was, looking on with the hollow smile still emblazoned across his face. “It’s quite simple, Night Glider.” Double Diamond looked over Starlight’s Glimmer shoulder. His smile remained as his eyes narrowed into a fierce glare. “You wanted your cutie marks back. You wanted to be better than everypony else. You think you’re better than everypony else. Even when you were proven wrong. Even when those six other ponies tried to unravel the happiness our village had attained,. They tried to destroy our way of life and you would let them. This is all your faults, and you only have yourselves to blame. I am doing my duty to uphold the harmony of the village and preserve it.
“That’s enough, Double Diamond. They have heard enough.” Starlight said turning and eye toward her prized protege. She turned back to the others. “I have offered you a life of equality, sparing you of the hardships of competition with those better than you. And you spurned my generosity. Therefore, you must face the ultimate punishment!”
Party Favor, Sugar Belle, and Night Glider gasped. They kicked frantically and scrabbled to get pst Starlight, but Starlight Glimmer’s magic kept them against the wall.
The magic aura creeped out from the staff, winding its way through the air toward the three ponies. Time appeared to slow to an excruciatingly slow pace. After what felt like hours, the aura reached the flanks of the three pinned ponies. They felt the familiar sensation of their cutie marks being tugged at, like a part of their very soul was being ripped out of them. The process only took seconds, but to Party Favor, Night Glider, and Sugar Belle it felt interminable.
Double Diamond looked on at the Demarking process with awe. In his spying for Starlight Glimmer, Double Diamond had heard rumors of the Demarking as the ultimate punishment for dissidents. Starlight herself had never mentioned it, and he had dismissed all talk of it. Nopony would ever be so cruel and power-hungry to want their cutie mark back so badly that Starlight would be forced to do this. Or at least, that’s what he had thought. The faces of the three ponies contorted in agony as the equal signs were torn from their flanks. Double Diamond forced himself to keep watching as the process continued.
At least, Night Glider, Sugar Belle, and Party Favor slumped on the ground next to the shining vault. They looked darkened and desaturated against the bright, colorful wall of cutie marks. Three black equal signs however in the center of the staff as Starlight backed away from the three ponies clinging to consciousness. Saddened expressions washed over their faces as they slowly rose and eyed their newly blank flanks for the first time.
“Now out! All of you!” Starlight commanded and pointed a hoof toward the vault’s entrance. Double Diamond turned to leave but Starlight beckoned him to stay. “Not you Double Diamond, just these traitors. I still have to give you your reward, after all.”
Double Diamond stopped abruptly. A single hoof remained hovering mid-step as his ears perked up. “Re-ward?” A hint of a genuine smile crept over his mouth and competed with the equalized smile for dominance. Starlight had never given rewards to ponies before that he knew of. Since coming to the village, praise for his work had been so sparse that Double Diamond was starting to consider it an entirely alien concept. After all, he repeated in his mind, ‘rewards meant success, and success is failure’.
“Of course,” Starlight said soothingly. “Your diligence and utmost loyalty to me has been most useful.”
Double Diamond almost involuntarily straightened his posture and puffed out his chest. He trotted over to where Starlight was standing as she turned to face him. “Double Diamond,” she said. “Do you swear loyalty to our village and the beliefs and ideology that we uphold, no matter what?”
Double Diamond answered, holding his head high. “Yes ma’am! I have ever since arriving here!”
“Wonderful!” The magic of the staff came to life yet again. This time, however, Starlight opened a box on the vault. It held a symbol of three violet snowflakes. Double Diamond started shaking.
Starlight drifted the snowflakes down from the vault into the staff, and telekinetically brought the staff to Double Diamond’s rear. He remained staring at Starlight Glimmer but felt the magic upon his flank. The replacement of the cutie mark caused a surge of energy to rush from Double Diamond’s flanks through the rest of his body. He felt reinvigorated, as if suddenly he was permanently infused with a constant supply of caffeine. Starlight had given him his cutie mark back!
“Welcome, Double Diamond, to the Inner Party.” Starlight already had a stencil equal mark and a brush ready. “If we are to spread our ways across Equestria, I can’t be watching the village for traitors like those three alone. You will be my eyes and ears in the village. You’ve earned it.”
He eyed his flank beamed as Starlight painted over his snowflake. Double Diamond had found his life’s purpose. He was finally happy. He loved Starlight Glimmer.
