Author's Note

Sorry for the lack of Chapters. Writer's block hit me real hard and the lack of ideas didn't help.

The Re-Mark of a Cutiemark: Part Two

"In sameness, there is peace. Exceptionalism is a lie. Free yourself from your cutie mark. Choose equality as your special talent. The difference is frustration. To excel is to fail. Be your best by never being your best." The muffled voice of Starlight Glimmer said to the six elements of Equestria, currently trapped inside one of the many houses of the town.

Twilight's ears flickered in irritation as she was laying on her side on the cold floor. Looking up at the window through tattered curtains that Rarity decided that she liked and was currently sobbing her eyes out. Applejack as pacing the room. Desperately trying to come up with countryisms as Pinkie flipped through a book that had the same image on every page. An equal sign.

Fluttershy had given up all hope and fell asleep, curled up into a small ball in the corner. She didn't even stir as Rainbow Dash slammed her body weight into the door again for the hundredth time. Twilight's ears flickered again as she considered what her teacher would think of her now? Then she had to remind herself that her teacher wouldn't care because she turned into a tyrant and have killed thousands.

She might be having an existential crisis. It would have continued if the door had not opened and three ponies and a changeling were thrown into the door. Rainbow Dash made a break for the door but it shut and locked before her face hit the wood.

Twilight and the rest scrambled up in alarm as the three ponies and changeling immediately started arguing.

"You know who's felt this is? Discord's!" The mare wearing a scarf with glasses barked.

"If you tried harder to stop him, we wouldn't be here without our cutiemarks!" The Changeling snapped back. The mare earth pony scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Neither of us would be here if we just asked Luna's option!" The earth pony mare pointed out.

"Stop arguing! That isn't getting us anywhere!" The pegasus stallion said.

"Who the hay are ya'll!?" Applejack interjected which made the new ponies stop fighting and look around them.

"I am Bini Filters." The mare wearing the scarf said. Then she pointed to the changeling, pegasus and earth pony. "This is Arone, Rocky Snow, and Chocolate Shadow. Ignore Arone."

Twilight and her friends backed away from the group. Mostly because of the Changeling.

"W-Why are you, friends, with a Changeling drone!?" Rainbow Dash snapped and knocked Arone on his back and held him down with her front hooves.

"Hey!" Rocky barked and put his hoof on Rainbow Dash's chest, giving her a light shove off of his friend. "For the record, Celestia knew that he was a changeling so show some respect, element of Loyalty."

"Oh! Excuse me for not 'showing respect' for a species that has been proven to be evil!" Rainbow Dash snapped back. Shoving Rocky with her wing back.

"We...I am not evil! I am...Was...Princess Celestia's personal assist-"

"She is currently a tyrant, darling." Rarity growled as she moved to stand next to Rainbow Dash. "That argument doesn't prove anything."

"Twilight Sparkle was Celestia's student and I don't see anyone bashing her for that major life decision," Arone said. Twilight growled in anger and stomped over to Arone with anger practically pouring out of her eyes. "That's right! I said it!"

"Now is really not a good time for this weird..." Bini said but she trailed off as Applejack glared at her.

"Are you a Changeling, sugarcube!?" Applejack demanded.

"Obviously not!" Bini replied. Twilight backed away. Her energy was weaker than usual and she had less tolerance for all the fighting.

"Stop." Twilight said.

The arguing didn't stop.

"STOP!" Twilight yelled. Everypony abruptly stopped and faced the unicorn who was having more bad days than good. "Everypony is scared and angry. I understand that. But just because we have been having a hard time the last week doesn't mean we need to be rude to each other. I know that Changelings are our enemies. But just for a moment. Let's consider if they can change. Everypony can change."

She moved closer to the group. Giving the group a better look at Twilight's tired expression with dark bags under her eyes.

"We all need to be a bit more accepting. Can't we please try? Just this once?"

The group nodded and gave each other sympathy looks. Bini was the first to break the silence by clearing her throat and smiling towards Twilight.

"So...What's been happening in the past week?"

Starlight Glimmer would be the first to admit that she missed the sunlight. Real sunlight. The Eclipse had been up for more than a week. Starlight had been forced to make the town keep up with the news. She wanted complete isolation from the outside world but now she had to allow controlled information into the town so that she and the rest of the town could be prepared for the worst.

She had a delivery of newspapers from Manhatten. She set the stack down as she checked the time. It was around 8 pm. She walked past six jars of cutiemarks sitting on her nightstand and flopped onto her bed. She levitated the lamp over to her and grabbed a newspaper from the other room, dropping it on her bed covers.

Her eyes skimmed the headlines with worry.

"Rumors of War in the Crystal Empire."

"Alicorns. Do we really need them?"

"Rumors of Princess Luna planning to abandon Equestria."

"Are Alicorns evil? Will the Sun ever rise again?"

"Crop dying across Equestria from lack of sunlight. Food shortage."

She wrapped her blanket around her body and looked up to the ceiling of her house in the dark. She kept staring at a spot the recently received water damage a few weeks ago and couldn't help but feel guilty. She had her cutiemark and the others didn't. She kept telling herself it was for a good cause. With her cutiemark, she had the ability to take their cutiemarks. The town subjects didn't know she had hers so what they don't know, won't hurt them.

She turned to her side and closed her eyes. Trying to force her mind to calm down and allow her even a few hours of blissful sleep.

Starlight Glimmer woke up feeling worse than ever. She turned on her lamp, having the feeling that the sun should have been up by now despite her knowing better. Technically the sun was already up. But the moon was also up, blocking it out. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got at the Princesses of Equestria. If everypony was equal then no pony would be having this issue.

She slowly moved out of bed and brushed her mane and tail. Trying to look presentable. She practiced her smiles in the mirror and then proceeded to cover up her cutiemark with an equal sign once more. She heard a knock at her front door and she quickly hid her supplies then raced back to the door and opened it was a smile to see Party Favour smiling back at her.

"Hi, Starlight! Are you ready to allow the new friends out now?" He asked. Starlight nodded. The last time they attempted to let the elements of Harmony bearers out, which was yesterday morning. A few short minutes before the news four ponies came, Starlight was almost decked in the face by Rainbow Dash.

"Of course! Let's go see if they are willing to accept what we are trying to do." She replied. Party Favour and Starlight Glimmer trotted to the house with the new ponies inside. The rest of the town was starting to gather up as Starlight opened the door and the ten ponies walked out with a look of shame, anger, annoyance and...Well...More anger.

"I trust you had a pleasant night? This way, please. There are some friends who'd like to see you. 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 be made once you realize you don't need your cutie marks or the talents that come with them." Starlight announced with her more joyful voice.

"We have a welcome ceremony for new friends! The whole village joins together to build you your own cottage-" Double Diamond explained but was cut off by Rainbow Dash letting out a sarcastic laugh.

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

"Y'all don't understand, do ya? You can't force nopony to be friends! It don't work like that!" Applejack announced to the town with desprate look written on her face.

"Please, join us!" Sunny Song pleaded with a big smile.

"We love new friends!" Rosemary chimed in.

"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. We'll try again tomorrow once you've had a bit more time to consider our philosophy!" Starlight said as she thought back to the incident two days ago when Pinkie Pie mentioned that some ponies wanted their cutiemarks back. She pushed down her anger to keep up the lie as the ponies started trotting back into the house.

Then Fluttershy paused and nervously turned around as if she had done something wrong.

"I'd l-like to jo-join!" She blurted out with a stammer. The crowd cheered as she walked away from the group with her friends and acquaintances giving her looks of sadness, betrayal and anger. Twilight stepped towards the shy yellow pony with confusion and fury written on her face.

"Fluttershy? How could you?!" She snapped. Fluttershy gulped and gestured towards the town folk.

"If giving up my cutie mark means I get to stay in this lovely village with these lovely ponies, then I'll do it." She said with newfound confidence. Twilight growled and followed the rest of her friends inside as the town accepted another friend. Then suddenly Chocolate Shadow rushed out and came to a stop in front of Starlight Glimmer.

"OK, OK, OK. I have seen the...positive of this whole "Ban Cutiemarks" arrangement. I didn't want to admit it before, and frankly, I was in denial. But after Fluttershy stood up to her friends, it showed me that I could too!"

Bini pushed past the group and marched back outside.

"Sellout!" She yelled as Arone moved to drag her back inside. Chocolate looked down in fake shame as Arone yanked Bini by her tail back inside. Starlight shut the door and turned around to face the group.

"Now, there's one more order of business. It seems some in our midst might be... dissatisfied with the village life!"

Chocolate and Fluttershy gulped as they joined the crowd.

In the dead of night two figures slowly walked towards the lone house at the end of the village. Chocolate Shadow and Fluttershy peaked into the window on Starlight Glimmer's house to make sure she was home so that they could sneak to the cutiemark cave without being detected.

"Get the cutie marks back. That's all you've gotta do, Fluttershy. Just sneak through the dark up to that spooky old cave with the scary magical staff and get the cutie marks back." Fluttershy whispered to herself as she tried to prevent herself from hyperventilating. Chocolate wiped the sweat from her brow as she scanned the room on the other side of the window when they noticed Double Diamond step into the room with a wooden box with six jars of cutiemarks. The mane 6's cutiemarks.

"Excellent work, Double Diamond." Starlight said as she ignited her horn and brought them over to her.

"Of course, but I don't understand why you wanted me to bring them here. Fluttershy is one of us now. Surely she can be trusted." Double Diamond pointed out.

"Those cutiemarks belong to the elements of Harmony. It could be very important to our cause." Starlight replied with a roll of her eyes as she placed them down on a nearby table.

"But if the elements of harmony bearers become our friends, then why do we care about these old cutiemarks?' Double Diamond asked.

"I just want to keep them close until everything is... settled. You may go, Double Diamond." Starlight order. Double Diamond nodded and left the house. Chocolate and Fluttershy moved around the house to avoid detection. Fluttershy whimpered and moved her head with her hoofs.

"Oh, dear. How are we ever going to get the cutiemarks back now?" She whimpered.

"I-I don't k-know!" Chocolate stammered when they suddenly heard a crash and Starlight shout in pain and alarm. They returned to the window to see her carefully stepping over broken glass and wiping water off her hoofs and flank. Then her cutiemark showed underneath the equal sign on her flank. Fluttershy and Chocolate gasped and slowly moved away from the house.

Starlight Glimmer stood in confidence as the captives moved back inside the house with glares of hatred in her direction. She simply gave them a smile and then turned to the crowd.

"Well, let's try this again tomorrow, shall we? No new friends today, I'm afraid!" Starlight called out. Chocolate cleared her throat and stepped forward.

"Um, can I lock them up today?" Chocolate asked.

"Marvelous, Chocolate Shadow! That's the spirit! Party Favor, will you join us, please?" Starlight called out to the new pony in jail. Party Favor, like a true citizen, ran towards Starlight crying and begging to be set free.

"I'm sorry, Starlight! I'm sorry, everypony! I've seen the error of my ways! I never want to look at my cutie mark again!" He yelled as he grabbed Starlight's hoofs like a foal. "They tried to break me! They wouldn't stop talking about how different they are, and that somehow makes their friendship stronger!"

"Such backwards thinking."

"But I didn't listen! I knew what they were up to, and I didn't listen!"

"Well done, Party Favor! We welcome you back with open hooves!"

"Um, Starlight? I think we might have one more friend joining us today." Fluttershy called out and pointed towards the house. Twilight slowly exited the house with a guilt expression with the help of Chocolate.

"Is this true?"

"I-I think so." Twilight stammered. "But I just want to be sure. If I agree to leave my cutie mark in the vault, I'll really be happier?"

"Just look around! 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?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Out of the question. A pony with a different cutie mark in our midst would destroy our entire philosophy. We are all equal here!"

"Oh, yeah. Real Equal." Chocolate said with a roll of her eyes. Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. Starlight glared at Chocolate and marched towards her. Chocolate gulped and stumbled away, only to be stopped from escaping by the town citizens.

Meanwhile, while every pony else was distracted. Fluttershy grabbed a bucket of water and flew into the air over Starlight as Starlight looked Chocolate over in suspicion.

"Do you have something to say, Chocolate Shadow?" Starlight barked. Chocolate gulped and looked around at the angry faces around her before her eyes went back to Starlight.

Suddenly, Starlight yelped as the water hit her body. She fell to the ground as the last of the water, dumped by Fluttershy above her wiped off the ink hiding her cutiemark. She slowly got up as the crowd gasped at Starlight.

"Wha... What are you looking at?! They're the problem, not me!" Starlight frantically shouted and pointed at the outsiders. Party Favor and Double Diamon were the first ones to step forward.

"How could you?" Party Favor asked with hurt.

"You said cutie marks were evil! You said special talents led to pain and heartache!" Double Diamond said.

"They do! Don't you see?! Look at them!"

"Then why? Why did you take ours and not give up your own?" Sugar Belle asked.

"I... I had to, you fools! How could I collect your cutie marks without my magic?!" She snapped.

"But the staff has all the magic we need!"

"The staff is a piece of wood I found in the desert! It's my magic that makes all this possible! You'd all still be living your miserable lives thinking you're better than everypony else if it weren't for my magical abilities! I brought you friendship! I brought you equality! I created harmony!"

"You lied to us!"

"So what? E-Everything else I said is true! The only way to be happy is if we're all equal!"

"Except for you." Double Diamond snapped. Starlight growled and stamped her hoof against the ground.

"Cutiemarks are the reason Equestria is in turmoil. Princess Celestia wouldn't have become a tyrant and divided Equestria if she didn't have her precious cutiemark. Her cutiemark gave her power. Too much power. So much power that it corrupts. If cutiemarks never existed, then Equestria would have true harmony!"

"What a bunch of horse hay!" Bini snapped. She galloped towards Starlight and knocked her to the ground. Starlight struggled under her hoofs. "You have backwards logic."

"Bini!" Arone barked as he galloped out of the house. "Get the hay off of her already!"

"No! She is going to give us our cutiemarks now!"

The crowd ganged up against Starlight. She used her magic to blast Bini away. Bini gasped for breath as she hit the ground. Starlight started to move when Sugar Belle and Rainbow Dash held her down to the ground again. Three of the town's citizens ran to the cave to break the cutiemark vault as Fluttershy and Twilight ran to Starlight's house to get their own cutiemarks.

Within mere minutes multi-coloured streaks of light lit up the sky around the village and the cutiemarks were returned to their rightful owners. The townsfolk cheered and celebrated as their talents and unique personalities came back to them. The mane 6 approached the small group of ponies who were trapped in the chaos. Twilight held out a hoof towards them with a smile.

"I am sorry that we have met on such bad terms. I am Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends. We were heading to the Crystal Empire to find you actually and had to stop at this town because of the...The current situation in the Empire." Twilight explained. The group gave each other looked of confusion before Arone stepped forward and shook her hoof.

"We were actually headed to Ponyville to speak with Princess Luna in the hospital when...Certain events took place. I hope you don't mind me asking but how bad is the situation in the Empire?" Arone replied.

"Prin-...Queen Celestia has taken over the Empire. The citizens and guards have been brainwashed and are currently preparing for war with the rest of Equestria. They have gotten support from the Dragons for help. I do not know where Prince Shining Armour or Princess Cadence is but Princess Luna has made her own army and is headed to the empire as we speak. Although there are rumors that Luna's army isn't enough...To defeat the Empire." Twilight explained with a sad expression. Arone looked in alarm to his friends, then to the scroll peeking out from his saddlebag.

"W-We need to speak with Princess Luna immediately! Do you know where she is?" Bini pitched in.

"Last time I heard from her, which was about four days ago. Before I left Ponyville. She had she was halfway to the Empire. She should be there. Or very close to the Empire by now. We were about to head back to the train station in Manhatten, would you like to come with us? We will head to the Crystal Empire right away."

The group nodded and the mane 6 with their new traveling buddies, much to Pinkie's excitement headed to the large city in the distance.

---End of Chapter Seven---