Twilight Sparkle and her friends were still in a state of shock after all that had happened to them in so short a span of time. They now found themselves completely at the mercy of a unicorn named Starlight Glimmer, a pony who seemed quite determined to impose her idea of a "better" Equestria by stripping ponies of their cutie marks and forcing them all to be equal.

The events that had led up to this point were still fresh in the six friends' minds, however. They could all remember how it had all begun.

It had been just the other day, in fact. Twilight had called the others over to her new castle, expressing her concern about something that was nagging at her and refusing to leave her alone. "As the princess of friendship, I made it my life's purpose to spread the magic of friendship all across Equestria, maybe even beyond. So why would the Tree of Harmony want us to just sit in a castle in Ponyville?" She had questioned aloud. And that question had been answered when she and her friends sat in their respective thrones, bringing forth a large table and a map that displayed all of Equestria.

"This is incredible! It's got all of Equestria!" Spike had commented in amazement upon seeing the table map.

The map had quickly attracted attention, because it had displayed the cutie marks of Twilight and her friends above a small, innocent looking village at the far end of Equestria's borders. "Why are our cutie marks all the way over there?" Fluttershy had been the first to ask.

Twilight had responded by concluding. "Seems like this map wants us to find out." And to that end, she and her friends (Spike included) had set off to find that village and hopefully figure out what was going on there.

Upon reaching the village later in that same day, the six ponies and Spike had their attention drawn to a most puzzling detail. Namely the fact that everypony in the village had a black equal sign for a cutie mark. "An entire village where everypony has the same cutie mark?" The alicorn princess had pondered. "Who or what could be responsible for such a thing?"

That question was ultimately answered when Twilight and the others were brought before the village leader: A unicorn mare named Starlight Glimmer. In contrast to all the other villagers, her coat, mane, and tail colors were not dimmed or dulled in the slightest. And at first, she had seemed just as friendly as everypony else in the village. "Welcome!" And she had quickly taken the liberty of showing her unannounced guests around the village, which was called Cutie Markless.

Yet it soon turned out that all was not well within the village. In particular, a unicorn named Sugar Belle had confided in secret to Twilight and her friends. "What I'd really love is to have my cutie mark and my special talent back, even just for a day!"

To that end, Spike had set off on his own little mission to try to find out more about a cave that housed a vault used to store all the villagers' cutie marks. Unfortunately, in doing so he ended up running afoul of Starlight Glimmer, who quickly took him prisoner. "Unlike with you, I know a way to make them talk!" She had said to the little dragon.

And the very next day, Starlight had led the six ponies from Ponyville up to the cave and showed them the vault. But it had quickly turned into a trap, as she was able to learn from them that some of the villagers were starting to regret giving up their cutie marks. "I can't have that. It seems like you inspire all sorts of free thinking." Soon afterward, she had stripped all six mares of their cutie marks, locking them away behind the glass walls of the vault as equal signs replaced their cutie marks on their flanks.

With a smirk and an evil smile, Starlight had then taunted her new captives. "Now you can spend the rest of your lives here with me. You'll learn to see it my way soon enough."

Now the self-proclaimed princess of friendship herself in a true predicament. She and her friends had to find some way to escape from Starlight's clutches and topple her oppressive rule, not to mention free Spike (whom Starlight was still holding as a prisoner). But how would they do it? It all seemed so hopeless.

The now cutie markless mares were quickly led from the cave back into the village, and were locked into a one room cottage where the sun's rays only slightly penetrated. The interior was a drab, dull grey in color, made of cold, hard stones. And the only thing that broke up the silence of this prison was a loudspeaker that blarred on repeat various phrases Starlight Glimmer had recorded. On and on the loudspeaker droned, with "inspiring" phrases coming out from it at regular intervals, saying such things as: "In sameness, there is peace. Exceptionalism is a lie.", "Free yourself from your cutie mark.", "To excel is to fail.", and "Be your best by never being your best.".

Rainbow Dash naturally refused to sit still. She attempted again and again to break down the door with her hooves, but nothing she tried worked. The door refused to budge even an inch.

Twilight Sparkle audibly groaned, covering her ears with her hooves to block out the loudspeaker's sayings! "We have to get out of here!" She complained aloud! "I can't take much more of that! And who knows what Starlight's doing to Spike right now?! I should've known she was up to no good!"

Applejack looked down at the ground in shame and sorrow. "She had us all fooled. Don't know what it is that made her hate cutie marks, but it seems she's too far gone to be reasoned with."

"Oh, this is horrible!" Rarity wailed as she started to cry, looking hopelessly at the windows.

Fluttershy turned her attention to the distressed fashionista, trying to calm her down. "There, there, Rarity... it'll be okay. We've been in bad situations before, and we've always come out of it just fine."

"We've never had to deal with something like this," The unicorn mare with a formerly pristine white coat lamented. "Starlight's taken away what makes us us! Just look at those drapes!" She was fixated on some old drapes in a shade of faded pink that had seen better days. "I can't even tell if they're tacky or not!"

"Well, I think they're nice. About as nice as they can be in a prison." Fluttershy confessed.

The equal sign on Rarity's flank began to pulse and flash ominously, displaying a harsh, black tone. And it made the unicorn sob even louder as she whimpered. "So do I!"

Luckily for the animal loving pegasus, her thoughts were quickly distracted by the sound of a blue feathered bird chirping and tweeting nearby. "Oh, thank goodness you're here!" She said to the bird as she trotted over to its location, seeing it perched on a window sill. "Can you help us out, little birdie? Please?" But as she started trying to give it commands, the equal sign on her flanks started to pulse in the same way Rarity's had. Unaware of this, the pegasus pony tried to instruct to the bird. "Go on, now! Fly away and get us help!" But it was no use, the bird just tweeted and flew away, prompting the pegasus to unhappily remark. "Oh, even tweets don't make sense anymore!"

Applejack, meanwhile, made an attempt of her own to break down the door of the prison. Like Rainbow Dash, she had no luck whatsoever, the door would not move for her no matter what she did. "Gosh darn it," She groaned and complained. "I tell ya, this here door's shut tighter than a..." She began to trail off, trying to think of what to say next and not realizing that the equal sign on her flanks was pulsing, doing for her what it had done for Rarity and Fluttershy. "Uh... a summer of... uh, piglets in... shoot!" The freckled farm mare found herself forced to give up and admit defeat. "I can't even make countryisms anymore!"

"Well who knows? Maybe it'll be super fun to all be the same!" Pinkie Pie proposed, only to find her enthusiasm fading quickly when her own equal sign started pulsing. And she added in a flat, emotionless tone. "More pleasant than fun, I guess..."

"We've got to get out of here, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash complained! "Starlight's gone too far!"

Twilight let out a frustrated sigh. She had seen everything. "I know, and I wish I had an answer. I don't know what it is about that staff, but something feels odd about it. I haven't studied Eastern unicorns as much as I should have, but I'm pretty sure Meadowbrook only had eight magical items, not nine. And I don't remember any of them being a staff. It shouldn't be possible to take away a pony's cutie mark, let alone suppress their special talent. So how did Starlight figure it out?"

Applejack only sighed back and swished her tail in visible disappointment. "Well, it looks like you'll have plenty of time to try to think about it. It looks like we're stuck here, maybe forever!"

The alicorn princess chose to ignore that depressing thought, instead thinking long and hard about the dilemma she and her friends currently found themselves in. How were they going to get out? How were they going to defeat Starlight and reclaim not only their cutie marks but also the cutie marks of everypony in the village? She thought and contemplated for a while. Then, suddenly, the answer came to her! "I've got it!" She exclaimed as her friends all turned to look at her! "I know how we can get out!"

Rainbow Dash immediately shot down what she thought was the princess' obvious solution. "Forget it, Twilight! This door's not gonna open no matter what we try!"

Rarity quickly added her own observation. "And I'm afraid the windows are much too small for escape. If only Spike were here with us instead of with Starlight, he might have been able to squeeze through."

"That's probably why Starlight's keeping him close to her at all times," Twilight concluded. "But my solution doesn't involve doors or windows. There is a third way."

"Of course!" Pinkie Pie chimed in, believing she had deduced the solution. "Eventually the wind and the weather will wear down the walls until they start to crumble! Then all we have to do is wait for a big enough hole to form and we can just walk out! It's the perfect plan!" Upon finishing that sentence, the equal sign on her cutie mark pulsed and made her add in an unhappy tone. "I guess."

Twilight shook her head from side to side. "That's not it, that would take too long!" And she then explained the answer that had come into her mind. "We don't actually have to escape. Starlight'll just let us out when she thinks we've accepted her philosophy!"

The stetson wearing earth pony protested. "There's no way she'll believe we just switched over in the span of one night. She's too smart to fall for that."

The young alicorn just grinned as she added. "Well, there is one of us she might believe."

All eyes in the room quickly fell upon Fluttershy, who in turn realized what all this attention mean. "Oh! Me?!" She blinked in surprise.

Rainbow Dash nodded and somewhat bitterly pointed out. "Face it, Fluttershy, you've been saying how great this place is since we got here!"

Fluttershy glumly looked down at the ground, not wanting to admit that her fellow pegasus had a point. "W-well, that's just that's because everypony's so nice and their village is so pretty, and, and..." Try as she might, though, she could continue the counterargument and thus folded. "Oh, you're right. She would believe me! I'm sorry I didn't see sooner what you all were seeing. This place isn't natural, their happiness is a lie. I'll do it."

"Woo-hoo! Way to go, Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie cheered, before being forced to far less cheerful about it. "I mean, cool."

The pegasus mare with pretty pink bangs then nervously asked. "But once I get out, what am I supposed to do?"

Twilight quickly replied. "Simple, you have to find a way to get our cutie marks back. If you can, find a way to rescue Spike too. And no matter what, don't let Starlight find you out. If you get caught, we won't be able to do anything."

Fluttershy gulped as the gravity of what she was being asked to do hit her hard. She was about to enter a proverbial hornet's nest, and she would have to brave it all on her own.

Shortly after this conversation between friends, the loudspeaker stopped blaring its recordings. It crackled ominously as the voice of Starlight Glimmer called out through it. "Good morning, villagers! Have you had enough time to come to your senses?" Seconds later, the door to the one room cottage was opened, and Starlight quickly ushered her six captives out into the sunlight. The whole village was there to see them, everypony wearing that smile that was now anything but sincere.

"I trust you all had a pleasant night?" Starlight inquired of her prisoners. Without bothering to wait for a reply, the equality obsessed unicorn brought them before the villagers. "This way, please. There are some friends who'd like to see you," And to the villagers she then declared. "Gather round, friends, gather round!"

Twilight and her friends said nothing, and just stood there with unamused and unethusiastic expressions as all the residents of Cutie Markless began to look at them.

Smiling brighter than the rest, Starlight spoke in a sickeningly sweet tone of voice and questioned. "We've come to ask if any of you are ready to join us in our utopia! Look around: There are so many wonderful friends to be made once you realize you don't need your cutie marks or the talents that come with them."

Double Diamond then chimed in, appearing to sound sincere in his proposal. "We have a welcome ceremony for new friends! The whole village joins together to build you your own cottage—"

Rainbow Dash immediately and bitterly snapped! "Not interested! You may have our cutie marks now, but we're going to get them back! You're not gonna break us that easily!"

And Applejack joined in with a protest of her own. "Y'all don't understand, do ya? You can't force ponies to be friends! It don't work like that! This ain't friendship, it's a lie and a sham!"

Starlight could only shake her head and coldly dismiss. "That's too bad. But not to worry," She turned to the villagers. "This is a perfectly normal part of the equalization process for those who haven't... quite seen the light yet. But as they say, Canterlot wasn't built in a day," She then turned back to the six equalized mares standing before her, telling them in no uncertain terms. "We'll try again tomorrow once you've had a bit more time to consider our philosophy!" And she began to lead them back to the one room cottage that served as their prison.

Fluttershy was still very frightened about what she was being asked to do, so she had to not so secretly be nudged by Twilight before she blurted out! "I'd like to join!" She then froze as all eyes in the village fell upon her (which did nothing to help her nerves).

"Fluttershy?! How could you?!" Twilight exclaimed, sounding far less upset about it than should've seemed necessary given the circumstances. It was fortunate for her that nopony seemed to suspect anything.

The animal loving pegasus just replied in as convincingly a tone as possible. "If giving up my cutie mark means I get to stay in this lovely village with these lovely ponies, then I'll do it. Sorry." She then watched as her friends were all locked back inside the cottage, leaving her entirely at the mercy of Starlight and the villagers.

"Ah, it appears we do have a new friend today after all," Starlight Glimmer happily declared to the villagers, who all clapped and cheered quite loudly. She quickly rose up a hoof to quiet down the enthusiastic crowd, turning her full attention to Fluttershy. "Now, there's just one more order of business that needs to be taken care of, friend," Without changing her tone of voice or overall expression, she explained. "It seems some in our midst might be... dissatisfied with the village life!"

A chorus of gasps escaped the crowd's lips! The news seemed to come as a shock to them.

Rather than quiet down the crowd again, Starlight allowed their horrified reactions to carry for a while before speaking up. "Unfortunately, it's all too true, my friends! It would appear that someponies have gotten ideas in their heads about upending everything we've worked so hard for," She the turned back to Fluttershy, looking her firmly in the eyes as she demanded. "So, new friend, 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, talking to strangers about it? Just so we can be sure your intentions are indeed pure."

Fluttershy gulped audibly as a bead of sweat worked its way down her face. She did indeed know who Starlight was talking about, but she didn't want to admit such a thing after having specifically promised those ponies that she'd get their cutie marks back for them. So instead, she thought of a lie and she thought it up as quickly as she could, hastily proclaiming. "I don't know who they are, really," She whimpered, wanting nothing more than to run away and hide. But she knew she couldn't. Forcing herself to brave, she apologized. "I'm sorry. I don't know your names and faces yet."

If Fluttershy hoped her words would convince Starlight, she was sadly mistake. The unicorn mare only pressed further, appearing to sense weakness in the pegasus pony. "Nonsense!" She said quite seriously all the while not letting up on her intense stare. "Obviously these ponies must have asked you directly. So kindly point them out! We can't have them corrupting our friends with poisonus thoughts and ideas."

The animal loving pegasus gulped anew, feeling ready to crack under the pressure! Starlight was not letting up.

But before the abrupt public interrogation could continue, Party Favor suddenly stepped forward and burst out! "It was me, Starlight! It was only me, I swear! I did want my cutie mark back, but only for a little while! I just wanted to remember what it was like to have it." He hurridly threw himself at his fellow's unicorn's hooves.

The equality obsessed unicorn mare could only shake her head in disapproval, scolding the stallion the way a mother might scold a misbehaving child. "And with no thought to the pain you'd cause your friends. Such selfishness," She quickly ushered him over to the one room cottage serving as a prison and opened the door, shoving him inside while coldy telling him. "You need to think about what you've done, about what you could've caused with your carelessness."

Party Favor whimpered and adopted the most guilt ridden face he could possibly muster up as he apologized profusely. "I'm sorry, everypony! Really! I never wanted to leave the village! I love all of—" But his sentence was cut off as the door was cruely slammed shut right in his face, trapping him in the darkness. Once inside, he could only thrust his horn into the door frame and lament to himself. "What was I thinking?! I can't believe I even considered asking for my cutie mark back. All I did was get all of you into trouble too. Starlight's too strong, nopony's a match for her!"

Twilight moved to reassure the troubled unicorn stallion. "It's okay, Party Favor. Everything's under control. You did the right thing coming to us and giving yourself up to protect your friends," She then added. "Fluttershy's only pretending to change. She'll have us all out of here in no time!"

Party Favor frowned and began to panic! "You're just saying that because you can't accept the truth! Didn't you see what just happened out there?!" He complained as he ran to the other corner of the room! "Your friend has accepted our ways, you will all accept our ways! That's it, it's game over for all of us! We're all doomed, it's only a matter of time!" Then with a defeated whimper, he slunk down next to the walls and turned his back to the mares.

Rainbow Dash had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at Party Favor's dramatic antics. "This guy's a barrel of laughs." She sarcastically quipped.

Pinkie Pie then bluntly spoke up in a noticeable stilted, forced tone of voice. "Laughs don't come in barrels. They come from inside you as your body's response to delight."

Applejack, meanwhile, saw fit to question Twilight about their next step. "So, what are we all supposed to do here while Fluttershy's out there lookin' for our," She whispered in a hush. "Cutie marks?"

Twilight Sparkle said with confidence. "We have to stay as positive as we can. That way, when Party Favor sees how much we really do like each other, even though we're all different, we can hopefully use him to spread our message to the rest of the village. We'll pull the rug out right from under Starlight."

The loudspeakers then began to drone on again, repeating the recorded messages aimed at encouraging the prisoners to embrace equality.

Rarity could only add with concern. "Let's just hope they don't convert any of us first."

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was being led through the village by Starlight, all the while the villagers kept calling out to her and saying "Weclome." again and again.

"Gosh, you really are the nicest ponies I've ever met," Fluttershy willingly confessed. "It's too bad my friends can't see that."

"Not to worry," Starlight Glimmer firmly insisted. "They'll learn to see it my way soon enough. I haven't met a pony yet who couldn't be persuaded. Some just take longer than others," She proceeded to lead Fluttershy up to her cottage at the other end of the village from the cave and the vault, explaining. "All new friends stay with me until their cottage is completed. Let's get you settled, and then you can enjoy all that our little village has to offer."

The animal loving pegasus trotted inside, though not before asking. "Where's Spike?"

"That dragon?" Starlight questioned. "Oh, you needn't worry about him. I've made sure he'll be no danger to anypony. He'll remain my prisoner until I'm certain all of your friends have embraced equality. Then I'll happily let him go, as long as he promises never to try to help them or anypony else try to take back their cutie marks."

The pegasus mare with pretty pink bangs said nothing further on the subject, apparently satisfied with Starlight's answer. She stayed in Starlight's cottage for the rest of the day, and never once brought up anything to do with Spike, cutie marks, or the vault. Starlight Glimmer, for her part, suspected nothing out of the ordinary as she headed bed that night.

But once the equality obsessed unicorn was sound asleep, Fluttershy quickly rose from her bed in the adjourning bedroom and tiphoofed away. She already knew where she could find the cutie marks of her and her friends, and was preparing herself mentally for the journey up to the cave that she knew she would have to undergo. "Get the cutie marks back. That's all you've gotta do, Fluttershy," She whispered to herself as she crept quietly through the cottage. "Just sneak through the dark up to that spooky old cave with the scary magical staff and get the cutie marks back."

Just then, however, the pegasus mare's ears picked up a sound. It was faint at first, but it quickly grew more audible. It was a not very strained whisper, one desperate to get her attention. "Fluttershy? Fluttershy, can you hear me?"

Fluttershy recognized the voice at once! "Spike!" She exclaimed, a bit louder than she intended! She was greatly relieved when she didn't hear the sound of hooves moving, indicating that Starlight was still fast asleep. "Where are you?" She whispered back.

"Over here!" Spike callled out in another whisper. And his voice led Fluttershy to a small room on the cottage's south side, not far from the fireplace beneath the chimney. There she found him tied to a chair with ropes, unable to move at all. "Oh, am I glad to see you!" He exclaimed with relief. "Where are Twilight and the others?! Are they okay?!"

Sushing Spike and motioning for him to lower his voice, the animal loving pegasus told him. "They've all been captured, stripped of their cutie marks. Starlight trapped us. I've been sent to get our cutie marks back from the vault," She then turned her attention to the captive little dragon. "But first, I'm gonna get you out of here! Twilight will be so relieved to know you're okay."

"No, don't!" Spike protested. "If Starlight finds me missing, she'll know it was you. Then we'll both be in big trouble," He wiggled about, squirming uncomfortably. "I can't move my claws, and Starlight's enchanted the ropes so I can't burn them with my fire breath," He demonstrated this fact by breathing a flame onto the ropes, only to watch it quickly fade away without doing anything at all to the ropes. "See?"

"But how is that possible?" Fluttershy pondered. "Starlight shouldn't have access to that kind of magic without a cutie mark."

The little dragon gulped and swallowed hard. "Actually, you're never gonna believe what I found out. I found it out completely by accident after Starlight brought me here." He began flashing back in his mind to that time. It hadn't been more than a day ago or so, right after Starlight had stripped Twilight and her friends of their cutie marks and taken them prisoner.

Spike was held aloft in the glow of Starlight Glimmer's horn. Try as he might, he couldn't break free of her magical grasp as she carried him up the steps of her cottage and brought him inside, slamming the door shut behind her! "Put me down, you big bully!" Spike roared in defiance! "I don't know what your deal is with cutie marks, but no one gets away with treating my friends like that! No one! Do you hear me?!"

The unicorn mare growled and snarled, eyes narrowed in visible frustration! "Will you stop babbling?!" She scolded as she dropped him to the floor with an audible thud, but refused to release her hold on him. "I've got half a mind to fix that attitude problem of yours: Permanently!"

"For your information: I'm a fire breathing dragon," Spike huffed! "So you'd better let me go, or I'm gonna make you sorry!" To prove his point, he took a deep breath and let out a small flame from the tip of his nostrils.

The flame made contact with Starlight's perfectly equalized mane, setting it alight! She screamed, momentarily losing her focus (and thus her magical grip on Spike) as she ran around and tried to put out the fire! As a result, she wasn't watching where she was going, and bumped into a table. On the table rested a small jar of water, which fell to the ground and shattered, its contents spilling all over the panic stricken unicorn. "You clumsy fool!" She yelled at Spike (even as the flame was extinguished). "Look what you made me do!" She hastily brought over a towel and used it to begin drying herself off.

Spike, however, noticed a detail about the equal sign on Starlight's flanks as she began rubbing the towel over them. He blinked in order to be sure he wasn't seeing things. Indeed, he was not. The equal sign was starting to fade, washing right off the unicorn's flanks. In their place was something unmistakable: It was a purple star with a white exterior, and two toned blue gleaming streams trailing behind it. In short, it was a cutie mark! That meant Starlight Glimmer hadn't actually given hers up! Against his better judgement, the little dragon gasped at the discovery!

That was a mistake, it tipped off Starlight and prompted the unicorn mare to turn to Spike with renewed anger and frustration. "Well, now that you've seen what you seen, I can't have you running off to warn the others! She lit up her horn, summoning a chair and several ropes. "From now on, you are my prisoner. And if you even think about trying to escape, I'll keep you for myself forever! So if you ever want to see those friends of yours again, I suggest you keep your mouth shut." Only once she had Spike firmly and properly bound did she move to reply her false equal sign using some black paint and a brush.

The flashback ended as Spike told Fluttershy. "If you can find a way to expose Starlight's secret, I'm sure the villagers will turn against her. And with a little luck, that'll solve all our problems for us."

"But how am I gonna do that?" The pegasus pony pondered.

"Maybe Twilight will know of a way. She's always good at coming up with plans." Spike suggested. Then he and Fluttershy suddenly heard a knock at the door!

"Starlight?" The familiar voice of Double Diamond called from the other side of the door. There was no reply, so he knocked and called out again. "Starlight? Are you there? I brought the cutie marks from the vault like you asked, the ones you said were 'very important' to our cause?" When he still heard no reply or response of any kind, he moved to push open the door to Starlight's cottage.

Fluttershy hastily did the only thing she could think to do in her sudden, precarious predicament! She raced to the chimeny and clibbed up it, getting her entire face coated with soot in the process. But she didn't stop until she had emerged from the chimney's top. Only then did she carefully peer back into the cottage from a window just below the roof.

Double Diamond was carrying six jars, each one housing a cutie mark. They were the cutie marks of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, all carefully preserved. The stallion with a powder white coat delicately set the jars down on a table in Starlight's bedroom, then quickly departed whilst taking care not to wake the sleeping unicorn (who was snoring loudly).

This sudden development filled the animal loving pegasus with a newfound sense of dread! "How am I gonna get the cutie marks back now?" One thing was for sure, things had changed considerably. So she flew away, racing back to the cottage where her friends were still being held captive. It wasn't long before she was propping open the door, whispering softly. "Twilight?"

Twilight came trotting up to the door and whispered back. "Fluttershy? What's going on? Did you get our cutie marks back?"

Fluttershy shook her head from side to side. "I couldn't, Starlight has them. But I did find Spike, and he told me something that you have to know. It changes everything." She began whispering her discovery to the alicorn, awaiting word of what the next step should be.

The next morning, Starlight Glimmer was unaware of anything that had transpired the night before. She instead led Fluttershy out to the cottage serving as a prison, and ushered all the ponies inside it out into the open. Party Favor seemed to be looking very sorry for himself, so she didn't bother to say anything to him. Instead, she turned attention to Twilight Sparkle and her friends, all the while saying. "I've got a good feeling about today! So, do any of you have anything you'd like to say? Anything at all?"

There was no reply, just awkward and uncomfortable silence.

If Starlight was frustrated or disappointed, she didn't show it outwardly as she just remarked in that deceptively cheerful tone of hers. "Aw, that's a shame. Oh well, can't have everything, yet. We'll try this again tomorrow," And to the villagers she said only. "No new friends today, I'm afraid! Sorry, everypony."

Fluttershy then spoke up. "Wait, I'd like to lock them back in, Starlight." And she trotted over to do just that.

The equality obsessed unicorn mare smiled with satisfaction. "Marvelous! That's the spirit, Fluttershy," She then turned to Party Favor, seeing fit to ask him. "Party Favor, would you care to join us? Are you ready to come back to the light?"

"YES!" Party Favor exclaimed as he frantically rushed up to Starlight! He started profusely apologizing again. "I'm sorry, Starlight! I'm sorry, everypony! I've seen the error of my ways, now! I never want to even look at my cutie mark ever again!"

"Well, it seems there's cause for celebration today after all." Starlight Glimmer declared, prompting the villagers to cheer loudly.

Now welcomed back into Starlight (and the village)'s good graces, Party Favor turned a scornful, resentful eye to the five mares who had been in captivity with him. He started to coldly hiss. "They tried to break me! They wouldn't stop talking about how different they are, and how somehow that makes their friendship stronger!"

The unicorn mare with a light pinkish-purple coat could only shake her head in dismay and disapproval. "Such backwards thinking."

"But I didn't listen!" Party Favor protested with an exceptionally happy expression on his face. "I knew what they were up to, and I didn't listen!"

Clapping her hooves in approval and showering the unicorn with praise as if he were her own child, Starlight cheerful proclaimed. "Well done, Party Favor! Glad to have you with us again! We welcome you back with open hooves!"

Before any sort of public celebration could get underway, however, Fluttershy turned to face the unicorn and somewhat shyly said. "Um, Starlight? I think we might have one more friend joining us today." And she stepped aside to reveal that this potential pony was none other than Twilight Sparkle.

The villagers all gasped! They could hardly believe the Princess of Friendship was about to potentially join their cause. It seemed too good to be true.

Starlight, however, was overjoyed at the prospect and eagerly asked the alicorn. "Is this true, princess?"

"I-I think so, it kind of reminds me of what I used to think friendship was like," Twilight hesitantly admitted. Then she asked. "But I just want to be sure. If I agree to leave my cutie mark in the vault, I'll really be happier be here?"

"Of course! Just look around you, princess!" Starlight Glimmer proudly waved a hoof. "Equality has given us more happiness than you've ever known! You'd have to be a fool to deny that."

Twilight still pressed on her question. "And you wouldn't let me just live here in the village with my old cutie mark, even if I covered it up?"

"Out of the question!" The equality obessed unicorn mare firmly protested in a dismissive fashion! "A pony with a different cutie mark in our midst would destroy our entire philosophy. We are all equal here!"

"Really? Then how do you explain this?!" Fluttershy accusingly shouted, before throwing a bucket of water towards Starlight!

Starlight, thinking fast, jumped out of the way of the bucket's contents. She only just got splashed a little when it impacted the ground. And now she became aware of the fact that Fluttershy (and by extension Twilight) had been faking her change of heart all along. "I knew you couldn't be trusted! You were just like the others!" She hissed, before suddenly turning her attention to a more pressing concern! The water was running down her flanks. And Double Diamond without even thinking about it, stepped forward to rub her dry with a towel. "No! Get back!" She tried to protest! But it was too late, when her flank was dried off her false equal sign was removed. Now everypony in the village could see her cutie mark, and see that she hadn't given it up despite forcing the others to give up theirs.

After the initial shock had worn off, Starlight Glimmer tried desperately to regain control of the situation. "Wha... What are you looking at?! They're the problem, not me! They're the ones who stirred up trouble!"

Party Favor could only coldly hiss and bitterly remark. "How could you?! You lied to us!"

Double Diamond then snorted. "To think I trusted you more than anypony else! You always said cutie marks were evil and that special talents just lead to heartache! I should've known, you were just using me for your own goals," He swished his tail. "Well you'll get no more help from me! Far as I'm concerned, you're on your own."

"But don't you see?! Special talents do lead to pain and misery! Just look at them!" Starlight frantically insisted! "None of this would be happening if they'd just minded their own business!"

Sugar Belle then saw fit to ask the nagging question that was on the mind of everypony in the village. "Then why? Why did you take our cutie marks and not give up your own?"

The unicorn mare blinked, then confessed. "Well I... I had to, you fools! How could I collect your cutie marks without my magic?!"

"But the staff has all the magic we need!" Night Glider insisted.

Starlight just bitterly prattled on! "There's no such thing as a 'Staff of Sameness', I just made that up! It's a piece of wood I found in the desert! It's my magic that makes all this possible! Do you even know how long it took me to learn the cutie un-marking spell?! How hard it was to come up with the spell that could give you those equal signs?! Do you think I would've done all of that just so I could take away your cutie marks?! Remember what and where you were when I found you! If it wasn't for my magical abilities, you'd all be lost and hope foresaken!" She pointed a hoof to her chest as she began to defiantly roar and proclaim! "I brought you friendship! I brought you equality! I created harmony!"

The unicorn mare's arguments did not seem to be winning over or convincing the villagers at all. They just continued to stare at the pony they'd up until now considered their leader, now wondering why they had ever bothered to listen to her in the first place. In a hurt, disapproving tone of voice, Double Diamond could only bring himself to say. "You still lied to us, Starlight."

"So what?!" Starlight humped as she swished her tail and pointed a hoof to the six mares still standing behind her. "E-Everything else I said is true! Just look at them, you're not seriously going to listen to these strangers, are you?!" She retorted with a shake of her head. "The only way to be happy is if we're all equal!"

"Except for you, Starlight!" Party Favor pointed out as he accusingly gestured a hoof.

Twilight then saw fit to offer up her own sentiments. "This has gone far enough, Starlight. Can't you see the error of your ways? Everypony has unique talents and gifts, and when we share them with each other, that's how rea—"

"SHUT UP!" Starlight Glimmer angrily and rudely interrupted as her eyes narrowed and she spun around! Her sudden shout made the alicorn princess wince and recoil in shock.

Sugar Belle then began to approach Starlight, her own eyes narrowed in disapproval. "You can't have a cutie mark, Starlight! Either we're all equal, or none of us are!" And just like that, everypony in the village began to turn against the equality obsessed unicorn mare.

Twilight (now having recovered from having her speech be cut off) quickly moved to place herself between the villagers and the pony who had until recently been leading them. "Now now, let's not get carried away. There's no need for anypony to do anything they'll regret," She then turned to Starlight. "This is your final warning, Starlight: Return everypony's cutie marks and let Spike go. I won't ask you again."

Fighting back tears and with her entire body shaking visibly with boiling over anger, Starlight Glimmer could only hiss and snap! "Just try to stop me, princess! You'll never succeed!" She turned to the villagers. "Go ahead, steal back your cutie marks for all I care! Return to your miserable, pathetic lives! I'm out of here for good!" And with the lighting of her own horn, she teleported away to the safety of her cottage, quickly locking the door behind her.

Double Diamond immediately took charge of the situation in Starlight's absence, calling out to the villagers. "Come on! Let's get our cutie marks back!" And he led them all in a rush to the cave where the vault was, creating a thundering stampede in the process!

Upon reaching the cave, all the villagers raced right to the vault and started frantically pounding on it. But their efforts were all in vain, no amount of force could break open the vault and set the cutie marks free.

Fortunately, Double Diamond had an idea! "Stand back, everypony!" He shouted, before he raced to snatch up the staff Starlight had left behind. Grasping it firmly in his teeth, he then ran towards the vault and hurled the staff through the air as hard as he could! The staff struck the vault, and the impact caused the glass to crack and then shatter into pieces. All the imprisoned cutie marks stored within the vault then broke free, flying through the air as one by one they returned to the ponies they had previously belonged to. And when each mark was restored to its rightful owner, that pony had their colors brightened and their mane and tails styled as to how they were originally.

Double Diamond was one of the first to have his cutie mark restored: It was three blue colored snowflakes. His mane and tail became a bit shaggy, but otherwise he was mostly unchanged from how he had been before.

Sugar Belle, Party Favor, and Night Glider all underwent more noticeable changes in appearance once their cutie marks (a cherry topped cupcake and four jellybeans, a balloon animal and streamers, and a crescent moon surrounding by two curved feathers respectively) were restored to them: Sugar Belle's coat now became a beautiful shade of pink, her mane and tail became bushy and took on a dark purplish-pink tone, both of which were supported by sea green colored beads. Party Favor's grayish-blue coat became much brighter and much more blue in appearance, while his mane and tail turned curly and sported shades of bright, light blue and cornflower blue. And Night Glider's coat became the same dark blue color as the night sky, and her mane and tail turned into in long, wavy streaks.

Other cutie marks started flying out from the cave, catching the attention of Twilight and her friends as they were trying unsuccesfully to enter Starlight Glimmer's cottage. Rarity had to pause to admire the dazzling display. "Even without my cutie mark, I can tell this is beautiful!"

Meanwhile, Starlight was hastily packing up everything she could within her cottage, and that included the six cutie marks that had been removed from the vault the night before per her instructions. "You think you can just come in here and destroy everything I've worked so hard to build?" She remarked in a bitter, nasty tone of voice while glancing out one of her cottage windows. "Well think again! Let's see how you and your friends like spending the rest of your lives without your cutie marks, princess!"

As all of this was going on, Spike was still struggling in vain against the ropes that held him captive. "Let me go, Starlight!" He shouted at her! "Just give Twilight and her friends back their cutie marks! This madness has to end!"

"Never!" The equality obsessed unicorn mare hissed in reply. "I couldn't care less what happens to you now. That pesky princess and her pathetic friends will never catch me! And if it's the last thing I do, they're gonna pay for ruining my perfect little slice of Equestria!" Then she took off, taking the jars with her.

Just as Starlight began to flee, Twilight and her friends heard a whistle and looked up to see none other than Double Diamond, Party Favor, Sugar Belle, and Night Glider all perched on a small ledge nearby. One look at their eyes conveyed more than words that they were ready to help apprehend Starlight and retrieve the cutie marks she still had in her possession. "Stand back, everypony! We've got this!" Night Glider shouted as she then leaped off the ledge and into the sky, before swooping down and kicking the cottage door in!

Everypony quickly raced inside, looking all over for Starlight Glimmer or for any trace of the cutie marks. They turned the whole cottage upside down, searching frantically high and low.

As for Twilight, she soon spotted Spike and used her magic to set him free from the ropes, happily embracing him in a hug! "I'm so glad you're okay, Spike," She said to the little dragon. "You really had me worried."

"Sorry about that, Twilight," Spike sincerely apologized. "I'll definitely never sneak off by myself again."

Meanwhile, Fluttershy let out a gasp as she just so happened to finish searching Starlight's bedroom! "They're gone!" She exclaimed, making it quite clear what she meant! "I know I saw the jars with our cutie marks in them right here just last night!"

Spike then commented. "Starlight took them! It looked like she was in a real hurry too. There's probably a secret passage or something somewhere in the cottage." And indeed, a quick searching of the bedroom revealed there to be just such a passage underneath the bed once it was lifted up. The rag tag group wasted no time in rushing through it, determined to catch up to Starlight Glimmer at all costs.

Upon emerging from the secret passage, Spike and the ponies found themselves on the outskirts of the village. In the distance was a winding path that led up to the mountains.

"Look! That's her!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she pointed a hoof, revealing to all that Starlight was racing along the path ahead. Behind her, she was pulling a wagon that housed the jars containing the cutie marks of Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

Party Favor quickly pulled out some balloons and made them into a set of binoculars. "She's headed for the pass! If she makes it into those mountains, we'll never find her!" He frantically commented.

Sugar Belle nodded, adding her own concerns. "There's a whole network of caves up there! Your cutie marks will be gone forever!"

"Then let's stop talkin' and get movin', y'all!" Applejack declared, and all began to move as fast as they could. However, Twilight and her friends soon discovered that the equal signs prevented them from running (or flying in Rainbow Dash's case) really fast. They soon fell behind the four ponies who had come to their aid.

Rainbow Dash grumbled, not the least bit happy about her current situation. "I can't believe we have to count on these other ponies to save our cutie marks! I'm so not used to needing help instead of it being the other way around!"

The alicorn princess simply pointed out. "If we hadn't come here to help them out, they'd still be living under her rules! Now it's their turn to help us!"

"And I know they can do it!" Fluttershy said with encouragement. "Looks like you were right after all, Twilight. The map called us here for a reason."

As this conversation was taking place, the four helpful villagers were rapidly closing in on Starlight's position. And this made the unicorn mare with a grayish-purple coat quite furious, enough to make her fire off blasts from her horn to try to shake off her pursuers. "Are you all so willing to give up everything because of these strangers?!" She hissed as her magic brought down banks of snow.

Sugar Belle hollered back while using her own magic to clear away the drifts of snow. "We gave up everything for you, because we thought you were our friend! Obviously, that was just another of your lies!"

"Why am I even wasting my breath trying to convince you?!" The equality obsessed unicorn snapped in reply. "Those strangers posioned your mind and turned you against me! Well fine, feel free to hang out with those forever cutie markless losers!" She promptly used her magic to blast away a large chunk of stone, thus sealing off the path behind her and preventing anyone from reaching her. Or so she thought.

Party Favor, upon seeing the gap Starlight's magic had created, wasted no time in working with his hooves to build a bridge entirely out of balloons (it was interesting to note that he had not once used his horn since regaining his cutie mark). He and the others all bounced across the new bridge as fast as they could!

Rainbow Dash, however, was stricken with a sense of dread as she saw the mountains fast approaching! "It's no use, she's gonna get away!" The brash speedster proclaimed! "We'll never see our cutie marks again!"

But just then, Double Diamond stopped right in his tracks as his wandering blue eyes spotted a forlorn looking pair of purple colored skis sticking out of the snow. He recognized at once what they were. "Whoa! These are my old skis! This is where I first met Starlight! I can't believe they're still here!"

Night Glider, however, spoke up in protest. "Maybe you can reminisce another time! She's almost to the caves! We've got to stop her, now!"

It was then that the earth pony stallion with a snow white coat had an idea. "Feel like an air drop?!" He asked the pegasus.

Night Glider, grinning from ear to ear, happily replied. "You didn't even have to ask."

Starlight Glimmer was panting furiously as she approached the entrance to the vast network of caves. She was almost out of breath from having to not only run at such a fast pace of speed, but also pull the wagon containing the jars of cutie marks behind her. It all seemed like it would be worth it, though, because she was convinced that she had left her pursuers far behind. She was going to get away! She would be free to start planning her revenge!

Then, suddenly, from above there came a holler! Without warning, Double Diamond descended from the skies (thanks to an assist by Night Glider). He skied happily along, the vibrations following in his wake disturbing a massive snowbank right on top of Starlight. It came down with a thud, burying the unicorn mare and causing her to lose her magical grip on the jars (which she had just removed from the wagon). They fell to the ground and shattered, then zoomed back to their rightful owners.

In flashes of light, Twilight and her friends had their cutie marks restored, along with their bright colors for their coats, manes, and tails! But they knew this was no time for celebrating, they had to catch up to the ponies to whom they owed so much. Plus, there was still the question of what to do with Starlight Glimmer.

As if in answer to that unasked question, Starlight suddenly emerged from the snowbank with her eyes narrowed and her teeth gritted. She spoke not a word as she charged up her horn, preparing to aim a powerful, destructive blast at the four villagers who she now blamed for her defeat.

Twilight quickly jumped into the fray, effortlessly blocking Starlight's attempted assault with a magical barrier that easily deflected the intended blast.

The equality obsessed unicorn mare's eyes widened in disbelief! "What?!... How did you?!... I studied that spell for years! There's no way you're stronger than me!"

The young alicorn retorted. "I studied magic for years too! But what I didn't know then was that studying could only take me so far," She explained with a satisfied smile as her friends all huddled around her (Spike included). "Each of my friends 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 or become the princess of friendship without them! And I certainly wouldn't be here to stop you now!"

The unicorn mare rolled her eyes in disbelief at the sappy speech she'd just been subjected to. "Oh please, spare me your sentimental nonsense, princess! I gave these ponies real friendship they never could've experienced otherwise, and you know it! All I wanted was to spare others the agony of having to suffer because of a cutie mark! Was that so wrong?!"

"Yes it was!" Double Diamond angrily snapped back! "You lied to us and manipulated us! We were just pawns to you! What you really wanted was control! You wanted to feel special, even if it meant the rest of us couldn't be!"

Starlight then growled in a low tone of voice, even as it was possible to see a few tears starting to form in her eyes. "You..." She glared at Princess Twilight! "You ruined everything! If it wasn't for you and your silly friends, everything would've been perfect! Mark my words, this isn't over between us! Someday, someway, I'll make you sorry you ever crossed my path!" Then she lit up her horn, casting a blinding flash that made everyone cover their eyes!

When the light faded, there was no sign of the equality obsessed unicorn anywhere. It was as if she'd vanished into thin air.

"She... got away?" Rainbow blinked in disbelief. "Just what's her deal, anyway? Why did she hate cutie marks so much?"

Fluttershy could only shake her head from side to side. "I don't know. And that's not an excuse for what she did to us, or to everypony else."

Twilight simply sighed before turning to the four villagers. "Well, hopefully, she'll have a lot of time to think about her actions and her life choices. And once she does, hopefully she'll also realize that you all taught her something important."

Party Favor then happily spoke up while kicking his back legs in delight. "It's you who have taught us something, Princess Twilight," And he explained. "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...it seems it was in front of us all along. It's us!"

The alicorn princess then asked. "Does that mean you'll stay in the village, then?"

Night Glider firmly nodded. "Cutie Markless is our home. It's the only place we've known for a long time. So we're not going anywhere."

Double Diamond chimed in with his own sentiments. "Exactly. This is a chance for all of us to get to know each other again for the very first time!"

And Sugar Belle remarked. "And I finally have a chance to bake something besides those terrible muffins!" That made everyone laugh. And it felt so good to laugh after everything they'd been through.

Once word of Starlight's ouster had spread, everypony in Cutie Markless cheered. They were all glad to have their cutie marks back and now decided they wanted nothing to do with Starlight Glimmer's false promises of equality. For the first time in what seemed like forever, they were all free to be themselves and follow their special talents wherever they might lead.

To commerate the occasion, the villagers quickly began putting together a party. It wasn't long before the sound of joyous, happy laughter spread from pony to pony and from cottage to cottage. Everypony there seemed to be having the time of their lives.

Pinkie Pie gave a firm, approving nod as she said out loud. "Now those are real smiles. This village will be a better, sweeter, and a happier place. And it's all thanks to us." Just as she finished saying those words, she felt an odd tingling sensation on her flanks. Her cutie mark was glowing and flashing brightly. And she was not alone, the cutie marks of her friends were doing the exact same thing, something they had never done before.

"Don't know if I'll ever get used to that." Applejack remarked.

Rarity smiled. "Whatever it means, I think it's divine."

Fluttershy turned to Twilight as she asked the alicorn. "So, does this mean the map is calling us somewhere else now? Is this going to be our responsibility going forward?"

Twilight shook her head from side to side. "I don't think so. It feels more like the map telling us this is a job well done. Maybe it'll call us to other places someday. But for now, it looks like there's nothing more here for us to do."

Applejack nodded and trotted towards her alicorn friend as she remarked. "Lokoks like you were right, Twilight. The map did have a reason for sendin' us here. Never should've dobuted ya. We brought real friendship to these here ponies. Guess that's why you're the Princess of Friendship."

The studious alicorn smiled and replied. "But the map didn't 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. I mean what I said back there, I wouldn't be the pony I am today if it weren't for you." And she brought all of her friends (Spike included) in for a group hug.

Pinkie Pie then spoke up. "Hey, wait a minute, this feels like the end! It doesn't have to be the end, not just yet! That Sugar Belle can bake!"

Spike shrugged his claws. "You know what, I think I actually agree with you, Pinkie. It would be a shame to go back to Ponyville when the fun's just getting started here."

And Twilight, with a sincere smile, could only remark. "What the heck, I guess we stay for a little while longer. Something tells me the map won't be calling us anywhere else anytime soon." And with that, she and all of her friends went down to join in the celebrations unfolding down in Cutie Markless.

Little did anyone suspect that this was not to be the end of Starlight Glimmer or her story. The equality obsessed unicorn had meant every word of her statement vowing to get even. And one day, she was to put her plans into action.

But that's another story.

Author's Note

Aside from making a few minor adjustments here and there, there wasn't much that needed to be changed in the grand scheme of things. What I knew I wanted to do now that I added Spike to the mix was have a way for him to contribute so that his involvement in the story wasn't just being captured and held as a prisoner. Plus, it was never exactly conveyed how or if Fluttershy told Twilight about Starlight's decepticon.

And although I've been saying it for volume after volume, I'm still open to any ideas or suggestions on how to improve the "Previously On" recap segment in written form. I'm okay with how I've been doing it, but I'm always open to anything that could make it better.

And with this, I have now rewritten every season premiere, and there are only two two parters left to be rewritten: Shadow Play and The Ending of the End.

~~Stare Master~~
~~Pinkie Apple Pie~~
~~The Cutie Map, Parts 1 and 2~~
The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone
Hard to Say Anything (Bonus Chapter)
A Health of Information
Uprooted
The Royal Apologies (The Point of No Return)
The Big Mac Question (Bonus Chapter)