It was a long, long nightmare.

The world swayed around her, shifting and shaking, filled with thickening bursts of purple darkness. Her throat burned, and she felt her cracked lips slur, "Water..."

Something splashed on her face, briefly cold, then everything faded out again. No matter how she tried, she couldn't fight her way free of the mists entangling her thoughts, couldn't remember why she felt such a terrible, aimless urgency.

There was no sharp transition, no sudden awakening. Eventually, without really knowing when the sound had become distinct, she found herself aware of a nearby wooden creaking. She was being jostled, bounced this way and that. Everything felt awful.

Her eyelids flickered, letting in a searing flash of daylight, and she groaned, thickly. She felt as weak as a foal. Squinting against the glare, barely able to move, she looked around herself.

A cart. She was in a cart. It was being pulled by two blurry ponies.

She jerked fully awake. "Stop, stop!"

Dull, overlapping voices recited, "I will stop." The jostling ceased.

Something was wrong, uncomfortable. She was - a rush of crimson shame boiled up in her, and she forced out jerkily, "Don't look at me!" Ignoring the chorus of mindless assent, she forced herself to sit up in the cart and began wriggling out of her clothes, wincing in disgust. Shaking, her coordination shot, it took Twilight several attempts to manage to properly cast cleaning spells on her clothes, and with her faltering control, the spells struck home far too forcefully, bleaching and tearing the cloth.

Barely able to control her hands, she cleaned herself up with shreds of rag from her ruined travel cloak. The cart had come to a stop amongst a field of ancient, rounded boulders, orange and yellow, with occasional dry bushes spreading spidery root systems across the cracks. Two ponies - mares - stood in the cart traces, covered in dust. One was Lime Fizz. The other... it was the baker, with the terrible muffins. Twilight couldn't remember her name.

Her head was killing her, her heart racing far too fast. Why couldn't she think straight?

Maybe she was dehydrated. That could explain a lot.

She tried to speak, producing a rusty croak. Swallowing on a dry throat, she managed, "Give me water, please."

"I will give you water," replied Lime Fizz, her empty, hoarse voice mingling with those of the pony beside her. They both turned in the traces of the cart, Lime Fizz picking a canteen up from the rough wooden boards, and extending it. The baker reached out for it, placing her hand on the side of the canteen as it was offered. That was interesting, Twilight thought distantly. Plainly the mare didn't have water to give, so she was sharing in the offering of the canteen. Since the command was non-specific, were they aware of each other enough to cooperate? She took hold of the canteen - mostly empty with a little sloshing about in the bottom - unscrewed the cap, then paused.

Wait. Wait, wait, wait.

"Lime Fizz. Is this water drugged?"

"Yes," the other pony replied flatly.

"...have you been giving it to me for a while?" she asked, with a horrible, sick feeling of inevitability.

"Yes."

"Why?" demanded Twilight, sitting up sharply, before she swayed and nearly toppled over again. A low moan of protest escaped her, and she clutched her head in both hands, dropping the canteen. A splatter of water sprayed across the boards.

"You commanded water," Lime Fizz replied, with an empty lack of emphasis.

Buck, manure, dung, damn! "And you gave me the water you had. I thought I threw your water all over you."

"I had two canteens prepared."

"Why?"

"For you and your friend if you did not separate."

"Trixie!" yelped Twilight, trying to stand up, then finding her knees wouldn't cooperate. "Tell me- no. Stop." She took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to wrest control of herself. She had to stop, and think clearly. She needed a list of topics to address, and running around like her tail was on fire wouldn't do anypony any good. Especially seeing as she couldn't seem to stand up right then, and black spots swam before her every time she moved.

There was paper and ink in her pack, but getting to it just seemed too hard. She'd have to remember instead.

Point one. Trixie wasn't here. She'd been left with Burdock. It was possible only Lime Fizz had been... been equalised. Whether Burdock had been through the same process determined if Trixie was in big trouble. That was worth checking.

Trying to keep her speech to a minimum - her throat hurt, and it sounded like Lime wasn't any better off - she asked carefully, "Was Burdock going to drug Trixie?"

"Yes."

"Is he equalised?"

"Yes." The word fell from Lime Fizz's lips, dull and dead.

Panic. The world swayed around Twilight again, and she slowly toppled onto her back once more, her heart hammering. The sky overhead was so blue it was unendurable; she closed her eyes and waited for the sickening sensation of rocking back and forth to die away again.

Point two. Lime Fizz and... and the baker, the name 'Sweetie Belle' kept elbowing its way into her mind, but that wasn't right, and she couldn't untangle it. Those two. They had to be exhausted. They'd been pulling her through the sun for goodness knows how long. That was... that was terrible. They'd been forced to, because of the charm, and she'd hurt them, with her carelessness, and, and who knew how hurt and exhausted they were, and it was her fault, and, and she'd hurt them with her magic, with a spell she'd made-

Another roaring swell of darkness washed over her, and she twisted onto her side, retching. Nothing came up, her gritty, dusty skin growing slick with a new flush of fevered perspiration.

Forcing out the words one by one, she managed, "Have you drank water since I commanded you to take me away?"

"Yes," replied Lime Fizz, echoed by the baker, the two of them still facing forward in the traces.

"Was it from this canteen?"

"No," the two answered, with hoarse emptiness.

"Where?"

"A spring," replied the baker, an instant ahead of Lime Fizz's, "From a spring."

So they knew the canteen was dangerous, or would interfere with their orders, and avoided it. But she didn't come under the same automatic rules. "Have you - messed your clothes?" Twilight asked with difficulty, her throat trying to close up in fresh humiliation.

"No."

"Are you... are you in pain?"

"Yes."

A spasm of vertigo jerked through Twilight again, and she squeezed her eyes closed tightly. Fighting back her panic, she shook her head against the rough wood. She'd learned this before; it was pointless asking charmed ponies if they were in pain, there was always some little discomfort, and the spell made them excessively literal. If she wanted to know how bad it was, she'd have to wake them up.

She wasn't ready for that, yet.

She didn't want to ask this, either, but it was definitely point three, so... "How long has it been?"

"Most of a day," replied the baker, her voice mingling with the scout's more accurate, "Approximately fifteen hours."

Oh, Celestia. Trixie had potentially been in Starlight's hands since yesterday. And these ponies had to be exhausted. They wouldn't have brought food, or water, and they must have been pulling steadily all that time. Though they had stopped to drink, and perhaps – other things – too. Maybe more safety features in the charm, to stop a pony starving herself to death if left on her own too long. That was reassuring, even if it wasn't nearly enough.

Before she went any further, no matter how badly, how desperately she needed to hurl herself back the way they'd come, she had to tend to the victims of her own spell.

Slowly and carefully, moving like an invalid, Twilight drew her discarded pack to her and fumbled the buckles open. Her own water canteen was inside, half-full, and she had to suppress a terrible urge to just drink every drop. Instead, she opened it slowly and sipped as best she could, trying to rinse out her mouth. The merest touch of the liquid within was a benediction, easing some of the jagged heat in her throat.

Holding the canteen out with extreme care, she coughed, then managed, "Don't repeat my commands, just obey them. Lime Fizz. Drink one mouthful, then give it to her. Then you, baker, drink a mouthful, seal the flask, and give it to me."

Silently, the two mares did as they were told. Accepting the flask back, Twilight frowned and asked the baker, "What's your name?"

"Sugar Belle," the other pony replied, her flat tone a little less hoarse than before.

Oh. Yes. Swallowing, forcing herself not to take all of what little remained in the flask, Twilight said carefully, "Unhook yourselves from the cart and lie down."

The two mares let the cart tip forward a little until it settled onto its front legs, then sank down to the ground, out of Twilight's sight. It probably wasn't comfortable, but their bodies had to be aching terribly, and lying down might help a little. When they woke up, they were not going to be in a good place.

Taking a deep breath, fighting to think clearly through the fog in her head and the twisting sensation in her stomach, Twilight said slowly, "Lime Fizz, I'm only talking to you, now. When you awaken, you will not remember anything that's happened since the first time you entered Starlight's village. Your personality will be exactly as it was back then. When I tell you to remember, you will remember everything that has happened since then, but from a distance. You won't let it change who you are. You can't lie about anything that happened during that time. Do you understand?"

"I understand," repeated the Seeker from where she lay.

Twilight paused. That was probably enough to stop Lime Fizz from waking up in her corrupted state, but there was still the matter of how sore and exhausted the mare must be. The amount of exertion she'd undergone was really serious. It was a terrible time to be experimenting with the charm's powers and limits, but there was an idea she'd been wondering about for some time that might help, and she needed Lime Fizz awake enough to describe how badly she was feeling without dropping the full weight of her suffering on her all at once.

"I want you to imagine a big dial, okay?" Twilight said quietly."When you wake up, you can picture turning it up or down any time you like, and the more you turn it down, the less your body hurts. Right now, it's turned down halfway, so any pain you're feeling is soft and diffuse."

It was all she could think of, and her throat hurt from trying to talk. A convulsive shiver ran through her, and she began, "I am-" before cutting herself off abruptly. Using the trigger aloud meant that Sugar Belle would wake up, too, and the baker was in no condition for that yet. "Lime Fizz, stand up and lean over me. Bring your ear to my mouth."

Lime Fizz silently rose to her feet, leaning over the cart's shallow sides. Too exhausted to care overmuch about her nudity, Twilight tugged some of the larger scraps of her destroyed cloak over her chest and sex, and knowing the words had never been further from the truth, whispered, "I am satisfied."

The other mare's blank eyes snapped into focus. For an instant, she seemed frozen in shock, then she jerked upright with a wordless cry of surprise that instantly mutated into a hiss of pain. "What? Wha- what happened?" she gasped. "Where am I?" She seemed about to say more, but a strange expression came across her face, and she grew calmer, more tired. She screwed up her eyes, shaking her head slightly, then managed, in hoarse disbelief, "Princess? What happened to you? What happened to your clothes? What are you doing here?"

"It's okay, Lime Fizz," Twilight whispered. No, it's not. "Stay calm. It's going to be okay."

"I don't understand. I was just entering a town, and-" Lime Fizz broke off, shaking her head slowly again, as if to dislodge something in her ear, and said quietly, "I don't know where I am." All of a sudden, she caught sight of the prone mare on the floor, and squeaked, "Who is that?"

"She's okay, I promise. I promise, she's resting. Trust me. Ssh. Let's take this slowly. Yes, I'm Twilight. I received a letter from you and Burdock." She coughed, a sharp, dry sound, and tugged the remnants of her cloak over her chest further. "You'd found a town. Everypony wore the same cutie mark. Seemed like something was wrong. You investigated. Stopped sending letters. I came with my apprentice to look for you both. Then-"

"But why don't I remember?" burst out Lime Fizz, rubbing a hand through her mane, then jerking in shock as she felt how short and neat it was. She clutched at the side of the cart, then sank slowly to her knees, barely able to keep herself upright. She glanced at Sugar Belle again, seeming to want to say more, but unwilling to argue with the Princess.

"I blocked your memories. Sorry. Please, listen." Twilight paused, waiting for Lime Fizz to nod shakily, then went on, "Something happened to you. You tricked me. Drugged me. You were handing me over to them."

"I would never!" Lime Fizz interrupted, unable to contain herself, then swayed dizzily and held onto the cart more tightly as the animation once again drained from her face. "I wouldn't," she said more quietly.

"Something happened to you," Twilight repeated huskily. "It wasn't your fault. Nothing you did was your fault. But I was passing out, and I didn't know what to do. I cast a spell to force you to do what I said, told you to save me. I'm sorry. Really sorry. I'd never have wanted to do that. I did the same to Sugar Belle, she was helping capture me. But I don't – I don't know what happened to you, to make you do that. I left Trixie with Burdock, and he was going to do the same thing to her that you did to me. I need to find out what you know."

"I don't remember anything, though. Are you going to give my memory back?" Lime Fizz asked, subdued, but adding with a touch of defiance, "Burdock wouldn't hurt anypony, either."

"I'll give you your memory back in a moment. Stay calm. But first – can you picture a dial, in your head?"

The other mare gasped. "I – yes, like it was right in front of me. It's so real."

"You're hurt. I think you've been walking for – for a long time. Not enough water. No food. I turned down how bad you feel; I didn't want to shock you. But if you picture turning the dial back up again, you'll feel it. All of it." Twilight swallowed, her throat dry. "Before you do. How do you feel?"

"Fine," Lime Fizz panted, shaking her head again sluggishly.

"The truth."

"...horrible. My head is pounding, and my whole body hurts. My legs hurt the most. I feel dizzy. I can't - I'm not sure I can stand up," Lime Fizz whispered shamefacedly, looking down.

"...okay. Don't try to change the dial. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. This is my fault," croaked Twilight. "I'm going to release your memories, now. You have to keep your head clear, and not let these memories change you. Remember who and what you are. I really want to give you more time, but - there isn't enough. I'm sorry. Are you ready?"

Lime Fizz glanced down at the prone, blank-eyed figure of Sugar Belle, with a shudder of disquiet, then nodded sharply. "Do it."

Despite her haphazard precautions, Twilight tensed, ready to use the charm's keywords again the instant she felt threatened. Fighting her own reluctance, struggling to speak clearly, she commanded, "Remember, now!"

Horror flashed over the other mare's pale red face, her jaw dropping open, and she twisted, looking down at her own flanks. A wail of despair burst from her lips, and she choked, trying to sob but unable to summon the tears. "She - she t-took my cutie mark! She took it!" Lime Fizz wailed.

Twilight's hand covered Lime's, and she leant up in the cart, forcing back the black spots that crowded around the edges of her vision at the moment. "We'll get it back," she vowed. "I promise, I promise you, I won't let this end like this. But how? What happened to you?"

Lime Fizz rubbed a hand over her stubbornly dry eyes, swallowing hard. Her eyes flicked downwards, and she managed, "P-Princess, you're..."

The remains of the cloak were slipping. Twilight tugged at them, shaking her head. "I know, I'm not really dressed. It doesn't matter. Clothes can wait. Tell me."

"Not that." Lime Fizz gave a wobbly, uncertain smile, and added, "I mean, I don't understand why you're in rags. But - it was you, wasn't it? Dewey Drop? You... I didn't know, I'm sorry!"

"...oh. Yes. Sorry. I wanted to trust you, but things were strange, and I didn't want the townsfolk to know who I was, yet. Please, Lime, we can talk about this later." Trying not to raise her voice, Twilight pleaded, "I need to know what they did to you! You sent me the letter, decided to enter the town- what then?"

"We - we tried to make friends with the townsfolk. They were weird. I hated the smiles, and the equals signs. Some of them are more into it than others. The whole philosophy, I mean. Sugar Belle seemed like she wasn't as happy, I think she wanted to say more to us, but every time she tried to get us alone, some other pony would come over and she wouldn't say anything." Lime Fizz shook her head shakily. "We managed to find out they do the cutie mark removing in a cave out of town. Burdock and I, we - we found it. Went there. Starlight was waiting, she had a staff. She, she just - she used it, and - and she tore our cutie marks away! I felt it go, and my magic went with it, and, and then-"

"It's okay. I'm sorry. I'm here," whispered Twilight, squeezing Lime's hand, feeling a hot, tight fist clench around her heart. She was the one who'd sent the Seekers out in the first place, exposing them to this kind of danger. This, all of this, was her fault.

"...she locked us in a room," whispered Lime Fizz, in broken tones. "There were speakers. They kept repeating her voice, over and over, telling you about Equality, and how happy you'd be if you accepted what she was telling you, and be friends, and be one of them. And - every time I got worked up, or angry, it's like the feelings just drained away. Like there's a hole where my cutie mark used to be, and they leak out. And when you can't stay angry, or upset, it's hard to keep fighting. It just... gets to you. It's easier to accept it than fight it. It's easier to believe it. The whole town lines up outside, and - and they say they want to be your friends, and you should come out and be with them, and they like you, and..."

"Okay. It's okay. I understand," Twilight said, very quietly. "That's enough."

"She told us that you'd come, or you'd send other ponies, and we should be ready. She wanted a Princess on her side. It was the way to show all Equestria that our way - her way - was right. Whoever came, especially if it was you, we should split you up, and bring you to her, and if she - if she said she was sorry she couldn't persuade you, that meant you needed to be shown the right way to live by force, like we had. So then we'd pretend not to trust her, so you'd trust us instead, and- the water, and the... that." Her words choked to a stop, buried under the weight of her wretchedness and misery. "I'm sorry. It's like waking up from a nightmare, and it all happened, and... my cutie mark is still gone, and I think I should be screaming and crying, but it's just... leaking out of me."

Twilight squeezed the distraught mare's hand again. She didn't know what to say. It was possible there were no words she could say. "I will fix this," she whispered, eventually. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Lime Fizz shook her head slowly in silent rejection of the reassurance, but didn't protest. After a moment, she carefully hauled herself to her feet by hanging onto the cart, wincing and sucking in her breath as her wobbly legs protested carrying her. "What... what will you do?"

"I've got to get you back to water, first of all. I don't know how much you've drank, but it wasn't enough. And I've got to do something about Sugar Belle, too." Twilight winced, shaking her head. "Please - look away. For a moment."

"I - yes. Of course, Princess," Lime Fizz said a little too quickly, as if she suddenly felt accused of staring, and turned her back.

Little by little, trying desperately not to show how sick she felt, Twilight pushed herself into a sitting position, then struggled to her feet. Stepping down from the cart was almost too much for her, and the rocky ground seemed to pitch and sway beneath her feet. Tugging a nondescript tunic and pair of loose trousers from her travelling bag, she managed to dress, supporting herself against the cart.

"...Princess?" asked Lime Fizz, in worried tones.

"I'm alright!" gasped Twilight. "You - you can turn around, now. Get - get in the cart. Sugar Belle, you too."

Lime Fizz twisted around to face Twilight once more, shaking her head, even as Sugar Belle silently picked herself up off the ground, and lay down in the cart, glassy eyed and thoughtlessly efficient in her movements.

"Princess, please - what are you intending?"

Straightening up and letting go of the cart, hammering the vertigo into submission, Twilight swallowed dryly. "I have to get you back to water. I'm pulling." Raising her hand to forestall Lime's objection, she added, "You couldn't even stand if I hadn't turned down your pain. If you try to do things in that state, you will hurt yourself. Really, and forever. Please - please lie down."

"I can't let-"

"Do it!" Twilight snapped, briefly cracking. Her throat hurt too much to argue, and the thought of what was happening to Trixie, of what she'd done to these ponies, was a constant, crushing grip on her chest.

Swallowing dryly, Lime Fizz climbed into the cart, struggling to clamber over the side, then toppling in. Her breathing was harsh in the still air.

Carefully, slowly, Twilight moved to the front of the cart and separated the traces, wrapping them around her body. Gripping the shafts, she straightened her back and pulled. The two-wheeled cart rose off its front supports. "Which way?" she asked, in rough, husky tones.

"I'm not sure," confessed Lime Fizz. "Sugar Belle was leading us, I think. It's hard to remember. Since you – did what you did, I can barely remember what I was doing."

Step by step, Twilight dragged the cart in a narrow circle, then leaned into the traces and pulled hard. The wheels creaked, then groaned as they began to turn. The opposite direction from the way they'd been travelling would have to do for now. "I'm going to wake her up. Do you – think she can be trusted?"

"…I don't know. I want to, but I'm not sure how much of that is… what happened to me."

"Okay. I don't think she's in any condition to fight." Nor am I. Bile churned hotly at the back of her throat as she took step after step, trying to maintain momentum across the broken, rocky plain. "I'll make sure she won't lie to us."

There was silence from behind her, but somehow, one that had the quality of something waiting to be said. For a few moments, the only sound was the creak of the cart and the gasp of Twilight's breath, before Lime Fizz said quietly, "…Princess? What did you do to us?"

Twilight was too exhausted to lie. "It's a spell designed to control others. Very old. Very dangerous. I discovered it a few months ago, before I ascended. It's why I set up the Seekers; to make sure nothing like it was anywhere else in Equestria. I didn't want to use it on you, or anypony without their consent. I'm really sorry."

Another pause. Then, softly, "It's okay. I put you in a position where you needed to."

"It's not okay!" Twilight burst out, then winced as her sudden loudness made her throat hurt again. She stumbled, but kept pulling. "It's not okay," she repeated, more softly. "I know better than anypony how dangerous this spell is, and I cast it when I couldn't think straight, much less give commands that were in any way safe or sane. I panicked, and I hurt you, both of you, and I could have done much worse. I never, ever wanted to hurt somepony with my magic like that."

The cart rattled over a few loose rocks, juddering. Twilight pulled harder. If only she had some kind of water-divining spell. After she'd gotten lost, with the teleportation accident, she'd sworn she wasn't going to let this happen again! She had so much to study, when all this was over.

When Trixie, and Lime Fizz, and Burdock, and all of them were safe.

"…do you really think you can… fix this?" Lime Fizz asked, eventually.

"Yes. I will." Twilight was getting the hang of the cart, now. Her head swam, and the world was hazy and too bright, but her legs weren't tired yet, and she just had to keep plodding forward. "I don't know what this staff is; I've never heard of an artefact with such power over cutie marks. But I'll defeat her. I'll do what I have to. But first, I'd better wake Sugar Belle."

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Twilight spoke carefully, her eyes flickering half-shut and letting herself plod forward blindly. "Sugar Belle, I'm talking to you, now. When I wake you up, you won't be able to lie to or deliberately deceive Lime Fizz or I. You'll be completely aware that I've cast a spell to cause that effect, and that you were enchanted to bring me out here."

Wishing she had notes, then wishing she didn't feel so sick and fuzzy-headed, Twilight forced herself to recite as much as she could remember of the pain-control instructions she'd given Lime Fizz, adding another instruction for Sugar Belle to be aware of the dial and how to use it as soon as she awoke. Uncomfortably aware of Lime Fizz listening in, doubtless taking in just how powerful and flexible the charm was, Twilight finally paused, then croaked, "I am satisfied."

The previously silent mare's reaction was shockingly instant. She jerked upright in the cart with a cry of surprise that was almost a shriek, then as the long-deferred exhaustion and long exposure to the sun hammered into her, she collapsed backwards again with an audible thump. Words slurred, sucking in quick, frightened gasps, she panted, "Don't hurt me! Please! I didn't want to do it!"

Twilight's heart broke, cleanly and precisely. She tried to turn around, but the harness shoved her in the back, and so she kept walking, purple splotches decorating the landscape as she screwed up her eyes. She wanted to speak, but it was like the mechanism in her chest that generated her words had seized solid, leaving her stumbling silently on.

"Princess Twilight would never hurt you," Lime Fizz said, quietly but firmly. "She isn't that kind of pony. I wouldn't hurt you either. It's okay, Sugar. No pony's going to do anything bad to you."

Her throat closing up, doubly wordless now, Twilight kept putting one foot in front of the other as behind her, Lime Fizz comforted Sugar Belle, and little by little, coaxed her story out of her.

Sugar Belle had found herself with a broken heart, pining for a stallion that didn't return her affections, and left her village to join a travelling convoy heading north, into the barren plains, to set up a town. Everypony knew it was a dusty, difficult place to live, but that suited her mood, and at times it seemed like the only ponies that joined them were ones that were trying to leave something behind.

Starlight had been among them. She'd joined the caravan before Sugar Belle, though Sugar couldn't say where. She had a way of taking ponies aside, and talking through why they were making the journey without ever quite telling them why she was doing the same. She talked a lot, and when decisions were made, they usually went the way that Starlight was arguing for. They'd stopped to set up the town where she'd wanted, and laid out the houses on the plan she'd suggested. She was hard to disagree with. She'd just keep talking, and sympathising, and soon, it felt like you were actively rejecting her to disagree further.

A handful of ponies hadn't taken well to this. Quietly, with a smile, Starlight had suggested to the others that these ponies were causing disagreements - if they talked to them, they'd see it for themselves - and it was better if they left.

They'd left.

It was a little after that when the townsfolk started talking about equality. Togetherness. Really joining together and sharing their burdens amongst themselves in every way, an equal weight on every shoulder. The topic just seemed to turn up, and grew louder and more insistent with every day that passed. Then Starlight had walked into town one day, her cutie mark gone, replaced by an equals symbol. She'd found a way to truly bring equality to them all, she'd said. Nopony ever had to feel lonely, or not good enough, ever again.

It was the feeling of being not good enough that had snagged Sugar Belle. She didn't want to feel that way. For some time, she and Lime Fizz had been talking in oddly calm voices, all of the desperation and urgency drained out of them, but as she described that decision, a flash of old pain had shown through once more.

Most of the townsfolk had agreed to what Starlight had described as a great coming together, turning their community into a true union. Those that wanted what she'd offered had followed her out of town, to a cave, with a great glass wall embedded in the stone. She said she'd found it, along with the staff of Equality. And then - one by one at first, then several at a time, she'd taken their cutie marks, and stored them - imprisoned them - behind the glass.

It was over surprisingly quickly. Sugar Belle had felt the ache of loneliness fade away, even as she felt tired, drained. The exhausted, empty feeling would pass, Starlight had said. It hadn't. She kept them in the cave, talking and talking, nudging their own conversations in the right direction when she allowed them to speak, making sure everypony was glad and sound in their new resolution. Sugar wasn't even sure how long they'd spent there; time had seemed to just slip away.

All she did know was that when they left, they were all convinced they'd done the right thing. The others in town who'd held back were persuaded, and urged, and promised how much better they'd feel. One by one, two by two, they gave in, and travelled to the cave. When they came back, they were just the same as everypony else.

Soon, everypony wore the equals sign.

Starlight was always the one making decisions, now. It was easier to agree with what she said, and thought, than to disagree. A new house was built; larger, more impressive, standing at the head of the town. She guided them, in their unity. She was first among equals. One of them. Differences were bad. Differences led to discord, and chaos, and anger, and heartbreak. Only when ponies were the same could they truly be friends.

Even so, now and then, ponies would grow unhappy. They missed being able to do what they'd done before. Unicorns missed their magic. Pegasi could barely fly. Sugar Belle herself found that she couldn't bake anymore; no matter how hard she tried, everything turned out grey, and sour. Starlight explained to her that now she understood how hard it was for other ponies to bake the way she had before - that struggling and failing to match her unfair advantages made them resent and hate her. It made sense, but it made Sugar Belle deeply unhappy. She stopped talking about it.

Then Starlight had re-assigned one of the buildings, where the town had once listened to music, as a therapy room for ponies that were struggling to feel better. Ponies that were feeling full of doubt and uncertainty were encouraged to rest there, studying the ways Equality could help them, until they were feeling better. It worked. After a little while, nopony seemed to be unhappy at all.

Starlight often reminded them, all of them, that ponies that were new to the town would find it hard to understand their ways. Equality was such a new idea, so beautiful and powerful, that they needed help to truly embrace it. Visiting travellers were guided to the cave, and then spent a while in the therapy house, recovering and studying. Then they joined the village, having discovered what it truly meant to have friends they could rely on forever.

But the thing was... Sugar Belle still missed baking. She missed her old clothes, which Starlight had told them to throw away. She missed feeling happy. There had been more to happiness than this, hadn't there? A lot of days, she didn't think so, but sometimes, it still felt like something was missing.

There hadn't been any visitors for a while, before Lime Fizz and Burdock had come to the town. For a little while, Sugar Belle felt tempted to talk to them. To tell them... well, not to avoid going to the cave, but just that... she missed things. Because out of everypony in the village, they were the only two that she felt she could talk to about the vacant feeling in her heart.

Then Starlight had gathered the townsfolk together one morning, outside the therapy house, and Sugar knew it was too late for that. It had taken a few days of morning gatherings before the two understood their new community was welcoming them, but soon enough, two new friends were among the townsfolk, helping out and smiling with the others as though they'd been born there.

That was when Starlight had started telling them that the nobility of Equestria didn't like what their town was doing. That they wanted to break up their settlement, and take them all away from each other, because Equality threatened the whole idea of some ponies being more important than others. She made them afraid, and small. Then she told them her plan to save them. The new Princess, the one they'd heard fleeting rumours about from the last couple of ponies to arrive before Lime Fizz and Burdock, was going to become one of them, if they all played their part and did as she instructed.

Sugar Belle had baked the muffins.

Two-thirds of the way through Sugar Belle's story, which had been interrupted occasionally to tell Twilight which way to go, Twilight had painstakingly towed them back as far as a small spring and a trickle of water, leaking from a crumpled, collapsed rock face. The water was dirty, gritty with tiny particles of rock, but Twilight drank until she felt sick all over again. After that, all three of them lay in the shadows cast by the stones, Lime Fizz and Sugar Belle barely able to crawl out of the cart after the rest had caused their legs to seize up, and they gathered water in their cupped hands to rinse their faces once they'd drank enough. That had helped revive them, a little.

Twilight had stayed quiet. Lime Fizz was doing fine coaxing the words out of Sugar Belle, and Twilight was afraid that if she started asking questions herself, the shy, nervous pony would simply stop talking completely. The hazy disorientation of the drug's after-effects had lessened a little, but Twilight still felt sick and dizzy every time she moved her head too quickly, and her heartbeat was still much too fast.

It was probably heat exhaustion, tending to mild sunstroke, she concluded, lightheaded. The other two weren't faring any better.

She needed to think clearly, and she was doing her very best, but it was a struggle. Her head was pounding, and part of her was doing nothing but picturing Trixie in Starlight's clutches, wrapped up in horror at what the maniacal pony was almost certainly doing to her. The corner of her mind still capable of rational thought was isolated, beset on all sides, having to justify over and over why she wasn't running breathlessly towards the town that very second, why wasn't she running to Trixie's side that second?!

Because she'd arrive crippled, or not at all. Flying was out of the question; she barely knew how to use her wings, and in her current state, even trying had set her retching uncontrollably again. Teleporting was far more dangerous than that. All she could do was try her hardest to understand what she was up against, while her body recovered enough to set out on foot again.

What was the staff? Obviously it was horrendously powerful, to allow for such manipulation of cutie marks. The removal damaged the victims, too; their emotions drained, rendering them suggestible and emptily compliant. It seemed a lot like Starlight had been planning something like the enthralled, cult-like town from the very start, but she apparently hadn't been carrying anything that looked like the staff on their journey into the plains.

Could she have found it out here, been unconsciously drawn to it? Twilight had read about occasions where forbidden artefacts had gravitated to ponies that seemed to desire them the most. Or had she been actively searching for the staff when she joined the township caravan? Did it even matter? Starlight had it now, and she had to be stopped. She was the origin and source of the sickness that was gripping the town, that was clear, and whatever effect the staff had had on the others, it only seemed to have made Starlight herself more intensely devoted to her crusade.

With a shaky, awkward imitation of her usual handwriting, Twilight finished the parchment scroll she was working on, and re-read it.

Celestia,

Town leader Starlight Glimmer has artefact staff, is removing cutie marks, controlling victims. Drugged me, Trixie. Trixie was captured. I escaped. Going back to rescue her. Trust nopony in the village. Come quickly.

Copy 5/5.

It was clumsy, and barely comprehensible, but her hands were quivering as she wrote, and she'd had to make several copies, so it had to be as short as she could manage. Folding it several times, she wrote, 'Princess Celestia, URGENT' on the outside, then laid it down in front of her and concentrated. A wavering glow built up around her horn, flaring and flickering as she constantly had to rein it back from surging out of control, then flashed to the parchment. The folded sheet vanished.

It might have actually gone to the right place. It might not. Long-range teleportation was hard, and she was in no state for complex magic. Five tries. All five might be fluttering into lakes, or forests, or into the distant sea. One might be in Celestia's hands, right then. One might have landed on a path, to be picked up, read, conveyed to the capital, passed through the hands of guards… she had no idea. She couldn't afford to wait.

Slumping back against the rocks, she wiped her forehead of the cold sweat that had gathered there.

"Princess?"

It was Lime Fizz. Twilight raised her head wearily, looking over at the Seeker, who herself was flat on her back in the shade. "Yes?"

"I... I'm sorry. That we failed you," the young mare said, her voice quietly hoarse, staring at the sky rather than trying to meet Twilight's gaze. "I want to go back and help Burdock. I want to help your friend. And - and I want my cutie mark back."

"I know, Lime. I know. It'll be okay. I'm ready for Starlight, this time." Half-true. She was much better informed about her enemy, but she was in much worse condition, now, and she didn't have time to get better. And she was on her own. "I'll fight her, and I'll stop her. It's as simple as that."

Half-truths upon half-truths. But if she could hold herself together long enough to cast the charm, she'd won. The original variant of the charm, the one Celestia created. The last thing she needed was to be screaming about obeying and Empresses in the middle of a populated town.

"I'm coming with you." Pushing herself up into a sitting position with both hands, Lime Fizz tried to get to her feet, then slumped back. She'd obviously tried to infuse her voice with determination and forcefulness, but the words emerged flat and empty of emphasis.

"No, you're not. You're going to stay here and look after Sugar Belle," Twilight said, quietly. "You've got water, and shade. I'll leave you the rest of the food in my pack. Give yourself some time to recover. By the time you're ready to travel, I should have come back for you."

She ought to try to sleep. She really should, she knew, and the ever-shrinking rational part of her was telling her to conserve her strength. But she couldn't bear waiting any longer. Digging into her travel pack, Twilight pulled out the rest of her neatly packed preserved food, and set it down on a flat rock, out of the sun. The three of them had already eaten a little, and she'd refilled her own travel canteen.

Rising to her feet, she looked down at the two mares, giving Sugar Belle a reassuring smile before addressing them both. "Stay safe. Keep hold of who you are. I will be back for you."

"Princess, no! Please, I can help-" protested Lime Fizz, trying to get up again.

"Don't try to follow me. That's an order, Lime Fizz." Twilight turned away and started walking, focusing on putting one step in front of the other, and doing her best not to listen to the Seeker shouting after her.

The air smelt baked dry, desiccated, with a powdery aftertaste of hot dust. Small dust clouds stirred and settled with each gust of the breeze.

The town looked deserted. Not a pony stirred anywhere in sight.

It was mid-morning, and Twilight felt terrible. She'd miscalculated badly in leaving all her remaining food behind with the others. Even though there were good reasons to have done so, she hadn't had nearly enough back at the spring, and now her stomach gnawed at her. Such sleep as she'd snatched had come only when she was too exhausted to keep walking, and the broken ground too treacherous in the dark; shallow, restless sleep, without dreams.

Starlight wasn't stupid. She couldn't have achieved all she had done if she was stupid. This had to be a trap.

Picking up a small rock, Twilight took a deep breath, and concentrated. Her magic flared and rippled as she swished her horn through the neat little gestures of a spell - one she'd sworn to herself she was done with - and a brief glow coated the stone. Slipping it into her pocket, Twilight nodded to herself and took a deep breath, then began to creep forward once more. It took clarity of thought and careful restraint to control her massively overcharged magical reservoirs; things that her pounding headache, surging nausea and barely contained panic did not make easy. There were probably a thousand other things she could do to prepare for the inevitable fight ahead, and she just couldn't think straight.

There weren't windows looking out from the rears of the houses; all of them faced inwards, to their single street. That was how Lime Fizz and Sugar Belle had managed to tow her away in the cart before anypony even realised something was wrong. It also made it easier to sneak back, sticking close to the taller spires of crumbling rock wherever she could.

It was possible that the whole town had gone to the caves. Twilight now knew roughly where they were, but she'd hoped that Starlight wouldn't have taken Trixie there, not with the prospect of Twilight herself showing up at any moment. But if she had…

Unscrewing the top of her water flask, Twilight took a measured mouthful of tepid water. Then, ducking her head low, feeling horribly, horribly exposed, she inched forwards through the sparse, dusty scrub and small boulders towards the double line of houses. Her skin prickled, her entire body tensed for the moment of discovery, the first cry of alarm. Her fidgety heart beat too fast in her chest.

Nothing. She covered the last little patch of open ground at a flat run, flattening herself against the back of a building, almost sobbing for breath. Swallowing down the taste of bile, she crouched in the mediocre shadow of a stack of old barrels, slowly letting her body calm and waiting for the world to stop spinning.

Fine. Now what?

She was answered by the clang of bells. A single bell, now she listened closer, probably a hand bell. Sidling into the slim gap between the house she'd been sheltering behind and the next, she inched her way forward towards the inner street, listening hard.

"Well, Trixie? Are you ready to join our community?"

Twilight's heart turned to ice in her chest.

"The – the great – Trixie isn't joining anything! She's – she'll be rescued! And Twilight is going to save her! And, and make you give her her cutie mark back, she will…"

"She left you," countered Starlight's voice, with faux sympathy. "It's been days, Trixie. She abandoned you, and left you behind. We would never do that to you. Let us help you."

Days? It had been a day. Did Trixie have any idea how long she'd been captive?

"She – she wouldn't," sniffled Trixie. "She wouldn't!"

"Then where is she? Do you see her? I'm afraid I don't. None of us have seen her. Perhaps she's gone back to Canterlot, to talk to the other Princesses. You know. The ones she considers important. She probably intends to come back for you – eventually. But you deserve better, don't you think? Be one of us. We care, Trixie."

"Trixie isn't one of you! Not ever! Trixie is magical, and special, and – and – she's special! Let Trixie go!" Her voice rose sharply, cracking.

"Trixie, Trixie. You're not special. You think you are, but you're not. All you're doing is setting yourself apart from all the ponies that want to be your friends, and care about you. You know you're lonely. You know that, deep down, no pony likes you. And your Princess… you'll never be equal to her, not the way she is. You'll never matter to her the way you think you do. And you know it, deep down. Just accept it. But we can fix that, for both of you. You can be together, as equals. You can build a new life, here. All you have to do is say 'yes'."

"Trixie is her apprentice! She, she studied, she learned! She designed whole new spells! She is vital! You don't know anything!"

Twilight reached the edge of the corner, and carefully peered around it. Trixie was restrained by two stallions, gripping each arm, though she hardly looked as though she needed it. She seemed grey, exhausted, her mane drooping limply, cut the same as all the others. Starlight stood in front of her, a satchel over her shoulder, and a long, double pointed staff in one hand, leaning forward to cup Trixie's cheek with the other.

Twilight could barely tear her gaze away from Trixie, feeling herself quivering with furious horror, but there was one more thing she needed to focus on first. The staff.

"No, Trixie. That kind of attitude just won't do. All of that is behind you, now. Do you even remember the things you're talking about? Studying, spellcraft… you don't remember how that even works, do you. It's not as though you have magic."

"You took it! You took it," Trixie panted weakly. "Give her magic back!"

"That's enough of this nonsense, Trixie Lulamoon. It's time for you to go back inside. You'll feel better by tomorrow."

"No! Please – Mistress! Save me!" Trixie wailed.

Twilight moved before she could even think. Leaning further out of the alley, she began swirling her horn through the complex dips and curls of the charm, feeling a sick, hot fury churning in the depths of her stomach. A haze settled over her vision, as she focused as hard as she could on controlling the peaks and surges of her magic.

A voice rang out. "Starlight, she's here! Look out!"

Twilight loosed the bolt of magic, cursing inwardly. Starlight twisted, ducking to the side, and the glimmering, almost invisible shimmer in the air disappeared over Trixie's head. Ponies flooded from the houses into the street, blocking the way.

There was the ambush.

"Trixie!" yelled Twilight at the top of her lungs. "I'm coming!"

"Mistress?! Mistress!" Trixie cried out from beyond the throng. "Help me!"

Townsfolk formed a wall, separating Twilight from Starlight, advancing slowly and nervously, with frozen, desperate smiles. "Sorry, Princess, but we need to stop you," one stallion apologised, as the crowd pressed closer, hands extended towards her. "Starlight will help you; you'll feel better."

Twilight's gaze flashed from left to right, trying to find a way through. There wasn't one. Pegasi flapped out of the crowd, forming a second row above their heads, hemming her in. Black sparkles formed at the edge of Twilight's vision as she felt herself hyperventilating. No. She had to stop panicking. She had a plan, and it was going to work.

"You'll be much happier when you-" the stallion went on, then lunged for her in mid-sentence, obviously trying to take her by surprise. Twisting, with entirely unpractised movements, Twilight kicked him hard, and to her surprised delight, he dropped like a sack of stones, clutching his leg.

"Hah! That's what happens! Who else wants some?" she demanded, delirious with sudden aggressive confidence. Two more ponies threw themselves at her, then one reeled back as she punched the other one – a mare – in the face. The female sat down hard, grabbing at her nose and yowling in pain. Twilight raised her hands in an archaic boxing pose straight out of an old illustration she'd seen once, and declared, "You'd better step out of my way, or I won't go easy on you!"

"How like a Princess, to hurt those you consider beneath you," sneered Starlight's voice, from somewhere behind the wall of ponies. "Threatening and trying to intimidate us won't work. And nor did lying to us about who you were. Your apprentice was quite talkative about your real identity, especially after you ran off and abandoned her."

"You drugged me!" snapped Twilight, spreading her arms warningly as a couple of the ponies seemed on the verge of trying to close in on her again.

"I never touched you. We decided, as a town, that you needed to be helped to understand our way of life. You still keep thinking that one pony is persecuting you, when you're simply going against our community. You don't understand Equality at all," Starlight sneered, from behind the living barrier of townsfolk. "Don't worry, Twilight. I will help you. And then you'll return those ponies you've foalnapped, too."

"They want their cutie marks back! And so does Trixie!"

"No, they don't. None of them do. They just need to be reminded as to why. And you, Princess, will join them." Raising her voice, Starlight cried out, "Now!"

Twilight jerked back, her eyes flashing this way and that, but, too late, she saw the net. More fliers flapped upwards, dragging it over her, and the thick, weighted ropes fell in tangling coils as they let go. Taking their turn, the unicorns and earth ponies surged forward, pouncing on the edges and pulling downwards, forcing Twilight down to one knee.

Struggling to rise, she wrestled with the thick, roughly woven net, then gasped as another ripple of coordinated yanks pulled her down further, forcing her to the floor. "I don't – think – so!" she gritted out from between her teeth, managing to shove her hand into her pocket. Pulling out the rock there, she forced her hand through the broadly woven links of the net, and threw it into the air. "Look up!" Twilight cried out.

The stone twinkled like a star for an instant, shimmering with beguiling magic that reflected in the eyes of every pony that saw it.

"Mine!" gasped a pegasus, grabbing at the enchanted stone, only for another to immediately begin wrestling with her for it. An earth pony grabbed her tail in his mouth, protesting "Mine!" indistinctly, and yanked her out of the air. In seconds, the ponies pinning Twilight down were in total disarray, struggling and wrestling for the rock. The enchantment, the want-it-need-it spell, was far simpler and cruder than the precision instrument of the charm, but it had its own advantages - among them the fact that anypony who saw it, unless they were exceptionally strong-willed or familiar with the spell itself, would instantly fall under its power.

"Close your eyes, you idiots!" Starlight screeched.

Oh, well. It was probably too much to hope that Starlight would have found herself obsessively pawing for the rock amongst the rest of them. Struggling out from under the net, Twilight hurled the heavy ropes aside, straightening up. Starlight was there, revealed through gaps in the swaying crowd as they fought for the meaningless rock, magic flaring as she sprayed a barrage of all-purpose spell-cancellation countercharms, each spending itself uselessly on the struggling mass of ponies without finding its mark on the stone itself. One of the two stallions holding Trixie had clamped a hand over her mouth, but the showmare was squirming and kicking with a renewed, violent ferocity that was taxing them both to their limits.

There were still far too many ponies in the way, moving around all the time; if she started throwing the charm around, she'd have no idea which ponies would end up getting hit. There was only one thing she could do, and her body came to that conclusion several seconds before Twilight's mind caught up again.

Hurling herself forward, Twilight's wings snapped outwards, and a thumping downdraft hammered the ground with a blast of dust as she forced herself up into the furnace-like air. "Trixie!" she cried out, panting raggedly with the unfamiliar exertion of her barely-used flight muscles, struggling to clear the heads of the crowd of tangled, artificially desperate ponies. Her horn jerked through a rough approximation of the charm, but with every beat of her wings, the precise gestures were thrown off, and it was atrociously hard to fix the clean, shining pattern of the spell's complexity in her mind while she struggled to control her unfamiliar secondary limbs.

There wasn't time for a plan B, so it was just as well she didn't have one. As Starlight levelled the staff at her, confounded by Twilight's lurching, veering course, the other mare realised too late that Twilight wasn't going to - couldn't - stop.

The young alicorn crashed into Starlight with a catastrophic lack of control, the wind rushing out of her as she slammed into the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. The world spun around them as they tumbled over and over, struggling for the staff, a shriek of affronted fury almost drowning out Twilight's ragged, panted demand of, "Give it to me!"

"Get her!" cried out Starlight, enraged, clinging to the weapon with both hands and striking at Twilight with berserk strength. Grit filled Twilight's mouth, and a crack of the staff against the side of her head made the world spin around her even more violently than it already was. A roaring in her ears drowned her in static.

Then, abruptly, many hands were pulling her away. "No!" Twilight cried out, not even sure which way up she was anymore, as she was lifted from the ground and dragged backwards. One of Starlight's dispels must have struck the rock; the townsfolk were all over her. Focusing on the staff, she stopped fighting, concentrating solely on her magic. Her horn flared with purple light, and as Starlight struggled to her feet, an overwhelming surge of telekinetic power ripped the staff from her hands.

Twilight didn't hesitate, didn't even stop to think. The staff shot upwards into the cloudless sky, then, as a second flare of Twilight's magic enveloped it, it disappeared entirely.

Starlight kicked Twilight in the stomach.

An agonised moan forced its way out of Twilight's mouth, and she doubled over, hostile hands clutching her arms and legs, even grabbing at her mane and tail, as she tried not to retch. A fist twisted into her mane, jerking her head back, and Starlight was suddenly in front of her, staring into her eyes.

A thick, rough cough shook Twilight's frame as she looked up at the other mare. Twilight would have expected her to be furious, desperate even, and while Starlight did look angry, there was something else there, stronger still: a savage amusement, even glee. There was something in her eye, like she was the only one getting the joke. But - she'd lost the staff, hadn't she?

Something was wrong. Twilight suddenly knew she was missing something, possibly even something fatal, and there was no time left to work it out. She strained to move her head, to crouch forward; anything to get her horn pointed at the other pony long enough to cast the charm. It was no good. She was gripped too firmly, too thoroughly, by horn and chin and mane, and she felt the sharp pain of tugging too hard on her own hair as she fought to escape. Her breath sawed in and out of her throat, and dust in her eyes was making them water and burn.

Starlight smoothed her mane back into place, restoring its neat, uniform appearance. She took a moment to dust herself down, ignoring Twilight's silent struggles, and only when she was clean of dust and dirt did she lift her head once more, meeting Twilight's gaze. "Where's the staff, Twilight?" she asked, in surprisingly level tones. "You're going to get it back for me."

Twilight surprised herself with her own breathy, exhausted giggle, letting herself go limp for a moment in the grip of her captors. "No, I'm really not. I've no idea where it is. It's probably in Canterlot, but who knows for sure? I don't. Nopony does. One-way teleport. Could be anywhere. Ocean. Forest. Entombed in a mountain, bam, instant fossil. You're done with this, Starlight. You won't hurt any more ponies. I'm going to give them all their cutie marks back, and then, I'm taking you back to Canterlot. You've got a lot of explaining to do."

There could have been the ghost of a laugh in Starlight's tone. "Your arrogance is beyond belief, Princess. You've lost, and you will be one of us. Now, stop lying to me. If you consider the staff to be as dangerous as you claim, you wouldn't throw it away, not where anypony could find it. You must know where it is," insisted Starlight, but still with that odd smile on her lips.

"I really don't!" Twilight declared, almost giddy. "I couldn't control the portal even if I wanted to, not in this state. But there is nowhere that staff is more dangerous than in your hands, so under the circumstances, I'll take the chance. I have many Seekers, scouring Equestria. They'll find it. I can even help them look. But for you, it's gone forever. Just give up, Starlight! This community of yours can't live like this!" Her eyes flickered to where Trixie was still struggling against her guards, though more feebly now, and she added softly, "Let her go. Let all of them go. You're done."

Starlight released Twilight's mane and stepped back. The constant pressure on the back of Twilight's head didn't slacken for an instant; other ponies took up grips on her mane. In strangely calm, conversational tones, the other mare asked, "Would you like to know where I found that staff?"

Trying to clear her head of the fog that swirled through it, Twilight did her best to shrug, as if nothing Starlight had to say could conceivably interest her. A lie, obviously; the more she knew about Starlight's former weapon, the easier it would be to pick apart its effects and reverse them. She wanted to know, desperately.

"It doesn't matter," Twilight declared more softly. "It's gone."

"I think it does. Your problem, Twilight Sparkle, is that you never actually listen. You think you're too good for that. Well? Are you listening?"

A ring of silence was spreading out through the crowd. Starlight didn't appear to notice, or care, focused on Twilight alone, an ugly, savage smile curling her lips.

Starlight spoke into that silence, with a sudden, unrestrained flash of pure malignance. "It was an old stick I found in the desert. That's all. That's what you've so proudly managed to take from me."

Twilight blinked; then frowned. "You stumbled across it? I wondered whether you were searching for it, or-"

"No, you idiot pony," sneered Starlight, her expression filled with gloating triumph. Speaking slowly, as though to a foal, she repeated, "It - was - a - stick. No power. No special hidden sorcery. A dead tree branch. Just how simple do I have to make this before it gets through that addled head of yours? It was never the staff. It was me. Always. My special power. So, dear Princess - I'll be taking your cutie mark now."

Starlight's horn lit up.

No more options.

A wild, barely-controlled flare of magic erupted from Twilight, blowing Starlight off her feet and sending the ponies tumbling backwards as though caught in a sudden gale, with a chorus of shocked, panicked cries. Twilight shrieked as desperately grasping hands tore at her mane and tail before they lost their grip, leaving her fighting back the cracking pain that flared in her head and threatened to black out her vision as she exerted herself. It was all she could do to rein in her power, desperately afraid of accidentally hurting somepony, fighting down her flaring, surging sorcery.

Coughing, wiping the palm of her hand over her tunic before rubbing her burning eyes, she struggled to focus. Ponies were strewn everywhere, groaning, shakily trying to rise. Starlight was on her back, scrabbling backwards with a look of pure hatred on her face, fumbling at her satchel one-handed as she snatched a jagged rock from the ground.

Sucking in a deep breath, trying to clear her mind enough to construct the shining complexity of the charm once more, Twilight's horn began to sweep through the pattern.

"Stop!" Starlight screamed. "Stop or I'll smash it!"

Twilight faltered, just for an instant.

Ripping the top of the satchel open, Starlight yanked a plain glass jar out, holding it up. Perhaps it had once held jam, or something similar; it had been washed clean, but there was string around the neck of it that would have once borne a hand-written label. It looked very small, very ordinary in Starlight's hands.

Trixie's cutie mark shimmered within it, twisting and sparkling like a captive rainbow. Magic radiated from it as it spun, etching an echo in the air. It seemed to be brighter than ordinary colours could describe, more vivid with promise and potential. Everything that made a pony special, unique, wrapped up in a simple symbol that glowed with its own inner radiance. To see it stolen, disembodied, caged that way was profoundly, viscerally wrong. Twilight reeled.

Lunging forward against the restraining grip on her arms, Trixie managed to twist her head free of the hand over her mouth, shrieking, "Give it back! Give it back, give it back!"

"I'll smash it!" vowed Starlight, panting raggedly. "I'll smash it and her precious cutie mark will be gone forever! Is that what you want? Point your horn away from me! Right now!"

"You wouldn't," whispered a thin, hoarse voice. It took a second for Twilight to recognise it as her own.

"I wouldn't?" snarled Starlight, raising the jagged rock. "Of course I would! What do you think this has all been about?"

Twilight bit her lip, a sickening, dizzying surge of fear flooding her. It would take only seconds to cast the charm. Starlight was standing stock still, not dodging, with nopony in the way. If she cast it, this very instant, the crazed pony would be defeated before she could even protest.

But not before she could bring down the rock and break the jar, mutilating Trixie forever.

Twilight's lips worked soundlessly, then she swallowed, and tried again. Turning her head away from Starlight - and away from Trixie, so she didn't have to see the expression on her face - Twilight whispered, "You don't get to win like this, Starlight. Even if you capture me, it doesn't mean you've won."

"Maybe it doesn't," Starlight said, straightening up. She held the jar high, a mere slackening of her fingers all that it would take for it to tumble free and smash against the rocky ground. "No, I think that winning is going to be when you join us. And you will. But for now, taking your cutie mark will do nicely. I've never taken an alicorn's cutie mark before. I wonder what it will feel like?"

Bitter ash filled Twilight's mouth, the landscape swaying around her with hallucinatory unease. It all felt unreal; she couldn't think straight, couldn't believe this might be happening. There was no way she was about to lose her cutie mark. She couldn't look at Trixie, couldn't bear to see the look on her face as her apprentice realised she'd lost.

But her treacherous eyes flicked towards her anyway, and saw.

Trixie was motionless, wide-eyed, her own gaze flashing between the jar in Starlight's hand and Twilight herself, her whole body radiating the same desperation that Twilight knew she herself was, the need for this not to be happening.

"Hold her," Starlight commanded.

Nopony moved. Silence hung in the air for a moment, long enough for Starlight's expression to slowly change. Her brows drew down, and her lips drew back from her teeth. Sharply, she snapped, "I said, hold her!"

Tentative, uncertain hands took hold of Twilight, gripping her more and more tightly as ponies surrounded her, pulling her arms behind her back and her horn upwards towards the sky. Twilight tensed, straining against them, but as Starlight jerked the jar meaningfully, Twilight bit back the futile words crowding for her tongue, and forced herself to stop fighting back.

"You - you've still got your magic, Starlight," Twilight managed to push out. "You're lying to them, manipulating them, ruling them. You're not equal."

"I am the bringer of Equality, Princess!" Starlight snapped, then added forcefully, "You can stop talking now; I'm really not interested in anything you have to say. I've heard about you. You're everything that we have freed ourselves from; born unequal, with a cutie mark that made everything so easy for you, having your hand held by royalty, and now they've even made you one of them. All that power and wealth and fame, when real ponies like us are still grubbing in the dirt, struggling to make ends meet. The way you've taught your apprentice to refer to you makes me sick! When you're one of us, you'll see how unfair it was that you existed at all. You're going to be our ambassador, to help Equalise the whole of Equestria! Especially the royalty."

"I won't ever help you. It doesn't matter what you do to me; Celestia will stop you," Twilight panted.

"You will. I won't break your precious servant's jar as long as you cooperate, but there's nothing stopping me from breaking yours once I have it. You'll do as you're told. And if Celestia thinks as much of you as you think, she will too."

The image of Celestia, grey and tired looking with a flatly blank equals sign marking her thigh flashed before Twilight's eyes, and she shuddered. She couldn't let herself be used that way! Desperately, she hunted for some way out, something she'd missed. The first sign of magic from her would doom Trixie. Blasting everypony off her would probably break the jar as well; it was a miracle it hadn't done so the first time. There was nothing she could do! There was always something she could do, wasn't there? She wasn't going to lose like this! She couldn't!

Starlight theatrically let the jar slip from her fingers, landing in her other hand. Despite herself, Twilight flinched, then lowered her head as Starlight hissed, "I'm getting bored."

Celestia, please... "Just - don't hurt Trixie, I'll - I'll cooperate," Twilight stuttered out, the roaring in her ears swelling again.

"No!" cried out Trixie, her voice anguished, heart-wrenching. "Don't let her! It - it's okay! Fight her! Trixie will be okay! Please! Don't just let this happen!"

"I'm sorry, Trixie," whispered Twilight hoarsely, looking down at the ground. "I won't let her take your cutie mark from you, not forever. We'll find a way, I promise you. But you have to be strong for a while longer, okay?" Lifting her head, she suddenly snapped at Starlight, brittle hysteria gleaming on the edges of her words, "If you're going to do it, then do it!"

"Yes. I think I will."

Starlight lifted her head, and a shimmering cyan glow swirled around her horn, building in intensity, before flashing across the gap that separated them. A solid beam struck Twilight like a hammer to her chest, smearing over her, coating and permeating her. Coldness wrapped Twilight's body, cutting off the heat of the morning sun, the cruel magic clawing and prying deeper and deeper into her. Flashes of electric purple-white light crackled over her body, her limbs twitching spasmodically as randomised magic filled the air and grounded across her skin. She could feel an agonising tugging and wrenching deep inside her, her horn growing numb and cold as magic bled out of her. Her cutie mark fluttered against her flank.

"No, no, Mistress no!" Trixie begged, "Stop! Stop it!"

"S-stop it, Starlight!" broke in a new voice.

Twilight barely heard the words. All that she was aware of was a shape, a grey-blue stallion, interposing himself between her and Starlight. The torturous cyan magic splashed over him aimlessly, breaking the connection between the two mares, and Twilight sagged bonelessly with a jerky cry as her cutie mark snapped back into place.

Starlight's voice was a growl of pure fury. "Party Favor. Just what do you think you're doing?"

"This isn't right, Starlight! You - you're not trying to help these ponies! Look at what you're doing! Can't you see this is wrong? And - and she's right! You were using your own magic all along? You lied to us!"

Her voice taking on an acidic sweetness, Starlight spoke more slowly, in a calm, excessively reasonable tone. "I've only done what I needed to. I couldn't remove your cutie marks without my own magic, could I. She is the problem. She wants to ruin our entire way of life! No pony asked her to come here! Step aside, and let me handle this."

A strong hand took hold of Twilight's arm, and jerked her fully upright. Her wide, frightened eyes met the hard, orange-brown stare of Burdock.

"Where is Lime Fizz?" he demanded. "What did you do to her?"

"-yes!" interjected Starlight, seizing the moment. Shoving Party Favor aside with her free hand, she stepped forward, Trixie's captive cutie mark held high. "She foalnapped Lime Fizz, and Sugar Belle! And she won't confess where they are! She cast a spell on you all to force you to fight each other! She is the enemy of harmony! Her magic is dangerous! Everything I told you about her is true!"

Twilight gasped as the stallion shook her, her body quivering with exhaustion and shock. "She's safe!" she panted. "They're both safe, I had to leave them outside the town, but they're safe."

Burdock looked over at Starlight, then back at Twilight, an expression of terrible indecision coming over his face. "...did you hurt her?" he demanded.

Twilight opened her mouth, then closed it again, the hands restraining her almost the only thing left keeping her upright. She could lie. It would be so easy to lie. It was what he needed to hear.

She couldn't.

His hand tightening into a fist, Burdock shook Twilight again. "You did! You abandoned us here, and you turned on us! You deserve-"

"We - turned on her - first, Burdock."

With a tottering, exhausted stagger, Lime Fizz limped around the corner of the end-row building, behind Starlight. She looked tired, grey, gritty with windblown dust, and she was walking oddly.

"Lime, no!" burst out Twilight, her voice scratchy. "I told you that you weren't fit for travel!"

"I told you that I – could help, Princess." Lime Fizz panted, a sheen of sweat glistening on her forehead. Turning her gaze to Burdock, she panted, "Everything Starlight said – she hurt us, Rock. Please. Help the Princess."

Burdock's hand fell away from Twilight's arm, and he took a step towards Lime Fizz, then another, the scrape of his boots on the dirt the only sound. "I – Lime!"

"Help her," gasped Twilight. "Somepony! She needs treatment, she's sunburned, and – heat exhaustion, and she's probably – probably hurt her legs-" Lime had used the dial to turn the pain off completely, Twilight could tell, trying to walk normally on legs that were too sore to move smoothly. She'd warned Lime she'd only hurt herself! Abruptly, the hands holding Twilight let go of her, and she staggered, nearly falling. Townsfolk streamed around her, reaching out for the injured mare.

"Stop!" bellowed Starlight, her face distorted with fury. "She doesn't tell us what to do! Stop!"

Some of the townsfolk stopped. Several more didn't. A dark, mint-green pony caught Lime in her arms and steadied her, her expression shifting from concern to anger. "Starlight! I can't treat this pony without my cutie mark. I told you this would happen! Give it back!"

"And I told you that we'd care for each other, communally. We will look after her together. That is what equality means, Mint Balm, as you well know," snapped Starlight, keeping her eyes on Twilight.

"What if that isn't enough, Starlight?" Mint Balm demanded. She was an older mare, dignified in her anger.

"We all have to make sacrifices for the common good! She came here to spy on us anyway; she isn't really one of us."

Lime Fizz lifted her head, and managed, "Sugar Belle is - out in the plains, she needs help - as well."

"Are you going to tell us that she has to make sacrifices too?" Mint Balm snapped. "Starlight, you told us all that we could change our minds if we wanted to, and I have. Give me my cutie mark!"

"Cutie marks are evil! I told you that!" snarled Starlight, twisting towards the former doctor, her knuckles white where she gripped the jar. "You all agreed!"

"…no, no we didn't," protested the young stallion from before, the one she'd addressed as Party Favor. "Not all of us. Some of us just… didn't disagree loudly enough. I miss mine! All this, losing everything that made us special, everypony trying to act the same – it's not what I wanted. It's not what you promised us!"

A tall, pure white stallion emerged from the crowd. Double Diamond, the first pony Twilight had spoken to in the whole village. She tensed, forcing herself to straighten up into a defensive position. She could feel every pony's eyes turning to him, looking for some kind of guidance.

"If she's going to have her cutie mark back - I want my cutie mark back too!" he shouted.

A massed roar broke out as the townsfolk began talking and shouting as one, though the dozens of overlapping voices carried the same, single theme. All of them wanted their marks back. The two stallions gripping Trixie looked at her, then each other, and let go. Trixie staggered, then threw herself forward towards Twilight and Starlight, only to come to a dead stop as Starlight threateningly lifted the jar over her head with both hands.

Twilight drew herself upright and stepped forward, flapping her aching wings once. Dust swirled around her feet. "Give it to me, Starlight!" she demanded over the medley of angry voices. "End this!"

"QUIET!" howled Starlight at the top of her lungs, silencing the crowd. Teeth bared, her chest heaving, she gazed around them all with poison in her eyes. "I will not let you backslide! Not now! You are going to all be quiet, go to your homes, and stay there. I am dealing with this!"

"You're a tyrant, Starlight," Twilight said quietly, into the silence. Her throat was raw, her voice thin. "You'll never rule them again. Not now that they see you for what you are. You were never, ever going to give them back what you took from them."

"No pony gets a choice!" snapped Starlight. "I didn't want to do this, but as it seems to motivate you so well, your precious Trixie's cutie mark isn't the only one I can break! Everypony, go inside and stay there!"

"...no! I'm not gonna!" yelled a dark blue pegasus, flapping up into the air. Despite the sluggishness that seemed to infect all of the town's fliers, she swooped down towards Starlight, hands outstretched for the jar. "Give it!"

Twilight's eyes snapped wide as the descending pegasus grabbed at the jar, and Party Favor twisted around to help try to wrest it from Starlight's grip. Her whole body felt as though it was mired in treacle, her bones filled with lead, everything taking place far away down a shrinking, dark tunnel. Her magic flaring and flashing, she watched in the slow-motion of horror as Starlight's grip slipped, and the jar fell loose, tumbling towards the ground.

"No!" cried out Twilight, Trixie and Starlight in unison.

The jar struck the ground, smashing into a thousand pieces.

Trixie's cutie mark hung in the air for an instant, unsupported. Then, like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, a brilliant glow burst into life around it. The mark surged into the air, shining like a celestial comet, then streaked towards Trixie, leaving a trail of glorious light behind it. The showmare gasped as she was lifted up into the air, her body beginning to glow in sympathy with the ball of light orbiting around her, and then, at last, the orbit of her mark tightened and tightened until it slammed into her.

A pulse of light erupted outwards, etching shadows across the ground that briefly outshone the sun, white, then pale blue.

Trixie's feet settled lightly back to the ground. She was radiant, her skin bright and clear blue, her mutilated mane restored to its natural flowing curls. Everything about her seemed more intense than before; she stood straighter, hands clenched into fists, her eyes blazing.

She was furious.

"You dared oppose the Great and Powerful, the Mighty and Magnificent Trixie?!" she roared.

"No, no, no!" cursed Starlight, backing up a step, her teeth bared.

"...you knew," whispered Twilight, barely able to stand as the wash of relief broke over her. Incredulous, almost speechless, she took a wobbly step forward. "You knew what would happen if you broke the jar. Which means you've tried this before, tried to destroy a cutie mark before. And you can't."

"Shut up!" snapped Starlight, taking another step backwards. "I'll find a way to do it, I'll-"

A whipping curl of rope snapped around her ankles, in a haze of magic. A sheet of green fabric tangled her legs, trying to pin her arms, as an awning disassembled itself and curled around her.

"Not another word to Trixie's Princess! Not one more! You don't have the right!" shouted Trixie, her hands clenched into fists by her side.

Furiously casting cancellation charms, Starlight struggled free as the rope and canvas fell limp. "Don't think I can't take your cutie mark again! I'll-" She was cut off as a glowing lock spell snapped around her ankles, and she almost fell. Twisting around to dispel it, she was caught broadside by another locking spell, and another, pinning her arms. With another wave of Trixie's horn, the awning re-animated, coiling around Starlight and pulling her to the ground. "Let me go!" she raged, her telekinesis yanking and tearing at the tough fabric. "Release me this instant! Help me, you traitors! Don't you - don't you dare abandon me again!"

Limping forward, Twilight ignored Starlight's furiously spat words, barely seeing her at all. All she had to do was concentrate on the charm. The shining pattern formed in her mind, clean, pure, touched by Celestia's hand. The first charm. Drawing her horn through the air in shudderingly careful movements, gripping her magic with iron discipline as it threatened to overflow, she cast the spell. It sank into Starlight, the merest flicker in the air, all-but invisible in the sunlight.

"Trixie," Twilight managed huskily, "gag her."

"Anything for you! Watch the stupendously powerful and shockingly skilled Trixie leap to your every word!" Trixie declared joyously.

"That is everything that is wrong with-mmmfh!" Starlight snarled from the floor, then was stifled as the rope wrapped over her mouth, parting her lips and reducing the rest of her tirade to muffled sounds of fury.

Twilight took a step towards her, then another. Trixie was speaking, and the townsfolk were shouting and her ears were roaring, and it all blended together into an indecipherable thunder that shook her to her very bones. The world was very far away, like looking down the wrong end of a telescope, and her joints seemed only loosely fastened, wobbling and shaking. She dropped to her knees beside the bound, struggling mare, and spoke a single word.

"Awaken."

The mare's struggling stopped.

That was okay, then.

Twilight slumped sideways, unconscious before she hit the ground.

Author's Notes:

I've done my best to stick to Starlight's show canon, here, fleshing it out where I needed to. Thankfully, before she became Twilight's student, she had a massively more restricted range of powers. She's a master manipulator, though, and she nailed Trixie's deepest insecurities.

Little jokes from chapter 15:
Twilight's alias is an amalgam of Dewdrop, and the Dewey Decimal system for organising libraries.
Twilight is paper, Lime is scissors. Lime was always going to overpower Twilight. Spoiler-joke!

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Proofed by the speedy Djmill
Suggestions by the indefatigable DbzOrDie