The day had started off normally enough. Spike had prepared breakfast, Moon Dancer was working on her magical endurance, and Duskfall was ramming her head against a wall.

“You’re going to hurt yourself if you keep doing that,” Moon Dancer remarked.

“I’m an Alicorn. Anything I do to myself will heal,” Duskfall replied stubbornly.

“That is a very unhealthy way of looking at it,” Moon Dancer noted.

“I’m just trying to think of a way to-”

“To get Tom and Twilight back, I know,” Moon Dancer interrupted her.

Truthfully, Duskfall had an idea already fermenting in the back of her mind. If getting Tom and Twilight back was beyond the means of even Discord, then it only made sense to escalate the problem to a higher authority. The problem with that was the barrier Discord and the Tree had erected around Equuis.

So her idea was to circumvent that barrier on a night that might have very strong connections to a greater power. Thanks to Tom’s knowledge on myths and legends, she even had a date picked out: The Winter Solstice. If anyone could help, it would be someone related to something as all encompassing as Death, right? It was certainly possible she’d wind up with someone related to Life, given that the Winter Solstice was also associated with Rebirth, but without knowing the Pony equivalent Samhain it was the closest she could get.

Of course, she wasn’t going to tell anyone her plans. They’d almost certainly try and stop her from getting in contact with a higher being and that was absolutely unacceptable. Dusk didn’t care how dangerous it was, she’d still do it!

Well, she’d still be looking into other means of bringing back Twilight and Tom, but it was always nice to have a backup plan. Even if it was slightly extreme. No risk was too great in completing Duskfall’s mission!

Duskfall’s brain bashing was interrupted by the table in the middle of the room suddenly flashing to life. What looked to be a holographic representation of Equestria appeared and mini icons of the Element’s Cutie Marks floating around a small town out in the middle of nowhere. A moment later and Dusk felt a tingling around Twilight’s Cutie Mark.

“That’s new,” Moon Dancer deadpanned as she, Spike, and Dusk all looked at the pulsating Cutie Mark.

“If this is more of the Tree’s fuckery I want nothing to do with it,” Duskfall said sourly.

“I don’t know how much choice in the matter you have, Duskfall,” Suddenly Discord appeared in a flock of flaming doves.

“And why can’t I just tell the Tree to take a long walk off a short pier?” Duskfall just knew she wasn’t going to like the answer.

“Since her last scheme to orchestrate the lives of mortals failed so spectacularly, she’s been sulking,” Discord revealed.

“Two people die because of her and she’s SULKING?!” Duskfall screamed. Discord shrugged.

“This is her attempt at being more direct. Apparently there’s some kind of trouble brewing in that town right there that if left unchecked could, and I quote, ‘Threaten the stability and Harmony of all of Equuis for generations to come’.” Discord rolled his shoulders sarcastically.

“Can’t you pop in and deal with it? It’d be a nice way to get your groove back after that incident with Tirek,” Duskfall remarked. Discord laughed.

“While you are right in that I need to redeem myself for getting tricked, I’m afraid I’ll have to pass on this one. The Tree is already in a sour enough mood and I’d rather not start a real fight with her. Last time we properly fought things got…messy. Besides, even if that weren’t the case, if I did every little thing for you, how would you ever grow?” Discord asked.

“You make excellent points. Damn the Tree and her vague, non-specific portents of doom,” Duskfall grumbled.

“I think since only the Element’s Cutie Marks are displayed that means the Tree only wants the six of you to go,” Moon Dancer noted. Suddenly there was confetti and streamers everywhere.

“Give the girl a prize! She’s absolutely right!” Discord cheered. Just then the rest of the Elements came into the room.

“Uh, so does anyone know why my butt is glowing?” Rainbow asked.

“Apparently the Tree of Harmony is summoning us on some kind of mission to keep Equuis safe,” Rainbow opened her mouth angrily, but Duskfall cut her off, “I’m not happy with accepting quests from the Tree either, but if the world really is in danger…again…then we have to do something.”

“I think given everything that’s happened to you, you’re completely excused from having to save the world,” Rarity remarked.

“Your words are appreciated, Rares, but neither Tom nor Twilight would shirk their duty and neither will I. Come on, let’s see about travel methods,” Duskfall sighed.

As it turned out, the fastest method of getting to the asscrack of nowhere was by taking the train to the very end of the line. Once they had disembarked they still had to walk two hours to finally reach the town the Tree had sent them too.

The town looked almost like some kind of prison camp to Duskfall’s eyes. There were two identical rows of houses and a single lone house at one end.

“I swear to God if the Tree sent us out here to deal with a prison break I’m going to chop it down myself!” Dusk growled.

“I would be most agreeable to helping you, Darling. The trek here was not kind,” Rarity complained.

“Maybe we should save threats against extremely powerful beings until we actually know why we’re here?” Fluttershy suggested.

“Bah, if she were all that and a bag of chips, she’d be out here herself dealing with this mess,” Duskfall sulked, but otherwise didn’t argue with Fluttershy.

The group cautiously approached the town, with Pinkie leading the way in full ‘spy master’ mode. Duskfall found it utterly adorable, once she got over the panic of seeing Pinkie squashed beneath a boulder.

“This is where the Map sent us? It isn’t even a prison town. What possible world ending threats could there be here?” Rainbow questioned.

“It looks like just a bunch o’ folks goin’ about their business,” Applejack agreed.

“Well, this place is certainly a crime against fabulosity. The architecture is so painfully drab. Every house is the same!” Rarity complained, “At least the apartment buildings in Manehatten have some personality. They also aren’t the only type of building in the entire city.”

Duskfall thought about making a comment about Human Suburbia, but wisely chose not to get into it.

“I think it’s lovely,” Fluttershy opined.

“I don’t like it! I don’t like it one bit!” Pinkie declared, “I know smiles, and the smiles those ponies are wearing? They’re more like Twilight Freak Out smiles than any natural smile!”

“Forget the smiles, look at the Cutie Marks!” Duskfall pointed and the others all noticed that everyone’s Cutie Mark was an equal sign.

“OK, suddenly the Map sending us here makes a whole lot more sense. Something is seriously wrong here,” Rainbow was very much weirded out.

“Do ya’ll think it’s some kinda Cutie Mark eatin’ monster?!” Applejack cried. Everyone else turned to look at her funny, “What? It could happen.”

“And people accuse me of being random!” Pinkie huffed.

“You are random, Pinkie,” Rainbow pointed out.

“Aw, you say the sweetest things, Dashie!” Pinkie chirped.

“I don’t think we’re going to learn much more by just standing here. Let’s meet the Stepford Wives,” Now they were all looking at Duskfall funny, “Human thing, don’t worry about it.” They shrugged and headed into town.

As soon as they walked into town they were greeted by just about everyone saying ‘welcome’ in a happy near monotone. Even the kids were doing it!

“This must be the most pleasant place in Equestria,” Fluttershy sighed happily.

“If by ‘pleasant’ you mean ‘fucking creepy’ then yes, I agree,” Duskfall quipped sarcastically.

“Welcome!” Another Unicorn stallion greeted, “Pardon my forwardness, but are you an Alicorn?” He asked of Duskfall.

“I am,” Dusk replied.

“She’s the Princess of Friendship, Duskfall Sparkle!” Applejack added.

“Oh, well you’ve come to the right place if you’re looking for friendship,” Dusk shuttered at the almost sexual way he said the word.

“What brings you to Our Town?” An Earth Pony stallion asked.

“We’re not entirely sure,” Duskfall admitted, ‘Although I have an idea’ went unsaid.

“I see, well all are welcome in Our Town!” He said overly cheerfully, “My name is Double Diamond and this is Party Favor.” He introduced himself and the Unicorn.

“Uh, well we’re Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. I already introduced Duskfall,” Applejack replied.

“And you all have your unique Cutie Marks,” Double Diamond said as he inspected their flanks more closely than necessary.

“Have you had any troubles recently?” Dusk asked, fighting an instinct to smack Double Diamond in the face.

“Oh, well, I don’t think we’ve ever had any troubles in Our Town,” Double Diamond replied.

“It’s true! You’ll see,” Duskfall was really starting to hate the way Party Favor spoke.

“Maybe you’d like to meet our founder, Starlight Glimmer?” Double Diamond suggested. The Elements all had to fight a case of the giggles. Who knew Starlight Glimmer was the name of a real pony? Duskfall resolved to tell Cadence about it when this was all over.

Although, given the way most, if not all the villagers were following them, that might be harder than Duskfall would like. The group entered the house that was sitting at the end of Our Town.

“Starlight, we have visitors!” Double Diamond called out.

“Be ready to fight,” Dash hissed to her friends, “We don’t know what will come out that door!”

The door opened and out came a surprisingly normal looking Unicorn mare. Duskfall idly thought she was rather attractive looking and her voice, when she greeted them, was a welcome change to the happy monotone the rest of the villagers used. Double Diamond introduced the group to Starlight.

“Excuse me, but I’m assuming you’re a princess?” Starlight asked Duskfall eagerly.

“Princess of Friendship, that’s me,” Dusk lied, “But just Duskfall or Dusk is just fine.”

“We don’t get many Alicorns out here,” Starlight noted. “So! How did you hear of our little village?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Dusk answered.

“Try me,” Starlight requested.

“An uppity Tree with no regard for mortal life told us there was some kind of trouble afoot here and we were needed to take care of it,” Dusk replied bluntly.

“Alicorns truly do live a life apart from the common pony,” Starlight quipped, “Well, as you can see, nothing is wrong here! You’re all welcome to stay as long as you like. We’re always welcoming to anyone who wants to experience true friendship!”

“If you’re having town wide orgies, you don’t need to use the euphemism,” Dash commented.

“RAINBOW DASH!” Fluttershy squeaked, scandalized.

“I didn’t even know you knew the meaning of the word ‘euphemism’,” Duskfall snarked.

“I’ve been reading more than Daring Do…” Rainbow pouted.

“No euphemism here, just true, pure friendship, just as it was always meant to be!” Starlight beamed.

“And just what does this ‘true, pure friendship’ look like?” Applejack asked skeptically.

“That’s what makes Our Town so special! Instead of flaunting our Special Talents, we simply don’t have them in the first place!” Starlight explained gleefully.

“Is that why you all have the same Cutie Mark?” Duskfall inquired.

“Maybe it’ll be easier to show you if I gave you a tour of Our Town,” Starlight suggested and launched directly into a Heartsong.

“Fuck, they’re all damn dirty commies,” Duskfall snarked.

“Say wut now?” Applejack asked as she watched the parade.

“Human socio/political/economic ideology. Also it isn’t accurate of me to say. This little cult is spitting the face of many communistic values, but I couldn’t help but make the joke when they’re all goose stepping like that,” Duskfall explained.

“Uh, alright then,” Applejack didn’t know what Dusk was rambling on about and didn’t particularly care. The song was creepy enough on its own, even if Fluttershy seemed to enjoy it for some reason.

Pinkie, on the other hoof, looked like they were insulting her grandmother. The sheer loathing rolling off Pinkie shocked her friends. When the song ended, Rainbow burst into laughter, but Fluttershy quickly scolded her.

“You shouldn’t buy what they’re selling, Flutter Butter, those are the smiles of pain and suffering!” Pinkie shouted.

“So what exactly is your goal here, Starlight?” Duskfall asked.

“No goal,” And Duskfall was Discord’s uncle, “Each of us was once confused, blinded by the false promise of our Cutie Marks.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, is she for real?” Rainbow asked.

“True friendship can only be found when we are all equal!” Starlight firmly stated, “Maybe you were sent here by that Tree you spoke of so we could help you?”

Duskfall needed to know more. Without knowing if there was mind control at play, what method of mind control if so, and how they had made all their Cutie Marks the same, it was too soon to act.

“Well, think it over. In the mean time, Double Diamond will take care of your needs. Won’t you, Double Diamond?” Starlight ‘asked’ the Earth Pony.

“Of course, Starlight!” Double Diamond exclaimed as Starlight walked away.

How was this possible? A Cutie Mark is a physical echo of a Pony’s Soul. It shows what that Soul is best at, their talents and skills and passions. How could anyone just change it?” It had taken the full power of the Elements of Harmony to swap around Cutie Marks the day before Twilight had ascended. The Tree was right to send them if whatever was going on matched the power of the Elements.

Duskfall was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn’t even notice Sugar Belle placing a number of overcooked muffins on the table, nor Pinkie force feeding her one. At least not until the taste registered.

“EW! What the fuck are you feeding me Pinkie?!” Duskfall cried out while trying to get the taste off her tongue.

“Muffins,” Pinkie claimed.

“I’ve tasted cement that is more palatable,” She wasn’t even exaggerating. Tom had once licked wet cement on a dare when he was 10. Pinkie ate one of the abominations herself.

“It’s not that- BLEG!” Pinkie spat out the ‘muffin’ before putting on a fake smile, “Er…yummy?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m not a very good baker. At least, not better than anyone else in Our Town. Is your friendship ending? You seemed very upset just now,” Sugar Belle inquired.

“Why would our friendship end just because Pinkie force fed me? Usually when she does that, it’s with her own baking. Everyone is bound to make a mistake sooner or later,” Dusk waved it off.

“You mean that overbearing, conflicting, different personality isn’t destroying your friendship?” Sugar Belle asked with great confusion.

“It isn’t overbearing when I do legitimately forget to eat and Pinkie is kind enough to force food down my unwilling throat. Friendship is about harmonizing the differences between us, not forcing us all to play a single note over and over.” Twilight had been saving that line for months. Dusk felt a little bad about stealing it, but it was a great line. Sugar Belle still looked confused as she went to reenter her bakery.

“Come inside before you go! Meet me downstairs!” Sugar Belle hissed at them before ducking inside with a panicked expression.

“OK, that was pretty weird,” Rainbow commented.

“At least that lowers the likelihood of it being mind control. Just your regular fanatical cult, I guess. Even if they do have some serious power backing them up,” Duskfall observed.

“We’d better see what’s what. If anyone wants out of this crazy farm, we gotta help ‘em,” Applejack said resolutely.

“But how do we meet with Sugar Belle without raising suspicion?” Rarity wondered.

“I think we need Pinkie to eat all these muffins,” Applejack replied calmly.

“WHAT?! Why me?” Pinkie whined. Dusk, having eaten the muffins, sympathized with her.

“Ya’ll have the strongest stomach of any of us. Iffen Spike was here, that might be a different story. He did eat those baked bads, after all,” Applejack shrugged helplessly. Pinkie whimpered like a kicked puppy, but ultimately started eating. Duskfall couldn’t bare seeing Pinkie suffer like that alone, so she steeled her nerves and started eating as well.

“Ah can’t believe the two of you ate all our muffins!” Applejack pretended to be outraged once the pair had polished off the last muffin. Both mares were green in the face and ready to puke at the slightest provocation, “We’d best go inside and get some more!”

The group entered the bakery and quickly found the stairs to the basement.

“One of you is gonna have to do the talking. I don’t trust myself to open my mouth,” Dusk warned quickly as she felt some of the muffins rising in her throat.

“Sugar Belle?” Rarity called out into the darkness. The mare stepped out of the shadows.

“Thank you for coming,” The mare said.

“Why’d ya’ll want to see us down here?” Applejack asked.

“So nopony could see what’s about to happen,” Sugar Belle said sinisterly.

“WE’RE GONNA GET CUPCAKE’D!” Pinkie screamed in terror. Two more ponies appeared from the shadows. One was Party Favor and the other was an unknown Pegasus mare. Everyone tensed for a fight.

“Are you really the Princess of Friendship?!” Party Favor asked in a normal sounding voice.

“Do you know Princess Celestia?!” The Pegasus questioned.

“I love your Cutie Mark!” Sugar Belle gushed over Pinkie.

“How can you be friends with different Cutie Marks?!” The Pegasus asked eagerly, “Don’t you end up hating each other?”

“Oh, look at this one! This one’s great too!” Sugar Belle swooned over Fluttershy’s Cutie Mark, “I’d love to have my Special Talent back, even for a single day! I used to be able to make more than those disgusting muffin shaped travesties.”

“Is there something stopping you from taking your Cutie Marks back?” Rainbow asked.

“Daydreaming is one thing,” Party Favor began, “But you mean actually having it put back on? That seems extreme…”

“If having your own Cutie Mark is extreme, then you don’t want to know anything about my worldview,” Duskfall couldn’t help but snark before feeling queasy again. She made a note to herself to learn a nausea relieving spell.

“I’m not sure Starlight would like that. She wants us all to be happy in our sameness,” Sugar Belle demurred.

“Darling, how did Starlight take your Cutie Marks in the first place?” Rarity asked the question Duskfall had been dying to ask.

“The Cutie Unmarking is a beautiful experience!” The Pegasus said happily, “Starlight uses the Staff of Sameness to magically take them away and replace them with these Cutie Marks.”

Dusk was torn. On the one hand, ‘Staff of Sameness’? Really? On the other hand, it was Equuis. If anyone had thought of naming such a powerful artifact something so dumb, it would be someone on Equuis. Or a campy Saturday morning cartoon. Or Discord if he was feeling supremely unoriginal.

“Nobody should take your Cutie Mark away from you!” Rainbow insisted.

“Oh, it’s not like they’re kept prisoner or anything,” Party Favor clarified.

“They’re up in the Vault, in a cave overlooking Our Town,” The Pegasus told them, “We can visit them any time we like to remind us of the heartache of a life with Special Talents.”

The Elements all had the same thought. They needed to see this cave for themselves. So they got Starlight to lead the way and fortunately in that time Duskfall and Pinkie’s stomachs had settled down.

“I’m delighted you’re interested in our Cutie Vault!” Starlight said happily as she led them toward the cave. Duskfall wanted to snark about that name too, but restrained herself. At least this name she could blame Starlight for with some certainty, “We hope someday everypony in Equestria will make a pilgrimage here to Our Town to have their Cutie Marks removed too!”

Duskfall was rather forcefully reminded of a certain cartoon Tom had watched as a child. ‘You’re messing with the Order! You don’t go messing with the Order! EAT ME!’ It was a strange cartoon. It doesn’t change the fact that Starlight Glimmer was certainly messing with the Natural Order. The feeling of existential dread she was feeling was almost entirely Twilight’s fault for reading Horror late at night when she was a filly.

Fluttershy had her own thoughts on the matter. On the surface level, she thought it was absolutely lovely that everyone seemed to get along and there was no strife. But Fluttershy took care of many critters for a living. Even when the skunks and the otters got into fights that didn’t mean Fluttershy should remove the skunk’s spray glands or remove the otter’s teeth. Those were things that were used in conflict, yes, but they were also simply a part of who that animal was. Diversity, even when it brings conflict, should be nurtured. If all there were was predators, who would they eat? If all there was were prey, then their population would quickly grow out of control.

It was frustrating to Fluttershy. It was a seemingly perfect society only achievable by taking away something of the utmost importance to them, even if they didn’t realize that themselves. Fluttershy still remembered what had happened when that spell had swapped her Cutie Mark for Pinkie’s. She had been utterly miserable but had no idea why. If simply swapping Cutie Marks could do that, then what about taking them away wholesale? Pinkie was right. The smiles of the villagers were fakes and most of their eyes spoke of torment.

Before Fluttershy could continue her thoughts, they arrived at the Cutie Vault. It was jaw dropping to say the least. There were dozens of rows of Cutie Marks, just floating inside glass compartments. Some primal part of Fluttershy found the sight horrifying.

“And here we have the Staff of Sameness! It was one of the Great Mage Meadowbrook's nine enchanted items!” Starlight proudly displayed the artifact. That instantly set off red flags in Dusk’s mind. Meadowbrook only enchanted eight items! As one of the only Earth Pony enchantresses, Twilight had written a report for history class on her once! In typical Twilight fashion, she had exhausted every revenue of information before the report. So where did this Staff of Sameness come from?

“I’m curious, who mentioned the Cutie Vault to you?” Starlight asked.

“We wanted to know how their Cutie Marks had been changed. They told us that they hadn’t been changed, just removed, which led to a mention of the Cutie Vault,” Duskfall replied smoothly.

“I see…such a strong sense of…curiosity,” Starlight lingered on the word like it was coated in honey, “Haven’t you ever heard the saying ‘curiosity killed the cat’?”

“But satisfaction brought it back!” Pinkie instantly countered.

“Regardless, that curiosity is dangerous. Let’s just…relieve you of it, shall we?” Starlight twirled the Staff of Sameness and on that command, the villagers stepped out of the shadows of the cave.

“How’d they all get here before us?!” Duskfall shouted in surprise.

“Don’t matter now, we gotta get outta here!” Applejack returned. Starlight took advantage of this momentary lapse in concentration to zap Duskfall with the Staff of Sameness.

It was pain unlike any Duskfall, Tom, or Twilight had ever known before. As suspected, the physical Cutie Mark wasn’t really what was being targeted. It was simply a gateway to a pony’s Soul. It was like when Tom and Twilight had Surged and fused, only in reverse and Duskfall didn’t have the rage fueled adrenaline to shrug off the pain. Duskfall could feel pieces of her Soul becoming unwound. Fragments of what made up who she was forcefully torn away.

When it was complete, Duskfall passed out. The villagers quickly snatched up Duskfall’s body.

“Surrender or we kill your friend,” Starlight said simply. Killing an Alicorn was supposed to be impossible. Then again, so was stealing Cutie Marks, but the proof was before them. None of the Elements wanted to risk Dusk’s life like that.

They were roughly dragged to a prison house and tossed in. They even had the nerve to start pouring in propaganda through the speakers already installed in the house. The Elements decided to sit tight while waiting for Duskfall to awaken. In the meantime, they discovered just how insidious the Cutie Mark theft had been. Rarity lost her fashion sense, Fluttershy couldn’t understand animals nor shift into Flutterbat, and Applejack couldn’t even make countryisms anymore.

Eventually Duskfall awoke, but instead of relief, the others only felt even more dread. Duskfall was trembling like a leaf in a hurricane, muttering to herself so quickly none of them could make out the words. Fluttershy suspected there weren’t any words at all, simply muttering for the sake of hearing the sound of her own voice. She hadn't acted like this since the day she was 'born'.

That wasn’t the worst of it, however. Instead of one eye of dull green and one eye of dull purple, both of Duskfall’s eyes were slate gray.

“What happened to her? None of the rest of us are actin’ like that!” Applejack said her voice full of worry.

“Dusk’s Soul was made from two Souls. Maybe she had more to lose?” Pinkie suggested.

“Whatever the case, we have to do something to get Twilight’s Cutie Mark back to her!” Rarity declared.

“How? We’re trapped in here and our resident egghead is out of commission!” Rainbow hated how powerless she was.

The group simply stewed in their thoughts until the next morning, when the door opened and they were forced outside. Even Duskfall was hauled to her hooves and roughly shoved out the door.

“Well, now that you’ve had a night to think it over-” Starlight didn’t get any further. Duskfall pounced on Starlight like a wild animal.

“GIVE IT BACK!” She screeched to put a banshee to shame. Unfortunately, she was soon dragged off of Starlight by the villagers and thrown back into the house. The others were made to follow, but then an idea struck Fluttershy.

“Wait! I want to join you!” She called out.

“Oh?” Starlight arched an eyebrow.

“I can’t condone violence. If my so called friends resort to such crude means, then maybe I’m better off with you,” Fluttershy lied for all she was worth. Starlight seemed to buy it. The villagers cheered as they made plans to construct a new home for Fluttershy. In the meantime, she’d be staying with Starlight.

That night, Fluttershy saw Double Diamond deliver all of the Element’s Cutie Marks to Starlight and discovered that Starlight still had her own Cutie Mark! Fluttershy had to let the villagers know the truth! But how? If Fluttershy just went around telling people that Starlight still had her Cutie Mark, nobody would believe her.

The makeup Starlight was using to hide her Cutie Mark was water soluble. That was an extreme risk, but when trying to hide a Cutie Mark, almost every type of makeup was dissolved by the Magic that made up the Cutie Mark. Starlight likely didn’t have a lot of options out here in the middle of nowhere. So Fluttershy concocted a plan. She knew everyone would be at the prison house tomorrow. There was no better place to expose Starlight. All Fluttershy needed was a bucket of water.

The next morning everything was prepared. A bucket of water was ready and the villagers were all gathered. The other Elements were led out, with the exception of Duskfall. While Starlight was distracted with trying to get them to join her cult, Fluttershy slipped away and grabbed the bucket of water. While Starlight’s back was turned, Fluttershy dumped the water on her!

There was no hiding the Cutie Mark as the makeup dribbled away.

“You backstabbing bitch!” Starlight snarled. The villagers all gasped, “What are you looking at?”

“How could you?” Party Favor sounded heartbroken.

“You said Cutie Marks were evil!” Double Diamond shouted. Pinkie Pie privately thought anyone who bought such an obvious pack of lies deserved to be lied to.

“Cutie Marks are evil! They’re the root of all suffering in the world!” Starlight cried out in a panic.

“Then why would you take ours and not give up your own?” Sugar Belle asked like a child who had just been told the Tooth Fairy didn’t exist.

“I had to you fools! How could I collect your Cutie Marks without my Magic?!” Starlight demanded to know.

“But I thought it was the Staff of Sameness that took our Cutie Marks!” The Pegasus Mare from before called out.

“Oh, there is no ‘Staff of Sameness’! It’s a dried up hunk of wood I found in the desert!” Starlight snapped, “It’s my Magic that makes all this possible! You’d still be living your sad, delusional lives thinking your Cutie Marks somehow made you better if it weren’t for me! I brought you friendship! I brought you equality! I CREATED HARMONY!”

“Harmony is made of multiple notes, not a single note played over and over,” Pinkie Pie quipped.

“SHUT UP!” Starlight roared.

“Either all of us are equal or none of us are,” Sugar Belle said softly and the rest of the villagers agreed. They tried to surround Starlight, but she forced them away with her magic and sprinted for her house. The villagers were more concerned with getting their Cutie Marks back, but the Elements were still worried for Duskfall.

“Girls, our Cutie Marks are with Starlight in her house. Go get them quickly. I’ll stay here and watch over Dusk,” Fluttershy said while she brushed some stray hair aside with her wing.

Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, and Pinkie went to try and break down Starlight’s door but they were still powerless.

“Stand back everypony!” The Pegasus mare who had still neglected to introduce herself, shouted before flying down and easily breaking the door. They soon discovered Starlight was trying to escape with the Element’s Cutie Marks. Applejack rushed back to tell Fluttershy.

“Starlight is makin’ a break for it towards the mountains!” Fluttershy made a snap decision. She picked up Duskfall and flew her towards the mountains. Normally carrying a single pony wouldn’t be a huge issue, Fluttershy was used to working with large mammals, after all. She was perfectly capable of carrying Harry under normal circumstances. With her Cutie Mark still gone, she had to fight for every flap of her wings. But Fluttershy wouldn’t give up. This was too important.

Meanwhile, Double Diamond, the nameless mare, Party Favor, and Sugar Belle were doing their best to chase down Starlight. Being reunited with their Cutie Marks gave them a surge of energy unlike any they had felt before. Starlight tried, but she was overwhelmed by the rejuvenated mares and stallions just before she could escape. The Element’s Cutie Marks were freed and they flew towards their owners.

For Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, the Cutie Marks simply reattached themselves to their flanks. Nothing could be simpler and the five felt alive again.

Twilight’s Cutie Mark hovered around Duskfall a few times. The color of her coat and eyes went back to normal, but then Twilight’s Cutie Mark just fell to the ground and shattered with the sound of breaking glass.

Duskfall stared dumbly at the pieces that were once Twilight’s Cutie Mark. A second later, and all present would swear till their dying day that they heard the sound of something else breaking.

Author's Notes:

Yeah, the Tree is getting burned to the fucking ground once Duskfall manages to scrape together enough pieces of her shattered psyche. No, I don't care that it's made of crystal. That POS is gonna burn.

This scene was one of my founding ideas as well. From the very beginning this idea festered in my brain. Why would Twilight's Cutie Mark return to someone who isn't Twilight?

I can already hear people saying "Oh, but Duskfall is half Twilight!"

I hope I made this clear in the chapter, but in this story, Cutie Marks are reflections of a critical part of a pony's Soul. Duskfall's Soul may have components that were once Twilight, but you have to consider that there are also pieces that were Tom along with the unique bits that make Duskfall be Duskfall. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Thus Twilight's Cutie Mark is completely incompatible.

Next chapter is probably going to be super hard for me to write. Hopefully I'll have it done at the regular time, but don't be surprised if it takes me a couple of days.