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Description
Our Town was built on the foundation that all of its citizens were equal. Without the burden of cutie marks dictating their destinies, each individual would be blessed with a happier and healthier life than they would've had otherwise.
At least, that's what the town's founder Starlight Glimmer believed.
Unbeknownst to the town's leader, several citizens have started growing more restless with the monotonous lifestyle and repetitive culture that grew more restrictive and oppressive with each passing day. Even some of Starlight's most devout followers were beginning to grow weary of the lack of variety or excitement in their new lives, especially with the presence of the 'reeducation room' in one of the houses and the fact it was even needed.
But the final straw came when one of the villagers spotted Starlight still bearing her cutie mark on her person while she was washing her clothes. The news of this revelation spread like wildfire in the small town and the populace reached a consensus: their hypocritical leader needed to be stopped.
A few days later, Party Favor and Sugar Belle whipped up a fake story of newcomers arriving near Our Town and convinced Starlight to prepare the vault containing everyone's cutie marks. But as soon as Starlight stepped into the cave where the vault was, the trap was sprung. Night Glider and Double Diamond sprung out from the shadows and grabbed both of Starlight's arms before pinning her to the ground. As Starlight wrestled to escape her followers' grasp, Party Favor knelt down and picked up the Staff of Sameness she carried everywhere with her.
"W-What's going on?! What're you all doing?!" Starlight demanded.
Sugar Belle narrowed her eyes. "Everything you told us was a lie."
"You go on and on about how freeing it is to give up our cutie marks, but you got no problem holding onto yours, don't you?" Night Glider seethed.
As Starlight sputtered for a response, Double Diamond tore off the shoulder of her shirt, revealing her cutie mark for all to see.
"Wait, please!! This isn't what it looks like!!"
Double Diamond scoffed. "It looks to me that you can't practice what you preach."
"You know, the fact you still even have your cutie mark on you is starting to put some things into perspective," Party Favor mused. He then pointed the Staff right at Starlight's face. "Maybe we should do the ceremony with you so you won't feel like an odd one out anymore."
"N-No, wait-mmph!" Double Diamond clamped a hand over Starlight's mouth.
Party Favor waved the Staff of Sameness in the air to remove Starlight's cutie mark. But the more seconds that passed when nothing happened, the deeper everyone's scowls became.
"I bucking called it," Night Glider growled.
"Of course. That thing isn't even real magic, is it?" Double Diamond demanded.
"You've been using your own magic to take away our cutie marks, haven't you, you big fat liar!" Sugar Bell fumed.
Party favor shook his head, before tossing the useless staff aside. "All these years we lived here with you, helping you make this town work, inviting others in with open arms..." Party Favor pressed his lips into a thin line. "Do you even care about us??"
"Of course I do!" Starlight insisted. "All I want is to keep everyone here happy! To not let you go through any more hardships from your old lives! Isn't that what you want?!"
Night Glider scoffed. "Considering everything we've seen just now, I'm really doubting you ever had anyone's best interests at heart, Glimmer."
"You know what? As mad as we are with you for what you did..." Party Favor sighed. "We're no better than you."
Everyone gawked at the former party planner's declaration.
"After the four of us joined you to found this place, we just stood back and did nothing while you kept pressuring anyone who had second thoughts about staying here or even remotely questioned your whole 'cutie marks are bad' philosophy. Heck, we even encouraged it with your stupid jingles."
"But that's the truth-mmph!!" Double Diamond silenced Starlight again.
Party Favor stared right into her eyes. "But starting today, we're gonna make things right." He glanced over at Night Glider. "Do it."
Night Glider grinned as she pulled out a long sledgehammer she dragged all the way to the vault.
"NNMMHHH!! PLSSSHH!!!" Starlight wriggled and thrashed in Double Diamond's grip, while Sugar Belle hurried over to keep Starlight restrained.
With a few swift blows, Night Glider demolished the glass walls of the vault, causing all the cutie marks stored within to fly out and seek out their original owners.
Tears streaked down Starlight's eyes as she wailed at all her hard work crumbling to pieces before her.

"...I have no idea how to respond to all of that," Twilight Sparkle replied with a wide-eyed expression.
"I don't blame you." Party Favor chuckled awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "And yeah, after everyone got their cutie marks back, we've been keeping a close eye on Starlight ever since."
Party Favor and the Elements of Harmony turned their heads to where Starlight sat tied up and gagged in the middle of the town square, where her eyes blazed with anger from where she glared at her citizens-turned-captors.
"Then it's a good thing the map called us here when it did," Fluttershy spoke up.
"I agree. I mean, stealing others' cutie marks..." Rarity shivered. "That's basically akin to chopping off my limbs so I can never sew again."
"That kind of dark magic was made illegal way before even my great-great-great-great grandparents were born," Twilight surmised. "Which is exactly why we're taking Starlight back to Canterlot where she can face punishment for everything she did here."
"WHHT?!" Starlight yelled behind her gag.
"Yeah, in case you didn't catch on, Miss Crazy, you're not the boss of who gets to keep their cutie marks," Rainbow snarked.
Twilight nodded. "She's right. Our cutie marks are just a reflection of who we are. They don't confine us to a single path. If anything, our personal skills are what grants us our cutie marks to start with, not the other way around-"
"QUIET!!!"
Twilight stumbled back as Starlight finished shaking off her gag.
"You have no idea what you're talking about! All cutie marks do is divide us! They're used as tools to beat down anyone who doesn't have one! I've faced ridicule and harassment for the majority of my childhood because all my other peers thought they were so much better than me because I just happened to be lacking in the cutie mark department at the time!! You think you have the right to invalidate everything I've had to struggle through because you're some pretty, prim princess?!?! Well, I have a few choice words for you, Your Highness!!" Starlight's tone oozed with derision. "You can take your condescending attitude and jam it right up your-MMPH MMHR MMPHH FMMMHHH!!!"
Starlight screamed behind her gag as Double Diamond re-fastened it over her lips. The other Elements glared at Starlight's outburst; Twilight was momentarily stunned before she recollected herself.
"I'm not dismissing what you've had to go through, Starlight," she reassured the former town leader. "But this isn't the solution. Many others here may have similar feelings as you regarding cutie marks, but it isn't right to use manipulation to sway others to your side."
Starlight's glare intensified at the Princess of Friendship.
"Besides, it couldn't have been all bad!" Pinkie cheerily stated. "You had to have had some friends that helped you through your bad days!"
Night Glider rolled her eyes. "She had one best friend. And the day he got his cutie mark, his parents sent him off to another school. I think that's where things snowballed."
"Not to mention that she didn't really do anything to reach out to that friend or make new ones. Or better herself as a person, either," Sugar Belle muttered under her breath.
The Elements gawked at the details they'd just heard.
"She kinda ranted about it a lot before you girls came," Party Favor added.
Twilight gaped at Party Favor. Then back at Starlight, whose cheeks took on a shade of red.
"...Yyyyeah, it's off to jail for you."

--I'm still not particularly fond of Starlight Glimmer. But that won't stop me from giving cartoon villainesses the damsel treatment if the occasion calls for it.

Description
Our Town was built on the foundation that all of its citizens were equal. Without the burden of cutie marks dictating their destinies, each individual would be blessed with a happier and healthier life than they would've had otherwise.
At least, that's what the town's founder Starlight Glimmer believed.
Unbeknownst to the town's leader, several citizens have started growing more restless with the monotonous lifestyle and repetitive culture that grew more restrictive and oppressive with each passing day. Even some of Starlight's most devout followers were beginning to grow weary of the lack of variety or excitement in their new lives, especially with the presence of the 'reeducation room' in one of the houses and the fact it was even needed.
But the final straw came when one of the villagers spotted Starlight still bearing her cutie mark on her person while she was washing her clothes. The news of this revelation spread like wildfire in the small town and the populace reached a consensus: their hypocritical leader needed to be stopped.
A few days later, Party Favor and Sugar Belle whipped up a fake story of newcomers arriving near Our Town and convinced Starlight to prepare the vault containing everyone's cutie marks. But as soon as Starlight stepped into the cave where the vault was, the trap was sprung. Night Glider and Double Diamond sprung out from the shadows and grabbed both of Starlight's arms before pinning her to the ground. As Starlight wrestled to escape her followers' grasp, Party Favor knelt down and picked up the Staff of Sameness she carried everywhere with her.
"W-What's going on?! What're you all doing?!" Starlight demanded.
Sugar Belle narrowed her eyes. "Everything you told us was a lie."
"You go on and on about how freeing it is to give up our cutie marks, but you got no problem holding onto yours, don't you?" Night Glider seethed.
As Starlight sputtered for a response, Double Diamond tore off the shoulder of her shirt, revealing her cutie mark for all to see.
"Wait, please!! This isn't what it looks like!!"
Double Diamond scoffed. "It looks to me that you can't practice what you preach."
"You know, the fact you still even have your cutie mark on you is starting to put some things into perspective," Party Favor mused. He then pointed the Staff right at Starlight's face. "Maybe we should do the ceremony with you so you won't feel like an odd one out anymore."
"N-No, wait-mmph!" Double Diamond clamped a hand over Starlight's mouth.
Party Favor waved the Staff of Sameness in the air to remove Starlight's cutie mark. But the more seconds that passed when nothing happened, the deeper everyone's scowls became.
"I bucking called it," Night Glider growled.
"Of course. That thing isn't even real magic, is it?" Double Diamond demanded.
"You've been using your own magic to take away our cutie marks, haven't you, you big fat liar!" Sugar Bell fumed.
Party favor shook his head, before tossing the useless staff aside. "All these years we lived here with you, helping you make this town work, inviting others in with open arms..." Party Favor pressed his lips into a thin line. "Do you even care about us??"
"Of course I do!" Starlight insisted. "All I want is to keep everyone here happy! To not let you go through any more hardships from your old lives! Isn't that what you want?!"
Night Glider scoffed. "Considering everything we've seen just now, I'm really doubting you ever had anyone's best interests at heart, Glimmer."
"You know what? As mad as we are with you for what you did..." Party Favor sighed. "We're no better than you."
Everyone gawked at the former party planner's declaration.
"After the four of us joined you to found this place, we just stood back and did nothing while you kept pressuring anyone who had second thoughts about staying here or even remotely questioned your whole 'cutie marks are bad' philosophy. Heck, we even encouraged it with your stupid jingles."
"But that's the truth-mmph!!" Double Diamond silenced Starlight again.
Party Favor stared right into her eyes. "But starting today, we're gonna make things right." He glanced over at Night Glider. "Do it."
Night Glider grinned as she pulled out a long sledgehammer she dragged all the way to the vault.
"NNMMHHH!! PLSSSHH!!!" Starlight wriggled and thrashed in Double Diamond's grip, while Sugar Belle hurried over to keep Starlight restrained.
With a few swift blows, Night Glider demolished the glass walls of the vault, causing all the cutie marks stored within to fly out and seek out their original owners.
Tears streaked down Starlight's eyes as she wailed at all her hard work crumbling to pieces before her.

"...I have no idea how to respond to all of that," Twilight Sparkle replied with a wide-eyed expression.
"I don't blame you." Party Favor chuckled awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "And yeah, after everyone got their cutie marks back, we've been keeping a close eye on Starlight ever since."
Party Favor and the Elements of Harmony turned their heads to where Starlight sat tied up and gagged in the middle of the town square, where her eyes blazed with anger from where she glared at her citizens-turned-captors.
"Then it's a good thing the map called us here when it did," Fluttershy spoke up.
"I agree. I mean, stealing others' cutie marks..." Rarity shivered. "That's basically akin to chopping off my limbs so I can never sew again."
"That kind of dark magic was made illegal way before even my great-great-great-great grandparents were born," Twilight surmised. "Which is exactly why we're taking Starlight back to Canterlot where she can face punishment for everything she did here."
"WHHT?!" Starlight yelled behind her gag.
"Yeah, in case you didn't catch on, Miss Crazy, you're not the boss of who gets to keep their cutie marks," Rainbow snarked.
Twilight nodded. "She's right. Our cutie marks are just a reflection of who we are. They don't confine us to a single path. If anything, our personal skills are what grants us our cutie marks to start with, not the other way around-"
"QUIET!!!"
Twilight stumbled back as Starlight finished shaking off her gag.
"You have no idea what you're talking about! All cutie marks do is divide us! They're used as tools to beat down anyone who doesn't have one! I've faced ridicule and harassment for the majority of my childhood because all my other peers thought they were so much better than me because I just happened to be lacking in the cutie mark department at the time!! You think you have the right to invalidate everything I've had to struggle through because you're some pretty, prim princess?!?! Well, I have a few choice words for you, Your Highness!!" Starlight's tone oozed with derision. "You can take your condescending attitude and jam it right up your-MMPH MMHR MMPHH FMMMHHH!!!"
Starlight screamed behind her gag as Double Diamond re-fastened it over her lips. The other Elements glared at Starlight's outburst; Twilight was momentarily stunned before she recollected herself.
"I'm not dismissing what you've had to go through, Starlight," she reassured the former town leader. "But this isn't the solution. Many others here may have similar feelings as you regarding cutie marks, but it isn't right to use manipulation to sway others to your side."
Starlight's glare intensified at the Princess of Friendship.
"Besides, it couldn't have been all bad!" Pinkie cheerily stated. "You had to have had some friends that helped you through your bad days!"
Night Glider rolled her eyes. "She had one best friend. And the day he got his cutie mark, his parents sent him off to another school. I think that's where things snowballed."
"Not to mention that she didn't really do anything to reach out to that friend or make new ones. Or better herself as a person, either," Sugar Belle muttered under her breath.
The Elements gawked at the details they'd just heard.
"She kinda ranted about it a lot before you girls came," Party Favor added.
Twilight gaped at Party Favor. Then back at Starlight, whose cheeks took on a shade of red.
"...Yyyyeah, it's off to jail for you."

--I'm still not particularly fond of Starlight Glimmer. But that won't stop me from giving cartoon villainesses the damsel treatment if the occasion calls for it.