"In sameness, there is peace. Exceptionalism is a lie."
"Free yourself from your cutie mark. Choose equality as your special talent."
"Difference is frustration. To excel is to fail."
"Hey, this is pretty good!"
Truly one of the greatest literary works of our time.
"Ugh, we've gotta find a way out of here! I can't take much more of that voice!"
"There, there, Rarity. It's not so bad."
"I have no idea if they're tacky or not!"
"Well, I think they're nice."
Remember, Rarity, now that you're equalized, you might think even lame things are nice!
"Can you help us, little birdie?"
"Go on, now! Fly away and get us help!"
She's saying something but I don't know what.
"Oh, even
tweets don't make sense any more!"
"This door's shut tighter than a... summer of..."
"I can't even make countryisms no more!"
"I don't know! Maybe it'll be super fun to be all the same!"
The cutie mark's influencing Pinkie.
"More pleasant than fun, I guess..."
"Something odd about that staff."
"I haven't studied Eastern unicorns as much as I should have..."
"...but I'm pretty sure Meadowbrook only had eight magical items, not nine."
"And I don't remember any of them being a staff."
"Well, it looks like you'll have plenty of time to try to think about it."
"Choose equality as your special talent."
"Difference is frustration."
"Be your best by never being your best."
"Conformity will set you free." Don’t you hear others snoring?
"Accept your limitations, and happiness will follow."
"You're no better than your friends."
Ah, whatwhatwhat, we're up, we're up!
"I know how we can get out!"
"Forget it, Twilight. This door's not opening."
One does not simply walk to freedom.
"And I'm afraid the windows are much too small for escape."
"But there is a third way."
"Of course! Eventually the wind and the weather..."
"...will wear down the walls until they start to crumble!"
"Then all we have to do is wait for a big enough hole to form..."
"...and we can just walk out!"
"We don't actually have to escape."
"They'll just let us out when they think we've accepted their philosophy!"
"But they're never gonna believe we switched over in just one night."
"There's one of us they might believe."
Insert here some lightings and thundersounds, please.
Or just Pinkie crazily staring right on you.
"You've been saying how great this place is since we got here!"
"But that's because everypony's so nice..."
"...and their village is so pretty..."
"They probably would believe me. I hate to lie to them."
"They've been so welcoming and friendly..."
"...aside from locking us in here and trying to brainwash us into abandoning the things that make us special..."
Thinking about everything special you could lose.
"But what do I do once I'm out."
"You've gotta find a way to get our cutie marks back."
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Glados - er, Starlight Glimmer: "Oh, good morning!"
"I trust you had a pleasant night?"
"There are some friends who'd like to see you."
"Gather round, friends, gather round!"
"We've come to ask if any of you are ready to join us!"
"There are so many friends to be made once you realize you don't need your cutie marks..."
"...or the talents that come with them."
"We have a welcome ceremony for new friends! The whole village joins together to build you your own cottage—"
"You may have them now, but we're going to get our cutie marks back!"
"Y'all don't understand, do ya?"
"You can't force nopony to be friends! It don't work like that!"
"It's all right, everypony. This is a perfectly normal part of the equalization process for those who haven't..."
"...quite seen the light yet."
"We'll try again tomorrow..."
"...once you've had a bit more time to consider our philosophy!"
Hey, Flutters, don't forget the plan!
Was that too much monotone or not enough?
Seems like nopony's suspecting anything.
Twilight's "upset" that Fluttershy believes in the town's philosophy.
"If giving up my cutie mark means I get to stay in this lovely village with these lovely ponies, then I'll do it."
Part 1 of the liberation - check!
"We have a new friend, everypony!"
"Now, there's one more order of business."
"It seems some in our midst might be..."
"...dissatisfied with the village life!"
"Unfortunately, it's all too true, my friends!"
"Will you kindly tell us the names of those friends..."
"...who so desperately miss their cutie marks..."
"...that they would sneak around in the shadows..."
"...talking to strangers about it?"
Nervous smiles are nervous.
"Just so we can be sure your intentions are indeed pure."
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"Um, I don't know who they were."
"Um, I'm sorry. I don't know your names and faces yet."
"Obviously these ponies must have asked you directly."
At least it's good they didn't choose Pinkie Pie.
"But I only wanted it back for a little while!"
"And you're quite certain it was only you?"
"I just wanted to remember what it was like."
"And no thought to the pain you'd cause your friends."
"I never wanted to leave the village!"
"What was I thinking?! I can't believe I even considered asking for my cutie mark back."
"Don't worry. Fluttershy will have us out of here in no time!"
"Didn't you see what just happened out there?!"
"Your friend has accepted our way!"
"You will all accept our way!"
"It's only a matter of time!"
"This guy's a barrel of laughs."
"Laughs don't come in barrels. They come from inside you as your body's response to delight."
Even without her cutie mark, Pinkie takes phrases way too literally.
"So what are we gonna do while Fluttershy's out there lookin' for our..."
"We have to stay as positive as we can."
"If Party Favor sees how much we really do like each other, even though we're all different, maybe we can use him to spread our message to the rest of the village."
"Let's hope they don't convert any of us first."
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I still think this is supposed to be an equalized version of Meghan McCarthy's OC.
"Gosh, you really are the nicest ponies I've ever met."
"Come. All new friends stay with me until their cottage is completed."
"Let's get you settled..."
"...and then you can enjoy all that our little village has to offer."
That smile. What kind of smile is that?
"Get the cutie marks back. That's all you've gotta do, Fluttershy. Just sneak through the dark up to that spooky old cave with the scary magical staff and get the cutie marks back."
"Okay, you're doing great. The cave's gotta be close now..."
"Excellent work, Double Diamond."
"...but I don't understand why you wanted me to bring them here."
"Fluttershy is one of us now. Surely she can be trusted."
Ok, first; don't call me Shirley. About their cutie marks...
"This one belongs to a princess. It could be very important to our cause."
"But if Twilight Sparkle becomes our friend, then why do we care about this old cutie mark?"
"I just want to keep them close until everything is... settled."
"You may go, Double Diamond."
Fluttershy definitely would never win in "hide-and-seek".
Well, at least it seems that Starlight Glimmer never even played this game.
"Oh, dear. How am I ever going to get the cutie marks back now?"
Seriously, woudn't anyone notice big head looking right into your window?
"Ugh! Starlight, you clumsy foal!"
Why the dirty double crosser!!! She stole all of those ponies' cutie marks.....BUT SHE STILL HAS HER OWN?!
Oops, better not tell....
Hiding something, Starlight?
Deception by cutie makeup
Isn't that usually Pinkie's thing?
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"I've got a good feeling about today! So, do any of you have anything you'd like to say?"
Do they even eat in this cottage?
Rainbow just looks like "Whatever."
"Well, let's try this again tomorrow, shall we? No new friends today, I'm afraid!"
"Wait! I'd like to lock them in."
"Party Favor, will you join us, please?"
"I've seen the error of my ways!"
"I never want to look at my cutie mark again!"
"It seems there's cause for celebration after all!"
"They tried to break me!"
"They wouldn't stop talking about how different they are..."
"...and that somehow makes their friendship stronger!"
"Such backwards thinking."
"But I didn't listen!" Derp :P
"I knew what they were up to..."
"...and I didn't listen!"
"Well done, Party Favor!"
"We welcome you back with open hooves!"
"I think we might have one more friend joining us today."
I bet everyone kinda saw this coming.
Starlight excitedly pushes Party Favor aside.
"I-I think so. But I just want to be sure."
"If I agree to leave my cutie mark in the vault, I'll really be happier?"
"Just look around! Equality has given us more happiness..."
"...than you've ever known!"
"And you wouldn't let me just live here in the village with my old cutie mark?"
"A pony with a different cutie mark in our midst would destroy our entire philosophy."
"Then how do you explain this?! "
Fluttershy's got the bucket and she's splashing it.
Seems that Fluttershy had much better aim when she was discorded.
"I knew you couldn't be trusted!"
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Guilty Starlight is guilty.
Seems Babs Seed has somehow gotten to her, too.
"Wha... What are you looking at?!"
"They're the problem, not me!"
"You said cutie marks were evil! You said special talents led to pain and heartache!"
"They do! Don't you see?!"
"Then why? Why did you take ours and not give up your own?"
"How could I collect your cutie marks..."
"But the staff has all the magic we need!"
"The staff is a piece of wood I found in the desert!"
"It's my magic that makes all this possible!"
"You'd all still be living your miserable lives thinking you're better than everypony else..."
"...if it weren't for my magical abilities!"
"I brought you friendship!"
"I brought you equality!"
"E-Everything else I said is true!"
"The only way to be happy is if we're all equal!"
Anyone else heard a bit of the Springtrap jumpscare sound here?
"Everypony has unique talents and gifts..."
"...and when we share them with each other, that's how rea—"
"You can't have a cutie mark, Starlight! Either we're all equal, or none of us are!"
You heard them, Starlight. It's either all ponies are equal or none of them are.
"Come on! Let's get our cutie marks back!"
"Let's go get our cutie marks!"
"Our cutie marks aren't in the vault!"
"They're in there with her!"
Dun dun dun! (second time this Ep)
All these ponies need their cutie marks back.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
"Stand back, everypony!" shouts Double Diamond offscreen.
An earth pony can carry something with its teeth while moving around in all four hooves.
... glass! (Annie Lennox reference)
All the cutie marks are released!
So THAT'S what normal Double Diamond looks like!
If Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich are the earth ponies to have curls, then these unicorns really do!
"Even without my cutie mark..."
"...I can tell this is beautiful!"
"They think they can come to my village and disrupt my life?"
"Let's see how they like spending the rest of their lives..."
"...without their precious cutie marks!"
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Open up! This is the friendship police!
"They're gone! They were right over there!"
Stand back! Maybe Party Favor knows what to do...
Wow! Maybe THAT'S why he's called Party Favor. Because he makes stuff out of balloons! Including binoculars. Interesting!
"She's headed for the pass!"
"If she makes it into those mountains..."
"...we'll never find her!"
"There's a whole network of caves up there!"
"Your cutie marks will be gone forever!"
"Then let's get moving, y'all!"
Uh, you're markless, remember, Dashie?
Sorry, Dashie. You'll just have to fly at a snail's pace.
RD quotes Sweetie Belle and fun '"Oh, come on!!!"
"Are you all so willing to give up everything because of these strangers?!"
"We gave up everything for you, because we thought you were our friend!"
"I can't believe we have to count on these other ponies to save our cutie marks!"
"If we hadn't come here to help them, they'd still be living under her rules!"
"Now it's their turn to help us!"
"And I know they can do it!"
"My newest recipe – snow pie!" (Giggity.)
Looks like we've got another cartoony party-pony in our midst.
No need for unicorn magic here.
We have more ponies doing the Pinkie Jump across the bouncy bridge.
"Whoa! These are my old skis!"
"This is where I first met Starlight!"
"Maybe you can reminisce another time! She's almost to the caves!"
"Feel like an air drop?" (This explains Double Diamond's accent so much.)
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"Finally, I can buck like a five-bit snake herder..."
"...in an Appleloosa ranch house again!"
"And you got your countryisms back, too!"
What is a chieftan to a PRINCESS??
"Wh– I studied that spell for years! How can you—"
"I studied magic for years too!"
"But what I didn't know then was that studying could only take me so far."
"Each of my friends has taught me..."
"...something different about myself."
"It was their unique gifts and passions and personalities..."
"...that helped bring out the magic inside of me."
"I never would have learned that I represent the element of magic without these five..."
"And I certainly wouldn't be here..."
"Spare me your sentimental nonsense!"
"I gave these ponies real friendships they never could've had otherwise!"
"You never even gave us a chance!"
Starlight Glimmer is really angry.
And you're not gonna like her when...well, you know the rest.
She's gone! (I've got a feeling she'll be coming back for her
reve nge though...)
"We just have to hope that when she's had a chance to think it over..."
"...she realizes that you all have taught her something."
"It's you who have taught us something."
"We all came to this village because we were searching for something missing from our lives."
"We thought Starlight had given it to us, but now..."
"...now it seems it was in front of us all along. It's us!"
"Does that mean you'll stay in the village?"
"It's our home. I'm not going anywhere."
"This is a chance for all of us to get to know each other again for the very first time!"
"And I finally have a chance to bake something besides terrible muffins!"
An "everypony laughs" ending. How cheesy.
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As the party kicks off...
...somepony Wilhelm screamed!
"Now those are real smiles."
"I'll never get used to that."
"Does that mean that the map is calling us somewhere else?"
"I have a feeling it means our work here is done."
"Looks like you were right , Twilight. The map did have a reason for sendin' us here."
"We brought real friendship to these here ponies."
"Guess that's why you're the Princess of Friendship."
"But the map didn't send me ."
"You're a part of me, all of you. And there's no doubt you're a part of my mission to spread friendship too."
Without the real cutie marks, there is no joy, ability, beauty, strength, speed or personality.
"This feels like an ending!"
"It doesn't have to be an ending yet, right?"
"'Cause that Sugar Belle can bake!"
"Maybe we can stay a little while longer. Come on!"
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