>>25206467The door that had been locked for over a day now swung open, and in walked their captor, Starlight Glimmer. Unlike the six of them, she looked impeccably cheerful and rested; her light purple muzzle wearing a bright, sunny smile.
"I trust you all had a pleasant night?"
None of their faces said they did, but Glimmer turned, still looking serene, as if she hadn't noticed.
"Come with me please. There are some "friends" outside to see you."
Glimmer led them all outside where she made a great debacle about asking them if they were ready to join their community, while all the townsponies looked on. None of them were. Applejack and Rainbow were especially livid, insisting that they would get their cutie marks back one way or another.
Their angry outbursts seemed to pierce Glimmer's sunny serenity, and she seemed genuinely distraught as the six of them were herded back into the building for another day of brainwashing. Rather than shut them in, however, Glimmer followed in behind them, using her magic to close the door behind her. The door locked behind her with a loud click, and then they were alone, they on one side of them room, and she on the other.
She smiled at them with her sunny, faux-friendly grin, but there was an unmistakeable conceit in those half-lidded eyes as she regarded each of their tired faces.
"I'm trying to understand what it is about our little community that you're all having such trouble with."
Each of them began speaking at once, shouting at Glimmer as she calmly absorbed it all in, but Rainbow and Applejack, always the most headstrong even despite equalization, got through the chorus.
"If you think you can take our cutie marks away, you're wrong!"
"Y'ain't gonna force us to be friends. That's not how it works!"
Twilight hadn't spoken yet, only stared. But when the rest of them had spoken (yelled) their piece, she did.
