//------------------------------// // Finding Help // Story: Finding Starlight Glimmer // by Stardom Freedom //------------------------------// Double Diamond went into town that afternoon. After deciding that he was going to find Starlight, he went to see if his friends (Party Favor, Sugar Belle, and Night Glider) wanted to help. He saw a huge crowd of ponies at Sugar Belle's bakery. Maybe Party Favor and Night Glider are there too. Double went inside. His suspicion was correct. He saw Night Glider and Party Favor at a table near the counter Sugar Belle was taking orders. Double pulled up a seat. "Hey, DD!" Night Glider welcomed. "Hey, guys," Double said, a twinge of uneasiness in his voice. "Dude, are you okay?" Party Favor asked. Sugar Belle approached their table. "Here are the brownies you two ordered," she said, handing Party and Night a plate of brownies. Sugar Belle turned to Double. "I'm guessing that you want your usual cupcake," Double nodded. Sugar went to the kitchen, and returned with a vanilla cupcake. "You look worried. Let's talk about it." Sugar pulled up a chair. Double took a deep breath. "I think we should go find Starlight," Sugar, Night, and Party gasped. "Find Starlight?!" Party exclaimed. "But why?" Sugar inquired. "We're already happy with our cutie marks. Why bring her back just so she can take our marks away again?" Night's jaw dropped. Double sighed in regret. He knew he shouldn't have told them, for they would just overreact. He was about to tell them the reason why, but he stopped. They would just be even more surprised. "Um, the reason why is... she could be cold, starving, thirsty, all that stuff. I mean, we should at least show sympathy for her." Double fibbed. "She didn't show sympathy for us. Why do the opposite for her?" Night argued. Double chuckled nervously. "Right. Why? Oh, I gotta go. Bye!" He ran out of the bakery to catch the next train to Ponyville. *** "Thank you for taking me in, Double," Starlight thanked once they were in Double's cottage. "Hey, you were alone in the slopes. What else was I supposed to do? Leave you there to die?" Double smiled. "Well, everypony else did," "Why did they do that?" "I don't know," "I'm so sorry. Sit down on the couch, and I'll get you some tomato soup." Starlight did as Double said. After a few minutes in the kitchen, Double came back with a tomato soup for Starlight and hot chocolate for himself. "Thank you," Starlight said, using her magic to take the tomato soup from Double. As she sipped her soup, Starlight got an idea and decided to share it with Double. "I'm actually gonna have my revenge!" "What will you do?" "Okay, first, I'm going to paint an equal sign on my flank, and pretend that it's actually my real cutie mark. Then, I'll find something and call it the Staff of Sameness. I'll use it to take their cutie marks and replace them with equal signs. Then, I'll claim that I did it to bring equality. Those midgets will think that cutie marks are bad things!" Double gasped. "But... that's bad..." "Serves them right! You will keep my secret though, right?" "Well... um..." "Please?" Starlight batted her amethyst eyes. Oh, her beauty... "Yes!" Double blurted out. "Oh, thank you!" Starlight then kissed Double on the cheek. Double was in a daze for the rest of the day. *** Double woke up in a flash. He had fell asleep on the train, and had another Starlight dream. It was another flashback of what happened when they were at his place. Lucky for him, he was now in Ponyville. Thanks to some ponies, he learned the location of where Twilight Sparkle and her friends were. He knocked on the castle door. Twilight opened it. "Oh, hello, Double Diamond. Come in and make yourself comfortable." The Alicorn led Double to a room where Fluttershy, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity were sitting on thrones. Once seated, Double asked, "Will you help me find Starlight Glimmer?" "WHAT?!" the girls screamed. "Why do you want to find her?" Rarity questioned. "She banned competitions!" Rainbow hollered. "She wasn't nice!" Pinkie countered. "She practically forced us to be friends with folks we didn't know!" Applejack yelled. "She got poor Party Favor into trouble!" Fluttershy cried. "I know. It's just that... she could be in trouble." Double said. "Double Diamond, I think it's best she stay in the cave until she's learned her lesson. That's what I said to Rainbow Dash about Trixie, and I'm giving you the same advice. Let her cool down, and maybe she'll come back." Twilight suggested. "Oh, okay," Double walked out and caught the next train to his village. Once there, he looked in the direction of the cave. "Don't worry, Starlight. I'll find you, even if it's the last thing I do."