//------------------------------//
// In Which a Plan is Hatched 
// Story: Starlight Glimmer Looks for Love 
// by CategoricalGrant 
//------------------------------//

	“So that’s my plan!” Pinkie Pie chirped from the cavernous crystal map room in the heart of Ponyville’s castle. “It’s perfect!”
“Did we reeaaallyyy need to call an emergency meeting for that!? It cut into my nap time,” Rainbow Dash complained from next to Pinkie Pie.
“Rainbow Dash,” Rarity scolded, “please at least feign interest in your friends’ ideas.” She turned her attention to her bouncing pink friend, who was barely containing her excitement. “Pinkie, do you really think that finding a special somepony will help Starlight Glimmer feel more at home in Ponyville?”
“Abso-tutely-lutely!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Who wouldn’t feel more at home with a dashing young stallion adoring them!? Well, maybe me, but that’s because Ponyville is already at my maximum level of home-ness!”
“Pinkie,” Twilight Sparkle said, “Starlight doesn’t need help fitting in! She’s doing great as my student!”
“Her only friends besides us are a foalhood crush that lives all the way across Equestria and a kooky, traveling magician,” Pinkie Pie deadpanned uncharacteristically. “Plus, we’ve only seen her like twice this entire season.”
“Twice? What… Look, Pinkie, even though she may not be the talk of the town, Starlight is still doing just fine here,” Twilight asserted. “Besides, if this goes haywire and Starlight gets involved with somepony that breaks her heart, she might feel far worse about being here!”
“EXACTLY,” Pinkie cried, standing up on her crystal throne. “Either she gets a special somepony and becomes happy, or she is completely crushed and driven into the arms of her close friends,” Pinkie motioned in a circular fashion to make clear precisely whom she was talking about, “who she is then completely dependent on for her emotional health! Either way, Starlight ends up loving Ponyville!”
“I don’t like this,” Princess Twilight began, scrunching her muzzle up. “It seems unpredictable, and borderline manipulative.”
“Well ah fer one think it’s a great idea,” Applejack hooted from her seat, swinging a hoof enthusiastically. “Ain’t no problem that a lil’ bit of pinin’ fer somepony can’t solve. ‘Sides, it ain’t manipulative if we all want things to go well for her. Good work, Pinkie!”
Pinkie Pie tilted her head and flashed a beaming smile.
“Alright,” Rainbow Dash groaned, “I want to go home and nap, so let’s just take a vote and get this over with! Do we try and get Starlight Glimmer a special somepony?”
“Yessiree!” Pinkie bubbled.
“I suppose so…I am a sucker for romance,” Rarity concurred, fluffing her mane with a hoof.
“No,” Twilight shook her head, “I don’t think this will be good for anypony involved.”
“Ah’m all for it,” Applejack declared.
“Fluttershy?” Twilight asked hopefully. “What do you…where’s Fluttershy?”
Everypony turned to the doorway, where a crouching Fluttershy was attempting to silently sneak out of the room. She froze as a dozen eyes settled on her. “Uhh…” she croaked quietly, “I don’t know anything about dating or love, so, uh, I abstain?”
Twilight bit her lip, realizing her position was becoming increasingly untenable. “Rainbow?”
“I DON’T CAAAAARRRRRREEEEEE!” groaned Rainbow Dash, her head hanging upside-down from the side of her throne.
“Well, that’s everypony! We win!” Pinkie exclaimed. 
“Uhhh, are you serious?” a raspy and mildly baritone voice questioned from next to Twilight. “I don’t get a vote?”
“Why should you get a vote, Spike?” Rainbow Dash spat at him, wanting everypony to just shut up already so that she could go home.
Spike was sitting in his tiny crystal chair next to Twilight, his legs crossed comfortably. “Where do I begin?” He began to count the reasons on one of his claws, “For one, I’m the only male in the room, and none of you thought to consult me about this. Number two, I’m the only one of you that actually bothers to have long, one-on-one conversations with Starlight that give me insight into her personality. Third, I thought I was supposed to be a valued member of the group. Also, I-”
“Yes!” Twilight cried, grasping at the final straw of hope that somepony would support her opinion. “Spike deserves a vote! Go on, Spike,” she said, closing her eyes confidently.
“I vote yes, it sounds like a fantastic idea,” Spike genuinely offered from his seat. “We should at least encourage her to find somepony on her terms.”
The smile melted off of Twilights muzzle and she cracked open an eye. “…What?”
“Then it’s settled!” Applejack concluded.
Rainbow Dash immediately sped out of the room without so much as a single goodbye.
“It is not settled!” Twilight cried maniacally, her mane suddenly unkempt. “This is not a democracy, I am a freaking Princess, and you will listen to me!”
Pinkie Pie was the first to respond. “Silly Twilight, you’re completely beholden to the will of the group! We know all of your darkest secrets!”
The others nodded in silent agreement.
Twilight’s head fell. “Fine. How are we going to do this, then?”