The evening was warm, the sun just on the verge of setting. Overhead, the first few stars were winking into existence. Many of the residents of Ourtown were still out and about. They trotted among the businesses on the town’s main—well, only—thoroughfare, running last-minute errands before everything was shut for the night.
Double Diamond had a perfect view from where he sat. He had stationed himself at one of the tables outside Sugar Belle’s bakery and ordered a large cherry turnover. Sugar Belle had really been pushing the apple pastries as of late, and Double Diamond had a pretty good idea of why that was, but he’d never been much for apple anything. Cherries suited him just fine, as did the large chai tea he had ordered to go with his dessert. It was still too early in the season to do any skiing, so he contented himself with occasional treats and near-constant pony-watching.
And watch the ponies he did. To and fro they went, now making their way back to their houses. The state of these abodes was one outward sign of the great change the Princess of Friendship had wrought here a couple years ago. Under the rule of equality, under Starlight Glimmer, the dwellings had all been drab, and all quite the same. Now, however, signs of individuality were showing. Some ponies hung little wind chimes out; some decorated their front doors with pieces of artwork. The truly bold among them had painted their houses entirely different colors. Here and there among the dun-colored structures could now be seen bright pink, gaudy teal, flaming orange.
Double Diamond allowed himself a small smile. The houses were one thing, but they were nothing to the ponies who lived in them. The return of their cutie marks had really revitalized the town. Ponies he passed in the street and chatted with were almost always happy. It was genuine happiness, too, a far cry from the grinning façade of equality. Double Diamond marveled that he hadn’t spotted this distinction sooner. But, he supposed, it was hard to spot something like that when you were in the thick of it, when its hold upon your mind was at its strongest.
A frown crossed Double Diamond’s face. He truthfully bore Starlight no ill will, but it was impossible to forget what her rule had done to them, and what it felt like.
He gave himself a little shake, and took another bite of his turnover. It was no use dwelling on that now. It was in the past. Ourtown and its residents were much happier. And if the time should come when they weren’t happy, they would be allowed to express those feelings, too.
And that had certainly never been the case under equality.
Double Diamond sipped his tea and looked out. Somepony was coming toward him. A midnight-blue pegasus mare trotted up to his table.
“Hello, Glider,” he said as she reached him.
“Hey, Double-D,” she responded. “What are you up to?”
“You’re looking at it. Wanna join me? I think Sugar Belle’s closed the kitchen for the night, but you’re welcome to half my turnover. I really shouldn’t finish the whole thing, anyway.”
“Thanks, but no thanks. I really just came by to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Well... I was wondering...” Night Glider drew a deep breath. “I was wondering if you’ve seen Party Favor? I haven’t heard from him all day, and as far as I can tell, nopony else has, either.”
Double Diamond shook his head. “No... I... I don’t think I’ve seen him in a couple days, actually.”
Night Glider’s face fell, her brows knit together in a single line of worry. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
“Hey, don’t worry,” said Double Diamond, laying a hoof on her withers, “I’m sure he’ll turn up.” His response was more automatic than anything else. It really wasn’t like Party Favor not to let anypony know where he was going.
“I hope so,” said Night Glider.
“There’s no chance he could just be out of town? I mean... there wasn’t, like, a surprise balloon convention in Trottingham, or something?”
She shook her head. “He would have told me about anything like that.”
He nodded. “I know. I guess I just...”
“Didn’t want to assume the worst?” she finished for him.
“Yeah.”
“Me neither.” She managed a weak smile.
“Is there anything I can do?” Double Diamond asked.
“Just keep your eyes open,” said Night Glider. “I’ve got as many pegasi as I can patrolling the skies during the day, but it doesn’t hurt to have ponies on the ground, too. Please tell me if you see anything—anything at all.”
“Of course,” said Double Diamond.
“Thanks, Double-D.”
“No problem.”
She turned to go, and he watched her leave with a nasty feeling in his gut, as though he’d eaten something squirmy and sickening, and not a delicious cherry turnover. Wherever Party Favor was, Double Diamond hoped he was okay.
For the next few days, the whole town was on high alert. During the day, Night Glider’s squad of pegasi could be seen circling among the clouds. Ponies on the ground were in a state of constant vigilance as well, ready to pounce on anything out of the ordinary. Double Diamond even helped Night Glider organize a letter-writing campaign to neighboring towns and villages, sending them all a picture and description of Party Favor, just in case he turned up.
Thus far, however, all their efforts had been in vain.
Double Diamond found himself once again at Sugar Belle’s bakery, joined this morning by the proprietor herself. She had given him a complimentary cinnamon roll (sometimes it paid to be friends with the owner), plated herself a large portion of apple crumble, and sat down beside him, as he was currently her only patron.
They looked at each other in silence for a moment. Sugar Belle made an admirable attempt at a smile, but Double Diamond couldn’t bring himself to pretend.
“Still no word about Party, huh?” Sugar Belle said at last. She gulped down a big bite of her apple crumble (Double Diamond would never have known when they lived under equality, but Sugar Belle was a bit of a stress-eater).
“No,” said Double Diamond.
“Well... what do ponies say? Maybe no news is good news,” she said, though the huge pieces of dessert she kept shoveling into her mouth belied her optimism.
“It’s possible.”
Just then a shadow fell over their table. They both looked up and saw Night Glider pass overhead, blotting out the sun for just a second. When she had passed on, Double Diamond and Sugar Belle looked back at each other.
“How is she taking it?” Sugar Belle asked.
“As well as you’d expect.”
“That bad?”
Double Diamond nodded, and bit into his cinnamon roll (if he was honest, he wasn’t above a bit of stress-eating himself).
He swallowed and said, “It’s like every time I see her it gets worse. I don’t think she’s slept this whole time.”
Sugar Belle shook her head. “I feel so bad for her. They just started dating maybe a month ago. I can’t even imagine. If something like this happened to Big Mac, Luna forbid...”
She trailed off, and Double Diamond laid a steadying hoof on top of her own. “Don’t think like that,” he said.
“Sorry, I’m just... really worried.”
“We all are, but there’s no reason to give up hope just yet.”
“I know, I was being—”
But Sugar Belle was cut off by the return of Night Glider, who had just swooped down and landed beside their table.
“Guys,” she panted, “I came as fast as I could.”
“Party Favor?” Double Diamond asked promptly.
Night Glider nodded fervently, looking frenzied. “We think we know where he is,” she said. “One of my pegasus patrol said she spotted him out by the old cutie mark vault.”
“What would he be doing there?” said Sugar Belle.
“I don’t care,” said Night Glider, “I just want to get him back. I’m leaving as soon as possible. I just stopped by to see if you guys want to come with me.”
“We’ll go,” said Sugar Belle.
“Yeah,” said Double Diamond.
Night Glider took flight without another word. They stood and ran after her; she was fast, but they could just keep up with her by running.
They soon left Ourtown behind and were running through the desert and scrub on the outskirts. Their hooves kicked up puffs of dust with each step as they followed the silhouette of Night Glider in the sky. They still kept up with her, though they were both soon breathless and slicked with sweat.
They managed to keep up with her until the ground steepened. The path up to the cutie mark vault was right in the foothills of the mountains. The sandy soil became rocky and harder to run through. They scrambled and clambered as fast as they could, but Night Glider, without the challenge of climbing and with the thought of her special somepony to spur her on, soon left them behind. She disappeared over the crest of the hill.
Double Diamond and Sugar Belle, huffing and puffing, climbed up and over the crest minutes later. What they saw made their hearts leap—there was Party Favor, looking perhaps a little weak, but otherwise very much alive and well. He was sitting on the floor of the cave with his back to them, and Night Glider was standing right beside him, looking at him intently.
The two latecomers had barely stepped inside the cave when they heard Night Glider give a pained yell.
“Party Favor, will you answer me?” Her voice cracked with strain.
Double Diamond and Sugar Belle looked at each other and rushed to join their friends.
“What’s wrong?” said Sugar Belle.
“I don’t know,” said Night Glider. “He won’t... it’s like he’s in a trance or something.”
“Party?” Double Diamond attempted. He walked up and placed a gentle hoof on Party Favor’s withers.
“Party?” echoed Sugar Belle, joining her hoof with Double Diamond’s.
“Please answer us,” pleaded Night Glider. She placed her hoof with the other two.
Party Favor seemed to stir.
“I think it’s working!” A smile fought with the fear on Night Glider’s features. She took Party Favor’s face in her front hooves and made him look in her eyes. “Party, honey, it’s me. It’s us.”
“It’s your friends,” added Sugar Belle.
“Fr... friends...” Party Favor sounded like a pony coming out of a deep sleep.
“Yeah, your friends!” said Double Diamond.
“Come on...” said Night Glider.
Slowly, Party Favor’s eyes cleared. He looked around at them all and said, “What’s everypony doing here?”
“Looking for you, what do you think?” said Double Diamond.
Night Glider was beyond words. A tearful grin lit her face and she embraced Party Favor fiercely. He could only look flustered.
“You guys didn’t have to come looking for me,” he said.
“Of course we did,” said Double Diamond. “We had to make sure you were okay.” He gave Party Favor an appraising look. “You are okay, aren’t you?”
“I’m alright.”
Night Glider collected herself and released her hold on Party’s neck. She looked him in the face and asked him what they had all been thinking.
“Why didn’t you tell anypony where you were?”
The barest hint of a blush colored his blue cheeks. He looked away from her and scuffed a hoof at the ground. A few shards of glass, reminders of the day they had all gotten their cutie marks back, were set in motion by his actions. He was silent for quite a while.
Finally, he said, “It’s not important.”
“Of course it’s important,” said Night Glider.
“We wouldn’t have been looking for you all this time if it wasn’t important,” said Sugar Belle.
“I mean... you kind of owe us,” said Double Diamond. “An explanation, I mean.”
Party Favor stood and walked closer to the wall where the cutie marks had been stored. More glass crunched under his hooves. He stared up at the broken vault, transfixed.
“I’m telling you guys, it’s really stupid,” he said. “You won’t like it.”
“Try us,” said Double Diamond.
“We won’t think you’re stupid,” said Sugar Belle encouragingly. “We’re just glad to have our friend back.”
“You can tell us, honey, really,” said Night Glider.
“Fine,” said Party Favor. “I came up here because... because I miss equality sometimes, okay?” He turned back to face the others and saw three slack-jawed faces staring back at him. “And that right there”—he pointed at them—”that’s why I didn’t tell anypony. I knew you wouldn’t understand.”
Sugar Belle was the first to recover. “You actually miss what Starlight did to us?”
Party Favor nodded, then quickly added, “Not all the time, though. Not even most of the time. Just... every once in a while.”
Night Glider came forward and placed a reassuring hoof on his chest, a tender kiss on his cheek. “Party, I think you’re right. We don’t understand. But you can help us to. Do you think you can do that?”
“I can try.”
“We’re listening,” said Night Glider. “We’re here for you.”
Party Favor heaved a sigh. “I guess I miss it because it was easier, you know?”
“Easier?” said Double Diamond.
“Celestia, this is hard.” Party Favor shook his head. “I guess when I say easier, I mean we didn’t have to think as much. We didn’t even really have to think at all.”
“Because we just did what Starlight told us to,” said Night Glider, nodding.
“Right,” said Party Favor.
“But... but wasn’t that awful for you?” Double Diamond said. “I know we acted happy and all, but I was miserable.”
“Me, too,” said Sugar Belle.
“Weren’t you?” said Double Diamond.
“Of course I was,” said Party Favor. “Starlight kept me from my true self, the same way she did all of you. It’s so hard to explain this feeling. It’s like... it’s like I was in Tartarus, but I can’t help looking back on it fondly.”
He saw Double Diamond and Sugar Belle giving him bemused expressions. Night Glider had her brow furrowed. Party Favor could see that she, at least, was trying to comprehend his thought process, even if she couldn’t exactly relate to it. He felt a warm wave of affection for his marefriend.
He gazed into Night Glider’s eyes for new strength and carried on, “I guess what I really miss about equality is the certainty. Now that I have my cutie mark back, I have to wake up every single morning and figure out what I’m going to do with my special talent. I never had that problem when we were equal; every day, I knew my destiny was to be just like everypony else. I’m not denying it was miserable, but it was also simple. I don’t know. Am I making any sense at all?”
Night Glider gave him a reassuring nod.
Then Sugar Belle spoke up. “I think that makes sense, Party. When you say it out loud that way, I remember feeling the same way myself. I guess it just didn’t bother me the same way it does you. What do you think, Double Diamond?”
He gave a little start at being addressed directly. “Well, I can’t say I’ve felt the same way, because I love having my cutie mark back. But I see why you might feel that way, now that you explain it.”
“But you don’t really want to go back to equality, do you?” said Night Glider.
“No, of course not,” said Party Favor. “I guess I just needed a chance to get all this off my chest.”
“I’m glad,” said Night Glider, smiling at him. “You’re a wonderful stallion, Party, but you never got to show it with that filthy equal sign on your flank. The Party Favor I love doesn’t follow the crowd. The Party Favor I love spends all day making ponies—and especially me—happy. The Party Favor I love is bubbly and cute and one-hundred-fifty-percent himself.”
Night Glider punctuated her speech with a quick kiss on his lips. Color bloomed in Party Favor’s cheeks; he’d almost forgotten how nice it felt to get kisses from his marefriend.
“I love you, too, Glidey-Widey.”
She cuffed him playfully over the head with her wing. “Didn’t we say that was just between us?”
Double Diamond and Sugar Belle hadn’t been able to contain themselves at the mention of “Glidey-Widey.” Both snorted and giggled, clinging to each other for support in their mirth.
Party Favor gave a nervous chuckle. “I guess I might’ve forgotten.”
“You’re lucky you’re so cute,” said Night Glider.
“Well, you’re not so bad yourself.” Party Favor pulled her to him and planted a kiss of his own.
“You think you’re ready to go home?” she asked him.
“I am.”
