"Wow! You lost your cutie mark!" Double Diamond exclaimed when he saw that her flank was replaced by an equal sign.

Starlight nodded. "Indeed I did. It was painful, but it had to be done."

"Wow," Double Diamond continued to stare. Starlight was getting uncomfortable by his gaze so she blocked her cutie mark with her tail.

"Sorry." Double Diamond dipped his head. "I just didn't think that the spell was actually possible. And if your cutie mark had been removed, how are you able to do magic?"

"With this, of course." Starlight picked up a stick on the ground and presented it to Double Diamond. The stick had two ends that extended upwards and had swirls around the body. "This is the Staff of Sameness." Starlight introduced the stick. "It's one of Mage Meadowbrook's items and it just so happened that it had been found here in the desert."

"What does it do?" Double Diamond accessed the stick.

Starlight grinned. "Glad you asked."

She pointed the stick at the white earth pony, and he was surrounded by light green aura. He winced in pain when he felt his cutie mark being stripped from his flank. Finally, once his cutie mark had been removed, his coat tone slightly turned darker, and his cutie mark was now an equal sign.

“My cutie mark!” Double Diamond groaned. “Oh wow, that hurt.”

“And it will hurt in a few days.” Starlight told him. “The little magic that I have left powers through this staff, so whenever this staff is used, a unicorn will be able to take away a cutie mark.”

“That’s powerful stuff...” Double Diamond gazed at the artifact. “And all that from a stick?”

“Precisely.” Starlight answered before turning away. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to put this away in a secret place, so other ponies won’t steal it.”

With that, she darted out of the village. She couldn’t help but put on an evil smirk. He was so easily fooled, and he absorbed everything that she said, and actually believed it. Her plan was going well than she thought.

And she was smart enough to fake her equal cutie mark once Double Diamond had left to say goodbye to his home one last time, and his hobbies. She was actually surprised that there was a coat product that was the color of Starlight’s lilac coat. And of course, she used it to her advantage. Plus, a cutout of an equal sign that was extremely similar to the cutie mark one makes it ten times better.

And he actually bought the stupid Mage Meadowbrook lie. Starlight snickered quietly. This is like taking candy from a baby. In this case, taking a cutie mark from a baby.

But she stopped herself. She just now remembered that a cutie mark must be kept in a container, or else they would return to its original owner. How did I forget that? And just when I laughed about Double Diamond being the dumb one... Starlight got angry at herself. Annoyed, she teleported a jar to herself and put his cutie mark inside it.

There.

Afterwards, she had put the stick somewhere deep into the mountains, and by deep. She meant she put it inside one of the pools that resided in one of the caves. If her plan was going to live on for a long time, she needed to take extra precautions.

When she arrived at her village, she was surprised when she saw Double Diamond with another pony. The pony was a light blue unicorn, with a poofy mane.

Keeping her guard up, she walked up to the ponies with a smile.

“Oh! There she is!” Double Diamond pointed at Starlight. The other pony followed and met Starlight with a smile.

“Hello!” the pony greeted with a wide grin. “Are you Starlight Glimmer that Double Diamond told me about?”

“Uh... yes...?”

“Nice to meet you! I’m Party Favor. And I want to join your village!” he started hopping up and down excitedly.

“Uh, why?” Starlight tilted her head, genuinely confused. And if he’s going to stay here, the excitement must be toned down right away. Something about his energy reminded her of herself when she was a foal. So happy... carefree... and thought that her life was perfect.

“You see, when Double Diamond told me yesterday about this village, I felt that no one wanted me around. And when I showed my special talent, which is making balloons, no one appreciated it, and some called it boring.”

Yeah and you’re stupid enough that you don’t know why no one wants you around. “And your point is?”

“Well, I came here to... escape?” Party Favor sighed. He finally sounded serious. “I don’t know. It's hard to explain.” he then got to the ground and stared down in sadness.

Double Diamond stepped in. “What he means is that he felt that he wanted to start over in a new town, and if other ponies join us, then he will be able to adapt, which he never had the chance to do.”

That... kind of makes sense? Starlight thought, puzzled. But she looked at the light blue unicorn. “Get up.”

“O-Ok.” Party Favor was shocked by her sudden assertion.

“You can join the town.” Starlight told the light blue unicorn. “But you must-”

“Remove my cutie mark?” Party Favor interrupted her. “Oh, I know that by now. I’ll totally do it!”

“And...” Starlight got closer to the light blue pony. “Your overexcitement must be cut down if you wish to stay here.”

“Oh, ok.” Party Favor responded. “Yeah my bubbly attitude can be annoying at times.”

No, really? Starlight thought sarcastically, but she restrained herself to say that out loud.

“Party Favor,” Double Diamond wrapped his hoof around his friend’s neck. “You will be able to make yourself home in Starlight’s town.”

“Yeah, but is it too rushed for me to make this decision?” Party Favor now questioned himself.

“No, you made the right one.” Double Diamond smiled. “Now I won’t be lonely in this boring-” he stopped himself when he saw Starlight glare at him with narrowed eyes. “I mean, lovely town. Just you wait, you will be welcomed and you won’t be shunned anymore!”

We’ll see about that. Starlight thought darkly. She didn’t like Party Favor at all. At least Double Diamond was bearable, despite his grating surfer-like tone in his voice. But him? If he was going to be welcomed in her town, he better act like a decent pony and not an overgrown foal. Or else Starlight will boot him out without hesitation.

But she was also amazed that she had gained another follower, and she didn’t even attempt to use her manipulation skills. Things were now starting to go her way. And soon, ponies from all over would join her, remove their cutie marks, and be her residents.

Now I has to sleep in another guest bedroom in my house. Starlight said. She was starting to run out of guest rooms. She looked at her property again. If her village was going to actually happen, she needed to get to building.

Yay...

Author's Note

Yeah, this chapter was short, but once again, this was all I came up with and didn’t think of another option. Hope you enjoy it anyways