//------------------------------//
// Dont Judge Generosity 
// Story: A study of Harmony 
// by Sugar Dove 
//------------------------------//

Chapter three  

Don't judge Generosity.  

The weary band trotted on. Dove eventually regained the feeling in her hooves and took up the rear, Edge close beside her. Steadfast had taken the lead again and D was surprisingly chatty after having fallen off a mountain. Ahead of them in plain sight now was Ponyville. The first and most important part of their journey.   
Sugar Dove had immediately made Rouge take a letter, which Moonlight had flown off with to a friend ahead in Ponyville. The group had planned to stay with said friend. The recent misadventure had caused them to be ahead of time and so Dove suggested giving the friend a fair warning of their arrival.  
Ponyville slowly came closer. The moment the band made the edge of the town they gave a triumphant cheer. Each promptly gaining a skip to their step as they looked about in wonder.   
Ponyville was bright and cheerful. Old rustic cottages decorated with flower and candy motifs. At the edge of town a steam train tooted loudly. Ponies hard at work called out from produce stalls and busy shoppers cantered about merrily approaching the town Centre. The air itself scented of sweet apples from the surrounding famous apple orchards. Fillies and foals played carefree in the streets and lanes, school clearly out for the evening. A few buildings stood out from the crowd. The mayors office, the hollowed out library tree, an old boutique that looked like it had been remodeled one time too many. The sky was mostly clear, the occasional cloud hanging lazily above the town.   
"This is going to be awesome!" Rouge piped up, "I've got a list the length of my tail of things I've wanted to see in Ponyville."  
"I haven't been here since I was a filly." Dove said softly, "My Mother and I lived here when I was really little but only for a little while. It hasn't changed since I was here. Its still beautiful."  
"So where are we going to first?" D helpfully brought up.  
Sugar Dove grinned knowingly and pointed a hoof to a narrow lane just past the library. The buildings around there were simple with flowers on most of the window sills and dusty used mats outside the doors. One in particular lacked both of those features. The house looked old but was clearly lived in. Curtains fluttered at an open window and the door was open slightly. The group bounded over excitedly only to stop at the door unsure what to do. Dove giggled as she came up behind them, pushed her way forward and wrapped on the door.  
It was answered but a young pegasus stallion. His pelt an evening blue and his curly brown mane flicked upwards. His plain quill cutie mark on his flank and inquisitive earthy green eyes suggested he was a writer. Edge and Steadfast jaw dropped at the young pony.  
"No Way!" The said in unison.  
"Sugar Dove!" the pegasus hugged her warmly, his deep bass voice soft and kind. "It has been ages! You look in a right state. Must have been some fall." He looked at the ragged group. "You must all be exhausted come on in. I'll get some hay on the go and we can get introductions underway." He smiled cheerfully and waved them inside.   
Rouge and D went on in happily, Steadfast and Edge both leapt at Dove as she went to go in.  
"How do you know Midnight Scribe?"  They both eagerly asked.  
"School mates, why?" Dove gave them a quizzical glance.  
"But he's like the best game journalist in all Equestria! He's practically famous!" Edge gaped.  
Dove laughed at the pair, "Well Duh."   
Inside was cosy and homely but only just barely lived in. There were boxes strewn across the rooms and electronics everywhere. The pegasus lead them each to there rooms before heading off himself to start  on food. Edge hovered a moment in Doves quarters.   
"You are alright after that fall, aren't you Dove?"   
Dove smiled softly at him. "Of course, I'm fine. I've done far worse than that. Nothing a day of rest and a bath wont fix. Now on you go and meet your idol. I presume he is anyway?"  
"Oh yes indeed. I love his reviews!"  
"Then go on then. Oh just let the guys know that I'm staying up here for the rest of this evening. I apologize for seeming antisocial. But you can probably imagine why." She lifted a wing wearily.  
"Oh! Of course." Edge nodded and left her, closing the door behind him.  
Down the stairs the rest of the group sat around an old wooden table in a surprisingly spacious dining room. Moonlight the Dove sat on a perch by the doorway and was cooing away happily, a tray of seeds hanging beside her. Midnight struggled through a door with a tray of assorted goodies. Edge joined the group just in time as he nabbed a cupcake from the tray before it was even set on the table.  
"So your Doves mystery contact?" Steadfast commented helping himself to food.  
"I wasn't aware I was a mystery." He chuckled his mane bouncing as he did so, "I'm merely accommodating friends between jobs. My next big story isn't due for a while."  
"Speaking  of stories I loved your article on the old game Conquest Equestria." Edge beamed at the opportunity to speak to Scribe.  
"Um thanks." The pegasus cocked his head to the side in a bashful sort of way.   
"We have to thank you for letting us stay here. We're complete strangers after all. It is most kind of you." Rouge said politely.  
"Not a problem at all, a friend of Dove is a friend of mine. I just apologize for the mess. I just acquired this property and I'm struggling to get everything into its rightful places. I'm certainly going to need the extra rooms by the time I'm finished unpacking."  
The conversation went on for some time. It was established that Midnight was a busy pony indeed. He was an avid collector and player of retro game platforms and games, he liked to mix music and had a fair number of instruments in his spare rooms and that he and Dove had been good friends in flight school. He told them all about her ability to lead even then. D was fascinated by his knowledge of game fan bases, Steadfast and Midnight compared stories from the last gamers convention. Edge hung on his every word. As the evening grew on and the night drew in the sleep group began to become less talkative.   
"Wow it must be late..." Rouge said yawning, "I didn't even get the chance to ask about the best places to go in Ponyville are."  
"No worries, I'll write up a list of cool hang outs for you," Midnight said sleepily "I'll leave it out at breakfast for you all and you can have a nosy in the morning."  
"Good plan. Well Good Night everypony. I'm off to bed." Steadfast stretched.  
"Good idea, we should all get some rest. Night." Edge added lastly.  
They each went up to their rooms, the stallions in one and the mares in another. As Rouge went to enter her room Edge stopped her, "Erm Rouge, sorry, but could you maybe leave this for Dove for me." He held up the cupcake he had snatched earlier.   
"Sure. Good idea, she did miss lunch."   
"Night Rouge." Hes smiled before clopping quietly down the corridor to his room.  
Rouge entered quietly, the room dimly lit by the moonlight from the open window, Dove was already snoozing softly on her bed, resting above the bed sheets curled up like filly. A letter beside her addressed to Luna. Rouge didn't read it. She knew exactly what it would say. "Night Dove." She whispered setting the cupcake by her bedside before slipping under the covers of her own bed.  

******* A bright and beautiful morning.***********  

The sun rose, the birds sang and Rouge fell out of bed.  
The tired pony yawned from her late night and slipped quietly down the stairs as Dove still slept soundly. Steadfast was already awake and at the dining table. There was food laid out and a note on the table. "Please help yourselves" and another beneath that with a long list of things to do in Ponyville. Rouge scrambled for the note excitedly. There was the usual stuff; shops, boutique, cafe, spa but nothing that really piped her interest. Glumly she set her head on the table and let out a "Humph."  
Steadfast laughed softly at the look Rouge had on her face. "No it's not really what I'm into either." he passed her a bowl of hay, " but I hear the area is pleasant for walking so long as you don't go into the forest. Maybe there will be a trail for walking or something." He shrugged as he idly went to the front door.   

"And where are you going?" Rouge enquired.   
"Morning gallop. Didn't get into the guard for being idle you know."  
Rouge laughed softly, "Of course."   
Once steadfast was gone Rouge sat in silence. No pony else was up yet. Pleasant walks, forest? She thought. Perhaps there would be some scenery to sketch. It would certainly brighten up her gallery come the grand opening if she had some decent pictures. So scoffing her hay she crept back up stairs, grabbed her whole travel back and snuck out.   
Outside the air was crisp. It was early and only a few ponies were about. A few weather ponies flew about clearing the sky and fillies and colts lazily went about their way to school. Rouge smiled at the colours of the buildings and the quietness of the streets. This was much better than Canterlot she thought. With a smile and a flick of the tail Rouge set off at a gentle trot down the street. She passed shops smelling of sweet fresh baking and flower venders setting up their wares bright and early. The main road glittered in the morning sun.   
Something wasn't sitting right for Rouge. It was very much beautiful and just the right level of noise to work but everything was the same. She would draw some of the town at some point but not yet. She needed something different. She began to feel blue again. As she walked the path became less shiny and more country road, she went over a stream the water trickling pleasantly under her hooves as she went over an old bridge, the road got thinner, nature became a little more rampant but not entirely unkempt.  Up ahead was a cottage. Old and long forgotten, taken over by the plants and animals, in the yard a scrapped chicken coup and an old fence hanging loosely to its posts. This was the spot.   
Rouge sat on the grass in what was presumably the garden. The grass was long and it tickled her belly as she lay on it. With a glow of her horn her sketch pad flew in front of her, carefully she selected a pencil and began.   
For a short time she drew undisturbed, only the twitter of birds and the occasional rabbit made a sound. At least until:  
"EEEEEEPPPPP!!!" A mare screamed loudly in the most outrageous girlie voice. It came from a unicorn. She was white except from the mud plastered to her flank and her shiny blue mane and tail were tangled in twigs and leaves. She ran around all panicked. A variety of small and angry animals clinging to her. "GET THEM OFF, EEEEPPEEEEEEP, GET THEM OFF!" She squealed helplessly, trotting on the spot with a disgusted look on her face.   
Rouge looked at her with an impatient sigh. She hated people that made a fuss over trivial things, she hated noise too. Reluctantly she stood up and wandered over to the fussing mare who was still trotting with a girly flounce on the spot.  
"Really!?" Rouge said firmly with a motherly glare in her eyes, "Is that any way to behave?"   
Both the unicorn and the animals stopped and stared at her. The animals hissed at loudly.  
"Ah!" They were about to it again, "Ah! What did I say? Now off with you!" The animals looked to one another with an unhappy glance and fled back into the old wooden building.  
The unicorn looked stunned. Her jaw stood open. Rouge ignored her and sat back in her spot to draw. After as second or so longer the surprised mare came over to her. "Thank you kindly!" She said with what sounded like a very put on city accent, "I simply have no idea what I would have done if you had not scared of those fiends."  
Rouge didn't look up as she replied, "And what the hay were you doing in there in the first place? Disturbing their den I imagine."  
The mare looked hurt and yet blushed embarrassed. "Well no, you see I was looking for inspiration for my latest designs. I've recently taken over the boutique in town and wanted to capture the nature of the surrounding area in my designs but it seems nature captured me. " She looked over at Rouges sketching, "My goodness! That is simply beautiful! If only my work could come to life like yours does."  
Rouge squinted at her rough sketch of the building. She had barely begun the ivy on the walls. "Thank you I guess but it is far from complete nor is it anything good."  
"Not Good? You are simply marvelous! You must stop at my boutique and look at my designs! An eye like yours would see exactly where I'm going wrong!" She beamed delighted as though she had discovered a hidden treasure. "So I shall expect you at mine place this afternoon then! After I have taken care of my mane!" With a satisfied grin the unicorn lifted her head high and galloped away, "See you soon!"  
There wasn't a moment in the unicorns speech that Rouge could protest. She merely rolled her eyes and continued with her drawing. By the time the sun was high in the sky she was nearly finished and had already started colouring the piece. She had gone to the stream and had collected water in a small jar, she had been painting and since she had been sitting so still for so long even the animals had come out and many birds were looking for worms i the ground around about her.  A curious white rabbit sniffed at the edge of her paper before scampering off. If it had not been for the rabbit unusual closeness Rouge would not have realised the time. With a stretch and a breath of satisfaction she collected her art and cantered merrily back through town.  
Past the train station and the school and the boutique. The boutique. Rouge Stops. She looks at it. The tall building looks like one of the oldest in Ponyville, the colours faded and worn, rustic yet charming, in the windows were some mannequins dressed in city finery. She walked towards the windows, she looked in, she thought about how stupid the idea she was having would be, she walked in.  
The door chime tingled and within a second, "Welcome to Bedazzled Boutique! How can I be of assistance today!" The young mare from earlier had bounced to the centre of the room , her appearance much improved from her earlier escapades. Her blue mane and tail now beautifully trimmed and her flank a fine white and a dazzling glittery cutiemark shone for all to see.  "You made it!" She said with hooves open and grinning wide as she realised it was Rouge.  
"Yeah...." Rouge said with a diminishing tone, "I did."  
"I'm so happy!" She said as she suddenly began to levitate half the things in the shop about her. A table for two suddenly set out for them, scrap books, fabrics and threads all thrown upon it, the curtains rammed shut, the door sign turned and a dust chandelier lit up above them. The unicorn ran to another room and then back with a tray of already steaming pot of some liquid or another and fine china teacups. "Sit! This is going to be so much fun!" She clapped her hooves together excitedly.   
Rouge couldn't help but thing about her first meeting with Dove, she had equally as giddy and eager to please. "Perhaps names would be a good start?" she began as she sat at the table.  
"Dazzle!" Said the unicorn swishing her mane, "And you?"  
"Rouge." She said simply.  
"Rouge! It is a pleasure! Oh and you must think me a complete ninny. Running about like a filly. As a fellow artist you must please help me! I cannot pin down the faults in me designs at all!" She said with a dramatic hoof to the head.  
With a sigh, Rouge helped herself to the steamy liquid, flicked open the scrap books and tested the fabrics. She sat quietly. Dazzle waited eagerly looking to her with wide eyes. The pause felt like it went on forever. "Well?" Dazzle eventually pleaded.  
Rouge looked up at her and with one breath "They are all simply too loud, you have too much colour, too much sequins , the fabrics are too harsh, you clearly don't work with a good enough light level, your considerations of your surroundings are minimal in your earlier pieces and you pile too much of your abundantly bouncy and noisy nature into your works. Your meaning is good you simply need to tone down the you and make it more the needs of others. Use lighter materials, work in better light, less is more in your case."   
Dazzle blinked. Rouge just looked at her. "Thank you." Dazzle said simply. "I'm so glad that someone admitted that to me." She looked relieved. "Its been so hard since moving here. Nopony ever wants to tell the new pony that they aren't fitting in."  
Rouge nods taking a sip from the cup. The liquid is sweet and soothing. "I know what you mean."   
The pair sit quietly for a while. Dazzle wrinkles her nose. "So what brings an artist like you to Ponyville?" She enquires.  
"My friends." Rouge replies, "We're on a journey, my friend Dove is a student and is studying friendship. So we are traveling as a group."  
"That must be exciting but I'd like to be settled. Especially in old places, and Ponyville has been around for about a hundred or so years."  
"I hear that. Most of the buildings around here look old."  
"Indeed." Dazzle gives her best smile, "This building has been here for almost exactly 100 years, I'm a huge fan of the original owners works. I wish I could have been there to see her work..." Her town lowers as she says this last bit and for a moment the pony seems to lose her colour, like a grey filter had been put over her. Rouge thought nothing of it, merely a trick of the light. "And that old cottage was the same. The towns people honour it because the owner left it to her animals so they could have a place to live. Once a year it is checked my worker ponies so that it is kept secure. She was a pegasus I'm told,  she must have been reclusive to have wanted to live there."  
"You certainly know a lot about this place." Rouge began to smile.  
"Oh yes, you see most of the important buildings in this town all go back to about that period, Miss Rarity the great designer was friends with the pegasus in the cottage, that is how I know so much."  
Rouge smiled. The mare seemed far less annoying than she had first thought. She was clever, polite and had a charming smile, perhaps this idea had been a good one after all. Dove was always saying making friends is easy. "I want you to have something." She levitated the half finished painting from her bag. "Next time instead of going into the cottage, just look at this, it's simply coloured so you have a reference of some less garish colours and this way you can see your inspiration instead of being chased by it."  
The unicorns jaw dropped. "I cannot accept that! It was your hard work!"  
"Not at all. A generous gift should be generously accepted. You were a surprising pleasure to speak with."  
Dazzle took the picture and smiled softly. "Oh thank you, your generosity is amazing!" She came around and hugged her. Rouge grudgingly let her.   
For the rest of the afternoon they discussed colours, fabrics and the local history. Rouge almost lost track of time. By the time they bid good byes it was dark and Rouge had to gallop briskly back to her accommodation.   
As the group once again settle in for the night Rouge confided in Dove about the interesting mare she had met and how she learned that not judging can help you make some surprising friends and how she hoped her gift would be helpful. Dove smiled to her as she wrote down every word Rouge said.   

"What are you writing?" Rouge asked.  
"Everything so we can tell Luna." Dove replied.  
Rouge just smiled. "Night Dove."  
"Night Rouge." The pegasus said as she rolled up the letter and left it aside to be sent in the morning.   

Outside a soft breeze blew through the town and swept past the windows. A sequin blew from the boutiques doorway its shine lost in the night.