> Wonders of the Average > by Yozzoy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Days -1 and 0 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Wonders of the Average Day(s) -1 and 0 ***Put any immediate concerns in the comments, I will read them all*** LOOKING FOR EDITORS!! It was a warm and clear summer day in the Canterlot, the weather teams were off for the rest of the day as the ponies in the city attended to their usual business, and finally over at the royal castle the last parliamentary meeting before the summer recess was starting up. While most consider Canterlot to be the most interesting place in all of Equestria, living in the same place, with the same royal restrictions, and the same events took its toll on Princess Celestia. While she didn’t dislike this life in any way she, was simply felt bored of it. Hours later the meeting came to an end, without much crime in the country and continued economic prosperity there was almost no arguing among opposing political alignments, although there was the occasional exchange about labour union rights and some farming concerns at the end of each meeting everypony respected one another (talk about love and tolerance). With the end of the meeting Princess Celestia and Princess Luna returned to the great study, the castles library to have their usual routine of reading a few books before heading off for dinner. At first Celestia came with Luna to give her the main books that would benefit her catching up from her thousand year banishment but slowly she found herself with an equal thirst for knowledge. “So sister what are you in the mood for?” Celestia asked Luna in her silk like voice. “I do not quite know, are there any books on… ” she replied slowly decreasing her volume to a mumble. “Pardon sister I didn’t catch that last part.” Celestia asked “On Nightmare Night?” she asked in a quiet voice almost as if she was guilty of some sort of thought crime. “I’m afraid not, we don’t have one here at the moment, I believe Prince Blueblood took it out… 14 years ago.” Celestia said adding a slightly annoyed sharpness to the end of the sentence. “Luna may I ask why?” She added regaining her coolness. “Well on Nightmare Night while I was in Ponyville I had a grand amount of fun just being with the ponys, after I re-instated it of course.” Luna replied with a small but noticeable smile. “Yes I remember that night you hopping around like a little filly afterwards, you were so lucky.” “Lucky? How so?” Luna questioned her sisters’ reply. “Well when you went everypony was so… informal compared to when I’m around, its impossible to have any sort of gauge as to how they are on a daily basis when they put themselves through that.” Celestia remarked with a hint of guilt. “Well you are the Princess of the sun, and most of the informalities were done out of fear of Nightmare Moon.” “But still.” Celestia continued “after you laid these fear down they still acted normal around you, when I’m around everyponys going to absolute extremes to please me.” Luna couldn’t believe it for the first time in their entire relationship, Celestia was jealous of her. She did her best to keep her jaw from dropping in disbelief as they continued the conversation. “Sister please, I bet if I were to go back I would receive the same treatment as you.” Luna said trying to ease her sisters frustration. “And if it makes you feel any better the only reason they began to not fear me was when I used the shape shifting spell to turn into Nightmare Moon.” She added. “That is true” Celestia concurring with her sister “Where did you learn that spell from anyways?” Lunas’ horn then started glowing as she levitated a book from the Starswirl the Bearded section bringing it in front of her sister, she then used her magic to open it and landed on the page where the spell was located. Celestia began to read aloud. “The spell can only be used on the castor, allows for anypony to change their exterior appearance while allowing the mind, heart and soul to remain un hindered. However, while a pony can change their appearance including gender, they cannot change their age they appear or the race of pony which they are, effectively meaning that a unicorn cannot become a Pegasus or an Earth pony. Alicorns will also remain as such. ” “How long did it take you to flawlessly use this spell?” Celestia asked.“Approximately one night while I was unable to sleep.” Luna said in a somewhat cocky way. “Interesting, I’ll take this and read more later, we’ve been talking for so long its dinner time.” Celestia concluded. Luna nodded in agreement. After an uneventful dinner with some small talk, Celestia and Luna lowered the sun and raised the moon respectively and bid each other a good night. However while Luna went to her room to slumber, Celestia was sitting at her desk, thinking and writing on a few parchments of paper, she had the most brilliant of ideas, and she thought Luna was going to love it. The next morning Celestia rose early and woke her sister to fulfill their royal duty. “You think this would still be exciting no matter how many one sees it.” Celestia inquired after they lowered the moon and raised the sun. “Then again doing it for 1000 years does take a certain toll.” Luna remarked clearly seeing that something was eating at her sister. Celestia then looked at Luna and said “Luna I have a surprise for you, meet me in my room in 5 minutes.” Putting aside the feelings of sadness which plagued her previous sentence. Luna nodded and they went their separate routes, 5 minutes later Luna knocked her hoof on Celestias’ door and waited for a response, she then heard a magical fizzle and pop, without hesitation she barged in the door fearing that someone was attempting to harm her. Lunas’ jaw fell, Celestia was nowhere to be seen but she was looking at herself, she quickly regained her composure and asked. “Celestia why did you turn into me?” “Luna, I thought of a great way to spend the parliamentary recess! So I leant how to use the shape shifting spell.” Celestia replied in Lunas’ voice, the illusion was flawless from head to hoof she looked like a reflection of her sister. “I believe I know where this is going but sister there’s one rather major flaw in your plan, how are we supposed to hide our wings, if we go to Ponyville in our current state the residents will clearly know we’re of royal blood. ” Luna replied still somewhat uneasy about talking to herself. “Relax Luna.” Celestia said as her horn began to glow, she then levitated two vests which would fit the average sized mare. Luna facehoofed “You’re a genius! Now what about living accommodations? We are going to stay there for the whole month.” Luna said with a happy and concerned tone. “Everythings taken care of I bought a property with an average sized house, everythings taken care of Luna. Except one thing of course. ” said Celestia, a moment later she was glowing and returned to her original appearance. “Now then our chariot leaves in an hour, before then I want you to decide on what form you would be taking and read this letter, it’s our cover. Although you may still chose your name and fill in certain details as you please. ” Luna was positively ecstatic, she was quickly grabbed the letter Celestia referred to with her magic along with the wing covering vest and headed off to her room. Her mind was going a mile a second, she thought to herself “This is going to be great, we finally get to get out of the palace and have some fun, maybe even a few adventures! I just hope nopony see through our disguise.” Finally she found herself in her room, she ripped open the letter and began to read what Celestias’ cover was. “Birthplace/Origin: Fillydelphia, Occupation: You decide, Family structure: A Father named Liquid Luster, a deceased mother named Crimson Star, and a sister, In addition the reason we’ve moved to Ponyville is to take occupy our other house to attempt to sell it.” Luna grinned thinking to herself that Celestia had pretty much gotten everything they need in order, however there was one thing she still couldn’t think of, what her new appearance would be. She didn’t want to look like a completely different pony but at the same time she needed to make herself look different enough so that nopony recognizes her, she pulled out a quill and paper with her magic and began to draw. She decided early on she wanted to have short hair that would be easy to manage, however she decided to make herself look like her younger self colour scheme wise. She had 10 minutes before she was to meet Celestia at the chariot so she quickly finished her drawing and filled in the colour with her mind, she then pictured her new look as she closed her eyes and cast the spell. A moment later and the transformation was complete. She used Twilight Sparkle as her base for her look, she was the exact same height, however she made her face look different and had a different mane style and tail. Her coat was now a mixture of pale blue, gray and black which gave it an extra bit of shine. Her mane and tail were now dark purple and she wore her mane such a way her right eye was slightly covered by her mane which reached about halfway down her neck before curling up. She left her eye colours the same teal colour, and finally her false cutie mark was her a crescent moon with a blooming red rose in the center. Luna was galloping toward the chariot bay at full speed, the new height difference wasn’t too hard to adjust to, however she was surprised as to how there were no guards around, she dismissed the thoughts and finally came in to the bay, she then heard a new voice from one of the chariots “Well great timing!” she looked and saw a light pink mare with long and somewhat ‘puffy’ scarlett red mane, and pink eyes, and immediately knew who it was. “Wow you look great sister.” Luna remarked taking in her new appearance, she then noticed Celestias’ false cutie mark was similar to her original except for the fact that there were a bouquet of blue roses partially covering up her original sun mark. Luna then spoke up “Sister from now on refers to me as Stardust Rose, or Stardust for short.” “That’s a wonderful name, and very fitting!” Celestia exclaimed with glee “From now on call me Solaria Bless, or Solaria for short.” Shortly after their exchange the royal Pegasus guards attached themselves to the chariot, and after one final safety check the pony beside them said “Ladies your ride is ready to leave, do you have any last request or concerns?” In a professional calm and assertive voice “No we’re fine.” Cel- er Solaria replied. With that the Pegasus took off and chariot was out of the bay, they were finally on their way. It was rather late morning when they finally saw Ponyville in the distance, at this point they both put their wing hiding vests and braced for landing. They were about to get a taste that no money, no power and no ruler could ever truly have, the opportunity to be average. They couldn’t have been more excited. End > Day 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 1 ***Put any immediate concerns in the comments, I will read them all*** The chariot landed just on the outskirts of town, Solaria and Stardust hopped out and levitated their respective bags onto the ground, the Pegasus then took off back to Canterlot. With the Chariot fading away into the clear afternoon sky the mares began the walk into town. Solaria led the way as Stardust was just looking around and observing how nopony paid any real attention to them, it was a great feeling to just blend in. After several minutes of walking through the town, Solaria broke the silence. "We're here Stardust." she said in her new sweet and confident sounding voice. Solaria levitated the key to the lock and with a click the door opened. As they entered the modest looking house both mares couldn't help but feel in awe as the looked around, there was absolutely nothing special about the house, and they loved it. They placed their bags on the ground and sat down on the couch, tired from the walk, and now Solaria thought aloud "What should we do first?" with a voice that was equal parts happy and exhausted "Perhaps we should head to Sweet Apple Acres and buy some food for our stay." Stardust suggested with a hint of eagerness, it was lunch time and the mention of food made both their stomachs growl. "Sounds good, lets head for the town square with all the vendors, I remember Twilight mentioning a lovely restaurant there." Solaria said and with that they grabbed the saddle bags they brought and headed out the door. As they exited the house and were heading toward the square which was a few blocks away Solaria looked over her shoulder and saw a large potted shrub with pink leaves coming from the sides that wasn't there before. However Stardust had started telling her to hurry up as she had put a good amount of distance between them so without another look she headed toward the square. By the the time Solaria had caught up to Stardust they had arrived at their destination. "So do you want to buy groceries first or get a meal at the cafe?" Stardust asked as she looked around a took in the scene, still loving the lack of any special treatment. "Lets get lunch first, then we'll shop." replied Solaria as she pointed a hoof in the direction of the cafe, and with that they got a outdoors table and were having a conversation about the founding of Ponyville while they waited for their food. "So you- er the Princess gave the pilgrims the land here to settle, and Sweet Apple Acres was the first business to be founded, I do not know why sister but every time I hear that it just impresses me." Stardust said as the waiter was placing there food onto the table. "Indeed it is impressive what determined spirits can accomplish." Solaria added, and with the food on the table they finally started to eat. After they finished eating they placed twice the amount of money they actually owed and a note saying "Keep the change" needless to say they heard a happy squee from the waiter even when they were half across the square. Now they had there next mission, buy groceries and their care products. First they headed to the spa which had high quality homemade soaps and baths for purchase, then they headed toward the herb shop for some teas and other herbs they wanted to use for various things, and finally they headed to the Sweet Apple Acres vendor dead in the center of the square. As they approached they saw Applejack occupied with other customers, they gave each other a quick nod as if telepathically confirming their plan, now time to put these disguise to the test and who better than the Element of Honesty to test it on first. They stopped in front of the vendor, Applejack having just completed a sale with another customer turned her attention to the mares. "Well howdy y'all, what can I do ya for." she said in her southern accent infused with a peppy get go attitude. "Well I'm Solaria Bless and this is my sister Stardust Rose we're kinda new around here and we heard you had the best apples in all of Equestria." Solaria said in her the friendly and charismatic way she would have as Princess Celestia. "Well Solaria Bless and Stardust Rose it's great to meet y'all and on behalf of the town welcome! Le’me tell ya, whoever told y'all we got here the best apples in all Equestria was righter than a rooster in the mornin'." she replied with an even more friendly and happy attitude. "Now then" Solaria continued "I'd like a bit of everything you have at this cart, and a dozen bottles of juice." With that Applejacks eyes widened a bit "Well no problem 'cept for how are you going to carry it all?" she said adding a small look of confusion to her face as she said it. "Don’t worry about us, now how much will that be?" Stardust said to try to ease Applejacks worries. "Well that'll come down to 63 bits" she replied. Solaria had levitated the bits from her vest pockets and counted them up and placed them on the counter while Applejack was setting up three wood barrels to put the supplies into but was taken aback as Stardust had used her magic to levitate everything they just bought. With that they began to walk back home only to hear Applejack shouting from the vendor."Wait y'all forgot your change." as she waved her hooves trying to get the mares attention Solaria turned around and shouted. "Keep it! We'll have to see each other soon though alright!" and with that Applejack lowered her hooves and shouted "No problem, y'all take care now ye hear!" and with that the sisters headed back home to leave their purchases as there was still daylight to burn and still more places they wanted to see. As they approached the house, right before they entered Solaria looked to over where the out of place bush was and noticed it was still there without any of the pink leaves which were there before, she decided for the time being to shrug it off as something odd. As they entered the house they organized all of the groceries, magically placing them in their appropriate places, and took a seat on the couch, looking down, thinking of where to go next. "Well," Solaria said breaking the silence "we could go to the library and meet Twilight Sparkle, or even go to Sugar Cube Corner and buy something sweet and meet Pinkie Pie." the silence resumed for a few moments until Stardust replied "I say we should go the the library and meet Twilight, I think that Pinkies going to take way to much energy out of us, you've seen how she is right?" directing her last statement at her sister in question form. "I will admit Pinkie is... bouncy but she is who she is but I agree lets go meet Twilight." Solaria replied while standing up to get ready to leave she then looked at the clock. "Wow can you believe it's already 6:30, in a few hours we have to change the day to night. But for now come on let's go meet my faithful student." The location of their house was pretty much in the center of the town so everywhere was a short walk away, including the library. As they walked Stardust was going through her back story in her head a couple more times to make sure she didn't blow her cover while Solaria was just thinking of what she and Twilight could talk about, she couldn’t mention any of the friendship reports and she couldn't act like she was an old friend to not blow their cover, but before they knew it they had arrived. Stardust tapped the door of the library tree with her hoof yet no response, "It is a library, I'm sure we can just go in." Solaria said, Stardust then nodded her head in agreement and they had opened the door and walked in, it was completely dark, pitch black despite the sunshine entering through the door. So the sisters stepped in more "Hello? Anyone here?" Solaria asked in vain as she got no response, then suddenly the door slammed shut behind them and they immediately responded as if there was an enemy in the building, and suddenly in unison they were just about to release a huge pulse of magical light which was in vain as right before they fired it, the lights went on and all they heard was... SURPRISE!!! They held back the magic pulse and were shocked at how many ponys were here. While they were trying to comprehend what just happened, a certain pink earth pony popped up in front of them. "Hi I'm Pinkie Pie and me and my friend threw this party just for you! It's your welcome to Ponyville party!!!" she had stopped for a split second to breath and in that time Solaria cut her off "Thank you and your friends very much but who are your, friends can you introduce us to them?" Solaria asked playing dumb as an excuse to meet the rest of the group. "Okie doki loie! They're right over here!" she said pointing to the rest of the group without Applejack near the punch table, as the sisters started walking began to shout questions "So what’s your names? Where are you from? Whats your hat size? Whats your favorite kinda cake? Have you been to many parties? Do you like this party? So what are your names?" Pinkie Pie let out all in one breath as she hopped in circles around the two mares, they both were confused by how many questions they got hit with, only really hearing the first few. “Well I’m Solaria Bless.” Solaria answered after processing everything that just happened, “And I’m Stardust Rose, and were from Fillydelhpia, umm, this is a great party, it’s very... lively.” Stardust said, completing their introduction to the hyperactive party pony, “Wow that’s super special awesome!! Anyways enjoy the party!! I’ll see you guys later in the chapter!” and with that the Pinkie Pie hopped away humming pleasantly. “Later in the chapter? What does that mean?” Stardust asked still finding the meeting with Pinkie to be flabbergasting “Well according to the letters, for lack of a better term she marches to the beat of her own drum, or you can just say she’s Pinkie Pie.” Solaria replied having recovered from the large dose of Pinkie “Let’s go meet ou- I mean her friends.” she added a moment later, feeling odd that she refers to her student and her friends as if she does not know them. As they walked across the room they could see how much effort Pinkie Pie put into every little detail, there were at least 20 different kinds of pastries and large amounts of each along with a large cake that was as big as the table it was on, there were streamers of varying colour and balloons to match them. Finally they reached the punchbowl where the other ponys were and were immediately greeted by Twilight Sparkle “Hi, umm I hope my friend Pinkie Pie wasn’t too much-” she was cut off by Solaria “No, she was fun, it’s nice to see somepony with such enthusiasm to greet an absolute stranger.” She said looking at Twilight with intent to see if her disguise broke down, fortunately there was no sign she saw through it. “Anyways,” Twilight continued in her usual cheery tone “My name is Twilight Sparkle, and if you any need any help getting adjusted, or need a good book to read I’m here to help.” “Well nice to meet you Twilight Sparkle, my name is Solaria Bless, and this is my sister Stardust Rose.” Solaria said gesturing toward to Stardust who then added “It’s very nice to meet you, and this town is very nice.” Applejack then entered the door and approached the group “Well hey there everypony! Y’all met Solaria and Stardust yet?” she said trotting across the room to their location “So how’r you two liken’ Ponyville, also mighty thanks again for the tip.” Stardust and Solaria then turned around “Well we’re enjoying our first day here and this party is icing on the cake, oh and that wasn’t a tip that was just some change.” Stardust said with a genuine smile and sense of joy “Y’all kidding, you gave me double the amount you owed me, and considerin’ you bought everything that’s a hayload.” She responded giving the credit the sisters they deserve, causing Stardust to blush a little. At that point Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash approached the sisters after wrapping up there conversation, and Rarity spoke “Hello there, so your names are Solaria Bless and Stardust Rose correct.” The sisters nodded their heads in agreement .“Well I’m Rarity, the local dress maker extraordinaire, and I must say those vests are quite charming, where about did you get them?” “Well it’s nice to meet you, and I can’t remember where did you get them from?" Stardust said as she looked to her sister for an answer "Well Rarity it's lovely to meet you, and I actually made these vests myself." Solaria responded “Maybe I can come by your dress shop sometime." By this time Stardust had looked up at the clock it was a less than an hour until the moon had to be risen, she decided they should meet the rest of Twilights friends before notifying her sister. Once she looked back however she saw Rainbow Dash walking forward to give her introduction "Hi I'm Rainbow Dash, but you probably already know that considering how famous I am." She said in a less than prideful fashion, Solaria already decided she would take her down a peg "Ah yes aren't you the mysterious Mare do well I was told about?" Solaria said waiting for Rainbows' response "Well I did- wait what, I'm not Mare do well! But you are close, I am a pretty famous hero." she said regaining her cool "Oh were you the one who stopped the parasprites?" Solaria asked in an innocent fashion "What?! Ughh never mind, nice to meet you anyways, hopefully we'll get to be able to chill so I can tell you about all the awesome things I've done." Rainbow responded in an annoyed fashion. “Rainbow please get your pride under control, remember the last time that happened.” Rarity said to Rainbow adding a devilish grin indicating a past mistake on Rainbows’ part “Fine, I’ll lay off.” Rainbow responded sarcastically, as the two were bickering about pride, Fluttershy came in to stop the conflict “Umm, girls? If it’s okay with you could you stop arguing please?” she said in her soft spoken voice which was rather quiet considering how loud they were bickering “Umm, fine hey have you meet the new girls?” Rainbow said, happy to change the subject as she was losing the argument with Rarity “Oh no I haven’t, umm... hi my name is Fluttershy.” she said with her face hiding behind her mane “Well it’s nice to meet you Fluttershy, I’m Solaria Bless.” Solaria said greeting her with a cheery smile and sweet voice, with Stardust stepping forward to begin her introduction “Hi I’m Stardust Rose, we have heard about the sweetness of thou’s voice.” slipping a joke from Nightmare Night. The whole gang was then looking at Stardust with confusion, “Well I heard Princess Luna say that once, it was in an interview in the Equestria Daily about the bearers of the Elements.” she said keeping her composure with the cover up, even Solaria face-hoofed. “Oh that’s neat I never knew Luna did an interview, I heard she’s speaking in a ‘modern fashion’ these days.” Twilight responded “Well yes, I heard that to, do you know Princess Luna?” Stardust asked trying to fish for what they think of her. “Well she was a little awkward, but she was a great pony to be with, a little scary when she used that there royal voice thing-a-majig. But I can honestly say I’d welcome here back any day.” Applejack responded speaking of her like she was an old friend, exactly what Stardust wanted to hear. “Well, I thought she was awfully scary when she used that loud voice, but since she stopped using it I would have liked to get to know her a bit more, I feel kinda bad running away from her, since she was awfully lonely.” added Fluttershy, making Stardust happy at the fact she actually wanted to get to know her despite scaring the colour off of her. “Ya well she was a party pooper, she ruined my prank.” Rainbow added in an annoyed tone. “Well you had it coming.” Twilight added quickly. Stardust had once again looked at the clock, they had less than a minute to bring in the night. Panic was written on her face as she could not believe how much time had past. "Solaria, we have to go back home, I umm... We need to shut the oven off, yes, we must go I mean look at the time." she said with a terrible poker face as she gestured toward the clock. Solarias' face went white "Sorry to have cut it off here girls, but it was nice meeting you all." she said in a falsly calm voice. "Ahh really but we were having so much fun." Pinkie Pie said, the other girls agreeing with her. "Sorry but we got to go see you all again tomorrow." Stardust said with a feeling of guilt. "Ok then see ya tomorrow." said Rainbow Dash. "Well it was a pleasure, tomorrow you two should come by my dress shop." added Rarity who enjoyed hearing about the styles of Fillydelphia. "It was very nice meeting you." said Fluttershy, and finally Twilight said "Trust me, moving to Ponyville was one of the best choices you have ever made." in a cheery tone. With that the sisters' horns began to glow and they teleported home. As soon as they popped back into their house they went to the nearest window and used their magic to usher in the night, they were thirty seconds late but nopony would notice. "Solaria" said Stardust trying to calm herself "We need a better way to do this, that was close." Solaria nodded in agreement "We need a better way indeed, but thats tomorrows problem, for now I need to sleep." she began to walk up the stairs levitating her bag behind her. She went to her room and quicly used her magic to unpack her things, organizing and adjusting all of her things. She set her alarm an hour before the sun was supposed to rise as she usually did and grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste and headed for the bath room. Stardust did the same however she had changed back into Luna, streching her wings after being stuck folded all day. "Celestia you can remove the disguise, there is nopony here but me to see you." she said as they headed toward the bathroom. "After I brush and get into my room these doors aren't tall enough for us." she said as they entered the bathroom. After they had brushed their teeth and gotten ready for bed, Solaria transformed into her true form, and immediately laid down on her bed. She began to think to herself, "Why haven't we thought of this before Luna?" she then looked up to Luna's room which was seperated by a door, which was opened and heard. "But the... We need to... Throw sharks at... Trees so... choo choo trains come back down." Luna was talking in her sleep... Again. "Oh most woderful of days." Celestia said her voice becoming softer and quieter as her eyes closed and she went to sleep. END Authors Notes: I will gaurantee a few more chapters, these things usually need time to gain steam/popularity, but hopefully my hard work pays off. Also I plan to eventually do TWO Chapters per day, one for Celestia/Solaria and one for Luna/Stardust, although they will mainly happen as they decide to have separate adventures with the main cast, or side characters, and possibly background ponies, or a combination of all three. I will say right now there will be no OC ponies or "humans in Equestria" added, I will not be doing any shipping what so ever. On the subject of fanfics, I will poke fun (Keyword there FUN) at other fics that are popular or I like, however there may be a phone booth involved. Thank you Yozzoy Please put any immediate concerns in the comment box. > Day 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 2 Celestia woke up the next morning with the sound of her alarm clock, which she promptly punched with her hoof across the room, however, the terrible noise that woke her continued until finally she woke up and stood up. "I swear if I didn't enchant this thing I would never get up." She said in a voice slightly slurred by her tiredness. First she went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth, and due to the noise she was making it woke up Luna, who she heard stumble from bed, followed by "Ouch!" Luna had said after hitting her head on the top of the door frame. "Good morning sister, how was your sleep?" Celestia asked with her voice no longer affected by her sleepiness. "It was good, I'm going to get breakfast started." She replied after brushing her teeth. With that, Celestia returned to her room, went in front of the vanity mirror and cast the transformation spell, she was once again Solaria Bless. She magically lifted her vest and put it on, and finally headed downstairs. When she arrived she saw Luna, who was now Stardust Rose, mixing a pot of oatmeal they had bought from Applejack, along with cutting two apples for each sister. "Do you need any help Luna?" asked Solaria "If you don't mind could you set the table?" Stardust replied, while cheerfully making their simple breakfast. "Also your faithful student sent you a letter, sadly we were both asleep." she added while using her horns glow to levitate the letter from the coffee table in the living room. "Excellent, well lets read it." Solaria said taking over the letter with her magic and opening it in front of her. "Dear Princess Celestia, Tonight I learnt that while everypony you meet is at one point a stranger to you, especially those new to a place. The best way to greet them is with a smile, a good attitude and maybe even a Pinkie Party. Today I met two sisters that are new to Ponyville, and by greeting them in such a way, my friends and I added two new companions. I only wish I was as open to the welcome Pinkie and the others gave me. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle "Well that’s a great lesson for them, trust before mistrust, without being naive. Honestly Solaria this student of yours and her friends just keep becoming wiser." Stardust said as she brought the breakfast to the table. "Indeed sister, but can you help me bring in the day its time." said Solaria after setting the letter down and looking at the clock. Stardust simply nodded and they walked towards the window, their horns began to glow and they saw the first few rays of sunshine fill the sky before heading back to the kitchen to eat breakfast. After an uneventful breakfast the sisters began to notice how empty the town was at this early in the morning, the only other pony they saw was a grey Pegasus with a blonde mane, bubbles for a cutie mark, and crossed eyes fly by. They eventually cleaned the dishes and put everything back before heading out to explore the town before they headed to Raritys dress shop. As they were walking toward the town square, they started notice more and more ponys come out. Eventually they looked at the clock in the square, it was 9:32 AM. "I think we should go to Raritys now." said Stardust breaking the silence they've maintained for most of the morning. "I'm not sure, she probably just opened up her shop and shes probably got customers to deal with." Said Solaria "Well what’s the worst thing that could happen? She'll just ask us to come later." Stardust said, Solaria could tell she was getting bored of not actually talking to anypony. "Fine we'll go check." Solaria said in a way sounding like she knew Stardust would be too hard to convince otherwise. The girls headed off, they were told where the shop was and what it looked like by Rarity the night before so they were able to find it rather quickly. However, as they approached the building all they saw was a silhouette of a unicorn running back and forth with some fabrics and other tools floating behind her. Solaria then spoke. "Looks like I was right, she is busy, but..." Solaria began to smile "She looks like she needs help, so hopefully we can." "Indeed sister lets go." Stardust said ecstatically as they approached the door. Solaria knocked the door with her hoof, which much to their surprise wasn't answered by Rarity, but by a little filly the large blue eyes, a white coat and a pink mane. "Hi there," she said in a cheery voice which just melted the heart, "Umm, my sisters a little busy right now, so could you come back later?" she said, surprising both the sisters with how mature and calm she was in front of two total strangers. "You must be Sweetie Belle, My name is Solaria Bless and this is my sister, Stardust Rose." Solaria said in a gentle and sweet voice "We're here to help your sister a bit." "Oh ok!" Sweetie Belle replied in a happy tone as she opened the door wider to allow the girls to come in, and as the girls came in they saw the true extent to which Rarity was working. There was fabric scattered all around the inside of the shop, there was paper littering the ground but the worst part was Rarity herself, her mane was a mess, her coat was as bad, and she had huge black bags under her eyes, she looks like she had not even gotten a wink of sleep. "Oh hello girls, sorry but I'm going to have to cancel our meeting today I have this order due in about two hours which i still need to finish." she said quickly as she continued to work, clearly stressed by the tone of her voice. "Well you look like you can use some help so we're here to give it." Solaria said walking toward Rarity. "Ladies’ please we just met, I couldn't possibly invite you here to just work for me that would just be rude." Rarity said as she was cutting some fabric. As she was talking to Solaria, Stardust walked toward a drawing table and saw a drawing of the dress, she magically brought some fabric and tools and for lack of a better turn, transformed it into the dress in the drawing with a magical poof of pink smoke. The poof got Rarity and Solarias attention, they drop their friendly argument over accepting help and turned around. "...How did you..." Rarity stuttered out as she saw a completed dress that took her five hours to make and Stardusts completed dress which took five seconds, they were the exact same. "So ready to accept our help?" Solaria asked a little smugly looking at the white unicorn that still had her mouth agape. "I suppose so," she said after a few moments in which she regain her cool. "I need three more in two hours. With that, Solaria and Stardust magically produced three more dresses, cleaned up all the leftover fabrics, and put away the tools. Rarity looked back up to the clock, the still had an hour and forty minutes until her client came to pick up the dresses. Rarity promptly fainted and fell asleep. "Poor girl, must have worked ever since Pinkies' party ended." Solaria said lifting Rarity with her magic. "Excuse me Sweetie Belle? Can you show me where Raritys room is?" she then asked toward Sweetie Belle who was still amazed by the amazingly fast dress making. "That was AWESOME!!!" she exclaimed, causing Rarity to jolt awake, and she started to kick around in the air. "Excuse me can you please put me down?!" she demanded. "Sorry." Solaria said as she gently placed Rarity on the ground. "Just give me a moment ladies, I'll be just a moment." she said as she bolted up stairs. All Solaria and Stardust heard from upstairs were Raritys’ hooves and the floor, the water flowing to her tap, a drill, a buzz saw and a chicken cluck, causing Stardust to tilt her head in confusion. Soon after that, Rarity walked down the stairs, she had cleaned her mane and coat, completely removed the bags under her eyes somehow and looked completely rested. "How did you..." Stardust said still with her head tilted and her confused look. "In my line of business, one must learn a few little tricks." Rarity said as she walked toward the kitchen. "Come now, what would you girls like to drink? Tea, coffee, water?" she asked as she led them to the kitchen. "I'll have some tea." Replied Stardust "And I would like some as well." added Solaria "Right then, just take a seat, and I'll be a moment." Rarity said as she said placing the kettle on the stove top. "So while we wait for that, tell me a little about yourselves." Rarity asked with the enthusiasm in her eyes. "Well as you know we're from Fillydelphia, and our father owns a small chain of flower stores," Solaria answered as she started to make up the details of their false back story. "He wanted to move to Ponyville to expand the chain, so he bought the house by the square that we're living in right now, but that plan never went through and we stayed in Fillydelphia. However we still owned the house, so we came here to try to sell it, but I think I might give up on that, we like it here.” “Well despite Ponyvilles small size it is a very charming town, and I will keep living here, despite the… lack of culture that somewhere like Canterlot has.” Rarity responded “Say, were did your sister run to?” Stardust asked looking around for any sign of the filly. “Umm, Sweetie Belle, where are you?” Rarity asked in a nervous voice as she darted her head around looking for her. “I’m right here sis.” Sweetie Belle said in her cheery voice which was coming from the pantry, Rarity galloped across the kitchen towards, it and saw Sweetie Belle trying to use her magic to lift, of all things, a lemon. "Sweetie Belle what are you doing, here?" Rarity asked through her huff of breath. "Well I wanted to help by getting lemons for the tea, but every time I tried to lift them with my magic, they would... Umm turn brown..." she said sounding more nervous and near the end as she looked at the smoldering remains of all the other lemons she tried to lift. Sweetie Belle then looked back up to Rarity as she braced herself for a good scolding. "Sweetie Belle, when life gives you lemons, you can either make lemonade, or make life take the lemons back, and sometimes it's the fact that you keep making life take its lemons back that surprises." said Solaria as she approached the pantry. "Look, we know your trying to help, and believe me while Rarity may not always say it doesn't mean she doesn't think it. From having a younger sister I would know that." "Look Sweetie Belle I know you want your cutie mark, but sometime you've got to slow down, and not take on anything that's out of your skill level." Rarity added as she picked up the lemon with her magic, placing it on the kitchen counter. She then looked back to Sweetie Belles adorable large eyes and said. "Your my, sister and just like I said after the Sisterhooves Social, we are apple pie." as soon as she said that Sweetie Belle hugged her, catching her off guard. "I love you to sis, wait that's right I'm supposed to go to the tree house to try a bunch more stuff to see if we get our cutie marks, CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS GOLDFISH WHISPERERS!!!!" she shouted straight into Raritys’ ear, and with that she said "Bye Solaria, bye Stardust, bye Rarity!" With that she bolted out the door, slamming it behind, her passing the mare on the other side so fast it caused the mare to spin a few times. The mare recovered from the spinning and raised her head in pride as she knocked the door. Rarity quickly answered the door, it was her client, Emerald Shores, daughter of Sapphire Shores. "Hello there Miss Shores, you're early." Rarity said as she looked back at the clock, Emerald was an hour early. "Well I got bored now lets see the dresses I commissioned, they had better be worth it, although I doubt they are coming from this shack." she said in an extremely smug tone. "Well, come in and take a look." Rarity said keeping her rage under control, Solaria and Stardust had overheard this from the kitchen. Rarity walked Emerald across the shop to her curtain which she opened revealing the dresses. "Ok now where are the real dresses? Oh wait those are them, HA those are terrible, I can't believe my mom bought a dress from you, you should just close this place and start a burger joint." Emerald scolding Rarity in a cruel and cold tone. "But what’s wrong with them? They have everything your mother wanted, they're subtle yet stand out, and they don’t make you look fat, they, they..." Rarity trying to justify her dresses to the snobby drama queen. "I think they look lovely." said an elegant yet familiar voice, causing Rarity to look back at the door she left opened. "Please, what idiot thinks these dresses look good, it must be some ugly friend of yours" Emerald said looking to Rarity who was bowing, she felt her stomach drop, and she slowly turned around, it was Princess Celestia. "Ohh, umm Princess, I, umm..." she quickly sputtered out as she was bowing down. "So I'm an ugly idiot am I?" asked Princess Celestia smugly as she looked directly into Emeralds eyes. "No, I, umm, I'm sorry, I'm sorry please forgive me!!" Emerald replied with her pride and cockiness completely broken. "I'll forgive you on one condition, you buy these dresses that my good friend Rarity had worked so hard on, and you agree to be more like your mother, she never let her fame get to her head as badly as you." Celestia said calmly. Emerald nodded her head and grabbed her check book magically, and wrote a check for Rarity, and ran out the shop with her dresses. "Princess, thank you so much, I mean that was incredible I just want to say I can't thank you enough. Also how did you know I was in trouble?" Rarity said. "Lets just say a friend if yours gave me a tip." Celestia replied with a wink, her horn began to glow and she was gone. "Rarity are you alright?" asked Solaria from the kitchen. "Yes everything is fine, I'm just... Never mind the tea should be done." Rarity said as walked into the kitchen. "By any chance have any of you met Princess Celestia?" Rarity asked hesitantly as she poured the tea for everypony. "No, why exactly?" Stardust answered innocently. "Well never mind" said Rarity so where were we before I was tied up with my client? Something about combustible lemons?" "Oh we were talking about why we're here in Ponyville." Solaria said "Oh yes, so why exactly did you decide not to expand your flower shop you Ponyville?" Rarity asked regaining her train of thought. "Well the plan sort of fell apart, and anyways we're still doing great in Fillydelphia." Stardust said after a sip of tea. For the next few hours, the three mares talked about their businesses, some fashion, and about Ponyville. Solaria had extensive knowledge on fashion, and she managed to make up a few stories before Stardust had finally looked at the clock. "Well Rarity it was great to chat and hang out more." Stardust said as she got up from the table. “What? You’re leaving so soon? Are you sure you don’t want to stay longer and chat more?” Rarity asked, as she stood up. “We thank you very much but we don’t want to tie up all your time, and besides we’ll always be able to hang out some other time.” Solaria replied as she walked towards Rarity. “Alright then, we shall schedule something for a later date!” Rarity said gleefully as she led the girls to the door. “It was great getting to know you Rarity, we’ll see you later.” Solaria said as she and Stardust headed out the door. Suddenly as soon as they exited the door, about ten ponies rushed into the shop. “Miss Rarity is it true Princess Celestia liked the dress you made for Emerald Shores?” asked a steel grey stallion with a Manehattin accent. “Yes, yes it is, how can I help you.” Rarity said in her partial; stupor from having some many ponies rush in. The grey stallion spoke again “I want twenty, by next week.” “I want seven.” said a mare behind him “I want eight teen.” said another stallion “I want to use the bathroom!” some other stallion shouted Soon enough they were all bickering their demands at once, becoming inaudible, Rarity tried to get them to settle down, “Ladies and gentlecolts please.” it’s not very effective... “Ok everypony form a single file line and tell me what you want, everypony will get a chance.” everypony promptly rushed at Rarity and began barking their demands once again. “Oh dear...” ---------------------- The sisters had just arrived home, closing the door behind them and taking a seat on the couch. They still had plenty of energy left and they knew exactly where they wanted to go after their break, they sat their silent, both of them thinking. Solaria thought about the meeting they had with Rarity, and how normal it was, she loved it so much, just to be the mare behind the crown all the time. Tears ran down her face. “Celestia, what’s wrong?” Stardust quickly asked looking concerned for her sister. “It’s...” she used her magic to grab a tissue and proceeded to blow her nose. “It’s so wonderful, I’ve never felt anything like this.” she replied, her voice chocking up from her crying. “I know, me neither.” Stardust said embracing Solaria in a hug "Lets just rest up for tomorrow we've done quite a bit today." adding as they both stood up. It was early in the evening so Solaria decided she would prepare dinner while Stardust took her shower. About an hour later she was done, the table was set and they sat down. "Solaria what kind of salad is this?" Stardust questioned while looking at the odd salad. "Oh this it's called tabule, I learnt about it in a cookbook, it may look odd but it's delicious." Solaria cheerfully replying as she began to eat, which was enough of an answer for the usually picky Stardust, so she took a small fork full, it was good. "Wow this is pretty good, yet it looks so simple." Stardust stated after swallowing, it was a simple salad with some diced tomatoes and onions, along with parsley and it was sprinkled with lemon juice. "More than meets the eyes, just like us." Solaria said as she looked out the window at the street seeing ponies of all kinds live and learn amongst each other. Once the sisters finished they went through their usual routine of cleaning and getting themselves ready for bed before bringing in the night. Finally after all that was done they headed to the upstairs bed rooms and reverted back to their original forms. "So sister what do you think we should do tomorrow?" Celestia asked Luna. "I was thinking of meeting Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy." Luna replied lazily as she was lying in her bed. "Pinkie it is, goodnight Luna." "Goodnight." END CHAPTER > Day 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 3 It was another peaceful morning in Ponyville, the birds sang their melodies as the clouds rolled carelessly through the sky. The girls came out of their new home and looked around, there was not a pony to be found. “That’s strange,” said Stardust “Where are all the ponies?” Stardust came beside her. “Perhaps it’s too early for them, it is 7 in the morning.” Solaria opened her mouth to speak, when suddenly a loud bang was heard from the edge of town. “What was that?” shouted Solaria wearing a concerned look “Let’s find out.” Said Stardust running towards the source. After a short run, they arrived at what appeared to be a crater with a strange blue monolith in the center. It let out a hissing sound and the door opened, revealing a brown earth pony with an hourglass cutie mark. “Hello princesses, let’s get this over with, I’m Doctor Whooves, yes I know you’re princesses, now the get in TARDIS, there’s much to show you.” He said pointing to the door of the blue contraption. Stardust looked at Solaria for an answer. “Sure why not.” she said getting into the machine, Stardust and the Doctor followed. The TARDIS popped into existence in a dark and grim landscape, all the ponies got out and saw. “What, what is this terrible place?” Stardust asked with her voice riddled with despair. “This is Equestria post nuclear war, don’t ask why or how they came into existence they just kind of did.” “That’s terrible!” “Welp, time to go come on.” Said the Doctor as he led the Princesses back into the Tardis. With that the TARDIS vanished from this dreadful landscape and arrived back on the outskirts of Ponyville. “Are we home?” said Stardust looking around at the familiar setting. “Nope, we’re in one of the most ugly, hideous and down right unholy versions of Equestria.” Said the Doctor in a grim tone “It doesn’t look so bad.” Commented Solaria looking around, when suddenly she saw something. “Oh dear, whats wrong with that pony!” she screamed pointing a hoof at the pony. It stood about 5 feet tall, had finger, and was wearing clothes. Stardust looked at the horribly site and they both looked to be ill. “The anthromorphic pony, the most hideous thing in all of the Equestrias I’ve visited.” Said the doctor “What cruel twisted being would allow something that ugly to live?” said Stardust as she was suddenly pushed into the TARDIS by the doctor I’ll have more up later This may or may not be a troll chapter