Progress Report Week 23
Twilight presented her monograph on Magical Intelligence Enhancement at Canterlot University today. The reception was... mixed. While her academic work was impeccable, the old guard of the university kept breaking off to engage in interminable discussions of ethics, academic responsibility, and legions of other irrelevancies. They didn't seem to pay all that much attention to the actual theory and application as a whole. They seemed to feel there should have been much more... well, acquiescence to their ridiculously reactionary worldview would be the polite way to put it. That she should have spent many years agonizing over potential social ramifications of intelligence enhancement before even considering attempting it.
Fortunately, none of that seemed to faze the princess in any way; in fact, she appeared to be accustomed to it. I suspect that was far from her first time dealing with such hidebound attitudes. It frustrated me no end, however, since they kept insisting on quizzing me on my "feelings" as well. Who cares about feelings at a time like this? As far as I'm concerned, they can ██████ █ ███ ████ ██ █████ with their "feelings" and social ramifications. Twilight deserved more accolades for her work than she received. She has been a truly invaluable mentor for me, I cannot tell her enough how much I appreciate all she's done for me. I hope that reading this will help her understand that even a little bit more.
Convinced Rose to accompany us to Canterlot, since her business is slow this time of year. The first night we were there, Twilight showed us around her old haunts, and took us to a very nice restaurant. An exotic little back-alley place where the cuisine was rich and spicy and intensely flavoured. I have got to come back here again as soon as I possess the means to do so on my own. There's nothing quite like that anywhere in Ponyville or Cloudsdale. After that, Rose and I went for a walk together in the botanical gardens, which she absolutely adored. She has such a love for flowers, even outside of her business; and there were so many in bloom that the odour was indescribable. Having the opportunity to devote so much time to her was the highlight of the excursion, and we spent the night snuggled up together like two school-fillies. I cannot believe how fortunate I am to have her in my life.
Unfortunately, that night was marred by an utterly horrific nightmare. I was being fed into a monstrous machine with gargantuan wheels and cogs and teeth. It was going to grind me alive to magically extract my colours. That old school-pony's horror story from flight camp hasn't given me nightmares in at least a half-dozen years, but tonight was the worst one I've ever had. I saw my mom flying into save me, heard her screaming in terror of losing me, but the distance between us kept getting longer, so that no matter how fast she flew she couldn't get close enough in time to rescue me. Fortunately, Princess Luna appeared and banished the frightful imagery, and I spent the next few hours dozing comparatively peacefully. I didn't bother to say anything to my dear Roseluck, as I couldn't bear the thought of troubling her and disrupting her placid slumber. Despite the opportunity to linger so long with Rose, I am becoming antsy to return to work. I cannot stop mulling over the various threads of investigation I have been engaged in over the recent weeks. I left Muffins in Fluttershy's capable hooves, but I really miss her, which is another reason I am eager to return to Ponyville.
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(On review, I've gone back and blacked out the less polite bits in this entry. Not really appropriate behaviour for an academic after all. I apologize for the language, Princess.)