"Hoo boy." Applejack said, worriedly. "Ah don't know what to do! This decoratin' stuff is harder'n Ah thought!"
"You're telling me! We only made things worse! It's a good thing we convinced Twilight to take a trip out of town, instead of staying in Ponyville for a rest, or we'd have never cleaned all of that up. Thanks for that, 'Shy." Rainbow Dash said, acknowledging her friend's idea.
"I knew that the longer she stayed here, the more she'd realize that she'd have to go back here." Fluttershy said, surprisingly taking the credit. "That doesn't change that we need to do something. The tree root is nice" she added.
"I admit that adding the hidden party cannons wasn't the best of my ideas. I'm sorry for that, everypony." Pinkie put in.
"Naturally." Rarity said. "We need an expert. Somepony who knows what they're doing." Rarity suggested.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash said in unison, "But who?" They glared at each other for a split second, then chuckled.
"Yeah!" Pinkie interjected. "If we could find somepony who could work with aaaaall of this space and make Twilight go "I love you girls!" then that would be like... be like..." Pinkie paused in her ramble for a few seconds, then said, "Well, i don't know what it would be like, but it would definitely be good."
Rainbow Dash facehoofed.
Rarity had an idea. "I think i know just the pony for the job, darlings." she said, smiling.
Pinkie Pie clapped twice, turning Rarity's idea off, earning a glare from the alabaster unicorn.
"Sorry. Couldn't resist." Pinkie said, clapping twice more. "Your fault for being all fancy with your ideas." she added.
This time, Rainbow Dash wasn't the only one who facehoofed.
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It was a really slow day for me. Things were unusually peaceful today. Not that that was a bad thing! It was just that things got knocked down every now and then, which meant that rebuilding and redecorating had to be done. Which meant more business for me. But nothing had really gone on for a while now, and my coffers were hardly overflowing.
Just then, i got a knock at the door.
"Coming!" i called, going over and opening it to reveal... Rarity! I had met her before! She needed my help after the attack from the parasprites. It was the biggest task i'd ever undertaken. Most of the houses in Ponyville needed new somethings, including the Carousel Boutique.
Since then, we'd become fast friends, often having tea together or going to the spa a couple of times a month.
"Rarity!" I exclaimed, giving her a hug, which was returned. "What brings you here?"
"I rather require your aid, darling. You might remember that my friend, Twilight Sparkle, has had a rather... traumatic experience recently."
"Oh, yes. Her library was totally blown to smithereens, wasn't it?"
"Yes, and she's still coping with that loss. I was hoping you might be able to help her with her newest acquisition."
"Which is?" I asked.
Rarity looked taken aback. "Crystal! You haven't heard?"
"I've been in the hospital for a while, since that centaur creature attacked, but now I'm back and my landlord raised my rent just recently. Excuse me if I've had other things on my mind." i said defensively.
"Ah. Tirek. Right. Well, you might want to point your gaze toward Ponyvile's newest landmark." She said, pointing behind her.
Rising up in the distance was the biggest chunk of shiny rock i'd ever seen!
"My friends and i had hoped that you would like up to your name once more?"
"WILL I?!"
"I'll take that as a yes."
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Coming into the castle, i found it to be fairly cold, environmentally speaking. Totally no feng shui to the place. I winced.
"I can see why you asked for my help. This? It's an Evil Overlord's colour scheme."
Pinkie Pie nudged Applejack. Some bits were exchanged, begrudgingly.
"Alright, this is too big for me to do alone and this is rather abrupt, so i can't hire some staff. Will the five of you help me with this?"
All of them nodded.
"Awesome." I stated. "Firstly, Applejack, Fluttershy, if you're going to go or something nature-y, pick one of the larger rooms to create a petting zoo of sorts." I suggested.
"A pettin' zoo?" Applejack queried.
"It'll provide Twilight with some companionship and provide an attraction for visitors. It's practical and with my aid shouldn't cost too very much."*
"On it." they said.
"Rarity," i continued, "i like the idea you have with the drapery. Continue that down the hallway. If you can, also get some of those banners you told me about that you got from the castle in the Everfree."
"Oui, capitan.." Rarity said, saluting dramatically.
"Right." I deadpanned, turning to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie. "You two....."
(Later)
Twilight and Spike had just returned to her new home, refreshed and revitalized, her sporting a new manestyle(**). Spike was currently asleep on Twilight's back, quite relaxed. "Girls~? I'm home~!" she said in a musical tone. She took a look around the place. There were new rugs, new curtains, the colour scheme was changed to a lighter one, more befitting her. She recognized some of the the banners that were up as being from the Castle of the Two Sisters. The bumpy edges of the walls' previous decorations were gone, all smoothed out. Already it looked more homey.
"Girls? Where are you?" An arrow appeared in front of Twilight, pointing straight ahead.
"Oh. Thank you." Twilight said, somewhat confused. The arrow was replaced with a "You're welcome." and then disappeared.
Deciding wisely not to think on it too much, Twilight went on.(***)
The doorways were all labelled, which would ensure fewer mishaps. There was even one labelled "Spike's Room" which she deposited Spike in before pressing onward. Surprisingly, there was even a bed set up for him. A light next to the door there flicked to red, stating "Occupied"
Looking up, she noticed that some of the crystals in the ceiling were enchanted to be like lightbulbs. They glowed with a lavender light, turning the whole place a lighter colour. "So that's how it works." Twilight thought to herself.
Proceeding into the throne room, she saw her friends sitting on their respective thrones. One big change about those was that each of the thrones had special ornaments on the highest points. Applejack's had crystalline apples, Rainbow Dash's had rainbow lightning bolst on top, Fluttershy's had butterflies and so forth.
"Heyya, Twi!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "How was your trip out of town?"
"There you all are! The trip was nice. Do you like my new manestyle?"
All of them nodded.
"Our new friend here said that it would be best to let you explore for yourself and see what's new. How is it so far?" Fluttershy asked.
"Girls? It's wonderful! Who is this pony?" Twilight said.
I stepped up and said, "That would be me, your majesty. Crystal Charmer, at your service." bowing.
"None of that, none of that." Twilight admonished.
"By the way, Twilight? Look up." Applejack suggested.
In the ceiling above the table was, of course the root of the destroyed library, adorned with many crystals.
"Try focusing your magic into one." Rarity suggested, after they exxplained about the root itself.
Twilight did so at random and was immediately transported back to her birthday some time ago. (****)
Coming out of that memory, she looked to her friends with happy tears in her eyes. "Oh, girls! I love it!" One group hug later, Twilight turned to me as i was leaving, my job done.
"Hey! Wait!" she requested. I stopped.
"I've heard of you and understand that your landlord is rather harsh. Do you want a room?"
"REALLY?!" i exclaimed. "Just let me get my things!" flexing my magic a bit, i calld all of my belongings to me at once, placing them in one of the several guest rooms. "Done."
"Welcome to the castle, Crystal. Would you also like to be my royal decorator?"
"WOULD I?!"
"I'll take that as a yes." Twilight said, grinning