//------------------------------// // Story 2 // Story: Another Day in Ponyville // by AnOrdinaryWriter //------------------------------// Spike made his way through the snow, leaving a trail of footprints in his wake. In the distance, he saw carousel boutique, standing tall over the many other buildings in Ponyville. Spike picked up the pace, racing towards the building until he finally arrived at the front door out of breath. He panted, releasing a bit of fire breath each time he exhaled. The green sparks from the fire were whipped away by the wind and taken up towards the blue, clear sky. He raised one of his hands towards the door and gave it three rapid knocks, waiting patiently in the cold, posed for when Rarity opened the door. He saw the door handle rotate and the door nudged forward to reveal a white mare with a blue aura surrounding her horn. “Hello and welcome to Carousel Boutique! How may I be of—oh, Spike, it’s you,” she said. “Hi Rarity. Just came by to see what’s up,” Spike said, a wide smile painted on his face. “Of course,” Rarity said, opening the door wider and revealing more of the interior. “Come in.” Spike entered, and Rarity closed the door behind him. The dragon looked around the boutique, and noticed five mannequins to the right. He took note of the purple one with stars and white trails at the end, and the cyan one with a lightning bolt and a cotton outline. Rarity proceeded towards a table with a pair of scissors and cut fabric levitating above it, both which were surrounded by a faint blue aura. “Whatcha makin’ there, Rarity?” Spike asked. “It’s a dress for Applejack, for the New Year ceremony,” she replied, reanimating the scissors which began cutting a path through the fabric under control of her magic. “Cool.” Spike then noticed a bare mannequin next to the table, next to which was a pile of different shaped pieces of fabric, all in different colors, mostly red and green. “Applejack’s gown is especially difficult. The precision for this one is crucial.” Rarity informed, quiet as a result of her concentration. The levitating scissors rotated and began cutting into the fabric in a different direction. Doing so, Rarity muttered the words, okay, and, perfect, and, alright, one after another as she made progress. Finally the scissors came to a turn and Rarity gently made the blades close ever so slowly, cutting a perfectly straight line through the fabric as carefully as Rarity could until the scissors had completely closed. “Perfect!” Rarity said euphorically and made the scissors descend onto the table while levitating the fabric shape towards the pile next to the mannequin. Rarity let out a sigh of relief. “There we go. Now all I have to do is sew them them together and, voila! Applejack’s gown will be completed.” Rarity began marching across the room towards the five dressed mannequins. “Isn’t this exciting? The ceremony is in only a week! I can just imagine, a whole room of ponies dressed in some of my best work, I can’t wait! Did you know Rainbow Dash is actually playing a lead role in the Wonderbolts air show?” “Yeah, Twilight told me a couple days ago. Isn’t that awesome?” “It’s not just awesome,” Rarity began, looking from mannequin to mannequin admiring her work of art. “It’s incredible! After the Wonderbolts swoop down towards the middle, up comes Rainbow Dash before sending out a glamorous ring of sparkling colors in every direction and then joining in beside the rest of the flyers!” Rarity squealed in excitement. “I can’t wait!” Spike was confounded by how Rarity was acting over this. “Wow Rarity, it’s like you’ve never seen Rainbow Dash do a sonic rainboom before. Sure it’s cool and all, but don’t you get over it when you’ve seen her do it so many times?” The unicorn turned her head to Spike. “Am I not allowed to be a little excited for my friend?” A little, Spike thought to himself. “And it’s not just the sonic rainboom I’m looking forward to; she’s flying with the Wonderbolts! That doesn’t get you jumpy in the slightest?” “Well… no, not really, but that’s not to say I’m not happy for her, I think it’s great that she gets to participate in the air show with the Wonderbolts.” “Eh, fair enough,” Rarity mumbled, and looked towards Spike. “While you’re here, do you want something to drink? Hot cocoa maybe?” Spike thought for a bit. “Sure, that’d be nice. Thanks.” “Perfect, I’ll be right back.” Rarity left the room, and came back soon with a cup, steam rising from the top. It floated towards Spike’s hands and he slipped his claws through the handle before the aura around it disappeared. Spike thanked her and took a sip. Creamy and rich. Spike smiled in approval, and took another sip, catching a marshmallow in his mouth. Being a fire breathing dragon, the temperature didn’t affect him much. “So,” Rarity said. “How’s life at home?” “It’s been okay. Twilight is making me reorganize a lot more now and she’s been asking me look through books on psychology and the pony psyche. Her behavior’s been a little off recently, but it’s no big surprise.” Spike brought the mug up and downed it halfway, ending up with a mouth full of melted marshmallow. “Pony psyche? As much as I’ve known her, that topic has never really been her thing. Strange if you ask me.” “Yeah, true, but if its literature, the topic doesn’t really matter to her.” He held the cup over his mouth, letting the rest of the liquid and marshmallows stream into her mouth. He swallowed and sighed in satisfaction. “Thanks, Rarity. I should probably get going now; you never know when Twilight may need my assistance.” Rarity used her magic and levitated the mug from Spike’s hands. “Alright then, have a safe trip back.” “Bye Rarity!” Spike concluded before opening the front door and closing it behind him. The white winter scenery filled his vision as he stepped into the cool air. Feeling refreshed, Spike began his journey back to the castle, but before getting far, he saw Twilight walking by town square. Almost immediately after Spike spotted the magenta unicorn, she turned her head and saw where her assistant had gone off to, starting in his direction. “Hey, Spike!” she called from afar as she approached Spike. “You went to Rarity’s again?” “Well the New Year ceremony is coming up soon, I just wanted to see how she was doing, that’s all.” “This is the fourth time you’ve been here this week; I think she knows you care about her. Come on, Spike, I’m going to need your help with running some errands.” “At your service, any day, any time,” Spike said whilst bowing. Twilight laughed, levitating Spike onto her back and trotting back towards town square. Wait, how did she know—, Spike thought. Ah, whatever, she has her ways.