//------------------------------// // Just Another Day // Story: Living Elements of Harmony: Neo Elements // by Intellect Stretcher //------------------------------// The morning’s light breaks through the horizon and brings the day to Ponyville. The light eventually hits the closed eyes of a mare, who lives in the local library. She’s eventually woken up by the light of day, and the lavender pony sits up straight in her bed. Her eyes are half closed and she felt like falling asleep for just a bit longer, but she wasn’t the one for that. After a quick yawn and stretch, she gets off the bed to turn to wake the baby dragon asleep in a small bed of his own next to hers. “Wake up Spike,” she lightly nudged his shoulder, “today’s an important day.” “Mmmphf…*snore*.” The dragon barely seemed effected by Twilight’s efforts to wake him. “Well, I guess I can let you sleep just a bit longer.” She smiled at the baby dragon lying asleep before her. She was glad to have at least him as a close remnant of her past back when she lived in Canterlot. Nowadays she had to start a new in Ponyville, but now Ponyville is her only true home. After all, she has valuable relations to the ponies here. The mare gasped in surprise as there was a sudden knock on the door. She turned to move down stairs; the knocking was going at a steady pace as she was trying to get to the door. “Who could that be this early in the day?” She thought. She was levitating a comb to brush her mane as she rushed to answer the knocking. When she answered the door, a gray mailmare was present with a clipboard and several large cardboard boxes. “Hello Twilight,” she said, “I have several deliveries for you today.” She handed Twilight the clipboard. Twilight quickly skimmed through paper in the board, and then slowly became excited the more she read it. “Oh, this is the new order of books I placed in.” She took a glance at the large boxes behind the mailmare and then looked back at her. “Thank you for delivering these so quickly, Derpy.” The mailmare gave a smile, “Well your welcome, Twilight.” She brought the attention back to business with what she said next, “But before I can give these to you, you have to sign these papers.” She pointed her hoof to the contents on the clipboard. “Oh, okay.” The lavender unicorn levitated a quill and ink-pot to be ready to give her signature. Sensing that Twilight was prepared, Derpy spoke again, “You sign here.” “Uh huh.” Twilight signed her name in whatever blank lines Derpy’s hoofs landed on. “And here.” “Uh huh.” “And here.” “Uh huh.” “Aaand… here.” “Okay.” As soon as Twilight finished writing, Derpy grabbed the clipboard back into her grasp. “Great, you’re all set.” “Alright, thanks again.” The gray pegasus walked a few meters away from the library before taking off flying with her wings. Twilight was left with several large boxes full of important books and a happy look on her face. She needed these books for her research and just for the fact that she has these books in her library. She teleported all the boxes inside her house; mainly because they probably couldn’t fit through the door. Then she turned to call her assistant. “Spike!” She went up into the bedroom, “Spike!” “Aaahh!” The baby dragon jolted and fell off his bed in surprise. “Jeez, Twilight what is it?” “The new books I ordered came in the mail today.” It was obvious in her tone that she was excited. “Then did you really need to wake me up like that over this?” Spike groaned in frustration; he was in the middle of a very erotic dream about a certain white coated unicorn. “Well, I needed someone to help me unpack them and put them where they go. There are a lot of the after all.” “*Groan*… you know I can’t today.” “Why not?” Twilight seemed skeptical. “Because today I have to go over to Rarity’s to help her with one of her designs.” Spike seemed frustrated that Twilight forgot about that; he had been talking about it for the past few days after all. “Oh right… sorry I forgot about that.” “Also, you have magic.” He pointed at her horn. “Why don’t you use that to shelve everything in an instant?” “Well you know how I feel about new books.” She didn’t seem to notice that Spike rolled his eyes. “Ya ya, you have a need to familiarize yourself with every book you have. Still I can’t stay here to help you,” he turns his head to look at the clock next to Twilight’s bed, “in fact I only have a few minutes before I have to go.” “Oh well, at least I’ll have some alone time for my work and get to know my new books.” She started to walk back downstairs, Spike following. When they get downstairs into the library, the first thing that got Spikes attention was the dozen large boxes in the middle of the library. “Wow… why so many books?” He asked as he walked towards the boxes to try to open one. “What are you talking about? It’s not that many.” Spike uses his claws to tear the tape holding one of the boxes closed. When he does the box suddenly flings open and a bunch of styrofoam packing peanuts shoot out and hit his face. He barely had time to react and almost fell down. “What the… why are they so tightly packed?” He turned to Twilight, hoping she will provide an answer to his question. Twilight, looking a bit embarrassed to answer his question, gladly gave an explanation. “Eeeh, probably because of how much they’re putting into the boxes… hehe.” “Oooh, I thought it wasn’t that many books.” Spike spoke in his typical sarcastic tone. He then looks inside the box he just opened to find that there were lines of books stacked atop one another to have the books on the top perfectly aligned to where the top of the box would be. Each book was wrapped in plastic and the margins of the whole scene were full of packing peanuts and bubble wrap. Twilight appeared right behind the baby dragon to look at her newest valuable books. Spike picks up one of the books laid on the top, only to be confused by its title. “Eeeeh… what are these books even about?” Twilight’s eyes lit up and her smile widened; she was happy her assistant took an interest in this. Either that or it’s because she gets to speak of her excitement. “They’re the newest updates in the fields of science and philosophy. They are about all of the most recent advancements and findings of all possible knowings!” “Huh, well then this sure must have been one busy year.” He looked at every one of the boxes full of books, and wonders if Twilight will be able to handle these all on her own. “Are you sure you can-” He stopped when he noticed Twilight’s expression on her face. She really didn’t seem to be paying attention to him; she seemed to be in a very giddy state of mind. She wore an extremely wide grin that even with her right hoof covering her mouth from laughing out was still very visible. She was even giggling as she looked at the books in the box in front of her and at the other boxes. That assured Spike that Twilight will actually enjoy having to go all these books. It might even be better for her if she did it alone anyway; she prefers the silence of nopony around her when she works. Twilight quickly and suddenly got a hold of herself and started to acknowledge Spike’s presence next to her. “Huh? Oh, sorry I was just… thinking. What was it you said Spike?” “Oh, just that I should really get going to Rarity’s.” He walked to the door as he spoke and opened it to leave. He looked back at Twilight to speak. “I’ll see you sometime in the afternoon.” “Alright then, see you later.” When Spike turned his head back and started to leave through the open door, he was stopped by the sudden presence of a pink pony. “Hi Spike! Hi Twilight!” The mare hopped in while giving her greeting. Twilight and Spike didn’t really seem fazed by the mare’s sudden appearance; they were just already so used to the pink pony’s random actions. “Oh, hello Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said, “What are you doing here so early?” Pinkie stopped next to Twilight to speak. “WELL, I have nothing else to do, so I came to see what you were doing!” She quickly looked at the cardboard boxes lying in the middle of the living room. Pinkie seemed curious, and Twilight went in to explain. “Today I had an order of books delivered to me today.” “Ooooo,” She suddenly turned her whole body to face her new subject, “What about you, Spike?” “I-I was just about to leave for Rarity’s boutique; today I have to help her make some cloth designs.” He clearly seemed to be in a rush. “And I really need to go; I’ll see you two later!” He was already running through the door when he said the last part. “Bye Spike!” Both of the mares spoke in unison. After Spike was completely gone, Pinkie turned to face Twilight and spoke to address her curiosity. “Sooo, what are these books, did you already put ‘em away?” Pinkie started to do her usual hop in place thing. “No, they’re all still there.” Twilight pointed at the large boxes. Pinkie immediately started to hop toward one of the unopened boxes. When she got to it she poked it and it immediately blew open and shot out a bunch of styrofoam peanuts; much like how it did before. “Oooooooh, confetti.” Pinkie said with a giggle. “Yeah, the boxes are pretty sensi-” but before Twilight could say anything else, Pinkie went ahead and poked the other box next to one she just busted. It burst the same way as the other did; that got Pinkie excited. “Hehehehehehehe!” She suddenly started to touch all the other boxes to make them burst with ‘confetti’. Twilight just stood there; she couldn’t really do anything to stop her pink friend. The whole time the room was being covered and raining with a hail of styrofoam. “Eh, Pinkie-” That’s all she could get out before she was cut off by Pinkie’s shout. “Woohoo!” She then finished off by actually kicking the last one and cause it to fall over, which in turn made Twilight cringe and wince. “Woo, I should get these things for my parties!” When everything finally stopped the entire floor was covered in the styrofoam and a bit of bubble wrapping. Pinkie spoke again, “So what was it you wanted, Twili?” “E-eh,” The librarian still had the stunted look on her face by the kick that was delivered to the last box containing many of her valuable books. “I-I was actually going to ask if you can help me put my new books away.” “Well sure, I’ll help you with these books.” She then started to hop over to the box that she didn’t touch, the one that Spike already opened. She grabbed one of the books stacked at the top; the same one Spike picked up earlier. “Wow! Is this the metaphysical standpoint on the subject of moral absolutes addressed by the famous Intellect Stretch?!” “What the?” Twilight thought, “Uh yes.” She said out loud to answer the question. Pinkie took out another book to examine it. “Oooh! And here are the newest developments on ponykind’s greatest discovery, the Celestia Particle!” She playfully hissed the last part out. Twilight stood there with complete disbelief. Beside the fact that Pinkie used the incorrect term of ‘Celestia Particle’, the lavender unicorn was surprised by the pink earth pony’s sudden had an understanding of complex knowledge; she had never thought that there was that kind of side to Pinkie. However, she figured it could most likely be that it’s because she, like everypony else, doesn’t really understand the complexity that is Pinkie Pie. “Yes, all these books are all about the newest developments of all knowings.” Twilight spoke whilst she went to pick up the box that was knocked over and used magic to clean up the mess of packing peanuts. “Well aren’t you always updating yourself with everything?” Pinkie started to ask, “After all you’re always reading books. Like these.” Twilight gave a smile before giving her reply. “Well actually, back when I was in Canterlot I always got the newest updates on everything as they came up, since Canterlot is where all the major research and development organizations are. But since I had to move to Ponyville, a place very far away from Canterlot, I made it so that every four years I get a delivery of all the new findings that happened in those years.” “Oh, I get it.” Pinkie started to take the books out to get an idea of how many are in each box. Once she empties a box and finds one hundred and seventy-five books in that single container, she asks, “So how do you want to go about sorting all of these up?” Twilight rubbed her chin, “We should look over all of these and then think of categories to place them in afterword.” Both mares took a look at the boxes that surrounded them. Twilight then said what they were both thinking. “But it could take a while…” “Mmmm, is aright. I really don’t have anything else planned for today.” “Oh really?” Twilight seemed surprised. Pinkie Pie has nothing to do? That just seems… impossible. “Yeah, I mean things are just so boring now,” Pinkie admitted. “I just wish something exciting would happen around here.” Her tone seemed nostalgic, but her smile seemed to oppose that emotion. “Well, I know what you mean.” Pinkie felt like changing the subject. “But anyway, let’s get started with this!” “Alright then.” Twilight said in her happy tone while she picked out a random book and sat down to read over the back of it, Pinkie doing the same thing. And silence fell across the library throughout the morning. ----- “That took longer than I expected.” Twilight said as Pinkie hopped next to her. They were both done with ordering the new books and put them in the shelves, and now they’re going to see how Rarity is doing with her dress designs. “I know right, and you were planning to do all that on your own.” Pinkie said with her wide smile. “Good thing I came when I did to help.” “I know thanks again.” She smiled back at her pink friend. “I’m just glad we were able to finish with seventeen minutes to spare before my scheduled spa get-together with Rarity.” The two continued to walk until they finally reached the boutique. Twilight was the one who knocked on the door. “Rarity! Are you ready to go to the spa?” The knock was met with a bunch of random noises coming from inside the boutique. “*crash*… *glass break*…” “Sweetiebelle!!” “Dumb fabric!” The door was finally answered by Spike. “Oh, hey Twilight, hey Pinkie Pie.” The baby dragon spoke with a tone that seemed nonchalant, despite whatever was happening in the boutique that caused those noises. “Hey Spike!” Said the usually happy Pinkie. Twilight spoke next, “Hey Spike is this a good time?” Twilight seemed to be the only one concerned with the noises. “Uuuh-” before Spike can answer he was interrupted by Rarity, who came up behind him and moved him aside. “Oh Twilight, Pinkie Pie, it’s good to see you two again.” The white unicorn spoke in her regular formal tone. “What can I do you girls for?” “I came here to see if you’re prepared for our spa treatment.” Said Twilight. “And I’m here because I have nothing else to do!” Announced Pinkie. “Oh right that, l-let me just finish up here and I’ll be there on the dot.” She seemed to be a bit busy, and seems to have something on her mind. “Alright then, I’ll see you at the spa in fifteen minutes.” Twilight started to walk away with Pinkie. She understood how busy Rarity can be, so she doesn’t expect her to get there in time. “Alright, see you.” Rarity said before she quickly got back inside and closed the door. As Twilight and Pinkie were walking, Twilight came up with a question for her pink friend. “Wait, are you going to join me and Rarity at the spa?” “Mmmaybe, as long as I don’t have anything else to do.” “Oh I see.” Twilight said. “So it’s a yes.” She thought. They both continued to walk for a few more silent minutes until Pinkie spoke again. “What do you have planned after the spa treatment, Twili?” She turned her head to fully face Twilight, and Twilight in turn did the same. “Well… I do have to go to Sweet Apple Acres to get some fresh apples for some of my experiments.” “Can I come too? Cause I REALLY don’t have anything else to do.” She almost wined. “Well sure you can come with me but… I’m sure there can’t really be anything for you to do. After all you have four other good friends you can hang out with.” Pinkie’s head limped to the side. “Well yeah but… Rarity is no fun, Fluttershy is always busy taking care of her animals, Applejack is in the middle of apple bucking season, and I haven’t seen Rainbow Dash all day!” “Oh. Well in that case I’m fine with you being with me for the rest of the day. In fact I’m happy; we haven’t really hang out that much since the royal wedding, and I think now is a great opportunity to do so.” Twilight revealed a smile to Pinkie that brought her head back up. Pinkie knew that Twilight definitely meant that, and she smiled back. However throughout the entire conversation, both of the mares were facing each other and weren’t really looking at where they were going. That became clear to both of them when they both suddenly bumped into something, or somepony. They both fell on their rumps due to the sudden collision. When they look up to see what they walked into, they saw a dark gray coated colt, one they never saw before. He was in the same state as they were: laying on the ground and hoof rubbing his head signifying where he was struck. Meanwhile both of the mares had their eyes widened in surprise. Not only was the fact that there’s a new pony in town surprising, but also the colt’s appearance is very daunting. Neither Pinkie nor Twilight have seen a pony with such an interesting color to them: his wild styled long mane and tale were bright blue with one or two black lines and his eyes were the color of the purest of gold. The three of them stayed there silent for a few quick moments before the colt broke the silence. “Uh… hi.”