//------------------------------// // XVII May // Story: Twilight's Blog // by Frith //------------------------------// Where The Wet One Went May 1: Cloudsdale is back in our neighborhood, sending in some light spring showers. Dandelion greens and trout lily leaves are plentiful once again. The pastures are looking enticing. I stepped out on the smaller side balcony during a pause between books. I stood in the light rain and watched the shifting wet curtain play over the green fields until my coat grew heavy with water and my mane was plastered to my neck. I shook out most of the water and went down the hallway to the kitchen for a hot cup of mint tea. Leaving a trail of round wet hoof tracks along the way. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° The Quiet Time May 2: The weather ponies have cleared away all the clouds, giving us a beautiful, fresh washed day. I packed up my Whinnypiafficon and my game of Piaffle and trotted over to Fluttershy's place to see if I could invite myself over for tea and a few games of Piaffle. At the present time she happens to be in a breather between early spring duties and when the spring broods start getting adventurous. In the early spring she is usually busy tending to critters that had a rough hibernation or hadn't put on enough fat for the migration north. They have all checked out now, having benefited from Fluttershy's professional TLC. Those that had been flooded out of their homes a week ago have all gone back to their dens and stomping grounds now that the waters have receded. In a few weeks the spring babies will start to trickle in and before long Fluttershy will be up to her withers in clumsy fledglings and kits in need of a boost or first aid. Thus, my timing was good and Fluttershy was all for sipping tea in the sunshine over a nice quiet board game. Last year she could boast of the kit her jackalope pair had produced, but this year the romance just isn't quite there. But the bunnies and jackalopes are enjoying the bushy areas that Fluttershy planted around her cottage. So we made ourselves comfortable in Fluttershy's garden, drank tea and placed letter tiles on the board while the jackalopes munched on willow trimmings nearby and watched the regular bunnies dash about with spring fever, leaping over each other and playing bunny tag. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Invitation To A Shower May 3: Yesterday, during tea and Piaffle with Fluttershy, we were reminiscing about that time Princess Celestia had come to Ponyville to have tea with us at Sugarcube Corner and Fluttershy had 'rescued' Princess Celestia's pet phoenix. Today, that had me thinking -- Princess Celestia hasn't been over for tea since then and it's also been a long time since I last invited Princess Luna over (it was for a meteor shower watch). So I had Spike pen an invitation to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. I suggested we could have tea together during the peak of the next meteor shower a few days from now. That would be about an hour before dawn, although they could get here early. I should get a reply soon. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° The Beautiful Night May 4: Meteor tea with the princesses is off. I received a reply and neither can make it. They have prior commitments. But Princess Celestia suggested we could have a morning tea four days from now. They would both be free then. She wrote that they would like a tour of my new castle, now that I've lived in it a while. So I wrote back that that would be perfect. It's a date! It's a shame they couldn't make it tonight, it's warm, the skies are clear and the shooting stars are frisky. According to my Astronomical Astronomer's Almanac to All Things Astronomy, the best time to see them will be in a few hours. Starlight Glimmer was out with me on the balcony for a while, but she's gone back to the reading room to turn a few more pages before turning in. I've brewed tea for one, chocolate peppermint spice tea, I've a big comfortable cushion, my field notebook, and I'm stepping out to gaze at the stars. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Into The Warm Night May 5: The meteor showers did not disappoint! Although she could not come join me, Princess Luna did set the moon early which made seeing even the faintest of the shooting stars all the easier. The meteors sparkled madly as they zipped across the sky. No fireballs this time, sadly. I was out all night, outlasting the constellations that went to ground to rest. I watched them through my Double Bridle telescope as they stepped down where the horizon meets the sky. Such a neat trick. I stayed out on my balcony up until the early twilight began to brighten the night sky and outshine the stars. It's another warm night and I think I'll watch the skies some more tonight. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Enjoying The Game May 6: Rarity and Pinkie went off to Manehattan together for a day trip today. Apparently Rarity was scouting for a location for a new boutique and Pinkie met up with her sister Maud, who is studying for her rocktorate in the Manehattan area. Rarity found a vacant storefront in the fashion district. It's in need of some renovation and then she's going to have to fill it! She's going to have to drop a few clients or hire a few seamstresses. Maybe she'll hire Coco Pommel to manage it. Rainbow Dash and Applejack dropped by to play a few rounds of Ring Fling this afternoon. The mane hallway just inside the front door is a smooth rock floor and the best place for that game in Ponyville. Starlight Glimmer joined them and together they made it a three-way game. I provided mint ice tea and carrot sticks. Starlight Glimmer said what she learned this afternoon is that winning or losing is not important, it's having fun with friends that makes the game worthwhile. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Prior Engagements May 7: Rarity sure is a go-getter. When I met her, it was her dream to go to Canterlot to soak up the elegance and sophistication she expected to find there. And now, once her new storefront in Manehattan is open for business, she will be supplying both Canterlot and Manehattan with elegance and sophistication. Her new reality is outstripping her old expectations. She's full of surprises. In the meantime, Rarity apparently has decided she needs gem stones. I'm not sure if it's to include in her designs, or to decorate her Manehattan boutique, or both. She's found a cave that is wall to wall quality gems. It's also home to a very large colony of bats. Spike told me that he will be accompanying her into the cave tomorrow as her bodyguard. I suspect he will be mostly helping her collect gems. Starlight Glimmer left this morning for an overnight stay in Manehattan. She has apparently discovered a love for Bridleway musicals! She had bought an advance ticket to see Oatlahoma! a few weeks ago. She had the chance to get a great seat and she leaped at the occasion. This show is sold out months in advance. She will be back late tomorrow afternoon. This means it will be just me and the princesses at tea tomorrow. Baring emergencies, such as the Tree calling me on a Map Table quest, there will be a tea and a tour. There is so much we will be able to talk about! I've made a list. Magic, the Epona discovery, teaching, the behavior of constellations, the nature of time in the Canterlot High universe, the explosion of life in the Crystal Empire... So that we can cover everything, I could set time limits on each subject! °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° The Best Laid Plans May 8: I had everything planned out. I had a selection of teas and my best tea service was on the table in the small reception hall, along with some delicious custards ordered for the occasion from Sugarcube Corner. Spike had left to spend the day helping Rarity, I had mapped out a route for our walking tour of the castle, with another tea service and cookies waiting for us at the last stop, in the library. Then something came up. Rarity rushed in on us just as we had started tea, an oddly glowing Spike right behind her. Long story short, Spike was getting summoned to the Dragon Lands by the Dragon Lord. This was the first time I'd heard of a Dragon Lord, let alone of any dragon getting summoned anywhere. The summoning looked hard to ignore. Spike was scratching like he had a bad case of hives but he was worried about answering this summons alone. Rarity was worried about Spike's safety as well, so when Spike asked us if we could go with him, we both agreed. I just had to find out what this was all about, and we both wanted to give Spike whatever protection we could. That meant the morning tea, tour and the chat with the princesses was cut short. I proposed we try again later, perhaps a dinner. Spike's summoning couldn't wait. Since we were pretty sure that ponies attending this summoning would not be well received, Rarity and I wore camouflage. We went disguised as a rock. That worked pretty well. When we got to the Dragon Lands, we found out that several dozen small dragons had also turned up. Apart from the Dragon Lord, there were no full sized dragons. Either full sized dragons can shrug off a summoning, or they weren't summoned at all. Probably the latter. This summoning was to select a new Dragon Lord, and apparently a Dragon Lord remains a Dragon Lord for a very long time. Thus the importance that the candidates be young dragons. Spike was probably the youngest dragon to get called. At least he was the smallest. The selection process consisted of a race through an obstacle course and maze to find the Bloodstone Scepter and thus become the new Dragon Lord. Simple but dangerous. Once that was announced, the summoning spell was cancelled and Spike stopped glowing. He was going leave the competition and go back to Equestria, but we overheard quite a bit of anti-pony sentiment from the other candidates and Spike decided he was going to go for the crown after all, to protect Equestria. That's easier said than done. Fortunately for Spike, he got lucky and convinced another dragon to team up with him. This dragon, named Ember, didn't have a strong anti-pony bias, which was lucky for us too when she found out we were tailing Spike. Together the two of them out-flew, out-dodged and outsmarted all the other competitors and thus Spike convinced her that friendship is beneficial, not a hindrance. Spike ended up being the first dragon to reach the Bloodstone Scepter. Since Spike didn't really want to be the Dragon Lord, he passed the scepter to Ember, allowing her to be confirmed as Dragon Lord. No dragons complained about that. Spike told her that he felt she, as Dragon Lord, would protect Equestria, and I agree. Dragon Lord Ember even agreed to answer questions about dragon culture that I plan on mailing to her. We've opened diplomatic ties with the Dragon Lord herself! °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Wear Me, Seedmore! May 9: Everypony wants to hear Spike tell all about the Dragon Lord and how he briefly became his successor. We decided to have a pot luck supper and tell them all about it then. Rarity's bat cave spelunking has been put on hold while she works on a camouflage chic line of designs, so Spike was with me when I went to the market to see what we could put together for our part of the pot luck supper. Spring greens are on the menu. All of Ponyville's pastures are looking lush, just calling to ponies to come out and picnic. I remembered Rarity's suggestion last year, while we were planning Pinkie's surprise party, to ask Mayor Mare to declare that day Picnic in the Fields Day. In the end we dropped that idea, but now, in memory of the great time everypony had, and just because it's a good time for a picnic festival, maybe we should make the suggestion to Mayor Mare. I'll ask my friends what they think of that at the supper, tomorrow. Starlight Glimmer is back from Manehattan, singing show songs and clutching tickets to Little Shop of Halters and Manespray. She bought two tickets to the Little Shop of Halters show. She plans on taking Sunburst to that one and she has about two moons to invite him before the show date. That reminds me. Maybe I should get my teeth floated. It's been a while. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° We Eight Ate and Ate and Ate May 10: Pot luck supper was delicious and full of surprises. Applejack whipped up some kind of poplar bark oat crunch chips with a pureed trout-lily leaf dip. The tangy aroma of the poplar went really well with the sweet dip. Rainbow Dash brought a fresh bedstraw and alfalfa sprout soup. Spike, Starlight and I brought fresh baked oat bread, silage and dandelion blintzes, an assortment of jams to go with them, and third cut hay. Pinkie brought a few dozen cupcakes, all different. Fluttershy brought a mixed spring greens salad made up of oat sprouts, early timothy grass shoots, dandelions, and bedstraw. Rarity brought a crystal corn, beet pulp and hay casserole spiced with saffron. Between mouthfuls, Spike told everypony, in great and gory detail, all about getting summoned by the Dragon Lord and becoming the Dragon Lord himself, if only for a short while. We were all quite proud of Spike the Brave and Boisterous, or whatever it is they call him in the Crystal Empire. I doubt he'll get a statue out of that adventure, the dragons we observed in the Dragon Lands didn't strike me as being of the type to celebrate cooperation and generosity. I tossed the Picnic in the Fields Day question over to my friends. They thought it was a good idea. They also voted me to be the one to go see the mayor. I'll do that tomorrow. After we'd stuffed ourselves silly, we lounged about digesting and chatting. Rarity had brought her sketchbook and pencils and she spent much of the evening sketching out ideas for camouflage-themed clothes. A lot were rock and crystal inspired, these she called camo-Maud clothes. That attracted Pinkie's critical eye, but Fluttershy was attracted by the leafy designs, and she lectured Rarity on and off about different mimicry and survival strategies. Between the two of them, Rarity got an earful. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Getting The Meals In Motion May 11: I received a scroll from Princess Celestia this morning, Spike express mail. She wrote that she is free for dinner five days from now, but Princess Luna, regretfully, can't make it. Dinner is a bit more formal than tea, and Starlight Glimmer should be home. I could show off my pupil to Princess Celestia! That's even better than a tour of the Treecastle. As planned, I booked a meeting with Mayor Mare. We had lunch together in a private dining room at Café Hay and I outlined our proposed Picnic in the Fields Day. She had some reservations about ponies trampling our food supply, but the east pasture did spring back pretty well last year and this picnic event won't last nearly as long as the surprise bash we threw for Pinkie last year. So the Picnic in the Fields Day is a go! Mayor Mare should make it official in a few days with an announcement and posters. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° She's The Very Model of a Mangalarga Marchador May 12: We all met for afternoon tea in Rarity's boutique so I could tell everypony how my meeting with the mayor went. They were a little disappointed that it hasn't been made official yet, but our hopes are high that the mayor won't change the date or back out of the proposed picnic day at the last moment. Pinkie wanted to know what I had for lunch. Rarity was excited to hear that I am going to have Princess Celestia over as a dinner guest. She's the one who had redecorated the small reception hall with draperies and bows, but now she plans to come over tomorrow to add a little something for the occasion. I think we all must have given her a sideways glance at the same time because she quickly added that she just has something small in mind. Really. I guess I'll find out tomorrow what "small" means this time. I wrote back to Princess Celestia to tell her that my pupil, Starlight Glimmer will be joining us for supper. She already knows that I am teaching Starlight about friendship. She wrote back that she is looking forward to seeing how well Starlight Glimmer is doing under my tutelage. I wrote up a few pop quizzes to give to Starlight tomorrow and I've updated the flash cards. By the time Princess Celestia arrives for dinner, she'll know all her lessons forwards and backwards. She'll be as sharp as a tack! °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Chasing the Details May 13: Rarity's addition was to replace the banner above the table with two new ones. One banner now has Princess Celestia on it, the other has me on it. Thankfully, she didn't blind us with glitter. Maybe glitter went out of style this week. But since I'm feting Princess Celestia meeting my new student, I asked Rarity to change my banner for one with Starlight Glimmer on it to reflect that theme. So she's taken that one down. It appears we will only be three at dinner. Spike has official business to attend to in the Crystal Empire that night. That throws the balance off a bit in the table settings. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Doing It Right May 14: Rarity came back with a nice banner with a bust of Starlight Glimmer on it. This dinner is going to be perfect! I'm going to reread Miss Manege on Dining and Etiquette again. Mayor Mare made it official. Today there was a teaser in the Ponyville Express and an invitation to hear the announcement scheduled for eleven this morning on the steps of Town Hall. I went with everypony else to hear what she had to say. The Picnic in the Fields Day will happen in five days. As this is now an official holiday, foals will have the day off from school. The ponies in the crowd looked like they thought this was a good idea, and by this afternoon, posters for the event were going up everywhere. Spike left this morning for a three night stay in the Crystal Empire. As hero of the Crystal Empire, they want him there to help preside over their new fireworks festival. He probably got pampered all afternoon. Or maybe not, the first fireworks are tonight and he probably got a lot of coaching on judging fireworks, where to go, and what to do there. From what he said before he left, they want him to be more than a pretty face in the VIP booth. After all, he's a fire breathing dragon. His words. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Guest Who's Coming To Dinner May 15: The dinner is tomorrow. Starlight Glimmer has already set the table with my best dinnerware. I was going to do that by hoof, and I was going to use setting the table as a vehicle for a friendship lesson through concept association. I had been rereading about oral histories and teaching through mnemonic devices and setting the table with Starlight Glimmer seemed like a golden opportunity for a field test. But apparently Starlight Glimmer has already read the chapter on silverware placement in Miss Manege on Dining and Etiquette and she set the table in about two seconds flat. She heard "set the table" and I had to dodge flying forks and knives in mid sentence. With the table already set, the visual aspect was there, but the kinesthetic factor was gone. So I skipped that lesson. I'd like to impress Princess Celestia with my student and show off how well she's learning about friendship. So for her next friendship lesson, her task is to make a new friend and to bring that friend to dinner tomorrow night. The table is already set for just the four of us, me, Princess Celestia, Starlight Glimmer and her new, as yet to be discovered, friend. Princess Celestia will be so impressed and I will have restored the four-place symmetry in the table settings! I think I'll go down to the reception hall and polish the silverware some more. Silverware placement is giving me such a thrill! I even have the strawberry forks out, even though strawberries aren't in season for at least another moon. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° I Fought The Lore And The Lore Won May 16: Sometimes I really make a mess of things. Today we were going to have dinner with Princess Celestia. Starlight Glimmer was going to have made the perfect friend, and I was going to be in total control of the whole production, right down to the last detail. That, right there, is the path to madness. I've met too many ponies that have trotted down that path. It's just as well that today, when I tried to choose Starlight Glimmer's friends for her, I really made a dog's breakfast of the whole situation. Roll back the sun to yesterday, when I instructed Starlight Glimmer, as her next friendship assignment, to make a new friend and to bring that friend to dine with Princess Celestia. I thought I had everything under control, all neatly planned and lined up, like the silverware framing the perfect plates on the neatly balanced settings on the dinner table. Like clockwork. Like a house of cards. And the next day (today), on schedule, Starlight Glimmer found a friend. My house of cards came tumbling down. Somehow, much to my dismay, Starlight Glimmer had met and befriended Trixie! Trixie does not live in Ponyville, but the two times that she's come here it's been a disaster. The first time she came to town she had a magic show, half of which consisted of boasting and putting other ponies down. That ended with a constellation stepping on her wagon and Trixie running out of town with just the dress on her back. The second time, she returned to conquer Ponyville with the help of a magical amulet. Again she ran out of Ponyville. This time, she's back to her traveling magic show and she's stopped in Ponyville. Well, I'd forgiven Trixie, but we weren't friends. I wasn't too keen on her becoming Starlight's friend or of her eating with Princess Celestia as my pupil's guest. So I did the wrong thing, I tried to make Starlight Glimmer's decisions for her. I alienated Starlight Glimmer by showing that I did not trust her to make true friends and by showing that I can hold a grudge even though I claim to have forgiven somepony. I tried to tempt Starlight Glimmer with other potential friends. Even when that failed, I tried to pass them off as Starlight's friends and sat them down with Princess Celestia. As I broke Starlight Glimmer's friendship, she broke her dinner date and I abandoned the Princess in front of an empty plate with three guests and no host. In my arrogance, I tried to control everything. In the end, I controlled nothing at all. What a fine Princess of Friendship I am. I had to learn the hard way what I thought I'd known already. Give Starlight Glimmer her own space to learn about friendship, trust her, accept her decisions and stop trying to lead her on such a short rein. It is not an easy lesson to learn. When I stopped trying to force a wedge between the two of them, the friendship bond between Starlight Glimmer and Trixie rekindled. But as for the dinner, Miss Manege on Dining and Etiquette flew out the window on that one. I will be apologizing to Princess Celestia, and to the three surrogate friends I dragged into this mess, for a long time. Today's friendship lesson was for me. Let your friends make their own friends in their own time. Trying to make their decisions for them can cause you to lose a friend. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° More Lights Over The Crystal Empire May 17: Spike is back with glowing tales of three days of being pampered and three nights of fire and fury over the Crystal Empire Fairgrounds. At the inauguration ceremonies for the Crystal Empire Pan-Equestria Fireworks Festival, he lit the first rocket, but after that it was up to the Crystal Empire team to manage the firing and timing of their performance. The second night, it was Fillydelphia's turn and they had an orchestra playing along with the fireworks. Now that's something I wish I'd seen. So Spike is presiding over the event, making prepared speeches and looking important. He had some coaching on how the performances are judged, but he has no say in who wins. After those first three nights of fireworks, there will be two months of weekly performances. Each week a different town or region sends their best artificers to the Crystal Empire Fairgrounds to try to wow the judges. In the end, prizes shall be awarded and the winners will collaborate to produce the final fireworks display of the festival. Spike will be going back to the Crystal Empire each week to preside over each performance. He said that there was food everywhere. The crystal ponies told him that their crops are ripening faster than they can eat or process them, but fruit bats are helping with that. The fruit bats eat only the ripe crops that would have rotted on the vines, bushes and stalks. The crystal ponies had never seen fruit bats before. Many of them have put up fruit bat feeders by their windows to get a better look. Spike brought back a small pile of Crystal Empire Pan-Equestria Fireworks Festival promotional material. I had a look at the schedule. Cloudsdale has a horse in this race and so does Ponyville. There aren't any details as to what they have planned or if any of the entrants will be accompanying their light show with music. If I go, I guess I can't use that as a deciding factor. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Rarity For You May 18: Rarity's three boutiques are keeping her busy. She's clearing out the last of the spring dresses in her Carousel Boutique here, and she sent in a line of summer wear to her Canterlot Boutique. The new dresses incorporate camouflage motifs and design flares. Such as asymmetry, ragged hems, lacy and translucent fabrics, masks, wide-brimmed mossy hats, and leaf and lichen print pattern dresses. Today she was in Manehattan hiring a contractor to renovate her new boutique in the fashion district there. It's in a shop-friendly area with wide sidewalks and tree-lined roads. She plans on calling her boutique "Rarity For You". °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Picnic in the Fields May 19: Today was the Picnic in the Fields Day. Pinkie had a hoof in coordinating the decoration of the ways to the east pasture. As there are several popular entrance points to that pasture, the balloons and banners pretty much lined the Ponyville side edge of the east pasture. The skies were mostly clear, except for several clouds sculpted to look like dancing and running ponies. While they pretty much stayed put, the clouds did tend to coalesce into short-limbed lumpy pony shapes after an hour or so. Pinkie also made huge batches of rock candy for the occasion and ponies were making rock candy necklaces all day, just like last year. Otherwise, it was a pretty relaxed affair. We arrived with our food and picnic gear around midday. Pinkie was already there and she waved us over to a spot on a hill top. Lots of other ponies were arriving too, and by the time we'd spread our blankets and brought out the plates, half the town was settling in for lunch in the pasture. Some ponies had thought to bring their netball equipment and were having a spirited game not far from us. Pinkie gave us each a rock candy necklace and we unpacked the food. We had dandelion oat bread sandwiches, third cut hay with trout lily greens, raisin bread with apple butter and zap apple jam, carrot cake and peppermint ice cream for dessert. After lunch, Applejack and Rainbow Dash went over to play netball, Pinkie went to were she'd left the rock candy necklace supplies to see if anypony needed help, and Rarity, Fluttershy and I relaxed, read books, and soaked in the sunshine. On a whim, I recited 'Pasture' from I Met A Mare to my friends. I wonder how my niece is doing. I think the event was a success. I know we had a good time. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° The Sun Is Up, The Sky Is Blue May 20: There were glowing reviews of yesterday's event in the Ponyville Express today. Letters to the editor, several pages of articles and lots of pictures of picnicking ponies having fun. There even was a picture of Applejack smashing the ball past Rainbow Dash's block in the netball game they joined. Although I think the team Rainbow Dash was on won that game, Dash is going to have a hard time living that picture down. Starlight Glimmer, who had preferred to stay behind and study yesterday, was only mildly interested in the articles about this 'frivolous festivity'. I have to agree that it's easier to study in a quiet room, far from the maddening crowds. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Growing Pains May 21: Spike left this morning for the Crystal Empire, he'll be back tomorrow. Appleoosa will be lighting up the sky there tonight. I knocked on the Carousel Boutique's door today to have tea with Rarity and talk a bit about Starlight Glimmer with her. Rarity is looking a little bit frazzled. After speaking with several contractors in Manehattan, those she was able to track down, Rarity has come to the conclusion that contractors are (a) in very short supply (b) have to be hired a year in advance and (c) very, very expensive. Meanwhile her "Rarity For You" boutique is standing empty and boarded up. Rent is very expensive. It needs to be washed from ceiling to floor. All the big names in Manehattan are trotting out their fall lineups and Rarity has to have her dresses on display in time to be able to compete. That seems ridiculously early to me. It's not even summer yet. The good news is that the existing floorplan will do and none of the fixtures are really that broken or unusable. She is considering just cleaning out the dust and cobwebs and going with the store space as is. But she needs help. She's almost finished her fall fashions line up and she's hired Coco Pommel as Sales Associate. I think that means boutique manager. She just needs us to help her spruce the place up next week. So it looks like I'm organizing a trip to Manehattan. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Manehattan Transfer May 22: Spike is back from his VIP duties at the Crystal Empire Pan-Equestria Fireworks Festival. They pampered him some more, great food, a prepared speech, applause... They even gave him a big bag of gems to eat. They didn't last the train trip back. He says the fireworks were spectacular and that it's going to be hard to choose a winner. I went around and all my friends are set to go to Manehattan with Rarity later this week. Fluttershy is going to leave her critters in the care of Amethyst Star, with the help of Spike. Spike will also be in charge of minding the castle while we're away and assisting Starlight Glimmer, if she needs it. Pinkie, Applejack and Dash were all able to shift their schedules to be free for this trip. So we're just waiting for Rarity to stitch up her last patterns and we'll be off! °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° True Grit May 23: I was going through the cupboards in the kitchen, looking for something to eat, when I found up on a high shelf, way in the back, several jars of colored grit. Rarity had made them for me from gem stones last year and I had used them as an aid in teaching levitation control to Sweetie Belle. Spike's hatchday is tomorrow so I got the idea to take them to Sugarcube Corner and have the Cakes make a surprise cake for Spike. It will be ready tomorrow afternoon. I'll get him a gift too. A book, of course! Something instructive. I'm sure he'll like that. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° The Spark May 24: The cake was a success. At least Spike liked it. I didn't eat any of it because of all of the hard sparkly grit that was in it. But it smelled good and it was very pretty. We had lunch at Sugarcube Corner with the cake for desert. Rarity, Pinkie, Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy were there and we sang Make A Wish It's Your Birthday along with Pinkie Pie. Or at least we gave it a try. I think everypony at Sugarcube Corner was thankful when we finished braying. We all wished Spike a happy hatchday, and since it's also the same day that we found the spark that gave us our cutie marks, there was a lot of reminiscing. I passed my entrance exam, Rarity found inspiration, Fluttershy discovered critters, Applejack melded to her farm, Dash discovered her love of speed and Pinkie discovered boundless joy and how to spread it. Nopony gave Spike a birthday present at lunch (we remember all too well what happens when a dragon gets too many gifts at the same time) but we brought home what was left of the cake, which was nearly the whole thing minus what Spike ate. Later, I gave Spike a book: The Snow Walkers by Barley Mowit! It's a really old book about the caribou people, you can really smell the dust on it! Oh yes, that was a great find. I'm sure Spike is going to love it! Starlight Glimmer didn't go to lunch with us, but she did wish Spike a happy hatchday. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° In The Mail May 25: The mail today included a postcard from the extensively traveling and theatrical Trixie. It was addressed to Starlight Glimmer. They exchange letters too. I should give Starlight points for having a pen pal. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Everypony's Looking For Something May 26: Starlight Glimmer is a serious pony. She studies hard and is always serious about learning, but I don't see much in the way of passion in her. I don't think there is much of a finish line for her. She's out of the stall and cantering along just fine, but she's like she has no real destination. She's not just wearing blinkers, she's practically blindfolded and following where I lead her. When she had her goal of removing the cutie marks of every last pony in Equestria, she had passion. She knew where she was going and she could see the track clearly. Now that is gone and all she has are her studies. Hopefully friendship will give her the support and confidence to look further and find something that she can be passionate about. Maybe I should ask the Cutie Mark Crusaders to talk to her. It is, if I've understood it right, their calling. Addendum: A quillpal pointed out that arranging for the CMC and Starlight to meet and discuss cutie marks would be a bad idea. She already thinks I don't trust her to make her own decisions (with good reason, seeing how I handled the Trixie friendship). I don't think I'll suggest that she consult the Crusaders. Maybe I'll point out that their brand of altruism, namely, helping ponies find themselves, is a form of friendship. Maybe I could get her to analyze the CMC's methodology and to postulate on how their efforts help build pony society. Or maybe not, seeing how until very recently she felt that building a better pony society was to be achieved by removing everypony's cutie marks. I'd better let the matter drop and let her find her own path in her own time. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° (The Princess has stepped out. Try again tomorrow.) °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Jigsaw Puzzle May 28: We got back in the wee hours this morning from Manehattan, where we had been setting up Rarity's boutique, "Rarity For You". It was a wild day and then some, I had expected to be back in Ponyville last night. Rarity has left her new staff in charge of running the boutique while she sews more dresses to replace the ones that were sold yesterday. Rarity had us helping her at what was really the last moment. The boutique had to open then, that evening, of that same day. It was "the last night of the fall season", and since Rarity had decided to plunge headlong into that scene, everything had to come together right then. Rarity's plan was, we arrive, we clean, the clothes arrive by parcel post, then her "sales associate" Miss Coco Pommel would arrive after that, we put the clothes on display, and the boutique would be open for business. It wasn't that easy. The boutique was filthy. The landlord came calling and he foisted his daughter on Rarity (as employee and creative consultant). Rarity found raccoons living in the store room. Pounding music alerted us to the existence of a Club Pony Party Palace upstairs. And then Coco called in sick with a cold. After sweeping the place clear, we divided up tasks. Pinkie was to get the Club Pony to turn down the volume. Dash was to hire a sales pony to assist customers. I got to sort and organize Rarity's dresses, which had arrived in disarray. Rarity tasked herself with setting up the shop window display. Applejack was to try and put a damper on the suggestions that the landlord's daughter (Plaid Stripe) came up with, and Fluttershy was to ask the raccoons to move out. That didn't go so well at first. Dash couldn't decide which of three applicants to choose for the job of clerk, Fluttershy got the raccoons angry, Pinkie failed to stop the music pounding through the ceiling, and Applejack found herself getting shouted at by the landlord. In fact, it was going so bad, I might have locked Rarity in the window display to borrow enough time to try and sort out the mess we were making. By the time Rarity finished making the perfect window display, we'd come up with some pretty innovative solutions. Fluttershy let the raccoons stay, but they had to contribute to the opening, by carrying trays of hors d'oeuvres to the customers, after taking baths and putting on suits and ties. I don't know where Fluttershy found raccoon sized suits. Maybe she made alterations on costumes for foals. She's pretty adept at sewing. Pinkie convinced the DJ of the Club Pony Party Palace to set up in Rarity's boutique, thus making it part dance club. Dash hired all three candidates, which was fortunate. Ponies were lining up at the door to get in. And Applejack admitted that she liked Plaid Stripe's spoon clothes idea, and so did some of the customers. As for me, I organized Rarity's wares in a way that was both aesthetically pleasing to look at and very practical. Just in time for the evening opening. Several of the ponies who had been waiting for Rarity For You to open were apparently in the business of scouting out the trends and new faces in the clothes fashion scene. Since it was the last day for fall fashions to be introduced, I guess Rarity's Manehattan boutique was the newest of the new blood and the only fresh venue that evening. So they came in droves. One of those customers was a reporter who decided to interview Rarity, and then each of us in turn, about the work that went into creating this innovative dance club boutique in the heart of Saddle Row. We went to a diner after the opening, and it was there that we each got interviewed. We were all feeling pretty giddy at our success, so we weren't too careful about what we said. It was late after we'd finished eating, but Fluttershy was anxious about her spring critters and Rarity had to get back to her Ponyville sewing room to replace what she had sold. Since she had left the boutique in the care of Coco and the sales ponies, we decided to catch the overnight train back to Ponyville. Rarity retired to her compartment early, but the rest of us squeezed into Rainbow Dash's compartment to chat for a while. We talked about Rarity's new boutique and boasted about how we turned a disaster into something spectacular, in a good way. We marveled about the surprising number of customers that had turned up on the opening night, and we exchanged stories about getting interviewed. We didn't stay up long, it had been a really long day. The train pulled into Ponyville right before dawn. We stumbled out of our compartments and out on the platform, where we yawned our goodbyes and went home. Except Applejack, she seemed wide awake and chipper. She's a morning pony. It seemed I'd no sooner drifted back asleep in my own bed when Spike woke me. He's was leaving for the train station to go to the Crystal Empire for another evening of fireworks (it's Tall Tale's turn to wow the judges), and Rainbow Dash wanted to see me. Now. She said it was urgent. Then Dash came into my bedroom. She couldn't wait. She had had a flash. Dash had thought back to those "Gabby Gums" articles that had been about us and other ponies in the Foal Free Press a while back, and she was now worried about what the reporter had written. She had already rounded up Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie, they were waiting downstairs. There was a review of Rarity For You in the fashion section of the Manehattan newspaper (Dash had checked). Since Rarity subscribes to that newspaper, we rushed over to the Carousel Boutique. Dash hoped we could somehow keep Rarity from reading what we expect would be a bad review of her new shop. If that failed, we were prepared to apologize together for not being more careful about what we say to the press. We failed to convince Rarity not to read it, but fortunately, it was a fair, and fairly glowing, report. We did apologize for not telling Rarity of our stumbling first attempts at setting up her boutique. But all is well that finishes well, and Rarity went back to sewing. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Green Claw May 29: Spike Is back from officiating at the Crystal Empire fireworks festival. Apparently, they're getting even better at spoiling their hero, so Spike had a great time. They packed him a gem lunch for the trip home again. I teased him about it, saying he was going to ruin the Crystal Empire by eating all their gems. This time Spike showed a bit of restraint during the train ride back and refrained from eating a particularly nice emerald. He plans on growing it larger and healing all the flaws. Then he's going to eat it. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Green Wings May 30: Spike went this morning on another gem quest with Rarity in the bat cave. Rarity's aim is to collect gems while the bats are sleeping the soundest. Bat guano is hard to wash out of your hair. Or so I've been told. The gem collecting was a success and Spike came home with a small chunk of sapphire that he plans on growing. It had been larger when they had found it, but Spike had nibbled on it. There are posters all over Ponyville announcing a new Wonderbolts tour next week. I saw Dash putting up the last ones. She told me that as a reservist, she'll be working crowd control, keeping the sky clear of ponies during the aeronautical display, that kind of thing. One day, Rainbow Dash herself will be doing that precision flying with the Wonderbolts. Meanwhile, she looked pretty happy that her heroes were coming to town. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Eye Candy May 31: We had another hot day today in Ponyville. I went over to Rarity's place and it didn't take much coaxing to convince her that it was time for a break. To the spa! Along the way, we separated Fluttershy from her menagerie and brought her with us. Pinkie popped up out of nowhere and we were four sweaty, bedraggled ponies crowding into the lobby at the Spa. An hour later we were four sparkling, refreshed and relaxed ponies heading for the icing on our cake: grass smoothies and fruit sorbets at Sugarcube Corner. Rarity filled us in on her progress. She's already packed most of the new dresses and hats into boxes and this afternoon she planned on mailing them to Manehattan. Tomorrow morning she will be heading off to Manehattan to see how the shop is faring and then the next day she will be catching the train to Canterlot to prepare for the fall selection there. I asked her what do ponies do if they need summer clothes? She replied that they can go to the discount boutiques. These fashion ponies are crazy! But, it's not like we really need clothes. They're really just adornment. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°