I smiled. I was quite pleased with myself. This first wasn't my best, but I now had a saddlebag bag full of plans, and the one on the opposite side full of supplies. Aloe then shook her head. I gasped.
"I am sorry miss Rarity. You are very good customer, but we made a promise Fluttershy will be alone here, and we will keep it. No matter what."
"Oh but surely…"
Pinkie was in front of me glaring at me. It wasn't that good a plan anyway. Also I'm not sure how much longer she would even be here. It's clearly best to simply move on. I thought about it and decided to go with one of the simpler plans. If Fluttershy came out soon it would be absolutely perfect. I walked outside, then used my magic to pull out one of the plans.
"Uh, are you sure we should use that one. I mean Fluttershy's really sensitive and…"
"It's just water. It is simplicity itself, she opens the door and the hat gets drenched. She has to remove it then."
"Huh, but it's a winter hat, doesn't it have to be waterproof to protect it from snow and stuff?"
I sighed. She was right. That was a ridiculous oversight on my part. I don't know how I could miss something like that. Pinkie was now smiling broadly.
"Can it be time for plan P now?"
I nodded. "I suppose. It is elegant in it's own simple way."
"Yes, plus parties solve everything."
Pinkie then threw her hoof around my neck. I sighed. While I had no doubt Pinkie could get the party together, and get the pegasus there the plan may not actually work. I certainly had my doubts about her hat flying off in surprise as she entered. Hmm, maybe I could make a little modification to increase our chances.
Fluttershy wandered the edges of her own "cool new hat" party. I most certainly did not think the mangy thing perched on her head like some dead woodland creature was in any way cool. Still, it gave me plenty of opportunity to try to pry it off her head. Except so far nothing worked. Magic most certainly did not. At least directly it didn't. I had a lovely silk ribbon hovering next to me, waiting for Fluttershy to turn her back. I had learned my lesson from earlier, and was hiding behind a counter. It wasn't very ladylike, but sacrifices must be made.
"So where did you get that hat?" asked Lyra's voice
"Oh, from this Reindeer that was visiting the area. Personally I don't think I helped him all that much, but he insisted. He wanted to give me more, but I talked him down to just giving me the hat."
"Yea, when the orchestra went to Stalliongrad I wanted to get one, but I ended up so busy I never got a chance to go shopping. It looks awful warm though."
"Oh, it's alright. Pegasai are mostly immune to extreme temperatures."
Lyra laughed. "Oh yea, I totally forgot about that. Though I was a bit confused since one of our sax players only wore a scarf, but our oboe player was wearing more winter gear than anyone, but both were pegasai."
"Well it does work both ways so it means most of the time we can just wear what we want. It's, nice."
"Oh it's more than nice. Sometimes I even wonder what it would be like to be a pegasus. The flying mainly, but also cause it would complete the look."
"Huh?"
"Well, okay, a harp and lyre aren't quite the same thing but…"
I was peeking out, and Fluttershy did indeed have her back turned. I quickly maneuvered the ribbon though the air, and formed a loop around the hat. Then I grabbed the ribbon in my teeth and pulled for all I was worth. The hat pulled backward somewhat, but it wouldn’t budge. It was like there was some other solid object under the hat the ribbon couldn’t pull off. The ribbon snapped before too long.
"What the heck was that?" asked Lyra
"Was something attacking my hat?"
For a moment Fluttershy looked back and forth, eyes wide. Then both looked down at me from the other side of the counter. Fluttershy frowned. Lyra just laughed. I must look quite the fool right now, mustn't I? I stood up tried to look dignified, but I could tell my hair was in need of straitening.
"Excuse me Fluttershy" I said "I would love to stay longer, but I just remembered a prior engagement I must deal with."
"Uh, okay."
I then walked out with as much grace as I could manage, but I think I had twisted an ankle when I fell, so I was somewhat wobbly. That horrid hat has to go. Maybe more extreme measures are called for.