//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Just Another Day // Story: The Outer Limits // by Salnalus //------------------------------// As Twilight trotted out of her library, Spike riding on her back as usual, she looked around the lively streets of Ponyville. Every one of the ponies she saw were looking as happy as can be. Off in the distance, she could see her fast-flying speedster friend Rainbow Dash, resting atop a cloud like she usually liked to do from time to time. Of course, that didn't matter to her. She just wanted to enjoy the day as best as she could. "So Spike, since this was your idea, what would you propose we do first?" Twilight looked down at her #1 assistant, hoping to get some answer from him. She always knew he was smart, even if he didn't show it most of the time. "Well, let's see... there are many choices out there to choose from. You could hang out with Pinkie Pie, have a relaxing tea session with Rarity, visit Fluttershy, help Rarity with her dresses, see if Applejack needs help on Sweet Apple Acres, relax at the spa with Rarity..." "Spike, you mentioned Rarity three times." "I-I did? Heh, I didn't notice..." Spike shifted his eyes around embarassingly. He tried many a time not to show his crush on the white fashionista, but he couldn't help it. "I suppose the relaxing tea session is a good start, but we're not going over there so you can fawn over her. Remember Spike, this is a day meant for me to just relax, keep calm, and not think about work or studying in any way possible." Twilight inhaled as she put a hoof to her chest, and let go as she exhaled a relieving sigh. Just as they were about to head over to Carousel Boutique, the designer shop of Ponyville, as well as home to Rarity, Pinkie Pie crossed their paths carrying a rather pained Apple Bloom on her back. Twilight and Spike could only stare in confusion. "Pinkie, why are you carrying Apple Bloom on your back, and what happened to her? She looks like she's hurt." Apple Bloom was clutching onto one of her hind hooves with both of her forehooves, her disgruntled face clearly showing she was in pain. "Oh, hey there Twilight! Hiya, Spike! See, I was just trotting along through the park, minding my own business, when all of a sudden, I saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders, so I stopped by to say hi, only to notice poor Apple Bloom here sprained a hoof." Pinkie looked back at the yellow filly worriedly. "Are you ok, Apple Bloom?" Spike walked up next to Pinkie Pie, also looking at Apple Bloom who was staring back at him. "No, not really... my hoof, it hurts sooooo bad. Ah hope it's not broken. Ah wouldn't be able to do any crusadin' without it!" Her face had been full of worry while she rubbed her injured limb. "Don't worry, Apple Bloom. I'll take you to Applejack, and she'll fix you right up in a jiffy! Sorry I can't stick around Twilight and Spike, but I have an apple orchard to go to! Here, have a souvenir, to dedicate our meeting today!" From out of seemingly nowhere, Pinkie pulled out a cupcake. It had cool blue-colored icing on top with sprinkles. She threw it up before hopping away towards Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Bloom hanging on for dear life. The cupcake fell down towards Spike, who caught it with his reptilian-like tongue before he rolled it into his mouth and snacked on it. Twilight giggled at the sight while she levitated him onto her back. She was used to his silly behavior by now, but sometimes she actually enjoyed it. "Alright Spike, that was enough of a distraction. You know how Pinkie Pie can be, even if she's caring enough to help out a filly in need of attention. Let's just get back to doing what we were going to do before. I'm going to have a relaxing day, and I wont have any other distractions getting in the way of me from enjoying it!" "Well, don't make it your job. You're doing this to stay away from work, not create more of it." Spike spoke in a deadpan tone that sounded almost sarcastic in the way he spoke it. Twilight shook the thought out of her mind as she continued towards her destination. Inside the designer shop known as Carousel Boutique, Rarity, the shop's proprietor, had been drawing up designs for her next big line. A fashion representative from Fillydelphia was to come over and look at basic designs, and the fashionista needed to be punctual on her dates. Papers were lined up on the desk she was sitting in, and her horn was busy levitating the pencil to draw out more sketches. The point had been making a stroke on the paper when Rarity heard a knock on the door. She grunted as she set the pencil down on the desk. "Ugh, who could possibly interrupt me in the middle of work? I am making fashion here, and I wish to design in peace!" She averted herself away from the table, trotting hoof in front of hoof towards the front door. She hadn't expected a visit from anypony this early in the morning. In a few hours, maybe. Now though, was a time she didn't really consider to be good timing. She made her way to the door and used the magic glow of her horn to open it. Her annoyed expression turned to one of delight when she saw who had been standing at the door. "Oh, Twilight dear! And little Spikey-Wikey! To what do I have the pleasure of having a visit from you two this early in the morning, if I may ask?" "Rarity, I should explain a bit. If you hadn't noticed already, It's been a pretty long time since we've done anything together as, you know, close friends. Lately, I've been getting caught up in my magic studies that I forgot to leave time for me to just relax, and take a break. I feel like I can make a nice start today by maybe joining you for a tea session, if you don't mind." "Why yes, of course! I mean, it wasn't like I was busy with designing or anything..." Her eyes darted about in a shifty way. Twilight looked to Spike, who only shrugged in confusion. "So, may we come in?" "Oh yes, come on in, Twilight and Spike. You two are always welcome in my boutique." She stepped aside, waving a hoof inside as to gesture them into the building, which they happily obliged to. Once they stepped inside, Rarity closed the door, and made her way into the kitchen. While Twilight and Spike waited, they looked around at the main room. Mannequins stood on one side of the room. Some were bare with not one trace of clothing on them, and others, had beautifully designed dresses and outfits on. Spike walked up to the table Rarity had been working on earlier. On it was a stack of paper, and a single sheet with a pencil. It may have have been the one she was using to create another one of her fabulous designs. However, on one spot of the paper, there was a messed up streak. A mistake, perhaps. In another spot of the room, Twilight was closely observing various clothes worn by some of the pony mannequins. One had a very dazzling pink design with blue highlights in certain areas. Another had a nice yellow color with a nice brown accent to go along with it. She smiled as she went along looking through them. Not soon afterwards, Rarity returns with the tea cups and kettle. "Twilight, do be a dear and bring over that table here, please." She nudged her horn towards one point of the room, which Twilight took a glance at. When her horn glowed. the table resting there lifted upwards, and floated itself over to the center of the room, along with three cushions. Once she placed the objects in their rightful spots, all three of them sat down on the cushions while Rarity used her magic to pour the tea into each of their cups. "Twilight, I do wonder what had kept you so busy for such a long while. It's like we hardly ever do anything together anymore, and I do miss that, to be quite honest." "Oh... I'm sorry Rarity. I had been so caught up with my studies trying to learn more magic that I had completely forgotten about the outside world for a long moment. I didn't know what came over me." Rarity waved a hoof, as if to shove off the excuse. "Oh, it's no trouble at all! I can certainly say I've had troubles like that in the past concerning my own passion for fashion. You wouldn't believe the longest time I had been concerning myself over the tiniest details about the dresses, outfits and ensembles I was making. Oh, it was simply horrible... dreadful... distasteful! And, other words of that nature." Rarity passed over two of the tea cups towards Twilight and Spike. Spike held his with his claws while Twilight held hers with her magic. They both took a small sip, and breathed a relaxing sigh. At least, Twilight did. Spike, on the other hand, drank a bit too much of the hot liquid and burned his tongue. His eyes widened as he spit it out onto the table, and the two mares simply stared at him, Rarity in particular with a puzzled look. "Spike, that tea is hot. You cannot simply gulp it down. And besides, tea is a nice, soothing drink which you take small, relaxing sips, like so." Rarity demonstrated by levitating the cup to her mouth in an orderly fashion, which the young dragon took note of. He tried again, and corrected himself. She nodded afterwards, and took another sip. "Twilight, I do realize we had not spent much time now talking, and I would always love to have a nice talk with you, but I am busy with something at the moment." Twilight looked at Rarity as she got up from her cushion, and trotted over to the small table housing the paper and pencil. She raised an eyebrow in wonder. "You're busy? Busy with what?" "Why, with making fashion, of course! You see, a fashion representative from Fillydelphia had heard of my work, and is coming to visit Carousel Boutique to check out a few designs of mine! Just imagine, if my designs were out there in Fillydelphia..." She slowly waved a hoof through the air in front of her as if to picture the scenario directly in front of her, and she squealed at the thought. "Yeah, alright. But, wouldn't it be good to relax a bit?" "Well, I do suppose rest is important, but I must get these designs done as soon as possible. Who knows how much work I'll have to do." Twilight stared over at Rarity, suddenly deep in thought. This had occurred when she uttered the word work. This lead Twilight to think back on her own studies. She really did want to go back to her studying, but she also wanted to relax, as she thought of that as kind of a promise. Should she go back to what she was doing yesterday, or take her load off? Seeing Rarity at work may have been distracting her from doing the latter option too much. "Yeah, I think I have something else to do anyway. It was a bit nice talking with you Rarity, but I should be going." As she said this, she stepped up from her seat, and slowly walked backwards towards the door. Not wanting to get left behind, Spike joined her as she exited the building. Rarity did not pay them any attention as they left. Sometime later, Twilight trotted into Sugarcube Corner, hoping that some sweet treats would make her forget about this whole work/study/whatever thing. As the bell hanging from the overhead of the door made its sound as the unicorn opened it, Pinkie Pie popped her head up from behind the counter, and immediately smiled. "Hiya, Twilight and Spike again!" Twilight was surprised. Wasn't Pinkie busy sending Apple Bloom to Sweet Apple Acres? Dear Celestia, she hoped this wasn't another clone from the mirror pool. "Pinkie, how did you..." "Ooh ooh, let me guess: you're wondering how I'm back so quickly! Well, it didn't really take that long. Applejack was already out in the apple orchard bucking apples from the trees and came over to me as soon as she saw me and Apple Bloom. She just took her, and I left. It's as simple as that!" She made a creepy-looking grin at Twilight and Spike. "Anyway, why are you two here?" Twilight took a moment to regain her senses before speaking. "Well, after meeting with Rarity, I decided it was time I had a good bite to eat." "Then step right up, step right up! Anything in particular? We have-" Anticipating the response, Twilight stuck a hoof in Pinkie's mouth before she could make a whole list of everything the bakery had to offer. It would have been for the best anyway, since Sugarcube Corner had a lot of baked goods. "No need for the complete list, Pinkie. I'll just have a plain cupcake. A plain, simple snack. And for Spike here..." Twilight noticed Spike had a hungry look in his eyes She knew exactly what he wanted. "Same as mine, but with emeralds." Pinkie nodded, and hopped away into the kitchen without notice. Twilight breathed a heavy sigh as she looked down at Spike. "Spike, despite me trying to calm down about this whole thing, I just can't stop thinking about the letter I sent to Princess Celestia. She hasn't answered back yet. usually, she always answers back to my letters. But she didn't, which is why I'm beginning to worry myself about this. What if she doesn't have an answer? What if she doesn't know anypony else that doesn't have an answer? I'll be stuck with this problem forever!" Twilight had that crazed look in her eye. Spike stared at her with dismay when he felt a strange feeling within him. It started off in his stomach, and it grumbled. Twilight looked back at him with a face of uncertainty. "I know you're hungry Spike, but try to control your-" Before Twilight could finish her sentence with that last word, Spike belched, and out came a swirling vortex of magical energy, which materialized itself into a scroll. Finally, a response from the Princess. Twilight was waiting for this. She unfurled the rolled-up parchment, and held it up with levitation, reading the contents within. Dear Twilight, my most faithful student, I received your letter from yesterday, and was surprised to see you behaving like this. This isn't something you should concern yourself over too much. Remember, while you can't help wanting to learn as much magic as you can, that doesn't mean it has to be your only focus. It was one of the reasons why I sent you here to Ponyville in the first place. However, I will support you in any endeavor you wish to partake in. I have found some discoveries concerning your issue, and I must speak with you personally about this. I would like you to come to Canterlot the next available time you can. I will help you then. Princess Celestia "I can't believe it... she found an answer?" Twilight was now grinning a happy grin. At least, this was from hope, not of certainty, but hope nonetheless. Without warning, Twilight grabbed Spike with her magic, pulled him straight onto her back, and dashed right out the door. Spike hung on for dear life, much like how Apple Bloom was while on Pinkie earlier. "Wait! Twilight! Aren't you forgetting something?!" Indeed, they were forgetting something. Pinkie hopped back out from the kitchen with the requested treats for Twilight and Spike. "Ok, order's up! Two delicious cupcakes, a plain one for Twilight, and a plain with emeralds for..." She stopped when she noticed they were nowhere to be seen. Pinkie gave a questioning expression, wondering what happened to them. "They forgot their cupcakes. Oh well, more for me!" She tossed them up, and both of them landed on her tongue, one on top of the other, and she rolled them into her mouth happily. What made no sense was that she was also eating the emeralds from Spike's cupcake, but that was a matter not worth questioning. Pinkie Pie was a pony of a thousand, or even more, questions.