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// Prompt #361-Rarity's Ramble 
// Story: Ponywatching 
// by ThunderTempest 
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Fifty-Two. That was the exact number of letters that Twilight Sparkle had sent to the Princess in her first year in Ponyville. One for every week in the year. One friendship lesson every week. Thinking back, I find it rather hilarious that our dear Twilight treated it so much like a homework assignment. Of course, we all witnessed her eventual mental breakdown when she finally had no friendship lesson for the week. And ponies call me a drama queen! Ahem. I do suppose I have no right to criticize dear Twilight like that. Yes, of course we’ve all had our own little moments of weakness, but it must be said that ours didn’t lead to mind-controlling the entire town to chase after a doll. Twilight has always had a penchant for overreacting to things, and yes, I am justified in saying so. Fortunately, she has myself and the others to help her work through that. And to her credit, she has stopped freaking out whenever the slightest thing goes wrong. But just between you and me, darling, the best way to get her attention is to move something in her study. It never really gets old, watching her jump like that.

Oh, my, listen to me ramble on. Surely you have some other pony to talk to? Ah, yes, an excellent choice. She will have some definite insight into our new Princess. But, dear, while I know that Twilight seems strong sometimes, she still has her moments of weakness. All I ask is that you be...gentle. She is still unused to the pressures of her new position. While she has come a long way since that first year in Ponyville, Twilight is still socially...naive, you might say. She is still not fully aware of many of the finer points of conversation, and has a tendency to take ponies at their word. As you can imagine, this has lead to some rather interesting events, and for Twilight’s sake, I will not repeat them here. As myself and the girls have explained to her many times, there are some things that simply cannot be learned from a book. She is rather hilariously defiant of this idea. What’s that? Oh, yes, as a matter of fact, we do have our own little plan to try and teach her that particular lesson. Pinkie Pie, the dear that she is, is still putting the plan together. Now Pinkie Pie, there is a pony that you should talk to about our newest princess. As much as it shames me to admit, Pinkie has spent a lot more time with Twilight than I.

Yes, that second year in Ponyville for Twilight was certainly easier on her. After the aforementioned mind-controlling doll incident, the number of letters dropped from fifty-two down to twenty-six. Yes, perhaps it was one every second week, but we have learned that Twilight needs time to break her habits. We’re still working on her coffee one, darling. But she’s getting better. She was certainly more relaxed about everyday life, to say the least. Her little assistant, Spike, has been an absolute godsend when it comes to helping that mare deal with all her little neuroticisms. There’s nothing wrong with wanting an organized workspace, but the degree to which Twilight takes it is something else entirely. Did you know, dear, that after that terrible Discord incident, we found her trying to straighten every leaf on her library? Perhaps understandable, given what happened that day, but when we found her doing it again a few months later, we knew we had to step in and help her learn to deal with things. I can say, with no small amount of pride I might add, that yes, while Twilight is still obsessed with organization, we have managed to make her contain her twitches about it to her study. What? You didn’t think Rainbow Dash crashed into the library by accident all the time now, did you? No, sometimes she did it on purpose, just to mess things up, trying to help Twilight deal with mess in her own way. Now, you should really be on your way. I’ve shared enough about Twilight, and I do have dresses to finish. What publication did you say you were from, again? TMP? I will keep an eye out for your article, dear.