Navigation 2, Part 3 -その安堵の溜息を... That Sigh of Relief...
It's nice when you can just relax, don't you think?
I like it. Stress really doesn't help with anything!
Being with friends is invigorating. I feel so much lighter...
Hehe. That's what keeps us going in life.
\-----/
"Ako! Where'd you go..."
Ayumi was poking her head about, trying to locate her fragile, little junior.
She found herself looking at a page torn from fairy tales.
Her junior was all smiles as she cuddled the unicorn, while Akari's apprentice was taking a photo of the occasion.
"I... I've always..."
Ako was absolutely star-struck.
Ai decided to put words into the girl's mouth. "You've always believed that magic and miracles are real?"
The girl buried herself in Sweetie Belle's mane.
Ayumi's heart could barely handle this lethal dosage of sugary cuteness, yet she couldn't find the will to disrupt the adoration of the unicorn.
"Ara ara. You should go and ask Sweetie-chan if you can stroke her mane, Ayumi-chan."
The slightly tomboyish Prima turned her head back to the commissioner. The little girl inside the heart of the grown Undine was all too apparent.
"Ara ara. You can come out too, Akira-chan."
The Compass would catch a side of the Crimson Rose that she'd never known before.
Shyness was not the word that one would usually associate the Prima Donna of Himeya, but Miss Ferrari was not so different from a girl whose heart had melted into sugar, spice and everything nice.
She clearly wanted to seize on what is almost unobtainable... a dream that could almost as said as a primal human desire of sorts.
She wanted to cuddle a unicorn pony.
The two adults found their bodies moving without their head giving any sort of command... they more or less drifted to the gravity well that was the alabaster unicorn.
The Undine from Himeya, tamed by the unicorn, was content and at peace. She was undisturbed when the two Primas of the same company descended next to her.
Akira spoke first. "Miss Sweetie... may I ask you of a favor?"
The filly knew of what the humans had desired of her. "You may. Go ahead and hug me or touch my mane."
Sweetie Belle felt rather regal in that instance, and she started to ponder of what it would have been like for Princess Celestia to give royal assent for somepony to pet her.
Ayumi forgot to ask for the unicorn's authorization as she began to glide her hand along the neck. The poor unicorn made a shriek from the sudden change in temperature.
Ayumi woke from her trance when three pairs of predatory eyes were fixed upon her.
"I'm sorry..." she mumbled.
The unicorn scoffed. "You need to ask for permission, you know."
Before Ayumi could leave in shame, the little filly extended her left foreleg to her. "I guess you should feel my foreleg. You human really like to feel the hooves, wrists, ankles and so forth..."
"So... incredibly soft..."
Ayumi obliged, and she quickly lost track of everything around her other than the warm, fine sensation of well-groomed fur against her fingers.
\---/
The group had moved back to the top floor once more.
Sweetie distinctly recalled wanting to go and look around in Neo-Venezia with Ai, but she didn't feel the 'itch' to leave the building at this point in time.
The unicorn was at a loss as to why all the Undines from Himeya looked mellowed out and blissful. They had spirits that tread so lightly that one may call them cuckoolanders to describe them.
Aika was unable to keep her composure. She was laughing to the point that her stomach was in pain.
"O... those... photos... Akira-s...sa..."
The swagger in the filly's movements were undeniable.
"So this old gal's still got it."
Ai looked at the unicorn with suspicion.
"You mean swindling your way to the hearts of young maidens?"
The filly was taken aback.
"How rude! I just felt good about being plenty adorable."
Ai scoffed. "You know that your wiles won't work on Akari-san and I..."
Sweetie widened her eyes to the size of saucers once more as she engaged her overload mode.
"Won't you give me a hug?"
The audience were stunned. They didn't know what to make of it.
Ai backed herself, and took a defensive posture.
She wasn't about to be defeated with such a cheap trick.
The Undine then softened her expressions significantly.
She walked to Sweetie, and extended her index finger on her left hand, while allowing her eyes to reflect light all around her.
The unicorn was a little baffled, but her wide eyes kept their assault on the human.
Ai was undaunted.
Sweetie didn't expect what hit her...
as Ai gently touched the top of Sweetie's snout, and withdrew her finger like a scorpion's tail after it stung the target. Her hands moved with glee.
Sweetie winced a little, and then Ai made her move.
She held onto the unicorn's neck with one arm, and the top of the head with another, as she pressed her own nose against Sweetie's snout.
"Won't you give me a hug?" The girl returned the request in kind.
The pony placed her forelegs around the girl's upper torso.
The whole room went quiet as a girl and a unicorn locked themselves together as Apollo-Soyuz had before.
\---/
Ako bid her farewell a little while before the group congregated upstairs. Ayumi was quite satisfied with the girl ending her day on a jovial note.
The meeting took place upstairs, with cushions abound as it usually were with gatherings over Aria Company. Iced milk were served.
Alicia would take the initiative. "Ai-chan, please come with Sweetie-chan to the Arsenale by Thursday."
The Single asked. "But isn't that the Association headquarters? Normally..."
Alicia was waiting for Ai to finish her train of thought.
"Normally, only Association staffs would go there."
The commissioner was anticipating something from Ai.
"This has to do with Sweetie-chan, doesn't it? We have to get her some sort of observer guest pass or maybe get some paperwork done..."
Alicia nodded, but it was clear that she wasn't quite done with Ai yet.
"But... I..."
The lady with blonde hair decided to throw Ai a bit of a hint.
"Ara ara. Ai-chan, remember what we've talked about yesterday?"
Ai tried to recollect anything that may be relevant to what Alicia was hinting at.
"Marriage to the Sea? I was asked to help grandma..."
Ai was starting to comprehend Alicia.
"I need to report in as well, and get some sort of guest pass for the event?"
Alicia was angelic when she praised Ai.
"You did really well! You were right that Sweetie-chan needed to be registered. You also have to be given permission to be aboard the bucintoro."
Alicia looked at Ai with expectation.
"I will guide you, Akari-chan and Sweetie-chan around the plant as well. This is why it's important that you come to the Arsenale with Sweetie-chan."
"But... but..."
"Ai-chan. You will be getting your membership into the Association on Thursday."
The little unicorn observed the apprehension on Ai's face, as Akari took a long gaze at the nearby window.
Akira caught on the conversation. "Alicia, you're sponsoring Ai-chan? I wonder if there'd be gossips about nepotism from this."
Alicia's reply was the usual ara ara ara.
The Crimson Rose looked at Ai with a very serious look. "Ai-chan, listen well. There will be Undines that are going to say that about you. You, Alicia, Akari and grandma are all Aria Company bloc."
Aika inserted herself. "We know that you didn't get to spent much time with other Undines. It's bad enough that you're in Aria Company, but running errands with us made it worse for you. It's really not fair."
Akira's closing was rather heavyhearted. "You've been doing paperwork and such when you were a Pair. I don't think you really got to make friends with other trainees, did you?"
Ai disagreed. "I don't think of what I do as work. Akira-san, you, Aika-san and Ayumi-san all know that Undines don't always do tour as their major duty."
She reflected on the past. "I was with Akari-san when she was training to be a Prima. I got to know all of you through her, and I am happy that I can help and grow with you all."
She looked at her mentor. "I remember how much Akari-san had wanted to help Aria Company and Alicia-san. I also remember Akira-san telling Aika-san that you can't be someone else. You must find your path."
Ai closed her eyes. "My path is with all of you. It was set the moment that I came to Aqua in Akari-san's gondola."
Sweetie recalled this sort of determination. Very similar messages had been echoed to her by ponies before. The human was hardly alone in her view.
Akira locked her eyebrows.
"Aika, when's the next Association meeting?"
The branch manager took three seconds before forming an answer.
"Next Tuesday. I don't know if it'll be delayed though."
"I will go down to that meeting this time. Figures that others are just waiting to hear from me."
Ayumi made a suggestion.
"I will tell Anzu and Atora to get ready to cover for Alice. The Orange Princess in attendance should strike home whatever message that needs to be send."
Sweetie wanted more insight.
"Miss Ferrari, just what would the association want of you and Miss Granzchesta?"
"Call us by our name." Akira continued. "The Association wanted to see how I'd handle the Undines. With Alicia and Athena out of active duty, I am the no.1 Undine by default. I got more than a dozen companies that would gripe over Himeya."
"At the moment, the Undines that have the most clout would be Aika and me. Alicia and grandma technically are retired. Aika here is the branch manager, so she won't get dragged to Association matters usually, but that's not the case for major events."
Akira felt that there's no need to pursue the topic any further for the day.
"Alicia. I am going to check if that Ristorante is open. Ayumi, call over those two friends of yours. We might as well as to make the best of the day."
"Will do. Akari, I will borrow your phone for a bit."
"Hahi! It's downstairs over the counter. You can't miss it."
The auburn haired Undine went down by herself.
Sweetie couldn't just let the whole matter drop for some reason.
"Wait."
Akira turned her attention over to the alabaster unicorn.
"I know that I am useless, but I want to do something to help Ai-chan and Akari. I want to help, even if I don't have a clue about anything here."
"That isn't your problem." Akira shot back flatly.
"Ara ara. We forgot about Sweetie-chan."
The unicorn pondered for a second. "I think I can do some of the desk work for Akari and Ai-chan if I get to know how to work the gadgets here. I don't want to be a dead weight."
Akira was rather stern. "Miss Sweetie, thinking about how to help us will get you nowhere. What would really help is for you to be there for Ai-chan."
"But Akira-san..."
Akira would not let Akari interrupt her. "Shut up! I don't mean babysitting. Alicia had set things up so that Ai-chan can take you around without anyone betting an eye about you or her. Go with Ai-chan. Don't let her be all alone, talk to her and bounce ideas with each other."
The handsome Undine gave a very intense gaze at the unicorn. "So don't think that you're not helping us. Just learn and grow with her. I don't like saying this, but we're the ones that's making you help us."
Aika felt that she had to clarify her mentor's curt reply. "Sweetie Belle, you are a whole new pair of eyes and a whole other brain to look over things that we can't see by ourselves. We are kind of using you. Sorry about that."
Sweetie nodded as Akira rustled the unicorn's mane.
"Now that's over with, I have to see if that shop's open. We'll be having Pizza tonight if it goes well!"
Akira took her hand away from Sweetie as she readied herself to leave the room.
Before Akira can go anywhere, Aika spoke her mind.
"Thought you'd use a bit more tact than that..."
Akira was unfazed. "Aika, it'd be rude to not be honest to an honest person. Complements can be very insulting to the smart ones."
The Prima Donna threw a passing glance at the unicorn to her rear, as she gestured Alicia over.
Ayumi had returned from the bottom floor to rejoin the group.
"Ayumi and Anzu are looking for Alice. They'll be coming tonight."
"Good. So I have the final number. Alicia, shall we?"
Aika threw her hands into the as she turned to face Sweetie, Akari and Ai.
"Well, that's Akira-san for you. Sorry about that."
Sweetie was rueful. "I wasn't thinking..."
Ayumi took her seat on her cushion.
Ai took words to defend the unicorn. "Sweetie-chan, you have nothing to be sorry about. You did nothing wrong."
Aika couldn't agree more with Ai. "That's right! Akira-san was being mean. To think that she could do that to something this cute..."
Akari grabbed Sweetie's foreleg. "Sweetie-chan, let's get something to drink. We need to let ourselves relax."
The unicorn didn't budge, but she made a half-hearted moan to acknowledge Akari.
Ayumi asked aloud. "What just happened?"
Aika rolled her eyes. "Sweetie-chan got chewed out by Akira-san."
"What! For what?"
"For wanting to share Aria Company's office work and to help us somehow."
"What's wrong with that?" Ayumi was not too forgiving in her tone.
Sweetie had enough.
"Me being stupid, that's what. I should be with Ai-chan when she look over things as she runs errands for you. Miss Akira woke me up. I need to help Ai-chan. Her job is not an easy one."
Ai made her voice heard.
"I don't like this! I am dragging you into this mess! You aren't even from... you're not a part of this, Sweetie-chan."
Sweetie had to retort Ai. "Miss Akira was right. I won't let you go all alone. No way. I am making this my business, not after what all of you have done for me..."
Akari took Ai and Sweetie in an embrace, taking both girls by total surprise.
"Don't argue... you two have nothing to argue to each other about. We know what we have to do now, so let's not argue, ne?"
The Single and the Unicorn wordlessly returned Akari's affection.
\---/
Alicia felt rather guilty as she walked with Akira to the Ristorante.
The floodwater was around 1 1/2 feet in depth. This was not really a bother to any of the two natives of Neo-Venezia."
She decided to begin by addressing the most affected parties. "Sweetie-chan and Ai-chan were scared of themselves."
Alicia said to Akira.
"Ai-chan was scared about failing everyone's trust in her by making a bad decision, while Sweetie-chan was scared about hurting people if her control on her power slips."
Akira was fond of playing the straight role. "Oh? Aika told me about that stunt they pulled to get to Aria-shachou. I need to have a word with her actually, but what did you do about the two of them?"
"I told them just that. They are scared of themselves since they know of what they could've gone wrong from their actions."
The direction where Alicia's train of thought was getting to was plain as day to Akira.
"I am not any better, Akira-chan. I am afraid and I do distrust myself sometimes."
Akira's short fuse went off. "Suwa! Now listen good. Stop kicking yourself, Alicia. They didn't let this get in their way. Akari should be proud of Ai-chan."
The Undine from Himeya vented her steam. "All we have to do is to make sure that they stop kicking themselves when it does them no good. That goes to you too."
"Ara ara. I really am no better."
"I really hate it when you give me that look, Alicia." Akira's words dripped of venom.
"Ara ara. You always read through me, Akira-chan."
"Hmmph."
"I am happy that Ai-chan can learn together with a sweet soul. They both could use each others company. Ufufu."
The star of Himeya made an admission as she sighed. "Ai-chan's a good kid. Smart, but that's also something that makes things hard for her."
"Ara ara. Just like Alice-chan..."
"Ai-chan doesn't really push Undines away. She just doesn't get to be with girls her age. It'd be easier if Aika and Alice would have their own apprentices... but you can't force things like that."
Alicia was repentant. "I think that I failed Ai-chan and Akari-chan. They're helping me while I couldn't help them. I ended up asking more of my juniors, and they are all too eager to help... and I do need help."
"Well, Ai-chan has been growing together with Akari really. Girl's right. She's been a part of Akari's Aria Company even before she became an Undine."
"Akari-chan and Ai-chan's Aria Company, ufufu."
Alicia's face fell a little after that remark.
"I made you say those things to Sweetie-chan too..."
Akira scoffed. "You didn't make me say anything. I don't want her to let her heart get in the way of where her brain should be."
Akira had little interest in unnecessary self-inflicted punishment.
"Ooo! So they're open today after all!" The topic shifted back to dinner.
"Oy! I need to put down a reservation for a whole table!"
Alicia watched Akira marching into the store in high spirits.
Akira-chan is incredible. Alicia thought of her childhood friend, as she waited patiently outside the establishment.
\---/
"You don't have to take the helm, Alice-chan."
A girl with black hair that reached the ears remarked. Her brown eyes were affixed on the white gondola with orange livery.
"we really just need one boat." The green haired Undine was self-assured. "Aria company doesn't have enough space for four to five boats to dock anyway."
"And don't bring any food, We really don't need to repeat that picnic."
"I can't believe you still remember that, Alice-chan..." the girl sulked.
A bespectacled girl with burgundy colored hair walked to the white gondola as Alice and Anzu were in the midst of preparing the gondola for departure. The girl's wavy ponytail, almost reaching her waist in length, was listless since there was no wind in the air.
"Anzu! Weren't you the one that picked up Ayumi's call? What else did she say other than come for dinner?"
"Urr... don't bring any extra food, and we have things to talk about, that's about it..."
"She didn't say what she wanted to talk about, did she..."
"I didn't ask... she just said that Alice-chan should come to Aria company too."
"Oh, that's typical of her all right. Sorry to have you come with us like this, Alice. I am not exactly psychic..."
"Really not a problem." The green-haired gondolier was not bothered. "I find all of this really interesting. Why did Ayumi-san ask for us to come to Aria company? It's really a mystery! I intend to find out."
The two Undines nodded in agreement as they prepared to disembark from the company's indoor piers.
The three of them headed out of the imposing portal of Orange Planet Company that had its own canal running straight into the structure... not unlike that of a submarine pen.
Atora fastened two lanterns on the bow and stern heads of the white gondola. It was important to have these on the return trip.
The three did not laden themselves with much. Alice saw to that.
Traffic was not heavy at all. only occasional Vaporettos were seen cruising down the Canal grande.
Alice had to bent down for a few of the bridges along the way. The girl was very used to this fact of life in Neo-Venezia. The water level was about a foot higher than usual, so the girl was quite careful about clearance.
The group passed by the San Tomà Calle Traghetto Vecchio as they slipped to the main artery of Neo-Venezia. There was no work at this Vaporettos service point for the day.
Alice steered hard to port as she left Rio de la Frescada, while calling out that a gondola was coming through. The girl was cutting across the main canal in order to reach the Rio di San Luca, which was around 10:00 from the mouth of the Rio de la Frescada.
9'o clock view was that of the Rialto Bridge.
The Vaporetto station had people boarding. Anzu and Ayumi hailed a grocer and a young boy that waved at them, and exchanged salutations, while Alice aimed the boat at the direction of Palazzo Grimani a San Luca.
Water level was high, and the stairs leading to the doorway at the front facade of the two Palazzi were quite submerged.
Alice moved on and slipped her gondola southbound.
This passageway was rather busy. Many boats would utilize this route instead of going through the Canałasso. About 3 boats can move in the channel, while being mindful of berthed Sàndolos, Batèle, Caorlìne and gondole about.
This passageway changed its name three times as it crosses the sestieri (district) of Cannaregio. The middle section was called Rio dei Barcaroli while the southern approach that fed out to Canale di San Marco was called Rio de San Moisè.
Alice steered forward as she used her foot to push her gondola away from the building.
\---/
"Did Ayumi mention who's there other than Akari-chan and Ai-chan?" Atori asked.
"Well... she just said that we'll meet up at Aria Company and we'll eat out at a restaurant nearby. I think it's going to be pizza." replied with some uncertainty.
"Interesting." Alice quipped.
Alice banked to port as she took the gondola onto the Canale di San Marco. This was the most traveled and some of the most iconic sights in Neo-Venezia.
Most of the buildings here were not replicas. Many were transplanted from Manhome.
Alice's gondola went past a few gondole owned by Himeya. This was expected, as Himeya's headquarters overlooked this main waterway. The San Marco Spaceport that was just west of Himeya was still in operation for the day however, so there was still some business happening on this day for the venerable Himeya Company.
"I love this time of the year." Anzu dreamily said.
"You like the weather?" Alice decided to ask.
"It's lovely. The sun is not scorching and that the city really does things at its own pace. It's as if we're saving our energy for the festivities that are bound to come soon."
Atora looked back at the gondolier. She sat at the bow. "I suppose you're right, Anzu."
Close to half an hour had gone by without any of the three Undines noticing.
The crew arrived at Aria Company, next to the mouth of the Rio de la Ca' di Dio.
The work day was over by this point. Campanile's bell confirmed it.
The three girls were greeted by Ayumi, who was at the ready with mooring lines on hand.
"I knew I can depend on you to keep Atora and Anzu on task, Alice!"
Alice was unflappable as she took the mooring line. "What is really going on, Miss Ayumi?"
Ayumi decided not to entertain the question immediately. "That you'll know soon enough." This was cheerfully said with a huge grin on Ayumi's face.
Anzu and Atora both had a frown on their faces. They knew of Ayumi too well to not know that a bit of mischief was about to come their way.
Ayumi waltzed about in a jaunty way.
"Now come on and get inside the company already. I will keep those two busy for you, Alice."
"Wha... hey!"
Before Atora could voice her protest, Ayumi had extended an arm and practically hoisted Atora out of the gondola, while Anzu stood as if she was a statue.
"And out you go! C'mon Anzu, arm out..."
"That was mean, Ayumi-chan..." The black-haired Undine protested listlessly.
"Arm, Anzu-"
Ayumi took Anzu in a whirlwind and spun her around before setting her down on the platform stairs.
Alice was very composed as she left her gondola. She moved wordlessly to the entrance of the company, paying no heed to the three Undines that were giving each other harmless grief.
Akari greeted Alice.
"Alice-chan! You made it! But where'd Ayumi-chan and the others go?"
Alice shrugged as she gestured to the outside. "They really took their time doing meaningless things."
\---/
"The look on your faces were just precious."
Ayumi snickered at the newcomers that had long been taken their seats nearby the fireplace on the top floor of Aria company.
"Why didn't you say something..." Anzu was a little mad. Her voice had indicated that she was sulking.
"You never asked!" Ayumi announced and stuck out her tongue.
Sweetie Belle had come to the conclusion that she was a topic of conversation in and of itself. She really was the unicorn, the pony in this city, and likely the only one of the entire dimension.
"This is starting to creep me out..." Sweetie uttered.
"You're as cute as a button, Miss Sweetie Belle. There is really no way of stopping you."
Alice was drinking a cup Jasmine tea as she note the obvious dryly.
"So, we got our work cut out for us." Aika took everyone's attention.
"Ayumi will run combined training for the disdotone with Alice, Ayumi and Anzu. This might be a fun one." Aika scoffed. "I have to go to the association and walk on eggshells."
The heiress of Himeya went on. "Akari, you're coming to the meeting too."
Alice's eyes flashed for a second. "I agree. We really need to go together, or the end will come."
Alicia and Akira were quite carefree by this point. Most things have been sorted out, so it's pretty much idle chitchat and then dinner, where more of the same was to come.
Rozen Queen stood up and yawned as she stretched her arms into the air. "Well Aika, time to drag you, Alice-chan and Akari-chan through the mud! It'll be fun."
She turn turned to Sweetie. "You and Ai-chan will have the freedom to do whatever behind the scenes. Maybe you can think of something by Thursday. Ayumi, what about that scaredy-cat of a junior?"
Ayumi clicked her tongue. "She needs the kid gloves treatment. I think that I will have her work with me on this little group project."
"So, any question?"
"Walking on eggshells?" Sweetie Belle wasn't sure what to make of the mental image.
"Ara ara. Aika-chan wanted to say that she had to be very considerate during the association meeting."
Ai chuckled. "Alicia-san is being very gentle here. That's how she is..."
The unicorn got the idea.
"Anzu has a question."
Akira lifted an eyebrow. It was Atora that voiced this.
"Well... umm..."
The demure Undine fidgeted. "I... umm... wanted to know about Sweetie Belle-san's world. Magical ponies really is quite interesting..."
Ayumi quickly added. "Me too! Tell us more about you! What's your hobbies, your boyfriends and things like that!"
Sweetie Belle had to think about boyfriend before making the mental connection to coltfriend.
"What... ewww! I am just a filly! I am not into colts!"
Aika felt a chance to rub at Sweetie had emerged. "So you're into girls?"
The little unicorn was frustrated. "No! Well I don't know about this kind of stuff! It's about the furthest thing from my mind! Jeez..."
The Undines' hearts were close to the melting point; Sweetie's face was flustered and puffy.
"Hmmph!"
The unicorn fussed.
The rest of the Undines knew that they had better be nice or Sweetie's done talking.
"All right, all right. We'll behave..." Ai was in salvaging mode as she shot a glance at her senior. "Pretty please?"
The little unicorn was slight reluctant, but she relented.
"Well... where do I start..."
"Ponyville! Tell us about Ponyville, Sweetie-chan!"
Akari and President Aria's eyes were gleaming in anticipation.
Sweetie closed her eyes to think back to her home, as she began to take herself back to the eccentric town that she called home.
"Ponyville is a young town. I think it may be younger than Neo-Venezia.... Granny Smith was one of the first settlers that came to the edge of the Everfree Forest, and that grew into Ponyville."
Sweetie remembered Granny Smith's story as she started to swell with a sense of pride. Here she was, telling new people about Ponyville... Equestria... and ponykind...
Sweetie continued the talk through Granny Smith's life story. The filly came to know of the town's past through the matriarch's account after all.
\---/
"After the Mare of the Moon event, the town was not free of danger. We suffered a bout of invasive Parasprites that ate buildings, this gigantic star bear that ruined much of the town, Changeling invasion, and all sorts of disasters big and small."
Sweetie felt a bit relieved by this point.
"But the town remained standing. The ponies loved Ponyville too much to give up on it."
Ai was making notes while Alice clearly had something on her mind.
"Miss Sweetie, a question."
The unicorn nodded."
"Does Ponyville have a river that runs through it?
"Yep. We also have a dam too." The unicorn professed.
"I wonder how does Ponyville look like..." Atora voiced.
"Hmm. Very different from here. We have single houses, nothing very fancy. It's a rural town and all."
Alicia was intrigued.
"What kind of roofing, Sweetie-chan? Are they tiles or thatched?"
Sweetie quickly answered.
"Straws... thatched! Most of these houses are made of wood."
The unicorn then returned to the topic of the appearance of the town. "Ponyville has the Sweet Apple Acres next to it, and the Everfree Forest is beyond the farmstead. Ponyville isn't very big. Everything kind of circles the town hall."
Ai was hit with an idea.
"Hey, Sweetie-chan, I can show you pictures of buildings so that you can tell me which ones would look most like what you'll find in Ponyville. That'll give us a good idea about what Ponyville is like."
Akari was all smiles. "Hahi! That's a good idea, Ai-chan. Alphonse-san would love ideas such as this."
Sweetie wasn't sure of what Akari was talking about.
"Who's this Alphonse?"
Akari had the attention of most of the Undines in the room.
"Alphonse-san is this scaled modeler that loves building miniature. He built a scaled model of Neo-Venezia! I think that he's the one that made the model in Marco Polo Spaceport!"
"That's incredible..." Anzu was blown away.
Alice scoffed. "That's why Akari-senpai's a genius at making friends."
The clock struck at 6:30. It was time to leave for dinner.
"Miss Sweetie, can we continue this conversation over dinner? It's getting quite interesting!"
Akira was grinning radiantly as she towered over the unicorn. There was a look of fascination and delight on her face.
"Okay."
The unicorn stood on her legs. "I will talk more over dinner."
The entire entourage stood up, stretched their legs, and slowly moved out of the top floor as they leisurely made their way to the ground floor of Aria Company.
It was time to go.
\---/
The Pizza was delectable.
Sweetie Belle was eating into the Pizza Capricciosa of the house. This was a fully-loaded thing that the unicorn could not resist.
The entire group ate heartily. This was a much-needed meal following the high-tension relief effort in the afternoon.
"So the morning basically was a repeat of your first day on Aqua?"
Anzu was downing a salad while she asked Ai about the earlier adventure.
"It was a repeat. I didn't expect it to turn out that way. Our routes were the same... and Aria-Shachou got into trouble as he did last time."
"You should've been there." Ayumi had a cup of water. "I saw Akari whizzing by. They weren't kidding about the backward rowing. Those girls over the station were all swooned by Alicia too."
"That must have been nice..." Anzu's words trailed.
"Please don't tell me that you saw us hurling President Aria's boat into the air..."
Sweetie shuddered a bit as her mouth continued to chew.
"That was ridiculously amazing! So you were the one that sent him flying?"
"I was hoping that nopony saw that..." Sweetie looked dejected.
"You did that?! Wow. Just like how you're using the knife and fork?"
Sweetie thought of Ayumi's question for a second. "Well... yes, I guess. I don't exactly hurl knives and forks into the air..."
Ai was having pasta. "Sweetie-chan did more than that. We couldn't have made it to Aria-shachou if she didn't reduce the waves. It was amazing."
Alice had a bottle of sarsaparilla beside her. "I'd really want to experience this in person."
The little unicorn was a bit embarrassed. Her ears were flaccid.
Atora looked on with delight. "Look! Her ears react to her moods!"
Akira wanted to scold the Undine, but she held her tongue. The statement was no exaggeration, and the whole display was too endearing to brush off.
"Ara ara. Her ears must be as sensitive as those on horses. Ufufu." Alicia chuckled away.
Aika leaned in to Ai's direction. "Don't speak behind her back. She's likely to hear it."
Sweetie felt that she should demonstrate there and then. "I heard that."
Her erected ears swiveled to the direction of Aika and Ai.
Ai stood up to fondle the left ear a bit. This made Sweetie twitch a little.
"Hehe. It's really neat... I think I've seen one person that could move his ears a bit, but nothing like this!"
The unicorn endured this ticklish sensation for about 10 seconds.
Akari moved herself next to Ai and Sweetie.
"Hahi! This is just so amazing!" The Prima studied Sweetie Belle's ear as Ai took her hand away from the unicorn's ear.
Akira let loose a yawn.
"Glad you liked the food. We get lots of seafood here, so it's great that you're ok with having fish, shrimps and things like that."
The little unicorn licked her lips.
"I only get to have this kind of stuff occasionally back in Ponyville, and I don't think there's any place in Ponyville that serves fish. Although I remember Fluttershy feeding her animal friends with them..."
Sweetie thought about the more exotic diets.
"Well, Spike eats gems. He's a dragon..."
"...Wait... what?!" Aika and Atora practically called out in unison.
"Dragon... eats gems? You... live with real life dragons? Aren't those things... massive?!" Aika exclaimed.
"Spike and I were about the same size." Sweetie waved her hoof in the air to indicate Spike's height. "He's only a baby dragon. Less than 10 years old."
"Isn't it wonderful, Aika-chan?" Akari said merrily. "To live in harmony with other creatures, to be so colorful and different, and be accepting of others' differences. It's a wonderful feeling to know that you can live happily with such different friends and family members that love and help each other all the time, anytime."
Aika shot back quickly. "Embarrassing remarks are not allowed-"
"Ehhhhh?!"
"You are really hypocritical." Alice said matter-of-factly.
The table guests all chuckled at this familiar skit.
\---/
"How old's Aqua, your niece?"
Sweetie asked this of Ai, who was in her pajamas.
"Aqua's about 6. She's growing up. I think of her more as a little sister than as a niece. It's kind of funny that I am actually an aunt and all..." The girl was quite tired.
Sweetie shorted. "I can imagine. I don't know what I'd do if Rarity had decided to have a foal."
Ai leapt onto the bed. "So Rarity never actually had her own children in the worlds that you have visited?"
Sweetie thought back. "None so far. She didn't want to have any in that world where she's immortal. She wouldn't get close to any stallion..."
The girl pondered for a bit. "Well, it's understandable. I mean think about how sober it is to bury your own child while you stay young and healthy."
The unicorn solemnly nodded. "Pinkie Pie had a huge family in that world. Apples of course were huge in number too. Although only Pinkie Pie could stay cheerful through all of this... Fluttershy's husband was Applejack's big brother, and both of them never got over it."
Ai in turn nodded to herself.
"Well, let's leave this alone for now. Do you want to sleep with me or..."
Sweetie looked at Ai, and she jumped to the bed. She telepathically picked up the bedsheets from the ground to cover herself.
"It kind of tickles when I get caught in your field." Ai noted.
"Really? That's interesting..." Sweetie was yawning from exhaustion. She then used her telekinetic power to flip the light off.
"Thanks. Didn't want to get out of bed... you figured out how to work the switch. That's good."
Ai moaned a bit as she eased herself into a comfortable position.
"Don't mention it..." Sweetie was pretty much done for the day.
"Night, Sweetie-chan." Ai had her head planted to the pillow, while totally ignoring the snoring noise of President Aria.
Sweetie didn't answer, for she was sound asleep.
End Navigation 2