A/N: Erin’s first day back is presented in more detail in the chapter 31 of Project: Sunflower
Erin looked around at the boxes stacked in her new living room and sighed. She'd spent the last hour trying to unpack and she'd barely made a dent. If anything, the room was even more cluttered, thanks to the empty boxes and packing material laying strewn about the floor and occasionally tripping her. And she hadn’t even started unpacking the equipment that Maggie had shipped out in order to help her with her magical research. And then there were the various boxes of mysterious hardware that were needed to set up the town’s wifi network… assuming the technicians ever came out to install it.
One of the first things Erin had unpacked was her tablet, which was now propped up against a box. She took the stylus in her mouth and tapped it, turning the screen on. It was after 9:00, she noted, which meant that the local shops had begun to open.
Unpacking could wait, she decided. She had a lot of shopping to do, after all; her new cottage came unfurnished, and she would need furniture, cleaning supplies and all sorts of miscellaneous stuff to meet her day to day needs.
Her new job as a researcher of magic provided her with a pretty decent monthly stipend, plus there was the money that she had been given by Harmonics in order to get her started in Ponyville. The heavy bag of bits and bars in her saddlebags was just begging to be spent and, with a gleeful smile, she decided that she was more than happy to oblige.
The air outside of her cottage was slightly on the chilly and damp side, causing her to shiver and involuntarily ruffle her feathers. She shut the door behind her and took a moment to look at the cottage she’d rented, the first place she’d ever rented entirely on her own.
It was a modest house, with a kitchen, living room, dining room, a bedroom and a bathroom all crammed in on the first floor. The second floor was only half the size of the first, and included only a large bedroom and a half bathroom. The exterior walls were a creamy white, the trim and door painted a dark green. Like most of the homes in Ponyville, the roof was thatch, which would eventually be replaced by the solar tiles that Erin had requested. Those tiles were still boxed up in her house, waiting for the technicians to arrive from Earth and install them.
A sense of serene satisfaction welled up inside of Erin as she regarded the place. It was like something out of a fairy tale. And it was all hers. She couldn’t help the excited giggle as she opened the gate to her white picket fence and walked out into the streets of Ponyville.
Cafe Kartie, her favorite local place, was halfway across town. As far as Erin was concerned, a daisy and wheatgrass sandwich would make a perfect brunch. So, with that in mind, she took off down the street, humming a happy tune as she trotted along.
~~*~~
The maddening itch was the worst of it, Raka decided. Under the hot lights of the television studio with the cameras staring her in the face, it wasn’t the sweat that tickled its way down her back that bothered her, or even the way her co-panelists argued and bickered. It was how the short hair on her head was itching under her wig of straight black hair that was driving her crazy.
Raka’s hand, which had been inching up towards her head in order to try and sneak in a surreptitious scratch, stopped as she realized the host had asked her a question in response to another panelist’s observation. Which meant that the camera was back on her, which meant that it was time to fold her small, dark hands neatly back into her lap.
“How would you respond to that question, Doctor Nayar?” The host was a dark-haired man in a light blue suit, vaguely handsome in that interchangeable way that the talking head shows seemed to like so much.
“I’d say that it’s beyond silly,” Raka replied with a practiced smile. “The Congressman’s assertion seems to be that, though we’re apparently smart enough to punch holes through reality that lead to other worlds, and to redesign a person into a pony form with nanotechnology, we are all too stupid to think of the possibility of contagions from these other worlds.”
She paused as Senator Jefferson’s outraged voice came from the other side of the table to assert, “That’s not what I said at all!”
He’s turning a quite interesting shade of purple, Raka noted idly before choosing to ignore his outburst.
“We thought of that possibility, of course we did,” she said smoothly. “We’ve been doing intensive testing, and so far we’ve encountered no diseases from the ponies that would infect humans, or vice-versa. And yes,” she continued quickly as the Senator inflated once again, “we are aware of the possibility that there may be something over there that we haven’t seen yet, which is why we are keeping an exceedingly close eye on all traffic through the gateway.”
“And what about when this technology is out of your hands?” Senator Johnson asked. “I mean, it’s only a matter of time before other countries have Harmonics tech, especially with Paul Velchiek having taken refuge with the Russians.”
“I have no comment on Doctor Velchiek.” Raka kept her voice cool and smooth. Velchiek was an amazing theorist, but the Russians would need their own Maggie Henson in order to get their own brand of Harmonics working. “As for whether Harmonics technology will get out to other nations, it already has. The United Kingdom has their own emitter technology, though they’re lacking some of the sophistication that we have here.”
“There. See?” Senator Jefferson leaned forward, scowling. “It puts us all at risk.”
“You weren’t saying that a year ago, Senator,” Raka pointed out.
“A year ago we were facing extinction. Today, we’re not.” The senator leveled an index finger at her. “Unless, that is, some disease comes through one of these holes you people are punching through reality.”
Raka bit her tongue before her first reply of “What do you mean, ‘you people’?” managed to get out. What she said instead was, “We are still at risk of disease, even without Harmonics. A billion people displaced by the Black Tide and crowding into already populated cities and towns is going to have a huge impact.”
“Not worse than an alien pandemic,” Senator Jefferson shot back.
Raka spared him a withering glance. She knew it was no coincidence that the senator wanted to close down relations with Equestria. He spent a lot of time courting the newly-forged “Earth for Humanity” type groups for support. Her eyes flicked over to the third panelist, who was apparently choosing to remain silent for the moment.
Thank goodness for small favors.
“We’re at a greater risk of a pandemic without Equestria,” Raka replied. “The World Health Organization has already seen unprecedented outbreaks of diseases we had long thought under control. Polio and measles, for example. We need Harmonics, because then we can find new homes for people. Reduced population density is one of the best ways to reduce the spread of infectious diseases.” Along with education, sanitation and vaccination, but those weren’t on the list of Raka’s current talking points, so she didn’t bring them up.
“If you’re talking about Zanibra, that’s a very expensive pipe dream,” the senator replied with a dismissive hand-wave. “We spent billions in resources on that purchase, and we ended up with a desert wasteland.”
“That’s a pretty good point,” the host replied.
“No, it is actually a terrible point, dear. Try to keep up.” Raka smiled sweetly at the host’s vexed expression. “Haven’t you seen the latest pictures? With the Equestrian pegasi altering the weather patterns, Zanibra has been getting regular rain for months, now. Equestrian earth ponies are bringing in seed and fertilizer. By the end of the year, the soil will be fertile enough for us to get sustainable crops growing. By the end of the decade, it will be a paradise.”
The third guest, a prim looking woman in her thirties, chose this moment to interject. “Assuming that this ‘Zanibra’ even exists.”
Oh, dear, Raka thought sadly. I do believe we’re in for another bout of insanity.
“I’ve got the evidence, you see, that this whole thing is fake. A gigantic con—”
“As you’ve stated,” Senator Jefferson interrupted, but the conspiracy theorist had the bit in her teeth, now, and refused to stop.
“Don’t you interrupt me, sir! I let you speak!”
“You’re just speaking nonsense!” Senator Jefferson replied.
“No, you are lying to the American… the world population!” The conspiracy theorist pointed an angry finger at the senator. “Nothing, literally nothing we’ve seen of this so-called ‘Equestria’ couldn’t have been produced via computer generated images!”
The senator’s already flushed face darkened further. “Why in the world would we do that?!”
Raka sighed and shook her head. “Oh, you are going to regret asking that,” she murmured as the conspiracy theorist began to expound on her ideas as to why she thought the government would lie about Equestria. The phrases "misappropriation of funds", "smoke and mirrors" and, amusingly, "dog and pony show" were trotted out, sprinkled amidst a few items of what the poor conspiracy theorist no doubt believed to be very convincing evidence.
The other two guests continued their bickering regarding the potential reality of Equestria. Raka kept her mouth shut and simply bided her time until the panel was over, desperately wishing things would hurry up so she could go and get this blasted wig off.
At long last, the discussion was over and cameras were switched off. The conspiracy theorist bolted up from her seat and stomped off in a huff the moment the director called “cut”. Senator Jefferson wasn’t too far behind her, though he decided to exit off of the other side of the stage. Raka, in the meanwhile, had finally slipped the wig off of her head and started scratching at her scalp with a happy sigh.
“Ah. I didn’t know that was a wig.”
Raka cracked an eye open to see the host staring at her with an expression halfway between horrified fascination and amusement on his face.
“Yes, well, a girl has her vanity, you know.” Raka flashed her dimpled smile at him and winked.
“I see. Was it due to chemo or something?”
“Oh, sorry.” Raka held up her phone. “I have to take this.”
He eyed the phone skeptically. “It’s not turned on.”
“Yes, I know.” Raka pressed the power button as she got up and walked away, wig in one hand and the phone in the other, ignoring the insufferable man’s irritated snort.
She found a spot in the back studio that was relatively isolated and noticed several new calls and one new voicemail. The name attached to the voicemail made her hesitate for a moment, considering, before she listened to it. Then she listened to it again, a thoughtful frown upon her face.
It didn’t take her long to decide. Less than ten seconds later, she was calling back the number that had left the voicemail.
“Hi, Maggie,” she said after the other person picked up. “Yes, it’s me. And, as for joining your little expedition, I only have one question.”
“Yes?” Maggie Henson asked from the other end of the line.
“Will I need to do any television interviews?”
Maggie laughed. “No, Raka. Absolutely no interviews.”
“Then I agree.” Raka smiled widely, even though her friend couldn’t see it. “You save me from the talking head circuit, and I’ll lead your little team of inter-reality explorers. When do we leave for Harmony?”
~~*~~
Erin scratched a hoof along one itchy wing, glancing around uncomfortably as she sat on one of the haybales outside of Cafe Kartie. She’d expected to draw some attention, but definitely not this much. Ponies passing by would often do a double-take as they walked by before stopping and staring. Some even had their mouths hanging open as they gaped at her.
Other diners were whispering to each other while stealing glances her way. Whenever Erin looked over, they would jerk their eyes away as if stung. The exception was a group of three pegasi. Two of them were looking over at her and snickering behind their hooves, and not being in any way subtle about it. The third just looked down at her meal, either ignoring or embarrassed by the other two.
If the inside of the cafe hadn’t been so packed, Erin would have asked to have a table indoors. That way, only her fellow diners would be able to stare at her, rather than every pony who passed by on the street.
“This might be a problem,” Erin muttered, moving her scratching to the other wing. The darned things had just started itching on the way over. Not badly, but persistently.
“What might?” Junebug asked.
Erin, who had been too distracted to notice Junebug standing next to her table, jumped a little at the question. The pony waitress had her notepad held in her upturned hoof and was regarding her with a questioning look on her face.
“Oh, um. I’m getting a lot of attention.” Erin shrugged, which caused her wings to unfurl halfway. “I probably should have picked a more subtle form.”
Junebug’s eyes flicked to Erin’s wings and then to her horn before making eye contact again.
“I can understand why. We don’t get many alicorns out here, after all. Though we’ve had the Princesses stop by more often since Twilight moved to town.” She offered Erin a slightly uneasy smile. “You really changed your body, just like that?”
“Well… yeah. I mean, I didn’t do it myself. There was a whole team of humans who did it for me.”
“Wow. So, humans can make alicorns?”
Junebug sounded both troubled and fascinated by the idea. Erin shook her head quickly, determined to head that thought off as quickly as possible.
“I’m not really an alicorn, though. According to Princess Celestia, I’m really just the three different pony types all mushed together in one body.”
“How is that different than being an alicorn?”
Junebug sounded honestly curious. It was a pity that Erin didn’t actually know the answer.
“I have no idea.” Erin grinned weakly and shrugged. “But the Princess told me that I’m not a real alicorn.”
“Oh.” Junebug considered that for a few seconds before nodding. “If the Princess says so, it must be true.” She relaxed slightly and gave Erin a more genuine smile. “So, can I take your order?”
Erin smiled and placed her usual order, after which Junebug scurried off back into the restaurant. As Erin glanced around, she saw that their conversation seemed to have had an unintended, if beneficial, side effect on everypony within earshot. She was still the recipient of many sidelong glances, though the looks now seemed to be more curious than shocked or uneasy.
With any luck, the Ponyville rumor mill would disseminate the story quickly. The last thing Erin needed was everypony thinking she was pretending to be a princess.
Lunch passed without much more in the way of incidents. Her sandwich was just as she remembered it, served on freshly baked bread that had a delightfully nutty flavor to it. The daisies were freshly-picked as well, the wheatgrass was more flavorful than she remembered, and the light sauce over the top complimented it all perfectly. The hay fries, though just as bland and flavorless as she remembered, still managed to be as addictive as ever.
Erin dropped a few bits on the table, along with an extra bit for a tip. She gave a wave to Junebug as she left the cafe, determined to make the most out of the rest of her day.
~~*~~
Rainbow Dash knew she had a reputation around town as a heavy sleeper. This was a reputation that she strongly encouraged, and was helped along by the very true fact that she loved to take frequent naps whenever she could get away with it.
But the truth was, Rainbow wasn’t a heavy sleeper at all. She was simply a stubborn sleeper. The slightest out of place noise could wake her up, but she would simply refuse to acknowledge it until it went away. Then she would drift back to sleep until the next random noise came along and woke her up.
This time, what woke her up was a pair of voices floating past the cloud she’d decided to curl up on.
“And did you see her wings?” a vaguely familiar voice asked.
Rainbow cracked an eye. Somepony sounded like she was only too gleeful to pass along some saucy gossip. Another familiar voice answered the first one.
“I know, right? It was, like, if somepony glued on old, dried-out hay in place of feathers! It was awful!”
The two shared a laugh at that, and Dash felt the corners of her mouth turn down. The laugh had a nasty little edge to it, one she didn’t like. She rolled silently off of her cloud as the other pegasi soared lazily underneath her, dropping in unnoticed behind the two. Scratch that, three ponies. The third one, drifting along behind the others, hadn’t said anything yet.
“I mean, how does anypony get to be that bad at preening?” the second voice asked.
“And did you see that manestyle? Some alicorn she is.”
Rainbow’s eyes narrowed as the two began trading quips back and forth, and she realized that she knew these ponies. The pegasi were a group of three who had recently moved here from Cloudsdale and had tried to join the weather team together.
The first voice belonged to Dew, a teal mare with a purple mane. The second, Sunrise, was a pink mare with a white mane. Those two were already on Rainbow’s list of least-favorite ponies in Ponyville. They’d waltzed into the Ponyville Weather Team’s main office and had apparently expected jobs to be just hoofed over to them because they were from Cloudsdale. When they’d been told they would have to be interviewed and pass a test like everypony else, they’d reacted with surprise, and then indignation. As if Ponyville were too backwater to have any kind of standards.
So it was with a certain amount of satisfaction that Rainbow was preparing to give the group a well-deserved verbal beatdown, especially after the “alicorn” comment confirmed her suspicions regarding who it was they were talking about.
She reconsidered the need to berate the other two when the third pony of the little group spoke up. This one had a coat that was almost pure white, just slightly tinged with blue. Her mane was a gold so light that it was almost white. Rainbow remembered that, of the three, this was the only one who hadn’t had a tantrum when told they were expected to pass a test. She’d only asked when and where.
“I don’t like making fun of her like this.” The third pegasus’ voice was soft but firm. “I mean, it’s not like anypony would leave their wings that way on purpose. They’d have to itch like crazy!”
“Oh, why do you have to drizzle all over everything, Sky?” Dew turned to look at the pegasus behind her. “It’s not like—”
She broke off as she met Rainbow Dash’s eyes. The other two, sensing something was up, also looked behind them. Dash, for her part, flashed them all a cocky grin. All four of them stopped, hovering in the air with careful beats of their wings while facing one another.
“I think I know who you’re talking about.” Rainbow smiled, showing some of her teeth when she did. “Light brown pony? Sunflower cutie mark? That sound right?”
“Uh…” Dew said. “Yeah, I guess?”
Rainbow Dash sighed. “Yeah, those wings are in pretty rough shape. But, the thing is, I’m pretty sure that nopony has told her how to care for her feathers. She’s only had wings for a few days, after all.”
The three ponies exchanged a baffled glance. Rainbow gave her wings a quick flick, shooting forward so quickly that Sunrise and Dew didn’t have a chance to do more than flinch before Dash was between them and draping a foreleg over each of their withers in a friendly fashion.
“See, here’s the thing,” Rainbow said conversationally. “That pony is a friend of mine. And since I don’t like ponies making fun of my friends, I’m gonna have to ask you to stop.”
“What, did you and your friend meet at the messy mane club, or something?” Dew asked.
“Um, could you not touch me?” Sunrise added.
“You obviously don’t know who I am, being new in town and all,” Rainbow Dash said, shaking her head while letting the two of them go. “If you did, you’d know that this is me trying to be nice. I don’t think you want to find out what it’s like when I’m not being nice.”
“Just who the hay do you think you are?” Sunrise asked.
“Rainbow Dash. Captain of the weather team here in Ponyville. Fastest flyer in Equestria, winner of Best Young Flyer two years in a row, member of the Wonderbolts Academy, and the only living pony who can manage the Sonic Rainboom.” She let that sink in for a few seconds before adding, “I’m also a pony who gets pretty mad when ponies say cruddy things about her friends, but who has decided to try talking to you all calm and reasonable-like.” She grinned at them. “See? I’m being nice.”
“Riiight…” Dew flapped backwards a few feet. “Well, we’ll definitely keep that in mind.”
“Yeah, so, we’ll see you later,” Sunrise said, adding in a stage whisper, “Crazy mare.”
Rainbow watched the two of fly off, giggling and whispering to each other while stealing glances back over their shoulders.
“It’s not going to do any good,” the remaining mare said. “They’re just gonna talk about you, instead.”
“Eh, that I can handle.” Rainbow shrugged dismissively. “You might need better friends.”
The other pegasus rolled her eyes. “More acquaintances than friends, really. We all went to school together, that’s all.” She grinned and added, “Besides, if I left them, who would be their voice of reason?”
Rainbow nodded, smirking. “I feel the same way with my friends, sometimes. Anyway, see you around, uh...”
“Blue Sky,” the other pegasus said with a smile.
“Right. Later!”
Blue Sky waved as Rainbow Dash shot off. As she flew, a thought occurred to her. She caught a ring thermal and banked towards her home. There was something there that she needed to pick up.
~~*~~
The ponies waiting outside Quills and Sofas were doing a really poor job of pretending to be just idly passing by, Erin decided. Small clumps of ponies were having overly-nonchalant conversations, all while looking at her out of the side of their eyes.
It might have been a little less suspicious if it weren't for the fact that many of these ponies just happened to be having their nonchalant conversations outside of the last three stores that Erin had visited, as well.
“So, delivery later this afternoon is fine?” the store owner asked as Erin prepared to leave.
“That’s fine, yeah.” Erin tucked the receipts into her saddlebag. “If I’m not there, the door is unlocked. They can just leave the stuff wherever there’s room.”
“Sounds good! I’ll have my delivery guys swing by in a couple of hours, then.”
Erin smiled widely. That was a lot sooner than she’d expected. “Thanks!”
“Don’t mention it, Miss.” He waved as Erin left the store.
With all of the purchases Erin had to make, it hadn’t taken her very long to realize that her saddlebags alone wouldn’t cut it. Not unless she wanted to make dozens of trips back and forth. Fortunately, one of her neighbors had a little two-wheeled cart out in front of their house with a “For Sale” sign on it.
The blue and white unicorn who had sold it to her also sold her the harness that came with it. She even showed her how best to quickly hook herself up to it, which Erin did again as soon as she left Quills and Sofas. The bed of the car was loaded with shopping bags and boxes, the spoils of her day of shopping so far.
“Let’s see,” Erin said to herself as she looked over her shoulder. “I’ve got dishes and silverware, cleaning supplies, bath towels… I could probably use some snacks for later. Oh! I’ll need a bed, too, unless I want to sleep on the couch.”
“Hey! Erin!” a familiar voice called from above.
Erin looked up just as Rainbow Dash spiraled in for a landing in front of her. A familiar pang of jealousy flashed through her, followed by a relatively new sense of anticipation when she remembered that she had wings, now. Flying lessons couldn't happen soon enough.
“Hi, Rainbow! What’s up?”
“Hey, I’ve been looking all over for ya!” Dash flipped her wings closed with a flourish. “I was thinking about how cruddy your wings looked, and I got ya this.”
Erin blushed and glanced back at her wings as Rainbow stuck her nose in her saddlebags. After a moment of digging, she popped out with a book in her teeth. Erin took it in her hooves when her friend offered it.
The book cover was in a light pastel peach and depicted a smiling pegasus filly with her wings spread. The title read A little filly’s guide to wing care, with the word “little” crossed out with black marker and “awesome” written above it.
“Oh, thanks!” Erin cracked open the cover. “I’m pretty sure I’ll need this.”
“No problem.” Rainbow glanced away as she rubbed at her foreleg with the opposing hoof. “I just remembered that I had that sitting around somewhere. I haven’t needed it in years, so I thought you could have it.”
Erin was staring at the first page, which had been printed mostly blank except for the title of the book. Under the title were words written in purple ink which said, in a delicate cursive, “To the world’s most beautiful filly! Take care of your wings and they’ll carry you anywhere! Love, Mom.”
“Oh, Rainbow.” Erin was genuinely touched. “Are you sure I can have this?”
Dash frowned. “Yeah. I said so, didn’t I?”
“Aww… Thanks!”
Erin reached out for her only to have her friend shy back.
“Ah! No hugging in public!” Dash backed away, waving her forehooves and blushing. “Come on, Erin!”
“Okay, okay, fine,” Erin said, chuckling. She took a moment to put the book carefully in her saddlebags. “Thank you, Dash. I’ll take good care of it.”
“No problem. You’ll probably want to pick up a wing kit, too. Head to Whirlygig’s over on Pond Lane. That has all the brushes and stuff you’ll need. The Feathermaster 200 set is the best, but it's kind of pricey.” Rainbow frowned at Erin’s wings, the feathers of which were twitching. “Get some feather conditioner, too. Your wings are really dried out. No way I can teach you flying until you get them in better shape.”
“Oh.” Erin blushed as she looked at her wings. “Yeah, I didn’t really know how to care for them.”
“It shows.” Rainbow rolled her eyes, flexing her own wings and ruffling her feathers.
The contrast between Erin’s feathers and Dash’s was amazing. It was easy to look at Rainbow’s windblown mane and ruffled coat and think that she didn’t care about grooming, but one look at her wings would give lie to that thought. Each feather gleamed, laying perfectly aligned with its neighbors and with not so much as a single vane out of place. Erin’s, on the other hand, looked like they’d been made by a kindergarten class out of construction paper, broken feathers and glue.
“I’ll make it a priority,” Erin promised.
“Yeah, well… you’d better. I need a new flying buddy!” Rainbow grinned, which Erin echoed with one of her own. “Well, I gotta get home. I’ll see you later, Erin!”
“Bye, Rainbow!” Erin waved her left foreleg in farewell, not noticing that this made her left wing pop out and waggle in sync.
Her friend was quickly out of sight. Erin became aware of all the eyes on her once again, all the little groups of ponies that seemed to have nothing better to do than stare at her. She shook her head and wondered when the interest in her would die down.
Pond Lane was only a couple of streets away. Erin found Whirlygig’s Flight Emporium pretty quickly, unhitched her harness, and stepped inside.
It wasn’t a large store. In fact, if more than three ponies were in it at once, they’d be pretty crowded. There was a long counter with a glass front and top, under which were displayed various brushes, combs, tweezers and clippers, presumably all of which served some function for wing care.
A wire rack in the corner had a sign that read “Feather Products - Only the Best!”. It was loaded with bottles and jars of different conditioners, waxes and oils. The wall across from the counter had various pennants, posters and signs tacked on the wall, reading everything from “Proud to be a pegasus!” to “Have wings, will travel!” There were also a few Wonderbolts posters, a poster for the Cloudsdale Thunderflash hoofball team, and miscellaneous others.
A few other odds and ends dotted the walls, many of which Erin didn’t recognize. But there was a small bookshelf, which Erin wandered up to out of habit. She smiled when she recognized a brand new copy of A little filly’s guide to wing care in the middle of it, right next to a similar one for colts.
She was reaching for the book when a shockingly bright yellow pegasus stallion with an electric blue mane bustled out of the back room, carrying a big cardboard box. He stopped and stared at Erin just long enough for her to start feeling uncomfortable before breaking out into a huge grin.
“Another customer! A banner day, for sure!” he exclaimed. “A real pleasure, miss! I’m Whirlygig. What can I get for ya?”
“Oh, uh. I’m Erin. Or Sunflower. Whichever you prefer. I’m, uh, looking for wing care items?”
He eyed her wings critically. “And not a moment too soon, I’d say. I’ve seen worse-cared-for feathers, but not usually on a mare your age. Oh!” His eyes widened. “Not that you look old, ma’am! I mean, miss!”
Erin couldn’t help laughing. This stallion, with his frantic energy, rapid speech and eager demeanor, reminded her just a little of Pinkie Pie. With a smile, she said, “My friend Rainbow Dash suggested I pick up some feather conditioner and something called a Feathermaster 200. Would you have that in stock?”
“Oh, absolutely!” Whirlygig flipped the cardboard box off of his back with his wings. “I just sold the one I had up front earlier today and had to get another one out of the back room.”
He stuck his face into the box and a moment later surfaced with a metal case in his teeth, about the length of Erin’s foreleg. It was painted sky-blue with white piping, and had “Feathermaster 200” written in red script across the front.
“For conditioner, I’ve got a pretty wide variety. But most mares like the Soft Rainfall brand. Comes in a variety of scents, though cinnamon apple is the most popular right now.”
“I’ll take a bottle of that, and then the brushes.” Erin pulled her bit bag out of her saddlebags. “How much?”
“Well, try not to panic.” Whirlygig made motions with his hooves that were probably intended to be comforting as an uneasy smile crept over his face. “The Feathermaster line is the best, and none better, but it’s gonna run you one hundred and fifty bits.”
“One hundred… wow,” Erin said, eyes wide.
“Yeah, but you’re getting the best quality with these!” Whirlygig said. “And there’s a full jar of premium Feathermaster feather wax inside. Not only that, but a lifetime replacement guarantee. Anything happens to these brushes, you just mail ‘em back to the company and they replace it, free of charge.”
“Well…” Erin thought it over. “Yeah, why not? I can afford it.”
“Wonderful!” Whirlygig grinned. He put the brush case and a bottle of conditioner into a long-handled bag for her while Erin dug out four bars, each bar worth a hundred bits. “You know, it’s funny, but I made this exact same sale about two hours ago.”
“Oh?” Erin asked as she scooped her change back into her bit bag.
“Yeah. Real nice mare, awful pretty.” He hesitated a moment, then his eyes widened. “Oh! Not that you aren’t pretty too, miss!”
Erin laughed again. “Thanks, Whirlygig. I’ll see you around.”
“Later, miss! Please stop by anytime for all your flying needs. I can’t wait to tell everypony I had an alicorn shopping here!”
“Oh, I’m not a real alicorn.” Erin winked at him and grinned. “I just happen to look like one.”
“Oh, uh…” Whirlygig flicked his eyes up to her horn and back to her face, a look of confusion over his features. “Okay?”
“Bye, now!” Erin said, waving as she left.
The bag with the Feathermaster case and the bottle of conditioner went into the wagon, and Erin once again wriggled into her harness. She decided that enough was enough, as far as shopping went. It was getting late in the afternoon, and Pinkie was throwing a grand “Welcome back to Ponyville” party for her later on.
It would be nice, she decided, to do a little work on her wings before going to the party. Besides, maybe then they’d stop their infernal itching.
She was just approaching her fence when she realized that she had company. Fluttershy was waiting patiently outside of her front door, sitting next to the sidewalk with a large bag by her side. When she saw Erin approaching, Fluttershy stood and waved, a gentle smile on her face.
“Fluttershy, hi!”
“Hi, Erin.” Fluttershy moved towards the gate. “Let me get that for you.”
“Thanks, Fluttershy.” Erin flashed a grateful smile as she maneuvered her loaded cart through the gate. “Would you like to come in?” she asked as she removed the wagon’s harness.
“Oh, yes, please! I would like to see your new house,” Fluttershy said. “But first… I brought you something.”
“Oh?” Erin opened the door and led the way in.
“Yes. I, um… some of the girls and I were talking about it this morning, and we decided to get you a present.” Fluttershy reached into her bag and pulled out a familiar blue and white case with red lettering on it. “It’s a Feathermaster. It’s supposed to be pretty good.”
“Oh, Fluttershy,” Erin took the case with a sinking feeling in her chest. “Are you sure? This is really expensive.”
“They’re a little pricey, but that’s okay.” Fluttershy smiled warmly. “It’s a present, after all.”
“Wow.” Erin was honestly touched. And also honestly thinking about the bag she had with her own purchase in it. “Fluttershy, I uh…”
“Oh, no.” Fluttershy’s face scrunched up alarmingly. “You don’t like it?”
“No! I mean, ‘Yes’, yes I like it! It’s just that…” Erin sighed. A little honesty now would prevent potential pain later, after all. “It’s just that I went to Whirlygig’s earlier and bought one myself.”
Fluttershy blinked. “You did?”
“Um. Yes?” Erin said cautiously. “Please don’t be upset! I’m so happy that you all thought of me!”
Fluttershy tilted her head, her smile breaking out like the sun from behind the clouds. “Actually, I think it’s kind of funny.”
“Yeah.” Erin grinned. “But I still want to thank you. I mean, between you and Rainbow Dash, I should be all set for wing care!”
“Oh? What did Rainbow get you?”
“Here, I’ll show you.” Erin pulled the book out of her saddlebags.
Fluttershy took the book with a gentle smile, laughing softly at the word replacement in the title.
“Well,” she said, passing the book over to Erin. “We still have a couple of hours before Pinkie’s party. Would you like some help getting your feathers in shape?”
Erin, who had been growing more and more acutely aware of how badly her new wings were itching, sagged with relief. “Yes, please. That would be wonderful!”
“All right, then.” Fluttershy smiled gently. “Let’s get started.”