//------------------------------// // Week 1: Nighttime, Talking, Time Travel, and Making Friends // Story: Advice Pinks // by Pump It Up //------------------------------// Dost thou enjoy our night? ~Princess Luna Oh, of course! It's so pretty and sparkly, and I once thought that the stars were fireflies! But that was when I was a filly, and my mom corrected me, so don't be worried. Nighttime is the best time for parties! If you have one during the day, everyone has to go to work, and no one'll be there and it'll be booooooring! Twilight's "Welcome to Ponyville" party was in the evening, and it was so fun! Not to mention the Summer Sun Celebration was the next day, so of course everypony stayed up and partied. The only time I don't enjoy the night is when I have nightmares. But that doesn't happen every night. Mostly... Got any tips for a fellow friend with problems to know when to talk and when to listen on said subject? ~keam When I was young, my family used to tape my mouth shut so I'd listen. Good times, good times. When I moved to Ponyville, the Cakes would give me sticky foods to keep my mouth shut so I'd listen. Good times, good times. Now, I have Twilight to give me a slap on the back of my head to shut me up! Ow! Just kidding, Twi, just kidding! Listen when they have something very important to say, and only interrupt if you really, really have to, even if they got a super-duper important detail wrong. Talk when it's your turn, which is something I sometimes have trouble with. And when you talk, don't go off subject too much, which I also have a problem with. I once was talking with Twilight about a wonderful idea I had, and it had to do with a cat. Opal, actually. She seems to be grumpy all the time, and I don't know why! Then again, Rarity's the only one who really knows what makes her happy since she owns her and all. That's why I cheer up ponies and talking things, because they can tell me why they're sad and what makes them happy. Wait, wasn't I talking about something else? Dear Pinkie Pie, So let's say I've got this... Friend... Who's figured out how to time travel. Just hypothetically, because we all know it's actually impossible, right? Completely impossible. Anyway, so should they try to use this technology for good, or just get rid of it and forget I ever... I mean, they ever knew anything about it? Since I've noticed that you sometimes seem to meddle a bit with the laws of physics yourself, what's your take on these kinds of things? I mean, ha ha, obviously, since it's nothing but a hypothetical question, I'm totally not concerned... But just between you, me, and the fourth wall over there, should I be concerned? ~wdeleon For the first question, I'd say it depends. Is your "friend" gonna make people smile, or make them angry? It's what you plan to do that should influence your choice. And you may want to be a little concerned. Twilight nearly made herself go cra-zy when she was visited by her future self. And then she visited her past self, which at the time was her present self. She warned herself, then she tried to prevent whatever disaster she thought was happening, then when she found out there was no disaster, tried to warn herself, and then she tried to prevent it, then she tried to prevent herself from getting all worked up, but then she got worked up and tried to prevent it... You should be concerned if you don't like repeating yourself. And don't meet your past self for more than ten minutes, otherwise the universe will explode and little aliens will steal your soul and everypony's souls and eat the moon! Hypothetically speaking. Being extremely shy I find it difficult to approach others and even more so to make friends with them. What advice could you give to help me overcome this obstacle? ~Snow Fluff I would say don't be too overbearing, but it looks like you’ve got that covered. Try and interact with ponies. At least say hi to them, let them know you exist, and maybe that’ll spark a conversation. Join many things, like cooking, or party planning, sports, creative stuff, and clubs! Try and make friends with your friends’ friends. Oo, oo! Storytime! Are you sitting someplace comfy? No? I’ll wait. Doo doo doo…hee hee, doo doo. You comfy now? Good. For most of my life, I was homeschooled, and Inkie (her real name’s Marble), Blinkie (real name’s Limestone, but the reason why I call them by nicknames still is for another time), and Maud ( all three are my sisters) were my only friends (well, and my parents, but I never really include them because it’s kind of a given). Eventually, all four of us being homeschooled at the same time put a lot of strain on the family and the farm; with Mom teaching, that only left Dad to farm, and that didn't work out. So all four of us were sent to school; and let me tell ya, it was tough. See, I wasn’t always like I am now. It used to be that I was outgoing at home, but shy everywhere else. Plus, we started halfway through the year. So school was kinda tough. The first day, I ate lunch alone because 1) none of my sister's had the same lunch as me, and 2) I knew nopony. That stunk. The second day, I ate lunch alone. That stunk. Again. The third day, I decided to take matters into my own hooves. I sat with the emo kids. I sat with them for a few months, enough to get to know all of them. My family got a little worried, but it eventually paid off. I got them to smile. They never quite told me what made them smile, but I observed them, sometimes being a little creepy. But not too much! After becoming friends with the emos, I moved on to the next table: the band geeks. There weren’t that many, the village being mostly made up of stodgy ponies who didn’t care for loud music, but there were some ponies who were in band. That’s where I first learned how to play multiple instruments! I moved up the social pyramid until I made friends with everypony, even the really meanie pants. Now, you don’t have to do all that I did (my school was tiny, and you seem more like my friend Fluttershy), but you can try something like this! Hopefully I helped! Smile on~!