After a quick lunch, the trio went to the Town Hall; where the decorations were being put up in preparation of Celestia's visit. Twilight hoped dearly that the pony that had been put in charge of the decorations knew what she was doing: the last pony that had been put in charge of decorating the venue had done a horrible job that had to be fixed mere minutes before the celebration began.
As Marjoram, Twilight, and Spike walked down the street, just feet away from the door, a pegasus came careening down from the sky, clearly out of control, and slammed into Marjoram, sending them both into a nearby mud puddle.
The pegasus sprung up first, clearly used to high-speed collisions. She looked down at Marjoram, and chuckled nervously, “Hehehe, excuse me?” She chuckled again, taking to the sky to hover a few feet off the ground, “Here, let me help.”
As Marjoram began trying to pick himself up, staring down at his soaked, muddied cloak and soggy mane, the cyan pegasus returned with a cloud, grey with rainwater. She floated it above Marjoram, and before he could say anything, jumped on top of it a few times, the cloud dumping large amounts of rainwater on him.
The pegasus peered over the edge of the cloud, noting that glare that Marjoram was sending her way, shivering from being drenched. She laughed, “Oops. Sorry, I guess I overdid it,” she kicked the cloud away, “Here, how about this? My very own Rainblow Dry?!” She flew to the ground, stopping just before she hit it, and flew around Marjoram in a fashion similar to a tornado. Shutting her eyes, she gently came to the ground, “No, no. Don't thank me. You're very welcome,” she turned to look at Marjoram, let out a guffaw, and fell to the ground laughing.
Spike took one look at Marjoram, and joined her, flailing as he laughed harder than Twilight had ever seen. Twilight took one look at her mentor, and had to bite her tongue to keep herself from joining them on the ground.
Marjoram's long mane and tail were matted and in complete disarray. A part of his mane was still held in the elastic, but that had become helplessly tangled in the rain and tornado. To add to the fact that both mane and tail looked ridiculous, was the cloak, now dry, laying at his feet. The brilliant red fabric was stained brown. Marjoram still shivered, and if looks could kill, the pegasus would be dead three times over.
“Who are you?” Marjoram growled.
“I'm Rainbow Dash! Haven't you heard of me?” The mare sprang to her feet, puffing out her chest dramatically.
“No,” Marjoram grit out through clenched teeth, “Who's in charge of clearing the weather for the Summer Sun Celebration?”
“Why, me of course!” Rainbow smiled, flipping her multi-coloured forelock to one side of her face, “And I'll do it without any problems!”
Marjoram bent and picked up his cloak, wincing at the sight of it, he draped it carefully across his back. Rainbow's face lost some of its bravado, “I think the only pony I know who could help with that would be Rarity. She's a real whiz when it comes to fabric.”
Marjoram nodded blowing a wisp of his hair out of his face, “I'll keep that in mind. C'mon, we'd better go check on the decorations.”
“Decorations for what?”
“The Summer Sun Celebration,” Twilight butted in, “The Princess sent us-”
Rainbow gasped, “Do you know the Wonderbolts? I'm practicing to join them some day!”
“Really? The Wonderbolts?” Marjoram responded dryly, “I doubt they'd let somepony who careens into others join easily.”
Rainbow pouted, “That was an accident!”
Twilight shot Marjoram a look, “Polite!” She hissed.
Marjoram rolled his eyes, “If this...Rarity charges me for cleaning my cloak, I'm sending you the bill.”
Rainbow looked ready to protest, but Twilight shook her head slightly, and she stopped. Without another word, Rainbow took to the sky and left. Spike picked himself up off the ground, and climbed onto Twilight's back.
“Let's get this over with,” Marjoram grumbled, walking to the door to the Town Hall. When the door opened, the trio were amazed.
We don't have to worry about the decorations. Marjoram admitted to himself. But I have the feeling we'll need to worry about the weather.
Spike let out a soft gasp, “Beautiful!”
“I agree. This won't take long at all!” Twilight said cheerfully.
“Not the décor, her!” Spike pointed to the white unicorn that was attaching ribbons to one of the pillars of the room, humming to herself softly, “Are my spine's straight?”
Twilight rolled her eyes, and approached the unicorn, “Hi! I'm Twilight-”
“Sorry, darling. Give me a moment, I'm in the zone, as it were,” The unicorn replied, in a melodic voice. Using her magic, she found a sparkling red ribbon, and tied it to the pillar, “There! Sparkle always work, don't you think? Rarity, you really are a talent,” Rarity, Twilight assumed, turned around, “Now, how might I help-” Rarity's gaze landed on Marjoram, and she let out a distressed squeal, “Oh my stars! What ever happened to your coiffure?”
“It's a long story,” Marjoram said, “We're here to check on your progress, then we'll be out of your hair-”
“What about your hair?” Rarity exclaimed. She caught sight of the cloak, and gasped, “And your cloak! Come along, I'll get you fixed right up!” Bodily, Rarity practically dragged Marjoram out of the Town Hall, and into a shop that looked very similar to a carousel.
There, she used her magic to untangle Marjoram's hair, then began to work on his cloak, muttering to herself the entire time. Marjoram sat on a comfortable chair his mane hanging loose from the ponytail so it would dry thoroughly.
“Thank you for this,” Marjoram said awkwardly.
“It's not a problem!” Rarity looked up from the sink she had submerged Marjoram's cloak in, “You needed help, and I'm happy to oblige. Are you alright?” Rarity's blue eyes narrowed, “Are you cold?”
“Always am,” Marjoram admitted slowly, “It's why I have the cloak.”
Twilight paced near the door restlessly, occasionally tossing a glance at the clock, then at Marjoram's shivering figure, then at Spike, who was staring at Rarity, obviously smitten.
Rarity's horn glowed, and a thick blanket was neatly wrapped around Marjoram's thin shoulders, “Don't protest. You're uncomfortable in my home, and that is something I cannot stand!”
Marjoram looked confused, and more than a little weirded out, but nodded, “Thank you again.”
“Stop thanking me. I'm doing something that any good pony should do if someone is in need, that's all,” Rarity smiled, kneading the cloak inside the sink, adding something from one of the bottles nearby, “I'll be done this soon, no more than half an hour, I think. This cloak is exquisite, but I can tell it's old. Where did you get it?”
“My sister bought it for me,” Marjoram admitted slowly, “When we went to Manehattan.”
“It looks like you've taken good care of it. What's your secret?”
Marjoram smirked, “Magic, mostly. I've enchanted it quite a bit.”
Rarity nodded, “How did this get so dirty?”
“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight butted in.
Rarity nodded wisely, “No further explanation needed, darling.”
Rarity worked in silence for a few minutes, and Marjoram was clearly fighting off sleep by the time Rarity pulled the red cloak from the sink, and began to carefully blow dry it with a combination of magic and machine.
Soon enough, the fabric was dry, and was in better shape than Twilight had ever seen it. Marjoram extricated himself from the chair, leaving the blanket behind. He took the cloak, and put it on, “Thank you very much.”
Rarity gave Marjoram a dazzling smile, “Anytime, darling, anytime at all. Now, what did you want at the Town Hall? Something about checking on decoration?”
“Yes,” Twilight smiled, “The Princess sent us from Canterlot to-”
“Canterlot!?” Rarity squealed, “All the fashion, grace, and sophistication! I've always wanted to live there, tell me-”
Marjoram let out a ragged cough, “Sorry, Miss. I think my encounter earlier took more out of me than I thought. We can talk later-”
Rarity smiled, “Of course! We're going to become fast friends!”
Marjoram winced, and Twilight grimaced. Marjoram coughed again, deeper and wet sounding, “Twilgiht?”
“I've got it. Spike!”
Spike scuttled over, waving dreamily at Rarity as Twilight teleported the three of them into the library.
Marjoram went into the kitchen, making himself his tea, wheezing a little as he waited.
“Are you going to be okay?”
“I will be. I got soaked, so I'm not surprised,” Marjoram replied, “but I was dried off pretty quick. Might be overexertion-”
“I thought you were going to fall asleep there, for a while,” Twilight teased, sitting at the counter.
Marjoram rolled his eyes, “I'm going to bed after this. I'm getting more sleep here than I have in quite a while.”
“Good, maybe now you won't be so grumpy all the time.”
Marjoram glared over at Twilight, moving his head so his hair got out of his eyes, “Damned mane,” he grumbled.
“Why don't you cut it?”
Marjoram shrugged, “It adds to my mysterious allure.”
Twilight rolled her eyes, “Right. Anyway, I'm going to check out the library some more. Have a good sleep.”
Marjoram nodded, and then the tea kettle whistled. He made his tea, drank it, then headed to the basement, feeling exhaustion sinking deeply into his bones. I'm not even thirty and I feel like I'm 80. How is this fair?
Marjoram collapsed onto the comfortable bed, crawling under the thick blankets. He didn't bother putting his hair back up into its customary bun, preferring to leave it down while he slept. Marjoram made himself comfortable, and turned off the light.
Despite his exhaustion, however, Marjoram stared into the darkness of the room for quite a long time before he fell asleep.