Blank Pages

by ScribbleHooves

III

Twilight Sparkle

I was organizing my morning lists as I heard Spike make a noise as if he was hacking up a hairball. This was my own personal "Letter From the Princess" alarm. I trotted over to Spike and waited. With a burst of green light, a fancily-written note with the royal crest was laying on the wood floor in front of me. My purple glow surrounded it as I picked it up and examined its contents. Spike walked away to do some sweeping.

Dear Twilight Sparkle:

I am pleased to inform you that I have a small, shall we say, side assignment I would like you to look into. You see, my dear student, I have a friend I would like you to make friends with. She reminds me of you a few years ago, lost in books and afraid to branch out to others. It has become quite a hindrance to her growth. She is now rather lost, and still can not find her special talent. (on her own.) What I mean by that is, she has not yet earned her Cutie Mark, though she is a tad older than you.
However, This does not mean she is a lazy pony, as most assume Blanks are. On the contrary, she is almost as hard a worker of you and shares your passion for books. Because of her problems, I think it would be best for her to live in Ponyville for the remainder of the year or until further notice. I am sending her your way with some bits, and she may stay with you or she can find her own place, whichever you both choose. I know you are a perfectionist and would probably wish to finish this assignment as fast as possible, but as this is a more sensitive matter I would prefer you to take a more natural approach. The pony's name is Dusty Pages, and she is my Head Librarian. I am giving her a bit of leave as her state of mine is really causing serious problems for her. I'll let you get to know her for yourself.

I know you will be able to handle this, especially with your knowledge of friendship.

Thank you as always!

P.S., She is arriving this evening at 5. Be ready!

Princess Celestia

I read it and reread it to make sure I was getting this right. Wow! Princess Celestia trusts me with one of her subjects? I'm honored! I think about the name... Dusty Pages.That did sound familiar. Perhaps she helped me in the royal library once or twice... Best not dwell on it until she gets here! Right now I should prepare... I definitely need to redo my lists now!

"Spike! I need you to take letter! This is so wonderful!!" I felt amazingly light, this assignment got me absolutely enthralled! This was my chance to show Celestia all the things I've learned!
"Alright, alright..." Oh, Spike. He was always tired at this time in the morning. He pulled out a quill and some parchment.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
I am pleased to inform you that I would be absolutely happy to take Dusty Pages into my home and teach her everything I know about friendship! The girls and I will make sure she is taken very good care of!
Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle"
"Got it..." Spike's green flame bubbled from his pink tongue, sending the note far away to Canterlot.
"Thanks so much, Spike! Now, would you mind helping me get the house ready for her? I need to let the girls know!"
"Sure, Twilight. Most of everything is already sparkling from yesterday's cleaning, so there isn't really much to do..."
"Okay, thanks so much, Spike!!"
I galloped off to let my friends know. if a new pony was coming to town, nothing would make her feel more welcome than a welcome wagon... I better let Pinkie know first!

--

"HEYYA TWILIGHT!! Something's going on, isn't it!! My left ear is turning at a 90 degree angle to the north!! That means---!! OHHH! IS SOMEONE NEW COMING? DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS, TWILIGHT???" Pinkie Pie hollered and leapt up and down happily. She was always so eager to meet new ponies.
"Wow, you're exactly right, Pinkie! I have a request from the Princess to help out a friend of hers... sort of... come out of her shell!"
"OH! OH! If she needs to come out of her shell, nobody is better at socializing Ponies than Pinkie Winkie!! I'll have to go get my welcome wagon!!" Pinkie was smiling excitedly and continued to bounce about.
"Thanks, Pinkie. She'll be getting here in about 4 hours, so you have plenty of time to prepare!
"Okie Dokie Lokie!" Pinkie bounced off to get her welcoming tools ready. Hopefully she won't give Dusty a heart attack! I giggle to myself a bit and think of which pony I should let know next... Rainbow Dash is usually napping around the trees here at this hour... Might as well go to the closest pony!

--

I galloped off to find her. And sure enough, she was snoring loudly and clingning to a tree branch, drooling...
"Hey, Rainbow Dash!!" I shouted at a medium volume. Sometimes she could e a light sleeper. .... sadly, today was not one of those days. A purple aura surrounded a stick that was sitting next to my hoof as I willed it upwards to Rainbow's tummy and poked at it. She woke up confusedly. Good thing, too!
"Wh-Whaaat? It's not even time for..." She yawns loudly and rudely. "Flight school yet, mom!" Her eyes were glazed over and she was clearly still half asleep.
"Dash, it's me, Twilight! I have some news that I need you to hear!"
Rainbow tilted her head and looked at me confusedly. Until it finally hit her that she was not dreaming nor still asleep.
"Ohhh! Morning Twilight!"
"... It's 1, Dash..."
"Oh. Well, Afternoon then! Gosh." She feigned annoyance as a default expression for when people corrected her. She seemed to be in a good enough mood, though.
"Well anyway, Dash, an honored new pony is coming to town and Pinkie is throwing a welcoming party! I just hope you come along. The new pony is one of Celetstia's subjects who needs some time off. Celestia is testing us of our knowledge about making friends!" I felt a warmth from within. I felt so proud that Celestia trusted me this much!
"Well, I think I can make time in my napping schedule for later today. Pinkie's parties are always awesome anyway, and it's always nice to see a new face. Wonder if she's a fast pegasus like me, I can finally have someone to race with!"
"Celestia didn't say what she was, so she could be anything, I suppose... Anyway Dash, I'm going off to let the other ponies know..." I paused as an idea came rushing into my head. "Actually, could you do me a favor and let Fluttershy and Applejack know for me? I don't think I'll have enough time to reach both of them and still have time to prepare my house! Celestia's letter was rather short notice, haha..."
"Sure thing, Twi!" Dash flew off so fast I felt like my mane would just tear off! She never ceases to impress me.
Hmm... Rarity was the last pony I had to tell personally, so I trotted away to her Boutique.

--

I walked up to Rarity's Boutique. The door was open to let air in and to allow customers a view inside. A soothing and refined fragrance wafted from the boutique. It was one of Rarity's many tricks to entice ponies into coming in. It smelled like very expencive soap and fresh lilies, with a hint of finely cleaned linens. I always enjoyed trotting into her home. Which I did.
Rarity was working away at her sewing machine, making a scarf that looked like it was made of the same material of butterfly wings. It was immaculate. The pure white pony looked up from her work and greeted me.
"Hello, Twilight, Darling!" her voice pleasantly rung in my ears. "What brings you here to my boutique? I did hear Pinkie rambling about a new pony as she bounced in here to buy some fabric streamers. I didn't hear much, though. That pony bounced in and out too fast for me to even know what she was talking about!" Rarity chuckled and flipped her hair to fix a displaced lock.
"Oh, yes! The Princess sent me a message this morning saying that a special guest would be arriving today!" Rarity's eyes got rather wide and sparkly, and a grin crept over her face, but she let me continue. "She is the castle's head librarian, and she is having some emotional trouble, so Celestia thought it would be nice if she came to stay with me for a while. We can teach her everything we know about friendship!" I said happily. I got excited every time I talked about it. "Pinkie is throwing her a party in an hour or so."
Rarity's excited face dropped a bit, but she still remained happy, possibly because I was being so excitable. "Oooooh, a librarian, hm? How old is she? A royal librarian sounds like she would be simply ANCIENT!" She chuckled once more.
"Oooh, no! Haha, she's only a little older than me, supposedly."
"Wonderful!! I will have to wear my best dress to the party, so she can feel right at home, just as if she was in Canterlot! Maybe she knows some of the high-brow ponies there, oooh, that would be delightful!" My face dropped a bit... that sounds like a little... much. Even for Rarity.
"Rarity... um, could you just come as you are for now? I don't know what kind of pony she is other than that she might be a little shy, I don't want to make her feel... um, uncomfortable."
"Oooh, you're right, dear... Sorry about that, getting MUCH too ahead of myself, haha! Hmm, I WOULD like to wear this new scarf, though! I don't think that would bother her too much, do you?" Rarity pulled the newly finished scarf off her sewing board and wrapped it around herself dramatically, posing as well. Though she practically always posed.
"Oh, no, just a scarf is fine, Rarity. It really is certainly a beautiful one too, wow!" I smiled brightly. It really was beautiful. It looked just like those wings Rarity had in Cloudsdale... she must miss them.
"Thank you, dear... now, you'd best be getting home if your guest is arriving soon! You have to have time left to tidy and clean, you know!"
"Haha, thanks Rarity. I'll see you there!"
Rarity gave me a smile and I galloped home. I'd better get the guest bed ready and make sure everything is in tip-top shape!

Comments

[StormyVenture]

I'd suggest simplifying this
"...I have a friend I would like you to make friends with. She..."
to
"...I have a friend I would like you to meet. She...".
or maybe even
"...I have a pony who could use a friend. She...".

The current statement feels just a little overwritten.

[StormyVenture]

273771
Well, it's a story about an original pony that isn't HiE or obvious self-insert. It's also about another pony with a blank flank, which allows for some suspense as to what will happen. Kinda curious to see what will happen. I'm not too good with positive stuff, I'm afraid. I'm reading it though. :)

The writing is pretty good minus the grammatical errors, it's not like it's a huge deal, but it's less visually noticeable in some ways than spelling errors, and so i kind of feel like I should say something since it kind of muddles the flow of the story a but. Sorry if I sound overly critical, but it's a bit unclear how old she is and how long she's been working in the royal library. In the story description she's called the best librarian, whereas in the story she is the head librarian. In either case, how could she not know Twilight fairly well, if not personally? Granted that you don't say how long Twilight has been gone from Canterlot at this point, it either indicates that a lot of time has passed (during which she became a royal librarian and has been working there), which would make her either a lot younger than Twilight/possibly older than Twilight, she's only been working for a little while (she's fairly young still) which would make her younger than Twilight, or somehow she managed not to come into contact with Twilight at all, which seems unlikely. Sorry if that's a bit jumbled.

[StormyVenture]

Some minor spelling errors to consider:
"I am giving her a bit of leave as her state of mine is really causing serious problems for her. "

state of mind is really, yes?

""...The new pony is one of Celetstia's subjects who needs some time off. Celestia is testing us of our knowledge about making friends!""
Celestia's
us on our

[ScribbleHooves]

274905

Oh buck, I am usually pretty good with killing plot holes in my mind-stories. I'll try my hardest to iron out any inconsistencies in subsequent chapters through dialogue and exposition. :) I have some things in mind, including a rather long chat between Twilight and Dusty that will most likely fix what might be confusing some ponies.

Furthermore I am kind of a... well, word-vomitter, I do read and rewrite my stuff a couple times, but even if I go through everything with a fine-toothed comb, things that sound ridiculous to others end up sounding totally okay in my head. I'm glad you're genuinely interested, but could you not point out every single mistake you see? I am just doing this all for fun and I'm looking for a little light feedback. I'm not trying to use this in an English paper or anything. I simply had an idea and decided to share.
HOWEVER, if you REALLY, REALLY feel the primal urge to correct, go right ahead and help me out--- But for Celestia's sake, if you want to be my editor, private mail me all my mistakes and buckups. I don't need all these corrections in three different comments on my page.
Thank you for all the help, though. I honestly do appreciate all the effort and I really can't fathom why anyone would want to read my stuff that closely.

274810

I like the lines. They separate scenes for me if chapters are too short. They'll especially be implemented more when perspectives have to change within chapters.

[NeverKnown]

Eh great chapter keep it up /)

[mrpretzel]

275437
No, a line break is when the text goes to a new line -- what happens when you hit enter in your text editor. I mean that you hit enter whenever the cursor reaches the right edge rather than going on typing. You might not see it if your resolution or font size is different from mine, but if you look at a chapter and increase your font size (CTRL-+ in Firefox), you'll see what I see:

"Princess...." I muttered, as I stumbled into her massive, extravagant throne room. It was
large and
intimidating, and made me feel positively miniscule.
"Yes, Dusty Pages! Hello! Tell me what's new, before we get down to business." She smiled at
me with an
aura of calm and affection. She did always know how to calm my nerves. Sort of.
"I still haven't... you know... I just want your opinion, on how to--..." I trailed off. I hated
saying
it out loud. I didn't have a cutie mark, and...