> Harmless Trip to Manehattan > by Eclipse > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Harmless Trip to Manehattan Part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harmless Trip to Manehattan Twilight Sparkle was called for a trip to Manehattan by Princess Celestia, she didn’t understand why Celestia would ask her out to that far away from Canterlot; but she was happy to comply with the princess’ demands. She’d said good-bye to her friends and was picked up by a personal escort from Celestia to Manehattan; she’d never had a personal guard take her away before, so she was pretty ecstatic that she’d been given the chance to. She waved good-bye to her friends, only one pouting slightly that she couldn’t go with her; Twilight would’ve taken Rarity, but this was a private meeting between her and Celestia, so unfortunately, Twilight had to make the tough decision as to tell her she couldn’t go. The trip was rather calming, she’d just seen birds and Rainbow Dash who was following the escort; who was making faces at Twilight and the guards before finally flying away after Twilight had shot more dirty looks at her than a bad comedian got at a comedy club. The only conversation she’d gotten was one of the guards, she didn’t really talk much; most of Twilight’s words hadn’t really penetrated the talkative part of her. But when she did talk, she was a rather intriguing character; telling about her life in Cloudsdale before scoring a job as a guard for the Celestia. She’d talked about how hard the men treated her; how they said that a mare didn’t belong in the Royal Guard, but she did it anyways and did a damn better job than most of them anyways. “So, princess must think pretty highly of you to request a private conference with you outside of the castle.” The dark purple Pegasus said. Twilight looked at the mare, a smile coming across her face before just looking back at her; the same tough stare that was becoming of the Royal Guards to do. “I’m her personal protégé, she teaches me a lot. She sent me to Ponyville to study the power and magic of friendship; that’s how I met the wonderful mares that were waving ‘good-bye’ to me before we took off.” Twilight smiled remembering how wonderful her friends were to us. The mare guard cracked a smile, “Even that cyan Pegasus who had been making faces at us? I’ve had friends before, but this job… Let me just tell you, you have to make huge sacrifices to get by as a Royal Guard. We can barely go outside the limits of Canterlot, even on our days off. I was pleasantly shocked that this job was so strict; so when I heard about Celestia meeting with somepony outside of Canterlot, I just had to jump on that y’know?” The Pegasus smiled slightly at the lavender unicorn, who gave a smile right back. “I thought you guards couldn’t talk to anypony, isn’t it a huge break of conduct to do so?” Twilight asked, a sad look washing over the violet pegasus’ face. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean any disgrace to you! I-I was just c-curious about that is all…” Twilight cursed herself for ruining such a wonderful conversation with a truly interesting pony. The violet Pegasus smiled once again, “I understand; and by the way, what Celestia don’t know, won’t hurt her.” She said a slight chuckle coming from Twilight that made the violet mare’s smile grow; and seeing that the mare was now loosening up to her, it warmed her heart and made her return the same gesture of a smile right back. “I never received your name ma’am, I’m quite curious on to whom I’ve been talking with. If you don’t mind, and my name is Jamie Ralit, it’s pronounced ‘Rah-leet’ but everypony seems to not get that. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” the Pegasus extended her hoof. Twilight connected their hooves together, “Twilight Sparkle, it’s a pleasure to meet you too Jamie. I’ll put in an excellent word for you to the princess to maybe, you know, limit your restrictions?” Twilight said snagging a smile from the Pegasus. “So, how long have you been working for Celestia,” Twilight asked formally, “She must be rather enticing to speak with every day.” The Pegasus looked down, “We guards are strictly prohibited from direct contact with either of the princesses. Unless the situation may be dire, we have a strict ‘no contact’ rule that only allows certain guards to even hear her voice sometimes. She tells her highest guard, and he gives us the orders; no more, no less.” She finished, a sad look moving onto her face; Twilight sharing her same depression. “But don’t let my misfortunes ruin the time you may have today; and may we have further contact with each other one day.” The Pegasus said, smiling once again. Twilight giggled, giddy that she had made a new friend already; she had only known her for about an hour now, but she felt a strong connection with her, like they weremeant to meet one another. “I’d love to, and if the idea blows over well with Celestia to limit your restrictions on your days off; you should come visit me in Ponyville sometime! I live in the old library, probably because I’m one of the only ponies in that town that actually reads; but I don’t mind, the books are soothing at times.” Twilight said a sigh of happiness escaped her lips. “Well Ms. Sparkle, I may just take you up on that offer, but for now; we must part, we’ll reach Manehattan in a matter of minutes. I enjoyed your company, and have an excellent time with the princess today; here is your key to the hotel room you have been given. I will be in the one next door if you have any questions and or concerns.” Jamie said handing Twilight a little keycard that she immediately put into her saddlebags and gave the violet Pegasus a friendly smile as they touched down softly onto the ground of Manehattan. Twilight exited the cab to find she was in a large city, ponies in business suits all over the place; and picture booths, electronic stores, and book stores plastered the streets. Small vendors plastered the streets softly, oat-dogs, wheat pretzels, and popcorn stands spread out all over the streets; the smell of them softly caressing the lavender unicorn’s nostrils with an exotic aroma. She embraced the smell of the vendors but remembered she had to meet Celestia at the coffee shop; and from there they would head to where they would meet. So Twilight, still tempted by the aromas caressing her nostrils, headed to a small family owned coffee shop at the edge of town. On her way she decided to stop by a news stand to buy herself a nice newspaper, and magazine; though the prices for them were outrageous, she paid for them in full. Slightly discouraged at the insane price she’d just shelled out for two items, she decided to move directly to the coffee shop; passing billboard upon billboard across town. But she liked that lively feel of the city, the business ponies trotting to work, carriages that said ‘TAXI’ in large black letters carried ponies to and from their destinations. She found herself gawking at every turn; the beauty of the city finally getting to her, her eyes wandering all over the town’s features. She’d finally made it to the coffee shop, Celestia drinking a large coffee silently; her eyes met with Twilight’s figure as a smile moved onto her face. “Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student, I’m so glad you could make it.” Celestia moved towards Twilight, and extended her hoof to shake hooves with the little mare. “You must be thirsty, allow me to buy you a cup of coffee,” Celestia said, a smile crossing her face once again, “It’s the least I could do for you my wonderful protégé.” Celestia finished, moving towards the counter of the coffee shop. “May I ask what kind of coffee you prefer?” Celestia asked clamly, her eyes keeping their calming look to them. “A French vanilla, roasted coffee with a shot of espresso and whipped cream please.” Twilight replied calmly. “Thank you princess, it was a long journey.” Twilight suddenly remembered Jamie and was going to bring up the question to Celestia. “Princess, I was talking to a Pegasus named Jamie, she said that she is restricted to Canterlot even on her days off. May I ask that you may release the restrictions so that she may one day, on her day off, visit me in Ponyville?” Twilight felt awkward bringing up a personal royal matter, what Celestia says, goes. Celestia smiled brightly, “Made a new friend I suppose? Consider it done Twilight Sparkle, a friend of yours shall have no restrictions on my watch.” Celestia replied a smile crossing Twilight’s face; until the coffee had arrived. Celestia levitated the coffee over to Twilight, who proceeded to grasp it with her own magic now. “It’s hot right now, let it cool down before you drink it. I wouldn’t want my faithful student to have a swelled tongue from such a silly thing.” She said jokingly. “Yes Celestia, thank you for granting such an honor upon Jamie, she is truly a wonderful pony. Very interesting too; I felt like we were only talking for a couple of minutes, but it turns out we had talked for nearly two hours! Oh how you lose track of time talking to people you truly are intrigued by; such a great personality she had, I’d never have thought I would meet a friend this far from where I was comfortable!” Twilight noticed she was dragging on, and took a sip of her coffee; which was still kind of hot, but she was impressed by the flavour it had. “Sorry, for dragging all that on Celestia. I guess I just lose control when I get excited.” She said smiling sheepishly, getting a small chuckle from the princess. “Don’t explain yourself to me, I understand; It happens to the best of us.” Celestia said a smile coming over her face. “Twilight Sparkle, let us head out now. We still have business to see to.” Celestia said walking her and the lavender unicorn out of the coffee shop; the smell of coffee now receding slowly behind them. “Would you rather us go somewhere where there is a place to sit?” Celestia asked noticing the paper and magazine sticking slightly out of Twilight’s saddlebags. “The prices they charge are outrageous aren’t they?” Celestia asked trying to start a simple conversation with the little lavender mare. “Oh yes, eight bits for the newspapers; and ten bits for the magazine. I never thought I’d see the day when such heart-attack inducing prices became common! But I bought them anyways, they looked interesting. I thought that they’d make for a nice night of reading, since I’m so far away from the library I just needed a bit of reading material to calm my nerves you know.” Twilight said back to Celestia who was walking beside her, and nopony even noticing them walking down the sidewalk. “Yes, I suppose the prices are quite steep; but that’s just the price of living here. There’s not a whole lot of fertile land, so they have to truck in more supplies causing them to cost more to sell. Houses here cost about three times as much as in Ponyville, but are infinitely smaller. It’s a large city, one of the most thriving communities under rule, besides Canterlot that is.” Celestia finally finished another smile careening across her soft white face. A smile that was calming to everypony who saw it; a simple yet calming feeling washed over Twilight still taking sips from her coffee. Her and Celestia finally got to a park, mostly not used for the busy city making it hard to peacefully play most of the time. They sat at one of the benches on the edge of the park; one of the ones furthest away from the bustling streets that the noises originated. Twilight pulled out her newspaper, and began reading to herself, the whole day had been a new experience to her as she looked up to Celestia, “Thank you for this opportunity to come here princess. Now about those matters,” Twilight said with a new stern look across her face, “What were they, and how are we to address them?” she asked. “There was some commotion going on, I’ve already seen to it. I just need to see a friendly face to calm my nerves. I’m sorry to have done that without telling you, and for that I’m sincerely sorry.” Celestia said apologetically. “But it seems you are having fun in this city, feel free to roam the city. I have enjoyed my stay here but I must return to Canterlot at once, My sister is having trouble in the castle by herself and has just now informed me of her trouble. I wished to have spent more time with you, but I must bid you farewell my faithful student.” Celestia said, Twilight smiling falsely. “I understand princess; royal matters come before anything else. Have a safe trip back to Canterlot.” Twilight said her face slightly drooping, not knowing what she’d do in the city without Celestia or anypony else around her. “If I may ask, is there anypony you will leave to oversee me I this city? You surely don’t want to leave your student alone wandering the city.” Twilight said, Celestia understanding the hint given to her. “Very well, I will leave Jamie to oversee your stay in Manehattan. You may leave anytime you please, and enjoy your stay here in the city.” Celestia smiled as she got up and left the park, leaving Twilight alone at the table. Twilight began reading until a noticeable growl came from her stomach. She had forgotten she hadn’t eaten since they’d arrived in Manehattan, and she was absolutely famished. So she decided to browse the city’s vast assortment of vendors and restaurants. ’This place is amazing! I’ve never had so much fun in a single place in my life! It would be better if my friends were here though.’ the mare thought to herself, the growling snapping her back to reality. She approached a small wheat pretzel stand with a brown stallion with a pretzel as his cutie mark; his hair was a light chestnut brown, a simple colour. She cleared her throat, “Excuse me, but may I ask how much a pretzel is?” she asked, seeming to surprise the stallion. “Oh? Sorry, not many ponies come up here anymore. I’m the only pretzel stand but these stuck up ponies always want ‘fine cuisine,’ I understand and all; but I’ve gotta stay in… Oh! Sorry, one pretzel is five bits, two is eight, and you have salted, unsalted, cinnamon, cinnamon apple, and whole grain toppings.” He said Twilight liking the sound of the whole grain pretzel. “I’ll take two pretzels, both salted, one whole grain oat, and one wheat. They smell delicious by the way.” Twilight said, digging the bits from her saddlebag and handing them to the stallion, only now she’d noticed he was a unicorn. “It’s nice to see a unicorn like yourself; making an honest living in this city.” She said smiling at him friendly. “Yeah, parents didn’t like that I broke off from tradition and opened a stand in Manehattan. Tradition was my family would be librarians; considering that most of my siblings didn’t have their cutis marks, I found we weren’t cut out for it. I was the only one to break from tradition; and I love it. Living on my own gets lonely sometimes though; but I like making an honest living, it defines a pony y’know?” he said handing Twilight the pretzels. “Have a great day ma’am” he said. “May I trouble you for your name? Mine is Twilight Sparkle, and it’s been a real pleasure to meet you.” She said to him, getting a smile from the stallion. “The name’s Jason, Jason Mynlet. And that’s ‘Min-lay’ odd pronunciation but it’s my name. But ponies around these parts just call me Pretzel Twist, and that name just kind of stuck with me.” He said smiling as Twilight walked away. Twilight bit into the pretzel, it must’ve been one of the most delicious things she’d ever consumed; her eyes shot up after that first bite. But she happened to be so distracted by the pretzel that she ran into somepony and dropped both of her pretzels. “Oh man!” she cried out as the other pony turned around slightly. “Who dares run into the Great and Powerful Trixie!” she said, when shock filled her eyes. “T-Twilight Sparkle?! What are you doing in Manehattan!” the azure mare screamed in complete shock, moments later looking embarrassed. “Trixie does not mean to sound surprised, she simply wants to know what your reason for arrival is.” She said lowering her head. Twilight snapped up recognizing the voice and name, “It’s fine Trixie, I was here for a meeting with Celestia; but that is already done. I’m simply here now to have fun, now may I ask why you are in Manehattan?” Twilight asked, just as puzzled as Trixie was about her. “I mean we only saw you run right into the forest, nopony wanted to go after you. Well, some did… But I told them to leave you be, so they didn’t go after you…” Twilight sounded slightly embarrassed to be face to face with Trixie after all this time. Trixie smiled and nodded, “Yes, I was a rather large pain in the hindquarters. But my time away from being a showmare made me think. ‘What am I doing with my life?’ So I found that I came on a rather bit strong with my arrogance and third person speaking habits. It took me a while, but I managed to lose them both. It’s nice to see you again Twilight, I wish I could’ve known you better much longer ago; but I get I was rather abrasive with my arrogance and all.” The azure mare extended her hoof for Twilight to shake. Twilight shook her hoof with a smile on her face, “Yes, I remember all that; I’m sorry for getting you run out of town. It’s just kind of how they reacted to you; at first I admit your magic was quite good, but your gloating was absolutely unbearable. That’s the only thing that’s kept me from looking for you, the fear that you were the same as that one day; but seeing you aren’t anymore really makes me want to know you better.” Twilight said with a smile on her face, getting a shocked look from Trixie. “D-do you really mean that Twilight? You really want to hang out with me after that stunt I pulled in Ponyville?” the azure mare said her face looking puzzled. Twilight giggled, “Of course, seeing that you’ve changed is a great sign; maybe I should take you back to Ponyville with me so you can teach Rainbow Dash how to turn her life around. I mean just this morning she was following my personal escort making faces at all of us; I love her to death but her arrogance can really eat through you. We all realize how arrogant she is, but she has her limits; she’s learned not to be arrogant around us really, she’s getting better, but she still has her moments.” Twilight said, getting a slight smile out of the azure mare. “Alright, it’s a date then! Oh, well in the sense that we’ll be going somewhere and such. N-not a date like um… That you know…” Trixie started blushing slightly that she had just explained that situation, which let Twilight know what she was truly thinking. Twilight giggled again at the blushing mare, “Alright, meet me at ten in the morning at the fancy hotel at the edge of town; near the northeast entrance into town. It’s too bit to not see, I hope to see you waiting for me at ten!” Twilight smiled flirtatiously at the azure unicorn making her blush again, this time a more solid red. “Well since you don’t have to go right away, how about me and you spend the rest of the day together. The sun doesn’t got down for a few more hours, we’ve still got time to hang out before you must return to the motel.” Trixie said smiling at Twilight with a smile that made Twilight feel good inside, like she was truly making Trixie happy. “I’d love to,” Twilight replied her stomach growling back at her; now remembering that she’d knocked her food down when she bumped into Trixie. “Sorry, I was eating when I bumped into you, I’m still pretty hungry.” Twilight said blushing that her stomach had cut her off from such a sweet moment. Trixie smiled softly, “Sorry about your pretzels, allow me to buy you some more. It’s the least I could do for accidently making you drop yours.” She said exchanging a smirk with the lavender unicorn. Twilight sheepishly sunk down slightly, “Oh no, I wouldn’t want to impose on you Trixie. We just now are getting to know each other better; I wouldn’t want you to waste your money on me right now.” She said hiding her face from the azure unicorn smiling at her. Trixie chuckled, “No, I insist you must allow me to buy you another. I’m very sorry I made you drop yours, I sincerely am.” She said picking up the lavender unicorn um from the ground she’d sat herself on; helping her up. Both were blushing at each other, slightly embarrassed by the gestures the other was making subconsciously. Twilight smiled, happy to be with Trixie, “Alright, but later we must get real food; I mean the pretzels were good, but we need to fill our stomachs with cooked meals, and not common snaking material. There is a place that I’ve heard of here, but I’ve never been in town to try it; Supposedly it’s a quaint little Italian style restaurant. They have whole grain pasta, cheese raviolis, and a lot more I can’t even remember! They also have another menu that has food you would find anywhere else, like oat-burgers, wheat fries, oat fries; you know the things mostly everypony is used to eating. But it’d be nice to try something new.” Twilight’s eyes were locked on Trixie, waiting for a reaction from the mare. “If that’s what you want, then so be it! We shall see it done then,” Trixie said a smile plastering itself permanently on her face. “We’ll have to split the bill though, I’m pretty short on bits right now. I’m in between jobs at the moment; I got fired for a customer saying that I was too slow in getting his order to him. Though it really is the cook’s fault, but I got fired for it; I’m really trying to find a job, but it’s not easy in a city this large. Every position out there is already filled, the only remaining options are little vendor stands; and those won’t pay my rent, I’ve been stuck in a rut ever since I cleaned up my act. But enough about my sad life, let’s go ahead and get you those pretzels.” The azure mare finished who giddily escorted the lavender unicorn back to the stand. Pretzel Twist was surprised to see Twilight back, “Twilight! Hey, back already? What couldn’t resist coming back to visit?” he said jokingly, laughing heartily. “Oh, I see you’ve met Trixie then; she’s a pretty interesting mare, though the apartment manager is pissed that she’s becoming behind on her rent. Threatened to kick her to the curb like every bum who’s tried to free load him; I’ve seen that mare work, harder than that guy has probably ever in his life. But they’re his apartments, and all the greedy stallion wants is money.” Pretzel Twist looked at Trixie’s face, which now drooped slightly. “Oh! Sorry to divulge such personal matters Trixie, force of habit…” Pretzel said chuckling nervously. Trixie sighed, “No, it’s quite alright; Twilight is my friend from a while back, now she knows my troubles in the city, as she should have when we ran into each other. I know how you are with secrets Jason, that’s kind of why I don’t tell you things anymore.” Trixie said her and Pretzel Twist sharing a friendly laugh. “I need four pretzels please, I accidently made Twilight drop hers; given why we’ve returned.” She said nervously. “I get it, don’t worry, I’ll get you gals fresh ones. No charge, just try not to drop them all the time. Not good for business y’know.” He said chuckling to himself and fetching Twilight two freshly baked pretzels exactly the same as before, “And you want the usual Trixie?” he asked casually. “Yes, the usual.” She kindly replied. “Alright,” Pretzel replied grabbing a cinnamon pretzel and a buttered wheat pretzel. “Here you are ladies, come back anytime; a friend of Trixie’s is a friend of mine!” he said as the mares walked away thanking him for his kindness. “That was nice of him to not charge us,” Twilight said taking a bite out of her whole grain pretzel, trying to not let herself have the same reaction as last time. “I wonder why he would do that though, he doesn’t even know me.” Twilight admitted sighing lightly under her breath to not alert Trixie to her confusion. Trixie noticed Twilight lowering her head, “Him and I have been good friends since I first arrived here in Manehattan. He was extremely nice to me, obviously trying to lure me in as a customer; and eventually I caved. I bought a pretzel to get him from bothering me; he was being rather the pest to my standards, but that was the old me. I took a bite, and I’ve been a regular ever since; and later I learned when I got an apartment; he was my neighbor right across the hall. We started talking every day, him and his wife are truly interesting characters; and their little colt is just absolutely the cutest little guy ever!” Trixie said taking a bit out of her cinnamon pretzel and laughing making Twilight smirk happily. “But given the current situation, I have been told numerous times to come up with rent money or I’d be kicked out; even though I’m only a month behind. But it’s tough, I’ve got nearly no job experience; and every job I apply for is either filled or requires a matter of years of prior experience. I’ve been able to manage off of bare necessities; food, water, electricity, and clothing. Though I’m not getting my full assortment of nutrients, it makes it easier to pay my bills; but now they’re just piling up.” Trixie sighed, her eyes starting to water. The sight touched Twilight, seeing the azure unicorn actually feeling something was quite the shock to her. She stopped and put her hoof around Trixie’s neck to comfort her, her teary eyes looking at her in surprise. “Don’t worry Trixie, if you’d like; I’ll help pay for your rent. And if worse comes to worst, I’ll allow you to live with me in the library back in Ponyville, I’m sure my friends will forgive you seeing that you’ve changed.” Twilight said trying to reassure the unicorn, stroking her mane to try and calm her nerves seeing how she was under a lot of stress. Trixie sniffled and replied, “I cannot take your money Twilight, I wouldn’t feel right having you pay for something of that magnitude for me.” She said lowering her head again, clearly showing Twilight how truly depressed the mare was with her life. “I insist Trixie, I will not take no for an answer and that is final!” Twilight said smiling warmly and friendly back to the crying mare. “I know your life is hard, but you’ve come to know great ponies on your stay here and I, Twilight Sparkle, shall do absolutely everything in my power to ensure that you may stay in Manehattan and not have to leave the life you’ve made for yourself!” she finished, her words perking up the spirits of the unicorn who now stood up smiling at Twilight. Trixie leaned in close to Twilight’s ear and whispered ‘Thank you,” and kissed her on the side of the cheek; causing both to jump back a little and blush at each other. “I-I’m sorry, I don’t know where that came from; forgive me…” she said apologetically to Twilight whose blush was a strong solid red. Trixie blushed that she’d just done that, letting her feelings make her body do things that her brain didn’t want it to. Twilight smiled, “It’s alright, I guess that’s sort of what happens sometimes when you go around trying to be a motherly figure to somepony.” She said jokingly knowing Trixie’s true reason for kissing her. Twilight looked at the time; they’d been talking for two whole hours, actually more like two and a half now. “Oh my, I’d better get to the hotel; it’s nearly the end of the day, please forgive me Trixie. Remember Trixie, ten o’ clock, don’t keep me waiting for too long!” Twilight said slowly trotting away, leaving a now smiling Trixie behind in her path. > Harmless Trip to Manehattan Part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- She’d gotten to the hotel, taking herself thirty minutes to find the place; but she finally got there and asked where her room was. The receptionist at the front desk replied with a smile, “Ah the suite, it was changed to that this afternoon; sharing a room with a one ‘Jamie’ I believe. You may use that elevator to my left, just insert the door key and it should take you up to your suite.” The receptionist pointed out an elevator behind her and to the left and then casually returned to her duties at the front desk. Twilight inserted the card into the elevator and the doors swung open, inviting her inside of them. She got inside, and heard a nice calming melody; she’d heard of elevator music, but never actually heard it. She enjoyed the nice smooth and calming melody as the elevator climbed slowly up to the room she would be staying in. When the door opened she was greeted by Jamie who was laying on the nearby pull-out couch. Her eyes widened at the décor of the room, everything was perfect; all of the decorations worked together to tie the room together tighter than Rarity tightened a lovely lace. “Pretty suite ain’t it?” Jamie said laughing at her own pun, “Celestia told me I’m to watch over your stay in Manehattan; I’d never thought I’d see the day when somepony I just met would do something like this for me. Thank you Twilight, for getting those bogus restrictions off of me,” She said hugging the unicorn tightly in her forelegs. “Celestia changed it to a suite before she left town, it was a nice thing to do considering these things cost a fortune to stay in. But I guess being princess of all Equestria has its perks at times huh?” she said laughing once again. “But I’m not going to be your babysitter! Here, this is a phone, if there is any trouble you are to call me immediately, understand? I’m still in charge of your safety you know; I won’t have you admitted to the hospital for some random act of violence.” Jamie turned the channels on the television; making faces at all of the ones she didn’t like. Twilight was exhausted the whole day out around town walking took its toll on her legs. “Actually I should be getting to bed; walking around this town took its toll on me,” her stomach growled cutting her off from her thoughts and making the Pegasus shoot a look at her from across the room. “Maybe we should order something to eat first, don’t you agree?” Jamie said smiling at Twilight as she flipped open her phone to call the room service. “Yes, room service? We’d like a nice plate of oat pasta and vegetarian stew; and some nice strawberry cheesecake for dessert.” Jamie said as she discusses a price Twilight admired the luxurious room they’d been given; a true testament to how generous Princess Celestia could really be. “Yes, thirty minutes is fine, thank you.” Jamie said hanging up the phone and laying on the nightstand next to the sofa bed. “Now come sit next to me and watch T.V. Can’t have you go to bed on an empty stomach.” Jamie said flipping through the channels again, “Bleh, these shows suck. When are they going to get quality programming in this place?” Jamie asked as she continued making faces at the shows. Twilight giggled at the mare’s bubbly personality, she was truly a vivid character; but you’d really have to meet her to understand that. “I suppose I can’t sleep on an empty stomach,” she said sitting next to the Pegasus who hung her head off of the edge of the sofa. “What are you doing Jamie? This randomness reminds me of a friend of mine from Ponyville,” Twilight said giggling at her temporary roommates random tendencies. The mare sat up right, “You mean Pinkie Pie?” Jamie asked with excitement in her eyes. Twilight smiled, “Yeah how did you know?” she inquired of Jamie; truly wondering how the Pegasus knew the pink earth mare. “She’s never mentioned you before; I don’t see why she wouldn’t. You’re absolutely a hoot!” Twilight said giggling, and getting a small chuckle from the violet pegasus. Jamie smiled, “Yeah, I know her; she really is the queen of pure randomness! I couldn’t help but talk to her for a bit; but since us guards all look the same to everypony, it gets hard to find us again. But then again, I never returned to Ponyville; If I would have, me and her would’ve talked each other’s ears off! That random little gal is the true hoot around here!” Both of the mares laughing, glad to be in each other’s company. When the elevator bell rung and the waiter came and served their food. “Here you go ladies, will there be anything else you need?” The waiter asked both of them. Jamie smiled, “Yes can you bring me a cup of green tea with lemon; and for Twilight just iced tea please.” She said as the waiter smiled and took the order down. “That’s all for now, thank you sir.” She said giving him a ten bit tip. “Very well, enjoy the meal ladies.” He said as he made his way back to the elevator and disappeared inside of it. Jamie grabbed two plates and sat one in front of Twilight, and gave her a scoop of the spaghetti; which smelled simply decadent to her. Never having smelled such a delicious food in her life; she grabbed a fork and began eating the pasta; her face plastered with a smile as she devoured plate upon plate of the pasta. She let out a small burp and began snickering as both of the mares busted out in laughter. Twilight was having the best time of her life, and it was with somepony she’d just met! Just goes to show you how you can find friends in the rarest of places and occurrences. It felt like fate was thrusting all of this on her, meeting Jamie, meeting Pretzel Twist, and being reunited with Trixie after the months she’d been gone from Ponyville; but there was not one doubt in her mind, she could never be happier than now. The elevator rang once again, the waiter coming out with a tray of drinks which he put in front of the two giggling mares. Then he served a whole strawberry swirl cheesecake; the sweet smell of the cake filling the room. “If you need anything else, room service is available until three in the morning and comes back around lunchtime.” He said. Twilight looked at him, “What about breakfast though?” she asked as the stallion chuckled at her question. “We have a conventional breakfast area one floor above the main entrance. There’s also a gym, an indoor pool, a commons area, and a steam room.” He said a smile coming from his face, but an embarrassed blush coming from the unicorn. “I see, thank you for your service sir. I shall see you tipped greatly for your excellent service my friend.” Twilight said getting a smile from the waiter as he disappeared down the elevator once again. After the waiter was gone the two mares continued giggling and talking about their lives before what they were doing now. “Wow, Cloudsdale sounds like a wonderful place! All those pegasi around, creating weather, it must’ve been a real thrill to live there, I lived in Canterlot; Celestia chose me as her personal protégé, seeing the mass amount of talent for magic I had.” Twilight said, taken back by her story. “Celestia’s personal protégé, that must be some honor you hold there Twi’. Do you mind if I call you Twi’? Is that a bit too weird for you?” she asked trying not to ruin her friendship with the lavender unicorn after it had just started. Twilight giggled happily, “It’s okay, all of my best friends call me Twi’ most of the time. I understand what a mouthful ‘Twilight Sparkle’ can be to say every time you see me. Nicknames are what you perceive, I won’t foul you for trying to shorten up my name a bit; I mean I call come of my best friends by nicknames sometimes. We all call Pinkie Pie, Pink; I mean it just means that you like them enough to shorten their name to avoid the hassle of having to stress saying it all the time.” Twilight smiled. Jamie smiled back at the lavender mare, “Wow you really have a knack for explaining things don’t you; no wonder Celestia chose you. You’re one of the smartest ponies I’ve ever encountered in my entire life! I mean your magic abilities must be like totally awesome!” Jamie said imitating a unicorn using magic as both of them started laughing. “Wow, I’d forgotten how awesome having a friend can be, seven years on the Royal Guard can take a lot out of you. Now are you going to help me eat this cake or am I going to have to force feed it to you?” she said jokingly. Twilight rolled her eyes, “Yes I’d like a slice. But allow me to cut it, having magic can make it easier to stabilize and make nice even slices.” Twilight said as she started cutting the cake slowly, making each slice the same size as the other and moving a piece onto each or their smaller plates. “I mean wow, seven years is a very long time to stick with a job!” Twilight said starting to eat the cake on her plate. “Don’t you ever get tired not being able to have friends?” Twilight asked her. Jamie was shoveling the cake down her gullet, “Yeah, it can get pretty boring; but it pays well and I get a guard’s quarters inside of the castle. So I guess it’s not all bad, not where you’d want to spend seven years of your life, but hey I ain’t complainin’,” She said moving more cake onto her plate. “But since you got those restrictions undone, I can visit anywhere I want now! Make friends with as many ponies as I can! I’ve been living on this one motto that my friends told me in school, ‘Life is a playground, you just have to have fun!’ I mean that motto means the world to me. It’s all I have left to remember Cloudsdale by; that and some old belongings I got when my parents passed away. I’ve still got the deed to their house, and since these restrictions are no more, I can finally set that place up to be a nice little hang-out.” Jamie said devouring the cake as if it were nothing. Twilight finished her second slice of cake, “I’m sorry about your parents, you must’ve taken that pretty hard. I don’t know what I’d do if my parents died, I can assure you; I wouldn’t be a happy mare after that kind of news.” Twilight said, Jamie smiling back at her with cake clinging to her lips. “You’re one tough pegasus, you must have the patience of a saint to spend seven years away from friends and your parents. I mean, I’d go crazy without contact with anypony! But then again, I used to be so sheltered I wouldn’t even really go outside anyways.” Twilight said getting a merry giggle from her friend across the table. “Yeah, It’s not easy; but you’ve really got to make sacrifices to do this job, I’ve learned life is full of things you need to sacrifice for. But I could never truly give up on friends, I kept contact with them despite Celestia’s instruction; I just couldn’t bear to leave my friends in the past. You understand, those friends of yours looked pretty sad to see you leave; now just imagine their faces when you tell them that you will never see them again. As I’ve said many times, not easy.” She said taking a drink from her tea. “It’s about time we head to bed now, it’s been fun; but we’ve still got some fun to have in this city before we leave any time soon. So we shall awaken in the morning rejuvenated!” Jamie said taking her plates to the sink and giggling. Twilight smiled, remembering that she had to get up before ten to meet Trixie downstairs so they could spend the day catching up with each other. Twilight had almost forgotten about the plans she’d made; how stupid would she look if she didn’t show up on time. “Ah, yes. I have plans for tomorrow also, so I need all the sleep I can get for the day ahead of me! It’s going to be such a great day! I’ve met an old, well, acquaintance; but we’re going to catch up over spending the entire day together tomorrow! We’re going to go around town, to the movies to lunch, and even to dinner!” Twilight said her voice reaching a level and pitch that could annoy a parasprite. Jamie smiled sinisterly, “It seems like you’re going out… on a date! So tell me, who’s the stallion! Tell me tell me tell me! I just have to know! Is he an old secret lover you had before you left Canterlot? Or is he a macho stallion that swooped you off of your hooves and you pledge everlasting love to each other until your bodies are eaten away by the maggots in your very coffins! Errr, wow that got kind of weird, random, and dark there at the end; what can I say, I watch too many romance movies. And zombie movies, gotta love them zombie movies y’know?” she said lightly giggling. Twilight blushed, “No she’s just a friend. We’ve been meaning to catch up for quite some time now, but we never got the chance to. Some rather unfortunate events unfolded preventing us from contacting each other for quite a long time. It’ll be nice to hang out with her again, it’s been months since we’ve seen each other; I’m curious to hear her stories of how far she’s come from that one day all the way to now.” Twilight said getting a shocked stare from the violet pegasus, the stare she found was general unnerving to her. Jamie gasped slightly, “I’d have never thought that you Twilight Sparkle, one of the most interesting mares I’ve ever met is attracted to mares!” she said smiling, the smile stretching further across her face than ever before. “Wow, this must be a real kick to the stallions!” she said jokingly making the lavender unicorn blush even harder, her face overtaken with a soft red. “Oh, Twilight, what random ball are you going to drop on me next?” she said jokingly again, the violet pegasus smiling lightly. “I’m just playing with you Twi’, but congratulations on snagging yourself a keeper; I applaud you for your skills in mare attraction.” Jamie said, starting to clap a little. Twilight was blushing, the soft blush, now a dark red; the blush taking up most of her face now, not really wanting to respond to the mare that stood in her presence. “I told you! It’s not like that! I’m just meeting with an old friend is all! Why do you have to make everything like that now! It’s not a date, just a friendly day together!” Twilight said, blushing after hearing how defensive she sounded; maybe she did like Trixie, she’d never noticed it before because they’d only met briefly. But Twilight remembered the kiss that Trixie gave her before leaving; her mind was running so many things that she could barely process her situation. Twilight sighed, “Okay, so maybe it’s a date, but I’m not the kind of mare to take advantage of others. I don’t know why, but it feels right between me and Trixie; I’ve never really noticed how much I like her until I bumped into her today; she was calm, collected, and extremely nice to me. I couldn’t ask for a better combination in anypony; stallion or mare.” Twilight said her blush now shining on her face brightly; she could feel the blush now giving off a bit of heat to her cheeks, now rosy with the dark, bright blush. Jamie giggled, “I understand, you like who you like; I suppose trying to keep from somepony you do like, would thrust you into a depression. Just go for it, if you truly do like her; then I’m sure everything will work out perfectly.” She said, giving a wink at Twilight, Twilight giving a noticed nod back. “Now, let’s get some sleep then; wouldn’t want you to keep you looove waiting in the morning you know!” she yelled jokingly as she ran into one of the suite’s many rooms. Twilight smiled, she knew the joking from the violet pegasus was all in good fun; not taking it too seriously as she had most everything else in her life. But she felt comfortable here, with Jamie; and she felt comfortable that she finally told somepony that she liked mares, like a large weight had been lifted off her shoulders. A weight that had been with her ever since she’d met Trixie; but she couldn’t put a hoof on what the feelings were at the time, but after meeting again with a changed Trixie, she found out that what she was feeling, was love. She thought about the azure mare over and over again, the unicorn giving her comfort even though she wasn’t even there; Twilight drifted off to sleep with a large smile on her face thinking about the wonderful pony she’d just met; and the one she’d been in love with for quite some time, the thoughts settled in her mind, and she finally fell asleep. This rest being the best one she’d ever slept before; her dreams caressed with images of the soft azure mare. > Harmless Trip to Manehattan Part 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight was awoken by Jamie imitating an alarm clock right next to Twilight’s ear; Twilight’s face showing traces of minor annoyance at the pegasus. “It’s nine-thirty, you’ve got twenty minutes to prepare for your date, and ten to get down there and wait for her.” Jamie said, pushing the lavender unicorn out of the bed, making her fall face first into the floor. Jamie laughed, “I said get up, not face plant into the ground Twilight!” She said, her laughs echoing in the hotel suite, then Twilight finally realized the full extent of the situation and shot up. “I’M GOING TO BE LATE!” she screamed heading into the bathroom levitating a brush; starting to frantically get rid of her dreadful bed head hairdo. “Jamie! Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” Twilight said still frantically trotting around the suite looking for all of her things, “I like to be early, now I’m probably going to be late!” she said still looking for her saddlebags which were right in front of her. “Have you seen my saddle bags?” she inquired of the violet pegasus. Jamie pointed down, and Twilight’s eyes followed, “Oh…” Twilight grabbed the saddlebags and started to fill them up with bits, magazines, newpapers, and many other miscellaneous things. There was no rhyme or reason to Twilight’s frantic behavior; she just ran back and forth between her room, her saddlebags, and the kitchen. “Alright, everything’s ready now; and right on time too, Jamie if you would be so kind as to escort me downstairs?” Twilight said, a sheepish smile crossing her face that made Jamie roll her eyes unimpressed at her. Jamie sighed, “Alright, I’ll escort you; but only because you’d probably be hopeless finding your way without me. You’d probably get lost inside the elevator; wait, I don’t think that’s possible though, is it? I’m not sure if it’s possible for any sane pony to get lost in an elevator. I suppose that’s not that point though, I’ll escort you for two reasons; one, you’re my friend, and two, it’s my job to oversee your actions whilst we are in Manehattan. So you are my responsibility whether you like that or not Twi’!” Jamie said with a smug look coming over her face, not making this whole ‘date’ thing easy for Twilight. Twilight rolled her eyes and scoffed, “Jamie I truly wonder if you aren’t related to Pinkie Pie in one way or another. I mean you’re both random, extremely random; you two should start talking again, I’d be happy to take you to her if so ever you want me to. Just come and find me in the library; and yes it is a hollowed out tree, deal with it.” Twilight said laughing at herself, “I sound absolutely silly don’t I, stressing out over all of this; I just want this day to be perfect. You understand what I’m talking about right?” Twilight asked still slightly frantic about her situation, and how the day would turn out. Jamie giggle at Twilight’s concerns, “Twilight, you are worrying too much, if you want this date to go well you have to loosen up, and go with the flow; if you start freaking out remember what your goal is. Have a wonderful day with the mare you love, that’s it; don’t pay mind to anypony who looks at you funny, they just don’t understand that you can’t help who you fall in love with.” Jamie smiled calming Twilight pretty effectively, “Now let’s get you downstairs; it’s best not to keep your date waiting you know.” Jamie said jokingly slipping on her guard armor to keep up appearance outside of the suite. Twilight nodded, “Thank you for that; I’ve just not been on a date before, nopony’s ever taken interest in me before. I mean stallion or mare, I’ve always been a bit of a sheltered nerd; nopony would come near me with a disguise on. I’m sorry if I’m frantic right now; this being my very first date and all.” Twilight said apologetically seeing the clumsy pegasus fumble around trying to put on her armor, running left and right into walls; she couldn’t help but giggle at her. Jamie rolled her eyes, that now becoming her signature thing, “I see you’re having a bit of entertainment value from seeing me try to put my armor on; now please excuse me whilst I fidget around with this damn piece of metal.” She said still fumbling around with the large metal armor plating, she’d finally got it on and Twilight was laughing uncontrollably, literally rolling around on the floor laughing her head off. “Yes, I’ve got it all on now, now are you going to sit there and laugh at me, or are you going to let me actually escort you to where you need to go.” Jamie said impatiently, looking at the laughing unicorn tapping her hoof. Twilight got up and stopped laughing, “Yes, sorry Jamie, please escort me downstairs; I mustn’t be late now, so we need to be hasty now.” Twilight said noticing the time, only now having five minutes to make it downstairs before she would be late in meeting Trixie. “I mean we really need to make haste; I can’t be late in meeting her or she’ll think that I’m not interested!” Twilight said, her frantic nature returning to her, as the violet pegasus shot her a look and put her hoof on her shoulder. “Right, right, sorry. I’m ready to be taken downstairs now Jamie.” Twilight finished with a small smile as Jamie started walking her to the elevator. Jamie pugged her ears at the music; apparently she wasn’t the type for such classical and calming music such as that. “This music is a major pain in the ears man; they need some rock or somethin’ in this damned thing. Then I’d be one happy mare.” Jamie giggled a little seeing as Twilight was lost in the graceful embrace of the classical music softly entering her ears. “I’m not surprised you actually like this music, I’m sorry but I can’t stand it; makes my ears throw up. Hypothetically that is, ears I suppose can’t technically throw up; that would just be weird,” Jamie said as the elevator started to come to a halt coming down with a slight crash that knocked Twilight face forward outside of the now open elevator doors; everypony at the administration desk looking at her like she was crazy. Jamie helped Twilight up and walked her out into the lobby where the azure unicorn sat with a coffee and newspaper. Jamie keeping her Royal Guard protocol, didn’t talk to anypony; trying to keep her appearance as a simple Royal Guard member. As they approached the unicorn she got up and immediately ran to hug Twilight; Twilight blushing slightly getting a smug look from Jamie. “Now Twilight Sparkle; by decree of Princess Celestia, you are hereby under my jurisdiction. I will check up on you so you must have your phone on you at all times.” Jamie said sounding professional as ever, “You must expect me to drop by unannounced at any time I feel I should need to do so. You are not free to leave areas to where you may get lost; or to areas that will make it hard to track you in. I take that you two will take care of each other; now off you go, you have an otherwise engaging day ahead of you y’know.” Jamie’s face was determined and solid, as she escorted the two mares outside of the motel into the bustling city’s sidewalk; the immediate smell of the small vendors wafted over to Twilight immediately. Twilight was desperately trying to pay attention; but she found herself otherwise engaged in the still exotic aromas filling the very air around her, enveloping her in a pocket of blissful aromas. Her mind struggled to pay attention when she found herself leaning on Trixie moments later; it seems that she had tried too hard and fell over, as much sense as that makes. Twilight stood herself up, blushing slightly from having just relied on Trixie for support to keep from once again face planting into the ground below her. “Uh, I’m sorry; my mind is elsewhere right now. I understand what you’ve asked of us, don’t worry, we’ll be together all day.” Twilight said playfully wrapping her forelegs around Trixie, making her blush a similar light red to Twilight’s. “If you truly need us, shouldn’t there be a tracker in the phone?” Twilight asked as Jamie sighed. Jamie looked at Twilight as if she was losing her mind, “Yes there is, but in this city; do not flash that phone about left and right. There are ponies in this city that want whatever you have; and they aren’t really into asking you for it.” Jamie said as she shot a wink to Twilight when Trixie wasn’t looking. “You shall return to the room at precisely 2100 hours; and if you are even a tad late I’ll have to report that to Celestia that you did not obey my conditions, and you will be returned to Ponyville to await a meeting with her about it yourself.” Jamie said now trotting back to the elevator, giving one last wink, before disappearing inside it. Trixie giggled slightly, trying to keep herself from laughing out loud in a public place. Twilight saw the snickering mare and looked at her with a puzzled stare. “What’s so funny Trixie!” she blurted out, her voice sounding embarrassed. Trixie kept snickering until she finally was able to reply to Twilight, “I’m sorry, but with how serious she was about all that, I just find it funny that you and she haven’t connected better. She’s treating you like a new-born foal!” Trixie yelled out, unable to contain her laughter any longer she busted out in laughter; causing wandering eyes to fall flat upon them. Trixie got up and saw the blushing Twilight, “I’m sorry Twilight; I mean no harm by what I say, just simple fun you know. Between two great friends!” she said clinging closely to the lavender mare, before finally releasing her. Twilight’s face was overtaken with a blush, “We should head out now, we have a lot to do in this city before dark Trixie!” she said, her face immediately perking up. Trixie smiled at Twilight, “Alright, first off, it’s early; we should stop somewhere to get breakfast and maybe a bit of coffee for our troubles.” She said her smile calming to Twilight, the same smile she’d seen all throughout her dreams last night. “I know a great place to start; it’s just a mom and pop little coffee shop. Nopony ever really pays it any mind, one reason being it’s on the other side of the city, but that’s not the point. If you take the time to walk the extra little bit; they have excellent coffee there, perfectly roasted and brewed!” she said licking her lips imagining the coffee. Twilight smirked happily, “Yeah, I know; I was there yesterday with Celestia, she bought me a cup. Though remembering how great it was, I’d love to go and grab another cup.” Twilight said shuffling around her awkwardly proportioned saddlebags with all of her random junk thrown in it. Trixie looked confused, “Celestia? In Manhattan? Without anypony noticing a large white alicorn waltzing down the sidewalks?” Trixie said getting a large smirk from Twilight. “In a city this large it’s no wonder we went unnoticed; like when a famous pony comes down, nopony pays them any mind when they’re in such a crowded place. I’m not sure if this makes any sense to you though, I can tell my dreadful habit of over explaining things can really kill the vibe from a place.” Twilight said chuckling lightly, “Now about that Italian restaurant…” Trixie cut Twilight off, “Twilight, why do you keep saying Italian; what in equestrian is Italian?” she inquired, her eyes looking puzzled. Twilight found herself at a loss of words, “Well, I suppose it’s like the style of French haute couture; It’s just kind of the name of it. I suppose when I said it, it kind of begged for an explanation; but I’m not all too sure what it is either. I’m not sure what, how, or where the term came from; probably somepony one day saying, ‘let’s just name it this and shut the hell up already,’” Twilight said giggling at the small joke she’d make; also getting a chuckle out of Trixie. “Yes, I suppose we should just enjoy they gave the damn things names, at least we can call them something. Though I’m pretty curious as to why they would, but oh well; we’re getting off topic, let’s just go ahead and get to where we’re gonna go. Look at us two, just a couple of forget-me-Mary’s.” Trixie said laughing until she slowly stopped giggling. “Wait, I have no idea where that saying came from.” Trixie scratched her head with her hoof, “Wow, okay I’m hurting my mind thinking about this now, can we just you know; go now?” she said chuckling nervously, Twilight looking at her with a confused smile. Twilight giggled slightly at Trixie, “Okay, okay Trixie. Let’s start heading over there then, before we get distracted again; which much to my surprise, does happen pretty often between us.” She said giggling getting a small smile and blush from the azure mare who came and was now standing next to her as they made their way down the sidewalk on their way to the coffee shop on the other side of town. But with each other around, they were prepared to walk all over Equestria with each other, but neither of them really wanted to admit that to the other. But with both of them, you could see it in their eyes and faces; both of them looking at each other a blushing slightly at the sight of their smiles. As the two unicorns approached a stand, Jamie popped out from the other side, making both of them jump back letting out small screams as Jamie stood there and laughed at the sight of them getting scared like that. “BAHAHAHAHA! YOU SHOULDA SEEN THE LOOKS ON YOUR FACES! YOU WERE ALL LIKE, ‘AH OMG.’ Wow, I never would’ve thought you two would be so scared, I mean.” Jamie fixed herself up. “Ahem, I mean. I’m here to check on you Twil—Oh forget it, I got bored, I’m coming with you guys now; You will not talk me out of this you know.” Jamie said coming out from behind the stand wearing a business suit and light violet rounded glasses. Twilight looked at the mare as if she was somepony she’d never even seen before; Twilight couldn’t help but just stare into the professional look of the violet pegasus. “Uh J-Jamie, wow, if you hadn’t have been random, or had that kind of distinct voice; I would’ve never recognized you! You seriously clean up nicely, I’m rather flabbergasted that you’re dressed so professionally; I would’ve never thought you of all ponies would be dressed like that. Actually I never thought you wore clothes besides your guard armor in the first place, I’m sure my friend Rarity would love to meet you!” Twilight said as Jamie blushed a bit and giggled. “Yes, before I joined up with the Royal Guard; I used to be on the weather team, and later I was a bit of a businesspony. Yes, I know I don’t strike anypony as a business type pony, but I know my way around laws and such; but that does not mean if you get into trouble, that I can get you out. Since I’ve been out of the business world, a lot of laws and things have changed; I’m really rusty on my training, all I can do now is find loopholes and bad deals in contracts, and I don’t see how that would come in handy here. Anyways, I just thought I’d come out here enjoy the nice day with you two; I hope you don’t mind.” Jamie smile sheepishly knowing that it was, but she felt that it would make them more comfortable if she asked. Twilight smiled and giggled, “Yes it’s okay, until me and her go to dinner; then you’ll probably have to find something else to bide your time until our dinner is over. I’m sorry Jamie but this evening is for me and Trixie, and some moments just don’t work if there’s more than just me and her. Two’s a group, but three’s a crowd; very very sincerely sorry Jamie.” Twilight said as she lowered her head but after seeing the smile come across Jamie’s face she perked up once more. Trixie stood back and let the two mares talk with each other, not wanting to interfere with their conversation; feeling her input was unnecessary to what they were talking about. But Twilight urged her to try talking to the violet Pegasus; but Trixie gave an unsure look and started whispering to Twilight, “I-I don’t know if I should, you two seem to be great friends; I don’t want to come between you two…” Trixie moved back shyly. Twilight smiled at Trixie and moved her forward, still trying to get Trixie to at least try talking to her; but of course Trixie was still reluctant to say anything to Jamie. Twilight giggled, “Come on Trixie, I’m sure you and her will have plenty to talk about. At least try talking to her, she’s really, really funny! I’m sure you two would absolutely love each other, but you’ll never know unless you talk to her.” Twilight was still struggling to push Trixie forward to talk to Jamie. But they both lost their balance and sprung forward landing on each other, sparking a smile from the violet mare that now towered over them. The two mares lay on the ground blushing at each other, from that, and at the lively violet pegasus that was staring at them smiling smugly. Twilight picked herself and Trixie up off of the ground, as Jamie chuckled lowly to herself. “Girls, It’s quite alright. You do not need to make my acquaintance, not unless you want to; I’m very much familiar with Miss Sparkle though already, I’d like to get to know Trixie, but only if she wants to get to know me also. I wouldn’t want to impose myself as a friend onto anypony who doesn’t feel comfortable with it at the time. It’s just kinda the way I am, I’m not the kind of pony that would impose on anypony like that. I appreciate you wanting her to know me better, but I understand her certain reluctance to do so; I’m quite familiar with Miss Trixie’s past antics.” Jamie said giggling as Trixie’s face blushed at the mare knowing what she was like before. Jamie saw the awkward look Trixie was giving off, “Don’t worry Trixie, I was the exact same way; besides the weird shtick in speaking in the third person. But I was an arrogant little filly, but when my parents died I cleaned up my act, got into business and jobs; then I finally got a job in Celestia’s castle as a Royal Guard member. Though I haven’t had much contact with all my friends back in Cloudsdale though; there’s one Pegasus I do remember, but she’s also kinda, you know, slow in the head sometimes.” Jamie said smiling slightly. “I always felt she was like a little sister to me, because my parents died when I was very young, I searched for anypony I could really connect with; and that pony seemed to be Ditzy Doo, she probably doesn’t remember me though. I haven’t seen her since I first began my stupid bender for jobs; I really want to see her again, but I don’t know where she is anymore. I did connect with two other fillies, but I’m absolutely sure they probably remember me; I saw them in Ponyville during my very last visit there. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, we weren’t the best of friends; me and Rainbow butted heads too much, and at the time Fluttershy was too mellow for me. So I really didn’t cling with the two very well, but I still consider them friends. Wow, I really need a muzzle; I just noticed I talk way too damn much.” Jamie said giggling relieved that she’d got a chuckle from the two mares now. Trixie came closer, “I understand, you seem to have come a long way from your simple life in Cloudsdale haven’t you?” Trixie looked at Jamie as she batted and eyebrow at Trixie making her feel rather uncomfortable. “I guess I really shouldn’t say simple should I?” Trixie said giving out a nervous chuckle, “I-I mean you’ve had a really tough life, I really shouldn’t say… You know what, I’ll just kinda, shut up now.” Trixie said as she receded back to Twilight’s side, with the same awkward smile she’d had before. Jamie sighed, “Kid, don’t beat yourself up okay? I completely understand what you’re trying to say, my life was still pretty simple; parents were rich. We were practically swimming in it, that’s why I was so arrogant and generally unlikable. Much like a little filly I’ve heard about; a one Silver Spoon I believe, money, power, and bad influences. I understand completely why you’re reluctant to get to know me; me and Twi’ are such good friends, and you really don’t want to be a third wheel. Remember this Trixie, you can never have too many friends.” Jamie said smiling, getting a smile from Trixie as well. “Glad to see you’re opening up to me; and still here I am talking way too damn much. Anyways, we might want to get going now; you two have got a great day ahead of you today.” Jamie said with a smile as Trixie and Twilight started laughing; then all three made their way towards the coffee shop, all smiling as they faded from view. > Harmless Trip to Manehattan Part 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm sorry! This chapter is rather late, i've been busy with school and some life issues and such. But I hope you enjoy the chapter The girls were giggling amongst each other, Jamie being the one leading the group; still in her sophisticated get up. “Oh man, you girls are great! Wow, I’ve never met two mares quite like you girls; though I’ve not been able to make acquaintance with anypony for any longer than about a couple of hours, if even that. Damned guard restrictions, but since Twi’ here got those restrictions lifted; I can just be myself now, I’m chalking this up as some of my vacation days, I’m pretty sure Celestia will be too. But hanging out with you guys, it’s absolutely worth it; Twilight has been kind, and meeting Trixie here, I’ve got more friends than I’ll ever need. But then again, I’d like to meet Twilight’s friends from Ponyville; from what she’s told me, they all seem awesome in their very own way. Certainly someponies I’d sure love to meet; plus I want to see Pinkie again, man I love that random little gal!” Jamie said giggling. “I didn’t get to know them very well; I was run out of Ponyville before I could really get to know anypony at all. With my habits of gloating, boasting, and a mix of pure arrogance into all of that, you’d get me about a couple of months ago; though Twilight was quick to forgive me, I feel her friends have not forgotten about that on ‘Ursa Minor’ incident, though it was not entirely my fault I still feel extremely bad for encouraging those two dunderhead colts. They saw my show and became fans of mine; I wouldn’t have thought they’d actually try to bring an Ursa Major into town for me to banish! It was just a story to entice ponies to come and see my show,” Trixie’s eyes started to water as Twilight put her forelegs around Trixie, engaging the azure unicorn in a hug. Trixie sighed a bit, “Thank you Twilight, my mind is absolutely racing right now; it does not want to really respond to what I tell it, the stress is just getting to my mind. Please forgive me going silent or talking on; I just really needed to vent that out a bit. I couldn’t think of any better ponies to share it with than you two though; you two are very comforting in times.” Jamie smiled, “I guess I’m kind of like the adopted older sister; or maybe aunt, I’m not that old though, so I suppose that really wouldn’t work. I mean I’m still old, but just not that old y’know?” Jamie said her face being over taken with a puzzled look. “You know what, I just confused the hell out of myself; please forget about the mare you see next to you. She is now resetting her brain so that it doesn’t make her say something stupid, given the fact that she was an easily confused mare. Twilight couldn’t help but smile at her, “Okay seriously Jamie, I can’t help but feel you and Pinkie are related in one way or another!” Twilight said getting a chuckle from both Trixie and Jamie, “But all joking aside, you were seriously a lawyer? With how you are now, I would’ve never guessed that is one of your past careers.” Twilight said as Jamie looked back at her confused staring off into space for a while biting her lip slightly. “Are you feeling okay Jamie? You’re looking rather embarrassed or something, did I offend you by asking that?!” Twilight said starting to apologize at a mile a minute as Trixie put her hoof over Twilight’s mouth making Jamie chuckle once again. Making Both Trixie and Twilight look at her; she laughed more than any other pony they’d ever met before, other than Pinkie, but it was normal for her to laugh like that. “No, no, no! But a career is something you like to do, I enjoyed being a lawyer and all, but those bullshit legal precedents really get on your nerves after a while. I’d love to get a job as a lawyer, but the business is steep right now, there’s not much more demand for ponies in the legal department.” Jamie pulled off her glasses and started cleaning them and placed them directly back onto the base of her snout. “I’m boring you girls with the details though; I’ll be quiet and let you two get back on with your day.” Jamie said as she turned around and started to walk off but quickly turned back and yelled something to the girls before galloping out of sight. “No sex! If you two have sex, I’m going to destroy both of you! Have an excellent date though girls! Au Revoir madams!” she screamed playfully making Twilight and Trixie blush as everypony passing them stopped to look. “I think we should get out of here now Trix, everypony is kind of you know, staring at us and it’s rather unnerving for me.” Twilight said, her blush was substantially rising by the moment. Trixie sighed, then nodded as they took off in a second, not knowing where their destination was, they just ran; soon enough ending up at the very same park Twilight and Celestia met up at earlier the other day. Twilight sighed and perked herself on a bench, looking around trying to spot a glimpse of Trixie, which she just couldn’t. ’What and excellent first date Sparkle! You just lost who you on the date with you dolt! How do you lose somepony so quickly?’ she asked herself as she saw Trixie slowly approaching her, with her horn emanating a small amount of magic, glowing a light blue, almost as azure as her. She sat down and levitated the flowers into her arms, slowly giving them over to Twilight, who was now starting to blush a bright and very hot red as she accepted the flowers, taking one of them and putting it into her mouth, as Trixie blushed slightly and giggled at her. Twilight looked up at Trixie as she playfully chewed the flower, “I love them Trixie, thank you.” Twilight managed to say as Trixie slowly ducked her head down, blushing immensely at having pleased her date this early on. “But don not worry me like you did, you should’ve told me you were going to go and do something though. But since you got me such beautiful flowers, I think I’ll let you off the hook this time, but you know how much I like to know things.” Twilight said, both of the giggling like little school-fillies, their laughs echoing through the park that was mostly unused anyways. Twilight looked up at Trixie who was still blushing; Twilight bent over to Trixie’s cheek and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek, increasing her blush infinitely more than when it was her who kissed Twilight. Twilight’s face held and sustained a happy expression as Trixie smiled too, her blush still showing through her light azure cheeks; Twilight loved it when Trixie blushed, she thought it added character and a dash of ponality to her, her old personality slowly melting away from Twilight’s mind, being replaced by the feelings that she felt for this one particular mare. Trixie managed to finally speak, “I thought we were heading somewhere Twilight, or has that big brain of yours finally given out?” Trixie said jokingly, making Twilight blush and chuckle nervously as she got up from the park bench. Trixie giggled at the mare’s strong personality, her dominant persona being the shy librarian and sheltered bookworm; but that’s one of the things Trixie loved about Twilight, her personality was so unique to a pony, no other pony sharing her passion for the literary arts. “No need to get all flustered Twilight, this is our special day. You don’t want to spend the entire day like this do you?” Trixie asked getting an awkward smile from Twilight making Trixie sigh loudly and roll her eyes at the lavender unicorn. “Do you want to spend this entire day in the park, or do you want to get out there and have some fun tonight!” Trixie said holding up a flyer for a concert in the commerce center that was in the middle of the gigantic metropolis, on it having a picture of everyone’s favorite DJ, Vinyl Scratch, or her better known stage name, DJ Pon-3. Twilight’s head perked up as she looked onto the flyer that Trixie was holding up with her magic, winking with her right eye and sticking her tongue out playfully at Twilight once again, Twilight taking the flyer with her own magic and scanning it in extreme amounts of detail. “They’re here, in town?!” she said as her voice filled with excitement, as Trixie’s ears perked up. “OH MY GOSH! I absolutely love these ponies! They have some of the best and most calming music I’ve ever heard! And they’re going to be live in concert tonight!” Trixie showed a slight hint of confusion in her face, as she took the flyer back and read the smaller print underneath the announcement for Vinyl Scratch. Octavia, Lyra, and an assortment of other ponies she’d never even heard of, and was rather shocked that Twilight knew all of them; but she wasn’t surprised to hear that the group was a classical music group. Trixie gave the flyer back and flashed two V.I.P. passes that allowed backstage access and front row seats in the concert, and even a moment on stage with the groups. Twilight’s eyes shot open and stared at the passes, as she embraced Trixie in a hug, her hooves and forelegs wrapping tightly around the azure mare, making Trixie wheeze slightly as Twilight let go and Trixie took a deep breath, symbolizing that Twilight had squeezed her a bit too hard, and she was desperately trying to readjust to being able to breathe again. Twilight understood what she’d done, “Oh sorry,” Twilight said wiping off Trixie’s coat and patted her on the back, trying to urge her to take deep breaths instead of short ones to catch her breath. Trixie’s breath finally caught up with her, as she smiled at Twilight, “You know, if you want this relationship to go anywhere, you might not want to put me in a death grip next time you try to hug me okay?” Trixie said, starting to chuckle nervously at Twilight, as Twilight ducked and blushed once again. “Anyways, I’ve had them for a while, I got them about three months ago, when the concert was first announced her in Manehattan in the theater downtown. I got the V.I.P passes, they were the only V.I.P. passes that they had, I was lucky to get them. That was back when I still had money, and had a good friend, but she moved away a while back, I kind of miss her, but she moved to Trottingham for her school studies, some sort of program that sent students into other cities to learn other cultures and such, I’m not all too familiar on the detail, but come on Twilight, I have two, there’s the classical music playing, wouldn’t you like to meet them face to face instead of just wishing about it when you’re listening to their music?” Trixie said as Twilight perked up her head again and nodded, both of them exchanging a smile and heading on to the coffee shop that was their original destination in the first place. When they got there, the store was heavily populated, more than Twilight would expect; just the other day with Celestia, the place was basically empty. “What the? This place must’ve really gotten popular since yesterday, it wasn’t this busy when me and Celestia where here just the other day, I just don’t understand how a place could get so popular in just a day!” Twilight exclaimed, noticing that there was a large crowd around the counter, but they weren’t there buying coffee, they were just huddled around a certain area, so Twilight, much to the dismay of Trixie, moved forward to see what all the commotion was about. She couldn’t believe what she saw, it was Octavia and Vinyl Scratch, and they were most likely caught buying coffee or tea, when a storm of fans came up and surrounded them. Twilight didn’t know why ponies just go up and bother famous people for no reason, and another thought came up; why didn’t they react like this to Celestia? Celestia is only the strongest magical being in all of Equestria, but she shook off the thoughts and approached the two mares, as they looked at Twilight, rather shocked to see her. Vinyl Scratch smiled at Twilight, “Well, hello there, it’s nice to see another unicorn around here, one that’s not stuck-up at least. No offense there Octy,” Vinyl Scratch said as she turned to Octavia who proceeded to shoot an unsurprised scowl back at the white, cocky unicorn who stuck her tongue out playfully back to the gray, stuck-up earth pony beside her. “Anyways, we were just randomly approached by a bunch of fans, I was pleasantly surprised when they all approached us, but it does get annoying when you just want to have a nice time with somepony you like. But yeah, that doesn’t matter now, who should I make the autograph out to?” Vinyl asked, Twilight still taken aback by the comment that Vinyl had made, Vinyl obviously taking notice given Twilight’s rather surprised and blank expression that was now plastering itself onto her face subconsciously. “Yes, me and Octy, rather big shocker to everypony for some reason, Octy can be stuck up, but I love the gal nonetheless.” Vinyl said, getting an embarrassed blush from Octavia, who turned away in embarrassment, making Vinyl roll her eyes at her. Twilight gathered her mind, “Oh no, I think it’s great, I really can see you two together, they say opposites attract you know?” Twilight said, getting a chuckle from both Octavia and Vinyl. Twilight sharing a smile with them, knowing she was now in the presence of one of her idols and her marefriend too. “I guess so,” Vinyl Scratch replied, “We should really meet up later, we have a concert in town about maybe, nine o’ clock, we’d love to meet you guys before we go on.” She said, as Trixie showed up and showed her the backstage passes as Vinyl Scratch smiled from cheek to cheek. “Well I’ll be damned, such interesting ponies, and if I must say, a rather cute and fitting couple.” Vinyl said, all four of them laughing, “Me and Octy will be looking forward to seeing you at the concert, we’d really like to get to know you mares better, you seem truly interesting.” Vinyl said grabbing her coffee and leaving the coffee shop and heading out back into the bustling streets of the large metropolis, seeming to disappear into the crowds of ponies that were on the streets. > Harmless Trip to Manehattan Part 5 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight smiled, having come face to face with her idol, let alone she’d be spending a night backstage with them! Twilight was subconsciously projecting her excitement; her horn was glowing a sparkly light violet color, Trixie taking notice in her date’s newfound excitement and decided to approach her in a gentle hug, making Twilight blush slightly. “Okay, okay, I know this is really a nerdy thing for me to do but I mean Octavia! I’ve been one of her biggest fans ever since I first heard how excellent she can put a piece of music together on that cello of hers, the music just flows like a certain kind second emotion. Every time I hear her music my troubles just melt all around me and everything in the world seems to just have an outlook for the better, I don’t know why but I guess I’m just like a humongous nerd and love that kind of music no matter who makes it.” Twilight said, her blush increasing as Trixie rolled her eyes at the mare and returned the gesture by sticking out her tongue and blowing a raspberry at Trixie. “Oh hush it you! It’s not like you can deny that you like what you like, given the fact that you are on a date with a nerdy lavender unicorn in a coffee shop in Manehattan, one of the most romantic atmospheric cities in all of Equestrian rule, and please put a muzzle on me or something because I can’t seem to shut the hay up.” Trixie rolled her eyes and chuckled at the mare, “Twilight Sparkle, you are the weirdest mare I have ever had the fortune to meet, besides that Jamie, buy she’s funny as all hay though so it’s okay.” Trixie said making Twilight roll her eyes in response and approach the counter of the coffee shop where a worker there had looked as if he hadn’t slept in quite some time. “Oh my, excuse us, but we’d like some coffee please.” Trixie said, the worker rolling his eyes. “You’re in a coffee shop, of course you want coffee; it’s not like we serve anything else here that’s worthwhile for you to but anyways, and if we did it wouldn’t matter because no pony even comes around this place.” The worker replied, taking both Trixie and Twilight aback at the stallion’s extremely rude remarks that he had been making. “Now tell me what kind of coffee you want or get the hay out of this coffee shop and find some pony that actually will be able to take some time out of his very busy and stressful day to actually give a damn about your problems.” “If that’s how you’re going to treat us, we can take out business elsewhere, you don’t have to be so rude to us not so kind sir, we are not idiots.” “Oh really? You both look like something my dog would regurgitate after it got into the garbage again, I’m sorry if I’ve offended you, now just get the hay out of the shop before I seriously start to get angry at you two.” The stallions remarked, as another larger pony, this one an older mare showed up behind him. “I told you countless times to not bother the customers, you are really starting to become more of a burden than you are worth son.” The older mare said as the young stallion turned to the older mare, that they now knew was his mother, in disgust. “If your freaking customers didn’t look like something you’d find in a public restroom, maybe I wouldn’t have to make such remarks, and if you didn’t hire your own kids to run the freaking shop, maybe you wouldn’t have them getting in every pony’s face and you could be happy, I could have a life, and your stupid customers would have their damn coffee!” The young stallion remarked, the older mare starting to get agitated by the young stallion’s rude remarks and arrogance. “You do not talk to me like that! I am your mother and you will treat me with respect and you will do as I say when I say it!” she yelled back at him, their simple little disagreement was now turning into an all-out argument and war between the two ponies. Twilight and Trixie looked at the two confused, just waiting for their argument to be over so they could get out of there as fast as they could so they could get away from the loud yelling of the two ponies. But their arguing didn’t die down, they continued to be at each other’s throats for five minutes until Twilight finally decided to intervene into their argument, which Trixie tried to stop her from doing. “You two…” Twilight began, their arguing was now echoing throughout the entire little coffee shop, reverberating off of the very walls of the little shop. “Oh it’s just soooo easy isn’t it! I have to pay for your food, your school, and even when you go out with your little friends which I don’t like you hanging out with in the first place!” The mother pony yelled at her son, making him move back and change his face to one of anger towards her. “You know what, you are really getting on my freaking nerves mother, I could be out having a life right now, but no, you are making me work in this stupid freaking coffee shop! Why the hay is this even still open, we don’t get any damn customers around here, so it’s a miracle that you even still own the damned lease to this building!” the stallion remarked back. “If I may say something that will make your argument stop…” Twilight said lowly as she was again cut off by the arguing mother and son, their argument intensifying by the moment as they were literally in each other’s faces and at each other’s throats. “Oh so now I’m the evil one here! You wouldn’t even be alive if it weren’t for me you ungrateful little stallion!” “Don’t be so full of yourself mom! Don’t think that you’re the best mare in all of Manehattan and what you are doing is the best example of parenting that Equestria has ever seen! I just want to go out with my friends, go on a date with my marefriend, and have you leave me the hay alone! You’re constantly smothering me with all of this motherly love stuff, I’m not a foal anymore, I can make my own decisions!” “You wouldn’t have what you do today if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have a home, you wouldn’t have food, and you wouldn’t have a damn thing without me of your father! Don’t think that you can address me without respect just because you think that you’re old enough to start making your own life decisions! You are nowhere near mature enough to comprehend what life will throw at you, and you won’t be until you quit it with that dreadful arrogance of yours!” “Arrogance?! At least I’m not the one tooting my own horn half the time!” “Why you! Don’t you address your mother like that young man!” “I’ll address you however the hay I want to old lady!” “QUIT IT!” Twilight finally yelled having had enough of the two’s endless arguing, as the two stopped their argument in its tracks to look at the lavender mare. “Seriously, you two are at each other’s throats, and for what? Okay, the young colt there shouldn’t be addressing you like that, but don’t you think that you maybe are smothering him a little? You’re making him work in the shop, and it’s something that he doesn’t really want to do, so if you make him keep doing it, he’s going to grow to hate this place and all work in general.” Twilight said, making the mother mare look down at the young colt in embarrassment. “And you shouldn’t be talking to your mother like that,” Twilight said to the young colt as he rolled his eyes, “I’m aware that you may have friends, but not everything in life is based around what your friends are doing, and your friends don’t make your future for you, that’s a job for you and your own actions and decisions in life. And without respect you’ll grow apart from your family, and you don’t want that, if you grow a part from your family it only hurts yourself, and your parents. Just put yourself in each other’s shoes, if you were his age you’d be a bit rambunctious as well, and if you were older, you’d want your foal to make a better life for themselves so that they wouldn’t have to settle with working in a little barely open coffee shop that almost no pony knows about.” The mother and her young colt looked at each other and sighed, “Alright, alright, Celestia warned us about you and your little ‘intellectual outbursts’ but right now, that outburst is just what we needed. We’ve been really stressing over this shop lately, the lease on the building has increased and we can barely afford the basic necessities both inside and outside of the shop. But Celestia contacted us telling us that she’d like this to be her own personal coffee shop, and she said that she’ll send however much we need to keep the shop running.” The mare said looking down, and spinning herself around, exposing her flank which just showed a large coffee cup on it. “That’s very nice of Celestia to do; I mean to help such an excellent group of ponies when they’re struggling like this.” Twilight said as the mare turned back around and faced Twilight with a look of uncertainty on her face. “We turned down the money; we didn’t want to be like one of those greedy larger shop owners that take money from all these external sources just to fill their wallets at the end of the months, so we didn’t take the princess’ bailout money. It just wouldn’t feel right for us to, but enough about our everyday problems, what can we get you nice mares today?” She asked with sincerity in her voice. “I’ll take what I had yesterday, except I’d like a nice shot of java and espresso to it, I feel like I really need the extra kick today.” Twilight said as the mare behind the counter giggled. “Confusing day huh?” “You don’t even know the half of it,” Trixie replied putting her left foreleg around Twilight’s neck, making her duck down and blush as the mare giggled giddily at the two mares. “I’ll take a large frappe with two shots of espresso, two shots of cream, extra sugar, and Manehattan roast coffee beans please.” “Alright, this one’s on the house considering that you’ve helped settle an issue that has been driving most of the business away,” the mare said as she pointed over to the young colt who rolled his eyes and scoffed cockily. “Get these two mares’ orders done and you can take the rest of the day off then you crazy little colt.” She said as the colt’s ears perked up and he ran around the small back of the coffee shop frantically trying to finish the orders having been given the offer to leave after the coffees were made. “That is the fastest that little colt has ever moved before, and he says that he has sore joints whenever we go somewhere he doesn’t want to be.” “Hey, I have chronic lethargy, it’s not my fault. Sore joints I think is arthritis, and I have you and pops to thank for that one.” The young colt said, putting the coffees up to the window, “Here is your coffee, can I go now mom? My friends wanted to meet up with me hours ago.” He asked, as his mother rolled her eyes and nodded. “Alright!” he yelled as he threw off his apron and ran out the door faster than any pony could even blink. “Well, that was… different. Certainly not something any pony expects out of a day, and not certainly what I expected to be doing today.” Twilight said taking a sip of the coffee, it tasted horrible, but she knew that the colt didn’t like doing what he was, so she kept drinking the coffee for the sake of, she has had quite the random day today and really needed the extra boost to her mood. “Certainly no, but I have a feeling that we close up shop for the day, I really need some time to relax away from this accursed shop as well. I thank you mares for coming, and I ask that you may come back another time.” The mare said as she started to put away the items spread across the counter. “Yes, thank you for the coffee though, we appreciate it.” Twilight said lowly, as they started to leave the shop, leaving the older mare inside to clean up around her work area and walk out behind them. “Well that certainly was rather strange, wasn’t it Trixie?” Twilight asked as she threw her coffee in the trash, unable to stomach the horrible tasting coffee any longer. “Yes, but at least we managed to kill some time in there; it appears that the show starts in about two hours now. Don’t ask, because I have not a clue how much time we spent in there, and I truly don’t want to know anyways.” Trixie replied, following in the hoofsteps of her date and also throwing away the terrible coffee that that young colt had made for them. “Wow, we sure managed to kill quite some time in there, but I suppose we should probably start making our way to where the event is going to take place, I have a feeling that if we get there early, we won’t have to worry about every pony and their grandmare to be there.” Twilight said, as they started making their way down the sidewalk, but they were wrong, even just going right outside there was traffic in the streets trying to find their ways to the large commercial center where the concert was taking place. “Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” Twilight exclaimed as she tried to wade through the crowds of ponies that were filling the sidewalks and streets. “It’s still two hours till the show, and already there are five hundred million ponies making their way to the place, oh the irony of the situation that we’re now in.” “Yeah, well you have to remember that these are some of the two most wanted to see ponies in all of Equestria right now Twilight. There’s going to be quite the buzz around the town until the show starts in about an hour and a half you know. And don’t give me any of that smart girl stuff Twilight; nothing that you riddle me will take away from the truth of this situation at hoof.” Trixie said as Twilight sighed still tried to wade her way through the hordes of ponies that were still crowding up the sidewalk, to almost no prevail. “I just wish that this traffic would move along, I’m seriously not patient in these kinds of situations, and I really don’t want to sit here waiting lost in a crowd of ponies until we are finally able to move on to go inside the center and actually start to enjoy this mish-mash of a random day. But hay, we don’t have anything better to do at the moment, so I suppose that waiting in this traffic will give us something to do while we wait. I mean the show doesn’t start for a while, so maybe this waiting isn’t so bad.” Twilight said as her eyes scanned around, “Okay never mind this is horrible and I really just want to get to the concert hall and enjopy the rest of our day to the point that hopefully nothing else extremely random happens to us putting us in random situations.” Twilight said, making Trixie giggle. “It’s almost as if we’re in a horribly written romantic comedy isn’t it? I mean the random events, the stupidity of a large city getting into the minds of us, but I mean really, what are the odds that the assumption I’ve just made is anywhere near the truth. But it does make sense nonetheless.” Trixie said as Twilight stood looking dumbfounded at the azure mare who proceeded to look away from Twilight to try and hide her shame from saying something as idiotic as she just had in front of her date. “Trixie, you are a really confusing mare sometimes, let’s just get inside and hurry up, get backstage, talk with our idols and conclude this day before we both start to go insane from anything else random shoving itself into our otherwise uneventful day that could’ve been so much better if you would’ve actually let me put together a plan for the day instead of doing whatever the hay we wanted to on any random whim that we got.” Twilight said as she approached the backstage access door with Trixie reluctantly following behind her, what could possibly go wrong now? ------- Author's notes: A chapter released on time? Oh joy, I just got over a writing block in this story, and will continue it to the finish in about two more chapters, enjoy the chapter guys.