Hippo

"My lips are fine and healthy, thank you very much." Applejack rolled her eyes as the fancy unicorn gave her best Rarity impression. Applejack could understand the persnickety perspective of a pretty pony like Moonlight, but she knew who the real fashionista pony in Equestria was. "It's just that you asked for no apples with red skin, and here I thought you liked things with red skin." She punned towards Moonlight as the winking competition continued. Having fallen in love with a pegasus pony herself, Applejack knew that there was an interesting element involved in having a relationship that close with a pony with wings. Something about the idea that they could fly away from you but don't, was internally one of the most romantic things an earth pony could feel. Or unicorn, in Moony's case.

"Five bits is the fairest price for the fairest pony." Applejack leaned into Moonlight's attitude. While waiting for Moonlight to dig her coltfriend's money out of her purse, Applejack slyly expressed, "Where would you like me to kiss you? I'm trying to find a spot where Remington hasn't already done the deed, but I'm having trouble figuring out where that would be."

The brown earth pony perked at the sound of her newest customer offering to pay for the lavender. "Great! It's three bits for a bundle. And one bit for a pouch of lavender seeds if you'd like them for your garden." Granola reached down and scooped some lavender seeds from her cache into a small fabric pouch used for seed carrying and tied it up with its drawstrings. She set the pouch on the table.

As she listened to the golden-maned unicorn express her ignorance, Granola responded with unbridled energy. "I thought you looked new around here! Where did you come from? How long have you been here?" Granola sometimes had a horrible knack for asking personal questions at ponies she barely knows, but this time the pony seemed nice enough to oblige an answer to her curiosity. "Lotta of ponies been moving to Ponyville lately, this place is booming!" A kirin from the other side of Granola's table motioned to her attention. Without haste, Granola grabbed a pouch from underneath the table, similar to the one she had for her new customer, except larger, and gave it to the kirin. In return, the kirin tossed Granola six bits for the transaction. The kirin approached daily to get their seed orders, and Granola always made sure she had them ready. After the kirin walked off, Granola turned back to the unicorn. "A lot of non-ponies, too!"

Zareb saw an assistant who was motioned in by the Prince to grab the zebra's sacks. He had on him a saddle bag, and then also a large bag full of his stuff. The large bag was taken off his back to his physical relief, but he worried what would happen with his personal belongings. He decided to trust the help since he was probably among friends. Listening to the unicorn's explanation, Zareb knew that Twilight had become the ruler over Equestria and leader of the free and harmonious lands expanding beyond it, but he hadn't considered that the princess would have to forfeit her influence over the school itself. He was a little let down. This unicorn prince was probably in charge for good reason, having earned the respect of his peers and appointed by more valuable councilmares who entrust him to do the work that Twilight Sparkle began. But, he really was hoping to meet Twilight Sparkle today, or maybe even one of the other five mares of harmony. He was sure he would meet them eventually.

"I didn't realize so much had changed. I knew about the great battle for Equestria, but I hadn't expected it to affect the school." He looked around the castle again, admiring the insides of the ceilings and decorative gemstone-plated walls. "You treat all new students like this? Well, I guess now you get to share it with one that is not a pony." He smiled, assuming all of the students thus far had been ponies. He was well aware of the atypical nature of having a zebra attend a school in Ponyville would be, but hadn't been given the enlightenment that the small Equestrian village had come a long way from only trafficking ponies in its inns and markets.

Silverstream was a little confused as to why things around her seemed to be a little dysfunctional, but once Applejack had left, the archchancellor seemed to have the right idea in mind and began delegating orders to everyone around him. His tone of voice did not leave room for any negotiating, but it also didn't offer any reason to. "Oh. Um, OK." Silverstream hovered towards the pile of treadmill parts and looked around at all of them. She was bewildered. Gallus had asked her in jest if she had read anything about cider presses. "No, nothing about cider presses, I'm not sure I can be much of help."

Silverstream began rummaging through the parts and pulled out some tools such as a screwdriver, wrench and hammer. She taloned to Gallus the wrench. "This is a quarter-hoof wrench, we can't use it. We need at least three-eighths-hoof wrench, preferable one that ratchets. See if you can find one over there, Gallus." She pointed in the rubble closer to Gallus. She had no idea what she was doing, but she still knew how to identify the parts she was seeing. "I can see a rubber mallet, too. This claw hammer I have wont do us any good with these parts, they look mostly wooden. Wouldn't want to splinter any new parts." She threw the hammer to the side and started looking at the integrity of the parts. A few rummages of her claws later, and she pulled out a cog which had cracked teeth. "This looks like it might need to be replaced. Anyone know where we can get some wood?" She asked in a short radius, not giving pun to the idea that literally thousands of trees where lined up in an organized grid for as far as the eye could see.

Having the basket magically taken from her, she returned her frown into a smile as the friendly unicorn mare offered to attempt weaving it with her minor telekinesis abilities. As the weaving continued, banter about individual talents were passed back and forth between them. "Yes, rosemary as it's commonly called. But for stress relief? That one is easy!" Granola disappeared under her table and returned quickly with a bundle of lavender in her mouth. She set the bundle on the table towards the unicorn. "Lavandula angustifolia, or lavender as most people call it. You can crush the flower spikes and use it in baths or even cooking. You might already have lavender in your soaps and don't even know it! But using more would definitely help decompress from a long day with energetic screaming foals." Granola chuckled.

As she invited the unicorn to inspect the lavender, she returned to what she had mentioned prior to the question on stress relief. "Oh, so you're a school teacher?" Granola scoffed in agreement when the mare mentioned the lack of enthusiasm from the fillies and colts that were coming of age. "I was asked a few moons ago to give a lecture at the school of friendship. When I did, it was mostly fine, but I didn't expect so many different kinds of students with so many different perspectives. It was kind of intimidating. At least for me. I have no teaching talents, but I'm sure you would be way better than I was."

Luna observed the crackles in the imaginary campfire. The sparks and glowing embers seemed chaotic while at the same time completely predictable. The longer she waited, the more likely the fire would snap its quiet rage. "Do you think you're unique in that regard?" Luna tilted her head to the side, giving Pyro a little intellectual pressure. "I think everyone struggles with acting out while they are angry. And everyone is responsible for controlling their own emotions. But sometimes your friends can help." Luna magically spawned a fresh wooden log and carefully placed it in the fire, spewing embers for a moment before succumbing the slow roll of flame. "Pyro, why do you let yourself get so angry?"

Bluebelle's mode of speaking was not typical and Silverstream would struggle with deciphering some of the syntax she would speak. She was very formal about the way she presented her remarks, but the tone was often hard to discern. Silverstream chuckled lightly and rubbed the back of her head. "Heh, yeah. Half a dozen, that would be crazy. Who has time for that!?"

Silverstream had successfully dodged her own desires to express herself, but for the time being she had a tangent that allowed her to delay it even more. Smolder asked about her brother Terramar, and the possibility of him coming to Ponyville to study, and do other things that did not involve study. "Oh yeah, I think he wants to come, but Mom and Dad don't want him to until he is a little older. Next year at the earliest, I think. Why?" Silverstream paused and then made a goofy smile. "Do you like my little brother?"

As Moonlight explored his room, he was nervous about what she would find. It seemed like she was looking for something in particular. Sweat started beading down his brow when Moonlight glanced at different corners of his room. Was there too much dust? Was she checking for spider webs? Why is this so nerve-wrecking. "Oh yeah, Miracle. Yeah she's a hoot." Remington returned the tone to his friend. When she picked up his guitar he wondered if she was going to play something, but instead teased him about a possible music profession he had aspired. "Oh, um, yeah I dabble. I'm actually not that good though, I'm just trying to learn." He hoped she didn't ask him to play anything, because after six months of casual strumming and musing, he hadn't even mastered songs with two chords. Then she commented on his Princess Luna poster. He hadn't thought it odd but now that she mentioned it, he wondered if it was a bit much. He failed to see her words as plain teasing though. He smiled, but died a little inside. "You don't like Princess Luna?"

When she asked about gym, she sat on his non-roommate's desk chair. He immediately noticed her hoof wrapped up. "No flying today, we played this new game no one understood except this one guy who was basically a professional. Hey, is that like a new hoof style or," Remington approached her realizing how she was favoring her hoof. "Are you hurt?"

What a mare she had grown into. Moonlight was a catch, even Applejack was smitten by her ability to be an amazing cousin. It seemed like yesterday she was showing an orange foal around the farm to do chores that would nearly kill them. Most ponies got word that magic help turn this pony into the dazzler she is now, but Applejack knew good that hard-workin' tough-lovin' apple-eatin' earth pony magic had a huge role to play in who she became. And she was still so young, too. How many more healthy sore muscles could Applejack squeeze out of Moonlight before the age of time took them both too far to play that traditional farm pony game?

And such was a pony who matured before Applejack's eyes, Moonlight had places to be and boyfriends to cuddle with, she meant business. "No red skin apples?" She looked at her mostly depleted inventory. "I have a bushel of golden delicious, but too many of them got bruises. I have about half a bushel of ginger golds. How about I jus' take out the bruises golden delicious and give you a mix bushel." Applejack didn't hesitate for Moonlight to agree with her. In the event the pretty unicorn was not satisfied with such a suggestion, Applejack would find ways for her to conform to her sales pitch. She began tossing golden delicious apples that had been bruised and partially smashed into a spare bucket, and tossed the rest of the golden delicious apples that would survive a good week on the shelf with the ginger golds. "If you ever can't tell the two apart, ginger golds are a brighter yella and they have a more tart taste to them than golden delicious."

Applejack finished piling up the bushel of apples, trying to make it as generous as possible for her favorite cousin. "Why do you need so many apples? Do you really need to study that much? Or is this for two ponies?" Applejack smirked. "You know, I learned form Rainbow Dash that pegasus ponies don't burn as many calories as you think they would. You wouldn't want to make the poor guy fat feeding him apples now would you?"

"Zap Apple? Oh that name is so adorable!" Silverstream turned to Zap, her pupil's enlarged and glossy. "You hungry, little guy?"

Zap seemed indifferent overall. He was being torn by his emotions and his excitement and didn't really know how to feel. The film was still very upsetting to him. He might have nightmares about it, or even scary daydreams that make him stressed. He still wasn't satisfied with being foalsat by a griffin, especially one that smelled funny. Zap had been pressured to deal with him, but still didn't trust him completely. And then there was the angel. The pink birdy. Zap was really fascinated with Silverstream. She was very pretty, had a lighthearted profile and stance, and had a bubbly personality that made his heart float. She wasn't as brash or as athletically attractive as his mother, but he was entranced by the hippogriff's ability to charm him. "Mmhmm."

Silverstream followed Gallus into the kitchen. "No manticores, but you should have seen it! There were some amazing waterfalls and forests with big trees, caves that had millions of bats in it. It was crazy! Fortunately though I just flew over all the danger." Silverstream was interrupted of her trip by the realization that Gallus was cooking something. "You know how to cook!? What did you make?" While Silverstream asked and listened, she went looking into the cupboards for a toolbox.

Zap sat in the living room, letting his teared-up cheeks air dry. He could see the winged students in the kitchen talking amongst themselves about something he didn't care about. And when he turned his head, he could see the front door of the house wide open. He started thinking about what would happen if he left right now. Would he find his mothers? Could he safely hover to the ground without getting hurt?

When he had peaked through the double doors at the castle's entrance, no one was there to greet him. It seemed odd at first that the door was unlocked in the first place. His imagination of a place like Canterlot was full of descriptions of heavy guarded towers, security details around the clock, and constant surveillance during nighttime activity. It was midday, and Ponyville, but he at least expected a guard pony to check his paperwork. Where Zareb was from, the threat of constant invasion of aggressive animals species and misunderstood tribes was never an afterthought. As primitive as some of the smaller villages were, even those that didn't have the means of massive structural resources, a wooden gate with a zebra holding a spear was the least you would come across. But this was Ponyville, and his expectations continued to evolve.

He walked into the castle slowly, checking around him to make sure he wasn't violating any rules of engagement. Instead of looking diligently for a poster that would share such rules, he found himself amazed at the structural design of the walls. Everything was crystalline in natural, almost as if the several millennia of time had sculpted the castle into existence itself. Nothing was straight, but it didn't need to be, it found a way to symmetrical even when the jagged gem-like pillars randomly jutted out of the shiny floors. This was Ponyville right? Not the Crystal Empire? Zareb began considering the possibility he had gotten off the wrong stop, but suddenly, a white unicorn stallion wearing a crimson red suit softly stepped in front of him and greeted him, first in Zareb's native language, and then again in the common tongue.

Impressed by the unicorn's ability to speak as if he was familiar with Unyasian culture, he responded quickly with a typical parable. "Kichaka kina miiba, lakini mimi ni mchanga." He smiled. "I've never traveled so far in my life, but I'm still willing to go further." Zareb looked around, gesturing with his curiosity of the place he was in. "Is this the right place? I have arrived to be apart of Princess Twilight Sparkle's school of friendship."

"Been doing so ever since I decided to start my own flora laboratory. Everypony who's anypony has a greenhouse, right?" Not everypony had a greenhouse. "But not everypony has a workshop where they dedicate themselves to tap into the different kinds of plants and how we can better understand them. For instance, did you know that the stems of rosemarinus officionalis can help relieve sore muscles?" Granola was excited that this pony seemed to engage in her discussions of plants to this extent. Typically, by the time she started spitting out the old ponish terms for the items she surrounds herself with, the ponies she's talking to would start ignoring her and walk away.

Having been relieved that the customer was not, in fact, a potential rival in the growing market, Granola had to guess what kind of pony she was. "So you have a ring of flowers as a cutie mark, but not really for flowers." Cutie marks were sometimes a direct correlation to a pony's destined occupation, but more often than not, the symbols had an ambiguity to them that could not easy be discerned over with a few words. "Do you make things into circles?" Granola grabbed an unwoven basket beneath her table. "Because if so, I have this basket that I'm trying to weave into a circle, but I can't... seem...to...get...it...to...stay..." Granola was forcing the weaves of the basket to take a rounder shape, but it bounced back to its triangular resting state, snapping several twigs, sending them harmlessly flying everywhere in a three meter radius. "...round."

updated 7/31/2020.

"What kind of flowers do you need?" Granola mused. "Go ahead. I have many types of flowers. And I even have some common roots and vegetable saplings if you need something you want to sink your teeth into." The brown earth pony held up a basket full of assorted cut grasses and weeds. "I have some canarygrass here, its very tasty. One bit for a bundle, and I have some seeds for it too, if you're interested in growing it yourself, but it takes a lot of space." Granola continued to suggestive sell her goods to the curious unicorn, but she paused to let her newest customer decide what she wanted. While she paused, she took notice of the unicorn's appearance. She had never seen this mare before. Was she new to Ponyville?

Granola took notice of the customer's flank and got a good look at her cutie mark. She leaned forward and stared a little closer, possibly appearing rude to those who had no idea what she was doing. "Ah yes, lilies. Genus lilium, species candidum, to be exact." She remarked on the flower type that was magically adorned on Angelis. "Are you a flower grower, too?" Granola question, wondering if this new customer of hers happened to be of the faction of ponies that rivaled her in the marketplace just down the road.

Luna lifted her head and caressed her chin with a wing tip as Pyro explained his talents. "Hmm." She folded her wing back to her side. As the unicorn began explaining himself and his talents, Luna started using her magic to manipulate more of the space around her, removing artificial structures and replacing them with the natural growth of trees and grass. Soon, wooden beams would become fallen logs in a forest, stage lights hung above turned into owls and other tree critters, and crowds of frozen ponies turned into bushes and rocks. Over the course of thirty seconds, the event tent concert stage was erased into what one might see if they ventured for half a day into the darkest parts of the Everfree, and it became really dark.

Suddenly, Luna lit her horn and started a small fire at her tip, some sort of fire magic, perhaps the same kind Pyro wielded. Her blue complexion glowed against the lone candlelight emanating from her horn. "Fire used to be considered an illusion." Luna held an imaginary candle with holder and zapped the fire from her horn to the candle's wick. "It lights up, it seems to have some sort of energy, but you can't grab it or weigh it. You can only control it by changing where the fire sits. And of course," Luna throws the candlestick to the ground, where it bursts into a larger flame on the ground, "the first does not always obey our expectations." Luna used a calming spell from her horn on the fire and transformed it into a tamed campfire that would occasionally snap it's chaotic sparks. The princess materialized a few wooden logs and softly placed them in the campfire to kindle it. "But if we learn to respect it, it will allow us to use its energy for our needs." She sat back on her haunches near the fire and then proceeded to collapse her front hooves to maintain a forward reclining position.

She smiles. "Of course, you know all this don't you, Pyro. So why is it you deal with fears that you will not be able to control your own fire magic? I can't imagine you dream about these nightmarish scenarios if you hadn't felt the danger of a lack of respect of the fire we both know you're very good at wielding."

Princess Luna casually used her magic to cause elements of the environment to slowly fade away, but the dreamer had her complete visual attention. "That depends on what you mean by here. Why are you here? Do you even know where you are?" Luna motioned to her side where one of the wooden beams used to hold the tent up swirled into nothingness. "Honestly, I'm not so worried about where either of us are in reality. But I'm very concerned with where you are emotionally."

Princess Luna had her fair share of anger issues. Even this evening while preparing for her nightly routine, she had been effected by inconveniences that gave her irrational bouts of frustration. And when she would overreact, it typically seemed to chain more events in which her temper would be tested. "You're dreaming, Pyro. Dreaming about many things, not the least of which is your inability to control your emotions. Tell me, when you are not dreaming, are you as talented at conjuring fire as you are when your mind's eyes are drawing fantasies during your slumber?"

Granola Gracie faced a lot of fierce competition. Every time she set up shop at the Ponyville Marketplace, the so-called 'flower mares' always cornered the market on pretty-looking flowers. It forced Granola to cater to more interesting means of plant-selling gestures. Her cart of goods would have a few flowers on them, the usual roses, a few bundles of tulips, and the ever-so-inviting towering sunflowers. But she also featured more exotic options like cacti from Appleloosa, snowvines from the mountain tops in Yakyakistan, and a well-matured venus flytrap that seemed to take the center stage. She might not have the heavy hitters, but if you needed something strange that grew from the ground, chances were Granola Gracie was your mare.

She didn't attempt to sell things in the market every day. Most days, she investigated new plants and researched on better methods of cultivating them. She had contracts and deals with many farmers in the area in order to help their plant growth, cooperative weather from the pegasi notwithstanding. Unfortunately, she felt that the art of plant-rearing wasn't as interesting to the next generation of ponies as she thought it should be. Maybe some day she would have the opportunity to impart her wisdom to students eager to learn about all things botany.

With many ponies passing her cart, she started trying to make small talk to strangers that passed by. "Need any special fertilizer for your cabbages? I got it! Tired of the same countertop flowers? I have just what you need! If you don't see it, I probably have it somewhere in my shack. Don't be afraid to ask questions." Granola spotted a yellow unicorn within an earshot of her table. "Hey you, you lookin' for some companionship in a seedling today?"

He got off the train in Ponyville, carrying only his saddlebag. Many ponies continued giving him a few strange looks. Some were rude, but most were just curious. He had gotten used to it by now. Before he left, they had told him he might not be accepted at first, but given the chance, most ponies in Equestria are inviting and friendly. It was a good thing he was considered an expert at making friends by everyone he knew well. Were zebras really that rare? Zareb thought.

He made his way towards Ponyville proper and out of the humble landscape, could see the star of the castle spearing into the sky. It towered over everything, including the town hall. Zareb looked at his paper instructions and made steps to what he presumed was Twilight's Castle. Would he see the Princess today? He hoped so, but he also knew that Equestria had changed in a good way, and many of the Princess' tasks forced her to Canterlot where Equestria was ruled from. Maybe one day he would visit there, too.

He approached the castle from it's grassy front yard and looked up at it. "Ngome kubwa," he muttered to himself, basking in the glory that was the crystalline fortress. He saw what looked like the school in the corner of his eye, adorning it's famous waterfall collection. He wondered why he was asked to come here first. Outside the castle, there were no guards. So he walked up the steps at opened the big front door himself. He peeked inside. "Hello?"

It had been a good day. Applejack had avoided disaster and made profit in a situation that could have been a loss due to mismanagement. But her and her family's wits always kept them afloat, even when it required heartstrings to be pulled. The orange mare had sold apples by the bushel, selling out of nearly all the excess apples they had. It was a good thing the remaining inventory would not be heavy, as she was getting tired by the late afternoon burn of her muscle's aches and pains. But she was a strong one. Despite her years on the farm, this aging pony was not going to easily let the labor she endured every day on the farm for several decades keep her from fulfilling her apple sale duties all the way until the end of the day. But thanks to her depleting energy level, that moment was coming to a close very soon.

The line for apples and kisses had disappeared. The citizens of Equestria could only handle so much apple kissing, but she figured more would come the next day to assume the sale would continue. Fortunately for her chapped lips and the hearts of her family, the sale would not continue tomorrow and hopefully never again. Applejack started packing up some of the non-essentials in order to make end of day routine checks easier. But any remaining customers still had time before the farm pony's lips would be locked away forever.

Her back was turned when Moonlight stepped up to the stand. She overheard the pink unicorn remark on Apple Bloom's heart which by all recognition seemed to have floated off to space. Applejack turned forward. "Heh heh, yeah. She'll get over it. Business has been great." Applejack chuckled at her cousin's assumptions and teases. Word must have gotten to the school where undoubtedly several hundred teenage creatures expressed how hilarious they thought an applekiss might be, but then internally daydreamed about kissing their crushes in the school's halls. "Ain't no secret ah'm afraid. Just sellin' apples. It's always about apples." If she needed to, Applejack could express her ability to make Rainbow Dash do whatever she wanted with a cold mug of cider, and the fact that she named her first son after the famed zany apple variety that grew miraculously on the farm. It was always about apples. Always.

"What about you? Shouldn't you be swoonin' over that coltfriend of yours?" She chuckled at the joke she had just thought of. "Did you...  did you run out of things to ask him to do for you? Heh heh heh." Implying that Remington had Moonlight wrapped around his hoof was an inside joke Applejack had with Moonlight, and she always like to think that he was practically a slave to her unmistakable beauty.

Remington smiled at the professor and the rest of the class. The object lesson was definitely interesting, and didn't require a stuffy room with four walls and uncomfortable desks. If every class was like this, he was going to enjoy going to school here. And even if every other session was in a stuffy room, being able to relate and converse every day with this new pink unicorn he was lucky enough to be partnered with would make up the difference, and then some. He was playfully smacked by her tail as she walked around him and looked at him. His vision saw blurs, but his heart could see beauty, and it began pumping double time. "Thanks." Remington said, his face burning rose red.

Rainbow Dash appreciated the work her students had done, although maybe she was being easy on her the first day on purpose. Remington figured she might be the kind of teacher that would stress hard work, but in-between difficult lessons be treated with a lecture on how to take it easy. But today, she asked them about loyalty, and no creature was eager enough yet to speak up. And then she hovered on Moonlight and him and asked what they learned. Remington nervously swallowed. "Um, I guess sometimes it's hard to trust someone else, but you have to if you can't rely on your own sense to guide you. And even if you help someone else who trusts you and you initially fail, added loyalty can provide a way for both of you to end up succeeding. Without my partner's loyalty to me, I might not have had the confidence to find our way." Remington rubbed his eyes. "Even blind-folded, she could see what needed to be done more than I could." He chuckled.

Seeing Apple Bloom pass by Tempest without batting too much of an eye assured Fluttershy that her fears could be kept away for now. She often pulled the trigger on freaking out about ponies she did not feel comfortable with, but seeing as there were others around gave her a peace of mind. "Hello, Apple Bloom. Lovely to see you today. Elizabeak should be in her coop. I know how much you love feeding her."

Fluttershy took in the detailed explanation from Tempest. "I... don't think timberwolves have ever been tamed." She feared she might be sounding rude. "And I don't know too much about them, but I'm sure I can try to help." Fluttershy turned her body and faced the serene landscape of the sanctuary. "Feel free to explore around a little bit. If you see a critter you like or are curious about one of them, don't be shy and feel free to ask me or Apple Bloom. In fact, I bet Apple Bloom has more experience with timberwolves than I do." She motioned to Tempest an encouraging motion to walk further into the ravine. "I'll be back with you shortly."

The yellow pegasus walked towards the white unicorn who seemed to have a joyous expression, but her eyes were glossed. "Hello. How can I help you? Did you come to see, I mean experience the sanctuary?"

Apple Chord smirked and expressed a disappointing reaction to Azure's explanation of her role. It seemed a lot more plastic than she was expecting. She looked at Coloratura who followed with a question on her would-be future had she not given up touring. "Oh, well. Probably a lot like you. I would still have great life experiences to be sure, but at the expense of the farm and family I came from. In a way that experience would be troubled by regrets of the past. I'm sure a mare like yourself it works for you jus' fine! But little ol' me? I grew up and lived my entire life on a farm and the whole life experience that came with it. My life experience was given to me the day I was born. My only options were to stick to it, or abandon it for some dazzled phony covermare pigeon hole that burns up the moment the industry doesn't like my music. The decision was more simple than washin' the side of the barn with a garden hose."

She continued with what might be taken as a snide remark. "Why, if I had taken that more famed path, I'd probably be just like you and hire somepony to be my sister!" She chuckled, giving a suggestion that Azure had been hired for her companionship more so than her ability to help her employer make music.

Silverstream was excited for Gallus. She felt a little slighted she wasn't asked first to foalsit one of the professors' kids, but she was glad the griffin might be assigned something that would require him to loosen his feathers a little. She had found out he was doing the task when they were studying in the library the afternoon before, and wanted to be with him to help him, even if she wasn't invited. So she decided to wake up extra early in order to deliver the pie Applejack had asked her to send. When she finished the delivery, she hurried back to Ponyville and looked for Rainbow Dash's cloud above where she assumed Gallus would still be.

Silverstream beamed her patented wide smile, which was much larger than it normally was, and it was normally pretty wide. When Gallus opened the door, she saw Gallus and squealed. "Heeee! I made it Gallus! I was able to complete the delivery to Goldie Delicious' for Applejack and be back in time to help you!" The hippogriff had the appearance of a creature who had seen some action. Her mane was a little frazzled with a leaf here and there caught in her locks, and smudges of dirt had smeared on a couple of her limbs seemingly in an inadvertent fashion, but she was still presentable for the most part.

Silverstream slipped passed Gallus and flew into the cloudominium. "Where is he?" She looked left and right and then down before seeing the sights and sounds of the crying Zap Apple. She hovered to a landing. "Aw, what's wrong? Why is he crying?" Silverstream looked at Gallus and briefly guessed he probably didn't have the maternal instincts to cover such an explanation. She leaned over Zap. "What's wrong?"

Zap didn't really have a good barometer in order to express why he was so upset. The way Gallus treated his misery seemed to suggest Zap just needed to grow up and didn't require him to feel anything but slight embarrassment. So he couldn't speak his mind honestly, but he instead uttered nonsensical words to express what replaced the wailing and crying he did seconds before. "Eheeww, heee, hahhh, wahhhahhahh. *sniff* hehhhhh heh."

Silverstream hugged him as he recovered from his session of crying. "It's okay, little guy. It's going to be alright."

Zap then looked up at Silverstream for the first time, seeing the happy loving cheery expression on her face, the pink hues reminding him of the fascinating pink bird from earlier and comforting his soul with the peace of mind from what seemed like a natural caretaker. "Pi- pink bfirdy!?"

"Yeah! Well actually it's Silverstream, but you can call me pink birdy if you want to." She gigglesnorted. "Actually that sounds kind of fun. Pink birdy! What's your name?"

*Sniff* "Sach Abol."

Silverstream could see that Zap's utterances were not clear enough for him to properly say his own name correctly for others to repeat it properly. So she turned to Gallus and mouthed quietly her words to him. "What's his name?"

Remington's mind raced back and forth to match his pacing in his room. Instead of using this time to study before Moonlight arrived, he spent it worrying about how the night would go. He could feel her presence drawing nearer and nearer as the clock continued to roll. He double checked, triple checked, and quadruple checked everything in his room to make sure it looked clean and orderly. He changed his mind six times on whether or not to have a picture of his parents on display on his dresser, finishing with keeping it up. He thought about playing music on the turntable but he didn't want to presume the mood. Any trash that could not be gotten rid of properly was thrown in the closet. He stood over to the mirror a few times checking his mane to make sure there were no ugly knots or flakes of scalp, and he wiped his glasses clean three times before becoming satisfied with the amount of glint his frames stubbornly appropriated. He breathed out a sigh.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on a door, but it wasn't his door. It sounded like it was coming from Miracle's room. Remington didn't know Miracle all that well. He only saw her on the one occasion he was playing music too loudly in his room, and she came by to kindly ask him to stop. Oh, sandbags, he thought. He forgot to tell her which room it was. The doors weren't marked all that well, and so it wasn't Moonlight's fault that she knocked on the wrong one. He hesitated to run out to the hallway to tell her, but Miracle had already gotten a chance to meet Moonlight and tell her the good news. Remington winced as the door was heard closed and Moonlight's hoof steps came approaching his door. Seven softer knocks hit his door, and he ran to the door as if he was ill-prepared.

He started opening the door. "Hey! Moon-" His voice was interrupted by the sudden limits of the door, only opening a crack. "Oh hang on." Remington closed the door and unfastened the four extra slide lock mechanisms on it. Why did the door need that many locks, and why didn't he undo them before she came? He opened the door again, and saved his embarrassment for later. "Moonlight! I'm so glad you're here!" Remington could be seen in his current outfit, which was grey-colored fleece pajamas with moon crescents on them. He didn't normally wear his pajamas unless it was particularly drafty in the dorms, but he wanted to be extra comfortable tonight, for mysterious reasons. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you which door. Come on in."

Remington made way for Moonlight to enter and then he looked out of his room and down each direction of the hallway to see if anyone had seen her come, but no one seemed to be there. He closed the door. "Make yourself at home, or at dormitory. Even I can't make this place like home, heh heh. You can use the second bed if you'd like to recline, otherwise there's two chairs." Remington realized this was an opportune moment where he could show her a little slice of Remington, parts of him that she may have never seen before. "Oh so, I don't know what your hall's rooms are like, I have a deep closet for storage, a desk big enough for everything I need it for. Here's my turntable where I like to play my favorite music." Remington began to fidget, not sure where to end the tour, there wasn't that much to the room. A picture frame of his parents, a giant poster of Princess Luna overlooking his bed, a mirror for self-maintenance. Everything else was standard dorm room furniture.