Everything is Fine (Closed)

[SteelEagle]

Twilight loved having tours of the caste. Well, she loved the idea of them. In practice she wasn't able to host such events often. The events of the world hampered her ability to do so and every time she returned her endless schedule grew more and more complex. The toil of a Princess was often times paperwork related and while she could sign a hundred documents as quickly as a thought, the majority required some manner of modification and work to make more appropriate for wider distribution and implementation. And there were a hundred other tasks that filled her time up. She just didn't have any sort of time- unless she decided to force it in there at the expense of something else. Which, as of a few days ago, she had decided to do finally. Trottingham expansion could wait.

As a result she was currently leading the entire Ponyville Elementary student body on a tour through her castle. For some of them this was old hat, but she could see for a few of them how new and awe-inspiring this was. She once had that same look upon her features and hoped it spawned as much passion for Equestria as it did in her- though hopefully with less intervention from Princess Celestia herself. Or, as it was now, Twilight. She didn't want to make it a habit of getting too involved since she didn't want to accidentally interfere with the growth of the younger generation. But she was more than happy to provide guidance from afar and that was what she was doing now by leading the tour from several trot steps away from the group.

“And here we see the main chambers. Here, castle staff and honored guests room side by side. The staff who work here are some of the best in the nation at their craft, while many celebrities and high-ranking politicians use these rooms. The floors, walls, and ceilings are lined with crystals expertly cut from...” Twilight continued as she hovered up front, her eyes aglow with the fires of education as she led them forward. The large group of ponies passed through the hallway, three dozen quads of hooves clipping and clopping.

They passed by Starlight Glimmer's room which had the door cracked. As the tail end passed, one colt in particular pleasantly looking around without seeming entirely interested, a noise from inside- like a mountain of books had fallen. The colt looked around as no one else had noticed and as the group progressed he sighed and poked his head in.

“Is everything alright..umm, everypony?”

[Dubstep]

When Twilight brought up the idea of a tour of the castle, Starlight thought it was a great idea! Finally a chance for Twilight to put her hoof down, take a little breather away from all Ye Royale Paperworke and spend some time doing something she enjoyed! What Starlight didn't think was too great of an idea was her co-guiding the tour like she had offered. All this time here and she still managed to get lost from time to time. The blind leading the blind wasn't the best idea. So she politely declined since Twilight knew more about the castle AND teaching than she did. Instead, the mare opted to do something she had...well. Sort of been procrastinating on. Reorganizing her room.

It wasn't messy by any means, but she had kept her room much the same since she had got here, and a change of pace was long overdue. She had already gotten her bed moved over by the window, and her dresser on the other near the closet. Which just left a few odds and ends, including her bookshelves. With books stacked in piles to the side, Starlight went about levitating the shelves here and there, trying to decide on the best place to put them. Eventually she decided to the left and the right of the door looked quite nice and still left plenty of room for the door to open. Now all that was left was to get the books back in their place. Moving everything around so much however had stirred up quite a bit of dust. The pesky particles tickled Starlight's nose as she tried to get the stacks of novels and spellbooks back in their proper place. One stray sneeze broke her concentration long enough to drop a stack that clattered to the ground. Which knocked another stack over followed by a third!

Starlight sighed as she shook her head at the toppled literature. Dusting. Dusting was the next thing on the list. It seemed though that the minor avalanche had drawn the attention of somepony, likely from the tour. "Huh? Oh! Yeah, yeah. Everything's alright. Just a domino effect after a stray sneeze! Knocked over some books." she replied with a smile. "I'm Starlight Glimmer, you must be here for Twilight's tour right?"

 

[SteelEagle]

Valen was pleased that nothing truly bad had happened. Accidents were common, even for magically powerful unicorns. Celestia knew his life seemed to be one long mistake book-ended by moments of sublime clarity of vision granting him bliss. “Oh, that's good. Usually a crash in a castle is not necessarily a good thing,” he said with a smile. He didn't know what he had imagined but being the first pony to spot an intruder would have warranted some manner of award, correct? While he was by no means a reward-oriented pony and didn't think of himself as a glory hog, he was sure that it could be used to benefit friends and family. Much of his thought process revolved around them. As a cousin to Applejack it would be no surprise to know he cared deeply for those close to him, so much so that his willingness to take indignities for their benefit was legendary amongst the select few who knew much about his secondary life as a model.

 

She introduced herself as Starlight Glimmer, a name Valen recognized after a few seconds of searching. Applejack had spoken of her a few times. Sounded like at one point she had been decidedly unfriendly but, in the way of Equestria, this was in the past. “A pleasure to meet you, Miss Glimmer. I am Valen Orange, of the Manehattan Oranges, cousin of Applejack here in Ponyville. I am staying here for a while- my parents want me to broaden my horizons and similar goals. I thought today would be an excellent tour of the castle and...I suppose it is going as well as one could expect,” he replied, his voice failing to mask the relative disappointment of the tour. He had known going into it that the Princess of Friendship was very detail oriented, but this was bordering on a neurotic condition. Oh well; it was still an excellent educational opportunity.

He looked around. The room, like most according to the Princess, was well furnished but impossible to tell whether it was for house staff, short-term visitors, or treasured friends. Greater evidence was found in how well worn the room looked and a mirror which had pictures of friends around it. Valen couldn't remember much in the way of detail regarding Starlight from Applejack, but based on what he saw around he could guess what her living arrangment was like. “So, I'm assuming you live here? Must be pretty nice, living in a castle. How'd you manage to swing something like that?”

 

[Dubstep]

Starlight smiled as the colt introduced himself, Valen Orange! She recognized that name. Applejack mentioned him a time or two! One of her 'ritzy' cousins from how she put it. Seemed like a nice colt so far! Very proper in his way of speaking it sounded like, though not too keen on the whole tour through the castle. She tooootally understood. "It's very nice to meet you too Valen! Applejack's mentioned you a time or two in passing. I hope your stay's a bit more exciting that Twlight's tour." she said in a hushed tone, giggling softly. Twilight meant well but booooy could she talk when she got riled up in teacher mode. Then again maybe that was one of the endearing parts about her friend!
 

"I do, yes! I'm Twilight Sparkle's student in friendship!...Well I guess technically sort of I graduated from that? It still has a nice ring to it though doesn't it?" the mare smiled and gave a little nod. There were quite a few little photographs sitting around Starlight's room, aside from the one with the girls, there was one with a different group of ponies in a somewhat rural looking town, one with a bearded orange unicorn, one with...a very colourful looking changeling, one with a mare in a rather starry hat and cape, and even one with Discord! "I also try to help around the castle or if Twilight needs magical assistance and things like that. I've also been considering starting up a sort of 'Magical Help Desk' sort of thing for a while."

[SteelEagle]

Valen was sure that many ponies may have been intimidated by the history of Starlight Glimmer as Twilight's apprentice, but not Valen. It was delightful that forgiveness was a Equestrian virtue universally applied and that she had done well to take advantage of such an opportunity. "Friendship student does sound nice. But a Post-Graduate in the Friendship Arts does sound a great deal more impressive, I believe," she said with a smile and a laugh. Well, impressive to some. Equestria seemed to suffer from some sort of mental block that prevented recognition for feats and skills. Aside from Celestia he wasn't aware of a single pony whose status or accomplishments were acknowledged outside of their chosen clique. "Though I suppose the education itself is far more of a reward than the title that comes with it."

 

On the topic of Twilight, Valen had to agree. "Well, I believe it has had more activity than the tour would. I think the highlight of the tour will be her very exciting collection of Saddle Arabian cutlery," he said with fiendish sarcasm, laughing after the fact. "Education is its own reward, even if I find myself not entirely devoted to the method used today. Still, it is delightful to see a Princess so engaged," he said evenly, more immediately taken in by what Starlight said. "Magical help desk? Sounds like it could be used to help a great many ponies. What sort of help would you be offering? Magical cure alls, helpful advice, or educational aids for unicorns? Some combination of the above?" He asked, intrigued at the possibility. He was never sure how he could benefit from it, but he had a habit of thinking beyond himself when it came to aiding others. "What would that require? From you, I mean."

[Dubstep]

"Post-Graduate in the Friendship Arts huh? Well I know what I'm putting on my resume if I ever need one! Ahaha." That did have a much nicer ring to it. Gave it quite the professional polish. "You're right though, the lessons learned are far more important. And an education like that? Well it doesn't ever truly end! There's always something new to learn, either about yourself or the ponies around you." Starlight said with a knowing nod. She didn't think she'd ever really stop learning new things about friendship, or life in general. Which really was a great thing!

"Oh yeah, I've heard. I think she polished them at least four times after she got them. Then sat there trying to decide what was the best way to place them for a dinner setting if delegates from Saddle Arabia ever came to visit." the mare shook her head a bit and laughed. Twilight was wonderful, but she was a little. Well let's say quirky from time to time. "Mmhm! A little of all the above. There are ponies out there with all kinds of problems that magic could solve. Or for example if somepony wanted to try being another species for a day, I could do that. Or just some magical advice, I can try that too. So I suppose a bit of Help Desk meets Magical Novelty. I think it would be loads of fun! I just need to figure out the business side of it, get all the paperwork filed and make sure I have my bases covered if something were to go wrong. Then there's finding somepony to give me a helping hoof with it all. I'd ask Spike but he's already Twilight's assistant and he'd just not have the time."

[SteelEagle]

It sounded like a wonderful idea. There was a lot of ponies who needed help in Equestria and while there were almost as many ponies willing to help, it was hard to argue with the fact that a qualified magic mare would be much more help than most others. He wasn't sure if he had any advice that would be worthwhile, that much was certain. “Well, I'm sure you can get the help for such a worthy undertaking. Plenty of ponies in this world of ours want to help, and I'm sure the job isn't that hard,” he offered in response. He never once considered himself for the role. He was far too busy and booked up to partake in something of this nature, as valuable as he believed it to be.

Being a different species? Well, that meant she was very powerful. Such magic was beyond his base understanding but his knowledge of the arcane was at least on an educated level. “Transformation? That is very powerful magic, Miss Glimmer. A pony with such talent and skill is very rare. Where did you learn your craft?” He asked innocently. As he did so he started to look for a place to sit. His legs were getting tired after a full day of walking around and while he could do so much more if he was modeling, there was a difference between suffering for one's art and just plain suffering. Eventually he decided on a chair next to a table. He trotted on over, listening to Glimmer speak. If only everything went fine and his life was a constant stream of troubles.

As he went around to sit down, there was still a tiny bit of a mess. When the books went flying, so did a little water from a glass. The water was still on the floor when Valen walked over it, tripping ever so slightly- well, not so slightly really. He went tumbling next to her closet, and then regained himself. He stepped back out of confusion and hit the closet with enough force to knock something over which landed with a crash, a thud, and massive disappointment.

[Dubstep]

"Right? Finding ponies that want to help shouldn't be too difficult. The roadblock is just getting started." Starlight chuckled in shook her head. "With Ponyville being such a...well...disaster magnet, it's hard to get much of anything done. But I'm sure that I'll manage." the mare smiled as she took a seat on the edge of her bed, no harm in taking a little break from the reorganizing to have a chat! What's the worst that could happen?

Starlight embarrassedly blushed at the next question though. She didn't like tooting her own horn but at the same time she was rather proud of her magic. "I'm ah...self taught. I studied a lot of different kinds of magic in my foalhood. Even made a spell or two myself." she replied with a little smile as she continued. "Abjuration, conjuration, transmutation, illusion, enchantment. I even know a little bit in Necromancy, buuuuuut." Ugh, she couldn't imagine summoning any sort of skelleton or ghost like that...Let alone what Twilight and her friends would think if she did. Though Pinkie Pie would probably just have a giggle and want to give it a party. Maybe call it Mr. Bones or something. That thought on the other hand gave Starlight a giggle herself. But the hypothetical hilarity was cus short as Valen's seat taking attempt sat into motion a mini disaster all its own.

Woosh went a book to smack into another, causing a glass of water to go flying and splash on the floor, causing the colt to trip and stumble and THUMP next to and then into her closet. She winced softly, it wasn't quite a 'Call the Doctor' sort of spill, but that still had to hu-what was that. Starlight's eyes went wide as she heard a crashing thump and the sound of something breaking in the closet. "Oh no...ooooh no." Starlight rose to her hooves and quickly, and with surprising accuracy and expertise shelved all the books that stood between her and the closet in a manner of seconds. Gently she moved past the colt and opened the closet. "Oh no. No no no!" Starlight knelt down and carefully picked up pieces of crystal and metal that laid scattered on the floor.

[SteelEagle]

Valen looked on in horror at Starlight as she went ahead to try and fix what he had broken. It was something made of metal and glass and knowing how rare both things were relative to other materials, and specially in a castle, it was likely something important. Valen wanted to not take the blame. The floor had already been wet. He hadn't been the one to cause the initial mess that had been the primary cause of the crash, after all. All he had done was...slip. And was that his fault? He wanted to say no. But the truth of the matter was that he could have tried harder to not crash and while he hadn't meant to cause any damage, any harm, he had, and would have to own up to the consequences of it. He could only hope Starlight was a forgiving mare. Or at the very least, not a fan of harsh punishments.

“I'm sorry!” He blurted out quickly, trotting to her side. She seemed to have it under control but judging by her reaction it wasn't something minor. He would have been happy to imagine that it was some minor little trinket. Something easily discarded by the magical mare, but that wasn't the case. It wasn't the case at all. She seemed distraught. That only made him feel worse! “I'm sorry, Starlight. It was an accident! The floor was wet and- I'm sorry,” he sighed heavily, “what did I break? I swear I can replace it. That doesn't make up for it of course but I can undo the damage I've done,” he offered, not entirely sure that it was true but more than happy to try and help her. It was the least he could do, after all. Well, assuming she was ina forgiving and not vengeful mood!

[Dubstep]

Starlight stared at the shattered pieces in her hooves. A range of emotions flooding through her mind, most of them pretty miffed. She quietly sat the pieces down and placed her hooves to her face. Partially to keep herself from crying and part to help her start taking a few deep calming breaths. In with the good thoughts out with the bad. No more bottling things up. She was upset, she wasn't going to try to hide it but neither was she going to blow up at this colt who genuinely meant not harm.

After a few moments of quiet Starlight shook her head and spoke. "Y-you...This isn't something that you can replace I'm afraid, Valen... the mare sighed heavily and wiped a couple lingering tears from the corner of her eyes. "It was one of a kind, in the literal sense. This is...was...an Aetheric Relay that Twilight made and gave to me. It could manipulate the aether in an area in a variety of ways. She's tried making others but it just doesn't work. The last one blew up when she tried to make it, this was the only functioning one...and now..." she sifted a hoof through the chunks of metal and crystal. Even as magical as Starlight was, she had no idea if she could ever even begin to fix something like this. And even if she did, it wasn't the same.

[SteelEagle]

Valen was at loss for words, having lost his one and only recourse to making this even approaching a manageable situation being inapplicable to this incident. He felt like such a terrible kultz! A more objective mind would lay the blame on nopony, just the venomous strike of chance. The ground was wet and he had simply tried to stay up. But objectivity was discarded as weakness when the bonds of emotion were at an all time high. He had messed up in an awful way and he didn't know what to say. He looked down at his hooves, feeling deep wells of shame well up in him. His mind raced with ays and means of repaying her but every time he thought he may have an answer it evaporated as the truth willed it: what he had broken couldn't be replaced and he didn't have an easy way to replace it.

Deservedly so he could tell she was angry about it. Not angry enough to tear the little colt a new one, but the measured response and her breathing told the story. The story of a mare who was furious but knew she had nopony to really take it out on. Terrible sad and with nopony to comfort her. He couldn't be the one to do so- it would come across as forced and wholly inappropriate considering he was the cause of the range of imperfect emotions flying around her. He also admitted to ignorance of what she spoke. While no fool in magical education, the lack of a unicorn horn meant his interest in the subject was far-away academic and nothing more. He wasn't one to delve deep into the mysteries inherent in the design of the aether. Whatever this thing did it was unique and a gift from a Princess to boot- both making his offers meaningless and doubly painful for the poor mare.

“...I-I shouldn't have come in here,” Valen said, his voice dripping with the remorse that hindsight could provide. He took a heavy sigh. “I wish there was something I could do to make it up to you, Miss Glimmer,” he whispered lowly. There wasn't much he could offer her. This was unique, one of a kind. Nopony could easily remake it, not even the Princess who had made it. The knowledge that Starlight's life would have been better had he never entered weigh heavily on the colt as he considered how best to improve the lot of both their lives- by getting out of her way and staying as far away from anything his klutzy self could possibly break. It was for the best, really.

[Dubstep]

Falling silent for a few moments, Starlight retreated to her thoughts. Accidents happen, even ones as big as this. It was true that what was broken was irreplaceable for the most part. But even if it was broken, the memory of the gift and the friendship behind it wouldn't break. And maybe in time Starlight could figure out how to fix it. Maybe it could give her and Twilight some kind of project for the future. Make a bigger and better one!...It was hard though, seeing the positive in the shattered remains of the conduit. But mourning it and dwelling on it would avail the mare little. She was upset yes, but staying upset and burying herself in the sadness wouldn't solve anything. She had to keep positive.

And Valen...as much as she wanted to be angry and blame him, it wasn't entirely his fault. She had never even noticed some water had gotten spilled. And he was so apologetic too. He seemed like a sweet colt who would never harm a fly if he could help it, there was no way she could stay mad at him. But there wasn't any way that money could fix this, not this time. The colt's remorseful voice broke through Starlight's train of thought however as an idea sprung to mind. Wiping the last few tears from her cheeks, Starlight stood up and turned around, gently placing a hoof on Valen's shoulder. "You want to make this up to me...Right?" she asked, waiting a moment for a response before continuing. "Then you're going to be my Spike. You're going to be my new assistant."

[SteelEagle]

Valen waited for the deserved punishment to be meted out. Applejack could be told; as his guardian while in Ponyville he feared her disappointment more than anything else. His parents might find out but they were so far removed from the norms of Ponyville that they'd be puzzled as to why a quick infusion of cash wouldn't at least help kickstart the road to recovery. He would have understood if Twilight was called and he was banned from the castle for life! well, maybe not life, but at least for a few days. The punishment must fit the crime and his crime, while one made accidentally, was ruinous enough for its emotional toil that he begrudged Starlight not the slightest her right to punish him severely. As she gathered herself and gave him a quick glance, he assumed and accepted the worst. 

 

Instead he was given what could only be called a unique job offer, one that helped pave over the rough patches of his misdeed and helped advance the cause of another. Truth be told he should have seen this more positive outcome coming but had been so enraptured with the mechanics of failure to take an honest look at all the outcomes. She had been discussing needing help and it seemed that providence had decided to use him to advance her delightful agenda. In the grand scheme of possibilities this was far and away preferable to being turned into a statue. He didn't think that was a real possibility but the mind could certainly take you on a weird and wild journey when it had time and inclination to drown itself in concern. He played with his collar and then responded. “That sounds like a great idea, Miss Glimmer. A way for me to pay you back is more than agreeable!”

[Dubstep]

Starlight sighed and gave a tentative smile. It didn't make things better right away, but at least something good was coming out of this. Honestly were she as bad with her anger as she was before she'd probably have turned him into a statue or something and regretted it later. But this was a much better outcome that didn't risk inviting pigeons into her room. "It'll take some time to make up for it but...I'd be an awful hypocrite if I didn't offer you the chance to. And who knows! Maybe after all is said and done, this can be a more long term arrangement. If you'd like to start now, you can give me a hoof with getting all this reorganizing finished." They say that bad things happen for a reason, maybe this was the universe's way of putting something better into motion. Though really, fate couldn't have broken something more easily replaced?

[SteelEagle]

Valen was a youth and while he was definitely more forward thinking and adult than a healthy majority of his peers, he did share in one of the great strengths of being young. He had an innate ability to bounce back quickly from the depths of any emotional turmoil and move on to brighter pastures where he could take more effectual action. Being an assistant wasn't necessarily his cup of tea unless it involved the fashion industry but it was the least he could do to repay her for his clumsy destruction of something emotionally priceless. “Well, let us start small and see where this goes- big dreams and ideas are best served after better starts,” he said in agreement with her, trotting alongside her as the first task came to light. It was indeed only going to be the first of a great many though in that time and space neither of them were aware of quite how far this relationship would go.

 

Organization was trite and dull but it was the trite and dull tasks which built fertile foundations, whether that was for education or life the fact remained. Plus he had a certain knack for it and if he could reorganize a fabric wall along with the a dye wall sued by Equestria's most exacting fashionista, he could hopefully organize anything. “I believe I can help you with that, Miss Glimmer. Hopefully we can get this done post-haste! So, what are we organizing and what methods are we using? Are any materials considered hazardous and do we need any special protective gear?” He asked, his voice mostly one of jest though it carried a certain quizzical nature to it. Unicorns and other magical creatures often did play with powerful chemical and alchemical ingredients and it was always better to be aware before starting!

[Dubstep]

"Wh-Oh, ahah no no, nothing hazardous." Starlight replied with a chuckle and a shake of her head. "Just getting these books onto the shelf. The left is for fiction and non-fiction, while the right is for those relating to magic and the like." The mare motioned at the various piles of books around the room and to the shelves near the door. "I'm not quite as picky as Twilight with my organization. Other than that, alphabetical is perfectly fine." With a little flick of her horn, Starlight moved over a few books to look them over and place them away as she continued to speak.

"I'll be sure to work up a contract too, for the business side of things. Since you'll be helping me with the magic help desk thing...I really need a name for that." Starlight shook her head again. "If you have any ideas on that too, feel free to shout em out!"

[SteelEagle]

Valen nodded along to the information passed along. That was good to know that nothing he was working with was expected to be hazardous. By all rights he should have expected that answer but it was a well known fact that magic obsessed unicorns often had poor reasoning vis a vi the danger of their tasks and desires. Instead it looked like his work was more of a general organization nature and not a demanding one either, Glimmer appearing to have a reduced need for the perfection of systems that Twilight was well known for. He could get behind that easier philosophy with ease! He liked his life nice and orderly as well but balked at the thought of obsessiveness in the pursuit of it. With his marching orders simple and without great complication the young colt snapped off an exaggerated salute and went to work.

 

"Understood, Miss Glimmer," he said confidently as he started to organize as noted. It didn't strike him as odd that half of her collection was for magic and works related to it. Not as odd as it might be for any mare who wasn't living with the Princess. Fiction and non-fiction did encompass the vast majority of works created over time, but somepony devoted to certain subjects would of course be surrounded by it. But there were more vital discussion to be had than her reading list. "Name? Hmm...'Glimmer's Glamorous Magical Aid Station'? Mixes excitement and professionalism well in my opinion. And a contract? Wouldn't be the first I've signed. Make sure that it doesn't conflict with other obligations. Should I have my other work send over detailed itineraries so you aren't caught off guard by my schedule?" He asked in a tone that wavered between officious and excited. After all his life was full of great works and the obligations inherent in them, and he would not shy away from others.

[Dubstep]

"Hmm. A bit of a mouthful though. But certainly on the list." she said with a smile and a nod. Naming anything was always the hardest part it seemed. You could come up with dozens of ideas for magic or stores or games, but trying to name them seemed to take twice as long! But it was something she'd have to decide on sooner, rather than later. Especially if she was going to have an assistant to speed things along! Speaking of speeding things along, the organization of the books went quite smoothly! Starlight seemed to have a decent collection of books, both new and old. Some of the magic books looked easily older than she was. "That would be helpful yeah! It would let me work around your schedule, rather than you having to work around one."

 

It was more than a little impressive to tell the truth. Somepony so young managing to balance work and, presumably, still finding ample time for school and friends! At his age she...well okay at his age she was planning revenge against the world over a (in hindsight) rather silly and petty reason. But that was neither here nor there now was it? "Well, if we're going to be working together, it's only fitting we get to know one another a bit right? So tell me a little about yourself, Valen. Hobbies, pastimes. That sort of thing."

[SteelEagle]

“I'll make sure to get it right over to you as soon as I can,” Valen replied chirpily, happy to see that the many facets of his life would not operate entirely out of sequence as they had so far. This was another addition and one he hadn't counted on or wanted, but he hadn't gotten this far in life by looking a gift horse in the mouth. Work in the castle of the Princess of Friendship was an interesting opportunity no matter the flavoring. He considered what Rarity would suggest, even cousin Applejack, but he had grown confident enough to not rely on them so much. Experience had informed him of his own not inconsiderable strengths and he wasn't about to lose any of them over matters such as this.

“As for myself, well, not that much to tell, really. I attend a prestigious academy in Manehattan, though I spend much of the non-school year here with my cousin Applejack on her farm. I enjoy reading about the history of Equestria in a few fields though I wouldn't classify myself as an amateur historian. Mostly I read about and study fashion, which is a passion of mine. Thanks to Miss Rarity that passion has found an excellent outlet- I model for her as Gilded Lilly, Prench filly supermodel. Seems like za academy's acting program has given me a few skills, oui?” Valen responded, ending with a toss of the mane. "Hopefully that will not be a problem? I'd hate to make Miss Rarity lose out on all those show contracts on my account."

[Dubstep]

Ahh, so he was already doing some work for Rarity? And as a model at that? Starlight could certainly see why now that she thought about it. Valen certainly had the body for it and Rarity had the eye to catch that at first glance far more easily than Starlight. "Ah oui! Ça ressemble à ça." she replied with a little grin. And her Prench lessons were paying off. "If you need any Prench lessons at some point, I have a dear friend of mine who could help. She speaks the language natively and has been helping me learn some for fun." Bevel certainly wouldn't mind helping a friend of a friend, she was sure

.

"But no, it shouldn't be any problem at all! I doubt Rarity would swarm your schedule to such a point that you'd be doing back to back shows for nonstop months. I should be able to work the shows in with little to no problem. And who knows, depending on the timing I may see about giving a helping hoof. That way if there are days that we'd both need you, the show can go on!" Starlight wasn't the most...fashion forward pony, but she had learned a thing or two from the seamstress, and was fairly certain that Rarity wouldn't turn down a little extra help here and there.