Incredibly Interesting Individuals

"Ugh- Finally!" the purple mare shouted at the stacks of paper her desk lied under. She grabbed a small cloth from her banister and wiped her forehead dry. "Well, that's half of it-" said Twilight, trying to maintain her consciousness, but everything was so soft, she thought.

Spike looked out in awe. Twilight Sparkle, his friend and the newly crowned princess, was very competent with what she does, he thought. The Dragon decided to let her sleep a little longer before he made breakfast, to make up for the all nighter. He looked out the window to see the sun move just past the horizon to initiate the morning, and off in the distance he could see a silhouetted figure of a pony walking towards the library. He squinted his already sharp dragon eyes and peered as far as he could. Purple mane, white coat, it must be Rarity, he thought, catching himself before he started oogling. Butterflies welled up in his stomach which was usually invincible to everything, yet suddenly felt as vulnerable as a fly on tape. Before he could collect his thoughts, there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" yelled Spike, quickly apologizing for waking up Twilight from her brief nap, though she decided to see who it was. As the door opened, Rarity burst through and rushed to hug Twilight.

"Hello Rarity! Umm, did I do something?" the purple mare asked.

"Yes! Thanks to you, Celestia herself recommended my boutique to supply the Wonderbolts' outfits for next week's derby! She said if they liked it enough, they'd hire me as their new seamstress! Oh do you realize how much business this will bring in?" The white unicorn was practically as excited as Pinkie Pie would be about winning a cupcake eating contest.

"I'm glad to hear that," said Twilight, flashing a smile to her friend. "But won't that be a lot of work?"

"Not entirely, considering that I've hired my first employees just today!"

"Ooh, you're moving on up through the business world I see," Twilight said, rubbing her eyes with her hoof. "Next thing you know you'll be taking commissions from Royalty," she snickered.

"Why thank you, dear," said Rarity while adjusting her mane. She held her hoof up and swished it through the air in a gesture intended to grab one's attention. "Now, I've not asked the others yet, but since my boutique is sure to bring in more customers now, I have to ask you something. Would you and Spike like to come to a fancy dinner with me tonight?" Twilight tilted her head and looked a little confused.

"You want to take me to a fancy dinner?"

"I want to take all of our friends out to a fancy dinner! And I know just the place, too!" Rarity reached into her mane and brought out a slip of paper. "May I borrow a quill, Twilight?"

"Sure," said Twilight, levitating a quill and ink dish over. "But you really don't have to do this, I mean, it's probably really expensive."

"Oh hush, Twilight Sparkle. I'd love to take you guys out, and the money is of no concern. I insist!" Rarity was taking her point home by writing their friends names down on the slip, before asking Spike to send it through the Canterlot mail system with his fire.

"Alright, if you say so," said Twilight, happy now that Rarity was not bothered by the expense. "Should I contact the other girls for you?"

"Certainly, if you'd like. And again, thank you, Twilight. If it weren't for you, I probably would not have this opportunity," said Rarity, lingering on a genuine smile. Rarity leaned in for another hug, when something seemed to catch her mind's attention. "Ah, yes, I forgot. I would also like to know if I could borrow one of your books again?"

Twilight's eyes flashed slightly and a big smile overtook her face. "Of course you can!" said Twilight turning around to gaze at her shelves. "Let me guess, you want to borrow Pre-Modern Trends in Equestrian Clothing Volume IV because the Wonderbolts want a different design for their outfits, and capes have come back into fashion recently?"

Rarity recoiled in genuine shock. "H- How did you. . . know that?" As Rarity said that, Twilight seemed to recoil as well.

"I- I'm not sure. . ." Twilight started to dart her eyes around, as if thinking critically of what just happened. Where had that knowledge come from, she wondered.

"Anyways, yes, I do indeed wish to borrow that book," said Rarity while walking over to the section she'd found it in last time. "Is it still in this shelf?" she asked, pointing in some direction or another.

"Yes," Twilight said without looking. Spike walked up to the purple mare and stood beside her. Rarity said thanks before exiting Twilight's library.

"What was that all about?" asked Spike, scratching his head in confusion. Twilight looked at him with shunning eyes, and he quickly dismissed it. Rarity probably just forgot that she told Twilight about it somewhere in the past. And Rainbow Dash is around the Wonderbolts almost twenty-four-seven, he thought. That makes sense, right?

_ _ _

Vinyl Scratch was packing up her equipment to leave another late night show in Manehattan. She had recently moved there from Canterlot because the scene was a little bit better, in her opinion. Still, she wished Octavia could have been there. She wasn't upset though, because it's not like her friend could come to every single show she had, and plus, she had to go do something or other that day, she thought. Octy specifically wanted to meet her after this show, though, so she was hoping no one would ask her to come to some after-party, which is usually a pre-party for the real after-party, the next day notwithstanding. She was finally getting her mixing table into her saddle bag when she felt a bump on her left flank.

"Hey, watch it!" Vinyl turned around to meet a very handsome Neon Lights face to face. "Oh, sorry, Neon, I couldn't see who you were,"

"It's cool Scratch," Vinyl winced as she braced herself for the inevitable. "So me and a few pals- uh, you know Trance Rave and Psychedelia, right? Well we're havin' a party in about an hour at my place. Ya wanna come?"

Vinyl took a deep breath. "Oh, no thank you Neon, I have something I need to do tonight."

"More important than writin' music wit' us? And, well you know what Psyche brings to our parties, heh heh," he said with a full sense of enthusiasm.

"Definitely some other time, for sure, man," said the DJ, not sure if he would keep pressing her about it.

"Aw, that sucks. But maybe next time, huh? So anyways, what's this 'somethin' you need doin' ' exactly?" Neon said, grinning at Vinyl with teeth that spelled 'inuendo.'

"Ugh, That's definitely none of your business dude. And plus, I don't really know exactly. Octy just said to meet her at her house after my show, and that she had something I might be interested in." Come to think of it, what did her Octavia want to show her?

"Ha, class-A hinting right there, Scratch. It doesn't take a psychic to read what she's sayin', know what I mean?"

Vinyl turned around and grabbed her saddle bag, hoisting it over her haunch without another word. Honestly, that guy could be so dense sometimes, she thought. She decided to just ignore him and walk out for now. She had to focus on getting a carriage, anyways. She had an alternative way home, should that fail, and that was on hoof. Though, from the venue she was just at to where her and Octavia's home were was a long ways away. Vinyl didn't want to have to walk.

"Hey, sirs?" Vinyl yelled out to catch the attention of two stallions pulling a wagon. She waved a few bits around in her hooves so they could see them and they immediately turned around to come and let her on. "Thank you guys. Would've really hated to walk home," she said, laughing to improve the atmosphere. Pulling other ponies around must be a tiring job. 'I mean, I just perform my music in front of others for my living. Sure, it is work sometimes, but honestly, if I can't say that I love my job, then I don't know what I can,' she thought.

A little ways off, she could see her house through the light fog of Manehattan's afternoon, and her stomach started to get butterflies. Come to think of it, whatever Octavia wanted her there for was going to be pretty cool. No need to worry, she thought, but that didn't keep astray the fact that she was so curious about the whole situation. Vinyl decided to just forget about it and enjoy the stars. Which luckily, didn't have to work for very long as Vinyl stumbles a bit when the carriage stops, having arrived at her destination.

Vinyl Scratch nervously hopped off of the carriage and handed the two stallions a small pouch of bits, before approaching her house. She put her hoof on the door, hesitating to open it, but decided on how dumb that must've been. She opens the door anxiously, walking in smiling and waiting for something unexpected.

_ _ _

Pinkie Pie volleyed a blue and orange-striped ball over a make-shift net to Rainbow Dash, who easily returned the favor with a swift foreleg swipe. Dash was up 3-1, but she wasn't about to let Pinkie catch her off gaurd. The game was fun, thought Rainbow, but after the twenty-third game she got a little tired of it. 'When would Rarity get here?' she wondered.

"Rarity will be here in ten to fifteen minutes, like she told us, Rainbow," said Twilight.

"Huh?" said Rainbow Dash, who was only half listening.

"Um, n-never mind."

"I'm sure she just had somethin' to do real quick that's holdin' 'er up," said Applejack, whose mane was actually shiny for a change. She put down a Banjo and adjusted her hat, before approaching Rainbow. "Y'all know Rarity ain't just gonna blow us off fer somethin' else, right?"

"Ugh- Of course Applejack. But she doesn't have to take soo long!"

The farm mare smiled and left her and Pinkie to their never-ending impromptu game of volley-ball. 'Rainbow is hard-headed, but she always has good intentions, and a heart of gold,' thought Applejack.

Fluttershy was sipping a small cup of herbal tea and chatting with Twilight, reassuring her that her test would go smoothly. Twilight had her doubts, but overall her friends made her feel better about it. Her train of thought was interrupted when a small envelope appeared in a flash of azure magic. Twilight levitated the note and opened it, careful not to crease or tear the page.

"It's from Rarity!" said Twilight while skimming through.

"Wha'does it say?" Rainbow Dash blurted out, failing to pay attention to the ball which landed on her side of the net.

"Score one for the Pinkie!" said an overenthusiastic mare. Twilight looked over the note before continuing.

"She says:

Terribly sorry about the delay, girls! I was held up in Canterlot on a very unexpected meeting. Some enthusiastic patrons wanted to commision a new line of masks of all things! But in any case, I shan't be too much longer. The meeting only lasted about five minutes, so I'm already on my way by the time you're reading this. I'll be there in five to ten minutes. Love you dears!

"Well I guess that explains it," said Fluttershy, fidgiting to keep her cup still. A few drops of scolding brown liquid found their way to Twilight's back, eliciting a small yelp. "S-sorry. . ."

Applejack picked her banjo back up to pass the time, and started strumming a few familiar chords. As she continued, a weird look arose on her face, and she began messing with the tuners. Applejack plucked a string and listened to the pitch shifting from the incorrect note upward, until finally she heard of sharp snapping noise.

"Dang nab it! That's the third one this week!"

"You need to be more careful with your instruments, Applejack!" said Rainbow, struggling not to laugh at her slight misfortune. Rainbow started scratching her wing furiously, as if trying to rid herself of an incurable itch.

"Everything alright, Rainbow?" inquired Twilight, beholding the general spectacle before her.

"Yeah, it's just my wings have been super itchy ever since last Saturday."

'That's weird,' thought Twilight. 'I've been having the worst migraine since last Saturday as well.'

"Last Saturday ya' say? The muscles in my legs and neck have been pretty sore since then, too," Applejack added, rubbing her foreleg to demonstrate.

Fluttershy winced slightly, before continuing to listen.

"Well I've just felt really, really happy since then! It was almost like I was a Pinkie Pie's worth of happy, then I was sixty-two and a half DOZEN Pinkie Pie's all of the sudden!" Twilight wondered if there was some connection, but who knows, they've always been connected in subtle ways so maybe she was over-thinking it. Her train of thought was yet again interrupted by a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" yelled Spike, who propelled himself toward the door faster than anypony thought his legs could even move.