Inkwell, Meet Ponyville

When we got to Rarity’s dress shop, I was amazed. Her clothes were more beautiful than anything I had ever seen in Ponyville. Rarity had to be a skilled pony with high tastes, no doubt.

“Rarity? Are you here?” Twilight yelled when we entered.

Apple Bloom turned to me. “I am SO excited for you to be part of the Crusaders! Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo will be thrilled.”

“I know I'm thrilled!” Said Pinkie, jumping out from behind Twilight.

“Coming!” yelled Rarity from her workroom. She walked in, carrying a beautiful hat in her hooves.

“Hello, Rarity,” said Twilight.

“Hello, darlings,” Rarity said as she laid down the hat on her table, filled with spools and a sewing machine. “Oh, who is this?” Rarity said, pointing at me.

“Hello! I’m Inkwell. Your dresses are beautiful,” I said, putting my hoof out for her to shake. She shook it with a very firm grip.  She seemed like a Canterlot pony.

“Thank you! I am Rarity. Where are you from?”

“Me? I’m from…uh…”

“She’s from Canterlot! She’s Princess Luna’s daughter, but she’s been hidden away all these years and Luna said she would introduce Inky when the time was right and so it was busy in Canterlot, so her mom sent her here with Twilight. Aaaannnnnddd…she’s gonna be part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders because she doesn’t have a cutie mark, either! And she has wings! ‘Cause she’s an alicorn!” Pinkie Pie said, faster than I had ever heard anypony say anything before.

"Pinkie!" said Twilight.

“No, Twilight, it’s okay.” I said. “She was bound to find out anyway, if we are gonna tell Sweetie Belle, right?”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, Inky.” Said Pinkie, smiling.

“Oh my!” Exclaimed Rarity. “ANOTHER princess in Ponyville! Soon we’ll really be on the map! Sweetie Belle will be thrilled that you’re here. Sweetie Belle!” Rarity yelled to upstairs.

“What do you want, Rarity? Scootaloo and I are working!” yelled Sweetie Belle.

“Scootaloo? Without me? SWEETIE BELLE!” screamed Apple Bloom.

“Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo ran down the stairs, followed by Sweetie Belle. “What are you doing here?”

“I don’t know, SCOOTALOO! What are YOU doing here?” Apple Bloom said with a menacing stare.

“I, uh. I, we, were…uh. Working on homework! Yeah, that’s the ticket!” Scootaloo replied nervously.

“Mhmm. Sure.” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes and ran upstairs as fast as possible. I followed her.

We got up to Sweetie Belle’s room, and right in the middle was a mannequin with something that looked like a dress on it. It had a green pattern with red and yellow apples, and it looked more like a sack than a piece of clothing.

“Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo…what is that?” Apple Bloom said.

“We were making you a dress for you birthday, and it was gonna be a surprise. It's a work in progress. But now...I guess the surprise is ruined.” Scootaloo said sadly.

“Guys, it’s okay. Sorry for being so…invasive. Thanks,” Apple Bloom smiled.

“Oh, It’s okay!” said Sweetie Belle.

“Yeah, you can still bring it together. I am sure Rarity will help,” I said.

"Yep! My birthday's not for another half moon, anyways," said Apple Bloom.

“Who’s this? Said Scootaloo, pointing her hoof at me.

“Apple Bloom, would you like to do the honors?”

“Sure!”

===

So, after lots of explaining, and lots of questions, I was officially part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Scootaloo pushed the dress out of the way. Apparently I was more interesting now.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stared at me with amazement. "Wow," said Sweetie Belle. I've never met a princess before..."

"Sweetie Belle, Twilight's a princess," stated Apple Bloom.

"Oh. Yeah."

"Okay, so, we have school tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah. That reminds me-- you will have to avoid Diamond Tiara," said Scootaloo.

"Mhmm. I know. And Silver Spoon."

"You know," started Sweetie Belle. "Now that I think about it, you have a really nice cloak. And it looks like a Canterlot cloak. If Diamond Tiara notices, that could be a problem."

"Oh, you're right! Do you think Rarity could make me another one by tonight?" I asked.

"Definitely!" Exclaimed Sweetie Belle. "RARITY!"

"YES?" Rarity yelled from downstairs.

"WHAD'JA SAY?" Sweetie Belle screamed.

"Maybe we should go downstairs," I suggested.

"Yeah," Sweetie Belle smiled, and we trotted down.

"Yes?" Asked Rarity.

"Inkwell needs a cloak, and I think that as a 'Welcome to Ponyville' gift, we should make her one."

"Oh. All right, that should be easy! What color?" Rarity said with a smile.

"Yay! I would like a black one. And quality doesn’t have to be your top priority. Thank you so much!” I replied to Rarity.

"All right!" said Sweetie Belle. "Now we shouldn't have to worry about Diamond Tiara at all!"

===

"So, where are you from and why are you here?" said Scootaloo, quizzing me about what I will say to other ponies at school.

“I am from Baltimare, and I am here because my mom was working real hard on the farm and she sent me to see her best friend Twilight in Ponyville.” I said, monotonously.

“Good,” said Sweetie Belle. It had been about half an hour, and Applejack, Twily, Pinkie, and Rarity sat downstairs talking while Rarity sewed my cloak. We were all sitting in Sweetie Belle’s room.

“So, let’s hear something we didn’t know about Canterlot,” said Apple Bloom, interested.

“Okay…um, let’s see…Oh! Did you guys watch the wedding with Cadence and Shining Armor?” I asked.

“Yeah!” said Scootaloo. “Who didn’t?”

“Well, you know how Luna wasn’t there for most of it?”

“Yeah, she was on night duty, right?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Nope. She was watching me while I was sick. Everypony thought she was guarding Canterlot from the Changelings, but they forgot that they were already defeated. I had a terrible stomach flu and Luna was taking care of me.” I said, smiling.

“Woah,” All the ponies said simultaneously.

“Yep,” I nodded with a smug expression on my face.

"HEY RARITY!" Sweetie Belle yelled.

"WHAT?" yelled Rarity back.

"DID'JA FINISH THE CLOAK?"

"YES!"

"WHAT?"

"I SAID YES!"

"OH. OKAY!"

"WOULD YOU FILLIES LIKE TO COME DOWN AND SEE IT?"

"WHAT?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT I SAID!"

"YEAH, I DO!"

I tapped Sweetie Belle on the shoulder.

"You two can finish your conversation downstairs," I said.

"OKAY! Sorry. Okay," Sweetie Belle smiled.

===

The cloak was absolutely perfect for me. It didn't have the Canterlot look to it, because the design was different. Everypony who knew Rarity's designs would know she made it, I'm sure. It had a hood with perfectly hemmed edges, and the other part fell perfectly on the mannequin. It even looked thick enough so that it would cover my wings and not show an outline of them. Rarity was a genius.

"Rarity.....it's....it's....perfect!" I was beaming with joy.

"Well, I am glad you like it. I could have made it better, but you said about an hour."

"Better? How is that even possible?" I asked, still smiling.

“Oh, you’re too sweet. But I did make a cool addition. Why don’t you try it on and look in the mirror?” She asked.

“Oh, okay!” I replied.

When I put the cloak on, it was even better than I had imagined. It was silky, soft, and comfy.

“Wow, Rarity! This is really nice!” I said.

“Turn around and look in the mirror,” she said smiling.

“Okay…” I turned around, and on my left flank, where my cutie mark should be, was a blue logo with a yellow filly in the middle of it.

“Cool!” I said. “What is it?”

“It’s the Cutie Mark Crusaders logo!” said Apple Bloom.

“When you weren’t looking, we asked Rarity to put it there,” explained Scootaloo.

“Wow, guys. Thanks! This is SO cool,” I said to them.

“Well, I am glad you like it,” said Rarity. “I even made one for each of you, so it wouldn’t look odd!” She handed them out to each of the other fillies. Apple Bloom’s was red, Scootaloo’s was pink, and Sweetie Belle’s was purple.

“Rarity, this is awesome!” Sweetie Belle smiled.

“Good. You fillies can go upstairs now. Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie and I will talk for about an hour more, and then I think it will be somepony’s bedtime!” Rarity explained.

"Yepperdoodles!” said Pinkie joyously.

“Okay…” complained Apple Bloom.

“Wait a second!” I said. I ran over to Twilight and whispered, “Can the Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle sleepover? We will be extra quiet!”

Twilight looked at me and rolled her eyes. “Quiet? You four fillies? Oh, please! But sure. They can sleepover,” Twilight said with a smile.

"YES!" I exclaimed. "You guys!" I said, walking over to the cutie mark crusaders. "We can have a sleepover at the library!"

"Awesome!" They all said in response.

===

When we woke up from the sleepover, we were all dead tired. We had stayed up talking all night, and we were definitely NOT quiet. Twilight woke us up by knocking her hooves on the door and having Pinkie sing us her 'Evil Enchantress' song, wherever that came from. The Crusaders and I stretched and got out of bed. Right as I was just starting to wake up, Scootaloo was buzzing around my room and looking through my dresser drawers. She pulled out on drawer, and picked up my tiara that I had put away.

"Woah! What's this?" She said with excitement.

"That's my tiara, Scootaloo," I replied.

"Awesome! And look at your hair! It's so magical and flowy!"

I had taken my hair out during the night to sleep, of course. I had had it in a bun the day before, because I didn't want people to see how magical and cool it was.

"Oh, yeah. I'll have to put it up to go to school. And put my tiara up, please," I said.

"WHOA! Let us see that!" Apple Bloom said excitedly. She and Sweetie Belle ran over to Scootaloo and they started talking about it. While they did this, I put my hair up and packed my bags. Inside the bag, I packed an apple that Twilight had given me, a notebook, a quill, and an extra maneband, just in case my other one broke. I was prepared!

When Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were done looking at my tiara, I put it back it the drawer and shut it. I put on my cloak, and it felt even better than it did the day before. The other Crusaders got ready, put their cloaks on, and with Twilight's help with breakfast, we were out the door. Spike, of course, was asleep the whole time. Dragons.

"Alrighty! Let's get this show on the road!" Exclaimed Scootaloo.

"Wow, Scootaloo," I said. "Who knew you were such a morning filly."

"Well, it's really just because I had A LOT of sugar last night," she explained.

"Scootaloo! You said that Spike ate the chocolate!" Sweetie Belle said.

"Hey, a little white lie won't hurt now and then."

"Wow, great ethics, Scoots," I rolled my eyes.

At least the walk to school was funny. But meeting Diamond Tiara was NOT.