As I start the game, I expect my character to wake up to the sound of knocking, or a voice from his bedroom door. But, instead, I hear nothing. I have my character get up out of his bed, then walk to his door and open it, only to find that the hallway is empty. Thinking about it, I have to wonder if the two ponies and the dinosaur are outside harvesting fruits and vegetables. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what they’re doing. So, I have my character make his way through the hallway to the kitchen door, then through that and the front room, to the front door. And, wouldn’t you know it, he’s just in time to open the door for Pinkie Pie.

As she enters, four apples hanging from her mane, the pink party pony says to my character, to me, “Oh, hi, Mormon. So, you’re awake already.”

I respond, “Hi, Pinkie. I’m guessing Lyra’s in the vineyard, and Weed Whacker’s in the vegetable garden?”

Pinkie Pie smiles and answers, “That’s right. And, after breakfast, we’re heading to the Ponyville park for a pet play date. Isn't that right?”

That does make sense. Last week, the element bearers with pets, along with my character, went to the park and played games with our pets. But, there is one thing that puzzles me. I ask Pinkie Pie, “That's correct, but what about the Cakes?”

The pink earth pony giggles as she answers, “Mormon, you’re being silly. The Cakes don’t have any pets.” Then she stops giggling, and her voice takes on a more serious, more suspicious tone, as does the expression on her face, as she adds, “Unless, you’re suggesting they treat their foals as pets?”

I chuckle before answering, “No, I’m not suggesting that at all. I’m just wondering, shouldn’t we help them at Sugar Cube Corner?”

As my explanation dawns on her, Pinkie Pie rolls her eyes and says, “Oh.” Then, she giggles and says, “They’ll be fine. Besides, this is my day off.”

Well, that alleviates that concern. However, if things happen the way I expect them to today, something tells me that the pet play date’s going to be cut short, and not all ponies with pets are going to be able to play this time. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if Pinkie Pie, most likely Diane, already knows that.

But, the immediate presence of Lyra and Weed Whacker at the still-open door really gives me no chance to think too much about that. As the two pass my character, I say hello to them; and they respond with their hello. I then have my character close the door behind them, then head them off at the kitchen to open the door for the trio, then close the kitchen door behind him, following Weed Whacker.

It’s not long before the group has the fruits and vegetables cleaned and ready to eat. And, conversation over breakfast consists of my concerns to Pinkie Pie helping the Cakes over at Sugar Cube Corner, as well as the events of the game’s yesterday.

I do bring up the point about the Cutie Mark Crusaders literally getting props for their performance, and I also have to wonder what happened to the taffy-pulling machine after the trio got caught in it. Somehow, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Cake got rid of it, maybe gave it to Bon-Bon, after all the trouble it caused.

After breakfast, with Pinkie’s pet alligator Gummy and my character’s pet timber wolf Scout in tow, we make our way through the Everfree forest and on into Ponyville.

As the group enters, I can’t help noticing a cream-colored pony with mane and tail of two shades of blue. What makes her stand out the most is her costume, which consists of a tiny white hat I’d expect to see much larger on the head of the mad hatter from Alice in Wonderland, and a matching white blouse(?), with colorful frill and purple ribbons. And, considering how lost she looks, she’s clearly not a resident of Ponyville.

Before I can stop him, Scout runs toward the new earth pony, barking and snarling.

I call out to him, “Scout, you get back here!”

The timber wolf stops an inch or two away from the cream-colored earth pony and sniffs at her, just as she turns to face him. And, even from my character’s position, it’s clear to me, from the terrified expression on the mare’s face, that the damage has already been done. And, even worse, she seems to have made eye contact with Scout.

Fortunately, my timber wolf friend has enough self control that he just growls at the earth mare before turning and running back to my character.

By the time the rest of the group reaches the cream-colored earth mare, she seems to have calmed down somewhat.

Before I or any of my friends can say anything, the cream-colored earth pony asks, “Just what is a wooden dog doin' runnin' through town?”

I answer, “I’m sorry about that. Scout here is my pet, and we didn’t expect to see a new pony in town.”

And, once again, the new earth mare’s ears fold backwards against her skull, and from her facial expression you’d think she’d been caught face first in an explosion. That is the expression she’s showing my character, as she asks, “A-and, wh-who are y-you?”

I answer, “You may call me Mormon.” Then, her name occurs to me, and I add, “And, I’m guessing you are Sapphire Shores?”

Still vibrating, the cream-colored earth mare confirms her identity by asking, “H-h-how do you know me?”

At this point, Pinkie Pie steps forward and, taking Sapphire’s attention off of my character, says, “Mormon’s got a good source for his information.”

I would have said something to that effect if Pinkie hadn’t. But, having said that, it’s nice to know I have a pony to speak for me in situations like this. And, having identified Sapphire Shores, I can also guess where she wants to go. I say, “I’m guessing you’re looking for Carousel Boutique?”

Still clearly frightened of me, Sapphire Shores answers, “Y-y-yeah.”

Having heard the answer to my question, Pinkie Pie says, “Well, no problem. I’ll lead you there.” And, with that, the pink earth pony nudges the cream-colored earth pony around and toward the cylinder-shaped clothing shop in town.

When it seems that Sapphire can move on her own, I hear her say, “I really don’t like it when somepony like that has an advantage over me.”

Pinkie Pie giggles and says, “Oh, you don’t need to worry about Mormon. He’s harmless.”

Sapphire Shores asks, still evidently a little nervous, “Are you sure about that?”

Pinkie Pie answers, “He’s friends with everypony in town. He has readings, which have moved into the Town Hall. In fact, if you want, you can wait until this evening and join us.”

The cream-colored earth pony says, “I-I-I really don’t wanna wait that long.”

Now, the fact of the matter is all of the ponies in Ponyville were scared of me when they first met me. Maybe even Spike was at one time. But, I’d proven myself a friend to them, or so I’ve hoped. Even ponies outside of Ponyville have learned to see me, or at least my character, as a friend. And, maybe at some point I will prove myself a friend to Sapphire Shores as well. But, right now is likely not that time.

The group has arrived at Carousel Boutique at this point, which Pinkie Pie confirms by telling the cream-colored earth mare, “Well, here we are.”

In a lowered voice, Sapphire Shores says to the pink party pony, “And, I’d like to thank you for that. But, I’ll go in alone. And, will you take your human friend and his wooden dog and get them away from me?”

From my character’s perspective, I can see Pinkie Pie’s smile melt into an expression of disappointment and sadness before she says, “Oh, alright then.” And, without saying more, she ambles away, leading the group to the park, undoubtedly to meet up with Fluttershy and Applejack.

On the way there, when I’m sure the celebrity visitor can’t hear me, I say, “It’s alright, Pinkie. Remember, Sapphire Shores has never seen me before. So, considering the reputation us humans evidently still have among ponies, it’s not surprising that she’d be afraid of me.”

Pinkie Pie looks back at my character and says, “It’s not just that.”

I honestly and knowingly say, “I understand. Rarity isn’t going to be able to join the rest of us on today’s pet play date.”

The pink earth pony turns to look ahead of her again as she confirms, “Exactly.” And, I think I heard a growl in her voice when she said that.

Presently I hear Pinkie Pie sniffle and sigh, at which point I decide to say, “This is going to be an important appointment for Rarity. And, she will be occupied so she won’t be able to join us for the play date. But, that doesn’t mean she won’t be able to join us next time. And, I’m sure we’ll get a reason to help her today.”

It’s as we’re entering the park that Pinkie Pie turns back to my character and says, “Oh, Mormon, I know you’re right. It’s just that …”

I conclude, “It’s just that you wish she could still come this time.”

Pinkie Pie’s voice goes up an octave and shakes as she again confirms, “Exactly.”

By this time, the group is in view of Fluttershy and Applejack, with their pets Angel the rabbit and Winona the dog respectively.

As Pinkie Pie collapses on the grass and starts whimpering, Fluttershy and Applejack gallop towards her, with Winona following Applejack, at least.

It’s the orange earth pony who calls out, “Pinkie Pie, what’s wrong?”

I hear Lyra call out, “Sapphire Shores is here in Ponyville!” and scream with glee.

I answer Applejack, “Rarity’s got an important out-of-town customer, so she’s probably not going to make the play date this time.”

As the orange earth pony and the yellow pegasa come to a stop near their pink earth pony friend, it’s Applejack who simply says, “Oh.”

Fluttershy adds, “Poor Pinkie Pie. She looks forward to having all her friends together.”

In the mean time, Winona runs up to the collapsed Pinkie Pie and licks her face, then crouches into a stretching position and wags her tail.

At the same time, I have my character produce the disc from his inventory, which signals to Scout that it’s time to play.

Then, Applejack says, “Well, just b’cause Rarity ain’t here don’t mean the rest of us can’t have no fun. Come on, Pinkie Pie. Let’s start our play date.”

As Applejack gallops off to where she and Fluttershy and their pets were evidently before my character’s group arrived, I have my character kneel next to Pinkie Pie and stroke her mane; and I say, “Applejack’s right. Do you think Rarity’d want us to be depressed just because she isn’t here? Let’s go have some fun. Rarity’ll likely be able to come next time.”

The pink party pony looks up at my character, inhales and exhales deeply, then smiles and says, “You’re right, Mormon.” Then, she gets up on all fours again and says, “Let’s go have some fun.” And, with that, she gallops toward Applejack, with Gummy fastened by his gums on her tail.

As my character rises again, I hear Fluttershy say, “Thank you for cheering Pinkie Pie up, Mormon.”

As my character turns his attention to the yellow pegasa, I respond, “I knew why she was sad in the first place. And, after all, she is one of my friends. It’s sort of part of my job to cheer up a friend when he or she’s sad.”

No more is said between Fluttershy and me, although both of us laugh as Fluttershy returns to Angel’s side, and I have my character produce the disc and toss it ahead of him, away from the trio of ponies.

And, thus the play date begins. And, even Twilight Sparkle joins in on the fun, giving her assistant rides around the park similar to what Lyra does with Weed Whacker.

The play date continues on this way for maybe an hour, until Rarity arrives on the scene, but without her Persian cat, Opalescence.

The five friends, as well as my character, gather together, and Applejack asks, “Rarity, what’s up?”

Smiling, Rarity answers, “Sapphire Shores visited my shop today, and she’s just ordered some dresses from me.”

Excitedly, Spike asks, “Sapphire Shores, the Pony of Pop?”

Rarity focuses her smile on the little purple dragon and answers, “That’s right, Spike, and I’m going to need your help.”

Spike’s excited expression fades a bit as he asks, “What do you need my help with, Rarity?”

The white unicorn answers, “I shall be searching for gems to help in putting together the dresses Sapphire Shores wants me to make, and I need your help, Spike, digging them up.”

Now, having seen the episode on which this day is based, “A Dog and Pony Show,” I know what’s going to happen to Rarity. And, then again, I know what she’s going to do to the diamond dogs that try to enslave her. And, in the context of this game, I’m looking forward to seeing, or at least hearing about, how it all plays out, even if, in this game, I won’t be able to see what all she does.

In the mean time, Rarity asks, “So, Spike, can I count on you to help me?”

The purple dragon, supported in the air by his hormones represented by red valentine shapes, answers, “Oh, yeah.” Then, when he’s an inch or two away from the white unicorn’s face, he stops there and adds, “I’d do anything for you, my sweet.”

At this point, I have to wonder, how in the episode “Green Isn’t Your Color” does Spike not expect everyone who knows him to not know about his crush on Rarity?

In the mean time, Rarity rubs the purple dragon under his chin and says, “Oh, thank you, Spike. I know I can always count on you.” Then, as she turns and walks off, with Spike floating behind her, she continues, “And, if you’ll dig up the jewels I find, I’ll give you some to snack on as a reward.”

I watch, through my character’s eyes, as the white unicorn and the purple dragon make their way out of the park, at which point I hear Twilight groan in disappointment.

When my character turns to her, she turns to him as well, then says, “Well, I guess that means my time here’s over.”

Seeing the look of disappointment on Twilight’s face, I state, “That’s not necessarily true. You can take turns with Lyra giving Weed Whacker rides around the park.”

My invitation prompts a smile from the purple unicorn, and she says, “Thanks, but I should be heading to the restaurant near the school. Rainbow Dash introduced me to it the day we went to the clinic and saw the Cakes’ foals, and you left early because of Pinkie Pie. In fact, I should be meeting her there soon.”

I open my mouth to speak; but Pinkie Pie beats me to it, saying, “Well, you better get going then, Twily. See you later?”

Twilight turns her smile on Pinkie Pie as she says, “See you later, Pinkie,” then turns and gallops out of the park.

Pinkie Pie turns to my character and says, “Well, we’d better get back to our play date.”

I suppose, when one’s pet is a toothless alligator, getting bitten by him or her really isn’t that painful, maybe not painful at all. At least, that’s what I’m getting by watching the pink party pony respond with giggles as Gummy grabs her with his mouth by her legs, mane, and tail.

I throw the disc a few more times for Scout until Lyra completes a circuit around the park and, noticing the purple unicorn’s absence, approaches my character and asks, “Uh, where’s Twilight?”

I answer, “She decided to leave after Rarity came and got Spike to help her on some gem-hunting expedition. She said something about going to a restaurant near the school to meet up with Rainbow Dash.”

Lyra hums with interest, then thinks aloud, “I wonder if she means that burger joint near the school?”

The next thing I know, I hear, from my character’s left, Pinkie’s voice ask, “Burger joint near the school?”

As my character’s attention shifts to the pink earth pony, I hear Lyra answer, “Bon-Bon and I went there a lot when I first got here and, and she was my only friend. My parents didn’t like me hangin’ out with an earth pony, and her parents didn’t like her hangin’ out with a unicorn. But, until the Cakes came and opened Sugar Cube Corner, it was the only place where we could eat.”

Pinkie Pie starts bouncing as she says, “I wanna go, I wanna go!”

I ask, “Do you suppose they’ll allow pets in the restaurant?”

Lyra hums for a moment in thought, then answers, “They might allow Pinkie’s pet alligator, I’m just not so sure they’ll allow a human and his pet timber wolf in there.”

Pinkie sighs and says, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

I state, “Well, that’s alright. You two and Weed Whacker can go on ahead. And I’ll stay here in the park and play with Scout some more.”

Lyra closes her eyes, shakes her head, and grunts in negation. Then she opens her eyes again and says, “You’re supposed to be keeping an eye on me and Pinkie Pie, remember? And, you can’t do that while you’re playing with your pet in the park and the rest of us are at the burger joint.”

I respond, “Well, in that case, I may as well go with you. If I’m not allowed inside, I can wait outside for the rest of you.”

And, that’s when I hear Applejack, from behind my character, ask, “What’re you three talkin’ ‘bout?”

As my character turns to the orange earth pony, I hear Weed Whacker answer, “Twilight headed over to a restaurant, which Lyra thinks is a burger joint near the school.” Then, as my character’s attention is drawn to the herbivorous dinosaur, she continues, “She also thinks they won’t let Mormon in there because he’s a human. But, she and Pinkie Pie want to go there.”

I then hear Fluttershy say, “I don’t go to restaurants because they’re too crowded.”

As my character turns his attention to the yellow pegasa, I see, through his eyes, Applejack in front of her say, “Me neither. But, Ah don’t go 'cause Ah don't got no reason to.”

I state, “Well, my reason for going is because Lyra and Pinkie Pie want to go; and I need to keep an eye on them.”

Applejack responds, “Well, Ah ain’t opposed to goin’. Ah s’pose if ever’pony else is a'goin’, Ah may’s well go too.” She then turns to the yellow pegasa and asks, “So, Fluttershy, you wanna come with us?”

Fluttershy lowers her head and starts backing away as she answers, “Oh, I don’t know.”

I have my character focus on her, and I state, “Well, Fluttershy, if it turns out that I’m not allowed inside, then you can wait outside with me.”

When I start talking to her, Fluttershy starts and emits a quietly alarmed “Eep.” Then, when I finish, she says, “I don’t like public places. But, if Mormon’s not allowed to go into the restaurant, I suppose I can keep him company outside.”

At that point, it’s Lyra who says, “So, I guess it’s settled then. Let’s all head to that burger joint next to the school.”

With mutual agreement among the group, they head to the hamburger restaurant that is indeed next to the grade school. And, as they approach, I’m sure I can see Twilight Sparkle through the closest window. I don’t get a good look at Rainbow Dash, though, until the group is approaching the door.

One thing I find surprising is how high the ceiling is. But, I suppose buildings need to be that tall to accommodate pegasi that choose to fly around inside them. The only problem is the doorway is designed to comfortably admit an adult pony, but not so much a human.

Considering the apparent difficulty in just getting through the door, I decide to stay outside.

Lyra turns to my character and says, “I’m sorry, Mormon.” Then, as she enters, she says, “I’ll see if they serve anything a human would like.”

As the rest of the ponies and Weed Whacker enter, Fluttershy turns to my character and says, “That’s alright. We can go to the park across the street and wait for them there.”

I can’t help smilling as I respond, “That sounds good to me. I should be able to see them just fine through the windows.”

Fluttershy leads the way across the pathway, with my character and the pets following not far behind her. On the other side, with a clear view of the restaurant, I have my character sit down facing it.

Fluttershy settles down into a sphinx-style position next to him and asks, “Is there a particular reason why you need to keep an eye on Pinkie Pie and Lyra?”

I answer, “Nothing you need to worry about.”

If Fluttershy says anything after that, it’s lost on me as activity at the nearby school distracts my character. As his focus shifts to the front door of the school, I watch, through his eyes, as foals peer out of it after it opens.

Two familiar-looking earth fillies in particular seem to notice my character, as they turn and start galloping toward him.

I recognize them immediately as Sunny Days and Peachie Pie.

As soon as they reach me, they stop; and Peachie Pie says, “Hi, Mormon.”

I respond, “Hi, Peachie Pie, Sunny Days.”

Sunny Days grabs a hold of and pulls hard on Peachie Pie’s tail. Then, when Peachie Pie lets her know that she painfully got her attention, Sunny Days says, “Mommy and daddy don’t want us talking to Mormon, remember?”

Peachie Pie turns back to my character and whimpers, “We brought the Book of Mormons back with us, and … and …”

I have my character turn to Sunny Days as I ask, “And, what happened?”

Sunny Days backs away from my character a few steps, then turns and gallops back to the school grounds.

In the mean time, Peachie Pie sniffles as she sits on her haunches, looks down, and says, “Mommy and daddy—don’t want me—a-and Sunny Days to go to—no more readings.” Then, she slumps down altogether, buries her face in her forelimbs, and starts sobbing.

I state, “Well, if that’s what your parents want you to do, then you should listen to them.”

The little yellow-orange earth filly looks up at my character; and I can see through his eyes the tears streaming from hers as she asks, “Wh-what?”

I continue, “‘Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God hath given thee.’ Their demands may seem unreasonable right now, but they know better than you what kind of dangers there are in the world. Clearly they trust you enough to let you go to school on your own. And, the more you listen to them, the more they’ll trust you.”

Peachie Pie argues, “B-but, I know you’re a good human.”

I respond, “But, your parents don’t.” After a brief, strategic pause, I continue, “Take my advice and listen to them. Maybe if they see that my advice is in agreement with theirs, they’ll come to the readings, and find out for themselves if I’m a good or bad human.”

Peachie Pie rises to a canine-style sitting position again, sighs, and says, somewhat begrudgingly, “Oh, alright.” She continues to look at the ground immediately in front of her as she trots off back to the school.

As I watch, through my character’s eyes, the little filly return to the school grounds, I hear Fluttershy say, “I guess I should’ve expected you to say that to her, Mormon.”

As my character’s attention shifts to the yellow pegasa, I say, “Sunny Days and Peachie Pie are good fillies. And, their parents just want what’s best for them.” I have my character look towards the school as I continue, “That kind of behavior is not that much different than human behavior. That is to say, humans also have a tendency to be afraid of things they don’t understand or aren’t familiar with. Like I said, I’m sure that when their parents realize that I want their foals to follow their advice, they might just decide to come to at least one reading, just to see what kind of creature gave their fillies those books as gifts.”

I hear Fluttershy respond, “I don’t know many ponies that would’ve thought about telling fillies and colts to follow their parents’ advice. I hope you’re right about them.”

As Fluttershy talks about her hope for me, I hear a sound from the restaurant which draws my character’s attention to it. I see, through his eyes, Pinkie Pie coming out of the restaurant as she asks, “Were you talking to somepony out here, Mormy?”

I can’t help laughing at Pinkie Pie’s evident nickname for me. After a few seconds, when I regain my composure, I answer, “Sunny Days and Peachie Pie came to visit me. It seems their parents don’t want them coming to the readings anymore.”

Pinkie Pie concludes, “And, you advised them to listen to their parents.”

I answer, ”That’s right.”

Pinkie Pie bounces toward and around my character as she says, “Well, Mormy, Fluttershy is right. I know everypony in town, and I don’t know anypony that’d give advice like you gave those two fillies.”

Before I can respond, I notice the door to the restaurant opens again, and Twilight, followed by Rainbow Dash, Lyra and Applejack, says, “That was excellent. We should do that again.”

Just then, Pinkie stops bouncing as soon as she’s in front of Twilight, then says, “Hey, shouldn’t we be heading to the library right now?”

The purple unicorn seems confused for a moment. Then, an idea dawns on her, and she says, “That’s right. I have a research project I need to get started on.” And, with that, she gallops off toward the tree house of books, and ponies and their pets, along with my character, Scout, and Weed Whacker, follow her.

When the group arrives at the library, Twilight groans and says, “My project’s gonna be late unless I have Spike to help me.” She then turns to the rest of the group and says, “Let’s head over to Carousel Boutique. Rarity may be back by now.”

I don’t say this aloud; I just think to myself that by now Rarity may have been captured by the diamond dogs. But I do agree with the need to go to Carousel Boutique. So, along with the rest of the group, my character follows Twilight to the clothing store.

As the group approaches the cylindrical building, I see Spike running full speed towards them. Perhaps a foot from Twilight, he stops, then emits a terrified scream before saying, “Rarity—was—jewel—dogs—gold(?)—taken—save her!”

From watching the episode, I'm not sure about what that fifth word was that Spike said in his panicked haste. "Gold" is my best guess.

At any rate, the ponies look at each other in confusion, and I can’t say I blame them. Like I said, I’m not sure I got all the panicked little dragon said right.

Twilight approaches her assistant and says, rubbing his head with a front hoof, “Now, calm down, Spike, and tell me what happened.”

But, Spike proves he's too terrified to think clearly as he says, “Rarity—caught—dogs!”

After a second, Rainbow Dash says, “Something about Rarity?”

I add, “And something about a jewel or jewels?”

Spike seems about ready to burst into tears as he points to my character and says, “Yeah! Jewels—Rarity—dogs!”

I then hear Weed Whacker say, “Oh, shoot,” and my character turns to her to show me, through his eyes, that her eyes are closed, and she’s planted a hand between them.

I ask, “Weed Whacker, what’s wrong?”

The little herbivorous dinosaur pulls the hand away from her face, opens her eyes, and focuses on my character as she answers, “If I understand Spike right, I think I know where Rarity is.”

Applejack approaches Weed Whacker and asks, “So, what is it? Where is she?”

Weed Whacker turns to the orange earth pony and answers, “There’s this one place that’s been taken over by diamond dogs. Young rock-eating dragons used to go there because there were a lot of jewels for them to eat. Then the diamond dogs came and drove them off.”

Impatiently, Applejack asks, “And, what does that have to do with Rarity?”

Unfortunately, the orange earth pony’s prodding causes Weed Whacker to lose track of what she was saying, and the little dinosaur closes her mouth and shrinks away.

I have my character approach the orange earth mare as I say, “Alright, Applejack, at ease.”

My character succeeds in pushing Applejack away from Weed Whacker, only for her to growl and start shoving her way back toward the little dinosaur.

As my character turns his attention to the orange earth mare, I say, “Applejack, you’re not helping. You had your turn, now let me have mine.”

At my statement, Applejack stops pushing and backs away in disgrace. After a few steps, she stops and says, “Ah’m sorry, Mormon.”

I have my character turn his attention to the herbivorous dinosaur, then pick her up and place her on Lyra’s back; and I say, “Alright, Weed Whacker, please continue.”

Now in a comfortable position, Weed Whacker sighs, then says, “If Rarity’s gone to the jewel mine, then she may have been captured by the diamond dogs.”

Confused, Applejack asks, “Uh, what the hay are these diamond dogs?”

Weed Whacker answers, “I’m sure Rarity’s becoming more familiar with them than she wants to right now.”

I have my character turn to the orange earth mare as I add, “I think I can answer your question. I’ve seen them before.” As the attention of the rest of the group focuses on my character, I continue, “They’re monkey-like dogs that live underground. They’re similar to Spike in that they like jewels. But, as far as I know, they don’t eat them. They just carry the jewels around in pockets in their jackets. And, they’re likely to enslave any creature that they think can help them find whatever jewels they want.”

When I’m finished speaking, all the ponies echo one of the words I said: “Enslave!”

Then, Twilight draws the most obvious conclusion, “We need to rescue Rarity,” before focusing on Weed Whacker and asking, “Can you show us where this jewel mine is?”

The little herbivorous dinosaur turns to the purple unicorn and answers, “Yes,” then turns to Lyra and adds, “But, if we’re gonna get there as soon as possible, I’m gonna need your help.”

Lyra nods to Weed Whacker and says, “No problem.”

At this point, I turn to Scout, and I ask, “Will you take Gummy and head back to my house?”

The timber wolf whimpers, but nods in agreement.

As Pinkie Pie’s pet alligator jumps onto Scout’s back, Fluttershy turns to her pet rabbit and says, “You go with Scout too, alright, Angel?”

The white rabbit seems to have an annoyed look on his face, but complies by jumping onto Scout’s back, behind Gummy.

Then, Applejack turns to her pet dog and says, “Winona, Ah want you ta go back ta Sweet Apple Acres. Will ya do that fer me?”

Based on how Winona droops, I’d say she’s upset and disappointed to have to go back to the orchard without Applejack. But, still she complies, if reluctantly.

I then hear Pinkie Pie say, “Oh, before we go, …” My character turns to her in time to see her produce a paper bag from her mane and pass it to Spike as she says, “I think you’re gonna need this.”

Spike doesn’t say anything more, just grabs the bag from Pinkie Pie and starts breathing into it.

Then, with Lyra and Weed Whacker in the lead, the group heads as fast as possible to the jewel mine.

A few minutes into the run, Twilight turns to her assistant and asks, “Spike, can you breath now?”

Spike, in the mean time, is making it clear that he is getting his breathing back under control, as his breathing into the paper bag is slowing down. In a few seconds, he answers, “Yes,” then turns to Twilight before adding, “I think so.”

Before looking ahead of her again, Twilight says, “Good.” Then, afterwards, she continues, “Now, tell us what you know.”

Flying immediately behind the two, Rainbow Dash adds, “Yeah, because, well, we remember what you said earlier.”

The blue pegasa starts to fall behind, and Applejack moves ahead of her and states, “Yeah, it wasn’t much to go on, Sport.”

At this point, I state, “Oh, I don’t know about that. It was enough, after all, for us to gather that Rarity is in some kind of trouble.”

My view of Spike, through my character’s eyes, is obscured by Rainbow Dash; so, I can only hear him say, “Yeah, thanks, Weed Whacker.” Then, after a moment, he continues, “Rarity and I were in the woods lookin’ for jewels, when those creepy diamond dogs showed up.”

Evidently my description was enough that Spike was able to identify Rarity’s abductors as the diamond dogs.

Rainbow Dash moves to the right just in time to show me, through my character’s eyes, Twilight turning to her assistant and saying, “Keep going, Spike,” before looking ahead of her again.

Presently, Spike continues, “And, they called themselves diamond dogs. They grabbed Rarity and then disappeared down a hole in the ground!”

Ahead of Spike and Twilight, I hear Weed Whacker say, “That’s how they work. Whoever they think can help them, they grab and take underground with them, usually through a hole.”

I then hear Applejack say, “Well, this seems mighty easy. Just take us to that there hole, and we’ll save Rarity.”

Before Applejack finishes her statement, Lyra stops, forcing the rest of the group to skid to a stop behind her.

Presently, Weed Whacker says, “Diamond dogs don’t work that way.” As the rest of the group takes positions to each side of the dinosaur and unicorn, Weed Whacker continues, “Diamond dogs, given the time, will dig a bunch of holes so that anyone who plans a rescue won’t know which hole to go down.”

After the group gasps over the bare ground, which reminds me of the surface of a block of Swiss cheese, I hear Pinkie Pie say, “Holy moley, that’s a lot of holies.”

Twilight Sparkle makes her way down the embankment, saying, “Come on girls, let’s get started.”

As the purple unicorn approaches a hole and looks down into it, Weed Whacker calls down, “No, wait a minute!”

But, it’s too late; the rest of the group, save for Lyra and my character, have made their way down the embankment, and are each peering down a hole.

Twilight turns to the herbivorous dinosaur and asks, “What’s wrong, W-oah!” just in time to get hit in the face by an eruption of dirt that covers the hole. In fact, it overcompensates, turning the hole into a hill.

Since my character is watching the ponies, I can only hear Weed Whacker sigh before she says, “If the rescuer or rescuers don’t get discouraged by the many holes, the diamond dogs fill ‘em back in.”

Almost as if on cue, one by one the rest of the holes erupt with dirt, and are buried.

In the mean time, Twilight shakes the dirt off of her face, then says, “Quick. We’ve gotta get down one before they’re all filled up.”

But, try as they might, before any one pony can get close enough to a hole, it erupts with dirt and is buried, until all the holes are thus filled in.

Hearing Weed Whacker groan, I have my character turn to her; and I ask, “So, any ideas on which hole I should dig out?”

The herbivorous dinosaur, who once again has a hand planted between her two closed eyes, removes the hand and opens her eyes again, then looks around at the hills. Finally, she points at one and says, “That one over there.”

I have my character stand behind Weed Whacker and align himself so I can see, through his eyes, which hole she’s pointing at. Then, after clicking on the hole, I have my character approach it, a hole close to the opposite embankment, and point to it; and I ask, “This one?”

Weed Whacker answers, “Yeah, that one oughtta do. But, be careful. The diamond dogs are used to rescuers with tails. So, in order to distract rescuers that try to dig the holes out again, they’ll appear from nearby holes and grab the tails of the rescuers. And, if they can, they’ll trip up the rescuers, or make them run into each other. Mormon, you should be the most difficult to distract, since you don’t have a tail.”

I have a sneaking suspicion Weed Whacker may be right.

As my character starts digging with his hands at the hill Weed Whacker selected for him, I hear Applejack say, “Ah think Mormon’s got the right idea. Let’s start diggin’ these things out.”

As my character continues to dig, I call out, “Just don’t get distracted by the diamond dogs! Remember what Weed Whacker said!”

But, sure enough, I hear yelps, screams, and grunts from ponies around my character, letting me know they’re being distracted by diamond dogs pulling their tails and otherwise keeping them from digging out the holes.

In fact, I hear a voice behind my character, a voice the sounds strangely like Yoda from Star Wars or Grover from Sesame Street, say, “Oh, no you don’t.” Then, a slight tremble of my character’s view of the ground indicates that a diamond dog has jumped on my character’s back to try to distract him or slow him down. But, a quick action from him, and the diamond dog, or so I’m assuming, is thrown off of him, after which my character goes back to digging the hill out.

While my character continues working on the hole, I hear Grover-Yoda say, “Alright, time to try something else.” I then hear digging sounds next to my character, then similar sounds directly under him, followed by the face of a tan bulldog that jumps out and barks at him once.

I respond by saying, “Oh, nice to meet you.” Then, I ask, “So, could you help me dig this hole out?”

Grover-Yoda nods eagerly and answers, “Sure, no problem,” and starts digging away the hill my character was digging at.

In a matter of seconds, the hill is back to being a hole.

As the pug-faced diamond dog disappears back into the hole, I call out, “Thank you!”

Grover-Yoda calls back, “Glad I could help!”

From behind me, I hear Weed Whacker grunt in surprise, then say, “I wouldn’t have thought of doing that.”

I have my character turn to Weed Whacker and Lyra, and I call to them, “So, let’s get going before they fill in this hole again!” And, I have my character jump down the hole.

As my character descends down the hole, I hear, behind him, a chorus of grunts indicating that at least five ponies and one dragon tried to jump down the hole head first at the same time, and must have head-butted each other. But, I have no time to respond to that, as I watch the tunnel ahead of my character move up and down, left and right, then open up suddenly into a cavern. I continue to watch another hole open just ahead of my character, then move down, then up, then stay in one place, and once again open up, this time into a tunnel. Finally, I see ground under my character magnify as he lands on it with a slight bounce.

When he’s finally stable in his place, I have him roll to one side to avoid the ponies and dragons that I know have followed my character down the hole.

Indeed, the first one down is Weed Whacker, then Lyra, then Spike, then Applejack, then Twilight Sparkle, then Rainbow Dash, then Fluttershy, and finally Pinkie Pie.

As my character, as per my instructions, helps the dazed ponies and dragons out of their pile-up, I say, “You know, there are humans that’d pay a lot of money to go on a ride like that.” But, it seems that the ponies and dragons are too dazed at the time to hear, or understand, what I say.

Once all are on their feet, or hooves, and have shaken themselves out, Twilight says, “Well, we’ve come this far. Any idea how we’re gonna get to Rarity now?”

Presently, an idea seems to dawn on Spike. He produces an azure jewel and says, “Hey, we can use this to find her!”

Then, again as if on cue, the jewel starts glowing, and drags the purple dragon to another hole, which is significantly smaller than the one that got the group down to the present tunnel.

Again Applejack grabs onto Spike’s tail to keep him from going down too fast.

And, mostly like the previous lineup, Twilight follows Applejack, and is followed by Rainbow Dash, then Fluttershy, then Pinkie Pie. But, this time, Weed Whacker attaches herself to Pinkie Pie’s tail, Lyra to Weed Whacker’s tail, and my character grabs onto Lyra’s tail. Whether the effect is worth it or not is, and most likely will remain, unclear; but, even my character is dragged into the hole, to end up on top of the pile.

My character gets up off of Lyra’s back, then helps the ponies and dragons, once again, out of the stack and onto their hooves or feet.

As they once again shake themselves out, Twilight turns to my character and says, “Thank … you … Mormon.”

The rest of the group, noticing how Twilight seemed to have trailed off, turn to her, then to my character.

Twilight, tilting her head in a way I can only interpret as curious, asks, “Mormon, are you alright?”

Lyra and Pinkie Pie, after looking at my character for a few seconds, each close their eyes and plant a hoof between them, then shake their heads and say, “Oh, no.”

I ask, “Is something wrong?”

And, then, my character looks down at himself, then back up at the hole. It seems that, on the trip down that last hole, whatever was in there ripped away all his clothing.

I turn to the ponies and dragons and say, “Well, we can’t worry about that right now. We still have to find and rescue Rarity, although, I wouldn’t be surprised if she has everything well in hand.”

Twilight says, “Remember, Rarity’s a pony. In her case, it’s well in hoof.”

I respond, “Yeah, that too. The point is I suspect she’ll have everything under control.”

Just then, I hear Spike ask, “Wait, where’d it go?”

Twilight turns to her assistant and asks, “Where did what go, Spike?”

The focus of my character turns to the purple dragon as he, searching the ground, answers, “The jewel Rarity gave me. I can’t find it.” When his search turns up fruitless, desperation and frustration set in; and he looks up and cries out an extended “No!”

And, it seems that Spike’s pained cry is enough to snap the focus of pony and dragon alike away from my character.

Applejack says, “Well, like Mormon said, we can’t be worried about that right now. We still have to find Rarity.”

Fluttershy responds, “Yes. But, how are we going to find her with all these tunnels?”

Indeed, with one panning, three-hundred-sixty-degree turn, my character shows me, through his eyes, the tunnels, going in all directions, connecting to the tunnel where the group is at present.

The attention of my character is drawn back to Twilight Sparkle as she asks, “All these tunnels, how are we ever gonna find Rarity?” And, I can already see she’s leading the group, save for my character, apparently, through the main tunnel, which leads to a fork.

As my character runs to catch up to the main group, I hear Applejack answer, “Giss we’re gonna have to start goin’ through ‘em one-by-one.”

Then, Rainbow Dash points out, “That could take forever. There’s gotta be a way to narrow it down.”

Presently, Spike points upwards and, stopping the group by example, says, “I know. I bet they’ve taken her down the tunnel with the most gems.”

Twilight points out, “But, Spike, Rarity’s the only one that knows how to find gems.”

Spike, who’d been looking away from the purple unicorn, turns to her again and states, “No. Twilight, you can. You can copy Rarity’s gem-hunting spell.”

Twilight points to herself and, with a distressed look on her face, states, “Oh, my gosh, you’re right.” She then starts walking forward smiling as she continues, “Rarity showed me how she did it a while back.” She then stops as she concludes, “If I can just remember, …” And, she starts focusing as her horn starts to glow and sparkle.

As the purple unicorn looks up, jewels start glowing from surfaces in the walls, floor, and ceiling of the cave. And, sure enough, along one pathway are more of the glowing gems than in any other pathway.

Presently, Spike says, “You did it, Twilight!” He then hops onto the purple unicorn’s back and says, pointing to the pathway, “Come on!”

The rest of the group follows Twilight as she rears up and kicks her front legs for a moment, then lands and starts galloping into the tunnel with the most glowing jewels.

I can’t help noticing that Twilight’s spell seems to have a limited range; as, while most of the rest of the group follows her, the jewels around my character seem to disappear back into the ground.

Nothing is said amongst the group as my character follows the galloping ponies, lead by Twilight, as gems appear in the walls, ceiling, and floor ahead of her, and disappear around my character. But, thus the rapidly moving parade proceeds for a few minutes until I start to hear Rarity’s melodramatic bawling.

And, not long after that, the group arrives at an intersection of tunnels, one of which is closed off by a door made of metal bars.

As the group comes to a stop, Rainbow Dash points to the metal bar door and says, “She must be in there!”

But, before the group can proceed, each of the ponies, as well as my character, is attacked by an earthy-chocolate colored, armored diamond dog; and each of the ponies is secured by the muzzle with a rope.

I hear Applejack say, “Woah, Doggies. If you can take this bull by the horns, you better be ready for a ride.” And, with that, she starts jumping and kicking, determined to get the diamond dog off of her back.

The rest of the ponies follow suit.

I, on the other hand, have my character turn one hundred eighty degrees, then grab the arms of the diamond dog on his back, then kneel and bow, throwing the surprised dog in front of him, as I call out, “Woah-I’m-gonna-throw-you-over-there!”

As soon as the diamond dog lands on his back, he rolls over onto his front, then looks up at my character and says, “Hey, why you not warn me first?” This one kind of sounds like Scooby-doo to me.

I answer, “I did warn you. I said I was gonna throw you over there, and I did.”

In the mean time, the diamond dog stands back up again. When I’m finished speaking, he responds, “Yeah, while you were throwing me.”

I ask, “Well, did I lie?”

The diamond dog doesn’t answer my question, just growls and jumps at my character again.

This time, I have my character kick the dog in the chest, causing him to yelp in pain and grab his chest as he once again lands on his back.

This time, as he rolls over on his front, he looks up at me, then whimpers, “This not worth it. I go now.” And, with that, he turns and runs off.

As I turn to the ponies, I hear Applejack say, “Yee-haw! Git along, little doggies!” Evidently, each of them has taken care of their own diamond dog.

But, before anyone can say anything more, loud crashing sounds start coming from the metal bar door.

Spike grabs and breaks off a stalactite, then tosses and catches it so he’s holding it just at it’s broken part, making it look like a jousting sword. He then says, “I’m comin’ for ya, m’lady. Hi-ho, Twilight, away!”

I can’t help noticing the indignant look on the purple unicorn’s face as she turns to her assistant and asks, “And, just what do you think you’re doing?”

Somewhat humbled, Spike replies, “Please, Twilight, just give me this?”

Twilight groans and says, “Fine,” then rears up on her hind legs and kicks with her front ones, then charges through the metal bar door. Either she’s sturdier than she looks, the door was weaker than it looked, or Twilight used a shield spell on her way through the door. Maybe it’s a mixture of those possibilities. I may never know.

At any rate, as the rest of the ponies follow Twilight into the room through the broken door, I hear Weed Whacker sigh and say, “Maybe some day he’ll do that for me.”

I choose not to respond to the herbivorous dinosaur’s statement, just have my character follow the ponies through the now-open doorway. And, what greets our vision is among the funniest things I’ve seen in the show.

As I hear Spike say, “Rarity, I’m here to save you,” I watch three diamond dogs, one of which is the one that helped me dig out the hole again, running towards the group of ponies, dragons, and human, crying variations of “Save me!”

As the trio falls at Twilight’s front hooves, in confusion she asks, “Excuse me?”

Presently, as the three stand up again, Grover-Yoda says, “So picky.”

The gray diamond dog adds, “And critical.”

Grover-Yoda continues, “She won’t stop talking.”

The gray diamond dog adds, “And crying!”

The earth-gray dog in the middle concludes, “We, uh, give her back, yes.”

Immediately, Spike jumps off of Twilight and, running to hug the white unicorn, says, “Rarity, you’re safe!”

Smiling, Rarity responds, “Why, yes. And, girls, you’ve arrived just in time to assist me.”

An incredulous Applejack asks, “Assist ya with what?” It’s either that, or “A sissy with what?”

Whichever it is, Rarity looks behind her and says, “With those.”

My character follows Rarity’s gaze to some half a dozen carts, each filled high above the top with shining gems.

I hear Spike ask, “You’re letting her leave, with all these—jewels?”

The earth-gray diamond dog answers, “Yes, take them! And her with them!”

Grover-Yoda adds, “Please!”

At this point, I can’t help but laugh at the trio, trembling behind an unstable-looking column.

On the other hand, each of the element holders is more than willing to take a cart and pull it, following Rarity out of the underground room.

I have my character linger behind for a moment and face the diamond dogs, as I ask, “So, how do we get out of here?”

It’s Grover-Yoda who answers, “J-just follow the main tunnel.”

The earth-gray diamond dog adds, “Yes-yes! The main tunnel will lead you out of here!”

I have my character wave to the trio as I say, “Thanks again. Goodbye!” And, as the dogs respond in kind, I have my character turn around and follow the ponies, carts and all.

As the group passes the broken door, I hear Rarity ask, “Oh, Mormon, by the way, why are you not wearing any clothing?”

I answer, “One of the tunnels we went through wouldn’t admit me with my clothes.”

Lyra asks, “A better question is how were you able to scare those diamond dogs into submission, Rarity?”

Spike’s voice shakes with excitement as he adds, “Yeah, and with all these jewels?”

Rarity answers, “Well, let me start by saying that being a lady does have it’s advantages.”

Twilight asks, “How’s that?”

Rarity continues, “As soon as they told me what they wanted, I used my gem-finding spell, then marked the place where some jewels were with a stick and asked them to let me go. But, of course they insisted that I stay and dig the jewels up. Well, I couldn’t allow my pony pedicure to be ruined, so I dug as slowly and as little as I could. Eventually, the diamond dogs got impatient and dug the jewels up themselves.”

At this point, I speak up and say, “You know, that reminds me of a story I heard from LDS history. It seems that after Joseph Smith got the golden plates, he had to move out of his home. So, he hid the gold plates in a barrel of raw, dehydrated beans, or that’s how the video portrayed it. Anyway, when a mob came and demanded the plates, they ransacked his wagon until they got to the barrel of beans, at which point Joseph stopped them, and demanded that he help by digging the beans out himself. When they agreed, he took the beans, a handful at a time, out of the barrel, and put them into a bucket. It seems that the process was so slow, the mob got impatient; but they gave up and moved on.”

Rarity continues, “Well, the diamond dogs decided that if I wasn’t going to dig, then I should pull the cart with the jewels. Well, let me tell you something, the old rusty harness they gave me to pull the cart wasn’t as uncomfortable as their claws. I don’t know what they used them for, but they were a real mess, and I let them know about it. And, don’t get me started on the odors they produced.

“Well, while I pulled their cart and marked where the jewels were, I let them know what I thought of the conditions I was working under. And, when they said I was whining, I let them know what whining is. And, after that, at least for a while, I had them eating out of my hoof.

“And, then they called me a mule, and I cried over them calling me ugly.”

I hear Twilight say, “And, that’s when we heard you.”

Rainbow Dash adds, “A bunch of diamond dogs tried to catch us, but, with Applejack leading the way, we managed to jump and kick ‘em off.” And, she concludes with a couple of laughs.

I add, “The one that tried to catch me, after a throw and a kick, gave up easily enough.”

I hear Lyra say, “I heard you say something about throwing him over there.”

I respond, “I just warned him what I was going to do.”

I hear Pinkie Pie giggle, then snort, then say, “I heard you warned him while you were throwing him.”

I state, “Well, I did warn him, after all. I just didn’t give him a chance to respond.”

At this point, all of the ponies, as well as the dragons, laugh.

And, based on the increasing light, it seems that the group is approaching, no, make that has reached, the opening to the cave.

At the opening, I find that Lyra has lingered behind to wait for me. Then, as she sees me, she asks, “So, Mormon, do you want me to teleport you back to your home so you can get a bath and some clothes?”

I have my character stop pushing the cart ahead of him, only to see that the cart is moving just as easily on its own. Evidently, whichever pony has been pulling the cart probably didn’t need my character pushing from behind after all.

After watching the cart move on ahead of my character for a few seconds, I have him turn Lyra; and I answer, “That’s a good idea. Sure, go ahead.”

At my acceptance, Lyra closes her eyes, and her horn glows and sparkles as she concentrates.

Then, a frame later, the pale-green unicorn and my character are on the lawn in front of my character’s home.

I have my character head up the front steps as I say, “Thanks, Lyra. You can wait inside if you want.”

Then, I hear growling, and my character turns to show me, through his eyes, that it’s Scout growling at him.

I state, “It’s alright, Scout, it’s me.”

Scout stops growling, then rises to all fours and walks toward my character and sniffs at his hand, then backs away and drops into a sphinx-style sitting position again.

I have my character enter the house, then head to the bathroom closest to his bedroom and enter and turn on the shower. You know, it turns out that not all of my character’s clothes were removed in that last, tight tunnel. It seems that the collar of his shirt, as well as the belt line of his pants, remained on him. I have him remove those and throw them on the floor before he starts his shower. Then after the shower, I have him go to his room and put some fresh clothes on, then go into the bathroom after the remnants of his torn clothes, gather them up, then throw them in the nearest garbage container, which happens to be the one next to the fridge in the kitchen.

My character enters the front room to find Lyra waiting for him on the couch. Based on what I’m seeing from my character’s perspective, it looks like Lyra also had a shower.

I ask her, “So, would you like to walk back to Ponyville, or shall we teleport there?”

Lyra answers, “Well, either way, I’m guessing by the time we get back there, Pinkie Pie and her friends will be at the boutique, and Rarity’ll be sorting through the jewels. I say we teleport there.” And, before I can agree, again she concentrates; and, once her horn starts to glow and sparkle, in one frame she and my character are at the entrance to the boutique where, indeed, six more carts are waiting, evidently abandoned by six ponies. Lyra walks up to the front door and says, “Now, let’s go inside.”

But, before the pale-green unicorn can open the door, it pulls open on its own; and Pinkie Pie, on the other side, says, “Oh, Lyra, Mormon, come on in. We’ve been waiting for you.”

As the human and the unicorn enter, I say, “I’m guessing you had Weed Whacker ride on Pinkie Pie’s back?”

And, once the two are inside, I hear Weed Whacker answer, “That’s right.”

And, that’s before I notice the pile of gems in the middle of Rarity’s boutique.

To the side of the pile opposite the door, I hear Rarity say, “It will take me quite some time to sort out all these jewels, but that doesn’t mean I won’t have time to go to the reading this evening.”

And, that’s when I remember an important matter.

And, as it turns out, Pinkie remembers it too, as I hear her blurt out, “Oh, yeah, I need to go invite the Cakes to the reading!”

If Pinkie Pie hadn’t said that, I would’ve asked her about it. But, since she’s indicated that she’s thinking about it, with my character turning his attention from Rarity to her, I ask, “So, Pinkie, do you want me to go with you?”

Pinkie smiles as she answers, “If you wanna go with me, then you can.” She then turns to the white unicorn and asks, “Do you need Mormon for anything, Rarity?”

She answers, “No, Mormon may go with you, Pinkie.”

The pink earth pony turns to my character and says, “Well, if you wanna come with me, then let’s get going.” And, with that, she turns and heads out the door.

Before I can close the door behind my character and Pinkie, I hear Rarity address Lyra. Whether it’s to help her sort out the jewels or it’s something about her dress, I don’t catch because my character closes the door too quickly. But, I’m guessing it’s to help sort the jewels.

In the mean time, my character follows Pinkie Pie to Sugar Cube Corner, where Mr. Cake is outside, either saluting one last customer farewell, or closing up shop for the day.

As the human and pink earth pony approach, Pinkie gallops forward and says, “Hi, Mr. Cake!”

The orange earth stallion turns to her and says, “Oh, hi, Pinkie. How are you?”

Pinkie stops an inch away from Mr. Cake and answers, “I’m fine. I just came to invite you and Mrs. Cake to the reading tonight. It’s being held at Town Hall starting last night.”

Mr. Cake smiles and says, “Oh, is that so. I noticed that ponies that were headed to Mormon’s house to read were being diverted into town. Just give me a minute or two, and I’ll go inside and ask Cup if she wants to go to the reading.” And, with that, he heads around to the back door, opens it, and enters, calling to the pink party pony and the human, “You can wait for us inside, Pinkie, Mormon.”

In agreement, my character and Pinkie Pie follow the orange earth stallion through the back door, then through the kitchen into the main room.

As they walk through the kitchen, I’m not surprised to see that, indeed, the taffy-pulling machine is no longer in the kitchen. I state, “I’m guessing you got rid of the taffy puller?”

I hear Mr. Cake say flatly, “Yes. After what happened to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I decided it was better not to have that machine in here. I gave it to Bon-Bon.”

As I’m thinking about it, I hear Pinkie Pie say, “Well, Mormy, it sounds like you were totally right.”

At this point, the group of three are in the main room.

Mr. Cake turns to my character and asks, “Totally right about what?”

Pinkie Pie answers, “He figured that, after Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle got caught in the taffy puller, you’d give it away to somepony else, most likely Bon-Bon.”

I don’t seem to remember saying that aloud. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if Diane knew, and managed to inform Pinkamena about it.

In the mean time, Mr. Cake walks to the stairs, then, turning to the pink earth mare and the human, says, “If you two will wait down here, I’ll go up and ask Cup about the reading.” And, with that, he marches up the stairs.

I watch, through my character’s eyes, the orange earth stallion head up the stairs, down the hall, and into the second door. Then, when the door closes behind Mr. Cake, I have my character turn to Pinkie Pie.

The pink party pony, as it turns out, is looking up at my character. She says, “I wonder if they’ll be able to catch up.”

I respond, “I suspect they will. For all we know, they may have been reading the whole time between the two of them. Who knows? The Book of Mormon may have been providing them with bedtime stories for their two foals. I’m guessing they’ll only tell us about it if it matters that much to them.”

Pinkie Pie seemed to have a worried look on her face when she mentioned the Cakes catching up. But, now she begins to smile as she says, “I hope you’re right.”

Not long after she says that, the door to the room Mr. Cake entered opens; and he comes out. Smiling, he says, “We’ll need some time to get ready, but yes. In fact, we’ll be honored to join in the reading tonight.”

In response, Pinkie Pie jumps into the air and screams, “Yes!” Then, evidently realizing she’s gotten overly excited, she stops in mid air, then slowly descends to the ground, then giggles and says to the orange earth stallion, “Uh, I mean, thank you, Mr. Cake.”

I can’t blame Pinkie Pie for her excitement, though. I ask, “So, do you need any help making preparations?”

Mr. Cake smiles as he responds, “I appreciate the offer, but no, I don’t think so. You two can go on ahead to Town Hall, or wherever you need to go before then.”

As Pinkie Pie leads the way through the kitchen to the back door, I say, “We look forward to seeing you and Mrs. Cake there at the reading.”

Mr. Cake replies, “We look forward to being there.”

Approximately halfway through the kitchen, as my character turns to the pink earth mare, I hear her ask, “Do you think they’ll bring their foals with them?”

I answer, “It wouldn’t surprise me.”

I’m sure I can hear Pinkie smile when she says, “I do look forward to seeing them again.”

I say, “Let’s just get back to Carousel Boutique. Maybe we can help Rarity and Lyra sort out all those gems.”

Once the pony and human are back outside, Pinkie turns to my character and says, “Oh, that reminds me. Do you still have your Book of Mormon in your inventory?”

It takes me only a few seconds to find out that I have in my inventory all the items I had before, including my copy of the Book of Mormon.

As I exit out of my inventory, I hear Pinkie Pie say, “I know I have mine in mine.”

I answer, “Yes, I have my Book of Mormon in my inventory.”

Pinkie closes her eyes and smiles as she says, “Good!” Then, she opens her eyes again and says, “I wonder if Lyra has hers.”

As the pink earth pony starts trotting off to Carousel Boutique again, and my character follows her, I ask, “Her Book of Mormon, or her inventory?”

Pinkie Pie giggles as she starts galloping.

When the two arrive at the boutique, Pinkie Pie opens the door and enters first, while my character follows.

As soon as my character enters the boutique, I’m aware of a pale-yellow earth pony wearing a white blouse and staring at the pile of jewels just a few feet from the doorway.

I say, “Miss Sapphire Shores, imagine meeting you here.”

The butter-colored earth pony jumps and yelps at the sound of my voice, then turns and looks at my character. I’m sure I hear her growl, “Oh, it’s you,” before she asks, “What do you want? Do you live here or something?”

I open my mouth to answer, but then I hear Pinkie Pie giggle and answer for me, “No, Mormon lives on the other side of the Everfree forest.”

Sapphire Shores simply repeats, “The Everfree forest.” Then, she continues, “You let a monster from the nearby forest run loose through your town.”

Again I open my mouth to speak, and again Pinkie Pie answers for me, “Oh, Mormon’s no monster. He’s our friend.”

At this point, considering the calming effect she seems to have on Sapphire Shores, I decide it’s alright to allow Pinkie Pie to be my spokes pony.

In the mean time, the pale-yellow earth pony says, “Well, as long as he doesn’t hurt anypony, I suppose he can stay.”

This time, as I open my mouth to speak, Pinkie Pie doesn’t say anything. So, I go ahead and say, “When ponies first meet me, they’re scared of me. That is, until they find out that I don’t want to do them any harm, and prefer to make friends with them. After that, they’re perfectly fine with me being around.”

Sapphire Shores looks at my character, then grunts in something that kind of sounds like affirmation, but I tend to doubt it is. Still, she seems to accept my presence, at least for the moment.

In the mean time, Rarity asks, “Oh, by the way, Sapphire, how long will you be staying here?”

The butter-colored earth mare answers, “Oh, I like to stay at a place until my costumes are complete, you know, make sure they’re perfect?”

Next, Rarity asks, “So, would you like to attend the reading this evening? It’s hosted by Mormon, here, and being held at Town Hall.”

Sapphire Shores turns to and eyes my character up and down, then turns back to Rarity and answers, “I suppose I could find something to do in town while I’m waiting. Sure, I’ll attend the reading.”

It could be that Rarity has more than enough materials to complete Sapphire Shores’ order, or that she’s occupied sorting out the pile of jewels she gathered with the help of the diamond dogs. But, I don’t seem to sense any nervousness in her.

As the four leave through the front door, with my character watching them, I hear Lyra say, “I brought my and Weed Whacker’s books with me. I got them while Mormon was taking a bath and getting a new change of clothes.”

Rarity looks over and takes a look at my character, then says, “Oh, yes, Mormon, it’s good to see you dressed again.”

Before I can respond, Sapphire Shores asks, “He always wears that much clothing?”

Rarity goes back to sorting the gems as she answers, “But, of course. He’s a human.”

Sapphire Shores continues, “And, there was a time today when he wasn’t?”

This time, it’s Pinkie Pie who answers, “He came with us to rescue Rarity from the diamond dogs.” Rarity calls the pink earth pony’s name to get her attention, but Pinkie Pie continues, “He dug out a hole that the diamond dogs buried, then jumped down it. He lost his clothes when he grabbed on to Lyra to keep her from going down a little hole too fast after us, and the hole ripped off all his clothing.” And, she concludes by giggling.

I correct, “I did start digging the hole out; but when a diamond dog jumped out at me, I asked him politely to help me dig the hole out, and he went ahead and finished the job.”

I hear Pinkie Pie say, “Oh, is that what happened?”

As my character turns his attention to the pink earth pony, I hear Rarity growl, “Mormon, don’t encourage her!”

As my character now focuses his attention on the white unicorn, I respond, “I was just stating the event based on how I saw it.”

At that moment Rarity sighs, then says, “So, you were polite to a diamond dog, and the diamond dog did your job for you?”

I answer, “That’s right.”

Rarity rubs her chin with a front hoof as she says, “I just had to make myself look good only at finding the jewels so the diamond dogs would do the digging for me.”

At this, I hear Sapphire Shores laugh boisterously. As my character turns his attention to the butter-colored earth pony, she says, “Well, it sounds like you all had your adventures for the day.”

At her comment, Rarity and I voice our affirmations simultaneously.

After that, I think out loud, “I wonder if we should wait here for the other four to return, or if we should head over to the Town Hall now.”

I think Rarity was getting ready to answer; but before she can, the front door opens; and Twilight comes in, with Spike on her back holding two books, and says, “Well, Spike and I are ready to go to the reading when everypony else is.”

My guess is Rarity switches gears when she says, “Well, that’s good to hear. Mormon was just wondering if we should go to the Town Hall now, or wait for the others to come first. If everypony can wait here, I shall go upstairs and get my copy of the book.”

As the white unicorn turns from the now not-quite-so-large pile of gems and heads up the stairs to her room, again I hear the front door open.

This time, it’s Rainbow Dash who flies in and says, “Well, I’m ready with my book.” Then, looking around, she says, “I guess we just wait for Fluttershy and Applejack.”

As the blue pegasa settles down on the ground, I hear Sapphire Shores ask, “Uh, what about me? When do I get my copy of this book that we’ll be reading?”

As my character turns to the pale-yellow earth pony, I answer, “There are copies of the Book of Mormon at the Town Hall.”

Sapphire Shores asks, “And, how much do they cost?”

I answer, “They don’t cost anything. Newcomers get their own copy.”

The butter-colored earth pony rubs her chin with a front hoof and hums with interest for a moment. Then, she puts the front hoof down again and, focusing on my character, asks, “And, do I get to keep my copy of the book?”

I answer, “Sure, no problem.”

Sapphire Shores goes back to rubbing her chin with her front hoof and humming with interest. This time, when she puts her front hoof down, she asks, “But, doesn’t that lower the value of the book, just giving copies away like that?”

This time, it’s Pinkie Pie who answers, “Oh, not at all. In fact, Mormon believes the book would be less valuable if he did offer it for money.”

Again Sapphire Shores rubs her chin with her front hoof and hums.

But, before she can come up with another question, the front door to the boutique opens; and Applejack enters, followed by her little sister Applebloom, then Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, and finally Fluttershy close behind them.

The white unicorn filly squeaks, “I better go get my book now.” And, with that, she gallops to her room.

As Sweetie Belle disappears behind a door, Scootaloo says, “I’m sure mom and dad’ll be coming with their copies, as well as mine.”

Applebloom states, “Ah got mine from my room ‘fore Ah left.”

Applejack says, “Yes. Fluttershy met us on the way into town. She and Ah have our copies. Is ever’pony else ready to go?”

I open my mouth to speak, but then I hear a door open from the upper level.

As my character turns his attention to the sound, I see, through his eyes, Rarity come out of her room, her copy of the Book of Mormon supported in the air by her magic. As she approaches the stairs, she says, “I shall be with you in a moment, and then we all can go.”

I order my character to the front door, and Lyra and Pinkie Pie follow him there. And I’m not sure, but I think the other four element bearers and the Cutie Mark Crusaders follow suit with Lyra and Pinkie Pie.

All I know is a few seconds later I hear Rarity say, “You may go on ahead, Mormon. We’re all waiting for you.” And, she does sound close.

Then, as I’m inputting my instruction for my character to reach for and open the door, again I hear a door on the upper level open, then the voice of Sweetie Belle once again squeak, “Wait for me!”

At this point, I decide to wait on entering the instruction until Rarity’s little sister comes down the stairs and catches up to the group.

And, it’s just as well; since I hear Rarity call to her, “We’re waiting for you, Sweetie Belle!”

Then, once Rarity indicates that her little sister is part of the group, I enter the instruction; and my character opens the door and holds it open for all the ponies to exit, then my character follows close behind them, pausing for a moment to close the door behind him.

After my character closes the door, the white unicorn turns and puts a sign reading “Closed” over the handles.

After that, my character and Rarity catch up to the rest of the group on their way to the Town Hall, which they reach in a matter of at least a minute. And, once they get there, it’s evident that some ponies are already there for the reading.

Pinkie’s the first to approach the door and open it. Then, as my character did, she stays and holds the door open for the rest of the group to enter. But, unlike my character, Pinkie Pie waits at the door, evidently putting herself in a position to greet guests that will enter.

In the mean time, as I get a good look around at the guests that have already arrived, I see that included among them are the two sister princesses, Mayor Mare, Zecora, and Sapphire Shores, evidently a newcomer to the group.

I decide to have my character steer clear of the line between Rarity and the stack of books near the doorway when I see her approach the butter-colored earth pony and ask, “Sapphire, have you gotten your copy of the Book of Mormon yet?”

Sapphire Shores answers, “I don’t know where to find 'em.”

From my character’s position, to the left of the door a few steps into the room, I can clearly see Sapphire Shores’ face as she talks. And, my decision to steer clear of the stack of books proves to be a good one; as the book on the top of the stack becomes possessed of a white aura, then rises maybe an inch and floats toward the two ponies.

In the mean time, Rarity says, “Oh, that’s right. I shall get you one of them now.”

And, with that, the book floats toward the two, and more directly toward Sapphire Shores.

The butter-colored earth mare receives the book with a word of gratitude, prompting Rarity to nervously grunt her acceptance.

In the mean time, more guests arrive, including Octavia and Vinyl Scratch, Berry Punch and Carrot Top, Snips and Snails and their parents, the parents of Rarity, as well as those of Scootaloo, and the Cakes with their two foals. And, as it turns out, the Cakes have brought some apparently leftover pastries as snacks for the reading. For that matter, the rest of the Apple family living at Sweet Apple Acres arrives with cut-up apples also as snacks.

In a few minutes, Pinkie Pie follows the last guests in to the Town Hall, then closes the door behind her.

If I’m not mistaken, there seem to be fifty guests total at this reading. Unfortunately, it seems that Sunny Days, Peachie Pie, and their parents won’t be attending this reading. But, at least the Cakes are here again.

The group forms a circle in front of the stage, where I evidently have a position on the lowest step.

Before I can say anything, Princess Celestia rises and gives a brief review of what the group has been reading up to this point, comprising all of the first two books of Nephi.

When she's finished and returns to a sphinx-style sitting position, I say, "Now, this evening we'll be starting the book of Jacob, and reading the first four chapters." And, while ponies and dragons open their books and flip through the pages until they get to the right page, I continue, "And, this time I'm not going to offer any comments. That's because I want to hear your opinions and insights on what you're reading. I understand that not everything we'll be reading will be difficult to understand; in fact, there are going to be some straight-forward verses. But, if there's a verse you think applies specifically to you, or holds special meaning for you, then please feel free to speak up about it." Noting, by this point, that all seem to be at the right page, I have my character turn to the butter-colored earth pony; and I ask, "Sapphire Shores, will you begin the reading?"

Smiling, she nods and answers, "Well, I'd be honored." She then looks down and reads, "For behold, it came to pass that fifty and five years had passed away from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem; wherefore, Nephi gave me, Jacob, a commandment concerning the small plates, upon which these things are engraven."

Mrs. Cake reads, "And he gave me, Jacob, a commandment that I should write upon these plates a few of the things which I considered to be most precious; that I should not touch, save it were lightly, concerning the history of this people which are called the people of Nephi."

Mr. Cake reads, "For he said that the history of his people should be engraven upon his other plates, and that I should preserve these plates and hand them down unto my seed, from generation to generation."

Cold Hands reads, "And if there were preaching which was sacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the heads of them upon these plates, and touch upon them as much as it were possible, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of our people." He then looks up and says, "I'm guessing when Jacob, here, talks about 'the heads,' he's referring to the most important parts of the preaching, revelation, and prophesying?"

Snails reads, "For because of faith and great anxiety, it truly had been made manifest unto us concerning our people, what things should happen unto them."

Snips reads, "And we also had many revelations, and the spirit of much prophecy; wherefore, we knew of Christ and his kingdom, which should come."

Warm Heart reads, "Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness."

Colgate reads, "Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all men not to rebel against God, to provoke him to anger, but that all men would believe in Christ, and view his death, and suffer his cross and bear the shame of the world; wherefore, I, Jacob, take it upon me to fulfil the commandment of my brother Nephi."

At this point, I hear Rainbow Dash say, "'Bear the shame of the world.'" As my character's attention is drawn to her, she asks, "What does that mean, exactly? Are we supposed to be ashamed of this in front of others?"

I answer, "That's a good question." I then turn to the daytime princess and ask, "Princess Celestia, what do you think it means?"

The white alicorn hums for a moment in thought, then says, "I don't think we're supposed to be ashamed of what we're reading here. But, not everypony is going to look at these things as words of wisdom. It may be that what Jacob is saying here is that those that aren't familiar with these things, and don't want to know about them, are going to make fun of those of us that welcome them. The things that we find honorable are going to be shameful to others, and those others may go so far as to make fun of them. But, they are as much entitled to their opinion as we are to ours. Does that make sense to you, Rainbow Dash?"

The blue pegasa pauses for a moment in thought, then says, "You know, I think it does. Thanks, Princess Celestia."

At this point, Bon-Bon reads, "Now Nephi began to be old, and he saw that he must soon die; wherefore, he anointed a man to be a king and a ruler over his people now, according to the reigns of the kings." She then looks up and asks, "Wasn't there something about them not having kings when they got to the promised land?"

This time, it's Princess Luna who nods and says, "That's true. But, the God the Nephites serve frequently gave them what they wanted, whether it was for their benefit or their detriment. That way, they could find out for themselves whether they really wanted it or not, and whether it was good for them or not. In this case, the people wanted a king; so, they were given a king. But, we shall read later that the Nephites did indeed learn that having a king was more trouble for them than it was worth."

At this point, I must say this is getting back to what I originally enjoyed about the readings.

In the mean time, Lyra reads, "The people having loved Nephi exceedingly, he having been a great protector for them, having wielded the sword of Laban in their defense, and having labored in all his days for their welfare—"

Weed Whacker reads, "Wherefore, the people were desirous to retain in remembrance his name. And whoso should reign in his stead were called by the people, second Nephi, third Nephi, and so forth, according to the reigns of the kings; and thus they were called by the people, let them be of whatever name they would." Looking up, she says, "You know, considering Nephi's history with his people, it isn't surprising that they'd respect and appreciate him so much."

I read, "And it came to pass that Nephi died."

Zecora reads, "Now the people which were not Lamanites were Nephites; nevertheless, they were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites."

Mayor Mare reads, "But I, Jacob, shall not hereafter distinguish them by these names, but I shall call them Lamanites that seek to destroy the people of Nephi, and those who are friendly to Nephi I shall call Nephites, or the people of Nephi, according to the reigns of the kings."

Princess Luna reads, "And now it came to pass that the people of Nephi, under the reign of the second king, began to grow hard in their hearts, and indulge themselves somewhat in wicked practices, such as like unto David of old desiring many wives and concubines, and also Solomon, his son." She then turns to me and says, "This is something that Tia and I have been wondering about ever since we read about it." She then asks, "Who are these two, David and Solomon?"

I answer, "David was the second king of Israel, and Solomon was their third king, and David's son. David more or less inherited the kingdom of Israel from Saul, their first king, after Saul turned evil. And, even he and his son weren't exempt from practices that were contrary to God's commandments. Both had multiple wives. In fact, Solomon, before and while he built a temple to God, was the wisest and richest king of his time, perhaps of all time. But, after building the temple, he got into practices he shouldn't have. He had a thousand wives, seventy percent of which were concubines, or secondary wives."

Princess Celestia reads, "Yea, and they also began to search much gold and silver, and began to be lifted up somewhat in pride."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "Wherefore I, Jacob, gave unto them these words as I taught them in the temple, having first obtained mine errand from the Lord." Looking up, she says, "So, the Nephites had their own temple then?"

Princess Celestia turns to her and says, "That's right. Not everything they did was against the commandments of their God."

Spike reads, "For I, Jacob, and my brother Joseph had been consecrated priests and teachers of this people, by the hand of Nephi."

Rarity reads, "And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day."

At this point, Princess Celestia rises up to a canine-style sitting position and says, "This is the responsibility I, for instance, have taken on myself as princess of Equestria. Not necessarily teaching the word of God, but making sure the laws that everypony has agreed to are obeyed. It has not always been easy, but things that are worth it usually aren't. It has been an honor serving all of you, and I will endeavor to continue to do so."

At this point, as Princess Celestia returns to a sphinx-style sitting position, Applejack looks up and says, "Ah suppose Ah'll be startin' chapter two, then." She then looks down and reads, "The words which Jacob, the brother of Nephi, spake unto the people of Nephi, after the death of Nephi:"

Pinkie Pie reads, "Now, my beloved brethren, I, Jacob, according to the responsibility which I am under to God, to magnify mine office with soberness, and that I might rid my garments of your sins, I come up into the temple this day that I might declare unto you the word of God."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And ye yourselves know that I have hitherto been diligent in the office of my calling; but I this day am weighed down with much more desire and anxiety for the welfare of your souls than I have hitherto been."

Fluttershy reads, "For behold, as yet, ye have been obedient unto the word of the Lord, which I have given unto you."

Twist reads, "But behold, hearken ye unto me, and know that by the help of the all-powerful Creator of heaven and earth I can tell you concerning your thoughts, how that ye are beginning to labor in sin, which sin appeareth very abominable unto me, yea, and abominable unto God."

Namby Pamby reads, "Yea, it grieveth my soul and causeth me to shrink with shame before the presence of my Maker, that I must testify unto you concerning the wickedness of your hearts."

Cheerilee reads, "And also it grieveth me that I must use so much boldness of speech concerning you, before your wives and your children, many of whose feelings are exceedingly tender and chaste and delicate before God, which thing is pleasing unto God;"

Silver Spoon reads, "And it supposeth me that they have come up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul."

Filthy Rich reads, "Wherefore, it burdeneth my soul that I should be constrained, because of the strict commandment which I have received from God, to admonish you according to your crimes, to enlarge the wounds of those who are already wounded, instead of consoling and healing their wounds; and those who have not been wounded, instead of feasting upon the pleasing word of God have daggers placed to pierce their souls and wound their delicate minds."

Diamond Tiara reads, "But, notwithstanding the greatness of the task, I must do according to the strict commands of God, and tell you concerning your wickedness and abominations, in the presence of the pure in heart, and the broken heart, and under the glance of the piercing eye of the Almighty God."

Rarity's Mother reads, "Wherefore, I must tell you the truth according to the plainness of the word of God. For behold, as I inquired of the Lord, thus came the word unto me, saying: Jacob, get thou up into the temple on the morrow, and declare the word which I shall give thee unto this people."

Rarity's Father reads, "And now behold, my brethren, this is the word which I declare unto you, that many of you have begun to search for gold, and for silver, and for all manner of precious ores, in the which this land, which is a land of promise unto you and to your seed, doth abound most plentifully."

Stunts reads, "And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they." Looking up, he says, "This is something I think all of us need to be careful about, and remember. Just because one of us has more of something than somepony else has, or just because we have something that somepony else doesn't have, that doesn't make that one of us better than that somepony else."

Berry Ground reads, "And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? Behold, I say unto you, Nay. But he condemneth you, and if ye persist in these things his judgments must speedily come unto you."

Emerald Hill reads, "O that he would show you that he can pierce you, and with one glance of his eye he can smite you to the dust!"

Wind Walker reads, "O that he would rid you from this iniquity and abomination. And, O that ye would listen unto the word of his commands, and let not this pride of your hearts destroy your souls!"

Sleeping Beauty reads, "Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you."

Scootaloo reads, "But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God."

Sweetie Belle reads, "And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted."

Applebloom reads, "And now, my brethren, I have spoken unto you concerning pride; and those of you which have afflicted your neighbor, and persecuted him because ye were proud in your hearts, of the things which God hath given you, what say ye of it?"

Big MacIntosh reads, "Do ye not suppose that such things are abominable unto him who created all flesh? And the one being is as precious in his sight as the other. And all flesh is of the dust; and for the selfsame end hath he created them, that they should keep his commandments and glorify him forever."

Granny Smith reads, "And now I make an end of speaking unto you concerning this pride. And were it not that I must speak unto you concerning a grosser crime, my heart would rejoice exceedingly because of you."

Berry Punch reads, "But the word of God burdens me because of your grosser crimes. For behold, thus saith the Lord: This people begin to wax in iniquity; they understand not the scriptures, for they seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning David, and Solomon his son."

Carrot Top reads, "Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord."

Octavia reads, "Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph."

Vinyl Scratch reads, "Wherefore, I the Lord God will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old."

Drum Roll reads, "Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none;"

Sweet Tones reads, "For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts."

Lotta Pipes reads, "Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Hosts, or cursed be the land for their sakes."

Hoity Toity reads, "For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things."

Hoity Toity's servant reads, "For behold, I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow, and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people in the land of Jerusalem, yea, and in all the lands of my people, because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands."

Sapphire Shores reads, "And I will not suffer, saith the Lord of Hosts, that the cries of the fair daughters of this people, which I have led out of the land of Jerusalem, shall come up unto me against the men of my people, saith the Lord of Hosts."

Mrs. Cake reads, "For they shall not lead away captive the daughters of my people because of their tenderness, save I shall visit them with a sore curse, even unto destruction; for they shall not commit whoredoms, like unto them of old, saith the Lord of Hosts."

Mr. Cake reads, "And now behold, my brethren, ye know that these commandments were given to our father, Lehi; wherefore, ye have known them before; and ye have come unto great condemnation; for ye have done these things which ye ought not to have done."

Cold Hands reads, "Behold, ye have done greater iniquities than the Lamanites, our brethren. Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you. And because of the strictness of the word of God, which cometh down against you, many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds."

Snails looks up and says, "I guess I start chapter three, then." Then, he looks down again and reads, "But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction."

Snips reads, "O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever."

Warm Heart reads, "But, wo, wo, unto you that are not pure in heart, that are filthy this day before God; for except ye repent the land is cursed for your sakes; and the Lamanites, which are not filthy like unto you, nevertheless they are cursed with a sore cursing, shall scourge you even unto destruction."

Colgate reads, "And the time speedily cometh, that except ye repent they shall possess the land of your inheritance, and the Lord God will lead away the righteous out from among you."

Bon-Bon reads, "Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them."

At this point, I hear Stunts say, "Now, I find this interesting. The evil Lamanites are better than the Nephites."

I respond, "That's generally the way it works. A creature can't break a law if he or she isn't familiar with that law. Then again, it seems that the Lamanites were keeping one commandment that their father Lehi had given them."

Lyra reads, "And now, this commandment they observe to keep; wherefore, because of this observance, in keeping this commandment, the Lord God will not destroy them, but will be merciful unto them; and one day they shall become a blessed people."

Weed Whacker reads, "Behold, their husbands love their wives, and their wives love their husbands; and their husbands and their wives love their children; and their unbelief and their hatred towards you is because of the iniquity of their fathers; wherefore, how much better are you than they, in the sight of your great Creator?"

I read, "O my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins that their skins will be whiter than yours, when ye shall be brought with them before the throne of God."

Zecora reads, "Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, which is the word of God, that ye revile no more against them because of the darkness of their skins; neither shall ye revile against them because of their filthiness; but ye shall remember your own filthiness, and remember that their filthiness came because of their fathers."

Mayor Mare reads, "Wherefore, ye shall remember your children, how that ye have grieved their hearts because of the example that ye have set before them; and also, remember that ye may, because of your filthiness, bring your children unto destruction, and their sins be heaped upon your heads at the last day."

Princess Luna reads, "O my brethren, hearken unto my words; arouse the faculties of your souls; shake yourselves that ye may awake from the slumber of death; and loose yourselves from the pains of hell that ye may not become angels to the devil, to be cast into that lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death."

Princess Celestia reads, "And now I, Jacob, spake many more things unto the people of Nephi, warning them against fornication and lasciviousness, and every kind of sin, telling them the awful consequences of them."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people, which now began to be numerous, cannot be written upon these plates; but many of their proceedings are written upon the larger plates, and their wars, and their contentions, and the reigns of their kings."

Spike reads, "These plates are called the plates of Jacob, and they were made by the hand of Nephi. And I make an end of speaking these words."

At this point, Rarity says, "And, I start the fourth chapter," before reading, "Now behold, it came to pass that I, Jacob, having ministered much unto my people in word, (and I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words upon plates) and we know that the things which we write upon plates must remain;"

Applejack reads, "But whatsoever things we write upon anything save it be upon plates must perish and vanish away; but we can write a few words upon plates, which will give our children, and also our beloved brethren, a small degree of knowledge concerning us, or concerning their fathers—"

Pinkie Pie reads, "Now in this thing we do rejoice; and we labor diligently to engraven these words upon plates, hoping that our beloved brethren and our children will receive them with thankful hearts, and look upon them that they may learn with joy and not with sorrow, neither with contempt, concerning their first parents."

Rainbow Dash reads, "For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us."

Fluttershy reads, "Behold, they believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name. And for this intent we keep the law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son."

Twist reads, "Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea."

Namby Pamby reads, "Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things."

Cheerilee reads, "Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore, brethren, despise not the revelations of God."

Silver Spoon reads, "For behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?"

Filthy Rich reads, "Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works."

Diamond Tiara reads, "Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a resurrection, according to the power of the resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first-fruits of Christ unto God, having faith, and obtained a good hope of glory in him before he manifesteth himself in the flesh."

Rarity's Mother reads, "And now, beloved, marvel not that I tell you these things; for why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of him, as to attain to the knowledge of a resurrection and the world to come?"

Rarity's Father reads, "Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old."

Stunts reads, "But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble."

Berry Ground reads, "And now I, Jacob, am led on by the Spirit unto prophesying; for I perceive by the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that by the stumbling of the Jews they will reject the stone upon which they might build and have safe foundation."

Emerald Hill reads, "But behold, according to the scriptures, this stone shall become the great, and the last, and the only sure foundation, upon which the Jews can build."

Wind Walker reads, "And now, my beloved, how is it possible that these, after having rejected the sure foundation, can ever build upon it, that it may become the head of their corner?"

At this point, I rise and say, "Unfortunately, there wasn't quite enough for all to read two verses each. But, you can always go home and read further. But, in the mean time, let's call an end to the reading for tonight. Next time, we'll read the rest of the Book of Jacob. Until then, thanks for coming, everyone, and have a safe trip to your homes. Good evening."

As ponies start rising around the circle, Sapphire Shores approaches my character and says, “You know, I really don’t think anypony minded not getting to read more than one verse each. But, I must admit, I have enjoyed reading with you. You’re the first human I’ve ever met. Are all humans like you?”

I answer, “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. The fact of the matter is I’m fairly unique among humans. In fact, I don’t know if there is such a thing as a typical human. Every human has qualities that makes him or her different from every other human. And, from what I understand, the same thing can be said for ponies.”

Smiling and nodding, Sapphire Shores responds, “That’s true. No two ponies have the same color of hair or fur, and then there are our cutie marks to distinguish us. Do humans have cutie marks?”

Not even I notice, from my character’s perspective, Rarity approach the butter-colored earth pony from behind. Not until she says, “No, I can assure you that humans do not have cutie marks.”

Sapphire Shores starts, jumping into the air and turning ninety degrees to her right before landing and noticing the white unicorn behind her. She then focuses on her and says, “Rarity, I didn’t know you were there.”

Rarity, reminding me of Fluttershy, lowers her head and says, “Oh, I’m sorry, Sapphire. I didn’t mean to alarm you.”

Sapphire Shores smiles and says, “Oh, that’s alright. We’ll just call it payback for when I surprised you earlier.”

Rarity raises her head a little, chuckles, and says, “Oh, there’s really no need for that.”

The two continue with their conversation, but my character is distracted by the voice of Pinkie Pie saying, “Mormy, the rest of us are ready to go when you are.”

My character turns to the pink earth pony and notices she’s joined by Lyra and Weed Whacker. And, Princess Celestia is also with them. I state, “Well, I’m ready to head back now.”

The daytime princess says, “Then, allow me to do the honor.” And, before I can react, or have my character react, the scene changes in a frame to the front of my character's house, where it’s still very much light outside.

Followed by Pinkie Pie, Lyra, and Weed Whacker, in that order, I thank Princess Celestia for teleporting the group home. Then, when the daytime alicorn teleports away again, the group of four disperses into the orchard, the vineyard, and the vegetable garden to harvest fruits and vegetables for dinner.

In a matter of minutes, before the sun lowers and the moon rises, the party of four have harvested enough fruits and vegetables for the nighttime meal. And, it’s not very much longer after that when they’ve prepared and eaten the plant parts and headed to their rooms.

In my letter to the princesses, I start out writing about my introduction to Sapphire Shores, and how things could’ve gone better without Scout running ahead to meet her. From there on, I give a summary of what Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Lyra, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and my character did with our pets while in the park, before the arrival of Rarity with news of her need for Spike. After that, I talk about how, at the restaurant next to the school, I, along with Fluttershy, waited outside, and I was informed by Sunny Days and Peachie Pie that they weren’t allowed to attend any further readings. I write that I’d told them that they should listen to their parents, and maybe they’d come to the next reading with them. Whether it’ll happen that way or not will be anyone’s guess. But, all we can do is hope for the best.

I then write about how, approaching Carousel Boutique, we got word from Spike, with Weed Whacker’s assistance, that Rarity had been captured by diamond dogs, and was going to be their slave. I don’t mention that I’d lost my clothes entering the diamond dogs’ caves, I just mention how the group got in. I also talk about how, by the time we arrived to help Rarity, she’d had the diamond dogs running scared of her, and they were willing to give up the jewels they’d collected for her in order to be rid of her. Since I don’t hold any ponies hostage at my character’s house, I’ve never experienced unicorn hostility. And, considering the attitudes of the diamond dogs after what Rarity put them through, I’m willing to count that as a blessing.

I conclude the letter, then have my character roll it up and deliver it to Weed Whacker, so she can send it to the princesses. After that, I have my character prepare for and go to bed.

Another eventful day in my computerized version of Ponyville, with more memorable events. The play date was shorter than Scout would’ve liked, evidently, but he still had fun. And, I’m sure there’ll be more fun events in the game’s tomorrow. So, until the game’s tomorrow, I save and close the game.

Author's Note

In the next chapter, one of the diamond dogs invites Mormon and his friends to a special event held in a room among their caves. There are even diamond dogs on hand to "guide" Mormon and his friends to the event.

This and more in Chapter 21, "Know your ... Mormon?"

The reading will be the Book of Jacob, chapters 5, 6, and 7.