An Unexpected Friendship

It was a beautiful day in the city of Canterlot, the sky was pure blue without a single cloud above. All the ponies of Canterlot trotted around the streets doing their shopping and drinking tea in tables outside of diners. A certain white unicorn mare trotted past, it was none other than Alesha Zee. She was more than excited than usual, because it was her first day she was assigned to take pictures of landmarks of the city. Her fur was pure white, with pink mane with magenta stripes that reached down her shoulders. She had a camera shaped cutiemark, it was red and black. It represents her talent of taking the most beautiful pictures.

Alesha was also a student of Princess Celestia's magic school. She studied magic since she was a young filly, she was also very good at using magic. Though she's still learning a few spells. She is also Princess Luna's faithful student. How she became the Princess of the Night's student was another story. She was assigned by Princess Luna to take pictures of landmarks of the city. Alesha didn't know why, but she shrugged it off. She tool the task cause it was for her teacher and she enjoyed using her red and black camera.

She walked by the city's beauty salon with a sign saying "Mia Hairspray's barber shop." The building was an indigo color, with large windows. Alesha could make out a purple unicorn doing a pony's hair, though she couldn't quite see her face.  She made a few steps away from the building, making sure it was a good enough view for her camera. She used her camera, and took a picture of the building. She looked at the picture she just took,  and it looked good. Without any blurs or pony in the background.

Alesha looked inside the shop again, she can see the purple mare with a pink mane, it was tied in a gorgeous bun. She appeared to have a pink hairspray bottle for a cutie mark. Alesha wondered if she's the owner of the barber shop. She saw the mare finished her work with another mare with a beautiful long mane that appeared wavy. Alesha was impressed by her work. She wondered if she could have her mane done like that, but she was already happy with how her mane looked.

She stuck around for a while, until the wavy haired mare exited the building. She wiped her mane back and forth as if she was showing off her new look. Alesha stared at her for a while, before going in herself. she went inside, the room was beautifully decorated with hair spray bottles and hair cream. the walls were pure white, with pictures of all sorts of hairstyles. The cheers and things were pink in the mirror frames were black.

"Hello there Miss, and welcome to Mia Hairspray's barber shop, " the purple mare greeted her, "How may I help you?"

Alesha froze for a moment as the mare noticed her wondering around. She wasn't much for words, so she finally spoke. "Hello, I'm Alesha Zee," she said timidly, "I'm here to say that I do admire your work, and your shop is lovely."

"Thank you," the mare said fluffing up her bun, "is there something you'd like me to do with your hair? Perhaps I could give you a nice haircut, or I could curl it up."

"Actually, I-" Alesha was cut off buy the purple mare stroking her long mane.

"I must say darling," the mare said admiring Alesha's mane, "you have such beautiful hair, would you like me to brade it? Or add another color to it? Maybe another shade of pink?"

"Actually, I'm not here to-" she was cut off again as the mare rubbed her face against her pink and magenta tail.

"So soft," the mare murmured under her breath, "what kind of shampoo do you use? I must know?"

"Please listen to me," Alesha said with irritation in her voice, "I'm not here to get my hair done."

"What?" The mare gasped, "you're not here to... Well, if you're not here to get your hair done, then get out!"

"Wait!" Alesha stopped her, "I came in here to-"

"I don't care," the mare cut her off, "no service, then leave!" She pushed Alesha to the door.

"Okay okay," Alesha stopped her, "I'll let you do my hair!"

The mare stopped what she was doing, "what was that, Dear?"

"I will let you do my hair," she repeated, "then I will tell you the reason why I'm here."

The purple mare paused for a moment, then she agreed. "Very well then," she said, "what would you like?"

"Just a slight trim," Alesha said, "nothing fancy."

The mare sat her on a chair by the sink. Alesha leaned back letting her spray water on her scalp. The water felt a little warm, but she relaxed. The water soaked her mane completely, then she felt the shampoo being added. She closed her eyes, feeling the beautician massage her head with soap.

"I'm sorry we got on the wrong hoof back there," the mare said, "you're mane was so beautiful I couldn't help myself."

"Don't worry about it," Alesha said, "I admire your work, I came here to take pictures of your shop."

"Oh really," the mare said rinsing the shampoo off Alesha's mane, "for the magazines?"

"No actually," Alesha explained, "I was assigned to take pictures of landmarks by Princess Luna."

"Luna you say?" She asked, "I've always admired Princess Luna."

"She's my teacher," Alesha said.

"Really?" The beautician sounded impressed, "how amazing this is!"

"Yes," Alesha agreed, "by the way, I didn't get your name."

"Oh where are my manners," the mare said washing her scalp with conditioner, "I'm Mia Hairspray."

"Nice meeting you Mia," Alesha said.

"So tell me," Mia said wanting to hear more, "what is Luna like in person?

Alesha thought long and hard on explaining about her teacher. She never told another pony about being a princess's student other than her family. She could tell this pony was very interested about her story. "Well Luna is a kind pony," Alesha told her, "she can be a bit harsh since she's still catching up on her events that happened over the last thousand years. However I do adore her beautiful night. I've always been fascinated by it, with her moon and the stars in the sky."

"Yes," Mia said rinsing the conditioner off then towel drying her scalp,"it's sad that no pony respected her night a thousand years ago. But do love day and night equally."

Mia, lead her to a black desk with a large mirror with scissors, irons, and hairdryer. Alesha sat on the chair as Mia pumped up the chair and combed her wet mane using her unicorn magic. "So why did Luna assign you to take pictures of landmarks?" The beautician asked her.

"She didn't tell me," the white mare said, "I think she wants good pictures to see how good I am at using my camera." She wiped out her red and black camera.

"Aww what a cute little camera," Mia said admiring it, "it's the same one as your cutie mark."

"Yes," Alesha said,"how I got it is a long story."

Mia didn't say a word. She combed out her long mane and trimmed off the edges, making it even. "Do you want to hear about how I got my cutie mark?" She asked while continuing to trim, "well when I just a filly, my long dream was to be a beautician. I though I had such a hard time doing other ponies' hair, I thought I never had the talent. So I was in Ponyville where I met a filly about my age, she was a dress designer. Rarity her name was. She helped me work on hair since she was good at it too. I did her hair for the fun of it, I used a pink hairspray bottle and finished. Her hair looked beautiful. And that's when my cutie mark appeared."

"Wow that's amazing Mia," Alesha said, "I'm glad you found your talent by doing hair."

"Thank you," Mia said turning on a hair dryer, "I never knew back then on what I was capable of."

Mia hair dried Alesha's hair, making it flow in the warm air. Alesha loved the feeling of her hair being blow dried. It took a little longer since she had long hair. After it completely dried, Mia added some hair cream making it shine. She sprayed some hairspray using magic. Alesha felt like sneezing from the stench of the spray.

"Walla," Mia said admiring her work, "what do you think?"

"Wow," Alesha said looking in the mirror seeing her mane is now flowing and shiny, and smelled beautiful, "it looks beautiful Mia, you did a great job."

"Thank you," Mia said fluffing up her pink bun again.

"How much do I owe you?" Alesha asked her taking out her bits.

"You don't have to pay me darling," Mia said with her beautiful ruby eyes glittering at her, "we are good friends now, are we not?"

"That's mighty generous of you Mia," Alesha said taking out one bit, "but I should at least give you tips." She placed the bit in her hooves. She wasn't going to leave without paying her.

"Thank you darling for coming in," Mia said smiling at Alesha.

"One more thing," Alesha paused taking out her camera. She raped an arm around Mia. They both smiled at the camera, as it flashed a bright light. Alesha looked at the picture, it looked adorable. "Well it was nice meeting you Mia," Alesha said shaking a hoof, "but I should be going, I got a lot of pictures to take for the princess."

"It was nice meeting you too Darling," Mia said, "I'm glad we can be good friends."

"Me too," Alesha said, "well see you later Mia"

"Goodbye daring," Mia said as Alesha headed out the door. Alesha had to admit that she loved how her hair looked. The beautician was indeed a friendly pony, and very generous. She reminded Alesha of a pony that helped Twilight Sparkle in defeating Nightmare Moon. She wondered of the pony she mentioned earlier was one of the elements of harmony. She shook the thought away and trotted off to her next destination.

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Alesha walked around for other things for her pictures. She went a little outside of the city, as she spotted a field up ahead. The field was full of bushes and vines that grew all sorts of fruit, including strawberries. She took a picture of the field, using her camera. The picture looked like an amazing background. She walked her way in the field, brushing her fur against the bushes and growing fruit.

She then saw a red earth pony with curly shades of dark red and light red. She had three strawberries for a cutie mark. She wore a gardening hat made from straw. She was busy working on planting a strawberry vine, digging in the soil and sprinkling it with water. Alesha watched her work for a while, until she slowly approached her.

"Um... Hello there," Alesha said shyly.

The farmer pony perked up, and saw the mare who greeted her. She looked at her for a while and then she smiled. "Well howdy there, stranger," she said in a southern accent,"what brings you in these here parts?"

"Well..." Alesha said shyly looking away, "I saw your field and I must say, these strawberries you're growing look delicious."

"Why thank ya sugarcube," the farmer pony said, admiring the comment, "have ya come to get a few strawberries? Fresh from the vines?"

"Well actually, I'm here to take pictures of this farm." Alesha explained, "because I'm a photographer, and my task is to take pictures of landmarks here in Canterlot."

"Well ain't that somethin," the red mare said, "are ya doin it for the magazines? That would be somethin if I saw my farm on the news."

"Not exactly," Alesha said, "it's mostly for my teacher, Princess Luna. I was assigned to take pictures for her."

"So yer Luna's student?" The farmer asked, "well tan my fur, Ah never thought ah'd see

a student of the princess."

"Yes," Alesha said, "how I became her student is kinda a long story. Oh um... I'm Alesha Zee."

The red mare shook her hoof. "Well howdy do there, Alesha Zee," she said shaking her hoof, "ah'm Strawberry Rose."

Alesha returned the hoof shake. "Nice to meet you Strawberry Rose," she said smiling at the farmer pony.

"So you want some of my delicious strawberries?" Strawberry Rose asked, "these things sure need to be aten up." She grabbed a ice cream bucket full of freshly picked strawberries. Alesha's mouth watered by the sight. She could already taste the sweetness in her mouth.

"Of course," Alesha took the bucket, " thank you very much Strawberry."

"Yer welcome," Strawberry nodded her head in delight, "there's plenty around here at Strawberry Fields."

"I'll be sure to pick some more up in the future," Alesha said taking her bucket in her mouth, "so I guess I better be going, it was nice meeting you Strawberry."

"Sure was," Strawberry agreed, "I'm glad we could be friends."

Alesha stopped for a minute, she nearly forgotten one thing. "Um... Before I go, there's one thing left to do." She rapped an arm around Strawberry, and they both smiled at the camera as it flashed a bright light. She looked at the picture she took, it was just as adorable as the one with Mia Hairspray.

"Shucks, ain't that an adorable picture," Strawberry said looking at the picture, "well I'd better be gettin back to work, see ya round Alesha." As Alesha trotted off with her camera and her bucket of strawberries, Strawberry Rose returned to her work. Alesha smiled to herself, she didn't meet one, but two new friends all in the same day. She never thought she'd be able to socialize well with others, but it turned out better than she thought possible.

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