An hour later Dawn was already regretting it.

"I think I ate too much piiiiiie." She moaned, holding her belly with one hoof. She felt like a home-made doll -- stuffed and bursting at the seams.

"Didn't know that was possible for you, Ms Pie." Gummy laughed, before turning back to the list in claw. He had been studying it for some time now. "Hmm, there's supposed to be a pegasus pony named--"

"Twilight Swish." Dawn deadpanned.

"-clearing the clouds." Gummy continued, "How'd you know that?"

Dawn pointed up with the hoof she had been using to cradle her stomach. Gummy followed her line of sight to see a certain purple pegasus rapidly busting some clouds. Dawn rolled her eyes at the mare, but then she paused. Did pegasi like clearing clouds? Would they consider that a fun party game? How exactly would that work? Would it be like a passive game they could join and leave whenever? Would...

Dawn's train of thought was dramatically cut off as an onslaught of water rained down on her. Neither she nor Gummy had noticed that they had stopped their walk under the only gray cloud in the sky. At least it didn't seem like Twilight had done it on purpose, as she was still swishing through the sky, clearing clouds and doing loop-de-loops. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who you asked), one of the said loops had Twilight swooping right next to Dawn drying her off. However, her mane began to frizz out.

Dawn harrumphed. She could feel the difference in her mane, and she wasn't a fan. While it had been her preferred look when she was a filly, she had long outgrown the style. Not only was it a foalish look, but ponies were always quick to disregard her for it. Perhaps that was why Gummy's reaction hurt so much. Or perhaps it was because while Gummy had also been a victim of the fly-by rain-and-dry, he was completely unscathed. He had no hair or fur, so he didn't understand the difficulty of maintaining it either. Either way, Dawn was unimpressed. He was trying to stifle his laughter at least, but he was failing miserably. He soon gave up hiding it, tumbling on to the ground and rolling with laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want." Dawn rolled her eyes before narrowing them. "Just you wait, I'll be the last one laughing."

The laughter stopped mid-chuckle. Gummy stared, wide-eyed at her as she donned a smirk. Dawn was a master of pranks, and that title didn't even touch her when her magic was involved. He had rarely been on the receiving end of her pranks, but he had seen them do some massive (although unprovable) psychological damage to ponies who were. He quickly straightened up and offered, "It's really not that bad once you get used to it." Hopefully that would be enough to dissuade her from launching a one-sided prank war at him.

Dawn's smirk did not fall, even as she turned and continued trotting to their next destination: Town Hall. Gummy, though still a bit stunned, followed after her. He would need to stay vigilant to make sure Dawn didn't get ticked off at him any further.

It took next to no time at all to arrive at Town Hall. Ponyville was quite a bit smaller than Canterlot, which gave Dawn a reason to smile. Since it took less time to get from place to place, it stood to reason that she'd have more time later to continue preparations. With a bit more pep in her step, Dawn opened the doors to the hall. The designer was already there, decorating away to her heart's content. The designer was a yellow unicorn with a styled pink mane and tail. Her cutiemark was a single pink parasol surrounded by blue sparkles. She was currently trying out a selection of ribbons as bows for one of the pillars in the room.

"Too sparkly, too short, too rough, too green..."

"Ahem." Dawn coughed to get the mare's attention. "Are you in charge of the decor--"

"Hold on, I'm in ze zone." The mare interjected, not even glancing back to see the newcomers. It took maybe 15 seconds before she found the "perfect" bow. She then turned to face Dawn, "How can I--" She cut herself off with a loud gasp as she took in the two newcomers.

Well, it was pretty clear that this unicorn was in charge of the decorations. Since Dawn had the mare's attention, she tried her spiel once again. "I'm Pinkamenia Dawn Pie, and I'm just here to check on the decorations for the Summer Sun Celebration, and then I'll be out of your hair!"

"My hair?" This seemed to rouse the mare from her stupor. "What about your hair?" She asked distressedly.

"My hair? Oh, it's nothing a brush and a curler won't fix." Dawn dismissed with a wave of her hoof.

"Don't tell me you're going to go back out in public like zat!"

"Um, okay. I won't tell you that."

Apparently that was the wrong answer, as the mare quickly seized Dawn in her telekinetic grip and rushed her off to a nearby boutique. Well, Dawn guessed that was what it was. It kind of looked like a carousel: something from old pony lore. Inside the building, there was a fair amount of pony mannequins, most of which were clothed in magnificent gowns of varying colors and styles. What grabbed her attention the most, however, was the catwalk in the dead center of the room. As luck would have it, that was exactly where the yellow mare decided to place Dawn.

Great. Just what she needed. Yet another stop.

The decorator proceeded to try varying mane styles and outfits on her like some kind of doll. "Go on dear, you were telling me where you were from?" She asked Dawn before using her mouth to tighten the strings on the corset. Wait, when had she put a corset on? And why wasn't the mare using her magic to do the tightening?

"I've... been sent... from Canterlot... to--" Dawn squeaked, her face contorting in pain. Why was this pony so obsessed with making sure Dawn looked like one of those stuck-up, insanely rich ponies? Could she please just go home already?

"Huh?" The still unnamed mare gasped, dropping the straps and falling backward. "Canterlot?!" She returned to face Dawn, her newest model. "Oh, I am so envious! The glamour, the sophistication! I have always dreamed of living zere! I can't wait to hear all about it! We are gonna be the best of friends, you and I..." She sighed dreamily before something caught her eye. "Topaz?! What was I zinking? Let me get you some sapphires!"

Yep, this pony would definitely fit in with Canterlot's "elite." Dawn had to stop herself from visibly gagging in front of the decorator.

The fashionista rushed out of the room, presumably to fetch sapphires, and Dawn jumped at the chance, literally. She leapt off the runway and grabbed Gummy in her telekinetic grasp. It was okay when she did it. Gummy was a dragon! "Quick!" She exclaimed, "Before she decides to de my coat a different color! I can't be Greenamena Dawn Pie."

Author's Note

4/7 of part one! Over half way to part two (Which I honestly think is better.) My next chapter will debut the last of the main 6, Rarity, and will be out on 9/16/17.