Pale Moonbeams shone through the window. The Moon was bright, full and nary a cloud was seen.
It should have been a beautiful night. Instead it was one seeped in melancholy and longing.
Longing for a place, that no longer existed. A place long gone.
She had accepted this truth some time ago, yet on nights like these she was sometimes overcome with those feelings.
When this happened she would turn to the window, pull back the curtains with her magic and just watch the night sky.
Her gaze never staying in one place for long. Darting from place to place. Always searching.
As if the stars just might hold the answers to her problems if she just looked enough.
After a while she would get tired of this, turn around, pull her blanket back up and then she would think about all that had happend to her since coming here.
Tomorrow would be the fifth month of her awakening in this body.
She had been confused at first. Especialy, when the memories had hit her.
Luckily, it had been one of Raritys off days; she had panicked quite a bit.
She had been worried about being found out at first, but that worry had been squashed fast when nothing had happened in the first few days after her awakening in this body.
Raritys memories had made it even easier for her to blend in. She knew everything Rarity knew.
She could emulate her perfectly.
After a Month or so, where she was panicking and on edge the entire time, she had calmed down somewhat and had started to plan for the future. A future in which she played a key part.
She would undoubtedly need to partake in the Main 6´s adventures, seeing as she was now one of them as well.
She would do everything it took to keep the timeline as close to cannon as possible. She could not afford to make mistakes with that. Neither for her own sake nor for the sake of the entire pony population.
It was one of the new responsibilities, that came with the new position she found herself in.
But not all that came with her new life was a burden. She had been granted a power that presumably no human had had access to before. Magic.
This power was able to circumvent the laws of physics with nothing more than a thought.
And did these ponies use it for anything beyond the basics? No.
They were wasting their potential. Magic had opened so many posibilities for her.
She knew what magic was capable of. She had seen the artifacts in the show.
She wouldn´t stay at Levetation like Rarity.
She would learn everything she could about magic. She would become a powerfull Sorceres.
Maybe even an Archemage.
But that would have to wait.
The Summer Sun Celebration was aproaching. It would be held in 10 Months.
In 10 Months she would presumably loose any privacy she had and become a National Hero of Equestria.
She would have 10 Months to prepare before she would become part of the Main 6 and her actions would come under scrunity by the public.
She had to prepare herself for it.
But first she had to write her daily log in her journal. She levitated it and a quill over to herself.
She wouldn´t have to turn the lamp on today. The moon was full and bright.
That was enough for her.
Log Number 118
Today was another busy day for me.
It started normal enough. I woke up, freshend myself up and had breakfast.
It is still weird for me to eat pony food and to find it delicious. I still have to test if meat tastes different now.
So once I finished my breakfast I prepared myself for my stroll around town.
I packed my saddlebags with an apropriate amount of bits, an umbrella and my trusty notebook.
After that I wrapped myself in a scarf, put on my packed saddlebags and then went on my way.
The weather was nice. The sun shone and the sky was free of clouds.
Yet one could clearly see the signs of the aproaching winter.
The wind was a bit chillier then in the past month.
Ponies were going about there buisness wraped in scarves and warm hats
and the trees were starting to turn vibrant shades of red, brown and yellow.
It was a sign that winter was aproaching and that soon the yearly running of the leaves would take place.
After a short walk through the streets of Ponyville I arrived at the market.
It wasn´t that crouded this early in the morning.
Which made it easier to aquire the groceries I had come for.
When I had come here for the first time since waking up in this body I had been quite nervous.
And justifiably so.
Applejack had almost immediately cought on to my not beeing Rarity and only a few well placed half truths had managed to divert her suspicions.
That experience had left me quite mortified and more catious then ever before.
Thankfully it seemed like Applejack had forgotten about our previous altercation on my second visit to her families apple stand.
After acquiring my groceries and putting them into my saddle bags I first went home and put them in my kitchen. Afterwards I put a towel, hairbands and a waterbottle in my now empty saddlebags. And then I went outside again and walked towards a part of town that I hadn´t often visited before.
Once there I made my way towards one of the more modern looking buildings in the area.
It was Ponyvilles one and only gym.
I had decided to be in better shape for the future adventures that would await me and my companions
and joining the gym was just one of the steps in this plan.
With that in mind I entered the building and went up to the reception area of the gym.
The receptionist greeted me once I stood before her.
Flashback
"Hello there. My name is Open Smile. How can I help you today?" the receptionist asked.
Elisabett answered her: "I would like to know what the procedures are to apply for a gym membership."
"That is easy. First you get a tour of the gym by one of our personal trainers, then you fill out the membership form and give it to me and as a last step we figure out how to settle the monthly payments.", Smile replied.
"That sounds marvelous darling. Shall we get to it?", she asked.
"Let me just get one of our personal trainers.", Smile answered and turned around to get one of them.
She came back after about 2 minutes with a stallion, that Elisabett had seen before on the show.
Bulk Biceps was even more impresive in real live, than in the show.
He was towering over them all by quite the bit.
"This is Bulk Biceps. One of our top personal trainers.", Smile introduced while pointing at him, "He will be giving you the tour of the gym today."
Elisabett looked at him and said: "It is a pleasure to meet you darling. I am Rarity."
Then she stretched out her hoof for him to shake.
He took it in his hoof, shook it and replied warmly : "Smile already told you my name, but you can just call me Bulk. I will be giving you the tour of our gym today. So let´s get started with that. Follow me."
And with that he turned around and went down the coridor to the right of her. She followed right after him.
Once she catched up to him to him he finaly spoke again.
"So you want to get fit? Didn´t think someone like you would want to get dirty."
Elisabeth replied: "I may not look it darling, but I want to be fit and if I have to get a little sweaty for that , then it is not a problem for me."
"Nice. Glad to know you aren´t as prissy about that as some ponies say you are.", Bulk replied with a small smile on his face.
Elisabett stated more then asked with humor in her voice: "Rainbow Dash said that, didn´t she?"
Bulk turned his face to her and replied with a grin: "Maybe."
The rest of the tour went by without a hitch. She and Bulk agreed, that he would help her create a fitness plan next time she came to the gym. And that was it. So once she was at the front desk again, she filled out the membership form and paid the fee for the upcoming month.
With that task completed, I returned home again.
While I was there, I decided to use that opportunity to make myself some lunch. After all, my next stop for today would probably take up quite a bit of my time.
I wanted to visit the library today. Miraculously I hadn´t exactly found the time to visit it before in the last 5 months.
But today I was free and as such had no problems with scedules.
And so I made my way towards the library.
Flashback
Elisabett still couldn´t believe that the tree, that housed the library, was alive.
And the nearer she got to the oak, the more she saw the vibrancy of its leaves.
If it was unicorn magic or earth pony magic, that keept it that way, she couldn´t tell.
For all she knew, trees could be hardy enough here, that they could survive beeing hollowed out.
Once there, she opended the door and entered.
The first room was entirely like the one in the show.
Round, lined with bookshelfs and with a bust of a pony in the middle.
The second thing she noticed was the elderly earth pony stallion organising one of the bookshelfs on the right.
He had dark green fur and a grey mane. His name was Green Cover and he had been ponyvilles librarian for 40 years now. Although Elisabett remembered him differently from Rarity´s memories.
But that could be atributed to the fact, that Rarity´s last visit to the library was quite a few years ago.
Back then he still had collor in parts of his mane. It had been a hazel brown with some lighter brown tones streaking through it.
So lost in memories was she, that he spoke first.
"Oh hello Rarity. It has been quite some time, since you last visited me. What brings you here?"
"Books of course, darling", she replied flamboyantly and the continued with a somber tune, "Although I first have to apologise to you Green Cover. I am so sorry, that I wasn´t here in the last years."
Green Cover looked at her questionlingy and said: "Think nothing of it Rarity. Why would you need to come here anyway? You never had any obligations to fullfill here."
"I know dear. But I feel sorry all the same." Elisabett answered.
"Well let´s leave that behind us. So what books are you searching for Rarity?", Cover asked, "Something about fashion? Or something about gems? What will it be?"
She thought about that for a bit.
She wanted to learn as much about magic as she could, but she also had interests in other things as well.
Like geography, politics, history, legends and so on and so forth. She had a burning desire to learn
about all of those things. But what should she read about first?
Then again, why should she choose at all? She had taken the day off.
"I would like to read about several things, darling." Elisabett told Green Cover, "Fist I want to read about usefull everyday spells. Then I want to read about geography and politics."
Green Cover looked at Elisabett questioningly and asked: "Why would you want to read about something like that? You wern´t ever interested in such things before."
"It is quite simple, my dear. A proper lady should be educated on more, then just one subject. How would I be able to hold a proper conversation, if I didn´t know the first thing about anything? As such I decided, that I should make efforts to correct such shortcomings and learn about the most commonly talked about themes in upper society.", she answered with Raritys usuar flair.
Green Cover looked at her, nodded and turned around. He gestured for her to follow and walked towards an open door at the back of the library. It showed another circular library room behind it. While he was walking towards the door he looked to her and said "Then let us look for the right books. I should have them in the second wing of the library."
What they entered was a room, that looked just like the first one a round, wooden room lined with bookshelves in the walls. Most of the windows were set up high near the ceiling, so that while the light of the sun could enter the room one would not be seen by anypony outside the library, exept for maybe the occasional pegasi.
Green Cover walked from bookshelf to bookshelf until he had gathered a small pile of books on his back, which he took over to one of the lecterns, that stood ready to be used along the walls of the room.
There he placed them carefully on the floor next to it and turned to her.
He gestured to the pile of books and said:
" This should be some good books for you to read from. For magic I got you Prime Times Magic Primer and Multi Talents Spells for Everyday use. For geography I got you Compass Stars World Atlas and Wind Steps Equestrian Guide.
Now pollitics is a more difficult area to find books for. For the newest information I would simply look in a newspaper from one of the bigger cities. Preferably the Canterlot Times.
But I did manage to find something that should help you Rarity. I found an old copy of Proper Manners Noble Practices. This should at least help you with blending in among the upper crust.
I will leave you to your reading now. Call me if you need anything."
"I will.", she reafirmed, "These books should be exactly what I need, darling."
Whith that Green Cover left the room to return to his unfinished task of reshelving the bookcases out front and Elisabett
walked over to the pile of books. She decided to read Proper Manners book first, so as to get the most boring book over with, while her concentration was still high. She opened the book and began to read.
"Dear Rader, in this book you will find an in-depth description about noble customs, their origins and the proper time to use them or if nessesary, when to discard them...Chapter 1:Origins of the Customs....The customs of today are derived from a mixture of customs, that reach back all the way to the times of the three tribes...As such clothing became a sign of nobility...Nowadays, where more and more ponies are starting to dress in clothes as well...The nobility responded to this by wearing better, more expensive clothes...This custom will prob-"
Elisabetts reading was disrupted by the sound of porcelan near her head. She looked up and saw, that Green Cover had placed a cup of tea near her. He looked at her and said: "I just made myself some tea and thought, that you might fancy a cup as well."
Pleasantly surprised she thanked him: "Why thank you darling. How thoughtfull of you.
But you shouldn´t have gone through the trouble of bringing me some tea. What if you are needed up front?"
To this he just laughed sadly and said: "You are the first pony to come here in days. And the only other visitors to the library are usualy just some foals that are here to get help with their homework. As such it is no problem at all for me. I have nothing better to do with my time."
I must admit, that I wasn´t sure how to react to that. Should I just pretend, that it concerned me? Or should I try to steer the conversation away from such a topic? I decided on the latter. While it was sad to see my initial observations about ponykinds lack of a thirst for knowledge be confirmed like that I wasn´t and still am not ready to open the can of worms, that is Green Covers sadness about the common ponies disregard for knowledge.
I turned to conversation around and after a bit of small talk he left me to retun to my reading session.
I was saddend to realise, that one of the spells, that I wanted to aquire was not as easily learned as I had initialy thought. I wanted to learn about a spell to make the insides of my saddlebacks bigger, so as to allow me to transport more stuff for the adventures, that I would no doubt be required to attend in the future. But it seems like it is a more advanced spell, than the spells I am capable of casting at the moment. Not to mention the amount of magic needed to cast it.
Luckily the place where a unicorns magic is stored, the magic reservoir, is not of a predetermened size and can be expanded upon with practice and exercise. In other words, I just needed to train my magic for it to grow.
This should be an easy enough task to do. I will just levitate more and importantly heavier stuff in my magic in the future. Not to mention the other spells I will be practicing in my free time. They should give me enough of a workout to increase the reservoirs size.
I sadly didn´t have enough time to read the Geography books that Green Cover gave me yesterday. They sound quite interesting as well. But I did take them home with me. I will simply read them tomorrow, if I have the time.
I have a few dresses to finish and a few appointments with customers of mine to content with tomorrow.
It will be a busy Monday.
Goodnight Journal
Author's Note
Hope you liked it.
Stay tuned for more. I will update the Story whenever I have finished a chapter.
