Spotting the glowing Shai Ni, Applejack at once felt happy, but also a bit overwhelmed. Whatever love bug that had burrowed in and infected Ponyville like this was really starting to grate her nerves.  As Pinkie Pie bounded into song, her lyrical tunes and vivacious style dominated the room.

Applejack was grateful she'd not been swept up into it herself - her heart wasn't in such a joyful mood, and as she watched, she could only shake her head with baffled frustration.

With the slow, steady trot of a pony who didn't want to draw too much attention to herself, she stubbornly settled her Stetson on her head and started for the door.  As Pinkie Pie bounded about for her last verse, and brought it to its conclusion, her final lyrics were cut off by a resounding, solid wood slamming sound. The shelves rattled slightly, and a few books dropped off them as the library door was bucked shut with a full force back kick.

Breaking into a cold trot, Applejack departed the Library, unsure what was bothering her most. She was pretty sure it wasn't Rogue anymore. But now where could she go? Twilight was on her Date, Rainbow was ... who knew?

The options started to narrow down, and she turned her steps toward Rarity's boutique, leaving a clearly outline trail of hoof tracks behind her solid steps.

Exit toward the Carousel Boutique
This message was last edited by the player at 18:23, Thu 21 June 2012.

"Waaaaa~h!"

Shai Ni is most definitely not expecting Pinkie Pie to break into song, but after the first spin, she finds herself smiling and enjoying the event as it comes.  Of course, when she's sent into a twirl, she spins a bit too much and ends up stopping just short of a bookshelf with her eyes spinning and her hooves stumbling here and there before she shakes her head and resumes her smile at the song.  Pinkie certainly is contagious with enthusiastic happiness.

At the end of the song, Shai Ni is about to politely cheer for Pinkie's performance when the door slams loudly and a book falls from the shelf and bounces off of her head.  "Ow," she says quietly before turning to look at the door and wonder what has Applejack so upset as to behave in such a way.  With a gasp, Shai Ni trots over to Pinkie and asks worriedly, "You do not suppose she is upset because I am going on a date with her brother, do you?"

Pinkie flinched as the door slammed shut in Applejack's wake.  "Was it something I said?" she blinked cluelessly.

When Shai Ni sidled up with her concern in mind, Pinkie shook her head and shrugged.  "Nah, I don't think that's it at all.  AJ's kinda having a rough time of it right now and--" she stopped on the spot and instantly swung around to grab Shai Ni by the cheeks.  "Wait, you and Big Mac?!  Eeeeee~!  Ooh~!  An exotic, mysterious beauty and a stoic, hard-working farmer!  This is the stuff bodice-busters are made of~!"

Pinkie ceased squishing the unicorn's cheeks long enough to catch her in another hug and bounced in place happily, all too giddy for others' romantic successes or potential.  "Hmm... MacNi?  Shaintosh?  BigShai?  BigNi?  No... huh, this is gonna take some work..."

A face of confusion, pure and simple.  This is the face Shai Ni has as Pinkie squeezes her cheeks and then bounces, trying to come up with a 'shipname.  "Yes... he has agreed to go on a date with me," she acknowledges, blushing from Pinkie's description of herself, then tilts her head to the side and finds herself suggesting, despite all rational thought telling her not to get involved, "... MacNitosh?"

She honestly has no idea why she is suggesting such a thing, or what she is suggesting such a thing for, but Pinkie is happy and it is very difficult not to get caught up in her activities.

Contagious as Pinkie's enthusiasm was, Ava and Atom had gotten caught up in her song, and were displaying a skill that somepony might possibly have expected out of Atom, but definitely not out of Ava - Lindy Hooves swing dancing. As the song finished, Atom bowed to his partner, a big grin on his face.

Ava jumped as the door slammed - she'd always been rather sensitive to loud noises. Horn glowing, she began picking up all of the fallen books and putting them back on the shelves. "I hope she's all right," she observed, glancing back over her shoulder at the door.

"No no no, it's gotta be a portmanteau of two names with each individual part used only once.  Bonus points if it's a play on words too.  There's a certain rule to this kind of thing." Pinkie lectured in a serious manner, as if the naming of ships was a very important thing indeed.  "But then we've got the problem of your name sounding like Fluttershy's... Shai and Shy... that could cause some confusion..."

Apparently it was an important matter, if only to Pinkie Pie herself, as she plunked herself down on the floor and tapped at her head to think on the subject.

Still confused (as it is a natural reaction to Pinkie Pie at times), Shai Ni walks around Pinkie and stops at her left side before tilting her head to look at the pink Earth Pony sideways.  "There is a problem with myself and Miss Fluttershy?  Does she wish to date Mister Big Macintosh, too?" she asks, completely unable to follow the Pinkie Logic Train.

"What about ToshNi?" Atom suggested. "No confusion there, and it has a bit of a ring to it."

"ToshNi?  No... it's not bad, but it doesn't flow right."  Pinkie Pie pressed her hooves into either side of her head and rubbed them about to try and stimulate her facilities, hoping for a burst of inspiration.  Some candy would help out a lot, she mused.  "No, there's nothing wrong with you and Fluttershy.  I don't think anypony has a problem with her~!  Ooh!  Ooh!  FlutterShai~!  No... that doesn't make any sense aloud.  How about ShaiShy?  That sounds cute~!  Shai Ni: go date Fluttershy instead~!" Pinkie ordered with an impish grin.

Shai Ni continues to be confused as Pinkie rambles on with her 4th Dimensional Train of Thought, and then suddenly blushes brightly at the pink pony's suggestion.  "D-d-d-date Miss Fluttershy?" she stammers, as if the thought has not only never occurred to her, but just feels completely alien.  There is, however, absolutely no disgust in her voice, but instead shock and confusion aplenty.  "Y-y-you mean she does not have a... what is the term... Special Somepony already?  I would have thought there would be a line of suitors at her doorstep."

"Who, Fluttershy?  Nah... well, there are sometimes, but she just gets spooked and hides under her sofa.  Sometimes I worry about that pony." Pinkie Pie sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head sagely.  "She's got that whole 'filly next door' sort of pretty going on that a lot of ponies like, but she's way too bashful to get into the dating scene.  Then again, I don't know if she likes mares... you asking her out might put her into a coma... hmm..."

Gasping, Shai Ni replies, "I would not wish to put her into a coma!  That would be horrible!"  Then, finally realizing that the subject matter is silly, the Chineighs unicorn's expression begins to return to normal, and she hesitantly asks, "Miss Pinkie Pie... if I may ask... what is it, exactly, that Equestrian ponies do on dates?  For example... specific activities?  All I have learned so far is that participants are supposed to do things that are fun, but surely there are more traditional events within a date."

People like Fung Shui and Twilight Sparkle took Pinkie Pie seriously.  They learned, to varying degrees, that taking a chaos engine on hooves like her seriously was a swift and efficient way to hurt one's brain.  Shai Ni thankfully managed to dodge such a fate by realizing that Pinkie was just playing around with her suggestions and rolled with the punches instead.

"It depends on the pony, I guess.  I mean, you should really do stuff that you'd both enjoy, especially if it's something you can do together~!" Pinkie Pie hopped up and bounced on the spot a few times.  "Like going to the park~!  Or sharing something yummy~!  Or seeing a show~!  Or going dancing~!  Lemmee think... the White Tail Woods are a nice place for couples, but it's not as pretty this time of year as it is in autumn."

Pinkie actually showed a bit of wisdom in pausing her pondering to refer to an actual couple in the library just then -- Atom and Ava.  "Avatom~!  What do you two do on dates?"

"Occasionally we'll get out dancing or to a play, or something," Atom grinned. "But we sit around playing chess or trivial pursuit just as often."

Ava nodded. "We enjoy cooking together, too - Atom makes the most amazing zucchini bread I have ever laid eyes on."

Atom laughed, blushing a bit. "You flatter me, Avi," he grinned.

Pulling out a parchment and quill with her magic, Shai Ni begins taking notes in a very serious manner.  "Dancing... see a play... chess... trivial pursuit... cooking," she mutters aloud before looking up and asking, as if it was not embarrassing at all, "Where does the kissing come in?  I have been assured it is a core dating tradition."

"Whenever you both want it to come in," Atom told her.

Shai Ni scribbles something down before looking back up at Atom and asking, "When it comes to kissing, are there signs to look for or steps to take?  Also, what should one wear?  Are dates formal or casual events?"  So many questions, she has, and so few answers.  So far, she has pretty much written down the advice word-for-word completely devoid of context on her little pad, so the results will either be horribly wrong, incredibly entertaining, or perhaps even a bit of both.

Big Macintosh really had no idea what he was getting into when he agreed to go on a date with the Chineighs pony.

From Ponyville School House

The sound of gently buzzing wings could be heard as the fillies approached to collect the wagon they had left there earlier in the week. Hopping off her scooter Scoots began the process of hooking everything up. "Your helmets should still be in there. I don't have one for you Silver so you're going to have to run alongside the wagon." Scoots said as she finished up the hook up.

"Dates are as formal or as casual as you both want them to be," Ava told Shai. "What you want to wear pretty much depends on what you're doing. Gala dresses are not recommended if you're going bowling, for instance," she giggled.

"This coming from the mare who may or may not actually own so much as a skirt," Atom teased.

"Hey! I've got a skirt!" Ava laughed. "My kilt, remember?"

"Avi... that's not a skirt. Which is a good thing, because I think the mental image of your Uncle Pearford in a skirt just broke my brain," he laughed. Craning his neck around a bit, as Ava was taller and standing a bit to the side, he planted a light kiss on her lips - nothing too dramatic, as they had company.

So many things to learn, and so little time!  There will be much research involved in this subject, yes indeed.  Shai Ni is beginning to be thankful for that long rest earlier, as it will allow her to stay up later tonight in order to do more research in the library, should Twilight Sparkle allow it.  If not, she will simply borrow as much research material as possible and- OH!  Surely Lotus and Aloe know about such things!  And their regular clients, Fluttershy and Rarity, well... Pinkie Pie said Fluttershy is not so experienced, but Rarity, now there surely is a mare in the know!

Nodding as she takes notes, Shai Ni adds a note to herself in the side about ponies to ask before the day is done.  So far, it says, "Miss Rarity, Miss Aloe, Miss Lotus," and there is plenty of room for more names.  She thinks for a second before adding "Mister Widgit Whatsis" to the list, as surely the stallion who has caught Twilight's eye (and heart) would know a thing or two about dating!  Then, she quickly adds "Mister and Missus Cake," for a couple as happy as them must be full of knowledge on the subject.  After all, they are happily married.  Also added is "Wise Granny Smith," for a pony's elders are one of the best sources of wisdom and lore.

Finally, she realizes something, looks up, and asks all those in the room, "What is a 'kilt'?"

"It's a traditional outfit from the Scottish Haylands," Atom explained. "Ava's family is originally from Kenmareneigh in the Haylands. It looks kinda like a pleated plaid skirt, but it's actually a bit more complicated than that."

"It's actually wrapped around, rather than having a sewn side seam," Ava nodded. "It's actually traditionally worn by stallions, although mares wear them these days too - mares' kilts tend to be much longer, though I prefer the stallion length, since if I'm wearing the kilt, I'm usually playing bagpipes, and stallion's length are much less cumbersome for that. If I want full length, I usually just go traditional all the way and wear the arisaidh." She grinned, horn a-glowing. "One sec..." Scanning the shelves, she found the book she sought - Cultural Traditions of Equestria and Surrounding Lands. "Here we go - knew it was one of the fallen ones that I'd put back." Taking it down, she flipped it open and showed Shai Ni the picture of a stallion in full Hayland regalia. "That's a kilt," she said, pointing.

<-- Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Silver Spoon enter from Schoolhouse

It didn't take long at all for the fillies to make it to the Library from their school.  Sweet Apple Acres wasn't far from the schoolhouse in the first place, but they'd need Scootaloo's scooter and wagon if they were going to be hauling anything around with their upcoming project.  The girls all clambered up into the wagon and got their helmets set, though the Pegasus' mention to Silver Spoon had the filly aghast.

"Run alongside?!  How is that fair?  I'll get all sweaty!" she protested with a stomp of her hoof. "Besides, how am I supposed to keep up with a scooter?"

"Are y'an Earth Pony or a snail?  Scoots is fast, but it ain't that bad." Applebloom griped as she plunked her helmet onto her head.

"Come on girls, let's get along.  Here Silver -- you can have my spot.  I'll run." Sweetie Belle played peacemaker again as she gave up her seat in the wagon.  The other filly seemed momentarily suspicious but took the helmet all the same and climbed up aboard.

"Just don't drive too recklessly, alright?" she grumbled.  "Ugh... this thing is going to ruin my mane..."

While Ava, Atom, and Shai Ni all took to their conversation, Pinkie Pie was busy with her own affairs.  The bouncy pony hopped about from shelf to shelf, peering at the contents one after another.  Every now and then she'd pluck out a book and flip through it.  Some were taken down, others were put back.  Eventually she had a tidy little heap of books balanced atop her head and leaped back over to the other ponies with an impressive bit of balance since she didn't drop a single one.

"Shai Ni~!  Here you go!  These have got everything you could ever wanna know about Equestrian Romance~!"  she chirped happily as she dropped the books down on the floor.  There was a reason most of those books had been tucked away on the high shelves where young ponies couldn't reach them.  They were all over-dramatic romance novellas; the aforementioned 'bodice busters' quite aptly named since most of the covers featured illustrations of melodramatic couples of ponies posing with one another, manes blowing in the wind and any clothing the two might have been wearing practically falling off their bodies.

Scoots was surprised when Sweetie Belle gave up her seat and helmet to Silver but figured that it was pretty normal for the kindest member of their trio to do that. Taking a few deep breaths and stretching her wings a bit she prepared herself for the haul to Sweet Apple Acres. Even though she made it look easy hauling around a wagon and several fillies was actually really hard work. "Alright girls! Next stop Sweet Apple Acres and then Cutie Marks!" She declared and powered up her wings to A reasonable speed so that it would be easier for her friend to keep pace.

To Sweet Apple Acres--->

Looking at the picture with great interest, Shai Ni is about to ask another question when Pinkie Pie arrives with a great heap of books that surely are tame enough for the romance newbie's sensibilities.  With the sudden thud of books beside her, Shai Ni turns to look at the pile of books, then at the pink Earth Pony, and smiles in appreciation.

"Thank you very much, Miss Pinkie Pie.  I shall start researching immediately."

Her horn glows as she levitates the books and walks over to a reading alcove before sitting down and opening the first book, skimming through the contents.

Reading a bit aloud, Shai Ni smiles as she says, "Then he leaned over her and whispered into her ear, 'My love, I will bring you the most amazing of things.'  She giggled as he... oh.  Oh my.  Oh my."

She then starts turning a bright red, and her face literally begins to glow out of embarrassment.

"It... it is so... descriptive... i-is this... normal?"