"Seven hundred and eighty one, eight hundred and seventy one minus one hundred and seventy eight is six hundred and ninety three..." Quill's voice descended in to a quiet mumble as he counted numbers on his claws, before looking from Pinkie Pie to Atom, "...and that comes to four hundred and ninety five again! Even the sprockets are in on this, and, Widget's not here, so I can't ask him, I mean, he'd know, um, about this, I'm sure, why else would he make sure all the things work out to four hundred and ninety five?"

Atom shrugged. "My guess would be that he just likes the underlying sense of order. It's a crazy world out there that doesn't always make a lot of sense, and some folks just find a little grounding and comfort in a regular pattern like that. I'm Atom, by the way," he added, grinning.

"Hiiiiiiiiii~"

Shai Ni remains still, hoping that she will calm down, stop glowing, and be able to leave the library.  Obviously, however, Avagadra is not a mare who is entirely dependent upon motion to see things, as she finds Shai Ni rather easily.  Please don't do anything, please don't do anything, please don't do anything, please don't do anything, the eastern unicorn pleads in her mind as she spots Ava approaching.  Luckily for her, Ava complies with her silent pleading and simply shows concern in a manner that appears to be... empathetic?

Very carefully, Shai sits down and tries to hide her face with her hooves as she replies, "... I am so ashamed and embarrassed.  I only wished to know about the tradition known as a 'date', but I made poor Miss Applejack so nervous, and I am sure I made Miss Twilight Sparkle nervous as well, and then I come here and end up a-a-asking... t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-to... k-k-k-kiss... y-your Special Somepony... and... and Miss Pinkie Pie kissed me... a-and it was my first kiss... and now I am telling my woes to somepony I have never met before and my ancestors must truly be ashamed of me now..."

So, the short answer is... No, Shai Ni is not okay.

"Nice to, um, meet you, Atom! I guess I'll need a book on mathematics and pony psychology," he offered a claw up to Atom, although his eyes inevitably drifted over towards Shai Ni, although he could only make out a few of the words she was saying - something about dates, and ancestors? Lowering his voice to a whisper, he stood up on his toes so he could be heard by Atom.

"What happened to the yellow unicorn with the pretty hair? Is today a bad date? Should we check a calendar?"

"Equestrian isn't her first language, and she was having some translational difficulties," Atom answered Quill, sparing the details for Shai's sake - the poor mare was already embarrassed enough. "It happens. No need to consult the calendar. I spent a term studying in Stalliongrad, and had a few translational mishaps myself," he chuckled.

Ava gently put a hoof around the poor mare's shoulders. "Don't worry - everypony will understand. Making sense of other cultures can lead to a few misunderstandings, and doing it in a second language can only add to that. I'm sure nopony is upset with you - it happens. And we all need a friendly ear sometimes," she smiled.

Slowly lifting her head, Shai Ni looks up at Avagadra before smiling faintly, closing her eyes, and resting her head on the taller pony's shoulder (being careful, of course, not to spear Ava with her horn).  As the glow of her body slowly fades to be a normal blush instead, the small pony replies, "Thank you so much, Miss.  I... you have been so helpful, and I do not even know your name.  I... I heard your special somepony call you 'Avi', but I am not sure if that is your name or... something that only he gets to call you, so I am... hesitant... to use it without permission."

"That must be pretty diffi-" Quill cut himself short, thinking that it probably wasn't helping the yellow unicorn to be talking about her like that and, as he finally managed to pull his eyes back to looking up at Atom, the dragon cleared his throat with a cough.

"So, um, books, I'm... um, going to get some," he bent down to scoop back up the ledger book, "maybe something like Ponies & Their Symbols for the Widget problem, and, um, some... um, well, I'm still no closer on the numbers front, but that can wait."

Carrying the ledger over towards the P section, Quill began to remove from the shelf almost every book he could find that was even vaguely relating to psychology. A few were left on the shelves after a cursory inspection, but the pile of books was still steadily growing.

"I'm Avagadra, but that's a mouthful, so everypony calls me Ava," the blue mare grinned. "And that's Atom."

"If you're not careful, Quill, you're gonna need a wheelbarrow to get all of those home," Atom laughed. "If you're looking to understand pony symbology, you may find these a bit more useful than the heavy duty psych texts," he chuckled. Trotting over to two different shelves, his horn glowed as he pulled down two books on symbols in equestrian culture and one Dan Roan novel. "Easier to carry, too," he winked.

"Oh, no, Miss Avagadra, it is not too much for me to say.  Why, your name is no longer than that of the lovely Princess Celestia's, and it is but a mere fraction of the full name of The Emperor.  Ah, I mean, Emperor of Chineigh, who lives in Foalbidden City," Shai Ni replies, her blush fading ever so slightly as she talks to someone on a subject matter much, much less embarrassing to her.  Looking a bit nervous, she asks, "It is alright if I address you as Miss Avagadra, yes?  Would you prefer that I call you Miss Ava instead?"

"No, no, I'm sure I can carry these," Quill looked at the pile of books he'd assembled, which was almost as tall as he was, before looking at the two books that Atom had kindly offered, "but Widget would probably get a bit annoyed if I filled the workshop with too many books, maybe I should go with those two. Thank you, Ato- wait, Dan Roan? This isn't a textbook, is it?"

"Nope, it's a novel - but it's got a lot about symbology in it," Atom replied.

Ava nodded. "Ava or Avagadra is fine - I answer freely to either," the blue mare giggled. Indeed, aside from a distinct preference for not being addressed as Dr. M^cMaresley, she wasn't picky. While she had worked hard for the title, and was proud of her accomplishment, she found it a bit pretentious to use it outside of academia. The fact that her mother had, quite properly, used it within academia, cemented her preference even further - that wound was still a bit too fresh.

"Miss... Miss Avagadra, then," Shai replies, her voice slowly returning to a normal volume.  "I am... fortunate to have met you.  If you ever feel unbalanced or ill, let me know.  I should be able to reopen my clinic soon, but until then, I am staying with Miss Lotus and Miss Aloe at the spa, so... please allow me the honor of repaying your kind actions.  A... a favor for a favor, as it were."

Even Ava can tell that this is merely Shai Ni's way of saying 'thank you,' and that it is very likely she is not one to actually count favors.

Quill turned the novel over in his claws, then tucked it underneath one arm, along with the copy of Equestrian Symbology: A Spotter's Guide. Then came the next trick of trying to carry the ledger and, with a polite nod to Atom, Quill started slowly making his way towards the door, occasionally shifting the books about to distribute their weight a little more evenly.

"T-t-thanks for your help, Atom, if.. um, well, I think I'd get in trouble for inviting people to the workshop, but if you need something inventing, um, well, the workshop. Down the road. Can't miss it. There's a sign."

[Exit to... Ponyville Business District - Widget Whatsis' Wondrous Works]
This message was last edited by the player at 07:40, Mon 02 July 2012.

"Thanks, I'll remember that," Ava smiled.

"No problem, Quill," Atom grinned, horn glowing as he put away the psychology books Quill had taken down.

Those ponies in the Library had made the perhaps unwise decision to take their attention away from Pinkie Pie for a while.  The party pony had a habit of getting up to mischief when nobody was looking and took over a few of Twilight's rolling chalkboards.  It was impressive that she could fill them up with numbers so quickly and that she'd emptied several shelves of their books related to the topic of numerology and social conspiracies.  One board was filled up with a convoluted mess of drawn lines linking up various dates, events, individuals, and trying to figure out how they all connected to Princess Celestia.

"The plot thickens..." Pinkie muttered to herself as she clenched her bubble pipe thoughtfully between her teeth.

The sound of chalk on slate causes Shai Ni to look over from her position by the register, and the sight she sees causes her to be filled with confusion.  Lots and lots of confusion.  This is, of course, the natural state to enter when watching Pinkie Pie work on non-baking and non-party things (and sometimes when they ARE baking and party related things), and against her better judgment and instincts, the acupuncturist gives Ava a friendly nod of thanks before slowly approaching the party pony and looking up at the boards.

Somehow, some way, Shai Ni manages to make sense of enough of it to say something.  She raises a hoof to point at a particular spot in what to most must look like an incredibly convoluted mess, and says, "I... think you forgot to carry a two."

Pinkie Pie perked up at the muttered advice from Shai Ni, then seemed to mull over it for a moment of brow-furrowing thought.  "Huh... I think you're right.  But if that's the case, then that'll change this result over here... and then this one needs corrections..."

For a few moments Pinkie continued at her work with increasing fervor, making corrections and additions to the sprawling web of what-the-hell-is-that she had scattered all over the chalkboards.  She frequently bounced back and forth between different books, growing all the more agitated as she did so.  Something she read seemed to catch her as she froze up and slowly turned her gaze about to fix Shai Ni with a sharp, suspicious look out the corner of her eye.

"Who do you work for?!  Who sent you?!  Was it the Illumineighti?!"  she suddenly accused as she whirled about onto her hind legs, pointing a hoof at Shai Ni dramatically.

Shai Ni watches with interest as Pinkie Pie continues doing whatever it is she does, eventually becoming unable to follow and just watching her work with admiration.  She has no idea what the party pony is doing, but it certainly looks impressive and complicated.  To see anypony so involved with something makes the acupuncturist smile, and she tilts her head to the side as Pinkie suddenly looks shocked.  Stepping back and standing with one hoof off the ground, Shai Ni's eyes widen as she tries to figure out what it is, exactly, that Pinkie is asking.  Surely Pinkie already knows?

Dissecting the words into their roots, Shai Ni cautiously replies, "I work for myself, nopony sent me, and..."

As she pauses, she makes a light on the tip of her horn momentarily before asking, "Does that make me an... Illumineighti?"

"AH-HAH!  I knew it!" Pinkie crowed.  She gestured back to her work all across the board with a grim smirk on her face.  "It all makes sense 'cause it started making sense!  You corrected my math and made the equations start to actually calculate properly... which was precisely the wrong thing to do!  Illumineighti theorists show that the organization uses incorrect mathematics as a cipher for hidden communications, and 'cause nopony likes to get a math problem wrong, they don't want to see the actual answer!  It's the perfect cover!"

Pinkie was in rare form that afternoon as she wheeled about again, encroaching on Shai Ni as if she'd just uncovered some deep, dark secret.  "So you thought you could throw me off the trail by correcting my math, huh?!  I'm onto you!  The connections are all there!  The Stalliongrad Rebellion!  Mind Control!  Changelings!  Fluoride toothpaste!  Boy bands!  Those little plastic thingies on the ends of shoelaces!"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:07, Tue 10 July 2012.

Backing up slowly as Pinkie presses her accusations, Shai Ni ens up bumping flank-first into a bookshelf and is thus unable to continue backing up.  Her face is one of anxious worry, likely making her appear guilty in Pinkie's eyes, but in truth, she has no clue whatsoever to make of the sudden change in the earth pony's behavior.  Ciphers?  Stalliongrad?  Toothpaste?  Boy bands?  Plastic thingies?

"Miss Pinkie Pie... what are you talking about?  I have never heard of this 'Illumineighti' before now, and I was just wanting to help you with your calculations," she replies before asking nervously, "What is a 'boy band'?"

"Actually the plastic thingies on the ends of shoelaces just make them easier to thread," Atom laughed. "And you're not missing much with the boy band thing, Shai Ni, trust me." His horn glowed and a translucent chalkboard appeared in front of him. "Mind if I borrow this for a sec, Pinkie?" he asked, levitating one of her pieces of chalk over to his magical slate, where the white chalk began writing in a rainbow of colors as he attempted to puzzle out Pinkie's math.

"Their true purpose is sinister." Pinkie Pie warned about shoe laces.  She still fixed Shai Ni with a look of absolute suspicion as she made her way around to another stack of books, never putting her back to the confused unicorn the whole time.