Unnerved by the sudden and intense suspicion being directed her way, Shai Ni tries backing up again, which only results in her flank being pushed higher up the bookcase behind her and her hind legs leaving the ground.  Realizing that this is getting her nowhere, she lifts her forelegs, lets her flank fall to the ground, and then sits down and thinks for a moment before asking, "Miss Pinkie Pie, you seem to know much more about the Illumineighti than I do.  Are you a member?"

"Are you kidding?!  I'd love to be a member of the Illumineighti!  Do you know how unbelievably awesomeousciolously-stupenderifious that would be?!" Pinkie bemoaned her state of not being involved in a shadowy secret society with her hooves raised to the air dramatically.  "International espionage~!  Secret agents!  Hidden occult secrets~!  Things 'they' don't want you to know~!  It'd be one heck of a hoot, y'know?"

Blinking, Shai Ni finds herself once again completely blind-sided by the response of Pinkie Pie.  For someone making such accusations moments ago to be so excited about wanting to be a member herself, frankly, confounds the unicorn.  Still, when in Roam, do as the Roamans do, as she was told by an Equestrian native months ago.  After figuring out that colloquialism just now thanks to none other than Pinkie Pie's sheer randomness making certain neurons fire in sequence that would otherwise have nothing to do with one another, Shai Ni makes the tip of her horn glow a bit and walks over to Pinkie before gently touching the tip of her horn to the party pony's forehead as if she was performing some sort of traditional action.

"Congratulations, Miss Pinkie Pie," she says, figuring that Pinkie will either stop caring about this by the end of the day or hound her about it until the end of time, so she might as well play along, "the Illumineighti welcomes you."

When Shai pulls her head away, Pinkie's forehead tingles a bit, and there is a faint glow where the horn touched Pinkie's head.  Sure, it will fade in an hour or so, but that should be long enough for Shai to get away or Pinkie to find some other thing to distract her.

Pinkie Pie's bright blue eyes crossed together as she looked up at the glowing spot on her head, back to Shai Ni, then back and forth again two or three more times.  With all the calmness one would never expect from such an energetic pony, she quietly cleared her throat, drew in a slow breath, and then belted out in a high-pitched scream that made the library windows rattle.

Just like that she turned and dashed off, high-tailing it out of the Library as fast as her legs could carry her.

--> Pinkie Pie exits

Shai Ni vibrates with the windows as Pinkie screams, her mane and tail noticeably frazzled by the experience as Pinkie runs off.  Once she can hear again, she looks at the others in the library and asks, "Do you think she took me seriously?  I would hope she realized I was just playing along."  As she speaks, her horn is still vibrating like a tuner due to the scream.

~Day 2, Early Evening~

Having spent a fair amount of time in front of the library gathering herself and trying to figure out just how to transport the large number of books, Shai Ni has finally gotten them wrapped up in brown packing paper and tied off with twine, just in time to see the light outside begin to dim more than it ought to in the evening and to hear the rain begin to fall, albeit very, very lightly.  Wasn't the rain scheduled for later, during the night?  Had she known it was coming sooner, she would have fetched an umbre-

Which is currently still buried in her cart of things and she would not have had the energy to get it anyway.  Looking around, she tries to find something she can use, then realizes that the resident librarian tends to just magic what she needs, and she can see that the resident fashionista has not corrected this with a fashionable umbrella - something that she figures will be dealt with soon enough without her interference.

As such, she sighs, quickly labels the bundle of books as checked out by her and attaches a note for Twilight Sparkle and/or Spike that she left them behind due to the sudden rain with the intent of fetching them later when they will be safe for transport, and then steels herself, concentrates a bit, then walks out into the light rain with a bit of magic protecting her from getting too soaked.  Still, if it picks up, her little enchantment won't matter in the least.

--> To: Ponyville Town Square
This message was last edited by the player at 04:40, Thu 02 Aug 2012.

<-- Entering from Town Square

The door to the library glowed faintly before it swung open seemingly of its own volition, allowing in the owner of the building.  Twilight paused on the hearth to shake herself free of excess water and stamp her hooves on the doormat to get rid of any mud before she headed on inside.

"Come on in and make yourselves comfortable." she said over her shoulder to the others following her, then turned back to the rest of the library.  "Spiii~ke!"

The only sound to come in a reply was a soft snoring from upstairs.  Twilight rolled her eyes and trotted along to go wake her seemingly narcoleptic assistant, though it was about then that she noticed that Ava and Atom were present amid a stack of books and some magical course work being mulled over.  "Oh!  I didn't realize anypony was visiting.  Take your time and let me know if you need any help, okay?"

In from Town Square

As Luna joined Widget and Twilighjt on the way to Books and Branches, she maintained the magical umbrella. Moreover, she also answered Widget's question. "Ah... Last night's display was rather impromptu, actually.  I was staying in Ponyville unexpectedly for several days. I  had to raise the moon anyway, and when I told Rarity, then others, it...  sort of became a whole, unplanned event." She said, sheepishly.

"I actually didn't intend to make a fuss over it at first, but I did enjoy it. It was... refreshing to see everypony taking such an interest in the night. It also appears that it helped the two of you...?"  Luna ventured with a gentle smile"

"The moon-raising was spectacular," Ava chimed in.

"Better be careful, or every city and town in Equestria will be asking you to come do one," Atom laughed.

Ava turned to Twilight and Widget. "Oh hi - I don't think I've met you yet. I'm new in town, my name's Ava."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:06, Wed 08 Aug 2012.

"I agree, Princess.  It really was something special... I think that's why everypony made such a big deal about it.  Just Ponyville's way of showing we care, right?" the Unicorn giggled over the topic.  She flushed a bit at the cheeks over Luna's teasing and quickly swung along to Ava instead, hoping to divert the topic before she got too flustered.

"I didn't think I recognized you either, but this is a public library, so I tend to get a lot of random visitors." she smiled and gave a polite bow of her head.  "I'm Ponvyille's Librarian; Twilight Sparkle.  This is our local inventor, Widget Whatsits, and... ah... well, I'm sure you know Princess Luna." Twilight made the introductions in turn.  She was actually a bit surprised that the two unfamiliar Unicorns took Princess Luna's presence so well in stride.  Perhaps they were from Canterlot?

Atom nodded. "We met Luna briefly last night. I'm Atom, by the way," he grinned. "I'm just passing through town for a couple days."

"Oops - where are my manners?" the blue mare nodded, blushing, as Atom put a reassuring hoof around her shoulders. "My little sister and I just moved into town a few days ago; we haven't come close to meeting everypony yet."

"Yes, I suppose it did," said Widget, his cheeks slightly pink but grinning as he took it in stride. He turned to Atom and Ava, and smiled his friendly smile. "Well, welcome to Ponyville," he greeted in a bright tone. He couldn't help but to notice their cutie marks... other ponies of science like himself, a real rarity outside of Canterlot, and frankly inside Canterlot too. "Everypony here is very friendly... I'm sure it'll start feeling like home in no time."

"Oh!  Welcome to Ponyville.  Take your time in getting around -- there's plenty of Ponies here, though odds are you're going to get jumped by Pinkie Pie sooner or later." Twilight smiled with her usual good nature.  "Sorry, but you'll have to excuse me a moment."

With that polite segue Twilight slid along to trot upstairs, magicking open her bedroom door on the way up.  The lot downstairs could hear her rousing Spike from his sleep and the two of them talking (though the little Dragon didn't sound happy about being woken up).  The words were mostly unintelligible, though Spike's sudden shift in tone from grumpy to excited surely meant that 'Rarity' had been mentioned.  After further shuffling and bumping about, the two soon emerged from upstairs -- Spike had a thick wooden crate held up over his head that was filled with silt and dark, rough soil.  With little paper signs sticking up from the turf it looked like a windowsill garden, but there was a distinct lack of sprouts to be had.

"Hey everypony~!  Hi Luna~!" Spike greeted as he scampered downstairs.  He never did refer to royalty with quite the same level of respect as Ponies did, though he wasn't disrespectful either.  The Dragon nearly tripped in his eagerness but Twilight was quick to catch both him and his planter in her magic, gently setting him back down on his own feet.  "Ah... thanks Twi.  So, Princess, you needed some gems?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:49, Thu 09 Aug 2012.

The Princess smiled amicably, and waved a hoof lightly in greeting to the  ponies already in the library. When Spike turned up, she trotted over. "Good Afternoon, Spike. Yes. Rarity has sent me to find her some.. purple gems. I'm uncertain as to the.. details beyond that. Twilight and Widget informed me there is a lot to consider beyound a gemstone's color. I was hopin  you might be able to help..."

"Oh, yeah~!  There's tons of factors that go into a quality jewel.  Size, clarity, density, texture, flavor, how well it goes with a nice salad..." Spike counted off on his fingers.

"I don't think that's quite what Rarity had in mind, Spike." the librarian giggled as she rolled her eyes.

"It's still important.  You have to sweat the small stuff when working with gemstones.  Nasty-tasting gems don't make for good jewelery." he was quite adamant on the idea.  Since it was so rare to get gems for food around Ponyville (save for the Cakes, bless them), Spike had taken to cultivating his own for the sake of a properly balanced draconian diet.  He plunked his garden box onto the floor and sat himself right down beside it to dig through the silt carefully.  "Now let's see... I think the amethysts should be just about ripe."

Cultivating gemstones was no easy feat, so that Spike could manage it at such a young age was really impressive.  Even most adult dragons didn't know how to do it, which was why they hoarded gems they were able to dig up in the wilds rather than develop their own.  It was a closely guarded secret of rock farmers, that was for sure.  Spike withdrew a cluster of beautifully faceted violet gems from the silt and appraised them closely, carefully slicing off uneven angles with a flick of his claw, then eating those sheared bits happily.

"Mmm~!  Just right!" he seemed pleased as he picked out one of the smaller, odd-shaped gems and crunched into it on the spot.  Licking his lips clean of the shard 'crumbs', he selected three of the most lustrous gems and offered them over to Luna.  "Here y'go.  They'll need a bit of buffing first, but these should do the trick.  Let me know if Rarity likes them, okay?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:32, Thu 09 Aug 2012.

"I didn't know gemstones ripened over time," Atom mused. "Huh... you learn something new every day."

"I'm not sure that 'ripen' is quite how I would describe it either... but, well, Dragons do seem to have a more keen understanding of gems than Ponies do." Twilight smiled awkwardly over Spike's appraisal.  "Gemstones develop as natural structures under normal circumstances, but what Spike's been doing is a lot more advanced.  It involves a lot of careful mineral control and refining the gem over time.  The nature of the jewels he harvests are a lot different than the ones we've dug up."

"Yep~!  I've been cultivating this batch for close to a year now." the Dragon noted.  It was just one of many planters he had set.  "It's a lot of hard work, but oh-baby, are the results worth it!  Naturally faceted gems from the ground are great, but there's nothing quite like home-made."

Luna was rather fascinated by the display, and the discussion. She'd never expected such complexity from the task - or tat the little dragon could handle something so complex on his own.  She accepted the amethysts with a glow of her horn. "Thank you, good dragon. I shall  be sure to tell Rarity that you provided these for me." She said, and glanced over the others.  "Though, I do believe that Rarity needed these for a project she was working on today. It would be wise to get them to her sooner rather than later.  I am in town a while longer, though, Twilight Sparkle. I would like, very much, to spend more time with you."

Both scientist ponies were clearly fascinated - geology wasn't really their specialty, but science was science, and all of it was interesting. "Wow - I would never have guessed that was possible," Ava grinned. "Do you know if the library has a book on it, by any chance? I'd love to read more about it."

"I've got a few books on conventional geological studies, but nothing about draconian gem culturing." Twilight shook her head.  Dragons were still a big mystery to much of Equestria, after all.  "Though I did include a chapter touching on the matter in the Dragon guide I've been writing." she added, nodding to Widget as she'd loaned him the manuscript.

"Trade secrets." Spike nodded. "But if you two wanna come by some time and learn how to do it, I'd be happy to have the company.  Gem growing is a labor of love, but it can get a little dull sometimes."

Twilight just giggled and rubbed Spike's head with her hoof fondly, getting a chuckle out of the Dragon.  She was always so proud of his generous ways.  "Thanks again for the amethysts, Spike." the Unicorn said before turning back to Luna.  "If it's a rush order, then we should get going.  Widget and I wanted to talk to Rarity about a charity concert coming up later, so this is as good a time as any.  We can deliver the gems, get things in order, and spend more time with you.  Efficiency~!"

"Fascinating..." said Widget when Spike showed them how he cultivated and grew gems in a planter box like a pony would rows of pansies or clusters of carrots. "I bet Quill would like to grow gems with you. Sorry about him earlier today at the bakery. If you want to talk to him later, I think he'll be at the workshop all evening." He decided the most tactful way to handle it was to not mention why Quill had been so upset in the first place, for both Quill and Spike's sakes.

He looked back to Twilight and nodded with a smile when she seemed so pleased at their projected near future efficiency. "Sounds like a plan," he concurred before turning to Ava and Atom. "It was a pleasure to meet you both! Mares and stallions of science are rare this far from Canterlot. Welcome again to Ponyville, Ava. I hope the four of us have time to hang out before you go, Atom. It would be nice to talk a little shop with some new faces."

"I hope so too," Atom agreed. "And if not, not to worry - I'll be in town fairly frequently."

"Very well then. Twilight, Widget, whenever you're ready." She said quietly. She remained present and attentive, but she seemed content to let the others talk amongst themselves, as she turned her attention to the bookshelf nearest her, to look the titles over.

"Sure," Ava nodded to Spike. "I don't know that I would be as good at it as a dragon, but I would love to learn more about how it works."

"Alright then, let's get going.  Spike, make sure these two are taken care of, please?" Twilight gave a quick look back to her assistant.

"You got it, Twi~!" the little Dragon saluted.

"Thanks.  It was nice meeting you both, and I hope we get a chance to talk more later." she mentioned to Ava and Atom on her way out.  The Unicorn paused a bit as she noticed a large stack of books by the door with a note atop it, quickly skimming over.  Ah, so Shai Ni had been by earlier as well?  A brief flicker of guilt flushed over her face at the thought of the now homeless Pony and Twilight grimaced... she'd make sure to deliver those books herself as soon as she found out where Shai Ni had managed to settle for the time being.  For now, they had other affairs to attend to and Twilight led the way out of the Library.

--> Exit to The Carousel Boutique