Monday, October 26, 2015

2015
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER





NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
GO TO 2016

Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Expect the unexpected today.

Early Morning

Vice-Principal Luna is moving into the dorm for the week this evening.

Rarity won't quite look me in the eye this morning. I don't blame her. I need to find a way to apologize...

I have to take Vinyl Scratch to her eye doctor appointment today.

After School

I wait for Vinyl at the school entrance. As soon as she arrives, she hands me her car keys, and I drive her to the eye doctor.

"So how's life treatin' ya?" Vinyl asks as we drive.

"Oh, you know..." I say. "The usual." We chat about music and stuff for a bit.

After Vinyl signs in and we sit down, a very unusual woman walks into the clinic. She looks to be in her late forties; she's tall and spindly, and her skin is black as coal. Her long, stringy hair is a very dark blue-green. She's dressed in a deep emerald green business suit, and wears green-tinted glasses. Immediately upon sitting down, she opens her black leather handbag, pulls out a bluetooth headset, and starts discussing something very business-sounding with someone.

"I hate when people do that at the doctor's office," Vinyl whispers.

A few minutes later, Vinyl is called back. I sit, half-watching the television and half-reading a magazine I don't have any real interest in.

The woman with the bluetooth falls silent, then crosses over to the table nearby to pick up a magazine. She sits next to me. "Your girlfriend?" she asks.

"Just a friend."

"Uh-huh." Her phone rings, and she sighs. "Yes? No. No, don't...look. I don't care what that half-wit says, he isn't...he what? No, listen...you tell him...no, wait, don't do anything. Don't do ANYTHING. I'll...yes. No. Just...just...fine. Look, I'm at the eye doctor right now. Don't let...no...look, SIT ON HIM if you have to, but do NOT let...yes. Do that." She hangs up angrily and groans in frustration. "I swear I would KILL that son of a bitch if I could..." She trails off, looks and me, and frowns. "Sorry."

"Problems at work?" I ask awkwardly.

She gives me a death glare. "Don't go there, kid."

A few minutes later, she's called back. Another twenty minutes later, Vinyl comes out, and I drive her home.

Once we reach Vinyl's house, I help her round up a snack for us while I wait for the cab. "So, how's it going?" I ask.

She sighs. "The medicine's not as effective as it was. They're gonna try something else, but..."

I decide to change the subject. "Hey, Vinyl...remember you said there's somebody you like? Who is it? If you don't mind me asking."

She blushes. "You know Octavia, right?"

Octavia...sounds familiar...

"You mighta seen her hanging out with Lyra."

"Long hair, Trottingham accent?"

"Yeah, that's her." Vinyl sighs. "She's...I dunno...I just..."

"So go for it," I say.

"Dude, I don't even know if she's into chicks," Vinyl says. "And...and even if she..." She looks away. "Why would she go out with me? I wouldn't go out with me."

"Why? Because of your eyes?" I shake my head. "Lots of people have problems with their eyes, or their ears, or their legs, or..." I wave a hand. "That doesn't get in the way of them finding somebody to be happy with." I take a sip of my drink. "Actually, that's all the more reason to want somebody special."

Vinyl leans back, speechless. "Huh," she says. "Y'know, I never thought of it like that."

She shakes her head. "Still...we don't have anything in common except music, and we're not even into the same stuff. I'm into dance and dubstep, she's all into classical..."

The cab pulls up outside and the driver honks his horn. "Well...I gotta go," I say. "Take care. And think about what I said."

"Yeah," Vinyl says. "Hey...thanks."

Evening

As soon as I arrive at the dorm, I pick up on a rather strained atmosphere.

Twilight, who's sitting in the lounge reading and watching the news, looks up. "Vice-Principal Luna's here."

I sit down next to Twilight and start working on my homework, while occasionally glancing up at the television. I do a double-take when I see the woman I met at the eye doctor pictured on the screen. "What the...?" I find the remote and turn up the volume.

"What is it?" Twilight asks.

"...mbra, CFO of Crystal Enterprises, has called for the dismissal of the company's CEO Chrysalis. Chrysalis could not be reached for comment at this hour, but a representative told us that she has no intention of allowing the board to force her out, and will file injunctions against them in the coming days."

"No wonder that lady was so pissed," I say.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asks. I tell her about seeing the woman they were just talking about at the eye doctor. Her eyes widen.

"Wow, you met somebody famous! Well, infamous. You do know who she is, right?" I shake my head. "Chrysalis is the CEO of Crystal Enterprises. It's a huge company. It started up in the north, but Chrysalis moved the headquarters to Canterlot after she took over the company. The old CEO got in some legal trouble over some labor practices..." Twilight shakes her head. "That's what I've heard, anyway. That happened years ago. Anyway...Chrysalis has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. They say she's made bad decisions that have cost the company hundreds of millions." Twilight pauses, giving me a sheepish look. "It's all pretty boring stuff," she says. "It's just...it's been in the news a lot lately."

It's the first I've heard of it, but I don't really watch the news...

At dinner, we're all nervous. Luna sits at the table, regarding us all impassively.

Even Twilight's a little scared to eat.

Luna frowns. "You need not fear me, children. I am not here to pass judgment on you. I am here to watch over you."

For whatever reason, Applejack decided to make enchiladas for dinner tonight. Luna begins eating. After a bite, she looks up. "These are quite good," she says. "Applejack, you cooked dinner tonight, yes?"

"Uhh...yes ma'am," Applejack says.

Luna nods. "As expected...you must have learned to cook from your grandmother." She looks around at all of us. "Are none of you hungry? You are growing young people...you should eat!"

The enchiladas are really good. Soon, we're all eating, but we're also all more than a little nervous about Luna. We got used to Celestia fairly quickly, but Luna has a particularly fearsome reputation...

After dinner, Luna says, "I...have brought something to share with you all." She goes into the kitchen, then returns with a large lidded container, a stack of dessert plates, and a pile of dessert forks. "A personal favorite of mine. It took a very long time to perfect this recipe." She opens the container and begins cutting into its contents and placing servings on each plate, then passing them around the table. "It is an ice cream sandwich cookie cake. The bottom crust is made of chocolate graham cracker crumbs, the filling is vanilla ice cream, and the topping is crushed chocolate sandwich cookies." She smiles. "Please, enjoy!"

We all look at one another, wide-eyed, then dig in. "Whoa, this is awesome!" Rainbow Dash says.

"This is really good, Vice-Principal Luna!" Twilight says.

"Please...when we are not in school, you may simply call me Luna," Luna says.

There's enough of the ice cream sandwich cookie cake for everybody to have two pieces. Once it's all gone, Twilight and I do the dishes.

"That was unexpected," I say.

"Yeah," Twilight says. "Who knew Luna had a sweet tooth?"

Twilight suddenly lets out a long, wet, whining fart. She freezes up, her eyes wide and her face red. "Oh no. Oh my gosh." She buries her face in her hands. "I'm so embarrassed..."

"Don't be," I say, giving her shoulders a squeeze. "It happens."

Then the smell hits.

"Umm...I've still got a little homework to do. See you in the morning, okay?"

"Okay," Twilight says meekly, ducking her head and running out of the kitchen. I head upstairs quickly.

About an hour later, Applejack's enchiladas start doing horrible things to my stomach. If the whining and banging I'm hearing downstairs are any indication, it's an epidemic.

It's a very interesting end to the day...