As I resume the game, and as my character wakes up, I notice a message box at the bottom of the screen that reads, “The smell of baked feces.” Then, I remember events from the previous day, including seeing Pinkie Pie with the cupcake as she sat on that rock. I remember the color being a greenish brown, and then it dawns on me what must be going on. Presently, I have my character rise from his bed and move as quickly and carefully as possible from there to the kitchen.

As my character arrives, I see, through his eyes, Pinkie, controlled by Pinkamena, sitting somewhat human-style and holding something in her front hooves. I can’t see exactly what it is, as Weed Whacker is standing between me and it; but I have a sneaking suspicion I already know.

And, if my suspicion isn’t enough, the herbivorous dinosaur lets me know what it is; as she innocently asks, “Pinkie, what are you going to do with that cupcake?”

Clearly, the broken-Pinkie-promise thing isn’t over yet.

The pink earth pony turns to the herbivorous dinosaur and says, “Please, Weed Whacker, leave me alone. I have to do this.” Then, she turns to the pastry in her front hooves, closes the eye I can see, and takes a deep breath.

As the pink mare starts to move her front hooves toward the eye I can’t see, Weed Whacker lunges toward them and pushes the cupcake away, calling out, “No, Pinkie, no!”

I hear a soft squishing sound as the cupcake hits the floor, then watch as Pinkie Pie, noticing she’s no longer holding the cupcake, gasps in surprise. She then turns and glares at the herbivorous dinosaur and growls, “Weed Whacker, why did you do that?”

Before the little dinosaur can answer, I ask, “Pinkie Pie, what are you doing?”

The surprised earth pony turns and looks up at my character and says, “Mormon, I didn’t know you were there.”

At this point, I have my character search for and find the cupcake.

As he picks it up with his right hand, Pinkie Pie stammers, “I-I h-haven’t punished m-myself f-for breaking m-my P-pinkie p-promise.”

My character holds the pastry up to his eye level, out of reach of either Pinkie Pie or Weed Whacker; and I ask, “This is really important to you, isn’t it?”

Presently, Pinkie rises up and stands on her hind legs, reaching out for the cupcake, and nervously says, “M-mormon, give me back the cupcake.”

I respond, “No. Don’t you remember what I said yesterday, that if anyone deserved the cupcake I did?”

At this point, Pinkie Pie’s face looks bleached. She shakes her head and says, “No, Mormon, please don’t.”

I state, “If this is the only way that this can be settled, then so be it.”

As I input the instructions into the computer, I hear the pink earth pony plead, “No, Mormon, you don’t have to do this. You didn’t make the promise, I did.”

I press Enter, then say, “But, I’m the one that programmed you.” And, immediately my character closes his left eye and thrusts the cupcake into his right eye.

I’m pretty sure it’s Weed Whacker I hear gag and retch, while at the same time Pinkie Pie starts screaming.

When my character opens his closed eye, I see Pinkie covering her own eyes, a fountain from the outer corner of each spraying upward and outward, as she continues to sob.

My character then searches for Weed Whacker and finds her facing away from him, at his feet, on all fours, her nose pointed at a puddle of what must be her vomit.

I have my character focus on the pink earth pony, and I say, “Now, let this be the end of it.”

Pinkie Pie lifts her head from her front hooves, looks up at my character, at me, and, sniffling, whimpers, “Oh, Mormon, you didn’t have to do that.”

I respond, “Well, you made it clear that it was either going to be you or me, and I didn’t want you to hurt yourself that way. So, the only thing left for me to do was to stick the cupcake into my own eye.” I then have my character turn toward the hallway, and I add, “Now, I’m going to get this cleaned up. And, it looks like you and Weed Whacker have your own messes to clean up. Then, when that’s done, we’ll head out to the vegetable garden and the orchard and harvest some breakfast.” I don’t wait for a response before I have my character head for, then into, the bathroom.

It takes a few minutes for my character to clean the cupcake out of his eye, at which point I can see the damage caused appears to be minimal. Still, it looks like my character’s going to have to wear a patch over the eye for a few days so it can heal properly.

When my character finishes in the bathroom and comes out again and returns to the kitchen, I see, through his still-usable eye, that indeed Pinkie and Weed Whacker have joined forces, first in cleaning up Weed Whacker’s vomit, then in cleaning up Pinkie Pie’s tear puddles, and finally the crumbs that apparently fell from what I had my character do. I say, “Well, as soon as you’re ready to go, we’ll head out.”

The still-distraught Pinkie Pie looks up at my character, at me, and says, “I’m so sorry, Mormon. I promise, I’ll be more careful with my promises from now on. I won’t make a Pinkie promise that goes against my programming ever again.”

I have my character kneel down on one knee, and I say, “Just as long as you’ve learned your lesson, that’s what matters to me. It’s alright for you to make a Pinkie promise, just so long as you know you can keep it.” I then have my character hold out his arms to the pink earth pony, and I say, “Now, come here, Pinkie.”

Presently, Pinkie Pie bounces into my character’s open arms, and the two hug.

When the two separate, I hear Weed Whacker ask, “Could I have a hug, too?”

Once Pinkie Pie’s safely on the floor again, I have my character hold his arms open for the herbivorous dinosaur; and I say, “Sure, Weed Whacker, come here.”

At the invitation, the herbivorous dinosaur jumps into my character’s arms, and those two hug.

When Weed Whacker and my character separate, and Weed Whacker is on the floor again, I say, “Now, let’s go out and harvest some breakfast.”

The dinosaur and the pink earth pony nod, at which point my character automatically stands up again and proceeds to the kitchen door. He allows Weed Whacker and Pinkie Pie to leave, after which he follows, closing the door behind him, then heads the group to the front door, where he follows the same procedure.

On the way down the stairs, the trio meets Lyra, who’s coming with fruits from the vineyard.

The pale-green unicorn, seeing my character, asks, “Mormon, what happened?”

It’s Pinkie who shakily answers, “I-it’s a long story. I’ll t-tell you about it later.”

Lyra doesn’t say anything more, just proceeds to climb the steps onto the porch.

In the mean time, the group of three proceeds until they get to the vegetable garden, at which point Weed Whacker separates and heads in that direction, leaving the human and the pink earth pony to go to and into the orchard.

After Pinkamena chooses a tree and Diane takes over Pinkie Pie, the now straight-haired pink earth mare says, “Thank you, Mormon. I didn’t want my sister to injure herself.”

As my character approaches the pear tree and starts harvesting pears, I say, “I didn’t want to see that, either. I just hope she's learned her lesson.”

Diane responds, “As do I, Mormon. I understand that you programmed her to forget her birthday, our birthday, but I also understand that she tried to counteract that with her Pinkie promise.” I then hear a thud and shaking of leaves, followed by four more quiet thuds, then Diane continues, “In the end, your programming won out. But, Pinkamena still felt responsible for making a Pinkie promise, the first one in her life, in our life, that she couldn’t keep. If you hadn’t stuck the cupcake in one of your avatar’s eyes, then Pinkamena would’ve stuck it in one of Pinkie’s eyes. You saved Pinkie’s eye sight by sacrificing that of your avatar. Both of us will remember that. Again, thank you.”

By this point, my character has picked four pears. When he turns back to the pink earth pony, it’s evident to me that Pinkamena has taken over Pinkie again, as the pink earth pony’s mane is curly again. And, wouldn’t you know it, that’s when I remember the biblical saying, “An eye for an eye.” And, that’s when it dawns on me, perhaps, with the help of my character, I just demonstrated the intended meaning of that saying. It’s always been assumed that the saying was an allowance for vengeance, perhaps just so long as it’s limited to me, for instance, doing as much damage to someone else as that someone else did to me. But, what if it had been intended to mean, "I'll pay the price for you that you can't pay. Then, all you have to do is accept, and you can go free."? In effect, what if the idea could have been better expressed by "My eye for your eye?" This wouldn’t be the first case of a scripture being misinterpreted, if what I suspect has really been the case.

In the mean time, Pinkie “Pinkamena” Pie has gathered up the four apples and attached them to her mane, and is ready to return to the house. She interrupts my thoughts by calling out, “So, Mormy, are you coming?”

I answer, “Sure, Pinkie, right behind you.” And, with that, my character automatically follows the pink earth pony to the fence, where she bounces over it, and my character climbs over it. The two then return to the front porch, where they meet up with Weed Whacker.

My character opens the door and allows the dinosaur and the pony to enter, then follows them inside, closing the door behind him. And, it’s when he turns to the kitchen entrance that I notice that Lyra seems to have left the kitchen door open, evidently to allow the dinosaur, human, and earth pony to enter unimpeded.

That seems to be the way Pinkie Pie and Weed Whacker interpret the action, as they immediately make their way to and into the kitchen, leaving the door open for my character to follow them in, then close the door behind him.

When the four are all in the kitchen, the group take their places and prepare the fruits and vegetables for breakfast. Then, they gather around the table and join forces to eat the harvest.

After breakfast and cleanup, the group proceeds back through the front room, out the front door, then through the front yard to and through the gate, with my character bringing up the rear to close doors behind the group.

It’s on the way to Ponyville through the Everfree forest that Pinkie Pie tells Lyra about what she’d tried to do to punish herself for breaking her Pinkie promise, and what I did, what I had my character do, to prevent her from harming herself.

Lyra demonstrates concern for my character, asking if I’m going to be alright.

Pinkie replies that she hopes I will be, and that she won’t forget what I did for her.

This time, I believe her.

When the group gets out of the main forest and passes in front of Fluttershy’s cottage, the yellow pegasa, evidently seeing my character with a patch over one eye, flies toward him and asks, “Oh, Mormon, are you alright?”

Again, it’s Pinkie Pie who answers, “Mormon’s fine. Let’s just say that he did something for me that he didn’t wanna see me do to myself.”

With the group now stopped, Fluttershy proceeds to land in front of the bearer of laughter, then says, “Well, whatever it was he did, it looks like it hurt him.”

A loud sniffle from the pink earth pony draws my character’s attention to her.

Probably refusing to notice, she says, “I never expected a human to do what Mormon did. I wonder if all humans would do that, or something like it, for their friends.” And, with that, she smiles up at my character.

I answer, “Maybe, maybe not. But, one thing I know right now is that we need to get into town right now, so we can head for and meet with Twilight.”

At this point, Pinkie Pie gasps, then says, “Oh, that’s right. After all, tonight’s the Grand Galloping Gala.” She then pauses for a moment before adding, “And, that reminds me.” She then reaches into her mane and produces … my character’s suit, and hands it to him, saying, “I had a feeling you might forget your suit, so I brought it with me.”

My character accepts the suit from her and puts it into his inventory, during which time I offer her a word of gratitude. In the mean time, I’m left wondering, when did Pinkie Pie get into my character’s room and get his suit? Clearly she has her own inventory, and evidently it’s large enough to hold a suit that would fit my character. But, did Diane decide to have Pinkamena bring the suit with, then give it to my character at this point?

But, I’m given no time to think about that, as Pinkie continues, “Well, we better get to Ponyville now. Fluttershy, you wanna join us?”

The yellow pegasa smiles and answers, “Oh, well, thanks for the invitation. But, I need to take care of my creatures first.”

The pink earth pony asks, “Do you need help with that?”

Fluttershy smiles as she answers, “Oh, no, I’ll be fine. I just have a few more to feed and water, then I’ll head to Ponyville.”

Pinkie Pie offers, “Well, we could wait for you here.”

I think I hear a giggle from the yellow pegasa as she says, “Oh, no, you go on ahead. Like I said before, I’ll be done in just a few minutes. I don’t want to hold you up or anything.”

The pink party pony shrugs as she says, “Well, if you insist. See you later, Fluttershy.”

The yellow pegasa replies, “See you later, Pinkie.” And, with that, she proceeds back to her cottage.

With that conversation out of the way, the group of four proceeds completely out of the forest, and on into Ponyville.

Once the group has entered the town, Pinkie Pie pauses and says, “Hmm, you know, I think it’s more likely that Twilight’s reading in that field near Carousel Boutique. So, let’s go over there.”

I pause before saying, “Sounds good to me.” I then have my character turn to Lyra, and I ask, “That sound alright to you?”

The pale-green unicorn answers, “That’s fine with me. Let’s get going.”

Weed Whacker voices her agreement, after which Pinkie Pie takes the lead, bouncing ahead on a course for the cylindrical clothing store.

After a few minutes of crossing intersections, on the opposite side of a bridge, on one side of the nearby river, I see, through my character’s eyes, Carousel Boutique. On the other side, I can only see a tree. That is, until my character is close enough to the bridge, at which point I see Twilight resting sphinx-style on the grass opposite the tree, reading a book.

The purple unicorn is evidently so absorbed in reading the book, she doesn’t notice the group of four approaching her until they’re right behind her, and Pinkie Pie says, “Hi, Twily!”

Clearly startled, the purple unicorn jumps to her hooves and yelps. Then, when she turns and sees each of the four, she sighs and, smiling, says, “Oh, hi, Pinkie, Lyra, Weed Whacker, Mormon.” She then notices the patch over my character’s eye and, tilting her head, asks, “Mormon, what happened to your eye?”

At this point, Pinkie stops bouncing and lowers her head, and her smile melts into a frown. Her ears fold back against her head, and she starts drawing circles slowly in the grass as she says, “Uh, well, that’s kind of my fault. I’d rather not go into details right now, but let’s just say that Mormon helped clear up a matter for me.”

Presently, Lyra, looking curiously into the book Twilight was reading, asks, “Uh, why are you reading about transformation spells?”

Twilight answers, “It’s a project I’m working on for the Grand Galloping Gala. I’ll show you and the rest of the girls as soon as they get here.”

Having seen the episode, “The Best Night Ever,” on which this day is based, I already know that Twilight plans on creating something of a Cinderella effect, except with an apple instead of a pumpkin, and the dresses have already been made. I also remember that the transformation of the mice into horses isn’t going to be complete in Twilight’s case. I’ve seen the transformation in the cartoon, but I have yet to see it in this game.

In the mean time, nearby, Pinkie Pie produces a trampoline from her mane and starts jumping on it, calling out, “I … can’t … believe … the Grand … Galloping … Gala … is … tonight!” And, as happens in the animated series, she splits up the sentence this way as she bounces.

At about the same time, Twilight has returned to her book, and is starting to study, or at least trying to study, the transformation spell again.

Noticing the noise Pinkie Pie seems to be generating for the purple unicorn, I have my character turn to her; and I say, “Uh, Pinkie, maybe you should calm down. Twilight’s trying to study that spell, and you’re distracting her.”

My mention of the pink earth pony distracting the purple unicorn comes at the highest point in her last jump, which she indicates by stopping in mid air, then slowly drifting to the top of the trampoline so she doesn’t bounce again. She then looks up at my character, at me, and says, giggling nervously, “Oh, uh, sorry about that.” And, again she giggles nervously.

I open my mouth to speak, but then I hear Rarity add, “And, I simply will not allow you to put on your dress while you’re all sweaty.”

My character turns his attention to the white unicorn, at which point I say, “Oh, hi, Rarity.”

The white unicorn looks up at my character and says, “Hello, Mormon.” Then, as she sees my character’s face, she says, “A rather odd accessory. Uh, what’s the occasion?”

Pinkie Pie says, “It’s … a long story.” She then leans toward Rarity and whispers, “It’s kind of technical.”

After a second, Rarity says, “Oh,” then continues, “Well, I suppose I can wait until later for an explanation.” And, she emits a nervous laugh.

I can’t help laughing more sincerely at the reference to a certain science fiction comedy movie.

In the mean time, my character turns back to Twilight’s position; and I notice Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack approaching. And, I notice Applejack is carrying an apple in her mouth by its stem.

The orange earth mare says, “We’re here with the things you ordered.”

Immediately, Twilight rises to a canine-style sitting position and says, “Perfect. I’m ready.”

Rainbow Dash asks, “For what?”

Applejack passes the apple to Spike, who sets it down in front of Twilight.

On receiving the fruit, the purple unicorn turns to her assistant and says, “Thank you, Spike.”

Pinkie sounds surprised when she says, “An apple.” She then asks, “Are we having pie?”

I have my character kneel on one knee and stroke Pinkie’s back, and I say, “I doubt it. Let’s just watch.”

And, it seems that, at the same time, Spike shushes the pink earth pony and says, along with my character, “Watch.”

The other ponies start to back away as Twilight’s horn starts to glow and sparkle, along with the apple, which, in seconds, enlarges and turns into a carriage, which still maintains the shape and color of the apple.

Something about this gets me to wondering. In the story of Cinderella, everything would turn back to what they were before when the clock struck midnight, making it essential that Cinderella return home by then. Does that restriction apply here as well?

I guess I’ll have to wait for that answer, as, after the expressions of congratulations from the other element bearers, as well as Lyra and Weed Whacker, Twilight says, “Thanks, but that’s just the start.” She then approaches the bearer of kindness and asks, “Fluttershy, did you bring your friends?”

As four mice immediately unveil themselves from her mane, the yellow pegasa answers, “Yes.” Then, as she lowers her head to allow the mice to jump down onto the grass, she nervously asks, “Uh, will they be safe, Twilight?”

At about this time, near the tree, I notice, through my character’s eyes, Opalescence sneaking around behind a bush.

In the mean time, Twilight answers, “You have my word.”

Presently, the mice line up and look around.

Then, while Twilight once again focuses, and her horn starts glowing and sparkling again, I decide to have my character stand up and start moving toward the bush where I know Rarity’s cat is hiding.

I don’t get to see the transformation itself, I just hear the minute ringing, followed by the flap-of-cloth sound effect and the upward-slurred ringing that signals that the mice have been transformed into horses, with mouse-shaped snouts.

And, Twilight signals the success of the transformation by singing “Ta-da!”

It’s clear, by the uncertain vocalizations of Twilight’s audience, that they’ve noticed the imperfection of the transformation, and may not know what to say about it.

Then, Opalescence jumps out of the bush, screeching, claws exposed, ready to catch at least one mouse.

The good news is that my character is in the right position, and catches the feline before she can succeed.

The bad news is that the horse-mice are still mice at heart; and, when they turn and see the cat my character managed to stop from attacking them, they squeak loudly, then turn and run off. Evidently, the transformation didn’t include instincts.

The group watches Twilight's handiwork (hoofy-work, maybe?) run off into the park, and Twilight calls out, “No, wait, come back!” She then turns to the rest of the group and says, worriedly, “Those horses were supposed to pull our carriage.”

I have my character proceed to put a now growling Opalescence down on the ground again as I say, “Well, at least Rarity’s cat didn’t hurt any of them, and wasn’t hurt herself.”

As soon as the white Persian cat is back on the ground, she snarls and, claws exposed, swipes at my character’s hand with a front paw.

Fortunately, my character’s fast enough that the paw misses its target.

In the mean time, Twilight says, “But, we don’t have any way of getting this carriage to the Gala now.”

Then, Rarity over-dramatically raises a front hoof to her forehead and says, “Oh, whatever shall we do?”

I have a lot of fun watching Rarity’s melodrama, even if her friends don’t.

After a second or two of awkward silence, Rarity puts down the front hoof and, after clearing her throat, approaches a group of stallions. Flirting with two of them, she asks, “Uh, would you two boys mind pulling our carriage to the Gala?”

One of the stallions, tan with brown hair, blue-green eyes, and a three-horseshoe cutie mark, and the one next to him, gray with graphite hair, blue eyes, and a cutie mark of three four-leaf clovers, nod in eager agreement.

As the two stallions follow Rarity to the carriage, Twilight flatly says, “Oh, yeah, right.” Then, as the stallions get themselves hitched up to the carriage, the purple unicorn turns to my character and says, “Uh, unfortunately, the carriage can only carry six ponies. If you plan on going to the Grand Galloping Gala, you’ll have to find some other means of transportation.”

I state, “Well, there is a train that heads to Canterlot, isn’t there?”

Twilight smiles and nods as she answers, “That’s right.” She then looks away from my character and continues, “I guess we could go ahead now and see if the train to Canterlot is available.”

The rest of the members of the group voice agreement, after which the group heads to the train station.

On arrival, Twilight approaches the stallion at the booth and asks, “When does the train to Canterlot get here, and when does it leave?”

Scratching the back of his head with a front hoof, the stallion nervously answers, “Well, uh, it already left.” Then, after groans of disappointment from the group, the stallion adds, “Uh, but, there’s another train heading to Canterlot that’ll arrive this afternoon. It’ll stay for two hours until all the passengers are on board, then it’ll head out.”

This bit of information is met with cheers of excitement.

Then, Twilight asks, “So, when will the train arrive, exactly?”

The stallion looks down, evidently checking the schedule, then looks up again and answers, “It should arrive at approximately one this afternoon.”

At this news, Twilight excitedly shouts, “Great!” She then eagerly asks, “So, we can get tickets now, then?”

The stallion answers, “All those who are going by train, yes.”

At this point, I say, “So, that means that, since Pinkie’s going with the rest of the element bearers, it’ll be me, Lyra, and Weed Whacker.” I then ask, “So, how much will that be for three passengers?”

The stallion hums in thought for a moment, then answers, “Tickets are two bits per passenger.”

I conclude, “So, for three passengers, that’d be six bits.” I then have my character produce the six gold coins from his inventory and hand them to the stallion; and I say, “Here you go.”

The stallion accepts the money, then, while passing my character the tickets, responds, “Thanks. And, here are your three tickets.” Then, as my character puts them in his inventory, the stallion asks, “So, will you be waiting here for the train to arrive?”

I have my character turn to the group of ponies and dragons, then back to the stallion; and I say, “Actually, I’m sure I’ll have things to do while I’m in town. But, I and those going with me to Canterlot will be here not too long after one.”

The stallion nods and says, “Well, in that case, good luck.”

Thus, with the train tickets in my character’s inventory, he and the ponies and dragons start walking away from the train station.

As the group takes their first steps away from the station, Twilight asks, “So, where should we go next?”

Rarity answers, “There’s a mane-and-tail-styling salon not far from the boutique. We could go over there to get ready.”

Spike, seeming disappointed, answers, “Yeah, I suppose it’s better than waiting here.”

I then turn my character’s attention to Weed Whacker and ask, “And, what about you?”

The herbivorous dinosaur answers, “I think I’ll wait at the salon with Lyra and Pinkie Pie. You and Spike can go ahead to the boutique.”

Then, Pinkie Pie says, “Oh, that’s right. Mormon has a suit he needs to put on to get ready for the Gala.”

Hearing Pinkie Pie, Rarity turns to my character and says, “Well, in that case, you should head to Carousel Boutique. You can use the dressing room in the back.”

So, after I give a word of gratitude to the white unicorn, my character and Spike proceed out of the salon and on to the boutique.

As Spike opens the door, I take a moment to check my inventory; and I notice that the only tickets I have are for the train to Canterlot. I then have my character focus on Spike, and I say, “Uh, if you’ll wait here, I just realized I forgot something.”

The purple dragon closes his eyes and plants a hand between them, just above his snout, and growls, “Ugh, what is it now?”

I have my character hand him his suit, then I answer, “Just something I forgot back at my house. Not to worry, you won’t even know I'm gone. Ki tahi au.” And, with that, as soon as I see that everything that had been moving before is no longer moving, I have my character run back to his house on the opposite side of the Everfree forest, go inside, then through to his bedroom, then claim the tickets from the top of his dresser. Then, from there, I have him go to the front room, open the closet there, and remove thirty copies of the Book of Mormon from there and put them in his inventory. After that, I have him close the doors that were left open, on his way out of the house, then head back through the Everfree forest and back to where Spike’s waiting for him in front of Carousel Boutique. I then say, “Continue,” then ask, “So, Spike, did you miss me?”

The purple dragon removes his hand from his face and opens his eyes again, then starts and yelps when he sees my character there, then says, “Wow, Mormon, I thought you’d be gone longer than that.”

Presently, I ask, “So, shall we go inside so I can get dressed?”

Spike smiles and answers, “Sure, no problem.” And, he enters the boutique, with my character following close behind him.

Once inside, the dragon and the human proceed into the dressing room that the six element bearers had used for the fashion show a few weeks ago; and my character proceeds to take off his pants and shirt, then dress in his suit.

In the mean time, Spike says, “You know, I’m still not sure I’ll have anything to do there.”

I reply, “Well, I’m sure you’ll find something to do. But, could you do me a favor and take Weed Whacker with you?”

I think I hear a tone of skepticism in the purple dragon’s voice as he answers, “I guess so.” He then asks, “So, what’ll you be doin’ there?”

I answer, “I suppose the first thing I’ll be doing is getting things set up for a reading there at the castle. I’m guessing it’ll be some time before the reading takes place, which should leave me with time to do what I want. And, I’m sure I’ll have at least one opportunity to put that time to good use.”

Spike continues, “Yeah, Rarity thinks Prince Blue Blood’s gonna fall in love with her. Twilight wants to spend time with Princess Celestia. Rainbow Dash hopes she’ll get to spend time with the Wonderbolts. Applejack thinks she’s gonna sell a bunch of stuff there.”

At this point, I speak up and say, “I don’t know about Applejack’s idea. Personally, when I think about fancy parties, like the one we’ll be attending, vendors aren’t the first thing that come to my mind. Where I come from, people usually sell things at a fair or a carnival or something like that.”

Spike responds, “My thoughts exactly.” He then continues, “Then, there’s Pinkie Pie. She’s just goin’ to have fun at the party. Then, there’s Fluttershy, who wants to meet all the critters in the garden.”

I wait for a moment for the purple dragon to say more. When he doesn’t, I say, “You know, Fluttershy may be the one I can help the most, if not the only one I can help.”

Spike, confused, asks, “You have a way with animals?”

I answer, “Not the gift that Fluttershy has, but I do think I can help her. And, I think she may need my help more than Pinkie Pie will at the Gala.”

At this point, my character only has his shoes and jacket left to put on.

In the mean time, Spike groans in disappointment and says, “I was hoping you could join me at the doughnut shop. Doughnut Joe, over there, serves these great doughnuts, and hot chocolate to go with them. But, it sounds like you’d rather go take care of ponies that probably won’t need your help.”

I respond, “I guess we’ll see which, if any, of them need my help when we get there.”

As my character puts on and ties his last shoe, Spike asks, “So, what’ll Lyra be doin’ there?”

I answer, “You know, I’m not really sure. Maybe she’ll play her lyre, maybe she’ll sing the song she and Pinkie Pie wrote. You know, the one she sang at Pinkie Pie’s birthday party last night?”

I don’t have to see Spike smile, I hear it in his voice when he says, “Oh, yeah. That was a really good song, too.”

Since my character, by this time, is fully dressed, except for his jacket, I have him put that on as I say, “Well, I’m pretty much ready now.”

At this point, Spike smiles and says, “Great.” He then waddles to the door, then turns to my character, and says, “Well, as soon as you’re ready, I’m ready.”

I ask, “You don’t have any clothes to wear to the event, or anything?”

Spike looks down and around himself as he answers, “I’ve never needed clothes before.” He then looks up at my character again and asks, “Why do you ask?”

I answer, “Nothing. Just curious.”

Now, the purple dragon opens the door and says, “Well, let’s head back to the salon, then.”

Now that my character has his dress jacket on, I say, “Go ahead, Spike. Lead the way.” And, with that, with my character following the purple dragon, he goes through the dressing room door, then on to the front door of the boutique.

From there, the dragon and the human make their way back to the salon.

Once inside, Spike approaches and knocks on the door and calls out, “Twilight, Rarity, will you let us in?”

I can’t resist. Under my breath, I say, “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.”

As Spike turns and gives me a curious look with a grunt of confusion, from the other side of the door I hear Rarity answer, “I’m afraid not, Spike. We girls are still getting dressed.”

I then hear giggling from Weed Whacker just before Applejack says, “Dressed? Uh, beg pardon, Rarity, but, uh, we don’t normally wear clothes.”

I then hear Rarity groan before the door opens, and she says, “Oh, very well.” Looking at the human and the dragon, she continues, “Come on in. I’m sorry, but some of us do have standards.”

About a second after Spike and my character enter the main room of the salon, I hear the door close behind my character. As he automatically turns to look behind him, I see, through his eyes, that it was Weed Whacker that followed him in, and closed the door.

Before I can respond, I hear Spike say, “I still can’t believe we’re going to be in Canterlot tonight. Our home town, Twilight!” As my character turns to the purple dragon, who’s standing between Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie, he continues, “The best part is we get to hang out together, all night long!”

I then hear Rainbow Dash say, “Uh, I don’t know, Spike.” My character turns to the azure pegasa to show me she’s sitting, sphinx-style, on a comfortable-looking crimson bed of sorts. But, she does look worried.

A few seconds later, I hear Rarity say, “We’ll just have to see.”

Then, before my character can turn his attention to the white unicorn, I hear Applejack spit. My character manages to focus on the orange earth pony just in time to hear her say, “We’re gonna be a mite busy.”

And, it looks like Fluttershy doesn’t appreciate the orange earth mare giving a front hoof of hers a literal spit shine.

My character’s once again distracted by Pinkie Pie saying, “Yeah.” He again focuses his attention on the pink earth pony just in time for her to add, “Busy having fun.” And, my guess is, at least for the time she was under the hair dryer, mane dryer in the case of the ponies, Diane had taken control over Pinkie’s head. Then, a second after the dryer retracts, Pinkamena resumes control. Then, as she gets a look at my character, she says, “Ooh, Mormon, you look great in that suit!”

I reply, “Well, thank you, Pinkie.”

Evidently the next to notice is Rarity, who says, “Pinkie Pie is right. That suit looks like it was made specifically for you.”

Then, Fluttershy says, “You look better in that suit than you do in your regular clothes.”

Then, I hear Rarity say, “Oh, that reminds me. I made a suit for Spike, and a dress for Weed Whacker, just for the Gala.”

At the same time, Spike calls out, “Great!” and Weed Whacker calls out, “Excellent!”

The white unicorn then produces a tuxedo and a dress, each evidently designed for Spike and Weed Whacker, respectively.

Once they receive their clothes, they immediately proceed to put them on.

I find it most surprising that Weed Whacker is putting on her dress with such ease. And, the colors Rarity chose for it complement the herbivorous dinosaur’s natural colors. In fact, I say as much to the little dinosaur when she asks me how she looks in her dress.

I’m sure I hear Pinkie Pie giggle after Rainbow Dash says, “Now, the only ones in here not wearing clothes are ponies.”

And, this is when Lyra says, “Oh, that’s right.” She then asks the white unicorn, “So, Rarity, where are the dresses you made for us?”

Rarity answers, pointing to a closed door opposite the one Spike, Weed Whacker, and my character entered, “I brought them in and put them in that closet so they’d be ready for us when we’re ready to put them on.”

At this point, Rainbow Dash reaches up with her front hooves and pushes the towel off of her head, then says, “Well, I’m ready to get dressed when everypony else is.”

With my character focused on the rainbow-haired pegasa, I only hear Lyra say, “Well, I figure I should get dressed as soon as possible so I can be ready to board the train with Mormon and Weed Whacker.”

Hearing this, Rarity gasps and says, “Oh, you’re right.” She then looks around and asks, “Uh, what time is it?”

Lyra points to the clock between and above two mirrors and says, “That clock reads a quarter to one.”

Rarity seems almost panicked as she says, “Oh, then we don’t have much time if you’re to get there at the same time as the train.”

As the closet door opens, possessed by Rarity’s magic, I decide to state, “Well, I hope the dress isn’t going to be too complicated to put on.”

Lyra sighs and says, “Well, it is in multiple pieces. So, it will be a little complicated.”

I ask, “So, how long is it going to take to put the dress on?”

Lyra answers, “The first time I put it on, it took, what, half an hour?”

I have my character turn to Rarity to see her nod, after which I state, “Well, just so long as you’re ready and we get there before the train leaves.”

Then, Twilight says, “Mormon’s right. The stallion at the booth said the train would come at one in the afternoon, and would stay for two hours. Which sounds like you should have plenty of time if you start getting dressed now.”

At this point, Lyra approaches the white unicorn and says, “Well, in that case, Rarity, let’s get started.”

Rarity nods and says, “Very well then.” She then turns to my character and says, “You may stay here and help Lyra get dressed, or you may wait for her out in the waiting room.”

I reply, “Well, although I’m not in too much of a hurry, that doesn’t mean I can’t be of service here. What’ll I be needed for?”

Rarity levitates the cylindrical part of the dress toward my character and says, “When I've put the cushioning on her back, you will need to strap this saddle under her rib cage. Just enough so it’s secure. We don’t want her to suffocate.”

I have my character take a look under the saddle, and I see a couple frilled ribbons that look like two parts of the same belt, with the rest hidden in the middle. Those, I’m guessing, are the straps Rarity wants me to use to secure the saddle onto the pale-green unicorn. I then have my character turn back to Lyra, and I can see, through his eyes, that the padding is already on her back. So, I have my character place the saddle on the padding, then use the straps as a belt under the pale-green unicorn’s chest.

The next is the skirt, which my character helps place by attaching one side to the side of the saddle closest to him, while Rarity goes to work attaching the other side to her side of the saddle. After that are extra frills around the neck and at the base of the skirt. And, there also seem to be a few ribbons, which, as Weed Whacker’s dress is doing for her scale coloring, compliment Lyra’s hair and body fur coloring.

With my character joining forces to dress the pale-green unicorn, she is completely dressed in twenty minutes, instead of the thirty Lyra had predicted. And, as my character steps back to give me a full view of her, I can see she looks really good in her dress.

After I compliment her on her looks, Lyra turns to Rarity and says, “Well, I guess that means I’m ready to go. I’ll see you ladies at the Gala, then.” And, with that, she proceeds toward the door, which has been guarded, more or less, by Weed Whacker.

Farewells are exchanged as Lyra, Weed Whacker, and my character proceed to, then out of, the door. And, after that, the trip to the train station takes only a few minutes.

The stallion at the booth, who it turns out was the one that gave my character the tickets when he came with the element bearers and Spike as well as Lyra and Weed Whacker, takes the train tickets, stamps each one, then hands them back.

The unicorn, the dinosaur, and the human then proceed to board the train. And, once they take their seats, it’s just a matter of waiting for something like an hour for the train to get moving.

In the mean time, the unicorn, the dinosaur, and I talk about different things, including the events of the past three days.

Then, as the train moves, the conversation turns to expectations and plans for what to do at the Grand Galloping Gala.

I have plans to get things set up for the reading, then, expecting for there to be some time between the completion of the set up and the reading itself, very likely plenty of time for me to provide some assistance. I don’t mention that I plan to direct my attention, during that time, to helping Fluttershy make friends with the creatures in the garden.

In the mean time, Lyra talks about how her plans do include joining the orchestra in entertaining the guests, playing her lyre and singing the song she and Pinkie Pie wrote together.

Weed Whacker doesn’t have any specific plans, just keeping an eye on Lyra and Pinkie Pie, making sure they don’t get into too much trouble. I can only wish her the best of luck with that, at least with keeping Pinkie Pie out of trouble.

Excitement grows as the train approaches Canterlot, and I must admit I’m looking forward to the event myself.

When the train arrives at the Canterlot station, and the unicorn, the dinosaur, and the human exit; I’m not entirely surprised to see that the trio are the first of the ten to arrive.

But, as it turns out, that doesn’t mean there’s no one to meet the trio there. As the unicorn, the human, and the dinosaur exit the train, Princess Luna is there to meet them.

The nighttime princess, on seeing my character, says, “Greetings, Mormon. Our sister has sent us to escort thee and thy friends to the castle.” She looks serious, and, while she speaks calmly, her voice is still surprisingly loud. My guess is she’s using her royal Canterlot voice to announce her purpose here.

As Weed Whacker takes a position between my character and Lyra, I say, “Well, great. Let’s get going.”

Princess Luna nods and says, “Agreed.” And, with that, she closes her eyes; and her horn starts to glow and sparkle.

In one frame, the group of four go from the train station to the ballroom of the castle.

As the unicorn, the dinosaur, and the human adjust to the new environment, I ask, “So, where is the reading going to take place?”

The nighttime alicorn looks and points with a front hoof to a white stone structure out next to the garden and says, “It will be out there under that pavilion.”

Considering most of the readings outside of Canterlot have taken place outside, this doesn’t surprise me. I say, “Excellent. So, shall I go outside and get things set up then?”

Princess Luna takes the front hoof she was pointing at the pavilion and points it in my character’s path, then shakes her head, closes her eyes, and says, “Not yet. There are fireworks that are prepared to go off from there first.” She then opens her eyes again and concludes, “But, after that, thou mayest go and prepare for the reading.”

I then ask, “And, when will the reading take place?”

Princess Luna puts the hoof down again and answers, “Princess Celestia will be greeting arriving guests, which will most likely take two hours. Then, after that, the reading will take place.”

I state, “That makes sense, although I suspect it’ll be an obstacle to Twilight getting to spend time talking with her.” I then ask, “In the mean time, I have several copies of the Book of Mormon with me. Is there a place I can put them for now?”

The nighttime alicorn uses the hoof she’d used to point out the pavilion to tap her chin in thought as she looks around, then points to a glass door leading out of the ball room, one opening to a path that leads to the pavilion, and says, “Thou mayest put the books next to that door over there. Guests may take copies of the book from there, those that so choose, so that they may read with us, or follow along with the reading, whatever they choose.”

As my character starts to walk toward that door, I say, “That sounds good to me.” And, as he walks through the room, I can’t help noticing how, except for the servant ponies getting things ready, it seems very empty. Then, once my character reaches the doorway, he automatically produces copies of the Book of Mormon from his inventory and places them in a stack on the floor.

When he’s produced five books that way, I hear a female voice, pleasant but almost rushed, say, “Oh, sir, there’s no need for you to be putting books on the floor.” As my character turns to the source of the voice, I see a unicorn mare, white with blue eyes and yellow mane and tail, as she continues, “Let me get you a table so you can put the books on that.”

Instantly, my character picks the books up again, and I say, “Very well, then. Thanks.”

As the white unicorn mare leaves the room to get a table, I hear Lyra’s voice say, “That was very nice of her to offer.”

As my character turns and focuses on the pale-green unicorn, I reply, “I thought so.”

Lyra continues, “So, based on my experience with these types of events, the Gala should start as soon as the sun goes down. After you get things set up here, if you want, I could give you a tour, show you some things that might interest you.”

I nod and say, “That does sound good.”

And, it’s approximately that time when the white unicorn mare comes back in, a table floating ahead of her, possessed by her white magic. She places the table next to the door, approximately where my character had been putting the books, then takes a step back and says, “You may place the books on this table, as soon as I place a cloth on it.” She then produces a table cloth and, using her magic, unwraps it and places it, stretched out, over the table.

As soon as I see the table cloth stop glowing with the white unicorn’s magic, I have my character put the stack of books he’s been holding on the table; and I say, “Thanks for your assistance, ma’am.”

I hear the mare smile as she replies, “You’re quite welcome, sir.” And, I hear her trot away.

As my character starts producing more books and placing them in stacks next to the first one, Lyra says, “Well, as soon as you’re finished setting up the books here, I’ll take you on that tour.”

I reply, “Thanks, Lyra. This shouldn’t take very long.”

And, as far as I can tell, the process only takes a few minutes.

After that, Lyra leads Weed Whacker and my character out of the castle and to the school she attended with Twilight, Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.

After she shows me rooms where she and Twilight attended classes together with other unicorns, I ask, “I wonder, are there also schools for gifted pegasi, and gifted earth ponies?”

Lyra, who by now is leading my character and Weed Whacker away from the school, answers, “You know, I wouldn't be surprised if there are. It would make sense. The thing is, you’d have to ask pegasi and earth ponies that live here. Or, maybe Princess Celestia. You see, since I’m a unicorn, and I never had a reason to even think about schools other than the one I attended, the one for gifted unicorns.”

If she says anything after that, I loose track of it. The next place where she leads the group is a pastry shop not far outside the castle grounds.

As the group enters, I’m not surprised to see a familiar-looking stallion who’s evidently selling pastries to customers. I’ve always found it interesting that the stallions have different snout designs, while the mares’ snouts are all generally the same. This stallion’s snout is, I’d say, somewhat rounded, tapering from his forehead down to his nose. He’s tan-colored, with brown mane and tail, greenish eyes, and a pink doughnut as a cutie mark. He’s wearing a short baker’s hat on his head, and a white shirt with a red line an inch, I’d say, above its base. He focuses on the pale-green unicorn and says, “Oh, hi, Lyra. Who’re your friends?”

Lyra answers, “This human is Mormon. And, this dragon is Weed Whacker.”

Presently, the stallion asks, “So, what may I do for you?”

Lyra answers, “I’m just giving my friends a tour around town, until the Gala starts.”

The stallion smiles as he says, “Well, if you want, you can stay here for a while and have a doughnut. Oh, and by the way, my name is Doughnut Joe.”

Lyra chuckles respectfully and says, “We may take you up on that later. But, right now, there are other places I want to show Mormon and Weed Whacker.”

Doughnut Joe continues to smile as he says, “Well, alright then. You’re welcome here anytime, Lyra. You and your friends.”

The three of us offer thanks and farewells before the group leaves the bakery to head elsewhere.

The next place Lyra takes us to is the home of a friend of hers and Twilight's, known as Moon Dancer.

I can only guess, on seeing the house at this point, and remembering how, when Twilight knocks on the door in the fifth season, that it must be more than neglect that contributes to the fragile state of the door then. Lyra seems to be able to knock pretty hard on the door without damaging it.

In fact, she has to knock a few times before we hear an angry voice from the other side call out, “I’m coming already!” And, a minute or so later, a bespectacled unicorn mare, looking something like a living negative photo of Twilight, opens the door. She looks at each of her visitors, then asks, almost in a monotone voice, “So, what do you want?”

Now, she is named in the first episode, but is never mentioned again until an episode in the fifth season, when Twilight returns to Canterlot to reconnect with old friends. Based on that episode, she’d planned a party, evidently particularly hoping Twilight would come; and, when she didn’t, Moon Dancer took it as a very personal insult. According to the episode, Twilight made things right with her, with Pinkie Pie’s help.

At this point, I’ve designed this video game to go only as far as the end of the first season, where I am right now pretty much, with the reward of seeing Pinkie Pie’s transformation on the day that immediately follows. And, you know, considering how much I’ve enjoyed playing this game so far, I may decide to work on an expansion that would stretch the game to the second season. Maybe I’ll work on other expansions that’ll stretch the game to all five that I’ve seen. But, I’ve gotten off track.

At this point, Lyra answers, “Hi, Moon Dancer. I brought some friends of mine from Ponyville, and I’m showing them around Canterlot. This here is my human friend, …”

Before the pale-green unicorn could introduce me, that is my character, Moon Dancer disappeared behind the door and slammed it shut.

A confused Lyra turns to the now-closed door, drops under her the front hoof she was pointing at my character, and concludes, “Mormon.”

From the opposite side of the door, I hear Moon Dancer’s voice growl, “I’m not a tourist attraction, Lyra.”

Lyra’s voice takes on a concerned tone as she responds, “Of course not, Moon Dancer, you’re one of my friends.”

At this point, I have my character kneel on one knee and focus on the pale-green unicorn; and I say, “Let me try, Lyra.” Then, after seeing her nod, I have my character focus on the door; and I ask, “You’re one of Twilight’s friends, aren’t you?”

After a second, I hear Moon Dancer answer quietly, “I thought I was.”

I continue, “I’m also one of her friends.”

I hear Moon Dancer grumble, “Well, consider yourself lucky that she hasn’t abandoned you yet.”

I respond, “Now, Twilight didn’t mean to make you feel abandoned, I’m sure. She just had other matters on her mind, matters that she felt required her immediate attention.”

Presently, I hear Moon Dancer growl, “And, that’s her excuse for not attending my party … the party I hoped she’d have the decency to show up to, or at least tell me why she couldn’t come?” And, I hear her start sniffling.

As the yellow unicorn starts sobbing, I state, “I can’t speak for Twilight, that isn’t why I’m here. But, I can tell you she’s going to be attending the Gala party.”

Moon Dancer mockingly says, “Oh, great. That makes me feel so much better. The princess’s parties are more important than her best friend’s party.”

Presently, my character shifts his attention to near his leg, where it’s evident Weed Whacker was trying to draw his attention to her. And, evidently she succeeded. Noting her success, she says, holding out a book with a dark blue cover, “Try giving her this.”

My character accepts the book from the herbivorous dinosaur and looks at the cover, and I can see it’s a copy of the Book of Mormon. I also notice the new condition of the cover. I can only guess that, somehow, Weed Whacker managed to get one of the copies from the table where my character had put the copies in the ballroom of the castle. But, the little dinosaur has given me a good idea. I have my character turn to the door, and I say, “I’d like to offer you a gift, Moon Dancer. It’s a book that’s come to mean a lot to me over the years.”

Presently but slowly, the door opens; and a teary-eyed Moon Dancer peers through the opening. Then, as my character offers her the book, she accepts it with her magic. Looking at the cover, then at my character again, she asks, “Your autobiography?”

I answer, “Not exactly. I’m just named after the prophet that contributed the most to this book. I just thought you might like to have it.”

Moon Dancer focuses on the cover again and says, “Well, … thanks.” She then looks at my character again and asks, “So, if this book means so much to you, why are you giving it to me?”

I answer, “Well, you look like you need it. Besides, I have more copies where this one came from.”

Moon Dancer says, “And, it means a lot to you, even though you have so many copies of it?”

I answer, “That’s right. The Book of Mormon is one of those things that doesn’t diminish in value even if there are hundreds, or even thousands, of copies of it. In fact, it just makes it all the more valuable.”

At this point, Moon Dancer grunts with mild interest. She then asks, “Does Twilight have a copy of this book?”

I answer, “As a matter of fact, yes she does.”

Hearing my response, the yellow unicorn releases her magic hold the book, allowing it to fall on the ground, and says, “Then, I don’t want it,” before disappearing behind and slamming the door again.

Now, I say, “Now, Moon Dancer, let me say a few more words, and then my friends and I will be off.” When I hear only silence, I continue, “It may take more than a year, but Twilight will return to make things right with you. I just hope you’ll be open when she does come back. In the mean time, I’m leaving this copy of the Book of Mormon at your doorstep.” And, with that, my character rises to his feet again, turns, and walks away from the door. And, hoof falls and muffled footsteps indicate to me that Lyra and Weed Whacker are following him.

When the group is back in the street, Lyra asks, “Do you think Moon Dancer’ll accept your gift?”

My character turns to the pale-green unicorn, and I answer, “That’s up to her now. The copy’s there for her to accept if she chooses.” I then ask, “So, where are we headed next?”

Smiling, Lyra answers, “Well, there are also Minuet, Twinkle Shine, and Lemon Hearts. Minuet has a twin sister that lives in Ponyville, Colgate. So, let’s go visit Minuet next.”

I reply, “Sounds good to me.”

And, a few minutes later, the trio arrives at what looks like an apartment dwelling, where Lyra takes the lead and knocks on a certain door.

The door opens a second later, and a unicorn that bears a striking resemblance to Colgate in Ponyville appears in the doorway. She immediately focuses on the pale-green one and says, “Lyra, long time no see. Come on in.” She then looks up at the human, then down again at the dinosaur, and asks, “And, who are your friends?”

Pointing to the human and then the dinosaur, Lyra answers, “This is my human friend Mormon, and this is his dragon assistant, Weed Whacker.”

As Lyra follows Minuet into her home, and is in turn followed by Weed Whacker, then my character, the blue unicorn asks, “So, what brings you to Canterlot?”

Lyra answers, “We’re here for the Grand Galloping Gala.”

Minuet turns around just enough to get a look at Lyra in her dress, then says, “Well, now the dress makes more sense. We ponies don’t usually get dressed just to visit friends.”

My character, after entering the structure, turns and closes the door behind him.

In the mean time, Minuet continues, “So, I guess you were right. Humans do still exist.”

As my character turns back to the host, I can’t help noticing, through his eyes, two more unicorn mares on the couch under the window. One is white with pink hair and blue eyes; and in spite of the fact she’s sitting canine-style on the couch, I can still see her cutie mark, three blue five-point stars in the familiar equilateral triangle formation. The other one is yellow with hair of two tones of blue and dark-pink eyes. She rises uncomfortably to all-fours position on the couch to show me her cutie mark, three valentines, two blue and one green, arranged in something of a rounded trapezoid shape. And, not long after rising, she falls forward off of the couch.

Noticing this, Minuet gallops toward her asking, “Oh, Lemon Hearts, are you alright?”

It's at this time that I notice Minuet's cutie mark, an hour glass with a pile of sand at its bottom.

At any rate, accepting assistance to get back on her hooves, the yellow unicorn mare nervously answers, “Uh, yeah, I’m fine.” She then hops back to her position on the couch and grins sheepishly at my character.

As Lemon Hearts makes herself comfortable again, Minuet points to her and says, “Uh, I guess you know now that this is Lemon Hearts.” The blue unicorn mare then points to the white one and says, “And, this is Twinkle Shine.” As Minuet puts her hoof down again, she continues, approaching my character, “It’s nice to meet you, Mormon. The last time my sister visited, she mentioned you. She said a lot of nice things about you.”

I have my character hold out his hand to shake the blue unicorn mare’s hoof, and I reply, “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

For a moment Minuet hesitates, then she holds out the front hoof opposite the one she used to point out her friends, allowing my character to shake it.

In the mean time, Lyra approaches each of the unicorn mares on the couch and exchanges greetings with and bro-hoofs each of them.

Back to Minuet, after my character lets her hoof go, she then approaches the herbivorous dinosaur and says, “And, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Weed Whacker.”

The little dinosaur simply nods to her host and says, “Same here.”

Turning her attention back to my character, Minuet says, “So, this’ll be the first time a human has attended the Grand Galloping Gala.” She then asks, “Do you think that’ll be a problem?”

Lyra answers, “He’s a friend of Twilight, and of the princesses. And, he’ll be hosting a reading from the Book of Mormon in the garden pavilion. And, considering how well he’s treated me, Pinkie Pie, and Weed Whacker, I seriously doubt he’ll cause any problems. I don’t know if all humans are like he is, but I know Mormon’s a good human.”

I find myself smiling at Lyra’s compliment.

In the mean time, Minuet asks, “The Book of Mormon? Is that his autobiography?”

The pale-green unicorn starts to answer, “It’s interesting, everypony that’s seen or heard of the book, particularly from Mormon, asks that question.”

At this point, I add, “Actually, I’m named after one of the prophets in the Book of Mormon, one of the last two, in fact, the one that contributed the most to it. The prophet for whom the book is named abbreviated most of the history of his people, starting with over a century before the first coming of the Christ, and ending at his time, about four hundred years after the Christ’s first coming.”

Lemon Hearts raises a hoof and asks, “So, it’s a period of five hundred, or six hundred, years?”

I answer, “More or less.”

Twinkle Shine asks, “So, are there other humans besides you, or are you the only one?”

I answer, “Where I come from, there are a lot more humans than just me.”

Minuet, looking surprised, asks, “Really? Then how did you escape the destruction Discord caused more than a thousand years ago?”

I pause for a bit before I slowly answer, “It’s kind of a long story. Suffice it to say, there was a small group of humans that were well defended against Discord’s influence. And, I’m descended from them.”

More than any of the other ponies, Lyra seems disappointed by my condensed response. My guess is she wanted to hear more of the story.

But, before she can say anything, which it looks to me like she’s getting ready to do, Lemon Hearts says, “Well, if you’re going to be attending the Grand Galloping Gala tonight, my experience is that it starts when the sun goes down. And, that’s about to happen. You three should be heading to the castle now.”

My character looks out the window to show me that it does seem to be getting dark outside.

In the mean time, Lyra says, “Well, we still have some time. We can leave in two hours, and still be there for the reading.”

I have my character focus on the pale-green unicorn, and I state, “But, I’m sure we’ll still have friends waiting for us there if we don’t get there ahead of them. For their sakes, at least, we don’t want to be late. And, besides, just because I have some time before the reading doesn’t mean there isn’t something for me to do while I’m there.”

Lyra seems to have a full-body twitch as she says, “Oh.” She then seems to melt before she adds, “Well, if you think you really need to be there, …” and proceeds to amble toward the door again. When she gets there, she turns to the three other unicorns in the room, who are focused on her, with looks of concern on their faces, and says, “I guess this is goodbye for now.” And, using her magic, she opens the door and proceeds to exit.

Weed Whacker, and then my character, follow the pale-green unicorn out the door, with her three friends calling out farewells behind her.

Weed Whacker and I return the farewells, after which, after my character closes the door and catches up to Lyra, I say, “You don’t seem to be looking forward to attending the Gala.”

Before I can ask, the pale-green unicorn responds, “It’s not that I don’t want to attend, it’s just that, well, with all my friends there, well, I wanted to spend more time with them. I didn’t realize we’d used up that much time.” She then looks up at my character, and I can see the look of sadness on her face as she asks, “Are you sure there’s more you need to do there than just host the reading?”

I answer, “I’m sure something will happen that’ll require my attention. The element bearers have a lot of expectations, and I have a sneaking suspicion that they’re likely to be disappointed.”

Lyra starts to smile as she says, “You mentioned that Applejack was probably going to try to sell her apple treats there, and, in a way, ponies and humans aren’t all that different. Like humans, ponies don’t attend the Grand Galloping Gala to buy food, they go to meet Princess Celestia and other celebrities.” She then frowns again and tilts her head in curiosity as she asks, “But, what about the others? Do you suspect they’ll be disappointed in some way?”

I answer, “Pinkie Pie’s attending the Gala expecting it to be the kind of party she’s used to, and she’s likely in for a rude awakening when she finds it a very different kind of party. But still, she’ll do what she can to turn the party into the kind she’s used to. I don’t see how I’ll be able to influence that very much.

“Twilight’s expecting to spend time with Princess Celestia, but I’m guessing she’s not expecting to spend the whole time greeting guests. But, she will spend time with her mentor; and, again, I see no way for me to make a difference.

“Similarly, Rainbow Dash will get her chance to spend time with the Wonderbolts; it just won’t be the kind of time she expects to spend with them. And, once again, I don’t see how I can make any difference there.

“Rarity expects to meet Prince Charming at the Gala. She’ll meet Prince Blue Blood, but she’ll find him quite the opposite of charming. But, she’ll handle herself just fine without me there to influence her.”

Lyra stops for a second or two, evidently in thought, before asking, “And, what about Fluttershy?”

I answer, “I’m thinking she’ll be the one in most need of my help, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I can help her the most anyway. She plans to go into the garden and meet the creatures that live there. She’ll see a bird, but she’ll meet the groundskeeper first. And, she’ll find that the creatures living in the garden are afraid of her.”

Lyra groans with foreboding before saying, “That’s going to be a problem for her.”

I reply, “I know. It’s behavior she’s not used to from animals; and, unless she has someone to help her, it’s going to cause a major disruption in the ball room.”

Again Lyra stops, which I figure out when I hear her voice behind my character ask, “How do you know all this?”

As my character stops and turns to the pale-green unicorn, I answer, “I have a good source for my information.”

Lyra makes it clear she was expecting that response from me, as she joins in my answer, saying with me, “… a good source for your information.”

When we finish the answer, I add, “Exactly.”

Lyra nods and grunts in agreement or affirmation, then adds, “Well, I hope your good source can help Fluttershy out before she causes such a disruption. If she chases the garden creatures into the ball room, there’s no telling what kind of mess the custodians are going to have to clean up.”

I respond, “Agreed.”

And, about that time, the human and the unicorn arrive at the trail leading to the castle. And, not surprising, there’s already a long line of carriages there, leading to and from that trail along the pathway in front.

I must admit, looking at the line of carriages, it reminds me of the long line of vehicles of people attending a local pageant.

And, standing out among the carriages, is the apple carriage containing the element bearers, and evidently being driven by Spike.

Lyra, Weed Whacker and I agree to meet the seven at the intersection, but it soon becomes clear that we’ve also been noticed.

Pinkie Pie, evidently needing to be restrained by her friends, leans out the window to the carriage door and calls out, “Mormon! Lyra! Weed Whacker! We’re over here!”

I laugh as I answer back, “I know, Pinkie Pie!”

Lyra says, “I’m guessing we’d better get to that intersection to meet those six before Pinkie Pie causes an accident or something.”

I reply, “I’m guessing you’re right.”

The human, the unicorn, and the dinosaur arrive at the intersection before the apple carriage, and I’m given the honor of opening the door for the six ponies inside.

In the mean time, Spike jumps off of the driver’s seat of the carriage, landing opposite the element bearers from my character. Thus hidden, I only hear him say, a few seconds later, “Whoa! You look … amazing!”

I have my character nod, and I say, “I have to agree with Spike on that. I’m thinking we should all fit right in.”

Presently, trumpets start playing, and the first to sing, after a brief introduction by Twilight, is Fluttershy, singing about how she plans to meet the creatures living in the castle garden.

When she finishes, and after a brief interlude, next is Applejack, singing about how she plans on selling her apple treats.

Next is Rarity, singing about how she’ll meet her Prince Charming, followed by Rainbow Dash singing about how she’ll get to spend time with the Wonderbolts, then Pinkie Pie about how she expects to dance and play games with the ponies here.

During the interlude, Lyra leans toward my character and says, “Your turn, Mormon.”

As the interlude concludes, I respond, “Oh, yes, of course,” then I start singing:

“I’ll attend a special reading,

“Outside under the pavilion,

“With my friends and others who decide to join in.

“But, there’ll be a couple hours

“During which I’ll have some time

“And, perhaps I’ll help a friend out, here tonight … at the Gala!”

I call out the last three words, which ponies around my character call back.

I hear Lyra smile as she says, “Thank you, Mormon, now it’s my turn.” And, she sings:

“At the Gala, in the ballroom,

“Is where I plan to be,

“I’ll sing and play my lyre for everypony.

“I’ll sing the song Pinkie Pie and

“I wrote for my human friend,

“And, I’ll get congratulations, right here at the Gala!”

Well, now I suppose everyone knows what Lyra expects from this evening.

In the mean time, Twilight sings about how she expects to spend time with Princess Celestia, talking about various things, like the lessons she’s learned.

Then, the song wraps up with each of the element bearers, as well as me and Lyra, each summarizing their plans in two or three words. And, after the explosion of nine fireworks, Lyra and I join in the conclusion of the song, just in time for the united group of ten to enter the ballroom.

There in the entranceway, I hear Spike say, “Yeah! This really is gonna be the best night ever! Yah know why! ‘Cause, we’re all gonna spent time at the gala, …” But, before Spike can get out his last word, the seven ponies dart off in different directions. Still, that doesn’t stop the purple dragon from saying, although a bit deflated now, “together.”

My character approaches the purple dragon, and I say, “If you’ve heard my verse, I have my own reasons for being here. I hope you don’t mind me leaving Weed Whacker with you while I go take care of the business I need to take care of.”

Almost depressed, Spike looks down at his feet and says, “Yeah, sure, whatever.”

As I have my character walk toward the table with the copies of the Book of Mormon on it, I hear Spike ask Weed Whacker about the local doughnut shop, then Weed Whacker mention she’s already been to a doughnut shop with Mormon and Lyra, but didn’t get a chance to try any of the doughnuts there. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the two head to Doughnut Joe's bakery.

In the mean time, as my character approaches the table, I notice Pinkie Pie, from behind, evidently fascinated by the display. I can only guess she hears my character approaching her, as she turns to him, to me, and says, “Mormon, I didn’t know you’d already brought so many books with you.” She then looks down, seeming sad, and, drawing circles on the floor with a front hoof, says, “I guess I didn’t need to bring copies of my own.”

I have my character kneel on one knee in front of the pink earth pony, and I say, “That’s perfectly alright. If you want to add your collection to the stack, then go right ahead.”

Pinkie looks up at my character, at me, and smiles as she says, “Oh, thank you, Mormon.” She then asks, “So, could you help me stack the books?”

I reply, “Sure, no problem.”

It takes only a few minutes of Pinkie handing my character one book at a time, then my character placing each one strategically on the stack, before the job is completed.

As my character places the last book on top of the stack, I hear Pinkie Pie say, “I’m gonna go exploring the ball room.” As my character focuses on the pink party pony, she concludes, “You can go ahead and follow Fluttershy into the garden.” And, with that, she turns and bounces off.

So, it seems that not only does Pinkie Pie know what I plan to do, I also have her approval to proceed. So, with that in mind, I have my character proceed out the door and head into the garden. And, all my character has to do is follow the singing and whistling until I see the yellow pegasa follow the whistles to the groundskeeper pony. I keep a careful distance so as to not alert Fluttershy to my character’s presence, and to make sure I can tell when he can step forward, and I can offer assistance. It’ll mean missing Pinkie Pie’s Pony Pokey; but, knowing I have her permission anyway, I’m guessing she won’t mind.

I have my character follow Fluttershy, keeping shrubs between him and her, until she finds a doorway in the shrubs, evidently leading into a roof-less room, where I hear her talk about various creatures she sees inside. I then watch her fly into there, then talk about being a loud mouth. Evidenly, she’s scared off all the creatures she noticed, and that noticed her.

I don’t make the presence of my character known to the yellow pegasa until after she sets a trap using a box, a stick, a piece of string, and a carrot. And, this after watching her disappointment, and saying something about making it the best night ever.

Knowing what Fluttershy is up to, I have my character step forward, apparently when she’s heading out the doorway to hide, and I ask, The way an innocent child would, “Fluttershy, what are you doing?”

Alarmed, the yellow pegasa abandons the end of the string and jumps into the hedge, over one side of the doorway. She then peaks through the doorway and, seeing my character, asks, “Mormon, what’re you doing here? I thought you’d be with Pinkie Pie and Lyra.”

I reply, “I had a sneaking suspicion you’d need my help more than they would.” I then have my character remove the carrot from the trap and hold it up to his eye level; and I add, “And, it looks like I may be right.”

Worriedly, the yellow pegasa takes two rapid paces through the doorway and says, “Oh, I wasn’t gonna hurt any of ‘em. I just wanted to catch one of them so they wouldn’t have a chance to run away.”

I state, “I can understand why you’d do this, I just don’t think it’s the right approach.”

Fluttershy slumps down into a canine-style sitting position, and, looking down, says, “It’s the only one I could think of.”

I have my character toss the carrot aside, and I ask, “Have you met the groundskeeper yet?”

Evidently disgraced, the yellow pegasa answers, “I did. I mistook him for a meadow lark.”

I continue, “Maybe he can help you. He must know the creatures here better than you do. Maybe he has advice on how you can introduce yourself to them without scaring them away.”

Presently, a mature, western-sounding voice asks, “Scarin’ who away?”

My character’s attention is drawn downward to a cream-colored stallion with white hair. I answer, “Fluttershy, here, has been trying to introduce herself to the animals that live here, but they keep running away from her.”

The elderly-looking stallion simply replies, “Oh,” before adding, “Well, you see, most of the creatures here are used to ponies coming in and chasing them away. Some were mistreated by ponies, and they’re just barely beginning to learn to trust me.”

I hear a hint of anger in Fluttershy’s voice as she says, “That’s terrible.” My character’s attention is then drawn to her as she continues, “It’s no wonder they ran away from me, then. So, I just need to let them know that I won’t hurt them.”

The stallion slowly says, “Uh, well, it’s a little more complicated than that.”

At this point, I ask, “So, you’re the groundskeeper, right?”

The stallion looks up at my character and answers, “That’s me, Grounds Keeper. And, what might your name be?”

I answer, “You may call me Mormon.”

Grounds Keeper nods and says, “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Mormon. I’m guessin’ you’re not from around here.”

I reply, “I’m living in a house on the opposite side of the Everfree forest from Ponyville.”

The elderly stallion grunts before saying, “I ain’t been outside of Canterlot for many years now.”

At this point, Fluttershy hovers toward the stallion and asks, “Uh, Mr. Grounds Keeper, sir, do you know of a way I can meet the creatures without having to trap them?”

The stallion turns to the hovering pegasa as he says, “You know, your friend Mormon, here, might be able to help.” Pointing to one side of my character, Grounds Keeper continues, “It looks like one of the squirrels has already taken an interest in him.”

My character turns to where the stallion is pointing, to show me, through his eyes, indeed, a brown squirrel is sitting on his shoulder.

The little long-tailed rodent chatters at him for a second or two, then proceeds to gallop down one of my character’s arms, then jumps off and runs under a bush.

I have my character turn back to the two ponies, and it looks to me like Fluttershy might cry any minute. I say, “My guess is that humans have been absent from this environment for so long, there are no creatures here that even know what humans were like before.”

Fluttershy asks, “What do you mean?”

I answer, “Where I come from, there are records of humans being very cruel to creatures like that squirrel. Some were known for killing creatures like that for sport.” Seeing Fluttershy’s expression morph into one of anger, I add, “It’s not something I’d do. And, perhaps that little squirrel understood that.”

At my last statement, Fluttershy seems to calm down. Having been hovering all this time, she gently lands on the ground, then asks the elderly pony, “So, Grounds Keeper, what’s the first thing I can do to let these creatures know that I won’t harm them?”

Nodding toward her trap, the stallion answers, “Well, the first thing you can do is get rid of the box, string, and stick. Then, when that’s done, since one of the critters seems to have taken a liking to your human friend here, I suppose the next step is for him to make contact with the alpha critter here. When he’s gained the trust of the alpha, then he can introduce him to you, Fluttershy, and you can prove to him that you won’t hurt any of the creatures here.”

Sniffling and whimpering, Fluttershy goes to her trap and kicks the stick away, causing the box to fall. She then turns the box over, then puts the stick, string and all, in it, then drags the box through the doorway. My guess, based on the sound, is that Fluttershy must have tossed the box, stick and string over the garden wall. Anyway, a few seconds later, she once again enters through the doorway.

I notice, from the edge of my character’s periphery, the elderly stallion nod before he says, “Good. Now, if you’ll stay here, I’ll take your human friend to meet the alpha, and he can introduce himself to him. Then, when he's earned his trust, he’ll come out with the alpha and introduce you to him, and the two of you can get acquainted.”

As Grounds Keeper leads my character further into the garden, I hear Fluttershy say, “Please let the alpha know I didn’t mean to scare any of the creatures here.”

I ask, “So, who is the alpha?”

Grounds Keeper answers, “It’s the spider monkey. He’s the first one to make this garden his home, and he adopts the creatures that move in here. He’s very protective of them.” And, he finishes his statement just in time to enter a small grove where several of the animals are gathered, evidently including the squirrel that introduced itself to my character.

Before my character can enter, Grounds Keeper turns to him and says, “Mormon, if you’ll wait here, I’ll go and introduce myself to the alpha, the spider monkey. Then, I’ll bring him to you.” And, with that, he approaches the spider monkey, who’s hanging by his tail from a tree branch.

Seeing the elderly pony approach, the spider monkey reaches a hand and grabs the tree branch he’s hanging from, then grunts a couple times.

Grounds Keeper approaches the spider monkey, head bowed, and gives a couple closed-mouth grunts. He then turns one hundred eighty degrees in his place so he’s facing my character.

In the mean time, the squirrel approaches the spider monkey and, focusing on my character, chatters for a second or two.

The spider monkey looks at my character, then reaches with the other hand to grab the branch, then releases his tail from it, then drops down on to Grounds Keeper’s back.

The elderly earth stallion then focuses on my character and says, “Now, Mormon, if you’ll either sit on the ground there or, at least, kneel on one knee, then I’ll bring the alpha to you, and the two of you can get acquainted. Just be sure not to show him your teeth. He’ll take that as a challenge, and likely attack you for it.”

I don’t say anything, just have my character kneel on one knee. I have heard that, in reality, there are species of monkeys that’ll take bared teeth as a challenge, and attack without warning. Also, I have had experience with creatures approaching me, creatures that normally wouldn’t, after seeing me physically lower myself to their level. Thus, I’ve programmed the creatures in this game with those kinds of characteristics, and others I’ve observed real creatures do.

In the mean time, seeing my character lowering his head to his level, the spider monkey immediately jumps off of Grounds Keeper and runs up to my character. The spider monkey then proceeds to climb his arm and disappear behind his head.

The elderly earth stallion chuckles as he says, “It looks like the alpha’s taken a liking to you already. He’s getting ready to groom you.”

I decide to allow the behavior, which seems to take a few minutes, after which the spider monkey climbs down my character, evident from the minute vibrations that I notice, then jumps on Grounds Keeper’s back, then turns his back to my character.

As the little monkey turns to my character and hoots a couple times, Grounds Keeper says, “He wants you to groom him now.”

I say, “I suppose fair’s fair,” before having my character use his fingers to search through each of the spider monkey’s hairs for dead skin or loose hairs to remove, or maybe even insects. And, I can’t help noticing the spider monkey seems to enjoy the attention.

As my character does this, I suddenly hear Pinkie Pie sing:

“You reach your fingers in, you pull your fingers out,

“You reach your fingers in, and you pull a dead hair out.

“You do the pony pokey, acting like a big boy scout.

“That’s what I’m singin’ about.”

I suppose I don’t miss out on Pinkie Pie’s Pony Pokey after all. At least I get to hear one verse of it. And, for that moment in time, the pink earth mare does seem to be singing about what precisely my character is doing. And, moreover, I find that her description of my behavior as that of “a big boy scout” is kind of sweet. I can’t help saying under my breath, “Thank you, Pinkie.”

Then, the spider monkey and Grounds Keeper demonstrate that they didn’t hear the verse, as they turn to my character.

Grounds Keeper grunts in curiosity.

Seeing the monkey and the earth pony staring curiously at my character, I say, “Nothing. I just thought I heard someone say something nice to me.”

At this point, the spider monkey decides he’s had enough of my character grooming him, and he climbs onto my character’s shoulder.

Seeing this, Grounds Keeper says, “Well, it looks like the alpha’s accepted you. Maybe you can show him that he can trust your pegasa friend, Fluttershy, was it?”

I answer, “That’s right.”

But, the elderly earth stallion’s already moving in the yellow pegasa’s direction.

But, it seems that the spider monkey doesn’t trust Fluttershy less than maybe a yard or two away from him, as he immediately jumps off my character’s shoulder and onto Grounds Keeper’s back.

Seeing the little monkey trembling as he points and grunts at the yellow pegasa, I have my character focus on the elderly earth pony; and I say, “Since the alpha trusts me, maybe I should go ahead and approach Fluttershy, and let him know he can trust her.”

Grounds Keeper nods and says, “Go right ahead. I’m sure, when the alpha sees that the one he trusts isn’t afraid of Fluttershy, he won’t be afraid of her either.”

Taking that as affirmation, I have my character approach the yellow pegasa, then put a hand on her head and stroke her mane.

As my character turns and focuses on the spider monkey, he seems unsure at first. Then, he dismounts from Grounds Keeper and starts walking toward the human and the pegasa, arms up in the air as though hanging from an invisible branch. Close enough to touch Fluttershy’s nose, the spider monkey stops and folds his arms over his head, then looks up at my character and hoots a few times.

My character then turns his attention to Fluttershy, who seems to be bowing to the spider monkey.

When the spider monkey sees this behavior, he takes two more steps forward, reaches out a hand, and taps the yellow pegasa on the side of her head with the palm of his hand.

I can only guess this is as close as he’s going to get to gently stroking Fluttershy’s mane.

Fluttershy responds by giggling under her breath, then nuzzling the spider monkey.

At first the spider monkey jumps back. Then, seeing that my character’s not scared of the response, he approaches Fluttershy again and hugs her face.

The yellow pegasa turns to my character in a way that I, at least, would think would be uncomfortable for an equine, and says, “Thank you, Mormon. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without your help.” And, I see a tear roll down her face.

At this point, the monkey lets go of Fluttershy’s face, then jumps onto her back. He then stands up and screeches loudly.

In response, various creatures come from behind trees and bushes and shrubs and approach the two ponies and the human.

Surrounded by creatures that immediately proceed to nuzzle and sniff at her, Fluttershy turns to my character and says, “Thank you, Mormon. It’s because of you that this really is my best night ever.”

Presently, Grounds Keeper nods and says, “Well, if my job’s done here, then I’d better get back to cleanin’ up the leaves and stuff.” And, not waiting for a response, he proceeds on his way.

I have my character keep his attention on the earth pony, and I say, “Thank you for your assistance.” I then have my character turn back to the yellow pegasa, and I ask, “So, shall we head back to the ball room now?”

A smiling Fluttershy answers, “Maybe in a minute. Right now, I just want to get acquainted with these critters.”

I see no reason why I shouldn’t allow the yellow pegasa a little more time with the creatures I helped her befriend. That is, until I look toward the ball room and see the equine statue tipping over. Based on what I remember from the episode, I know what I’m seeing is part of a chain reaction that started with Pinkie Pie jumping off of the orchestra stage onto the wheeled table Applejack had brought in, holding a tall, nine-layer cake. At least, that’s as many layers as I could count when I paused the episode and counted the layers. I have my character turn to the yellow pegasa, and I say, “Actually, Fluttershy, now may be the right time to go back to the ball room.”

Fluttershy sighs, then says, “Oh, alright.”

But, as she starts moving, the creatures she befriended refuse to leave her.

Turning and smiling at the spider monkey, she asks, “Do you want to come with me?”

The spider monkey grins, then screeches and nods vigorously.

Fluttershy continues to smile as she says, “Well, then, let’s get going.”

I decide, at that moment, to have my character start the march toward the ball room, and the doorway where the copies of the Book of Mormon are still on the table.

Fluttershy manages to catch up with my character just as they arrive at the door; and, as my character is opening the door, she says, “Oh, Mormon, I knew these creatures were going to love me. I just didn’t know I’d need your help with that.”

I have my character look around to survey the damage around the room, and I say, “I’m glad I could help, Fluttershy.”

After a few seconds, Rainbow Dash rises from among the ruins of the fallen statue and pillars and says, “Mormon, I can explain everything.”

It’s almost all I can do to keep from laughing.

Just then, an aristocratic-sounding adult female voice gasps and says, “What are those wild creatures doing in here?”

And, as if on cue, the creatures that had been on and around Fluttershy run into the ball room. Some attack or chase ponies around the room. A few rodents run to the ruined cake and start eating it. The birds search the highest places in the ball room for a place to roost. But, it’s clear the result is complete and utter chaos.

I have a sneaking suspicion that if Discord could see this, he’d want to be a part of it.

In the mean time, I see Princess Celestia, in the doorway on the other side of the room, signal to Twilight, who whistles and calls out, “Follow me!”

Taking the signal from the bearer of the element of magic, Fluttershy and my character try their best to make it through the growing disaster that the ball room has turned into.

For a moment, I hear Fluttershy say, “Oh, I’m so sorry that this happened.” My character turns and focuses on the yellow pegasa as she continues, “I didn’t know that all your friends were going to start attacking everypony. Can you forgive me?”

My character shifts his attention to show me she’s talking to the spider monkey, who simply salutes Fluttershy like a soldier, then gives her a thumbs up.

Eventually, the party of nine, including Princess Celestia, make it out of the room and into the hallway. From there on, it’s a basic stampede to the front gate of the castle, and down a flight of stairs.

On the way down, Pinkie Pie stops for a moment, points to the step immediately ahead of her, and says, “Ooh, Rarity, your glass slipper! Now your prince is sure to find you!”

But, evidently to the pink party pony’s surprise, Rarity turns back and screams, then runs to the glass slipper and stomps on it, smashing it to pieces. She then says, “Let’s go!” and heads back down the stairs again.

Frozen in surprise, Pinkie doesn’t notice my character and Fluttershy approaching her rapidly. That is, not until I call out, “Rarity’s right! We better get going!”

The pink party pony takes a moment to turn and see my character and Fluttershy, then says, “Uh, oh, right.” And, instantly she goes back to galloping down the stairs.

In a matter of seconds, the group is back at the intersection, where Twilight’s apple carriage is waiting for the six element bearers.

As Twilight and the other bearers enter the carriage, I have my character turn to Princess Celestia; and I say, “Well, I guess this means there won’t be a reading at the pavilion after all.”

The white alicorn sighs and says, “Unfortunately not.”

I nod and say, “Well, that’s alright. Whatever’s left of those copies of the Book of Mormon Pinkie Pie and I brought, you can keep them and do whatever you want with them.”

Evidently, my invitation makes the daytime alicorn smile as she says, “Why, thank you, Mormon.”

By this time, the six element bearers have all entered the carriage.

Then, Twilight leans out the door window and asks, “Oh, wait, where’s Spike? Isn’t he supposed to be driving the carriage?”

One of the stallions looks back and says, “That’s alright. Just tell us where you want to go, and we’ll head in that direction.”

At this comment, there seem to be statements of agreement from inside the carriage.

Then, Twilight asks, “So, where is Spike right now?”

Presently, I answer, “Knowing him, he’s likely with Weed Whacker at that doughnut shop.”

Twilight taps her chin as she says, “Doughnut shop, doughnut shop.”

Then, Lyra says, “I know where it is. You can follow me.” And, with that, she gallops ahead of the stallions, and in the direction of the bakery.

The stallions follow Lyra, and in turn the carriage they pull is followed by my character and Princess Celestia.

It takes a few minutes to get to the bakery, at which point my character gets to the door and opens it, allowing the six mares inside to exit.

Twilight leads the group to the door of the doughnut shop, and holds it open for the others to enter.

As my character enters behind Pinkie Pie and ahead of Lyra, I hear Weed Whacker call out, “Mormon, Pinkie Pie, Lyra! You’re here!”

I answer, “It’s nice to see you, too.”

Then, a curious Spike asks, “Twilight, what happened?” And, I can see him, as well as Weed Whacker, each sitting over a broken-up doughnut and a mug of hot chocolate at the bar.

Twilight groans and says, “It was a disaster.”

Then, Princess Celestia says, “Now, it wasn’t so bad.”

I notice Doughnut Joe disappear behind the display bar as he says, “You take a seat at your favorite table. I’ll get you some fresh doughnuts and drinks.”

Then, before I know it, my character’s arms are full of herbivorous dinosaur, licking his face and hugging him.

In the mean time, Twilight approaches the table apparently closest to the bar and sits canine-style closest to the window, while the rest of the ponies, as well as the human and the dragons, take positions around it, in a curiously familiar pattern.

Spike, somewhat subdued, turns to the purple unicorn and asks, “So, Twilight, what happened?”

Twilight sighs and answers, “Well, I got my chance to be with Princess Celestia, just not the way I wanted. Instead of getting some one-on-one time with her, I had to stand there for an hour or two greeting guests at the Gala. Then we heard crashing sounds, and we got to the ball room to see the mess that had been made.”

Spike then turns to the white unicorn and asks, “And, Rarity, what about you?”

Rarity sighs, much like Twilight did, and answers, “Well, I met my prince, alright. But, he was more interested in making himself look 'pretty' than he was in me.”

At this point, Princess Celestia gives a halfhearted laugh as she says, “Yeah, that sounds like Prince Blueblood.”

Rarity continues, “I complimented a rose, and he thanked me. He then put the rose in his collar, and said it went with his eyes. I could’ve shown him something else I thought might go with his eyes, but then I thought I’d give him another chance. One time, I thought he placed a pillow for me; until he sat on it. And, the last straw was when he stuck me between himself and a falling cake.”

At this point, I hear Applejack chuckle nervously. As my character, and the other creatures around the table, focus on the orange earth pony, she says, “Yeah, that cake was kinda my fault.”

At this time, I almost feel like singing an old song from an old western variety show, “Blues, Despair, and Agony on Me.” But, I decide to hold off on that.

In the mean time, Rarity continues, “Well, I wasn’t about to let a stallion treat me like that. So, I gave him a piece of my mind. Then, when he looked scared of getting dirty, I shook the cake off of me and onto him.”

I can’t help laughing about the end of Rarity’s story. I’ve seen the event on the episode, “The Best Night Ever,” but the way Rarity told the story just made it all the funnier.

And, I’m evidently not the only one that thinks so. Everyone else at the table, even Rarity after a moment, is also laughing.

Rarity concludes her story by saying, “Yes, Prince Blueblood did look funny all covered in cake, and stumbling backward into that platform that was holding the statue.”

Next, Pinkie Pie says, “Well, I came to the Gala expecting to have fun. But, it turns out the only fun I had was the fun I had to make. I started dancing as soon as I was there, but then everypony looked at me like I’d done something wrong; so, I stopped. Then, after Lyra got up on the stage and sang her song and played her lyre, I decided to follow her up on the stage and sing my ‘Pony Pokey’ song. They told me it wasn’t that kind of party, so I decided to liven things up with a turntable I borrowed from Vinyl. I played it for a while, then jumped off the stage, and … right into the cake that Applejack brought in.”

Now, Applejack says, “Ah only brought in that cake after Prince Blueblood said that all Ah was a’sellin’ was just common carnival food. So, Ah decided to dress it up a bit so those highfalutin ponies might like it. But, that ended up causin’ a whole new set of problems.” She then sighs as she concludes, “The only sales Ah made were an apple pie, and the fritters Prince Blueblood said was carnival food.”

As the orange earth mare rests her head on the table, Rainbow Dash says, “Well, I got my chance to hang with the Wonderbolts after saving Soarin’s pie from a rough landing. Or, I thought I was gonna hang with them. As it turns out, ponies were talking so loud that nopony could hear me, not even when I tried my best to get them to notice me. I thought I had my chance to show the Wonderbolts how awesome I am when I saw the pony statue fall, and I tried to catch it. But, all that happened there was I ended up dropping the statue, and causing all the pillars to fall.”

Next, Lyra says, “Well, I did get my chance to sing for the ponies at the Gala, but they were as harsh on me as they were on Pinkie Pie. They didn’t throw things at me, they just glared at me and made me feel like I’d committed some kind of crime. I did accompany my song by playing on my lyre, but I thought I was gonna get a better response than that.”

At this point, Spike says, “Wow. It sounds like it was the worst night ever.”

Six of the ponies at the table say, “It was,” and start giggling.

And, it’s at this point that Doughnut Joe arrives with the doughnuts and drinks.

As the unicorns in the group help place the platter of doughnuts, and all around the table receive their drinks; Fluttershy says, “Well, it wasn’t bad for me.” As sets of eyes start to focus on the yellow pegasa, she continues, “Well, not with Mormon’s help, anyway.” Then, after talking about her initial struggles and how I helped her, she concludes, “I guess Mormon figured I needed his help more than anypony else. And, from what I heard of your stories, I guess he was right.” She then turns to my character and says, “Mormon, thanks again for your help.”

I nod and say, “Like I said, I was glad to help.”

Pinkie Pie then turns to my character and asks, “And what about you, Mormon? Was the Gala everything you expected it to be?”

I answer, “Well, not quite all of it. I didn’t host a reading at the Gala, but I did get a chance to help a friend that needed it. And, I think that makes the party good enough for me, even if I wasn’t able to avoid a catastrophe.”

Twilight then turns to the daytime princess and says, “I just hope you can forgive us for ruining the Gala.”

As my character focuses on Princess Celestia, she smiles and says, “Oh, you’re kidding. That was the best Grand Galloping Gala ever.”

Still somewhat depressed, Twilight says, “Pardon me, Princess, but tonight was just … awful.”

The white alicorn emits a genuine chuckle before saying, “Oh, Twilight, the Grand Galloping Gala is always awful.”

In the time it takes for the purple unicorn to tilt her head, her expression goes from depressed to quizzical. She asks, “It is?”

Princess Celestia continues, “That’s why I was thrilled you were all attending. I was hoping you could liven things up a bit. And, while the evening might not have gone as you planned, I’m sure you’ll agree that, in the end, it didn’t turn out so bad for this group of friends.”

Twilight, relieved, replies, “You’re right, Princess. Friends have a way of making even the worst of times into something pret-ty great.”

Rainbow Dash adds, “Yeah, hangin’ out with friends.”

Fluttershy adds, “Talking.”

Pinkie Pie raises her forelimbs into the air and shouts, “Laughing!”

Then, Spike asks, “You mean, doing exactly what I wanted to do the whole time?”

Evidently humbled, Twilight answers, “Yes, Spike. You were right.”

Even Applejack has perked up as she says, “As horrible as our night was, …”

Rarity continues, “Being together here has made it all better.”

Then, Pinkie Pie says, “In fact, it’s made it …”

And, even I join in as ponies and dragons around the table call out, “The best night ever!” I even join in the laughter.

Then, after a second or two when the laughter has died down, I ask, “So, shall we complete the evening by having the reading here?”

Twilight asks, “You mean here, like in a doughnut shop?”

Before I can answer, Princess Celestia turns to the owner and asks, “Is that alright with you, Doughnut Joe?”

Evidently uncertain, the stallion asks, “That depends. What’ll you be reading?”

The daytime alicorn answers, “It’s a record of a family of humans that lived and died out a long time ago. Mormon has been sharing it with us for a little over a month now.”

At this point, Doughnut Joe canters from behind the display bar and says, “Well, it’s after hours now, but I suppose I could keep this place open for just a little longer. What’s this record called?”

I answer, “It’s called the Book of Mormon.”

The stallion eyes my character suspiciously for a moment, then says, “Well, if the princess says it’s a record of a long-dead family, then I’ll believe her.” He then asks, “Is there a chance I could join in?”

I answer, “Sure, I can’t see why not.”

Then, Princess Celestia says, “I’ll just send word to my sister that we’ll be reading here at Doughnut Joe’s bakery, and to bring some extra copies with her from the table.” And, with that, she closes her eyes, and for a moment her horn glows and sparkles.

Perhaps a few seconds later, Princess Luna appears, supporting maybe ten books with her magic. She hands one of them to Doughnut Joe, then one each to other creatures that apparently haven't brought theirs, then takes a position between Weed Whacker and her sister.

As the stallion host takes a position between Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash; and those that did bring their own copies of the Book of Mormon produce them and turn to the right page, with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash helping Doughnut Joe; Princess Celestia gives a summary of what the group has read, starting with events from First Nephi, and ending with what the group has read up to this point. She then says, "We'll be starting in the Book of Mosiah," then, turning to my character, she asks, "Chapter fourteen?"

I nod and say, "Yeah, let's include chapter fifteen in that."

The daytime princess nods and smiles, then turns to the host and asks, "Doughnut Joe, will you start with the first verse?"

Doughnut Joe nods and smiles and says, "Sure." He then looks down into his copy and reads, "Yea, even doth not Isaiah say: Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" He then looks up again and says, "I'd like to keep this copy so I can read all of this story."

I reply, "You're quite welcome to. I have plenty more where that came from."

Taking my reply as her signal, Pinkie Pie then reads, "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him." She then looks up and asks, "Does 'no beauty' mean he was ... ugly?"

I answer, "Physically, he might have been. Or, just plain-looking. His purpose was to provide a way for God's children to return to Him, including a code of conduct for them, including me, to follow so that we show Him that we do want to return to our Heavenly Father. Attaching physical beauty to him would've detracted from that. So, he wasn't going to be physically attractive."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."

Spike reads, "Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."

At this point, Princess Luna says, "This is something we need to be careful about. When we see somepony going through hard times, we shouldn't assume that pony, that creature, has brought it on him- or herself. After all, even I have had difficult times. And, while it is true that I brought them on myself, that doesn't mean that everypony does." She then turns and nods to the white unicorn.

Rarity nods back, then reads, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

Now, I speak up and say, "I must admit, I find it appealing how Isaiah put this. He talks about what the Christ went through, and then why he went through it. He went through times more difficult than I could have gone through, but he did it to give God's children, as I said before, a way to return to Him."

Applejack reads, "All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all."

Fluttershy reads, "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth."

Lyra reads, "He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgressions of my people was he stricken."

I read, "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no evil, neither was any deceit in his mouth."

Weed Whacker reads, "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand." She then looks up at my character and asks, "What does that mean, 'he shall see his seed'?"

i answer, "I'm not entirely sure myself; but, when I see the words 'his seed,' my first thought is a reference to the Savior's family, those of his spiritual brothers and sisters who accept his sacrifice for them, and choose to live as he prescribed."

Princess Luna reads, "He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities."

Princess Celestia reads, "Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

Rainbow Dash looks up and says, "I guess that means I get to start chapter fifteen." She then looks down again and reads, "And now Abinadi said unto them: I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people."

Doughnut Joe reads, "And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son—"

Presently, Pinkie Pie reads, "The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son—"

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth."

Spike reads, "And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father, being one God, suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people."

Rarity reads, "And after all this, after working many mighty miracles among the children of men, he shall be led, yea, even as Isaiah said, as a sheep before the shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth."

Applejack reads, "Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father."

Fluttershy reads, "And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men—"

Lyra reads, "Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice."

I read, "And now I say unto you, who shall declare his generation? Behold, I say unto you, that when his soul has been made an offering for sin he shall see his seed. And now what say ye? And who shall be his seed?"

Weed Whacker reads, "Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea, all the holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord—I say unto you, that all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God."

Princess Luna reads, "For these are they whose sins he has borne; these are they for whom he has died, to redeem them from their transgressions. And now, are they not his seed?"

Princess Celestia reads, "Yea, and are not the prophets, every one that has opened his mouth to prophesy, that has not fallen into transgression, I mean all the holy prophets ever since the world began? I say unto you that they are his seed."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And these are they who have published peace, who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!"

Doughnut Joe reads, "And O how beautiful upon the mountains were their feet!"

Pinkie Pie reads, "And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace!"

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who shall hereafter publish peace, yea, from this time henceforth and forever!"

Spike reads, "And behold, I say unto you, this is not all. For O how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that is the founder of peace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people; yea, him who has granted salvation unto his people;"

Rarity reads, "For were it not for the redemption which he hath made for his people, which was prepared from the foundation of the world, I say unto you, were it not for this, all mankind must have perished."

Applejack reads, "But behold, the bands of death shall be broken, and the Son reigneth, and hath power over the dead; therefore, he bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead."

Fluttershy reads, "And there cometh a resurrection, even a first resurrection; yea, even a resurrection of those that have been, and who are, and who shall be, even until the resurrection of Christ—for so shall he be called."

Lyra reads, "And now, the resurrection of all the prophets, and all those that have believed in their words, or all those that have kept the commandments of God, shall come forth in the first resurrection; therefore, they are the first resurrection."

I read, "They are raised to dwell with God who has redeemed them; thus they have eternal life through Christ, who has broken the bands of death."

Weed Whacker reads, "And these are those who have part in the first resurrection; and these are they that have died before Christ came, in their ignorance, not having salvation declared unto them. And thus the Lord bringeth about the restoration of these; and they have a part in the first resurrection, or have eternal life, being redeemed by the Lord."

Princess Luna reads, "And little children also have eternal life."

Princess Celestia reads, "But behold, and fear, and tremble before God, for ye ought to tremble; for the Lord redeemeth none such that rebel against him and die in their sins; yea, even all those that have perished in their sins ever since the world began, that have wilfully rebelled against God, that have known the commandments of God, and would not keep them; these are they that have no part in the first resurrection."

Rainbow Dash reads, "Therefore ought ye not to tremble? For salvation cometh to none such; for the Lord hath redeemed none such; yea, neither can the Lord redeem such; for he cannot deny himself; for he cannot deny justice when it has its claim."

Doughnut Joe reads, "And now I say unto you that the time shall come that the salvation of the Lord shall be declared to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people."

Pinkie Pie reads, "Yea, Lord, thy watchmen shall lift up their voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem."

Spike reads, "The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God."

It takes a few seconds after all have closed and put away their books, but eventually Doughnut Joe says, "Well, everypony, thanks for allowing me to host this reading in my bakery. I'm glad I did so. And, I would like to keep this book, so I can at least read all of this story that we read tonight. And, who knows? Maybe I'll host readings with my regular customers."

As my character focuses on the earth stallion, I reply, "I'm glad you enjoyed it. This particular story starts in chapter nine with a man named Zeniff, who lead a group of Nephites into hostile territory to reclaim what he thought was the Nephites' rightful inheritance. All the records of the events end with chapter twenty-four, although this specific record we read ends with chapter twenty-two. Whether it's among your regular customers, or by yourself, I hope you continue to enjoy what you read."

Princess Celestia adds, “If you want to start with the origins of King Noah, who Abinadi is talking to, then start by reading chapter eleven of Mosiah. If you want to start with where Abinadi is first mentioned, then start at about the middle of chapter eleven. But, like Mormon said, you can start reading wherever in the book you want.”

Doughnut Joe nods to my character and Princess Celestia before saying, “Thanks for the advice. I’ll most likely start reading the story with chapter nine, as Mormon suggested. But, in the mean time, it’s time for me to close up shop. So, if you’ll forgive me, I’m going to have to ask you to leave now.”

Princess Celestia nods to the stallion, then says, “Yes, of course. We won’t keep you any longer.” She then proceeds to lead the group of twelve out of the bakery. Then, once all are outside, she turns to my character and asks, “Oh, Mormon, I’ve been meaning to ask you, why do you have a patch over one of your eyes?”

Presently, Pinkie Pie lowers her head and starts trembling. She says, “Uh, P-princess C-celestia, if you’ll r-return m-me, M-mormon, L-lyra, and Weed W-whacker to M-mormon’s house, I’ll explain wh-why he h-has the p-patch.”

The daytime princess simply nods to the pink earth pony, then turns to her sister and says, “Luna, you return these others to their homes. I’ll deliver Mormon, Pinkie Pie, Lyra, and Weed Whacker to Mormon’s house.”

Princess Luna nods, then closes her eyes; and her horn starts to glow and sparkle. A second later, the only element bearer left is Pinkie Pie; and the carriage and the two stallions pulling it have also disappeared.

Then, Princess Celestia closes her eyes, and her horn starts to glow and sparkle. One frame later, the group is back in front of my character’s house. Then, once there, the white alicorn settles down into a position that reminds me of how a deer would rest, then looks at the pink earth pony and asks, “Now, Pinkie Pie, will you tell me what happened?”

Pinkie Pie closes her eyes and inhales deeply, then exhales slowly, then opens her eyes again and says, “Alright. You see, it started a couple days ago, the day of Gummy’s birthday party. Mormon here had concerns that I was going to forget my own birthday after we celebrated Gummy’s, so I … I … made a P-pinkie promise to not forget.” Her voice starts vibrating as she continues, “I thought I’d be able to remember if I had that kind of motivation. But, as it turns out, the Pinkie promise wasn’t enough. I f-forgot m-m-my own b-birthday.” Now, she sniffles before continuing, “M-mormon and L-lyra tried to remind me, b-but I wouldn’t listen to them. I just w-went ahead and m-made preparations for G-gummy’s after-birthday party.

“Everypony made excuses for why they couldn’t attend, and Mormon even suggested I move the party to another day; but I didn’t listen. I thought they didn’t like my parties anymore, that they didn’t even like me anymore. B-but, thanks to Mormon, I learned that they do still like me and my parties, and were just planning a surprise birthday party for me. And, … th-that’s wh-when I remembered.

“I’d prepared a cupcake for myself, made from my own poop, so that I’d have that reminder if I ever broke a Pinkie promise. I ran away and brought out that cupcake, and I was about to stick it in my eye when Mormon came and stopped me. He … he let me know … h-he wasn’t gonna g-give up on me.

“I couldn’t forget that this was the first time I’d b-broken a P-pinkie p-promise, so I … made another poop, … and made another cupcake from it, … and I was about to stick that cupcake in my eye. Then, just as I was about to, …”

Princess Celestia continues, “Mormon grabbed the cupcake from you and stuck it in his own eye.”

Pinkie Pie shakes her head, tossing tears to each side, as she says, “No, not then. Weed Whacker was there, and she knocked the cupcake out of my hooves. And, … and I was angry with her for stopping me.

“Then, Mormon came in the kitchen and saw the two of us and the cupcake.” Again she sniffles before continuing, “He took the cupcake away. He s-said … he s-said …”

At this point, I speak up and say, “I’d said that I was the one that made her forget. I was the reason why she couldn’t keep her Pinkie promise.”

Princess Celestia looks up at my character and says, “And then you stuck the cupcake into your eye.”

I have my character nod as I respond, “That’s right.”

Now, Pinkie Pie closes her eyes and covers them with her front hooves and sobs, “If only I hadn’t made that Pinkie promise, Mormon wouldn’t have stuck that poop cupcake in his eye! He might’ve lost that eye, and it’s all my fault!” And, the pink earth pony continues to sob.

At this point, Princess Celestia rises to all fours and approaches the crying pink earth pony, then nuzzles her and says, “Mormon doesn’t seem to think so.”

Pinkie uncovers her eyes and looks at the daytime alicorn and says, “B-but, it is my fault! I made that cupcake for me, not him. Now, he might not be able to use that eye ever again.” And, once again she closes her eyes and covers them with her front hooves, and streams of tears erupt from their outer edges as the pink earth pony resumes her sobbing.

Calmly, Princess Celestia turns to my character and nods, then turns back to Pinkie Pie and says, “Mormon wouldn’t have made that kind of sacrifice for you if he didn’t think you were worth it. Now, you need to show him that he was right. Remember what he did for you. Your Pinkie promises are important to you, and Mormon understands that. And, he chose to take the hit himself rather than see you get hurt. You’ve learned that there are promises, even Pinkie promises, that you can’t keep; situations that you can’t avoid. And, Mormon doesn’t hold them against you.” She then approaches my character and points her horn to one side of his head, evidently at the covered eye, and her horn starts to glow and sparkle. When it stops, maybe a second or two later, and the daytime princess backs away; she says, “You may remove the eye patch. Your eye is healed.”

Automatically my character reaches up and removes the patch, and it's clear that he can see equally well through both eyes again.

I say, “Thank you, Princess Celestia.”

The daytime alicorn nods, then turns back to the bearer of the element of laughter, and says, “Always remember what Mormon did for you, Pinkie. It is alright to make Pinkie promises, just so long as you know you can keep them.” And, with that, she disappears.

And, that’s when Pinkie uncovers her eyes and opens them, then looks up into my character’s eyes. Seeing that they are indeed whole, she jumps into my character’s arms and barely vocalizes my name.

As my character catches the pink earth pony in his arms, I say, “Let’s go inside now. I think we’ve had plenty of excitement for one day.”

Lyra takes my statement as her signal, and gallops to and up the stairs to the front porch, then opens the door with her magic.

Weed Whacker follows Lyra, and is followed by my character, who's carrying Pinkie Pie.

Once the four are inside, I have my character close the door behind him; and I say, “You know, I think things out worked, uh, that is to say, worked out, for the best after all.”

Puzzled, Lyra asks, “Uh, how did things out work for the best?”

I chuckle as I have my character settle down on the nearest couch. Then, I answer, “I have to wonder, if the reading had been among all those aristocratic ponies at the Gala, at the pavilion, how many of them would’ve appreciated the message I was giving? Which was more appropriate for the reading: the royal pavilion, or the doughnut shop?”

Weed Whacker, after climbing on the couch opposite where my character is sitting, still holding Pinkie Pie, turns to my character and asks, “You think it was a good thing the animals you and Fluttershy brought in to the ball room went wild in there? You think they were meant to do that?”

I shrug as I answer, “Who knows? Maybe they were. What happened may have actually been for the best. It could be that the best place for reading the Book of Mormon was under the most humble of circumstances.”

At this point, Lyra grunts in interest before saying, “You know, I hadn’t thought about it that way. Maybe you’re right.”

By this time, Pinkie Pie has calmed down to just sniffling.

I say, “In the mean time, I think we should just go to bed tonight. We can have breakfast tomorrow morning, and plan out what we want to do next.”

Lyra nods and says, “Good idea. I’m tired anyway.” And, with that, she turns and makes her way behind the couch to the kitchen door.

At the same time, Weed Whacker stands up on the couch and waddles to the other side, climbing over the arm and falling onto the floor just below it.

In spite of knowing it’s in vain, I automatically start to reach out my arms to try to stop the little dinosaur from falling.

And, still the dinosaur shows no signs of being hurt. She just follows Lyra through the kitchen door and into the hallway.

In the mean time, my character rises, still carrying the pink earth pony, and follows the dinosaur and the unicorn through the kitchen and into the hallway. From there, while the dinosaur and the unicorn proceed into Lyra’s room, I have my character carry Pinkie Pie into her room, then place her carefully on her bed. And, after that, I have my character cover Pinkie with the closest available blanket, then leave her room.

And, it’s there, in the hallway, that I find Weed Whacker waiting for my character, holding the clipboard up to him.

My character automatically takes the clipboard from her, then takes it to his room and closes the door behind him.

I decide, since Princess Celestia already knows, that my character doesn’t need to write about how he stopped Pinkie Pie from damaging her own eye by sticking her cupcake into his, although, I do feel the need to dictate my gratitude for her healing the injured eye. She might not have needed to do that, but it was still a nice gesture on her part. I do dictate about the events leading up to my attending the Gala, including the tour Lyra gave me, which in turn included visits to the unicorn friends of her and Twilight Sparkle. I also dictate how I helped Fluttershy out in the garden, helping her get acquainted with the creatures that live there. The last thing I dictate is my wonderment about it being for the best that the reading didn’t take place at the pavilion, but at Doughnut Joe’s bakery instead.

As soon as I indicate the letter is complete, my character signs the letter and rolls it up, then delivers it, as well as the clipboard, to Weed Whacker, who bites down on the rolled-up letter to send it to the princesses. And, with that completed, he returns to his room and prepares for and goes to bed, which includes changing out of his suit and into some regular clothes.

Well, all in all, this has been quite the journey. Considering it started, for all intents and purposes, with the deliberate failure in the first game, and has concluded in this near completion of the second game, I expect to find out tomorrow how well I’ve influenced Pinkie Pie. Will she wake up with wings? With a horn? With both? I’m going to have to wait until the game’s tomorrow to find out. But, as I save and close the game, I must admit, I’m looking forward to it.

Author's Notes:

In the next chapter, the last before the conclusion, Mormon finds out how Pinkie Pie progresses in her journey to become an alicorn. The questions at the end of this chapter are valid for that purpose. Will she wake up with wings? Will she wake up with a horn? Will she wake up with both? The answer to these questions, and more, in Chapter 34: Wings, Horns, and the Earth.

There will be no scripture reading in the next chapter.