Chapter 10

After breakfast, Jasmine takes me out for 'a day of pampering'. This sounds incredibly girly and I'm not sure how I feel about it, but she's not giving me any choice. First she drags me out to get a good coat wash. Meaning, a fancy ass bath. She directs the ponies washing me to not touch my main and tail, and then leaves me here alone with these stuffy ponies. They scrub me down to the last inches of my hide. I am so clean I will never have to bathe again. They blow dry me and polish my hooves. They scrub the inside of my mouth and they wanted to do something with my eyes but I wouldn't let them near enough to try. Instead they plucked and preened my wing feathers. Then they kicked me out to the waiting area. Jasmine paid and then pushed me out the door.

Now she's taking me to get my hair done. Good Luna this is insane! They strap me down and tell me not to move and of course that only makes me more nervous. I hate Canterlot style hair. I hear Jasmine tell them to do something simple with it, leave the basics alone and give it some highlights or something. That hardly comforts me as they look at me with devious and perhaps cruel intent. Then she sits and reads a magazine while I get surgery done to my hair. I can't even see what they're doing. I close my eyes and wait for it to be over.

They finally let me see what they did to my mane. Looking in the mirror, it doesn't look so bad. They put some silver highlights in my hair and made it a little shorter. It's no longer droopy or in my eyes. It's not quite as short as it used to be, but I like it. I thank them. Jasmine pays and we leave.

"Where to next? What torture awaits me now, oh Jasmine?" I tease her for putting me through that.

"Oh, be quiet. That wasn't so bad. You need to look your best for tonight." She elbows me, joking.

"That doesn't answer my question. Where are we going?"

"Hush. You'll see."

I must admit, she really has me on edge. We're heading into the upper part of Canterlot, where I was yesterday. She leads me to a side road, and walks into a rinky-dink shop. From the looks of it, it's a fabric shop. Or a clothing shop; it could be either. I follow her in. This place is wonderful. There is yarn and thread and fabric literally everywhere. It's like, so messy and so organized at the same time, it's amazing. Jasmine leans over a counter to shout into what I guess is the back room.

"Marzipan! Is it finished?"

"Almost, Jasmine! Why's it so important you woke me up at one last night to have it finished by today? You never get this excited about anything!" A gruff voice yells back.

"You'll see why when you come out here!"

In a few minutes, a creamy orange earth pony stallion with a carrot colored mane shuffles out.

"Alright, Jasmine, here's the thing you wanted so badly…" He places a box on the counter. He looks my way for the first time. "Who's that young fellow?"

"Uh… a patient of mine. We're celebrating. He got his dream job."

"You don't do this for every patient you get." Marzipan leans in and mumbles something in her ear.

"Oh no no no no no! It's not like that at all!" Jasmine blushes and shakes her head furiously. Am I missing something? I am not sure what's going on. "Just give him the box!"

"Alright, calm down! Here, young colt, this is apparently for you." Marzipan gives me the blue box. I look at it then look at him. He nods to it and I pull at the darker blue ribbon. I open the box. Inside is what looks like a bandana with an intricately embroidered moon on it. The moon is done in silver with red highlights and darker red shadows. The fabric of the bandana is thick and dark blue, the color of the night sky. It even seems to sparkle like it has stars. I look up at Jasmine, who is beaming with happiness.

"You got this…for me? It's so beautiful!" I can barely think! This is such a wonderful gift!

"You like it? I was hoping you would!" She prances in place.

"Like it? No, my dear Jasmine! I do not like something magnificent as this! A gift this marvelous will forever hold a place in my heart! I will cherish it always!" I do a mare-ish spin and clutch it close to me. "I love it with all my heart. Never before have I loved an item this much."

"When you said Luna accepted you I realized you needed some sort of uniform to wear and I know how much you miss your bandana. I waited for you to fall asleep and I came here to my uncle's shop. He did all the work on it!"

"How does nopony know you exist? Work this detailed would surely catch many ponies' eyes, especially in this city!"

"Oh, they know me. I made a deal with a pony who wanted to be a fashionista or whatever, and said they could claim, at least in public, that my work was theirs. I didn't want the fame, but the money is good and it is my special talent. We cut the profits about 45/45, and the other ten percent goes to charity. They get to be famous and do all that junk, and I get to do what I love, and besides that, who knows how many others are benefiting from my designs and profits?"

"Sounds pretty smart. Thank you, thank you!" I hug Jasmine and Marzipan both. Then I turn to Jasmine specifically and look her right in the eye. "I want you to know that you're my first friend ever, and probably the best I will ever have. You've done so much to help me, beyond what you were ever asked to do. A million times, thank you!" I hug her again. This is so fantastic! I am glad I have learned what friendship is. It's a wonderful feeling.

"Oh, you know. Friends do this sort of thing for each other." She sounds disappointed. Or maybe she's tired. I pull away.

"You must be exhausted if you woke up so late in the night to come down here. Let's go have some lunch and rest. Oh, Marzipan, would you like to come? You must be tired too, from hoof-stitching this magnificent moon."

"Oh, sure thing. I know a little place we can go to. It's a small little restaurant, but the food is good and we don't have to wait to be served. Before we go, why don't you put that bandana on? Model my hard work, why don't you?"

"Of course!" I take the sturdy material into my hooves and tie it behind my neck. It feels light and warm. "Wow, it feels enchanted! You're not a secret unicorn are you?" I remark his lack of horn. He's an earth pony, like Jasmine.

"No, but Jasmine did mention you'd be getting into fights so I had a buddy of mine spell it. It shouldn't be able to be torn, cut, ripped, sheared or otherwise damaged by normal means. I don't know what would happen if it got hit with magic, but I don't advise you experiment." I look in the mirror of his shop. The blue is beautiful. It's not quite as dark as my coat, but it doesn't contrast badly either. Plus it looks like Luna.

"It's amazing. Thank you again. Now, let's go grab something equally amazing to eat!" I hop out the door. Despite the bright sun in my face, hurting my sensitive eyes, I can't help but smile wide and laugh. I feel good. It feels good to feel good. And this feeling will hopefully last into the night. I trot in joy.

"Knights? Do you even know where you're going?" Marzipan asks, arrogantly, jokingly. Jasmine giggles as I kind just stop mid-stride.

Oh. Yeah.