The Mane Attraction (Razzle Dazzle/Sharaletta Novella)[Dead]

[Linkletter]

The streets of the Capitol City were practically alive as citizens and travelers alike reveled in the beauty this warm, sunny day had brought to Canterlot. Couples young and old shared lunches at local cafes, while little fillies and colts ran amok while their parents shopped and gossiped amongst themselves. Many of the local shopkeepers had already made a small profit for the day, so even those still working were taking it easy and enjoying themselves. The joy in the air made it feel as though there were a festival in town, and everyone was determined to get the most out of the day. One mare in particular, a tall and slender thing, found herself in awe of the incredible energy the city seemed to exude. She danced along her way, her long blue mane and tail flowing behind her as she found more and more things to get excited about. The architecture! The outfits! The diversity! Canterlot was shaping up to be everything she had always heard about and then some. The Earth Pony wound her way toward the center of the activity, and found herself admiring a group of four young fillies splashing in a fountain. It was so nice to see such innocence still intact.


As she watched, it became apparent that the children were playing a game of “Filly in the middle”, where three of them formed a circle around the fourth, and tried to keep a ball away from her. The mare had never really liked that game, as it always felt to her that the inside player was made to be the odd one out of the group. All four seemed to be having fun, but the mare couldn’t help but notice that the three on the outside all had blue manes, while the one in the center had a green one. A smile played at the corner of her lips, as an idea creeped into her head. She made her way over to the far side of the fountain, set her maroon saddlebags on the ground, and began rummaging for a few supplies. The fillies paid her no mind at first, until she pulled out a screen and began unfolding it. The square became a rectangle, and grew in length and width as its layers revealed themselves to be panels of the whole. At full size, the screen was large enough for a full size pony to hide behind, and its front depicted the an etching of the great Starswirl the Bearded, in all his glory. The fillies’ curiosities got the better of them, and they bounced over to ask the Mare what she was doing. Secretly tucking a few last details into place, she addressed them warmly, ”Hello children! I was just admiring my beautiful blue locks in this here fountain. Wouldn’t you all agree that blue is such a wond’rous hue?” As she had hoped, the three fillies who shared their colorations showed a bit more enthusiasm than their fourth. She smiled and looked away wistfully, ”But you know, sometimes I wonder, is it the best color?” The fillies hesitated, not sure how to respond. The mare stepped strolled slowly behind her screen, continuing to address the children. ”Some days I wonder, if it wouldn’t be better if perhaps… Just perhaps… My mane could be… Green?” With a flourish, the mare sprang out from behind her hiding place, and watched the jaws of the children drop, their eyes wider than the moon; her mane and tail, which had just seconds before been a calm, cornflower blue, were now a deep forest green, matching the fourth filly’s color almost exactly! The children were amazed, and within moments, all of them were wanting green manes. The fourth filly proudly showed off her locks, and quickly went from being the “odd”one, to the “cool” one.


As the fillies went on with their games, and the mare began to pack her things again, she was greeted by the mothers of the group; three more mares in total. They congratulated her on keeping the children entertained, and asked her to properly introduce herself. ”The name is Dazzler, good ladies, a traveling magician by trade. But you may call me Razzle Dazzle, so long as I’m not performing.” The four chatted for a bit, about all manner of things: The children, the city, their backgrounds… Eventually, one of the mares asked,

“My dear, however do you keep your pelt so white? Do you use one of Miss Novella’s concoctions?”

Razzle cocked her head, ”Novella? I’m not familiar with that name. Is she a stylist here in Canterlot?” The gaggle burst into adorations of the stylist, making claims that she was one of the best, and that you couldn’t find a more natural product in all of Equestria, and that all three of them had gone to her before the Grand Galloping Gala, and that Razzle simply must pay her a visit.


After a while, and a few short goodbyes to both children and mothers, Razzle set off to find this much sought after salon. Who knew? Perhaps Miss Novella even had a few more wigs to add to Razzle’s arsenal of tricks.

[ScratchThat]

The streets of Canterlot were colourful and alive today with all manner of different ponies. As Sharaletta Novella waded her way through the crowds, various ponies gave her a wave and a shout, and she kindly nodded her head at them, a small smile spreading across her lips. It was hard growing accustomed to complete strangers just pointing you out in the street and whispering about you to others, before then calling towards you and wishing you a good morning, almost like they'd known you all their lives. Whilst this might've seemed quite daunting about a year ago, Sharaletta was more than used to it by now, and always willing to be friendly, whether she knew them or not.

As she made her way passed various shops and cafés, she had already earned herself a few stares from the shop keepers, who - although some probably hadn't heard of her - were seemingly quite intrigued by the young mare's interesting style. She hadn't gone completely wild today, only having her mane tied in a few braids here and there, but she had some colourful ribbons spiralling round her hair at the back, and this same style also adorned her tail. Whilst most ponies went all-out with outfits in Canterlot - for whatever reason you never seemed to get judged in the capital city, which was maybe another thing that appealed to Sharaletta - you never saw very many who dared to wear their manes differently, let alone tails, too.

Well, unless they were a regular customer at Shar's shop, of course! In fact, this was where the mare was headed right now. Raffa had got caught in a tree in her garden that morning - how on Earth a bird would manage that she didn't even know - which caused the mare to be very late to open up the store, so she had a sense of purpose and urgency as she trotted down the streets, hastily making turns and forever looking ahead to make sure she hadn't gone wrong. Canterlot's streets were very hard to navigate when filled with this amount of ponies!

When she finally arrived outside of the door, she whipped her keys out of her saddlebags, jangling them about as she unlocked the door. Once inside, she set her bags down behind the counter, before flipping the sign on the door, which read 'Closed' to 'Open'. Humming lightly under her breath, she started wandering aimlessly around the shop, gazing at the displays and fixing things where needs be.

Glancing outside, she noted a crowd of about five ponies making their way steadily towards the shop, and sighed a little, knowing that once again today was going to be filled with hard work. Not that she wasn't used to that, of course. Trotting back over to the counter, she sat down on a stool, resting her hooves on the wooden surface as she awaited the crowd's arrival. A moment or so later, they flocked inside, and her working day began.