I know I've written the following words in nearly every entry since I started this diary, but I love my friends here. They've enriched my life in ways I'm constantly discovering and rediscovering, and there is nothing—[u]nothing[/u]—that could make me want to go back to the tight-clenched, power-grasping, unhappy Starlight Glimmer I was before Twilight brought me to Ponyville. [u]Nothing.[/u]

That being said, this is another entry about how every pony in this town is crazy.

Take Applejack. She knows that it's grossly inefficient to run an operation the size of Sweet Apple Acres with just four earth ponies especially when one's a senior citizen and one's a minor who can legally only work part-time anyway. Hiring a single unicorn—or even taking in a volunteer—would save them time, effort, wear and tear on their equipment, wear and tear on [u]themselves[/u]...

But Applejack just laughs and says no thanks. Actually, she says, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." And when I suggest that inefficient is a [u]kind[/u] of broke, she just laughs some more. "Main difference is," she said when I brought it up again today sitting in her kitchen at the lunch she'd invited me to, "broke means I gotta do some repairs. Inefficient means I gotta do some pondering."

"Pondering?" I'd already fired up a memory spell since I knew I'd want to get her wording right for this entry. "What do you mean by that?"

Her mouth shifted sideways. "Say I've a hankering for chocolate cake. Most efficient thing for me'd be to head on into town and pick one up at Sugarcube Corner, wouldn't it? Cake's the family name, after all, and Pinkie's got a touch like no other baker in Equestria. The price ain't much, and if'n Pinkie's working the counter, reckon I'd even get me a discount."

She winked. "Instead, crazy ol' me gets out my bowls and cups and spoons and spatulas, spends half an hour mixing, half an hour baking, then hasta wait for it to cool afore I can put it all together." She leaned back in her chair, pulled the cover off a serving platter there on the counter, and half a chocolate cake glistened at me, the scents of strawberry and sour cream telling me it had jam between the layers and my favorite kind of frosting. "Talk about inefficient!" Applejack went on. "It's taking time outta my already tight schedule and using up a buncha ingredients I'm just gonna hafta buy more of."

"That's not what I'm talking about," I answered, and since I was using a memory spell, I can't forget how grouchy I sounded or how my stomach grumbled.

"Maybe so, maybe not." And even without the spell, I'll never forget the warmth in her voice. "That's what I means by 'pondering.' When it's something that don't particularly matter to me, somepony points out a more efficient way, I'm like to take the hint and make a change or two. But when it's something that satisfies me right down to my shoes, well..." She grabbed a knife in her teeth, cut a healthy slice of cake, flipped it onto a plate, and slid it across the table at me. "I'm like to go on being inefficient long as I got breath in my body."

I'm not sure I agree with her—if I was helping with the harvest, she'd have more time for baking; that cake was [u]incredible![/u] But the more I think about inefficient not necessarily being bad, yeah, it's crazy, but I guess I can understand where AJ's coming from at least.

Which is more than I can say for Fluttershy. I mean, putting the Owl City section of her animal sanctuary in the trees right above Mouse City? That's efficient, sure, but not, I think, in the way she intends...

Like I said: crazy. I'll talk with her tomorrow.