Fourteen Days in Ponyville

Chapters

Chapter %i%: Derpy delivers a plot device.
Chapter %i%: This ink is a Rarity
Chapter %i%: Ink Stink
Chapter %i%: Dragon, why?
Chapter %i%: Bookin' 2: Frantic Scootaloo

Chapter %i%: Derpy delivers a plot device.

Chapter 1: Derpy delivers a plot device.

Rainbow Dash lay in her fluffy bed, the first book she had ever read propped against her hoof. The adventure swirled through her imagination, enthralling her in its spell. Daring Do was currently weaving her way through the temple, dodging traps and solving deviously dangerous puzzles.

Daring Do was about to enter the final chamber holding the Sapphire Stone when Rainbow looked up from the book at the window. There was a faint purple light shining from the window. She tried to remember what time she had lain down to start reading and drew up a blank. Regret crossed her mind for a moment and she stared longingly at page, debating whether or not to continue.

Sighing, she closed the book with a rainbow cord stuck between the pages. She'd been lying there since... She looked up at the window and rubbed at her eyes.

"Is it..." a pale purple light was beginning to filter in through the window, "Morning?"

She lay back with her eyes closed for a moment, thinking over the night of imagination and adventure she’d had with Daring Do. The adventure ran rampant through her imagination again, a blur of words and images all strung together; and she loved it!

She’d lost a night’s sleep though, even though there wasn’t any cloudbusting scheduled for today, she was still going to be groggy. Well, it was a good book and, even after another read-through, still difficult to put down and well worth the lost sleep. She smiled to herself as she got out of bed and got ready for the day.

Later, still smiling, she trotted out onto her patio to look down on Ponyville and the rising sun just beginning to crest over the horizon. From light purple to brilliant red-gold and finally brilliant blue, the day dawned bright and glorious, as Luna set the moon to rest and Celestia woke the sun for an especially glorious dawn.

She sat on her stoop, watching the lands below her cloud-home wake with the rising sun while she ate a bowl of cold oats. A few early rising pegasi greeted her as they flew past on their morning rounds to gather up the mists and low lying clouds that had been snuck in by mischievous youngsters and corral them for a light rain to the west.

By the time the glory of morning came and went, the clumsy but diligent, and loving Derpy Hooves was coming about on her rounds, mail bags full. She made stops at this and that mare or stallion's mailbox, leaving the day's mail behind along with a kind word and the enticing smell of freshly baked muffins hanging from a bag around her neck.

"'Morning, Rainbow Dash," she called from below. The gray mail-mare bumped her mail-bag when she waved to Rainbow as she fluttered by. A sheet of paper fell free from the overstuffed bag and fluttered to the ground.

"Derpy! Hey!" She called after her, pointing to the paper laying on the ground with a hoof. Derpy just waved at Rainbow again and went on her way obliviously, disappearing behind a stand of trees before long.

Rainbow finished her breakfast quickly after that and tossed the bowl into her Whirlwind dishwasher, which was an actual rainy whirlwind, and started her morning exercise routine. Perfection in flight had its cost, and one that she gladly paid for being the best.

After a vigorous warm-up and a few high speed laps around her house, she glided down to take a look at the paper lying on the ground. It was a flyer, rather garishly done, but very eye-catching. She brushed off a bit of mud and barely held back a gasp of excitement.

A travelling group of entertainers, the “Saddleback Seven”, were coming to town to perform several of the adventures in the Daring Do books on stage. A chance to see Daring Do, live, in pony? She nearly leapt up to her front stoop with joy and dashed around in a circle fast enough for the paper to flutter up off the ground.

Just wait until Twilight hears about this! She thought excitedly and dashed off, catching the flyer out of the air as she went.

She caught up to Derpy swiftly, almost running into the gray mare as she rose from the front step of a house. She dodged agilely, almost lost the flyer, and tossed out a quick, though muffled, admonition to the mailmare to watch her takeoffs.

She gained some altitude and sped up, sweeping above the landscape in a blur of rainbow light and blurring wings towards the library.

She could see Spike on the upper balcony airing out some laundry when she arrived, some pins stuck to his crest and a blanket and a few garments strung over the short clothesline.

"Hey, Spike." She said, fairly prancing in the air.

"'ey 'ainbow," came the mumbled reply, spoken around a clothespin, and flicked his tail back towards the interior, "Twili's i' 'eh 'udy."

"Thanks!" She dashed past him, spinning him around and catching him up in the blanket he was trying to hang out to dry. She cringed a little at his yelp, but was too excited to worry right now.

"Twilight!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, landing in the main chamber. "Twilight! You're not gonna believe this!" She slapped the paper down on a table and pranced around the room, fairly floating with excitement. Seeing Daring Do in action, even in a play! So awesome!

"Twilight!" She yelled again and started to poke her head into the rooms of the library, looking for her friend.

"What?!" Rainbow heard the sharp crack of a book landing on a table, "I'm trying," Twilight shouted back in an annoyed tone, "to study!"

"Oh," Rainbow stopped prancing, a feeling of contrition washing over her for just a moment before she brushed it off, "Spike just said you were in the study.”

"And what," she said, tramping out of the study with a glare, "do you think a study is for?"

From up the stairs to the balcony came the little dragon’s ranting about having to redo the laundry.

"Um... Studying?" Rainbow said, attempting a smile while her ears folded back under the ire directed at her. She tapped a hoof on the table and nodded to the flyer, "Take a look at this!” She said, attempting to redirect her friend’s ire, “Daring Do is coming to town!" She lifted her head proudly and pushed the flyer towards the unicorn.

"Really?" Twilight snagged the flyer with a simple spell and read through it several times, eyes growing wider and wider. "Oh Yes! Yes! Yes!" She crowed, dancing around the center of the room excitedly.

Chapter %i%: This ink is a Rarity

Chapter 2: This ink is a Rarity

Elsewhere, the gray mail-mare was delivering yet more flyers announcing the coming of the "Saddlebag Seven" acting troupe to Ponyville. One of those to receive a flyer, also quite by accident, was a pony visiting from Hollow Shades on a business trip.

Lucid Thought, a light blue coated unicorn stallion with a deeper blue and silver-streaked mane, a bookseller and restorer of both book and scroll, picked up the flyer with a levitation spell and scanned through it quickly.

"A Daring Do play?" he asked the retreating mailmare quizzically.

She didn’t seem to have heard him. She was already out of easy earshot but waved back at him anyway. Another flyer slipped out of her bulging-mail bag unnoticed as she did so. He smiled back at her and waved a friendly hoof, chuckling to himself.

He read through the flyer, feeling rather giddy at the prospect of seeing his imaginings brought to life by a skilled troupe of players. He noted with glee the presence of several well-known players and a skilled stage unicorn for the magic effects. Then he noticed the date that they would be arriving and his hopes fell. He would have to leave before then in order to catch the next roundabout train to Hollow Shades.

Still... Maybe they would come to his hometown someday soon. He smiled and nodded, convinced that they would eventually. His heart light and a smile across his face, he turned once again to the Carousel Boutique and knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in," came a rich, cultured voice from inside. He pushed his way in and carefully knocked a little travel dust from his hooves on the mat. The same voice greeted him again: "Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique!"

He stepped in to a whirlwind of color and ordered chaos. At its center was Rarity, busily wielding her magic deftly to craft what would eventually be, he was sure, a magnificent coiffure bedecked with feathers, beading and lace. It would make some lucky mare feel the as though she were the pride of some event or another, he supposed. It was too garish and, well, frilly for his taste.

"I'll be with you in just a minute, good stallion. I just need to... Ah! Perfection!" She said as the finishing touches fused themselves into the hat too magnificently over-bearing to be called such.

The familiar tingle of magic faded from Lucid's senses as the various implements that had been floating about found their places. He waited patiently by the counter near the front of the store for her to finish and let his eyes wander about the store and over various displays and dress forms in various states of completion and disarray.

He'd heard of Rarity's prowess with the dress even so far away in Hollow Shades, though mostly through the idle chatter that he picked up while out and about with his wife. The rumors and gossip did not do her skill justice. Even if he found some of the outfits garish and over-the-top, he could still admire the craftsmanship and passion that had gone into making them as an artist of sorts himself.

“A pleasure to meet you, ah…” The young mare said, offering a hoof in greeting.

“Lucid Thought, but Lucid is fine,” he said with a smile, lightly tapping her hoof with his, “I have been corresponding with you as regards the-“

“Illustrated Guidebook to Canterlot Fashion! Yes, I remember your name! Were you able to get the stains out? I simply could not let such beautiful illustrations molder under such a hideous… Color.” She tossed her hoof dismissively.

“I was, though it was more difficult than I thought it would be. If I may ask… how did such a, ahh,” he coughed, “vibrant shade of purple get so deeply soaked into the pages?”

With a simple spell he pulled the book, wrapped in fine linen and tied with a light blue ribbon, from his saddlebags. Rarity also pulled up a medium sized velvet bag that chimed with the sound of gemstones from behind the counter.

“Oh,” she paused, considering the question, and set the bag on the counter. “Grapple Juice mixed with Blackberries. I think. Some mishap or another.” He could have sworn that she muttered "Sweetie Belle" too, but it was so low that he may have been mistaken.

"I see."

Rarity undid the bindings and slid the book out of its protective wrap and flipped through it quickly before nodding approvingly. “A fine job, Mr. Thought, and well worth the price.” She pushed the bag towards him with a delicate hoof.

"You're quite welcome, and I appreciate your generosity." He opened the bag and teased out a few of the gems, eying them critically, "They're almost exactly the right shade. My sincerest thanks, Miss Rarity. I hadn't thought to get shades so close to my request, and I appreciate very much the extra effort it must have taken to find them."

“You’re quite welcome,” she said graciously. “To have such a rare book restored to,” she paused and looked critically at one of the more intricate drawings, “such pristine condition, almost any price would have sufficed.” He fairly glowed at her casual compliment.

She turned back to the beginning of the book and began flipping from page to page through the book more slowly, eyes shining at the pristinely restored imagery and immaculate descriptions below each.

“I am curious, however,” she mused, looking critically at each richly detailed and intricate drawing, “why ask for such a specific collection of gems? Some of them are hardly worth a thing.” She touched a drawing lightly and looked at her hoof, “Though, I suppose they could be used for decoration. But I had not thought book-binders, or whatever it is you do, would use such varied or specific colors in their decorations.”

“You’re quite right, of course. I did not ask for them because of their value, but for their decorative purposes. Normally,” he began as he tucked the jewels back into their bag, “we don’t use gems for decoration, only the rarest and richest of books get actual gems. However, with the re-emergence of the Crystal Empire, I have been seeing some business inquiries from crystal ponies looking to restore personal books that were damaged during the reign of King Sombra.”

Rarity nodded a little absently, still going from page to page slowly. She didn’t seem to be paying him much mind, but her question was still prescient and thoughtful. It gave him a chance to talk about his art to another artist; an occasion that occurred rather rarely since most ponies, even other artists, viewed his occupation as boring and tedious.

“Well, as it turns out, the Crystal Ponies more elaborate drawings used inks mixed with powdered gemstones of all colors and hues. You should see some of the really elaborate books they have in their main library. To look upon a rainbow in those books is to see it as it would appear in the sky.

“Unfortunately that type of radiance and sparkle is not something readily restored with a simple spell and, besides, any spell of glimmer or radiance must be renewed frequently." He tossed his head dismissively, "Which is hardly a practical solution. So, to properly restore them, I must incorporate more ink into the drawings to make them truly shine as they did once.”

“Powdered… what?” Her attention came away from the book, an eager look in her eye. “Powdered gemstone ink? What a fabulous idea!” She closed the book gingerly, then rushed back into the backroom of her boutique.

“Placards!” She shouted, “No… Invitations! Yes!” The sound of a truly horrendous rampage was followed by a hiss and a white, pristinely groomed cat sauntered out of the boutique, looking startled. It hissed at him and threatened him with a very sharp looking set of claws.

“Er… Nice kitty?” He offered. It, well she he hoped, hissed again and jumped up onto the counter to lay atop the book, glaring at him all the while.

For nearly five minutes he heard Rarity tearing through what sounded like a dungeon of chests and hearing her reject this or that item between intermittently cursing Sweetie Belle, whom he was able to eventually identify as Rarity’s younger sister from various bits of flying clues, and wondering about a long lost item. He got tired of just listening and stood up to poke his head around the corner, only to almost be brained by a flying dress form.

Catching it with a swift bit of magic, he set down the dress form and stepped back around the corner, lest any more flying debris come his way. He was curious to see what she had in mind, he forced himself to settle and wait patiently.

Perhaps she might even have more business for him. He suppressed a smile at the thought. It would get him closer to his ultimate goal of setting himself up financially to work on his own projects rather than just those of others. A daydream of finally publishing something that would be well regarded floated through his mind as he waited for her.

He did not have to wait much longer. Rarity came back with a stack of folded, elaborately decorated, though blank, invitation cards, each of them unadorned except for a stylized 'R' in the upper right corner.

"I want these invitations to stand out above all the rest and I have been trying to come up with ideas to add that extra pomp and sparkle, but drawing a blank." She lifted one off the top and unfolded it to lie down before him, "But I have never seen an invitation penned with gemstone infused ink before! I would be ever so grateful if I could employ your services in making some inks before you go. I will, of course, provide the gems and base ink and a generous fee besides for your time."

The offer was certainly tempting, and he could use the business and the recognition, but he hadn't really planned on staying in Ponyville for longer than a few days to pick up some of the rarer supplies necessary for his trade and meet with another client. Aside from considering his wife’s feelings regarding him being gone for so long, crafting the ink was a delicate process that he hadn’t yet mastered to the point where he could do so swift and sure as he could with normal inks.

"I certainly could," he offered after some consideration, "but I hadn't planned on spending the time here it would take to blend the inks and I have another client that I need to meet before I can even consider it." He saw her face fall, disappointed, and added, "though, if you are amenable, I could make them once I get home and then send them to you from Hollow Shades. But,” he held up a cautioning hoof, ”it may be a matter of a week or two, depending on how much you want made."

"That may do," she said thoughtfully, "though I was hoping that I might get these done before the next week,” she lifted the invitation card briefly. ”There's this... thing in Canterlot, you see, that I wish to invite some friends to and I really do need to get the invitations out sooner rather than later."

She smiled brightly, "I could offer you a stipend if you were to stay longer than your planned time, and I'm certain that I could find accommodations for you for the time it would take, as well as a suitable work area."

She was making it harder for him to resist, but... "I would need to get a message to my wife and let her know that I'm going to be away longer than planned."

"I'll pay for a message by pegasus," she countered.

"I also need some other reagents, some of them quite rare," he counter-countered.

"Give me a list and I'll make sure you get them." She rebutted his rebuttal with a smile.

"Well..." He rubbed his jaw thoughtfully with a fetlock. I suppose it would also give me a chance to see the Saddleback Seven performing a Daring Do play or two, he mused. "Alright. You have a deal."

Chapter %i%: Ink Stink

Chapter 3: Ink Stink

Lucid penned a quick note to Cerulean Dream, his wife, before leaving Rarity's house and gave her the address of the school, as that was very likely where the pegasus would find her. It was a matter of a half an hour to negotiate with the local postmaster for next day delivery of his note. He even got to chat with the Pegasus whom would be delivering the note.

He noted with a touch of appreciation that it wasn't the ditzy gray mare who'd dropped the flyers all over town but rather a yellow coated, blue maned pegasus who introduced himself as Cloudrunner. He’d apparently been to Hollow Shades before, though Lucid did not recall ever seeing the pegasus there before.

He promised a swift delivery and flew off after receiving a small bag of bits from Rarity for payment, true to her word. Lucid watched the pegasus take off and start his journey while worries about his wife’s reaction circled aimlessly through his mind. He doubted in his heart that she would be truly miffed at the letter, he’d been away on longer trips before, but his mind kept insisting that he was forgetting something. He loved her very much, after all, and didn’t want to cause her any worry.

"Don’t you worry,” Rarity said gently, “I’m sure the letter will get there just fine. Now, since you are staying longer than you had planned, let’s find a place for you to stay.” She started looking around, hoof to chin. “Do you have any preferences?”

"Well, no. Not really. I mean, I was thinking the boarding stable near the train station. It was quite comfortable the last time I stayed there." He nodded to himself, "I'll just-"

"That simply won't do,” she said with a sniff and a stamp of her hoof. “You're here on my request, therefore I shall arrange for accommodations befitting one of my guests."

"That's very generous," he said, "but really not necessary."

"Oh tosh. Of course it is. I won't have a guest of mine staying in those... Rooms." She cantered off into town. "Now, let me see… Twilight might have a room. Big drafty library for just her and Spike. Surely she has someplace for somepony to stay a night – or four.”

He froze, startled, for a moment at the mention of Twilight. A moment later he followed along behind her, galloping briefly to catch up to her. "Twilight as in Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's Apprentice Twilight? Sister to the Prince of the Crystal Empire Twilight?"

"Why, yes. Whom else would I be referring to?"

He sighed again and hung his head low. His wife was going to be more upset than he thought. Especially, she wanted her class to meet the young, talented filly so they could gain an appreciation of what hard work, dedication and talent could accomplish. She had wanted to meet Twilight Sparkle since her brother had become a prince and her name had become more widely known throughout Equestria and had gained something of celebrity status in Hollow Shades.

Twilight’s name was usually attached to bits of gossip on trains from Canterlot or Ponyville; not all of it was flattering. Mental breakdowns, uncharacteristic behavior, scandals at the Grand Galloping Gala… All of the things that he’d come to dislike about celebrity.

He cleared those thoughts out of his mind with a vigorous shake of his head. Gossip is gossip, Lucid, he thought to himself, you know better than to pay attention to that tripe.

There were more flattering bits of information about her in the gossip also. He had heard she a great lover of books, for example, and that was enough to help him dismiss his misgivings for now. He smiled and lifted his head, perhaps he could finally have a long conversation with a fellow book-lover who wasn't also bored to tears by his love of older, historic books and the art of restoring them.

Upon arrival at the giant library tree, it became apparent that not all was calm and quiet in the library. A purple dragon with a green crest was setting a blanket out to dry with an exasperated expression set across his face and from within could be heard two fillies talking excitedly, though their words were muffled. The young dragon waved happily when he spotted Rarity and smiled radiantly.

"Rarity!" He called down to her.

"Why, hello Spike!" Rarity called back up, waving a hoof.

Moments later, the door opened to the same dragon.

Lucid blinked and looked between the dragon standing in the doorway and the now empty second story balcony. The blanket was fluttering in the breeze, only one pin holding it up. A few other pins were stuck to his crest. Spike must have fairly bounded to the door. The dragon stood there for a moment, staring rather unabashedly at Rarity until Lucid cleared his throat gently. He just then seemed to notice Lucid Thought standing there.

"Who's this?" Spike asked with what Lucid could have sworn was a hint of suspicious ire.

"Spike, this is Lucid Thought from Hollow Shades. Mr. Thought, this is Spike, a good friend and Twilight's number one assistant and my great friend,” Rarity said and lifted a hoof to stroke the dragon’s crest, knocking free the clothespins.

He soaked up her attentions with a sigh and what appeared to be a blush on his cheeks. Lucid hadn’t known dragons able to blush. He shrugged it off.

“A pleasure to meet you, Spike,” He said, offering a hoof in greeting.

Serious again, Spike ignored the hoof and instead looked him up and down in a rather direct, almost rude appraisal, stopping at his horn, where his wedding band lay, somewhat hidden by his forelock. He seemed to relax a little. "Hollow Shades, huh? That spooky place?", he finally touched the proffered hoof with a fist, "What kind of spooky business do you have here?"

"Well," he began, tamping down a rising feeling of annoyance, "I was hoping that I might find accommodation for a little while. I'm going to be in town longer than I thought and Rarity here suggested that-" He paused and looked at Rarity.

"Suggested that Twilight might have a spare room available," Rarity finished, nodding. "He's doing some work for me that requires access to some, well, unusual tools and I thought that if anyone were to have unusual implements of magic that it would be Twilight."

From inside came a filly's voice, "Spike, who's at the door?"

Rarity nudged the young dragon inside with a gentle hoof. She nodded her head inside while looking at Lucid, a clear indication, then followed the young dragon into the cavernous interior of the library.

"It's Rarity," he said brightly, leading the pair of ponies into the main chamber of the tree-library.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash sat at a table that appeared hewn out of the living core of the tree. A horse’s head statue sat perched atop it and beneath its muzzle he caught a glimpse of what looked like a familiar flyer. He didn’t have a chance to look at it too closely, though.

"Well, I can see Rarity, silly. Who’s the gentlecolt?"

Lucid thought dipped himself forward in a slight bow, lowering his head. "My name is Lucid Thought, Lady Twilight Sparkle."

"Just Twilight is fine," she muttered brusquely. Then, more brightly, "What brings the two of you to the library?"

Lucid looked to Rarity briefly and gestured with a hoof.

"Well, Twilight, it’s quite simple you see. Mr. Thought," she nodded her head to the stallion, "is going to be staying in town longer than he'd planned in order to do some work for me and I was hoping to find a room for him here. He is a book lover, too, and I thought you might find something in common to talk about. At the very least, it would be more pleasant than having him stay at the train station stable-house."

"He's from Hollow Shades," Spike added in a low tone to Twilight, shaking his claw in a negative motion.

Lucid rolled his eyes and shook his head.

It wasn't anything he was unaccustomed to, but it did get old, and the dragon had hardly been congenial thus far. The reputation of his hometown was, at once, something that its residents both prized and despised.

It made them something of celebrity figures almost, but scary ones. There was something about living in the middle of a forest that got less light than the Everfree Forest did that seemed to make people think its residents odd at best and dangerous at worst. Spike’s opinion seemed to Lucid to be somewhere in between both extremes.

"Now Spike, Hollow Shades is a perfectly nice town, I'm sure. I mean, I've never been but they’re ponies just the same as live here." Twilight admonished in the same low tone, casting an apologetic smile askance at Lucid.

Rainbow Dash heard this last and jumped up to hover above the horse-head statue in the center of the room, "I bet you know a lot of scary stories! Ooh! Tell me a scary story!"

"Umm..." He stepped back a bit from the sudden outburst. The station's stable-house was sounding more enjoyable if this was indicative of the kind of attention he would get. He might not even have enough time to do the work Rarity asked; much less meet with his other client. He almost wished that Rarity hadn't mentioned where he came from. “Maybe later,” he told Rainbow.

“I just hope it’s not that old Headless Horse tale, that’s so not scary anymore,” Rainbow said, sounding a little mollified.

"Well," Twilight said in a thoughtful tone, "I suppose I could have Spike fix up a spot in the basement if you think he’s trustworthy, Rarity." She glanced at Lucid, "What kind of work are you doing for Rarity?"

"I restored a book on fashion for her," he said shortly, collecting himself mentally and readjusting his saddle-bags.

"Yes! And he did a wonderful job cleaning that..." Rarity paused and nodded to Twilight, "That thing that happened last month."

“And you couldn’t send it via the post?” Spike muttered loud enough to get a tail-smack from Twilight. Lucid ignored the comment and tried not to let his annoyance show.

"Oh! You mean when Sweetie Belle and her friends tried to get their cutie marks in Splatball? I wonder who told them it was played with fruit?" She chuckled, "I mean, I thought it was a lost cause, the way all that juice was-" she cut herself off, seeing the memory of it was upsetting Rarity. "Oh... Right." She laughed a little.

Rarity shuddered. "Yes," she glanced back out the door and into the distance, "I wonder who." Being close to her, Lucid also heard a part of her follow-up, "If I ever..."

Lucid Thought felt a little lost, he hadn't a clue what Splatball was. Maybe something similar to the pinecone fights he and his friends had in the forest, he thought, but at least the stains made a little more sense if the game was as messy as its name suggested.

Still, it was interesting to see that Twilight acted like just another pony. He’d been expecting a bit of celebrity pomp and arrogance from the way the rumors had touted her at the Gala… and that article that had leaked into town from some gossip named Gabby Gums. In defiance of his expectations, however, she seemed to be a surprisingly, refreshingly down to earth pony.

“Rarity has asked me to make some special inks for her,” he continued after a moment spent readjusting his expectations. “They’re not your ordinary run of the mill inks and I need access to some special equipment to make them. Any chemistry or alchemical lab should have most of what I need,” he said, then pointed a hoof at Twilight. “Do you know where I might get access to a chemistry lab? Oh, and a hammer suitable to crack gems.”

"A gem-cutter's hammer?" Spike asked. "What kind of ink needs gems?"

"Well," Lucid started to say, “I’ve been getting a few inquiries from the Crystal Empire lately to restore some books from personal collections, and some of the illustrations use-“ he got cut off suddenly by Twilight’s gasp.

"The Crystal Empire! You know how to make Crystal Empire shimmer-ink?" He was somewhat surprised that she apparently did not, but reminded himself that she'd had likely had other matters at hand the last time he'd heard of her visit there.

"Well," He started again, but was, again, cut off. By Rainbow Dash, this time.

"Boring..." She huffed and settled back down to the ground with a sulky expression.

Ignoring the pegasus, he took a breath and gathered his thoughts.

"Yes, I do," he said, then sighed, tempered himself and continued, "Though not exactly. The right mix of gem powder to ink, and even the type of ink right down to the plants, minerals, and oils it's derived from appears to have been partly lost to the ages and King Sombra's tyrannical reign." He allowed himself a smile born of pride and lifted his head, "I was fortunate enough to attain a partial recipe and, through careful experimentation, I have come up with a very close substitute that nearly exactly matches the tones, richness, and shimmer of the original."

A snort from behind the statue indicated Rainbow Dash's opinion of the explanation and topic.

"I'm okay with you staying here," Twilight said after a moment's thought, "But only if you'll show me your notes on the process. I've been trying to find a recipe for shimmer-ink myself, but all the books I've found seem to assume that I already know the base to work from and only indicate what types of gems are used for which color and how fine the powder should be." She raised an eyebrow at him, "Where did you find your information? What book was it in?"

"I didn't find it in a book,” he said shortly, “I was talking to one of the crystal pony scribes about ink and the topic came up. She was happy to share what she knew in exchange for a few bottles of Appleshade Premium Cider. It was pretty much dumb luck that we met too. She'd taken the wrong train and ended up in Hollow Shades for a few days." He chuckled, then cocked his head slightly as a thought occurred to him, "now that you mention it, though, I wouldn’t mind looking at your books either. I’ve never really felt that the grain size of my attempts has been quite right."

Twilight smiled and nodded quickly, “I would be happy to share what I know." She bowed her head slightly, "and I would like to thank you in advance, Mr. Thought."

He found himself surprised at the returned gesture of respect and returned it in kind, "You are quite welcome Lady, er, Twilight."

Chapter %i%: Dragon, why?

Chapter 4: Dragon, why?

“Won’t you stay longer?” Twilight asked him politely.

He’d spent longer than he intended at the Library. First it was just to talk with her about inks and what he needed to make them. Then conversation shifted into other books, historical tomes that he and few others found fascinating and found in Twilight a kindred mind. Her knowledge of history was farther reaching than his own and closer to the source. He knew it through books that had been copied and recopied at least a dozen times before he saw them.

The Canterlot library held tomes sometimes as old as the history contained within them, original manuscripts written by the hoof of the author whom originally penned them. What wouldn’t he have given to look at any one of the ones she described? A question that he didn’t have a ready answer for.

“I wish that I could, Twilight,” Lucid said with true remorse in his tone. “It has been illuminating and extremely pleasant to talk with you, but I still need to visit Sweet Apple Acres and I have a few stops that I must make in town as well before night falls. I’m sure you understand.”

“Of course,” she said, looking as though she shared some of the same remorse. “I need to get back to my studies as well.”

He left without further ado, his mind already drifting towards the goods he needed to buy while he was here. Moments later, he heard the door to the library open and shut again and the little dragon’s voice called out behind him.

“Hey! Wait up!”

Lucid considered briefly pretending he hadn’t heard Spike’s voice. He actually kept on going for a few pony lengths before stopping. Sighing to himself, he turned around to watch Spike run up, an empty basket clutched in one claw and a thick scroll in the other.

“Yes?” Lucid asked as pleasantly as he could muster. Spike’s brusque manner and snide comments in the library had hardly endeared him to Lucid.

“I, uh… I need to go to the Apple farm too and get some apples, and get a few things around town.” He looked back at the library where a couple faces were practically pressed up against the window, disappearing as soon as Lucid took a look also. “Twilight said that I should go with you.”

He sounded as unhappy at the prospect as Lucid himself was. Still, he was willing to give Spike the benefit of the doubt. Everyone deserved a second chance, after all. Maybe he would be less frustratingly standoffish when out of the presence of the mare he so obviously had a crush on.

To his credit, Spike did look somewhat abashed and had a hard time looking directly at Lucid Thought. He imagined that Twilight must have given him something of a dressing down before sending him on his way on what seemed to be a rather thin excuse.

“Very well,” he said shortly and nodded his head towards town. “Let’s be on our way, then.”

He started off again at a slow walk, then a slow canter when he saw that the smaller and shorter dragon had no trouble keeping up with him. He’d made the decision early on to skirt the edges of town to avoid the worst of the noon-time traffic, and he wasn’t going to alter his route for his unwanted tag-along.

“I’m curious,” Spike said after the library disappeared around the edge of a building on their way northerly around Ponyville, away from the Everfree Forest on a well-travelled dirt path.

“About what?” Lucid replied as amicably as possible.

“How did you and Rarity know each other?”

“We don’t, really,” Lucid replied, trying not to roll his eyes. The question was as predictable as any. “I got a letter from her about a month past asking if I could do a restoration on a book that was near to ruined.” He flicked his ears back for a moment, thoughtful, “If I had to guess, I would say she got my name from the Canterlot Archive. I am registered there as a scribe and a large part of my business actually revolves around restoring old tomes.”

“Oh… So… You don’t really know her, then?”

“She’s a client, Spike. I tend to know my regulars, but not the ones who send me a tome via the post.”

“Do you think she likes me?”

Lucid stopped dead for a moment before trotting to catch up. “I’m sorry?”

“I have a crush on her.”

“No, really?” Lucid couldn’t stop the snide remark before it came out. “Ah… Sorry.”

“Yes, really.”

He stared incredulously at Spike, wondering if the dragon had not even heard the snide tone. He shook his head after a moment’s consideration and flicked his tail figuratively at the feelings of apprehension regarding Spike and really took a look at his travel companion.

He was obviously lost in thought, wringing his claws around the basket’s handles, his eyes apparently focused on the scroll tucked under the checkered red and white cloth. He hadn’t immediately recognized the symptoms of a lovesick heart, but saw them clearly now.

He wondered idly how many stallions Spike had had a chance to really talk with. He’d heard of the six friends from Ponyville who’d saved Equestria from first Nightmare Moon, then Discord and most recently from King Sombra and how they were all female.

He hadn’t realized that the dragon companion with them must have been Spike until recently. No wonder Spike seemed almost eager to talk to him; he must be one of the few stallions Spike’d had a chance to have a long conversation with whom he wouldn’t feel overly embarrassed talking to. That is, not a friend he’d known for a long time who wasn’t also a mutual friend of Rarity’s.

“Why are you asking me? What I know about Rarity could fit on a single page. And not a very large one, at that.” He snorted and glanced askance at Spike, “You barely know me! For all I can tell, you don’t even like me.”

“Well…” Spike fidgeted for a moment with the basket, looking a bit ashamed. “I didn’t know you were married at first. You are married, right? I mean, you’ve got the band and all.”

“Yes, Spike. I am married. I have no interest in courting Rarity. Or Twilight for that matter.”

They walked on in silence for a while, passing several other ponies out for a gallop or a trot; some on errands and others with their special somepony. A few pegasi wheeled about in play or at work overhead, he could not tell. Some broke up the clouds attempting to form here and there, dark and ominous clouds that looked like none others that Lucid had seen to the north, others chased each other around in obvious play.

“How did you know she was the one?” Spike spoke up suddenly out of nowhere after several minutes of silence.

“My wife?” Lucid considered the question seriously for a long while. Spike, surprisingly, waited patiently and looked up at him from time to time. “It’s… Not something that’s easy to put into words. Ponies have been trying to put it to word for millennia, and I have yet to find a poem or turn of phrase that adequately describes how I felt about Cerulean Dream the first time I really saw her for who she was.”

“Was she beautiful?”

“Oh, undoubtedly. She still is.” He smiled as he pictured his wife in his mind against the backdrop of the schoolyard. She smiled at him brilliantly, her golden eyes shining like the sun against her coat of deep blue, the same shade as the clearest summer sky , her mane white and streaked with grey floated about her like the most perfect of –

“Hey!” Spike poked him in the flank, breaking him out of his reverie. He dodged aside from a cart moving too swiftly in the opposite direction. “She must really be something,” he said after the cart had gone past, smiling impishly.

“Yeah.” He shook his head to clear the cobwebs out of his head, “But that’s not the reason I fell in love with her. I had a crush on her, sure. Everypony must have had a crush on her.”

“You didn’t love her first?” Spike sounded honestly surprised.

Lucid laughed at Spike’s naiveté, “How could I? I didn’t know anything about her. But after I did, puppy love went out with the straw and I was lost to her forever.”

Spike blushed deeply at first, then nodded thoughtfully and clutched the basket closer to himself. He remained silent for a good part of the rest of the trip to Sweet Apple Acres. Lucid well understood the youngster’s dilemma.

His parents had acted the same way when he first professed his love for Cerulean Dream as a tender-hearted foal of barely 8 years, and he had reacted with less tact and insight than Spike was. Fourteen years on, Lucid had the benefit of experience and life behind him to say that his crush wasn’t near so strong as his love for his wife.

“Do… Do you think Rarity could love me?” He asked when Sweet Apple Acres was coming into view around the northern edge of town. The heartbreak in the young dragon’s voice pulled at Lucid’s heart.

“As a friend, undoubtedly,” he said as tactfully as he could.

“But not anything more?”

“That’s not my place to say, Spike.” Spike hung his head, appearing crushed. “Do you want to hear my advice?” When Spike nodded glumly, Lucid continued, “Be the best friend you can.”

“Is that all?” Spike sounded incredulous.

“Do you know who my absolute best friend is?” He countered in a serious tone.

To his surprise, Spike didn’t immediately blurt out an answer, but seemed to consider it carefully. He was less surprised, then, when Spike came back with a genuinely insightful answer for one so young.

“Your wife?”

“Right in one,” Lucid said with a grin.

Spike remained silent for the rest of the walk down the path to Sweet Apple Acres, apparently lost in thought.

Chapter %i%: Bookin' 2: Frantic Scootaloo

Chapter 5: Bookin' 2: Frantic Scootaloo

Scootaloo zipped speedily along the bumpy dirt road towards the Apple farm on her scooter, wings buzzing and a dust cloud rising in her wake. In her mouth she carried a rolled up flyer for the Daring Do play company coming to town next week.

Oooh! Where is she? Scootaloo thought frantically, looking around wildly for her idol, Rainbow Dash. She knew, like most of Ponyville did after that incident at the hospital, that Rainbow loved the books about the intrepid pegasus explorer and archeologist.

She was hoping the opportunity to see them perform live would be something that they could do together as sisters. She’d been so excited after Rainbow Dash had taken her under her wing, and she was getting used to the idea of having a big sister to do stuff with.

She’d been looking all over town for Rainbow, but hadn’t found her anywhere; not even at her cloudy home outside of town. She’d spent nearly an hour shouting up at it, thinking Rainbow had just been sleeping in again since it wasn’t her day for cloudbusting.

Since Applejack and Rainbow Dash were pretty close friends, being top notch athletes and all, she was hoping that Applejack would have some idea where she was.

She didn’t notice, looking all over as she was, the two slower moving figures on the road ahead of her until she was almost upon them. It certainly didn’t help that the pair didn’t have their own very obvious dust cloud to help her see them.

“Hey!” She cried out, “Watch out!” But too late and too muffled with the paper in her mouth that she refused to let go of; she was moving too fast and came too close to swerve. She did try, but lost control and the scooter rolled and tossed her off it as it went spinning away in a wild tumble.

She rammed into the side of the larger stallion as he turned, alarmed, at the shout coming from so close. It didn’t help that he froze when he saw her coming and was unable to just recover from what she considered a relatively harmless crash. Instead, she ended up hitting him high and sending him tumbling.

“Umph!” he whinnied. His saddlebags flew clear and dumped their contents on the dusty road. Quills, stoppered ink bottles, scrolls, parchments, and a few books spilled out in a great mess and clatter of glass clinking together and the gem bag bursting open and spilling forth the copious shades and hues of gems he’d gotten from Rarity.

Scootaloo lost her grip on the precious rolled up flyer and ended up sprawled atop the stunned stallion, his eyes crossed comically. Her scooter flipped over a few times and crashed into Spike. He just staggered a little and recovered quickly, catching the scooter in one claw like this was an everyday occurrence.

“Where is it?! Where is it?!” She spied a scroll lying close by and grabbed it in her mouth, not noticing there were quite a few nearly identical laying just beyond it in the cloud of dust the crash had kicked up.

“’M ‘o ‘orry!” She tossed out as she scrambled around the stallion recovering in the road, looking somewhat dazed and a little confused. Spike just offered her the scooter, brushing some of the dust off the hoof-stand. She got back on, fore-hooves on the handles and one hind-hoof ready to kick off.

“Just watch where you’re going, Scoot,” he admonished, “Where are you going in such a hurry anyway?”

“’’Ainbow ‘ash!” she said through the mouthful of paper.

“Rainbow Dash, huh? She’s at the library with Twilight, last I saw her.” Spike answered, pointing back the way Scootaloo had just come.

“Argh!” She groaned and spun the scooter about with a deft kick and was off again, buzzing wings sending up a dust cloud behind her as she took off once more back into town.

Why didn’t I think to check the library? She thought admonishingly, mentally kicking herself. She knew why, though. She didn’t like the library much, and she knew that Rainbow Dash didn’t really enjoy reading much beyond Daring Do and similar stories.

Still, she wanted to be the first to show Rainbow the flyer and every minute that she couldn’t find Rainbow was another minute that she couldn’t spend with her adopted big sister and super cool idol. She just hoped she wasn’t too late.

She paid more attention this time through the town to where she was going and dodged deftly around slower ponies and carts of goods going to and fro across the crowded noon-time streets of Ponyville. She still kicked up a bit of dust on her way through, though, and a few ponies shouted at her from behind a curtain of dust; but she was focused on what was in front, not what was already behind her.

With her speed on the scooter, it didn’t take her long to reach the large tree that housed the library.

Please still be here, she thought to herself as she came to a stop beside the door. She took a deep breath to steady herself and knocked on the door.

Twilight’s voice sounded from inside, “Come on in.”

She went inside to find Twilight and Rainbow Dash sitting together around the center table, each with a book open in front of them. Scootaloo recognized the binding of the book Rainbow had propped against one hoof as one of the Daring Do books with the heroine’s likeness emblazoned across the front.

Seeing Scootaloo come in, Rainbow set the book down and tucked a loose leaf into the pages before closing it.

Scootaloo dashed up and dropped the scroll on the table, feeling excited. “I wanted to show you this, Rainbow! I thought we could go together.” Suddenly shy, she ducked back and sat down, “You know, if you want to.”

“Of course, Scoot!” Rainbow replied happily, “What is it?” She opened up the scroll and started reading.

“Dear Applejack, I wanted you to know that my little sister and I are coming down to Ponyville this year for the Sisterhooves Social. With love, Apple Flower. P.S. Lucid Thought is a good friend of the family, he’s almost a brother to Applebranch. Have fun!” Rainbow tapped a hoof against the paper, plainly confused. “Uh, Scoot…”

With each word, Scootaloo’s horror grew and grew. She felt as though a giant pit had opened underneath her and threatened to swallow her whole.

“No, no, no!” She cried as tears filled her eyes, “That’s not the flyer!” Sudden realization came up rushing up from the pit at her feet. Vertigo assaulted her, and she knew with a sudden certainty where it must be. She collapsed, realizing her mistake.

“You don’t want to go to the Sisterhooves Social?” Rainbow asked, sounding concerned and still confused. She stepped down off the bench and nudged Scootaloo with a gentle hoof.

“No!” She paused as the realization hit her and cried again. “I mean yes! But… there was this awesome flyer too, and I ran into this other pony and he must have dropped the letter and… and I must have picked up that letter instead!” She gestured frantically with her hooves, trying to tell the story as quickly as she could and got overbalanced in her mad dash to retell the events of just a few minutes ago.

Scootaloo fell forward with a little thump and covered her eyes with her hooves, feeling mortally embarrassed at the mix up.

Twilight intervened, “You mean this flyer?” She asked gently, unrolling another flyer from the table and showing it to Scootaloo. “Rainbow Dash brought it in this morning.”

“Yeah! I was going to come find you and see if you wanted to go too,” Rainbow added, rubbing Scootaloo’s mane into a mess.

“Yes! Yes!” She cried out and jumped up, hugging Rainbow tightly, embarrassment forgotten already. “Of course I do!”

“That’s settled, then. But I think you oughta bring this other letter to Applejack,” Rainbow said, pushing the letter, rolled up again and tied with a ribbon, back to Scootaloo. “I’ll catch up with you later. I want to finish this chapter, first, though. Daring Do is being chased across the sky by some nasty Griffons!”

“I’ll see you later, big sis!” Scoot cried, dashing back out without the letter. She went back in just a moment later and sheepishly grabbed it before dashing back out again.