Two Bodies One Soul

Two days after his discovery of gold in the hills above Ponyville, Dust had to do his least favorite part of a miner's job.

You see, Equestria treated different gemstones and precious metals different, legally. All gemstones, from the biggest diamond to the smallest emerald, was considered free game. This was usually because they were seen as purely decorative, as well as dragon food. Previous metals, like silver, were also thought of in the same light, as they had no specific purpose for the crown. Gold, on the other hoof, had a purpose, usually to be melted down into Bits. As such, whenever gold was found anywhere, in any form, it had to be registered with the government.

Gold had accompanied his father on one such occasion, so he knew the basic run-around of such a process. However, he also knew that it would probably take him all day, even in a smaller town like Ponyville.

Begrudgingly, Dust took his leave from Sweet Apple Acres early in the morning, immediately following breakfast. It didn't help matters that he had had to wait an entire day to turn back into a stallion. Of course, now that the Apples knew, and were very friendly about it, he didn't have to hide in the hayloft every other day. Instead, he was tasked with little things, like keeping an eye on Apple Bloom or her friends.

But today, he was back in his preferred form and off to City Hall. When he reached the seat of local governance, he was pleasantly surprised to find it mostly empty. There were a couple of minor officials strolling about, as well as a few ponies he recognized from being at Sugarcube Corner.

"Excuse me," a mare's voice called, Dust turned his head to see that there was indeed a royal blue Earth mare looking at him, "You look lost, can I help you?"

"I hope so," Dust replied, turning his body to face the mare properly, "I am looking for the pony I would talk to to stake a claim."

"Stake a claim," the mare asked, obviously confused by Dust's use of technical jargon.

"Uh...I struck gold, and I need to report it."

"Oh," the mare said, her eyes still indicating that she was lost, "Um...I actually have no idea. Let me see if anypony knows about that."

"OK," Dust responded hesitantly, "you should have the forms somewhere, it is government policy whenever one finds gold."

"OK," the mare said, putting on her best friendly smile, "I'll go check."

The mare walked off, leaving Dust to kick around the main room. He had to admit that Ponyville's City Hall much different than its counterparts in Vanhoover or Las Pegasus. He doubted more than ten ponies actually worked here, including the receptionist-type he had just spoken to. Finding that there really wasn't much to this building, Dust decided to lie down, take a load off, and wait for the mare to return.

That wait ended up lasting 20 minutes. Dust had waited longer to get his Dealer's License in Las Pegasus, but at least during that wait there were other ponies to interact with. Eventually, however, the blue mare returned, accompanied by another mare. This one was a tan Earth pony with a gray mane that made her look much older than Dust would have estimated. Her white collar with the green bauble definitely set her apart, along with the small, yellow-rimmed glasses. Dust rose back to his hooves when he realized they were coming in his direction.

"Here's the pony who was talking about striking gold, Mayor Mare," the original mare said to the second one, "I'll admit I have no idea what form he's talking about."

"Thank you Type," the second mare replied, "I'll take care of it."

The first mare left, leaving only Dust and the other mare.

"Ms. Mare," Dust began, "I assume by your name that you're the Mayor of Ponyville?"

"Correct," the mayor replied, "Type said you told her you struck gold in the hills?"

"Yes," Dust reached back and fished into his saddlebag. Per Rarity's suggestion, he had decided not to make the vest a permanent part of his attire. When his hoof came back out, it was holding the gold nugget.

"Oh, my," Mayor gasped, adjusting her glasses, "you truly found that around Ponyville?"

"By accident, yes."

"They always said there wasn't any gold in Ponyville, but here you've proved them wrong."

"Well," Dust tittered his head back and forth, "my special talent isn't finding gold for nothing."

"Do you think there's more?"

"Hard to say for certain," Dust said, pocketing the nugget, "But in my experience, where there is one speck of gold, there is plenty more. As such, in addition to reporting this gold finding, per the law, I would also like to apply for a mining permit."

"To tell you the truth, nopony has ever asked for those two things here. We don't even have the proper forms on-hoof."

Dust sighed, "I would like to begin my operation as soon as possible. How long would it take to get the forms sent from Canterlot?"

"About three days, if the weather is good. And then another three to send them in and receive a reply."

Dust sighed again and rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof, "That's a long time, miss mayor."

"I know, I do apologize. We just haven't had a reason to keep them on file."

Dust shook his head, his plan for the day in shreds and his hope of starting his project quickly all but dead. But then, a thought popped into his head.

"Thank you Mayor Mare," he nodded, "but I do believe I know a faster way."

"You're welcome," Mayor returned with a smile, "and I hope you are successful in your endeavor."

*--*--*--*--*

It was days like this that made Twilight Sparkle happy to be alive. She had absolutely nothing on her docket. No correspondence to or from Princess Celestia, no royal duties of any kind, and no terrifying villains or monsters to take care of. She could literally spend her entire day sitting in her castle's gargantuan library and read. Life was good.

Then, her otherwise-engrossed senses picked up something new. A chime, a series of chimes, that steadily grew louder. Twilight recognized it as the castle doorbell, which had been magically enchanted so that it could be heard from anywhere in the massive structure.

However, this brought confusion. If it was one of her close friends, they would have shown themselves in. So that meant it was a pony she wasn't familiar with, or at least not on such close terms. Deciding to beat Spike to the punch, she lit up her horn and teleported to just inside the main door. Just as she suspected, Spike was there, about to open the gate.

"Oh, hi Twilight," the drake said, "you almost scared me."

"Don't worry Spike," the princess replied, "I'm just curious as to who is ringing."

Spike opened the door slowly at first, but was quick to relax his stance and fully open the barrier.

"Hey, Dust," Spike greeted, "What are you doing here?"

"To talk to Twilight," Dust replied, his gaze rising from the dragon to see Twilight, "Oh good, you're already here."

"Indeed I am," Twilight responded, trying to sound official, "What do you need to talk to me about?"

"I need to procure certain forms that deal with registering a gold find. In addition, I also wish to apply for a mining permit."

"Ah, I see. I was wondering how long it would take you to do that. They didn't have the proper forms at City Hall?"

"No, they didn't," Dust replied with a raise of his eyebrows, "and the mayor said it would take a week to ferry the necessary paperwork to and from Canterlot. I was hoping you had a faster way."

"Well," Twilight began, but was cut off.

"Sure we can help," Spike stated, "We have a direct link to Princess Celestia. I'm sure she could get you what you need."

"Spike," Twilight straightened, "your personal mail delivery system is not to be used lightly.

Both Spike and Dust gave Twilight a look which screamed 'stop being such a straightlace.'

"But," Twilight continued, "you are Pinkie's friend, and our friend as well. I'm sure the princess won't mind."

"Excellent," Dust exclaimed, "How do we start?"

Spike pulled a quill and a sheet of parchment out of thin air, "Like this. Just say what you want to say and I'll write it all down."

"OK," Dust said, "How about this..."

Dear Princess Celestia,

My name is Gold Dust. You don't know me, but I am an old friend of Pinkie Pie's. I hope it is not inconvenient that I am sending you a letter this way, but I feel this is an important matter.

You see, as my name may imply, I am in the gold business. My father, Gold Strike, has provided gold from his mines to the crown for many years, as did his father before him.

Now, I have discovered gold in the hills which surround Ponyville. I only have a nugget so far, but where there is one, there is bound to be more.

I am fully aware that, by law, I must register this finding with the crown. Unfortunately, Ponyville City Hall does not have a copy of this document. Nor do they have a copy of an application to apply for a mining permit. If it pleases your highness, I would like to receive both forms, and I would be much obliged if you could do it at your earliest convenience.

Your faithful servant,

Gold Dust

The letter completed, Spike rolled the paper up, held it out in his claw, and blew a green flame which magically wisked the paper away.

"That is pretty cool," Dust commented, "How long does it usually take for her to reply?"

"Oh, Celestia reads all mail from Spike immediately," Twilight explained, "As a matter of fact, i wouldn't be surprised if we received a reply any second."

Twilight was right on the money, as not ten seconds after saying this, Spike burped up another green flame, out of which dropped three scolls. Spike picked up the one tied with gold ribbon first.

Mr. Dust,

It is always a pleasure to hear from my subjects, no matter who they might know. And do not fear, as you have actually caught me on an otherwise very uneventful day.

I have met both your father and grandfather in the past. And it pleases me that their heir has followed in the family footsteps and have come across another source of the precious metal.

Along with this letter, I will send the appropriate forms that you requested. Do not hesitate to return them to me via Spike once you have completed them.

Princess Celestia

Celestia was true to her word, of course. The other two scrolls were indeed the very documents that Dust needed. He and Spike set to work immediately filling them out. Dust could write, of course, but the hoofwriting that was created by holding a pen in one's mouth could not compare to one using claws or magic.

Spike sent the forms, as requested, and not a minute later, Dust had his hooves on an offical permit to mine the hills of Ponyville. His task for the day complete, he left Twilight's castle.

*--*--*--*--*

Dust walked to Sugarcube Corner a very happy pony. Not only had he done exactly what he set out to do today, but he had done it all in one morning. And, on top of that, he had official correspondence with Princess Celestia, and that would make any laypony such as himself feel pretty good.

Now that the only thing on his checklist was complete, he could settle down to lunch at Pinkie's place.

He arrived to a fairly typical lunch scene. Pinkie was at the counter, and while she was currently tending to the needs of a mint green unicorn, she still gave Dust an energetic wave. Dust also noticed two other ponies, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, the actual owners, scrambling around like mad behind the scenes. When the unicorn vacated the counter, Dust stepped up.

"What's with the Cakes," he asked Pinkie.

"Oh, they're super busy," she answered, "A big order came in this morning that has to be filled by tonight. And Pumpkin and Pound have been upset all day."

Dust knew about the Cake twins, but had never actually seen them.

"What about," he asked, curious.

"I'm not sure," Pinkie sighed, "Mrs. Cake has tried every trick in the book. That's a lot of tricks."

"Do you mind if I give it a shot?"

Pinkie looked at him wide-eyed, "Are you sure, Dusty? They can be quite a handful sometimes."

"I've dealt with foals before. I have three younger siblings."

"Earth pony siblings," Pinkie specified, "Pumpkin and Pound are a unicorn and a pegasus, they can get into big trouble real fast."

Dust just scoffed, "Mrs. Cake," he called into the back.

"What is it, dearie," she replied, though she couldn't be seen, "We're kind of busy."

"Just wanted to know if you'd be alright with me trying to calm your foals?"

At this, Mrs. Cake popped her head out from the kitchen, her eyes beginning to get that tired look to them, "Are you sure you can handle them?"

"Sure I'm sure," Dust smiled confidently.

"OK," Mrs. Cake said, "They're in their room, upstairs."

Dust gave a big smile as he turned to go up the stairs leading to the living quarters of the building. He had always been good with foals. The rational side of his brain said that it came with experience. The other part thought it may have been his mare side shining through. Either way, it was useful at a time like this.

It didn't take him long to hear the sounds of fussing foals coming from a room which had the door ajar. He peeked his head in to see two foals, an orange filly and a brownish colt sitting in their white crib. They didn't seem sad or angry, just fidgety.

Dust got as low as he could while still able to walk and started into the room. He knew from experience that foals often got scared by ponies they didn't know, especially if those ponies were much larger than them. Pumpkin and Pound got very quiet as they observed this strange new stallion slither across the ground, eventually ending up right at the foot of the crib. Dust slowly lifted his head so that his muzzle sat even with the mattress of the crib, his golden eyes peering at the two foals.

"Hi there," he said in the sweetest voice his scratchy stallion self could muster, "My name is Dusty."

The two foals blinked at him, but didn't make a sound.

"I am friends with your Auntie Pinkie."

At the reference to their favorite foalsitter, the twins began smiling and giggling a little.

"Your Auntie Pinkie told me you two are upset. But that's not true, is it?"

The two foals looked at each other, their smiles dropping into tiny, adorable little pouts.

"Aww," Dust sighed, sounding like a stallion version of Pinkie, "what's the matter?"

After a short while, Pumpkin let out a single word, "Inkie."

Inkie. Dust turned the word over in his head. It didn't mean anything to him. At first, he shrugged it off as the unintelligible babbling of a foal, but then, Pumpkin repeated the word, followed by Pound echoing the sentiment.

"Inkie," Dust echoed himself, trying to make sense of it, "Inkie...Inkie...Inkie...Pinkie!"

The two foals brightened up again and started laughing. Dust started chuckling to himself, enjoying this little game. After a short time, he stood all the way up and made his way over to the long side of the crib, laying his head over the bar.

"You want to see Auntie Pinkie?"

"Yay," came the reply from the two foals.

Dust made a move to unlatch the side, but before he could, he noticed a blue glow come from Pumpkin's horn. She gently floated herself up and onto Dust's back. The stallion looked back as the unicorn foal smiled at him.

"That's very good, Pumpkin," he smiled, then felt a weight land on his head, rolling his eyes up to see Pound, "Guess you flew up there, huh?"

The pegasus colt smiled.

"Be careful, you two," Dust warned, "I'm not a carnival pony."

Dust carefully made his way out of the room and down the stairs once again. He was certain that if they foals slipped, that he could catch them, but he still wanted to be as safe as possible.

When he reached the ground floor and the sweet shop again, he scanned the room for the pink mare. As he did so, he heard various cooing sounds, coming both from the foals on his body, and the various mares in the shop. He silently hoped that the latter was meant for the foals and not for him.

"Dusty," Pinkie called as she came out from the back, "what are you doing?"

"The foals asked for you, so I decided to bring them to the source."

"Inkie," the two foals said in unison.

Pinkie let out a small gasp, "Oh, that is so cute."

"What? You've never heard them say that before?"

"No. I guess they can't make the 'P' sound as in Pinkie Pie is the perfect party pony."

"Not yet," Dust shook the urge to shake his head with Pound sitting on it, "Took me a minute to figure it out myself."

Pinkie walked over and picked Pumpkin off of Dust's back. She seemed perfectly comfortable leaving Pound in his elevated position.

"I've been so super duper busy today,' Pinkie explained, "I guess I forgot to make time to play with the twins."

"Well they're all yours now," Dust chuckled as Pound lighted off of his head and hovered for a bit before landing on Pinkie's back.

Dust turned around to make his leave, for some reason having lost the appetite he came in with. However, before he got very far, he felt a tingling sensation around his neck. Peering down, he noticed a familiar blue aura encircling his neck in a thin ring. Turning his head to look behind him, he saw Pumpkin's horn alit, confirming his suspicions. The little unicorn didn't have enough strength to stop or pull him, but did catch his attention.

"Usty," the foal exclaimed, "Usty."

"What did you say, Pumpkin," Pinkie exclaimed in turn.

"Usty," Pumpkin repeated, "Usty."

Dust couldn't help but bow his head to hide a smile.

"Sorry ladies," he joked, looking back up, "seems I've been claimed."

This elicited amused giggles from some of the mares in the shop, including Pinkie.

"You're silly Dusty," the pink mare smiled.

"Like I said, I'm good with foals."