The Travelling Argument

"Now we just need a mighty wizard," said Evening Flash. The young mare unicorn warrior had been on a search for worthy questing companions for days now, to no avail. There are hardly any honorable adventurers left in Equestria. She pounded her staff on the ground in frustration all day in the town square of Canterlot just waiting for the perfect ponies to step forward.

And to her delight a young noble looking unicorn stepped forward. "I'll give it a go," he said.

"And what are your credentials, good wizard?" asked Evening.

The noble wizard hesitated. "I'm not sure, I've never done this before. Do I shout "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" at every demon we come across?"

"Well... that is nice, but-" Evening stepped much closer to the wizards nose. "-can you make with the sparkly, amazing spells?"

The wizard stepped back. "Well I can make a pink sparkly bubble shield, and I also learned a new 'turn everything upside-down' spell," He cast the spell and soon began floating up into the air upside down. "Seriously, you all look silly and it's like I'm walking on the ceiling."

"Oooh, you're in wizard," said Evening, amazed at the sparkly levitation magic.

Many other ponies were caught in the spell and began flying upside down as well.

"Dude, put me down," said a nearby confused pegasus, who had earlier offered her chillax to Evening in an adventure.

"Not my call!" said Evening, though she began floating upside down as well.

"I can't stop it!" said the wizard. He tried to terminate the spell, but failed and only managed to make himself float up higher.

The pegasus began flailing around in the air helplessly "Help... please."

"Fine... wizard, our axe-pony isn't enjoying this. Please right us," said Evening. But the wizard was already out of hearing range.

"Axe pony?" asked the pegasus. "I'll have you know I'm a highly-trained rogue! There is nopony more adept with a bow or a lockpick! Axe pony indeed..."

"But you offered your chillaxe. That's not an axe made of magic ice?" asked Evening.

"I thought it was a very cold spray-on deodorant. Aaaand it's fallen out of my pocket now. There it goes, rolling away." The pegasus mourned the loss of her handy spray-on deodorant. She always loved that cool feeling of it beneath her wings.

"Noo! We could have used that. I think our wizard has abandoned us," said Evening.

The rogue pouted. "So are we stuck like this forever? I don't want to be stuck upside down forever, though I guess it could come in handy... want to play I Spy?"

"I Spy? Is that a rogue game or something?" asked Evening. "I'm still pretty new to the outside world."

"Don't worry about it. Here, I'll go first! I spy with my little eye, something beginning with H."

The unicorn warrior thought for a moment. "Hmmm. Hilt? Halberd? Oh I know, a Half-Staff!"

"Close enough! It was a hillbilly! There are hillbilly ponies all over the place! Haha, you're pretty good at this. Your turn."

Evening was beginning to enjoy this rogue game. "Alright. I spy with my little eye, something that begins with B!"

"Oooooh, balloons? Battleaxe? Bananas? It's bananas isn't it?"

"My master's favorite snack. Your turn!"

"Okay, okay. I spy with my little eye, something that begins with C."

"That's easy! Caltrops. They fell out of your bag earlier."

"Oh great," the rogue sighed. "Those things cost like 15 bits each. At least we're not standing on them!"

"Right. Your turn!"

"I could have sworn it was your turn. We should probably find somepony to undo this spell, the blood is starting to rush into my head."

"IS ANYPONY HERE A WIZARD THAT CAN REVERSE A 'TURN EVERYTHING UPSIDE-DOWN' SPELL?!" yelled Evening.

A magical blast came from a random part of the town square and the two ponies fell back onto the ground with an 'Umph'.

The pegasus cringed in pain. "Hnnng... I landed on all... the... caltrops..."

"Oh, ouch. I'm sorry. I have some healing potions if you want one," offered Evening.

"That would be nice... rogues are squishy."

"Squishy, but a stalwart ally. Drink up, friend." Evening pulled out a nice big healing potion from her saddlepack and handed it to the rogue.

The rogue drank it and shook her head. "Whoah! That's some, hic, strong stuff! What's in it?"

Evening smiled sheepishly. "It's a special blend made by my order. I'm a lightweight, so this one only contains 25 percent alcohol. Sorry."

"25 pershent? Pfft, I could drink more than, hic, that in my, hic, sleep! Shtand shtill! Shtop shpinning around me like that!" The rogue wobbled around.

"Are you okay?" asked Evening.

"Me? I'm absholutely-" The rogue tripped. Thump thump thump, thump thump thump, thump thump thump. "Who put thoshe shtairsh there?"

"Note to self, everyone is a lightweight compared to my order... I think we should take you to a healer."

"What? I don't need a healer! Jusht look how agile I am!" The rogue jumps up into the air and falls with a splat. "Okay, maybe I need a healer."

A small pegasus in full plate armor walks by, the heavy armor looking almost ridiculous on her small frame, and notices the drunk and injured rogue. "I'm a healer. Are you okay?"

The rogue shook her head drowsily. "Well that'sh shome convenient timing. I think I broke a bone... like... all of them."

The healer pegasus let out a gasp as she looked over the rogue. "How did you get so hurt?"

The rogue's head bobbed up and down. "Accidensh happen, offisher. I shwear, thoshe shtairs came out of nowhere.

Hey lady, get your hoovesh off of me. I'm married."

"This is partially my fault, Priestess," said Evening with a sheepish smile. "I did not think the alcohol content of my healing potions would effect her so much"

"Oh, you're one of those warriors," the healer scoffed as she continued fixing up the rogue's injuries. "Just be more careful in the future. And give me back my purse, thief."

The rogue shook her head in confusion. "Oh... oh, this is YOUR purse? Oh wow, I had no idea. It just fell out of the sky into my hooves and I decided that maybe I'd hold onto it for safekeeping. You know, until I could find an orphanage to donate it to, or even its original owner! I'd never steal anything. That would be wrong."

The healer gave her a suspicious look. "And I assume the lockpicks are for rescuing baby bunnies too." She finished up tying the rogue's injuries up with bandages.

"Ah, well, padlocks are a natural predator of baby bunnies. Didn't you know? Yeah, I'm a...biologist! Yes, that'll do. I save baby bunnies from padlocks by using my lockpicks! Sometimes, they trap those bunnies in heavily fortified rooms full of gold, and it would be wrong if I didn't help them out." The rogue stood up and took a few steps to test her strength. Much better, but not perfect.

The healer rolled her eyes. "Just don't let the city guard catch you, they aren't as nice as me."

The rogue let out a chuckle. "They haven't caught me yet! That is to say, they haven't caught me yet because I haven't been doing anything illegal. Yeah."

The healer gave her another odd look. "Right. Tell you what, I can tell you two need a moral compass. How about I join your team, and make sure neither of you dies earlier than The Sisters deem necessary?"

"That's an excellent idea! I'm in no hurry to turn into jam, and I think a healer more or less completes our team! I guess we just need a job now."

"Well, I was sent on a quest to find-" Evening reached into her bags and looked at a set of notes. "-The Kuchen-meisters of Habichtheim. Does that count as a job?"

The rogue went to Evenings side and looked at the notes herself. "Oooh, what are they? Are they shiny?"

"They're bakers," answered the healer. "Why would you be sent out to find bakers?"

"My master told me that it was an epic quest to find my self," answered Evening confused. "I didn't know she was sending me to find cooks."

"How are bakers going to help you find yourself?" asked the rogue. "I mean, don't get me wrong... I am so in... but that seems really weird."

"Well... Habichtheim is hard to get to without wings. It's Griffin territory," answered the healer.

"I wonder if I could steal a pair of wings," thought the rogue. She quickly looked at her backside, seeing her torn up wings with bandages. "Oh right. Silly me."

"If we find another wizard, he might be able to conjure up a set of wings for me," theorized Evening.

"Maybe he can fix mine as well! They're a bit... erm... broken, and I've never been able to fly much. Oh, and I should have introduced myself by now. My name's Sky Runner. Pleased to meet you!"

"A pegasus that can't fly well? That's ridiculous," scolded the healer.

"Hey hey hey, let's not bring race into this. So then, what's your name? Also, here's your wallet back. It, er, fell."

The healer sighed. "Willow Leaf, of the Order of Two Sisters. We worship the beauty and brutality of the Sun and Moon. I can fly just fine outside of my uniform, so maybe I can carry you. And don't steal from me."

"I am Evening Flash, student of the Warrior Celestia," introduced Evening. "I can't fly."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet the two of you! Funny thing. I wasn't expecting to make new friends when I woke up this morning," Sky Runner looked around and spotted a couple of guards. "Now, on an unrelated note, we should probably head somewhere a bit more... private. You know, where the Royal Guards can't recognize certain innocent pegasi that may or may not be wanted for misunderstandings. And I don't steal, thank you very much."

"Yeah... I totally believe you," said Willow sarcastically. "The Prancing Pegasus is just around the corner if you want to get out from prying eyes. Plus, the Cider there comes from the Royal Orchards. It's very delicious."

"Yeah, I've... tried it," said Sky cautiously. "Well, if it gets us off the streets while we work out how to find these bakers, then why not? As long as we don't run into Sword Shield or Shining Armour or anypony like that, I'm in."

Evening looked at Sky in disbelief. "You know those ponies? They are legends back at the Order!"

Sky nodded. "We've met a few times. It was... eventful."

"That's amazing!"

"She means that she wound up being arrested, for what I'm sure was all a misunderstanding," explained Willow. "I'm going to get a drink." She walked around the corner towards the tavern, her armor softly making clanking sounds with each step.

"I believe you, Sky Runner. You have to tell me all about it at the tavern Willow suggested."

"Well, I've got one or two stories, yeah! I'd be happy to tell you! And really it was more of a false imprisonment for a crime I didn't commit, but I happened to be in the vicinity at the time. Racists." Sky looked in the direction of the guards again, her heart beat accelerated. "Oh, and we should probably go to that inn. I think I see them coming."

Evening looked around in a panic. "Where? Is my armor on straight? I have to look good when meeting such-"

Sky cut Evening off by grabbing her saddlepack and dragging her along the ground towards the tavern as quickly as her legs would allow.

"Sky? Why are you dragging me?" asked Evening.

Sky continued to drag the young unicorn around the corner and out of sight. "Look, no time to explain. When we get into the inn, I'll tell you all about it. For now, you just need to know that they're not my biggest fans and that they might be following me."

Evening sighed. "I wanted to meet them... but I understand, wrongful accusations happen. You can stop dragging me now."