Pen Pals

A Few Days Later

Apples,

I will give you your shovel back when I am done with it, I already told you that a million times. I’m busy being awesome and other shovel-related awesome stuff. And your orchards get enough water as it is! I spend half of my time watering your trees! I could be doing more useful stuff instead, like practicing for the Wonderbolts, or using your shovel.

Awesomely Yours,

Rainbow Dash

Applebloom sighed and forked over the letter to her sister to read. If this was how it was going to be, she would rather fail the assignment and take the punishment. Actually, come to think of it, this was punishment enough.

--

“Sweetie, darling. Can you come here for a second?” Rarity called out politely from her workroom. It wasn’t often that she requested her little sister’s help with matters of design, but she was making a dress for Filthy Rich’s daughter Diamond Tiara and Sweetie Belle was about the right size to test the dimensions of it.

“I’m busy, sis!” Rarity shook her head, her red rimmed glasses falling down her nose. Her sister had something to do? What could it be? Her cohorts were both away for the day with family, and Sweetie Belle would never go crusading alone. (Not that Rarity would let her anyways.)

So, the pearly white pony sat down her needle and thread and trotted out of her Fortress of Fabulostiy, a measuring tape draped around her neck. When she entered the main ‘show room’ of Carousel Boutique, she saw her sister curiously sitting in front of the mail slot on the door.

“If I may ask, what are you doing?” Rarity was curious, sure her little sister could be a bit odd at times. But watching a mail slot was close to a new record, even moreso since there’s no post on Sundays.

“Waiting for the mail.” The small unicorn answered, her eyes never leaving the metal slot.

“Sweetie Belle, you do know mail doesn’t come on Sunday, right?” Rarity trotted closer, she wasn’t psoitve on how long Sweetie had been sitting there, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“Not pony mail.” Curiouser and curiouser. What could that possibly mean? Just then, a knock came from the door. Before Rarity could even think of her trademark line to customers, Sweetie had flung the door open to reveal a rather imposing Griffon on the other side.

“Sweetie Belle?” The Griffon spoke, it was the voice of a soldier through and through. Rarity had spent enough time around Royal Guards to know that tone, stoic, masculine, unwavering. His appearance about matched as well, all black, right down to his tail with some gold accents around his eyes and talons. But he was not wearing any form of armor, oddly enough.

“That’s me!” The Griffon held out an envelope that had very intricate writing on it. Sweetie grabbed it gingerly between her teeth and took it from the soldier. “Fank you.” The messenger nodded, then turned around and waled off. “I’ll be up in mah room.” The young pony spoke through the envelope in her mouth.

“Right...” Rarity turned around, still a little weirded out by the events that just unfolded in her parlour, and went back to her workroom.

Upstairs in the room that had various Cutie Mark Crusaders memorabelia littered throughout it, Sweetie Belle opened her letter. The writing on the parchment was magnificent! It wasbeautiful cursive written in the prettiest ink she had ever seen!

Dear Sweetie Belle,

When my father told me that I may be recieving some letters from Equestria in the near future I thought they would be from nobles, or perhaps ambassadors looking for my favor. I had not the slightest inkling that it would be from a filly my age.

I will admit, it’s a nice change of pace from the stuffy letters I often recieve in the post.  But there is something I do not understand, what is a ‘comic book’? My father has many books, but none detailing the escopades of this Crgonar the Barbarian.  Was he an Equestrian hero of some sort? You must tell me more.

Signed,

Prince GIlo Raggedbeak, Crowned Prince of the Griffon Kingdoms

“He’s never heard of Crognar?” Sweetie Belle cried out incredulously. “Who hasn’t heard of Crognar? It’s like everywhere! Even Princess Luna’s heard of him!” Sweetie Belle couldn’t help but rant, this was ridiculous! She had to write him back. Right. Now!

Scootaloo sighed dejectedly, her ears laid flat in boredom. Her parents had decided to take her on some sort of vacation to someplace or another, she didn’t know, she wasn’t listening. All she knew is that she wasn’t back in Ponyville with her friends. She was in some chariot with her lame dad and lame mom.

Her father handed her a paper bag and told her to eat up. She had seen him get the bag back in Dodge Junction, but she didn’t know what was in it. Curious, she opened it up.

Once upon a time the things within the bag had been jelly filled donuts, her favorite snack in the whole world! Now however, it was a pastry and jelly soup. Just. Her. Luck. Why did horrible things keep happening to her? Why? What did she ever do wrong? Okay, so maybe she broke a few things in her lifetime and blamed it on somepony else, but did that warrant this much bad karma?!

Once again, something was handed to her. An envelope. Her dad said that it had come before they left home and they seemed to have forgotten about it until now. Sure, uh-huh. She didn’t believe that. Not for a second.

On the envelope her name was written, as well as her address in ver haphazard writing. She decided it had to be her ‘pen pal’, so she tore open the letter and began to read.

Dear Scoota-dude,

Sorry you got stuck with me as a pen pal, never really been much of a letter writer anyways. I would’ve got to your letter a bit sooner if I hadn’t been working on some sick new tricks with some little dudes

But hey, I’m not retired, I just don’t do professional stuff anymore. I stil work in the skating community, just littler stuff. Little stuff is still important, alright? Even the little stuff can have major impacts.

~Pony Hawk

Even the little stuff makes a difference, huh...? Well, that lifted Scootaloo’s spirits, if just a little. And what was with the Scoota-dude thing? She wasn’t a dude, she was a filly! Ugh, skaters...

Prince Gilo sat in his room, looking out of the massive window that overlooked the capital city of Talone. He often did this, looked over the city which he would rule someday. It all seemed so..small beneath him. Any citizen he picked out, he could have executed in a heartbeat, any business he could have closed. That power could make anything small.

But mainly, he was watching for his personal letter carrier. This young filly that had written to him, she intrigued the young prince. Her informal writing style specially, his tutors had taught him how to write a letter properly and it was....refreshing to see it done otherwise.

But mostly, he was intrigued by these...comic books. He had asked one of the servant boys about it, and they had told him that it was an action-oriented storybook of sorts that was heavily illustrated. He often did like picture books and illustrations, they were very pleasing to his sensibilities.

He would have to acquire one of these ‘comic books’ from a servant and indulge himself a little. Princely duties could be ever so dull.