Writing History

Chapters

Chapter Two: Nopony You Know
Chapter Three: Cutthroat Business
Chapter Four: The Pinkie Parable
Chapter Five: Honest Labour
Chapter One: Cloudy With a Chance of Weather Ponies

Chapter Two: Nopony You Know

Writing History
Chapter Two
Nopony You Know

So much unlike how I’m used to, I awake from the rays of the sun nestling my face. Looking around I begin to remember why. I had slept in the guest room last night to make room for my unannounced…guest. Grunting, I get out of bed. I cautiously peek outside the window before opening it.

I’ll have no steam clouds assaulting my face today, thank you very much.

Hanging my forelegs out of the window I look out at the city. Unfortunately, my guest room doesn’t have the stunning view of the royal castle line my bedroom does, but on the other hoof I don’t have to look at those horrid chimneys spewing who knows what into the rest of the otherwise scenic view. Instead, this room looks out over the central tourist plaza. The large square is almost exclusively dotted with ethnic restaurants from all over Equestria, gift shops, and all sorts of other attractions for giddy tourists to squander their bits during their stay in Canterlot. Right now however, the plaza was deserted of tourists while the first few early risers began to appear to open up their shops and display their wares. The large empty plaza had an almost eerie feel to it when compared to the otherwise tightly constructed and packed together city. After staring out for a few more moments, I reluctantly close the window. While I enjoy gazing upon the city and it’s splendour, there’s a particular problem I ought attend to.

A problem that is currently sleeping in my bed.

Honestly, what was that mare thinking? She didn’t seem to care much about what I thought; she just wanted a place to stay. Why did I even agree to her joining Werk and I? Even though I had just met her a couple of hours ago she was rapidly becoming the biggest problem in my life. Weaving together an appropriate lecture in my head, I make my way to the bedroom. In the process of pushing open the bedroom door however, I realize I forgot to knock.

Soon after, I was reminded of this fact by a shrill shriek.

‘Can’t a mare get some privacy in here?!’

Stratos magically slams the door shut against my head. The force of the unexpected hit knocks me back. Rubbing my hurt nose, I respond.

‘Frankly? No. Do I need to remind you that I never invited you here? You’re basically intruding.’

‘If Ah’m intrudin’, why did ya let me spend the night?’

The pain in my nose is numbed by anger.

‘Well, it’s not like you gave me much of a choice in that matter.’

The door swings open, revealing the blue coated unicorn. Her mane was freshly brushed, the streaks of yellows acting as a sharp contrast to the black hair. She casually trots past me and proceeds down the stairs.

‘So what’s yer plan for today?’

I let out a sigh, and wince in pain as my muzzle stings. I’ll probably be feeling that for the rest of the day. Fighting the urge to sigh again, I follow Stratos down the stairs.

‘The first point of the day was you leaving. The second was you staying away.’

I almost bump into Stratos when she suddenly stops halfway down the stairs. Quickly, I fix our balance with telekinesis before the both of us could tumble down the stairs. Stratos turns around and looks me in the eyes. The look of innocent panic in her eyes startles me and I almost lose grip of the magic keeping us upright on the stairs.

‘Ah don’t have anywhere else t’ go. Ah don’t know anypony else.’

She clears her throat. Could she uncomfortable as well? I somehow find it hard to believe, to think of Stratos as… well, as a normal pony.

‘Ah can’t go back t’ Cloudsdale, not until Ah have proven Ah can be a weather pony.’

She pauses again, looking as if she were on the verge of tears. She really wants to become a weather pony that much? She looks away before talking again.

‘Please.’

Oh for the love of Celestia, I can’t deal with this. She really cares about this. But, she’s bonkers! I can’t really let her stay, can I? Civilized ponies don’t just fall on some otherpony’s balcony and expect him to give them a roof over their head. And yet… I take another look at the poor mare trying to hold back a sniffle, and I can’t help but think about how much effort she must be putting into acting tough to hide her worries. No! This is absurd, she can’t stay here, and I will tell just have to be frank with her. And so, I open my mouth to tell Stratos she can’t stay here any longer.

‘Fine, you can stay.’

Wait, what? That wasn’t what I meant to say.

Stratos’s face lights up with a smile. Before I could correct myself, she surprises me with an embrace.

‘Thank ya so much! Ah can’t thank ya enough! Ah knew ya where a kind pony!’

Seeing her this happy, I give up all resistance. Looking away from the face buried in my chest, I adjust my glasses. I’m probably going to regret this decision, but for now, it seems I should get comfortable with having a roommate. After patiently waiting several moments with Stratos showing absolutely no sign of ending the embrace any time soon, I clear my throat. She takes a step backward and wipes the tears from her eyes.

‘Sorry ‘bout that. Ah never thought ya would actually let me stay.’

Yeah, me neither. But that ship has sailed, I can’t kick her out after this. Besides, it would be strange letting her join Werk and I on our adventure later, but not help her now while she is effectively homeless.

‘However, if you are going to stay, it will be by my rules. That means no more bedroom takeovers. I have a guest room, and as you are a guest, I would appreciate it if you would use that room instead commandeering my own.’

She shrugs and continues down the stairs.

‘Ah guess Ah can live with that.’

Looks like she bounced back to her usual self pretty quick. Shaking my head, I continue after her. After reaching the ground floor, she leaps down the last few steps and dances around. She really is grateful, so in that regard she can almost be seen as relatively normal, like a filly who just got her favourite treat, if that filly also had a habit of jumping off buildings.

‘Also, if you are going to stay here until we have the bits for the trip, you’re going to have to work. If I have to pay for your living expenses as well it’ll be an entire year before we can go.’

The dancing stops, but the smile remains.

‘Ah suppose that’s fair. So, what can Ah do t’ help?’

That was a good question. What can she do to help? I’ve been managing the store by myself for years now. Remembering the day before, I get an idea. I was able to convince a customer to buy something after he asked me about Stratos. It’s not like I can realistically make her read on the floor all day for customers to ask about, but...

‘I have something in mind. I don’t really need help with the store itself, but I could use more customers. Think you are up to the task?’

‘So ya want me t’ bring in more ponies? Ah like the idea.’

Word of mouth advertising is still the best kind of advertising, after all. And it would be a great way for her to get to know the city and meet some ponies.

‘Exactly, you can spread the word about Waren’s Literature Imperium. Maybe even hand out flyers.’

‘Do ya have any flyers?’

‘Well… no. But there could be flyers, in the future.’

‘Alright, how’s this.’

Stratos clears her throat and takes a deep breath before addressing me with a heavily faked Canterlot accent.

‘Why, greetings good pony! Would I be able to interest you in some fine literature? Where, you ask? I say! Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of Waren’s Literature Imperium! The finest books in all of Canterlot, No! In all of Equestria!’

The way she waves with her hooves as she talks is too much, and I fall to the floor laughing.

‘Hey! Come on, Ah wasn’t that ridiculous!’

It takes a while before I find my breath again. I wipe a tear from my eye before responding.

‘No, even more ridiculous.’

Stratos pouts angrily as I get back up on my hooves again, still letting out the occasional chuckle.

‘I like your enthusiasm, but talking normally will do. Don’t try to fake a Canterlot accent, but you may want to try and lessen your normal accent. So you like the idea?’

‘Ayup. Ah understand that Ah need t’ do sometin’ in return for stayin’ here. And there ain’t no better way to advertise then word of mouth. Much more personal.’

‘My thoughts exactly.’

‘Alright then! Ah’ll get right to it!’

Stratos turns and gallops for the door.

‘Wait! You don’t know-’

She doesn’t hear me and magically throws the door open before bolting out.

‘-the city and you need a map…’ I finish with a sigh.

Honestly, does that mare even stop to think things over for one second? My mind comes up with the image of Stratos wondering the streets, asking random ponies for directions while on the verge of tears. I shake my head. I’m worrying too much; she can take care of herself. Probably. Maybe. Possibly. To be sure, I quickly decide that if she doesn’t return before I close, I’ll go look for her.

I walk over to the door to flip the open-closed sign and stop when I notice something strange. Cocking my head, the door looks… displaced somehow. Something about this doesn’t quite make sense…

Then it occurs to me, I never unlocked the door from the previous night. Stratos had ripped the door open, destroying the lock and (upon further inspection) damaging the doorframe in the process. Just how much magic does she have? Remembering how easy she took the book from my magical grasp and the bedroom door she shut against my face, I shudder. Good thing that doorframe held, or I would most likely be in the hospital with a concussion now.

Suddenly I have no trouble imagining the blue unicorn as a weather pony. If she can rip open a locked door and not even notice, controlling clouds seems like foal’s play. Having that same blue unicorn as a roommate though…

Quickly, I make a list:
The door is going to need to be replaced.
The lock is totalled and will need to be replaced as well.
The doorframe will need to get touched up.

My mind continues to add on the amount of bits it’ll take me to fix this. When Stratos gets back I will have to scold her over this. If she can’t control her magic she won’t only cost us bits, but she might endanger us.

Looking at the half broken door for a few moments, I decide to leave it open and relocate the open-closed sign to the window. I step outside and look around. Only a handful of ponies can be seen at this hour, probably heading to work. Thank the Princesses the damage isn’t noticeable from the outside; that might have scared customers away. Stepping back inside, I swipe the splinters away with my tail. Here’s to hoping any customers won’t notice the door until after they make their purchase.

Sighing, I lean my head on my hooves on the counter. The new arrivals have already been sorted, and the next shipment won’t arrive for another week. Not feeling like re-reading any of the books in my store, I prepare for a long wait. Interestingly enough, a pony walks in after just ten minutes of waiting. Normally I don’t have customers this early, unless they placed a special order.

‘Good morning and Welcome to Waren’s Literature Imperium! How can I help you?’

The orange-coated earth pony looks around the store. I raise an eyebrow when I notice his odd garments. The pony was sporting a vestment of various shades of blue around his waist that gracefully draped over his flank. Thankfully, he doesn’t notice the damaged door hanging awkwardly from its shattered frame.

‘Good morning… I’m looking for a book.’

For a pony with such fancy looking clothing, he sure is obvious.

‘Well… you’ve come to the right place!’

Waving my hoof across the counter, I point towards the shelves.

‘I have every book you could possibly want or need!’

At the same time, I push the box containing Steam Power and You: A Guide to The Future, further back behind the counter. Like I said, I have every book a pony could possibly want or need, after all. The stallion clears his throat.

‘I’m looking for a particular book, actually. You wouldn’t happen to have The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide. Would you?’

A smile plays across my face. I love it when ponies ask for specific titles. Closing my eyes, I mentally envision the particular location of every single book in my store. Without opening my eyes I start to focus my magic, smirking when the customer lets out a soft gasp. Making a mental note which of the three copies I just took, I proudly present the book now floating in front of me to my customer.

‘It was under ‘E’, will that be all?’

The earth pony carefully takes the book from my magical grasp. He opens it and flips through the first few pages. Looking satisfied, he closes it again.

‘Wonderful! Thank you. How much for it?’

‘That will be twenty bits please.’

The pony pays and politely says goodbye. As he steps outside he gives the door a puzzled look. He looks back and raises an eyebrow at me. After giving him a weak smile and a hint of a shrug he trots away.

That must have been a new record, a sale within fifteen minutes after opening. Do I have Stratos to thank for that? If she sends more customers my way at this pace I’ll be swimming in bits before you know it! While waiting for the next customer I decide to give the shelves my daily onceover. After all, I haven’t seen to them after Stratos had a look around. Celestia knows what that mare can do to my store, even in such a short amount of time.

Walking through the shelves, I am pleased to note they are still intact, unlike my poor front door. Thank Celestia for small miracles. It was very careless of me to open without checking this, but it would seem I got away with it for now. As I pass the final shelf I notice the remaining copies of The Elements of Harmony: a Reference Guide. Since I don’t have much else to do until another customer shows up, I carefully float out one of the copies. This book was originally written centuries ago, just after Celestia had banished Nightmare Moon. The ancient magical relics Celestia had used intrigued ponykind, or at the very least, it intrigued unicorn kind. But nopony ever seemed to really understand their magical properties, and because of that the ‘Guide’ was mostly a book comprised of speculation and theories. As I flip through the pages, I notice how old of a print it is. This version still states that the sixth element is a complete mystery, but the Element of Magic was uncovered over forty years ago. That’s common knowledge nowadays.

The Six Elements are represented by the spirits of any number of ponies. Forty years ago, each Element of Harmony had a single pony to represent it. Before that, Princess Celestia and Luna controlled all six together. Celestia even showed to be able to control all six by herself when she banished Nightmare Moon. But the Elements were never meant to be controlled by just one pony, whether or not that pony was the Sun Goddess herself; that goes against all ideas of harmony in the first place. After Celestia banished Nightmare Moon she lost control of the Elements and they were considered lost for the rest of time (at least, according the conclusion in this edition). My train of thought is interrupted when a voice calls from the front of the shop.

‘Hello? Anyone there?’

For some reason the voice sounds a tad strange, almost… avian? Does that make sense? I trot around the shelves to greet the customer.

‘Good Morning! Welcome to- Oh!’

The figure looks up from clawing at leftover splinters from the doorframe with sharp looking talons and I see a beak turn my way. A griffin! It’s not often you see one of those in Equestria. And even then, they’re rarely seen outside Cloudsdale or Las Pegasus. For some reason they like to associate more with Pegasi than with other kinds of ponies; probably has something to do with the shared wings and walking on clouds. Her coat is almost jet black, and finely brushed. As her tail wildly sways around it appears to almost sparkle. Her snow-white feathers lay over her coat with the utmost precision, and each feather looks like it was hoof-picked by a selection of experts. No matter how you look her, this griffin looks good. With a bored expression she taps the doorframe with the back of her claw, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

‘What happened to your door?’

Forcing myself to stop staring at her feathers and coat (Oh Celestia, was I just leering at a perfect stranger? And a customer, at that?!) , I try to formulate an acceptable answer.

‘That? There was an… accident. Please don’t let it bother you. I’ll have it fixed as soon as possible.’

The griffin looks at me with squinted eyes, as if trying to tell if I’m lying. After doing so for just long enough to make me feel uncomfortable she stops and, seemingly satisfied, walks towards the shelves.

‘I’m looking for a specific book. Can you help me with that?’

Still holding The Elements of Harmony, a Reference Guide wrapped in telekinesis, I trot after the griffin.

‘Name the title and I can find it.’

The griffin stops and raises a claw to rub her beak. She seems to think about the question for a while.

‘What was it again? Elements of Something, some guide. I don’t suppose that’s any help, is it?’

Blinking, I float up the book from behind me.

‘Is this it?’

The griffin’s bored expression lights up with surprise and delight.

‘Yes! How did you do that?’

She gets up on her hind legs and takes the book from my magical grasp with both claws. I awkwardly look away. I had forgotten griffins could hold items in those claws of theirs, and had the book floating at a height where she could take it with her beak. The griffin flips through the pages with her claws, which strikes me as weird. Griffins are a rare sight, and I had never seen one read a book before. Most ponies flip pages with their muzzle or a hoof, and only unicorns have the luxury of being able to read while standing up. But the griffin held the book open with one claw, and flipped the pages with the other. When she slammed the book shut, I realize with a start that I had been staring at her again. She notices and raises an eyebrow.

‘What? Never seen a griffin before?’

I blush and look away.

‘Not really, I’m sorry.’

She surprises me with a laugh (Oh Luna, that laugh!) and a slap on the back of my neck.

‘Hahaha, don’t worry about it. For your first griffin, I am pretty spectacular.’

Awkwardly, I return her laugh. She lowers to stand on her claws again, keeping the book secure under one of her arms. Once firmly back on all four limbs, she raises a claw to take the book from under her arm and holds it up.

‘You have to tell me how you found this book so fast, that was amazing.’

‘Oh, that was a coincidence really. I was reading it, because I had just sold another copy earlier today.’

The griffin’s smile instantly evaporates and her tail droops. With a grim look she turns the book’s cover to me.

‘This book? Are you sure you sold this?’

I found myself tongue-tied over her sudden change in attitude. Why would she get so upset over that?

‘What? Y-yes. I’m sure. I never mix up books.’

‘Who? Who did you sell it to? What did he look like?’

In her excited state her wings flare out, almost knocking over one of the shelves. Involuntary I take a few steps back. The griffin doesn’t seem to notice as she glares at me.

‘I-I don’t know, it was an orange-coated earth pony, wearing some blue garments… I couldn’t see his cutie mark. Why are you asking this?’

The griffon turns away and rubs her brow with one of her claws. She sighs and her fury disappeared as suddenly as it came.

‘I’m sorry about that. It’s just… Forget it. How much do I owe you?’

‘…F-Fifteen bits’

Still afraid to move, I watch as the griffon opens a pouch strapped around her neck. She handily produces an assortment of shiny coins from the small leather bag. Giving me a weak smile, she presents me with a claw carrying the bits.

‘Please don’t be afraid. I kind of lost myself there, it, umm… it won’t happen again.’

I slowly nod. I focus to float the bits from her claw, and notice she flinches when the turquoise aura appears around the coins. That somehow makes me relax; knowing that she was trying to adjust to being around ponies the same way I was now trying to get around the differences between us myself. I give her a sympathetic smile.

‘Don’t worry, you just surprised me.’

She smiles at me, and noticing how weird a smiling griffin looks, I hid back a chuckle with a bigger grin. She puts the book in the pouch and turns to walk towards the door. I follow her to see her out. Before she steps outside she pauses for a moment before turning around once again.

‘Dorothea.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘My name. Don’t ponies also tell each other their names when they meet?’

‘Oh, yes! Sorry. I’m Waren, nice to meet you.’

I raise my hoof, and she awkwardly meets it with a claw. We… shake hoof-claws? Somehow the mutual awkwardness of the situation gives the both of us a surprising feeling of shared understanding. She nods her head after returning her claw to the floor.

‘Nice to meet you as well Waren.’

She steps outside and immediately gets stares from various ponies in the streets. She looks at me over her shoulder and winks before spreading her wings and taking flight. I catch myself staring at her flank as she flaps her wings furiously to gain altitude. Blushing, I return inside.

It’s amazing how commonplace strange occurrences have been going ever since Stratos fell on my roof.

But still, I never knew griffins could be so…majestic. When she was angry, when she spread those near black wings, I couldn’t help but find such a display of anger…well, cute. I sigh.

It’s amazing how much I’ve been doing that ever since Stratos fell on my roof, too.

As time went on, I found myself catering to more costumers that day then I ever had to before. At first I wondered if there was some event going on in the city that had brought in all of these ponies, but after one customer told me about the ‘…lovely unicorn mare, with a most adorable southern drawl…’ that told him about my shop, I couldn’t deny it any longer. Stratos was actually doing an amazing job. Mentally, I add praising her to the long list of things to do when she returns. (Hmm…should I do that before or after lecturing her about the broken front door?) My store was almost never empty, with a new customer entering as soon as the previous one left with their purchase. As the hours pass and the bits keep flowing in, I began looking up from time to time to see if Stratos had found her way back yet. Although, once again looking at the broken doorframe and busted lock, it might be that I’m more concerned with what kind of trouble she could be getting herself into.

In between handling customers and envisioning possible worst-case scenarios involving an unsupervised Stratos in Canterlot, I thought about Dorothea. Griffins are naturally majestic creatures, but she was beautiful, even by those standards. Her coat was so finely brushed it resembled obsidian, though not so brittle. And where her body bordered between lion and eagle the feathers were lined so sharply it seemed as if they had been placed one at a time, and with great care. Her facial features strangely intrigued me, being positively charmed by her smiling beak. I suppose I found it fascinating how different she was from ponies. Claws and talons instead of hooves, wings larger than any Pegasus’s, a beak instead of a muzzle. Even her tail was different, being coated and only sprouting out at the very end.

My daydreaming is interrupted when a customer makes her presence clear with a cough. I quickly apologize and take the book she wants to buy. My cheeks involuntary redden as I tell her the price. Why am I blushing? Why does it feel like I was just caught doing something odd? Surely I don’t think I like Dorothea?

I mean, like her, like her.

That’s absurd! She’s a griffin! Sure, she is a beautiful griffin, but in the way kittens are adorable, and owls can have nice feathers. So why am I thinking this way? Mentally scolding myself, I force myself to walk to the front of my store to help customers. It doesn’t even matter if I like her or not. Either way, she’s gone.

The latest customer waving a hoof in front of my face to get my attention, however, is not. I make a mental note to thank Stratos specifically for sending that griffin my way.

I notice the sun slowly beginning to set and I begin to get worried. Stratos still hadn’t returned. Looking out the window, I see the sun kissing the first rooftops, shining vibrant colours through the glass. With a click of my tongue I realize that I can’t wait much longer.

Making up my mind, I start to put away my various odds and ends. I don’t normally close this early, but worry beat out my sense of professionalism. Besides, no one actually shops at this hour. With a sigh I float up a quill and a piece of parchment. Dipping the quill in ink, I think of something appropriate to leave behind.

Dear Stratos,

If you read this, I went looking for you. Please don’t destroy anything until I get back. No, wait. Please don’t destroy anything, regardless of my presence.

Thank you, Waren.

After placing the note on the counter in such a way that nopony could possibly miss it (though I wouldn’t put it past Stratos to somehow burn the note before reading it), I turn towards the door. Oh, well there’s another problem. I can’t exactly close the door anymore, now can I? With a brief glimmer of magic the open-closed sign turns itself to closed. That’ll hardly keep thieves out, but it’s a start. Grimacing, I take a closer look at the damage done to my door. It’s going to take a lot of effort to move that thing again. Along with the bent metal hinges, the lock had been partially ripped out the door, leaving heavily damaged if not dangerous metal parts protruding from the wood. The part of the lock that had been sunk into the doorframe left a big hole when it was unlocked through Stratos’s… unconventional means. The door might still move, albeit with some trouble. But I won’t be able to lock it, even if I could close it. And unlike Stratos, I wasn’t willing to rely on my next pony doing the right thing. Especially not when possibly thousands of bits are involved (I really should invest in a safe at some point). Sighing again, I run a hoof through my mane.

‘Howdy!’

I nearly slam into the door frame as I jolt in surprise. I turn around prepared to give a stern lecture to the mare that has become such a nuisance in my life for sneaking up on my like that. Instead, I find myself face to face with a frowning Royal Guard Pegasus.

‘Is this Waren’s Literature Imperium?’

Oh Celestia, what did Stratos do to involve the Royal Guard!?

‘Yes… And I’m Waren. Is there a problem?’

‘Yes. There is a problem. Could you step outside please?’

They want me? By Luna’s mane, what did that mare do!? As I unwillingly step outside I spot the blue coat I had since come to dread. Before I can address the particular Unicorn it belongs to though, the Royal Guard speaks up.

Pointing a hoof at my window, he begins. ‘Could you please tell me why you are closed already? This lovely mare assured me I could find the best books here.’

So I’m not getting arrested? With a relieved sigh I respond. ‘Why, yes! Of course, sorry! Feel free to browse my books, don’t mind the sign.’

The Guard gives me a polite nod and trots inside. After watching his tail disappear into the store, I turn to Stratos.

‘You!’

She cocks her head in confusion.

‘Me? What ‘bout me?’

‘What…’ I pause to try to articulate my thoughts. ‘What are you?’

‘That’s silly, Waren! Ah’m Stratos and Ah’m lovely!’

I try to think of a response, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember if I had decided to be mad at her or I should just be relieved she made it back without getting into trouble. Before either idea settled in my mind, the Guard calls from inside the store.

‘Excuse me, how much is this?’

Giving Stratos a glare (which she also didn’t seem to understand), I trot into my store to help my customer. After the Royal Guard paid for his book and took off into the air (‘Stay Safe! And do something about that door, you hear?’), I take the time to properly address Stratos. After being confronted with the destruction of my door again I decided anger was the way to go.

‘What the hay do you think you were doing?!’

She looks up from scraping the flooring with her hoof.

‘Eh? What d’ya mean? Ya told me t’ spread the word, so Ah did.’

‘Not that, THAT.’ I point an angry hoof at the mangled remains of my door.

‘Whoah nelly! What happened t’ yer door?’

Struggling to control myself, I almost spit out my response. ‘You. Opened. It.’

She gives me a wide-eyed stare.

‘Ah did that?’ she asked shocked, pointing to herself with a hoof.

A vein starts to throb in my neck.
‘Yes. You did that. When you freaking tore my locked door open with your magic!’

‘Well pony feathers. Ah guess Ah kind of jumped the gun there.’

‘You guess?’

She trots up to the ravaged pile of wood and inspects it. After eyeing it for a short while she steps back, slowly nodding.

‘Yep. That door’s wrecked as a door can be.’

I try to think of a believable alibi for the guards as I prepare to strangle the still smiling Unicorn.

‘Nothin’ Ah can’t fix though.’

I stop halfway in my approach, hooves ready to grab her throat.

‘Fix it? Have you even seen...? It...?’ I stumble in awe as the door is wrapped in orange magic and starts to shake.

Clouds of splinters launch themselves from the floor and return to their original positions, weaving shut the hole in the door frame. The bent hinges moan in protest as the door aligns itself again, and the metal straightens out. The lock seems to melt and retreat itself back inside the now shining new door. Then, with an almost comical effect, the door dryly falls into its lock, like nothing ever happened. I could do nothing more than stare at the door and gape like a fish. It looked brand new! Heck, it looked better then when I got it!

‘What. Was. That?’

The mare proudly turns around and presents me with a big grin.

‘Just a simple repair spell. Ah can do much more, wanna see?’

Before I can protest her horn starts to glow again. Tiny drips of water form at the tip of her horn and float into the air in front of her, where they form a small, dark cloud. Then the cloud starts to slowly drift around the store while shooting comically tiny lightning bolts from it.

‘Hey, isn’t that dangerous? A thundercloud is not really something I want in my store.’

‘Don’t worry, Ah got everythang under contro-oops!’

I turn in the direction she aimed her ‘oops’ at, and spot the tiny cloud hovering above the counter, where a tiny lightning bolt had struck the note I wrote, setting it on fire. The cloud briefly flickered with orange magic before turning into water and pouring itself over the small fire, putting it out. Stratos quickly trots to the fizzling pile of ash on my counter and gives me a worried look.

‘Sorry, Ah hope that wasn’t important.’

I can’t believe it. She actually did end up burning the note before reading it.

‘Should Ah try t’ fix it? Ah dunno if it works with burned stuff.’

‘No! No more magical tricks! You’ll probably end up blowing up the entire house. Just… no more special spells.’

Stratos looks disappointed, and opens her mouth to protest. Before she says anything, however, she seems to change her mind and closes it again. Looks like even she realizes more magic could cause problems. I let out a relieved sigh; it looks like a potential magical catastrophe has been averted for now. I trot past her and sweep the ashes into the dustbin behind the counter. I float up a rag and start to clean the water from the floor. Stratos seemed understand the current atmosphere and stands in place waiting for me to finish. After wringing out the soaking rag I put my hooves on the counter and let out a long breath.

‘Look, you can’t just run off like that. How was I supposed to know where you went? Or when you planned on coming back? What if something had happened? How was I to find you? Did you stop to think about that even once?’

The way she started scraping the flooring again told me she hadn’t. I float up my glasses to rub my eyes with a hoof.

‘I appreciate that you’re so eager to help, and I got a lot of customers today. But when that guard showed up, I thought you might have gotten yourself in trouble. Or worse.’

She stops scraping the flooring and awkwardly looks into my eyes. At least, I think. I let my glasses settle on my nose again. Oh Luna, Stratos is actually embarrassed!

‘Ah dunno what t’ say… Ah’m sorry, Ah didn’t think ya’d be so worried ‘bout me…’

‘Of course I was worried! As long as you are staying here, I am responsible for you. And then you just barge into a city you don’t know, when the only reason you haven’t lost your mane yet is because it’s attached to your head.’

She doesn’t even prepare a protest, obviously deciding instead that a smile was a better response.

‘Yer not the first pony to tell me that. Ah’m sorry Ah made ya worry so much. That was mighty sweet of ya though.’

I wave the comment away with a hoof.

‘Yeah yeah. I’m the frigging Element of Kindness all right. Just don’t do that again. And do check the door is locked before trying to open it next time.’

The grin returns to Strato’s face.

‘Or ya could just get a stronger lock?’

‘I somehow doubt that would stop you. You’d probably rip a hole in the wall if the door doesn’t give.’

The slight increase in the size of Strato’s grin tells me she agrees. Heck, she has probably done it before. Blessing the weakness of my front door’s lock, I continue.

‘So. How was your first day in Canterlot?’

She face lights up as she tells me about her day with a permanent grin etched on her face. She tells me about meeting new ponies and telling them about my store, and next of a group of griffins staying somewhere in the city, and how she managed to convince them to purchase a book from me. I smile and blush as I recall the meeting with Dorothea. Halfway through the story, Stratos interrupts herself.

‘…Oatmeal? Are ya cra-OH! By the way. Ah saw this strange lookin’ poster a couple o’ times. Ya know anythang about a ‘New Lunar Republic’?’

I look up in surprise, and then sigh.

‘The NLR? That’s a long story.’

‘Ah got time.’

I clear my throat. ‘Well… It all started some twenty years ago, when I was just a little colt. A group of ponies came together and started something of a fan club for Princess Luna. At first, she was flattered, and even visited them a couple of times. But as more and more ponies joined, things soon got out of hoof. The group started throwing ridiculous accusations. Saying that Princess Celestia was oppressing her sister, and that Luna was the rightful ruler of Equestria. Of course, that wasn’t true, and Princess Luna publically distanced herself from the New Lunar Republic. However, all that did was rile them up even more. The Republic claimed Luna was forced to make that statement, and more or less declared war on Celestia.’

‘War?!’ Stratos asks with amazement.

‘Well, not really war. But the Republic doesn’t acknowledge Celestia as their ruler. They normally show their discontent via protests, like sit-ins or peaceful marches and public sermons. Though there was this one time they tried to disturb the raising of the sun on the longest day of the year a while back. Some high profile ponies got arrested then.’

‘So are they dangerous?’

‘Hard to say. Ever since then it has been largely quiet surrounding them. And even before that they had little influence outside Canterlot. But if you say they are spreading posters throughout the city… they might be up to something. It’s probably for the best to stay out of the way of ponies involved with them. If for no other reason than to be sure.’

Stratos slowly nods.

‘Ah’ll keep that in mind; New Lunar Republic, bad news.’

She lets out a loud yawn. I follow her example. It was getting late, and I had been helping customers almost nonstop since opening. Stratos was obviously just as tired as me, maybe even more so. After all, she had spent the day trotting around the city.

‘Ah think Ah’ll head to bed for now.’

‘Which bed…?’

She rolls her eyes.

‘In yer guest room…’

‘And don’t you forget it. Also we are going to talk about things before you suddenly leave again tomorrow. Understood?’

‘Yeah yeah. Whatever mom.’

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes.

‘If you are going to be sarcastic just go to bed already.’

‘Ah was trying t’ go to bed.’ She mumbles beneath her breath as she trots towards the stairs.

‘Good night to you too.’ I yell after her.

‘Sit on my horn.’ Her voice echoes from the stairs.

Honestly, it really does feel like I’m stuck here with a rebellious teenager. How old is she anyway? She looks younger than Werk and me. Well, it’s not that hard to look younger than me; my mane makes me look at least twice as old. I trot up to the front of the store and blow out the candles. The last one I float up as I trot to the door. Holding the flame closer, I inspect the repaired lock. It looked like nothing ever happened to it, no; it looked like it was brand new. The metal was shining again and free of dents and scrapes. I pull on the door with my magic, and it doesn’t budge. Looks like the lock works again. I stare at the door for a while. It’s not a particularly heavy door, and its lock isn’t that strong. But the thought that there are ponies out there that can nonchalantly rip things like this apart makes me shiver. More importantly, the thought that one of those ponies is now upstairs, hopefully sleeping in my guest room.

I rub my face with a hoof. Oh Waren, what have you gotten yourself into? You’re just an ordinary pony, who sells books and likes to read about history. Well, I was all of that, up until yesterday. What am I now? Aspiring adventurer? Foal sitter? In just forty-eight hours my life has turned completely upside down. All because of a crazy weather unicorn who dropped on my balcony by chance. Well, I suppose Werk proposed the journey before Stratos arrived, but her presence makes everything infinitely more complicated.

The strangest thing is, I don’t think I mind.

I blow out the last candle and leave my store in complete darkness before trotting up the stairs. I decide to check on my guest room before going to sleep myself. I slowly push open the door to my guest room and find Stratos already asleep. The bed was a complete mess; the sheets were wrapped around the mare that lay on the mattress in a bizarre fashion. Like she jumped into bed, but fell asleep before she landed. I sigh and float the pillow up from the ground and place it next to her head. She does look peaceful when she is asleep, even if the way she sleeps in is chaotic. Maybe having somepony living with you is not so bad after all.

I close the door again and enter my own bedroom. I hadn’t seen it since Stratos left it, and I’m not sure what to expect. Almost afraid to look, I step inside. Surprised, I notice that everything is neatly organized. The bed has been made, and the sheets where spread out so that you can easily get under them. The dirt from Werk’s coat has been cleaned up, and I even notice my alarm clock looks slightly less abused then what I remember. I smile as I try to imagine Stratos cleaning up the room. She has no problem with falling on ponies’ homes, or scaring them half to death. She destroys doors without a second thought, and burns down your stuff without a second glance. But she seems to have a problem with leaving the bedroom she took over in a bad condition.

It seems Stratos does have some ethics after all. Questionable ethics, no doubt about that. But ethics nonetheless.

Even though I’m as tired as I’ve been in months, and the bed seems to be softly calling my name, I find myself opening the double door and trotting onto the balcony. I take a deep breath of the chilly Canterlot air and watch the city. It was a bright night, the moon and stars beaming radiantly down on Equestria. The royal castle reflected the moonlight vibrantly, and stood out even more than during the day. It was a beautiful sight. Even Haughbury’s chimneys, which appeared darker than the night sky on the horizon, didn’t change that.

I have lived in Canterlot all my life. I was born in this city; I earned my cutie mark here. I witnessed the arrival of Haughbury, and how he polluted the landscape with his monstrosities. I have witnessed dozens of Grand Galloping Galas here. And have seen Celestia raise the sun herself in all her glory. I met Werk here, and have been his friend for the better part of my life. And in two months, I am leaving it all behind.

I think of Stratos, who’s now snoring contently in my guest room. I think of Werk who should now be sleeping after a long day of working in the factory.

Yes, I’m leaving the place I have lived all my life. But when doing so in the company of my friends, I find myself not minding it all that much.

Chapter Three: Cutthroat Business

Writing History
Chapter Three
Cutthroat Business

‘Thank you for shopping at Waren’s Literature Imperium! Would you like these gift wrapped?’

I keep my professional smile on my face until my last customer for the day leaves. The door closes with only a soft click and my specially patented ‘How To Deal With Difficult Ponies For Money’ falls as I let out a deep sigh of relief.

Celestia’s Mane, that was a busy day! I magically turn the open-closed sign to closed and trot up to the door. I stick my head out and look around the positively empty streets. Apart from the pony that just left my store, of course. It’s not like he evaporated into thin air. Or floated away on a cloud. I roll my eyes as the stray thought makes me think of an incident with Stratos from the other day involving the mailmare, oversized muffin tops, and my now deceased blender.

It had taken half the night to clean all that tapioca pudding off the ceiling, too.

Speaking of which, Stratos will probably be heading home soon, so I keep the door unlocked as I return inside. I pause before casually pushing the door back open several times. Not even a squeak from the hinges; it really was in better condition now than when I first bought it. Passing by the shelves, I stop yet again. After backing up, I give them a closer look.

My word, is that my back wall I see? I haven’t seen that in years. Stratos has been doing such a good job sending in customers that my stock was being bought faster than I could restock. Not only do I have more customers than ever before, most of them seem in a particularly good mood. I suppose that with Stratos’s cheerful nature, you would have to be a made of stone to not have your spirits lifted by her.

And, of course, it’s obviously my excellent business sense and books that got the customers coming back a few days later for more.

If I kept going at this rate though, I’ll run out of books before the end of the month.

Perhaps my excellent business sense is a tad… too excellent.

I can’t put it off any longer. Well, not to say I’ve really been trying to, but looking at what I have left there isn’t very much else I can do. Besides, with all the hard work Stratos has putting in, she deserves a break. I still have to properly show her around town - even if she has been exploring it these past two weeks while advertising for me. And frankly, I too could use some time outside my store as well, no matter how attached I am to the old place.

I make a note on my mental calendar: tomorrow will be a day off. Some time to celebrate in our recent good fortune with a day void of customers and filled with relaxation will be good for the both of us.

Glancing at the shelves again, I grimace. In those half-empty shelves lay the only problem. Unless I plan on selling my customers the hairs off my mane (would I sell the grey hairs for more bits or less? I ponder), I’ll need more books. And unfortunately, the only place to get the amount of books I seek is owned by… him. But it’s one of the (many) grievances I have put up with for my customers in the past, and I shall continue to do so now.

I rid myself of such thoughts when I hear the telltale sounds of a particular pony on the other side of the front door. Hoofsteps approach the door, and then stop. Three steps to the left side of the door, then three steps to the right. A moment’s pause. Two small thuds from two jumps. After yet another small delay, it swings open and I mouth the next part of the routine alongside the mare.

‘Howdy!’

Stratos happily trots in, and magically closes the door behind her. I shake my head and concentrate on the lock. After a metallic click the mare looks around, and realizes she forgot to lock the door behind her. Again. She smiles in apology, and I don’t even bother to tell her anymore.

‘Ah never knew folks in Canterlot were so nice! Ponies are starting t’ greet me on the streets.’

‘Good to know you’re making friends already.’

‘By the way, remember Dorothea? Tha’ griffin Ah send yer way?’

If I remember Dorothea? That’s like asking if I enjoy reading, or dislike steam engines. Not a day has passed where I didn’t find myself thinking about her. To my surprise, she even found her way into a dream. A casual dream, in case you’re wondering.

Oddly enough, it also involved tapioca pudding.

‘I… think I remember her, yes.’

I adjust my glasses and look away. Stratos doesn’t have to know I’m strangely obsessed with a griffin.

‘Ah met her again t’day! She told me to thank ya fer helpin’ her with the book.’

‘Really? What else did she say!? I-I mean… Always good to know a customer is satisfied with a purchase! Ah ha ha!’

Stratos raises an eyebrow at my reaction, but doesn’t seem to look into it too much. Thank Celestia for that. If she finds out I have a crush on a griffin I’ll never hear the end of it. Well… technically I don’t even know if I have a crush on her myself.

It’s a strange situation altogether.

I clear my throat and continue.
‘Anyway… I had something special in mind for tomorrow. We have both been working our hooves off these past couple of weeks, and bits wise, we’re ahead of schedule…even with that thing with the mailmare and the muffin tops…’

Stratos at least has the decency to look sheepish as she no doubt remembers the particular scolding she received when I had discovered the state of my kitchen. I made her clean up the whole thing with nothing more than her own hooves and some supplies from the broom closet, pudding covered ceiling and all.

‘… So how about we take a day off tomorrow?’

Stratos’s face lightens up and she enthusiastically starts to nod.

‘Ah’d love that! What did ya have in mind?’

I pass my gaze back over to my poor shelves and shudder at their nakedness.

‘Well… I need to visit an… acquaintance first. After that I ought to properly show you around Canterlot. How does the royal castle sound?’

Her nodding speeds up to dangerous levels, and I fear her head will fall off.

‘Yes please! Ah can’t wait!’

I smile at her. Sometimes it really did feel like I was raising a filly. During the past two weeks I’ve come to enjoy the time I’ve spent with eccentric mare. And I have come to agree with Werk. She is cute, though not in the same way he meant it. She is chaotic, and clumsy. She acts way too fast without thinking things over and often gets in trouble. But she enjoys every minute of it. Part of why she is so clumsy is because she is too enthusiastic about… well, everything. It doesn’t matter what she does, whether it is making friends or cleaning the store, she does it with a smile, and genuinely enjoys it. Though, as the smile narrows somewhat as my thoughts take over, I had noticed a couple of stallions around Stratos’s age making repeated visits here. They didn’t strike me as the reading types…maybe Stratos has some of her own admirers? I smirk.

I can’t wait to see Werk’s reaction to that little piece of info.

I have also learned that she is a potent mage. For her young age, her control of magic is simply amazing. Not to mention the amount. I always took pride in my ability to float dozens of books at once, sorting them individually. But Stratos can easily float every single book in my store. And the cases they are stood in, for that matter. Re-shelving my books normally took me an entire day, but after Stratos saw me working she simply asked me where every book had to go, and sorted my entire store in under a minute. I never thought it would come to this, but I think of Stratos as my friend now and can barely believe there was a time that I didn’t.

My friend yawns loudly, as I once again find myself lifted out of my own thoughts. I give her another smile.

‘It’s been a long day. Why don’t you head to bed? I’ll finish things up down here by myself.’

She looks at me with hazy eyes.

‘Ya sure..? Ah can…. Help ya….’ She is able to say in between yawns. I shake my head. Poor mare can barely stay up on her hooves after another whole day of work.

‘Yes I’m sure. You need rest, and I don’t plan to take it easy tomorrow either! Just get some sleep.’

‘If ya say so… G’night then.’

‘Good night Stratos.’

I wave a hoof as she slowly trots up the stairs. Then I turn around and start blowing out candles. After the final candle has gone out my store is completely dark. The clouds are covering the sky tonight, and the light of the moon barely puts a dent in the blackness of the night. I trot up the stairs and find Stratos asleep in the hallway, one hoof against the guest room door. Sighing, I trot up to her. The softly snoring mare had fallen asleep upright, with her face lying down on the floor. I softly nudge the blue Unicorn with a hoof.

‘Stratos? You should sleep in bed.’

She mumbles in her sleep and curls up on the floor.

‘Stratos?’

No reaction. With a strange sense of déjà vu, I give up on the idea of being able to wake her up. But I can’t just let her spend the night on the floor. I magically open the door to the guest room and estimate the distance to the bed. I don’t suppose I can drag her inside by a hoof? That would be rude, and it’s about time I train my levitation anyway. I plant my hooves firmly on the floor and focus my magic. A faint turquoise glow appears around the sleeping mare. I close my eyes and force more magic into the spell. When I open them again I see a glowing ball of snoring pony.

I did it! I’m actually levitating somepony! In my excitement the spell falters briefly and Stratos threatens to fall to the ground. Hastily I focus my magic again and am just able to prevent her from hitting the floor face first. I sigh in relief. That would have been rather difficult to explain. I bite my lip as I add momentum to the levitation spell. Slowly, the still snoring Stratos begins to float towards the bed.

Sweet Luna’s Grace, this is taxing. I struggle to find the magical recourses to keep the spell going, and close my eyes to focus. I squeeze out every ounce of magic I can find, but it’s not enough. I can feel the glow dispersing, and the spell fails. Expecting the crashing sound of pony on wood, I look away. Instead, I hear a soft creak. Opening one eye, I spot the Unicorn on the bed in an awkward position. She landed with her head against the back railing, and her body drooped over the side of the bed in a strange angle.

Not my best work, but it will have to do.

She has fallen asleep in stranger positions herself, and this still beats sleeping on the floor. I sigh and close the door behind me with a kick of my hoof. I start to make my way to my own bedroom. If I hadn’t been tired before, I am beyond tired now. The magical strain of floating a pony has left me with a slight headache. Perhaps I should have started with something smaller, and maybe something inanimate. As I walk up to my bedroom door I magically open it.

Before walking into it. Ouch! What? Rubbing my muzzle, I look up and find my bedroom door stubbornly shut. I could swear I just opened it. I point my horn towards the door and focus my magic. A couple of turquoise sparks jump from the tip, but the door stays closed. I find myself blushing.

Great, I burned up my magic. That hasn’t happened to me in years, I didn’t think floating Stratos into bed would actually use all of my magical reserves. Sighing, I get on my hooves and open the door with my muzzle. The doorknob leaves an unpleasant metallic aftertaste in my mouth. I haven’t opened my bedroom like this in… well, I never opened my door like this. Too tired to even bother with it, I just leave the door open and stumble to bed. I let myself fall onto the sheets and close my eyes. I find myself almost emphasizing with Stratos for falling asleep on the floor.

How long have I been asleep? I certainly don’t remember a jungle. Yet I find myself in one right now. At least, I think it is a jungle, taking into consideration the feeling beneath my hooves. As I move, I can hear plants rustle around me. Wait, am I moving? I’m running! Why am I running? Panic fills my chest. I gallop for the life of me, the wind rushing past my face. The wind sounds strange. Then I realize it’s not wind at all. It’s laughter. Not a good kind of laughter.

I speed up, which I didn’t realize was possible. I want to get away from the sound, but it appears to be getting louder. It gets closer and closer no matter how fast I run. When it feels right behind me, I suddenly open the eyes I didn’t realize I had closed. The laughter abruptly stops, and is replaced by a shriek. My own, to be precise. The opening of my eyes revealed a vast nothingness before me.

Nothing. Not above me nor below me. Just nothing. I simply float in the blackness, unable to regain any sense of focus or rational thought in my terror.

And then came the screams and laughter.

‘Oh! How spectacular! If only I had some snacks to eat while I watch this!’

With a seemingly excited undertone, a voice autonomously replaces existence. My mind is almost crushed by the sheer presence of the sound. It takes all the mental strength I can muster to not drown in the voice. After the voice echoes into a muffle, I regain control of my thoughts. What in the name of Celestia is going on?! In an attempt to find an orientation point, I cast a glowing spell. Before the concentrated mana can even find its way out of my horn, I can feel it burn up. Suddenly, the black veil of darkness shifts, and an overwhelming feeling of wrongness settles in my chest.

‘What’s this?’

I stare into the abyss, my terror stopping even my shaking as I hope with everything I have that whatever caused that voice would stay away.

And as I stared into the abyss, the abyss stared back.

Suddenly instead of impenetrable blackness all I could see was light. An all-encompassing, crushing light. A wrong light. It strikes and wraps around me as would a serpent ready to devour its meal, crushing me, melting and sizzling my skin, muscle, and bones. And though all I could see was a pure, overwhelming whiteness as it continued to swallow me up into its immeasurable self.

‘Howdy!’

I open my eyes and rise up with a start. Finding myself able to scream, I do so, until I realize I am no longer surrounded by darkness. Confused, I look around. My bedroom, Stratos, and my alarm clock ringing away. I breathe heavily as I calm down. It was just a nightmare, nothing more.

‘Ya Okay?’ Stratos asks with worry in her voice.

Still panting, I respond. ‘Yeah… It’s just… a bad dream…’

‘Ah don’t know what kind of nightmare that was. And frankly, Ah dun wanna know. Ya looked like yer was about to kick the bucket.’

I float the alarm clock up to me. And glad to note some of my magic has returned to me, I turn it off before putting it back onto the night stand. I let out a long deep breath.

‘Don’t worry about it. I’m fine now.’ Remembering the night before, I add ‘And we have a big day ahead of us.’

The worry on Stratos’s face is obliterated by a grin.

‘Ayup!’

She takes a step backwards to allow me to get out of bed. And after stretching my legs, I do so. Looking at the eager face of my friend, I shake my head.

‘You know we can’t leave this early, right? Nothing has opened yet.’

Her grin briefly falters, but doesn’t disappear.

‘Oh, well… Ah guess Ah kinda knew that. So what are we doin’ till then?’

I sigh and trot up to the double doors of my balcony.

‘Why don’t you try to take it easy for a while? Enjoy the fact that you don’t have any work to do.’

Behind me I hear a giggle.

‘Hehe, maybe you should take a shower first?’

I look down on me and grimace. I was drenched in sweat.

I push open the double doors and step out onto the balcony. Out of pure luck, more than anything else, I don’t get a steam cloud in my face. I take a deep breath and a soft breeze blows through my mane. Behind me, I can hear Stratos joining me on the balcony. In silence, we look out over the city. The sun was already raised, and only hints of orange could be found above the horizon. The triple chimneys that are Haughbury Steamworks had just started up, and only tiny ribbons of smoke leaked out of them. Then Stratos pokes me with an elbow.

‘Look! At the Castle!’

Slightly annoyed, I turn my gaze towards to royal palace.

‘What about it?’

‘No, look above it! Ain’t that…a carriage?’

‘Hmm…Where?’

I look to where Stratos was pointing and see a flying carriage moving away from the castle. It flew through the air in vibrant white and orange, as if it was a beacon from the sun itself, seemingly adding life to the light it is reflecting. Unmistakably, even from this distance, it was Princess Celestia’s personal carriage. With my mouth open in amazement at the display, I watch the carriage carry the Princess out of her city. Apparently equally amazed, Stratos follows the chariot with her head. I grab at her mane with a hoof when she starts to lean too far over the balcony. After it was a mere speck on the horizon, Stratos turns to me.

‘Where do ya think she is goin’?’

‘Princess Celestia? Probably off doing some Ruler thing or another. She is a busy pony, after all.’

But still…Even in the capital where the Princesses lived, the Sun Princess was rarely seen without her usual escorts of an assortment of governmental aides, assistants, and a dozen or so personal guards. So see her leave Canterlot with but two carriage ponies did seem rather puzzling.

‘Hey, Waren?’ Stratos asks with an uncharacteristically serious face.

‘Yes?’ I reply concerned.

‘Is Princess Celestia’s coat white or pink?’

I look at her, my mouth gaping open. What? She proceeds to tell me about a story of a group of colts telling her about the pink Celestia statue in Central Park and how it was bright pink but her mommy always told her she was white and that she couldn’t be sure if the colts were lying but she sent them over to my shop regardless and…

I hold my hoof up.

‘Please Stratos…not before my coffee.’

‘Anyway! Let’s not break our heads over matters that aren’t ours to worry about. Before we head out, I need to gather some paperwork.’ I happily announce, now that I had my coffee and breakfast.

‘Paperwork? Ah thought this was a supposed t’ be a day off.’

‘Well, yes. But I do need to take care of some business. You have been sending in so many customers that I’m running out of books.’

She smiles proudly at the remark before squinting her eyes at one of the dishes before her in the sink before viciously scrubbing the dastardly spot.

‘So in order to keep up with demand, I need to increase my supply. And that’s where we are going, my supplier.’

‘Okay, D’ya mind if Ah practice some weather magic here while ya find yer paper?’

‘As long as you don’t set anything else on fire or go jumping off buildings.’

She gives me a sheepish smile. ‘Will do.’

I return her smile before trotting from the kitchen into the backroom behind the store counter. She’s spent a lot of time practicing since she moved in. The few times I watched her had been quite impressive. Moving clouds, creating clouds, making them rain, making them stop. All with such ease, it’s like controlling the weather is as granted to her as breathing. I found myself getting increasingly angry at the weather factory for refusing to hire Stratos; surely those amazing feats of magic are better than manually moving the clouds?

Now in the farthest corner of the room, I rummage through the bane of every independent businesspony’s existence.

The dreaded filing cabinet.

Let’s see here. Financial documents… nope. The rental contract… good to know it’s still there, but no. Ah, there we go, my indexation. I float out the thick book packed with notes and place it on the counter with a thud. If I’m going to increase my order amount, I need to know how many books I’ve been getting in, and how many I am selling. I look up the page with last month’s sales, and compare it with this month’s. Making notes of the increase in sales, I also look what titles get sold the most and the comparative rarity of each title.

It took me a long while to complete. Even after a night’s rest, handling a quill with levitation was quite taxing. It’s not that the feather is too heavy, but writing with magic is a precise job, and the precision requires more magic then simply handling an object.

After I finish compiling the relevant data I put down the quill with a sigh. A sharp headache has found its place right underneath my horn. I take the paper in my mouth and trot up the stairs. Time to call Stratos. Once inside the bedroom, I spot clouds circling above my balcony. In the middle of them all, the Unicorn mare was grinning ear to ear, horn glowing bright orange. Floating the paper out of my mouth, I call out.

‘Stratos!’

She looks around and the clouds stop spinning. I watch in amazement as the clouds merge into a big question mark.

‘Yes?’ she asks with a smile.

‘That’s amazing!’

‘Aw shucks, it’s nothing, really.’ She blushes and the cloud disperses. ‘Ya found yer paper?’

I float up the document. ‘Got it right here, ready to go?’

She nods and trots up to the doors.

‘Ayup! Let’s go!’

I trot towards the closet and open it with a hoof. I locate my saddlebags and blow off the dust that has gathered on them. My, it’s been a while since I went out like this. I place the document inside and float the bags over my head. After I secured the bags around my waist I trot back into the room. I find Stratos is already waiting at the door, and she turns to descend the stairs as I approach her.

‘So where does this friend of yers live?’

‘He’s not really a friend, just somepony I know. He moved here from Stalliongrad years ago, and I’ve been a customer ever since.’

‘Uh huh. But where does he live?’

‘Oh, right. Sorry. He owns a building not far from Central Park. You know the street with all the clothing shops?’

‘Ayup.’

‘And have you ever noticed that one rundown building with a single door and no windows whatsoever?’

‘Somepony lives there? Ah thought that was some warehouse.’

‘Well, technically it is. But he also eats and sleeps there… And he only leaves if he really has to.’

Stratos stops at the front door to give me a questioning look.

‘You’ll see when we get there.’

We step outside and I lock the door behind us. I take a deep breath of fresh air. It’s been way too long since I really went outside. With all those customers Stratos has been sending in, the days have flown past. Normally I could find time to go on walks during the day, but I’ve barely had a moment to myself in the two weeks Stratos has been living with me. As we trot through the streets Stratos gets various greetings from passers-by. Apparently she’s become a familiar face in this district of Canterlot.

Stratos proceeds to chat my ear off about all the ponies she had met earlier that week as we leisurely trot to the clothing district. I already knew most of the stories, as they were often repeated inside my store by those same ponies she sent in, but I still nod at some, and laugh at others.

Genuinely, in case you were wondering. The way she enthusiastically talks about her endeavours in the city invites a smile to even the most stubborn of frowns.

Finally, we arrive a little ways off the main road, bustling already with Canterlot’s legion of tourists. We stop in front of a large windowless building. The walls, which one can only assume were once painted in a vibrant and tasteful green had since faded over the years into a sickly vomit-like colour. Though even then, those same concrete walls had been plagued just as long ago by poster after poster promoting various shady businesses in Canterlot. Though none of them as shady as the business whose building they have been plastered on. I really didn’t like dealing with this place, but where else was I going to get my books? I spot Stratos distantly eyeing the building.

‘Are you sure you want to come inside? You could just wait here. I probably won’t be long.’

She takes a step away from the building and looks at me with a smile.

‘That’s okay. Ah want t’ meet this friend o’ yers.’

I sigh.

‘I told you, he’s not my friend. He’s an acquaintance from Stalliongrad. And he sells books.’

‘So ain’t he a competitor in that case? Ain’t ya dealing with the enemy here?’

‘He doesn’t sell books the way I do. He acquires them in large volumes, either buying them in bulk from printers, or by buying out small businesses and family home book cases. He sorts them, stacks them, and sends them out to ponies like me, who sell them. You can only order large quantities of books, so only other book stores buy from him. But in turn for having to order more books at a time, they cost less a piece, allowing ponies like me to make a profit when selling them individually.’

‘So what are we doin’ here t’day then?’

‘As I also said before, you have been sending in more customers than I can handle. I need to increase my order amount, and cancel orders for when after we leave.’

The way she smiles tells me she just asked that so I would tell her how good of a job she has been doing. Rolling my eyes, I turn towards the double doors that serve as the only clue we are in fact dealing with a building here, and not a huge concrete cube.

‘Here goes nothing…’ I mumble beneath my breath as I push open the large doors. The windows in them are so stained they looked like stone panels instead of glass. Inside, I am greeted by a huge open room, divided into two parts by an old wooden counter. This side of the room only housed a couple of stained benches, but it was the other side that interested me. Across the counter, the room was absolutely stuffed with bookcases. They towered up high towards the ceiling, almost disappearing out of sight before ending. The room was poorly lit, and the back side was completely dark. I notice the bookcases are lined with a strange metallic railing, which I don’t remember seeing the last time I visited. Behind me, Stratos softly whistles.

‘Nice place ya friend got here.’

‘I told you, he’s not my-‘

‘Ah was just kiddin’! Where is he anyways?’

‘Probably in the back, sorting something. Hold on.’

I trot up to the counter, and give the small metal bell on it a ring. The high pitched sound echoes ominously into the huge dark room. After an eerie silence, a crack of static can be heard. The static is followed by an unnatural booming voice.

‘Vello? Dis thing on? Da! Vill be right there.’

What in tarnation was that? I look at Stratos with a raised eyebrow, but she’s too busy turning her head every-which way trying to locate the origin of the voice. In the back of the room, a loud hiss can be heard. I squint my eyes as I stare into the darkness. A faint metallic rumbling fills the room, along with an occasional hissing noise. The rumbling slowly approached us and gets louder with each passing second. Then a shape appears from the darkness between the bookshelves. Rolling along the rails I had noted earlier, was something that could only be described as a large mechanical carriage. The machine rolls closer while a series of tubes and pipes on the back spew obscene amounts of steam into the air. As it huffs onwards, the silhouette of a pony can be made out on top of it. When the bookcases end, the machine rolls to a stop, and the steam cloud that was chasing it overtakes it. Loud coughing can be heard from inside the cloud, and after another loud hiss a small platform pokes forward from the steam. It is suspended by a series of pistons and tubes, and it carries the pony from Stalliongrad I came here to see.

‘Velcome to Stanimir’s Kingdom Of Written Word!’

The city of Stalliongrad was famous for various things. The ponies living there have made amazing breakthroughs on the fields of arcane science and runecraft. Not to mention the revolution in alcoholic beverages. However, the grey earth pony before me wasn’t a model citizen in any regard.

Though I was willing to put a modest amount of bits on the line betting he had no trouble enjoying said beverages.

Stanimir wore a pair of goggles that had been tightly strapped around his head with a leather band. The left eye of the goggles held up various lenses, which could be lowered in front of it for enhanced zoom. I knew all this from my previous visits here. The steam powered monster, however, was new.

Shifting a lens in front of his eye, Stanimir blinks at me.

‘Waren? It is you, yes? Waren! It is you! Wonderful! What brings you here? You miss me, no? Ha ha ha!’

His platform shakes dangerously as he laughs.

‘Hello Stanimir. Just here for business. What in Celestia’s name is that thing?’

The pony grins as he softly pets the machine suspending him not unlike one would stroke a favored pet.

‘Dis? Is real beauty. Crazy pony Haughbury made it. Gave it some silly name, automotive 6000 or something. Bah! I just call her Sasha. Ha ha! But I know you Waren. You did not come here for idle chit chat. How I can help you?’

‘I would like to increase my order amount please.’

Stanimir smiles.

‘Ah! Business finally booming, no? Good! Good!’

Before I can continue, Stanimir suddenly widens his eyes. He flips two more lenses in front of his eye and stares past me. I turn to see what he is looking at.

‘Waren! Why you don’t tell me you bring guest!’

He pulls a selection of levers on his platform and it shoots forward over the counter, stopping only moments before hitting my face. With a loud clank, the platform suddenly drops and I’m eye-to-eye with the pony from Stalliongrad. Up close it was clear just how much dirt his coat housed. Along his legs ran faint ink lettering, courtesy of Stanimir spending so much time leaning on printed text. His coat and mane gave telltale signs of once being as vibrantly coloured as the walls outside ought have been once upon a time, but a lack of sunshine had slowly drained the colour out of them over the years, leaving only a dull grey and blue. Grinning, he nudges me with an elbow.

‘Who is lovely mare, eh? Friend? Marefriend? Ah ha ha!’

Adjusting my glasses, I respond. ‘She’s just a friend. She is staying at my place for a while.’

‘Ah! So you saying, she is available, no?’

‘Look, I really don’t think-‘

Before I can tell him how bad of an idea I think it is, Stanimir shoots forward after the pull of a lever. This time stopping only centimetres short of Stratos’s face.

‘Vello my beauty! I am Stanimir!’

‘Howdy!’ Stratos responds, not entirely unexpected.

‘Beauty has name, no?’

I sigh and roll my eyes at the scene unfolding before me.

‘Ayup. Ah’m Stratos, and I’m beautiful! Nice to meet ya!’

Staminir’s eyes widen before bellowing out a laugh and declaring, ‘Stratos! Beautiful name for beautiful mare! Ha ha! What brings beauty to Canterlot?’

I clear my throat before anypony can tell their life story. I had planned to also see the Castle today, so Stanimir’s flirting will have to wait.

‘Excuse me. I’m here for business, remember?’

Stanimir looks up and glares at me.

‘Bah! Waren, why always so serious?’ and then, turning to Stratos ‘If beauty vants some fun, beauty gives Stanimir a call, no? Ha ha ha!’

Stratos, clearly not minding the attention, nods with a smile.

‘Will do, sugarcube.’

With a dramatic pull of a lever, the platform slowly returns to the other side of the counter. All the while spewing steam into my face. Suspecting Stanimir knew very well where his (completely movable) tubes leak steam, I give him an angry look.

‘Ah, boring pony needs more books. Da? Don’t fret, Stanimir has plenty. Heh heh. Look around! Name pony who has more books than Stanimir, and I vill buy them all!’

From past experience, I knew that was no joke. Stanimir hoards printed text like a dragon hoards gold and gems. There have been many a time that other ponies had tried to start up book warehouses or even begin their own collection. Unless they had a royal seal protecting them, Stanimir more often than not bought them out or turned them into dummy organizations for his own business. That is also the reason I don’t like dealing with him. He treats books without any dignity, just collecting them just for the 'prestige' of having 'The Most Books'. Out of this huge selection of paper, I doubt he read more than the manual to ‘Sasha’. Actually, judging by how shakily he operates his machine, I have serious doubts he even read that.

‘So, what does boring pony need? Ten times the books? Perhaps twenty times more? Eh?’

‘Doubling my regular order is enough, Stanimir.’

‘Consider it done! As bonus for bringing beauty, Stanimir will make sure you get extra special book, Da? Ha!’

A chill runs down my spine at Stanimir’s idea of a special book. As I see the dull coloured pony prepare to roll away again, I raise my voice to stop him. ‘Wait! There’s more.’

The platform grinds to a hold halfway through its retraction. A cloud of steam escapes from the mechanism as Stanimir lowers it again.

‘More? Da, tell Stanimir what boring pony needs.’

I swallow. He isn’t going to like this…

‘I-I… I need to cancel all orders after two months from now.’

‘VHAT?!’

The platform shoots up in response to Stanimir’s outburst, and then hisses as it begins to lower again.

‘Nyet nyet nyet! Cancel? You are best customer for years!’

‘Come now, Stanimir. We both know that isn’t true.’

He pauses as he struggles to search for words. After a while, he decides on ‘Why?’

‘I need to close my store for a while. I’m going on sabbatical’

Stanimir raises an eyebrow and tests out the new word.

‘Sa-Bat-eek-ale? With beauty?’

Sighing, I respond ‘With Stratos, yes. And Werk. You remember him, don’t you?’

Waving his hooves around with played emotion, he continues. ‘Waren! Why you do this? You bring beauty into my life, only to take her away! Truly, you are most cruel pony!’

After the dramatic performance that dangerously rocked his platform, the pony calms down. He sighs deeply before addressing me again.

‘Very vell. I shall do what you ask. Cruel pony may be cruel, but also has been loyal customer for years. While you gone, what vill happen to shop?’

‘I don’t know yet. I’m going to close it until I get back, but I need someone to keep an eye on it. I also live there, after all.’

The platform closes in again, the pony riding it getting up on his hind legs. With a hoof on his chest, he says ‘Cruel pony need not ask. Stanimir shall do this for you! Is least I can do for bringing beauty.’

He winks at Stratos, who blushes and looks away. Stanimir looking after my store? And more importantly, my books? I really don’t like the idea…
‘I don’t think that that would…err, what I mean to say is-‘

Stanimir looks at me with a such stern expression that I could do nothing more than stop where I was. ‘Cruel pony may be cruel, but has never been stupid. Cruel pony always wants best selection and Stanimir always supplies, no? Cruel pony is loyal, and he let Stanimir do this for him, yes.’

I tactfully decide to pick my battles and not point out I pay him extra for that treatment. I break out with my patented ‘How To Deal With Difficult Ponies For Money’ smile.

‘Thank you for the offer Stanimir. I’ll have to get back to you on that.’

The pony grins and drops to all fours again.

‘I know you vill accept offer, cruel pony. So! It is decided! Your order has been doubled! And with pain in heart, I vill cancel cruel ponies’ orders after two months.’

‘That was all, thank you.’

Stanimir pulls another lever and the machine slowly starts to retreat into the darkness between the shelves.

‘I shall see you again, cruel pony! Look forward to extra special books eh? Ha ha ha!’

Shaking my head, I turn away from the steam-powered machine slowly rumbling away. Stratos stood there grinning from ear to ear.

‘Ah like him. He’s nice.’

‘Oh yes, he’s a saint.’ I grimly respond, sarcasm dripping from my voice.

‘Now can we please get out of here? I think I can hear some of the books screaming in pain.’

Stratos trots ahead of me and opens the doors. I shield my eyes from the sunlight as we step into the streets. The lack of proper lighting inside Stanimir’s business has dulled my vision. After blinking away the discomfort of the bright outside, I look towards the Castle. Remembering the Royal carriage leaving, I wonder if the castle is even open to visitors. The look of poorly hidden disappointment I get from Stratos suggests she was thinking the same thing. We begin to trot towards the Castle, and leave the depressing green cube on the street behind us. We pass colourful boutiques and make our way through crowded streets. Stratos hasn’t been to this part of Canterlot before, and we occasionally stop as I tell her a story about a shop I know, or an historical event that happened in the streets.

After I tell her about the failed assassination on Ambassador Twinkle Toes on the corner of the final plaza by the orders of the Prance Embassy, we arrive at the bottom of the large marble staircase that leads up to the royal castle. We stand still for a moment while we take in the absolutely huge building. Even though it was constructed over a thousand years ago, it still stands as the largest pony made structure in Equestria. And even if the size itself wasn’t an amazing feat of engineering, the Castle, and the entire city for that matter, was built on the near vertical slope of a mountain. Sometimes it was a frightening thought; thousands of ponies live their lives on something suspended in the air by an ancient construction. Well, the stone was magically enhanced, so as long as the princesses sit on their thrones it won’t decay and damage will repair itself. As we trot up the stairs, I notice raised voices coming from the top of the staircase. Worried, I look at Stratos, who returns the look. We hasten our pace and soon reach the top of the stairs.

‘What do you mean the audience has been cancelled?!’

That voice sounds familiar.

‘I’m sorry Madam, but nopony can see Princess Celestia today.’

‘Well, good thing I ain’t a pony then, huh? You have no idea how long we have travelled for this meeting! We are here on orders of Gawd herself!’

Dorothea! My heart skips a beat as I spot her and three other griffins in an argument with what seems to be, judging by his increasingly flustered appearance and increasingly periodic glances to the guards next to him, as some Royal Office.

‘All matters regarding the state are to be referred to Her Majesty Princess Luna today. Now, you are welcome to bring up whatever business you have with-’

The crowd that has gathered around the argument collectively gasps as Dorothea grabs the equally surprised official by his throat and lifts him up in the air. The guards that rush in to help are stopped by the griffins accompanying Dorothea. His wings frantically beat behind his back as the pegasus attempts to free himself from the griffin’s grasp. His eyes widen as Dorothea tightens her grip on his throat and presses his face again her beak.

‘You-you-YOU DARE have the gale to suggest we, that I, the daughter of Gawd herself, meet with that SHE-DEVIL?! Why I oughtta-‘

‘Enough, Dorothea.’ From behind the griffins came another one, though this one was brown. His face had a large scar running down it, and with slight horror I note that it runs over his positively empty left eye socket. Looking around her at both the royal guards and her own griffins ready to attack, Dorothea promptly drops the Official like a colt discarding a broken toy and growls at the nameless griffin. The Pegasus gasps for air as Dorothea clicks her tongue in disproval, and turns away from him. To add insult to injury, she slaps her tail across his face as she walks away.

The brown griffin merely ignores her and took her place in the front of the group. He turns to the address not just the Official and guards, but the crowd around them as well. ‘Hear me now, Representatives of Equestria! For ten days and ten nights we have traveled from our home to seek out a better understanding between our races! But now your Princess, who has welcomed us into her city, has made a mockery of us by forcing us, we the ambassadors of Gyphos handpicked by our liege the Gawd in her infinite wisdom, to return to her empty handed!’

At this he turned back to the Official who the guards had just gotten back to his feet. ‘This audience was brought together through months of negotiation on both our ends. I hope your Princess knows just what she has brought on herself by so deliberately insulting us so and for assuming we could be sedated through a meeting with the Turned One.’

The brown griffin nods to Dorothea who takes an entitled step forward and declares,

‘Tell your pretty little princesses they lost their say in this. We griffins will act for Equestria. Let’s go boys. We have wasted enough time here already.’

The griffins holding back the Royal Guards step away and the Royal Guards in turn relax. In unison, the four griffins spread their wings and with a mighty fling they take off into the air, blowing several bystanders off their hooves. As the griffins disappear into the sky, two unicorns detach themselves from the crowd and gallop away. This normally wouldn’t have caught my eye, but they wore strangely familiar blue vestments, which seemed odd. Though not nearly as odd as the scene that just played out in front of us. Was that the same Dorothea I saw in my store? I mean, she had an outburst there, but she seemed kind at heart. This feels just… wrong. Stratos seems just as shocked by the ordeal as me. After an exchange of worried looks, we trot up to the recovering Official.

‘What was that all about?’ I carefully ask him.

Still coughing, the Official looks at me with squinted eyes. ‘None of your business citizen. The Castle is closed today for all non-governmental meetings, so just move along.’

I decide not to press the matter, and walk away. Stratos gives the Pegasus a concerned look before following me. After we left the scene behind us, I turn to face her with an apologetic smile.

‘Sorry Stratos, but it doesn’t look like we can visit the castle today…’

‘That’s okay, Ah don’t mind. The castle ain’t going nowhere.’

More to myself then to Stratos, I add ‘More importantly, what was wrong with Dorothea?’

‘Ah dunno, she seemed really angry. Ya think it would be okay to visit n’ ask her?’

‘What? You know where she is staying?’

‘Eh? Ayup. Ah told ya Ah ran into her again right? She showed me where she is staying, and said Ah was welcome any time.’

Thinking over the situation, I decide in favor of my curiosity and worry.

‘If she said that, I think it would be appropriate if we went and asked her what’s wrong.’

‘Okay. Follow me then.’

I follow the mare through the streets of the city. It was a strange sensation, some of the streets she knew better than I did. I blush when I realized Stratos had only lived here for two weeks, and can probably find her way around better than me, who has lived in Canterlot of his life.

‘Uhm… nah wait, it was the other way. Whoops.’

Or maybe I judged too fast. With a smile I turn around and we trace our steps back a couple of streets, before taking a right turn where we took a left one earlier. Eventually we get lost a couple of times, and it takes us much longer to get there than it should have, had we taken a shorter route. Stratos probably gets lost on a daily basis, it’s a miracle she finds her way home every day. A sense of guilt finds its way into my chest. I never did give her proper directions or a map, and just left her to find her own path. That was horrible of me. Before I can apologize to her for that, she stops and points a hoof.

‘Look! We’re here!’

I follow the direction her hoof is pointing in and spot the large building halfway down the street. Outside a smooth, white building, several griffins were having a serious discussion, judging by their faces. Though unlike the scene at the castle, no raised voices could be heard. As we approach the building, a small female griffin glances in our direction, and nudges the griffin next to her. The black coated griffin that had been nudged turned around to face us. Dorothea smiles and waves at us with a claw. We quickly trot up to the group.

‘Stratos! And Waren, was it? What brings you here?’

Strangely happy she remembered my name, I struggle to formulate an answer.

‘Uhm… actually we wanted to ask if everything is okay. We saw…. What happened at the Castle and-‘

‘And you thought it would be appropriate to meddle in our affairs?’ The brown griffin from before interrupts me. Annoyed, Dorothea roughly pushes his head away with a claw.

‘Zip it Arthal. Stop conveniently forgetting that I’m the one in charge here.’ And then, turning to Stratos and I she continues. ‘You saw that, did you? I’m afraid I’m not really showing you my best side, huh Waren?’

She smiles apologetically and rubs her head with a claw.

‘So what was that all about? Is there a problem?’

‘A problem? To say everything was sailing smooth would be a lie. The Royal Guard has been giving us trouble, we just-‘

‘You know kitten, we wouldn’t have had so much trouble with the guard if you hadn’t-’ the same griffin interrupts again. Dorothea flicks him across the back of the head with the tip of her wing.

‘Don’t call me kitten. And if you think Gawd would have a problem with me catching up with friends, you can tell her when we get back. Now get your flank inside before I pluck out your feathers and shove them underneath your tail.’ Remembering how intimidating the one-eyed griffin had looked just a little while ago, I find that my action of hiding behind Stratos was completely justifiable.

A loud belly laugh bursting from the brown griffin was the last thing I was expecting. With a good natured sigh, he remarks, ‘You still have much to learn in the fine art of banter, kitten.’

Dorothea merely stares at him with a look of complete disdain. ‘Woof.’

Have you ever seen a griffin with one eye wink? It’s… an interesting experience, to say the least. With a casual wave over his shoulder, he enters the building. A couple more griffins follow him, until only two are left, besides Dorothea.

‘Urgh…impossible griffin.’

She turns back to us, a slight blush peeking out of her feathers.

‘Arthal seems to think he needs to protect this mission and me sometimes, as if I’m not good enough or something crud like that. Just because his clan founded a city doesn’t mean he has to look after me. Honestly, I’m not the one who lost an eye to a bloody owl. That Cyclops seems to forget Gawd put me in command here.’

After Stratos and I stare at her in bewilderment for a few seconds after she had finished up her short rant, Dorothea smiles again.

‘Oh! I’m sorry, what am I saying? I’m acting like I’m talking to a citizen of Gryphos.’ She puts a claw on her face at her latest sentence. ‘And there I go again. I’m sorry. You went through all the trouble of finding me to ask if I was okay, and now I’m talking in riddles.’

She raises an eyebrow and gives us a judging look.

‘Are you familiar at all with Griffin culture?’

I look at Stratos, and find she has the same answer in mind as me. In unison, we respond.

‘Not really, no.’

‘Oh wow. I didn’t expect you to know nothing. That’s okay though. I’ve never let an opportunity to educate the foreign masses about my kind go to waste!’ She opens her beak to speak again, but seems to change her mind. She gives us another smile.

‘That is, if you’ll listen.’

Seeing Stratos eagerly nodding next to me, I agree.

‘Of course we’ll listen.’

Grinning, Dorothea continues.

‘Well then, I’ll start at the beginning…’

With eagerness to spread knowledge of her kind, Dorothea explains Gryphos is the name of the capital city of the griffins, and it is located on top of the highest mountain in the known world. At the same time, Gryphos is also used to describe the collective territory of the griffins in general. She tells us the stories of the founding of several important cities in Gryphos.

Ragnar’s Peak was founded by the Truegut clan, ancestors of Arthal, the one-eyed male griffin. Apparently, the city is built on a mountain that was once an active volcano, but for many generations the Truegut griffins piled rocks into the crater, until the mountain chocked on them and a city was abruptly build on top of it. The founding stories of the other cities tell of equally heroic actions. Shattered Ridge, a city carved out of the very mountain itself. Talos, a city build underneath a huge overhang. As the stories pile up, I begin to understand why the griffins are such a proud race, and their appreciation for history almost borders ancestral worship.

As it turns out, Dorothea saved the most amazing story for last. The founding of Gryphos, by the Grimfeather clan, her clan. On the outside, the city is an amazing sight, being located on the very top of the world. But the real ingenuity shines inside the city. In the exact centre, on the highest point of the mountain, lay the Halls of Gawd, their leader. They offer the only point of entry into the mountain. I had to ask if I heard correctly, but yes, Dorothea really said into the mountain. The mountain Gryphos is built on has been hollowed out, and lined with obsidian to form the biggest arcane vault imaginable. Inside is the largest collection of treasures and artifacts in the known world. The griffins consider it their transcended duty to protect powerful artifacts from the world, and vice versa. Apart from ruling the clans and settling internal disputes, it’s also Gawd’s task to guard the treasures of this world, and to judge when something is too dangerous to be allowed to exist outside their vault.

Stratos nods as Dorothea explains the concept of the vault. ‘Ah think Ah get it. So ya keep those powerful items safe so they ain’t used to do evil.’

The griffin smiles, and seems happy Stratos understands.

‘Exactly.’

Glad to have received more insight into the previously so mysterious griffin race, I still find myself wondering about today’s events.

‘Okay. I understand that. So… what was that at the Castle about?’

Dorothea’s smile disappears, and I already regret asking my question.

‘Oh, yes. Well… As you might have guessed, we are here on order of Gawd. We were supposed to have an audience with the Princess today, but she decided she has something better to do.’

I can tell she was getting angry again, and I am eager to change the subject. Stratos however has other ideas.

‘Wha’ about Princess Luna? She was there.’

Dorothea glares at her for a moment before realizing she was doing so and sighs.

‘Like I said. We protect artifacts that can cause harm to the world. It is our right, our immortal duty to do so. The Alicorns themselves would fall under this category. But you can understand how it would be a problem to lock them in a vault along with every powerful magical item in the known world.’

‘I still don’t see how…’

‘Look… We realize the Alicorns are sentient beings, not artifacts. And it was agreed with the third Gawd that they would be allowed to live outside the vault, despite posing a clear threat to the world. In return, the Alicorns would aid us in our goals. For countless generations this went well. Until Luna decided to not only betray our holy contract, but the entirety of the race she was ruling. Not only did she go to war and caused strife, she had the audacity to forge armour out of blackened sky iron, that she stole from the vault she swore to protect!’

She clenches her claws and a vein starts to throb in her neck. Fearing for another outburst, I involuntary take a step back. She notices this, and calms down slightly.

‘She betrayed and insulted the entire griffin race and everything we stood for by cursing the world with another dark artifact, the armour of Nightmare Moon. So just believe me when I say I don’t want to see her.’

The mood considerably dark, I awkwardly attempt to change the subject with a weak smile on my face.

‘Uhm… so… How long are you staying in Canterlot?’

‘Hmm? Actually, we are leaving tomorrow.’

My heart sinks, and any trace of a smile disappears from my face.

‘Oh…’

‘Sorry, but if the Princess won’t see us, we are just wasting our time here.’

For some reason this hurt me more than I thought. I didn’t expect her to leave so soon…. I mean, what the hay was I expecting? That she would stay here just for me? That we could spend time together? Cursing my own foalishness, I force myself to look Dorothea in the eyes and produce a normal response.

‘I’m sorry things didn’t work out as planned for you.’

‘Thanks Waren. But don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine. Now I’m afraid we ran out of time. As you can imagine, we have a lot of packing to do.’

‘We’ll leave you to it then, sorry for bothering you.’

As we trot away, Stratos and I wave hooves in goodbye. My mood was absolutely ruined. The visit to Stanimir’s depressing green cube almost seemed like a casual stroll through the central park compared to this. Stratos seems to understand I’m not in the mood to talk, and we trot through the streets in silence. The sun was already starting to set; we had spent hours talking with Dorothea. I sigh deeply.

‘Everythan’ okay?’ Stratos asks eventually. Am I okay? I didn’t feel okay, but why not? Why did I care so much that Dorothea was leaving? While trying a wrap my head around things, I notice a faint noise. It was a soft, rhythmic beat, and it was coming from above me. Looking up, I jump away as a huge shadow suddenly drops from the sky.

‘Guys! Wait up!’

Dorothea! She followed us! But… why? She took some time to catch her breath, apparently she had been flying pretty fast.

‘D-Dorothea? What’s wrong?’

She gives us a smile. A different smile from before, this smile was more genuine and reassuring.

‘Don’t worry, nothing’s wrong. It’s just… That wasn’t really the goodbye you deserved.’

What is she talking about? She seems a little uncomfortable, and I look at Stratos to see her take on the matter. She was just grinning.

‘Look, I have a reputation to uphold. As Gawd’s daughter I can’t just get all cosy with some ponies I just met. Lecturing you about our kind was already kind of pushing it.’

She looks away. Wait… is that? Is she… blushing?

‘But… you have been really kind to me. And I didn’t want to leave on such a depressing note.’

She turns her attention towards me. My face reddening, I almost take a step backward.

‘It was really sweet of you to check up on me. Thank you Waren.’

She takes a step forward and… she kisses me on the cheek. Woah! W-what? My vision blurs and I feel dangerous amounts of blood making their way to my face. Dazed by the event, I am barely able to see Dorothea wink at the mare next to me.

‘You too Stratos. I hope we will meet again. Under different circumstances, maybe.’

She turns to me again, grinning this time.

‘I hope you like this goodbye better than my last.’

‘Y-you… outdid yourself… ‘

She winks before she starts beating her wings again.

‘Goodbye Stratos. Goodbye, cutie.’

In bewilderment I watch the beautiful creature take off into the evening sky. Woah, well… That most certainly did wonders for my crushed mood. After staring into nothingness for a while, I remember that I am not alone. I snap out of my dreamy state and look at Stratos. I have seen a lot of grins in the past two weeks, but this one has to be the biggest one to date. I cough and look away, correcting my glasses.

‘Well, that was… nice of her. L-Let’s head home.’

‘Sure thing, cutie pie.’ Cursing the cities enchanted stones won’t allow me to sink into the ground, I start blushing. But you know what? It’s worth it. That was amazing, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I start humming and quicken my pace to the store.

‘H-hey! Hold on!’

I keep up my cheerful mood and accompanying pace until my store comes in sight. The balcony that I had spent countless hours on, taking in every square meter of the city, reminds me off my unorthodox nocturnal experience. After everything I went through today, the dream still haunts me and sends shivers down my spine. I can’t help myself but wonder; What is in store for me the next time I close my eyes?

Chapter Four: The Pinkie Parable

Writing History
Chapter Four
The Pinkie Parable

I watch the scenery speed by while the carriage softly rocks back and forth. The sound of the wheels on the tracks alternates with gentle bumps as we pass over various imperfections in the railing. Looking down at the ground, the scenery makes way for a blur of shapes and colours. The further I look down, the less I can recognize, until there is nothing but a vague grey and brown blur next to the heavy metal wheels of the train. The last time I went anywhere by train, it was being pulled by Earth Ponies and was nowhere near as fast. The hanging lamp in our cabin flickers as the train passes over an intersection. The scenery outside is replaced with a pressing white cloud of steam that the locomotive had freshly pumped into the air. This train, in every sense of the phrase, is an amazing feat of technological engineering.

And I hate it.

I quickly raise a hoof to my mouth as I’m hit with yet another stab of nausea. Ugh… looks like I have something new to add to my ever growing list of reasons to hate steam-engines. I had never felt motion sickness in something horse drawn. With a grim expression I look at my companions across from me. Stratos is pressing against the window, eager to take in every square meter of scenery we pass by. For what it’s worth, she seems to notice how much being on the train was taking a toll on me.

‘Everythang okay? Ya want somethin’ t’ eat?’

My stomach responds to the mention of food with a series of flip-flops. I quickly push the mare away from the window and magically throw it open before emptying the contents of my stomach outside. I watch with the utmost melancholy as my last meal from Canterlot is swept away in the wind. What a waste of a perfectly good breakfast. After the reaction subsides, I somehow find my voice.

‘No… food…’

Stratos, the ever ignorant soul responsible for my most recent stomach flop, nods before eagerly returning to her spirited conversation with Werk.

‘Heehee, did Miss Dash really laugh him outta Cloudsdale?’

Next to her, Werk sits casually on the couch with his forelegs slumped over the backseat. ‘That’s what I heard. Apparently she found his idea so ridiculous she repeated it over the intercom so the entire Rainbow Factory could have a laugh at it too. Haughbury doesn’t care much for being publically mocked, that’s for sure.’

He laughs at what I can only assume to be a humorous memory and jumps off the couch. He flexes his wings before grinning at me. I squint my eyes at the Pegasus as he trots to his saddlebags and rummages through them. After a while his face appears from one of them, with an apple in his mouth. My stomach heavily protests as he bites into it as noisily as possible. Werk seems extremely amused by my all too visual discomfort.

‘You know, Waren… I knew you hated steam engines, but I never knew they hated you too.’ I can do nothing but glare at the entirely too smug Pegasus. My traitorous friend, already used to moving around at high speeds, isn’t impressed in the slightest by our means of transportation.

‘It’s not fair… why aren’t either of you motion sick?’

‘If I were to guess,’ He pauses to take another loud bite of his apple in my general direction, ‘I’d say trains are just a way for me to go somewhere without tiring out my wings.’

I reluctantly turn my head to Stratos. ‘What about you then?’

‘Ah like t’ jump off buildings.’

Of course.

I return to my seat, hoping sitting down will ease the nausea somewhat. Stratos returns to her conversation with Werk with a giggle. ‘Tha’ totally sounds like somethin’ Miss Dash would do.’

‘I don’t know about Miss Dash, but Haughbury certainly seems to have an affinity for getting kicked out of wherever he’s trying to sell stuff. We factory hooves even have a pool going on every time he leaves to go pitch an idea on how bad he’ll mess up. Won big once, too. Pony went and got kicked out of Prance, of all places.’

Stratos perks up at the new information. ‘He got kicked out of a country? How did he manage to do tha’?’

‘Okay, so here’s what happened: He was trying to sell his latest line of carriages, but negotiations didn’t really go in his favour. He got it into his head it would be a good idea to point out how the pregnant Princess was looking “a little chubby around the edges”, and that he was willing to throw some exercise machines into the deal for free. Her husband ran him all the way out to the border and two hundred bits right into my pocket.’ His grin falters as he continues, ‘Then I lost twice that when he got exclusive selling rights to Minotauros.’

He takes an exceptionally large bite from his apple. The sight upsets my stomach to such an extent I could almost imagine it popping right off of me and out the door. Through nothing more than sheer willpower, I keep my internal organs in place. Werk seems to notice my discomfort and removes the apple from his mouth to reveal a devilish smile.

‘Sure you don’t want one? It’s nice and juicy.’

Oh, how about that. My stomach found some leftovers from yesterday’s dinner. Wonderful. I hastily focus my magic to open the window while attempting to keep the food inside. For the second time, I bid farewell to my culinary memories of Canterlot as the wind blows the contents of my stomach away. Hardly amused, I return inside to the laughing stallion I have the dubious honour of calling my friend. I note that, now that I no longer have anything in my belly to vomit into the surrounding countryside, my stomach has settled ever so slightly.

‘There are very few things on this planet, including the current death trap we’ve entrusted our lives to, that I hate more than you right now,’ I inform my friend, feeling too sick to even bother with sarcasm. Grinning, he takes a bite from yet another apple. In his defence, the apple is juicy. Wiping the fluids from his muzzle, Werk responds.

‘Sorry Waren, but you’re making this too easy.’

Squinting my eyes at him again, I raise a hoof in warning.

‘Eat to your heart’s content, but mark my words. I will have my revenge.’

Werk laughs at my hardly threatening remark. I suppose I don’t look very dangerous, having just emptied my stomach twice. Once because of seeing an apple, and a second time because of being on this train. But I have every intention of living up to my words. I have no idea how to get back at him yet, but my revenge will be sweet.

…Sweet? An unfortunate choice of words, my twisting stomach tells me. The fact that I no longer have anything to throw up doesn’t stop it from trying. I look out the window again; I can’t bear to watch Werk finish his apple. In the distance, I can just spot the peak of the mountain Canterlot was constructed against. Hidden amongst a large mountain range, it hardly stands out. But I know that the peak is slightly taller than the mountains surrounding it. In fact, the only mountain in Equestria that dwarfs the cities’ is Dragon’s Spire. However, if I am to believe Dorothea’s stories, and I do, Gryphos is home to entire ranges of mountains that make even Dragon’s Spire seem like a meaningless mole hill. I winch away from the window as the train thunders into a tunnel. Suddenly the sound of wheels on tracks is replaced by an infinitely echoed version of it. I have trouble thinking straight as the thunder of steel on steel drills into my skull. After what seems like an eternity, the grey blur of the tunnel is replaced by a blinding sunlight. I raise a hoof to shield my eyes as I blink away the sudden brightness.

I remember something about a tunnel on our route. It shouldn’t be much further until Ponyville, something not lost to the other occupants in the cart.

‘We’re close now, ain’t we? There was only one tunnel, and it was close to Ponyville.’

‘Yep. It can’t be much longer now.’

Stratos jumps up from the couch and presses her face against the window again. I roll my eyes at her enthusiasm. Werk laughs and gets up to look out the window next to her. After a short while I surrender to my curiosity and join my friends. The scenery is significantly more green now, trees dotting the landscape everywhere in sight.

‘Look! Is that the Everfree forest?’ Stratos excitedly asks, sounding like a filly on her birthday party.

‘No, the Everfree forest is bigger. I don’t even think that is a forest.’

Stratos stares at me with wide eyes.

‘Ya mean Everfree has even more trees?’

I laugh. Had I been unable to see her cutie mark, I would have seriously doubted she was old enough to have one.

‘Yes, Everfree has more trees than that. A lot more.’

With a loud cringe worthy thud, Stratos glues her face to the glass window once again. I drop myself onto the bench. Staring out the window wasn’t an activity my stomach wanted to participate in. With a grin, Werk drops down next to me. However, this wasn’t a let’s-get-Waren-to-throw-up-again kind of grin. This was my friend realizing we are finally on our way. A smile finds its way onto my face as well. Sure, the trip itself was horror. But we are really on our way. We left Canterlot behind. I closed the store and paid the rent in advance. Werk quit his job. There’s no turning back now. We are going to do this. We are going to the Everfree forest. To find the princesses’ old castle so I can write a book about it. To have an adventure, so that Werk can feel alive again after miserable years in the factory numbed his very being. And so that Stratos can prove herself to the Pegasi in Cloudsdale and become the first Unicorn weather pony. I let out a deep breath.

‘Hang in there Waren, we’re almost there,’ Werk reassures me with a grin. I roll my eyes at the remark.

‘If you would have kept your apple to yourself I would be perfectly content digesting the rest of yesterday’s dinner,’ I shoot back. Stratos drops on the couch across from us.

‘By the way, Werk. What’s Haughbury like?’

Taken aback by the sudden question, Werk cocks an eyebrow. ‘Weren’t we already talking about him?’

‘Ah mean, what kind of pony is he? Ah’m trying t’ figure out why Waren hates him so much. He doesn’t sound like that bad of a pony.’

I roll my eyes again. I don’t even bother telling her I can’t hate a pony I never met. Even if I wanted to tell her, I had decided to take every opportunity to keep my mouth shut until I was safely of this train. Werk clears his throat.

‘He’s really the textbook example of a polarizing pony. You either love him like the Tsar and his family in Minotauros, or you hate him… like… uhm… everypony else. Like the Prench royalty and how he thought the Princess looked fat.’

With a decisive nod to herself, Stratos responds, ‘Sounds like he just needs t’ learn… uhm... subtlety, I think. That’s wha’ Waren’s always telling me t’ learn, at least.’

‘No, it’s not really that he doesn’t know how to deal with other ponies, he just doesn’t care much about it. He’s very… ambitious, yes, that’s the word. Every day, he’s always working on his machines, trying to find ways to improve them. That sounds like a good thing, and from his point of view, it probably is, but his machines are all he cares about. Even when he’s talking to somepony, chances are he’s already working on that next big invention in his head.’

I listen with half an ear to the explanation on Haughbury. I heard the story before, of course. But Werk was closer to the pony than the ones spreading rumours on the streets of Canterlot.

‘He often comes off as bitter, cold, and rude. But he is passionate about the things he cares about... It’s just that those things aren’t ponies.’

Stratos slowly nods again. ‘And he’s always been like tha’?’

‘When I met him, which was when I started working in his factory, it was already like that. However, the older workers quickly told me it used to be even worse. From what I heard, a terrible tragedy had taken place a couple of years before that and, well, it changed him completely.’

The other half of my ears join in attention. A tragedy? Now there is something the gossip in Canterlot failed to touch upon.

‘Now, I’m not sure about any of this part, it’s just what I heard from a pony who heard it from another pony who heard it from another pony, okay? But the rumours on the factory floor say he was in love. Some variations even have him married, to this beautiful unicorn who was just as ambitious as he was. Together, they developed an amazing new technology. Combining his earth pony ingenuity with her magic, they created a hybrid engine that easily outshines even the steam-engine on this train. Together, with their love, they created something that was greater than the sum of what either was capable off alone. They worked for the good of all of pony kind.’

‘That’s amazin’! But… that doesn’t sound really tragic.’

‘I’m getting to the tragic part now. As you might have noticed, there are no hybrid engines. Despite all of their work and love they put into it, the project was a failure. Maybe the metal was too thin, or they didn’t use enough bolts. Maybe the problem was on the magic side, I don’t know. Whatever the reason, one day, under the most unfortunate of circumstances imaginable, a test run went haywire and it blew up in their faces. Haughbury’s wife – or marefriend, or whatever – didn’t make it.’

Along with Stratos’s, my ears droop. That was a part of Haughbury’s past I wasn’t familiar with. Haughbury was a pony very few citizens of Canterlot ever actually saw, even though he was such a vital part – for better or worse – of their daily lives. Despite that, I doubt there is a single pony in Canterlot that doesn’t gossip about him. Most of those stories have him being a machine himself, or other tall tales. This story though… it just seems too depressing to be a mere fabrication.

Werk sighs. ‘Ever since then the hybrid project was scrapped. Right after the incident, his passion for machines became an obsession. He locked himself in his workshop and the shifts in the factory were brutal. It became so bad a representative from the court actually had to drag him out of his office and remind him his workers weren’t made of steel and gears themselves. Things got better after that… though I suspect Haughbury still wouldn’t mind if his workers were machines.’

The mood in the cabin weighs down on us as we all stay silent for a few moments. ‘Uhm… Just rumours, of course.’ Werk weakly offers in an attempt to salvage the conversation.

It doesn’t really help.

I almost feel bad for hating Haughbury’s engines so much now. After a while, Werk softly starts talking to Stratos about the machinery behind the monstrosity providing our transportation, Stratos doesn’t listen as she presses her face against the window again, and I attempt to keep what little remains inside my stomach actually there.

Suddenly, the cabin violently shakes as the sound of the wheels on rails is joined by that of the brakes. Stratos almost falls over, her horn scraping over the glass window. After regaining her composure, she presses her face against it so hard I start to fear that it might crack.

‘We’re here! Look! Werk! Waren! It’s Ponyville!’

We join the unicorn at the window and spot buildings rolling by, instead of just trees. The buildings are of simple construction, compared to those in Canterlot. But it gives them a much homelier feeling. Each house is unique in a way, no streets filled with endless copies of the same building. Odd spectrums pass by the window, a blue house, a yellow house, and even a pink house. From my first judgement, I’d say Ponyvillians have to be a jovial bunch.

With a sound of thousands of hooves on a blackboard the train comes to a standstill in a small train station. I almost feel bad for disturbing the peaceful town by arriving here in this steam-powered monstrosity. As if on cue, the locomotive lets out a long wheeze while puffing one last cloud into the air. After a few seconds of eerie silence, Stratos turns around in glee. Her face beams with an intensity unlike anything I have seen before.

‘We’re here!’ she screams in excitement as she bolts out the door, knocking aside Werk. The Pegasus crashes to the floor, spilling the contents of his saddlebags full of apples all over the cabin.

Surely, that must be karma working in my favour.

Despite having just been positively manhandled, Werk finds it in himself to grin and quips, ‘Well, at least we don’t have to doubt Stratos is happy to be here.’

‘Yes, that sure cleared up a giant cloud of doubt.’ I let out a sigh before turning towards the door of the cabin. ‘Let’s go after her before she gets in trouble already.’

I proceed to trot out the cabin, until I am stopped by Werk’s voice. ‘Uhm… Waren? We might already be too late. Look.’

I hurry back into the cabin, and look out the window in the direction my friend is pointing. And sure enough, I spot Stratos waving down two elderly mares. This causes me to panic. Now, you might be wondering why. Surely nothing bad can come from simply waving down some old ponies? Maybe have a nice talk, get invited over for some tea and biscuits, the regular deal. But then you would be forgetting that, chances are, you aren’t Stratos. A pony notorious for scaring ponies half to death with her casual hobby of jumping off buildings. So it was for the safety of everypony involved that I galloped out of the cabin.

‘Hurry Werk! Damage control! We can’t afford to get a bad name in this town already!’

‘But… my apples!’

‘Leave them! We can pick them up after we retrieve Stratos.’

As I gallop through the train looking for an exit, I hear a soft movement of wind behind me. After being the Pegasus’s best friend for the better part of my life I found it impossible not to associate the sound with Werk following closely behind. After spotting an exit, I (unnecessarily) leap the distance between the train and the station and look around. After spotting the blue coat I was looking for, I break into gallop again. Werk, clearly not as concerned about the safety of others as myself, sighs before reluctantly following me. As I approach the scene of the crime, I quickly jump between the mares and Stratos to protect them.

‘Hello! I’m so sorry about my friend here; I hope she’s not causing any trouble. You’re not causing trouble, are you, Stratos?’

The three mares look at me with an assortment of raised eyebrows. The older mares give me an especially puzzled look. Struggling not to return a raised eyebrow, I note the two form a strange combination. One of the two being a white coated Unicorn with the most gorgeous of curled purple manes and wearing a pair of red glasses. Her companion, on the other hand, is a pink Earth Pony with a mane that can only be described as cotton candy, albeit with streaks of grey hidden amongst the overwhelming pink. The white Unicorn shoots a demeaning stare over her glasses towards me before addressing Stratos.

‘I say, darling, does your friend always make a point of rudely interrupting conversations like this?’

I blink as I release what the mare has said, and note Stratos giving me a somewhat angry look. ‘Wait, you were… talking?’

‘Of course silly! What else would we be doing?’ The pink earth pony happily states.

My mind goes over scenarios of varying doom as I think over what Stratos could have done. Firstly, there’s burning down the entire town, followed by causing a freak thunderstorm, somehow managing to pretend to fall to her death, and of course, the worst of all, loudly proclaiming I have a crush on a griffin for all to hear. Actually, now that I think about it, Stratos having a casual conversation was the last thing I would have thought of. Yet it appears that is the case here. Werk, having caught up, is quick to point out how wrong I was.

‘See, Waren? Nothing to worry about. Now, I’ll go get those apples before the train leaves. They make up almost half of our supply, you know.’

Before Werk can fly away, however, a loud gasp escapes the white unicorn. We all turn our heads towards her to a white hoof shakingly pointing towards my friend.

‘My word, darling! Whatever is that… that thing on your head?!’

Confused, Werk places a hoof on his head. Not finding anything, he raises an eyebrow at the mare. ‘Huh? You mean… my mane?’

The unicorn immediately shakes her head as she trots up Stratos. ‘Oh no no. You misunderstand. That is not a mane. Look at this beautiful black hair, with the most adorable shades of yellow!’

Leaving a blushing grin on Stratos’s face, she trots up to me. ‘And this bold crimson mane! Hmm… those shades of grey are a tad old fashioned though. Say, dear, have you considered dying your hair?’

‘Uhm… Not really.’ With a disapproving click of her tongue, the mare focuses on Werk again.

‘A shame, but an understandable one. In any event, these are manes. But what you have there, darling, there is no excuse for that… that crime against beauty!’

‘Oh Rarity! Cut them some slack, they only just arrived here!’ The pink Earth Pony says with a giggle. The Unicorn, apparently named Rarity responds by throwing her mane behind her back with a ‘Hmph’ that would have no trouble finding it’s place in the royal court of Canterlot.

‘All the more reason to let me fix that hair as soon as possible, I say! You don’t want to make a bad impression, now do you?’

Werk lowers to the ground and folds his wings in contemplation. ‘Uhm… No I suppose not. But we’re just passing through, Miss. We’re headed to Everfree forest.’

‘Oh please, call me Rarity. And a forest Everfree may be, that doesn’t mean it should be free of a good sense of beauty! I simply insist you allow me to help you in your situation.’

Rarity stomps her hoof on the ground to add force to the statement. Werk uneasily takes a step back before answering.

‘That’s really kind of you to offer, Miss Rarity, but I’m afraid we can’t afford a makeover right now.’

To compensate for my friend’s step backward, the mares takes one forward. ‘That’s quite okay, darling. You wouldn’t ask for bits to save some poor pony from a burning building, now would you? This is very much the same,’ she says with a gleam in her eyes as she takes yet another step forward. ‘In fact, this is far, far worse.’

As Werk tries to find an answer that would get him out of this situation, I suddenly remember what I promised him in the train. When the Pegasus speaks up again, I decide to help him find the right words.

‘Again, nice of you to offer, but-‘

‘Yes. Werk would love to get his hair fixed, thank you.’ I cheerfully finish his sentence for him. He gives me a panicked look as the white Unicorn’s face lights up in glee.

‘What?!’

‘Wonderful! We shall start at once!’

Before Werk can protest, he is abruptly wrapped in blue magic and lifted off his hooves. As he looks at me in confused panic, I give him a wry smile. His eyes widen as I mouth ‘Revenge’.

‘And once we’re done with your mane, I can already picture a fabulous hat and cloak combo that would go absolutely dashingly with that regal grey of yours!’

‘I have an idea! While your friend is at Rarity’s, why don’t I show you around town?’ The pink Earth Pony suggests, receiving an approving nod from Miss Rarity.

‘Splendid idea, Pinkamena. Now, do try to avoid covering our guests in pudding this time.’

‘Don’t worry Rarity! The welcome cart broke years ago. Geez, and they say my memory is bad!’

‘Okay then, I’ll get to work. You can pick up your friend at my boutique this afternoon. Pinkamena, don’t forget to show our guests where that is, okay?’

‘Okie dokie lokie!’ The pink mare happily confirms. Her manner of speech has absolutely no correlation to her age, and the words sound strange, coming from a mouth surrounded by wrinkled skin.

The unicorn smiles at her friend, and polite nods at me and Stratos. We return the nod and she trots away, a grey Pegasus floating behind her. With his hooves helplessly flailing under him, Werk tries to escape from the Unicorns grasp. After failing to do so, he looks at me with panicked eyes.

‘Wait! Help!’

‘Have fun Werk! We’re looking forward to your new style!’ I call out, waving a hoof after him as he is carried out of sight by the unicorn. Not as good as doing something personally, but revenge works in strange ways. That’ll teach him to make me throw up. Stratos looks at me with a hint of worry in her eyes.

‘Are ya sure he’ll be fine?’

‘Oh, he will be more than fine. I can assure you.’

The corners of my mouth turn up as I imagine Werk getting a forceful makeover. He never did take proper care of that assortment of hair he calls a mane. Maybe this will shine a new light on him, and he will realise how easy it is to keep it in relatively good condition. Alternatively, and far more likely, he’ll probably just stubbornly refuse to learn anything from the ordeal. Either way, it will still make my friend think twice before laughing at my threats again. I turn my attention to the pink Earth Pony, who, to my surprise, is still waving in the direction Miss Rarity took Werk.

‘Uhm… Miss?’ I carefully address her. She blinks and looks at me with surprise.

‘Oh! Hello! Who are you? Are you new in town? I don’t remember seeing you before, but that doesn’t mean a lot these days.’

She forgot us already? It seems that in her eagerness and excitement, the old mare’s mind struggles to keep up with her mouth. Well, at least she’s aware of it herself.

‘Yes, we are new here. You just offered to show us around town, actually.’

After a brief moment of contemplation, the mare’s face lights up with understanding, and she happily skips ahead of us. ‘That does sound like something I’d say! Okie Dokie, follow me!’

With surprising agility, the mare bounces up and down as we trot after her. If her old age was causing her any aches or troubles, she’s certainly not showing it. Judging by the grey hairs in her mane, and wrinkles on her face, she is at least old enough to have grand foals. Though her words and actions suggest she is still just a filly herself. As she jumps ahead, I take note of her cutie mark. The three balloons on her flank rather stand out. Those balloons, I can only assume on an Earth Pony, probably mean her special talent involves an event coordinator or maybe a party planner.

The pink mare abruptly stops and turns around, causing me to almost run into her.

‘So, what are your names?’ She asks, her face mere centimetres from mine. Awkwardly pointing a hoof towards the giggling blue unicorn next to me, I respond ‘This is Stratos. My name is Waren, and the Pegasus with Miss Rarity is called Werk.’

The mare puts some distance between her face and mine as she takes a step back with a smile. ‘Werk? That’s a funny name! I’m Pinkie Pie, nice to meet you!’

‘Likewise, Miss Pie.’ I decide upon, receiving a giggle at my formality.

‘Oh please, call me Pinkie! Only the fillies and colts call me Pie, they’re such a formal bunch!’

‘Nice t’ meet ya, Miss Pinkie.’ Stratos politely adds.

After a short giggle, the old pony quickly bounces ahead of us again. She greets nearly every pony we pass by, each of which eagerly returns a wave, smile, or greeting of their own. With a permanent bounce in her old joints, she shows us around town, telling us various stories about all the places we pass. Most of the stories involve obscene amounts of balloons and sugar. We quickly learn of the cake shop Sugarcube Corner, where Miss Pinkie resides. I can’t say I’m surprised, really. To reach such levels of energy you’d have to live somewhere that always has a supply of cupcakes at hoof.

I blink and suddenly, the pink mare is nowhere to be found. Panicked, I look around. Not only would we be lost if she was gone, but it will take a lot of explaining to do if we lost Miss Rarity’s friend. However, a bubbly voice from down an alleyway quickly points us in the direction of our tour guide. We quickly trot through the alley and find a large tower-like building.

It is by far the largest piece of architecture I have seen here so far, and judging by the rest of Ponyville, it’s probably supposed to pass as authoritarian. It is surrounded by a large open space where a large group of ponies is busy setting up something. Our pink guide is talking to a disgruntled looking pony wearing strangely familiar blue robes.

‘Why? Are you holding an auction? What are you selling?’ she asks the particularly familiar looking orange earth pony.

‘No Miss, no auction. We would like to get back to work now, if you will.’ He responds, clearly trying to get rid of the energized mare bothering him. He looks over to me, and I instantly recognize him. His face lights up as he recognized me as well.

‘You!’ We say in unison.

‘Ya know each other?’ Stratos asks curiously.

‘Well, no. I mean, yes. I mean, I sold him a book. A few months back.’ I explain to the mare. The orange earth pony nods in agreement at my words.

‘Indeed! The Elements of Harmony, A Reference Guide. It took me days to find a store that had that old book in stock. And only twenty bits at that. Quite the deal if you ask me.’

I laugh uncomfortably as I recall that day, and the fact that I sold the same book a little while after he visited. Stratos seems to recall the same, and blurts out, ‘Twenty? Dorothea told me she paid fifteen bits for that book.’

My uncomfortable, forced laugh gets stuck in my throat as the earth pony frowns at me. It’s not like I intended to charge a different price, it’s just hard to think straight with an outraged griffin clawing at your throat. Thankfully the incredibly painful silence doesn’t last long, as we are in the company of not one, but two ponies completely oblivious to social situations.

‘A circus then! You’re a circus! I just know it!’ Miss Pinkie giggles. The orange pony grunts and runs a hoof though his mane as he turns his attention to Miss Pie. I grimace when even though he was no longer looking at me, the petulant frown remains.

‘Fine, if I tell you we are a circus, will you please leave us be? We have a stage to set up.’

‘Oh goody! A circus! What kind of show do you put on?’

‘… Miss… Could you please let us get back to work? Surely you must have something, anything better you could be doing instead?’

Miss Pinkie’s eyes widen at the pony’s words.

‘Oh no! I forgot!’ she exclaims, her voice resonating with genuine dread. The orange earth pony takes this opportunity to roll his eyes and quickly distance himself from the source of his bothers. Miss Pinkie turns towards Stratos and me.

‘Quickly! I need to find-‘

Her words fall short as her eyes meet Stratos’s. She gives the unicorn a strange, judging look. I sigh. Looks like any hopes we could be nicely and quietly shown around town are shattered.

I’m starting to think that those balloons of hers signify the fleeting properties of her memory as much as her special talent.

Our trip so far could best be described as a long series of mishaps that have taken place over the past few hours, from Werk taking every pleasure imaginable as I vomited my last taste of Canterlot, to Stratos sneaking out of our cart and getting banned from the engine room, to Stratos sneaking off again and getting banned from the conductor’s carriage, to Stratos-

‘You’re perfect!’

‘Ack!’

To Stratos…to Stratos flailing her hooves around wildly from the back of the old pink mare as she bounces away faster than most ponies can run…

…Wait, what?

Regrettably, in the time it took me for the shock to wear off, the Pink Maned Bandit was nearly out of sight. ‘Stop! Fillynapper!’ I shout as I give chase.

I’d like to think I actually did a good job in trying to catch the Fillynapper. If it wasn’t for that building she hopped over – how in the world is that even possible?! How is that even fair?! – I would even have caught the crook and stop her from doing whatever vile wicked things old ladies with pink manes do to innocent mares like Stratos.

The sad truth of the matter, however, is that a lifetime behind a counter did little to prepare me for the rigors of criminal catching. I fall to the ground and groan before wincing slightly as I taste the remnants of my own vomit.

‘Stop…’ I pathetically wheeze out in the general direction of the building the pink mare just disappeared over.

‘Ya okay there sugarcube?’

I raise my head in the hopes of finding Werk, Stratos or anypony I know that can help me. Instead, an orange earth pony mare stands before me.

‘Okay…?’ I repeat, my eye twitch as I find within me new strength.

‘Okay?!’ I neigh and strike the ground with my hooves. ‘I’ve been in this town for at most twenty minutes and have somehow had both of my friends abducted by overly-assertive old ladies and have been forced to eject everything I’ve eaten in the past two days due to an obnoxious steam powered monstrosity. No, I would have to say that I am most certainly not okay, and that, pardon my Prench, everypony in this town is positively, absolutely, crazy!’

I pant after concluding my little rant. I have to admit; that helped. Still heavily breathing, I look at the pony in front of me, who, despite my outburst, smiles brightly at me in a vaguely apologetic manner. Only then do I notice she has to be quite an old pony. Virtually every hair of her mane is grey. Or at least the hairs that aren’t being covered up by a large leather cowcolt hat.

‘Ah see… Never been out of Canterlot before, have ya?’

‘Is it that obvious?’ I ask grimacing, my anger subsiding, being replaced with embarrassment (Did I really just rant to a local about her own home?!). The mare before me chuckles.

‘Let’s just say ya ain’t the first pony to say somethin’ like that. Ya say ya friend got abducted? Lemme guess; Pink mare, too much energy for her age?’

‘Ugh… Why doesn’t it surprise me she’s notorious?’

The earth pony laughs and holds out a helping hoof. ‘If Ah were you, Ah’d try the library. Ah got a feeling your friend might be there.’ She tells me as I get back up, only holding her hoof out of politeness while being careful not to actually put any strain on it.

‘Right, the library.’ I look around at the expressive architecture of Ponyville. ‘So I’d be looking for a book-shaped building, I suppose?’

‘A tree with windows, actually.’ she informs me amused.

‘Of course, how silly of me.’ I reply, deadpanned. The mare laughs again.

‘First thing ya ought t’ know ‘bout me, sugarcube, Ah don’t do the ‘hole lying business. Library’s two streets down, that way.’ She points her hoof behind me. ‘And Ah’ve got some advice for ya.’

I turn towards her again after having followed her pointing hoof with my head. I almost let out a yelp as I hastily catch an object heading for my head with my magic.

‘Lighten up!’ the mare calls out as she trots away. I look after her with a somewhat bewildered stare. Then I shake my head and take a look at what I had caught. I raise an eyebrow, and then shrug before putting the apple into my saddlebag and setting off for the library.

While my reasons for going there may be strange, the idea of a library does wonders for my mood. Libraries in a small town like this often have a smaller collection than those in Canterlot, but it’s precisely those very same small, rarely visited libraries where long lost literary jewels call home. If a rare book shows up in Canterlot, word gets around quickly and more often than not it will be snatched by the likes of Stanimir or the Royal Library before a pony like me can get his hooves on it. But here I could very well be the first pony that can genuinely tell if a book is rare or not that set hoof in that place for years.

As it turns out, the old mare’s description was spot on, assuming I wasn’t now standing in front of the other tree with windows in the neighbourhood. Why would Miss Pinkie bring Stratos here though? Before I can figure it out, a scream abruptly grabs my attention.

‘Eeeeep!!’

Instantly, my ears perk up in the direction of the sound. I like to think that after living with her for two months, I’ve become a fairly good judge of whether or not sounds like that come from Stratos’s mouth. And that was definitely my friend screaming in that library. I break into gallop and hurry to the literal tree house.

‘Hang on, Stratos. I’m coming!’ I shout as I burst through the door. I blink and look around to find… not much, actually. The curtains had been shut and the inside of the tree is so dark I can’t make out anything. Before my eyes can adjust however, I am abruptly – and not very gently – removed from the building by a field of telekinesis. Orange telekinesis. As Stratos’s magic dumps me outside, her head pokes out the door opening.

‘It ain’t yer cue yet!’ she hisses before slamming the door shut again. It’s all I can do to stare at the door, completely at a loss for words.

With an ever-increasing sense of déjà vu, I look at the door, dumbfounded.

Not my cue?! What the hay is that mare on about? She screamed, I came rushing in to help her, and this is what I get? No, I decide. I will not stand for this. Not that I normally depend on Stratos to make sense, but the least she can do is explain herself before booting me out of a building!

I open the door yet again.

‘You better explain yourself, young lady!’ I call out into the darkness.

‘Oh no! It’s the criminal mastermind Silvermane!’ Stratos returns dramatically, her cape blowing around her as she struck a pose.

‘Wha… What are you talking abou-‘ My voice trails off as my eyes finally adjust to the dark interior of the tree. Stratos stands next to a pile of comic books, one of which floats in front of her in a field of orange telekinesis. In front of her, a rather large group of foals stare at me with wide eyes. Behind them sits a smaller group of slightly older ponies, most of which glare in my general direction. And behind them hangs a poster that reads the following:

Weekly Dramatic Reading:
The Amazing Spider-Pony!
*Parents Welcome

My jaw drops. What?! A dramatic reading? My mind races as my eyes dart all over the scene. I quickly conclude several things. Firstly, Stratos is reading to a particularly enthralled group of foals. Secondly, this reading seems to be a reoccurring thing.

And thirdly, for the second time today, I might have just made a complete fool out of myself.

‘Silvermane,’ Stratos snaps me out of my bewilderment with sternness in her voice. ‘decided tha’ since he ain’t featured in this story, he would just sit this one out.’ She heavily motions towards the back of the room where the – I presume – parents were seated. My already red face reddens even more as I somewhat reluctantly scuffle to a vacant spot among the ponies. After I did so, Stratos smiles at me before returning her attention to the foals.

‘Sorry ‘bout that kids! He means well, though. Anyways, where was Ah? Oh, right!’ she clears her throat and adjusts the book floating in front of her. ‘Ah want pictures!’ she reads in a heavy voice, ‘Pictures o’ Spider-Pony!’

I retreat into my thoughts to escape the shame and the stares from the ponies around me as Stratos continues to entertain the group of foals. I sigh. This really wasn’t how I expected our adventure to begin. Well… for what it’s worth, Stratos seems to at least be enjoying herself. The foals seem to love her as well. However, somepony has some explaining to do after all this. I’m not entirely sure how many more of these twists and turns I can take today…

I keep myself at a distance as the foals and parents say goodbye to Stratos. I overhear a unicorn filly whisper something about my mane not being silver at all. I choose to take that as a compliment and patiently wait for a moment to have a word with Stratos. As she waves goodbye to the last two colts, I trot up to her.

‘Mind telling me what that was about?’ I ask. She merely grins at me.

‘Ain’t it obvious? Ah was reading to some nice kids! Miss Pinkie told me –‘ as if waiting for her name to be called out, the pink earth pony jumps out from behind Stratos.

‘You were soooo good! I just knew you would be perfect! Didn’t I tell you she’d be perfect Spike?’ The ball of cotton candy aims her question behind me. A loud – but most prominently, low – laughter erupts from that same direction.

‘Perfect indeed Pinkie! Now, who might our prized Silvermane be?’

‘My name is Waren Pledgeworth and I’d like to apolog-Whoah!’ I interrupt myself halfway through the sentence.

I am a pony. I grew up in a city of ponies and for the most part have lived solely with ponies. Sure, I’ve met plenty of minotaurs, mules, and more recently even a griffin. If you live in one of the biggest tourist spots in Equestria like Canterlot, that’s a given.

But a big purple, fire breathing, fanged dragon? That would be a new one.

I yelp in surprise and almost knock over a statue in the corner of the room as I clumsily collide with it. Instead, I find myself knocked over and lying on the floor. Baffled, I look up the dragon once more.

‘Wha-wha-what?’ I manage to croak out to the draconic creature. Not quite the most descriptive of questions, but under the circumstances I feel like that summed up my feelings rather nicely. The dragon lets out a breath as he raises a claw to rub his brow.

I can’t be completely sure yet, but I think this means my question didn’t turn out to mean “I am a tasty snack so please eat me” in dragon language. Go me.

I let out a relieved sigh as the creature turns towards Miss Pinkie.

‘Pinkie…did you remember to tell our guests that I’m a dragon?’

‘Uhm… Walker, have I mentioned that?’

‘Waren. My name is Waren. And I’m fairly certain you never told me about Spike in the first place. Let alone his, erm...draconic nature, or the fact you planned on taking my friend here.’

The dragon lets out a sigh, filling the air with green smoke. With an apologetic smile, he offers me a purple claw. Still taken aback by the situation, I stare at the claw in bewilderment. I have never seen a dragon before now and was still amazed by the fact that he spoke. And now he’s offering to help me back on my hooves. Forcing myself to think straight, I conclude that all of those things are evidence backing up the theory the dragon won’t try to eat me.

Giving the purple scaled dragon a weak smile as I get back up using the offered claw, I mutter ‘Sorry about that… You just… surprised me, that’s all.’

‘That’s quite alright, Mr. Pledgeworth. My appearance tends to have that effect on new ponies. No need to worry though, I have absolutely no intention of eating you.’

In any other situation, I would have probably taken that the wrong way. But then again, I didn’t think I would find myself in a situation where a dragon reassures me I won’t be eaten. This dragon seems… well, civilised. I decide to smile at him, though the effectiveness of the smile is debatable. After a laugh that sends yet more greenish smoke into the air, the dragon introduces himself with a theatrical bow before offering me his claw again.

‘Spike, at your service.’

Taking the last few moments as proof that I don’t have much to fear from the dragon, I meet his claw with my hoof. Having experience in shaking hoof-claws definitely helps clear some of the awkwardness. ‘I’m Waren, likewise. I take it you already met Stratos?’

‘That I have. I must apologise for what happened though, since I was the one who requested Pinkie to find a new reader.’

‘That’s okay Doctor Spike! Ah had fun!’ Stratos reassures the dragon with a grin.

‘Since everything turned out fine, more or less, I can look past – wait what?! Doctor?’ I do a double take between Stratos and the dragon, settling on the dragon with wide eyes.

‘Yup! Spikey Wikey here is a respected member of the Canterlot Research Facility!’ Miss Pinkie happily states.

‘Oh Pinkie, please. We don’t want our guests to think I’m boastful, now do we?’ The dragon says, waving away Miss Pinkie’s words with a claw. Shortly after, he grins to reveal two rows of sharp teeth. ‘But yes, very well respected. I’m proud to say there’s more to this dragon than just breathing fire.’

I close my gaping mouth and attempt to put my mind in order. I never imagined I would meet a dragon in all of my days, let alone one with a doctorate! Just how many unlikely events are going to pile up on this adventure? I mean, we’re not even in the forest and I already have trouble comprehending the full scope of recent events.

‘Anything else potentially awe-inspiring I ought know about?’

With a look that I can only assume means amusement (I don’t claim to be an expert on reading draconic facial expressions) Spike motions to the stairwell.

‘I have a phoenix upstairs. Though Peewee is about to renew his cycle so he’s in not in a condition to have guests.’

I completely ignore the fact that he has a phoenix to begin with and skip straight to the thing that amazed me the most about that statement.

‘Peewee?’

To my surprise, the dragon’s scales flush with crimson as he scratches the back of his head. ‘I uhm… was a child when I got him… It made more sense at the time. But enough about me! Tell us something about yourself. What brings two ponies such as yourselves to a town like Ponyville?’

‘We are just passing through, actually. Stratos, myself and our friend Werk are headed towards Everfree forest.’

As soon as the words leave my mouth, the dragon looks at us with worry. ‘The forest, you say? That’s a dangerous place for just three ponies to be under normal circumstances, especially so with the recent developments.’

‘Recent developments? Did something happen in Everfree?’

The dragon crosses his arms and lets out a contemplated breath. ‘I’m not sure what’s causing it, but lately, the forest has been more vicious than normal. Even the plant life seems affected by it. I don’t want to sound like I’m telling you what to do, but at this point I highly advise you to stay clear of the Everfree forest.’

What? Not going into the forest? But… That’s what we came here for. That’s what this entire trip is about. I give Stratos a worried look, who returns it. Then I realise that even if we are just three ponies, we are far from three normal ponies. With determination in my eyes, I look at the dragon again.

‘Not that I don’t value your judgement, Doctor Spike, but I think we can handle ourselves.’

‘Ha ha! When I told you my title, I didn’t expect you to actually use it. I can never get used to the sound of ‘Doctor Spike’. But why this determination?’

‘Well, I don’t mean to brag, but with the books I’ve been reading over the past two months, I think I’m able to tell every single plant and creature apart. And Stratos over here is quite the mage, if you’ll believe it.’

Spike raises an eyebrow at Stratos, who blushes at my indirect compliment. ‘Oh? Not to sound demeaning, but at such a young age, what passes as ‘quite the mage’?’

Stratos steps forward, grinning again. I take a step backwards to give her room, and to observe Miss Pinkie and Spike with a grin of my own. After all, it’s not everyday you get to shock a real life dragon.

Now standing in the centre of the room, Stratos politely nods at the dragon and the Earth Pony, her stage cape billowing with some imaginary wind (though that too was probably Stratos getting into the mood). Planting her hooves firmly on the ground, she begins to channel magic into her horn. With an intense glow of orange magic, drips of water start to form around the unicorn. At first I think she intends to produce another miniature cloud, but I quickly join Spike and Miss Pinkie in amazement as the drips of water continue appearing. They float towards the ceiling, where they form a dark cloud. And still, Stratos is producing more water, with several streams seemingly appearing out of nowhere and flowing up towards the cloud that now covers the entirety of the ceiling.

Stratos slowly grins, her eyes still closed in focus. A second layer of orange magic appears around the first one as she aims her horn towards the centre of the slowly spinning cloud bed. With an ominous rumble, flashes of light begin to appear inside it. I grimace as I begin to realize that this probably wasn’t the best idea inside of a library inside of a tree, I flinch as a lightning bolt unexpectedly shoots from the cloud and impacts Stratos’s horn. Immediately, it begins to rain.

I start to protest about how she can’t seriously think making it rain inside a library is a good idea. But before the words leave my mouth, I notice I’m not getting wet, even though I’m standing under the pouring cloud. Upon closer inspection, the raindrops evaporate mere centimetres before they impact anything. I can’t even begin to imagine the magic required to uphold such a spell.

As the rain pours on, the cloud slowly thins out, and the ceiling becomes visible again. With a final flash of orange magic, the remainder of the cloud explodes and leaves a fine vapour in the air. The sun, now able to shine into the room again, produces an amazing spectrum of fine colours through the tiny drips floating in the air. Sporting a grin from ear to ear, Stratos bows before the draconic creature and his companion.

‘And tha’, fillies and gentlecolts, uhm… and dragons, is quite the mage.’ She declares.

To my surprise, the dragon looks puzzled more than anything. Raising a claw to rub his head, he mumbles. ‘Hmm…manipulating the humidity within telekinetic spheres would make sense, but what about…’

He turns towards Miss Pinkie, who was just finishing shaking her own head to recover from the amazement.

‘Pinkie… are you alright?’ He asks the elder mare carefully.

‘Mhm! My Pinkie sense just went haywire for a second there! I never felt anything like that before. What could it mean?’

‘I’m… I’m not sure.’

Stratos and I exchange looks with raised eyebrows. The purple dragon clears his throat and addresses us again.

‘I’m sorry, yes. That was quite the display of magic. You should be fine in the forest with young Stratos by your side. Please forgive me, but I must ask you to stay around while I have a private conversation with Pinkie. Feel free to browse the library.’

‘Uhm… Sure, take your time.’ I uneasily respond. The dragon politely nods our way as he enters a different room in the library, a bouncing Miss Pinkie in his wake. After the door closes behind them, I turn to Stratos.

‘What was that all about?’

She merely shrugs. ‘Ah dunno. Some folks do freak out when they see me controlling weather. Ah remember a certain somepony almost having a heart attack.’

‘That doesn’t count! You jumped off the third floor! But I don’t think they were merely amazed by your weather magic.’ I turn my gaze towards the door the two left through. ‘I wonder what they are talking about…’

‘Ah dunno. But it ain’t any of our business. Now, ain’t ya gonna take Doctor Spike up on his offer? Ah know Ah will.’ She reminds me, trotting up to a shelf and taking a book from it.

‘Of course!’

I almost forgot where I was for a moment. I trot up to a shelf containing astronomy books, and float out a book I have seen once before. Equestrian Astronomy; A Study of the Stars and Their Relation to Celestial Zoology. It’s an… elaborate title, to be sure. More of a summary than a title, really... This is exactly one of those rare books that would be snatched from my store by vivid collectors before I can read it (I know this, because that literally happened to me only months before). It’s a fascinating book, a compilation of several studies on both the stars themselves, and the creatures that spawn from them.

I open the book to the first page and vaguely recognize it from the time I had it in my store for exactly two hours before it was sold. An elaborate drawing of the constellations ursa major and minor, next to an equally detailed drawing of the zodiacal creatures that corresponded with them. Dozens of tiny arrows went back and forth between the drawings, pointing out similarities and connections. Of course, I’m well versed in the phenomena of celestial zoology; astronomy and its related fields have been favored hobbies for Canterlot ponies for generations.

Most major constellations have a life cycle, if you will. They slowly fade in the sky, and once every twelve years or so, they brighten up again. At their brightest, they spawn their respective life forms. These celestial beings descend upon Equestria, resulting in the most beautiful of meteor showers. In my lifetime, there have only been two spawning of the stars. During the first one I was still a foal and thus I have no memory of it. The second one I do recall, and it was a sight unlike anything I had ever seen before.

The book before me has actually made an effort to map out every constellation’s life cycle, and a study of their associated beings. Zodiacal life forms being extremely rare as it is, I can’t even begin to imagine the effort it must have taken the author to write this. After reading the chapter about Gemini, a constellation whose spawn has yet to be seen by mortal eyes, I look up from the book.

As fascinating as reading about celestial zoology is, I shouldn’t get lost in a book at this point. After all, we are in a library owned by a dragon. A fact in itself arguably more interesting than any of these books. As the sun slowly crawls through the sky, I find its light suddenly reflected into my eyes. Shielding them, I spot a collection of framed pictures responsible for the redirection of sunlight on the wall opposite from me.

I look at Stratos, who sits upon a throne made of spell books and Spider Pony comics, rapidly going through all of them with her ever present copy of Equestria Through The Years firmly by her side. She’d probably tell me it’s none of my business, but I want to know more about our draconic host. Carefully, I get up and gently trot towards the wall before reconsidering and walking normally. This is Stratos we’re talking about here; I could probably throw myself out the window without her noticing.

Upon reaching the wall, I look at the first frame.

In acknowledgement of exceptional contributions in the following fields;
Astronomy, Arcane Sciences, Draconology, Physics and Zoology.

The Royal Canterlot Research Facility hereby awards
Spike
With The Title Of Honourable Dominus Archmage

Through Blackest Night, May The Pursuit of Knowledge Always Be Your Shining Light

I softly whistle at the richly decorated paper. Spike’s name is written so elaborately it’s almost humorous. I can only imagine how the calligrapher must have felt when he was told to fill half the paper with just five letters. Before today, my idea of dragons was giant fire breathing lizards to which I would appear a tasty snack. Never in my life would I imagine one to actually be… well, sentient. Let alone a genius.

The rest of the wall mainly consists of framed photographs. One shows a collection of six young mares, with what I can only imagine to be a younger Spike amongst them. Two of the mares look familiar, striking me as much younger versions of Miss Pinkie and Rarity. Amongst the other ponies are two Pegasi and another earth pony and a single unicorn. Judging by how young they look in the photograph, and the way Miss Pinkie and Rarity look now, I would say this photo has to be at least several decades old.

Another photograph sparks my interest, being written upon. It shows the unicorn from the group photo, the one that isn’t Miss Rarity, although looking slightly older. Being a more recent photograph it isn’t as faded and I’m able to tell the unicorn has a brightly lavender coloured coat. Next to her stands a brown-coated earth pony stallion, both of which smiling at the camera. Over a corner of the picture, written in faint ink lettering, I’m able to make out the text ‘I’m so happy for you Spike! I knew you could do it! With love from Hoofington, your friend, T. S.’

The warmness of the picture rubs off on me, and smiling, I look at the rest of the pictures. Most of them are of the mares in the group photo, smiling happily at the camera. I notice that one frame doesn’t house a picture, but a newspaper article. Before I can read it however, the door to the next room opens, and Spike enters the room.

‘Sorry about that, thank you for your patience. I see you are enjoying your stay in the library.’ He says with a laugh upon seeing Stratos amongst a pile of books. Still smiling, Spike turns his attention towards me. I try my hardest not to look like I had been snooping around, which is hard to do standing next to a wall of highly personal photographs. Thankfully, Spike doesn’t become angry and eats me, which is still quite a real possibility in the back of my head. Instead, he merely joins me and looks at the photographs with a sombre look in his eyes. Attempting to escape the awkwardness of the situation, I step aside to give him room.

‘Hmm… These pictures. Sometimes I wonder why I keep them,’ He mumbles after a while. I’m not sure if that was aimed at me or anypony in particular.

‘They are such warm pictures though. I mean, everypony in them is smiling,’ I say in an attempt to snap the dragon out of his melancholy.

‘That they are, Waren,’ He says. ‘That they are. But there is a reason one put up pictures. To remember a time gone by.’

Seeing Miss Pinkie so vibrantly standing behind him, and having met Miss Rarity, I wonder what he means by that. Suddenly feeling sorry for the dragon, I trot back up to him and take another look at the pictures.

‘If you don’t mind me asking, who are they? The mares in the photographs, I mean.’

‘They,' Spike responds, his voice suddenly grand and prideful, ' are my family.’ He lifts a single claw to the picture with the cheerful writing on it. 'None were more special than her; my mentor, my friend, my mother, Twilight Sparkle.'

Miss Pinkie smiles when the name is mentioned. It sounds oddly familiar. I force my brain to stop worrying about silly little things such as the fact that Stratos was still reading comics, and focus on finding out what I know about the name Twilight Sparkle. Then I remember.

‘Wasn’t she… Princess Celestia’s personal student? The mare to uncover the Element of Magic after it had been lost for a thousand years?’

‘Indeed. Twilight was the one that found the long lost Element, though she couldn’t have done it without her friends. Twilight was like that, doing amazing things. And with pride I can say she was the one that raised me from when I was just a hatchling into the handsome devil you see before you now.’

‘She was’? With a sinking feeling in my gut, I have another look at the framed newspaper article.

ACCIDENT SHOCKS HOOFINGTON, CLAIMS LIFE OF-

I don’t read any further.

‘I’m… I’m sorry.’ I try to comfort the dragon with a lump in my throat.

‘Don’t worry young one, it’s in the past. I put up these photographs so I may remember, but sometimes I remember too much, I suppose. It can be hard find the balance between respecting the past and lingering in it.’

Spike turns to look me in the eyes, which makes me somewhat uncomfortable. As if the situation wasn’t uncomfortable enough. Sometimes I envy Stratos’s ability to be completely oblivious to social situations.

‘She was Celestia’s personal student, and in turn, I was her assistant. For years, she studied the magic of friendship. Eventually, inevitably, she found the magic of love. She got married, moved out, and moved on with her life. I was left with a library and a gaping hole in my life. I suppose it’s only natural that I took after her and filled it with studying.’

Spike turns towards Stratos this time, still absorbed in her pile of books now shaped into a fort. Confused by the situation, I try to think. Why is he telling me all this? I exchange looks with Miss Pinkie. She merely stands and watches with a smile. Clearly Spike isn’t rambling or her look would have betrayed that. Spike is quick to confirm that.

‘I’m sorry, you must be wondering where I am going with all this. I suppose it helps that you know a little about my past. To provide context. Now, this next part is important, could you… uhm… return your friend to the world of the living?’

I have to think what he means by that for a moment, but quickly realise he was talking about Stratos. After a quick apology I hurry towards her and magically close the comic book engrossing her. She shoots me annoyed look before realising Spike and Miss Pinkie had returned to the room. So she decides to blush and look away. A chuckle escapes Spikes throat, before it is followed by words.

‘Welcome back, Stratos. Now, I’m going to cut to the chase, we are going to ask something from you. Pinkie, if you will.’

The mare eagerly jumps forward from her waiting position behind the dragon. It must have been hard on her to stand still, waiting for the moment to be called out by the dragon. She abruptly presents us with an outstretched hoof. Not just any outstretched hoof, mind you. A hoof carrying a beautiful green gem. Confused, I raise an eyebrow at Miss Pinkie.

‘We want you to have this! It’s a gift!’ she says.

What? This gem? This very shiny, and probably very valuable gem? That is not something you just give to two random ponies you just met. It’s certainly not something two random ponies should accept!

‘We can’t possibly accept something so generous!’

‘Don’t worry, Waren. It’s precious, yes. But this is very important, please take it.’ Spike almost nudges me with his voice.

I float the gem from Miss Pinkie’s hoof. Both uneasily and carefully. As my magic aura touches the gem, I can feel it spark. The spark jumps back into my horn, and suddenly everything feels clearer, brighter. Like a veil has been lifted from my mind. I gasp as the gem levitates in front of me. This isn’t just some fashion accessory.

‘What is it?’ I ask the smiling dragon.

‘An anchor for my balefire.’ He says without blinking. There is a lot of blinking on my part though.

‘Balefire?’ I repeat somewhat questioning.

‘Indeed. Balefire. Over the years I have studied many things, but the focus of it all has always been balefire.’

Not remembering a pyrotechnics on his doctorate certificate, I raise an eyebrow. The corners of Spike’s mouth turn up in a smile at my confusion. He grabs a book from a shelf and holds it up in front of him.

‘Observe.’

The dragon inhales deeply, and to my amazement, breathes a large and positively green flame over the book. With wide eyes I watch the flames quickly consuming the paper, and in mere seconds, nothing is left of the book as the flames disappear again, not even leaving behind ashes. Why would he do that? Why would he burn one of his own books? Not understanding, I watch as the dragon smiles again. Suddenly a green spark ignites in front of me. I yelp in surprise and jump back as more green flames appear out of nowhere, and promptly produce the very book Spike had burned only moments before. Bewildered, I catch the book in my telekinesis before it can fall on the floor. With the book softly rocking next to the gem in my magical grasp, I stare at the dragon, who was grinning once more.

‘There you have it, my little pony. That is balefire. Some call it dragon breath, others call it green flame. But however you choose to label it; it is what allows me to transport items over great distances.’

He smiles, seemingly thinking about bygone times. After a few moments, he coughs and continues.

‘As you might have guessed, that gem, a dragongem, is something I can focus on. Somewhere I can send my flames to, and whatever they carry.’

‘But you just send that book without using the gem, didn’t you?’

‘Very well observed. I can send my flames to places I can actually see or know without there being a magical anchor present. But as you will be on the move, you will need to carry one around.’

‘Huh?’ I manage to ask. Well, it’s hardly a question, but my head was slowly starting to piece together what this gift means. Just as it does so, Spike spells it out for me.

‘We want to stay in touch with you, Waren, Stratos.’

‘Stay in touch? With us?’ I repeat. ‘Why?’ I finally say something original. The dragon gives me a strange smile, and I can’t tell whether it’s supposed to be reassuring or the kind of weak smile that makes you worry.

‘If nothing else, consider it as we have presented it to you’, Spike begins, ‘A simple gift. For if Twilight taught me anything, it is this: While we must never forget those who have left us, we must never stop ourselves for connecting with others in the name of friendship.’

Unsure what to make of the strange situation, I look at Stratos. She shrugs and gives me a weak smile. Normally there is no way I would accept something like this… But a dragon with a doctorate in five different fields doesn’t strike me as the type to make hasty decisions.

‘Thank you, I-I’ll take good care of it.’ I say, carefully placing the precious gemstone in my saddlebag. Miss Pinkie smiles at me, and Spike puts his claws together before speaking up again.

‘Well then, as I understand, your friend is under the care of our good Rarity. And she may be old, but she is by no means slow. So I would think your friend is waiting for you right about now.’

‘Already? Ah guess we’ll go pick him up then. Ah really want t’ see what he looks like!’ Stratos eagerly declares.

‘Well, then this is a goodbye.’ The dragon says, ‘I’m afraid I’m in no position to go with you at this point. Pinkie, will you show our friends to Rarity’s? And you might want to inform her about the gift we bestowed upon them. Uhm… and tell her I said hi.’

Miss Pinkie laughs and bounces towards the door. ‘Don’t worry, Spikey, I won’t forget.’

As the pink pony opens the door behind us, I turn to say goodbye to the dragon. ‘Well, farewell mister Spike. It has been… interesting to say the least.’

‘Likewise, Waren. I hope we can meet again. You as well Stratos. Your magic is a special gift, and you would do well to nurture it.’

‘Ah will, mister Spike, sir! Good bye!’

We join the pink mare outside. ‘Okie Dokie guys! Follow me!’

She takes half a step, before seemingly remembering something and turning around again. She leans her hoof against the doorframe and calls out into the library. ‘Bye Spike! Take care!’

A loud laugh escapes from the door opening. ‘Always a pleasure Pinkie!’ Spike’s voice loudly rumbles from inside the library. Miss Pinkie closes the door, and returns to us again, with a possibly even larger grin than before. For the second time that day, we find ourselves following the overly enthusiastic pink earth pony through the streets of Ponyville. This time Stratos trots right next to her, and they talk a little as we move through the colourful town. I think about our strange experience in the library.

As if the fact that the owner of the library was draconic isn’t enough, he doubles as a professor at the single most established and respected science institution in Equestria. Why would someone like that want to stay in touch with ponies like me and Stratos? And unless one of us somehow learns how to breathe green flames, I’m pretty sure that staying in touch is going to be one-sided. I let out a sigh.

Normally I’d probably think everything he said was a load of horse apples, I mean, it doesn’t make sense. But the certificate on his wall makes it hard for me to doubt the dragon’s reasoning. I decide to not let it bother me, and hope that it will become clear eventually like I was told.

After following the pink pony for a little while (and taking a wrong turn several times), a round building comes into view. It somewhat resembles the tower we saw earlier, though considerably smaller. What it lacked in size however, it made up for in sheer extravagance. Not a single thing about the building simply served a purpose; everything seems to be designed to reflect beauty. Recalling the unicorn that abducted Werk earlier today, I have no trouble imagining that building doubling as her residence. I’m proven correct as Miss Pinkie bounces straight for the heavily decorated dome building. Without much decorum, the pink mare bursts through the door.

‘Raaarityyy~!’ she sings out, ‘We’re here!’

I roll my eyes and prepare to trot after her, until I am nearly blasted away from the door by an unnaturally loud – and a quickly becoming all-too familiar – gasp. ‘Sweetie Belle! When did you get back from Manehattan? It’s so good to see you!’ she starts to ramble at a speed my ears can’t be bothered to keep up with. I simply let out a sigh and turn to Stratos and motion her to follow me in. Yet the mare merely stares at the door with utter disbelief.

‘What?’ I ask with worry.

‘Did… did she just say… ‘Sweetie Belle’?’

‘Uhm… Sure sounded like it. Do you know her?’

Stratos shoots me an angry look. ‘Well, duh! She’s only the most famous singer in all o’ Equestria!’

That explains it then. Before it broke down I only used my gramophone to occasionally play some classical music… I decided against replacing it when I found it was nigh impossible to find a model that didn’t also incorporate a steam engine. It’s bad enough I was forced to purchase an alarm clock with a boiler because I need one.

‘Can we come in now?’ I ask after Stratos fails to move forward. She looks up with slight shock, as if she just woke up.

‘Oh! Ah can’t believe Ah’m ‘bout t’ meet the Sweetie Bell! Quick, how do Ah look?’

I roll my eyes. ‘You look fine, like always. Werk is in there too, remember?’

Without waiting for confirmation, I trot for the door opening. The mention of the grey Pegasus reminded me about my plan for revenge, and why we were here in the first place. I enter the building, not sure what to expect.

‘No! Tell me he didn’t!’

The main room is, much like the library, dim and hard to see in. However unlike the library, it looks like a cascade of light has been rotated to light the very centre of the room where a large divan sofa has inexplicably been placed. On said sofa, a mare dramatically lays with her head buried in a pile of red, plush pillows. Next to her stands a heavily groomed gentlepony, cooing her with gentle words as his wings softly flap, fanning the sobbing mare. He wears a stylish top hat and a silk cloak that both work extremely well with his grey coat.

‘That’s not even the worst part!’ the pile of pillow bellows.

‘What?! What did that monster do next?’ The Pegasus asks. My eyes widen.

No. Way...is that Werk?

The same Werk who once said he didn’t believe in personal hygiene, and likes to believe that the oil stains actually help his coat stay aerodynamic?

The pile of pillows erupts to reveal the head of a white unicorn, tear strains made all the more noticeable by the mascara lines trailing down her face. She strikes me as younger than Miss Rarity or Miss Pinkie, but still quite old. Her mane consists of various shades of purple tastefully curled around her head. She must look beautiful on days she hasn’t been bawling her eyes out.

‘He said… He said…’ the mare hiccups out between sobs, ‘He said he was happy for me, but Crystal Ballad has the best voice of all time!’ her voice cracks and she throws herself into the pile of pillows again. The Gentlepony– no, Werk poorly feigns a ‘pfffft’.

‘Don’t listen to that slob! Who does he think he is?!’

‘Uhm… Hello?’ I attempt to announce our presence.

‘Ah! I’m glad to see you’ve made it,’ a voice to our right whispers out. ‘Pinkemena can ever so disorganised time to time, I was worried she may have lost you two somewhere. Now, what do you think of your friend? Doesn’t he look dashing?’ Miss Rarity reveals herself by stepping forward. She probably had been standing there all along, but the performance on the couch had taken my complete attention.

‘Uhm… Sure… But what...’ I pause to search for words, eventually deciding on the good old, ‘...Is this?’

Miss Rarity glances over at the scene. ‘Ah, do forgive my sister. She just returned from an award ceremony in Manehattan and there was somewhat of an… incident.’ She grimaces.

‘Sweetie Belle is yer sister?!’ a star-struck Stratos asks.

‘Why, yes. Though I’m afraid she’s being rather selfish with your friend’s attention. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not belittling what happened, but I daresay my sweet sister almost seems to attract such drama. Something she might have picked up from me, I’m afraid.’ The unicorn smiles.

So Stratos was right. Sweetie Belle is a famous singer. Not only that, but she’s related to a pony we already met. And there seemed to be a lot of drama going on under all of those lights as Werk continues to attempt to comfort the sobbing singer. I don’t think he even noticed we had arrived yet.

‘Uhm… might I ask what happened, exactly?’

‘Oh, of course! Sweetie Belle won a most prestigious award last night. But during her speech that complete and utter oaf Kaneigh West stormed onto stage, took the microphone from her and announced to an entire crowd of high class ponies and her colleagues that he thought my sister didn’t deserve the award.’ She throws her head backward in a ‘hmph’. Looking at the presentation involving her sister and my friend once again as Sweetie Belle let out a fresh wail, Miss Rarity shakes her head and sighs.

‘Oh sweetest of sisters? Don’t you think it’s high time you calmed down?’ she says as she trots up to the couch, opening the blinds as she went before floating up the pillows. A freshly revealed Sweetie Belle looks up at her sister with a mix of sorrow and offense.

‘But Rarity! He made a fool out of me! He said… He said –‘

‘I know what he said, Sweetie. But you know just as well as I do that you did deserve that award. Which is why you received it in the first place, no? It doesn’t matter what one pompous individual thinks. What matters is that you deal with the situation with dignity becoming of the pony you are.’

Sweetie Belle looks around the room, apparently realising how it must look. She smiles weakly at her sister. ‘I guess I did overreact a little.’

‘And…?’ Rarity asks, motioning towards Werk.

‘And I’m sorry for being so possessive of your customer…’

Rarity laughs. ‘As good of an advertisement it is to have The Finest Voice of Equestria over on a regular basis, Carousel Boutique is just that, a Boutique. We want ponies to come here for dresses, not autographs.’ She smiles warmly at her sibling. ‘And I want Sweetie Belle my little sister to visit me. Not Sweetie Belle the famous singer.’

‘Group hug!’ Miss Pinkie unexpectedly jumps from across the room and giggles almost uncontrollably as she wraps her hooves around the two white Unicorns.

I take the opportunity to drag Werk away from the scene by his tail. He shoots me an annoyed look before recognising me. ‘Waren! Stratos! When did you get here?’

‘We’ve been here for a while now. Might I say you look fabulous.’ I add with a smirk. The Pegasus looks at himself and grimaces.

‘Oh. Right. Ha ha. Very funny. But you know what? I don’t even care, I got to meet the Sweetie Belle!’ his grimace makes room for an expression of foalish glee.

‘How was it?! Did she say anythang?!’ Stratos asks eagerly.

Werk smirks before replying, ‘She said she liked my mane!’

I run a hoof over my face at the sight. ‘Not you too, Werk.’

‘You wouldn’t understand Waren.’ He says with something far too close to snide for my liking coming from him. ‘All you listen to are those dusty old records of ponies that already died. Sweetie Belle’s voice was one of the few things that kept me sane in that factory.’

Great, now both my companions think I’m musically deficit. My plan for revenge was perfect, but now I don’t even get to enjoy it.

‘Can we not fight over this? Now that we are happily reunited again, what about we finally head towards Everfree Forest?’

The mention of the forest seems to melt all malice from my friend’s voice. ‘Of course! How many of the apples were you able to salvage?’

I blink. ‘The what-now?’

‘The apples. From the train. You know, half of our supplies?’

I ponder for a moment as I recall Werk being thrown to the ground in a train cabin and his saddlebags spilling the apples all over the floor. What my mind fails to do is remember the moment when I went back to retrieve them before the train left the station. I start to sweat and both Werk and Stratos facehoof at my increasingly uncomfortable expression.

‘I… uhm… oops?’

Chapter Five: Honest Labour

Writing History
Chapter Five
Honest Labour

A dark cloud bed hangs overhead, doing everything in its power to blot out the night sky. It seems to follow me as I make my way across the orchard. What little light the stars and moon are able to squeeze past is stopped dead in its tracks by a layer of leaves, leaving virtually nothing left to illuminate the path ahead of me. As I walk through the field of apple trees, the darkness strikes me as almost unnatural. On any other day, I might have been disturbed by the fact that I’m forced to squint simply to see past my own muzzle, or the fact that I’m out alone in the woods, late at night, as if I were in some clichéd horror story.

However, on this day all of that falls flat against my exhaustion. All I want to do find a bed and pass out on it for a couple of years. My body aches all over and due to all the sweat in my coat, I even have to constantly adjust my glasses with magic to prevent them from sliding off. It’ll take hours to get my coat clean again.

If I could find my way back to the farm, that is.

Suddenly, I hear a noise. With a jolt I realise it’s the first thing I heard all night, save for my own hoof steps and breathing. For lack of an alternative, I cautiously sneak closer to the noise. As I do so, I’m able to make out voices.

‘…it’s simple, really. He hates you.’

I stop, grimacing as I lean away from the conversation. That really doesn’t sound like something meant for my ears. And, just my luck, I snuck close enough to shatter my hopes of sneaking away unnoticed again. I find myself making a list and weighing my options as the conversation continues.

‘And you just so happened to be with him? Tell me why Ah can’t believe that.’

‘Because you have always been so naïve, my little pony. You always believe everything is good, or honest, or ugh, dare I say it? Kind. And that is why you lost.’

‘Yeah? Ah reckon Ah lose when Ah stop believing in that.’

Loud laughter erupts from the invisible scene of the conversation. Even if I wanted to walk away now, my legs refuse to budge. Whatever this is, it most certainly isn’t right.

‘Coming from you, I’ll assume you honestly believe those words to be true. And you can honestly believe me when I say that I’m going to enjoy this.’

My eyes widen as an uncanny metallic shank echoes throughout the orchard. My mind fails me as I try to think of logical conclusions as to what that sound could mean. It can’t possibly… I hear the stomach twisting sound again, and this time it’s followed by a muffled scream. I can barely bring myself to breathe as the metal strikes a third time. And a fourth.

Then the metallic noise stops and something falls to the ground. A deafening silence falls over the orchards, the only thing I can hear my own short breaths, and I feel tears gliding down my cheek. A light shines in my eyes, and for the first time since I can remember, I move to look to the sky. The cloud bed glides off into the distance and the moon and stars beam down on the orchards.

‘I see you.’

Something shifts among the trees a few meters ahead of me, moving through the orchards. Towards me.

I run. I run as fast as I can, exhaustion be damned. I run without even realising it, a primal fear taking control of my body and urging me to gallop like I never have before. Laughter, filled equally with madness and glee, echoes behind me as I dart past the trees ever in fear of slowing down and being caught.

The maze of trees abruptly ends and I’m blinded by the moonlight. I don’t stop running. My eyes adjust just as I run into a large wooden building. The farmhouse! I’m here! I have to get inside, warn everypony! I ignore the biting pain in my muzzle from slamming into the wall and scramble to the front door. I hurry inside and close the door behind me, hoping with everything I have that I’m safe now.

But I’m not. Just beyond the tree line, two eyes stare at me. I can feel them. They stare at me with utter disregard for the door I just closed. They sparkle with a mad hunger, as if the chase was just a little amusement it would fondly remember while picking at its teeth with a leftover bone.

In shock I scramble away from the door. I have no time for this, I have to warn my friends. I run through the house, kicking open doors and screaming for my friends, for anyone. All I am met with is silence.

Nopony is here. I’m alone, standing in an empty attic in an empty house. Where did everypony go?

‘Waren?’

I scramble away from the door and the voice that just spoke up. I turn around as I back away. Then, once again, I freeze in place as the door creaks open. Dorothea? What is she doing here?

‘Don’t worry, it’s alright.’

Her gentle face and voice do wonders, and I can feel myself relax. Whatever is going on, at least I’m not alone anymore. I open my mouth to tell her, to warn her of the creature stalking the outside of the house, but not a single sound leaves my throat. Dorothea takes a step towards me. Her face remains frozen in the same gentle smile, and as she talks to me, her beak remains completely still.

‘Where are you going, Waren?’

I suddenly feel a hard surface behind me and realise I have been backing away from her each time she stepped closer. Why would I do such a thing? She’s so soothing. She’s here to help. Dorothea continues walking in a steady pace, her smile never wavering. Now standing before me, she gently places a claw on my cheek.

‘Nobody will hurt you.’

It’s fine. I’m safe. Nothing will happen to me, not with Dorothea here. I smile in relief as her claw slides down my face and grips around my neck, her talons digging into my hide. It’s fine. I’m safe. Tears of relief and happiness run down my cheeks as Dorothea tears out my throat.

I wake up gasping, my eyes darting every which way before I realise it was just a dream. I calm down and let out a groan before falling back onto the pillow. What in the Princesses’ name was that about?

A soft giggling draws my attention. I slowly lift my head back up to see two trembling, laughing blobs at the end of the bed. I instinctively float up my glasses and settle them on their proper place. With my now somewhat reasonable eyesight, I’m able to identify the two blobs as foals. A green-coated colt and a red-coated filly. My eyes widen as the sight of them opens a drawer in the back of my mind and I quickly work to list the information inside.

Firstly, I’m at Sweet Apple Acres. Secondly, I just spend the night here, having a terrible nightmare. Thirdly, the empty beds in the room indicate I’m the last to wake up. And I should probably do something about the foals.

‘Good-‘

Their faces light up and they jump off the bed, giggling and screaming with a volume I really can’t be expected to deal with before my morning coffee. They dart out the room, dropping something in their wake.

‘…morning,’ I finish my sentence out of principle. I sigh and slide out of bed. I wrap whatever it is they dropped in magic and float it up. Before I can inspect it, Werk’s head pops through the open door.

‘Judging by the screaming kids, I’m guessing you’re awake. I’m – oh! Uhm… pffft-hahaha, you look amazing, Waren.’

I frown as Werk gives up on holding back his laughter and falls through the door opening. With a sinking feeling, I walk up to the full length mirror on the wall. How strange, I certainly do not remember going to sleep with an extra pair of glasses and a moustache. I float up the object and inspect it.

Waterproof marker. Fantastic.

In between Werk’s gasps for air and his laughter, I’m able to catch something that can be interpreted as ‘breakfast’, so I magically shove him out the door and close it behind him now that his message has been delivered. I let out a deep sigh and set about restoring my face to something presentable. After frowning in the mirror for a while, I cast a cleaning spell. Nothing happens. I raise an eyebrow. I’m not the most potent mage around, but I like to believe I have mastered such basic magic. Floating the marker up once more I give it a closer look.

Magic-proof. By Celestia’s mane why would anyone even go through the trouble?!

I sigh again for good measure and float the marker behind me as I push open the door and make my way down the stairs. I have to say, as much as the younger members seem to enjoy defacing my… well, face, the Apple family have been incredibly hospitable toward total strangers like Werk, Stratos and myself. As I step into the kitchen, I am met with chaos.

The two foals run around the table laughing loudly with a mare around my age trying to get them to sit down. An elderly, and might I add, huge red stallion doesn’t seem to mind the noise as he munches on some oats. Stratos looks at me with glee, probably due to a grinning Werk telling her what to expect from my face.

‘Jonagold! Bramsley! Simmer down and take a seat,’ an elderly mare announces as she enters the room. Instantly, the filly freezes in place, only for the colt running behind her to crash into her, sending them both tumbling across the floor.

‘Yes Auntie AJ,’ they recite in unison after recovering, and do as they are told while nudging each other and blowing raspberries. Next, the mare turns to the last standing member of the Apple family.

‘And Apple Blossom, you were supposed to look after your niece and nephew.’

‘I did!’ the yellow mare triumphantly retorts, accomplishment radiating from her face as if expecting to be given a cookie for good behaviour, ‘I got them up, bathed, dried, teeth brushed, and all without letting them out of my sight and with minimal property damage.’

‘Then mind explaining how that happened?’ Miss Applejack asks, pointing a hoof at my face. I don’t even try to hide it. That would have been pointless anyway. Instead, I sigh, frown, and take a seat across from Stratos.

The yellow mare freezes as she stares at me disbelievingly ‘But how did they… When…? Oh… I’m so sorry! I-‘

I raise a hoof to stop her. ‘It’s okay, Apple Blossom. Just… is it possible to get some coffee?’

I’m told it is entirely possible, and before long, a cup of the divine beverage is floating in my magic. I take a sip and my mind finally truly wakes up. Calmly setting the cup down on the table, I present everypony with the marker used to enhance my appearance.

‘Magic-proof marker. Magic-proof. Really? I mean, really?! Where did you even get this? These are supposed to be incredibly expensive!’

A silence lasts after my outburst. The two foals look at me with wide eyes.

‘We’re sorry mister,’ they drone. I sigh and sit down again, taking another sip of coffee.

‘It’s okay. I’m not mad, not really. But how am I expected to get this off?’ I look at Miss Applejack. She simply shrugs. Looks like the children drawing on pony’s faces is a new thing they invented especially for me. Aren’t I lucky.

‘Here, lemme have a look,’ Stratos says as she precariously leans on the table to inspect my face. She very visibly has to hold back her laughter. Ignoring my stern look, she begins to cast a spell.

‘Uhm… What part about ‘Magic-Proof’ didn’t you – ouch!’ I yelp at a sharp sting around my eyes and muzzle. After blinking away several tears, I can see a rather large quantity of black hairs floating in orange magic. What?! I float up the cup of coffee and angle it, searching for a reflection. Even in the heavily distorted image it provides, I can clearly tell there are several bald patches in my coat where the ink used to be.

‘Stratos! How is this any better?!’

‘I like it,’ Werk comments, his grin far too wide. I glare at him past the floating cup, only receiving more laughter from the pegasus. I guess most facial expressions don’t work without eyebrows.

‘Hold on, Ah ain’t done yet.’ She giggles as she takes a suspiciously long time casting another spell. A warm, orange glow eases the sting on my face, and it’s joined by a rather odd sensation. After the glow fades and Stratos presented me with a ‘Ta-da!’ I take another look in the impromptu mirror. My coat has returned, and in its original colour.

‘Huh, how about that,’ I mumble. I make a mental note to properly thank Stratos at a later occasion.

‘Well then! Now that that little situation is resolved, how about we finish breakfast? After that, there’s plenty to be done ‘round the farm that y’all can help with,’ Miss Applejack says as she finally takes a seat herself.

‘And in return for helping you today, we can get some apples?’ I ask to confirm the deal made yesterday. I don’t like reminding my companions why we are here, especially not since they seem to think it’s my fault, but my business sense wishes to straighten things out before we go to work.

‘I still don’t see why we can’t just buy some,’ Werk remarks as he absentmindedly stirs his oats.

‘Like Ah said, sugarcube, normally we’d be more than happy to sell you some, but we’re gonna need every apple we can buck for the festival. The only way we can spare some is if y’all help us lighten the work load.’

‘We already agreed, Werk. Besides, doing this is the fasted way to get our adventure started,’ I try to ease his mind. He can be so terribly stubborn at times, but it seems the promise of a faster entry into the forest convinced him – for now.

‘Alright then, what do we have to do?’ He asks Miss Applejack, who gives us another smile.

‘Well…’

Of all things, why did it have to be apple bucking? I suppose it shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering we’re on an apple farm, but I assumed I would be put to work inside, especially considering the circumstances when I first met Miss Applejack. At the very least, I’ve been assigned to the eastern orchards. I don’t really understand the details, but supposedly those trees are easier.

Stratos is tasked with entertaining the foals Jonagold and Bramsley, who are normally quite a hoof-full, as I’ve been told. Taking into account the unplanned renewal of some specific parts of my coat, I have no trouble believing that. Werk has been put to use preparing the family’s stand for the festival later today.

And of course, that leaves me bucking apples.

With a long face, I make my way to the orchards, closely followed by Miss Applejack, who is my assigned supervisor for the day. Besides me floats a large stack of baskets in turquoise magic.

‘So, Waren, ever bucked apples before?’ Miss Applejack asks brightly

‘Not really.’

‘Worked on a farm?’

‘Can’t say I have.’

‘Got on out of your house?’

‘I try not to,’ I say with a frown before adding, ‘Is this necessary?’

Miss Applejack laughs and overtakes me. ‘Just teasing, sugarcube. Ah’m trying to get a picture of what kinda pony you are.’

‘And did I pass your test?’ I ask, reluctantly interested.

‘Well, you’re honest, I’ll give you that much.’ She winks at me before abruptly stopping and hoisting the foldable lounge chair of her back. ‘Here we are! The eastern orchards, find me a fresher patch of apples and darn-tootin’, Ah’ll call you a liar, ‘cause there ain’t none.’

I slowly nod. Her grin makes it extremely hard for me to even consider the possibility that might not be true. I carefully place the stack of baskets on the ground.

‘So what are we doing?’

‘You’re bucking apples. Ah’m watching t’ make sure you ain’t messing up our trees,’ she says as she unfolds the lounging chair and proceeds to… lounge in it. I look around at the trees. They aren’t especially tall, but considering the task at hoof I can’t help but feel they look… menacing.

‘Okay, where do I begin?’

‘Put a basket under a tree and give it a good kick.’

‘That’s it?’

‘Hahaha! We’ll see if you’re still saying that in fifteen minutes. Now, go ahead.’

I allow myself to briefly frown before following the instructions. I place the basket under a random tree and position myself in front of it. I don’t really understand why Miss Applejack is grinning so much. I mean, sure, I may not be most suitable pony for this line of work, but really now…

How hard can it be?

‘I had to ask…’ I wheeze, my coat damp with sweat. I look over my shoulder at the basket and count at least two apples as a reward for almost an hour of furious kicks. Struggling to my hooves, I give Miss Applejack an unsure look.

‘I’m sorry, I don’t think I can do this…’

‘Good!’ she smiles and gets out of the chair.

‘Good? How is that good? Don’t you need these apples?’

‘You ain’t afraid to admit your faults, sugarcube. Now that we’ve had that epiphany, Ah can tell you how it’s done,’ she says as she walks up to me. Something in my brain clicks and my eyes go wide.

‘You mean you knew I was doing it wrong this entire time?’

‘Ah did, but you needed to find out on your own. Ah’ve been doing this long enough to recognize a stubborn pony when Ah see one. If Ah told you the way right from the start, you wouldn’t be able to do it properly ‘cause you wouldn’t know what not to do.’

I step aside to let her take a position in front of the tree and she faces me. ‘Now, why do you reckon it didn’t work?’

‘Uhm… I didn’t use enough strength?’

She runs a hoof over the tree as she talks. ‘That’s what most ponies think, that’s it’s all about muscle. But they don’t realise that the tree ain’t no obstacle. It ain’t something standing between you and the apples, it’s what provides them. And most importantly, they are alive.’

‘Well, technically, yes. But not alive alive, right? They aren’t sentient or anything…’

She shakes her head. ‘You’re thinking ‘bout it wrong. The tree has the apples, you want them. How do you go ‘bout telling it that?’

I am just able to prevent myself doing a double take. ‘What? Trees don’t talk,’ I say skeptically, before carefully adding, ‘…do they?’

Miss Applejack just continues to softly caress the bark of the tree in front of her. ‘Yer know how old this tree here is?’

I raise my eyebrow, ‘Uhm… a few decades?’

‘The same age as my daughter.’ She steps away from the tree and begins to slowly glide down the line. ‘For every member of the Apple family born, part of an orchard is planted for them, to grow and provide for them like we do the trees. If we go further south we’ll hit mere saplings for Jonagold and Bramsely, or west to find the same for Big Mac and myself, my papa and everypony else all the way up to Granny Smith.’

She turns and begins to walk back, her eyes still on her daughter’s trees. ‘These here trees have seen it all. Every failure and success. Every scrape, bruise, cut along with every hug, kiss, and laugh. Then when my time comes, they’ll still be here, watching over mah family and providing for them, jest like they did for me.’

She looks at me again, and I attempt to to process everything she told me.

‘How’s about Ah just show you?’ She momentarily looks over her shoulder before adding, ‘Don’t tell Big Macintosh, you hear? Ah ain’t supposed to be doing this any more.’

I open my mouth to question the fact whether this is such a good idea in that case, but she silences me with a single look. She takes a moment to breathe, and then strikes the tree once with each rear hoof. The tree vibrates for a moment, and in a feat of extreme gravitational unlikelihood, every single apple neatly lands in a basket. Miss Applejack crosses her legs and nods my way.

‘And that’s how it’s done.’

I stare in awe at the tree as the elderly mare returns to her chair. I can’t help but notice she’s trying to avoid putting too much weight on her hind legs, and feel a pang of guilt.

‘So what did you tell it?’

‘Who says I did the talking?’ She laughs as she slowly lowers herself into the lounge chair. ‘That’s the thing about you Canterlotians, y’all spend so much time in those fancy books of yours you forget to stop and look at the world around you. It’s easy to say trees don’t talk when you haven’t stopped to listen.’

I give her words some thought as I eye another tree. Listen to it, talk to it, don’t treat it as an obstacle. That’s difficult enough without somehow putting all of that into a kick. I give Miss Applejack another look, and she nods at me. Taking a deep breath, I position myself in front of a tree and float some baskets under it. Come on, Waren, you can do it!

I kick the tree incorporating what I’ve learned to the best of my ability. The tree starts to shake, but incidentally, so do I. I fall to the ground as a grand total of three apples join me, completely missing the strategically placed baskets.

‘You’re starting to get it. Again! And listen this time,’ Miss Applejack encourages me from her chair. I get back up and give her a determined nod. I reposition myself and try again. And again. And again. Fifteen minutes later, I filled one basket with apples. Heavily panting, I position myself once more.

‘Hold on there! Don’t get ahead of yourself, you need to take a break.’

I look up at Miss Applejack in surprise. ‘A break? I’ve only been working for a little while.’

‘When it ain’t routine yet you gotta focus on it, and you get tired a mite bit faster. Forcing it is just as bad as doing it wrong,’ she tells me, and beckons me to take place besides her. As I make my way towards her, I notice my rear legs are killing me. She was right; I was focussing on the mental part so hard I didn’t even realize my physical discomfort.

‘You make it sound so easy,’ I say as I lay down in the grass, ‘I never thought it was possible to, well, know so much about something you can’t find in a book.’

She laughs. ‘Well Ah reckon Ah learned a thing or two ‘bout apple bucking while doing it my entire life.’

‘Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply –‘

‘Don’t worry sugarcube. Ah reckon at the same time, you would be able to blow me away with all sorts of facts and tidbits you read about. Just a matter of perspective.’

I relax again, realising she’s right. ‘Still, it looked so easy when you did it.’

‘Well, Ah can tell you looks can be deceiving. Apple bucking takes a while to learn, it can become routine, but it never gets easy.’

‘What do you mean? It took you almost no effort to empty that tree.’

A hint of a smile playing across her face. ‘A single tree ain’t no problem. But when it’s your job, you’re out in the fields from dusk till dawn, and then a little bit longer. Remember when Ah said it wasn’t ‘bout the muscle?’

I nod.

‘That’s ‘cause it’s about bones. You can be strong enough to wrestle a dragon into submission, but when kicking trees for a lifetime, your bones are gonna feel it. My granny was one of the first ponies to learn what too much bucking can do to you. Her hip was as brittle as a piñata on one of Pinkie’s parties. Ah was able to retire before it got to that, but Ah still did a number on my body.’

‘What about your brother? Has he retired?’

‘Big Macintosh? Retiring? Ha! Wouldn’t that be something? He enjoys being out and doing work so much Ah reckon retiring would be the death of him. Of course, that don’t stop Cheerilee from trying to convince him otherwise,’ she laughs before leaning back in her chair again.

I’m slowly starting to get a better picture of the Apple family. From what I’ve learned, Apple Blossom is Miss Appejack’s daughter, and currently more or less trying to take over the family business. Miss Applejack also has a younger sister, Applebloom, who resides in Manehattan with her husband, working a security job. Jonagold and Bramsley are their children, who in turn seem to be responsible for causing mayhem and turning the entire farm upside down.

This leaves some holes in the picture, but I know better than to ask. If she doesn’t want to tell me, it isn’t for me to know. We enjoy a moment of quiet in the peaceful orchards. Having lived in the big city my entire life, it’s nigh overwhelming. I won’t pretend I never had a quiet moment in Canterlot, I mean, before Stratos arrived I usually read in my store while waiting for customers. But the city is alive, ponies streaming through its veins, always going somewhere and having something to say.

‘Alright, reckon you can give it another shot?’

I look up, and happily note I feel completely energized again. ‘I think so,’ I say as I get back on my hooves. I trot to the tree I was at earlier and position myself. She doesn’t even remind me to listen anymore, and I have to admit, I feel a little bit of pride at that. I ready my rear legs and proceed to talk to trees.

I did it. Don’t ask me how, but I did it. I float the full baskets after me in my magic. Normally that would be quite a strain, but after bucking apples for a couple of hours, the spell is a welcome diversity. I’m even floating Miss Applejack’s foldable chair after me as I follow her back to the farm house.

‘Are these enough?’ I ask to keep my mind of the magic.

‘Eeyup. They’ll cover what we need for the festival, and still have enough left to last y’all for weeks.’

I smile, glad to have this over with. Perhaps Werk will even be able to stop blaming me for losing the apples, now that I’m the one who solved that little problem single-hoofedly. I take the time to ask something that has been bugging me.

‘If you don’t mind, what kind of festival are we talking about here? Is it a Ponyville tradition?’

‘Hmm… Not really. Some ponies are supposedly coming to town to talk ‘bout something. Not even sure what. Pinkie Pie took the chance to organise a huge party around the occasion. And Mayor Pound Cake always had trouble saying no to that mare, so here we are! Not that Ah mind, it’s great for business.’

I could have guessed Miss Pinkie liked partying, considering her cutie mark. But to turn just any occasion into a festival? That requires a whole new level of random. We arrive at the farmhouse and find Stratos talking with Apple Blossom. The twins, surprisingly, aren’t running around, or screaming, or using somepony’s face as a canvas, but actually sleeping. The amazement isn’t exclusive to me, and Miss Applejack softly whistles.

‘How in tarnation did you manage that?’

The two mares look up. Apple Blossom’s face brims with excitement as she approaches us. ‘Mom! You should have seen it. Stratos is amazing, she told Bramsley to stop chewing on his sister’s tail and he actually listened! Can we keep her? Please?’

Stratos grins as she follows Apple Blossom. ‘Ah shucks, it’s nothing really. Ya just gotta be patient with them.’

I raise an eyebrow. Patient? Stratos? Why do I have trouble making that connection? She leans in to whisper in my ear.

‘Honestly? Ah’m just as surprised as they are. Guess Ah really am amazing, huh?’

‘You sure are,’ I respond, rolling my eyes. I set the baskets down and am told to wait for Big Macintosh, who is going to pick us up for the festival.

‘What? We’re all going?’ I ask slightly distressed. Not that I object to the idea of spending more time with the Apple family and the other Ponyvillians, I just don’t think Werk cares much for delaying our trip even further.

‘Well of course, sugarcube, Ah can’t ask you to help us set up a party and not invite you, now can I?’

I nervously brush my mane out of my face. ‘I would love to, but I think my friend would want to –‘

‘No way! That really happened?’ Werk’s voice arrives on cue. I look up to find the Pegasus himself hovering slightly above the ground to stay level with the huge red stallion walking next to him.

‘Eeyup.’

Werk lowers his hooves and shakes his head in disbelief. ‘Man, that’s one doozy of a story.’

‘Eeyup.’

‘Oh, hey guys!’ Werk waves as he lands and folds his wings behind him. ‘Everything is set up and ready to go. And uhm… this may sound strange, but would you guys mind if we stay for the festival? I would love to hear another of Big Mac’s stories.’

How about that.

‘You were saying?’ Miss Applejack asks amused.

‘Never mind, let’s go,’ I say as I float up the baskets again. Despite my earlier protests, Stratos lifts half of them.

‘Alright, Apple Blossom, can you wake up your niece and nephew?’

The mare instantly looks distressed and nervously eyes the sleeping foals. ‘Do we really have to wake them up? Can’t we let them sleep? Please?’

‘Sure…’ Miss Applejack begins with a smirk, ‘But Ah’d like to remind you what happened when Pinkie visited and nopony told the twins.’

Apple Blossom’s eyes go wide as her blood drains from her face. ‘Bramsley! Jonagold! Wake up, we’re going!’ she announces, running up to the sleeping pair. We all laugh as the two foals instantly begin running around and shouting ‘Festival! Festival!’ while Apple Blossom chases them down. We prepare to set off, but halt as Miss Applejack insists on retrieving her hat first. Once it’s safely secured on her head, we make our way for Ponyville.

I trot up next to the Werk, who is contently humming to himself.

‘Are you sure you don’t mind, Werk? I mean, we could go to the forest right now.’

He dismisses my comment with a flap of his wings. ‘Nah. We’ve helped out this much, might as well see it through. Besides, I’d hate to pass up a good festival. We can think of it as an… adventure party!’ He excitedly flutters into the air.

‘Do you even know what the festival is about?’

He shrugs while airborne. ‘Dunno. I thought it was about these ponies in blue robes holding some speech, but they seem the most surprised by the whole thing.’

I slowly nod. Looks like they forgot to tell the ponies they were being thrown a party. Honestly now, what kind of speech is this even? It doesn’t appear that Miss Pinkie bothered to find out. Well, I suppose as long as it’s going to take place, we might as well enjoy it.

‘Come one, come all! The finest apples in all of Equestria! Planted, cared for and harvested by hoof! Get your Sweet Apple Acres apples right here, folks!’

I smile as I watch Apple Blossom reel in customers with her enthusiastic demeanour. When it comes to selling apples, she might even rival Stratos for sheer eagerness. And unlike Stratos, she actually looks responsible doing it.

‘Bramsley! No! Don’t put that in your mouth!’ she jumps off her soapbox and smiles apologetically at the laughing crowd as she wrestles the foal for the box they keep the bits in. Stratos quickly talks the child into releasing the Apple family livelihood and offers to walk around a bit with the twins. Miss Applejack agrees on the condition she’d be back for the main event. Judging by her grin as she urges the foals on, Stratos also doesn’t mind checking out the rest of the festival.

The normally already cheerful and colourful village of Ponyville really went all out today. The streets bustle with life and smiling ponies chat, eat, laugh, drink and laugh some more. Colourful streamers and balloons decorate every corner and stalls with foods, drinks and games have mysteriously appeared all over town. Nopony seems to know what the occasion is, but they’re just enjoying themselves.

‘AJ! What’s going on, girl?’ I look up and find Miss Pinkie looking around in confusion. ‘What’s everypony doing out today?’

Miss Applejack laughs and puts a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. ‘It’s a party! You organised it yourself, Pinkie. Remember?’

Miss Pinkie raises a hoof to her chin and looks around in contemplation. ‘Hmm…that does sound like something I’d do…’

A grin spreads across her face and her mane seems to double its fluffiness. ‘A party it is! Come on AJ, let’s find Rarity and have some fun!’

‘That won’t be necessary, dear,’ Miss Rarity announces her presence. I look around to see where she had come from, but to no avail. She’s dressed surprisingly well for a festival this… rural. Miss Pinkie’s face lights up and instantly wraps the three of them in a tight hug. Miss Applejack cringes slightly in pain and Miss Rarity gasps as something in her dress rips, but they smile and laugh all the same. I politely decline the offer to join them, content with watching. The trio takes off into the joyous crowd, adding to it with their own smiles.

I sit back behind Apple Blossom handling the stand and observe. Ponyville is so different from Canterlot. It takes a pony hours to get from one side of the crowd to the other, but nopony seems to mind as they are flagged down by kind faces and enjoy a chat. In the city you’d be lucky to get one pony to return your smile. Even if the streets can be more crowded in Canterlot, they’re… lonelier.

I’ll admit one of the reasons I’m not so eager to venture into the crowd is because it’s rather overwhelming. I still try to take in as much as possible from a distance. I can’t help but chuckle at a particularly humorous interaction between a green-bluish unicorn mare and a distressed earth pony.

‘Enjoying yourself, I see?’

I look up and almost fall over backwards. ‘S-Spike! Don’t scare me like that!’ I have a creeping suspicion his appearance will continue to take me by surprise. He laughs in a low rumble that sends several strands of smoke into the air. Nopony as so much turns their head. I guess they’re used to the idea of a dragon living among them.

‘I apologize, I should have known my features would startle you,’ he says, before winking and adding, ‘but frankly, it’s too much fun.’

I frown, trying to recall why that line sounds so familiar and dreadful. Then I remember I am talking to perhaps the most sensible inhabitant of this town. ‘You don’t happen to know what this speech is about, or who’s holding it, do you?’

‘Like everypony else, I know only that there is going to be one. For Pinkie, that information was enough, as you see.’

‘Don’t you ever get tired of her randomness? Even she herself doesn’t seem to be able to keep track of it all.’

The dragon rubs his chin with a claw. ‘Random, you say? I beg to differ. Look around, Waren, what do you see?’

I do as I’m told and scan the vicinity. ‘Chaos?’ I offer.

‘I see laughter,’ Spike fills me in on his own observation. ‘I see smiling faces. I have known Pinkie for most of my life, and if there is anything that hasn’t changed, it’s her desire and ability to spread joy. So throwing a party at an occasion she might not understand may seem random to you, but to me, it’s only a reminder that my friend is still going strong.’

I find Miss Pinkie in the crowd, just in time to watch her jump around with two laughing foals on her back. Maybe Spike has a point… Well, probably. After all, he’s a genius and has known these mares since he was a baby.

‘What about you, Spike?’

He seems surprised at my question. ‘What about me? Have I changed? Am I random? You sure do know how to ask a question, Waren.’ I look at him, motionless. I don’t know why I asked that question, but I find I have a burning desire to know the answer. I want to know more about Spike and the six mares from his past – and in some cases – present. He sighs. ‘You could go into the fact that I am a dragon befriended with ponies, and every consequence thereof, but I like to think of myself as a servant.’

‘A servant? Of what?’

He smiles at me, a strangely gentle gesture considering his jagged teeth. ‘Of friendship.’

I just stare at him. Miss Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack… Spike, Twilight Sparkle, the pegasi in the photographs. Everything surrounding them seems to radiate warmth. Just as I open my mouth to ask another question, I’m distracted by a faint buzz. I look around, trying to locate its source. Several ponies have done the same, and a murmur fills the air. Spike shields his eyes from the sun with a claw, and smiles.

‘Looks like the main event is about to start. If you hurry, you might make front row,’ he says before taking leave himself. As he walks towards the town hall, I spot a dark blob against the horizon. I have no clue what’s going on, but I guess there’s only one way to find out.

‘Werk, you coming? The… whatever it is, is about to start,’ I call out to my friend sitting next to big Macintosh. He waves a hoof at me, dismissing my words.

‘Yeah, one sec,’ Werk says without turning his head from the red stallion before him, ‘And that didn’t stop you?’

‘Nope.’

Werk softly whistles. ‘Woah.’

‘Eeyup.’

I frown at the sight. When is he even telling Werk these stories? Werk jumps up now that the story has been concluded. He looks confused when Big Macintosh stays put. ‘You’re not coming?’

‘Nope.’

‘I see… Somepony needs to mind the stall, huh?’

‘Eeyup.’

I roll my eyes as Werk waves goodbye and we follow the stream of ponies. Those two seem to get along nicely. How they manage to talk remains a mystery to me. Getting slightly nervous at the ever increasing mass of ponies around me, I try to stay close to Werk. If my memory serves me well, everypony is headed towards the building I suspect to be the town hall. And if my memory serves me even better, that’s where the ponies in blue robes were setting up a stage yesterday. As we continue down the streets, the buzzing gets louder, and occasionally someone points a hoof skyward.

As the crowd spills into the square before the town hall, I’m able to catch glimpses of some very nervous looking ponies in blue robes, lining the stage. They clearly did not anticipate this many ponies to show up. We are quickly able to locate Miss Pinkie, as she is loudly naming things the mysterious blot in the sky could possible turn out to be. We meet up with her just as she exhausts her somewhat logical options and resorts to naming edibles. Miss Rarity and Applejack greet us as we wrestle our way through the crowd.

We also find Stratos, carrying the twins on her back as they point at the sky and join Miss Pinkie in the guessing game. With the group more or less complete, I give in to my excitement and scan the sky for the mystery enthralling Ponyville. I find it and immediately look away, shielding my eyes. Whatever it is, it’s approaching with the sun directly behind it, so I instead listen for somepony else to identify it.

‘A daisy sandwich!’ Miss Pinkie excitedly offers.

‘Whaaat?! Can I have it? Can I?’

‘Of course it’s not a sandwich, Bram.’

‘Like you know what it is, Jona!’

‘I know it’s not a sandwich.’

‘An airship!’ Stratos blurts suddenly. Everypony looks skyward at this new information, and the shape slowly distinguishes itself.

‘Ooohh, she’s good,’ Miss Pinkie comments. Looking up myself, I conclude Stratos is right. Slowly approaching and blotting out the sun behind it, is a large balloon-shaped dirigible. To either side are two large propellers being powered by – ugh... – two of the biggest steam engines I have ever seen. Underneath it, suspended by metal pipes and a web of tubes and wires, hangs a gondola large enough to house a few dozen ponies and still have room enough for a swimming pool. The buzz is now a loud roar of the engines.

The crowd’s whispers and murmurs intensify as the airship approaches. It’s engines shut down and the propellers grind to a hold and I finally am able to hear my own thoughts again. Now slowing down, the airship banks slightly to the left. As it does so, its finer details become apparent. The balloon has been painted various shades of blue, and on its rear an elaborate crescent moon stands out, as if it has a cutie mark. Finally, the ship glides to a stop above Ponyville. Now that it’s fully blocking out the sun, I’m able to tell its name that’s painted on the hull of the gondola in elegant calligraphy.

‘The Eclipse’

Fitting. The blue-robed ponies on stage relax slightly at the sight of the ship. The crowd’s exited whispers intensify as a hatch on the gondola opens and a single figure detaches itself from the airship. It glides down towards the stage in a smooth flight path. The pegasus – what else could it have been? – folds his wings just before landing and drops the final meter or so downward. His landing instantly silences the crowd and catches everypony’s attention.

The pegasus wears an elaborate blue robe that puts the ponies behind him to shame, and it matches his coat. His jet-black mane is tied tightly behind his head in a ponytail, and the coat around his eyes seems to be of a darker blue, making his eyes appear almost unnaturally yellow as he scans the crowd. He doesn’t seem fazed by the huge amount of ponies at all. As he walks up to the front of the stage, I can only think of one word to appropriately describe this pony; serious.

‘Citizens of Ponyville!’ he announces, now definitely the centre of attention.

‘In the interest of being open, let me get a few things out of the way. First of all, my name is Farsér Salopard, and I act as Royal Liaison for the Court of Canterlot and Equestria’s many respectable businesses. Today, I come to you not as Royal Officer, but as a friend. I speak on behalf of the New Lunar Republic.’

If I would have been drinking something, it would undoubtedly be sprayed all over Werk, who is standing in front of me. Instead, my shock expresses itself with a drop of my jaw. The Republic? All the way out here? Judging by the whispers going through the crowd, I’m not the only one thinking that.

‘Friends! Please! I am well aware of the reputation our organisation has built for itself over the years, while under the misguided direction of ponies I am happy to say no longer affiliated with us. We have rid ourselves of that nightmare, embracing the very foundations on which The New Lunar Republic was originally founded. Equality, Freedom, Fraternity and most of all, our adoration for the beloved Princess of the Night.

‘Because, my little ponies, when I look around Equestria today, I see peace. I see hope, I see happiness. And it makes me sad. For in these times, conflicts such as Discord and the Changeling attack long behind us, is it not time to look inwards? Is it not high time we remember Equestria is blessed with two princesses, not one? Even today, over forty years after Luna returned to us, there stands but one throne in Canterlot.

‘The Princess of the Night. The Bearer of the Moon. The Mistress of Dreams. She Who Walks Among Stars. Names all given to her over a thousand years ago out of adoration, and long since forgotten. I ask you today, Ponyville, do you remember? Do you look up at the sky, and thank not one but two souls responsible for its beauty? Because let me tell you, my friends, I remember.’

It’s all I can do to hold my breath and listen as the pegasus steps back to wave a pointing hoof over the robed ponies standing behind him.

‘We all remember, and united in doing so. And we dream, my ponies. We dream of a brighter future. Of an Equestria where the sun and moon are equals and every colt, filly and foal can look up at the sky and know who gave it to them. We dream of a Canterlot with two thrones.’

His face turns even more serious, a feat I deemed impossible.

‘But make no mistake, my friends. We stand for more than simple considerate thoughts. In our new form, The New Lunar Republic has found many friends and allies, and we are stronger than ever. It is time we act. It is time we show Luna she is in fact loved, and to show her sister she is no longer the sole ruler of Equestria. This brings me to the true purpose of my visit here. I bring you more than the truth, Ponyville, I offer you a chance to become part of it.’

He spreads his wings and raises his voice to shout with authority and determination.

‘Join the New Lunar Republic! Rightfully earn your place among the pages of history alongside your brothers and sisters!’

I simply stare as the pegasus turns and walks away. What in tarnation am I supposed to think of that? I mean… they used to hate Celestia. They tried to attack her for pony’s sake! Now they just drop in with an airship, hold a speech and ask for ponies to join them?

The crowd seems unsure what to make of this. A couple of ponies cheer, but most just share confused looks. I look at my companions. Stratos looks conflicted as the foals on her back cheer and point hooves at the airship. I’m not sure they even heard the speech. To my surprise, Werk actually looks… impressed.

Now that the main event seems to be over, the crowd slowly disperses and resumes the other activities. A few ponies linger around a table next to the stage and talk to some of the blue robed ponies. Our little raggedy band of individuals suffers somewhat of an awkward silence. I sigh and set about breaking it.

‘So… what was that all about?’

‘Beats me,’ Miss Applejack responds.

‘I had no idea Farsér was involved with the Republic…’ Miss Rarity says, giving us a worried look.

‘Did you see his eyes? Is he wearing mascara? Oh! Is he a clown? Is this a circus?!’

We all stare at Miss Pinkie, before she blinks and asks, ‘What?’

Shaking my head, I focus on Miss Rarity as we form a circle. ‘You know him?’

‘You mean you don’t?’ Werk interjects. ‘He’s only, like, the most awesome pegasus ever!’ Werk continues, despite the various looks he’s given. ‘Remember I told you Haughbury had to be dragged out of his office? He is the one who did that! I heard he actually threw Haughbury through a window. Man, would I have loved to see that.’

He dreamily stares into the distance.

‘Uhm… don’t you think you’re a little bit too excited about the thought of your former employer being thrown through glass?’ I ask him, genuinely worried about the truth. He shakes his head and seems to snap out of it.

‘Right, sorry. It’s just, with him around, working the factory was actually bearable. A lot of folks look up to him. If he runs the Republic… I don’t know, I guess that means they’re okay now?’

‘He’s telling the truth at least,’ Miss Rarity adds. ‘Their means of transportation may be rather… crude… But look at those robes. Unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, that’s Celestial silk. He’s walking around wearing a small fortune. Oh I would love to work with that fabric.’

I look at Stratos, who has yet to speak up. Very unlike her. ‘Are you okay?’ I ask worriedly.

‘Eh? Oh, Ah’m fine…’ she mutters. I raise an eyebrow at the very un-Stratos like behaviour. With most of the crowd now back to enjoying the various stands selling various goods, most of which edible, we decide to return to the Apple family stand. And for us, it should be time to head towards the forest soon.

Upon arrival, Miss Applejack fills in an anxious Apple Blossom and a seemingly indifferent Big Macintosh on what the speech was about.

‘The New Lunar Republic? I thought they were baddies,’ Apple Blossom says as she struggles to keep Bramsley from chewing on her tail.

‘Welp, Ah thought they was disbanded, so Ah guess we’re both surprised,’ Miss Applejack says, lowering herself in a chair behind the stand. Taking into account myself and the whispers that went through the crowd, I’d say the list of surprised ponies is a tad longer than two. I look at my friends and recognize the looks in their eyes.

‘Time to leave?’ Werk asks. I nod at him. As much fun as it’s been, if we want to make it any kind of distance into the forest before running out of daylight, we can’t wait much longer. The entirety of the Apple family – plus Miss Pinkie and Rarity – now looks at me with certain sadness.

‘I’m afraid we’re going to have to –‘

‘Hold on, Waren.’

I turn around, and almost let out a scream. ‘Sweet Celestia Spike! Are you doing this on purpose?’ I ask, holding a hoof to my chest to try and slow my heart rate. He grins sheepishly.

‘Actually, don’t answer that. What do you mean hold on?’ I ask.

‘Just that, don’t leave quite yet,’ he tells me in the mysterious tone he really seems to enjoy. I myself, on the other hoof, find it becoming rather annoying. First the mysterious gem, then his whole “Servant of Friendship” story, and now this.

‘I have to wonder, are you this cryptic at the Research Facility? I can only imagine –‘

‘Archmage! As I live and breathe!’

Celestia and Luna strike me down, is it so much to ask to finish one measly sentence? We turn and once again I find myself positively baffled. The blue pegasus that held the speech now stands at the apple family stand, smiling gently at Spike.

‘Farsér,’ Spike simply responds. The blue pegasus nods politely as he scans our group, Miss Rarity keeping an eager look fixated on his robes.

‘I didn’t expect to find you here, Archmage,’ he continues after his eyes settled on the Spike again.

‘And I didn’t expect you to join the New Lunar Republic. Is there a story behind that I should know about?’ Spike asks sternly. He isn’t talking to the pegasus as a friend, but as a superior. They are both involved in Royal Canterlot business, I remind myself. Farsér smiles warmly.

‘Nothing too impressive, I’m afraid. A simple desire for justice.’

Spike squints his eyes. ‘And what exactly did you mean by “time to act”? We don’t want a repeat of the infamous Summer Sun Celebration, do we?’

‘Trust me, we are the last ponies that want that. You have to understand, we have cut ties with those who sought to simply disrupt Princess Celestia. We respect her right and position to rule, and simply request the same for Luna.’ He holds his smile as Spike keeps him locked in a judging gaze. Eventually, the dragon lets out a sigh.

‘I’m sorry, but you understand my concern, don’t you? The Republic is a delicate topic, one most thought gone. I know you Farsér, and I trust you, but I’m not alone when I say the name “New Lunar Republic” leaves a bad taste in my mouth.’ He runs a claw over the spikes on the back of his neck. ‘Couldn’t you have chosen a different name?’

The pegasus’ smile slightly stiffens. ‘It saddens me that this is a point, but I understand. Yet to change our banners would undermine our actions.’

A silence falls. Suddenly, Bramsley deftly marches toward the pegasus. He halts in front of him and points a little hoof right at his face.

‘You’re weird,’ he announces.

‘Bramsley!’ Apple Blossom cries in dismay, ‘I’m sorry! I don’t know what’s gotten into him!’

Nopony speaks or moves and several anxious stares lock onto the blue pegasus. He simply looks at the colt, his face impossible to read. Even Bramsley himself seems to regret his action. Farsér raises a hoof and everyone holds their breath.

Then he places it on Bramsley’s head and ruffles his mane. ‘A brave young stallion, aren’t you?’ By Celestia, does he ever stop smiling? He lowers his hoof again and nods at Spike. ‘It’s been a pleasure, Archmage, but the Republic needs me. The Eclipse will leave by sundown.’

After a surprisingly polite goodbye, the pegasus flies off towards the airship, leaving me to ponder.

The New Lunar Republic… they used to be a few hairs short of a terrorist organisation. But this Farsér person seems respectable. Of course, it could also just be a ploy. The Canterlot court is rather infamous for its intrigues and deceit. But at the same time… as much as I hate to admit it, he kind of has a point. I don’t remember the last time Princess Luna made a public announcement of any merit, and the griffins don’t take kindly to her either. In my conflicted state, I do the one thing I know will help me ease my mind.

I let out a long sigh.

‘You said you were leaving, sugarcube?’ Miss Applejack asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

‘We planned on doing so, but Spike has other plans it seems,’ I say more to the dragon than to Miss Applejack. He gives me a grin that despite his draconic features I can’t describe as anything other than cheeky.

‘I think that with the latest… distraction, it should be appropriate to leave now,’ he tells me in that cryptic voice. Great, more mysteries.

‘You’d think, being Archmage, he’d speak Equestrian…’ I mutter.

Then Miss Applejack surprises me by placing a hoof on my shoulder. ‘Ah know you know the forest is dangerous, so Ah won’t try and talk you out of it. We lost more to those woods than you think, so all Ah can say is be careful.’

I look in her eyes and find genuine concern. Not just concern you’d feel for a stranger, but for a friend. Looking around at the looks we get from the Apple family, Miss Rarity, Miss Pinkie and even Spike, the feeling of internal conflict only intensifies.

Objectively, our time in Ponyville can be categorized under “disaster”. Both my friends got abducted, we had to postpone our journey to work for the apples we lost, something I was still getting the blame for. We met a dragon insisting on speaking in riddles, a pink mare nopony bothered to tell what the word “age” means and a stallion that somehow manages to tell Werk amazing stories using only two words.

And yet… ‘Thank you.’ I smile at the ponies – and dragon. ‘When we came here, we never expected to be treated with such kindness and generosity. Despite some… mishaps… I know I’m going to miss Ponyville.’

‘Aw shucks. This ain’t a farewell, sugarcube. Y’all are welcome at Sweet Apple Acres when you get back. And you will get back, you hear?’ she grins.

‘Same for Sugarcube Corner!’ Miss Pinkie adds with a beaming face.

‘And I simply insist you visit Carousel Boutique after you come back from that forest. Celestia knows anypony who’s been there looks worse for wear.’ Miss Rarity gives Werk an extra-long look at those words, and Stratos suppresses a giggle.

‘Thank ya so much, we’ll make sure t’ stop by on our way back!’

‘You bet! You still owe me the last part of that story, Big Macintosh,’ Werk adds.

‘Eeyup.’ The stallion follows this up with a chuckle that almost seems to rumble.

‘Well then, this is a goodbye,’ I say, nodding at the group of ponies – and dragon. ‘Until the next time.’

‘Looking forward to it, sugarcube. Y’all take care now.’

‘Don’t forget to smile at least three times a day!’

‘And do take care of that mane, darling.’

Werk’s frown tells me he will be missing some inhabitants of Ponyville more than others. Grinning, I wave in final goodbye and we finally, after way too much delay, start our adventure eight friends richer.

That was not as bittersweet as I had thought it would be. The idea we made friends like this, combined with the promise we’ll see them again just doesn’t allow me to be sad about leaving. Believe it or not, I think Werk’s enthusiasm for this adventure is starting to rub off on me; I’m actually looking forward to the forest. However…

‘There’s one thing still bothering me…’ I say as we trot onwards.

‘Wha’? Ya forgot sumthin’?’ Stratos asks, walking backwards to face me as she does so. I raise an eyebrow at how weird that looks.

‘No… It’s just, why did Spike want us to wait? I don’t see how we gained anything, or would have missed something crucial.’

Werk shrugs as he hovers besides me. ‘Maybe he just liked us?’

To my surprise, I actually contemplate that possibility before dismissing it. ‘I doubt his reasons were purely sentimental. No, there must be some special reason…’ I tap my chin with a hoof as I think. When no thought occurs, I throw them in the air in frustration. ‘Gah! I’m seriously considering running back and demanding him to explain himself. Stupid mysteries…’

‘Excuse me.’ I jolt as a voice behind me calls out. Just great! Not only am I getting swamped in mysteries, today seems to be “let’s sneak up on Waren” day. I turn around to tell this pony I just about had enough of mysteries and surprises.

‘Is it really so hard to just…’ I trail off as I stare at the stranger.

‘A friend told me to meet three ponies here. You wouldn’t happen to know Spike, would you?’ She asks as she looks at me. As I fail to say anything, she sighs and presents me with a black hoof. My eyes trail along it and watch as her black coat turns white, and black again, and white once more, until I stare straight into the zebra’s magenta eyes, which she proceeds to roll at my behaviour.

I finally regain the common sense to shake her hoof. ‘I’m Waren.’

‘Mstiri,’ she says, giving me a nod.

Of course. Somewhere, I imagine there to be purple dragon with a doctorate giggling profusely at setting up this meeting.

Chapter One: Cloudy With a Chance of Weather Ponies

Writing History
Chapter One
Cloudy With a Chance of Weather Ponies

The day begins, not unlike many others had before it, with the telltale wailing and high pitched ringing of a mechanized banshee waking me from my slumber. The familiar smell of smoke stabbing my nostrils is followed by the sound of a small object hitting a wall across the room.

Still disoriented by the sudden abruption to my sleep, I sheepishly look around as my brain puzzles together the connection between the blaring noise from hell and the alarm clock that is now lying on the floor at the opposite end of my bedroom. I envelop the badly abused device in my magic and float it up to my face. The tiny device is encased in a brushed brown metal, with a small boiler attached to the back, which even after its umpteenth time against the wall is still spurring tiny clouds of steam into the air as it rings.

Six-thirty… why am I getting up this early again?

Oh yeah, cleaning day. I turn off the clock and place it back on the night stand where it happily puffs away. Honestly, I understand steam engines being useful and all, but I am pretty sure they aren’t required in something as simple as an alarm clock. What’s wrong with a little magic-powered machinery? Personally, I think all this steam is getting to everypony’s heads.

I brush my red mane out of my face and put on my glasses before getting out of bed, beginning my morning ritual of stretching my legs before opening the double door to the balcony for some fresh air. The Canterlot skyline greets me with a cloud of steam in my face. I cough and wave the steam out of my face.

What a wonderful way to start my day.

Glaring down at the street below my humble home and business, I spot the steam-powered carriage responsible for the cloud. I turn my gaze to the city itself, and find it is in its usual state.

Royal Castle majestically towering above all other buildings as a beacon of hope and love? Check.
The sun and moon trading positions in the sky, renewing their daily cycle above a magnificent orange tinted horizon? Check.
Three large chimneys eagerly waiting to blast obscene amounts of smoke into our beautiful sky? I let out a disappointed sigh. Check.

Canterlot’s latest addition, Haughbury Steamworks. Those are the ponies mostly responsible for all of the latest technological advancements, such as my new alarm clock. And by that I mean those are the ponies mostly responsible making everything work the way it always has been, but without ponies. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to build a machine to control the weather next.

I don’t understand what’s wrong with magic and traditional pony power. That’s the way Equestria has worked for over a thousand years, after all. Heck, that’s how the Princesses move the Sun and Moon every day! I sigh deeply and brush my brown coat before returning inside. My friends keep telling me I shouldn’t worry so much about Haughbury, and that all that worrying is what‘s giving me streaks of gray in my mane at my young age. Quickly, I stop to count.

Good, same number of grey hairs from yesterday.

At least I can run my own store with magic, instead of doing so with some steam-powered monstrosity. And I’ll be damned if I don’t do a good job at it. One hundred percent customer satisfaction, I’ll have you know, with not a single speck of dirt or dust to be found on the books I sell. In fact, I earned my cutie mark in this store. I look back at the scroll tied in a red ribbon on my flank, and smile at the memory. I trot down the stairs and start inspecting the shelves. Streaks of orange light are just breaking through the windows and give my store its iconic warm and inviting atmosphere. I magically adjust my glasses as I pass my gaze over each and every book, swiping away any dust with a practiced motion of my tail. Three swipes later, Waren’s Literature Imperium is all cleaned up and one step closer to opening.

Now to take care of the new arrivals.

I magically unwrap the box behind the counter and eagerly start browsing its contents. Let’s see here… most of the books are manuals or various new volumes of academia, a couple of storybooks and oh! A new history book? I float the book to a small shelf behind the counter to read myself before putting it up for sale. I like to think of myself as something of an historian. And I can’t allow a book like that be sold before I read it.

Then I check the last book in the box. Steam Power and You: A Guide to The Future. With a sinking feeling in my gut, I float it around and check the author. P. Haughbury, of course! Why wouldn’t he write a book promoting his own damn business? That pony is so full of hot air it wouldn’t surprise me if he stood model for his own steam engines.

I think about what to do as the book softly rocks in my magical grasp, almost taunting me. Should I shelf it? On one hoof I really don’t want to sell it. I do have a standard to uphold, after all. But on the other, what if somepony comes in looking for it? I decide to leave it in the box. If somepony is honestly desperate for that garbage they can just ask me at the counter. I envelop the other books in magic and float them to their new homes in my store. I sort them by category first, then alphabetically.

Well, that didn’t take nearly as long as I anticipated. I wrap my open-closed sign in magic and turn it around. Not that I expect customers this early, but since I’ve finished my daily preparations anyway, there’s no harm in opening ahead of time. Taking my place behind the counter I settle down in front of the book I had originally put on the back shelf, Equestria Through The Years. Time to get some reading done. With some luck I might even have this book read and shelved before the first customer appears.

The cover is of a rich illustration of an abstract Equestria, showing the Everfree forest and the royal Canterlot castle, with edges decorated in a gold leaf lining. I whistle softly. This book is in pristine condition. Eager to find out the pony responsible for such beauty, I open the book to reveal the first page.

Equestria Through The Years.

A Complete and Thorough Timeline.

Well, that was rather anticlimactic. Apart from the title and subtitle, the page is completely barren of any information. It doesn’t even state the author. Maybe on the back? I turn the book around to check. Nothing. No name, no signature, not even any initials or logo. That strikes me as strange. Even if the author didn’t want to be known, why didn’t they just come up with a pen name?

Returning to the first page I finally begin to read. Even if the author wanted to remain anonymous, it’s obvious to me that they must be somepony that knew what they were talking about. As I flip through the pages I am stunned by the amount of detail. They really weren’t kidding when they said ‘Complete and Thorough’. The arrival of the princesses, the construction of Canterlot, the rise and fall of the Discordant Dystopia, everything described so, as if the author was there to see it. Soon I was completely engrossed by the book, reviewing the eventful history of the infamous Blueblood family.

Suddenly, I hear a cough in front of me and almost drop the book in surprise. A customer! I wasn’t expecting anypony so soon after opening, especially considering I opened ahead of time. Hastily, I float Equestria Through the Years to the back shelf behind me. ‘Sorry about that! Welcome to Waren’s Literature Imperium! How may I help you?’

After I make sure the book safely found it’s place on the shelf, I turn to face my customer, only to find a familiar face staring back at me.

‘Morning Waren! That book looks mighty interesting, how about a best-friend discount?’

The grey-coated Pegasus reveals a grin. His copper-coloured mane covered his head in a rather muddled state. It wasn’t completely neglected, but the fact that it was only partially brushed only served to worsen the effect. Like he had begun brushing, and decided against it halfway through. But I know my friend, and external care was never very high on his list of priorities. And neither was reading.

‘Come on, Werk. We both know you’re not going to buy a book here.’ And beneath my breath, I add ‘Or anywhere else, for that matter.’

In all the years that I have known him, and I have known Werk for the better part of my life, I know for a fact that he’s read less books than I get through in an average weekend. Though, in his defense, I go through a freakish amount of books on my free days. My friend throws a shrug my way and proceeds to lean on the counter with one foreleg, while casually inspecting the other’s hoof.

‘I just don’t have time to read. You know Haughbury has us slaving away in his factory.’

Oh, I know all too well about Werk’s part in flooding pony society with steam-powered scraps. He has been working in the factory for many years now, adding a certain irony to our friendship. An irony Werk is much better at appreciating then I am. Mostly because it usually manifests itself in the form of tall tales about the latest inventions Haughbury is working on. The strict work hours of the factory usually means I don’t see Werk during weekdays, but it would appear the Pegasus found a hole in his busy steam-engineering schedule to pay me a visit. Lucky me.

‘Right, the factory. Where you are not right now because…..?’

Werk retracts his hoof from the counter in offense. His expression soon tells the same story.

‘Can’t I just say hello to an old friend?’

Raising an eyebrow, I contemplate my friend’s intentions. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate him taking his time to visit me, but the scenario seems… unlikely. Combining his laid-back attitude with Haughbury’s clockwork schedule means casual visits are out of the question. Yet here he stands before me, in all his grey and copper glory.

‘I’m all for catching up with a friend, but I’m not sure Haughbury shares that opinion. Are you sure you shouldn’t be headed to the factory?’

Werk grins again, and his eyes reveal a playful sparkle. ‘Normally, yes. But normally would mean I trot to work. When I saw you opened early, I thought; what the hay, why not visit my old pal Waren, and give these babies a spin for a change?’

He spreads his wings and beats them several times in demonstration. The wind he creates rustles several pages in my store. Either unaware of the disturbance he was causing or (the more likely option) not caring, he continues.

‘I’ll fly to work today, and use the time I would normally spend trotting here.’

I smile at my feathered friend. Looks like he just created a hole in his schedule. Roughly half an hour, I would think. Werk is a lot of things; stubborn, relaxed, reckless. But most of all, Werk is fast. He had the good fortune of being born with strong legs, and even stronger wings.

‘In that case, where are my manners? How are you Werk?’

To my surprise, his grin disappears. He beats his wings again, sending one of my books flying. He slowly lifts from the ground and proceeds to hover in front of the counter. After crossing his forelegs, he lets out a deep sigh. ‘Truth be told, I have been better.’
Oh my, a serious Werk? That’s a rare sight.

‘What’s wrong? Normally you’re the most laid-back pony I know.’ The Pegasus smiles gently at the semi-compliment.

‘Nothing’s wrong, per se. It’s just… Lately my life has become so…methodic. Every day, I get up, go to work, work, go home, sleep and repeat. And it’s not like work in the factory is what you would call interesting for a grunt like me. Sometimes it feels like I’m a machine instead of a pony.’ He lets out another sigh.

‘These aren’t really helping, either.’ He says as he taps his flank. I always felt sorry for Werk over his cutie mark. Two interlocking gears don’t really say unique.
‘I just don’t think working in a factory is something meant for ponies. At least, not for this pony.’

That much I could believe. Though in my personal opinion, the factory and the machines made there are a blight and an insult to ponydom in general. Werk gives me a look inviting me to say something.

‘You know how I feel about steam-engines. I wouldn’t have started working there in the first place.’ Oh, well, that sounded worse than what I meant. Thankfully Werk doesn’t look offended and he lets out a laugh.

‘I suppose I did go to Haughbury myself. And now I’m stuck there. I need the bits and working the factory is all I know. Who would hire a Pegasus that can only do the work of an Earth Pony?’ He sighs and gives me another weak smile before continuing. ‘Maybe I should join the Royal Guard? I think white would look good on me.’

‘The Royal Guard? You? Don’t get me wrong Werk, but can you bring up the discipline for that?’

The Pegasus gives that some thought. After reaching a conclusion, he grimaces. ‘Eh… You’re probably right. Doesn’t matter, now that I think of it most guards just stand around… guarding things. In a way it’s even more tedious then working the factory, and your expected to keep your mouth shut.’

He sighs. ‘Must be nice to have your own store, huh Waren?’

‘Oh, but I’m not going anywhere either. The bits I make go right back into resupplying my stock. Provided, being your own employer has its advantages, but since I live in the place I work, I never really have any time off. It’s stressful, and I would probably have gone insane a long time ago if I didn’t love the things I was selling. I might have more freedom, but I also have a lot more to worry about.’ I pause to catch my breath before adding, ‘Uhm… no offense.’

‘None taken.’

Suddenly, Werk’s face lights up and his wings jolt upright. Oh filly, he has an idea.

‘You know what? We could use some time off. Both of us. You’re spending so much time with your snout in books I’m worried you’ll forget what ponies look like. And I would give my right wing to get out of that damned factory for a while.’

Time off? For a prolonged period of time? I can understand Werk wants to get out of the factory, but I can’t just leave the store out of the blue.

‘I don’t know Werk…’

The Pegasus puts a hoof on my shoulder, while pointing the other into the positively empty space of my store.

‘Come on! Adventure is calling! Can you hear it? Waren… Werk… I’m waiting for you..!’

I shake his hoof of my shoulder and think about the proposition. An adventure? Me? I have an easier time imagining Werk as the captain of the Guard.

‘I’m just a normal pony who sells books, Werk. What would adventure want from me?’

‘You’re looking at it all wrong. Yes, you are a normal pony who sells books. But are you happy with that? Is that enough?’

‘Well… I always wanted to write my own book. But what is there to write about? Fiction isn’t my thing, so what does that leave me? A book about the intricacies of running a book store seems a tad redundant.’

Werk grins and slaps me on the back. ‘It’s decided then! We’re going to have an adventure, and you’re going to write a book!’

‘What? You can’t just say ‘Let’s go on an adventure’! You need to plan, and prepare. Even if we did have the slightest clue where we are going, and I’m not saying we are going, what would Haughbury say? You think he will just let you go on an unannounced sabbatical?’

‘If you can figure this out, I will tell Haughbury where he can stick that job of his.’ He laughs. I blink as I realize what my friend just implied.

‘Wait, if I can figure this out? What do you mean?’

‘I just provided the idea, Waren. You’re a smarter pony then I am. You can handle the details.’

I sigh. I have seen this happen many times before. Once an idea finds its way into my friends head, it’s not leaving there until it has been executed. I was doomed the moment his face lit up. Though I suppose it’s not a bad idea… I’m not unhappy in my store, but it is by no means what I intend to do for the rest of my life. I don’t want to become a pony that ends up stuck in a life he doesn’t want, because he managed to convince himself he could change, up until it was too late. Werk is right. If I want to write a book, now is as good a time as any.

‘Fine, you win, Werk. Let’s do it.’

‘Ha! I knew I could count on you! In all honestly, it was the voice, right? The irresistible call of adventure from beyond!’

I would name his sheer stubbornness as the primary reason for agreeing, and not his acting. Yes, Werk’s thick skull combined with a dash of truth in his words probably won me over.

‘Yes, Werk. Your tremendous performance persuaded me.’ I tell him while rolling my eyes. ‘I’ll look into it today, between helping customers.’

Werk grins. ‘That ought to give you plenty of time then.’ He mumbles.

‘Excuse me?’ I squint my eyes at the Pegasus.

‘This means a lot to me Waren. Thank you.’ He turns towards the door and spreads his wings. ‘I better get to that factory, or Haughbury might be inclined to terminate my employment. And we don’t want that.’ He grins. ‘Yet.’

‘Very well, visit me tonight, and we’ll talk this through properly.’

‘See you tonight then.’

He waves his hoof in goodbye and bolts for the door. I hurry to magically open it before he crashes through it. The open-closed sign wildly spins as Werk flies past. It lands on closed as the door falls shut behind him. I sigh and turn it to open again. That stallion never ceases to surprise me. How he hasn’t wrecked my door yet is beyond me, though.

I turn back to the empty store and start to think as I trot back to my place behind the counter. If Werk and I are going to do this we need some place to go. Only once we have a destination can we think about how we are going to get there. And I need to figure out what I’m going to do with the store.

But first things first. A destination.

Preferably something adventurous, Werk would like that. As for me… something ancient and unknown would be good. Where I can find the material I need for a history book of my own. I open Equestria Through The Years to search for inspiration. ‘Something that isn’t known, a gap in history for me to fill…’

As the day went on, I routinely found myself putting the book away to help customers as they arrived, and picking it up again after they had left. In total I ended up with twelve customers, and a few more who just browsed my wares. Not a bad day all things considered. One of the books I sold was an old atlas I had in my store for years. The buyer was a brown Earth Pony stallion in a bow-tie, and I got quite a good price the book, considering it was rather outdated. As my most recent satisfied customers leave the store (An elderly Unicorn couple that bought a story book to share with their grand-foals) I hear a loud ‘THUD’ from the balcony two floors above.

What? I check the time. The factory doesn’t close for another four hours. Maybe Werk got out early? I carefully approach the stairs.

‘Werk? Is that you?’ I call out. No response.

Could it be a burglar? I think over my options as I continue up the stairs. If it’s Werk, then that’s fine… but he shouldn’t be here yet. It could just be something fell on my balcony, nopony at all. Preparing for anything, I push open my bedroom door and look at the balcony.

‘Howdy!’ Oh, it’s just a mare in my bedroom.

Wait, what?

I shake my head and look again. Yup, that is definitely a mare lounging on my balcony. The blue-coated Unicorn rubs a hoof through her black mane in an apologetic manner.

‘Sorry if Ah scared ya. But… could ya let me use the stairs?’

Still not understanding I trot up onto the balcony and look around. The mare just stands there sheepishly.

‘Ya looking for somethin’?’

I turn to face her, and ask the first thing on my mind.

‘How did you get up here?! This is the third floor!’

The mare rubs her mane again. I notice streaks of yellow in the otherwise black mass of hair.

‘Ah fell.’

I look up, and see nothing but a few stray clouds.

‘Fell from where? There’s nothing there!’

‘Ah fell from the clouds, silly. Ah’m training t’ be a weather pony.’

Now I know that’s a lie. I look past her head to double check and don’t see any wings.

‘You… you do know you’re a Unicorn, right?’

Everypony knows only Pegasi can become weather ponies. Nothing personal, it’s just that controlling the weather is sort of impossible if you can’t fly. The mare looks annoyed by what I said.

‘Of course Ah know that! Ah hear that enough in Cloudsdale and if yer ain’t gonna let me use the stairs Ah’ll just let myself out.’
The Unicorn trots up to the balcony railing.

‘What are you talking about?’

She looks at me, smiles, and jumps.

‘Wait! Noooo!!!’

She jumped! She just jumped from the third floor! Oh Sweet Celestia why would she do that?

‘Did Ah scare ya?’

Oh wonderful, now I’m hearing her voice in my head… is this what trauma feels like? Is this survivor’s guilt? Can it work that fast? Dear Celestia… am I going to have some mare’s hillbilly accent in my head for the rest of my life?!

My eyes widen as a yellow streaked black mane appears above my balcony railing. ‘Ah’m fine! Don’t freak out! Ah’ve been told t’ stop doing that, but it’s too much fun!’

The mare floats up even higher, her horn glowing with orange magic. She… she’s standing on a cloud.

‘What? H-How?’

I know, not really the wittiest thing I’ve ever said. But come on how often does a Unicorn break into your bedroom and goes around controlling clouds?! The mare hops back onto the balcony and the cloud disperses. With a grin on her face she starts talking.

‘Ah told ya. Ah’m training t’ be a weather pony.’

She turns to show her cutiemark. A dark cloud with three raindrops and a lightning bolt.

‘Ah probably scared ya. Ah’m sorry ‘bout that.’

The amazement in my mind quickly makes room for anger.

‘Probably?! Probably?! You fell on my balcony out of nowhere! You then proceed to jump of the third floor, leaving me to think you just died and then float back up on a cloud like it’s the most casual thing in Equestria! Who are you anyway?!’

At least she has the decency to blush.

‘Ah’m sorry… Ah’m Stratos. Aspiring weather pony, pleased t’ meet ya.’
She raises her hoof. I sigh and meet her hoof with my own.

‘I’m Waren. Owner of the store you fell on.’

We shake hooves. It seems almost surreal, shaking hooves like we are friends, when she just apparently fell from the clouds. A Unicorn weather pony? Even if she can control clouds like she just did, I doubt the weather factory would hire her. It’s an absurdity. After she looks at me expectantly for a few seconds I remember that she asked me to use the stairs. After a sigh I walk back inside.

‘The stairs are this way. No more jumping off buildings or you will end up giving somepony a heart attack.’
Looking back I see she has one hoof on the balcony railing again.

‘Eh? Yer probably right…’

She looks disappointed as she leaves the railing and follows me inside. I shake my head. That pony has no common sense. As we walk down the stairs she looks around.

‘So… ya said this is yer store? So what do ya sell?’

I grimace. Stratos doesn’t strike me as the reading type. She probably only touches a book when she has to. With hesitation, I answer.

‘I sell books.’

‘Books? Ah love books!’

Huh? Okay, not the reaction I was expecting.

‘Ah read all the time, The Amazing Spiderpony is mah favorite!’

Or maybe I wasn’t so wrong after all. I resist the urge to facehoof.

‘Not comic books, I sell literature.’

I could almost hear the disappointment behind me.

‘Oh, so ya mean, with only text?’

‘Yes, mostly text. Some books have illustrations, but not like a comic.’

We finally reach the bottom of the stairs and enter the store itself. Stepping aside I point a hoof towards the door.

‘And there is your exit.’

Stratos snaps out of looking around the room.

‘Ah yes. Thanks! And again, sorry for scaring ya.’

She trots up to the door and I give her a forced smile.

‘Next time use the door.’ Please don’t let there be a next time.

‘Ah will! Bye!’

As the door falls shut behind her I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding. That was easily the strangest conversation I’ve had this month. Maybe even for the year. Really, now? A weather Unicorn dropping on my balcony?

Buck the past year, this must have been the strangest thing that happened in my entire life. Werk won’t even believe this happened. And I wouldn’t blame him. I probably wouldn’t believe it myself, had I not just witnessed it. In fact, I still don’t believe it, and I did just witness it. After I take my place behind the counter again I open Equestria Through The Years. After flipping through the pages I realize that in all the commotion I had lost my place.

I curse beneath my breath as I start reading the first paragraphs to see if I read the pages already. The averted war with the griffins… Yes I read that already. The princesses banishing a pack of Cerberuses… read that too. I furiously flip through the pages and recall reading them until I run out of pages. Staring at the back cover I remember that I already finished the book an hour ago.

Frustrated I place the book in a shelf among the others in the front of my store. Great, the day had just flown by and now I still don’t have any idea where to go. I rub my temples with my hooves. Come on, think! Werk is counting on me to find a destination.

I don’t want to disappoint him after seeing him all fired up for the idea. Maybe I should just look in an atlas; I could find an interesting place and look into the history afterwards. Walking to a shelf in the back I realize that I sold my last atlas this afternoon. What is wrong with me today? Why can’t I keep my mind in order? That Unicorn’s weird ways must be rubbing of on me. I look up as I hear the door open. Shaking my head I trot up to the door to help the customer.

‘Hello! Welcome to Waren’s Literature Imperium! How can I help you?’

‘Howdy!’

Okay, I am officially crazy. She left my store, never to come back. This is clearly a hallucination. Maybe I need some rest. Yes, rest will do, after I get some sleep everything will be better. I start walking towards the stairs.

‘Wait! Where are ya going? It’s me!’

The Stratos hallucination trots after me. She puts her hoof on my shoulder as I try to make it up the stairs. Wait, I can feel that. Do hallucinations work that way? Maybe it’s worse, a nervous breakdown? Hoping for a nervous breakdown I turn around and stare at the possible figment of my imagination.

‘Erm… everythang okay?’

I poke Stratos’s muzzle with a hoof. ‘Hey! Whatcha do that fer? Don’t ya remember me?’
Okay, not an illusion.

‘Weather Unicorn that fell on my bedroom balcony. I don’t think I’ll forget that any time soon. And I’m pretty sure you left already.’

Stratos starts rubbing her hoof through her mane again.
‘Yeah Ah did… But then Ah realized Ah have no place t’ stay and Ah don’t know anypony in Canterlot, so…’

Is she implying what I think she is implying? She can’t possibly expect me to…

‘So you came here? To the pony whose house you trespassed in? That sounded like a good idea to you?’

She lowers her hoof and gives me an offended look.
‘Look, yer the only pony Ah know here. Ah’m counting on yer doing the right thing. Ya know, helping a pony in need?’

Okay, she really is serious.

‘You came to the wrong pony then. Try falling on someone else’s roof. Now I would appreciate it if you left.’

I start pushing her towards the door. ‘It’s been fun, don’t come back.’

She pushes me away with her magic before we reach the door. Pity… and I was almost there, too.

‘Hey! Ya can’t just boot me out.’

‘Oh but you misunderstand, I can, and I am.’

She jumps away from the door as I prepare to push her again. She trots to the shelves of books.

‘Ya can’t just boot out a customer.’ She triumphantly declares as she starts browsing my books. Why won’t she just leave me alone? I let out a sigh and trot after her.

‘It doesn’t work like that. You have to buy something to be a customer.’

Stratos glares at me through the shelves. She floats a book up to the counter.

‘Fine, Ah’ll take this one.’

I look at the book she has chosen. Equestria Through The Years? I raise an eyebrow, and then I realize she probably didn’t even look at which book she picked.

‘That will be fifty bits then.’

I hear Stratos falling over between the shelves. Her head appears around one of them.

‘Fifty bits?! Fer a book?’

‘If you don’t want to buy it, then there is the door.’

She pouts, but gets up and walks to the counter.
‘Fine. No wonder it’s so quiet here with prices like that.’

After she pays for the book she trots to the window and sits down. I sigh.

‘And now what? You’re just going to sit there?’

‘Got a problem with that? Ah’m a paying customer now, so ya can’t boot me out.’

Raising an eyebrow I float up Equestria Through The Years.
‘Not going to read your new book?’

She snatches the book from my magical grasp with her own. Her telekinesis is surprisingly strong. I wasn’t trying to hold the book from her or something, but she still grabbed it like it was just lying there.

‘Fine! Ah’ll read it! Happy now?’

She violently opens the book and floats it in front of her. She’s really reading it? I would rather have her out of my store, but at least she’s being quiet like this. I shrug and return to my place behind the counter once more.

Four more customers visit that day. One of them asks me about the mysterious Unicorn mare reading on the floor. I manage to convince him my books are just that interesting and he ends up buying three for himself. Sales wise, today has been a great day. Best day all week. Event wise, not so much. I’m still not completely sure what to think of Stratos. She’s strange, no doubt about that. And annoying. But ever since she started reading she has been quiet. Almost peaceful. Though now that it’s closing in on closing time, I find myself almost afraid to disturb her. Carefully walking up to her, I notice she practically hadn’t moved since she started reading.

‘Stratos? I’m closing. Even customers have to leave when I close.’

She doesn’t even look up to respond.

‘Wha? Yeah sure.’

I wait for a little while. And she still doesn’t move. I don’t think she really heard me.

‘Uhm… if you plan on leaving, you should get up.’

‘Sure. Whatever.’

Sighing, I reach out a hoof to close the book when I hear a thud from the balcony for a second time today. Werk! I almost forgot about him! I look at Stratos. Well, he’ll have to believe me with Stratos still here sitting on my store floor. I quickly trot up the stairs to greet my friend and let him in. As I enter the bedroom I spot a murky Werk-shaped blob on the balcony wiping dirt off his wings.

‘Werk! What happened?!’

He looks up and smiles.

‘Oh, hey Waren. Don’t worry, the wind turned and I got the smoke from the chimneys in my face. You wouldn’t believe the crap those things spew into the air.’

‘Stand still, I’ll help you.’

I focus my magic and cast a cleaning spell. The dirt from Werk’s coat explodes into a cloud and covers the entire balcony in dust, including myself. I cough and wave the cloud away to reveal a perfectly clean Werk.

‘Hey! It worked. Thank you… oh!’

‘Okay, not exactly according to plan. You might want to stand back.’

Werk spreads his wings and floats up above the balcony.

Concentrating, I cast the spell again, this time on myself. My coat has considerably less dirt in it so the results are less catastrophic. I wave my hoof at Werk, signaling him to follow me as I trot back inside. He floats in after me, avoiding the dirt on the floor and only lands after we are well inside. He folds his wings behind his back and brushes his rust-colored mane out of his eyes.

‘Haughbury was pissed today. Apparently he’s having trouble trying to get his latest product approved.’

‘What is that pony up to now?’

‘I’ve heard rumors that he found a way to make Earth Ponies fly. There’s a story going around that he pitched his idea to the Overmare at the weather factory in Cloudsdale, and she laughed his sorry flank straight out the door.’

I grimaced at the idea of Earth Ponies flying around with boilers strapped to their backs.

‘If you don’t mind, I’m going to side with the Pegasi on this one. There is a reason they are called Earth Ponies. Hmm… the Overmare of the weather factory, you say? Who is that again?’

‘The Overmare? She handles all affairs that have to do with the weather. One of the most important ponies up in Cloudsdale.’

‘No, not the position. The pony. Who is currently the Overmare?’

‘Oh, let me think… It’s been a while since I’ve been to Cloudsdale. If she hasn’t retired yet, Miss Dash should still be Overmare.’

I remember now. She was a Wonderbolt before she took up the position. Apparently her mane originally had six colors, though two of those are gray now. Can you imagine that? Six colors! I cross my eyes to look at my own mane and see mostly red with some streaks of gray, even though I’m not an old pony in any regard, thank you very much. Halfway down the stairs I remember I already have a guest.

‘Oh! Werk, you are not going to believe this. You are not the first pony to land on my balcony today.’

‘Another Pegasus?’

‘See for yourself.’

We enter the store and I stepped aside. The blue Unicorn mare still hasn’t moved from her place under the window. Werk glances at me confusingly.

‘Who’s that? Family?’

‘Nope. She fell on my roof, and now she reading the book she bought.’

‘Excuse me?’

Werk gives me a look that suggests he is questioning my sanity. And I don’t blame him. I explain to him what happened and how the Unicorn mare ended up under my window. When I finish telling my tale, he merely gives me a believing stare. Using his wings to stay upright, he places one hoof on my forehead, and another on his own.

‘Hmm… No fever. Have they been handing out free cider samples again? Let me smell your breath. I swear, they should have learned from last time not to give you any.’

‘Cut it out. I’m not sick, or drunk. I swear to Celestia, she wants to be a weather pony, and she got it into her head that I should let her stay here.’

Werk gives the preoccupied Unicorn another good look.

‘So? Let her stay. She’s kind of cute.’

What? I wasn’t expecting that kind of response. Cute? Is he serious? Did he not hear me tell him how she fell on my roof and proceeded to scare me half to death? I look at Stratos. She does look peaceful while reading, but Werk hasn’t seen her wreak chaos. I shake my head.

‘No way. She caused enough trouble as is. Just… ignore her. I’ll find a way to make her leave when we have settled on the details.’

‘Are you sure? Shouldn’t we tell her something? I don’t think she even noticed I arrived.’

‘That’s ok. I really don’t want her running around again. Just let her read if it will keep her quiet.’

Werk flutters into the air to have a closer look. After an approving nod he floats back to the counter. I roll my eyes at him as he lands with a grin.

‘I’m telling you Waren, I know ponies that would give anything for a mare like that to fall on their heads. Though if I think about it, you probably won’t like those ponies… Anyway! Let’s get down to business. Where are we going?’

I was afraid of that question. Awkwardly, I confessed ‘I looked into it… And I don’t really have a destination yet. I’m looking for something adventurous for you, and at the same time somewhere that could give me material for my own book… But I haven’t been very successful.’

Even though he just smiles and shrugs, I could feel the disappointment coming off Werk. I knew he was hoping I’d have it all planned by the time he got here.

‘That’s okay, really. I like your way of thinking. Now we just need to find something that fits the bill.’

Suddenly Equestria Through The Years falls on the counter between Werk and me.

‘How ‘bout the Everfree forest?’

‘You know, that might actually be a good idea, thanks…’

Wait, that wasn’t Werk’s voice. Raising an eyebrow I look at Werk, who has done the same. We both turn our heads at the same time and find Stratos standing next to us.

‘Howdy! Ah’m Stratos, and Ah’m kind of cute!’ she happily declares.

She raises a hoof at Werk. Oh Celestia, she heard everything? Blushing, Werk shakes her hoof, muttering ‘Oh yes, yes you are.’

‘Ah’m sorry?’

‘Nice to meet you! I’m Werk. Sorry about that.’

‘Don’t be sorry, Ah don’t mind getting called cute. It’s true after all!’

They both laugh, though Werk’s is significantly louder and largely forced. Stratos doesn’t seem to notice. Rolling my eyes once more, I float up the book for everypony to see.

‘Why the Everfree forest?’

Stratos takes the book from me and flips through it. She returns it on the page about the arrival of the princesses.
‘Luna and Celestia came from the Everfree forest right? They lived there before they ruled Equestria. But that’s all Ah could find ‘bout the subject. What ‘bout the place they lived in? That oughta have some secrets, right?’

That… was a surprisingly good idea. The Everfree forest is dangerous, but we are looking for adventure. And if we find the original home of the princesses I am bound to find something to write about! Werk spreads his wings in excitement.

‘I like it! Let’s do it! Everfree forest here we come.’

‘Not so fast. We can set the forest as our destination, but we still need to prepare. We will need supplies, and we can’t just blindly barge into the forest and hope to stumble upon the princesses’ old home. We need some direction.’

Stratos nods eagerly as Werk folds his wings again.

‘Alright, so bits-wise, what are we looking at?’

I do some calculations in my head, and after inquiring about Werk’s salary I conclude that if set aside enough bits, we can leave in two months. I’d have to close the store and pay rent in advance, and we need food and water for the journey… Not to mention transportation.

‘Also, There is no way to get to the Everfree forest itself using any form of transport. But we can take the train to a town called Ponyville. The forest is less than an hour’s trot from there.’

We finish discussing the details, apart from one. I turn to face Stratos, who is eagerly grinning and nodding.

‘Wha’?’

‘And what are you doing?’

‘Going with ya of course! Ah want to see the forest too.’

‘Why? I thought you were going to become a weather pony. Shouldn’t you go back to Cloudsdale?’

She frowns when I mention the floating city.

‘Ah ain’t welcome there no more. The Pegasi don’t take kindly to the idea of a Unicorn weather pony. And then there’s dat whole noodle fiasco…’

What? Noodle..? I probably don’t even want to know. Her smile was slowly coming back after the mention of the city wiped it away.

‘They won’t hire me unless Ah can show them something no Pegasus can do!’

‘But why the Everfree forest then?’

‘The forest ain’t like the rest o’ Equestria. Everythin’ works on their own there, no ponies involved. If Ah can tame the clouds above the Everfree forest they won’t be able to tell me a Pegasus is better for the job!’

I turn to Werk.

‘What do you think, Werk? Should we let her join us?’

‘Hey, I’m all for cute weather ponies on our journey. And it seems like miss Stratos here has her own reasons, so who are we to say no?’

So we decided, the three of us will journey to the Everfree forest together. When I woke up this morning I could never have dreamed the day would end up this way. We agree that Werk will visit every week with updates on the funding, and that we should have everything ready to leave two months from now. Stratos said she will pay for herself; apparently she has quite a modest amount of bits. Soon we had covered all the details.

‘Ah’m beat! Well then, G’night!’ Stratos declares before trotting up the stairs. I nod absentmindedly as I put the various odds and ends in the store in their proper place.

‘Say, Waren, next time a mare just happens to appear in your bedroom, give me a call, ‘kay?’ Werk adds with a wink as he turns to leave for the night.

I wave a hoof at him. ‘Yeah, yeah.’

I stretch my legs and yawn loudly. Today ended up more chaotic then I anticipated. I have been up for over seventeen hours already. I blow out all the candles in the store and replace those that had burned up. Then I decide to follow Stratos’s example and go to bed.

Wait a minute.

Oh by Celestia’s mane, that mare is crazy! Breaking into a gallop, I hurry up the stairs. Does that Unicorn have no common sense whatsoever? I burst into my bedroom, and find Stratos snoring in my bed. In my bed. Holding back my anger, I trot up to the bed.

‘Stratos! What are you doing?’

The mare doesn’t respond. I put a hoof on her shoulder and shake her around. ‘Stratos! Wake up!’

Again, no reaction. If she wasn’t snoring so obnoxiously, I would check to see if she was still breathing at this point. Grimacing, I realize she isn’t going to wake up. I let out a deep sigh as I trot past her.

‘Fine, you win. But don’t think this is over, young lady.’

I open a closet against the wall, and take out a pillow and some blankets. Looks like I’ll be sleeping in my guest room tonight. Casting a glare at the unicorn as I trot towards the door, I drag the blankets behind me in my mouth. As I open step out the door, a soft voice calls out from behind me.

‘Thank you.’

I sigh, which is surprisingly hard to do with blankets in your mouth.

‘Donff menfion iff.’