TWILIGHT'S SHIPPING GOGGLES

Chapter 7: An Afternoon in Town

The trip to Canterlot had really rejuvenated me. I'm not sure what it was, but visiting there did wonders for helping me to sort my perspective. Although I now thought of Ponyville as home, it was difficult to not feel like I was coming home every time I returned to my birthplace. I wonder if everypony who left their first hometown felt that way?

It's a good thing that I did think so highly of Ponyville, because as soon as I stepped off the chariot last night, Ink Well was waiting there for me, looking to set up an appointment with the mayor this morning. Now, I'm all for keeping a busy schedule, but there is such a thing as letting a filly breathe, you know. Of course I agreed to a meeting, but had been adamant about it not being first thing in the morning on the grounds of needing rest. I had to make the mayor realize that although I may be at Celestia's beck and call at all times, that did not necessarily extend to her as well. By the same token, I could put the meeting off for only so long, with the timetable with which we were working, so I said that I would be available for a working lunch with them. Ink Well seemed to find this acceptable, and left to do her shopping for the day (although, she was leaving it awful late).

All of which, was how I found myself trotting to the mayor's office with a saddlebag stuffed with my rough outline for the concerts, and a stomach grumbling to be filled at eleven-thirty. It was always part of my plan to swing by Applejack's stand to buy something nice for lunch, which is why I left extra, extra early for the appointment, in case there was a line. Fortunately, there was only one pony in line when I got there, that being Ink Well herself. “Morning, Applejack, Ink Well.”

I must have surprised them, because poor Ink Well nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned to face me. “Oh! Miss Twilight! G-good morning. I was just, um, picking up lunch for the mayor and myself for our lunch meeting. For work! For work, I mean, not like, for a date or anything!” She went from a sickly pale, to beet red in seconds as she babbled an excuse I had already figured out long ago, since I was the one who had arranged the meeting to take place at noon.

“Yeah, I know. Are you feeling alright, Ink Well? We made this arrangement when I came home last night,” I replied.

“Yes! Arranged for a meeting! With the mayor! To discuss the concert! And nothing else!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. Beads of sweat were now pouring down her face as she looked nervously around, her mouth scrunching up as if afraid of saying something wrong. “I have to go now!” she yelled and darted off to the town hall.

Applejack and I watched her gallop off, and I asked, “What was that all about?”

“Nothin', Sugarcube. Absolutely nothin',” she replied with a sigh and a facehoof. Her obvious exasperation was doubly confusing to me, because not only did I not know the cause, I didn't know at whom it was directed, either. I was about to ask her to elaborate when she pushed a bag over to me and asked, “Since y'all are havin' your 'workin' lunch' together, would yah mind terribly taking this to Ink Well? She left it in her rush to skedaddle.”

I took the bag in my magic and carefully placed it in my saddlebag, in a separate compartment from my documents in case whatever was in there was greasy food and leaked through the paper bag. “Of course, Applejack. Is everything okay? You look... flustered.”

Her expression softened into a smile and she nodded. “Right as rain, Twilight.” I could tell she was hiding something from me, and oddly enough, it was something romantic, because I could tell the way she looked at me, then towards Town Hall, she was anxious about something, but what could it have been? Ink Well and I are the only two to whom she's been talking since the emotion became obvious to me.

I shook my head, not wanting to be late for my meeting, but resolving to talk to her about this when I had a free moment. “Um, would you mind giving me two baked apples? I'll need something filling as well for the meeting.”

“'Course, you can. Here yah go.” Applejack's false enthusiasm was almost convincing, like whatever had bothered her before had been pushed aside for more important matters. She filled another, smaller bag with my order and pushed them over to me as I laid out six bits for the food. While it was impractical to eat out like this a lot, finding the money for it once in a while wasn't exactly a hardship, especially after comparing the prices for something this delicious being sold in Canterlot. If she were to somehow open a stand in Canterlot, she would make a killing, as the business ponies say.

As I put the food in my saddlebag, I said, “The mayor and I are arranging a classical music concert soon. Do you thing you'd like to come? We're getting a symphony from Canterlot to play for us, and they're really quite good.”

“Ink Well was tellin' me about it 'fore she ran off. I was thinkin' about swingin' by to see if it's my kind of thing,” she replied easily, but the dark cloud returned in her eyes for a moment.

“Well, if you do end up liking it, there's going to be a private concert given in my library the following night. It's really just for the wealthiest ponies in town to hopefully pick up some contributions for the library, but as the owner of the largest portion of land in all of Ponyville, I would think that the Apples qualify. Of course, you don't have to donate or even show up, but I thought I'd extend the invitation, all the same.” I may have been babbling at this point, I'm not sure. I sometimes do that when I'm trying to convince one of my friends to do something I like that they may not enjoy. Applejack is a pony of simple tastes, and seems like she would find the music of a symphony to be too posh for her tastes.

She put a reassuring hoof on my shoulder and smiled at me. “We'll see how it goes, Sugarcube. One step at a time.”

Her words went a long way to setting my worries to rest, and in the end, she was right; some things are better when eased into them, like a pool of cool water on a hot day. We parted ways with a “Good day” and I left to my appointment.

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*(“)(“)

As I passed Sugarcube Corner, I was assaulted by Pinkie rushing up to me and giving me a crushing hug strong enough to do a bear proud. “Twilight,Twilight,Twilight,guesswhat,guesswhat,guesswhat!”

I struggled to find air to put into my lung, but it just could not get past Pinkie's vice-like grip. “Pinkie... need... air!” I gasped out.

She set me down and patted my head as if I were a child. “Silly Twilight. You're supposed to be purple, not blue. What would Dashie think if she saw you trying to imitate her color? Think of the ego explosion, filly!” She then mimed picking something up and setting it to the side. “Putting that aside, my sister's finished her work on the dig site early, and is coming back for a visit! Isn't that great? Ooo, I can't wait to show her the mountain where Rarity goes gem hunting! I never got to show that to her last time!”

Having finally recovered my breath sufficiently to speak intelligibly once more, I said, “That's great, Pinkie. When will she be here?”

“That's the best part! She'll be here today!” Pinkie squeed. I had never seen a grown pony do that before, but there was no other word for it. It was most definitely a squee.

I was just about to express my happiness at her happiness when a loud explosion outside caught everypony's attention. We rushed outside to see a familiar portable stage/cart had been set up right outside of market street, where lots of ponies walked. The explosions were actually fireworks being set off around the stage, attracting the attention of a small crowd of ponies. I facehoofed and groaned. “I really did not need this today.”

Just as the fireworks were dying down, there was a sudden explosion of gray smoke in the center of the stage, and when it cleared, revealed the pony I had expected, but for whom I really had no time. “Come one, come all to see the Contrite and Apologetic Trrrixie!”

I dragged my hoof down my face, but stopped when my brain processed what she said. Walking up, I said, “Trixie? What's this all about?”

She looked down and spotted me right away (only a few other ponies had bothered to stay after seeing who it was). Walking forward, she bent over to examine me and said, “Trixie has already apologized to you, Twilight Sparkle. She is not here for you. It is for the rest of Ponyville that the Humbled and Repentant Trixie,” at this, more fireworks shot out of her wagon, “has come! Though you are welcome to stay for the show.”

She turned around to walk off and I heard a deadpan voice behind me say, “Pinkie, I told you not to go out of your way to welcome me. Why did you hire a magician?”

“Maud!” Pinkie shouted and ran over to hug her older sister, whom had obviously just arrived. She picked up the older mare, swinging her around by the armpits. “Oh, I missed you so much!”

“Who is she?” a voice in my ear asked.

Startled, I whirled around to find Trixie watching the Pie sisters' reunion. Her eyes were wide and staring, and her mouth hung open a little; there was even a slight blush to her cheeks. It was hard not to notice that her interest was more than mere curiosity, and even without the Shipping Goggles, even I could tell that. Suddenly, I was presented with a golden opportunity to practice using my Goggles, for if ever there was a case of shooting apples in a barrel, it was this. “That's Pinkie's sister, Maud Pie. You remember Pinkie, right? She's the one whose mouth you stole last time you were here.” Maybe I shouldn't have dug the knife in quite so deep, but she needed to know that she still had to clear the air between herself and Pinkie if she wanted any chance at her sister. Bad blood can ruin a budding friendship, so I can only guess how disastrous it might be to a budding romance.

Trixie chewed on her lower lip and gulped. “T- Trixie knows what she must do.” With that, she jumped down from the stage and boldly walked over to Pinkie Pie and said, “Miss Pinkie Pie? Trixie wishes to apologize again for her actions last time she visited your town. Her actions were inexcusable, mind-altering amulet or not, and she hopes you will accept her apology.” She bowed low, her nose touching the ground. Apology given, she held the pose, trembling as she waited for the verdict.

As I had expected, Pinkie dropped her sister and grabbed up the showmare, squeezing her tight. “I knew you weren't really a bad pony, Trixie, not even when you did that super neat-o trick where you took my mouth. How did you do that, anyway?”

Trixie pushed against Pinkie's inequinely strong grip enough to catch her breath. “So, you aren't mad at Trixie anymore? We are, as the foals say, 'all good'?”

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically as she dropped the unicorn. “Yupper puppers! Let me introduce you to my most awesomest sister, Maud Pie. Maud, this is Trixie, the mare who stole my mouth! I told you all about that in the letter, remember?”

“So you're the one who managed to make Pinkie stay quiet for more than two minutes without resorting to a sleeping potion?” Maud looked Trixie over with a critical eye, but even with my Shipping Goggles, it was difficult to tell how she felt. It was frustrating enough to make me wonder how she came to be like this. Trixie was sweating now, her nervous smile and darting eyes announcing to the world her anxiety. “Impressive. Only our mother has been able to manage that, and even then it wasn't for nearly as long.”

It may have been the emotionless quality of Maud's voice and tone, but it took Trixie a moment to process what she said. When she did, she laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head. “Ah heh. Yes, that was Trixie, though she doubts she could manage to do so again; not without the Alicorn Amulet, and that was confiscated from her.”

“A pity.”

Was... did Maud just crack a joke? No, make that two jokes in a row! I could feel my mouth hanging open and quickly shut it with an audible CLICK before a bug flew in. Her body language was just as unreadable as her tone and face, making it difficult to tell if she really was joking or not, a maddeningly vexatious situation, to be sure. All I could think at the moment was that she must be a demon at the card table.

“Isn't Maud just a riot?”

Pinkie's voice in my ear was quite startling, to put it mildly. Even after all this time, she can still sneak up on me undetected, often with some sort of commentary that coincidentally related to my inner thoughts somehow. It was... uncanny to say the least. I'm afraid I was so intent on the meeting between Maud and Trixie, I was doubly startled by the sudden interruption to my thought train, and let out a squeak of surprise. “Eep! P- P- Pinkie!”

Pinkie sidled up closer to me and stage whispered conspiratorially, “I think Trixie likes her.”

Looking over, I saw Trixie was doing her best to wow (or should that be woo?) her, even going so far as to produce a bouquet of flowers from thin air and give them to her. Maud took a polite nibble of a carnation, declaring it to be “good”. Trixie looked inordinately pleased, a blush forming on her cheeks. “I think you may be right,” I whispered back. “Do you think Maud is interested?”

With a pat on my head, Pinkie replied, “Silly filly. Can't you tell?” She then bounced off like a gazelle back towards her sister. “Come on, Maud! I never did get to show you that quarry where we met the diamond dogs last time you were here!” With that, the two sisters walked off, leaving a flustered and anxious Trixie behind.

Trixie zipped over to me, grabbing me by the scruff of my chest with her forehooves. “You have to tell Trixie where this quarry is! Please, Twilight Sparkle, Trixie's whole future may depend on it!”

I gently disengaged her hooves and brushed off the dust from my coat. “Don't you have an apology show to put on?” I hated to get in the way of this new development, but she did leave a small gathering of foals hanging with the promise of a show she had yet to truly deliver.

Biting her lower lip anxiously, she looked down the road Maud and Pinkie had taken, then back at the audience, which was growing smaller with each passing second several times before sighing and letting her head hang sadly. “You're right. Trixie will do as she intended, even though it may cost her all future happiness.”

Ouch. Right in the guilt center. Rolling my eyes, I patted her on the shoulder. “There, there, Trixie. Tell you what; I have an appointment with the mayor right now, but if you're done with your show by the time I'm done with my meeting, I'll help you find Mau- er, the quarry afterward, okay?”

For the second time that day, I was caught up in an unexpectedly strong hug. “Thank you so much, Twilight Sparkle! Trixie will happily be waiting here for your return!”

With that, she returned to her stage, putting on an atonement speech/show that had me wondering if she had perhaps consulted a thesaurus, what with all the different synonyms for apology she was using. Shaking my head, I was about to start back down the road when I looked up at the clock tower and noted the time. Roadapples! I was going to be ta- No. Calm down, Twilight. We will not have another rocket-powered sled incident. Taking a deep breath, I remembered that another option was available to me that I was denied when I was ten. With a bit of concentration and not inconsiderable expenditure of magical energy, I teleported to the Town Hall.

As I popped in with a flash, I startled a mare resting outside the door, who appeared to be trying to catch her breath. “Dwaaah!”

I shook off the aftereffects of the translocation (the instantaneous shifting of one's position with regards to the ley lines often leaves one disoriented, especially if done in a rush) and blinked a few times. “Sorry about that, Ink Well. I was delayed a bit talking to new arrival to the town. Let's get this meeting started. I promised her a tour when I finished here.”

The meeting went well, I thought. The mayor was allowed to dip into the celebration fund (Light knew we had enough of those every year to warrant a slush fund just for those) after a council meeting with the town elders, which made this proposition a lot easier on us (and our personal pocketbooks). She was especially happy to learn that I had convinced Octavia to get the symphony to play for a greatly discounted fee, as long as we set up a tip jar for them to share (into which I was planning on leaving a rather hefty sum). Given the constraints of the venue, the only building large enough to contain such a concert (aside from applejack's barn, a singularly unsuitable location, size notwithstanding) was the City Hall itself, and in order to recoup the costs, we would need to have three showings, which is normal for this type of event, I assured the mayor.

After that, it was a flurry of small details that we were able to get settled well before the mayor's next appointment, much to everypony's delight. I won't bore you with the detail of the meeting itself; I know that not everypony loves to get caught up in the minutia of planning events. The only thing of real note that happened during the meeting was that I noticed the mayor seemed to be especially... touchy-feely today.

She once left her hoof on Ink Well's shoulder for longer than strictly necessary or polite society might dictate was appropriate before removing it as if suddenly remembering something. Ink Well didn't even notice (it seemed like she was used to it, but I may have misread the look she wore) and took it in stride. When the mayor turned her attentions towards me, I could tell it just a half-hearted attempt, something borne out of habit than true interest. As I read down a list of materials, using a hoof to keep my place, she laid a hoof next to mine and gently rubbed against me. I wouldn't say that it was unpleasant, but there was just no... no heart behind it. It left me more sad than afraid or uncomfortable.

Thinking back to the night I saw her through Vinyl's window, I recalled how even though she seemed ready and eager to be with Caboose, there was a sadness in her eyes. I was unsure how to proceed without perhaps leading her on, so I chose to ignore the action, and she removed her hoof from my foreleg after a moment. The meeting continued like that, with her making several moves that might be construed as interest, but there was never really a followup. The moves weren't too overt; indeed, they were just shy of something I might have noticed a few years back, but after Cady had brought my new, developing sense to my attention, it was obvious now.

Mayor Mare was lonely.

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*(“)(“)

I left the meeting with the mayor, feeling subdued and thoughtful. Looking back at the town hall, I could see her standing at the window, looking over all her citizens, a smile of pride masking an underlying sadness. Seeing me watching her, she gave a little wave, which I returned before turning to walk away. I resolved that if any good was going to come out of this new ability, it would be to help at least her. I would need to consult with a more experienced pony, but first, I had a promise to Trixie to keep.

Walking up to the fountain near the marketplace where I had last seen her, I found Trixie pacing in front of her wagon, which was now returned to its travel form. It sounded like she was practicing things to say, and was so absorbed, that she didn't even notice my approach until I was right in front of her. She let out a shriek of surprise when she finally took notice of me, which she tried to pass off as an exclamation of mild surprise. “Ah! Twilight Sparkle. Are you ready to guide Trixie?”

Aligning myself in the direction of the quarry, I nodded. “Let's go. We've got lots to talk about on the way. Did you know that our quarry's granite has an unusual percentage of quartz inclusion? It's what accounts for the abundance of low to medium grade gems in the area. It's especially rich in amethyst, citrine, and rose quartz.”

As we walked, I continued talking about the local geology while watching her from the corner of my eye. It was easy to see that she was distracted, and honestly, I couldn't blame her. Maud was obviously a pony of untested depths. Even Pinkie Pie had often said that of her three sisters, Maud was the one most prone to making observations of surprising profundity (though she didn't use quite the same verbiage). On the few occasions I had to meet her, I was left speechless at her... intensity (choice of poetry notwithstanding). She seemed to embody the phrase, “still waters run deep.”

Trixie one the other hoof, seemed to be all about surface appearances. Not physical appearances, though I'm sure that factored in at some percentage, but more at making others see what she wanted them to see. She was loud, brash, energetic, and often abrasive, which made it as difficult to see under her projected image as it was Maud, who was her antithesis. But just like Fluttershy, whose timid demeanor often hid a fierce protective streak, perhaps there was more to Trixie than just the showmare? For the sake of any future with Maud, I certainly hoped this to be the case.

We arrived at the quarry just as I noticed the sky beginning to cloud over. What was the weather supposed to be like today? It was then that I realized that in my hurry to get ready for the meeting, I had forgotten to check. Nutbunnies! How could I have forgotten something so basic? Well, we'd just have to make this quick, I guess.

I was startled out of my thoughts as Trixie gasped. Looking down into the open pit to see what had caught her attention, I almost smiled to myself. Pinkie and her sister were down there, alright. Pinkie herself was lounging on her back on a picnic blanket next to the small lake that had formed at the bottom of the pit, while Maud was bent over, no doubt examining a rock of some sort on the ground. The angle afforded us a rather... opportunistic view of the mare's backside that I'm sure many stallions and mares would love to have, smock or no.

Rather than walk all that way down to the lakeside, I teleported the both of us more than halfway down the spiraling path into the pit. “Hello! Pinkie, Maud!” I shouted and started continuing down the path, Trixie in silent tow.

Pinkie waved to us, shouting in return, “Hi, Twilight! Hi Trixie!”

Rather than follow the rest of the path, I decided to take the faster route and slide down the rest of the way. I came to a stop a few trots from their blanket. I was close enough now to see that Maud was indeed looking at a rock; or more specifically, two rocks: Boulder and another, this one a chunk of milky quartz.

“What brings you down here, Twilight?” Pinkie asked.

I nodded over towards Trixie, who was trying to find a safe path to slide down like I had. “I was just showing Trixie around. She expressed some interest in the quarry earlier, so I promised to show it to her.” I looked up at the sky again, noting that the gathering clouds had turned a shade darker since I had last looked at them not five minutes ago. “But it looks like we'll have to postpone the tour. I didn't catch the weather report this morning, Pinkie. Was it scheduled to rain today?”

The pink mare shrugged. “Dunno. I never look at it; just rely on my Pinkie Sense.”

My eye twitched a little at the mention of Pinkie's... talent for prediction, but I managed to keep from flipping out. Looking up again, I asked, “Well, what do you think? Should we head back or what?”

Pinkie looked to the sky and shrugged again. “Maud? You're talking to the expert here. What does she say?”

Maud picked up Boulder and the piece of milky quartz and held them up to her ear. “Albion says that it's getting ready to rain pretty hard here. The Everfree is sending some storm clouds our way,” she replied in her flat, monotone voice.

My ears flattened as I asked the question whose answer I just knew I wouldn't like. “And Albion is...”

Maud held out her hoof with the two rocks on it. “Boulder's old college friend. They've had some really wild times.”

I could feel my eye twitch again, but decided not to pursue it, both for my own sanity, as well as the prospect of finding shelter from the coming storm. Trixie had finally made it down the side of the pit and walked up to us as I said, “Rrriiight. Well, we better take her warning, then before we get caught out. Let's get back to town.”

Trixie's jaw dropped, and she whimpered as she looked back up at the ledge of the pit almost a hundred trots above us. Maud interjected, something I'm sure not many ponies have ever seen. “Albion says that we'll never make it back to town before it rains.”

“Applejack has a storage barn not too far from here,” Pinkie said, pointing towards the Apple farm. “We could maybe make it there in time.”

With a shrug, I replied, “Well, it's better than nothing. It'll be faster if I lift you three-” Maud coughed politely, but firmly and pointedly held out her hoof which still held Boulder and... Albion. “Err, that is, the five of you, then teleport myself up. Any objections?” Pinkie looked excited at the prospect, while Maud was (as expected) indifferent, but Trixie looked understandable uncomfortable. I laid a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “Don't worry, Trixie. As long as you can keep from casting any magic while I lift you, our auras won't touch.”

While it wasn't all that unusual for unicorn auras to touch, doing so while another unicorn's aura is surrounding you can feel a bit... intimate. A sort of biofeedback loop is created, which can be pretty... intense. Or so I'm told. Having never experienced it myself, I have only anecdotal evidence (along with several dozen thick books and studies) of the phenomenon. Needless to say, among unicorns, such an act was seen as a very intimate action.

Still, time was of the essence, and we couldn't afford the luxury of walking back up at our leisure. I surrounded all three ponies in a telekinetic field, and quickly sent them back all the way up to the edge of the pit. Trixie was still nervous and was stiff as a board, while Pinkie was whooping and hollering, doing acrobatic flips within the field like a porpoise. Maud, of course, was unmoving, but more relaxed than Trixie. With them safely up and out of the pit, I used my magic to wrap up their blanket and picnic basket and teleported up to their sides.

“Let's go find that barn before-” I never got any further as a peal of thunder boomed through the skies. As we ran, Pinkie leading the way, the first, fat drops of hot rain hit our coats, and I knew my interesting day was nowhere near ending.

Author's Note

So, yeah. I guess I just needed some time to sort out just where I was going with this one instead of cancelling it. I hope its return makes up for the long break I took, along with the fact that I've decided to revive this story instead of continuing Amore Obligato. I still intend to do something with that one, but for now, I want to work on this one while my muse is cooperating to make this happen.