The Equinid (Undetermined Prologue)

Chapters

Prelude
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 6

Prelude

The six fillies sat quietly around a campfire.

There were millions of things they could be talking about, millions of thoughts crossing their minds, millions of questions they needed answered; but none of them felt like talking.

It was easy to see that each was deep within their own heads; Twilight was looking at nothing in particular; Dash was stretching her wings and legs unconsciously; Applejack was tapping one hoof with the other; Pinkie was drawing shapes in the dirt with a hoof; Rarity was stroking and grooming her mane; and Fluttershy simply stared at the ground.

Suddenly, the purple unicorn spoke.

"Remember- remember when we all used to just go out on, you know, normal camping trips?"

The others snapped out of the trance and began to ponder her question.

"Heh, yeah, and when we used to have normal sleepovers?" Dash added.

"And normal parties!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"An' normal adventures?" Applejack contributed.

"Oh, and normal jobs." Fluttershy said.

They all smiled, feelings of nostalgia, feelings of pure, innocent joy that they could only remember washed over them, and filled them with a warm sensation.

"And normal lives." Rarity said.

The fillies' faces gradually became more serious.

Twilight nodded and shrugged. "We can't do any of that anymore; at least, well, especially not here." She glanced at her surroundings.

They fell into another silence, until Pinkie started fidgeting.

"Eye roll, tail twitch, hoof shake!" She announced.

Dash rested her chin on her hooves nonchalantly. "Yeah, I know Pinkie; I can feel 'em too."

Rarity shuddered. "It is a bit eerie, isn't it?"

Applejack turned her head to the dark forest around them, but her eyes were focused beyond it, on a place that she couldn't see. "Could be a billion miles away. Never restin' gaze."

"Is that what you're callin' it now?" Dash teased Applejack, nudging her.

"We gotta come up with somethin' ta call it." Applejack replied.

"Honestly, must they bother us so often?" Rarity remarked.

Twilight rubbed her eyes. "They're not really bothering us."

"Oh, well, um, not to say you're wrong, which isn't what I'm saying, but they do make me uncomfortable when I know they're there." Fluttershy said.

"But you know what I mean. They can't really do anything to us." Twilight answered.

Dash sat up straight, puffed out her chest and crossed her forelegs in a show of bravado. "Yeah, and I don't care what they see me do or when they're watchin' me! Not like I care what they think of me!"

Applejack chuckled, at which Dash blushed, slightly embarrassed. She quickly started reaching behind herself for something.

"Besides, what are they gonna accomplish by just watching? They makin' some kinda plan?" She said over her shoulder.

"We all know how their plans go, darling." Rarity said with smirk.

"Yeah! I wouldn't hire them to plan a party, that's for sure!" Pinkie said, laughing.

The six young mares giggled.

"They're probably too busy fighting with each other to focus on us, anyway!" Twilight said, prompting another round of laughter from the group.

"But they got us here." Dash sighed.

Twilight shook her head. "Not entirely; sure, they wanted us here, but we made the choice, Dash. Maybe we didn't know what the risks were at the time, but we put ourselves here, not them. I think it's better that way, anyway."

Dash sat back up, having retrieved the item she sought.

It was a small metal cylinder, with miniscule windows of glass revealing an inner chamber. She flicked a switch on it, and the entire forest clearing was illuminated by a bright green light.

"I just can't get over how cool these things are, y'know?" She said.

Applejack put a hoof on Dash's. "Sorry Dash, but… but could ya put that away fer now? It's just… Ah can't think too much. There's already more'n enough ta think about in this place."

Dash grumbled to herself, but put it away nonetheless. "Yeah, yeah. 'Put that away; Ah don't trust them funny little gadgets.'" Dash said in a poor imitation of Applejack's accent.

Applejack simply smiled and wrapped both of her forelegs around Dash's neck.

"Ya know, we ain't got much here, but at least we all still got each other." The farm pony smiled.

The rest of the fillies drew in around the two in a group hug.

"Yeah," Dash said, "wouldn't let you guys go for anything."

"I couldn't throw a party without all of you!" Pinkie squeaked.

"Who do you all think inspires my designs?" Rarity cooed.

"I don't think I would know anypony without all of you." Fluttershy said quietly.

"I've learned more from you than anything books could teach me." Twilight finished.

Although the six fillies had had group hugs before, this was the first one they had since they had left Ponyville for the first time. They had all learned, experienced, and lived through more than they could ever hope to recall. It was all too true to say that without one another, they would all be either miserable or dead. More importantly, they all knew this. They appreciated each other more than they could describe, and although they had met a multitude of new friends and allies that they cared for just as much, there was still something special when it was just the six of them spending time together.

In unison, they all dispersed and sat back down, feeling far more relaxed and calm than before.

"Oh! And we still have everyone back at the houses!" Pinkie shouted.

Dash nodded. "Uh huh. At least the whole caravan's here. No offense, but I might go crazy if I was stuck here with just you guys." She smiled.

"No offense taken, Dash. And it is good to have everyone here, you're right. But still… this place just feels lonely. Maybe it's just because, in my head, I know that there's nopony anywhere besides us." Twilight replied.

"Ah know what ya mean. It's like bein' on an island in the middle a nowhere."

"Yeah; it is kinda boring flying around here when there's only trees, rocks, and rivers everywhere." Dash said.

"And there are so few animals here." Fluttershy agreed.

"Certainly nothing we're used. I'll never pray for silence again; only now do I realize how much I miss the sound of loud ponies chatting outside of my boutique." Rarity sighed.

For a while, they sat quietly and contemplatively once more.

"Ya think we'll ever leave, Twilight?" Dash asked.

Twilight furrowed her brow in thought, and then slowly began to nod. "We'll leave, I'm sure of that. It's just how long it will take, and where we'll end up."

"Oh my, but we can't stay here for too long. What about everypony that needs our help?" Fluttershy asked.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten everything, Fluttershy. You know that Maxwell and Louis can help us with that once we get out." Twilight reassured her.

"They would know how to get out of here." The timid pony squeaked in response.

"I bet you're right; but they probably wouldn't even tell us," Dash said with a hint of irritation.

"I'm sure their reasons are valid, Dash," Twilight remarked.

"Yeah, but still," The pegasus muttered.

There was a rustling in the bushes. The group of mares stared intently in the direction of the noise, but relaxed once a familiar dragon entered the clearing.

"Hey Spike, what's going on?" Twilight asked her assistant.

"Oh, everypony was talking about what we should do next, so they sent me here to get you guys. Hope I'm not interrupting some sort of 'girl time'," he jokingly added a gag to the end of the sentence.

"Oh no, Spike; it's fine. Right?" Twilight said, turning to her friends. They all stood up from the logs they were sitting on and nodded to her.

"Alright, let's go."

Chapter 1

Ponyville.

Though its name had only become official in the last couple centuries, the settlement was evidently ancient; according to popular Equestrian mythology, Ponyville had been one of the first permanent towns to be settled by the original Equines, who had sailed from parts unknown, landed on the White Coast, and traveled East to Equestria, setting up Canterlot, Cloudsdale, and Ponyville before moving on.

Though few had ever made the trip, those foreign to Celestia's kingdom would hardly know what to do themselves in Ponyville; those handful that had, centuries ago, returned to report the strangeness of the town. It was a good town, the accounts agreed, but strange.

Then again, in the context of Equestria in general, it was hardly strange at all.

Equestria itself was something unique. A kingdom of ponies and some other species mixed in here and there that got along with one another in perfect harmony. The records in Canterlot had the proof; there hadn't been a violent altercation between anypony in over three thousand years. It was peaceful, introverted, sheltered from what lay outside its boundaries by its beloved rulers: Princess Celestia and the recently returned Princess Luna.

However, besides Canterlot and possibly Manehattan, Ponyville had always been the poster child town of Equestria. It was the manifestation of how Equestrians were expected to act; politely, gently, peacefully. It was for this reason that Celestia had sent Twilight Sparkle, her star pupil, to this town in order to find friends.

Twilight Sparkle herself, however, was not in any way harmonious at the moment. She was panicking, as she only had about one hour left to pack, and there were still a multitude of things she hadn't put in her saddlebags yet.

Despite the fact that she had already packed her hairbrush, toothbrush, clothes for formal occasions, and other essentials in a single saddlebag, three more still sat empty, all of them reserved for books.

Twilight had been reading around fifteen different books when she received word of the somewhat sudden arrangement that she was currently packing for.

"Spike? Can you help me here?"

A purple dragon, who had just finished packing his bags, came down the staircase.

"Sure, Twilight; what do you need?"

She levitated a piece of parchment, a list of book titles written on it in front of him.

"That's half of them; if you find all of them and I'm not finished, I may need you to help me find the other ones, too."

"Sure thing, but why can't you ever just read one book at a time, Twilight?"

She simply shook her head in response.

Spike glanced at the list and went to work looking for the books. From his years of experience as Twilight's assistant, he knew that many of the texts she was requesting were of a massive length; about nine hundred to a thousand pages each. However, Spike also knew from his years as Twilight's assistant that she could breeze through all of these books in less than two days, if she devoted all of her attention to it.

The two had found all but one of the books when the library door opened and another pony walked in.

"Are you ready, Twilight?" Rarity asked.

"Almost, Rarity. Don't tell me everypony is waiting outside for us," Twilight responded.

"How I wish that was the case! I was, of course, prepared hours ago. Fluttershy is ready, but still giving her animal-sitter instructions. Pinkie Pie; I have no clue. And Applejack, who hasn't packed her own things, only recently found Rainbow Dash in one of her barns, sleeping in and completely unprepared! It would be nice if some ponies would take into account that their disorganization holds back the rest of us as well! Don't you agree?"

"Here it is!" Twilight exclaimed, having ignored much of Rarity's speech, levitated the final book on her list into her bag. "Now I'm ready."

"Uh, yeah, me too! I was ready a while ago, you know, so I was ready to go whenever," Spike forced nervously.

"Wonderful! We are to meet outside the library, right, darling? I wonder if anypony else is prepared," Rarity said to the two of them.

The three turned to the door, but it opened before they could reach it.

"Hi Twilight and Spike and Rarity! Are all of you ready to go? This trip is going to be super extra fun! I can feel it!" Pinkie Pie bounced into the library, sporting her rainbow-colored umbrella hat and a single, over-packed saddlebag full of random items that nopony would ever pack for a vacation.

"Hey, Pinkie. We were just about to go wait outside for the rest of the group. Was anypony else out there?" Twilight asked.

Pinkie Pie rubbed her chin. "Hmmmmm-oh! I passed Fluttershy on my way here, so she should be here soon."

"Which leaves Dash and Applejack," Twilight said more to herself than anypony else.

"The irony! For two fillies who can't stop competing, you'd think they'd be here earlier than any of us!" Rarity complained.

Twilight was slightly surprised at how eager Rarity was to leave, given where they were going.

Princess Celestia had sent Twilight a letter yesterday telling her that she and Luna would be leaving the palace in Canterlot for a few days to attend an important event somewhere outside of Equestria's borders. Celestia had invited Twilight and her friends to stay in the palace during the princesses' absence.

Twilight knew that Celestia did not need to be within Equestria in order to raise the sun, but she was still somewhat nervous, as she could never remember Celestia actually leaving Equestria's boundaries. Twilight checked herself, however. Her mentor's power was not to be underestimated. Should anything go wrong, Twilight didn't doubt that Celestia would be where she was needed in a matter of seconds.

"I'm surprised, Rarity. I didn't think you would be so happy to return to Canterlot after what happened with Prince Blueblood," Twilight regretted bringing up the Princess' nephew as soon as she said his name. She still needed to work on keeping her thoughts and questions to herself; she could come off as insensitive at times.

Thankfully, Rarity simply raised her chin and put on a dignified face. "I will not allow my dreams of a glamorous and high society lifestyle to be trounced by a lout who has no sense of chivalry. I am going to enjoy myself in Canterlot the way a mare truly should. Besides, darling, I can always find somepony else who actually HAS class, even if it may not appear so at first."

They opened the door to find Applejack waiting outside, talking with two ponies amongst the everyday commotion around Ponyville's library, which was actually the hollowed out remains of an ancient tree. Fluttershy was much closer to the library, still uncomfortable with speaking to ponies other than her friends.

As Twilight was about to greet the yellow pegasus, she was interrupted by an unnecessarily loud gasp from Pinkie Pie.

"Twilight! Do you see the ponies Applejack is talking to? I've never met them before! And if I've never met them before that means they're new to Ponyville which means that I have to throw them a welcome party!"

Twilight craned her neck to look beyond Applejack. Her view was mostly obstructed by the farm pony herself, but Twilight did have to admit that the two ponies she was speaking to did look unfamiliar. That, and they seemed to be wearing costumes of some sort.

She shook her head.

"Pinkie, we really don't have time. You can throw them a party when we get back, for now we need to get going."

"I agree. It would be rude to be late when one has received such a prestigious invitation," Rarity added to Twilight's response.

"But Twilight! I could throw a super duper double pony party! It would be so fun and awesome and big and-"

"Hey y'all!" Applejack interrupted Pinkie, trotting up to her friends and no longer talking to the other ponies.

"Hi, Applejack. Who were you talking to over there?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, them?" Applejack turned to look at the two ponies.

"Wha- Now where in tarnation did they run to so fast?" Applejack said, the two stallions absent from their previous positions.

She shrugged. "Anyhow, Ah'd they were just some outta towners. Wearin' funny costumes, and funny manes, and askin' fer directions and whatnot. Hey, any y'all seen Dash yet?"

When none of them answered, Applejack stomped a hoof on the ground.

"Ah tell ya, sometimes Ah feel like Ah gotta teach that filly the what it really means ta work. She should be here-"

"Any second now!" Rainbow Dash triumphantly cut in as she landed beside her friends.

"You were almost late, Dash," Twilight said flatly, unenthused.

"Heh heh, just in the nick a' time, right?" Dash attempted to get a positive reaction.

"It doesn't matter; Twilight, dear, where is the chariot that will take us to the palace?" Rarity asked.

"It'll be here soon; probably within the next minute."

"Ah see it!" Applejack announced.

A team of four pegasi in the armor of the Equestrian Royal Guard pulled a long, four-wheeled chariot that was pearl white and decorated with intricate patterns of gold.

The team stopped above the library, and carefully descended with the carriage.

Twilight approached them. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends."

The leader of the pegasi looked the six fillies and the small dragon over. "You may board." He said flatly.

The group climbed into the chariot and took their seats; Twilight, Spike, Rarity, and Fluttershy in the front, and Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie in the back.

The pegasi slowly lifted the chariot and started gaining speed in the direction of Canterlot, keeping the chariot as level as possible. Canterlot was a fairly great distance away, but with a team of professionally trained pegasi, it would take no longer than three hours.

Three young fillies who were exploring an open field on the outskirts of town watched the chariot fly off to Canterlot.

"There they go," Sweetie Belle said.

Scootaloo sighed. "I wish WE could go to the palace and hang out with Rainbow Dash."

"Hey, lookit this!" Apple Bloom said.

She was pointing to a rusty, twisted utensil in the ground.

"Is that a fork?" Scootaloo asked.

Apple Bloom crouched to look closer, and then stood up and nodded.

Sweetie Belle gave Apple Bloom an inquisitive look. "But what's a fork doing out here in the ground?"

Scootaloo thought for a moment before an idea came to her. She picked up the fork between her two hooves and held it in front of the other two foals.

"I know what we can do next! Cutie Mark Crusaders treasure hunters!"

The view from the chariot at sunset was incredible.

They were heading north, and the Equestrian Basin, which Ponyville sat in one of the corners of, stretched out for at least one hundred miles in any direction. It was a massive grassland, mostly flat, although peppered by some small hills and divided by thin, twisting streams that originated in the mountains.

The basin was, on one side, bordered by the Royal Mountains; tall, light blue, and some snowcapped, this majestic range housed Canterlot, and it was easy to see why. From its location –nestled in the Royal Mountains-, Equestria's capital had a sweeping visage of the land around it. On top of this, scholars and students alike studying astrology at the university in Canterlot had a clear and undisturbed view of the stars. Partly as a result of this, astrology had become the most popular and successful course in the university, and it was at the front of the astrological field, even beyond Equestria's borders.

On the other side, a massive sea of trees that was the Everfree Forest walled the basin in. It was quite possibly the most dangerous thing in Equestria, completely unmapped and filled with strange and alien flora. As for the animals within, they were not so unrecognizable as they were dangerous. A good deal of Manticores and other beasts roamed within, and on top of this, many tales of horror shrouded the forest in mystery, many ponies far too afraid of the woods to so much as set a hoof in it, much less explore it.

While these two features walled in the basin at the east end (save a relatively small railroad cutting between them that led to Stalliongrad and the further east reaches of Equestria), the rest of it bled out into the distance, stretching so far out that the fillies simply could not see any further. However, they knew that Fillydelphia lay out there, unseen but still only about as far from Canterlot as Ponyville. Far west of Fillydelphia, after the stone and sand of the desert replaced the grass and soil of the planes, the small but significant town of Appleloosa existed. Where one to travel south, about halfway between Fillydelphia and Appleloosa, they would find Manehattan, a cosmopolitan city that many celebrities resided in.

Also visible from the chariot was Cloudsdale, the pegasus city built of clouds. It hovered high over the ground, thousands of feet, and was located west of Ponyville, roughly the same distance as Canterlot.

Despit the view, Dash squirmed impatiently in her seat. Technically she was flying, but would much rather be flying alongside it, free to showboat and fly whichever way she pleased. She felt something brush her and looked to her left. Applejack was leaning over Dash's shoulder to get a better view, her ponytail brushing along the pegasus' back and wings.

"Sure is beautiful, ain't it?"

"Uh… sure, whatever you say, AJ."

Rarity, who was seated in front of Applejack, turned her head to face them. "I agree! Tell me, dear; is it always like this when you fly this high?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Simply breathtaking." Rarity turned her head to Twilight, who was seated to her right. "I simply can't wait to arrive!" she said. "I assume you know some wonderful venues that we can visit," she added, smiling.

"Oh yeah! I know a lot of places in Canterlot we can go. They're all pretty fancy, though."

Rarity could hardly contain her glee while Applejack and Dash groaned simultaneously.

"Oh great, are we gonna need to get all dressed up?"

"Ah had enough a all that in Manehattan. Rich, hoity-toity ponies tend ta get on mah nerves."

"Oh, you two are simply dreadful! There's nothing wrong with mingling with the socially elite." Rarity raised her snout upward to make a point.

"Pfft. Whatever," Dash grunted, unconvinced.

Pinkie Pie leaned forward, inserting her head between the other three fillies. "I bet there are some super places to party! We didn't get to go and party anywhere besides the castle last time we were here! I know! Let's go around and make everypony shake it!"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Pinkie-"

Pinkie suddenly gasped. "I know! Maybe you can get Celestia to make a decree telling everypony to party!"

"Pinkie." Twilight cut the chattering pony off. She knew Pinkie could go on explaining her elaborate plans for hours; she had done so multiple times in the past. "Let's just relax first, alright? We've partied plenty back in Ponyville, so let's just start off slow in Canterlot."

"Awwww, okaaaayyy."

Fluttershy nodded to Twilight. "You're right, it's been very busy in Ponyville lately."

Now that they thought about it, it had been busy in Ponyville for quite a while. It was quiet and laid back as towns go, but a multitude of problematic events had barraged the town recently, from the Nightmare Moon incident to the parasprite swarm. Although problems had come and gone in the past, they had increased in number since Twilight's arrival in Ponyville. This, added to Twilight's painful fruitless time attempting to research the Pinkie sense, resulted in a running, inside joke that Twilight herself was bad luck.

"Ah hope Big Mac can handle the farm by himself," Applejack commented, casting a glance back in the direction of Ponyville.

"Yeah, and I hope the weather team can keep it together; they're sunk without me!" Dash said, although almost hoping the team would fail in some way so that her point and worth was proven.

"And you're sure that Sweetie Belle will be well looked after at your house, Applejack?" Rarity asked, apprehensive of how her younger sister would handle herself for the vacation.

"Sure as shoot."

"Wonderful. I do worry that ponies who might need a fashionista will be upset that I've left," the white unicorn added, knowing that the Carousel Boutique was the only shop in Ponyville that offered custom dress-making services.

"I'm sure they'll be fine without us. It's not like we can always be there, after all," Twilight said.

"Uh huh, and who knows where we might be needed next!" Pinkie Pie yelled.

"Well, that's not really what I meant…"

"Hey, there it is!" Dash leaned out her side of the chariot, pointing forward.

The fillies in the front row turned their heads back so that they were looking forward once more. The other three in the back craned their necks in order to look around their friends.

What had at first been a light speck on the mountains now came into full view. Even from a distance, it was evident that Canterlot was a gleaming city of white marble, purple stone, and shining gold. The ocher shade of the setting sun shone off the city's walls, towers, and buildings in a dazzling display of just how polished everything was.

From where they sat right now, it was difficult for the fillies to decide whether it was more majestic to enter by the air or by the long, winding path up the mountain that Canterlot hung off the side of.

Soon enough they were closing in on the palace. One of the palace's parapets loomed dangerously close when the guard pulling the chariot suddenly swung left, narrowly avoiding the wall and taking on a new course parallel to it. The guard continued in this way for about five minutes before suddenly climbing. Soaring clear over a smaller wall, he suddenly swung downward, landing effortlessly in an elongated courtyard designed specifically for pegasus-driven chariots to land in and take off from.

The chariot slowed quickly, and as it ground to a halt, another guard approached the carriage.

The mares climbed out of the chariot and trotted to meet him halfway.

He looked them over furtively before focusing in on Twilight.

"Ms. Twilight Sparkle?" he asked.

"That's me."

"And these are your friends?"

She looked at him inquisitively. "Um… yes."

"Very good, miss. This way, please." He turned and started off towards the simple peristyle that surrounded the courtyard on all sides, save the one open for arriving and departing chariots. Twilight beckoned for her friends to follow and they all obeyed, setting off for their rooms.

Chapter 2

The huge entrance hall of the Princess Celestia's palace was just as clean and polished as it had been before the Gala, the damages inflicted upon it during the party having been repaired.

A Royal Guard who had met them upon their arrival led the six ponies and single dragon up the main staircase. However, instead of continuing through the large door at the top, they took a right and went through a slightly smaller doorway that led to a regular sized hallway. At the end of it was an archway that in turn led to a wide, marble spiral staircase that wound up the inside of one of Canterlot's huge towers.

"This is the way to the private chambers reserved for guests," He explained.

When they had climbed about ten stories up, they reached a landing with a large double door guarded on either side and made of polished, flawless wood, which was bordered with gold, like everything else in Canterlot.

The guard detached a metal loop from his armor and began sifting through a variety of keys attached to it.

He found the one he was looking for and unlocked the door, pushing both sides open.

The group gasped and murmured in awe; their room was massive. They hadn't expected to be sharing a room, but this one was large enough to fit any building in Ponyville inside.

The white marble floor was decorated with patterns and designs of black marble, a giant sun design in the center of it. Smooth columns ran along the marble walls, which themselves were symmetrically punctuated by large windows.

Eight beds were arranged, four on each side, also in a symmetrical fashion. They were all much larger than was necessary, and a plethora of pillows sat at the head of each one.

"You will all be sleeping here for the duration of your visit. If you have any questions, just ask one of the guards outside of the door," Their guide instructed, awaiting dismissal.

"Thank you, we appreciate your hospitality," Twilight said.

The guard gave a slight bow of his head, then turned and trotted out of the room.

"Whoa; this has gotta be the biggest bedroom in Equestria!" Rainbow Dash said excitedly, flying around the high-ceilinged room. "I can do laps in here!" She chuckled.

"It is certainly a room worthy of royalty," Rarity sighed. "Could you imagine sleeping in a place like this every night?"

"I haven't even been in Canterlot's private chambers before," Twilight breathed. "This is an incredible honor, girls. This is as close to the royal quarters as anypony can get."

"They should've had the Gala up here, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, before gasping, "LOOK! There are big balconies over there, too! They could've made a super sky-high outside party there!"

"It sure ain't nothin' Ah'm used ta. Mah whole room's only about tha size a one a these beds," Applejack commented.

One side of the double door behind them swung open.

A guard in curiously silver armor trotted in and looked about the room, and then at the six fillies.

"Is Archer in here?" He asked. Before any of them could answer, he shook his head to himself and mumbled in frustration as he ran back out the door.

Twilight giggled. "Guard mix ups. Happens all the time. We should all get unpacked."

About twenty minutes later, Twilight found Applejack standing on the balcony alongside Pinkie Pie.

"And check this one out!" Twilight could hear Rainbow Dash shout as a multicolored streak screamed past the balcony. The blue pegasus dove sharply before rearing and shooting up vertically, which was followed by a series of twists and loops that were so quickly executed, Twilight became dizzy from just watching.

The streak ended abruptly on the balcony, and Dash trotted over to the two earth ponies as the rainbow faded.

"How about THAT?" Dash panted.

"WOW! That wasn't just awesome, it was SUPER awesome! It was soooo cool! Even though your routine is always super cool, but that was EXTRA super cool!" Pinkie Pie shouted excitedly.

Dash smiled and then looked to Applejack expectantly.

"Aw, don't give me that look, sugarcube. Wasn't a half bad run, Ah'd say."

Dash beamed even more. Pinkie Pie would always respond positively, but a compliment from Applejack without criticism was far more rare and rewarding.

"Hey, girls; what're you doing?" Twilight made her presence known.

"Oh hi, Twilight! We were just watching Dash do some super cool flying routines!" Pinkie Pie replied.

"Ya just missed it! It was one a my best runs yet!" Dash exclaimed.

"Sorry about that, Dash; tell me next time." Twilight said.

Dash waved a hoof. "It's cool."

"Anyway, I was coming to ask you all if you wanted to go out somewhere in Canterlot. I know a couple of good places we could visit."

Dash shrugged. "I'm up for it, how 'bout you guys?" she asked the two earth ponies beside her.

"Sounds good ta me, sugarcube."

"Yeah! That sounds super exciting!"

"Great! Rarity and Fluttershy are doing each other's hair right now, but I think they're almost done."

At this moment, Rarity walked out onto the balcony alongside Fluttershy. "We're -my, what a view- ready, darling."

Rarity suddenly remembered something. "Also, Dash, please try to let us relax during this vacation; your prank almost scared poor Fluttershy to death." She extended a hoof and displayed a piece of paper. The paper had a drawing of a face on it; it was pale white with no features save solid black eyes and lips.

"I don't know how you slipped this into her saddlebags without her noticing, dear."

Dash shook her head and gave an offended look to Rarity. "I didn't put that in any of her saddlebags."

Rarity turned to Pinkie Pie and looked at her expectantly.

"OH! You think I did it! Nope! Wasn't me! Trust me, I remember EVERY prank that I do!" She said.

"Well, it seems as if one of us isn't telling the truth. No matter! If it continues, we'll find the culprit." Rarity concluded.

"Yeah, we should probably get going right now, actually. Some of Canterlot's venues get busy early." Twilight said.

"Alright, alright; let's go then!" Dash shot back inside the room.

As they proceeded inside, Rarity pulled Fluttershy aside.

"Are you feeling quite alright, dear? You're shaking; I know you don't do well with scares, but you seem particularly alarmed."

"Oh, um, I'm okay, Rarity. I'm not still scared, I just have shivers right now, I think; but, um, thank you for asking."

"No need to thank me, darling; I only want to be sure you'll enjoy yourself, you do work so hard. Tell me if there's anything I can do for you, dear. I want this to be a more enjoyable experience for all of us; I feel like we all deserve it, given our last visit here."

Fluttershy smiled and nodded, before she noticed that the others were waiting for them.

"I think we should, um, catch up with them, if that's alright."

Rarity nodded and they both trotted to fall in line with their friends.

Chapter 3

"-and then he said 'no, it's a transforming spell'!" Twilight Sparkle couldn't control her laughter at the end of her joke.

Everypony else, with the exception of Pinkie Pie, kept a straight face through the end of it.

"Ha ha ha ! That was funny, Twilight!"

"Wow, you get it, Pinkie?" Twilight asked hopefully.

"Well, no, but it sounds really silly!"

"Oh."

It was their second night in Canterlot's palace, and the six fillies were each sitting on pillows arranged in a circle in the middle of the room, exchanging jokes and stories with one another.

"Ah didn't quite, uh, understand what the joke was about, Twi."

"Yeah, do ya have any jokes that aren't about magic, or books?" Dash asked.

"Alright, alright, um…" Twilight thought, "How about something else besides jokes?" she said, unable to think of any non-magic or book jokes.

"Oh! I know!" Dash smiled evilly. "How about… scary stories!"

Fluttershy let out a squeak at the suggestion, but the rest of the fillies seemed to approve.

"Ah hope ya don't think ya can scare me, sugarcube. I'm like a stone wall in a pasture." Applejack challenged.

"Okay, who wants to go first?" Twilight asked.

"Oh! Oh! I will!" Pinkie Pie waved her hoof in the air.

"Okay, hold on." Twilight's horn glowed as the flame of every candle in the room dimmed. Twilight then produced a lamp filled with fireflies and set it in the center of the circle.

"Go ahead, Pinkie." Twilight gestured to her.

"Okay, okay, I have a super scary one; it's called the Doll! Okay, okay, once upon a time, there was a filly who lived with her mother in the same house, and the basement of the house was filled with ghosts. One day the filly said, 'I'm gonna go and get my doll from the basement.' But the filly didn't know that there were ghosts down there; only her mother did, because she was the one that killed them!"

Fluttershy let out a small gasp and covered her ears with a pillow, while the four other mares groaned and rolled their eyes.

"That wasn't scary, Pinkie!" Dash complained.

"Let me try, dear." Rarity said.

"So; once there was a unicorn who studied at the Canterlot University of Magic. She was at the time researching medicine, and the rest of her classmates found her dreadfully irritating. So, they decided to play a little trick on her: They took one of the severed forelegs from one of the study rooms and put it in her room. But, when they came in the morning, they found her eating it!" She shuddered in disgust at the end of her own story.

"Oh, come on! Fine, let me go." Dash grinned and nudged Applejack. "Get ready, AJ, my turn."

"So there was this stallion who was hiking in Everfree Forest one time; while he was out there, he found a cabin. He decided he'd go in and sleep there for the night. But when he got in, there were these weird paintings hanging all around it. They were terrible, deformed faces of ponies, all looking straight forward at something with hatred. So the hiker got creeped out by them and turned away from them on the bed so he could fall asleep. But when he woke up in the morning? There were no paintings on the wall, only windows."

There was a collection of gasps from the fillies sitting around the lantern, and Dash smiled triumphantly.

"Okay, mah turn. Y'all ready?" Applejack said.

"So they used to put these doohickeys on graves where if a pony woke up in a coffin, and they weren't really dead, they could pull a string and ring a little bell so they could call somepony fer help. So one night, a stallion was walkin' in the graveyard, an' he heard a bell ringin'. He came ta the grave and shouted to let the pony buried there know he was there. 'Let me out, Ah'm alive' he heard a mare callin'. He thought fer a second, and then he said, 'Ah ain't letting ya outta that grave.' She asked him why an' he said: 'Cause yer tombstone says ya died eight months ago. Whatever ya are down there, ya sure ain't comin' up."

Another series of gasps came from the group.

"You wanna go, Twilight?" Dash offered.

Twilight used magic to return the candles in the room to full strength. "I think all of you have already heard the story of the headless horse, and I haven't got any besides that; maybe I can find a new one in this book I brought with me-"

"No more stories? Then I guess that means… PILLOW FIGHT!" Dash swung a pillow right into Applejack's face, knocking her over.

"Why, you little cheater!" Applejack retaliated with a flurry of blows with her own pillow. Soon all of the fillies (except Fluttershy, who was using her pillow only in defense) were swinging, throwing, and levitating pillows in a free-for-all battle.

While they were in the middle of it, the door at the end of the room opened, and a royal guard stepped in.

The fillies looked at the door stopped where they were; Pinkie was about to hit Rainbow Dash, who had fallen on top of Applejack while trying to hit Rarity. Rarity and Twilight, meanwhile, had been using magic to throw pillows at the group and each other. Fluttershy was holding her own pillow over her head. All of them stood in a thin pile of feathers.

The guard eyed them curiously for a moment, and then cleared his throat. "Miss Sparkle, could you please come with me?"

Twilight nodded to the guard and then to her friends to let them know that nothing was wrong, and that they weren't in trouble.

She trotted out the door and the guard followed, closing the door behind them and then walking ahead of Twilight, leading the way.

"Is there something wrong?" Twilight asked.

"Not that I know of."

"What do you mean?"

"We have a letter for you that Celestia didn't want to send through your dragon; we're not sure why."

"Okay; is that all?"

"Yes. Sorry for pulling you away from your friends for a moment, but she wrote on the letter that you must read it as soon as possible."

They had now walked into deeper areas of the palace, places that Twilight hadn't ever seen. After a few more minutes of walking, they came to a simple wooden door.

"Mail room." The guard identified it.

Another guard, this one in silver armor rather than gold, bumped into Twilight as he was exiting the room with a scroll in his mouth.

"Oh, excuse me."

Twilight waved hoof to let him know that she didn't mind.

The guard leading her stepped into the room and motioned for Twilight to follow him in.

They trotted along rows upon rows of shelves, thousands of letters stacked on them. How do they keep track of all of these? Twilight thought to herself.

The guard took a left, a right, and another left when they came to a table in the corner of the room.

There was a small oil lamp above it. An envelope was lying on the table, and as Twilight came closer, she could recognize the wax seal of Celestia printed on it.

The guard motioned to a chair by the table, and Twilight sat down.

"I'll wait by the door if you'd like to read it alone. Just come see me when you're done. And if you can't find your way out, just yell to me; I'll be right there."

"Thanks, that sounds good." Twilight said, levitating the letter.

Twilight watched the guard depart before she turned back to the letter. Rather than break the seal, she used magic to simply lift the wax off of the paper.

The letter itself was folded over a few times within the envelope, and Twilight gently unfolded it, as she did with all of her mentor's letters.

The letter started out as they usually did:

My Faithful Student, I have a message for you, or, rather an assignment.

An "assignment"? that wasn't typical in her letters. However, Twilight would be happy to oblige the Princess if she needed a task done.

And, I'm afraid your friends must be involved as well.

Now THAT was different. Celestia had asked many things of Twilight in the past: to study, to teach a class, and to go make friends, even; but she had never specifically asked Twilight to bring her friends along.

There is a matter I cannot attend to myself for a number of reasons, my current absence being one of them. I'd like you to travel to Appleloosa and remain there for a week or so, and report anything important that happens, or anything you might not expect to happen. Rest assured that nothing is wrong, my student, and that there is nothing to worry about. Please leave as soon as possible. I look forward to hearing from you; and we will meet once again soon enough.

Love,

Princess Celestia

P.S. Please refrain from using a train to travel to Appleloosa. There are many forms of transportation to choose from; I would recommend a caravan of some sort, since chariots do not reach the town.

Twilight had read everything correctly, but she was still confused. Why would Celestia want her to keep tabs on Appleloosa? And why would she insist that the fillies don't use a train? The thing that Twilight was most confused by was the fact that Celestia didn't tell her why she was giving these orders to Twilight.

After about another minute of thinking , Twilight decided to simply go with what the Princess said. She hasn't been wrong before.

Twilight managed to retrace her path through the shelves, and found the guard waiting by the door.

"Oh," he looked impressed, "You found your way out. That doesn't usually happen on the first try. Are you ready to leave?"

Twilight nodded and the guard opened the door, leading her back up a series of staircases until they came back to the entrance hall.

"I can go from here by myself, if that's alright." Twilight said.

The guard shrugged. "I don't see why not."

He departed, and Twilight made her way to the spiral staircase she and her friends had taken before.

She reached the door to the room she and her friends were staying in, and opened it.

Her five friends had all just gotten into their beds, and were preparing to snuff the candles by their bedsides.

"Oh, you're back, darling. What was the problem?"

Twilight's horn glowed as she increased the brightness of the candles around the room.

"Sorry, girls. Start packing up, we've gotta go."

Chapter 4

As soon as Twilight entered, she was hit by a wall of odor.

The purple unicorn and her six closest friends had taken a pegasus-driven chariot from the palace in Canterlot to Fillydelphia (per the suggestion of one of the guards) in order to look for a caravan that they could take to Appleloosa.

They had asked around town as to where they could find caravans leaving the city; there weren't as many as there used to be due to the invention of the steam-powered locomotive; which was quickly becoming the most popular form of long-distance travel.

On a tip, they had travelled to a back-alley bar in what Rarity described as "Fillydelphia's cesspool".

It was loud, full of ponies and griffons shouting over one another in an attempt to make small talk. The pub was also cramped, the seats were full, every pony who didn't have one would stand in any empty spot the place had to offer. The combined body heat of the customers that culminated in a slight steam didn't help.

"Stay together, girls, we don't want to get lost," Twilight told her friends.

No sooner than she had said this did Rarity speak. "Oh! Have you no manners?"

Twilight turned around to see Rarity reprimanding…

"Oh, no…"

"Do all of you disgracefully uncoordinated brutes come in threes? I sometimes wonder if all Diamond Dogs are ignorant, improlite buffoons!"

Twilight winced as the white unicorn insulted the three Diamond Dogs. Twilight my have been able to subdue an Ursa Minor, but that was through non-violent magic. That approach would most likely be useless here, and, now that she thought about it, she really didn't know any spells she could use offensively.

As for her friends, Rainbow Dash and Applejack may stand a chance against the Diamond Dogs, except for the fact that the dogs were armed with large, crude knives. That could be problematic.

"Rarity, why don't we just-"

"Oh, I see now. You see? These six are together," One of the dogs pointed to the fillies, mumbling to his friends.

"They look… clean. And nice and all pretty, don't they? Where do you think they come from?"

"Ponyville. Definitely."

Although they were generally stupid, Twilight had to admit that it took a degree of skill to so easily identify where somepony comes from.

"How much do you think we could get for them?" One said, rubbing his hands together greedily.

"A lot."

Twilight could feel herself begin to sweat at this point. She knew that they were referring to the underground pony slave market, something that she, understandably, did not feel the need to be a part of.

"Excuse me," A brown stallion, an earth pony, walked between the two groups and up to the bar counter, ignoring the confrontation completely. He wore a long, tan trench coat and a fedora of the same color.

"Hey," he turned to the pony beside him. "You know anypony in here looking to join a caravan to Appleloosa?"

Twilight overheard him and couldn't believe her luck. She immediately pushed between her friends and the Diamond Dogs.

"Hello there, I heard you asking if there was anypony looking for a caravan to Appleloosa, and my friends and I would be more than happy to take up the offer."

The stallion looked at her for a moment and then to the groups standing behind her.

"All of them?" He waved a hoof to the fillies and the Diamond Dogs.

"Oh, no, just the ponies."

He shrugged. "I-"

"Hold on, what do you think you're doing?" The Diamond Dog in the front of the group lifted Twilight off of the ground by her mane. "You six are coming with us."

The denizens of the bar were becoming less rowdy, and had begun noticing the conflict.

"Excuse me, but we were conducting business," The stallion said.

"So are we," The Diamond Dog replied.

"You mean the slave market. That hasn't been legal in over three thousand years."

"Well, are you a royal law keeper? Or the town sheriff?"

"I'm a detective. Is that good enough for you?" The stallion said flatly.

"What are you gonna do, then? Find clues to stop us?" The dogs laughed to one another.

"I could do that, or I could snap off your arm and make you eat it. How does that sound?" As soon as the stallion finished this sentence, he turned his head to order a drink. Instead, he was sent over the counter by a punch from the Diamond Dog holding Twilight.

The crowd that was gathering around the altercation murmured to one another. They had seen ponies punched over the bar counter countless times before, so they weren't exactly fazed. Twilight and her friends, however, were shocked by the action, and the purple unicorn decided that it didn't bode well for whatever the dogs had planned for them.

The dog that had delivered the punch leaned over the counter to get a look at the stallion, holding Twilight in one hand and grabbing the counter with another.

As soon as he caught a glimpse of the other side of the counter, the stallion stood up and wrapped a foreleg around the Diamond Dog's arm.

The dog was so shocked that he failed to drop Twilight, and the coated pony had no problem bringing down a glass bottle on the dog's head.

He slid over the counter but slipped on the liquid contents of the bottle he just broke. One of the other Diamond Dogs poised himself to strike, only to punch the floor as the stallion rolled to the side.

The pony then stood up and looked at his opponents. Two Diamond Dogs, both now holding knives. He determined his chances of winning weren't entirely good, so he took a different approach.

He turned away from the Diamond Dogs and towards the crowd of ponies watching, which stood less than a foot away in the cramped bar. He delivered a punch to the first spectator he saw.

Immediately, the spectator punched back, only to hit another member of the crowd by accident. Within moments, the entire pub was in a state of pandemonium, bar-goers attacking one another at random, glass breaking, and tables being overturned in a massive brawl.

Twilight and her friends found themselves huddled together, shaking with fear, attempting to shield each other from the insanity.

The lavender unicorn felt a tug on her shoulder. She looked up to see the stallion that had started the melee. "Come on, let's go!" he shouted over the crashing and shouting.

She alerted her friends and they all grabbed onto one another, crouching as they rushed out of the bar behind the brown earth pony.

The stallion burst out of the door, and when all of the six fillies had successfully exited, he slammed it shut.

All of them stood hunched over, panting and attempting catch their breath. The stallion, however, spoke up.

"Does your offer still stand?"

"What?"

"You still want to tag along with me?"

"Um, maybe," Twilight was astonished by how quickly his mind was back on their conversation.

The stallion nodded and motioned for Twilight and her friends to follow him. "Let's walk and talk."

It was about noon, and the roads were congested with carriages moving ponies around the city.

"All of you okay?"

Applejack was the first to answer. "We're fine as far as Ah know, but what the hay happened back there?"

"If you can't win a fight conventionally, think unconventionally. Also, it's easy to piss off Fillydelphians and make them fight each other. Keep that in mind."

"So, basically, if you suck at fighting, cheat?" Dash flew up next to him.

"It's not cheating, it's… creative use of the environment," he frowned, "and I don't suck at fighting."

"But none of us have been in fights before, we could've been seriously injured, you know" Twilight responded.

He turned to face her. "But none of you are; and you would have otherwise been walking down the streets with a collar around your neck by now."

Twilight decided he did deserve some of their gratitude, and, reluctantly, did admire his inventive approach. "Okay, I guess you're right. Thanks for helping us with the Diamond Dogs. But, just, please don't do anything like that again."

He tipped his hat. "Alright, I promise. My name's Carton Foals." He extended a hoof.

Twilight returned the hoof shake, but was unable to respond before she noticed his eyes traveling down to her rear.

"Hey! What are you-"

"You're Twilight Sparkle!"

Twilight was dumbfounded. "How did you know my name?"

"My job is to know the names and cutie marks of ponies whose names and cutie marks need to be known. Celestia's prized pupil counts."

His face became more inquisitive. "Why would you be in this part of Fillydelphia? It's dangerous for… well, now that I think of it, all of you. Six young fillies like you? You're all magnets for trouble in an area like this."

Twilight looked at him closely. "What qualifies as young? You can't be more than 5 years older than me."

Carton tapped his head one time. "That may be the case, but I know how to handle myself in scenarios like this." He looked around and then began walking once more. "We should keep going."

"Where are we going, anyway?" Dash asked, flying beside him.

"Friend of mine has a wagon we can use. I don't have one, because I've never lead a caravan before."

"You didn't tell us that." Twilight said, a hint of skepticism in her voice.

"I still have some experience with the concept. I've taken one or two caravans before, and I picked up a book on the subject."

"Really? Can I see it?" Twilight's voice immediately lost its irate tone, replaced with one of curiosity.

"Sure, I think I've got it here…" Carton reached into one of the large pockets on his coat and retrieved a small but thick book. He then tossed it to Twilight, who caught it with her magic and began flipping through the pages studiously.

"We'll probably need to sleep outside, by the way; I don't think the wagon is going to have space for us to sleep in."

Rarity gave a nearly inaudible "ugh" at the idea of sleeping on the dirty, dusty ground.

"So where exactly is this friend of yours?" Twilight asked, looking up from her book.

"Trainyard. He's bringing it in on a locomotive. He doesn't own a train himself, but he's got a lot of favors that he can call in."

"Sounds like a good pony to know."

"I know a couple ponies you'd be smart to know. And a lot you'd be smart to not know," He said flatly.

Twilight noticed the lack of humor in his voice. "Wait… what do you mean by that?"

Carton stopped at a gate and gave her an unconvincing smile. "I'm rambling, don't worry, you wouldn't want to hear my stories anyway," He stopped at a gate that led between two trainyard warehouses. "Think he's in here."

Chapter 5

"Good lord, brother; be careful with those boxes of dynamite!" A stallion shouted as wooden crate dropped off of a train car and onto the loading dock in front of him.

The train yards of Fillydelphia were busy, as always. The recent inventions of both the steam and coal powered engines had turned Fillydelphia, which was industrial to begin with, into a landmark of trade, as it rested upon an intersection of railroads that ran outside of Equestria's borders.

Currently, a black, soot-coated locomotive was stopped in a cargo area, where trains would separate from the main track in order to load and unload whatever goods they were carrying.

"Sorry about that one, boss," A cream colored pegasus shouted back down from the top of the train car.

"Don't concern yourself, brother. We're all still alive. But think about what you call me by; I won't have anypony call me 'boss', understood? We didn't stage a revolution to revert things to the way they once were, brother!" The stallion standing on the dock responded.

He was an earth pony, grey in color, clad in a black leather coat with a dark brown scarf around his neck. He wore a similarly black tweed cap on his head, under which his short mane was totally concealed, and he had a black, bushy mustache that made him appear far older than he was.

The pegasus peered back over. "Okay, sorry, Claymore,"

The pony at the base of the car waved his hoof, as if to wipe away the moment. "Like I said, brother: we're all still alive. Now tell the others that we need to get moving with the barrels of gunpowder; we have a schedule to keep."

"Claymore! Is that you?" A voice called.

Claymore turned his head and saw who was addressing him. His slight, ever-present grin grew into a full smile as he responded to the pony that had called him.

"Carton! How have you been, brother?" Claymore said as Carton, along with Twilight and her friends, trotted up a short distance behind him.

"Hey, I like the mustache/sideburns thing you've got going," Carton commented, smiling. "It's been decent, I suppose… just heading to Appleloosa with this group," he said, motioning towards the fillies behind him with his head.

As he finished saying this, a wooden crate crashed to the ground beside him. He jumped a full foot in the air and immediately turned towards it, already in a combat stance. As he stood up and realized that his assailant was a box, Claymore started laughing.

"Still afraid of our own shadow, are we?" Claymore teased, smiling.

Carton frowned. "I told you, I'm not afraid of my shadow. I'm just… prepared for the unexpected."

"Paranoid is what you are, brother."

"I prefer 'wary'"

"Right, well, just keep in mind:" Claymore gave him a friendly jab to the shoulder. "Not every inanimate object is out to kill you."

"Ha," Carton said without a trace of amusement.

"Regardless, it's always good to see a friend in another town, especially a friend of the revolution!" Claymore beamed, putting a foreleg over Carton's shoulder.

"What revolution?" Twilight asked, walking closer to the two.

"Claymore comes from north of Equestria, formerly the Dominion of Richmare. Not many ponies were very happy with the monarchy's meddling in their affairs; you know, taxes and that sort of thing. So those ponies decided to stage a coup-"

"Revolution," Claymore interjected.

"-revolution, which Claymore joined. I was given my second case by him."

"And surely you've heard of the result, brother? Word reached the king overseas! He was willing to work with us, travel here to approve our new democracy, even! He asked for nothing more than military and some economic ties to remain; the rest is left to the ponies of The Union of New Coltbridge! No tariffs on imports unless we say so!" Claymore announced, standing tall with pride.

"That's great Claymore, but I don't think they know what you're talking about," Carton motioned to Twilight's group once more.

"No no, I remember being taught about the causes behind the revolution in Canterlot, so that it wouldn't happen in Equestria," Twilight said. "I hadn't heard anything of it since then; I guess Equestrian news is kind of introverted, we don't talk much about, what do they call them, outlying places."

"No need to apologize, sister!" Claymore exclaimed, although Twilight had not even offered an apology. "As long as you're against the oppression of tyrants, there is always a spot for you among the ponies of the Union!"

"Oh! Uh, thanks; don't worry, I don't support unnecessary taxes on…" Twilight struggled to remember what she had learned, "…sugarcane?" she gambled.

"Ha! She knows of the sugarcane tariffs! I'd say that's more than most ponies can claim!" Claymore nudged Carton, beaming.

"Sugar? I love sugar!" Pinkie Pie added, appearing next to Claymore inexplicably.

"Truly, sister! A wonderful crop, a beneficial part of any strong economy!"

"Right, okay," Carton said, sensing that the point of their visit would soon be forgotten entirely. "You said you brought the cart, wagon, whatever?" Carton asked.

"Ah! Right. I apologize, brother, I was getting carried away," Claymore responded. "Follow me."

Claymore trotted down towards the rear of the train, and after a couple cars, he stopped beside a flatbed car with an object covered by a large piece of cloth.

"Here you are, I'll just get this out of the way, and…" He picked up a rope that the cloth was fastened to in his teeth and yanked on it.

"Whoa!" Carton exclaimed as the parchment fell off. The wagon was much larger than he had anticipated. He had been expecting an average sized cart, only about nine feet long and five feet wide. However, this was around sixteen feet long and seven feet wide, with an elevated area in the front that contained some sort of compartment. It was an open wagon, no indoor room but a large, flat area instead that could be covered with a canopy. It was decoratively carved and painted with patterns and crests of the kingdom.

"Claymore, this is… pretty big," Carton said.

"Yes, well, I thought you might need some extra room, just in case, brother."

Carton rubbed his chin with his hoof. "Are you sure you want to just give it to me? This thing looks expensive."

Claymore raised a hoof and gave it a flourish, as if brushing away a fly. "Brother, cost is of no concern, we possess thousands of military wagons such as this one, there is hardly any consequence to letting one go."

Carton smiled. "I appreciate it, really, I'm being honest; more room never hurt," He leaned in to inspect the wheels. "How does it do on rough terrain?"

Claymore stood up proudly once more.

"We of the Union are not ones to travel on roads alone, brother! Our engineers have affixed our land vehicles with springs and other mechanisms in order to make them all more land worthy!"

Carton nodded. "You gonna be around here for a while?" he asked.

"We'll be heading to the southwest of Equestria in about two days, brother. Apparently firearms are in high demand in the region."

Carton raised his eyebrows. "You mean those- what was the word- guns? I told you before, they're not gonna catch on, Claymore. Besides you, I've never met anypony who knows what one is."

"That's because you haven't been to the right areas, brother. They will become the future of weaponry, that I guarantee," Claymore pointed with his hoof to emphasize this point.

"Whatever you say. Just don't point any at me; I heard those things are totally unpredictable."

"In some cases, yes. But real marksmen who know what they're doing will be buying our weapons; they should know about the risks, brother."

"And if they don't?" Carton asked.

"Then they'll learn soon enough," Claymore grinned.

"Now let's get your wagon unloaded and ready to go, brother."

Chapter 7

Rarity grimaced as the sand on her hooves scraped against the stone on the ground.

Were it not for the sand, she might find the desert more tolerable. However, she found the arid, seemingly endless stretch of land simply displeasing as it was.

The group of seven ponies was making their way across the desert that Appleloosa sat in the center of. Like the six mares that carried the Elements of Harmony, Carton, the seventh member of the caravan, had business in the developing town.

"Hey, arentcha hot in that?" Dash looked over to Carton, who was wearing his heavy coat despite the heat.

"No," he lied, as he was, in reality, sweltering underneath it. "Besides, I like wearing it."

The seven ponies entered a wide, dry ravine that was flanked on both sides by rocky plateaus. Carton checked the map and confirmed that they were headed in the right direction.

"So Carton, why aren't you using a train to get to Appleloosa?" Twilight asked him.

He turned his head to talk to the unicorn. "Trains are easier to find and sabotage; single wagon caravans aren't."

Her face became inquisitive. "Well why would anypony sabotage your train?"

He ceased walking and scrunched his face up, as if looking hard for an answer. "It's… personal. Business matter, best if I didn't tell you."

Now it was Twilight's turn to stop. "What?"

"Look, I'm sorry if I'm being cryptic and mysterious here, but I have some reservations regarding telling you about my current case."

"If any of us are in danger, I'd like to know about it."

"That's pretty much why I'm not telling you. It sounds stupid, but trust me on this one."

Twilight eyed him suspiciously.

Carton noticed the expression on her face. "You don't trust me."

"Oh! Um, no, that's not…" Twilight began, hoping she hadn't offended him. It wasn't as if anypony had ever given her a real reason not to trust them.

" No, no, that's good. Smart. You shouldn't trust me. You can't trust anypony, you know?" He said, and then paused, as if waiting for her to agree with him. When this moment had passed, he continued. "You never know. Maybe you think somepony is your friend. Maybe you think you can put your absolute faith in them, but you never know. They could just be pretending because they want something from you. Or they could be faking it because they've been told to get rid of you. Or they could be somepony completely different, just wearing your friend's skin as a disguise. Or-"

"I don't think I need to hear any more scenarios, if that's alright. They're a little… creepy." Twilight interrupted.

Carton suddenly seemed to notice how he sounded. He cleared his throat and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry. I get carried away sometimes."

At the moment, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were the two ponies assigned to pulling the wagon; the ponies had agreed to rotating shifts as a way to determine who would pull.

The wooden wheels squeaked for a moment and then made a dull "thud". The pegasus and the earth pony stopped, looked at each other, shrugged, and then continued to pull. However, the wagon refused to move. They tried to pull once more, struggling in their harnesses, before they stopped again.

"The wagon won't move!" Dash called to the others, who hadn't noticed the wagon's hindrance.

The five other ponies turned around and trotted back to the cart.

Twilight bent down to examine the underside and wheels of the wagon. One was sunken into a ditch, held fast by rocks. "It looks like the back left wheel is stuck in a divot."

Rarity joined Twilight in observing the wheel. "It's certainly going to be difficult to dislodge. Of course, everything is difficult in this desert."

"Quit yer complainin'. Everypony else is managin'."

"I hardly believe that everypony else is enjoying themselves."

"Ah don't hear 'em complainin'; that means everypony is just fine."

"Maybe you are, Applejack, but perhaps we should actually ask everypony else instead of making assumptions. How about this: everypony who dislikes being in the desert raise their hooves."

As Rarity was saying this, Carton, who had been looking more closely at the ditch than the wheel, stood straight up.

"Twilight, Twilight, come over here. Now!" He said, waving his hoof frantically.

"What's wrong now?" Twilight said, getting irritated as her friends started arguing and complaining.

Carton ignored the tone of her voice. "Take a look at the ditch."

Twilight sighed and followed him over. They stopped before it and he pointed at it.

"I don't see anything, Carton."

"Look closely, you see how even the sides are? This could've only been dug with shovels."

"So what? It runs all the way across the ravine, it was dug with shovels, it's probably some irrigation canal."

"What about these?" Carton pointed at something glinting within the ditch.

Twilight looked even closer. There were three sets of nails facing inward, gripping the wooden wheels strongly.

"Hi! Who are you?" Pinkie Pie shouted.

Twilight and Carton looked over their shoulders at the same time to see a group of ponies standing on the crest of the ravine side.

Carton immediately scrambled to his feet and dove behind a boulder.

"What are you doing, Carton?" Twilight and her friends looked to him curiously.

He gave them an exasperated look and waved his hooves in an attempt to make them take action.

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Trap!"

"Trap?"

A cloud of dust erupted as a bolt of magical energy struck the ground in front of Pinkie Pie.

"YIKES! That was hot!" She said in her typical cheerful tone despite the danger.

Twilight pulled Pinkie out of the path of another bolt before pushing her behind a rock.

"Girls, get behind something!" The lavender filly shouted.

Twilight ducked behind the same Carton as Fluttershy and Rarity scrambled to the furthest one from the attacking ponies.

Dash and Applejack ducked out of their harnesses, and as Applejack started for cover behind the wagon, the blue mare jumped out to face the assailants, who were slightly stunned by the show of bravery.

"Hey! Who the hay do you think you are, huh? Nopony just messes with me and my friends! I'm Rainbow Dash! Maybe you chumps have-"

Dash was tackled by Applejack, narrowly avoiding another bolt.

A flurry of the bolts began pelting the ground. Applejack, realizing they were out in the open, and that she was pinning Dash to the ground, rolled off of her friend and grabbed Dash's hoof, dragging her behind the wagon before the pegasus even got the chance to stand up.

"Are ya crazy? Ya coulda been killed!" Twilight could hear Applejack start shouting at Dash.

Her focus turned from Applejack's chastising to Carton, who was nudging her shoulder to get her attention.

He glanced over the top of the boulder for a moment and then ducked behind it once more. "Alright, they don't look too bad; just common bandits; really rare in this part of the desert, though." He looked back in the direction of the assailants. "We have an edge, however: Celestia's student, i.e., you."

"Oh, okay, uh, thank you," She said. "What do you have in mind?"

He looked at her with a puzzled expression, as if expecting her to know the answer. "Well, you know some spells, right?"

"Well, sure, of course."

"So, fire some bolts back at them; you know, use some of your combat spells."

"Combat spells?"

"Combat spells; you know, spells that you can use to fight. Like, the ones those guys are using." He motioned in the direction of the unicorns on the ridge.

Twilight looked mildly surprised. "Oh, I don't know any of those."

"You mean, you don't know the particular spell those guys are using, right?"

"No, I don't know any combat spells."

Carton looked skyward, exhaled loudly, and then rubbed his eyes with his hooves. "You're telling me that you, as Celestia's private student, were never taught any spells that you could use to fight with?"

"Well, there aren't many fights in Canterlot and Ponyville. I mean, I know a lot of non-violent spells, maybe I could use one of those?" She suggested.

Carton shook his head, half in disbelief and half in defeat. "Okay, what other types of spells do you know?"

"Oh, okay. I know luminosity spells, growing spells, calming spells-"

"So what, did Celestia expect you to just stay in Canterlot forever, where nopony would ever bother you?" Carton growled.

"Don't get mad at me, it's not my fault!" Twilight shouted back. "Ponies aren't supposed to attack each other, it's not right," she stated righteously, furrowing her brow in both conviction and confusion.

Carton glanced around at the rest of the fillies. Though he (and multitudes of other Equestrians) had heard of their exploits against Nightmare Moon and other dangerous creatures, being attacked by other equines had a peculiar effect on them. In their faces he could see that they wanted to take action, to defend themselves, but it appeared that none quite knew how to respond.

He hadn't been to Ponyville in a long time, but he knew it lived up to the reputation of Equestria; everypony shared with each other and cared about each other's feelings, besides the Nightmare Moon incident, there hadn't been a physical fight of any kind in thousands of years. It seemed to Carton that their own morals and beliefs contradicted the very situation of being assaulted by fellow Equines with malicious intent, beliefs that would only further contradict the thought of reacting in kind.

He decided he would never again hire somepony from that town.

Though he was fairly disappointed with the way the fillies were reacting, he did feel a tinge of remorse for his sarcastic retribution against Twilight. "You're right, I'm sorry. We need to focus on what we can do."

"Okay," Twilight started to regain her composure, "I was thinking; maybe you could fight them like those Diamond Dogs in Fillydelphia?"

Carton shook his head. "Those were Diamond Dogs. They're cretins, and they can't use magic. Does running up and trying to punch these guys seem like a good idea to you?"

"Well, what about 'thinking unconventionally'?"

"Totally different scenario. I'm kind of out of my element here."

"But what else do we do?"

The bolts ceased abruptly. They could hear urgent shouts between the bandits which were soon followed by hooves pattering on the sand and stone. The pattering grew quieter and the shouting grew lower in volume.

As this sound got quieter and more distant, a similar one, only deeper and louder, replaced it. The ground began vibrate slightly and suddenly stopped, along with the noise.

"You're trespassing on sacred buffalo stampeding grounds; show yourselves!" A surprisingly high voice shouted.

Carton dug his hooves into his face in frustration. "Forgot about that."

However, he noticed that Twilight and the rest of the mares were smiling at what they saw.

Dash waved a hoof. "Hey! Little Strong Heart! It's us!"

The young buffalo who stood at the front's eyes widened in surprise.

"Dash? Applejack? What are all of you doing here?"

Pinkie was (somehow) immediately beside her. "What do you think, silly? We're going to Appleloosa!"

"To visit Braeburn?" Little Strong Heart asked as she walked down the steep side of the ravine with ease and leapt to the group of fillies.

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but then shut it quickly and rethought her response.

"Uh, yeah. We were coming to visit both of you," The unicorn said with a cheesy smile.

Luckily for Twilight, Little Strong Heart suspected nothing. In fact, her ears perked up in surprise and a small smile broke out on her face. "You came all this way just to see Braeburn… and me?"

Twilight felt guilty for lying to Little Strong Heart when she saw the joy on the young calf's face, but she nodded regardless.

"Uh huh."

"Oh wow, that's great! I'll tell these guys to take care of your wagon," she motioned to the buffalo still on the edge of the ravine. "Why don't we go to the orchard, though? I think that's where Braeburn is right now."

Applejack was curious as to how Little Strong Heart knew where her cousin was, but she decided not to ask.

As Little Strong Heart started leading the group, she looked back over the ponies.

"Who is he?" she tilted her head towards Carton.

The response was a shout from Pinkie Pie "Oh! That's Carty! He's…" she stooped low and looked both ways before whispering, "…A spy!" To the calf.

Strong Heart eyed him incredulously. "Is that what he told you?"

Carton nudged Pinkie aside and approached Little Strong Heart himself. "I'm just here to meet a few ponies myself," he blinked consciously and continued. "Oh! Sorry, I'm, uh, Carton Foals, pleasure." He tipped his fedora.

Little Strong Heart smiled and suppressed a snicker at his formality. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Foals; I'm Little Strong Heart. Feel free to come with us; we'll head to Appleloosa soon and I wouldn't want to find out that you got lost on your way there."

He shrugged. "Doubtful that would happen, but I'll tag along."

"Okay then, we aren't that far; we should be there before sundown."

They all galloped off in the direction of town.

Chapter 8

Appleloosa was described as many things: Boomtown, frontier town, mining town, farming town, and a multitude of other things. It was a fairly young town, founded about thirty years ago. However, as small desert towns go, it was ancient; this was due to the fact that when boomtowns in the desert would lose their business and be abandoned, the former inhabitants would often flock here. Thus Appleloosa's fame was far greater than that of many surrounding towns. Braeburn may have been correct when he said that it would soon "be as well known as Ponyville."

The developing establishment sat between the steep cliff of a massive plateau on one side, and a view of the sprawling dunes and gargantuan stone formations on the other. The entire area was peppered with small patches of cacti, as well as rich red boulders.

However, there was a collection of lush, green hills slightly removed from the cluster of buildings that made up Appleloosa. The orchard was one of the things that set the town apart; this was the only place in the desert that had successfully nurtured and irrigated an area so well that plants grew on it as well as they did back in places like Ponyville. It was the town's pride and joy and the reason behind its name.

It was typical of Braeburn to be here. He had a large part in the upkeep of the orchard, having moved to the town as a young colt. Tending to and harvesting from the orchard had been a job of his since he moved to the bustling village.

At the time that Little Strong Heart was leading seven ponies on the path that cut between the trees, the sun had already begun to set and the entire orchard was bathed in an orange glow.

One of the harvesters hailed Little Strong Heart and trotted up to her.

"Evenin', miss Strong Heart. Braeburn's a couple a rows this way," He pointed a hoof to one of the neat lines of trees.

"Thanks, Jacky. C'mon, follow me," she motioned to the ponies with one of her small hooves.

"Well I don't want to intrude, so I'm gonna go book a room at the inn for myself. It's been a pleasure spending time with all of you; maybe we'll see each other around," Carton held up a hoof as if to wave, and started walking away.

"Bye bye, Carty!"

"Remember 'Rainbow Dash'! You'll see me in the Wonderbolts one day!"

"Take care, sugarcube!"

After he disappeared over the crest of one of the rolling hills that the path ran on, the fillies turned back to the young buffalo.

"You guys just make friends everywhere!" She grinned.

"Of course we do! Everypony is my friend!" Pinkie Pie screeched.

They all entered the line of trees. The going was easy enough; the orchard was maintained so that there were apple trees and apple trees only. There was a flower here and there, but no bushes or any type of desert scrub.

Soon enough, Little Strong Heart held up a hoof without so much as looking back, signifying for the fillies to stop walking and be quiet.

She turned to them. "Alright, wait here for a second, I want to surprise him," she whispered.

Braeburn himself was sitting on the ground, his back to an apple tree and his hat pulled over his eyes.

"Hey, Braeburn…" Little Strong Heart said in a sing-song voice that none of her mare friends knew she had.

Braeburn sprang to a standing position immediately. "Well hey, Little Strong Heart! How are y'all doin'?" His face was occupied by his typical smile.

"I've got a surprise for you!" She leapt back to the tree the fillies were hiding behind and pulled them out.

His smile grew tenfold and he seemed at a loss for words.

"Cousin Applejack? And alla her friends? What?" he wrapped his forelegs around both Applejack and Little Strong Heart.

"What are y'all doin' here?"

It was easy to forget, with his friendly and at some times goofy demeanor, as well as his average stature, how strong Braeburn was. He had been bucking apples just as long as Applejack, and his grip felt as solid as steel.

"Can- can ya put us down first?" Applejack wheezed.

He dropped them both and fell forward so that he was on all fours again.

"It's jus' so great to have y'all back! An' so soon! The family hardly ever visits!" He chattered excitedly.

"Well, we're here to visit the two a y'all," Applejack said, glancing between the colt and the calf standing before her.

He smiled to Applejack and then Little Strong Heart. "This is great! Ah'll give y'all a tour a the town tomorrow!"

Applejack's friends were preparing to deliver excuses to miss it, but were silenced by a glare from the orange farm filly.

She turned her head back to smile to her cousin with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. "Aheh. Sounds, uh… mighty fun!"

"Darn right it does! Here; Ah can get y'all checked into the inn fer less than most folks," He grabbed one of Applejack's hooves and started pulling her towards the town.

"I'm going to go back to the tribal grounds then," Little Strong Heart said, "I shouldn't stay out too late…"

"Nonsense! Come right along with us, an' Ah'll walk ya back!" Braeburn offered.

"I don't want you to go out of your way-"

"Ah insist; Ah don't want you walkin' all the way back by yerself!"

"Okay, okay," Little Strong Heart gave in.

"Great! Then let's get goin'!" Braeburn bounded ahead, but then slowed down, remembering that he had a following.

Dash chuckled as they trailed him. "Your cousin is totally weird, AJ." She whispered.

"Now don't say that; he's just excited," Applejack defended. "Wouldn't you be excited if yer family came ta town?"

Dash looked away and muttered something to herself.

"What'd ya say?" Applejack asked.

"Nothin'," Dash responded.

"He is such a gentleman, though, isn't he? Offering to accompany Little Strong Heart all the way back to her tribe? Such chivalry!" Rarity interjected.

"Ya got the hots for AJ's cousin, Rarity?" Dash laughed.

"Of course not! It's no surprise that your one-track mind would assume such things, however," Rarity accentuated her point by turning her head upwards and giving a "hmph!".

"You callin' me dumb?" Dash's eyes narrowed.

"Darling, that isn't what one implies when they say 'one track mind'," the white unicorn responded.

"Oh. Well, uh, good!" Dash said.

Rarity rolled her eyes. "I'm going to need a shower when we get there."

"I think we should all take some time to relax; some of us seem a little on edge," Twilight suggested.

"Sure. All that cart pullin' made me tired. Plus I missed my nap," Dash yawned.

The small group made their way through the quickly darkening orchard. It had been a long day, and the twinkling light of candles and kerosene lamps made them all aware of how tired they were.

Chapter 9

A brown earth pony was seated in a chair, screwing in a panel on top of a massive tangle of wires.

He had been working on his creation for years in the cellar of his home, which he shared with another pony. The cellar was large by Ponyville standards (most homes didn’t even have one), about sixteen square feet, and eight feet high. The walls were dark blue in color, and a series of shelves were pushed up against them. On the shelves lied a multitude of different materials; tools, nails, screws, bolts, some gems, and a large assortment of metal pieces. It had taken a great deal of time and work to find all of these things; indeed, this basement may have been the greatest workshop in Equestria.

When he had finished twisting in the final screw, he sat back and swiped a foreleg across his brow, wicking off some of the sweat pouring down his head.

He stood up and trotted over to a table, stacks upon stacks of paper heaped on top of it. He shuffled through the piles and pulled out a few sheets, laying them down on the table. One sheet was filled with calculations, another with schematics, and another with a rough sketch. He exhaled loudly.

Scanning the papers with his eyes, he went about the room collecting the materials he needed with the eccentric enthusiasm that many characterized him by. He had been working for years, and he knew that it would be years before he was finished, but that didn’t seem to stem the fervor with which he worked.

The materials in his hooves, he walked back to his chair and dropped them beside it. He rolled his neck and sat down, going to work once more. He grabbed a metal panel between his hooves and a few screws in his teeth.

“Let’s see… one screw, two screw, three screw…” he counted to himself and pointed on to where he would put them in.

“And… tsk, that won’t do.” He lined up the panel according to his blueprints. He couldn’t attach the entire thing with screws alone. He would need a unicorn to weld part of it on.

This time he exhaled in frustration. He had hoped to complete a good deal today, but unicorns familiar with fire magic rarely came by Ponyville. He had had this problem before, and it would, at times, take weeks for him to get in touch with the right unicorn for the job.

He laid the plate down and dropped the screws on the table. Work would have to wait for now.

He turned around to head for the stairs and, as if on cue, the door at the top of the staircase opened.

“Hi, Doctor! I’m home!” A grey, blonde-haired, wall-eyed pegasus poked her head through.

“Derpy!” he said with a hint of an accent, smiling. “How was your mail route?”

“Perfect! I didn’t deliver anything to the wrong place!” She beamed proudly

“Wonderful!” he smiled again. “I’ll be right up!”

“Okay!” She disappeared as she pulled away from the door and headed for the kitchen. Doctor, who was slightly more organized (and usually spent his time at home) would always be sure that the pantry was stocked with muffins, Derpy’s favorite food.

He heard a “thud” as something heavy fell upstairs, no doubt knocked over by Derpy.

He chuckled to himself. He loved that pegasus. They had been good friends for years, ever since Derpy came to Ponyville from Cloudsdale, and while it seemed (and was) a bit unorthodox to others that two ponies of no relation should live together, the two of them thought little of it.

In fact, neither of them were very well known in Ponyville, despite the town’s community being so close-knit. It was hardly as if either of them were harassed, but Doctor’s oddball pursuits and Derpy’s eye condition and clumsiness made them a fairly awkward duo, even in a town like Ponyville.

Doctor walked over to the table and reorganized the papers strewn about it.

When he was finished with this, he turned and trotted up the stairs. Walking into the kitchen, he found Derpy chewing happily on a muffin at the table.

She looked up and smiled. “Hi again!”

“Hello there.”

Her eyes swept over his body.

“You’re all sweaty and greasy, Doctor,” she said. “Were you in the basement all day again?”

He looked down at himself. His fur was in fact slicked and matted down with sweat and grime. “So I am; and yes, I was.”

“Come on Doctor, why don’t you go outside more? You love to walk around and explore!”

“Well of course I do; my time in the basement is only aiding me in expanding the boundaries to which I can travel to do such things. It’s very complicated.”

“Okay, then.” She cast her eyes down at the table, and then looked up once more. “Can we go out to have dinner, though?”

“Tonight?”

She nodded.

“I don’t see why not; after all,” he frowned, “my project may be on hold for a bit.”

“Yay!” she cheered, before quickly adding, “I mean, at dinner, not your project being on hold.”

“That’s quite alright, I understand what you meant. Now, I should probably go wash up before I do anything else.”

“Okay!”

He turned and walked up an askew spiral staircase to the second floor of their house. It was odd to have a shower and a bath on the second floor, but that oddity and uniqueness was one of the reasons they liked the house so much.

No later than the moment after she heard the water turn on upstairs, Derpy heard a knock at the door.

“Hold on, be right there!” She placed her half-eaten muffin down on the table and jumped to her hooves, breaking into a canter one the way to the front door.

She was intrigued; they rarely got visitors.

However, when she did open the door, the two earth ponies waiting on the other side were nopony she recognized from town.

Both of them were very light in color, one was a subtle, off-white color, and the other was similar, only slightly tanner. The tanner one stood closer to the door, and had a moderately thick mustache, as well as a large pair of sunglasses that covered his eyes entirely. His brown mane was styled in a strange, “big, curly poof” as Derpy would later call it. He wore a long sleeved white shirt with the cuffs rolled up and a brown waistcoat over it.

His companion had a pair of smaller, rounder sunglasses on, although they covered his eyes for the most part as well. His black mane was longer, and, other than a few curls at the ends, hung straight down around his neck and shoulders. He too wore a long sleeved, button down shirt, although his was blue in color.

Their faces were expressionless.

“Uh… hi?”

“Derpy Hooves?” the mustached one asked.

“Yes? Am- am I in trouble?” she asked nervously.

He shook his head. “Have you seen anything out of the ordinary around here?”

“Um… no. I don’t think so.”

“That’s too bad,” he said, although his face betrayed no emotion.

Without a word, they both turned and walked away.

“Okay, bye!” She waved a hoof, but they didn’t respond.

She closed the front door as they departed and went back to the kitchen. She sat down and continued eating the blueberry muffin she left on the table, although she looked apprehensively out of one of the windows as she did so, somewhat put off by the strange visit.

A few minutes later, Doctor came jogging down the stairs with a towel over his back. He was still fairly damp, but was much cleaner and groomed than he had been earlier. His mane was perfectly feathered (as always), and the scent of shampoo still hung around him.

He pulled out the chair across from Derpy with his teeth and sat down, before he took the towel from his back and started drying himself off further.

“Was there a knock on the door?”

“M-hm.”

“Well who was it?”

“Some stallions asking funny questions.”

“’Ha-ha’ funny, or ‘that’s odd’ funny?”

“Odd.”

“Peh.” He waved a hoof as if shooing away a fly. “Foreigners or travelers no doubt; no need to worry.”

He leaned forward, put his elbows on the table, and rested his chin on his hooves. “How was your day, love?” His accent came through more thickly on this last word.

She giggled. His voice had a tendency to slip in such a fashion when he would speak with intense emotion or use phrases or expressions from his parents, who had come to Equestria from Richmare, but who were ultimately from The Kingdom.

“It was good. Oh! I forgot!” She slapped a hoof to her head. “I got a mail load from CANTERLOT!”

“Really? Canterlot?”

“Uh huh!” Her face was stretched by a huge grin of pride. “I got to dispose of a bunch of old letters from Celestia herself! I hope this means I’ll get a promotion soon!”

“I wouldn’t doubt you would; they’d be lucky to have you.”

“Thanks, Doctor.”

He smiled sincerely.

She hopped up from the table and tossed out the wrapper of her muffin. Doctor hung his towel over the back of his chair and leaned backwards, exhaling loudly. Peace and quiet was relatively easy to come by in Ponyville, and when Doctor stopped to notice it, he realized that he took it for granted.

However, peace alone could only entertain him for so long. He was made to be busy, and after only a few short seconds his mind was at work once more, filled with thoughts of his calculations and dreams of his success.

He rose to his hooves and trotted to the front door. He really had nothing to do at the moment, so he supposed he would act on Derpy’s advice and take a stroll through town.

He jogged out to the front of their house, lying somewhat on the outskirts of Ponyville, and took a look around.

It was more overcast than usual, but in the distance the sun shone radiantly on the barely visible city of Canterlot and the mountains it sat in. For a moment, his throat seized and a coughing fit took over.

“Hm,” he sniffed, “hope I’m not coming down with anything.”

He absent-mindedly cantered into the town square, centered around that giant tree that served as a Library, and peered about for some activity to occupy himself with.

As ponies walked by, he would, every so often, see somepony glance at him out of the corner of his eye.

There were two reasons for this: one was that he was, in Ponyville, recognized as attractive. His intelligence, his naturally, perfectly feathered mane, and his pseudo-accent had made him, in the past, the desire of a good deal of fillies. However, this was rarely the case anymore, as he was also known to be far too preoccupied and eccentric to function in a relationship. Thus, nowadays, most ponies would wonder at him due to his reputation in town as a dreamer with his head in the clouds and full of plans that would never be achieved. He spent so much time in his cellar, many expected him to emerge with some sort of gadget, whether it be flawlessly advanced or entirely contrived.

“Well hey now, good ta know ya weren’t trapped in that there house a’ yours.” A lazy, deep voice grumbled over his shoulder.

Doctor turned to face a large, red, muscular stallion. He didn’t spend much time in town, and he hardly knew the stallion, but what Doctor did know is that Big Macintosh had a tendency to be almost as introverted as himself; it came as both a surprise and a relief to him that the tall earth pony had initiated a conversation with him.

“Yes; well, work is work, you know.” He replied in a somewhat meek voice.

Big Mac nodded. “That’s fer sure. Ya wouldn’t be happenin’ ta work on any harvestin’ equipment in that house a yours, would ya?”

Doctor shrugged and shook his head.

“Shame. Anyways, nice ta talk ta another stallion -‘sides Caramel or Pokey, but you know how they are- every once an’ a while. There ain’t many a’ us in town.”

Doctor had never really taken the time to notice it, but what Big Mac said was true. As his eyes scanned the crowd, he spotted maybe one colt among the throng of mares.

“I suppose you’re right.”

Big Mac shook his head once more. “That’s a shame, too. Applejack ain’t gonna have an easy time findin’ a good colt around here.”

Doctor shrugged. “Well, there’s always other places. Manehattan, Fillydelphia-“

“S’pose so. ‘Fraid Ah couldn’t quite see you workin’ out in the family, if you’ll pardon mah sayin’ so.”

Doctor waved a hoof. “Think nothing of it. I’m aware of my physical ineptitude; I’d be next to useless in a farm life scenario.”

Big Mac whistled. “Had a feelin’ you were the type ta use fancy words. Maybe you’d be better at helpin’ Applebloom with her homework than me; you be lookin’ for a job as a tutor?”

Doctor hadn’t expected the proposal and paused, a blank look on his face as he tried to formulate a response.

“Don’t worry none, Ah’m just pullin’ yer leg.”

Doctor exhaled in relief before he continued the conversation. “Pardon me, I forgot to ask; how is your family?”

“Fine for the moment, thanks for askin’. Granny Smith came down with somethin’ a week or two ago, but it cleared up, Applebloom’s runnin’ round here somewhere with her friends, an’ Applejack’s up at Canterlot.”

“Really? Canterlot? What’s the occasion?” Doctor asked, intrigued.

Big Mac lethargically shifted the hay in his mouth. “Ain’t quite sure. Went off with her friends ‘cause a’ some letter from Celestia.”

“Urgent situation?”

“Can’t say fer sure.”

“Interesting at any rate, I’d say.”

Big Mac nodded. He suddenly looked as though he remembered something, and turned to Doctor. “Oh, Ah was gonna ask ya; you been gettin’ any funny visitors knockin’ at yer door?”

Doctor tapped his chin for a moment, and then his face lit up with recollection. “Actually, Derpy was speaking of some odd guests a matter of hours ago; I was bathing, so I didn’t quite get a look at them. Why, have you received any unordinary visits currently?”

“Two funny-lookin’ fellas dressed up like it was the Gallopin’ Gala, if ya ask me. Askin’ fer Applejack. Don’t know what they were up ta, but Ah probably shoulda asked more; don’t want them messin’ around with mah family.”

“Ah, don’t mind it,” Doctor raised a hoof in assurance, “there’s simply no reason to do such a thing.”

“S’pose so.”

The two stood for a couple of minutes in silence, neither of them able to come up with another topic to speak about. Neither were particularly enthusiastic conversationalists, and it showed in the awkward pause. Eventually, Doctor cleared his throat.

“Yes, well, I suppose I should be going; work to do, and all that.”

Big Mac sighed in relief that he didn’t need to excuse himself. “’Course. Guess Ah’ll talk ta ya later, then.”

Doctor nodded, although both expected that they wouldn’t cross paths; much less speak to one another, for another year or so.

Doctor trotted off towards the spa, not particularly interested in paying a visit to it, but more because he was interested in finding something to do on the way there. He passed the row of vendors always set up just off the main square, peddling apples, carrots, and any other number of foods found in the area around Ponyville.

As he observed the blend of food, he unintentionally ran into one of the potential clientele looking over the food.

“Dude!” Another one of the few male inhabitants of Ponyville wheeled around. He was a unicorn, a subtle green color with a fine-haired mane about the length of Doctor’s. He wore a black shirt, on which, upon further inspection, Doctor could read the word “Queen”.

“What’s up, man? Couldn’t see me here?” the unicorn asked somewhat sarcastically.

While Doctor struggled to think of a response, the unicorn’s brow furrowed as he focused in on the brown stallion, suddenly touched by recognition.

“Oh hey, you’re that shut-in that’s probably making a bomb or a doomsday device or something,” he chuckled.

“Bomb?” Doctor asked, desiring a definition.

The unicorn’s face lost its air of amusement and instead a look of defeat and disappointment replaced it, as if he had been expecting this response, but was hoping for a different one.

“Yeah. Right. Just… look out a little more; I can’t get another shirt like this anywhere around here.”

Doctor nodded, not wanting to partake in any altercation.

“Great, I’ll see you around, uh…”

“Doctor.”

“…Doctor. Cool. I’m Lyle, for future reference.”

Doctor extended a hoof, but then quickly withdrew it when Lyle showed no interest in a hoof shake, looking past the brown earth pony instead. Lyle looked back to Doctor and gave him a cheesy smile before trotting past him to observe some tomatoes.

Doctor cleared his throat timidly and jogged a little further down the dirt street. He supposed, with nothing else to do, that he’d make the dinner reservations now rather than later. He took a left and came to a smaller road with less ponies walking the streets.

Among the colorful, cheerfully painted buildings that mostly housed culinary or general stores, Doctor found the tope-colored venue he sought for.

As he pushed open the door to the Ponyville Dance Club, the DJ, a white unicorn with shocking blue hair, pushed past him, nodding to him and mumbling a nearly inaudible “excuse me”.

He entered the comparatively small foyer, as the majority of the building was reserved for the club itself. The door to the club itself was directly in front of Doctor as he walked in. There were two sofas set adjacently to the left of the door, and on the other side was a small desk, behind which stood a gray, bored-looking pegasus.

An excited unicorn, mint green in color, stood across from him, the obvious excitement practically radiating from her standing in stark contrast to the bouncer’s (or receptionist’s) disinterest.

Noticing that she was nearly finished reserving a table, Doctor walked up beside her and nodded politely.

When she had finished, she began walking away, a spring in her step. Doctor approached the desk but, as soon as he said the words, “a table for two”, the green filly did a double take and turned to face him.

“Aw, are you finally going on a date? Who’s the lucky filly?” she asked, beaming.

“Oh! No, not quite. Just dinner with a friend,” Doctor responded, flabbergasted.

The unicorn, Lyra, as Doctor recalled, sensed his confusion. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized, still smiling. “I’m just… sorry, I’m just excited.”

“What’s the occasion?”

She sighed, somewhat dreamily. “My first date. With my… fillyfriend.”

“Oh, well that’s very sweet. I’m very happy for both of you,” he said, smiling softly.

She giggled. “Thanks. I’ll see you around! Maybe tonight, even!”

He nodded and waved as she trotted out the doorway.

He turned back to the listless pegasus, whose eyebrows were now raised, although his mouth was still set in a flat line.

“Table for two?”

Doctor nodded.

The pegasus took up a pen in his mouth and scribbled on the piece of paper on his desk. “Lucky you, looks like a quiet night,” he said, scanning the list of reservations. Normally, every table in Ponyville’s most popular (and only) club would be booked by noon; at the moment, however, it looked as though it would be half as crowded as it usually was.

“Well that’s nice to know,” Doctor said.

“M-hm. Hope some more partiers come in though, Vinyl likes a bigger crowd.”

“I’ll put out the word,” Doctor assured him, turning to the door.

“Great. Have a nice day,” the pegasus replied lethargically.

Doctor entered the street once more, now, once again, with nothing to do. He breathed out loudly. It wasn’t often that his project’s progress would be hindered by anything, but when it was, he often found a lack of things to do. He scolded himself, as every time this happened, he swore that he would make more friends or pick up another hobby. He never did, simply reverting back to his cellar-based undertaking whenever he had the chance.

Maybe he could try painting or writing, maybe he could take up an instrument, or, remembering what Big Mac said, possibly even work on another project, one that would benefit Ponyville and its residents.

He shook his head. His aspirations were distant and lofty enough; he couldn’t afford distractions.

Or at least that’s the excuse he used.

Either way, he decided that he would head back to his house. A nap couldn’t hurt, and he had more than enough time before dinner. Nagging thoughts told him that he would need to come up with something to do tomorrow as well, but he pushed most of them aside.

Besides, he supposed that there was no use in worrying too far into the future.

Chapter 10

Twilight and her five friends sat in Appleloosa’s town square. She had asked them to come with her and report if they see anything interesting. It was a relatively large plot of dirt and sand hardened by years of hooves pounding on it. In the center stood a large wooden pole bearing the Appleloosan symbol on a flag at the top. The square was bordered by the bank , the courthouse and jail (neither of which had ever been used), the sheriff’s office, and the post office. Unsurprisingly, everything seemed normal.

Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity shared one bench while Pinkie and Fluttershy sat on another. Rainbow Dash circled overhead, sentineling the square as well as her short attention span would allow.

Though they had all been enjoying themselves thus far, Twilight was growing confused over Celestia’s motive in sending her here, and when she grew confused, she convinced herself something was wrong, and when she convinced herself that something was wrong, things could get out of hand.

Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie had mostly stayed in town while Dash and Applejack would occasionally venture out into the orchard or the desert, often accompanied by Little Strong Heart, Braeburn, or both of them at the same time. They had found nothing of particular interest save “Derrick”, which Applejack and Rainbow Dash hadn’t told anypony about.

Other than a few chance encounters and polite nods in the lobby of the inn, none of them had seen any trace of Carton. While it was true that they were no longer traveling with him, they still found it odd that he could be so elusive in such a small town.

Twilight was, at the moment, seated on a bench, bent over Celestia’s letter. She had been in this position for at least fifteen minutes. The look on her face was pained by the simple fact that she was having difficulty of any kind with a task from her mentor.

Applejack turned to Twilight as she sighed, put away the letter, and began tapping her hooves together in both apprehension and impatience.

“Ya know, if it’s somethin’ real important that the princess wants us ta see, Ah bet we’d hear about it; ya know, as in, we shouldn’t need ta look for nothin’, it should be big enough ta travel round by word a’ mouth.”

Twilight sighed. “But we don’t know whether or not it will be big or seem important, that’s the problem.”

“That, and nothing ever goes on around here. Can me and AJ go play with Little Strongheart and Braeburn now?” Dash asked.

Applejack answered instead. “Come on, RD; Twi asked fer our help, an’ Ah ain’t gonna back out just ‘cause it ain’t exciting.”

“Okay, well then why don’t you stay here, and I’ll go hang out with them?” Dash posed.

“You know that ain’t what Ah meant.”

The pegasus crossed her forelegs dejectedly. “Fine. So what is it we’re looking for again?”

Twilight scanned the note. “Something unusual.”

“That’s it?”

Twilight nodded.

“What the hay kind of info is that? What are we supposed to do with ‘something unusual’?”

Before Twilight could respond, Rarity opened her mouth. “You know, Twilight, Rainbow does bring up a rather good point. Why the secrecy? Why wouldn’t Celestia even describe what it is she wants us to see, or retrieve, or… did the Princess even specify what we were to do once we found this… er, event, or object?”

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know what to say, girls. It’s not like her to be so vague. She’s always given me clear-cut objectives and assignments in the past; I was never taught what to do with instructions like these,” she proclaimed, peering at it once more as though answers to the many questions in her mind might magically appear.

“Maybe she wanted us to take a vacation!” Pinkie chirped.

“Except we were already basically on vacation back in Canterlot.”

“Well, what if-“

Twilight held her hoof over Pinkie’s mouth as two stallions galloped by at a brisk pace, chattering excitedly as they went.

She looked to Rarity. “What do you think they were talking about?”

The white unicorn shrugged. “It’s hard to tell so simple a town, dear; it could very well be little more than a new apple tree being planted.”

However, as three more earth ponies galloped past, Twilight rose to her hooves and began trotting after them.

Rarity prepared a complaint as the other mares curiously followed Twilight, but stopped herself, knowing that it would get her nowhere. She hopped off of the wooden bench, dusted herself off indignantly, and began cantering after Twilight, who hadn’t traveled further than fifty feet.

She picked up her pace but slowed down once she had matched her fellow unicorn’s pace. She turned her head to face the unicorn. Twilight predicted Rarity’s question and shrugged. “It’s not like we were getting results by sitting around all day.”

Rarity cocked her head. “Fair enough.”

As the group reached the outskirts of the town, there was a definite emptiness. The usual goods peddlers, idle porch chatters, and rowdy saloon patrons seemed oddly absent.

“Looks like something’s up,” Dash remarked, hovering just above Twilight, who nodded silently.

Though they had lost track of the group they had seen anxiously galloping by, a multitude of fresh hoof-prints in the dirt street of the town was enough to clue them in to where everypony seemed to be headed. A few more turns through the wooden-lined streets of Appleloosa brought them to the very edge of town, where they beheld the event that was leaving the rest of the town so empty.

A clamorous horde of Appleloosan citizens was gathered where one of the town’s dirt roads departed from the town and wound far off into the desert. Mares and stallions alike craned their necks, shifted back and forth, and bumped into one another in order to catch a glimpse of whatever it was that everypony seemed so excited about.

The six fillies approached the crowd with expressions that were somewhere between curiosity and apprehensiveness.

Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, simply flew until she was high enough to see over the communion.

Twilight called up to her, “What do you see, Rainbow Dash?”

Rather than responding, Dash floated closer to the epicenter of the group, as if in a trance. Twilight prepared to repeat herself, but shook her head instead. Pushing through a throng of ponies was easier than trying to get Dash’s attention.

She started nudging her way through despite the constantly morphing shape of the crowd as new ponies came to view the object of interest, lowering her head and right shoulder as she muscled through.

The wall of equines before her started thinning out as she grew closer and closer to the core of the group; between the chattering and darting heads of the ponies before her, she caught fleeting glimpses of gleaming shapes, hard to see for what they were as the sun’s light reflected blindingly off of their surfaces.

“Excuse me,” she murmured as a particularly large stallion turned his head back to face her.

“Can ya see it?” he asked, grinning like a schoolfilly as he did.

Twilight shook her head.

Without another word, he swept her off of her hooves with a single foreleg and place her on his back. Though she prepared to protest as she was lifted into the air, her attention was immediately diverted by the sight that came into view.

A wide wooden carriage, flanked by a number of stallions and large enough to have two harnesses at the front, sat in the epicenter of the crowd. The gleaming that Twilight had perceived from a distance was revealed to be a pile of gemstones, far larger than any she had seen. The hoards of gems that they had retrieved after their encounter with the Diamond Dogs could not even begin to compare with the mountainous batch of glimmering, precious stones spilling off of the cart.

She was so captivated by the glittering mound before her that she forgot she was standing on the stallion’s back until he perceived her awe and spoke.

“Ain’t somethin’ ya see everyday, is it?”

Twilight shook her head. “I’ve never seen so many in one cart.”

The stallion laughed. “That ain’t it. Two more ‘ready came in. The miners are just showin’ this one off.”

Twilight uttered a “wow” before raising an eyebrow inquisitively. “Miners? I didn’t know Appleloosa had any mines.”

He nodded. “Just the one. They don’t make daily hauls, though, so ya probably didn’t hear about it. They were either off at the mine or dilly dallyin’ around town. They bring back some good stuff, though; it’s the talk a the town, especially when they bring back something real nice, somethin’ like all this fer instance.”

“Do they often bring back this much?”

“M-m. They ain’t never brought back a haul like this ‘un. Not even close. On average they might halfway fill one a them big carts; just fillin’ up one is a feat. But three? Hay, we never thought we’d need any a them extra carriages.”

Shortly after they both turned their attention back to the precious stones, the stallion let out a low grunt and stumbled.

“Hi Twilight!” Pinkie Pie chirped from behind the unicorn, draping her forelegs over the purple mare’s back. “Didja see the jewels? Aren’t they pretty? There are so many! I was like ‘oooh’, and Fluttershy was like ‘wow’, but all quiet, and Applejack was like ‘well I’ll be’, and Rainbow Dash was like ‘whoa’, and Rarity didn’t say anything but she almost fainted because you know how much she likes jewels and stuff, and-“

“Wait a second… Pinkie!” Twilight scolded, realizing that her friend had joined her on top of the stallion’s broad back without invitation.

“What is it, Twilight?”

Twilight leapt down from the stallion’s back. “Sorry about that, sir,” she apologized, looking back to him.

“Ain’t no thang,” he replied, stretching and flexing his spine as Pinkie hopped off and he was relieved of the mildly uncomfortable weight of the two fillies.

“What were you saying, Twilight?”

Twilight sighed. Even though she knew that Pinkie meant harm to nopony, she doubted that explaining why it wasn’t polite to jump on top of other ponies would prevent her friend from doing the exact same thing in the future.

“Nevermind, Pinkie. Do you know where the other girls are, by any chance?”

“Oh yeah, right by the big wagon, right over this way!” she shouted, waving a hoof before bounding off into the crowd.

Twilight stumbled as quickly as she could after her comparatively nimble friend. Though they had only traveled a matter of yards when they came to the wagon, Twilight could have sworn that she had been walking through the thickest underbrush of the Everfree Forest.

Upon their emergence from the slowly dissipating throng of ponies, the two mares found the rest of their friends accompanied by both Braeburn and a slim stallion who Twilight assumed was one of the miners.

The two joined the circle, greeting their friends. Twilight nodded politely to the stranger, who responded in kind.

“Well hey there, Twilight!” Braeburn welcomed her. After a moment, he slapped his forehead. “Now hold on, Ah ain’t introduced y’all yet! Clay,” he turned to the miner, “this here’s Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie. Twilight an’ Pinkie,” he turned back to them, “this here’s Clay Carver; he’s one a the fellas that mined out this here loot!”

“Pleasure,” Clay said with a voice that curiously lacked any western accent. His coat was a moderate brown color, not particularly light or dark, and his mahogany mane was similarly neutral in vibrancy. Over his standard-issue miners’ shirt he wore a weathered leather saddlebag and a sheath for tools made of the same material. His cutie mark depicted a prospector’s pickaxe with its tip sunken into a stone.

“Nice to meet you,” Twilight smiled. “If you don’t mind me asking right away, where did you find all of this?” she waved a foreleg to the wagon.

He laughed. “I don’t blame you, it’s a hay of a find, huh? To be honest, I don’t choose where we mine, I supervise from time to time, but that’s it. A prospector from somewhere way west of here came in and told us that we should start digging in this cave he found, so we did. We’ve been at it for a year or two with mostly average results, but when we started setting up vertical shafts this last time, well that’s when we started running into this.” He paused and patted the cart. “You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff we’re seeing down there. Trenches deeper than any pegasi are willing to explore, whole caverns made of gems, all sorts of things.”

The group, Braeburn included, produced intrigued mumbles as Clay described the deep caverns.

“Oh, and look at this,” he added as he hopped up to the side of the wagon and started searching among the pile with his forelegs. He jumped from the cart and went back down on all fours once he had retrieved the object he was looking for.

He held out the item on a single hoof before the rest of the ponies, turning it slowly so that they could all get a good look at it.

It was a small stone idol of sorts; a four-legged creature with circular, hollow eyes and a similarly rounded mouth lined with pointed teeth. Though none of them said it aloud, each of the fillies figured that it bore a vague resemblance to something halfway between the famous cave paintings found in the Everfree Forest and a crude, kindergarten-level scribbling of a monster hiding in a closet.

Rainbow Dash walked closer to inspect it, her interest sparked as the idol was not dissimilar in appearance to a number of the countless relics found in her favorite book series. “What is it? Is it like a magic treasure or something?”

Clay chuckled once more. “I don’t know, but I wouldn’t bet on it. We found loads of these little stone statuettes down there. The subjects vary, but they’re definitely all cut from the same rock; or, same type of rock, at least.”

“Lil’ Strongheart took one back ta the tribe ta see if her ‘elders’ know anything about it,” Braeburn added.

Twilight spoke, “I don’t want to be rude or anything, but I’ll be right back. There’s just something I’ve got to take care of.”

While Braeburn and Clay regarded the statement with curious looks, neither pressed her for information. Her friends, however, nodded knowingly.

She turned and found that the formerly solid crowd was now only a thinning circle of spectators heading elsewhere to resume their business.

She departed from the pack easily and set off towards the inn.

One or two turns later, Twilight passed a small gathering of stallions chatting outside of one of the numerous saloons of the town.

“Hey, Twilight!” a voice called out from among them.

Twilight turned to the source, wondering who might have business with her until the one-day travel companion of her clique trotted out from among the pack.

She gave a friendly smile. “Hi Carton.”

“Twilight,” he greeted.

“Where have you been, Carton? We’ve been all over town and haven’t seen you anywhere.”

He frowned. “I’m sorry, did you need me for something?”

“Well, no, but it’s nice to bump into friends every once and a while.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense, I could see that being the case.”

Though she was slightly befuddled by his objective response, Twilight didn’t bother asking him about it. “Did you see what the miners brought back?”

“No. I heard about it, apparently it was huge, but I didn’t go see it myself. Sounded like the crowd was too big, anyway.”

“The crowd wasn’t too bad. Most of them are gone now, if you hurry, I bet you can catch it before they stow it away.”

He considered it for a moment, but then, with a stern inward voice, prohibited himself from doing so. It came to his attention at that moment that the six fillies he had come to Appleloosa were exceptionally good at distracting him from his business. He would have to make a note of that later.

“It’s tempting, but I’m afraid I’ve got to decline. Work takes priority and all that.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” They both sat silent for a moment before Twilight spoke once more. “So, what did you need?”

“Oh, right,” he nodded, “you said you like books, right? Or, I mean, maybe you didn’t tell me in particular, but I saw that you had a lot in your saddlebags.”

“Yeah, of course. Why?”

He pulled a sheet of paper out of his coat, unfolded it, smoothed it out as best he could, and exhaled loudly. “I understand that this is probably a big stretch, but have you ever seen this book?” He handed the paper to Twilight.

A sketch in what appeared to be pencil greeted Twilight upon her reception of the sheet. A thick book, embroidered with metal rivets and plating, was drawn with painstaking detail. Flaps hinged on the cover and back of the book prevented one from even seeing the sides of the pages, and gave the book the appearance of an ornate box rather than a text. A circular device which Twilight also assumed to be metal was fastened on the cover of the tome, slightly off-center to the right. From her years of studying spells and reading books, she recognized it as a lock. And she knew that whenever a book had a lock on it, whatever was inside of it was important.

“If it helps at all, it’s purple, and the metal is silver,” Carton offered.

Twilight frowned. “Sorry, Carton, I’ve never seen this book at all, and I definitely haven’t seen it anywhere around here.”

He shrugged and stuffed the paper back in his coat once Twilight handed it back. “You wouldn’t be the first. Don’t worry about it, it’s not your job. I came here for this, and you came here for… whatever it is you came here for. But I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that it isn’t this.”

“I don’t think so,” Twilight agreed.

“You ‘don’t think so’?”

“It’s complicated.”

Carton smiled. “I can respect that.” Without any further conversation, he tipped his hat and bid her farewell, cantering back into the saloon.

Twilight furrowed her brow. It was an odd encounter, not what she would expect when meeting up with a friend after a couple days of separation. Usually everypony had plenty of time to stay and talk for a while.

She brushed it off and determined that his work must have been important enough to require him to rush. Twilight turned her attention back to her own business. What was important was that she had a note to write, and she couldn’t wait to see how proud Celestia would be.

Chapter 6

Celestia's sun had begun to peer over the horizon when Rainbow Dash awoke on the second day of travel.

They had covered quite a bit of ground in only about four hours; they had departed from Fillydelphia and made it to where the rolling hills and grassy plains of central Equestria gradually became drier and rockier; the dirt underhoof becoming tougher and the rapidly decreasing trees all but absent as they came closer to the desert in West Equestria.

Dash looked out of the open end of the wagon and could barely make out the shapes of some of the tall, red rock formations scattered throughout the desert. She stood up and stretched, looking around the wagon. The only one who didn't appear to be there was Applejack.

The wagon had been large enough to not only hold everypony's equipment, but was also spacious enough for them to sleep in. Carton, however, had insisted on staying up at night in order to "keep watch".

Dash extended her wings and hovered out of the cart over her sleeping friends. She dropped lightly to the dry grass outside, and walked over to the side.

Applejack was sitting on the grass across from Carton, who, himself, sat on a stone.

As Dash approached, she could hear them talking about the road to Appleloosa and the town itself.

"Mah cousin says that the buffalo and ponies still don't talk all too much. He's only talked ta one himself, and that couldn't a been fer more than twelve seconds."

"What are your thoughts on the buffaloes?" Carton asked.

"They ain't as bad as Ah first thought. Mah granpappy always said that they were crazy; they'd scalp ponies who came inta their land. But after everythin got worked out, Dash and Ah spent some time talkin' to one; and she didn't seem like too different a gal from either of us."

Carton grinned sardonically. "And what did your grandfather tell you about camels?"

"About what now?" Applejack asked.

"Hey guys, what're you talkin' about?" Dash used this pause to enter the conversation.

Applejack looked up and grinned. "Well lookit that! Ah never thought Ah'd see the day when you get up early, sugarcube!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm the lazy one," Dash rolled her eyes.

"Just jokin' around, sugarcube."

Dash took a seat next to the orange farm pony with a 'harumph'.

After about a minute of no conversation, Carton cleared his throat. "So, uh… is your mane-"

"Yeah, it's natural. No dyes," Dash with a hint of annoyance.

"She gets that a lot," Applejack explained.

"Right, sorry. So, how do you know each other?" Carton asked.

"Like, you mean, us two?" Dash replied with another question.

Carton waved a hoof. "All of you."

"Oh. Well, Fluttershy and I go WAY back; we went to flight school together, and we've pretty much kept in touch since then. Then I met AJ when I moved to Ponyville, then Pinkie, then Rarity, then Twilight."

"Dash was the first one Ah met; caught her sleepin' in one a the barns on the Orchard. She didn't even have her house when she first came ta Ponyville, so she stayed with me an' my family while she was makin' it. Ah reckon Ah met Pinkie Pie next when she moved from her rock farm. Then Fluttershy, Rarity, an' Twilight."

"So why are you guys going to Appleloosa with Twilight?"

"Well, she's our friend, duh," Dash started, "plus Celestia wanted her to bring us along."

"Why would she request that?" Carton asked

"I don't know. Probably something to do with the Elements of Harmony."

"What about them?"

"Well, ya know, because mine is Loyalty and AJ's is Honesty and-"

"Wait a second; you guys are the ones that took down Nightmare Moon?"

"Yeah, didn't-"

"No way! That's amazing! I mean, I knew about Twilight, but-"

Dash whispered something to Applejack and they both laughed. "Ya mean ta tell us you couldn't figure that out fer yerself?"

"Yeah, some detective you are!"

Carton scowled. "You wouldn't be saying that if you'd taken on a single case that I have."

"Okay, calm down, I'm just pullin' your leg," Dash leaned back and held up her hooves as if surrendering.

He held up a hoof in apology. "Sorry if I'm grumpy, I didn't sleep last night."

"Wait, like, not at all?" Dash asked unbelievingly.

He shook his head.

"Not a wink?" Applejack

Applejack closed one eye and stared at him with the other as though she was a doctor making a diagnosis. "Maybe yer friend was right; you are paranoid," she said.

"Oh, seriously? Listening to him? I said already, I'm not paranoid, I'm wary."

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Dash nodded sarcastically.

Fluttershy silently joined them in sitting. Carton failed to notice her until she quietly said, "Good morning, everypony."

Carton fell over backwards and jumped back up, his forelegs held up before his face in a boxer-like pose.

Dash and Applejack fell onto their backs as well, only they were laughing as they did it.

Carton looked at them, cleared his throat, dusted off his jacket, and sat back down feeling fairly embarrassed.

"Oh my, I'm, um, I'm so sorry, I- I really didn't mean to scare you," She hid her head under her hooves like she was expecting a blow.

He slapped his knees. "I wasn't scared! Celestia's sake, what don't you guys understand about that?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry…" Fluttershy continued to cower on the ground.

"I'm not- forget it," Carton said, frustrated.

"Aw, now don't get cold with us; we've been doin' all the talkin', but where are you from?" Applejack leaned forward, awaiting his response.

"I was born in Manehattan," Carton began, happy to change the subject, "but I didn't really like it. Not really my crowd. I'd rather be out getting shot at than sit through another four hour 'supper' in that city."

"What does 'getting shot at' mean?" Fluttershy asked, the same question on her friends' minds.

Carton pretended to not hear it. "Anyway, I've got a place to live there, but I'm hardly ever there. I travel for a lot of cases. I haven't even been home in, uh, about a year."

The jaws of the fillies dropped. "A year? Don't you miss it?" Dash asked.

He shrugged. "No. I don't really keep in touch with anyone there."

"Ya don't have friends?"

"I have friends. Like Claymore is one; and then, uh, some… others…" He couldn't come up with any names.

"What I mean is that I go out and meet my friends on jobs, usually."

"But do you ever see any of them again?"

"Well, I saw Claymore…" Again, Carton couldn't come up with any more names.

"Nobody else? Ain't ya lonesome?" Applejack questioned him.

Where they really trying to make him feel bad for not having enough friends? He had a career that he was good at, and thanks to his contracts, he had already seen more of the world than a lot of ponies would see in their lifetimes. He shook his head and smiled. "Pfft. Don't be ridiculous, I meet lots of ponies, I'm not lonely," He assured them.

The three mares looked at him with a confused look, like they couldn't wrap their minds around the idea of having so few actual friends.

"Well, ta each his own," Applejack shrugged.

"Well maybe we can be your friends!" Pinkie materialized between Dash and Applejack and squeezed them both.

"Oh wow, that sounds like it would be a real… blast," Carton said. In truth, he doubted he would enjoy their company for an extended period of time.

Of course, he didn't necessarily dislike them; he was just more accustomed to traveling by himself. In fact, most ponies would have been grating on his nerves by now; these mares were very tolerable in comparison with some of his past travel companions, if a bit naïve.

Dash and Applejack pulled out of Pinkie's hug, gasping for breath. "Hey Pinkie, are Twilight and Rarity still asleep?" the blue pegasus asked her.

"Well Rarity is still in the middle of her 'beauty sleep'," Pinkie giggled, "But Twilight is up reading the Princess' letter; that silly filly has been reading it over and over since Fluttershy woke up!"

"Oh, I, um, hope I didn't wake her," Fluttershy looked apologetic in any case.

"Don't worry; let her get the letter reading outta the way now, I say! I don't want her slowin' us down," Dash stood up and started stretching and jogging in place for the walking that was to come.

"How long do you think it'll take for your last friend to wake up?" Carton asked, standing up and brushing off his coat.

Dash looked over her shoulder. "Rarity? I dunno."

"Oh, well she likes to, um, sleep in usually. She says that it's healthy and good for her skin." Fluttershy answered.

"Can't sleep for too long; if we get moving soon, we should be to Appleloosa by the end of the day," Carton glanced towards the wagon.

"We ain't in no hurry," Applejack said, rolling onto her back and straightening her four legs skyward in order to stretch them.

The detective pulled his hat tighter to his head. "Unfortunately, I've got a schedule to keep."

"I can wake up Rarity if you want! But be careful, she'll be reeaalllly grumpy!" Pinkie shouted loud enough that it might wake Rarity anyway.

"Nah, it's fine, we can wait a little longer. We'll see if she gets up soon, if not, we'll figure something out," Carton answered.

"Yeah, sure thing, 'boss'," Dash said sarcastically.

He ignored it; in an instant, he was too engrossed in his thoughts on his current case to pay attention. He didn't quite know where to begin in Appleloosa, but thankfully, he was pretty good at "ad-libbing". He wasn't one to worry himself over a case, although this one was different.

He just didn't yet know whether it would be easier or harder than usual.