Sweat trailed down the side of Mayor Mare’s face as she frantically emptied the contents of her desk into a suitcase. She pulled open one of the desk drawers and noisily rummaged through it.

“No, no, no! Where is it!?”

She slammed it closed and opened the one under it. Glass shattered as she tossed ink vials over her shoulder in a desperate search. Ink dripped down the wall behind her and pooled onto the floor below.

She turned around at the shrill noise and glanced at the newly-stained floor and wall. She hesitated for a moment then shook her head side-to-side as she continued her search.

“No… We’re not coming back, remember?” Mayor Mare whispered to herself.

Ripping open yet another drawer, her eyes widened as she caught sight of the object of her interest.

“Finally!” she said with glee.

Her hoof quickly brushed away the loose papers surrounding the small object before she picked it up. A huge smile formed on her face as she looked at the golden ticket in her hoof. It was a one-way ticket to one of the foreign Zebra Tribes. Her friends there would take care of her, she was sure of it.

Stuffing it into a pocket, Mayor Mare picked up her suitcase with a hoof and hastily trotted towards the front door.

Just get to the train station. No stopping for anything…

She twisted the knob of the door, revealing the waiting area to her office. In the span of only half a minute she could be outside, making her way to the station. But Mayor Mare had to hold back a scream as she saw a lavender mare open the front door to the waiting room.

“Princess Twilight!” the assistant sitting behind a desk greeted her, “Are you here to see Mayor Mare?”

Twilight glanced to the side as the door to the mayor’s office door slammed shut.

“Uhh, yes. I’m here to see her because of a certain... situation.”

Mayor Mare put her ear to the door. A single thought ran rampant through her mind.

Tell her I’m not here. Please, tell her I’m not here...

“Yep!” the assistant said happily, “She should be open for the next few hours, so I’m sure she’d love to see you!”

Worthless…

Mayor Mare heard the sound of hooves drawing closer to the door. In a panic, she ran back to her desk, stuffing the suitcase under it. More sweat poured down her face as a knock on the door sounded throughout her office.

“Hello?” she could hear Twilight call. “Can I come in, Mayor Mare? I really need to talk to you about something.”

Mayor Mare wiped her face off with a tissue, took a deep breath, and answered, “Do you mind coming back later? I have lots of work to do.”

“No… I really think we should talk now.”

Mayor Mare swallowed heavily, “Alright, then…”

The door creaked open, and Twilight stepped in. The mayor gave her best smile as Twilight wordlessly made her way to the second chair. Twilight rubbed her her tired eyes and somewhat tried to fix her frizzled mane after she sat down.

Mayor mare grabbed a stack of paper from the corner of her desk and slid it to the space in front of her. “So,” she started as she reached for a quill, “What brings you here, Twilight?”

“I’m not too sure what’s been going on for the last few days, but I was hoping you could help me figure it out.” Twilight raised an eyebrow as Mayor Mare searched her desk for a pot of ink, only to briefly turn her attention to the wall behind her.

Twilight’s eyes wandered to the objects that were strewn out across floor under the wooden desk. She cocked her head sideways, “What happened in here?”

Mayor Mare laughed nervously, “Oh, I was just looking for something important.”

“Did you find it?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, I found it after a long search.” Mayor Mare wiped a bit of sweat off her face. “I’ll have to be heading out soon. So, if we could get this over with quickly, I’d be grateful.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to intrude. Your assistant said you were available for the next few hours. I wanted to talk about the orphanage that recently shut down…”

The mayor’s body tensed up. Words eluded her as she opened her mouth and closed it again. She focused on the thoughts running through her mind instead of answering Twilight.

How does she know? Is she working with the suit? Here to ask me questions for an investigation?

“A mare told me that I had something to do with it. I don’t want to be rude, but is what she said a mistake? I’ve never been told I ran anything around Ponyville, let alone an orphanage.”

Twilight ran a hoof through her mane. “I’m just really confused about the whole matter. I was thinking you could help me.”

She doesn’t know? Mayor Mare could hardly hold back a grin. Thank Celestia.

“Well,” Mayor Mare started, “I was told a few months ago that you’d be coming around my office for a briefing on a few things.”

Twilight’s expression dampened as she sank back into her chair. “Oh no…”

“Yes,” Mayor Mare sighed, “They told me I could lighten up on a few things around Ponyville. I even received a letter from Celestia saying you were to be in charge of the mail system.”

“What?! I never received a letter informing me of this change! W-when did they say I took charge? W-w-where did they send it?!” Twilight stood up from her chair, and began pacing around the room.

“Did they send it to my treehouse, or did they start sending them after the fight with Tirek? Do they even know where to send it? I would imagine they would be given a description of either one… And the castle isn’t hard to find in the slightest. What abou-”

“Twilight!” Mayor Mare interrupted Twilight’s rant. “Does it matter if you received it or not?”

“Of course it does!” Twilight’s face began turning a slight tint of red. “How would I stop an orphanage from being shut down if I didn’t even know I was in charge of it?”

“Twilight,” Mayor Mare shook her head. “You can’t do much about it now. I think the best thing for you to do now is apologize to the ponies of Ponyville… And the mail system.”

“The mail system?! I-is that what they put me in charge of?”

“Yes.” Mayor Mare put on the look she was famous for, and the look that her assistant dreaded, a look of pure disappointment.

A moment passed before Twilight sank to her haunches, lowering her eyes to the floor. Tear formed in her eyes as she spoke, “I had no clue… I-I would have stopped it.”

Mayor Mare lifted herself out of her chair and trotted over to Twilight. “I’m surprised they didn’t tell you, honestly.” She stood over Twilight, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “But you better try to make things right. I hate to say it, but the Canterlot newspaper would have a field day with this story. They’ll ruin you if you aren’t the first to speak up about the matter. To them, it’s no use being sorry if you don’t fix it.”

Twilight sniffed, “How can I fix this?”

Mayor Mare sighed, “I’m afraid the real fixing will be done by the suit from Canterlot. The best thing for you to do is to make a public apology.”

Twilight looked up from the ground to see the mayor’s face. A comforting smile greeted her. Twilight couldn’t hold back the tears.

“I hurt Scootaloo…” Twilight whimpered, “It’s my fault.”

Who? The mayor thought.

The mayor rubbed Twilight’s shoulder. “No, it’s not so much your fault as much as it is Canterlot’s messengers. Still.” Mayor Mare let out a sigh. “It would be good for you to apologise publicly. Okay?”

“Okay…” Twilight wiped her eyes. “I’ll do it…”

Yes!

Twilight stood up on her hooves, and with a newfound objective in mind, she nodded to the mayor.

“Alright, I’ll apologise, like you said.”

Mayor Mare smiled. “Good.”

Looking out the large windows to the side of the front entrance to the Mail House, Derpy smiled as she saw the sun slowly lower into the horizon. The once light environment of the once outside world was becoming darker with every passing minute, and Derpy found herself wanting to get home for some long awaited rest.

The bell above the front door rang as yet another happy customer eagerly trotted her way in front of Derpy’s counter.

“I want to send this to Canterlot,” Lyra said with a grin as she placed a brown box on the counter. “How long do you think it’ll take?”

“Don’t worry!” Derpy waved a hoof before picking up the box. “It’ll be there in two days! I plan on making a run up there tomorrow.”

“Cool!” Lyra nodded and walked out, content on leaving her package in the very able hooves of Derpy.

Placing the small, brown box carefully in a larger crate marked ‘Canterlot’, she heard the front door bell ring, signaling that Lyra had left and that Derpy’s long shift was over. Mid ring, Derpy was somewhat startled by a rude voice from behind.

“Hello?”

Derpy turned around with her smile still plastered on her face. “Hello there! Do you have a package you need mailed?”

“Yes,” the suited mare said, a rude undertone outlining her voice. “I need something sent to Twilight Sparkle’s new ‘house’.”

“Princess Twilight? I could show you wher-”

“No, no.” The mare rubbed her face irritably. “I want to send it there by mail.”

“Okay…” Derpy shrugged, “What do you want to send?”

“This.” the mare pulled out a quill and placed it on top of the counter. Derpy looked at it and then back at the mare, who only scowled back at her.

“You want to send that?” Derpy picked it up, eyeing it from different angles. “D-do you want me to put it in a box?”

“No. Just send it,” the mare stated sternly. “Just slap a mail-thing on it, or something.”

“Errr, alright. I’ll get around to sending it before I go to Canterlot.”

The mare raised a brow, “How long will that be?”

“Tomorrow.”

The mare pulled out her notebook. She quickly looked around for a quill, only to reach out and grab the one she gave to Derpy.

Derpy frowned at the mare, “You sure you want me to send it? She lives just across town.”

“Yes.” The mare placed the quill back down once she was done writing. “And be quick about it, will you?”

Derpy nodded and grabbed the quill. “Also,” she heard the mare say after she turned. “Where’s the hotel around here?”

“Ummm.” Derpy placed the quill carefully inside the crate. “We have a small motel type thing around the corner. I’ve never been there, but I heard it was nice.”

“Can’t even have a nice place to sleep around here....” the mare said with a huff before she turned around and walked out of Mail House.

“Rude…” Derpy said under her breath once the bell above the door stopped ringing.

Author's Note

Scootaloo, from this point, will be given a much larger role in the story. Sorry in that regard.

• Mr. Blue