“Where am I?” Twilight asked.
“In Ponyville,” said the beige mare with the grey mane and white collar.
“What do you want?” demanded Twilight.
“Information,” was all the mare answered with.
“Whose side are you on?” Twilight pressed.
“Why, that would be telling,” the mare said coyly. “We want information. Information…,” her voice began to echo, “…information…”
“You won’t get it!” Twilight shouted.
“By hook or by crook,” the mare said, “… we will.”
“Who are you?” asked Twilight.
“I am Number Two,” responded the mare.
“Who’s Number One?” Twilight added.
“You,” the mare said with a smile, “are Number Six.”
“I’m not a number!” Twilight shouted back. “I’m a free mare!”
The mare only started laughing.
* * * * * *
Twilight stood staring out her window at the town. Not city, town—that fact refused to sit right with her. Being of a logical mind, every fiber of her being was screaming over the impossibility of what she was seeing.
She took a few shaky steps back, legs quivering with every step. This wasn’t right. It couldn’t be. She backtracked all the way across the room to the blue couch she’d passed out on and collapsed onto it again, forcing her eyes shut. This had to be a hallucination, some sort of illusion.
She waited a few seconds before before opening her eyes again. She stood up and, taking a deep breath, she walked up the set of stairs that led to her room’s second floor to look out the top half of the window this time. She didn’t even have to cross half the floor to know for certain, the view being obvious enough. She knew she wasn’t in Canterlot anymore.
She looked over the town below, noticing that the ground was far closer than usual. She wasn’t only in a new town, she was in a shorter building! Yet still in the same room? Was it the same room?
She looked back around the room. No, everything was in the right place. Then what was… Twilight’s eyes landed on a mirror. She froze. It was her cutie mark.
Twilight turned to the right to look at her cutie mark and make sure it wasn’t a mistake. It wasn’t. Where had once been a purple six-pointed star surrounded by five small white ones was now the image of an old-style bicycle with a giant front wheel, having a blue frame, with a yellow awning overtop, and a red number 6 placed over the seat. A moment later she registered that her old cutie mark was still present; however, it had been shrunken and moved into the ring of the bicycle’s front wheel. She quickly turned to look at her left side and found the same cutie mark, only mirrored, as usual, but with the ‘6’ facing the opposite way so as to still be readable. That couldn’t be natural. Cutie marks were always mirrored completely.
She walked back to the stairs and looked down to the saddlebag she’d filled. There was no time for that now. Twilight ran down the stairs to the door and pulled it open. Here, she found her third big surprise.
The door didn’t lead to her outside spiral staircase. This was an indoor wooden staircase. Not only that, but the hallway wasn’t just wood-lined, it was all one piece of wood. She was inside a tree? Twilight ran down the staircase until a sharp left turn, where she found herself overlooking a large round room with bookshelves built into every wall. Then she noticed that the floor had age rings. Definitely inside a tree. At the center of the room was a round table, on which sat a wooden horsehead sculpture with a small white card propped against it.
Twilight activated her horn’s magic and pulled the card over to her as she bounded down the remaining stairs. Stopping at the bottom, she read the card: “welcome to your home from home”. All in lowercase.
She dropped the card and looked around. Door, door, door—door! She ran to the door in the arched alcove at the far end of the room and pushed. It didn’t move. What? She pushed again to no avail. No, no, come on! She shouldered the door with a thud, but induced no movement. O-pen-up! Her heart pounded faster as she pounded the door, which started shaking on its hinges…and her horn started glowing.
It was a calm, peaceful day outside of the Golden Oak Library. And then the door exploded.
Splinters rained down as the smoke cleared, revealing a slightly shocked Twilight standing just inside the now open doorway, the glow from her horn fading. She blinked. Shaking it off, she dashed outside and looked around.
“Don’t worry,” said a voice from off to the side, “I got that.”
Twilight turned to see an approaching old, light brown earth pony stallion with a gray tail and a tall, droopy green hat trot up, pulling a cart full of tools and wooden boards. Twilight saw he had the cutie mark of the same big-wheeled bicycle as hers, only with a red number 57 over the seat and nothing in the front wheel.
“Figure I might as well make the new hinges swing both ways, eh?” he said, stopping and taking a look at where the door had been. Twilight just turned and ran. The old pony gave a chuckle.
After a few blocks and a turn or two, Twilight began slowing to a trot. She took a deep breath and let it out, collecting herself to better think over her predicament.
“Okay,” she said aloud to herself, “this is an easy one. This whole thing has to be some sort of mistake. I’m sure that there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this. I just need to speak with whoever’s in charge.”
She saw another pony up ahead, this one also an earth pony, but colored a bright pink. She felt calm enough now to have a civil conversation, so she headed over. As she drew closer, she saw that this mare had yet again the same bicycle cutie mark, this time with blue and yellow balloons in the front wheel and what looked like the number 80 on the seat. Seriously, what was up with these? She was ready for some answers.
“Hey, you!” Twilight called. The pink pony looked over. “Where is this place? Can you tell me who—”
“Gaaaaaaasp,” went the pony as she jumped into the air, cutting Twilight off, a second later zipping away down the street and around a corner.
Or not, thought Twilight, again frozen with shock. Heh, as if she hadn’t been on edge before.
She shook it off as best she could and turned down another street to continue wandering, but saw something up ahead sitting in a courtyard. It was a dark blue wooden booth standing tall and distinct against the yellow and beige town. A black strip along the top edge bore backlit writing that was too far away to read, and a lamplight was situated in the center of the roof. Standing in front of the booth was a brown earth pony stallion with a jagged mane, and what she’d be willing to bet was another cutie mark featuring that same blue bicycle. Okay, now for some answers.
As Twilight strolled over cautiously, the words along the top became clearer. “ponyville public contact booth.” Huh. Wonder what that could mean. Was it connected to a post office? Wait. Ponyville, huh? Probably the name of this place. It sure sounded blandly generic enough. Also in lowercase.
“Whhwww-wwww-hww,” whistled the brown pony, whose cutie mark Twilight could now see was in fact comprised of the bicycle—she just won 5 bits from herself—with a yellow hourglass in the front wheel and a red 67 over the seat. “Hwwww-wwh—oh?” He paused as he glanced over and saw her. Twilight hurried over.
“Hey,” she started, “can you tell me anything about—”
“What’s your Number?” the pony asked nicely despite cutting her off.
Twilight stopped. “Excuse me?” she said in surprise. “I don’t have a number.”
“Sure you do,” he replied casually, “everypony’s got a Number. See,” he pointed to her cutie mark, “it’s right there. Number Six.” He paused. “Funny. You don’t see too many single-digits around here. At least not new arrivals with no idea what their Number is.”
“I have no idea how that got there,” Twilight insisted, “this whole thing has to be a big misunderstanding. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I—”
“Oh—nope, nope, no names,” he said, raising a hoof and cutting her off again, yet still somehow sounding casually polite about it. “Numbers are all we’ve got here, and you,” he pointed, “are Number Six.”
“I am not Number Six!” Twilight said, frustration winning out with how irritatingly…nice this pony was acting. Yeah, she didn’t get how either.
“See for yourself,” he said in a ‘prepare yourself’ voice. He reached over to the front of the blue booth, to a panel on the left half with a page that read in part, “ponyville directory – free for use of public – pull to open”, and flipped the panel open, revealing a book sitting in a square alcove. He nodded at it, and Twilight’s horn lit up to open it. As soon as her magic touched the cover, it sprang open to a page showing her photo over the bicycle cutie mark now on her flank, specifically the version facing towards the right, with her star cutie mark in the wheel and a red six over the seat.
“See?” the pony said with a smile. “Num-bah Six. Now, is there anything I can help you with?”
“I…,” she stammered, “I don’t…can’t…” Okay, way not what she expected, but there had to still be a way to solve this, and she was going to find it. Twilight steeled herself for any more unexpected turns. “Who’s in charge here?” she asked confidently.
“Ah,” he said, “ll’that would be Number Two. See what I mean about single-digits? They’re usually the important ones.”
“Where can I find this Number Two?” she pressed.
“Well,” he said with a pause to think, “she’s usually in Town Hall. It’s the big round building in the center of town, brown dome, you can’t miss it.”
And that’s all she needed. Twilight turned and ran off to her right, towards the solution to this mess, and any excuse to get away from—
“Except, of course,” he casually called after her, “that the, uh, center of town is that way.” She skidded to a stop and turned back to see the pony pointing in the opposite direction.
Twilight kept a keen half-glare on him as she trotted back past the smugly grinning stallion, kicking into a run again now down the correct path.
“Be seeing you!” he called after her.
Answers. She really meant it this time.
Twilight had found the Town Hall, a beige three-leveled, brown-domed round building in the center of town, just like he’d said. On the far side was a small stream cutting through the town with a few purple bridges over it, and there was a large radius of empty ground between Town Hall and the nearest buildings, occupied only by a fountain with an odd statue—some kind of serpent with short limbs. Like the rest of the town, this open area seemed oddly empty.
She trotted over to the building, onto the ground-level balcony, and through the open doorw—aigxxzz. A sudden shooting pain stopped her in her tracks, kicking her back a step a second later.
What. Was. That? She coughed and tried to steady her breathing, her whole body feeling like her hoof after shuffling on the carpet and touching a metal doorknob. What had that wise guy been up to—
“Oh, don’t make mind of that,” said an elegant-sounding mare’s voice from inside. “The Town Hall can be fussy about who it lets in sometimes. Just try again.”
Twilight took a hesitant step forward, her hoof this time crossing the threshold unimpaired. Nevertheless, she tiptoed slowly the rest of the way inside. Looking up and around, she saw the inside of the main chamber, a bland wooden structure with a collection of balconies along the circular walls, the only colors not shades of brown or tan being the dull purple curtains in the entrances of these balconies and the several banners hanging from the ceiling in bright color collections almost painful to look at.
Looking down along her level, Twilight’s gaze quickly fell upon the only other pony there, presumably the one who had been speaking, a white unicorn with a shining purple mane who seemed to be attaching posters to the walls: “honesty is the best policy”, “be loyal to your ponyville”, “a still tongue makes a happy life”. All again in only lowercase letters.
“Is there a Number Two here anywhere?” Twilight asked, starting over to the unicorn.
“No, not at the moment,” she responded without turning around. She was focusing on aligning a poster reading “questions are a burden to others; answers a prison for oneself”. “Funny,” she added after a pause. “I don’t recognize your voice.”
“Well, I did kinda just arrive here,” Twilight said.
“Oh, poor thing,” the unicorn replied, “you must be so confused. But if you could just tell me your Number, I could pass on to Number Two who’s looking for her the next time I see her.”
“Me?” Twilight weighed her options. Using her name hadn’t gone over so well last time, so in that case… “Well, I guess I’m Number Six, but—”
“Number Six?” the unicorn let out as if Disgust had slammed the control panel, dropping the poster and collection of other objects held in her magic’s grip. She spun around to face Twilight. “How did you get a number so close to the top? And only just arrived, too? Well, you must be quite important, then,” she huffed as she turned away again, whispering to herself, “as I’m sure you are.”
Twilight glanced at the unicorn’s cutie mark to see, big surprise, the blue bicycle with a set of three light blue geometric diamonds in the front wheel and a red 91 over the seat. If all the way down with the single digits were “the important ones”, Twilight guessed this mare wanted a different number than what she had.
“I’ll just…,” Twilight hesitantly said as the unicorn picked her dropped supplies back up, which included a pair of scissors, “try back again later. Um…”
“Be seeing you,” the unicorn hissed.
“Be seeing you,” Twilight nervously replied and quickly slipped away.
Twilight had again taken to wandering the streets aimlessly, again glimpsing not a soul, but this time she had no goal in mind. She was now officially relying on luck or fate dropping a solution in front of her. If that was going to happen, might as well try seeing it fall. That was her reasoning for looking up, but the sky only served to raise more questions.
The sky was definitely overcast, yet it still seemed…bright enough, was all she could think to describe it as. The entire sky was covered in a seamless layer of pale gray foggy cloud. A blurry outline of the sun shone through whitish in one spot, but its light diffused throughout the cloud layer and seemed to make the whole sky glow. What the hay were the pegasi here up to? This was the most artfully neglected sky she’d ever seen. The only cloud she saw breaking this pattern was a low floating clump…with a rainbow tail hanging over the side.
“Who are you?” she called up to the cloud, trotting her way over.
“A number, just like you,” came a sighed response. “Does it matter which?”
Twilight paused. “Not particularly, I guess.” Finally, another pony not obsessed with this weird numbering system. “Just a…mild question. What the hay’s up with this sky?”
“Whaddaya mean?” came the response. “It’s the same sky it’s always been.”
“Wait, you mean that the sky is always like this?” said Twilight in surprise.
Atop the cloud, something stirred. The rainbow tail twisted over and a sky blue mare’s face looked over the opposite side, adorned with a similar rainbow mane. She rested her chin on her hooves and stared down at Twilight. “You’re new here, aren’t you?”
“And I won’t be staying for long,” Twilight added with confidence. The blue mare’s blank stare quickly dissipated that confidence.
“Heard that before,” she said. “Heck, said that before. Lotta good it did me.” She gave a defeated sigh and slid back from the cloud’s edge.
“That still doesn’t answer why the sky is so…” Twilight searched for the words.
“Because it’s my job is to keep the sky foggy like that,” the mare said. It took a second to sink in.
“Excuse me?” said a shocked Twilight. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”
“It already is the other way around, too,” said the mare. “I keep the sky foggy, and the sky keeps us foggy. About where we are, about what’s going on outside. About—”
“Riiiight…,” said Twilight. Philosophy had always been her weakest subject in the Academy. “So, the answer is?”
The mare gave an annoyed sigh. “If you want to fly up there and try changing things, then be my guest, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Ah—well fine then,” Twilight snapped, “be unhelpful, just like the rest of this town! If nopony’s going to give me answers, then I’ll just stop waiting and leave.” She promptly turned and headed in a general direction.
Back on the cloud, the blue pegasus lay back and gave a chuckle. That new pony reminded her of herself from when she first woke up here, back in those days…
Twilight didn’t know her way around the town, but she knew that any area had an edge that could be reached by any straight line eventually. Geometry still worked here, right? Something almost made her worry otherwise.
This worry seemed unwarranted, though, as she saw her current path taking her to the edge of town. Finally, progress. She crossed over one of the pale purple bridges and away from all of the buildings, kicking into a brisk pace to continue.
As she kept walking, the dirt path she was following gained a white wooden fence and became bordered with apple trees. As she reached where a side path branched off leftward, she saw an orange earth pony in a stetson hat pulling a cart full of apples. Was she far enough…no, this mare still had the bicycle cutie mark. And she’d noticed Twilight.
“Hey there, stranger,” the mare said with a wave, “I’m Number Twenty-Six. An’ how ’bout you? Anythin’ I can do for ya?”
“Um,” Twilight said, “I suppose I’m Number…just Six.”
“Well,” said ‘Twenty-Six’, it apparently was, “it’s nice to make your acquaintance, ‘just Six’.”
“Eh-he,” Twilight chuckled nervously, “and, no thanks, I’m just—”
“You sure?” Twenty-Six pressed. “You look like you could use some lunch. My farmhouse is just up this way, I could easily get you some apple pie, apple fritters, apple tarts, apple dumplings, apple crisp, apple…oh, you get the idea. And it would save you a walk back into town. Or maybe you’re just a little parched, in which case—”
“No, really, I’m fine,” insisted Twilight. Then she realized an opportunity. “Actually, maybe you can help me. Do you know the easiest way out of town?” She wasn’t prepared for the response.
“Pfff—ah-ha-hah!” Twenty-Six laughed as she stomped the ground. “Sorry,” she said, still chuckling, “I jus’ dunno which part is funnier, the ‘out of town’ part or the ‘easy’ part.” She coughed to get rid of the giggles. “I suppose if any way out was gonna be called ‘easy’”—she gave a set of air-quotes—“then that’d have to be out through the forest over yonder, but even that wouldn’t be…,” she looked up to see Twilight no longer there. “Uh, Six?”
Twilight was already trotting down the path towards the forest.
Having left the white fence behind, the path again diverted to the left, this time towards some sort of cottage with grass on its roof or—it didn’t matter, she wouldn’t be around any longer to care. She didn’t even take notice of the pink-maned yellow pegasus peaking over the hump of a small bridge in front of the cottage.
As she passed by, the pegasus took half of a hesitant step towards her, murmuring, “Um, I’m not sure you want to go that way…” But her words went unheard.
So, forests. Twilight had never been camping, but she’d skimmed a book or two on the topic, and she remembered a few details. Cantering onward, she saw the wall of trees that were the edge of the forest up ahead.
Still, best to play it safe. Let’s see. Poisonous berries? Don’t eat anything. Poison ivy? Don’t touch anything. Trotting forward, she stared as the looming forest drew closer.
Poisonous mold or fungus spores? Don’t breathe near anything. Okay, that may be getting a bit extreme. Walking on, the height of the forest’s trees began sinking in, as was the fact that they seemed to be leaning out towards her.
But she was going to be through it before she’d need to worry about how long she was going to be in there, anyway, right? It did seem like a rather big forest, though. Maybe she should’ve considered taking one or two of those apple treats. Tiptoeing forward, she realized that her gait had been getting progressively slower as she neared the forest.
Reaching the treeline, she could almost feel the shadows of the forest, despite not actually being under them. They just seemed to reach out and…grab…Twilight realized she’d stopped. She looked down to see an eerily fine line on the ground between the daylight and the shadow cast by the forest, her frontmost hoof resting just in front of line of the shadows. She looked up and stared down the path, deep into the darkness of the forest. It was like looking into the deep ocean: the light only made it so far. Staring still deeper, a silence reached out and enveloped her, all ambient noise fading. She became aware of every breath she took, every beat of her heart, every time her dry mouth swallowed out of nervousness. The deepest reaches of the path almost looked like they were stretching farther away…
“Maaaaybe talking with this Number Two is worth the wait after all,” she said. She stepped back before turning and trotting away, her gait getting progressively faster the farther she got.
Once sufficiently far away from the forest, she slowed down to a reasonable pace and let out a sigh. The cottage from before came up on the right again. The same pony from before was now standing on the bridge, craning her neck to see farther down the path without stepping farther forward.
“Oh,” she said, “I’m so glad you didn’t try going that way.” Twilight looked over at her while passing by the turnoff. “Um…,” she muttered, as if she hadn’t expected to be heard and responded to, raising a hoof as if to take a step back. Twilight just turned away and kept going.
The familiar sight of the white wooden fence once again straddled the path, and up came the branch leading to the…the orange pony was still there. Funny, Twilight thought sarcastically, it was as if she’d known Twilight would be back in just a few minutes. She really had to make a better habit of listening to others all the way through. And now the pony was waving again.
“Guess you changed your mind about the homemade apple treats, eh?” Twenty-Six said with a chuckle.
Twilight gave a sigh and dropped her head. “Fine,” she said in mild annoyance. It’s not like she had many options.
Twenty-Six led her down the path toward an archway attached to the white fence, covered with greenery with five apples hanging on it, beyond which sat a large red farmhouse, several smaller red buildings of some farm usage off to the side, with a stone fountain, chicken coup, and other such things scattered around, and an extensive apple orchard surrounding the whole arrangement. Despite how big and well-tended it looked, Twilight heard a distinct lack of working noises. In fact, she and Twenty-Six seemed to be the only ponies here.
Led inside the farmhouse to a dining table, Twilight was presented with a vast array of foods and deserts with “apple” in the name, wisely declining a narrated list.
“Sorry if it’s a bit of a narrow selection,” Twenty-Six said, “but it’s what we’ve got right now. In a few weeks we’ll be able to add things like corn and carrots to the list, once they’ve fully grown.”
“We?” Twilight mumbled. Apparently she’d been loud enough to hear.
“Here in Ponyville,” Twenty-Six explained, “we tend to use a collective ‘we’ a lot. You probably also noticed there’s nopony else around, but that’s jus’ because I’m the only one who actually lives here. Other ponies pitch in to help when they’re needed, like Thirty-Eight or Seventy-Seven, though I can usually handle most of the workload myself.”
Twilight nodded but said nothing. Twenty-Six noticed that she hadn’t touched the one snack she’d selected.
“You wanna know more about that forest,” Twenty-Six said, “don’t you?”
“And yet at the same time,” Twilight answered, “I’d almost rather not.”
Twenty-Six gave a sigh. “If you’ve just arrived,” she started, “then Ponyville might seem like a bit of a strange place, but that forest is just unnatural like you couldn’t imagine. Remember how I mentioned it being the ‘easiest’ way out of town? That’s ’cause it’s both the best and worst way to try and leave. It’s the best because it’s the only way of trying that you’re not guaranteed to run into somethin’ to stop you from leavin’, but it’s also the worst because…because of what happens if you do run into somethin’.”
One line of that had caught Twilight’s attention in particular. “The only way you’re not…guaranteed to run into something to stop you from leaving?” she repeated, looking up. “What kind of place is this?” she said in disgust, anger rising. “What kind of place does this Ponyville think it is that it can stop ponies who never chose to come here from leaving?”
“I did say it might seem like a bit of a strange place,” Twenty-Six commented passively.
“Strange? Strange?” Twilight had had it with this place, and everypony in it. Did no one even…aarrrg! “Is that what you’re letting it be called? All the ponies in this town are crazy if they’re all just accepting this! This place is a lot more than strange if…that does it. This time I’m gonna find this Number Two I’ve been hearing so much about, and I’m going to set things straight on a few accounts.” She turned and headed for the door.
“Uh, I wouldn’t think outright challenging Number Two would be much better than takin’ a go at that forest,” Twenty-Six called after her.
“At least ponies can listen,” Twilight called back, mumbling, “or be made to.”
Twilight marched back into town and eventually located Town Hall again, the open area surrounding it as empty as ever. Striding up to the doorway, she paused just before reaching it, extending a tentative hoof across the threshold. Encountering no resistance, she strode forward as if she hadn’t just stopped, entering the bland wooden interior. Her eyes were immediately drawn to a new source of actual color, the only one at eye level: the bright pink pony from earlier, off to the side and talking with a beige mare who was blocking Twilight’s view of a third, white pony. The pink pony looked over and saw her, immediately falling silent. On a nod from the beige mare, who had a light gray mane and was sporting a white collar with a teal fluffy thing in the front, the pink one turned and darted out a side entrance. The beige mare then closed the book she was holding, handing it off to the white pony beside her who quickly slipped away, and turned to Twilight.
“Ah, Number Six!” she cooed, walking over. “I hear I just missed you earlier. I’m sorry I couldn’t welcome you personally, some important things had to be seen to.”
Twilight was in no mood for her happy demeanor. “Number Two, I presume.”
“I see you’ve already found out a few things about your new home even in my absence,” Number Two said, “though I’d have been disappointed if you hadn’t.”
“My new home?” Twilight asked with contempt. “What is this place?”
“Why, this is Ponyville,” Number Two replied politely.
“You know what I mean.”
Number Two sighed. “This is a place where ponies find themselves if…if they know things…if they can do things, special things. Things Number One wants to know about. They’re provided ideal accommodations, of course, and once they tell or show what they know or can do, we don’t bother them again.”
“Except that they can’t leave,” Twilight said. “And who’s Number One?”
Number Two shook her head, reaching a hoof to Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight stepped back, and Number Two simply walked over to the front entrance. Twilight followed. Number Two was waiting just past the doorway, but as Twilight took her first step outside, a sudden horn blare hit her ears. She looked up in surprise and saw the open area surrounding Town Hall, devoid of life just a minute ago, now fully bustling with crowds of ponies, in what appeared to be some sort of festival. A brief glimpse confirmed these ponies’ cutie marks all featured that accursed blue bicycle.
“Ponyville is a rather pleasant place to live, once you get used to it,” said Number Two, looking out onto the revelries, “not least owing to the sheer number of frankly invented holidays and festivals that are celebrated almost every few days.”
A pair of ponies, pale green with a paler minty blue mane and beige with a blue and pink mane, walked past the front steps in sync. “Beautiful day,” they said in unison with a nod.
“Be seeing you,” Number Two called to them with a wave.
“You still didn’t answer me,” Twilight said, ignoring the other ponies. “Who is Number One? Where are they?”
Number Two didn’t look over, nor lose her smile, but merely said, “You’ll soon find it better to not ask such questions.” She glanced over her shoulder at Twilight. “They are a burden to others, and you wouldn’t want to burden your fellow ponies, would you?”
“Then how about these questions?” pressed Twilight. “Why am I here? What do you want from me?”
Number Two shook her head again, as if Twilight should’ve known these answers all along. “Oh, what happened to you, Number Six?” she mused in insincere concern. “Back when you were called Twilight Sparkle, you had so much—”
“Back when I was called?” Twilight cut her off. “I still am!”
“Really?” answered Number Two. “When was the last time somepony called you by that?” Twilight paused, thinking back and turning aside. “Not since arriving here, I’m sure. You’re in Ponyville now. A new chapter of your life has begun. Your old self is no longer you. And what a shame it is.” Twilight turned back to Number Two with frustration building. “As I was saying, you had so much potential. Access to vast amounts of information, skyrocketing skills, personal student to the Princess herself…but what happened? Why did you suddenly decide to throw all that away?”
“They wouldn’t give me enough vacation days in a row,” Twilight stated flatly.
“Others have tried resisting before,” Number Two said calmly, lifting her hoof and pretending to examine it. “Most, in fact. But, eventually, they all come around to see the light. Know that there’s nothing new or special about your performance. You’re not even the first to abandon that very same position.”
She’d been thinking of her next retort, but that last comment had caught Twilight off guard. “What?”
With the hint of a sly smile, Number Two continued as if Twilight hadn’t reacted. “You just think things over for as long as you need to during your stay. When you feel like telling me your real reasons, I’ll be waiting.”
But Twilight just stood there. This was worse than she first thought. They did this to everypony here? That was just… But she could worry about others later. They wanted to know why she’d left, did they? Why she’d suddenly dropped it all? This couldn’t have something to—
“Hmm?” Number Two said, noticing Twilight’s lack of leaving. “Something more to say now?”
And she’d actually thought she could just politely ask her way out of this? No. Hang diplomacy, this had gone too far. Only results mattered this time, and she was getting out of here right now. She knew this Number Two character wasn’t going to just cooperate. She’d have to make her. Twilight leaned forward into a steady stance as her horn started glowing.
But Number Two just stood there looking unfazed, staring back. “As I said before,” she said gravely. “Nothing special.” She turned and pointed towards the fountain sitting near Town Hall and the statue that stood above it.
Everypony in sight froze in place and silence fell.
Twilight looked over to the fountain to see the serpentine statue release a black cloud before something shot off to the left at blinding speeds. She tried following it before a streak of shadow shot left across her view just feet in front of her. She quickly turned back right and found herself staring into a pair of glowing red eyes. Too shocked to gasp, she flinched back a step, the eyes pressing in closer.
The eyes were, uh…round, and…face was…long…color of, uh…dark…
Her thoughts were splintering. She couldn’t focus on anything, just…those eyes…those…
Her breath was shaking. Her muscles were twitching. Her nerves were breaking. The magic in her horn shorted out, sparking before the glow dissipated.
The eyes faded from red to yellow. The head slowly drifted past her to the left, its body snaking after it. She guessed it returned to the statue. She didn’t bother checking. She was all but frozen in place as one herself.
The crowd of ponies slowly reanimated, the festivities picking back up as if nothing had interrupted them. Number Two stood smiling at her. “Be seeing you. Number Six.”
Twilight walked back to the tree building she’d woken up in. No special way of walking, just walking. She somehow knew the way.
She walked in silence. No words, no thoughts. Walking up to the tree, she found the door replaced and no sign of the repair pony. She pushed the door open and entered, letting it close behind her. She stopped a few feet in and stood there. A white card on the floor drew her gaze.
“welcome to your home from home”
“Where am I?” Twilight asked.
“In Ponyville,” said the beige mare with the grey mane and white collar.
“What do you want?” demanded Twilight.
“Information,” was all the mare answered with.
“Whose side are you on?” Twilight pressed.
“Why, that would be telling,” the mare said coyly. “We want information. Information…” Her voice began to echo. “Information…”
“You won’t get it!” Twilight shouted.
“By hook or by crook,” the mare said, “…we will.”
“Who are you?” asked Twilight.
“I am Number Two,” responded the mare.
“Who’s Number One?” Twilight added.
“You,” the mare said with a smile, “are Number Six.”
“I’m not a number!” Twilight shouted back. “I’m a free mare!”
The mare only started laughing.
* * * * * *
Twilight was lying prone in front of an array of books on the floor of the downstairs of the tree her room had somehow been transplanted into. She hadn’t slept at all last night, not after…she shuddered at the thought of those eyes. Sweet dreams were overrated, anyway. She’d tried using the stars in the night sky to discern her approximate location, but, lo and behold, that weird foggy cloud pattern had been up all night. She had a sneaking suspicion that it would be left up all of today, as well.
She flipped to the next page of the book, another in a long line of books on nothing reaching farther than the borders of Ponyville itself. On the page was a picture of the tree she was inside of. ‘golden oak library’, it said in its signature lowercase. These books didn’t even capitalize the first words of sentences. A library, huh? Not the worst option, she admitted. If the town had had books about more than just itself. She turned to the next page and saw a portrait shot of herself, giving her an uneasy pause. The picture had a nondescript background, so there was no telling where or when it was taken.
“‘Current resident, Number Six’?” she read. “How could they have had a picture of me put in this book already? I only got here yesterday.” She looked around. “Unless they’ve been planning this and following me for a while. It’s just like my picture being in that other book in the blue booth.” While staring out a small window above a bookshelf, she turned the page with magic. “As if I needed another reason not to let my guard down.”
She looked down at the page and saw a picture of herself in the library reading that very same book—
“Ahh!” She slammed the book shut and jumped back a foot to her hooves. She looked around the library again nervously. “This whole place is just wrong.”
“Well that’s funny,” said a voice.
Twilight jumped again, turning to face the source of the voice. She saw a bright pink pony sitting in one of the empty bookshelves along the wall.
“Who are you!?” exclaimed Twilight. She tried to calm herself a bit before adding, “And, what did you mean was funny?”
“Number Eighty,” the mare said casually. “And I thought that a student of royalty wouldn’t be so surprised at little things like that book trick.”
“How did you know I was—”
“Um, duh,” Number Eighty said, “you’ve been mumbling about it for a while now.”
“What?” Twilight said apprehensively. “Were you eavesdropping on me?”
Eighty perked up. “Excuse me?” she snapped. “I’ll have you know, I haven’t dropped a single eve in my life. Especially not the Hearth’s Warming ones.” Twilight just stared. “But if you mean ‘spying’?” Eighty added matter-of-factly, “You did kinda get a bit loud a few times, it was hard not to hear.”
Twilight shook her head. Yeah, she’d always had that problem; it had really annoyed some of the other students back in school. “But what are you doing here, anyway?” she asked. She motioned around the room. “This is apparently where I’ve been ‘assigned’ to live.”
“Oh, silly,” Eighty said as if it were more obvious than two plus two, “this is the public library. If you live here, then your room is just in the upstairs, not down here. The border should be rather obvious, unless you were already living in a tree before coming here.”
“You mean everypony’s rooms are the same as they had before and don’t match the outsides of their houses at all?”
“Yup,” said Eighty. “Unless they lose the privilege, so be careful about that.”
Twilight paused. Something about this pony seemed familiar, but she hadn’t been able to place it until now; she blamed the lack of sleep. “Wait a second, I’ve seen…aren’t you—”
“The pony you saw yesterday that just went, ‘Gaaaaaaasp,’ and the left?” Eighty interjected, jumping off the shelf to mimic her jump yesterday. “Yeah, sorry about that. I was just so surprised that you were here and I hadn’t met you. Number Two usually tells me ahead of time when somepony new will be arriving to Ponyville, and your sudden appearance just caught me completely unprepared. That parade was the best I could pull together on short notice, otherwise I would’ve had a full ‘welcome to Ponyville’ party ready for you, Six. Offer’s still on the table, though.”
Hearing this pony call her ‘Six’. Twilight sighed. Was it really worth arguing? A lotta good that had done her yesterday. She’d run the thesaurus dry if she kept up her complaints of the numbers-not-names practice and these big-wheeled bicycle cutie marks. But speaking of which, that wasn’t the only time she’d seen Miss Pink. They were talking with Number Two in Town Hall, but had sped off upon her arrival. Why didn’t Pink mention that herself? It was too suspicious, anyway, and she wasn’t about to give these ponies the satisfaction of socializing, not even with one of them.
“It’s not often I’m thrilled for a party,” said Twilight, prompting a smile from Eighty, “and surprise surprise, this isn’t one of those times.” Eighty stopped; she kept her smile, but her eyes told a different reaction. Twilight shuddered internally but made sure her face didn’t show it. “Sorry, not interested.”
Eighty stared at her a few seconds longer, Twilight taking half a step back. Then she said, “Okie dokie lokie,” in a perfectly happy tone, shrugging and turning to leave.
Twilight had gone back to looking through the library’s books, but now needing to psych herself into turning each new page. “Trick” or not, that had been downright disturbing. No surprise, then, that she let out the first half of a scream and jumped onto the table when a book next to her suddenly started flashing and humming.
She eyed it suspiciously as it hummed a few more times, a glow coming from between its pages, before going still again. She considered poking it with a stick, but instead levitated it over to her and looked closer, realizing that her new bicycle cutie mark was on the cover. This was supposed to be for her, she guessed. Opening it to the first page, she saw a short written message:
80 to 6
I know you may not be too thrilled right now,
Hey, a capital letter. Eighty to Six? It had to somehow be from that pink pony. Anyway…
I know you may not be too thrilled right now, but it’s my responsibility to make sure you make a proper transition into Ponyville life.
Twilight rolled her eyes. ‘Not too thrilled’, huh? Was that all Eighty saw? She really needed to remember to emote more. Her eyes were drawn back to the page as a second line appeared, a small glow moving across the paper to write out the words.
Hey, I know, you wanna see another book trick?
There was a knock on the door. Was Eighty back again? Twilight left the book on the table and answered the door to instead find the brown stallion from the directory booth yesterday, a.k.a. ‘Mister annoyingly polite’.
“Sixty-Seven, I presume?” Twilight said, reading the red number off his cutie mark.
“Ah, getting used to Numbers, are we?” he smiled. “Yep, that’s me, and I…am here to check your book.”
“Um, it’s a library,” said Twilight, “you’ll be here a while.”
“Oh, no no no, it’s just one book I’m after, your message book,” he said, letting himself in. “Right here.” He pointed at the one that she’d just been looking at. “Yep, I’m here to check and make sure the enchantment is working properly and nothing unbecoming of Ponyville is being discussed.”
“Unbecoming?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, that’s just something we say,” he said, flipping through the pages. “The real problem is the occasional connection issues, things not going through or getting scrambled along the way. Somepony once received the same message five times in a row when it was only sent once.” He paused his page shuffling, then turned back to the first page. “By the way, have you figured out how to use these message books yet, Six?”
“Well, I think I’ve gotten an idea,” she said.
“You must be a quick learner, then,” he said, closing the cover, “because this book’s blank and unused.”
“I just got—huh?” she said before stopping herself. “Oh, right, yeah, quick learner. Yeah, learn things…real fast…I do.”
Sixty-Seven eyed her with concern. “Now that you’ve got Numbers down, I’d suggest tackling words. Well, you pass inspection, so I’ll get out of your mane. Be seeing you.”
Twilight forcibly smiled and waved as he left, before turning back to the book. She opened the cover and, just as Sixty-Seven had said, the first page was indeed blank. The message had vanished.
… wanna see another book trick?
This place is trying to get to you, don’t let them think it is, Twilight preemptively repeated in her mind as she walked outside. Eighty was waiting for her across the street and waved. Twilight sighed and walked over.
“Got your attention now, have I?” Eighty asked. Before Twilight could respond, she continued, “I’ll tell you how I did it on the condition that you follow me on a tour of Ponyville and at least try to feel welcome. I take my job seriously.”
The pony drove a hard bargain, but this vanishing writing seemed to be the first non-sanctioned thing Twilight had encountered, so of course she wanted to know more about even the most basic of resistances already present.
“Fine,” Twilight said. “Not like I have a choice.”
“Oh, but you do have a choice,” Eighty replied, “that’s the beauty of Ponyville. You can either join in and enjoy your time here, or you can wile away your days on the outside of everything as you slowly lose your mind in isolation from the center of a busy town.” She smiled.
This place is trying to get to you, don’t let them think it is, Twilight repeated.
“I have a feeling you wouldn’t even look for these places if I didn’t show them to you now,” Eighty said as she bounced down the street, Twilight trotting in tow.
As they came upon an outdoor restaurant with purple tables, flower vases on each, Eighty stopped. “Just gotta take a quick detour to a side project to see if…,” she cartwheeled over to a dark charcoal gray pegasus mare with an oily dark gray mane and red eyes sitting in a uniquely darkened corner of the restaurant among the sunlit tables. Her coat was about as dark as it could go without actually being true black—that was the only reason the black raven silhouette within her bicycle cutie mark’s front wheel could be seen, other than its bright red dot of an eye. “Hey, Eighty-One! You in any more of a mood to—”
“Go. Away,” the mare hissed, stopping Eighty in mid-cartwheel.
“Oooo-kay…,” Eighty said, rewinding her cartwheeling back over to Twilight. “Geez, she’s a tough one,” she muttered to Twilight. “I’ve been trying for a week without success and I’m getting worried she may never fit in here.” She switched from concern to a smile. “You won’t be like that, will you, Six?” She trotted on.
This place is trying to get to you, Twilight repeated. At least I’m not the only one who isn’t willing to just sink in here.
She stole a glance at Eighty-One, but the pegasus immediately turned her head to send a glare at Twilight, a brief glow of red glinting from her eyes. Twilight flinched but didn’t look away, instead staring back more intently. The pegasus dropped her glare in a second, looking a bit surprised. She turned away again.
Not sure what had just happened, Twilight followed after Eighty. Behind her, however, Eighty-One glanced curiously after Twilight. Everypony else here had simply cowered away from her glare, already broken by Ponyville. Perhaps this new arrival would be different.
“So, let’s start at a few important landmarks,” Eighty said as Twilight caught up. “You already know the library for all of your Ponyville knowledge needs, but more important than knowledge needs are food needs. ‘A full tummy makes a happy life,’ so I say. Never could convince Number Two to put that on one of the posters in Town Hall. I’ll try again next session.”
“Session?” asked Twilight.
“I know, we’ll go to Town Hall first so I can explain, come on!” said Eighty, prancing on ahead.
As she followed, Twilight looked around town. She’d been too determined to find a way out yesterday to pay much attention to the population. Unlike the ghost town then, probably for her ‘benefit’, there were actually ponies out and about today. There seemed to be a decent assortment of all three types, mostly mares, with few pegasi off the ground, and all with those bicycle cutie marks. Then it hit her that there was a total absence of foals, everypony looking at least as old as her as a higher level student. That was…comforting, question mark? No foals were being put through this nightmare, at least not right now. Ponyville was about getting at things ponies knew, so children shouldn’t know enough to be of interest, right? However, if it were as nice a place as Number Two had claimed…
While looking, Twilight glimpsed inside an open door. Though the outside was the same wood as every other house, the interior wall was cobblestone.
“So if inside everypony’s house is different,” she asked, “how come they all look the same from the outside?”
“Eh, magic pocket dimensions or some sprinkles,” Eighty replied. “Not really my department. Just revel in the special feeling of having a unique outside, you’ve gotta be real important to get that.” She leaned in and dropped to a whisper. “You didn’t hear it from me, but it’s kind of also a way to pamper some of the stubborn ones into agreeability.”
“Right…,” Twilight muttered as Eighty sped up. No amount of pampering is gonna break me. Then they passed by that statue of the legged serpentine form where that shadow monster had emerged from yesterday, and Twilight felt her legs slowing to a stop. She heard her heart beating louder as her eyes were drawn to lock with its blank gaze, the air feeling an eerie tad cooler all of a sudden. Speaking of breaking, though…
“It’s probably just a rumor meant to scare you,”—Twilight jumped, Eighty suddenly beside her, breaking her fixation on the statue—“but you’re advised not to stare at that for too long, or else you might draw out…you-know-what.”
“Right,” Twilight said, brushing back down the hairs on her neck. As Eighty continued on, however, Twilight stole another glance at it, taking a quick mental image. Four short legs, two small wings, two different horns…come to think of it, that actually sounded a bit familiar, as if she’d seen a statue of this thing somewhere before. In the Canterlot Garden, maybe?
“Well, here’s Town Hall,” Eighty said as they approached the large building. “You’ve seen inside already, so I’ll just tell you about it from out here like a lousy tour guide. As you know, Ponyville is under the charge of Number Two, but it’s not like she’s the out-and-out ruler or anything. No, here in Ponyville we have a council of elected representatives who meet with Number Two regularly to discuss and decide various issues. We bring up things that we feel Ponyville is lacking or could improve on, and she takes it under consideration for future action.” Twilight yawned. “Too long, didn’t listen,” Eighty continued, “lots of political stuff you don’t really care about. As I said before, I’m a member of the council. It wasn’t actually too hard to get on, and reelection is a breeze. I’m so popular with everypony in town, I just say I’m still interested and I’m already in. Now without further ado, we’re moving on to the main attraction…”
“Sugarcube Corner!” Eighty exclaimed at the front door of the giant frosted gingerbread house establishment, a sign with a cupcake hanging off the side. It was a tad long of a wait for her to finish that sentence while they walked halfway across town to get here, but the place looked worth it.
Eighty led her inside, and for once it looked just as it looked like it should have from the outside. Colored wood floors and walls, and shelves upon shelves of all sorts of cakes, cupcakes, and other sweets. Okay, Twilight had to admit, maybe Ponyville did have something to offer as enticement.
“See anything you like, dear?” asked a pudgy earth mare behind the counter. She was light blue with a pale and dark pink mane, and a bicycle cutie mark with three cupcakes and a 70. Shelving some cake boxes was a tall yellow stallion with an orange mane and a bicycle cutie mark with a trio of cake squares and a 51.
“I haven’t seen anypony around using bits,” Twilight said, “nor any price tags on these. Do you have your own money system here or something?”
“Ponyville is here for your convenience,” Fifty-One replied, walking over to the counter.
“Why would we make you have to pay for any of it?” Seventy added. “It would only limit how much you could enjoy yourself.”
“So everything is free?” Twilight asked, looking around the shop, kinda joking kinda not.
“Careful, Six,” Eighty said, “I can tell when someone wants the entire jar of lollypops from the doctor’s office.”
“But the fact remains,” said Twilight.
“Oh, no, go ahead,” waved Eighty, “take three pieces of candy when the bowl says ‘take one’. Feel like the scum of Equestria and see what else happens.” Then she smiled widely at Twilight. With that happy tone, Twilight couldn’t tell how serious she was being with that.
“We don’t have to worry about that,” Fifty-One added, “because nopony in Ponyville would ever do that.”
“Never had one bit of trouble,” continued Seventy. “Not from anypony who’s settled down, at least. And around here, that’s a club you’ll want to join pretty quickly.”
Rather serious, Twilight concluded. “I’ll just,” she said, pointing at the glass case in front of her without actually looking, “have one of these.”
Twilight finished the bicycle sugar cookie as she frowned at the dark corner seat Eighty-One had been sitting at. The pegasus was gone.
Twilight had managed to convince Eighty—these numbers were really starting to get difficult to keep track of—to let her roam around on her own for a while. Hmm, cinnamon. The cookies could be personalized with a pony’s Number written in apparently cinnamon-flavored red icing. Anywhere but here, it would’ve been cute.
She turned to leave, but heard a voice she didn’t recognize call out to her.
“Hey, wait up, Six!” Right, with numbered cutie marks, introductions weren’t needed. She turned to see a pale green unicorn at a table waving her over. With a hidden shrug, Twilight heeded the call, seeing this mare had a gold lyre and 56 in her cutie mark. “Hey, you’re new, right?” asked Fifty-Six. “What’re you in for?”
Twilight hesitated. “Do ponies here normally discuss that?”
“Not if they don’t want to,” Fifty-Six said, “it’s your choice. Just curious.”
“I’d…rather not.”
“Eh, worth a try. Come on, sit down, be social.”
Twilight joined her at the table, feeling an edge of mischief from her, a hopeful sign. “So, I’m trying to get a scope of the big picture here,” she tested.
“Risky thing to do,” said Fifty-Six. “By all means, don’t let that stop you, but…don’t be loud about it.”
“Then let’s start small,” Twilight said. Bingo. “Do you recognize anypony from before you got here?”
“Nope, I checked.”
“Anyone else say they did?”
“Not to me.”
“Bit bigger now. Who do you trust?”
“Oh, easy,” Fifty-Six started, “that would be—”
“Who’s this?” a beige mare asked as she walked up. Three blue and yellow candy wrappers, 62.
“Busted,” Fifty-Six jokingly whispered to Twilight. “Six, this is Sixty-Two, the pony here I trust completely and above all others.”
“And why are we discussing this?” Sixty-Two asked, joining the table.
“Six here wants to get a better feel for Ponyville.”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Sixty-Two said. “Ponyville is a very nice place to live.”
“Funny,” Twilight said, getting odd looks from the other two. “Well, you see it’s just that, if this is a perfectly nice place…then why are there no foals? Ponies get a great life once they talk, right? So why does nobody seem to have settled down?” Check.
“Well,” Sixty-Two started slowly, “maybe some ponies,” she put a hoof on Fifty-Six’s shoulder, “aren’t the kind who—”
“Everyone?”
Sixty-Two paused. “…No.”
“They why?” The other two glanced at each other. No response. “I think I’ve figured it out, stop me if you’ve heard this one,” Twilight continued. “You all realize how shady the stuff that goes on here is, don’t you? You just try to ignore it.”
“Well,” Fifty-Six said, “admittedly…”
“Fift—,” Sixty-Two tried cutting in.
“Ponyville…,” she continued anyway, “never lost its initial ‘unsettling factor’.” Sixty-Two only stared at her companion. “I’ve never asked, but…I doubt I’m alone.” Twilight hid a smirk. Checkmate.
“It’s best for us if we don’t dwell on those things,” Sixty-Two stated as plainly as possible.
“Yeah,” Fifty-Six conceded. Then she whispered, “Especially after what happened to Eighty-Six and Ninety-Nine.”
“Who?” asked Twilight.
“Don’t—,” Sixty-Two tried to cut in again, “you’re going to, aren’t you?”
“Some, mostly me,” Fifty-Six explained, leaning in, “say that they were spies sent here to infiltrate Ponyville. Number Two won’t admit anything more than that they were poking their noses where they didn’t belong, though. It’s all real suspicious.”
“And what happened to them?” Twilight pressed.
Fifty-Six paused, glancing around. “Don’t expect to run into them around town.” Twilight coughed to cover a gasp. “Also, best not to mention them too often. It’s kind of a touchy subject.”
Reading the table, Twilight was about to excuse herself and leave, but stopped for one more thing. “Fifty-Six…what’s your name?”
Sixty-Two slammed her hoof onto the table between them, impaling Twilight with a glare.
“Yeah,” Fifty-Six said quietly, “best not to do that either. Sorry.”
Twilight continued to wander through Ponyville again. She was going to have to do something about all these numbers. Nicknames should be easier to keep track of, but what to use? Eighty was an easy one: Pink. Call it rude, but Eighty-One had earned the mental nickname of Red-Eye. If she didn’t have time to be creative, then cutie marks should do fine. Mister annoyingly polite was Hourglass, and Fifty-Six and Sixty-Two were Lyre and Candy.
As she walked, she came across a familiar sight floating above her.
“You, cloud pony!” she called up to the low cloud. The rainbow tail shifted and a face looked over.
“Hey, glad you’re still here,” the mare said.
“That your idea of a joke?”
“No, it’s my idea of being grateful that shadow serpent didn’t get you. Figuring it went after you, right? Sometimes I see it slip out and the new guy’s not around anymore.”
Twilight tried not to visibly shudder. “In a different way, I’d want to not be around anymore.”
“Still on that, eh?”
“But there must be some kind of way out of here, right?”
“Heh, yeah,” ‘Rainbow’?—No, not with that dull attitude. ‘Cloud’—said, adding in a mumble, “said the joker to the thief.”
“What was that?”
“I used to be like you,” Cloud continued, “convinced I could get out if I just had the right opportunity. I even tried it once or twice. Got caught, got stopped. I wasn’t punished for it. You know what they did? They put me in charge of maintaining the cloud cover, the very dome we’re all under. If an expert flier like me was ever gonna find a way out, there couldn’t have been a better position to do it from. And I’m still here, aren’t I?”
“Okay…,” Twilight said. She looked up and around. “How come you couldn’t get out? They’re just clouds.”
Cloud stared at her a second. “You’re clearly not a pegasus.”
“Clearly,” Twilight said dryly.
“Those ‘just clouds’ of yours are just…wrong. You just know you don’t want to touch them, not even a nudge. You don’t know why you don’t, something just tells you…you don’t.”
“Then how do you manage them? And why not just blow them aside with your wings?”
“That is how I maintain them, but it’s not enough to break past them. It’s like they suppress your wing power up close, or at least your willingness to use it. I heard from Fifty-Eight you tried going into the forest, you know what I’m talking about when I say it ‘convinces’ you not to keep going.”
The silence of the forest creeped out from her memory, the dark path stretching away from her beginning to—she shook her head. “Fifty-Eight,” Twilight repeated. “You mean that yellow pegasus in the cottage?”
“Yeah, her.”
“Speaking of her,” she continued, “how come she gets her own unique building past the edge of town while everypony else seems to be stuck in an ordinary-looking house? I mean, I know they’re all different on the insides, but still.”
“Pff, you won’t hear me spilling about that,” Cloud said, slipping away from the edge again, “you’ll have to take it up with her if you want an explanation. And if you’re a stranger, then good luck getting much of anything.”
Hmm, Twilight thought to herself. Mental note.
As Twilight wandered on aimlessly, Pink bounced up beside her again. She sighed, having gotten used to not having a chaperone.
“So,” Pink asked, “have you gotten a better feel for the place?”
“The cloud cover is still getting at me,” Twilight said, still walking along.
“Haven’t you met Fifty?” Pink asked, undeterred and keeping pace. “Thought she’d explain it to you.”
“Is that the cloud-lounger? Too busy waxing philosophical to talk normally.”
“Basically,” Pink started, “it’s to stop the extreme weathers. It’ll never be too hot and sunny, nor will it ever be too overcast and stormy. Instead, rainclouds are individually placed and drained only when and where they’re needed. Number Seventy-Two oversees it, see? Right over there.”
Pink stopped bouncing and pointed across in front of Twilight over to a yellow pegasus with a slick seafoam green mane, three water drops in her bicycle cutie mark. She was hovering beside a lone cloud floating feet over a market stand full of flowers outside a presumable flower shop, a light sprinkle falling from it. A pink earth mare with a green mane stood next to the flowers, with two white flowers and a 34 in her mark.
“I wanna know…,” hummed the pegasus, “have you ever seen the rain? Comin’ down…a sunny day…”
Twilight raised an eyebrow to Pink. “But doesn’t that mean that you’ll never—”
“Not to worry,” Pink said triumphantly, “in case you’re ever feeling a need for those rainy day blues, you can just ask for a raincloud to be placed outside your window, it works wonders for soothing slumber or concentration.”
Pink might’ve known that’s not what she meant.
“Anything else?” Pink asked, leaning in with a smile.
Twilight looked around, mostly to get Pink out of her face, but noticed an otherwise ordinary-looking house sitting alone atop a tall hill at the back edge of town, flanked by several trees.
“You said a unique outside to the house means you’re important,” she said, “but what about location? Who gets to live up there?”
Pink turned to see where she was pointing. She stopped smiling. “A-uuhhh…let’s keep going, shall we?” Pink said as she hastily trotted off.
Before following, Twilight looked back up to the house. Mental note.
“So,” Pink said hesitantly, “this us, uh…Town Hall…”
“We’ve already been here.”
“Oh have we…right.” Pink’s eyes jumped around before locking onto something. “Oh, look,” she said mechanically, “it’s Nine-ty-One. Hi, Nine-ty-One! How fun-ny to meet you here, to-tal co-in-ci-dence.”
Twilight rolled her eyes as the white unicorn Ninety-One approached.
Ninety-One cleared her throat before presenting, “Yesterday I may have seemed a bit snappy, but it was wrong of me to act like that. I apologize. Ponyville isn’t a place for bitterness.”
“Did you get that from one of your posters?” Twilight replied. Hmm, would ‘Posters’ work?
“You aren’t going to make this easy,” Ninety-One hissed through grit teeth, “are you?”
No, ‘Scissors’, definitely.
“But,” Scissors continued in a now cheerful and flowery voice, “they say the first step towards friendship is compromise, so how about if I give you the benefit of the doubt, you’ll tell me something about how you managed to get a Number so close to the top.”
“You want it, it’s yours,” Twilight replied, Scissors snipping her closed mouth tighter as her eyes widened. “Just call in whoever gave us these bicycles to switch them, but I doubt you even questioned enough to know who that was.” And with that, she trotted off.
After standing stunned a moment longer, Scissors looked to Pink. “Was it something I said?”
As Twilight circled Town Hall, expecting to probably just meet Pink again after a complete orbit and continue the tour, she saw another pony, a white earth mare, coming out a side entrance onto the ground-level balcony. Hey, like the one she’d only glimpsed yesterday with Number Two. And from…wait, and? The mare had brownish black mane and tail buns, a large pair of black-rimmed glasses, and a white collar with red fluff. From somewhere, she just looked…where?
“Hey…,” Twilight said, catching her attention, “hey, I-I know you.”
“What?” the mare let out, stopping short on the steps. “N-nonsense, I…,” she craned her neck, “Number Six, is it? I’m afraid we haven’t met yet. You may have just seen me around Ponyville once or twice, it happens.” The mare started subtly backing away.
“No, I know you,” Twilight insisted, stepping forward, “from outside—where do I know you from?” The pony turned and raced back to the entrance. “Hey, wait!” Twilight broke into a gallop. “Why do I know you?”
The mare slipped inside, Twilight bounding into the doorway but jolting to a complete halt from a surging static pain—framed against a pale pink wall inside the Canterlot palace, the white mare with glasses stood attentively, a red glow around her horn—before being tossed back flat.
Twilight grabbed her head, looking after the pony but too late. She leaned up, panting, “But you were…”
“I see you’ve met Number Three,” said a familiar voice, “my personal assistant.” Number Two was suddenly standing beside Twilight.
“But she—”
“Yes, she’s been here longer than I have,” Number Two continued in her casual polite tone. “I’m not the first Number Two, you know, only the current one, but it’s been such a long term I’ve had it feels like it’s always just been me.”
Pink bounced up alongside Number Two. “Hey Six, you ran off and the tour’s not over yet.” She looked at where Twilight had fallen. “Doorway troubles? Word of advice, it doesn’t like running starts.”
Likely story, Twilight grumbled.
Number Two turned to Pink. “I don’t suppose you’d mind if I took over the last leg of this tour to point out a few of the more practical locations, Number Eighty?”
“Go right ahead, Number Two,” Pink replied with an overacted bow before bouncing off.
“Now, Six,” Number Two said with a smile, “is there any question on your mind you think only I could answer?”
“Who’s Number One?” Twilight asked.
Number Two didn’t lose her smile. “Let me show you something…,” she cooed, walking off. Twilight stared after her. No, Number Two wasn’t getting a nickname, that would be too good for her. She followed.
Near the edge of town, past a wall of shrubs, they arrived at a large wooden building with a dark red tiled roof. Number Two didn’t say anything about it as she led the way to the door, but Twilight guessed the large white monument sign out front bearing a red circle with a plus surrounded by hearts indicated a hospital of sorts. How thinly veiled.
Inside, Number Two nodded to the receptionist and simply walked through the occupied waiting room deeper into the building. As Twilight followed, she noticed nopony scattered across the chairs or benches even blinked at her apparent line skipping. ‘Guest of Number Two’ must be a common enough occupation. They passed a few nurses and some chatter before taking an unlabeled door down an empty hallway. Conversations vanished behind them when the door shut, and as they continued, the hallway began to echo their hoofsteps more prominently. Pale green and yellow gave way to dull gray. After an empty silence, humming and beeping began to well up, colored lights flashing on the wall beside various doors. She guessed the average patient never made it this far in.
A white earth mare with a pink mane and a nurse’s hat, bicycle cutie mark a red plus with hearts and a 79, was standing a bit past a metal door with a small round window and no handle. A purplish glow and a muffled, unplaceable sound came through the window. Looking up from a clipboard, she turned to them as Number Two walked up.
“I’m just here to check on the patient,” Number Two said.
“No change, I’m afraid,” Nurse Seventy-Nine replied. “We tried the new technique, but it doesn’t seem to be sticking any better than the others. Committed as I may be to her recovery, I’m not sure I can recommend bringing someone else to Ponyville just for a new strategy again.”
Finding herself ignored as the conversation continued, Twilight’s curiosity took her to the door, a card reading ‘66’ placed in a holding slot. Peeking in the portal window, she saw a blank padded room bathed in a magenta light, a pair of orderlies standing beside a cyan earth mare in a white patient robe. Her pale gray mane was unkempt and her eyes open wide, gritting her teeth and making odd sounds as her head bobbed back and forth. A violet-coated nurse stepped up to the source of a circle of white light projected on the far wall and held a short length of rope into the beam. Upon seeing the serpentine shadow swaying on the wall, the patient gave an animalistic yipe and started barking madly at the silhouette. The nurse removed the rope, but the patient yowled at the ceiling, prompting a yellow-coated nurse across the room to run over.
“Oh, what a pity she was,” Number Two sighed, now looking through the window too, ignoring Twilight’s flinch. “She tried to resist our guard dog, and now she may never enjoy life in Ponyville despite our best efforts.” The shadow serpent’s eyes flashed in Twilight’s mind, and she grabbed her head. “Luckily,” Number Two added without turning, “you’ve proven yourself smarter.”
Twilight hid a glare at Number Two, then looked back in the window. Restrained by the orderlies, the presumed Number Sixty-Six continued barking at the nurses. She pulled a hoof free and swiped at the air in their direction, dropping from the other orderly’s grip to the soft floor. As the second nurse waved the orderlies back, Sixty-Six continued lying on her side and barking at nothing.
Exiting the hospital, a bell tower elsewhere in town began chiming. The cloud cover had a hint of orange to it.
“Oh, where did the time go?” Number Two said. “I’ve got to be off.”
“What about the other stops?” Twilight asked in casual accusation. “You said there were a few.”
“I think we can end the tour here today.”
“Not even trying to hide the point, are we?” Twilight pressed. “Then just stop prancing around it.”
“Very well,” Number Two turned to her, “I’ll ask you again. Why did you suddenly leave?”
Twilight stared back silently. They want to know why I left? I left because I know. But I can’t let them know that. Because what I don’t know, is whether they’re part of it. She smiled. “Be seeing you,” she said courteously. “Oh look,” she started to trot away, “I’m fitting in already.”
Despite her slightly amused look, Number Two did not respond.
As Twilight entered the library, she found Pink waiting for her reading her open and empty communication book.
“Finished already?” Pink asked.
“Apparently,” Twilight said, trying to hide her true reaction. “So, did I complete the tour to your satisfaction?”
“Don’t make it sound so formal, but yep, you’re still a bit green around the edges, but you’re listening and improving just fine. Answering their questions isn’t part of my job, so you pass!”
“Great, great,” Twilight said impatiently. “So, what was it exactly that let those words vanish?”
“Eh, nothing too special,” Pink waved off, reaching into her mane, “just this disappearing ink.” She pulled out a navy blue inkwell with the shape of an ink drop drawn in a dotted line. “My own special blend, patent not pending, as it only works because it’s real hush-hush-like. This will erase itself from both your and the receiving book, but you already figured that part out, didn’t you?”
“Mm-hm,” Twilight murmured, walking up for a closer look. She had to have—
“Ah—not so fast,” Pink stuffed the inkwell away again, “can’t just let everypony have a bottle. But because you were such a good participant on the tour today, I’ll give you a special offer. Say I’m your friend and I’ll give you some of the ink.”
“Eighty, for that ink, I’ll say you’re my best friend.”
“Really?” Pink pressed, jumping to attention. “Because I take that talk very seriously.”
Twilight shook her head with a smile. “Of the ponies I know in Ponyville, you are absolutely my closest friend.”
“Hmmmm…,” Pink said, staring closely at Twilight. Twilight gave the most innocent-looking grin she could. It wouldn’t have convinced her. “Good enough!”
The tip of Pink’s mane arched back into the rest of it and fished out the inkwell, tossing it for Twilight to catch with magic.
“Thanks,” Twilight said, setting it on the center table.
“And remember, this never happened.” Pink winked at her and trotted to the door, but stopped. “Oh, just so you know for the future, there’s a lights-out curfew shortly after sundown. Since there’s no moon or stars to see, it’s a bit too dark to be doing things outside, and no reasons to not get a full night’s rest. Be seeing you.” And with that, she slipped out.
“Disappearing ink, huh?” Twilight mused, turning back to the inkwell. Her horn lit up. “Let’s add to that, shall we…”
* * *
That night, a pony walked softly along the dark and empty streets of Ponyville, a whitish glow coming from above as the cloud layer spread the orb of moonlight across the entire sky, until they heard voices coming from nearby.
“Your strategic placement close to her will be very advantageous, don’t you agree?” said a recognizable voice.
The pony tiptoed up to the corner of a building and peeked around it, seeing Number Two a short ways down speaking to someone out of view.
“Fear not,” Number Two continued. “There’s no blot on your record, and this will be an important service to your Ponyville.” She held out a large envelope. “You’ll find the details of your assignment in here. We’ll be watching your progress with great interest.”
Twilight sat at a table in her room with an open journal and a single candle, the wide window letting the night spill in, but apparently not letting the light spill out, being much smaller when viewed from the outside. Still, heck with lights-out, but no need to risk attracting attention with more than the candle.
Silently, she watched a scribble of ink in the corner of the page fade from view, not even leaving an impression in the paper. She waited a few seconds, then lit up her horn, slowly leaning in. As her magic’s purple glow spread onto the page corner, the ink faded back in, but vanished as she pulled away again. She smiled.
She dipped the quill in her new ink again and started writing.
“‘Twilight Sparkle, Entry #1. Who’…‘is’…‘Number’…‘One?’”
