Chapters ~ Entry 281
It has been a while (obviously) since my last entry, so let me explain why.
~~It all began when ... eh bleh. This isn’t how to start let me try something el~~
When my sister suggested I begin this small task of writing out my experiences and feelings after each day ~~I told her she coul~~ scoffed at the uselessness of it. Such things did not seem anything more than a waste of time. With my recent redemption I had been left with nothing; no knowledge, friends, confidence. Even home was different, now situated in a metropolis known as Canterlot. ~~I was quite angry at that, actually, and~~ So I devoted my time to study, locking myself away from the world in a pathetic attempt to pretend that I wasn’t afraid, but simply biding my time before emerging once again as a worthy princess.
Celestia didn’t ask much of me beyond spending as many hours together as possible for the first few weeks. She showed me many of the changes that had been wrought over the last millennium. ~~It was, interes~~ I cannot lie and say that I enjoyed all of it, because that would be lying to myself, not just a silly book. No, I still felt like a foreigner, or perhaps a long forgotten relic.
~~Nightmare Moon. By the stars that sounds drea~~
My sister avoided all topics that directly related to me and my past ~~actions~~ mistakes. At first I was silent, but we both quickly realized how hard it is to avoid a thousand years of punishment and mistakes. She would wince and grow silent whenever she got carried away talking about how the world advanced within the last century, or six.
I grew tired of it, eventually, and finally confronted her. She told me she was terrified of making another mistake. ~~I was sickened at the degree she wou~~ We had some serious discussions after that, and in that time the idea of you, a diary, sprouted. Apparently Celestia kept one for a long time after my banishment, although she would not show it to me. She grew quite ~~wroth~~ upset when I requested to see it. She claimed it is a memory of darker days she would rather forget. In that moment I realized it wasn’t only I that suffered during my banishment.
So, I purchased this book, or diary, and left it on my nightstand for a number of days before even opening it for the first time. Any time I wasn’t with Celestia, I was locked in my tower studying. Finally at her urging I began to write entries. They were small, at first; a dribble to placate the ~~dripping faucet~~ nagging housewife my sister could be. (Looking back, I see this trend lasted for almost two months).
That was when I began to notice the effects it was having on me. The short entries grated on my thoughts. They were pointlessly short, unable to detail the time I spent in intense study and causing me to question their worth. I was following the current day curriculum for children and was flying through the materials at a speed that the instructor Celestia had discretely hired couldn’t believe. It was those small entries coupled with a small offhand remark this instructor made that changed everything. “You’re doing great, princess. But you can’t learn everything from textbooks,” he said.
One night, I confronted myself in this journal. If anyone is reading this, you will know it was entry 72. Even to this day it remains one of my larger entries and I suspect that will not change. I poured my heart into those pages; my frustrations, fears, and desires all took shape in that entry. I didn’t get much sleep that night, and I recall Celestia coming in early in the morning before she raised the sun to sit with me.
Soon after that I decided to branch out. Sitting alone, reading and studying, only gets a pony so far. Stepping out into the world, again, was one of the hardest things I’ve done, but I bolstered my confidence with the thought that I was an alicorn and could do anything. I do realize now how fragile I really was, but thankfully I was directed along a safe path to solidifying my assurance in myself.
I met with Twilight Sparkle. She is a beautiful mare ~~not just in looks~~, and to this day her soul is one of the most innocent and pure that I have ever known. It was only when I stood on her doorstep that I realized it had taken me three months to even consider thanking her for what she did back home in the Everfree castle. I was nervous beyond belief, but I refused to ~~be the b~~ play the chicken~~, as they say these days~~.
I will not go into details about our first meeting or our time spent together after that. ~~If, for some reason, some ass is readi~~ Those are detailed in most all of my ~~previous~~ entries after 72 up until now. What I want to emphasize is that I have been enjoying life more than I ever have. I may have been, and am still somewhat, jealous of my sister’s accomplishments (but, I’ve learned what jealousy and hubris gets a pony. I’ve talked these feelings over with multiple ponies already and have found a way to mitigate the negatives). If there was any one thing, or pony in this case, that I couldn’t hold against my sister it would be Twilight.
She has helped me in more ways than my sister ever ~~did~~ could. The raw power, friendship and understanding behind this little pony is ~~not something my sister could have created~~ astounding. Twilight may still be bookish, eccentric and reclusive, but spending time with her has helped me get over myself (and my past) more than anything. It is still a struggle, of course, to see this world in the positive light that everyone else does, but with each passing day I feel more at ease with those around me than before. Friendship truly is magic.
That brings us to today. As I said, it has been a while since I last wrote an entry. Four months, by my ~~calculation~~ ~~dates~~ diary. This is because I’ve not felt any need. I am happy and content. I still have much to learn about the modern world, but the dark, brooding and jealous pony I once was is gone.
But, I feel compelled to write once again. I wished to cohesively express how far I’ve come, and yet still how much farther I have to go. I have learned much, but being an alicorn requires that I ~~learn~~ become more. Equestria ~~has always ha~~ needs two princesses. The burden should not fall to Celestia alone and it is my place to alleviate her burden. She deserves more time to herself, to have the experiences that I’ve been able to in ~~this past year~~ these past months.
Although I am not looking forward to picking up royal duties officially alongside Celestia once again, as it will reduce the time I am able to spend with Sparkle (And I can honestly say that is the reason. I no longer care to have equal or greater power than my sister, but I understand the necessity and responsibility of my position and will gladly take on the burden). We, Sparkle and I, are on the verge of a momentous scientific discovery that will change the world, (that I am just coming to understand), forever. Mass teleportation; or, instant travel for everypony. It is truly exciting and I cannot wait for our first trial runs tomorrow. My eagerness is palpable, but I think I’ve finally exhausted myself.
~~Tomorrow will b~~
So, Diary, wish us luck!
Author's Note
So it begins...
This will be a long story. There will be more characters and tags, but I'm just not sure what they'll be right now. Rating will stay teen.
Arc 1 - Grounded
Chapter 1
Nothing was going to go wrong... Why had she said that?
Carefully gathering her hooves beneath her, Luna opened her eyes. The room was pitch black; she couldn’t even see her muzzle, and that was saying something for the Night Princess. She groaned, the sound piercing the oppressive silence. She cursed at herself, why had she jinxed the experiment like that?
Standing, she assessed her condition. “ Well, I’m still in one piece . ” She raised an eyebrow.“Odd, the equipment is gone, and it doesn’t look like there was an explosion.”
Luna wilted as her next thought hit her: “ Twilight Sparkle was right . I shouldn’t have charged the device with my magic.”
She lit her horn and was shocked into stillness as the light illuminated rack upon rack of palace guard armor. Stepping closer to investigate, she noticed they lacked the gold finish and the winged flanges on the helms. Instead, the steel shone with a dull, silvery light as Luna’s light reflected and bounced around them.
Pulling her eyes away from the armor, Luna glanced around. “Twilight?” she called tentatively. “Twilight, are you there?”
Silence greeted her.
Unable to keep her attention away from the racks, she turned a frown back to the sets of armor. They seemed oddly familiar. “A lmost as if— No, Celestia told me she got rid of these ... ”
On closer inspection, the armor wasn’t that of the palace guard. These were much more like the armor her own forces wore before her transformation.
“Curious indeed,” Luna mused to herself. This wasn’t right, this armor should be gone . Yet, here it was. Where was she? Luna took a step around one of the racks, but stopped as the ground crackled beneath her.
A blackened circle, riddled with twisted hairline cracks, encircled her hooves as she looked down at them. She frowned and moved towards the door, the brittle, blackened stone crumbling beneath her hooves. She pushed it open... “ Okay, maybe not” . Luna shoved against the door, her frown deepening when it did not budge.
Backing away, she charged her horn and was about to blow it off its hinges, but paused at the last moment. Glancing back at the rows of armor, she decided that she had no idea what she was doing. Randomly throwing her magic around is what got her into this mess. Instead, she sent a few tendrils of magic beyond the door to confirm there was nothing there. Then, she teleported into the corridor outside.
She looked back, the door was barred. “...From the outside?” Then there was the armor stash. Luna looked up and down the corridor, the light from her horn flashing. It sure looked similar to the corridor outside of the experiment room... “Wait a minute, is this even the same room?” Luna looked at the door again. “Ahah !” It was exactly like the oak door she and Twilight had removed in favor of a more modern, and very thick steel door. It did not look near as aged as it had when they removed it though.
Puzzled, Luna began moving up and out of the depths of the palace. The torch sconces were all empty, and there weren’t any ashes to been seen anywhere. In fact, looking close at the walls, she could see mold growing. Luna was growing nervous. The layout of this place was exactly the same as Canterlot Castle, but this was clearly not home. As she continued upwards, she passed a number of other rooms that were as dark as the corridor. Rooms she knew Celestia to have had occupied for one project or another were all filled with sets of armor or weapons. Something was definitely... wrong.
“Stay calm, Luna. There will be plenty of time to panic when you figure out what is going on,” she reasoned.
Conjuring her magic once more, Luna drew the abundant shadows around her and became invisible. Whatever was going on, she wasn’t so foolish as to run around flapping her wings everywhere. Until she figured out what had happened, it might be best to just keep silent. She was not so large that sneaking around would be a problem. She didn’t clunk around like that big sunbutt she called sister.
Luna snorted. What had Twilight meant anyway? “Twice the normal mass?” Pshaw! She was a very petite alicorn, noticeably less massive than those hunks of stallions in--Luna flicked an ear as a ringing sound chimed faintly down the corridor, distracting her from reminiscing.
She kept moving. Soon, sounds of a smith at work reached her ears. Finally coming upon a lit corridor, she recalled it led straight to the smithy, which seemed to be buzzing with activity. She paused, it led to the smithy back in Canterlot Castle. While this place was very similar to her home, she was pretty sure her home contained a certain purple unicorn, lots of arcane equipment and modern lighting.
Focusing her attention back on the loud ringing, she decided it did not seem too extraordinary, the palace guards or grounds keepers were always needing something repaired. Still, Luna had seen the sets of armor rusting away back in the storeroom. If Equestria was at war, or needed guards, then wouldn’t all the armor be on ponies? Maybe they were preparing for war?
Sneaking to the large smithy doors, Luna looked through the cracks. She cringed at the din that was originating from within. There were at least a dozen ponies working around the large forge. All of them were working on what appeared to be some piece of war equipment. The noise was overwhelming and Luna quickly retreated, wondering what was going on.
Almost running into a pony rushing in the opposite direction, Luna reeled out of the way just in time. She looked to where the colt was heading, Luna remember it led to the wine cellar. Curious, she moved along until she came to the large room. There was a lot of sound coming from the cellar, as if a lot of ponies were very busy at, whatever they would be doing in a cellar.
Luna peaked around the corner and froze with surprise. The entire cellar was alive with activity. True, there had always been some activity down here. But now, the place was packed in with as many, if not more than what filled the kitchens. Dozens of ponies rushed around cataloging, stacking, ordering and pretty much anything else that could possibly be done with the barrels.
The large wine presses and vats were all full. Luna had only ever seen one or two being used at a time, but now there were at least a dozen all being used to produce alcoholic beverages.
She decided to get some information, the colt who had almost run into her was busy cataloging a stack of kegs. It was a perfect little niche for her to interrogate somepony without any others coming and interrupting. Luna shed her disguise and cautiously approached the pony.
“Um, what is going-” She tried to ask, but was interrupted as the stallion jumped and turned to see her for the first time. He let out a very unmanly shriek.
“N-NIGHTMARE MOON!?” He screamed, backpedaling into a pony hauling a cart full of kegs.
They went down in a heap, the kegs falling everywhere. A few of them broke, splashing all nearby ponies in fermented juices. Ponies scrambled in all directions. Half the work going on in the cellar ground to a halt. The stallion had been soaked head to hoof, and he just lay on the floor, eyes wide and body twitching.
In no time at all guards arrived on the scene and the ponies scattered, working furiously back at their tasks while only a few were left to clean up the mess. When the situation was brought back under control, there was no Princess of the Night to be found. The stallion she had frightened was ushered, still shivering, out of the cellar by two guards.
Luna observed from the shadows, her dark coat making her nearly invisible. The guards were not wearing the bright regalia that she remembered. Instead, it looked exactly like the armor she remembered Celestia’s troops using at the time of her banishment. Luna frowned in confusion and followed the guards.
Before long, the stallion regained awareness of his surroundings and began to fight in the guards’ grip.
“No! What are you doing! Stop! I’m fine, let me go back to work!”
“You’ve been working in the cellars too long my friend, we don’t need anypony going crazy and impeding progress. We are barely keeping up with the Princess’ demands as it is.”
“Then let me help! I’m fine I swear! Maybe just a little tired, the alcoholic fumes were getting to me!” The stallion pleaded, all the while being dragged along.
“If you can’t handle a few smells then you shouldn’t be down there. The wine cellars can’t afford a lightweight like yourself.” The guard said impassively.
“No, please! I-I’m sorry, just give me a second chance!” The stallion was babbling, or blubbering, Luna could not quite tell which. Either way, it was disturbing to see the guards acting so cold.
Had she been like this at one time? Luna could clearly remember disowning working ponies for less than this. But, being the pony responsible for his unjust demise made the whole situation seem sickly to her. She followed the retreating ponies, maybe she could still fix this.
“It is not up to us to decide, you can take this up with the princess. If you’re lucky, she might just fire you.” The stallion went limp as the guards dragged him through the halls.
It wasn’t long before Luna realized they were heading for the throne room. She had no trouble following undetected as the halls were much darker than she remembered. There were shadows everywhere, she was able to move like a wraith behind the guards.
As they approached the double doors to the throne room, two guards standing at attention on either side gestured them to wait. Luna’s ears twitched as she heard shouts from within.
Whatever was going on, it did not seem to be going well. A moment later the doors banged open, two mares and a stallion beat a hasty retreat through them as screamed threats echoed through the halls behind them.
“... And if thou ever come back here showing those snivelling faces We shall personally rip them off thine skulls !”
That sounded very much like... Celestia. But, it carried the ancient accent with it that Luna had when she had returned from banishment. The words were also unnaturally loud, and slurred. Luna tried to crane her neck enough to see into the throne room from her hiding spot. But at that moment, the two guards carrying their prisoner straightened and adjusted their armor before walking inside, kicking the doors closed behind them.
The door banged loudly and bounced back open. Glancing left and right, Luna saw nothing. Odd that there were no guards, but she wasn’t complaining. Seeing an opportunity, Luna snuck up to the doors and peeked in.
The scene that greeted her eyes stopped her dead. It was certainly her sister, but not one she had ever seen. The alicorn had bags under her eyes, a coat stained with repeated spills of alcohol, a countenance consumed with anger and she was carrying a mug, of what Luna could only assume was wine out of the keg next to her, which she was continually swigging out of.
Her slack jawed assessment was cut short as the guards marched up to the dais and saluted smartly.
“Your Highness, this pony claims to have seen Nightmare Moon in the cellars. He was disrupting the workers and slowing productions, we have brought him to face your judgement.”
The stallion between the two guards tried to fling himself forward, but was stopped by the guards’ firm grips. “I swear it was a mistake! I can keep doing my job just fine. I... I... It won’t happen again I swear!”
Celestia regarded him coldly, her furious features having turned to stone the moment Nightmare Moon had been mentioned.
“Remove him.” She hiccuped. “We have no place for hallucinators and procrastinators in Our palace.” Celestia waved a hoof dismissively, ignoring the pleas of the sobbing stallion.
Luna quietly retreated and waited for the tragic procession to exit the throne room. Already having forgotten what she had just done, Celestia plopped back onto her throne and demanded more wine. Any chance of her observing Luna’s presence was lost in a sea of inebriation and impatience.
With a shake of her head, Luna closed the throne room doors in disbelief as she left. The guards outside, preoccupied with the now struggling stallion, did not notice Luna’s actions.
They made it to the end of the corridor before one of them finally brought his hoof down on the stallion’s head. It didn’t knock him out, but he went limp immediately as he regressed into a daze. Luna continued to follow quietly. She wasn’t sure what to do, but it seemed wrong to just leave the stallion she had caused to lose his livelihood.
Once outside the palace, Luna rolled her eyes as she found out it was raining. She watched the guards haul the unresponsive stallion out the gates and drop him on the streets of what Luna could only guess to be Canterlot.
When the guards barred the gates and retreated inside, Luna abandoned her hiding place and teleported through the large oak doors to the stallion’s side. He was still laying on the ground, his coat and mane already matted with the rain water and mud.
Picking the stallion up with her magic, Luna quickly retreated to a covered alley. If this was Canterlot, it certainly wasn’t filled with the vibrant life and paved streets that she had come to know. She was beginning to have suspicions that the teleporter had performed something similar to, or very much like, time travel.
It was a crazy, wild idea. There was no way any of their readings could have predicted this, yet that was also why it might could be possible. Things had gone horribly wrong, something that could not have been predicted...
“All I need to do is find Twilight Sparkle and get back to...” Her thoughts ground to a halt as the logic side of her brain caught up with the rest of it. There was no Twilight Sparkle. Yet. There was also no equipment to even attempt a return trip with.
A peal of thunder reverberated through the alley and the sky flashed. Luna pushed her thoughts to the side and refocused on the pony at her hooves. Right now she needed to find a place to spend the night. If this was Canterlot in the past, then it was probably wise to assume there weren’t any places open this late and to get any answers she’d have to wait until morning.
The bigger, more pressing problem, however, was that she had a dazed stallion in her keeping, and she was probably the single most feared being in the world at this point in time. The latter making any combination of circumstances rather dangerous.
While her countenance resembled little of Nightmare Moon herself, ponies had made it clear to Luna that her normal features were just as terrifying. Which was really unfair and rude on their part if she thought about it.
“Well... when they didn’t know better” , Luna reminded herself. It was rather unfair of her to demean ponies for their behavior so drastically. She had learned that lesson the hard way, but thankfully Twilight had been there...
Anyway , a disguise. Luna laid the slowly recovering stallion down in the shadow of an overhanging building and began to prepare herself a magical persona. It was a complex piece of work. She’d have to weave the spell to be undetectable from the outside, give herself normalizing features, but also align it in a way so that it would conform to her body well and lessen the chances for it to be foiled.
Still, it was something she was quite familiar with. After all, it had been her who had designed the Nightmare Armor, more or less. She had also had a hoof in various other projects of shadowy nature, ones that Celestia had never been able to figure out. Creating a second skin for herself was like child’s play.
First choice to be made was what her new coat color and mane were going to be. Luna pondered her choices for a few minutes. It would probably be best if she didn’t choose anything that would resemble herself too closely, as her personality might make things obvious. After all, she had no idea how long it was going to take to get back to her timeline, or wherever away from her home was. Or how many other ponies she was going to have to interact with between now and then.
Perhaps an orange, or blue, or maybe a pink? So many choices… Luna stood contemplating all the options with a grimace. So maybe making the changes was simple, but she’d never really had to worry about actually choosing the colors. She had other ponies for that. The stallion groaned and tried to sit up, but ended up only placing a hoof to his head.
Luna shook her head and quickly began forming her magic. Time was up, it would be easier to explain her presence without having to go through the whole magic thing, not to mention he would probably flip out again if he saw her usual form.
She decided on a blue coat, not as dark as her natural color, but still deeper than a sky blue. Having lived with blues her whole life, it was a little difficult to just discard it on the spot. Next was her mane, it needed simplification and coloration. A light pink should suffice, that wasn’t too abnormal was it? Her sister used to have a pink mane, it looked good.
Next was deciding if her horn or wings went. It was a big, and tough, choice. What would she need to use more? If she kept her magic then there was a lot more she could do. She’d have to be careful not to use too much of her power if a situation arose, but it would certainly allow her to explain away a great more than if she kept her wings.
But, if she got rid of her wings, she’d be grounded. Nopony who ever had wings would ever want that. Not being able to fly just for the sake of flying would be terrible. Luna had never been the best of flyers, but she liked to think she could give a Wonderbolt a run for their money. Still, it was the least logical choice, even if it was the more desired option, in her opinion at least.
With a sigh, Luna began disguising her wings. Celestia may be able to get away with being a pegasus now and again for fun, but Luna still wasn’t sure just how serious this situation was. It would probably be best to be prudent from the start instead of stirring the pot with accidental magic.
Just as she finished her disguise, the stallion sat up. Flipping her restyled mane out of her eyes, Luna turned to him. He still seemed rather out of it, those guards must have hit him quite hard.
She frowned, that was unacceptable behavior. No guard would behave thusly, if it had been one of her guard she’d have- Luna stopped for a moment, thinking back to her days before and as Nightmare Moon.
Yes, she had acted like that when she’d been in power then. If anypony crossed her, or got in her way, she’d punished them quite severely without even thinking about it. But, a few hundred years on the moon had kind of tempered that mindset, even though it had been the Nightmare that had returned. Now, since her reformation , as most liked to call it, she’d been introduced to a world of kindness that she’d enjoyed quite a lot.
But now, seeing this sort of brutality first hoof after so many years, it was rather shocking. Luna wasn’t sure what Celestia was up to, but it did not seem like the one she’d been banished by. Well, there was only one way to find out.
Luna looked down at the stallion rubbing his head. He was looking at her quizzically when she turned to him, but he quickly turned away when she did. She couldn’t get his color very well in the dark and rain, but he seemed to be a brownish. He didn’t seem to be as skittish now, hopefully that meant her disguise was working.
“Hello there,” Luna said. She cursed inwardly, she hadn’t changed her voice at all. Turning away from the stallion she quickly used her magic to change that as well.
Luna turned back to the stallion and tried again, “My name is… Clover.” Luna finished not so smoothly. Her voice was now higher, having a distinctive trill over her normally rough tone. She smiled inwardly, she still had it.
Stepping towards the stallion, she leaned down to be level with him sitting and put her nose close to his face. “What is yours?”
The stallion blinked a few times and leaned back uncertainly. “Uh, Copperhoof… , what are you doing?”
“I feel that is the question I should be asking you .” Luna responded.
Copperhoof sighed dejectedly and pinched his nose with a hoof. “I can’t believe this. One little hallucination and I freak out. You’d think an earth pony could handle a few liquor fumes. Why couldn’t I just keep my muzzle shut?”
Luna cocked her head. “Hmm?”
The stallion glanced at her again, this time taking a good look at the mare before him. “Why are you out here? It’s a terrible night, what do you care if somepony got shoved out of the palace gates?”
“I, uh, was just out?” Luna offered. The stallion's suspicious tone caught her off guard.
Copperhoof shook his head and sighed. “It’s fine, I know nopony would be out in this unless they were forced to be.” He went silent again, dejectedly wiping mud from his muzzle. “So,” he said finally. “Who kicked you out, and when?”
“I… Well,” Luna stammered, grasping at her knowledge of the past.
Actually, she had no sure idea of when or where this was. Based on the behavior and structure of the guards, as well as the architecture, she was guessing it was after her defeat as Nightmare Moon. But, even that was grasping at straws, time travel wasn’t even supposed to be possible. Still, she had to entertain the notion, being an experimental scientist with Twilight Sparkle kind of forced that sort of thinking.
An idea came to the disguised alicorn. “I’m not sure when, what year is it?”
Copperhoof gave her another quizzical glance. “It’s seventeen years after the Nightmare’s demise.” He paused and raised an eyebrow, wincing at it moved the growing bruise on his forehead. “How long… You don’t look like you’ve been on the streets longer than a couple days. How can you not know?”
Luna sighed, slumping her shoulders dejectedly. “Time never meant much at the academy.” She said heavily. Thinking quickly, she added, “You’re right, I’ve only been out for just today. Nopony talks to me willingly, it’s like I don’t exist.”
Even though she was beginning to suspect some sort of time travel mishap, it was still no less shocking to have it confirmed. Questions were bubbling up thick and fast. How was that even possible? What repercussions could something like this have? How was she going to get home?
Forcing those thoughts down, Luna focused on her current situation. Memories of this day and age were resurfacing and she was trying to piece together an extra seventeen years. There were differences from what she remembered, but not too different judging by Copperhoof’s reactions.
Obviously academies were still as aloof as they had been a few years prior. The night was still shunned and ponies had an irrational fear of Nightmare Moon. But, there were also some things different. Celestia was not the pony she remembered, and Equestria itself was making no changes towards the better world Luna knew it had been forged into.
If she had to guess, her banishment had played a major role in Celestia’s reaction. At that thought, Luna stilled. ‘Tia had always made mention it had been hard, but never brought up that it had been this bad. Even before, Luna always remembered her sister giving ponies the time of day just so long as they asked nicely. She never had the same patience ‘Tia did, and that was part of the reason she’d become so jealous.
But, enough of that, Luna shook her head to clear away her reminiscing. The fact that Celestia was acting too harshly was disconcerting. It was possible she’d been transported into some kind of different dimension, one that had a more brash Celestia. After all, if time travel was possible… why not interdimensional travel?
It was absurd, but unfortunately Luna couldn’t discredit the preposterousness of the situation. She turned back to the stallion, who was looking at her expectantly.
“I’m sorry, I missed that.” She apologized, realizing he had asked her something.
“I asked, why did you pull me in here?” he repeated.
Luna shrugged. “I saw you get shoved out the doors, you didn’t look so good. I couldn’t just leave you there.” She turned to him, this was her window of opportunity. “I was hoping you would be able to help me.”
The stallion laughed bitterly. “Me? Help you? A fancy academy student? Not sure what you’re implying, Miss Clover. You probably have enough of those fancy magics you’d do fine anywhere.”
“I don’t know anything about the city either.” Luna interjected. “I’m an academy student, remember?”
From what she recalled, the few prestigious academies that had been established didn’t accept traditional applicants. They had, when they’d been founded. But, Celestia’s lax governing of them allowed the ruling boards to develop their own selective means of accepting ponies.
They had what were called ‘scouts’ who went out and tested young fillies and colts to see if they would qualify for the special training and lifestyle the academy would offer. It was a selfish method of teaching. The ponies that emerged from those academies all had the same bias, ideals and misguided ideologies of the secluded professors who had no understanding of the outside world.
While it was a wish for any parent that their child would grow up wanting in nothing, the price of sending them to an academy, where that was possible, was steep. A parent would not have control over that child ever again. Yes, they might see them from time to time, but that child would never see them as their true family. They usually grew up being embarrassed to go meet with family, having been indoctrinated to see them as lesser ponies. It was a catch twenty-two all the way around. On the one hoof, that child would live an easy life to the end of his days, but on the other he would never grow up to be the strong, independent and loving pony that would have come from a life of hard work.
There wasn’t much practical use for knowledge beyond the family trade in this world, so scholars usually stayed at the universities until the end of their days; destined to be single hermits who never knew what love, life, or family was.
It wasn’t much of a stretch to expect Copperhoof to know this. It was common knowledge to everypony, and a real controversial topic for families with children that qualified. At least, it had been when Luna still ruled with her sister. She hoped her statement still carried enough implication that he wouldn’t ask further.
Thankfully, he did. “So, why did they kick you out? Why aren’t you with your family?”
Luna grimaced inwardly; out of the frying pan and into the fire. “I was…uh… ‘Unruly’.” Luna emphasized the word by waving her hooves. “And I don’t remember having any family.
“But, enough about me.” Luna gestured towards the palace. “Why did you get kicked out? You said you were hallucinating?”
Copperhoof grimaced and held a hoof up to his swelling forehead. “I… It’s dumb. I saw- I made a mistake in the cellars. I got kicked out for it.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do?”
Another look. “Filly, you know how many ponies would take advantage of your obliviously innocent offer?”
“Should I not be offering to help you? That’s barbaric!” Luna trilled in an aghast tone.
The stallion sighed. “Look, we can talk about this later. First we need to find a dry place to spend the night.”
It wasn’t raining on them in the alley, but Luna was all too aware of the water seeping along the cobblestones and through her tail. “Where would you suggest?”
Copperhoof sighed and stood up, wincing and holding his head.
Luna pursed her lips and stepped closer to him. “Here, let me fix that.”
She moved to place her horn against his forehead but he shied away exclaiming, “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?!”
She rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. Of course, while the unification of the tribes was already ancient history to these ponies, the equality and trust had yet to reach its fullest.
“Honestly,” she groused, “You’d think ponies would be a little more trusting of someone who’d already helped them.”
“Listen, filly,” Copperhoof began indignantly.
Luna interrupted him, “It’s, Clover.”
“I appreciate you getting me out of the rain and all,” he continued, ignoring her interruption. “But, I just met you. You can’t just go waving your horn around and doing all those shady… Er, fancy magicks on just anypony.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Oh please, you’re ridiculous.” She grabbed him in her magic and pulled him closer. “If I wanted to hurt you I could have done it a million times already.”
Ignoring his protests, she held him still and hovered her horn over his skull. It would have been better if she could have made contact, but even she realized that would be a little too presumptuous. She still needed him to be her friend, and invading his personal space even more was a sure way of losing what little relationship she had established.
It wouldn’t do to have him walking around with a head injury, not when she could fix it easily. Once he realized that he was healed he would probably change his tune. At least, that was what she hoped, it would be very hard for her to function without a male to turn to.
This time and age did not take kindly to a mare on her own. It was just unheard of for one to be working or making a living on her own. There was always a stallion of the house earning the bits. Even mares who had lost their own husbands, or had never married, lived under the roof of a working stallion. That was just the way things were. Luna remembered this now, and she had no intention as passing herself off as a stallion.
Currently, her plan was to find herself a little niche somewhere she could carry out some form of study on her accident. Maybe there was a way to get back to her time, and Twilight Sparkle, but for now she needed a place to gather her thoughts and begin research.
Luna allowed her magic to pass into the stallion’s forehead and begin assessing the damage. It was a fairly simple head injury, something that would heal on its own. But it would swell quite extensively and possibly cause headaches. The blood needed to be redirected and the veins repaired.
Once she finished, she set the stallion down gently. He didn’t move, but was breathing heavily. After a moment, he cautiously raised a hoof to his forehead and felt around for his injury. After a few knocks and lots of feeling around, he lowered his hoof and stared at her.
“How…” he trailed off, staring at her. “Nopony has ever been able to pick me up with their magic before… Who are you?”
Luna almost facehoofed, even for all her preparation, her carelessness was going to get her in trouble! Unicorns were normally unable to manipulate biomass that was living. This meant animals from parasprites to ponies to manticores were all beyond the ability of a normal unicorn to lift.
Most thought it was just because they were alive, that living material was unmanipulable. But Luna knew the reason went deeper than that. Twilight Sparkle, bless that little bundle of knowledge, had figured it out shortly before becoming an alicorn herself.
It wasn’t because the target was alive, it was because of the magic that resided in them. There was a complex network of magical life flowing through all living beings, and it was especially strong in ponies. Gryphons had stronger resistances than most, minotaurs too, but they had other means for avoiding magical influences.
But that was a story for another time. Luna racked her brain for a way to explain away her abnormal magic use. She laughed nervously. “Please,” she scoffed. “I’m an academy student, you really think I’ve not got a few tricks up my mane?”
Thankfully that seemed to pacify Copperhoof, but she resolved not to slip up again. Maybe she could figure out some way for her to sense when she was using too much, maybe like a magical alarm. She’d have to look into it when it wasn’t pouring rain.
Copperhoof began to shiver. He stood up and spoke slowly. “Okay, listen. I know a few places we can go for tonight. So, as a return of thanks for your help, I’m offering whatever room I get, to share.” He paused, as if to let it sink it. But Luna was more intent on not pumping her hoof in success. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, if you have somewhere else you can go,” he continued. “But, I’m guessing that you don’t have anywhere.”
Luna shook her head. “No, I... don’t have anything.”
The stallion nodded and moved towards the alley entrance. His hooves squished into the mud, squeezing water out around them as he pressed down. Looking left and right he seemed to gather his bearings before turning back to Luna. “Alright, the nearest inn is at the end of this street, thankfully. Maybe we can get a room there.”
Luna merely gave him a short nod and stepped up behind him. She lit her horn as Copperhoof bolted out into the rain. He ran a few steps before looking back up at the sky in confusion; he wasn’t getting rained on.
There was a faint blue aura around both him and Luna, causing a dome shaped cascade of water to fall down a few feet from them all around. He turned back to Luna who only smirked.
Copperhoof chuckled sheepishly. “I didn’t realize how useful you unicorns are.”
She didn’t reply to his comment, as nothing she thought of sounded anything more than boastful. She wanted his help, not to drive him away by seeming to be a prideful unicorn. Right now, he was her only option of figuring out just what was going on.
As remiss as it was, she’d never really studied an in-depth history of the time when she was banished to the moon. She had studied it in general, wanting to get caught up on big events she had missed. But the casual, day to day history of the period, especially the early years, she had skipped over. The irony of now being stuck in that same period, was not lost on her.
Following alongside Copperhoof, she walked through the rain-slicked street of Canterlot. It was so different from the city she was used to. Her mind was working, unlocking memories of her time in the city before her banishment.
The buildings around her were unfamiliar with what her most recent memories were trying to tell her. Yet, a sense of deja vu was creeping in. Once she and Copperhoof were safe and warm inside a room, she’d test the waters, ask him some questions about the current time period. Though she wondered just how long her excuse of being a sheltered Academy student would hold out.
The stallion led her to a large building at the end of the street. A wooden sign, hanging over the door and flapping lazily in the breeze, proclaimed it to be the Bronze Shield Inn. A warm glow was emanating from the cracks around the door, and the muted sound of conversation spilled into the street, barely audible over the rain.
As Copperhoof pushed open the door, she let her shield fall. He held the door open for her. Giving him a thankful nod, she stepped past him and into the inn.
Inside, there were tables set up on the floor, as well as several booths along a side wall. A long bar ran down the far wall, a pony standing behind it, wiping a glass with a rag. Seated at the tables and booths was a motley mixture of ponies. The majority of them were earth ponies, with only a couple of unicorns at a booth, and a single, solitary pegasus at the end of the bar.
When they entered the bar, silence reigned as every head turned to look at them. It was a natural reaction, Luna reasoned. What pony in their right mind would be out this late in this weather? Yet, as she looked around the room, many of the curious glances turned to frowns of... disgust? After several moments, the sounds of conversation started up again, but the furtive glances towards the duo at the door persisted. It made her feel guilty, as if she’d done something wrong.
Following Copperhoof’s cue of ignoring the patrons, Luna followed him through the tables and up to the bar. As she passed by, she heard small snippets of conversation she didn’t think she was supposed to be hearing.
“What’s he doing with her ?” one stallion was asking his friend.
“That stallion’s gonna get in trouble hanging around the likes of her,” another said aloud.
One particular stallion eyed her flank as she passed. “I bet she comes cheap,” he remarked to his table.
The comments were confusing. Except for that last one, she knew precisely what he was referring to, but she just chose to ignore it. She guessed the other comments were related to that last one in some way. Still, it was confusing as the why they thought she was a harlot, was she missing something? She was the only mare in the room, so perhaps that had something to do with it.
The bartender, now that she got a closer look at him, was a grizzled, old earth pony stallion. Above him, mounted on the wall, was a large, bronze shield. Various images and tableau were etched onto its surface.
The stallion regarded them for a moment. “Can I help you?” he asked, his voice rough. Setting down the glass he was wiping, he picked up another, repeating the process.
“Yes, I’d— We’d like a room, please,” Copperhoof said. Several nearby heads turned in their direction, including the stallion who’d wondered if Luna was ‘cheap.’
“This isn’t an inn for whores,” The barkeep said rather loudly, slamming the glass he was cleaning into the bar. “I don’t—”
The innkeeper was cut off as Copperhoof set a small sack on the table. “We’re not that. Just give us a room.” he said.
Luna felt her ire rise at the innkeeper. Just by looking at them, he had insinuated such a thing? She was a Princess! She would never do something like that with a pony she had just met. And she would certainly never stoop to selling herself. Her mouth opened as she began to deliver a tongue lashing to the innkeeper.
“You listen here, you miscreant! I’ll have you know that I resent any insinuation you’ve made about me. I am a proud—”
Once more, Copperhoof cut somepony off. This time, it was Luna herself, as he rapped the side of her head. “Shut up, Clover,” he said, glaring at her. “I’ve got things handled.”
Luna turned on Copper, her ire having found a new target. But before she could do more than open her mouth, what he had said hit her. “Clover” . That was the name she was going by now. She wasn’t Princess Luna, a mare of class and distinction. Here, she was Clover, a lost little Academy unicorn, ignorant in the ways of the world. Clover wouldn’t speak out like that, she wouldn’t draw attention to herself.
So instead of snapping back at Copperhoof, she took in a deep breath and tried to calm down. They needed a room, a place to stay the night, and alienating the stallion who controlled access to those rooms was a good way to be sleeping on the streets. She tried to not glare at the barkeep, but her eyes still contained a hard look.
She became aware that for the second time since they’d arrived, all the conversations in the room had stopped. Heads were once more staring at them. She’d been here for less than an hour, and already she was drawing too much attention to herself.
Copperhoof stopped glaring at her. Taking a deep breath, he spoke to the innkeeper. “I assure you, we aren’t like that. We just need a room out of the rain, somewhere to sleep.”
The innkeeper’s head swivelled back and forth between the two of them for a moment. “Room’s sixty bits a night. Includes breakfast in the morning. I’ve got one room left,” He pointed towards the stairs leading up. “All the way at the end of the hall.”
It was at this point that Luna realized she didn’t have any bits on her. And even if she did, they were most likely different than the ones used back in this time. She was completely broke.
“Thirty bits,” Copperhoof countered.
“Sixty bits, kid. You’re lucky I’m even offering you a room. That hornhead,” he gestured to Luna, “will drive my business away.”
Staring at the innkeeper, Copperhoof slowly opened his bag and counted out the requisite number of coins. By the time the room was paid for, the bag was nearly empty. It would seem they were both in dire straits.
The innkeeper reached under the bar, producing a key. He slid it across the bar to Copperhoof, who grabbed it. “Enjoy your stay,” he said, though his eyes were still giving them a hard look.
Reluctantly thanking the stallion, Copperhoof headed over to the stairs, Luna following. Together they headed upstairs and down the hall. She could feel him hustling her, forcing her to move faster. As they went, the patrons of the inn watched them, their looks a mixture of curiosity and disgust.
Copperhoof opened the door to the room, revealing it. When Luna got inside, the first thing she noticed was that it was clean. There was a single bed, large enough for two ponies to sleep comfortably. A nightstand held an oil lamp. A dresser was set against one wall, a standing mirror next to it.
When the door was closed, Copperhoof faced Luna. “Okay, I know you’re an Academy student and all, but what the buck was that? You can’t just go saying things like that to ponies! We’re lucky we’re not outside right now, looking for an alleyway to sleep in!” He was nearly yelling by the time he finished.
She was shocked. Obviously, she’d done something wrong in standing up for herself. But that thought was brushed aside as she countered with her own heated response. “That... That stallion called me a whore ! Why should I not defend myself?”
Copperhoof grit his teeth. “It’s-” he began loudly, but then stopped. He glanced at the door before turning back to Luna and hissed out in a forcibly controlled voice, “What did you expect? You’re a unicorn in an earth pony inn! You should have known this would happen, Academy seclusion or not!”
Luna opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Copperhoof was quite upset, maybe it would be best to just defuse the situation now. She started to apologize, but was cut off again.
“Just... Don’t do that again, okay?”
She nodded, doing her best not to grit her teeth in frustration. “Very well.”
Had the segregation been as bad as this when she’d still been around? She tried to remember how she’d acted around ponies back before becoming Nightmare Moon. It came as no surprise that she didn’t have much to go on. All her memories were of ponies ignoring her night, retreating to inns just like this one to wait for a new day. She had been doing the very thing these ponies had without even realizing it.
If only she knew more about what was going on. Her source of information was sitting right there, but getting that information was going to be a trick if she wanted to keep her cover. She didn’t know how much she could start asking before he decided something was up.
Copperhoof continued to stare at her for a moment, then turned away with a sigh. Luna simply sat, watching him fiddle with his nearly empty bag of bits. She decided to simply take the plunge.
“I do not understand what happened below, I requi- would like to know what it was I did, or said, that they would see me as... as such?” she asked, hesitantly.
The stallion turned back to her with an incredulous look. “Are you seriously asking that? After walking in with... You really don’t get it, do you?”
“Do not get what?” she asked. It may be that her memories of this time period were more deficient than she realized, but she could not recall an example of why she would be so reviled simply for being a unicorn mare.
“I don’t...” Copperhoof trailed off, scratching his head and grimacing. After a moment, he started again, “Are there only unicorns from that academy where you’re from? Have you been there your whole life or something?”
“It is true, there are mostly unicorns at the Academy. I have spent my entire life around fellow practitioners such as myself. So please, forgive me for being so negligent about the state of current affairs.” Luna scuffed a hoof along the floor.
Copperhoof sighed again. “Alright, fine. I don’t know how you can’t be aware of this, but it’s not like any of the three pony races get along.” He paused, gathering his thoughts. “Surely you’re aware of Equestrian history, right? The legend of Hearth’s Warming and the arrival of the princesses?”
Luna nodded. “I am familiar, yes.”
“Good,” Copperhoof groused. “Well, as you know then, the right hoof ponies to the three tribe’s races collaborated together to defeat the Windigo threat. What you’re obviously missing is that not everypony took to their values of friendship that easily.
“Yes, we get along, but only well enough to keep the cold winters at bay. There are no big hearts floating over cities like they said there were. There is only acceptance and acknowledgement of the other races, if that.”
The stallion stopped and gave Luna a hard stare. “I brought you into a haven specifically marked for earth ponies. Maybe if you had walked in and found yourself a seat in some corner, nopony would have thought twice; ponies sometimes want time away from their own kind. But, you were with me, at an inn, and it was clear we weren’t a couple. What would you conclude in a situation like that?”
She thought for a moment. “I... I would conclude that you were an honorable stallion, simply seeking a good time with a... less honorable mare. Ponyfeathers. I suppose it makes sense, seeing as to how you brought me to an establishment dedicated to earth ponies.”
Copperhoof snorted and turned to the bed. “Honorable, right. No honorable stallion would even look twice at a mare not of his own race.”
She wanted to ask him whether the divisions between races were that bad, but no matter how many different ways she worded the question, it didn’t sound natural. Instead, she settled for a self-deprecating answer. “I suppose, I suppose I thought that ponies outside the Academy were above such things.” She made her way over to the bed, sitting upon it. Looking down at her hooves, she tried her best to look contrite.
“Yeah, well, sorry to disappoint you,” Copperhoof deadpanned.
He began untucking the blankets on the bed and pulled a pillow onto the floor. Next he went to a cupboard and removed a folded blanket which he then set next to the pillow. After a moment of thought, he pulled the large quilt acting as a bedspread and laid it on the floor as well.
“What are you doing?” Luna asked. “We can share the bed, it is more than enough for both of us.”
“Fil-” Copperhoof grimaced. “Clover, that is a very inappropriate thing to suggest, especially considering our situation ? We are not sleeping together, you’re lucky I even let you walk in here with me.” Copperhoof turned and climbed into the bed. “Set up your blankets and turn out the lamp.”
Luna stared at him. Surely he wasn’t suggesting that she sleep on the floor tonight. Why, the floor was hard and uncomfortable, certainly not fit for a Princess like herself. If he had any manners at all, then he would concede the bed to her. After all, she was the mare, and he was most certainly not a brute, forcing her to bed upon the floor.
As she stared at him, she realized how serious he was. No, he was taking the bed tonight. His hard stare at the thin sheet laying on the floor was enough to convince her.
Well then, if that was what it took to get what she needed from him, then she would spend the night on the floor. Taking the blanket in her magic, she folded it upon itself, making a sort of pallet. Utilizing the extra blanket and the pillow, she was able to approximate a bed. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but it would do for now.
Laying in the bed, she pulled the thin blanket up to her chin. “I’ll have you know, I do not appreciate being referred to as... that.”
Copperhoof merely grunted and rolled over.
Chapter 2
Luna’s head was resting securely in her hoof. Through half-lidded eyes, she surveyed the dining room of the inn. Last night had been atrocious; she wasn’t used to sleeping during the night, and had spent most of the night laying in bed and staring at the ceiling. She’d managed to fall asleep a mere hour before she was roughly woken by Copperhoof.
The crazy colt had insisted they come downstairs for breakfast. So amidst grumbling from her, she had accompanied him out of the room, not even bothering to fix her mane. Now she sat at a table, a steaming mug of tea in front of her, and trying to not fall asleep. Smacking her muzzle on the table, while it might wake her up, was not how she wanted to start the day.
Copperhoof, was the complete opposite. He was wide awake and rested, ready to take on the day. A bowl of oatmeal was sitting in front of him, being devoured.
Taking a sip of her tea, and silently wishing it would hurry up and take effect, she watched him. He was a curious pony, sticking up for her last night. He didn’t have to take her in, pay for a hotel room, he could have easily left her in the alleyway.
From what she’d seen of the ponies last night, she was pretty sure any of them would have left her. So, what was it that made Copperhoof different? It could have been his time working in the castle, maybe things weren’t as bad there as she thought. But, he could also just be that kind of pony.
She swirled her tea, mornings were terrible. Copperhoof should be ashamed to be this spry so early. It was barely even light... Light... Celestia was still awake it seemed. Luna wondered what she was doing right now, probably about ready to crash if all that drinking had told her anything.
A voice broke her out of her reverie. “Alright, Clover. I’m going home. It’s a few days from here, just past the Foal Mountains.” He paused, waiting as she blinked and lethargically raised her head to look at him. “Now, it’s obvious you’re not going to get far here on your own. So, I’m offering to take you with me. Or, you can stay here, on your own.”
He was certainly forthright, and blunt. Perhaps with more sleep, she could appreciate that. However, right now it was taking all of her mind to process what he’d said.
After several seconds, it clicked. He had mentioned a family last night, though she hadn’t thought about why they went to an inn instead of his house. It would appear that his family lived elsewhere. Since he no longer had a job, there seemed little reason for him to stay in Canterlot.
She really had two options: she could decline his offer, and stay in Canterlot, or she could accept, and travel with him to his family. Though only one of those options was actually valid. She had no money, she knew nopony other than him, and she knew very little about this time period. If he was offering, then she’d be a foal not to take the chance.
That, and if she was to figure out how to get back home, then she’d best perform such complex magics away from Celestia. Here in Canterlot, there was too much of a chance she would sense something and investigate. Not to mention a plethora of prying eyes, any small slip up and she might end up in a dangerous situation.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized there was no thought involved. “If you’ll have me along, then I would be glad to accompany you home. Thank you.”
“Very well then.” Copperhoof glanced to her tea. “Hurry up and finish, the sooner we’re on the road, the sooner we get there.”
“What about your belongings here? Do you not need to pack them up?”
Copperhoof scowled. “The castle provides full living quarters for servants and residents. All I’ve got is this bag of bits.” He dropped the limp bag on the table between them. “And by bits, I mean two.”
So returning home wasn’t exactly a choice for him, either. It was the only thing he could do. Two bits wouldn’t get them anything, they’d be stuck hoofing it, and foraging for food and water along the way.
“Very well,” she nodded. Talking and moving was doing a lot to wake her up. It didn’t take her long to finish her tea, draining the rest of the mug. It was a shame to drink it so quickly, but Copperhoof seemed impatient. As soon as she set the mug back onto the table, they got up and left. There was no reason to stick around any longer.
The clouds from last night had been cleared away by the weather pegasi, leaving a view of a sun that was far too close to the horizon for her tastes. With nothing to pack, and no money to buy anything, they were able to simply start heading out of town, towards the city gates and the path winding down the mountain.
They walked in silence for a time. Very few witnessed their passing, only a few lone souls were already up and about, but they paid little heed to the odd duo. The guards let them past the gates without incident. Luna felt as though something should have happened, she felt like she was sneaking out of the city and thus should have been caught, but it never happened.
There wasn’t much of a view, outside the city gates. There was a gigantic bridge spanning the waterfall that came from up on the mountain to their left. Luna remembered setting the first stone to that bridge, many years ago, along with her sister. She brushed a hoof across the railing, remembering.
Eventually, she turned her eyes from the spectacular waterfall towards their road. After the bridge there were trees that instantly sprang up. It wasn’t dark, like the everfree, yet the shallow shadows promised relief for her eyes. She contemplated shaking her hoof at the sun, but decided against it after a glance to Copperhoof.
If she remembered her geography correctly, this path winded straight down the mountain before splitting. One path would lead to the eastern coast, they would be taking that one. The other would lead to Las Pegasus on the west coast, it would only be a small town now. In a few hundred years, that western path would have another split created, and it would lead to a newly founded Ponyville.
The forest would not last long, it was more of a copse of trees anyway. They weren’t there in the future time of Equestria, having withered or been cut down during her imprisonment. Most of their trip would be through rocky terrain until they hit the grasslands at the bottom. Then, they would soon hit the Foal Forest in the foothills of the Foal Mountains. If they made good time, they would be able to reach the bottom of Canterlot Mountain before dark.
As they began down the path, Copperhoof took a deep breath of the open air and grinned. Luna watched incredulously as he reared and took off at a gallop with a whinny. Just as she was deciding that she needed to chase him down, he ground to a halt and spun around.
He gave an embarrassed chuckle as she approached at a canter. “I apologize, I got carried away. It’s just exciting that I’m finally heading back home to my Ginger Snap and little Granite. It has been too long.”
Luna tried to hide a smirk, but as he turned and continued forward with an obvious bounce in his step, she couldn’t help but smile outright. The stallion was clearly head over hooves for his mare. She wondered if there was truth to the words, ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’.
She sighed, it had been so long since she’d been with anypony. It had been many years before her fall that she’d had a stallion grace her bedchambers. For the longest time prior to Nightmare Moon, she had shut herself away from the world, stallions included. She missed the feeling of a stallion curled up next to her, caressing her, whispering in her ear how beautiful she was...
So entranced was she in her memories that she didn’t notice the rock in the path until it was too late. Suddenly, her hoof caught on something, and she found herself pitching forwards. Her muzzle smashed into the dirt path, though she didn’t really feel any pain from it.
“Clover!” A frantic Copperhoof called. “Are you alright?” His strong hoof on her shoulder helped lift her up.
“I’m fine,” she said. She’d suffered far worse than a simple trip before. As an Alicorn, she was more sturdy than the other races, so something simple like that was nothing. Even in her disguise, she was more than durable.
She could see Copperhoof directly in front of her, inspecting her. “Hmm,” he said. “You seem okay. I don’t even see any bruising or bleeding on your muzzle. How’s your hoof?”
She placed it on the ground. “It’s fine. I’m fine.” She took a few steps, to prove her point. That he would worry over an Alicorn so was laughable. She could sustain enough injury to kill him, and keep going.
“Really?” He looked her over. “No bruising, not even a sprained ankle? You are one lucky pony, Clover. That fall looked like it hurt.”
If she didn’t have strict control over her body, Luna would have paled. How could she be so stupid? Alicorns were far more physically durable than the other races. What would injure regular ponies, she could shrug off. What would tire them out, she could continue going on.
Copperhoof brought up a point that she hadn’t thought of. Her disguise was an illusion, nothing more. She still retained all the attributes of an Alicorn. Her magical power, and durability, were still the same.
This time, she’d be seen as lucky for not getting injured. What about the next time, or the time after that? This time would be lucky, but subsequent times, she’d be accused of something darker. Foul magicks, maybe. She still wasn’t sure what this time’s view on magic was, but considering some of the magic she used as Nightmare Moon, she wouldn’t be surprised if the general attitude was against magic.
Her disguise, it needed to be absolute. She needed to perfectly blend in as a regular pony, or in this case, a unicorn. To that order, she needed to be able to act as a unicorn would in any situation. That included physical pain and exhaustion.
She smiled nervously and reached up to shake out any dirt in her mane. “I suppose I got lucky,” she said evasively.
Thankfully, Copper did not pursue the issue. Grunting, he turned away and trotted on down the mountain. Breathing a small sigh of relief, Luna followed.
They were going to be walking along the road for several days. Even as an earth pony, Copperhoof would get tired. Luna, though, wouldn’t. At least, not at the same rate as him. But, she would be expected to tire quicker than him, simply because she was a unicorn. Somehow, she needed to ensure that she tired, and hurt, just like any other unicorn.
Her mind worked as they walked the path down the mountain. How was she going to accomplish that? She knew that there was illusion magic she could use, similar to her disguise, but it wasn’t perfect. It took an active thought to maintain that complex of an illusion, so if she was asleep, it wouldn’t work. She needed something else, something different. Something that would work even if she was asleep or not concentrating.
This would require magic. But not just any magic, it would have to be complex. Magic that she couldn’t simply cast on herself on a moment’s notice. She knew the basics, but a simple illusion wouldn’t last if she got cut and somepony else treated her. It was next to impossible to maintain an illusion of blood flowing from the body, especially if she wasn’t conscious. The odds of a situation like this happening were slim, but she’d already proven that accidents do happen. She needed a spell that would work unconsciously, and that nopony would suspect.
To that end, she might need to actually figure out how to suppress her natural Alicorn abilities, at least on the physical level, down to that of an actual unicorn. That was dangerous, if she actually sustained what would be a mortal blow to a unicorn, there was a chance that she wouldn’t be conscious to stop the magic. There would need to be safeguards in place. This was complicated spellwork, she’d need to weave spells together.
Luna continued to rack her brain on all the elements she would need to implement into her spellwork. The safeguards would have to be flawless, she couldn’t risk them being set off for even high risk events to her body. But, she also couldn’t allow them to not activate if she somehow sustained a mortal blow. Somehow, she needed to craft in a very delicate balance. Then, on top of that, there would be countless spells that she’d have to create to work in tandem with one another so that her body would seem... Normal.
There was no way she was going to be able to actually work on this as they walked. She needed to be able to fully concentrate on the magic. Right now, she was in a dangerous position. She needed to act like a regular unicorn, but she wasn’t able to. At best, she’d have to watch Copperhoof closely, watch for signs of physical exhaustion, and then amplify those signs in herself. And make sure not to trip, or otherwise do anything that should lead to injury.
She sighed. What had started out as a simple walk, had suddenly turned into something far more complicated. Of course she would need to weave complex spells together. She’d already been thrown into an entirely different time period, why not throw more problems at her? It felt odd to her, that she’d so suddenly worked to integrate herself into this world. Her priority needed to be getting home.
But, she needed a place to work, somewhere she could recreate the magics that had gotten her here. Her head drooped as she began thinking about all the complex mechanisms that Twilight Sparkle had put together, there was no way she could recreate those. All she had were the magical theories, no equipment.
Luna set her jaw. Yes, she’d get home, but not now. She needed a place where she could work in secret. Maybe, eventually, she’d get the materials she needed... Except this, time travel, had been an accident. There was no way she’d be able to recreate that , and have it give her positive results. No, whatever had happened, she would have to study and build from the ground up if she wanted to get home.
She sighed again, there was no way it was going to be that simple. If she was honest with herself, Luna had no clue how she got here. Was it actually time travel? What if it was dimension travel? Was that even possible? She hadn’t known travelling time was... So, who was to say dimension travel wasn’t possible? Now she had more unanswered questions than ever before.
Whatever the case, she would work on it later. Now, she was in this world, it required her attention. She was lagging behind Copperhoof, he was giving her worried... or were those impatient glances? Luna put on a smile and cantered to catch up, reassuring him she was okay.
The miles disappeared under their hooves. Travelling down the mountain was easy, yet while they had walked for hours, they hadn’t made much distance. Eventually, Copperhoof called a halt near a small field.
The rocks had given way to a small patch of grass a little ways off the road. It ran all the way to a cliff, which, as Luna observed peering over it, dropped about fifty feet. She could see the Everfree Forest from here. It was dark and foreboding, yet she thought she could catch a glimpse of a spire in the midst of the trees, but it might have been her eyes playing tricks on her.
She turned to see Copperhoof already grazing. It didn’t surprise her that this would be lunch, and probably every meal until they reached his hometown. What did surprise her was his willingness to eat fresh grass, him being from the castle and all. It was probably a result of his life from before being a castle worker, she should find out more before their trip was concluded.
“Either you can go hungry, or eat while we’re still here.” Copperhoof’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “But, in any case, stop staring at me. Never seen a pony eat grass before?”
Luna gave him a withering look for his brazen tone before turning her back to him and beginning to select her own clumps of grass. It wasn’t bad. Just, very simple. She could have gone without, but she knew that a regular unicorn would be famished. In her mind, it seemed such a plebeian thing to do. Yet, if she was to disguise herself as one of the common ponies, she’d have to accept such things as commonplace.
She made sure to keep eating until Copperhoof had finished. It seemed a reasonable enough time, and he was ready to get moving again anyway. The earth pony was certainly an impatient stallion. She didn’t like his continued implications that he’d leave her behind if she fell behind.
They continued on down the mountain. Copperhoof was content to just plod on down the path, his silence gave Luna plenty of time to consider how she was going to go about implementing her more detailed illusions. She didn’t mind the quiet; as an age old alicorn, she had plenty to think about. Yet, she couldn’t help but think that the stallion was brooding or some other unhealthy activity. No pony she had met was ever comfortable for being silent for long, even if they were shy.
Eventually they made their way down the mountain. Before them stretched a small copse of trees before the grasslands hit. The sun had long since vanished behind Canterlot Mountain, yet its halo of light lingered for a number of hours. It wasn’t until they descended below the treetops that it became dangerously dark. Copperhoof wasted no time in finding a place to bed for the night.
The last traces of sunlight had just disappeared by the time Copperhoof decided on stopping underneath a large fir tree. There was a small hollow in the branches at the bottom creating a quaint little cave for them to rest in.
Luna knew he had to be exhausted, yet he hid it fairly well. However, he couldn’t help but sigh when he got off his hooves. She tried not to giggle at him lying flat on his stomach, in the dirt no less. It was odd that a castle pony like him would disregard getting dirty so easily.
Deciding it would be good to express her own exhaustion, she promptly found herself a grassy spot, getting off her hooves. Mimicking her companion, she let out her own sigh. While she could easily keep walking, it did feel good to rest, though perhaps not as good as Copperhoof was currently feeling. She could see his sides panting, even if she couldn’t hear it.
“Long day,” she commented. “How many days is it to your home?”
“It’s a 3 day walk to Hollow Shades. We should get to the forest tomorrow, camp on the edge of it. Then it’ll take another day of walking through the forest to reach the town.”
Luna turned her head to face him. “Why walk through the forest. Could we not go around it?”
He laughed. “That wouldn’t work. Hollow Shades is in a clearing in the middle of the forest.”
That seemed like an odd place to put a town. Effort would have to be maintained to keep the forest at bay. Beyond logging, she couldn’t think of a reason why anypony would live there. Searching her memory didn’t bring up any relevant information about the town. Instead, she would have to ask Copperhoof.
“Tell me about Hollow Shades. Why is it built in the forest?” she asked him.
Copperhoof raised his head to look at her. “It’s built in between mountains. It’s an ideal place for a mining town, plenty of places to go digging on all sides.”
“What all do you mine? Gems?”
“No, we mine iron. The mountains are full of it.”
“I see, and that keeps the town alive?” Luna asked. “How long has it been there?”
“You sure do ask a lot of questions,” he replied.
“Oh, my apologies.” She tried to think of a way to continue the conversation. She needed to know as much as she could about this time period.
“No,” Copperhoof said after a moment. “It’s just, different, is all. Usually you unicorns are always so aloof.”
“We are also taught to explore those things we are curious about at the Academy. While they intended that to relate to the study of magic, I feel it also works amongst more social aspects.”
Copperhoof sat up and turned a curious gaze on Luna, or as he saw her, Clover the unicorn. “Tell me more about this academic life of yours. How are you so... at ease, with the world? For being such a, presumably, learned pony, there sure seems an awful lot you don’t know about.”
She gave him a sheepish smile. “Almost everything we learn is about magic. New spells, studying new schools of magic, theorizing and quantifying. We’re not only taught, but accept that our lives are dedicated to the craft. When we graduate, we still won’t leave the Academy, instead secluding ourselves inside, studying and furthering our knowledge, of magic. The world outside is of little concern, so we don’t learn anything about it beyond a few basics.”
“So what really goes on at an academy? What is life like there?”
Luna paused a moment, trying to think and remember what she knew of the academies came from before her downfall. Though given the speed at which academics changed, it was likely that her memories and the current truth were the same.
“Structured,” she said. “Life in there is structured. Somepony is always telling you what to do and when to do it. Every hour of every day is filled with some sort of learning. You don’t socialize much.”
“It sounds boring.”
She laughed, a light titter. “To you, perhaps. To those who live there, it’s life. It’s what we know.”
“So why didn’t it work for you?”
Her smile faltered. “I love magic, and I love learning about it. I just didn’t see eye to eye with the Archmages.”
“I see.” Copperhoof shuffled his hooves for a moment. “Well, Hollow Shades has been around since before I was born. I never was one for the history though, I’d suggest taking that up with the librarian. Ponies have been mining there, passing down the trade through the generations.”
“It sounds like a nice town.”
He nodded. “It is. A good place to raise a family.”
“You mentioned that you had a family. I’d like to know a little about them.” If she was going to be staying with him, she’d like to at least know what she was getting into before arriving.
A small smile crept its way onto Copperhoof’s features. “Yeah, a wife and a foal. Ginger Snap, and Granite, the best little filly anypony could have. I can’t wait to see her again.”
Luna couldn’t help but grin at the sparkle in the stallion’s eye. “What about your Ginger?”
Copperhoof laughed. “Ginger Snap? You couldn’t find a more perfect mare if you tried. Well, to me at least. She’s an amazing cook, a great mother, a brilliant wife and a lovable friend. Why if I... Well never you mind that.” Copperhoof tried to frown at Luna, but he couldn’t keep it up.
“You sound like you really miss them.” She pondered for a moment before continuing. “Forgive me if I’m prying, but why did you leave and go to Canterlot?”
Copperhoof lost his smile at that. He sat silent for a long moment, Luna almost thought he wasn’t going to answer but he began speaking suddenly. “The mines are a dangerous place. There has always been more and more things to mine the further we go, but that also increases the risk the more we dig. It’s a dangerous job, being a miner.”
Once again he grew silent for a while before finally continuing. “I left because, at the time, it seemed foolish of me to risk my life for such a pitiful wage when I had a young foal and a wife to provide for. The promise of gold drew me to Canterlot, and, while it did not disappoint, I’ve begun to wonder if it was really worth being away. I’m glad I’m coming home, I don’t think I should have left.”
Luna met his eyes with her own. “Yet if doing so kept you out of financial troubles, or improved the quality of life for your family, then you did the right thing.”
Copperhoof waved a hoof. “Well that is neither here nor there, it’s late and we should sleep if we’re going to get an early start tomorrow.”
With that the stallion turned and laid back down on the ground. It wasn’t long before his breathing slowed and his muscles relaxed. Luna remained sitting, watching him for a time and thinking about what he had said.
Eventually she stood up and stealthily snuck away from Copperhoof. She exited the small cave and found herself a place to settle down out of sight of the cave entrance. There were enchantments that needed to be completed and it wouldn’t do to have Copper waking up in the middle of her work and see something he shouldn’t.
Luna glanced up, hoping to catch a glimpse of the moon, but was stymied by the thick foliage of the trees. Disappointed, she took a deep breath, breathing in the moist, woody smell of the forest around her. She cleared her mind, taking another breath of the thick air as she turned her thoughts to her task at hoof.
She was about to attempt very complex enchantments. An alicorn was a powerful creature, so suppressing her natural abilities would take a massive amount of magic. Plus, she would need to establish the triggers. Should she be placed in mortal danger, the magic must automatically fall, preventing her death.
It was... complicated. She needed to be sure that everything was correct before starting. Once the process was underway, she wasn’t entirely sure she could stop it.
Her eyes closed as she sat perfectly still. Only her chest moved as she breathed, deeply and slowly. Softly at first, but with gathering brightness, her horn glowed.
First she needed to gather the magic. Every unicorn, and in her case, alicorn, had a reserve of magic stored in their bodies. With practiced ease, she immersed herself in her own magic, it felt like diving into a cool lake. As an alicorn, she had more magic than even ten of the strongest unicorns put together, yet it all flowed through her like a quiet stream.
Layer after layer of glow was added to her horn as she channeled more and more magic into it. She was glad that the cave entrance was out of sight, as she was sure her surroundings looked like the sun had risen.
Finally, she had all the magic she’d need. Now it was time to start the process. She took a deep breath, running over exactly what she was going to be doing one more time.
Letting out the breath, Luna began casting.
Several layers of glow were lost from her horn as they spread over her entire body. The magic tingled where it touched her coat. It sunk into her skin, entwining itself with her very being.
She couldn’t feel it, but she knew that her skin was losing its alicorn resilience. The illusions she had been maintaining were the first to go. Her body morphed into the small, petite figure of the unicorn she had been masquerading as while her wings receded into nothingness.
She would miss the ability to fly, but leaving them covered by a mere illusion was too dangerous. If somepony were to touch her sides, they might feel them. Or she could lose her concentration and the illusion could drop, thus exposing her. No, the wings needed to go.
Several more layers of glow vanished. This time the magic flowed inside of her. Things like her increased healing, her resistance to diseases and sickness, even her ability to tolerate copious amounts of alcohol, all of those were being suppressed.
It had only been a few seconds, but the spell was almost complete. All that was left was to put in the triggers which would end the effects of the spell in certain situations. Now that she could be injured, she needed to make sure that it wasn’t taken too far. In the event her body sustained an injury that would be fatal to a regular pony, the spell would need to immediately drop, thus preserving her life.
Luna also wanted to add an additional trigger. This one would allow her to drop the spell upon a command. A thought would be preferable, but she didn’t trust her mind to not arbitrarily think of the phrase and ruin everything. It would have to be a spoken phrase.
Yet, what phrase to use? It would have to be something she’d never accidentally say aloud. Something that she would never forget. After a moment, a ghost of a smile came to her face, she had the perfect phrase. A thought, and the magic was set.
There were only three layers of glow left on her horn. Two of them vanished. Those would make sure that her spell would remain active, no matter what. Not being asleep, unconscious, nor any other loss of control would be able to cause them to fail. Only the triggers being met would end the spell.
Now her horn was only left glowing with one layer of magic. Her spell was nearly complete, only one thing left to do. With this last bit of magic, she set a limit on her own magic. The idea was so that she would be able to perform spells and use her magic as normal; but she’d feel a tingle, a warning, in the back of her mind when she had used as much magic as a regular unicorn could. That would be her cue to stop using magic before she became suspicious.
After a moment, she smirked. She was supposed to be an Academy trained pony, not just a regular unicorn, meaning she could use more magic. Mentally, she moved the threshold up a notch, although it still felt like a pitiful amount compared to her full strength.
Well... Maybe she could be like Clover, the prodigy... The magical threshold moved up a couple more notches. There, that was a little better.
Finally, the glow on her horn died out entirely. She was done. For all intents and purposes, she was naught but a regular unicorn now. She really was Clover.
Concentrating, she tried to flap her wings. If they were hidden under an illusion, they would still work, just nopony would be able to see them.
When she stayed firmly on the ground, she smiled. The spells had worked. Though, one more test, just to be sure.
Looking around, she spied a few stones scattered about. Picking some up, she inspected them. One the fifth one, she found what she was looking for. This stone had a sharp edge.
Gingerly she raised a hoof, placing the edge of the stone against her skin. She could feel it sitting there, her magic pressing it gently down.
With a deep breath, she simultaneously pressed the stone harder into her skin, and drew it across her leg. She yelped, feeling a sharp pain. The blue coat started darkening as a small trickle of blood flowed out.
Within a few seconds, a drop of crimson hit the dirt. She caught the next one on her other hoof, gently tasting it. Good. It was real blood, her blood. The spells were working if something like that caused her harm.
Heady with success, she raised her hooves up towards her moon. “Ha!” she exclaimed loudly. Just as quickly, she put her forehooves over her muzzle. Copperhoof was still sleeping not far away. It would be best to not wake him.
Sleep... Using all that magic had worn her out. Even an alicorn would need sleep after something like that, and she was no longer an alicorn.
Quietly, she headed back into the cave. Copperhoof still lay where she had last seen him. His chest gently rose and fell, indicating that he hadn’t woken while she’d been applying her spell.
Selecting a patch of dirt not too far away from the stallion, but far enough that he wouldn’t raise questions, she settled down. Her moon was at its peak, so she had a few hours before the sun would come up. Just enough time to rest and recharge her magic.
She frowned and looked at the small cut she had made on her leg. It sure stung for such a little thing. Luna was no stranger to pain, but feeling even just a little from so insignificant an injury was new to her. She hoped that she didn’t get too many other little injures if they were this irritating.
Author's Note
Information on this story posted in this blog post .
Chapter 3
Copperhoof awoke with the familiar sensation of the sun warming his skin. When he worked in the castle, he was used to rising with the sun. It came as little surprise to him that his body was still functioning on his work schedule, it had only been a day since he left, after all.
However, for him to feel the sun in the cave that they’d found last night, meant that the sun had to be well past early morning for it to shine in. So that meant that he’d overslept. Again. So much for schedules.
He’d have kept his eyes closed, but the light was penetrating them more than any Gryphon weapon. With a groan he rolled over, or at least, he tried to.
There was something solid, and quite warm, blocking his progress. With a sigh, he opened his eyes and tried to find what was blocking him.
First was a mass of light blue coat, which, after a few blinks he identified as Clover’s chest hair. All in a rush he realized the unicorn’s forelegs were around him, and holding him rather tightly, preventing him from moving.
In almost the exact same move, Copperhoof both shoved the mare back as hard as he could and scrambled to his hooves. He cantered a few quick steps towards the cave entrance before he stopped to breathe, his adrenaline rush making him giddy.
Luna scrambled feebly from where she had been thrown as her half awake mind tried to make sense of what had just happened. Having only gotten to sleep just a few hours prior, her brain, and body, weren’t at all thrilled to being put back to work so soon.
It didn’t help either, that she had just undergone a radical physical change. The first thing she noticed was how sore her back was. She’d overworked herself before, but Celestia! She’d only just performed magic last night!
“Wha...? What’s?” she asked aloud.
The next thing she noticed was that her chest hurt. It wasn’t sore, it was more like somepony had just punched her. She glanced down to see her fears confirmed, two red rings were beginning to appear underneath her light blue coat.
“Who’s been dancing on my chest!?” she demanded, glancing around and spotting Copper.
The earth pony gasped. “What are you talking about?” he asked, his face going red. “I did nothing of the sort.”
“Then explain these hoofmarks on my chest!” Luna exclaimed. “They will bruise, and unless I’m missing something really big here, you did it!”
“I... Uh, well...” Copperhoof spluttered, clearly embarrassed about the whole situation. “You were hugging me! What did you expect?”
Luna glared at Copperhoof, a slight frown developing on her features. “So you just kick mares that hug you, huh? I see how it is.”
Standing up regally, Luna marched out of the cave past the red faced stallion keeping her nose in the air, not forgetting to whap him smartly with her tail as she passed. Regardless of her possibly snuggling him or not, kicking a princess was not okay.
Besides, she liked to cuddle; it wasn’t like she always had the luxury of a nice cozy companion. Usually she relied on her trusty snuggle pillow, Celestia’s teasing be damned! It sure helped to keep her sister’s irritating sunbeams at bay while she slept no matter what she said.
Luna yawned, feeling like her jaw was about to come unhinged. Why was she awake now of all times again?
‘And by Cassiopeia, since when was snuggling so hard on the bones?’ Luna groused to herself, stretching her forelimbs and back against the ground like a cat. If this was a side effect of being in a mortal body, they could keep it.
Glancing around, the disguised alicorn observed Copperhoof staring at her as he meandered out of the cave entrance. He turned away as quickly as he could, but not before receiving a withering glance from the princess.
‘Stallions....’ Luna might have enjoyed the attention any other time, but she was still put out by being so rudely awakened from her slumber.
“We’d better get moving,” Copperhoof said abruptly, already marching away.
Luna scampered after him. “But... Wait! What about breakfast?”
Copperhoof glanced at the forest floor, laden with pine needles and the molding leaves from the past year, then back at Luna. He then rolled his eyes and continued walking. Luna pouted, but it was lost on the stallion’s back as he marched away.
Fine, she was an alicorn, she could survive much longer without food than he could. If he wanted to starve himself that was fine. Just because there wasn’t any grass on hoof didn’t mean they couldn’t eat something , ponies could eat leaves, right?
Luna glanced studiously at the trees around her, wondering if their greens were fit to eat. She didn’t ponder the situation long, though. Her need for food did not encompass eating leaves that Copperhoof wouldn’t, not yet at least. Pursing her lips, the disguised princess quickly caught up with her escort who had already set a breakneck pace into the forest.
What followed was two days of sheer agony and torture. Never before had Luna felt so much pain and achiness. Her new body seemed determined to inform her of its displeasure about being forced to work and walk.
Considering what she had done that night, she was expecting a few aches. However, by mid-morning, her legs ached, her sides ached, her neck ached, her head ached, breathing was becoming troublesome.
Not that she was hindered from making her displeasure well known to her travelling companion. Since Copperhoof was walking in front of her, she wasn’t sure what his expression was, but as the first day after her transformation wore on, his shoulders became more and more set.
When they stopped for lunch, she flopped down onto her belly. “Oh, so much better.”
Copperhoof stayed standing next to her, head bent low to nibble at some grass. “You sure are more vocal than yesterday, Clover.”
“I felt a lot better yesterday,” she mumbled around a mouthful of grass.
The rest of the day continued along those lines. They would walk, she’d complain, and Copperhoof would get annoyed. By night, they were both too tired to speak much. Luna fell asleep almost as soon as she hit the ground.
The next morning was much a repeat of the first. Despite Copperhoof putting some extra distance between them, her need to snuggle had won out and he’d woken up in her hooves again.
Fortunately, he hadn’t kicked her this time. Only some shouting, blushing, and a few inventive swear words.
The rest of the day he actively avoided her, always keeping slightly ahead, always pushing just a little further. Luna grumbled as much as she could, unwilling to let Copperhoof get away with shoving her off so easily.
Finally, long after the sun was hidden by the mountains, they crested the final hill between them and Hollow Shades. One moment, there was forest, then the next they were in a town. Luna barely had time to look out across the rooftops before they dropped into the dirt packed streets of the valley town.
Immediately Copperhoof broke into a canter as they entered the town. “Oh it feels so good to be home!” he whinnied. His pace picked up, forcing Luna to trot to keep up with him. Even from behind the suddenly vibrant stallion, she could feel his muzzle splitting grin.
Several ponies seemed to recognize Copperhoof, calling or giving him a wave as he passed. However, Copper was a stallion on a mission. He barely acknowledged them with his own greeting without breaking stride. None of the ponies seemed put off by this however, it seemed they knew who he wanted to see first.
Her aches and pains momentarily forgotten, Luna was able to at least get a general look at the town. She knew of Hollow Shades, as it had been founded quite a few years before her banishment, yet she had never visited the place. It was a small town, though given that Copperhoof had said it was a mining town, she hadn’t expected much.
The buildings were made of simple wooden planks. Occasionally a log building appeared. Ponies were walking the streets, most of them rather dirty. They must just be getting back from working in the mines.
Copperhoof, still hurrying, rounded a corner and made a beeline for one of the smaller buildings. Based on the design, and the welcome mat just outside, it was a house. Most likely, Luna deduced, it was Copperhoof’s house, where his wife was waiting for him.
Not even bothering to trot, Copperhoof ran towards the door. At a slightly slower pace, Luna followed. She reached the door just as Copperhoof opened it. “Ginger Snap! I’m home!”
Not entirely sure what to do, Luna followed him inside. It was a modest house. The front door dumped into a small living room. A couch, table, as well as a single large-backed chair were situated around. One door led off the sitting room, though Luna couldn’t see where it went. A dining room was on the other side of the living room, and what she could only assume was the kitchen just passed that.
There was a noise from the kitchen, a voice floating out. “Copper? Is that you?” a mare’s voice said.
From the doorway beyond the dining room, a mare with an almond colored coat and a dark brown, almost mahogany mane, emerged. She gasped upon seeing Copperhoof. “Honey, you’re home!”
The two ponies rushed together, throwing their hooves around each other. The mare had a large structure, being almost as large as Copperhoof himself. She had a plumpness that fit her to a tee. Yet, even with the extra size, she still carried herself with the sure grace all earth ponies had.
With a laugh, Copperhoof picked his wife up and spun her around. Luna smiled as she watched the couple reunite, just because she was in disguise didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy, as a princess, seeing her little ponies happy.
A high, squealing voice cut across the room before the two earth ponies could do much more than peck each other on the lips. "Daddy, daddy!"
Immediately the stallion disengaged his wife and crouched down as a small, grey juggernaut barreled out of a hallway into the dining room and leapt into his waiting hooves. This little pony too, he picked up and spun around before squeezing her tight. Luna swore his gigantic smile got even bigger.
“Oh, I missed you both so much!” Copperhoof chuckled, reaching back to hug his wife. “And Granite, you’re so big!”
“I didn’t know you were coming home, Copper,” the tan mare said with mock severity. “I would have made you dinner, and cleaned the house.”
“It doesn’t matter, Ginger.” Copperhoof gave his wife another quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m back, and that’s all I care about.”
Luna watched the family reunion. The smile on Copperhoof’s face as he embraced his wife and daughter was the most emotion she’d ever seen him display. He truly loved his family.
In contrast, she stood off to the side, unsure of what to do. She was the third wing here, useless and unneeded. As quietly as she could, she shifted on her hooves, debating between staying there or going outside and giving them some privacy.
Seeing such a happy family brought forth images of her own family. Her sister, Celestia, was her only family. She wished she could race back to Canterlot and hug Celestia, but she knew that she couldn’t. If she really had been sent back in time, then revealing herself would be folly. Messing with time, trying to change it, would be disastrous. As much as it pained her, she needed to stay hidden.
But how she missed Celestia. It had only been less than a week since she appeared here, but she was too used to seeing the alicorn everyday. Now she wouldn’t ever be able to see her sister, until she fixed this time problem.
A scandalized voice broke Luna out of her reverie. “Copperhoof, who is this young mare behind you?”
Looking up, Luna’s eyes met those of Copperhoof’s wife. She imagined that if she really had been a young mare trailing a fine, married stallion back to his home unannounced she would be quite nervous. Yet, she could easily pick out the twinkle in the mare’s eye, even if she was a little cautious.
“Ah, right,” Copperhoof said. “Ginger, this is Clover. Clover,” he paused for dramatic effect before continuing with evident pride in his voice. “Meet my wife, Ginger Snap, and my daughter, Granite.” He indicated each pony as he introduced them.
“Charmed,” Ginger replied. “Mind telling me why you dragged her home? Should I be setting another place at the table?”
“Easy, my little ginger snap,” Copperhoof eased, laying a hoof on his wife’s withers. “She was on the streets of Canterlot the night I came home, which just so happened to be in the middle of a thunderstorm. You know what I mean.” He stared pointedly into his wife’s eyes and she finally relaxed.
Ginger Snap turned to Luna and put on a comforting smile. “Well, I suppose you’ll have to forgive a mare a little selfish jealousy. But nevermind that, you must be quite miserable after all that trekking, Copperhoof probably didn’t even think to give you a moment’s rest along the way.”
The homely mare bustled to the disguised alicorn’s side and immediately hustled her into the kitchen. Luna was too overwhelmed to protest, simply letting herself be led around. “I’m afraid I don’t have water drawn up for any baths, but there is tea still warm on the stove and a wash basin for starters. Not as fancy as you’re used to I’d imagine, but a darn sight better than cold ground and plain water if I do say so myself.”
Looking down at herself, Luna realized that she really wasn’t looking terribly presentable. Her mane was a mess and she had dirt matted into her coat from sleeping on the ground for several nights. She grumbled inwardly at the drawbacks of normal pony physiology, as an alicorn she never had to worry this much about personal hygiene.
“Do you mind if I pour myself a cup of tea?” she asked Ginger.
The mare had walked back over to the stove, where a pot of something was bubbling. “Not at all. The cups are in the cabinet above the sink.”
“Thank you.” Luna ignited her horn, the cabinet door opened and a cup floated out. The teapot joined it, Ginger stopping and watching as it passed her. Within moments, Luna had a full cup and was sitting down at the small table.
The earth pony chuckled as she watched Luna sip her tea with a contented sigh. “That sure is something else. We don’t have many unicorns around here, I imagine you—”
“Oh, I do apologize for not asking first!” Luna cut in, instantly setting her cup down on the table and releasing her magic. “I didn’t even think ab—”
“Hush,” Ginger chuckled again, placing a hoof over Luna’s lips. “I ain’t spooked, nor offended. If magic is what you have, then you should be allowed to use it. It doesn't bother me none just so long as you respect everypony else’s privacy.”
Luna nodded. “You’re too kind.”
Ginger turned back to the stove with a smile. “Well my Copperhoof certainly did bring back quite the polite little mare didn’t he? Where did you come from, or, I suppose more appropriately, what happened to put you here, if you don’t mind my asking?”
Luna took another sip of her tea, looking down and trying to look upset. "I've been out of the Canterlot Academy for less than a week. They... asked me to leave. Your husband was kind enough to take me with him before I made a foal of myself."
The earth pony tutted. “You poor thing. What about your family?”
“I never really knew them. Your husband that rainy night is the first pony I’ve met outside teachers and fellow unicorn students. He was kind enough to offer me a place to stay out of the rain for the night. After hearing my story, he offered to bring me here.” She glanced up from her cup. “Leaving Canterlot just seemed right, so I took him up on that offer. I’m not intruding, am I?”
“Not at all, dear. Though, what are you planning to do?” Ginger added something to the pot, giving it a stir.
“I... hadn’t quite thought that far ahead,” Luna admitted. “I was just grateful for Copperhoof to be so kind.
“Maybe I can find a way to make myself useful around here. It’s the least I can do.” Luna concluded.
Quite honestly, she hadn’t considered too much what she was going to do. All she had decided so far was to not meet her sister, not yet. From what she had seen, something wasn’t right. Still, a little voice in her head told her it wouldn’t be wise to reveal herself now, she needed more data. Celestia needed help. Luna didn’t know what kind or how, but the sister she knew had never been a drunkard.
Ginger’s voice drew her back to the conversation at hoof. “... Celestia knows we could use extra hooves around here, it’s just that not everypony would appreciate a unicorn helping out with many things. I just don’t know...” The mare continued musing and Luna tuned her out. Whatever happened here, happened. What really worried her was ‘Tia, just what was it that was wrong with her?
Perhaps if it were soon after the banishment of The Nightmare, then Luna could see her sister indulging her sorrows with drinking, but seventeen years? No, the Celestia she knew would have had things under control by now.
The Celestia sitting on the throne was different. Beyond the drunkenness, she was angry. Her facial expression at the mention of Nightmare Moon was fury. She should be over her anger and sadness by now, focusing on guiding Equestria, not wallowing, or whatever it was she was doing.
Luna silently cursed herself for not learning more about the early days after she had been banished. If only her own knowledge was greater, she could easily pinpoint what was wrong. Instead, she was left guessing and she didn’t like it.
A hoof on her shoulder broke her concentration. “Are you alright, dear?” Ginger asked, concern etched on her face.
“Yes, I’m fine. Just thinking,” Luna replied.
The worry drained away, to be replaced with a smile. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find something to do.”
Luna smiled as well. “Thank you, Ginger. And thank you for allowing me into your home.”
“It’s no problem.” The mare went back to the stove, tending to whatever was in the pot. It smelled delicious. Luna’s mouth watered slightly. Having had nothing to eat but grass for days now, she could go for a good meal.
“Why don’t you go wash up,” Ginger said. “Dinner will be ready soon. The wash basin is just outside the back door.” She pointed with her spoon towards a door just beyond the kitchen.
Luna got out of her chair. “That sounds like a good idea.” She headed out the door, spying a metal basin sitting on a table just outside. It was a good size for washing hooves and faces, but not much more than that. She remembered that before they had running water, ponies would leave basins like this outside, so that those coming in from work or play could clean themselves off.
She washed her face before splashing a little water up her forelegs to remove some of the mud that had caked up around her hooves. When the ripples subsided, she gazed at her own reflection. The face that gazed back was not her own, just one that she was wearing. Luna stared for a long moment. It was strange, not seeing her dark blue alicorn features, yet she already felt as though this face belonged just as much as the other.
Using her hooves, she straightened and smoothed her mane as best she could. It wasn’t the best, but it would certainly do until she could get a proper bath. Unfortunately, it would be a long time before she could ever take a shower. If the timeline held true, it would be several hundred years until pipes and a water system was invented, and even more time before an infrastructure sufficient enough to be useful was created.
As she was finishing up, she felt something poking her hind leg. Looking down, she saw the small filly, Granite, staring at her.
“Granite, I presume?” The filly nodded. “My name is Clover. It’s nice to meet you.” Luna held out her, now clean, hoof.
“You’re not an earth pony,” Granite stated matter-of-factly.
“I... That is correct.”
“Mrs. Harsh Lesson says unicorns aren’t nice ponies, that you lie and cheat all the time.”
Luna frowned. “Well, you shouldn’t believe everything ponies tell you.”
“Well she knows a lot more than you!” Granite continued loftily. “She’s the school teacher!”
The disguised alicorn pursed her lips. School teachers telling impressionable young foals that unicorns were liars? The school system in this time period must be heavily unregulated. Yet another sign that things weren’t quite right.
Luna let her ignored hoof drop to the ground. “I can assure you that unicorns are not liars. We are ponies, just like you.”
“I bet that’s a lie,” the filly countered.
Luna spared the filly a disapproving glance as she walked back inside. “I don’t think your parents would appreciate you trotting around calling ponies liars, Granite.” If Granite had anything to say in response to that, Luna didn’t hear it.
It seemed that the racial prejudices were deep seated, if even foals were being taught to hate the other races. It made her feel ashamed to have gotten lost in her jealousy. There was so much more she could have been doing, if only she hadn’t been blind to the world around her. If only she could have seen the troubles of the ponies and not just her own, then just maybe she wouldn’t have succumbed to her own petty problems.
Luna wondered why Copperhoof had been so willing to take her in if the races were so divided. He had shown exceptional kindness back in Canterlot, but why? Would it have been better for all of them if she had actually tried going to one of the academies? At least there were unicorns there, and she wouldn’t have burdened these earth ponies so.
But no, what better place to study and find a way to repair broken bonds than in the middle of other races? If it was data she wanted, this was as good a place as any. It was clear anything anypony would tell her was going to be heavily biased, so asking unicorns alone how to fix things would be just as bad as asking earth ponies. This way, she would be able to learn the nuances and tensions on her own.
Once inside, Luna saw that the small table in the dining room had been set. Ginger Snap was still in the kitchen, but now she was tending the stove instead of cooking. The earth pony stoked the fire and laid a rack down over them within the iron box. Then she placed a pan filled with some sort of batter inside and closed the door.
Luna then realized that the device doubled as both a stovetop and oven, quite ingenious; if it wasn’t for the wood fire in the bottom it would have passed as a modern day appliance, with a paint job of course. Actually, on closer inspection, the modern day kitchen hadn’t changed much. Most of the utensils were the same, just instead of them being made with iron and wooden handles they were all made of stainless steel and plastic.
She sat down at the table. It was large, and made out of oak... At least she was pretty sure it was oak. Luna was no craftspony, but she did have a few thousand years under her metaphorical belt. It probably took a couple of large stallions to wrestle it into the house.
Watching Ginger bustle around the kitchen made her wonder if this was how having dinner in a normal pony’s home felt like. It was nice. Having spent the last age living as a princess, with servants always fawning over her, large state dinners, every meal being some gallant affair, having a simple, home-cooked meal would be fun.
The food wasn’t being cooked to impress her. The table setting wasn’t pre-planned. It was quaint. Or homey, would be another word to describe this setting. She liked it. When she made it back to her present time, disguising herself and mingling with the common pony was definitely something she was putting on her recreation time.
Ginger pulled a stack of plates from a cupboard and placed them awkwardly on her back. Luna moved to go help the mare, almost reaching out with her magic before thinking. Instead, she got up from the table and went over to Ginger, taking the plates in her grasp.
“Here, let me help,” she said.
“Oh it’s alright, I’ve got it,” Ginger responded. “You just go sit down, dear.”
“It’s alright.” Luna started walking off, carrying the plates with her. “I insist, you’re being nice enough to feed me. At least let me set the table.”
Ginger tried to argue a bit more, but Luna was stubborn. Each time the mare would grab something for the table, Luna would swoop in and take it from her. Ginger tried to look indignant, but the upward quirk of her mouth showed Luna she was rather amused by Luna’s insistence. By the time the food was ready, the two of them were working together to get it to the dining room.
“Dinner’s ready!” Ginger called. “Wash up and let’s eat.”
Granite suddenly appeared out of nowhere, startling Luna as she bolted past an unphased Ginger Snap to the table. Copperhoof followed a moment later at a more sedate pace. Luna stood awkwardly as Copper and Ginger nuzzled before sitting at the table. It looked like he had spent a little extra time at the wash basin while they had been preparing dinner.
Copperhoof gestured at Luna. “Join us, Clover,” he said with a smile. “I didn’t bring you all the way here to starve.”
The disguised alicorn nodded graciously as she took a seat at the far end of the table, allowing Copperhoof to sit with his family on either side of him. Granite looked as though she had just swallowed a lemon as she watched Luna carefully align her napkin in front of her. However, whatever was on the little filly’s mind, she left unsaid.
Dinner was far from a quiet affair though, As soon as the food was on everypony’s plate, Ginger Snap began grilling Luna with questions. How the mare was able to eat and still talk politely was beyond her. If she could learn how to do that, it would make state dinners far more bearable.
“So, tell us about yourself, Clover.” Ginger asked. “How did you end up following my Copper home?”
“I was once a student of the Academy. I studied magic, in most of its forms. At the Academy, things are rigid, structured. Those who ask questions, beyond the topic of magic, were discouraged from doing so.
“I’ve always been a curious one, so heedless of the warnings of my teachers, I kept researching, kept asking questions. Eventually, they... grew tired of me, and I found myself kicked out.”
She paused to take another bite of her food, the chewing time allowing her a moment to think. “I had nowhere to go. It was when I was sitting in an alley just outside the castle that I met Copper as he was... ejected from said building. I helped him, and in return, he offered me a dry place to sleep for the night. He asked me my story, and upon hearing it, once again offered to help me by bringing me along.”
She looked around the table before settling on Copper. “The rest, you already know.”
“So you were learning bad magic.” Granite said, in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Granite!” Ginger snapped sharply.
“What do you mean by ‘bad magic,’ Granite?” Luna responded coolly.
Granite answered Luna with an obstinate flick of her mane. “Well, you said you were trying to find things out that they didn’t want you to at your school. So you must have been doing something bad!”
“It’s not that I was studying bad magic, it’s that I kept asking forbidden questions like ‘why’ and ‘how come?’ I wanted to know why things were the way they were. I wouldn’t accept ‘because’ as an answer. When they wouldn’t answer my questions, I looked up the answers on my own.” Luna stopped abruptly, checking herself before she talked herself into a corner.
“The ponies there encouraged the pursuit of knowledge, but only when it pertained to magic. Anything outside of that, and it was not for us to learn,” she finished simply, hoping her answer would placate the filly.
Granite, however, did not look ready to let the issue drop. She opened her mouth to respond.
“Eat your dinner, Granite,” Copperhoof cut in before the filly could speak. He gave his daughter a meaningful look.
Granite moodily turned to her vegetables and poked at them, continuing to steal glances at the ‘unicorn’. Luna ignored the filly, deciding any more interaction with the filly would only end in tears.
The rest of dinner was a quiet affair. Once the dishes were finished and Granite tucked into bed, Ginger showed Luna to their small guest room. Like the rest of the house, it was homey if a bit on the small side. After showing her the amenities, Ginger took her leave for the evening, softly closing the door behind her as she left the room.
Luna laid on the bed. She hadn’t realized it before, but she was exhausted. Being in this new body was going to take some getting used to. While it was still relatively early, the disguised princess quickly nodded off into a peaceful slumber.
Chapter 4
Luna now understood why the room she was in was for guests. At the crack of dawn the sun beat mercilessly onto the bed and into her eyes. Groaning and rolling over, she decided she probably would never get used to sleeping at night. Pulling her pillow over her head, she buried herself in search of a few more elusive Z ’s.
Sleep eluded her, however. The blankets itched, the pillow was lumpy and the straw stuffed mattress jabbed at her soft belly. It was as if everything conspired against her, and she was well aware that her new body was much more sensitive. Not that she didn’t feel anything as an alicorn, but it was just that now even the straw beneath her could become a lethal instrument to her demise.
The price for leading an undercover life in a commoner’s house, she feared.
Luna immediately regretted the thought, thinking back on the tasty dinner and gracious company the previous evening. It wasn’t their fault they lived hundreds of years before spring mattresses and feather stuffed pillows existed, or that they were playing host to a disguised, pampered princess.
The sun was oblivious to the mare’s discomfort as it happily warmed the thick blankets she was hiding under. Luna refused to admit defeat though, maintaining her cocoon shield from the rapidly warming world.
She almost succeeded, her mind drifting back into unconsciousness as she drooled onto the mattress. A dream began to work its tendrils into her mind’s eye. Somepony was knocking on the door, it was very loud, and very annoying. She couldn’t move to make them go away for some reason though, it was starting to get more than just annoying. Then it stopped.
Luna fell back into a comfortable doze in her dream. She was floating in a comfortable half awake state when the knocking returned, only this time it was a pound!
The disguised alicorn jerked up and awake with a moan as a small, feminine voice echoed through the door. “Daddy says that I can come in and make you get up if you’re not out in five minutes! I hope you’re still asleep because I’d really like to jump on your lazy head!”
Silence.
Luna plopped back down on her primitive bed in sluggish relief. She cracked her eyes open, instantly regretting she still wasn’t under her pillow. Groaning she rolled over... and off the bed. She hit the floor with blankety thump and a yelp.
Luna stumbled upright, promptly tangling her legs in the blanket further and falling back over with another loud whump! She lay there, blinking and trying to figure out what was going on. She groaned again. Why was she even awake this early? Clearly somepony needed to adjust their operational clock, and it definitely wasn’t her.
There was a knock on the door, causing Luna to refocus on getting up. “Um, just a moment,” she called.
It took her a moment to get to her hooves, but she was still unable to move forward. With a frustrated growl she grabbed the blanket with her magic and yanked. That was a mistake, and down she went again.
The door cracked open and Ginger popped her head in. Her brow furrowed as she took in the seemingly empty room, but it quickly quirked upwards as she saw the blanket trail leading off the far side of the bed.
Granite galloped in and pounced on the bed. “Hey lazy he— Hey, where’d she go?”
Luna struggled to her hooves again, eliciting a shriek from the filly as she scrambled backwards, and a chuckle from Ginger.
“I’ll find you a comb, dear,” she said. Pulling the filly back, she closed the door and left Luna to untangle herself.
Carefully removing the blanket from around her withers, Luna stepped out of the end wrapped around her hooves. She lifted a hoof to her mane and found it to be frizzed in every direction possible. The groggy unicorn heaved a sigh and sat on the bed.
Frizzy manes, morning sun in her eyes, loud fillies... She never had to deal with these sorts of things before and was finding them to be quite unpleasant. Thankfully Ginger returned promptly with a comb in her teeth and sat down on the bed next to her.
“I suppose you aren’t much of a morning pony,” the motherly mare chuckled. She began pulling the comb through Luna’s mane, eliciting a yelp from the disguised alicorn.
Luna grit her teeth and shook her head. “Not really. I usually- I mean, at the Academy, there were classes, but none quite this early in the morning.” She chuckled sheepishly. “I guess I got used to staying up all night to read and study that I forgot what early mornings were like.”
Granite poked her head back in. She watched the two mares for a moment before stepping inside and sitting on her haunches at the foot of the bed.
“Copper has decided to go into town and look for work today,” Ginger began. “I’ll be taking Granite to school after breakfast and will be gone all day, working. Did you have any specific plans, miss Clover?”
“I had a few ideas that I’d like to run by both you and Copper. Perhaps over breakfast?”
Ginger nodded before turning and addressing her child. “Granite, you had best go get your things ready, we might have to hurry out the door after breakfast.”
Luna’s curiosity piqued, she wondered what the young ponies were taught in an earth pony school. “I am curious,” she began hesitantly, all too aware of Granite’s prejudice the night before. “What are the curriculums for fillies and colts these days?”
“Cur-rick-ulams?” Granite echoed, fumbling the large word. She gave the unicorn an appraising look. “Well, whatever they are, they’re definitely better than yours!”
Ginger frowned, opening her mouth to no doubt reprimand Granite for her condescending tone. Luna cut her off before she could speak. “What makes you so sure about that, filly?” she challenged.
“I’m still in school and learning, of course,” Granite responded promptly. “So whatever it is, we do a better job at teaching than you unicorns because we don’t kick students out!”
“Granite,” Ginger reprimanded sharply. “We do not speak to guests like that! Apologize to Miss Clover, now .”
The filly frowned, but she mumbled, “sorry,” before slinking away.
“I want you and your bag waiting at the table when we come out, Granite.” Ginger called after the filly. She gave Luna an apologetic glance. “I am very sorry for her behaviour, Miss Clover. I’m afraid we don’t see many unicorns. All she knows is what her peers and other adults tell her.”
“I understand,” was all Luna said in reply. It made sense that, this being a town full of earth ponies, there’d be some prejudices against the other races. What was surprising was just how deep it ran. It might be worth asking when was the last time a unicorn lived, or even visited, in this town.
Ginger nodded. “I need to go get breakfast ready. There’s some fresh water in the basin out back you can use to wash up.” She smiled. “I’ll see about getting enough water so you and Copper can take proper baths tonight. You must want one after spending all those days on the road.”
Considering she was used to bathing everyday, Luna could certainly go for a nice, warm bath. She could feel the dirt matting her coat, accumulated from days of travel and sleeping on the ground. The bedsheets she used last night were probably filthy.
“That would be most appreciative,” she replied. Giving a wistful sigh, she muttered under her breath. “A bath would feel quite exquisite.”
Ginger patted Luna’s mane appreciatively. “You certainly do clean up nicely. I think we’re done here.”
The mares got up, Luna thanking the mare for her help as she left. As the door closed, Luna turned her eyes to the unruly blanket on the floor. “It’s just you and me now, buddy,” she said, narrowing her eyes as she magicked it up.
She laid it carefully out across the bed, tucking it neatly around the mattress. “No funny business now.”
After vowing revenge for her dignity, Luna exited the guest room and made for the kitchen. Her transformed body informing her of the newly acquired sensation of hunger . She could still technically not eat and get away with it, but with all the complexities she had implemented into her disguise there was little reason in ignoring her newfound feelings in comfort.
Ginger was busy in the kitchen, a pan on the stove with something sizzling in it. Luna walked passed the mare, heading outside and to the basin. It still wasn’t anywhere close to a real bath, but it would have to do.
She spent a few minutes washing her hooves and face. If she went through with what she was planning, then she would need to have the best appearance possible. The water in the basin was cold and murky. It should probably be dumped, but she wasn’t sure if that would be proper or not.
Heading back inside, she sat at the table. “Ginger, the water out in the basin could perhaps use changing. I’m afraid that between Copper and I washing off days worth of grime has taken its toll.”
The mare didn’t turn away from her cooking. “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll have to draw an extra bucket of water from the well to replace it. It’s not supposed to rain for a few more days.”
“Is the well nearby?”
“It’s in the center of town, so not too far away. The whole town shares the one well.”
Luna was well aware of how many ancient towns dealt with water. Often, whoever founded the town dug a well, and that was the main source of water for everyone. Digging new wells wasn’t something that was done, except perhaps for far outlying homes. Cooking, cleaning, washing, all of it came from water from the well.
“I don’t want to impose,” she started. “If it’s too much trouble, then forget about the bath tonight.”
She turned away from the stove. “Oh it’s no problem. You’re a guest here, it’s up to us to provide. Though if you wanted to help me carry the water, I certainly won’t say no.”
She removed the pan from the stove, dumping the contents onto a plate and setting it on the table. “Copper, Granite, breakfast!” she shouted. Lowering her voice, she continued. “Go on, eat up. Breakfast is a very informal thing around here.”
The plate was full of eggs, with a few vegetables mixed in. Luna scooped herself a portion, digging in. Within short order the entire family was sitting and eating.
Ginger swallowed, turning to look at Luna. “So you had something you wanted to ask Copper and I?”
Chewing a few more times, Luna nodded. “Yes. I wanted to first off thank you for opening your home to me.” Holding up a hoof to forestall either of them from responding, she continued. “But I don’t want to be a burden.”
She sighed. “I’m afraid that I must ask you if I may continue living here. The sad part about life in an Academy is that it does not prepare you for anything outside of a life in academia. My knowledge of real world skills is quite limited. Thus, I’m not comfortable moving out on my own just yet. I wouldn’t even know where to start.
“Yet I do not want to burden you with taking care of me. To that end, I’d like to find a job around here. I wish to pull my own weight and contribute, rather than just be a freeloader. However, I’m not familiar with this town, so I need some advice on where to start.”
The table was silent when she finished. Even Granite was looking at her, no longer eating. Luna’s eyes darted around as her ears slowly folded back. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No, you didn’t,” Ginger said. “I am surprised that you wish to contribute.”
Luna could tell that there was more to that statement. “But?” she prodded.
Copper sighed, setting down his fork. “But I’m not sure how feasible that is.”
“What do you mean? Surely there’s a job somewhere I can work.”
“It’s not that,” he responded. “Ponies’ views here are different from those in Canterlot. Unicorns are not highly regarded and you’ll most likely have difficulty finding a job.”
A silence permeated the room. Then, Luna cleared her throat. “I still have to try.”
If all the ponies in town acted like Granite towards her, then she would certainly have an uphill battle in front of her. But the mere thought of repaying Copper and Ginger’s kindness by doing nothing galled her. She was their princess, she was supposed to be there for them and not the other way around.
They were taking her into their home, feeding her and giving her a place to stay. Such an act required her to repay them somehow. The least she could do is get a job and earn her keep.
This would also allow her to integrate into the town. She needed to learn more about this place, and this period in history she was in. If she could get the townsponies to trust her, she could learn quite a lot. It also wouldn’t help her situation if she was despised by the town for when she started experimenting. If there was any chance of getting home, she would need to garner their trust, not be labeled as a witch or some such nonsense.
Copper shared a look with his wife. “If you insist on doing this, then I’ll accompany you around town today. We’ll look for a job for you.”
Luna shook her head, “I don’t want to keep you from your family.”
He shook his head. “It’s not an issue. I need a job myself, so this works for both of us.”
“Very well,” she said with a nod. “Thank you, again, for indulging a lost unicorn.”
“You’re very welcome.” Ginger smiled. “Just, don’t get your hopes up too much, yet. And don’t be discouraged if you don’t find anything today, either.”
“It’s settled then,” Copperhoof said. Luna got a sneaking suspicion that it was more for the benefit of Ginger than herself, as if they had some conversation she was not privy to, but her inquiry was cut off as Copper continued. “I’ll prepare your saddlebags for the day if you would help clean up breakfast, Clover.”
There was a bustle of activity as the mares cleaned away the dishes. Copper ushered his daughter to the door before moving to gather supplies for Luna. Ginger began gathering the plates and taking them out back and setting them on the ledge next to the basin. Luna followed carrying the rest.
“We’ll just have to do dishes this evening,” Ginger sighed. “I need to get Granite out the door and myself to work. You two should really get moving while the day is young.”
The motherly mare bustled Granite out the door just as Copper came back around from the bedrooms carrying an extra pair of saddlebags in his mouth. He spat them out at Luna’s feet, the adjusted the pair on his own flanks.
“These are for you, Clover.” Copper said, watching her magic them up. “Everypony needs a pair out here.”
The saddlebags were simple, but made well. They even had padding on the inside so they wouldn’t chafe with prolonged use. Luna nodded her thanks as she put them on. She hadn’t used a pair of saddlebags in years, but she could attest to their usefulness. Just because she had magic didn’t mean she wanted to use it carrying necessities all day.
They stepped outside, Copper carefully closing the door before shrugging his shoulders and stepping out into the dirt street. “Alright then, let’s go.”
Luna walked beside Copper, taking a moment to look around. Copper and Ginger seemed to live in a neighborhood of sorts. All around were other houses. Ponies were starting their day, mares and stallions wandering about. She noticed that most of them would stop what they were doing and stare at her.
She did her best to ignore the looks. If she wanted a job, she didn’t need to alienate the townsponies. It was disconcerting, the looks on their faces seemed as though they couldn’t decide between a glaring or staring quizzically.
They marched from the suburb along with a steady stream of inbound ponies into town. There weren’t a lot of them, but they were busy. Most of them were wearing saddlebags, some carrying larger tools like axes or pickaxes. Even a lot of the mares carried heavy gear with them, labeling them as mine workers as well.
This was certainly a town where everypony carried their weight. Some mares would stick around home, especially those with young foals, but many seemed to have joined the workforce. Luna wondered about the gender equality, were the mares paid as much as the stallions? Either way, she decided it probably was a rough wage for such back breaking labor.
The smell of fresh bread and sweet toppings drew Luna out of her reverie. Copper approached a wide, low building on the edge of the town proper. A delightful smell wafted out the door as they stepped inside.
Copper approached the large counter containing the bakery’s goods. A mare arranging their selection into the display shelves stood up at their approach. As her gaze slid across them she frowned at Luna, but her smile quickly returned as she focused on Copper.
“Hello, sir! What can I get ya?”
“Is Puff Pastry around?”
The mare nodded. “She’s in the back, finishing up a batch of scones.”
“Think you could tell her that Copperhoof is here to see her?”
“Certainly.” With another glance at the unicorn, the mare cantered into the kitchens.
They stood silently for a moment. Luna glanced around, feeling awkward and out of place. There wasn’t much room in the bakery for customers. The wall in front of the door was covered in papers featuring ads and news. Underneath the windows were a couple of tables with chairs for ponies to eat. What caught her eye the most was the chalked menu above and behind the counter, displaying what all the bakery could offer in flowery script.
Copper leaned against the counter as he waited. A small hint of a smile was on his muzzle. The kitchen doors banged open and a rather large earth pony mare barreled out with her storefront apprentice in tow. She was cream colored with a beige mane and some kind of pastry for a cutie mark.
Surprising Luna again with their agility, the large earth pony mare scooted around the counter and pulled Copperhoof into a tight hug. The disguised alicorn had to hold back a snicker as Copper was helpless in the mare’s grip.
“Oooh, Copper! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?” The large mare fretted breathlessly and she crushed Copperhoof in her hug. “It’s been too long! Have you been to see your Ginger and little Granite yet? That little filly is going to be a mare before much longer, I hope you realize that.”
“Miss Puff,” Copper managed to gasp, “Please...”
“Oh!” Puff Pastry released the stallion and he unceremoniously collapsed onto the floor. “I’m so sorry!” Her red face paled slightly as she continued, “You know I forget myself when I get excited.”
She paused, then pointed a hoof accusingly at Copper as he chuckled on the floor. “You knew that would happen! Copper you scoundrel!”
Copperhoof got to his hooves and hugged the mare. “It’s good to see you too, Miss Puff. And before you ask, yes I’ve seen Ginger. I made it in last night.”
“Well then,” Puff huffed good naturedly. Her eyes fell on Luna, her expression not betraying anything. She released Copperhoof from his hug. “Who is this now?”
“Puff, this is Clover.” Copperhoof introduced, beckoning Luna forward. “Now be nice, I picked her up on my way home, she needed a place to stay.”
Luna stepped forward and offered a hoof, a polite smile on her features. “Madam.”
Puff Pastry straightened and her eyes hardened, but she returned the hoof bump before turning to Copperhoof. “Copper, dear, I know that your time in Canterlot exposed you to many things, but are you sure bringing her here was wise?”
“Puff!” Copper exclaimed, giving the homely mare a disapproving glare. “I couldn’t leave the mare standing out in the rain. Besides, she did save me when I got thrown out of the palace. I owe her, Puff.”
Puff bustled back behind the counter. “Copper, you do know what this means, right? You know how everypony in town is going to look at her, and by extension you. Just the fact that you two are out walking together will spawn all kinds of gossip. Especially after you’ve been gone for so long. Ponies will talk. Some might even question your faithfulness to Ginger.”
Luna’s ears flattened as the large mare continued, cutting off Copper’s protest. “I only want you to think about what you’re doing. We’ve known each other for a long time, and I trust your loyalty. But you had best be careful not to lose your way, or livelihood, with whatever you think you’re doing.”
Copperhoof frowned. “It is good that you bring that up, actually. This mare needs work, Puff.”
Puff Pastry gave Copper a flat stare. “Copper, you know that I always need help. Anypony recommended by you would be worth it. But I can’t. As soon as word gets out that I’ve got a unicorn working here, I’ll lose all my business.”
“Puff!” Copper exclaimed again. “I thought you—”
“Did you not hear what I said?” Puff interrupted. “If I hire her, I’ll be closing these doors within a month. I’m sorry Copper, but it’s just not worth it.” She frowned, looking at him. “I’m not even sure I can hire you . Not once everypony else gets talking.”
Luna was about to speak, before she thought better of it. Anything she could say wouldn’t help. It might even make things worse. As much as she wanted to help Copper, she was only being a burden right now. If this town really was so against her that even a mare like Puff, who seemed to know Copper quite well, would turn him down, perhaps she had made a mistake.
“Copper...” Luna interceded. “She makes a good point.”
Copperhoof turned sharply to face Luna. “What point is that, Clover?”
“About me being here, with you,” she explained. “I’ve seen the looks from the other ponies around town. My presence is only going to hurt you and your family. I healed you back in Canterlot. In return, you fed me and gave me a place to sleep from the rain. Any debt you had to me has been paid in full, and then some.” Luna paused before adding, “I think it’s best if I take my leave, let you get on with your life without me complicating things.”
Both Copper and Puff stared at her, the mare nodding slightly in agreement, the stallion wide-eyed. “I think that’s wise, Clover,” Puff said.
“Absolutely not!” Copper denied. “What do you plan on doing? If the townsponies don’t like you living with me, if you try and live alone they’ll run you out of town in a week. Where are you doing to go? What are you going to do?”
He poked her with a hoof. “You said it yourself. You don’t know how to function outside the Academy.” He gave her a hard look. “I cannot, in good conscience, let you just wander around alone. You wouldn’t last. No, you’re staying with me and my family. At least until you can stand on your own four hooves.”
“Copper, I can’t just—”
“You can and you will.”
Luna stared silently at the stallion. She could just leave, he couldn’t stop her. She didn’t have to explain that she was more than capable of surviving on her own and that she would be okay. He wouldn’t believe her anyway... Yet, she hesitated. The stallion’s intense stare battered her newfound resolve.
“I refuse to let you walk away when I’ve promised to find you work,” Copper said stubbornly. He glanced away, muttering, “I don’t kick ponies out for petty reasons.”
The disguised alicorn winced. She recalled all too clearly why Copperhoof had been ‘relieved’ of service at the castle. Still, she wasn’t helping him at all by staying here. Luna stood, indecisive, as she tried to weigh the options before her. She’d never been the best with ponies, but honor and integrity were things she could understand. If she left Copper now he would blame himself, or at the very least feel like he failed in some way.
She glanced at the round mare behind the counter, but received nothing but a stern gaze. Copper was almost glaring at her himself. Luna glanced out at the town, remembering her reasons to come in the first place: To find a way to get home.
Being in a mining town could possibly provide her with many of the materials she would need. That, coupled with the large forest surrounding them... Yes, she would stay, she decided. If things became really bad, she could always reimburse Copper and his family. For an alicorn of her caliber it was foal’s play to form enough bits for a middle class family to live comfortably for a long time.
“Very well,” Luna finally said, with a nod of her head. “We shall continue to job search.”
Copper smiled. “That’s what I wanted to hear.” He turned towards Puff. “Thank you for welcoming me back so warmly. Rest assured, I’ll be back sometime for one of your delicious pastries. However, Clover and I must continue job hunting.”
Puff reached under the counter, pulling out two hunks of dough with some sort of glaze over them. She slid them across the counter towards Copper. “Here. Consider it a welcome home present.”
The stallion picked up the treats, giving one to Luna. “Thanks, Puff.”
“Don’t mention it.” She turned to go back into the kitchen, but paused, looking over her shoulder. “Take care of yourself, Copper.” With that, she headed through the door.
Copper took a bite of his pastry. “Come on, Clover. There’s plenty of other places to try for a job.”
Luna took a bite of her own pastry. It was sweet, but not overly so. The glaze added a smoothness to it while the pastry was crisp and flaky. Taking a second bite, she nodded. “Indeed. You know this town, so I shall follow.”
Together, they left the bakery. The downtown wasn’t exceptionally large, but it was still sizable and had everything that a town needed with extra. Surely it wouldn’t be too difficult to find a job, even for a unicorn.
Seven hours and eighteen rejections later, Luna was cursing herself for even thinking about getting a job. Some of the rejections, like at the tailors, were similar to Puff’s; kind, but resolute in not wanting to hire her, or Copper by association. Most of them simply said no. A few turned them away as soon as they’d gotten in the door. Those were the ones that Copper glared at.
Currently, they were sitting just outside the eighteenth rejection, a blacksmith’s shop on the edge of town. Copper explained it was so the noise and smoke didn’t bother anypony. Luna had tried to explain that she had no skills anywhere near suited to working in a blacksmith’s shop. Her cohort had insisted on trying, saything that Anvil owed him.
They’d barely gotten in the door before they were thrown out. Anvil had spat at her, calling her multiple racial epithets and said he didn’t even want her in his shop. Copper had tried to protest, but Anvil had simply closed his door, locking it and changing the sign over to “Closed.”
Luna wiped some saliva off her cheek. “Well, that was unpleasant.”
Even Copper’s unflagging enthusiasm was failing. “I’m sorry, Clover. I had no idea Anvil would act like that.”
She flicked her hoof, sending the spit into the dirt. “It’s fine. Trying to find a job in this town seems to have been a fool’s errand.”
Copper slammed a hoof into the ground. “I had thought that maybe this place had changed in the time I was away.” He paused for a moment, kicking his hoof at a loose rock. “I guess I was wrong.”
Luna set a calming hoof on his shoulder. “It’ll all work out, Copper. I’ll figure out something.”
In truth, she was beginning to revise her plans. There wasn’t much town left, if they didn’t find anything, she was just going to leave. Perhaps go visit the zebras. That should be far enough away from Celestia to allow for magic in her work without drawing attention. The zebras should also have many of the ingredients and components she required.
She wouldn’t leave without paying back Copper and his family. She’d be able to conjure up enough bits for them to live comfortably for some time. Perhaps be able to afford a decent education for Granite. She’d have to leave quietly, in the night. They couldn’t be given the chance to ask questions. Copper would surely try to stop her if he knew, she didn’t want to have to reveal anything about herself if it could be avoided.
Copper flicked another rock away with his hoof, then straightened. “Listen, since we’re all the way out here, you feel like accompanying me on one more errand?”
“I don’t see why not. There’s still some time left in the day, although I don’t feel like trying for another job today,” Luna responded. She couldn’t deny, the constant rejection and glares were testing her tolerance.
“Oh, it’s a job, but it’ll be for me,” Copper said. He began cantering down the road towards the mountain. “We’re going to the mines. We might not get you a job today, but they never turn down willing stallions in the shaft.”
“Then you should get a job there. I’ll wait outside so as to not attract trouble for you.”
“It doesn’t matter,” the earth pony laughed. “Rocky is an ass to everypony. Just so long as you’re strong or useful, he’ll put you to work. I think they’ve even got a few pegasi down there, grounded for some reason or another, in the same boat as you.”
Luna said nothing, content to think about her own plans. They walked half a mile outside of town before the mining operation came into view as they came over a rise in the landscape. The disguised alicorn let out a small gasp as she took in the scope of their mining operation. A long valley stretched out before them, filled with all manner of mining apparatus.
It was little wonder Hollow Shades was so busy, this mine was huge! They must be the biggest exporter to the rest of Equestria at this point in time. Ponies moved to and fro like ants in a hive, each with purpose and a quota to meet before the day ended.
There were large cranes dotting the landscape, working as elevators to the shafts below. Many were being operated by teams of ponies as they hauled up or let down raw ores and ponies. At first glance it looked like chaos, but if one observed long enough, it was extremely organized chaos. A well oiled machine doing what it did best: work.
Various other buildings, scaffolding and refineries dotted the work zone. She noticed a large road filled with ponies hauling materials away from town back towards the rest of Equestria. They must have bypassed it completely on their way in, Copper most likely favoring a secluded route into town.
“Quite the sight, isn’t it?” Copper said, breaking Luna out of her impressed reverie.
Luna smirked. “Indeed.”
She cantered forward, eager to peek down one of the elevator shafts.
Copper galloped up behind her. “Woah, hold on! We’ve gotta head to the offices first, they won’t take kindly to civilians running around the operation. Ponies without hardhats get the boot quick.”
Reluctantly, Luna let the stallion regain the lead. He skirted the edge of the valley, making for the closest cluster of buildings. He approached the nearest shack which sported a sign: Main Office . Luna eyed the walls suspiciously, unsure of how they were still holding up the roof.
They paused as a pony began shouting inside. Copper rolled his eyes and continued forward. “Definitely no change here, I wonder what’s going on today.”
Just as they reached the door, it burst open and a pony stormed out, bringing with him clarity to the words being shouted. “... Just get it done!”
Ignoring each other, Copper and the stallion stepped by each other, exchanging positions as the disgruntled miner grumbled with frustration. “Sometimes I wonder if that bucker wasn’t born with a hardhat instead of a skull.”
He ignored Luna, which was fine with her, as she stepped in behind Copperhoof. A large earth pony sat behind a desk piled high with papers. Behind him were numerous file cabinets and boxes. Drawers were open and papers sticking out everywhere. The entire office was a mess.
The stallion was frowning down at something on his desk. “Damned idiot...” At the sound of their hoofsteps on the wooden floor, he looked up. “The answer is still no you buc—” He cut off upon seeing who it was. “Oh. Who are you two and what can I do for you?”
Copper smiled. “Still the same old fart, aren’t you Rocky.”
Rocky’s eyes narrowed for a moment. “I know you...” The silence stretched on while Copper refused to say anything. Finally his eyes widened. “By Celestia’s pink underpants!” he swore. “Copperhoof!”
Luna raised an eyebrow at the miner’s colorful language, it wasn’t every day she was privy to ponies swearing to her sister. Most ponies held their tongues around her and her sister. While she suspected she should be offended, but it was almost a thrill, something new and exciting. Besides, Tia wore green underpants whenever she wore a dress to a state function, which made the swear more entertaining.
The two stallions were exchanging a vigorous hoofshake. “How many years has it been? Six? What brings you back here?”
“Things didn’t end up working out too well in Canterlot, so I’m back here. I got in yesterday. What brings me here specifically is that I need a job. You got any openings down in the shaft?”
Rocky chuckled. “Oh we’ve got plenty of openings, most of them shored up and waiting for strong workers to pick away at them.” The large stallion peered intently at Copper. “Your time in the capital didn’t soften you none, did it?”
“Not one bit,” Copper replied. He lifted up a hoof, flexing. “I’m still strong enough to swing a pickaxe and haul the raw ore.”
“Good.” The stallion began shuffling through his papers. “Hold on. Let me find the form you need to fill out, as well as the waivers to sign. Usual stuff, saying you know the dangers that come with mining.”
“Yeah, I know. I did use to work here.”
“Even better. Then we can skip orientation and tomorrow morning your flank will be picking away at the rocks.” He was still looking through the papers, multiple stacks being disturbed and papers sliding onto the floor. “I know it’s around here somewhere.”
The large stallion continued to rummage as he spoke again. “If you show me you’ve not lost any of your mining smarts, you might be looking at a promotion right quick, Copper. We’ve got a few positions that need a good head.”
Luna resisted the urge to grate her teeth together. This office was a complete disaster. How did he ever find anything in this mess? Surely the mine was more organized than this. She felt like Twilight had rubbed off on her more than she was willing to admit.
The Princess of the Night knew she wasn’t the most patient of ponies, but this was ridiculous. This pony had nothing labeled, the filing cabinets looked terribly neglected. Judging by the dirt smudges on everything, this pony regularly went walking around the mining site then came in here and put his dirty hooves all over the papers.
Finally, after several minutes of him shuffling around, her patience shattered. Stamping a hoof on the floor, she shouted. “Enough!” The outburst attracted the attention of both stallions in the room.
Her horn lit up, the glow causing both of them to shuffle backwards. The various papers lifted off the floor, the desk, and out of the cabinets. Faster than either stallion could comprehend, the detritus swarmed around the room.
Luna cast quick glances at everything as it passed her eyes. Forms, files, production schedules, receipts, and more were revealed to her. Quickly and efficiently she organized everything into stacks. Soon the papers began sliding back into the cabinets, neat and orderly.
Within two minutes, the office was spotless, not a paper out of place. Rocky’s desk was cleaned off, with the exception of the very files and forms he was looking for. Luna huffed. “There. I believe the forms you wanted are now located in the drawer labeled ‘waivers.’ Do try and keep things organized.”
Rocky and Copper were both staring at her, blinking. As soon as they had realized that she wasn’t doing anything untoward with her magic, they had both calmed down and watched the spectacle. Rocky had moved over to the side of the room with Copper.
Realizing she was done, Rocky retook his place behind his desk. His wide eyes stared at the newly organized office. Cautiously he opened a drawer, seeing all the files in neat little holders.
“Damn...” he whispered. Turning back around, he ignored Copper, staring at Luna. “Wanna be a secretary?”
Luna blinked. “Erm, what?”
“I said, you wanna be a secretary? That little organizing thing you did, you can do it again?” At Luna’s cautious nod, he continued. “And can you organize other things, like schedules?” Again, she nodded. Working with Twilight had forced her to learn schedules and timetables, as the little alicorn loved them dearly. “Then, mare, you’ve got a job as my secretary.”
“But... I’m a unicorn. Won’t that impact your business?”
He snorted. “Unicorn, pegasus, earth pony, I don’t care. If you can work, and work hard, then I’ll give you a job. In your case, if you can keep things organized around here, I don’t rightly care if you’re a damned alicorn. You’ve got a job.”
Luna nearly choked at the alicorn bit. Managing to retain her composure, she held out a hoof. “Well then. It seems you have not only have another miner, but a secretary as well.”
Rocky shook her hoof. “You both start tomorrow. 8 a.m. Sharp! Now fill out these forms, sign the waivers, and be back here tomorrow.” He pushed a small stack of papers towards Copper. It only took him a moment to gather another stack, which he sent to Luna. “What’s your name?” he asked her.
“Clover,” she replied, already taking a quill and filling out the form.
“Well Clover, I look forward to working with you.”
Luna smiled. “I look forward to having a job.”
Copper chuckled, giving her back a sharp slap. “See Clover? I told you we’d find you something.”
She snorted, but couldn’t help but smirk. “I think I found this one myself.”
They spent fifteen minutes filling out the forms. Luna insisted on actually reading over the waiver, rather than just signing it like Copper did. It was mostly about all the dangers inherent to mining, and how you could potentially die a violent death. Or get trapped and die a slow death. Rather grim reading, but she could see where it would be prudent to inform the workers about what could happen.
With a flourish, she signed the final line, handing the waiver over to Rocky. He accepted it, placing it into a drawer behind him. She made a note to make sure he’d placed it in the right drawer once she started the next day.
They said their goodbyes, heading back into town. Copper had a spring in his step and a smile on his muzzle. His good mood was infectious, and she soon found herself smiling as well.
They reached Copper’s home, the stallion tossing open the door. “Ginger! I’ve got some good news!”
A small voice answered him from further inside the house. “Daddy!” Granite came barreling out of the kitchen and jumped at Copper. After a laugh and embrace, Granite continued, “Mommy’s not home yet.”
“Where is she?” Copper asked.
“Still at work. She took a break to walk me home from school, then had to go back.”
Luna followed Copper as he stepped into the kitchen while Granite spoke. The filly had several papers spread out on the table. Scrambling up onto a chair, the filly took up one of the papers in her mouth, presenting it to Copper. It looked like math to the princess.
“Shee?” she proclaimed proudly. “Ahm armursht done!”
Copperhoof grinned and took the paper, but his thoughts still seemed elsewhere. “At work? I didn’t know she had a job,” he commented.
Granite nodded. “She got one last year. Said I was old enough to stay home without her being around to watch me.”
The smile slowly slipped off of Copper’s face. “Oh. Well, do you know when she’ll be home?”
“Soon,” was all the filly said.
Copper looked lost for a moment. Luna felt pity for him. He was clearly struggling with something. Perhaps it was the news that Ginger had a job. Having his wife absent wasn’t something he expected. Whatever the case, it wasn’t her place to pry into family business. She could, however, help him out.
“What are you working on, Granite?” she asked the filly.
“Math.” The reply was terse, and probably only delivered because her father was standing right there.
“You know, I’m pretty good at math. Do you need any help?” Maybe not the best approach, but she was looking for something that Granite was willing to open up on with her.
“Not from you.”
“Well, how about your dad?” She nudged the stallion, hoping he would get the hint.
“Oh, yes. Here, let me help you with that, Granite.” He sat down next to the filly, pulling one of the sheets over and taking a look at it.
The filly gave Luna a hard look, but it was quickly replaced with eagerness that was no doubt stimulated by the stallion sitting next to her. The filly was almost finished and probably didn’t need help, but even she could see the two ponies should spend some time bonding. As the father and daughter got to work, Luna quietly slipped out of the room.
The princess sat down in the living room. The house was missing most of the modern amenities she was used to, like magazines. There were a few books lying around, though in this age, books were a rarity. Before the advent of trains and reliable ways to get from town to town, most books were only sold in one area.
Picking one up, she saw that it was a history of Hollow Shades. Intrigued, she opened it up. Maybe it would contain a hint as to how the ‘earth ponies forever’ mentality got so ingrained into this town.
Some time later, as the sun was slipping below the horizon, the front door opened. Ginger came inside, wiping her hooves on the mat. “I’m so sorry I’m late, Granite.” She spotted Luna sitting on the couch. “Oh, Miss Clover. You’re back already.”
“Mommy!” A grey blur shot out of the kitchen, latching onto Ginger. The mare stumbled backwards a step.
“Hello Granite. You been keeping out of trouble while I was at work?”
“Uh huh. Daddy even helped me with my homework.”
Ginger set the filly down. “Did he now? I’ll bet he was a big help. Why don’t you go play outside. I need to start dinner.”
“Okay!” The giggling filly scrambled back though the house. A second later, a door opened then slammed closed.
“So, how was the job search?” Ginger asked.
“Successful,” Luna replied, setting the book down.
“Really? Where did you get a job?”
“Copper and I both got jobs down at the mine.”
“The mines?” Ginger cast a worried glance at her husband who cleaning up Granite’s mess. “Are you sure you’re suited to working down in the shaft?”
Luna laughed. “Oh no. Copper’s a miner. The foreman, Rocky, hired me as his secretary.” She winked at Ginger. “I’m afraid my hooves are a little too delicate to be swinging a pickaxe all day.”
The other mare shared her laugh. “Well it’s good that you found a job. I’m afraid that I thought you wouldn’t be able to find one.”
“Oh we got rejected eighteen times. But it all worked out in the end.”
Ginger opened a closet, pulling out a long rod. She set it across her back, sliding two pails onto each end of the rod. “I’m glad it did. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to visit the well and gather some water. I did promise you and Copper baths tonight.”
Luna got off the couch. “I can go with you. Do you have more pails?”
“In the closet. But this is the only carrying rod I have.”
The princess looked into the closet, seeing at least a dozen more pails. At her raised eyebrow, Ginger spoke up. “The roof leaks, sometimes. I haven’t had a chance to get it fixed, so I bought a few more pails to collect the water.”
Luna shrugged, picking up the entire stack with her magic. “I suppose we should get started, then.”
“Are you sure you can handle all that?”
“I’m sure.” She gestured towards the door. “The sooner we get this done, the sooner I get a bath. And the sooner we can eat dinner.”
“Right.” Ginger took the rod off her back, holding it in a hoof as she stepped through the door. Once she was outside, she placed the rod back in its place. Luna followed, closing the door behind her.
“Lead on,” Luna said.
The cool evening air washed over the two mares as they trotted down the subdued street towards the well. There were other ponies still out and about. Some, still grimey from their days in the mines, were heading home. Others were moving towards the well just like them, intent on finishing their evening chores before bed.
Ponies stopped to stare, and in some cases, glare at the unicorn levitating a dozen buckets in her magic as she quickly trotted behind Ginger towards a small square. As they approached, it dawned on Luna that this was a community well, and most of the homes had been built around the thing for easy access. She wondered how many others were around town.
“Here dear,” Ginger called, snapping Luna out of her reverie.
Luna set her buckets down, lining them up alongside the well. She watched as the earth pony mare kicked the stop out of the well winch and allowed a large pail to descend. When there was a splash, Ginger then began applying a powerful hoof to a paddle attached to a curious rotor much like that of a sewing spindle. It began to wind up the rope and bucket as she watched. Ingenious, but crude, in Luna’s opinion.
They were able to fill two of their buckets with the pail before it was emptied. Luna carefully moved them back from the well and slid two empty ones into their place. She continued to watch Ginger, who was focused on pumping the pail back up out of the well.
The mares repeated this process twice more before Ginger paused and panted, “I don’t usually do this many buckets.”
“Is the well usually this deep? Or have there been water shortages this year?”
“Wells are fairly deep,” Ginger said, resuming her work. “It’s one of the reasons we don’t bathe as often as you unicorns are wont to do.”
Luna hesitated for a moment, debating whether to broach the topic she was thinking of. Ginger was a proud mare from what she’d observed so far, and may not take it well. “I can help you, if you don’t mind.”
Ginger stiffened and redoubled her efforts. “That’s quite alright dear, earth po—” She stopped, turning to the unicorn with a questioning glare. They stood for a moment, Luna deeming it unwise to break the silence.
Eventually, Ginger turned away and resumed winding the crank with a shake of her head. “I do not understand why you are here. Unicorns are never polite or are willing to offer their services, not even if they want something in return.” Ginger paused, then turned back to stare into Luna’s eyes. “Who are you? Why come here?”
Luna didn’t reply to the other mare. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, it was that she didn’t have an answer ready for those questions. She had her cover story of Clover the lost little unicorn, that’s who she was. As for the why, it was because she needed to get out of Canterlot, and Copper simply provided the most convenient route. That wasn’t something she would tell Ginger, though.
Once she thought about it, however, it did seem ponies would find it odd for a unicorn to be out here, especially alone. There were probably many places she could have gone in Canterlot. It was just that being so close to her sister was out of the question. There was no telling what could happen if she was revealed.
Ginger didn’t say anything, nor ask another question, seeming content to let the unicorn think about her answer. After nearly a minute, she leaned against the crank, panting. Luna seized the opportunity to lend a helping hoof.
Gently, she set a hoof on the crank, giving Ginger a slight push out of the way. The mare retreated, not saying a word. Luna gave the crank a critical look before pulling a pin attaching it to the bar over the well. Laying aside the contraption and grasping the bar in her magic, she quickly began rotating it much faster than the earth pony had been.
In a fraction of the time, the full bucket had been retrieved back to the surface, emptied into two more pails, and was on its way back down again. Luna made sure to speed up the process, but not put any undue strain on the bar or rope holding the bucket. Having either of those break would not help any reputation she might have with the town.
It was only as she was resecuring the pin to the crank, every bucket full of water, that she turned and faced Ginger. “To answer your questions, I am Clover, a unicorn formerly of the Academy. I grew up in a rigid academic system, leaving me with lots of theoretical knowledge, but very little practical knowledge of how the world works. So when I find myself facing my toughest lesson of all, being thrown into the real world and having to adapt, and survive, I know that I need help.”
She paused a moment, organizing the filled buckets into rows and columns while collecting her thoughts. “As for why I’m here?” She shrugged. “I don’t really have a reason. I have nowhere else to go, no family to take me in. I had no friends at the Academy, merely acquaintances. What I need most is time . Time to think, to know what it is that I want to do next. Until I know that, I shall merely assist you and Copper, both of you have already been unduly kind to me.”
She gathered up most of the buckets in her magic, leaving four for Ginger to carry. The mare didn’t say anything, simply placing the buckets back on the rod, which she lifted onto her back. Together, they trekked back through town, the few ponies still out staring at Luna and the buckets she was carrying.
They arrived back at the house, leaving most of the buckets by the back door. Ginger moved to open the door, pausing with her hoof on the handle. “I’m not sure what to think about you, Clover. I feel like part of me should be angry, my husband bringing home some strange mare he met while he was away. For all I know, he could have cheated on me with you.”
Luna opened her muzzle to assure Ginger that her fears were unfounded. She and Copper had never done anything like that. Ginger’s hoof moved from the handle to in front of her, cutting her off.
“I know that’s not true. Copper would never do something like that, and you seem nice enough.” She sighed. “I’m willing to trust you, Clover. My husband does, and after seeing you these last two days, I’ll agree to share our home with you. However... Life here is hard, certainly much harder than the life you’re used to back at the Academy I’m sure.” At this, her eyes ran over Luna’s physique.
“Even beyond the work, which you will have to do, ponies around here all help each other, you’ll have to prove to the townsponies that you are not a dead weight. I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that unicorns are not exactly welcome here. That’s something that you’ll have to face, as will Copper and I. Just having you in our home could invite social trouble for the two of us.”
Luna grimaced. “I understand, and thank you. I promise not to be a burden.”
Ginger smiled, opening the door and maneuvering her buckets inside. “We will see. I imagine you’ll find things to be rather difficult when you cannot rely on your magic as often as you are used to. Today will have to be an exception.
“Come,” she continued, “the bathtub is in our bedroom. We can take the water in there.”
The two mares barely registered the stallion in the kitchen as they marched through the house. Luna caught a glimpse of the stallion dicing up some sort of vegetable. She wondered how easy it was for Copper to fall back into his household routine after being away for so long. Still, earth ponies didn’t change unless they had to. Ginger probably hadn’t ever even redecorated since he had been away.
Entering the bedroom where Copper and Ginger slept, Luna put her buckets down as her fellow mare shrugged off her yoke and went to a corner in the room. She began digging items out of a large— Luna blinked. It was the tub, turned storage container.
After placing a few oddities, a dress and framed paintings on the bed, Ginger began tugging on the basin. Stepping forward to help, Luna realized that the tub, ironically, was made of copper and proving to be a chore for the earth pony mare.
Grinning, Luna stepped forward and grasped a side of the tub. “Less magic you say? Well it’s a good thing you have the strongest unicorn this side of Hollow Shades!”
The tub began to slowly grind across the floor as they tugged. “You’re the only unicorn in Hollow Shades,” Ginger panted.
“Did I also mention I was the handsomest, prettiest, toughest and smartest?” Luna joked, emphasising each of her adjectives with a jerk on the stubborn basin.
Ginger narrowed her eyes. “A pity that unicorn still can’t find a way to move this thing easier,” she snarked.
To be honest, Luna was rather surprised at how little of her actual strength her wards were allowing her to use. She stopped pulling, frowning at the tub as Ginger leaned against the side of it and raised an eyebrow.
Igniting her horn, Luna summoned a burst of magic and hauled the tub into the middle of the floor in a single go. Her eyes widened in panic as she watched Ginger, her hooves still hooked inside the tub, be flung inside the thing and make a ringing thunk as it stopped.
Luna stood silently for a moment, her eyes wide as she tried to comprehend what had happened. Then Ginger sat up, rubbing her head. Luna rushed forward. “Ginger! I am so sorry! I just—”
She was cut short as the earth pony burst out laughing. “Well that’s one way to move a tub,” the mare giggled. Luna, lost for words once again, simply stood at the edge of the tub staring at a chuckling Ginger.
Her relief finally found it’s way out in chuckle of its own as Ginger burst into a new fit of giggles as she pointed at the dumbfound unicorn. “Truly you are one of a kind.”
After a few more laughs Ginger climbed out of the tub and produced a rag. Wetting it, she proceeded to wipe down the copper basin. “You know,” she mused. “We should have just let Copper pull the thing out. Stallions like showing off like... that.” Ginger trailed off with a small frown, but she quickly turned back to the unicorn and flashed a smile. “Well, enjoy your bath!”
“Oh I couldn’t,” Luna said quickly. “You first.”
Ginger smirked, giving Luna a knowing smirk. “I insist, and I very much doubt Copper will even think about bathing before the both of us have a chance.”
Luna opened her mouth to protest again, but the mare’s reasoning was sound. It would just be simpler to bathe quickly without making a fuss. That, and the fact that the mare had turned away and was already pouring buckets of water into the tub. “Alright then, I won’t be long.”
Grabbing a bucket in her magic, Luna began to pour it into the tub before she paused. “Do we not warm the water first?”
“Warm water?” Ginger scoffed. “Sure, if you want to wait two or three hours before you bathe. I’m sure the stove has a few embers left, we’ll just get it stoked and roaring again in a jiffy!” The mare smiled sympathetically. “Maybe next time, dear.”
With that, Ginger left the bedroom, pulling the door closed with a gentle thud. Luna, for her part, stood staring at the bath water with a frown. She dipped in a hoof, immediately pulling it out with a gasp. It was freezing! She had already used far too much magic moving the tub, but cold water for a bath was completely unacceptable.
She ignited her horn once again, allowing tendrils to bleed into the water. Just this once, next time she would use the fire, she promised. Once steam began to rise, she cut the flow of magic and tested the water again. It was perfect! Ignoring the pinging of her new mental magic meter, she stepped into the water and splayed out on her back with a sigh.
They say you never know what you were missing until it was gone. In this case, an actual bath felt like heaven. As a Princess, she was used to just going into her private baths and bathing whenever she wanted. To have gone as many days as she had without one was something she hadn’t had to do in a long time.
Using a hoof, she swirled the water, watching as flecks of dirt peeled off, turning to mud. The water itself was quickly turning brown. It would be a battle to see how long she could enjoy the warm water before it became too dark to stand.
Deciding to do her soaking before dirtying up the water, Luna leaned back with a sigh and closed her eyes. Just a couple of minutes, then she’d clean up and refresh the water. Letting her mind wander, she thought about what Ginger had said earlier. Now that she did think about it, the mare had been somewhat aloof from her rather long departed husband.
She pursed her lips. Perhaps there was more to what Ginger was saying back at the well than the mare was letting on to. Despite her obvious relief at having her husband back, there was also something else there, a reluctance of some kind.
Perhaps it would be a good idea to do some investigating. She can’t risk using her powers to observe the family’s dreams, that was alicorn magic and something that Celestia could pick up on. So perhaps a more mundane solution would be best. There was one spell she could use, and it wouldn’t tax her too much, not over an area only the size of the house.
Still idly swirling a hoof through the water, she lit up her horn. The spell itself was somewhat complex, even if the energy involved wasn’t much. Slowly, she extended her senses out around her, specifically her hearing. Remote viewing was possible, but she didn’t need to see. The sound of the swishing water got more and more distant while sounds like the crackling fire in the kitchen grew louder.
She could hear Granite in her bedroom. The filly wasn’t speaking, but there was the sound of a quill on parchment. Copper was in the kitchen, a knife chopping something while a bubbling sound had to be a pot of boiling water on the stove. The only one she couldn’t hear was Ginger.
Her ears twitched as she picked up a small sigh from the living room. That could only be the mare of the house. Soft hoof falls signalled her getting up and heading towards the kitchen.
Luna narrowed the focus of her spell, concentrating on just that room. “Copper, we need to talk.” Ginger’s voice was strong.
The chopping cut out. “Sure, hon. What is it? Oh! Did you get Clover setup in the bath?”
“I did, but that’s not what we need to talk about.”
There was some shuffling around, a chair scraping across the floor. Either Ginger was getting settled, or Copper. Or both of them. Perhaps Copper could sense that this wasn’t the type of conversation he should remain standing and chopping for.
Ginger sighed again. “I don’t really know how to say this, so I’m just going to be blunt. Copper, why did you bring Clover home with you?”
“I guess... Because I felt sorry for her.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I told you how she and I met. She took care of me and healed me before she even knew my name. I owe her after that.”
The sound of clattering cups indicated that somepony, likely Copper, was rooting through the cabinet, getting something to drink from. “And you repaid her by giving her a place to sleep out of the rain. So why bring her home?”
“Like I said, I felt sorry for her. She has no knowledge of how things are. Still really doesn’t, truth be told. She has no family, no money. She just looked like she needed a new start somewhere.”
“That’s the only reason?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?” There was a pregnant pause. “What are you getting at?”
“Did you sleep with Clover, Copper?” Luna choked, and heard Copper do the same. She had told Ginger that nothing like that had happened between them. If Ginger had a nickname, Indirect wasn’t it. “Is that why you brought her back?”
“Wha-? Ginger! Is that what this is about?” A sharp clang sounded as a cup hit the table. “I promise you, Ginger. I never slept with Clover.”
“Nor anypony else while you were away?” Ginger’s voice hitched a bit. Luna felt sorry for the mare, having to ask something like that to her husband. It was her fault, too, for being here and causing those doubts in Ginger. She couldn’t blame the mare for her doubts, her husband was followed home by some young, pretty unicorn he met while away. If their positions had been reversed, Luna would have the same doubts.
“Ginger, you know me better than that. I pined for you while I was away, I missed you, I love you.” Luna heard a chair scrape and hoofsteps before Copper continued. “I did not cheat on you. The thought never crossed my mind.”
A quiet sob met Luna’s ears. “I’m sorry Copper. I know you wouldn’t do that to me, but... But that doesn’t keep me from worrying.”
“Especially after I brought Clover home,” Copper finished. There was the sound of clopping hooves for a moment. “It’s okay, Ginger. I don’t blame you for worrying, and asking me. I’d rather you ask me then let your worry eat at you.”
“I’m sorry,” Ginger repeated, her voice now muffled. “But you come home with this pretty, young unicorn in tow after so many years. I...”
“Shh. It’s okay, Ginger. You don’t have to explain yourself to me. There is nothing to apologize for. If anything, it’s my fault.”
They didn’t speak after that. Luna canceled her spell after a minute, letting the couple have their privacy again.
She felt bad for being the cause of such doubts in Ginger’s mind. To cause such friction amongst the family, even for a moment, was not something she meant to do. Perhaps someday, she’d find a way to make it up to them all. For now, she’d have to keep taking advantage of their hospitality. Somewhere like this was the best place for her, far away from Celestia where she could think and work in peace.
Luna relaxed in the bathtub for another ten minutes, until the water started to get cold. Rather than heat it up again, she washed herself off, turning the water a deep brown. When she stepped out of the tub, she felt clean for the first time in a week.
The tub had no way to drain itself, beyond a spigot at the bottom, and draining the tub all over Ginger and Copper’s bedroom seemed like a bad idea. Grabbing one of the buckets, she opened the window and began tossing out the old bathwater.
What was left inside the tub was a dirty patina of grime. With a look of disgust, she scraped the inside of the tub, setting what came out inside one of the empty buckets. It took her several passes with her magic, but she got it all, the interior of the tub being clean once more.
She could go get Ginger, or Copper, let them know she was done, but perhaps she could do a little more. A smile formed on her face. Yes, there was indeed something she could do.
Humming to herself, she emptied buckets of water into the tub until it was full. With a wave of her magic, she heated it up until it was steaming. Only then did she go to the door into the room and open it. “Copper, Ginger, the tub’s ready for you,” she called out.
There was a clattering from the kitchen. “Be right there,” Copper called out.
The stallion came down the hallway, stepping passed her and into the room. “Just let me empty the tub and then I can-” He stopped talking when he saw the tub, the clear water with steam rising off of it filling it up. “What?”
Luna smiled. “There’s some perks to having magic.”
Ginger came through the door. “Need a hoof changing the water?” she asked.
Wordlessly, Copper just pointed to the tub. When Ginger saw what was inside, she turned and looked at Luna, raising an eyebrow. Luna just shrugged, nodding.
“Go on, enjoy your bath, Copper.”
Copper looked over at his wife, a smile coming to his face. “Hey, Clover, think you can do me a favor?” he asked.
“Of course, anything.”
“Stir the pot on the stove every few minutes.”
Ginger gave her husband a confused look. “Is there any reason I cannot stir the pot?”
The stallion wrapped his arms around the mare, giving her a peck on the cheek. “Because you and I have some catching up to do.”
Ginger giggled. “I... Well, in that case you best get to catching up, Mister.”
Luna quietly left the room, closing the door behind her. It was good to see that they had forgiven each other so quickly. They might even be able to grow closer as a couple from this experience. If the looks they were giving each other just now were any indication, they would be very close in just a few minutes.
She was about to walk away, let the two ponies have some peace, when Granite came down the hallway, carrying a piece of paper. “What are you doing here?” the filly asked.
“I was taking a bath.” She showed off her now clean coat.
“Is daddy in there?”
Luna nodded. “He is, but-”
The filly tried to get past her and to the door. “I want to show him something.”
She reached down and grabbed Granite. “That’s not a good idea right now.” The last thing she, and probably her parents, wanted was for the filly to walk in on their quality time.
“Hey! Put me down!”
“I tell you what,” she told the struggling filly. “Why don’t we go into the kitchen and you can show me what it is you have to show your daddy.”
“Like I’d show you. You’re just a unicorn!”
“I’ll, um, I’ll give you my dessert tonight!”
Granite stopped squirming. “You promise?”
“Promise. But you have to promise to come with me into the kitchen and wait until your parents come out.”
The filly put a hoof to her chin while still dangling in the air. “Deal. Now put me down.”
Carefully, Luna set her down on the floor. Granite gave her an odd look, but she walked away, towards the kitchen. The disguised alicorn breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s a crisis averted,” she muttered. Now all she had to deal with was a filly who didn’t like her. “This should be fun.”
Author's Note
This chapter, and the next few, were already written at the time of publishing. But, we were alerted to some issues with our characters as we worked ahead. So, unfortunately for you, chapter releases will be slower as we revise/solidify the story. But, also, fortunately for you, the story will be better!
Chapter 5
Papers. Papers and dust. They were Luna’s world for the next week, along with the infrequent unmentionable that was quickly removed. By the end of the second day she was wearing a damp kerchief over her muzzle as she shuffled mouse eaten ledgers outside. There were documents stuffed away in corners of that office that probably hadn’t seen light in generations.
Now, Luna surveyed the cramped office with satisfaction. She had been able to roust the large earth pony who had hired her, Rocky, out of the small building for most of the week giving her a chance to clean everything. She had found that the large desk was actually two, smashed together with layers of greasy stone dust. Most of the work space had been turned into a station for herself, allowing only a small lobby in front of the door with the other desk for her ‘boss.’ What meager useful documents they had were now re-cataloged and filed away in the drawers she had uncovered.
It was now that her real work began. The mine’s inventory was nonexistent, documentation of employees was sparse and Luna was sure there would be plenty of bits to dig out of the cobweb called their finances. She had already assigned Rocky paperwork on the inventory, having him relist everything so that she could figure out what they actually had.
The stallion had complained, but Luna couldn’t help but notice he looked more relieved than anything. She couldn’t be sure if it was her doing or not, but Rocky had readily taken to the work and seemed eager to move her plan forward when she laid it out to him.
First would be taking stock of everything the mine possessed currently and evaluating their work force. Once she had enough data, they were going to dive right into cleaning up their expenditures and reworking the books. Luna wasn’t sure how this business was even still functioning in this state, but by golly it would be singing once she was finished with it.
“That should about do it,” Rocky rumbled, standing from the creaky chair he was sitting in. “These are all the items essential to the mining operation and should be in the storehouses.”
The stallion stumped over to Luna and deposited a few pages on her desk. “If there’s anything else in there let me know, I might have missed a couple of things. I’ll get started on the large machinery and take a peek in the mine.”
Luna looked up from the papers she was sorting. “I can take care of cataloging the equipment if you—”
“The mine is no place for a unicorn,” the stallion interjected. “Take care of the storehouses,” he finished, stumping out of the office with paper and pencil.
Luna frowned, but picked up the pages the stallion had left and stepped out into the cool air after the stallion. She watched him amble towards the mountain for a minute before turning to the large buildings nearby, the storehouses. Looking at the pages floating in her magic, she sighed at the large amount of question marks alongside how much gear they actually had, or even needed, for the number of ponies they had working in the mine.
Grumbling, she began marching. It was only the first week, eventually she would get some solid numbers. Once she figured out what they actually had it would be easy to determine what they needed . At least, that was what she was hoping for.
Giving one final sigh, she headed towards the storehouses. It was time to replace all of those question marks with actual numbers. The mud clung to her hooves, but she ignored it. If these ponies could live in the dirt, so could she. Besides, with her magic, Ginger had been much more inclined to bathing everypony.
When she entered the first of the storerooms, she paused at the door. Several earth ponies were in the room, raiding the supplies. They were packing lights, pickaxes, and wearing a harness she suspected was used in the mines.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized. She wasn’t sure how to handle this. While her work at the mine had been accepted, after Rocky had shouted at several miners, that didn’t mean they had accepted her.
Of the four ponies in the room, three of them shoved past her. The most she got was grunt from them. The last, a large earth pony, looked at her. “It’s quite alright,” he said. “You trying to figure out what all we have?”
She nodded her head. “Yes. I finally managed to get all of the paperwork in order. Now I need to know what all we have, and how much of it.”
The earth pony chuckled. “Well then, you’re in the right place.” He held out a hoof. “The name’s Tank.”
Luna took the hoof, shaking it. Other than Copper and Rocky, she’d never had an interaction like this with somepony in town. “Clover.”
“Well, Clover, I wish you luck in organizing this place. It really needs it.” With that, Tank brushed past her and outside. Unlike the other times, this didn’t feel like a dismissal, but more like Tank was simply getting on with his job. For once, she didn’t feel snubbed.
With a bemused smile, she turned to observe the storeroom. It was a mess. She frowned, it seemed like everypony just came in, dumped off their tools into a few arranged piles and then left them there until they were needed again. Even ignoring the organization, everything in here was poorly cared for. If they at least spent a little time taking care of their things, they might last longer.
‘Right, first thing’s first. Dedicated spots for everything.’ She reached into her saddlebag, pulling out the most important thing, according to Twilight: a small piece of parchment, and some tacks. It was too bad technology hadn’t advanced enough to where they had sticky notes . But she could approximate that, by labeling each stack and drawer. At least until they could get proper signs.
She looked around the storage building, sighing. There was a long road ahead of her. She could see gas masks mingling with safety vests, mixed with mining equipment. And from what she had seen, the same was spread amongst the other buildings. Even a simple conglomeration of putting the mining equipment in the same building was beyond this place. Pickaxes were spread amongst three different buildings alone! It would take her days to even get the supplies cataloged, much less organized.
Giving another sigh, she once more looked around the room. This was going to be her hardest challenge yet. At least most of the papers over the last week were contained in the same trailer. This would take her months to sort through at that speed.
With one last sigh, she started opening cabinets and drawers, writing down what was in there. Free standing cabinets held mining equipment like pickaxes, while built in cupboards held the gasmasks and lights they used underground. For every similar cupboard she found, there were three containing different things all over. There was no rhyme or reason to anything.
The longer the day went on, the more her teeth ground together over the general state of the mine. By the end, she had inspected three trailers and had found multiples of everything. How had this mining business even lasted as long as it had?
Standing outside of the third trailer, Luna stared at it, knowing full well what was inside. This was ridiculous! There was absolutely no reason for the stores to be in this state. She knew that she had to enter the building, but she didn’t want to. It was terrible! This lack of system demanded some drastic overhaul!
Grumbling to herself, Luna debated on what to do. If she were to try and fix this the mundane way, she would be at it for months. She was patient, but she was nowhere near patient enough to wait, or work, on this task for that long.
Pawing at the dirt outside of the trailers, she listened as the bell rang, signaling the end of the work day. Soon, the miners would be coming up from the depths. They would deposit their equipment wherever they wanted to, and whatever organization system she was trying to implement would be ruined.
Luna frowned. She wasn’t a janitor, and she had no plans to become one! No, the only option was to do something drastic. That way, once the miners came up, she would have everything organized and ready for them. Stamping her hoof in the dirt, she looked at the trailers. Getting fed up and organizing Rocky’s office in one fell swoop got her a job, maybe it could earn her a modicum of respect from the rest of the town, as well!
Glancing around at the storage trailers, she concentrated. Her horn lit up with a soft glow, quickly becoming brighter and brighter. Soon, objects began floating out of the doors of the trailers.
Luna only briefly glanced at each object. Her eyes glowed the same color as her horn. To outside observers, it looked like she was sitting in the mud, a multitude of objects floating around her, and everything encased in her shimmering aura. Various piles started to take shape.
She ignored the mud, she ignored the piles of equipment building, she even ignored the gathering ponies. The only thing that mattered to her was her job, and getting this place organized.
The doors to the trailers were wide open, a steady march of glowing objects coming out. Luna briefly glanced at each one, They were separated into various piles, based upon what they were. There were four trailers of equipment, so she made four piles.
The ponies of the town were coming up from the mines. As soon as they saw what she was doing, they stopped and stared. Luna ignored them.
After over fifteen minutes, she could feel the alarms going off in the back of her mind. Thanks to the blocks she had placed on herself, she knew that a normal unicorn wouldn’t be able to do what she was currently doing. But she ignored the ringing. This was a town of earth ponies. While she may look like a strong unicorn, they wouldn’t know if she was going over the limit of a regular unicorn... She hoped.
After half an hour, she had four large piles sitting in the dirt and mud in front of her. Finally, she let her horn power down, her eyes losing their glowing color. Panting slightly, she looked around. Numerous ponies were gathered around, staring at her.
Wondering if this smug feeling was how Twilight felt most of the time, Luna pointed to the different piles. “Please, carry each pile into a different trailer. I promise that if you do so, not only will your jobs be much easier, but you’ll have to work less, as well.” Hopefully if she appealed to their work ethic, they would do what she wanted them to do.
The gathered miners continued to stare at her. A few turned and whispered to the pony next to them. Slowly, they got up and started gathering up the piles, going into the trailers.
“Put your current equipment in the proper piles, please!” she said. Letting out a long breath, she muttered to herself. “Stallions! Next time I see my secretary I’m taking her to dinner.”
The whispering and occasional stares continued, though she didn’t pay them any mind. Already she was thinking over how she was going to organize each trailer tomorrow. She could do so now, of course, but there was no point in pushing her luck. Best to just act like she was more tired than she actually was.
With the miners working, it didn’t take long before the piles were all inside once more. In small groups, the miners headed back towards town, talking amongst themselves. Luna took a moment to close each trailer, before turning back. Copper was still there, waiting for her.
“That was quite the display,” he said.
“Yes, well. It was certainly faster than doing it by hoof.” She then realized what she had said. “Not that doing it by hoof isn’t possible,” she backpedaled. “It’s very possible and I would commend anypony who did it that way. I just didn’t want to be organizing that place for weeks on end. Not that it would take you that long.”
Luna stopped babbling and slapped a hoof to her face when she realized that Copper was laughing. “It’s fine, Clover. I know you didn’t mean anything.”
“Apologies, Copper.” She’d have to be careful how she phrased things. No point in sounding like just what the locals expect her to sound like: a unicorn who thinks herself above the rest of them.
“It’s fine,” he repeated. “And I think it’s good you’re doing something like that. Gets everypony else used to you.”
“Speaking of that. Do you know a stallion named Tank?”
Copper thought for a moment. “Yeah, kinda. We used to work together back before I left for Canterlot. What of him?”
“He spoke to me, today. And it was... pleasant.”
“Oh?” he said, turning to look at her. “Does Clover have a crush on him?” His face morphed into a grin.
Luna bumped him with her shoulder, not that it fazed the larger pony. “It’s nothing like that,” she grumbled over his laughter. “I mean that he didn’t... It was... Normal. We exchanged pleasantries, some small talk, and then he left to get working. It’s the first time outside of you and your family that I actually was made to feel like I’m fitting in here.”
“I’m glad that some ponies around here are warming up to you. Just keep working hard and eventually everypony will come to accept you. Hard work is valued around here.” He continued to smile at her. “You sure you don’t have a crush on him?”
She groaned. “Yes, I’m certain. It was one conversation, and not really even that. An interaction, more like.”
“Hey, I believe in love at first sight. Happened to me and Ginger, after all.”
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Luna chose to not humor Copper and just kept walking. He continued to tease her about Tank the entire way home. When they got to the house, they walked around to the back, washing their hooves in the basin there, before heading into the kitchen.
“We’re home!” Copper called.
The only pony in the kitchen was Granite. The filly was sitting at the table, a book and several papers, as well as a quill and inkwell, were scattered around her. At the door opening and the announcement, there was a clatter and rush as Granite ran for the door. “Daddy!” she cried, throwing herself at Copper.
The stallion laughed, catching his daughter and hugging her. “Hey there, Granite. How was your day?”
“Boring. Ms. Lesson has us learning about multi- multipl- timesing. I don’t like math,” she replied, sticking out her tongue.
Luna snickered at the name, but quickly covered it with a cough when she saw Granite glaring. Copper just rubbed a hoof on the filly’s head. “Multiplying, dear. And I was never a fan of math, either. Your momma’s got the brains between the two of us.” He looked around the kitchen. “Speaking of your mom, where is she?”
“She’s not home yet. She picked me up from school and dropped me here, then went back.”
Copper frowned. Luna knew that he wasn’t a fan of Ginger still working at her job. At first, it had confused her. Ginger was just being a self-sufficient mare and helping to contribute to the household. It wasn’t until she reminded herself that she was a thousand years in the past that she remembered the earth pony’s work ethic was much more stallion focused back then. The mares were generally housewives, or ran the less labor intensive businesses like bakeries and tailors.
Luna remembered it well, the idea was almost laughable in the current day Equestria. An earth pony mare easily stood up with the strongest stallions of other races, there was no reason to force them into work where their prowess was unappreciated. Just look at Applejack, for example. The Element of Honesty was hardworking, business savvy, and could run her farm prosperously.
The stallion looked towards the front of the house. “I’ll bet she hasn’t had a chance to get water, either.” Gently, he set his daughter back on the floor. “Go on back to your homework, dear. I’ll just head to the well and get some water.”
Luna stepped forward. “I can help if you’d like.”
He shook his head. “No, you just take it easy.” She was about to argue, when he held up a hoof. “I saw you after work today. You were panting and tired. Just sit and take a break. No need to overexert yourself.”
“But, that was magic—” Luna tried to explain.
“No buts. Stay here,” Copper insisted, firmly pushing Luna into a kitchen chair. He kept his gaze on her until she sighed.
“Fine.”
His muzzle curled upwards into a smile. “Good! I’m going to head out, though I should be back before too long.” With that, he headed towards the front of the house, where the water buckets were stored.
Luna heard some commotion in the front, and at one point there was a crashing sound. However, before she could go investigate, Copper’s voice floated down the hall. “Don’t get up, Clover.” Pouting slightly, she sat back down.
Eventually, the stallion left, the front door closing behind him. Granite had returned to her spot at the table, staring down at the papers in front of her. The filly didn’t say anything, didn’t even seem to acknowledge Luna’s presence at the table. Instead, she would occasionally scratch at one paper with her quill, before crossing it out. Her eyes darted from the paper, to the book, to a different paper, and back again.
Normally, the only sound in a room being the scratching of a quill would be soothing to Luna. This time, it just felt awkward to her. It almost seemed like Granite was actively trying to ignore her presence.
After several minutes, Luna heard a frustrated grunt from the filly as she scratched out yet another answer to her homework. Unable to take the silence any longer, Luna spoke up. “It seems like you’re having some difficulty.” Granite gave no response, so she continued on. “I have some knowledge of math. If you’d like, I could help you with it.”
At that, Granite glared up at Luna. “No,” she said.
“Are you sure?” Luna prompted further.
“Yes.”
“Well, why not? I’m sure that between the two of us, we can get it done in no time.”
“Because I don’t need help from a horn- From you.”
“Granite, please! I’m just trying to be helpful, if you’d only let me!” Luna pleaded.
“You can help,” Granite snarled, “by going back to Canterlot!”
Luna frowned. She had caught the near insult, and it was upsetting that the filly was so hostile, but it made no sense. “What is it I’ve done to you?” she asked. “We can work through this.”
Neither Copper nor Ginger had ever referred to her using such a derogatory word, so Luna was sure that Granite had learned it from her peers outside the house. Perhaps they were responsible for the filly’s behaviour?
Granite shot her a look of contempt. “You show up, and ruin everything. I wish Dad had never brought you here.”
Luna wasn’t sure how to respond to that. There was no way this filly would so adamantly hate Clover when her parents had been so kind. Something was happening that was affecting Granite, though she had no idea what it was. Yet it was coloring the filly’s opinion of her.
It wasn’t that Granite had nearly called her that word, though that was still upsetting, but that the filly still was not warming up to her presence. Each time she and the filly interacted, Luna tried her best to be warm and welcoming. Yet still she was met with frostiness at best. She just didn’t know what to do to earn Granite’s trust. Obviously, helping her with her homework wasn’t doing anything.
When Luna didn’t say anything else, Granite went back to her homework. A moment later, the back door opened. Ginger stepped in, a saddle bag in the process of being taken off and set aside. Granite gave her mother a similar greeting she had given her father, to much the same response.
When the mare was done greeting her daughter, she caught sight of Luna, still sitting at the table. “Hello, Clover.”
“Ginger,” Luna replied with a nod. “How was work?”
“Long. I hear that you had a productive day at the mines.” The mare used a hoof to push her hastily discarded saddlebag to the side, closing the door.
Luna wasn’t sure what she was referring to, until she realized that it had to be about her little demonstration of magic in organizing the sheds. “Ah. You heard about that?”
Ginger nodded. “A couple of stallions from the mine came into the shop on their way home. They were talking about it.”
The disguised alicorn wanted to know just what language they were using to refer to her, but decided that such a question wouldn’t be wise to ask around Granite. Instead, she got up from the table as Ginger went over to the stove. “Is there anything I can do to help you with dinner?” In truth, she just didn’t want to sit at the table with Granite any longer. It was too awkward.
The mare opened the basket where the wood was stored, before tsking and setting the lid aside. “In fact, yes you can. Want to help me retrieve some wood?”
“Of course.” If Copper wouldn’t let her work, at least Ginger would. She never liked sitting around idle while other ponies worked.
Ginger led her back out the back door. A short ways away from the house was a stand that held chopped logs. “We keep it back here so that the bugs drawn to the stack aren’t too close to the house,” she explained.
Sure enough, when the mare picked up a log on the top, something that Luna didn’t quite catch went skittering away. Ginger tapped the log a few times against the pile. “Try and discourage bugs from getting a free ride into the house.”
With a nod, Luna used her magic to lift a log, giving it a few taps before having it hover near her, magic reaching out to take a second log. While she worked, she heard Ginger speak up again.
“Clover, I was listening to your conversation with my daughter. May I ask you something?”
There was a moment of silence, Luna turned her head to see that the other mare had a look of concentration on her face. “Of course.”
“It’s about Granite, obviously. Her attitude is inappropriate, yet you seem so calm about it?”
“She—” Luna was about to answer, before closing her mouth. She really wasn’t sure what to say. While she did have several complaints about how Granite was treating her, she didn’t feel like punishing the filly was the best course of action. Getting her in trouble was not the way to get Granite to like Clover.
Ginger noticed her hesitance. “It’s okay, tell me the truth. I can’t help but notice the tension between the two of you.”
Luna sighed, taking the time to gather her thoughts and figure out how she was going to word this. “She’s... cold? No, that’s not the right word. She’ll talk to me if spoken to, but it’s... frosty, I suppose.”
“I heard as much,” Ginger replied.
“Just today, I offered to help her with her homework, and she rejected me.”
“Because you’re a unicorn?” Ginger asked. Luna nodded, unable to lie. “I see.”
The mare was silent for a moment, gathering several more pieces of wood. “That is unacceptable. I will talk to her,” she finally said.
Luna shook her head. “Please, don’t. It’s okay. I don’t want her getting mad at me because she got into trouble over something I said. To be honest, her being a little short with me is still better than the way half this town treats me.”
“That still doesn’t excuse her behavior.”
“Ginger, please don’t talk to Granite about this. I’ll handle it. If Granite warms up to me, starts voluntarily talking to me, I’d rather it be over something that I did, than because her parents are forcing her to do it.” She smiled at Ginger. “I’ll just win her over with my charming personality and wit.”
The mare couldn’t help but snort at that, a small smile gracing her features. “Are you sure?”
Luna nodded. “I am. Just let it go for now.”
“Alright. But if she gets out of line, then please tell me. I will not allow that behavior to go unchecked.”
Together, they headed back into the house, Luna carrying most of the wood. Granite was still working at the table, the same look of frustration on her face. Ginger loaded some wood into the stove while Luna dumped hers into the basket. Soon enough, a fire had been started and a pot was sitting on the stove while it heated up.
Ginger set Luna to work in the kitchen, having her chop some vegetables. Luna was glad for the work. It felt good to contribute to the household other than just carrying things. The two of them engaged in idle chatter, until the front door opened.
“I’m back,” came Copper’s voice. A moment later he entered the kitchen, the rod with several full buckets of water on his back. He kneeled down, sliding out from under the load. “I went to the well, love.”
“Oh good,” Ginger said, going over and giving her husband a kiss. Quickly, the two of them dispensed the water where it needed to go. One bucket went into the basin out back, while the rest went into the cistern in the closet.
“What’s for dinner? Smells good,” Copper said.
“Nothing much, just a quick stew.” Ginger headed back to the stove, stirring the pot as Luna dumped the last of the vegetables into it. “I had to work most of today, so didn’t have much time to get ingredients and prepare something.”
The stallion frowned. “Ginger, I thought you were going to quit working there.”
The mare waved her spoon at her husband. “And I am. But I won’t leave Peppermint without any help. As soon as a replacement for me is found, I’ll stick around long enough to train her, and then leave.”
“Okay.” He gave her another kiss, which she returned. He spotted Granite still sitting at the table. “How’s the homework coming along?”
The filly sighed. “Not well. Wanna help me with it?”
Copper nodded. “Sure. Let’s go to your room where it’ll be quieter.”
Granite got down from the table, Copper gathering up all of her materials. The two of them trotted off, but Copper stopped in the doorway to the kitchen. “Oh, you should ask Clover about her crush.” Before Luna could retort, he slipped away.
Luna turned to look at Ginger, who was looking right back at her, one eyebrow raised. “Crush?”
“He exaggerates. I merely asked about a stallion that works at the mines. His name’s Tank. He and I... We spoke today. It was actually a pleasant conversation, he was quite nice. A far cry from many of the conversations I’ve had, or tried to have, with ponies.” She didn’t have to directly mention why it was difficult for her to have a conversation around town, Ginger knew why.
The mare turned back to the stove, stirring the pot. “I know Tank. He is a nice stallion. Helped me out a few times with projects around the house while Copper was away.”
Luna sat down at the table, her job for the meal done. “He seemed nice.”
“He’d make a fine stallion for you to date.”
She groaned, her muzzle falling onto the table, narrowly missing the bowl set there. “I don’t have a romantic interest in him.”
Ginger chuckled, though it could have also been the sound of the stew bubbling. “Of course not. Though if you do ever look to settle down, he’d make a fine husband.”
“What of me being a unicorn? I do not think I would get very far even if I were interested,” Luna groused.
“I think that Copper is right. Over time you’ll come to be accepted around here. We’re a stubborn town, but even we can change with time.”
Luna held her head and mumbled in her hooves, “I do not recall that convincing earth ponies was as easy as you make it sound.”
“What was that about earth ponies, dear?” Ginger hummed distractedly as she spooned out a portion of the soup and blew on it.
“Er—” Luna cleared her throat. “I said, I’ve not had much luck with earth ponies so far.”
“Did you date one back in Canterlot?”
“No. I never dated anypony. Not much time back at the Academy, you see. And I never left to date anypony outside of it, like an earth pony, or pegasus.”
Ginger gave Luna one of those knowing smiles mothers were so good at. “I’m sure you’ll find somepony eventually.”
Luna just let out a sigh. “Maybe,” she said, trying to placate the mare. While she would have to try and live a normal life, she didn’t want to deal with that part of one. Once upon a time she had entertained the notion of... being with a stallion. But any fancies now were silenced in the face of her current predicament.
The other mare didn’t say anything else, choosing instead to test her creation before continuing to stir. Luna got up from the table, heading into the living room. There wasn’t anything left to do for the meal beyond stir the pot, and Ginger could handle that. Sitting on the table was the book she was currently reading. Opening it up, she found her place and started reading, the candles in the room illuminating the text.
She found it hard to concentrate on the words, and instead found herself watching Ginger prepare dinner over the top of her book. Luna sighed, glancing back down. Why was she even here? Well, that was an easy question, because she wanted to get away from Canterlot and Celestia. But, she had accomplished that, so why was she sitting here and just reading a book?
The words on the page in front of her blurred as she looked back up at Ginger. Rationally speaking, she didn’t have a place to work on recreating Twilight’s and her laboratory. She had only been here for a few days and it was important, to her, not to be a freeloader. Luna nodded to herself, that was why she wasn’t in a hurry. The project would take time and she had all the time in the world. She looked back to her book with renewed vigor, ignoring the niggling feeling that she’d left something unresolved.
The sun had completely disappeared by the time Ginger called from the kitchen that dinner was ready. Luna stood, closing her book and stretching. A giggling Granite shot into the sitting room with Copper closely behind. At seeing the unicorn, the filly straightened up and raised her snout before trotting past Luna into the kitchen. Copper watched with a bemused frown before nodding Luna in before him.
The meal was relatively calm, which Luna was thankful for. After using all that magic she could feel a migraine coming on. It was a little odd though, while it had been a lot of magic she’d used, it had never been a problem before. She wondered if her magical warnings and restrictions had something to do with it. Perhaps they were giving her symptoms just like a unicorn facing magical exhaustion would have.
She was almost grateful for the earth ponies around her. With the lack of magic, there was no point in trying to use spoons, so it was a simple way to excuse herself from straining herself further. Each of the earth ponies simply lifted their bowls to their muzzles and drank. While it was certainly a new experience, Luna emulated them.
Copper and Ginger conversed easily, both simply enjoying each other’s company. Luna felt as if she were intruding. It would have been a lot less awkward, however, if Granite weren’t shooting her glares anytime she thought Luna wasn’t looking. As it was, she just wanted to go lay down; a bath would just have to wait until morning.
A sudden jangle of bells caused Luna to pause with her bowl in hooves and cock an ear towards the door and town. After a moment there was a click and scraping as Copper set his own bowl down and stood up. Luna raised an eyebrow at the worried frown that passed between the married couple.
Copper moved towards the door as Ginger stood. “What are they ringing the meeting bells for now?” Luna heard Granite ask.
“Dear,” Ginger began, “What is going on?”
“I have no idea,” Copper said shortly, cantering to the door.
Everypony followed, Granite tugging on her mother’s tail and repeating her question.
“Hush, Granite, and stay next to me. This isn’t normal,” Ginger said distractedly, pulling Granite close.
As Copper approached their front door, Ginger stood back near the kitchen as Luna followed the stallion with a curious, but cautious, step. She said nothing and watched as Copper opened the door to a hive of activity. Stallions, and even a few mares, were coming out of their homes and hurrying towards the edge of town.
Copper closed the door and turned back inside with a frown. “What is the matter?” Luna demanded. “Those were meeting bells, you say? For town announcements and the—”
“Yes, they are,” Copper cut in. “And them ringing now is not normal. Something is happening, at the southern edge of town it seems.” He stood silent for a minute, then turned to the mares. “I want you all to go to the cellar, you had better put together a quick sack of food as well. I am going to go see what is going on.”
Ginger turned back into the kitchen with a nod, but Luna stepped forward. “What is the matter?” she repeated.
“I don’t know,” Copper responded, turning back to the door. “But, I’m going to go find out. It can’t be good, though. Last time I remember those bells being run at a time like this was a long time ago when... Nevermind, just hurry and help Ginger. I’ll be back soon.”
“That is unacceptable!” Luna stated, trotting forward. “Whatever is the matter, I’m sure I can help.”
“Clover, please. The last time I remember there being town warnings was when Nightmare Moon sent—” Copper paused, biting his lip. “Look, this is probably nothing, or something extremely dangerous and either way it’s no place for a mare.”
Luna snorted and stepped past Copper. “Do not worry, I can take care of myself.”
Copper frowned and glanced from the rapidly moving crowd, back to his wife. He groaned. “Ugh, fine, I don’t have time to argue.” He turned to Ginger who had hurried in close when Luna refused to leave. With a quick nuzzle and a, “stay safe,” he hurried after the unicorn.
Luna trotted after the crowd of, mostly stallions, through the streets. Copper soon joined her, but at seeing his glare she opted to remain silent. It was only a dozen buildings before the rest of the townsfolk came into view. There was a mass of them lined up at the edge of the town proper, with many of the stallions carrying some sort of mining instrument, or weapon, in their teeth.
There was an uneasy whispering rippling through the crowd, but any words were lost to the mare as she tried to find a vantage point over the mass of ponies..
“Stay close to me,” Copper ordered. He then began pushing through the crowd. To Luna’s surprise, they parted before his insistence. She followed, acutely aware of the frowns following them; or more accurately, her.
There was no murmur from the front line when they finally reached it. Luna recognized Rocky, and Tank, and a noticeably prim earth pony standing together, staring silently at the forest fringe. Copper paused in front of her with a sharp intake of breath, frustratingly blocking her line of sight to whatever the ponies were staring at.
Then, it moved. Luna almost gasped herself, then promptly chided herself for being so foalish. There, just beyond the treeline, was a timberwolf. She almost laughed, the ponies had gotten this worked up over a timberwolf? Their drama had her walking on pins and needles.
It did make sense, however. Timberwolves, while magical, were still wolves in nature and their affinity to the night had lent itself well to her, albeit short, reign of terror as Nightmare Moon. No doubt her presence in this town, and possibly via her walk through the woods, had aroused the curiosity of this specimen. Timberwolves were especially sensitive to the magical eddies surrounding them. No doubt Luna’s magic was still a memory to this wolf, even if it had been tainted.
Luna watched the beast pace back and forth. Peering carefully through the underbrush, she picked out another two lingering further back. It was doubtful anypony else had noticed them, their vision wasn’t as good as hers and they probably didn’t know what to look for.
Copperhoof stiffened and began marching softly towards Rocky, Tank and the other pony. Luna pulled her attention away from the wolves and followed him. To her relief, most of the front line of ponies ignored her, although there were a few who snorted or glared at her in contempt.
Rocky acknowledged them both with a quick nod. “Seems a wolf has gotten too close to town.”
“Who spotted it?” Copper asked.
Tank shrugged. “Dunno. I came over here when the bells started ringing.” He glanced over and saw Luna standing there. “Shouldn’t you be back at Copper’s, Miss Clover?”
Luna eyed him. “I was curious what all the fuss was about. And if you’re wondering, I can take care of myself.”
The large stallion just nodded. “I figured, given the way you hauled all that stuff around the mine sheds like it was nothing. Still, ‘taint fitting for a mare to be out here at a time like this.”
“Agreed,” Copper muttered, darkly.
Luna was about to defend herself, mention that she was not some invalid to always be left behind, but quickly thought better of that. It wouldn’t do to argue cultural issues, especially at a time like this.
“I don’t think it’s going to do anything now,” the prim stallion said. Luna didn’t know his name. “Rocky, Tank, you two work out a watch schedule for tonight. I want a perimeter around the town in case there are any more.”
Rocky nodded. “Consider it done, Mr. Line.”
The two burly miner ponies turned to the crowd and started calling out names. Luna turned to Copper. “So you’ll set a watch, is there anything else the town does in a case like this?”
“I do not want to risk anything else, unicorn ,” Mr. Line said, giving Luna a hard look. “The Nightmare may have been defeated years ago, but her beasts are still dangerous and it’s best to simply leave them be.”
Luna pursed her lips, but remained silent, turning her gaze back to the woods.
“They show up from time to time, but aren’t aggressive often anymore,” he continued. “We’ll keep a watch out for a while until after the wolf leaves and make sure everypony stays away from the town fringes. No need to have careless foals making themselves a target.”
Copper tapped Luna on the withers. “Let’s get back, Ginger is waiting.” He gave a nod to the earth pony. “Evening, mayor.”
Mr. Line nodded, but said nothing.
Turning away, Luna saw Copper trotting back through the crowd, which was now milling and dispersing. Some were gathering towards Rocky and Tank while the rest returned to their homes. Giving one last glance to the woods, Luna trotted after Copper.
She knew the timberwolves were there because of her, but it was as Mr. Line said, they weren’t a threat to the cautious. There were a few magical ways to disperse the wolves but they were all flashy and thus not something she was keen on performing in this crowd. It sounded like the ponies knew what to do anyway.
As the door to Copper’s home clicked shut behind them, Ginger looked on expectantly as the stallion stood silently, staring at the floor. Luna glanced between the two, and then to Granite who ignored her in favor of hopping towards her father.
“Daddy, what’s going on?”
Copper took a breath, ruffling Granite’s mane. “Let’s all sit down and I’ll tell you.”
As they all sat down in the living area, Luna wondered what the couch was stuffed with. It was surprisingly comfortable, making her consider using it as her bed instead. Those thoughts were squelched as Copper cleared his throat.
“So, it looks like there is a timberwolf wandering around the edge of town,” he said, looking at Ginger.
“A timberwolf?” Granite asked as Ginger gasped. “Aren’t those just a legend?”
Copper pulled his daughter into a side hug. “Unfortunately, Granite, they are very real. Before you came along, Nightmare Moon used them to prey on small villages. They’re very dangerous, and usually run in packs.”
“But she’s gone now! Princess Celestia banished her, right?” Ginger asked, her eyes wide.
“Yes, but only the Nightmare was banished, not her minions.” Luna looked away uncomfortably as Copper continued, “The town has started a watch to keep an eye on the woods. But this means that we have to be more careful until the wolves are driven away.” He looked directly at his daughter. “From now on, your mom or I will escort you to school in the mornings.”
“I’m a big filly!” Granite scoffed. “I don’t need help, momma lets me walk to school by myself all the time!”
“Maybe so,” Copper agreed, “but not when there were timberwolves lurking about.”
“I can be careful!” Granite protested.
“Listen to your father, Granite,” Ginger interjected. “He is right, timberwolves are very dangerous and unpredictable.”
Luna opened her mouth to deny that claim, but quickly shut it. She may be Luna, and near enough Nightmare Moon to these ponies, but she was pretending to be Clover. If she started spouting off facts it would be suspicious, and that would lead to them ignoring her advice as well.
Granite once more opened her mouth, a look of defiance on her muzzle, but Copper cut her off. “One of us is going to escort you, Granite. That’s just how it’s going to be. I won’t take the risk of anything happening to you.”
“Fiiine,” the filly whined, scrunching her muzzle in disappointment.
Copper leaned forward, and after a moment of hesitation, kissed her on the forehead. Ginger smiled and moved to join them. Copper glanced towards Luna as he hugged his wife with his other foreleg, but she only grinned faintly before closing her eyes and leaning back.
It would be fine, these ponies had the situation under control. In a few days the wolves would be gone and she’d be back to dealing with a stubbornly rude Granite. It was a shame, really. The filly looked so cute snuggling with her parents.
Chapter 6
Luna awoke after a fitful night. The headache that had been festering after her surge of magic at the mines finally went away in the wee hours of the morning, but most of the night had been her tossing and turning in bed.
All too soon, there was a knocking on the door, followed by Copper’s voice telling her to get up. She glanced at the pitiful amount of light seeping past the window curtains. “It’s too early,” she groaned. “I shouldn’t have to deal with this horse manure.”
Oh to be a princess again, so at least she could sleep in. She chuckled morosely, forget being a princess; her alicorn form didn’t even need sleep! Luna rolled over with another grumble. It seemed she had made her disguise a little too good.
Rather than risk Ginger or Granite being sent in to get her up, she decided to get up on her own. Rolling onto her stomach, she tried to stand up, only to get caught in the blanket. Looking down, she could see it had tangled itself around her legs and horn, again.
“Cursed thing. Why must you win every night?” Growling, she kicked the blanket until it surrendered. “I think when I finally leave here, I shall buy Copper a new blanket, and then burn this one and dance on its ashes as a final victory.”
Finally on her own four hooves, she went through her usual morning routine, which in this case consisted of running a brush through her mane and tail. Without amenities such as a shower, bathroom, or running water at all, there was very little upkeep to do each morning.
A clatter of dishes rang out a beat from the kitchen area. No doubt it was Ginger preparing breakfast for the family. It was like clockwork, every morning at the same time for every day Luna had been here. She wondered if it was an earth pony thing or just her never paying attention to schedules back at the palace.
“Good morning, Clover.” Copper’s cheerful voice assaulted her ears as she stepped into the dining room. He was sitting at the table, smiling and looking wide awake.
Luna blinked her eyes at him, her brain trying to formulate a response. Eventually, she was able to mumble something that not even she knew what it was. Taking a chair, she laid her head on the table.
Copper chuckled. “Not a morning pony?”
“How’d you guess?” Luna grumbled, although she wasn’t sure Copper heard her.
“You’ll get used to it,” Ginger replied. “I’m sure the Academy didn’t let you sleep in that long.”
As much as Luna wanted to mutter something about it being a complete schedule change, she being the Princess of the Night and used to going to bed at this time, not getting up, she kept her muzzle shut. Which was good, as Granite took that moment to head into the kitchen.
"Mrs. Harsh Lesson says that ponies who sleep in are lazy layabouts who don't deserve respect." Granite sniffed, giving Luna a critical glance that was entirely wasted on the mare.
"That’s a little naive," Copper said, eyeing his daughter disapprovingly. "What about the night watch ponies, Granite? They are all up late watching and keeping us safe, are they lazy for resting during the day?"
Granite said nothing, instead moving to take her place at the table and ignoring Luna. The air thickened palpably as Copper rebuked his daughter. Ginger suddenly seemed to have gotten much quieter as well; Luna might have laughed at the mood change if she’d not been in the middle of it all.
“Well? Are they?” Copper prompted.
“But they’re working,” Granite said.
“Maybe so,” Copper conceded with a nod. “But, obviously, since they sleep in they must be lazy, right?”
The filly was quiet for a moment. “She had all night to sleep. Sleeping in is just lazy. You, me, and mom are awake.”
“As is she, Granite. It is wrong of you to insult her for doing something that she is not,” Copper said, facing his daughter. “It is also very rude.”
Granite looked like she was about to keep arguing, but Ginger broke in. “Granite, listen to your father. He is right, Clover is awake and ready for breakfast like the rest of us.” Giving a scowl, the filly sat at the table, sulking.
Ginger came over to the table a minute later, placing down four plates of food. “Come on, eat up. Breakfast is a good way to wake up.”
Luna took a bite, not caring about manners and just going for it. As much as she would never admit it, eating did make her feel more awake.
Ginger finished a bite, before speaking. “I’ll drop Granite off at school today, then I have to get to work. Peppermint will need help with the breakfast crowd.”
Copper set down his fork. “I’m still not comfortable with you working, Ginger.”
The mare pursed her lips. “I know. You’ve said it before, but I have been doing it for the past few years just fine. I had to do something while you were gone. I couldn’t just sit around the house all day while Granite was in school.”
“I understand that, Ginger,” Copper responded, he then sighed. “But with the timberwolf sighting and me being back, I was just hoping that... Well—”
Ginger placed a hoof over Copper’s. “It’s alright, Copper. Until this timberwolf situation gets under control, I will just be sure to either get off early to take Granite home, or go on break long enough to do so.”
“I can walk home just fine!” Granite protested. “I’m a big girl, mamma lets me walk back when she’s busy!”
Copper sighed again and poked at his breakfast. Ginger glanced at Granite, then back to Copper. Luna watched on with interest, the conversation seemed to be progressing without even any words being said, but much of the inference was lost on her.
She’d never been the best at reading ponies, that had always been Celestia’s forte. After all, there was no need to read faces in dreams. A pony’s innermost emotions and thoughts were laid bare in their own minds. No, problem solving was what she did, not problem searching .
Though beyond that, this was a family matter. While she felt like she could count Copper and Ginger as friends, she was not a member of their family. How they lived their lives, and raised their daughter, she had no say in.
Once upon a time she would have approached each pony within their own dreams and guided them towards a good solution, but now wasn’t the time. Many ponies would still remember the nightmares forced upon them from her darker self, making any attempt to associate with them dangerous. Still, even though Granite was too young to experience any of that, she wasn’t all that eager to enter the filly’s dreams anyway.
Besides, using that magic could potentially be like a beacon to Celestia and that was the last thing she needed. It was unlikely, but Luna wasn’t keen on finding out for sure. No, it would just be best to play things safe and stick to the waking world.
Luna nodded and trotted to the door. Granite was there, idly picking at the floor. Looking up, she scowled as Luna approached, but said nothing. For her part, Luna decided silence was the best course of action and sat down to wait opposite the filly.
Thankfully, the tense quiet lasted only a moment before Ginger bustled up. She had acquired her own pair of saddlebags from somewhere which were battered with use but still held a design of her cutie mark.
“Well, let’s go!” Ginger said, hustling her daughter out the door. Flashing a polite smile to Luna, she called back, “You have a good day at the mine, dear.”
Luna gave a halfhearted wave as the home devolved into silence once again, but Copper appeared quickly, much to her relief. “You ready to head to the mines, Clover?”
Giving a nod, Luna joined him. “Yes. Though I admit that I’m not looking forward to organizing and filing the equipment trailers.”
“Given how you handled them yesterday, you should be done by lunch.”
The memory of the headache that caused her made Luna wince. “Yes, well. There are limits to magic.”
Since all of the equipment was stored at the mine, they didn’t have to collect anything before leaving. Copper gave his wife and daughter a hug and kiss, promising to be home after work. Luna said nothing, standing to the side until they left the house.
A steady stream of ponies was heading up the hill to where the mine entrance was. They fell into step with another pair of ponies, Copper exchanging greetings with them. Still feeling tired, and a bit grumpy, Luna merely nodded at the one who bothered to acknowledge her presence. Neither spoke to her.
A short walk later, and they were all at the mine. Luna broke off from the group as they went to clock in and get their equipment, while she headed for the main office. Her morning routine was always the same: take care of any clerical work that needed to be done, first, then resuming her attempts to get this place into some semblance of order.
Upon reaching the main office, her first action was to stop and mutter a curse. Rocky had obviously already been here, as the little tray marked “In” on her desk was piled quite high. The stallion himself was nowhere to be seen, most likely having ventured into the mine after dropping all of his work on her.
Taking a seat in her appropriated chair, she plucked the first paper off the top of the stack, and the next, then sighed. They looked like documentation for every employee at the mine. While it was probably smart to make sure everyone in the mine was actually supposed to be there, it looked like Rocky had gotten new paperwork for everyone. Grumbling, she filed it away where it should go. Fortunately, Rocky hadn’t messed with her filing system at all, yet. At least this way she could just throw out any of the old, mouse chewed forms she still hadn’t gone through yet.
Sorting through the stack took her the better part of the morning. The bell signaling lunch would ring soon, letting the miners down below who couldn’t see the sun know that it was break time. Ginger had packed both Copper and Luna a lunch, which the mare eagerly dove into. Another downside to this body was the need for food and energy. Her magic still wasn’t recovered from yesterday. Another display like that, and she’d have gone well beyond the limits of a unicorn, and would be pushing her limits even as an alicorn.
While eating the sandwich she had for lunch, Luna decided to continue working. Grabbing the inventory clipboard in her magic, she headed for the equipment trailers. With luck, nopony had messed things up too bad this morning.
Taking another bite of the sandwich, she opened the door to the first trailer, seeing that things were much as she had left it yesterday. The pile of items was smaller, but that was to be expected with ponies having grabbed them to use that day. She flipped to a blank page on her clipboard, quill and ink at the ready.
One by one, she floated over items, making a note of each item on the page, before putting it in its proper place. Handling each item by itself, rather than all at once like yesterday, did not cause a return of her headache, thankfully. It slowed the process down, but that was better than getting a migraine, or magical exhaustion.
Slowly but surely, she worked her way through the piles in each trailer, being careful to note how many of each item they had. She would compare this to the official inventory list that Rocky had.
Each trailer took her about half an hour to organize, but when she was done, everything had a place and there was plenty of empty space left for the remaining tools. Within the next day or two, she would have to implement a system wherein each pony wrote down what they checked out, to maintain accountability, and in case equipment went missing.
Sitting outside one of the trailers, she reviewed her findings, versus the inventory list and the roster of ponies working. In a perfect world, what was in the trailers, plus one of each item for each pony working, should equal the inventory.
Several minutes later, and Luna set the clipboard down with a frown. “There’s something off here,” she muttered. “Even accounting for discrepancies due to shoddy bookkeeping, there’s simply too many missing tools.” She looked at her notes again. “Where even do two dozen pickaxes go missing?”
The pickaxes weren’t the only things missing, either. Several drills, gallons of lamp oil, lanterns, shovels, almost every category had at least something missing. “This is ridiculous. Either Rocky’s records are worse than I thought, or ponies are misplacing or stealing things. Either way, I need to find out.”
She stood up, ready to tackle the problem, before a thought hit her. This meant that she’d have to go into the mines to investigate. She faltered for a moment, glancing towards the entrance. “I know he said to stay out of the mines, but this is important.”
Her mind made up, she stopped by the main office long enough to leave a note on Rocky’s desk, letting him know where she was. Her bases covered, she headed towards the mine shaft.
This was her first time getting close to the shaft, and it surprised her how deep it was. A platform, crewed at the top by two ponies at a crank, lifted the raw materials out of the depths, while a steep series of ramps provided access by hoof. The ramps were lit by scattered lanterns, as the shadows grew thick on the way down. According to Copper, the bottom of the shaft was like being in the middle of the forest on a moonless night, it was that dark.
Despite the ramshackle look of the ramps, it barely creaked under her hoof as she started down. Rather than a lantern helmet like the miners wore, she had a simple one held in her magic. For now, it was unlit as she traversed the ramps, just wide enough for two ponies to walk side by side.
There were a few ponies moving about here and there, but all of them ignored her. One was roped over the side of the ramp, seemingly reinforcing it. Another was walking up the ramp towards her. The two at the top operating the pulleys gave her a cursory glance, but that was it.
The light grew dimmer as she squeezed past the stallion coming up. He gave her an annoyed glare, but said nothing. Continuing to descend, Luna still felt no need to light her lantern. If that stallion could return without a lamp then it probably wouldn’t be getting much darker.
When she reached the bottom, a large entryway opened up into a tunnel, not far in it she could see it was lit with its own lanterns. They were unkempt, she realized, and thus did not shine well enough to be seen from the shaft. Still, it was enough that she didn’t need her own lantern.
Just as she began moving forward, a clatter began to faintly echo towards her from deeper in. It wasn’t long before a brighter light swerved around a corner and moved towards her. A minecart revealed itself, coming closer on the tracks that ran out to the shaft. She then saw the hoofcar behind it; two ponies, with bright lanterns attached to the cart, powered the short train up the tracks.
Luna stepped to the side, letting the cart pass her by. As soon as one of the stallions saw her, he motioned to the other to stop. The cart came to a halt not far from her. “Where are you going?” the one who noticed her asked.
“I have business down in the mines,” she responded. “Also, would you happen to know if Rocky is down here?”
The two stallions shared a look, before one shook his head. “Listen, the mine is no place for mares. Even ones that work here.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Either way, you can’t go into the mines without a hard hat. It’s the rules.”
Looking around, Luna spotted a small pile of hard hats at the base of the ramp. That must be where some of the missing ones went. She grabbed one in her magic and placed it on her head. It sat at an awkward angle thanks to her horn, making her feel a little ridiculous. If she was going to spend time in the mine, she would have to modify a hat to fit her.
“Satisfied?” she asked the stallion.
He sighed. “Look, just be careful down here. Don’t touch anything. And for Celestia’s sake, if the ground starts to shake, get out of there. It means the whole thing could come crashing down.” Without saying anything else, the two stallions continued on. At the end of the line, they locked down the cart before stepping onto the elevator. With a creak of old wood, the platform rose up and out of the hole.
Adjusting her new hat, Luna headed down the path into the mines. She knew from talking to Copper that there were two lower storage areas down here, where miners kept some equipment. Figuring out where those were, and adding their stock to her inventory, would fill in some of the gaps.
Her first option was to follow the main tunnel. There were branches going out from it, but most of them looked disused, some even blocked off entirely. Those would be older, mined or unsafe tunnels. As they were cleared out, the miners would need to venture deeper and deeper, looking for more ore.
It took her several minutes of walking, but she finally found a hub of activity. Ponies were congregating under a string of lanterns. Boxes and tins were set to the side, food being consumed. It was lunch time for them.
She approached the group, looking for anypony she knew, specifically Rocky. Her arrival caused more than a few heads to look at her. One of the stallions got up. “Clover? What are you doing down here?” Tank asked.
“I’m looking for Rocky, as well as any lower storage places you have down here.” She floated her clipboard up to him. “I’m taking inventory of all the equipment. There’s some missing items.” She watched his eyes travel down the clipboard. “A lot of missing items, in fact. I need to find them.”
Tank bit his lower lip, his head looking further down the shaft. “Both Rocky and the storage are further on, but...” He hesitated a moment.
Luna cut him off. “I’ve had enough ponies tell me it’s too dangerous. However, I’m already down here, so please just take me to Rocky. Or tell me the way and I’ll find it myself.”
The stallion was silent for a while, seeming to judge his options. Finally, he nodded. “Alright, I’ll take you down there. Better you have an escort who knows these things. It’s too easy to get lost.”
She smiled at him. “Thank you, Tank. Please, lead on.”
Turning back to his lunch tin, Tank closed it and began wiggling into a harness that had two raised lanterns hanging above each of his flanks. Looking closer, she noticed there were also various pockets and loops that held various mining tools. She waited as he shrugged and adjusted a few straps for a more comfortable fit.
Trying to ignore the pointed stares as she waited, Luna glanced over her clipboard. She realized that there would was probably one of these harnesses missing for everypony down here, as well as tools that went into each. Still, the storehouse had none of these harnesses so there was probably still a large pile of them down here somewhere.
Finally, Tank turned and nodded to her and they headed for the largest tunnel which had the mine track disappearing into its inky depths. The entire group of miners stared at them as they left the room. Once they were around a corner out of sight, Luna turned to look at him. “I apologize if I’ve caused you any trouble.”
“I was already finished with lunch,” he rumbled, “Probably about time I got back to work, anyhow.”
They walked until the silence got so thick, Luna couldn’t stand it anymore. “So, tell me about yourself, Tank,” she said, her voice echoing around the tunnel.
He looked taken aback and gawked at her. “What?” he finally managed.
“I’ve only heard a little bit about you from Copper and Ginger.”
“Why do you care?” Tank asked bluntly, still looking at her intently.
Luna blinked at his scrutiny and turned away. “I... Sorry... I was just trying to make conversation. I meant nothing by it.”
Tank was silent for a moment as they turned a corner and began moving down a smaller tunnel. “You’re an odd mare, Miss Clover.”
“I was just trying to be friendly!” Luna protested, nearly tripping on the track.
The stallion sighed. “Friendly? Why would a unicorn ever bother being friendly .” Tank stopped abruptly, forcing Luna to do the same as he turned to face her. “Why?”
“I... Well...” Luna floundered for a moment before falling silent. Why was she being friendly? These ponies hadn’t shown her anything. Perhaps Copper and Tank had, but nopony else. There was no reason for her to not reciprocate the attitudes directed at her. It wasn’t like they could do anything.
Actually, why was she even here , in this town? Her ultimate goal was to get home, so why was she here, working in a mine? She could just go find a quiet place in some forgotten corner of Equestria for all it mattered.
She thought of Copper and the mindset that so many ponies had in this age. The pony tribes were hardly united , racism and inequality was rampant everywhere. Why was she being friendly? Because somepony needed to be. This wasn’t harmony.
After seeing all that had changed in Equestria since her return, and how much more Twilight Sparkle had been doing, it hurt to be back here and see the worst ponykind had to offer. Something needed to be done. Somepony needed to do the right thing.
Deep down, Luna knew that was why she was still here. After spending so much time working with Twilight, there was no way she could walk away from this little village without doing anything. She was here because, if not her, then who would teach these ponies to be better ?
Luna cleared her throat. She had been standing silent for a minute or two, but Tank was still waiting expectantly. “Because it’s the right thing to do.” she said, looking into the large stallion’s eyes. “Because I know I can be a friend, and I want to.”
Tank stared at her silently for a time. Then, he snorted and continued walking. “You are an odd mare, Miss Clover.” He flashed her a small smile. “But I think that’s okay.”
There wasn’t much to look at as they walked down the shaft. The dirt walls were dark and the wooden support beams cast eerie shadows from the lantern, the flickering lights making it appear as if strange beings danced along the walls. The floor continued to slope down, but Luna had no idea how deep they were.
Luna looked up, seeing the beams crawling along the upper corner of the wall. Every so often, there were support posts, though if there was a pattern to it, she could not figure it out. It was difficult for her not to imagine what was over her head: numerous tons of rock and dirt. The only thing keeping all of that out was some basic geometry, and some wood no thicker than a single hoof length across.
The deeper they went the more oppressive the tunnel seemed. With Tank’s lanterns and her magic, she knew it wasn’t getting any darker, but it sure felt like it. Without a bunch of ponies moving around, the air seemed to stagnate and weigh heavily around her.
Without warning, a passageway opened up to their right. It was much smaller and sloped dangerously downwards. There was some sort of pulley system that connected from above her head down inside, but it was only ropes at this point. If there had ever been buckets on the line, they had been scavenged for other tunnels.
As they continued further more passageways opened up, their corners casting dark shadows when they passed by. It was unnerving to see so many holes that ended in blackness outside of their little pool of light. It seemed odd to have no central source of lighting.
The other unnerving thing was the sound, or lack thereof. It was eerily quiet down here, and what sounds there were, it was impossible to tell where they came from. Faint echoes filtered out of the various pathways and tunnels, surrounding Luna, but doing nothing to alleviate her nerves. The clinks of Tank’s harness were muted, while the sound of her hat scraping on her horn felt unusually loud.
She wondered where all the miners were. There should have been ponies along here somewhere that were doing some kind of work, right? Transporting ore back to the surface, adding more shoring here and there, cutting new tunnels. The lack of activity was unnatural.
“So, uh—” Luna began to ask, but she choked at the abrupt increase in noise. Clearing her throat, she began again. “So, I can see it being easy to get lost down here. Everything looks the same to me.”
Tank glanced back and, thankfully, responded, his voice somehow resonating around them. “Not really, just follow the signs.”
“Signs?” Luna frowned. “What signs?”
Her gaze followed Tank’s hoof as he pointed at one of the vertical support beams. “We carve arrows into all the struts. Side shafts point to the main shaft, and these arrows point to the exit.”
They weren’t immediately visible, but now that she knew they were there getting lost didn’t seem like a problem. It was a smart thing to do it seemed, but now her question was answered and Tank fell quiet once more. The occasional clop of hoof on the rail once again being the only sounds to break the silence.
By the time she and Tank arrived at a larger open area, with the wonderfully familiar sight of Rocky standing next to a small cage, her eyes were darting all over the place, chasing ghosts at the edge of her vision. Her ears swiveled all around, trying to locate whatever sounds she could. Even her breathing came in shorter, sharper draws. A few times, she saw Tank giving her a slight glance, but he never said anything.
At the sound of their arrival, Rocky glanced up from the clipboard sitting on a small table in front of him. “What in tartarus are you doing down here? Didn’t I tell you that the mine is no place for a mare?”
Taking a moment to compose herself, lest she prove him right in her current state, Luna floated her own clipboard over to the table, setting it down. Those precious seconds allowed her to at least appear as if she was calm. “Yes, you have. However, it’s my job that has led me down here.”
“Your job is to take care of things topside.”
“I can’t do that, if half the things I need to take care of are missing.” At this, she gestured to the clipboard. While Rocky didn’t care that she was a unicorn, like most of the townsponies, he got nervous when something was being suspended in her aura right in front of his face.
Rocky picked up the clipboard, looking at it. “What is all this?”
“It’s an inventory of everything we are supposed to have. As you can see, most of the numbers do not match up. There are items missing. Items that I intend to track down, which is what has brought me down here. I need to check the lower storage units and inventory those, as well. After that, I shall establish a system to ensure that this doesn’t happen again, and to provide accountability.”
The stallion’s eyes scanned over the paper, reading it through several times. Finally, he set it aside. “Alright, you got good reasons. But you still ain’t supposed to be in the mines. I can take care of this.”
Luna grimaced. “I’m already down here, can I at least look?”
Rocky shook his head. “Absolutely not.” He paused at Luna’s scowl. “Look, lunch is almost over and everypony will be back down here, you’ll just get in the way. I’ll set a couple ponies to transporting all the extras up to you.”
“But--,”
“No buts. Unicorn or otherwise, you’re a mare and this is simply no place for you.” Rocky glanced at Tank. “Get her up outta this dung-hole. And then get those other numbnuts back down here. I want to get that rock cracked today. I can just smell the dough behind it.”
“Fine,” Luna huffed. “I better have all those items by the end of today, though!”
Rocky rolled his eyes and gently pushed her towards the exit. “Yes ma’am, right away ma’am. Three bag fulls ma’am. Now scoot!”
Luna grimaced in annoyance, but she followed Tank out. When they reached the lunch room, he allowed her to find her own way back to the top. He gave her a smile and a wave, which she returned, before he hopped in a cart rolling back into the mines. It was another hour before a pair of ponies started carrying out equipment and piling it at the entrance to the mine for her to sort.
It took her the rest of the day to finish her project. The ponies took their sweet time bringing stuff up to her, and even then she had to wait until the last pony was out of the mine. At least it gave her time to catalogue and organise what was brought as she went. By the time the final workers were depositing their tools under her careful eye, she was one of the last ponies left.
Soon enough, it was just her, Copper, Rocky, and Tank at the mine. With her quill, she scratched a line through one last entry. “There. Now we finally have a true inventory of all the items here at the mine.” She set the list on her desk, looking up at her boss. “I’ll create a proper list tomorrow, Rocky. That will be our new master list. As well, I think instituting a few new policies would help make sure that this list stays up to date.”
He nodded. “Sounds good. If anypony gives you a hard time about anything, tell me. You’re doing good work here, Clover.”
“Thank you. Though, why are you and Tank still here?”
Tank spoke up. “We need to coordinate the town watch. As well, while there’s a timberwolf threat, nopony goes anywhere alone.”
“And I need to lock up. Can’t do that with your fancy flank sitting in your chair,” Rocky said, giving her a small glare.
The comment about her flank brought a blush to her cheeks and she glared at the stallion, but Luna took the hint. “Right,” she said, standing up. “Let’s go.”
Copper surged to his hooves from the corner he had sunk into. “Hopefully Ginger’s already home and has dinner ready. I’m hungry.”
Together, they left the trailer, Rocky locking the door while Tank ribbed Copper about his stomach. The walk back into town was filled with idle chatter between them, with the stallions occasionally including Luna in it.
It felt good, to be included. For the first time since she got here, she felt like she might could belong. With just Copper and Ginger being the only ones to include her, this was a great step forward. Perhaps there was hope for her and the rest of the town after all.
A warm feeling entered her body as she laughed at a joke Rocky told. Sure it was ribald humor, and regarding her sister, but she didn’t care. She was part of the group. They may each still be skittish about her magic, but they had accepted her as a pony.
As they rounded the corner of the first building in the town proper, their laughter died out as a piercing cry broke the twilight air. “Hey! Get away from there!”
Turning her head, Luna saw a pony behind a building. At first, she was confused at just who he was shouting at, until what she first saw as a pile of logs behind somepony’s house, moved. With a gasp, she realized it was a timberwolf.
The others must have seen it too, because Rocky swore furiously. “Bucking idiot’s gonna get himself killed! Come on.” Other ponies seemed to be hearing it as well, because there were shapes all over town, heading towards the noise.
Racing after the stallions, Luna watched the pony and wolf square off. The pony was waving a forelimb around, seemingly trying to shoo the wolf away. The timberwolf, seeing ponies coming out of the literal woodwork started to back away with a snarl. Emboldened, the pony rushed forward, in hopes to scare the creature further.
Horror filled her as she watched the wolf pounce and saw its jaws clamp down on the waving forelimb, the wolf shook its head vigorously, driving its teeth in even deeper, sawing at the pony’s flesh. The pony stopped shouting, and started screaming. Blood drops flew in every direction as the pony was yanked around. All the ponies converging on the situation slid to a halt at the edge of the buildings in terrified fascination.
The three stallions with Luna leapt forward, past the line of horrified ponies, to try and do something, but Luna beat them to it. With a burst of magic, she sent them stumbling while she galloped forward.
“Stop!” she commanded, her voice taking on the force and tone she hadn’t used since learning modern Equestrian. It was a fitting time and place to revive the Royal Canterlot Voice. Her horn lit up with magic and her eyes glowed as she risked dipping into her alicorn power. It wouldn’t take much to get this wolf to back off, and it would save the life of a pony.
Luna skidded to a stop as the wolf, teeth still clamped down on its prize, looked up at her. As soon as its glowing yellow eyes met her glowing silver ones, it stopped.
“Let. Him. Go.”
Slowly, the wolf released the pony, who wasted no time in using his three good hooves to scramble away, staring at both it, and her, in fear.
Luna strode up until she was only a few hooves away from the wolf, never breaking her gaze. “Take your pack and go back to your home. Leave this town alone.”
The two of them stared at each other for a moment, before the wolf broke eye contact and turned away, loping off into the woods. Once it had vanished into the trees, Luna let out the breath she had been holding, letting her magic dissipate and her eyes resume their disguised shade.
Turning back around, she saw many pairs of eyes staring at her, some in judgment, most in terror. A good portion of the town was standing there. The pony who was attacked raised up his good forelimb, pointing a trembling hoof at her. “Witch,” he gasped. “You can control the dark beasts.” He turned to the others. “She’s a witch!”
“Shut up,” Copper said. He knelt down next to the pony, examining the wound which still flowed red into the ground. “He’s hurt bad,” he told the others. “Clover? Can you do something for him?”
She nodded. “I cannot heal it, but I can stop the blood. You will have to stitch him up elsewhere.” She took a step towards him.
At her approach, the pony tried to scramble back again, nearly kicking Copper. “Stay away from me, witch. Don’t touch me with your freaky powers!”
Copper tried to restrain the stallion. “She’s just trying to help, you’re making it worse!”
Still the stallion struggled, even when Luna stood still, no longer approaching. It was only when Rocky laid a large hoof on his shoulder and shoved him down, that he stopped. “Tank, take him to Nurse Ratchet’s. Get him fixed up.”
Tank nodded, helping the other pony to his three good hooves and letting him lean against him as they walked away. The stallion Luna had saved cast fearful glances back at her until they rounded a corner and were out of sight.
“Copper, take Clover home. I need to gather the town watch.” Rocky glanced over at Clover. “They need to know about this, and we still need to set a watch for tonight.”
Luna hung her head down, looking at the ground. Should she tell them the wolves wouldn’t be a problem anymore? Would they believe her? She knew they wouldn’t come back now, but did they really trust her? “You alright?” she heard Rocky ask. Looking back up, she could see him still looking at her.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m fine.”
“Good,” he said with a nod. “Then you have no excuse to be late for work tomorrow.” With that, he turned around and addressed the crowd. “Get back to your homes.” Slowly, he began pushing the ponies back towards town. As they left, Luna could see them still staring at her, and hear them whispering.
Luna stared after them. Even after witnessing what she had just done, Rocky still seemed okay with her. She had almost expected him to react like the stallion she had saved. It didn’t seem like any of the other ponies were very pleased. Despite her growing worry, it seemed at least Rocky was still on her side, for now.
She felt Copper nudge her. “Come on, Clover. Let’s get home.” Side by side, the two of them walked towards the house, Copper slowing down to match Luna’s slower, dragging hoofsteps.
All around she could feel eyes staring at her. Her ears burned as unintelligible whispers made their way into them. She kept her head high, staring straight ahead as she trudged. Regardless of what ponies thought, she’d just saved that pony’s life and she knew it had been the right choice.
It wasn’t until they were halfway home, that Luna finally spoke. “He’s going to talk, you know. He’s going to talk and convince the town that I’m a witch. And you and your family are going to get dragged into it. They’re all going to talk.”
Copper smiled at her. “I wouldn’t worry about that. Aegis has always been a little loopy. Nopony ever pays him much mind.” He chuckled. “Heck, he tried to get us all to believe once that the trees were talking to him.”
Luna sensed he was trying to cheer her up, but his optimism seemed out of place. So far, she had survived in this town by keeping her head down, and trying to fit in. So long as she didn’t act out, the town seemed willing to grudgingly allow her to stay. Now that she had displayed some mysterious power, that could just be the excuse they needed to run her out of town.
Though, if anything, she was more angry that the pony had been such a fool. Trying to shoo away a timberwolf, how absurd! While she was confident in her choice, the fact that she had to make the choice to save him was irritating. It had been a tough week, but she felt like she’d been doing well for herself. It was only just today she’d made some major progress with the stallions at the mine!
“Cheer up, Clover. You did good, saving him. Without you there, that wolf would have torn him to pieces. You saved his life, I’m sure he’ll be thankful.”
She said nothing. Copper was being overly optimistic for whatever reason. Luna had seen the looks on those pony faces, they had not been thankful looks. If she was lucky, ponies would just continue to give her the cold shoulder. Regardless of Copper’s words, his family was going to take some heat for this. She just hoped that it would only be what radiated through her.
Copper maintained his cheery attitude all the way home. Luna paused on the front step, her hoof on the doorknob. “I’m sorry, Copper.” Without letting him answer, she opened the door and went inside. There, she brushed past Ginger with another apology, before going into her room and closing the door.
She lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, as she heard Ginger and Copper whispering in the hallway. And it had started as such a good day, too. Now it was all ruined. Yes, she had saved a pony’s life, but at the cost of cementing her total alienation from the town. They would never warm up to her, now. She was back to square one.
Luna rolled over and squeezed her eyes shut. The night’s events replayed in her mind, but they were shunted aside as the accusing stares of the ponies haunted her. As she had been ushered away by Copper their eyes had been so... No. Luna buried her muzzle in the blanket. They had just been afraid; afraid of what they didn’t understand. It wasn’t their fault for making her uncomfortable and she shouldn’t blame them for being cautious. She shouldn’t be getting worked up about this. She knew what she was doing was right, and someday others would see it too. But... why did it their glares still hurt so much ?
It could have been a few minutes, or an entire hour, as she lost herself in brooding before she heard a knocking at her door. “Clover, dear?” she heard Ginger’s voice say. “Dinner is ready.”
She debated on whether or not to eat with them. After a moment she decided that she wouldn’t try to alienate her only friends while she still had them. Wiping her nose with a hoof and sniffing deeply, she rolled over and got up. Opening the door, she saw a worried looking Ginger staring back at her.
“Are you okay?” the mare asked.
Luna nodded. “Yes. I’m fine.”
Ginger raised a hoof to Luna’s forehead. “No ill side effects?”
She shook her head, gently pulling Ginger’s hoof down. “No. It was just magic, same as I’ve always done.”
That seemed to make the mare smile. “Well then, you’d probably like something to eat. I’m sure you’re hungry after that display.” She turned around, heading towards the kitchen, Luna followed behind.
They sat at the table, three places set instead of four. “Where’s Granite?” Luna asked.
“She went home with a friend today. I’ll be picking her up after dinner,” Ginger said.
They started to eat in silence. It wasn’t much, just a simple salad with some bread. The bread had some herb baked into it, and under other circumstances would have been delicious, but to Luna, it tasted like ashes.
What was she even doing here? This wasn’t her home, yet she wasn’t even trying to find a way back! She was trying to earn the affections of some random earth pony town in the hardest way possible. Home...
Ginger cleared her throat. “Copper told me about what happened. You did a good thing, Clover, saving Aegis’s life.”
“The others could have handled it,” Luna grumbled.
“Even so, just because somepony else can do something, doesn’t mean you have to stand by and watch. You acted, and because of that, somepony is still alive. So thank you.”
Luna didn’t respond, just continued eating. Ginger opened her mouth to say something else, but Copper nudged her, shaking his head. The rest of the meal passed in silence.
As soon as she was done eating, Luna excused herself and stood up, heading back to her room. There, she curled up under the covers. The sounds of the dishes being done floated under her door, as did hoofsteps a moment later.
Her door opened, Copper peeked his head in. Upon seeing that she was laying down, he let himself in, sitting at the edge of her bed. “Hey, Clover. Listen. I know that you’re worried about what everypony in town is going to think about what happened this evening. Don’t worry about it. It’s like you said. It’s just magic, like you’ve been doing. Once they understand that, then they’ll accept it just like they’ve been accepting it so far.”
He placed a hoof on hers. “Everypony at the mines has been getting used to your magic, especially after your big display the other day. And coming down into the mines itself took guts. They saw that, too. You’ll earn your place here, I know it. What happened tonight won’t matter at all. Tomorrow, ponies will be talking about how you saved Aegis, and the town, and not your magic.”
Giving her hoof a few pats, he looked over at the door where Ginger was standing. Giving her a nod, he turned back to her. “Listen, Ginger and I are going to go pick up Granite. If you really want to take tomorrow off, I’m sure Rocky won’t mind.”
At that, Luna finally spoke, pulling her hoof away from Copper. “No. I want to work. Honestly, I’m fine.” She sat up. “I can take whatever the consequences of this are, I know I was right in what I did. I just wish...” She stopped, a frown forming on her features. “I just hope you don’t get caught up in the repercussions for my actions.”
He stood up, giving her a serious look. “Alright then. We’ll see you bright and early in the morning.” Turning, he headed to the door.
“Copper?” she called to him.
He stopped, facing her again. “Yeah?”
She favored him with a small smile. “Thanks, for being a good friend.”
He smiled back. “No problem, Clover. Get some sleep.” He closed the door behind him. Luna soon heard the front door open and then close.
Wriggling down into the pillows, she stared at the ceiling again. Maybe Copper was right. Maybe she was overreacting. If she was being honest with herself, she did that a lot. Maybe Twilight had rubbed off on her more than she’d given it credit.
Perhaps... Just, perhaps... Tomorrow wouldn’t be so bad.
