Equus Bravo - Equestria - Canterlot - Customs

The three professors and Dame Honest Penny arrived in Canterlot without much trouble. Fancypants, Cadence, and Fleur de Lis said their goodbyes and promised to meet them again. Penny transferred the pegasus criminal Merryweather to the Equestrian authorities to be sent back to Bitaly. Bodo was still unconscious, so had to be carried around on a stretcher by Penny. Most of the difficulty the changelings faced came from the Customs office.

“So what is all this?” the royal guard at the customs deck inquired as he put away the newspaper. The top article was speculating where the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration would be held next year.

“One hundred bandits worth of weapons and armor, a few anti-magical amulets, and three hundred bits,” Autumn replied, handing the stallion a dossier with a count of everything down to weapon type and fair market value in bits. She was an accountant, so detailed records like this were nothing.

The guy scratched his head. “This looks like enough to equip a small private army. What do you plan to do with all of this?”

“Create an adventurer’s guild, which is a lot like a private army except the mercenaries are self-employed.”

“Okay...I will have to bring in my superior.”

That superior had to bring her superior who had to bring her superior as well. Eventually, the Captain of the Royal Guard stood before them. It took roughly two hours.

“So you are the ponies that helped save my fiance,” the Captain stated.

“We aren’t ponies, but we did help in the investigation that help prevent Princess Cadence from being foalnapped by a mysterious group lead by a changeling, Captain Shining Armor.”

The Captain didn’t even flinch at the dryad’s familiarity with him.

“Understand that you helping me won’t earn you any favors.”

“Completely understandable, Captain. By the way, have you told Twilight Sparkle that you are engaged to her former foalsitter? I doubt she would be very happy to learn that her BBBFF is keeping things from her. She copes with her anxiety by knowing things, and surprises can be bad for her health, which is why it important that she use those breathing exercises that Cadence taught her. You should take this opportunity while she is still in Canterlot.”

“Cadence been talking to you about us?” the white stallion questioned with a small eye-twitch.

“I didn’t really get to talk to her at all. I did overhear her argument with Fleur. I would love to see those tabloids about them being in love.”

Shining Armor blushed deeply as those under his chain of command fought back giggles.

“I would be thankful if you did not discuss my private life in front of the guard….”

“Autumn Wright, Adjunct Accounting Professor. I understand, but if you or your fiance ever want to talk, I would happy to have you.”

“Where are you going with all these weapons?”

“Ponyville.”

Shining Armor had never heard of the place.

“It is a small earth pony village next to the Everfree,” the dryad clarified before his guards could pull out a map and find it.

“Why there?”

“There happens to be a lot of monster attacks in that region.”

The customs official explained what she had said about their adventurer’s guild.

“Why would you want to do that when we, the Royal Guard, can handle that?”

“Simple, we would be stationed in the villages and would be making expeditions into Everfree. This will provide this vulnerable villages more immediate protection than the Royal Guard and the Wonderbolts could provide.”

“So you aim to help us?”

“I would say compete, but in the end, the result is the same: ponies’ lives are saved and Equestria is a safer place. Before you ask, we didn’t bring any mercenaries because we intend to make contracts with locals.”

The Captain sighed. There wasn’t any laws against having weapons, but he had the right to take action to protect Equestria.

“You can have the amulets and bits, but the weapons are to stay under the watch of the Royal Guard for a probationary period during which you will receive a surprise inspection from the Magistry of Loyalty. If your intentions are as you say, then you will have your weapons again. Otherwise, welcome to Equestria.”

“Thanks, we will be off then,” the business dryad said before picking up their bits and amulets. ‘We won’t need them until after we have the first batch of recruits trained anyways. This is basically free warehousing, lowering our overhead.’

Thomas and Autumn passes by Shining Armor and regrouped with Penny who was tending the unconscious Bodo.

“What took you so long?” the white-maned mare asked in an irritated tone.

“Well, they just let you passed without a second question. I got interrogated by what must have been half of the Royal Guard.”

“It look to me like you were having a grand old time with the Captain, cracking jokes.”

Thomas ignored the two and went to Bodo. The philosopher fed his colleague some love.

“Let’s get to Ponyville. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get to business,” he suggested.

They agreed and took the next train to Ponyville. They would have taken a flying chariot, but those costed three times the train fair. Penny didn’t even have to buy a ticket, but the changelings, including the unconscious Bodo, needed to pay. The Bitalian said something about being a pony and a knight giving her special privileges. Autumn was pretty sure it was more the former than the latter as she didn’t see any of the other native Equestrians having to pay either. The train was a public utility pay for pony use. Non-equestrians had to pay, but if you were a pony, nopony was going to question it. Equestria was a pony country where citizenship was first and foremost species-based. (This might seem racist, but most countries were like this on Equus.)

Equus Bravo - Equestria - Ponyville - Golden Oaks Library

Thomas descend the stairs to the ground floor of Golden Oaks Library.

“Has he woken up yet?” Autumn asked him while writing down a list of objectives along with their resource requirements and priorities. She had to learn to use a quill to do this, and her scroll had several ink splotches on it already.

“No,” the philosopher sighed. “Bodo has been like this for a whole week. His foreleg hasn’t even healed at all. I have to keep it tightly wrapped in a wet rag, or he starts bleeding green flames.”

“Ugh!” the dryad groaned as her quill broke in her left hand. She stood up and summoned her staff. “I am going out. Perhaps we can find a way to get the ponies in this town to trust us.”

“Best of luck,” the reddish-brown mare with a cream-colored mane called Penny said, getting out from her makeshift bed. It was still morning, and their talking had woken her up. The knight went upstairs to brush her mane in the only bathroom, which wasn’t a problem for them since changelings didn’t eat physical food and could just transform to get ready for the day.

Autumn gave Penny a glance, noticing the knight’s cutie mark, which was a golden triangle. “See yah later, Epona,” she hollered up the stairs before leaving. ‘Epona’ mumbled her goodbye as she had long accepted the nickname.

‘Well, it is not a bad thing to be considered a god among equines,’ Penny concluded.

The dryad wandered around Ponyville. All the ponies had already taken covered despite her only being out and about for a few short moments. Usually it took ten minutes for the ‘Monster attack!’ drill to fully take place and everypony to find a hiding place.

A tumbleweed passed her by as Autumn walked into the market square. There she encountered a hooded figure.

“Oi, Zecora!” Autumn shouted as she lifted her ten-foot staff in salute.

The hooded figure jumped in shock.

“Who uses my name while I can’t do the same. You, stranger, make me fret because we have not yet met.”

“Oh, I could listen to your rhymes all day, Zecora,” the tall dryad replied, giving the half-curtsy, half-bow she learned from Arachne. “My name is Autumn Wright, business dryad extraordinaire. If my understanding is correct, you have come to Ponyville to trade your alchemic creations for ingredients and perhaps some bits.”

“Autumn Wright, what an interesting name,” the mysterious figure commented before taking down her hood to reveal that she was a zebra. “Though how do you know the wherefore I came?”

“You have many questions, and I have many answers, my new friend,” the dryad replied with a smile.

“The evil body snatchers have teamed up with the evil enchantress,” a high-pitch voice yelled from the local bakery. “They plan to conquer equestria with their magic and replace us.”

‘That is racist, somewhat accurate, but racist,’ Autumn thought.

“I have taken to wearing a hood since my stripes they have misunderstood,” Zecora commented, covering her head once again with said hood.

“We are not wanted here, so follow me back to my friends,” the dryad recommended as she motioned with her staff back to the library.

There they found Penny at a table and Thomas in the kitchen.

“Food! Food! Food!” the knight chanted. She had become addicted to the culinary specialist’s meals over the past few days. They had to buy supplies from a less skittish town further from the Everfree with a stronger Royal Guard presence.

“It will be done, shortly. I just need to find the right spices.”

Zecora went to find that the man was making a curry dish for Penny. She smelled the dish and indicated she wanted to make a taste. Thomas handed her the stirring spoon, and after giving it a lick, she hummed for a bit. “I think more turmeric would do the trick.”

“That is what I was thinking too, but I am freshly out,” the cook mentioned. His stoic face didn’t change much, but it was clear to Autumn who knew him better that it bothered him to be so low on ingredients.

‘We are all coping with our new lives the best we can,’ the dryad whimsically observed. ‘Thomas does that with his cooking. It calms him, and he delights in how his food makes people smile.’

“The ginger you sought fortunately I have brought.” Zecora opened her saddlebags to reveal a plant root. Together they ground it up and added it to the curry.

“It is nice to have another person who can taste the food for me to help with the cooking,” Thomas said, referring to his lack of taste as a changeling. “Especially, someone who knows their way around spices. What do I owe you for the ginger?”

“Tom, for a new friend, nothing must you spend.”

Thomas served Autumn (who can mimic tastebuds), Zecora, and Penny. Autumn and Penny cried as they consumed the spicy meal, the former in pain and the other in ecstasy. Zecora ate with poise and polite appreciation.

A change only perceptible to Autumn and Thomas occurred.

“I think I am in love,” Penny declared. “Will you marry me, Tom?”

“Bad, Epona!” the dryad reprimanded. She grew a foldable wooden fan with her plant powers and whacked the mare in the head, which earned her new new fan a blast of magic.

“Stop that!” the knight barked. “I was just joking. It would be a conflict of interest to have a relationship with the ponies I am protecting anyways.”

“Could have fooled me,” Autumn commented, discarding the broken fan. “Anyways, I doubt Thomas has any interest in equines. I sure don’t.”

‘Bodo might, but he was kind of a rebel,’ Dryad thought offhandedly.

The cook’s miniscule frown in absolute disgust at the idea was all equines in the room needed to know his position.

Penny conjured a mirror to see if there was something wrong with her mane or a piece of food in her teeth. “I don’t really see the problem.”

The knight came from Bitalty where ponies were more likely to find love in other species. The hippogriffs and other mixed species existed for a reason.

Regardless of the knights ultimate intentions love and camaraderie flowed in the air from the two equines and fed the two changelings.

“I see you found a new friend in Ponyville, Autumn. Did you find any other success?”

“No, that blasted pink menace has the whole town under her spell.”

“Magic is involved?”

“No, Penny, I meant that figuratively. Pinkamena Diane Pie is just spreading panic by telling people how evil we are. She doesn’t even know us and makes up all these lies. I bet she thinks it is all just in good fun, being a party pony and all, but it’s not. It really sucks.”

“Well, you convinced me: Thomas isn’t evil,” Penny explained, filing away for later how Autumn just happened to know the full name of this trouble-making pink pony. “Nopony who cooks this good can be evil.”

Autumn ignored the implication that she might be evil. The dryad had realized something and the gears in her head started turning rapidly. ‘I have been treating these ponies like people. I should be thinking them like animals...no, lower than that...college students. And what is the one way to get a college students to like you and do whatever you want them to?’

“Thomas, do you have anymore of that curry?” she inquired.

“Only a little bit, not enough to make a full plate though.”

“Good, start making more. We got a lot of ponies to feed. Penny, would you buy some rice from the market now that the ponies have come out of hiding? You might as well since Thomas is making all your food and you haven’t paid him for any of it. Zecora, I think we have found a solution to our mutual problem. If you help Thomas in the kitchen by providing him the ingredients he needs, I promise you the ponies will treat you better.”

Equus Bravo - Equestria - Ponyville - Just Outside Golden Oaks Library

Golden Harvest trotted blissfully through Ponyville when the most delectable smell invaded her snout. She followed it like a hound dog. This led to her a silver platter with a small amount of some kind of new rice dish on it that the mare had never seen before. Golden gobbled it up and then steam came out of her ears.

“Water?” a voice behind her asked.

She nodded vigorously and received a small glass of tap water.

“I hope you enjoyed the free sample. Would you like to make your order?”

“Would I ever! Can I have-” Golden began before she saw who was waiting on her. It was some kind of giant hideous (to a pony) plant monster. She was about to run, but a scent from the kitchen of the library she just discovered she was in kept her put. She had skipped breakfast due to the monster scare earlier the day, and it was almost lunch time.

“We have more curry rice if you want. Also, we are providing a host service. Here are a list of ponysonas who can wait on you complete with their personalities, measurements, and blood types.”

“Blood types?” the mare asked confused. The question left her mind the moment she saw the menu of ponies that could serve her. Golden Harvest was still a hot-blooded single mare and some of these ponies (or ponysonas) were hot. “This one, Chad Steel.”

“He will be here with your curry shortly, Mrs. Golden Harvest,” the monster explained helpfully, doing a curtsy-bow.

Equus Bravo - Equestria - Ponyville - The Buzzing Host Cafe (aka Golden Oaks Library’s ground floor)

Autumn sighed as she transformed into another pony, a tall unicorn mare with a blue mane for Bonbon. It took her about thirty seconds to transform into a pony at this point due to her practice and the relatively small size of their bodies. She had to turn away non-VIP ponies away as Thomas ran out of food and Zecora was on break, mingling with some of the ponies for the first time. This would be last group of ponies for the day. Penny was offended how easily her fellow ponies were swayed by just offering them food and basically a ready-made date.

‘Prostitution in prudish Equestria, I never thought I would see the day,’ Penny thought.

All and all, The Buzzing Host Cafe, as Autumn had decided to call it, could only handle five ponies at a time in total for three hours before calling it quits. They sold meals at seven bits a plate and host services for twenty bits for fifteen minutes. The ponies who were turned away would have to get a reservation if they wanted to try the exotic new foods sometime in the next week. Thomas and Zecora had made. It didn’t take a long time to get everypony served as each group got to eat from the same pot of curry and drink from the same kettle of tea. The hard part was hosting each one without making any of the next in line wait too long. If Bodo was there, this would have been easy, but Autumn had to handle all the single ponies and their lusts. They limited their host services to one pony at a time and added a premium charge on it. Penny didn’t do any real work as she was a knight and had to remain independent of private businesses. The dame did at least help Autumn make the hosts’ designs.

A loud gasp came from the doorway.

“Cafe’s full,” Penny said half-heartedly from her seat. She had a book in her hooves about magical weaponry and their properties.

“Hi, I am Pinkie Pie. You’re new. We should have a party.”

“I am busy. Go bother Autumn or Thomas; they had something to tell you.”

“More new ponies, how have I not seen them?!”

“Trust me you have.”

“But I never greeted them. They must think I am the worst pony ever. They might want to leave Ponyville because I haven’t been friendly to them. It is all my fault!”

“You could say that,” Penny said as she indicated that Autumn was sitting with Bonbon. The pink menace zipped over there, leaving an afterimage of herself annoying the Knight.

“Hi, I am-”

“Pinkamena Diane Pie, daughter of Igneous Rock Pie and Cloudy Quartz, sister of Limestone, Marble, and Maud. By the way, how is Maud’s Rocktorate going?”

Pinkie Pie froze. She didn’t know the answer as the mare hadn’t visited her family in a long time. The party pony hadn’t even knew that her sister was getting her Rocktorate.

“Um...Crystal Harp, you know Pinkie Pie? I thought you only had eyes for me,” Bonbon wondered.

“Oh, everypony has heard of Pinkamena. Her parties are world famous. But you, my sweet, are special. I knew your name out of love.”

Bonbon knew it was an act, but she could play along. The whole host things was about roleplaying a fantasy date. It only worked if both parties knew that going into it. The changeling made that clear in the menus and when the ‘date’ started. The important thing is that the lust was harvested to feed them and help revive Bodo from his coma-like state.

“But her sisters? Her middle name? I have known Pinkie for years, but even I don’t know that. Who are you really, Crystal Harp?”

Autumn-Crystal made a melodramatic pose of being shot in the heart. “Oh, you got me. There is no sense in hiding it anymore. You see-” The pseudo-mare leaned forward and looked the earth pony straight in the eyes. “-I have a curse. I know everypony.”

“That doesn’t sound like a curse, but more like a blessing,” Bonbon replied. Excitement in her voice betrayed how much she liked magic, especially the occult kind like curses and ancient relics. The earth pony had picked Crystal Harp from the menu for a reason.

“What may seem like a blessing may also be a curse. In my case, I know everypony, but nopony knows me. They might say they know me, but they don’t know the real me. Can you image going through your whole life being thought to be somepony you are not, to be trapped with an identity that isn’t your own, and to be endangered if anypony found out?”

Penny, Zecora, and Thomas could overhear the conversation due to Autumn tendency to project her voice when she got excited. To Penny it sounded like Autumn was referring to being a changeling shapeshifter. Zecora thought the dryad meant how Pinkie Pie had vilified them. Bonbon thought it was just a meta joke about not really being Crystal Harp. Pinkie didn’t know what it meant exactly but could only relate to how she felt as a foal on a rock farm. Thomas simply knew better than the four equines.

“That sounds terrible!” Bonbon reacted, hamming up her pseudo-sympathy.

“Whahahahaha,” Pinkie cried as she interrupted the play by glomping onto Autumn-Crystal’s barrel.

The dryad sighed and apologized to Bonbon that the hosting would have to be cut short due to unforeseen Pinkie. The mare was given a slip indicating she had priority seating next time she came.

“So Pinkamena, we should probably talk,” Autumn-Crystal told her after Bonbon had politely left. The pink mare needed a little comforting to bring back to reality, but when she did, she bounce back to her chipper self and then into world in which everything was a joke.

“Autumn, I am so glad I could talk to you. I never saw you before. Is it true that you know everypony? I thought I knew everypony, but then I met you and I don’t know you. You are here to take my title of most friendliest pony in all of Ponyville, are you?”

“It is a shame you didn’t become the princess of friendship. Being friendly is more of your thing than Twilight’s,” the dryad mentioned off-hoofedly before getting down to brass tacks. “Pinkamena, you have caused me a lot of trouble, but I need you. You see you have a lot of connections in Ponyville. I need those connections, so I need you. Think of it as your way of apologizing for turning everypony against my friends and me. Deal?”

The accountant extended a hoof to the party pony who took it with both of her forehooves. “Absolutely, positively with a cherry on top!”

The emphatic reply and the aggressive hoof shake left Autumn-Crystal reeling. “Okay, but before I can trust you, I need you to see the real me,” she explained after recovering. Flames went up her form, which Pinkie tried to blow out before Autumn told her to not.

Once Pinke saw the large yellow and red form of the dryad of secrets, she went wide-eyed. Zecora also trotted by and took a seat by Pinkie as well.

“I think you might understand why my associates and I might have some trust issues with you, but it can’t be helped. Are you willing to help us make new friends?”

The words took awhile to process in Pinkie’s mind, but when they did, conffetti exploded everywhere with a parade of party promises.

Equus Bravo - Equestria - Ponyville - Lo-Costs Headquarters (aka Golden Oaks Library’s second floor)

The two changelings spent a whole night planning meetings with important ponies. In the early afternoon of the next day after all the ponies in the restaurant had left, they got back at it by mapping possibly conversation paths on a chalkboard.

"Do you think I should go aggressive with Spoiled?" Thomas asked.

"No, if you did that the whole Cheerilee plan collapses. Spoiled has sway over the magistrate and the whole school board," Autumn answered.

"Oh, Filthy is greedy, if we pretend we have more finished ideas than we have, we might get his help."

"I like it, but how?"

"We don't have time to talk about it, they are coming," the philosopher mentioned as they heard the first pony come inside below them. The two quickly his the evidence of their planning with a bed sheet. "By the way, do you really think Filthy will betray us?"

"If he doesn't, we will slowly take his business piece by piece. Otherwise, we hope the Magistrate of Loyalty sides with us in a little ruse."

"Flittershy as a patent holder in our place, right?"

"Fluttershy, but yeah," Autumn corrected. They could now hear the first guest ascending the stairs. "Okay, first one is yours. Go get her, champ."

Cheerilee entered the room to find two humanoid creatures acting all nonchalant in front of a bedsheet-covered chalkboard. Thomas quickly greeted her and gave her a seat with some food.

The man flipped through the file, which Pinkamena had happily given them in exchange for a play date. He wanted to brush up on his plan for the teacher while she ate her favorite dessert. The party pony had highly detailed records of all the ponies in Ponyville, including their likes, dislikes, and birthdates. Any marketing firm would water at the mouth at the chance to peruse Big Data like this.

“I hope the apple tarts are to your liking, Mrs. Cheerilee.”

The violet earth pony nodded, taking a polite nibble on her favorite dessert.

“You are probably wondering why I have requested that you come here.”

“I wasn’t expecting something so...meeting-like,” Cheerilee replied and gave a little laugh. “Pinkie made it sound like this would be a party.”

“The pony knows how to make a party invitation, but technical writing for businesses, she does not. If she wasn’t already gainfully and happily employed, we would train her in the art.

“However, this is trivial,” Thomas continued with a swirl of his gloved hand. “I had a syllabus proposal for you.”

Cheerilee had to admit the six-foot-three man before her had intimidated her until he had politely given her a chair and an apple tart freshly baked at Sugarcube Corner courtesy of Pinkie Pie.

“I am not comfortable having a private business influence student curriculum,” the violet mare stated clearly.

“But is it fair that you have to carry so much of the burden of the teaching?” Thomas asked, changing the subject slightly. “I heard you recently had to reduce the number classes down to one.”

“The school board thinks remedial education is a waste of bits,” Cheerilee replied, being careful to keep her criticism of the board to a minimum. Her thoughts went to Snips and Snails who needed education to bring them up their grade level. She was expected to teach them with rest of the class, which was bad for those two colts, the rest of the students, and her.

“I also understand that same school board voted to lower the teaching budget again. I believe the argument was ‘teachers only work three seasons out of the years, so you shouldn't get paid so much.’”

The words had come from Spoiled Rich and bringing them up triggered the teacher a bit.

“But that isn't true!” Cheerilee countered emphatically. “I work during the summer too. I am required by the Magistry of Honesty to take continuing education and summer is the only time I have to do that. Because of those budget cuts to the school and to my salary, we can't afford to get supplies for our students. I used to just buy them with bits out of my own pockets, but I can't anymore.”

“I know, I know,” Thomas said in a comforting, sympathetic tone. “You might know this, but I am an educator too. I have over forty years of experience in higher education. I know it is not the same, but I have gone through many of the similar things. By the time I left the university, we had gone from a dozen full-time professors to just me and my colleague Doctor Stein.”

“But it is getting so much worse. The Magistry of Honesty just implemented a new policy that both increases standards for my students and then punishes me by lowering my budget more if I can’t meet those standards.”

“If I understand the policy, you are competing with Canterlot with a tenth of their resources, and if you fail this impossible test, the few bits you have for education in Ponyville will be moved to Canterlot,” the man pretended to infer, channeling over a decade of listening to Bodo's lectures about the rich getting richer.

“Exactly!” the teacher exclaimed. She was elated to find anypony, even a strange hairless ape creature, who got how it was for her.

“The policy, as I have gathered from reading, is explicitly designed to punish bad teachers, but we both know you are trying your hardest. I would even say you are a great teacher if what I hear about you is true.”

The two took a moment to breath before continuing.

“The proposal would have to be approved by the Magistry of Honest, Dr. Mackey,” Cheerilee stated before taking a sip of unsweetened tea, which was a rarity in Ponyville.

“That is what we want. We are hoping that, if the proposal succeeds here, that it will be implemented across Equestria.”

“Mmm-hmm.” The teacher didn’t want to give the man false hope but couldn’t refuse him either.

“There was one more thing I would like to add. Lo-Costs, the company I am one-third owner, has prepared a sum of five hundred bits on the condition that the information in this proposal finds a place in your syllabus.”

Cheerilee went bug-eyed as she heard the amount of bits on offer. It wasn’t a fortune, but it was more than enough to get her class of the ground.

“That isn’t all. We are also offering free guest speakers from our company and our associates who would go into your class and help your class get acquainted with our species and their abilities. You might not know this, but us changelings can shapeshift-” Mackey transformed into a famous artist rendering of Chancellor Puddinghead, whose writings were hidden in the new syllabus. “-into any being and anypony, past, present, future.” To nail his point home, he transformed into Celestia. “What class wouldn’t want to see what your princess looks like close up?”

He returned to his normal form. “Plus,” he continued. “We understand you will need even more funds to make your class a resounding success that we need for the widespread adoption in Equestria, so we will be organizing a fundraising event this coming Nightmare Night to generate additional funds.”

“I still don't know if I am comfortable with a business having any influence on the student’s education,” the teacher replied with an ambivalent tone reflective of her inner turmoil. She desperately needed the money.

“I assure you that we at Lo-Costs are not doing this for personal profit. Pinkie gave me a copy of your syllabus, and I noticed that you lacked any lessons on non-ponies, focusing primarily on pony concerns. I felt since you have several non-pony residences including donkeys, mules, and, more recently, changelings and a zebra, it would behoove your students to learn more about them. As you probably remember, my fellow professors and I were treated like monsters even though we did nothing to deserve such a reaction. We would like to change that by introducing information about non-ponies into your lessons aimed at aimed preparing foals for life in Ponyville and abroad.”

“I um….”

“Think about yourself: how you deserve the extra funding for all your hard work. More importantly, think of the students. They deserve the very best education. The school board and Canterlot aren’t helping you, so let us help you help those foals instead.”

Cheerilee stared at her half-finished apple tart. This was too much to take in at once, especially after a busy week teaching the foals.

“Don’t worry,” Thomas soothed in his calm monotone voice. He tentatively put a hand on her hoof before continuing. “You don’t have to make a decision soon. Nightmare Night will be here in a month. You will have plenty of time to think on this before then, and you won’t have to implement anything until after that. We will be there the whole way to help you with anything. The children are both of our futures after all.”

The rest of their meetings was spent talking about soft topics like the weather and food. According to Pinkie’s file on Cheerilee, it had told Mackey that the teacher disliked having things thrust upon her without her input. The philosopher made a concerted effort to put his fellow educator at ease as she was essential in their plan to prepare Equestria for a strong changeling presence. They needed ponies trusting changelings on a mass scale.

When the meeting ended, Doctor Mackey gave the mare the proposal folder to read on her own time and led her out, reminding her she didn’t need to make a decision until later. Professor Wright and he had several more meetings scheduled into the late evening. The philosopher had to admit that the pink pony worked fast, and they needed fast if they were going to meet their literal deadline.

Professor Wright brought in Spoiled and Filthy Rich. Thomas, as the more politically savvy team member, would handle the manipulative Spoiled Rich while Autumn handled her patient husband. Their meetings would be in the same vicinity. Separate these ponies were their own powerhouses, and together the couple were an absolute power in Ponyville. No politics or business happened in Ponyville without their say-so. That was essential for Lo-Costs to find a way to bend these two ponies to their will.

Filthy Rich sat across from Autumn with a curious expression. The dryad offered him a zap-apple jam sandwich and some coffee.

“Mr. Rich, I am glad you could meet with us on such short notice,” she greeted, being careful to call him Rich as he disliked being called Filthy. It said so on his file. “I am Professor Wright and one-third owner of Lo-Costs.”

“I wouldn’t refuse an invitation given to me from Pinkie Pie. That never works out for anypony,” the gentlecolt explained and took a sit of his black coffee. “I can’t say I have heard of you or your company, Professor.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to. We are from very far away. However, even I have heard about Barnyard Bargains. It is amazing how in just a few generations, you were able to grow your company to such a size. We are very much impressed here at Lo-Costs, which is why we have come to you and nopony else with our business proposition.”

Barnyard Bargains was a big-box store that sold a all manner of things and used its power and influence to drive down prices from manufacturers. If one couldn’t give the best quality at the lowest price, Barnyard Bargains would go to another manufacturer. This seemed like basic business logic, but in reality, it meant that local manufacturers had to start competing on a national level.

Filthy Rich hummed to himself seemingly aloof.

“We wanted to offer you some products to sell at your stores that you can’t get anywhere else in Equus,” Professor Wright continued since the stallion had nothing to say. “All we need is your connections to manufacturing firm and a small loan of ten thousand bits, and we can begin production right away.”

The businesspony took a bite out of his sandwich and inspected his hoof.

“The first product we have planned is called the Ballpoint Pen,” the dryad declared as she pulled out a basic schematic of how to make the simple device. The research and development ponies would handle the specifics, but the dryad had experience as a managerial accountant for a manufacturer. She knew everything and how much went into pens and knew how to produce them in a low cost manner hence their company name.

Filthy Rich didn’t even look at the piece of paper. The colt was as patient as his file told her, but Autumn knew his weaknesses.

“This cheaply made invention will revolutionize Equestrian society. Not only are ballpoint pens cheaper to make, they will render quills obsolete through sheer superiority in function. No more messes, no more starting over and over because of an ink splotch, no more redipping into an inkwell. The ink is all self-contained and the pen is almost perfectly consistent.”

The stallion finally looked over the blueprint. The dryad could see the guy’s brain go into hyper speed as his special talent for business saw all the ways he could profit from such a device.

‘Now I got my hook into him, I have to finish the job,’ Autumn thought. She produced a briefcase.

“Inside this are blueprints for countless inventions,” the dryad gave him the briefest of glances of the briefcases contents before shutting it immediately. It did indeed contain some blueprints, but most of it were blanks. “Telecommunication devices that allow ponies from Manehatten talk to ponies all the way in Stalliongrad in mere moments, self-propelled carts made of clouds that allow earth ponies fly through the sky at speeds faster than the fastest zeppelin, and much, much more.”

There wasn’t actually much, much more yet as they hadn’t even figured out how to bring either of those devices into Equestria. They did have notable progress in coming up with things Equestrians could use, but they lacked the engineering, scientific, and magical background to make them into a reality. They hoped the ponies Lo-costs would eventually hire would do all that for them. They were really more idea changelings than anything else.

Filthy Rich took a deep sip of his coffee and managed to keep it all down without spluttering. “The ballpoint pen will be good for now. You don't mind if I onto this blueprint, do you?”

“Filthy, it is time to go,” Spoiled called by the staircase.

“Feel free to take it," Autumn answered cheerfully while hiding a devious smile behind her hand. "We will just need a loan and access to a manufacturer with experience making small metal components. The pens require tiny ball bearings for these pens.”

When the two ponies left, the dryad sighed.

“How did it go for you?” she asked her partner.

“Mrs. Rich was quite dismissive of our proposal despite my leaning on the benefits it would represent to her foal. Apparently she doesn’t like the fact we are squatting in a public library.”

“It is probably a problem we will have to fix soon when we have the necessary capital. Right now we will have to skirt around the law and use government property for private enterprise. At least, Celestia had already made preparations for Twilight Sparkle and installed a kitchen and bedroom.”

“I was wondering about that. I have never seen a library with a fully equipped kitchen along with a collection of dishware.”

“Let’s just say that Celestia plans far, far ahead. It helps that there are prophecies and destiny that she can use as a guide.”

“What about our affect on that?”

“I wouldn’t know about that. You are the philosopher. You solve it.”

Thomas rubbed his chin in thought. “We should probably greet the next guests. You are handling Rarity, correct?”

“Yeah, but I already feel exhausted.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I am not excited about talking to Mayor Mare myself. She declared us a threat to village security when we arrived. Pinkie’s stories rattled her pretty bad.”

Penny brought the two mares in question upstairs and then went back downstairs to practice her martial magic.

Equus Bravo - Equestria - Ponyville - Golden Oaks Library Bedroom

The last of the local business and political ponies left before dinner. Autumn had gone up to check on Bodo who lay in a large padded basket at the foot of Penny’s bed. The dryad assumed the basket Twilight would used for Spike later, seeing he was basically a pet by Equestrian law. It would suffice for the changeling despite his injury. He wasn’t moving and was smaller than average. Changelings didn’t need sleep per se. Instead they just sat still and zone out as if in mediation. When Autumn did it, she could feel the microfractures in her being sealed through the power of love energy in her. They assumed that, because Bodo’s injuries were so severe, he gone into comatose state in order to direct his own love energy; however, Bodo hadn’t healed almost at all and required regular doses of appreciation to prevent him from becoming completely drained.

Autumn leaned over Bodo, put her wooden hands on his shoulders, and started to push love energy into him. Like always, she pulled from her plentiful appreciation reserves. It was never comfortable giving someone else love as a changeling. Giving away the appreciation she had earned felt like she had disappointed those ponies.

Then she noticed something. She had friendship reserves for the first time in a long time. Inspecting them more closely, the dryad could taste Zecora’s distinct signature.

‘We are friends already, aren’t we? Wow, Mackey told me friendship is powerful, but I didn’t expect it to be several times stronger than appreciation.’

Autumn immediately switched from giving Bodo appreciation to friendship. It really hurt like betrayal by someone you trust dearly. She continued until all the reserves she had gained that day were expended.

“YES!” the accountant screamed.

Penny jumped out of her bed, spawning her ethereal scythe The Reckoner while wearing her sleeping masks.

“Epona, stop!” Autumn shouted at the knight as her blade nearly bifurcated the dryad. Penny removed her mask and looked at Autumn like she still wanted to kill her. “Look at Bodo.”

Penny did that and saw Bodo’s destroyed the leg had regained two centimeters of its length back and no longer needed to be wrapped to prevent love energy spewing out. It was progress!

Equus Bravo - Equestria - Ponyville - The Buzzing Host Cafe

It was the next day. Thomas was spending as much time with Zecora in the kitchen building up their friendship for Bodo’s sake. Autumn stood at the door of the library, getting ready for another lunch period of hosting. She could see some ponies with numbers on their flanks running her way.

“Where’s the fire?” the dryad playfully called out.

“It is the Running of the Leaves,” one of them responded before passing her by. The moment the group did, Autumn could feel a wind blow through hair. Leaves of red and yellow fell over her vision in abundance.

‘It is a lot more beautiful seeing this in person,’ she thought whimsically as she put a hand through her hair — or at least tried to, for her hair was made of the same leaves that she had just seen fall to the ground.

“I am frickin’ bald!”

After apologizing to some ponies for harsh language and making herself a hat with her plant powers, Autumn went back inside to start serving ponies. Things went smoothly without anything to comment upon until the last customer.

“Aren’t you a little young to be asking for a host service?” Autumn asked the lone foal who squirmed at the question.

“Is it true what they say? That yah can become anypony?” the yellow filly with a red bow questioned back.

“Depends. I don’t like turning into real, living ponies without their permission. SO in other words, no to celebrities, but yes to historical figures or ponies made from your imagination, Apple Bloom.”

“Then it shouldn’t be a problem for you to turn into these ponies?”

Apple Bloom hoofed a picture to Autumn who looked at it for one moment.

“Fuck!”

Equus Bravo - Equestria - Ponyville - Golden Oaks Library Kitchen

“Absolutely not!”

“But-”

“No buts!”

Thomas wasn’t having any of it.

“The dead should stay dead. I already learned that during the war. It was bad enough when it was just Bodo refusing to believe philosophy is dead, but this girl really needs to accept her parents’ deaths.”

Memories of a conversation over a microwave oven flashed through Autumn’s mind as he mentioned Bodo for a reason she couldn’t discern.

“She has never really seen them,” Autumn explained as she begged to the shorter man. “They died before she could even have memories of them. Every child deserves to see their parents at least once.”

“If you feel so strongly about it, why don’t you do it yourself without involving me?”

“Because with your mind powers, you can make a faithful recreation of who they were. I could only copy how they look, but you could get their voices and personalities right by using their memories.”

“I am not using my power!” Thomas barked, scaring the dryad for a moment. The man never displayed very much emotion, so when he did, it was all the more potent.

“Why are you so afraid of using your power?”

“My power is just wrong.”

“You didn’t have any problems fighting those bandits and you even enthralled some of them.”

“That was self-defense and enthralling them was a last resort.”

“I-I think you are just being just...ugh...stubborn. Sure, it must be weird going into someone’s mind, and I can understand why a freethinker like Bodo would find that questionable.

“However,” she continued. “You have that power and you will define whether it is good or evil by how you use it. We will need you to give a hundred percent of yourself if we are going to succeed in our mission, and you could help a lot of ponies by giving them closure with this power.”

Thomas tugged at the gloved fingers of his left hand, keeping his gaze averted from the newly bald dryad. “You don’t understand.”

Autumn put her hands on both of the man’s shoulders. “Just do it. No more of this understanding shit. If we wait for you to understand everything, we will all be dead. Just do it for Bodo. The love from this should be powerful enough to bring him all the way back. We need him, and I know you miss him. You have been cooking almost every spare hour you get even when we don’t have ponies to feed. I get it as even I miss the stupid old geezer. So, please just do it for all of our sake.”

Thomas the picture of the two decease ponies they got from Apple Bloom and made a strained expression.

Equus Bravo - Equestria - Ponyville - Sweet Apple Acres

Thomas placed his burning left hand on Granny Smith’s forehead and entered the willing volunteer’s mind. The other family members were there too. After demonstrating his powers a bit, they had calmed down and eagerly requested that he help them with Apple Bloom. Apparently, the foal had run home from school in tears after another filly had bullied her for her lack of living parents. Most of them trusted him far more than he felt comfortable with. The only one who remained reasonably skeptical had been Applejack who didn’t like the idea of pretending to be somepony else.

‘You know all it takes is the desire, and she becomes your thrall in an instant.’ Slither hissed, trying to tempt him. Thomas had named the remnant of Chrysalis’s personality left by her mind control Slither to distinguish her from the Queen.

The professor had a feeling akin to vertigo as he could acutely sense how easy it would be to do whatever he wanted to do with the old pony’s mind. Nopony would have been the wiser either had he enthralled her.

‘Master, we sense you are in distress. Do you need our help?’ called out one of the bandit thralls from all the way in Bitaly where they served their sentences doing community service. While the distance his telepathy could travel astounded the philosopher, it was troublesome to have them ask what he was doing or thinking. Sometimes a person just wants to be left alone to their thoughts.

‘Be at ease, Drafty,’ Thomas soothed his thrall. She was always the first to speak out if he wasn’t feeling well.

It took roughly one hour to construct two fully functioning ponysonas out of the grandmother’s memories. Thomas discovered that he could just file them in his mind like files and pull them out to autopilot for him.

The rest of the evening at Sweet Apple Acres went as Thomas became a spectator in his own body. He would switch between the two parents (Sweet Mac and Pear Butter) upon request, recreating moments from the past. They even made a meal for him, so they could have a family dinner.

“Goodbye,” Apple Bloom said with new confidence. Tears built up in her eyes, but she stood tall with renewed pride in her family.

“Thank yah kindly,” the orange mare added with a polite dip of her stetson. “If you ever want to come by and have some pie, you are always welcome.”

“I think I will, Applejack,” Thomas replied with a nod. He left them to return to the library, resumed his normal form, and stared at his hand. The chitin had grown an almost imperceptible amount through the use of his power. He reapplied his glove as he decided to take Autumn’s advice and not think about it.

The objective of the outing was accomplished. Their love for their parents, which he had artfully fed off only enough to not make them sleepy or too exhausted, flowed through him like a river during a long storm.

Equus Bravo - Equestria - Ponyville - Golden Oaks Library Bedroom

Thomas placed his right hand on Bodo and felt as his new love reserves started flow into his colleague. It hurt to feed Bodo more than giving him friendship by threefold. It felt like having his heart broken.

'Master, we all feel it. Please tell me everything is alright, that everything will be alright, Drafty cried out from Bitaly. While Thomas couldn't cry, he could vicariously feel her tears rolling down her muzzle.

Autumn and Penny watched pink flames rippled through Bodo’s body as he started to float out of his basket into the air. He spund around the air, and then there was a flash of light. When they could see again, Bodo fell to the ground and groaned.

The bug pony looked around the room and saw his colleagues.

“Are you alright?” Thomas wondered.

Bodo just extended a fully restored left hoof. Thomas gripped it, but the German-Turkish philosopher pulled him into a hug. Autumn walked up and joined them.

Thomas hugged him back. “I missed you,” he whispered.

For once, Bodo was respectfully silent. The three changelings kept hugging for several minutes, causing Penny to abandon them to wash up for bed. She wasn’t for touchy feely stuff and was regretting deciding to ‘protect’ some magical lovebugs.

The hug ended. They didn’t stare off into other corners of the room. They stared at each other. They didn’t feel any awkwardness. They only felt camaraderie. For the first time since they arrived in this world, they felt like a real team of friends.

Author's Note

Bonus scene

Equus Bravo - Equestria - Ponyville - Sweet Apple Acres

"Applejack, what does 'fuck' mean?" a little filly asked her sister, and that sister started to reconsidered her new friendship.