From Mythos to Logos

The Golden Oaks Library was not one of the commonly-visited place in Ponyville, especially when one took in the fact that Amethyst never really had friends to invite over until recently. But today there were seven ponies in the library, all just finishing up some extensive research.

Flitter was lying on her back atop the pony sculpture in the center of the library, holding a book up above her head. Fleetfoot was perched up on a window sill, a stack of books beside her. Lotus was lying on the stairs, flipping through a book on the floor. Limestone and Amethyst were both just lying on the ground, each with a book in front of them.

"Lunch is ready!" chirped Saffron gleefully, walking in with a platter of sandwiches. "I made grass sandwiches marinated in a mustard Dijon dressing, a curried oat cake, and spicy flat-noodle soup."

"You made all of that in an hour?" asked Flitter, leaning back and snagging a sandwich in her wing. "It looks so yummy! No wonder you own a restaurant!"

"Hey, sspeaking of, sshouldn't you be working?" asked Fleetfoot, jumping down from the window sill.

"Father is busy with interviews for new employees," replied Saffron, placing the platter down gently. "And we're only open at night on Tuesdays, since these are the quietest days."

"I got the loaf of bread!" said Twirly, slowly gliding in with a platter barely supported above her head.

"Curried oat cake," corrected Saffron gently, taking it in her magic. "I'll go get the soup."

She hurried back into the kitchen, and came out moments later with a pot of delicious-looking soup as well as various plates, bowls, and silverware. She placed everything down, holding a ladle in her magic to spoon out the soup.

"Smells deliciouz," said Lotus, picking up one of the bowls and holding it out to be served.

"My father came up with the recipe," replied Saffron cheerfully. "I changed up the spices to make it even more flavorful. That was when I had my manifest."

"Sounds far more peaceful than my manifest," remarked Limestone. "I had to save my sister from being crushed by a massive boulder. Just remembered what my dad had taught me, and slammed my hooves right into it."

Flitter gave a low whistle. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

Twirly tilted her head in confusion. "What's a manifest?"

"Ze moment vhen your cutie mark appears," answered Lotus.

"Ussually in a moment of realization," added on Fleetfoot. "Could be at almosst any time. It'ss never dependent on age."

Limestone nodded in agreement. "I was really late. Got mine after even my younger sister."

"How old were you?" asked Flitter.

"Fourteen." Everypony looked over at her in surprise. "What? I said that I was late."

"How old are you?" asked Saffron questioningly.

"Twenty seven."

Flitter's mouth dropped open in shock. "You're twenty seven?! I'm only eighteen!"

"Earth poniez age rather... oddly," said Lotus as clarification. "After all, I'm twenty four."

"Anypony else want to completely and utterly shock me?"

Fleetfoot chimed in. "If it helpss, I'm twenty one."

"And I'm twenty," added Saffron.

"Amy, how old am I?" called Twirly to her unicorn friend, who was still flipping through a book.

"Seventeen," answered Amethyst, finally getting up from her spot on the floor and closing the book she had been reading. "Sjutton." Translated to Breezan since Twirly still had trouble with numbers in Magican.

"You know that off the top of your head?" asked Flitter.

"Well, do you know how old your sister is?"

"Point taken."

Amethyst grabbed a sandwich in her magic, smiled at Saffron, and levitated over a roll of parchment and quill to the middle of the group. "Here's what I've gotten so far. You guys should add any new ones that you found."

Limestone took the parchment and quill, writing down her findings. She then passed it to Flitter, who passed it to Saffron, who passed it to Lotus, who passed it to Fleetfoot, who returned it back to Amethyst.

Limestone peeked over at the extended list, and rolled her eyes. "Flitter, you misspelled 'Somnambula'."

"How would you know?" asked Flitter.

"Because the town is south-west of my parent's rock farm.

"But the book said that somma-nomma-bell was a pony!"

"Somnambula is who they named the town after."

"Ohhhhhhhhhh..."

"Anyways..." Amethyst took a bite of her sandwich. "Which one do we want to look for first?"

"We sshould probably do the one that'ss farthest away first," said Fleetfoot. "You know, to get it over with."

"Or vun zat could possibly help us to obtain ze others," suggested Lotus.

"How about the pearl of transsformation? From the name it ssounds pretty usseful if it'ss real, and it'ss ssouth of Equestria! That'ss pretty far away."

Amethyst tilted her head in confusion. "South of Equestria, or southern Equestria?"

"Of."

"I wasn't expecting something that far away..." She grabbed one of her book in her light blue aura, and flipped it open to a map. "This doesn't even show beyond the Equestrian boarders! The farthest south it goes is to the Badlands!"

"Maybe there's a larger map in town hall!" suggested Flitter. "I mean, you go there all the time, right?"

Amethyst tilted her head in confusion. "Why would you think that?"

Flitter snagged another sandwich. "Aren't you kinda like Mayor Mare's part-time assistant?"

"No, I just like organizing events around town. Makes me feel like I'm helping to keep things in better control." She paused for a moment. "Actually, I think the last time I was in town hall was for adoption papers..."

"The hay did you need adoption papers for?" asked Limestone.

"Twirly." The breezie smiled proudly. "Since she's not an adult yet, I'm her legal guardian. Therefore I had to go through the proper process to ensure that nopony could use such against me in any way, shape, or form."

"It's not like sshe was from an orphanage or anything, though, right?" asked Fleetfoot. "My parentss had to fill out a million formss for me, but that wass because I was already a part of the system. That'ss how it works, right?"

"Do you realize how many ponies would just love to have a live breezie specimen to study?" Amethyst scowled. "I couldn't even get out of Canterlot without somepony asking if she was for sale."

Twirly's eyes widened in horror. "Jat's what he asked? No wonder you didn't tell me..."

"For sale!?" Lotus looked sickened. "Zat's just awful!"

Amethyst nodded in agreement. "I was just about ready to break his jaw at that point. Lucky for him, I only-"

There were four sharp raps at the door, and a cheerful voice called out. "Special delivery!"

Her anger faded. "Oh, that just be Ditzy." She placed down the sandwich she had been eating and walked over to the door. Opening it with her magic, a cardboard box with golden tape was thrust in her face.

"From Canterlot!" chirped Ditzy happily. "Have a nice day!"

"You too, Ditz." Amethyst gently took the box in her magic, and closed the door. She walked right back to where she had been standing, and placed it down.

"Did you order something?" asked Twirly.

"No..." She looked at the return address. "It says it comes from the Royal Guard. Oh, that must mean it's from Twilight!" She pulled off the tape and opened it up, taking out something wrapped in many layers of protective wrapping. "Wonder what it is..."

"Maybe it's a sword! If it's a sword, can I use it?"

"I can tell you right now that it isn't a sword." She took off the last layer, revealing a note attached to something pale blue and shiny, that was in the shape of a rounded triangle. Amethyst looked at the note, and arched an eyebrow in confusion. "This is from Captain Blue Moon. Dear Elemental Amethyst, as a result of what occurred during the Orichalcum Incursion, I choose to send you this in hopes of allowing you to help train you in your magical prowess. We own a very limited number of-" Her voice broke off for a moment. "w-wyvern sc-scales?!"

Fleetfoot frowned nervously. "Are you oka-"

Amethyst dropped the scale in an instant, and backed away from it as far as she could. Her eyes showed nothing but fear, and she was breathing heavily. "Keep it away!"

Twirly reacted faster than anypony else. In an instant she was by Amethyst's side, and gently placed her hoof on her cheek. "Jag är här."

Her breathing began to slow once more. By that point, the others had also come over to comfort her, with Limestone picking up the scale and tucking it out of sight.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," cooed Lotus comfortingly. "You can tell us what you need."

Therapy, most likely... Amethyst bit her lip. "S-sorry. I just... I just can't be so close to that after what happened..."

Saffron cautiously asked the question they were all thinking. "After what happened?"

Her fear melted away into sadness. "I'm from Manehattan."

That one statement filled in the answer for everypony except for Twirly, who knew that it was a bad time to be asking for more details.

"They... They come from up north, right?" Amethyst directed the question towards Flitter and Fleetfoot.

"Yess," affirmed Fleetfoot.

She gave a shaky smile. "Then I guess... We should go look for the pearl of transformation, huh? The upcoming weather is a storm anyways, so no better time, huh?"

Limestone frowned in worry.