Elements of the Past

Chapter Two: Generosity

Vafrous' shop wasn't overly busy at this hour, as the work day had hardly started. As such, nothing of note had happened today. All he'd planned to do was to repair a number of protective worker uniforms from one of the factories that had begun to spring up around the outskirts of town. It was a profitable venture, as the factories' methods weren't too well refined; injuries, wear and tear were common, and somepony had to repair the damaged uniforms. Being the only general tailor in town, his own Carousel Boutique was the only place with the services and materials necessary to repair and manufacture these uniforms in Ponyville. As such, Vafrous charged a premium; it wasn't like the owners of these factories had no bits, a bit of surcharge didn't really hurt anypony here. What mattered was that Vafrous' shop was making money, and that was the bottom line.

Money wasn't unimportant to Vafrous, not even a little. When he had enough of it, he'd expand his operation, make more money, and retire. A simple, though reasonable plan, considering the growth Ponyville was currently experiencing with the large increase in the availability of coal and raw materials from Canterlot's new mines, and the lack of room--or tolerance--for such factories in Canterlot itself. Being closest to Canterlot, Ponyville was the natural location for any factory that would use fuel and raw materials from Canterlot's mines. Along with the factories would come the need for heavy, protective clothing, which most ponies didn't need, and more buisness for Vafrous. The plan was working so far, and he could only hope for continued growth. Fortunately, his research on projections indicated a continued increase in Ponyville industry, so things would only get better. That is, if his optimistic side had anything to say about it.

As a buisnesspony, Vafrous kept a very pessimistic field of view. It kept him safe from making rash decisions, like taking on new employees or taking out loans for the buisness when unnecessary. From this point of view, there would appear factory-owned repair and clothing shops eventually, and he would have to cut prices to keep customers. It pays to be prepared, and Vafrous always made sure he was prepared. There were never less than five hundred bits in safekeeping, he had paperwork in case he needed to abandon his buisness within a day's notice, and he had taken many other small precautions, like insurance.

There had been significance to this building in the past, which was a major part of why the place was still called 'Carousel Boutique'. This major part was that it was once owned by a mare named Rarity, who, while still alive, bore the Element of Generosity and operated the shop as, well, a boutique. Oh, and the place was shaped kind of like a carousel, that mattered too. He'd bought the place from a closed auction he'd been mysteriously invited to after he finished school, though this auction had been a rather shady one; he neither knew nor saw any of the other bidders, and he got a rediculously low price on the building. This had only brought Vafrous good things, so he decided not to dig too deep and risk uncovering something unpleasant.

Vafrous spun about, away from the uniform he was busy fixing, as he heard the door open, as well as the accompanying ring of a bell, to see a stallion and comparatively-small dragon walk into the shop and look around, the dragon looking like he'd been there before, which struck him as odd. It was unusual for any dragon to appear in Ponyville, and even more unusual for it to want clothing. These two probably had other buisness here.

"Do you need something?" he asked, already impatient. There probably wasn't money here; he was wasting time talking to these visitors.

"We are here under the orders of Princess Celestia," the dragon began. "My name is Spike, and this is Bookworm. I must assume you are Vafrous?"

He blinked. There might be bits coming his way after all; the Princess and her colleagues had... expensive tastes. Then his other side offered a rebuttal to this thought; there were tailors in Canterlot just as skilled as he was, if not more talented than he was. "The Princess? Very well. I am Vafrous, you've come to the right place if you've come to find me, or need any clothing."

"We aren't here about that, Vafrous," the dragon spoke again. Immediately, his heart sunk. Had something bad happened? Had this building been obtained illegally somehow? There went another tendency of his; getting worried easily. He took a deep breath and swallowed the notion. "There is something very, very important that I must tell you. Can you keep this a secret?"

Bookworm noticed something different about how Spike approached Vafrous. Was it maybe because of Vafrous' profession as a buisnesspony, or perhaps something else? Bookworm didn't know what to say, so he kept his mouth shut as Spike continued.

Vafrous made a measured response. "Yes," he said slowly, "I can keep a secret for you, Spike. Now please, do tell. I do not have an abundance of time."

"Vafrous, you, along with five others, including Bookworm here, are needed to save Equestria."

The stallion's eyes lit up, as though he'd seen an opportunity. Not an opportunity for adventure, though, something else. "Do you mean to... aquire my services as a sort of... mercenary?"

"No, Vafrous, not a mercenary. We just want you to travel with us."

"Well, what's in it for me, and what does saving Equestria have to do with me?" Vafrous interrogated.

Spike sighed. "This building, Carousel Boutique, was owned by the town of Ponyville prior to your having bought it. Do you want to know why?"

Vafrous swallowed. "Tell me."

"Rarity--the original owner--is your ancestor, and the Princess herself wanted you to have her dwelling so we could find you with ease," Spike explained. This made sense to Bookworm, to have kept the Elements' bearers in places where they'd easily be found. "That's your reward, in advance, for what I ask of you now. You are the only pony alive today capable of wielding the Element of Generosity, and what we need you to do is come with us in our search for the others."

"And what if I refuse?" Spike's expression turned to a frown.

"Then Equestria will fall into eternal darkness, and we will all die slowly. We aren't hiring you, Vafrous, I have the authority, as Princess Celestia's personal assistant, to take you with us, willingly or not. I'd rather have you come voluntarily. Nightmare Moon is coming back, and I think we know what happens if we aren't there to stop her." Spike's voice bore just a slight hint of anger.

Vafrous nodded slowly. "Alright, I get your point. If you would allow me to prepare some things before we leave, I'd like to do so."

"We have less than a week to prepare the Elements of Harmony and their bearers. However, we won't be coming back here. Take whatever time you need," Spike said simply. A few moments passed in silence. Spike took a deep breath and let out a long sigh, then turned to Bookworm as the other stallion left the room to pack.

"He's nothing like the Element of Generosity I knew..." he muttered softly. It was apparent that he missed the mare that once held it, about as much as he missed Twilight. Bookworm likened the comparison to that of him and Twilight Sparkle, and determined, from that, what to say.

"But he's not Rarity, and I'm not Twilight Sparkle, Spike. I... don't know what else to say." Bookworm's attempt to cheer up the saddened, nostalgic dragon appeared to work, despite its weakness.

"You're right, Bookworm. Those ponies aren't around anymore, that's how it's been for years. I can't expect any one of you to be just like them. It's just that... I miss them, Bookworm."

"Am I interrupting anything?" Vafrous said as he entered the room again, apparently having heard some portion of the conversation. He had his saddlebag packed, and was apparently ready to go.

Spike cleared his throat. "Nothing important. Are you ready to go?"

He laughed a little. "Yes, I am." He turned to Bookworm. "Are you going to introduce yourself, or do you just not talk to anyone but Spike?"

"Oh, yes. I'm Bookworm, Element of Magic, I guess. Pleased to meet you, Vafrous."

"Hah, Magic?! You're an earth pony!" Vafrous pointed and laughed.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," Bookworm replied, rolling his eyes.

"Well, that looks like a hole in our plan, but we'll see about that, won't we?" The stallion looked around. "Are we just going to stand here? Let's go. Spike, what do you suppose our next destination is?"

"That would be Manehattan. I've already got train tickets for us. There we will find two more ponies we need to help us; Sky Step and Frost Heart, those who will bear Loyalty and Kindness, respectively," Spike explained, then glanced at a clock on the wall. "The train is due in less than half an hour."

The group, now numbering three, exited Carousel Boutique. "A whole day's worth of bits," Vafrous muttered as he flipped the sign reading 'open' to one reading 'closed'. They began walking toward Ponyville's train terminal, which had only become more busy as the not-so-small-anymore town continued to grow.

"So... why is it that I'm the only one capable of wielding this 'Element of Generosity'?" Vafrous started the conversation again as they went.

"We don't really know that, the Princess might know, we'll be going to see her when we've gathered the rest of... us," Bookworm explained. Vafrous nodded.

"Why go through all of this trouble to get us all together? Why didn't the Princess just summon us to Canterlot and be done with it?" he asked.

"Bookworm asked the same question. You see, Vafrous, the Elements of Harmony can only work if certain conditions are met, most importantly that the bearers must be friends to each other." Spike answered the stallion's question.

"So... we have to make friends with each other?" Vafrous looked at Bookworm, then back at Spike, and shrugged. "We have a week."

*****

The train whistle blew, and Spike felt a jerk as the locomotive began to move. His thoughts turned to Frost Heart and Sky Step. From some observations he'd made from discreet peeks through official records, Frost Heart was almost invisible, but Sky Step certainly was not. Politics was the latter's game, something Spike had never imagined Rainbow Dash having had the patience for. A smirk spread across his face as he imaged it, the rainbow-maned pegasus giving a speech about how she was going to change Equestria. Well, she'd made those before, but usually they entailed her becoming a Wonderbolt and leaving all of the known world in awe of her skill at flying, or something like that.

As a dragon--still biologically a teenage one--Spike still did not have wings of his own. By fending off his natural greed with the assistance of his friends, his growth had become progressively slower, more stunted; for every fifteen years, he'd grow as much as a regular dragon did in one, or so he'd been told. He didn't mind. Being slightly taller than Princess Luna now, Spike didn't much relish the concept of growing much larger, as ponies might be more inclined to fear him, and that was the last thing he wanted. Thoughts such as these continued to occupy the dragon as the train continued to roll down the tracks at a great speed. The new-fangled 'magic-assisted electric' trains were far faster than their steam-driven predecessors, and they'd arrive in just a few hours to Manehattan.