A Wisp In The Night

Night scrubbed his tail in the bath pool he had in his place of residence. The crystal clear water, somehow forever pure, no matter what is added, slowly poured out of a statue's stone jug, the pony holding it seemed to be some sort of maiden. He had only discovered this bathroom a month upon moving in to this abandoned building. The source of the water was still a mystery. He had peered into the jug, but there was no hole or continuous source of water. He never gave it a second thought.

He rinsed the shampoo out of his tail and stepped out of the pool, then shook some of the water out. He then grabbed a towel and dried himself properly. After his bath, he walked into the main room and looked up at the mossy stone monument. The strange statue also puzzled him. On it was 5 arms, like on a pentagram, but it wasn't shaped like a star. At the end of each arm was a small disk, a pedestal of some sort, as if to hold a sphere. He thought they might've been used as torches, but that proved false. The room was lit more than enough by the other torch stances.

He eventually concluded that they would've held spheres or large stones. The age of the statue seemed to be about 1000 years, maybe even longer. He looked around and walked down one of the hallways. He eventually wandered into his bedroom. His simple bed consisted of a rather large matress, a blanket and a pillow, set in the corner of the room. He left and wandered into his 'kitchen'. Or, the room which he used as a kitchen...There was a large chest and a stone counter, no fridge, no oven...If he wanted hot or cold food, he needed to go into town for that. He never bought a lot of food, and when he did, he bought mostly non-perishable goods. Cupcakes, granola, oats...He bought fruits on occasion, and ate them rather quickly. They would rot after a few days if he didn't.

He finally decided to leave and wander into Ponyville. He took the dusty trail through the Everfree's trees. He heard a timber wolf howl somewhere in the distance and a few things hiss from a bush while he passed. He made a living by finding exotic herbs and selling them to local bakers, as well as Aloe and Lotus, the spa ponies. But today was not for money. Today was for a simple visit to his favorite town. He did spot some rather valuable herbs on his way, and he did admit they were tempting...Hmm...Maybe he would go back and get his saddlebags.

He decided against this and continued walking to Ponyville. He wandered around and finally settled with visiting Pinkie. If she was around, that is...He walked into Sugarcube Corner and walked to the counter. He spotted a cute pink muzzle peek out from the kitchen, then disappear. Then Pinkie came out and smiled.

"Hey Wispy!" Pinkie said with a broad grin.

"Hi Pinkie. How's my favorite party mare?" Night smiled.

"Oh I'm super-fantaboulously fantastic! I just got a request from Vinyl Scratch to do a party! Oh! And the Princess even invited me to the Grand Galloping Gala again!" She grinned.

"Prin-cess?" Night looked confused. "Is a Princess visiting this part of Equus?"

Pinkie then looked confused. "You know...Princess Celestia? The big white alicorn that raises the sun every morning?"

"That's how that happens? And what's an alicorn?"

Pinkie's eyes shrunk to pin-pricks. "You don't know what an alicorn is?!"

"No...Is it a new species?"

Pinkie's brain couldn't really process the information given to her. Not easily. She pushed him out of the bakery.

"Umm...maybe you should see Twilight...I need a minute."

Night blinked and shrugged, not questioning the mare's behaviour. He thought it was just Pinkie being Pinkie. He decided to take her advice and wandered down to the library. Knocking softly, he waited for Twilight's adorable scaly assistant to answer. To his surprise, Twilight answered instead. She smiled and invited him inside.

"I was expecting Spike to answer..." Night said with a chuckle.

"Oh, he's off with Rarity to do some gem hunting." Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Hey Twi, I heard Pinkie mention something about a Grand Galloping Gala..."

"Oh! Yeah! Me and my friends get invites every year! It's this super fun party up in Canterlot. The Princess is the one who picks the ponies who get the golden tickets. You can't get in without one."

"Again, who's this 'princess'?!" Night looked confused again, and a little disappointed that he was left out of the loop.

"Wait you don't know who the Princess is?!"

"No..."

"Didn't you hear me mention her when we were talking that one night?"

"I must've spaced out...Sorry." His ears flattened against his head.

"Princess Celestia is the alicorn that raises the sun every morning. Her sister, Princess Luna, raises the moon every night...Didn't you ever learn this in school?"

"I never went to school..."

Twilight looked ready to snap. "Where did you say you lived?"

"In the Everfree. In this big stone building. Looks a bit like a castle..."

"Is it really really old? And covered in moss and vines? And has this big, 5-armed pedestal in the main area?"

"Yeah...How'd you know?" Night looked confused as to where this was headed.

Twilight twitched. "Excuse me a minute, I need to send a letter..."

Twilight ran out the door with saddlebags stuffed with writing quills and parchment, headed off somewhere into the diamond hills. Night heard her calling for Spike loudly as she ran away. Night shrugged and wandered back home.

"Geez, everypony is acting so strangely today...What's with that?" He kept going and eventually wandered into his 'house'. He didn't actually own it. It was just a big abandoned castle that he put up residence in. He really had no right to be there, but he figured no one would care. Otherwise, it would be better kept. His hooves made a echoing clop noise as he walked in.

"I wonder what they meant by a Princess...and I guess there's two of them...And how did Twi know what my house looked like?" Night thought hard, but couldn't really come up with any answer. He was pretty smart for an uneducated pony. He learned mostly from personal experience. Anything he encountered, he would try to figure out. But this, he was stumped...

"Hmmm..." Night finally muttered. "Maybe I have been missing out..."