Ch 2 – Okay… what are they doing now? *sigh*

*Canterlot*

Princess Celestia was not having what could pass as ‘a good morning’. Normally, she would wake up, make her way out to her balcony, raise the sun and begin her day. However, this morning, she was still staring off into the distance at Ponyville, her mind racing. Yesterday in the late afternoon, the phenomenon she had dubbed the sun shard had suddenly vanished without a trace after moving around Ponyville and the Everfree Forest for most of the day.

She had considered writing to Twilight to tell her that her search may not be necessary, but decided to wait. As it turned out, this was the right course of action. Moments after she raised the sun, the shard reappeared.

“Tia, are you alright?”

Celestia turned slowly towards the voice on her right, her eyes eventually resting on her sister, who wore a deeply concerned look on her face. Sighing, she turned to look back towards the Everfree and Ponyville.

“I’m not sure Lulu.” She finally managed to say, her voice distant.

There was a flapping of great wings, as the lunar princess flew over to her sister’s balcony and landed next to her. Leaning over, she nuzzled her sister’s neck, causing Celestia to relax slightly and lean into her sister.

“What troubles you? Is it the episode of pain from two nights ago, or the anomaly of the sun you feel?” Luna said, her voice laced with concern.

“Both, to be honest.” Celestia said, turning her head towards her sibling. Luna could tell at a glance that her sister’s expression was almost despondent.

“There’s more, isn’t there.” Luna said.

“Yes. The sun is my responsibility. I should be the one seeking out this stray fragment of its power. Instead, I’m stuck here, trying to overcome a bureaucratic horror show from me taking two weeks off to spend time with Twilight. Two weeks Lulu!” Celestia said, stomping her hoof for emphasis, denting the marble of the balcony with the force of the blow. “With you here, this shouldn’t have happened! Instead, those upper-class twits chose to wait till I got back before dumping everything on me! I don’t know what frustrates me more: that they so blatantly snubbed you, or that they felt that I wouldn’t have a problem with what they were trying to pull!”

“It's alright sister. We can work through this together.” Luna said, trying to comfort her sibling.

“Oh Lulu, its far from alright.” Celestia said as she turned back to stare off towards the horizon. “I know it will take time for our ponies to fully accept you again, but you’re my sister. I can’t stand to see you treated like that. Not after what happened when I ignored the same thing a millennium ago.”

“Tia…” Luna said as she walked in front of her sister and looked her in the eyes. “What happened before, we both share the blame. But it's in the past, and we cannot change it. We can only use it to make us stronger and better. Our ponies will accept us eventually, all we need to do is be patient.”

Celestia sighed as she lowered her head and nuzzled her sister’s cheek.

“Thanks Lulu. I mean it.”

Looking at the horizon one more time, Celestia turned to head back inside and get her day of glorious headache started.

“I still wish I knew more about this sun shard.” She said, more to herself than Luna. “I’m just going to trust Twilight to get to the bottom of it.”

“Your student hath a knack for overcoming great obstacles Tia. We’re sure she’ll come through like she always does.” Luna said as she flew back over to her balcony. “We’ll see you tonight.”

And with that, Luna gently closed the door to her room, leaving Celestia to her thoughts.

Stepping through her own door and into her chamber, the solar princess steeled herself for another day of bureaucratic hell. Using her magic to pick up her itinerary, she quickly skimmed the contents, and let out a deep and resonant groan. This would be a four, possibly five cake and two chocolate babka day at the very least.

*Sweet Apple Acres*

Dawn Wings watched with intense interest as the orange pony dashed forward with an enthusiastic shout before pivoting on her forelegs and throwing out a pair of kicks with her hind legs, striking the trunk of the tree. Rather than shatter the bark and splinter the wood, the impact caused the tree to shake briefly as dozens of apples fell from the branches into waiting baskets below. It was an impressive act, though she did wonder how the tree didn’t seem to be injured from that kick. Or how all of the apples managed to miraculously land in the baskets and not on the ground.

Dawn Wings turned her head and scanned the other trees in the orchard. None of them showed any damage to their trunks, despite probably all being kicked in a similar fashion.

‘Well,’ She thought, ‘that’s one way to harvest apples without hands. Still doesn’t make sense how she’s not mauling the trunks with those hooves.’

As Dawn Wings watched, the orange mare used her mouth to pick up one of the baskets by its handle and carried it off to stack next to the others she had already filled.

‘Suppose they’d have to move things with their mouths since they don’t have hands.’

Turning away from the orange mare and looking to another part of the orchard, a similar scene was playing out. The red stallion was also knocking apples from the trees, though rather than use a double-hoofed full body kick, he would kick the trees with only one of his hind legs. It made sense; he was much larger and more muscular he was than the mare, so he didn’t need to use his full body to accomplish the same feats of strength.

As the two of them harvested their crops, the mare would occasionally say something to her partner. Even without understanding the language, Dawn Wings still could tell a lot about what was being said. Most of the conversation, which was remarkably one sided, had the air of friendly banter or simple directions. The stallion, for his part, rarely said anything beyond simple grunts and monosyllabic affirmations or denials.

Cocking her head to the side, Dawn Wings smiled to herself. She was beginning to get a sense of these two, and could revise a few of her earlier assumptions. The orange mare, as she initially assumed, was clearly the one in charge of the day-to-day operation. While the big stallion was something of an introvert, the mare was far more outgoing, and significantly more boisterous. She had to admit; they both seemed like hard working, down to Gaia creatures. Once she overcame the language barrier, she might enjoy their company if she got the chance.

She did, however, revise one of her initial observations. At first, she had thought that they might be husband and wife, since the little one he had seen shared the mare and stallion’s colors. Now, after observing them for some time, she figured they were probably siblings. They didn’t display the sort of affection that romantic partners usually did, instead showing a more platonic, familial affection towards one another.

However, the most concrete conclusion she came to while watching the two of them was that observing them, while fascinatingly dull, wasn’t going to help her really get a sense of this new place.

‘I think I might have a better chance of getting to know these… ponies… in town. Can’t learn a language if I don’t hear much of it, now can I?’ Dawn Wings decided as she launched herself into the air.

Neither Applejack nor Big Mac had any reason to notice as the black bird that had been watching them for close to half an hour took off and flew towards Ponyville.

*Ponyville, several minutes later*

Dawn Wings took her time lazily gliding over the outskirts of town, trying to find a good perch to begin observing the ponies. Even if she had mostly accepted that this place might be real and not some sort of crazy dream, she was still trying to wrap her head around everything that she was seeing. For one, there were far too many parallels between these creatures and the humans. Most of their tools looked like they were identical to their human counterparts, with very little modification for the unique anatomy of the users. If the way the two farmers had used their mouths was any indication, the majority of their dexterity was centered there.

‘Why in Raven’s name would they design tools that would be so difficult to use?’ She pondered as she continued to fly over town.

Getting back to the task at wing, Dawn Wings decided that she needed to find a place where there would be lots of the ponies going about their daily business, preferably with lots of conversation. A few places came to mind, but the one that stuck out the most was a shopping district. If these creatures were anything like the humans back on Gaia, then logically, the town should have one.

That would be her first destination.

Flapping her wings to gain some altitude, the corax spotted a plaza that looked like it would suit her purposes. In addition to the numerous market stalls dotting the open area, there were several buildings that appeared to be shops of some sort, including one that looked like a gingerbread house, and what appeared to be a mushroom themed restaurant.

‘Jackpot.’ Dawn Wings thought as she alighted in a nearby tree. Settling in, she began to do what she always did when figuring a new place out: watch and listen.

*Outside Golden Oaks Library, a little after mid-day*

Closing the door to her home, Twilight Sparkle turned and started trotting towards the market square to meet up with Pinkie and Rarity.

The previous night, she had begun an extensive search of the library on any records of solar magic phenomenon. What she had found was inconclusive. While there were rare instances of solar magic or essence appearing, they were usually brief, lasting only a few moments, and only when it was summoned directly. Such manifestations were usually both spectacular and highly destructive, as the pure power of raw solar energy reacted violently with the atmosphere, producing massive plasma fires or flashes of blinding light. She would have continued to pour through the books had she not noticed the time, and remembered her appointment to meet with the girls.

After having a minor meltdown over nearly being late, Twilight had grabbed her saddlebags and headed out the door.

Despite ostensibly taking a break, Twilight continued to scan the area. After the brief flicker she had detected the day before, she was determined to not miss another chance to find whatever this bit of the sun was. As such, she had cast the solar essence detection spell when she woke up, and was now maintaining it with a tiny amount of her magic. Thus far, she hadn’t sensed anything, but if she was supposed to find whatever this strange phenomenon was, it wouldn’t do to not have the spell active, especially if whatever it was returned.

‘Princess Celesita trusts me with this.’ Twilight mused as she trotted towards the Market Café. ‘I can’t disappoint her.’

As she distractedly approached the market, she was pulled out of her musings by her detection spell. A faint tugging on her mind told her that the spell had registered a faint spark of solar essence. Walking in the general direction the spell was indicating, Twilight grew more excited as the energy being detected started to grow stronger.

It was here. In town.

Twilight began to speed up from a trot to a canter, and then to a full gallop as the signal began to get stronger and stronger. Ponies were forced to dodge out of her way as she barreled down the avenues in the direction her magic was pulling her. Most of them simply rolled their eyes as the purple unicorn galloped past, knowing that once Twilight Sparkle was on a mission, it was better to simply get out of her way.

Twilight didn’t notice any of this. All she could focus on was the sensation form her horn telling her that she was headed in the right direction.

As soon as she reached the market, she skidded to a halt. The signal was now quite strong, as though the source was right there. Looking around frantically, Twilight couldn’t see anything that resembled a raging ball of plasma or living flame.

‘Where is it?’ She thought as her eyes scanned for the source. ‘It’s around here somewhere. But where…’

Twilight began to slowly walk around the market, hoping to zero-in on the solar energy. After almost ten minutes of searching, she finally managed to locate the source. Yet, what she saw left her dumbfounded. Whatever she had been expecting, it certainly wasn’t this.

Despite her spell telling her that she was looking directly at the source of the solar energy, her eyes were resting on a large, black bird. Going through a mental key of avian taxonomy, she was startled to realize that it was a Corvus corax. A raven. And a big one at that.

‘Why is a raven full of solar essence?’ Twilight pondered as she continued to stare at the bird. ‘And why is there a raven here at all? They’re not found this far east.’

*****

Dawn Wings was suffering from the early signs of a nonsense-induced headache. It had become abundantly clear that these ponies were… whimsical, to put it gently. In the last couple of hours or so she’d been watching them, they had broken out into spontaneous song at least twice. Even without being able to understand what they were saying, she had to admit that the actual singing was remarkably good. If she didn’t know any better, she might have concluded that the songs were choreographed.

They were also almost sickeningly cheerful. Having lived among the humans and the fera her whole life, Dawn Wings wasn’t used to such excessive good cheer. Even in the nicer parts of her beat on Gaia, the humans were reserved at best, but commonly erred towards hostile. Her fera cousins were rarely in a pleasant mood either, with the ever present threat of the Wyrm and its minions.

But these ponies? Even when they weren’t actively singing, they displayed a general air of cheerfulness that she found almost unsettling. Was life so good here that the residents had no reason to be down? Were they that well off? Or were they just naturally inclined towards good cheer? Dawn Wings couldn’t be sure.

The other thing she noticed was that they were inadvertently trying to kill her.

Where the humans used paper currency, or plastic cards to pay for their purchases, the ponies were using metal coins. And not just any metal. Gold.

Every time one of them pulled out a stack of coins, the corax had to desperately resist the urge to fly down and swipe the pretty… shiny… sparkly…

Shaking her head, Dawn Wings forced herself to put the thought out of her mind. As much as she would like to snag a couple of the coins, she knew how bad an idea it would be. Gold was anathema to corax, thanks to their close association with Helios. In her corvid or equus form, it would simply hurt to touch. If she were in her crinos form, it would burn her. Badly.

As she was watching a mint-green mare chatting happily with a grey one, the corax got the distinct impression that she was being watched in turn. Looking around with her peripheral vision, the corax noticed a purple unicorn staring intently at her. Dawn Wings knew that sort of look. It wasn’t a look of intense interest in something mundane. No, it was a look that spoke of deep-seated curiosity and confusion, as though the unicorn were trying to figure her out.

Not liking the way that the mare was looking at her, Dawn Wings invoked her threat detection magic. To her relief, the pony didn’t register as a threat. The corax did make note that there were other potential threats in the town, but as far as this mare was concerned, she was harmless. For now.

Opting to act natural, Dawn wings went back to the business of watching the ponies. But, she kept watch on the unicorn out of the corner of her eyes. Hopefully, the mare would lose interest soon, and leave. Frankly, she didn't like how she was looking at her.

*****

“Hey Twilight!”

“Gah!” Twilight shouted as she jumped into the air in surprise and turned around to find both Pinkie Pie and Rarity standing behind her.

“Oh, hi girls. How’re you?” Twilight said as she tried to get her heart to stop racing.

“Well, other than being a little hungry, we’re alright, darling.” Rarity said. “We’re still on for lunch, correct?”

“Oh Celestia! I totally forgot! Sorry.” Twilight said as her ears lowered in shame.

“Its quite alright dear. Although, you seem sort of distracted.” The white unicorn said.

“Yea.” Pinkie chimed it, “You had your ‘I don’t understand something, and I’m trying to work through it in my head, but I can’t figure it out because I have no idea what I’m looking at and need to consult a book or Princess Celestia about it because this might be something really, really important’ look on your face.”

Twilight didn’t want to question how Pinkie could identify her thoughts by her look, especially in such detail. She also didn’t know if she should tell the girls about the reason she was staring so intently at the raven.

“Uh, well…” Twilght said, scratching the back of her head with a hoof. “Y’see…”

Twilight’s eyes went wide as her detection spell registered the solar energy suddenly and swiftly retreating. Turning around quickly, Twilight saw the raven flying off into the sky and rapidly out of sight.

“Horseapples!” Twilight shouted as she turned to follow, but stopped when she realized that even if she were to teleport after it, the bird had gained too much ground for her to catch up.

“Twilight, please watch your language.” Rarity admonished, pulling Twilight’s attention back to the here and now. “Whatever you’ve got on your mind, it doesn’t require the use of vulgarity.”

Twilight pointedly ignored her as she continued to stare in the direction the raven had flown.

*****

‘Gaia-damned purple horn-headed abomination.’ Dawn Wings grumbled to herself as she flew. ‘What the hell was her problem?’

Flapping her wings to put some distance between her and the market, Dawn Wings thanked her luck that those two other ponies had shown up and distracted the unicorn. She wasn’t sure she was comfortable with how that pony was staring at her.

It mostly had to do with her being a mage.

During her time observing the ponies in the market, she realized something that made her feathers bristle: every one of the unicorns were capable of some sort of magick. After her most recent run in with a mage resulted in her ending up wherever this crazy place was, she was very uncomfortable with the thought of being scrutinized by one of their number.

She’d have to be cautious around that one.

Dawn Wings put the thought out of her mind as she slowed her pace and began to gently glide back towards the forest.

She had a lot of new information to process.