A Change in Strategy

Stratus walked briskly in the cold morning air as country ponies passed this way and that around her. She had never lived outside of a major city before, so the fact that Ponyville only really had a single main road was a little... weird to her. Everything else was built off of side alleys and game trails.

Leaves brushed past her hooves and she breathed a contented sigh at the chilly weather. She wore a black and green scarf that stood out strikingly against her golden coat. She also wore some little dark earmuffs for warmth. As she walked she knew she was getting looks and stares. She knew that a lot of things about her stood out. Her cutie mark, her size, the fact that she had wings but walked most of the time, but she was still very self-conscious from all the attention she was receiving. She even saw a few noses twitch as she passed, and she hoped that her vanilla perfume wasn't too strong.

Her destination loomed before her. A towering oak tree, wherein resided the Element of Magic and her exhaustive library. Stratus had no idea how the tree was still alive. The small circular windows still shone with light from within, and by all accounts the thing was completely hollow on the inside. She decided it was related to weird unicorn magic, and moved on with her life.

On the way she passed through the open-air market of the town again, but this time early enough to see ponies getting set up to hawk their wares. A massive, strapping young stallion with a ruby red coat was hauling a cart full of immaculately juicy looking apples. She'd have to buy one of those on the way back from her... meeting.

Stratus went over, again, what she'd say to Twilight Sparkle when she arrived. Should she be more formal? Was Twilight too busy to see her? Was she already tired of tourists? Not that Stratus was a tourist, of course. She lived here now. That made it different.

Finally she arrived, standing on the little cobblestone square outside Twilight Sparkle's house. Her stomach was doing loop-de-loops, and she was sure that she must be sweating bullets from the nerves.

Maybe I should just come ba-

As her doubts were manifesting, the front door opened. Stratus gasped, wondering how the sorceress could have known she was there!

Then a small purple and green dragon toddled out with a bundle of papers under one arm. He was... cute. Very round, and a little tubby too. She noticed that his scales had a little rainbow sheen that sparkled across them when they caught the sunlight.

He blinked at her in surprise and then spoke in perfect Ponish, "Oh, hey there!"

Then he turned to yell back into the house, "Twilight! You have a visitor!"

There was a yelp from deeper inside, then a sound like a desk full of ink bottles crashing to the floor.

The young dragon squeezed his eyes shut and sighed, "That sounded messy..."

He looked back up at Stratus, "Hi there! Name's Spike. I'm Twilight's senior junior assistant! I do all the important stuff around here," he puffed his small chest out with pride and tilted his head as though expecting her to make impressed sounds.

She blinked and looked at the papers under his arm, then asked quizzically, "Who is... 'the jewel that is my morning star'?"

Spike shot upright, heel turned, and walked away down the street without another word.

Stratus shook her head in confusion. What a strange creature. Still, a dragon! That was exciting! She hadn't heard any mention of a dragon when reading about the Elements' exploits. She'd love to study him, and maaaybe ask if he'd lend a shed scale or two for the shop. For a commission, of course.

There was more clatter from inside, followed by a loud, "Coming! I'm coming!"

The frazzled, sleep-deprived, out-of-breath pony who arrived at the front door was... not quite what Stratus had been expecting for a two-time savior of Equestria.

Twilight Sparkle was a unicorn mare of average height and build that actually looked like she had a bit of heft to her. Her belly and rear looked especially plush and soft, although Stratus immediately blushed and looked away once she realized she was evaluating an Element of Harmony's... physical characteristics. The mare's long hair was a dark purple with a single bright stripe running through it. Her eyes were a lighter shade of purple than Stratus' own, and-

"Wow, you're tall," Twilight said.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, and then the unicorn blushed, "Sorry! Sorry. I didn't mean to... I'm a little frazzled right now. Working on a project. Mainly re-organizing the library. Um, would you like to come in?"

"Oh, yes, I would love to!" Stratus said.

"Great!" Twilight replied, although she looked more frantic than happy, and then she disappeared in a poof of purple magic.

Stratus hesitantly stepped inside and took a look around.

The place was in utter shambles. Books were piled high in messy stacks all around the room. Loose papers, some blank and others filled with mad scrawling, were scattered about the place covering much of the floor space not taken up by books or shelves. Somewhere in all of this there was a set of soft green furnishings around a short coffee table that was the epicenter of the paper explosion. Stratus carefully made her way through the room, trying not to step on anything important, and sat delicately on a spot of couch that was an oasis amidst the parchment dunes.

"Sorry about the mess!" Twilight called from somewhere, belatedly. An entire pile of books vanished from next to Stratus with a pop that caused her to jump a little.

"That's fine! I understand you're likely busy. Thank you for seeing me, especially unannounced," Stratus replied, raising her voice a little. She wasn't sure exactly where the little purple unicorn had gone.

"Ooohhh... fine, I'll fix it later!"

Stratus heard Twilight proclaim this, and then with a bright flash, a pop, and the distinct smell of ozone, the entire mess disappeared all at the same time. Stratus' jaw dropped. How had she cleaned it all up so quickly?

A very bedraggled looking Twilight Sparkle walked out of a doorway that led deeper into the tree house, shutting it softly behind her and giving Stratus a tired smile. She walked over slowly and sat on the couch opposite to Stratus, then said, "Okay! Hello, I am Twilight Sparkle! Local librarian, Element of Harmony, and student of Princess Celestia! What can I do for you?"

Stratus replied awkwardly, "Um, you have some ink on your coat."

Twilight looked down and discovered that a large section of her stomach and leg had been stained black with ink, "Oh, shoot."

Her horn glowed a soft purple, but nothing happened and she groaned out loud, "Argh, this is enchanted ink! This is going to take forever to get out. And I was on my last bottle of it, too..."

Stratus immediately perked up, "Well, pardon me for saying Miss Sparkle, but my name is Stratus Fairweather! I own the Fairweather Flarket that just opened up in town!"

Twilight quirked her head to the side in a very cute gesture of confusion, "Flarket?"

Stratus blushed slightly and explained, "It was going to be Fairweather Flying Flea Market, but the name was too long and I hate fleas. So... Flarket!"

Twilight nodded, "Nice alliteration. No offense intended, but, I doubt you can help me. Enchanted ink requires-"

"Hydra's blood and seaweed extract?" Stratus asked innocently.

The purple mare's eyes narrowed, "Yes... how do you know that?"

Stratus tossed her golden locks over one shoulder, "I have my ways, Miss Sparkle. Can I... call you Twilight?"

Something about the question connected a few wires in Twilight's distracted brain, and she actually took a look at the pony in front of her and registered something other than "tall". The pegasus mare was gorgeous. Long limbed, mane practically shimmering like liquid gold, and with deep violet eyes, beautifully shadowed, that reminded her of...

Twilight's heart skipped a beat as she imagined Celestia's mischievous smirk when they would sneak down to the palace kitchens together late at night and steal cupcakes. She replied after a few moments, "Y-yes! Of course, call me Twilight. Nice to meet you, Stratus!"

Stratus beamed at her, and Twilight got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She's very pretty... the unicorn thought with some trepidation.

Twilight continued her earlier statement, "Since you're familiar with the ingredients of magical ink, I assume that you know where to find some?"

Stratus smiled brightly, "Even better! My shop will be selling magical ink of several different varieties within the next two weeks!"

Twilight's eyes widened, "Really?! Oh my Celestia, that would be amazing! It is so tiring to have to go all the way to Canterlot every time I run out. And sure, the Princess could send it by post, but that takes even longer than going to buy it myself! If you could get me a bottle or three, you'd really be a life saver Stratus."

The golden pegasus opened her mouth to reply, then shut it. She turned away, looking abashed.

Twilight quirked an eyebrow, "What's the matter? Did I say something wrong?"

Stratus waved her hooves, "No, no! It's just that... well, it is a store and... w-what I mean is that I would like for you to, um, pay for them? I can give you a discount! You did, after all, save Equestria twice."

Twilight facehoofed herself, "No, yes, sorry, you're right. I just got excited. Of course I'm happy to pay. Do you happen to have any with you now?"

Stratus shook her head sadly, and Twilight took note of the way the smooth muscles of the other mare's neck moved and shifted.

"I'm sorry, Twilight, but my first shipment of goods hasn't yet come in. I'm just setting up the shop now, and I only arrived in town a few days ago."

Twilight chuckled to herself, "Did Pinky give you the welcome wagon?"

Stratus smiled softer this time, "Actually, she was very kind. I told her that I had a problem with large crowds, and so she just invited the ponies that work near me. She herself even slipped out after making sure everypony was having a good time. It was very nice of her."

Twilight got a warm and fuzzy feeling thinking of how one of her best friends had helped make somepony else feel so welcomed. Maybe she should try getting to planning one of these welcome parties some day. There had to be a friendship lesson in there somewhere.

"Anyway, I didn't come here today trying to sell you magical ink Miss Twilight," Stratus said, fidgeting a little, "You see... I have heard that you're very intelligent. Possibly one of the greatest minds of our age..."

Twilight blushed furiously at this compliment.

Stratus sighed, "I have a problem. It's a medical condition, but... not one that any doctor my parents took me to could solve. I moved to this town because I wanted to start a new life here among my heroes. But I also hoped that, maybe, you could help me get better?"

It broke Twilight's heart to see the hope in the other mare's eyes. Twilight herself had no practical experience with healing magic. She'd focused mostly on utility spellcraft, as most unicorns did these days. She really only knew the one combat spell, and it was mostly just "shoot laser from horn". But... she did own one of the largest repositories of knowledge on the continent, and had free access to the largest repository in the royal palace. She was also, she liked to think, quite a capable unicorn, good at both learning and improvisation. If this mare was asking for her help... who was she to refuse?

Twilight nodded firmly, "Of course! I'd be happy to help. I'll need to study up on medical theory and applied healing magic, but I'll have a couple of weeks while I wait for your ink to come in anyway!"

Tears sprang to Stratus' eyes as relief overwhelmed her. She practically tackled the unicorn mare with a crying bear hug.

"Thank you! Oh, thank you so much, Twilight, you really are wonderful!"

Twilight was initially surprised by the tall pony's outburst, but the hug felt... oddly nice. She'd never been much of a huger, but something about the warmth of it, and the smell... like vanilla but with a deeper, richer texture, made her simply relax and enjoy it.

Stratus felt that same stabbing pain in her side again, but tried to ignore it. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and she would not let her illness stop her.

She drew back, and Twilight (looking a little cross-eyed) said, "Yeah! No problem..."

The unicorn mare shook herself from her stupor, and said brightly, "Come see me when you get that ink, I'll need it to run experiments and hopefully make progress. Until then, you can be sure I'll do nothing but study medical texts and healing tomes!"

Stratus actually felt like she was going to cry, and turned away as the sensation began to burn her eyes, "Thank you so much, Twilight Sparkle. This is... oh, this is beyond anything that I'd imagined would be possible. You really are a wonderful student."

That particular phrase jolted Twilight up in her chair like she'd been poked with a hot iron, and she felt the hairs on her tail begin to raise before she forced them back down with an effort of will, "G-glad to help! Anytime! A-and welcome to town, Stratus. I think having you and your shop here will make the whole place better!"

Stratus turned back to the unicorn she admired so much and smiled with a brilliance to outshine the sun.