Harmonic Blue Skies

It was a hot and humid afternoon in Ponyville, and Sky was strolling slowly through the Everfree Forest with a blue raspberry Popsicle in his mouth. It had been almost a week since his first date with Lyra, and he figured it was time to visit Emerald again and tell him about what a great week he’d had. Unlike his first trip into the Everfree, Sky had no difficulties finding Emerald’s cottage this time. He arrived at his destination in due time, and knocked on the door.

Within seconds, Emerald responded. “Hey, Sky!” he said with a smile. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been great!” Sky replied. “Just thought I’d drop by for a visit, that’s all.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” said Emerald. “You’re always welcome to drop by. Come on in!” He moved aside to let Sky into the cottage. “The weather today is amazing, isn’t it? Just like the tropics!”

Sky shrugged. “I prefer it when it’s drier and not quite as hot, but I’ve never hated the humidity as much as some ponies do. Since it’s the hottest day of the summer so far, I got a Popsicle from Sugarcube Corner on my way over here.”

“That was a good idea.” Emerald chuckled. “I love it when the humidity is really high, though. Tree Hugger and I went to the tropics around this time last summer, and we’re planning to go again later this summer.”

“That’s nice.” said Sky. “I’ve never been to the tropics myself, though. Mainly because I’d rather not deal with all the enormous flying insects down there.”

Emerald laughed. “The enormous flying insects can be annoying at first, but eventually you get used to them being there, and if you don’t bother them, they don’t bother you.”

“Well, that’s a relief.” Sky remarked. “Speaking of which, where’s Tree Hugger?”

“She’s just outside watering our plants.” Emerald replied. “She’ll probably come back in soon. By the way, do you want to see our new millipedes? I bought two more Zebrican giant millipedes from the pet store yesterday.”

“Sure!” said Sky. “It’s nice that you got Sebastian a couple of friends.”

Emerald led Sky over to the terrarium. This time, instead of just one giant millipede, there were three. “Meet Octavia and Pandora.” Emerald announced. He pointed to the two new millipedes inside the terrarium. “You can tell them apart from Sebastian because they’re not quite as long as him, and female millipedes aren’t missing two pairs of legs on the seventh segment.” He laughed. “The females have only been here for a day, and Sebastian and Pandora have already had sex!”

“Oh, no!” Sky laughed. “Looks like you’ll have baby millipedes soon!”

“Hopefully not.” said Emerald. “I looked through the terrarium this morning and didn’t find any eggs, so that’s a relief. Anyway, how are things going between you and Lyra?”

Sky grinned. “They’re going really well! I took your advice to heart, and she and I had our first date this past weekend!”

“That’s great! Congratulations!” said Emerald. “How did the date go?”

“It was amazing!” Sky replied. “It was the best night of my life! We had a really nice dinner at the Ponyville Cafe, we shared our cutie mark stories, and then we took a walk along the river. I never noticed this before, but after the river passes by the Ivory Estate, it curves around and flows into the big lake near my house!”

“I never noticed that either!” Emerald remarked. “That’s really cool! Did you and Lyra walk around the lake?”

“We did!” Sky went on. “I led her around the lake and up onto the deck of my house. We sat there looking at the lake together, and then we both fell asleep.” He blushed as he remembered that wonderful moment. “We then woke up together the next morning, and I made her pancakes for breakfast. Oh, those two days were just perfect!”

Emerald smiled. “It sure sounds like it to me. I’m glad everything worked out well between you and her. And you spent a night together too!”

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that.” Sky said modestly. “We were just sitting on the deck together, and then before either of us knew it, we were both asleep.”

“You two must feel really comfortable being around each other, then.” said Emerald.

“Well, I wouldn’t fall asleep next to just anypony.” Sky chuckled. “It really is so much more fulfilling to focus on the ponies you like, instead of getting sidetracked by the ponies you don’t like.”

“Exactly.” Emerald said with a nod. “No matter what Noteworthy or anypony else might say, the only thing that matters is that you and Lyra love spending time with each other.”

Just then, Tree Hugger came back in and put her watering can down on the kitchen counter. She came into the living room and was surprised to see Sky. “Radical to see you here, Sky.” she said with a smile. “Are your chakras balancing out?”

Sky raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t sure what Tree Hugger meant. It must have been some hippie lingo that he obviously wouldn’t understand.

“She’s just asking you how you’re feeling.” Emerald whispered to Sky. “If you’re feeling better than you were the last time you visited.”

“Oh. All right.” said Sky. He turned back to Tree Hugger. “I’m feeling great, thanks for asking. I was just telling Emerald about my date with Lyra last week. It went amazingly well!”

“Righteous!” Tree Hugger exclaimed. “Great to hear that! Life is good when you bathe yourself in positive vibes instead of letting others harsh your flow.”

“Absolutely!” Sky agreed.

“Have you met Octavia and Pandora yet?” Tree Hugger asked. “They’re our two new daughters, and we love them just as much as Sebastian.”

“Yes, I have!” said Sky. “Emerald showed them to me while you were out gardening.” He suppressed a loud giggle. “Apparently Sebastian and Pandora have already had sex!”

Tree Hugger smiled and nodded. “That’s right. Sebastian and Pandora are already in love. It was love at first sight, just like me and Emerald.” She gave Emerald a kiss on the cheek, causing Emerald to blush lightly.

“We’ve been together for over a year and I still blush whenever she kisses me.” Emerald admitted.

“I can imagine.” Sky chuckled. “Being kissed by your special somepony must always be a special feeling.”

“It really is.” Emerald agreed. “Hopefully you and Lyra will have lots of moments like that in the future.”

“I hope so too.” said Sky. “Speaking of which, the extension project is also going really well. Lyra’s parents were able to settle their argument, and they want me to recommend a builder to them. The problem is that I don’t know of any builders in this area.”

Emerald’s eyes lit up. “Well, you’re in luck!” he chortled. “A friend of mine and his twin brother happen to own and operate a building company. They live in San Franciscolt most of the time, but they always spend part of the summer in Ponyville. They’ll be arriving here in a couple of days.”

“Wow… what perfect timing!” Sky exclaimed. “What’s your friend’s name?”

“Douglas Axeblade.” Emerald replied. “His twin brother is Donald Axeblade. The Axeblade Building Company was founded by their ancestors in Scotland, and it goes back many generations. When he’s not working, Douglas loves gardening, which is how he and I became friends.”

“Cool!” said Sky. “I think I’ve heard of the Axeblades before. They must be one of those big famous families.”

“They are.” Emerald affirmed. “There are Axeblades living in all different parts of Equestria. The Axeblade family’s history is steeped in legends and myths, so Douglas always has a good story to tell.”

“They’re a rad pair of ponies, that’s for sure.” Tree Hugger added.

“Can I meet them?” Sky asked.

“Sure!” said Emerald. “When they get here, I’ll arrange a time for all of us to meet up. They’ll build pretty much anything, large or small, so I’m sure they won’t turn down your offer.”

“Sounds good!” said Sky. “I look forward to it!”

Sky stuck around the cottage for a little while longer, but soon decided to head home. He tossed his Popsicle stick in the trash, and then began flying back to the comfort of his air-conditioned lake house.

Emerald stuck to his word. Just two days later, Sky got a letter in the mail from him. The Axeblade twins had arrived in Ponyville, and they and Emerald had agreed to meet up with Sky in the park at two o’clock that afternoon.

Sky hoped that the Axeblade twins would be as friendly and interesting as Emerald and Tree Hugger had made them out to be. At a quarter to two, he set off for the Ponyville park. The humidity had decreased substantially, which made it easier for him to fly faster. He soon arrived in the park, and began looking for Emerald.

He soon found Emerald sitting at a picnic table with two large dark gray earth pony stallions. They were the same height as Emerald, but were far more muscular. Both had ginger manes, brown eyes and thick eyebrows. Figuring that these two were the Axeblades, Sky landed and sat down next to Emerald. “Hey, Sky!” said Emerald. “You made it!”

“Yep!” said Sky. He turned to the twins. “I’m Sky Scraper, the architect. Are you two the Axeblade twins?”

One of the twins smiled and nodded. He had a long, wavy mane and a cutie mark of an axe and a tree branch. “We sure are.” he said a smooth, gentle voice. “I’m Douglas Axeblade. Nice to meet you, Sky.” He and Sky shook hooves, rather awkwardly due to how much larger Douglas’ hoof was.

The other twin had a short, spiky mane and a cutie mark of an axe and an arrow. He gave Sky a hard hoof bump, so hard that Sky nearly fell off the seat. “Ow.” Sky muttered after he regained his balance.

The other twin laughed. “Don’t sweat it, pal.” he said in a deep, rough voice. “I’ve got hard hooves, that’s all. I’m Donald Axeblade, by the way.”

“Well, it’s… nice to meet both of you.” said Sky. “I heard you two own a building company.”

“Hell yeah!” said Donald. “The Axeblade Building Company’s been around for hundreds of years, founded by our great Scottish ancestors and run by every generation of Axeblades since then.”

“The company moved to San Franciscolt when our grandfather moved there.” Douglas explained. “Our dad took over the company when our grandfather retired, and when our dad retired a few years ago, the company passed down to us. We set up a second location in Ponyville because we heard it’s a good town for family businesses.”

“They were the ones who restored my cottage.” Emerald added. “I already knew Douglas from a gardening club that we were both in, and not too long after that I discovered an old cottage that I really liked even though it had been abandoned for years. So I wrote to Douglas about it, and he and Donald spent the next few months restoring it so that I could move in.”

“That was a fun project.” Douglas recalled. “I loved exploring the Everfree and seeing all the flowers and trees that this part of Equestria has to offer.”

“Hauling all our supplies through there was a pain the flank, though.” Donald grunted. “The whole place looks the same to me. I got lost pretty much every time I went in there.”

“That’s because you can’t tell a willow from a walnut.” Douglas scoffed. “As long as you can remember which types of trees are where, you can navigate the forest with no problem.”

“And while you were skipping around and hugging the trees, I was actually working and getting stuff done!” Donald snapped. “Seriously, it takes you forever to do anything!”

“All right, that’s enough.” Emerald interrupted. “Stop bickering, both of you.” He turned to Sky. “Twin brother rivalry. You know how it is.”

Sky chuckled, and remembered a pair of perpetually quarreling twin colts he’d gone to school with in Manebridge. “Yep. I know.”

“Anyway, Emerald said that you wanted to recommend us to somepony.” said Douglas. “What kind of project is it?”

Sky blushed. “Well, they’re the parents of this mare that I like. They’re a retired couple who are looking to add an extension to their house. It’s only four rooms, so it’s a smaller project than either you or I are probably used to doing, but it’ll pay good money and shouldn’t take very long.”

“That sounds good.” said Douglas. “We’re only staying in Ponyville for a couple months, and this project sounds like it can definitely be done within that time frame. Do these ponies live in Ponyville?”

“No, they live in Canterlot.” Sky replied. “Have you been there before?”

“Only once, last year, to get some roof panels that our usual supplier was out of.” said Donald. “We’re not upper crust ponies, if you couldn’t tell.”

“Well, neither am I, but my cousin lives there, so I go there every week.” said Sky. “It’s a nice city, so I’d be more than willing to show you around when we go there.”

“Sounds good to me.” said Douglas. “When do you want to go?”

“How about tomorrow?” Sky suggested. “Will you guys be busy?”

“Of course not!” Donald laughed. “We just got here last night.”

“Perfect!” said Sky. “We’ll meet up at the train station at this same time tomorrow, and then I’ll take you to meet my clients.”

“You’ve got a deal!” said Donald. “Anyway, Douglas and I are going to head over to the liquor store now.”

“We’ve got to restock our whiskey cabinet.” Douglas added. “Anyway, I guess we’ll see you tomorrow, Sky. Nice meeting you!”

“You too!” Sky replied. After the twins left, he turned back to Emerald. “Those two seem cool.” he remarked. “Thanks for telling me about them.”

“No problem.” said Emerald. “Douglas has been a good friend of mine for a while now. Donald’s a little rough around the edges, but he’s hardworking and honest. Between you and the twins, Lyra’s parents will be working with a lot of great ponies.”

Later that afternoon, Sky wrote a letter to Orpheus and Spearmint, explaining that he’d found a pair of builders and that they would all be stopping by for a visit tomorrow afternoon. At two o’clock the next day, Sky met up with Donald and Douglas at the train station.

“I’ve heard the train ride up to Canterlot is fun.” Douglas remarked.

“It is!” Sky replied. “It winds all the way around the mountain. Great views!”

The train pulled into the station, and Sky and the twins got on. Donald and Douglas shared one bench seat, while Sky sat across from them.

“How long have you lived in Ponyville?” Douglas asked Sky.

“Only for a month and a half.” Sky replied. “I moved here from Manehattan at the start of the summer. I live near that big lake north of the town.”

“In the elevated lake house?” Donald asked. “That was the first thing we built after we started doing business in Ponyville!”

“Really? You two built my house?” Sky exclaimed. “Wow! I guess we were destined to meet eventually.”

“I guess so.” Douglas chuckled. “How are you liking the house that we built?”

Sky smiled. “It’s my dream home! Perfect location, perfect views, perfect everything! You guys did a great job.”

“Thanks!” said Douglas. “I’m glad you like it.”

“The ponies we originally built it for paid a shitload of money for it, barely went there for three years, and then decided they didn’t want it anymore.” Donald grumbled. “Huge waste of time and money, if you ask me.”

“Yeah, I never understood why they gave up their summer home.” Sky agreed. “In any case, their loss was my gain!”

The tracks left the ground, and the train began its ascent up the mountainside. Donald and Douglas were very impressed by the view. “Damn!” Donald remarked. “You never get views like this in San Franciscolt!”

“I thought San Franciscolt was full of steep hills, though?” said Sky.

“It is, but all you really see from there is the same buildings you can see anywhere else.” said Douglas. “Not huge waterfalls and wide open fields like this. And for most of the summer, the city is covered by thick fog.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard about the summer fog in the Bay area.” said Sky. “That must get annoying.”

“It does, but eventually you get used to it.” said Donald.

“And it looks really pretty when it settles over the ocean.” added Douglas.

Sky and the twins spent the rest of the train ride talking about their different projects and experiences on opposite coasts of Equestria. The train soon reached the Canterlot station, and Sky and the twins got off. From there, Sky led the twins down the main road, pointing out locations and landmarks that either Sugarcoat or Lyra had shown him. They eventually arrived at Lyra’s parents’ house, and Sky rang the doorbell.

Orpheus soon answered the door. “Good afternoon, Sky!” he said with a smile. “It’s nice to see you again.” He turned to Donald and Douglas. “Axeblade Building Company?”

“Yes sir!” said Donald. “I’m Donald Axeblade.”

“And I’m Douglas Axeblade.” said Douglas.

“A pleasure to meet both of you!” Orpheus said as he shook hooves with both twins. “Come on in!” Sky, Donald and Douglas followed him into the house.

Spearmint came out of the kitchen. “Ah, good to see you right on time, Sky.” she said. “And it’s nice to meet you both, Donald and Douglas.”

“You too, miss.” Douglas said with a smile.

Orpheus and Spearmint sat down on the couch, while Sky and the twins stood on the other side of the coffee table. “First of all, I’d like to apologize for how awkward I was the last time I visited you.” Sky began. “I was just having an off day, that’s all.”

“You don’t need to apologize.” Orpheus chuckled. “We’ve already forgiven you. It’s fine.”

“And I know I was annoyed at the time, but I don’t blame you for not wanting to listen to our argument.” Spearmint added.

“Fortunately, we were able to settle our disagreement without getting you involved.” said Orpheus.

“For now.” Spearmint muttered, giving Orpheus a sideways glance. “If you become addicted to gambling again, we’re going to have a problem.”

Orpheus ignored his wife’s remark. “Anyway, I’m sure Sky already told you about our plans for the extension?” he asked the twins.

“Yep.” said Donald. “This should be a quick and easy project.”

“And if it takes longer than we expected, we’ll stay in Ponyville until it’s finished.” said Douglas.

“That’s good.” said Spearmint. “Now then, I’d better get you two a copy of the plans.” She went upstairs, and returned with a copy of the extension floor plan. After she and Orpheus had settled their disagreement, they had made a copy of their chosen plan, and mailed both of the originals back to Sky.

“So what do you think?” Sky asked.

“Nice work, dude!” said Donald. “Everything is neat and clearly labeled. That’ll make it easier for us.”

“Your concept art of the outside looks really good, too.” said Douglas. “This is looking like a really great project. How much will the total building cost be?”

“Around 80,000 bits.” Sky replied. “The pool accounts for a lot of that. I charge 50 bits per square foot, so I’ll be making some good money from this.”

“Same here.” said Douglas. “Charging by time always seemed a bit unscrupulous to me.” Donald nodded in agreement.

“What kinds of projects do you normally work on?” Spearmint asked.

“We mostly do houses and apartment buildings.” Donald replied. “We mainly work in San Franciscolt, but we work in Ponyville for a month or two each summer.”

“Sky’s lake house was the first house we built in Ponyville.” Douglas continued. “We work pretty quickly, and we get all our supplies from a special contractor yard in San Franciscolt.”

“The yard is owned by our uncle, Rusty Nails.” Donald added. “We can always count on him. Even when we’re working in Ponyville, he gets stuff delivered to us really quick.”

“Do you have anypony else working for your company in Ponyville, or is it just the two of you?” Spearmint asked.

“We have some other friends who help us.” Douglas replied. “They’re independent contractors who work for various building companies.”

“Ah, I see.” said Spearmint. “Well, you two definitely seem like ponies that we can work with.”

Orpheus nodded. “I agree. We’d like to hire you to build our extension! I’ll get the paperwork, for you to sign.” He walked down the hall to his office, and returned with the same paperwork that Sky had signed a few weeks ago. “There’s only one dotted line for the builder, so only one of you needs to sign it.” Orpheus added.

Douglas took the pen and signed his and the company’s name on the dotted line. “There you go! It was nice meeting both of you, and we look forward to starting this project.”

“So do we.” said Orpheus. “Thank you for your recommendation, Sky.”

“No problem.” Sky replied. “I did my part designing your extension, and now the Axeblades will build it. I’ll still supervise its construction, of course.”

Sky felt very proud of himself and his work. The extension that he’d drawn by hoof would soon be brought to life, and he’d made a pair of new friends in Donald and Douglas.