I don’t hear any pegasi nearby. I think all of my friends were struck by lightning. There’s dust on my wings and dirt in my mouth. I can feel a dent in my helmet poking my scalp. I struggle, but something big and heavy is weighing me down.

I open my eyes, and I wish I hadn’t.

My legs and wings are covered in these uneven, ugly chains. And above my head is a set of teeth. Sharp, gleaming teeth. Hovering right over my face. Dozens of glowing eyes shifting about. I hear their gravely voices grumbling amongst themselves. And the smell. I can never forget the smell.

Dragons.

“Do we take it back?”

“No. Too much effort.”

“You’ve actually carried a pony all the way to Dynamis with you before?”

“Nah, I don’t like how they taste.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. There’s half a dozen of them. Maybe more. The biggest one was guarding me like a prize cut of meat. Maybe they didn't notice I was awake.

“Wait, you eat ponies?”

“No, why would I eat them if I don’t like how they taste?!”

Breath moves my mane. I try to keep my face still, but the stench is unbearable. “All of you, shut up! You’re spoiling the moment.”

“What a wonderful catch, good job!” I hear a voice beside me. “...Which is what I would say, if you hadn’t caught the weakest one.”

I hear the teeth above me rattle as the dragon snarls. “I found her first.”

“Oh you can keep her. I’ve seen fellas get their wings clipped for hauling back such measly game.”

I crack my eye open. The dragon’s mouth parts as a red tongue slithers about. “I’ll just have her for myself, then. I’m hungry.”

“See? He gets it?”

If there’s any time to run, it’s now. But how am I supposed to get out of these chains? Or what if there are even more dragons than I thought? What do I do?

“Hold on!” a new voice joins the fray. “Just a moment, fellas, let’s not be rash!”

I hear a smaller pair of feat scamper over. I see a tiny dragon put himself between me and my captor. He’s less than a fourth the size of the other dragons, which is to say he’s the height of a pony. Where did he come from?

“Prisoners are a messy ordeal, don’cha know?” he’s resting his hand on his hip and clawing at his teeth like nothing’s the matter. “But ransoms and hostages on the other hand? That’s where it’s at! And I happen to know a good hostage pony when I see one.”

The other dragon snorts. “It’s just another dumb pegasus. Nobody will miss her.” He’s probably right.

“Ah-ha! And that’s where you’re wrong!” the smaller dragon points back at me. “See the coloring on her wings? The color of her eyes? This is a bonafide Clan Mistral Pegasus!”

The other dragon knits its brow. “I don’t understand.”

“She’s special! She’s a rare breed! This horse can fit so much lightning…” he smacks my leg. So I buck his shoulder. He stumbles forward and laughs a little. His shoulder has a swirling black tattoo carved into the scales. “I was saying, this pegasus probably has more magic in her than two unicorns! I bet if her country knew we were holding her here, they’d give anything to have her back.”

The other dragon shakes his head. “Ugh! Too much words! I don’t care! She’s my catch and I’m HUNGRY! I don’t want hostages, I want FOOD!”

“Wait! Hostages can give you many foods!”

“Explain.”

“Hostages can be ransomed for goods and services!”

“Alright, now we’re speaking my language!”

“Excellent! So all we have to do is write up a note, arrange a runner… figure how to split the reward…”

“Wait.”

“I didn’t even finish talking,” the smaller dragon swishes his tail about.

“I’m not sharing anything with anyone.”

“But of course! You’re not sharing with just anyone, only me!” The small dragon does a sort of bow. “After all, I’m the one who came up with the idea.”

“No deal,” the other dragon snarls. “Get lost.”

The wind is picking up. Dust is blown into the air. I finally see it.

An advancing wall of wind and dust is coming in our direction. The stormwall.

The other dragons started closing in around us. I can hear knuckles cracking, teeth clacking. The small dragon looks around and gulps. “You don’t wanna reconsider? Meteoras will be pretty mad if they found out a bunch of borderguard hooligans made off with an heir of their most important clan…”

“I said get lost!”

He roars. He lunges for the little dragon. He flies right over me and bowls over some of his allies. He turns around and swipes with his claws. It knocks me over and sends me rolling away into a rock.

“Where’d he go?!” the big one lurches this way and that. “Where are you, little coward?!” The dust is so thick that nobody can see anything five feet away. I couldn’t, at least.

I feel claws moving the chains. A jet of green flame beside me nearly singes my mane. The chains come loose and rattle as they fall to my hooves. I stand up and see the little dragon beside me. “You heard the big guy, get lost! Before they realize what’s going on!”

I’m too scared to think. I run. I don’t fly right away because my wings are sore. I must have ran past a dragon, I hear something screech and snap its teeth at me. I finally flap my wings and take off. I fly for a time, but then I hear more dragons, I hear thunder booming, the wind picks up, and I let it carry me away.

Deeper into the Badlands, straight for that wall of wind and dust…

I think I met Polaris a few days after that.

Lightning Bug is awoken by the smell of sweet grass and clean air. She stretches and rolls over on her sleeping mat. She finds herself in Echo Shade's house, sleeping on a small mat. Her hosts are sprawled across the floor, fast asleep.

She yawns and stands up. The sun had only just risen, so the others won't be up for a minute. She carefully tip-toes across her sleeping friends, slips outside, and gently closes the thin wooden door behind her.

Lightning realizes she'd completely forgotten about the smaller dragon until now, and she briefly wonders what might have happened to him between now and then. It's only been about a week since the storm, after all. Maybe they all went home, just like her pegasi friends.

There's a lot of noise. It makes Polaris peek his head out of his tent. His mane is a mess, and his eyes are squinted shut. He looks both ways and can't make much sense of his surroundings. He hasn't slipped his spectacles on, after all.

"Excuse me? Is this the kumquat stall?" A mare asks him. Polaris blinks at her. What was she doing at this hour right in front of his tent? "I just wanted to try one," she said.

Polaris ignores her and gets to work dismantling his tent. Another pony approaches and paws at the canvas with his hoof. "That's a mighty nice looking piece of camping equipment!" the stallion says. "Didja stitch it yerself?"

"Give me that." Polaris yanks the tent from the stallion with his magic.

"How much do you want for it?" asks another pony.

"My tent is not for sale!" Polaris says.

"He needs it to sell his kumquats!" The first mare adds.

"I'm not selling anything," Polaris tells her.

"Oh you wanna haggle? Let me get my bits…" The mare opens her saddlebag.

"No I don't-- one moment..." Polaris finally slips his spectacles on.

He gasps. The entire town square, previously empty when he put down his tent for the night, is now filled with ponies. Every square foot is covered by stands and stalls and tents. Ponies are bartering apples, oranges, one fellow is selling plums. Some stalls are selling shoes and tools. The street is surging with hoof traffic, and passing wagons rattle the ground.

Polaris hurriedly packs his tent into his saddlebag.

"How much do you want for a kumquat? One bits? Two?"

"I want out of here! Which way is out?" Polaris steals away into the fold, but he's quickly swept away by a throng of bustling ponies. "HELP!!"

And he's out of sight.

The two ponies are left beside the empty patch of grass where his tent used to be.

"I don't think he was actually selling kumquats."

Polaris tiredly dragged his hooves along as yet another wave of ponies nearly trample him. He pulls himself free, only to find his hooves aren't touching the ground. Had he been launched into the air?

Nope, it's just Slashbuckler. he must have swooped down and carried him to safety. "You okay down there?"

"I am now. Thanks for the assist, Pegassist-- Pegasus." Polaris adjusts his glasses with his magic. "Kindly lower me? I want to get my matters in accord.”

Slash deposits him on a hill and alights beside him. "Yeah, I should've warned you about the farmer's market. They like to start nice and early, which isn’t good for squatters."

“I didn’t think there’d be so many… and I wasn’t squatting,” Polaris grumbles.

"You're welcome to come bunk with me again if you'd like!" Slash smiles.

"No!!" Polaris doesn't smile back. "Er, that is to say, twould not be proper of me to take advantage of your hospitality and your… lovely home. I am a self-respecting Lustrian-born stallion, after all!" He swishes his mane. "I just have to find my own place to stay."

"Well, if you're serious about staying in the valley, you're gonna hafta find a job."

Polaris laughs. "Me, work? Please. Where would I even begin?"

Slash has to stop and think, but then an idea lights up his eyes. "I know! Echo Shade always has a good idea! C'mon!"

And Slash grabs Polaris and flies him away again. "Wait, I just got down! Hey!"

Something tickles Echo Shade's nose. She sneezes. "Snowy, give it a rest...!" She opens her eyes and finds a yellow feather resting on her nose. She blinks and sits up.

Smokey and Snowy are curled up, fast asleep, but where's Lightning Bug? Her sleeping mat is folded neatly and set beside the freshly swept fireplace, the dusted bookshelf, the swept floors, the scrubbed windows... The room is literally spotless. Some of her morning chores are already taken care of. Even the bedrolls smelled nice.

When Echo Shade sniffed, she smelled something cooking. Somebody was making breakfast outside.

"Ugh... not again."

"Echo?" Smokey yawns and stretches. "Where's Lightning Bug?"

"Um... I'm going to go up to the loft to talk to Father," and Echo Shade quietly makes her ways up the stairs. The yellow feather flutters through the air and rests on Smokey’s nose.

"We've gotta get her out of the house, Master!" Echo cries. "She won't stop cleaning and cooking!"

Her master is busy studying a pile of unsorted envelopes at his side. "We need to pay a visit to the post office…” He looks back at his daughter. “I thought having her over was your idea? Isn't this supposed to be girl-time or whatever?"

"I didn't want a live-in maid! She's restless! She’s emptied the fireplace, swept the floor, and I'm pretty sure she cleaned the bedroll -- which is really weird because we were still sleeping on them as far as I know?"

"I figured if anyone wanted an easy way out of their chores, it was you," Tall Tail sorts the pile, sets it aside, and makes for the stairs.

"Shouldn't we at least talk to her? I don't want her to sweep the ground we walk upon just because we're hosting her."

"Echo dear, I really wouldn't worry. She’s probably just a little stir-crazy and wants to stay busy. It's not like she's waiting horn and hoof.”

Just as they step downstairs, the savory smells of breakfast overwhelm their nostrils. Smokey and Snowy are smiling nervously as Lightning Bug flutters in place and sets the table.

She hums a Meteoran tune as she set down plates and glasses of milk. Her face lights up when she sees Echo and her father. "Oh, 'morning you two! I had nothing to do so I made a little breakfast."

"Nothing left to do, you mean..." Echo says under her breath. She was about to sit down at the table.

"Oh, let me help you with that!" Lightning dashes over and slides two stools over. Echo and Tall Tail sit down, and Lightning pushes their stools closer to the table. "Just sit back and enjoy! The pancakes are almost finished, I'll be right back!" She flies out the door, and the sounds of a frying pan flipping flapjacks follow.

Tall Tail leans over to Echo. "As soon as you're finished eating, go find Slash. Lightning Bug is getting a job and finding her own place, today or bust."

Tall Tail daintily wipes the corners of his mouth with a napkin. His plate is empty. Smokey and Snowy have also finished their meals. Smokey has practically licked his plate clean. "Now Lightning Bug..."

"Oh! Would you like some more?" Lightning zips to his side with the platter of pancakes and slips another unto his plate. "There you go! I made plenty so eat up!" She flits back to her own seat and got back to eating. She might have been on her third plate. The pile of extra pancakes isn’t even halfway depleted.

"Er... thank you."

Echo Shade's eyes are closed as she chews on her breakfast. She nudges her father with her elbow.

Tall Tail clears his throat. "Now Lightning Bug I’d like to personally thank you for the meal… but this small cottage doesn’t really fit a young filly like yourself--” Echo rolls her eyes but doesn’t say anything. “--Haven’t you thought of finding a place more spacious? …Or permanent?"

"Oh no!" Lightning holds her cheeks. "I like it here! I'm super grateful for all of you taking me in for the time being! So if there's anything you need, anything at all! Just let me know!"

We want you out of the house!

The thought ran through everyone's heads, to varying degrees of impatience. Everyone except Smokey, of course.

"But surely you’ve thought about it at least once?" Echo Shade asked.

"Oh of course, I just wouldn’t know where to begin! I’m still not very used to the valley. And it's not like any opportunities have come to smack me in the face..."

Thud! Thud!

The front door swings open, and Lightning leaps three feet into the air with a yelp.

Slash Buckler smirks and drops his unicorn passenger to the floor like a piece of baggage.

Slash puffs up his chest and salutes. "Eat up! But once you're done, I'm gonna build you guys a house!" Polaris coughs into his hoof. "Er... also do you have room for one more pony? Polaris hasn't had breakfast yet."

Lightning flutters to the ground. Her eyes light up. "My own place... Really?!"

"Oh thank goodness," Tall Tail holds his heart. He and Echo both down a glass of milk and sigh.

They finish eating. The table is cleared off, and Slash throws down an old, dusty map of the valley. "There are a few places I'm thinking of," he says. "We could have you guys settle close to Town Square, but we can go further out if you like. Thoughts?"

"I feel like I'm missing something," Polaris says.

"I've always wanted a treehouse," Lightning says. "Are there any of those here in Harmony?"

"Ah, no," Slash shakes his head. "But I could build one, I'm always up for a challenge."

"Excuse me," Polaris puts his hoof on the table. "I thought we were searching for vacancies here in town, not empty lots! Are we commissioning houses to be built? How much would such an endeavor cost? Furthermore, why would anyone want a house built by Slashbuckler?"

Smokey rolls his eyes. "Because Slash is one of the best carpenters in the valley? Duh." Tall Tail nudges his son and shakes his head.

Polaris of course can only think of the giant self-made wooden box of a house that he slept in for his first night in the valley. "Could have fooled me," he says. He stands up. "I'll worry about a residence later, to even afford a home will I not need some form of employment?"

"Oh that's right, I completely forgot!" Lightning Bug says. "I need to find a job too!"

"How about you tell me where you want your treehouse, then Echo can take you guys on a trip through town?" Slash asks.

"Terrific!" Echo stands up and hugs Lightning. Polaris is pulled over by Echo's magic and is forcibly entered into the embrace. "It's settled! For today I'll take you two jobhunting. We need to visit the Post Office anyways."

"Both of us?" Polaris wrenches himself free. "Pardon me, but I’d prefer to do this on my own. There's no sense both of us visiting the same institutions with such…” he glances at Lightning. “Vastly different skillsets."

"I mean, if you really want to go alone go right ahead," Echo shrugs. "But Lightning is going to get hired right away because I'm friends with everyone in town, and I'm also an excellent reference."

"Quite," Polaris steps outside.

"Good luck Polaris!" Lightning calls after him. "I know it can be overwhelming in a new place."

"It's appreciated, but I'll be just fine. It's been four days, nothing in this valley can surprise me anymore."

The three make their way to townsquare.

“What kinds of jobs do ponies have here in the valley?” Lightning asks. “Besides farming and woodcutting and lorekeeping I mean.”

“Oh hon, you’ll find a business for every and anything a pony can think of.”

“A radio repair shop maybe?”

“Er… probably besides a radio repair shop.” Echo clears her throat. "To start, we should take you to the bulletin board," Echo Shade says. "That's where you ought to start if you're looking for work."

"And once you finish picking one, we'll just go and find a spot for your house quick," Slashbuckler says.

"My treehouse…" Lightning Bug covers her cheeks and beams.

"Are those popular where you come from?" Echo asks.

"Do all Mistrali Pegasi live in trees?!" Slash asks excitedly.

"No, not exactly," Lightning squeezes her eyes shut. "It's actually kind of embarrassing."

"We won't laugh if you tell us, honest!" Echo says.

"Well... When I was a filly I really wanted a treehouse to play in, but none of the palm trees near my house were good for that sort of thing. They were all thin and springy. My dad tried making me one, and the tree bent under the weight, and before I could even step inside... it sprang up and the house got launched into the sea."

The others are quiet.

"I love my dad. He tries really hard."

The three pass over a small stone bridge with a thin, trickling creek underneath it. Something catches Lightning Bug's eye and makes her peek over the side. Sure enough, she finds a familiar brown lute leaning against one of the bridge's poles.

"Meadow Skip?" She calls down.

A green-maned head pokes out from under the bridge and looks up. He squints in the sunlight. "Why if it isn't Lightning Bug! What a pleasant way to start the morning! Where are you all off to?"

"Slashbuckler is gonna build me a house!" Lightning says with a hop.

"Oh, lovely! That sounds like fun."

"And after that we're going job-hunting!" Echo says. "Wanna come along? I'm sure someone in town could put you to work."

"Ah…" and Meadow slips back under the bridge. “Scratch that noise. Imma get a few more winks in. You all have fun feeding the machine."

Slash frowns and huffs. "What machine -- Meadow~!" Echo leans over the edge and calls after him. "It's not a machine! It's a small community of hard workers, nobody's getting exploited or anything!"

No answer. So the three carry on.

The bulletin board is covered in dozens of notes held in place with nails and tacks. Lightning swallows as her eyes dart from page to page. "I'm not sure I even know where to begin."

"It's simple, just pick the ones that look the most interesting!" Echo floats a few notes free and starts flipping through them. "We've got building, baking, sewing..."

"Guarding?" Lightning asks. "Security?"

"Oh, no. All guards are volunteer only."

"Then why does Slash keep going on patrol? I thought that was his job."

Echo peeks over at Slash, who restlessly marches back and forth, looking this way and that. "...No, he just really likes patrolling."

Lightning stares at the bulletins, and Echo sees panic building on her friend’s face. “Er, tell you what.” Echo’s horn lights up and she plucks a few papers free. “Here, why don't you go with Slash while I pick a few for you to try, and then we can go from there."

Lightning is very grateful to have someone else take the lead for now.

"Is this a good spot?" Slashbuckler asks. He drops his bucket of tools beside the road, in front of a large tree. Echo is several paces behind, muttering to herself as she flips through the papers.

"Yeah... but..." Lightning Bug makes a frame with her hooves. "It's too close to the road."

"What about over here?" Slash points at a particularly large tree far in the distance, near the sides of the valley.

"That's too far! What if there's an emergency?"

"Lightning," Slash sits down. "I know you had an exciting first impression, but not a lot happens in the valley, it's pretty boring around here, trust me."

Lightning spies a group of trees to the south. "What about down there?"

"What, King's Pass?"

"Yeah, that looks nice. It’s so green and pretty, and there aren’t any other houses down there!"

Slash swallows. "Nobody lives down there anymore."

"Why not?"

"We just... don't aright? It's hazardous to our health."

"Okay... oh!" Lightning flits over to an empty patch of ground. "What about here? It's not too far from the road, it's right near an intersection, and it's not far from Rat Tail's watch!"

"Lightning?" Slash calls over. It appears Lightning is missing something.

"Yeah?"

Slash sighs. "If you want a treehouse, don't you think you should find a spot that already has a tree?"

Lightning looks down at the empty patch of grass and blushes. "Oh right, hehe. Oh! What about this one?!" She flies over to a large, sturdy tree about a gallop away from the first spot. "This one looks good."

"That's more like it!" Slash trots over with his tools. "Golden Oak by the looks of it. Sturdy, reliable, shouldn't be bothered by a nail or twelve. Of course the nearby trees would get in the way... eh, that solves any lumber problem."

“How much will it cost?” Lightning asks.

“First one’s free.”

“How long will it take to build? Three days? A week?”

Slash smiles, shakes his head and closes his eyes. His wing holds up five feathers.

“FIVE WEEKS?!”

“What? No, five hours! Tops!”

“Lightning, hon?” Echo approaches with the papers. “You remember Satin Splash the seamstress? She made the ribbons for the star pillars. She has an opening, and her shop is right by the post office. Why don’t we head over there and I’ll drop off some letters for Master.”

On their way down the road, they meet the twins. “Echo Shade, have you been to the post office yet?” Snowy asks. “Can we come with?”

“Not yet, Snowy. But do you really think I’ll need any help delivering the Master’s envelopes?” Echo asks.

“No, we just wanna keep you company,” Smokey says. “Because we love you… our big sister!”

“...That and we’re out of Brightlites…” Snowy whispers. Her brother hushes her.

Echo smiles. “Oh, I think we can let you two tag along.”

Lightning Bug and Echo Shade are barely halfway across town before they notice an old mare tugging a big box along the ground by a rope with her teeth.

“Who’s that?” Lightning whispers.

“That’s Old Lady Betelnut,” Echo says. “It’s kind of early for her.”

The old mare hits a bump and nearly topples over. She sputters something under her breath and checks her cargo before continuing. The package is nearly half her height, but it looks heavy.

“Excuse me, miss?” Lightning flaps over to her and lands in front of her.

“What?! Wassat?” The mare squints and looks in every direction except forward. She finally notices Lightning and smiles. “Why hello deary. What can I do for you?”

“Do you want help with that? It looks awful heavy.”

“This? Oh no I got it, deary. I just hit a snag, that’s all.” Lightning looks at the mare’s trembling limbs. She grabs the rope in her own teeth and starts pulling. “Oh sweetie, you don’t hafta do that.”

“No,” Lightning says through her teeth. “But I want to!” She pulls it along the ground. “It might be easier if I fly this…” She takes the rope in her hooves and hefts the box into the air. It isn’t that heavy after all. “Where did you want this?”

Betelnut smiles a gappy smile and points with her hoof. “Oh, down by the post office will do for now,” she says. “It’s right by the Library.”

“Oh cool! We’re headed there anyway.”

The post office is right between the Town Hall and the Library. It’s a squat building with only one story. Lightning leaves the box on the road, says bye to Betelnut, and rejoins Echo Shade.

For some reason Echo Shade has to psyche herself up before she opens the door to the Post Office.

“What’s the matter?” Lightning Bug asks.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Echo clears her throat. “I’m just hoping the elder isn’t in today. She tends to have it out for us Lorekeepers.”

“Is that why the Master keeps missing letters?” Lightning asks. “That’s not very professional.”

“What are you talking about?” Smokey asks. “In the valley we deliver letters ourselves.”

“Then what’s even the point in having a Post Office?” Lightning asks as they step inside.

It’s stuffy and quiet inside, not unlike a library. A glass ceiling window lets in plenty of sunlight, and the tiled floor is arranged in a sort of sundial pattern, but there isn’t enough sunlight for Lightning to see how it might work. Their hooves tap the clean tile floor.

A single worker pony ducks between drawers of notes and letters, and disappears behind a big door in the corner of the office. Somebody is working at the front desk, but Lightning Bug can’t make her out.

The four walk up to the counter. Lightning notices the little bell, but Echo and none of her siblings move to press it. Lightning raises her wing and taps the bell.

Echo winces.

“Can I help you?” a familiar grouchy voice greets them. An old mare peeks her head up from behind the counter.

Lightning’s jaw drops open. It’s the angry elder from her first day in the valley. “Paper Pusher?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“You work at the post office?”

Paper Pusher organizes a pile of paper and stows them away. “It’s in the name, isn’t it?” she asks. She glances over at Echo Shade. “I assume this matter concerns the Lorekeeper?”

Echo nudges her siblings. “Go take Lightning and pick something out.” The two lead her away, and Echo swallows again. “Yes, Miss Paper Pusher! We seem to be missing a few letters from the parents for our summer learning program? We got about ten letters at the house since the festival, and we’re supposed to have around… say… four dozen?”

Paper Pusher blinks. “That’s quite the discrepancy,” she says. “Of course if you had a list that would be helpful.”

Echo pulls a roll of paper from her scarf and hands it to Paper Pusher. The old mare slips on her spectacles and frowns at the list.

“That’s how many parents signed up,” Echo says. “It’s kind of important that we get back to them as soon as possible, seeing how they paid ahead of time and everything…”

“Yes, yes, I see…”

Snowy and Smokey return with Lightning Bug and a few colorful magazines in their teeth. “What are these exactly, again?” Lightning whispers to them.

Smokey lifts the magazines to the counter with his magic. “Brightlites,” he says. “For Foals. They’ve got puzzles, stories, games…”

“Oh!” Lightning lifts one up and examines the cover. “I used to get these all the time as a kid! We had something just like them back in Meteoras…” She flips open the magazine and stares. Her enthusiasm wanes. “It’s not very Bright in here… Where’s all the color?” The pages are printed in black and white.

“Color’s expensive!” Smokey says.

“I like coloring them myself!” Snowy says. “Excuse me, Miss Paper Pusher?”

Echo and Lightning wince. Echo almost hushes her, but Paper Pusher peers over the counter and down at the little filly. “Yes, sweetie?” she asks. “What is it?”

“Could I please have a box of colors? I can pay with my own money.”

Paper Pusher is aghast. “Oh no honey, we have plenty. No sense paying for those. Go buy yourself another magazine, we should still have last month’s issue over at the stand. Get one for your brother too.”

“Really? Thanks Miss Paper Pusher!” and Snowy can’t scamper off fast enough.

Paper Pusher chuckles and smiles to herself. And then her expression vanishes.

“Colorblot!!” She screeches across the room. The assistant pony yelps and stumbles.

“Y-Yes??” he calls back.

“Two boxes of crayons from the back, pronto!”

“Did you say crayons?”

“What do we pay you for? Get a move on!”

“Yes ma’am!”

“And when you’re done there…” Paper Pusher adjusts her lenses and looks at the list. “Bring me all the envelopes you can find addressed to Tall Tail the Lorekeeper.”

“A-all of them?” the assistant returns with two small yellow boxes, which are promptly snatched from him.

“All of them,” she says. Paper Pusher hands the crayons to Snowy and her smile returns. “There you are, sweetie.”

“One of these days you’re going to spoil her,” Echo Shade says under her breath. “At least let her pay for some of it.”

“Leave it to a lorekeeper to take something a foal ought to have and put a price tag on it,” Paper Pusher says.

Echo bristles, and Lightning swears she sees her eyes glow, but nothing else happens.

The assistant returns with six envelopes. “There you are,” he says. “All letters addressed to Master Tall Tail.” Paper Pusher sorts through these before handing them to Echo Shade. Echo signs a small slip of paper before receiving them.

“All of them? She stated she was missing three dozen at least. What about the ones simply addressed to the Lorekeeper? Or the Lorekeeper’s residence?” Paper Pusher asks. Her eyes narrow. “Remember what I told you earlier about thin ice?”

“I suppose I could check again…” the assistant wanders back into the room. He leaves the door open. Lightning peers inside, and her eyes grow wide.

It is one of the messiest rooms she has ever seen in her life. The sight alone made her remember months and months of drill sergeants yelling at her and the other young recruits to keep their quarters clean.

Crunched, misshapen boxes are stacked to the ceiling, and envelopes and loose pieces of paper cover every flat surface like snow. There’s only a small space in the middle large enough for one pony to walk through. The assistant haphazardly ducks about in the mess.

“Magnificent, isn’t it?” Lightning is startled by Paper Pusher’s voice beside her.

“That’s one word for it,” Lightning mumbles.

“We’re far from proud of it,” Paper Pusher says. She casts a disapproving glance at the room. “Back in my day, every package was delivered personally, and on time! But we’ve grown so fast these past decades that its impossible to keep up. Now everything just sits here and languishes.”

“When will these ever get delivered?” Lightning asks.

“Folks are used to making daily trips here anyway,” Paper Pusher says. “If there’s anything for them, they just take it home by themselves.”

“Don’t people have mailboxes?” Lightning asks.

“But of course, but those are for the letters that can be delivered in a day. When folks are too busy or on opposite ends of the valley, the post office serves as a dropoff point.”

“That seems… inefficient,” Lightning says. “Back in Meteoras--”

“We’re not in Meteoras, miss Pegasus. We’re in the Valley of Life. We don’t have a military state breathing down our necks, keeping everything on time. We run only on the hard work of ponies who are willing to help.” The assistant gives Paper Pusher some more letters. Paper Pusher counts them. “This doesn’t quite add up to three dozen, does it?” she asks.

“Er, no?” the assistant says. Paper Pusher glares at him. “I’ll look again!” He slips away. Paper Pusher sighs. “Believe me pegasus, this is not how I wanted things. But this is how the Post Office is run now.”

The Assistant returns with two more envelopes. Paper Pusher glares at him even harsher now. “But that’s all I could find!”

“Indeed,” Paper Pusher hands the envelopes to Echo Shade and promptly swipes the cap from her assistant’s head. “Grab your things. You’re fired.”

The assistant’s jaw drops. “Fired?” he asks.

“Let go, relieved, terminated, promoted to customer, however you prefer!” Paper Pusher pulls him from the vault and closes the door. “Out out out! Expect your final paycheck sometime tomorrow.”

“But-but!” He’s pushed out the door.

Lightning glances at the vault. Maybe she could find the letters Echo was looking for?

“Maybe you could afford to deliver packages on time if you kept your assistants around for more than a few days,” Echo grumbles under her breath.

Paper Pusher glowers over her shoulder at the guests. “Was there anything else?” she asks.

“Um, nope!” Echo hurriedly shakes her head. “I’ll just come back later! Thank you so much!” She drops some bits on the counter before grabbing Lightning and her siblings with her magic. She pulls them along out of the building.

“Bring your master next time, we still have much to discuss!” Paper Pusher hollers after them. Smokey and Snowy are the last to pass her by. She smiles and waves. “Ta-ta, children!”

Echo slams the door to post office shut. “I swear it’s like walking into the Galeo’s den every single time.”

Lightning glances about. Betelnut and her package are gone.

“Paper Pusher is so nice!” Snowy says with a sigh. She pages through her new book.

“Well, enjoy that while you’re young, kiddo,” Echo says. She looks over at Lightning, who keeps glancing behind her back at the post office. “It’s not every day when a job open up just like that.--”

“Yeah, no thanks,” Lightning says. “I wouldn’t last a minute in there with Paper Pusher.”

Just then the former assistant passes them by with a duffel slung over his shoulder, and he’s sobbing.

“Fair enough.”

They arrive at the loom, and the twins wait outside with their magazines. Once they’re inside Lightning Bug looks around at the different piles of cloth, string and ribbons, all stacked haphazardly about the store. She swallows.

“Aw, hon. Don’t be nervous!” Echo Shade closes the door to the shop behind them. “Satin Splash has got to be the most patient pony in Harmony.”

“Oh, I’m not worried about her,” Lightning says. “Not entirely, anyway…”

Satin Splash recognizes her the moment they step in. She’s knitting something behind the counter when she notices the two guests. “Oh it’s you!” she runs up from behind her desk and hugs Echo, and then she hugs Lightning. Lightning’s coat gives her a jolt, but she doesn’t seem to notice. “We are SO grateful for all you and your friends have done! If you need anything at all, just let me know. If you want cloth, I’ve got plenty. String, ribbons? First order is on the house, it’s the least I could do.”

“Um, actually…” Lightning mumbles. “I was thinking of… er…”

“Lightning here isn’t very liquid right now,” Echo says. “She was wondering if you needed an extra hoof around the store.”

“Do I ever! I have a lot of numbers to crunch and I have an order later in the day, so if you help me tidy up that would be a great help.” Satin shows Lightning the different piles of cloth and ribbons that need sorting, and then sits behind her desk and starts chatting with Echo Shade.

Lightning taps her hooves together with a fire in her eyes. This will be easy! She reaches for her first misplaced sheet of fabric, folds it, and places it where it belongs. But when she pulls her hoof away, the fabric sticks to her leg.

Typical, static electricity, she’s used to this. She shakes her leg until it comes off. But then it unfolds itself… so she refolds it, and now it sticks to her hooves and does not come off. What if Satin notices? Will she have to leave her first working interview?

Lightning stops to think. Her nose tickles. She pauses and sniffles.

When Echo and Satin hear the sneeze and look over, and Lightning is gone. All they see is a massive ball of fabric clumped together in the center of the room. A familiar blue spark dances around the surface.

Echo winces hard. Satin clears her throat. “Lightning?”

“Yes?” Lightning's muffled voice comes from inside the ball.

“What’s the matter?”

“Oh! Um…” Lightning pokes her head out of her fabric prison. “It’s just my stormtouch acting up again. Hehe…”

“Does this happen often?” Satin asks.

“Kind of.”

“How often?”

“Once or twice, or thrice.”

“A week?”

“No, a day.”

“Oh.” Satin taps her hoof and thinks for a minute. She forces a smile. “Lightning?”

“Yes, miss Satin?”

“Maybe you should… er… stop while you’re ahead.”

Lightning shakes out her mane and giggles. “You said a head.” The ball rolls over and Lightning is once more lost under the cloth. “I’m really sorry,” she mumbles from beneath. “I’ll find some way to clean this all up.”

“Oh no, that’s fine!” Satin says. “I really should have checked. I forgot all about your special Meteoras qualities. It’s no more messy than it already was.”

Echo and Satin both hear Lightning sigh from beneath the cloth.

Lightning has a sinking feeling when they leave the store.

“Did it work out?” Smokey asks excitedly.

Echo purses her lips and shakes her head. “We’re gonna try a few more places for now, what are you two gonna do?”

Snowy covers her brother’s mouth with her wing before he can answer. “We’re gonna take our magazines home and find something else to do.”

Echo and Lightning meet Polaris by the water fountain near Rat Tail’s monument. The townsquare is bustling. The farmer’s market is clearing out for lunch. They all hear music.

“Any luck, Polaris?” Echo asks.

Polaris’ despondent look tells them all they need to know. “Not one facility or enterprise in this entire valley seems to know the worth of a degree in Star-charting and topography and graphic design!” he says.

“I don’t think they have a college here, Polaris,” Lightning says.

“Oh, I’ve learned that much!” he says.

“Maybe you should look for a job that could use you instead of the other way around?” Lighting asks.

“What does that mean?” Polaris asks.

“She means,” Echo says. “Maybe you should lend a helping hoof and see what happens instead of looking for some dream job here in the valley.”

“Why would I do that? I have qualifications! Any pony could push a box or plow a field or… or…” Polaris glances at the water fountain and frowns. Lightning follows his gaze.

Meadow Skip leans against the fountain and strums on his lute. A small audience has gathered around him, consisting of children, older ponies and young mares. The mares sit around him as he plays. Several ponies toss bits at his hooves.

“Or get paid for standing around,” Polaris grumbles.

“Now now,” Echo says. “Meadow has a talent and he’s using it well! Don’t you play any instruments, Polaris?”

“I play the violin, but I had to sell mine ages ago. Haven’t found one to play. Besides, I’m not sure classical Lustrian movements and symphonies will be appreciated by these--”

Polaris spies Echo on the cusp of a glare. “Yes?”

“...Down to earth townsfolk.”

That seems to give Echo a thought, and she smiles. “I know! Why don’t you find Apple Bloom and see if she needs any help?”

Polaris scoffs. “The herbalist? She probably knows everything there is to know. Why would she need my help?”

“She runs that dingy little shop all by herself. Maybe she’d appreciate a practical, organized fellow like you to make things run smoothly.”

Polaris snorts and blows his mane away from his face. “I suppose it won’t hurt, if I ever run into her, that is.”

Echo looks over Polaris’ shoulder and smiles. She waves her hoof. “There she is. Apple Bloom!”

Lightning spies a red maned pony in the crowd leap in surprise. She turns around, sure enough its Apple Bloom with her bag of herbs and medicine. She immediately dives for a bush.

“What?” Polaris turns around. “Is she here?”

“Oh… Nevermind,” Echo says.

“Slash?” Snowy asks. She sees the large Golden Oak tree already has a platform and a skeleton nailed into place. “Wow…”

“I know, I know!” Slash’s head pokes out from the branches. “You don’t have to rub it in!”

“Rub what in?”

“The darn treehouse should be close to done already!” Slash flaps to the ground. His mane is a bit of a mess. “I’m not at the top of my game today.”

“Oh, I thought you were doing alright. What’s the matter then?”

Slash opens his mouth, clamps it shut, and looks both ways. He leans in close and whispers. “There’s a Sugarglider in this tree,” he says. “It must have made its home here cause it’s not budging!” He quickly peaks over his shoulder. “I don’t see a nest… So that means I have to put it down somewhere else.”

“Put what down?” Snowy’s wings droop.

Slash trots a few paces away and sets down a plate, and a small gadget with a net. He empties a small jar of something viscous and golden unto the plate. “Sugargliders love sweets,” he says. “So a plate of honey should be irresistible. I’ll just go back to work, and next time it flies by, it’ll probably want a quick pick-me-up. It’ll hover over to this plate, activate the pressure switch and WHAM!” Slash bashes his two hooves together and makes Snowy leap back two feet. “Marsupial immobilized, Pegasus free to continue his work.”

Slash grabs a hammer and trots back to the tree.

Snowy blinks. “I think Lightning Bug might be a little upset if she knew you were crushing small animals to make her home.”

“I’m not crushing it! I’m just immobilizing it -- with a net!”

Clunk!

“Ha! Case and point!” Slash walks over to the plate of honey, now licked clean. He checks the net, which is now empty. He frowns and looks up at the treehouse just in time to see a little white furred thing wipe its face and its ears and scamper back into the treehouse.

“I don’t think it worked…” Snowy says.

Slash frowns. “Not yet it didn’t! I’m gonna need some cider…”

“The inn is always open,” Echo Shade says. “Maybe you could find a job here!”

The inn is three stories tall, and it looks distinctly Sylvainnian in architecture in a way Lightning can’t put her hoof on. Echo Shade swings open the door and lets Lightning Bug inside. She shyly ducks through the door and instantly sets herself beside a wall. It’s a bustling lobby-diner sort of setup, and the different rooms are down a hallway. “Well, it’s really more of a motel. There’s always somebody who’s staying in town overnight to make a delivery or what have you. It sees the most use during the holidays… especially these last couple days after…”

“We know,” the entire clientele responds to Echo’s statement.

“An inn…” Lightning murmurs to herself. “I could be a waiter, or a maid! Oh oh! Do they need a night guard?

Echo brings Lightning to the innkeeper, Fullboard, and Lightning asks him about positions. “Well we got a nice big stage so people can watch things as they eat,” Fullboard wipes a plate and sets it into a cabinet. “But right now it’s empty. You got any talents? Dancing, music, standup?”

Lightning’s face turns orange from how hard she blushes. “Nonono, I mean, I played the fife during training but I was never that good at it and I never got over stagefright -- and it’s not a good idea.”

“Aw hon,” Echo says. “But you have such a lovely singing voice! I hear you when you clean everyday.”

“Nope!” Lightning shakes her head. “Nuh uh, not interested!”

Fullboard isn’t impressed. “Well if the canary can’t sing she has no business in my inn unless she’s booking a room.”

Both Echo and Lightning are a little nonplussed by the analogy but don’t say anything. They show themselves out.

“Excuse me!” Polaris calls. “Excuse me, sir, madam? Where might an enterprising young unicorn find some work?” Nobody responds. “Blast! If only there were some easy way for the townsfolk to share information and request help! Like a bulletin board or something… Of course it figures I couldn’t find anything of the sort in this small village.”

Polaris sighs in defeat and walks off to find something to drink. The inn was further than he wanted to walk, so he looks around for a store. He finds a corner store, and he recognizes it from the morning of the festival.

Minty and Scales

~~~~~

Food, books, hardware

General store

The ‘general store’ part must have been added later. Polaris finds this cute in a quaint sort of way and steps inside.

The general store is small. Each wall is stacked with shelves and shelves of goods, and there are three aisles alongside barrels and crates filled with grain and fruits. Polaris is positive that the clunky, shiny cash register is older than both of his parents. He doesn’t see a shopkeeper, so he helps himself to the shelf of bottled drinks.

They are room temperature of course, surely nobody this side of Lustre had figured out how to keep a room cool, or how to draw a few weak ice runes.

“Congratulations Harmony, this may be the most modern establishment in the whole valley, and that’s not saying much.”

He cannot find the drink he is looking for. He doesn’t want green tea, or sweet tea, or black tea, he just wants plain tea! The homemade labels are inconsistent and hard to read. Why is the plain tea on the top shelf while the novelty flavors are below?

No matter, Polaris lights up his horn and swiftly reorders the entire shelf, only he leaves a bottle of tea for himself to take to the cashier.

When he turns away from the shelf, Polaris finds himself face to face with a yellow-coated stallion. “You’re a good organizer!” he says.

“Mn,” Polaris walks past him. The stallion, a pegasus with a mottled coat, trots ahead and slips behind the counter. He rings Polaris up for two bits.

“You an Outsider?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“I thought so! Word on the street is you’re looking for a job!”

Polaris examines his two-bits-lighter purse and frowns. “Funny. The way they ignored me, you’d think I was invisible.”

“Well, I heard you from in here for what it’s worth.”

“Ah.” Polaris took a long gulp of the tea. It was not professionally packaged or brewed, but it hit the spot.

“You know, me and my wife are looking to expand the business,” the stallion says. “That’s her name out there on the sign, Minty. I call her Minty but her name’s Mint Chip. I’m Spring Scales, by the way.”

Polaris didn’t seem that interested.

“We could use an extra hoof around here,” Scales says. “You’re welcome to work here if you’d like.”

Polaris almost spits out his drink. “Me? Work retail?! Hah!” He shakes his head and walks away, laughing. “That’ll be a warm day up north. I have two college degrees, I don’t do customer service.” Polaris is still laughing as he steps out of the store. “Thank you for your time, have a nice day.”

“Er, you too! Come by anytime!” When the door closes, Scales sighs and slumps.

Author's Note

We're a timely bunch, here at team gen s. Maximum efficiency is our game!

Song of Seven is never dead, only sleeping!

We're trying something a little new here, basically we decided that in order to pump these chapters out as quickly as possible, we'd have to do away with our style of prose and try a more script-like format. This way we can tell instead of showing without it sounding too unnatural, hopefully.

For big stories like the premiere and the season finale we'll switch back to a more traditional style of writing. Kind of like an animation bump in a cartoon!

Thank you so much for tuning back in and humoring us.

Happy Labor Day!