Mirror: Book I - Mind

Closed doors and shut curtains surrounded the Mayor’s office save for the slit she left open to glance to the ongoing operations outdoors every now and then, and to keep an eye on the esteemed ambassador’s momentary arrival. Starlight had already been on the job standing next to a shut curtain, glancing outside every now and then, but the Mayor had kept most of the windows shut for a reason. There before her, across from her desk sat an entity from an entirely different planet, and next to him the Princess of Friendship.

“Miss Mayor?” Twilight said.

The grandfather clock’s ticking was all the Mayor was focused on right now, that and the plethora of papers blanketing her desk. A good bottle of rye would go nicely with it, perhaps two.

“Miss Mayor, if I may?” Twilight said again.

“Ponyville is quite a spectacle, is it not?” Mayor Mare decided to ask. “This is my hometown and I have been its mayor for thirty-three years, and in that time I’ve seen all manners of tomfoolery that would make an otherwise lesser pony lose their marbles, so to speak.” She leaned forward delicately, a twitch to her cracking grin. “Would you believe me, your Highness, if I were to tell you I am on the verge of losing my own?”

“You’ve made your frustrations clear as day, Miss Mayor.” The Princess nodded.

“Have I?” She glanced to David. “And you? You’ve been awfully quiet, mister...?”

The boy sat proper in the tiny chair, knees at his chest. “I-I was told not to speak…” He quavered.

Twilight turned and cocked an eyebrow to the lone unicorn standing in her corner of the room. Starlight held onto the curtain, innocently scanned the room with her eyes, and more so looked back out the window as though nothing were amiss. It was in that moment that the Princess detected a strange aura stringing about the chamber, as though somepony were already four or five moves ahead of her. There was no time to be playing catch up, only a dramatic move might alter the implied status-quo, and it was in the depths of her mind that Twilight thanked herself for having thought ahead before coming to Town Hall.

“I will make one thing clear to you, and this is something you ought to keep in mind.” The Mayor started. “Speech does not denote intelligence. Without a name your words are meaningless.”

“Well, there’s plenty of moving speeches quoted by the unknown.” David replied.

“This is the real world, lad. Ponies aren’t going to believe in your story book tales at the drop of a hat, only knowledge and high status are revered and recognized. You are but pen stock in their eyes, an animal of the forest, and that’s exactly where they intend to return you.”

“I will not have you berate my company, Miss Mayor.” Twilight was upfront.

“And what ‘company’ might that be?”

“I assign David to the role of Royal Equerry.”

Albeit perfectly balanced on the bridge of her muzzle, the Mayor’s glasses slid from her face like butter in a pan. The grip Starlight held on the curtain tore instantly, and she draped it over her head to conceal her surprise, her frustration, her anger. Just what in the bloody depths of Tartarus was this mare thinking?! The room was ever so quiet, if only for a spell.

“I beg your pardon, Miss Sparkle?”

“You heard me right. From this point forward, every accessibility within the Equerry’s grasp is now under his control. I’ve already written out the forms.” She levitated a stack of papers to the Mayor’s desk, unable to tell if it were the content of the papers or the fact that more paper work had just been stacked onto her desk is what was making her eye twitch uncontrollably.

“You planned this…?” Starlight mumbled.

“Inadequate.” Mayor Mare denied. “This boy, he is no citizen of Equestria. What of his worth could possibly uphold this role?”

“His person alone, as far as I’m concerned. Nothing within the list of requirements states the need for official citizenship. Nor the need to be a pony, nor to maintain a political standing of any kind.” Twilight confirmed. “I’ve scanned the documents twice over myself, would you like to have a read for yourself?” And began to levitate yet another stack of papers-

“No, heavens no!” The Mayor batted the horrific files away.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that you already know the decision for Royal Equerry ultimately comes down to me, the Princess.” She puffed her chest and nodded confidently in David’s direction. “Without further ado, here you have him, the new Equerry of Ponyville. As long as that title stands, no manner of harm nor eviction shall overtake him.”

For only a few seconds longer did Starlight keep her face beneath the curtains until she finally parted away and breathed for control. The Mayor followed her example in a much easier fashion as she was coming to terms with the current upbringing, understanding as to why Twilight was making the decisions she was even if they weren’t of anything to be too happy about. She wanted to know more, why this strange, alien boy was so important to her, why she intended to protect him so in spite of his impulses and childish exploits. Alas, time was running critically short, the ambassador would be here any minute now.

“If you have any questions then I would be happy to-”

“No, there will be no time for that.” The Mayor cut her off. “Since you’ve already worked ahead of us, we’ll finish what you’ve started.”

“Gladly.” Twilight smiled, rendering a single, important sheet from the stack of papers. The page hovered before David, and to him she provided a quill. “Go on.” She told him. “All you have to do is sign.”

The thought of whether he should try to write in Ponish or simply put his name in English on the paper was what held his hand above the paper for a moment. He glanced to Twilight whom gave him an encouraging nod, and to the Mayor’s glare that told him to get on with it. Though he did not know it, it was the icy stare on the back of his head that made him do it, as he put quill to paper and wrote the five characters of his name in careful English. The deed was done. With the line signed, a choir of entrance horns rose up from the background, causing the Mayor’s ears to perk in their direction.

“Nice sound effects.” David commented.

“That’s the signal.” Mayor Mare rose from her chair. “Starlight, you will tend to my quarters in my absence.”

The unicorn said nothing.

“Miss Sparkle, this has been a…tantalizing experience, to say the least. But, as Mayor of Ponyville I shall uphold these alterations.” She gritted her teeth whilst returning her glasses to her muzzle, and held out a hoof to the Princess.

“I appreciate the cooperation, Miss Mayor.” Twilight accepted her hoof and shook.

It was then that the Mayor led a wary eye to the boy on her left and forced a wavy grin. “Well then, honorary Equerry, we are expecting good things out of you from now on, agreed?”

“O-Of course!” David stood abruptly, grabbed her hoof with both hands and swung up and down. “I won’t let you down, Miss Mayor? Mare? Ma’am? Madame? Boss? Er…Sir?”

“Just get out of my office.”

West of the village in the valley lied the train depot. The platform was dead quiet, save for the colt tending to the ticket booth and the lone lavender mare sitting idly on the bench. She strayed to her left, then looked to her right, unsure in which direction the train would arrive and more unsure of exactly when the train would arrive. All she knew was the mayor had sent her on this task. To pick up and depart with some stranger by the name of Ronin Edelhoof, on which she referenced to the profile that lay within her magical grasp. He was a young looking stallion, possibly no older than herself, with rich green eyes and a dark red coat, his hair a shady and spiky black. She studied the mugshot-like interpretation carefully, noticing the curve of his horn and his mane in a bun. Next to his picture was a depiction of a nine-petaled flower, supposedly his cutie mark. Such a delicate, beautiful-looking mark seemed oddly unfitting for such a rough-looking pony, and in that moment Amethyst wondered just what sort of immigrant she was preparing to encounter, and that was to assume he was an immigrant in the first place, which would further assume that there were more to come. Amethyst felt rather unschooled in the nuances of immigration and crossing of cultures. Ponyville was almost straight ponyfolk save for the minute population of mules and beggars that she saw wandering the streets every once in a while and she already knew the common populace didn’t take kindly to such races. Only the more extravagant and colorful exemplars received praises, like the dragons from the Dragonlands or the yaks from Yakyakistan. Donkeys and mules were only mush upon their haughty taste buds. Such prejudice was on the rise lately, and although her mother warned her to have no business with such quarrels, Amethyst liked to think of herself as neutral to the whole ordeal.

Plumes of smoke rose from under the horizon, and the chugging notes of the train’s engine came into earshot as the Friendship Express rolled into view. Even over the cacophonous cranks of the train the conductor could be heard announcing the next stop, and with a final huff the bread-brown locomotive lurched to a stop. Door attendees slid open the portals for passengers to make their exit, and all the while Amethyst parried her glances between the profile in her grasp and the departing members of the train. The “all aboard!” signal came sooner than expected, the whistle howled and the train was off as quickly as it had arrived. Amethyst desperately strayed to her right and glanced to her left, and spotted a peculiar figure behind the veils of steam. Curved horn, mane in a bun…it must be him. She thought. The mare adorned her “working” smile before sauntering up to the pony.

“You must be new here. Welcome to Ponyville.” She beamed.

The colt stared at her silently.

“My name is Amethyst Star, I’m the Mayor’s accomplice-erm! Assistant-I mean! Employee.”

Silence remained.

“Well? Go on, say something.” She urged.

Crickets. The chirping grew louder and closer until a tiny, black and green insect emerged from his saddle bag. The cricket clicked once, hopped onto the floor and sprung across the platform until it was no more. Amethyst blinked in the direction of the cricket and then returned to Ronin, speechless and waiting. The young pony fired up his curved horn and produced a small, string-bound tome from his bag, to which Amethyst strained her sights upon the title. Ponish-to-Koumanese, Koumanese-to-Ponish Dictionary. A Guide To Getting By.

“Ano…” Ronin began his first words. “You are…pretty pony?”

“Oh, for the love of…” Amethyst growled.

“Do I say good?”

“I can’t believe this.” She stomped a hoof in frustration.

“Genki-des?” The colt murmured.

“Do I look like I speak noodle to you?” Amethyst stared at him.

Ronin simply cocked his head in confusion.

“C’mon, cricket boy.” She grumbled, turning to the stairs at the end of the ramp.

The sound of the mallet striking against the gong reverberated throughout the plaza square, followed by the second wave of horns signaling the ambassador’s entrance. From the sky leading down to a runway channeling down the center of the plaza, a silver chariot with blue, decorative wings rolled into view, pulled by two pegasi of the royal guard. They slowly trotted into a halt and the wheels lurched to a stop, the surrounding ponies throwing pink confetti to the air as to mimic the falling of cherry blossom petals. To this, the tall, elder unicorn housed within the chariot made his way down the steps to take in the scenery. Much to his dismay his sight-seeing was cut short by the sudden confrontation of a baggy, beige mare fixing her glasses and clearing her throat.

“Mr. Mikado, we have been expecting you.” The Mayor bowed her head respectfully.

“Please, we are in your country, are we not?” Mikado raised her head with a hoof. “There is no need for that.”

“My apologies, Mr. Mikado, I ensure you that prior to your arrival I had studied your culture extensively.”

“I can tell.” His eyes gazed about the makeshift lanterns and ceremonial banners. “And please, just Mikado will suffice.”

“Well then, Mikado, shall we be off to observe your crew at work? I assume you must be eager to oversee the operations at the castle.”

“Mm, not quite.” Mikado stroked his short beard. “I do not believe they are ready, we will give them a little more time.” He held out his hoof and the Mayor took it with a flustered chortle. “Come, Miss Ivory, shall we go sight seeing?”

“Nopony had told me you were quite the charmer.” She chortled again.

“Crowds such as these are warming and welcoming, but they frighten me so. Do you know why?”

“Do tell.”

“Like shadows beneath shade they are a single color within many, yet you do not know which one, not until they strike. They say that nature’s most colorful wonders are also its most dangerous, yet nature does not tell you which.” Mikado walked down the path and around the plaza with the Mayor, taking in the sights and studying the vendors. They stopped at the apple showcase ran by the Apples, featuring their zap apple products along with simpler delectables. “This simple fruit is a fine example.” Mikado took an apple in his aura. “Delectable, appealing, and a shiny exterior. However, if one is not careful enough…” He split the apple open to reveal several green and brown spots with a worm swimming around inside, the yellow mush falling apart in his magical grasp.

“Well pardon my Ponish, Mr. big-wig, but it looks like ya’ taint everything ya’ touch.” Granny Smith said from behind the vendor.

The Mayor was ready to give the Apples a stern look for not having checked all their apples, but Mikado began to laugh heartily. “Your elder is perceptive.” He said. “My analogies simply could not rest on words alone.”

“Don’t you fret, dearie, nothin’ gets past this old mare.” Granny confirmed.

“It would seem so. Here, for the apples.” Mikado provided four bits, two for the apple he had intentionally rotted and two for a fresh one. He calmly levitated the fresh fruit beneath his kimono and gave a final nod to the Apples before trotting away. Mayor Mare kept to his pace, making subtle comments and nods towards the homage of oriental decor as though Mikado himself hadn’t already proved his awareness scale from the beginning. It was then that a lavender unicorn trotted up to them fearlessly and effortlessly.

“Now, here is a colorful example.” Mikado commented.

Amethyst regarded the ambassador for only a second before turning to the Mayor. “May I have a word with you?”

“Ah, miss Anemone? Was it?” The old mare chuckled nervously. “I’d like for you to meet Mr. Mikado, our most respected guest this afternoon.”

“Extravagant on the outside, yet an enigma within.” Mikado took Amethyst’s hoof in a gentle shake. “You best please your elders, young one.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Amethyst was quite abrupt as she turned back to her superior. “So, mind trading me the one that can actually speak a coherent language?”

“Excuse us, please.” The Mayor said before bumping Amethyst’s haunches with her own and diving into a heated whisper. “Surely a simple retrieval task wasn’t too hard for the likes of you, now was it, miss Ammonia?”

“First of all, it’s Amethyst Star.” She felt the need to correct. “Secondly, no it would not have been so hard had it not been for the fact he can’t speak anything past ‘chopsticks’. I walked in for a full on interview this morning and I get this? I believe I deserve an explanation.”

“I trust you recognize an opportunity when you see one. Patience is key here, child. Do as I tell you and you will get your reward.”

“So you want me to play babysit, is that it?” Amethyst grew impatient.

“Is that not what you trained for during all those summers?” The Mayor shot back. “Oh yes, I read that resume of yours. I’ll admit it was lacking, but still a good shot over the majority. Your skills may be put into great use one day, miss Amenity. I suggest you find out what those traits are.” Mayor Mare left Amethyst as quickly as she had yanked her away and trotted back in Mikado’s direction, whom was currently staring at a vacant space in the middle of the fountain. Oh, how was she to explain this one?

The purple unicorn was left to stare in the direction of the Mayor and her precious ambassador, and it was at that Amethyst knew she had just been left to do the grunt work. Her agile, young mind had pictured things a little differently the night before. An office of her own, a warm cup of joe on her desk along with the start of the day’s paperwork, whatever that might entail. Even her name would be written upon the door to her office in bold, black lettering on a crystalline window. Alas, the only lettering she had to trot up to now were the pompous pastels of the sweets shop that which her foreigner of a companion stood beneath, looking about his surroundings and glancing at his book every now and then like a confused tourist to his pamphlet. Amethyst hated tourists, and hated foreigners even more, even if this was the one and only Neighsian she had met in her life thus far.

“Finished sight seeing?” She asked him tiredly.

“Town Hall?” He asked concernedly. “We go?”

“I’ll tell you this, the Mayor’s got a special plan for a special boy like you, so why don’t you just sit tight with me for a while?” She looked to the sweets shop. “Listen, I’ll buy you a smoothie. I’m sure they got rice-flavored or something for ya’.”

Ronin simply cocked his head again.

“Pony feathers, I can barely get a word out of you. What am I gonna do?” She eyed his book still resting in his levitation and took it in her own field. “Lemme see that.”

At this, Ronin adorned an annoyed, disdainful expression as the unicorn before him rudely yanked his book away and began flipping through as if it were her own. He would tolerate it, knowing he would not need it after all. As the mare blindly leafed around the pages, two clicks hopped up onto Ronin’s shoulder. A stray cricket had returned to him to deliver the latest intel, and after interpreting the rhythm of the chirps, the colt’s eyes went wide with worry as he looked in the direction where the Mayor was last. There in the distance among the sea of ponies and celebrations was Mikado, and Ronin ducked just in time before his blue, piercing eyes were to land on him. Amethyst took no notice to his odd behavior as the young foreigner ducked away and escaped from the scene.

“…Omae…?” Amethyst read. “That means ‘you’? Honestly, why can’t your folk just speak a simpler tongue, huh?” She looked around worriedly. “Hey, where’d you go? Cricket boy?”

Scaffolding, jackhammers and a hivemind working crew flooded the crystalline castle’s front lawn as Mayor Mare and Mikado walked up the narrow dirt path which striped down the center of it all, ending at the stairs leading up to the doors of the castle. The ambassador took a good, long look around at the ongoing construction before finally resting his eyes upon something that made him squint and pinch his muzzle uncontrollably.

“Tell me my good Mayor, just what is this sore thumb sticking out of the ground?”

“My apologies, Mikado, I will contact our trunk removal services at once.” She aimed to please.

“I was referring to the castle.”

“We consider that Ponyville’s latest renovation.”

“Aside from the statue?”

“Er, yes, well...” She fixed her collar and cleared her throat. “Princess Twilight’s last state of residence had been all but rendered to ash in the midst of recent conflict. Nopony was seriously hurt, as it is safe to say, and as a result the castle was erected in a matter of seconds.”

“And where is the Princess?”

“It would seem a princess’ duty is her priority.”

“Is that so? How rude of her highness.” Mikado muttered. “To insist upon foreign affairs only for her to come up short in the appearance department.”

“If it would please you, Mr. Mikado, I can locate her at once.”

Mikado’s tightened gaze eased up upon the sight of the old mare, and he gave an odd smile with a low laugh. “Miss Ivory you aim to please too much. Come, allow me to return the favor.”

With a calm, graceful stride he led the old mare in the direction of the thicker parts of the construction, an abundance of workers hustling about systematically as though they were aware of their progress and the presence of their lead supervisor and company owner, Mikado himself, in perfect unison. A blue-eyed helmet colt delivered an obedient nod and produced a blueprint for Mikado to take a quick once over. The ambassador looked to the construction ahead, back to the blueprint, and then nodded once more for the work to continue.

In the meanwhile, halfway across town, cricket boy was nowhere to be seen. Amethyst came trotting quickly into the plaza party, barreling past party goers and street vendors until she was in the middle of it all, desperately glancing this way and that for any sign of the one and only job she had been assigned to. It was then that she recalled Ronin’s appearance, most particularly his curved horn, and from that she assumed the rest of the hunt to be a cake walk. She pounced upon the first glimpse of curvature to bestow her eyes, taking a “gentle” hold of him with her magic and turning the runaway colt around.

“This isn’t a quirk of yours I’m gonna have to deal with, is-” Amethyst halted in her tracks, the unicorn with the curved horn…wasn’t even a unicorn at all. A little filly with a perplexed expression stared at her, a makeshift, curved horn hat adorning her head. “-it?” She finished weakly. Suddenly, she looked all around to find curved horns here and there, near and far, and the nearby souvenir vendor could only spell disaster for her.

“Curved horns!” the vendor pony yelled. “Get your curved horns, here! Wanna look a like a bigot but still blindly support your local, foreign ambassador? Then come get your filthy-I mean-curved horns, here!”

A bit fifty to look like that wretched ambassador and his blasted curved horn also meant a bit fifty to look like cricket boy from afar and make Amethyst Star’s one and only job this afternoon a living, fury-inducing hell. The desperate, lavender unicorn bounced from outlet to outlet within the chaos of the market stalls, every little inch of the scenery looking more and more like a visit to noodleland, as she would likely put it. Oriental lanterns hung above and traditional music sounded away in the background, followed by the eruptious volume of the gong. The poor unicorn slammed face first into the giant, rotundus plate of brass, which wasn’t even accurate in the material department to begin with. Her pancaked figure peeled off of the plate, back into the third dimension, and her pupils spun in her sockets like a slot machine until landing on a matching pair of nine-petaled flowers. Of course, that was it! His cutie mark. She was going about this all wrong, and all she needed to do now was locate the boy’s butt mark. If only she could get her eyes to fix correctly on the horizon, for the impact had made her dazed. She squinted ahead and found one Ronin, then three, then six…her ears were still ringing.

Amethyst snarled, chose a Ronin and charged forward. One of these figures had to be the correct choice and not the poor, elderly mare she just tackled.

Ronin sauntered gracefully upon the bamboo scaffolding at least three stories up, peeking through the stalks and down below to the party of two he had been following. After having gained word that Mikado of all ponies was in town, somehow on the same day, somehow at the same time he had arrived, Ronin set out to discover just what sort of business the ambassador was up to now. To come to the central country town of Ponyville of all places. Sure, it was perhaps the biggest agricultural estate known to Equestria and beyond, but what exactly did he want with it? Ronin was aware of the incoming festivities for the village, how all of this construction surrounding him were to provide for the occasion, but the young foreigner was cautious, perceptive. Having met Mikado’s ilk before, he knew he could only be up to no good in the long run, and so he studied him carefully as he led the Mayor around the construction site. As the two made their stop, the boards beneath Ronin’s hooves emitted an odd creaking noise. A split second later, his hind hoof broke through the bamboo and dangled from underneath. Impossible, Ronin knew bamboo scaffolding, he knew where to step and how to position himself. Some amateur must have screwed up the planning, unless…they were built this way intentionally.

There was another creak, followed by a crunch and an ear splitting crack. Ronin looked below him, seeing he was still lodged within all the same. Then he looked behind him, and there she was, that lavender unicorn, the one with the crazy look in here eye. The stupid tourist was walking on the bamboo all wrong!

“No!” Ronin shouted. “Stop, don’t come any closer!”

“You…” Amethyst huffed and puffed. “I’m gonna get that job even if…”

“No!”

“Even if it kills me!”

Amethyst’s front half broke through the floor, her legs sticking out from above. At last, there was complete, utter silence, and Ronin breathed a sigh of relief. If only the flexing of his lungs hadn’t added the final ingredient to their rickety demise. Bit by bit the entire eastern half of the construction site fell to pieces, and as Mayor Mare looked up from her spot, the astonished faces of Amethyst and Ronin were the last thing she saw before everything came tumbling down upon her.

The tacky, pink marble pieces rumbled and rattled until they clicked together, only to break apart once again. The leg of the statue was broken, not to mention other areas had suffered minor damages, and no matter how many times Starlight attempted to fuse the pieces back together with her magic, the bonds would not interlink. She gave a final huff of defeat before walking over to the near wall and slumping to her rump, looking up to her teacher with desperate, tired eyes.

“No doubt about it, that statue was sculpted using earth pony magic. I can’t read the homogeneous lines.” She said. “I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do.”

“The statue is of no concern of mine.” Twilight replied. “At the moment.”

“Y’know, it’s no wonder a farmer doesn’t want a unicorn to do an earth pony’s job.”

Twilight said nothing, staring at the ruin of Caerus that lay in the middle of the royal guard barracks. Sam and Ralph had carried the chunks of rock and pebble, showing little regard to what was left and only making matters worse for repairs.

“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” Sam had told her, although he seemed quite uneducated in the meaning of the phrase.

The statue itself was old enough as it was, meaning its original sculptor must be pushing daisies by now, and so it seemed only one option was left for the fate of the lonely fountain in the middle of the plaza. A new statue would take its place, Twilight anticipated, a replacement. She had lost a home once, replacements were nothing new to her, and she knew what needed to happen. Trying to be reminiscent on the old days would only work for so long. Sometimes, all you needed to do was fill the space.

Her sights swung to the east end of the barracks where Sam and Ralph stood at attention eyeing the human all over, asking him dull questions and imagining what might happen to his soft, fleshy skin should they prod their spears at it. David cautiously rested his finger to the head of one spear, slowly wrapping his fingers at its base to lower Sam’s position towards his chest. At that instant the white stallion was mesmerized by the intricacies of his hand. The dexterity, the fingery features! He couldn’t take his eyes off of something he had never seen the likes of and asked the boy just what it would take to rival such biological ingenuity. He told the pony he’d have to speak to his creator about that, but not even he has had any luck contacting him.

A moment later and Twilight was approaching the three to dispel their nonsensicals and order they stop harassing her Equerry. That word, that role, Equerry. Starlight shot a glance over from the other side of the room but quickly hid her concern.

“Your highness, will you not let us escort the boy with you?” Ralph questioned.

“I’ve told you before, he can bring me no harm even if he tried.” Twilight replied.

The words didn’t hurt, not as much as her tone. It was the way she said it that made David feel smaller than he actually was, less noticeable. A strange, cruel thought overwhelmed him in that moment. What if he were to just swing at Twilight, right here and right now? A quick punch, a swift kick, all of it was too easy for her. All she had to do was conjure up a force field, or better yet stop him with her levitation and throw him against the wall, just like she did with those timber wolves in the castle ruins. There was a lot more power than met the eye with these ponies, and so David was becoming more and more aware just how vulnerable he was around every corner, moreso how real it began to feel. Ralph turned to the boy slowly, a stern stare in his slitted, yellow sights.

“We have caught on to your sentience by now, boy, so be wary. The knowledge to understand the law should be reason enough to follow it.”

“Uh...I won’t let you down?” He shrugged.

“Consider your mutilation spree strike one.” Sam butted in.

“It was just the statue.”

“Next time it’ll be strike three.”

“What happened to strike two?”

“Strike twice and I won’t think once!” Sam raised a hoof bump to his friend whom promptly declined.

He hadn’t a clue of what to make of the two guards before him. They were noble steeds, one lived by the guidelines, though not so bright. The other fit his tone near perfectly appearance wise, dark and serious. At the very least they made a charming pair, and although David had no direct knowledge of them prior to his arrival, he decided to categorize them in with the hundreds of thousands of other royal guard clones that walked this pony-brimmed planet. Sam and Ralph seemed generic enough names anyways. For the short time he looked out the window and found evening making its descent on the town, his hand hovered beneath his pocket and onto the item lying within, the small, strange book he picked up from the library. That strange tree symbol on the back, just what was it? Just why was it making him think of home, what he did on Earth, and his familiarity with a certain cartoon show he couldn’t quite place. The memories were all too blurry. He ceased his grip and led his hand away, aware of Twilight’s presence and that this was in fact her book that was in his possession. Perhaps he would inform her about it later, when the time was right.

The boy set his attention to Twilight, whom had been pulled aside by Starlight in a rather abrupt turn. “What’s your plan here, Princess? Should we recruit Fluttershy’s animal shelter for election, too?” The unicorn questioned her intensely.

“Understand that I only did what was best for him.” Twilight raised a wing to ease her student. “This is only temporary.”

“A few weeks, temporary?” Starlight pushed. “A few months? A few years? We don’t have an estimate, you said so yourself. This kid could be here for the rest of his life for all we know.”

“We’ll find a solution-”

“No, you’re going to find a solution.” Starlight accused a hoof. “Me? I don’t want any part of this, not anymore. You can have the Equerry’s title, see if I care. I guess I never should have agreed to come back to Ponyville with you in the first place.”

Starlight marched for the back door, but suddenly dismissed herself with a flash of her horn, and after a split second blue-white bang, she was gone. Sparks sizzled in the air for a few seconds, signaling that she had teleported somewhere very, very far away. An exhausted sigh escaped the Princess’ lips, resting a hoof to her temples for a short moment, and David took a wary step forward.

“Is she gonna be alright?” He asked.

“She’ll be back.” Twilight replied. “There’s nowhere else for her to go.”

“I’m sorry, I must’ve really upset her this time.”

“You do not have to take the fall for another pony, one is enough.”

David recoiled in realization. “You knew?”

“That weather captain must be grateful for what you did. You may have made a lot of enemies, but I’m sure you’ve made an ally. Honestly, it almost makes me think you are worthy of this title.” She felt another grin coming on, but faded as she looked to the evening lights outside, knowing that the day was nearing its end. “C’mon.” She beckoned. “Let’s head back to the castle.”

As the double doors gave way to Twilight and the boy, Spike was more than prepared to give the Princess a heart-felt greeting. The pony bent down to give her little dragon a hug, and over her shoulder the lizard snuck a tight hiss and grimace to the boy making his way inside. David squinted back, then instead diverted his attention elsewhere, lest the little turd provoke him. Spike filled Twilight in on everything he had done in her absence, the routine organizing and cleaning tasks, though he dared not touch David’s book fort. The mare seemed not to mind and sent the little dragon off into the castle to do what he pleased for the remainder of the evening.

“I take it he’s a handful?” David felt to comment.

“Oh, not at all.” Twilight returned dutifully. “Spike is a wonderful assistant, one of my closest friends in fact. Him and I have been together since my studies in Canterlot, when I was only a little filly.”

The boy steadily looked down the hall and up the stairs, wherein the dragon laid at the top, sneering and glaring. He trained two claws over his eyes, and turned them back onto the boy, snarling before retreating up the steps.

“Does uh, every pony get a little dragon of their own?”

Twilight gave a little laugh. “No, Spike was a gift.” She reminisced. “A very special gift.”

“Not sure what you mean.”

“It’s a story for another time.” The pony turned, calling again. “Anyways, there’s something I need to give you, follow me.”

Leading the boy into her quarters, she then approached her desk and opened the bottom left drawer to produce a small, blue box. Encased within on velvet, silk lining was a small crest. The badge itself was made of some sort of cheap yet sturdy metal, in the shape of a shield with a silhouette of a unicorn’s head on the front. On the back was Ponish writing embedded into the metal, and the badge was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand.

“By hoof, by heart, by horn. To city and country we are sworn.” Twilight spoke aloud. “That is what the engraving reads. This is the official Equerry’s badge. Along with many other items, this was issued to me as soon as I returned to Ponyville after my coronation.” She laid the badge in his hand with her magic. “It’s yours now.”

“A little tacky.” He admitted, looking it over.

“Well, I did have to order a replacement.”

“So is it just for keep sakes?” He shrugged.

“Mostly, but if you ever find yourself in a situation with the guards or any other authority, just show them that.” Twilight nodded to the badge. “You’ll be better off with it than you would be without.”

“I’m going to steal so many sweetrolls. Y’know that, right?”

“That’s an extension of regal power you’ve got in your hand there, not a get out of jail free card.” Twilight told him. “I can only hope you’ll recognize the responsibility required to wield it.”

“I don’t know, I...” David looked at the badge and then back to Twilight. “I feel like I don’t deserve this.”

“Please, hold onto it.” She insisted. “This isn’t a matter of whether you’ve earned it, I’m only trying to keep you safe.”

Keep me safe? He wondered.

“Because I’m not always going to be around to do that.” She finished.

I get it now, I’m a burden, and she might as well be putting a sign over my head. David thought on as he blinked and slightly frowned at the badge. Maybe I do deserve this…

“I understand.” He sighed as he stood up and securely placed the badge into his pocket, right on top of the book.

“Hey now, no reason to look so glum.” She tried. “Tomorrow will be better, I promise.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I’ve got something planned.” Twilight smiled.