Ponies of Fayra — Legend of Harmony

Rolling out of the kitchen, Flare sat a bowl of what she’d dubbed the cozy clover salad, a mixture of strange greens and odd flowers, topped with nuts and glow berries in front of Emerald, then set another in front of her own space before sitting down.

“Kind of weird to be providing everyone salads for dinner, but that’s what happens when you don’t pre-make dough. I’m surprised so many ponies came in just for salad. Thanks for helping with the prep work, by the way.”

“No worries. I make a lot of my own salads. Most days, that’s all I eat. Though I’ve never considered a glow berry to be a topping, or even food for that matter.”

“Oh, oops, sorry, didn’t even ask if you wanted any. I’ve just gotten into the habit of putting those on my food. After you eat them for a while, they start tasting pretty interesting.”

Emerald took a bite of salad and chewed it with a look of disgust before swallowing. “Would you like the ones off my salad, then? They kind of ruin the flavor… Entirely.”

“Sure!” Flare rolled the glow berries off Emerald’s salad and onto her own before taking a big bite and letting out an excited moan. “These things are—so good! Once you get used to them, that is.”

“That’s hard to imagine, but you do seem to—really enjoy them. Still, I don’t want to eat enough of them to try and get to that point.”

“Speaking of trying, you going to try and come along with me and Amber?”

“Why would I?” Asked Emerald in a perplexed tone.

“You’re worried about Zeph too, aren’t you?”

“I trust Zeph to take care of herself. She’s a big pony after all.”

Flare stared at Emerald in bemusement. As she began to wonder if she was truly the only pony who was actually worried about Zeph.

“I don’t get it. Even if people trust her, don’t you still want to check to make sure?”

“Flare, dear, you have to let ponies live their own lives. Checking in on them all the time only shows that you don’t trust them. In Zeph’s early years, I followed her around plenty to make sure she wasn’t going to get herself seriously hurt, but she has long proven herself to be a capable and trustworthy pony. The only reason I would go is if I thought there was some piece of critical information I knew she needed—and I was the best option for getting it to her.”

Flare chewed her food slowly as she tried to digest Emerald’s words. She supposed they made sense-ish, but if you care about some pony, it shouldn’t matter if they “need” you or not, you should just want to help them—especially if they're in any type of danger.

“Something on your mind?”

Flare looked towards Emerald without saying anything. Of course, there was something on her mind, but it wasn’t something she wanted to get into—again. Taking a moment to think about something else that she could say, Flare decided to comment on Amber.

“I was just thinking about Amber. It’s kind of sad she can’t just live around every pony.”

“Ah, I see, not something we should talk about in a place like this. Did you need any help getting ready for your trip?”

“I don’t know, do I? I spend a lot of time out on the water, but only on a wing glider surfing around the islands. Which I assume that’s not how we’re going to be traveling?”

“I’d imagine not. At the same point, I’m not sure how you’ll be traveling either… A sailboat, maybe? Given Amber’s uniqueness, a trot glider wouldn’t work.”

“I can trot… Not a lot though… I don’t actually get a lot of running exercise. I roll everywhere, which is quite a bit different.”

“Safe to assume a sailboat then. Either way, I’d say you want to pack like you’re going to be gone for a few days to be safe. If it were me, I’d pack a bunch of dried food and general supplies, and then when you’re picked up, see what they say. Worst-case scenario, you have a bunch of dried food to use up when you get back.”

“I should be able to handle that on my own. After dinner, I’ll head back into town and see what’s available.”

“Very well, just be sure not to say too much about where you’re going or what you’re doing.”

“Will do, or, I guess, won’t do.” Flare gave a cheeky smile to Emerald, who rolled her eyes subtly before taking another bite of her salad.

The rest of the meal went by without much talking, as Flare was busy going over places she’d wanted to go and in what order she wanted to go to them in her head. Once the pair was done, Flare started to pick up the bowls, but was stopped by Emerald.

“Why don’t I take care of cleaning up for you? That way, you have more time to pick out supplies.”

“That would be awesome! Thank you!” Flare declared excitedly, as she was more than ready to get going. Flare wasn’t one for dancing around anything. Once she knew what needed to be done, she’d rather get it done. The sooner the better.

Placing her bowl back down on the table for Emerald, Flare rolled over to her saddlebags, then gave Emerald another thank you as she rolled out of her pizzeria. As she made her way around town, she got into several long conversations that had stretched her time thin. Flare didn’t like putting anything off, but she also wasn’t one to skirt from a conversation without good reason, either.

Rolling back through the farm stands at last light, Flare saw Clover packing up her stand for the night.

“Hey Flare! Been seeing you a lot today. Your saddlebags are looking pretty heavy. Must be stocking up for something, I take it?”

“I’m going on a trip to another island for a bit.”

“Oo~ which one you going to?”

“Not sure yet. I’m trying to be spontaneous.” Flare smiled awkwardly as she tried her best to sell the lie she had been trying to get used to.

“Sounds like fun. I could use a break from the stand. Maybe I could tag along with you?” Clover gave Flare an enthusiastic smile.

“Oh, uhm, I’d love to take you along, but, well, I’m going with some… pony special, so I can’t bring any pony else along.” Flare laughed awkwardly while hoping Clover would be very un-Clover-like and not press her for details, as she hadn’t had to defend her lie with any other pony, as every pony else had just given her recommendations on places to visit.

Alas, Clover gave her an even more excited smile, then walked up next to her and nudged her. “Who’s the lucky pony?”

Clenching her teeth, Flare wanted to say Zain, as Clover knew she was trying to date him, but she couldn’t say his nor any pony else’s name who would be on the island, which left her with just Zeph or Cozy. Flare thought that out of the two Zeph would be the best option, as few ponies seemed to realize that Cozy was a full-grown mare and not some little filly. A lot of ponies knew she had been looking for Zeph, but few knew she was missing. Figuring it was low odds that Zain, Emerald, Northstar, Ironhoof, or Inkwell would go around broadcasting that Zeph had left the Lost Isles, Flare made up her mind.

Feeling rather embarrassed about the idea of dating her practical sister, Flare stumbled over herself a couple of times while declaring that it was Zeph she was going out with.

Clover stared at her critically for several long moments before replying. “You’re not just dating her to get closer to Zain, are you? Because I can’t support that.”

“O-of course not!”

Clover stared at her for a bit longer before giving her an accepting smile. “You’re not one to lie, so that’s good enough for me. Wouldn’t ever have thought you had something for her, though. Sure, thought you two were close, but not like that, you know?”

“Yeah.” Flare laughed awkwardly, knowing exactly what she meant, as she felt the same way. She had never once considered the idea of being more than best friends slash practical sisters with Zeph. “Anyway. I should be going. I still have a lot to do tonight.”

“I’m sure you do. I can see you as being the real romantic type. I bet you have all sorts of things to set up for your trip.” Clover said with a devious smile. “Alright, I won’t keep you. Have fun, and be sure to stop by my shop together when you get back. I’ll have a surprise of my own waiting for you two.”

“We’ll do, and I’ll see you around!” Flare said, trying to sound as enthusiastic as she could while she made a hasty escape.