Noon in Ponyville is, in some ways, a wondrous time of day. The morning's chill has all but been completely eradicated by the warmth of midday. Colts and fillies were studying at the schoolhouse, while the mares and stallions kept themselves busy, be it with work or errands. The streets were still quite peaceful, despite the frequent bustling and conversing of the many citizens of the fine town.
On the note of errands, Twilight Sparkle was just now finishing hers up for the day. She had bought a single flower from a stand in the town square, and was trotting her way down the road, followed closely by her dragon companion, Spike.
"Uh, Twilight? Could I ask you something?" asked the dragon.
"Ask away, Spike" replied Twilight, her eyes still on the road ahead of her.
"Now, I'm not the bookish type, and likely wouldn't be the first to know, but isn't this more of an annual affair?"
"True, Spike. Still though, I've never lost a friend before" she said, her voice beginning to reflect a feeling of sorry. "Besides, I guess a part of me wants to believe he's still out there". They arrived at an entrance to the Everfree Forest, and Twilight laid the flower down by the entrance. She then sat down for a brief minute, her head hung low. She then got up, and walked back over to Spike, a forlorn expression still faintly on her face.
"It's only been three months, and you only knew him for about three days" stated Spike.
"Still though, I was one of his few friends. I'm sure that he'd be happy to know that I remember him, despite hardly knowing him".
"Yeah. I'm sure if he were here now, he'd be happy". Spike opened his mouth to speak again, but suddenly clutched his stomach. He belched, a green flame spewing from his mouth in the process. From this flame, a scroll appeared. It fell to the floor, and Spike regained his composure.
"It looks like that hurt. Are you alright?"
"Yeah. At least it wasn't another book" said Spike, before reaching to the ground and picking up the scroll. He unraveled the scroll and began to read aloud. "My faithful student: I am holding a party in celebration of Nightmare Night. It would please me greatly to see you at this event. Feel free to invite as many of your friends as you wish. While I don't expect you to wear formal attire, please make sure your costume is appropriate. Sincerely, Princess Celestia".
"A Nightmare Night celebration? That's only five days away!" exclaimed Twilight, shocked.
"What's the big deal? It's not like she told you at the very last minute".
"I guess you're right. C'mon, Spike, let's go tell the others" said Twilight. Spike followed closely behind her as they made their way back into town. As they walked past their library home, a pegasus landed in front of her. She was gray with a blonde mane. At her side was a bag full of envelopes and various other parcels. "Hello, Derpy. What can I do for you?" she asked.
"Hi, Miss Twilight! I've got a letter for you!" announced Derpy, cheerfully. She reached into her bag and pulled out a letter, which she then handed off to Twilight.
"Thank you very much" said Twilight.
"Not a problem! Have a nice day!" called Derpy, taking back off into the sky. Unfortunately, she failed to turn her head around and ended up crashing into the tree that made up the library. She fell to the ground, several loose leaves following her descent.
"Are you alright, Derpy?" asked Twilight, concerned. Derpy merely looked up at her, a smile still spread across her face.
"That wasn't air! Silly me!" she commented, chuckling. She took off again, rising into the sky without incident. Twilight turned to the letter she received and read the envelope.
"Strange..." she muttered, a worried look on her face.
"What's wrong, Twilight?" asked Spike.
"This letter was sent from Colton". She opened the envelope and read the letter, her expression growing more and more worried as each word passed through her mind. Having read the letter, she folded it back up, returning it to the envelope it came in.
"What did it say?"
"It was from someone in Shire's family. They'll be here tomorrow afternoon to 'reclaim what is rightfully theirs'" she said, nervously.
"Anything I can do to help?"
"Ask the girls if they want to go to Canterlot on Nightmare Night. I have tidying up to do in the library". she said, walking back into the Library. Spike, meanwhile, ran off to find her friends. Hours passed, and Spike finally returned home, exhausted. "Where were you, Spike? What did they say?"
"I had to track them all down. Rainbow Dash said she was going to Cloudsdale that day, Applejack and Pinkie Pie said they were going to take care of the celebration here in Ponyville, Fluttershy said she was going to stay with her animals, and Rarity said she was behind on work".
"Well, that's a shame. But I guess it'll just be you and me then, Spike" she said, somewhat disappointed. Her eyes, weirdly enough, widened suddenly, as though she had remembered something. "Did you mention anything about our visitors tomorrow to the girls while you were out?"
"Yeah, and they were just as surprised by it as you were" he said, a confused look beginning to form on his face.
"Thank you Spike. At least they'll know why I'm walking a stranger around town" she said, breathing a sign of relief.
"Not a problem. I'll come help out in a minute, I just want to eat something first". Spike reappeared later that evening, and kept good on his promise to help clean up. By the time they had finished up, it was late, and they both decided to go to sleep.
Morning came rather quickly, it seemed. Twilight would have likely rolled back over for a few more minutes of sleep, were she not obligated to meet somepony at the train station in a few hours.
"Just under two hours until the train arrives. I should have enough time to get myself presentable" she thought, rising out of bed. Meanwhile, a few miles away, a train was moving towards Ponyville. Only a few passengers were on board said train, most of which were asleep.
"Attention passengers: We'll be arriving in Ponyville shortly. Make sure you've gathered all of your personal belongings before dismounting the train. Thank you!" boomed a voice over a loudspeaker. A stallion sitting in the back of the train car heard this news and cracked a smile.
It had just barely been an hour before she woke up that Twilight had already left the Library. She trotted down the dirt road towards the train station, anxiety rising slightly. Applejack, noticing her friend going down the road, cantered over to greet her.
"'Mornin', Twilight! How's it goin'?" she asked.
"Shire's relative will be arriving in town shortly, so I'm off to the train station to meet up with them" she said, nervousness faintly present in her voice.
"Ya sound nervous. Ev'rythin' alright?"
"What if they're angry at us for what happened? We could have stopped him from going into the Everfree Forest, but we let him..."
"Well, if they are, jus' apologize an' hope they accept your apology. Ah mean, what are they going to do?" Twilight seemed to ponder this, and shuddered slightly.
"Why don't we talk about something else?" she asked. Applejack opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly looked up into the sky. She motioned for Twilight to duck, and the she did just in time as Rainbow Dash flew past and crashed into the dirt behind them, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process.
"Hey girls, what's up? she asked, brushing off her coat.
"Please remind me to ask you how you do that later, first off. Second, I was off to the train station to meet up with our guest. He'll be here shortly, after all" said Twilight, still somewhat amazed.
"This early, huh? Well, good luck with things. I'll swing by to meet them later on!" stated Rainbow Dash, taking back off into the sky.
"On that note, I need to get going. It would be rude of me to be late" commented Twilight.
"Here, why don't Ah go with you? It could help ya to stay calm, and it might even make our welcome feel warmer!" proposed Applejack.
"If you're not busy, then I don't see why not". The two continued onwards to the train station and soon arrived, surprised to find Pinkie waiting as well.
"Pinkie Pie? What in 'tarnation are you doin' here?" asked Applejack, surprised.
"Oh hi! I just figured that since a new face was coming to town, I should be there to welcome them! I didn't know when they would be here, though, so I came here to wait! Isn't this exciting?!" said Pinkie, in one breath.
"How long have you been here?" asked Twilight, concerned.
"Not long at all, actually. Then again, time sure does fly when you're loading the party cannon! I had to make sure the confetti comes out first this time!" stated Pinkie, cheerfully. Right as she finished saying this, a train had pulled up to the station. The doors opened, and several ponies spilled out of the train in a disoriented manner. The very last pony to come out caught their eyes, a stallion with light-gray fur. He wore a white poet shirt, and was carrying a suitcase in his mouth. His face was mostly obscured by a fedora, leaving only his snout completely visible. He looked over at the girls and trotted over, putting his suitcase on the ground as he reached them.
"You're Mr. Shire, I presume?" asked Twilight.
"Mrs. Sparkle, it's nice to see you. I do apologize for the short notice in which my letter was received" replied the Stallion.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. Shire. He was a good stallion..." stated Twilight, remorsefully.
"Yes, it is a shame. I did get to see him one last time, but he was already in death's doorway" replied Mr. Shire, also expressing sorrow. Applejack was examining the stallion closely, and he had taken notice. "Is there something wrong, Applejack?" he asked.
"Yeah. Two things now, actually. First off, how do you know my name? Second, wouldn't that fancy shirt kinda limit your flyin' ability?" she asked, eyebrow raised suspiciously.
"Now that you mention it, that doesn't actually make much sense. Wouldn't you want your wings available for use?" asked Twilight, now slightly unsure. Mr. Shire seemed to contemplate what had been said.
"Mrs. Sparkle, could you please read back the letter to me?" he asked, now sounding slightly unsure of something as well.
"I don't have it on my person, but I think I remember it. 'Dear Mrs. Twilight Sparkle: I, Reeve Shire, shall be arriving in Ponyville on Tuesday, the 26th of this month. I will be vacationing in town for one week. While I am there, I will attempt to reclaim lost posessions of mine. Thank you for reading this letter. Sincerely, Reeve Shire, of the Shire of Colton's Shires" she said, Mr. Shire took in these words, and nodded his head.
"That was all it said?"
"I may have paraphrased slightly, but yes". Hearing this, Mr. Shire smirked and started chuckling slightly.
"That explains everything! I wrote that letter in a hurry to try and get it mailed out, you see. I guess I forgot to include some information that would have made this easier to understand. It truly is funny, or at least I think so" he commented, still smiling from the hilarity he found in the situation. Twilight was still curious as to who exactly they were talking to.
"This is all confusin', mister. Jus' who the hay are you, anyways?" asked Applejack in a mildly annoyed manner.
"Please, allow me to reintroduce myself the way I meant to through my letter. My name..." he said before pausing. His fedora came off of his head to reveal a horn on his head and a dark brown mane, which was neatly tied back. He bowed his head, revealing his face in its entirety. What stood out the most to the mares was the presence of a scar going over his right eye. After bowing, he opened his mouth once again. "... is Reeve Shire". Upon finishing his sentence, a loud noise came from next to the two mares as confetti rained down from above them.
