Scent of Seaby yitzChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 1“It is with great sorrow that I announce the passing of our leader.” Ice Blue stood atop the meeting rock and stared down at the large collection of ponies who had amassed below it. “It was today, five in the afternoon, when our beloved Seafoam breathed his last.” There were a few gasps – albeit seemingly mixed with several sighs of relief. Seafoam’s impending death had been obvious, at least to the grown ponies of the village, and Ice Blue had used all her power to make it into a community issue, not least because Seafoam was indeed her own father. Pale Skies felt her younger brother grasp at her foreleg and she looked down to comfort him, placing a hoof on his head. He didn’t understand, none of the foals did; it must have been difficult to tell what to feel since the looks on the faces of all the ponies in the crowd were so varied. Ice Blue herself looked distraught and pained – as one who had just lost a parent would tend to. As Seafoam’s only child, she was next in line for position as leader, which had generated mixed responses; Ice Blue was young, inexperienced, and hardly appeared confident about taking the position of duty. And yet this was exactly why many of the younger ponies among Pale Skies’ age felt that she would be a successful leader. It seemed at times that Seafoam had been in power for a virtual eternity, and quite a number of the ponies of Pale Skies’ generation had complained that he had made no effort to adapt as time had moved forward and culture had grown. In his young daughter Ice Blue, these ponies saw someone who was closer to them, might be more willing to listen to their ideas, and truly improve life. ♦ They lived on an island. Maresolus was its name, and Pale Skies remembered learning that this name meant “alone in the sea,” supposedly in some forgotten ancient language. There was also the rather humorous legend that the island had been discovered by a mare named Solus, and she could think of no better way to mark her territory than with her identity. As far as Pale Skies had been taught, nopony really knew where the population of Maresolus had come from; a popular idea was that the original ponies who’d founded the island had been pegasi, since they would have been physically capable of reaching the isolated land before the invention of boats. But if there ever had been pegasi living on Maresolus, they evidently hadn’t stayed long, since the island’s occupants now consisted of a great majority of earth ponies with a few unicorns, including Seafoam and Ice Blue’s family line. Pale Skies’ father, Thundercloud, once told her of a visit to Maresolus by one Princess Celestia, a pony who was supposedly majestically tall and had both a unicorn horn and wings like a pegasus, and apparently ruled over the entirety of the world. It was said that she possessed incredible magic and aged at an extremely slow rate, much to the fascination of the ponies of Maresolus. Thundercloud explained that Princess Celestia had allegedly visited the island in order to recruit students, but the reception had been a cool one. Pale Skies remembered sitting on the floor in their beach hut while her mother, Calm Breeze, prepared fruit for dinner. “Seafoam told her, ‘While we acknowledge and respect your royalty, we here on Maresolus prefer to be left alone.’ Can you believe that? He actually told Princess Celestia to leave!” Thundercloud exclaimed. “Oh, goodness, are you telling her that story again? I’ve asked you not to talk about it. That was a long time ago,” Calm Breeze said. She sounded sad. “Look, it’s relevant in our island’s history,” Thundercloud replied. “I don’t know if Seafoam is even going to include it in their curriculum. He probably doesn’t want them to be aware that there are any superiors above him.” Calm Breeze thought this over. “Yes, I guess you are right,” she murmured. Then she came in from the kitchen and sat down with them for a moment. “I recall it too… she was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Like something out of a dream. She was so kind to us, but I remember… my parents were scared. They told me that she couldn’t understand us, that we could only trust one of our own.” “The false prophet, they called her,” Thundercloud added. “Yes…” Calm Breeze looked like she was on the verge of tears, so Pale Skies quickly trotted over and hugged her. “Thank you, darling. I’m alright. This was many years ago; I was younger than you are now.” Pale Skies had been a filly at the time, old enough to be out of diapers and understand language, but certainly far from being capable of fully comprehending the weight of the tale her parents were telling. “She wasn’t even angry when Seafoam asked her to leave,” Calm Breeze went on. “Just…” she trailed off. “Disappointed,” Thundercloud finished the sentence. “She could easily have done anything; she obviously had a great deal of magical power, but she didn’t. All she said was, ‘If that’s truly what you believe is best for your ponies, I will not deny it.’ And then she left. I doubt she’ll ever return.” To this day, Pale Skies remembered the story. It seemed impossible, in a way, but she liked to believe it; she liked believing that there was some mystical tall pony with wings and a horn who could open the door to a life of enlightenment. It wasn’t that life on Maresolus was bad, exactly, it was just – empty. There was always a great deal of work to be done, since everypony was considered responsible for the upkeep of the island and its community. Each pony was assigned a role by the leader after the appearance of his or her cutie mark, although the greater part of jobs involved some form of labor. Pale Skies’ cutie mark was a spyglass, and upon seeing it Seafoam had described it as “impressive.” Even though he didn’t exactly sound happy about it, Calm Breeze and Thundercloud had been visibly proud. Thus, Pale Skies was allotted the job of “Observer,” which was in effect just a title that matched with her cutie mark. Her task, ostensibly, was to check the beaches for incoming unexpected tides, but since they could be tracked quite well, Pale Skies usually spent her time cleaning up debris that washed up onshore. It was dull, dull work, but then it was easy – far preferable to the career of “boulder management.” Pale Skies often found herself wondering if this was simply how life was; mostly planned by others, with every pony having an assured, assigned place in the world. Life was something to be endured, and leisure something to be savored. Perhaps there was some small chance that things could be changed under the rule of Ice Blue, but Pale Skies found herself having a difficult time imagining life a different way. Time would tell. ♦ Pale Skies’ closest friend was Finch, a male earth pony whose cutie mark showed a crooning songbird. It had been determined by Seafoam that the appropriate job for him, then, was to work as a regional guard, since his cutie mark seemed to indicate a talent for alerting others to danger. In retrospect, both Pale Skies and Finch agreed that this interpretation was laughable, but challenging it publicly would have meant humiliation, and besides, Finch was decent at his job. In truth, for the most part Finch did nothing, but if a ship appeared to be approaching from the south (Finch lived in the Southern Region, like Pale Skies, and thus worked at the southern guard post) then he was to turn them away “if not meeting qualifications.” Essentially what this amounted to was refusing all vessels: the qualifications for accepting a ship were that its passengers were residents of Maresolus, but since leaving the island was basically impossible, no ships were able to be eligible. For a while, it seemed to not yet have occurred to Seafoam that he had created a job doing nothing, and the guard posts around the island effectually became nothing more than hangout spots. But somehow he got wind of the situation, and instituted a new policy: several times per week at random intervals, Seafoam would “investigate” one of the four guard posts on the island, and whomsoever was found to be doing an inadequate job would be reassigned to work in the quarry. Finch was dedicated and optimistic about his work, and this was part of the reason that Pale Skies enjoyed being with him; he renewed her own sense of faith in life. They spent time together whenever they had the chance – if Pale Skies managed to clear the beach or early, or if Finch saw an opportunity to slip away for a while. Today they had met up particularly at Pale Skies’ request; she was eager to discuss her thoughts on Ice Blue’s ascension to leader and she wondered how Finch felt about it, too. They sat on the sand of Unity Beach in the western region of Maresolus where Pale Skies did her work. The two were far from alone; there were plenty of other workers who, like Pale Skies, had been assigned jobs with prestigious titles but whose actual job amounted to cleanup. Finch and Pale Skies found a spot that was relatively clean and not too busy and situated themselves there. “Do you really think she can change things?” Pale Skies ventured. “Change things how?” Pale Skies tried to find the words. “It just seems like… I don’t know. It’s like we’re out of balance with the rest of the world.” Finch looked genuinely perplexed. “Out of balance? What do you mean by that?” “Look, Maresolus is a great country… well, it’s better than some others, I suppose… but there’s a whole world of other countries, other cultures, and other ponies…” Finch put his hoof on his friend’s shoulder. “I know. But they wouldn’t understand us, Pale Skies, you know that.” “Right, but… don’t you feel like they could? Like they could understand us, if we worked with them and talked about things.” Finch seemed to be thinking this through for a few moments. “Are you unhappy?” he said, finally. “Well, I just think that maybe we need to change some of our ways. I mean, you and I do nothing all day. And why? Because we’ve been assigned jobs by our leader. The truth in our cutie marks is disregarded…” “What ‘truth’?” “Look. Look at your cutie mark: it’s a singing bird. So why are you working as a guard? Because Seafoam said that makes sense? None of us are putting our real talents to use! We’re all just doing simple, mindless labor…” Pale Skies trailed off. Finch opened his mouth, then closed it. He furrowed his brow, and then looked up at Pale Skies. She was prepared to hear the worst; she was prepared to hear that he no longer trusted her as a friend, or something even more painful than that – but instead, Finch said, “Well, maybe you could talk to Ice Blue.” ♦ “I’m glad you came,” was the first thing Ice Blue said. Pale Skies could see that her new leader didn’t look very glad; Ice Blue still appeared beat up from her father’s death only a week previously. In a way, though, Ice Blue was quite beautiful: she was only a few years older than Pale Skies and Finch but was somewhat taller, and it was impossible not to notice her beautiful unicorn horn, a true rarity on Maresolus. “You are?” Pale Skies asked, rather taken aback at the response. “No one’s come to see me yet,” Ice Blue answered and gave a hollow laugh. “After I made the announcement of my father’s death, everyone knew I was next in line, and that was it.” She paused and took a breath. “Anyway, I suppose it doesn’t matter. It’s not as if I was looking forward to a great ceremony or something.” “Ponies didn’t generally come visit Seafoam,” Pale Skies said quietly. “I’m sure every pony assumes the same social protocol is in place.” She felt meek and scared, though she didn’t know why; Ice Blue was no elder, and besides that, she seemed fragile. To avoid catching her new leader’s eye, Pale Skies glanced at her cutie mark: it appeared to be a bright blue shooting star. Ice Blue followed Pale Skies’ gaze. “Oh, don’t look at that,” she said and quickly covered the mark with a hoof. “I’m sorry…” Pale Skies quickly looked elsewhere. “Why did you come?” Ice Blue said. She had begun to sound defensive, probably recovering from having Pale Skies look at her cutie mark. Pale Skies gulped. In a way, she herself didn’t even know. She had been so impassioned before when talking to Finch, but now much of it had fizzled away. Pale Skies was disappointed in herself for already upsetting the new leader, and she had no desire to continue on that path by unloading a bevy of radical thoughts upon her. “I…” she mumbled. “I have a few ideas.” Ice Blue’s expression softened and a small smile appeared on her face. “I bet you do,” she said, not sarcastically. “You… do?” “I’m sure you’ve got a lot to say.” Ice Blue nodded. “It’s about time, too. This is what I’ve been waiting for. I’ve been dying to get over this period where people are only starting to view me as their leader. There’s work to be done, don’t you think?” Pale Skies felt a few drops of courage fall onto her heart, and she smiled back at the leader. “Yes… I do think,” she replied. “Well, let’s hear,” Ice Blue said. “Um, there’s a lot I want to talk about,” Pale Skies admitted. “Like… work, and our education, and maybe we should invite Princess Cel-” she caught herself and stopped, blushing. Suddenly Ice Blue’s manner changed back to cold and distant. “Say that again,” she demanded. “Our work and education policies…” “Say what you were going to say at the end.” Pale Skies scanned the ground. What would her punishment be for saying Princess Celestia’s name? Would it be better to refuse Ice Blue’s request? No, that couldn’t be. Pale Skies forced out the words in a tiny voice: “Maybe we should invite Princess Celestia to come again.” Ice Blue stayed unsmiling, but her eyes lit up. “So you know about her, too,” she said. “You must’ve heard from your parents.” “They didn’t mean any harm,” Pale Skies said quickly. “Don’t do anything to them. I’ll take any punishment instead of them, they have my younger brother to look after.” Ice Blue seemed not to have heard. “Do you think she’s real?” she asked. She sounded scared or excited. “Can it truly be that there are ponies with wings and a unicorn horn?” “I- I don’t know.” Pale Skies was baffled. For some reason she had expected Ice Blue to know everything about Princess Celestia. “Didn’t she visit while your father was in power? Didn’t he… tell you things about her?” Ice Blue rolled her eyes. “As if he ever told me anything important. He didn’t trust anyone but himself, not even his own daughter. He would’ve ruled Maresolus forever if he could’ve.” “It’s as if he wanted to compete with her,” Pale Skies offered. “Could be. It’s sad, really… an ordinary earth pony trying to compete with an alicorn who’s a champion of magic.” Ice Blue sighed hard. Pale Skies thought of something she could say to comfort her. “He… just wanted to be a good leader,” she attempted. Ice Blue looked up and nodded. “Right. That’s right.” “Do you want her to come?” “Do you?” Pale Skies blew some air threw her lips. “Well… I don’t know. But I want to-” she tried to remember her words from her conversation with Finch earlier that day. “-I want to be in balance with the rest of the world.” Ice Blue appeared as confounded by this idea as Finch had been. “In balance with it?” “Some of the things we do, our practices, they seem so…” she looked for the word. “narrow-minded. Too, um, stuck in the past.” “Go on.” “Well… this whole policy of having jobs assigned to us – it just seems unnatural. It seems wrong. We’ve been going so many years basically ignoring what our cutie marks say, and for what?” Pale Skies felt her voice becoming louder and more fervent, but she couldn’t stop herself. “So that we could assume some pre-planned role in the society of Maresolus? And there’s so much else that we aren’t even tapping into! I know we don’t have many unicorns here, but I’m sure they want to access magic beyond simple telekinesis. And pegasi! What if we had pegasi? If we all paid attention to our cutie marks and found our abilities that way, then everyone would fit together the way were meant to. We could be happy!” When Pale Skies was finished, Ice Blue’s mouth was slightly open and her eyebrows raised high. She took a deep breath before she responded. “…And… you think that if Princess Celestia came here, all those things would be… made right?” “It would help,” Pale Skies answered, her voice returning to a normal tone. “It could be a start.” “I don’t…. I don’t know how,” Ice Blue said finally. “I don’t know how we can do any of the things you want.” “Me either,” Pale Skies said, crestfallen. “Perhaps… perhaps it’s time we opened relations with the mainland,” Ice Blue murmured. “Equestria?!” “Yes,” Ice Blue went on, her voice growing in confidence. “Yes. That’s got to be the way. I’ll send an emissary, someone I can trust…” “I’ll go,” Pale Skies heard herself say. Ice Blue beamed. “I was hoping you would volunteer!” “You were?” The leader nodded. “Look, Pale Skies. Look at your cutie mark. Do you know what that is?” “Yes, it’s a spyglass.” “So… unusual,” Ice Blue said wistfully. “I’m not surprised you got the job of Observer. Er… the title of ‘Observer,’ anyway. This mission will be an opportunity for you to really be an observer. Although it will be much more complicated than that. You must understand that you are essentially venturing into the unknown.” Pale Skies felt waves of fear flow over her body. But it was different from what she’d experienced previously, the worrying of letting down her parents or angering her leader; it was a fear that felt good. There must have been a word for it… excitement. “I understand,” Pale Skies said. “I want to do it.” “Then Pale Skies, I hereby declare you as my emissary to Equestria.” Pale Skies smiled and looked up at her leader. Ice Blue said: “I’m scared.” Chapter 2As it turned out, there were many steps that had to be taken before Pale Skies could make her visit to Equestria. It had been years and years – perhaps centuries – since there had been any travel to or from Maresolus, so the island itself wasn’t equipped for voyage. Ice Blue had concluded that travel by hot air balloon would be the preferable choice for a number of reasons: first, it would (as far as she could tell) be marginally easier to construct than a sailing vessel; second, Ice Blue believed it could be accomplished secretly, or at least more covertly than sending out a ship would be. Even beyond that there were more ramifications involved: Pale Skies was forbidden from telling anyone about her expedition – only her own parents were permitted to know, and Pale Skies would have to ensure that they told nopony else. Although Pale Skies wanted badly to tell Finch about her “mission,” it was certainly not an option, and she kept her mouth shut. ♦ Pale Skies began visiting Ice Blue at the capital residence several times per week in preparation. It was during these meetings that it became clear that although Ice Blue indeed knew no more of Equestria or Princess Celestia than any average Maresolan pony, she did have access to knowledge that was publicly unavailable. “Welcome to the archives,” Ice Blue said. Her unicorn horn glowed white as she retrieved a key and used it to open a locked drawer in her office. She removed the drawer’s only contents (a single folder) and placed it on the desktop. “To make a long story short, this is all the information – on paper, at least – that Seafoam deliberately withheld from the citizens of Maresolus.” Pale Skies gingerly opened the folder and pulled out one of the papers inside: it was a diagram explaining how to construct a hot air balloon. “This is exactly what we need!” She exclaimed, but then stopped and thought for a moment. “You knew this was here.” “Daddy didn’t tell me everything he knew… far from it. But he did tell me a few things,” Ice Blue explained. “He wasn’t even fully honest with me, though. When I was a filly he brought me in here and said these documents were ‘dangerous…’ He showed me this very diagram, and he said, ‘Ice Blue, Maresolus is like a puzzle. With one of us missing, it wouldn’t be complete. We have to ensure that no one disrupts that puzzle.’” “Every government has its secrets,” Pale Skies admitted, though it felt strange to say. “But stuff like this? It should be common knowledge. We-” Ice Blue cut her off. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” she said resolutely. Pale Skies did not argue. The construction of the hot air balloon was a slow but steady process. Ice Blue sent Pale Skies out to procure the supplies, while she herself built the balloon. Her work was of just passable quality, although there were several occasions where parts of the vehicle that she initially built incorrectly and had to be redone. “Well, my cutie mark isn’t a hammer and nails,” Ice Blue sheepishly defended herself. By the time the balloon was finished, though, it looked decent and usable; the nicest part was the design, as Ice Blue had painted her actual cutie mark on the balloon. “Just a signature of my work,” she said. “Though I doubt there will be much else.” ♦ The time for launch was set for very, very early morning (or quite late at night). Ice Blue had deduced that this would be the best time because everypony would still be fast asleep, and this was true – save for Thundercloud and Calm Breeze, who awoke early to say goodbye to their daughter. “If you never come back—” Calm Breeze started. “I’ll come back,” Pale Skies assured. “If you run into danger—” Thundercloud attempted. “I’ll protect myself,” Pale Skies assured again. She gave her baby brother a kiss on the top of the head, and he only briefly stirred in his slumber in response. Her parents had packed her saddle bags, although Pale Skies ended up having to remove almost half the contents just so they would be light enough to carry. “It’ll be alright,” were the last words she said to them before exiting the house. But as she walked to the launch site, Pale Skies knew in her heart that she had doubts that it really would be alright at all. And yet… her feeling of duty seemed to cover everything else. In a sense, Pale Skies felt that she was doing something that was really right for her in a way that her “Observer” job was not. She was scared, but she was doing something incredible, something that she would be proud of. “Be brave, dear,” Calm Breeze called as Pale Skies trotted away. “I will,” her daughter replied. “I’ve got no other choice.” When Pale Skies reached the launch site, Ice Blue was already there, pacing nervously. “You’re here,” she said, sounding relieved. She looked exhausted and just as nervous as Pale Skies. “And you’re sure no one saw you or followed you?” “I’m sure.” “Good.” Pale Skies climbed into the basket of the hot air balloon and tried to get comfortable. She wondered how long she’d be in there… hopefully she’d have enough food. But considering how heavy her saddle bags still were, she figured there was probably enough to last several days, and she knew her trip wouldn’t be that lengthy. “Before you go, there’s something I’d like to give you,” Ice Blue said. Pale Skies was surprised. “Oh… really?” “Here.” Ice Blue presented her with a gold spyglass. “You know how to use this, don’t you?” She smiled weakly. “Well… I think so.” “I believe you’ll find it will come in handy,” Ice Blue went on. “Trust your cutie mark. And trust yourself, Pale Skies. Nopony knows it yet, but they’re all counting on you.” She paused. “So am I.” And with that, Ice Blue cut the sandbags attached to the hot air balloon, setting it free into the dark sky. Pale Skies looked down as she flew up and Ice Blue’s figure became a dot of blue on green. Pale Skies waved and waved, but then the land was obscured by the clouds, and she was moving. Ice Blue included a compass in the basket, and there was also a document explaining how the balloon could be controlled, which Pale Skies assumed had been retrieved from the so-called archives. Looking at the compass, Pale Skies could see that she was headed eastward, the correct direction. As Ice Blue had predicted, the winds were heading towards Equestria, meaning the balloon would head that way as well. The height of the balloon was controlled by heat, and it seemed simple enough to use, thus a tiny part of Pale Skies’ fear was alleviated. As the balloon traveled at a rather sluggish pace, Pale Skies took the opportunity to take in the surroundings. “So this is what I was named for,” she observed, although the sky was far from pale at the moment. Rather, it was a deep purply color, and it was dotted some stars, although some had already disappeared after the peak of nighttime had passed. Pale Skies couldn’t see anything in the distance, although she was flanked by clouds, and the lack of light was obviously hindering her sight. She tried to keep her eyes focused on what lay ahead, and she imagined what Equestria might look like from a distance: perhaps it would be covered with ponies dancing in happiness? Or maybe there would be glowing spots all over the land from all the magic being practiced. There would probably be plenty of pegasi flying about, playing games and… doing whatever it was pegasi did. Perhaps she could even see Princess Celestia? Though Pale Skies doubted she’d be able to identify her just from looks. But it was so late at night… and suddenly the interior of the hot air balloon’s basket felt as comfortable as the soft mattress Pale Skies slept on at home. If she could just rest for a minute, it would make things so much better. Just fifteen minutes would be fine. She wouldn’t miss Equestria, she wouldn’t. Pale Skies felt her eyes slowly close shut. She lay down. She slept. When Pale Skies opened her eyes, she initially felt terror. She most certainly was not in her bed; in fact, she was in some sort of moving basket! What was going on?! Why was she- Pale Skies quickly regained her senses and remembered that she was merely in her hot air balloon on the way to Equestria. Then, suddenly, another terror took over. She’d fallen asleep! For how long? It had probably been no fewer than six hours, and by now she could possibly have missed her target completely. Pale Skies looked down to see if she could make anything out on the ground, and lo and behold: it was land! This wasn’t the turquoise terrain of Maresolus with its yellowy beaches, though; this land was a bright green color, with small multicolored dots dashing about. Feeling a sudden wave of excitement take over her fear, Pale Skies realized that these little dots were very likely other ponies. In the back of her mind, she knew that there was a chance she had stumbled into a country inhabited by other creatures, but even in her nervous state Pale Skies was able to deduce this theory as improbable. In a flash of inspiration, Pale Skies opened a vent in the balloon, allowing the warm air beneath it to gradually escape. As a result, the hot air balloon began to descend at a slow pace, ensuring that the vehicle itself as well as its contents would land in perfect condition. As Pale Skies got closer to the ground, the environment became clearer: there were many buildings, much larger and sturdier looking than anything on Maresolus, and the ground seemed to be smoothed over somehow with dull gray. Pale Skies could see plenty of other ponies walking around: earth ponies like herself, unicorns, and even pegasi, walking and talking and mostly appearing quite pleased. Some of them glanced up at her balloon but they just smiled and looked away, getting on with whatever they’d been on their way to do. Thus, Pale Skies’ balloon landed uninterrupted on a patch of grass, barely missing some trees. Cautiously, Pale Skies exited the balloon, deflating it so that it wouldn’t fly away without her. She stood next to it for a moment, scanning the surroundings from ground level. The only comparisons between Maresolus and this land were altogether vague: it was obvious that some of the buildings were residences, but they looked nothing like Pale Skies’ own home, the beach hut she shared with her parents and brother that was one of hundreds in Maresolus’ Southern Region. Further, they were brightly colored and each one was completely unique, quite the opposite from any of the lodging in Maresolus. Unsure of what to do or where she was, Pale Skies thought she might try to find the leader of this place, since he or she might be able to direct her forward. Pale Skies gave her balloon one last glance and started off in no particular direction. As she trotted, she looked around at the ponies that lived in this place. Most of the residents of Maresolus were muted shades of blue, green or gray, but here there were ponies with stunningly bright-colored coats all over the spectrum. As she looked around, Pale Skies suddenly felt her head collide with somepony else’s. Pale Skies instantly recoiled in pain and fear. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.” She had no idea if this other pony would even understand her language, but it was her first instinct to apologize. Pale Skies peered up at the pony she had bumped into; it was a unicorn with a gorgeous purple coat. “That’s alright,” the unicorn replied. Her horn glowed much brighter than Pale Skies had ever seen as she used magic to pick up her book that had fallen in the collision. “I think it was my fault, too. I shouldn’t really read and walk.” The unicorn smiled, and then took a look at Pale Skies’ face. “Hm… I don’t think we’ve met. Did you arrive in that balloon?” Pale Skies looked behind her; the balloon still lay on the grass untouched. “Oh, yes. I did.” “Well, welcome to Ponyville,” the purple unicorn said warmly. “I’m Twilight Sparkle.” “My name’s Pale Skies,” came the reply, and the two shook hooves. “So this is Ponyville… hm… are we in Equestria?” Twilight Sparkle smiled confusedly. “Yes, of course.” “So I made it!” Pale Skies beamed. “Are you… not from here?” “No, no. I’m not from Equestria at all. In fact, I’ve never been here,” Pale Skies replied merrily. She gave the scene another look around. “But I’m definitely liking it so far.” “Really? Well, where are you from, then?” Twilight Sparkle said, still sounding friendly but now a bit perplexed. “I’m from Maresolus,” Pale Skies answered. “What?” “I’m from Maresolus.” Twilight Sparkle blinked. “Sorry, you’re from where?” “Maresolus,” Pale Skies said it slowly that time. “I guess I just haven’t heard of it,” Twilight Sparkle said, although she obviously was not satisfied with that. “I’ll have to check on my map… well, would you like to come with me? The Ponyville Library is a sight to see!” “Yes, sounds good!” Pale Skies was very pleased that she had managed to form at least a tiny connection with someone in Equestria, and if this Twilight Sparkle pony was a fan of the library, she might just have access to information that could help Pale Skies. Though nothing was sure, yet. ♦ Pale Skies found the Ponyville Library, in a word, impressive. It was about twice as large as the library in the Central Region of Maresolus, and moreover, its books appeared to be much thicker. They had only been there for a few moments before Twilight Sparkle’s horn was aglow as she pulled a volume out of one of the shelves and placed it onto a lectern. Pale Skies gingerly trailed behind, although she tried not to draw any attention to herself so as not to distract Twilight Sparkle. “I’m not seeing any place called Maresolus,” Twilight Sparkle announced. She didn’t sound accusatory, only baffled. “Um, maybe I can show you,” Pale Skies shyly volunteered. She walked over and looked closely at the book; the pages showed a large map, and a title on top read “The Known Lands.” Pale Skies knew that Equestria was east of Maresolus, so she located Equestria and then looked to the left. “Oh, here it is,” she said. “It’s right there.” Twilight Sparkle looked closely at the spot Pale Skies was indicating: a tiny island, westward of Equestria. It was unnamed on the map. “That’s where you’re from?” she asked. There was undoubtedly a hint of skepticism in her voice. “Yes,” Pale Skies said. “SPIKE!” Twilight Sparkle yelled suddenly. “Come down here, I need your help!” A moment later, a green and purple creature came down the steps. Pale Skies pushed herself to recall her wildlife studies from her youth, and realized that this “Spike” was in fact a baby dragon. “You let a dragon live with you?” she asked, surprise and mild revulsion in her voice. Spike raised an eyebrow. “And who’s this?” he said, obviously not pleased. “Spike, this is Pale Skies. She’s not from here. I think she might be a little lost,” Twilight Sparkle said authoritatively. “But I’m trying to learn more about where she’s from and I need your help to find some books.” “Sorry if I insulted you,” Pale Skies quickly added. “In my homeland we don’t really have dragons… I mean, we don’t know much about them. I didn’t know they could talk and that they were… um, civilized. But if you’re a friend of Twilight Sparkle’s I am sure you’re a very good dragon,” she said, feeling awkward. Though this was evidently the right thing to say, as it elicited pleased expressions from both Spike and Twilight Sparkle. “Well, alright then,” Spike said. Then, to Twilight Sparkle, he asked: “So what book are we looking for?” “Anything that mentions ‘Maresolus.’” “Got it.” “Well, I don’t know how long this will take, Pale Skies, so why don’t you just get comfortable? You might want to take off your saddle bags, too.” “Oh, thanks,” Pale Skies said. She hadn’t even realized she’d been carrying them, and it felt good to remove the weight from her back. As she sat and watched Spike and Twilight Sparkle go through the library’s books, it occurred to her that the reason why this research was necessary and Twilight Sparkle could not merely ask her for information on Maresolus was because there was no real reason for anyone in Ponyville to trust Pale Skies yet. And if no information about Maresolus turned up in any of the books, it would appear that Pale Skies was some sort of liar or pretender, acting as if she’d come from some faraway land that in fact did not exist. Oh, please let them find something… Pale Skies thought to herself. “Aha!” Twilight exclaimed. Chapter 3“Here we are triumphantly announced. “I’ve found a few pages about Maresolus in here.” “That’s great,” Pale Skies said, relieved. “What’s the book called?” Pale Skies ventured. “Forgotten Realms,” the purple unicorn answered. “Let’s see what it says… ‘Maresolus is a small island west of Equestria. Decades prior to this writing, it closed all its harbors and initially limited, then outright prohibited travel to or from the island. During this period of self-isolation, Maresolus was briefly visited by Princess Celestia, but she was not welcomed by the island’s residents and they are believed not to view her as a ruler in favor of their own national leader, Seafoam, an aging unicorn. It appears that sovereignty is familial, so it can be assumed that after Seafoam’s passing, leadership will be passed on to his only child, a daughter whose name is at present not known to the author.’” “Ice Blue,” Pale Skies supplemented. “Her name is Ice Blue. She’s the one who sent me here. Is there any more, Twilight Sparkle?” She turned the page magically. “You can just call me Twilight… and oh yeah, there’s a little more. ‘Very little is known about the culture of Maresolus, though there has been some speculation by prominent scholars in Equestria. It is likely that a strong sense of nationalism is pervasive in Maresolus philosophy, which would be consistent with typical behavior of a country whose borders are so tightly sealed. Furthermore, because of the emphasis on local rule and the rejection of our princesses, it has been suggested that Maresolus’ government may be entirely authoritarian.” Pale Skies blinked. “How did they figure all that stuff out?” she wondered aloud. “Is it all true?” Spike seemed impressed too. “Yeah! And it goes beyond that,” Pale Skies said. “I mean, Ice Blue is going to try to change some of this stuff, but… well, right now there’s the problem of information being sort of limited. Like in school we don’t learn too much about the world outside Maresolus. Most ponies there don’t even know who Princess Celestia is, and those who’ve heard of her probably think of her as a myth.” Spike’s mouth was slightly ajar, and Twilight looked like she’d just been hoofed in the gut. Pale Skies couldn’t help but go on; it felt great to let all this out. “The importance of cutie marks has really been ignored, too. After our marks appeared, Seafoam looked at them and then gave us our jobs that were supposed to be based on them. Like, for me, since my cutie mark is a spyglass, he said my job was Observer, that I was supposed to watch out for incoming tides. Most of the time I just ended up clearing the beaches. Me and all the other ponies who had worthless job titles.” Spike scratched his head. “But… why?” Pale Skies shrugged. “That’s so… wrong,” Twilight declared. “It’s unnatural and cruel.” “Sorry to interrupt but, um, when you were reading from that book, you said ‘princesses’? Does that mean there are more princesses besides Prince Celestia?” Twilight looked happy again. “Yes! There’s Princess Cadance, who presides over the Crystal Empire, and Princess Celestia’s sister, Luna, who rules over the night.” “And they’re all real?” Pale Skies said, dumbfounded. “All these princesses are absolutely real ponies, not just some stories that parents tell their foals?” “Of course they’re real!” Spike interjected. “Twilight is actually Princess Celestia’s best student.” Pale Skies felt a burst of excitement inside her. It was all real! Equestria, pregasi, Princess Celestia, they were all completely actual, all reachable. “So you could help me meet her?” Pale Skies asked Twilight. “Oh… um… well. I’m not sure. I mean, I don’t exactly just drop on by whenever I want. But I could try sending her a letter; I’m sure she’d be interested in your situation…. Spike?” “I’m already on it!” Spike announced, now holding a piece of paper and quill. “Dear Princess Celestia… here in Ponyville we’ve had a visitor today. She calls herself Pale Skies and comes from the island of Maresolus, and it seems that she’d really appreciate a chance to speak with you. As always, your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Pale Skies watched as Spike “sent” the letter off with a blow of green fire and purply smoke. She privately wished there were some way she could update Ice Blue on her own progress, and as a way to assure her parents that she was still alive, but for the moment she would have to settle. “So… now what?” Pale Skies asked, trying to sound as gracious as she could. “Well, we’ve just got to wait to hear back from her. Sometimes it takes a while… she is busy, you know.” “Oh, yeah, of course!” Pale Skies nodded quickly. “So what have you got in here?” Spike asked, checking out Pale Skies’ saddlebags. “Any gems, maybe?” “My parents packed it, and I haven’t actually looked myself, so I don’t really know,” Pale Skies said with a shrug. “But I can’t see any reason why they’d pack gems. They’d just weigh me down… and I’m not sure what I’d do with them here!” “He eats them,” Twilight explained. “Spike… eats gems?” Pale Skies, trying to wrap her mind around this bizarre idea. “I sure do,” Spike said, licking his lips. “Well… I guess we might as well have a look!” Pale Skies said, opening her saddle bags. Twilight and Spike looked inside, and they all started pulling things out. Spike removed a lunch bag and opened it up: it was a vegetable sandwich, obviously no longer totally fresh but still probably edible. No gems inside, unfortunately. Pale Skies reached in and pulled out the spyglass Ice Blue had given her, but then quickly put it back. With a glow of magic, Twilight removed a map. Pale Skies looked it over; it was a familiar image, the geography of Maresolus. She’d studied it plenty in school, and like most ponies, was able to draw a rough sketch of it merely from memory. In fact, she guessed that this particular map had been made by her mother, recognizing her handwriting. “Wow!” Twilight exclaimed. “This is great!” “Where do you live?” Spike asked. “Oh, well, you see those pale beige areas? They’re beaches. The big one at the bottom is called the Great Lower Beach, and a lot of us live in huts down there.” Pale Skies pointed to a spot on the beach. “I guess my home would probably be right about here.” “What are these different regions? And what are the other colors?” Twilight asked, looking enthusiastic. “Okay, so… each region sort of specializes in something different,” Pale Skies explained, trying be as eloquent as she could. “The Southern Region, where I live, we specialize in fishing, mostly. But you see, the yellow areas are planting grounds, so we also have some fields – a lot of wheat. Not all of it is for food; we use wheat when we make our bricks, of course, so that’s another thing we specialize in as a region.” Pale Skies cleared her throat. “Now, the Western Region above us, they plant a lot more, so there’s more variety, and up there it’s all about food production. There’s fisheries there, too, and also bakeries, and a lot of farmhouses. So, yeah… food stuff, generally, I guess.” Pale Skies laughed a little at her own clumsiness. “The Central Region is… community things, I guess I’d say. You’ve got the school there, the library, the capital residence, of course, and the meeting rock, where the leader makes announcements. If you take a look at the brown area, that’s rock. You can see there’s a lot in the Eastern Region, and that’s where we have our quarries. The larger one is a slate quarry, and we use that for buildings, and then the smaller one is a gemstone quarry.” “Aha! So you do have gems there,” Spike sounded triumphant and relieved. Pale Skies smiled and nodded. “Yeah! They’re used in… well, some ponies use them to decorate their homes, I think. We don’t go in much for that in the Southern Region, but it’s not as if a lot of gems make it down there, anyway. To be honest, I’m not even sure why they bother to mine them, but I guess it’s better than having them just sit around.” “I see there’s planting in the Eastern Region too,” Twilight observed. “Yes, that’s mostly fruit trees, I think,” Pale Skies said. “I wish they’d plant more of those, though. There’s nothing I love more than a big, fresh, juicy apple.” A small smile grew on Twilight’s face. “I know somepony who could help with that!” ♦ Sweet Apple Acres was the first place in Ponyville that looked sort of familiar to Pale Skies. The rows of fruit trees and smell of dirt certainly hit a lot closer to home than the stylized houses she’d seen earlier. “This place reminds me of this time when I was a filly and my parents took me to one of the orchards in the Eastern Region,” Pale Skies said, smiling as she and Twilight trotted. “Is this what it’s like there?” Twilight asked. “No, this is much nicer… there’s no smell of slate mixed in with the fruit,” Pale Skies answered, laughing lightly. “And it’s also surprisingly empty here,” she added. “Oh, Applejack is here, I’m sure of it!” They walked deeper into the Acres, past the barn, and there Pale Skies saw an orange pony with a bright blonde mane in a ponytail. She was playing a game of catch with a small dog, and they both seemed to be having a pretty great time. Pale Skies felt a bit bad for interrupting them. “Applejack! Hi!” Twilight exclaimed. The orange pony (who was evidently Applejack) put the ball down and turned around. “Hi there, Twilight,” she said. Pale Skies was surprised at this pony’s unusual way of speaking; her language was the same, but she pronounced things differently. Everyone in Maresolus had essentially the same accent, and Applejack’s was unlike anything Pale Skies had heard. “This is my new friend, Pale Skies,” Twilight explained. “She comes from an island.” “Well, it’s mighty nice to meet you,” Applejack said. “As you probably figured, my name is Applejack and this here is Sweet Apple Acres, owned by my very own family. Now, uh, Twilight said you were from some island? That sure sounds interestin.” “It’s a little bit complicated…” Pale Skies started. “My home country is called Maresolus, and we haven’t really had any contact with the outside world for… well, for a long time. I’m actually kind of on a mission; I was sent here in a hot air balloon by the leader of Maresolus.” Applejack’s eyes widened. “That… sounds a mite scary, Pale Skies. I’m glad you made it. What’s it like over there, anyway? You got any farms like this one?” “Not like this,” Pale Skies said. “I only wish ours were this nice!” “I sure ain’t gonna boast, but the Apple family does pride itself on takin’ care of our land,” Applejack said, beaming. “What else do you grow here?” “Oh… well, it’s just apples.” “So you have other farmland, then?” “Yep!” Twilight answered. “But I brought you here so you could have a chance to meet Applejack and try some of our best Ponyville fruit!” ♦ By the time Pale Skies and Twilight returned to the library, they were both stuffed with apples and other various treats made from the fruit. In truth, Pale Skies had indulged a lot more than Twilight, and she was now sort of trudging along while her unicorn companion was as perky and inquisitive as ever. “I’ve never tasted stuff like that before,” Pale Skies said dreamily. “Oh, really? What do you eat there?” “A lot of fish… if we had a national food, it would probably be sardines. We eat a lot of bread, and vegetables… some fruit, though not too much makes it to the Southern Region most of the time.” “Well, rest assured there’s plenty of fruit here!” Twilight said. “Though it’s true that apples are kind of the preferred crop.” “I feel exhausted,” Pale Skies said with a yawn. “You can stay with me for a while,” Twilight said as they reentered the library. “There’s a guest bed upstairs!” “Really?” Pale Skies laughed a little. “Are you so nice to every stranger who drops in in a hot air balloon?” “Sure… as long as she isn’t bent on proving her magical superiority over everypony else,” Twilight said, recalling a previous stranger who had randomly showed up in town. “Well…” Pale Skies motioned to her forehead, which was of course, free of a unicorn horn. “You don’t have to worry about that happening with me… though I’m not really sure what you mean.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “It’s a long story.” They headed upstairs to the living quarters of the library, where Twilight’s bed, the presumable guest bed, and Spike’s bed were. There were also plenty more books there. By the time they arrived, Spike was already asleep, snoring lightly and sucking on his thumb. He wasn’t really scary at all, Pale Skies decided. “Well,” Twilight said. “I guess we might as well turn in for today. This certainly has been an eventful one!” They both climbed into bed. Pale Skies was surprised at how comfortable the mattress was; she wondered if it were filled with straw, like the ones at home, but then it seemed as if nothing in Ponyville was the way it was in Maresolus. Ponies acted happy just to be there, and there also seemed to somehow be far less work to be done. Pale Skies hadn’t yet explored everything that she wanted to, and of course there was the greater task in the distance of meeting Princess Celestia. But it seemed as if she’d done all she could for that day, and since the letter was already off to the princess, there was nothing left but to wait, just as Twilight had said. Of course, falling asleep didn’t come easy. Sleeping in somepony else’s bed was probably a little weird for everypony, even though the bed was actually nicer than what she was used to. But it was still so different: Ponyville’s night was silent, without the scent of sea or the sound of waves hitting the rocks. It wasn’t unpleasant, not at all, but again, Pale Skies was fascinated by the difference. She looked upward, and the ceiling was thick and sturdy, not like the sparsely-laid slate that made up the roof of her parents’ beach hut. As Pale Skies lay there, she wondered about Princess Celestia. It was still incredible to her that Twilight could have such a direct link with this figure, and she wondered what she’d be like. She recalled the stories her parents had told her, and the descriptions of Princess Celestia therein: she was a very tall, white pony, who had wings like a pegacorn but also a horn like a unicorn. These were the traits about Princess Celestia that Pale Skies remembered most, though she still found it hard to believe that such a pony could exist. Then again, Pale Skies had to admit to herself that she had previously had private doubts about the existence of even pegasi, but after arriving in Ponyville they had been easily and swiftly disproven. But then, wasn’t Twilight’s communication with Princess Celestia proof enough of her existence? Yes, but it didn’t confirm all the stories that Pale Skies had heard about her. Well, she would just have meet Princess Celestia for herself and find out.
Chapter 1“It is with great sorrow that I announce the passing of our leader.” Ice Blue stood atop the meeting rock and stared down at the large collection of ponies who had amassed below it. “It was today, five in the afternoon, when our beloved Seafoam breathed his last.” There were a few gasps – albeit seemingly mixed with several sighs of relief. Seafoam’s impending death had been obvious, at least to the grown ponies of the village, and Ice Blue had used all her power to make it into a community issue, not least because Seafoam was indeed her own father. Pale Skies felt her younger brother grasp at her foreleg and she looked down to comfort him, placing a hoof on his head. He didn’t understand, none of the foals did; it must have been difficult to tell what to feel since the looks on the faces of all the ponies in the crowd were so varied. Ice Blue herself looked distraught and pained – as one who had just lost a parent would tend to. As Seafoam’s only child, she was next in line for position as leader, which had generated mixed responses; Ice Blue was young, inexperienced, and hardly appeared confident about taking the position of duty. And yet this was exactly why many of the younger ponies among Pale Skies’ age felt that she would be a successful leader. It seemed at times that Seafoam had been in power for a virtual eternity, and quite a number of the ponies of Pale Skies’ generation had complained that he had made no effort to adapt as time had moved forward and culture had grown. In his young daughter Ice Blue, these ponies saw someone who was closer to them, might be more willing to listen to their ideas, and truly improve life. ♦ They lived on an island. Maresolus was its name, and Pale Skies remembered learning that this name meant “alone in the sea,” supposedly in some forgotten ancient language. There was also the rather humorous legend that the island had been discovered by a mare named Solus, and she could think of no better way to mark her territory than with her identity. As far as Pale Skies had been taught, nopony really knew where the population of Maresolus had come from; a popular idea was that the original ponies who’d founded the island had been pegasi, since they would have been physically capable of reaching the isolated land before the invention of boats. But if there ever had been pegasi living on Maresolus, they evidently hadn’t stayed long, since the island’s occupants now consisted of a great majority of earth ponies with a few unicorns, including Seafoam and Ice Blue’s family line. Pale Skies’ father, Thundercloud, once told her of a visit to Maresolus by one Princess Celestia, a pony who was supposedly majestically tall and had both a unicorn horn and wings like a pegasus, and apparently ruled over the entirety of the world. It was said that she possessed incredible magic and aged at an extremely slow rate, much to the fascination of the ponies of Maresolus. Thundercloud explained that Princess Celestia had allegedly visited the island in order to recruit students, but the reception had been a cool one. Pale Skies remembered sitting on the floor in their beach hut while her mother, Calm Breeze, prepared fruit for dinner. “Seafoam told her, ‘While we acknowledge and respect your royalty, we here on Maresolus prefer to be left alone.’ Can you believe that? He actually told Princess Celestia to leave!” Thundercloud exclaimed. “Oh, goodness, are you telling her that story again? I’ve asked you not to talk about it. That was a long time ago,” Calm Breeze said. She sounded sad. “Look, it’s relevant in our island’s history,” Thundercloud replied. “I don’t know if Seafoam is even going to include it in their curriculum. He probably doesn’t want them to be aware that there are any superiors above him.” Calm Breeze thought this over. “Yes, I guess you are right,” she murmured. Then she came in from the kitchen and sat down with them for a moment. “I recall it too… she was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Like something out of a dream. She was so kind to us, but I remember… my parents were scared. They told me that she couldn’t understand us, that we could only trust one of our own.” “The false prophet, they called her,” Thundercloud added. “Yes…” Calm Breeze looked like she was on the verge of tears, so Pale Skies quickly trotted over and hugged her. “Thank you, darling. I’m alright. This was many years ago; I was younger than you are now.” Pale Skies had been a filly at the time, old enough to be out of diapers and understand language, but certainly far from being capable of fully comprehending the weight of the tale her parents were telling. “She wasn’t even angry when Seafoam asked her to leave,” Calm Breeze went on. “Just…” she trailed off. “Disappointed,” Thundercloud finished the sentence. “She could easily have done anything; she obviously had a great deal of magical power, but she didn’t. All she said was, ‘If that’s truly what you believe is best for your ponies, I will not deny it.’ And then she left. I doubt she’ll ever return.” To this day, Pale Skies remembered the story. It seemed impossible, in a way, but she liked to believe it; she liked believing that there was some mystical tall pony with wings and a horn who could open the door to a life of enlightenment. It wasn’t that life on Maresolus was bad, exactly, it was just – empty. There was always a great deal of work to be done, since everypony was considered responsible for the upkeep of the island and its community. Each pony was assigned a role by the leader after the appearance of his or her cutie mark, although the greater part of jobs involved some form of labor. Pale Skies’ cutie mark was a spyglass, and upon seeing it Seafoam had described it as “impressive.” Even though he didn’t exactly sound happy about it, Calm Breeze and Thundercloud had been visibly proud. Thus, Pale Skies was allotted the job of “Observer,” which was in effect just a title that matched with her cutie mark. Her task, ostensibly, was to check the beaches for incoming unexpected tides, but since they could be tracked quite well, Pale Skies usually spent her time cleaning up debris that washed up onshore. It was dull, dull work, but then it was easy – far preferable to the career of “boulder management.” Pale Skies often found herself wondering if this was simply how life was; mostly planned by others, with every pony having an assured, assigned place in the world. Life was something to be endured, and leisure something to be savored. Perhaps there was some small chance that things could be changed under the rule of Ice Blue, but Pale Skies found herself having a difficult time imagining life a different way. Time would tell. ♦ Pale Skies’ closest friend was Finch, a male earth pony whose cutie mark showed a crooning songbird. It had been determined by Seafoam that the appropriate job for him, then, was to work as a regional guard, since his cutie mark seemed to indicate a talent for alerting others to danger. In retrospect, both Pale Skies and Finch agreed that this interpretation was laughable, but challenging it publicly would have meant humiliation, and besides, Finch was decent at his job. In truth, for the most part Finch did nothing, but if a ship appeared to be approaching from the south (Finch lived in the Southern Region, like Pale Skies, and thus worked at the southern guard post) then he was to turn them away “if not meeting qualifications.” Essentially what this amounted to was refusing all vessels: the qualifications for accepting a ship were that its passengers were residents of Maresolus, but since leaving the island was basically impossible, no ships were able to be eligible. For a while, it seemed to not yet have occurred to Seafoam that he had created a job doing nothing, and the guard posts around the island effectually became nothing more than hangout spots. But somehow he got wind of the situation, and instituted a new policy: several times per week at random intervals, Seafoam would “investigate” one of the four guard posts on the island, and whomsoever was found to be doing an inadequate job would be reassigned to work in the quarry. Finch was dedicated and optimistic about his work, and this was part of the reason that Pale Skies enjoyed being with him; he renewed her own sense of faith in life. They spent time together whenever they had the chance – if Pale Skies managed to clear the beach or early, or if Finch saw an opportunity to slip away for a while. Today they had met up particularly at Pale Skies’ request; she was eager to discuss her thoughts on Ice Blue’s ascension to leader and she wondered how Finch felt about it, too. They sat on the sand of Unity Beach in the western region of Maresolus where Pale Skies did her work. The two were far from alone; there were plenty of other workers who, like Pale Skies, had been assigned jobs with prestigious titles but whose actual job amounted to cleanup. Finch and Pale Skies found a spot that was relatively clean and not too busy and situated themselves there. “Do you really think she can change things?” Pale Skies ventured. “Change things how?” Pale Skies tried to find the words. “It just seems like… I don’t know. It’s like we’re out of balance with the rest of the world.” Finch looked genuinely perplexed. “Out of balance? What do you mean by that?” “Look, Maresolus is a great country… well, it’s better than some others, I suppose… but there’s a whole world of other countries, other cultures, and other ponies…” Finch put his hoof on his friend’s shoulder. “I know. But they wouldn’t understand us, Pale Skies, you know that.” “Right, but… don’t you feel like they could? Like they could understand us, if we worked with them and talked about things.” Finch seemed to be thinking this through for a few moments. “Are you unhappy?” he said, finally. “Well, I just think that maybe we need to change some of our ways. I mean, you and I do nothing all day. And why? Because we’ve been assigned jobs by our leader. The truth in our cutie marks is disregarded…” “What ‘truth’?” “Look. Look at your cutie mark: it’s a singing bird. So why are you working as a guard? Because Seafoam said that makes sense? None of us are putting our real talents to use! We’re all just doing simple, mindless labor…” Pale Skies trailed off. Finch opened his mouth, then closed it. He furrowed his brow, and then looked up at Pale Skies. She was prepared to hear the worst; she was prepared to hear that he no longer trusted her as a friend, or something even more painful than that – but instead, Finch said, “Well, maybe you could talk to Ice Blue.” ♦ “I’m glad you came,” was the first thing Ice Blue said. Pale Skies could see that her new leader didn’t look very glad; Ice Blue still appeared beat up from her father’s death only a week previously. In a way, though, Ice Blue was quite beautiful: she was only a few years older than Pale Skies and Finch but was somewhat taller, and it was impossible not to notice her beautiful unicorn horn, a true rarity on Maresolus. “You are?” Pale Skies asked, rather taken aback at the response. “No one’s come to see me yet,” Ice Blue answered and gave a hollow laugh. “After I made the announcement of my father’s death, everyone knew I was next in line, and that was it.” She paused and took a breath. “Anyway, I suppose it doesn’t matter. It’s not as if I was looking forward to a great ceremony or something.” “Ponies didn’t generally come visit Seafoam,” Pale Skies said quietly. “I’m sure every pony assumes the same social protocol is in place.” She felt meek and scared, though she didn’t know why; Ice Blue was no elder, and besides that, she seemed fragile. To avoid catching her new leader’s eye, Pale Skies glanced at her cutie mark: it appeared to be a bright blue shooting star. Ice Blue followed Pale Skies’ gaze. “Oh, don’t look at that,” she said and quickly covered the mark with a hoof. “I’m sorry…” Pale Skies quickly looked elsewhere. “Why did you come?” Ice Blue said. She had begun to sound defensive, probably recovering from having Pale Skies look at her cutie mark. Pale Skies gulped. In a way, she herself didn’t even know. She had been so impassioned before when talking to Finch, but now much of it had fizzled away. Pale Skies was disappointed in herself for already upsetting the new leader, and she had no desire to continue on that path by unloading a bevy of radical thoughts upon her. “I…” she mumbled. “I have a few ideas.” Ice Blue’s expression softened and a small smile appeared on her face. “I bet you do,” she said, not sarcastically. “You… do?” “I’m sure you’ve got a lot to say.” Ice Blue nodded. “It’s about time, too. This is what I’ve been waiting for. I’ve been dying to get over this period where people are only starting to view me as their leader. There’s work to be done, don’t you think?” Pale Skies felt a few drops of courage fall onto her heart, and she smiled back at the leader. “Yes… I do think,” she replied. “Well, let’s hear,” Ice Blue said. “Um, there’s a lot I want to talk about,” Pale Skies admitted. “Like… work, and our education, and maybe we should invite Princess Cel-” she caught herself and stopped, blushing. Suddenly Ice Blue’s manner changed back to cold and distant. “Say that again,” she demanded. “Our work and education policies…” “Say what you were going to say at the end.” Pale Skies scanned the ground. What would her punishment be for saying Princess Celestia’s name? Would it be better to refuse Ice Blue’s request? No, that couldn’t be. Pale Skies forced out the words in a tiny voice: “Maybe we should invite Princess Celestia to come again.” Ice Blue stayed unsmiling, but her eyes lit up. “So you know about her, too,” she said. “You must’ve heard from your parents.” “They didn’t mean any harm,” Pale Skies said quickly. “Don’t do anything to them. I’ll take any punishment instead of them, they have my younger brother to look after.” Ice Blue seemed not to have heard. “Do you think she’s real?” she asked. She sounded scared or excited. “Can it truly be that there are ponies with wings and a unicorn horn?” “I- I don’t know.” Pale Skies was baffled. For some reason she had expected Ice Blue to know everything about Princess Celestia. “Didn’t she visit while your father was in power? Didn’t he… tell you things about her?” Ice Blue rolled her eyes. “As if he ever told me anything important. He didn’t trust anyone but himself, not even his own daughter. He would’ve ruled Maresolus forever if he could’ve.” “It’s as if he wanted to compete with her,” Pale Skies offered. “Could be. It’s sad, really… an ordinary earth pony trying to compete with an alicorn who’s a champion of magic.” Ice Blue sighed hard. Pale Skies thought of something she could say to comfort her. “He… just wanted to be a good leader,” she attempted. Ice Blue looked up and nodded. “Right. That’s right.” “Do you want her to come?” “Do you?” Pale Skies blew some air threw her lips. “Well… I don’t know. But I want to-” she tried to remember her words from her conversation with Finch earlier that day. “-I want to be in balance with the rest of the world.” Ice Blue appeared as confounded by this idea as Finch had been. “In balance with it?” “Some of the things we do, our practices, they seem so…” she looked for the word. “narrow-minded. Too, um, stuck in the past.” “Go on.” “Well… this whole policy of having jobs assigned to us – it just seems unnatural. It seems wrong. We’ve been going so many years basically ignoring what our cutie marks say, and for what?” Pale Skies felt her voice becoming louder and more fervent, but she couldn’t stop herself. “So that we could assume some pre-planned role in the society of Maresolus? And there’s so much else that we aren’t even tapping into! I know we don’t have many unicorns here, but I’m sure they want to access magic beyond simple telekinesis. And pegasi! What if we had pegasi? If we all paid attention to our cutie marks and found our abilities that way, then everyone would fit together the way were meant to. We could be happy!” When Pale Skies was finished, Ice Blue’s mouth was slightly open and her eyebrows raised high. She took a deep breath before she responded. “…And… you think that if Princess Celestia came here, all those things would be… made right?” “It would help,” Pale Skies answered, her voice returning to a normal tone. “It could be a start.” “I don’t…. I don’t know how,” Ice Blue said finally. “I don’t know how we can do any of the things you want.” “Me either,” Pale Skies said, crestfallen. “Perhaps… perhaps it’s time we opened relations with the mainland,” Ice Blue murmured. “Equestria?!” “Yes,” Ice Blue went on, her voice growing in confidence. “Yes. That’s got to be the way. I’ll send an emissary, someone I can trust…” “I’ll go,” Pale Skies heard herself say. Ice Blue beamed. “I was hoping you would volunteer!” “You were?” The leader nodded. “Look, Pale Skies. Look at your cutie mark. Do you know what that is?” “Yes, it’s a spyglass.” “So… unusual,” Ice Blue said wistfully. “I’m not surprised you got the job of Observer. Er… the title of ‘Observer,’ anyway. This mission will be an opportunity for you to really be an observer. Although it will be much more complicated than that. You must understand that you are essentially venturing into the unknown.” Pale Skies felt waves of fear flow over her body. But it was different from what she’d experienced previously, the worrying of letting down her parents or angering her leader; it was a fear that felt good. There must have been a word for it… excitement. “I understand,” Pale Skies said. “I want to do it.” “Then Pale Skies, I hereby declare you as my emissary to Equestria.” Pale Skies smiled and looked up at her leader. Ice Blue said: “I’m scared.”
Chapter 2As it turned out, there were many steps that had to be taken before Pale Skies could make her visit to Equestria. It had been years and years – perhaps centuries – since there had been any travel to or from Maresolus, so the island itself wasn’t equipped for voyage. Ice Blue had concluded that travel by hot air balloon would be the preferable choice for a number of reasons: first, it would (as far as she could tell) be marginally easier to construct than a sailing vessel; second, Ice Blue believed it could be accomplished secretly, or at least more covertly than sending out a ship would be. Even beyond that there were more ramifications involved: Pale Skies was forbidden from telling anyone about her expedition – only her own parents were permitted to know, and Pale Skies would have to ensure that they told nopony else. Although Pale Skies wanted badly to tell Finch about her “mission,” it was certainly not an option, and she kept her mouth shut. ♦ Pale Skies began visiting Ice Blue at the capital residence several times per week in preparation. It was during these meetings that it became clear that although Ice Blue indeed knew no more of Equestria or Princess Celestia than any average Maresolan pony, she did have access to knowledge that was publicly unavailable. “Welcome to the archives,” Ice Blue said. Her unicorn horn glowed white as she retrieved a key and used it to open a locked drawer in her office. She removed the drawer’s only contents (a single folder) and placed it on the desktop. “To make a long story short, this is all the information – on paper, at least – that Seafoam deliberately withheld from the citizens of Maresolus.” Pale Skies gingerly opened the folder and pulled out one of the papers inside: it was a diagram explaining how to construct a hot air balloon. “This is exactly what we need!” She exclaimed, but then stopped and thought for a moment. “You knew this was here.” “Daddy didn’t tell me everything he knew… far from it. But he did tell me a few things,” Ice Blue explained. “He wasn’t even fully honest with me, though. When I was a filly he brought me in here and said these documents were ‘dangerous…’ He showed me this very diagram, and he said, ‘Ice Blue, Maresolus is like a puzzle. With one of us missing, it wouldn’t be complete. We have to ensure that no one disrupts that puzzle.’” “Every government has its secrets,” Pale Skies admitted, though it felt strange to say. “But stuff like this? It should be common knowledge. We-” Ice Blue cut her off. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” she said resolutely. Pale Skies did not argue. The construction of the hot air balloon was a slow but steady process. Ice Blue sent Pale Skies out to procure the supplies, while she herself built the balloon. Her work was of just passable quality, although there were several occasions where parts of the vehicle that she initially built incorrectly and had to be redone. “Well, my cutie mark isn’t a hammer and nails,” Ice Blue sheepishly defended herself. By the time the balloon was finished, though, it looked decent and usable; the nicest part was the design, as Ice Blue had painted her actual cutie mark on the balloon. “Just a signature of my work,” she said. “Though I doubt there will be much else.” ♦ The time for launch was set for very, very early morning (or quite late at night). Ice Blue had deduced that this would be the best time because everypony would still be fast asleep, and this was true – save for Thundercloud and Calm Breeze, who awoke early to say goodbye to their daughter. “If you never come back—” Calm Breeze started. “I’ll come back,” Pale Skies assured. “If you run into danger—” Thundercloud attempted. “I’ll protect myself,” Pale Skies assured again. She gave her baby brother a kiss on the top of the head, and he only briefly stirred in his slumber in response. Her parents had packed her saddle bags, although Pale Skies ended up having to remove almost half the contents just so they would be light enough to carry. “It’ll be alright,” were the last words she said to them before exiting the house. But as she walked to the launch site, Pale Skies knew in her heart that she had doubts that it really would be alright at all. And yet… her feeling of duty seemed to cover everything else. In a sense, Pale Skies felt that she was doing something that was really right for her in a way that her “Observer” job was not. She was scared, but she was doing something incredible, something that she would be proud of. “Be brave, dear,” Calm Breeze called as Pale Skies trotted away. “I will,” her daughter replied. “I’ve got no other choice.” When Pale Skies reached the launch site, Ice Blue was already there, pacing nervously. “You’re here,” she said, sounding relieved. She looked exhausted and just as nervous as Pale Skies. “And you’re sure no one saw you or followed you?” “I’m sure.” “Good.” Pale Skies climbed into the basket of the hot air balloon and tried to get comfortable. She wondered how long she’d be in there… hopefully she’d have enough food. But considering how heavy her saddle bags still were, she figured there was probably enough to last several days, and she knew her trip wouldn’t be that lengthy. “Before you go, there’s something I’d like to give you,” Ice Blue said. Pale Skies was surprised. “Oh… really?” “Here.” Ice Blue presented her with a gold spyglass. “You know how to use this, don’t you?” She smiled weakly. “Well… I think so.” “I believe you’ll find it will come in handy,” Ice Blue went on. “Trust your cutie mark. And trust yourself, Pale Skies. Nopony knows it yet, but they’re all counting on you.” She paused. “So am I.” And with that, Ice Blue cut the sandbags attached to the hot air balloon, setting it free into the dark sky. Pale Skies looked down as she flew up and Ice Blue’s figure became a dot of blue on green. Pale Skies waved and waved, but then the land was obscured by the clouds, and she was moving. Ice Blue included a compass in the basket, and there was also a document explaining how the balloon could be controlled, which Pale Skies assumed had been retrieved from the so-called archives. Looking at the compass, Pale Skies could see that she was headed eastward, the correct direction. As Ice Blue had predicted, the winds were heading towards Equestria, meaning the balloon would head that way as well. The height of the balloon was controlled by heat, and it seemed simple enough to use, thus a tiny part of Pale Skies’ fear was alleviated. As the balloon traveled at a rather sluggish pace, Pale Skies took the opportunity to take in the surroundings. “So this is what I was named for,” she observed, although the sky was far from pale at the moment. Rather, it was a deep purply color, and it was dotted some stars, although some had already disappeared after the peak of nighttime had passed. Pale Skies couldn’t see anything in the distance, although she was flanked by clouds, and the lack of light was obviously hindering her sight. She tried to keep her eyes focused on what lay ahead, and she imagined what Equestria might look like from a distance: perhaps it would be covered with ponies dancing in happiness? Or maybe there would be glowing spots all over the land from all the magic being practiced. There would probably be plenty of pegasi flying about, playing games and… doing whatever it was pegasi did. Perhaps she could even see Princess Celestia? Though Pale Skies doubted she’d be able to identify her just from looks. But it was so late at night… and suddenly the interior of the hot air balloon’s basket felt as comfortable as the soft mattress Pale Skies slept on at home. If she could just rest for a minute, it would make things so much better. Just fifteen minutes would be fine. She wouldn’t miss Equestria, she wouldn’t. Pale Skies felt her eyes slowly close shut. She lay down. She slept. When Pale Skies opened her eyes, she initially felt terror. She most certainly was not in her bed; in fact, she was in some sort of moving basket! What was going on?! Why was she- Pale Skies quickly regained her senses and remembered that she was merely in her hot air balloon on the way to Equestria. Then, suddenly, another terror took over. She’d fallen asleep! For how long? It had probably been no fewer than six hours, and by now she could possibly have missed her target completely. Pale Skies looked down to see if she could make anything out on the ground, and lo and behold: it was land! This wasn’t the turquoise terrain of Maresolus with its yellowy beaches, though; this land was a bright green color, with small multicolored dots dashing about. Feeling a sudden wave of excitement take over her fear, Pale Skies realized that these little dots were very likely other ponies. In the back of her mind, she knew that there was a chance she had stumbled into a country inhabited by other creatures, but even in her nervous state Pale Skies was able to deduce this theory as improbable. In a flash of inspiration, Pale Skies opened a vent in the balloon, allowing the warm air beneath it to gradually escape. As a result, the hot air balloon began to descend at a slow pace, ensuring that the vehicle itself as well as its contents would land in perfect condition. As Pale Skies got closer to the ground, the environment became clearer: there were many buildings, much larger and sturdier looking than anything on Maresolus, and the ground seemed to be smoothed over somehow with dull gray. Pale Skies could see plenty of other ponies walking around: earth ponies like herself, unicorns, and even pegasi, walking and talking and mostly appearing quite pleased. Some of them glanced up at her balloon but they just smiled and looked away, getting on with whatever they’d been on their way to do. Thus, Pale Skies’ balloon landed uninterrupted on a patch of grass, barely missing some trees. Cautiously, Pale Skies exited the balloon, deflating it so that it wouldn’t fly away without her. She stood next to it for a moment, scanning the surroundings from ground level. The only comparisons between Maresolus and this land were altogether vague: it was obvious that some of the buildings were residences, but they looked nothing like Pale Skies’ own home, the beach hut she shared with her parents and brother that was one of hundreds in Maresolus’ Southern Region. Further, they were brightly colored and each one was completely unique, quite the opposite from any of the lodging in Maresolus. Unsure of what to do or where she was, Pale Skies thought she might try to find the leader of this place, since he or she might be able to direct her forward. Pale Skies gave her balloon one last glance and started off in no particular direction. As she trotted, she looked around at the ponies that lived in this place. Most of the residents of Maresolus were muted shades of blue, green or gray, but here there were ponies with stunningly bright-colored coats all over the spectrum. As she looked around, Pale Skies suddenly felt her head collide with somepony else’s. Pale Skies instantly recoiled in pain and fear. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.” She had no idea if this other pony would even understand her language, but it was her first instinct to apologize. Pale Skies peered up at the pony she had bumped into; it was a unicorn with a gorgeous purple coat. “That’s alright,” the unicorn replied. Her horn glowed much brighter than Pale Skies had ever seen as she used magic to pick up her book that had fallen in the collision. “I think it was my fault, too. I shouldn’t really read and walk.” The unicorn smiled, and then took a look at Pale Skies’ face. “Hm… I don’t think we’ve met. Did you arrive in that balloon?” Pale Skies looked behind her; the balloon still lay on the grass untouched. “Oh, yes. I did.” “Well, welcome to Ponyville,” the purple unicorn said warmly. “I’m Twilight Sparkle.” “My name’s Pale Skies,” came the reply, and the two shook hooves. “So this is Ponyville… hm… are we in Equestria?” Twilight Sparkle smiled confusedly. “Yes, of course.” “So I made it!” Pale Skies beamed. “Are you… not from here?” “No, no. I’m not from Equestria at all. In fact, I’ve never been here,” Pale Skies replied merrily. She gave the scene another look around. “But I’m definitely liking it so far.” “Really? Well, where are you from, then?” Twilight Sparkle said, still sounding friendly but now a bit perplexed. “I’m from Maresolus,” Pale Skies answered. “What?” “I’m from Maresolus.” Twilight Sparkle blinked. “Sorry, you’re from where?” “Maresolus,” Pale Skies said it slowly that time. “I guess I just haven’t heard of it,” Twilight Sparkle said, although she obviously was not satisfied with that. “I’ll have to check on my map… well, would you like to come with me? The Ponyville Library is a sight to see!” “Yes, sounds good!” Pale Skies was very pleased that she had managed to form at least a tiny connection with someone in Equestria, and if this Twilight Sparkle pony was a fan of the library, she might just have access to information that could help Pale Skies. Though nothing was sure, yet. ♦ Pale Skies found the Ponyville Library, in a word, impressive. It was about twice as large as the library in the Central Region of Maresolus, and moreover, its books appeared to be much thicker. They had only been there for a few moments before Twilight Sparkle’s horn was aglow as she pulled a volume out of one of the shelves and placed it onto a lectern. Pale Skies gingerly trailed behind, although she tried not to draw any attention to herself so as not to distract Twilight Sparkle. “I’m not seeing any place called Maresolus,” Twilight Sparkle announced. She didn’t sound accusatory, only baffled. “Um, maybe I can show you,” Pale Skies shyly volunteered. She walked over and looked closely at the book; the pages showed a large map, and a title on top read “The Known Lands.” Pale Skies knew that Equestria was east of Maresolus, so she located Equestria and then looked to the left. “Oh, here it is,” she said. “It’s right there.” Twilight Sparkle looked closely at the spot Pale Skies was indicating: a tiny island, westward of Equestria. It was unnamed on the map. “That’s where you’re from?” she asked. There was undoubtedly a hint of skepticism in her voice. “Yes,” Pale Skies said. “SPIKE!” Twilight Sparkle yelled suddenly. “Come down here, I need your help!” A moment later, a green and purple creature came down the steps. Pale Skies pushed herself to recall her wildlife studies from her youth, and realized that this “Spike” was in fact a baby dragon. “You let a dragon live with you?” she asked, surprise and mild revulsion in her voice. Spike raised an eyebrow. “And who’s this?” he said, obviously not pleased. “Spike, this is Pale Skies. She’s not from here. I think she might be a little lost,” Twilight Sparkle said authoritatively. “But I’m trying to learn more about where she’s from and I need your help to find some books.” “Sorry if I insulted you,” Pale Skies quickly added. “In my homeland we don’t really have dragons… I mean, we don’t know much about them. I didn’t know they could talk and that they were… um, civilized. But if you’re a friend of Twilight Sparkle’s I am sure you’re a very good dragon,” she said, feeling awkward. Though this was evidently the right thing to say, as it elicited pleased expressions from both Spike and Twilight Sparkle. “Well, alright then,” Spike said. Then, to Twilight Sparkle, he asked: “So what book are we looking for?” “Anything that mentions ‘Maresolus.’” “Got it.” “Well, I don’t know how long this will take, Pale Skies, so why don’t you just get comfortable? You might want to take off your saddle bags, too.” “Oh, thanks,” Pale Skies said. She hadn’t even realized she’d been carrying them, and it felt good to remove the weight from her back. As she sat and watched Spike and Twilight Sparkle go through the library’s books, it occurred to her that the reason why this research was necessary and Twilight Sparkle could not merely ask her for information on Maresolus was because there was no real reason for anyone in Ponyville to trust Pale Skies yet. And if no information about Maresolus turned up in any of the books, it would appear that Pale Skies was some sort of liar or pretender, acting as if she’d come from some faraway land that in fact did not exist. Oh, please let them find something… Pale Skies thought to herself. “Aha!” Twilight exclaimed.
Chapter 3“Here we are triumphantly announced. “I’ve found a few pages about Maresolus in here.” “That’s great,” Pale Skies said, relieved. “What’s the book called?” Pale Skies ventured. “Forgotten Realms,” the purple unicorn answered. “Let’s see what it says… ‘Maresolus is a small island west of Equestria. Decades prior to this writing, it closed all its harbors and initially limited, then outright prohibited travel to or from the island. During this period of self-isolation, Maresolus was briefly visited by Princess Celestia, but she was not welcomed by the island’s residents and they are believed not to view her as a ruler in favor of their own national leader, Seafoam, an aging unicorn. It appears that sovereignty is familial, so it can be assumed that after Seafoam’s passing, leadership will be passed on to his only child, a daughter whose name is at present not known to the author.’” “Ice Blue,” Pale Skies supplemented. “Her name is Ice Blue. She’s the one who sent me here. Is there any more, Twilight Sparkle?” She turned the page magically. “You can just call me Twilight… and oh yeah, there’s a little more. ‘Very little is known about the culture of Maresolus, though there has been some speculation by prominent scholars in Equestria. It is likely that a strong sense of nationalism is pervasive in Maresolus philosophy, which would be consistent with typical behavior of a country whose borders are so tightly sealed. Furthermore, because of the emphasis on local rule and the rejection of our princesses, it has been suggested that Maresolus’ government may be entirely authoritarian.” Pale Skies blinked. “How did they figure all that stuff out?” she wondered aloud. “Is it all true?” Spike seemed impressed too. “Yeah! And it goes beyond that,” Pale Skies said. “I mean, Ice Blue is going to try to change some of this stuff, but… well, right now there’s the problem of information being sort of limited. Like in school we don’t learn too much about the world outside Maresolus. Most ponies there don’t even know who Princess Celestia is, and those who’ve heard of her probably think of her as a myth.” Spike’s mouth was slightly ajar, and Twilight looked like she’d just been hoofed in the gut. Pale Skies couldn’t help but go on; it felt great to let all this out. “The importance of cutie marks has really been ignored, too. After our marks appeared, Seafoam looked at them and then gave us our jobs that were supposed to be based on them. Like, for me, since my cutie mark is a spyglass, he said my job was Observer, that I was supposed to watch out for incoming tides. Most of the time I just ended up clearing the beaches. Me and all the other ponies who had worthless job titles.” Spike scratched his head. “But… why?” Pale Skies shrugged. “That’s so… wrong,” Twilight declared. “It’s unnatural and cruel.” “Sorry to interrupt but, um, when you were reading from that book, you said ‘princesses’? Does that mean there are more princesses besides Prince Celestia?” Twilight looked happy again. “Yes! There’s Princess Cadance, who presides over the Crystal Empire, and Princess Celestia’s sister, Luna, who rules over the night.” “And they’re all real?” Pale Skies said, dumbfounded. “All these princesses are absolutely real ponies, not just some stories that parents tell their foals?” “Of course they’re real!” Spike interjected. “Twilight is actually Princess Celestia’s best student.” Pale Skies felt a burst of excitement inside her. It was all real! Equestria, pregasi, Princess Celestia, they were all completely actual, all reachable. “So you could help me meet her?” Pale Skies asked Twilight. “Oh… um… well. I’m not sure. I mean, I don’t exactly just drop on by whenever I want. But I could try sending her a letter; I’m sure she’d be interested in your situation…. Spike?” “I’m already on it!” Spike announced, now holding a piece of paper and quill. “Dear Princess Celestia… here in Ponyville we’ve had a visitor today. She calls herself Pale Skies and comes from the island of Maresolus, and it seems that she’d really appreciate a chance to speak with you. As always, your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Pale Skies watched as Spike “sent” the letter off with a blow of green fire and purply smoke. She privately wished there were some way she could update Ice Blue on her own progress, and as a way to assure her parents that she was still alive, but for the moment she would have to settle. “So… now what?” Pale Skies asked, trying to sound as gracious as she could. “Well, we’ve just got to wait to hear back from her. Sometimes it takes a while… she is busy, you know.” “Oh, yeah, of course!” Pale Skies nodded quickly. “So what have you got in here?” Spike asked, checking out Pale Skies’ saddlebags. “Any gems, maybe?” “My parents packed it, and I haven’t actually looked myself, so I don’t really know,” Pale Skies said with a shrug. “But I can’t see any reason why they’d pack gems. They’d just weigh me down… and I’m not sure what I’d do with them here!” “He eats them,” Twilight explained. “Spike… eats gems?” Pale Skies, trying to wrap her mind around this bizarre idea. “I sure do,” Spike said, licking his lips. “Well… I guess we might as well have a look!” Pale Skies said, opening her saddle bags. Twilight and Spike looked inside, and they all started pulling things out. Spike removed a lunch bag and opened it up: it was a vegetable sandwich, obviously no longer totally fresh but still probably edible. No gems inside, unfortunately. Pale Skies reached in and pulled out the spyglass Ice Blue had given her, but then quickly put it back. With a glow of magic, Twilight removed a map. Pale Skies looked it over; it was a familiar image, the geography of Maresolus. She’d studied it plenty in school, and like most ponies, was able to draw a rough sketch of it merely from memory. In fact, she guessed that this particular map had been made by her mother, recognizing her handwriting. “Wow!” Twilight exclaimed. “This is great!” “Where do you live?” Spike asked. “Oh, well, you see those pale beige areas? They’re beaches. The big one at the bottom is called the Great Lower Beach, and a lot of us live in huts down there.” Pale Skies pointed to a spot on the beach. “I guess my home would probably be right about here.” “What are these different regions? And what are the other colors?” Twilight asked, looking enthusiastic. “Okay, so… each region sort of specializes in something different,” Pale Skies explained, trying be as eloquent as she could. “The Southern Region, where I live, we specialize in fishing, mostly. But you see, the yellow areas are planting grounds, so we also have some fields – a lot of wheat. Not all of it is for food; we use wheat when we make our bricks, of course, so that’s another thing we specialize in as a region.” Pale Skies cleared her throat. “Now, the Western Region above us, they plant a lot more, so there’s more variety, and up there it’s all about food production. There’s fisheries there, too, and also bakeries, and a lot of farmhouses. So, yeah… food stuff, generally, I guess.” Pale Skies laughed a little at her own clumsiness. “The Central Region is… community things, I guess I’d say. You’ve got the school there, the library, the capital residence, of course, and the meeting rock, where the leader makes announcements. If you take a look at the brown area, that’s rock. You can see there’s a lot in the Eastern Region, and that’s where we have our quarries. The larger one is a slate quarry, and we use that for buildings, and then the smaller one is a gemstone quarry.” “Aha! So you do have gems there,” Spike sounded triumphant and relieved. Pale Skies smiled and nodded. “Yeah! They’re used in… well, some ponies use them to decorate their homes, I think. We don’t go in much for that in the Southern Region, but it’s not as if a lot of gems make it down there, anyway. To be honest, I’m not even sure why they bother to mine them, but I guess it’s better than having them just sit around.” “I see there’s planting in the Eastern Region too,” Twilight observed. “Yes, that’s mostly fruit trees, I think,” Pale Skies said. “I wish they’d plant more of those, though. There’s nothing I love more than a big, fresh, juicy apple.” A small smile grew on Twilight’s face. “I know somepony who could help with that!” ♦ Sweet Apple Acres was the first place in Ponyville that looked sort of familiar to Pale Skies. The rows of fruit trees and smell of dirt certainly hit a lot closer to home than the stylized houses she’d seen earlier. “This place reminds me of this time when I was a filly and my parents took me to one of the orchards in the Eastern Region,” Pale Skies said, smiling as she and Twilight trotted. “Is this what it’s like there?” Twilight asked. “No, this is much nicer… there’s no smell of slate mixed in with the fruit,” Pale Skies answered, laughing lightly. “And it’s also surprisingly empty here,” she added. “Oh, Applejack is here, I’m sure of it!” They walked deeper into the Acres, past the barn, and there Pale Skies saw an orange pony with a bright blonde mane in a ponytail. She was playing a game of catch with a small dog, and they both seemed to be having a pretty great time. Pale Skies felt a bit bad for interrupting them. “Applejack! Hi!” Twilight exclaimed. The orange pony (who was evidently Applejack) put the ball down and turned around. “Hi there, Twilight,” she said. Pale Skies was surprised at this pony’s unusual way of speaking; her language was the same, but she pronounced things differently. Everyone in Maresolus had essentially the same accent, and Applejack’s was unlike anything Pale Skies had heard. “This is my new friend, Pale Skies,” Twilight explained. “She comes from an island.” “Well, it’s mighty nice to meet you,” Applejack said. “As you probably figured, my name is Applejack and this here is Sweet Apple Acres, owned by my very own family. Now, uh, Twilight said you were from some island? That sure sounds interestin.” “It’s a little bit complicated…” Pale Skies started. “My home country is called Maresolus, and we haven’t really had any contact with the outside world for… well, for a long time. I’m actually kind of on a mission; I was sent here in a hot air balloon by the leader of Maresolus.” Applejack’s eyes widened. “That… sounds a mite scary, Pale Skies. I’m glad you made it. What’s it like over there, anyway? You got any farms like this one?” “Not like this,” Pale Skies said. “I only wish ours were this nice!” “I sure ain’t gonna boast, but the Apple family does pride itself on takin’ care of our land,” Applejack said, beaming. “What else do you grow here?” “Oh… well, it’s just apples.” “So you have other farmland, then?” “Yep!” Twilight answered. “But I brought you here so you could have a chance to meet Applejack and try some of our best Ponyville fruit!” ♦ By the time Pale Skies and Twilight returned to the library, they were both stuffed with apples and other various treats made from the fruit. In truth, Pale Skies had indulged a lot more than Twilight, and she was now sort of trudging along while her unicorn companion was as perky and inquisitive as ever. “I’ve never tasted stuff like that before,” Pale Skies said dreamily. “Oh, really? What do you eat there?” “A lot of fish… if we had a national food, it would probably be sardines. We eat a lot of bread, and vegetables… some fruit, though not too much makes it to the Southern Region most of the time.” “Well, rest assured there’s plenty of fruit here!” Twilight said. “Though it’s true that apples are kind of the preferred crop.” “I feel exhausted,” Pale Skies said with a yawn. “You can stay with me for a while,” Twilight said as they reentered the library. “There’s a guest bed upstairs!” “Really?” Pale Skies laughed a little. “Are you so nice to every stranger who drops in in a hot air balloon?” “Sure… as long as she isn’t bent on proving her magical superiority over everypony else,” Twilight said, recalling a previous stranger who had randomly showed up in town. “Well…” Pale Skies motioned to her forehead, which was of course, free of a unicorn horn. “You don’t have to worry about that happening with me… though I’m not really sure what you mean.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “It’s a long story.” They headed upstairs to the living quarters of the library, where Twilight’s bed, the presumable guest bed, and Spike’s bed were. There were also plenty more books there. By the time they arrived, Spike was already asleep, snoring lightly and sucking on his thumb. He wasn’t really scary at all, Pale Skies decided. “Well,” Twilight said. “I guess we might as well turn in for today. This certainly has been an eventful one!” They both climbed into bed. Pale Skies was surprised at how comfortable the mattress was; she wondered if it were filled with straw, like the ones at home, but then it seemed as if nothing in Ponyville was the way it was in Maresolus. Ponies acted happy just to be there, and there also seemed to somehow be far less work to be done. Pale Skies hadn’t yet explored everything that she wanted to, and of course there was the greater task in the distance of meeting Princess Celestia. But it seemed as if she’d done all she could for that day, and since the letter was already off to the princess, there was nothing left but to wait, just as Twilight had said. Of course, falling asleep didn’t come easy. Sleeping in somepony else’s bed was probably a little weird for everypony, even though the bed was actually nicer than what she was used to. But it was still so different: Ponyville’s night was silent, without the scent of sea or the sound of waves hitting the rocks. It wasn’t unpleasant, not at all, but again, Pale Skies was fascinated by the difference. She looked upward, and the ceiling was thick and sturdy, not like the sparsely-laid slate that made up the roof of her parents’ beach hut. As Pale Skies lay there, she wondered about Princess Celestia. It was still incredible to her that Twilight could have such a direct link with this figure, and she wondered what she’d be like. She recalled the stories her parents had told her, and the descriptions of Princess Celestia therein: she was a very tall, white pony, who had wings like a pegacorn but also a horn like a unicorn. These were the traits about Princess Celestia that Pale Skies remembered most, though she still found it hard to believe that such a pony could exist. Then again, Pale Skies had to admit to herself that she had previously had private doubts about the existence of even pegasi, but after arriving in Ponyville they had been easily and swiftly disproven. But then, wasn’t Twilight’s communication with Princess Celestia proof enough of her existence? Yes, but it didn’t confirm all the stories that Pale Skies had heard about her. Well, she would just have meet Princess Celestia for herself and find out.
