Fortunate Misfortune

AN: I can't believe I published this without adding one little part. It may not seem important, but it's important to me. It's just a few little lines between what I dubbed in the Authors Note as "the two serious conversations at the end."

~Chapter 11 – Undeserved Generosity~

“Ponyville is a bit bigger than I expected it to be,” Zephyr casually stated after taking a bite out of his sandwich.

The two of us were seated at a small table in a relatively empty restaurant, the mid afternoon sun filtering through the partially drawn curtains. According to our server we arrived shortly after the end of the usual day’s lunch rush, a fact reinforced by the few and far between occupied tables.

Taking a moment to sip at the glass of water on the table in front of me, I lifted an eyebrow inquisitively. “Bigger than you expected?”

The pegasus nodded. “Yeah, I was thinking it’d be around the same size as Trottingham. I lived there until I decided to move to Canterlot and become a Royal Guard. Since both Ponyville and my hometown were founded by earth ponies I assumed they’d be about the same size.” He shook his head while chuckling lightly, “Not the way to judge a town, I know.”

‘Trottingham eh,’ I thought while rubbing the uneven stubble covering my chin. ‘I’ve heard of it, but I don’t know where it is. Then again, I don’t really know where anything is. The show didn’t offer much insight regarding direction or location.’

“Where is Trottingham?” I asked as I pulled back the curtain to get myself better oriented. Pointing towards the wall behind Zephyr I continued, “All I know is that Canterlot is somewhere in that direction, and if I’m going to be living in Equestria I may as well learn where everything is.”

He nodded in understanding. “Trottingham is just north from the base of Mount Everfree.” When all he got in return from me was a blank stare he gave a sheepish grin. “Oh right, sorry. That’s the mountain that Canterlot is on… well, that’s what nearly everypony calls it. The name Princess Celestia gave it was Zenith Everfree.”

“Oh, I see.” Taking another drink of water I couldn’t help but ponder the reasoning behind the mountains name. “Is there any reason why the mountain that the capitol of Equestria is on shares the name of the forest everyone is so scared of?”

“Apparently Princess Celestia was adamant about the name when the mountain was given one. All anypony knows about it is that the Everfree Forest used to surround the entire mountain instead of just the base of its southern face,” he replied with a shrug.

“All right. And what direction is Canterlot from here?”

“You just pointed towards it…”

“No… well yeah, I did. I meant direction as a compass bearing,” I quickly stammered to correct myself.

“Oh! Sorry.” Zephyr paused to think for a moment before stating, “North-east. By carriage it would take a little less than half a day to reach the mountain, but of the two roads heading up the mountain, the one on the east side is easiest to get to from here. And again, it would take another half a day to get there from this side.”

I nodded once he finished his explanation. ‘A lot farther that I originally thought it would be... though that explains why the carriage ride took as long as it did.’ I chuckled to myself, ‘The ponies that pulled the carriage must have some serious stamina to be able to pull that off.’

“Are you sure you didn’t want anything to eat?” Zephyr asked, putting my train of thought on pause.

Refocusing my eyes across the table I saw both Zephyr and our server- a teal coated earth pony mare wearing a white apron with a small notebook for taking orders in the front pocket – staring at me.

I shook my head, “No thanks, still not hungry.”

The mare pulled a pencil from behind her ear, and using her mouth to maneuver the writing utensil across a page of the notebook held in her hoof she quickly wrote up a bill and dropped it on the table.

“Hope you enjoyed your meal, and have a nice day,” with a smile she turned and departed back towards the kitchen.

Zephyr glanced at the bill and reached into the small pouch secured around his upper foreleg. Once he set a hoof full of bits on the table we both got up and headed out into the afternoon sun. The ringing of a bell signaled our departure through the front door and onto one of Ponyville’s many streets.

We chose this restaurant since it was directly across from the building where Zephyr was staying. The architecture was the same as the vast majority of Ponyville’s homes and shops. The only difference was its three story height and multitude of balconies overlooking the dirt road to its front and Whitetail Park behind it. Zephyr’s room was on the top floor and happened to have a nice view of the park, which was how he managed to find me after an entire morning of searching the town.

Lightly grunting as I stretched out my back I asked, “So, which way to the library?”

Zephyr gave me an uneasy look, “I thought you knew.”

We stared at one another in silence for a few moments before hanging our heads and heaving a collective sigh.

“Well, let’s get going…”

Since I didn’t have a working watch I couldn’t say how long it took us to find the library. We began our search by heading in the direction of what we thought was Town Hall, instead we ended up at the southeastern edge of Ponyville in sight of Fluttershy’s cabin.

To get to Sugarcube Corner for my party the other day, Rainbow had led me past the Town Hall from Fluttershy’s place. Still, I didn’t put any faith in having remembered the way seeing how I’m terrible with directions. One time I was over at my friends dorm, on my way out I got lost. His room was at one end of a hallway in the shape of a squared ‘U’. It was the only hall on the floor and the only doors were the ones leading into other people’s rooms and the elevator to the lobby. Suffice to say, it wasn’t my proudest moment.

Eventually we managed to find the Town Hall, and we used the map posted there to make our way to the library. During the whole ordeal I learned that neither of us likes to ask for directions, and that Zephyr Swift is my equal when it comes to finding his way around a new place.

“Just how did you not get us lost in Canterlot Castle?” I sighed more in joking relief than actual irritation.

“You’re one to talk,” Zephyr chuckled back in equal relief as he lifted a hoof to knock at the door. “Besides, memorizing the layout of the castle was one of the first things we needed to do during training.”

The muffled sounds of conversation inside came to a halt at the knock. A few seconds passed before the door swung open, and standing in the doorway was Spike, a young dragon with purple scales. Not including the tall green rounded spikes sticking up from the top of his head he was just over half the height of Zephyr, whom he was currently giving a flat look.

“You know this is a public library, right?”

“Spike!” Twilight called irately from inside.

Before Spike could offer an apology Zephyr gave voice to his own. “Sorry, I know this is a library. Matt said Twilight lives here so I just thought… yeah,” he finished with a sheepish grin as he gestured towards me.

As the young dragons gaze shifted from the pegasus to me his expression turned to one of mixed interest and nervousness. “Um… hi?”

“Hi, I’m Matthew,” I greeted while holding back a chuckle.

Spike’s face immediately lit up. “Oh! You must be the… um. The…”

“Human?” I offered.

“Yeah! You’re the human Twilight said she found in the forest a few days ago.”

I nodded my head, “That’s me. You’re Spike, right? Twilight’s number one assistant?”

He puffed out his chest in pride. “That’s me. Twilight told you about me, huh?”

“Yeah, something like that,” I replied with a discreet smile.

Once again, Zephyr fixed his suspicious eyes on me. Spike didn’t seem to notice however. Stepping back, he motioned for us to enter.

As the two of us stepped into the library I was able to make out the source of the muffled conversation from just a moment earlier. Twilight and Rarity were both sitting at a circular wooden table in the center of the room, a few scattered pieces of parchment lay before them. The two of them were now looking at us.

“Oh hello, I wasn’t expecting you. I thought you were going to be taking the day to get used to Ponyville,” Twilight said with a slight tilt of her head.

I shrugged, “Zephyr needs to send his first report to Princess Celestia, and I told him Spike could send it directly instead of having to rely on the postal service.” Just as I spoke, the realization that I offered someone else’s assistance without even asking first hit me. “I-I mean if it’s all right with you and Spike that is! Sorry, should have asked first…”

Twilight chuckled quietly. “Don’t worry about it. It is important that these reports of yours are delivered efficiently and on time, correct?” Twilight looked to Zephyr who nodded in confirmation. She then turned to face Spike, “Can you send Zephyr’s report to the Princess for him?”

“Sure thing, Twilight!” Spike exclaimed as he snapped a quick salute. “But, uh… What’s the report for?”

“Princess Celestia just wants me to give her an update every few days regarding how things are going for Matt in Ponyville,” Zephyr answered while Twilight levitated a quill and spare piece of parchment towards him.

“Why does the Princess want to know how Matt’s doing?” Spike asked, tilting his head in apparent confusion.

“Because I’m not from this world?” I offered with an exaggerated shrug. If his expression was anything to go by, Spike didn’t seem to believe the explanation.

“I’m serious,” he huffed while crossing his arms. He turned to Twilight in hopes of getting an actual answer. “Why is Princess Celestia interested in what he does here?”

“Because he is from a different world, Spike,” Twilight sighed.

Spike was more willing to believe the claim once Twilight confirmed it, he stumbled backwards in surprise. “What, really? How’d he get here?”

Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle lightly at the young dragon’s expense. “We don’t have any idea. All we know is that he-” she cut herself off, and I noticed the brief look she directed at me, one of sympathy. “…He’s going to be living here in Ponyville for now since he has now way of getting home.”

“Why can’t he get home?” Spike asked. “I mean, I don’t see what’s keeping him here.”

Before Twilight could continue I directed a pointed look at her as I spoke. “Let’s just say that I live too far away to get home by any conventional means of transportation, and that I got stuck here because of a careless mistake on my part.” One of the last things I wanted was anyone’s pity. “Besides, so far I like it here. And if I was given the chance to return I’d choose to stay here.”

Spike seemed to accept that, he simply nodded his head and turned to fetch the things Zephyr would need to write his report. Twilight and Rarity however wore expressions I couldn’t read as their eyes remained locked on me.

A moment later Spike returned with a roll of parchment in one claw and a quill and inkpot in the other, which Zephyr accepted with a nod as he took the quill in his mouth and set the ink on the table. Unrolling the parchment he began to write.

I watched intrigued as his head moved back and forth, jaw twitching ever so slightly to help guide the quill across the page.

“Hey, Twilight,” I began, turning away from the object of my curiosity. “Why is Zephyr holding the quill with his mouth? Frederic Horseshoepin, that pianist at Canterlot mentioned that ponies can grab and manipulate objects with their hooves to some extent. He didn’t go into much detail about it, but wouldn’t it be easier if Zephyr held the quill with his hoof?”

She shook her head. “For some pegasi maybe, but not all. The reason we can pick up objects with our hooves is because they share some similar traits with a unicorn’s horn.” When Twilight saw the lack of understanding in my blank stare she said, “Oh, right. You said that there’s no magic in your world, and that ponies there are… different.”

Twilight gave a small cough to clear her throat before elaborating. “I meant similar internal structures such as magic receptors and channels. Much more simple and basic variations of course, otherwise everypony would be able to perform magic. The ones in a pony’s hoof however are only capable of emitting a small magic field of a telekinetic variety.

“Unicorns such as myself and Rarity have either fewer of these receptors and channels or none at all, seeing as we have our horns to use magic, and every unicorn is able to perform simple levitation to some extent.

“Earth ponies have the highest number of these structures in their hooves and as such have a greater ability to lift and manipulate objects. That’s actually why most instrument playing musicians you see, like Frederic Horseshoepin, are earth ponies.

“Pegasi however are slightly different. Their magic channels are attuned more to aeromancy, the study of magic relating to the weather, as opposed to telekinesis. This is what allows pegasi to walk on clouds and manage the weather. They’re still more proficient than unicorns at holding things with their hooves, but most pegasi prefer using their mouths for simple tasks like writing.”

I blinked. “So… magic feet. Definitely up there with the strangest things I’ve ever heard. Then again I’m not one to talk. I mean look at me, an alien creature from a different universe.” I shook my head, “Anyway, it makes sense… well, as much sense as it can for someone in my position.”

“I can see what you mean dear,” Rarity tittered quietly. “It does sound somewhat amusing when you put it that way.” She shifted slightly, a small frown forming. “Anyway, aside from stopping by at Fluttershy’s…” Rarity paused. A brief glance towards Zephyr, who was just finishing up his report, made it clear she wanted to say a little more about my short visit. “… What else were you up to today? Apart from when Rainbow abducted you from my kitchen this morning, that is.”

I shrugged, “Mostly Rainbow had me training. Afterwards I was headed back into town when I met Derpy, and I tagged along with her to Fluttershy’s. Later Zephyr found me and we headed here, basically.” I didn’t know what Rarity wanted to know, but judging from the way she was acting it was something concerning the show. So I couldn’t say anything since Zephyr was still here. “Oh yeah, earlier Derpy mentioned an opening at the post office. Since I have no way to support myself right now I was thinking about applying for the position.”

Twilight lifted her head, “Don’t you need Equestrian Citizenship to work for the post office?”

I blinked again. “…What?”

“The post office here in Ponyville isn’t just for local mail. They make deliveries all around Equestria, and they occasionally handle some international shipments too. You can’t work at the post office without Equestrian citizenship.”

I hung my head. “I didn’t think about that… I may be from a different world but I’m still technically an immigrant if I plan on living here. I don’t need citizenship to get a job in Ponyville, do I?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, though it does prevent you from getting hired by any employer dealing with business on both national and international levels.”

“I see,” I replied with a sigh. “Oh well, I bet I’ll be able to find something else. That gives me something else to work towards though.”

“Citizenship is something definitely worth having,” Twilight said with a firm nod. “Especially if you plan on taking up permanent residence in Equestria.”

I lifted an eyebrow. Twilight sounded like she was happy, but there was something sad about the look she had in her eyes as she spoke. Before I could say anything however, Zephyr turned away from the table.”

“I’m finished, can we send it now?”

“Sure thing,” Twilight replied. She turned to call Spike who had been busy preparing a meal in the kitchen. She took Zephyr’s report in her magic and passed it to the dragon. “Spike, can you send this to the Princess?”

“You bet, Twilight,” he took the message from Twilight and headed towards a window. Pushing it open he leaned out and blew a plume of green flame over the rolled up parchment.

As it turned to ash and drifted away on the breeze Zephyr choked. “Y-you burned it! Why’d you do that?”

Everyone present, myself included, couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction.

Zephyr glared at us, “What’s so funny? The fact that the dragon destroyed my work?”

Twilight forced herself to calm down, “No, no. Not at all. That’s how I always send my letters to Princess Celestia. She would have received your report just seconds after Spike burned it. I’m sorry, I should have told you what to expect.”

He just huffed at her, “You expect me to be-” Zephyr was cut off by the sound of a loud belch. Turning to its source he saw Spike clutching a scroll sealed with the royal crest. “…W-what?”

Unrolling the scroll, Spike cleared his throat and read aloud. “Dear Zephyr Swift, I must admit, I did not expect your first report so soon, let alone having it delivered by my faithful student’s assistant, Spike. Nevertheless, I appreciate the commitment you’re showing for the task assigned to you. I expect you to continue with your best efforts. Princess Celestia.”

Zephyr blinked. “Oh. Um, sorry. I got angry and started jumping to conclusions when I shouldn’t have, sorry.”

“You can stop apologizing. Like I said, I should have told you how Spike sends messages to the Princess,” Twilight said with a smile.

“Sorry,” was Zephyr’s response. “Well, I finished what I needed to do. So I’ll just get out of your manes. Thank you again for sending my report for me, have a nice evening.” He turned to me, “I guess I’ll see you in a couple days then.”

I nodded, “See you later.”

As Zephyr headed out the door, Rarity stood and gathered up the mess of papers on the table and placed them in her saddlebag.

“I’d best be off too now, Twilight. I’ll have the harness for Rainbow’s tortoise finished by dinner time tomorrow.”

Out of habit I checked my wrist for the time, only to curse myself silently upon remembering that my watch was dead.

“Take care, Rarity,” Twilight bid in farewell. “You to Matthew.”

“So I am still staying at Rarity’s?” I asked. I may have assumed as much earlier, but I didn’t want to act on an assumption, and I didn’t want to show up on Rarity’s doorstep if I was supposed to be spending the night someplace else.

“Oh heavens, of course dear!” Rarity replied. “Sorry, it just slipped my mind that I didn’t have the chance to tell you this morning before Rainbow Dash stole you away.”

“No worries,” I said. I turned to wave my goodbye to Twilight as we headed out the door.

The walk back to the boutique was quiet for the most part. Rarity led of course, and I followed to the side and slightly behind. Not long after we left the library however, Rarity turned to face me.

“Earlier today when Rainbow chose and named her new pet, Fluttershy said the most unexpected thing.”

“Yeah? What’d she say?”

“She said that you knew what Rainbow was going to name her pet.” When she paused and waited for a response, I simply motioned for her to continue. “Fluttershy mentioned that when you were at her cottage when she was about to leave with the candidates for Rainbow’s… contest, you stopped her and suggested that she bring the tortoise as well. She also said that you called it Tank, the name Rainbow happened to choose for the tortoise.”

‘Now I know what she was trying to hide from Zephyr.’ I sighed. “Yeah, I knew Rainbow would choose that name for the tortoise, though I didn’t realize what I did until after I already did it.”

Rarity tilted her head, “What did you do exactly?”

“Right now, I’m the reason why Tank is Rainbow’s pet instead of the falcon that won the race. Because of me, Rainbow chose a pet that can’t fly on its own. So now you, and Twilight I take it, are making something to let Tank fly and stay with Rainbow up in her cloud home.”

“How do you know all of this?” Rarity gaped.

“I’m not good at keeping these secrets, am I?” I muttered to myself. “Princess Celestia knows this all ready, but a few of the episodes of the show about you guys that I’ve seen are about things that haven’t happened yet. This being one of those things.”

If it was possible for Rarity to be any whiter, I’d say that she was. “You know what happens in our future? Why haven’t you informed us of this?”

I shrugged. “Same reason I want to hide the existence of the show from everyone else.”

She nodded slowly. “I see… Still, you just stated that it’s your fault things turned out as they did today.”

“Yeah, without thinking I suggested that Fluttershy bring Tank along just because that’s what she did in the episode. I made things play out how they did in the show in my world, but was that really right of me to interfere in things?”

Rarity was quiet for a moment. When she spoke she did so deliberately. “What I think would be wrong is if you decided to distance yourself from everypony simply because you don’t want to… interfere, with how things are supposed to be. Your actions may have resulted in Rainbow Dash choosing Tank as her pet, but everypony is responsible for making changes here and there. We… interfere, as you put it, with what is going on all the time. Besides, I’d say Tank is the perfect match for Rainbow, as they’re both undoubtedly loyal to those they care about.”

I was left temporarily bewildered. “Wow, that was… surprisingly insightful.”

“What, you don’t think I just have a beautiful face now do you?” she responded with a friendly smile.

“No, that’s not it. I just wasn’t expecting you to be so accepting is all,” I replied hurriedly. “Anyway… how’s Rainbow doing? In the show she got trapped in a rock slide during the race. She didn’t actually get hurt, did she?”

“Don’t you worry about Rainbow Dash, she will be just fine.” Rarity replied surely. “We did bring her to the hospital for some injuries she did receive. It was only a very minor concussion and a sprained muscle in her wing, so after patching her up they let her leave. Rainbow is staying at Fluttershy’s for tonight though, just in case.”

I let out a relieved sigh. “Ah, that’s good to hear. I was a little worried earlier that something bad might have happened to her, but neither you or Twilight seemed worried at all.”

“Oh trust me dear, our Rainbow Dash has had much worse than that in the past,” Rarity chuckled lightheartedly.

The remainder of our walk was spent in silence. The sun was just now beginning to slip behind the horizon; the street we walked on was cast in the shadows of the homes we passed. Finally we arrived at the door to Carousel Boutique. Instead of heading inside however, Rarity turned to face me completely, serious once more.

“So, you would rather stay in Equestria than go home?”

I nodded my head, “That’s what I said before, and that’s what I meant.”

“Even if it meant never seeing your family again?”

“I like Equestria, and I’m more than happy to be here,” I replied. I continued quietly, more to myself than to Rarity, “I feel like now I can start turning my life around.”

“But surely you’d miss them,” she pressed.

“Maybe,” I replied with a shrug. “Maybe after a long while, but I don’t exactly see eye to eye with my parents.”

“I don’t often agree with most of my parent’s decisions either, but I still love them and can see them whenever I wish.” Rarity said softly. “If you stay here you won’t have that same chance.”

“So what, you don’t want me living in Equestria?” I retaliated, my tone darkening with my expression.

“No! I mean, yes. I mean… I simply want you to be happy with the decision you make.” She took half a step back from me, averting her gaze ever so slightly.

I started taking slow, deep breaths to calm myself down. When I was finished I felt hollow inside. Lowering my head, I pushed the door open and said in a weary voice, “After you.”

Rarity paused, looking at me with a mix of sadness, and pity once more. But also now with a small portion of fear. She kept her eyes on me a moment longer before slowly stepping inside.

I followed her inside, and as the bell made its final chime I whispered so she couldn’t hear, “Sorry.”