//------------------------------//
// chapter 2: to Ponyville 
// Story: My Little Nightcolt 
// by nero_33 
//------------------------------//

	Canterlot was very different from Manehatten, everypony knew this, however it wasn’t until Art actually arrived at the station in Canterlot that he realized just how different it was. Manehatten was full of ponies that knew how to make it clear that you were in their way and this was something he himself had grown to know how to avoid. However here everypony knew where they were going and seemed to know where every other pony was going. No pony was getting in each other’s way and would even exchange pleasant nods or greetings, everypony seemed to be having a pleasant day. His observation was only from the moment he stepped off the train to the moment he heard a rough voice off to the side call his name. 
“Sir Art. This way please.”
The words came from one of two gold armor clad guard standing just off to the side. Art’s first thought was he had immediately done something wrong, not even thinking about the fact the guard had said his name and might be there for another reason.
“B-but what did I do wrong?”
“Nothing sir, the Princess request that you have an escort to the castle when you arrive.” the second guard still hadn’t moved while the first gave his reason for being there, which brought a slight sigh of relief from Art.
“Oh, ok then, but I have to say Canterlot doesn’t seem like the place I would need an escort in.” this brought the first action from the second guard as the first turned to look at him, both of them sharing a small, and brief smile. This caused Art to wonder if he was missing something about Canterlot.
Moments later Art found himself aimlessly following the two armored unicorns while staring at all the shops, buildings, and other grand decorations around the city. While getting lost in the city’s splendor he hadn’t realized that after a moment more the two guards has stopped, and he bumped into the back of them.
“Oh, sorry guys, but why did you-” he stops himself as he sees the reason for them stopping; they were already standing at the stairs to the castle. Suddenly it came to him why Celestia had sent an escort, while he had been looking at the town and all its glory he hadn’t paid any attention to the path they had taken from the station. Celestia had sent an escort knowing that Art would get lost. Knowing this Art ducked his head down realizing why the two had shared a brief smile at the station.
He had expected them to take him to see Celestia first, but as they lead him down through the halls and opened the doors to a room he knew this wasn’t a throne room or any room that Celestia would normally visit. Inside were several ponies of all three races, some conversing over papers, others writing notes and such on chalk boards, while one group was focused on a jumble of metal and equipment.
“The engine for the ship is coming along but as I told Celestia before it will still take another week and a half to make sure it syncs up with the machine before we can even test it.” came a reply to the left of them as an older gray earth pony came up to the three. Art’s attention was then drawn over to the group that had the machine and tried to figure out what it might be used for.
“The Princess said that you would like to speak with sir Art when he arrived.” replied the guard who the turned and left, Art not noticing till the earth pony walked in front of him and drew his attention.
“Art…. Why would I want to speak to- WAIT! You’re that unicorn. The one that did all that work for the Princess, translating that old book! By Celestia I’ve been hoping to talk to you ever since Celestia took that book from us.” Art found himself stepping back, slightly worried that the earth pony hadn’t appreciated someone else working on the translation. He suddenly felt the stallion shaking his hoof enthusiastically.
“The name’s Gray Fields. I’m the head of the Research department here in Canterlot Castle. It is a pleasure to meet the pony who made all of my team look utterly useless.” the look on the stallions face said he was truly joy filled to meet him, however the words said the exact opposite.
“Umm… sorry about that?” Art replies with an unsure edge in his voice.
“No no, you don’t understand. See you made these ridiculous foals look…. Well like ridiculous foals. We had that old tomb for 3 months, and those bumbling idiots barely managed 7 pages. But you, oh you...” Fields chuckles to himself as he continues. “You had it for barely a month and managed the entire thing. I wish one of my team had half the skills you had.” Art looked around expecting to be getting cold eyes from several of the ponies in the room but all of them hadn’t even turned from their work.
“Thank you… for saying that, but I think your being a little too generous. I see a lot of things around here that I have no idea what it is, I’m just good with books and such so-” Fields cuts him off with a heavy laugh. “You think they understand half the stuff they have written on those boards? Ha! That’s a good one kid. Look I don’t think you got what I was saying earlier. I will give anything… to have you on my team.”
Art stopped dead in his tracks as the words left Field’s mouth; this was what he had feared he would hear after working on the translation. However standing in the research room and looking around at all the books and scrolls, made his next words very hard to say.
“I’m sorry, but I’m just looking to get a few answers on the book and what I translated.”
“Paint…”
“Art.” he corrected Gray Fields.
“Same difference. Art… I’ve seen the way you look around at these projects. You belong here working on them, you WANT to work on them, and I can tell.” the earth pony was trying his best to get Art to say yes.
“I’m sorry, but this… all this. I’m not quite up to all this, yes sure I want to work with these old scrolls.” he says nodding to the wall of aged scrolls. “But this stuff is way over my head; I’m just a pony that works for a newspaper.”
Gray Fields dropped his head and sighed. “Oy, your one of those ponies Hu? Never wants to try and aspire to greatness, push the limits of what he can do, maybe make a name for himself…” Fields glanced over to see if his attempts at changing his mind were working but Art’s expression hadn’t changed.
“By Celestia you’re a difficult one…”this but got a smug smile and a shoulder shrug from the velvet unicorn.
“Fine, fine… but as long as you’re here could you at least take a look at the other two books and show a few of my team how to translate it since you refuse to stay on as a member?” 
Art was expecting this to be another attempt to change his mind, but ever since he had looked over the first book he had indeed looked forward to the day that he might get to see the other two and perhaps work on them. Trying to hold in his enthusiasm at seeing the other two Art nodded and provided a light hearted smile.
“I’m sure I can do that.”
Gray Fields lead him back to a group Art hadn’t noticed until then spotted the two of them first and stepped aside, allowing a clear view of the two very old tombs setting on the table before them. Fields introduced Art which drew a few smiles and nods of approval from the team, which quickly turned into eye rolls and held in laughs as Fields started in about learning a thing or two from Art and how they should all be ashamed to be put shown up by a young stallion like him.
After spending a while mocking them and glorifying Art he finally left and Art got his first glance at the second book, but was a little distracted at the previous bragging done for him by the earth pony. After looking it over for a while a few of the team left to gather a few research items and left him with two Pegasus, a mare and a Stallion.
“Look about what Gray Fields was saying earlier, I wasn’t trying to show you up or anything. In fact I got quite reckless while working on it and-” the mare raised her hoof to stop him and shook her head. 
“Don’t fret over old Gray; we don’t take anything he ever says seriously. He has his own way to show he appreciates what we do, and we all know it’s just his way to motivate us. Either way we don’t hold it against you, besides your took some of the work off us so we’re pretty grateful for that.” 
With that off his mind Art was able to fully get into the translation of the second book while explaining it to the others, who had returned now with several books he had asked for them to get. He soon found it was much harder to explain how he translates something to other ponies that can’t see things the way he was seeing them, but his attention was taken away from that the more he had translated. Nothing was similar to the last book; this one had a considerable use of numbers and measurements. He hadn’t realized that he had stopped talking to the team till he already had a good idea about what he was looking at.
“Um… excuse me Art… you haven’t said anything for a long while now. We have picked up a few things you have done in the translation, however I don’t think any of us are following as quick as you’re going now.” the mare finally spoke up and broke his attention.
“Oh… yah sorry, it’s just… I’m afraid we may be wasting our time now that I’m seeing what this may be.”
This drew a lot of surprised looks from the team as they crowded in about him. “What are you seeing?” the mare asks as she moved up next to him.
“Well see all these right here.” he says pointing to a few parts on the page. “There are Numbers, along with measurements. Now the way these are set up on the page it means one of three things. One: this is an atlas style book that is meant to be used with a map somewhere. Two: this is a building layout, because all the measurements could be used to show room lengths and height. Thr-” he is cut off by Gray Fields coming into the room along with the two Guards he had been accompanied by to the castle.
“Marker, I’m sure you have shared your knowledge-”
“Art.” he corrected once again.
“Yah yah, anyways, I hope you have showed these overpaid interns enough to improve their skills and make them look like they deserve half of what I pay them, because it seems I have tied you up for too long and the Princess is looking to speak with you.”
Art nodded and turns to the team he had been working with. “thank you for working with me on this, hope I helped a little with showing everypony the translations.” all the team nodded and exchanged thanks as Art turned to join the guards that were already leaving till Fields called out to him one last time.
“Sketch-”
“ART!” again he corrected the earth pony.
“Fine, whatever you want to be called. Either way, if you change your mind I can always fire one of their halfwits and give you their job.” Fields offers and gives him a wink.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
While trying not to appear annoyed that the stallion still hadn’t got his name right Art turns and rejoins the guards already on their way to Celestia’s quarters.


While most ponies would be utterly fascinated by the décor in the castle or the sheer beauty of the castle itself, Art had found himself thinking about the parts of the second book he had worked on with the research team. He didn’t have much time to dwell on it before the guards stopped and stood beside two doors, he didn’t need to ask to know this was probably where Princess Celestia was at the moment. He leisurely opens the doors and walks in, not thinking to knock till he had already entered and cursing himself for forgetting.
“Ah Art! There you are. I was wondering if Gray Fields had locked you away in a room.” Celestia’s voice came from off to the side.
Art had only glanced around the room for a moment till Celestia had called out to him but already he could see this was probably Celestia’s study room.
“oh, no. he just had me preoccupied for a moment, he had ask if I would show a few of his team how I translated most of the book using the second and third book” (note: I need to go back and add parts about him looking over the third book too.)
“And how did that go?” Celestia ask as she started putting away the scrolls she had out moments ago.
“Well… Gray Fields is… and interesting pony.” this brought a quiet laugh from Celestia then she nodded for him to continue. “But the team he manages is full of ponies that catch onto things quickly, I think most of them had been on the right track they just didn’t have the right languages applied to their work because the two used are odd when coupled together. However I do feel like I could have provided a little more information had I not started realizing what the two other books were, I… forgot to tell them what I was doing as I got deeper into it.”
Celestia tilted her head, giving Art a curious look.
“You already know what the other two are?”
“Yes Princess…. I believe I do. May I borrow something to write on?”
Celestia nods and grabs a blank scroll and a quill, levitating them over to him as he joined her at the desk.
“See what gave me a few ideas as to what the books are was the abundance of numbers, in the previous one there were few numbers and most were in written form. However they were written quite close to one another with few words separating them. Like so.” he notions to the scroll where he had written a few numbers and placed what he remembered between them. “At first I recognized them as a form of measurement but I wasn’t sure which ones yet, so numbers with measurements would make you think what when written like that?”
“Perhaps distance to a destination? Directions to something? Key to a map?” Celestia voiced her guesses.
“That was my first thoughts. Then I found a book showing forms of measurements similar to the ones used in the one we were translation. Turns out it wasn’t a distance measurement, but a component measurement.”
“Then it’s an alchemist book?”
“Close.” Art says as he starts writing the numbers down in a straight line with measurements such as cup, tablespoon, and ounce. “But what about when I reorganize the numbers like so?”
Celestia stepped back for a moment making sure she was seeing what she believed she was seeing. “A recipe?”
“Remember when you commented on the book possibly being a cook book… well.” he nods to the paper where he had written down a few things, all of which were cooking ingredients. “Turns out there is a nifty section on the berry cobbler you mentioned.”
The two of them share a laugh at the chances that Celestia’s previous guess had been correct but on the wrong book.
“Well at least one of them was of help to you Princess; sorry the other two weren’t something more.” Says Art, as he walks back around to the front of the desk.
“Nonsense Art, the first book was plenty good enough, besides I think recipes from an ancient civilization could be quite a treat. If the team has learned enough from you then when they translate the two perhaps you could stop by one day and try one of the dishes.”
Art tried not to look too embarrassed at the princess’s personal invitation to dinner with her sometime and rubs the back of his neck. 
“That could defiantly be an interesting treat.” he did have to admit that it would be interesting to try something that had been cooked up by a race long lost to Equestria. “What there anything else you wanted to talk to me about Princess?” he ask hoping not to come off as eager to leave.
“Yes actually, you are on your way to Ponyville after this correct?” she waited for a brief nod from Art then continued. “I know the other day I didn’t go over things with you about staying there till after the celebration. To be honest I had to make plans for you first.”
Art quickly shakes his head. “You didn’t have to do that Princess; I have no problem finding a place there.”
“I may not have needed to but there was a pony I thought you should meet with while there, I think you two will get along quite well while you are there. I’ve ask that he stay with you and help you find things while there, but you will be staying at another pony’s house for the night.”
He bites his lip as he thinks about what he may be getting into now, he had thought this was just him meeting Celestia after the celebration when she had more time and could tell him what was going on, but it was clear now that Celestia had other things planned before this.
“I didn’t think Ponyville was that difficult a place to get around in?”
“Oh it’s not, I was hoping this could be a bit of a vacation for you since you spent your actually vacation working on the translation.”
Suddenly it was starting to make a little sense now, Celestia was paying him back for the work he had done for her and this was just part of it. “Thank you for setting that up for me Princess, but how will I know who the pony is?”
Celestia smiled and looked away like she knew something. “Don’t worry about that, you will know him when you see him.” she giggled lightly, which worried Art more. “He is quite a noticeable pony. But I assure you, you will be in good hooves-”
Celestia and Art bother are distracted from their conversation as a parchment of paper appears in a green flash near Celestia. She levitates it over to the desk and turns to Art.
“Excuse me for a moment Art, I should see to this.”
He nodded and stepped back, allowing Celestia her room as she read the letter. He couldn’t help but noticing her look of delight as she started reading it, not one of a princess reading a letter of good news, more like one he had seen on his mother’s face when she would read over one of his reports for school. It was something the unicorn had never expected to see from a regal Alicorn, at least knowing she wasn’t a mother herself. He continued watching till she sighed and shook her head, a small smile forming as she read. Then just as quickly as it had come, it looked like something suddenly hit her. She looked up as her eyes grew wide, quickly whipping around and pulling several books from a shelf behind her and replacing them till she seemed to find what she was looking for. Its dark blue cover was covered with only and image of a white crescent moon, Art however was unable to see what was inside it aside from the papers she pulled out and what looked like possibly a picture, which was left inside.
As the princess was setting out the papers she went to get another book which gave Art the chance to sneak a look and realize that the papers were his translations note he had sent her. Celestia had only stayed turned for a moment then brought another book over to the desk, of which Art hadn’t been able to see the name or cover. She seemed in a hurry as she seemed to skim over parts of the book and flip thought most of it. Finally stopping on some page and looking quite close at it.
“Of course… this is the final piece…” 
Finally Art’s curiosity got the better of him. “I’m sorry princess… but may I ask what this is all about?”
Celestia turns her gaze to him looking as if she had just remembered he was there. “Oh, Art. I apologize, that was one of my students. My personal student to be honest; Twilight Sparkle. She has just informed me of something that I needed for the festival. I’ll just take a moment to reply to this and I can get right back to what we were discussing.”
Art nodded and stepped back allowing Celestia to continue what she had started on, watching as the motherly smile came back to her face as she wrote. He could only wonder who this Twilight Sparkle was that would leave Celestia so cheerful and proud.
Finally Celestia finished as the letter rolled itself up then vanished in a magical flash, she then returned to him. “Now, as I was saying before, Case is one of the best Ponies I can leave you with, in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if he already knows you’re on your way.”
“Ah… wouldn’t you have already told him I was coming?”
Celestia laughed a little and shook her head. “No, I never have to tell Case anything. Once you get to know him you will understand.”
Art tried to smile and not look like this still worried him. “Well, I’ll only be there for a few days so I doubt I’ll really get to know him but I’m sure he can’t be too bad if you speak so highly of him.”
“If you don’t have any questions then you can head back to the train station to make your way to Ponyville.”
“Well actually…. You do seem to be talking like I’m going to be there for more than a few days. Am I missing something?”
She takes a deep breath before answering him. “I know I have been quiet on everything that I know is going on, and promising answers once the festival is over but there are some things even I do not quite know. When you have been around for as long as I have you just get these feeling… I just feel like you will find something that will keep you there for a little longer than you expect, and not in a bad way.” She adds the last part with a smile.
At first he didn’t like what this might mean but then he remembered something Celestia had told him, that everypony’s special talent manifest itself in a different way. He could only wonder if maybe as an Alicorn that Celestia may be in tune with fate and unconsciously know of things to come. However he quickly dismissed this thought with a shake of the head.
“Well… I can’t argue that.”
The two shared a laugh for another moment then Celestia walked with him to the front of the castle, before he left Celestia sent a pair of guards with him again, knowing he would require help getting back to the station.


Art sulked back in his seat as he thought about needing the guards to find his way back to the train, and still had gotten lost when he looked away from them for one moment. This had resulted in the train being held up for a few more moments to wait on him. Now the train was making its way into the station at Ponyville and Art retrieved his bags from under the seats, joining the other ponies as they get ready to get off the train.
As he stepped off he could already see the difference in his hometown and this place. There was a smell that he could only imagine existed in a quiet, rural town like this. He could already see a few buildings and realized how different it was from Manehatten, there was a lot of space between them similar to what would have been the smaller homes outside his hometown. However his time glancing over the part of the town he could see was cut short when he noticed a tan earth pony with a black mane walking in circle around him, his fedora tilted down just over his eyes slightly. He turned to walk away from the pony but he quickly stepped in front of Art.
“Your Art, you work for the daily haystack, a newspaper in Manehatten. Special talent is dealing with writings and books, attended little bits school for ponies, and graduated with high recommendations to go into the research field but stayed in your hometown and took the newspaper job instead, you prefer a bit of spiced hay with your lunch and in the afternoons you always read one chapter of a random book in your house.”
Art’s brow furrowed when the stallion started talking about more private information. “Ok… so who the hay are you… and how do you know something like that…”
Just as quickly as the scene had change to a dark mood it was changed when the stallion threw a hoof around Art’s neck. “Relax Art; it’s my job to know this stuff. I’m a detective… of sorts.” Even as the earth pony said this it still didn’t ease his tension any.
“Name’s Case, Celestia said you needed somepony to show you around Ponyville. Sorry if the personal info shocked you a little.” He then turned around and showed off his cutie mark, a magnifying glass. “My special talent is finding out anything and everything. Don’t ask how though.” He says the last part with a wink.
“Ok. That’s fine and all...” Art pulls away from him slightly. “You mind giving me a little personal space for the moment?” he asks with a light smile, trying not to come off wrong.
Case smiles and nods as he removes his arm and steps back. “Sorry about that, you will get used to it after a bit, everypony here in Ponyville are quite friendly so you may get that often.” 
Suddenly just as quickly as he had turned friendly he grabs Art and pulls him flat against the wall and joining him in the same way.
“Wha-what are you-“
“Shhh…”
Thought Art couldn’t tell why Case had hid him so quickly but he followed the pony’s gaze and saw a pink pony rush by, stopping on a dime and looking around. She looked around for a moment as if looking for something, her fluffy mane bouncing with each movement. Finally she shrugged and zipped off as fast as she had been running before. At that Case lets him off the wall.
“Sorry about that, but trust me, if you want your personal space we’ll meet that pony later. Best once you get more comfortable about here.”
Art leans around the corner looking to see if he could spot the pink mare. “I was kind of expecting this to be a vacation… but I can see this is going to be much more than that. Who was she anyways?”
“That was Pinkie, she’s…. a bit eccentric. Especially around anypony new in town… in fact I think that’s why she’s in such a hurry.”
He thought on what Case said for a moment. “So how often does Ponyville new ponies? It sounds like it must be a big thing if she’s that into it.”
This got a laugh out of Case as he went over the bags setting next to Art and picked up a one. “No, we actually get new ponies quite often. That’s just the way Pinkie is… just wait. You will see.”
He cracked a halfhearted smile and lifted his other bag himself. “Oh… great… looking forward to it…”
“well come on, you can do that later if you think you’re up to it, for now we have a lot more to see, I’ll show you the place you will be staying for the next few days.” Case throws the pack over his back and leads Art away from the station.
Case had pointed out a few select places they passed and was in the middle of explaining when the market opens when Art noticed they were now making their way towards what looked like a work shop.
“And here we have “Tool’s Shed” all the repair work around Ponyville gets brought here, and this is the place you can bunk up at while you’re here.”
This was not what he had expected from the Princess when she implied that she was setting him up for a vacation. He tried to hide his disappointment with a light smile. “So… I take it all the rooms at the inn were full?”
Case punched his shoulder playfully and laughed. “Heck no. there’s always a few rooms open there, but I couldn’t let a guest of the princess pay to stay here for a few days. Now, come on in and you can meet the guys.”
As Case pushed the front door open he missed the worried look from Art.
“Meet the…. Guys?”
Sure enough inside was the typical work shop, various tools lie about on tables, heavy work machines set greased up and ready to use, while a few other things set to the side waiting for their turn to be repaired or tinkered with. However nothing there looked like a “living” environment.
“Hey! Tool! Get out here!” Case yelled out.
The two of them sat for a while, Art looking around expecting somepony to walk into view at any moment, or for somepony to speak up from the back of the shop. After another minute and no reply Case sighed and turned to Art.
“You’re gonna wanna duck…”
“What do you mean du-" before he could finish Case kicks one of the nearby carts and causes it to slide to the middle of the shop. Suddenly something is triggered and a ball of fire goes flying in Art’s direction, barely missing him before he manages to duck down. The ball of fire slams into the wall behind them and leaves a scorch mark and smoke rising up.
“What the hay was that-" again he doesn’t manage to finish when something under him rises up and lifts him with it. After the fireball he expects the worse.
“Alright! Another one down! What the…” the voice came from under Art where the floor had lifted up.
“Case! What have I told you about setting off the defenses? These are meant for the dark herd when they infiltrate the compound!”
Case rolls his eyes and nods. “Yeah sure. Art, this is Tool. Tool, Art… he’s the pony that’s on top of your secret door.”
From under the piece of floor that had lifted up a blue Pegasus looks up, his wildly untamed mane a vibrant red. “Is that so…”
The pony slipped back under the tile and let it shut, while Art moved off the top of it to let him out till the same pony’s voice came from behind him.
“Well he has a heartbeat…” he turns around and the exact same Pegasus stands behind him examining Art as he starts to walk around the unicorn. “I’m not feeling any corruption around him, and he isn’t mechanical… he’s a unicorn so he will be beneficial to the offensive squad, and can still act as a defensive unit too. He’s a little thin, a light weight like you a take it.” The Pegasus says looking to Case.
Art was now doing the same but with a questioning look; this pony was looking him over like he had just joined the army or something. He stepped up between the two of them and bumped Tool back.
“Ok, that’s enough of that; he’s the pony Celestia ask you to provide a room for while he stays here.” He turns briefly to Art and whispers “he’s always like this; you will get used to it.”
He looks over to Tool and the two stare one another down for a moment, Tool’s light red eyes locking onto Art’s green eyes. A light prick at his flank makes him jump and turn to see what bit him, much to his surprise it’s the same Pegasus who was in front of him just seconds ago. He quickly looks back to where Tool had been but sees he isn’t there but still behind him with the pin he had stuck Art with. He wasn’t able to keep his mouth from dropping as he looked back to Case who just shrugged.
“Like I said, you will get used to it.”
“His reactions are good enough… fine, he can join; but I want to see a lot better performance from him in the field.” Tool then turns around and walks over to the area of the wall that had been scorched and looks it over for a moment before turning and giving it a light buck. The burnt wallpaper peels off in a perfect square leaving only the bare wall behind it till Tool pulls a sheet of replacement wallpaper up and covers it.
Art noticed aside from his unnatural habits, his cutie mark was a hammer and nail, which partially explained how he was able to remove the wallpaper like it was nothing but still left him wondering how he just happen to have a spare piece in hooves reach.
“So… I’m not going to be staying in this part of the shop right?” Art ask hoping not to offend ether of them when he looked at Case, however his answer came from the opposite direction.
“You shouldn’t even be in here; you have yet to prove yourself. Spark will be testing you till you prove your worth.” Tool answered as he smoothed over the last of the paper onto the wall.
“Spark?”
“Oh, Spark is here too? Good that’s one less pony I have to track down. Hay Spark! Where are you?” Case yelled out, looking around for another pony apparently.
“Hi Case!” came a call from above them all.
Art looked up at what appeared to be a boat, but with what appeared to be half way finished wings extending from the side. From one of those wings a yellow pony stuck his head out, his tongue hanging out to one side. His orange mane looked like he had recently stuck his hoof in an electrical outlet. 
“Come on down Spark, new guy is here.” Case calls up to the new pony.
“Awesome! I’ll be right down!” Spark stands up and jumps on the wing, there’s a loud crack and the wing snaps turning into a slide that he skids down and jumps off the edge. He lands on a table that had a bucket of water sitting on the edge, but the legs of the table break and send both of them falling to the ground, the water splashing on him and the floor under him. Both Case and Art wince as the yellow earth pony tries to stand up but slips in the water and falls again.
“Real graceful landing this time Spark.” Case comments with a light hearted chuckle.
“Yeah… sorry about the prototype Tool.” Spark apologizes as he rubs his neck, a little embarrassed. “well at least this time there wasn-” before Spark could finish there is another snap above them and the wing he had broken snapped loose from the piece that had been holding it. It falls away from the four ponies but lands on another table of assorted parts and tools which go flying into the air. Art watches as the only thing that lands near Spark is a live battery, the terminals making contact with the water and sending a spark or electricity into the water and through Spark.
Art jumps to help him till Case grabs his tail and pulls him back.
“You may want to stand back…”
Before Art can look back over to the earth pony a bolt of lightning zips by in front of his face. The bolt then bounces off several walls almost hitting each pony in the room if they hadn’t ducked. One last ricochet off a nearby tool box causes the bolt to come flying straight at Art. 
As he watches the bolt headed toward him, his eyes widen as his ears droop, his only thought was: why did I come here? He just knew these were going to be his last thoughts, then….
“Hi you’re the new pony that the princess asks to stay in Tool’s house right? Your name was Art right? I think she said it was Art, that’s a cool name. Can you draw and stuff or do you just like looking at art, or maybe you don’t have any interest in art but instead you’re just named Art because it’s a really good name. So why did the princess have you come here anyways? Are you here with that other pony that pinkie pie is throwing a party for or are you here on your own, Case wouldn’t tell us a lot about you except that we could find out when you go there but you’re here now so we can ask you stuff and not have to wonder anymore. Oh maybe you want to know more about us instead cause I know you haven’t met us before an-“ 
Case’s hoof claps over Spark’s mouth and muffles his words that had all suddenly started flowing nonstop and turned into one long word.
“Sorry… this is Spark… he’s very hyper…” 
Despite Case keeping his hoof over the yellow pony’s mouth he continued to talk, all the while a small spark jumping between his mane and tail.
“I see…”
Case turns to Tool nodding from him to come over and help with Spark, who was still rambling on despite him mouth being covered.
“Tool, I’ll take Art here to see his room instead of Spark, you’re gonna have to entertain Spark till this clears up.”
Tool walks over to the two of them and pulls Case’s mouth away from Spark’s.
“of course there’s always that really big apple farm on the edge of town but I’m sure you would have to work on the farm if you stayed there and you don’t look like the farm work kind of pony, not that you look like you can’t work or anything I just-” Case places his hoof back over Spark’s mouth.
“He’s fine. The new pony can deal with Spark.”
Case’s only reply is to push Spark toward Tool and remove him hoof.
“Because I help Tool out around the work shop since I stay here from time to time but I’m sure you can be a big help here too especially being a unicorn and all, so you can use magic. How much magic do you know anyways can you do magic like make fire and stuff or just pick up thi-” finally Tool places his hoof over Spark’s mouth and sighs
“Fine… I will take care of this…” he pulls Spark away through another door and removes his hoof while he does.
“It would be cool to be a unicorn for a day just so I could use magic and see how it work-” Tool pushes him through the door and sighs again. “I’m gonna need a thicker bat this time…”
Once the door shuts and Spark’s voice fades Art turns to Case with a confused look. 
“Does that… always happen?”
“Art my friend… I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. “You’ll get used to it. Now, come on. I’ll show you to the part of the shop that’s livable.” 
As Case started walking to another part of the shop Art caught up and tried to slow him a little by asking a question.
“Can you please tell me why you keep talking like I’m going to be here for more than two days? I’m happy that you are already treating me like one of your friends and everything, but I’m only staying here till after the Summer Sun Festival.”
“look Art, I have a special talent in finding out information, that’s how I know all that stuff on you before we met.” He stops for one moment and looks around as if another pony was going to appear yet again, then begins walking again. “I know the reason you’re here. The REAL reason you’re here, and I know a little bit more than you do. You’re here to talk with the Princess after the festival, about something you worked on for her…”
Art stepped in front of him and stopped him with an outstretched hoof. 
“How do you know about that?”
Case pushes his hoof down slowly and nods.
“Don’t worry about it Art, I’m not the kind of pony to look into somepony’s secrets. Most of the time I only use my talent when on a job, like I said; I’m a detective, I do my job but I don’t abuse it.”
Though this wasn’t the answer he was looking for Art has his suspicions that this was as good an answer as he would get. He was beginning to see the kind of Pony that Case was, so far he had made his attempts at making him feel welcomed, so he could at least go along with this for the moment.
“Ok, but eventually you will have to tell me how you found out about some of that stuff.”
Case just laughed and continued walking again.
“Maybe, but first let’s see how long you decide to stay here, you didn’t seem to think you’ll be staying anyways.”
Case showed him the spare room which Art was expecting to look like the rest of the shop had, however what they walked into was a well built, decently furnished, and fairly large. 
“Wow… I never expected something this… normal, especially in a workshop.”
“Tool may be a little unorthodox but he can build anything, well after he builds it a little…. Extreme the first time, then he can build some pretty nice things.”
Art couldn’t deny Case’s words as he looked around the room; it was almost like it was a completely different building not even remotely close to a workshop. The two of them took a few moments to situate a few things for Art then Case decided it was time to get back to showing him a few places around town.


Case had shown Art around most of the town, and it was already getting late. Art was expecting to head back to Tool’s workshop but Case had started in the opposite direction, headed to the outskirts of Ponyville.
“Now, one last pony for you to meet, he’s one of our little group even if he acts like he isn’t. Actually I wouldn’t be surprised if you had heard of him before, he’s another pony from another town as well as a pretty popular Pony.”
So far based on what Art had seen of the other friends, maybe a pony from another own would be more normal or at least to him anyways. Besides that the fact that this guy didn’t act like one of them was another promising aspect of a normal pony finally. From what Art could tell they were headed towards a gathering spot or something because several mares were crowded together. 
“Twister. Isn’t this, what caused the problem you needed my help with before?”
Case’s words brought a lot of questions to Art’s mind but none more than when a young white stallion stepped out from the crowd of mares, tucking his wings back to his side and shaking his golden mane. This pony was a shining example of the model ponies in magazines and pictures, his figure was slim but was still toned enough that he didn’t look like a stick, his tornado cutie mark looked out of place on the flawless looking body of the Pegasus but it gave Art a reason to believe that he was ether fast or had some kind of show off skills. 
“Case… good to see you still watching my back, but your killing my fun. These mares aren’t gonna cause me any trouble. Are you girls?” he asks as he gives a glance to one of the mares who swoon at his gaze. 
“I’ll keep that in mind, you just keep in mind my fee for repeat cases…”
Case’s threat seemed to linger on the Pegasus for a while before he finally stepped away from the herd and walked over to the two of them. “Thank you ladies for the kind words, but my friend and I have some business to discuss.”
The mares give him a saddened look but almost like he was some pony of pop, he gave a small smirk to them and they all giggled and waved to him. The pony then turned back to Case with an annoyed look. “What did I ever do to deserve the punishment of catching your interest?”
Case gives the Pegasus a light hearted smile and throws a hoof around his shoulder. “Twister… your just and interesting pony. I like interesting Ponies.”
“And is this another “interesting pony” who has caught your eye, or is this another one of your nutcase friends?” Twister asks as he turns his attention to Art, Case doing the same as if just realizing he was still there.
“This. Is your new best friend.”
“So another nutcase friend…”Twister’s ears flatten as he says this.
Finally Art decides to speak up for himself. “Actually… I’m just in town for a few days; I’ll be leaving after the celebration.” Twister’s ears perk up as he says this.
“Yeah, I said the same thing when I came here… where you from anyways?” 
His first words caught most of Art’s attention but he would ask more about that later, for now he went ahead and answered his question.
“Manehatten, I’m just here to meet with Princess Celestia and talk about-” before he could finish Twister interrupted him.
“FINALLY! A pony that I can relate to. Do you know how many ponies here act just like this guy? Almost every one of them.”
“Good to see you two are gonna get along; I need to go take care of some stuff so I need to leave Art here with you till later.”
The two of them look at one another for a moment, Art couldn’t help but wonder how a pony like this was in Ponyville, he belonged in a place like Los Pegasus. Twister also was wondering just what had happened to bring this unicorn to Ponyville and to Case at that. However the two of them did know one thing, they were both the most normal of all the ponies Case had introduced them to.
“Yeah get, I’ll show old… Art was it? I’ll show him around here, besides who knows where he will end up if you keep showing him around.” he turns to Art and nudges his side. “I’ll show you all the right places.”
That seemed to be all that Case needed to hear as he turned and waved to the two of them, leaving Art with the pony he had just met seconds ago.
“Well since you’re not from here and you aren’t already hanging on my back or haven’t almost killed me with a-”
“Fireball…” Art finished his sentence.
“Tool?”
“Tool.” both of them crack up laughing and Twister hits his side playfully. “You know, I think your one of the few “friends” Case has introduced that I think I can get along with.”
As much as Art hated to admit it, for now it seemed that Twister was probably the only normal pony in the whole town, but he still didn’t know anything about him. The one thing that interested him the most was Twister’s cutie mark, he hadn’t seen anything like it or how it would relate to someone of his build.
“Ah… I have to ask, just out of curiosity. Your cutie mark, it’s a tornado.” 
Art’s question brought a smirk to Twister’s face.
“You wanna see it…” 
Before Art could manage a reply Twister’s wings flashed out and he came off the ground a few feet, and then winked at Art. “You’re gonna wanna brace yourself.” he gave one strong downward thrust of his wings and the air around them seemed to explode in a fury of wind, Art was defiantly having to brace himself to keep from being blown off. A second heavy downward thrust and Art saw just why Twister’s mark was a tornado. Just as he was being forced back, he felt a changed and began sliding forward a little, quickly bracing himself to keep from moving more. Through the strong wind he begins to see something start spiraling up from the ground, something that made his eyes grow wide. A small twister was beginning to form at the center of the wind, beginning to spiral upwards at an alarming rate. Then as quickly as Twister had started it he flicked his wings in the other direction and the wind came to an abrupt stop, the small twisted slowly fading from view.
“Nice Hu?” Twister asks as he floated back to the ground. “I have the strongest wing power of any pony around, enough to generate a tornado, or twister, of my own. I’ve found a way to use that and my athletic form to make myself-” Art barely notices Twister move from in front of him to his left in a split second. “Move super-fast, but I have to stay in contact with the ground or I lose control. That means I’m not the fastest flier… but I’m the quickest pony on the ground you will ever meet.” he strikes a cocky pose and smirks. “Also the mares dig the moves.”
Art was still quite speechless for a while, but eventually managed to recover and fix his mane which had been blown backwards from the wind. “So Twister isn’t just your name…” was all he managed.
“Actually it was just a name, some kind of luck that mom would name me something that would happen to be my special talent.” Twister replies as he tucks his wings back to his side. “So with that answered I gotta ask, what’s got you here in this little town? You don’t look like one other ponies that Case would normally pick up around here.”
Art thought about whether or not to explain what he was actually there for or tell him the same story he had told everypony else.
“A few days ago I did some translation work for the Princess, but I didn’t really understand what it was I translated. I’m here to speak with the Princess and have her explain what it was that I translated.” Art’s explanation got a confused look from Twister. 
“Wait, you’re gonna speak to the Princess about some books you translated that you don’t understand? How is that even possible, aren’t you suppose to know what you translate?”
The Unicorn rubs his neck embarrassed; he had thought about it that way several times, what kind of translator doesn’t understand what he just wrote down. “well… it’s not that I don’t know what it says, it’s just that some of it doesn’t make sense some of the stuff it talks about seems like riddles or fairytales. I know it’s not my place as just some random pony to question the Princess about things like this but it raised my interest so I asked. The Princess told me she would explain everything in full detail after the festival tomorrow.”
Twister hadn’t changed his look as he listened to Art, making him wonder if he had maybe said a little bit too much about something the Princess might not want getting out.
“Eh, whatever.” the young Pegasus says with a shrug of the shoulder and starts walking towards the town. “What say we get the real tour of Ponyville started? Cherry Bits is having her own special party tonight before the festival starts tomorrow morning, I’ll show you a few of the normal ponies around here.”
So far Twister had proven to be the sanest of all the ponies Case had shown him Art figured his best chances at having a normal vacation here would be to stick with him for the time. He didn’t have any problem with Case and his friends, but if this was supposed to be a vacation from the princess he wanted it to be as calm as possible, something he didn’t see happening in a place where he had to watch his step for fear of being burned alive from a random ball of fire. The two of them made their way back into town exchanging small about one another.


Art stayed with Twister thought out most of the night, finding that he was indeed one of the most normal ponies here; however he also found about a bit more about him as the night passed. Twister had come to Ponyville from Fillydelphia, an accomplished athlete in his high school who felt extremely confident that he would be picked to play for a big school in any sport. It turns out Twister was confident that he could to anything and perfectly at that. Another thing Art found out that he should have guessed from the moment they met was that Twister was considered a playpony, he loved the mares and the mares loved him. Art didn’t mind the company of mares, but after a while the constant swooning over the Pegasus was getting worn out, and fake. There were few things that annoyed Art more than false affection just because of status, and being surrounded by this for most of the night eventually leads him to leave, heading out side of the house they had been at.
“He’s a bit overwhelming at times isn’t he?”
Art looked up quickly surprised to see the tan earth pony standing outside at the corner of the house, his fedora tilted low over his eyes till he raised it.
“I figured Twister and you had more in common being from bigger towns, so I thought I would let you spend some time with him. He’s still young through so his heads in the wrong places, gets him in trouble he needs help getting out of. He’s a good Stallion; he just needs to grow up a little.”
“That’s why you’re interested in him isn’t it?” Art ask walking over to join him.
“I guess you could say that. I know it may seem like a rag tag group of friends I have, but there’s something special to each one of these guys.”
“Ok, I can see that with Twister being talented and everything, and Tool with his building skills… but that pony, Spark. What’s the interest there; he seems a little… out of it, if you don’t mind me saying.”
Case laughs and flicks the tip of his hat. “Spark is a genius, without a doubt the smartest pony you will ever meet. The problem is he doesn’t know it because he has a short attention span and too much energy.”
From what he had seen Art had trouble believing this but then again what was there to gain from lying to him about Spark. He would just have to wait and see if something happened to prove Case’s point. “Ok, so what about me? I’m already doing ok in Manehatten, why am I an “interest” to you?”
Case simply shrugs and steps away from the corner of the building to join Art in the road. “I don’t know yet, just call it a hunch. I get a lot of those, just like I had a hunch that Twister’s party would be more than you wanted.”
“And what if I had fit in just fine there?”
“But you didn’t…”
He sighed a little realizing that he wouldn’t win with this pony. “Ok, since I didn’t fit in there where am I going to go next, since you seem to know where everything is going?”
Again Case just laughed and turned to walk down the road. “well you follow me to Tool’s place and enjoy the little get together the three of us set up for you, there you get to know the three of us better and realize that Tool is more than just a crazed pony who builds contraptions to protect us from the darkness, and that Spark is more than just a clumsy over energetic lightning rod. You also realize that Case will always know what happens before you do something and will tell you if it’s a bad idea or not.”
Case turns around to look at the unicorn that stared him down for a moment, before he finally breaks down and walks up next to him. 
“Fine, but I had better not have to play dodge ball with anymore fireballs in that place.”
“Oh don’t worry about that, Tool turned those off. Just watch your step in the yard.”