‘Overhead, the albatross...’
‘Mine?’ Bolt questioned, moving her hoof from a half-empty tankard of yellow, translucent liquid to stroke her chin. ‘I think I’ll keep that a secret for now.’
Scootaloo frowned.
‘Oh, come on Bolt!’ Apple Bloom whined. ‘How else will we be prepared for adventures if we don’t even know anything about them?’
Bolt smoothed the thin leather vest she wore, straightened the eyepatch on her right eye and took a heroic pose with her chest puffed out and her left forehoof pointing straight away from the bar where they sat. Leaning a rear hoof on her stool, she smiled and looked to the three fillies sitting next to her.
‘Why, I’m captain of the dungeoneers!’ she stated proudly. ‘The perilous adventures I go on are way too dangerous for fledgling adventurers!’
‘But we won’t be going on them,’ Scootaloo corrected, ‘we just want to hear a cool story!’
Bolt frowned, settled back down into her stool and stroked her chin once more. ‘Tell you what. You listen to the bard singing—’ Bolt pointed to a light-brown stallion elevated on a small stage on the other side of the building, wielding nothing but a lavishly-decorated lute and his smooth voice. ‘—and you’ll know more about adventuring.’
‘As something stirs and something tries, and starts to climb across the light...’
The crusaders leaned their ears to the stage, but only eyebrows and questions were raised as they listened.
‘...I don’t get it,’ Scootaloo admitted.
‘Of course you wouldn’t!’ Bolt laughed and took a sizeable swig of her drink. ‘You aren’t real adventurers yet! The thrill of an exciting new quest can clear your mind and help you understand anything!’
A sliver of space beneath Bolt’s eyepatch revealed the whites of the eye beneath, prompting her to shift the patch over to her other eye. The crusaders curled their mouths and sat, perplexed, as the eye that was once covered was completely unharmed.
‘What’s the matter, you three? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something!’ Bolt again laughed and took a final swig from her drink. While her back was turned, Apple Bloom turned to her friends and circled her hoof over her head.
‘Yep. She’s nuts.’
‘So what do we do? I still think that we should learn more about this place.’
‘Let’s go see my sister!’
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked quizzically at Sweetie Belle.
‘...What? Twi—Bookworm said we should catch up with her friends, and my sister is her friend, right?’
‘Yes, but we need to find out what’s going on here, not what—’
‘What are you talking about, girls?’ Bolt inquired, curling her mouth into a slight frown. ‘Am I boring you with my awesome tales of adventure?’
‘You never told us a story,’ Apple Bloom replied, breaking from the circle with a sigh. ‘Where did Bookworm go?’
‘Probably in her office. But—hey!’ Bolt called out as the crusaders turned and began to walk away. ‘She’s probably busy, why don’t you stay here with me? I’ll show you around the place if you want!’
‘Cloudless every day you fall upon my waking eyes...’
The crusaders looked to each other and nodded.
Bolt smiled, stepped off of her stool and motioned her hoof to the bar counter. ‘Might not have been the best idea to bring you to the bar of all places, but I guess I can start there.’ Bolt cleared her throat. ‘You see the bartenders over by those two adventurers?’
The quartet turned to the end of the bar table, where two earth ponies—a stallion and a mare—were chatting with a pair of energetic ponies shaking the dust off of their tattered vestments. They were amber and pink, respectively, and their manes were a shade darker than their coats.
‘Is that P—’ Sweetie began, cut off by an unseen nudge to her side. ‘Er, who are those, Bolt?’
‘I was getting to that.’ Bolt rolled her eyes. ‘The pink one is Surprise; she doesn’t really go questing or adventuring. She runs the entertainment side of the place—you know, like getting cider for the bar and paying the musicians. She also occasionally runs the bar with or without the other bartender next to her.’
‘Who’s that?’
‘No one actually knows his name. We usually just call him some nickname or other—Amber today, maybe Chocolate tomorrow. Those two are the main sources for rumours and whatnot around here, so naturally if somepony wants an adventure or a thrill, they’re the ones to see. Pretty reliable with their sources, too.’
The two chatting bartenders directed their acquaintances' attention to the stage, where the bard was clearing his throat, preparing for the last verse. The pink mare was held captive by every word, taking no notice of any chatter amongst ponies throughout the room or even the ones she had just been speaking to.
‘And call to you...’ The bard trailed off.
The ensuing bow lead to several dozen pairs of hooves applauding in response, leaving the room in a stormy bout of noise none of its occupants could hear through. Bolt had turned to face the stage and, as the crusaders were well aware, paid no attention to the three fillies. They all nodded, deftly snuck behind her and walked quickly to the doors lining the back wall.
Apple Bloom looked from left to right, unable to decide which way to go. She shrugged, unable to communicate through speech over the deafening crowd. Scootaloo pointed to the leftmost door, to which the other crusaders nodded and followed her lead.
The wooden door, as with Bookworm’s office, held tinted glass with a brass plaque mounted on the front. Instead of “Bookworm’s Office” as they had expected, there were two swords crossing with one another. Just as the crusaders prepared to move to the next door, the applause stopped.
‘No time!’ Apple Bloom barked. ‘Let’s check this door out!’
Leaving no time for thinking, the crusaders pushed the handleless door and walked in. It was a small room, detailed with very little on its wooden walls—the only striking features in the room was a weapon rack next to the fillies filled with all sorts of bladed and ranged weaponry and a row of five training dummies lined up across the room. A small fence lay in front of the entrance, separating the dummies from the rack and any new entrants to the room.
A figure was busy punching through the dummy farthest away from the crusaders, bearing an orange coat, blonde hair and a tattered hat that Apple Bloom knew all too well.
‘Applejack!’ the filly cried out happily, hopping over the fence as quickly as she could. Applejack turned from her target and stared, bemused, at her sister.
‘Stop right there, Apple Bloom,’ Applejack snarled. ‘Now what’s this about calling me that? You know that you’re not allowed to say my name outside of the house!’
Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow, but soon remembered Bookworm’s reaction earlier that day—’Sorry ‘sis,’ she mumbled, keeping her head lowered. ‘I won’t do it again.’
Applejack looked down at her sister’s expression and smiled. ‘It’s alright. But really, I haven’t heard you call me anything but Red for the past few months! Seems a little weird is all.’ She took a look over the small fence and saw two snickering young fillies. ‘So what brings you three to the Dungeoneerin’ Association?’
‘Well, we just wanted to take a peek around once we got here,’ Apple Bloom explained. ‘Big Mac said I should head here to find you, he needs your help with something important.'
‘Mm, probably them Argonians acting up again...’ Red cursed under her breath. ‘I swear, one of these days we’ll really lay it down on them.’
Apple Bloom recalled the fight with her brother and the Argonian—soon after, she wanted to forget. ‘What’s this room for, ‘sis?’
‘Archery, swords, axes... general fighting stuff, really,’ Red explained. ‘I’m just practicing some hoof-to-hoof combat for now. I’ll be sure to teach you how to defend yourself someday—all three of you.’
‘Psst!’ Sweetie Belle whispered—loudly, at that. ‘We’re not here to dilly-dally! Let’s go find T—Bookworm before Bolt finds out!’
‘I heard every word you said,’ Red replied, unamused. ‘Not sure what you fillies are doing, but if it’s trouble, I would mind yourselves—some ponies really don’t take kindly to youngsters running around and making a ruckus.’
‘Uh... alright?’ Apple Bloom questioned, hesitantly turning towards her friends. ‘We won’t get in your mane anymore. Come on, girls!’
The crusaders all walked—rather quickly—to the exit, leaving Red to her training. After creeping the door open to take a peek for Bolt, Scootaloo nodded her head and led the trio through.
Through the din of the conversing adventurers in the room, the fillies felt no need to whisper. ‘Let’s check this door,’ Scootaloo suggested, making her way to the next door along the wall. ‘If it isn’t Bookworm’s office, then we can just keep on exploring.’
‘Why didn’t your sister try and investigate, Apple Bloom?’ Sweetie Belle inquired as the trio stopped in front of the new door. ‘Is she usually like this?’
‘No... Bolt was acting a little funny too. Well, crazy I guess.’ Apple Bloom looked up at the door. ‘But obviously that isn’t the only thing wrong with today. Here’s her office.’
After taking a look at the brass plaque mounted on the door, still spelling out “Bookworm’s Office” as it had earlier that day, the crusaders walked inside.
‘Girls?’ Bookworm inquired, sitting behind her desk with a star-studded blue wizard’s cap lying on her lap. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be with Bolt? I’ve got paperwork to do for the Association and I can’t quit doing that just to babysit you three.’
‘She’s crazy!’ Sweetie Belle blurted out, prompting a reddening in her cheeks to form. ‘Er, she’s acting a little... weird, I guess.’
Apple Bloom shot Sweetie Belle a hard look.
‘What? She told us—oof!’ Sweetie cringed as a short nudge hit her ribcage.
‘Well,’ Bookworm started, laying the hat on her desk as she sighed, ‘it seems that we’re at an impasse. You won’t leave me alone and I won’t set aside my work—’
‘In pass?’ Sweetie wondered. ‘Isn’t that something Rarity would say?’
‘Ugh... That’s “Sapphire”, Sweetie. I—you know what, girls?’ Bookworm looked at the stack of papers lying beneath the wizard’s cap, closed her eyes and sighed once more, this time in defeat. ‘If you give me fifteen minutes, I’ll fill you in on some things. Just leave me to finish some of what I have, alright?’ The crusaders nodded.
Bookworm moaned. ‘Good,’ she said after a short pause, ‘thank you very much. Now, I’m sure Bolt is looking for you, so I’d appreciate if you left to go show her where you went.’
The fillies, satisfied with the result of their visit, left the room.
~|O|~
‘...and then the blasted thing pulled a sword on me! Can you believe that?’
Surprise gasped. She was leaning over the bar counter, enough that her nose had nearly touched Bolt’s before she caught herself and drew back a touch. ‘No kidding? Tell me mo—oh, hi girls!’ Both she and Bolt turned to face the fillies, who were staring straight back.
‘Why’d you stop?’
‘Scootaloo? Her friends?’ Bolt questioned, raising an eyebrow. ‘How long have you three been behind me?’
‘I don’t know,’ Apple Bloom cut in, grinning, ‘how long have we been behind you? You are supposed to be watching us, after all.’ The crusaders snickered and Bolt felt her face heat up.
‘Uh... so, have I introduced you to Surprise? She’s the—’
‘Of course they know who I am, silly!’ Surprise interrupted, snickering. ‘You girls are pretty funny! Bolt doesn’t get embarrassed very often—what brings you three here, anyway?’
‘We’re trying to find out what is going—oof,’ Sweetie huffed. ‘Cut that out, Scootaloo! That's the third time today!'
‘We’re here because, according to Bookworm, we seem to have some sort of amnesia,’ Apple Bloom answered. ‘We have no idea how it happened, but for now we’re just trying to get back into the swing of things to see if our memory comes back.’
‘Hmm... oh! Maybe you can even join the Dungeoneer’s Association!’ Surprise smiled and put a hoof around the other bartender, hooking him away from a pair of chatty ponies and to the three fillies. ‘This is Amber, and he—’
‘My name is Mutatio, Surprise,’ a husky, baritone voice corrected—this wasn’t the first time he’s had to say it, or so his rolling eyes told.
‘Bless you! Just kidding, Moustachio—’ A hoof rose in protest. ‘—but don’t worry, girls! You won’t have to remember his funny name. For some reason, he changes colour every day, so whatever he’s like at one moment, you can name him based on that!’
'Bolt, you said this guy didn't have a—oof,' Sweetie huffed. 'Scootaloo!'
‘Pay her no heed, young ones,’ Mutatio explained. ‘She can be a little... misguided, I suppose, but she means well.’
Surprise took no heed of the comment, choosing instead to squint across the room. Her tail began to twitch. ‘Something’s going on... I think there’s a fight about to happen! Come on, Bolt! Let’s go stop them; my Secret Sense is never wrong!’
‘I don’t hear or see anything going on! What are you—’
‘I said come on!’
Surprise hopped right over the bar counter, knocking over an empty tankard that just barely missed falling on the floor—’Thank goodness,’ Mutatio remarked—and bringing a confused Bolt along with her. Mutatio shook his head.
‘And that is my boss. A sharp eye for detail, that one; she could catch a rabbit several hundred yards away if she wanted to, all because of that keen sense she has.’ A ‘Hey! He started it!’ across the room was heard. ‘See? Even if she’s a mite odd, she does her job right.’
‘Mister...’
‘Mutatio, sister of Red Delicious.’
‘Right—wait,’ Apple Bloom paused for a moment, ‘how did you know that I’m Red’s sister?’
‘I’m the bartender for the busiest place this side of Equestria!’ Mutatio said, laughing. ‘I know nearly everyone in the immediate area, especially those close to miss Bookworm!’
Apple Bloom turned to her fellow crusaders. They shrugged.
‘You fillies are lucky it’s late in the evening,’ Mutatio continued. ‘The entertainment and overall allure of this establishment brings along some busy times throughout the day. If you wish, I can tell you a few things about this place while I’m free—I’m sure Surprise will take over once she’s done what she’s doing. Might help you with your amnesia, too.’
‘How did you know we had amnesia?’
‘You’ve been here for several hours. Bookworm makes sure I know everything that goes on so I can do my job the best I possibly can.’ Mutatio looked up at the ceiling, sighed and closed his eyes. ‘I’ve been at the Association ever since Starswirl the Bearded was defeated atop Sinner’s Peak, and it has never wavered from its initial goal. This place is designed for anyone—not just ponies, mind you—to come, have a good time and pick up some leads or give some information on any type of adventure or quest. I get some leads, I give some leads, everyone winds up happy.’
‘Girls?’ Bookworm’s voice called out from behind the group. As they turned to face the mare, she made her way over to the bar counter. ‘I presume everything is alright, Mutatio?’
‘Yes, I was telling them a bit about what goes on in this old place. Did you need me for something, miss Bookworm?’
Bookworm shook her head. ‘No, that will be all. I was actually coming for the fillies; we have something to discuss.’
‘Very well,’ Mutatio said, turning his head towards a nearby window. ‘It is getting rather late—I’ll close the place down soon, if you wish. I’ll tell their sisters where they are.’
‘Yes, thank you Mutatio,’ Bookworm said, smiling. ‘I should get upstairs—Surprise might come and delay us further.’
Mutatio nodded his head; Bookworm returned the gesture. The room’s ambiance had died down from before; where there was joy and alcohol before lay calmed adventurers clearing out by the dozens. Bookworm took no heed of the change and made her way to the third door along the wall, the farthest to the right of the three.
Inside, there were a few sealed barrels and baskets lying underneath an escalating staircase. ‘Upstairs,’ Bookworm insisted, motioning her hoof upwards. ‘Into the first room on your left.’
The fillies did as they were told, coming up to a carpet-laden hallway with several doors lining it on each side. The first one to the left was already ajar; Bookworm went inside and searched every corner she could see in the small room. The room was not decorated and only contained a curtained window, a small bed and a nightstand beside the bed’s head.
‘I don’t think anypony can hear us, we should be fine,’ Bookworm said, sighing a breath of relief. She ushered the fillies inside and shut the door. ‘We rent out the rooms up here to let a bit of income come in. No one is scheduled for tonight, so we should be alone here.’
Apple Bloom heard the faint rumbling of the ponies still enjoying themselves downstairs. Bookworm took in a deep breath, exhaled and closed her eyes.
‘Can you tell me what you do know?’
Apple Bloom was the first to reply. ‘All I can think of is that we know you and your best friends’ real names, all five of them.’ She shrugged. ‘We all went home one night when things weren’t so... old, I guess, and we woke up to all of this.’
‘Hmm... well, is there anything specifically that you want to know about? If you need a refresher on any lore or rumours, then Mutatio is your pony. But if there are some policies from Moonshine that you don’t quite understand, then it’s best that you speak up now so there won’t be any incidents.’
‘Policies?’ Scootaloo chipped in. ‘And who is this “Moonshine”?’
Bookworm’s eyes widened and her jaw hung slack. After several moments of rapid blinking, she finally came to her sense. ‘You... you don’t remember any of that?’
All three crusaders shook their heads.
‘Oh, how to put this... well, I don’t really need to. I can get you some medical assistance in Manehattan, that’d help—maybe Bolt could bring you?’
‘Come on, Bookworm!’ Apple Bloom yelled, receiving a cold glare in response. ‘Sorry for yelling, but you can’t honestly say that we have some sort of mental sickness! Just give us a few days, I'm sure we’ll be fine!’
Bookworm’s hoof was raised in protest, but words failed to come out of her mouth. A cool breeze made its way through the room. ‘I... I guess that waiting this out would’ve been a better idea, really. I was just worried that you might’ve had head trauma or something, but neither Sapphire nor Red mentioned anything peculiar before today.’
The crusaders looked at each other’s foreheads, squinting to look for abnormalities in their skull. No head trauma here.
‘But before everything comes back, I urge you to not reveal my name nor any of my friends’ true names to anyone. There are some...’ Bookworm turned her eyes away, ‘...consequences, I guess, if my name is spread and repeated in Canterlot.
‘Anyway, you will refer to myself as Bookworm, your sister—’ Bookworm pointed a hoof to Apple Bloom, ‘—as Red Delicious, your sister—’ she shifted her hoof to Sweetie Belle, ‘—as Sapphire, the mares downstairs as Surprise and Bolt, and lastly, Butters. She’s the scout off searching for traces of an Argonian encampment; they’ve been harassing us a lot lately.’
‘Argonians?’ Sweetie Belle questioned—as she did so, Apple Bloom shuddered. ‘And where’s my sister?’
‘She took a trip down to Los Pegasus for some sort of smithing material you can only find on the west coast—cost a hefty fee to hire that pegasus chariot, too.’ Bookworm frowned. ‘Better have been worth it. And—oh, Argonians... don’t worry about them. They’re just annoying pests claiming that this land is theirs.’
‘Is there anything else we should know?’ Scootaloo said, and promptly shuddered. ‘I feel a wind coming in, I want to get downstairs before it gets worse.’
Bookworm looked to the curtained window. ‘Someone must have left the window open.’ She walked over, moved the curtain to the side and slid the window shut. ‘As long as you fillies call us by the names I told you and you keep silent the fact that I can do that special magic, everything should be fine.’
‘Why?’ the fillies replied in unison, raising their eyebrows and looking to Bookworm expectantly.
'Aliquatenus—spellcasters, that is—aren't that well-liked to start. Something about each one of them having a "sense of entitlement",' Bookworm spat. 'So if I were to be public with my special abilities, more advanced than any belonging to an aliquatenus since Starswirl the Bearded...'
'We understand,' Apple Bloom said. 'Let's head downstairs.'
Bookworm nodded and led the fillies out the door and down the stairs, taking care to look for eavesdropping ponies along the way. 'Moonshine is the so-called ruler of ponies in Equestria,' she said venomously. 'Don't worry about that, though. You'll all learn in time—do you all know where you live?'
'Yes,' Apple Bloom replied.
'I'll just stay with Apple Bloom for a bit,' Scootaloo said. Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. 'I'm... I'm sure my parents won't mind.'
'I'll stay with Apple Bloom too!' Sweetie squeaked. 'Cutie Mark Crusaders sleepover!'
Bookworm nodded her head. ‘I’m sure your sisters won’t mind. Just don’t forget to come back tomorrow—I’m sure we could try unlocking a few more memories, maybe kick this amnesia thing really quick.’
‘Sure thing, Bookworm!’ Apple Bloom replied as they made their way through the nearly empty main floor. Besides the crusaders and Bookworm, only a few stragglers and Mutatio remained.
‘Have a good night, young fillies,’ Mutatio said, holding the door open with his hoof. ‘I’m certain we’ll see each other plenty over the next little while.’ He smiled, and the fillies smiled back.
As they walked away from the Dungeoneering Association and towards the outskirts of town, Apple Bloom noticed a familiar figure. The sword twirler from that afternoon was still standing in the same spot as he had been before, leaning against a faceless building and carrying his sword still glistening under the sun’s glare.
‘Wind was acting up today,’ the mahogany stallion said aloud in the same gruff tone as he had done before. ‘Odd, we don’t get much wind around here.’
The crusaders fell silent as they passed him by.
~|O|~
‘Good night, crusaders!’
‘Apple Bloom,’ Scootaloo protested, raising a hoof out from her sleeping bag, ‘shouldn’t we make a plan for tomorrow? I mean, today was crazy enough when we hadn’t planned anything beforehand.’
‘I just want to see Rarity first,’ Sweetie Belle said, prone in her sleeping bag and muffled by the pillow under her face. ‘I just want to see Rarity first...’
‘I think that’s a good idea as any. We’ll talk with Twilight’s—’
‘Bookworm’s,’ Scootaloo corrected.
‘Right. We’ll talk with Bookworm’s friends first and then...’ Apple Bloom’s eyes drifted to the book lying on her nightstand, ‘...we can show her this book. Remember that?’
‘It’s worthless.’
‘Well, it stayed with us when everything else changed. Might do something at the very least. Do you have any better ideas?’
‘Uh...’ Scootaloo stammered for words. ‘I guess not.’
‘It’s settled, then. Tomorrow, we figure everything out.’
‘Tomorrow,’ they all said in unison.
~|O|~