//------------------------------// // Chapter Two - The Short Straw // Story: A Series of Unlikely Occurrences // by XYZDreadnought //------------------------------// Equestria: Canterlot Excess Baggage, of the Royal Equestrian Post, was not having a good day. He was running an extra shift due to four ponies calling in sick, his wife was complaining about the state of the attic, his kids were late to school, his boss complained about the delay, and to top it off somepony had broken the coffee machine in the break-room. He could really use a coffee today. This is not really the best mood to be knocking on ponies doors and delivering parcels, but he somehow managed to keep a civil (abet slightly grumpy) façade to all the ponies complaining about their packages being late, mishandled, or whatever else they might complain about. So it was some sort of bitter-sweet relief when he finally reached the last house on his list. It was fairly out of the way, enough to escape the bustle and noise of the city. Alone it sat in its own private tranquillity. It was a reasonably large house, very modern by Canterlot standards. Its odd geometry and minimalistic design made it stand out among some of the larger, older and more ornate houses that characterize the city. It was built on the mountain rather than one of the many platforms that make up the majority of the city. Such real estate is rare in this city. Usually land like this on the Canterlot Plateau was expensive, and most of it was taken by the houses of the rich and noble. It was surprising to find such an unusual home here on its own, and it probably says something about the pony who lived there... ...Not that Excess took any note of this, too busy contemplating the end of his work day to care. He left his cart on the roadside and walked up the path to the front door, clutching the small package to his chest. Knocking on the door, he awaited a response, listening intently. After about a minute, his trained ears picked up soft hoof-steps approaching, and the door was opened by a small unicorn filly, who stared up at him passively. She was completely white, apart for her eyes, which were red. Not feeling like dealing with kids, gruffly he said "Hey kid, your parents home?" Her expression of passive indifference instantly soured into that of extreme annoyance. Excess had the feeling the that he had trod on a sore spot, though he couldn't think of what. "Is there a problem?" he asked. "No," she said in a voice that seemed too mature to be coming from a filly, "No, everything is fine and dandy." she continued bitterly, before finishing with, "and to answer your question, no, my parents aren't in. Not that they have any reason to be here considering I haven't lived with my parents since I finished high-school... nine years ago." Her voice dripped with venom. His mind froze, and suddenly he did a quick double-take at the apparently not-filly. Upon looking carefully, he could see what was wrong, while the she was indeed small, her proportions were definitely that of a grown mare, she could even be considered attractive, Her slightly off white mane almost seemed to flow like liquid, ending in a point nearly touching the ground. Though the red eyes were slightly off-putting, especially with the death-stare he was receiving. Excess quickly said, "Oh! My apologies ma-" "Stow it." The mare interrupted him, her death-glare softening into general annoyance. Excess shifted about awkwardly on the doorstep, uncomfortable in the silence, until the mare spoke again. "Well?" "Huh?" said Excess, sounding rather thick. "As much as I enjoy standing in my doorway watching my life go by, I've got things to do and you're blocking the view," she stated, before asking, "What do you want?" Suddenly he remembered why he was here. "Oh, right," he said, clearing his throat before continuing, "I'm here..." "Yes I think we established that already," she interrupted sarcastically. "...To deliver a package to a Miss Snowy," he said, reading the shipping invoice to hide his increasing annoyance. "Are you Miss Snowy?" "No, That's Professor Snowy, not Miss," she corrected testily. "But yes, you have come to the right place." "Sign here please," said Excess, handing her the invoice while privately thinking: 'Geez, what's with the attitude? I make one accidental quip on her height, and she starts treating me like I'm the world's biggest dirtbag.' "Took you people long enough, this is hardly what I call swift service," she said, looking the invoice up and down. "Just sign please, ma'am," Excess said irritably. She took the pen out of the clip and scribbled something at the bottom, then gave the invoice back. He looked at the signature, it matched the pre-given signature perfectly, but now that he looked at both of them, there was something odd about it... "Is your signature written backwards, ma'am?" he asked quizzically. She stared at him for a minute, before replying. "Why yes, is that a problem?" "Not really," said Excess. The signatures matched after all, who was he to complain, anything to get this job out of the way quicker and this irritating midget out of his mane. He picked up the box and proffered it to the mare. It wobbled on the end of his hoof, but she being quickly snatched it up in her magic. "Careful!" she said, looking the box up and down for any signs of damage. "This is quite fragile, and highly volatile, not to mention possibly dangerous." "Well sorr- did you say dangerous?!" said excess, backing up a few steps. The mare gave him an 'are you serious' look. "Well yeah, it says so on the waiver." He took some more steps back. "What waiver?!" The Mare rolled her eyes. "The waiver on the back of the invoice, your boss would have signed it when he accepted the package." Excess stopped for a minute, before lifting the invoice off the clipboard. Sure enough, the words 'waiver' and 'class five magical hazard' greeted him. "It would be nice to be told these things," he muttered, resolving to have some words with his boss about this. "They must have thought you wouldn't need to be told to handle a package carefully." Her voice layered with both bored disinterest and condescension. "Either that or you were not important enough for them to care." Excess's mouth dropped open. "As much as this discussion has been thrilling, I have things to do, good day." she said, talking the package inside and slamming the door. He stood there for a moment, his mouth agape. Eventually unfreezing, he said, "Geez, what a bi..." "...Ass," muttered Snowy Bitterfrost, as she slammed the door. She walked down the hall, thinking all the while, 'Smug prick, "Are your parents in?" very funny, as if he couldn't tell I was a pygmy. Who does he think he is?' She walked into her study and sat down, putting the package on the desk, before staring at it intently. She knew what it was, she'd been waiting for it for some time now, The last piece for her project. She savored the moment for about a minute before carefully removing the packaging (folding it up, she stuck a small sticky note on it and scribbled a small message on the note, then laid it to one side for later,) revealing a delicately carved wooden box, with a polished brass latch and hinges. "Nice presentation..." she whispered, before opening the latch and peering inside. Seated on a plush felt inlay was a large opaque black crystal of an undefined shape, about twenty centimeters in length. it glowed with an unnatural black light, strange white tendrils shimmered along its surface, and it seemed to absorb the light around it. "YES!" she shouted, doing a hoof pump and allowing her self a small victory dance, then she composed herself and straightened her still immaculate mane. She looked down again at her latest acquisition, her fourth void crystal, and the last one she needed for her experiment. She picked up the crystal in her hooves, as it was unsafe to pick up void crystals with magic, (they tend to react violently) and Gently hugged it to her chest. This was it, the key to her first big contribution to the magical-scientific community, and one of the biggest made in the field of discordian magic in centuries. She grinned wickedly, she could just see the look on all their faces when they found out what the 'Small Fry' came up with, especially that Quantum jerk, who seemed to have made it his job to remind her of her Pygmy ("If you say midget I will end you,") status at every possible moment, despite how many times she had reminded him to eat clay till he shat bricks. With this, she'll leave them in the dust, then no one would be able to say didn't deserve her position, there would be no more "she's too young," "She's not fit to be a professor," or "she only got here because of her cutie-mark." She'd show them all they'ed been outdone. She snapped herself out of her favourite daydream, reminding herself that she still had to run the experiment, and go to the lecture in which she will present it... which was tomorrow. "Oh buck." she swore, her pupils shrinking. She grabbed the box off the desk, and (gently) rammed the crystal into it, carefully checking the latch was secure before bolting through the house to her laboratory (basement). Turning the lights on, she strode over to her work bench and started flicking through her research notes, laying the box down by her side. Her mind worked in overdrive. 'Okay...' she thought, scribbling furiously, 'I'll need at least two hours to construct a bracket to fit this gem, half an hour to attach it to the device, another hour to calibrate the magic conductor matrix, and another two to balance its power with the other three. I'll need to run a few tests to make sure that it is working properly, that will be another few hours, barring complications. Another hour or two to refresh my lecture notes... Note to self, do not schedule the unveiling of an invention unless you are sure that the components will arrive on time...' She stopped scribbling, reviewing her impromptu to-do list, grimacing 'Well that's not to bad, if I hurry I may just finish at... three in the morning... Oh and also move the device early before anyone else arrives.' She sighed and said, mainly to herself, "Oh well, sleep is for the weak anyway." She then buckled down and got to work.