Interview with an Unexpected Mage

by musicluvr1974

Chapter 2: Ruminations

Feeling much refreshed after their nap, the Bearers of the Elements awoke and gathered in Twilight's study to discover a wrapped package waiting for them on one of the end tables--a package wrapped in brown parcel paper, labeled "Canterlot National Archives," which was approximately the size of an entire file drawer. Applejack gaped.

"Hoo-wee, Twi', willya lookit that?!" she exclaimed. "I guess they figured ya weren't kiddin' when ya asked for all the information they had on Dotted Line an' his kin...! "

"Oh, great--homework," groused Rainbow. Pinkie giggled.

"Don't worry, Rainbow. I'll speed-read this, and give the rest of you a precis when I'm done," Twilight assured her friend. At her blue friend's blank look, she replied, "I'll summarize it for you," rolling her eyes. "Yeesh, would it hurt you to expand your vocabulary once in a while?" She chuckled at Rainbow's flat stare in response. "You can all go get a continental breakfast or something in the dining room. This shouldn't take me... oh, more than ten or fifteen minutes, now. Go ahead, I'll catch up." The five of them turned and left her to it.

"I certainly hope we can get this unpleasant business over with, and put it behind us as soon as possible," declared Rarity, as she nibbled daintily at her egg-white over Trottingham muffin with alfalfa patty. (1)

"No kidding!" Pinkie responded. "I've got the biggest idea for a "Welcome to Ponyville" party I've ever had! I can't wait!" She practically vibrated in her seat, although this might have been due to the cup of coffee laden with around thirty teaspoons of sugar she was currently gulping, as well as the sweetened corn cereal she had consumed immediately beforehoof.

"Hmph." Rainbow scowled. "He still has to prove he's on the level about not using his magic for evil, as far as I'm concerned." She gave her multigrain bran muffin a savage bite, munching hard to defuse her emotional tension. She washed it down with a prolonged swig of a fruit smoothie, continuing, "After what the Discord 'family' did to the rest of you guys, not to mention Ponyville, I'm not so ready to forgive somepony like them...!" She snorted, scowling at dark remembrances.

"Rainbow, don't worry so much," Fluttershy murmured gently to her oldest friend, embracing her with one wing while picking at her fruit plate with the other. "After all, we got through the contest last month okay, didn't we? Besides, I think you're not seeing the obvious. This one is nothing like Discord, Mayhem or the rest--he's not even really like Arthur," she continued in her usual low voice. "He seems much gentler than any of them ever were."

"He certainly appears to have been well brought-up, at least for someone seemingly raised in a middle-class environment," Rarity put in. "I can't wait to discover whether his taste in clothing matches it or not!" She gave an eager laugh. "Can you imagine it? Ensembles for simply weeks!" Her eyes held a gleeful sparkle at the thought.

"Yeah, well, be that as it may," Applejack said, shaking her head, "I don't git a sense that he's bein' untruthful with us, not exactly. It's more like he's got somethin' like a Hearth's Warmin' present fer Twilight in particular, 'an he wants ta enjoy the look on her face when it comes time fer her ta finally unwrap it." She grimaced. "'Course, if'n he does mean any harm to her, the five of us 'll be right there at her side ta stop him, right?" She was grateful to hear sounds of agreement from the other four mares, some (Rainbow's in particular) more firm than others.

"Then you see exactly what I'm concerned about, Applejack!" cried Rainbow. "What if this guy is actually a Draconequus, like the rest of them were?! I don't want to see anypony in the same kind of fix as we were years ago when we first met Discord!" Rainbow's irises snapped with magenta fire. "I should've been able to kick his tail! It isn't fair! If we get him let go, this new guy could be just as bad as all the rest of them!"

"An' we handled all o' them well enough, didn't we?" interrupted Applejack. "Rainbow, don't worry none. We can get this, just like we got Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra, Mayhem, Anarchy... all of 'em. 'Sides, ya seem ta be fergettin' we got some... extra advantages nowadays," the orange mare smirked, casting her eyes up to her horn, then over to Rainbow's, then elbowing the sporty Bearer of Loyalty in the ribs.

"Yeah, you're right... but from what Arthur told us, humans can't do magic! And he shielded himself against me! Me, Rainbow Dash, fastest of them all! How in the hay did he do that?!"

"Shoot, sugarcube, he just caught ya off guard, is all. If he tries any funny business, you can hit him next time, right? Stop worryin' an' eat." Applejack turned back to her own plate, taking a decisive bite of her apple fritter with ice cream. (2)

"Funny business?!" exclaimed Pinkie. "That's the kind of thing I live for! Does this mean you're gonna hit me, too?" she quavered, turning concerned eyes on her pranking pal.

"Not that kind of funny business, Pinks," explained Rainbow. "We meant the kind Discord pulled on us and Twilight, back when we first met the guy. Remember?"

"Ohhh, you meant meanie-pants funny business. I get it now." Her brow furrowed, and she growled like she had just before they unleashed the Rainbow of Purification on Discord the first time... then she grinned again. "I don't think he will, though--he's too nice for that. Trust me, Dashie, I think you've got him all wrong. You'll see." Her grin turned mysterious, and her eyes got that "I-know-a-secret" look foals got in the schoolyards.

"What's taking Twilight so long? I hope she hasn't gotten lost in the hallways on her way here..." Fluttershy murmured worriedly.

"Are you kiddin'?" Spike's voice sounded out of seemingly nowhere as he, on Twilight's back, appeared in the doorway of the dining hall. "Twilight and I practically grew up here! We know these halls like you know your own hoofprints," he bragged. Twilight slung the side of her left coronet over Spike's mouth, annoyed.

"Hush, Spike. Nopony wants to hear you boast like that." Twilight made her way over to a seat between Rarity and Fluttershy, then flagged down a waiter by waving a wing in a beckoning motion. "I'll have a fish sandwich with a large side of hay fries, heavy on the tartar sauce and garnished with lettuce." She looked up to see Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie staring at her in bemused surprise. "What? We're each part pegasus now, so it's a valid nutritional option. Besides, I feel like I could use the brain food after what I just put myself through..." She shuddered involuntarily, shaking her head as though she wished she could work kinks out of her horn. "Normally, I like statistics work, but this... this is a whole other caliber of.. of... I barely know how to describe it, it's like... like looking into a mirror and seeing the inverse of Discord staring back at you. Ugh." She would have faceplanted into the table had her horn and nose not gotten in the way. "I hope they bring my food soon."

Compassionately, her friends decided to wait until Twilight had some substance in her digestive system before they started plying her with questions, although given Appleloosa's current state of disruption, the effort of holding their questions in showed clearly in their eyes. Finally, the waiter brought Twilight's order, and she fell to with such a will an impartial observer (were there any there to observe) would be understandably forgiven for assuming she hadn't eaten in days. When she finally pushed back from her plate with a contented sigh, Rarity spoke.

"Well, darling, what did you discover? Don't keep us in suspense any longer."

"I did manage to find Dotted Line's home address, which is what I was looking for in the first place... but I also found something else, which is why I feel so drained. Dotted Line is head archivist of a bureau so secret most ponies only ever visit it once in their whole lives, and never darken its door again if they can help it: the Royal Records Department. Legends claim the stacks of documentation in there are dozens of hooves high, so that if they ever toppled over, the phrase 'buried in paperwork' would become more than a mere metaphor. Ugh." Twilight shuddered again. "Waiter! Could I please have three one-hoof-long (3) daffodil and daisy sandwiches, heavy on the dressing?" She stared at Rainbow, who was giving her an aghast stare of disbelieving disapproval. "So? We can go fly some extra laps around the aerial course later to burn it off. Leave me alone about it; you didn't experience the Bureaucracy from Tartarus like I just did."

"Come on, Twilight," Spike said, shaking his head. "It's just your vivid imagination catching up with you again. Royal Records probably isn't anywhere near as bad as you think," he said, picking a luscious-looking (4) four-gem combo of diamond, emerald, ruby and sapphire from his plate of gems and popping all four of them into his mouth at once, then crunching noisily as he chewed. "Mmmm, I love their Elemental Variety Special here. I look forward to it every chance I can get!"

It was a measure of Twilight's mental and emotional exhaustion that she didn't rebuke her assistant for talking with his mouth full. Predictably, it was Pinkie and Fluttershy who came to her rescue.

"Cheer up, Twilight!" Pinkie exhorted her friend. "You found what you went in there after, after all! I'll have to throw you a "Twilight's-An-Awesome-Researcher-Party" later to celebrate!" She grinned and offered a high-hoof to her friend. Weakly, Twilight smiled back.

"Let me get you something to go with those sandwiches, Twilight. Waiter!" Fluttershy called loudly (for her; it would have been normal speaking volume for most ponies. Luckily, one of the servers was within earshot). "I'd like to order a cup of chamomile tea for Princess Twilight, please. Put it on my part of the account." Bowing his head in a nod, the waiter backed toward the kitchen doorway. Fluttershy draped a wing over Twilight's shoulder. "That should help calm you down after this," the former pegasus smiled.

"Thanks, girls." Twilight raised her forelegs to hold hooves with the two. "I'm lucky to have such caring friends as you." She took a deep breath, then released it slowly. "As soon as we finish eating, let's head over to..." she paused for a moment, recalling the address she'd learned, then said, "...the intersection of Tack Street and Solstice Avenue. We've got a bureaucrat to confront about his parenting skills... or lack thereof," she finished, rolling her eyes.

Author's Note:

Author's Notes:

1) Equestrian version of a low-fat Eggs Benedict.

2) I know what you must be thinking... "Ice cream for breakfast?" Alicorn metabolism--how else do you think Celestia eats all that cake without becoming chubby? Besides, rank hath its privileges.

3) Six inches, to us Terrans. (Thanks to DungeonMiner's A Novice Swordsman in the Canterlot Court for the measuring system.)

4) To a dragon, anyway.

Yeah, I admit it--I'm a bit of a foodie. Well, here's the newest chapter! Comment, rate, favorite, like, dislike, all that good stuff. Next one up as soon as I can get to it, I promise.

Comments

[RealityCheck]

Hmm. The mane six are spending a bit too much on a couple of bit characters rather than on the main protagonist.