Friendships are Supernatural

by darkuri

Chapter 2: Ponyville

Ponyville was big.
Faint Wisp realized it probably wasn't that big compared to some of the other towns and cities she had heard about, but compared to the small villages she was used to, Ponyville was big. She looked down at the note in her hoof; it contained an outline of her 'assignment'. She was to integrate as best as she could with pony society while hiding her heritage, to find out how much the ponies knew of any creatures within the courts of Seelie and Unseelie and to hide any information they might gleam. To facilitate this she had been given a house on the edge of Ponyville, information on local families (such as the Apple family) and even a few notable events. Faint turned her attention back to the town as she placed the letter in her saddlebag and set off in a slow walk towards the city and out of the Everfree forest where she had grown up.

Faint's first task, she reasoned, was to find the town library. There she could gauge how much the ponies really knew about the courts of the Seelie and Unseelie and look up if there had been any recent sightings or speculation about other species. Unfortunately, she had no idea where to start or even what a library looked like. The court library was in a section of the Courts and having grown up in a swamp where there weren't any libraries nearby, Faint had no idea what one would even look like. She had no choice other than to ask, which meant drawing attention to herself. So much for being incognito, she inwardly sighed as she tapped a pink mare on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, but I was-" The pink mare looked at Faint for a split second and gasped. Faint was slightly taken aback, she had seen people gasp in shock before, heck, she had done it herself. This mare however, appeared to defy logic as the simple act of drawing in air had caused her to levitate a few inches off the ground.

"...um-" before Faint could even finish the pink mare disappeared leaving nothing but a pink blur. Her brain halted as it attempted to process what had just happened, she had tried to ask where the library was and the pink mare had gasped, defied physics as even spirits knew it and had disappeared. "I feel like I missed something..." Faint mumbled to herself.

"That's just Pinkie Pie." Was the response. Faint looked at the pony that had just spoken, she had a beige coat, a blue mane with a rose pink streak and cerulean eyes.

"I'm guessing you're new to Ponyville?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Pinkie Pie's reaction was the giveaway and I haven’t seen you around before. I'm BonBon by the way." Faint made a mental note to investigate what a Pinkie Pie was, if there was a member of the Courts already living in Ponyville and one that clearly ponies knew about she should know. After all, her information packet had contained everything the Courts knew about Ponyville, sure it wasn't much, but it was enough.

"My name is Faint Wisp."

"Well Faint, did you want something? You looked like you were going to ask a question before Pinkie disappeared." The question snapped Faint out of her thoughts, "What? Oh, yes. I was just wondering where the library was located." The beige mare lifted her hoof and pointed, "It's just over there. It's built into a tree so you can't miss it, Princess Sparkle lives there." Faint thanked BonBon and shook her head as she trotted off in the direction BonBon had pointed her in.

Princess Sparkle? There should only be three princesses, she mentally checked off all the alicorns she knew of to make sure she hadn't missed any, Celestia of the Sun, Luna of the Moon, Cadenza of the Heart, Lady Thanasia of Death and Queen Giavita of Life. Oh, I suppose Orbon and Auber count in a way. No, as far as she could tell no Princess Sparkle. She was so lost in thought that she nearly didn't notice the sign in front of her, the sign the coincidentally read 'Golden Oaks Library Opening Times: 9am - 6pm'. Just as BonBon had said it looked like someone had tried to build a house in a tree, the most surprising thing though, was that the door was shut despite it close to midday. Walking up to the door Faint failed to see any note explaining that the owner would be 'Back in 5 mins' or something like that, so she knocked on the door in the hopes that somepony could guide her to what she wanted.

"Coming!" A voice rang out from behind the door and soon enough the door was opened by a purple dragon with green spines.

"Hello?" The dragon asked cautiously, Faint just gaped. It was a dragon, she had heard stories about dragons and even read the old historical accounts of when they were part of the Courts, she had dreamt of meeting a dragon for years and here one was, right in front of her. Forgetting that she was to remain inconspicuous Faint let loose a barely contained noise and promptly hug-tackled the dragon.

"Spike? Did I just hear a 'squee'?" Came a voice from up above the library.

"TWILIGHT! HELP!" Spike cried managing to get a breath of air before the air was again squeezed out of him by another hug. As far as Faint was concerned the only thing that existed was her and the cute dragon. A lavender hoof gently tapped her on the shoulder, "Sorry, but could you please let go of Spike?" Faint looked up at the lavender unicorn and grinned sheepishly; she relaxed her grip on the baby dragon. Faster than Pinkie Pie, Spike was out of the mare's clutches and hiding behind the unicorn.

"Sorry about that, I've only ever heard about dragons from stories. So when I saw one I kind of went a bit...over the top." Faint admitted, "Sorry little guy." The mare waved a hoof dismissively, "Don't worry about it, as long as you're sorry." Spike looked annoyed that the unicorn had so casually dismissed his life-or-death struggle with the crazy mare.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle and this here is Spike."

"Oh, I'm Faint Wisp. It's nice to meet you." Faint stuck out a hoof and Twilight shook it. Faint then did the same for Spike, "I'm sorry I surprised you Spike, I honestly didn't mean to, it's just that I've never seen a real dragon before." Spike looked at the outstretched hoof in front of him; looking up at Twilight he saw her glaring at him to shake it. He sighed and shook the outstretched hoof. "It's ok. Just, please don't do that again." Faint tried to hide her disappointment at not being able to hug the dragon again, I'm sure I'll find some other way.

"So, how can I help you Faint Wisp?" Faint suddenly remembered why she had come to the library in the first place.
"Oh, I was looking for some books. Preferably ones on Equestrian History, Cryptozoological Creatures and Myths please." Twilight turned to the numerous bookshelves covering the walls of the library.

"Hmmmm, let’s see..." She started mumbling to herself.

"It's for research purposes." Faint added helpfully, "Research?!" Twilight was suddenly almost on top of Faint. "What are you doing your research on? I mean I know its myths, obviously, but I mean what aspect? How myths of the past have helped shape society as we know it? Or perhaps the psychology of early Equestrian culture? How they used myths as a way to explain certain natural occurrences? That would make a good paper. But I suppose you would need other papers to draw your research from, I could send a letter to Cant-"

"Umm, Twilight?" Twilight looked at Spike,

"Yes Spike?"

"You might want to get off her and let her breathe." Spike pointed at the terrified Faint that Twilight was now standing on top of.

"Heh, sorry, I'll get those books for you." Twilight lifted herself off the ground with her wings and flew over to the top shelf of a bookcase. Spike shot Faint a look that said 'Now you know how I felt'. Faint didn't catch the look; she was too busy looking at Twilight's wings. Horn...wings...horn and wings...Faint's mind ground to a halt. There was a new alicorn princess. She wasn't in Canterlot doing whatever royal duties the princesses did, she was in Ponyville, in a library, helping Faint find books.

"Alicorn..." Faint whispered.

Unfortunately not quietly enough, "Yep, she's an alicorn." Spike said beaming with pride, "Student to Princess Celestia and barer of the Element of Magic and I'm her number one assistant." Faint just stared at Spike with her mouth open. Faint's mind boggled. Here she was, assigned a random town and it just so happened to be the one that housed not only the Element of Magic but a princess as well! Her mind was so busy struggling to process all this new information that she didn't notice Twilight was speaking to her until she said Faint's name.

"Oh, sorry about that."

"Does spacing out like that happen often?" Twilight inquired,

"What? No. Well, sometimes, it’s just that...you're an alicorn. A princess." Twilight chose to ignore Faint's comments and unrolled a scroll, "Now, if you could tell me where you live, I'll write your name down with the books you're borrowing. Just to let you know, while there is no set return date there are a few rules."

A while later Faint had packed the five great tomes in her saddle bags along with a copy of the library rules, her mind still reeling from the latest revelation that there were now four princesses. She knew what her first letter to the Twins was going to be.

Faint stopped off at a bakery on the way to her new home to pick up a loaf of bread using the Bits that her mother had given her. Faint sighed as she looked at the few Bits she had left; I'm going to need a job, she idly thought. The rest of the trip to her house was uneventful; however, she did notice that there appeared to be fewer ponies about than there were previously. Granted it was late afternoon but the sign at Golden Oaks mentioned that the library closed at six, judging from the angle of the sun Faint guessed the current time to be around five-thirty. It wasn't until she got to her house that Faint started to feel something was wrong.

The house she had been given was just on the outskirts of Ponyville towards the Everfree Forest, it was slightly dilapidated with boards covering the windows, vines had grown along the sides of the house and what was once a garden now resembled some kind of briar patch. While it was in an obvious state of disrepair it still had a 'homey' feel to it, for Faint anyway. Now, there seemed to be an ominous feel to it, as if crossing the threshold of the door would invite some kind of punishment. With some trepidation Faint opened the door and stuck a hoof inside.

No sooner had her hoof touched the floor when all the lights came on at once, streamers and confetti were thrown in the air and party blowers were blown.

"SURPRISE!" Pinkie shouted at the empty doorway with a huge smile on her face. Faint was halfway down the path running backwards when she ran into Twilight.

"Oof!" Twilight exclaimed as the gray mare nearly bowled her over.

"Hey Faint. Are you enjoying Pinkie's Party?" Spike asked sliding off Twilight's back and walking towards Faint. Twilight looked concerned as Faint had yet to turn around or even acknowledge that Twilight and Spike were there, she just stood there in a crouching position staring up at the house.

"Faint?" Finally the mare looked up at Twilight, her eyes wide and a look of fear in them before turning away to stare at the house once more. Twilight knew that Pinkie Pie's surprise parties could be shocking, but this was overdoing it. However, she still felt a pang of sympathy for the poor mare.

"I'm sorry, I should have warned you about the party." Twilight apologised, resting a hoof on Faint's shaking shoulder. Spike started racing down the path towards the house, "Come on Twilight, we're missing the party!"Twilight sighed and shook her head at the baby dragon and nudged the still trembling figure. Faint flinched and looked up at Twilight again, Twilight gave Faint her most confident smile.

"Don't worry, I'll be here." Faint merely nodded and straightened up a bit and anxiously put one hoof in front of the other. Twilight sighed again; it was going to be a long night.

When they finally got to the house they found that the door was still open and a worried Pinkie Pie was standing in it.

"Oh gosh, I'm super-duper-duper sorry. I totally didn't know you were scared of surprises, I mean if Spike hadn't of told me that you were scared of surprises I might of thought that you didn't like the 'Welcome to Ponyville' party I threw you and that would be really bad, especially since I invited everypony I know and I know everypony in Ponyville because they're all my friends and I hope that you will be my friend because that would be like the bestest thing ever! So do you like the party?" Faint looked at Twilight for some help on how to deal with the pink pony, Twilight just smiled.

"Um...yes."

"Whew, I'm super-duper relieved to hear that I mean it would be absolutely terrible if you didn't like it, but you do, so it's good. Now I get to introduce you to everypony!"

"Wait Pinkie-" Before Twilight could finish Pinkie had grabbed Faint's hoof and was throwing her at random ponies while saying their names,
"This is Roseluck, Lyra, BonBon, Goldengrape, Cloudkicker, Caramel, Sassaflash, Berry Dreams, Cherry Fizzy, Filthy Rich, Blossomforth, Coco Crusoe, Derpy Hooves, Time Turner, Minuette, Berryshine, Thunderlane, Vinyl Scratch, Daisy, Mr and Mrs Cake, Golden Harvest, Cherry Berry, Applejack..." After listing off what appeared to be every pony in Ponyville Pinkie eventually let go and Faint found herself standing, once again, next to Twilight.

"I...I think I need some fresh air." Faint mumbled and excused herself outside.

***

After a while Twilight too excused herself from the party stating that she needed to take Spike to bed. She spotted Faint not too far away from the house staring up at the moon. Adjusting the sleeping dragon on her back slightly so he wouldn't fall off, Twilight went over to Ponyville's newest resident. Faint sighed as Twilight drew near and mumbled something.

"You're missing the party." Twilight said pulling Faint away from her thoughts.

"Princess!" Twilight waved a dismissive hoof, "Please, just call me Twilight." Twilight looked up at the moon, like every night Luna had done a wonderful job with the stars. Faint turned back to look at the moon.

"Sorry, I'm...not good with crowds." While that wasn't true, it wasn't a lie either. Faint's position in the courts meant that she was always surrounded by others; however, they usually weren't paying attention to her. Faint hated to be the centre of attention, as did most wisps. Wisp society was based around very little interaction with other species almost to the point of isolation, so they tended to become uncomfortable in crowds and avoid any situation where they might draw attention to themselves. One of the few reasons Faint was a good candidate for this assignment was that she had a wisp's natural instinct to avoid drawing attention to themselves and having spent several years as a representative-in-training she could handle being around new and different species better than other wisps. It had also helped that she looked pony-like as well.

Finally the awkward silence proved too much for even Twilight.

"I like your mane." Faint snapped her head in Twilight's direction a look of surprise on her face. Faint grabbed her mane in a defensive manner glaring at Twilight. "I mean it looks nice," Twilight continued, clearly struggling to keep the conversation going. Fashion and mane styles were not her forte. That was more Rarity's thing than it was Twilight's.

"The green and blue complement each other nicely." She didn't mention that the way Faint's hair moved reminded her of somepony she knew, it was hard enough getting her to talk let alone bringing the princesses up. Faint mumbled a quiet 'thank you' as she turned her head away from Twilight and looked up at the moon again still holding onto her mane. It was Twilight's turn to sigh.

"I'm sorry, I'm just...still getting used to everything." Faint sighed, her body seeming to sink just a bit, "I know you're trying but..." Faint just let the rest of the sentence fade away. Twilight decided to finish for her, "You're used to being by yourself. I understand." Faint nodded, smiling a bit. Twilight smiled in response, she remembered when she had arrived in Ponyville and how, if it wasn't for her friends showing her that she wasn't alone, then they might never have defeated Nightmare Moon. Recalling that incident gave Twilight an idea.

"Faint, why don't you drop by the library tomorrow, I'll show you around the town and introduce you to some of my friends." Faint shivered at the thought of being introduced to more people, Pinkie Pie seemed to have introduced her to every pony in Ponyville and Faint didn't want to have to go through that again.

"Just the tour would be nice thank you. I don't think I could go through introductions like that again." Twilight smiled and clapped her hooves, "Wonderful, I shall see you tomorrow." Twilight carefully stood up still balancing the sleeping dragon on her back, as she made her way down the path she turned to Faint and gave her a wave goodbye before walking the rest of the way into town. Faint continued to stare at the moon with the sounds of the party behind her.

***

It was well past midnight when Pinkie's party finally decided that it should start wrapping up now, after all a new day meant new parties to have. As she bid the last party-goer a 'good night' Faint was pleased to note that even with the large amount of ponies that were present they had the peace of mind not to peek in on her rooms and to clean up after themselves, all that had been left was the occasional streamer, balloon and confetti. Finally having some time to herself, Faint decided that it was a good time to report to the twins. She carefully crafted a wisp orb and set it on a candle illuminating the parchment in front of her. Taking the quill carefully in her mouth she wrote her letter:

My kings Auber and Orbon,
I have just arrived and have yet to ascertain as to the full extent of Our involvement in pony history. The incident involving the changelings appears to all be relegated to that of a 'past' event and was dealt with. I have made contact with the local librarian and have gained enough trust as to have access to the vast quantity of books available, that I hope will provide insight as to what has or has not been relegated to myth.
It would also appear that a number of or records are lacking, as I have recently ascertained the existence of another princess, one aside from the known five, a Princess Twilight Sparkle. It is currently unknown what realm she presides over, which is most troubling. I would like to request to have the records amended to reflect this.

Your loyal and faithful subject,
Faint Wisp of Everfree

Once Faint had finished the letter she put the quill away and focused on creating a special wisp orb. This orb was designed to carry a message to a specific recipient. All wisps had the ability to create orbs by carefully manipulating the aether around living things, allowing them to effectively 'mold' the orb into being. Faint had learned early on that if she concentrated hard enough she could manipulate the aether better than most other wisps allowing her to create orbs able to perform singular tasks, such as carrying something small. The orb she was creating now was one she had spent years developing. Once she was sure it was complete, Faint rolled up her parchment and passed it into the orb she had just created. Upon touching the orb, the parchment caught on fire and the ashes left behind by the blue-green flame were collected by the orb. Walking upstairs, still holding the newly created orb, she opened and window and threw it out. The orb hung there for a few seconds before quickly and quietly zipping off in the direction of Hollow Shade. Watching it go, Faint shut the window and went to bed wondering what tomorrow would bring.