“Why is it, even with Trixie’s connections that she must still fill out these forms?”
Looking up you see the gelatinous form of Trixie apathetic face spread over your desk, staring at you.
“Busking once in a while is fine, but if you want to do regular performances then you need to fill out some paperwork. It’s all easy anyway.”
“Busking? You dare call the Awe-inspiring and Talented Trixie’s performances busking?”
“You put on a show in a public place in hopes people give you money, that’s busking.
“Anonymous, you’re the mayor. Just give Trixie the permit,” she whines, stamping her hooves like a child on the verge of a tantrum.
You ignore her, sliding the form towards her once more then return to your own work. Trixie sits down finally, grumbling as she fills out the spots. With a slap, she puts the form on the desk in front of you then tries staring you down. Then, much to Trixie’s displeasure, you smile warmly at her before speaking in a very cheery tone.
“My, look at the time. I’m going to head home for lunch.”
You quickly glance at Trixie’s form before you stand up and head for the door.
“Trixie despises you,” she harshly whispers, almost foaming at the mouth.
“Relax, everything looked to be in order. You can busk all you want now, just don’t get in anyone’s way.”
“Wait. That’s all it took?”
“Yeah, and you were whining for an hour over it.”
“Trixie does not whine, she merely is observant when the universe doesn’t go her way.”
“Right, well, let’s go.”
Being the gentleman that you are, or rather, being the hungry human you are, you hold the door open for Trixie so you can lock up once she’s out. Then the two of you walk home, talking about what to have for lunch. And of course all of Trixie’s suggestions are extravagant meals that would take ages to make using ingredients you don’t have.
“Very well, Trixie will compromise then, what if we have--”
“NIGHTMARE MOON HAS RETURNED, FEAR FOR ONE AND ALL,” Moonie bellows from the rooftop of your house.
“And she better be careful when playing on a roof, she might fall.”
“Anonymous, do you dare underestimate your queen for the umpteenth time?”
“Wings and magic or no, accidents happen,” you reply as you head inside.
As you’re making yourself a sandwich, you can hear the shouting of Trixie and Moonie. You’re not sure what they’re talking about but they’re being loud. Then there’s a sudden thump, followed by a bunch more in rapid succession as you see a dark blue form fall. Moonie begins to cry out as you dart outside.
“What happened?”
“Ah… Well, looks like you get--ow--to say I told you so.”
Moonie stands up perfectly fine but one of her wings is stuck pointing outwards at angles you know it shouldn’t make.
“C-Can we pop it back or something?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to touch it, it’ll very likely hurt.”
Moonie winces as you hand hovers over one of the awkward joints. You try to be very light when you feel the area. It’s definitely a break, half of the bone is still attached but there is a part that’s clearly split. Just by looking at the other two bends in her wing, it’ll be a similar case. You don’t dare feel them too because just lightly touching this one hurt Moonie plus you’ve been reminded of how squeamish you are. There’s an odd churning sensation in your throat as you fight the urge to cringe over touching broken bone.
“We need to get you to a hospital.”
There’s no protest from Moonie. She tries her best to steady her breathing and walking slowly to avoid hurting herself but it’s too slow. So you grab your wheelbarrow and put it to good use by carrying Moonie in it. A thought crosses your mind that this probably the first time you’ve used this thing.
“Man, these gardening tools were really a waste,” you mutter to yourself.
“What?” Moonie asks, clearly baffled.
“Nothing.”
“No, I heard--Why were you talking about gardening tools?”
“I don’t know, just a thought.”
“You’re planning on burying me in the garden when they put me down, aren’t you?”
“What?!”
“Admit it!”
It’s now you realise that Moonie is joking, trying to make light of something to take her mind of things. You smile slightly as you play along.
“You’ve got me. I wanted to try and grow some moonflowers. Have a whole vine of them creep up the house.”
“Please, you’re the type who couldn’t even raise a succulent or a cactus.”
“I raised you, didn’t I?”
“And look how well I turned out!”
“Yeah, still haven’t taken over Equestria. Where did I go wrong as a villainous father?”
You place the back of your hand on your forehead to throw yourself back in woe but quickly realise the mistake as the wheelbarrow nearly tips. You catch it. But Moonie isn’t impressed.
“I can think of a lot of times.”
“We can compare notes shortly, we’re here.”
The rest of the time goes pretty smoothly. For you at least. Lots of waiting. For Moonie however there’s lots of resetting joints, bones, split and cast making, bandaging, with a touch of medication to top it off. Then the two of you are sent on your way so Moonie can get some rest and wait this out.
“Get up,” you state early in the morning as you pass Moonie’s bedroom.
A groggy filly looks up at you with malcontent and tries to roll over but instead lays on her wing causing her to jump up in pain.
“What happened?”
“I rolled onto my stupid wing because of you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah!”
“How did I do that?”
“You woke me--Ugh, stop talking to me. I’m too tired.”
An audible plomf can be heard as Moonie’s head collides back into the safety of her pillow.
“Come on, you’re coming into work with me. I know a place you can nap there.”
“Why?”
Moonie’s voice is muffled but can still be clearly heard as she seems to almost throatily shout it into her pillow.
“Either I take care of you for the day, or Trixie does.”
You watch Moonie as she doesn’t move before sliding out of bed. Her eyes are hang suitcases as they struggle to keep open enough to glare at you.
“Do you seriously get up this early every day for work?” Croaks Moonie.
“I don’t want to hear that from someone who is up even earlier on weekends.”
She smirks to herself as she slumps slowly into the bathroom. You make yourself some toast to snack on as you prepare a lunch for the two of you.
“Ready,” a still fatigued Moonie barely utters.
“You don’t want breakfast?”
“No, you said I could sleep over there.”
You ruffle her smooth mane a little which earns a faint swat before you head off. The air outside still has that cold crisp night air nip to it and the town is deserted save for a few ponies who plan to work a stall for the day that are heading into the square to set up. You wave to a few, some seem just as out of it as the filly by your side.
The town hall is just 5 rooms. There is the big auditorium where all the performances and various get togethers are held, the backstage area for the auditorium, then way off to the side is the lobby to the mayor’s office and your former workstation, then there’s the file room, and finally your private office which still feels odd to say.
“There’s the couch, and if you move the cushions here there’s a blanket.”
“How often do you nap at work?”
“Sh, get some sleep,” you reply as Moonie uses her magic to place the blanket over herself like a mountain.
She’s likely trying to get right back to sleep so you keep the noise down as much as possible by taking everything a little bit slower. Like taking an extra 10 seconds to slowly place your tea mug on the desk, or slowly shifting from heel to toe as you walk so the floorboards that have never creaked once in the entire time you’ve worked here don’t decide to start today, or stopping every time your leather chair creaks as you get seated for the day.
“I give up.”
Moonie’s head pops out from the blanket mound on the couch.
“Every little sound.”
“Sorry.”
“What was that?”
“You want some tea or something?”
“Answer your queen! The night shall not be defied!”
“You’re suddenly full of energy. You want a drink or not?”
“Coffee.”
“Not happening.”
“Trixie lets me have coffee,” she states proudly, holding her nose up high at you.
“Wow, snitch!”
“What?!”
“You’re not allowed coffee and Trixie knows that. I can’t believe you just snitched all so you can brag!”
“I-I was kidding!”
“So you lied? Which is it?”
Moonie falls silent then retreats back into the blanket mound. You smile as you know you don’t have any coffee at home and Trixie doesn’t drink it.
You’ve gotten quite a bit of work done in silence as Moonie has still yet to leave the couch or blanket. Then Moonie walks into the office.
“Woah, hang on! When did you leave?”
“A while ago,” she shrugs, “Anyway, I’m bored. There’s nothing to do here.”
“This pile of paperwork disagrees,” you mutter under your breath.
“Anon!”
“What?”
“I’m bored.”
“Okay… What do you want me to do about it?”
“Entertain me.”
“Here, file these for me. The cabinet closest to the door, it goes alphabetically.”
“What?”
“Make an adventure out of it or something, I just need five minutes then we’ll do something.”
Moonie looks at you with sheer disgust for a moment before she puffs herself up. Her nose is held high and you can already tell where she’s going with this.
“As your queen, I am issuing a royal decree--”
“I’m issuing a mayoral decree.”
“A queen outranks a mayor!”
“Where’s your crown then?”
Moonie uses her magic to grab a few blank pieces of paper then hastily begins to fold them until she has made a paper crown.
“HA!” Moonie boasts, pointing at you with a little ‘in your face’ kind of laugh.
“That’s actually pretty good,” you chuckle.
“And don’t you forget it.”
Moonie snatches the files and heads off to file them for you.
“I’m taking these rubber bands,” says Moonie as she sifts through your desk draw.
“Fine, just get out of there.”
You close it on her and shoo her away. She complies without dispute, you don’t even spy a vulgar face being pulled at you. Instead Moonie slips back under her fort she’s made out of the blanket, office chairs, and couch cushions.
There’s a few minutes of peace as you sign off on a few documents. When you look over to the fort, you notice a magical glow around a curious apparatus on the floor. It grabs your attention at the right time because it sends a pencil flying at your direction. It’s easy to dodge but only because you saw it fire, so you quickly get up and confiscate the office ballista off Moonie.
“That’s mine.”
“Find something else to do that isn’t going to take out my eyes.”
In a huff, Moonie slumps onto the floor to groan in boredom.
It doesn’t take long for Moonie to begin rummaging around the place again for something to do.
“I’ve got coloured pencils if that helps.”
“I guess,” she shrugs.
She takes them and a bunch of blank paper sheets and sets to do her own thing. You look over every once in a while to see she gave up on drawing long ago and is colouring the sheets of paper a solid colour. There’s no harm in it, so you keep quiet. Even as she wears down the lead, constantly having to sharpen them over and over.
“Look,” proudly boasts Moonie.
She puffs herself up and strikes a regal pose to show off her origami crown adorning her head.
“Very nice.”
“I made you one.”
You’re taken aback at first, but Moonie quickly snaps you back to reality when you notice your crown is about an eighth of the size her’s is.
“Thanks.”
She place the crown atop your head as if she was crowing you at a ceremony, even putting on an overly popous and upper class accent.
“I officially crown you, King Butthead of the Humans.”
“So, is this all you do all day?”
“Not always. Sometimes I have meetings, or I need to do things outside to oversee or check up on things, I’ll even have to make trips out of town once in a while, but there is a lot of paperwork for all of it.”
Moonie groans as if this is something she has to do.
“Why didn’t you bring Sir Bearington or something?”
“He still smelled after his was last night.”
“You need to clean him properly then.”
“I do.”
“Not if he still smells you aren’t.”
“I do.”
“I’m not arguing on this. I’ll wash him properly tonight and show you how it’s done.”
“He just needs a second soak.”
You look up from your work and give her an unimpressed deadpan stare. Moonie purses her lips as she moves off the desk and out of your field of vision. With a sigh, you look back at the documents in front of you. It doesn’t take long before Moonie darts out the room.
“Anonymous, I have an idea. Come!”
“Moonie, I’m trying to work.”
“Your queen demands it.”
With a heavy and frustrated grunt you stand up. Just as you take a step you notice your leg can only pull so far. You’re able to look down as you begin to topple and notice your shoe laces are tied together.
“I can’t believe you fell for that,” Moonie bellows in a raucous laugh.
You glance at the clock as you notice you’ve been at work for just over half an hour uninterrupted.
“Moonie?”
Standing up, you check around the office. You don’t find Moonie, instead you find a welcomed soul near the front door.
“Ah, Anonymous,” Mayor Mare cheerily smiles at you.
You wave back, a little shocked at her arrival and then notice the piercing eyes of mischief incarnate peeking up from behind the front desk.
“I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I’m just here to check up on the last few things before I must go, I tried to keep it quiet in case you were busy.”
“No, I’ve finished most of my work for the day. Would you like something to drink?”
“She’ll have some tea,” Moonie shouts, clearly overly excited.
“Yes, tea sounds wonderful,” Mayor Mare muffles a laugh as she speaks.
As you boil the kettle, you set out a cup and everything else you need as you feel slightly awkward. All of a sudden there is a silence as Mayor Mare and Moonie watch you, and that feeds you a unique anxious feeling.
“You’re not working yourself too hard, hm?” Mayor Mare says, breaking the silence that was nearly deafening.
“Well, you know me Mayor.”
“Exactly why I asked.”
“I should probably get out of the habit of calling your mayor,” you say, trying to deflect the topic as you place the tea on the desk.
Then you take a seat as Minister Mare leaps against the desk before she takes a slow, drawn out inhale of the tea as she always does before gently blowing on it.
“I don’t mind. It still feels strange to hear it truthfully.”
“So… How often do you think you’ll be able to make trips back?”
Moonie makes the tiniest snicker that the two of you ignore and carry on with the conversation.
“As often as I can. Ponyville is home after all, besides I can’t leave you all alone.”
“Worried I’m going to ruin the town by the time you get back?”
“More like I’m worried you’ll outshine me.”
She swats at your elbow that you easily dodge.
“Let me know when you’re coming back sometime so I can organise something small. Everyone is going to want to know how Minister Mare is doing her service for Equestria.”
“Uh, I’ll likely be around for Hearts and Hooves Day. I heard you were planning a festival for it.”
“Yeah… Something like that. Nothing solid yet--”
“I’m sure you’ll work something out. Either way I’m looking forward to it.”
Then, in the slightest distance of your peripherals, you notice Moonie wiggling her eyebrows and making kissing faces as she gestures to Minister Mare. You close your eyes to take the briefest of pauses to ignore the fact there is a millenia old mare across the way on the verge of singing that “sitting in the tree” song like she’s ten. Whoever said with age comes wisdom left out a part about maturity. Minister Mare glances over her shoulder to Moonie who is now curiously looking between her and you as if nothing is going on.
“Well, I must get going,” Minister Mare states before finishing off her tea.
You marvel at how quick that was for her as typically she would sip her tea until it goes cold.
“Take care.”
“You too. And no more rooftops for you.”
Moonie pokes her tongue out as Mayor Mare leaves.
“What are you up to?”
“What?”
“You laughed earlier, you were making those stupid faces, oh, and what’s this about a festival?”
“How dare you act as if I am up to no good. I’m just trying to get… To get you back up on the horse,” Moonie cackles under her breath at the last part.
“Real funny. It’s not a bad idea but you are not doing the match maker thing. I’m having none of that.”
“Come on! I could be your wing-filly~!”
“You could be grounded if you keep that up.”
“Please! I have only the purest of intentions,” Moonie sweetly states, even fluttering her eyes a bit.
“You must have something good planned if you’re willing to go that far.”
“No, not really,” Moonie flatly replies in a disgusted tone as she shudders, “That felt dirty. Besides, I’m making this up as I go along.”
“Well it ends here.”
“So, you don’t want to do a Hearts and Hooves festival? You’re willing to disappoint all those mares, even Mayor Mare?”
“What do you mean all those mares?”
Moonie snickers once again.
“Oh, I’m so excited for this festival. Let me help!”
She is so ecstatically giddy over this prospect. You don’t believe for a second that she’s making it up as she goes along, at the least she’d have an endgame in mind. However, a festival isn’t such a bad idea. Plus, Mayor Mare and apparently many more folk are expecting one. Then another realisation hits you. Moonie would help. The two of you would have to sit down, plan out a bunch of lovey-dovey stuff. The kind that makes Moonie sick to the stomach on a regular basis. You could draw out a punishment before she has a chance to even pull off whatever plan you can assume she’s up to.
“Fine. But you’ll be coming in every day to help with it until all the plans are done. This kind of thing should be done months in advance so there’s no--”
“Deal!” Moonie stares at you with determination, “I can’t wait.”