//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: Pegasus at the Rainbow Falls // Story: North Wind: Earning your Cutie Mark // by BlackBonitaCherry //------------------------------// Golden sighed, eyeing her butter yellow friend trembling underneath the blue cover, the snowflakes looking like they were moving as the pegasus panicked. The younger filly knew for a fact that she’d written their destinations on the itinerary, that it was even marked on the map of Equestria she bought. Unfortunately, Fluttershy pushed the terror of their location to the back of her mind and didn’t start panicking till they were already in their hotel room. At least they hadn’t run into yaks or yetis, or somehow stumbled on the Crystal Empire a decade early. But despite being in the same area, Mount Everhoof was still quite a distance, even if the ski resort they were on was nearer to the Yaket Range. They couldn’t even take a train there, and everyone had to fly there via airship. Which did nothing to help Fluttershy’s anxiety or Golden’s own issues with heights. Fun fact, her wind magic, outside of Cloudsdale, loved being high in the sky. It made her wings tingle and it took every ounce of willpower to keep her binds from tearing apart under the eager winds. Focusing on her friend’s fears helped with ignoring her surging magic, and she thought of a way to get Fluttershy out of her funk. “Fluttershy, this training is for Rangers to learn how to save others in the mountains, you’ll be learning how to navigate a mountain safely and quietly.” the shaking stopped, but her friend still hadn’t removed the cover, Golden smirked, “And there are fluffy animals in the snowy mountains,” blue eyes peeked out, yellow ears alert. “F-fluffy a-animals?” the disguised filly hopped onto her friend’s bed, smiling at her. “Yep! Polar bears, snow bunnies, leopards, foxes, wolves,” despite the possible ferocity of the animals, her friend slowly retreated from her ‘safe spot’, looking less and less afraid. “And maybe snow owls?” she asked, somewhat tentatively, a hopeful look in her eyes. “Yes, why don’t you call one right now, I’m sure they won’t mind you having one in the classes,” that seemed to wipe away any remaining nerves and Fluttershy hurried to the window, taking out the owl whistle she received on her birthday and blowing on it. A soft low pitched hoot sounded and it didn’t take long before an owl flew in, landing on Fluttershy’s back and giving a small clicking sound with its beak. Fluttershy giggled and Golden left her to it as she looked over the brochure for the seminar being held during the weekend.  This time they were letting all the trainees stay in the same ski resort with the trainers who were each giving a lecture and doing a separate class. Now before Golden kept a record of their names and such and what each one did, but she had to go back over the list to see if there were any classes she wanted to attend. Quill in her mouth to mark an X or O next to the lesson. First was Amethyst Storm (Earth Pony) whose years of experience in the desert lent her considerable knowledge in the field. She would be giving a lecture on safety gear (despite their first destination being a desert) for long periods in the desert, the stories of her starting out and how she got her Cutie Mark ( a poison green scorpion with an amethyst in its back in the middle of a sand storm.) O The second was Onyx Arrow (Unicorn) who represented the Forest Rangers as best in his field, would teach about navigating a forest using a compass, his own Cutie Mark was of an arrowhead floating in a puddle of water. O The third was Cliff Edge (Earth Pony) representing Mountain Rangers and he was in charge of teaching them how to navigate a mountain, as well as making their way through an avalanche. His Cutie Mark was a hook crossed with an ice hook. X He would also be having everyone go through a safety course to sign off on before they navigate the dangerous mountain. The fourth was the Lifeguard representative Sharp Whistle (Earth Pony) who would give them a brief CPR session and taught them how to read the waves and sky for storms or big waves, the rules and regulations of a lifeguard, and of course his own stories and showing off his whistle Cutie Mark. X Fifth was the Coast Guard pony, Algae Anchor (Pegasus) who technically was the first military representative and would tell them about the dangers of pirates and violent animals in the ocean. Her Cutie Mark was a black anchor wrapped in seaweed and Golden wryly noted how it wasn't algae at all, not out loud of course. O Sixth was surprising, apparently, Geo Cache (Unicorn) did rescue service for Archaeologists, doing a survey or going with them to explore different ruins and making sure nothing would happen. His Cutie Mark resembled the masonic symbol North remembered from her previous life with the geocache circle plus x in it. O Sheriff Star (Earth Pony) represented the Police and was Seventh, he was in charge of police procedures and upholding justice and how essential it was for police to have skills in how to rescue others. His Cutie Mark was a cherry blossom petal in the shape of a star. O Eighth was a firefighter named Baton Swirl (Unicorn) who would do the same as the others with talking about his own work and how he got his Cutie Mark (a swirl of water surrounding a baton on fire.) X Ninth represented the Medical Rescue Team led by Nurse Redheart who was giving a class on first aid and diagnosis on most common ailments on lost ponies. Her Cutie Mark resembled the Ponyville Hospital's symbol with the red cross and hearts. O Tenth was Palm Olive (Earth Pony), who would be giving a lecture on surviving on an island but seeing how an island wasn't on their schedule, there was a note for an additional course on her island if anypony was interested. Her Cutie Mark was a lighthouse with a palm tree design. O Eleventh was Aviation Rescue led by Air Gear (Unicorn) who would talk to them about the different flying contraptions used in the air and how sometimes it was necessary for them to be alert about it. Her Cutie Mark was a pair of goggles with wings on either side. X Twelfth and last of all was the Royal Guard (and one North didn't attend.) led by Cross Shield (Pegasus) who was the one in charge of the entire thing. Having retired from being a Royal Guard a decade before, he had been organizing rescue operations in different parts of Equestria. X Golden had some respect for him because of articles he’d written in the past, but despite that she crossed his name out of lectures to attend before asking Fluttershy if she wanted to attend all of them or some of them. “Well, it wouldn’t hurt to learn what I can from all of them, but then it would be a busy weekend,” Fluttershy then looked at her choices and blinked, “You didn’t mark all of them?” Golden pouted. “I’m not that bad,” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow and the Earth filly cleared her throat, looking to the side to avoid her friend’s gaze, “Fine, there’s a,” she mumbled something and her friend stepped forward. “What was that?” the owl staring at her was not helping. Golden muttered something and Fluttershy was almost leaning against her as she gave a small, teasing smile. “Sorry?” “There’s a Daring Do signing tonight!” she almost shouted, cheeks burning, which became worse when the pegasus giggled. “Alright, why don’t we head on over to the conference center to get ready, we should be able to attend the lectures you want to,” Golden huffed, heading to her suitcase to bring out a notebook, “Did you bring your Daring Do hat?” her protest had the pegasus giggling again and Golden wished she never told the other filly about attending every book signing. She’s been collecting Daring Do first editions since she could afford them, keeping them hidden in a secret compartment of the planetarium and keeping an ear out for the next book in the works. Her friends read them as well, but didn’t know why she was a big fan of them so much. Golden could admit that one reason she started reading them was that she knew Rainbow Dash would be a big fan of them in the future and thought it would be a nice bonding moment. She’s not so sure now, but the books are enjoyable, and the fact they were written by a pegasus who got a Degree in Literature and a Doctorate in Archeology were an inspiration for a pegasus filly despairing at the literature-phobic atmosphere in Cloudsdale.  Though tonight, she’ll have to be careful in her disguise and not give out any clues, even if she is still going to have the same message written in the books. Hopefully, A.K. Yearling doesn’t point it out.  Attending the lectures was relaxing, and she made plenty of notes from each of them that she planned on giving Fluttershy to go over. The pegasus received some odd looks for the owl, but at this point everyone knew what her special talent was and left it alone. Some staff was shocked however, apparently, this owl hated going near anyone and was notorious for being grumpy. Fluttershy informed them after a brief conversation with the owl that the bird avoided contact with the hotel staff because she had overheard some of them wanting to find her nest and didn’t want to risk it. That ended up turning into an hour-long talk with the manager and owner of the hotel respectively, the latter furious when he realized that the manager was abusing his position of power for ‘publicity’ and informed all of his staff that the animals on the mountain were under a protection act he signed when the hotel first opened.  The manager and a few others ended up being fired and his assistant promoted to the position after Fluttershy called a few animals that vouched for her kindness and protection of the smaller animals.  Golden took her friend for some hot chocolate and piping hot vegetable stew freshly prepared by the kitchen. It took some time for the filly to recover from the intense interaction with strangers and Golden brushed her hair back into several braids till she got her composure back. “Oh, that was so nerve-wracking,” the snowy owl barked softly and rubbed her head against Fluttershy’s ear, making her giggle as she ran her hoof through the soft white feathers. “Are you up for lectures? Or do you want to come with me to the signing?” the pegasus shook her head, taking another sip of the soup and letting out a sigh. “I think I’ll return to the lectures, it’ll be less crowded if what I saw of the Daring Do fans was accurate,” Golden had to cringe, recalling some of the cosplayers and their antics. She was a fan and could understand their enthusiasm, but if there had been a role-playing event, she was pretty sure the organizers would prefer the attendees not to dig out every single pot in the lobby, looking for some sort of ‘secret treasure’. Though one pony she was pretty sure was not cosplaying with strange goggles just buried themselves in a pot and giggled creepily as they pulled the plant back in over their heads. Yeah, she’ll let the staff deal with that one. Right now she had a signing to get to. It was a good thing she had a reservation ticket in advance, and as she trotted passed the snake-like line leading from the signing event to the exit, she could feel the dark glares from the ponies as she showed her ticket to the security guard and was allowed in. Hey, it wasn’t her fault they didn’t know about the essay contest, and she was kind of excited, considering as North she did not dare enter the contest and just waited in very long lines (when she didn’t bring a tent. Lyra would have made fun of her, if the filly didn’t have her own tent for concerts.)  Daring Do’s publisher advertised the contest months ago and there were hundreds if not thousands of applicants who sent their essays in.  Only the top ten ponies in the contest would get in and each one would get the first edition of Daring Do’s new book, Daring Do and the Yeti’s Flute, centered around Mount Everhoof,  The inside of the conference room was decked out in a fake Winterland theme, with yeti stand-ins here and there. Food booths were on one side of the room with merchandise ones on the other side, some containing all the novels written so far in the series. Ponies could go to the booths instead of waiting in line, though Golden suspected not a lot of ponies would want to do that. These were Daring Do fans after all, who would skip the line for the booths? There was a raised platform with a tower of books next to it and a seat with A.K. Yearling written on it. The author was nowhere to be seen, which wasn’ t a surprise as she was a reclusive pony at best. As she took her spot, Golden could feel the disbelieving stares as the youngest in the group. Some were teens while others were adults, and she felt it was a bit unfair of them to be so surprised. Just because she was young didn’t mean she couldn’t write an impressive enough essay. At least no one was informed of who was exactly first place, and she chose to be in the tenth spot so that she could get her bits ready. She was getting a free first edition, but she wanted a book for herself to read while keeping the first edition in pristine condition. She had two copies of every book and was planning on keeping with that tradition. “Alright everypony er,” the announcer caught sight of the griffin in seventh place and corrected himself, “everycreature, welcome to the Mount Everhoof Daring Do signing event, and here’s the VIP herself!” he gestured wildly to the side where the author appeared from a door, climbing onto the platform and taking her seat. She looked tired, and Golden felt a bit bad, because she knew that the author was in for a long night. The first pony went up and went into a rant about how much he loved Daring Do’s books, while nitpicking a few details, and Golden resisted the urge to smack her face. Who let this pony be one of the winners? He always got into squabbles with other ponies if they expressed an opinion about their favorite part of Daring Do that he didn’t like. Did someone proofread his essay and tone down the offensive bits? Because Golden was pretty sure his writing was as insulting and quibbling as this stallion. It got to the point the announcer gave a fake laugh, grabbing the stallion and his signed book and leading him off the stage for the next pony to get their book signed. Having been to several of these events, Golden thought her excitement would be a bit tamer, but she still felt the butterflies in her stomach as the platform grew closer and closer. At least security wouldn’t let the other line in till they were done, otherwise she was pretty sure she would get trampled on. She hated being tiny. A cleared throat had her looking up, and cheeks burning at the announcer’s annoyed stare, she hurried up the platform and saw Daring Do’s raised eyebrow as the mare looked her over. “Golden Lotus, right?” she nodded, feeling her tail wagging and saw the amusement in those rose-red eyes, “Read your essay and thought it was very well researched, reminded me of a filly years ago that suggested Mount Everhoof as a location for one of my books,” crap, keep your expression blank Golden, swallowing, Golden gave a small laugh. She, almost forgot about that. It had just been a suggestion when they did that little Q&A in Manhattan and the publisher (hovering behind Daring Do) asked every attendee what location they would want a Daring Do book in next, while ignoring her author’s pointed glare. Most ponies wanted it in their hometown, some suggested a made-up place, trying to test the author’s knowledge, North Wind chose Mount Everhoof and mentioned reading about an artifact hidden in a cave guarded by Yeti’s. “Well this is my first book signing, so I wouldn’t know them,” she gave a nervous smile, the author raised an eyebrow as she grabbed a book from the pile and placed it in front of her. “Strange, because the message you requested sounds so similar to hers whenever she comes,” she signed her name on the inside of the cover, under the printed message that Golden sent with her essay. All winners had their personal editions printed with a message on the inside cover. “Well, its a message my uh sponsor had me request for, so, maybe a coincidence?” the book was handed to her and she clutched it to her chest, turning towards the bookstall and nearly freezing at the author’s parting comment. “And I suppose you are getting a second copy and putting that signed one in a safe spot,” Golden gave a quick nod to the mare and scurried off, hearing a low chuckle that made her cheeks burn. That was the cue for the doors to open and the stampede of ponies made the floor shake as the security guards struggled to keep them in a straight line. Quickly buying her second book, she put both books in a bag and looked at the line before heading to the merch stall, nodding to the griffin who was eyeing some of the merch with intrigue. The quibbling guy was already reading the book in the corner along with a few others, and Golden made a mental note not to go over there. She bought a flute, knowing Lyra would get a kick out of it, and some souvenirs for Pinkie and Fluttershy before her stomach grumbled. Right, time for food, though that would be difficult, considering the line completel- she spotted a staircase leading to a small bridge to the other side and grinned, wow whoever planned this event was very thorough. Trotting up the stairs, she thought about what kind of food she should eat and kind of glad that the lines wouldn’t be long, So wh- a voice hit her ears that made her freeze. “She has to be here somewhere! She’s a big fan, I’ve seen her reading the books, she wouldn’t miss it!” her sister was practically yelling, her rainbow mane easy to spot near the carrot dog booth.  Golden felt the air in her lungs freeze, and to her horror her magic started acting up in her distress.  Windy Whistles said something to Rainbow in a low voice, while Bow Hothoof in his Guard armor was peering around the room, no doubt searching for her. A rip appeared in the curtain overlooking the bridge and Golden gritted her teeth, backing up and quickly descending the stairs, immediately heading towards the exit. She had to get out of here. As her dyed tail disappeared out the door, she didn’t spot the rosette eyes that glanced at her retreating form, or how they fell upon the trio, seeing the blue coat color of the filly and her rainbow mane. ------------------------ “Where is she?” Rainbow munched on the carrot dog, feeling worry and irritation rising up in her. It’s been almost five months since North ran away, and a month since school started with the filly being nowhere in sight. Sure she graduated and everything, but she still didn’t have a Cutie mark, which meant she was still supposed to be in their parents’ care. And was supposed to be attending Cloudsdale High that their parents already registered her for. Rainbow Dash still thought about her accusations and her side of what happened with the pony she slaughtered, and still felt torn about it. But even her mom was concerned about what North’s magic could end up doing, and when that crater appeared near Tall Tale, Uncle Wind Scar appeared and expressed his own concerns about North losing control of her magic. Which meant, if they didn’t find the filly soon, she might end up losing control in a populated town, and her parents felt responsible for not keeping a better hold on her. They first went to the planetarium Lyra’s mom told them about, but all they got was a bucket of red paint dumped on them and Betrayor stamped across her Cutie Mark, while Worst Parents were on theirs. It didn’t fade for weeks and she had to wear her Halloween costume to cover it, getting a lot of teasing at school. Her parents tried talking to the Shys after that since both Fluttershy and Zephyr were gone, but ended up receiving a rather cold reception before the couple asked ‘politely’ for them to leave. It was only chance that she spotted a postcard from Fluttershy and swiped it before the couple could notice. She didn’t even get scolded for it as her parents read the information on it and her mom went to look up the program Fluttershy was in. Rainbow Dash still couldn’t wrap her head around the shy pony participating in such a thing, or the fact she’s lasted past the first month. “I don’t know dear, but she’ll be here somewhere, if not, we can always ask Fluttershy,” Mom patted her hair, fussing over the ketchup on her mouth while Dad still looked through the crowd. “Cross Shield is supposed to be here somewhere, I can just ask him, and tell him if our daughter is tagging along with the program without an adult, it is not ethical at all and he could get in trouble for it,” Rainbow Dash wondered why Uncle Wind Scar wasn’t here to help look, but then again, he was a busy pony. But being stuck at a geeky book signing was not what she wanted to do with her weekend. Even if the decorations were kind of cool. ------------------ “My sister and parents are here,” were the first words out of her mouth once she was able to pull Fluttershy and Amethyst to a separate room. Fluttershy paled while Amethyst looked confused. “Is that a bad thing?” Golden gave her a look. “If they find me, Wind Scar does,” the mare blanched. “Right, and if they see Fluttershy they’ll try and interrogate her about your whereabouts,” the mare thought about it before smiling, “Well, there is a small airship arriving in the morning to take guests to the Rainbow Falls Trading Exchange,” her interest was piqued. “Trading Exchange?” Fluttershy gave Amethyst an accusing look that the mare returned with a sheepish look. Golden was too busy thinking about what she could get at this exchange. But first she needed to put her first edition in a safe spot, because she’d seen some eyeing her when they first came in and knows she’ll be the first target for a Limited Edition. And if they saw the message, no doubt her identity would be suspect. She eyed Amethyst thoughtfully, “I don’t suppose you have a lockbox in your room,” the mare sighed. “Yes, yes I do,” Golden beamed and took Fluttershy back to the hotel room. They need a good night’s sleep after all. ------------ “Golden! Slow down,” Fluttershy hurried to keep up with her friend, trying not to lose sight of the bouncing filly as she went from one stall to the other, the cart behind her remaining on the ground no matter how many times the ‘Earth’ filly went up and down.  Being off the mountain seemed to do wonders for both of them, Fluttershy felt her anxiety levels much lower, and after putting some distance between her family and herself, Golden was completely relaxed. Fluttershy made a mental note to talk to the filly about her Blessing, because she hadn’t been able to take the bindings off somewhere safe yet to release her magic build-up. Pulling her own cart, the pegasus was looking for an animal booth, having never been to the Exchange but had been treated to a long lecture about it from Golden on the airship. The thought of rare creatures being there made her a bit excited, though she had to remind herself that she couldn’t have too many on the trip. Maybe just one, or two? The snowy owl went back to her nest before they left, and Fluttershy thought about getting her some ribbons and comfy cloth for her nest.  Golden was near a stall with books, Fluttershy wasn’t too surprised about that, and was negotiating rather fiercely with the stand owner to trade some books she got from some store in Tall Tale. She ended up trading ten of them for a book with a strange language on it, the owner looking quite surprised at how eager she was to get it. “What kind of book is that?” Fluttershy asked, stopping to look at some animal whistles to add to her collection. “I recognized the writing from my studies, it actually contains information about the Blessings founding temples, and I’m hoping to read something about mine,” Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Haven’t you been looking for that kind of book for ages?” Golden gave her a wry grin. “If I’d known about this kind of place sooner I would have visited years ago, it’s a good thing I had the books that stand owner wanted in exchange,” Fluttershy frowned. “What if the owner knows what the book is about and talks about it?” her friend sighed. “It was a risk I had to take, and that mare knew nothing about the book, just knew it was a family heirloom that no one could read. She’s trying to get rid-” Golden paused and veered, throwing Fluttershy off as the filly stopped right in front of a booth with antique jewelry, surprising her, because Golden wasn’t one for this kind of thing. Golden unhooked her cart and on unspoken agreement, Fluttershy stood guard while the filly explored the booth, blue eyes running across different jewelry and dismissing them. The owner of the booth was dressed in a prim suit with a white shirt and was keeping a close eye on both of them while dealing with his customers. Finally, Golden stopped at a wooden box, ears twitching before picking it up and unclasping the top. “Unless you intend to exchange something, please do not touch the merchandise,” Fluttershy bit her lip at the stallion’s stern tone, but Golden was unphased. She placed the box on the counter and went to the cart, fishing out a safe deposit box that she placed in front of the stallion along with a certificate.  “I’ll trade these for this,” she tapped the box, “And those two Faberge Eggs on the top shelf,” she pointed at the top shelf where two of the jeweled eggs were on display. The stallion looked disbelieving as he reached for the box and opened it, “I’m not sure a few baubles wil-” freezing as he caught sight of the contents of the box, it took him several minutes to gather himself before he grabbed the paper she placed right next to it, giving it a thorough glance over. Then he gave Golden a shocked look that she returned with an innocent smile. It did not take long before they were walking away from the booth, the stallion placing the box she gave him in a bigger safe. They got some lunch and rested in a spot away from other ponies. “What’s in that box that you got?” she asked as the filly brought it out while munching on a hayburger. “Something that I got for Agape,” Golden showed her the pendant inside, a diamond-shaped gem that was a clouded white with pearls and shimmering sea glass surrounding it. Fluttershy oohed at it. “That’s so pretty, but what made you think of Agape?” the filly shrugged. “Don’t know, thought I heard music coming from it and decided to get it, don’t worry, when I see something that screams you, I’ll get it,” Fluttershy waved her hoof. “You don’t have to do that!” she protested, but Golden smirked, leaving the yellow pegasus exasperated. They parted once lunch ended, Fluttershy finding the Ancient Beasts stall and seeing if there were any creatures she could get. If only to free them from their cages of course. After a thorough scolding to the cowed owner for providing the wrong treatments, she left with two new animal friends, both of them nestled either on her hair or on her back. Ponies gave her a wide berth at her company but she paid them no mind as she searched the crowd for her friend. The sound of fireworks reached her ears and she quickly soothed her little friends, eyeing the direction it came from and letting out a sigh. Golden was definitely over there. ------------ Golden spotted FLuttershy and spoke before she could say anything. “It wasn’t me and the fireworks are safe,” the pegasus gave her a disbelieving look and she pouted, “It’s true! Come on Trixie, show her!” the unicorn she’d been talking to shuffled, looking a bit shy before her horn glowed and fireworks appeared above her head, popping and appearing in different illusions before fading away. Golden turned to gesture at Fluttershy in a ‘you see’ manner, then she saw the animals in the filly’s presence and blinked. “I’m surprised you didn’t grab all of the animals,” the filly blushed and stroked the scales of one of her new friends. “I actually traded my entire cart’s contents for these two beauties, I wish I could’ve rescued more of them,” Golden patted her shoulders, feeling a bit sheepish herself. “I would help you, but I just traded the last of my own stock to this illusionist,” she pointed at the wooden chest next to the filly who scratched her cheeks. “Trixie’s still unsure if a demonstration was worth this much,” the ten year old could feel her friend’s surprise and just grinned, holding up two metal rings. “Don’t forget these, and it’s fine, I had more fun restoring that trunk than anything, and if anyone can put it to use, it’s a future illusionist,” she ignored the filly’s correction about being a show mare specializing in magic and nudged Fluttershy towards the exit, “COme on, the air ship departs in an hour and I need to grab a few more things before we can leave,” they trotted away, her waving to the filly till she was out of sight. “Are you sure? You spent so much effort restoring it,” Fluttershy sounded worried and Golden nudged her, careful not to jostle the animals and mindful of the eyes watching her. “I am, like I told her, the restoration was the fun part, there’s no point in lugging it further now that I found someone who can make use of it,” her friend looked confused. “Isn’t it just a trunk?” her question made Golden chuckle,  “You could say that.” it depends on Trixie after all. ------------ Trixie stared after the strange filly, wondering why she hadn’t been disappointed at the show and instead praised her. After being dropped from Celestia’s schoo, Trixie found her confidence fall to depressing levels. Her parents took her to this Trading Exchange in hopes of cheering her up. They even encouraged her to do a few small shows, to get over her stage fright. She didn’t actually expect anypony to approach her for a show, or for the filly to offer a large trunk in exchange. It didn’t seem like a fair exchange at all, but Trixie accepted anyways. Though what she was going to do with this trunk she did not know. Frowning, she opened the trunk, seeing its empty and clean interior and blinked, withdrawing and looking it over again. That didn’t look right, the outside was bigger than the inside. A secret compartment? She pulled down the lid and spotted a small slot, perfectly round and drawing on her magic, inserted her horn into the opening. There was a click before floor lifted and she pulled, eyes widening at the contents at the bottom. “B-but this is,” she glanced back to see if she saw the filly, but there was no sign of her, and she turned back to the trunk with a dry mouth. Hooves shaking, she picked up the book underneath the chains and a black robe with a red interior. “Illusions for the Beginner Volume 1: Fool other’s senses, make them believe something is there that isn’t.” she swallowed, glancing down and rummaging through the chains, seeing a Volume II and III and felt kind of faint. Then she opened the books and nearly blacked out. The writing was loopy and a bit faded in some instances, but it wasn’t printed at all. These were literally first edition. “Trixie are yo- Bellatrix!” her mom caught the fainted filly, foam at the mouth, picking up her book and putting it in the trunk before closing it, eyeing it wearily. She’ll get her husband to look at it. -------------------------- Fluttershy and Golden Lotus entered the lobby, carts put away and cooing over Fluttershy’s animals. “There they are!” they both glanced up startled as Rainbow Dash stomped over to them from where the filly had been talking to Fluttershy’s trainee group.  Fluttershy caught the pegasus’ eye who sneered at her in triumph before looking away, just as Rainbow Dash grabbed Golden and started pulling at her barrel. “Ow!” the Earth filly cried out in shock and pain, “Let me go! Who are you?” the Wonderbolt fanatic huffed, glaring at her. “Do you really think you can fool me North Wind? After all the times you talked back to our parents about wearing a binder, and you put one on for a lame disguise like this?” she gave another tug, ignoring the filly’s yelp as she tried to rip off the binder, “You might be able to disguise your coat but you can’t hide those eyes, why won’t this come off?” she gave a harsher pull and something finally gave, but it wasn’t a binder. Fur came away in her hoof and she stared at it in bewilderment. “What the?” the sound of hissing made her look up and she cringed at Fluttershy’s look. Or was that the three headed snake glaring at her from the filly’s mane? “Rainbow DASH,” oh crap. ------------ At the train station outside Rainbow Falls, the train conductor eyed the griffin and his luggage wearily. “What’s in the cooler?” there were strange stains on there that made him anxious, and he wished that the Guard hadn’t been too busy for security. Princess Cadance had left as soon as the event was over, flying into the sky with her guard scrambling behind her, yelling about being in the chariot but were ignored. The scarred griffin shrugged, grabbing the led with his talons and opening it. The sight made the attendant turn green and he looked away, “Close it, close it,” the griffin chuckled, looking amused. “Some of my greatest catch I do say, those boars are right nasty ones,” the attendant tried to shake the picture of the severed boar’s head and waved the griffin in. With a smirk on his beak, the griffin went to the back of the train, ponies avoiding him upon spotting his cargo, others smelling it and turning green. ‘Works every time’ he thought, picking his spot and opening the lid, sending the smell of his catch to the other passengers who fled to the next car. He moved a panel and looked into bright blue eyes, their owner staring at him as suspicious chewing sounds reached his ears. His eyes narrowed. “You get two and that’s it,” the eyes disappeared as the stowaway curled up, the chewing sounds growing louder as if to mock him as he slid the panel shit.  Sighing, he checked on another compartment, not really fond of this part of the plan. Precious cargo or not, he wasn’t keen on having them so close to his own merchandise. Especially if the scents end up lingering and his clients get the wrong idea. Right, next stop, Fillydelphia.