Chapter 16: The Forest and The Unexpected
Things were rather quick moving with the new Ever-Free Patrol. They were still only four ponies total, but Naruko had come to accept the fact it would grow a little slow at least in the start. There were some ponies who were curious, but all of them quit rather quickly during the testing phase. It was upsetting for the Grand Captain so few with skill actually wanted to be a part of the patrol, especially after the first three volunteers proved so wonderful.
At least regarding the first three, things had been amazing. Naruko couldn’t be prouder of them. Their sessions with Fluttershy finally came to an end not too long ago and that was longer than she originally thought they would last. The reason they kept going is because her squad wanted to learn even more about the animals of the forest and other areas. Fluttershy was happy to help out. She had really come to love teaching them before it was over and volunteered to come by again if ever needed. She had also decided to keep a bit of an ongoing journal or what some would call a bestiary and share new information with the patrol and even let them have copies of the bestiary once she finished it.
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Naruko was now looking around the new meeting place for the patrol. It had taken a while for it to be good to go, but now it was. The Ever-Free Patrol now had an actual headquarters in Ponyville. Well more like just outside of Ponyville and close to the Ever-Free Forest. It was just off the main trail heading towards the forest, but it still wasn’t too far from Ponyville.
It didn’t take her long to reach the two story building. Inside there was a reception area, even if they didn’t have a receptionist. The room has a few benches for ponies to use and a large desk area for patrollers to use if needed in the front area. Past the reception area there was a hallway with a good sized break room on one side. The break room had a good sized kitchen area along with a radio and sitting areas with tables and book shelves and a magazine rack. It also had some nice windows that could be secured magically when needed.
On the opposite side of the break room, there was the locker room. The locker room had a couple of restrooms and a couple of shower rooms in addition to the lockers. The locker room was also enchanted to easily expand if needed later. The floor was covered with a short but sturdy carpet in many places.
Next to the Break room there was the infirmary. It had a few operation tables with plenty of cabinets for medical and surgical supplies if needed. It was better than a simple field hospital, but it wasn’t really designed to be as useful as an actual hospital. It was more of a place for emergencies if getting to the hospital wouldn’t be fast or safe enough.
“I really hope we get some volunteers who know about this stuff,” Naruko sighed. She knew a little bit, but that was it. She wasn’t a medical pony and didn't have the control needed for such magic. Hopefully this room would never be needed, but it was better to be prepared for the worst that never came than under-prepared for actual problems when they occurred.
Naruko walked out of the infirmary and walked into a room just past the locker room area. This room was mostly empty for now. They didn’t have or need supplies to fill it yet. She did intend to find a use for it eventually.
After leaving the supply room, she walked to a room at the end of the hallway. There wasn’t much in this room. It was just two stairwells that led down below. The area at the bottom of the stair well was mostly a large bunk room. It was for either visiting patrollers or used for resting after a long day. It had some sitting areas and plenty of lights and decorations that made it more homey. The whole office and especially this room could be used as temporary shelter if needed. The area again was enchanted to make expanding easy if needed.
When she finished looking over the barracks, Naruko headed up to the ground floor office and then down the hall until she came to a stairwell between the break room and Infirmary leading upwards. The second floor was smaller and included her Office and a meeting room area. There were also a couple of smaller offices as well.
Naruko’s office had filing cabinets, a bench and pillows for sitting on. There was also a nice desk for her to use. Something Naruko had a feeling she might be using often given her new job. She was happy to have a nice window area behind her desk at least. She looked outside and her eyes traced the fence around the building.
There was plenty of space around the building for the patrol to use as needed. Mostly training areas for now, but maybe something more later if the patrol really took off. There was space for a workshop if they ever needed one to make items for their missions. “I need to ask Fluttershy about her armor again,” Naruko mentally told herself. That could possibly be their first use of the future workshop. She knew they would have to get the help of a pony who actually specialized in creating things for that to work. Maybe they could figure out a contractor or something in the future for such needs.
Naruko also liked how the surrounding area had varied geography for training purposes. She had decided she wanted the patrol to be held up to ninja standards and found more than capable. Training had really taken off and that dream seemed just a little more attainable than she previously thought. Ponies were really amazing and their potential was something, even the Uchiha bastard would be jealous of if he mattered in this world.
Naruko was in thought as she heard a knock on the doors and a buzz of the doorbell. “Coming!” she called out of habit. She doubted anypony could hear her, since the patrol was off-duty at the moment. She figured it could be a possible member wanting to sign up. She only hoped if that was the case they wouldn’t quit the training and instead make it all of the way. She had clones, but that wasn’t the best answer to more members of the patrol.
The Grand Captain’s eyes widened in surprise when she opened the door.
“Hi ya!” Derpy Hooves said with a salute.
Naruko recovered from her surprise and said, “Hello, Derpy. What did you want?”
“I want to join the Ever-Free Patrol,” Derpy said with a serious nod.
Naruko looked her over in thought. She knew Derpy was capable of flying fairly well as a part time mail mare and could do some impressive baking feats, even if their possibility could stump Pinkie. That was all different from what a patroller did though.
“Do you know what our purpose is?” Naruko asked. It was a basic question but important.
“Protect ponies from the forest and others! Protect the forest from us as well inna way,” Derpy replied.
“Do you know who we answer to?” Naruko asked.
“Princess Luna! I’m guessing even more so than Princess Celestia,” Derpy replied.
Naruko nodded to this. “Why do you want to join the Ever-Free Patrol?” she asked.
Derpy gave a serious expression as she said. “I want to do all I can to protect my girls! The best way to do that is to protect the whole of Ponyville and even Equestria if needed.”
Naruko liked the sound of that. It showed that Derpy had the potential to be one of the most dedicated patrollers if she managed to pass. Hopefully the pony had some other decent skills and/or the potential to learn what she needed to know for working as a patroller.
“Things can end up being really tough as part of the patrol and you won’t be getting much in return for your efforts. You do seem to have the dedication though. I will have to test you and see if you have the ability for being in the patrol. If you do pass we can work out a schedule for taking into account your mail mare job, but first let’s see what you are capable of,” Naruko said to her.
Derpy nodded. “We can start now if you want,” she said.
“Good to know,” Naruko said with an eager smile. “Follow me! This will be the perfect time to test the patrol’s new training grounds. You can of course drop the training test at any time, but you won’t be in the patrol.” Derpy followed and seemed both eager and determined to not do that. Naruko liked this as well.
“If you do end up a part of the patrol, you may someday in the future be asked to do other missions as well that are out of Ponyville. This is mostly because the Ever-Free Patrol is still new and we are very limited in our resources. You don’t have to go on these missions if your schedule can’t allow it, though we would encourage you to do all you can to get it to work before deciding you can’t do it,” Naruko said as she looked to Derpy. Derpy didn’t seem to care about that. It was almost as if she had already taken this into account and decided how she would handle such things. If that was the case, it was an even better example of the seriousness she put into this decision.
Naruko kept leading the way to the first stop as she explained more to the potential member. “Since we will be going to other places as well, the training grounds here help with that by having several different types of terrain available for practice. I am curious. Do you have any experience in disciplined fighting or self-defense?”
She knew Derpy had been on adventures with the Doctor and it sounded like they got into some very hairy situations, but they didn’t usually take a fighting approach. They instead usually avoided actual combat and took care of problems at the root. This was good, but not really an approach the patrol would always be able to take. They would have to fight until they incapacitated their opponents sometimes and giving the fact they could end up fighting a battle on their home front, they needed to know how to fight even if that was a remote possibility.
“I know some moves, but no real training or style,” Derpy admitted.
“There is a combat test, but it mostly serves to give me an idea where your skills are at and how to train you,” Naruko explained to her as they made their way to the starting point.
{-} {-} {-}
Derpy dodge as Naruko attacked. Derpy had passed the tests so far and the combat test was proving very enlightening to Naruko. The blonde unicorn got behind Derpy unnoticed by the pegasus and used a beam attack on her. Derpy however seemed to hit a tree wrong and bounced off to the side a bit so the beam passed her with little problem and the pony now knew where Naruko was and counter attacked.
Naruko had evaded earlier and was again chasing after Derpy about to attack her when the pony accidentally clipped a wing, but not enough hurt and went flying off at a really random angle before bouncing off a rock with her hooves and launching back at Naruko at a different angle just as awkward and unexpected as the first one. Naruko had no choice but to dodge.
Derpy was very clumsy at times, but could be really focused as well and her clumsiness always worked out in the pony’s favor. Naruko and her were engaged in hoof to hoof combat which the pegasus was decent at. Naruko had ‘missed’ a couple of beam attacks that she was now going to have hit Derpy in the back. Just as the beams were about to hit Derpy the pony let out a mighty sneeze that sent her backwards and into the sky forcing Naruko to defend from her own beam attack instead of continuing her offense.
Oddly enough it seemed when Derpy wasn’t having ‘accidents’ she was a much easier target and the pony couldn’t control those accidents. Derpy knew this and didn’t want to rely on them. She knew she had a long way to go, but it was nice knowing she had a sort guardian force looking out for her or something.
Part way through the long combat test, which was more like a training session, both Lyra and Bon Bon showed up for practice and a couple of patrol rounds. Naruko had them join in and the three of them fought against Derpy together. Derpy’s accidents seemed to happen even more to make up for the numbers advantage they had over her.
Naruko then had Lyra and Bon Bon face off against her and Derpy in a two vs. two fight. Lyra’s and Bon Bon’s already stellar teamwork had improved even more since they joined the patrol and trained properly. They could both work well with Naruko and Cloud Kicker but Bon Bon and Lyra worked best with each other. During this part of the training session Derpy’s accidents weren’t happening as often as earlier, but they would sometimes work in a way they helped Naruko as well. Despite all of this Derpy still didn’t come out completely unscathed, but they weren’t using too much power against her for the combat test so she wasn't really hurt either.
When they headed back to the HQ, Derpy went to take a long much needed shower while Lyra, Bon Bon and Naruko were in the meeting room. “So, what do you think of our new potential?” she asked them.
The two looked to each other with concerned faces. “Well she seems really good, but so very clumsy…” Lyra said.
“Can we let her in with that clumsiness? I mean she could at times be very focused, but still…” Bon Bon replied.
Naruko nodded before speaking. “That happened a lot when it was just the two of us earlier as well. However, there was never a single time her clumsiness didn’t benefit her a good deal.”
“It was just coincidence, right?” Lyra asked. It seemed impossible it could be otherwise.
Naruko shook her head. “It happened far to often for that to be the case. I’ve read in books about an old pony fighting style called Drunken Hoof. It was a style that could be learned and taught, but it was difficult. It revolved around the principle that your movements would seem as if you were drunk, but you would still be able to fight well. You would use these movements to catch your opponents off guard and more. It was also said there were some ponies, though few, who were natural prodigies at Drunken Hoof and didn’t even require a lot of training until they wanted to control it.”
“But she didn’t seem drunk or anything,” Bon Bon said with a frown.
“I think what Derpy has is Clumsy Hoof or whatever she wants to call it since it is her natural prodigy style. She can’t control it, but it is something ingrained in her body or something. She also doesn’t want to rely on it and wants to learn and train as well. She passed everything else test wise with amazingly good results. She has more than enough determination. She literally told me she would protect all of Ponyville and even Equestria to protect her girls,” Naruko said.
Bon Bon and Lyra looked to each determined. They would find their own way to be even more determined than they already were. They didn't want to be left behind in the determination department. Lyra then said, “It sounds like you already made your decision. Why did you ask us?”
Naruko gave a nod again. “I have, but you two are also patrol members and I wanted to hear what you had to say since you also were part of her training and combat test.”
Lyra then smiled. “Can we plan her welcoming party?”
Naruko gave a chuckle. “You aren’t going to just ask Pinkie are you?”
Bon Bon shook her head. “Pinkie Pie is Ponyville’s party planning pony, but this isn’t Ponyville. This is the Ever-Free Patrol! We will welcome our new members. Besides, Pinkie Pie is always really busy and we wouldn’t want to overload her schedule, even if she never misses a date when it comes to a party.”
“Well then you two can plan it and even involve Cloud Kicker too if you want,” Naruko said. She gave a smile as the two friends high hoofed each other. “I’ll go tell our new member the news. You two have work to do.” They nodded and left to do their duties.
Derpy felt refreshed as she finished her shower. She really hoped they would let her join. She had a good feeling they would considering how long her testing process took, but she was still a little nervous. Her hubby always said he found her slight clumsiness rather endearing, but she didn’t really like how bad it got today. Sure, it helped her out like it always did when she was in a fight, but it annoyed her that it happened so often.
As Derpy left the locker room, Naruko called her to her office. Naruko was smiling, which was a good thing. “Derpy. I wanted to be the first welcome you to Ever-Free Patrol!” Naruko said as Derpy squeaked in happiness and hugged her. Naruko returned the hug. She then said, “Now your official induction has to be done soon before I tell you more details about the patrol. When would be a good time?”
Derpy was in thought. “How long does it take?”
“The main part, the Magical Swear takes 15 to 20 mins, but Princess Luna has to be here for that and she usually wakes up late evening to meet with her sister and share a meal with her. So, it will have to be early night time probably. I mean I can message her and I don’t need a baby dragon to send it to her quickly, but it would take some time,” Naruko answered.
Derpy looked out the window in the office. It was late afternoon/early evening. She was in thought. “I can do it tonight. I can have Amethyst watch Dinky for a little bit after we have supper or maybe Hubby will be back from his trip tonight.”
Naruko nodded to this. “I can set that up. Princess Luna will be very happy to have a new member of the patrol. After the Magical Swear, we can decide when I give you all of the information and details about the Ever-Free patrol.”
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“I’m actually glad you could end up joining, Derpy. I don’t know how you manage to have accidents that almost always work out conveniently, but it is good that you can focus when needed. I hope you do really well here. We can use all of the volunteers we can get. Provided they are up to snuff,” Naruko said to Derpy.
Naruko smiled as she said, “I’m also glad to have our first full time patroller. I don’t really count since I am the Grand Captain and all.”
“Now you know why scheduling isn’t a problem for me so much,” Derpy replied with a smile. The reason she wasn’t concerned when Naruko mentioned that part of the job was because she had intended to go full time from the start if she made it on to the patrol, or well as full time as she could as a volunteer. Learning there was actual pay after she went through the Magical Swear and everything was just further incentive for that choice. She did have a bit of abnormal time table setup so she would still spend time with her family, but it still worked out really well.
At the moment, Naruko and Derpy were about to take a round along the edge of the Ever-Free Forest. They were also going a little into the forest, because there were some concerns about a strange sound coming from not too deep inside the trees lately. The two patrol ponies weren’t sure what they would find inside, but it was their job to investigate. They wouldn’t get the others involved until they knew more. One thing Naruko had been training the patrol on was doing recon before engaging when possible. She was doing that now and using it as a chance to teach this lesson to Derpy as well.
“So, this strange sound has been described as an echoing and distant wail?” Derpy asked. Her offset eyes giving a very strange, but thoughtful look as she continued to hover a little off the ground as they kept moving.
Naruko nodded as she paid attention to their surroundings. “It also doesn’t seem to have too much of set schedule either. It can usually be heard in the evenings and nights, but also afternoons as well at times.”
Derpy nodded in thought before looking quickly to the side. “Oh, just a jackalope. No worries there. Those horns always get me at first.”
Naruko gave a slight chuckle as she said, “And many other ponies as well. Good job on not panicking and actually figuring out what it was. I could also tell you were ready to act if needed.”
Derpy beamed at the praise. Naruko really liked having a pony like Derpy in the patrol. She had actual experience in dealing with really weird and dangerous situations. Naruko really wanted to see where the pony’s potential would lead her in the Ever-Free Patrol.
Derpy dropped to the ground and seemed to almost focus her eyes just as Naruko similarly got ready. They heard the sound in question. Naruko looked to Derpy and the pony nodded as the two slowly and carefully followed the direction of the sound.
The two patrollers continued to follow the sound a little deeper into the forest. It seemed less like a strange echoing and distant wail and more like a pony crying. Naruko turned to make sure Derpy was still following. Derpy seemed to be taking extra care not to have any kind of an accident that might alert whatever it was they were now tracking. They crept closer to what they figured was the source of the sound.
The sound changed again. It wasn’t a wail or a pony crying. It seemed more like muttering and they couldn’t understand the words. Naruko wasn’t sure about this. It could be some kind of mad pony living in the woods. They would have to deal with this pony, but mad ponies could be unpredictable. She looked to Derpy and whispered, “Can you fly stealthily? Or would that be pushing your chances of something happening?”
Derpy was in thought. “I can do it,” she whispered back with conviction.
“Good. I want you to fly a little higher and be ready to approach from a tree while I go in from the ground. If this is some dangerous mad pony, we will subdue from both the air and the ground,” Naruko explained. Derpy nodded and quietly took to the air while slowly getting a little higher, but not high enough she would get caught in the tree branches.
When Derpy signaled she was ready to Naruko, the blonde unicorn approached a little louder, but still carefully. She wanted to let the pony know she was coming, but she wasn’t going to foolishly rush into the clearing. The pony kept muttering though.
Naruko approached and entered the clearing and was surprised at what she saw. It was a makeshift campsite in poor condition. There were empty bottles of alcohol and a few twigs built together with leaves as a roof and more leaves and dried grass as a bed. There was also a fire pit and a stream nearby. She also recognized the mare from the description she heard from other ponies, even if the pony was a mess currently. The dirty hat and cape covered in stars was also a key give away.
“Trixie?” Naruko asked out loud.
“Who’s there?! Trixie isn’t supper!” the pony said before shooting a random, but weak beam of magic at Naruko. The patrol captain easily rose a shield that absorbed the magic attack. She also cursed herself for speaking out loud like that.
“I’m Naruko Uzumaki. Captain of the Ever-Free Patrol: Ponyville Contingent,” she said as Trixie blinked but seemed to relax a little. “Are you calm?” Naruko asked. Trixie nodded and sat down next to her fire pit. “I just want to talk with you,” Naruko admitted. Trixie seemed to motion for Naruko to sit down. “First thing though…” the blonde unicorn started. She looked up and said, “You can come down now Derpy.”
Derpy landed and stubbled a little bit before smiling and asking, “Want a muffin?” She held out a muffin she had with her in her saddle bags.
Trixie’s eyes widened and her mouth watered as she quickly used her magic to grab the muffin. She then munched down on the muffin without any care for manners. “Trixie hasn’t had anything like this in so long,” she said as she continued chowing down on the muffin and had a second one Derpy offered her.
Naruko was sitting close now and asked, “What are you doing here, Trixie?”
Trixie seemed to look away as she said, “Trixie is camping…”
“How long have you been camping?” Naruko asked with concern.
Trixie blushed a little as she didn’t quiet meet Naruko’s eyes as she said, “Since the show…”
“That was several weeks ago!” Derpy said in surprise. Trixie remained silent.
Naruko gave a frown and looked even more concerned. Time had seemed to pass so quickly for her since then with the patrol starting up and all.“ Aren’t you from Hooffington?” she asked.
“Yes. But Trixie can’t go there… I’ve lost everything,” she replied.
“What do you mean by that exactly?” Naruko asked.
“I used my wagon as my home. Trixie enchanted it to expand into a full house when she was at home in Hooffington,” the show pony explained.
Derpy frowned to this. “Surely you have somewhere you can go home to…” Trixie shook her head.
Naruko was in thought and had to admit she found it was really impressive to have such a wagon. She believed Trixie because she didn’t see any reason for her to lie at this point. She had a couple of ideas on how to help Trixie, but she wasn’t sure if they would work. The Patrol Captain was wondering if she could let Trixie stay at the Patrol HQ for a while, but that might mean the pony would overhear things she wasn’t supposed to hear. The HQ could be used as an evacuation shelter, but that wasn’t really supposed to be for long term. Naruko didn’t want her patrol members to feel on edge or having to be overly cautious for an unknown but possibly long-term amount of time.
Naruko made up her mind. She would deal with the consequences if she had to later. However, she had a feeling this choice might be for the best in the end. She had once hit rock-bottom as well, though in her case it was much more severe than Trixie’s, but it was after that Naruko started to discover herself finally.
“I might have a better option for you, Trixie. It won’t be easy in many ways and might end up being more burden than not, but it will at least get you out of here,” Naruko started. Trixie was staring at her with wide hopeful eyes.
“You would be living near, almost in Ponyville,” Naruko said.
The hope left her eyes briefly. Trixie shook her head in determination. “Trixie wouldn’t be Trixie if she couldn’t handle that.” Her expression saddened a little. “Though I will admit I don’t fully like the idea, but still it has to be better than living out here any longer. Will those ponies come by?” she asked.
Naruko had to think about her words for a moment. She then remembered what Twilight told her about the show. “I’m not sure. I don’t think they would come around to the place I'm thinking about though. If they do and they cause trouble I will handle it,” Naruko replied.
Trixie felt it was right to trust Naruko here. It may be because of her desperation, but she chose to trust the blonde unicorn. “What else? I won’t be a freeloader,” she said. She had too much pride to just be a freeloader, even after what happened in Ponyville.
“Well you might hear things you won’t be allowed to share with anypony else. My boss might even use a form of magic to make sure you keep the secrets you might accidentally come across,” Naruko said seriously. She had no idea what all would be required of Trixie for this arrangement to work and she intended to ask Princess Luna as soon as she could on the matter. She still felt it was only right to warn Trixie of this.
“That sounds serious… Is it necessary?” she asked in a mix of curiosity and concern. Naruko nodded and Derpy, who seemed to have figured out what Naruko was planning, nodded as well.
Trixie thought over the suggestion again before she voiced her decision, “I’ve been living out here ashamed to go near any ponies since that disaster with the Ursa Minor… If taking all of these precautions means getting out of here. Then so be it.”
Naruko smiled a little and then asked, “By the way, do you know how to cook and clean?” Derpy seemed to gasp a little at this question.It seemed too much in her opinion considering the other requirements.
Trixie looked them over and gave a smile. “The Great and Powerful Trixie may be the best show pony in all of Equestria, but even she has learned these life skills.” She added a bit of her show pony flare and both Derpy and Naruko laughed a little and smiled in response. “It gets old eating out every night and sometimes nothing beats a homecooked meal. Besides, every show pony has to learn these things so they can survive while on the road.”
“I suppose that is true,” Naruko started as she stood up to use magic to clean up the campsite. Trixie helped a little, but she wasn’t in the best form so it wasn't much. Derpy helped as well. A mom knows how to do such things. Naruko then chuckled a little as she said, “Though you would be surprised how many ponies don’t know such things. It took awhile before Twilight got the hang of such things. She mostly started learning cooking and such after she realized I already knew how to do such things.”
Trixie dropped the couple of empty bottles she was floating. “Twilight? As in Twilight Sparkle?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Naruko answered and turned around to look at Trixie. “That isn’t going to be a problem is it? She’s been my best friend since I was in Canterlot.”
“But isn’t she friends with those ponies?” Trixie asked.
“Yes, she is. I am too, but I know they make mistakes and I don’t blindly take sides. Sometimes not taking a friend’s side when they are in the wrong is better for them. Anyways, I don’t think you have to worry about Twilight. I don’t think she will be making trips to Ever-Free Patrol HQ. If she did, I would explain the situation to her and she would understand,” Naruko said.
“Trixie hopes you are right,” Trixie said, but dropped the topic there. She wanted out of this forest. She then realized what Naruko had said about where she was staying. “I’m staying in the Patrol HQ? Is that possible?” she asked in surprise.
“It is. HQ has lots of beds, break rooms, working restrooms with showers and even a working kitchen. It works as a bunkhouse for Patrollers who need a place to stay and can be used as a disaster relief shelter if needed,” Derpy said with a smile.
“I see you’ve memorized the details in the HQ report,” Naruko said with a matching smile as the pegasus pony hovered in the air and nodded.
She then turned to Trixie. “It isn’t meant to be a permanent solution for your situation, but it can work for a good while and give you time to get back on your hooves.”
Trixie nodded in understanding to this. She would find time to make a new wagon, but in the mean time she would make herself useful. She didn’t want to be a freeloader or earn an ungrateful guest reputation to ruin her name. She was the Great and Powerful Trixie, even if not so much at the moment, but she for sure wasn’t the whiny and useless Trixie.
{-} {-} {-}
The three ponies returned to Patrol HQ together. Trixie was looking forward to a proper bed, a proper shower and a proper meal after “camping” in the forest for so long. She was impressed when she saw the HQ building and grounds. As they got to the door, she asked, “By the way, Naruko. Who's the boss you were talking about earlier?”
“There you are, Naruko. We were worried about thee,” Princess Luna said as she stood in the lobby of HQ. “We feared… I feared something happened because you were taking so long on your patrol.”
Naruko gulped and rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry, Princess Luna. I didn’t know you were visiting today. I don’t mean to get you angry, but what we do is dangerous work. That’s why you reinstated the patrol and things can happen…”
Princess Luna might have blushed at her overreaction in this matter, but no one would dare say so given her status. “I am sorry. It is still new doing this whole thing, especially the mentor/friendship stuff my sister said I should try more. What did you come across on your round? And who is this pony unicorn with you?” she asked. The unicorn seemed familiar, but she had been very busy and excited about her work lately. She was actually getting to do work in her Night Court sessions, even if it wasn’t much yet.
“This is Trixie. Derpy and I found her living in the Ever-Free Forest. She was unintentionally the cause of the most recent reports we received,” Naruko said.
“What were you doing living in a place like that? Zecora lives in the forest, but she is special and knows how to live there,” Princess Luna said.
Trixie was standing still and completely in awe of the Alicorn Princess in front of her. Princess Luna wished the pony would speak, but she was also thankful the pony hadn’t screamed in terror or anything like that. Maybe more ponies were coming around to her after all. Celestia said it would happen and Luna got along with the Patrollers, but she figured they were exceptions, kind of like Naruko.
Naruko decided to answer instead of Trixie. She was the Grand Captain and Derpy seemed to decide she wasn’t allowed to speak to the Night Princess yet and just stood at attention. “She doesn’t have anywhere to go. Her wagon was extra special and her home even in Hooffington.”
Princess Luna frowned in sorrow to that. “I am sorry, Trixie Lulamoon. If the patrol was started sooner that whole incident would have never happened. Sadly, my sister and I couldn’t fully agree on how to handle the patrol until after the Ursa Minor Incident took place.”
“She knows my name?” Trixie seemed to ask Naruko quietly.
“Of course, we know our ponies names! It just takes some time to put a name to a face,” Princess Luna said and almost sounded offended that Trixie dare think otherwise.
“She’s just surprised, Princess Luna,” Naruko quickly explained.
“Oh…” Princess Luna said and she might have once again blushed, but the ponies would just keep the memory of it to themselves.
“It is actually good you are here, Princess Luna. I kind of thought Trixie could stay here for a while. She’s agreed to help out around the HQ and to keep secrets she might learn while staying to herself. I was wondering if you felt you needed to perform a version of the Magical Swear on her or something. She seemed to be a little concerned about that, but agreeable in the end,” Naruko explained.
Trixie seemed to snap out of her trance as she realized Princess Luna was the boss Naruko spoke about earlier. She then bowed as she realized she was in the presence of royalty. “I will do what is necessary for this arrangement, your Highness.”
Princess Luna was in thought for a moment on this. “I’m not sure that will be needed. I think the fact you got her to agree to those circumstances is enough. We shall see, but I think either the swear was extended to her through you, or it isn’t needed because she was sincere when she made that agreement.”
Trixie was in thought on this. She intended to keep up her end, but she didn’t really want any chances in this matter. Naruko was taking her in at the HQ to help her and it was a move with some risk for her fellow unicorn. “Trixie… I would feel better if there was some kind of magical swear just in case,” she admitted.
Princess Luna looked her over. Trixie felt a shiver at the intensity of Luna’s gaze. It felt as if Luna was looking through to her very soul or something. Princess Luna gave a nod as if confirming something to herself. She then spoke again. “We shall see, Trixie. I believe you shouldn’t so quickly jump to a magical solution, but if I deem it necessary. I will take the proper actions. Don’t sell yourself short.” Trixie looked up and stood. “After all, a show pony knows how to keep secrets. You especially will if you do learn anything while you are here and realize the gravity of said secrets,” Princess Luna said. “We aren’t talking about stage secrets here.”
Princess Luna then turned to Naruko. “I think this will also serve as a form of training for the rest of the patrol as well. While it is unlikely given Equestria’s status and the fact we are in a time of peace, it is still a possibility there are spies around. The others can use this as a way to be careful at all times so they won’t accidentally slip up. While they can relax here, the patrol is still more or less a part of Equestria’s military power.”
“I understand, your Highness,” Naruko said with a bow.
Princess Luna nodded to that. “Now on to the real reason I am here. What do you think of the Patrol’s HQ?” she said and seemed a little giddy about this new topic.
Naruko smiled. “I really like it!” Naruko and Luna then spent a good bit of time discussing the HQ building.
Derpy hung around for a while and decided to cook a meal for everyone that night. Both of her daughters were off spending the night with friends and her hubby was on another timey whimey adventure at the moment.
Trixie went to go and enjoy the longest and warmest shower she had had in a long time. She was extremely grateful to have a proper place to stay while she figured things out. She wondered what would happen while she was here and she hoped to learn more about the Ever-Free Patrol. Their title kind of explained what they did, but understanding how they did it and their reasons for joining was something which peaked her curiosity.
Trixie broke off her musings about the patrol the moment she felt the warm water from the shower pour on to her coat. Trixie let out a deep contented sigh at the feeling. "Trixie must admit she really missed this!" she said to herself while she started to hum during her shower.
Trixie was surprised she actually stayed up long enough to make it through supper with the others and even managed to find a bed in the bunk area to make her own. She wouldn't have been surprised if she had simply fallen asleep in the middle of the hallway instead. That night she slept better than she had in a long time.