//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 - Trunk Call 
// Story: Magic on Sweet Apple Acres 
// by Blade Star 
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Long distance communication in Equestria, and indeed outside it, is rather limited. Equestria is at an odd place in terms of technology. The advent of cinemas with sound and moving colour pictures would suggest that they’re somewhere around the mid to late 20th century. At the same time though, firearms are non-existent, with blades remaining the weapon of choice, despite Pinkie’s party cannon also being a thing. And then, as I said, there’s communication. Here’s the place that sits squarely in the nineteenth century. If you want to send a message, you have two options. You can either entrust it to the Equestrian Postal Service; the pony equivalent to the Royal Mail, or you can send short messages quickly by telegraph.

To their credit, the Equestrians’ telegraph network is extensive. Even out on the frontier you will have little difficulty in finding a telegraph office. You can get a message from Canterlot, to Manehattan, and down to Dodge Junction in less than twenty minutes. It certainly isn’t like the days of the American Pony Express, if you’ll excuse the slight pun.

Still, the system is not without its flaws. Messages still need to be delivered to their intended recipient, either by one of the many messengers, or by the recipient themself dropping by the office. And of course, it was simply a matter of a rogue storm knocking down the wires and a town would find itself cut off, as Canterlot did several months later when those ape vermin snipped the wires.

Nonetheless, it was an effective enough system, in a society which had not seen the need to invest in radio or telephone technology. Whereas humans are always seeking the newest piece of kit, the philosophy of the ponies seems to be ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. And between you and me, I have my suspicions that certain technologies are deliberately stifled by a certain white alicorn princess.

There was one alternative, of course, and that was Spike. As unconventional as his fire breath might be, he was effectively a fax machine, albeit one that could only transmit to a single receiver. But he was far quicker than any telegraph, and could produce letters, rather than the awkward morse generated messages from the wire. If Twilight or the others were needed, Celestia could contact her in seconds. And unlike wiring her, there was no risk of interception.

But Spike was one of a kind. His magical fire breath is an oddity, not found in other dragons. My own and Twilight’s research suggest that it is the result of her hatching him, when her magic surged and inadvertently caused him to grow to his adult size. It also explains his somewhat delayed maturation. While there isn’t that much written about dragons, I know that he really ought to have gone through his first molt by now.

So, in the absence of technological development, or a way to copy whatever had happened to Spike all those years ago, sending messages across Equestria was a primitive affair. It certainly wasn’t possible to do things like conference calls here. Any important government meeting, and all the representatives had to travel up to Canterlot. However, a conversation with Twilight showed me another possibility.





“She did what?!” I exclaimed in a blind fury. At that particular moment, the issue of alternative communication methods was the last thing on my mind.

“Now, Blade Star, relax,” Twilight said placatingly. It wasn’t very effective.

“You just told me that that ex-villain pupil of yours switched the cutie marks of the two most powerful ponies in Equestria and turned the government on its head!” I shot back. “Ah’ll relax later, thank you very much!”

“Starlight is going to undo the spell as soon as possible. It’s only for one day, and then their cutie marks can be swapped back.” I snorted in irritation.

Let me back a minute and explain briefly how we got here. Starlight had been summoned by the map to Canterlot. Twilight had suggested she stay in the castle, which Celestia had happily agreed to. Initially, they all assumed the friendship problem would be with one of the city’s many uptight nobles. However, on arrival, Starlight found the two sisters were once again at loggerheads.

Luckily, this time it wasn’t about to turn into a world ending event. For all their power and might, Celestia and Luna are still sisters, and do bicker from time to time. However, this time, they were really getting on each others nerves. Seeing this, Starlight, through a series of decisions I can’t begin to fathom, used her magic to swap their cutie marks around, and even more foolishly, she locked the spell for a day. I’m pretty sure Dad and me hit the roof at the same time. He even wanted to arrest Starlight on the spot for breach of her parole, until Celestia calmed him down.

How did we know all this from the castle in Ponyville you ask? Twilight had come up with quite the clever idea, object possession. It was a pretty complex spell, but it didn’t require too much in the way of magic. In effect, it allowed you to turn an object into a transmitter and receiver. She took inspiration from Chrysalis’ ability to manifest an image of herself in the crystal caves. While the spell was different, the principle was the same. Twilight had used a music box in Starlight’s room. She became the ballerina on it and was able to see and hear through its eyes. It let her talk to Starlight as if she were in the same room.

The whole incident was luckily cleared up without too much trouble. As daft as Starlight’s plan appeared to be, it actually did come good in the end. Celestia and Luna realised why they were so often arguing and gained a fair bit of insight from almost literally walking in each other’s horseshoes. After a minor nightmare incident that Celestia helped defeat, the two were able to swap their marks back over and were all the better for it.

Twilight was actually quite proud of her students’ actions, despite her initial...shall we say terrified panic resulting in hyperventilation? Still, if you ask me, Starlight still needs to learn that not everything can be solved with your horn. Friendship may be magic, but magic is not friendship in and of itself. And you sure as hay can’t use magic to get it.





Anyway, back to my earlier point; quick, long distance communication. After the little crisis was over and done with and Starlight had returned to Ponyville, I found myself fascinated with Twilight’s little gimmick. Okay, in her case, you had to be a ballerina, but the idea was sound enough. Any number of objects could theoretically be turned into the closest thing Equestria had to Skype.

I spent a couple days with the alicorn, trying to learn the spell for myself. As I said, it didn’t require too much in the way of magic. It was certainly well within my capabilities, although it might be a bit too much for your average unicorn (not that I’m tooting my own horn). It took some effort to activate the spell, and a fair bit of concentration to maintain it, but I eventually managed to get it to work.

Well, as I’ve said many times, I’m always looking to improve my repertoire of spells. You never know when you’ll need a stun spell, shield, teleport, or even the ability to split your personality into bits. So I decided to perfect it.

I wasn’t as good as Twilight of course, She could manifest a three dimensional image and fit it into the object. In her case, replacing the ballerina figure with herself. I on the other hoof, could only really do two dimensional images, and without colour. In that sense, I suppose it was a little closer to Skype.

I first tried it at a fairly short range. From Twilight’s castle, I managed to manifest myself on one of the pans hanging in the kitchen back on Sweet Apple Acres. I ended up inadvertently scaring the living daylights out of poor Granny Smith.

Initially, that would have been enough for me. I’d proven that I could do the spell, and I only really needed it for a short range, since I so rarely left Ponyville. However, I remembered that an important date was coming up; Luna’s birthday.

Now, Princess Celestia’s birthday is a heavily celebrated occasion, with plenty of pomp and circumstance. The Royal Guard perform their trooping of the colour for her, representatives from every city in Equestria come to give her a gift, even ambassadors from allied nations come to pay call on her. It’s a bit stressful for her, and she often has a private party with her closest friends and family afterwards.

In contrast, Luna prefers to keep her celebration to a minimum. I suppose once you get past the six hundred mark you start feeling a bit old. Although curiously, neither of the alicorns ever put a number to their birthday, so I’m not entirely sure how old either of them are, besides being over a millenia. Regardless, the night princess doesn’t get the same treatment as her older sister, and nor does she wish it. However, I always make a point of sending her a gift of some sort each year.

I would have liked to go up to Canterlot personally to see her. But, what with the farm and my own responsibilities, it was difficult to do so. And that’s before you think about the train fares; I envy my dad with his royal pass.

This new spell however, gave me something of an opportunity. To quote a good book; ‘If the mountain will not go to Muhammed, Muhammed must go to the mountain’. This object possession spell would allow me to go to Canterlot castle, without ever leaving my room on Sweet Apple Acres. I could go up there in a moment and say hello to Luna, give her birthday wishes and see her get my present. It would be a nice opportunity to talk to her outside of the dreamscape.





So, I set to work. The first thing I needed to do was find a suitable object that I could use to communicate through. Given my somewhat limited ability with the spell, it needed to be something reflective, like a mirror or a pane of glass.

Now, I was sure that there was plenty of such things in Canterlot castle. But there were a couple practical problems. First of all, I didn’t know where Luna would be at any given moment. I certainly didn’t like the idea of manifesting myself in her personal chambers; that struck me as a pretty major violation of protocol and an intrusion into her privacy. But I couldn’t just keep fluttering around every mirror and window in the castle; the guards would throw a right fit.

The other issue related to the spell itself. As with teleportation spells, you need to be able to visualise what you want. So to make myself appear in a single place, I needed an exact image in my mind. Twilight knew the castle like the back of her hoof, and knew exactly where the music box was and what it looked like. But as I haven’t visited the castle in quite some time, I couldn’t do that. As a result, I wouldn’t be able to form the spell properly.

The best alternative then, was to send something up there that I could use. That was where my gift came into play.

I’d gotten Luna a very nice pocket watch you see. It had cost me a fair few bits and was plated with sterling silver. I’d even commissioned Time Turner to inscribe the cover with High Gallifreyan markings. It actually resembled his own fob watch that he used to store his consciousness when the need arose. It even kept track of the phases of the moon. The glass covering the clock face would be ideal for the spell. And as I knew its exact details, I could make it work.

All that remained then was getting it up to Canterlot. And there was one person in my family who was perfectly suited for that job.





“Please, Dad,” I begged, doing my best to mimic Apple Bloom’s pleading face. “Ah just need ya to take it up to Canterlot and hand it to Luna.”

My Dad, who was standing in his front door, looked down at me with a frown. He took the watch that was floating in my magic and examined it for himself. He then passed it back to me and folded his arms.

“So you want me,” he said. “To forgo my normal duties as an officer of the court and advisor to their Celestial Majesties, in order to act as a glorified delivery boy?” I rolled my eyes.

“C’mon, ya know how the post office can be. ‘Specially with Derpy down there. Ah want to be sure that Luna gets my present on time. It’d only take you five minutes.” I put on my best puppy dog eyes. Unfortunately, I don’t think it really works with stallions.

Still, Dad cracked a smile at me and picked up the watch again. Opening the cover, he looked at the delicate instrument.

“Well, before I do,” he replied half seriously. “I think you should at least wind the damn thing and set it to the proper time.” I smiled back at him. Taking the watch in my magic, I quickly set it up and wound it. That would keep it going for at least a full day.

Dad took the small trinket, along with the card that would sit inside the watch and put it in his coat pocket, promising to deliver it to Luna first thing in the morning. After all, he could only do it then, or just before he went home, due to the night princess’ reversed sleep schedule, and he didn’t fancy carrying it around all day just in case. We agreed then that it would be given to Luna at nine o’clock sharp tomorrow.





I headed back to the farm and did one last check with Dad. I ‘called’ the watch using my magic. You needed something to get somepony to open the case, so I’d set up the spell so that it would cause the watch to chime the hour when I wanted to manifest myself in it.

It worked perfectly and I was able to get in touch with Dad. It was a bit of a strange experience. I was sitting in my room with my eyes shut, yet I could see, Dad’s face and a part of his house. Essentially, the watch face became my eyes. So it was as if I was sitting in his hand. The picture quality was hardly HD, but it was clear enough and the sound was clear as a bell. It would be a great surprise for Luna tomorrow.

With my little test concluded, I headed downstairs. Tonight, I was going to cook dinner for everypony. While the Apples’ are staunch traditionalists, I’ve never liked the gender role that mares do the cooking. For Celestia’s sake, Applejack is a better hand on the farm than I am, or even Big Mac. So every now and then, I relieve Granny Smith of her cooking duties and whip up something myself.

Tonight was a vegetarian version of cottage pie, using quorn instead of the beef. It might not be michelin star quality, but it was better than the time I went to a restaurant in York, ordered cottage pie, and found it to be full of lamb. The dosy waiter didn’t seem to understand that that made it shepherd’s pie. Poor sod.

Anyway, my own attempt went down pretty well. I might have slightly overdone grilling the mash, but it didn’t really affect the taste. The quorn, onions, carrots and gravy were all good, and a few peas on the side got you pretty close to your five a day.





The next morning, I was up bright and early as usual. It really has been far too long since I had a proper lie in like I used to. But that’s the price I pay for living and working on a farm. If you ask me though, the rewards far outweigh the costs.

Getting up, I brushed my teeth, sorted out my mane, had a shave (try as I might, I don’t look good with a beard of blue fluff on my snout), and made up my bed. Heading downstairs, I found that everypony except for Apple Bloom was already up and about. Granny Smith had even done breakfast for me.

Taking my usual seat, I chatted with AJ and Big Mac about what we were doing today. We’d spent the last week or so, well, Mac and I had, cutting the grass on some of the fields to start making hay for the winter. I always found that an odd experience. When I was human, my hay fever was always at its worst when the local farms were cutting the grass and doing the hay making (hence the name, I suppose), as it stirred up all the pollen into the atmosphere.

“So me and Mac are on the hay baler then,” I was saying. “How ‘bout you, Applejack? You still working on your pride and joy?”

Applejack was once again planning on entering our produce at the local fair. There was a pretty sizeable cash prize to be won, and given how the vampire fruit bats had cost her her last attempt a couple years back, she was determined to win this time. Her entry had to be one of the largest apples I’ve ever seen, unless you count those dodgy magically modified ones they’ve been working on in Vanhoover. It was actually a little larger than AJ herself.

“Eeyup,” Applejack replied. “It’s almost time to cut it down. Ah reckon that that there prize money is as good as ours this year.”

“Oh fiddlesticks,” Granny Smith replied. “Why, when Ah was just a young whipper snapper, we always used to get a few apples like that. And we didn’t need no modern fangled magically modified crops that run around and eat ponies neither.” We all resisted the urge to burst out laughing.

I’ve tried to reassure her a bunch of times, but Granny Smith is insistent in her belief that using magic to grow crops is evil and will result in terrifying mutant monster plants. Applejack rolled her eyes at her grandmother’s comment, although I know she too doesn’t exactly like the sound of them, although that’s more down to her firm belief that earth pony magic is the best way to grow crops. Me and Mac, not wanting to incur their wrath, just avoid the topic as best we can, along with religion and politics.

Glancing at the clock on the kitchen wall, I realised that Dad would be on the train by now. I decided to do one more test of the watch to make sure the connection was solid. Call it last minute nerves; I wanted my sort of mentor’s gift to be perfect after all.

Finishing my breakfast, I trotted back upstairs to my room, passing a bleary eyed Apple Bloom on the way.

“Come on, AB,” I said encouragingly. “If ya don’t get a move on Big Mac is gonna have all the pancakes again.” That got her into a gallop.

Heading into my room, I sat myself down by the window and looked out toward Canterlot. That glimmering city on the side of a mountain was clearly visible in the clear, early morning sky. Closing my eyes, I concentrated as I activated my magic and set my horn glowing.

It took a few moments, but soon enough, despite my eyes being shut, I found myself looking at the interior of the Friendship Express. A moment later, my Dad’s face appeared.

“Hello there, Bones,” he said, his voice was a little crackly, but no more than you’d expect from a telephone. And of course, the picture was black and white.

“Mornin’, Dad,” I replied. “Ah just wanted to check the connection one last time before you got to Canterlot.”

“Well I can see and hear you just fine,” he said reassuringly. “I’ll get this up to Princess Luna before Tia opens court.” I still can’t believe Celestia lets him call her that. “Just give the watch a call at nine and you should be able to surprise her.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I said. “When ya get back, come by Sweet Apple Acres and Ah’ll give ya some of our reserve cider from last year.”

“Hey, careful with that,” he warned jokingly. “You never know who’s scanning the airwaves.”

With that, he disconnected the call and my vision went black again. Opening my eyes, I found myself still in my room. It was quarter to nine now. Downstairs, I heard the kitchen door go as Apple Bloom left for school. I’d stay up here, give Luna a ring and then head downstairs to make a start on the hay baling with Mac.





Soon enough, the clock in my room struck nine. Dad would now be in court and would have given Luna her present. It would be so nice to see her again. We haven’t really spoken since she found out about FOXDIE several weeks back. I hadn’t run into her in my dreams either as of late. I look up to her in the same way Twilight looks up to Celestia, but is also a dear friend.

Looking up at the great city for a moment, I closed my eyes and once again activated my magic. Effectively, my ‘phone’ was ringing.

Luna didn’t answer right away. In fact, for a moment, I feared she might have put it down somewhere or already have gone to bed. I might have wanted to send her birthday wishes, but i had no desire to interrupt her sleep. For several long moments, my vision remained black. Just as I was about to ring off though, she answered.

My vision cleared, first letting me see the inside of the watch cover, before opening to reveal Luna herself. Her expression was one of curiosity as she peered down at the still chiming watch, her mane still flowing in a non-existent breeze.

“Why in Equestria is this still chiming?” she said to herself as she opened and examined it. I then let myself manifest, and the alicorn let out a squeak of surprise.

“Blade Star?” she exclaimed as she looked at me, or rather, the watch.

“Hello, Luna,” I replied with a smile. “Happy Birthday!”

“What sort of magic is this?” she asked. “How have you put yourself inside this pocket watch?”

“It’s an object possession spell,” I explained. “Twilight used a more complex version of it to talk to Starlight when she last visited you. I modified the spell a little and wove it into your present. We can use it to communicate anywhere, any time.” Luna looked quite impressed.

“A clever design, my little pony,” she said with a smile. “I assume it works both ways?” I nodded.

“Sure. Just give the watch a bit of magic and it should let me know that you want to talk. I can then properly activate the spell.”

“So where are you now then?” she asked.

“In my room on Sweet Apple Acres. Ah was just about to head out to work. And I can see that you’re in the dining hall of the castle.” Luna nodded.

“Yes,” she replied. “Sister and I were just talking with our architects. It is high time the throne room underwent a redesign to reflect my own return. I’ve had to sit on Celestia’s sun themed chair for far too long.” I let out a chuckle.

“Well Ah’m glad to hear that you’re finally gettin’ what you deserve, Princess. Anyway, Ah hope you have a nice birthday today. Ah’ll let ya get to bed.” Luna however, shook her head.

“Nonsense, Blade Star,” she retorted. “It has been far too long since last we spoke. And I am sure dear Applejack can spare you for a little while longer.”





The two of us ended up talking for about half an hour or so. We both caught up on what each other was doing. I told Luna about the various little projects I’d been working on and how things had been going on the farm as we drew on towards autumn, or Fall as ponies insist on calling it. Luna meanwhile, let me into some castle gossip and court intrigue. If you’re not personally involved in it and don’t stand to take a major hit from a scandal, then the politics of Canterlot are like some political comedy. Although at times, Luna can be a real life, equine Frank Underwood. We also talked about how things had been in the dreaming world. She didn’t name names of course, but she did tell me about some of the more interesting dreams she’d come across. I had to laugh when she asked why my little sister was having a nightmare involving a giant marshmallow man.

Before too long though, Luna let out a very un-princess like yawn. It might have been early morning for me, but it was late in the evening for her. She’d been up since five last night. I encouraged her to head off to bed. To be fair, I also needed to get going as well. However, before she closed the watch, she gave me one last piece of information.

“Oh, and Blade Star,” she said, briefly pausing to look around herself for anypony nearby. “I thought you might like to know, I have begun to search for the renegade Chrysalis. My Night Guard are combing all of Equestria for her.” I nodded in understanding.

“Ah’m glad to hear that, Luna. We both know she has to be up to somethin’. A crazy mare like that doesn’t just haul down her colours and roll over. She’ll try somethin’ sooner or later.”

“We shall find her, my friend,” Luna reassured me. “Her army is no more, the changeling race is an ally. She stands alone.”

“She’s still powerful though. Her magic is not too far off an alicorn. And she may be crazy, but she’s not stupid. There’s still so much we don’t know about how changeling magic works. Heck, for all we know she could be making herself a new army.” Luna tried to reassure me.

“Her back is against the wall, Blade Star. She has nowhere to go.” I frowned.

“That’s what worries me, Luna,” I replied. “When Ah was in school studyin’ military history, they told us ‘never back your enemy into a corner’. Then they’ve got nothin’ to lose. Ah’d say that applies to Chrysalis, now that she’s lost her kingdom. She could be capable of anythin’.”

“We shall be on watch for her, my friend,” Luna said, with determination in her voice. “We will find her. Anyway, I shall leave you to your work. Do feel free to call me anytime though.”

“Of course, Luna,” I replied with a slight bow. “Enjoy your gift, and Ah hope ya have a great birthday.”

With that, the alicorn waved goodbye and closed the watch back up. My vision went black, prompting me to open my eyes.





And so, I found myself once again back in my room. Although, technically, I’d never left it. That was the beauty of this form of communication. I could appear somewhere far off, without ever needing to leave Ponyville. I was certainly glad that it had all worked out alright. I made a mental note to thank Dad as well for taking it to her. I chuckled to myself. Perhaps I could take to sending her my own friendship reports every now and then, just like Twilight used to when she was Celestia’s student. Celestia knows I do run into them every now and then. And of course, I could keep her up to date with my other projects if she was interested. I certainly wanted to tell her about my idea of counting off episodes in order to predict the next major threat. But that idea was still not entirely tested.

In any case, a quick glance at the clock told me that I’d been up here chatting quite a bit longer than I intended. A brief five minutes wishing the night princess a happy birthday had turned into a good half hour.

Grabbing my stetson from its hatstand in the corner of my room, I all but galloped down the stairs and rushed out the back door, making for the fields. Poor Big Mac would have been doing the hay baling on his own. Not that he can’t, mind you, but it seemed a bit selfish not to be down there lending a hoof.

I caught up with the red stallion as he was halfway through the first field. He was pulling the mower along behind him, and half of the field had been stripped of its tall grass, replaced by a sea of loose cuttings. A few of the chickens had wandered over from the coop and were happily scratting about in it. Off to the side, the baling machine sat waiting.

“Hey there, Bones,” Mac said as I hurried up, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

“Sorry Ah got held up, Mac,” I apologised as I hooked myself up to the machine. It was sort of like a Mississippi style paddle steamer, with a large wheel at the back that collected the loose cuttings and helped form them into bales, before pushing them out from the back.

“It’s alright,” Mac replied drolly. “Let me get a head start. Now we won’t be nippin’ at each other’s heels.”

I soon set to work, following in the bigger stallion’s wake. Before too long the field was dotted with large, cylindrical bales of hay, and the two of us had a fair chunk of it stuck in our manes. This would help feed the sheep and cattle when the winter wore on. I’d been chatting with Lizzie a while back, and she’d warned me that the plan called for quite a harsh winter this year. So we were taking care to get as much as we could. I was just glad the patrol had given us a good run of hot, clear days. You need the hay to be dry as brush in order to bale it.

When lunch time rolled around, we’d finished the first field. The place was now clear of long grass and looked more like a well manicured lawn, albeit one dotted with pony sized bales at regular intervals. After lunch, Mac and me covered them all up to keep the wild birds off them and began to cart them into the barn.

It was a long, hot day, and I was glad when the sun finally set and the moon rose into the cool evening sky. As everypony else went inside for dinner, I found myself looking up at Equestria’s only satellite.

“Happy birthday, Luna,” I said, smiling up at the glowing orb.

And with that, I went inside.