//------------------------------//
// — Chapter Eleven — 
// Story: Finding Friendship 
// by Kamen-Zero 
//------------------------------//


--- An Irrefutable Request ---


This day in Ponyville had started out as most others had. The sun rose above the small town and heralded in the new dawn, the citizens once more stirring from their slumber to begin the daily grind. And now, Twilight Sparkle was no exception to the village's collective routine. She got up like everyone else, went to work, ran her errands, and returned home to start the whole process over again. Day in and day out, the most variety coming in the form of the different interactions had between her and the various townsfolk. Namely Pinkie Pie and the social circle she was trying to get Twilight to join. And in all honesty, after living the life of a vagrant for so long, the consistency was a refreshing change of pace. Not having to worry about food or shelter every night, having a consistent schedule, not being in immediate danger of being eaten by some horrific beast, it was relaxing.

At least, it was relaxing until last night. 

The visions of her encounter with the enigmatic Mare in the Moon were ever-present in her thoughts. Even more so the sounds of Spike's whimpering crying from his own nightmares, that horrific sound still ringing in the alicorn's ears. It had felt like hours before she was able to get him to calm down long enough to go to sleep, and even then he utterly refused to sleep alone. It was sheer coincidence that Fluttershy had agreed to watch Spike on this day, partly out of wishing to help and partly out of finally unbinding his leg. If that hadn't been the plan they had agreed upon, there was absolutely no way Twilight would have come into work today. The last thing he needed right now was to be alone.

But right now she had to focus on her work. And today, that work involved helping out at the Ponyville schoolhouse.

Ponyville's local school, simply dubbed Ponyville Elementary, was the prime example of a typical Equestrian educational facility. Large enough to accommodate for all the children in Ponyville, more or less depending on the exact year, the establishment specialized in the basic academic necessities. Reading, writing, mathematics, history, social studies, music, physical education, basic magic classes for unicorns, and basic flight classes for pegasi. 

Ponyville Elementary, in spite of its rather bland name, also had accommodations to act as a daycare center for the exceptionally young, and had higher educational proceedings for those who were past the elementary stage. Granted these three factions were technically held in separate buildings, but they were all within the same fenced-off patch of land and faculty from any were viable to migrate to the others if the need should arise. 

Which is a situation eerily similar to the one Twilight found herself in today. As an employee of the Golden Oak's library, Twilight was also technically part of the educational department. Meaning she was viable to be asked to help out at the school should the need arise. And today the need had arisen. 

"—And then you carry the six," Twilight concluded as she returned the pencil to the filly, "So the answer must be..." She trailed off, hoping the younger pony would pick up on the hint.

The young unicorn sat there for a moment, puzzled at the question even after the assistance she had received. "Umm... eleven?"

"That's right!"

"Yes!" The young unicorn quickly jotted down the answer as she celebrated her achievement, even if Twilight had helped her a great deal.

"Alright, now try the next one on your own. It's the same basic idea, just different numbers."

"Okay then. Thanks, Twilight!" The filly scooped up her assignment and returned to her desk with a smile, leaving Twilight once more alone at the small table she had been stationed at. Today was the day that this particular batch of students was being introduced to long division, hence why the disguised alicorn had been requested to help out as something akin to a teacher's assistant. And it had been a busy day, that filly being the most recent in a long series of students who had been having trouble with the new material.

In fact, Twilight had gotten more requests for help than the actual teacher herself. Not that the teacher wasn't knowledgable about the subject matter, she wouldn't be a teacher if she couldn't teach, but Twilight just seemed to be better at getting the message across to the young crowd then she was. Which was without question due to her past experiences with Spike. When you can teach a dragon how to use a toilet, you can effectively teach anyone to do anything. The only difference between these ponies and Spike, aside from age and species, was that she couldn't reward correct answers with peppers.

The sudden and prominent chime of the school's belltower prompted a powerful reaction from the student body. Much more rambunctious and rowdy uprising than when the other classes had been dismissed. They were far more eager and enthusiastic then the other children had been for whatever reason, their motivation becoming clear to Twilight as the teacher called out over the sudden commotion.

"I'll see you all tomorrow, and remember to study! There will be a test at the end of the week!"

That made sense, the young minds were eager for a chance to catch their breaths, and frankly so was Twilight. Time really does fly when one keeps busy, it seems, and now Twilight had a bit of time to herself. And realizing that, the young alicorn began to tidy up the workspace she had been given use of. 

"Excuse me, Miss Sparkle?" The teacher, Cheerilee, asked out of nowhere, forcefully snapping Twilight back to relatively. The older, dark magenta mare offered her a kind and impressed smile before continuing. "Thank you so much for your help thus far. If I may say, you're quite the natural when it comes to teaching. And the kids are actually understanding the material in record time thanks to you. I'm impressed!"

"Oh... well, I've had some tutoring experience in the past," Twilight explained with a slight chuckle. "I was... asked to help out a lot back in my school days."

"Well, you've certainly got a knack for this. If you ever decide to go full time, I'd be willing to put in a good word for you!" The teacher's smile only grew as she began to leave the room ahead of Twilight. 

Career options. Not bad, Sparkle, the alicorn congratulated of herself as she continued her self appointed cleaning task. It wasn't an option that she had any plans of taking, but the thought that the professional educator had put in to the offer was a nice sentiment at the very least. But Spike was due for another checkup with the shy nurse in another couple of days, and hopefully, he has made a full recovery from his bite wound. After that, there wouldn't be much reason to stay in Ponyville outside of simple leisure. 

Currently, the agreed-upon plan with the long dragon was to stay until after the Summer Sun Celebration towards the end of June. Just to give them enough time to fully recover from their weary travels, and to build up their savings to a comfortable level. Besides, resuming their voyage at the beginning of the new year just felt right, new beginnings and all of that. 

Maybe by then, I'll have burned up all this bad luck, she chuckled to herself, thinking back on the encounters with the dragon and the timberwolves. The mistakes Twilight had made leading up to those incidents still burned at the back of her head, taunting the alicorn with her own failures and shortcomings. But these were not thoughts to have right now, and Twilight didn't want to be worrying about that at the moment. But as she returned her attention to the classroom's only exit, Twilight found herself trapped by three fillies.

Three fillies that she had been acquainted with over the day so far in the various class periods Twilight had been helping in today. Apple Bloom—the yellow-ish earth pony with a bright red mane and a brighter red bow that was almost larger than her head. Sweetie Belle—the white and pink unicorn who was evidently Rarity's sister. And finally Scootaloo—an orange and dark purple pegasus who for one reason or another gave Twilight the strangest sense of déjà vu. Though for the life of her, she couldn't put her hoof on it. Each of them had their saddlebags worn and ready as if to take their trips home, seemingly waiting for the cloaked pony.

But Twilight knew the trio for a different reason. When she had arrived at the school, she had received a warning that these three were something of a group of troublemakers. They weren't exactly "bad kids," but on the occasion when an incident did occur, they were usually involved in some form or fashion—malicious intent or not. She had also been reassured that these incidents were few and far between, but it was better for her to be aware. For her own safety, the teacher who had warned her explained. 

"Howdy, Twilight," Apple Bloom spoke up first, her country accent still as prevalent as ever.

"How's it hanging, teach?" Scootaloo added with an upward jut of her chin. The gesture reminded Twilight still of something, but she wrote it off as perhaps having seen it before. It wasn't exactly an uncommon gesture, after all.

"Oh... Hello, you three," Twilight muttered back, "How can I help you?"

"If you're not busy, would you mind helping us out with something?" Sweetie Belle's horn ignited with green light, a book removing itself from the confines of one of her bags before being offered to Twilight. "It's really important!"

Taking the book in her own grip, Twilight was privy to the sight of a very particular book. It was from a series of children's history books that detailed the kinds of tools and weapons that had been used by Equestria during its two greatest wars—The Great Shadow War, and the Equestrian/Searăn War. This volume in the set was all about various siege weapons that had been invented in that time period. Though, of course, the book didn't answer the question of what the three ponies wanted Twilight to help them with. And thus, the obvious question came to be.

"What exactly are you asking me to help you with?"

"School project." ~ "It's a secret." ~ "Nothing illegal." 

The three fillies answered simultaneously without a moment's hesitation. Scootaloo's answer, in particular, caught Twilight's attention—and the attention of her two friends. The three comrades withdrew from the conversation with the librarian for a moment to huddle and talk amongst themselves. Based on the intensity in which they were whispering, it was very heated and very quick. Before Twilight could make out any specifics, the three fillies returned their attention to her with bright happy expressions. 

"We are working on a school project," Sweetie Belle explained as she withdrew another item from her bag, this time a piece of paper clearly outlining a school assignment. "We're supposed to build a simple machine to demonstrate to the class."

"But we wanna do something cool," Apple Bloom added as if she were trying to sell a product, "Then we found this book at the library and decided we wanted to build."

"So we're building a trebuchet," Scootaloo concluded. The confident look on her face was suddenly overcome by a brief and unsubtle flash of panic. "A model trebuchet. Small enough to fit on a desk. So it isn't illegal." The breach of the facade earned the young pegasus a swift and subtle kick from Sweetie Belle, who's expression remained the same while in the act. And after getting over the brief moment of pain, Scootaloo's expression returned to the same innocent smile that the others had.

You three are terrible liers, Twilight observed as she overlooked the document. As the three had claimed, it was indeed a school assignment. The students were to construct a working miniature machine with some functional purpose by the end of the week. Everything else looked to be in order, from the teacher's signature to a small list of basic suggestions to get the mind flowing. 

"Wait a second... this says it has to have a functional purpose," Twilight pointed out, showing the three students what she was talking about. "What possible function could a tiny trebuchet have?"

"Have you ever wanted to throw something away," Sctootaloo pointed towards the trash bin on the other side of the room, "But the trash can was all the way over there?" 

Twilight didn't honestly know what to expect for an answer. In fact, she wasn't sure she was expecting an answer at all. But there it was, presented to her plain as day just as she had requested. The entire scenario seemed a bit sketchy, to say the absolute least. These three clearly had ulterior motivations outside of the school assignment, Scootaloo's testimony alone was enough to poke a few holes in their case. But at the same time, they were asking for help on a school project. And Twilight couldn't just turn a blind eye to three eager young minds who wanted to pass an assignment. 

Even if they were clearly up to something.

But what harm could a model trebuchet actually cause?

"Are you three free after school?"

"Heck yeah, we are!" Apple Bloom answered swiftly, two enthusiastic nods following from her comrades. 

"Alright then. Meet me at Golden Oak's, we'll see what we can do then."


--- — ---


The rest of the school day seemed to fly by like nothing after that. Twilight continued to help out in that particular math class, making sure that each student who asked got enough help to at least figure out the basic processes of what was being taught. It wasn't all that bad if the alicorn were being honest, it was just time-consuming. But now the school day was over and Twilight was allowed to return to her actual place of employment. 

Warm sunlight fell upon her hard and fast as she stepped back into the outside world, a familiar sensation that brought a multitude of good memories to surface. Of course, she didn't have time to bask in those memories at the moment, she had a prior arrangement to fulfill. And it seemed that the three excitable fillies were eager to keep the alicorn to her word, for just as they had done earlier in the day the trio had tracked down and cornered Twilight at their earliest possible convenience. And the purple pony in question wasn't sure if she should have been impressed by their eagerness to complete their assignment or worried about the intensity in which they were pushing.

But it did give Twilight an experience that would one day become a funny story to tell. As the group exited the school in destination for the library, the trio of young ponies had Twilight surrounded on all sides in a triangular formation. Her own little entourage escorting her back to her place of employment. Twilight found it adorable, and that was likely helped by the fact that they weren't even aware of what their actions implied.

Or maybe they were just trying to make sure that she didn't ditch them. That was probably the more likely answer, all things considered.

Regardless, onward they marched through Ponyville, taking the most direct route to Golden Oak's: through the marketplace. Bustling and lively as ever, the congregation went widely unnoticed by the masses as they all went about their business. Though while Twilight and co weren't enough to draw the attention of one of the merchants, the alicorn seeing the pony's sudden and worried approach just out of the corner of her eye.

Standing at almost a whole head taller than Twilight—a whole head taller if you counted her well-worn stetson hat sitting atop her dirty blonde mane—was the earthy-orange earth pony. She didn't only just have a height advantage over Twilight, either, she also had the physical physique of a pony who had been working her entire life. And given that she had just bolted out of the apple stand, saying she was a farmer of some description was a safe bet. And as Twilight turned her head to fully see the approaching farmer, she saw two emerald green eyes filled to the brim with haste, anxiety, and the smallest twinge of anger. 

"Apple Bloom, what'd we tell you about kidnappin'?!" The interloper scolded, aiming her ire at the younger earth pony who had been leading the caravan. She stood her ground before the younger pony, bringing the group to a swift halt. The younger two ponies passing Twilight to join their friend in the confrontation with this new arrival.

"Okay, first of all, we weren't kidnapping them," Applebloom defended with a dismissive wave of her hoof, "And second, we aren't kidnapping her."

Has this happened before? Twilight asked, suddenly regretting the choices she had made that led her into this situation.

"Yeah, we were going to the library to work on our project! Honest!" Sweetie Belle added to further their argument.

"Which isn't illegal," Scootaloo also mentioned, earning her another subtle kick, this time from Apple Bloom. "What? It isn't!"

Still uncertain, Applejack looked up to Twilight with a raised brow in search of answers. "This true?"

"I don't see why it wouldn't be, but I was asked to help them with an assignment," Twilight rebutted with a raised brow of her own.

"Hmm... alright then." The farmer didn't exactly sound convinced, evidently just as suspicious of the three fillies as Twilight had been. But she was satisfied enough to let them on their way, the three fillies rushing by the moment the path had been cleared without a care in the world. Though as Twilight went to follow them, she found herself being stopped by the orange mare once again.  "Hey... do I know you from somewhere? You seem familiar..."

The cloaked pony smiled for the first time in this whole conversation. "Ten bits says it's because of Pinkie Pie."

Sudden realization washed over Applejack like a wave, "Oh! You're the adventurer pony!"

That smile was quick to turn into a deadpan grimace. "... Traveler. I'm a traveler."

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you! Always good to meet one of Pinkie's pals," Applejack beamed, "Last I heard, you were looking for a job. Guess ya found one at the school, huh?"

"If we're being specific, I work at the library, they just had me help out at the..." Twilight began to explain, but she found herself trailing off to a stop when she caught sight of Applejack's reaction. The farm pony had gone pale in the brief period of time Twilight had been talking, wide dilated eyes locked firmly on the cloaked pony standing before her. Her mouth was left slightly ajar, stuck in a perpetual silent gasp. There was something else behind the surprise and shock, something bitter. Something angry. 

"Are... you alright?"

"Y-yeah... I'm fine." Applejack was quick to shake herself out of her stooper, though a look of obvious worry was still plastered on her face. "But, uh... be careful around Ol' man Onwud..."

This got Twilight's full and immediate attention. "Why's that?"

"Twilight!" Apple Bloom interrupted at the worst possible time, running back up with her friends. "Where'd ya go? I thought you were gonna help us!"

"I'll tell you later," Applejack answered, returning to the currently abandoned stall she had left behind, and leaving the young alicorn with a number of questions burning to be answered. Though there was no way that they'd be answered right now, not with Applejack returning to her job and with three anxious fillies tugging at Twilight's cloak to get her to hurry up. The only thing to be done was to just go on ahead and fulfill the promise she had made earlier this day. Two weeks had already passed and Twilight had yet to notice anything odd of the sarosian thus far, who knows? Maybe it was nothing at all. 

But what if there is something wrong? She mused for but a moment. After all, this hadn't been the first time someone had reacted this way after learning of her employer.