"Two whole days to get to Stalliongrad?"
Marble waved her fins in a shrug. "Possibly three, depending on the railroad routing."
"I'm almost missing Blueblood already. Welp - if it's going to take that long anyway, then I might as well take the time to run some errands in town before we leave."
"You can take all day, if you like - our reservation to get Fancy Pants' carriage taken along isn't until ten o'clock tonight."
"Hm... that's starting to push the time before somepony new can be sent from Canterlot after us - but if that's what we've got to work with, then we'll just have to work with it. The question is, what shall the work actually be? I suppose the most relevant rule-of-thumb - that's an expression from dragons, and other species with hands - is to try to plan as pessimistically as possible, and work from there. I suppose the worst-case scenario would be, say, we all get blown up in our train carriage at ten, or kidnapped to be tortured for information, or something of that sort. So the first priority is to make arrangements in case these are the last few hours we have to do anything good."
"Hello, Mayor Mare. I'm pleased you were able to see me on such short notice."
"I'm always happy to talk with anypony who helped protect so many of my constituents."
"I'm here for two main things. One, is somewhat personal. I'm updating my will, but I don't have the time to seek out a notary and all that; so I'm hoping that you can expedite getting it registered, filed, and so forth."
"I believe I can help with that. I hope it's not due to anything serious."
"Let's just say that I've found myself in the political deep end, and want to keep my bases covered. As you can see, I'm basically leaving everything to Cheerilee - so if you see any paperwork saying that somepony else is supposed to get anything, you'll know that something is up."
"Do you really think that's something that might happen?"
"If I didn't, why would I bring it up?"
"I... see. You said there was something else?"
"That's right. I understand there have been some issues with the diamond dog pack."
"You could say that. They've-"
"Please, hold that thought a moment. I've sent Amethyst to the pack Alpha with a similar message. If the two of you really want peace - not just to get the best possible outcome from every difference, but actual peace - then I'm strongly recommending that the two of you meet with me this afternoon. I will give each of you the opportunity to explain why I should not declare the other side to be in the right in every point. When the two of you are finished, then I will send a letter to the Princesses stating my decision... and, if you and the diamond dogs have any further disputes you cannot resolve yourselves, and I happen to be unavailable, I'll be appointing them to establish, and enforce, interim decisions until my return. I recommend that you find some way to find answers without involving me or them - if whatever problems you have turn out to be something the two of you should have been able to resolve yourselves, then I may become annoyed enough to rule against both of you."
"Wait - can you even do that?"
"There are plenty of orphans and disadvantaged ponies, cows, diamond dogs, griffons, and other folk whose lives would be improved with the moneys from whatever fines I can think of. What I'm actually hoping for is that the threat of both of you losing any benefit at all will be enough incentive for both of you to figure out solutions that don't need me to get involved at all. Since I've only got a few hours to try to fix this - the heavy-handed approach might not make you very happy with me, but it just might cut through whatever's been keeping the peace from going forward. If you really do need me to do something you can't by yourselves - then I'll be seeing you this afternoon."
"Hello, Big Mac."
"'Lo, Missy."
"Applejack and the others back yet?"
"Mmnope."
"I see the barn's back in one piece."
"Mmyep."
"Had any problems with the Dairy backup site under it?"
"Mmnope."
"Government subsidies for the shelter come in okay?"
"Mmyep."
"I've got to go away for a while. But I've got a message I'd like Applejack to get, one way or another. I've got it written down here, so you can give it to her. I can also just tell you, if you think you'll remember it until she's back."
"Mmokay."
"The message is: Remember when you told your friend to let go? Never lose hope.. Got it?"
"Mmyep."
"Hello, Mrs. Cake. Pinkie Pie's not back yet, is she?"
"No, dear."
"I didn't think so - so I've got a message here, I'm hoping you can give to her. You can read it, if you like, if you think you might lose track of the paper."
"Certainly, dear. Let's see. Remember when you giggled at the ghosties? Don't forget how many flavors of special balloons Davenport sells. Well - that's certainly, um, random."
"It seemed the most likely way to get her attention."
"Hi, Sweetie Belle!"
"Hiya, Missus Missy!"
"I've got an envelope I'd like to give to your sister - do you know where I can put it, to be sure she'd get it?"
"I can give it to her for you! What's in it?"
"Some color swatches - see? Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet."
"Neat - just like a rainbow! What're they for?"
"Ssh - it's a secret. Say, do you know where Scootaloo is?"
"I'll be honest, Scootaloo - that cast just isn't your color."
"Mrfl."
"I'm sure you'll be feeling better in no time. In the meantime - I've got this set of books, the first seven in the Daring Do series, that I thought Rainbow Dash might like - but I'm thinking that since she's not here, you might be able to get more good out of them than if I just mailed them to her. I can ask the nurses to read them to you - if I do, do you think you could give them to Rainbow for me, when you're done with them?"
"Mrfl!"
"Hello, Aloe, hello, Lotus. I'm here to pick up a new traveling kit - for myself, a diamond dog, a sea pony, and a couple each of pegasi and unicorns."
"A sea pony?"
"A unicorn permanently affected by poison joke. Also - I was wondering if you could, discreetly, slip this to Fluttershy the next time she comes to see you. It's a photograph - no, not that sort, but it is sensitive, in its own way..."
"Spike!"
"Missy!"
"Think fast!"
"Hey, a sapphire, neat!"
"Thought you'd enjoy it."
"Did you figure out how to get those Daring Do books to Rainbow Dash?"
"I think so - I lent them to Scootaloo while she's recovering."
"That was nice of you."
"Thanks. Say, I've got a letter here for Twilight - can I leave it with you?"
"Sure! What's it about?"
"Read it if you like - that way, if it gets lost, you can still tell her yourself."
"Okay, lemme see... You once lit a spark, and discovered carbon. I've just isolated nitrogen. Aw, man, chemistry? Sounds like homework."
"Could be worse - I could have given her a message full of math and equations."
I puffed as I sat down next to Red. "You know, I never really thought about how much work it actually takes to set up a decent quest riddle. I think I'm going to be a lot less willing to suspend my disbelief when some story character goes from person to person to collect fragments of clues, that nopony actually had enough time to put in place in the first place. So, how was your morning?"
"Sounds like a lot more boring than yours. Flew over to Zecora's, dropped off the parcel, came back. Not even a single timber wolf in sight."
"Cherish the boredom while it lasts."
We munched on some flower sandwiches. After a few bites, she asked me, "Do you think they'll solve that riddle-thing of yours?"
"Frankly, I'll be surprised if they even get any of the clues."
"You're losing me. Again."
"Ah. Well - we've got a mysterious enemy, who wants to hunt me, or us, down, and get rid of us, right?"
"Right."
"So they know, by now, that I know they exist, and that they're after me, right?"
"Losing a bit of altitude, but still with you."
"So they're probably guessing that I'm getting ready to defend myself against them - or making other preparations with them in mind."
"Holding steady."
"So I just spend the whole morning running around Ponyville, sending mysterious messages to some of the town's most famous residents - and which, if those messages happen to be intercepted, are clues that, put together, seem to be pointing toward something. Given how much of my limited time I spent on that, it's obviously got to be something important, right? Something that I think has some chance of helping me against them. Something that, if I think that, might actually be dangerous to them. And thus, something that they can't afford not to follow up on. Maybe they'll steal the messages - or if they can't figure them out, keep an eye on whoever reads them, to see if they can solve it."
"So what is it?"
"Hm? Oh, it doesn't really matter."
"What? It's all a fake?"
"On the contrary - it's very real. It's just not relevant, at least as far as I know. I sent the important messages by registered mail as soon as the post office opened."