//------------------------------// // 4 - Befriending // Story: Spilled Ink // by Fiddlove Enfemme //------------------------------// Outside, the sun had begun to peek out of the clouds and brightened up the atmosphere considerably. The streets had quieted down from earlier, and the crowd had dwindled to a trickle of people going this way and that. If I had to guess, it was just approaching noon. Could probably have done with a spot of lunch, but I still didn't have any cash. It didn't matter; there was a surprising amount of food you could scrounge without paying scratch. Foraging for plants and berries worked if you were in a rural area, but the scraps left in trash bins were easy pickings for someone down on their luck. Grocery stores and restaurants were your best bets, as leftovers and expired goods would just be throw out. I'd cross that bridge when I came to it. Maybe I'd luck out, and sneak into some public function that was offering food. A sandwich foolishly left unattended. It wasn't honest, but in the face of survival virtues would fall to the wayside. The fog on my mind didn't provide any answers, but I had a gut feeling that I had experience with it. The kind of experience that never truly leaves you. Oddly enough making a friend didn't seem as easy as Starlight had made it seem. I walked, and I walked, and I walked some more, making my way through the winding cobbled streets, but there weren't any opportunities that presented themselves. There were ponies all over on errands, in their little cliques, laughing and making jokes. I didn't really feel comfortable just butting in, so I walked onward. At a certain point I didn't feel like walking anymore, so I sat myself down on a public bench across from a bakery. Maybe I needed a plan. It seemed very weird to need a plan for making a friend, but planning helped me get my thoughts in order. Usually, a good friendship has a foundation on a shared experience or interest. Thusly, a friendship could develop out of any situation or event. All it took was striking up a conversation at the right time. But when? There was any number of opportunities, I just needed to get out there and-- "What'ch ya doin?" came a mare's voice from above me. I looked up, and was greeted by a pink pony with an even pinker shock of curly hair. She was looking down at me from the roof of the building behind me with a quizzical expression. "Hi. I'm new in town, and I'm trying to make friends but it's not really working out for me right now." I said. "Oooooo, I can be your friend! I'm a friend to everypony!" the pink mare cheerfully said. "Well, that 's convenient," I commented. "I thought there'd be at least a few awkward conversations before that point." The pink mare leapt from the thatched roof of the building behind me and landed with a flourish. "Then we can have as many awkward conversations as you want, starting NOW!" she proclaimed, stomping for emphasis. I was sort of a loss for words. This mare was offering me her friendship without a second thought. Maybe Starlight was right. "Sooo..?" I began off. "How about checkers? Chess? Dragon Pit? Twenty questions? Trainspotting? Go-Fish?" the mare suggested as she produced a checkerboard, a chessboard complete with all the pieces, a box with a large volcano-like structure sticking out of it, a sheet of lined paper, a set of binoculars, and finally a deck of cards. I shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe we could just sit around and chat about life? Get to know eachother before we go off doing something crazy." "Oh. Not even a game of Corn Hole?" she suggested. "Maybe Corn Hole," I relented. I was distracted by the sound of my stomach growling at me. "Know anywhere good for lunch?" "Do I? It's just a hop, skip, and a jump away!" she happily said. "Before we get too far and I have to ask an awkward question at a bad time, what's your name?" "Everypony calls me Pinkie Pie, but my really really really close friends call me Pinkie. Nobody calls me just "Pie", that sounds too formal, and calling me "P.P." is right out! Sometimes when I write my name really fast it looks like Ponka Po!" Pinkie Pie replied as she hopped, skipped, and jumped across the street to the bakery I'd been facing. I got up to follow her, but it honestly wasn't very far to go. Pinkie reared up her hind legs and held up her front hooves like she was holding some sort of microphone. "Come and visit the one and only Sugarcube Corner! Owned and operated by the lovely Mr. and Mrs. Cake, Sugarcube Corner offers a wide variety of cakes, pastries, ice creams, candies, and just about any desert you can imagine! What do you say, ah, Mister..?" "Ink Blot. My name's ink Blot." I supplied. She just absolutely beamed as she waved me inside. "Well come on in, Ink Blot!" The exterior of Sugarcube Corner much resembled the buildings around it, with one key design difference; the building looked like it was made of candy. The walls looked like milk and white chocolate, the windows resembled tinted sugar glass, the roof appeared much like layered disks of ginger cookies, and the highlights on the roof looked like piped icing. The back of the building had a tower that resembled one of those large layered cakes, with a smaller cupcake perched at the very top. A few patio tables were scattered around, with stools and chairs aplenty. The interior of Sugarcube Corner remained consistent with the exterior aesthetic, but it wasn't quite so visually overwhelming. It was nicely laid out, with booth seating along the walls and some tables arranged through the centre of the space. At one end there was a counter with a large display case, inside which there was a stunning variety of baked goods. A yellow stallion wearing a baker's hat and apron was tending the counter. There were two ponies already in line, and a half-dozen of the tables were occupied. "Nice enough place. How's the food?" I asked Pinkie. "Absolutely delici-nominal! I should know, I work here." she said with pride. I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Delici-nominal, eh? Guess I've got no choice but to try it. As we waited in line the cotton-candy mare could barely contain her excitement, even though I could tell she was trying really hard. Instead of talking on and on like I suspect she wanted to, she was bouncing up and down on the spot. She reminded me of a puppy, somehow. A bright pink puppy, but a puppy nonetheless. In a few moments the pony at the front of the line had received their food and trotted off. "Come on, look at all the yummy sweets!" Pinkie burst out, half-encouraging half-pushing me over to the display counter. Was it a cop-out to say it all looked delicious? Phenominal? Delici-nominal? There were eclairs, there were cinnamon rolls, there were pies, there were croissants, there were donuts and doughnuts, there were cupcakes galore, and most impressively there was a veritable rainbow of macarons. There was only one problem. I didn't have any money, and some of these looked rather pricey. "Um, Pinkie..?" I began. "What's the matter?" "It's a little embarrassing to say," I continued. "But I don't have any money on me right now. I can't get anything." "Oh, don't let that worry a little hair on your little head, you silly! I can cover you, and then you can pay me back later." Pinkie offered. I considered it for a moment. "I dunno, I don't want to be in debt to anybody. Least of all to someone I only met today." "If it's really a problem what we can do is set up a tab for you behind the counter. Get anything you want and pay when you can! Just don't try and skip town without paying~!" "That's very kind of you, Pinkie," I accepted gratefully. "Only, corporate debt scares me more than personal debt, so I'll be fine with you covering me." She smirked and gave me a playful bop on the nose. "Go ahead and pick out whatever you like, I won't judge." So I did. I chose one of those croissants that had the chocolate baked into them. Pinkie, true to her word, paid for it without question. She herself produced a tray of cupcakes from seemingly nowhere, and lead me over to the corner booth. It was a window seat, and we could look out into the street as ponies went about their day without any worry. "So whaddaya want to start chatting about, Inky?" Pinkie asked. "Inky?" I frowned. She shrugged sheepishly. "Ink Blot for short could just be Ink, and Inky is a more fun way of saying Ink, ya know? I like giving everyone nicknames." "Nicknames can be easier to remember, sometimes," I commented. "I'm not always good with names. You could introduce me to someone at the beginning of the day and I might not remember their name by the end of the day. Makes it a bit awkward when you end up asking them a week later what their name is." "I never had any problems with names. I know absolutely everypony and everycreature in town! I have to, otherwise I can't throw so many awesome parties!" she said. "You throw a lot of parties?" "I sure do! Birthdays, cute-ceañeras, weddings, anniversarys, holidays, even funerals. But I don't like the funerals as much. Being dead kind of puts a damper on all the fun, makes it harder to get everypony to laugh and smile." I laughed at her last remark. "Yeah, death kinda sucks. You seem pretty committed to parties. What's your drive for it?" "When I was just a filly, I saw the most amazing, breathtaking sonic rainboom while I was working on my family's rock farm. It. Changed. My. Life! As soon as I saw it I knew what I wanted to do; bring joy and happiness and make people smile just like I did when I saw the rainboom. Sooooooo, I threw a party for my family and they smiled for the first time in their lives! I traveled around throwing as many parties as I could, so everypony could smile and be happy! When I got older I moved to Ponyville, started working for Mr. and Mrs. Cake and rented their upstairs room. Then one day Twilight Sparkle moved to town, and on the same day Nightmare Moon escaped and a bunch of us went to go stop her from bringing Eternal Darkness and banishing the Sun from the sky, then it turned out all of us were the Elements of Harmony, then we went to the Grand Galloping Gala, Discord escaped but we turned him back to stone, there was a Wedding--" "That's a lot of stuff to tell me for the first time we've ever met," I cut her off with a chuckle. "I'm probably going to be around town for a while, and you'll be able to tell me as many stories as you want. Let's focus on getting to know the easy stuff, first." "Okie-dokie, Loki Bloke-y. What brings you to Ponyville, anywho?" Pinkie asked. I sighed, but if I was going to make friends I'd need to be open. But not so open that my entire life story got leaked to the local rumour mill. Not that there was much of a life story, but the last thing I needed was to become a freak-show attraction. And I hated rumours. They tended to get out of control. "It's a bit of a weird story, and I'm not 100% comfortable with sharing it yet. Can I trust you to use discretion in who you share it with?" I carefully asked. "I can do a Pinkie Promise. I only use that for super-important things, except for that one time but I don't count that one time." she said. "So I can trust you?" "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." she replied, actually sticking one of her cupcakes in her eye before eating it. I guess she was pretty serious. "I woke up in the woods two days ago without my memory and I'm trying to figure out how to get it back. Basically the going theory is if I can make emotional connections to my memories it'll bring them back, and the best way to make the emotional connections is go out and make friends." I explained quickly. Somehow I had the feeling that I'd need to explain this to a lot of people before I actually got any memories back. Pinkie held up her last cupcake and inspected it before offering it to me. "You're gonna need this more than I will. Oooo, if you want I could keep an eye out for anypony looking for new friends and send them your way!" "As long as it's not the eye you just stuck a cupcake into." I smirked, and graciously accepted her offering. Just then, a clock on the wall chimed 2 o'clock. "Oh no, I almost forgot! I've got a party in... 5 minutes!" Pinkie exclaimed. "It was nice meeting you, I suppose I'll be seeing you around?" I asked as she quickly excused herself. "Yep, make sure to come to the Festival next week too. I'm organizing the party for it!" she said excitedly. She placed a flier on the table and ran out the door faster than I thought reasonably possible. I stayed long enough to finish the cupcake she'd given me, and went back outside to resume my search for friendship. Now I had one more friend. Maybe it was the cupcake, maybe it was the renewed confidence due to my success, but I felt different when I stepped out into the street. All I had to do was follow Pinkie Pie's example and put myself out there, to be bold. Strike up a conversation with a stranger and see where it lead me. But just approaching any old bloke on the street would get me some odd looks. What I needed to do instead was put myself in a position to participate in a discussion or offer help to someone who needed it. So, I started walking down the streets again. For a moment, I thought I'd just wander forever like earlier, but then I heard a bit of music in the distance. Someone, somewhere, was playing the piano. And... I recognised what was being played! There was only one thing to do. Find the source of the music. I listened to the sound very carefully. It lead me to the east, past the town hall, and down a shady-looking side street. The houses here looked more dilapidated than the rest of town, and in a few places there were suspicious looking stains, but nobody challenged me or came at me with a weapon or even poured out their insecurities at my feet. At the end of the sidestreet, there was a ramshackle building with a sign reading Ponyville Speakeasy. In other words it was the local pub. The door was propped open with a chair, and a rather large fellow with a leather jacket and a slicked back magenta mane was posted outside the door. The building itself seemed old, with haphazard modifications here and there. Regardless, it wasn't rundown like you'd expect. Someone clearly took pride in running their business. but most importantly, the music was coming from inside. "Name?" challenged the greaser. "Ink Blot. Is there some sort of list?" I asked. "Yeah, it's a list of troublemakers. Don't cause trouble or you'll be on the list." he said. "Is it a big list?" "No." he said. "Thanks. I'll keep off that list for you." I replied as I entered the Speakeasy. The greaser nodded at me enigmatically. I had to admit, it was rather homely. The main room had a wide layout, with three different levels of seating. There was a row of stools in front of the bar, a raised platform to the left with a window and probably a dozen chairs, and to the right a spiral staircase which went up into a sort of loft area. Under the loft was more seating space, though it had been lowered a bit for more headroom. The building felt wonky, but that was mostly just because of the layout. There were a few ponies here and there enjoying a late lunch, as well as a few at the bar sipping out of oversized tankards. On the raised platform was a large upright piano, stained a deep cherry, at which a single pony sat. He did not have any music out in front of him, and his hooves were almost a blur as he tickled the ivories. How exactly he managed to hit all the keys was a mystery to me. The tune he was playing had a swing to it, and he almost swung along to it. His coat was the colour of a reddish-orange maple leaf, and his mane looked oddly like it was covered with a liberal coating of powdered violin rosin. On his flank, there was a fiddle, but it had a set of piano keys along the board where the strings should have been. When he finished his song with a playful flourish, there was a round of applause from the few people inside. I walked over to investigate. The unicorn mare who sat at a table beside him said "Play it again, Rags." "For you, Ginger, anytime." Rags replied with a smile. With a rolling start, he launched right into another tune, this one similar in style to the first, but it had a different melody. Oddly enough I recognised that one too. The mare, Ginger, was coloured a middling green. If she'd decided to hide in a grassy field, it would have been hard to spot her, if not for her yellowy mane. On the table beside her was a pot of tea, as well as two teacups. She saw my approach and waved in greeting. "Hey stranger, here for the music?" "Yeah, I could hear it from clear across town." I said. "Then you've got a good ear for music, kid." Rags replied as he leaned back to get a look at me. He had these small spectacles perched on his nose, with sort of oval-like lenses. "Tell me, son, what's your name?" "I'm Ink Blot, new in town." "Good to see fresh talent in town, Ink Blot. This cat over here bench-warming for me is Ginger Heart." Rags said before hammering out a run of chords. "And this thankless charmer on the ol' whale bones is Ragtime Jones, but he prefers to just be called Rags." Ginger rolled her eyes at him, but she was still smiling. Rags let out a booming chuckle and said to her, "Don't you worry, Ginger. I'd never forget everything you do for me." "Tea?" Ginger offered me. "What kind?" I asked. "Take one guess." "Uh, ginger?" "Nope, mint." Ginger chuckled. I nodded, and she filled a teacup for me. Taking a seat at the table, she set it down in front of me and added a straw. I took a tentative sip. Surprisingly it wasn't over-steeped, and it was the perfect temperature for me to drink. "Nice tea." I commented. Ginger sipped from her own cup. "Made it myself just a while ago. I always like to share it, even if I could drink an entire pot on my own." "And it's good for you, too!" Rags chimed in. "So, you're new in town, Ink Blot?" Ginger asked. "As far as I know. Woke up in the woods with some sort of curse that affects my memory. Running theory on how to get rid of it is to connect with the memories with emotional experiences," I explained. "The specialist I talked to said I should go out and make some friends to help with that." "That's quite the conundrum. You got a place to stay in town?" Rags responded. "Yeah, but I'm low on money." I said. "I never cared for money. Root of all evil, I like to say. Bad jube-jubes." said Rags. Ginger scoffed, "Yeah, that's why you've been crashed on my couch for five years." "Darlin', I'm a music maker, not a money maker. I'd never sell my life and soul for a few extra bits at the end of the day." "You're a mooch, is what you are." Ginger rolled her eyes. "If you didn't like having me around you'd have kicked me out after the third month." Rags chuckled. "Second month, more like." Ginger muttered. Rags did one last run up the keyboard and finished his song with a dual chord. Another round of applause came from the speakeasy's patrons, and Rags did an over-exaggerated bow. "How about another one, Rags?" I suggested. Rags looked at me with a cockeyed smile. "That's what I'm here for, Inks my boy. Best piano player in town." Ginger stomped out a short beat, and Rags immediately jumped into a playful piece on the lower end of the piano. Rags and Ginger seemed like quite the characters. Very much the sorts who went with the flow, Rags especially. I could hear it the way he played the music. He didn't play like he was putting on a show; he played like he was exploring the music right there beside the listener. He had the melodies in his mind, but between them there was a lot of space for the rest of the music to flow. And he didn't stick to the same melodies either. There were variations upon variations in bits that seemed the same at the surface level. Even an untrained ear like mine could tell his musical ability was operating on another level. Ginger, however, was a bit more grounded. She had the money in their partnership, but even though she teased Rags there weren't any hard feelings between them as far as I could tell. And she was good with making tea. The two of them had clearly known eachother for quite awhile. "Do you play often?" I asked. "Everyday, unless something comes up. There ain't a piano, harpsichord, or organ around I can't groove with!" Rags chuckled. "He's a savant, he is. No formal training, doesn't read music, and he does everything himself." Ginger added. "The best music comes from the heart, darlin'. Don't need someone else's instructions to tell me what's good music. I just knows it." I peeked outside, where it was starting to get dark. I'd been here a lot longer than I'd thought. "So, you'll be here tomorrow?" "Yeah, we're here anyway most any-day. Except Saturdays, when I play at the Senior's Hall," Rags smiled happily. "Now those cats know how to groove." "Then I'll be sure to come by again. I like the groove you've got going here." I commended. Rags gave me a nod, and I downed the last of my cup of tea. It was cold, but it still tasted pretty good. I said bye to Ginger, and made my way outside to the street. The greaser gave me an approving nod, and I started on my way back to the castle. It felt odd coming back to the crystalline castle. It felt alien, like it wasn't created by terrestrial life, but here it was. It lacked some of that character which the more naturalistic buildings in town had. Maybe Starlight had an explanation for that. Speaking of Starlight, where was she? As far as I could tell, the campus was closed up for the night, but she could have been staying late. I also could have done with a bit of supper. I'd been spoiled by the big meals that the Apple Family gave me, and I think my body was expecting more of the same. There was probably something I could scrape together, assuming there were recipe books in the kitchen. Or maybe there was a container with leftovers I could warm up. Starlight's wing of the castle had clearly been more lived-in then the one she'd granted me. There were rugs all over, a selection of appealing paintings and tapestries, and actual wooden furniture. Some of the furniture even had themed motifs. There were some which had the same stylings as the Apple Family Homestead with carved apples. Others had butterflies, some had thunderbolts, some had diamonds, and there was one which looked like the upside down bag I'd noticed on that book this morning. Although on second thought that was probably a party balloon. Surprisingly though, Starlight's kitchen was occupied by Starlight herself. She had sat herself down at the kitchen table beside a half-full pot of coffee and a stack of papers. On a plate in front of her was an untouched cucumber sandwich. The lights were on low, except for the ones directly above the table. "Hey, Starlight." I greeted her. This startled her, and she dropped the pen she'd been using. She looked at me in a panic but was relieved when she recognised me. "Oh, hi Ink Blot." she sighed. "Busy day?" I asked. "Funnily enough when I agreed to be in charge of a school I underestimated how much work it was." Starlight said with a yawn. She poured herself a cup of coffee and gulped it down. "Anything on for dinner?" She shrugged and wrote something on the document in front of her. "Cucumber." "Right on, it's sandwich night then." I nodded. There was a loaf of sliced bread in the bread box, as well as a dish of sliced cucumbers in the fridge, and a quick investigation revealed a pat of butter in the cupboard alongside salt and pepper mills. I also discovered a spice rack, and added a touch of dill to my budding sandwich. Once I was finished preparing it, I carried it over to the table across from Starlight to eat. "So uh, how did the friend making go?" Starlight smiled, but quickly looked back to her papers. I chewed my sandwich, enjoying the crunchiness of the cucumber. "Well," I began with a mouth full of food. "First I ran into a bit of an oddball, but I think we'll get along just fine. Name of Pinkie Pie. Baker, Party gal, and all that." "Well, you were bound to run into her eventually. Very bubbly personality. She's all about having parties, especially for that gator of hers. She can be a bit insecure at times, but she's still a good friend of mine." Starlight commented. "That's an odd coincidence, then. Why'd she notice me out of all the other folks in town?" I asked. "That's her thing. She likes making people happy, making them laugh, so she has to keep track of what each pony in town responds to the best. If there's somepony new in town, she does her best to befriend them and figure them out. Pinkie's also got this... semi-prophetic sense where she can tell if bad things are going to happen in the near future. Maybe she saw you getting sad because you didn't have a friend? Did she start planning a party for you or something?" Starlight asked. I shook my head. "No, she just asked me what was up, offered her friendship, then we chatted over lunch at Sugarcube Corner. Said something about a Festival coming up?" "Right, the Festival of the Two Sisters, formerly the Summer Sun Celebration, also known as the anniversary of Princess Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon and subsequent banishment by Princess Celestia over a thousand years ago. Coincidentally, it's also the anniversary of Princess Luna being reformed exactly 1000 years after her banishment. It's a very big event, celebrated all across Equestria. Now, was there anyone else aside from Pinkie?" "After we ate, she had to dash, so I went for a walk until I heard music. Piano, slightly out of tune, being played in a ragtime style. For some reason I recognised the piece being played so I followed it into the east side of town, all the way to the Ponyville Speakeasy. Fella called Ragtime Jones was on the ivories, and his friend Ginger Hearts offered me some tea. So, I sat around with them for a while, chatted, and listened to the music." I explained. Starlight poured herself another cup of coffee. "So that brings it up to three friends so far." "Four, if you count Applejack." "Four then. Since you're getting along with Pinkie and AJ, maybe I should introduce you to the others." Starlight mused. "Others?" I asked. "The rest of the six who defeated Nightmare Moon when she returned. Applejack and Pinkie are two of them, along with Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle. They harnessed the Elements of Harmony and returned Princess Luna to normal, then saved Equestria about a dozen times over." Starlight explained in a monotone, but quick voice. "Except these days Twilight's doing the business of running Equestria, so unless you have a reason to go up to Canterlot you're not likely to meet her. Unless she comes out for the Festival. Or alternatively one of the other hundreds of celebrations that request Royal Attendance." That lined up with both Applejack and Pinkie's stories. "How'd you get involved with them, then?" "I, uh, replaced their cutie marks and tried to force them into accepting my ideology when they came to the town I'd brainwashed. Then, when they turned the town against me, I tried to go back in time and stop their friendship from ever forming out of spite." Starlight said sheepishly. "Dang, they trusted you after that?" I questioned. Starlight nodded and gave me a half smile. "Exactly what I thought! Twilight has more integrity than I wanted to give her credit for. Even though my actions literally changed the fate of Equestria several times over, she still wanted to talk things over with me while I was trying to kill her. It's no wonder they made her the Princess of Friendship." A short silence came over us, broken only by the scratching of Starlight's pen and the ticking of a clock mounted on the wall above the stove. I pondered Starlight's words while quietly munching on my sandwich. These "Elements of Harmony" seemed quite important, and the magic involved with Friendship seemed quite powerful. With enough power, you could protect the land from harm... Or rule it with an iron fist. A few ideas were sprouting in my mind, which I'd need to follow up on eventually. A ruler relied on the power of those that supported them to affect change in their land. This power could range from political influence, to financial support, to military strength. However, magic was a different power that - if my assumptions were right - could bypass the need for certain types of supporters. There would always be the need for support; to take and hold land you needed bodies to occupy it, and no one individual had the focus to manage every tiny detail of their administration themselves. But magic could function as a force multiplier, as a weapon against your enemies. Those ponderings would have to wait for another day, however. Right now I had a much more important question. "Starlight," I began. "What's a "cutie mark"?" She looked at me blankly. "You really don't know?" "No clue. What are they and what do they do?" I continued. "Well uh... every Earth Pony, Unicorn, and Pegasus has a special talent, something that they're really good at. When they discover that talent, their cutie mark appears." Starlight explained awkwardly. "Is it some kind of heraldry? Like, do families have a particular tendency towards similar marks? Everyone in the Apple family has some sort of apple design." "Sort of? Sometimes. It's complicated, there's a lot of factors, and I don't like to think about cutie marks much anymore." she stammered. "Oh," I said. I looked at my flank, at the splash of black ink. "I wonder what my cutie mark means." Starlight shrugged. "Couldn't tell you, at least not right now. I want to get through all this paperwork. And... I mentioned it yesterday, but I have a bit of a... complicated history with that kind of thing." "Right, that stuff with the village." I nodded. "If you're really interested in the topic, I point you towards some local experts." Starlight replied. "Their place is located in the West Orchard of Sweet Apple Acres. Big old tree-house, but it's fairly secluded. Might accidentally pass by it a few times before you find it. Make sure to go between 11 AM and 3 PM, those are their Summer office hours." "Thanks. I'll see them when I get the chance." Starlgith gave me a half-hearted smile, then poured herself yet another cup of coffee. She rubbed her eyes one by one and continued her paperwork like I had never been there. Not having anything else to say or ask or add, I excused myself and went to my wing of the castle to get ready for bed. I rustled up a few extra pillows, and some heavier blankets for the cold nights. When I finally got to sleep, I dreamed of a place far away. Though it was once wracked with turmoil and sadness, when I visited it in my dream it gave me a sense of peace.