//------------------------------// // Inveterate // Story: Antecedent // by Anonymous Pegasus //------------------------------// The two pegasi walked down the hallways leading to the east wing of the Canterlot Palace, where the three current element bearers were presumably biding their time. Pushing open the door to the guest quarters, they found the three of them ranged around the room. Wisp was in the corner, facing out, humming to herself as she played with her steam pipes and gauges, presumably trying to get something working. Firebrand was sitting in the opposite corner, dubiously staring at her own collection of parts, shooting furtive glances towards Wisp, as though she were competing with the griffon. Remedy was sitting on a couch, forehoof tapping impatiently, jerking back and forth in agitation as she chewed on the rim of her free hoof nervously. All three of them looked up as the two pegasi entered, and Raindrop and Sentinel looked back at them. “Well,” Raindrop started, looking from one face, to the other. “We’re off to find the bearer for the Element of Generosity, and Celestia wants all three of you to join us.” The three females exchanged glances at that. Wisp carefully placed aside her collection of pipes, and rose to her paws. Firebrand carelessly tossed aside her own set of piping, rising to her hooves and moving over towards the pair. “Finally!” Firebrand stated flatly. “I’ve been going stir crazy in here!” “Oh shush,” Remedy said with a shake of her head as she stepped over closer as well. “We get it. You like flying. We got it the first five times time you said it.” Scowling, Firebrand rounded on the nurse, “You are a quite detestable pony, you know?” “Oh please, I’ve had foals use worse insults,” Remedy said with a contemptuous snort. “Your usual choice of companions?” Firebrand retorted bluntly. The two ponies continued to bicker, with Wisp standing between them, looking back and forth as each one spoke, giggling. Raindrop turned to Sentinel, and then perked a single ear. “We... never argued like that, did we?” “Nah,” Sentinel said with a shake of his head head. “Not like that.” Raindrop snickered slightly, and then stepped towards the arguing mares, stuffing her wings against their mouths to make them cease. “Shush, both of you! Don’t make me give a sappy speech about how we need to pull together.” The two mares gave Raindrop a mutinous look, exchanged a glance, and then huffed and looked away from each other. “Good. Now come, we have a bearer to find.” Raindrop removed her wings from the mares’ mouths, turning away from them. “And no arguing. If I catch you two arguing again, I’m going to tie you both together,” Raindrop shot over her shoulder. Sentinel grinned a little bit at her, nudging her once with his wing. “That was kinda mean.” “Remedy is the Element of Kindness, she should know better. And Firebrand is the Element of Honesty, so I’m not gonna mince words with her,” Raindrop replied with a flippant shrug. “You realise we’re right here?” Firebrand asked heatedly, narrowing her eyes. Raindrop looked back over her shoulder for a moment, and then rolled her eyes. “Nope, I’d forgotten completely. Now hush.” Firebrand snorted once, pursing her lips, but remaining quiet. Wisp pushed past Remedy and Firebrand, looking between them with a grin and a giggle, and then looking up at Raindrop knowingly. “They’re gonna be the bestest friends ever, aren’t they?” Raindrop gave a slow, wise nod, “If they don’t murder each other first.” Remedy and Firebrand looked at eachother for a long moment, eyes locking, before they both snorted and tossed their manes, turning away from each other, and saying, at the exact same time, “Never!” Wisp just giggled. A train trip was required to reach Ponyville, as both Remedy and Wisp were unable to fly, and they all agreed that walking would take far too long. Firebrand, however, elected not to bother with the train. Instead, she produced a pair of goggles seemingly from nowhere, and took to the skies. She followed the train in a long, looping circular flight pattern, to keep pace with it while still being able to stretch her wings. Wisp watched her out the window of the train, her beak pressed against the glass and ears splayed against her skull, looking slightly sad. “You wish you could fly out there with her, don’t you?” Remedy asked of the young griffon. Wisp nodded sadly, giving a long sigh and lifting a paw to press against the glass. “I’ve never really flown before. I just kinda feel... I dunno, attracted to it?” Wisp shook her head uncertainly and then turned back to Remedy. “But there’s no use pining over something I can’t have.” Remedy nodded in response to that, casting a glance over at Raindrop and Sentinel, sitting on the other side of the carriage, a tangle of wings and hooves as they laid together. “What do you think of those two?” Remedy quieried the griffon. Wisp gave a thoughtful hum, peering over at the pair for a long moment. “I think they’re right for eachother. They’re both kinda... Odd.” Remedy gave a laugh and nodded in response, “Exactly my thoughts.” The nurse cast her gaze back to the two pegasi, and then shook her head. “I’ll never understand ponies.” Wisp nodded once. “Neither will I.” The four ponies and single griffon all followed the Seeker Stone’s guidance through the streets of Ponyville. Raindrop could tell they were getting close, as the glowing portion of the orb kept ‘sliding’ away to the left as the walked up the main street. Turning down the street and following the guidance of the stone, Raindrop soon found herself standing in front of a building she recognized. It was the doctor’s practise where she had taken Shine what seemed like years ago now. A crowd of ponies, earth, unicorn, and pegasus, all milled about in the waiting room at the front of the building. There were at least a round dozen there. Any single one could be the bearer. “So, uh... How does this thing work?” Firebrand asked, raising a brow and peering at the seeker stone. The pointer on it was ‘fractured’ again, pointing in every direction. “One of the ponies in there is the Element of Generosity,” Raindrop said, looking at the front of the building with a frown, and then giving a soft little sigh. “I guess we could wait and watch them leave... And then follow whichever one of the stone is pointing at?” Firebrand snorted at that. “I was not eager to leave the palace so I could just sit around. Let’s go find this bearer. The sooner we’re done with this, the sooner I can get back to the Wonderbolts.” Raindrop frowned after the Wonderbolt captain, snorting once. While Remedy seemed to have calmed greatly now that she was removed from the castle, Firebrand was just as annoyed and bitchy as ever. “We should follow. Or we could sit here and watch and giggle?” Raindrop suggested half-seriously to Sentinel. Sentinel shook his head sadly, “As amusing as it would be, we really should find the bearer. There’s a lot at stake. It’d be pretty dumb if we all got wiped out because we were having a good giggle at the expense of Firebrand.” Raindrop heaved a heavy sigh, shaking her head. “I guess you’re right.” Raindrop strode forwards, and pushed through the door and into the hubbub of the waiting room. The four ponies and the griffon all milled about in the waiting room, seeking the bearer of the Element of Generosity. None of the ponies there really fit the bill. Raindrop even considered the doctor himself; but that seemed untrue. His prices were quite high, and he wasn’t exactly known for being generous. He was kind and helpful, but ‘generous’ was rarely a word used to describe him. There was a commotion a few minutes after they arrived; a pony hit by a runaway cart down the street, and the doctor himself sprinted out to see if he could lend assistance. Eventually though, the five of them had to admit defeat in the face of their task. Finding the bearer of the element amongst the crowded waiting room was a daunting prospect, and just out-and-out asking if people were generous was a way to get nowhere, fast. Most generous ponies didn’t go out of their way to bring it to other’s attention, for fear of being manipulated or mobbed. It was as they were leaving that Raindrop noticed that the Seeker Stone was pointing out the door. Raindrop snorted her annoyance, and motioned towards Sentinel. “Looks like the bearer already left,” she said, showing him the stone. Sentinel nodded, and then blinked, looking up at the door alertly. Peering back down at the stone, Raindrop saw that the ‘signal’ had fractured, becoming many spikes again. She lifted her gaze to the door as it opened. First through was a large earth pony with a makeshift splint on his foreleg and a strained expression on his face, obviously in pain, blood leaking through his bandages. And behind him, the one whom the Seeker Stone was pointing at. “To ze back room,” the unicorn said, ushering the earth pony towards the doors leading off from the reception area. “Ve need to get you lying down.” Raindrop stared for a moment, exchanging a glance with Sentinel. “You don’t think...” “Sure looks like it,” Sentinel said with a flippant shrug. Of course, Sentinel didn’t know that the Seeker Stone was pointing at the self-same doctor that Raindrop had taken Shine to see, before she even found she was a changeling. The bearer of the Element of Generosity.