"There he is." Scarlet pointed to a pony sitting alone in the middle of the park.
"I see." Blue Spark nodded, then held out a hoof to stop Scarlet from walking farther. "Could I speak to him alone?"
Scarlet hesitated for a moment, looking between Blue and the stallion, then stepped back. "Alright. I'll be here."
"Thank you." Blue nodded again, then began to head towards the stallion, secretly smiling.
"Cold weather we have, no?" he asked, once the unicorn was close enough to hear him. "Though I suppose that's not as much of a problem for you."
Blue stopped for a moment, before walking again. "Perhaps."
"How have you been, Stella?" The stallion turned, without getting up. "I didn't expect you back so soon."
"Quite well is how I've been. Thank you for asking." The alicorn got close enough to the stallion, and then stopped.
"Here to kill me?" he asked.
Stella frowned slightly. "I was hoping to at least have a chat first. Besides, why would I go and murder an old friend like so?" Her expression shifted back to her usual smile as she spoke.
"Because I'm the only one who can still give you any issues." The stallion put a hoof to his stomach. "And this. You wouldn't mind taking this, I'm sure. Another one to add to the little collection you have there."
Stella briefly glanced at her briefcase, then returned her attention to the stallion. "You do make a convincing argument, I have to say."
"Do you believe in fate?"
The alicorn paused, and blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Do you ever wonder if there's a design to the events of our lives? Strings pulling us along to where we're supposed to be?" the stallion continued. "Whether through cold physical determinism or unexplainable forces that shape our freely made decisions and the seemingly random occurrences around us, do you think there's ever a reason why things happen, beyond their own resolution? If we're not some cogs in a machine that exists through us and yet beyond us, actors in a play written by someone else?"
Stella blinked again, more amused than confused. "Would it matter if we knew, provided there wasn't a way to break free of our predetermined paths?" She shook her head briefly. "Why do you ask?"
"I've been wondering a lot about our meeting," the stallion replied. "I've been wondering about how different things might have been if it hadn't happened. About the consequences of it." He stood up. "About the purpose of what happened, if one does exist. You would have found out about your powers either way, sooner or later. So the thing that's relevant here, if I want to find one, is me meeting you, not you meeting me." He tilted his head, while pulling out a couple of spoons from his pockets.
Stella anticipated what he would say next. "That must make for quite the nice puzzle, does it not?"
The stallion smiled, while fidgeting with his spoons. "You know me well, Stella."
The alicorn smiled too. Her horn began to glow. "How unfortunate it would be if there was no solution to it. A waste of time. Then again, I doubt you'll get to see what the answer was."
"Oh, but I already did find the answer." The stallion stuck one of his spoons in the ground.
Stellaria stopped for a second, and blinked again.
"Admittedly not by myself. Someone else told me the solution." The stallion looked Stella in the eyes. "Now I aplogise, but I have work to do." He turned the spoon, and a moment later he was gone.