//------------------------------// // Chapter Thirteen // Story: For Lack of a Better Word // by Gunsmith //------------------------------// Upon waking up, I already know that the morning has come too soon. I have never been and never will be a morning person, even if life necessitates it. I sit up and turn to one side in my bed, rubbing my eyes for a moment. Come on, up and at 'em, let's go. I stand up, plodding tiredly across the room and down the stairs, grabbing my fine clothes on the way down. I make a bee-line for the bathroom, starting my morning routine with a shower. It feels nice, and helps to wake me up some. I put on my pants, try on my suit coat, then realize the coat would probably go better with an undershirt. I walk outside, quickly grabbing my dried shirt and jeans and bringing them inside. I slip on my black T-shirt, which still holds a mild metallic scent. I doubt it will be noticeable unless someone literally decides to press their face into my shirt. Putting the suit jacket on over the dark shirt, I find that the combination looks nice. It isn't as comfortable, but I can live with it. I look myself over in the mirror a few times. I clean up pretty nicely. Could definitely use a shave, though, I muse, rubbing a hand over my scruffy face. Climbing upstairs, I grab my dagger, and on another thought, my tomahawk as well. It just seems wrong to take one away from the other. Back on the first floor, I lay the tomahawk down on the table, taking the dagger with me into the bathroom. As I step in front of the mirror again, I run a finger along the blade; it is fine, not meant for durability, but for razor sharpness. Perfect. I begin carefully dragging the blade along my whiskers. A few minutes later, I'm looking at someone who looks like myself again. I wash the shaved hair down the sink, splashing some of the water on my face and rinsing my mouth out a few times. Walking back out into the main room of my house, I start rummaging through the cabinets, grabbing an apple to eat. As I work on coring the apple, I contemplate bringing my weapons with me, but decide against it. I'm going to see a princess, not a dictator. Speaking of which...I stand, bringing my apple with me over to a window. Peering out, I see that the sun has just cleared the horizon. Ought to get going...I scan around the room a last time, deciding I've got everything I need. I walk out the door, taking a bite out of my apple along the way. I start off in the direction of the library, as per Twilight's instructions. Along the way, I allow my mind to wander. I wonder how the hot-air balloon ride will be. Hopefully it's in working order. I assume it will be very enjoyable. Like flying in an airplane, except I'm almost completely exposed to the sky, almost like I'm really flying...flying...My thoughts turn to Rainbow Dash. I find myself missing her company. She would make walks like this one a lot more interesting. I glance up into the sky, seeing a lot of Pegasi moving clouds around, but none of them are her; and she's fairly easy to spot, given the factor of the rainbow trail and her overall color. I sigh in a mixture of frustration and sadness. I need to apologize... The library is soon within sight. I walk up to the door, knocking a few times. Spike opens the door for me, rubbing his eyes. "Oh, hey, Mark," he says with a tired smile. "Come on, Twilight's been waiting for you." I nod, smiling to him as I step inside. The small dragon shuts the door, then starts walking out of the room, beckoning for me to follow. I do so, walking through an adjacent room before going through a back door, leading us outside again. I blink a few times upon seeing a large, purple hot-air balloon, tethered to the ground by some ropes and fully filled. Is this hers? Where would you even store a hot-air balloon...? Twilight Sparkle holds a clipboard with some sort of checklist attached to it before her with her magic, checking off something with a quill before turning to me. "Finally! I was wondering if you remembered." Am I late or something...? She notices my attire, smiling. "That is a very nice suit. One of Rarity's?" I nod, her doing the same in reply. The unicorn looks back at her checklist, checking off another item and smiling satisfactorily. "It looks like you were the last thing needed on the list, Mark! Are you ready to go?" I suppress a frown, looking into the sky again. No, I tell myself, nodding anyways. Twilight begins showing me how to properly board the balloon, instructing me on proper hot-air balloon etiquette, and so on. After five very long, very boring minutes, Twilight, Spike, and myself are all inside the basket of the balloon. It's fairly roomy, and I can actually walk around a little if I want. I grip on to the side of the balloon as Twilight commands Spike to start adding heat. I find it odd that they use magical flame to heat the air within the balloon, rather than Spike's own fire. It seems inefficient to not be putting a dragon to use. My thoughts are pulled away from the proper use of a dragon's abilities as we start to lift off the ground. Soon enough, the ropes holding the balloon down are taut, and Twilight releases them all at once, allowing us to go airborne. I watch as we begin to pull away from the area behind the tree library, then away from Ponyville itself. I watch the ponies below get smaller and smaller as we climb. The balloon passes through the cloud layer, and we come to a stable height. I can see my house from here, I think giddily. I continue looking down below in awe, watching the familiar sea of clouds roll under us, the patchwork of the farmland. "Hey!" I stumble back as a familiar face appears from under the basket of the hot-air balloon, surprising me. I feel that I'm about to lose my balance, but am caught by some unseen savior. Noting that my surroundings look slightly pink in color, I realize Twilight is holding me with her magic. She tilts me forward again, setting me on my feet and releasing her magical grip. She and Spike look over the side of the basket, from where I can hear a scratchy laugh. I walk over to the side and peer over, as well. Rainbow Dash clutches her sides, laughing hysterically. I realized she managed to fly under the balloon and hide there. "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight exclaims. "You nearly made Mark fall out of the balloon!" The Pegasus continues laughing uncontrollably, starting to cry at this point. I feel a smile work its way onto my face as I watch her. She continues to laugh, then suddenly stops, interrupted by a hiccup. She hiccups again, a look of surprise on her face. It is my turn to laugh, and I am soon joined by Twilight and Spike. The four of us are grabbing our stomachs in pain after a few minutes. Dash flies into the basket, settling down near me. I sit down, smiling at her. She sighs, chuckling a little more before finding her voice. "Oh, Celestia, that was priceless!" Rainbow gives another happy sigh, hiccuping again. "You didn't think--*hic*--that you could leave without saying goodbye, did you?" she asks playfully. I smile, shaking my head and getting out my paper and pencil. I tried to find you yesterday and this morning, but I couldn't. "Sorry, I had a lot of work to do yesterday. I tried to find you, too, after I got off work, but I couldn't. Where were you?" Fighting off wolves in the Everfree Forest. She reads the paper once, twice, three times, then looks up at me in surprise. "Wolves? You fought a wolf, in the Everfree? Are you nuts?" I scribble some more. Five wolves. Had to kill two. Probably, but I was hungry. "You took on five wolves for some food? I mean, I like food, but what kind of food is that important?" the mare asks incredulously. More writing. Fish. I have to have protein in my diet, and the only place I could get them was the Everfree Forest. She frowns. "So, you're like Gilda, then?" I raise an eyebrow in question. "A griffon. Gilda always ate stuff like fish." "She's asking if you're a carnivore, Mark," Twilight says. Ah, alright. Griffons exist as well, then. I nod to Rainbow Dash. "How come you're always eating apples and carrots and stuff, then?" Rainbow continues. I write out an answer. Humans, what I am, are omnivores. We eat both plants and animals. Not ponies, or dogs, or anything like that, though. Only if we're really hungry. She looks at me in surprise; I wink and grin. The pony smiles back, if a little nervously. Sensing a lull in conversation, I decide to show her my proof that I fought a few wolves. I pull up the sleeve of my right arm, revealing my series of bandages, in some places tinted brown. She peers at it, looking all around my arm. After a moment, she looks at me in question. One of the wolves bit me. Zecora fixed me up. "Whoa...so you went into the Everfree, alone?" I nod in confirmation. "To get some fish, because you were hungry...and you fought off a pack of wolves, and only got that?" I nod again. "That's...awesome!" she cries. "It's like something out of Daring Do, except you really did it! Nopony's ever went into the Everfree by themselves and made it out alive, but you did that, and fought a bunch of wolves!" Dash pauses, her grin of excitement fading a little. "Why did you go in there alone? Didn't you know that the Everfree is, like, really dangerous?" I shrug, honestly not sure myself. "Wow...and I thought I did some dumb stuff!" she jokes. I grin, pulling down my sleeve again. "Mark," Twilight begins. I turn to look at her. "Do you realize canis lupus is one of the most aggressive creatures known to Equestria? What you did was quite a feat; the strongest of ponies have found it nearly impossible to even survive an attack from a single Everfree wolf. Don't get me wrong, it was a horrible idea, but...that's simply astounding," the unicorn muses. Humans are apex predators for a reason. Much more maneuverable, and we can use tools extensively. I idly rub my arm as the air goes quiet for a moment. It's relaxing up here, peaceful. After a little while, I remember something that's been nagging at me for a while. The faint sound of a pencil against paper is just barely audible as I scribble out a message for Rainbow Dash, showing it to her and waiting for her to read it. I want to apologize again for what I did last night. I let my curiosity get the best of me, and I am sorry. Dash gives me a friendly smile. "Hey, Mark, like I said, it's cool. Don't worry about it, okay?" I look at her for a moment. She sounds genuine, and her smile reaches her eyes, a sign it is real, as well. I nod and smile to her, feeling relieved. I take back my paper and replace it in my pocket. After sitting for a while longer, I decide to stand up, looking out of the hot-air balloon. A fair distance away, I can see the beginnings of what seems to be a city, built against a mountain range. I raise a hand to cover my eyes, trying to see it better. It looks enormous. Is that where we're headed? "Look, there's Canterlot!" says Twilight, answering my mental question. "And right on schedule, too!" I watch as the city steadily approaches. Not only does it look enormous, it is enormous. The metropolis has to cover at least a few square miles. The focal point is a very large castle, stretching high above all the other buildings. It bears gold and white coloring, tall spires, and many different levels, giving it a very majestic appearance. Twilight begins giving her dragon assistant instructions, helping with her own magic. A breeze brushes against my side; I turn to see Rainbow Dash hopping out of the basket, taking to the air. I watch with an unconscious smile as she flies around the balloon, looping around or spinning about every so often. As she comes around to the side I look over again, I see her mind churning. She flies out of sight, going behind the balloon. Quicker than I can realize, we are going around three times the speed we just were, barreling towards the city of Canterlot at a much quicker rate. I quickly grab on to one of the ropes connecting the actual balloon to the basket, hanging fast. I look back, feeling a grin on my face. Twilight and Spike are hanging on for dear life, Spike seemingly enjoying himself as well; Twilight, not so much. "Rainbow Dash!" she yells behind her. All of a sudden, the balloon slows, nearly coming to a stop, but resuming its normal speed. A head with wind-blown mane of six colors peeks over the side of the basket, nearly coming nose-to-nose with the violet unicorn. "What? Look, we're really close now!" Rainbow points out. I look back to Canterlot, which is much, much closer now. In fact, we've nearly reached the castle. Twilight just glares at her angrily; the Pegasus gives me a small smile as I try to suppress laughter. The unicorn shoots me a look, and I quickly wipe the smile off my face, glancing elsewhere. Twilight Sparkle gives a long sigh, shaking her head before grabbing on to various parts of the balloon with her magic. She begins the lengthy and careful process of landing the balloon. But, after a few minutes, we are perched upon a platform just outside the castle. I jump out as the violet pony ties down the balloon all at once. Rainbow Dash comes out of seemingly nowhere, landing just beside me on the platform. I look out over the city from where we stand; it's a nice view, but I decide not too look all the way down. We are on the side of a mountain, after all, hanging off of a platform attached to a castle that sits even higher up...I take a step towards the center of the landing pad. Twilight puts away her clipboard, trotting over to us with Spike following close behind. Rainbow and I let the other two pass us, falling in behind them. I smooth out my suit jacket and adjust my undershirt a little, suddenly feeling somewhat self-conscious. I am going to see a princess-slash-goddess, I suppose. Our group walks onto a railed bridge, heading for a side entrance into the castle. Guarding a pair of large, ornate doors ahead are a pair of guards. They are dressed in gold armor, highlighted with blue accents in certain portions of the armor, and both appear very similar; white-coated unicorn stallions, nearly the same height and everything. As we approach them, Twilight stops us, looking directly ahead at the doors. "Twilight Sparkle, here to see Princess Celestia. With me I bring my assistant, Spike, my friend, Rainbow Dash, and the creature the Princess has requested to see, Mark, who is also a friend." The guards nod simultaneously, then begin opening the large doors with their blueish magic. Twilight and Spike stroll inside; I walk a little more slowly, observing the great size and expensive decor around me. I glance to my side, looking for Rainbow; she isn't there, though. Looking back, I see her making faces at the guards. She contorts her face in a few ways without avail, the guards remaining stone-still. After a moment, she notices me staring, flashing me a quick smile before hurriedly trotting towards me. She stops mid-way, returning to the guard and sticking her tongue out quickly. To her surprise, the guard sticks out his tongue back. Her jaw drops, and she looks between me and the guard, pointing at him in shock. I chuckle, waving a hand for her to follow me. We catch up to Twilight and Spike again, walking through the halls of the castle. It's huge, as big inside as it looks from the outside, maybe bigger. Beautiful sculptures line the paths, as well as stained-glass windows depicting various pictures. The sound of two sets of hooves and the quiet padding of both sneakers and small feet echo throughout the hallways, not in an eerie way, rather, one that exemplifies the greatness of this palace even more. Turning to the left, I find another long hallway that lies before us. At the end of this one is another set of large doors; not only are they ornately decorated, they bear a design, as well. On the left is a representation of a large, white pony, almost actually horse-like in appearance, with a long, flowing mane. Behind the large pony is an image of a sun, like that shown on the backs of bits. On the right door is what seems to be a stark contrast; a black pony, also larger in size, with a flowing, blue mane, rests atop a symbol of a crescent moon. We seem to be heading towards these doors, given that there aren't any others in the hallway. Our group approaches the doors, and Twilight stops, turning to face me. "Mark, Princess Celestia has requested your presence, and only your presence. To respect her wishes, we are going to stay out here until you are done. After that, I want to talk to the Princess, and then we can go back to Ponyville." She pauses, letting her words sink in. "Are you going to be okay? The Princess is the most powerful being in existence. She can have an...effect...on some creatures, not ponies, specifically, because we are used to her magic. But, don't worry. There is nopony more kindhearted in all of Equestria." I nod to the violet unicorn, then step past her, nearing the doors. I place my hand on one, looking back before I go inside. Rainbow Dash gives me a reassuring smile, and Twilight nods towards the door. I turn back, take a deep breath, and push through the door.