//------------------------------// // Chapter. 11 – Of Mayors and Parties // Story: My Most Faithful Mortifer // by hamishwarfare //------------------------------// Chapter. 11 – Of Mayors and Parties It started out as such a nice morning. The birds were chirping, the sky was scheduled to be clear by nine-o-clock; she had recently got a new pot of pear jam for her toast, and even her beloved coffee machine decided that it would work first time without spilling the precious black nectar all over the floor. With her grey mane and tail styled just the way she liked them –her once bold and dark amber coat now lightening with her advancing years– it was nice to have a morning start so well. The day before was quite the surprise for the elder earth pony; a royal steward arrives at her office mid-afternoon stating that the town was finally getting a new librarian and they were scheduled to arrive later that day. No more running the library a well as the town for her. There was just so little time left to prepare a nice welcome parcel for this Miss Sunset Shimmer; she had her staff rush out to the market and quickly grab a few of the town’s products that were left and to see what the Cakes had fresh and ready from the ovens. Their disappearance also gave Mayor Mare some time to write a quick additional note to place inside the parcel as she worked up a small speech and tour that ended with the library in her head. It was short notice but her team managed to get everything done; they even had some time left to place the box in the library as a nice surprise before the new mare arrived. And then they waited. As six-o-clock rolled around there was still no sign of this librarian. A little frustrated as well as a bit confused Mayor Mare finally decided to call it a night; closed up the office and headed home for a well-deserved sleep. She had resigned herself to receiving a knock on her door at some point during the night; but as twilight faded and the full cover of night swept over the town, there was still no sign of the wayward librarian. Eventually the siren call of her bed became too much to resist. She woke up to a new day and with mixed feelings about not getting disturbed last night; on the one hoof she got a full night of undisturbed sleep, but on the other, she was beginning to wonder where this librarian was. The walk to Town Hall was again uneventful; she greeted people as they went past on their way to work, or those who were setting up their stalls for the town market. Clouds were still littered over the sky, but she could make out several pegasi beginning to clear them away; it was indeed going to be another beautiful day. Mayor Mare did decide to take a small detour from her standard path, walking past The Golden Oak Library just to see if there was anything amiss; but no, it looked just as she expected it too, empty and with no signs of life. The Mayor had not even fully sat down in her plush office chair before the first of the days problems revealed their unpleasant faces. Before entering the building several ponies came to her saying they’d seen Princess Celestia arrive in town and asked what she was doing here. Mayor Mare dismissed those claims as false and sent the ponies on their way; as the princess would not come to such a small town as this unannounced, even being only two hours away by train. Next came in Rainbow Dash of all ponies; talking about rogue clouds in the area and that the citizens of the town need to be aware of the possibility of wild weather. Apparently one of the clouds placed last night had climbed up so high into the sky that quite a number of the weather control pegasi couldn’t reach it. It looked like she had more to say but was interrupted by Applejack coming in saying that something strange had happened within the Everfree Forest. According to the apple farming mare, there was a new clearing near the outskirts of the forest. Several of the old trees had been knocked down and were now shredded at the cut; along with all the taller vegetation in this clearing. Her news also stated that the bodies of six Timber Wolves were discovered and were not currently reforming. That was news that needed to be confirmed. If there was something out there that could permanently put down Timber Wolves; they needed to know what it was and hopefully make friends with it. Then there was a knock at her office door, the first knock of the day, before her secretary popped her head in. “Mayor Mare, there is a Sunset Shimmer here to see you; she says she’s the new Librarian.” “Oh yeah. I met her last night. She seems pretty cool; you know being an egghead and all.” “She arrived last night? What time?” Mayor Mare wanted a good relationship with the librarian if Princess Celestia personally chose her to be here. “Umm, I think she came into town with the seven fifteen train. Apparently she came all the way from Vanhhoover.” That was a very long journey. If only she had known. “Yeah she managed to dodge me as I landed at the train station. I gave her a small tour as we went to town hall; even got her to meet Pinkie Pie as well. That was hilarious; Pinkie was pretty upset that Sunset Shimmer arrived too late for her to give her a proper welcome to Ponyville party that day. She’s getting one today though, so no worries. “Anyway we got here and didn’t find anyone here to greet us or a note saying what to do. It was just luck that she had a spare key to the library or else I would have probably asked you, Applejack, if she could have borrowed your couch for the night. I’d have offered mine but she’s a unicorn and, yunno, I live in a cloud.” “Sure I would have taken her in for a night, sugarcube. Heck if she was there, then maybe we’d know what the darnation happened in the Everfree last night.” “Yeah if she was there I bet we’d know for sure. Anyway if you haven’t already received an invite from Pinkie, Sunset’s Welcome to Ponyville party is at Sugarcube Corner at one, if you’re free.” “We’ll see. I do have a lot of work to get done. Speaking of which I better get heading back to the farm, especially if I wanna get to this welcome party.” “Well at least wait until Mayor Mare invites her in here for an introduction.” Both mares looked over to the Mayor, who had the distinct feeling that things were well and truly running out of her hooves. With a sigh she looked over to the door to see her secretary still waiting for orders. “If you could show her in please.” With a smile and a nod her secretary disappeared behind the door. A moment later there was a tall unicorn mare standing in the doorway. Her coat was a light amber and her long mane and tail could easily be mistaken for fire; her eyes were a vibrant lavender. The cutie mark on her flanks was quite strange; it was a sea of deep rich pink with six white streaks in the centre, around the edge were five stars in a circle. She had a very athletic build and honestly looked nothing like what you would expect a typical librarian to look like. There was an air of mystique and power around her that could be a little unsettling for those of a weak disposition. “Good morning Mayor Mare I am Sunset Shimmer. I apologise for arriving so late last night; but the train I got from Vanhoover did not arrive into Canterlot until after three, where I found no other trains to Ponyville until the one that left at five twenty.” “Ah, yes hello Sunset Shimmer. I am sorry about not being here for you last night, but I simply did not know at what time you were arriving. Regardless though, I hope you enjoyed a few of the tasty produce that this fair town can whip up. “Now I believe that you met Rainbow Dash last night upon your arrival. She is the lead pegasus of the weather control team here in Ponyville. Next to her is Applejack, she is the joint owner of Sweet Apple Acers and most likely pony to offer you a helping hoof if you ever need one.” The mare in question was a powerfully built earth pony with orange fur and straw blond mane and tail; both were held together with mane ties at the end of the long strands of hair. She had bright jade green eyes and her cutie mark was of three apples; to finish her off she was wearing a light brown Stetson. “Howdy Sunset; like the Mayor said, the names Applejack. If you need a helping hoof don’t you hesitate to ask, ya hear?” “Hello Applejack it’s nice to meet you. As you have heard my name is Sunset Shimmer and I’m the town’s new librarian. I’d imagine your farm can get quite busy so the offer for assistance is there as well if you need it.” “Well, that’s mighty kind of you, and from the sound of things I think we’ll get along swell. Though to be honest I don’t know how good a librarian will be when it comes to bucking apples out of trees.” Applejack was appreciative of the offer, but Sunset was a librarian and bucking trees is a lot of hard work and effort. However Sunset just smiled lightly, “I have a few tricks that could help you around the farm; but even without them I’m in good shape. As I said if you need help and I’m available, just ask.” “Well alright then, I’ll keep that in mind.” There was a honest smile on the farm mare’s face. “Ha, good luck with that Sunset. Applejack is one of the most stubborn ponies around, and thinks she can do everything. Remember two years ago when Big Mac, oh that’s her older brother, got an injury to his leg and had to take it easy for a week. She was so over worked; she was sleep bucking trying to get it all done.” “Yeah well it was bucking season and them apples weren’t going to fall out themselves.” It was quite clearly a sore point for the prideful mare, “but I did get it all done, didn’t I” “Well yeah, but then you were stuck in the hospital for two weeks for all sorts of problems you developed because you were too stubborn to ask anypony for help. I just don’t want to see my friend in that situation again. I mean who else am I going to race in the Running of the Leaves?” “Anyway.” Mayor Mare intervened before the argument could get into full swing. It seems this was a normal occurrence. “Why don’t you two head off so you’ll be free for Pinkie Pie’s party later on today. It would also give me a chance to fully show off Ponyville. We wouldn’t want Sunset here to be late for her own party now would we?” “Like Pinkie would let you,” came a quiet response from the blue pegasus. It was quiet enough that Sunset wondered if the Mayor heard it. Considering the Mayor continued on talking, Sunset guessed not. “I’ve also got a few things that Sunset, here, needs to look over for the running of the library.” The two other mares, finally remembering that they actually had work to do, quickly said their goodbye’s and left Mayor Mare alone with her new librarian. “I apologise for those two. They are both good ponies and they are friends but both of them are as stubborn as mules; no offense to mules of course.” “It’s fine. As I said I met Rainbow Dash last night and could tell she had both good intentions and stubbornness about her. So what paper work is there for me?” Getting seated in front of the Mayor’s desk, the two scholar ponies got down to the business that is bureaucracy. The morning was finally behind her and she had caught up to where she wanted to be. Lunch. Princess Celestia should have accepted that offer of pie from Sunset Shimmer; but then she did not expect to be so lost in discussing events with that mare to have lost at least an hour of the day. It was also quite the workout session; flying back to Canterlot at such high speeds in order to make her already rescheduled morning meeting with the Summer Sun Celebration. That meeting had been a long and exhausting battle of wills with far too many stubborn minds butting heads with each other. However it was finally accomplished to her satisfaction and things could start to proceed for next year’s event. Entering her private dining area hoping for a quick and quiet lunch, she was surprised to find her student working away with Spike of all people. He was somehow able to keep Trixie’s mind focused as well as preventing it from wandering away too much. Perhaps it was because he was younger than her and yet was at a similar knowledge level? Maybe it was his honest and blunt nature; maybe that was enough to pierce through her air of self-importance to apply some humility? Honestly it could be as simple as him helping narrow down the search of what she needed to learn, like finding a needle in only a quarter of the haystack. Whatever the reason they were both hard at work and did not notice her at all. With a small smile radiating pride, Celestia backed out of the room to let them work in peace. Only to bump into Princess Cadance as she gently shut the door. “Ah Cadance. What an interesting development I’ve just discovered with my student. Your doing perhaps?” “Yes, when I was presiding over the last spring court and you had run off to who knows where, Trixie came to me asking if I wanted any help. I had already roped Spike into helping me, but I figured the more the merrier and amazingly those two could work together. Surprisingly well, honestly. Spike was able show her what to do while Trixie managed to curb his tendency to panic when things start to pile up. It was actually one of the calmer end of season courts I’ve managed and it wasn’t because of the lack of ponies demanding attention, I assure you.” “Do you think it’s possible to keep them working together?” “I managed it yesterday, and again this morning, I don’t see why not? Speaking of this morning where were you? Even the guards were looking for you.” “Oh, I was just having plans that I’ve had in the work for years get almost completely destroyed in a single meeting; with perhaps the most powerful librarian to have ever lived.” Cadance just blinked before her head tilted to the side, “…what?” “Let’s head to a vacant meeting room. I fear some food could be useful as I give you some more details of why I have been absent over the last few days; and a second opinion could be useful right now. That and I missed breakfast.” Cadance just rolled her eyes but she was going to be getting some answers, and giving advice to her aunt was a rare commodity. So she followed Celestia and steeled herself for the horrors that were sure to come. It was as bad as she feared. No, worse even. Oh god this looks like such a mess; all that toil and preparation coming undone in such a simple manner. It must take weeks of effort to set this right once more; and why? All this effort, what had to be hours at least of wasted time probably better spent doing something else, anything else maybe? Why would someone go through so much effort just for a single pony? “You made it!” Sunset shimmer had just walked into Sugarcube Corner along with Mayor Mare –after a second, and more in depth tour of the town– and the sight that lay before her was an unsettling one; once more silently thanking her diluted emotions preventing her from doing anything rash. While the main area of the shop floor was of a respectable size; it currently felt more than a little cramp. There were at least thirty ponies of all tribes –though mostly earth ponies– and gender waiting for her to arrive and had already started to sample some of the party spread that was laid out. And once more she had drawn the attention of this Pinkie Pie character. “Yeah, something told me I should show myself before you started getting worried I wouldn’t turn up.” “Oh, don’t be silly, I wasn’t worried.” Even though she said it with all the sweetness in the world and an air of pure innocence; Sunset was sure there was something there that wasn’t being said. Especially considering Mayor Mare had snuck away at some point. “Sooo, you gonna answer those questions I asked last night now?” “Oh, last night. Right let’s see, umm. My name’s Sunset Shimmer. I don’t have a favourite cupcake flavour, though the caramel and cashew nut donut I had yesterday was really good. I’m from Vanhoover. I am taking the position of librarian here in Ponyville, so yes I am staying here for a long time, probably. I do have a soft spot for lavender, though I don’t know if I would call it my favourite colour. “I think that was all of the questions you wanted answered, Pinkie pie. Were there anymore?” Every question that Sunset answered correctly seemed to increase both the smile on the pink mare’s face, and also increased the vibration she seemed to be suffering from. Pinkie launched herself into the air in excitement before landing back down with her forehooves wrapped around the taller, amber mare. “You remembered all of my questions! And in order too! Oh we are going to be such good friends.” And with that Sunset was dragged off to be introduced to everyone who was at the party. Names and faces shot past her faster than she could remember them, or at least remember the name the face went too. Some were easier than others; both Rainbow Dash and Applejack had managed to make some time and was here enjoying themselves. It was also quite easy to remember Mr Carrot and Mrs Cup Cake as they were the only ones that were wearing aprons and were helping Pinkie Pie with the party. There was an incredibly muscular pegasus stallion with the smallest wings Sunset had ever seen; she didn’t catch his name but was entranced by the contradiction made manifest in front of her. A pair of twins with opposing manes and coats; one coat was sky blue with a light pink mane and tail, while the other had the light pink coat with sky blue mane and tail. They were there for only a short period as they were on a lunch break. The only other noticeable pony she could remember meeting was a white Earth pony with a pink mane and tail; she said she was a nurse at the local hospital. Every other ponies face and name, even with her brilliant mind, just seemed to slip past her. They were friendly for the most part; one or two Sunset definitely registered them as fake and had ulterior motives to be there, but she just didn’t care at the moment. She was already a little overwhelmed. There were small mounds of food; pies, cakes, cupcakes, pastries both sweet and savoury, just to point out a few selection. The fruit punch that was available was a shockingly refreshing mixture that thankfully did not contain alcohol. Then again it was lunch time so it was not surprising that alcohol was something that was not added. Then there were the games, just so many different games that people were playing, that adults were playing. Childish games sure but they passed the time and were quite a bit harder than even she thought they’d be; it was almost entertaining. Things were finally beginning to calm down, it was still mid-afternoon and ponies still had work to do; she managed to catch Applejack for some small talk before she left and Rainbow Dash had left even earlier, apparently to go have a nap. It didn’t take long before every party goer had left to go back to their lives; leaving the Cakes, Pinkie pie, herself, and the few ponies that turned into customers for the cakes. “Well thank you Pinkie. That was not something I was expecting. At all. But it was pleasant and I did indeed get to meet a lot of the town this way. I’m not sure I know even half of the faces I met today but still.” Sunset was using her magic to gather up confetti that had been launched earlier. From a cannon. “No thanks are necessary; giving parties is my special talent, it’s what I enjoy doing and I’m good at it. But as you said it is a great way to meet people. I didn’t expect you to remember everypony, that’s my job, but people are used to you now and will feel less nervous when interacting with you. No offence but you can be quite intimidating.” That caused Sunset to blink in confusion, “I’m intimidating?” “Well yeah, you’re tall and clearly strong both magically and physically; I honestly do wonder if you really are just a librarian. Your face is always impassive with so few flicks of emotion running through it; it leaves ponies scared you might be somepony worse than you really are. “I’m not intimidated by you of course; I knew when I first lay eyes on you that you’re a good pony at heart. Perhaps a little stuck in her ways, but a good pony.” Pinkie was holding open several rubbish bags and pointing out what piece of rubbish went into which bag; she seemed happy that she wasn’t the only one tiding up. Sunset on the other hand was in a small conflict with herself. One part said to tell Pinkie a little of her past, the part of her accident; this was the instinctual part of her. The logical side of herself said it was far too soon to trust even that obvious secret to somepony she just barely knew. “I just want to help ponies; make them laugh and come together as friends. I know not everypony will agree with me on that goal, but I’m sure it’s the best way to do things in the end. Even doctors say that laughter is the best medicine; so why not try it on something less complicated than brain surgery.” Such a naïve and innocent view of the world; but Sunset could see a sliver of wisdom in those words; she just had to look at today. So many ponies had happily engaged with her in conversation, regardless if she intimidated them, or they were jealous of her like Rainbow Dash said they would be. Not all of them were her friends, not all of them were going to be her friend, but they understood her just a little now. And understanding goes a long way to prevent hatred. Damn, she had to say something. “Sigh, Pinkie I don’t really want this to get out; it’s a sensitive topic about myself, but I think you may need to know. When I was a filly I was in an accident, and managed to hit my head in a bad way. What most doctors thought to be a concussion was worse than that. It damaged the area of my brain that processes emotions. I literally cannot, emotionally, remember any encounter I have. If I have emotions they are so diluted they may as well not exist for most things. I have received training to help mitigate this and my mentor has always said I have good instincts but honestly it is a lot of hard work.” Pinkie was looking at her with a sad smile, it was an expression not made out of understanding, or of sympathy really. Possibly of acceptance, but Pinkie’s question stop the train of thought. “Is the hard work worth it?” That was a question that Sunset had never asked herself before. It was a simple one and should be easy to answer, easy to even lie about; but she thought it through, and used her instincts as best she could. “Well, I know I make too many mistakes with emotions on even simple greetings. As you said I scare ponies without me even realising I’m doing it. Being friendly and nice certainly makes aspects of living in society easier too, even if they are fake. But, honestly, I think it is worth the effort. It is certainly hard, but I am still learning, and I hope to get better at it. I think coming here will go a long way to helping me.” Pinkie was smiling at her now. A small simple smile, that spoke far more than words ever could. “Then I am glad to have properly met you Sunset Shimmer. If you need a new coach when it comes to having fun and being silly, then I’m your pony. But if you’re ok with it I may have somepony in mind that could help you with being kind and gentle. She’s incredibly shy and I will probably need some time to build her up to it. But I promise you there will be no better pony for those lessons; just be patient with her, and try to understand if there are times she just cannot do it.” “But I know all about kindness. The Mayor was kind enough to give me a care package; I’m helping you clean up, you giving me a welcome to Ponyville party. Aren’t those things kindness?” “You helping out is probably the closest out of those examples to actual kindness, but really you’re confusing it with generosity. That’s why you need a teacher in kindness. As I said though, I’ll need to build up her courage before anything can happen with it, so it’ll be a week or two probably. But what do you say?” “You think I need these lessons?” Why was Sunset even contemplating this idea, she already had lessons in emotion understanding and manipulation. So what if it was light on kindness. “Hmm, think of it like this. Your information is incomplete. You have knowledge of all the other emotions and can use that to understand ponies; but since you do not know about kindness, your, umm model? Yeah. Your model of pony behaviour is incomplete and wrong and therefor will influence your decisions with incomplete data. Data is a word you use right?” ‘…Is she a genius or something? That makes far too much sense for just thinking it up off the top of her head.’ “All right, Pinkie. You make a really good point; my understanding of ponies will be incomplete without knowing all of the emotions to at least a logical degree. If your friend is willing, I would like to understand kindness better.” “Oh, Sunset, you’ve made the right choice. I promise you. I don’t think the lessons will be hard. They’ll probably just be chats with tea, and hopefully cake.” Sunset was wrapped up in another bone crushing hug that blocked her view of everything but pink fur and mane. When she was able to pull back, Sunset had to blink. Somehow all the remaining decorations and party supplies that were still up, about a third of them remained, had been tidied up in the few seconds she couldn’t see. “Now I know you want to help some more, but really I’ve got things under control. So why don’t you just head to the Golden Oak Library and get it set up for your first customers to arrive, probably tomorrow.” “Wh. Bu. Huh?” Suddenly Rainbow Dash’s warning about ponies going insane trying to understand the madness that was Pinkie Pie came to mind. It would be so easy to get wrapped up in this enigma; to try and peel back even a single layer. “Y-Yeah. I, I think that might be good for me right now. You know, I’m a little overwhelmed with all the emotions that have been running around. Thanks again for the party and for giving me a teacher in kindness. Good bye Pinkie, until next time. Oh, GOOD BYE MR AND MRS CAKE. IT WAS NICE TO MEET YOU.” She heard a faint reply from a room further back into the shop, and the smile on Pinkie’s face said she appreciated the effort, even if she was rubbing one of her ears. Sunset had the grace to look a little bashful before turning and leaving the bakery.