While Formosa trotted around Ponyville, a relatively small town in comparison to most other cities of Equestria, it still surprised him that plenty much happens around here that are… well, unique to this particular town. Although that is to be expected when this is entire world is a ‘unique experience’ within itself, to begin with, there are always minute details of change that add a bit of touch in the greater scheme of things, something that he had learned to appreciate as he grew older and experienced in the field he had been gifted.
Trotting to who knows where, he, by some chance, just happened upon to stumble and regroup with Hatt and Write, who seemed to be having a pleasant time with each other’s company.
“… and that’s as far as the history we both share in his company, at least from a mostly public perspective,” Hatt said, his professional tone being replaced with a much more casual one as he got to talk and got know to Write better, the fruits of a growing friendship perhaps? “Of course, Winger is still new to Equestria, having been through much worse I hear, so you know… give the lad some time to adjust, just like you.”
“Wow…” was all Write could say, impressed at both the knowledge and considerably ‘long’ history that both stallions have shared and been let in the know, “I… never even thought the business could be that overly complicated, no wonder he hired you to manage the Equestrian branch. Life really is much simpler here in Equestria…” She said in a somewhat somber tone as she, again, reflected on the whole of Equestria.
And as the pair walked, they just as quickly noticed the stallion with who they were supposed to meet up. Although they had parted way a few hours ago, it turned quite to be a surprise for all of them as they approached one another. The only one missing from the original group was Loose Winger, but he could arrive at another time, no doubt taking his time.
“Ah, I see you two are having a lovely time, I assume we have somewhere to stay?” Formosa asked, eyes darting around in case he was being followed, but still listening with intent should something interesting arise.
“Well… Yes, sir, we have somewhere to stay…” Hatt said, hesitation now setting in as he hesitated to break the news while his boss was away.
“Well, since I assume Write is with you, I guess it’s a matter of space, yes? Or is it something much more severe?”
“Well, yes but actually no…” Hatt said, trailing off as his eyes darted around, be it out of fear or ingenuity, his brain was trying to find ways on how to drop the news to his boss without it seemingly being a big deal, which of course, it was one, “as it stands, sir, um… the Royal Guards kinda had a ‘hit n run’ session today in town, and they just so happened to stumble across and ‘inspect’ our original safe house…”
“Of course, you found a solution, correct? It would really real unfortunate if you didn’t.” Formosa interjected, his voice becoming a bit sinister as he said this. He had trusted Hatt on the fact that this setback would not be a major one, and really, he had other things to do apart from just teaching his soon-to-be new protégé the ropes of his business.
“Of course sir,” He responded, finally regaining the confidence he needed to say it bluntly, “And the Royal Guards, thankfully, didn’t find anything incriminating in the safe house, although they had apparent orders to keep in ‘under-investigation’, so for the time being, the princesses, I think, had provided us with some… places to stay for the time being… I think the Princesses of Friendship wants to talk with you sir since she insisted we use the extra rooms in her palace and dorms of her school…” trailing off, hoping his boss wouldn’t fully notice the tone he had as he trailed off and quickly said the last bit.
Breathing a sigh of annoyance and quick death glare that faded in a near-instant, Formosa didn’t let this completely slide, although this change of arrangement was mostly an inconvenience, if it meant things would remain and proceed smoothly as before with limited change from the original plan, then so be it, he’ll just have to adapt.
“Also, I think the Royal Guards had suspended your ID for transportation! So leaving Ponyville by train, or any form for that matter, I think, won't be an option, I even overheard say that you were under a list of some sort.” Write said glee, thinking it would most likely help to say that to him, unable to catch the surprised and pained glare that Hatt gave to her direction as she said this.
But thankfully for the stallion, Formosa seemed to know more and understood this before hoof, “I guess finding incriminating evidence in a safe house isn’t enough for them, they’ll probably say it’s a ‘safety inspection’ for the engine or something. Really, they’re just trying to one-up the company. Then again, it isn’t really the first time this happened, so different reason probably.” His voice was more of annoyance at the fact this seemed to have happened more than enough times for him to try and resolve.
Although to his pleasant surprises, he won’t be the only one out of the group to bring in new news.
“YO! Formosa!” A voice called out, the voice belonging to a familiar pegasus who was waving a hoof up to gain the group’s attention as he hovered a few inches off the ground, “Check this out! I can fuckin FLY!” he said with pure joy in his voice, without care to whoever heard him despite deep down knowing he had the ability to do so in the first place.
Loose Winger was for the most part of his life, “grounded” and mostly glided when he had the opportunity while he stayed and served with “The Flickers” from Equestria and beyond. Of course, that all changed when he got the switch to becoming Formosa’s bodyguard, and while he was away doing a bit of sight-seeing with Rarity, he had the opportunity to come across the Rainbow Pegasus herself, Rainbow Dash, who, after finding the stallions predicament, took a bit of kind laughter and had a little banter with him (after all, she did know someone with a similar predicament and inability to fly like him), although much to his surprise, through visual learning and a bit of word advice and encouragement from her, somehow managed to take a few inches off the ground, something he knew he could do but never had the proper opportunity to practice and improve upon, being a bodyguard for caravans and other important creatures, and recently having to stick close with Formosa to protect him, it usually entailed him to stay grounded as he went around in buildings with tight turners and limited space as he did his job.
“Sh-Shh-Shhh,” Hatt said, forcing the pegasus to ground himself as he motioned him to keep down, which the pegasus obliged with, sudden embarrassment at the fact that he was essentially acting like a foal in public, even if it was just for a short moment.
Now looking around, and thankfully, although their group received a bit of attention earlier, it had mostly dissipated and everyone (there was the occasional yak, griffin, or something) had just resumed to what they were doing as if nothing out of the ordinary happened, and for the most part, the group remained silent as they trotted from place to place.
But alas, it would be interrupted by the grumbling of a stomach, signaled the group that one of them was hungry, and when all eyes landed on the most unexpected of ponies, a flustered front was all Write could give before she tried but stammered her reasoning,
“I-I haven’t eaten anything since the train trip… ok…” she said, face staring down out of embarrassment, “I-it was very tiring, I usually eat when I’m this tired…” although she knew she can’t help it, just the 1 on 1 session with her new employer aboard the train had drained her more than what she was willing to admit.
Giving sympathetic vibes, Hatt and Winger practically felt this mare’s plight on a much more personal level than they realized, they themselves undergoing the same process of employment under Formosa. And with a quick glance to each other and a united look towards their boss that screamed of pleading “sorrow”, they all silently agreed to treat this mare to some food, even if Formosa was reluctant to attend such matter, but he still understood and had nothing better to do, so he allowed it.
Arriving and entering an establishment called “Sugarcube Corner”, and the group found it both welcoming vivid to look at. Indeed this was a unique take on the bakery idea, taking it to the next level. And as they entered, the iconic ringing of a bell that signaled the arrival of new customers was heard, and to Formosa’s surprise, the bakery was larger than what it appeared to be, and a decent selection of treats was, surely in his mind, the most diverse that he has seen, after all, he hand been around Ponyville much, but to see this much, well, he greedily eyed a box of brownies that were at the display counter.
Something Formosa would never admit was his keen eye for chocolate treats, he enjoyed the flavorful taste and he would not deny, vanilla came in a close second. And to indulge in his greed was something he moderated at a constant, knowing full well the importance of his mostly obscured history that should remain as is. But, his thoughts would be halted as the group approached the counter and began to order whatever caught their eye.
And surprisingly, the owners were actually very nice, with the introduction between new faces in town being quick and apparently a heads up about one of the element bearers in town, Formosa would also find some good deals that, as he would simply put it, were well worth it. Evermore so when the group got several free cupcakes from the Cake’s as a “welcome to Ponyville” kind of gift.
After what seemed like a couple of minutes after they had ordered at the front counter, the group had found themselves settled in a table for 4 outside the bakery, chatting about history and the fields they occupied, fulfilling Write's curiosity as she greedily consumed the knowledge and information that they told her as they waited for their simple orders to arrive.
“… Well, speaking of adventures…” Write interjected Loose, who was in the middle of recapping the history behind one of his many grounded adventures, “if memory serves right, we still haven’t talked about the big event that happened recently.”
This remark instinctively made Hatt and Loose wince at that, not because it hurts them in any particular manner, but instead because they actually knew that they had to partially lie about their history in Equus’s. This was not to say they regretted what they are about to do, far from it, it was part of business, nothing personal as always, but it was something they couldn’t keep doing because eventually, someone would catch on if this continues. Then again, some fates are best left in the annals of history. So, another sin of omission would be committed, they had no problem in committing such since they had grown used to it for more times than most are willing to count to.
“Are you sure you want to know?” Hatt asked, fixing the iconic top hat that he wore to better see the mare’s reaction.
“I mean, if you don’t want to, you probably have a good reason for it,” she replied, although she still expected them to tell her, not out of a sense of need, but of responsibility and comradely, a fact she wasn’t fully banking on.
“Oh nononono,” Winger said, a bit too fast as Write, and even Formosa, noticed, but paid no heed and allowed him to continue, “it would be in our pleasure to tell you what we’ve been up to when Equestria was… attacked, by the legion of doom, right Hatt?” he said, eyeing Hatt to gain his support, which of course, the stallion nodded with confidence.
“What about Formosa?” She asked.
“Well, the boss doesn’t like it when he shares a story, he can get a bit… emotional, sometimes,” Hatt explained, making it seem as though Formosa had a turbulent past, which was somewhat true to some extent, “besides, we only really have a quick explanation anyway, but I can tell you this sole fact, we had plans for any event to come, even the ‘Legion of Doom’.” He said, his tone some becoming much more condescending, probably just to spite those villains, Write thought. Which, then again, tipped her off in the wrong way for a short moment.
And with that, Hatt and Winger took turns in explaining what had transpired between themselves and the company, either in relation to the events or while the events between the ‘Legion of Doom’ had transpired, surely, one, that would last a full explanation while they ate the food that would arrive later on and continue until nightfall, with all of them having but finished by the time they all went to their own rooms provided by the Princess of Friendship herself.
The only one to be left out, or to be exact, the one who had left was Formosa, who, by the time they had left Sugarcube Corner, was nowhere to be found, but the two stallions reassured Write that he probably did a quick errand or something, usually within the reason of a “late-night shift”.
To also add a bit of sugar on top of the icing (which is unnecessary, I know), the Element of Laughter hadn’t shown herself yet, but then again, with Rarity having been in Canterlot, one could assume that she merely went back to Ponyville to fetch something when she joined them for the train ride down, meaning that majority of important ponies or maybe even creatures, were in Canterlot for a big event. Now, Twilight did send a message through Spike to inform them of the revelation earlier, after all, someone had to keep the Castle clean and a major degree of communication between them all.
Something that our dear humans already knew of, and one, that they would anticipate dearly, since this particular dragon was unique, at that, his fate was sealed from the moment of his conception, ever since Formosa’s boss dropped that egg at Celestia's front balcony. One that Formosa, in the morning, would like to meet and have a talk with, growth was important after all. So as they approached the palace (and by extension, the School of Friendship), they saw the purple dragon, surrounded by the young 6 and Starlight Glimmer, waiting for them in the steps as they approached without a hint of hesitation, as the sun went down...
---(From the Author: From this point on, this is just a bit of extra, this part will serve as a narrative background for what Hatt and Loose told Write, but not necessarily what they told her, (instead, it would basically be an AU version of the “End of the End” ep, that sticks to how the canon mostly went down, just with what Hatt and Loose being, well, observers), you could skip this entire part if you’d like.)---
A once empty and quiet field was all Hatt and Loose could see. The final train, at least specifically for ponies like Hatt and Loose had just left moments ago, speeding away but was sure to return once everything subsided, but these two did not join the retreat, not out of bravery, but out of a command given to them. The two had long noticed that Formosa wasn’t with them this time, the leader and role model that these two would look up to was nowhere to be found, but they knew exactly what to do, and to a partial extent, why.
They stayed upon a hill, overlooking afield from where the Legion of Doom and, currently at least, where the mane 6 (Spike included) stood, the fierce winds of the Windigos being a mild inconvenience to them than anything else.
“So,” Hatt said, his usual top hat being replaced with a bowler hat, he looked at the green fields, knowing this was maybe a test set by his boss's boss, at which point he realized Loose would probably also be in the know, since he knew most of Ponykind, no, scratch that, this whole world, is kinda in a tough spot.
“Do you know how to fly yet?” he asked.
“No, I could only glide from here, and I know the boss would have other plans if he specifically asked us to stay here and observe.”
“Fuckin hell… Why are we even here? Overseeing these Horses? I mean, we are clearly better than this, we could clearly rule over them, and yet high-command still insist to continue these… test I think?” Loose followed from his earlier statement, although he questioned that notion as the mane 6 and the Legion of Doom started to battle on in the open field, something he could easily intervene in, and no doubt, with help with the limited human tech that he was provided with, also win by a thread.
“From what I heard, every informant went through this test for each of the world’s we have created, one way or another at least. I think it was infamously named the ‘Test of Omission‘.”
“So we are supposed to do nothing, but do you know why?”
As they spoke, they also keenly watched the action in front of them from the hill they were on, simply sitting and, for Hatt, internally writing a manifesto on the events as they unfolded. Admittedly, they had only recently arrived in this part of this world, both of them, with Loose having arrived in a much later date than Hatt, and they had agreed to go through these events with the knowledge of foresight. Hatt having such an unprecedented talent to remember such events with considerable detail was, to put it simply, impressive and terrifying as they continued. They had heard from their boss, Formosa, that these villains, although not as far going as some humans might be, we still impressive in terms of their abilities, at least for the standards of this world.
“I think it’s for the roles we are about to fill in,” Hatt replied, a bit somber at a vague memory, “although compared to the other worlds that we could and would have been sent to help in supervising, I think we might play a much more active role in here.” He finished, his mind now highlighting some dates and errands he would have to do after this.
While they quietly talked, they merely stared in the field, and they saw that the Legion of Doom had gained the upper hand, but as they held the small dragon known as Spike as a threat, they saw Chrysalis, no matter small or far they may have been, turn a quick glance at their direction, followed by Cozy Glow, but didn’t follow through with anything. Yet they knew, they’d been spotted, yet they did nothing to follow the gesture, continuing to observe as the entire event went down.
A Deus ex-machine event was about to occur and Hatt and Loose were about to witness it go down with very own eyes, with the best elevation and seats to witness it, a mix between a grin and annoyance was what covered their face for what was about to happen. This was due to both knowing the events beforehand and deep down, knowing this was only something that could be replicated in a not so cruel world, one with gods for that matter.
With all the technology that humanity had at that point, from what Charles and James knew at least, there was always a shortcoming. A faith that could truly be proven and ease the restless mind, something that, at least to humanity from that point, could never fully assure to themselves, but one that they could give out to their own creations. They were, despite the nature of these worlds being for the purpose of science and expansion, to the core, a result of Humanity's need to both create