//------------------------------// // Nosebleed: Hit the Ground Galloping // Story: Hold It Together // by OverUnderCookened //------------------------------// At sometime around sunset in Ponyville, Lapis Print stepped out of a train car and heaved a sigh of relief. He’d never expected to be glad about coming back here, but then again, he hadn’t expected to encounter a mimic, either. Lyra and Bon Bon weren’t at the station, so Lapis started directly back toward his shop, with Nikki on his shoulder and artifice on his mind. The tools in his saddlebags and suitcase were heavy, but he found their weight reassuring - they meant that he had options, or rather the equipment to make himself some options. Lapis glanced toward the Everfree as he turned onto his street. The ruins where the Elements of Harmony were found… what would I want for a trip inside? Maybe an archeologist’s toolkit, or maybe just a really big, sturdy crowbar… Lapis reached his shop and stopped, just in front of the door. His shop looked exactly as it had when he left - the paint was still red, the windows were still yellowed, the notice-board was still empty save for his notice - but there was a package on his doorstep. Frowning, Lapis levitated it up for a closer look, and found it to be a slim, dense book - one that had a crisp, yellow piece of folded parchment tied neatly onto it with a narrow, taut length of twine. Frowning, Lapis unfolded the slip of parchment, which revealed a paragraph of small, neat lettering. Lapis cocked an eyebrow, exchanged a brief glance with Nikki, then began to read through the opening sentences: Dear Lapis Print, Hello! We’ve never been introduced, but my name is Twilight Sparkle. “Uh-oh,” Lapis muttered, his ears flopping backward on his head as his eyes widened. Nikki shot him a quizzical look, but Lapis ignored it, snatching up the book and glancing around the street to make sure he wasn’t being watched. Then he darted inside his house, Nikki fluttering her wings for balance as Lapis dragged her along, shutting the door behind him and scanning the front room of the shop. Nothing looks tampered with, no hoofprints, no tables or chairs out of place… doesn’t mean much, though. Gotta check the rest of the building. “This letter’s from Twilight,” Lapis said, as Nikki settled down atop one of the tables. “Watch the streets, I’ll search the house.” Nikki cocked an eyebrow, but nodded. A few frantic minutes of scrambling later, Lapis had swept the entire house for anything suspicious, and had come up empty-handed. Satisfied but still panicking, he hurried down into the secret basement, securing the closet door closed behind him and unpacking his tools onto their hooks on the workbench and forge. He was a little too hurried, and he managed to scrape one of his knees on the ragged edge of a broken hammer, but he got the job done in less than a minute. Then, after once again checking to make sure the basement was empty except for himself, he resumed reading the note: I’m writing this note for a few reasons. When Mayor Mare asked me to compile a damage report after the Parasprite attack on Ponyville, I ended up working out that there was also a Harmonic Cascade that day, and that you were most likely the pony responsible. But don’t worry - if the Mayor knows it was you, she doesn’t seem angry about it. Which brings me to the second reason I’m writing this letter: I’m sorry. “What?” Lapis muttered. When the Parasprite swarm first descended on Ponyville, they were tearing through the local crops. I casted a spell to stop them from eating any of the food, and so they started devouring everything else, which I suspect includes something very important of yours. I’m sorry I did that. I’ve had a Cascade before, they’re terrifying, and I feel terrible for causing you enough grief to have one, too. Attached to this letter, please find a token of my apology: Your Heart, Your Magic and You by Dr. Tranquil Meadows. This is the book that made sure I never had a second Cascade, and I hope it will do the same for you. I found chapters six and seven especially helpful, though two and three are worth reading first if you’re unfamiliar with the terminology. I understand that this won’t replace what the Parasprites ate, and I am deeply, truly sorry for your loss. I hope that this book will still help you, and that you can find it in your heart to forgive me. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle Slowly, Lapis folded the letter back up, then set it down atop his workbench. He added the book to his small, growing stack, then he sat down to think. On the one hand, he appreciated the letter. Lapis had suspected that Twilight had something to do with the waves of magic that had altered the Parasprites’ appetites, but he hadn’t confirmed it. The book was a welcome surprise, one he’d be sure to read through at his earliest convenience. And the apology… wasn’t unwelcome, either. On the other hand, Twilight had just made contact. She knew where Lapis lived and what he did for a living, and she’d even managed to guess an uncomfortably large portion of his emotional state. There were two things that she might not have figured out: whether she knew what he looked like, and whether she knew that he was the same pony from the water tower. Lapis had officially altered the timeline, and if he wanted to avoid altering it any further, he needed a new plan, fast. Unfortunately, it was now several minutes past sunset. Between the time, and the events that he’d woken up to in Amberhoof, Lapis could practically feel the exhaustion creeping into his limbs as the last of his brain cells settled down for the evening. If the Summer Sun Celebration had taught him one thing, it was that he basically went haywire after sundown, and trying to come up with a plan during that time was bound to backfire. So, Lapis stood up, then climbed the basement stairs with a grimace on his face, fully intending to go to bed and come up with a solution in the morning. Lapis stepped out of the closet, and paused when he heard a knock at the window. He looked over and saw Lyra smiling and waving at him through the glass, Bon Bon close behind. He opened the door, and Lyra was the first one through. “Hey, welcome back!” “Hey, Lyra. Hey, Bon Bon,” Lapis said, shutting the door behind Bon Bon. “Did I miss anything?” “Well, the lemon meringue cookies have been selling great, and Applejack’s little sister filled my saddlebags with apples and tried to make me pay for them,” Bon Bon said, rolling her eyes, “but no, nothing big. How was your vacation?” Lyra took a seat by the table. “Yeah, what was Amberhoof like? I’ve never actually been there…” Lapis’ expression must have been enough of an answer, because Lyra took one look and trailed off. Bon Bon, likewise, shot Lapis a skeptical look. “That bad?” “That bad,” Lapis muttered. “I managed to buy myself a new set of tools, but… well, yeah, that bad. …Hey, Bon Bon, you know that chunk of wax you knocked out of my attic?” Bon Bon’s eyebrows shot up, then her face went carefully blank as she, too, sat down at Lapis’ table. “Did you find more of it there?” “No,” Lapis said. “But whatever creature produces that wax wouldn’t happen to be a mimic, would it?” Bon Bon frowned, and Lyra glanced over at her, confused. “I can’t say I know what a mimic is. Would you mind giving me a description?” “A kind of monster,” Lapis said, “one that I’d thought didn’t really exist. In the… stories, they can transform themselves to look like inanimate objects. They’re known for looking like chests inside old abandoned ruins, but they could take the shape of anything else that would get an unwary explorer to walk up to them. Their surface is sticky as superglue, so once you touch it, you can’t get away, and the mimic reveals itself - lots of eyes, a long, sticky tongue that can shoot out like a chameleon’s, and big, sharp teeth.” “What happens if you don’t get unstuck fast enough?” Bon Bon asked. Lapis shrugged. “I didn’t touch it, so I never got stuck in the first place. But in the stories, what usually happens is ‘chomp.’” Lyra’s eyes widened, her ears tucking back, and Bon Bon shook her head. “Then no, it’s not the same type of monster. There aren’t many bestiaries that mention Changelings, the creatures that make that wax. But those bestiaries all agree on one thing: Changelings don’t eat ponies.” “Wait, hang on,” Lyra said, raising her hooves. “Lapis, you found one of these things?!” “Well, yeah,” Lapis said. “In the inn where I stayed, there was this broken chest at the foot of the bed - dark brown wood, almost reddish. It was broken, and I was right there, so I fixed it up with a Mend-All. That took a little more out of me than usual, but I didn’t really think about it until later. “The next morning, I thought it might’ve gotten moved during the night, so I stuck a note to the front of it to help me keep track of which way it was facing. Then, as I went about my business around town, I kept spotting weird quirks about all the furniture around town - almost every single piece of furniture was broken in some way, and the ones that weren’t broken were all that same dark brown color. I only ever saw one dark brown piece at once, either - now that I think about it, all of them might have been the same mimic. I was getting a little freaked out by then, but I got back to my room and got some sleep anyway.” Lapis yawned, then chuckled. “Could do with a good night’s sleep now, actually. It’s been a long day. But I’m not done yet.” “When I woke up this morning, I never actually saw the chest move - but I know it moved. One second it was in the middle of the room, then I blinked, and it was right next to the bed. I was lucky Nikki had come along with me, I owe her a big bag of birdseed,” Lapis added, glancing over at Nikki, who smirked and waved her wing in an aw-shucks sort of gesture. “I guessed that the mimic only wanted to move when it wasn’t being looked at, and Nikki was able to keep an eye on the thing while I finished packing and got out of that room. I spotted it again while I was in the lobby, so I guess it can open doors, but I haven’t seen it since.” Bon Bon took all this in with the same carefully blank expression, and slowly nodded as Lapis finished his explanation. “And besides the movement, you never actually saw any features that might imply it was alive? No teeth, eyes, tongue, legs, nothing?” Lapis shook his head. “No.” “And when you put that note onto the front of it, it didn’t eat you?” “…No,” Lapis said, and he felt his brow furrow as the gears began to turn in his head. “I actually had to use an oat from my bowl of oatmeal to stick on the note.” “Y’know,” Lyra said, cocking her head, “it almost sounds like it was a friendly mimic. I mean, don’t get me wrong,” she added, waving her hooves, “the whole ‘only-moving-when-you-blink’ thing is really creepy, but you were asleep in the same room as the thing, twice. If it wanted to get you, it could’ve… but it didn’t.” “That was the next thing I was going to mention,” Bon Bon said, nodding. “What got my attention, though, was that you never saw any evidence that it was really a creature, instead of being just some enchanted object.” Lapis frowned. “Yeah. I guess I was too freaked out to really think about it, but now that I do, I’m starting to wonder if it’s the same kind of mimic as the ones I remember.” Lyra’s eyes widened, and she gasped. “Hey, wait a second! Don’t Mend-All spells only work on stuff? Like, they can fix tables and chairs and whatever else, but you can’t use them to heal plants, ponies, or anything that’s alive?” “I… think so,” Lapis said. “I’ve never tried to use a Mend-All on a living thing, though…” He paused, lifting his left front leg and glancing down at where he’d scraped his knee while trying to put away the new tools. “And to be honest, I wouldn’t even know where to start. Like, if this were a cut, I would just try to smush it shut, but that’s not gonna work here.” Bon Bon shook her head. “It probably wouldn’t work, even if you knew how to try. I don’t know the details, but if you’re going to affect a living thing with magic, you need to adjust your magic around that fact - that’s why it’s really hard for a unicorn to pick up another pony with their telekinesis.” “Oh yeah, I remember that!” Lyra said, perking up. “Living creatures, ponies especially, are their own stores of mana. When you try and grab somepony with your horn, you’re trying to move all of their magic, with just a little of yours. It’s like carrying a big rock in a bag made of wet paper - you’ve gotta be really slow and gentle, or they’ll just pop right through your field and fall ofter a second or two. There was this whole nursery rhyme at my kindergarten about a unicorn learning to catch his clumsy friend, it’s actually…” Lyra’s ears half-cocked back. “…kinda dark now that I think about it, but yeah, that’s the basic idea.” Lapis grinned. “Yeah, I’ve made that discovery a time or two. Anyway, do either of you have any big events coming up?” Bon Bon shook her head, and Lyra shrugged. “Nope, nothing on my calendar.” “Just the usual,” Bon Bon added. “Gumdrops, lollipops, and other assorted confections. …Although, I’d be willing to bet Big Mac is getting busy, what with cider season coming up soon.” “You’re really looking forward to that cider, huh?” Lyra said, giggling. Bon Bon smirked. “Absolutely.” ‘Have you ever been unsure of how to…’ No, that’s too direct. ‘In the two weeks it’s been since your abbreviated visit to Ponyville…’ No, I can’t do that, either, not without explaining the Parasprites. ‘I think that somepony is avoiding me, and the other Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Applejack says it’s just because we’re heroes, and that makes us intimidating to the average pony, but for some reason, I can’t seem to believe it…’ “No, no, no!” Twilight groaned, then let her head fall onto her writing desk. Her horn narrowly avoided spearing a heavy, dense volume titled "How I Learned to Love the Spotlight." A few similar volumes were stacked on the corner of her desk, and more were strewn about the bedroom, but Twilight wasn’t in the mood to read any of them. “Twilight?” Spike asked, walking into the bedroom. “What’s the matter?” “I still don’t know how to write that letter to the Princess,” Twilight muttered. Spike cocked an eyebrow, his ear fins perking up in concern. “The one about the strange unicorn?” “Mm-hm.” Twilight lifted her head off her desk. “I’ve thought through at least two dozen openings by now, but I just can’t get anything to sound right!” Spike frowned, scratching his head. “Well… have you tried writing about that?” Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t know, Spike. ‘Dear Princess Celestia, I want to write this letter, but I’m really not sure how to write it. I can’t really think of any way to bring it up that doesn’t sound a little paranoid, or that won’t mention the swarm of magic bugs I’m partially responsible for. Could I ask for some tips? Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.’” Spike shook his head, waving his arms. “What? No, not like that. Just something like… ‘Dear Princess Celestia, I’ve thought of dozens of ways to bring up the reason I’m writing this letter, but none of them fit, so I’ll get right to the point.’ And then, y’know…” Spike shrugged. “Get to the point!” “Oh.” Twilight hastily grabbed a quill and copied down Spike’s opening, then set it back down in the inkwell. “Thanks, Spike. Honestly, I don’t know why I didn’t come up with that sooner!” “That’s what I’m here for!” Spike said, smiling, then hesitating as Twilight turned back to stare down at the letter. “…You’re not sure how to write the rest of the letter too, huh?” “No,” Twilight sighed. “I think I must’ve gotten too used to writing friendship reports; I just… don’t feel like I know what I’m doing yet.” Spike frowned, his brow furrowing in concentration as he began to gather up the additional books strewn across Twilight’s bed. “Well, what do you know?” “I know he’s avoiding me and the Elements, but I don’t know why, not for sure,” Twilight said. “I know he’s a unicorn, but I don’t know if he’s the same unicorn from the water tower, not for sure. I know he’s a repair-pony, and where his shop is, but I don’t know if he’s ever actually in that shop. And I know he and Big Mac talk sometimes, but I still don’t know if I’ve ever seen him!” “Huh,” Spike said, poking his head around the stack of books he now carried, which was now taller than he was. “Gosh, Twilight. This is really bugging you, huh?” Twilight sighed, then smirked, her ears flopping back as she stared down at her desk. “I guess I wouldn’t be writing the Princess if it weren’t. …I don’t know. This one feels different, Spike, and I just can’t put my hoof on why.” Spike shrugged again, lugging the stack of books out of the room. “I mean, I don’t think you’ve ever dropped Pinkie or Rainbow Dash off the Ponyville water tower. Maybe that’s it?” Twilight blushed, her ears flopping halfway back on her head. “…Maybe. I guess I’ll sleep on it, and see if that helps.” “Isn’t it a little early?” Spike asked, dusting off his hands as he walked back into the room. “You usually stay up reading for a while.” “Well, yes,” Twilight said. “But I’ll be up a little earlier than usual tomorrow, too. My thaumometer’s been giving some strange readings since last night, and if my hygrometer and calendar have anything to say about it, then it’s gotta be something to do with wild magic blowing in from the Everfree. Most ponies know that the clouds in the Everfree move by themselves, but it’s much less common knowledge that the seasons there do the same. As such, it’s not nearly as well-documented a phenomenon, and any readings I can collect are bound to shed new light on the study of wild magic!” Spike quickly stifled a yawn, so quickly that Twilight almost didn’t see it. “Well, I guess I’d better make sure all your instruments haven’t moved anywhere. Goodnight, Twilight!” “Goodnight, Spike,” Twilight said, as Spike shut the door. Twilight yawned, then clambered into her bed and shut off the lights. Then, after a few seconds, she glanced around, her eyes wide and her ears perked upright, scanning the whole room before she ignited her horn. A single book floated out from beneath her writing desk, the words "Wild Magic - Ancient Shapes and Traditions of Thought" glimmering on the spine. The book levitated under the covers, and Twilight wasted no time pulling them over her head like a tent. A few seconds later, her horn began to glow, and for a long time afterward, the only sound in the slowly-dimming bedroom was the hushed rasp of turning pages. When Lapis stepped out of his front door the following morning with his order slips in his saddlebags, the weather that greeted him as he stepped out the front door wasn’t… as hot as he’d been expecting. It was still hot, humid, and buggy, even though the sun was only barely peeking over the horizon, its first rays setting the clouds gleaming like gold foil in the amethyst-tinged skies. There were still only a few puffs of cloud, so that the skies above Ponyville would promise a sunny day - if Ponyville weather wasn’t mostly controlled, anyway. But there was a breeze pushing its way up from the south, gently pressing between the houses and down the streets like a hurried pedestrian through a crowd, and on that breeze was a faint, crisp chill. That chill wasn’t quite cold, yet it was still a little too cold to be merely cool - just enough to set the tips of Lapis’ ears and nose tingling as the breeze tousled his mane. It was the promise of fall, far distant and yet approaching, and it was enough to make Lapis consider going back home to drink a second cup of coffee out in front of his store. Sadly, that wasn’t in the cards for today - or rather, it wasn’t in the order slips. Lapis had once again built up a backlog in his three days’ absence, and though it was too early yet for either roofing jobs or interior work, there were still a few fence gates, mailboxes, and other exterior odds and ends that he could put back together. Lapis paused in front of a house near the center of town, glancing down at one of his order slips before checking the doorstep of the building. He spotted a welcome mat with a torn corner sitting in front of the door - one telekinetic push and a flash of light later, the mat was fixed, and Lapis was on his way again. As he went, he thought about Twilight’s letter, and how he was supposed to deal with it. The odds were good that she might try to make a follow-up visit, and Lapis needed a game plan for what to do if it happened. Moving would be the simplest option, but it’s out of the question - I’d be giving up the secret basement. I could also try to fake a new identity… but that’s probably a crime, and seeing as one of my friends might be some kind of special horses unit, getting on the wrong side of the law is a bad plan. Lapis jerked the post of a street sign back into shape, his Cutie Mark flaring with warmth for only a moment before the chill morning breeze brushed the heat aside, then sighed. I could also try spending every waking moment racking my brains for every last detail I can remember from the TV show, then base my entire schedule on the whereabouts of Twilight and her friends for the rest of my stay here. Except that would probably drive me insane, and I’d never get anything done. “So why was that my plan?” Lapis muttered. He rounded a corner, bending the chain link on a hanging flowerpot back into shape with half a glance- “Hrf!” “Ope!” -before walking into something that felt remarkably like a curved, fuzzy brick wall, and falling back onto his rump. “Mornin’, Lapis,” said a familiar voice. “Sorry ‘bout that, Ah must’ve been distracted.” “You and me both, Big Mac,” Lapis said, shaking his head and then getting to his hooves. “You’re up early, what’s the occasion?” Big Mac shrugged, seeming completely unharmed by the collision as he gestured to the pair of saddlebags slung over his back. “Ah was makin’ a list in the cider barn, and Ah realized we were missin’ some pieces. Thought Ah could buy them ‘fore the mornin’ rush, but so far, nothin’s open. You?” “Knocking some exterior requests off my pile,” Lapis said. “No roofwork yet, since I don’t wanna wake anypony up, but there’s still plenty of bits and pieces I can fix now.” “Must be a big pile, what with your trip to Amberhoof,” Big Mac noted. “How’d that go? You get the tools you needed?” “I did,” Lapis said, grimacing. “But it wasn’t a vacation, I’ll put it that way.” Big Mac chuckled. “E-yup. …Come to think of it, Ah know just what you mean. Applejack caught me takin’ inventory this mornin, an’ tried to tell me Ah was catchin’ a break out of it. She’s not wrong, but… well, Ah left the math to her back there, and we’ll see whether she changes her tune.” “She’s bad at math?” Lapis asked, cocking an eyebrow. “Nope,” Big Mac said. “She’s decent at it, it just takes her a while to warm up. Right now, Ah imagine she’s still glarin’ down at those numbers, trying to out-stubborn them into doin’ themselves.” “Oh,” Lapis muttered. “Yeah, I’ve tried that before. Sometimes it works.” “For you, maybe. If you got any tips, she might appreciate them,” Big Mac said. “Long as you show you’re not just standin’ by and ‘supervising’ first, anyhow.” A quick jolt of panic shot through Lapis as he recognized the invitation, but he managed to suppress it to a quick twitch of his ears. “Honestly, if I didn’t have so much on my plate, I’d be happy to. As it is…” Lapis glanced down at his list, and winced. “Yeah, definitely not happening today. If she listens to you, try getting her to write it down as she goes, but that’s just about all the help I can spare. …Actually, what’re you missing? Because if it’s tacks, I’ve got about half a million in my supply closet.” “Nope. Just carpentry nails and screws,” Big Mac said. “An’ Ah already know where to get ‘em, but Ah appreciate the offer.” Lapis nodded. “Alright. Well, here’s hoping they open soon.” “E-yup, The main hardware store should, anyhow,” Big Mac said. “Ah’d best be headin’ there now, come to think of it.” “Yeah, I’ve got my own stuff, too,” Lapis said. “See you around, Big Mac!” “See yuh!” Big Mac replied, then he started back down the road in the direction that Lapis had gone. Lapis was on his own way a few moments afterward, and as he walked down the street, he glanced off to one side to bend the torn seam of a gutter back into shape. Because of this, he simply failed to notice two things: the small, dark wooden porch table sitting in front of one of the nearby houses, and the purple unicorn standing in the shadows behind it. Twilight honestly, truly hadn’t meant to spy on the repair-pony’s conversation with Big Mac. She’d been trotting down toward the Everfree from the Golden Oak, with her instruments and notepads levitating to one side and a steaming mug of coffee on the other. Then her thaumometer had suddenly started going haywire, firing off a series of beeps that translated to a slow, repeating two-beat pattern of low-intensity background intent unlike anything she’d ever seen before. Twilight had followed the signal down an alleyway, and was fairly certain she was only inches away from the signal’s source - but she’d forgotten all about it as soon as she’d heard Big Mac say the other pony’s name. Lapis Print, Twilight thought, tuning out the thaumometer as it continued to quietly chime at her side. Unicorn. Creamy-white coat, blue mane and tail, dark brown eyes and corona. Definitely an accomplished caster of some repair spell, though I’m not sure it’s a Mend-All - those usually have a much longer incantation. Suddenly, the thaumometer stopped chiming. Twilight paused, looking down - and realized that the table she’d been standing behind was gone. It only took her a second to put two and two together, and she filed “runaway enchanted table” under her list of things to investigate later. Right now… Twilight stepped out of the alleyway, rounded a corner, and approached Big Mac at a casual trot. By the time that Lapis was done with the exterior jobs, it was late enough in the morning that other ponies were already out and about on the street, so he felt comfortable with getting started on his other jobs. This, it turned out, didn’t afford him a lot of time to think - and even when he tried, he almost got trampled by a trio of fillies carrying what looked like too many musical instruments and a case or two of makeup. After that, he devoted most of his time to looking where he was going. When he returned to his shop that evening and fixed himself some dinner, he still wasn’t sure how to proceed. So, he headed down to his basement and put his new tools and knowledge to the test, making a crude copy of Firefly’s safety bracelet. A little lumpier than his, Lapis thought, looking at the crudely-hammered band of gleaming copper now wrapped around his hoof, still warm to the touch from its time at the forge. But as long as it works… Lapis slowly lowered his hoof toward the hot forge - and with a snap of air and a flash of candle-yellow light, his hoof was suddenly flying away from the forge. Lapis didn’t even have time to grin before his hoof smacked him in the face, knocking him back to the floor. Welp, I guess it works. A short while later, Lapis was back upstairs in his dining room, holding a small cloth bag full of ice to his black eye while he scribbled away at the empty notepad, trying to put together the rune sequence for a larger device of his own. If I use a big iron nub in place of an eye gem, then I should be able to set the whole thing going just by grabbing the iron portion. And after that… well, I’ll need to add a lot of delay runes, to make sure all the quartz gets powered at the same time, but besides that, it should just be a matter of affixing them at the right angles- Lapis was interrupted by the opening notes of something that almost sounded like a rock ballad. Frowning, he glanced out the window with his uncovered eye, and found that there was some kind of show happening near the outskirts of Ponyville. And me without my earbuds. “Look, here are three little ponies,” a little girl’s voice began singing. “Ready to sing for this crowd…” The pitch of the melody grated on Lapis’ nerves like nails down a blackboard, and he felt his ears flatten themselves back against his head at once. “Here we go,” he muttered. “Listen up,” the voice continued, “‘cause here’s our story, I’m gonna sing it…” “Please don’t.” “VERY LOUD!” the singer finished at top volume, now joined by two equally high-pitched companions, and Lapis suddenly realized it was in his best interests to find some kind of hearing protection. Still holding the bag of ice to his eye, he started walking around his house, trying to find which room let the least amount of sound through the walls. His bedroom didn’t work, and the kitchen and bathroom walls might as well have been cardboard for all the soundproofing they had. Lapis didn’t remember the basement until he was halfway down the hall to the guest bedroom, but he wasted no time heading into the closet and down the stairs. As soon as he set his hoof on the first step, the song cut off mid-word, as suddenly and abruptly as if Lapis had hit a ‘pause’ button somewhere. Lapis stopped, removing his hoof and backing up into the closet - and the concert resumed, the little fillies’ voices digging into Lapis’ ears like an especially off-tune trio of referees’ whistles. Frowning, Lapis stepped through the doorway, and again, all sound was abruptly cut off. Back - noise. Forward - no noise. “Doorway must be enchanted,” Lapis muttered, glancing briefly at the frame of the door - and sure enough, there appeared to be a copper panel inscribed with runes on the inside of the archway, only some of which Lapis recognized. He didn’t bother trying to decode them just yet, instead hurrying down the stairway into the blessed silence of the hidden workshop. He took a seat at his workbench, looked down at the paper listing what he’d worked out for the rune sequence, and suddenly found that he couldn’t bring himself to finish it. Lapis groaned, blinking as he pulled his improvised ice pack away from his face and set it atop the workbench. Then, he leaned onto the workbench himself, staring up at the rack of tools hanging above his head. I gotta come up with a new plan. “I’m not moving,” he muttered. “I’m not going to go fully obsessive, and I’m not faking a new identity. Maybe I could just set up an amulet, to let me know when they’re getting nearby?” Lapis briefly checked his runic cheat-sheet, and grimaced. Except there’s no specific rune for “this individual pony, specifically”, because all runes have to specify their targets relative to… He flipped to the section on runes in Trixie’s book on artifice, and quickly found one of the few sections that hadn’t been eaten into unreadability. ‘…Relative to either the device, or to the pony wearing it.’ Closest rune I can get is “the pony that I’m looking at.” So, what do I do here? “If I could start over,” Lapis muttered. “I could stick a plug up my chimney, I wouldn’t need to get those books from Twilight, I could’ve even kept an eye out for Nightmare Moon’s smoke-monsters…” He remembered the night of the Summer Sun Celebration, and something about that evening began to niggle at him. “Nightmare Moon,” Lapis muttered, thinking back to when he’d been standing in the room with the possessed princess, the not-a-pony-anymore, standing to watch her deliver her announcement and praying he didn’t look strange or interesting enough to single out- Lapis felt his eyes snap open as an idea clicked into place, then he slumped forward, letting his forehead thunk against his workbench. “Wow,” he muttered, a smile slowly stretching across his face. “Oh my god, I’m so dumb.” A few moments later, Lapis picked his pencil back up, and started scribbling down the rest of the rune sequence. He had to squint through his black eye, but at this point, he was too happy to care, humming along to the tune in his head. He had a plan again. “Times have changed, and times are strange,” he began to sing, for the first time in almost two months. “Here I come, but I ain’t the same…” Lapis paused, grimaced, and kept writing in silence. “…And how are you feeling this morning, little mole?” Fluttershy asked. Luckily for any observer’s sense of decency, Fluttershy was not addressing any part of her own body. Instead, she was speaking to a more garden-variety mole sitting atop her kitchen table, whose claws had finally grown back to a usable length after more than two weeks of painstaking care. The mole in question waddled over to one of Fluttershy’s pots of herbs, briefly stuck its forepaw into the dirt, and began to rummage around. Fluttershy held her breath as, for a few more moments, the mole continued to dig - then, with a triumphant squeak, the mole pulled free a long, wriggling earthworm. Fluttershy beamed as the mole briefly held the worm aloft, then threw the worm over its shoulder back into the pot. “Wonderful! Now, just remember to look out for any more hard rocks when you go digging-” “FLUTTERSHY!” Pinkie burst through Fluttershy’s door, and Fluttershy eeped and rolled over onto her back, her legs sticking straight up into the air. Pinkie, apparently not noticing either Fluttershy’s terror or the mole’s irritated glare, launched right into a verbal barrage. “If I had to throw you a party, and I mean a really super-duper special party, like an ‘I’m-sorry-I-haven’t-thrown-you-a-party-for-two-months-and-also-welcome-to-Ponyville’ party, how should I do it? Because there might be a new pony in Ponyville that I haven’t been able to throw a party for ever since he got here almost two months ago, and it turns out he’s just as shy as you are, and I really don’t wanna mess things up!” “Oh, hello, Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy said, shakily getting back to her hooves. “I’m sorry, what was it you were asking?” “Advice!” Pinkie shouted, and Fluttershy winced at the noise. “I need some tips on getting a party together!” “…From… me?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes widening. “But… I don’t know anything about parties, Pinkie Pie.” “Oh, of course you do!” Pinkie said, smiling. “You know what you like at parties, don’t you?” “…Yes,” Fluttershy said, glancing to the side. "Most of the time, I like the snack tables, especially if there’s a lot of room underneath of them. And I always like the host’s pets." “Great! Because I need to set up a really, really important party, for somepony who I haven’t been able to find for almost two months now!” Pinkie started bouncing up and down as she spoke, and Fluttershy raised a hoof. “Um, Pinkie Pie. Please be careful, you’re getting a little too close to the-” Pinkie Pie clipped the table with the edge of her hoof, and suddenly she, the table, and the flowerpot atop it went crashing to the ground. The mole squeaked in surprise as it was suddenly tossed into the air, and Fluttershy just managed to get her hooves out in time to catch it midair. “-table,” Fluttershy finished. “Oh dear. Are you okay?” Pinkie stuck her head up from the floor, a dirt-covered clump of chamomile flowers lodged firmly in the top of her mane. “No, I’m not okay! I don’t think I’ve ever been two months late on somepony’s Welcome-to-Ponyville party before, ever!” “Oh. I’m sorry, but I’m really not sure if I know how to help. What pony did you say you were throwing this party for?” “Oh! Right!” Pinkie said, getting to her hooves. “I was actually going to ask if you’d ever met him before! He’s a repair-pony, and he’s kind of tricky to get a hold of, but his name is Lapis Print!” “I don’t think I’ve ever met a Lapis Print,” Fluttershy began, setting the mole down on her kitchen counter and looking over at her kitchen table. “But I know I could probably use a repair-pony…” “Ooh!” Pinkie Pie said, midway through attempting to replant the chamomile flowers into a pot of squarish, arrow-leafed mint stalks. “That gives me an idea! What if you just asked him what he wanted?” And as Fluttershy’s eyes went wide, the pigeon that had been sitting outside Fluttershy’s window spread his green-patched wings and took to the air. Lapis had initially only returned to his house for some lunch, but had instead found himself heading into the workshop to get started on the components of his next project. He managed to assemble a wide, angled wooden base like a flattened pyramid, and was just beginning to hammer out eight copper cylinders when something popped out of his chimney in a shower of feathers and soot. “Nikki, is that you?” Lapis asked, stepping away from the forge and helping to dust off the coughing pigeon on his floor. “Great timing, actually, there’s something I wanted to tell you- what’s the matter?” Nikki shook her head, then took off for the door to Lapis’ workshop, cooing urgently. Lapis frowned, setting the hammer he was using on the floor by the forge, and followed her up the stairs and out the door. “What’s going on?” Lapis asked, only growing more confused as he opened the closet door and Nikki immediately headed to the front door of his shop, perching on the doorknob. “Is something happening in town?” Nikki shook her head, then beckoned with her wing, Lapis hurrying over to open the door. She took off again as soon as the door was open, and Lapis took off after her at a gallop. “Nikki, hey, slow down!” Nikki did no such thing, and in little time at all, Lapis found himself on the opposite side of town, approaching a small, wooded clearing right at the edge of the Everfree Forest. At its center was an equally small, cozy-looking cottage. Unlike most of the houses in Ponyville, which had thatch of some sort for a roof, this cottage was instead equipped with a thick, fluffy coating of living leaves to keep off the rain. It had a multitude of windows lit from within by warm, yellow lanternlight, and hanging from every ledge and windowsill were one or more birdhouses. There were dozens of birds nearby, along with plenty of ground critters, many of which were shooting confused glances in Lapis’ direction as he approached the house, crossing a short, railless wooden bridge over a small, winding brook. “Okay, for real, what’s happening?” Lapis asked, trying not to pant for breath as he looked up at Nikki. “You had me gallop all the way out here, something’s gotta be up.” Nikki rolled her eyes, perching by the two-part door of the building, then beckoned Lapis onward with a wing. Lapis hesitated, then trotted up to the waiting pigeon, glancing around again to see if he was being watched. To his surprise, he wasn’t - for some reason, every critter and bird in the vicinity now seemed thoroughly preoccupied with their own business. Lapis thought he saw a rat briefly glancing toward Nikki, but then the rat blinked and kneaded its eyes with its paws, and he realized the rodent was just cleaning itself off. I didn’t even know there were rats in Ponyville. At Nikki’s insistence, Lapis pushed open the door to the building and stepped inside - and stopped only a few steps into the building. This was definitely somepony’s residence - the lanterns were all freshly lit, the large pastel rugs on the floor were kept carefully clean and fluffy, and almost every windowsill was adorned by a pot of live herbs, most of which looked freshly watered- “Oh, who the hell…?” Lapis muttered, spotting a dirty cluster of chamomile, obviously from a shattered pot, haphazardly shoved into the same pot as a thicket of mint. “That’s not gonna work, the mint’ll just grow right over it.” He levitated the chamomile free of the mint, and briefly glanced around for a better location before shoving the chamomile into a nearby pot of purple, cone-shaped echinacea flowers. Nikki let out a frustrated squawk, and Lapis sighed. “Alright, yeah, sorry. Just spotted a gardening mistake is all. What’s the- oh.” In the middle of the room was a very broken three-legged table. It was upside-down, granting Lapis an unobstructed view of its legs - two of them had been roughly torn off, and Nikki was perched on the third, giving Lapis her best ‘are-you-stupid’ look. Lapis quickly pressed the legs back into place, the twin flashes of warmth against his flank assuring him that they were mended, then he levitated the table into the air and flipped it upright. “There we go,” Lapis said, as Nikki perched atop his head. “Table fixed. Anything else-” Another coo sounded from outside, and a few seconds later, a second pigeon flew into the cottage. This one had green patches on the corners of its wings, and it wasted no time in aiming a series of trills and squawks in Nikki’s direction. Lapis cocked an eyebrow, remembering what had happened last time he’d seen Nikki having a discussion with her acquaintances, and felt a tingle of unease beginning to build in his gut as he saw Nikki’s eyes growing wide. “Hey, do I need to be worried about something, or-” Nikki took off and flew against the back of Lapis’ neck, practically trying to shove him out the door. “Alright, fine, I’m going, calm down!” He hurried out the cottage’s front door, and again spotted a number of critters giving him odd looks. The new pigeon with the green patches, who had perched on Lapis’ back, let out a short, sharp squawk, and suddenly all the animals were minding their own business again. Okay, something’s definitely going on with the pigeons in this town. “Nikki, I might have a few questions to ask once we get out of here.” Nikki rolled her eyes, then took off again, heading off the path and into some nearby brush, hovering there long enough to jerk her head in the direction she’d flown. Growing more confused by the second, Lapis nonetheless took her cue and stepped off the path. “…So then of course I had to ask about the pancakes, because duh, pancakes!” Pinkie continued. “And wouldn’tcha know it, they have a Bright-and-Early Special, and they’ll give you a whole stack of pancakes, but with haycon and cherries and whipped cream on it so that it looks like it’s smiling at you! And at first I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing!’” “It does sound nice,” Fluttershy said, trudging along after Pinkie with her head low. My goodness, she always has so much to say. “Right?!” Pinkie said, spinning mid-bounce to face Fluttershy. “But then, I realized - I have to eat those pancakes! And how in the world am I supposed to do that? I mean, there’s no way I could start from the bottom and go up - then I would eat the smile first, and the pancakes wouldn’t be smiling anymore, they’d just be staring at me, and that would be terrible! But I couldn’t start from the top and go down, either, because then the eyes would be gone first, and then how would the pancakes know I was still smiling back?!” “Um, Pinkie?” “So then I realized: I would have to eat them from the side! But which side? The right side seemed right to me, but then I figured out that my left was the pancakes’ right!” Pinkie spun back around, facing forward as she continued to bounce back toward Fluttershy’s cottage. “And then, I thought I had to figure out which right was more right - the pancakes’ right, or mine? And then it hit me - if I ate the pancakes in one bite, I wouldn’t have to figure it out!” “Well, yes,” Fluttershy said. “But, um, Pinkie Pie.” “So, here’s what I’m wondering, and here’s why I’m telling you all this in the first place,” Pinkie said, spinning to face Fluttershy once again. “When you’re in the Everfree Forest, looking for plants or birds’ nests or squirrel babies or something, and you meet a big scary monster that might want to gobble you up, do you smile at it? And, and, if you do, do the monsters get all confused trying to figure out how to gobble you, or do they just try to do it all at once?” Fluttershy paused, glancing to the side as she thought. “Well, usually I don’t meet any big scary monsters. I spend a lot of time looking for tracks or signs, so that I know where the big scary monsters live, and I don’t come barging in while they’re cranky. And… well, usually the big scary monsters don’t want to eat me at all.” Pinkie stopped midair, cocking her head. “Huh? Ooh, wait! You mean like the Manticore in the Everfree?” “Yes, exactly,” Fluttershy said, starting forward again. “Manny certainly looks big and scary, and he’s very loud when he’s grumpy. But once you get to know him, he’s just a big, sweet kitty. And, well… there are some creatures that are mean enough to try eating ponies, like Timberwolves, or the hydra in Froggy Bottom Bog. Usually, I don’t go anywhere near them. But if they ever come near me, then I see if they need help before I fly away. I don’t think I’ve ever tried smiling at them,” Fluttershy finished. “I never knew you were curious about monster behavior, Pinkie Pie.” “Well… I’m not usually, but ever since we met that dragon, I started wondering whether he would’ve been less cranky after a party!” Pinkie said. “So really, I’m trying to figure out how to convince a big, hungry, meanie-pants monster that it’d be a better idea to gobble up some cake than to gobble me.” “That… might be a teensy bit difficult,” Fluttershy said, as she and Pinkie crossed the bridge that led back to her cottage. “Monsters usually like to be-” Pinkie bounced through the door of Fluttershy’s cottage and stopped, her eyes widening as she gasped. “I don’t believe it!” “Believe what?” Fluttershy asked, stepping inside as Pinkie darted into the dining room. “Look!” Pinkie said, gesturing to the potted mint, and then to Fluttershy’s pot of purple echinacea blossoms, which were now being shared by the white-petaled chamomile flowers. “Fluttershy, I think your daisies can teleport!” “Oh, they’re not daisies,” Fluttershy said, frowning at the flowerpot. “But I’m sure you put those in the pot with the mint… and I thought we turned this table over, too.” “Hey, you’re right! We did!” Pinkie said, looking at the table. She stooped to look underneath, and smacked her forehead with her hoof. “Aw, darn! We missed him!” “Missed who?” Fluttershy said, peering under the table. Pinkie huffed, gesturing to the table’s legs, which were as whole as if they’d never been broken. “Um, duh! Only the fastest, sneakiest ninja-pegasus repair-pony in Equestria!” Fluttershy frowned as she and Pinkie got out from beneath the table. “You think he did this? But… we only dropped off that repair slip at his house a few minutes ago!” “I know, right?” Pinkie said, leaning forward and rubbing her chin with her hoof. “Hmm… he’s good. We need a Plan B…” “Um, Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy said, raising a hoof. “Actually, what I’ve been trying to say is-” “Ooh! I’ve got it!” Pinkie said. “We need a scone, a stick, a rope, and a cardboard box!” Fluttershy pressed on. “Pinkie Pie, are you sure that throwing an entire party for this pony is the right thing to do?” Pinkie screeched to a halt halfway toward Fluttershy’s kitchen. “Uh, of course! It’s been two months, remember? What kind of party-pony would I be if I only threw somepony half a party, two months late for a whole party?” “Well, yes, I see what you mean,” Fluttershy said, “I was just thinking, maybe this pony might not really want a whole party.” Pinkie, who was now rummaging through Fluttershy’s cabinets, momentarily paused to cock her head. “Huh?” “Well, it’s just that you said you were having a tough time finding him, to find out what he might like in a party,” Fluttershy said, scraping at the ground with her hoof. “And… well, I think you also said he was probably just as shy as I was.” “Yep! Just as shy, a little faster, and way, way sneakier,” Pinkie said, snatching a sack of flour out of Fluttershy’s cabinet and zipping over to the nearest empty counter, grabbing a mixing bowl and beginning to pour. “Yes,” Fluttershy said. “And the thing is, if there were somepony in Ponyville that I didn’t really want to meet, and they were searching for me, then… well, I’m not sure how to say this, Pinkie, but I think I might hide from them-” Pinkie’s eyes widened, and a puff of flour suddenly erupted from the mixing bowl as she squeezed the bag. For a second, Fluttershy worried that Pinkie had taken the news badly, but then Pinkie pointed out the window with a hoof. “There he is!” Fluttershy just had time to glance out the window, catching a glimpse of a creamy-white stallion with a blue mane and tail, accompanied by a pair of pigeons, stepping onto the path not far down the road from her cottage. Then, suddenly, Pinkie was darting for the door at top speed, shoving Fluttershy in front of herself. “Pinkie, wait!” Fluttershy said, and Pinkie jerked to a halt two inches from Fluttershy’s front door. “Um, you asked for my advice, didn’t you?” “Mm-hm!” “Well, I guess this is what I have to say.” Fluttershy briefly shut her eyes, took a deep breath, then spoke. “If that pony were me, then I don’t think I would want anypony to chase me, even if it was for a party. I think I would just be scared, and I wouldn’t want anything to do with the pony chasing me. I might even hide from them.” Pinkie blinked, then sighed. “Well, yeah, maybe you’re right. But Fluttershy, I’ve been trying to find this pony for months! I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do?” With some difficulty, Fluttershy suppressed a sigh of relief. “Well, um, if I wanted to welcome somepony into Ponyville…” “Alright, Nikki,” Lapis said, as he walked back down Cantering Boulevard toward the Corner Cafe, hesitating as he glanced at the second pigeon perched on his back. “…And you too, I guess. What just happened?” The second pigeon took off at once, disappearing over a rooftop, and Lapis frowned before turning his focus to Nikki. “I guess I’m just asking you, huh?” Nikki shook her head, but waited for Lapis to go on, so he had to decide what to ask first. What came to his mind was how, on the evening before the Parasprite infestation, he’d seen Nikki conversing with two other pigeons - one of which, he suspected, was the bird with the green patches on its wings. Then, the following day, it seemed as if every pigeon in Ponyville was taking refuge inside Lapis’ house. “So, just to make sure we’re on the same page here,” Lapis began. “Do you, or do you not, have some kind of… sway, or authority or something in the local pigeon community?” Nikki smirked, then nodded, making a “so-so” gesture with her wing. “Okay,” Lapis said, nodding slowly. “And that other pigeon, the one with the green patches. Do they work with you, or for you, or something?” Nikki nodded again. “Right,” Lapis sighed, as the sound of flapping wings began to approach. “So what happened back there, was it something to do with-” The green-patched pigeon touched down on Lapis’ back again, bearing an order slip in its beak. Lapis frowned, then levitated the slip over to inspect it. “Broken table,” he muttered, struggling to read the curling scrawl of the order. “Two torn legs, at cottage near the edge of the village, for… Fluttershy?” Lapis slowed to a stop in the middle of the street, freezing as he realized whose house he’d just been inside of. “You’re trying to help me avoid the Element Bearers,” he muttered. The second pigeon nodded, and Nikki smirked again. Lapis grimaced. “Alright. First off - thanks, I owe you a giant bag of birdseed. But the plan on that front just changed a little. I’ll tell you after I get some chow-” Nikki nodded again, then looked toward Green-patches and released a few quick trills. Patches took off, and Lapis watched him go with a little consternation. “…Should I be worried about that?” Nikki shook her head, then gestured with her wing toward the Corner Cafe. Lapis cocked an eyebrow, then stepped inside. “Table for…” Lapis began, but the brown-coated pegasus waitress shook her head, cutting him off. “Don’t worry about it. Lyra and Bon-Bon are right over there. You want your usual?” Oh. “Yes, please. Thank you, Hot Cocoa,” Lapis said, shooting her a quick wave as he headed to the indicated table. “Lyra, Bon Bon, what’s going on?” Bon Bon and Lyra, who were engaged in conversation, looked up as he approached. “Oh, hey, Lapis! You showed up right on time!” Lyra said, grinning. “Yeah, we were actually just wondering something,” Bon Bon said. “Do you have any frequent-flyer customers? Lyra and me are trying to figure out who’s the clumsiest pony in Ponyville might be. I think it’s Derpy Hooves…” “But in my books, Rainbow Dash could give her a real run for her bits,” Lyra finished. “Y’know, with how much you mention patching up ponies’ rooftops after she makes unscheduled landings?” “That’s… actually kind of a tough one,” Lapis said, taking a seat. “My records say it’s Rainbow, but my gut says Derpy. Between the two of them, Rainbow’s definitely responsible for more of my job, but Derpy sticks more request slips to my door - not to say anything against Rainbow Dash, but I think Derpy Hooves is a little more responsible. What that makes me wonder, is how many accidents Derpy causes and then cleans up herself.” “A lot of them,” said a voice off to Lapis’ left. “No contest, it’s Derpy.” Lapis looked up to see Hot Cocoa arriving at their table and dishing out the three plates across her back. “We get together for brunch sometimes, she always spills her cocoa, and she always cleans it up herself. Here’s your usual, Lapis, plus a Bright-and-Early for Bon Bon and a Haycon Harvest for Lyra.” “Thanks, Hot Cocoa,” Lyra and Bon Bon chorused, and Hot Cocoa took her leave. Lapis took a bite or two of his omelet, chewed, then began. “So, while we’re on the subject of the Elements-” Lyra froze midway through chewing a bite, her ears pricking up and her eyes going wide. Without breaking eye contact with Lapis, she swallowed and elbowed Bon Bon, who looked up from her platter of pancakes. “…Okay, what’s with the look?” Lapis asked, gesturing to Lyra’s suddenly rapt expression. “Oh, no reason,” Lyra said, still not breaking eye contact. “This wouldn’t be the ‘I’m-done-avoiding-Pinkie-now’ announcement, would it?” Lapis rolled his eyes and grinned. “Well… yeah. Kinda.” Nikki rolled her eyes, then cuffed Lapis upside the ears. Lyra whooped, pumping her hooves, and Bon Bon grinned across the table at Lapis. “Congratulations! What convinced you?” “A lot of stuff,” Lapis said. “You already know I did the math about how much time it’d save me, and… well, I’m still planning to get back home. But keeping up all this stress from dodging her party isn’t going to get me anywhere but Ponyville General, and that’s… not really a great outcome. So, yeah. When that party happens, it happens, and I’m not running from it anymore.” “Yeah!” Lyra said, holding up her glass of water for a toast. “I’ll look forward to the invitations!” Lapis joined Lyra in her toast, and Bon Bon did the same, but she was still giving Lapis a concerned look. “And you’re… completely done hiding from her? No mask, no disguises, no keeping watch through windows?” “…Not exactly,” Lapis said, and Bon Bon protectively crossed her hooves over top of her plate of pancakes. “Look, I’m still not the biggest fan of Pinkie Pie, so I’d really prefer not to be somepony that she, or any of her friends, visit on a regular basis. But so far, trying to avoid them entirely… well, Twilight left a letter at my house while I was away, so I guess that jig might be up. If we meet, we meet, but I’m not going to prolong the conversation, or do anything remotely interesting while they’re nearby.” It was essentially the same approach he’d taken when it came to Nightmare Moon, and that had - so far as he could tell - been effective. He hadn’t tried to hide, or run away, or even to really avoid her at all. No, what he’d done was to march right into Town Hall, knowing full well that there’d be a pony boogeyman inside, and trusting that he wouldn’t stand out. After all, he’d reasoned, what’s one more terrified face in a crowd? What’s one more pastel pony in the herd, another patch of color in the splatter art? Nothing. Just a part of the background, something to look right over and forget about. He’d done nothing, except to blend into the crowd. And Nightmare Moon’s gaze had passed over him like he wasn’t even there. The way Lapis saw it, if a possessed not-technically-a-goddess-but-close-enough couldn’t spot that Lapis was a human trapped in a pony body from inside the same room, then he had no reason so believe that Twilight and her friends would be able to do the same, so long as he didn’t give them any incentive. I’ve still got some work to do on that front. Applejack knows I was avoiding her, and from Twilight’s letter it seems like she’s a little concerned about me. But those are barely problems - the only thing I need to do is let things proceed as usual until we meet, and then just be boring and irrelevant enough that they never feel like going out of their way to find me again! …And also make sure they don’t spot me doing anything remotely interesting, ever. No tinkering with artifice in public, no making a fool of myself without checking to see if they’re nearby, et cetera. Unfortunately, considering how much space my basement doesn’t have, I’ll still need to test some things outside, so… yeah, there’s no way I’m done running yet. “Okay, so you’re basically just avoiding her like a normal pony now, instead of a fugitive,” Bon Bon said. “But hang on, why did Twilight leave a letter at your house?” “What? Oh, she basically just left a book and a get-well-soon,” Lapis said, waving his hoof. “Apparently she’s had a Cascade before, too, so she left me the book that helped her deal with hers.” Lyra winced. “Gosh. I don’t even wanna think about what hers was like-” She paused, her eyes going wide. “What’s up?” Lapis asked, looking out the window. Lyra slowly shook her head. “That’s funny, I could’ve sworn that table wasn’t there before.” “‘Dear Princess Celestia,’” Twilight dictated, from the ground floor of the Golden Oak. Spike sat on a stool nearby, occasionally glancing over at Rarity, who stood a few paces away. “‘I recently encountered one Lapis Print, a pony who seemed to have his heart set on never encountering me. So much so, that it took two months of living in Ponyville before I was even able to catch sight of him! This confused me enough that I ended up poking my nose into some of his affairs, even though a very good friend had already given me a perfectly reasonable explanation for his behavior. When I asked one of Lapis’ friends about him, I got the same explanation as before - only this time, I listened, and so I learned something very important.’ “‘Sometimes, when a pony is acting strangely around you, it pays to stop and ask yourself whether you’re the strange pony in the situation. Once upon a time, to most ponies, I was just one more student in Canterlot - but to some here in Ponyville, I’m somepony who saved Equestria, and that can be a lot to think about.’ “‘While I can’t say I’ve convinced Lapis that I’m just another pony, I think I only stand a chance of doing so now that I understand the problem. I look forward to solving it, and finding out what else I can learn.’ “‘Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.’” Spike rolled up the letter, then took a deep breath, but Twilight held out a hoof. “Wait, don’t send that yet!” Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Why, Twilight, whatever’s stopping you? From the sound of it, you’ve got this whole situation wrapped up in a neat little bow!” “I’ve got to send these friendship reports once a week,” Twilight explained, “and I already sent this week’s. The way I see it, I can save this one for a rainy day.” Spike grinned, rolling up the report and setting it atop the library counter. “Budgeting your effort - I like it!” “Agreed,” Rarity said. “So, Twilight, darling, how did you manage to meet Mr. Print?” “Well, I saw him chatting with Big Mac yesterday morning, and I wound up having the talk I mentioned with Big Mac a while later.” Rarity nodded. “Mm-hm. And how was he?” Twilight frowned, cocking an eyebrow. “Um, he didn’t look like he was in any trouble. A little tired, maybe, but that’s it.” “Mm-hm,” Rarity said, nodding again. “And were you… impressed?” Twilight started packing up her quill and inkwell. “He certainly seemed to have a good understanding of his repair spells. …Maybe I should look into learning some of those,” she added, levitating the boxy bulk of The Totaled Theories of Harmonick Resonance off the shelf and onto the library counter, then levitated a slightly larger, ornate book with a needle on the cover over to Rarity. Rarity accepted the book, raising an eyebrow. “Yes, mending spells are quite useful in emergencies, though a little tricky. But Twilight, how did he look?” Twilight frowned, turning back around to look at Rarity. “Um, like a unicorn? White coat, blue mane and tail, brown eyes and corona.” …Actually, now that I think about it, his color scheme wasn’t too different from- Rarity sighed, then turned an exasperated grin upon Twilight. “Was he cute, darling?” Twilight froze, her gut suddenly lurching as her ears flopped all the way back on her head. “What? No! Ew, ew, ew…” Twilight briefly pranced in place. “Oh dear,” Rarity muttered, her eyebrows shooting up. “Was he really that bad?” “Well, not exactly,” Twilight said, her ears remaining half-tucked back as she settled down. “He didn’t look creepy or disgusting or anything, it’s just… well, he reminds me a little of my brother, Shining Armor. I’m sure that’s not an issue for other ponies, but there’s no way I could think of him romantically.” Twilight shivered, a queasy grimace crossing her face. “Gross.” “Ah,” Rarity said, nodding in understanding. “Say no more, darling, I understand completely.” Spike snickered. “Yeah, you really grossed her out, Rarity. Gosh, Twilight, I haven’t seen you do the Spiders Dance since the first time I tried cooking without a recipe!” Twilight blushed, then grinned. “For the record, Spike, you mixed maple syrup with ranch. You earned it.” “…The ‘Spiders Dance?’” Rarity asked. Spike chuckled, and Twilight rolled her eyes, then spoke. “He means this.” Twilight briefly repeated her prancing-in-place routine. “It’s just something I do when I get grossed out, but for some reason, Spike thinks it looks like I’m shaking spiders off my hooves.” “Oh, ‘for some reason,’ huh?’” Spike asked, grinning and crossing his arms. “And here I thought you remembered why you learned all those concealment-breaking spells…” “Yeesh,” Twilight muttered. “You cast an invisibility spell on one spider, and nopony ever lets you forget it.” Rarity’s eyes widened in horror. “…Twilight, dear? What, in all of Equestria, could possibly possess you to create an invisible spider?” “Oh, it gets better,” Spike began. “See, Twilight was trying to test whether enchanted creatures could pass on their enchantments to their offspring - y’know, to help her figure out how monsters like the Timberwolves got started. So, she grabs the first bug she can find, which turns out to be this random spider from a flowerbed, and…” Twilight sighed, falling silent as Spike continued relating the story of how a poorly-written luminescence charm, a broken terrarium, and an unexpected clutch of spider eggs had resulted in Twilight’s permanent banning from the field of entomology. Honestly, as long as they’re not crawling on somepony, I think they’re a significant improvement over normal spiders. Out of sight, out of mind, after all… Slowly, carefully, Twilight levitated her letter to Princess Celestia off the library counter and into a drawer. Twilight hadn’t really lied about why she’d held off on sending her letter - yes, she’d already sent in her friendship report for the week, and building up a backlog of completed work was always a good idea. The problem was, that letter wasn’t really completed, and Twilight knew it darn well. Big Mac hadn’t said much, but he’d revealed something, and it hadn't answered any questions... “And you’re sure he’s only been avoiding the six of us out of shyness, like you told Applejack?” Twilight asked. “E-yup.” “That’s it? There’s nothing more complicated to it?” Big Mac was silent for a moment, then he shook his head. “Nope.” Twilight paused. “What do you mean?” Big Mac firmly shook his head. “That’s his business to tell, not mine. Ah can promise it don’t involve puttin’ Equestria or your friends in danger, but besides that, it ain’t mah place to share.” “…Sure,” Twilight said, frowning. “I’ll just ask him… oh wait, that’s right, he avoids me and all of my friends like we’re contagious. Big Mac, I just want to know what’s going on. Could you please tell me, or at least give me a hint?” Big Mac sighed. “…Nope. He ain’t told me the whole of it, either. Ah have a guess, but no proof. You want to know for sure, you’d better go talk to Lyra Heartstrings, or Bon Bon the confectioner down on Acorn Route.” “Right,” Twilight said. “…Just out of curiosity, what’s your guess?” “Nope.” Big Mac firmly shook his head again. “All Ah know is, whenever Ah mention bringin’ Lapis or his ideas anywhere near Applejack, he either clams up or starts ramblin’. Ah have a guess what that means, but Ah certainly don’t know…” …And neither do I, Twilight thought, making sure Rarity wasn’t watching as she slid the drawer closed. I don’t know, not even a little. It's probably nothing, and I should probably leave it alone, but I need to get a better picture of this repair-pony. Why would he panic about Applejack, of all ponies? Honestly, she’s probably the least intimidating out of the six of us, except for Fluttershy- “Hello, Twilight,” a voice said. Twilight looked up just in time to see Fluttershy walk into the library, closely followed by a cheerfully-humming Pinkie Pie. “Oh, am I interrupting something?” “Not at all, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, Rarity turning away from a still-rambling Spike to look. “What’s going on?” Fluttershy and Pinkie briefly exchanged a smile, then turned toward Twilight and spoke at once: “Do you know any good places for a casual brunch?”