The city of Canterlot hustled and bustled as ever, with ponies going about their daily tasks, and chatting happily. Luckily, none of the eyes turned towards you, as the two mares and the guard sauntered around, no real destination in mind, just strolling about the street looking at displays, including a returned visit to Frazzle Dazzle’s shop, which was open and doing good business. That last fact kept you from going in, and instead your group moved towards the center of the street.
“Hmm, you look nervous, Little Dude. What’s up?” asks Vinyl, as you swivel your head around.
“Well, after that whole thing in the castle’s foyer this morning, I was kind of expecting to get mobbed or something,” you admit to her, and your answer seems to amuse the Captain as he chukcles.
“That’s not a worry in the city, Little One. The paparazzi may flood the palace at all hours, but they know better than to try and do that sort of thing here in the Canterlot itself. The Princess tolerates their kind, I think she even finds it amusing, but the elite of Canterlot are not so appreciative of their presence, and the city watch would break their cameras if they become too much of a nuisance,” he explained, pointing towards a pony wearing an old style policeman’s cap, like the ones who’d brought the Captain and his unit before Luna in Night Court.
“What about those power broker guys you were talking about?” you ask.
“Those are a different story, but mostly harmless for the moment. They’ll be either individuals who want to use you’re power, or even a representative of another kingdom. The one we caught this morning trying to break into the castle was a dog. Their type ever was the least cunning. It’s the griffons and the conservative faction who’ll trip you up,” he said.
“Conservative?” you say quizzically, wondering just what that would be.
“It’s a faction of Magisters, the elite unicorns, who are apparently trying to reinstate the old ways, with them on top. Not that it would work these days, the Princesses would never allow them to enforce a caste system again, but they’re crafty, and never step a single hoofstep out of line,” he answers.
“Ah…who’s in that faction?” you ask him.
“Hmm…I’m not sure of them all, and I don’t want to make guesses, so for now, just don’t sign anything anypony gives you, and never get too far away from myself, or one of your friends,” he instructs, and you nod.
“Right, no signing my life away. Out of curiosity, is DawnChaser of that faction?” you ask.
“No. The faction exists mostly as a bunch of old stallions who want to return to what they felt was a better way of life. Technology is moving too quickly for them, and seeing as the Professor is one of the leaders in developing new tech, they’d sooner get an earth pony than him,” he answers
“The makes sense. Oh hey, is that Pyro?” you ask, pointing at a column of fire shooting into the air one street over. The Captain, probably on instinct, began to move towards the source of the blaze, and the girls, after a look passed between them, followed, with you holding onto Octavia’s mane as she rushed after the guard.
Not that your grip helped when she bucked backwards in fright, and you were flung off her. Luckily, you had full flight power today, and so were able to stop yourself in midair, and then flit forward to see what had spooked her, ready to do something about it if it were hostile. You didn’t stop being prepared for violence when you saw that it was Pyro, silhouetted by his flame, laughing manically.
“Ey! Match stick, yer scarin da fillies. Stop it,” said somepony with an odd Brooklyn accent, and you look to find it was a zebra, of all things. It was male, by the look of the muzzle, and very much bigger than Zecora, with a long red scar running down the side of his face, which also covered one eye that had been replaced with some kind of rainbow colored gem. Pyro’s fire stopped flaring, and he turned to face the zebra, with a tone to his mufflings that didn’t sound exactly friendly.
“Hey, watch da lang-u-ages. Do’s I insult youse mama?” said the zebra, and the muffled reply to that got the black and white to stand in a fighting stance, obviously about to start bucking the head of Pyro.
“Gentlestallions, gentlestallions, please. We are out in public. This is no time to fight. Besides, I hear there’s going to be a party later, and if you don’t behave, the Professor will make sure you don’t attend,” said a nice voice, a sweet one, and a female pegasus as white as snow, but with a bright red mane to counter it. The two stallions, looking at her with expressions that showed she was in charge, shook hooves, and then proceeded about their business.
Their business, as it happened, was clearing rubble, the zebra just lifting it up onto his back, more than you think even Big Macintosh could have done, and hauling it away. Pyro in the meantime was reducing several bits of wood into ash with jets of flame from his hooves, which he would then blow into a nearby dumpster with a few flaps of his wings.
“Ms. Octavia, Ms. Vinyl, over here!” shouted a familiar voice, and you turn to find Deasly standing off to the side, looking over towards you. Smiling, your group moves towards him, Octavia giving a wide berth to Pyro as he wipes his brow with one leg, and then proceeds to shoot flames at another bit of wood, ashing it with just a small burst.
“Sorry about the scare, Ms. Octavia, Pyro and Diamond Eye have been at each other’s throats since Diamond arrived last night,” he apologized as he joined you, leaping over a bit of rubble, and then leading your group off to the side, into a nearby café that seemed empty.
“It’s alright, I was just…startled by his power. He’s a pegasus, right?” she asked, pointing towards the first wielder.
“As far as I know, though sometimes I do wonder. Still, it’s good to see you, and you too, Little One. Oh, and you Captain. Are you here to arrest somepony?” asked Deasly pleasantly as the Captain sauntered in behind, closing the door lightly behind him to cut out on the noise of clattering bits of rubble as they were moved. Soon, you’re all seated at a table near a big window facing the street. Well, the ponies are seated at the table, you’re seated on it, on a napkin you’re using like a picnic blanket.
“Not yet, though I might change my mind if these foals get too far out of line,” he says, and Deasly laughs like he made a joke, but then chokes on it as the Captain just stares at him with a dark look.
“Anyway, what’s going on out there? It looks like a war zone?” you ask, pointing towards one of the windows.
“Oh, that, it’s that bar we were at the other night, the one DawnChaser grew out of and trashed while showing those idiot guards what fore,” said Vinyl, and then cringed a bit as the Captain turned his gaze on her.
“Er, I mean, those valiant guardians of justice, who don’t hold grudges cause that would totally be against type,” she amended with a weak smile. However, the Captain just huffed at her, before looking towards you with a rather sly grin, obviously enjoying controlling the conversation without having to say a word.
“I just can’t take you anywhere, Vinyl,” sighs Octavia while facehoofing.
“Moving on, I figured there would just be a few of you here, but I can see at least a dozen ponies out there. Are they all apprentices?” you ask, and Deasly nods.
“Apprentice probably isn’t the word most would use to describe themselves, they’re not unicorns so they can’t join the Magisters after all, but they’re still ponies and others learning from the Professor,” he says, and points towards a towering shape, that you soon see is in fact a dog, carrying two huge chunks of rock and dumping them into a bin.
“Neat. I don’t suppose I’ll be meeting them all during testing today?” you ask, and to which the unicorn shakes his head.
“The Professor says he’s got enough data for now, and that you should just enjoy yourself. I think he still feels a little guilty about blinding you, though his pride won’t let him come out and say it,” explains Deasly, and Octavia looks over at you.
“He blinded you?” she asks, concern in her voice, and you make what you hope is a dismissive gesture.
“Just a little. I was in Princess Luna’s Mane, since I couldn’t fly very well for some reason, and DawnChaser planted a bunch of those Sage Blossom things. They flashed, and it sort of fogged my vision for a bit,” you tell her, trying to sound reassuring.
“Indeed. The Princess came back that night and demanded he never do anything like that again. He seemed to listen too, a rarity for him,” said Deasly.
“So, he doesn’t plan on doing an eye test then?” you ask.
“Well, he does want to study them, but he’ll be very careful about it. He’s curious why you were blinded in the first place. That was bright, to be sure, but no worse than one of Ms. Vinyl’s light shows,” answers the unicorn, leaning closer so he can look into your eyes.
“Maybe human eyes just aren’t as hardy,” you guess, trying to open yours as wide as possible, only to be forced to blink as they quickly dry out.
“Hmm, it would be interesting to test. I’ll get Tailfire to set that one up, he’s our best biologist. By the way, did you want some of the profits from the sale of the blossoms?” he said, changing the subject.
“Heh, well, I don’t think I’m wanting for bits right now, since the Princesses seem to be hoofing my rent and food bills. How many flowers did you get anyway?” you ask, curious about that.
“Hmm, we have around seven hundred now, with about two hundred others being donated around the city, including to the Royal Guards,” he said, nodding towards the Captain.
“Indeed, and we’re grateful for th-did you say seven HUNDRED?!” he shouts, slamming his hooves on the table, and forcing you to fly upward to avoid getting tossed.
“Yes, it would have been more of course, but that mare who owned the field insisted on having her ponies ‘help’ not seeming to realize that harvesting a Sage Blossom is a delicate process,” explained the unicorn.
“Seven hundred, seven hundred blossoms,” repeated the Captain, and Octavia just looked at him, before finally turning towards Deasly.
“Excuse me, but, what’s a Sage Blossom?” she asked, and Vinyl leaned in to listen too.
“It’s a glowing, golden flower that has a lot of magic, and tastes fantastic,” you say.
“I thought you said humans didn’t eat flowers,” Vinyl observed.
“Well, normally, no, they’re not good for us, but this stuff makes an excellent broth,” you tell her, giving them a brief story of waking up and having Luna spoon feed you the stuff, as well as the one in your pantry.
“Hmm, the Princesses must really be interested in you. Sage Blossoms take at least five years to grow, and even then, you can only do it one flower at a time,” explains Deasly, as he draws out his sketch book, and shows a picture of the blossom’s he’d drawn.
“Really? That sounds like a lot of work, no wonder they normally cost one thousand bits,” you say, remembering what the Captain had said.
“Indeed, though DawnChaser, over Trixie’s objections, isn’t selling any of the ones grown in the field yesterday. Apparently he wants to experiment with them, see if he can distill them down to the pure essence of what they are,” he explained.
“You think that’s possible. I remember the feeling of eating one, before my first long patrol, and I don’t think I slept or ate for three days,” chimes in the Captain, finally recovering from the shock of seven hundred of the special flowers.
“I don’t know, myself. My specialty is physics, not biology or chemistry, that’s Tailfire and Diamond Eye respectively. Still, if the Professor is trying it, you can bet your bottom bit that he’s going to find something interesting at least,” responds Deasly, and the Captain nods thoughtfully. Then he falls into the fighting stance, his horn glowing, as the rest of you jump at a loud banging sound. Luckily, it just turns out to be Strong Arm, the large earth pony from yesterday, knocking on the café’s door.
“Deasly, we could use your help out here. Pyro burned out a beam too fast and got Diamond and Celestia knows who else caught under some rubble,” says the well spoken pony, his bright green coat now dulled with the dust of working all day. He didn’t stay to chat either, ducking his head back out as he went to the pile and hefted a huge boulder onto his back.
“Oh, well, I suppose I should get going,” said the unicorn, rising from his own seat and moving towards the door. The others rise as well, but as they do, you quickly flit over to Deasly.
“Wait, is there any chance you could take a note to DawnChaser for me?” you ask, catching up and then stopping in front of Deasly, who just looks at you for a moment, before opening his saddlebag and pulling out his drawing pad, as well as a quill, which he grows to full size for a moment, but then thinks better of it and reduces it until the two are scaled with you.
“Not as good as a pencil and notebook paper, but it’ll do,” you say, and quickly scribble something down, having to cross out a few mistakes you made, as you aren’t used to writing in the air. Still, after a few tries, you figure you got the gist of it down, and pass the notebook back to Deasly who, curious, looks at your note.
“Hmm, and what would that do?” he asks.
“It would allow me to try something else. Tell the Professor to bring his equipment too. He’ll want to get a full scan of it,” you assure Deasly, who nods, placing the drawing pad back in his saddlebag, and then rushes off to go help his compatriots.
“And what was that about?” asks the Captain.
“Just a bit of fun for later. For now, I say we go shopping, since we have a big, strong stallion to carry the bags,” you offer, and instantly Vinyl’s face lights up, with Octavia’s only a few seconds behind, while the Captain just gapes for a moment, before sighing, resigning himself to the fate which you’ve sentenced him.
What follows is various shopping hijinks. First, a hat store that sells only the finest head covering, which you get a free day hat for Octavia from by claiming their offer that they had a hat for everypony, but then, there was no hat for you. Not that you stayed long enough for them to realize you didn’t technically qualify as a pony.
The second shop, a horseshoe place, was a complete bust, as they turn out to have a no pets policy, and you are apparently considered a pet. Not one to push, you ride out on Octavia, sticking your tongue out at the proprietor, and then watching as he gapes at your group as the Captain, who’d been waiting outside rejoins it. Needless to say, you don’t see him getting much business from the palace anytime soon.
Next comes a meeting with the Apples, as Big Macintosh and Applejack had apparently been perusing the downtown Canterlot shops themselves, Big Mac hauling around at least twice his body weight in packages, that the Captain offers to help him with, the two stallions acting as pack mules to the females as they continue their shopping spree that sees them in two different jewelry stores next, followed by a sit down at an ice cream shop.
Luckily, mixed in with various flower flavors, is just plain old chocolate, which you get a scoop of, while Vinyl and AJ both get huge mountains of ice cream, and Octavia and Big Macintosh get smaller cones. The Captain, despite being offered several times, claims to not be hungry at all, and just sits outside, looking at the ponies passing by the shop, while you eat and gossip away, finding out what the others have been up to.
Rarity had apparently spent the night at Fancy Pants’ place, which was quiet scandalous according to Octavia. Rainbow and the Bolts were trying out some new tricks, and AJ herself had heard a rumor that apparently they were thinking of bringing her on as a trainee. Not officially a member of the squadron, but within spitting distance of that goal. Not that she would tell Rainbow Dash that, just in case it turned out not to be true.
Pinkie Pie had been seen at a dozen parties since last night alone, including several that were happening at the same time, which just seemed impossible. That didn’t stop her though, and she just kept bouncing from one to then next, appearing only long enough to take a quick nap in the castle rooms that they were sharing, before shooting off again.
Twilight and Fluttershy in the meantime, hadn’t left the palace grounds since the day before yesterday. Twilight and Luna spent all day in the library, reading dusty old books, and coming up with even bigger words to hurt AJ’s head, while Fluttershy had been helping with the animals on the grounds. She’d even been offered a permanent position.
As soon as AJ said that, you notice Big Mac droop a bit, the thought of such a thing obviously not sitting right with him. AJ spent the next several minutes saying that she probably wouldn’t take the job. After all, Fluttershy had a home with plenty of pets to take care of back in Ponyvillie. At that news, the stallion perked right up, and you spend the next few minutes just chatting, before finally it was time to go.
Stepping out into the open street again, you notice it was getting onto the afternoon, and ask the girls to show you and the Captain their old place of business. They were reluctant, of course, but a bit of cajoling from you starts the group off down the path towards the radio station, K-Colt, with you riding Octavia, preparing yourself to cast your biggest spell yet.