Chapter 1
The streets of the Crystal Empire are mostly empty at 7:00 AM. With only a few ponies out this early. On a side street near the outskirts of the capital lives Poppy. Her street is deserted. Poppy a red and green earth pony mare is fast asleep tucked under layers of blankets. The blankets help keep out the freezing morning temperature. Oblivious that her alarm is about to wake her. Poppy dreams of a warm tropical island. Like most earth ponies she hates the biting cold of the Empire and so her dreams are often filled with the warmth of the sun. Her dream is suddenly interrupted when....
Beep....Beep.... Beep.
The alarm wales into the dark bedroom. The dream is gone in a flash replaced with the wailing alarm. She does not want to get up and instead tries to tune out the sound by pulling her thick blankets over her head. The sound of the alarm is only partially muffled by the thick wool. After fruitlessly ignoring the alarm for several seconds Poppy finally pokes her hoof from under the blankets. Trying her best to jab at the off button without getting up. It takes several failed attempts before she manages to turn off the beeping. Letting out a long sigh, Poppy throws the blankets back before rising out of bed.
The room is cold and dark as she slides her body off one side of the bed. Her hooves making contact with the freezing crystal floor. As she fully stands Poppy turns back towards the bed grabbing the thick wool blanket and throwing it over her barrel.
Making her way to the fireplace Poppy grabs a small, enchanted match that she keeps atop the mantel. Throwing the match into the fireplace. The match instantly catches the firewood a light. The burst of heat and light helps to drive back some of the morning chill. As the fire begins to warm up the air in her sitting room Poppy trots into the kitchen.
Walking up to the stove Poppy switches it on. She stands there for a moment watching the small flame on her gas stove come to life. With her stove now heating up Poppy reaches for her coffee pot. Poppy places the pot under the faucet. Turning on the water she fills the pot up with water before setting it down on the stove's now heated burner.
With the coffee now heating Poppy decides to sit as she waits for the coffee. Finding her seat at the table. She grumbles as her flank makes contact with the cold wood of the chair. She hates mornings, the cold, the grogginess of waking. Shaking her head to clear the thoughts away. With the coffee still heating Poppy decided to get herself ready for her morning gallop.
Getting up Poppy walks back into her bedroom flicking the switch on the wall as she enters. The room bursts into a low glow of light from a small, enchanted lamp located on her nightstand. With the light on Poppy takes a seat in front of her vanity.
The vanities counter is mostly devoid of makeup. Most of it is instead occupied with her two oversized red bows. Poppy picks up the first bow and delicately places it in her mane. Looking at herself in the mirror Poppy straightens it before picking up the second bow. Reaching around herself Poppy ties the second one into her tail.
Poppy loved her bows. She considered them her most prized possessions. She loved her bows so much that she chose to wear them every chance she got. The reason she loved the bows so much was that they had been a gift from her former marefriend. The bows always reminded her how much she missed her.
With her bows in place Poppy picked up a brush from her bedroom vanity. Taking the brush in her mouth Poppy proceeded to slowly comb her mane. After a few minutes Poppy could hear the coffee pot begin to whistle. Setting down the comb, Poppy returned to the kitchen. Picking up the pot in her hoof Poppy tilted it over pouring out its contents into a travel mug. With the mug full Poppy headed out the front door. Before stepping outside Poppy hoofed her saddle bags over her back. Stepping out onto her doorstep Poppy felt the cool breeze blow against her lime green coat. The fog hung heavily around her. Bringing the mug up to her nose Poppy inhaled the smell. She savored the smell before taking a long sip. The coffee brought some joy to the dreary morning around her. Turning down the road Poppy placed her mug in a holder attached to her saddle bag before starting her morning gallop.
Poppy ran every morning they were what helped her maintain her muscular physique and made her feel good.
After a few miles of galloping down the main street of the empire Poppy Slowed her pace. Approaching the Crystal Train Station, Poppy noticed the morning train to Equestira just steaming out of the station. Stepping onto the platform she found it mostly vacant. Taking a seat on a platform bench Poppy took a few deep breaths to slow her beating heart. As her body started to relax, she looked up to the station clock tower. The clock was displaying just after 9:00AM. Realizing she was running a little late Poppy decided she would have to forgo her normal visit to Doe Nuts donut stand. Getting back to her hooves Poppy turned to head to work. Deciding to take a shortcut by the Crystal Palace. The streets were starting to become crowded with ponies heading to work. The shortcut took Poppy right underneath the main spire of the Crystal Palace. Speeding up Poppy began to gallop nodding to the Crystal Guards as she trotted by. Rounding a corner, Poppy found herself in the government quarter of the Crystal Empire. Making her way past several office towers she found her building. The building's main occupant is the Royal Equestria Botanical Society where Poppy was the lead explorer. The building was one of the smaller pre-Sombera era buildings that made up the government quarter. The building was nestled between two much larger towers, their shadows casting the smaller building in darkness.
Trotting up the stairs to the main entrance, Poppy pushed open the large crystal doors. The doors led to the main Lobby of the building. The lobby was modestly furnished with a main reception desk just past a security checkpoint. The society had remodeled the lobby a few years ago after fears of infiltration by changelings in the city had caused security fears.
The guard on duty nodded at Poppy as she approached him. Returning the guards nod Poppy stopped just before the checkpoint. Reaching back into her saddlebag, Poppy pulled out her ID. With her ID in hoof Poppy approached the guard. The guard, a light beige and rather buff unicorn, grabbed her ID. He looked it over for a moment before handing it back to her. Poppy took the ID a placed it back in her saddle bag. With her ID returned to her bag Poppy removed her saddle bags from across her barrel hoofing them over to the guard. He grabbed the bags, placing them on the table that made up his work area. Stepping back the guard squared his stance as the magic funneled into his horn. The grey aurora surrounded her bags as he scanned their contents. When the guard had finished his scan, he turned to Poppy gesturing for her to spread out her limbs. Poppy complied with his command, preparing herself for his magical scan. The guard stood back and lit up his horn. Poppy could feel his magic moving over her. Doing her best to distract herself from his scan Poppys eyes landed on the sign behind the guard. The sign depicted an image of Princess Candance with several bullet points of safety and security that were supposed to be the job of every pony in the empire. The sign had become common place in the empire as security had become a top priority of the crystal princess. The days when a pony could feel safe and secure had long ago vanished after the Changeling invasion of Canterlot. Now everypony had to just expect extra levels of security wherever they went.
The security guard finished his scan of her body, waiving her through. After clearing the checkpoint Poppy picked up her saddlebags from his desk.
The society occupied all of the building, but her office was on the third floor. Finding the stairwell Poppy began the climb to her floor. As she approached her door Poppy could here the sounds of activity on the other side. Pushing open the door, Poppy found the floor buzzing with activity. The sounds were excited and high pitched. Walking the floor Poppy found all her staff was missing. Approaching her office, she found a large crowd had gathered. Pushing her way through the group Poppy made her way to the door. It seemed as if every pony in the building had been waiting there. When she finally made it to her office door Poppy turned back towards the crowed.
“Excuse me.” She said
“Unless my office is on fire, please tell me what’s going on?” She asked to no pony imparticular.
A blue green unicorn spoke up first.
“Sun Beam wants you to report to her office and we heard it was for a possible expedition. Is it true?” He asked.
Doing her best to contain the feeling of excitement that began to bubble up at the prospect of a new expedition. Poppy responded to the group of gathered ponies. Using her best impersonation of the royal voice she ordered her staff back to work. The group collectively groaned before they quickly dispersed and went back to their work. Rather than turning and going into her office Poppy started towards the stairs to Sun Beams office.
On her walk to Sun Beams office Poppy put together a mental checklist of all the things she would need for the expedition. Poppy had known for a while that there had been talk of an expedition being planned. Poppy knew that the only reason Sun Beam would have left her lofty office on the upper floors was for something important.
After climbing up to the next floor Poppy stopped just outside of Sun Beams office. Shaking herself to help try and relax all the pent-up anxiety of what this meeting could mean for her.
It had been a while since the society had put together an expedition due to government funding issues. The society had always received little attention from the royal sister and as such barley scraped by for most of its existence but, lately the society had gained a new benefactor in the form of the crystal princess who had taken a special interest in the society's work. Now it seemed that the society finally was ready to put together a new expedition for the first time in years.
Poppy shook her self-one more time. Feeling a bit more relaxed she straightened her bows before reaching out with her hoof and knocking on Sun Beams door. Poppy waited till she heard a voice invite her in.
When one enters Sun Beams office, they will first notice a big dark oak desk. The reason the desk is so eye catching is when one looks over its intricate carvings it becomes apparent that that the carvings depict griffons not the royal sisters rising the sun and the moon. The desk had been found on one of the societies first expeditions more than three hundred years ago. Ever since then it had been passed down to those who held the society's top position.
The second thing one would notice is how neat and tidy the desk is. It was a stark contrast to Poppy’s own desk which was always in a state of tidy disarray.
Sun Beam looked up from behind the paper she was reading and gave her a smile before gesturing to the chair on the opposite side of the desk.
“So, Poppy I have some good news Princess Candence has given us the funding we needed to put together a new expedition to the uncharted islands of the Lunar Isles. It will take about 6 months for the crew and supplies to be put together, so there should be sufficient time for you to prepare.”
The excitement of getting to finally do what she loved after so long was a great feeling. The mares talked for some time about the basics of what the expeditions itinerary would include. Most of the supplies would be provided by the Crystal Navy so all that was needed for society to do was plan out the journey.
The inclusion of the navy was one of ways the society could afford to fund such an expedition.
“So, who is leading the expedition, Sun Beam?” Poppy asked.
“The navy will share the responsibility of leading the expedition.”
Poppy hated having to include the navy in the societies work but she knew that it was something she just had to accept.
“So, who will be the military attaché for the expedition” Poppy questioned.
A smile spread across Sun Beams muzzle. The look on her face caused Poppy to shrink back. Before Sun could answer her expression had already told Poppy everything.
“I think you have worked with the captain before.” Sun beam said.
The mare giving Poppy an even bigger grin.
Poppy knew the captain could be none other than Captain Compass. She had known him from other expeditions that she had been on way back during her college years. He was a good captain although his flirtatious attitude towards mares was just a problem. He absolutely loved hitting on any mare with a pulse and a tight flank and he always seemed to have a special thing for her own.
Poppy and Sunbeam spent the next few hours hammering out some of the initial details of the expedition. Once they were finalized Poppy departed Sun Beams office and headed back to her own.
Her office was much smaller than Sun Beams. The room was decorated with drawings and paintings and rows of specimen bottles. The floor of her office was neatly arranged in piles of notes and scrolls from all the projects going on in her department. Poppy trotted into the office and turned on a small one burner stove and put on a kettle of water for her tea. She then sat down and started the long process of planning an expedition. The first thing she needed to do was to start writing out a list of the equipment needed for the journey. As the tea pot steeped its top Lilly Pad a young Mare and Poppy’s personal assistant came into the room. Lilly was the newest member of Poppy’s team and by far the youngest. Poppy gestured to the open chair and then got up to pour the tea.
“Would you like some tea, Lilly?” she asked the blue Pegasus.
“No Thanks.” Lilly replied.
Poppy looked at Lilly for a moment, noticing the mares forehooves fidgeting on the desk. It was obvious to Poppy that Lilly seemed to be nervous about something.
“Before you ask Lilly the answer is yes. We got the money for the expedition.”
Poppy relaxed a little. Turing back to her tea Poppy proceeded to pour herself a mug of the steaming liquid. Biting down on the mug, Poppy returned to her seat opposite Lilly Pad. Tilting the mug back Poppy took a long sip of the tea before looking back up to her young pegasus assistant. Poppy noticed that Lillys nervousness had returned.
“Is there something else wrong?” Poppy enquired.
There was a moment of silence as Lily took a deep breath. The silence stretched on and Poppy began to wonder if Lily was going to answer. Finally, Lilly Pad broke the silence. Her voice was timid, even a little fearful.
“Do.” Lily began. Stuttering as she spoke. Trying again Lilly started over.
“Do I have to go? Lily managed to mumble out. The mare's ears were limp as she looked down at the desk.
“It’s just I have my foals at home, and I don’t do well on these sea trips.” Lilly said nervously.
Poppy knew all too well that Lilly was no sea going pony she had gotten brutally sick on her last expedition to the Zebra lands. Poppy had never seen a pony get so seasick in her life. The mare had been bed ridden for the entire sea journey.
“No Lilly you don’t have to go. Besides there is lots of work here for you to do.” Lilly’s ears perked up at the news.
“Oh, thank you. I can’t stomach another sea voyage.” She said her perky demeaner returning.
Poppy smiled at Lilly and then asked if she was sure that she did not want any tea.
“Really I am good.” Lilly replied.
The two sat together for the next few hours as they started to go over everything that would need to happen over the next six months. The first thing on Poppys to do list would be to go down to the preservations department on the first floor and talk to Well Kept. Well Kept was the department's unicorn preservationist.
As the departments preservations she would be the one cast the preservation spells to protect any specimens collected for the government safe and secure. Due to how long it would take for the enchantments to be cast Poppy had to put in the requestions now.
Poppy hated going down to see Well Kept, the two had a bit of history that still stung. Before Poppy had become the department head of expeditions the two of them had worked in the achieves department together. They even had dated for a few years before moving in together. For Poppy their relationship had been something special but, with work taking her from home for months at a time, she felt that they had started to grow apart as a couple. Well Kept had been Poppys first long-term relationship since having a fleeting romance in her academy days.
Poppy shook her head. Dwelling on bad memories always felt wrong for her and it had taken years to get over their breakup. Poppy may have been the one to break things off with Well Kept but she was still near and dear to Poppy and seeing her blue fur and pink mane always caused her heart to skip a few beats. It didn’t hurt that Well Kept had a firm flank and she always swished her tail in such a sexy way. Again, Poppy shook her head. The heat of the thoughts made her turn just a little red.
Lilly Pad being the efficient assistant she was, had filled out the requestion forms in the time Poppy had been reminiscing. Poppy quickly looked over Lilly Pads work. It was of course correct. Before heading down to Well Kepts office Poppy directed Lilly to start filling out the necessary supply requestion forms. With a few final instructions for Lily, she left.
Once she had reached the records and preservations department, Poppy headed towards the office of her ex. Poppy stood outside the office for a minute before lifting her right foreleg and knocking on the glass door.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Come In.” Came the sexy voice from inside.
Poppy took one last big deep calming breath before muzzling the door open and entering the room. As the door opened Poppy looked around. There were spell books scattered all over the place. The room looked like a hurricane had gone off. Poppy remembered how Well Kept never had any sense of the messes she made. The thought of a records pony being so messy made Poppy smirk just a bit.
“Something I can do for you?” The preservationist pony asked from where she was standing.
Poppy turned her attention away from the mess around the room and towards the voice. Well Kept had turned towards her and was now frowning. The two mares stared at each other for a moment before Poppy looked down to the floor shuffling her hooves as she replied.
“I have the requestion forms for some preservation spells and specimen containers.”
Well Kept pointed at the inbox which was overflowing with requestions. Poppy placed the request forms in the inbox and then turned to leave. Stopping at the door Poppy thought for a moment. She knew Well Kept had never forgiven her for breaking things off, but maybe she would like to try and be friends again. Looking back over her shoulder Poppy looked at her ex marefriend she missed her greatly.
“I don’t know if you have heard yet. I got the go ahead from Sun Beam for a new expedition.”
There was only silence from Well Kept. This was not exactly the response she would have liked but she decided to continue.
“Well Kept I…. I was hoping we could maybe talk before I leave for Portmareland in a few months. I just…. I miss… I miss you so much. I was hoping maybe we could be friends again.”
Poppy could feel the tears stinging her eyes. Her former love stopped what she had been working on. The magic fading from the unicorn's horn. For a moment there was silence, neither pony moving. Finally, Well Kept spoke. Her voice trembled with anger.
“You want to talk? Well, I don’t. I wish we would never have to talk to each other again. Remember it was you who broke things off not me.”
Poppy's ears drooped down the tears falling from her eyes. Poppy stood there unable to move.
“Well Kept please. I miss you. I am sorry.” Poppy pleaded.
Poppy watched as Well Kepts magic grasped the door and pushed it open.
“Please Poppy just leave me alone” The anger in Well Kepts voice had softened but Poppy knew that it was over for the two of them even just as friends. Poppy knew it had been a long shot, but she had hoped that with time Well Kept would come to understand why she had broken things off. It was a surprise that Well Kepts anger seemed to have only grown with time. Poppy’s chest hurt so much. To have the love of her life say such hurt full things. She gave one last look over her shoulder giving the unicorn a sad smile. Well Kept didn't bother returning the gesture instead opting to scowl and with that Poppy left.
Once the door had closed behind her, Poppy fell on her haunches right there in the hallway and cried. The tears stained her green coat leaving it damp and matted.
“Please Well Kept please.” Poppy said muttering under her tears.
The tears slowed after a while and after a few minutes she was able to collect herself. A cup of tea she thought would help lift her mood. A cup of tea could fix even the worst of days she thought. It always did and with that she headed back to her lonely office