Tom soared through the air, leaping in smooth arcs towards the bright balloons he could see. "What for?"
"Let's find out." Morning sat up on Tom, assuming more of a confident riding position as she got used to the bouncing motions. "Onwards, I command it."
"I was already going," huffed Tomtom, but he didn't stop to argue the idea. He came in for a landing in front of a strange cart with dozens of balloons attached to it, as if it might float away at any moment. "What this?"
A crystal stallion leaned over his cart, smiling at Tomtom and Morning. "Hey there, you two. I heard the rabbits like to bounce, but that was something else."
Morning slid to the ground. "Greetings. Explain what this is." She waved at the balloons and the cart they were attached to.
"Please," added Tomtom with his biggest smile.
"Since you asked." He twirled a leg around one of the strands that held the balloon, attaching it to the leg and allowing him to draw it free. "One balloon for one bit. Three for just one more. Also got some tasty treats!"
"Wow," allowed Tom breathlessly, amazed at the whole thing.
Morning shoved a hoof in front of him, stopping the eager tsuki from claiming that offered balloon. "Not so fast. What are your intentions?"
"Intentions?" The cart owner recoiled with obvious confusion. "To sell crystal berry cotton candy, balloons, and other things to put a smile on some faces, of course!"
Morning rolled a hoof in the air. "All nice, but why are you selling them here? We're in the middle of nowhere." She turned in place. "If not for us being in the air at the time, we never would have located you. Why are you hiding yourself? Are you feeling guilty?" She smiled in the predatory way umbrum were good at. "Is there more we should know?"
The cart owner laughed nervously. "It's... not easy to get a spot on the main roads." He slumped forward with a sigh. "And I was late in even asking, so this was the best spot I could get. I'm not guilty of anything but not being on time, little lady."
Morning considered the cart, and what was basically an alleyway they were in. "This will not do... You are equipped for a fair ground or some manner of celebration. This location is neither."
"No..." Tom hopped up, not to grab a balloon, but to land on the cart instead. "I like it, but this... not good spot. Show better spot!"
The stallion gave a noise of uncertainty. "Really? How would you know, little thing?"
Tom pointed his snout up at the sky. "Bounce high."
Morning seemed to get it. "He can get a bird's eye view and discern what the best place might be."
"What said," huffed Tom, hopping down next to her. "Help?"
"That is what I said," corrected Morning. "Work in progress. Question remains. Do you want our assistance?"
The stallion looked between the two children, neither a pony, technically. One at least looked the part. "I don't want you getting into any trouble." He lowered a balloon towards Tomtom. "You seem nice, but your parents'll get upset with me, and I'll get in trouble if I let you go off and things go wrong."
Tomtom reached for the balloon, just for Morning to swat his eager paw. "I am the child of Umbra, great and glorious. She trusts me to watch out for myself."
"O-oh..." He did new calculations, taking in Morning's parentage into account. "If you're sure? For the record, I said not to, but it looks like you plan to anyway. I won't, and can't, stop you, um, ma'am."
"Good of you to recognise." Morning turned towards the mildly sulking Tomtom. "We have a mission."
That brightened him right back up. "Let's find a good spot." He grabbed her, plucking her up like the pony doll he saw her as and placing her on his back. "Ready?"
"I was given little choice," she huffed, but she did grasp him from above, legs squeezing. "Let's go."
Tomtom released the powerful springs of his legs, bounding up into the air with a great rush of wind around them. "What is good place?" He twirled in the air, looking about even as they arced high in the sky. "Help look."
But Umbrum didn't have that keen far sight. They were a creature that did most of their business close and personal. They had no predators, and their prey didn't need far vision to locate. Other senses were so superior, for their sort of prey. "Hm..." But she had a Tomtom. He would serve as an acceptable alternative. "Somewhere with good foot-traffic, where there aren't other carts already. Where he can situate himself without being in the way, but close enough to the way that ponies walking past will be tempted to visit him." It was all a wonderfully glittering jewel to her. She couldn't really help...
She could see the ground, at least for that instant before they bounced off of it with a soft thud of his large paws slapping against it, propelling them into the air. "Good traffic," he muttered, looking over the city with his sharp vision. "Many ponies..." He trailed some of them with sweeps of his fingers. "No carts... Close, not in way...." They bounced off the ground, it requiring several trips to get the time he needed to properly survey the entire city for the best spot.
"Did you find one?" She leaned in, grabbing his horns like a sort of handle, not that her hooves were all that good at getting grips.
"Yes. Yes. Three. Help pick." He fell, just to bounce off in the direction of the first. They were beside a small pond. Ponies went up and down a small street nearby. There were no carts. "First."
Morning twisted her head about to get a look all around. "Mmm... These ponies look upper-class. They may not be the best customers. They have refined tastes."
"What mean?"
"What does that mean," corrected Morning, quite set on getting Tomtom to speak with better grammar. "It means they don't want balloons, or cotton candy, even if they are tasty. Let's see the second."
"Okay!" Tomtom lifted them back into the sky without a moment of delay, coming down on a side street. "Second."
Morning frowned as she looked around. "Where are the ponies?" She only saw a few. They were fine, as customers went... "Not nearly enough. Why did you pick this one?"
"There were more before," Tomtom defended. "Sorry... Third?"
"Traffic changes. Third." She tensed, holding him as he hopped up into the sky. "I hope this one is better."
"Me too." He came in for a landing just outside the library. Plenty of ponies were coming and going. "Third!"
Morning slid to the ground. "Good traffic... But this is a library. Hm. We should secure their permission before we suggest this spot."
"Why?" He followed after her as she wandered.
"Because ponies with sticky cotton candy or wet drinks in a library may be... frowned on." Morning rubbed her chin. "But we won't know until we ask. Perhaps we can come to some manner of agreeable terms."
"Yes!" He might not have understood some of those words, but enough of them. "Ask."
Morning ascended the stairs with a clip-clop. "There's only one way." She pressed inside with many others into the interior of the library. She spotted a familiar librarian and went for them. "Good afternoon."
"Morning Dew!" The librarian smiled down at the serious filly. "Are you here for a new horror? We just got one. I was hoping you'd be by."
Morning hesitated as if tempted. "Mmm... I do want to see that, but I'm here for another reason. We've spoken with a vendor of balloons and carnival faire. They need a place to situate themselves." She pointed outside. "Just outside the library would be an ideal place, but I wanted to check with you before I suggested it."
The librarian frowned at the thought. "That would be a lot of mess on a lot of books. And who'd have to clean it all? Me. I'm not sure I like that idea."
While they chatted, Tom was watching the ponies. And he noticed a pattern. "Why... Why ponies only come there, and go there." He pointed to the two lines, coming and going.
The librarian smiled at the curious tsuki. "You're just as cute as they said you were. I thought ponies had that bottled up. Now, there are a lot of ponies that need to go in and out. So they keep to one side, so everypony has room."
Even as Tomtom let out an appreciative 'ah' of understanding, Morning jumped on it. "What if he placed himself at the exit, for those leaving the library? We can even place a warning sign that you can't bring any food into the library."
The librarian's expression eased. "Well, that sounds a lot less troublesome. If ponies want to get a little treat on their way home, I have nothing against that. Tell him he can set up his cart, but it has to be out of the way of the--"
"--traffic," cut in Tomtom, looking so proud to know the proper word. "Yes. Will tell."
"We will tell him," corrected Morning. "Thank you." She patted Tomtom on the way past. "Let's go. This is a good spot."
"Yes!" But he didn't go right way, gazing at the near infinite books instead. "So many... What for?" He could see some ponies picking them up, or putting them down. Some unfolded them. What mystery was happening?
Morning didn't notice right away, getting almost outside before the abscence of Tomtom hit her. "What?" She weaved around the crowd, fighting her way back to his side. "What are you doing?"
"What this?" He waved a handpaw at the many books and the ponies enjoying them.
"What is this," she corrected, moving past him. "This is a library. They store books, tomes, magazines, comics, and even newspapers here. Creatures come to read them. Some for entertainment, others for education."
Tomtom trailed after her. "Read?"
"Read." She willed a book off the shelf and it flew with a brief flash of shadowy magic, landing on her ready hoof. She turned and displayed it, unfolded to reveal all the letters within, and a picture of a bright ball of some unknown purpose. "Read."
"What...?" He leaned in to peer at the many squiggles and marks. "What mean?"
"Oh." It became clear to Morning what was going on. "Let's give the good news to our new associate, then we'll come back here. You should learn to read. Then you can use the magic of all these books." She willed the book she had back where it belonged and waved at the so many others. "That sounds... fun... doesn't it?"
"Yes," he joyfully agreed, clapping giddily. "Let's go." He grabbed her right off the ground and hurried outside, with her tucked under his arm like more of a carryon bag than a pony. He dropped her onto his back and was up in the air before even asking if she was ready, propelling them towards where they had left the cart and its salespony.
"Give a warning next time," she huffed, bonking the back of his head, not that it seemed to bother him too much.
The pony jumped when they landed in front of his cart. "Oh, welcome back!" He took quiet measure of the fact they didn't seem harmed. "Did you happen to find something?"
Morning pointed the way. "The library. They agreed to your presence near the exit line. You must post that food is not permitted in the library, but--"
"--good!" burst out Tomtom, interrupting. "Do that and good. Better." He waved at the empty alleyway. "Better."
The salespony nodded, already preparing to move his cart. "Thank you both. Oh, here." He got the balloon to Tomtom and wasn't stopped. "For helping me. You two have a good one."
Tomtom hugged his balloon with a big smile. "Now read." This left the poor pony confused as Tom bounced away to start a new adventure.