//------------------------------// // 04 — Fleeting Encounter // Story: Ms. Glimmer and the Do-Nothing Prince // by scifipony //------------------------------// The princess had scheduled an impromptu Sunday morning lesson and I wanted to disabuse her of the habit. After sneaking from the palace, I sat on a wood bench in Blueblood Park, thinking, who gets a lousy little city park named after them? Birds twittered as I relaxed in the shade of rustling autumn leaves. Foals squealed, chasing a ball. I faced the ugly whitewashed warehouses across General Firefly Parkway, sipping heavily honeyed Earl Greymare tea from an insulated metal bottle. Streak had spotted the prince entering a pink granite-faced office building before flying to fetch me. I took out my Marlin's Tertiary Primer and compared sections with my 400-years more modern Senior Advanced Casting Techniques from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. I trusted my Marlin's more, not because I often slept with it like a plush bear, but because I'd annotated it with corrections a twentieth as often. Mid-afternoon, I yawned. Had he snuck out when I'd gone to the loo? Should I venture inside; ask directions? Streak nestled on the pediment of the Widget Building. She waved, looking confident despite her poor eyesight—what—? I stood as Prince Blueblood turned onto General Firefly Parkway. He wore a powder blue lightweight jacket and an indigo fedora, resplendent with a raven feather in the silver band. His golden blond mane and distinctive white fur caught my eye. A unicorn and two earth ponies scanned the hoof traffic, turning their heads excessively, even checking the load of a taxi and stake bed. The bodyguards wore light green sunglasses. One ought to have been in reach of the body they protected. A demerit. Definitely. I capped my bottle, lifting the flap of my messenger bag. The wide brim sunhat of my aristo giddy-up covered my face. The understated culottes and bright yellow butterfly-shoulder blouse covered the rest of me. Hard to miss. Strategic. Nopony would recognize me. I strolled to the sidewalk, curving toward the prince. The traffic cleared and I jaywalked to come up along side him. I queued Push, Shove, and Pull, all transforms of Levitate, letting Push light up my horn. I'd use it to tap his shoulder, in the unlikely event his bodyguards allowed me. I expected any moment to be stumbling and waving, complaining I couldn't get to him, manufacturing my meet-cute when he came to see what happened to the pretty filly. My specially designed sunhat rested on my horn; it didn't prevent casting. The lead pink unicorn mare didn't notice me, nor the trailing brown stallion. The flanking tan stallion with the white mane turned his head, looking curious. He didn't call attention to me! Another demerit! Did the Prince have other bodyguards? No. Did I look non-threatening? Really? A pony length from the sidewalk, three from swatting the Prince's hunky flank and compass cutie mark with a hoof, Brown jerked and gasped, stopping. I sprinted. They would rue the day when Celestia gave me Blueblood's team to train! Tan cried out as I clattered aside my target. Blueblood gasped and sidled toward the storefront and sped up. Pink whirled around, maneuvering between us. I magically tugged her periwinkle blue mane toward the street. She yelled, "Yow!" I wanted her to collide with me, to get my meet-cute at her expense. Instead, she scrambled left and tripped. As she tumbled into the street with a thump and a growl, her flailing snagged my droopy sunhat, the straw thing bounding off my rump. I heard Tan jump aside to avoid it. I heard an oof, then clattering horseshoes as the remaining pony caught him. I so looked forward to training them! The prince's narrowed pale blue eyes regarded me as I cried, "Your Royal Highness—" I'd tucked my florescent green stripes under the black scarf I'd also worn. Dr. Flowing Water had healed my facial injuries and I'd deigned to use a bit of powder on my nose to blend the bruises into my fur color. Already frowning, he shook his head, "No." I heard disdain, not recognition. He walked past the door to the Widget Building, rather than escaping inside, locking it as I would have. That surprised me! "'No?' What? Your Royal Highness, we share common interests. Canterlot, Celestia. Let's share high tea at The Trottingham Hill—" "'No,'" he clarified, "as in, No, not interested." His guard rushed up. He sped up. Not breathing hard, either. With a curled lip, he added, "Miss Husband Shopper." "Oh! Your Royal Highness!" I complained, hoof to heart, despite it being dangerous to walk three-legged at that speed. The dastard changed to a trot and huffed, "I say!" "Please don't misconstrue my forwardness, Your Royal Highness." "I have not, Miss." He leapt (gracefully) across me, crossing the street toward the park. His cologne hit me. The breeze flowed from the park and I got a snoot full. I stopped. Cinnamon and mace? Bakery scents? Unique. And special. It surfaced warm feelings. Of home. A home I thought of as not being warm... but this feeling surfacing... A taxi driver shouted, "Lollygagger! Move it!" I reflexively cringed as Pink, Brown, and Tan dashed around me, none throwing me to the cobblestones. I would have! Then again, I'd been a mobster's bodyguard. As I leapt out of the way of the black-checked yellow carriage, the entourage fast trotted east on the park side, then turned the corner to keep the park to their left. Because of the great number of trees, I couldn't cut the corner, but I heard hooves... Dut d-d dut, dut d-d dut... They cantered now! A whiff of yeast and anise followed in the bodyguard's wake. Was that marjoram and bitter orange...? I belatedly galloped, ruining the façade I might be a harmless Lady in the peerage trying to treat Equestria's single prince to tea. They went faster. Surprising! The prince was physically fit? He was well-built—muscular shoulders, haunches, back, and legs. Hefty stallion parts, too. Ponies ought wear clothes if they didn't want such things noted! From glimpses through shadowy trees, they turned left again. Rushing northwest across the park, I passed the pond, the swings, the benches, crossing a tasty fescue lawn I'd grazed upon when I'd been homeless, headed for that east-west sidewalk. I arrived first, ready to "innocently" barrel into ponies. That'd make a funny conversation starter, right? Looking right... Nopony. No pedestrians! Nopony crossing the intersection beyond!? Shocked, I skidded down on my rump. How fast were they—? Unicorns... Illusions! "Duh!" I had the nifty spell Don't Look Don't See Don't Hear that made me and those I touched invisible. Devilishly hard, I could make it work only when I badly needed it. Could I use my horn to read the numbers in an illusion spell being cast? I had only succeeded at a distance reading a spell with Celestia. Celestia had used the technique while flying to detect my position while I cast my nifty spell, which proved that detecting somepony was possible, but she had a longer horn for detection. The cursed alicorn had stalked me! She'd wanted a new personal student. It precipitated our first hoof-to-hoof fight, where I demonstratively reminded her, "No means no!" Could I detect Blueblood? I waved my stubby horn as if trying to fling it off my head. I stood. I turned... Wait, behind me! An orange stallion in a blue business suit levitated a tri-folded newspaper and a cup of tea. Phooey. I turned to the trees as an undercover royal guard intercepted the business pony, escorting him back. I walked toward the corner, flicking my ears and waving my horn. Neither earth- nor unicorn-ponies flew, and the latter did not self-levitate without substantial medicinal enhancement that made them noticeably unresponsive. I'd been given nettle ewe tea by a zebra shaman when I'd cast Aerial Buoyancy, but that's another story and a once-in-a-lifetime exception. I studied the trees, but Blueblood wasn't a monkey, even pejoratively. I heard a cicada whir, but detected no magic. My nose pulsed. Cinnamon scent... but from where? The guard asked, "Are you okay, Prin—" I reflexively kicked. He hopped around, holding a foreleg to his chest. "Ms. Glimmer?" he corrected himself. I rounded on him when Streak landed with a loud bang. "Was watching just you, sorry." I had warned everypony that I could handle the situation I fomented, telling them not to intervene. I was stupid. Next time, I'd have everypony track my target. "Streak, recon these streets." I pointed as she was already in the air. "Steady Pace, you and the others check the park. They have to be—" I caught myself, the three-legged stallion's amber eyes on me. He wore a blue shirt with a protective vest and a black bowler often worn in town—I had demanded discreet. If Blueblood knew who I was he would not act normally. Best that he think a persistent mare stalked him, rather than me. "Check. Be discreet." "Yes, Ms. Glimmer." He limped off. I studied the trees and the deep shadows they cast. Sturdy pines, dark brown bark and full green needles, with silver-bark aspen nearer to the pond. The former were difficult to climb, the latter offered no cover, and both at ground level didn't leave much to hide in as I reached the corner. "They're not as inept as I thought," I told myself. North, I could see for blocks, into the foothills leading to the mountain top. Plenty of pedestrians now. The vehicular traffic had rolled on. I turned south, peering into the trees to my right, listening to the occasional insect buzz. The pleasant terpene odor of the trees overpowered any residual cologne scent from the entourage. The warehouse doors on the east side of the parkway presented locked crash gates and barred roll-downs. "Did I miscalculate?" Looking west into Blueblood Park, I sighted across lawns and along lines of trees north and south. Foals played ball. Ducks fluttered down onto the pond, quacking. I stomped a hoof. "Those were mighty biased assumptions you made there, Starlight Glimmer," I scolded myself out loud. "Wasn't expecting to learn something about yourself, but there you are!" A green mare with a pink underbelly walked up with my sunhat. "Made a foal of myself, Pistachio, didn't I?" I asked as I magicked it on. The guard blinked—not that I expected her to answer, Yes, Ms. Glimmer, you did. I settled my rump on my park bench just as Streak thumped down. My stomach gurgled loudly. "They got away," she said. I huffed and nodded. "Entirely my fault. Thought too highly of myself. Was this close to him. I could have teleported him by touching him, like I did you, Carne Asada—" I shuddered "—and the griffon." Streak cringed. She knew the griffon story. "Blueblood would have figured it out it was you." I nodded. Only four ponies could teleport. Celestia. Me. Sunset. Twilight had succeeded, apparently only once. "If he ticks me off next time, I might anyway." "Ha, ha. Give him the Grimoire the Enforcer treatment. He'll answer anything." "And be my enemy for life." My stomach gurgled again. I sighed."We missed lunch. Any good fish&fry nearby?" "On it!" I heard from the sky as she streaked away. I'd had better in Baltimare. Canterlot wasn't a seacoast town, but Flying Catch boasted exceptional tartar sauce with crunchy sweet pickles, so I ignored the excessive breading. An hour later, we shot the breeze in the deep shade of the afternoon. Streak considered visiting air lorry companies to get the prices of moving equipment to better estimate what a moving business would cost, weighing that against the enlisted life of being ordered to haul things, but with food, lodging, and reasonable pay that had no need to be spent on anything essential. Not on employees, advertising, or insurance. A familiar pink mare nosed open the Widget Building door. Five minutes ago, two business stallions had left, and, by his pricey suit and top hat, so had a member of the peerage. My breath caught. The bodyguard looked both ways. Streak jerked, nearly flaring her wings. I shot out a foreleg saying, "Interesting." Streak hissed. "Can't believe I missed a back door!" "Or a window," I said. Afternoon sun in her eyes, Pink didn't notice me.