Episode 8: A Daring Feat
Candid marched down the streets, heading straight for town hall. He was traveling at a brisk pace, but Opul was soon to accompany him in a hurried manner while out of breath.
“Aren’t you-,” she huffed, “-going to the town hall meeting?”
The griffon just looked over at his friend nonchalantly, as if the stakes weren’t as high as they were. “Yeah, I’m heading over.”
The dragon gave a frustrated look of desperation as she tried to convey a series of messages only with her eyes. Instead of her being the one making sounds, the noises came from the yak who was just beginning to catch up behind them.
“Dragon and griffon hurry!” Droll yelled from down the street as he stampeded through the road. “Friends cannot be late!”
Candid crossed his arms. “If Radiance doesn’t want us going to any community events, why do we still have to go to these boring conferences?”
Opul’s breath had calmed down. “These are informative meetings. They’re different. It’s news for every creature here, and if we’re late or give Radiance any reason to not like us-.”
Before she could finish, Droll zoomed passed her, spinning her around several times as she struggled to keep her balance. From in front of the two non-ponies, Droll yelled back for them to hurry.
Candid sighed. “Fine, if it keeps his last-minute panic-attacks under control.”
The griffon reached a talon down to his friend to help her back up to a stance. Without making much eye contact, the two took off following their friend.
“So I bet you are all wondering what the community news is,” Radiance spoke up from the center of the room, Nightfall accompanying him on his right side. “Well, it is very important news that will be changing the way this small city functions.”
The three non-ponies were just entering through the doorway, appearing to be lost in a sea of creatures. As the griffon marched through, he couldn’t help but notice the long silence from the speaker, causing him to look back up at the stage to see what had happened. In glaring hazel eyes, Radiance scowled at the three from his place in the center of the oversized building. Although Candid and his friends were just three of countless other creatures, the golden stallion appeared to pick them out just easily from the crowd, regarding them as all of the evil in Equestria.
Finally, the new leader continued. “As you all have been used to, this community has been kept secret from the rest of Equestria since it was initially established six years ago. The belief of the past emperor was that this location would be kept safe from any lasting threats, but consequentially, this town was also restricted from being updated on the rest of Equestrian events. For example, with the emperor still in power, we never would have learned that Lord Tirek was no longer a threat and that we wouldn’t still have to live in fear. But it shouldn’t end there. Days ago, I sent out trustworthy guards to acquire nationwide Equestrian news as well as anything new that has been put out into Equestria. All of the libraries have been freshly updated with any form of literature to find, and we will continue updating everyone here with what’s happening in the outside world of Equestria.”
Nightfall stepped forward, speaking in a firm voice as if it didn’t matter who heard her anymore. “With that being said, we will still not be revealing ourselves to the rest of Equestria. Although the previous emperor’s methods were far from perfect, he was smart to keep us all hidden to protect us from any threats that Equestria might face.”
Candid was barely paying attention as he had his staring contest with Radiance from all the way across the town hall. The stallion just wouldn’t let up, but the griffon refused to back down, causing the orange non-pony to try his best to peer into the soul of his aggressor, using his eyes as the gateway.
The dark-colored mare regarded her spouse in a mix of judgmental confusion and disgusted frustration. Inevitably, she finished her portion of the news. “If Equestria comes under another pandemic, everyone will hear about it here, but nopony will know of our whereabouts or even our existence. News may come into the community but may not exit. Having said that, we hope you enjoy your new inventory of information.”
Radiance and Nightfall nodded to their audience as a lone navy-blue stallion hopped up and down from below the stage, trying to get their attention. By the time the leaders saw him, the lead stallion sighed before nodding his head, causing the pony on the main level to jump up in felicity before pulling a lever that stuck out from the stage. Immediately as the lever reached the end of its path, a jumbo sized poster fell down from the top of the town hall to hang in its straight white cloth. On the poster, a tannish orange pegasus with a gray and black mane covered by a hat stood proudly in front of a sunset, as if she had just outsmarted a couple of enemies and was victorious. On the top, in golden bright letters, the words “come buy the new book Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone” were sprawled out. From the floor, the navy-blue stallion was hopping excitedly, but Sunflower huffed in annoyance as Nightfall rolled her eyes.
Finally, Nightfall stepped forward. “That concludes the community news.”
The griffon was thankful that he didn’t have to spend another unnecessary amount of time after the community news finished like he did last time. As he exited the town hall, Opul caught up next to him.
“So what do you think about that new story?” she asked innocently.
“Who cares about it?” the griffon said.
“Well, it’s something new. It could be interesting. Want me to pick it up for you?”
“No, it looks boring. I doubt that book will sell anywhere around here.”
Opul slouched. “At least help the poor stallion out. He looked so excited to show off how he got access to it. Maybe you can go down to the bookstore and help him out.”
“No.”
“Please?”
“Why is this so important to you?”
The dragon hung her head down. “I thought it looked pretty interesting and wanted to know if you’d read it with me.”
Candid backed up in an uncomfortable manner, stuttering uncontrollably. “Ugh, don’t you have Thauma to read with you?”
The dragon shifted uncomfortably. “Well, she’s too busy with her spells and breweries. She’s an inventor, you know? She’s trying to make up new potions to add something to the world."
"Whatever," he grunted back. "She can do all she wants and it won't change a thing about this pathetic place."
The dragon huffed. "I wouldn't know about that. See for yourself if you're a non-believer. She’s got a cottage at the far end of the community, opposite side of the palace.”
“I don’t want to hear about her. If you want someone to read it with, you go to Thauma. You seemed very comfortable with her last time.”
Opul frowned before putting on a subtle smirk. “Yeah, you’re right. Thauma does seem like better company than you at the moment. Thanks for the advice.”
As soon the white non-pony began to march away, Candid wanted to stop her, but upon realizing that he wouldn’t have anything to justify his actions, he decided to stay quiet. Rather than make things worse for himself, he focused his attention on how to make it better, and he instantly came up with the solution of actually buying the book. Without wasting anymore time, he redirected his path to the community bookstore.
After only minutes of traveling, Candid walked through the front door to the building, hearing the sound of a jingle as he marched through. The first thing he noticed was the blue stallion’s face popping up from resting on the counter.
The pony beamed. “Hello! Are you here to pick up the new Daring Do book?”
Candid rolled his eye. “Yeah, I guess.”
The stallion shrugged his shoulders in excitement. “My first customer!”
The griffon backed up at the loudness before asking for clarification. “First?”
After receiving an excited nod from the bookstore owner, Candid asked his follow-up question. “How long have you been trying to sell this story? An hour?”
“Well no. I was one of the trustworthy ponies that Radiance sent out into Equestria a week and a half ago, and I came back a day later with the current Daring Do book collection to sell. I put it on sale immediately when I came back here the following day, and I was able to talk Radiance into getting it advertised at the meeting today.”
Candid’s gears in his brain clicked. “Wait, so I’m your first customer and you started trying to sell this book about ten days ago?”
The pony shifted uncomfortably as he tried to choose his words correctly. “Well, all good things start out slow. I’m sure this will take off when you become my first cus-.”
“Actually,” Candid interrupted. “On second thought, I don’t want the book.”
“But you don’t know how awesome Daring Do is.”
“Don’t need to. She sounds lame, and I’m uninterested.”
“But you’ll never know what you’re missing until you try it,” the pony called out to the receding griffon.
“Thanks for your time,” he said as he exited the store.
Candid walked down the community street, shaking his head from the thought that he almost got swindled. He couldn’t believe that the stallion thought creatures would purchase the books. Surprisingly, he wasn’t alone.
“Candid.”
The griffon jumped into the air from being startled by the voice until he turned to see the yak who had somehow gotten to him without him knowing.
“Ugh, Droll!” he scolded. “You’re not the sneaky one. I’m the sneaky one!”
The brown non-pony looked away with a mischievous smirk. “Maybe griffon lose his crown.”
The griffon crossed his arms, causing the yak to snicker before a thought appeared on his face.
“What griffon think of new book?”
Candid snarled. “It’s a waste of bits. I don’t think anyone’s going to go and buy it.”
The yak looked back at the direction his friend had come. "Droll did see pegasus go to bookstore. Possible purchase."
Candid tensed at the word Droll had said and couldn't help but mutter it. "Pegasus . . .
The brown non-pony looked down at his friend. "Griffon still worried about that?"
Candid grumbled. "What's it to you?"
"Pegasus memory scare yak too. Not as bad like unicorns but still bad. Droll worry if book violent, creatures copy it. Draw ideas.”
“No, that’s stupid.” Candid pretended to disregard the thought, but he secretly had the same suspicion. He knew just how dangerous a single creature could be, and it bothered him to think that a list of ideas could be published.
The griffon shook off the thought. “Relax. I’m sure nothing bad’s gonna-.”
Candid’s thoughts were cut off as a mare ran in between the two friends, screaming in fear. Instantly, both of the non-ponies turned to the direction the pony came from to see several more citizens running in fear.
“What hay?” Droll asked.
“I don’t know, but let’s go check it out.” Candid began running towards the direction of apparent danger, but Droll stood still.
“Griffon serious?”
“Oh come on, Droll. Nothing ever happens around here.”
“Candid stopped hydra attack.”
“That was like two weeks ago. Come on, I’m bored.”
The yak rolled his eyes before joining the griffon down the streets, following the path of havoc to lead them to their destination. It wasn’t long before the two came up on the scene: a store with a broken window, an alarm blaring, and a mare curled up in a fetal position.
“What the hay happened?” Candid asked as he walked up to the poor pony.
“It-it was so fast,” the pony stumbled. “I didn’t even see it come in, but it made its exit.”
“What it?” Droll asked.
“The creature that robbed my store. It looked like a pegasus, but I couldn’t be sure. It came out of the fitting room in some sort of green vest, and it looked like it was wearing some sort of hat.”
“What color creature?”
“Like, brown or light orange. I couldn’t tell; it all happened very fast. I did see some black hair or something.”
“You mean like that pegasus on that poster from the town hall meeting?” Candid asked carefully, not wanting to know the answer.
“Yes!” the mare’s eyes widened. “It looked exactly like her!”
Candid turned to his friend, his eyelids half shut. “So we’ve got the real deal causing trouble?”
The pony looked up from the floor. “Are you two going to get my stuff back?”
“Oh, Celestia no. We don’t work for the community and hopefully never will.”
“What?” the mare asked in frustration before her attention was diverted at a pile of armed ponies shuffling through the streets towards her. “Oh thank Celestia!”
“What’s the problem?” the lead pony asked.
“My place was robbed by some creature that looked like the one from the poster earlier today.”
“Okay, explain to me in detail exactly what happened.”
Candid nudged Droll. “Come on, let’s go.”
Before the two could walk off, another pony halted them. “Hold on, you two are witnesses. You cannot leave yet.”
“‘Can’t leave’ my tail,” the griffon began. “There’s nothing binding me here.”
“You’re one of the only creatures at the moment who has seen more than us. We need to hold you for questioning so we can get to the bottom of this.”
“Crime happens all the time , and I’ll be darned if I’m going to do your job for you.”
As the griffon turned to leave, a clicking sound rang in his ears as he felt something cold on one arm. When he dropped his head down to see what it was, he was just in time to see his second arm getting cuffed, restricting the movement of his talons to a couple of inches.
“Hey, what the hay!” he yelled.
“I’m sorry, griffon, but we need to hear all that you know. What about you, yak? You need to be persuaded too?”
“No-no-no-no-no-no-no,” Droll said in rapid succession. “Yak tell pony everything.”
The pony led the two to the side of the building where the mare was still being held for questioning. As the two non-ponies sat, Droll began telling the stallion everything he thought was suspicious.
The more the yak continued, the further the pony's eyes narrowed. Finally he turned to the griffon. “Can you translate?”
Candid sighed as he rolled his eye. “He saw a pegasus buy a book. There. You happy?”
“I will be once you’ve told me everything you know.”
“I don’t know anything! I just walked up here and saw that mare scared, okay?”
“Not talking, huh?” The stallion turned to Droll. “Yak, you’re free to go.”
The brown non-pony smiled before running off, not letting the pony get a second chance to change his mind. Candid watched as his friend marched off, his frown getting more and more prominent the further his friend got in the distance.
“Now,” the pony began. “You can go too once you’ve told me what I need to know.”
“I told you,” Candid stood up, holding his cuffed arms in front of him. “I don’t know anything!”
“Then you’ll stay here until this crime is solved.”
From the other side of the building, another pony called over. “Uh, sergeant. We're getting reports of another crime.”
“Send in another team.”
“It just got radioed in and it’s right next door. Nopony will make it in time. We’re the closest ones.”
The pony sighed before turning to Candid. “Fine, but you’re coming with us.”
Candid scoffed as he got up to follow the group of four ponies who began marching down the streets.
“Now what do you think the perp is doing at the Community Museum?” one of the ponies asked.
“Probably nothing good,” the sergeant answered. “I just notified General Radiance to drop what he is doing to come to the museum immediately. He needs to be here to enforce his authority.”
The five continued traveling through the streets, passing different occupations before arriving at a three-story building, its windows broken in.
The lead pony turned to his crew. “Okay, two of you come with me. The other, stay here and try to get some answers out of this non-pony.”
As if coordinated, three of the ponies marched into the building as one stayed outside to interrogate the griffon.
Candid sighed. “What's it going to take for you to let me go?”
“A confession. Now with you being quiet about this, we are all starting to believe that you are an accomplice through all of this.”
“Listen! I’m not a liar! I give everyone the truth whenever they ask me or not. Creatures who can just sit down and not give anyone the facts, they make me sick! Trust is something so delicate and it should never be risked. I just want to go home and if I actually knew something that pertained to this boring waste of time, believe me, I would tell you. But I don’t, so will you please just let me go?”
The pony huffed, seemingly considering it for a moment until he heard two sets of hoofsteps arriving onto the scene. As soon as he turned his head to the source of the sound, his face lit up before he turned back to the prisoner. “Tell it to the general.”
“What am I here for?” an older male voice asked.
“General Radiance, we believe the criminal is here right now, and we need you to help out with the case.”
“Well have you found the criminal?”
“No, sir, but we’re closing in on her.”
“There’s no sign of the perpetrator here!” a voice called from inside the building.
Radiance huffed. “Then there was no reason to call me over on such an urgent schedule! I had family matters to attend to.”
Candid regarded the leader in an absence of fear, but as soon as his eye focused on the red rose in the stallion’s hoof, he was curious. “What’s that for?”
The golden pony regarded the griffon in great disgust. Instead of giving him a snarky answer, he just pulled the rose closer to himself, as if the answer wasn’t for him.
Candid turned away and scoffed. It was most likely for Nightfall or something. He didn’t care either way about whoever that stupid rose was for. He was comforted in the conclusion that it was for the stallion’s spouse until the other pony showed up.
Nightfall walked right next to Radiance and eyed the rose, trying to keep a face of neutrality. “Are we going now?”
Radiance regarded the rose in great sadness, as if it were someone he once loved but still had strong feelings for. “Yes.”
As the two leaders walked away, Candid’s jaw dropped. He was angry at his insensitive thoughts, but there was nothing he could do to fix it. Before he could continue to feel guilty, the sound of the sergeant on the radio came out.
“We believe Criminal has left the premises. Squad is coming out where we shall transport Suspect to the station where he’ll spend the night if he has to.”
Candid groaned loudly at the situation, letting his head tilt up to the sky as he vented his frustration. While trying to focus on nothing in particular, his eye caught on two eyes that were staring back at him through a window on the upper floor. As the griffon strained, he could see a gray and black mane for a split-second before the face disappeared into the building.
“Hey, hey!” Candid yelled to the pony who was waiting. “Did you see that?”
“Settle down, griffon. I don’t want any of your tricks.”
“No tricks! The pony is up on the second floor!”
The pony pulled out a random item from his toolbelt to entertain him, causing the orange non-pony to grit his teeth so tightly that it became painful.
“I’m not spending the night at a station when this entire case can be finished right now!”
Without saying anymore words, Candid spread his orange wings into the air, launching himself off the ground as the feathers sliced through the wind and carried him to the second floor.
From the ground, the pony called up. “Hey! Get back here now!”
Without acknowledging any of the higher-up’s demands, Candid disappeared into the open window of the second floor, searching for anything he could use to make the case even shorter.
He traveled through the dark hallways, sneaking through as best he could. He wasn’t the best at espionage with only one eye, but somehow, he knew he could regain anything he lost simply by adapting to his new self. He strained his eye in the shadows, trying to see through the lightless hall, but it was too dark for him. With the inability for his eye to adapt to the darkness fast enough, he closed it to listen carefully. Besides the sounds of the three ponies rushing around to find the escaped prisoner, he could only hear silence, until he heard a fourth sound of shuffling hoofsteps on the same level he was.
Instantly, the griffon grasped onto the sound that was different from the rest, and he used his ears to guide him through the darkness, only stumbling over a small amount of objects in the hall. He turned a corner where the hoofsteps got louder until the sound of a dozen vials hit the floor, bouncing off and creating a loud enough noise to get an exact position.
Without wasting any time, Candid flew through the darkness of the hall, touching the wall with his talon to figure out when the next turn was. When he got to it, light began to illuminate his path again, and he saw a figure enter through a different room. Through Candid’s attempt to not lose the trace, he could feel his heart beginning to pick up in pace, but he pursued the criminal as efficiently as he could manage, entering through the doorway only a couple of seconds after the figure.
“Stop!” he yelled, and to his surprise, the silhouette he had seen was now in the light on the other end of the hallway.
In front of him was the sight of a tannish-brown pegasus with a golden vest and white hat that stood on top of a gray and black mane. Candid was speechless except for one question of clarification.
“Daring Do?”
The question caused the pony to smile, but before Candid could move, he could hear the sound of the four ponies rushing up the stairs to his room, causing the griffon to look to the source of the sound behind him. As he tried to think of his next move, the sound of a vial hitting the floor brought Candid’s attention back to the criminal, except the pony was not in sight. With a shaky breath, the griffon rushed over to the open window but saw no sign of the creature that caused Candid’s horrible day.
“Ah horse-apples. Where did he go?”
Before the orange non-pony could also make his escape, he noticed the empty vial on the ground. On the glass surface, he could see the logo of a potion that looked exactly like the cutiemark of that maroon pony he had met the week prior. Instantly, he remembered Opul’s words, talking about Thauma’s breweries and he remembered the cottage that was on the opposite side of the community.
“I know where he’s going.”
The ponies finally bursted into the room with their weapons drawn, but the griffon was already out of the window, heading to finish this case.
Thanks to the massive speed of the griffon, he was able to make it across the community in a flash. He scanned the buildings in a hurry, before he began following the walls. When Candid looked over at the grand palace that stood against one side of the walls, he scanned the section that was on the direct opposite, finding the small cottage that was pressed up in one of the corners. With his time limited, he rushed down to the door and knocked ferociously.
In a matter of seconds, the sweet sound of the unicorn rang from inside as the door opened up. “What can I-. Candid?”
“Thauma, listen. There’s not much time to explain, but you need to keep your belongings safe.”
“Why, what’s going on?”
“There’s a masked criminal that’s going to try and steal from you.”
“What?! My potions are extremely dangerous. They’re not to fall into the wrong hooves.”
That statement did not make Candid feel any safer. “Tell Opul to get to safety.”
“Oh, Opul’s not here. I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“I thought she was going to read with you.”
“No, but if she planned to, she hasn’t shown up yet.”
Despite the nerve-wrecking situation he was in, a great relief was put over the griffon when he heard this. He moved his arms, but they were still restricted by the cuffs. “Do you have something for this?”
Thauma nodded before retrieving a vial from the counter and dropping a bit on the chain that connected the cuffs, breaking the two apart instantly and freeing the griffon.
Candid rubbed his arms. Although the cuffs were still individually below his talons, he could move freely. “Thanks. Now we need to hurry. Everything will be okay if you just make sure that-.”
The sound of a window breaking from another room caused the griffon to tense up again. “Go to your belongings! Make sure nothing happens to them.”
“What will you do?”
Candid took a deep breath. ”I’m going to stop him.”
Without waiting for Thauma to go first, Candid rushed to the room where he heard the window break. He tried to listen out for movement, but the sound of his shaky breath filled his ears, causing him to be the one to have the disadvantage.
“Why are you here?” Candid asked. “Why would Daring Do need to do any of this?”
“Maybe if you read the book, you’d understand,” a voice whispered back.
From behind a sofa, the brown pegasus emerged, flying towards the doorway at full speed. Before the pony could make it, he was cut off short by the griffon tackling the equine out of the air.
Candid was shocked at how sturdy the body was, but he couldn’t let that stop him from his mission. The two were on the ground, and Candid was the first to get up, but before he could get any lucky hits on the pony, the pegasus jumped up in the air to swing at Candid, hitting him across the jaw with a powerful punch and knocking the griffon to the floor. As the pony got up to stomp on him, Candid rolled to the side, letting the hoof hit against the floor with a thud and allowing for Candid to roll his legs around and knock the pony on the floor. Candid took the opportunity to climb over the equine to subdue the aggressor, but as if Candid was a blanket, he was casually thrown off.
The Daring Do pony rushed onto Candid before pinning him down onto the floor. “Creatures like you are the problem with Equestria! Always judging books by their covers and never giving them a chance.”
The pony's voice sounded male, but Candid had no time to reflect on that observation as the creature slapped the griffon across the face, salivating slightly. With drool forming at the pony’s lips, a hoof went up to wipe the brown face, leaving behind a blue streak in the path the hoof was just at, shocking the griffon to his core.
The pony glared down at the griffon below him, putting an arm to his neck. “You never give Daring Do a chance!”
“But you’re not Daring Do!”
The pony huffed. “No, I’m not. And there’s no reason to hide this anymore.”
As the pony pinned down the griffon with one arm, the other arm was used to wipe the face of the attacker, wiping away all the brown makeup and leaving behind a purely navy-blue pigment.
“Surprise?” he asked.
Candid regarded the stallion in horror. “You’re that pony from the bookstore.”
“I have a name-.”
“I don’t care. All I'll know you by is criminal!”
The stallion tightened his grip on the griffon’s neck below him. “I’m just trying to raise interest in the new series. Ponies need to see how cool Daring Do can be. Then, they’ll want to read about her. I’ll be able to share the amazing works of A.K. Yearling throughout the community. She deserves to be appreciated here.” The stallion glared down at the griffon who knew his identity. “And I’m not going to sell my books from the community dungeon.”
The pony tightened his grip on the griffon’s throat, glaring into his lone eye before a baton flew through the air and hit the side of the stallion’s head. Instantly, Candid felt a release of his throat as he coughed for air. From the broken window, several ponies flooded in, gripping the dazed pony and putting cuffs on the hooves.
From outside the cottage, the sergeant stepped in. “We heard everything, griffon. You’re free to go.”
Candid was gasping for air, but he wasted no time in flying through the rooms, calling out for Thauma’s name.
“I’m in here,” the tender voice called from a room.
Candid rushed over, still coughing from his asphyxiation, but he managed to get to the room as the unicorn opened the door.
“What was that?” she asked.
“Some pony who thought he could sell more copies of books if creatures saw Daring Do in action.”
“You sound awful. Is your throat okay?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Who won that fight.”
“I . . . No, I lost. I’m terrible at fighting. I can’t defend myself, and I need to change that.”
Thauma chuckled. “Well it’s good to know that you’re fighting someone bad and not your best friend.”
Candid cringed at the memory and realized that the last time Thauma saw him, he came across as a total fool. “Thauma, I acted like an idiot last time you saw me.”
Thauma gave a soft smile. “It’s okay. We can still be friends. Just don't go on fighting me, you hear?”
Candid and Thauma smiled at eachother before Thauma continued.
“I hope Opul doesn’t think that we’ll be weird around eachother.”
Instantly, Candid’s eye widened. “Oh no. Opul. I offended her last time I saw her. I-I need to go.”
Thauma nodded. “Thank you for saving my inventory, Candid.”
The griffon didn’t reply as he made his way out, but he smiled to himself at the gratitude before finishing his final task.
The griffon knocked his clawless talons onto the door and waited patiently for his friend to open up. Within a couple seconds, the door opened to reveal an unamused dragon.
“What is it?” Opul asked.
Candid smiled softly. “Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to read the first installment of the Daring Do series.”
The griffon pulled out a fresh, brand new copy of Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone, causing the dragon’s eyes to light up as well as a single wing to extend from behind her.
“You actually got it!” Opul exclaimed in astonishment.
Candid nodded. “I was lucky to get it too. There was now a longer line than earlier. There were tons of creatures all wanting to read it after what happened with the Daring Do cosplayer. He got a month in the community dungeon, but the bookstore was left with another employee to sell me the book.”
“So the bookstore owner was the one causing havoc everywhere? I didn’t even know his name.”
“I don’t think anyone cares to be honest.”
Opul chortled before putting on a look of deep thought. "The bookstore owner: he was the one we saw at the community meeting this morning."
"Yeah, it's crazy."
"But you didn't recognize him?"
For a moment, the griffon was stunned. "Well he was covered head to hoof in makeup."
"Still." Opul was looking at the wall as if trying to think. "It doesn't do that good of a job to cause someone to look as different as you saw. Are you sure it was makeup?"
The dark orange non-pony thought long and hard about it. "Well, he seemed to have been dealing with some of Thauma's breweries, but I honestly don't know."
"Whatever is was, I'm glad you're okay," she said smiling up at her friend. “So what are you going to do now?”
The griffon smiled softly. “Well, I was hoping to ask you if you maybe wanted to . . . read this book with me.” Immediately after the words left his mouth, he tried to justify himself. “I mean, I read the back and thought it was hilarious and I wanted to see your reaction to how this goes.”
Candid shifted uncomfortably, but Opul giggled in delight before taking the book from her friend’s talons and traveling across the room. Candid closed the door behind him before following his friend as she sat down in a corner and gestured for the orange non-pony to come sit with her. The griffon traveled over with an expressionless face, but he was loving every second of this.
“I’m sure this book isn’t going to be good at all,” Opul said in a playful voice.
“Only one way to find out,” Candid said with a smile.
In an excited manner, Opul opened up the book to start reading as Candid scooched in closer to her to get a good view of the book as well. Within moments, they were lost in the wonder of the story.
Cold