//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: A Strange New Pony in Town // by Dark Dienen //------------------------------// The Strange New Pony in Town By Dark Dienen, Alticron,Freelancer Art By 2135D Proofread and Edited By Icudeadnow Prologue It was yet another beautiful, summer day in Ponyville. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the entire town was abuzz with its usual bounty of life; colts and fillies joyfully laughed and shrieked as they played in the streets, vendors and stall owners vocally advertised their produce and wares with vigor from their roadside stands, and many a wandering mare or stallion found themselves caught between these competing sides, though not minding in the slightest. All in all, it was just another pleasant day in the small town. But, even on a pleasant day such as this, as fate and fortune seemed all too happy to have it, Mayor Mare still found herself stuck in her office, sitting at her desk, and hard at work with her duties as usual. “You want to put in a statue of Princess Celestia doing that? Really?” She muttered, staring over the ‘blue request for expansion of a business premises’ form before her with a look of bewilderment, “At the risk of having an angry Twilight Sparkle on my case, I think not.” With that, the form was promptly struck with a red ‘denied’ stamp, signed in black ink, and then shoved firmly into the ‘rejected’ box. It wasn’t like she didn’t have a choice in the matter of being there, the hay, as her name basically announced to anypony and everypony who heard it, she was the mayor of Ponyville, and frankly could’ve knocked off and gone home at any time that she wished, or just not come to work at all. But, in the same way as the title of mayor had its perks, so it logically had its pains, of which there were far more than she would’ve liked to admit; construction requests to approve, town council bills to sign off on, rates to check and readjust if needed, and various kinds of forms for this and that, the other to stamp, all formed a bare few of such pains. Yes, she might’ve had the ability to choose to be there, but the paperwork basically demanded her to be there, no ‘ifs’, ‘buts’, or ‘maybes’ about it. These pains though, she’d always like to think to put her mind at ease, were simply a necessary self-annoyance for the future betterment of everypony. After all, It was through them and constant good management that the town, her town as she somewhat liked to believe, had come to grow and prosper over the years, gaining more than its share of importance and respect throughout Equestria as it had done so. Well, mostly due to her efforts… the presence of the Elements of Harmony probably formed some of that respect. She couldn’t help but smirk at that particular memory; if Ponyville hadn’t been on everypony’s map before, then it sure as hay was after that Summer Sun Celebration. The Mayor’s office itself, if somepony new in town were to be looking for it, was a small room tucked away on the second floor of the town hall, connected to the main building by an equally small waiting room. Said joining room, nowadays, formed the office of one Ruthann Inkedquill, or just ‘Ruth’ as she insisted on being called, a chocolate brown and silver Earth pony who served Mare’s secretary mare. Mayor Mare’s office itself, upon inspection, wasn’t exactly the place of elaborate splendor that a visitor might’ve expected from one of her station… but then again, this was the Mayor of Ponyville’s office, not the Mayor of Canterlot’s. Besides, most earth ponies preferred beauty through simplicity. A simple but more than adequately large desk sat in the middle of the room, said desk being flanked by a number of bulging shelves, filing cabinets, and the occasional wall-mounted painting or award, and backed by a single window overlooking the bustling Ponyville market district. And it was at this desk that Mayor Mare presently found herself. Allowing a soft yawn to escape her muzzle as she signed off on another building submission, and replaced yet another snapped quill, the middle-aged mare momentarily stopped her work to glance up at her office clock… …and then sighed upon seeing that it only read a quarter past four. “Hmmf, I swear that clock has it in for me.” She muttered to herself, sitting up in her chair and stretching out a few stiff kinks. A small moment of Heaven. Once the last cracks and groans of her middle-aged body subsided, the earth pony turned to reface her still lingering adversary, the adversary that had turned her humble office into a jail cell, the adversary that would’ve driven each and everypony in her position to the brink of rage upon seeing it. A heap of colored papers, scrolls, and alike that presently called her desk home, all asking her permission for one thing or another. “Why do you only ever seem to get higher?” She grumbled, her question gaining no answer from the pile of parchment as she reached for it yet again, “Huh, oh well, I guess I’ll just rest when I’m retired.” And that, as fate would have it, was when a rapid chorus of knocks resonated from her door; the sudden intrusion of sound caused the earth pony to jump, and almost send the stack of papers tumbling for the floor. Years spent saving such piles of work allowed Mare to grab them in time, but only just. Mare huffed in mild agitation as she set them aside. Now who could want me at this hour? "Ehem, Come in!" she called; running a quick hoof through her mane to make sure it was somewhat neat. Admittedly, having ponies come knocking without an appointment wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, but at four fifteen in the afternoon? Really? After a few more short seconds spent waiting, mare received her second startling in the same amount of minutes. The door ended up being practically thrown open with the rough force of a hurricane, and an all too familiar grey and blonde pegasus came happily flying in, proudly dressed in her signature mailmare uniform. Mare couldn’t help but wince as said mailmare narrowly missed crashing into the doorframe, then her polished oak shelf, and a metal filing cabinet, before finally landing a little shakily in the middle of the room. Still, she kept her composure, and smiled warmly at her visitor all the same; Equestria had enough bitter politicians as it was. "Why hello there, Ditzy.” "Hi Mayor Mare,” Ditzy replied with an equally wide smile as she approached the desk, “Whatcha doing cooped up in here on a day like today?” What with being the unfortunate end of more than a few ‘Derpy!’ shouts during her day to day routine, a little kindness always went a long way with the mailmare. Mare chuckled at the younger mare’s question, “My dear, this town doesn’t exactly run itself.” She replied, indicating to the now, once again, teetering tower of scrolls and alike, “But enough of that; now then, why don’t you tell me what’s brought you here? It must be important." “Well, I was just making the last of my rounds when a cloaked pony flagged me down on Mane Street… and asked that I give you this." The earth pony felt her eyebrow rise as Ditzy began digging around in her mailbag, said eyebrow managing to rise even further when, much to her surprise, the pegasus actually pulled out a rolled up scroll and placed it on the desk in front of her. What with the mention of a ‘cloaked pony’, most of her had initially believed that this supposed scroll was simply, more than likely, a prank pulled by the likes of Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, or some other cheeky local mischief up to no good… but if this was some kind of prank, then it sure seemed legitimate enough. It wasn’t a conventional scroll that lay before her hooves, by any means, or at least not by most pony standards anyway; the parchment itself looked to be far too rough, was colored an unusually dark yellow in color, and, if her eye was correct, was at least double the thickness of regular paper. And just why did it feel so… cold? “He said it was important that you got it today.” Ditzy went on as Mare examined it, her mismatched golden eyes betraying her own curiosity. Gingerly holding it up between her hooves as Ditzy looked on, and not entirely sure what to expect, Mare huffed and unfurled the parchment. Greetings and salutations to you, Mayor Mare, Mayor of Ponyville. I would assume, no doubt, that time is of the essence in your line of work, so I will be quick in my request. My name is Xarzith Ixen, and I am looking to move to Ponyville in the near future. I am interested in buying a block of vacant or cleared land on which to build a house, which I will be looking to fund and oversee myself. I request this not in offence to your town’s current dwellings, but I simply have needs, which they would not be able to fill. As you probably would’ve already guessed from what you’ve read, I have been searching your town of late for possible options, and I believe that, in my hunt, I saw the perfect block just past your town's library, made vacant of the former resident by the dragon greed-growth rampage your town was subjected too not so long ago. Forgive me if the way that comes across offends you. I will be spending the next two days getting my things in order, after which I hope to meet with you face to face to discuss my potential purchase. I would like you to think my proposition over and give me your answer once I come see you. May your fire always burn brightly. Xarzith Ixen Mare re-read the letter a few times over once she’d finished the initial reading, her sharp eye for detail, trained and honed from hours spent reading the fine print at the bottom of thousands of legal documents, scrutinizing each and every written word. It seemed sincere enough from a glance, and the request to purchase land was hardly something unusual… but something about it was still biting at her nerves. Xarzith Ixen. It was perhaps the most unusual name she’d ever heard in her life, and that was saying something, given her many experiences with the likes of creatures that came through Ponyville every other week. Then there was the knowledge of Spike’s rampage, an incident which she, the elements of harmony, and both of the princesses had made sure to keep low in terms of media coverage. And then there was the whole ‘house needs’ thing. Strange. “Hmm… you wouldn’t have gotten a look at this… hooded pony, by chance?” Mayor Mare asked, looking up at the patiently waiting pegasus, “Did he say anything to you other then ask you to deliver this?” Ditzy put a hoof to her chin, “Well… I didn’t see a lot of him, but I think he was a unicorn, he was maybe a bit taller than me, and his coat was really, really white… oh! And he was wearing these black coverings over his hooves!” “Coverings?” “Yeah! Kind of like those boots that Rarity wears in winter time,” Ditzy nodded, indicating her hooves for effect. “But his were a lot less fancy than Rarity’s. I remember because I kept thinking that he was silly for wearing them, since it’s not winter.” And it also happens to be rather warm at that. “Well… that’s… something at least,” Mare said simply, her mind mulling over the words. “Thank you for your help Ditzy, you may go now.” With a final parting smile, the grey pegasus was quickly gone and out the door, once again narrowly missing the doorframe as she flew off. Mare couldn’t help but chuckle softly to herself as she slumped back in her chair. Still, the situation as a whole left an undesirable taste in her mouth. "Well now, this is all more than a bit odd." The Mayor sighed to herself, her mind trying to paint a face with Ditzy’s descriptions. All that it tossed up was somepony who looked to have done something unfortunate and was running from the law. She shook the stray thoughts from her head; perhaps the long hours of work were finally catching up with her. With yet another tired sigh, the earth pony headed for her bottom drawer, the long un-oiled rollers squealing in protest as she pulled it out; her hooves soon enough plucked a map of the town from its cluttered depths, and then spread the parchment across the top of her desk. As the scroll had promised prior, there was indeed a vacant piece of land located a short distance behind the library, although ‘vacant’ actually translated to ‘presently covered in a pile of rubble’ and ‘heavily uneven due to giant footprints’. If Mare’s memory served her right, it had been one of the first homes to fall to Spike’s greed during his… growth spurt, given its close proximity to both the library and Sugercube corner, the two places between which his rampage had ‘technically’ began. "Ruth, would you be a dear and make sure I don't have any appointments two days from now? I'm expecting somepony to arrive to talk business, although he hasn’t designated an actual time. His name is Xarzith Ixen." "Will do Mayor Mare,” was the reply from just outside the door, followed by the tell-tale scratching of a quill in the appointments book. “And that is… a rather odd name." Mare just chuckled and shook her head. "Thank you dear, and on that matter our opinions are the same." Well… this afternoon had just gotten somewhat interesting.