//------------------------------// // Words, Walls, and Dyes // Story: Through the Night // by Fluttering_Ashes //------------------------------// As the train began to chug along by moonlight, Dream Weaver found herself laying in a private cart, a set of folders in front of her. Opening the one labeled “A” first, she pulled the letter out and read it to herself. “Burn after reading. Your mission, should you choose to accept it...” Choice. That got a little laugh out of the dream walker. Choice, cute. “... is to infiltrate the settlement known as Ponyville and familiarize yourself with the group hereafter referred as The Six. The Six’s attitude towards strangers range from unbridled enthusiasm to indifference. Choose your target wisely.” Dream rolled her eyes. Why did royal documents have to make everything sound like an assassination? She was going to Ponyville to make friends with these girls and protect them, not slit their throat and cart off the body! Continuing to read, Dreamy found her cover story. Luna had done her research: she had turned her hobby into her new ‘job’. Dream Weaver liked to… well… weave, in her offtime. Nothing quite made you feel more relaxed than turning thread or silk into something beautiful. Luna had set her up with a shop near the center of Ponyville, where she could sell fabric. Taking a bit to memorize the slogan for her new residence, she tossed the paper into the metal trash bin and cracked open another one. “Jacqueline Apple, AKA Applejack. Age: 25. Earth Pony. Self-employed. Bearer of the Element of Honesty. Hobbies: Cooking apple-based confections, Rodeos, Hoof races, Abstract art.” That last bit got Dream’s eyebrow up. She glanced at the picture included in the little portfolio. She really didn’t see Miss Apple as the kind to enjoy abstract art… but turning the paper over and finding her in front of one such creation, she immediately found out why this pony would enjoy such things. The art AJ made involved tossing an apple into the air, kicking it as it descended, and splattering the paste over a white canvas. Sighing and resisting the urge to rub the bridge of her nose, Dream returned to the profile. “Personality Abnormalities: Stubborn to the point of obstinacy, honest to the point of bluntness, mildly competitive. Initial danger percentage: 17%. While strong even by earth pony standards, Miss Apple has no formal military training, and, moreover, is often quite friendly to newcomers. She is more likely to force free samples on you than attack you.” Dream tossed the profile into the trash bin next to the note, making a mental note to only visit the Apples’ orchard after she had made friends with one of the others. She opened up another folder. ” Princess Twilight Sparkle. Age: 24. Alicorn Princess. Current Ruler of the newly created Kingdom of Friendship. Bearer of the Element of Magic.” That was all Dream could make out, since the rest of the profile was covered up by a large red stamp that read: “ Classified ” “Why even bother making this, then!” grumbled the pony, tossing the papers into the trash. She cracked open another. “Prismalinda Chromono Dash, AKA Rainbow Dash.” Dream couldn’t help but snicker. No wonder she went by a nickname. “Age: 22. Pegasus. Weathermare/Wonderbolt Reserve. Bearer of the Element of Loyalty. Hobbies: Racing, Extreme Sports, Flying, The works of A.K. Yearling. Personality Abnormalities: Stubbornness, quick to anger, fiercely loyal, possible narcoleptic, perpetual procrastinator. Initial danger percentage: 22%. Rainbow would be more likely to injure you in a stunt gone wrong than through an open attack. Best to approach her when she is standing still.” Dream could only nod to herself, still snickering from the ridiculous name Dash’s parents had given her. She opened up the next one, and was greeted by a picture of a yellow pegasus with big green eyes. “Fluttershy Posey. Age: 24. Pegasus. Vet and Wildlife Caretaker. Bearer of the Element of Kindness. Hobbies: Environmental Activist, Tea Connoisseur, Animal Relocation. Personality Abnormalities: Demophobia, Mild Xenophobia, Ligyrophobia, Lygophobia. Initial danger percentage: 0.2%. This pony is physically incapable of harming another living thing. The only danger she poses involves her eyes; they seem to hold two (2) strange powers: the ability to hypnotise wildlife and the ability to cause mild heart burn within a pony affixed with her stare. It is speculated that the stare causes a spasm of the heart within sentient races, and could even prove fatal if the race had a particularly weak heart. More study is needed.“ “Okay… keep away from that one. Let the others introduce me.” Dream noted, tossing the profile and picking up the next. “Pinkamena Diane Pie, AKA Pinkie Pie. Age: 23. Earth pony. Confectionist. Bearer of the Element of Laughter. Hobbies: Parties, Pranks, Tic tac toe. Personality Abnormalities: ”...” After reading the laundry list of possible diagnoses and quirks about Pinkie, Dream Weaver began to marvel that such a pony even managed to keep her sanity in tact, much less function in society. Possible Dissociative Identity Disorder, precognition, the ability to bend physics around her, a mane that could store anything from candy to party based artillery...! Pinkie Pie… was fascinating! Quickly shaking herself, Dream continued reading. “Initial danger percentage: 82.6%. Pinkie Pie is highly dangerous, and highly unstable. It is well-known that she will offer a welcome to anypony in town, but that welcome often involves an extravagant party, lots of sweets, a cannon filled with cake batter, streamers, and/or candy, or some combination of the above. It is best recommended to smile, nod, and try to enjoy oneself around her, lest the pony in question trigger another psychotic break.” Dreamy shivered and made a mental note to stay as far away from Pinkie’s dreams as she could. She opened the final envelope. “Rarity Belle. Age: 22. Unicorn. Fashionesta. Bearer of the Element of Generosity. Hobbies: Dressmaking, Fashion magazines, Gem mining, Romantic novels. Personality Abnormalities: Perfectionist, Loves beauty, Showboaty, Interest in fashion- bordering obsession. Initial danger percentage: 10.3 %. Miss Belle is the second most likely to attempt kidnapping, but is hardly malicious. Best to approach with caution: and never, under any circumstances, insult subject’s fashion sense. ” Dreamy stared at the picture of the white unicorn, lost in thought. Pinkie Pie would probably be the most open to her, since she’s friends with everypony. But, at the same time, she was friends with everypony. She wouldn’t focus on her the way she did the other five. They were her best friends, and she’d have a whole town to compete with to get to that level. Princess Twilight was off-limits, which left four others she might be able to approach… but who could she get closest to? She sighed and reached into her bag, uncorking a bottle of liquid dragon fire and sprinkling some of the liquid into the trash can, setting the papers alight. She’d figure out what to do when she arrived. Nopony knew she was coming, so it wasn’t as if there’d be somepony waiting for her. She had all day to figure things out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There was somepony waiting for her. The moment she had gotten off the train and into Ponyville proper, she had been set upon by a certain pink pony, quite a bit of confetti, and a lot of cake batter. Dream just smiled good-naturedly, wiped the stuff out of her mane, and listened to Pinkie’s welcoming song. They talked… or, rather, Pinkie rambled, and Dream listened, for quite a while. After a while, Dream cleared her throat. “Umm... Pinkie...” Pinkie, all but oblivious, just kept talking. “And then, Spike says somethin’ about girls lovin’ it, and I’m all like, “‘There is no way you can pick up chicks in a tank made of a cardboard box!’” “Pinkie,” Dream tried again, a little more forcefully this time. Pinkie, once again, all but ignored her. “And then he’s all like ‘Yeah-huh! I can show you!’ And he peddles off, and when he comes back, the tank is on fire and he looks all sad, so I bought him ice cream to make him feel better!” “Pinkie!” Dream shouted, clapping her hooves inches from Pinkie’s nose. Pinkie Pie blinked, and focused more intently on Dream’s face “Yes, Dreamy?~” She asked sweetly. Dream sighed, relieved she finally got Pinkie Pie to stop talking. “Since I’m kinda new here, do you think you can point me in the direction of my store? It has my cutie mark on the front.” She pointed to her flank and the mark on it: a spinning wheel with a starry, night sky blooming out of the needle. Not exactly how a spinning wheel worked, but whatever. “Of course I do! The writer only has me here because I’m always welcoming new ponies and I know the town like the back of my hoof! It’s right down that way! The sign’s real big! Can’t miss it!” She began to hop away before Dreamy could even begin to process what she had just said. After that… bit of insanit- “Hey! It wasn’t insane! It’s called fourth-wall-breaking! Know the difference, missy!” “Wah? Pinkie! You can’t be in here! Get back in the story!” The writer demands, unable to keep from narrating herself so as to keep some form of narrative flow. “Oh, come on, lemme write for a while! Check this out!” The pink, majestic and super fun party pony supreme says as she pulls an entire circus tent out of her mane. Then she pulls out a buncha clown makeup, which she splatters on her face, then she begins to juggle her own head while balancing on a ball that she walks backwards up one of those spikey dinosaur’s back thingies. “See!? I totally got this! You can just go back to eating pizza and watching murder investigation shows!” “I… I don’t even know how you highjacked my stor-” The writer starts to say, before she’s interrupted by the pink-maned mare. “Internet.” The writer blinks, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Right… but you can’t just do that-” "That one lady did in Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties!” “You’re really bringing up that stupid game? Whatever, you can’t just highjack someone else’s story. I’m trying to write here.” The writer folds her arms, glaring at Pinkie. Pinkie’s ears go flat against her head and the writer… pretty much immediately feels bad. “Look… Can you be patient? You’ll be brought back into the story again later.” Pinkie continues to pout for a few seconds before brightening up. “Okie Doki Loki!” After that… fourth-wall-break, Dream Weaver found her way to her store. The sign, as the pink mare had said, was quite large. It was hanging over the doorway, swaying in the breeze, with her cutie mark taking up the majority of it. “Silk and Stitchings,” Dreamy breathed. If only her squad could see her now. She hefted her bags and headed inside. The place had been fully stocked by the princess; everything from cotton poly blend to spider silk lined the walls in large industrial-sized rolls. Behind the counter were several dyes in every color of the rainbow. Dream explored the ground floor for a bit before she headed upstairs to the living area; fairly simple: just a couch, a bookshelf, a bed, and a wardrobe. All the necessities. She examined the bookshelf a bit more closely, however. There was always something… Aha! There it was! A large, leather-bound book, near the left side of the shelf had the title, “Arms and Armaments: A reference guide.” Pulling it forward, Dream could hear the small -Click!- from just behind the wall before the whole shelf swung forward. Behind it lay her own private armory. Her guard’s uniform lay polished and waiting on the back of a manequin, a training dummy sat in one corner, and up against one wall, there were rows and rows of assorted weapons, including some of her personal favorites. She smirked. Princess Luna had truly thought of everything. She backed out and closed the bookcase door. Down below, she heard the distinct sound of her door chime. “Just a minute!” She called, running to her mirror to make sure she was presentable. Her mane was pulled back into a messy little bun at the base of her skull, and a pair of glasses perched on her nose made her look a bit like a librarian. She certainly didn’t appear to be the sort of pony one would expect to guard anyone. She smiled at her reflection and trotted downstairs. “Welcome to Silk and Stitchings, where we put magic into every thread! What can I do fo-” She was cut off by the pony who tossed herself at her hooves, clinging to her in a very, very dramatic fashion. “Silk!” She moaned. “Puhlease tell me you have silk!” Dream raised an eyebrow, staring down at the white unicorn for a moment. It only took a moment to recognize her. Rarity was certainly a face you tended to remember. Particularly so when it was your mission to keep an eye on her. “Dear, you do know where you are, right?” Dream said with a light giggle, patting Rarity’s head. “This’d hardly be Silk and Stitches without the silk, now would it?” She giggled again, watching Rarity’s body sag with sheer relief. She pried her forelegs away from her, and left her by the counter, walking over to one of the shelves. “But I suppose the real question is: What kind of silk? I have Silk Worm, I got Bumble Bee, Spider, what do ya need today?” Rarity blinked. “Oh, um, silk worm should do just fine, darling. Do you… Do you think I could get a bulk order, miss…?” “Weaver,” She said, brightly. “Dream Weaver. And certainly, you can! All one color or do you want me to include some of my dyes?” She took a bit of the roll and spun it over a second, equally large, empty roller, and brought it down to floor level. “One color, dear. Blue if you please. Baby Blue.” Dream couldn’t help but giggle again, grinning at Rarity. “My kind of color,” she said, taking the blue dye from behind the counter. She began mixing it with water while she spun the silk onto the roller, cutting it after about half her original roller was on it. “So, if you don’t mind me asking, why do you need all this silk?” She asked, pouring her dye water into a little bath on top of the counter, resting the fabric inside, then turning a dial on an egg timer. “Oh… I have an order I have to fill, darling. I’m Ponyville’s premier fashionesta!” She beamed, soaking in her own pride, for a second or two, before she continues. “I had an order for a set of bride’s mare gowns and my… dear little sister and her friends… borrowed all the silk I had on hoof.” Her tone was so icy, Dream wouldn’t have batted an eye if she noticed mist on Rarity’s breath. She smiled nervously. “Kids, huh? Everything seemed so important back then. You can’t honestly say you didn’t get into a lot of crazy things at her age, though, can you?” “Oh, of course I can’t, darling! I was a little hoof-full for my parents! Always staying up past my bed time, always wandering around outside of town, always falling asleep in class... but the things Sweetie and her friends get up to, oh it’s simply in another league!” Rarity huffed and rubbed her head. “I am at my wit’s end with that filly. I love the little dear more than anything, but sometimes, I wish she’d just stay still!” Dream chuckled and nodded. “Yeah… she sounds like a hoof-full, but honestly, I wouldn’t know how to approach it. I’m an only child.” She grinned sheepishly. Rarity sighed. “Oh, don’t fret darling, it’s good just to talk about it.” The egg timer went off at that moment. Dream carefully lifted the roll of silk out of the dye bath and carefully set it in another bath, a few inches away on the countertop, then turned the timer back on. “Clear instadry. Makes the dye bind faster and it dries the moment it’s out. “ She explained to Rarity. Rarity nodded and went on with their conversation. “So what about you, Miss Weaver, why did you decide to move to Ponyville?” Dreamy let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. “My father makes armored greaves and horseshoes for the royal guard. I lived in Canterlot pretty much my whole life… I just… Ya know, sometimes when your special talent is similar to your family’s, everypony expects you to be like them. Even if it’s something like ‘they both make things’. Ponies expect me to be covered in soot, or something. I had to get away from that to start a business.” Rarity blinked at her. “What about your mother, dear? Don’t they think a filly would be more like her mother?” Dream huffed and looked away. “Mom… isn’t in the picture.” She muttered sourly. An awkward silence filled the air, broken only by the ringing of the egg timer. Truthfully, Dream hadn’t really started hating her mother until she hit age 15. She had found a few letters her father had kept from her parents’ time together. The things her mother wrote were… haughty and self-absorbed, to say the least. She found in those letters that she was the real reason why her mother left. Her mother, Hazel, was appalled that two unicorns could give birth to an earth pony, and she had blamed her father for it. She had run off with some unicorn from Los Pegasus, and her father had never bothered to contact her since. It had been next to no trouble finding her in her favorite book after that, and with a quick scribbling of a red marker, she had shown the only picture of her mother she had exactly how she now felt about her. “Here we are,” Dream said, pulling the roll out of the solution. “Thank you, dear. How much do I owe you?” “Let’s see… That roll of silk, plus the dye job would be about 85 bits, but since you’re my first customer and all, I think we can settle it for just 20. How does that sound?” “Oh, darling! I couldn’t! I can’t just let you give me such a discount! You need the bits just as much as I do! 85 bits it is!” She pulled her bit bag out and started counting. Dream shook her head “No, no, ma’am. First customer discount! 20 bits!” “85 bits!” Rarity said firmly. Sighing in defeat, Dream asked, “Why don’t we just meet in the middle, and call it even with 45 bits?” Rarity smiled and nodded. “Now that’s much more fair. Thank you, darling. I expect I’ll be seeing you soon?” she asked, setting the bits on the countertop. “Oh, I expect so!” Dreamy said, walking her to the door. “After all, a good fashionesta needs materials for her art! We can talk while the dye sets!” She held the door open for Rarity. “I hope you’ll be back soon!” She said merrily, waving Rarity out. And just like that, Dream had her way into the group. What a productive first day!