//------------------------------//
// 1 From the Nation Across the Sea 
// Story: The Ambassadors 
// by TheJinxedJailer 
//------------------------------//

Ginger P.O.V.

I was falling through the thick warm summer air toward the edge of a dark, quiet forest below. My wings hurt like all get out, as I’d been flying since yesterday morning with a satchel as big as one of my wings. I was trying to find some place called Ponyville, a far walk from my hometown, Starling Bay. 

Shaking out my curly mane, I gently fluttered down onto the largest treetop I could find. The waxy leaves were cool on my hooves, and I decided to use them to soften my aching wings. Resting up, I sighed and looked as far into the yonder as my poor eyesight would let me. In the further of the glade and on past a few hills, lights flickered gently. I knew that the place was my final destination, so I stood and heaved myself back into the air. I got really lucky that I have my mum's big wings, and unlucky that I got her round middle. But I can fly, so I'm not gonna whine about it too much.

As I glided over the encroaching hills, the gate of the small town opened slowly. I wanted to just fly over it, but figured it would be rude to whoever opened the door. So I halted in midair, and skidded to the dirt path, leaving small clouds of dust in my wake. Clipping through, I saw that the little town seemed to be dead. A restaurant was open, and there were two ponies talking on a park bench near said establishment. But the rest of the town was oddly quiet, especially since the fuss that had gotten me to show up here was, in fact, not there.

I heard a sudden crash, like the clatter of thick glasses onto plates, and I whipped mechanically around. I let out a breath of summer air as I found what I was looking for. A small wooden plaque engraved with a mug read 'Taproot Tavern'. The crash came from inside, soon followed by another and a southern sounding yell.

I galloped farther over and pushed through the swinging door, the soft gold and mahogany lights shining off of my orange coat. The whole tavern was warm and quiet, aside from the crashing noises in the kitchen. I looked to the door, and a shock of cerulean-dyed hair followed by a near indistinguishable brown hide clattered in with glasses aplenty.

"Hey Tom! Long tail, long time huh?"

The stallion looked at me, his ears pricking forward. He smiled, and then set all of the mugs down in a precarious pile on the counter. Trotting up, he threw a rag to the shiny table.

"Why Ginger, look at that mane!" he said. "You'd think you've got a cloud of fire on your head."

I looked at him coyly, and flicked my tail. "You're one to talk. Your hair is blue and defies gravity."

"True 'nuff." he chuffed, and went back to his spot behind the counter to polish it. I took a seat on a cherry red barstool, and reached into my blue satchel. The scroll, yellowed and wrinkly, crackled quietly in my hoof.

"Here ya go, little lady." 
I looked up, and saw a frothy mug of fresh-from-the-tap root beer. I smiled, then dug back inside the blue bag for my coin purse.
"How much will that be?"

Tom held up a hoof and shook his head. Giving me a closed-eyes grin, he whinnied, "On the house, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Tom!" I say as I pull the mug to my lips after setting my scroll down. The foam on top slipped up to my top lip and the root bear ran in a cool stream down into my belly. I let out a long-held breath as I wiped the bubbles from my muzzle.
"I meant to ask, what was all that crashing earlier?"

Tom stopped polishing the counter with a pained look on his face. Putting his head down and blocking his mouth with his hoof, he whispered, "New employee. Not real good at waitin' tables or working the register. He's stuck on the night shift washing dishes."

I nodded, and went back to my mug. "Where's he from?"

"'Round here, I reckon."

Finishing the root beer, I pushed the glass away and retrieved my scroll. Tom looked at it curiously, and put the rag behind the counter. He leaned against the table top and gestured at it. "Who else from Starling Bay got the summons?"

"Ummm… Nuke, Glacie, and a few more you don't know." I held the scroll out to him. He took it, breifly glancing over it.

"What's it about?" 

I shrugged, tucking it away again. I looked at the clock on the wall; midnight on the dot. "They should all be here soon." I sat the satchel on the stool to my left.

Tom nodded, and then jumped as another crash was heard from the kitchen. Stomping back and forcing his way in, he gave an uncharacteristic yell. "For the love of Celestia! Be careful Patch; we only have so many plates and glasses! It's a bar, not a porcelain factory!"

I laughed, and the front entryway swung open. Ruffled brown hair and pale gray fur accompanied by steely eyes wandered in. The figure shook out, and trotted nonchalantly up to the counter.

"Ginger Snap!" I turned, and tucked my wings to my side.

"Nuke, how's a brother been?"  We walked up to each other, and gave a quick half-hug/bro-hoof. 

He shivered, and took a seat next to my satchel. "I got off of a crowded train and met Neo in Wickerwood. We just got out of Everfree Forest and my hooves are on fire."

Sitting down on the fake-leather stool, I reached into the back pocket of my blue satchel. A small plastic puck sat in my hoof's palm. I held it over to him, and he unscrewed the top as his horn glowed a pale green.

"It's an aloe mix I got from work. It relaxes muscles and numbs overworked nerves. I'd put it on my back if I didn't have feathers." I say as he dipped his hoof and worked it into his soles.

After a minute or two of that, Tom came back in looking flustered and with a new set of mugs. 

"I'm sorry, Ginger. That boy's thicker than a redwood."

"Hi Tom."

The brown-gold stallion looked up, surprised. "Nuke, you've gotten so tall!"

The gray unicorn grinned half-heartedly, and continued to try and soothe his aching hooves. "Nice hair."

I socked him in the shoulder, earning a yelp. "Don't be rude, X-Butt."

Nuke looked at me part sorely and part deviously. He magically screwed the top back onto the aloe, and slipped it into the satchel again. 

It occurred to me to ask where the others were. "Didn't you say you arrived with Neo? Where is he?"

Nuke scratched under his chin, and looked across the counter to the menu carved into the wall. "He's waiting for Glacie outside the town gate."

I shook my head, mane tickling my muzzle. "Sure is a whole lot of waiting today. If I have to wait anymore, I'm going to starve." I clacked my hoof gently to the countertop and gained Tom's attention. "Can I buy some food? I haven't eaten since this morning."
Tom nodded, and pulled out a steno pad and a pencil. "What can I getcha?"

"Whaddya want, Nuke?" I ask my stallion-friend as I turn my gaze toward the menu myself. "I'll order after you."

He tapped his lip and his stomach gave a loud, sonorous growl. With a grin and a cocky shake of the head, he said, "Funnel cake. Extra sugar."

I smiled and said, "Make that two, Tommy. And some root beer." 

Tom scribbled it down, and went back into the kitchen. I heard a younger voice whining, and then the sound of the oil in their fryer start to pop. Nuke sat there for a second, and started to fool around with his hair.

I turned toward him and said, "I would've walked with you guys, ya know."

Nuke, mildly surprised, glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. He dismissed it breifly with a flick of his hoof. "Nah, it would've made you crabby to be stuck in the crowds we were stuck in. You already have ownership over my soul; I'd like to keep it in one piece."

I laughed, and then put my head onto the countertop. I was tired, but too tired to sleep. Do you ever feel that way? You've worked so hard or stayed awake so long that you can't drift off, no matter how weak your muscles are or how jaded you feel. 

The thick and greasy smell of batter frying wafted through the window that breached the bar and the kitchen. Both of our stomachs growled in unison, and I sat bolt upright. We heard Tom knocking around in a pantry, and the worker, whoever he was, getting out plates. Nuke was tapping impatiently at the counter with one hoof, his head resting on the other.

Suddenly, a pen resting on the other side of the counter slid over to us. It floated in the air, and gave me a gentle whap on the nose. I took note of the soft green glow coming from inside the pen's cap, trying to remain hidden. Nuke hid his smirk to the other side of his face, but I knew it was there. The pen twirled one more time, and whipped over to pick my glasses from my nose.

As it did, I gave a one-inch punch and cracked it back. My glasses landed on my satchel, and the pen slapped Nuke's right cheek. He winced, and whipped over to give me a playful glare.

Boredom will do strange things to you.

Tom pushed through the kitchen door with two funnel cakes on his back. Steam rose in thick wispy tendrils from underneath the snowy white powdered sugar. The stallion slid them acrobatically in front of us both, and grabbed two large mugs from behind the counter. Placing them to a nozzle in the wall, he filled them to the brim with the foamy and syrup-colored liquid. He placed them next to the plates, and then wiped away the nozzle with his overused rag.

"Enjoy, folks!" Tom chirped, and vanished back into the kitchen.

Nuke had already started digging into his funnel cake, the steam curling around his muzzle as he gulped it down. Sugar was staining his nose and fluttering down onto the counter. My mouth watered, and I picked a generously sized chunk to release the heat trapped inside.

I bit into it, and some of the powder sank down to my darker-colored hooves. I made a pleased 'delicious' noise, and shoved the rest of the piece into my maw.

"We haven’t eaten food like this since the North Thicia fair!" Nuke mumbled through his mouthful, polishing off his first third.
I nodded vigorously and licked the powder from my lip. "And think about it, this town can have 'em all year round!" I wiped my mouth, and chased down my first bit with a big gulp of the freshly-made root beer.

The front door was breached by two blue shapes, one pale gray-blue and one navy, both with dirty brown hair and wings. The female was laughing uncontrollably, and as soon as she saw me, shot over as she propelled herself with her wings.

"My Kouhai!" she giggled as I was pressed against two other barstools. Her gray-blue coat shone under the lights, and her white hooves were pressed to my clavicles as her icy eyes stared giddily into mine.

Pushing her off, I gave her a hug with my wing. "Glacie, how're things in Atmosphere City?"

She hugged back before taking a seat on my right side. "Really really wet. The summer has us make a whole lot of rain."

I nodded, and then pushed part of my funnel cake over to her. She looked at it like a rabid wolf, and promptly started to gulp it down. Grease snuck its way onto the bridge of her nose as she scarfed the deep fried pastry down her throat.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and looked around to Nuke's side. A burly navy-blue pegasus stood there with a cocky smirk on his face. A pair of blue and black headphones hung around his neck, and his marigold-brown mane was spiky and sort of unkempt.

He backed up as I walked forward. We stood on our hind legs, and then knocked our foreheads together quickly. "Bonk!" we said, and then I settled back into my seat. 

"Neo, what took you guys so long?" Nuke piped up.

He had been busy stuffing the rest of his order into his mouth so nobody else would have a chance to pick at it. It occurred to me that I should probably finish up mine before Glacie ate it all. I snatched away the last fourth as the blue mare washed a mouthful down with some of my root beer.

Neo remained standing, his wings twitching occasionally. "We forgot where to go. We thought we were supposed to go to the library."

Nuke sighed, and was trying to wipe the sugar residue off of his face and hooves. "I remember telling you specifically, 'There's only one tavern in town. We're meeting there; that's what Ginger said the scroll told us.' I told you before you flew up to the gate to wait for Glacie."

Neo dismissed it with a flick of his ears, boredly trotting in a small circle. "We're here. Don't fuss."

"Not everybody's here." Glacie said. I had missed her digging through my satchel to find my scroll. She'd unrolled it, and then began to read it aloud.

'Greetings from Equestria, Great Gray.

It is in this time of great need that we call on Thicia for assistance. An ancient evil has arisen from the rim of the ocean separating our kingdoms. It is mentioned in only one manuscript, and is called the Grimmlock; it is the devourer of all things living and dead, and will consume all when it breaks fully out of its dimensional prison. 

We will need six elites (You being one of them.) of your classes to organize our armies and our preparation. 

We have sent summons to the following five ponies, including you to complete the six.

The War Historian- Neo Retro
The Battle Strategist- Nuclear Horizon
The Seer- Glacie Tundra
The Scribe/ Weapon-Designer- Ginger Scribble
The Fighter- Silver Luck

We apologize for including Silver Luck, as she is your only daughter. But she is the best in her class, and this war will almost surely be lost without her.

The Princesses Celestia and Luna will have you escorted to the castle in Canterlot. Please send the other four Thicians to Taproot Tavern in Ponyville. They will be escorted to Canterlot the following morning at 9:00 sharp.

We wish you the best of luck on your journey here. 

- Princess Twilight Sparkle, Equestria Ambassador 

The room went deathly quiet. I paled, and shrank back into my skin. Glacie dropped the paper to the floor with a look of frustration, fear, and confusion on her face. Nuke looked near the exact same, but Neo looked angry.

"What?" he spat, and turned the paper over viciously. Eyes darting across the parchment, he snorted and threw it back at me as I slid down to the floor.

"Ginger, what is this? Why didn't you tell us?"
I tried to keep my emotions balanced between anger and degradation. My wings were puffing out uncontrollably. Taking a deep breath, I replied, "I was going to, on the train to Canterlot."

Nuke got off of the seat and stepped forward. "Why didn't we get invitations like that one? All ours said was that we were being summoned for Equestria."

I closed my eyes, trying to hide my bitter shame. "You know I work in the castle with Great Gray, albeit as his writer and as a medic."
"So?" Neo scoffed gently.

"Guys, Gray is like a father to her. You know how she and I learned in his elite mapping corps, but what you don't know is how close we got with him." Glacie stepped up, and draped her wing across my back. "And since Gray is so close with Ginger, and she works as the castle, it would make sense that she'd be given this."

I stood there trying to muster up courage to speak. My tongue was knotted, and my wings shook angrily underneath my orange and brown-ish plumage.

Neo thought for a second, then nodded, letting out a rough and crumbly sigh. "Yeah, I guess. Now where are we sleeping?"

Glacie tucker her wing back up, and we all turned our heads as Tom stepped awkwardly into the room. "Uh, folks… I don't mean to interrupt, but you'll hafta sleep in the lounge."

Nuke looked over our shoulders. "Where?"

Tom cantered over to a large curtain, slightly more golden than the wall on either side of it. He pulled a drawstring, and sticking a hoof inside, turned on a light.

We four traversed across the floor, and ducked into the lounge. We all promptly fell into the cushion of a floor. As we looked, the whole room was a cozy circle with pillows upon pillows. The wall was cushioned halfway up to the sconces, the floor was cushioned, even the cushions were cushioned. It looked so squishy and comfortable, we all just walked into separate areas to spread out.
I kneeled down against a pillow and the wall. Tom waved goodnight.

"G'night ladies. You too, gentlecolts. Bathroom is down through the kitchen, and if y'all get hungry, don't eat anything that's marinatin'."

His blue-haired head disappeared, and left the four of us to stew in the awkward that had been created. Neo had his back facing the rest of us, and Nuke was curled up in a bundle of long legs and a rough tail. Glacie was primly wrapped in a ball, her tail over her nose. She breifly lifted her head to give me a quick 'it's okay' smile.

I gave a forced twitch of a grin, and cupped most of my sides in my wings. I covered my eyes with my mane after setting my glasses aside. It took over an hour, but I did eventually drift off.