While the lesson on seekers was going on for the elder ponies the CMC and Orchid were trying to occupy their time with something that wouldn't land them in too much trouble.
“We already tried treasure hunting,” said Scootaloo, “all we uncovered was the mane brush Sweetie Belle lost last week.”
“Rarity wasn't happy about that,” Squeaked Sweetie Belle, “and since we don't have any spare capes just yet we can't give you your initiation, Orchid.”
“You three really want me as member of your club, and not just pulling my leg.”
“Pfft, we're better fillies than that,” said Scootaloo, “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are like those girls you talked about, snooty and arrogant.”
“Yeah, you keep talking about those two, and in the kind of voice that indicates you have contempt or disdain for them.” Scootaloo gave Orchid a confused look.
“She means we talk like we don't talk like we don't like them,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Because we don't,” said Apple Bloom promptly, “they've made 'ur live uh livin' Tartarus just because thay got cutie marks an' we don't.”
“Where I grew up no one had cutie marks, in fact the concept never existed there,” said Orchid, “Adults, children, and teens all don't have anything like a cutie mark. In fact there a full grown folks that are stuck in jobs they don't like because they haven't been able to find that one thing that they're good at above all else. Rec found out what he was good at because he's smart, adaptive, and not afraid of change. You three are always open up for new experiences, that's something a lot of folks aren't willing to even try.”
“Why not?” Squeaked Sweetie Belle.
“Because they like their boring and safe lives,” said Orchid, “they like things that don't challenge them, but that's no way to test yourself. You have to be willing to try and fail to really test yourself. Testing yourself shows you just what you're capable of.”
“That's terrible,” said Scootaloo, “they like their lives to be boring.”
“Folks will say they want something interesting to happen their lives,” said Orchid, “but truth is they don't like it when something interesting doesn't happen, they don't like their ideas of how the world is shaken up.”
“But you don't seem to mind,” said Sweetie Belle.
“As my brother and his friends are fond of saying,” said Orchid, “it's all about finding a balance in your perceptions.”
“That sounds really corny,” said Scootaloo, “you said your brother and his friends go on globetrotting adventures, they have awesome Daring Do type adventures.”
“Still don't know who that is,” retorted Orchid, “besides, they would much prefer a few days of free time than being sent on missions across the world. I guess seeing old cities, ancient ruins and fighting mythical beasts does sound like living an awesome life, but my brother and his friends are tired of all the missions they keep getting sent on and just want a few days to do what they want, in fact that's what this week was supposed to be, that is until someone decided to ruin their week off with calling them in for a mission.”
“Wait, mission,” said Scootaloo, “you mean they got somepony that tells them where they need to go so they can showcase their awesomeness.”
“Um, no,” said Orchid flatly, “seekers are the type that go for being all subtle, we try to keep everything as low profile as possible. We don't go trouncing into an excavation site and set off a bunch of explosives when we find out an artifact is too dangerous to be left in the care of anyone. Instead we send a team to retrieve the artifact in question and put in a secret safe house in the care of someone whose very job is to make sure no one gets a hold of the artifact until it proper research has been done on it. What I'm saying is that we try to be more practical, like farmers.”
“Did ya just say that mah family mindset is part uh what et means ta be one uh those seeker-types?” Responded Apple Bloom.
“Yes,” said Orchid, “but we already have a few that are in on all this info here, which can be as helpful as it is unhelpful, you girls need to promise in the strongest oath to your knowledge to not share any of the seeker stuff except in the case of it being absolutely required that you reveal it for a very important reason. In short, no one you know at school, in town, the country or the world outside those that already know can know about what I've revealed to you, you can't even say you're crusading to be seekers in public.”
The three fillies looked at her with amazement, then Sweetie Belle raised a hoof, followed by Apple Bloom and Scootaloo before they all started a dance that began with twirling their hooves and ending with poking their eyes with the hoof while simultaneously saying, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, Stick a cupcake in my eye.”
Orchid stared at them and said with confusion, “What was that?”
“A Pinkie promise,” said Sweetie Belle, “the most important promise, ever!”
“If ya break yer Pinkie promise Pinkie will find you, an' Ah don't mean et en tha figurative sense,” said Apple Bloom, “an' show ya why ya need ta keep yer Pinkie promises.”
“What are you blank flanks up to now,” came a self-important filly's voice.
They all turned to see a pinkie coated filly with a silver colored tiara that had a white diamond adornments and a gray filly with sky blue framed glasses.
“It better not be anything we'll be embarrassed about,” said the gray filly in a snobbish voice, “looks like you found another blank flank to try and make yourselves seem special.”
After they got closer the pink filly saw Orchid's Jirwolf amulet before saying, “At least she has good taste, that jewelry looks pretty good, I might have daddy buy me some.”
“You can't buy an amulet like this,” said Orchid with indignation, “friends like him don't like your type, only jerks would like Enforcer would like you.”
“Hey, do you have any idea who we are, blank flank?”
“No,” said Orchid flatly, “and I'm proud to say I don't care who you are. I could care less who your parents are. And above all I think anyone who thinks they're above others needs to get a reality check, preferably by getting bumped down a few pegs. And before you even try, you couldn't buy any of my amulets off me if you had all the money in the world!”
The two just stared in dumbstruck surprise, Orchid just trotted off and asked the other three were coming with her.
Once the two new ponies were out of earshot Sweetie Belle said, “I can't believe you managed to say something that actually made Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon just freeze up like that, you gave them a speech about not caring who they were or who they were connected to. I don't know if you were being brave or crazy, because I know you didn't know who Diamond Tiara and Silver looked like before today.”
“From the way they talked and moved I can honestly say I would not like them one bit,” said Orchid, “heck I probably still won't know who their folks are until I meet them.”
“Diamond's dad is Filthy Rich,” Scootaloo, “he's a highly influential pony in this town, he's also one of the wealthiest as well.”
“Wait his name is... you know what never mind,” said Orchid, “I'll explain later.”
“Maybe your special talent is pointing out flaws in another pony's arguments,” squeaked Sweetie Belle.
“Chances are that was one time deal,” said Orchid, “if I try something like that again it probably won't work.”
“Oh, but that would be a cool talent if it was that you could keep doing that,” said Scootaloo.
“Quick question,” said Orchid, “does that mean I'd have have an image someone being berated by someone else?”
“Ooh, ya got a point thare,” said Apple Bloom, “what would an argument ruiner cutie mark look like? Not somethin' Ah'd want on mah flank now that Ah think abou' et.”
“Well, we can cross that one off the list,” said Sweetie Belle.
After a few minutes they started making their way to Sweet Apple Acres, a few minutes into the trot the sound of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon approaching could be heard, Orchid had always found she had an ear for that sort who was going somewhere by their sound (she wondered why that that could mean, then decided to address it later).
“How dare you mock us then just leave us there,” said Diamond Tiara, “you have no idea who you're dealing with.”
Without looking back, and continuing to trot, Orchid said, “I know exactly who I'm dealing with, a pair of spoiled brats who think that their families have enough resources they can do whatever they want. You have no idea what Noblesse Oblige is do you?”
“That the name of some important pony,” said Diamond with a mocking tone, “one you made up to make yourself sound more informed than us.”
“Um no,” said Silver Spoon with a bit of worry in her voice, “Diamond, it's a more refined way of saying 'noble obligations', she just effectively called us out as members of the noble class.”
This caused the Crusaders to halt, causing Orchid to do the same, “What do you know about noble obligations,” said Silver Spoon, “you're a nopony with some fancy looking jewelry that you probably found and decided was pretty and decided to put it on.”
Orchid turned to face the two with an annoyed look on her face, “You can mock me all you want,” said Orchid before continuing, “make fun my understandings of society, and even make fun of my choices of style. BUT NO ONE, AND I MEAN NO ONE makes fun of MY friends like that.
My amulets are my connection my friends and family, all good memories despite the times, the joys despite the hardships, all the trust despite the deceit around us. You have no right make fun of the ones I trust and care for with such expressions. I learned to always look at things beneath the surface, it's a policy that has been passed down through my family for generations. We may not be old money, but we certainly aren't new money either. We have long standing traditions that tell us how to interact with other in public and private. We may not be nobles, but certainly aren't the kind you can just look down on. All you seem to focus on is the surface, you don't bother to look deeper, if you did bother to look past the surface you would find such acts like the ones you seem so fond of are meaningless in the long run. While you might be more important than any one of us now, chances are that any one of, if not all, of us could end up in a position of greater importance than you in our futures.
Our futures are unwritten, but you seem to think that because you found the path to a future you have the right to lord it over those that have yet to find their life's path. Your kind make me sick, I tried to get along with your kind before, what that got me was a nearly smashed jewelry making kit and lot of pent up aggression that I knew would never lead to anything good, so I did my best to quell that disdain, and you just had start poking around and find those old scars. Well, congratu-fracking-lations you pressed the wounds hard enough to open them, I suppose you're proud of yourselves for acting all important and not showing you are.
Noble obligations means doing what is expected of you and your status, it's an ideal of doing what society demands of you, but the nobility mostly use those an excuse for why they can't do something, so guess what, you wanted me to crack and you did it, you fracking did it, you got me to crack and explode. But you thought my little tirade would happen in a way that you could manage, or use as an excuse to your parents for why you were heckling me, jokes on you, my entire tirade has been about responsibilities that you seem to be dodging.
You know what the real joke is here? If you had tried this a few years ago or a few years from now I would have just let it all slide off me like water off a duck's back.” She huffed and stomped off, the other five fillies just staring in surprise at her.
“Did...did we just get scolded on our behavior from a filly our age and take it?” Said Diamond Tiara finally breaking the silence, “I wanted to stop her, but the way she talked just wouldn't let me find a point to do so.”
“She just kept ranting,” said Silver Spoon with a semi-glazed look in her eyes, “and the worst part is I couldn't tune it out, I didn't just hear her. I was actually listening to her, it was like my mother giving me lessons on how to be a proper noble, I just couldn't stop actually listening to her.”
The Crusaders blinked few times and rushed after Orchid, “Ya did et again,” said Apple Bloom, “Only this time ya got the Crusaders caught up in what ya said.”
“That was some speech,” said Sweetie Belle, “you just kept going, and we had no idea what you were getting at. Whatever it is that was must be your special talent.”
“Yeah, you were awesome,” said Scootaloo.
“I was just getting my aggression out in socially acceptable manner,” said Orchid, “I didn't expect it to go that long, maybe a couple of small sentences, but not that freaking political speech.”
“Ya seem ta got uh talent fer givin' those speeches,” sad Apple Bloom.
“But I feel a stronger connection with animals than anything else,” said Orchid, “knowing those two things doesn't really tell me what I'm really good at. Even if they're difficult to bond with the more animal-like titans bond easily with me. To be be perfectly honest, I don't know why. Mom seems to have a solid grasp on magic concepts, but they seem to be a little skewed from those my brother and I learned. She's also so strong willed that when dad tried to wipe her memory of all the seeker stuff when she witnessed him doing it in the place as her that his spell actually failed.”
“Wait,” said Apple Bloom, “yer sayin' tha' if yer will is powerful enough it can keep a spell that affects yer mind from not working.”
“Seeker magic is connected to will power, the stronger your will the more powerful you are, in order to override a SimpleMind spell you need to have a will equal to or greater than that of the one casting it, in short despite not being able to do magic mom is awesome in that she can shrug off seeker mind affecting spells because of her sheer force of will.”
“Okay, yeah, that does sound like your mom is awesome,” said Scootaloo.
“Hey you,” the sound of a indignant Diamond Tiara approaching, without Silver Spoon (who was still standing dumbstruck where she was), “that little speech of yours was cute, but even so I'll just tell Daddy and then...”
“Is that all you're gonna do? Hide behind your daddy and hope that he'll solve all your problems,” said Orchid cutting off Diamond Tiara.
“How dare you. You, you, wo...”
“Gonna have to stop you right there,” said Orchid, “you've had everything you ever wanted. I'm reminded of the tales of the ifrit and djinn. You have an ifrit at your beck and call, everything you want is yours with little to no effort. I'm the djinn for the Crusaders, I'm not as powerful, but I serve as a tempering agent when they say they wish for something I ask them if that's what they need. You see, you can't discern between want and need because your daddy spoils you rotten. Go back to your 'daddy' and keep living in your little fantasy, I'll be guiding the story of my friends to something even I can't see,” what made it all the more impressive was how even kept her voice during the entire time, “just because you have a genie that can give whatever you want doesn't mean you should keep wishing for things of little consequence. Wealth, in the long run is meaningless. Connections, good or ill, can last lifetimes.”
Diamond didn't respond and just left with an indignant trot, Silver Spoon followed closely behind.
“Ah don't know if yer brave, reckless, crazy, or somethin' else,” said Apple Bloom, “but ya just gave Diamond another one o' yer speeches, Ah didn' really follow et all that well, ya were usin' a bunch o' terms an' words Ah'm not familiar with.”
Orchid smiled and said, “Let's head to your clubhouse and I'll tell you the tale of 'Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp', and maybe a few other tales if you want.”
“Maybe you'll get your cutie mark in story telling,” squeaked Sweetie Belle.
“Sounds lame to me,” said Scootaloo, “the story cutie mark sounds like it wouldn't be all that cool and listening to some pony tell me a story doesn't sound all that cool either.”
“The tales I'm going to tell are of awesome adventures, Aladdin's story is just the beginning here,” said Orchid as they continued, “There's also Alibaba, the king thieves, and Sinbad, the greatest sailor ever.”
“Sounds cool, I might listen to a few stories,” said Scootaloo.
“It's made epic by the story of how the stories came to be,” said Orchid as they approached Sweet Apple Acres.
“What ya mean?” Said Apple Bloom.
As they climbed into the clubhouse and settled down Orchid said, “The way they came about involved a sultan and a lady named Scheherazade, the way the story goes is the sultan found out his brother's wife was unfaithful to him, then shortly after discovered his own wife was unfaithful to him.”
“Tha' is most definitely not right,” said Apple Bloom.
“When he found out he had her executed.”
“Yikes,” said all three bringing their hooves subconsciously to their throats for a few seconds.
“In his grief the sultan decided all... mares were the same, so he began to marry a succession of pure maidens only to slay them the following morning.” The three fillies gulped.
“This is not cool, it's actually kind of scary,” said Scootaloo, “is this going to give me nightmares.”
“Only if you don't listen to story all the way to the end,” said Orchid, “I would know, I made that mistake.”
“Phew,” said all three.
“But you might have some not so pleasant elements in your dreams for a few night regardless of that fact. Anyway, when it came to be her time Scheherazade decided in order to keep herself from being executed began to tell a story that lasted the whole night, but wasn't completed when the sun rose, so in order to hear the rest of the story the sultan had to spare her until the following sunrise, and let her know this, because she said she'd only tell him the stories at night. When she finished one story she would begin another, and cycle continued, for a thousand and one nights.”
“Oh, wow,” said Scootaloo, “story telling must have been her talent.”
“Actually, no,” said Orchid, “if you were to take a closer look a the stories you would find most are poorly put together, but it would hard to tell because she put stories within stories and had intersecting stories, or the same story as one before with an entirely different cast of characters. She basically kept going because she was not interested in dying, ironically enough the telling of her stories slowly caused the sultan to fall in love with her.”
“Aw, that's sweet,” said Sweetie Belle, “I'm going tell Rarity about that one, she'll be so happy to hear about love saving the day.”
“What about the stallion that the love story revolves around killing every mare before her,” said Scootaloo, “she probably won't appreciate that.”
“You're probably right, but she'll probably shrug it off with saying a stallion with such a brutish mindset towards mares being wooed by a mare through her stories is probably one of the greatest things ever.”
“Don't presume to speak for family,” said Orchid, “it's in bad taste, and something that everyone should really stop doing.”
“That somethin' yer brother insist on?” Asked Apple Bloom.
“Nope, a philosophy I came to on my own, but had no initiative to voice about,” said Orchid.
“So, ya finally stopped tryin' ta be yer brother,” said Apple Bloom
“He's a good role model,” said Orchid, “but everyone is right, I need to find the real me and let her out. I honestly think you three can help with that.”
“Well, if the the speeches you gave Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are any indication to what your meant for,” said Sweetie Belle, “it seems we are helping bring out the you that is meant to be.”
“That was just me trying to be assertive, yet non-hostile,” said Orchid.
“Well, you came out looking awesome in our opinion,” said Scootaloo.
“Yeah,” squeaked Sweetie Belle, “we don't get along all that well with Diamond and Silver. The way you dealt with them is something my sister says we should do.”
“There 're times Ah wanna give 'em a good buck ta tha face,” said Apple Bloom, “but that's not uh good policy, especially when 'ur families do business together.”
“I'm not much of an action gal,” said Orchid with shake of her head, “that's why I've always entertained the idea of being someone who looks after places, anyway you girls wanted to hear some old stories. So here we go, you see our first story starts...”
***************************************************************
“Apple Bloom, get yer flank down 'ere, that goes fer tha rest of ya fillies,” came Applejack's voice, “et's a half hour ta dinner.”
The four fillies came trotting out of the club house slowly, “Ya sure that mare that told those stories didn't have a story telling cutie mark?” Said Scootaloo as they trotted up to Applejack.
“Wait, ya fillies were just tellin' stories? Ah figured it would be somethin' a bit more alarm worthy,” said Applejack.
“Nope, I was just sharing some old stories with the girls,” said Orchid.
“Yer still on tha first one,” said Apple Bloom.
“And I have three more I want to share,” said Orchid with a smirk, “I got a mind like a steel trap when it comes to stories and lore.”
“And ya can repeat them with almost perfect accuracy, based on how we spent the whole time in the Club House listenin' ta tha story ya chose,” said Apple Bloom, “can't ya just tell us how et ends.”
“Each story is an adventure,” said Orchid with a a teasing authoritative voice, “Everyone knows the best part of an adventure is the journey, not the destination. Besides, I wanted to share the whole experience with you girls, remember how I said the stories came about.”
“Oh,” said the Crusaders in unison.
“I'll ask Rarity to make you a crusaders cape,” said Sweetie Belle, “but right now we need to head home, see you tomorrow. You better finish that story, it's fun.”
They all waved to each other and headed home, Orchid returning to Twilight's castle.
“Now, how was yer day,” said Applejack, “and be honest.”
“Pretty good, we bumped inta Diamond Tiara an' Silver Spoon, Orchid stopped 'em in thair tracks wid a couple o' speeches, it was pretty fun ta watch,” said Apple Bloom.”
“She didn't end up sayin' anythang ya can't repeat, Ah hope,” said Applejack as they headed for the farmhouse.
“Oh, Ah can definitely repeat it, she didn't use any words tha' sounded like ya wouldn't approve o',” said Apple Bloom, “if Ah cou' jus' remember 'er wordin' that is, ya cou' ask Orchid what she said ta those two, chances are Diamond and Silver will have blown it out of proportion wid thair own spin on thangs when they tell thair folks.”
“We'll cross tha' when we come ta et,” said Applejack.
“Ah guess tha's as good as we're gonna get et,” said Apple Bloom.
“How 'bout ya tell me abou' these stories Orchid is sharin' with ya.”
“How about et tha table wid tha whole family,” said Apple Bloom, “tha' way Ah don't 'ave to repeat mahself ta everypony.”
“Sounds good ta me,” said Applejack.
************************
Dinner was coming to a close at Carousel Boutique When Sweetie Belle basically dropped the news about what Orchid had told her and the crusaders about the stories before jumping for joy at actually getting the chance to hear some of them. Rarity was predictably dramatic about the whole thing. First revolted that a stallion would dislike mares so much, even if his actions were somewhat justified, then spouting about the romanticism of a mare capturing a stallion's heart with a seemingly simple act that was born out of a desire for self-preservation.
“So, tell me what is the first story she is telling you?”
“Aladdin and his wonderful lamp,” squeked Sweetie Belle, “it has this evil adviser type character that tricks the main character into entering an enchanted cave which holds this magic lamp that contains a powerful creature called an genie, but to help through the challenges he was given a magic ring that held a different kind of genie that wasn't as powerful as the one in the lamp.”
“Did she give you distinctions about the two?”
“Yeah,” said Sweetie with an excited nod, “the one in the lamp is called and Ef Reet, or something sounded like that, and it is exceedingly powerful, any wish you make it grants without a second thought, but you have to be careful how you say your wish to it because it will use your exact wording when granting the wish. They're also really big jerks, they don't care about anypony and keep going on thinking things like 'I'm immortal and you'll be buried a couple of decades and then I can grant the wishes of the next fool', basically they give you everything you say you want without you having to work for it.”
“Yes well, Spike gave a book with a spell that did something similar,” said Rarity, “of course I didn't remember most it and had to be told by my friends just what I had been up to, it was quite embarrassing really.”
“Um, yeah, I remember that day,” said Sweetie Belle with a nervous look, “but the one in the ring is a lot nicer, he's called a djinni, and he hears what the hero of the story wishes for and says things 'are you sure? I can give you that with no problem, but that's really shortsighted of you, if I were to give you this other thing it would really help you out more and wouldn't have to worry a few more problems down the path you're taking right now.' He says the genies are basically wants vs needs, and the story is basically the hero learning just what those differences are.”
“A good lesson to learn,” said Rarity.
“Yeah, but Orchid stopped it just as the hero was getting ready to rescue the daughter of the king, she says she'll finish it tomorrow and start another story, but that's like one of the worst places to leave off in the story.”
Rarity chuckled and tousled Sweetie's mane, “Don't worry darling, she did promise to finish the story so it's not like it'll be all that bad. Besides, maybe she's testing your ability to keep interested by telling these stories.” Then thinking to herself, And keeping them out of trouble for a day or two might be what everypony needs. She then directed Sweetie too bed, made sure the door and windows were properly closed and locked, and got the lights before heading up herself.
*********************
The next morning found Rec, Claudia, Mandi and Orchid doing basic martial art exercises with the rising of the sun. Twilight was a little surprised to see the four going through their exercises so early. she usually wasn't up that early herself, but at the events as of late caused her friends to force her to get some sleep and so here she was at sunrise watching her guests go through the series of intricate maneuvers that amounted to basic combat. To her it was more of a surprise that the four did it all without some sort of alarm system, or at least she couldn't figure out what their alarm system for getting up so early.
After watching the four go about their warm ups for a few minutes she trotted up to Rec and said, “I think I figured what you're doing, but how in the name of the princesses did you manage to up so early?”
“I'm always up this early in summer, weekends and holidays,” said Claudia as the all continued their stretches.
“When I don't have much to do I find it difficult to sleep like anyone normal,” said Mandi.
“I'm used to operating at odd hours,” said Rec.
“I caught him heading out on my way back from the restroom,” said Orchid.
Twilight just stared at the four with a bit of confusion, here they were at early daylight hours exercising and only the youngest one present didn't give a statement that it was routine for her.
*****************************
A few hours later over a breakfast of pancakes, which Orchid was diving into with much fervor, Twilight got a few more hints about their world that confused and fascinated her.
“Okay, so you're sure nopony moves the sun and moon in your world,” said Twilight.
“For the seventeenth time,” said Claudia as she ran talons down her beak in a facepalm, “The sun and moon rising and falling is optical illusion created by the our planet's rotation.”
“Although there are stories about beings were said to command the movements of the sun and the moon,” said Rec, “in ancient Greece Apollo was said to pull the sun behind his chariot, the Aztec's believed Qutzatacoquatal reined over the sun and agriculture, the Egyptians had the god Ra ruling the sun and Amun holding dominion over the moon, not to mention there are hosts of other cultures across the globe with some variation of one who commands the sun. The fact is the idea of beings with the power to move cosmic bodies like the sun and the moon does exist in the lore of our world, but science has proven it's nothing more than our planet rotating as it orbits our sun when the sun rises and sets, our moon orbits our world and its passing produces similar results.”
“Okay,” said Twilight as she jotted down her notes and double checked them before moving on, “Who manages your weather?”
“Doesn't work that way,” said Mandi, “the weather operates with no influence from the populations of the world, it's all erratic and automated. Just because we need rain somewhere doesn't mean we'll always get it, some places get more rain than they need and that's just how life is.”
“Don't you have a weather factory and ponies that manage it?” Inquired Twilight.
“No,” said Claudia flatly, “you see 'the weather factory' is nature itself, the sun heats water and when the water becomes steam it rises into the atmosphere where the steam crystallizes into the collection of ice particles that we call clouds, of course due to their nature no one can walk on clouds because doing so would mean falling to that person's death.”
“You used that word again, 'person' and you've also used the word 'people', I'm not familiar with those terms.”
The three ponies facehoofed and Claudia facepalmed, “We'll address some of the lexicons of our world later,” said Rec, “right now we're trying explain how things are different between worlds.”
“Claudia and Mandi were there when Princess Luna and Princess Celestia moved the moon and sun, Mandi doesn't have a problem with believing it, but Claudia isn't quite convinced.”
“For all we know it was a pretty show of lighting their horns at the exact moment the celestial bodies moved,” she huffed, “the only reason these three,” she gestured to Rec, Mandi and Orchid, “don't seem to mind it all that much is because they grew up on stories about that sort of thing from their mothers.”
“Different worlds mean different rules,” said Rec, “it is entirely possible that Princess Celestia can move the sun and Princess Luna can move moon, I didn't get a chance to witness any of that because I was in a cave dealing with a bunch fanatical zealots that managed to get possession of an item that disabled the magic to an entire city that runs on it, in light of the fact there are entire cities that are regulated through magic I am more than willing to believe the claims that Celestia and Luna make regarding their command of the heavens.”
“Okay, fair point,” said Claudia, “but I'm still not willing accept they command the sun and the moon.”
“Well, I kind of had to command the sun and the moon during the Tirek threat,” said Twilight as she finished up her notes, “the sun was supposed be up hours before I realized the sun and the moon needed to change places in the sky, moving the sun and the moon is very difficult.”
“See, that's my problem,” said Claudia, “all the supposed proof that the sun and moon are moved through magic happened before we could get a clear reading on the subject.”
“Well, I still have that potion that Zecora gave me to see how events of the past unfolded, maybe if I give you a sip it'll let you watch one of the events of the past year and you'll finally stop doubting me.”
“Or it could be some powerful hallucinogen that makes me think I'm seeing the events of the past,” retorted Claudia.
“That's probably how it would treat you anyway,” said Twilight, “Zecora said it only reacts with alicorn magic. Wait, I could just use a spell to put copies of some of of the memories in your head, like I did when Discord turned my friends and I into opposites of ourselves.”
“Speaking of which,” said Rec, “when I finally scanned Discord with the Mythichive it proved absolutely nothing.”
“But the Meso-Titan Mariachi band was entertaining,” said Mandi.
“Yes, the Springer with maracas and a party sombrero was fun to watch,” said Claudia, “and unexpected.” Turning to Twilight she said, “I doubt seeing anything in your memories would help ease my doubts, but if it will help ease your mind then do it, but my friends have to experience it too.”
“Ooh, me too,” said Orchid.
Twilight smiled and gestured for them all to gather close together before igniting her horn and passing the copy of the memories on to the four. The memories flashed by their mind's eye like they were watching video in fast forward.
“Ow, my head,” said Claudia when it ended, “note to self, don't tick off Discord, if that nut has that much power then it's a very bad idea.”
“We could just ask him to make us a portal home,” said Orchid.
“Sorry sis, not gonna happen,” said Rec, “we need to find out just what we were asked to do first.”
“I'm surprised you haven't asked to be paid yet,” said Twilight, “having a few bits on you would probably be a good idea for when you stay longer.”
“Well, we're not used to getting paid for our services,” said Claudia, “I'm usually financing our outings and the others have monthly allowances provided by their parents.”
“Well, that and we don't like pressing others for compensations,” said Rec.
“We're going to need to go over a few things,” said Twilight.
***********************************
“Okay,” said Apple Bloom once they were away from the palace, “care ta tell us what tha meetin' is abou', Orchid.”
“Just habits and economic practices we utilize back home,” said Orchid, “the kind of stuff that would probably put Scootaloo to sleep.”
“Good call,” said Sweetie, “I've caught her drooping a few time in mathematics lessons, and economics is basically mathematics with a bunch of jargon thrown in.”
“Now don't be rude,” said Orchid, “it's a bit more complicated than that.”
“How would you know?” Said Apple Bloom.
“I took a few courses in introductory economics,” said Orchid, “practically gave me a headache.”
“Okay, could finish up that story you were telling?” said Scootaloo, “the hero was about to go and rescue the princess from the evil sorcerer.”
“Later,” said Orchid, “before that let's have a bit of fun. I don't think you girls want to spend all day in clubhouse, we could do a morning adventure and then after lunch I could try wrapping up the story.”
“That sounds reasoning to me,” Sweetie Belle, “none of us really wants to be in the clubhouse all day.”
“Where did ya learn tha story ya decided ta tell us?” Inquired Apple Bloom as the four fillies continued to trot towards nowhere in particular.
“I read it,” said Orchid, “It's all a collection of stories titled 'A thousand and one Arabian Nights', and trust when I say it's more of a tome than a book. It's one of my faves, I have a personal copy on my shelf at home. Anyway, care to tell me who this 'Daring Do' character is?”
“She's only the most awesome adventurer ever,” said Scootaloo, “she's got a whole lot of books that detail her adventures, she fights these evil forces and makes off with these really cool artifacts from all over the world.”
“Sounds like character of literature from my world,” said Orchid.
“Oh, really,” came Rainbow's voice from overhead, “and just who would that be?”
“His name's Indiana Jones,” said Orchid, seeming to have not realized it was the cyan mare hovering above the four that asked the question, “he has whole bunch of books dedicated to his adventures, and also a few movies.”
“Oh, darn it,” came Rainbow's voice with annoyance, “I've only been hearing rumors about a Daring Do movie coming out in a few years, and this guy you talked about already has more than one.”
“Four, to be precise,” said Orchid, “although the fourth one isn't considered cannon by a lot of the fans, so technically it's only three.”
“No fair,” Rainbow said with a pout, crossing her forelegs in annoyance, “figures the coolest pony in your world would be a dude.”
“That's the way it is in our world, most of the major cultures have been dominated by males. So we have very male centerpiece hero system. There are few notable great female heroes, but all the ones I can think of are well with the realms of fantasy and science fiction.”
“Well, I guess it's a start,” mumbled Rainbow.
“Anyway, miss Rainbow, what can we do for you?” Said Orchid.
“I was wondering if you could show me how to do any of those speed spells, your brother and his friends are refusing to show me how to do them.”
“You already have an ability that can break the sound barrier,” said Orchid, “that and I'm pretty sure they think you'd use it to get an unfair edge on competition in your races, it's best keep to temptation away from someone until they can better manage those impulses. From what I've heard you're a bit of a glory hound with shades of a spotlight hog, and are quite prone to showboating. All in all it's probably best you not know any speed enhancing spells just yet.”
“Well, when you put it like that it does sound like a good idea to keep the tricks for enhancing my speed with magic out of my hooves for a bit.”
“Yeah, and the last time my brother tried the triple speed combo he looked and acted like he could collapse at any point.”
“That bad?” Said Sweetie.
“Worse,” stated Orchid, “after his first attempt he vowed to only use that trick again if the situation required it.”
“Oh, but those NimbleFire and ShadowSpeed spells sound so cool,” whined Rainbow.
“They only enhance your speed for a short time, and when they fade out it's best not to be moving the way you would like to,” said Orchid.
“Are there any spells they know that I could possibly try out?” Inquired Rainbow
Orchid seemed to be thinking a bit before she said, “The WindRush and SnowBlast spells might be right up your alley, and if you want something a little more destructive TouchRam or RayPulse might be more your speed, although DoubleSpell is always good to know, as is FeatherDrop.”
“Okay, I've seen the wind spell, heck I was the target of it during a demonstration, I've seen the snow spell. What the rest like?”
“TouchRam creates a cone of energy that pushes the target back, you can also throw it as a condensed ball. RayPulse you shoot a beam from your...forehoof, DoubleSpell let's you cast two of the next spell, and FeatherDrop makes it so when you land it's light as a feather no matter how high up you are, it can also be used on others and items.”
“Thanks, catch ya girls later,” with that Rainbow was off.
“You said that your family farm has been here for centuries?”
“Tha past two hundrad years,” said Apple Bloom, “why ya ask?”
“Titans tend like hanging around places with a lot of history to them, and your family farm might just fit that bill.”
“Why didn't you tell us sooner?” Squeaked Sweetie Belle.
“Because thought you three would figure it out from eavesdropping on what my brother and his friends had to say,” said Orchid.
“Well ya did say tha' these titan things like ta hang around places wid a lot o' history,” said Apple Bloom, “Ah jus' figured tha' et wouldn't involve mah family's territory.”
Orchid rolled her eyes and said, “Anything that has been around for more than forty years should qualify for our purposes. I mean there are places in the world grew up in that are barely fifty years old that have rumors that could indicate them.”
“Oh, is that all?” Inquired Scootaloo.
“So, Apple Bloom,” said Orchid, “are there any old stories your family has about the farm?”
“Um, tha' Ah can think o', but we could ask Granny Smith, she might know a few o' tha old tales abou' tha farm.”
“And bore us with an overly story,” said Scootaloo.
“Hay,” said Apple Bloom, “Ah like Granny's stories, she was an amazin' mare back in her day.”
“Yeah, but now she's not all that exciting,” said Scootaloo.
“Having a family changes you,” said Orchid, “some folks are wild and wacky when they're our age, and even when they're adults, but there are plenty of recorded instances of them becoming much more subdued, even the complete opposite of they were before, when they start having a family.”
“Wait, are you saying that Rainbow Dash will stop being Rainbow Dash as soon as she gets married or has foals?” Said Scootaloo with surprise.
“You don't stop being who you are, you just change a bit,” said Orchid, “Rainbow will still be Rainbow, I'm just saying that if she were to become a mom that mama Rainbow would be a bit different than the current Rainbow. We all have properties of our parents, maybe her babies will end up with similar personalities to the current her, the future is unwritten and it our duty to author what comes next, for we are the heroes of our own stories.”
“Well that was cheesy,” said Scootaloo, “and kind of sounded like something Twilight would say.”
“Actually, they're a pair of old sayings where I'm from,” said Orchid.
“Alraht everypony, ta Sweet Apple Acres,” said Apple Bloom, “Granny maght be able ta give us some ideas o' where ta go next.”
*********************************************
“...and that's why we Apples 'ave stayed on this patch o' earth fer as long as we 'ave,” finished up Granny Smith, “et's nice ta see younin like ya showin' an intrest en these sorta things.”
Once they were out of the farmhouse, and ear shot of Granny Smith, Scootaloo almost yelled, “Three hours, we were stuck listening to who know how many old Apple stories for three hours. I can barely feel my legs, or flank.”
“Did ya at leas' get some idea o' where ta look fer anythang,” said Apple Bloom turning her attention to Orchid.
“Maybe,” said Orchid, “but that will involve digging under the farmhouse, and I'm pretty sure your family wouldn't take kindly to potentially dropping a section of the homestead on the off chance we find an amulet.”
“We could always go back through the Everfree,” said Scootaloo.
“We aren't old enough to do that unsupervised,” said Orchid, Apple Bloom and Sweetie at the same time.
“You guys are no fun,” said Scootaloo as she crossed her forelegs indignantly.
“You want to go into a forest teaming with potentially dangerous creatures on the off chance one of us might find a cool creature to help us,” said Orchid, “my titans can't be there to keep you safe all the time, what if we decide to split up and I haven't invoked any titans, or the titan I pair you with has very little to offer in terms of combat. Face it Scoot, you're just going to have to wait this one out a bit longer.”
“Oh, but I wanted to try wrestling a manticore to get one,” said Scootaloo.
“Wait, did you just say manicores are real here?” Said Orchid with genuine surprise.
“Yeah, our sister ran into one on their first adventure through the forest with Twilight,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Manticore is the name of titan, I don't have one personally, but I did see someone invoke it once.”
“How'd that go?” Asked Scootaloo.
“Fleeing, screaming, destruction of shops, and some attack spells before some warrior titans were invoked to deal with it. Had to wipe the memories of the entire shopping district during and after the event, not as fun as it sounds.”
“Wait, you know a spell for removing memories?” Inquired Sweetie Belle.
“More altering than removing,” said Orchid, “and I had to prove I was responsible enough to not abuse that kind of power before I learned it. It's a very dangerous spell in the wrong...hooves.”
“You've been pausing a bit before saying that sort of thing quite a bit,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Sorry, last week I had digits was bipedal, now I don't have those digits and am a quadrabed. It's taking me some time to get the wording right for some the things I say, and if that means I need pause mid sentence to find the right word I guess that's the kind of quirk I'll have until I'm fully used to it all.”
“Alright, lets search the farm for clues,” said Scootaloo, a little too eager to get everything going.
“Just remember that nothing is quite as you expect,” said Orchid as the girls spread out a bit.