//------------------------------// // Adjusting to the Neighborhood // Story: An Interesting Arrival // by Moongaze14 //------------------------------// Adjusting to the Neighborhood Since his retirement, Statice wanted few, but very essential things in his possession. He wanted a decent house, in a nice neighborhood, in a peaceful town, where he could make friends and start a normal life. Instead, he was living in a hole, under a tree that was located in a forest that turned out to be the most dangerous place in Equestria. Life was just as cruel to him as it was ironic. At least he made the best of what he had, and one of those things was the good luck of having adequate living conditions. He was hidden from the citizens of the Everfree and the neighbors in Ponyville, so there was no risk of him being locked in jail or eaten. The Crusaders turned out to be more bearable than he thought they were. Even Discord was lending him a paw…or a talon…it was hard to know with his distinctive anatomy. “What time is it?” Statice asked himself as he activated his Archive. One of the benefits of the spell was that he had programmed it to measure time and now it was telling him that it was a quarter till 7 AM. “It’s way too early,” Statice snored, and yet he kept walking. He used his magic to sink the earth deep to make a hole big enough for his whole body. He then changed the density of the walls of soil in the hole to turn them into a smooth stone. Finally, he used an ice spell to freeze the bottom of the hole and the walls. “Might as well wake up with a nice bath,” Statice rubbed his eye with one hoof as he continued using his magic. There was still a couple more spells to do if he wanted to have a proper bath. The green aura surrounded the ice and liquefied it into water. The hole was now filled a fourth of the way with water. Another ice spell froze the newly made water and then the walls again. For the second time that morning, the ice was turned into water and the volume inside the hole increased when it was melted into more water. The process of freezing and melting was repeated a last time and the makeshift tub that Statice made was properly filled. Walking to the tub, the green unicorn took a deep breath and sank his head into the water. It was freezing cold in spite of the numerous rounds of melting it endured as he felt his grogginess disappear and be replaced by a stinging sensation on his face. After a few seconds of agony, Statice came out panting for breath and shaking his head. Contrary to what it appeared, Statice did not use a spell to melt the ice but one that allowed him to change its phase from solid to liquid. The Water Phase Change Spell was an original elemental spell that allowed Statice to change the water’s phases without having to use spells that relied on temperature and pressure. It was a versatile way of fighting with water, but the disadvantage in the bath was that the temperature didn’t increase if he turned ice into water. “I’m awake!” Statice muttered reflexively before resuming his bath. This time, he used a spell to increase the water’s temperature to a bearable level and then sunk inside the tub. He summoned a shampoo and soap from Hammerspace and began his bath. Once he was clean, he decided to go out for breakfast. He climbed up the stairs and munched on the grass around his tree. Unlike most ponies, Statice was used to eating his food from the ground. Even if he had not been a bounty hunter with his life on the line, he’d still eat like that. He didn’t see the point in going to a store to buy vegetables when anypony had the chance of eating the grass in their home. It was easier, economic, and it worked wonders for gardening. After breakfast, Statice went on with his exercises. Although he was no longer in a job, he still treated his body like a temple. He spent an hour doing pushups, sit-ups, and his own set of calisthenics. Another hour was spent on martial arts training, a hobby that Statice loved and one of the few good things about his job that he managed to pick on. He stood up on his hind legs, spreading them on a squat as he threw punches in the horse position for five minutes. He practiced biped attacks and quadruped attacks for fifteen minutes each. The remaining of the training was a sparring match with the perfect sparring dummies. Statice lighted his horn to make the earth lift up and shape itself like a pony, more specifically, an earth replica of him. The replica was lifeless, except for the magical glowing green eyes it had. “Show me what you got, mineral clone!” Statice smirked at his earth double as he charged at it. The Mineral Clone Spell allowed Statice to make clones of him with anything related to the earth. Although the clones were weaker than him in their inability to use magic, they were still strong enough to face Statice in a sparring match that was purely hoof-to-hoof combat. Both opponents clashed hooves on their first attack. Statice winced and shook his hoof from the pain of the blow, crying out in surpise when the the clone remained unaffected and tackled him. Statice was pinned to the ground, but he pushed himself away with his hips and then hooked a hind leg around the clone’s neck, spinning around to flip his enemy into his back. The clone’s position was now in reverse with how it was before, and yet it didn’t give up as it used its superior strength to pick up Statice and throw him away. The fight went on for half an hour before Statice decided to go all out. He used his Enhancement Spell and delivered a punch to the clone’s midsection, destroying it. As he panted for the workout, Statice heard a bell ring and found Discord dressed as a referee. “And the winner for today’s martial arts fight is Statice!” the draconequus announced as he lifted the green stallion’s hoof in triumph. “Do you really have to play referee, Discord?” Statice asked while glaring at Discord’s direction, feeling a little miffed that the draconequus invited himself into his home without asking his permission first. “I was bored,” Discord shook his shoulders. “So am I,” Statice replied, feeling grateful that there was somepony in Equestria to whom he can complain about his situation. Boredom was always less boring when there was somepony else to whom complain about. “What have you been doing, Statice?” Discord asked with interest. According to Fluttershy, the best way to help a friend was to hear their problems and give an opinion on how to solve them. Knowing Statice, it's probably something good. And I'll get to help! Now I see why Twilight's so obsessed with solving friendship problems! It's so much fun waiting to come! No! Play it cool, Discord! Don't make it so obvious! “Same thing that I always did in my past life,” Statice admitted in defeat. “I force myself to wake up with a cold bath, eat my breakfast, work out to keep my body in shape, and I upgrade my Archive to my liking until I have a mission.” “What mission are you talking about, Statice?” Discord asked with a raised eyebrow and a mockingly accusing tone. “I have no mission,” Statice growled in clenched teeth. “I have nothing to do besides upgrading the intelligence in my Archive. I had no idea that retirement was going to be so…boring.” “Have you thought about going back?” Discord suggested. “No,” Statice shook his head. “I’ve already hurt myself enough with bad decisions. I’m done with that for sure. I want something normal.” “You do realize that there is nothing normal about you, right?” Discord asked teasingly, giving the stallion a little noogie with his lion paw as he used his eagle arm to put him in a headlock. “Neither are you, chimera!” Statice snapped at him. “Easy there!” Discord extended his arms in surrender. “I’m trying to lighten up the mood over here.” “Your trying is worthless if you don’t succeed,” Statice remarked as he rubbed his temples. “I need to find out what to do besides sitting here. I don’t wanna spend the rest of my life doing nothing!” Discord pouted at Statice and hummed thoughtfully. “Give me an hour and I’ll see what I can do,” he promised before vanishing with a finger snap. Statice stared at the spot where Discord had vanished for a few seconds before sighing. “I might as well update my Archive.” He sat in a corner and used an Alarm Spell, imagining a small clock inside his horn. Once the time limit passed, his horn was going to vibrate and tell him that the wait was over. With the alarm set, Statice activated his Archive. “I’ll update the Locations,” he muttered as he went to the section and selected Equestria. He made entries for Canterlot, Ponyville, and the Everfree Forest based on what he had seen so far with his eyes and from what was shown to him in Discord’s home movies. “I’ll add some data to my Grimoire,” he remarked as he focused on the section. He was greeted by a list all of the spells he learned or created, a list of magical artifacts, and a list of magical creatures. He went to the third section and did summaries on the inhabitants of the Everfree Forest. “I will finish with the Individuals,” Statice went to a third section that listed friends, enemies, and acquaintances. This was going to be a more time consuming task than the previous ones as he had a lot to update there. Fortunately, it was going to decrease the amount of time he was going to have to wait for Discord by the time he was finished. He made updates about the Princesses, the Elements of Harmony, Shining Armor, Spike, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He used all the information he gathered from his interactions with them and from their accomplishments. He established profiles with everything that he knew about them, feeling grateful at Discord for showing him their lives while annoyed at how much he was going to have to put in their entries. It was evident that he was going to need more than an hour to finish the updates. A ringing on his horn snapped him out of his updating and was followed by the sound of fingers snapping. Discord was dressed as a scientist and had a blackboard filled with senseless equations and poorly drawn versions of the Elements of Harmony, with the exception of Fluttershy, who looked very realistic and beautiful in the drawings. I guess somepony likes to play favorites. Then again, she looks the nicest out of the six... “Eureka!” Discord shouted triumphantly. “What did you get, Discord?” Statice asked, not feeling reassured with the scientist coat the draconequus was wearing. The badly drawn pictures and nonsense equations were not reassuring him of what the draconequus had in mind. “You have a neighbor to meet in the Everfree Forest!” Discord snapped his fingers to give himself black and white stripes. The green unicorn realized what his friend was suggesting and he made sure to give him a sincere and immediate response. “I can’t meet Zecora,” Statice gave him a deadpan expression. “Why’s that, Statice?” Discord asked, annoyed at having his suggestion ignored. “She is friends with those girls,” Statice remarked. “There is a chance that she may have heard of me. I can’t risk being recognized if I give her my name.” “You can use your fake name,” Discord suggested. “She may have heard my real name and my fake name from the girls,” Statice crossed his forelegs. “If the girls didn’t tell her, then there is a chance that the Crusaders talked to her about our little escapade with the Timberwolves.” “You don’t know until you try,” Discord shrugged. “It is either to go with Zecora or to stay in this place for the rest of your life.” Statice sat on his haunches and measured his choices. For one thing, he didn’t want to be recognized and be forced to leave his temporary home. On the other side, there was no way he was making a routine out of his morning. There was a limit to how much boredom he could stomach. Seeing no other choice, Statice stood up. “I’m going to meet Zecora,” he looked at Discord with determination. “Excellent,” Discord clapped his hands and summoned a camera. “I’m going to record this magical moment so that you can see it later.” “My Archive can record memories, Discord,” Statice lightly smiled at him, feeling proud for his spell and a little happy to join the conversation rather than trying to end it with sharp replies. “Double excellent,” Discord grinned. “We better get going.” “Give me a second,” Statice extended a hoof at Discord, who stood up in place. The green unicorn lighted his horn with magic and then poked his hoof with the tip of it. He winced at the pain before his hoof was covered in the same magic aura as his horn. He finalized his ritual by gently tapping the ground with his hoof, letting the magic sink into the soil. Once he took his hoof of the spot, Discord was surprised to see a mark that portrayed a red rose surrounded by a green horseshoe. “That’s a very unique mark,” Discord remarked with sarcastic scientific interest. He even went as far as to stroke his beard thoughtfully. “I made a Marking Spell for security,” Statice answered as he walked by Discord’s side. “Do you mind sharing with me what is a Marking Spell?” Discord smirked in curiosity at the green unicorn. Statice grinned at him. “It is a spell that does more than leave a mark. You will see what it does if things take a turn for the worse.” Discord smiled at the unicorn’s foresight. Regardless of whether Statice did well or bad with Zecora, amusement was guaranteed at least. He was wishing things were going to end up bad between the unicorn and the zebra to see where this was going. “I better record every little second of it,” he smiled as he acquired a movie director costume and vanished with a finger snap. It took almost half an hour before Statice eventually found Zecora’s hut with some of Discord’s instructions. During the trip, Discord convinced Statice to adopt another alias apart from Static, just in case Zecora was aware of his identity. Having no other choice, Statice opted for Digitalis, in honor of his best friend. Having already established the meeting, Discord and Statice stood in front of Zecora’s hut. The green unicorn was nervous and scared despite hiding it under a stoic face, but Discord was relaxed and was looking for a good vantage point on which to see the meeting. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Statice muttered as he turned to glare at Discord, only to see that the draconequus had disappeared. “IT’LL BE FINE” Discord shouted from a tree that was behind Statice. Rolling his eyes at his friend’s silliness, Statice knocked on the door and waited for the zebra to come out. Zecora walked out and opened the door, smiling at him pleasantly before gasping. Statice stood still. Gasps at first sight were never a good sign. And he was correct when the zebra adopted an angry expression on her face. He gulped on instinct when she snarled at him. That's not a good sign. “Defiler!” she shrieked as she turned around and kicked both hind legs at his face. That's an even worse sign! Statice yelped as he jumped back, his chin barely dodging the hooves that tried to kick him. Zecora’s hind hooves touched the ground only for a second before the zebra spun 360 degrees and delivered an elegant roundhouse kick with one of them. Zecora’s hoof hit her mark this time as it struck Statice across the face. The blow knocked him of his hooves and sent him flying several feet away from Zecora. Discord winced at the impact. He felt a need to comment on the fight, but he stopped when he realized that if he intervened then there was a chance that Zecora was going to report to the girls. Although he had been forgiven for the Tirek incident, it was clear that the girls and everypony else in Equestria were a little sore about it. Because of this, Discord swore to lay off causing mischief for a while. Sadly, helping Statice fitted in that category. Stupid Tirek and his evil charm... “Caponeighra,” Statice groaned as he rubbed his pained cheek. “Why did she have to study caponeighra?” He once read in a book that zebras had the strongest kick among all hoofed animals. The fact that many zebras in Zebrica were warriors only cemented that reputation. There was even a fighting style based on the kicking legs of the zebra and rotatory movements to add centripetal force to those legs for greater impact…and that was caponeighra. Caponeighra consisted of dance like moves that allowed the zebras to kick in quadruped and biped position from different angles in the ground and in the air. The agile movements in any space and the rhythmic movements of all four legs made the zebras hard opponents to predict. It was the perfect fighting style on which the destructive power of the hind legs was brought to its maximum…and now Zecora was going to use it against him. Ugh, what did I do to deserve...oh yeah, I did that...or maybe not. I should ask just to make sure. Boy, my life sucks so much at this point it's not even funny. “What was that all about?” Statice stood up as he angrily rubbed his cheek. Even though he predicted that this was going to happen, it didn’t explain why she attacked him all of a sudden. He didn’t get an answer as Zecora was moving her front and hind legs back and forth. The rhythm she was employing made it hard to know if she was moving forward or backward or if she was going to attack or evade. “I guess there is no other way,” Statice grumbled as he took a step forward. His step motivated Zecora into attacking. Using the strength of her right foreleg and her left hind leg, she leapt at Statice with deceiving speed. Once she was close to her target, Zecora spun around and extended her right hind leg to hit him with her hoof. Statice sidestepped the attack, still getting an idea of how strong it was based on the air current he felt as he dodged Zecora’s hoof. The positions were reversed between them as Zecora resumed her rhythm. “Have a taste of this!” Statice challenged as he shot a few magic blasts at the zebra. Zecora was unfazed as she switched to biped position. Much to Statice’s surprise, the zebra used the strength of her hind legs to somersault over his projectiles. She flipped above them in an elegant arch before she descended straight at him. The green unicorn backpedaled as Zecora landed close to him. One hind leg landed perfectly on the ground and the other hind leg managed to hit the horn. Statice cried out as he felt Zecora’s hoof hit the tip of his horn. A unicorn’s horn was very sensitive to damage, feeling almost like a tooth when it was about to fall off, only much worse since the pain at the tip was easily spreadable across the horn itself and into the head. The fight was now a disadvantage for him, not only because of the horn pain, but also because he was unable to cast magic until the pain vanished away. The zebra smirked at her enemy before she performed a backflip similar to her previous somersault. Realizing that he was in danger, Statice crossed his forelegs under his chin to protect it. The kick that he received from Zecora’s backflip proved him wrong. The first hind hoof hit the crossed guard with enough strength to make Statice hit himself on the chin with his own hooves and still lift him off the ground. Fortunately for Statice, the zebra’s kick send him far enough to prevent Zecora from kicking him with the second hind leg. Zecora managed to land gracefully back on her hooves...while Statice landed flatly on his back. Can't believe she kicked my guard so hard she made me hit myself. Insult to injury... “Your punishment has just begun,” the zebra continued her rhythm. “It will turn worse once I have won.” “You’re not the first one to use caponeighra on me, lady!” Statice shakily stood on his hooves, barely balanced despite the blow to the horn and his chin. “I know exactly how you fight and how to deal with it.” “Your knowledge of caponeighra is weak,” Zecora gave him a spiteful look. “As you will see, each style is unique.” Zecora crossed the distance between the two and delivered a roundhouse kick with her left hind leg. Statice dodged the kick, only to fail to anticipate the second kick. He dodged it, but the hoof grazed him a bit. Zecora gave a third spin, only for her roundhouse kick to employ both hind legs in this occasion. Statice could only grunt in pain as Zecora’s hind hooves smacked him across the face, sending him flying yards away from her. His right cheek felt like it was on fire from the blow he received and he was barely capable of recognizing Zecora as the zebra got close to him. Zecora leaped at Statice with a chambered hind leg, hitting the stallion’s chest with her knee. Statice felt the air leave his lungs from the strike as Zecora landed in biped position and gave a swift kick to the calf of his left hind leg. He leaned to the left as Zecora spun and delivered a roundhouse kick to his left cheek and another to his ribs. Both attacks drained the unicorn from the strength to fight and much less defend against the next ones to come. Zecora gave a buck to Statice’s hind legs, making him lean forward towards her as she placed all of her weight on one foreleg to give an overhead kick at his face with one of her hind legs. Statice tumbled at the impact before Zecora stood on her hind legs and finished him off with two roundhouse kicks. His body was sent flying with the last kicks, spinning in the air for a few seconds before he landed painfully on the ground. He groaned from the pain of all of those kicks. His vision was blurry and spinning. His horn was still sore from the overhead kick that he got before. He was physically and magically overwhelmed. All he could do was fight with his own body. Even though he was a decent hoof to hoof fighter, it was clear that he was fighting against a master with lifelong training. The skill that she displayed was on the same league as the master warriors that had trained him during his adventures. Some clarity returned to him as he watched Zecora walk at him, holding a staff on her fore hooves. He wondered where did she even get it on the first place and why bother to use it when she did an excellent job with her hooves. Probably overkill. This is gonna hurt. “You have lost this fight,” Zecora told him with narrowed eyes as she deftly twirled the staff with her forelegs. “Now I’ll make things right.” She stopped spinning her staff and held it over her head with her hooves. Statice closed his eyes, waiting to feel the staff hit his head and knock him unconscious…but nothing happened. He opened his eyes and found Zecora standing in front of him with an idle look on her face. Above her was Discord, who was holding a bag with green powder on his lion paw that he was spreading with his eagle claw. “Memory mushroom powder,” Discord winked at Statice. “Common side effects include short term memory loss and unconsciousness.” Zecora fell flat on her face, eyes closed, as he finished listing the symptoms. Statice stared at Discord and then at Zecora. He poked the zebra to verify if she was still conscious. Only the sound of snoring alerted him that she was indeed unconscious. “I didn’t think that she was a snorer,” Discord snickered as he landed next to Zecora. His laughter turned into a yelp of pain when Statice punched him on the knee. “What was that all about?” he asked indignantly. “I just saved your life!” “It was your idea to visit Zecora!” Statice angrily yelled at Discord as he pointed at the sleeping zebra and then at his face. “Look at what happened! She attacked me!” “Well she didn’t attack you for what happened between you and the girls!” Discord placed his hands on his hips as he stared at the green unicorn. “If I don’t recall, she called you a defiler on first sight.” Statice sighed. “You’re right. This was a factor in the equation that I didn’t take into account. I didn’t think that she was from that tribe in Zebrica. She didn't answer my question...at least not with words. Let's just say that her hooves more than answered my questions with the last kicks she gave me.” “I think I know what you mean,” Discord smiled as he snapped his fingers to summon his trusty movie projector. Statice frowned in annoyance as he was forcefully sat down and fed popcorn as a movie played in front of him. The movie showed a savannah filled with wildlife. There was a tribe of zebras playing and training as warriors. Some zebras were meditating and others were busy farming crops and taking care of the animals. At the center of the tribe, there was a pedestal that held a beautiful zebra totem made from the finest ivory and ebony. And at the stairs of that pedestal, a teenage unicorn was fighting against a muscular zebra. “Isn’t this the mission were you had to capture a criminal zebra that tried to steal a sacred totem only for it to backfire on you when you finally caught him?” Discord asked as he drank from a soda. “Why are you asking me this?” Statice growled at the draconequus. “I showed you ALL of my past. You know exactly how this is going to end.” The fight between the young Statice and the zebra was reaching its climatic point. In a ditch attempt to win the fight without any more difficulty, Statice focused all of his magic at the tip of his horn and rammed it on the zebra. The striped villain was electrocuted and then blasted away from Statice. That had been the first time he had used his Taser Horn Spell in battle. Sadly, the moment backfired on him when the zebra was propelled into the pedestal. The sacred totem of the tribe was sent flying into the air and landed into the ground, breaking into pieces. All of the zebras gasped. Some of them were heartbroken and crying. Others were too shocked to say or do anything else. The last ones were quick to turn on him and start chasing him with spears. Statice immediately wrapped the criminal on his aura and levitated him to the boat. He had gained a juicy reward for his ordeal, but he could never set his hoof on Zebrica ever again. First time I've ever been kicked out of an entire land. With the movie over, Discord’s improvised movie theater vanished, leaving a sore Statice, in the physical and emotional sense of the word, glaring at Discord. The Spirit of Disharmony gulped at the stare. An eerie silence spread across them before Statice sighed, walking to Zecora and carrying her on his back. He took her back to her hut and put her on her bed. He walked out of the hut and stared at Discord. “I’m going back to my house,” he told him firmly. “Do you need a ride?” Discord asked hopefully. “I don’t think that you’re in physical condition to walk your way back to your lair.” “I can teleport,” Statice coldly reminded him. “I don’t think that you can muster enough magic for teleportation with a sore horn, Statice,” Discord said, trying to sound concerned for his friend. It was clear that Zecora had given Statice a terrible beating and that the green unicorn was silently blaming him for it. “Why do you think I used the Marking Spell?” Statice asked him as he simply vanished without any effort. Statice reappeared back on his home, standing right on top of the mark he had made when he used the spell. A few seconds later, he heard the classic sound of fingers snapping from Discord. The draconequus seemed distressed and surprised to see him. “How did you do that?” Discord asked in wonder. “You were in no position to use teleportation. You’d need to have large reserves of magic to accomplish something like that.” “The Marking Spell is designed to leave my magical essence in a place,” Statice explained casually, trying to forget his disastrous meeting with Zecora. “I can use it for long distance spells and as checkpoint for following spells at a lesser price.” “That’s impressive,” Discord admitted. He was genuinely impressed but, given the nervous smile that he gave Statice, it sounded false to the unicorn. “Let me verify if I don’t have any broken bones or something,” Statice bluntly told Discord as he used a Biofeedback Spell on himself. “No broken bones or internal injuries,” he observed with satisfaction. “I’ll make it up to you,” Discord hurriedly said, snapping his fingers and disappearing all of the bruises Zecora had left on Statice. The green unicorn stared at Discord in surprise, checking his body in stunned silence. “Wow,” he said. “Not even my Healing Spell can get rid of my injuries that quickly.” “Never underestimate the magic of a draconequus,” Discord waved one of his finger talons in front of Statice playfully. “So, are we clear now?” Statice took a deep breath. On one hoof, Discord had gotten him beat up by trying to introduce him to Zecora. On the other hoof, Discord had meant well and Zecora had only attacked the unicorn for something he had done before. Besides, even if it was his fault, at least Discord took responsibility and healed him. That had to count for something… Oh, what the heck...I'll just act and pretend that this never happened in the first place. “I forgive you,” Statice offered his hoof cordially. Discord sighed, whipping sweat from his brow with his broad lion paw before taking Statice’s hoof with his eagle hand. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he admitted. “I never meant for you to get hurt, Statice. Your friendship and your safety do mean something for me.” Statice raised an eyebrow at him. Despite Discord claiming that they were alike, he couldn’t feel any kinship from him. He simply did not understand why did Discord care about his friendship so much, especially when he had, and was risking, his friendship with Fluttershy over him. Maybe this was all a trick to get him to lower his guard and capture him once he grew bored with him or maybe he was just feeling genuine friendship towards him. Regardless of Discord’s intentions, his company was better than remaining alone. “I guess that’s it for today, Discord,” Statice stretched his back. “What do you mean by that?” Discord asked incredulously. “It’s barely afternoon!” “Getting beat up by a zebra does that to you,” Statice poignantly reminded him, shutting up the draconequus. “I think that I will do some gardening here. I will finish updating my Archive and then I’ll go to sleep.” Discord sighed, this time in disappointment. “Suit yourself.” Statice was alone now. Although he was glad that Discord was no longer there to bug him into doing something he didn’t want, the boredom that followed loneliness instantly reached him. The only thing that made his situation bearable was doing what he promised to do. He walked to the soil that he had fertilized yesterday. He focused his magic and made different types of flowers to materialize from the ground. His Memory Flower Spell allowed him to create any sort of plants without seeds as long as the soil was on the right conditions. He levitated some of the flowers that he created and used them as his dinner for the day. Who would have thought getting beat up by a zebra and then subsequently healed would get somepony very hungry? After eating, he decided that he still had more than enough space for more plants so he used a combination of his Fertilization Spell and his Memory Flower Spell to create crops of carrots, lettuces, celeries, and many more fruits and vegetables for his later consumption. “I better start with the Archive,” Statice reminded himself as he leaned on his back and summoned it. He continued updating the information that he had obtained about the Elements of Harmony and the Princesses. He spent about three hours filling all sections with what he got before dedicating a special hour for Zecora. After beating him like a ragdoll, at least she deserved some attention, even if Statice was bound to use it to eventually beat her in a rematch if he ever fought her again. “I can make notes on the Ponyville citizens,” Statice observed. Before he even knew it, Statice was making profiles on anypony that lived in Ponyville, putting attention to some citizens in particular. He put special emphasis on Big Macintosh and Granny Smith, as they were Applejack’s older brother and grandmother respectively. He also wanted to put emphasis on Rarity’s parents, only to have difficulties thanks to their lack of presence in Ponyville. Mr. and Mrs. Cake acted as good substitutes for Pinkie’s parents and their kids taught Pinkie Pie the meaning of responsibility so the whole Cake family got entries of their own. Cheerilee got her own entry thanks to her role as the Crusaders’ teacher and so did Mayor Mare, even though the town depended more on Twilight and her friends now that the lavender unicorn ascended into an alicorn princess. He made smaller, yet still substantial entries on other ponies such as Lyra, Bonbon, Vinyl Scratch, Time Turner, Derpy, Thunderlane, Rumble, Flitter, Cloudchaser, Caramel, and many other ponies. “Dear heavens,” Statice groaned in exhaustion. “This place is crowded.” He wasn’t sure if he had finished with the whole town, but he was tired of writing on the Archive. The only thing that happened to him after his Archive session was to wonder what to do now. He yawned as the boredom finally took over him. He closed his eyes and he fell asleep. Just like usual, he didn’t dream at all.