//------------------------------//
// The Strange Morning 
// Story: That Strange Stallion 
// by Gunther the Green 
//------------------------------//


That Strange Stallion


The Strange Morning




While some ponies felt the need to take a nap after last night's extended experience, others couldn't find the resolve to sleep. They were wide awake and ready for the new day. But for a certain three ponies it was a Good Morning. Time Turner and Ditzy Doo were walking up a path together with a sing in their voice and a song in their heart. Put simply a sing-song... Shut up, it works, kinda.
"Good Morning," Time Turner called to the cross eyed pegasus.
"Good Morning," she returned to the brown stallion, "We've talked the whole night through."
"Good Morning," a certain green stallion stepped in, "Good Morning to you."
And so began their musical number:
Good morning, good morning,
It's great to stay up late.
Good morning, good morning to you.

When the band began to play,
The sun was shining bright.
Now the mailmare's on her way,
It's too late to say goodnight.

So, good morning, good morning,
Sunbeams are smiling through.
Good morning, good morning to you,
And you, and you, and you!

Good morning, good morning,
We've gabbed the whole night through.
Good morning, good morning to you.
You might just get the feels,
If you were to be in Ponyville.

In the morning, in the morning,
It's great to stay up late!
Good morning, good morning to you.
You might just get the peps,
If you was inside of Broken Depths.

When we left the Town Hall,
The future wasn't bright.
But came the dawn, the show goes on.
And I don't wanna say goodnight.

So say good morning, good morning
Rainbow is shining through.
Then Martin calls out words and the other two repeat after him.
Good Morning,
Good Morning.
Bon Jour,
Bon Jour.
Buenos Dias,
Buenos Dias.
Buon Giorno,
Buon Giorno.
Guten Morgen,
Guten Morgen.
Good morning to you!

The three of them cheered at the end of the song, smiles all around.
"Good show, Martin. Simply splendid," Time Turner praised.
"Thank you, Time Turner. But the both of you were far better," he praised the stallion and mare. 
"Ah yes, I don't believe you've been introduced. Martin this is my good friend Muffins," Time Turner gestured towards the mare.
"It's nice to meet you, Martin," said Derpy Hooves.
Martin looked down at the captions looking thoroughly confused. The other two ponies looked at him weirdly wondering what he was looking at.
Martin raised a hoof to the side of his mouth and whispered, "Pst, Narrator, I think you need to make a decision on her name." The weird looks intensified, who was he talking to? Me, of course.
Quite honestly I have NO idea what her name's supposed to be, so what I'm going to do is let you pick.
Martin nodded in understanding while lowering his hoof, "Well Muffin, it's not that I don't like your name, it sounds delicious, but do you think I could call by a nickname?"
She just smiled, "I don't mind, some of my other friends do the same thing. They usually call me Derpy or Ditzy."
"I like Ditzy, between the two, it sounds cuter," Martin decided.
"Alright," agreed the now nicknamed Ditzy, "So what brings you out and about this morning?"
"Nothing special, just out for a walk," he said with a shrug, "I'm helping Roseluck in a couple hours. Something to do with her tool shed, I think she said."
"Well, good luck with that but I gotta get started on my route, it was nice meeting you Martin," Ditzy called before she sprang into the air and flew off.
"Nice gal," Martin mentioned to the stallion next to him as they watched her leave.
"Indeed, she works hard even with her condition," Turner agreed. 
"You know, her eyes kinda remind me of a friend from home," Martin admitted.
That got some interest out of the brown stallion, "Really? You have a friend with wall-eyes syndrome?"
"Not exactly, see John Silver got into... You know, I don't think he ever told me how he lost his eye and a few limbs," Martin looked up in thought.
Time Turner lurched in surprise, "He lost what?" That sounded gruesome, did he survive some kind of accident or battle some monster?
"Don't worry he got replacements. But I mention that because he got a new eye which, for some reason, tends to drift. So when he's looking at stuff, it's like he's looking in two different directions, but not actually," Martin described.
"I-I see, while gruesome, I can sort of see where you're coming from," Turner admitted. He probably won't mention it to Ditzy. He shook his head to rid himself of the imagery, "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to walk with you. I have a few inquiries."
"Sure, I don't mind," he agreed. The both of them started walking aimlessly.
"Firstly, I must ask, during the song we called out something in several languages," Time Turner started.
"I'm 80% sure that those were just 'Good Morning' in different languages," Martin said it with confidence but the percentage he gave said he wasn't completely sure.
"That's not my question, though I already assumed that given the nature of the song. I'm more curious on where you learned so many languages," he asked. That normally suggested either a place with a lot of foreigners or a pony well traveled.
"I didn't learn the languages, just a few greetings. I may not be able to hold a conversation but I can at least welcome them," Martin gave a big smile at that, "As for where? I actually learned those phrases from tourists that passed through my town."
"Ah, is that what 'Broken Depths' is then? It felt odd to add in but if it's your home town, then it fits perfectly," Turner deduced, "But from tourists, is your town significant where you're from?"
"Nope, while our town is quite big, it's not really famous, tourists only pass through on their way to some other part of the country," Martin explained. That seemed a bit contradictory, if it's a big town, would it not therefore be at least known? Perhaps it's out of the way from the rest of the country? But that wouldn't explain how it got big. 
"Could you tell me about Broken Depths itself?" Turner asked. The question seemed to make the other stallion swell with pride.
"Well the most prominent features of the town are twin skyscrapers that stand opposite of each other on either side of the town. One's a giant mall and the other is the headquarters for an organization," Martin described.
Time Turner interjected, "Ah yes, I believe Manehatten has similar things, I hear they're quite a sight."
"Neat," he commented before continuing, "At the center of town is a park to relax in and also happens to be where the memorial for our founder is. You know it's really interesting, apparently, the founder of Broken Depths initially built it because he met a really lonely girl who lived nearby. In an act of kindness, he told her that he would make her a home where she could have friends, family, and just be happy. And we assume she did. The town grew from there."
That amazed Turner, a pony had started a town for somepony he'd just met? "That was incredibly generous of him. And I can tell his kindness was rewarded."
"Well it was a collaborative effort with the first settlers, but I get what you mean," Martin corrected.
Time Turner gave a look towards the sun, "I'd love to chat with you more but I believe I am out of time. It was nice learning about your home Martin. We should do this again some time."
"No problem," Martin waved to the other stallion, "You have a good day." They went their separate ways.
A town built on the premise of giving somepony a home, it would certainly be an interesting place to visit. But something in their conversation didn't add up but he just couldn't put his hoof on it.



After a much needed nap, Roseluck was tending to her garden. It took a lot of effort to keep plants happy and healthy, but it's always worth the efforts. She gave one of the flowers a good sniff and nodded satisfied with its health.
"Roseluck!" Somepony called her name. She looked up from her garden and saw Martin trotting up to her. 
She smiled at the stallion, "Martin! Glad you could make it, right on time too. You take a nap like Everypony else?" she asked him.
"Nope," he answered, "still going strong, ready to help wherever I'm needed."
The mare raised an eyebrow at him, he's going full 24 hours and isn't tired at all? Did he use something? "Well if you want to get started, the sheds around back, come on I'll show you," she picked up the tools she had been using and put them in her saddlebag. She takes a moment to put it on and noticed that Martin was staring at her. "Is something wrong?" she asked him.
"You use that to carry your tools?" he stared at her saddlebags. Does he have a problem with how she does her work?
"That? There's nothing wrong with them, just because I don't use a tool belt doesn't mean I'm not a professional. Saddlebags suit me just fine, and I would thank you not to criticize me for it," she stated with a glare.
"Easy, I didn't mean anything by it, I was just curious," he tried to calm her down. She did, no reason to get upset with his naivety. She led him around back to a small shed. 
"Here it is," she waved a hoof at it while setting her saddlebag down to the side of it, "Now what I need you to do is organize, I don't really care how, as long as it's simple."
He stared at the door, "What do you mean?"
She opened the door to the shed to show tools and other miscellaneous things scattered around, "I've been getting a little lazy with putting my tools back. That includes random stuff I don't want in the house anymore. I've been meaning to clean it out myself but I have a shop to run and I don't want to leave tools outside unsupervised. So when Mayor Mare put up that bulletin board, I got the idea of hiring somepony to clean it for me while I was minding the store." She was a little ashamed she wanted to hire somepony else to clean up her mess, but it worked out for the both of them.
"That seems reasonable enough. May as well get started," he scanned the shed of it's objects, "You know, if I still wore sleeves, I would roll them up," he said while entering the tool shed. 'Sleeves', he wore clothes for something other then parties?
"Why would you wear clothes while doing some physical labor?" she asked, "I mean, unless it's for a uniform, they'd only get damaged."
"Actually most of the residents where I come from wear clothes all the time," oh so that's it, he was from one of those rich cities where everypony wore clothes. "We do have a group that wears uniforms though so there's that," he added.
"Doesn't that get expensive?" she asked. Paying for the clothes is one thing, but you have to also wash and fix them for when they tear. 
"It can be sometimes, but they have the money for it," he said while moving tools around in the shed. 
"Huh, interesting, if you ever did want to wear something, you'd have to ask Rarity. She runs a boutique here and just makes the most gorgeous of dresses," Roseluck said while imagining a dress of her own. 
Martin chuckled, "Well I don't know about wearing a dress, but I'll certainly ask about other articles of clothes." Martin in a suit, she wondered what that would look like. She imagined a classic black and white tuxedo with his mane slicked and his fur brushed. But the image just seemed wrong, ill fitting. She took a peek inside and saw Martin carefully move some clippers with his teeth. He didn't seem like the kind of stallion who would let etiquette keep him from having a good time. He just seems to like being himself and nopony else. 
He looked over at her, "hmm?" he asked.
She shook her head, "It's nothing. Hey, I'm going to run my shop for a while. I'll be back in an hour to check your progress." A little break to make sure everything was fine.
He set the clippers down, "Ok have fun, I'll figure out a way to do this faster." That was fine, if he wanted to do it in his own special way, she wouldn't stop him.
"Just don't break any of my stuff alright? I'll see you in an hour," she said before walking off. It would take him a while to finish it. Hopefully he hadn't been lying through his teeth and was going to steal her stuff.
She took a few minutes to set everything up in the shop, but when she was satisfied, she flipped the sign at the front of her store to 'Open'. Oddly, the first pony to come through was Martin, who looked at each flower in interest.
"Martin? What are you doing here? Are you taking a break already?" She didn't think he was lazy. Maybe he had a question for her?
"No," he took a sniff of the air, "Smells nice. I'm actually done." He's what?
"You're what?" she asked in surprise. How could he be done already? Did he do it cheaply? "When I said organized I didn't mean a pile of tools and a pile of other stuff."
"It's organized," he reassured. "Everything has it's own spots. Clippers, trowels, rakes, all in their proper place."
"I don't believe you," she said giving him a flat look. She went back to the front of the store and flipped the 'Open' sign back over. If he was lying she would chew him out for getting into her work hours and giving a false sense of reliability.
They walked around back over to the shed and she couldn't believe her eyes. He was telling the truth. Everything was properly separated, tools were put next to each other neatly, and miscellaneous stuff were ordered by size.  She'd never seen the shed so clean, it even looked like he swept.
"How?" she uttered. There was no possible way he was able to do all this in a few minutes.
"I found another way to do it," he simply said, "I didn't think my ability would work here, but apparently it does." 
"Is that your special talent?" she asked, it would make sense. Being able to do this like nopony else. That was cutie mark expertise. Did that mean as long as he was helping others and it was within his capabilities, he would excel?
"I wouldn't really call it that but sure," he answered uncertainly. Incredible, he held up his end of the bargain, she may as well hold up hers. She walked over to her saddlebag, took out a sack of coins, and pulled out some bits.
"Here's your payment, 10 bits, you've earned it," she hoped. If it was an illusion, then the chewing out she promised before would come back full force. He took the bits from her hoof and stared at them for a bit. "They're all there, I promise," she reassured him.
"I trust you, we just don't use bits in Broken Depths," well that's interesting.
"You don't? I thought everypony used bits," she assumed anyway. She couldn't give a confirmation for every other species beyond Equestria.
"Nope, first time seeing them, how much is 10 worth?" he asked. Did he really come to Ponyville without a single clue on how the money system worked?
"Well with 10 you could get a decent lunch," she suggested. He looked up in thought, his eyes moving up and down with a hoof held up pointing every so often. She could only assume he was crunching numbers.
"I think I have the general idea, thank you Roseluck, you really helped me," he praised.
But she shook her head, "I should thank you, you're the one who did the work, I just payed you." It was the simple truth.
"If you say so," he smiled at her, "I'm going to do a little shopping, then go over to Lily to see what she wanted done. Do you think you can give me directions?" That's right, Lily did mention something about bypassing Mayor Mare's system. Roseluck wondered what she needed to get done.
"Sure, she's just a few blocks in that direction," she pointed east. They set up shop away from each other so they wouldn't take customers from the other.
He nodded, "Thank you, you have a good day."
"You too!" she waved after him as he walked off. She walked back to her shop and flipped the sign to open. She could feel today was a good day.



Pinkie watched her prey as he exited Lily's shop with a newly bought brown sack, that he had bought on the way there, around his neck filled with well earned bits. She had special plans for the green stallion, very special plans. She was in disguise with a pair of binoculars on her face gazing at Martin with a serious expression. 
"Hi Pinkie, watcha doin?" He asked the pink mare sitting in a pot with a flower on her head. He didn't stop but slowed down as he passed her.
"I'm spying on you, cause Twilight says Princess Celestia said you got weirdo magic," the binoculars followed him, "me and the other girls agreed to keep an eye on you, but I'm doing it for another reason." She told him. Twilight didn't say she COULDN'T tell him.
He blinked at the confession but smiled soon after, "Well have fun with that."
Pinkie's serious look morphed into a happy smile, "Thanks, you have fun being spied on!" she waved to him and then went back to her serious look.
"I will!" he called back to her and walked out of sight. Very soon he will get what he deserves.



Evening was rolling in and Spike was slugging along back towards the library with bags of food and snacks for a special meeting Twilight wanted to have with the girls. Probably to do with their new position of Elements of Harmony or something. Honestly he didn't care, but he wished he didn't have to drag all the food back by himself. On the plus side, he was able to get a new comic book with the leftover bits. He was happy to help, plus Rarity was waiting for him back at the library, she'll be so grateful.
"Heya Spike," a familiar voice called to him. Spike looked over and saw Martin walking up to him. He seemed to have gained some accessories since they last met. He had a small bag on a rope tied around his neck, jingling with bits inside. On either side of him were new green saddlebags, a bit darker then his coat.
"Hey Martin, how are you doing?" he asked politely.
"Doing good, just finished some shopping. Seems like you did too," he gestured towards the bags in his arms.
"Ya, Twilight and the other girls are having some kind of meeting, so she had me go out and get some food for them to eat for dinner," Spike explained. He had gotten ingredients for soup and salad. Something simple but filling.
"That's very responsible of you," Martin complimented which got an embarrassed smile out of Spike.
"Well, I am her number 1 assistant," he stated proudly.
"I can believe that," he smiled down at the dragon, "Do you want some help carrying that back to the library?" He made a tempting offer.
Spike weighed his options: On one claw, he could do it himself and prove himself, on the other, he could get Martin's help and be able to relax. Well, even if he were to go back by himself, the girls would probably be too wrapped up in the meeting to notice his efforts. So with that thought, he accepted Martin's help. He carefully placed the food inside Martin's saddlebags, taking out his new comic book, and hopped up on Martin's back. He read about the latest adventure of the Power Ponies.
"Whatcha reading?" Martin asked as he took a glance back towards Spike while casually walking in the direction of the library.
"The Power Ponies, right now they're introducing a new villain. Flank Fryer, a unicorn chef who is the master of flames and uses enchanted food to mind control innocent ponies, this is gonna be awesome," Spike gushed about his comic book.
"Power ponies? That sounds like a super hero group," Martin guessed.
"Yep, they're my current favorite series. Do you have any cool super heroes where you're from?" Spiked asked hoping for some more cool stories.
"Sorry Spike, I don't really follow comic books," he disappointed the dragon, "I have a friend who actually takes it a step further and just LOATHES the super hero genre."
Spike blinked in surprise, somepony hates super heroes that much? "Why's that?" he asked.
"Well from what I can gather, he hates what they represent," upon seeing Spike's confused look he elaborated, "Here imagine this. Say the Flank Fryer was enacting his scheme and hypnotizing a bunch of civilians. Then officers of the law come in and try to stop him but they are easily beaten. Then the Power Ponies come in and use their power to defeat the Flank Fryer. Do you see what I mean?"
"Not really," Spike scratched his head. Isn't that what's supposed to happen?
"My friend hates that super heroes make the ordinary seem completely useless. That you need extraordinary abilities in order to be useful," Martin explained.
"But they're SUPER villains, the super definition literally means they're above the ordinary. That's why we need SUPER heroes in order to beat them," Spike countered.
Martin only shrugged, "He probably has a deeper reason why he hates super heroes but that was the excuse he gave me. Only other thing he hates just as much is probably royalty."
Spike's jaw dropped in surprise, "He hates the princesses?!" How could somepony hate them? They're the most kind, generous, benevolent ponies in Equestria.
Martin quickly shook his head, "No no, he just doesn't like the concept of royalty. Something about absolute power and being born into it. It probably doesn't help that our town has had bad experiences with royalty." Bad experiences? What, were they attacked by some foreign queen?
"Like what?" Spike asked curious. 
At that Martin gave a small smile, "Let's just say he tried to force us into something we really didn't want to do." Spike decided to drop the issue, he didn't like where it was going. So he changed topics to hoofball where Martin listened avidly.



It was well into the evening with the skies orange from the setting sun. Twilight peeked out of her window to make sure somepony wasn't eavesdropping on them. She had called the girls together to compare notes they had made on Martin by asking ponies around town. Hopefully they can get some insight who he REALLY is.
"No offense Twi, but don't ya think yer taking this a bit far?" Applejack asked the lavender mare. The girls stood in a dark room with a light shining down from above while they stood in a circle. 
"Princess Celestia said to keep an eye on him and that he's got some kind of unstable magic in him. So we have to be careful not to set him off," Twilight explained.
"You make it sound like he's some kind of bomb waiting to go off," mentioned Rainbow Dash floating lazily in the air above the circle. 
"With unstable magic, that may very well be a possibility," which got a squeak of fright from Fluttershy.
"Twilight, Darling, while we've all agreed that we're curious enough to investigate Martin and his origins. I have to agree with Applejack that you're taking this too far. You're treating him like he's an enemy out to ruin Equestria," the other girls nodded in agreement.
Being outvoted by her friends, Twilight's resolve crumbled, "Well," HAD she taken it too far? She'd seen mostly good things about him, she herself saw how he was forgiving and only tried to make others happy. Princess Celestia had commented that he may have been dangerous but she had also said he didn't seem like a bad pony. Twilight took another glance at the setting sun. Maybe she HAD taken the issue out of proportion.
Twilight lowered her head and sighed, "I'm sorry girls, I was making a mountain out of a mole hill. I would still like to investigate, but just out of genuine curiosity."
"That's more like it, we're doing this to better understand a friend, not to see if he's a stinky Mc meanie pants," Pinkie said. "Also, that would be really neat to have a mole hill the size of a mountain. They'd have so much room!"
Twilight ignored Pinkie in favor of starting the meeting, "Let's start chronologically. Fluttershy, you said you actually saw him arrive?" she asked the timid pegasus.
Fluttershy shrunk a little when being called out first, "Oh uh, yes. I was about to start practicing with the birds when there was this sound. I hid in the bushes and then Martin seemed to tumble out of thin air."
"Thin air? Was there a burst of magic?" asked Twilight, but the pegasus shook her head.
"No, he just seemed to fall out of nothing. I-I'm sorry but I really didn't see anything," she gave an ashamed look.
"It's quite alright Darling, we believe you. What happened next?" Rarity urged the timid mare to go on.
"Well he seemed to notice something about his foreleg and then cheered about having four legs again," she continued, "He ran off but sneaked back around behind me. After that though we had a nice talk, he explained his special talent is helping others and then he walked off to explore the rest of the town."
"Which we assume is when he came upon Rarity, given the time of each meeting," Twilight surmised.
"Quite right, the first thing he does is ram into the door of the town hall. I made sure the poor dear was alright. Afterwards we had a chat, apparently he had never heard of the Summer Sun Celebration before then. I also learn that he happens to be a foreigner and his home town is called Broken Depths. He left soon after," Rarity told her side of the story.
"I think he came to me after that, not sure. I was snoozing before he makes a really long stick and pokes me. We talk a bit and he doesn't even know who the Wonderbolts are! I mean, what the hay? He asks me to do some stunts, which I'm more then happy to do. Afterwards he was awed by my skill and mentions that he has a friend named Sven who is another flier but they have prosthetic wings. I made a promise to him to show him some things to tell his friend and we went our separate ways," Rainbow Dash gave her slightly exaggerated story.
"Where he comes by me while I'm setting up Twilight's 'Welcome to Ponyville party!' He introduced himself and I ask him if he's an alien here to bring the War of Sweets, but he said no. He does mention an inventor friend named Director who could make neat things. He left after promising to hang out later," Pinkie gave her slightly strange explanation.
"After that he came into a conversation between me and Spike. He mentioned having encountered a cousin of dragons called 'wyverns'. We spoke a bit, I show off a spell, and he mentioned a unicorn friend of his named Theo. Apparently he arrived accidentally in Ponyville because they were practicing magic together and a messed up teleport spell sent him here," Twilight started her side of the story.
"He's an earth pony though, how could he be practicing magic?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"I think it's more like his friend uses spells on him, like what me and Spike do sometimes," Twilight told her, "Anyway, he mentioned that he's waiting here for his friends to come pick him up and is convinced that he needs to remain in town in order to do it. Oddly enough, he claimed to be able to do his own magic and decided to cast a 'spell' on me to make friends. I... resisted his tomfoolery and left feeling bitter," she hesitated with that bit.
Pinkie gave a little giggle, "I guess his spell worked. That leaves Applejack."
"'Parently I'm last, so he showed up on the farm gigglin' at my hat. Though, it's just because he's got a friend with a white hat of his own. Which, come to think of it, don't make the next thing make sense. He's never heard of apple bucking before cause all his food gets imported. Shouldn't his friend with his own hat know about it?" Applejack asked.
"Well it may just be a decoration, it holds no real history or value, or perhaps he's just never spoken about apple bucking to Martin? We just don't know," Rarity interjected a point.
"Ah guess," Applejack conceded, "after headbutting a tree when ah told him to buck, ah sent him off to rest back in town. Didn't see him after that until he came to your welcome party."
"At the party he mentioned that nopony at his town lives at their place of business, and that he has a REALLY weird friend name Tim who apparently is everywhere at once, tell me that is not creepy?" Rainbow Dash asked. 
"He's everywhere behind a cash register, remember?" Pinkie quickly added.
"And when we were celebrating the return of Princess Luna, he insinuated that he knew somepony, either himself or somepony close, wasn't able to get a second chance. That's all our personal accounts, right?" They nodded so she continued, "So let's go over the information that we've collected, jump in when something pertaining to what you found out is said."
"He comes from a town called Broken Depths, which is in a foreign country and they import all their food," Twilight started.
"Time Turner says that the town has two big skyscrapers and was built because the founder wanted to give somepony a home, he also said that they sometimes get tourists that speak different languages," Pinkie put in.
"Um, Roseluck said they don't use bits and that everypony wears clothes," Fluttershy quickly added.
"He has several friends there, one being an inventor named Director, who, according to the royal guard, Dust Bowl, runs an organization that enforces the law with experimental equipment, although they don't see much action due to problems being solved too quickly. Another being a flier named Sven who has fake wings. And one other pony who can be anywhere a cash register is, who happens to be named Tim," Twilight was stopped again by Pinkie.
"Time Turner also said he had another friend name John Silver who has a fake eye and at least two fake limbs. Kinda sounds like a pirate to me," Pinkie said looking up in thought.
"He also has an unnamed friend who has a hat like Applejack's, as well meeting a distant cousin of dragons called wyverns. His best friend is a unicorn named Theo and due to a magical mishap, teleported Martin here to Ponyville. Sometime before then he didn't have four legs to stand on and he had all four after the teleport. Now he is here waiting for his friends to come and find him." With the observation finished they each looked at each other uneasily. When said outright like that, everything seemed a bit strange.
Rainbow chose to be the one to say it, "What a load of hooey."
"Rainbow, we aren't entirely certain of that," Rarity admonished. 
"Look, he's a nice guy and tells interesting jokes but he's got to be lying to us somewhere. If he really was teleported by his friend, then he must be more powerful then Celestia if he can THROW HIS FRIEND INTO ANOTHER COUNTRY! Also if that much magic is being thrown around I think there'd be a little more then just a sound at his arrival," Rainbow pointed out. Though Rainbow wasn't an expert on magic, Twilight didn't deny what she said. The closest thing to that was when Princess Celestia sent Nightmare Moon to the moon and she needed the Elements of Harmony to do that.
"Ah'd hate to say it, but I agree with Rainbow. While ah can believe some big city can prosper without being famous, if that story about Tim is true, and tourists really did pass through, then that town would have quickly become a hotspot with something as weird as that going on. He pushed my belief with that little tall tale," Applejack agreed with her own reasoning to back it up.
The other girls looked at each other uncertainly, had Martin been lying to them the whole time? Had all of it been a lie?
They were interrupted by a familiar 'Thunk' along with a pair of voices. 
"Martin, why didn't you just open the door?" they heard Spike's voice say. He was here?
"Maybe if I keep headbutting them, the doors will open out of fear," Martin's voice slurred.
"Here, let me get that for you," said Spike as he opened the door. They stepped in and looked around at the darkness. "Why are the lights off?" he asked before clicking the switch revealing the girls looking at them.
Martin smiled at them, "Hey girls, your meeting going well?" He put his saddlebags down so Spike could take the food out and take it to the kitchen.
Pinkie decided to answer for them, "Yep, we're actually doing that thing I told you about earlier." She truly believed Martin was a good stallion. All he wanted was to make others happy. He didn't deserve to be called a liar  simply for being unbelievable. He should be given the chance to prove his innocence. The other girls looked at her strangely but Martin smiled kindly at her.
"Ok, I'd offer my help but I need to go rent a room tonight. So I'll see you all tomorrow. Good night," he left the building with a chorus of 'good night's following him. Twilight noticed Spike having trouble with the food.
"Here Spike, let me help you," she lifted the bags with magic and carried them to the kitchen, "Did Martin help you bring them?" she asked.
"Ya, he insisted so I couldn't turn him down," he fibbed a little.
Twilight smiled at the kindness, "That was nice of him."
"Ya, he's fun to talk to, I told him about my favorite comic book heroes and hoofball team," Spike decided not to mention the whole, royalty hating friend thing, she'd probably take it WAY out of context, "Do you think we could invite him over some time?" he asked.
Twilight felt conflicted, an inner turmoil over the suspicion of Martin and his kindness. Eventually she came to a decision and smiled down at the dragon, "Sure Spike, when we have the time, we'll invite him over." She left the happy dragon in the kitchen.
It wouldn't be right to condemn him already, "Alright girls I have a plan, we're going to dig deeper into this. He deserves the chance to prove himself," Pinkie smiled at that statement, "So we'll do it like this, each of us are going to get him alone at some point in the future and try to get answers out of him. We need to be subtle though, outright interrogating him may cause a reaction to his unstable magic. So please be gentle and try not to assume the worst in him," she told them.
"Well he seems like the decent sort, if he can prove that he's not trying to con us, then ah'll take back what ah said," Applejack agreed.
Rainbow Dash gave a shrug, "Hey, if he can prove that he's not lying then I totally want to go and see Broken Depths. It'd be an amazing vacation spot."
"Good, if we're all in agreement," the other girls nodded, "then Pinkie, you'll go first, try find out more about him or get him to admit wether the things he's already said are real or not."
Pinkie gave Twilight a salute, "You can count on me." She was going to prove his pants weren't on fire, and she was going to do it, Pinkie Pie Style.