“Okay, everypony! If we could all gather around!”
After a couple of moments of silence a certain farm-pony cleared her throat “Uh, we're pretty much already gathered 'round, sugarcube. Ah mean, it's mostly just us.”
“...Fair point.” Twilight said with a nod. Shuffling her note cards a bit with her magic, the young princess had to resist the urge to clear her throat “Right. So, I'm fairly sure we all know what we're here for-”
A quiet squeak from her side brought Twilight's attention to a certain adorable, yellow pegasus “Yes, Fluttershy?”
“Oh...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you, Twilight...” Fluttershy quietly replied, while ducking into her mane a bit.
“It's alright, Fluttershy. Was there something you wanted to ask?” Twilight prompted in a kindly tone.
Straightening up a bit at the question, Fluttershy gave a quiet swallow before continuing “Well, it's just...I'm not really sure what's going on and-”
“You aren't? Didn't Rainbow Dash explain what was happening when she got you?” Twilight asked, her gaze drifting towards the hovering blue pegasus who was now trying to avoid meeting said gaze.
“Oh. Well, I'm sure Rainbow Dash meant to and must have just forgotten on her way over...” Fluttershy quietly offered in defense of her athletic friend.
Rainbow Dash gave a nod of her head at that “Uh, yeah. I kinda figured you'd do a better job explaining all that stuff anyway, Twi. I mean, there was a lot of stuff you wanted me to say and I don't have any of your, like, charts and whatever...”
Looking to one corner of the Golden Oaks library, where Twilight and her friends were situated, would actually reveal a rather large collection of charts, graphs, scrolls, preliminary schedules, revised itineraries, and maps. Looking about the rest of the cozy library would reveal party decorations and snacks.
Twilight found herself glancing between the two pegasi for a moment, before raising a hoof to her forehead “But, Rainbow Dash...did you explain anything to Fluttershy before bringing her over?”
“I figured I'd just end up scaring her if I tried to explain it.” The hovering mare replied with a shrug.
“What? What would I be scared of?” Fluttershy blurted out, suddenly a bit concerned.
“See?”
Before Twilight could address that point, Rarity took a step forward “And is that perchance why you also couldn't bother to explain yourself before dragging me from my store, Rainbow Dash?”
“...Sure?” Rainbow Dash replied with another shrug.
The purple alicorn had to struggle to contain the sigh that she felt trying to escape.
“Don't worry, Twi-Twi! I definitely know why we're all here! Why else would I have a brought all these party supplies?” Pinkie Pie helpfully chimed in from atop a bookshelf-ladder, as she added in a few more streamers here and there.
“Are we having a party? Why would I be scared of a party?” Fluttershy asked again.
“Ah think Ah got the gist it from Pinkie here, but how 'bout you just start from the beginnin', Twi?” Applejack offered, before things could go on much longer.
Looking between her friends once more, Twilight eventually settled for putting her notes to one side. After visibly thinking it over for a moment she turned her attention first to the still befuddled Fluttershy “Ok. To start with, there isn't any reason to be worried. That being said, we're not here to throw a party-”
“I made some more nachos, Pinkie! Where do you want me to put them?” Spike called out, as he backed his way out of the kitchen, his claws taken up with the task of carrying the prepared snackfood.
“Over there on the table with the punch, Spike!” Pinkie easily replied.
“...Okay, so Pinkie might actually be here to throw a party.” Twilight conceded, while rubbing the bridge between her eyes. Setting her hoof back down, she re-focused back upon Fluttershy “So...Uhm, Fluttershy, do you remember those animals I left in your care a couple of weeks ago?”
“Oh, yes!” The butter-color coated mare happily exclaimed, always ready to gush about any of her little animal friends “Oh, they're doing so much better, Twilight. I managed to find a little space to set aside in my closet and they just love it in there now. I'm still not quite sure what they're eating in there, but Mr. Glowy seems especially happy. He's just the sweetest little nightlight.”
“Right, Mr. Glowy...” Twilight nodded, recalling the oddly bulbous, insect-like creature that she'd left to her friend to take care. She couldn't say she had the best of relationships with the bio-luminescent creature. She had accidentally scared the creature when she unintentionally screamed in its face, and it had released a cloud of smelly musk in her face, in response.
Twilight was fairly sure the little bug still held a grudge over their first encounter...
Shaking those thoughts away, Twilight started broaching the key topic “And, Fluttershy, do you remember where I got Mr. Glowy?”
“Hm? Didn't you find him and his little friends on your trip to the-...Oh.” Fluttershy seemed briefly perplexed by the question, but it was visibly apparent when she made the connection. Twilight cemented the conclusion for her friend with a nod and an encouraging smile.
“Oh my...” The shy pegasus blurted out, otherwise at a loss for words.
Briefly startled, Fluttershy glanced to her side to see Rainbow Dash setting down and extending a hoof out to her “It's really not all that big of a deal, Fluttershy. I mean, I wasn't sold on the changelings at first either, but they're actually pretty cool.”
Twilight nodded at that, lending her support to the cyan pegasus' claims “There really isn't anything to be afraid of. All we're going to be doing is-”
“Why would Fluttershy be afraid, Twi-Twi? They're great!” Pinkie Pie suddenly interjected, swinging down from a length of streamers to land in front of Fluttershy “Oh, oh, oh, you know what you should do, Flutters? You should do a musical number with them! Nopony can be scared after a musical number!”
“But I'm not scared of the changelings.”
“...What? Really?” Rainbow Dash blurted out, turning at this unexpected declaration from her normally very fretful friend.
Suddenly put on the spot, as her friends all shared various stares of surprise centered on her, Fluttershy had to resist the urge to shrink away “Well, I mean, I'm not anymore scared of changelings than I am of anypony else...”
“Uhhhhhh, come again?” Applejack posed the key question in that moment.
Fidgeting with her hooves a bit, Fluttershy ducked her head at the question “Uhm, I don't think changelings are all that scary?”
Rainbow Dash found herself rubbing the back of her head at this “How exactly did that happen? I mean, you seemed pretty intimidated by Chrysalis that one time.”
“Uhm, well...she is kinda scary. But I don't think all changelings could be that scary.” Fluttershy elaborated, recalling the meeting they'd had with the changeling monarch not too long ago. Glancing to one side, the butter-coated pony steadily seemed to gain a more wistful look “I can't imagine anypony that could raise such a sweet and lovable little glowbug like Mr. Glowy being too scary.”
“...Isn't that the bug that sprayed stink-gas in your face, Twi?” Rainbow Dash queried a mildly embarrassed purple alicorn.
Twilight gave a shake of her head at that “That's not really the most relevant thing at this very moment, Dash.”
“Exactly so, Twilight. I think we all need to give more mind to just how well Fluttershy has come along.” Rarity interjected, before turning her attention to her shy friend “I have to say I am very proud of how maturely you're handling this, dear. Why, not so very long ago, you'd catch a fright from just seeing your own shadow.”
“Sometimes it's kinda hard to tell if it's your shadow or not...” Fluttershy quietly pointed out, trying to explain the sense behind her caution with shadows.
The fashionista gave an encouraging nod at that, even as she settled a hoof over Fluttershy's withers “Even so, I think we can all see that you are more than capable of handling some changeling-related news. Right, Twilight?”
“I guess so.” Twilight replied with a smile, before retrieving her notes. Raising a hoof to her mouth, as she cleared her throat the young princess started over “Alright, girls. I think it's safe to say that you all recall the meeting we had with Princess Celestia and Chrysalis, before Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and I took our trip to meet Chrysalis' changelings.”
A chorus of nods and sounds of agreement from her friends was briefly interrupted, as Pinkie Pie turned her attention from adjusting her party cannon to call over “When did that happen, Twilight?”
“...Uhm, right before we went to meet with Chrysalis' changelings?” Twilight hesitantly repeated herself for her pink friend.
“Oh, right!” Pinkie casually replied before focusing back upon her improbable artillery.
Shaking her head at this, Twilight decided to just move on “As I was saying, I'm pleased to say that our visit went really-...mostly, very well.”
“Uh, mostly?” Applejack asked with raised eyebrow for the word-swap.
“Yep...Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie I think will agree that the changelings probably won't be causing any problems if they move to the Crystal Empire.” The purple alicorn continued on, avoiding the scrutinizing gaze of the apple farmer. Sifting through her notes, she quickly brought out a very formal looking piece of documentation “And now that we've gotten Cadance's approval, with some stipulations and restrictions of course, we're now looking at the next stage of bringing about peace between Changelings and Ponies.”
“...Which would be?” AJ prompted a moment later, still openly studying her alicorn friend.
“It's time to get the Changelings to the Crystal Empire.” Twilight declared.
Applejack raised an eyebrow at that “Okay. How we supposed to do that then, Twi?”
“Mostly by train.”
“Huh. Well, that sounds simple enough. Just gotta git somepony to pony up for all those train tickets and Ah guess we're set then.” The farmpony observed.
“Oh, Princess Celestia is taking care of the expenses already, but...there's another issue. One that I was hoping to have some help with.” Twilight hedged a bit.
“And what might that be, dear?” Rarity asked with a tilt of her head “If I'm understanding the situation correctly, it seems everything is very much in order now, yes?”
Twilight gave a nod at that, before explaining “Everything is in order for the Changelings to resettle in the Crystal Empire and we have a means of transporting them all. But, the problem lies with actually getting them all together to actually transport there.”
“Ah'm not sure I'm followin'.” AJ admitted.
Rainbow Dash darted down a bit from where she was hovering before Twilight could respond “I think what she's getting at, is that there are a whole bunch of changelings hiding all over Equestria.”
“That would be a part of the problem, yes.” The princess agreed.
The apple farmer gave a look at that “How's that a problem? Can't they all jus' go about gittin' on different trains? And...wait a sec. Jus' how many changelings is a whole bunch?”
Twilight cleared her throat at that question “I don't have any exact numbers, as Chrysalis was a bit tight-lipped about that, but...over two thousand?”
Applejack went a bit goggle-eyed at the number her friend just cited “Wha? How do ya mean there's two thousand changelings out here? Where are they all at, that so many a'them can be hidin'?”
“Oh, come now, Applejack. That's not so big a number when one considers how big Equestria is. Ponyville alone probably counts for a couple of thousand ponies and our little town isn't so very large. Right, Twilight?” Rarity reminded for her startled friend.
“I would have to check the latest Equestrian Census data, but-” Twilight began.
“And they are changelings, you know? So, it's not exactly like you could tell if you did see one.” Rainbow Dash helpfully pointed out.
“Well, Ah suppose that's true.” AJ conceded.
“Yeah! I mean they could really be just about anypony, you know?” The cyan pegasus continued.
“Ah get it...”
Grinning a bit too herself, Rainbow Dash started putting on a spooky voice “They could be any~where!”
Applejack gave her pegasus friend a wry look “You don't say?”
“Maybe even I'm a changeling!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed while using her hooves to make a creepy facial expression.
She was interrupted, by the orange hoof that lightly pushed her away.
“Somehow, Ah don't think Ah'm that lucky, Dash. If Ah was, you'd have a one-way ticket to the Crystal Empire.” Applejack noted with no small amount of humor.
Rainbow Dash gave a lackadaisical shrug “Just sayin'. You never know, right?”
“Somehow, Ah think Ah could tell. Ah don't think you could keep something like that to yourself for long, before tellin' everypony you knew about you bein' the fastest changeling alive or some such thing.” The orange Earth pony observed.
“You got me.”
That managed to earn a round of laughter from the gathered mares.
Shaking her head and letting her amusement settle, Twilight gave a nod in Rainbow Dash's direction “Actually, Rainbow Dash has kind of settled on the main problem left to deal with for all of this to work. There are a lot of changelings-in-disguise all around Equestria and we need to help them on their way.”
“Well that's all well-and-good, Twi, but Ah'm still not seein' the problem. Can't they all just hop along themselves or somethin'?” Applejack pointed out.
“Well, Chrysalis has some concerns about that. Concerns I kind of think have some merit.” Twilight admitted, while using a hoof to push her bangs a bit out of the way “There are still quite a few ponies that might become worried or frightened at the thought of changelings, even if it's been made clear that they don't mean any harm. And vice-versa. That's part of the reason the general public hasn't been told yet.”
“I suppose there's a certain sense behind that.” Rarity noted with a gesture of her hoof.
Applejack gave a shake of her head at that “Sounds a bit underhoof-ed to me. Ah mean, it seems like a lot of our problems are caused whenever folks try to keep secrets.”
“I get that, AJ. Which is why Princess Celestia is going to let everything be known after everything has been settled. We just don't want anypony or changeling doing anything rash or panicking in the middle of this move.” Twilight explained to her friend.
“Is that why Princess Luna sent her guards down?” Fluttershy quietly asked, referring to the two bat-ponies keeping watch just outside of the entrance to the library.
The young princess gave another nod at her friend's question “Kind of. The plan is to quietly gather up all the changelings in town here before sending them up to the Crystal Empire. They're here to help keep the library closed-off and assist us if we need it.”
“Well, that was quite generous of her, sending us a bit of extra help like that.” Rarity observed.
“Princess Celestia thought that we would be able to take care of Ponyville without too much help. Apparently, Luna wanted to come to Ponyville herself, but Princess Celestia convinced her that she could do more good elsewhere.” The purple alicorn explained, relaying the information passed on to her via her mentor's letters regarding this undertaking.
“Ah suppose if it's Princess Celestia that thinks this is a good idea...” AJ began.
Twilight gave an understanding smile at that “If it helps, I have spoken with Mayor Mare about all of this and she's pretty much agreed to what I've laid out. As soon as the changelings are safely on their way, she plans on making an announcement to the rest of the town.”
Applejack let out a sigh finally “Fair enough, Ah guess. As long as you guys are sure the changelings are stickin' things out on there end, Ah'm on board.”
“You worry too much, AJ. You gotta trust me when I say these changelings aren't anything to worry about. A bit weird, but they're cool.” Rainbow Dash noted from above.
“Ah get it. No big deal. Ah mean, how many changelings can there possibly be in a little town like Ponyville?”
“Actually...I'm not really sure.” Twilight sheepishly admitted, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.
“Pardon?” AJ blurted out.
“Uhm, well, Chrysalis neglected to actually tell me how many changelings she had in Ponyville.” The young princess elaborated, even as she shuffled her note cards once more.
“Twilight...might I ask just how Queen Chrysalis expected us to go about this task?” Rarity politely broached for everypony.
“Sorry about this, girls. She did say that she would let all of her changelings know...some how. And that one of her changelings had orders to meet with me.” Twilight explained, her wings twitching a bit as she did so “Chrysalis has been really tight-lipped about all of this. I honestly think she's still kind of nervous about all of this-”
“Could of fooled me.” Rainbow Dash chimed in.
AJ nodded at that “Ah'm not sure that she has ever had a nervous bone in her body, frankly.”
“Do changelings actually have bones?” Fluttershy quietly asked, clearly earnest in her curiosity.
“Okay. Maybe not nervous.” Twilight conceded. She seemed ready to continue back on the original topic, before pausing to turn towards Fluttershy “And, uhm, I'm not really that sure about their bones. It never occurred to me to ask, but we might try to check with them today. If everything goes alright, that is.”
“Oh, that's good. I mean, it would be good to know if any changelings ever get hurt, so we could help them.” Fluttershy cheerfully noted.
Twilight couldn't help but smile at her friend's earnest concern for all living things.
“So, Twilight, am I to understand that we might be waiting for a little while for our mysterious changeling caller?” Rarity asked, refocusing the conversation.
Shaking her head a bit to refocus, the purple alicorn gave a nod towards her elegant friend “I'm afraid so. I've got their arrival penned into the schedule for the next couple of hours, but that's really just an estimate. Err, well, not even really an estimate. But I'm at least hoping-”
“Wait. Twi...did you still write-up a schedule for all of this?” Rainbow Dash interjected.
Twilight glanced at that “Hm? Oh, Spike helped me plan it all out and did the actual writing, but-”
“Don't you think that might be a bit...optimistic, dear?” Rarity politely asked.
“...How so?”
“Cause we're waiting on someone that may or may not arrive within the next couple of hours to help us meet with an unknown number of changelings, who may or may not be super nervous and unready about all of this?”
“...Yeah, what Pinkie Pie just said.” Rainbow Dash said with a gesture of her hoof towards the pink pony that was still going about decorating the library.
“Also, something could go wrong with the train.” Pinkie Pie added a moment later in a chipper tone, as she swung down on a large collection of streamers. After a brief pause, a thought visibly occurred to the pink pony “Oh, oh, oh! Or somepony could find out about all the changelings and panic and-”
“That's enough, Pinkie Pie. Thank you.” Rarity interrupted, as politely as she could manage. She didn't feel there was a great need for the pink Earth pony to contribute to another of Twilight's freakouts.
Twilight found herself frowning a bit about that, before glancing to one corner of the library. Quietly using her magic to put her perhaps overly optimistic schedule chart away, the young princess cleared her throat before responding “Right, so it maybe that a schedule might not be...necessary, but I do still have a plan. I mean, it's still most of a plan without the timetable-”
Rarity stepped forward at that moment, not willing to leave her friend fretting for too long “I'm sure you've prepared a lovely plan, dear. And I'm quite sure we're all ready to play our parts. Right, girls?”
Everyone quickly chimed in with their agreement, all sending supportive smiles Twilight's way.
“Well, that's a relief.” Spike suddenly spoke-up, startling the gathered ponies as he made his way across the room, his little arms laden with snacks “Twilight kept me up half-the-night trying to come up with that plan.”
“Thank you, Spike.” Twilight replied, sporting a wry smile for the little drake.
“I mean, the parts of the plan that I was awake for sounded good.” Spike added, as he set the the platter of snacks on a nearby table.
Not letting her smile diminish, Twilight turned back to her ever supportive friends “Uhm, well, if you guys still want to hear my plan, I can...”
Warmed by the fact that her friends still seemed ready to hear out her maybe-not-entirely-going-to-work-out plan, Twilight cleared her throat before starting “Alright, well the first thing to see to is-”
“Oh! Twilight, oh! I know, Twilight! I know! Pick me!” Pinkie Pie suddenly started dancing on her backhooves, as she waved one of her forehooves to gather the princess' attention.
“Alright, Pinkie Pie, you can-” Twilight began to offer to her excitable friend.
“I get to throw a PARTY!!!”
“Never would have seen that one coming, Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash observed, pointedly glancing about the very apparent party decorations, balloons, and food that had been laid out.
Twilight gave a rueful nod to the rest of her friends “I kind of felt that it was going to happen anyway, so...I figured I'd just make the Pinkie Pie party a part of the plan.”
“Seems prudent.” Rarity added with a nod.
“I'm sure it's going to be a lovely party, Pinkie Pie.” Fluttershy added in a kindly tone towards her pink friend.
“I know! I know! It's going to be great!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed right in the butter-coated pegasus face, leading Fluttershy to awkwardly try to lean back from her friend.
Twilight's smile became a bit strained as her pink friend's enthusiasm made things awkward for the shy pegasus “Right, yes, Pinkie Pie is going to be managing the party here to hopefully help the changelings stay relaxed when they get here. In fact, I was actually rather hoping that Rarity-”
“Question!” Rainbow Dash jumped in again, holding out her own hoof to get Twilight's attention.
Blinking in momentary surprise at the blue hoof being waved only a short distance from her face, the princess turned her attention to her hovering friend “Yes, Rainbow Dash?”
“Do those two guardponies outside know that you have a plan?” RD bluntly asked, pointing a hoof towards the door the two bat-ponies were standing outside of.
“Hm? Oh, yes. Spike helped me take care of that last night too. It took a little while, but we managed to put together some guidebooks for them to go over.” Twilight cheerfully explained, clearly proud of the work they had put into that project.
“Guidebooks?” Rainbow Dash asked with a skeptical look for her scholarly friend.
“Mm-hmm.” Twilight again nodded, her mood not diminished in the least.
The pegasus stared for a few moments, before trying again to make her point clear “...Guidebooks?”
Just outside...
“These guidebooks are great!”
“Mm-hmm...”
“I mean, where does a princess even find time to put together something like this?” Sea Breeze asked, holding the small booklet up for Star Shade. He barely had the time to glance towards the mare, when a sheaf of papers unfolded from the collection of papers “...Horseapples, did I just break this thing?”
“It looks to be a foldout map.” The older stallion pointed out, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at his fellow bat-pony's antics.
Sea Breeze regularly proved to be the talkative sort of guardpony, something the older bat-pony had not been particularly enthused about upon first meeting her. But, after a heart-to-heart talk or two and some assurances that the mare would at least maintain the proper decorum when in the public eye, he'd started to relax his standards.
And, admittedly, the conversation was a welcome addition to the normally dull work of being a guardpony. It certainly helped keep his mind busy and staved off boredom.
Granted, there was the occasional headache that came with dealing with a pony like Sea Breeze, but he tried to stay calmer about things.
“Oh. Well, that's neat...” Sea Breeze exclaimed as she used a hoof to bring the section up for closer inspection “Huh...In the event of UAMAPs (Unforeseen Appearances of Magical Apex Predators) take this route to...is that a thing? Do ponies have to worry about that kind of thing around here?”
“I'm sure Princess Twilight is just being thorough in preparing for any unlikely eventuality. I hardly think a quiet place like this has too much to worry about.” Star Shade quietly argued, casting his gaze across the area in front of the Golden Oaks Library.
“Please note, UAMAPs have been known to share some overlap with CMC-related incidents. For proper cataloging...CMC? That sounds familiar...” Sea Breeze noted to herself, before quickly flipping to the back of the book “Oh, nice. A glossary. Let's see...”
“If you could put that down for a few minutes, I'd like for us to refocus our efforts on spotting the...foreign liaison.” Star Shade called over, careful not to mention the word 'changeling' out in public. If the whole goal was to get the changelings out of Ponyville without causing a fuss, it seemed like discretion would be imperative to that.
“The foreign-what now?” The mare asked back, a raised eyebrow at the precise term her superior officer had chosen to use.
The stallion had to resist the urge to roll his eyes a bit “Liaison. The individual that is supposed to be arriving soon?”
Visibly pondering it for a moment, Sea Breeze spared a glance for the door leading into the Golden Oaks Library “...I'm pretty sure all of Princess Twilight's friends are already inside.”
Star Shade gave a mildly-sour look at that remark “Don't be obtuse.”
“Would you rather I were more acute?” The mare responded with a self-satisfied grin, as her commanding officer let his head drop in exasperation.
“...I should demote you for that.”
“When you're right, you're right.”
“Please. Stop.” The stallion requested, a hoof brought up to his brow.
Sea Breeze gave a shrug at the request “What? Princess Luna likes puns, so I thought-”
“Princess Luna is from a different time. She doesn't understand how terrible they are.” The older bat-pony sternly countered.
“I guess I can't help but-”
“I will relieve you of your post, if you make a pun about straight angles.” Star Shade quickly interjected, leading to Star Breeze abruptly snapping her mouth shut.
After several seconds of silence, the mare gave a tilt of her head as if considering something “Okay, but what about-”
“Geometry-based wordplay of any kind is off-limits.” He quickly added, with a light stomp of his hoof for emphasis.
“...You mean for today? Or like...forever? Sea Breeze hesitantly asked.
He was briefly tempted to leave it as a standing order, but eventually let out a quiet sigh “No more line-puns until we've spotted the-”
“Liaison. Right. Got it.”
“Correct.”
“And is there like a password, that they're going to be saying or something? So we know it's them.”
“...I'm not sure.” Star Shade hesitantly admitted, himself a bit stymied by the lack of information that had been provided on the issue of the changelings. Princess Luna had been quite adamant about maintaining some trusted eyes and ears in Princess Twilight's proximity during this undertaking. While certainly honored by the notion that the Moon Princess trusted him with this task, he couldn't help but wonder if his Princess was operating out of anything more than mild paranoia. Star Shade would certainly stay vigilant for any changeling funny business, but he really had no idea what to look for.
Unfortunately, despite Princess Twilight's most earnest efforts, he didn't even know what it would look like if the changelings were on the up-and-up either.
Not that he could let his junior officer think he was anything but certain.
“I'm quite sure that we will know our contact when we see them.” The stallion eventually added with as much confidence as he could muster.
The mare at his side seemed apparently skeptical “But...isn't their whole thing ponies not knowing them when we see them?”
“Yes. But this change-...contact will no doubt be looking for ways to make it apparent. We merely need to be on the lookout for anyone approaching this building.” Star Shade pointed out.
“Yeah, but isn't this a public library? What if some regular pony approaches this building looking for a book or something?” Sea Breeze pressed.
“...Just stay watchful for anypony that seems abnormal.” The stallion eventually settled, realizing that he really couldn't offer up anything more specific than just staying alert. He was given some pause as a thought occurred, before turning back towards Sea Breeze “For that matter, keep an eye out for anypony that seems too normal, as well.”
“...Too normal?” The mare asked, her eyebrow arching at the seemingly contradictory guidelines.
“Exactly.”
Sea Breeze had to give a shake of her head at that, before casting her gaze off to one side “Too normal...Okay, I'll keep an eye out for- I don't know- someone that's really- someone that's really-...really, really handsome.”
“I'm sorry?” Star Shade blurted out at the seeming non-sequitur.
“Don't be.” The mare muttered, even as she continued to send gooey-eyes and a slightly lopsided smile down the street. Turning his own attention in that direction, the stallion made quick work of following her gaze to its apparent target.
A rather healthy looking red-coated stallion leading a cart of apples down the street towards the oaken library, clearly intent on making his way for the building.
Briefly turning back towards the library in consideration, before glancing back to the apple-themed stallion making his way over, Star Shade brought a hoof to his chin before muttering “Hm, must be affiliated with Lady Applejack in some fashion.”
“Uh-huh.” The dazed Sea Breeze absently replied.
Letting an eyebrow steadily rise at the mare's uncharacteristic response, the older bat-pony had to stomp a hoof to get her attention “Professionalism, Sea Breeze.”
“Wha's tha'?” Sea Breeze blurted out, sending a quick look of confusion Star Shade's way. A shake of her head and she quickly made a point of standing up a bit straighter “Oh, right.”
Now both standing at attention, the two members of the Night Guard waited by the door, watching as the large farmpony went about unhitching himself from his apple cart. A few moments later, Big Mac was making his own steady approach over.
Drawing to a pause in front of the duo, Big Mac took a few moments to glance between the two bat-ponies in apparent curiosity at the positions they had taken up.
Clearing his throat, Star Shade took a step forward to meet the larger stallion's approach “I'm afraid the Golden Oaks Library has been closed-off from the general public today, sir. Until Princess Twilight's business is concluded, only-...certain invited individuals will be allowed entrance...”
Big Mac blinked as the bat-pony stallion trailed off.
“...However if you happen to be one of these certain invited individuals...?” Star Shade hesitantly offered, wondering if perhaps this farmpony was a changeling in disguise.
It only took Big Mac a moment before shaking his head at the implied question “Nnnope.”
“I wouldn't mind inviting him to a-” Sea Breeze suddenly piped up.
Only to be silenced by a stern look from her superior.
“Uh, I jus' need to have lil' chat with my sister, AJ?” Big Mac offered, trying not to pay any mind to the exchange between the two out-of-towners.
Sparing another moment to send a look of warning to his more junior officer, Star Shade turned his focus back to the Apple stallion “You need to speak with the Lady Applejack? I would need to check inside with Princess Twilight, before I can allow you in. Is that alright, sir?”
Big Mac gave an easy nod.
“Very well. May I have your name?” The older member of the Night Guard asked, as he turned to the door leading into the library.
“Big Macintosh.”
Star Shade nodded in-turn. Opening the door, the bat-pony gave a shake of his head towards Sea Breeze as if to preemptively tell her 'no' once more, before heading in.
Big Mac could have given voice to his curiosity, as he scrutinized the bat-pony mare standing in front of him, as she watched the wooden door slowly close behind her fellow guardspony. But, he wasn't really given the opportunity, as the moment the door clicked shut she immediately whipped her head around to face the bemused farmpony.
“I'm totally cool with it if you're a changeling.” Sea Breeze quickly blurted out.
“What?”
“What?” The mare swiftly responded, even as she affected an innocent look of confusion.
Big Mac couldn't help but let his eyebrow climb upwards at the odd exchange, letting his skepticism and confusion become apparent.
Sea Breeze didn't seem at all bothered and made a point of taking in their surrounding while taking in a breath of fresh air “Sure is a nice day. Fresh air. Plenty of sunlight...And I'm completely fine with dating outside of my species.”
“Eee-...” The stallion slowly began, unsure how to respond.
“Or inside my species. You know? Just, whatever....Has anyone ever told you how tall you are?” The mare added a moment later.
“...-yup?”
A few seconds of awkward silence later, Sea Breeze's ear gave a visible twitch towards the door, signaling the moment she re-assumed standing a very professional seeming posture.
Before Big Mac could give a voice to any of his unanswered questions the door to the library swung back open to reveal Star Shade once more.
Taking in the sight of the bewildered Big Mac and the almost too well-behaved Sea Breeze quickly lead to the male bat-pony narrowing his gaze a bit and pursing his lips.
Sea Breeze was briefly tempted to start whistling in a stereo-typically inconspicuous manner, but quashed the urge before she could give herself away.
“Right...” Star Shade muttered, before turning back towards the big farmpony, all business once more “If you will come with me Mr. Macintosh, I will show you in to your sister.”
Resisting the urge to edge away from the curious mare sending him the gooey-eyes, Big Mac gave a quick nod before cantering after his fellow stallion “Eeeyup.”
Turning her attention back to the street, as the doors closed behind the two stallions, Sea Breeze couldn't help but smile to herself.
Though it was a only a few seconds later that a thought occurred to the mare.
“Hmm...hope his sister isn't the protective-type.”
Inside the Golden Oaks Library...
“Alright, now that's the route we'll be taking if we have to pass through the market. Which hopefully won't come up, but if we consider the number of ponies that move through there at peak business hours, it is statistically reasonable to expect a changeling or two to be there.” Twilight explained to her mostly attentive friends, even as she used her magic to manipulate her ink quill over the map spread out over the table they were all examining.
“Uh-huh...Twi? How many more o' these routes do ya got planned out?” AJ chimed in, letting her gaze wander over the numerous inklines winding across the map of their town.
“Hm? Oh. Uhm, let's see...where are we on the checklist, Spike?” The young princess asked of her assistant, not picking up on the mild mental exhaustion overtaking her friends.
“Wha?” Spike blurted out around the mouthful of nachos that he'd been sneaking into while everyone was distracted. Quickly swallowing down the cheesy-snack, he quickly pulled out the checklist he was supposed to be running down “Uh, right...which one did we just do, Twilight?”
The purple alicorn had to let out a light sigh at that “Spike, you're supposed to be checking these off as we go through them.”
“With what?” The little drake replied in a clearly confused tone.
Blinking at this seemingly odd question, Twilight gave a quick shake of her head “With wha- Check marks, Spike. You know that. You check things off of a list with check marks.”
“Well, yeah. But how am I supposed to do that when you're using our last quill for your maps?” Spike easily countered.
“The last- Spike! How can this be our last ink quill? Didn't you say you were going to be ordering more?” The young princess asked, utterly thrown by this turn of events.
To her mild annoyance, Spike couldn't help but roll his eyes before responding “That was last night, Twilight.”
Twilight blinked several times at this, before bringing a hoof to her chin, suddenly overcome by embarrassment “Oh, right...”
“Yeah, we went through like four of them when we were doing the maps. And then we had to do all those checklists.” Spike helpfully reminded.
Twilight nodded again “Right. Sorry about that, Spike. Uhm, just- I guess next time you go out make sure to place an order for another case.”
“No problem. We need to pick up some groceries soon anyway, what with Pinkie throwing a party and everything.” The young dragon easily replied, used to Twilight letting these kinds of things slip her mind.
Especially after an all-nighter.
Frowning once more, Twilight floated her last remaining feather quill closer, she couldn't help but note how frayed and ragged the the tip was starting to become “I suppose we'll just have to ration this last one to see us through everything else...”
“And just how much is left to go through, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash pointedly asked.
Sparing a glance for her friend, the purple princess sent an inquiring look back towards Spike “Uhm, where were we on the checklist, Spike?”
“Uhhhh, you just finished up with the market, right? That just leaves...Applejack's farm, the mayor's office, the train station, the Everfree Forest-...” Spike started trailing off, as he made his was further down the list.
Applejack ended up raising a hoof to forestall Spike from listing off anymore items “Hold on a sec. Twi. Jus' what would any changelings be doin' in the Everfree Forest?”
“Hm? Oh, well, like I mentioned earlier-” Twilight began.
Only to be interrupted by the sound of the door to the library opening, something which quickly grabbed everypony's attention, as everypony wondered if this signaled the arrival of a changeling.
It'd be a bit rude to say that they were disappointed to see Star Shade standing there, somepony that most of them were fairly sure was not a changeling.
“I beg your pardon, Princess Twilight, but there is somepony here to meet with Lady Applejack.” The stallion formally relayed.
“Applejack?” Twilight blurted, a bit surprised by that.
“Don't you mean Lady Applejack, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked around her own snickers, very much amused by the insistently polite and formal manner the bat-pony referred to the farmpony. The annoyed look being sent her way did little to deter the airborne pegasus, to no one's surprise.
But the light telekinetic-pinch, by way of Rarity's magic, put an end to Rainbow Dash's antics and even elicited a surprised yelp from her.
Applejack gave a quick nod to the fashionista in quiet thanks, before focusing back upon the member of the Night Guard “So, you're sayin' there's someone to see me, that right? Think ya can tell me jus' who it is?”
“A pony by the name of Big Macintosh, who is claiming to be your brother, is waiting just outside.” Star Shade calmly relayed, not paying much mind to the antics between the group of friends.
“Oh, shoot! Why didn' ya just say so?”
“I did.”
AJ admittedly had to concede that point “Uh, right....So what exactly is it that Big Mac is needin'?”
“I'm afraid I haven't yet asked, Lady Applejack.” Star Shade explained, even as Rainbow Dash struggled to contain a snort of a laugh at the 'Lady' part “Given today's proceedings it seemed prudent to check on whether or not you actually had a brother by that name.”
“Huh? Oh, right. Cause o' the changelings.”
“Shall I bring him in?”
Give a moment of pause at the question, Applejack turned to Twilight “Uh, that alright with you, Sugarcube?”
“Hm?” The young princess glanced up, having been scrutinizing her last quill a bit too intently. The moment Twilight's thoughts managed to catch up with the question was quite apparent, as she refocused back upon her farmpony friend “Oh, right! Uhm, sure. We haven't really started yet, and I think I might need to adjust some parts of my presentation to account for-...I think we could all use a short break.”
“Shall I take that as an order to escort the Lady Applejack's brother inside, Princess Twilight?” Star Shade reiterated for the young alicorn, while pointedly ignoring Rainbow Dash's continued snickering at his formal manner.
Taking a moment to consider just what he was asking of her, Twilight gave a quick nod “Uhm, yes. Yes, please. If you wouldn't mind.”
The bat-pony gave a light bow at this, before turning and making his way back out the door, presumably to retrieve the Apple stallion.
“Thanks, Twi. Ah'll try not to go holdin' up things too much.” AJ replied with a tip of her hat.
Twilight replied with a smile and a shake of her head for her friend “It really isn't any trouble, AJ.”
“All the same, Sugarcube. And Ah'll check and see if perhaps Big Mac brought any quills with him.” The Earth pony offered.
“I'd appreciate it. And it doesn't have to be quills. Really, any sort of writing implements would help.”
“Sure thing.” Applejack replied with a nod, before turning her attention to the doorway where her brother was being let in. Giving a nod of thanks to Star Shade, as she was trotting over to the waiting Big Mac “Now jus' what's the problem tha's got you comin' all the way down here, big brother?”
Letting Applejack and Big Mac step to one side to discuss whatever issue it was that needed discussing, Star Shade turned back towards Twilight “Is there anything else, Princess Twilight?”
“Ink quills.” Spike supplied before Twilight could answer, as he ambled past the bat-pony having returned to the task of putting out party foods. Sparing a glance for the little drake, Star Shade sent a questioning glance towards the alicorn.
Giving a slightly apologetic smile for the bat-pony, Twilight gave a nod of agreement “If it's not too much trouble...?”
“Not at all.” Star Shade quickly affirmed.
Twilight smile turned a bit radiant, relieved as she was that her quill shortage could be facing a swift end “Great. If you can go just down the street, there's a Quills and Sofas shop.”
The bat-pony gave a tilt of his head at the idea of a shop specializing in writing implements and lounging furniture, but otherwise held his silence.
Which was fine, as Twilight didn't notice the stallion's bemusement “Mr. Davenport there knows us, but if you'd like I can have Spike-”
“Uh, Twilight? I still got those little quiches waiting in the oven.” Spike interjected. After a few moments of thought, he pulled the checklist from earlier back out “Also, I still got this thing.”
“There is no need to burden Mr. Spike, Princess. I'm sure there won't be any problems.” Star Shade assured before Twilight could ponder the issue anymore.
“Oh. Well, thank you again.” Twilight reiterated, as the bat-pony made his way back out.
“You're quite welcome, Princess Twilight.” Star Shade replied, as the door closed behind him.
Turning back towards the rest of her friends, Twilight didn't mind letting her relief show through “Well, I guess that little quill shortage disaster has been- Rainbow Dash! What are you doing?!”
Looking up in confusion from where she was hovering over the map, Rainbow Dash had to take a moment to swallow down a mouthful of cheesy-nachos before responding “What?”
Her hooves clopping on the floor, as she ran back over to the table holding all of her materials, Twilight quickly tried to ascertain the amount of damage she might be dealing with “You're dripping cheese everywhere, Dash!”
Indeed, there were now several very large globs of cheesy sauce occupying the Apple family farm and the outskirts of the Everfree forest. At least, according to the map there were.
“Oh...” Rainbow Dash cleverly replied, as she took in her unintentional contributions to the map. Setting aside the platter she was eating from, the pegasus quickly retrieved several cheese-free nachos, before returning to the map “Don't worry, Twilight. I got this.”
“What are you-”
As if to answer the very question the young alicorn was about to pose, Rainbow Dash leaned in with her nachos and began scooping the offending mess onto her chips. After only a few seconds of sliding and maneuvering, the polychromatic pegasus held up her now cheese-covered nachos for everypony to behold.
“See? Problem solved.” RD noted, before happily flipping the snack into her mouth.
“Not to be too harsh a critic, darling...” Rarity calmly interjected, as she pointedly let her gaze wander over the sections of the map that now had cheese haphazardly scraped across them. Which was now only one of several issues, as several spots now featured smudged ink, bits of the map torn up, and a number of broken nacho remnants.
“Huh?” Rainbow Dash replied before taking a closer look at how her solution has turned out. “Guess I'm gonna need a few more nachos...”
Twilight, unable to truly be upset with her friend, ended up sagging forward and resting her head on a clean portion of the table “Oh, I spent all night working on that map...”
“Hold on, hold on! I got this!” Rainbow Dash quickly reassured, as she quickly landed on the table and leaned over the biggest problem spots she had created. A few seconds of rushed work and the pegasus took back to the air “There! Good as new!”
“Don't worry about it, Dash. It probably doesn't-...” Twilight started to say, before drawing to an abrupt halt, having just spotted what her friend had done “...Uhm, Rainbow Dash? What is that?”
“What's it look like, Twi?” The pegasus easily countered.
“...It kind of looks like a changeling drawn out of nacho cheese.”
There was, in fact, a pile of melted cheese now shaped to crudely resemble a changeling on the remains of the map.
“I like the little smile you gave him, Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy helpfully volunteered.
“Yeah, see? Didn't even need any quills.” The pegasus noted, even as she scraped some of the nacho cheese from her hoof.
Both Rarity and Twilight were sporting the same bewildered expression at this artistic/culinary creation. It was the purple princess that managed to respond first, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof “Rainbow Dash, that-...that certainly is one way to fix things. I guess.”
“Heh, yeah. I bet if we brought some more of those nachos over here, you won't even need anymore quills to finish your thing.” Rainbow Dash proudly proclaimed.
“Princess Twilight?”
Snapping her attention towards the voice revealed Star Shade waiting by the door, another stallion at his side. Twilight quickly recognized this second stallion as the proprietor of Sofas and Quills by his brown coat and slicked back mane and started cantering over.
“Mr. Davenport! Your timing is perfect!” Twilight exclaimed, relieved that her precisely drawn out maps and charts would be escaping their messy fate.
“It is?” The stallion slowly replied, too busy letting his gaze wander across the party decorations and snacks that had been laid out.
“Well, maybe not perfect, but it's still quite exceptional.” Twilight conceded after a moment of thought. Shaking her head, she soon focused upon the matter-at-hoof “Anyway, I really appreciate that you came as quickly as you did.”
“I do have my orders.” Davenport pointed out.
“Oh. Are there a lot of ponies waiting on their orders? I didn't mean to take you from your store.” Twilight was quick to apologize. She was, admittedly, a bit surprised that he was so busy today.
The brown-coated stallion openly stared at the young princess for a few moments, letting one of his eyebrows climb upward as he did so.
Sensing some awkwardness growing between the two of them, Twilight's smile grew a bit strained “So...I'm guessing you'll want to be getting back to your store...I'd really appreciate some quills, if you can spare them...”
“I'm afraid I didn't bring any quills with me, Princess Twilight.” Davenport stoically replied.
Furrowing her brow and frowning with confusion, Twilight gave a tilt of her head at that “Are you out of quills too? Is there a shortage of some sort?”
Star Shade, reluctant to let this continue on any further, cleared his throat to garner the purple alicorn's attention “Princess Twilight. I think you're misunderstanding the situation.”
“How so?”
Rarity took this moment to canter up alongside the young princess “Twilight, dear, I think what he is trying to say is...this is the individual we're supposed to be meeting today.”
“You mean...?” Twilight could almost feel her mind kicking into proper working order, processing the facts laid out before her, as she turned her attention back towards Davenport.
The stallion took in a deep breath, before slowly letting it out “My Queen mentioned that you would probably have some questions for me...”
“Oh.”
"...and she mentioned that there would likely be a list?"