* * *
Lilly's parents seemed a lot happier with her today. Grassy had doubled down on the belief that her daughter had turned a corner, and had trusted her with two things: The second of the two pies they'd baked, and today's food budget. Grassy had asked her daughter to go into town to pick up the daily shopping from a list, and to sell the spare pie for some extra money. Once all the things on her list were bought, she could spend whatever money was left on something for herself. Today was going to be a good day!
Lilly's saddlebags were heavy, she knew there was enough bits in the coin purse to pay for everything on her list; selling the pie was Grassy's way of giving Lilly some pocket money to spend in the market. At first, Lilly had been very tempted to do just that, she'd have loved to have a bit of pocket change to buy some treats from the market for herself, especially when one of the crafts stalls had some pretty baubles on it... Then, she saw her teacher, Old Chalky, walking back to his schoolhouse. She remembered the other day and she sighed sadly: She knew what she had to do.
She knocked on the wooden door of the schoolhouse. "Erm, Mister Chalk?" She called. "It's me, Little Steppes. Can I come in?" She heard the squeaking of the floorboards, and the schoolhouse door opened.
"Oh?" He looked down at the young mare. "...It's not a school day today."
"I know. You're not busy, are you?"
"Oh no, no." He smiled wearily. "I was just about to have a quick nap... Was there something you needed?"
"No. I just wanted to see you." She replied. "Can I come in?"
"Yes, of course." He stepped back, inviting the filly inside.
"I realized the other day that I never apologized for stealing from you." Lilly explained.
"Oh, the tartlets?" He smiled. "It's in the past... I'd rather not think about it... How, how are you feeling? After..."
"I'm fine." She said quickly. "Well, no, I'm not... I know everpony looks at me like I'm a thief, and I... I do enjoy the thrill of sneaking around and doing that sort of thing. But I never realized how much I was hurting everypony I cared about doing it... I really just wanted to say... I'm sorry I stole from you." She rummaged in her saddlebags, producing the berry pie. "...I made this today, and my mother told me I could sell it for some extra pocket money to spend in the market... I, I want you to have it. To make up for what I took."
His smile widened, he looked about ready to cry. "I..." He chuckled slightly. "...You're a good pony, Lilly." He carefully carried the pie to his desk, where he set it down, producing some cutlery from his desk. "I don't think I could finish all of this by myself though. Would you like to share it with me?"
Well, she was pretty hungry. She took a quart of the pie, and left the rest with Chalky. Knowing herself as she did, she'd probably have scoffed a lot more if left to her own devices. In a sense though, she felt good about the situation, as if she'd paid off a debt she'd owed her teacher since... Well, the other day.
She continued her walk about the village, noticing something going on at the library. She sped up to a quick trot to see what was happening. Apple Rose and her cousin were there, chatting with another two ponies near a small train of caravans and carts. One of these wagons was being packed with boxes of luggage being carried in the blue glow of a unicorn's magic.
"Hey!" Lilly called, approaching the Apples. "What's going on?"
"Oh, I dunno what's gotten' into Gleamin', but she said she was movin' on." Apple Rose answered.
"Moving on?!" Lilly blinked. "But, where? I need to go talk with her."
Apple Rose nodded, stepping aside as Lilly made her way inside. There, she saw the town librarian packing up her personal effects into some luggage cases.
"Oh, hello Lilly." She greeted, looking down confused at the filly after examining her. "The, the shoes?"
"What?" She looked down. "Oh that! It's okay! Princess Celestia saved me, and she put some magic on them so they belong to me now, not Nightmare Moon." She focused on why she was here in the first place. "But is it true? You're leaving?"
Sadly, the unicorn nodded. "I thought I'd escaped being followed by Nightmare Moon and my family's ties to her. But, apparently not. I've done a bit of soul searching since we last spoke... I'm tired of running and hiding. So... I'm going to do a bit of traveling for a while, then I'm going back to Canterlot."
"But... But you can't." Lilly stammered. "What about your family? What about Ponyville? And... You were one of the first ponies to try to help me last night, and... Well..." She look away. "I'm just grateful that you tried to help me... And I'm going to miss you."
Gleaming smiled weakly. "I'll miss you too, Little Steppes." She replied. "But, how about I write to you on my journeys? It would be nice to have a pen pal or another I can keep in contact with on my travels, and maybe one day, when you're old enough and I'm back in Canterlot, you can come and visit?"
Lilly smiled. "I've always wanted to go to Canterlot."
"No, not yet. For you, you're far too young for that." Gleaming shook her head, struggling to lift some of her luggage with her magic.
"Well... Could, could I help you pack, at least?"
Gleaming couldn't really stop her, so between them, the two mares continued to load the large, blue wagon with her effects, choice books and some other home comforts. It actually looked pretty cosy.
"Are you going to be okay, travelling by yourself?" Lilly asked the librarian, who smiled.
"I'm not travelling alone." She said, showing her the ponies Apple Rose had been talking to. "Lilly, meet Apple Seeds."
"Hello..."
"Howdy'." The older mare gave a polite nod. "I'm Apple Seeds, an' this is my son, Apple Cart. Apple Cart! This is 'Lil Steppes."
Apple Cart appeared a year or two older than Little Steppes, and was another earth pony, like most of the Apple Family: He was surprisingly burly for such a young colt.
"Hi..." Lilly smiled. He gave her a polite nod in return.
"'Afternoon." He greeted with a tip of the hat, before turning to face her properly, where he seemed to falter slightly. "I... I like your shoes. They really compliment your, err... Legs... I mean, socks! I mean, hooves? ...I mean, they look really nice." This caused the pair to blush and Apple Cart to look like he'd stuck his foot in something unpleasant in the presence of company, Apple Seeds to roll her eyes.
"Don't ya' take no notice of my son, Lil'un." She instructed. "He's got a heart'a gold, but he's as dumb as post. He don't mean no harm, but he really needs ta' think before he speaks."
He winced. "Sorry, 'ma."
"It's okay." She smiled. "I like your hat."
"Thank'ya kindly." He smiled. "It's jus' ta' keep the sun otta' my eyes, though. It ain't nuthin' special, like. Those shoes look like somethin' a pincess would wear, all sparklin' and pretty."
Lilly's blushing intensified. "Erm... Yeah... I guess so."
"Apple Cart, pack it in! Yer' embarrassin' the poor filly!"
"Oh, sorry." He apologized.
"Go on, you go an' help Gleamin' get her stuff in the wagon. Go on, 'get goin'!"
He nodded. "Alright, ma'. T'was nice ta' meet'ya, Lil' Steppes."
"Oh, please, just call me Lilly." She smiled.
"Will do." He smiled, and trotted off to go pick up some luggage. "Cya, Lilly."
"Bye." She sighed, watching him leave, before realizing her cheeks were still burning. "Do, do you guys ever come back to Ponyville?" She asked Apple Seeds.
"Oh sure we do!" She smiled. "There's Apple all over, but we always come find time to meet up for our family reunion. I'm sure we'll be back.
Soon, Little Steppes, Gleaming and the Apples had finished packing up the librarian's wagon. They took one last little break before deciding it was time to go. It was at this time where Lilly told Gleaming about the letters Princess Celestia had given her: There was one last thing she was curious about.
"Hmmm, so Celestia is saying that your shoes can do more than just change size?" Gleaming said as she folded up the letter and handed it back to Lilly. "That's... Interesting."
Lilly had a thought. "...Both Celestia and Nightmare Moon said that the shoes... They'd do what their owner wanted them to do. Originally I thought it just meant that Nightmare Moon had put a spell on them to control me. But then Celestia said it too! I don't understand what she meant by it, especially when she added that last part... I mean, they're shoes? Magic, but there isn't anything else to now, right?"
Gleaming wondered for a moment, sitting back and stirring a cup of tea with a small spoon. Lilly had finished her cup already, so the unicorn magicked over the teapot and poured her another cup. "Celestia is pretty clever. If she said it like that, I imagine she didn't say it for no reason... If all the shoes did was change shape to fit your feet, she wouldn't have needed to say that other part." She frowned. "I wish I hadn't packed up the biscuits already. I love a nice custard cream with my tea..." In mild fustration she tapped her spoon against the table to some tune in her head.
"Yeah..." Lilly nodded. "...Say, do you suppose it's safe to go back to Nightmare Moon's castle? I know where the princess hides all of her cheese and wine... Oh, shoot, I left the pieces of the wand there too! I think Celestia must have taken them with her..."
Gleaming sighed. "...Yeah. To Tartarus with that that evil witch! Nopony's going to blame you for stealing cheese from her."
"I suppose... But I did promise my father that I wouldn't steal anymore."
"Considering what Nightmare Moon did, and threatened to do, I think you'd be even." She shrugged. "I'll leave it up to you, I don't think I can put off flying the nest any longer. But I promise I'll keep writing to you, and I'll think about the secret of those shoes and Celestia's letter. If I discover anything, or have any more thoughts, you can expect that I'll get a letter your way about it."
Lilly nodded sadly, following the unicorn out and to her wagon, where she used her magic to hitch herself up to the cart. "Wait." Lilly trotted up to her. "Thank you for the tea... And... Well, everything else."
Gleaming smiled, giving the young mare a hug. "It's alright. You take care of yourself, Little Steppes. I'm sure we'll see one another again someday."
With that, the former-librarian hitched herself up to her wagon, nodding to the other travelers, and they began to set off on their way. She sat there the whole time, waving them off with Apple Rose and her cousin until they disappeared into the setting sun.
The End.