Visiting Hours

by Bud Grazer

Chapter 4 - Just Another Day (1/2)

Hoofsteps echoed on the marble steps of the southernmost tower in the royal castle, coming from Princess Celestia herself as she made her way to the balcony. As she often did, she wondered idly as to how it must have felt to wake up after sunrise… The last time she had not raised the Sun by herself was so far away that she could barely remember it. She recalled catching a nasty flu three or four centuries earlier that had her bedridden for a few days... The ponies had started to panic when the night had gone on longer than usual, before enough unicorns had been gathered to move the Moon and the Sun in her stead…

“Maybe I could ask Luna to replace me for a while,” she mused. “Maybe until the Summer Sun celebration; that would give me a few weeks... I did take over her job for a thousand years, after all. I think she owes me that much...”

Those lazy thoughts quickly vanished when the white alicorn reached the balcony and saw the princess of the night facing the Moon. Luna’s ears twitched at the sound of Celestia’s golden-shod hooves on the tiles and she turned around to greet her older sister.

The expression on the princess of the night’s face would have seemed neutral or even cold to most ponies, but Celestia knew her sister enough to realize that she almost never displayed her emotions on her face. Except in the most extreme circumstances, she would remain unreadable… Unreadable to anypony except Celestia, of course. The princess of the day had no trouble seeing the hint of a smile on her young sister’s lips and the softer than usual look in her eyes.

“Good morning, sister. Did you sleep well?”

“Good morning, Luna.” Celestia gave her a radiant smile. “The night was peaceful, though a bit short.”

“You always complain about nights being too short at this season…”

“You always complain about nights being too long in winter…”

Luna gave a cute little cough. “Well… Do you still refuse to give up all this season business altogether?”

A playful smile on her lips, Celestia rolled her eyes. “You know that, as much as ponies control nature, there are still some rules we need to follow.”

“We could turn Equestria into a tropical country if we timed ourselves properly.”

“Let’s keep the days to twenty-four hours… Speaking of which, I believe dawn is due in a minute.”

Luna gave a small nod, turned towards the sky and spread her wings while a blue haze appeared around her horn. Immediately, the Moon drifted down, then disappeared, turning the sky pitch black, only peppered with the bleak light of the twinkling stars. The magic disappeared from Luna’s horn and the alicorn turned towards her sister, waiting for her to do her part.

Celestia took the same pose, a golden cloud wrapping around her horn as she connected with the Sun. Right on schedule, it lifted up above Equestria, bringing it the light and heat necessary to prepare another beautiful day of late spring.

The two princesses basked in the warmth of the morning Sun’s gentle rays for a while, Celestia with a broad smile, Luna with a subtle one.

“This never gets old,” the white alicorn said with a tone echoing both serenity and amazement.

“Indeed… Unlike you.”

Celestia stared at her sister with a frown, while Luna still kept her stern face… until she brought a hoof to her lips, giggling behind it as she saw her older sister’s expression. Said sister simply rolled her eyes and sighed, but with the traces of a grin appearing on her lips…

---

Only a short distance away, Canterlot Central Prison was standing, as it always had been, a large square of plain stone that would have looked inconspicuous in any other city. In Canterlot, it stood apart next to the intricate architecture of even the most modest homes and next to the palace, it seemed to be a mistake, a building that was designed for another town and dropped in the capital after some mix-up in the planning…

There was no mistake, though: the prison’s only fault was to be designed for functionality in a city where looks were the most important aspect of life. But, while Canterlot’s nobility, its bourgeoisie and everypony hoping to be somepony could lift their noses up and snort in disgust at the ugly construction, they could do so safely, never having to fear that one of its inmates would leave without being allowed to.

The efficiency of the sturdy walls were not in question, but before the prison was first opened fifty years earlier, the entire upper class of Canterlot had stopped its bickering and backstabbing to agree on something, an event so rare that only princess Celestia could hope to see more than once in a lifetime... They all agreed that only “inoffensive” criminals should be held inside, just to be safe… As a result, Canterlot Central Prison still held a perfect record, never once losing hold of an inmate.

For most of these ponies, the prison was only a short break in their lives. An accident. A pony became too greedy, made a mistake and received his sentence. Two months. Three months. Six months. Sometimes a year, rarely more than two… When they came out, it was like a particularly bad vacation or a terrible job assignment. They picked up what was left of their lives and tried to piece together what had fallen apart. For the luckiest ones, it was almost as if nothing had happened.

For Red Currant, it was… weird.

The early hours of the day always gave him mixed feelings. On one hoof, it was one of the rare times when the entire prison was quiet and nothing was asked of him; until the beginning of the day’s schedule, he could just lie in his bed and think. On the other hoof, he was left alone with his thoughts and he had no choice but to be honest with himself. There was no way to lie or cheat his own mind, no way to silence it or run away.

As the Sun slowly rose, Red was reminded once more just of how much prison had come to define his life. He knew he had about five minutes before the guards came to wake the prisoners up. Every morning for the last year or so, he had woken up on his own, five minutes before the official time and no matter how much he tried, he could not go back to sleep. Thus, Red Currant had five minutes to himself, which he usually spent lying on his back, his eyes looking at the tiny square of sky they could see through the barred window. There was a cloud in his line of sight this morning.

The pegasus wondered how long he hadn’t been able to enjoy something as basic as lounging on a fluffy cloud… “Four years, nine months and… five days. No, that’s how long I’ve been here, but I was locked up before the trial, so…” He tried to remember how long the official procedures had lasted, but couldn’t get a precise count this time. “Five years, at least…” He sighed as his wings twitched instinctively.

He used to feel like a prisoner in his former life. Because of what he did and who he did it with, Red did not have that much freedom. When the boss asked for something, it was in everypony’s best interest that he got it. Fast, if possible… Red had become an errand colt, barely able to do anything he wanted to.

But now that he had lost all but the most basic freedoms, he had gained a great appreciation of them. Whatever mess he had gotten into before, he could always fly off and rest on a cloud once in a while. Go down to a bar and have a drink. Buy a paper and read the comics. Spend time with his wife…

With an angry grunt, Red lifted a hoof and knocked it on the side of his head, strong enough to jostle his mind away from the depressing thoughts. If he started to think like this, his whole day was going to get even more depressing than usual. Throwing the sheets away, he rolled off his bed and landed on the ground with four simultaneous “clops”, then headed for what passed as the bathroom in his current home.

Red Currant’s cell, like every other one in the building, had only the necessities: aside from his bed, there were a toilet and a sink in one corner, and a few shelves to hold the things he was allowed to keep. Namely, a brush for his feathers, another one for his hair, a few comic books and a rather impressive stack of Pent Horse magazines that, to be honest, he did not read for the articles. As for the things that he wasn’t allowed to keep, the stallion had prepared several hiding places in his cell.

Before he came to prison, most of Red’s illegal activities had been buying, transporting and selling things that were not supposed to be bought, transported or sold. From cheap drugs to fake money to foreign luxuries that never passed between the hooves of a customs officer, he had carried almost anything that had monetary value and even though the prison guards were actually trained to find contraband, they didn’t really stand much chance against a seasoned smuggler like him.

He had perfected a system in his hiding that, so far, had succeeded in keeping safe what he really wanted to keep safe. The least valuable items were roughly hidden: one of the bricks in the wall had been pulled out and broken in half, turning it into a sort of improvised cupboard. He could have made it difficult to spot, but that particular one was supposed to be found by the guards, which was why he hung a poster of Spitfire in front of it, making it the most unimaginative hideout possible. So far, it had done its job of convincing the prison staff that Red was terrible at hiding his loot.

Of course, he did not rely simply on that impression: sooner or later, somepony would figure it out and make a more thorough search of his cell. In that case, they would most likely notice the place where his mattress had been opened up and sewn closed again… Inside, they would find some cigarettes or salt-licks, depending on his stock.

The trail did not stop there, though. Some guards might be satisfied, thinking that they had found his main hoard, but smarter ones would realize that sewing the mattress obviously required sewing materials… A sufficiently thorough search would let them stumble upon the “main” cache. The bed frame itself had been modified: the surface where the mattress lied was just a little higher than in the other beds, a difference almost impossible to notice but that left a lot of room to store whatever Red needed to in the improvised secret drawer. A testament to what could be accomplished by a pony with a creative mind and lots of free time, this one was not meant to be found easily, to give the impression that there was nothing else to be found. It also held all the tools that the guards could expect to find, leaving them no reason to suspect that there was another cache.

The pegasus splashed some water on his face to finish waking himself up and looked in the mirror hung above his sink. He couldn’t help but smirk as he thought of the hole in the wall, perfectly hidden behind his reflection. His personal wall-safe that could only be found by taking the mirror off the wall. The key, in the form of a screwdriver, was perfectly safe inside the water tank of his toilet, carefully worked into the mechanism to look like a part of it and basically impossible to find, unless one knew exactly where to look. He used this ultimate cache for the things that could get him in real trouble, although at the time, it only contained a bottle of plum brandy.

A horn blared through the cell block, meant to wake the sleeping prisoners, but only jerking Red out of his thoughts. The day’s routine started by a basic cleanup of his cell: mostly making his bed and tidying up whatever was out of place. Just like every other morning, it left him with some time to kill. Just like every other morning, he did a few stretches and a couple dozen of wing push-ups. He finished just before the morning’s roll call began and took his place behind the door.

The guards shouted their usual commands, every cell’s door opened and every cell’s occupant stepped outside, standing still. Two guards then passed between the prisoners, one of them holding a clipboard and ticking names as the other confirmed that every inmate was there. Unsurprisingly, no one was missing and the group of prisoners were instructed to move. In one big, almost orderly file, they headed for the showers.

As usual, the guards oversaw the prisoners with bored looks, the weirdness of being paid to watch fifty stallions cleaning themselves having long turned into a new sense of normalcy. Only a few new faces, who must have been in for less than a few days, still looked uncomfortable.

Breakfast came and went, with the usual bland mush they were given every day. After that, the prisoners were gathered and taken to the workshops where they would labor for the rest of the morning. Red barely saw time passing, the routine devouring it like a monster made of pure boredom. His hooves followed the path they knew, while his mind wandered.

In his daydreams, he tried to picture what Ponyville looked like, based on what he had heard from his family and the occasional inmate who knew the little town…

---

Ponyville was waking up to a beautiful morning; the sun was already a good way above the horizon as the longest days of the year were approaching. The blue skies seemed to spread joy in every creature of the small city: on the ground, ponies trotted on their way to work or whatever errand they had to run, dogs chased each other playfully, merchants were smiling as they were getting ready to open their store… In the sky, pegasi flew here and there, some of them moving clouds around to prepare the day’s weather, and birds were chirping melodies as beautiful as they were whimsical.

One purple pony in particular was trotting down the street with a smile on her lips and skip in her step. Between the sun rays warming her back at the perfect temperature, the fragrant smell of the season’s many flowers and the friendly inhabitants waving at her, being in a bad mood would have been a real exploit. She even found herself singing a tune without even realizing it…

“Morning in Ponyville shimmers
Morning in Ponyville shines!
And I know for absolute certain…”

Twilight Sparkle paused and gave a wary look around her.

“I’m… almost completely certain,” she said to herself, “that everything is going to be fine.”

Although her rational mind knew better than to believe in silly superstitions and that “jinxing” anything was possible, she had learned the hard way that events could take a turn for the worse without warning.

The mare gave her still “fresh” wings a look and shook her head. “No reason to be pessimistic,” she told herself. “It’s a beautiful day and I’ll enjoy it as much as possible!” With a renewed good mood and humming on her way, she trotted towards the town hall.

The Ponyville tower struck eight o’clock the moment her hoof reached the last step leading to the front door. The pleasure of a schedule being followed by the second added to her smile while she grabbed the handle in her magic and pulled.

Her royal highness princess Twilight Sparkle stood in front of the door, blinking as she was trying to understand the perplexing puzzled offered to her. She pulled on the handle again, only to come to the logical conclusion that the door was not opening, which in turn told her that it was locked. What she could not figure out was why the door was locked.

“Is today a holiday?” she wondered. “The blossom festival was a few weeks ago and there aren’t any other holidays before the Summer Sun Celebration… Unless princess Celestia instated a new holiday? No… I would have been informed of that.”

She suddenly gasped. “Unless the message was lost! What if Spike forgot to tell me? Or if he spilled tea on the scroll again and didn’t tell me because he thought I would be mad at him?

“No! Calm down, Twilight…” She took a deep breath. “I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation. Why would the princess even create a new holiday? There hasn’t been any important event recently…

“Except from my coronation. Oh no! Princess Celestia made a holiday for me and I don’t even know! Ponies must be expecting me for the celebration. Where is it? In Canterlot? I don’t even know where to go. This is terrible!” Twilight’s eyes widened so much they looked like they were about to pop out of her head. “What if I’m supposed to make a speech? I haven’t prepared anything!

“This is bad. Real bad… My first official duties as a princess and I’m not even going to show up! Princess Celestia is going to be furious. She’ll take my crown away… No, that won’t be enough... After such an affront, I’ll be banished from Equestria!

“I need to go home and pack my bags… Where am I even going to be exiled to? I hope it’s not Zebrica, I’ll never get used to the heat…”

Somepony loudly clearing their throat thankfully interrupted the princess’s trainwreck of thought. After blinking few times, Twilight eventually realized that the mayor was standing next to her.

“Is everything alright, your highness?” Mayor Mare gave Twilight a curious look. “You seem nervous.”

“Nervous? Uh… Wait!” She shook her head. “Why are you here? Were you looking for me?”

“Looking for you? No...” the mare answered slowly. “I was just on my way to open up the town hall…”

“Oh! Right! Of course… Please do.” Twilight stood still with a very strained grin on her face. The mayor stared at her for a moment, until the princess realized that she was in the way and stepped aside, chuckling awkwardly. While Mayor Mare unlocked the door, Twilight gave a glance at the other ponies behind her. Two were the mayor’s assistants and looked simply bored, waiting for their boss to let them in. Another was an earth pony mare that Twilight did not know, a pony with a pristine white coat of fur that made her bright red mane stand out all the more. She giggled a little as her blue eyes caught Twilight’s own, making the young alicorn blush.

Twilight took a deep breath and put a hoof to her chest, then exhaled while extending her leg, symbolically pushing her worries away. After internally repeating to herself to relax, she managed to follow her own advice and a few seconds later, a much calmer princess walked into the town hall.

The interior of the building was rather simply laid out: the first floor was a single, wide room that could sometime be used for special occasions, but otherwise served as the working space for Ponyville’s admittedly modest bureaucracy. A desk near the entrance was staffed by a young mare, taking care of the simple requests or directing ponies towards one of the four other desks spread near the back of the large room. The mayor herself had her private office on the first floor, but on that day, Twilight Sparkle had no reason to visit her in person, since she only needed some simple paperwork processed by the town’s administration and sent to Canterlot. Provided everything went according to schedule, she would have the detailed files about Scootaloo’s father by the end of the week.

As expected, Twilight was sent to a desk after explaining her request to the mare at the entrance. What was not expected, though, was that as she reached her goal, she found nopony waiting for her there. The princess looked around, seeing no one coming towards her and sat down, giving the desk a closer look.

Somehow, it seemed to embody the definition of “plain” entirely. The wood was neither luxurious or cheap. It showed a little wear, but couldn’t have been more than a few years old… On its surface, some papers were stacked on one side, various quills, pens and pencils were waiting at the other end, next to an assortment of stamps and colorful forms. Following some unwritten rule of office personalization, a framed picture was standing next to a plaque where Twilight could read the name of Scroll Call.

The only thing missing from this display of anonymous bureaucracy was the bureaucrat himself… Twilight Sparkle frowned as she was left alone and wondering where that employee might be.

A few minutes later, an earth pony stallion made his way towards the desk. The princess followed him with her eyes as he walked nonchalantly, a paper bag held in his mouth. Like his desk, the pony was plain: a dull brown coat of fur and a gray mane… even his cutie mark was ordinary looking, a simple scroll rolled up on his flank. The stallion’s expression read like a prime example of what fatalism could do to a pony. There seemed to be no life in his brown eyes, making him look like a machine as he trudged towards his desk. If that pony had cared about his job at some point, it was probably in a previous life…

Trying to remain positive, Twilight smiled warmly at him.

“Good morning,” she said with a cheerful tone. “I was starting to wonder if I had the right desk.”

The stallion’s eyes switched from apathetic to slightly annoyed. “Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled around the bag in his mouth. “I’m late, I know.”

He finally let himself fall to his haunches in his seat and dropped down the paper bag before pulling a coffee cup out of it. The first thing he did was take a long and loud sip, then quickly shuffled through the “in” pile of papers on his desk. This took a couple of minutes, during which he ignored princess Twilight royally.

Finally, Scroll Call deigned to give her some attention. After slurping on his coffee again, he laid his eyes on her and asked what he could do for her.

“Just a little thing,” Twilight said, levitating an envelope in front of him. “I need a copy of a pony’s criminal file.”

The stallion sipped loudly. “This kind of information is the responsibility of the ministry of justice,” he said in a droning voice. “You should ask them, really.”

“Oh yes, I know that, but their office is in Canterlot and I was hoping to save the trip.”

“Then send them a letter.” He punctuated his answer with yet another noisy slurp.

“They don’t give that kind of information with a simple letter. The ministry needs my demand to be verified and transferred by your services…”

The stallion stared at her, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t know… I’ve never heard of that kind of procedure…” Twilight’s eye twitched at the noise of his coffee being vacuumed into his mouth.

“Excuse me, could you please stop doing that?”

“Doing what?” *sluuuurp*

“That. It’s really annoying.”

Scroll Call narrowed his eyes a little, but still put his cup down.

“Thank you,” Twilight said with a strained smile. “Now, you just need to fill the proper form, then certify the forms I brought and send the whole file to the ministry.”

“Like I said, I’ve never heard of that procedure. I’m not sure I can do anything for you.”

“Oh…” Twilight blinked a few times. “I’m pretty sure you do… I mean, it’s just a stamp and some basic paperwork, nothing more.”

“I don’t know…”

“I think anypony working here could do it, actually… You do work here, do you?”

“I’ve been working here for the last twelve years,” he said calmly. “And I’ve never heard of that procedure.”

Twilight had to pause and concentrate for a moment to make sure that she would neither groan, slap a hoof on her face or flip that stupid desk on that stupid stallion… After counting to ten internally, she spoke again.

“That’s quite alright,” she said with the kindest tone she could muster. “I have checked that procedure myself and I’d be happy to explain you what needs to be done.”

“You know,” Scroll Call said coldly, “I doubt I have the proper authority for this.”

“W– What? Why not?”

“Affairs involving any of the ministries are usually the mayor’s responsibilities. I’m just a simple employee…”

“B– But you don’t even know what you need to to!”

“Sorry, but this sounds like some serious business. I could lose my job over this…”

Twilight grinded her teeth together for a moment. Her dentist might not have approved of this, but it was still better than saying what she had in mind at the time… After taking a long and deep breath, she spoke again, her tone having difficulties remaining civil.

“Well then, could you please verify what I say, so that you could tell me if taking care of my request is or isn’t a part of your job? And trust me, it is.”

The stallion glared at her, the grabbed his cup of coffee and took a good, long sip before answering.

“I’ll have to check with my supervisor,” he said before standing up and leaving Twilight to fume in peace.

While she was trying to remember if a princess could single-hoofedly have a pony arrested on grounds of them being a pain in the rump, Twilight heard the clopping of hooves approaching her. She turned around and spotted the same white and red mare from earlier, looking amused again. With a little more time to study her face, Twilight saw the first signs of wrinkles around her eyes, placing her around her forties. Her green eyes, on the other hoof, still had a sort of youthful glint in them.

“Hello, your highness,” the mare said, giving her a quick but elegant bow. “I’m sorry to stick my muzzle into what isn’t my business, but it looks like you’re having trouble with that ‘devoted’ worker.”

Twilight sighed. “You can say that again… I expected this to be nothing but a formality, but I think I’ve just stumbled upon the most unhelpful pony in all of Equestria…”

“Ah yes, Scroll Call is one that is best left to do what he does best: nothing.” The mare’s voice sounded warm, but in a sort of motherly way that could become stern and commanding with just a subtle variation in her tone.

“I take it you’ve had to deal with him?”

“Unfortunately… I have spent quite a bit of time in Ponyville’s town hall recently, so I had the chance to get a good look at all the employees here.” Her eyes suddenly widened. “Where are my manners? I haven’t even introduced myself! My name is Mozzarella. Mozzarella di Bufala, if you want to get fancy.” The white mare bowed again, more formally this time.

“There’s no need for that,” Twilight quickly said, waving for her to get back up. “Please rise… I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

“Of course, Equestria’s newest princess,” Mozzarella said with a little smile. “Everypony knows who you are.”

Twilight blushed and averted her eyes for a moment, while the mare came closer and sat down next to the princess. In doing so, she gave her a quick view of her cutie mark: a scale, tipped to one side under the weight of a stack of bits.

“I have quite a lot of experience with obtuse bureaucrats, sadly. And I can tell you already that you won’t get anywhere with this one.”

“That may be a little harsh…” Twilight said. “Sure he’s clearly not enthusiastic, but I’m sure he’ll still do his job.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Mozzarella said calmly. “I know his kind. He’s the type of pony who hates his job but doesn’t care enough to find another one. He will do everything he can to avoid any actual work while still collecting his pay. And if he can get some petty revenge by annoying ponies he has to deal with, he’ll do it every time.”

Twilight was about to answer when she spotted Scroll Call coming back. The white mare left them alone while the stallion sit back down at his place;

“I couldn’t find my supervisor,” he said flatly. “Maybe you should try again later.”

The princess simply gaped at him for a moment. “Wh– What do you mean, you couldn’t find him? How big is the town hall? And who’s your supervisor, anyway?”

“The mayor’s assistant. And he wasn’t in his office.”

“Did you check the mayor’s office?”

“I can’t bother the mayor every time I have a small question. That’s why she has an assistant in the first place.”

“But… She… You… He… Argh!”

“My apologies. If there isn’t anything else I can help you with, I have some business to take care of…”

Twilight glared at him so hard her eyeballs came close to popping out of their sockets and hit him in the face. Keeping his usual, inexpressive expression, the stallion grabbed his cup and took another sip of coffee, louder than ever before and withstood her stare.

“Fine,” Twilight said through gritted teeth. “I’ll come back later, then.”

She left the desk and quickly found the white mare, still giggling at her misfortune.

“Did things go as I predicted?”

Twilight let out a long sigh and nodded.

“Dealing with the administration takes years of practice and an incredible amount of patience,” Mozzarella said. “I’ve been taking care of the paperwork for my family’s business for a long time now… And I can proudly say that I haven’t gone insane yet, which probably means that I’ve gotten quite good at this.” She chuckled a little, although Twilight didn’t feel like sharing her mirth.

“Maybe I can help you, princess… And I think you could do me a little favor in return. What do you say? Could we scratch each other’s back?”

Twilight hummed in thought before asking: “what do you have in mind?”

“First, what exactly are you trying to get done here?”

“I have a simple request for the ministry of justice. I was hoping to have it transferred from here rather than head directly to their offices in Canterlot…”

“Is that all?” Mozzarella said with a smile. “I can take care of that, no problem.” As Twilight only stared at her with a puzzled expression, the mare explained herself. “I made some useful contacts over the years. I know a pony who knows a pony who works at the ministry. I can have your request delivered to the right office by tomorrow evening.”

“Just like that?” Twilight asked, blinking a few times. “What about the procedure?”

“Don’t worry, your highness. I’m not suggesting anything illegal here. It’s actually much more efficient to follow the procedure. You just need to know how to speed it up a little.”

“I don’t know… That doesn’t sound exactly… proper.”

Mozzarella shrugged. “As you wish. You can always try your luck with Scroll Call again, although I can guarantee that you’ll spend much more time and effort for the exact same result…”

Twilight frowned… Working with the unhelpful stallion would indeed be frustrating and so time-consuming that she would have to reorganize her schedule. The alternative was to head directly for Canterlot, which was not part of her schedule either… Not to mention that she could still find herself with another bureaucrat as stubborn as this one at the ministry.

“I suppose I could take you on your offer,” Twilight eventually said. “What kind of favor did you need from me, though?”

The white mare smiled. “Oh, it’s almost nothing, I promise! Do you see that pony over there?”

Twilight followed the hoof pointing at a meek-looking pegasus mare working behind a desk that was almost buried under forms and files.

“I’ve been trying to set up a new branch for my family’s business here in Ponyville,” Mozzarella explained. “I have almost all of the formalities cleared out, but I need an authorization signed by this filly and… Well, let’s just say she has some trouble managing her time. That’s not really my problem, all I care about is that she takes care of my own case. Before she gets done with her backlog…”

Seeing the impressive pile of paper on the desk, Twilight could only nod in approval.

“My authorization would only take a few minutes to process, but she insists on taking care of all those older files before mine…”

“I understand,” Twilight said. “I could give her some pointers on how to organize herself and maintain a proper schedule…”

“That would be great,” the white mare said with a chuckle, “but I was hoping for a simpler and faster solution… I’ve observed that mare and she’s easily impressed by anyone with some authority. Every time the mayor asks something, she drops whatever she’s doing… Even some of her coworkers boss her around. And there isn’t much authority higher than your own, your highness…”

“Wait… Are you asking me to take advantage of my position?”

Mozzarella hummed. “You could see it like that, I suppose… I did say I wanted to exchange a favor, after all, but I don’t think I’m asking for much. Simply ask that mare to take care of my papers quickly. I’ll even leave you alone if she refuses.”

Twilight frowned a little, but eventually straightened herself and gave the mare a nod. “Very well. I’ll just ask, but I won’t try to use my title to get any preferential treatment.”

“I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” Mozzarella said gently. “Just being yourself should be enough here.”

Twilight nodded and walked towards the desk. The mare sitting behind it had a mint green coat and a long, pale pink mane. The most striking thing about her, though, was how frail she looked. Without being overly lean, she had a very light frame, even for a pegasus, so much that Twilight had to wonder if the small mare could fly against a strong breeze.

The fragile appearance was not improved by the shy look on her face, eyes stuck on her work as if she was afraid to look up and her pink locks doing a good job at concealing her face. She looked very much like an even more timid version of Fluttershy, if that was somehow possible…

“Good morning, miss…” Twilight gave a quick look at the engraved plaque on the desk. “Rosemary.”

The small mare lifted her eyes and immediately gasped. “Good morning, your highness.” She tried to bow so fast that she ended up driving her forehead into her desk with a loud “thud”.

“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?”

The mare staid still, her head stuck to the wood. A few seconds later, a high pitched voice answered. “I’m fine, your highness. Thank you for asking.”

Twilight extended a hoof, but paused before it reached the mare, afraid that even a gentle touch might hurt the little mare. She put the hood back on the ground and cleared her throat. “Please rise,” she said, her voice going up almost as a question at the end.

The mare lifted her head and rubbed the sore spot on her forehead while a few tears appeared at the corners of her pale blue eyes. “H– How can I help you, your highness?”

“Oh, right… I needed…” Twilight cleared her throat again and pointed at the mare calmly standing a few steps behind her. “Miss Mozzarella here has told me that she needed you to process some sort of authorization?”

“Oh… Uh… Maybe.” Rosemary gulped. “Let me check, your highness. This won’t take a minute.”

With both hooves and wings, the meek pony quickly shuffled through the pile of papers burying her desk. Fifty-two seconds later, she pulled out a form and gave it a quick look.

“Yes… Yes… That’s good… Everything seems to be in order,” she said with a little smile. “I only need a signature from the mayor. Please wait here, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” With another quick and more modest bow, Rosemary rushed to the stairs leading up.

“See?” Mozzarella said as she walked next to Twilight. “Being an alicorn is enough to impress most ponies.”

“I know,” Twilight said. “And it doesn’t feel right to take advantage of this. I should be an example for everypony, not some sort of tyrant.”

“I’d say you are still very, very far from tyranny, your highness. That pony is simply eager to please you.”

“Maybe,” Twilight answered quietly. There were still many things she had to learn about being a princess. Hopefully, she would not make too many mistakes along the way.

Roughly one minute later, the timid pegasus came back with the form in her mouth, stamped and sign in all the right places. “‘ere you ‘o,” she said, giving it to Twilight. The princess gave it back to Mozzarella, who accepted it with a grateful smile.

“Oh, just one thing,” Twilight said to Rosemary. “Was the mayor’s assistant with the mayor?”

“Uhm… Yes, he was… Did you need something from him?”

“No… Not anymore.”

The princess gave the timid office worker her thanks and walked away, followed by the business mare. Once they were near the town hall’s exit, she turned to Mozzarella and levitated the envelope containing her own paperwork to the white mare.

“Don’t worry, your highness.” She grabbed it and put it on her back with her own form. ‘I’ll bring you the response myself. This shouldn’t take more that few days…” Mozzarella leaned forward a little. “If it’s not indiscreet, may I ask what you need from the ministry of justice?”

“I’m trying to help a little filly,” Twilight simply answered.

The white mare gave her a curious look, but only shrugged.

“If I can ask a question of my own,” the princess said in turn, “what kind of business will you open in Ponyville?”

“Can’t you tell from my name?” Mozzarella laughed a little. “Cheese, of course. My family makes the best cheese in Equestria.”

“Really? I’ll make sure to try it, then.”

“That would be an honor, your highness.”

That being said, Mozzarella bowed and took her leave, leaving Twilight alone at the entrance of the town hall.

“Well, things didn’t go as expected,” she told herself, “but I guess they turned out fine in the end. I may even be able to keep my schedule as is.”

With a smile on her lips, Twilight Sparkle trotted out of the town hall, wondering what kind of stallion Scootaloo’s father would turn out to be.

“I don’t know that much about the prison system,” she thought. “Hmmm… I wonder what he would be doing right now...”

---

Red Currant grunted as he and another pegasus carried a large bale of cotton inside the workshop, flying towards a machine that was standing in a corner and patiently waiting to be fed the fibers it would then turn into thread. Once they were close enough, the two ponies let go, bobbing up in the air while their load touched the ground with a relatively quiet “pomf”. The two even made more noise when their hooves touched the ground a couple of seconds later.

Red stretched his wings a few times to try and keep them from getting sore after the strenuous flight. Meanwhile, his coworker, opened up the bundle of cotton and lazily began to shove it contents into the spinning machine’s loading slot. He was a young stallion going by the name of Rising Vision that always made Red thirsty for wine with his deep purple coat and dark red mane.

“I won’t miss that when I’m out,” the younger stallion said with a grunt.

“What? Flying heavy loads around?” Red joined him and grabbed a big bundle of cotton to get the machine stuffed with the fluff.

“That too,” Rising answered with a shrug, “but I meant this.” He vaguely motioned at the workshop. “Spinning, weaving, sewing… I swear they got us doing the most girly jobs just to demean us.”

“Could be worse,” Red said with a shrug. “At least we’re ony making is saddlebags. They could have us sewing fancy dresses, with lace and everything.”

“Don’t say that out loud, you’ll give them ideas! Seriously, though, what do the girls do in mares prisons? Breaking rocks and chopping trees?”

“Heh. I think my wife would pick breaking rocks over sewing any day.”

“Wow,” he said flatly. “She sounds lovely.”

“Well, why’d you think I’m here and not at home with her?” Rising gave Red a curious look for a moment, trying to figure out how much truth was in his words. He kept a straight face, but only for a few seconds before a snicker escaped him, making the other pegasus roll his eyes.

As the machine finally refused to accept any more of the cotton, they put every hook and string in place with practiced ease. Red Currant took off and hovered to the treadmill on the side, then took a few steps to start the mechanism. Rising, having verified that everything was working as it was supposed to, gave him the go ahead, making Red accelerate into a comfortable trot. In turn, the machine whirred and clicked as it neatly spun the mass of fluffy cotton into thread.

While the bobbins steadily became fatter, the wine-colored pegasus came to sit down next to Red. “So, when did you find the time to get married? Haven’t you been here for… well, forever?”

“Yeah... Been working and working,” the trotting stallion said quietly, making sure to keep his breathing steady. “And I still got so terribly long to go… It’s been ‘bout five years. I got married a couple years before that.”

“Huh… How’s that been working out?”

“Honestly? Better than I expected. I thought she’d have ditched me by then… Maybe it’s because of the kid.”

“You got a foal, too?”

“Sure. A lil’ flyer girl.”

“That’s cool.” Rising spent a few seconds to check that the machine was running smoothly before turning back to Red. “Fillies are way less trouble than colts. You don’t have to worry about them breaking their neck doing stupid stunts all the time.”

Red stared at him with an amused smirk.

“What?”

He only laughed as an answer.

---

“A– Are you sure this is a good idea?”

A white unicorn filly peeked over the edge of a wooden platform that her and her friends had just installed, at the top of one of the tall peaks near Ponyville. She quickly backtracked, whiter than before and wondering how that kind of height could even exist. Why would anypony need that much vertical space?

“You know,” she squeaked, “maybe we should forget about this. In fact, I think we’ve tried that already.”

“No.” Scootaloo walked up near Sweetie Belle, making the plank wobble uncomfortably and the poor unicorn’s stomach knot itself several times over. “We tried skydiving, zip-lining and hang-gliding.”

“And trampoline… ing,” Apple Bloom added from behind.

“Right,” the little pegasus said with a nod. “Anyways, this is bungee jumping. Totally different thing!”

“It doesn’t sound that different…” Sweetie Belle tentatively peeked over the edge again, only to find out with much disappointment that the ground was not closer than the previous time.

“Listen, Sweetie Belle, do you want your cutie mark or not?” Scootaloo stared straight into the little unicorn’s green eyes, making her nod meekly. “Then leave it up to us. Apple Bloom and I just got our cutie marks, who better than us to help you get yours?”

Both fillies exposed their flanks to support their point. The winged wheel on Scootaloo’s rump and the blueprint of an apple on Apple Bloom’s shone proudly as they caught the sun at just the right angle.

Sweetie Belle opened her mouth, trying to come up with a way to get out of plummeting to her doom but only mumbling weakly. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom gave a tug on the elastic ropes tied to the harnesses the two other crusaders were wrapped in.

“Don’t worry,” the young farm pony said. “I’ve checked all mah calculations twice. The rope won’t break, it’s just the right length and it’s tied up tighter than mah aunt Jonagold’s corset!”

“See?” Scootaloo beamed. “It’s completely safe!”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” Sweetie said quietly. “But why do our crusading always involve some form of falling?”

“Because it’s awesome!” the orange pegasus said, buzzing her wings and bouncing up and down. She zipped behind Sweetie and lodged the flat of her head against the unicorn’s rump, then pushed with hooves and wings, bringing her friend to the edge of the ramp. Sweetie Belle struggled, but the orange filly quickly put an end to their romp, grabbing the unicorn in her hooves and jumping away while shouting “bungeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

For the next few seconds, the air was filled with hysterical laughter from one filly and hysterical screaming from another as they saw the ground rushing at them with the clear intent of preparing a pair of pony pancakes.

Just as she could imagine herself being reshaped into a flat, white and purple disc, Sweetie Belle felt the rope tugging at her back, slowing her down relatively gently and bringing her to a halt only a short distance from the ground.

She sighed in relief, but the elastic rope was quick to remind her that in the specific context of bungee-jumping, what goes down must come up...

More screaming echoed against the peak, half-excited and half-terrified, during the next bounces. Once she realized that she was no longer moving, Sweetie Belle finally stopped screaming and opened her eyes to find Scootaloo and herself dangling in the air, their hooves a good way above the ground.

The white filly panted for breath a moment, before turning a furious glare towards the other filly swinging near her.

“Scootaloo! Are you crazy? I’ve never been so scared in my life!”

“I know!” the young pegasus shouted with a grin almost big enough to dislocate her jaw. “That was awesome!”

“What? No it wasn’t, you… you… kiwi!”

“Huh? Why a fruit–”

“It’s a bird,” Sweetie shouted at her. “A flightless bird!”

“H– Hey! You take that back!”

“Make me, you kiwi!”

With a cry of “stop calling me that,” Scootaloo tried to ram into Sweetie Belle, but missed and ended up tangling the both of them in the cords they were still attached to. Squirming and dangling like a strange worm at the end of its line, the two fillies only made their situation worse by trying to wrestle and bite each other. Soon, they looked more like a ball of yarn than anything else.

At the other end of the tangled ropes, Apple Bloom admired her work with an air of satisfaction.

“Ha! Ah knew that’d work. Strong ropes, tight knots, there’s not that much to bungee jumpin’ after all.” She nodded and gave herself a metaphorical pat on the back while her face cracked into a wide grin. There was even an actual cracking sound.

“Wait, what?”

The yellow filly’s eyes widened when she spotted the fracture in the plank, snaking across the wood. All she had time to do was say “oops” before it snapped, the ropes’ anchor going down like the tip of a whip.

The two fillies below, no longer supported, screamed once more before landing roughly on the grass. Thankfully, the piece of wood landed away from them, cracking into little more than splinters under the impact.

“Are y’all okay?”

Sweetie Belle quickly looked herself over. “I’m alright… Scootaloo broke my fall.”

“Ow…”

Author's Note:

Don't worry, Scootaloo's fine. Pegasi are extra tough, thanks to their hollow bones.

That makes sense, right ?

Comments

[Kenshinryuu]

Well, Red obviously shares more than his name with a certain character played by Morgan Freeman. I actually like the cotton spinning machine being powered by a pony using a treadmill, nice idea and a good way to help them keep fit by going for an easy jog.

Sadly, I know a person like Scroll Case. He's a total waste of resources and never helps out anyone at our work place. I'm almost positive that if he ever quits or is laid off there will be a massive party the next day.

[Jet Cannon]

pinkie.ponychan.net/chan/files/src/132821732243.jpg

[Magthere]

Why did my foreshadowing senses tingle when Mozzarella was around? Well hopefully all my suspicions will amount to is that she'll be running a cheese shop ala Monty Python.

As for Scroll Case there is an easy way to deal with someone in his position. Have numerous ponies come to him for legitimate reasons, he acts as himself, resulting in ponies filing complaints, these complaints pile up and Mayor Mare notices, resulting in his getting the pink slip or more direct supervision to ensure it doesn't impact her next election year.

[Bud Grazer]

4036530
That works with everything!

4035641 4036968
I think it's the first time ayone mentions Shawshank in the comments. Funny, since that movie is the whole reason that character is named "Red"

And about Scroll Call:
i1.wp.com/www.bugmartini.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/2013-09-11-My-Fellow-Co-Shirker.png?resize=1005%2C343

I'm sure he gets his job done, though. Probably by Rosemary, but still...

[Aurora Dimmet]

4036968

Did Red Currant's old boss use a cheese store or something as a front? The cheese sounds familiar in the context of this story.

[Eden]

Welcome to Italy, Twilight XDDDD

[Eden]

Welcome to Italy, Twilight XDDDD

[Shadow_Wolf]

So happy to see this story continuing!

[Bud Grazer]

4038266
I'm happy you're happy

[Indy]

I've been waiting for this story to update. However why do i get a strange feeling that Mozzarella and her family actually own a smuggling bussness and Red used to work for them.
Annnnnnyyyyywayyyyyy Loving the story!

[Bud Grazer]

4042711
Hey! If you want to accuse ponies, you'd better have some proof! Everything's good and legal here.

[TheGreatEater]

4042711
4042756

Proof? The proof is in the pudding. The Mafia Pudding.

[Bud Grazer]

5069301
I like pudding...
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130121225541/mlp/images/e/e8/Snails_Likes_Pudding_S01E06.png