Chapter 48 -Murky Water-
-Murky Water-
Today, like most days in Spring, Sweet Apple Acres was warm and the morning passed into noon with the farm being a buzz with large, dark stallions hefting barrels of apples from the orchard to the barn. The iconic scene of apple emblazoned ponies running from tree to tree was now for family albums of the past.
The quiet rustling of pages was the only sound in the house. Applejack sat in their living room, hair in a ponytail with a pen in her mouth, she grumbled to herself. With each page she turned, she had to grasp a new business concept.
"Applejack! I'm going out with the girls!" Apple Bloom called, but paused in the open door as her sister motioned her forward. The book Applejack had been buried in was set on the coffee table and was replaced with a mug of coffee.
"Didya' finish your chores?"
"Yep."
"How?" Applejack said in surprise. "It's barely noon?"
"Well, I only had to wash the windows and sweep the house; before the big-uns' came, I would be busy til' late, now I sleep in and I'm out before noon." Apple Bloom tilted her hat back, its rim being worn from years upon her sister's head. "So can I go?"
"Ya gon' now, Apple Bloom." Granny Smith said as she entered the room. "Yer' sis and I got alot to talk about."
"See yall at dinner!" Apple Bloom called with a smile as she ran out of the door and down the road, jumping over barrels and running under stallions as they continued working, now used to the filly and her antics.
"She's getting older everyday." Applejack said, looking at her sister disappear over the hill before turning back to her studies.
"We all are, Missy." Granny said, resting in the seat next to the couch Applejack was situated on. Her body had been weakening for years, but as of late the rest she gained from the presence of the Clydes helped her gain back a little strength. "That filly comes up to your chin now."
"Yeah, she really hit that growth spurt. Guess I've been too busy to notice."
"You've always been like that." Granny Smith's tone of the ratchety grandparent was gone, a serious atmosphere taking its place. "Even from Apple Bloom's age, you've been good at thinkin' about the farm and the family money."
Applejack growled in annoyance. "Now Granny, I've said it before, the Clydes are a great help and this way we-"
"I'm not here to talk about the Big-uns." Granny cut in. "I agreed to let them help, it was you that slowly cut the family out of the orchard."
"No! Granny." Applejack, in a fit of frustration, tossed her pen and turned on her couch. "I keep them there to direct the Clydes. I moved our family into the front end work so we can better sell the product. If they remained in the fields as kickers then they would be too tired to sell. We have more ponies that specialize in their fields. It's synergy."
A long sigh escaped the old mare. "Listen to you, Applejack. Synergy, Specialize, product. That silver stallion has his meat hooks into you, doesn't he?"
"Yes!" Applejack exclaimed. "And I like it. Because of him, our family is slowly getting away from the immense debt we've been buried in."
"We would have made it on our own, Applejack. Just don't be in such a hurry to side with him and lose the farm." Granny warned. "I don't know what he wants, but talking to him is like talking to a statue that talks back."
"You've never said more than a few words at him, Granny." Applejack rubbed her head, aggravated at her unyielding family member that was too stuck in her ways to see things her way.
"I have." Granny Smith said.
"When?" Applejack asked.
"Soon after your brother left with Gilda." Granny said, earning a slight annoyed look from Applejack. The subject of Big Mac and his sudden leaving was still sensitive for her.
Months earlier
"For a big stallion, you sure do walk quietly." Apple Bloom said, trying to walk quietly next to Skyfall. "How do you do that?"
"Trade secret." Skyfall chuckled, shifting under the bucketed saddle. "Ask me in a few years and I may tell you."
"But in your house your hooves echo in the halls when you walk. We always know when you're coming to teach when the booming gets louder." Apple Bloom said. "But here there isn't so much as a thud. Even I make small thuds."
"Apple Bloom, can you run back to the house and tell Granny we're done for the day?" Applejack said before kicking a tree and emptying it of its fruit.
"Will do!" Apple Bloom called as she tore away from them and down the orchard path.
Applejack sighed as she glanced at Skyfall. "Sorry about that. She's always been talkative."
"No problem. She is one of my students now so indulging in their curiosities is implied in the job description." Skyfall moved next to Applejack. "You, on the other hoof, are more my concern than your sister. Especially as of late."
"Am I now?" Applejack asked and turned to kick the next tree. When she reared forward, Skyfall opened his mouth in wait for Applejack to move into position. "I don't have any curiosity that needs attention."
"What about your brother?"
Applejack's face went blank before kicking the last tree particularly hard. She seared in pain and fell forward into Skyfall's arm. She winced and turned to see her hoof growing red under her fur.
"Sorry about that." Skyfall offered.
"My fault. I throttled it too hard." Applejack rubbed her hoof and avoided eye contact.
"You still haven't vented about your brother properly." Skyfall tried hefting Applejack onto his back against her protests.
"I'm too heavy there sport, put me down." Applejack squirmed in Skyfall grasp. She felt him move her further up onto his back the orchard's path move. "Um, Skyfall?"
"Yes?"
"What are you doing?"
"You hurt your hoof." Skyfall offered, with Applejack still half us his shoulder. Her flank resting on his arm. "If you put pressure on your leg then you may suffer worse damage."
"I'm fine."
"Yes you are, but you need help in this instance. Let me help."
Applejack sighed and let herself be pushed up on top of the apples they collected. "You sure this isn't too much weight?"
'Yes, you're a porpoise.' Skyfall thought. "It's fine. You can pay me in thoughts."
"You're a weird fella."
"A little." Skyfall agreed as he moved. "But being odd has its uses."
"Really? Like what?" Applejack asked, chuckling to herself.
"Got you on my back, didn't I?" Skyfall asked as a playful smirk painted his face.
"I only needed help 'cause you asked me about Big Mac." Applejack huffed.
"So it does bother you?"
Applejack squinted at Skyfall who only returned the look with cold engagement. She wanted to outlast him in the game of silence, but she felt unsettled at the unusual statue-esk eyes that bore at her.
For brief moments, she would try to start only to end up sputtering and trying to piece her thoughts together. Emotions rose up in her mind: anger, sadness, regret, hunger. All the emotions she bottled up tried to force their way out, causing her to jumble words.
"Perhaps too early." Skyfall mused. He stopped and took a long breath. "Try starting with one word concerning your brother. What do you feel about him the most currently?"
Without hesitation, Applejack spat. "Disappointment."
"Why?"
"Because he left us!" Applejack growled. Unlike most mares that would shake when talking about such an event, Applejack was enraged like a father would likely be. "He up and left with some Griffon hussy!"
"Is it that he left-" Skyfall stated calmly in the face of Applejack's rage, turning his eyes toward the farm in the valley before them. "-or, that she is a Griffon?"
Applejack paused at the insinuation of not liking Griffons.
"I don't hate Griffons."
"But you hate this one?" Skyfall asked. "I know about Gilda's first appearance in Ponyville. I imagine everyone does. I heard that you treated her differently the instant she arrived at your home."
"How-"
"Is it true, Applejack?" Skyfall asked sharply, like a father to their child.
"I-I did." Applejack confessed. "She and Big Mac had a relationship in private. Griffons and Ponies can't have foals. He'll only get hurt in the end. I know that the Hippogriffs exist, but to just make new ones by smashing our kin together can't be done."
"So you treated their relationship that way because you were afraid of him getting his emotions hurt?" Skyfall chuckled. "Altruism does not seem to be the correct answer, Applejack. What's the real reason?"
"That is the real reason."
Skyfall promptly sat and let Applejack roll off his back. She slid and landed onto her back, she remained there, feeling her hoof was swollen with incredible pain. She could only look up at Skyfall as he turned around, blocking the setting sun to move closer, creeping her out.
"I like you, Applejack, but I don't have the time, nor the energy to play psychologist to the whole of Ponyville." Skyfall placed a hoof on hers, staring on. "Did you hate Gilda because she was stealing away Big Mac's attention to the family? He chose to start a family; why is that so bad?"
"Because." Applejack scowled, but only golden eyes looked at her, unblinking. "Because I don't want to lose more family. He should stay with his kin. He shouldn't have left."
"You wouldn't have accepted her and by extension many others, he knew that so he took his wife and unborn child somewhere that would." Skyfall said without pause. "I'll ask again. Why is starting a family so bad?"
"Cause he had family."
"One day, you too may start a family. Apple Bloom may start a family." Skyfall gestured to the farm in its entirety before helping Applejack back up. "Families do that. Kids grow up and move, starting their own family. Just because he is gone, doesn't mean he is gone."
"You sound like Granny Smith." Applejack tried to stand, only to once again be hefted onto Skyfall's back.
"Do I? Didn't know she had a deep voice." Skyfall's playful mood returned.
"Got less of a drawl though." Applejack played back. "Y'know, you should stay for dinner. You always find an excuse to disappear, I'm sure she would love to meet you."
"I would love to, but I really do have a lot to do." Skyfall smiled. "Ma-"
"Maybe next time?" Applejack asked. "Well, sorry to tell you this, but I told Granny you were comin' to dinner!"
"No you didn't." Skyfall said. He chuckled at Applejack's failed attempt at a pout. He felt Applejack shift on the apples as he neared the barn. "But if you're going this far to get me to go to dinner, I might as well go. This way we can tell Granny about your pregnancy."
"I knew it!" Apple Bloom Yelled from a hay pile.
"Wait, What!?" Applejack yelped from the apple pile, finally catching what Skyfall had said. "I'm not pregnant!" She turned her ire at her little sister. "You thought I was pregnant?"
"No, I thought you two were-"
"It's true, your sister is-"
"Clamp it, you two!" Applejack negotiated herself from the apple pile and onto three good hooves. Looking at Skyfall as he fought a laugh, she tapped his nose. "I ain't fallin' into one of your word games, Skyfall. None of that implying." She turned to Apple Bloom. "We're just friends."
"But he is coming to dinner?" Apple Bloom smiled deviously.
"He is. As a friend." Applejack limped away and into the house, followed by her sister who was getting whispered at harshly.
Two old eyes watched Skyfall from the house. He looked on as they didn't move from him. Reading someone's eyes came with experience. He had never formally met Granny Smith, but he had seen her in passing and every time she looked at him they were the same eyes; mistrusting on borderline loathing.
Until today, Skyfall made polite moves to avoid prolonged contact with the grandmother due to her apparent mistrust.
"Ya comin!" Apple Bloom called, sparking Skyfall to place the apples down and follow them into the house.
Soon, Skyfall began to feel bad for Big Mac. They were of like size and he could barely fit into the doorway. 'That poor, poor stallion, how did you perform the sacred two in the morning bathroom run?'
A small rustic house on a farm. Simple. Skyfall imagined if one needed anymore words to describe the house, then something was wrong. He smelled the scent of cinnamon, fish, potatoes, various cooked vegetables, and, of course, apples. Granny Smith had indeed placed supper on, and even moved fast enough to rest in her corner chair before they returned.
Fluidly, Skyfall sat and met Granny Smith's gaze. To him, a clear scowl painted her face.
"Granny, don't be stiff now. Say hi." Applejack said, snapping Granny out of her daze and into a ratchety ol' pony that ponies were used to seeing.
"Hi there, sunny." Granny greeted.
Skyfall squinted at Granny, understanding that at some point in the night the old pony may turn sour against him.
Dinner in the Apple house went as dinners go; talking of the day and story telling, mostly from Apple Bloom about embarrassing things Applejack does when no one is looking, like singing into a hair brush. Skyfall was encouraged to eat more and so he did, even sharing stories of his own between bites, although more watered down and ambiguous. The day's twilight moved to darkness across the farm as talking moved them all closer to midnight.
With dishes done and hearth growing cold, Apple Bloom was long asleep beside Skyfall and Applejack fought the last bit of consciousness she had before sleep took hold mid sentence, leaving Granny Smith and Skyfall alone once more.
Knowing there would be 'talk', Skyfall grabbed a blanket and tossed it over Applejack. He rose to his full height and looked to the old pony standing by the kitchen door that lead to the barn. Silently, she opened it and disappeared into the night.
'What is she doing?' Skyfall thought as he too disappeared into the night to find Granny Smith alone in the barn. She turned slowly to face him as he moved into the light.
Skyfall squinted and spoke slowly. "I would ask you what's going on or compliment the night, but the way you and I have both acted toward each other tonight says that there are words to be said between us."
"Yer a smart stallion." Granny Smith mumbled.
"Thank you, but I doubt we came here to discuss my ability to think." Skyfall said.
"Yer right." Granny squinted. "I'll be blunt: What do you want with my Applejack?"
"Nothing." Skyfall said. "She's exceptionally bright, despite her attempt to be otherwise. Why?"
"You come around and befriend my grandson, then he disappears." Granny said. "I knew about them dating a long time ago, but it wasn't until you came 'round that he got the idea to follow that darn Spirit into the forest. Now you're around my remaining grandchildren. One starts talking fancy like and the other talks about working on machines." She tapped her hoof. "You're the only common thing here, so I'll ask again. What do you want with my Applejack?"
After a long pause, Skyfall walked to stand further in the light.
Before he could retort, Granny Smith started again, becoming impatient for ponies that wanted to craft words. "I bumped into Zecora in the market, I talked to that there Zebra about you since she's your closest neighbor."
Skyfall smirked "I thought you were my closest neighbor?"
Ignoring the diversion, Granny Smith stared on.
"So you asked other ponies about me?" Skyfall asked, well aware now that Smith did not trust him.
"I did." Granny Smith said. "I'm not the dumb farm pony the town thinks I am. I know when ponies are buying up stakes in the Apple family business, Applejack doesn't check on that muddiness, but I do. So I asked around."
"And?"
"Don't get me wrong, Mr. Skyfall. I'm not tryin' to attack you, but I don't trust you." Granny admitted.
"You're protecting your family. I would do the same." Skyfall said. "But why ask others about me?"
"Because I don't trust you to tell me the truth." Granny Smith stated to pace. "Y'see, something about you bothers me and I didn't understand what it was until I bumped into that Zebra."
"I'm mildly interested in what someone who has had little time with me has to say about me." Skyfall challenged.
Granny Smith stopped and turned in anger, but paused. Her ire was plainly stocked by Skyfall's insinuation that what she was about to say was already flawed.
"You remember that little stunt yall pulled with the Timberwolves?"
"I remember, my neck still hurts from it." Skyfall said.
"Yet you don't have any scars. One pony fights a horde of Timberwolves and then their horde disappears soon after." Granny paused, letting a moment of reflection pass before continuing. "I went to thank Zecora for shelterin' the little ones after that debacle, but she said you were the one responsible for removing them wolves. I saw a weird look on her face when she said it but didn't ask her more until a week ago when she needed Apple Blossoms. Y'know what she said?"
"Thank you for the flowers?" Skyfall asked.
"You're a liar, Mr. Skyfall." Granny Smith said curtly. "I don't know about what and I don't need evidence to see when a stallion is hiding something. I've seen it on a thousand ponies to know it when I see it."
"Are you implying I'm here to hurt your family?"
"No, I know that's one thing you aren't here to do." Granny Smith said and eased back slightly. "You wouldn't help as you've been doing. The girls are taken with you, the little one more openly then the big one. You even helped Mackie with his own family."
"I would deny involvement, but you kind of have my hoof in the bear trap." Skyfall chuckled and thought to himself, wondering how far he should seek out what she believed she knew. "I am still interested in what conclusion you arrived in after talking with Zecora."
"She said you aren't what you seem. She was very clear on that and I agree, there is something wrong with your eyes. Most seem to fall for it, but I've seen it before." Granny Smith looked through the barn window into the house and caught the family picture from when Applejack and Big Mac were still little. "Everything that's been happening lately came after you moved into that infernal haunted house down next door. Yer life seems to be kept private against the tryins' of the town, but to me nothing is clearer than yer attitude toward this family."
"Then what's the issue, Ms. Smith?" Skyfall asked. "I have stakes in your business without your permission, true, but why do you think that means it's from malicious intent?"
"Cause the last time a stallion came around acting like this we nearly lost the farm." Granny said. "Then years later, I lost my son and his wife and it won't happen again. These two are the only ones I have left."
Skyfall closed his eyes, understanding. He turned to leave, knowing nothing else would truly put her at ease.
"I saw one of you."
Skyfall slowed to a stop to listen.
"When I was a filly." Granny Smith sat down gingerly, tired of standing. "I was fool-hardy and strong headed, all the foals in my class could never out-do me in anything. My pa raised me fearin' the forest and Spirits. Other foals in my school said soul stealin' Spirits like that forest Spirit were just stories to make us respect the rules."
With an amused shake of her head, Granny continued. "One day I was dared to run in and out of the forest and I was dumb enough to do it and get lost. I was brave for the first few hours, but soon the sun set and all manners of critters came out. I remember the fear I felt as I scrambled to hide. Not many ponies know what happens in that forest when the sun sets."
Skyfall spoke. "Well, history books do say that the Everfree is a daytime only forest, night time usually spawns the darker myths. You aren't meant to be in that forest when light leaves. At least that's the way it was left."
"For seven nights I survived that forest, I became very familiar with a carving on the wall of a cave." Granny Smith's ear rotated when the barn's owl hooted, startling her. "Two golden eyes. No matter where I tried to run, golden eyes followed me and at every turn hoof beats and gruff neighs followed me. When I was finally found it took years to stop from being scarred at night."
"So what does it have to do with me?" Skyfall asked.
"I forgot those eyes, for decades I forgot them until Applejack got lost in the woods as a foal. Then, a few months ago, a stallion buys some apples with those same eyes, your eyes, bear the same resemblance of the ones that chased me in that forest." Granny's calm mood offset the statement's weight. "I lost my son and daughter-in-law shortly after meeting a stallion like you to get our farm back. They died suddenly by a tree they planted in the orchard. Doctors said they died of natural causes, but that was a lie. I don't want to lose my grandbabies."
"You won't." Skyfall said abruptly, slowly turning to Granny, who breathed a breath she didn't know she held. "I don't know what happened to your son and his wife, that's not my business, but I don't believe Applejack and Apple Bloom are in danger."
Granny Smith nodded and rubbed the side of her head trying to fight sorrowful emotions she still held from losing her only child. Silver hooves entered her vision, bringing her gaze upward to haunting eyes.
"I know what you believe I am. I won't bother denying it. I know you'll keep this mostly to yourself." Skyfall said, air growing still. "Just know Applejack and Apple Bloom are in good hooves. I don't intend on harming them, nor do I mean to take them from you."
"And the stake in our business?" Granny Smith asked.
"That's for me. It has nothing to do with you or your family." Skyfall said, not turning his gaze away from Granny Smith.
Granny locked her old eyes with Skyfall, feeling like a foal at the hooves of her father's judging gaze. For many years now, her only concern was that of her grandfoals and the farm. In the storm of uncertainty, she silently accepted Skyfall's help, but knew she would never admit openly to it, her pride stood in the way.
"So yer goal here is only to help?"
"More or less." Skyfall turned. "It is time for me to leave, your grandfoals are rousing from their sleep."
"I'm not done." Granny said.
"No, but I am." Skyfall continued to walk, but Granny sharp breath signalled the oncoming of a deepened statement.
"I want to make a contract."
With much sadness, Skyfall slowed to a stop. If the old pony alluded to his identity and then demanded a contract, then she knew what she was asking. Contracts with Spirits were dangerous and often held prices much heavier than what one stood gained.
"Absolutely not." Skyfall said, looking to his side, loud enough for Granny Smith to hear and enough to see her wounded expression. "My price is too high for you and higher still for your grandfoals. Don't be so reckless with Spirits in the future."
"B-"
"Goodnight." Skyfall disappeared as the barn's side door opened to reveal Applejack, rubbing her eyes from sleepiness.
Present
Granny Smith slowly paced through the story, leaving key points out so not to directly reveal what she believed Skyfall to be. She wasn't a mare for secrets, but Skyfall was right, she should be more cautious around Spirits. Having lived so long, even she could feel the change coming.
"So you mean to say you weren't counting the apples that night? Wait, are you saying that Skyfall isn't a pony?" Applejack asked.
"All I'm saying is that he is harboring secrets and that you should be cautious." Granny Smith warned, she had a familial need to warn her kin.
"This is a lot." Applejack sat back. "You talked to him in the barn, alone?"
"Yes, don't get hung up on details, missy." Granny said. "I just need you to distance yourself from him a little."
The book before Applejack was pushed away with a light huff, she leaned back into her chair and shook her head. Eyes closed and taking a deep breath, she looked to Granny Smith. "I'm sorry, Granny, but I can't. I know things haven't been easy since ma and pa passed, but thanks to him we're finally moving up. I think he's just a private pony and that kinda puts ponies off."
"Now listen, we-"
"Granny." Applejack's authority shinned through. "We always made end's meet, one way or another, but none of us Apples had the ins figured out and because of that we were short changed and moved aside. Now, I bring this to Skyfall and he always reminds me that he does very little." She points to the book on the table and then to a working saddle filled with books and pads of paper. "I know you hear me comin' home late at night half the week. I crash in so late because I'm at his house reading. Hes been tutoring me and so far we're good. He makes a few decisions over my head that I don't agree with, but in the end its always helped."
"What about your friends?" Granny asked.
"He's not too friendly with most of them except Pinkie Pie. He's okay with Fluttershy, but the others he keeps at a distance."
"And that don't seem odd to you?"
"That's between them, it doesn't concern me." Applejack threw her hooves up. "He seems to like me enough to want to help me make something of myself, everything he brought to us has helped."
"What about the automatic quality apple sorter?"
"That is a mistake, he admits... That was a horrible idea." Applejack chuckled, remembering the three day long 'I told you so' campaign she went on, tormenting him cause she couldn't let it go, like when you paint the shed in the wrong kind of paint and she said 'don't leave it outside' only to do the thing she said not to do cause it was in the shade, then she brings it up every time you have a chore to do; yeah, like that. "This is one thing I can't do, Granny, he's good and I want to keep him around."
Granny chuckled and reached out for a hug, a hug that was happily returned. "Yer old enough to make your own decisions and be with who you want to be with. Just promise me that you won't let him get the best of you."
"Oh, I won't." Applejack chuckled. "He's not smart enough to do that."
"Oh really?" Winona barked from her slumber beneath the coffee table. "Sure he'd love to hear that!"
"What's up, girl?" Applejack said in a cute baby voice. "Did we wake you up? Did we? Huh? Oji-boo-boo."
Winona howled. "Dammit."
Farhaven
Big Macintosh Von Haven
Meanwhile, one of Farhaven's smallest citizens was balanced atop the head of a mighty serpent. She poked the lid of the dormant beast, temping fate itself.
"Serenity!" Gilda yelled from the kitchen window, scarring the small Hippogriff. "Get off Mr. Flan, now!"
"But mom." Serenity poo-poo'd.
"I said now!" Gilda's voice echoed out as Big Mac placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder, stealing her attention. She kept darting her eyes back and forth from Big Mac to her child, only to sigh in defeat.
With a huff, Serenity stood proud; or stubborn, she didn't know too much about either, but knew she didn't want to go back home, she wanted to explore.
A deep, rumbling voice rose from Mr. Flan's enormous form. "Perhaps you should listen to your mother this time, little one? It is unwise to temp your parent into grounding you."
"But why?" Serenity asked. "I want to see the city, home is boring."
"Oh? Such a well spoken mare at such a young age?" Flan asked as being of his size does when they speak civilly; slow and deliberate.
"Daddy teaches me everyday he comes home." Serenity smiled. "He was worried about me, but one of the big Spirits told me I was progressing slightly above normal for someone of my ...mix?"
"The wording confuses you?" Flan asked, his body moving to orient his coils around the filly. At Serenity's understanding nod, he too smiled. "You're half Griffon and Half pony, that means you get the best traits of the two species. On occasion you may get some bad traits, but thus far they seem non-existent or at the very least dormant."
"Why?"
"Why what?" Flan asked.
"Why refer to me as a mix?" She asked.
"Because that is what you are, my dear. As most creatures are." Flan said. "You are the mix of two beings. Although, some may use that word as something derogatory." At seeing the filly's confusion at the word, he flicked his massive tongue as serpents do. "As an insult."
"Why?"
"Because there are many beings out there that dislike the union of different species."
"Why?"
"Because. They grow up learning it and they become cemented in their own beliefs to the point..." Flan paused and squinted. "To the point they have pink hair coming out of their noses and smell of skunkberries."
"Why?" Serenity asked and erupted into a giggling fit as Mr. Flan forked his tongue at her exposed side, broadcasting how ticklish she was. Her laughter sent her slipping from Flan's oily scales and onto the ground.
"Now, Serenity." Red hooves came into view and the sent of coffee wafted into the air. "I hope you aren't causing too much trouble for Mr. Flan."
"I'm not, Daddy."
"I hope she's being respectful." Big Mac smiled up to the large serpent, a sight that would have once terrified him but was now as normal as passing a neighbor by the mailbox.
"As kind as the breeze, Macintosh." Flan flicked his tongue as Serenity again, sending her into another fit. "Serenity here was just regaling me of her wish to see the city."
"Oh, has she?" Big Mac turned a questioning look to his daughter, causing her red coat to grow crimson from embarrassment. "We've talked about this before, Serenity. You're not old enough to go exploring on your own."
"I know, Daddy." Serenity crossed her arms in angry acceptance.
"Well, maybe if one of the Lord Skies' council members went with her?" Flan offered deviously.
Macintosh chuckled to himself and sipped his coffee while narrowing avoiding a drop that would have been sure to stain his tan dress shirt. "Temping offer, but I couldn't ask them to foalsit, 'taint proper."
"Then what about a council member and Skies' own daughter?" Flan smiled.
"Now you're just being cruel. They would never find the time and I wouldn't dream of asking." Big Mac turned to see a masked Lady Streams and Lady Anara, smiling at him. He paused at taking another sip.
"You need someone to foalsit?" Anara asked with a smile, clapping her hooves quietly.
"Can I, Daddy?" Serenity's smile threatened to shattered his sanity.
"Um-uh."
River sauntered up and grabbed the small foal, knowing the answer already. "It's okay, Macintosh, I'm just checking the drain-off from the streets into the estuary, Anara is just seeing the city, no roughhousing today."
"I appreciate the offer, but Serenity must complete her chores before she's allowed to go out." Big Mac said. "That include you going to pre-school and finishing your morning class."
"Dad, it's the weekend." Serenity pouted.
"I know, but you're having trouble with your ones and twos. Those are important."
"Well, papa has spoken little one." Anara smiled. "If I see you later, we can play."
As Anara and Serenity smiled, brainstorming what they would do later, two spirits were having a silent stare off.
The moment passed between Flan and Stream, he eyed her odd disguise. Her colorful mask and large back gourd hide her identity making her look more like a vagabond, but it was still somewhat amusing.
"See something you like?" River asked, unamused.
"Always." Flan chuckled and laid his head back down. "The drain off on this street is good, Lady Streams. I'm just resting before I start moving through the pipes."
"Ah, well I trust your word on that." River turned, foal in tow. "See you all at sunset."
As River and Anara walked away, Big Mac smiled, he wanted to have Serenity explore but was too afraid to let her go alone. With him working the smithy and Gilda acting as a merchant clerk, they've been too busy to properly take their child around the city. She grew quickly, something he was reminded of with every step she took, even now as she walked to the nearby school.
His concentration was shattered when a small pebble bounced off his flank, snapping his attention back toward the doorway and to a very warm looking Griffoness.
"I think there is some plumbing you have to clear before work, sweetie." Gilda disappeared into the house, leaving the door cracked open.
Dumbly, Big Mac looked back to Flan as Flan tried to pretend to not have seen that. "Well, I-ah, gotta go."
"Yes, Big Mac." Flan tried not to laugh. "Go flush that pipe. I heard that plumbing can get a little mucky. You're going to have to snake that drain deep."
Like a deer caught in the headlights, Big Mac turned and slow walked to the door to not excite himself any further.
"Speaking of snaking drains, I should go." Flan turned and disappeared into an alley's dark shadow, making sure to evacuate before any beds could be destroyed.
Later That Day
Outside the schoolhouse
"Mom, where are we going today?" Serenity asked.
"We are going to the market. I have to get some ingredients for dinner tonight. I also have to get a new bracket for the bed." Gilda said looking down at her daughter. "I have off of work tonight so I plan on making you and Daddy dinner. He feels guilty about falling on the bed too hard."
"But v-what are we having?" Serenity asked stumbling on her Word pronunciation, being to excited to concentrate on her speech.
"Anything you want." Gilda said, smiling down to her daughter's acceptance. As they both passed through one of the cities many gates, gates that supported the aqueducts that gave water to all of Farhaven, Serenity rattled off names of dishes only to be told that she was too young to have that type of food. Obviously being met with resistance, this caused a continuously chuckle at the hippogriff's pouting.
"What about Chili?" Serenity asked.
"Chili's fine." Gilda said. "Your father loves chili. I see that something you two have in common. Even if you like to douse your Chili in hot sauce. Everything with you is hot sauce."
Serenity smirked at her victory. Bouncing on the ends of her hooves and claws. The small residential street they walked down turned left into an Open Marketplace. Her father having been a blacksmith and part-time on call guard his business always kept him in the marketplace, off early and running into the late hours of the night
As mother and child, they moved through the marketplace from stall to stall stopping particularly long at a dragon's stand.
"Looking for anything in particular, Miss Gilda?" Razzor asked as he sat lazily upon a scaled green pillow. He sat smoking out of a long tube connected to a metal sphere that set on another pillow behind him but still in sight. With a mighty blow of smoke, he looked down in amusement at the awestruck creature and removed the pipe with his purple mangled claw.
"I don't know." Gilda said. "Why don't we ask the little chef."
"I want that." Serenity proclaimed, pointing at the big blue pepper. Her eyes almost glowed as she looked at the spicy exotic jeweled before her. "I see that every time I pass and I've always wanted to try it. What does it taste like?"
He thought, scratching his chin. "To be honest with you, that pepper isn't that great, it tastes like cantaloupe. I just keep it there cuz it looks good." He admitted with a flip of his claw. "You've been getting progressively spicier with your choices. Why not try one from saddle Arabia?"
Nearly threshing her head so hard as to alert her daughter, Gilda silently commanded no.
Before serenity could agree to the pepper from saddle Arabia, the purple dragon shifted his claw over to a set of white peppers he had come in from the Griffin lands. "On second thought, how about you try some of these. The Griffins called them Bushwackers, I think that should be your next level of hot."
Gilda chuckled knowing exactly what Bushwackers were, the pepper was so hot that make you freak out and whack a bush. Not an elegant name but better than an inexpensive centerpiece that tasted like cantaloupe and much better than a different one from Saddle Arabia.
"Okay." Serenity said sadly having already gotten excited for the pepper she saw from the land of sand ponies.
As razzor placed the peppers in the bag he grabbed the one from saddle Arabia while Gilda wasn't looking and went to Serenity tossing and in a moment before Gilda could see. "That'll be two gold."
"Two gold?" Gilda asked skeptically. "It should be four?"
"Your husband did some work for me on my wagon, so this is a discount." Razzor winked.
Gilda scowled playfully and placed four gold on the counter before turning to grab her bag and daughter in one smooth motion.
"Come on serenity, stop buying all the peppers. We have what we need." Gilda said
"I know." Serenity mumbled before heading toward their father's shop. Having been mere yards away, it only took seconds until Big Mac was in sight, sending the small, red filly into a full Sprint and tizzy directly into her father's chest as he was on his lunch break.
Laughing deeply, he kissed the top of her head and looked up to join in a kiss with Gilda, both receiving looks of disgust from their child.
"That's gross."
"Oh shush, there will be a day where you enjoy doing that too." Gilda smiled as Big Mac landed another kiss on her cheek.
"I thought you had work today?" Big Mac asked bouncing Serenity on his knee.
"I did. But, that was before we had that leak. Now I'm home for a few days until they can clean the office. I thought I would come out and get some ingredients with Serenity and make you dinner later." Gilda said. "With you at home I can be on call for a night shift, but that's about it."
"That was very helpful thank you." Big mac smiled. "It's going to be a very busy day for me, the princess came down to relay some orders her father wanted completed. I'm trying to make sense of them, and I know exactly how to make them, but I have no idea what they are."
"Can I see? Or is it top secret?" Gilda said the last part in air quotes.
"It is, but they're over there on the table." Big Mac said. "Everything I get from the castle is top-secret, but a lot of it's just small things like new hinges they want made or a certain type of nail or a certain way they want their metal coated before being heat treated."
"Listen at you. Heat treating and all that official business." Gilda smiled having not really gone too far into what Big Mac was doing at the marketplace, she knew he was a blacksmith, but she didn't know he knew what he was doing to the extent he was talking about. At seeing the plans, Gilda stopped her laughing. "These aren't hinges, babe."
"Hm?"
Big Mac walked over while serenity played with a small set of armor Big Mac had made for her but kept at the Smith shop. "What do you mean, are they not just a regular order?"
"No. These are sears and lock plates." Gilda said, picking up the schematics. "I've seen them before, my father used to try and develop these further for cannons, but these are much smaller. Do you have measurements?"
"Yes, these are about the size of one of Serenity's hooves. They're extremely small but the way that they're making me heat treat them makes it a problem because I can't force that much pressure on them. The bits themselves can take it, but it's trying to angle the Hammers and tools down into them to get it the way that the schematics call for. What are sears?"
"I'm almost certain that these are some variation of lock system that my father used. If it is, then they're making small cannons?" Gilda chuckled at the thought. "Maybe it's for a children's toy? They're going to make a little Cannon so they can fire them in each other."
Big Mac paused, and reached for other schematics he had, laying them out before Gilda, stealing all amusement from the air. "I don't think they're for children."
At seeing the schematics, she saw detailed etchings for handles, barrels, small triggers that you would find in a crossbows. Gilda read over the margin notes, taking her time to read the measurements. She didn't know much about cannon-design or about what it takes to make a cannon go boom, but she did recognize that the barrel and lock system called for a heavier than normal metal.
"Hand cannons." Gilda said from the bottom most wording on the last schematic. "They want hand cannons? That just sounds wasteful."
"Do you think I should bring this to the castle ask about it?" Big Mac asked. "I'm not sure this is right?"
"Who cares, its money." Gilda said flippantly.
"I know that. I'm just wanting to know if I'm making the right things here." Big Mac said looking at the schematics once more. "Even if they are hand cannons, cannons are usually made to be one giant piece, this is like fifty different pieces I'm having the make and most of them are small."
"Maybe you could ask Garnett, he is representative of the Griffins, he would know since this seems to be based off a design from the kingdoms." Gilda said.
"Perhaps you're right." Big Mac said. He moved to grab the schematics and saw the princess walking through the market. "On second thought, I think I'm going to ask the princess directly."
"That doesn't sound like a good idea Maki." Gilda said. "I don't know how the ponies do it, but with Griffin's we don't talk to royalty or at least we don't let commoners talk to nobility without being talked to first."
"It's kind of the same with ponies, but we're not in a pony civilization, nor are we in a griffon one. Shattered Skies talks about having a cohesive Kingdom, so far it's been going well but if we're going to have a split between nobility and common people, then we're no different."
Gilda smiled and rubbed her husband's back. "I'll support you, I think it's a bad move but I can't stop you."
With a little claw on flank action, Big Mac yelped in surprise and laughed his way into the market to follow the princess.
Farhaven knew not to haggle the princess out of respect. Every few days it seemed the princess would visit the marketplace and walk around the different sects of the city. Most of the time she was guarded, however, today she walked alone.
Big Mac, being the large goof that he was, wasn't hidden by the crowd despite the larger creatures like Griffin's, dragons, Deer Folk, and the other large-bodied creatures that moved through the busy streets.
Before he could speak, Big Mac saw recognition across the princess's face.
"Hello, Big Mac." She smiled.
"Good morning princess." Big Mac said with a small bow. "Er, again I should say."
"You don't have to bow to me." She said. Truth be told it's always made me uncomfortable.
"Yes, Ma'am." Big Mac nodded and stood by trying to formulate his words in his mind as he had not thought beforehand.
"Everything okay?" Anara asked.
"Yes princess. I mean no." Big Mac looked toward his shop to see his daughter peeking out of the door. "I want to talk to you about something your father commissioned me to make."
"You work in the Smithy right?" The princess asked. With a thoughtful look toward the shop he kept peeking at, she saw to childlike eyes looking at her.
"Yes princess, I'm Apprenticing under Gran Marco."
"That's right." Anara said. "That's the dragon Smith Stormfront was really excited to bring over from Manhattan." She peeked around Big Mac who tried desperately to put himself between the princess and his daughter as he believed his daughter's staring was rude. "Is Serenity in your shop?"
"She is, Princess." He nodded and almost sputtered as the princess trotted past him toward his shop, her hoof falls pounding the ground betraying that she outweighed him putting in his mind that trying to accidentally walk before her was a bad idea for two reasons alone.
"With my father hogging all the spotlight I never get a chance to spend much time with the people here. That and we promised to play earlier." She smiled. As she neared Serenity began to step out of the door waving at the princess.
"Hello again, little bird." The princess smiled.
"Serenity." The small hippogriff said boldly.
As the two went about discussing what Serenity does on her free time as well as during school, Big Mac caught the insistence gesturing of his wife, Gilda.
"Um, princess I know this is a little sudden, but I need to show you something." Big Mac held up his hoof toward his workstation.
"I really don't know much about metallurgy." She said. "My husband does, b- nevermind." Anara caught herself and walked to the workstation.
"It's not the metallurgy that I have an issue with Princess." Big Mac said. "It's more my concern about what it is made to be."
A curious statement like this kindled the princess's own curiosity, drawing her to the plans.
"Good morning Gilda." The princess smiled at the Griffin who stood by a little flabbergasted that her name was known.
After a moment of reading the schematics, the princess stood by and began to sift through the paperwork. "Like I've said, I don't know metallurgy, but I do know job orders. These were not commissioned by my father, is that what you were asking?"
The princess turned to Big Mac, still garbed in his work gear and looked over his red coat and dingy spots of black from soot. "I don't imagine you approached me in the marketplace just to know that. What's the matter?"
Big Mac, knowing very little about cannons, looked to his wife who then spoke up.
"Princess, these are schematics for small cannons. I look through them and found a paper that stated they were to be used for Motors, but I know cannons when I see them." Gilda said. Knowing that she perhaps spoke out of turn, gilded bowed slightly and respect. "I apologize if I overstepped my bounds."
"No it's fine." The princess said taking the stack of papers and flipping through them quickly stopping every few pages, squinting as she did so. Suddenly, a paper was torn out and held up in front of the princess as she scanned the paper swiftly.
"What's the matter princess?" Big Mac said.
"These were commissioned by Stormfront?" Anara said.
Knowing that new inventions had to be passed through a council with the leaders of the city and her father, she raked her memory trying to remember if this had come up as she had sat through every meeting true to form as she rarely left her father's side.
"What's the matter, princess?" A Voice asked from the shops front door.
The room turned to see Stormfront staring at the princess, A displeased look on his face.
Not being one to back down, Cadence growled internally. It was all too convenient he would show up when something like this would come into question.
He broke his angry look to smile at the princess, closing the distance in mere steps. With his magic he took up the scrolled schematics and read them over.
"Want to explain?" The princess asked
"I would, had I not been ordered to remain silent about it." Stormfront smiled, his demeanor betraying his intentions. "This is for a new type of defensive weapon."
"Then why did it not come up during the council meeting?" Her eyes transfixed on Stormfront's.
Looking at Big Mac and a Gilda, he purposely peered over to their child silently informing them that this conversation was to remain only between them. "Sometimes, princess, we need to do things outside usual channels of government so that we can protect ourselves. Your father understands that very well, I daresay better than most."
At seeing the mistrustful look from the princess, Stormfront Shrugged. "You can ask your father when he returns."
"I intend to."
Stormfront turned and left the Smithy having completed what he set out to do. This left Cadence with an uneasy feeling as to the legitimacy of the order.
"Well this just got worse." Big Mac said. "Princess do I complete the order?"
"Yes." She said, trying to think her way out of the situation she just put herself and an innocent family in. She has seen that look before, there was something going on and her father's agenda kept the issue clarity as fine as murky water.
"If you could, complete the orders and as they get completed have one of the wolf guards take them. I imagine at that point Sif will become aware and she will be able to do something. And say nothing of this, to anyone."
Cadance thought to herself as to how her father would attempt to solve the situation.
A gush of water and screams moved down through the market, drawing everyone's attention.
It would have been something to ignore, but river sprinted past the Smith door cursing loudly at people that needed to get out of the market. Moments later different guards and a few wolves rushed past the Smith door colliding with people and sending them careening over Market stalls before a river of water stampeded through the marketplace.
Since the market, like most markets, was a place of widespread trade the council decided to put it very close to the water. Cadence noticed that the stampede of water floated above the ground without touching it. At the mouth of the shops entrance, she looked where the water was going and where it had come from. It seems three spirits and a half a dozen magic users were struggling to keep the torrential onslaught of liquid from destroying the commercial hub of Farhaven.
In unison, different species leapt up and began building what looked to be an aqueduct underneath the column of water. Wood, steel, stone, and ice formed a ramshackle way to fix the situation with river running around using something that looked reminiscent of crossbows from beneath her cloak.
"Princess?" River signaled Sloan, an ice Spirit, to a stop as she made another pass through the marketplace. "What are you doing here?"
"I should probably ask you the same, what's going on?" Anara asked, looking at the freshly made aqueduct.
"Eh' you know, saving the world, shaking babies, kissing hands. All in a day's work." River said smugly, looking at the patch job with pride. "Yeah, we were trying to reroute an underground spring to give the Diamond Dogs more access to water since they like to burrow within the mountain. But it just backfired and the underground spring erupted into a geyser. So now we have a lake of hot water."
"That doesn't sound good." Anara said, confused at River's Sly smirk.
"Oh no, it's catastophic. There was a bit of Farmland your father planned on using for asparagus, but the hot water makes it too wet and now it won't be firm enough for most crops." River said. "I told him, this might happen."
"So what are you going to do now?" Anara ask, genuinely wondering how her aunt was going to solve the situation.
"Princess." Big Mac said from Anara's side. "I'm going to go ahead and get to work on those orders and do what we talked about."
"Oh, yes please." Anora said. "I'll tell my father when he returns, hopefully it's nothing."
Cadence looked back to see Rivers suspicious look melt into one of amusement. "Trouble?"
"I think so. Stormfront is commissioning hand cannons and I had no knowledge of it, do you know anything?"
"No. If you are sure they are hand cannons, then those are strictly outlawed on orders of your father." River said and look toward the Castle. "That's something he has been against since we founded the council all those years ago."
"Should we say something?"
"No." River said. "With everything going on, he might be trying to override your father because he believes your father isn't doing enough. It happened in the past which led to them fighting. Physically. Never ended well, but it's not unlike him."
Accepting the answer, Anara turn her attention back toward the issue at hand. "So you never said what you were going to do with it?"
"Oh. I'm turning into a hot spring. I got permission from your father, in writing, like five thousand years ago that I was allowed to open a bathhouse." River said tapping her chin. I don't know where I'll put it, but I know he knows because it was a thing, it was a huge thing at dinner. I made it a thing and it was mine."
"You seem very adamant about it"
"Damn right. You ever been to a hot spring?" River asked. "That's like one of fifty businesses that need to exist here for this place to succeed."
Completely caught off guard by River's zest and insistence, Anara looked on as the mare began rattling off the different services that far Haven needed.
"- Ramen Shop, and two sports bars just so you can have your favorite one and look at the other one and say yeah screw that place they spit in your food-" River insisted. She took a deep breath and looked at the princesses awestruck face. "Sorry went off on a rant."
"No it's fine." Anara said. "If you wouldn't mind, can I tag along while you try and fix this?"
"Sure, you and we haven't spent much time together." River said and turned around before adjusting her cloak to lay limply over the mechanics fastened to her legs. She caught Anara eyeing her machinery and chuckled. "What? You like my little invention?"
"I saw them for a moment while you were trying to stop that River of water from destroying the market. What do they do?"
"We'll talk and walk." River said, motioning Anara to follow. She had to actively remember to not call her Cadence in front of regular people, having spent so much time around her in her regular pony form. As they walked, River and Anara had to look to see if there was any additional damage caused by the column of water. Multi-ton stone settings in the walls along the marketplace we're hit so hard with the water that they were actually moved. The stone settings being the outline that all houses were built upon when they designing sections of the city.
"How can water do this?" Cadence asked.
"Easily." River said. "Water is one of the most destructive forces on this planet. I mean sure you put water in a cup and you spill it on something chances are it's not going to destroy it, but you get a few million gallons of it and send it toward target it's going to cause damage."
Cadence, in her disguised form, followed River as she crawled beneath the aqueduct and ascended the stairs to the Diamond Dogs main hub.
Streams of water flowed down delicately from the stairs leading up to the cut Halls of the Diamond Dogs. Cadence had to admit that she had yet to be to any of the hubs, only the common areas. Each hub was a location for species within far Haven, species were able to live in any Hub they wished but their own culture was preserved within these locations.
Looking around, Cadence noticed the tall ceilings and natural structure that was the Diamond Dogs home. Natural rock, be it Mineral or ore flowed in one from the wall into cut pillars and statues.
As they made their way deeper into the now ankle-deep water, Diamond Dog work teams moved toward the hole in the center of the room.
"You know, when I asked for more water I didn't mean I wanted a pool." The gruff voice of Chance, The Diamond Dog's senator and former Chief said with a smile moving slowly from his office into the open air antechamber.
"Well I do what I can." River said knowing that Chance knew full well who she really was.
"I hope you have a solution. We Diamond Dogs are not too known for our lavish accommodations." Chance said smiling like a grandparent to their grandchild.
"I'm going to have to reroute the water through all of your pillars to cut down on the pressure." River said producing clipboard from beneath her cloak. "It'll destroy some farmland in the process, that's why I was trying to reroute through the center but we saw how that went."
"Oh my." Chance said holding a paw up to his long furred chest. "I hope that doesn't cost too much."
"How about nine."
"Nine hundred?" Chance asked seemingly happy with the amount. "I knew you Spirits wanted to help, but that's amazing."
"Thousand. Give me nine thousand and I will fix your hole in the center and reroute the water throughout your pillars to give you hot flowing water." River said tapping her clipboard. "I'll throw in a mist machine, it'll add some ambiance to your stone hall."
"Hissing at the amount," chance rubbed the white fur beneath his jaw. "We have the finances for that but that's really high."
"Well, when you laid these halls you did so without the thought for running water. You're in a position now where you want amenities like running water, that's going to have to cost you like the other hubs. nine thousands been the base cost for all of them. Additional fees apply with additional chambers." River looked to her side to see a disguised Cadence scanning the open hole in the floor that bubbled water.
"Why?" Cadence asked.
"Why what, little missy?" Chance asked.
"River said that you cut these caves without the thought of running water, that sounds like a like a pretty big oversight." Anara scanned over back to chance and was struck by his sympathetic look.
"It's not something we've become used to." Chance smiled understanding that the princess's perception wasn't the same as theirs.' He tried to smile through the awkwardness believing that she said this out of ignorance and not out of spite.
"Oh... sorry."
"Don't be princess." Chance said with a warming look. "That was the past, and the future that we are all going to build won't see that return.
"If that's all, Senator." River smiled with a bow and motioned for Anara to follow.
River exercised a little bit of her power to stem the flow of the water until later. Once again making their way into the light, turning toward Anara who was still embarrassed from the misunderstanding. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I just feel a little embarrassed."
"It happens." River Shrugged. "You should have seen your father the first time he met up with the dragon ponies of the East. They ended up loving him, however, the initial reception was very funny."
"I know no one's perfect, but I hate forgetting that the world can be a little unfair. I always think I look pompous when that happens."
"Well, it's not about where you start." River reminded. "That's something the maker would tell us whenever we were down in the dumps."
"What was she like?"
"You would know her if you saw her, she is power incarnate. A presence that feels like something that should not be there but is a part of everything." River said as she tried to search her mind for words that would do the maker justice.
"Though my words fall short by miles in terms of description." River slowed to a stop and looked at Anara realizing she had never seen her at any of the other hubs.
"That was your first experience in a species' hub, right?"
Shying away from the accusation, Anara nodded. "Was it that obvious?"
"Not at first, but I'm usually very busy trying to get the infrastructure right. It wasn't until I saw how chance interacted with you that your inexperience came to mind." River clicked a pen and brought out her clipboard scribbling small notes in the margin. "I know your father wanted you to go around to the hubs, but I never caught when he wanted you to do so."
"He wanted me to go around to the different parts of the city?" Anara asked, the task being light years away from what she expected her father to want her to do.
"When I spoke to him, yeah." River said. "Like most things he probably wanted to talk to you first, probably to avoid little incidence like in there."
"He does that a lot, he tries to prep me." Cadence said letting some of her aggravation to her voice.
"Well, he does really love his prep, when it came to proposing to your mother he almost had to have a yes before asking. I imagine he does more so with you because he loves you and wants you to succeed." River smirked and shoved the pen into the cuff of her shirt. "My way of learning, however, is to throw the chicks out of the nest. How about you? You feel like being a little naughty and jumping the gun?"
"Gun?"
"You want to go to the other hubs and meet the people that call you princess?" River said, cutting to the chase. "It's better to ask forgiveness than beg permission."
"I don't know." Anara said not wanting to anger her father.
"Trust me, I've known your father long enough to know that sometimes you need to just do what you feel is right." River said smiling in a more devious manner. "That, and you and me can go to Joe's. We can get everything to go and go pick out in your father's study looking for his private journals."
"Sold"
"That's my girl."
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First bit of the chapter was good then everything fell apart, grammar wise. None the less glad to see another chapter after all this time.
So can Cadance assume her pony form again?
8771052
Yeah, kinda released it off hand without really doing a deep proofreading. Author's notes kinda says as much if ya read 'em. So thanks for the pep talk 👍
8771137
You release em and I'll read em 👍👍
oh cool
Dang, things got intense with granny!
I'm super curious how that will turn out.
Also glad to see what's going on in the new city, loved that and seeing lil' serenity
Worried about them guns though
So many secrets, so many lies, they're gonna bite you in the flank, my dearest Skies
Now what could Stormfront be up to
Is it just me, or does half the chapter seem out of place? Namely the parts with Big Mac, Cadance, and Serenity.
First part you had Serenity begging to go hang out with Cadance. Then it cuts to 'later that day' and suddenly it's Serenity with Gilda and not Cadance at all. It seemed very jarring, as you set up this bit to be all about Serenity and her going out to explore with Cadance. Only to cut that entire 'section' of the story out to focus on Big Mac making guns and Cadance watching river deal with a hot-spring.
The setup in the first part, then they pay off in the second part doesn't add up.
8772171
Yeah it probably needs to be redone, some editing and revision. Not sure, I screwed up 3 months ago and had to come back and add stuff to the chapter so that might be why.
So many missing quotation marks, it'd drive Twi mad! Always grateful for a chapter though, you might wanna' take another look at this one as it feels a bit disjointed around the middle.
8772785
Yeah tomorrow or Monday I'm going to take it down, Brew some coffee, and then proceeded to go through and rewrite / reread it. I'm looking at it and I made a bunch of edits and I guess it didn't save, I have no idea. Either way I'm going to redo it and then I'm going to repost and release a blog post explaining that it was redone. And then probably going to release the next chapter immediately afterward.
:D *Claps* This Was Great!
8771079
Adding on to this:Is she Anara, or is she Cadance?
Yes, Cadance is her pony name, and Anara her Spirit name, but when reading it becomes a confusing mess of mental calculus"Wait is she in spirit form or pony form? Does X character know Cadance is Anara, or are they thinking one name or whatsgoinon?!?!"
I guess my advice would be to establish who she appears as, and then stick to one name, at least in narration. Going further I'd establish that Anara=Spirit Guise, and Cadance = Pony guise, but I can't recall if she's gone back to ponyform yet, and that'd be a nightmare to go back and edit in.
Also, when is Shining Armor serving her with divorce papers, since she isn't the pony he married???
For whatever reason I never got notified of this chapters release I've been waiting extra weeks for this awsome story to update
Hopefully we won’t have to wait as long for the next update.
Burrow.
Getting affirmation before proposing is what you should do, though. Don't say when or where, but make sure to talk to your spouse about such a huge desicion that they are a part of. Would you buy them a surprise dream car and expect them to be happy when you used their money for half? No, make sure you know before proposing. It'll make for a happier, more romantic experience for both parties.