The Wander Through Lands Unknown

by Tomas Lutwig

Chapter 48; Working relations

'Good Lord what is their P.O.C and Immediate danger pay?' I found myself wondering as I looked at the pile of gold coins. Shaking my head I pulled out a couple of handfuls of bits counting them to be around thirty I shoved the remainder into the cloth sack before storing the rest in my pack. 'Now I just gotta hope none of Sundance's guards are assholes...' I found myself thinking as I poured the contents of the small bag on my belt on the bed before putting the bits in.

Looking at the random assortment of items a few memories came to mind of my time in the cell getting to hang out with Sundance, and Celestia on rarer occasions. Picking up the remnants of the orange and white chalks I offered them a thoughtful smile before I noticed a few dirty bits. I raised an eyebrow wondering if they had fallen out of the small bag on my belt. 'Seven bits? Huh, strange.' I thought before putting them in with the others.

After checking the small sack for holes, I turned my attention to the Ring of Fog which sat on the bed with scattered pieces of chalk bits and bits of foliage. Picking up the ring I slipped it on my finger only to watch as my body shifted to near transparency. A smile formed on my face as I undid the small latch on my satchel before dropping the ring inside.

Brushing my bed off from the random debris that had fallen in the sack I grabbed my coat before heading outside.

The trip over to the seamstress' boutique was rather dull without anyone to talk to. The townsfolk, a good number more out and about rather than when I had been returning from the Friendship Castle. For the most part the ponies paid very close attention to me, parting like I had the plague when I passed through some of the more populated gathering sites in town.

Wary eyes followed me all the way until I reached the carousel shaped building. The sign above the door still concerned me with the thought of ponies riding other ponies around what had been an amusement park ride. Shaking my head I pushed the door open the bell rang above prompting a familiar voice from deeper in the boutique.

“Welcome to Carousel Boutique! I'll be with you in just a moment~!”

I raised an eyebrow at the singsong tone of the mare's voice before shrugging. My eyes started to wander the store before finally landing on a few dresses on a rack across the room, walking over I started to look at a few simply to pass the time.

While I never really understood any of the designs the unicorn had made, myself not interested in fashion, some of the dresses and, to my personal surprise, suits were extremely attractive looking. A fair number came off as almost gaudy to me though when I looked over even the gaudy outfits I found that with my limited amount of knowledge in the field of sewing Rarity was virtually a master at the art.

'I suppose that should be obvious seeing as how her 'special talent' has to do with bringing out the beauty in things' I thought before I scratched my chin thinking. 'At least I think it was' I shrugged continuing to look through the rack of interesting articles of pony clothing. 'At least I'm able to do things like this again.'

“Terribly sorry for the wait darling, but I was just finishing up with a few pieces for an order” Rarity's voice sounded behind me making me turn to see the mare come from down the hall. “Now how may I h- Oh! Wanderer, what a pleasant surprise.”

The tone of the unicorn's voice seemed to of changed, though I couldn't tell if it was from honest surprise or disappointment, but I shook it off. “Good morning Rarity! I was hoping I could commission your services.” I said with a smile, trying to not seem off putting.

Her eyes lit up with curiosity as an eyebrow rose. “Oh? What might you need my services for?”

“Well” I started throwing the coat over my shoulder to reveal the rather large hole left in my shirt that lead down to bare skin. “I was hoping to have these holes patched as well as have a few more sets of clothes made, if you're not too busy.”

A few quiet “Tsks” sounded from the unicorn as she looked me over before putting the tip of a well manicured hoof to her chin. “Unfortunately Dear, I am a bit swamped with Winter fast approaching to finish with my winter line of clothes, I'm dreadfully sorry about that. Your... shirt ,however I could repair in a few moments.”

“Oh! Well that's alright I understand the need to keep up with the trends, and thank you!” I said the smile faltering only a moment. 'I suppose that's about my luck' I thought nearly chuckling.

My mouth opened about to ask if the mare had a place I could relieve myself of the clothing, but I simply shut it remembering the cultural differences, opting instead to drop the coat from my shoulder. Pulling my arms back through their holes in the long sleeve shirt and muscle shirt beneath before pulling it off over my head and holding them out for the mare.

She regarded me with a raised eyebrow before her horn ignited grabbing the two articles of clothing. “Is there um, anything else you need?” she asked, a hint of confusion in her voice as she watched me reach down to grab my coat.

“Unless you can direct me to a good upholstery shop I can't think of anything” I said to which the confusion on her face only grew. “Well from what remember, upholstery needles are quite useful on thin leather” Stretching out the coat I motioned to the nearly identical hole to the pair of shirts she was carrying.

“Oh dear...” She said eyeing the hole, “Well... I suppose I could try fixing it for you, though as I said before I have little experience with... leather.”

The unicorn's disgust was obvious making me cringe internally as I folded the jacket back over my other things. “Rarity you don't have to push yourself, I can al-” I started only for the mare to shush me.

“Now I won't hear of it. I don't allow customers to leave disappointed” The unicorn's horn lit up once again lifting the coat from my arm and adding it to the small ball of floating clothing. “I'll be right back, don't go anywhere”

A shiver went up my spine from the lack of any clothing on my upper body. 'Well I was planning on just putting on the coat until she had finished, but I guess I can't really complain if she's going to try to fix it as well' I thought rocking from the balls of my feet to my heels as I waited for the unicorn.

'I am surprised she was so willing to help me out with this, though it does make me wonder how much it's going to cost.' I scratched at my strangely bare shoulder, 'Though I don't really know what the value of the bit is either, who knows, maybe something like this is actually extremely expensive like tailors were back... on earth.'

Taking to twiddling my thumbs, I looked around the boutique for something to look at or do. Noticing another rack of assorted clothing, I was about to walk over to look at them when the sound of hooves returned bringing the white unicorn with them.

“As promised here are your fixed shirts.” She said levitating the both of said shirt to me before unfurling the coat. “This however, was a bit more of a challenge, the normal magic I use for mending fabrics didn't do much so I patched it with something I had on hoof.”

Turning the coat around to show me I chuckled at what looked to be a small silver colored diamond patch over where the hole had been. “I hope it's acceptable?” A pair of blue eyes poked their way out from behind the coat looking at me expectantly.

I nodded leaning down to examine the patch further. “Honestly I like it. More interesting looking than the simple, and honestly almost boring, brown the rest of the coat is. Thank you Rarity, you're a life saver, in more ways than one.” I said smiling at the pair of blue eyes.

The mare folded the jacket up as I started putting on the shirts, the holes sealed as if nothing had happened in the first place. Looking back up I noticed her wave a hoof dismissively. “Oh come now, all I did was a bit of magic and sew a patch in place. Nothing of any great importance.” She said holding out the now folded coat for me to grab. “I will also be sure to inform you when I finish with my winter line. We simply can't have you walking around in the same clothes every day now.”

I chuckled again nodding as I threw the coat on, glad for it's warmth. “All too true Rarity. So what do I owe you?” I said reaching for the small bag on my belt.

“For something as simple as that? Nothing more than five bits, the price of the patch”

I nodded again “fair enough...” I trailed off grabbing a handful of the bits before counting out an even ten before dropping them into the mare's hoof. “Five bits and a few more for wasting so much of your time.”

“Oh come now Wanderer, that's not necessary. It only took a few moments and it was rather... interesting to speak with you” She said holding out the hoof again.

I tied the bag of bits back onto my belt. “Maybe so but I insist, I mean a lady like yourself is busy, and you took the time to help me with something menial like this so, I insist” I said holding out a hand.

Rarity looked between me and the small pile of bits stacked on her hoof. “Very well, thank you very much Wanderer” she said smiling.

A mental 'Huh' sounded through my head as I looked at her face. It seemed like the first real smile the mare had given me. I did my best to return it before starting for the door. “I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day Rarity, and don't work yourself too hard alright?”

The mare in questioned giggled and wished me well as I exited. I let out a sigh of relief, feeling as though my day might've gotten just a little better.

“Damn it” I cursed under my breath throwing the glowing metal back into the forge. I rubbed a hand across my forehead, trying to fight off the headache that was slowly forming there before turning to the pair of large bellows.

'How do I get this thing to welding temp when these God forsaken bellows don't seem to want to move enough air?' I thought working the bellows one after the other. 'Am I doing something wrong?'

Looking down at the bellows as I worked them I found little idea as to what I was doing wrong. The valves seemed to be working properly, at least as far as I could tell. Taking one out of it's intended slot in the forge I looked at the nozzle only to find a small rubber cap that seemed to of melted onto the end of the metal.

'Well f-' I started only for the door of the forge to swing open drawing my attention. A familiar violet alicorn stepped in wearing a saddle bag. The few lanterns I had found did little to help see what she was digging out from said bag as she entered.

The look of annoyed satisfaction on the alicorn's face however was quite visible. “So here's where you've been hiding! I've been looking ever where for you!” The annoyance in the mare's voice was obvious though I found myself wondering what would make her so annoyed.

'Ookay, why didn't she just come straight here? I mean she probably could've seen the smoke in from in front of the barracks' Taking out my knife I started trying to cut the melted rubber from it's place on the bellow's nozzle. “Eeyup!” I said as small bits of rubber flew off at the behest of my knife. “What-” I let out a grunt as a more stubborn part of the cover resisted. “What can I help you with?” I finished as the bit of rubber gave way and flew off the end of the nozzle.

A raised eyebrow was sent my way before she motioned with a scroll. “The letters from the Princesses arrived” she said expectantly.

Prying off the last bit of rubber with the tip of my knife I blew off the little shavings before working the bellow, glad to see it working properly. After replacing it in it's slot I looked at the nozzle for the other one before sighing. Tucking my knife away I walked over in front of the alicorn. “Alright, lay it on me; how pissed is Celestia?” I said leaning against one of the wooden tables.

Twilight blinked before looking at the scroll again. “Um, she wasn't?” She said before levitating the scroll around and giving it to me. “Here, she said she was going to come to Ponyville to discuss it with us when she can.”

Unfurling the scroll I looked at the lettering that obviously belonged to my alabaster friend.

Dear Princess Twilight,

While I cannot understand the Wanderer's sudden interest in my old student, he is correct in all of what he said, thought the blame was not solely her's. The young mare did in fact work under my tutelage until her dismissal due to her digging into magics and other subjects that I believed she was not ready for. Much to my distress, she refuted that she deserved to rule Equestria and was dismissed until she could find value in friendship.

To my shame I believe that the reason for her dismissal of the magic of friendship was due to her building an unhealthy amount of self worth which was not aided by a lack of attention paid to her on my part.

I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh, 'Sounds about like her, trying to pin most of the blame on herself' I thought shaking my head.

On the subject of the book, while I do not know the Wanderer's intentions, I hope I can trust him enough to do what he believes is right and so I agree to letting him use it.

A smirk formed on my face before slowly fading at the next paragraph.

I will be coming to Ponyville to discuss this with you and the Wanderer in at length however as I believe that I may have been hiding something from you for long enough, and that you're ready to learn of it.

Another sigh sounded from my lips as I glanced up at Twilight before continuing. The rest of the letter was simply personal communications between the two princesses prompting me to hand the letter back to her.

“Fair enough I suppose” I said thought not really meaning it. 'Well this could be quite interesting, and could end badly if she gets too invested in investigating the mirror' I thought only for a book to appear floating in front of my face.

“Here's the book by the way” She said putting the scroll in her saddle bag. “If Princess Celestia trusts you then I can only try and do the same”

I shrugged in response taking the book and flipping through the pages before setting it on the table. “Well trust is something earned, and we haven't really had much interaction to even see one another as acquaintances so I can't really fault you for not trusting me.” I said before motioning to the other scroll she held in her magical grasp. “What did Princess Luna have to say on my request for an audience.”

Twilight looked as though she was going to ask something before shaking her head. “Princess Luna was surprised that you asked for her personally, but she said she could take some time to meet with you tonight when you go to sleep”

I opened my mouth to question the thought of the mare meeting me when I sleep, but shut it remembering that she had the power to enter ponies, and my for that matter, dreams. “Well I suppose that works. Lets just hope I can stay asleep long enough” I muttered the last bit as I turned away from the mare.

“Why did you need to speak with Princess Luna anyways? I know you said it was about some dreams, but you didn't really elaborate beyond that.” Twilight's voice sounded to my back as I approached my forge again to finish working on fixing my mistake with the bellows.

Stopping I reached back to rub at my neck looking up at the ceiling. “Well after the whole changeling fiasco, I've been having some rather... disturbing nightmares about what happened.” Turning back I noticed the worry in the mares eyes prompting my hands to shoot up in my defense. “It's nothing of any great concern. The changelings just kinda messed with me while I was asleep” I said trying to play it off. “I just want to talk to Luna and see if she could help me with it.”

Twilight nodded, her face turning to more scrutinizing as she looked at the floor. “That would be the wisest course of action when dealing with dreams and such, Luna is a master when dealing with dreams, and nightmares” she said before looking back up at me the worried look returning with a fervor. “Have you tried talking to your friends about it?”

I let out a chuckle that made the alicorn's eyebrow rise in question before I shook my head. “I thought about it, but there's no real point in bothering either of them about it. Sundance has her squad to worry about, and Princess Celestia has practically everything to worry about.”

Twilight shook her head, conviction written on her face. “That's not right. Your friends are going to worry about you regardless, and friends make time to talk to one another about their problems.” she said stomping a hoof. “If you keep things that are important from your friends then it'll just eat you up inside...” she trailed off for a moment, “You'll turn into a wreck who freaks out over the most trivial things”

I nodded in the princess' direction a smile slowly forming on my face. “I can see why Celestia made you a princess, you're quite experienced in 'friendship'” I said making a the alicorn smile at the compliment.

“However” I started, motioning with my hands and drawing her attention once again. “For me it's much easier to talk to people I don't really have any significant connection to, especially things like this. That way I'm not really causing any problems for the people, or ponies in this case, I care about. Not to mention in my situation I'm given multiple ponies who I know a great deal more about them, than they do about me.” I said walking over to lean against the wall near the forge. “Originally I was going to talk to you about it, but after thinking about it, Princess Luna not only cares very little about what happens to me, if my memory serves me right, but she also has a great deal more experience with dreams.”

“So, while I mean no offense, I figured it would be best to talk to her over you.” I finished earning a look of utter confusion.

“I... wh...” The alicorn seemed to be lost for words as I turned and started working on the other bellow. “Why? That doesn't make any sense!” She finally asked raising a hoof. “Your friends are there for you when you need them, you're supposed to turn to them! Not some random stranger!”

The sound of the forge crackling and my knife scraping against the metal nozzle was the only sound in the small building, looking up I noticed the look on her face as she expected some response. I simply shrugged at her. “Honestly I don't know. For the longest time I didn't get too close to a lot of people, it only seemed to complicate things too much. If I became part of their lives, their problems weighed on my mind. I tried thinking of ways to help them, but they never took my advice, solving the issues their own way and only pushing away mine or telling me 'I'm sorry to hear that, I hope you figure it out soon' or something of the like.” I looked away from her at the thought, slicing into the warped rubber. “It was more annoying than I was willing to deal with. So I simply stepped away from the idea of having friends, it was easier, if a bit lonely and boring.”

Twilight shook her head, eyes showing her understanding. “Well I can't say it was all that different from me, though it was my focus on studying that made me stop talking to my friends. Still, you need to talk to your friends, or if nopony else you can talk to me”

Looking up from what I was doing I smiled at the alicorn. “Well thank you, that's actually very kind of you.” twirling the tip of the knife as I looked away from her I shrugged. “On the subject of friends, well... I'll have to get used to the whole idea of sharing things with them.” Looking back down at the remaining bits of rubber, I popped off the end of the melted cap with flick of the blade. “Still easier to deal with things yourself and all."

Twilight nodded, “Sometimes it is, but a good number of them you'll notice that you're in over your head. It only gets worse if you don't ask your friends for help.”

“I suppose” The words held little volume making the alicorn give me a tired look as I bent down to re-insert the second bellow into it's slot. Working the pair made the slow burning flames that had been warming the room flare up. Embers and sparks flew up as the flames crackled. Smirking I looked over at Twilight who was looking into the flames, curiosity forming in her eyes as she watched the metal within glow brightly.

A few pumps of the bellows later, I moved around to the forge's mouth removing the now bright yellow piece of steel, a smile formed as I nodded before lowering it down to the anvil. Glancing back over at the alicorn she moved around me to see better before I picked up my hammer. Bouncing the hammer face over the anvil a few times I started the long process of lengthening out the piece of steel.

Before long I threw the steel back into the forge and returned to the bellows. Turning back to Twilight as I worked the pair, I smiled again at her look of curiosity. “Never seen a blacksmith work?”

Comments

[Shadow of doubt]

Great chapter, always nice to read this story