Mister Cook Goes to Canterlot

by Dave Bryant

Itinerary

“Mm-hm. Oh, you can’t miss that. What about? . . .” I watched, fascinated, as a completely absorbed Moon Dancer wielded a fountain pen with abandon. Despite her use of the second person, her muttering seemed barely to acknowledge my existence, let alone my presence. It was easy to see why she and Twilight got along so well; they were two peas in a pod.

Around us Joe’s continued busy. Moon Dancer’s civil, if preoccupied, request that a well-dressed middle-aged unicorn stallion shift over a seat had gotten us a pair of neighboring counter stools—though he did seem rather taken aback by the young mare’s temerity. Once seated, I had pulled from my panniers the sheaf of brochures provided by the princess and laid it carefully on the countertop. At least I didn’t bobble what most unicorns considered a simple exercise in levitation. I restrained a sigh of relief.

Initially Moon Dancer had responded with diffidence, leafing through the stack and mumbling some noncommittal comments. A few half-hearted and generic suggestions moved me to reply gently, “It’s the city I came to see, Ms. Moon Dancer. What’s special about it and the way it celebrates Hearth’s-Warming?”

“Oh.” Her brow furrowed again, in thought this time. “I guess you want to see local historical and cultural sites, not just the usual touristy things, then.”

“Exactly,” I congratulated her. “I’m much more interested in the way peo—ponies live and work, the places and things they think are special about their neighborhoods. If I can see tourist sights along the way, so much the better, but it’s not generally what I’m looking for.”

“Well . . . let me see that map there.”

“There!” The filly straighened with a pleased smile. I’d been half-afraid she’d end up with ink all over her nose from hunching so close to the papers by now covering the countertop in front of us both. The pen pirouetted through a last flourish, still enveloped in the light pink of her magic, before coming to rest on top of them.

Bemused, I scanned the abundantly scrawled-on map and the less marked-up pamphlets strewn around it. “Good heavens. I appreciate your thoroughness, Ms. Moon Dancer, but—did I mention I have only a day?”

Her smile widened. “Oh, that’s why I marked some places with stars! Those are the ones you really should see today. If you don’t have time for the rest, you can save them for another visit, right?”

“I . . . suppose so,” I said slowly. She had a point, though I hadn’t considered it closely before she brought it up explicitly. After all, I was likely to continue in my current assignment for at least a couple of years—longer if the Foreign Service couldn’t dredge up another officer possessing the mental flexibility to cope with being a temporary talking pony, though I thought that unlikely. And, of course, by that time Sunset and her friends would have graduated from high school, possibly even heading off to university, which probably would reduce my responsibilities in that area as well. In fact, one of the reasons I had only a day was the need to continue my efforts on their behalf toward grants, loans, and letters of recommendation.

My alicorn lit with its customary pale gray to sweep the scattered papers into a semblance of order. I began folding them, but proceeded slowly enough my companion began, with some impatience, to take over the task. For a moment I was afraid she’d comment on it, but she seemed oblivious, her manner that of someone who finishes everyone else’s sentences because she just can’t wait for them to get to the point. Diplomatically—how else?—I desisted and let her finish, only then gathering up the stack and replacing it in my pannier. “Well. Thank you again, Ms. Moon Dancer.”

Through a mouthful of pastry she assured me, “’S nuffin’. Don’ worry ’bout it.” With a gulp she swallowed. “Is this your first time in Canterlot?”

“No, I’ve been here a few times on business,” I told her breezily, “but this is the first chance I’ve had just to look around. Like I said, anywhere I travel, I really do prefer to get a local’s view. For Canterlot, though, that goes double, considering how important the city is, both to Equestria and to my work.”

“You came here all by yourself?” She blinked at me. “Wouldn’t that make it harder to, um, ‘get a local’s view’?”

“Well, yes, but my change in schedule knocked the original plan into a cocked hat.” My half-smile was rueful. “A trusty native guide was supposed to come with me, but she couldn’t get away today, so I had to go it alone.”

“That’s too bad,” she commiserated. “She used to live in Canterlot, then?”

“Yes indeed, though she moved away some time ago.” I waved a dismissive hoof. “It’s a long story, I’m afraid, and I suppose it really isn’t mine to tell.”

“Uh, okay.” After a moment’s groping for a new topic she brightened. “So what is it you do?”

“Negotiations, mostly. Lots of meetings. And reports. It’s good to get away from that, even if it’s just for a day.”

“That sounds . . .”

“Boring?” I interpolated politely. “It can be, but it’s rewarding in its own way, too.” I paused a beat. “And it pays well.”

She giggled. “Has anypony ever told you your sense of humor is terrible?”

“Not lately,” I admitted. “But it’s been known to happen.”

We spent a few more minutes in small talk, during which Moon Dancer polished off her breakfast and cooling coffee—I’d finished mine during her flurry of scribbling—and I managed to learn a little more about her while continuing to dodge around her return questions.

At last she sat up with an air of embarrassed realization. “Oh gosh. I guess I should let you get on with your tour, shouldn’t I?”

I grinned. “The day’s still young—but you’re right, and I’m sure Joe here would like us to leave these seats to new customers. Shall we go?”

Moon Dancer grinned and we both hopped down from our stools.

We said our farewells, with mutual wishes for a happy Hearth’s-Warming, on the sidewalk under the awning that, in part, supported the gigantic stylized doughnut overhead. After she turned and trotted off, head high and humming a carol under her breath, I watched for a moment with a smile. When she vanished around a corner, I pulled out the papers on which she’d lavished so much attention—and ink. Time to take a closer look at just what she’d wrought.

Author's Note:

So what did Moon Dancer mark on Cook’s map? Where does he go, and who might he meet, next?

For the new reader: I hew fairly rigorously to Ms. Faust’s original world-building, which was much more self-consistent about Equestria being in the rough technological equivalent of the real world’s 1860s–1880s. That means, among other things, teens still were regarded as young adults, which is why the pony Mane Six have jobs and residences despite being, at least initially, in the age range of twelve to sixteen or seventeen. The concept that teens are children began to appear only a century or so ago, coinciding with the spread of modern many-year all-day schooling.

Addendum: According to a tweet from Ishi Rudell, Sunset is a couple of years older than the other girls. The chapter-book novelization of Through the Mirror offers this brief explanation on page 28:

   “[Sunset] began her studies not long before Twilight,” Celestia explained.
   Twilight racked her brain and realized she did recall seeing the pony somewhere before. “I don’t really know her. But now I think I remember seeing her in Canterlot. . . .”

Comments

[PhycoKrusk]

I love the world crafting you've done with this series, particularly in that it feels very organic.

It certainly competes with or even knocks the stuffing out of whatever it is the rest of us do.

[Starlight Nova]

I know chargé d’affaires means charged with (in charge of) matters in English, but what does "en pied" mean in English?

[Dave Bryant]

8672017
Goodness! I’ve done my best, and I thank you very much for the compliment.

[Dave Bryant]

8672020
En pied literally translates as “full length”, according to Wiktionary, but a more idiomatic translation would be “permanent”—at least for the duration, the full length, of the chargé’s assignment. The alternative is ad interim, which of course is applied to someone who’s holding the post temporarily while the permanent chargé is unavailable for whatever reason; a chargé d’affaires a.i. has no diplomatic accreditation, which greatly limits what he or she can do other than “hold the fort”.

[Eroraf86]

Is there a showing of the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant today? Cook might enjoy that.

[Dave Bryant]

8672178
Indeed! There have been a few comments suggesting Cook attend a pageant. My plan is for him to do so in the evening, as one of the last events of the day.

[Alaborn]

I think it's fine to consider the Mane 6 to be teenagers and legal adults in Equestria, but Sunset Shimmer has to be aged down, if she was Princess Celestia's student before Twilight Sparkle. She would have to be, at a minimum, ten years older.

[FanOfMostEverything]

The parallels in the street decorations may prove striking: snowponies, candy canes, wreaths, et al. Granted, Cook may have noticed them before, but now he has a chance to understand the local reasons for them.

As for tour spots, knowing Moondancer, there will be plentiful bookstores, libraries, museums... and places where she's spent time with friends, who may or may not spot her with a stallion and jump to conclusions. (In Minuette or a visiting Lyra's case, the jumping may be literal.) Even without such shenanigans, I wouldn't be surprised if they ran into the pony Mr. Lectern.

[Dave Bryant]

8672946
Apparently they were Celestia’s students at the same time, but were in separate classes or otherwise compartmentalized. G. M. Berrow’s novelization of Through the Mirror offers this explanation on page 28:

   “[Sunset] began her studies not long before Twilight,” Celestia explained.
   Twilight racked her brain and realized she did recall seeing the pony somewhere before. “I don’t really know her. But now I think I remember seeing her in Canterlot. . . .”

“Not long”, to my mind, means in this context, “close enough to be in the same school year”. At first I thought this was rather shaky, but then, Celestia runs a whole school, and there is a logic to hedging her bets—or simply taking on multiple promising students.

Addendum: according to a tweet from Ishi Rudell, Sunset is a couple of years older than her friends.

[Dave Bryant]

8672955
All good points. The first few items I can sprinkle in as opportunity permits. As for the rest, I more or less had that sort of direction in mind—it’s the specifics I’m struggling with.

[howard035]

A nice chapter, but I was hoping Moon Dancer would hang around and play tour guide.

[Dave Bryant]

8675845
I thought about it, but I realized it would create significant complications both for making suggestions and for writing. I could end up juggling more characters at one time than I'd really prefer to for a project like this, and the inter-character dynamics could get difficult.

[howard035]

8676131 Ah well, probably for the best then. Sooner or later we would probably have demanded shipping.

[Dave Bryant]

8676178
Oh, plenty of folks already have done that. I had no idea there was such a groundswell of sentiment for pairing up Cook and Raven Inkwell. Alas, for reasons not unlike those the canon writers abide by, it is not to be.

[keroko]

Hmm, my own interpretation of the various ages is only partially founded on modern sensibilities. The rest is filled in by the characters and the time that passed over the course of the show. We know several years pass going by the Hearth's Warming episodes alone, enough to push the the various younger characters into the higher age brackets. Yet all of them only slightly grow in stature, rather than reaching the sizes comparative to their elder siblings or friends. That, to me, suggests that the adult ponies have more years behind them than simply teenagers.

[Dave Bryant]

9916207
It seems pretty clear from a number of indicators the show staff proceeded on the idea that two full (26-episode) seasons constituted about one year in the characters’ lives: Twilight’s panicked “every single week” comment in “Lesson Zero”; the appearance of Hearth’s-Warming episodes roughly every other television season, admittedly with some variation; and Meghan McCarthy’s emphatic statement in “Rainbow Rocks” DVD commentary that six months had passed since the first EG featurette. (The first featurette is set early in season four, with Twilight freshly elevated to royalty; “Rainbow Rocks” is set early in season five, with Twilight recently anointed princess of friendship—one television season later, six in-world months later.)
  My assumption, and I freely admit it is an assumption, is the pony Mane Six were fifteen plus or minus a year or so at the start of the series, smack in the middle of Ms. Faust’s original stated age range of twelve to eighteen. That median age even fits with Sunset Shimmer being a seventeen-year-old high-school junior at the Fall Formal, having run away at age fourteen two and a half years before, a year before FIM started. I don’t think any of it is a coincidence. Addendum: according to a tweet from Ishi Rudell, Sunset is a couple of years older than her friends.
  At any rate, based on all that, after four and a quarter years the pony Mane Six (and their human counterparts) would be around nineteen, give or take. At that time the CMC should be about the same ages the Mane Six were at the start, which would have been a nice little tidbit. (Addendum: Big Jim Miller commented on Twitter the show staff wanted to age up the CMC several seasons before the end, but apparently that was vetoed by Hasbro.) As for the epilogue, well, I’ve addressed that at more length elsewhere.