Not So Far Away

by Cold Bolt

Diplomacy

There was a moment of silence as Pinkie glanced between her map and Constable Fluttershy's outstretched hoof.

They couldn't have made a mistake, right? She was definitely where she was supposed to be. It's not like they had picked the wrong chain of islands tethered to a string of clouds floating way high up in the sky. There weren't exactly a lot of those to choose from!

She folded the map and tucked it away before shaking the hoof in front of her.

The Constable glanced at the ponies behind Pinkie. "I would grant this groundwalker her audience," she said.

Aerial Ace nodded. "By your will."

Whirlwind smiled and winked at Pinkie. "Fortune to you, friend."

With that, the two departed.

"Now then," the Constable began, "if you would - "

"Here!"

Pinkie thrust a small plate under the Constable's nose, a slice of apple pie upon it. A fork protruded from the pastry like a spear embedded in a slain animal. A curious hoof reached for it, tucking it in the crook of a fetlock and pulling a bite along with it.

The crust was crisp and flaky, perfectly contrasting the gooey filling with its tart, crunchy apples and just the right amount of cinnamon.

The Constable stared at the fork in her grasp as though in contemplation of its nature.

"Sooo..." Pinkie leaned forward, still holding the plate of pie. "What do you think? I've got plenty more where that came from! Or maybe you're more of a strawberry shortcake kind of pony? I also have this invention I've been working on. It's like a chimichanga, but with cherry filling! I'm still trying to figure out what to call it though. Maybe if I make one for you, you can help me decide!"

The Constable was still for a moment longer. Finally, she returned the fork to the plate and waved her hoof at the doorway. "If you would...?"

Pinkie blinked.

What did that mean? Did she not like it? Had Pinkie messed something up? Was she being sent away? Slowly, she slid the plate into her saddlebag and turned to march through the still open doorway, back out onto the balcony.

"Five hundred fifteen."

The Constable took a seat beside Pinkie, looking out onto the twilit street below.

Pinkie tilted her head. "Huh?"

"Five hundred fifteen," the Constable repeated. "The years that have passed since we seceded from the very earth itself, by decree of Commander Hurricane."

This was something Pinkie already knew, now that she had been reminded... but it sounded like the buildup to a greater point, so she kept quiet.

"A legendary figure indeed - yet a flawed one, as are all. Unparalleled on the field of battle... but wanting as a leader of ponies. Such stubborn pride, no doubt, would have gladly seen us waste away in our magnificent prison so long as our graves still flew above all other ponies."

Pinkie's ears drooped.

"Yet the good Commander is long buried now, and I must ponder this pride. Five hundred fifteen years, and we would still put honor before reason?" The Constable waved a hoof. "Tell me of the sight before you."

"Um..."

Pinkie looked around. The scene was much as it had been before, with winged ponies flitting about here and there everywhere she looked. She wasn't entirely sure where this question was leading, so what should she say?

"They look, um..." She paused. "Happy?"

More that they didn't look unhappy, really. They seemed satisfied with their lot in life, if based only on a glance.

"They know no better." The Constable shook her head. "Nor did I, though it is my station to wonder - and you have shown me our blindness in a single bite."

Pinkie's ears perked up. She did like it!

The Constable finally turned to look at Pinkie again. "You trod upon the tethered clouds to reach us, did you not?"

Pinkie gasped. "How did you know?"

"What other conveyance might have brought a wingless one to such heights?"

A pause. "...Good point."

The Constable frowned. "No doubt you saw the remnants of our former kingdom on your way."

"Yeah, I was wondering about that." Pinkie scratched her head. "So, um...?"

"We number beneath a thousand," said the Constable.

Pinkie grimaced.

"The land below bears plenty we have not known in generations, far beyond living memory. The sky offers us nothing but a painless destruction. As Constable, the lives of the ponies are my willing burden... and today would I choose to cast away that stubborn pride and preserve the blood of my charge." She looked at Pinkie with hope in her eyes. "I trust your purpose is greater than so simple a gift... bear you a message for us, groundwalker?"

Pinkie stared for a moment, her gaze locked with the winged pony before her. Her lips slowly curled into a grin.

"I totally do!"

Clearing her throat, she tried her speech one more time.

Comments

[Sun Sage]

Well now... I was right about the pie in that last comment. And I'm enjoying the confidence and calm we see in the leader here. Protecting her people without arrogance to cloud her judgment is not an easy thing for far too many leaders to manage.