Overgrowth

by ezra09

At the Two-Bit Diner

“Everypony, these are my friends, Ivory Quill and Star Charmer,” Dawn Flower said somewhere in the background. The words were hardly more than white noise. Thistleroot’s gaze was locked with the unicorn that had just entered the diner. The white-maned, blue-coated mare had frozen at the sight of him and Scootaloo.

“Nice to meet you.” More background noise. Thistleroot’s mind flipped into hyperdrive, constructing a scene in which Star Charmer rallied the ponies in the diner against them in revenge for what had happened the year before. His imagination was just getting to the point where they were tied to stakes outside with firewood piled beneath them before the voice spoke again. “Hey, Star, you okay?”

“Yeah,” Star Charmer said, shaking her head quickly, as though to clear it.

“We should go,” Scootaloo said, pushing away from the table. Go. Leave. That was a good idea. Thistleroot could get behind that. He stood.

“No, it’s okay,” Star Charmer said, raising a hoof. “Sorry, you just caught me by surprise, but I heard you three were back in town. I was hoping for a chance to talk.”

“Do you know them?” Dawn Flower asked.

“Wait a minute,” the third pony, Ivory Quill said. Thistleroot’s attention finally shifted to her for the first time. She was a light tan earth pony, with a short, neat ivory mane and tail. She had a quill and inkpot as a cutie mark. “Star, are these the ponies from last year?”

Thistleroot winced and scanned the diner. There was a cook at the grill and another mare behind the cash register. There was only one other patron, a dark brown earth pony with a silver, slicked back mane engrossed in the evening paper. None of them had taken notice of them yet, let alone begun grabbing torches or sharpening pitchforks.

“Yeah,” Star Charmer said. “These are them.”

“Oh,” Dawn Flower said slowly. “I didn’t realize. I shouldn’t have—” she cut off with another gesture from Star Charmer.

“Can we just have a minute to talk?” Star Charmer asked, looking from her friends to Scootaloo. “Outside, maybe?”

Scootaloo threw a hesitant glance at Thistleroot and Mimic before answering, “Sure.”

“Woah, woah, you want to talk to them alone? By yourself?” Ivory Quill asked.

“That’s what alone means, yeah. We’ll be right outside,” Star Charmer said, before turning and making for the door. Scootaloo followed, and Thistleroot was right behind her. Ivory Quill threw them a suspicious look as they passed.

“So, uh, hi again,” Scootaloo said when they were outside.

“Hi,” Star Charmer said, uneasily. A few seconds passed. Thistleroot fidgeted and glanced back at the diner. Ivory Quill and Dawn Flower were watching, leaning over one of the diner tables, muzzles pressed up against the nearest window. The earth pony was looking up from his newspaper with an arched eyebrow, but after a moment shrugged and continued reading.

“You were hoping for a chance to talk?” Scootaloo asked.

Star Charmer nodded. “Dad went to Canterlot shortly after you three came here. Once we heard that the princesses were back. And he...” She glanced away. “Is it true? The Elements of Harmony were destroyed?”

“It’s true,” Scootaloo answered.

Star Charmer nodded. “I don’t know why I asked. I guess I just had to hear it for myself.”

“We’re sorry,” Scootaloo said. “About everything that happened.”

Star Charmer shook her head. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Thistleroot blinked, momentarily distracted from planning out his last words. “Huh?”

Star Charmer’s attention switched to him and he mentally cringed at drawing attention to himself. “What?”

Thistleroot swallowed, throat dry. “I thought you’d, you know, be angry at us?”

Star Charmer shook her head. “I’m not stupid. I know what happened wasn’t your fault. You were just trying to get back what we stole. To save the world. I mean, that was kind of a big deal.”

That was true, Thistleroot thought. In the end, Star Charmer had even sided with them, helping them escape with the fragment of harmony. He tried to relax just a bit.

“And you all succeeded, didn’t you?” Star Charmer continued. “The princesses were freed and no evil monsters have attacked the town.”

“I guess.”

“How’s your dad’s wing?” Mimic asked.

“It’s okay,” Star Charmer said. “He was grounded for a couple months, but it healed cleanly. He was flying again before his trip to Canterlot.” Another few seconds passed and Star Charmer puffed up her cheeks, blowing in a frustrated expression. “This is really awkward.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Scootaloo said with a small laugh. Mimic nodded.

“All I really wanted to say is, I don’t blame you guys for what happened. Everypony else at the center is a little, well, you know, but dad made sure they understand they’re not allowed to bother you, since you’re here for the princess. You don’t have to worry about them coming at you with torches and pitchforks or anything.”

Thistleroot gave a shaky laugh. “Like any of us would worry about that. That’s just silly.”

Star Charmer chuckled and shrugged. “Why don’t you three come back inside and eat? Before my friends break that window leaning in any further. You can meet Ivory properly.”

“Okay,” Scootaloo said, looking back to Mimic and Thistleroot for confirmation. They nodded.

“Okay,” Star Charmer echoed hesitantly before leading the way back into the Two-Bit Diner.

*****

The ponies moved back inside. The mares at the window moved to meet them at the door, and after a second set of introductions, they sat back down.

Law made a small effort of will backed by millennia of practice, and their words became audible to her, even from across the street. The conversation from there was trite. Pointless. Discord had chosen poorly, it seemed. Nocturne as well. To think their champions hadn’t returned to Libiris.

Not that Law was any closer than them, she thought with a bitter growl. Four spirits had now chosen champions. Trader, as usual, would remain a neutral party, and as expected had written himself loopholes in the contract to facilitate his own ends. Law had not objected, as they were only effective while he had no champion of his own, and she doubted many of the others had noticed them at all. With Trader out of it, that left only her and one other without champions. She had to choose soon. By morning, she decided. She would find a worthy pony before the sun rose.

There were some ponies she’d listened in on over the past day who might have had the principles that would make them worthy of her trust, but they were dim. There were some in the town, particularly in the large building at the center, who might have been clever enough to find the heart, but they could not be trusted.

A pair of ponies walked past her, not so much as casting her a sideways glance. She watched them go. A stallion and mare, too young to be adults, too old to be children. The mare was giving the stallion a coy look, and the stallion was oblivious.

She might have had disdain for the pair, she mused, had she cared enough to feel anything at all. They turned the corner and disappeared, not once noticing her, though she stood at the side of the road, making no effort to hide herself.

It was a simple aspect of her nature, and another slight effort of will. She was Law, the Eternal Spirit of Order. When she wished to go unnoticed, she simply willed herself to fit into the Order of the world. She was a natural part of everyday life. There was no more reason to take note of her than there was to take note of a particular tree in a forest, and no reason to remember her later.

Of course, such a trick did not work on everyone. The blue unicorn had noticed her, though he’d mistaken her for a lion. Likewise, a dark coated pegasus had done a double-take when she’d been looking in through a window at the research center. It was a good test, she thought as she watched the champions waste their evening. If a pony wasn’t observant enough to notice her, they wouldn’t make a good champion. Same, if a pony did notice her and ran in mindless fear.

Another pony crossed the path, oblivious to her presence. She watched him go, clueless and useless. It was going to be a long night.

*****

“And once the princesses were freed, they came up with a plan and defeated Nocturne,” Scootaloo said. It wasn’t exactly the truth, but Thistleroot was relieved that she’d downplayed their part in it. He didn’t want to answer questions about their use of the Elements of Harmony during the final battle, or their failure to use them again. She’d also skipped over their time inside Libiris, for obvious reasons. The last thing they needed was somepony at the SEA center connecting the Caagan sightings with Libiris and renewing their research into the building.

“Once she was defeated,” Scootaloo continued, “she and the changelings went west, way past this forest, and agreed to leave Equestria alone.”

“Not all of the changelings,” Ivory Quill said before leaning over to take a sip of her milkshake.

Thistleroot frowned and saw Mimic stiffen out of the corner of his eye. Star Charmer hadn’t mentioned her identity as a changeling, which Thistleroot had been thankful of, but it was possible she’d told them before.

“What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked.

“There’s still some around,” Dawn Flower said. “We’ve heard stories of hives of changelings around Equestria. There’s supposed to be one a bit North of here. Ponies in Vanhoover sometimes have problems with changelings out of Galloping Gorge, and there’s supposed to be a lot of them in the Rainbow Ridge just South of the Crystal Empire.”

“My dad travels for work a lot,” Ivory Quill said. “He just got back from Vanhoover a few months ago.”

“Independent hives,” Mimic said. “Sometimes changelings would set up far away from the main hives to extend the queen’s reach. Some of them refused to leave Equestria.”

“Well, most of them went with her,” Scootaloo said. “Everypony’s been working hard to rebuild Canterlot since then.”

“Wow,” Dawn Flower said. “That’s actually kind of incredible. The princesses sound so awesome.”

“Yeah, they really are,” Scootaloo said. She noticed Ivory Quill giving her a hard look. “So, that’s what happened. Are we good?”

Ivory Quill watched her for another second before answering. “I guess. If Star Charmer doesn’t have a problem with you.” Her suspicious look didn’t ease, and Dawn Flower rolled her eyes.

“What about you two?” Thistleroot asked. “We’ve just been sitting here talking about us.”

Ivory Quill’s gaze moved to him, and he had to fight the urge to duck under the table. Dawn Flower smiled and answered. “Well, you already know I have my shop. I also take care of gardens for a few older ponies that can’t manage it that well anymore. And when I’m not doing that, I’m keeping these two out of trouble.”

Star Charmer rolled her eyes at that and nudged Dawn Flower.

Everypony turned to Ivory Quill, who pointedly took another sip of her milkshake.

Dawn Flower waved her hoof toward Ivory Quill. “Ivory’s actually really nice, once you get to know her, I promise. And she’s really smart. She’s actually starting school in Manehattan next year.”

“Oh?” Scootaloo asked. “What are you studying?”

“Law,” Ivory Quill said. “Same as my dad. Eventually I want to get into politics.”

*****

Law’s ears pricked up at the sound of her name, her wandering attention brought back to the conversation, but after a few seconds she realized they weren’t talking about her. They were discussing the area of study once named after her.

One of them in particular spoke of a family history in the area of study. She seemed to have an interest, and she spoke with a certain confidence the others lacked. What was more, she seemed to have an inherent mistrust in Discord and Nocturne’s champions.

Law watched, and waited. The conversation moved on from the subject quickly, on to less interesting topics. The champions’ reasons for visiting Greenhaven Grotto. They lied, naturally, or rather they omitted the newer details, explaining instead their original goal of studying local wildlife.

The conversation soon came to an end. Goodbyes were said, and the ponies made their way outside. Law hid herself properly and waited. The champions left with the blue unicorn, while the three mares walked toward the center of town. After several minutes, they split again. The white unicorn turned and made her way toward a little cottage surrounded by flowers. A little while longer, the earth pony said a final goodbye and turned down another road. The other unicorn continued on toward the center of town.

Law followed the earth pony from a distance. Only once she was sure the unicorn would be out of earshot did Law move back onto the street, in clear view.

It took less time than she could have hoped for. Whether by luck, or the habit of a young pony walking alone at night, the earth pony looked back over one shoulder and stopped, her gaze locked on Law.

Law smiled slowly and came to a stop about thirty feet back.

The pony shifted, half turning to get a better look at her, blinking slowly, as though trying to clear her vision. She moved her head, slowly, never taking her eyes off of Law, and opened one of the saddle bags at her side.

She was clearly scared, but the fear had not paralyzed her, nor had it caused her to mindlessly flee. The pony drew a little silver cylinder with a red cap from her saddlebag, and the way she held it as she started backing away told Law that it could only be some kind of weapon.

Law’s smile widened and she moved, clearing the space between them in a single leap. She landed directly in front of the pony a heartbeat later. She kept moving, faster than any mortal predator, and with a catlike grace circled around the pony. The pony bit down on the cylinder in surprise, and a harsh chemical sprayed through the air where Law had been.

The pony whipped her head around, but a swipe of one of Law’s enormous paws took the cylinder from her mouth. The pony stumbled back and turned, eyes darting left to right, still searching for an answer.

Law’s tail caught her across the chest, not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to turn her back and pull her closer.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Law said, and she saw the pony’s eyes widen in surprise, likely because she could speak, more than what she said. “Calm yourself. I am not some wild animal, and I have no reason to harm you.”

The pony was still scared, still glancing around, but she heard Law. She still had enough of herself to think, to understand.

“Good,” Law said. “You’ll do.”

Comments

[ezra09]

And as has become common, here's more pony references.

Star Charmer: i.imgur.com/kL6G2Ha.png

Ivory Quill: i.imgur.com/9hvGBMo.png

[SmiffySmoof]

So that was the same Star Charmer as before.
So what does Law look like? She's been described to have paws, as well as growl. "Cat-like" and being confused for a lion brings a feline to mind, but I know that it isn't the most reliable descriptor.

[ezra09]

9242023

A sphinx sat unmoving, looking out over a small desert village. She was a light tan color, the same as the stone behind her, and in the dim light of the setting sun, she doubted any of the ponies below would have been able to see her.

From chapter four. In my head I see her being a bit lankier than the sphinx from the Somnambula episode, with a sandy coat and slightly darker mane and tuft at the end of her tail.