Chapter 8 - Errands
“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” I asked Trixie as breakfast was served – normal sane proportions this time.
“Trixie must meet with her ministers this morning. The Responsible and Concerned Trixie feels that she needs to have a firmer hoof in the affairs of her kingdom.”
It seemed that yesterday’s incident was still having repercussions. “Do you need me there also?”
She shook her head. “The ministers will be required to give Trixie an initial verbal report on the state of affairs. If they have any concerns to raise, Trixie will listen to them and give them due consideration. Any decisions will be deferred until a follow-up meeting at which time Trixie will expect a full and comprehensive written report for thorough assessment.”
I chewed thoughtfully on a vege-sausage before replying, “Do you suspect anything untoward happening within the ministry?”
“Recent events have made it obvious to the Great and Busy Trixie that she has not given sufficient time and attention to her underlings. Equestria is best served if she keeps them on their tippy-hooves.”
Heh! Translation – fraudsters of Flim and Flam’s ilk will be found and no longer tolerated, not to mention other slackers, tricksters, and incompetents. If I knew Trixie, and after a mere few days with the mare I thought I had her pretty well pegged, her pride had been stung, and no one in the employ of the Crown was going to exacerbate that. Her empathy for the common pony was greater than before, but I considered that a work in progress.
“Any suggestions about what I should do?”
“Trixie suggests that you spend the morning in Canterlot and get more familiar with the city and its citizens.”
I nodded. I think I felt ready to leave the relative calm of the palace and its grounds and mingle with the inhabitants of this fairytale city. At least I wouldn’t look like a slack-jawed yokel like I must have when I first arrived.
The blue unicorn wasn’t finished, however. “Trixie also thinks that it’s a perfect time to get a bit more ambitious with your flying lessons. Besides, Trixie is tired of listening to complaints from the groundskeepers about damage to the gardens and sundry items that you crash into.”
I nearly choked on the pancake that I was eating. Just because yesterday’s attempt to fly had been the least painful so far, did not mean that I thought that I was anywhere near airworthy yet. “But—”
“No ‘buts’, Watermark Clamshells – Trixie expects you to put more effort into… re-learning how to fly.”
If there hadn’t been a servant within earshot, I’m sure she would have come up with a more pointed jab than just mangling my name. Where did she come up with some of these? I hadn’t heard her repeat one yet! I swear she must have looked up all the words that rhyme with my names just to piss me off. Nevertheless, she had a point. I was never going to learn how to fly if I didn’t try and try again, and it was obvious by now that she wasn’t going to let me stay on the nice safe ground. If I balked, I had a feeling that she wouldn’t hesitate to order a pegasus Royal Guard to pick me up and drop me from a great altitude while calling it tough love.
“Okay, Your Royal Bossiness,” I conceded.
Trixie gave me her usual smug smile. Yeah, she hadn’t changed all that much.
“Are you bucking kidding me?!” I screamed.
Steady Flight just rolled his eyes. “No, I’m not. How can even amnesia make you forget about cloud-walking?”
Steady had decided to take me up the trail that ascended Mount Canterhorn. Admittedly it had excellent views of the city and the surrounding area, but that wasn’t the main reason why we had come this way. He suggested that it might be a better place to try learning how to control my flight magic. I found that hard to believe because it had trees and rocks aplenty to crash into, but I figured he had something else in mind. When I found out exactly what, I thought he had lost his marbles.
As I had been told previously, the weather pegasi kept the sky clear over Canterlot at this time, so I hadn’t seen them interact with clouds before. Up this high on the mountain though, some clouds persisted but were left alone as they did not affect the city’s weather, apparently, and they contributed to maintaining the snow that capped the peak. We had reached a plateau which brought us just above a couple of layers of clouds, and now the view downward was obscured by a billowing mist. That’s when and where Steady had freaked me out by telling me to walk out onto the cloud.
“Is that a euphemism for taking a blind leap into thin air?” I asked.
He gave me a flat look, then rather than answering, he turned around and stepped off the cliff… and walked a few yards out onto the cloud.
My jaw surely must have hit the ground as I gaped in disbelief at the sight. Flying ponies had been enough of a stretch, but at least they had wings. This just did not compute according to my logical brain.
“Are you going to get out here or not?” Steady asked impatiently.
“Hell, no!” I replied vehemently, my animal hindbrain shrieking in terror at the thought.
“Alright, you forced me to do this.” He took off and flew to hover over me. He reached down to put all four legs around me and lifted me off the ground.
I immediately figured out what he was going to do and I started squirming to try to get out of his grasp. I succeeded, but a little too late. We were already over the cloud, and I screeched in terror as I plummeted…
… all of six feet before I bounced and then rolled on what felt like a soft trampoline. I could barely make myself look, but when I did, all I saw was a sheet of thick vapor underneath me. Buck me! I was lying on a cloud.
“This is so impossible,” I muttered.
“Obviously not,” Steady replied. “Anyway, better to crash into one of these than a tree or a fountain, am I right?”
I found it hard to argue with that logic, but it wasn’t logic that had me quivering in fear on top of a cloud. “I still don’t like heights!” I protested.
Steady obviously had had enough of my reticence because he snorted with annoyance and said in his best drill instructor’s voice, “Listen up, Mark! Stop acting like a foal and get your act together. You’re a pegasus; even if you’ve forgotten everything about being one, you nevertheless are one still. You were born to fly, so get your plot off the cloud, spread your wings, and fly!”
Very motivational. It might have even worked if I wasn’t a human in a pony body. Still, my pride had been stung, and I was damned if was going to look like a baby in front of my new friend. I forced myself up onto my hooves and took a tentative step. The cloud remained firm beneath me, so I took another. The surface texture was spongey but firmed up after it gave about an inch. It reminded me of Oobleck, the non-Newtonian fluid that stiffened upon impact, except that these clouds remained firm if I stood still. Perhaps pegasus magic firmed the attraction between the water molecules, and flight magic decreased the effect of gravity.
Curiously, now that I had given myself a ‘scientific’ explanation of how cloud-walking worked, I felt far more confident about actually doing it. I walked around a bit, then experimentally hopped up and down. The cloud still held firm.
“Having fun?” Steady asked with a smirk on his face.
I begrudgingly admitted that I was. “It’s a little like a fairground thrill ride – it has an element of danger while still actually being safe.”
“I never thought of it like that. However, this is just the first stage. Now I want you to step off the edge of the cloud and glide down to the next one. Don’t try to power fly yet – just hold your wings out like this and feel how the air flows over them.”
He demonstrated exactly how he wanted me to position my wings for gliding, and I emulated that as best as I could. That was the easy part. Stepping off the cloud – not so simple. Did you know that you can cut furrows into clouds? I know because Steady had to shove my ass while my legs were locked in resistance to the concept of throwing myself off a perfectly secure platform. Clouds don’t make for great resistance though, and abruptly I was over the edge.
“Straighten out your wings!” Steady shouted. He accompanied me as I hurtled towards the lower cloud deck.
I had forgotten everything about flying though. My previous ‘flights’ had been powered and had me moving so fast that I did not have time to think as I crashed in and through various objects. This time, the only thing going through my mind during the drop was: “OHHHHHHHH! FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUU—!”
~SPLAT!~
Let me tell you something about clouds – if you’re a pegasus and you hit one at speed, it’s like diving from the high tower at the pool. You better be angled properly or else it’s going to hurt. There was a flash of light and the boom of thunder, but I was too stunned to wonder about that.
Steady came to a gentle landing beside me. “Well, that could have gone better, but I think we just solved what your cutie mark represents.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked dizzily.
“That was an extremely impressive thunderbolt that you loosed from the cloud. Feels like it’s ready to dump its load of rain right now too,” he said as he tapped the cloud’s surface experimentally. “Better be careful or you’ll send a downpour into the outskirts of Canterlot, and the weather team will be pissed with you.”
I looked again at the cloud and noticed that it had darkened considerably. “I did that?”
“Yep. I think you may have been a storm wrangler, and a powerful one at that. It helps explain why your previous attempts to fly were so wild. Your body is built for power flying, not precision.”
Great. Not only was I having to figure out how to use this pegasus body properly, but it was like I was trying to learn to drive by getting into a Formula One racecar! “So, what do we do now?”
“We’d better get off this cloud before you accidentally trigger it. This time, don’t freeze up. Get the angle of your wings right and glide, not dive. And try looking outwards, not down. Your body will naturally try to fly the direction you are looking.”
I grumbled but tried to comply. That’s when I realized that there weren’t any more clouds below this one to break my fall. I started to point this out to Steady, but he just blew a gust of wind under my wings and I lifted off and over the edge.
There was a heck of a view of the city now that there were no more clouds obscuring the scenery. I think it motivated me not to become street pizza and cut through my fear so I could actually concentrate on using my wings. I began to feel what Steady had been trying to teach me – how the air moved around my body and wings. I changed the angle at which my feathered appendages met the sky and felt the lift that they were generating.
“You’re doing great!” Steady called from nearby. “You’ve got enough airspeed now to control your rate of fall. Start angling them up a bit more to pull out of your dive.”
Good suggestion, Steady. I had just realized how fast the cityscape was approaching, and slowing down seemed like a very good idea. I adjusted the angle of the wings so that they forced more air underneath, and I started to level out and wasn’t accelerating as much. It wasn’t happening fast enough though, so I tilted them a bit more. That worked! I was now tearing through the sky at a shallow angle, and it felt great! Despite the wind in my face, my eyes were largely unaffected, and only then did I realize that a kind of third eyelid had slid across my eyes to protect them instinctively.
“Now steer for the park and we’ll come in for a landing on the lawn,” Steady instructed.
My heart clenched in fear once more. “Steer? You haven’t shown me how to do that yet!” I yelled back.
The stallion’s mouth made an ‘Oops’ shape before he replied. “You have to adjust your wings like this.” He tried to demonstrate, but of course that made him steer away from me and I didn’t learn a thing.
The ground was approaching a bit too fast for comfort, and I started to panic. If I tried to use my flight magic like previously, I suspected that might make things even worse, considering the lack of control that I had over it.
Steady Flight came back close to me and yelled, “You’re heading into the flight lanes! Pull up! Flare your wings and pull up!”
Fortunately, I figured out what he was trying to tell me and I spread my feathers wide and tilted my wings to cup the air like I had seen eagles do. It seemed to be working and I was beginning to think I was going to survive this stunt when Steady yelled again.
“Watch out for—”
~WHAM!~
I collided with something. No, make that someone, and we both crashed to the ground.
Never did landing in a bush seem so welcome. The nearby pavement was a whole lot harder than a cloud! Judging from the amount of swearing coming from nearby, my unfortunate victim had also landed in the shrubbery. I saw a maroon mane pop up out of the leaves, followed by a very angry blue-furred stallion.
“WHAT THE BUCK WAS THAT, YOU MORON?! WHO TAUGHT YOU HOW TO FLY? DISCORD?!”
I think he was irked. Maybe even slightly put out. “I’m so sorry, sir. I’m still re-learning how to fly.”
The stallion blinked in confusion before asking, “What do you mean by that?”
“I’m a victim of a disease that caused me a severe case of amnesia and I cannot recall even the basics from flight school. I’m still under instruction by this guy.” I pointed my hoof at Steady who had landed on the path beside the shrubs.
The incredulous look that he gave me made me curse the stupid cover story once more. “You’re sticking with that excuse? Sounds like the plot of a bad fiction to me.”
“It’s true, sir,” my flight instructor spoke up. “My name is Steady Flight, and I have been commanded by Princess Trixie to teach Mark Wells how to fly again.”
“Well, tell the princess to expect a bill from Airy Words if I’ve suffered any injuries requiring a hospital visit!” he snarled before extricating himself from the bush and limped away.
“Should I be worried?” I asked as I tried to disentangle myself from the shrub.
“Unlikely,” Steady replied. “Pegasi are extremely resilient, as you have had cause to find out for yourself. I think he’ll be okay. Looks like you’re fine too.”
I gave him a flat look as I finally got all four hooves back on the ground. “Speak for yourself.” I stumbled off in the direction of some nearby shops. “Steady – the Grape and Plotful Trixie said to check out the city, right?”
“Yes, Mark.”
“You know where to find a bar?”
“Yes, Mark.”
“You’re paying.”
Steady sighed. “Yes, Mark.”
“Trixie thought that you would still be exploring Canterlot, Pockmark Swells?”
“Too much to see in one morning. Besides, you didn’t say what was on the agenda for this afternoon. I didn’t expect to find you in here.”
Trixie was seated at the desk in Celestia’s study, surrounded by a stack of books which I could only suppose were magic tomes, based on some of the titles that I could see.
“Trixie’s lessons have been interrupted by her need to run Equestria. Some time needs to be set aside for resumption of her studies.”
I was impressed. It seemed that there were other repercussions from yesterday’s events.
“However,” Trixie continued, “Celestia would clearly understand Princess Trixie’s need to prioritize Equestria’s needs before these homework assignments, which is why Trixie is delegating them to someone of a lesser station.”
A-n-d there she goes ruining the moment. “Let me guess – you’re dumping them all on Twilight Sparkle?”
“You are most perspicacious, Hallmark Nutshells, which is why the Wise and Prudent Trixie made you her Grand Vizier.”
I gave her a sharp look. “I sense you’re setting me up for something.”
The mare gave me an innocent smile. “Trixie is merely asking you to take these books to Ponyville to pass on to Twilight Sparkle.” She levitated several of them into a pile in front of me. “Please tell her to pay particular attention to the book of spells by Starswirl the Bearded – Celestia bookmarked a page with a note mentioning her other personal student. Oh, and while you’re there, you can make good use of your time to judge the sentiments of the common ponies, not to mention Twilight herself.”
“So, not only do you want me to be your messenger boy, but you also want me to be your spy? Don’t trust what Twilight may be up to? Feeling slightly threatened, perhaps?” I asked with a smirk.
“Trixie does not know what you are talking about. She merely wishes to keep an ear to the ground, so to speak.”
“When do you want me to go?”
“This afternoon – have your butler make the travel arrangements.”
“He’s a valet, not a butler, and won’t you be needing me this afternoon?”
“There is no court session, and Trixie has more pressing engagements to attend to. Tomorrow is Saturday, so stay the weekend. I will expect you back for Monday morning’s court.”
“What pressing engagements? This is the first I’ve heard of them.”
Before Trixie could answer, a tan unicorn mare entered the room and bowed formally. “Empress Trixie? You asked me to remind you when it was time for your spa appointment.”
“Ah, yes. Trixie must invest many grueling hours to maintain her majestic appearance.” The blue mare turned towards the door and called over her shoulder. “Trixie will be expecting your report on Monday, Meadowlark Knells!”
I stared after the blue unicorn with a sense of chagrin. I should have known better. Just because she had a newfound sense of purpose didn’t mean that the mare’s nature had changed. Trixie was still Trixie. I looked at the pile of books and figured that at least one unicorn was going to appreciate getting them. I just had to hope that she wouldn’t shoot the messenger.
I had Steady arrange a first class compartment because it would take us several hours to get to the township, and if I was going on royal business, then the Royal Treasury was going to pay for it. I enjoyed watching the unfamiliar scenery pass by, but I also made good use of the time by getting my friend to tell me as much as he knew about Ponyville and its citizens, and what I could expect to find there. It turned out that Steady had never actually visited Ponyville, but it was famous for being the home of all the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Twilight’s presentation, surprisingly, had made only brief mention of her famous friends – just one slide with names and pictures and another with a bulleted list of the adventures that she thought worth mentioning. At the time, I wondered if the list might have been shortened by removing any tales that might have been embarrassing to one or more of the Elements. As such, more than the expected amount of news came from that small township, and some of it was quite intriguing.
The Ponyville station was quaint. For such an important place, it didn’t go out of its way to look it. Instead, just like the rest of the hamlet that I had seen from the carriage as we had pulled into the platform, it looked like some girl’s toy set. More than ever, I knew I had to be in some fantasy universe. Ah well, it beat smog-grimed buildings and ugly cement structures.
Only a couple of other ponies got off at that station, so the pink mare who was standing there apparently waiting for someone was very conspicuous. Imagine my surprise when she dashed up to me with a manic grin on her face.
“It’s you! You’re new to Ponyville and Equestria and you’re going to be our new best friend and I’m here to welcome you and invite you to a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party and get to introduce you to all my friends and all the citizens of our town and you’re going to love it here and enjoy our hospitality and sample the finest cider in Equestria and the bestest cakes in the world while having so much fun as you learn about the Element Bearers and how you’re going to change Twilight’s destiny but that’s not going to happen for a little while yet so don’t worry about it for the moment and just enjoy your visit. Gotta go!”
I blinked, and the pink crazy pony was gone. “Did you get any of that, Steady?”
“Umm… I think she was the welcoming committee. I’m not sure, but I think that was Pinkie Pie, one of the Element Bearers.”
“I hope the rest of them are a lot calmer than her. And if she was the welcoming committee, she could have stuck around long enough to give us directions to Twilight Sparkle’s residence.”
“She’s supposed to live in the town’s library.”
“Appropriate for a bookworm, I suppose, but not much help. We’ll have to ask for directions. Maybe the stationmaster will know?”
Whether the stationmaster could have helped, I never found out because apparently they had closed for the day. I suppose that our train was the last until morning, and as no one had required anything immediately after we had gotten off the train, they had simply packed up and gone home while we were distracted by Pinkie Pie. I couldn’t even find out if there was a service available to take our luggage to a hotel, so we had to carry it all ourselves as we went in search of the library.
We headed towards a gathering of ponies in a place that I quickly recognized as a market. Apparently, it too was shutting down for the day and the crowd was rapidly dispersing. However, the merchants who were packing up weren’t going anywhere for the moment. I selected an orange-coated mare who was packing apples from her stall into a cart.
“Pardon me, ma’am, but could I trouble you for some information?”
“Why, howdy, stranger! What can Ah do for ya?”
“I’m looking for the town library. I have some books to give to Twilight Sparkle whom I believe resides there.”
“She sure does. She’ll be happy to see ya if’n y’all are bringin’ her books. Never known a mare so happy to read so much.”
“If you could give me directions, I would be very grateful.”
“No problem.” She gave me pretty clear instructions of the ‘turn left at the fountain’ variety – didn’t they have street names here? “You’ll know the library tree when you see it,” she concluded.
Library tree? I was obviously missing something, but I supposed that it would become clear when I got there. “Thank you very much, ma’am.”
“Would ya care to buy some apples while yer here?”
I was going to say no because I had eaten well on the train, but the aroma of those perfect-looking apples persuaded me to change my mind. I pointed out a particularly nice type. “I’d like two of those, please – one for me and one for my friend.”
“Comin’ atcha!” She hoofed over the apples and said, “That’ll be two bits.”
Considering that those bits appeared to be made from gold, I thought that those apples were a little expensive, but because Steady didn’t blink an eye at the price, I decided that I needed to know more about the coins’ value relative to the goods before I started complaining. I passed the mare the two bits and then she held out a bag full of apples.
“What are those for?” I asked.
“A favah for a favah. Could you drop these off to Twahlight for me. Tell her Applejack sent ’em.”
I took the bag as that name rang a bell. “Applejack? You’re one of the Element Bearers, aren’t you?”
“Sure am. Element of Honesty here.”
“Pleased to meet you, Applejack. I didn’t expect to run into two of the Bearers within minutes of arriving in Ponyville. My name is Mark Wells, the new Grand Vizier to Princess Trixie, and I was hoping to get together with you all while I am visiting this weekend.”
Applejack’s jovial friendliness evaporated and the farm mare narrowed her eyes as she regarded me. “Ah recognize ya now.
Yer Trixie’s new pet advisah, aintcha? Ah’ve been readin’ the papers. So what exactly caused that there allergic reaction for ya?”
I was getting uncomfortable and looked around for a convenient excuse to get away. “I said I was allergic to blueberries.”
Applejack seemed to weigh my words carefully for a few seconds. “Well, yer not exactly lyin', but yer not exactly telling the truth neither. Ya ain't really allergic to them, are ya?”
I backed away and turned to leave, but I looked back at her with a smile. “Nope. I just said that I was.” I trotted away and called over my shoulder. “Pardon me, but I have books and apples to deliver.”
I could still feel her cold stare as we turned the corner.
Applejack’s directions proved to be pretty good, and soon we arrived at the Golden Oaks Library. I stopped and gaped. The library was a literal tree! It had a door and windows carved into it, and even a balcony in its upper branches. Light coming through the windows and smoke curling from a chimney showed that it was currently occupied. I turned to Steady Flight and asked, “Am I really seeing what I’m seeing?”
He gave me a puzzled expression. “I don’t know what you mean, Mark. It looks like a typical library tree to me.”
Of course it did. Silly me. Where else would you put a library? I sighed. “Come on, we have a tree-dwelling unicorn to meet.”
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I prefer the new thumbnail.
Also,
9120964
who needs little grey cells?
I have CIRCUITS!
You came up with a whole list of names that sound kind of like "Mark Wells" when you started this story, didn't you?
Hallmark Nutshells
And if course
Mark. Mark. Mark of the city crazy as can be. AAAAAAHHHHHH! Watch out for that BANG! OOOOOOHHHHHH! Treeeeeeeee!
a tree dweling unicorn i can not unsee a a purple chimunk sized unicorn with squirrel teeth
Liking this .
Where is Airy Words from?
9134635
Airy Words is my collaborator on this story. I decided that he needed to make a greater impact though.
(*COUGH*) (*HACK*) Okay, (*COUGH*) that was funny!
9134645
What an impact it was
Oh, Pinkie Pie. Never change.
9134645
As I told Goldfur earlier, I figured out that my role in this story will be the same as the one Eric Idle had in the movie European Vacation.
9134645
the pun
Oh, that wouldn't happen to be Starswirl's unfinished spell, would it ?
9134959
And she'll promptly ignore it because A, she doesn't trust Trixie, and B, she's far more focused on finding her mentor/second mother/deity than some musty old spell.
You said 'to get' twice there.
Wonder if Lark Bells will tell the other bearers where he is really from.
9135060
Fixed now, thanks.
Wonders if Trixie will ever get Mark's name right.. I guess Airy Words did make more of an impact maybe Rainbow Dash can give Mark a few pointers..
Poor mark hope he doesn't try to understand Pinkie or they might have to place him in a padded room. He apparently didn't catch that said he was new to both Ponyville and Equestria. Its almost impossible to arrive in Ponyville and not meet Pinkie Pie
Hey Baron! somebody got your number!
I'm just waiting for more of the non-rhyming misnomers ("Well Marked", etc) to appear. A pony trying to remember a name which was "something to do with blemishes and underground tunnels" might thrash around and come up with Stain Holes, or Splattered Sewer. Another might remember "what artists do, and water sources", and blurt out Paint Barrel, or Seascape.
Then there's one-word sort-of-rhymes, like Cartels or Carmels. And have we had Hard Sells yet? :)
and Mark Wells is in the wright place to learn how to fly.
but will it be RD or Fluttershy?
Another fun chapter. It is nice that they arrive so frequently, so we can have another laugh at Mark's expense.
I wonder when The Snarky and Annoying Trixie will run out of ways to twist Mark's name?
It must be getting increasingly more challenging to find new rhymes...
Oh no. It's Pinkie. Poor Meadowlark Tails, getting thrown muzzle-first into that deep end of crazy.
Steady Flight: "Rainbow Crash, meet Crash Well.
And Mark, if anypony can get you flying like you're supposed to be, it's Rainbow Dash. I'll just leave you with her while I go over here and put some money down on the races that are about to happen... 
"
Mark is taking flying lessons from George of the Jungle, eh? Watch out for that THUDD tree...
Sorry for not commenting on the last chapter got really busy with other stuff. The last chapter was very interesting to me because we had a chance to see what was the royal court like for Mark and show how the. I did really like seeing the Flim Flam brothers and see that Trixie is already familiar with their antics but still got the wool pull over her eyes, I wonder if we will see more of them in the future and would love to see their convictions as well for trying to use the crown as a patsy for their scheme. I loved how Mark managed to guess what they were actually up to and have him resist the pressure of the ponies all-around him not succumbing to the pressure of the herd or from other which I think will be very important for his new job, with all the authority he can exert now, I wonder if it will backfire one day or that he goes in too heavy handed/hoofed and make things worse for others. I did like to see Trixie showing that she genuinely wants to help her fellow ponies, but then power then to corrupt people/ponies with being disconnected with their needs after a long while, I hope she can shake of it, I wouldn’t be surprised she falls into that trapping. Would love to see her and Mark take part to more social events and celebrations like opening of edifices ceremonies, would be great to have more world building that happen beyond just the typical occasionally visit to Ponyville or Canterlot and the happening elsewhere. I am sure she has just been in training so far and the real work with come when she has a fully regimented daily schedule that kibitz hope to see him. I can’t wait to see what the council is really like, they seem to be the perfect foil for Mark and Trixie, I wonder where they will start to clashing with each other and on what.
It was also nice to see more of the member of the court and ponies who can inform or enlighten Mark and Trixie on how things work in the Equestrian government as well as the legal system; it also help to broaden the cast of character to the story to give more depth to the castle. By the way I take it that the story takes place in about season three
It was interesting to see a guest OC in the story, but it felt a bit out of place I hope there will be more to him then just bumping into each other on a one off event. I wonder how long Mark will be able to keep his secret to Steady Flight, he has been a really pal to him in teaching on how to fly and wouldn’t want their friendship be ruined by the truth. It was interesting to learn that Mark has a good body to work with and seems to have an affinity with cloud magic manipulation and it was that he had a special talent in raining on other ponies’ parade like I first suspected. Fun fact every mammal have second eyelids except for the greater apes like the gorillas, chimps and humans and bats also use it as a way to protect their eyes as well during day time.
It looks like Trixie just gave away her best change in becoming an alicorn and that Twilight will become a princess weather she want to or not, the question is what will happen when that happen sense there isn’t an undisputed ruling monarch at the moment will start arguing who should rule and I am sure somepony will try to use Twilight for their own ends as her great reluctance. I live the idea that everypony seems to believe that Trixie is an alicorn even up to Steady Fight, wonder what trouble this might bring for her later in the future, could there be old villains that we haven’t seen yet that will try to take advantage of the absence of Celestia and wrongly make the assumption that Trixie is at the same magical caliber as she was? Could she use the Alicorn Amulet to try to save Equestria only to be corrupted by after she defeat the treat. I wonder if there is a flight spell imbedded in the fake wings to keep fooling everypony?
I can’t wait to see what will happen in Ponyville that will traumatize Mark over there, I am sure Twilight’s basement will give him nightmare fuel for a while. My best guess will be that Twilight will become an alicorn within the next chapter or so seeing that he is delivering Starswirl unfinished spell is just delivered to her.
I will be looking forward to see more of this story again soon.
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Technically, I think it was Quark Gels who made the greater impact...
Since Twilights last visit I have to wonder how is she going to react when Mark comes to her place?
I wonder if she even knowledges that she kissed Mark? Since she mostly concentrates to much thinking and studying to notice what is happening outside of her thoughts
Let's see how much Mark is able to strengthen his relationship with Twilight during this meeting.
Let's also see how long it takes for that comment he made about Twilight being a good kisser to reach Shining Armor's ears.
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That was said in front of both Cadance and Shining.
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No, He went to chat with the guards before that was said.
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Ah. I misread Cadance relaying Shining's findings with the guard as Shining having returned by that point.
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BUTT
Where are his two Mares?
BUT
BUT
BUTT
I LIKE LARGE, GIANT, or even HUGE Chapters
Million word chapters are good.
My Text reader just can't do the Pinkie's one word paragraphs justice.
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you sir, look too smug. i would love to see a match between you and Blackjack (not that odd doctor by the same name)
Actually interesting that this is his cutie mark, as the job he's doing as Grand Vizier is helping Trixie wrangle the building political storm.
These story images are great. Shenanigans
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Heh, nice metaphorical connection. I didn't even notice
or he's going to cause them9148626
Must. Have. More. Words.
Having books that are dead trees in a living hollowed out one... how morbid
SWEET CELESTIA! THE SELF AWARENESS IS OFF THE CHARTS! *ding*
I love the art in the storys. What the price of one?
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Depends on the artist, but Foxena's cost $60 for one character with simple background, or $90 for two characters like this chapter's pic.
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Yeah, but ponies would rather enforce involuntary tree canabalism instead of keeping their literature in caves and clay pots.
I don't get the bit with allergies and blueberries. It seems completely random.
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Dont you read the story from the start? Its Trixie coverstory for Mark Well not knowing basic commen sence things.
I know this is supposed to be read in AJ's southern accent but when I got to this part I started reading it in a thick New York/ New Jersey accent lol
Great character development and inter character relationship incoming
Please tell her to pay particular attention to the book of spells by Starswirl the Bearded – Celestia bookmarked a page
Well that's one way to lose a job ironically
you’re going to change Twilight’s destiny
Are we talking about the book again or something deeper
YES! Someone got it right. People constantly call Valets, Butlers which they are not. The most famous one is in the series of books, Jeeves and Wooster. by the Author P. G. Wodehouse. Ok, so whats the difference? A Valet is a personal servant. A Butler is the General manager of a expensive home. A Butler basically in charge of, manages, hires and fires the general staff of the home. When visiting a home with a butler and staff, your personal Valet, plugs himself into that staff. For example, during dinner, your valet stands against the wall with the other staff and will refill glasses as necessary. A Valet can easily be a Butler and a Butler can easily be a Valet, but they are completely different jobs. Another way to look at it is one is a nurse, where the other is the head of a small hospital.
Monk