Sigil of Souls, Stream of Memories

by Piccolo Sky

Daybreak: An Unwanted Vacation

“Sailing, sailing! Over the ocean waves!”

“Pinkie?”

“Yeah?”

“You’ve been singing that song ever since you woke up four hours ago. And you sang it all day yesterday. And the day before…” Rainbow Dash sighed tiredly. “Could we give it a rest?”

Pinkie hopped off of the steam ship’s railing and turned to face her, balling her hands up into fists and practically hopping up and down. “I’m just so excited to be here! We’re on the ocean! The big, beautiful, wet ocean! Water, water everywhere! We never had this much water at the quarry in Trottingham! Now I just have to hang my head over the side whenever I get thirsty!”

Dash grimaced. “I…don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“Aw…”

The Huntsman turned and looked behind her. She and Pinkie were currently on the prow of the steam ship. Being from Manehattan, it was one of the larger, cleaner, and more luxurious liners that were available on the open seas, and this was one of the latest and most modern boats. Not that Dash was appreciating it. While the ship would have been suitable for a relaxing cruise for most people, she had spent the entire trip looking uneasy, uncomfortable, and cranky. Including now as she glanced back along the deck.

Being a more “official” voyage for Manehattan, the ship was manned by an official Manehattan Naval crew, and had additional members of the army stationed on it. She hadn’t given them a good look so much as once. As much as she had been reluctant to get on board the ship back in Manehattan, she seemed to only regret her decision more as time went on.

Finally, she looked back in front of her again, only to see Pinkie’s grinning face right in hers.

“Hey Rainbow Dash!”

“Yah!”

Instantly she leaped back, only to trip and fall back to the deck. She grimaced sorely and began to pick herself up again.

“What…?”

“How come you haven’t tried out your new Anima Viri yet? Don’t you want to know what kind of Role you’ll turn into?”

She grunted as she got back to her feet. “Ugh…now you’re going on about it too? What does it matter anyway?” She gestured around them. “We’re taking the long way around the Teeth Archipelago. We aren’t going to be going anywhere near wherever those ships are being smashed or where those things Twilight saw are doing it.” She crossed her arms. “It might actually make this trip kind of fun. I’d rather be beating something up rather than just standing around being stared at by those army guys…”

“Aw…they’re not so bad when they’re not arresting you. Or chasing you. Or shooting you. Or forcing you to move into an internment camp. What’s the problem?”

“I don’t get along with military types too well anymore, is all.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“Let’s just say they’re the second-most disliked group of my list of pet peeves…”

“Really? Who’s first?”

Dash turned back to Pinkie, who looked at her as innocent and oblivious as a lamb.

“…Nevermind.”

“Ms. Dash, Ms. Pie.”

Both women looked up and down the deck. One of the sailors, apparently one of the official bridge crew, was approaching both of them, and stopped a short distance away.

“Based on our current position, we should be in sight of land within the hour, and we’ll be making port at Somnambula before noon.”

“Yipee!” Pinkie cheered.

Rainbow Dash didn’t look as enthused. “Alright, so we got you all here. What exactly do we do while your high muck-a-mucks are out there doing whatever it is you do…like negotiating or whatever?”

“The Embassy for Southern Equestria is a bit low on space and rather basic in terms of facilities. Normally when we send an envoy, we make accommodations with some of the local administrators and officials with whom we have more formal diplomatic ties. You’ll be staying with two such individuals who live near the sugar plantations for the next three days until we are ready to return to Manehattan.”

Pinkie grinned from ear to ear. “Did you say…‘sugar’? Ooo! Maybe they’ll let me take back a few bags!”

“Away from the rest of the army? Sounds good to me,” Dash threw in.

“Very well then. Kindly return to your cabins and get everything you need in order. We’ll want to disembark quickly once we arrive.”

---

A few hours later, and the steam ship was pulling into Port Somnambula in Southern Equestria. Not long after, both ladies disembarked—the first time either of them had set foot on another continent. The experience was, to say the least, rather shocking.

The first thing that struck them was the heat. The hottest part of summer had come and gone in Greater Everfree, but it was still rather warm and arid down south. Enough to almost be oppressive for both of them. The next shocking thing was the architecture. The port city that they had ended up in was certainly big and bustling enough. Easily a match for a place like Baltimare. And yet, everything about it was far older. Most of the buildings were still made of clay bricks that looked like they had been weather-battered and worn for at least a hundred years. They were no more than two stories and packed together on roads that were mostly packed dirt or stone. Many of the people were dressed in different styles, all of them far different from Greater Everfree and from a far earlier age.

The biggest shock, however, to both of them was in the nature of the people. Even considering the fact that they had gone to a land with a different culture, it was astonishing to see their demeanor. They seemed far louder and more talkative. They had a greater energy about them as they went about their daily tasks, even with such simple things as carrying goods, unloading ships, or setting up stalls in the local markets and streets that seemed everywhere. In general, everything around them seemed livelier.

Even the residents who had clearly descended from Manehattanites had a much more open and casual demeanor about them. When they passed by local cafes or coffee shops, the customers laughed louder and joked more often. When they went through the markets, the people were more eager to buy and the vendors more ready to sell.

That wasn’t to say that everything was positive, however. On the contrary. They had scarcely set foot off the pier, for example, before they saw some of the local magistrates mediating an argument between what looked like two different shipping companies. Just a bit further and what looked like an angry warehouse owner was yelling at another group over what was clearly a broken-into building. Once they got into the streets, they saw no less than three different arguments—one of which came to a fist fight between a pair of men pulling along hand carts.

Worming their way through it all proved to be a bit rough. While most of the people they were escorting were immediately whisked away on a steam carriage to wherever they were meeting, they were given directions to the local official’s house and then left on their own to make their way through the noise and commotion of the city. It wasn’t long before they were knee deep in people traversing markets, bombarded by sights, sounds, and smells of everyone around them.

Smells, in particular, caught Pinkie’s attention. For the third time since they left the boat, Dash suddenly saw her dart to one side. “Ooo! Ooo! They’ve got oranges and grapes over here! And look! Sugar beets and dates over there! Oh, oh, oh! That place has potatoes! …Ok, those aren’t as tasty as the others, but still!”

By now, Dash was keen enough to reach out and seize her by the back of the shirt before she could take off. “Knock it off, Pinkie. We’re not here to shop, and I’d rather get to wherever we’re staying first before we hit any markets.”

She again looked disappointed, but resigned herself to again standing at her side. They walked a little further, with her looking around like an eager child, before she turned her head and hummed. “Hmm…y’know…there’s something weird about the people around here that I can’t quite put my finger on…”

Dash cracked a sly smile. “You mean that there’s so many men around here doing everything?”

Pinkie looked up at that, but did another glance about. “Huh…you know what? There is!”

“Of course. None of the people down in Southern Equestria had to deal with the Lunar Fall. They didn’t have to get their armies torn to pieces followed by all the draftees trying to kill the Nighttouched and Light Eaters. Down here? It was just business as usual the past seven years.” She snickered. “I bet they think we’re a couple of street walkers because we’re going around ‘unescorted’ like this.”

“Oh…but I am a street walker!”

“Huh?”

“See? I’m walking…and it’s a street!”

“…Let’s just get to that house.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!”

While the streets were initially crowded, they eventually, and quite abruptly, terminated. The reason was clear. One of Southern Equestria’s great rivers was near the port city and, as a result, much of the land around it that was in the flood plain had to be reserved purely for agriculture. The ancient stonework and brick gave way to wide, spacious fields of agriculture. Very neatly arranged, very carefully cultivated using the latest techniques, and spanning up and down the banks of the river as far as the eye could see. Even the road they were on was made as thin as possible to not use up the precious fertile land.

The two still had a ways to walk even then, and passed by a number of fields along the way, but eventually they entered lands that were nothing but sugar cane. Pinkie Pie was happily skipping along all the way, until they reached one of the fields currently being harvested. At that point she watched the laborers at work and noticed something. They didn’t appear to be Manehattan descent, and very few of them looked like they were of native Southern Equestria descent either. Most of them that did seemed to be walking along the rows watching the other laborers at work. It caused Pinkie a bit of puzzlement, especially how each of them kept their heads down and straight to task, but she didn’t question it.

Eventually, however, they came up to a house—a somewhat large and conspicuous one that had been built at the end of their path. It was in the Manehattan style, at least what was popular a century ago, but was clearly very old and very well maintained with a very wide and expansive front porch area.

The three had scarcely approached the front step when the door opened. Pinkie was a bit surprised at the young man who came out. While he was well-dressed enough, the individual was clearly of Griffonstone descent. He went to the top of the steps and halted, giving them a bow of greeting, albeit one that was a tad forced.

“Welcome. I assume I’m talking to Ms. Rainbow Dash and Ms. Pinkamena Diane Pie?”

Both ladies were a bit put off by the formal greeting, especially this far from Greater Everfree, but Dash merely nodded. “Yup, that’s us.”

“We’ve been expecting you. Please, come this way. The master and the mistress are out on the north veranda.”

He immediately turned around and headed inside. The two looked to one another, before heading up the front stairs, crossing the porch, and following after him.

The house was furnished much as one might expect from an older couple from Manehattan. Some of the pictures, the dishes in the cabinets, and a few of the draperies bore more of a signature Southern Equestria style, but all in all it was much like walking into an older style of home from Rarity’s. For as large as it was, it was also rather empty. Many of the rooms were cute, picturesque, and decorated nicely, but also looked totally untouched. They even crossed a dining room with full expensive place settings put out, with half of the utensils being ones the two ladies had never seen before, but they were long unused.

They ended up going all the way to the back door, where the young man led them through. Another long, spacious porch was out that way, this one overlooking the river and, far beyond it, the ocean. An older couple, bordering on elderly, were seated out there along with an old dog—who was lying there with his head on his paws regarding the newcomers with an indifferent look.

As for the old couple, the lady of the two was leaning in a high-backed chair around a round table, using a hand fan to keep away the occasional insect from the river. She seemed casual and amiable enough. The gentleman, on the other hand, was a different sort entirely. He was dressed in a suit, indicating that, in spite of his age, he still had some business he was going about, but he was looking at one of several letters on his side of the table and giving them a rather grumpy and sour look. So much so that he didn’t even seem to notice the young man approach him, even when he stopped just a few feet away.

He glanced over another two lines of the letter. “Yeah, what is it, Gallus?”

“The two Manehattan guests have arrived, sir.”

He let out a bit of a grumble, but took the letter and tossed it aside before looking up at the two of them. He definitely wasn’t the most pleasant fellow to look at. Aside from that, Rainbow Dash had to stifle a smirk on seeing his very obvious toupee.

“So…you’re those two ‘magic women’ from Manehattan, eh?”

Pinkie grinned and hopped forward, right up to Gallus’ side. “Yup! That’s us, Mr….” She trailed off, clearly motioning for him to fill her in.

He ignored it. “Got any luggage?”

“Nope! Just these itty-bitty ones!” Pinkie cheered as she held up her small bag. Rainbow Dash held up her own.

“Good.” He immediately got out of his seat. “Gallus, take the bags up to their rooms, then bring out the tea. I’ll be back this evening.”

With that, he brushed right past both Gallus and Pinkie and began to make his way to the back door. Dash herself raised an eyebrow at how quickly they had been dismissed. Pinkie, on the other hand, was a bit more genteel.

“Oh? Got big, important business in the city, Mr….?”

Again, he didn’t take the bait. He frowned instead. “No…I just like wearing one of these uncomfortable suits in sweltering heat whenever I go walking. Really helps the sinuses.” He sarcastically retorted.

“Really? Great! I’ll tell my dad about that!”

The old man paused in the middle of his walking, rolled his eyes and sighed, and then simply kept going.

“Uh…are we, like, putting you out or something?” Dash asked as he reached the door.

He looked back with a sour frown. “What’s the matter? Don’t care for my hospitality? Fine. Go find somewhere else to stay for free for the next few days.” Without another word, he turned about, went inside, and let the door slam behind him.

Both Dash and Pinkie looked a little out of sorts. Gallus sighed before he walked forward, practically snatched the bags out of the two ladies’ hands, and then turned around to follow after him. Both were nearly dumbfounded until the lady at the table spoke up.

“Oh dear…what am I going to do with that man…?”

Both looked back around, seeing the woman looking at them with a much gentler look as she indicated nearby. “Please, both of you, have a seat. I’m sure you had to walk a long way from the port.”

Pinkie grinned. “Thanks!” she answered, readily hopping into a seat. Dash was a bit more apprehensive but soon did the same.

“I heard you came all the way from Manehattan. I haven’t seen a person from Manehattan in five years, and it’s been even longer since I’ve been there.” She smiled and laughed to herself a little. “The way the world is changing, I doubt I’d even recognize the place. We may be a bit more old-fashioned out here, but never mind old Doodle. Just make yourselves at home.”

“Okie-dokie!” Pinkie chirped up. “First, can I get a little fan like yours, Mrs….?”

The woman smiled back. “Oh, I’m not so much of a stickler on formal titles as the rest of my family, young lady. So long as you’re a guest in my home, you can just call me by my first name: Matilda. And how do you two prefer to be called?”

“I’m Pinkie Pie!”

“Just Dash’ll be fine,” Dash answered back, still not as reciprocal as Pinkie was, although she was easing a little more now. She looked about outside the veranda. “So…you own the sugar fields around here or what?”

She smiled and laughed again. “Oh no. All the fields around here are owned by Knickerbocker Fruit & Cane, or at least their affiliates. My father had a smaller sugar beet plantation. He made an agreement with a rum producer from the Dragonlands that made him a good sized fortune that he passed on to me and my sisters, but this house and property comes from my husband.”

“Pretty nice…and right on the river, too. I’m guessing…a banker?”

She laughed yet again. “Oh-ho…I’d love to see old Doodle trying to run a bank. I think he’d drive away every customer. No, he’s actually the local governor.”

Dash’s eyes widened a little at that. Pinkie looked fascinated, but then again she usually did about everything. “You’re kidding?”

“Well, that’s not how he made his fortune, of course.” Before she could say another word, the back door opened again. Gallus, hardly looking any better than before, walked in bearing a tray with a tea set. He proceeded to set it in their midst, and immediately began setting out the cups and the saucers. No sooner had he done that when he began to pour it for them as well.

“Um…that’s ok, we can handle it,” Dash mentioned when he went that far, noting the look on his face.

“Hey, it’s what I’m not paid to do,” he sighed with a slight shrug.

Dash paused a moment before she understood, frowning a little as she sat back and had her cup finished being filled. Pinkie, on her part, was puzzling over it by the time he moved on to her cup. Matilda, on the other hand, went on with her story. “You might not think to look at him right now, but he used to be fairly well-to-do in the Manehattan Navy. One of the best officers they had, although he was a bit more famous for a different reason.” She smirked. “All the petty officers and sailors couldn’t stand him. They used to call him ‘Cpt. Cranky Doodle’. I give him a bit of grief for it every now and then…both of us know it’s true.”

Gallus had finished filling her own cup, and she reached over to take it. She nodded to him as she did. “Thank you, Gallus. We’ll be alright from here. I’ll call if we need anything else.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He gave a short bow, and then turned to walk back inside.

“Anyway…he became successful enough to finish the house his grandfather started to build, which is where we are today. We were supposed to move in after he retired from the navy, but…”

She was quiet for a moment. She let out an exhale, staring at the table as she put her saucer back down and set her cup in it.

“Well, to make a long story short, everything happened with the Lunar Fall, one thing led to another, and he was moved right from service into the role of governor. I had hoped we would have had a bit more time to ourselves, but at least we’re in the home he always wanted. Really now, it isn’t much of a position. Fifty or sixty years ago it might have been something of some importance, but between the Knickerbocker pretty much handling everything in terms of the port and the active military being stationed here following the Lunar Fall, there’s almost nothing for him to do.”

She smiled again.

“Nothing except entertain out of town guests. I hope you enjoy your stay here. It’s been so long since we’ve had anyone in the house other than Gallus. I’ll admit you may find the place a bit old-fashioned, but if there’s anything that strikes your fancy I’ll be happy to let you use it. Everything will just gather dust, otherwise.”

“Yipee!” Pinkie cheered in between loading sugar cubes and cream into her own teacup. “Do you have any of the local fruits? Because I’d really like to try out making my first lemon meringue pie! Oh, oh! Or orange danish!”

“Y’know, for someone who isn’t that busy, your husband seemed like he had some important business to do,” Dash mentioned as she finally picked up her own teacup, although she didn’t drink it.

“Hmm?” she said, looking up for her tea. Her eyes glanced to the letters. “Oh…yes. Well, I suppose you did come at a time in which he has a little more on his plate than normal. When it comes to the local economy and land rights, the judges and the bigger companies handle those. When it comes to the encroachment of hostile nations or mass migrations, the navy takes care of that. However, when it comes to problems on a more domestic front, then he needs to get more involved.”

“Er…domestic front?”

“It’s nothing too terrible. It’s just a change in the economy. Port Somnambula used to be an important archeological site. Enough to where they brought in a good amount of money for tourism and researchers from Greater Everfree universities.” She sighed. “All of that dried up with the Lunar Fall. The locals that were employed with those kind of jobs had to move to the plantations. That sparked some resentment that flares up every now and then. Doodle tells me it’s nothing to worry about, however. If things got too bad, either the Knickerbocker or the navy would come in and quiet things down, and that would be that.”

“Yeah…” Dash remarked rather flatly. “Guess so.” She stared at her cup a bit longer, but then put it back down without ever having taken a sip. “Anyway, I think I’m pretty tired from the trip. What room are we staying in?”

“Oh,” She sat down her own cup. “Just go right upstairs, turn right, and it’s the second door you come to. I’ll ask Gallus to-”

“No thanks. I can find it myself.” She pushed away from the table, stood up, and turned around to head to the door.

Pinkie watched her go for a few moments, then turned back to Matilda. Although she had finally finished getting her tea the way she liked it, she pushed it away. “Can I see which way to the kitchen? I want to get baking right away!”

Matilda looked a little puzzled. “Well…yes, dear. But aren’t you going to have any of your tea?”

“Er…I think I better not. After seeing Cranky, Gallus, and Dash walk out? I think there’s something in it that might be making everyone grumpy.”

---

The sun was close to setting by the time Pinkie happily bounded her way up the stairs to her room. True to Matilda’s word, she didn’t leave anything off limits to her. She had inspected several rooms full of things that looked pricey or even to be antiques, but she let her handle them all. Vases, busts, pictures, old clocks… Pinkie was especially interested in one room that appeared to be a form of immaculate baby room, furnished with old toys, mobiles, and furniture all appropriate for an infant. Having never seen any such things, she was fascinated by everything inside of it, inspecting every doll, every picture book, and even practically hopping inside the crib to look around.

However, while Matilda had watched her enter every room prior to that one, she excused herself until Pinkie was done and only talked to her after she came out.

“That was our son’s bedroom, but of course that was when he was a baby. He grew up a long time ago, but we redid it for his own first children, our grandchildren.”

Pinkie had nearly asked about the rest of their family, but before she could Matilda led her on to the kitchen where, much to her delight, a ready supply of sugar, oranges, grapes, and dates were waiting. She soon forgot about the room in her quest to expand her culinary baking talents. She ended up making her fair share of disasters, to say nothing of messes, but Matilda didn’t seem to mind at all. She didn’t even call Gallus to come clean them but did it herself. She seemed to just enjoy having someone else in the kitchen.

Matilda offered them supper before she went up, but she was stuffed from trying out her latest creations, and Dash skipped on the whole thing. In fact, she hadn’t even left the room the entire afternoon. The Gaitian found the room easily enough and walked right in. It was nicely decorated, only old fashioned—like most of the rooms in the house. It connected to its own toilet and washroom too. There were two beds in there, and Dash had already crashed on one with her arms folded behind her head and her legs crossed.

“Hey Rainbow Dash! You should’ve stayed downstairs! I made tons of new cakes and pies you could have tried out!”

“Eh…I’m not that big on pie.”

Pinkie’s eyes widened, freezing in place and letting out an exaggerated gasp. “Whaaaaaat?!”

“Just never really cared for it.”

Pinkie seemed to be stuck in some sort of mental break, unable to process that for a moment. In the end, she had to reach up and smack herself in the side of the head to make herself snap out of it. “Well…maybe tomorrow we can have some of the local pastries when we head out to market.”

Dash looked up, confused. “Uh…why are we going to the market?”

“To buy all the fruit I used baking today, silly!” Pinkie giggled back, making Dash’s eyes roll. “Anyway, Gallus should be up soon to bring us some towels for tomorrow.”

This made the Huntsman frown, crossing her arms in front of her and leaning into her mattress. “Yeah…that’s another reason I want to be out of here as soon as possible…”

Pinkie looked confused. “Huh?”

“I don’t really care for the standard of living here in Southern Equestria.”

“What do you mean?”

Dash leveled a look at her. “Pinkie…you do know what Gallus is, right? What all those people out there working the fields are?”

Pinkie stuck her tongue out and looked to the sky, thinking that over as if Dash had just given her a riddle. In response, Dash merely frowned.

“Slaves, Pinkie. They still have slavery in Southern Equestria.”

The pink-haired woman looked back down, immediately looking uneasy. “Oh…” she said after a moment of silence. “I didn’t know about that…”

Dash sighed. “Well, now you do. That’s who’s been ‘waiting on us’. Who makes sure that these two old fossils get to live the nice life of sipping tea and watching the river.”

Pinkie bowed her head for a moment, silently thinking about everything, but then leaned up again. “Well, in that case, I guess I’ll get ready for bed.”

Dash looked up, a bit puzzled. “Huh? Wait…didn’t you just hear what I said?”

“Yeah.”

“…And don’t you care about it? Why aren’t you ticked off? How can you just roll over and go to sleep in a place like this?”

“Well…” Pinkie said with a rather weak shrug. “It’s…not like we can do anything about it right now, right? And if we start making a big fuss about it right now, it’s not going to help out Gallus or any of the others, but we might make Cranky angry enough to kick us out…”

“So you’re just cool with having a slave wait on us?”

“I didn’t say that! It’s just…well…we’re supposed to be at peace with everyone. At least, that’s what Gaia Everfree tells us.”

This, however, triggered Dash. She immediately formed an angry scowl. “Well thank you for reminding me why I think all you religious types are full of it! I should’ve known… Sure, you run around being nice to everyone and not hurting anybody, but when something like this comes along, you just look the other way! That’s why nothing ever changes no matter how many people like you ‘find faith’! That’s why the world went to Hell after the Lunar Fall! I’d figure at least you’d understand, what with what happened to your family, but no!”

“Hey!” Pinkie protested. “I don’t like it and I know it’s wrong! I just don’t want to go around hating anyone! Nothing good ever comes from hating people!”

Dash snorted. “Yeah right. That’s not the first time I’ve heard-”

Knock-knock. “Um…excuse me.”

The two women looked to the door. That had been Gallus’ voice on the other side.

“You two might want to stop arguing so loud. The master will be home soon and he’ll be pretty angry if you keep him awake.”

The two immediately went quiet. A moment passed.

“May I come in?”

“Uh…sure, go for it.”

The doorknob turned and, sure enough, in walked Gallus along with the towels. He didn’t say a word or look at them—just turned and went straight to the washroom with the load. The two ladies were left silent, both of them looking and feeling awkward.

After a moment or so, Dash decided to chance it. “So, um…did you hear us?”

“Only the parts you yelled…” he half-muttered from the washroom. “Will you be needing anything else tonight?”

“No…I think we’re good,” Pinkie answered with a weak smile.

Dash frowned again. “What about you? You’re not happy having to live like this, are you? Being stuck under a couple of Southern Equestrians?”

“First, it doesn’t really matter if I don’t like it or not—I’m still stuck here,” Gallus somewhat grouchily replied. “Second, I like them a lot better than the people from Griffonstone. They’re the ones who sold me to Southern Equestria as soon as I became a ward of the state when I was five years old. At least here I’m wanted, even if it’s only to do housework. And at least I’m not out all day in the sugar cane fields…”

Dash was a bit surprised at that response, and ended up being stunned until Gallus came out again, facing them both at the entrance to the washroom.

“Now here’s a bit of advice I want to give both of you. The master won’t say this to the mistress, but he’s said it to me, so I’ll say it to you. Watch yourself when you’re heading around town. This country is getting rough, especially right here in Somnambula. The locals are getting more violent. The mistress might try to downplay it, but it’s never been this bad before.”

Pinkie looked a little puzzled. Dash raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“I don’t leave the property so I don’t know exactly, but the Knickerbocker is apparently getting unreasonable with its local affiliates. Cutting their percentage while demanding more. It’s not like they haven’t done it before, but this time they’re really getting up in arms. They’ve needed the master to rally the local magistrates to put down five fights already. The last one nearly blew into a full scale riot. Bottom line…the streets aren’t safe. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

With that, he gave them both a short bow, and then turned and left the room. As soon as the door swung shut behind him, Pinkie was left looking rather puzzled. Dash, on the other hand, leaned up a little and rubbed her jaw.

“Huh… Maybe this trip won’t be so dull after all…”