Whipstitch

by Pennington Inkwell

Boredom and Summons

Whispstitch let out a long sigh as the clock on the wall ticked its way along to 6 o'clock. The day had been relatively uneventful, considering the fact that she had only had two customers come in to have something repaired.

"Even you have been suspiciously quiet..." She muttered, glaring towards the hole in her wall where Mephistopheles lived. "I don't like it..."

However, as she looked up to the clock once again, she realized that the day was over. It was six in the evening.

"Closing time!" She cheerfully grinned as she turned around the small sign in her window.

Well, we aren't OPEN, so do the math!
If it's a real emergency, you can find me at home.
-Whipstitch

With a smile, she packed away the rest of her things, mostly the tools and supplies that she had been too lazy to put away after making the repairs that had been asked for today, and prepared to lock up the shop. "Good night, Mephistopheles! I hope you die in your sleep!" She chirped. In response, a loud hissing came from the hole, indicating that the creature had both heard and understood her. It wasn't meant to be cruel, of course, but the banter had become a kind of end-of-the-day tradition between the two of them to quietly acknowledge their rivalry.

"Come on, Buzby!" Whipstitch grinned as she tied her pet bumblebee's "leash" around her horn. The thin thread was almost unnoticeable, and the bumblebee was content to hover above her head like a balloon.

As she stepped out to lock the front door, Whipstitch felt a small portion of the tension of the day return as she remembered that she still had work to do at home. I still have to fix the ENTIRE kitchen... I can't believe I tried to cook ramen without adding water! That was a really bad day for me. Well, I suppose a little detour wouldn't hurt, just to put off the inevitable! Making up her mind, she nodded to herself. "Well, I suppose going over to se Pennington would be a good idea. I haven't seen him the past few days, and that's plenty of time for at least one of us to get into a heap of trouble!" With a smirk, Whipstitch set off for an evening walk until the sun set.

Inkwell Commissions was always, in Whipstitch's eyes, a very simple shop for a very complex pony. She reasoned that this was why he was inconsistently gone from the town, sometimes leaving for a day or even a week. Somehow, though, Whipstitch never found herself staring at his "Closed" sign. She always knew when he was there or not.

"Hello? Pennington?" She called out as she stepped through the front door.

"Oh, so, you're looking for him, too?" Whipstitch was surprised to see another pony already waiting in the small lobby of Pennington's shop, impatiently tapping her hoof on the counter. She was a grey earth pony with a black mane, well groomed and with a thin Canterlot accent. She was wearing a formal-looking white collar and light purple bow tie to match the color her eyes and her cutie mark: a treble clef.

"Octavia! What are you doing here?" Whipstitch smiled as she recognized the musician. She had met Octavia a few times before when musicians from the Canterlot Orchestra had needed repairs done on their instruments.

"Well, I'm supposed to be picking up some song lyrics for Vinyl, but the author doesn't seem to be here. He must have gone home early..." She rolled her eyes in frustration as she searched in her bag for a small scrap of paper. She handed it to Whipstitch, revealing it to be one of Pennington's receipts.

"Vinyl asked him for something... 'Hard hitting and deep, like my bass.' That's certainly not very specific..." Whipstitch thought out loud as she read over the receipt.

"She thinks that if she doesn't give specifics, she has a better chance of finding something to build a song around that she never would have thought of. A rather poorly thought out plan, even for her." Octavia shoved the paper back into her bag with a sigh. "But it looks as if I'm going home empty hooved. He's not here."

"Well, that makes no sense!" Whipstitch rolled her eyes as she recognized what was probably going on. "He lives upstairs! There's no way to miss him!" Without a single scruple about wandering behind the counter, and invading the rest of Pennington's shop/home, Whipstitch climbed up and over.

"Um, are you sure that you're supposed to be back there?" Octavia asked, leaning to keep an eye of Whipstitch as she moved through the door in the wall of the lobby and into Pennington's house. "I don't think that it would be a good idea to just walk into his home like this. I could really just come back tomorrow!"

"Well, Octavia, I have a motto! 'When in doubt, walk around like you own the place!' Nopony will ever question your authority." Whipstitch shouted over her shoulder in return.

The first place that Whipstitch entered was Pennington's kitchen. "Microwave, sink, a few spoons, and ramen everywhere. Nothing's changed here..." She muttered, carefully picking her way through the mess that covered the counters and parts of the floor. Dried soup, crusty noodles, and Styrofoam cups everywhere was almost enough to make her swear off the microwave meal altogether, but she had been inside of Pennington's house before, and she had known to brace herself before entering the kitchen.

After the kitchen came the hallway. Pennington had never been very big on interior lighting, and the narrow corridor was lit by only one dim lamp on the far wall. She slowly walked down the hall with a small amount of nervousness, mostly because of the darkness. Whipstitch had never liked the dark, and it made her nervous sometimes. Other times, she might be completely fine, a concept that she had never understood about herself, but unpredictable fear made life interesting, so she didn't ever resent herself for it.

"Pennington? Are you in there?" She called, knocking her hoof on the hallway's one door: Pennington's personal study. "Penny, you have a customer waiting!"

"DON'T call me Penny!" A familiar-but-angry voice cried out. Whipstitch smiled in amusement as what must have been at least half a dozen locks were undone from inside. The door slowly creaked open, revealing a dazed-looking Pennington. His blue-and-violet mane was a shaggy mess on top of his head, and dark circles hung under his eyes.

"What is it, Whips? Do you need something?" He mumbled, looking unhappy to have been dragged out of his cave.

"Octavia is here for Vinyl Scratch's commission, Pennington, and she seems to have been here for some time." Whipstitch jerked her head towards the front of the house. "And how many days have you gone with out sleep?"

"Oh! Well, thanks! I'll go get the lyrics." Pennington shut the door again, tactfully avoiding the question. When he emerged, he was carrying a sealed scroll. "Here we go!" Without another word, he took off at a slow trot to the front of the store.

Whipstitch followed, still a bit critical of her friend. "Pennington, you have to stop depriving yourself of sleep like this! It's unhealthy!"

"Whipstitch, I wouldn't expect you to understand..." Pennington chuckled as he emerged back in the shop part of Inkwell Commissions, where a slightly surprised Octavia was waiting. "Here you are, Miss Octavia! I am extremely sorry for keeping you waiting!" He never seemed to pick up on Octavia's surprise, however, moving to the cash register with practiced ease.

"That's alright, Mister Inkwell... But, are you feeling well? You look sick." Octavia looked to Whipstitch in the awkwardness of the moment. Whipstitch offered no help whatsoever, simply motioning to Pennington, crossing her eyes, and spinning her hoof in circles around the side of her head to indicate insanity. Another point for me...

"Oh, I'm fine! Just a little caught up in my work at the moment!" Pennington gave a big grin as he accepted the small bag of bits Octavia placed on the counter. "Send Vinyl my best!"

"I... will. Thank you, Pennington."

"You're more than welcome! Feel free to come back any time!" Pennington called as Octavia left the shop. He was just starting to head back to his study when Whipstitch moved into the doorway, stopping him short.

"How long, Pennington?" Whipstitch narrowed her gaze, making Pennington squirm. "Don't make Buzby sting you until you talk..."

"Look, it hasn't been that long, okay? A few late nights here, an all-nighter there, it's nothing!" Pennington rolled his eyes and walked to the door, holding the door open. "I'll tell you what. Since you broke my creative streak, anyway, I'll go to bed early tonight. It's closing time anyway, right?" She could tell that he was trying to hold himself back from snapping at her, probably out of grouchy tiredness. His tone implied that he was pleading to make a bargain, but it held a forced edge of exasperation.

Whipstitch pouted at the hollow victory. "So, then, I guess you're not up for spending some time to hang out? I didn't want to go home yet."

Pennington raised a sarcastic eyebrow. "Well, no. I only have two real choices right now: go to bed or finish my next book."

"Fine..." Whipstitch muttered as she drudged out the door. She considered calling him out on being rude, but, despite her talent for chewing ponies out (often cussing them out in the process, as well), she knew that, while half-asleep, the author wouldn't hold back, and he knew bigger words than she did.

"I can't always foalsit you, Pennington! You need to start taking better care of yourself!"

As she left, Whipstitch shook herself out of her gloom. "Okay, then! If Pennington's busy, there are plenty of other ponies to go see! But... Who?" She paused as she began running through her mind, remembering all of the different ponies that lived in Ponyville. "I could go to buy some candy from Bon Bon, and I'm sure Lyra would be there, too!"

With this in mind, she took off at a slow jog down Main Street. She didn't meet many other ponies along the way, it seemed as if most of them were either still at work or had gone home for the day. I'm just trying to put that off... That was of the reasons that Whipstitch had chosen six for her closing time: a quiet, peaceful walk home.

After a few minutes for walking, "Bon Bon's Candy Castle" finally came into sight. Like Pennington, Bon Bon actually worked at home, but her store was a second building that looked as if it had been glued on to the front of her house. The name of the store was painted in an array of bright colors on the large glass windows facing the street. Whipstitch licked her lips as she caught a glimpse of the delicious-looking candies lining the shelves and the glass panes under the counter.

A small bell chimed as she pushed open the glass door, welcoming Whipstitch with a gentle tinkling sound. The sweet smells of sugar, melted chocolate, and vanilla washed over her in waves, and there was a quiet hum coming from a back room somewhere. She must be making taffy. Whipstitch hadn't even reached the counter before Bon Bon had popped out from under the counter.

"Oh, hello, Whipstitch!" The cream-colored pony gave her a wide smile as she discretely shut the display that she had been refilling. "Are you here to buy some more honey for your bee?"

"No thanks, Bon Bon." Whipstitch returned the smile. "I really just came for a little company. Pennington blew me off..."

"Who?" Bon Bon looked confused for a moment, and Whipstitch remembered her friend's hermit-like tendencies.

"Oh, just an old friend..." Whipstitch rolled her eyes. "He blew me off because he was overworking himself. So, I had to 'put him to sleep.'" She winked at the candy maker. "After that, I was feeling a little down, so I came to see how you were doing!"

Bon Bon seemed a little surprised at Whipstitch's choice of words, and Whipstitch chuckled at her befuddled expression.

"So, what's popular?" Whipstitch was nearly drooling now, from both the smell of the shop and the array of delicious candies just a few inches below the glass counter.

Finally back to something that didn't seem to have a double meaning, Bon Bon's demeanor lit up again. "Well, the fudge has been selling really well, lately!"

"What flavor?"

"Well, chocolate has been selling like the classic it is, but mint has really been growing in popularity!"

Whipstitch pondered the choice for a moment, mulling it over in her mind. "If business has been okay, how have you been?"

"Well, I've been keeping busy!" Bon Bon chuckled. "But, I love what I do, so good business means I get to spend more time doing it!"

"Well, that's good to hear!" Whipstitch smiled. "You know what? Could I have some of those baked honey sticks?"

Bon Bon looked surprised again, then smiled. "Always the unexpected choice with you, isn't it?" With her bemused grin, she went to a shelf on the back wall and picked up a few centimeter-thick golden bars, then laid them on the counter in front of her. "I'll tell you what, these ones are on the house! After you fixed my taffy machine, I was back in business... You saved me in a pinch!"

It was Whipstitch's turn to be surprised, but it quickly faded to a pleased smile. "You really don't have to, you gave me more than enough for that!"

"I insist!" Bon Bon pushed the candies towards Whipstitch. "From one friend to another!"

Whipstich's stubborn nature, however, refused to let a gift go unmatched. She slowly lifted one of the candies into the air, meticulously unwrapped it without breaking the cellophane, and slowly closed her mouth around the sweet, allowing the thick, sweet, aromatic flavor to spread out into every corner of her mouth.

"Mmmm.... Honey: another reason that I love bees." She mumbled through the corner of her mouth. As she opened her eyes again, she watched Buzby float down out of the air and land on the other end.

"I'm glad you both like it!" Bon Bon chuckled as she watched Whipstitch cross her eyes in an effort to watch the insect. "I can give you a couple more, if you like." Before she could get a response, however, a buzzer sounded from the other room, announcing that the new batch of taffy was finished.

And it was then that Whipstitch had an idea. Her smile of pleasure turned into a smug grin. With a small flick of the candy to send Buzby back into the air, she climbed up and over the counter, following the pony into the other room.

"Hey, Bons, what do you say I show you where the problem was last time? That way, you can fix it yourself if it happens again!"

"Whipstitch, you don't need to give me payback!"

By the time that Whipstitch had finally arrived at home, she was still humming Lyra's melodies, and the tastes of honey and warm taffy were still lingering in her mouth. The sun was setting, outlining her home in an array of red and orange hues.

Whipstitch lived in what was technically the lowest value property in town, but, to her, it was the most beautiful place she had ever known. It had originally been planned to be a house inside of a hillside built by early settlers, but soon after the house's completion, the original owners had been driven out by timber wolves. Over the years, what had once been a tiny sapling had grown into a beautiful weeping willow, draping its fronds over and around the house like a protective shield. What had once been a rain runoff had drifted and eroded until a small stream ran through the center of her home, powering a large wooden water wheel and filling her house with the sound of moving water. Although she worked and made her living in the town, the fact that her home was on the edge of the forest and was powered by a water wheel, rather than central electricity, gave her a real feeling of "living off of the grid."

She stopped again and inhaled deeply, taking in the natural perfume of the flower garden that she kept in the front yard. This, combined with the taste of honey, the sound of running water, and the music still strumming in her mind, created a sense of tranquility that nearly overwhelmed her. With a deep sigh of relief, she untied Buzby from her horn, allowing the bumblebee to fly freely among the dozens of others that she kept the flowers for. Whipstitch was sure that they had built a hive somewhere nearby, but she had never managed to find it.

"Finally, we made it home, friend..." She smiled as she slowly walked to the door. She didn't drag her hooves, but there was very little effort in her movements, signaling that she was already well into the process of "unwinding." "Same time tomorrow?"

Whipstitch was reaching for the door handle when she finally noticed that something was different. Taped to the front of her door was an unfurled scroll, with neat, smooth hoofwriting and embossments along the edges.

Dear Whipstitch,

I apologize for not coming to see you personally, but Luna and I have both had our hooves full at the moment. I would greatly appreciate it it you would be able to come to Canterlot to make some new repairs. Our "visitor," the same one who nearly destroyed the book that I brought to you, has clumsily torn some of our tapestries in the Grand Hall. I noticed that thread and fabric seem to be your specialty, and I am hoping that you may be able to come and fix them here.

Any and all of your needs will be provided for, including materials for the repairs, and you can rest assured that you will be justly rewarded for your services if you could come. There will be a pair of guards to meet you at the train station, and you'll find a ticket enclosed in the attached envelope.

If you cannot come, all that you would need to do would be to take a letter to my student, Twilight Sparkle, in the library. She will send it along to me.

Hoping to see you soon,

Princess Celestia.

Whipstitch grew increasingly excited as her relaxation was washed away in waves of anticipation.

"The princess... Wants me to come and work at the castle!" As she looked behind the letter, she discovered the envelope that Celestia had mentioned. At this point, she could no longer hold back a squee of excitement, and she ran into her house, grabbed a set of sewing needles (She made it a personal point never to be without them, at home or at work.), and slammed the door shut behind her again.

"I'll see you later, Buzby! I'm off to Canterlot!" With an overdramatic flourish, she stuffed the sewing kit into her bag and took off running for the train station.

By the time that Whipstitch had boarded the train, arrived in Canterlot, and been escorted to the Castle, darkness had fallen and the moon was high in the sky. Whipstitch had never been inside of the Royal Palace before, but the spacious rooms, traditional decoration, and stained-glass windows gave the entire castle a very enigmatic feel, and the lack of electric lighting in a majority of the rooms combined with the efforts made to make it look natural in the rest, left Whipstitch feeling as if she had stepped back in time.

When she walked into the Grand Hall, Whipstitch passed through a gigantic pair of doors and into the most beautiful room that she had ever seen. Once-silver moonlight swept through the arrays of stained glass that made up the characteristic murals of Canterlot, bathing any shadows in the room with an array of calm, relaxing colors. The Grand Hall was as well-lit as possible, of course, with bright torches on the sections of wall between murals and chandeliers lit from within, but there was a shadowy darkness, ever-present but strangely comforting, lurking in the corners of the room and along the bases of the walls that allowed the tinted moonlight to shine visibly. There were tapestries hanging in the sections between the walls as well, long, complex, and featuring a dazzling array of colors. They were what Whipstitch had often aspired to create, but had never had the time to even begin to attempt something like that. Some of them seemed to have been enchanted, occasionally moving in a nonexistent breeze or passing through a torch's flame without harm. Each tapestry met and complimented the colors and tone of the stained glass windows next to it, giving the walls a feeling of having an ever-changing gradient of colors to border the white marble flooring, red carpet, and golden trim and accents of every other piece in the room.

"You must be Whipstitch!" A voice that Whipstitch knew well from Nightmare Night rang through the air as a dark-blue pony made her way out from behind the throne in the back of the room. "Welcome to the castle! I trust that you had a pleasant journey?"

"Princess Luna!" Whipstitch's heart nearly skipped a beat, and she quickly gave a humble bow of her head. "It was wonderful. From the train, I was able to watch the moon rise! It was a beautiful sight..." She kicked herself a little, knowing that, if she weren't so excited and nervous, she could have found something much better to say. Just keep it cool, Whipstitch... Relax and act natural.

"I'm glad that you enjoyed it!" Luna obviously didn't seem dissatisfied with Whipstitch's words. With a flick of her hoof, she motioned for Whipstitch to stand up straight again. "I suppose that we had best get down to business quickly. I trust that Celestia told you about our 'special guest?'"

"Well, not exactly. Only that they seem to be good at creating lightning and destroying things..." Whipstitch placed her hoof on her chin in thought. "Is it a unicorn?"

Luna seemed to be a little surprised at her reaction, and subtly bit her lip in thought. "No, not a unicorn... I suppose that you could say that he's not a pegasus, either..." Still thinking about her words, her horn dimly glowed as a lollipop floated into sight from one of the shadows in the corner. Without seemingly thinking about it, she unwrapped it, placed the candy in her mouth, and glanced around to find a trash can for the wrapper.

"What flavor?" Whipstitch felt less nervous, now, seeing how casually the Princess was acting.

"Hm? Oh! It's... a Parasprite Pop, actually." Luna chuckled, apparently drawn away from her train of thought.

"Parasprite?" Whipstitch's nose scrunched up in disgust as she remembered the insects that had nearly destroyed Ponyville. "Those weird bugs?"

"Well, yes!" Luna laughed, finally tossing the wrapper into the same dark corner. "It's actually pretty good! The kind of taste you grow to like over time..."

"Do you have any more?" Whipstitch ventured the question with nonchalance, the small talk having finally stilled her nerves. She's still just an ordinary pony at heart, I guess.

"Oh! Of course, our friend gave me a few!" Her horn glowed again as another lollipop materialized from the shadows.

As Whipstitch unwrapped one and placed it in her mouth, Luna nodded for her to follow. The lollipop itself was actually surprisingly good. The flavor was peculiar, tangy and sweet, with a slight hint of wood smoke and an unidentifiable taste that lingered afterward. I'll have to ask Bon Bon if she can make these!

"The real problem is here..." She nodded to the area above the throne. For the first time, Whipstitch noticed three of the tapestries had been torn across the center. Again, the damage seemed unique, as if some kind of laser had haphazardly shot through the room and sliced through them, leaving a clean cut.

"And... How did this happen?" She asked as her eyes followed gravity downwards towards the other pieces, which were lying on the floor.

"Our guest. He tends to have panic attacks whenever a pony walks in on him unexpectedly..." Luna rolled her eyes. "Celestia and I are working on that..."

Whipstitch considered asking again about exactly what species their guest belonged to, but Luna didn't seem to want to tell her.

"Well, I think that I could rejoin the pieces... Do you have thread of matching colors?" When Luna pointed to a large array of spools on a wooden rack being carried in, Whipstitch smiled. "In that case, consider it done. It may take a few days of work, but I can do it."

"Take all of the time that you need, we only would expect quality work to take time." Luna's smile became more relaxed, despite the fact that Whipstitch hadn't even seen her become tense again.

Sounds as if this 'visitor' is a real hoof full...

"Oh, and Whipstitch!" Luna called back as she walked towards the door. "A few last bits of information! If you need Celestia or I, we'll either be in our bedrooms or the medical ward! You can ask a guard to take you anywhere, including the room that we prepared for your visit, which is in the Northern Wing. And as for the final, most important thing to know:

If you see anything that looks like Discord, just leave it be! Don't stare, don't speak, don't touch!" Luna acted as if she were trying to play at the point lightly, but the instructions left her with chills.

Discord?

Author's Note:

Well, everybody, I got the REAL Whipstitch's permission to continue this story beyond a oneshot!

I never intended for it to go so far, but seeing how much she enjoyed it made me want to continue! I have absolutely no idea where this is going to end up going storywise!!!! So, enjoy!

Happy Adventuring!
Pennington Inkwell

Comments

[PC]

Now I know when the events of "Brothers", "Happy Adventuring, Twilight!" and this story happened! That was very helpful!