CRISIS: Equestria - Divergence

by GanonFLCL

Chapter Fourteen: Checkup

Three Days Later

Twilight had gotten rather used to her new librarian position by this point, and was really coming to terms with how everything worked, the sorts of ponies she could expect to provide to service to, and the nature of the materials she was required to be familiar with. It was a lot different than what she was used to back home, absolutely, but it had just been another thing to learn and she'd learned it well.

After clocking in that morning and getting changed into her uniform, Archimedes stopped her as she was walking towards her workstation. "Miss Sparkle? A word, if you would?" he said, not looking up from his own paperwork at that moment.

Twilight froze mid-step. Usually whenever Archimedes wanted "a word" it meant that she was about to be given a lecture either on something she'd done incorrectly, or on some policy she hadn't known about yet that was somehow relevant to her now. In other words, it wasn't ever a good thing, even though he was rarely ever angry about whatever it was.

"Sure thing, Chief," she said, tepidly approaching his desk.

Archimedes temporarily set his paperwork aside, steepling his hooves in front of him.

"All new employees are required to report to me on a number of issues regarding their employment here by the end of their third day of official employment. This means that you should have approached me last night for a brief interview process, which naturally, you did not, correct?"

She paused, then slowly nodded. She'd forgotten completely about the evaluation interview; she'd been so focused on helping a few late arrivals with their work that she'd hurried through the end of her shift to avoid going into overtime. And, of course, so that she could avoid being late to dinner with her friends; she'd invited Winter to join them and knew that the Chronomancer was naturally a punctual pony, and she didn't want to disappoint.

He adjusted his glasses briefly; the light caught them just right to shine a glare at Twilight's face. "Do you enjoy working here at the CDH, Miss Sparkle?" he asked, leering down his nose at her.

"Yes, sir. I do," she replied with another nod.

He didn't say anything, just stared down at her for a moment, then gave her a little nod. "Excellent. That will be all, Miss Sparkle."

She blinked. "That's… that's it? That's the interview?"

He removed his glasses for a moment to clean them, but did not meet her eyes with his. "I have watched you work for three days now. You are quite diligent with your duties and have received no complaints from our patrons. I also see no reason to ask you frivolous questions on whether or not you understand CDH policies and procedures, because you clearly do."

"Uh… thank you, sir," she said with a brief smile; it always felt nice to have her diligence complimented, when usually ponies poked fun at her compulsive behavior. "So, if that's the case, what was the interview for?"

He replaced his glasses, then looked at her again. "I only needed to know if you enjoy your work here, or are forcing yourself to do it so that you can earn a paycheck. I will not tolerate members on my staff that do not have a passion for the work. It's why we don't have too many permanent members. I have standards, Miss Sparkle. You meet them."

"I've noticed," she replied, tilting her head, a little amused.

She'd certainly seen by now that apart from herself, Archimedes, and the cleanup crews that came in after closing time, there weren't any other employees here. Apparently the last employee had moved down south about two years ago, and Archimedes hadn't filled the position until Twilight arrived. She actually felt bad that she'd be leaving within the next few weeks.

"Carry on then," Archimedes said, leaning comfortably back into his seat and returning to his prior work. "Glad to have you aboard."

She paused, then nodded; she could have sworn she saw a little smile there. "Thank you, Chief. Glad to be here." With that, she headed off to her workstation, a little extra pep in her step that wasn't there before.

She found Winter and Dawn huddled together in front of a computer screen that had already been unlocked for them—Archimedes must have done it while Twilight was changing. He likely recognized the two of them by now, and would be blind if he didn't also see that they often congregated around Twilight's work area and talked to her a lot, even joining her for lunch breaks.

She smiled as she looked between the two as they pointed and read together through whatever document they had found. It hadn't taken her long to forge a strong bond with Applejack and the others back when they all first met, so she wasn't surprised that she felt the same sort of connection so soon with these two; she also was glad that the two of them seemed to be getting along together. It made all the research work they needed to do seem… fun, actually. She didn't usually get that unless he was doing it herself.

"You girls find everything okay?" Twilight asked with her practiced librarian air, nose up, chest out.

"Yes, Miss Sparkle," Winter said with a foal-like lilt, rolling her eyes; she enjoyed teasing Twilight when she was in librarian mode, and Twilight didn't mind it one bit. "This latest document has a bloody interestin' account in it from the old war that raged here in the north way before New Pandemonium was even built."

"Oh? Where'd you find that? I don't remember seeing it in our selection."

"I located it in mine," Dawn said, her own nose up just a little bit, and not because she was making fun. "I happened across it over the evening prior."

Twilight had gotten used to the other unicorn's smug attitude, and normally would be bothered by it. She'd had issues with Trixie before for exactly the same reason—using a magical amulet to take over Ponyville notwithstanding—and hoped the misguided magician would change. But, since Dawn was using her intellect for Twilight's benefit, Twilight had no complaints if she wanted to be a little egotistical about it.

"Really? What's this account about?" she asked.

"It's a bit of a personal blurb, if ya can call it that, regardin' the military leader of Old Pandemonium, a stallion by the name of Blood Beryl," Winter said, tapping the screen. "Nothin' particularly interestin' apart from how much of an evil, warmongerin' shit he was, includin' a few clever titles: Blood Beryl the Conqueror, Bloody Beryl the Destroyer, etc."

"Sounds like a nice guy…" Twilight muttered.

"Too right. But, there's one bit that really caught my attention: he's described to have possessed some particularly potent magic."

"Okay? What makes that interesting?"

"Blood Beryl was an earth pony. An earth pony that apparently wielded magic," Winter said with a knowing smile. "Things like blood magic and shadow magic to be specific, though the extent of which he could wield them is a bit vague. Just lots of mentions of how vicious he was in combat."

"An earth pony using magic? That's impossible," Twilight scoffed. "Only unicorns can use those kinds of magic, assuming we're speaking of Hemomancy and Umbramancy, because it sounds like we are. You're sure this account you're reading is absolutely correct and reliable?"

"Eh, it could just be a misinterpretation of events, sure, or maybe the bloke writin' the tales was embellishin' a lil' bit, but if it is true, that means this Blood Beryl had the kind of abilities that could be expected of…?"

Twilight followed along the train of thought. "A Warden? You think this… Blood Beryl might have been Nihila's Warden?"

"Back at that time, yes. He was killed in the war, of course, by whoever Harmonia's Warden was back then, at least as far as I can tell." Winter shrugged, shaking her head. "All this document says is that he was struck down by the forces of Light, which logically would mean Harmonia, and her Warden would be leadin' those forces."

"What do you make of this, Dawn? About an earth pony using magic?" Twilight asked. "Seems a bit far-fetched to me. Like something out of a… a comic book."

Dawn smirked. "Typically, you and I would be in complete concurrence with that assessment, Twilight. However, according to the materials we have perused thus far in regards to the capabilities of these 'Wardens', we have postulated that they possess particularly prodigious portions of power and thus preponderate over more plebeian ponies. This tale is within the realm of possibility."

"Hmm… okay, I suppose I can accept that, at least until proven otherwise." Twilight turned back to Winter. "And this Blood Beryl was defeated in the war, which was hundreds of years ago, right?"

Winter nodded. "Yup. Killed in battle against the forces of Harmonia, which apparently even included a detachment from Zeb'ra'den headed up by a warrior princess. The fact that ponies and zebras were workin' together in those days is surprisin'; they'd just come off of a pretty brutal civil war, and zebras didn't get along well with most ponies. Still don't, actually."

"Let me guess: there's no record of who became Nihila's Warden after that?"

"Nope, not a bloody thing," Winter sighed. "Luckily there are plenty of records suggesting that she did appoint a new one at some point afterwards, so logically we can assume that she's been taking on new ones ever since the war, same as Harmonia does. These records all say that her Warden died shortly after the war as well, from injuries sustained by Blood Beryl."

"And Nihila's Wardens must have kept themselves well hidden if we can't find any records of them…" Twilight hummed, rubbing her chin. "I'm starting to think that finding this Warden might be more difficult than we thought, especially if they don't want to be found."

She didn't feel awkward saying that in front of Dawn, incidentally. She and Winter had played it off as wanting to interview him to learn more about Nihila, as records on her were scarce and horribly outdated, and potentially even altered such that the information was inaccurate. If Dawn could help, they'd accept it. Both worlds were at stake, after all; they just wouldn't tell her that.

"Perhaps, Twilight," Dawn said, nose back in the air. "However, I am of the opinion that we have discovered a new avenue of research to pursue: the history of New Pandemonium City. As has been made apparent, there are some records of these 'Wardens' that do not pertain directly to Nihila; logically speaking, it is possible that these later Wardens did not make their correlation with Nihila obvious either."

"So… we may find records of other ponies with incredible power or influence that might be connected to one another!" Twilight said as the pieces clicked together. "If we can find some connecting links between these later Wardens, we might be able to narrow down who the current Warden is! Dawn, that's ingenious!"

Dawn scuffed a hoof on her chest. "Was there ever any doubt?"

*****

Applejack returned from her lunch break to find a few of the warehouse crew members, Clay included, gathered around a particularly large storage container on one edge of the warehouse. At the moment, the blue-and-blond stallion—Applejack knew him now as Blue Streak, who had been "the New Guy" before she was hired—was struggling to even move the thing an inch despite clearly putting a lot of effort into his pull. It just wouldn't budge.

Applejack stepped up alongside the green-and-white stallion, Shamrock Shake; she'd grown to know everypony's names by now and for the most part, that initial trepidation of taking her on board had evaporated. Most of them still made rude or lewd comments at her here and there, but she mostly ignored them and just did her job. Shamrock was one of the few that didn't seem to care much.

"What's goin' on over here?" she asked quietly. The other stallions apart from Clay were all busy hooting and hollering at Blue Streak is a bizarre mix of motivation and mockery, so nopony could hear her anyway. "Some kind of contest?"

"Mechworks sent us this container of AMP parts just before lunch," Shamrock said. "They screwed up on the weight limit though—it's supposed to go to Warehouse Five, where they got more Eights and up on staff. The boss is trying to get it stocked up anyway, 'cause that's just what we've gotta do, but it ain't budging."

"Why don't we use that loader contraption if our crew can't move this thing?" she suggested.

She'd seen those fancy machines lift containers up off the floor to put them onto higher platforms after they'd been moved into place. Why they didn't just use them all the time was a mystery, but then she'd be out of work if they did, so she wasn't complaining. She didn't even know how they worked, anyway, just that they could lift and haul more than any pony could.

"Warehouse Six is using it right now, I think. They're shipping out some big haul of pipes and stuff out to Mid-East for the reconstruction projects, and have to have it in by tonight."

Applejack watched as Streak gave up, shaking his head in exhaustion. She'd be surprised if he hadn't pulled a muscle trying to out-macho the rest of the crew, as was his usual behavior. Being the New Guy for so long must've done a number on his ego, and now he was quick to try and take it out on her, the New Girl. Not that it helped him any.

Another stallion, this one red-and-blue—Spangled Stars—strapped himself into the harness after Streak was taken out of it, and gave the container a tug. It still wasn't budging, and that was surprising; Spangled was one of the stronger Sevens on the crew, supposedly, and was gunning for an Eight spot; she'd heard him talking about doing extra reps at the gym to bulk up some more.

"Well, why don't the boss get ol' Hammer Toss on it?" Applejack asked. "He'd probably make good on movin' this here thing in a jiffy, then all y'all could stop gawkin' and get back to work."

Hammer Toss was the gold-and-green earth pony on the crew, a hulking stallion that Clay had designated as the crew's only rank Ten hauler. He would be able to move anything that got shipped into the warehouse, period, even if there was a mistake somewhere and a load got placed in the wrong warehouse. Kind of like right now, actually.

"Called out sick this morning," Shamrock said, shaking his head. He smirked. "Sick my ass. He was out drinking with some of us last night and went home with this pretty little unicorn mare. Hammer always did have a bad case of Horn Fever. Bet he was up all night plowing away. Lucky bastard."

He gave Applejack a sidelong glance, his grin widening a little. "Hey, you oughta come out with us one night. Probably be able to find a mare for you too. Or a stallion, I dunno. I've got no idea what cranks your chain, but let me tell you, New Girl, you need to get laid. Bad. Your ass is tighter than Clay's sometimes."

She ignored the comment. "So we're stuck with this thing clutterin' up our floor 'cause somepony messed up a number somewhere and ol' Hammer had to get his willy wet and got too hungover to get outta bed? Bunch o' horseapples."

"Yup, seems that way. Boss is having all the Sevens give it a try since they're the best we've got. I'm glad I'm just a Five; I'm not looking to throw out my back, not on this."

As Spangled Stars strained himself to the point that the veins in his neck were bulging, he eventually just gave up, shaking his head and removing himself from the harness, panting like he'd just crossed a desert without a canteen.

Clay sighed and tossed his clipboard down on the floor; he did that often enough that Applejack knew it'd never break at this point. "Shit. Come on, you bunch of no-nut pansies! What the hell do I pay you for if you can't haul one damn container!"

"Boss… it's… too heavy…" Spangled huffed, practically crawling back into the crowd.

"Yeah, this stupid thing's meant for an Eight, Boss," Blue Streak said, having caught his breath and taken a drink of water, which he was still drinking between sentences. "Blame Mechworks for this shit. Plus, it's not our fault Hammer probably got his dick stuck in some mare's cu—"

Clay suddenly pointed right at Applejack, his timing impeccable. "New Girl! About time you got your sorry ass back from lunch. I hope you ate your protein." He pointed at the empty harness; she got his meaning immediately. "I don't pay you to gawk at these scrawny shits like you're watching some damn peep show. Strap yourself in and pull this fucking thing."

Streak chuckled. "Woo hoo, were you checking us out over there, New Girl?" he said, nudging Spangled Star, who had just gotten back to the others at last. "Hey, whose ass do you like the best? Mine or Spangled? Be honest now."

"Well, if I'm bein' honest, it's hard not to admire your ass, Streak," Applejack said with a smirk; Streak was so predictable that it was sad, actually. "Y'all talk outta the damn thing so much I figured it's able to hold a conversation."

A couple of laughs rippled through the crowd as Applejack strapped herself into the harness. Streak grumbled something under his breath, but there was no way he'd be able to ignore the others slapping him on the back and laughing in his ears.

She took a deep breath, then made an attempt at hauling the container with all her might. True enough, the damn thing weighed more than anything she had ever tried to pull before, not just here at the warehouse, but ever, in her entire lifetime. She felt like she'd tied herself up to the Ponyville Library and been asked to uproot the tree it was built into.

She pulled and she pulled, and she tried to move her legs but she wasn't gaining any traction; the damn thing was so heavy that even with the wheeled platform beneath it, it wouldn't budge one single inch. She clenched her teeth and put more effort into it; the container still wasn't budging. It had to weigh thousands of pounds if it was still staying put; whatever the hell an "AMP" was, it must be pretty big to need these kinds of parts.

"Hey, New Girl!" called Streak. "Just give it up! You can't move that thing; we all tried. Just leave it for ol' Hammer Dick when he gets back."

"Yes… I… can…" Applejack breathed through tightly-clenched teeth.

She saw that the crew that had gathered around was watching her much as she'd watched them before, shaking their heads as she struggled to do something that none of them could. She knew she had no reason to be upset, not really; it's not like they were saying she couldn't do something they could.

But if it would shut that arrogant punk Streak up, she'd run herself ragged making this damn thing move.

"Alright, New Girl, Streak's right, give it up," Clay sighed, marking his clipboard. "We'll just have to wait 'til the loading lift gets back from Warehouse Six, or until Hammer gets back tomorrow. It'll set us back a while with this piece of shit blocking this section of the floor, but that's Mechworks' fault, so they'll get shit for it more than us."

Applejack did not remove herself from the harness; she just kept pulling.

Clay raised an eyebrow. "Hey. New Girl. I said give it up. We've got work to do if we're gonna get around the stupid thing being in the way. Your workstation should be okay, but—"

Applejack ignored him, just kept pulling with all her might.

Now Clay was angry. "Applejack! Are you listening to—"

The wheels under the container gave a low squeak. They'd started to move.

Once Applejack had gotten the wheels to budge even just a fraction of an inch, things got much, much easier. They rolled forward another half an inch as she pulled and pulled, taking a single step forward. Every muscle in her body felt like it was on fire, but she didn't quit no matter how much her legs were crying out for relief.

Another inch. Another. Another. The platform was moving at a smooth, slow, steady pace as Applejack pulled and pulled, squeaking along as it rolled its way across the warehouse floor. Her head was pounding; she could hear shouting from the other members of the crew, but she was so focused on what she was doing that she couldn't hear much of what they were shouting about, and she didn't care anyway.

It took a few minutes for Applejack to pull the container onto the track that would ease it into its storage space; it locked in with a loud snap. Once she did, she didn't have the energy to pull the harness off, she just stopped dead in her tracks and leaned against the container, taking in gulps of air, her lungs feeling like they'd pop right out of her chest.

Clay was on her quickly, removing the hauling harness for her and easing her out of the way of the track so that the automatic systems could load the container. She didn't put up a fight whatsoever; her whole body felt like it was about to collapse in on itself. She could barely even lift the bottle of water he passed over to her and spilled most of it all over her shirt.

"Holy shit, way to go New Girl!" called Shamrock as he started clapping his hooves together.

The other stallions on the crew joined in shortly afterwards without so much as a nudge of prompting. Even Blue Streak was clapping, looking mighty impressed in fact.

"What the hell are you slack-jawed morons all doing around here clapping like this is some fucking musical number for?!" Clay snapped. "Get back to work!"

The crowd cleared out pretty quick after that.

Clay just shook his head and glanced at Applejack as she struggled to get back on her hooves. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Why not?" she asked, her voice strained.

"Because now I have to bump you up to an Eight in the ranking," Clay said, marking his clipboard and shaking his head. "Which means you're gonna be hauling loads like that whenever they come in from now on. Hammer will certainly be happy that you're taking a portion of work off his shoulders. Literally."

Applejack plopped down on the ground and sighed. That hurt too. "Yeah, well… don't let anypony tell ya I ain't the hardest workin' pony there is…"

Clay snorted, amused. "You sure are, New Girl, and screw anypony that says otherwise. Now, get your lazy ass off the floor and get back to your station." He paused. "After you take ten minutes to put yourself back together. Get some water, sit yourself down, get some air in those lungs. But you're back to work in ten, count 'em, ten minutes. Got that?"

Applejack gave a little half-hearted salute and rose up off the floor. "Ten minutes. Roger that, Boss." With that, she stumbled her way over towards the break room.

"Oh, and New Girl?" Clay called as she left.

She turned towards him. "Yeah?"

"Good work."

She paused, then nodded. "Thank ya kindly."

*****

"No, no, no, not like that, darling," Rarity said as Insipid made another attempt down the runway. "You've got to really give the audience something to think about when you make your turns."

Insipid was currently clad in a plain, tight-fitting leotard, with her now platinum blonde mane styled so that it looked almost just like Rarity's, but a little shorter and with more curls. The other mare paused on the runway to look at Rarity with wide, puppy dog eyes that Rarity found irresistible; Insipid just had something about her that seemed to make everypony want to cater to her requests as best they could, and she didn't even seem to realize it.

"But, like… I still don't know what that means and junk?" Insipid complained, stamping her hooves in frustration. "I'm walking straight down the lines and everything, and like, I'm even doing them in the right order, or whatever? Cha. What else is there to do?"

Rarity got up onto the runway with Insipid and pulled her back towards the first marker. "Being a proper model is more than just being able to walk from point A to point B and doing a little twirl, darling."

"I thought I was walking from one to two? And then to three, and then four?" Insipid said, scratching her head. "I'm already not good with numbers and junk, and now you want me to memorize the alphabet? Like, gag me with a spoon."

Rarity blinked. She certainly hadn't forgotten that Insipid was a little… slow on the uptake at times, and that she had to be careful with her words so she didn't confuse the poor mare. Sometimes, though, she slipped up and had to backtrack her wordings to make sure she was clear with her meanings.

"What I mean, darling, is that walking from marker to marker in order and twirling around isn't enough to really impress the crowds," she said with a sweet smile. "You've got to add a little bit more to it than that. Add some panache! Pizzazz!"

Insipid raised an eyebrow. "Pan Ass Pizzas?"

Rarity held the bridge of her nose. Easy words, remember? she reminded herself.

"Style, darling. A little bit of 'oomph', as it were. The crowds at these fashion showcases have been watching models come and go for years, and they know the difference between your common, everyday runway model, and a star. And what are we, darling?"

Insipid pondered that for far longer than Rarity would have liked.

"Unicorns?"

"Yes, but—"

"Mares?"

"Yes, that too, but—"

"Ooh! We're also pretty? Like, super pretty?"

Rarity gave Insipid a cheeky grin. "Naturally, darling. But we're also the new Rising Stars of Lovers' Lane, yes?"

Insipid nodded rapidly. "Right! Rising Stars!"

"So, you need to show something out on that runway that will make you special. Something that will make you stand out among all the other same-old, same-old models that will be out there with you. My lovely dress can only do so much. You need to do for the runway what I do for the dress: make it shine."

"Okay… okay, I think I get it. So, like, what should I do? I have no idea how to make myself, uh… 'shine' and junk? Cha. Ooh, does this mean another makeover?!"

Rarity took Insipid aside for a moment to sit on a pair of seats in the runway room. "There was a time where I myself wanted to be a model, you know?"

Insipid gasped. "Really? No way! Why didn't you? You're super duper gorgeous and junk!"

"Thank you, darling. Well, truth be told, the photographer was looking for something different than what I had, something I lacked. My friend, Fluttershy—you remember her?"

"Oh yeah. She was the really quiet one, right? She, like, makes my sister Gray look like a chatterbox."

"Yes, but she also has a lovely figure for modeling, tending towards the thinner sort that is more common and widely accepted, even here in the big city. I made this new dress of mine for a figure more like my own; more like yours. So, you already have everything you need to really draw attention, because you're already different.

"But being different isn't everything. You still need to bring your own spark to the runway. Otherwise, everypony will think you just got the job because you have a bigger derriere and a fuller figure than the others, nothing more. Or worse."

"Worse?"

Rarity made sure the two of them were alone in the room before continuing. "Yes, worse. It's no secret in the fashion industry that sometimes models form a… less-than-professional relationship with certain designers," she added. "There might be some very mean ponies that might be jealous, and would falsely accuse you of that. Ignore them."

"But what if I did?" Insipid asked, her innocence and naivety on full display. "Sounds like it would make things, like, way easier—"

Rarity held her hoof to Insipid's nose. "Never. Ever. Do anything of the sort. No career in the world is worth your dignity. And if anypony ever tries to force you into anything like that, you come straight to me. Do you understand?"

Insipid tilted her head. "I… think so? So just, uh… stay professional?"

"Exactly. Stay professional." Rarity patted Insipid's shoulder. "Go on, stand up, show me your strut again, but give me something more."

Insipid nodded, headed over to the first marker, then walked to the next marker and twirled. As she did so, she threw her head back just a bit so that her mane flowed in the air for half a second before she moved towards the next marker.

"That's a good start, darling!" Rarity said, clapping her hooves. "Very good. Now, put some more attitude into it."

Insipid continued along the markers, one after the other, twirling at each one and putting a bit more force into every fling of her mane. She also started taking bolder steps as she walked, which made her tush pop a bit more with every step. When Rarity could see her face, she saw Insipid giving this certain look with her eyes and curling her lips in a slight little "come and get it" smile.

How Insipid had picked up all these ideas from the little pep-talk she'd just given, Rarity had no idea.

What Rarity did know, is that if Insipid went on stage in her dress with those moves, well… she was going to knock that crowd dead.

*****

Rainbow had been on the skyball team back at flight school, even been their star striker for three years running, playing nearly one hundred games over that time. She'd played a few pickup games in Cloudsdale as she was growing up, even after finishing school; she'd played some in Ponyville, too, when they often had to play without full teams because there just weren't enough pegasi willing to play at any given time.

But until today, Rainbow had never seen a team of players that were so… there had to be a nice word for it. Mediocre? Was that a nice way to describe them? Twilight would probably know better words to do the trick. She'd probably have more than one that would perfectly describe, in a nice way, just how not-great these players were.

Havoc, on the other hoof—

"Fucking trash," the other pegasus muttered as she watched their new team practice against a selection of floating buoys and machines. "Absolute fucking trash. I have seen literal garbage that plays better. Like a plastic bag in the wind."

Rainbow wanted to say, "They're not so bad." But that would be a bold-faced lie, and she may not be the Element of Honesty, but there was something wrong with lying like that.

So Rainbow just stayed silent and watched the others along with Havoc, and first focused herself on the two other strikers that would be joining her on the team's offense.

One was an average-build stallion named Dart Blazer, who had a cobalt blue coat and a short, wavy, chocolate brown mane parted down the middle. The other was a young mare that looked barely out of elementary school named Sweet Crespelle—she had to be of legal age to play, but Rainbow wasn't convinced yet—who had a light red coat and a blonde mane kept in a ponytail.

Neither of the two was particularly fast, especially not compared to Rainbow or Havoc, nor were they particularly coordinated. Crespelle dropped the ball constantly if she tried to keep possession of it longer than a few seconds, and this was against stationary buoys that weren't actively trying to block her; Dart was constantly shooting at the goal from halfway across the court and missing by several feet, despite it being wide open.

Then there were the other two blockers, and Rainbow could see that these two also needed some work before they were even close to being useful on the team's defense with Havoc.

The stallion of the two, Brisk Gallop, looked like he'd seen better days; his jet black coat was dull enough to almost look gray, and he had an aged white mane and a matching bushy mustache. The other blocker, a mare named Salsa Fresca, had a greenish-blue coat and a bright purple mane that she kept in a ponytail; if she didn't, it would be too long for regulations.

Gallop was so slow that even though the moving buoys were traveling at a speed that Rainbow wouldn't even call casual, he could barely keep up; Salsa, on the other hoof, was more than fast enough to do alright, and had the right aggressive mindset, but was apparently easily distracted and kept staring in Dart's direction, causing her to miss tackle after tackle.

Then there was the goalkeeper, Salsa's sister Lily Typhoon, who had an orange coat and a pink mane. She was certainly enthusiastic, swinging her hooves around to block shots from the buoy machine affixed with a ball launcher. The problem was that she kept her eyes closed the entire time and had drifted away from the goal by now, so she wasn't blocking anything at all.

These… were the Mid-East Rockets.

"Oh, hey, are you two getting to know your teammates better?" Rainslick asked, coming out of the office behind Rainbow and Havoc, who had camped out on the edge of the court to watch practice a bit before joining in.

"Uh… yeah, you could say that," Rainbow said, glancing at the court as Dart's latest kick bounced off a buoy and hit Crespelle in the head, leaving the poor mare crying on the floor. "You're sure this is the actual team, not like… the reserves?"

"Nope, we don't have any reserve players," Rainslick said matter-of-factly, apparently missing Rainbow's intent. "If it weren't for you two, we wouldn't have a legal lineup right now. I'd be scrambling to find a last-minute addition before the first game of the season."

"And this is a semi-pro team, right?" Havoc asked, incredulous. "This isn't like some little league charity case or anything? We're playing against other real teams of real adult ponies in legal skyball courts, right? Not against the elementary school team in their half-court gym?"

"Nope, we are a totally bona fide semi-professional team." Rainslick set his hooves on both Rainbow and Havoc's shoulders. "You have no idea how good it is to have the two of you along. You might just save this franchise from dying."

"Huh?" asked Rainbow and Havoc simultaneously.

"Yeah, didn't you know? It's been all over the… well, the third page of the sports news. But the owner is thinking about disbanding the team at the end of this season." Rainslick sighed and shook his head despondently. "We haven't turned a profit for him in the past five years he's owned us, and we weren't even making much of one with the previous owner either. If we don't bring something to the table soon, we're caput."

"And what does that mean?"

"Well, these guys," Rainslick said, gesturing at the other players, "are gonna have to go out and get 'real' jobs, I guess. Same with me, really. I don't know how I can turn ten years of being a talent scout for a losing team into a career, but… well, my mom always said I could do anything I put my mind to."

Havoc paused, sharing a glance at Rainbow, then cleared her throat. "When you say 'losing team', what do you mean by that?"

"Oh. Well, you could always check the league records for that kind of information, but I guess I could save you all the time. The Rockets haven't won anything in eight years."

"That's not so bad," Rainbow said. "Some teams go a long time with that kind of championship drought, but they're still popular. We've got this team back home that hasn't won a Skyball Championship in like thirty years but they're still one of the best-funded and most popular teams in the league."

"Oh, I don't mean a championship. We haven't won anything in eight years. Not a single game."

Rainbow's jaw dropped. "You haven't won a single game in eight years?"

"Nope. It's a league record, actually," Rainslick said with a smile, which he then quickly dropped. "Though I, uh… suppose we shouldn't be proud of that." He patted them on the shoulders again. "But you two might just turn things around for us. We're lucky to have you."

"Yeah… you are," Havoc muttered.

Rainslick gave the two a little salute. "Well, I'll let you guys get to your own business with practice and whatnot. I've gotta get over to the league headquarters to ensure the paperwork is taken care of for our new lineup. See you around!"

And with that, he flew off.

Rainbow and Havoc returned to staring out at the court of players.

Gallop had taken a break from flying to rest on the court floor—Rainbow was about twenty-percent certain he was still breathing; Salsa ran right into her sister Lily while she was busy staring at Dart again, and the two tumbled downwards in a pile of twisted limbs; Crespelle was still crying after getting hit in the head with a ball; Dart was still trying to get a ball in the goal, and missed again, and again, and again, unaware of anything else going on on the court.

"Havoc?" Rainbow said.

"Yeah Dash?" Havoc replied.

"Is this gonna suck?"

"Oh, this is gonna suck."

*****

Fluttershy diligently stamped form after form as Lockwood passed them over to her, with all the precision and speed of a machine built for this sort of thing. She'd gotten pretty good at it, actually, even if it took three days of practice. Not to brag or anything like that, of course; she was sure that anypony else could do at least as good of a job as she could at it.

But still, Lockwood was always quick to show his appreciation for her help. "You know," he said after they finished the final batch and he filed it away, "I haven't had things this easy since… well, ever. You're doing wonders for my work ethic, Fluttershy. I love getting things done by lunchtime."

Fluttershy blushed and smiled. "Thanks. I'm just doing the best that I can. I can't think of any other way to repay you for everything you've done for us."

"Well, I can think of a few other ways," Lockwood said with a small grin.

"Oh? Like what?"

"Well, for one," he said, stepping around the table towards her, "you can relax a little bit."

To emphasize his point, he tapped her shoulders, which she'd had uncomfortably raised; she didn't even know why she was doing it.

"I know things are different from your own home, but you're always so tense whenever I see you, as if you're expecting somepony to jump out at you at any moment."

Fluttershy let her shoulders droop a little bit. "I suppose so… but I'm like that a lot at home, too. I just get nervous without even realizing it sometimes."

"I completely understand, and I won't tell you that you're wrong," he said as he retrieved his hat from the rack by the door. "But I will tell you that it doesn't suit you. A mare like you should smile more, if you don't mind my saying. You've got a very sweet smile."

She smiled at that, blushing a little bit more. She wasn't used to being talked to like this except by her closest friends, and even then it felt completely different coming from, say, Rarity than it was coming from him. She didn't know why, really, but she liked it all the same. His compliments always felt so genuine; even Rarity said so, and she was usually good about picking up false praise.

"What say we get out of this dusty place and get some lunch?" Lockwood asked as he opened the door. "My treat."

"You always say it's 'your treat', Lockwood," she said as she rose from her seat. "If you keep treating me to lunch every day, then how am I ever supposed to repay you?"

"Like I said, you can start just by taking it easy, relaxing a little, taking the chance to smile and enjoy yourself," he said. "Everypony else is, or at least they're doing something useful with their time. All you do is assist me with my boring old job."

"But… what if that is what I enjoy?" she asked.

He smiled. "Well, then don't let me stop you. So, lunch?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Okay…" She paused before she left the room, then tilted her head. "Would… would you mind if I invited Gray to come along with us?"

"Not at all, go right ahead. I'll wait down here until you're ready to go, okay?"

"Okay," she said with a nod.

She moved past him to head for the stairwell, then ascended up towards the seventy-fourth floor; days of taking the stairs up and down constantly was making the trip easier and easier every time, and Fluttershy could feel her muscles getting a little tighter by the day. She knew that her friends were experiencing the same results and enjoying the same relative ease compared to their first day here, though Rarity was the only one complaining about it; "all these atrocious muscles will ruin my lovely figure," she'd complained.

Fluttershy knocked on Gray's door and didn't have to wait for more than a few moments for Gray to open up. "Hey," Gray said. "What's up?"

"Hi, Gray. I, um… I was wondering if… if you would like to join… to join me and Lockwood for lunch?" Fluttershy asked, trying her best not to hide behind her mane. She never asked anypony out for lunch, even her actual close friends—they always asked her—so this was particularly nerve-wracking.

Gray just stared at her and blinked a couple of times, then gave a little shrug. "Sure. You know I never turn down a free meal."

Fluttershy smiled. "Oh, that's great. Are you ready to go now? We were just getting ready to leave"

"Yeah, sure. Let's go," Gray said as she closed and locked the door behind her. "So… you go to lunch with Lockwood often?"

"Oh, he invites me along every day," Fluttershy said as they made their way down the stairs. "I think he's just glad to have some company, and… I am too." She turned to Gray, her smile still plain to see. "I'm glad you're coming too, though. I really enjoy your company."

"You do?"

"Oh yes. It's not often that I get to spend time with anypony that's… as quiet as I am, and that's so relaxed. Most of my friends are too loud or too active for me to spend much time alone with. Twilight says it's because I probably have an undiagnosed anxiety disorder…"

Gray nodded. "So you like being around somepony that makes you feel, what, safe?"

Fluttershy paused, tilting her head. "I suppose so, yes."

"And I make you feel safe?"

Fluttershy blushed a little and nodded, hiding behind her mane again. "Yes. I was a little scared of you at first because of how big you are, but… I can tell you're not a dangerous pony. You're a quiet soul, just like me. It just makes me feel at ease, that's all." She hung her head. "Oh, I hope that's okay with you for me to say."

Gray remained silent for a moment. "Yeah, that's okay with me." She gave Fluttershy a small smile.

Fluttershy gladly returned it.

*****

It was nearing the end of Pinkie's shift, and business had slowed to a crawl. No customers had walked in through the doors for close to thirty minutes, and the shop would be closing in twenty. If the rest of the day hadn't been a veritable zoo, then she might have been able to cope with the sudden lull; there was something about it now that filled her with suspicious dread, as if all of a sudden another busload of customers would pile in in the final few minutes and make her and Cinnamon work overtime.

As it so happened, a customer did indeed walk in, just one, and Pinkie was actually pretty glad to see her. "Oh! Hey Red!"

"Hey, Pink!" Velvet called with a lazy grin as she made her way over to the counter. "How's business?"

"Busy, busy, busy, and then sloooow for like the last half hour," Pinkie said, planting her face on the countertop. "I'm still so pumped up from the rush, but I've got nothing to spend all that energy on! It's maddening. I could go crazy at any minute with… with cabin fever! It's driving me insane!"

"Can you even get cabin fever in thirty minutes?" Velvet asked, eyes wide.

Pinkie shrugged. "Heck if I know! I'm a baker, not a psychiatrist. So, what brings you here?"

"Oh, I've got myself a sweet tooth craving something fierce right now," Velvet said, licking her lips. "I'm gonna pick up a few things to take home to my sisters, but I need a little something for myself right now. I've gotta get my stamina back up, y'know? So, uh… let's go with a half dozen eclairs, huh? And a 'me' cupcake."

"Sure! That'll be fourteen bits."

Red took a little plastic card out of her shirt pocket and passed it over, where Pinkie then slid it through a little reader on the register to deduct the bits from Velvet's account. Pinkie didn't get many of these "credit cards" from the shop's normal clientele, but Velvet and her sisters each had their own, and she'd seen Lockwood with one as well, so she didn't really question it. The concept of digital money was something that would make Twilight giddy; for Pinkie, it was just something neat.

Once the card was approved, Velvet had to sign the receipt, then the order was complete and Pinkie passed the ticket back to Cinnamon through a window behind the counter.

When Pinkie passed the card back, she noticed that Velvet's shirt wasn't buttoned quite straight, that her tie was askew, and that her mane was a little messed up. "Hey, what's with you today, huh? You look like you forgot how to dress yourself, you silly goose."

Velvet glanced down at her shirt, then rolled her eyes and smiled. "Oh. Whoops. I was in such a hurry I didn't even notice." She quickly unbuttoned and rebuttoned it without a fuss, though she took a moment to smell the collar a bit, which was weird.

"What happened that you were in such a hurry?"

Velvet grinned, and leaned her elbows on the counter with a dreamy sigh. "I've just had a really good afternoon. A little of the ol' afternoon delight."

Pinkie blinked and smiled, just glad that her friend was happy for some reason. "I don't know what that is, but it sounds tasty. Do you have a recipe for it?"

"Oh, it was, it—" She paused, then glanced at Pinkie. "A recipe?"

"Yeah! For this 'afternoon delight'. If it was so delicious that it made you forget to dress properly and comb your mane right, oh boy, I can't wait to give it a try!"

Velvet blinked. "Afternoon delight isn't a food, Pink. It's sex. I had sex."

Pinkie gasped, loudly. "Oh. My. Gosh. You did?! Way to go, Red! So, who's your new coltfriend, and when do I get to meet him? Is he handsome? What's his name? When did you meet? How did you meet? Oh my goodness I'm sooo happy for you!"

"Whoa whoa, hold up," Velvet said, hooves in front of her to try and calm Pinkie down. "Who said anything about a coltfriend?"

"Uh, you did? You said you had sex—and I am so happy for you—and that means coltfriend. I mean, it could mean fillyfriend, but you said that you were straight as an arrow, so, y'know, the answer is elementary, my dear Velvet," Pinkie added, grabbing a bubble pipe out of her mane and popping it in her mouth. "Nothing escapes my sleuth sense."

"Pink, you don't need a coltfriend to have sex."

"Huh? What do you mean? That's, like, the rules? I mean, okay, there are some old-fashioned ponies like my parents that say you have to get married first, but really, sometimes there's no way you can wait for that when you find the right pony, right? Dashie and I aren't married."

"Okay, I agree with you on all of that except the first part." Velvet leaned her head on her hoof. "You've never heard of casual sex before?"

Pinkie tilted her head. "Can't say that I have? Is that like the opposite of formal sex? Ooh, does that mean there are some ponies out there that have sex while wearing suits and ties? That sounds kinky. I mean, would that technically be cosplay? 'Cause I do cos—"

"No, that's not— Look, Pink, the stallion I had sex with was just some random hot guy I met while I was at lunch today. I've never seen him before, I didn't ask for his name, and I'll probably never see him again. We just kinda sat near each other at this hay fries joint, flirted a little bit, then hooked up in the bathroom."

"So you had sex?"

"Yes. Very, very good sex."

"With a stranger?

"Yes."

"And it was consensual?"

"Oh, ab-so-lutely."

Pinkie tapped her chin. "Well… I mean, I guess if you two had fun, there's not a problem with it. Right? Do you mean you've never had a coltfriend before?"

"Nope!" Velvet said with a proud smirk, tapping her chest. "I am not a one stallion mare, let me tell you. I mean, when I get my own place so that I can bring back anypony I want whenever I want, I might keep a little black book of booty calls at best, but I'm not planning on going steady anytime soon. That'd be like going to a candy store and getting the same flavor lollipop every time. Bo-ring!"

Pinkie frowned. "I don't think it's boring…"

Velvet paused. "Oh… I… I didn't mean to make monogamy sound bad. That's just… it's not my thing, y'know? I mean, if you pick a flavor that's really good—like, say, rainbow sprinkles?" she said, waggling her eyebrows and earning a giggle from Pinkie.

"Then by all means, keep at it!" she continued. "You're lucky if you've got a flavor like that, y'know? Some ponies spend their whole lives trying to find the right flavor, and by the time they find it, if they ever do, they're supposed to be on a low sugar diet… whatever that means in this metaphor I'm going with."

Pinkie paused a moment, then smiled and put her chin into her hooves as she leaned on the countertop. "Y'know, Red… this is probably the weirdest conversation I've ever had while working behind the counter of a bakery while wearing an apron."

"Oddly specific."

"But, it was very enlightening. I learned a lot about you today. More than I think I would've ever asked myself, but hey, some ponies like to share."

"And believe me, I love to share," Velvet said with a wink. "You want details?"

"Save it for a bonus clop chapter, Red. You might get one this time."

"Yeah, fair enough."

*****

Summer Rains stepped out of her little cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville, gazing up at the clear sky and marveling at how well the weather team was getting on without their usual captain around. Sure, it wasn't quite as neat or organized—Rainbow Dash was good at her job, no matter what anypony said—but things were managing themselves just fine. Best of all, the clouds were all still regular clouds, so nothing chaotic was happening this far out yet.

She popped over to her mailbox and found it filled with exactly one letter, oddly enough bearing the Canterlot Royal Seal. She hummed as she unsealed the letter, then read along:

"Dear Summer Rains,

As per our meeting, I am writing to inform you that Discord's statue has been moved inside the Royal Palace into a place where he will have the least possible interactions with others. I have taken measures to ensure that the Royal Guards are aware of him and steer clear of his room to minimize his potential influence.

I will note that his seal is waning as you warned, though I think he will remain contained so long as my sister and I attend to it manually on a daily basis. At present we only need to do it twice a day—we have set aside noon and midnight as opportune moments—but if this continues, we may soon need to increase the rate at which we attend to him.

Please inform me if you have any news regarding my faithful student and her friends, or if there is anything you can do to assist with Discord's seal.

Yours Sincerely,

Princess Celestia"

Summer grunted, folded the letter back up and dropped into her saddlebag. There was little to report to the Princess at the moment; her latest news came two days ago via text update, and Winter had assured her that the Element Bearers were safe and settling in for the long haul, and that they were making some progress so far on getting them all home, but there was otherwise nothing new.

As for the seal, there was nothing that Summer could do about it directly, and the only indirect solution she could think of was to try and use the Elements of Harmony without the Bearers in some fashion. Princess Celestia couldn't use them anymore, and neither could Princess Luna; perhaps new Bearers? But that would invalidate everything Winter was doing; very rude. An emergency measure at best if Winter failed.

With that, she set out on her daily rounds of Ponyville, to ensure that everypony who had been affected by the sudden disappearance of the Element Bearers was trucking along without issue. Ensuring that nopony suffered or panicked following the disappearance had been crucial to ensuring that Discord couldn't leech off of any chaotic energies, and that was priority one, full stop.

Her first stop was Carousel Boutique as that was the closest to where she lived, and was the easiest stop by far. With Rarity "out of town on business", the fashion shop had been locked up until her return. Her sister, Sweetie Belle, was currently staying with the Apple family, which Summer found to be a very generous offer; just the perfect harmonious sort of thing to counteract Discord's Chaos. The cat, Opalescence, had gone with her.

Sugarcube Corner was the next stop, and she'd arrived just after the doors opened for business, so there weren't any customers just yet. Carrot Cake was busy loading the display shelves with some freshly-baked donuts when she walked in.

"Mr. Cake, how are you?" she asked with a small smile. She sniffed the air and let out a content sigh. "Oh boy, those smell wonderful, doncha know."

"Oh, hey there, Miss Rains," said Mr. Cake with a smile of his own. "Coming in for your daily check-in?"

"You know it. Everything doing okay over here?"

Mr. Cake nodded. "It was a tough couple of days at first, but I think things have improved a bunch since then. The new girl, Cherry Cream? She really knows her stuff. Sure, she's not as… enthusiastic as Pinkie is, but she's able to tend to the shop and handle the baking. Anything new on your end?"

Summer shook her head. "Not since the last update. How's Mrs. Cake holding up?"

"She's upstairs right now with the twins; they were up bawling all night. She's expecting the babysitter in about an hour so that she can head out to pick up groceries, and not a minute too soon." He shook his head; he looked exhausted. "But hey, I know you've got more stops ahead, so I won't keep you."

He grabbed a fresh, glazed donut out of the display case, and passed it over to Summer. "And here, for the road."

"Aww, thanks. You take care now!"

"You too!"

With that, Summer headed out and made her way through Ponyville, scarfing down the donut as she went. Her next stop was the Ponyville Library. As it came into view, she noticed Spike sitting out front, leaning up against the tree under the shade. Apart from him, there wasn't a soul around.

"Morning, Spike," Summer said as she approached.

Spike opened one eye, then smiled and closed it again. "Hey there, Summer. Out on your rounds early today?"

"Yeah, felt like getting an early start, doncha know." She glanced around at the lack of ponies nearby; the library had never been busy, per se, but this was unusually slow. "Where is everypony?"

"Beats me. Don't hear me complaining, though. It's a beautiful day out."

"Yup, sure is. So, how are lodgings over at Sweet Apple Acres? Must be a whole new experience for you, huh?"

He shrugged. "It's not bad. I'm used to being the only guy around, y'know? But Big Mac's cool." He smirked. "I think I might've got him interested in playing some O&O with me."

She paused and, unable to think of anything else to add to the conversation—Spike had been handling things the smoothest, from what she'd seen—she just waved and started walking away. "Well, I'll leave you to your, uh… work. Later!"

"Oh hey, hold on a sec," he said, sitting up straight. "Anything new from Twilight and the others?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Nothing since last time, buddy. Relax. If I've got anything for you, I'll be sure to let you know about it first thing, believe you me."

He nodded. "Right. Sorry. I'm just worried, that's all. It's not the same not having them all around, y'know? I mean, this might sound weird, but it's kind of… normal?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure. Must be awful not having grand adventures every day, huh?"

Spike crossed his arms. "Pfft. They didn't even bring me on adventures most of the time."

"Well, the way I see it, when your friends get back and see how well you handled things while they were gone, I bet they'll be awful proud of you, doncha know. Might think about bringin' you along more often."

He smiled at that. "Yeah. I bet they will be. Well, see ya later, Summer!"

"See you later, Spike!"

She moved on next to the far side of town, towards Sweet Apple Acres. She didn't need to go far to see how things were going, which is to say, they were going just fine. She was used to walking this route back before this situation had turned everything on its head, and had been used to seeing the familiar forms of Applejack and Big Macintosh out on the fields bucking trees and hauling apples.

While the latter was indeed still out there doing just that, she noticed a couple of other Apple Clan ponies that had come into town to help out. She was pretty sure they were… Apple Fritter and Apple Bumpkin? Yeah, that sounded about right. It made sense for Granny Smith to have called on the extended family to lend them a hoof or two for a few weeks while Applejack was "out of town", and certainly helped that they could give them an expected timeline.

She was even sure she spotted the young Apple Bloom out there, as well as Sweetie Belle and their other friend, Scootaloo; whether they were getting work done or getting in the way, Summer didn't know, but those fillies sure could run. On a second glance, no, they weren't getting work done at all, they were playing tag in the middle of the orchard. At least they were having fun, despite everything. It did no good to worry all the time, right?

At any rate, it was easy enough to see that the farm was doing just fine in Applejack's absence, at least enough to stay afloat and not risk losing crops during the harvest season. Summer hadn't actually checked in with the Apple family personally except for updates on Applejack's well-being; she felt that bothering them with a little check-up while they were working so hard was just distracting, and Spike was a good enough source on how things were going.

The last stop on Summer's rounds was Fluttershy's cottage, which was currently mostly empty. Most of the animals that tended to hang around the area had moved elsewhere to occupy their time since their pegasus friend wasn't around, but they were wild animals and they could handle themselves out in the wilderness just fine.

Summer went around back of the cottage, however, to where Fluttershy kept some of her domesticated animals, which were currently under the care of a zebra mare from the Everfree Forest. Summer had bumped into her on the day this entire conundrum had gone down—the portal had only appeared a mile or so away from where this zebra made her home—and the mare didn't seem to have a problem with dropping by a couple of times a day to feed the animals when Summer asked later on.

"Hello, Zecora," Summer said as she stepped over to the fence that kept the chickens contained. "Lovely day, huh? How are you?"

Zecora stopped throwing some feed out to the chickens in the nearby coop, glanced up at the clear sky, and gave a little nod. "A lovely day, with sky so blue. I'm doing well, but how are you?"

Summer was still getting used to Zecora's rhyming. It was a neat little quirk, but she couldn't help but think that it must be outrageously tedious to deal with, what with needing to contort one's words to fit rhymes and all that. She tried to imagine how difficult it would be to hold a complex conversation that way.

"Not bad, not bad," Summer replied. "Just checking in on my daily rounds. Looks like you've got everything in hoof over here, though. So, uh, I'll see ya later."

Zecora just nodded and continued with her business.

As Summer walked away, she noticed a little white rabbit standing on the edge of the fence, his little paws crossed over his chest, giving her what was possibly the nastiest look that a cute little rabbit could possibly give. He tapped his foot on the post rapidly—impatiently—as though waiting for something.

Summer just rolled her eyes. "Nothing new, little guy. I'll let you know if I hear anything though, okay?" She made to pat the rabbit on the head, but he just leapt up, practically stomped on her head, then bounded off in a huff. She rubbed the spot where he'd landed and shook her head. "Crazy frackin' bunny. How does Fluttershy deal with him? Why does Fluttershy deal with him?"

With that, Summer headed off back into town to enjoy the rest of her day. She'd do another round later on before she headed home, just to make sure everyone was still holding up alright, but other than that, it was just business as usual. Still, she hoped that Winter was doing everything possible to figure out a way to fix this on her end; if Celestia's letter was right, three weeks was already cutting it close.

Comments

[RoboRed]

Hmm...that library research...a foreshadowing of things to come?

Not much going on, just everyone holding it together (or trying to hold it together in the case of things back home).

[Victor07]

I had Said before that I was going to alternate my reading between this one and the original story, but I changed my mind and decided I'm going to read this one first and then come back to another one

[GanonFLCL]

11525460
I agree with the sentiment, as I consider this one, Divergence, to be the superior product

[My name is R]

Apparently the last employee had moved down south about two years ago, and Archimedes hadn't filled the position until Twilight arrived.

So, many, references!

"Typically, you and I would be in complete concurrence with that assessment, Twilight. However, according to the materials we have perused thus far in regards to the capabilities of these 'Wardens', we have postulated that they possess particularly prodigious portions of power and thus preponderate over more plebeian ponies. This tale is within the realm of possibility."

Okay, the only word I didn't know already was preponderate, which apparently means 'Is/are more important/numerous than'.

"Well, why don't the boss get ol' Hammer Toss on it?" Applejack asked.

Yeah, or pair up? Why keep throwin' singles at it when they aren't workin'? Can't ya double er triple it?

How Insipid had picked up all these ideas from the little pep-talk she'd just given, Rarity had no idea.

Question Insipid as you might Pinkie. Carefully, and only when necessary.

I was a little scared of you at first because of how big you are, but… I can tell you're not a dangerous pony.

Gray is a model soldier, but I wouldn't claim that she's not dangerous. She ain't aggressive though, I'll grant ya that.