> Apostle
>  by EquestrianKnight97
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 0
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The old unicorn had spent the previous hour staring at the wooden surface of his reading desk, trying his best to fight off the fatigue and frustration that clouded his mind. This was the fourth day this week in which he had found himself suddenly awoke in the middle of the night and unable to immediately go back to sleep. For the first three days, the stallion's solution to curing this ailment was to walk around the front of his yard under Luna's moon until the weight of tiredness made his eyelids droopy and his mouth produce continuous yarns. But tonight was different. He had woken up two hours ago and spent nearly an hour wandering in the grass, but by the time he returned to his home, he could not yet return to his bed to count his sheep. Therefore, in a final bid of desperation, he hoped that staring at his desk in his bedroom would cause him to fall under sleep's spell.

But though the task he assigned to himself worked in boring him out of his mind, boredom was not enough for the elderly stallion to fall asleep. Frustrated, the unicorn slammed his chin on the desk and released a slow croak that eventually transformed into a loud grunt. Old age had not done the unicorn any favors since his retirement from his traveling years long ago, though he can assume that growing old is not supposed to help anypony in general -- not just him. Since residing at the town of Ponyville at his old friend's suggestion, the unicorn had spent years visiting doctors and therapists due to problems with his health, in which every newer ache would be worse than the last. It made him a greatly upset, knowing that the robust youth that he once was now relied on the assistance of ponies who could never handle the dangers he once faced. He did not hate his caretakers, as their weekly visits to his home reminded him to be grateful for their concerns, but the reminder that he may one day be unable to have full control over his body loomed over him like the grim reaper's shadow. The thought of helplessness was always on his mind. 

But until that day came when he found himself confide to the town's hospital or nursing home, being unable to move anything other than his wordless lips or blind eyes, for now all the unicorn had to worry about was putting himself to sleep. By this point, he doubted that he would be able to force himself to go to sleep, so he figured that he might as well amuse himself until his body naturally found its way to his bed. Sadly, he was not able to immediately think of what he could do at the moment, so it felt necessary for him to lift himself off of his cushion and slowly walk towards the door leading outside of his room. Just before he used his magic to open the door, the unicorn stared at a nearby window and gazed at the sight that lay beyond the glass.

Distances away, from the backyard of his home, Apollo could see the Castle of Friendship, and besides that was the School of Friendship. Though it was night time, the full moon above provided enough light to reveal the crystal splendor of the castle -- which shone with rays of purple, blue, and golden lights. The school, made of simpler material, also demonstrated a beauty under the moonlight, with the waterfalls and the lake that was fed by them sparkling with the mesmerizing twinkles of diamonds. The sight outside his window kept the unicorn's hooves on the floor for some time, as he began to reminisce of his first few years in Ponyville. 

When the unicorn retired from his vagabond days, he returned to his hometown, hoping he could find employment suitable to a stallion advancing in age. Though things appeared to be working at first, he found himself struggling financially. It was not until his old friend, who had left the adventurer gig long before the unicorn had, heard about these troubles that the unicorn suddenly found himself a chance to move to Ponyville. The old friend had landed a position in the School of Friendship and was close to the principal, and had suggested that the unicorn would do well as a part-time instructor of extracurricular activities. 

That decision to move to the small town was made decades ago, and ever since then the unicorn had not found a single reason to regret his choice. He loved being physically active with the students for as long as he could, and it was nice to connect with his former partner. Sadly, that old friend died a few years ago, and not long after the old stallion's body could not keep up with the expectations set for a teacher of physical education. Nonetheless, the first years in Ponyville gave him the best feeling he had since his youth.

"It was a good thing we had," the old unicorn said softly in a near whisper, as if he was talking to another pony in a crowded room during a quiet demonstration. He brought his front hoof to the window glass, still staring at the castle and school. "I'm thankful for what you gave me, even though it was for a mere while."

Then all of a sudden it came to him. In one moment, the unicorn retreated from the door and went over to stand between his desk and his bed. With a magic glow appearing around his horn, he levitated a small wooden chest from underneath his bed and set it down near the bottom legs of the bed frame. Facing the chest, the unicorn used his magic to open one of the drawers of the desk and retrieve a small copper key. Using the key to unlock the padlock guarding the entrance, he swung the lid of the chest open to reveal a small, yet diverse, collection of notebooks, sheets of paper, and pictures. The first object that the unicorn's frail eyes spotted was a slim crimson red spiral notebook with a golden eagle imprinted on the cover. However, that was not what the old stallion was looking for.

After the funeral, his friend's offspring had given the unicorn a collection of items that were meant for him. Many of these items included special books that the friend believed would be of great interest to the unicorn. Indeed, the old pony had browsed through the descriptions of a few, he never got to truly read them, as they reminded him of the grief he was facing. Now, however, tonight seemed like the perfect opportunity to give these books a try, since his mind was too stubborn to fall asleep.

"What was that one called? What was that one called?" the unicorn muttered to himself as his hooves shuffled around the chest's interior. "I think it was purple. And it was about Ho Chi Mane city, right? Or was it dark blue?"

Eventually, the unicorn found a purple book with a pink ribbon attached to the spine that acted as a bookmark. The book was titled 78 Days of Endless Nights, and though he was not certain, the title sounded familiar enough for him to levitate the book to his desk. Resuming his seat at the cushion, he opened the book to its first page to read the description of the general plot of the story. The story focused on a unicorn stallion named Silverrun, a government agent in search of his estranged brother, a private investigator named Golden Luck, who went missing after accepting a case in Ho Chi Mane city. Along the way, Silverrun will uncover a hotbed of corruption within the city that the criminal underworld can not allow him to leak to the public.

A big smile formed underneath the unicorn's beard. "I'm pretty this is based on that job with the business tycoon," he chuckled. He looked at the clock above his desk to see that it was around 2am. He knew that a caretaker from the hospital would arrive by 8am, so he thought it best to be done with his reading by 4am and try to get in bed -- regardless of whether or not he would sleep. Hopefully, when that caretaker came, he could discuss with them a need to have an appointment scheduled concerning his troubles sleeping.

"I should read about three chapters. Hopefully, that'll be enough for me."

Browsing through the table of contents, the unicorn flipped over to the fourth chapter of the story, which contained nothing more than a single short paragraph summarizing the plot of the chapter. In fact, most of the pages of the book had very few writing, other than the general plot description and the plot summaries of each chapter. The unicorn placed the ribbon bookmark on the page of the fourth chapter and then returned to the first page of the book. 

Below the description of the first page was an imprinted rune circle with an "X" in the middle. Closing his eyes, the unicorn cast a spell on the circle, and soon enough a white flash engulfed his vision, with the last thing on his mind being that if he enjoyed this book, he would need to read the rest his friend had left him. The unicorn sincerely doubted that he would make it another decade, and thus he felt he needed to get a move on.





The sound of ocean waves and seagull cries filled the unicorn's ears as the white light clouding his sight disappeared. Once he felt comfortable to open his eyes, he found himself on the front deck of a ship moving through the waters. The sky and overall atmosphere around him were painted dull grey as mist and fog were all around him. There were other ponies on the deck with him, some were ship workers, mostly stallions, while others appeared to be simple passengers. Through the cloudy atmosphere, the unicorn was able to make out the shadowy outlines of a city nearby. All of a sudden, he heard a loud male voice speak out from out of nowhere, and as he spoke, words appeared in the air above.

The sight of Ho Chi Mane city in the distance was an unsettlingly sight for Silverrun. The federal agent had always been eery of the destinations he was sent on for a job. The feeling of dread over unforeseen events was something that had become routine for the young unicorn as he had become desensitized to the tragedies he had encountered over the years. It was for this reason that he doubted that he would find anything mundane in the city, whose towering skyscrapers grew closer to him like dark colossals as the ship neared the docks. But as he stood near the dock rails while his thoughts concentrated on his job, a voice called over to him from behind. 

"Detective Silverrun," a male voice said from behind the unicorn. Turning around, the old stallion spotted an earth pony wearing a sea captain's coat and hat. "I don't mean to bother you, young sir, but I just wanted to check on you. I hope last night's accommodations were to your liking."

The earth pony's comment of the unicorn being a "young sir" confused the old pony, until he looked down at his body to discover that he was in possession of a much younger body, one that had a yellow coat and an orange mane and tail. For a while the old unicorn played around with his legs and hooves, feeling a sense of nimbleness that he has not felt in quite a long time. The sight of this youthfulness was enough to make him laugh, but soon enough he realized that he had to answer the captain's question when he saw the pony waiting for him to respond.

"Everything's fine, sir," the unicorn said with a beam in his smile. "I don't think anything's going to ruin my mood anytime soon."
> Chapter 1 (Part I: The Call)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sharp, painful vibrations of the alarm clock's hammer striking the neighboring bells felt like somepony was trying to dig their way into Sonnet's skull. Though the ringing was annoying enough to wake up the earth pony, the fatigue that clouded his mind was strong enough to keep him retained between the sofa's mattress and his blanket. For nearly a minute, the stallion simply stared at the coffee table situated in front of his sofa -- a table that was littered with greasy takeout food containers and two bottles once filled with ale from this morning. The headache he had, though bothersome, was not enough to compel Sonnet to turn off the source of his trouble. If anything, he hoped that he would be able to block out the noise and return to sleep, until he heard a noise from the ceiling above. 

"Turn off that damn clock!" An unseen stallion yelled, with around four or five stomps following his outburst. This voice of complaint, which Sonnet was, unfortunately, familiar with, drew a moan of ire from his lips. Despite wanting to go to sleep, he did not want to get into another fight with his fussy and entitled neighbor upstairs.

Slowly, yet surely, Sonnet unwrapped himself from his blanket cocoon and got off the sofa. With blurred vision, he made his way to the desk not so far away from the sofa, and found his grey alarm clock jumping amongst the collection of written notebook paper. After he picked up the clock and turned it off, he spotted his black circular glasses under the desk lamp and placed them on his nose. His sight restored, Sonnet took specific notice of a teal sticky note near the clock that read:  "PARTY AT WORKPLACE @ 7PM".

Glancing at the clock to see that it was 3:02 pm, Sonnet gave a relieved sigh. "I guess I should be glad that I set up the alarm last night." In truth, Sonnet was not very excited about going back to his workplace tonight. In fact, he would rather spend the rest of the weekend alone in his apartment like he would with any other weekend. Sadly, his boss told all of his employees that it was mandatory that everypony attended this dinner party, given that today was a very special moment in the company's history. 

But until the dinner party was to happen, Sonnet, still somewhat sleepy and drained of energy, looked around his apartment to try and figure out how he should occupy himself in the meantime. The living room, and his bedroom far away from his vision, were, as usual, well off in terms of cleanliness, with only the carpet floors really in need of some vaccuming and the trash on the coffee table needing to be throw out. His kitchen, however, separated from the living room by a bar-counter behind the sofa, was a moderate mess. As Sonnet walked into the area, he looked at the table and counters stained with water stains and dried juices of food products, and though he could not see it, he knew that the microwave was a mess as well, and the smell of rot in the air reminded him that he once again failed to take out the trash on the previous Thursday.

Though not a slob, Sonnet knew he was a bit lazy when it came to managing the appearance of his apartment. Ever since moving to Fillydelphia over a year ago, his main goal in life had been to focus on the work he had to handle from his new career. Aside from bills and food, every other priority or luxury came in second place. Luckily for Sonnet, the weekends were a time for him to have at least an hour or two to focus on ensuring that he was not living in a place continually building up with heaps of trash mixed in with body odor. The worst he had ever gone without cleaning had been perhaps two or three weeks, and the consequence of that mistake was enough for him to truly work on sticking to a more planned schedule.

Just before he could go to the cabinets underneath the sink, the ringing of the telephone in the living room drew Sonnet back to his work desk. Picking up the handle and pressing it to his ears, he heard a familiar voice on the other end. 

"Hello, Sonnet. Is this you?" a male voice asked in a meek manner.

"It's me, Inkwell," Sonnet answered. "If it's about the party, I haven't forgotten."

"Oh!" the stallion exclaimed,  sounding much relieved then before. "Well, that's good to know. But I also wanted to check in to see if you're providing a dish or dessert to the party. I know that Pretty Pink and Sunny Forecast are going to be providing much of the food, but me and everypony else in most of the departments have done what we can to help out. So, have you made anything, Sonnet?"

Crap, Sonnet cursed in his mind. I forgot that he asked me that yesterday. The earth pony peered over his shoulder at the refrigerator and pantry situated in his kitchen. It must be around 3:10pm by now, and with the workplace party at 7:00pm, Sonnet guessed that he could prepare something that would take less than two hours to complete. He could prepare a homemade pizza or a pitcher of peach- or cherry-flavored lemonade -- personal favorites he would make when not busy with work -- but his lack of interest for the party would likely lag his progress in the kitchen.

"Well, Inkwell," Sonnet said with a sheepish smile, knowing what he was about to say was not entirely true. "I've actually been busy editing Maple Flower's manuscript last night that I forgot to about bringing something to the party."

"Oh," Inkwell said. "Well, that's okay. You still got a few hours left, so if you want you could go to a store nearby or perhaps make something real quick."

Sonnet chuckled nervously. "Well, actually, I don't have much food in my fridge right now, as far as I can remember. I could check after this call, and if I have more than I thought, I could make something. But just be ready for me to come emptyhoofed."

He heard Inkwell release a disappointed sigh. "Well, it's not mandatory for you to bring something in, but please try to if you can. Also, the boss is planning on bringing in a caterer from a brewery in the city. If the caterer does come, what kind of drink would you like?"

"I guess a cider -- either apple, pear or pineapple. And if they don't have cider, just get me an ale."

"All right, then. I'll see you at seven. Bye."

"Goodbye." And with that, Sonnet returned the handle to its original place and gave a sigh of relief. Looking back to the kitchen, the thought of making something for the party once again crept in to his head, but eventually the young stallion's self-interest kicked it out of his conscious. He felt that there were better things to do than to make food or beverages for ponies other than himself. Not to mention the fact that he did not want to deal with hauling all that stuff in his saddlebags across the city, and the close distance between his house and workplace would make it a waste of bits to hire a taxipony. 

Sonnet looked at the papers scattered on his desk and began to collect it all into one pile. Throughout Friday night and after midnight of today, he had spent many hours at his desk editing several chapters of Maple Flower's manuscript for her new book, A Summer Night of Fireworks and Candy Apples. Though he enjoyed some of the details he came across, Sonnet still felt a need to change somethings that he believed would make the story flow much better. However, these edits he had in store were much more lengthy than he anticipated, and by the time he was still up at 4:30am, the earth pony realized that he would have to finish his work another time and get some sleep -- right after eating leftover takeout and having some booze to ease his mind.

It was a bad habit of his to push himself to the brink of exhaustion with his editing, but in an ironic sense he saw that as a odd strength of his, given how his writings for his community college's newspaper earned him his current spot at the workplace. But as he placed the stack of papers in the large bottom drawer at the right side of his desk, Sonnet felt relieved that he was free from his editorial responsibilities. 

For the next hour, Sonnet went to cleaning up his apartment. Using dish rags and cleaning spray, he washed off the stains in the microwave and on the kitchen counters and tables. Then, he wiped off his coffee table and threw away the food containers and empty bottles. Finally, after thirty minutes, Sonnet had finished vacuuming his living room and bedroom. Though the trash was still an issue that he had not forgotten about, he figured he could throw it out when he went to the party. As of now, Sonnet wanted to clean himself up and then worry about what to do next.

Upon entering the darken bathroom, Sonnet flipped on the light switch and turned around to look at his reflection in the mirror spotted with water freckles. Facing Sonnet was an earth pony stallion with a grey coat, a mane and tail that had short black curls, and a cutiemark of a paper origami crane. His tired, bloodshot eyes still retained their almond brown color, even though the rest of Sonnet's face seemed devoid of any lively charisma or happy. Even the smile that he forced, so that he could examine the health of his teeth, seemed to be without any genuine color. When he was done looking at himself, he brushed his teeth and washed up his face, with some final touches added to his mane, so that he could at least look decent at the party.

Exiting the bathroom, Sonnet returned to his desk and sat on the cushion, pondering what he could do next. He obviously did not want to complete his edits of Maple's writings -- that was something he could save for Sunday -- but with the clock now at 4:52pm he realized he should entertain himself with something until he left at 6:00pm. With his chin resting on the desk's wooden surface, Sonnet thought of how that he could focus on his writings, but his recent struggles with writer's block had halted his progress with his work. Nonetheless, he opened the top drawer on the desk's left side and grabbed a blue journal that was titled Manuscript #2A for The Last Kingdom. 

Opening the journal halfway through, Sonnet grabbed a pencil and a pencil sharpener from the same drawer and placed the pencil in his mouth. The tip of the pencil floated less than an inch above the opened pages and just below an paragraph previously written by the author. For several minutes, the stallion kept his posture as still as he could, with only his mind being at motion as thoughts raced through his head about what to write. Each minute that passed without the pencil touching the paper drew ire out of him, until he finally snapped when he saw that the time was now at 5:21pm. Spitting the pencil out of his mouth and across the living room floor, Sonnet grunted in frustration and slammed his forehead on the journal.

Defeated, the grey earth pony placed the blue journal back in the drawer and retrieved a smaller green notebook titled Poems #17. Leaving his cushion to retrieve his pencil, Sonnet's eyes caught the radio that rested on the window just near his bathroom and went over to turn it on. Messing with the dials, he finally got a frequency to a station that played soothing acoustic music. Returning to his desk, he opened the green journal and began to write, with over half an hour left.



.

Nearly forty minutes away from Sonnet's apartment complex was the Tapperton building in downtown Fillydelphia. This brick and stone building with over 80 floors was home to various businesses and organizations, including Sonnet's workplace, the BarnOwl Publishing House. Tonight, however, the employees of BarnOwl were not busy mulling about in either of the offices between floors 32 and 36 but were instead holding a party in the ballroom of the Tapperton's basement, hanging out with authors and book agents associated with the publishing house. 

The ballroom was decorated with tables covered in fine cloth, streamers, and balloons. A banner hanging above the stage further down the room read "HAPPY 75TH ANNIVERSARY TO BARNOWL" with the publishing house's logo -- a friendly cartoonish owl waving his wing from the upper window of a simple barn -- on both sides of the phrase. Several tables with food and drinks were situated just below the stage, with three carts filled with alcoholic dispensers managed by the caterers from the BeanTown Brewery.

Despite festive music being blasted from the stage speakers, the uproar of jovial laughs and conversations could still be heard by all in the ballroom. Nearly every table was filled with ponies relishing the moments they spent with one another, with the single exception being Sonnet, who decided to reside at one of the smaller tables at the corner of the ballroom just near the stage. Despite over two-hundred ponies surrounding him, Sonnet felt that even the little privacy he had was just enough for him to feel as if he was stranded on his own personal island -- which to others would seem like a situation nopony would ever want to be in.

Instead of getting out to socialize, Sonnet saw it best to keep to himself -- with only a plate of hayfries and peppers stuffed with cheese and garlic and a mug of hard pineapple cider to be his companions. Even though the food tables behind him were bountiful enough to mimic a buffet, the earth pony's appetite was not big enough for him to be motivated to get more. The earth pony wanted nothing more than to be left alone, be done with this event as soon as possible, and then return home. 

Aside from his headache from this morning, the party atmosphere of this place was intoxicating for Sonnet, as the pounding of music, laughter, and shouting drowned his brain under a sea of discomfort. As he dealt with this, he looked around the party to see if he could spot anypony that he recognized, and for the most part he only found co-workers that he had gotten to know on a somewhat close basis for nearly a year.

At one table, there was Pretty Pink, a hot-pink unicorn mare who worked in Design, and besides her was a teal earth pony stallion named Fancy Pastel, who joined Design two months after Sonnet arrived at BarnOwl. According to the rumors floating around the offices, the two of those had a thing for each other, but nopony had the intrusive character yet to ask them if they were dating. Not that he ever paid attention to such gossip in the first place, as far as Sonnet knew, the young ponies were simply good friends.

At another section of the ballroom, Sunny Forecast, a middle aged yellow pegasus mare involved in Sales, was having a polite and calm conversation with either two authors or an author and their book agent. At a table next to Sunny Forecast, two middle aged ponies were seemingly in the middle of a laughing fit over something they must have found hilarious. Sonnet recognized one as Busy Buddie, or B.B., a plump purple earth pony who was the head of the Production department. The other pony besides B.B. was Hot Topic, a white pegasus stallion who handled affairs in Marketing.

Through these ponies positive interactions with each other, Sonnet could see that the only pony that was not enjoying his time here was him. Even as he stared at the shimmering yellow liquid in his mug, he knew that the messy reflection of his face was one that was tired and devoid of enjoyment.

"I've been here for nearly an hour," Sonnet mumbled. "I just need to make through one more than I can go and get some sleep. I should try to find Blabbington or Inkwell before I go -- just to clear it with them."

Without warning, Sonnet caught a shadow move around the corner of his right eye. When he turned, the earth pony was greeted by a dark purple mare who had taken a seat next to him. The mare turned around to reveal herself to be a unicorn with a frazzled, messed up orange mane and a pair of pink eyes behind square glasses. The mare also wore a yellow sweater that covered her most of her torso but left her flanks alone, allowing her cutiemark, three white bunny heads and three buttercup flowers, to be exposed. 

The mare, upon looking at Sonnet, beamed at him with a big smile that displayed her braces. 

"Hello, Sonnet!" the purple mare shouted gleefully, hoping her raised voice had reached the stallion over the chaos.

Despite his attitude about being here, Sonnet, to his surprise, managed to have enough strength to curl his lips into a small smile.

"Hello there, Lavender," he greeted softly, hoping that he would not have to yell like she did. 

"How are you enjoying the party?"

"Oh, uh..." Sonnet hesitated, knowing that, as much as he wanted to be frank, telling her the truth might make her more curious and the conversation more lengthy. "I'm doing okay. Nothing's really wrong."

A concerned frown grew on Lavender's face, and for a moment Sonnet was worried that he had been caught in his lie, but his worry passed away once she smiled again.

"Well, that's good to hear," Lavender said.

Relieved, Sonnet took a swig from his mug and began to eat one of the peppers he still had left. Before he could continue to another one, Lavender once again spoke up.

"Well, I'd just finished talking with Inkwell about the edits I made to chapters 12 and 13 of Maple Flower's latest book."

Knowing he would be talking with her for some time, Sonnet's attention moved away from the plate and to the purple unicorn. "Uh huh."

"Well I just told him that I thought that the events of chapter 13 seemed to be a little bit off. That is concerning how Clover wants to get Happy Hour to go with her to the carnival dance."

"Uh huh," Sonnet repeated with a dull, yet not annoyed, look on his face, before taking another sip of his cider.

"Well, um, have you gotten through with chapter 13?"

"Yes."

"It just seems out of character for Clover to plan on neglecting her family responsibilities in order to get with a colt. I mean, the other two books in the Honeywood Sisterhood clearly show that Clover's main character trait is her strong obligations to her friends and family."

"Yeah, I kind of noticed how her plans involves her doing things she wouldn't have done before."

"Yes!" Lavender exclaimed. "Exactly. I know this is Maple Flower's story and all, but I read ahead in the manuscript and Clover never seems bothered by what she did in order to get a date with Happy Hour. It would be one thing if Maple decided that Clover had to learn the hard way how commitment is important and that she shouldn't change her morals for some fancy guy, but there's no message like that in the story!"

Finishing his last sip of his drink, Sonnet placed the mug down and nodded in agreement. "Well, what did you tell Inkwell about this?" 

"Well, I just told him of an edit I made for chapter 13, one in which Clover asked her parents to allow her to throw a high school party at the barn so that she could get closer to Happy Hour. We've seen that her parents are very caring and understanding, and it just seems in character for her to open up to her folks about how important this colt is to her. That small edit might mean that Maple might have to update her manuscript, but keeping Clover's character consistent may work better in the end. Don't you think so, Sonnet?"

The grey earth pony's attention that shifted away from his co-worker and towards the brewery carts below the stage. When Lavender saw that Sonnet's gaze was not returning back to her, she nudged his shoulder with her front hoof. "Sonnet!"

"Huh?" Upon the mare's intrusive touch, Sonnet flinched away and stared at Lavender with a confused scowl. 

"Don't you think that my edit makes sense?"

By the time the gears in his head started to work properly, Sonnet tried his best to put on a sincere face.

"Oh, uh, well... Oh course, I think that your edit is on to something, but I don't know if my suggestions are the same as yours. To me, Clover should simply stop being shy and just tell her feelings straight to Happy Hour."

"That could also work. But Inkwell said that I shouldn't try to change the story too much, especially after JollyJoy made that complaint about our suggestions for chapters 1 through 9."

About hearing that name, Sonnet shuddered and gritted his teeth. "None of us should have to worry about JollyJoy. From what I heard, the Editing department had done a good job with the previous novels of the series, so Maple Flower shouldn't have a problem with the edits we've offered so far." 

Despite his vocal complaint, Sonnet knew that his beef was more so with JollyJoy than it was with Maple Flower. His encounters with the author were tolerable, but any problems that he and his coworkers faced for the past two months had to do with Maple timidly agreeing with her book agent's insignificant or unreasonable demands. Even though Inkwell had been the head editor of BarnOwl when the publishing house adopted The Honeywood Sisterhood series, JollyJoy had made numerous attacks against his character -- stating that his proposals would water down the quality of the series that Maple's audience have loved for nearly a decade.

"JollyJoy's just looking out for Maple Flower's best interest," Lavender replied. "That's what a literary agent's supposed to do."

Annoyed that his coworker was siding with his current worst enemy, Sonnet sighed. "Well, if that mare truly cares about her client's best interest, she should replace herself with a more competent agent that doesn't bother editors and their assistants with garbage that doesn't improve the story's quality."

Lavender gasped. "Sonnet, that's a bit harsh. I don't think you would say that if she was here."

Please. The names I have in my head for her are way worse than that

The stallion chuckled. "Probably not, but what I said still has some merit."

Lavender opened her mouth as if she wanted to give a response, but whatever thought she wanted to express at first, she decided to eventually keep it to herself. None of Sonnet's comments were directed at nor intended to harm Lavender, yet he was certain that the negativity he displayed must have bummed her down a bit, especially since she had gotten along with Sonnet since he worked alongside her. But before the thought of making an apology for his crassness entered his head, the sharp squeal of a mic turned on drew his and others to turn their heads to the stage, where two middle aged stallions stood: the one by the mic stand was a plump brown unicorn in a black suit, and the other was a light blue unicorn with a black mane and tail who wore glasses.

When the attention of the party was focused on the two ponies, the sounds of conversations died down along with the music. The brown unicorn at the mic cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Hello there, everypony," he stated with a strong voice. "I'm so glad all of you could meet each other here tonight. I know that you've probably wondering why I, Mr. Blabbington, took so long to address all of you." The brown unicorn then gave an awkward chuckle and pointed a hoof to the blue unicorn. "Well, I want to ease any worries by stating that I simply had to have a simple conversation with my cousin Inkwell about some potential clients that BarnOwl might be receiving in the next month. As you all know, for over 75 years this publishing house has been responsible for introducing the public to the jaw-dropping works of many talented writers, and I am glad to state that I am certain that we'll continue to keep doing that for over another 75 years."

Once Blabbington finished his last sentence with another weirdly-placed laugh, Sonnet's eyebrows began to raise themselves up. Though the CEO of the publishing house was standing tall and strong in front of the audience and acting merrily, Sonnet had been close to him a few times to recognize that a nervous tic that Blabbington had was to chuckle whenever he heard something he did not like. Though he did not want to make a move right now, Sonnet began to wonder what was happening inside his employer's head.

"But to prevent myself from sidetracking, I would just like to give my many, many thanks and blessings to the authors and literary agents here today who have been a part of the BarnOwl family. Though the staff here is responsible for ensuring that your material is able to be published, read, and heard about, in the end of the day you put in the most work that allows us to stay afloat."

At the end of this compliment, several hooves around the ballroom were either clapped or stomped out of applause as cheers of thanks were roared out, with the scene being less of an amusement for Sonnet. Though he saw his boss as an expert of persuasive rhetoric at times, he still knew that much of the flattery that Blabbington put out was merely for show and barely genuine at time. Not that such pandering was that bothersome to Sonnet -- in the end of the day it was all for work.

When the excitement died down, Blabbington resumed. "Even though BarnOwl is appreciative of all of our writers, I would like to give special thanks to a few who have made financial contributions to the house through their own accord. Such as T.L. Scott who gave us around 3,000 bits; Orange Orchard and Spring Sparrow, who each contributed around 1,200 bits; and finally Hoppyscotch, who gave us an undeserving award of 7,000 bits! Thanks you, the four of you! Thank you very much."

When the four ponies mentioned stood up or raised their hooves for recognition, another set of cheers, clapping, and stomping ranged off, the noise of which was enough to bother Sonnet. Seeking comfort, the earth pony raised his mug to his lips, only for the little dribble of liquid to reach his lips as a reminder that he had ran out. Disappointed and hurt, Sonnet returned to eating his food, which, to his lack of surprise, had gone cold due to his neglect of them.

"However," Blabbington resumed, "I don't want to forget my gratefulness towards my staff. Without all of you, BarnOwl would never work as well as it should. Many have come and gone over the years since I became CEO, but for the most part, everypony that I see here has never let me down. For those who have worked here for so many years, you know how much your worth is, and if I tell all of you what I've said to you before, well, .... we'll all be here a bit longer than we want to be." 

Another roar of laughter sounded off, which drove Sonnet to covering his ears. 

"But nonetheless, I want to make some compliments that I believe need to be said. This year hasn't been very dynamic in terms of welcoming new members. Only three ponies have been added to the staff so far, but even with that being the case, I believe that these three have made serious contribution to BarnOwl, and therefore I want to give a shoutout! First, I like to thank our newest addition to the Design department, Fancy Pastel, who's done a swell job with creating beautiful artwork for many of the authors who have colts and fillies as their target audience. Please give him a good applause -- he's the green fellow over there."

Upon hearing his shoutout, Fancy Pastel rose out of his seat and waved enthusiastically to the crowd around him, with Pretty Pink patting him on the back and giving him a big smile in support.

"Then, of course, we have our new editorial assistants -- Lavender Dazzle and Sonnet Philosophy! I'm having a hard time spotting them -- oh, wait! They're just by the food tables down here!"

The mention of his name was enough for the grey stallion to jolt his head up for fear of being caught as a sullen pony. When he met the gaze of everypony staring at him, Sonnet could merely grin at them and weakly shake his hoof.

"Both of these young folks have been of much help to my cousin and editor, Inkwell. Little Lavender here is a graduate of the Oakheart University in New Horseleans. She's already had her own work published while off at college, but still felt the need to come to BarnOwl in order to gain experience and receive advice on how to add more spice to her writing."

Due to either the compliment and/or the cheers from the audience, the purple unicorn blushed at such attention, with her trying to hide her face in her orange mane. Nonetheless, she looked better off then Sonnet.

"And then there's Sonnet," Blabbington continued with an added chuckle. "I must tell you fillies and gentlecolts, I have never met a pony with such a colorful resume. Right after high school, this youngin' decided to serve his kingdom by enlisting in the Equestrian Army. Even though he served the minimum amount required, his service was still instrumental at moments, especially at Saddle Arabia. And after his honorable discharge, this stallion used his earnings to pay for his college education, where he became the head writer for the campus newspaper. I must say I am very blessed to have such a gifted stallion working under me. But moving on from my thanks, I want to mention how...."

Whether it was the embarrassment from being called out from out of nowhere, or the effects of his drink finally taking hold, Sonnet's senses began to dull, and he no longer was paying attention to Blabbington's rambunctious ramblings. His brain was so beaten down by distress that Sonnet almost considered sleeping through the rest of the party.

I just want to go home.

"Sonnet," a male voice spoke out.

Turning his head, Sonnet saw that Inkwell was standing between him and Lavender. Looking back at the stage, he saw that Blabbington was done with his speech and that the party had resumed its previous course with the music restored. When the blue unicorn called his name again, Sonnet looked back at him.

"Is everything alright, sir?" the grey earth pony asked, making sure his tiredness did not prevent him from showing manners.

Inkwell nodded. "Everything's fine. In a way. But I need to talk with you behind the stage."

"What's it about?"

"It nothing about you, don't worry. But you definitely to come with me."

Getting out of his chair was a bit difficult for the buzzed stallion, but once that simple task was done, Sonnet took the satchel underneath the table and placed it on. As he walked towards the stairs leading up to the stage, Lavender's voice slowed down his progress tailing Inkwell.

"Sonnet?" she asked.

Sonnet sighed. "Yes?" 

Lavender nervously looked left and right before answering. "On Monday, before work or during breaks, can we go over each others edits of the story? I don't know if I mine are the types that Maple prefers. I always felt that yours were always better."

"I'm pretty sure you're just as good as me. I think whatever you planned out is okay. But if you want, we can compare."

Just as he thought he was done with one conversation, Sonnet found himself annoyed once more when a red earth pony stallion with purple hair and a tan and white suit appeared in front of him.

"Excuse, sir. Are you done with your drink?"

Confused about that question, Sonnet struggled to find an answer to give, until the red stallion pointed to the mug left at his tables. "Those are the brewery's mugs. Our boss really wants to make sure that we don't lose them here. At least as many as we can save."

Clarity shone from Sonnet's worn face. "Oh, you're a caterer. Well, no, I don't need that mug anymore." I just hope Blabbington or Inkwell can let me go home.

Once the caterer headed to the table, Sonnet raced up the stairs and trotted to the stage curtain. When he crossed the other side, he was met by Inkwell, Mr. Blabbington, B.B., and several department heads of BarnOwl. The moment the grey earth pony came into the area, he was met with worried faces, none which he had seen when the party was going on. Even Blabbington, who was optimistic no less than half an hour ago, was clearly bothered by something.

"I'm glad you're here, son," the CEO said as Sonnet approached the group. 

"Is everything okay, sir?" Even though Sonnet felt a little victory for being right on his hunch before, the tension emitting from everypony else placed him on edge.

"Well, son, everything is okay for now. But I don't know if it'll stay that way in the next few months."

A slight scowl soon formed on the stallion's face. "Sir, I really don't understand." At this point, Sonnet was sure that everypony was aware of how tired and frustrated he was. "What's going on? Why did you need to talk to me now?"

"Damn it! It's all your fault!" one of the department heads blew up. At first, Sonnet assumed that outburst was meant for him, but then saw that the department head was pointing angrily at one of his own.

"My fault?" the accused shouted in defense. 

"If you had done your damn research on her and on the issue correctly, we wouldn't be in this hellstorm we're about to face! You're the one who edited her book!"

"That research came out just two months before the book was released! Not everypony was aware of it that soon!"

A screaming match between the two was coming to a start until Inkwell placed himself in the middle of the fight.

"That's enough," he said calmly, before looking at Sonnet. "Sonnet, do you know anything about Meadow Honeydew, and her book about the lilly-dozy trees in the Unicorn Range?"

"The name and the tree sound familiar," Sonnet answered, "but I don't know anything about the book."

"Well, three years ago BarnOwl published Honeydew's book The Battle Between Industry and Nature: How Equestria Must Take Better Care of Her Lands. A large portion of the book talked of how the extraction of glitter maple from the lilly-dozy trees harmed the ecosystem of the Unicorn Range. After the book accomplished large sales, companies and industries working near the Range were pressured by protestors and politicians to halt glitter maple extraction."

"Okay," Sonnet said. "But why is that a problem for us?"

The stallion who had erupted in an outburst, and was still somewhat angry, laughed unsettingly. 

"Well," he started, "the funny thing is two months before the book was published, a team of researchers from the Canterlot University discovered that the ecosystem problems in the Unicorn Valley were not solely because of the extraction of glitter maple from the trees, but rather because of a failed agricultural project many years ago -- in which the magic used in the damn project made the plants more reliant on the lilly-dozy trees."

Inkwell then chimed back in the conversation. "Yes. The researchers found that extracting glitter maple from lilly-dozy trees outside of the Range had no harmful effects on the surrounding ecosystems. And it wasn't until recently that the companies who had to stop extracting the maple found out by the research. Now those businesses are suing BarnOwl for for publishing misleading information and for improper research on the topic."

Sonnet's eyes widen. "But.... But the research came out just two months before the book got out. Couldn't they understand that we wouldn't have know about that until much later?"

Inkwell shook his head."Sadly, that fact doesn't make a difference. The companies are adamant that we should have done a better job of keeping up to date with newly released studies. And considering these companies lost a lot of money from abandoning the maple extraction business, I doubt BarnOwl will be allowed to escape this mess."

Blabbington walked over to a stunned Sonnet and placed his hoof on the employee's shoulder. "You see, son, we called you here because we really need your help. In about a week or so, we'll need to address this issue to the public. Even though your just an assistant, you're still one of our best writers. We just need you to help with making a respectful, yet strong, statement declaring that BarnOwl had did its best with finding and supplying as many facts as possible when working on Honeydew's story. We just need you to do that, son. So what do you say?"

The few seconds that passed by as Blabbington and the others waited for an answer felt like slow minutes to Sonnet instead. The news that he had received placed the earth pony's mind further on edge. It was bad enough that he had to be dragged out of his house for the party he had no real role in, but now his place of employment, which he had only settled into for nearly a year, was now at risk of being disgraced and losing accreditation due to an unforeseeable mistake. If he wanted to stay in the writing business, Sonnet knew that his future depended on whether or not the places he had worked for would give him the needed recognition and praise that would boost him up to higher places in life. Trying to defend BarnOwl could prove disastrous for him if the lawsuit ruined the company, even if Sonnet was not an employee at the time that book was published. 

"Son, did you hear me?" Blabbington's echoes reached through Sonnet's worried mind. "Can you do this for us?"

With his attention focused on his boss, Sonnet struggled to find the right words to say next. He couldn't simply tell them that he needed to leave in order to save his career right now -- it would be too soon and he still needed to wait for his next pay to come through. But if this statement could potentially save the publishing house from disaster, then maybe Sonnet could still hesitate on leaving. That was until it became obvious that this issue would never end well.

With a gulp, Sonnet spoke. "Of course, sir. Just tell me when to make the statement."

To his joy, Sonnet saw a wave of relief wash on Blabbington's face, and that relief soon spread to the rest of the ponies on stage, though it could be assumed that none of them were fully cured of the anxiety and tension from the knowledge they all had.

"Thank you, son. I greatly appreciate this. We all do. How about you go on home? I could tell you were a bit worn out from everything tonight."

Sonnet smiled softly. "Thank you, sir." That's at least one win for today.

Blabbington and the other department heads exited from out of the stage curtain, and with each passing pony, Sonnet's stress was eased ever more slightly. The last one to reach the curtain was Inkwell, who turned to beam at his assistant.

"I'm glad you're deciding to do this," he said cheerfully. "I'm awfully nervous about all of this. Lavender and the others don't need to know about this until the statement is released, so just keep it to yourself if you don't mind."

Sonnet's smile weakened a bit. "Of course."

"I know you're gonna make me proud with this statement. You've never let me down before."

That compliment made it harder for the grey earth pony to retain his mask as he looked down. "Absolutely."

The departure of the blue unicorn allowed Sonnet to be more honest with himself, as he frowned at his hooves on the floor. For nearly a minute, the stallion stared down in shame, knowing his supposed commitment to the publishing house could be exposed in the next coming days. When the time came for him to remove himself from his state of despair, Sonnet lifted his head up and exited the stage.
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starlight Glimmer's right front hoof tapped on the surface of the wooden table in a consistent, steady manner, while her blue eyes turned to look at the clock on the far side of the dining room. It had been roughly three hours since the lavender unicorn had seen Princess Twilight Sparkle, who had retreated to her studies in the castle to grade the short essays that Starlight had given to her this morning, and the feeling of loneliness was beginning to wear down on the mare, who was already nervous about seeing her new mentor. The elegant architecture of the dining room, with its crystal walls, painted windows, and marble columns, did nothing to ease the knot in her stomach. 

The assignment Twilight had given to Starlight three days ago was not as time-consuming as she initially thought it would be -- taking only two days to complete -- but the fear of negative feedback floated in her mind. It had been less than two weeks since she has lived in Ponyville, having been accepted as the alicorn's pupil and residing in the castle with her and her dragon assistant, but already Starlight was beginning to see a future where the expectations placed on her would be proven faulty in the end. But before more negative thoughts entered, the sharp pitch of a door opening broke Starlight out of her episode and drew her neck to turn to the other side of the room behind her. 

Entering the dining room was Spike, who carried with him a plate stacked with pancakes covered in syrup and frosting as he whistled a cheery tune to himself. The small purple dragon made his way to the right side of the dining table just adjacent from Starlight's position and took his spot at one of the cushioned seats.

"Good morning, Starlight," Spike greeted. 

Despite her racked nerves, Starlight was polite enough to respond. "Hello, Spike. Technically, it's afternoon right now, not morning."

"Huh?" The confused dragon looked up at the clock. "Oh, you're right! Well, anyway, I hope your day's going well."

Starlight chuckled through a forced smile. "Well, it's still too soon to say for certain, but let's both hope so. But why are you eating pancakes so late?"

Spike took his fork and knife off the plate and began to cut wedges from out of his stack. "Well, I went to sleep late last night -- being too busy reading the latest issue of The Horseshoe Academy. But I figured that just because I missed morning it doesn't mean I have to miss out on breakfast, either." He stuck the fork in his mouth, chewed up the pancake bites, and gave a satisfied gulp. "Besides, it's been a while since I've made myself pancakes."

Suddenly, the door on the other side of the room, opposite from the door Spike came through, opened up with a stack of paper floating out, surrounded by a purple aura. Following behind the floating papers was Twilight, who, upon spotting Starlight and Spike at the table ahead, smiled at them both.

"Good afternoon, Spike," the purple alicorn said. "I was wondering when you would get out of bed."

The purple dragon, whose cheeks were stuffed, placed his eating on hold in order to give a wave to the princess, who sat down at the end of the table opposite from Starlight. Upon sitting down, Twilight levitated a pair of reading spectacles out of her mane and placed them to the bridge of her snout. She then separated the stack into smaller sections of paper, and began to float one section into her vision after another, flipping through the pages to examine its contents. 

The speed of Starlight's tapping hoof ran at a much faster pace as she watched Twilight from a far. As the seconds ticked away, the lavender unicorn began to hint signs of losing her composure, as she bit her bottom lip and started to rock back and forth in her seat. Eventually, her attention was brought to two, thin stacks of paper that were levitated to her side of the table. When Starlight looked down at them, both had red ink markings in the both the margins and around the original black writings. 

Starlight then stared at Twilight, who had a calm, yet serious, look on her face.

"Okay then," Twilight announced. "I just finished grading the two essays I told you to write, and I must say ... you still have a bit of work that you need to improve on."

"Well," Starlight said, trying her best not to sound scared, "can I ask what I did wrong?"

"Of course. I just need you to look at the papers on your left."

In a light blue aura, Starlight brought the stack of papers closer to her seat, with Twilight herself staring down at one of the sections she had divided. When she saw that her student was situated, Twilight began to speak.

"The topic of this essay focuses on the situation involving Garden Beauty, Sally Sweetlocks, and the isolated town of Palmy Oasis. As Garden Beauty, everypony in the town depends on you help ensure that the crops they rely can adapt to the bad soil and temperature of the land. When you aren't busy with that, you use your free time to grow beautiful flowers that you one day plan to display to your neighbors.

"One day, a gifted unicorn named Sally Sweetlocks comes to town, and begins to use her magic to take care of the town's numerous problems. Though ponies in Palmy Oasis are initially grateful for her help, they soon become annoyed with her when she begins to brag about her skills, puts down others for not being as great as her, and makes outrageous demands in order to keep her around and make the town safe, even though doing so takes a huge chunk out of the town's budget."

Twilight lifted her eyes towards Starlight. "You're still following me?"

"Yes," Starlight answered. 

"You, as Palmy Oasis, begin to fear that if you improve on your magic and become more showy about, that you'll eventually end up just like Sally and begin to see yourself as better than other ponies, since both of you are just as good at magic. But, if you choose to neglect your magical training, the crops that Palmy Oasis relies on will become vulnerable to the harmful elements of the environment, and the town as a result may face a food shortage. How do you respond?"

Twilight places the paper down and looks at Starlight, who realized that it was a cue for her to begin the discussion.

"I'm assuming the part that I got wrong was how I decided to handle the situation?"

The purple alicorn flipped through a few pages. 

"Yes," Twilight replied. "The problems are really present between pages 3 and 5 of your essay, if you could turn to around there. While I appreciate you listing all the problems that come with being arrogant and having a superiority complex, the issue doesn't have to be solved by completely giving up your special talent forever."

"But it might be only a matter of time before Garden Beauty begins to see herself as better than everypony, especially once she realizes that Palmy Oasis can't keep its food without her magic. That has to be a bit of an ego booster." 

Twilight flipped to another page. "That is true. But all Garden Beauty would need to do is simply keep her pride in check and remember how her talent doesn't devalue the talent of other ponies, especially if they could do things better than her. Then there's also the problem with how you want the ponies of Palmy Oasis to solve their food shortage problem after you gave up on magic."

"Are you sure?" Starlight asked. "I mean think it seems reasonable for Garden Beauty to ask the town to put all their effort into collecting enough money and material to trade with nearby towns for food and better soil. It's even better considering that she would persuade them rather than brainwash them -- unlike how a certain pony used to do."

"Though I think it's good think that you would want Garden Beauty to encourage the town to work together to solve the food problem, the problem would be better solved if you simply continued to use your magic to keep the crops growing -- without being boastful about it. After all, you have to remember that town spent a lot of money to keep Sally Sweetlocks from leaving."

Starlight's ears dropped. "Oh," she said. "I didn't think about it like that." Despite being let down by her answer, a hopeful smile appeared on Starlight's face. "But I at least get credit for not wanting to enslave the townsponies, right?"

"You do," Twilight answered, before floating a different stack of papers in front of her. "But your decision to forsake your special talent and convince the town to work harder at solving their problem doesn't align with the moral that I wanted you to learn -- that you can be proud of your skill without being in everypony's face about it, and that you don't need to let go of something you're proud of in order to have a humble spirit. As you can see on the last page, your choices as Garden Beauty have, sadly, earned you a B- ."

"B- ?" Starlight said. Turning to the last page, the lavender unicorn indeed saw a red B- underneath the last paragraph of her essay, along with a short note describing the overall character of her arguments. She flipped back and forth through the other pages of her essay, catching as many red notes as she thought were important to memorize. Once she was done, she looked across the table at Twilight, who retained her stoic composure as she continued reading. Spike, on the other hand, was nearly done with his breakfast, seeming to have paid little to no attention to the conversation in front of him.

Feeling the need to break the awkward silence, Starlight spoke.

"Well, I'm pretty sure a B- is a good start for my first essay," she said with a smile. When Twilight heard that, the purple alicorn placed down the paper and stared at Starlight with a raised eyebrow that weakened her recently established confidence. 

"If you would pay attention to the paper on your right," Twilight said, "we can begin to discuss your work on your second essay."

Reluctantly, Starlight floated the paper in front of her, placing the previous one further away. Opening the essay, Starlight skimmed through the pages, her eyes catches an abundance or red writing that seemed to be absent in the last essay. What was worse was the grade that she found on the last page, which unsettled her stomach. 

"In this essay," Twilight began, "you are a unicorn filly named Dilly Dally. You are one of the few students at your school who has not yet earned their cutiemark, due to you having a hard time finding a talent that you are good at. As a result, you are bullied for being a blank flank, are seen as a pony who will never accomplish anything in life, and have no friends that you are aware of. What is the best solution that you can think of in order to deal with the problems mentioned in the previous sentence?."

Twilight looked at Starlight again after her speech, and though the distance between them was large, the lavender unicorn was certain that her mentor could begin to see her nervous disposition, even though her blue eyes were doing their best to avoid contact with the princess. 

Starlight chuckled, "I'm assuming that you don't like how I dealt with that situation either."

Twilight nodded. "You are absolutely right about that. Now while I believe that bullying is a thing that should not be tolerated in any way, it is definitely not right to use a spell that gives your classmates nightmares about being bullied themselves for having no cutiemarks."

"Well, I felt like those fillies and colts teasing Dilly could have learned a really valuable lesson in humility if they understood the torment that she went through. Those nightmares weren't going to be bloody and gory -- just a bit haunting."

Twilight sighed, and Spike, who was at this point finished with his pancakes, was left unimpressed. 

"Geez, Starlight," the dragon commented. "That's a bit too much."

Defensively, Starlight placed a hoof on her chest. "Well, it's not like I planned on using magic to brainwash the bullies into leaving me alone. That would obviously get me in trouble. By giving them those bad dreams, it wouldn't lead back to me, and in the end of the day they might think twice about believing that their cutiemarks makes them better than those who don't have them."

"Once again, I appreciate you for seeing how wrong controlling ponies is," Twilight said. "But in the end of the day, it's immoral to use fear to solve your problems with ponies. The best solution to your problem would have been to: #1, ignore the taunts and approach an adult about those issues; #2, continue to try different activities until you get your cutiemark; and #3, attempt to find friends in or out of the school that won't judge you based on your lack of a cutiemark."

"And that's the reason for why I got a C- for that essay, isn't it?" Starlight asked timidly, her voice no longer holding an sense of self-assurance.

"Yes, that is."

Rising from his seat, Spike took his messy plate off the table and walked towards Twilight as she placed the separate stacks of paper back into one collection and took off her glasses. 

"Hey, Twilight," Spike said. "I'm going to visit Big Mac and Bulk Biceps at the Hay Burger in a few minutes to talk about the latest hoofball game." 

"All right, Spike," Twilight said with a smile. "Just remember to be back before it gets dark."

"Sure will." As the dragon walked back towards the door he had entered a few moments caught, he approached Starlight at the other end of the table. The gloomy lavender unicorn turned her drooped head around when she noticed his presence. 

"Cheer up, Starlight," Spike said with an encouraging grin. "It's your first assignment, so it just makes since that most of your mistakes show up this early. But I'm sure you'll do better next time."

Starlight feigned a smile. "Thanks, Spike," she said. "I'll be sure to remember that."

Starlight watched the little dragon waddle across the room until the door closed. Once she realized that Twilight and her were the only ponies left, Starlight's demeanor returned to that of an embarrassed and discouraged mare. Even when Twilight got up out of her seat and approached her, she felt little need to put on another forced smile.

"I'm not angry at you, Starlight," Twilight said. "What Spike said is right. This is just one of many tests that you'll be going through in order to become a better pony than who you once were. As you keep going through these challenges, you'll eventually leave behind some of the flaws you carry with you with now. It just takes time."

"I believe you mean well, Twilight," Starlight said. "But are you sure I'm worth it? With all the damage I did to those ponies, and the incident two weeks ago, don't you think it would have been better if you had Celestia and Luna just put me in Tartarus? Or in a very, very dark dungeon deep underground?"

Twilight took Spike's former seat and placed her front hoof on her pupil's. "Starlight, it's apparent that the things you did in the past were based on how Sunburst's departure molded your previous perception on cutiemarks and friendship. As the Princess of Friendship, I have a duty to make sure that I can change you into a pony who understands the true way of creating harmony with those around you -- especially with you having shown regret over what you've done."

When the lack of change on Starlight's face became apparent to her, Twilight took her own hoof and tapped it underneath her chin until a metaphorical lightbulb popped up above her head. "And considering that your essays didn't include forcing ponies to do your bidding, I can say you've already made a great start in progressing yourself!"

A faint rosy blush on Starlight's cheek, accompanied with a small smile, were enough hints for Twilight to see that her pep talk had worked. 

"I guess I should see that as a bit of a small victory," Starlight admitted, her mood already showing signs of improvement.

Twilight gave her a friendly nudge with her elbow. "That's the spirit! But how about for now we focus on something else?"

"Like what?"

"Well, in a few days Ponyville is holding it's annual Foal and Filly Fair. This year, Ms. Cheerilee of the schoolhouse is heading a music and art show contest for all the young ponies in town, and I and a few others have volunteered to help out. And now with you here, I see this as a good opportunity for you to have positive interactions with other ponies. I'm sure the fillies and colts could use your help."

"Really?" Starlight asked, sounding unsure about the news. "I don't know if that's such a good idea. I mean, for all I know I could back into a domineering pony once again. Maybe these private lessons are just what I need."

"Starlight, please," Twilight exclaimed lightly, sounding to be near exhaustion. "You're showing improvement, and so you need to form connections with ponies other than Spike and I. The first essay was about how you can retain a humble spirit without letting your talent cause you to be arrogant, and what the second essay was meant to teach you was that you don't have to feel bad about yourself just because others have it better than you. By going to this contest, you'll be helping ponies build up their skills and interests -- the complete opposite of what you were doing before."

"And this will help me become a better friend?"

The purple alicorn nodded. "Yes. Besides, I'll be right next to you the whole time. That way I can give you a little nudge in the right direction, if need be. But hopefully that won't be the case. Just keep this saying in mind: 'Encourage talent, but remember humbleness'".

The idea of the fair mulled about in Starlight's mind for sometime. From the quizzical look on the lavender mare's face, Twilight was not certain as to whether or not she succeeded in persuading her student. Eventually, once she left her train of thought, Starlight let out a soothing sigh and smiled at Twilight. 

"Sure, Twilight," she said. "I'll be glad to go."

"Excellent!" Twilight exclaimed. Bolting out of her seat, she trotted to the other end of the table and levitated two sheets of paper. "We'll be helping the foals prepare for the contest the day before the fair starts. It'll be in the afternoon near the schoolhouse. In the mean time, you should read these along with the notes in your essays."

The two papers glided towards Starlight's end of the table. When they were within reach, her magic changed the aura surrounding the paper from a purple to a mix of blue and purple, until the latter color faded away. 

"What are these?" Starlight asked.

"There the friendship letters that your essay subjects were based on," Twilight answered.

"Friendship letters?"

"Yes. Before I became a princess, as Celestia's student I was tasked with writing her a report whenever I learned an life lesson centered around friendship. Overtime, some of my friends did the same. The first essay was inspired by the time this powerful unicorn came into town and annoyed ponies with her bragging. And the second essay is based on an encounter I witnessed when a filly teased for having no cutiemark found solace with new friends who were in the same boat."

Starlight levitated them closer to her face and inspected their writings. "Well, I'll definitely try to read them when I get the chance."

"Good," Twilight said. "But please take your time. It'll be a while before I ask Spike to send another request to Princess Celestia to send back more copies of the letters sent to her. I don't want to bother her with menial affairs, so it'll be a while before you get another essay assignment."

Menial affairs. 

Starlight shook her head, hoping that her teacher had not notice any sudden change in her mood, but when she looked forward Twilight had already exited the dining room with her papers. Now alone, Starlight saw it as best to leave the room as well, ensuring that the papers left to her floated right behind. As she used her magic to open the door that Spike had left through, Starlight repeated the saying that Twilight had told her to memorize.

"Encourage talent, but remember humbleness. Encourage talent, but remember humbleness. Encourage..."
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You must be trying to sabotage her!" JollyJoy yelled at Inkwell. "I just know it! What is the matter with you and your assistants?"

Maple Flower placed a hoof on the mare's shoulder. "Jolly, please. Don't say that. They're just trying to give me some advice is all. Nopony's my enemy in here."

Unconvinced, the blue earth pony shook Maple away and pointed her own hoof at Inkwell behind his desk. "He's trying to cheapen the quality of your work, Maple! Why do I have to keep telling you this? Your work is fine the way it is and he just can't see it!"

The blue unicorn stallion had both of his front hooves pressed against the bridge of his nose -- with fatigue and frustration painted all over his face. With the little mental strength still reserved within him, he let out a sigh and brought his head up to the two mares seated before him, his eyelids barely able to stay open.

"Mrs. JollyJoy," Inkwell said with soft, tired voice. "For the last time, neither my assistants nor I are trying to cheapen the value of The Honeywood Sisterhood series. It has remained within our top ten list of young adult fiction books for over six years, and BarnOwl has no intention of ever letting that change for the time being."

JollyJoy remained unconvinced, her stern, suspicious eyes scanning the weaken posture of the editor. "And yet you want to take out the entertainment from this third installment that has been present for all the other books."

Seeking some form of solace from the mare's continuous accusations, Inkwell rubbed a hoof in small circles on the right side of his temple and closed his eyes for a short moment. When he opened them again, he looked over at his two editorial assistants who sat on the right side of the room in chairs against the wall. Lavender Dazzle was slowly rocking back and forth in her chair, trying her best not to seem distressed over the situation. Sonnet Philosophy, on the other hoof, barely paid attention, as his stoic focus was directed to the windows near the front door.

Ever since the conversation over the edits for A Summer Night of Fireworks and Candy Apples had started nearly less than an hour ago, the air was filled with tension as Inkwell and the others were fully aware of how JollyJoy could turn an atmosphere from pleasant to terrible. Sadly, as with previous encounters concerning Maple's third book for the past few months, this evening had become a miserable experience, as the calm conversation devolved into an argument over half an hour ago -- with JollyJoy being the most vocal speaker.

"We're not trying to make this book less enjoyable for the readers," Inkwell said, still looking at Sonnet and Lavender. "But from what I've read, as well as with what my assistants have seen, it appears that the main characters in this book perform actions that contradict their overall personality from the previous novels -- without any real indication as for why these sudden changes have taken place."

JollyJoy cocked her head to the side, her blue beehive hairdo swaying under the pressure of gravity and her earrings jangling in the air. 

"I really don't understand," she said. "What's so wrong with the decisions Maple made with her characters? I didn't see anything far from the ordinary concerning their behavior."

Inkwell sighed once more. It was hard for him to believe that this mare had disregarded the criticism that he had made just minutes ago, which he was sure he had pronounced in a clear manner. Nonetheless, he spoke about the issue once more. 

"Well, as I have mentioned before," Inkwell addressed, stopping mid sentence to retrieve a few sheets of notebook paper on his desk to read. "The first big issue is Clover deciding to lie to her parent about leading a church youth session in order to go on a date with Happy Hour on chapter 13. This action completely contradicts her previous established character trait of being committed to her family and friendship obligations, and there's no further indication in the manuscript that Clover feels guilty about this or suffers any repercussions that would warrant guilt or regret."

Finished with his analysis, Inkwell looked up at JollyJoy, hoping for the slightest of chances that he had gotten through to her with at least one criticism. Instead, the literary agent's grimace remained glued and unchanged, weakening Inkwell's already damaged inner peace.

Nonetheless, the editor continued, shuffling the order of his papers. "And onto the main event of chapter 21. Flower Pond's main strength throughout the series her been her ability to resolve conflict or defend her viewpoint through her words, usually in a manner that is firm and assertive but not threatening or demeaning. Which is why Lavender and I were very bothered with how Flower's choice of confronting the bullies who teased her about her poor singing at the school concert was to throw a garbage can at one of them, and then hit another with a lunch tray full of somepony's food."

Embarrassed, Maple Flower scratched the back of her head with a downward stare in shame. "Oh goodness," the light brown earth pony said. "I didn't see anything wrong with that at first. I guess that does seem a bit out of character. Perhaps that could have been handled a bit differently."

The mare's admittance of error drew a sympathetic frown from the editor. Inkwell enjoyed working with Maple Flower ever since he helped her with her first novel. Though the writer's talent was obvious from the start, the noticeable errors in her work were ones that had to be taken care of, a task which was done successfully for the first two books by Inkwell, his previous assistants, and Maple's first literary agent, who tragically passed away while the second book was in editing. 

From that incident, JollyJoy replaced the spot. At first, Inkwell was able to deal with the replacement's minor complaints of his editing, but over time the two began to constantly struggle over what should have been left in or taken out of the manuscript -- a struggle that delayed the publication by nearly a month. And now with the third book, it appears that this situation might happen again.

"Well," JollyJoy began to say, "these characters are all teenagers. And as we know, teens don't always act with the best sense of judgement, and can often do irrational things out of the blue. And besides, flawed teen characters are very relatable to our teen audience, which makes the story more intriguing to get into."

"Yes," Inkwell said. "Flawed characters can be relatable, and these characters should not be perfect. However, the problem is that these mistakes and actions are not only out of character, but there's no previous indicator or hint as for why they started acting like this. Many of the characters' choices I mentioned today, and also talked about for the previous weeks, are completely done out of no where, without any exposition that establishes how they got to such a point in their decision-making. The previous novels always made it clear what was on the POV characters' minds before they did anything, and that pattern isn't present for most of this manuscript."

"Hmm," Maple Flower chimed in, thinking hard of what Inkwell had said. "I don't know how I couldn't have seen it. At first, Jolly made me feel more confident in some of the things I thought were mistakes. But now, I guess you do have a point."

JollyJoy spun her head at her client. 

"No, he doesn't!" the mare shouted, causing Maple's pupils to shrink in surprise. "Nothing he says makes sense! I'm telling you right now that none of these criticism are going to help your book. They're just tiny, unimportant complaints about actions that do nothing to cheapen the meanings behind your characters. If anything, he and his workers are trying to make them bland instead of interesting!"

"But Jolly---"

"NO, Maple! No filly wants to read about a character that never messes up and is always true to their ethics, especially a filly that's still trying to figure herself out! You've already made enough edits of the first chapters due to him, most of which weren't necessary, so you don't have to make any more changes!"

As JollyJoy went on with her rant, Inkwell took notice of the activity occurring outside of his office. Beyond the unclosed blinds and the glass of his windows, multiple BarnOwl employees hovered around the front door, trying their best to observe the loud scene. While some ponies went on with their business once they had their peek, others lingered around just a bit longer, staring at the five ponies in the room. When Maple and Lavender saw the crowd, they blushed out of embarrassment just like Inkwell, while Sonnet merely kept his composed posture with a blank face.

I'd give anything to have his lack of care right now. Inkwell thought.

Without warning, JollyJoy shot an ugly glare at Lavender at the other side of the room. Inkwell looked at her, too, and the poor purple unicorn seemed like a helpless prey caught by its ferocious predator -- eyes wide, shaking uncontrollably, sweat beading down her forehead, and her braced teeth clattering in fear.

"Let's start with you," JollyJoy said in a threatening manner. "Since you helped him with chapter 21, I must ask why you want to turn Flower Pond into a pathetic weakling who doesn't have the spine to give those bullies what they have coming to them. I mean really, if you read the other novels, you'd know that somepony needed to give those girls a good smack of reality. Is that how you saw yourself as a filly? Did you just kowtow to schoolyard punks every time they wanted to walk over you, or do you just like being a doormat?"

Maple gasped in shock. With a sudden shift in tone not heard before, her demeanor turned from timid to angry.

"JollyJoy!" she shouted. "You have no right to say that to her!"

An audible gulp sounded throughout the room, originating straight from Lavender. The sweating mess of an unicorn opened up the neck of her pink and blue sweater to ease her stress. In a hurried panic, she mumbled incoherently for a few seconds until she could stutter out the words she had searched for.

"A-A-Actually, it's alr-r-right. Really, i-i-t is." With a sudden laugh, Lavender starting waving her hooves around madly as she thought of what to say next. "It's p-p-possible that I made a m-m-mistake. Maybe I made h-h-her a bit t-too timid, is all. T-those bullies have b-been at her for a w-while. So it makes s-s-sense that she s-should have c-c-c-confront-t-ted them in a more assertive m-m-manner."

"No, sweetie, that's not true," Maple said in good faith, however it seemed that such reassurance only made Lavender less confident.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. She's right. I g-guess. I was just c-c-clueless with how to ex-x-xecute that p-p-properly. M-maybe Flower Pond c-could h-h-have j-just threatened t-to hurt them o-or c-c-called them n-names too. But I m-must have not have b-been b-b-bright enough t-too see t-that. S-S-Sorry."

Inkwell saw that the confession of doubt from Lavender seemed to have pleased JollyJoy, as the literary agent seemed to have a more confident, looming posture when his hurt assistant was done speaking. The silent message of victorious boasting was enough to earn a scowl from him, but the old mare spoke once more before he could respond with anything.

"As for Clover and Happy Hour, you two don't have any reason to change that." She pointed an angry hoof at both Sonnet and Lavender. "Teenagers eventually lie to their parents at one moment or another about where they're going and what they intend to do. Clover's love for her family shouldn't dissuade her from being close to this boy. If anything, after all she's done for her loved ones, she might feel that she's entitled to something for herself for once."

"W-well, w-w-well," Lavender stuttered. "T-that t-t-thing about t-teens is m-m-mostly true. B-But still, Clover's p-parents take their f-farm life really serious, a-and Clover p-plays a b-b-big r-role in k-keeping the f-farm s-stable. I-I-If she n-neglects h-her--"

JollyJoy stretched her neck out.

"The farm is not going anywhere! It's just one time that Clover is going against her family obiligations! And besides, it's fict-ion! If the farm doesn't get hurt due to her neglect, then that fact shouldn't bother anypony -- because it's not real!"

Lavender shrank back in her chair, like a foal getting lectured by their parents. Sonnet on the other hand had not shifted his body nor his attitude in any way, having kept his gaze on the window for the entirety of the present ordeal. From Inkwell's perspective, his lack of a response annoyed JollyJoy, as her eyes prepped themselves to shoot dangers at the grey earth pony.

"And you, young man! I don't know how you got this job, because it seems to me that you lack any understanding of how a good story needs a conflict. You want to completely write out the trouble Flower Pond and her friends have to face with Bittertooth holding that secret over their heads? He's been a enemy of the group since the first book -- which I hope you read, for Celestia's sake -- and you want to downplay the role he has in this book? Are you trying to let our readers down, and give your publishing house a bad name?"

Due to the distance Sonnet was from Inkwell, being closer to the front door then anypony else, Inkwell was certain at first that his assistant had ignored her comments. But on further inspection, the editor could spot a slight scowl on the stallion's face, though his gaze was still towards the window. Before Inkwell was aware if JollyJoy had notice as well, Sonnet's face quickly changed back to being dull.

When silence had overcome the room, Inkwell decided to speak.

"Ms. JollyJoy, I've told you before, Bittertooth's actions in this story make no sense. He threatens Flower Pond and Silver Eclipse that he'll tell the police about the secret treehouse unless they pay him with money, food, and other favors."

JollyJoy squinted her eyes at him in irritation. "Yes. I'm aware. I helped her with that"

"Well, I hope you remember that the events of the second book would not allow this to happen. In the last book, before Bittertooth could cause harm to Flower and her friends, his boss Street Smarts steps in and stops him, because of the favor Silver Eclipse did. We've seen that Bittertooth shows great respect for his boss -- near the point of almost revering him like a father -- so it makes no sense for him to extort Flower after she and her friends were placed under Street Smarts' protection."

Inkwell could see that the words he said might have gotten through to JollyJoy, as her eyes stared up in the air as if they were trying to see the thoughts conjured up in her head. At that moment, the editor hoped that perhaps this stubborn book agent might finally begin to agree with him on such a reasonable point. 

"Perhaps..." JollyJoy had trouble finding the next words to say, either due to stubbornness or a genuine attempt to rationalize what he said. "Perhaps, you have a point. Still, there's no reason for that stallion over there to have written the conflict out of the manuscript. You all could have tweaked it if need be. But I guess that any thrill that comes from this story is seen as irrelevant to you all."

Another silence returned to the room as JollyJoy looked around at the ponies present. Inkwell and Maple were both staring at her with either cold, disgruntled glares, Lavender was still huddled in her chair trying not to appear active, and Sonnet still looked out of the window. When it came to her how tense things were, JollyJoy sighed as an act of acknowledgement.

"Look, my complaints don't appear to be that dramatic to me. I just want to ensure that Maple Flower's story contains the same charm that the previous Honeywood Sisterhood books had. These books are present in nearly every school library in Equestria, and I just know that she's a big hit with fillies in middle and high school -- girls that need somepony that they see themselves in."

The blue mare fixed her beehive up and straightened up the nature of her grey suit. "If anything, all of my ranting is simply for the sake of the fans who need these books. You all know how the fandom feels about this series -- all the hopes and expectations they have for this third installment. If those promises of excitement and suspense don't come true, then you'll be doing Maple and the audience an absolute disservice."

"I don't believe that."

The sudden appearance of a stallion's voice drew the attention of JollyJoy, Maple, Inkwell, and Lavender to Sonnet. The grey earth pony, who had been looking at the window for some time, slowly turned his head to look at the book agent. The stallion's almond brown eyes showed no signs of anger or frustration, yet JollyJoy was unnerved by the way they gazed at her. 

"What do you mean?" she asked, her tone shifting between defensive and confused.

Sonnet let out a calm sigh before speaking. "What I mean is that I don't believe your complaints are truly for the sake of Ms. Maple Flower or her fans. I think they're for your own interests."

"My own interests?"

He nodded. "Yes. Anypony with a sense of reason can see that all this yelling has been about what you can milk out of her writing mistakes. If anything, you're sabotaging the potential of this story for your own gain -- which makes you Maple's handicap."

Gasps other than Sonnet's sounded through of the air. Inkwell and Maple looked at each other with stunned and astonished faces, Lavender hid her face in her puffy orange mane, and a shocked JollyJoy stared at the young stallion with a wordless, opened mouth, until her expression gradually transformed from shocked, to appalled, to angry. The old blue earth pony began to shake in her seat, her flustering cheeks giving her face a purple blush as she stuttered -- attempting to find words to say against her accusation.

"I can see that you want to talk," Sonnet said. "But I need to get my words out."

Untranslatable murmurs arose from JollyJoy's lips, their threatening mystery like that of a stalker waiting in the shadows. Nonetheless, Sonnet seemed unmoved by this. 

"Now, ma'am, if you're going to prove your point against something you don't like, I would advise, for the sake of yours and everypony's else's time, that your arguments aren't filled with lies -- with the most obvious one being that all this trouble you've made if for the fans."

Jollyjoy flashed her white teeth at Sonnet. "Now wait here a minute! You can't just---"

Sonnet held up his hoof and raised his voice, sounding more irritated than angry. "Ma'am. Please stop." Sonnet placed his hoof on his forehead, rubbing it in slow and lengthy manner as he closed his eyes temporarily. Inkwell could see that he was under a bit tension, but unlike the others Sonnet had done a good enough task of hiding his stress until now. It seemed to Inkwell that this flimsy meeting had reached its breaking point at last.

Sonnet continued after his break. "Okay. So, from what I could gather from previous meetings, many of your complaints have been centered around our edits that you claim would make the story less interesting for fans due to certain details being removed. Many of these story events are centered around answering or fulfilling topics that are prevalent inthe fandom -- like shippings, theories, and anticipation of fanservice.

"Now, while all of these topics are interesting to look at from an outside perspective, an author shouldn't let them influence their work. An author's story should be built upon sound, reasonable material that adheres to real life logic and consequences. A story meant to be taken serious should not be a lovely fantasy land where the readers' wishes of only happy outcomes is made true. And that's what you're doing with Honeywood Sisterhood -- pressuring Maple Flower to create a story that focuses on appeasing the fanbase instead of providing a collection of realistic characters making realistic choices. That's what these fans truly deserve -- to be treated with respectable content, regardless of them being young readers."

"I do care about what fans want!" JollyJoy exclaimed, pointing a defensive hoof at herself. "I'm Maple's book agent. Any, and I mean any, advice that I give to her is meant to ensure that her work gains more recognition in the literary world. I always make sure that she's aware that everything that I do is for her benefit."

Sonnet cocked his head to side -- the motion of which betrayed an air of skepticism that his blank gaze did not reveal. "Is that so? Then, would you mind telling me why you're having Maple Flower agree to allowing her series be adapted into a television show, even though Maple has stated before that she didn't want that?"

Inkwell looked at the two mares in front of him with surprise on his face. "Maple, you agreed to a television deal? You told us you wanted to wait until your series was over."

The author refused to answer Inkwell, looking down at the ground with a sad face. JollyJoy, on the other hand, was taken aback by Sonnet's comment, not at all expecting the stallion to know about such information.

"How did you know about that?" she asked Sonnet.

"Well, I keep up with the any news concerning Maple Flower since I help with editing her book. I don't think it really contributes to my work, but I feel safer knowing the events surrounding my boss' client. And in one article I found, you and Maple Flower had an interview with NovaStar Network over adapting The Honeywood Sisterhood series into a TV show by next year. Although Maple Flower states in the article that she wanted to wait until the series was over so that the adaptation could remain true to the source material, you had convinced her to accept the deal anyway -- saying how it would introduce more attention to her work."

"Okay, what's wrong's wrong with that?" JollyJoy asked, her shock gradually turning back into defensive anger.

"The point is," Sonnet continued, "that your client made it clear in this interview, and in other meetings with us, that if her work was to be replicated as either a play or a show, that she would want the individuals behind the adaptation to respect her books enough as to refrain from making unnecessary edits for the sake of sensation. Many of us have seen adaptations that have botched the originality of their sources, and Maple said she would be heartbroken if the same happened to her work, especially if the show or play ran ahead of the books. But nonetheless you pressured her to accept the deal -- completely disregarding her own interests."

"Well, of course I might have persuaded her a bit," JollyJoy exclaimed, "but I never forced her to do so!" She turned around to her client, looking at her with eyes requesting for a defense. "Maple, this is all for your benefit. I know you had your doubts, but by the time you finished your last book, your audience may have died down. This show could save it!"

"Or it could have helped you out instead," Sonnet stated. "What I mean by that is that, being her agent, you get a certain percentage of the earnings that she receives for when her material is used by other ponies. Therefore, this television deal would be in your benefit. Even if you didn't get as much as Maple would, you would still help yourself to a lot of bits."

JollyJoy looked back at him with a glare again -- a glare, Inkwell believed, that she hoped would deliver the message to the young stallion to not test her any further. The grey earth pony raised an quizzical eyebrow at the agent, appearing unsure as to whether it was worth the effort to react to her threat in any way. If anything, Inkwell believed that the daggers she had been shooting at Sonnet since he had spoken must have felt like minuscule bug-bites to him this whole time."

Sonnet continued with his criticisms, his face remaining as stoic as before, though Inkwell could sense a strange mix of satisfaction and resentment in his voice. "Of course, I could just be speculating. Who am I to say what your motives are? But then again, with all the constant bickering, nitpicking, and shouting you've given us the past few months over us simply doing our jobs, I can't help but think you only care about selling mediocre material to a mostly young, easily impressionable audience for a quick fortune at the sacrifice of quality plot and writing. Given how Maple's previous two books were well crafted, it appears you've brought out the worst in her writing -- which is counterproductive of an actual good book agent."

The rush of blood-heated anger and hate that JollyJoy's vessels brought to her face ironically brought an chilling atmosphere to the room that everypony, probably including the calm Sonnet, felt as goosebumps arose on their skin. The book agent huffed and puffed away, like an annoyed dragon awakened from its long slumber by a careless intruder, and everypony was on edge as they awaited for what would transpire next. From out the office, Inkwell could see more BarnOwl employees creeping by the windows, their faces both in awe and confusion of the scene falling out.

Even with the suspense building up to an obvious explosion, Sonnet could not help but continue with his tirade.

"Look. At the end of the day, getting Maple Flower to create this poorly stitched together story is just going to cause more harm for you. Critics are going to be your main enemy here -- not us. Once they see the plot flaws and poor character decisions, all of their reviews about the book are going to be negative and will strongly advise potential buyers from reading it. And considering that the series' audience consist of fillies still unaware of how complicated life really is, I'm pretty sure overly-concerned parents will prevent their daughters from getting the book once the criticism is released in the news. After all, who would want their child to emulate ponies who are stupid, violent, and manip---"

"Sonnet, that is enough," Inkwell interjected with an exclaimed voice.

Sonnet turned his head to the editor, his opened mouth ready to perhaps give a defense for continuing on with his words, but before anything was said the young stallion looked around at his environment. Lavender to his left was shaking in her seat, with her mane still covering the entirety of her face; Inkwell and Maple in front of him were calm, but Sonnet could tell from the tension on their faces that they were still on edge; and a flustered JollyJoy stared angerly at him with shrunken pupils, her heavy breathing audible from how far he was from her.

He looked back at Inkwell again for a quick second, and with a bite of a his bottom lip he returned to gazing outside of the office window -- with an noticeable scowl now present on his face.

Inkwell, seeing that peace was returning back into the room -- or at least a tense version of peace -- brought his attention back to the two mares in front of him.

"Ms. Maple Flower," Inkwell said, "I still believe that you should revise your manuscript concerning our suggested edits of chapters 13 and 21. It simply is out of character for Flower Pond and Clover to act in such manners. As the author, I believe you know best how these characters should behave, and should at least give exposition for the thoughts behind their actions."

"That seems understandable," Maple agreed. The light brown mare was able to bring out a smile despite recent events, until she heard a disgruntled sigh from next to her. JollyJoy's face had cleansed itself of its purple blush and creases, but the mare was still in an irate mood as she kept her front hooves crossed against her chest and had her eyes focused on the ceiling.

"But," Inkwell said with a sigh, "I do think that the edit of chapter 24 concerning Bittertooth and the bribe to keep the treehouse a secret is something that could be removed. It can work as long as you made it explicit as for why he would go behind Street Smarts' back, or if needed you could make another character the antagonist of the treehouse plot. I can definitely see how it's an exciting conflict in the story, but things must remain coherent."

JollyJoy's harsh eyes returned to look at Inkwell, and then finally at her client. "It seems to make sense," she said. "I guess the other edits can stay, as long as the treehouse plot is kept in. I know you were banking on it to conclude your story in an epic way. Are you okay with that?"

Maple nodded politely. "Yes. Like I just told him, I'm fine with everything. Thank you for asking."

Though her mannerisms showed no signs of hostility, Inkwell could tell by the lack of usual warmth that accompanied her tone that the author was was truly done with her agent's antics. It was a bit suprising, considering that Maple had always try to quell or somewhat defend JollyJoy's annoyance as acts of concern, but Inkwell saw that maybe today was the day all of that ended.

Inkwell looked up at the clock behind the two mares. "It's getting close to 5pm soon. It's best that we end things today and meet back again next week at the same day and time."

Without hesitation, JollyJoy quickly got out of her chair, picked up her purse from the floor, and placed it over her head and around her neck. "Of course. We'll see you there," she said as she headed towards the door.

Maple Flower followed her lead, glaring at her agent's backside. "Thank you for meeting us, Inkwell. I'll message you, in case there's any important details I need to inform you of."

When the door closed behind them, Inkwell watched the two mares walk through the area of the floor, passing by lingering coworkers. Before they were out of sight, Inkwell spotted JollyJoy shooting a quick scowl at Sonnet through the glass window dividing them, with little reaction being drawn out of the grey earth pony as a result. When JollyJoy and Maple Flower were no longer visible, the distraught Lavender took her face out of her mane and spat out several locks of orange hair.

"Oh, geez!" she gasped through watery eyes. "Oh, geez! That was really bad! Like really bad! I don't remember her being that mean before. Especially in such a personal way. Please tell me that isn't going to happen again."

Inkwell shook his head. "That was definitely wrong of her to do that. But I'm pretty sure Maple Flower is going to give her a stern talking once they leave the building. I'm sorry I didn't do much."

Lavender's heavy breaths began to quiet down as she tried her best to balance her thoughts and composure. 

"It's okay, boss. I know you did your best. If anything, I think attacking her might have made things worst. Especially if it was coming from you."

The purple unicorn turned her head to Sonnet, who continued to stare out the window with his standard blank face.

"Sonnet, are you okay?" she asked with concern in her voice. "I know that must have been a bit scary."

"It wasn't that bad," Sonnet replied coolly.

"I don't know. I mean, I know you made that big speech and all against her, but I can still understand if you were still a bit startled with how angry she was."

Sonnet sighed. "It's alright, Lavender. That mare was just puffing out hot air."

"Lavender," Inkwell called out. "Would you mind stepping out? I need to talk with Sonnet for a bit. I don't have anything else for you to do, so you're free for the rest of the day."

Her ears perked up. "Oh!" she said with a small smile as she left her chair. "Well that's good to know. See you later, boss. See you later, too, Sonnet."

When his upbeat assistant left his office, Inkwell gave his attention to the less upbeat one. 

"I understand where you were coming from with that... Well, a rant seems a bit too much, but I can get why you said what you said to her. Privately, I've been wanting to say the same thing to her for a while, though not in an offensive manner."

"Does offensive mean truthful?" Sonnet quipped. 

"Sonnet, it's one thing to point out somepony's bad decisions. It's another to accuse them of doing things that can't be backed up with evidence. Regardless of personal thoughts, you don't know her true motive for compelling Maple Flower to make those decisions."

The young stallion gritted his teeth. "It just my intuition, is all. I see somepony trying to get a good author to sacrifice their talent and world building for the sake of sensation and appeasement. It has to be obvious to you with all the useless criticisms she's made of our edits for the past several months."

"Regardless of your intuition, BarnOwl employees must strive to engage with ponies in conversations that are full of candor but also with respect."

"Well, I felt I was being respectful to her by stating how she's ruining things, and that things will only get harder down the line if she keeps up with her nonsense. Showing disrespect would have been allowing her to get any with her actions."

"Sonnet..." Inkwell leaned up in his chair and placed both hooves on his face. "I can't have this happen again. Out of all the meetings we had with JollyJoy, this one was the worst -- and for all I know it could have been made worse if you continued with your words as you planned. Please. We need to be more cooperative with them, and that means letting them have their way every now and then."

The blue unicorn lifted his head. "With this lawsuit, it's best to get this book out as soon as possible. Hopefully the high sales might help out incase the worst is to come."

Sonnet's face turned from annoyance to that of slight concern. "When did you get the news?"

Inkwell frowned. "This morning. The statement you wrote last week didn't do anything. Despite our defense, the companies are still suing. These are big names involved in the lawsuit, and if the press has already gotten wind of it, the news may be talking about it either tommorrow or the day after."

Sonnet turned away from Inkwell and scowled at the ground. For a few seconds, Inkwell was unsure of how to reach out to him, but eventually decided that it was best to leave him alone. With all of the time he had spent with him, Inkwell was aware of how irritated Sonnet could be when it came to inconviences and hostilites, and that the best way for the stallion to get over his discomforts was to simply be left alone, even if he still had to work with others.

"Sonnet, it's getting late. If you want to you can go. Given how... tense things have been, you only need to do edits of chapters 28 and 29. Bring them to my desk as soon as you before afternoon."

The grey earth pony looked across the room at Inkwell, his shifting lips revealing that a thought was present in his mind that he must have been debating on speaking out about. But eventually, Sonnet nodded at the editor and walked out of the office to go home.
> Chapter 4.1 (Part II: The Journey)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ponyville quickly disappeared in the distance behind the mobile train as it sped across the tracks without fault. The sky above the small town and surrounding countyside was illuminated with a dark purple glow as Celestia's sun began to set down, allowing Luna's moon to arise within the next few hours. Besides the diminishing orange glow around the setting sun, the only sources of light present amidst the growing darkness were the faint lights from Ponyville and the distant mountain city of Canterlot, and the blurring lights of the train that Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends were aboard. 

The purple alicorn stared outside the window to observe the ever shifting landscape that the train displayed to her. Her assistant Spike sat right next to her, preoccupying himself with one out of the many comics he had managed to grab before they left Ponyville. Twilight's mind was wandering throughout the details of the letter that brought her and her companions to take this journey, and as she thought harder on those details a conversation rose up from the seat across -- started by a female groan.

"I still can't believe I'm missing out on that Cloudsdale party," Rainbow Dash groaned. The upset and pouty cyan pegasus slouched in her spot on the train seat with her forelegs crossed against her chest. "I was hoping to spend some time with Soarin' and Spitfire after they were finished congratulating the trainees and reservists. But now we gotta go to some stupid swamps."

"Ah'd like to think that perhaps ya'd be more worried our responsibilities as the Elements of Harmony," Applejack said to the pegasus sitting beside her. "Ah'm pretty sure this party of yers isn't mandatory as for ya bein' a Wonderbolt and all. And considerin' how big of a friend Steven Magnet is, Ah see it as fair that we sacrifice our leisure to help him out."

Rainbow Dash looked at Applejack. "I know how important our duties are, AJ," she said with a sigh. "If this is as serious as Twilight said, then it makes sense why we all have to go. But still, it's a bummer to be taken out of something you've been preparing for for a long time."

The orange earth pony nodded. "Ah can understand,' she commented with sympathy. "Ah was just in the middle of organizin' the next family reunion when Twilight came around the. Ah hope it ain't so, but if this mission takes too long, Big Mac and Apple Bloom will have to take charge of things if we can't make it back in time."

Behind Twilight, Pinkie Pie, sitting next to Fluttershy, leaned over the aisle of the train car to look across at Applejack and Rainbow Dash. 

"I know the reunion's a big deal for you, Applejack," the energetic pink earth pony said with her usual bubbly tone, "but I think it's good that we're getting to see Steven again. I know a while ago he was here in town for Cranky's and Matilda's wedding, but we didn't get a catch to really talk with him. Hopefully when this whole thing is taken care of we can catch up with him."

Sitting by herself behind Applejack and Rainbow Dash, Rarity turned her head away from the window and looked at Pinkie Pie across the aisle. 

"It would be interesting to hear what he's been doing," the white unicorn commented. "I know he's been traveling through river towns down south the last time we've corresponded letters, doing odd jobs here and there while getting a sense of adventure." 

"Um, Twilight?" said Fluttershy with a soft, polite voice, though still audible to get the alicorn to turn around. "I know Steven Magnet is in trouble, but could you tell me what's going on? When you came by the lake to find me, after I wasn't at my cottage, you were in such a hurry to get me to go that there wasn't anytime to explain."

Using her magic, Twilight levitated a folded letter out of her bag on the floor and gave it to the yellow pegasus.

"All of the details are in there," Twilight stated. "but to summarize, the town where Steven resides is next to the Troll Confederation, a small nation between the Badlands and the Hayseed Swamps near New Horseleans. For decades, the trolls have kept dangerous insects from invading the pony settlements in the swamps in exchange for trading, but all of a sudden a conflict has broken out between the tribes of the confederation, with none of them focusing on keeping the bugs at bay. If the trolls don't cease their hostilities, New Horseleans and other nearby towns might be infested with these creatures."

"And bein' the Princess of Friendship, it makes sense that Steven would write to you to solve this issue," Applejack said, with her getting an nod from Twilight. 

"This letter was written around three days ago, and if what I've read is true, then we have around five days left until the recent protection spell the trolls casted goes away. Luckily we'll be at the town of Miracle Song by tomorrow morning, or at least by noon."

"No offense, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said. "We're all here to help you out and all, but why did you need the whole gang to come with you? I mean, you mentioned in the letter that Steven only called you for help, not the rest of us."

A troubled frown formed on Twilight's face as she looked down at the floor. "Did you guys felt any weird sensation on your flanks anytime today? I mean anytime, not just when I got you all together?"

The other five mares in the train car gave their own individual responses, all of them indicating that they did not experience such an event. At this, the purple alicorn sighed, which was enough to draw even Spike's attention and concern.

"When I read Steven's letter, I felt this faint vibration near my cutiemark. It was the same feeling that would occur when the Cutie Map would summon us on a friendship mission, but it felt much weaker this time, like I was being bothered by a feather tip. And there wasn't a glow present on my cutiemark either. But though I was the only one who felt, it felt safer to bring all of you along with me, in case this issue requires more than just me."

Gasping, Rarity placed a worried hoof to her lips. "Are you saying that the map still isn't working after that time-travel mishap you went through with Starlight?"

"It's been weeks since that's happened, though," Applejack interjected, addressing Twilight. Like Rarity, the orange earth pony was bothered by the news. "Ya tellin' me it hasn't rebooted itself after all that time?"

Twilight shook her head. "I've tried everything that I could with the spells I know, but so far there's been no progress. I've sent a letter to Celestia asking her to look for books centered on repair spells or ones that mention the Tree of Harmony to any degree, but given the unique design of the map it could take a while before I get any hint of where to start next."

From behind, Fluttershy placed a hoof on the shoulder of her worried friend and gifted her compassionate teal eyes. "That has to be very taxing on you, Twilight. With all the potential missions we could miss as time goes on, I understand the rush to fix this map for the sake of those going through a hard time."

Though she could not return a smile, Twilight placed her own hoof on top of Fluttershy's in a similar warm manner. "Thanks, Fluttershy. I really appreciate it."

When she felt her friend's hoof slip away, Twilight resumed her practice of staring outside of the train car window. Fluttershy's last words weighed heavily in the alicorn's mind -- for the subject was one that she had unfortunately been torturing herself with over the past weeks. 

Until the map came into existence with the creation of her castle, Twilight was unsure of what her duties as a princess were supposed to be, and she clearly remembered how anxious her thoughts were concerning her future. When the map did arrive it was a blessing to her, as it made it crystal clear that she and her friends were meant to spread the value of friendship throughout Equestria and her neighbors.

But now that the map was defunct, and may remain so for some time, Twilight's anxieties for the future were ramped up more than ever before. Despite the many nights she spent tiring herself out over researching a solution, when she was not coming up with teaching material for Starlight, she could not find anything that would guide her on fixing the map. 

If the map was not going to get repaired any time soon, than whatever friendship missions that Twilight and the others were meant to have done will no longer be available, and the ponies who were supposed to be helped might be left to struggle with their own problems. Though those hypothetical events would be of no fault of her own, Twilight felt a sense o self-blame overtaking her like a dark shadow, as the thoughts of those who needed her being left to suffer pester her. If anything, her inability to solve this problem seemed to reflect how good of princess she truly was. 

Before further thoughts of self-loathing over took her, the purple alicorn felt a claw tugging at her foreleg. "Twilight? Is everything alright?"

Shaking herself out of her daze, Twilight turned her head to Spike and blinked a few times. "What did you say, Spike?"

"I asked if you were alright?" the dragon asked. "You've been staring out into the open for sometime."

Twilight chuckled, hoping that it would be enough to distract her assistant from asking more questions. "I'm fine, Spike. Just daydreaming is all. It's been a while since we've all been this far down south. Hopefully I'll be able to understand the politics of the area well enough before starting negotiations with the troll tribes."

Spike suddenly beamed a toothy grin. "So this train is stopping at New Horseleans, right?"

The alicorn nodded. "Yep. Then after we leave the station, we'll all take a taxi wagon to Miracle Song."

"Well, if this whole thing with the trolls ends up alright in the end, I was thinking maybe we could take a tour of the city. Maybe we can even join the Festival at night?"

Confused, Twilight cocked her head to the side. "Why would the Festival be going on in the city right now?"

Spike's bright smile remained glued to his face. In fact it might have shone a bit brighter. "Isn't that how New Horseleans is? I heard the whole city is just a non-stop party every night when they host the Festival. I don't know how I would do with all the costumes and masks, but I know I'll just love all that food!"

The enthusiasm he displayed was enough to draw a genuine giggle out of Twilight. "Spike, we're too late into the year for the Festival to happen. New Horseleans only holds it during late winter or early spring, and right now we're in the last month of summer. I don't know who told you that, but the whole of New Horseleans definitely isn't a non-stop party at night."

The young dragon's ears drooped down at the time same his smile went away. "Oh...," he said with a disappointed tone. "Well that stinks. I had a whole schedule planned out and everything. I was even planning on taking pictures."

Twilight giggled again and patted a gentle hoof on Spike's back. "Sorry about that. Even it you don't get to partake in the Festival, maybe if this conflict ends on good term we can tour the city a bit."

"Sure. I mean guess that would be nice," Spike said before retreating into his comic book reading with discontentment.

Twilight could see that Spike did not receive the news as well as he hoped to have conveyed otherwise, but she saw it as best to leave him be instead of trying to comfort him. In all honesty, she saw the scene of him trying to hide his disappointment as a bit cute and delightful. With all the stress swimming around her mind, it was relieving to have a brief moment of humor, even if tomorrow was full of potential problems.

Without warning, the door at the car's rear sprang open to allow a unicorn mare, wearing a railroad employee suit, to enter with a trolley of food, plates, bowls, napkins, and utensils following her. When the trolley pusher stood in the aisle between Rarity's seat and Pinkie's and Fluttershy's seat, she released her magical grip on the trolley's handle bar.

"Hello, everypony!" the trolley pusher exclaimed in a happy, polite greeting. "You guys are all from the recent station at Ponyville, right?"

Rarity was the first to respond. "We are."

The trolley pusher levitated several bowls and plates full of food to the counters present in from the four seats, followed by utensils, napkins, and unoccupied plates and bowls. At Twilight's and Spike's counter, they received a plate of steaming hot carrots with herbs and mustard, a plate of fried bananas topped with vanilla ice cream, and a bowl full of chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions. When his eyes twinkled at the food in front of him, Spike dropped his comic book and with greedy haste assembled himself an empty plate and spoon to prepare a helping of the fried bananas.

"There's not enough room to put all of this in one place," the trolley pusher said, "so just share and pass stuff around if you're feeling a craving for something else."

Looking around, Twilight could see that Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, just like Spike, had no hesitation in collecting their servings unlike everypony else. As Rainbow Dash made a plate full of radishes and honey-glazed tofu slices, Applejack turned around to look at the caterer.

"No offense, ma'am," the orange earth pony said. "We truly appreciate all this food, but Ah don't remember any of us orderin' anythin'. Is this some special occasion or whatnot?"

The trolley pusher gave a small smile. "Well, there are this purple unicorn half an hour ago who ordered off the dinner menu when she came to the kitchen car. She told the cooks to just send the food over here when it was done, since she would be busy in the rear of the train."

Seeing that Twilight and the others were served, the unicorn mare resumed her magical hold on the the trolley and proceeded towards the front door of the car. 

"If you need any refreshments, just head back to the kitchen and ask. Goodnight!"

"Goodness, that sounds like Starlight," Rarity said. "I thought she was just taking a while to finish up in the little fillies' room. At least that's what she told me was she left."

"But why would she take so long to come back?" Fluttershy asked. 

"She's probably still bummed out over that scene she made at the art and music contest," Pinkie Pie said as she looked intensely at one plate full of veggie bacon and steaming herbed potatoes, and another plate holding a single square carrot cake. Taking a butter knife in her mouth, Pinkie titled her head and made a horizontal slice across the cake, removed the upper half, slid a few portions of bacon and potatoes on the bottom half, and then returned the upper half in place before taking a big bite out of the carrot cake. 

"Oh, yes," Rarity said with an embarrassed frown. "I forgot about that. I guess she hasn't completely gotten over it."

Fluttershy held up a timid hoof. "Excuse me, but what happened with Starlight today?"

After a few bites of her recently constructed cake were made, Pinkie Pie lifted her head and gave out a satisfied "Mmmmmph!" before turning to Fluttershy, who was surprised by the amount of crumbs and frosting left on the pink earth pony's lips.

"Well you see," Pinkie Pie said, "Twilight brought Starlight to the schoolhouse to help with the art and music contest for the Foal and Filly Fair tomorrow, as a start for her friendship lessons." She leaned in closer to Fluttershy, oblivious to the bits of carrots, bacon, potatoes, and frosting falling from her mouth to the seat. "And just out of nowhere she starts using magic to make everything better. But that only made things much worse. Like, reeeally worse."

Rarity interjected herself into the conversation. "Being there myself to witness it, I must agree that it was quite an embarrassing affair. I have no doubt Starlight had good intentions for giving everypony an equal chance of winning, but using magic to interfere with others' hard work was just... excessive."

By now everypony in the car was listening in to the conversation concerning Starlight, including Twilight, though her eyes trained on the rear door down the aisle. 

"Geez, that's a letdown," Applejack said. "Here Ah was hopin' that she would turn over a new leaf with how she interacted with other ponies. Ah'm sure she's tryin', but Ah guess it's gonna take a bit more time to adjust."

"Well, of course it's gonna take a while," Rainbow Dash said after finishing her tofu slices. "You don't just spend several years subjugating ponies under a bogus message of equality and then immediately leave all those controlling aspects behind -- especially after less than a month."

"Oh my," Fluttershy said with worried sympathy. "If that's the case then it's no wonder she doesn't want to see us. Oh, I hope she doesn't beat herself too hard over it. I know she has to be trying her best, like Applejack said."

Turning to Spike, Twilight poked the dragon on the side and politely motioned for him to get out of his seat. When he did just that, Twilight scooted across and began to walk down the aisle towards the rear of the car.

"Twilight, where're ya goin'?" Applejack asked as the alicorn continued to walk.

Without stopping in place, Twilight turned her head around to address her confused friend. "I just need to find Starlight and talk to her about today."

"What about your food?" Spike said, having not returned to the seat. "It's gonna get cold if you take too long."

"I'll be fine, don't worry."

With a purple glow of her horn, Twilight opened the door and entered the corridor connecting to the next car ahead. When the alicorn had left the light of the car and stepped into the outer darkness, she closed the door behind her.
> Chapter 4.2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Having left her friends, Twilight went to the kitchen two cars away to ask the staff about Starlight. Most of the crew were busy preparing orders, but luckily one of the chefs was kind enough to tell the alicorn that her friend may have gone to the last car on the train. This helpful fact took Twilight on another trip through two more cars, with the first one holding regular passengers in their seats while the second one had four rooms on each side behind closed doors. 

When Twilight slid open the rear door with her magic, she was met with the sight of Starlight leaning against the railings of the car platform. Having heard the door open, the purple unicorn turned around to see who the unexpected visitor was, and almost immediately  she jerked her head back towards the moving tracks in a panic. To Starlight's possible misfortune, this did not dissuade Twilight from leaving her be. Instead, Twilight stepped through the door and onto the platform.

The platform was small, being perhaps between ten to fifteen feet long, so Twilight found it best to approach the right side of the railings that Starlight did not occupy. Resting her forelegs on the cold metal beam, she brought her attention to the mare beside her, trying to interpret any emotions that her face was betraying. As far as what could be seen, Starlight was not as distressed as Twilight was expecting, but nonetheless, Twilight was not willing to drop whatever issue that was clearly plaguing Starlight's mind all because she was feigning a lack of vulnerability.

Though Twilight wanted to say something to Starlight the moment she spotted her, it was best to wait and think of the right words to say before opening her mouth. She held no anger to Starlight for the events that happened earlier today, though the confusion of the whole was something that was wrong to ignore for too long, especially if the mission to the Troll Confederation was going to be a bit of a hooful. 

For now, Twilight simply stared at the passing environment all around her and Starlight. Over an hour had passed since all eight of them had departed from Ponyville, and with the small town distances away all that was present was just rural landscape, which under the light of the full moon was painted in a cool, relaxing hue of blue. To her left, just past Starlight's frame, was a vast, pale stretch of grassland with a large lake situated in the middle that gave off faint little sparkles, and beyond the grassland were a few green hills that rose from the ground. And distances away to her right was a dense strip of forestland populated by tall trees, with a small mountain range peeking just above the dark green foliage. 

To her grateful surprise, Twilight could feel her mind put at ease by the blue-tinted view of the surrounding countryside, despite the anxieties pestering her. The peaceful ambiance of the whole environment around her, from the cloudless, moonful night sky above to the ever-shifting landscape, was working on the sore spots on her brain like how a masseur would press down on the aching areas of a client's back. Even the rocky vibrations of the train's thunderous motions that Twilight felt through the railings ran at a pace rather soothing to the senses than usually expected.

"I really appreciate the dinner you sent me and the others," Twilight said, not waiting for an invitation to start a discussion. "I didn't get to try anything yet, but I know that Spike, Dash, and Pinkie Pie got a lot of stuff that seemed to satisfy their taste-buds."

A small smile arose from Starlight's lips."Thanks for mentioning that," the purple unicorn said, her gentle voice displaying comfort at the unexpected conversation. "I know you told me not to get too crazy with the bits you loaned me, but I thought that the dinner was worth it. Since this is a last-minute trip and everypony must have had their own plans for the week, I figured some nice food would help with any frustrations they might have."

Without any hint of being provoked, Twilight shifted her mouth into a skeptical, doubting frown that she aimed at Starlight. Without having to gasp or make sudden movements, the unicorn responded to her mentor's questioning stare with a lowering of her ears and a sad gaze down at the moving train tracks.

"While I'm sure you're glad that you made the other happy," Twilight stated, "I'm pretty sure that dinner was meant more for me." She paused for a short moment. "Given today's events."

"Of course," Starlight said, refusing to look back at Twilight. "I figured you would pick up on that. And I'm sure that you can't just let this issue be thrown under the rug." 

The alicorn shook her head. "Nope. Not a chance."

Starlight groaned and shut her eyes shut, burying her head in her forelegs as she leaned against the railings. "It was never meant to happen like that," she mumbled. "Everything was fine at first. I thought I was just helping these little foals with their art projects and that was that. But the next thing I know, all of a sudden I'm trying to do things my way. All out of the fear that those foals were heading down a bad road." She sighed. "And I couldn't even hide how much of a mess I was on the inside."

The shame and regret present in Starlight's voice was something that Twilight could sympathize with, though not personally experience at the moment, once those emotions reached her ear. However, one thing that she did share with Starlight right now was the feeling of confusion over the events that transpired earlier this afternoon. Twilight delved as deep as she could into her memories of today in order to replay the main events. 

Twilight and Starlight had started off the afternoon by traveling to the primary schoolhouse where the contestants were prepping on the playground. After meeting with Cheerilee and reassuring Starlight that aiding these foals was crucial to her future in helping other ponies, as the purple unicorn was dragging her hooves along the way, Twilight went on to help three foals that Rarity said wanted to sing. For nearly an hour, the princess guided her rental students through a lengthy yet laughable ordeal of getting them to sing at the right tune and volume for their respective songs. Just as things were becoming more manageable, Twilight heard screaming across the other side of the playground and rushed over alongside Rarity and another adult to investigate. 

At the scene of the disturbance, Twilight and the others saw Starlight rambling erratically over a little filly at a table while pointing around at two other foals nearby. Twilight was not able to fully understand the context of the situation, but from what she could pick up Starlight was ranting about several topics such as "not feeling worthless" and "preventing yourself from feeling better than your friends" to the shocked foals in her presence. It was not long after the purple unicorn was in her sight that Twilight decided to put things to an end by approaching Starlight and giving her a serious look that halted her rant.

From what she could still recall, after the scene died down and Rarity and Pinkie Pie reassured everypony else that they could go back to their work, Twilight brought Starlight aside away from the others in order to get her to cool down. But just before the two mares could start a conversation over what had happened, Spike suddenly ran towards Twilight all sweaty and out of breath, having ran from the castle to the schoolhouse to deliver her a letter marked as urgent.

Any hope of quickly solving Starlight's problem was pushed aside once Twilight read the contents of the letter that Steven Magnet sent, and with that the faint sense on her cutiemark that nearly resembled the sensation of the map calling her on a mission. The weak jolt that was usually much stronger put the princess on edge as she worried about the defunct map missing out on friendship missions, especially since neither Rarity nor Pinkie Pie felt anything similar when she asked them. 

The rest of her memories were clear. Seeing Steven's request as important, Twilight told Rarity and Pinkie Pie to go home and pack what they could for the week's trip before meeting her and the other girls at the train station tonight. She also advised Spike and Starlight to do the same before she flew off in a haste to find Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. 

The whole past few weeks to Twilight have felt like a roller-coaster ride that went through several high falls and intense, stomach-churning loops before coming to a sudden halt, only to suddenly start the mess thing all over again before the passengers could take a break. She had dealt with traveling through separate timelines in order to prevent Starlight from ending her friendship and ruining Equestria; had traveled back into the human world to help Sunset Shimmer with a magical situation going on there, only to arrive once it was all over; had begun research on fixing the map when it would no longer work; and finally had to deal with saving the Crystal Empire from being overwhelmed by a mighty snowstorm when her one-day-old niece shattered the Crystal Heart.

Excluding the carefully crafted essay assignments for Starlight, Twilight's time within less of a month had been spent on solving complex situations -- and with the journey to the Troll Confederation, she was certain that tomorrow and the coming days would be just as difficult and surprising for her. But at least for tonight, the alicorn could have a moment of peace underneath the night sky, despite having to deal with another issue -- even if it was not life-threatening.

"I'm just trying to put what happened altogether," Twilight said in a gentle voice, wanting to guide Starlight into this discussion by cooperation. "Pinkie Pie told me and Rarity about how she heard you saying that you were doing all of that magic to help improve the foals' projects, but she wasn't there to see what caused your freakout."

Starlight lifted her head just enough for her blue eyes to peek out from her forelegs and stare at Twilight. For seconds her eyes lingered on the purple alicorn, with the latter believing that it was a sign that the unicorn was about to open up to her problems. Instead, Starlight redirected her gaze back to the moving train tracks, causing Twilight to sigh. 

"I'm not upset with you," Twilight said with additonal patience. "I could see from how you were reacting that your actions were done more out of fright than anger. But you have to understand, Starlight -- this isn't going to go away just by simply ignoring it. You have to confront what happened and see what you can do to avoid it next time." She scooted a bit closer to Starlight and leaned her head in. "And as your friend, I want to see how I can help you manage any shortcomings you think you have. Please, Starlight."

Starlight's eyes returned to Twilight, who was now looking down at her with sympathetic attention. With the sight of those vibrant purple eyes, seemingly ready to provide comfort to her, the purple unicorn straightened up her posture just a little bit as she still laid against the railing. With the air around her a little less tense than previously, Starlight felt she could release a held-down sigh.

"Okay," she said to her mentor. "After we parted, Pinkie showed me three foals that needed help with their art projects. One was doing a clay statue of a mountain range, another was creating a house out of popsicle sticks, and the last one wanted to make a painting of a family of ducks in a pond." 

Her gaze left Twilight's face and was brought up to the moonlit sky night above -- watching it with a serene expression. "Once I knew what each foal wanted done, things were easy to deal with at first. I helped the filly creating her clay mountains give them a more realistic appearance by reminding her of how real-life ones have grooves on the sides; the filly dealing with her popsicle house needed a little bit of guidance after her first draft fell apart due to a lto of glue weighing it down; and the colt simply needed to be reminded of how much space he had to leave on his canvas so that he could paint all the details he wanted."

A small smile curled up across the purple unicorn's face as she reminisced on her experience. "It was really nice helping them with their little mistakes and getting to know more about them. Their projects reminded me of some of the games me and Sunburst used to be busy with as foals. Berry Meadow, the filly with the clay mountain, talked about how her mom dealt with sculpting and how her dad was a nature writer and photographer, and that at times they would let her be their little helper." Her grin beamed a bit more. "She was really proud of the work her parents did, and even said that she wanted to be just like them when she grew up."

Though she could not see it with her back turned, Starlight was receiving a supportive smile from Twilight, who was glad to listen in on her opening up about finding joy from helping other ponies. As this warm thought fluttered around the alicorn's mind, her eyes caught a faint glow from her left corner. Turning her head in the light's direction, Twilight was greeted with the sight of a small town in the valley distances away from the tracks. From her best guess, the town consisted of a few small buildings, though the most noticeable was the one emitting more light at the end -- perhaps a hospital or a town hall. 

Starlight was quick to follow Twilight's gaze, and her sight on the town caused her bright face to falter, nearly reverting it to the gloom look that greeted Twilight when she came to the balcony -- and Twilight had definitely noticed this change in outlook. 

"However," Starlight continued with a now bleak tone. "I guess you can say that my problem started with Berry Meadow. Or rather what I learned about her." 

"What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked, her verbal concern touching on Starlight's shoulder like one's hoof. 

"Well, what I learned came from Skyflower -- the filly doing the popsicle stick house. She was still upset with how bad her first draft was, even though I told her not to feel embarrased for using too much glue, so I sat down with her and tried to cheer her up. She told me that she was just worried that this project was going to be just as bad as her other arts and crafts assignments in kindergarten. She mentioned that although lots of her classmates make fun of her for it, it was Berry Meadow who was always the most vocal of it."

Twilight winced, understanding now where the events of this story were going without having to request more details from Starlight. The purple unicorn turned her head back to Twilight, and the despondent look on the princess was enough to inform her of the obvious discomfort that they were both now sharing between each other. 

"So when I heard that, that took me by surprise. I mean, from my interaction with her Berry seemed like a confident but nice filly. So I figured I'd go back over to talk to her to get the full story. She admitted that she have gone a bit too far with her comments at times, but she swore that she didn't see it as bullying. She only stopped with those critiques when her parents learned about them from the teacher, and then they lectured her on using her words more carefully." 

Starlight took another short pause, looking down at the car platform as another unpleasant feeling entered her mind. The silence in the night was finally broken by Twilight.

"Well, even though she said she wasn't trying to be a bully, I'm guessing that wasn't enough for you to... prevent you from reacting the way you did back there?"

Starlight shook her head. "No. It was what she said after. Though she admitted her fault, she had to comment about how she just couldn't help herself from providing feedback on others' work -- regardless of whether they asked her or not. She talked all proudly of how good of an artist she was and felt that others' needed to look up to her for guidance, especially since a lot of adults in her life praise her work. And hearing that just..."

Starlight raised a shaky hoof as she stopped herself from continuing any further, having to take a few deep breaths to steady her nerves as she sought comfort from the nature all around her -- all while avoiding the alicorn's concerning gaze. Her wordless breaths hung around in the air for several minutes before she could get herself composed, though her eyes did not return to Twilight. 

"She was a filly. I had to keep reminding myself of that as I got more --" She released a seething breath out of anger. "-- and more frustrated hearing her flaunt her talent like that. All her hopes of getting her cutiemark in artwork and her impatience with how ponies would soon flock all around her because of her good she would be." A forehoof was brought up to her temple to rub out as little anxiety as possible. "It just ticked me off how she couldn't see how her obsession with being good at just ONE thing was going to send her down a path of making others miserable for not being as good -- just like Skyflower! Not to mention that she would only have a small group of 'friends' who would be willing to deal with her for who-knows-why. I mean, I just can't--"

The mentally disheveled purple unicorn caught herself once again, a shocked expression on her face as she wondered about how she allowed her words to come out of her mouth while betraying her rattled emotions to Twilight. Her back was still turned to the alicorn, whose presence Starlight felt looming over her like a shadow, though she knew that Twilight was not one who was eager to bring her down for her mistakes. Nonetheless, the shame of how she was behaving was enough motivation for Starlight to refrain from losing it any further.

"But like I said before, she was just a foal. To me, something must have gone wrong in her life where she wasn't prevented from having these grandiose thoughts of herself. And with Skyflower, she must have gone through something too if she felt that she couldn't accomplish anything. Therefore, I felt that these foals needed an intervention, before they believed that talents were the only things that would make them happy and content. I knew it might have been wrong to provide them that much help with the contest, but my mind was in too much of a panic to really care about that. I just wanted every foal in my care to have an equal chance of winning.

"The first thing I did was tell Berry Meadow that her mountains needed to be more simple than complex, so I got rid of the grooves made and limited her paint options. She got upset at that, talking about how she could do better than a bland sculpture, but I told her that she was still a filly and that there wasn't any need for her to that much work in order to feel good about herself. Next, I checked on Skyflower and decided that the best thing to cheer her up was to use my magic to duplicate some popsicle sticks so that I could construct a much larger house, but then she was upset about how it didn't look like her grandma's home, which was what she intended to make, even after I said mine would help her win. After all, I didn't want to her overshadowed by everypony else. 

"But after Skyflower said that, I began to worry more, and you could say that that is where I started to fall apart. I made as many projects as I could out of the sticks and told her to just pick one that she saw as best -- even though she told me already that she wanted to do grandma's house. I checked in with Berry and had an argument with her when she got more paint and tried to put back the grooves on her mountains, where she went on about how it was her project and that she could do whatever she want. Though I know she had a point when looking back, at the time I was so concerned that I just teleported the clay mountains away and told her to wait until I was done helping Skyflower."

Starlight took a pause from long-winded explanation and looked back at Twilight. The purple unicorn expected her words to have taken away a bit of patience from her friend, but instead Twilight kept a confident, composed posture and watched over her like an angelic stone statue. The dark purple mare's face was blank yet serene at the same time, betraying no hints of frustration or confusion. Starlight could not see a smile, yet she knew that Twilight was encouraging her to continue on with voicing her troubling, knowing that it would help out the both of them.

"After I lectured Berry I went over to Skyflower and was shocked to see her starting her own popsicle project. I asked her why she didn't choose the ones I made, and she said that she wanted to make something that she did herself and could be proud of -- even if she didn't win the contest. I tried to convince her that she should just go with my idea because she deserved an equal chance at winning, and I even popped up a few more popsicle projects for her to choose from. But that didn't convince her.

"I spent so much time trying to appease Skyflower that I forgot to check in on Berry Meadow the whole time. When I remembered that filly, I turned around to find her trying to create a new clay statue, which made me a bit more agitated and flustered, especially when she told me -- all pouty -- that she was making something better than the mountains. When I told her to stop trying to outshine the other kids, she reminded me that this was a competition and that she only had to worry about herself -- or something like that. 

"When she said that, I used my magic to get her to stop her work and I came face-to-face with her. I can't remember all of my words, but I know I went on a bit of a lecture about she needs to be aware of how flaunting herself could hurt others and cause her to be without any friends, and how acting so proud of yourself would just make things worse down the line when she realized one day all of the bad stuff she's done. I know I was upset with her, but I think my words were more of an anxious warning than a spiteful criticism. In my mind, I really was worried that this filly would lose her innocence the more enamored she became with her talent."

Starlight took another long pause and turned away from Twilight.

"The next thing I know, I just feel somepony else behind me. I turn around to see you staring at me with your frown, and I look around the playground to see a few other adults and foals all looking at me as well. And I'm pretty sure you know the rest of the story."

With her words spent, the purple unicorn leaned her torso against the railing and stared out amongst the moving countryside. The train had passed by the village by now, as only patches of dense woodlands were all that were present at the moment. On every such occasion that train would pass under the foliage of a woodland patch, in which both mares would be covered in dancing specks of shadows and moonlight. 

Minutes passed by a neither mare said a word -- the only sound filling the air being the uninterrupted mechanical hums of the roaring locomotive. Twilight knew that it was best to give Starlight some time to think of something else to say, which was why she remained quiet even after Starlight's long-winded explanation, but an odd feeling of coldness came over her as time went on that she just could not understand, and that feeling only grew as she continued to examine Starlight's sullen appearance.

"I really didn't think something like that could happen to you, today," the alicorn said. "After I saw how happy you were with Sunburst after all this time, I thought getting along with other ponies would be a bit easier for you, especially if I was there to help. But it seems that you might need a bit more oversight when comes to assisting others, since I wasn't really checking up on you that often as I should have."

"I appreciate the concern, Twilight," Starlight muttered. "But if I can't restrain myself from freaking out over how kids want to finish their kindergarten art projects, I doubt I'll be truly helping anypony with their issues anytime soon... Not after the years I spent running my village."

The princess placed a hoof on the unicorn's shoulder. "It'll take a while, and I know you'll be hesitant at first, but I'll be sure to come up with a plan that'll work best for you down the line. In fact, it'll be the first thing on my to-do list when we get back home." 

Without any warning, Twilight wrapped her hooves around Starlight's torso, the hug taking the unicorn by surprise as her body shifted awkwardly as means of deciding what to do next, but her movements stopped when the alicorn's cheeks rubbed against her in a nurturing manner. 

"Like I said, it's going to be a long process, but I know you'll be somepony one day who will show those struggling that they can offer their strengths to the world, just like you made Sunburst realize he could help fix the Crystal Heart. And now look at him! He's a crystaller! And he's putting more effort into his magical studies! Just think of how many others could use you help, even if you just play a small role. If you can somepony like him achieve something that great, isn't worth reaching out to other who could accomplish something similar?"

The metamorphosis was slow and uncertain at first, as Twilight noticed an uneasy shiftiness in Starlight's eyes, but eventually a small smile grew on the purple unicorn's face, and in turn her blue eyes seemed to shone with a brighter spirit that was not present when she came aboard the train. The welcoming sight was definitely what Twilight needed to see after today, as there was a chance at least one of her worries was done with -- for the time being. 

"Alright, I guess I could give it another shot," Starlight said as she turned to smile at her teacher. "If what you've said is true, then you'll make a plan for me to help somepony without going over any personal boundaries."

"It'll be a well-thought-out plan. Don't worry. Of course, over time you would have less of an eye on you, as I can't always be there to check in on you, but I'll be sure to make sure you stay on the straight and narrow."

Starlight turned her body around to return a hug. "Thank you, Twilight. And I'm sorry for this afternoon."

"It's okay. Like I said, I should have kept a better eye on you, but at least now we know that we need to take things a bit slow. And hopefully by tomorrow we both will be feeling a bit better." Twilight's ears fell down slightly. "Even though we're heading into a possible diplomatic conflict in less than twelve hours."

Starlight let go of Twilight and walked towards the door of the car. "Speaking of hours, it's getting a bit late into the night. I guess I've done enough sulking around. I'm heading to the bed car to get some sleep."

"Don't you want to get something to eat?" Twilight asked.

"I ordered a cauliflower sandwich for myself before I came out here. Speaking of dinner, I really hope you liked what I ordered, even if it was more of an apology-gift."

"Well, not really. The others probably liked it but I didn't get myself anything. I came straight to you after the food was dropped off. I doubt there's anything left for me though, especially if a few of the others were a bit greedy for more."

Starlight giggled as she opened the door with her magic. "I'm sure they're not that selfish. They must have left you at least one plate."

The purple alicorn shrugged off the though, her annoyed frown indicating her skepticism. "Meh. It's possible. But just incase, I'll get myself a quick sandwich from the kitchen, and maybe some chamomille tea. I'll need for whatever we'll face tomorrow."
> Chapter 5.1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I never thought being friends with ponies could be possible. But I guess you changed that. Despite your worries, I think anypony would be lucky to have you in their life... I know I am.


[...]


Oh man, Sonnet! Did you hear all of that noise? They loved us, man! I'm telling you -- they loved us! And it's all thanks to you!


[...]


You've gone so far from where you started, Sonny. You're a good stallion now, and you'll be an even 
better one when this is all over. We just need to get through this. Please, stay with me. 


[...]


You all must understand! ALL OF YOU! There is no place in this world for such lowly creatures --  tainted with numerous vices! As ugly as this is, as vicious as it is, there must be a cleansing if we are to save ourselves from the upcoming darkness. Be as meek as you want, and as angry and confused as you want, but do not stand in the way of those willing to SAVE OUR SOULS!!!


[...]


Don't listen to her, Sonnet. It's not your fault for what happened. She just needed to let it out, and the ones who hurt her are far away from here. Nopony should be blaming you... Celestia's grace. I don't know what I've could have done. 





The faint rays of Celestia's sun crept around the corner of Sonnet's eye, and though the light was just a mere shimmer it was a good enough stimulant to wake up the grey unicorn. Along with his foggy sight, Sonnet's nose was awakened by the rustic smell of old, sandy wood that was neither pleasant nor irritating. Taking off the blankets above, the young stallion walked over to the desk merely three steps away from his rented bed, his vision nearly blinded by the dust particles in the air that shown like diamonds to the sun's reflection off of them. 

With his magic, Sonnet enveloped the chair in a golden glow and pulled it out for him to sit on before scooting up to the desk surface. His horn stilling glowing, he pulled his small brown satchel from beneath the bed, floated it over the desk, opened it up and brought out two contents that he then dropped on the surface. Putting the bag where it was before, Sonnet opened up a green notebook titled Poems #17 and stopped on a page halfway through. For around less than a minute, Sonnet read the contents of the book:


"Rain From The Townhouse"



From my window below, I see the daily bother,


Of foals and older folk naked to the rain.


They play and yelp merrily in the cold water,


Not aware of the ants and birds struggling in pain.



As usual, the gleeful party approaches my lair,


And from the sidewalk beg me to leave my "heath".


They promise me with big eyes behind damp hair,


While a chilling flood soaks their bones underneath.



They look content from twinkling eye to twinkling tooth,


With the raindrops on their fur shining with rainbows.


But though I am bounded by this paper-weight called "truth",


Indulging in wonderland ignorance may help my woes.


The poem was something that Sonnet had been writing since the first night he camped out after having left Fillydelphia, and it was not until last night when he arrived at the inn that he had finished the piece. But as his eyes repeatedly skimmed over the thin lines of writing, the message of what he wrote was not something that he was comfortable with just leaving alone. He had no doubt that he would get on his poem as soon as he could, but for now he closed the green notebook and levitated the other item on his desk -- a simple brochure titled:


The Sojourners (Fleet #3): The Serendipity


Summer Edition of Year 10XX


Terra uel mar, dies uel noctis, ut veniam ad vos.


Along with the writings, the front cover of the brochure held the image of a purple and green airship soaring through the sunset sky from a worm's eye view. From Sonnet's previous reading of the material, the inner pages talked about the history of the adventure guild known as the Sojourners and they went even further into the background of the Serendipity fleet of this guild. Having gathered the information up in his head already, Sonnet was not interested in reading through it again. Instead, the grey unicorn flipped the brochure over on its back to check out the schedule of the fleet's appearance at various Equestrian airports. 

With this being the last summer month, Sonnet's brown eyes went down to the bottom half of the brochure, and sure enough, he found what he was looking for: the date at which the Serendipity would arrive at the Orange Grove Airstrip, just 20 or so miles outside of the Manehattan city limits. Luckily for him, his choice to travel on the road had not held him back, as the fleet would not arrive until tomorrow afternoon. From the map he had with him, the village of Hidden Hope where he now resided in was merely a day's trip away from Orange Grove, and with the fleet spending a total of three days at the airstrip, tardiness was not an issue that Sonnet had to face. 

An uninvited roar of his stomach brought Sonnet's thoughts away from the airstrip and towards the prospect of breakfast instead. Luckily for him, a traditional clock was right above him to show him that the time was somewhere around 6:55 am, meaning that he had all the time in the world today. After eating some food and getting washed up, Sonnet saw it as best for him to leave the inn and travel throughout the village in search of essentials to buy -- given that he has been on the road for a few days. With his mind set, the grey unicorn got out of his chair, levitated his satchel over his head, and made his way to the door. 

Once he entered the hallway of the inn's upper floor, Sonnet's nose was hit by an unwelcoming combination of mold and sweaty odors that mixed in with the previously existing scent of old wood. The smell around him was a reminder to him as for why he was very hesitant to spend the previous night at this inn, which he knew before entering was a very unkempt place. Sadly, it was the only place cheap enough for him to spend his bits in Hidden Hope, and because of his need to take a bath after going without one for some time, Sonnet had no other choice but to sleep here. 

As he made his way down the hall, Sonnet knew that his issues with this place would not be permanent, as he would be leaving during the late evening to head back on the road. His aspirations for leaving here were quickened as he moved past several doors of the rooms located on the floor. A few of the unseen occupiers shouting out rowdy, obscene comments without any awareness of filtering, and though he was not certain, it was likely that Sonnet had passed by a rather passionate encounter between at least two enthusiastic ponies. 

Sonnet's distracted mind prevented him from seeing that a door to his left had opened in front of him until he almost crashed into the pony when he brought his head up. Sonnet was about to apologize for the inconvenience when the stallion in front of him suddenly mumbled incoherently. The two stood in awkward silence for some time until Sonnet tried to move past him to continue on, but the stallion grumbled again and blocked the grey unicorn, staring at him with a crossed expression. Sonnet looked closer at the stallion's blushing face and sleepy eyes to see that the disgruntled individual was rather quite intoxicated. 

Annoyed, Sonnet shuffled to the other side of the hallway to walk past the living roadblock, but as if on queue the stallion mimicked his movements and stood in front of the grey unicorn again, his mumbling breath beginning to irritate Sonnet's nostrils with the smell of liquor, food, and oral odor. At this point, Sonnet bit his lower lip, giving a small flash of his teeth. Though he had no intention of being physical with the stallion, especially one whose temper he was unaware of, he had a feeling that he would not have the patience to deal with such an inconvenience for much longer.

Eventually, the drunk stallion managed to pull himself out of his own stupor as his eyes widened at the sight of Sonnet, as if the young unicorn had popped out of nowhere. Disgruntled, the stallion shimmied past Sonnet and headed in the opposite direction, mumbling something along the lines of having to find the "bathroom". Relieved at last, Sonnet started to head towards the stairwell on his left, but a sight outside of the window to his right caught his attention. 

Outside underneath the early morning scarlet sky was a young blue colt in overalls of similar color standing in front of a fenced chicken coup behind the inn. The colt had a stick on his back that carried a bucket on both sides. Once he lowered his body to have the buckets laying on the ground, the colt ran to the fence door to open it, came back for his stick, approached one of the troughs at the coop, and stood on his hindlegs as he poured out water from one of the buckets. Immediately afterward, nearly a dozen white or brown chicken same scurrying around to the troughs as the colt left the fenced coop with his stick on his back again.

Sonnet kept his gaze on the colt as the young pony walked past a small yellow barn to the left of the chicken coop. Even though the barn's front doors where held shut by a chain and a lock in the middle, the grey unicorn watched the colt carefully with his sharp brown eyes as he approached the building. Luckily, the anticipated action of the colt going somewhere he probably was not allowed to go never came, as he continued walking past the barn.

Hopefully the owners are taking good care of their visitors' belongings, Sonnet thought. I don't want to deal with any shady stuff, especially since the cart's a rental.

With his thoughts spoken out in his head, Sonnet continued to the stairwell, which laid next to a wooden railing that turned left twice -- creating a square opening that allowed the renters above to observe events transpiring in the area below. At the top of the stairs, Sonnet saw below a wooden bar that was manned by two mares, who the stallion recollected as being the mother and daughter of the family that owned the inn. As he descended down the stairs, Sonnet saw that the other side of the bar was filled with various ponies sitting on their own stools or leaning against the wooden counter. The sight surprised him, as he was not expecting so many ponies to be up this early in the morning.

Just to the right of the bar was a collection of nearly a dozen circular tables and several chairs, most of which were populated by ponies indulging in their breakfast meals. The whole of the dining room was filled with individuals that usually would not be seen together due to their difference in occupation. From what he could spot, Sonnet saw well-dressed merchants and business-ponies reviewing over their merchandise and plans, tourists in goofy clothes going over their maps and numerous photos, and mercenaries or bounty hunters in worn-out armor lounging around with their weapons kept nearby.

"How can I help you, son?' asked a female voice.

Taken aback, Sonnet turned to the interrupting voice to see the mother of the family looking back at him with a smile. The plump yellow earth pony wore a brown and white apron that was blotched and nearly worn out, and her messy brown hair was mostly contained in a net. Her daughter behind her, a light purple earth pony with similar brown hair, was attending to one of the visitors at the bar. 

"I just came to find something to eat," Sonnet said calmly without a returning smile. 

"Well, let me just get this for you." The mother turned to the cabinet near her and retrieved a something small and flat from the shelf with her mouth. She moved over to the end of the bar where Sonnet was and drop the object on the counter in front of him. Leaning down, Sonnet saw that it was a menu listing all the food items that the inn was serving to its guests. After some time, Sonnet had found a meal.

"I'll take a bowl of potatoes, cheese, and brown rice. And a pear on the side."

"Would you like something to drink, son?"

His brown eyes stared down at the menu again, and were particularly intrigued by the item of ale listed. It was the only hard beverage that the inn seemed to offer, and the invitation for purchasing it was very evident in his thoughts. Nonetheless, the responsibilities that Sonnet had were probably too important for him to be spending his time drunk, let alone buzzed.

"I'll take a cup of coffee," he said to the mare.

"Well, if that's all, I can take eight bits from you."

Using his magic to open up his satchel, Sonnet levitated a small brown pouch and retrieved eight golden coins, which he gave to the mother. The mature mare gave him a small smile and crammed the bits into her apron's front pocket.

"Alright then. Just take a table anywhere you want. I'll bring your food over to you soon enough." The mother took the menu in her mouth, placed it back on the cabinet, and then retreated into the entrance of the kitchen behind the bar. Sonnet left the bar as well, heading right into the sea of ponies seated at their tables, careful not to bump into anypony. To his comfort, the stallion was able to find a nice little table with a single wooden stool near the front window of the inn, just a few feet away from the door. 

Sitting on the stool, Sonnet placed his bag on the table's surface and levitated out his green notebook of poetry along with a ballpoint pen. Opening right up on the page that contained the poem "Rain From The Townhouse". Having found his poem to be a bit off before, the grey unicorn examined the lines of his writings to find out what was wrong. Eventually, he found out that the last stanza was what was giving his poem a bad vibe:


They look content from twinkling eye to twinkling tooth,


With the raindrops on their fur shining with rainbows.


But though I am bounded by this paper-weight called "truth",


Indulging in wonderland ignorance may help my woes.


From his memory, this stanza was meant to convey the narrator's desire to be as clueless as the townsponies are about how bad it is to be out in the rain. Even though he knows that their joy is formed from the ignorance concerning their unpleasant situation, the narrator saw that joy as enticing as he deals with his own issues in life. To Sonnet, the narrator was making himself look like a pitiful fool for wanting to embrace a false pleasure that would likely be a temporary substance before wearing off eventually.

The thought came to Sonnet rather quickly to form a new stanza that did not convey such a quick defeat of perseverance from the narrator. He put a cross to the left side of the older stanza and went to the left-hand side of the opened book to begin planning on his edit. Before the words could come to him, Sonnet's train of thought was stopped in its tracks by the unexpected sound of a prolonged, annoyed grunt from behind him. Irritated himself, the grey unicorn turned around in his stool to discover the scene behind him.

In front of him were two sets of tables. The one on his left held five ponies: an earth pony stallion, a pegasus mare with a few facial and torso scars, a unicorn mare, and elderly earth pony stallion, and rather scrawny unicorn stallion. All five were dressed in rather modest traveling clothes, suggesting that they were mere adventurers on the road. 

The table the right held seven stallions -- one unicorn, three pegasi, and three earth ponies -- all of whom were wore metal armor indicating that they engaged in mercenary work, expect for a white pegasus who had simple saddlebags. 

Despite the two tables' differences, the groups seemed to have had a grudge against each other, as most of the occupants at their respective tables were staring at the others across with either glares or worried looks. The only one who seemed to have a composed face was the white pegasus mercenary, who happened to be at a spot at his table that sat him just across from the adventurers. 

Though Sonnet could feel the tension between the two groups, he turned around to face the window -- staring out beyond the glass to observe the small cottage houses sitting underneath the orange morning sky. The conflict happening behind him had nothing to do with him, so he saw it best to resume his writing. Nonetheless, he kept an ear out, just in case a struggle would transpire when it seemed that words were enough between the separate factions.

"Don't moan like some bratty teen, Steel Grit," the yellow coated earth pony stallion at the adventurer table stated. "If you and your goons had stick to the plan and not panic out of there, we could have gotten enough black belles for your sake."

At the mercenary table,  a tan unicorn stallion with a silvery white mane sitting next to the white pegasus mercenary, flashed his teeth at the yellow stallion in a fit of frustration.

"Remember, boy, that my goons are the reason why you and your merry band even made it into the Scarlet Woodlands in the first place," the tan unicorn snarled, his scarred face and blinded left eye devoid of any warm patience. "If you had just waited for us get the black belles before getting those damn feathers, we all could have been gotten a rich reward from the guild master. But now we're stuck with only a few measly flowers --" he slammed a hoof on the table. "Which won't get me and my boys very far!"

The panting of the unicorn named Steel Grit are worrying enough to the white pegasus mercenrary, who had a long black mane and tail with a grey streak through the middle of both, that he leaned in closer to his companion to pat his hoof.

"Come on now, Steel," the pegasus murmured in a way that was both soothing yet patronizing at the same time. "Orion Gaze has a point. You and the others just ran off, while I had the decency to help the rest. If you guys stayed around to help evacuate the animals or bring in some rain clouds--" he pointed a hoof to himself "--like yours truly, we might have stop the fire earlier enough to get the rest of the black belles. I know it's not pleasant to hear, but you guys really didn't stick to the plan."

Offended, Steel Grit gave his unhelpful companion is simple mean grimace and swiped away his own hoof from underneath. "I don't need your pretentious comments right now, Apollo. If the old man had taken my advice and swept through the woodlands for the flowers as a first priority, that creature wouldn't have stumbled on us and I wouldn't have felt the need to cause such a calamity. After all, he said it himself he only needed a few feathers from the damn thing!"

The older earth pony stallion at the adventurer table, despite being in his elderly years, managed to stand up on both rear legs and glared across the table at Steel Grit while leaning against the wooden surface.

"Now listen here, son," the grumpy brown stallion commented. "I don't know who I you think I am -- thinking that I would be okay with pushing a bigger problem to the side in order to take care of a personal and less important issue -- but I wasn't going to lose my chance of catching a swan turtle before it ended up disappearing again. A whole village or two depends on those feathers. Besides, we all know that you fools were the reasons for why that monster came right behind us. And you know what you did."

Taken aback, but still as angry as before, Steel Grit cocked his head to the side -- his eyes now trained on the elder. "Oh, is that how it is? Well, for being the animal and nature expert yourself, I would assume that maybe you'd be a bit more...."

"Here's your food son."

"Huh?" 

The unexpected arrival of the mother of the inn's family shook Sonnet out from his concentration. Abandoning his writing, Sonnet placed the book and pen down and turned around to face the mare. On her back was a tray holding a steaming bowl of rice, potatoes, and cheese with a silver spoon, a pear on a saucer, and a hot cup of black coffee. Using his magic, the young stallion pushed his book and pen to the side and floated his breakfast over in front of him. Having said his thanks, the mare left him be to go over his edit of his poem:


When I look into their eyes misted over in bliss,


And how they without without a care in the rain,


I get why they want me to see what I've missed.


But the truth I know protects me and keeps me sane.


A small sense of pride washed over the grey unicorn. To him, this edit of the last stanza was much better -- having gotten rid of the sense of weakness that the narrator was emitting. Here, the narrator was able to admit to being aware of the ponies were awestrucked with their experience of getting drenched, but still keep his sense of self-respect and not show any desire to take part in a meaningless act. 

The completion of his poem was something that Sonnet could feel relaxed about. Once he was aboard the Serendipity's fleet, he would have to mail over his recent writings, including "Rain From The Townhouse", to the Fillydelphia Society of Poetry as soon as possible. Given that he did not know for how long he would be flying with these Sojourners, it might be a while before he would be back in normal Equestrian society. 

But for now, Sonnet had the pleasure of knowing that he could just do nothing until he left on the road tonight. Putting away his book and pen into his satchel, Sonnet took the spoon with his magic and dug into his bowl. The first bite of his breakfast meal were pleasing to his taste buds -- from the melting pleasure of the shredded cheese to the soft texture of the potatoes and rice -- and he could not help but treat himself to more as a result. As he ate his food, the grey unicorn's ears gave attention to the argument going on between the adventurers and the mercenaries.

"Okay, guys. Okay, guys. Let's calm down," said the scrawny unicorn adventurer, who Sonnet had previously heard was called Cube Game, or C.G. -- a rather skittish orange stallion with square glasses held by tape. "All this bickering isn't going to take back that fire that happened, or replace the other black belles we lost in the flames. It's all over."

"C.G.'s right," Apollo said to Steel Grit. "We got enough black belles for somepony to take interest in, even if it's not the guild master back in Bostrot."

"Yeah, I'm sure you guys have enough for those flowers to make a quick buck," said the adventurer Blossom Gaze, who was the unicorn mare with a hot pink coat. The mare leaned over in her stool to retrieve her saddlebags from underneath the table. "Besides, by the end of the day, we got enough feathers from that swan turtle to help those villages north of Bostrot. Luckily we only have a few more days before---"

Blossom's eyes widen in fear as her front hooves moved frantically in her saddlebags. In an unexpected act of desperation, the mare levitated her bags in a purple glow and turned them upside down, dumping many contents onto the wooden surface, with a few spilling onto the ground. The mare's pupils refused to shrink back as she looked around at the mess she made. 

"The feathers," she mumbled, "they're not here! I don't understand. I swear I put them right here in these bags when we left the woodlands! I just don't get it!"

The rest of the adventurers and Apollo were left shocked by the unicorn's news. The other mercenaries, however, were not as worried about what was transpiring. From Sonnet's view from far away, it seemed as if the mercenary named Steel Grit even had a bit of a sly look on his face as he watched the scene unfold. 

"Are you sure you had them for the whole night?" Orion Gaze asked. "Maybe you gave them to somepony else?"

"Big bro," Blossom started to say, her fear being mixed in with a bit of annoyance, "if I gave them to somepony else in our group, I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't be freaking out like I am right now!"

"Well, well, well. Got your nerves in a bit of a twist, don't you?"

All five adventurers turned their head over to Steel Grit, who was holding above his head, through a green magical aura, something wrapped in white linen. All around him the other mercenaries, excluding Apollo, gave nasty and self-satisfying sneers at the adventurers across from them, as the situation appeared to have gotten much worse in some way. 

"The hell!" shouted Nebulanna, the dark green pegasus mare of the adventurers. Her Horsetralian accent boomed across the dining hall, catching many of the inhabitants off guard. "What are ya doin' with our blasted feathers?"

"Oh! These?" teased Steel Grit, floating the linen cloth in front of the adventurers, yet still out of their reach. "I was just thinking: if guys are just okay with us losing all of that money just because you couldn't be bother to take care of the monster, leading me to have to take care of things, which led to the fire breaking out and burning the other black belles, then maybe I should treat myself to some ... reparations. You know, for all the trouble you caused me and my boys."

One of the Steel Grit's mercenaries, who Sonnet learned was named Voltage Warning, a dark blue pegasus, laughed in response to his boss' comments.  "You guys definitely shouldn't have been worried about your bird-turtle thing. Maybe if you waited for those feathers, this wouldn't be happening right now."

Without warning, Orion Gaze, Nebulanna, and the elderly earth pony, named Grampa Scrampy, got out of their stools and walked to the space between the two tables, while Cube Game and Blossom Gaze stayed behind. When Steel Grit noticed the three angry ponies approaching him, he along with the other mercenaries, got out of the stools and followed suit -- their various weapons now noticeable amongst their metal armor. 

At the sight of the escalated conflict, the patrons near the two tables backed away as far as possible. Sonnet himself, knowing a fight was going to occur, a gift he received when he first saw a bar fight after his first furlough in the army, carefully placed on his satchel bag and headed to the door -- hoping that he could get out before anything would happen. He was pleased to know that he at least paid for his meal beforehand.  

As the three adventurers reached the other table, Apollo took action and stood in between the two groups on his hindlegs, with his forelegs spread out to keep the peace. "Guys, please. There's no need for this. There has to be a compromise of some sort."

"Shut it, Mustang!" yelled Voltage Warning, who was now hovering above the floor. "They brought it on themselves."

Nebulanna flew over to Voltage with a menacing glare. "I know what you're about to bring on to yourself," she warned, holding a threatening hoof to his face.

As the two pegasi above gritted their teeth at each other, Grampa Scrampy addressed Steel Grit. "Two villages depend on those feathers in order to heal their livestock. Those are animals are up against a real nasty blight, and if they perish, those villages will pay a heavy price. Regardless of what you feel for us, you can't let innocents get hurt because of a grudge they had no part of."

The plea from the elder had no success in moving the heart of the tan unicorn stallion, who glared at the adventurers with icy cold eyes. "Old man, I have no care for some radish farmer or sheep herder who could never do me any harm or good. I run a business, and I need money. If you damn fools don't understand that, that's fine by me. But you WON'T be getting in the way of me getting paid!"

Snorting, Orion Gaze headed towards Steel Grit direction, with the latter doing the same. When they met, they were nearly nose-to-nose. Even as the unicorn's horn glowed bright green, the yellow earth pony remained unfazed and made no sudden retreating movements.

"I'm giving you one last chance," Orion Gaze said with a low voice. "Give us back the feathers, or I swear you'll ---"

All of a sudden a bright purple flash erupted in the room, blinding the sight of many, including Sonnet. Just as he was about to touch the front door's handle, the light caused him to bury his eyes in his foreleg. While his eyes were dazzed, his ears caught up on the sound of grunts, screams, and objects clattering all around him. Before he knew it, a crash was heard on his right, followed by a heavy object crashing down on him.
> Chapter 5.2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When his vision was restored, Sonnet found that he was being weighed down by mercenary pegasus Voltage Warning, who had lost a tooth after being knocked down to the ground. With no regard for the stallion below him, the angry pegasus planted all four of his legs on Sonnet's body and used him as a platform to shoot out towards the ceiling of the dining area. Launched backwards from Voltage's flight, Sonnet crashed back first into the front door of the inn. Pain throbbing in his ribs, the unicorn looked up to see the scene surrounding him.

Back near the two tables, Steel Grit tried to shoot several stun spells at Orion Gaze, but the earth pony's sister, Blossom Gaze, deflected those green jets of light with her own shield spells, allowing for him to take bucks at the mercenary leader. Above on the ceiling, Nebulanna was being chased in closed circles by Voltage and the other pegasus mercenary, doing anything she could to shake them off and hit them herself. At one point, the green pegasus disappeared behind a support beam just in time to clock the other pegasus mercenary in the face by surprise, sending him to the ground.

To the far right of the dining area, Grampa Scrampy stood onto of the back of an earth pony mercenary, who was perhaps the largest of the stallions, biting on his ear and punching him in the face with one front hoof, causing the poor fellow to gallop around frantically in an attempt to shake the elder off of him. And to the left, the mercenary named Apollo did his best to prevent the other two earth pony mercenaries from causing harm to Cube Game, as the scared unicorn with pinpoint pupils zigzagged through and scurried underneath tables and chairs to escape his pursuers.

The other patrons of the inn stood near the walls and corners of the room as they watched the scuffle fall out. Like Sonnet, everypony else was hesitant to make a sudden move as the two groups went at each other. Even the visitors who seemed to be like fighters themselves were not eager to intervene, either due to concerns of personal safety or a lack of concern for a business they had no part in. 

Eventually, the madness was interrupted when the mother of the inn's family came in from out of the kitchen, folllowed by the daughter, two stallions and a teenage colt. The five ponies stared at the adventurers and mercenaries with anger and impatience evident on their faces. Each of them carried some sort of kitchen appliance in either their mouth or hoof that were obviously meant to be used as some sort of weapon. Despite the family's lack of appropriate armory, the hostile display was enough cause the conflict to end. 

"That's the end of all that!" shouted the mother, whose pleasant tone and warm face from before were no longer present, as Sonnet could see. "You hear? My brother's the sheriff of this town, and I already got him coming here! If you two guilds or parties don't cease your nonsense, you'll be spending the week in a jail cell! ALL OF YOU! Get on out, NOW! I knew that the two of you were trouble when you came in last night with all that arguing!"

Steel Grit gave the older mare a venomous scowl, as if insulted with the demand to leave the premise. But though there was no eagerness for him to follow the mare's orders, the unicorn looked around at his colleagues before giving a silent nod. As a response, the four other mercenaries beside Voltage Warning and Apollo collected any belongings they brought and headed towards the front door. Seeing them head towards him, Sonnet scrambled to get off the floor and moved aside for the disgruntled stallions, who exited the inn. 

Not wanting to take any risks of staying around, Sonnet took flight through the front door and blotted away from inn. Though the mother put the fighting to a halt, Sonnet was not entirely sure that the fight was truly over, as the mercenaries that left could have been sent to get possible reinforcement, or even worse, deal with the sheriff. Turning in the opposite direction of where the mercenaries were heading, Sonnet bolted down into the town below -- putting as much distance as possible between him and the inn.





Steel Grit looked over to the adventurers' table and spotted Apollo sitting down with Cube Game on the floor, with the former consoling the latter through a forehoof on one shoulder and another rubbing his back. His temper having failed to dissipate, the unicorn walked toward Apollo, followed by Voltage. When Apollo and Cube Game saw the two stallion approaching, Cube Game yelped and skedaddled over to his comrades.

"You have a reason for being a sucker for these clowns?" Steel Grit asked Apollo through gritted teeth. "Ever since we left from Bostrot with them, anything they did something to piss us off, you were always them to lick at their hooves like some damn dog. You're supposed to be one of us, boy!"

"I don't think he is, boss," Voltage commented. "He's been soft with the things we've been doing for nearly a month since he's been on the crew. I guess now's just the right time for him to show his true colors?"

The white pegasus cocked his head to the side, his orange eyes giving Voltage a puzzled glare. "By my true colors, you mean my ability to sympathize with other ponies and understand that their struggles and efforts are more important than any bounty I could get?" Apollo then shrugged and chuckled. "Well geez, I guess being a gentlecolt is some sort of disease."

Frustrated, Steel Grit went nose-to-nose with Apollo. While unicorn continued to flash his teeth in a message of menace, the pegasus in contrast kept a composed, though seemingly annoyed, expression. 

"Volt's right," Steel Grit stated. "You've been more of a drag than I should have allowed you to be. Siding with outsiders instead of us. You're still talented fellow, but when we get on the road again we're gonna have a long talk about where your loyalties should be." He poked Apollo with his hoof before drawing back his own head. "AND what'll happen if you speak for anypony else ever again like before."

His face still the same, Apollo nodded. "Sure. I see where you're coming from. But I kinda hoped that you would learn something about caring for other folks from my own example. I've learned a lot about life from helping those in need." The white pegasus cocked his head to the side, staring at Steel Grit's satchel. "And speaking about 'those in need', are you gonna give back those swan turtle feathers or what?"

Steel Grit looked down at where Apollo's eyes were and laughed. "Not a chance. I still need the reparations after that stunt in the woodlands."

Apollo's eyebrows scrunched up, as if he was angered by his boss' response. But instead of holding on to any potentially negative emotions, the pegasus eased his face and simply sighed, showing no intention of starting anything. Seeing that his subordinate was somewhat compliant, Steel Grit turned around and headed towards the front door, with Voltage Warning floating right behind him. With no permission from Steel Grit, Voltage turned his head back at Apollo and gave him a rather dirty glare.  

"You better keep your snout out of other ponies' business next time."

Apollo's only response was a disinterested grunt, which seemed unsuitable for the blue pegasus, though it did not stop him from leaving the inn. With the last mercenary gone, Apollo went over to the adventurers' table to check up on them. Though the 'battle' was short-lived, lasting perhaps around a minute,  some of the adventurers did sustain a few bruises from the mercenaries. Blossom Gaze tended to a purplish spot on Nebulanna's back with an ice pack as the green pegasus laid on the ground,  while Grampa Scrampy sat with Cube Game as he placed ointment and gauze on top of a nasty bite on his left ear. 

"I'm guessing that purple flash back there was your work, Bloss?" Apollo asked. "I gotta say, I always knew that you were a quick thinker. I doubt any words I could come up with would have handled them better than your genius flair."

Oval shades of red apparated on both of Blossom Gaze's cheeks as she tried to hide her bashful smile behind her long mane. "Well, uh... Thanks for that. I just had a feeling that things were going to go down south eventually -- so I might as well have quicken it up a bit."

"Even though your flash spell helped," Orion Gaze interjected, "we still weren't able to get back the flowers." The yellow earth pony looked at the front door with longing, downtrodden, stare.

"Blast it!" Nebulanna yelled with a hoof pounding against the floor, the act of which scared Blossom, who had wrapped the ice pack around the pegasus' torso with bandages. "If only we didn't 'ave to worry 'bout the law. Then we could have taken care of those bozos and gotten those feathers back! In fact, once they're out of the town limits we should ambush 'em!"

Though her injuries where a struggle to deal with, as evident with her winces and gasps, the green pegasus managed to get up off the ground and hovered towards the front door. Before she could leave, Apollo flew and brought himself right between Nebulanna and the door.

"I don't think that following them is a great idea," Apollo warned. "I help these guys fight some baddies outside of Somnambula around two months ago, and I can attest the six of them are not to be mistaken for as easy prey."

"He's right, Annie," Cube Game commented. "As bad as it is to let them get away with this, a fight we just can't win isn't going to help the villages in need."

Nebulanna sighed in defeat, not wanting to start an argument she likely knew would go nowhere. "Alright. I guess you both have a point to be made. I'll just be hangin' around the town seein' if there'll be any stores in need of shopping or whatever."

Once Nebulanna flew out of the door, both Grampa Scrampy and Cube Game got off of their stools and, with their respective luggage, headed towards Apollo's direction.

"With how much of a bigshot you seemed at first," Grampa Scrampy said, "I thought that you were no better than the rest of them lowlifes. But seeing you stand up for us and the villagers definitely changed my view, son. You need to get out of that gang when you can. Because that's all they are -- a gang."

A small smile formed from the white pegasus' lips halfway through the old stallion's words. "Well, I really do appreciate the advice, and it's been on my mind for some time, but I don't think that now is the best time to leave them. Especially since I'm on bad terms with them. I need to wait a while before making my move -- if you know what I mean."

The old earth pony shook his head in agreement and made his way to the door, with Cube Game following right behind. The scrawny orange unicorn turned his head to look at Apollo.

"Thanks for getting those two off my back, even though my ear got messed up," he said with gratefulness coming out of his smile. "It's a bummer we lost the feathers, but hopefully the back-up plans we have will help the villages' livestock in some way or another."

"Well, I like to think that your plan B will pull through."

At that time, only two adventurers were left in the inn -- the siblings Orion Gaze and Blossom Gaze. Both the earth pony and unicorn held less than optimistic frowns after the recent disaster that transpired this morning. Given their stake at getting back the feathers, it was no wonder as for why they were in such low spirits. Nonetheless, the atmosphere they both radiated did not prevent Apollo from giving Blossom and hug -- with both his forelegs and his own wings.

"I know we've only known each other for a few days, but I really hope to see you again, Bloss."

The surprised mare blushed even harder than when the stallion had complimented her earlier on. Without warning, she began to giggle and squeal in a goofy, giddy manner -- all while drawing an annoyed glare from her brother.

"Oh my,..." she started, struggling to find the next words to say. "Well, hmm, I can ... definitely say -- oh goodness -- the same thing to you. I'll... I'll really miss you, Apollo."

The pegasus flashed his white teeth into a shiny grin as he kept his orange eyes trained on her. "Do you think you and the others will be around Bostrot again anytime soon?"

"Oh! I really hope so. It might take a few months, but just keep checking in every now and then. I mean, if you can get away from those guys first."

Apollo chuckled as the mare continued to melt underneath his touch, completely awestruck by the stallion before her. For a moment a pony could swear that they saw hearts and cherubs flying around Blossom's head. Sadly, the pleasant fantasy was short-lived as Orion squeezed himself between the two and managed to break his sister away from Apollo's grasp.

"Well," Orion started off saying, taking his lovesick sister to the door by her front hoof, "as nice as it was for you to stand up for us, Apollo, this is where we part ways. Good luck with everything, and be careful around those guys."

Though disappointed that the embrace was cut short, Apollo nonetheless found enough satisfaction within himself to give the interrupter a farewell send-off. "Thanks for that! Hope you guys take care of your problem, too! Hopefully, you got something in your bags to take care of those animals!"

With all of the adventurers now gone, the other visitors of the inn returned to their tables -- at least the ones that were left alone from the fight. Feeling safe, Apollo sought to find a seat of his own to relax in until he felt suited to leave, but before he could find such a spot, the mother of the inn came up to him and pointed an angry hoof towards the front door.

As if on queue, three stallions bursted in through the door, all of them wearing either hats or vests adorned with a silver sheriff's star. As he was caught in between four ponies that glared at him, he was reminded of how he was a part of the group that the older mare threatened to send her brother against.

"Oh!" he exclaimed innocently. "Sorry about that, folks. I forgot you wanted all of us gone." Apollo used his wings to tightened the strap of his satchel before heading to the door. Before he left, as he was situated between the three sheriffs, Apollo saw it as best to let out a few more words. 

"I was trying to keep the peace, though. I hope that makes things more clearer for you all."
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several miles away from New Horseleans, within the muggy swamplands obscuring any view of the buildings from the nearby city, a single wagon drawn by two stallions ran down the single visible dirt road. Inside of the wagon were seven mares, a young male dragon, and the luggage they brought with them sitting in the center space. The steaming humidity of the late morning atmosphere was enough to turn the group into a near sweaty mess, with a certain orange mare having to take off her stetson hat in order to wipe away the salty liquid that pooled on her forehead. 

"Land's sake," Applejack commented with exhaustion. "This summer heat is sappin' the strength outta me like a mosquito out for a bloodfest. Ah knew leavin' this late after sunrise would cause problems." The mare's tiredness soon turned into annoyance as she looked ahead of her. "If only somepony hadn't spent so much time conversin' with somepony else."

The irate earth pony shot a glare at Rarity, who sat on the other side of the wagon with Twilight, Starlight, and Fluttershy. The white unicorn wore a green blouse that had chestnut brown swirly designs in the center and whitish-green sleeves that were nearly see-through. The entire attire itself appeared to be something more suitable for springtime rather than summer, though it was still appropriate to wear for warm weather like today.

Knowing that she was the subject that Applejack was referring to, Rarity blushed out of embarrassment -- with the reason behind her friend's frustration already known to her.

"I do apologize, dear Applejack," she said sincerely, "but I just couldn't help myself. The mere coincidence of encountering a fellow dressmaker at the train station who I've met before while attending to business at Canterlot was just fartoo interesting to let be. I figured that it would take you girls some time to find a wagon to rent, so it seemed quite reasonable to catch up with her as she waited for her train." 

Rarity giggled as her mind wandered to another thought. "And it was quite the endearing conversation. I was even lucky enough to trade in one of my clothes for this quite lovely blouse she made herself. Her attire always did have a southern appeal -- quite suitable for those living in places like New Horseleans."

"I think it looks really well on you, Rarity," Spike announced, making sure that his compliment was accompanied by a greeting smile. Seeing the dragon's beaming face, the unicorn returned the favor with a fellow smile and a wave of her hoof.

Applejack remained unamused. "While Ah'm pretty sure that it was nice for ya to be all catchin' up and whatnot with an old friend, ya do remember we're on a potential friendship mission -- right? The fifteen minutes we lost waitin' for ya to finish with yur chattin' could have just made things harder for us down the road, especially if these trolls won't be reachin' any common ground for whatever reason."

The realization caught up to Rarity like an unexpected visit from a stranger. "Oh! Well, um..." she mumbled, abashedly. "I guess I was a bit selfish by not keeping track of the time, but hopefully a small delay won't cause any problems for us."

"Man, I really hope that we'll be able to see a bit of the city before we go back home," Pinkie Pie said. Out of everypony on board the wagon, she seemed to be the only one unaffected by the heat, despite having as much sweat as the others. "The Festival might not be around this time of year, but I'm sure that New Horseleans is still packed full of fun and surprises!"

"You're right, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash said, swiping her forehooves away at the gnats surrounding her. "The city is definitely going to be more lively at night, and hopefully we won't have to worry about too many bugs being--- OW!" At an instant,   the cyan pegasus cupped her hoof on one of her ears in response to a small insect bite. To her annoyance, the culprit managed to fly away before being squashed, as evident by her dissatisfied groan when looking at her hoof.

"Yeah!" Spike chimed in, looking enthusiastically at Pinkie beside him. "Hopefully if I'm allowed to go out, I could visit all sorts of places. There might even be a convention going on -- since it's still summer. New Horseleans has to be big enough to have at least a few each year."

Fluttershy giggled. "Well, we if do get to spend some time in the city, I guess it wouldn't hurt if I visited an animal sanctuary I heard about just outside of the city. It's supposed to be an actual safe haven for creatures instead of just an exhibition like some zoos."

"That does sound really interesting, everypony," Starlight said with a modest smile. "With that mishap up in the Crystal Empire and the situation that we're about to dive into, it wouldn't be a bad thing if you all gave yourself a little bit of enjoyment afterward." 

"I do agree, darling," Rarity said. The white unicorn levitated a clear water bottle from one of the bags on the wagon floor and brought it up to her lips for a quick sip. "There are some well-renowned spas around that provide just elegant mudbaths from what I've heard -- along with other treatments, of course. As much as I love and appreciate the spa workers back home, I'm just dying to try out---"

A loud male voice from ahead interrupted Rarity and broke the group out of their amusement.

"All right, folks!" exclaimed one of the wagon drivers. On queue, the wagon took a sharp right turn and entered onto another dirt road. Less than a mile ahead was a large red arch that revealed a few small buildings down its center. "We should be at Miracle Song by about five minutes or so."





Much like Ponyville, Miracle Song itself was but a small, humble town within the southern swamplands of Equestria, populated mostly by quaint cottages and a few stone and wooden buildings where businesses resided. South of the town was a bayou where animals lived in both the shallow waters and sunken trees, and from that body of water ran a winding river that went through the middle of the town. To the west of Miracle Song was a forest range filled with dense trees that obscured any peak from an outside point of view.

Any extensive tour that Twilight and her friends would have been taken on was put on hold when they reached the entrance of the town. After getting off the wagon, Twilight and the others were met by a mare and several stallions, with the mare introducing herself as an assistant of the mayor and explaining that the stallions were there to take their belongings over to a hotel where they would be staying. 

As the stallions loaded the possessions out of the wagon, the assistant directed the eight visitors to the town hall in the center of Miracle Song. Within several minutes, they arrived at a large white marble building that appeared like a mansion -- its elegant design proving it to be the fanciest structure in the town. A side entrance on the right side of the town hall led all nine into a garden that laid in the center of the building. Amongst the flower beds, bushes, and trees was a gazebo that Twilight could see was occupied by several ponies.

Following a stone path, Twilight and the others walk up into the gazebo and see three ponies seated at a circular table full of food and refreshments, with four other ponies standing behind them near the railings. When the seven ponies, all dressed up in clothing underneath the cool, refreshing shade, noticed Twilight Sparkle approaching, all of them, including the ones that had sat down, stood up straight before bowing down before the Princess of Friendship. Bashfully, the purple alicorn nodded her head in acknowledgment. 

"Hello there," she greeted. "I appreciate that you and Steven Magnet requested that I come down here. I promise to do my best in ensuring that this issue is taken care of as soon as possible."

"Of course, princess," said the red earth pony stallion seated in the middle. "Take a seat anywhere you want -- if you please. And don't hesitate to take anything from the table."

Following the middle-aged stallion's words, Twilight sat herself at the table, picking a chair that faced the stallion sitting across. To her right, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie sat down, while Starlight and Rarity took the chairs on the left -- leaving the table fully inhabited by eight ponies. 

"My name is Sunwood," said the red stallion with a greeting tone and grin. "Mayor, of course, of our lovely Miracle Song. I hope that your trip down here wasn't stalled or uncomfortable in anyway."

The purple alicorn shook her head. "Nothing too serious," she said, with a warm smile, appreciating the mayor's welcome. "I'm just sorry that we had to meet under dire circumstances."

"Ah, yes. Of course. Hopefully we can nip this thing right in the bud before it goes too far."

"Well," Twilight started, before pausing to cough and clear up her throat. "For starters, you could fully explain the story behind this dilemma. While Steven's letter covered the basics, he wasn't able to or didn't disclose the full story."

Though his cheery, positive outlook never faded, Sunwood seemed unsure of how to respond as his eyes shifted around for a bit before the words came out of his mouth.

"It all began about a week ago. One of the merchants of our town that often traded with the trolls noticed one day that no one was there to meet him at the usual spot near the border. He mentioned how the trolls of the fire nation of the Confederation were walking through the forest doing their business, but ignored his requests for a conversation. When he told me that I found it quite odd, so I went to the trading spot myself, given that I have a rather friendly history with them."

"Did they say anything when they saw you?" Twilight asked. 

Sunwood nodded. "Indeed. I beckoned the fire trolls as they were hauling material through the forest. They didn't approach me, nor did I even ask them yet why they didn't want to trade, but they started making these accusations that didn't make a lick of sense to me."

"Like what?"

"Well, for one they said that they knew about something I did with the Swamp Nation -- even though I had no idea what they meant and even told them that, but they just ignored me. And secondly, they said they weren't appreciative of how dumb I thought the fire trolls were. Again, I made the same statement -- about not knowing -- but they didn't want to engage with that, either."

Twilight sported a confused frown. "I don't understand. They didn't explain in further detail the supposed offense you committed against them with the swamp trolls?"

The question brought the mayor's grin down a bit, though it never went away. "These trolls, while I mean no offense, are known to be a very impatient species -- both with themselves and other creatures. From all of my interactions with them, the trolls rather delve into lenghty conversations. They rather just finish up as soon as possible with a sentence or two. Something like that."

"One thing that bothered us the most," said one of the ponies standing behind the mayor, "is that the fire trolls mentioned how they were at war with the swamp trolls, and that for our collaboration with them, the charms keeping the dangerous insects out of Miracle Song would no longer be put in place. We spent a few days trying to get the trolls to talk things out with us before Steven came by and told us of his relations with you, but nothing would bring them out, and any attempt to enter the Confederation is too dangerous with the insects inside."

Walking up behind Twilight, Dash put a hoof on the table and addressed the mayor. "If you don't mind me asking, what's the big deal with these bugs? Why can't you just deal with them with unicorn magic instead of relying on these troll charms?"

The pony who had just talked, a teal-colored earth pony stallion, replied back. "Luckily, as the town's historian, I can answer that question. Before the town was settled seventy years ago, the bayou was mostly inhabited by these troublesome insects that made it near impossible for anypony to settle nearby. Since the bayou sits just near the border between Equestria and the Badlands, the magic of our homeland has little effect over here -- at least on a magnitude large enough to handle such a pest problem. 

"Despite such hazards, the bayou still held much value to prospective settlers, thus the founders of our town made a deal with the nearby trolls: in exchange for receiving modern Equestrian technology, the trolls would use their charms to keep the bugs within their side of the border. Since the trolls are naturally immune to such cretins, they didn't have any problem with agreeing to this truce."

"Alright. So what kind of critters are we talkin' about?" asked Applejack. "Just how dangerous are they to y'all?"

Twilight was eager and ready to answer her friend, but she was beaten to it by the historian. "There are over three dozen species of insects within the Confederation that pose a fatal threat to a pony's health. There are too many names for me to remember completely, but I can tell you of a few notorious ones: nanosecond mites, which can devour a full grown tree within seven minutes as a collective; greenwater slugs pollute the waters and ground once they absorb the nutrients inside; copperdust spiders are nasty big fellows whose webs produce a toxic dust as a byproduct; and finally there's consumption wasps, whose stingers can waste away at a pony's muscles, bones, coat, and hair."

"Well, now I'm certain that we could all deal without those," said Rarity. Though the white unicorn was not in state of shock after hearing the unpleasant news about the bugs, the details concerning them definitely left her with a sour, unamused attitude. "I hope that anypony who had an unfortunate encounter with those wasps were able to be cured as soon as possible. I couldn't imagine losing my lush coat or mane to such bugs."

"I'm a bit familiar with the creatures you just mentioned," Twilight said. "I read up on the fauna of this area on my journey down here, or at least as much as I could for the time. Regardless, the knowledge of how these insects could devastate your community and the surrounding swamplands is enough for us to dedicate ourselves into seeing if the trolls can cease their conflict just in time to save everything."

Sunwood chuckled. "I greatly admire that, princess. Greatly admire that, indeed."

Twilight stared intently at the mayor, trying to detect if anything in his composure was different from how she met him minutes ago. Though his smile had faulted quite a bit, Sunwood was still able to beam out a ray of optimism from across the other side of the table, from his toothy grin to his upright posture. On the other hoof, Twilight could see that the other ponies were not pulling off as convincing of an act as Sunwood was. Some of them held forced smiles that were probably meant to convince themselves that everything was okay more than her and her friends, while others, like the historian, wore sincere frowns or expressions of melancholy. 

"I don't mean to seem accusatory all of a sudden," Twilight stated to the mayor, "but are you certain that you have no idea why the fire trolls accused you and the town of plotting against them with the swamp trolls?"

Sticking to his character, Sunwood retained his smile as he shook his head. "It beats me, princess. It really does. It's unfortunate that none of the trolls have even bothered to open up to us ever since this conflict. We're very lucky that Steven was visiting our town when this all went down. As the Princess of Friendship, we hope you'll be able talk both nations into letting go of their differences in order to save Miracle Song and the surrounding towns."

Twilight smiled. "You're definitely right about that."

"If you don't mind me asking, how are you and the Elements going to traverse through the Confederation? I would hope you have some spell or something to aid you against the insects within."

"Once again, you're right on the nose. Along with my readings of the insects, I was also able to pick up on a book that had a spell that dispelled the hostile advances of creatures lacking complex reasoning skills. It'll only last for around twelve hours, but hopefully that should be enough time for at least some compromise to be accomplished."

Sunwood looked up behind him at the historian. "If you wouldn't mind, lad, could you give them the maps?"

The historian went around the right side of the table, from Twilight's perspective, and reached into his saddlebags to place down, one by one, four scrolls in front of the alicorn.

"These are maps of the Troll Confederation," the historian said blandly, not even looking at the princess. "They were drawn a long time ago by pegasi and assistance from the trolls."

Twilight gave him a quick smile as she levitated the maps into her saddlebags. "All right, girls. Let's get on over to the hotel. We'll make up our plan over there before leaving."
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mundane. Dull. Boring. A drag. 

Overall, Ignis could describe his experience in Miracle Song as a lackluster slumber or daze that he could not snap himself out of. To call his own frustrations with this displeasing town a nightmare or a disappointing dream would not be sufficient enough for him. At least with a dream or a nightmare, the unicorn could be a witness to some type of excitement, but nothing about this place was truly worth his attention -- other than the assignment he was sent to accomplish. 

An invisible list of the things wrong with this little backwater hole ran through the golden stallion's mind in a manner that he was familiar with. The cursed heat that just as bad when trapped indoors with manageable cooling, the occasional cloud of bugs that would spring up at inconvenient moments, the disinteresting ponies and establishments that had as much going for them as a backyard play held by foals -- nothing here was worth a second of his attention.

Not even the meal that Ignis was having could get his mood out of the mud. For all the time spent at the table outside of the cafe, he had barely made a dent in finishing his food, as his appetite was not in dire need of nourishment. In fact, from all his time over here for nearly a week, none of the restaurants around had any actual good food that was suitable to any self-respecting pony. Even the omelet and hashbrowns the cafe gave him for lunch were cardboard bland at best -- and he considered this place to be the least worst for serving food.

"Of all the places he could have sent me...," Ignis mumbled. A blue aura wrapped around his fork as the silverware twirled around the occupied plate, hesitant to touch the food. The unicorn's blue eyes were trained on parchment paper with tiny red "X" marks spread through the small space. "It wasn't even my fault for what happened. The damn old man."

"GOOD LUCK, EVERYPONY!!! STAY SAFE!!!"

The high-pitched female voice shot Ignis out of his stupor. He twisted his neck in both directions for several seconds until his sight caught the image of eight individuals in front of him. Yards away, Ignis could make out seven mares and a prepubescent dragon walking towards the forest that led to the territory of those trolls. The knowledge of how dangerous those swamp woods were kept the unicorn curious as for why this group wanted to travel inside. 

His interest was in the matter was heightened when he spotted a horn and a pair of wings on one of the mares.

"What is she doing here?"





The woodlands of the Troll Confederation were not much different to Twilight than the domain of the familiar Everfree Forest back home. Despite being near a swamp, the forest's dirt ground below her, Spike, Pinkie, and Dash was relatively hard and stable, with neither of the four having any problem getting stuck in mud or water. The dark green foliage of the tall trees obscured a majority of the sky's view from above, allowing only speckles sunlight to fall through on the surrounding area.

The hour the foursome spent traveling north through foreign territory was a blend of both suspense and peace. Neither danger nor the threat of it came towards their way, yet within the far off distances of the forest the group could spot abrupt shadows moving past or away from them. At the one moment, Spike, situated between Twilight and a floating Dash, believed that he himself had caught sight of a creature with six or eight appendages hanging off the side of a tree in front of Pinkie -- perhaps a copperdust spider like the historian mentioned -- before it scurried away.

The unnerving sight made Spike gulp. "I'm really glad this spell of yours is working, Twilight."

Twilight looked behind as she maintained her pace, the map from the historian floating in front of her. "I appreciate that, but we still need to be wary of other dangers out here. I just hope the other girls haven't faced anything they can't handle."

"If Starlight's as good with magic as you are, I doubt the others are going to have any troubles on their hooves," Dash said with an assured smile.

"Well, I hope so."

Pinkie, who made the decision to bounce ahead of the others, was the only one undaunted by the strange new environment. If anything, to her this journey was no different than a simple trip through the Everfree Forest that she and the others had taken before. 

"I wonder what these trolls are like," Pinkie said out loud. "With all the trading they do with ponies, they must have some bit of modern doohickey lying around. I wonder if they have buildings like us, or maybe they live in huts made of sticks and mud."

"With this whole supposed 'war' going on, there doesn't seem to be a lot of battle damage anywhere," Dash commented. 

Twilight took her eyes off the map and surveyed the calm, eery forest. "They must not be fighting anywhere around here," the alicorn said. "Hopefully, wherever the conflict is none of us will be anywhere near it."

The rustle of a bush ahead stopped all four in their tracks and in time a few more bushes shimmied around and lost their leaves. Several small silhouettes popped out of the bushes and headed down the road. 

"PONIES! STOP!"

The four travelers were met by nearly a dozen trolls of small statute -- being around the same size as Spike. They were all different shades of blue or green, with random splotches on their bodies in a darker color from their skin. Most of them had sharp teeth, pot bellies, long toe- and fingernails, long, whisky hair, and a loincloth. Each troll carried in their hands some form of a weapon -- from spears and shields to slingshots and clubs.

At this point, Twilight, Spike, Pinkie, and Dash were taken aback by the display of hostility, with the pink earth pony walking backward to seek protection near her two purple companions. The cyan pegasus, though not impulsive to be on the offense, gritted her teeth at the trolls as she waited for one of them to make a move.

"PONIES! ADDRESS YOURSELVES!" shouted one of the trolls with a squeaky, high-pitched, yet gravely, male voice. "BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN IF YOU DON'T!"

The sight in front of her was definitely a shock to Twilight, as the forest showed no signs of imminent jeopardy until now. However, unlike the defensive Dash and the worrisome duo of Pinkie and Spike, the princess found herself to be in a steady state of calm despite her inner worries. While standing tall, Twilight looked at the trolls with a placid expression.

"Hello. I am sorry for the sudden intrusion into your home, but I am in dire need of your people's attention. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I am the Princess of Friendship for Equestria, and as a representative of my kingdom, I request that you allow us to speak with the head chieftain of the Swamp Nation. I fear that your conflict with the Fire Nation will bring misery to not only your kind, but also the innocent ponies who are your neighbors."

Tension rose in the air as the trolls kept their weapons pointed at the four newcomers. For a while, no words were spoken by either party, until one troll with a shield and club broke the silence.

"She tells the truth! I remember her from the newspapers the ponies bring us!"

The troll in front of the others, who was the one to first warn Twilight and company, turned around and raised an eyebrow -- lowering his spear. "Is troll certain of this? How do you know this is a princess?"

The troll in question nodded. "Yes. Princess ponies are the only ponies with wings and horns. And I remember her image from the newspapers -- as I said before."

A few other trolls agreed with that statement, stating their own knowledge of the alicorn, but they were all told to hush by the leader troll, who subsequently told them to huddle up into a circle.

"Ponies will let us speak," the leader announced to the four behind. "After we're done, then you'll know what will happen."

Whispers and incoherent mumbles masked the details of the conversation from Twilight and her friends. Pinkie and Spike had calmed down from their initial anxieties, though Rainbow Dash still had her guard up, glaring at the trolls ahead with her magenta eyes. Twilight herself held her calm self-assurance.

The leader broke out from the circle and approached the four companions. "Ponies... and dragon! We agree to take you to the head chief! But be warned! We trolls will stop any funny business you have in plan!"

Twilight nodded. "You have my word, no trouble will be brought to your home. And my friends can state the same."

"Absolutely," Spike said with a small smile. "No troubles here."

"Don't worry about us," Pinkie said with her bubbly optimism. "I like to think this'll be a great opportunity for trolls and ponies to get to know each other -- since we're the first ones to be in your home!"

Though not as cheery, Dash's original display of defense was brought down a bit.

"Yeah. We're not here to cause anything."





The hour-long trip through the swamplands with the trolls as their hosts lead Twilight and her companions to the head village of the Swamp Nation. Situated in a stable area of land, the village was filled with huts on the ground and treehouses connected by a web of small bridges above. Some of the dwellings held bits and pieces of Equestrian technology, like air conditioners, solar generators, and well pumps, items evident of the trolls' trading with the ponies over the past years. 

Female trolls and younger ones walked and ran throughout the village, with the females having jewelry and more concealing loincloths. Some of the villagers crowded around the four outsiders, treating them with both amazed gawks and distrustful stares, as they were escorted towards a much larger hut --- which itself was actually the base of an enormous tree.





The ember glows of the fire illuminated a dim light throughout the shadowy interior of the head chieftain's hut. After a brief and polite introduction, and a discussion of the conflict so far between the swamp and fire trolls, the area remained silently for some time, aside from the springy sound of the slinky that the head chieftain was playing with in front of the fire. 

The head chieftain of the Swamp Nation, named Scogg, was a light green troll with dark green splotches, a rather elegant loincloth, and a crown of lizard scales and bird feathers. Three shamans sat on each side of Scogg on their own mats, and across the indoor fireplace were Twilight, Spike, Pinkie, and Dash. 

"It's upsetting that the fire trolls took your defeated soldiers as warriors," Twilight said suddenly. "I hope they're being treated well."

Scogg's eyes never left sight of his toy. "Swamp warriors are the best," he said plainly. "Can handle being in fire trolls' prisons. Not so tough."

The head chieftain lifted up the slinky with both hands on each end. He let the bottom hand off and watched the spring fall down to the ground before letting go of the top half. With no outside assistance, the slinky managed to move in a cyclic motion, with top half getting to the ground first before the bottom half did, until it stopped moving, much to Scogg's annoyance. 

"This thing's not so fun," he mumbled. The troll turned around and searched within his box of item for something else. Everyone else in the room stared at him as his back was turned, unsure of whether to proceed in discussions without his acknowledgment.

Dash, who was on Twilight's left, leaned closer to the alicorn and positioned her lips as close to her friend's ear as she could. "I was kind of hoping that he be a bit more professional," the pegasus whispered. "Given -- you know -- he's in the middle of a war."

Not wanting to risk the trolls hearing any more whispers, Twilight shot Dash a quick scowl and a "Shush!".

"What? It's true," the cyan pegasus continued. "He was playing with xylophone and an audio learning book for foals at first, and now he's just got done messing with his slinky."

"Shush!" Twilight knew her friend had a point, with how distracted the head chieftain was with his possessions. But in the end of the day, any off-hoof comment that would upset Scogg or the others would just lengthen their time here or make a compromise impossible to achieve.

"Well," Twilight started, "while I'm glad you have confidence in your soldiers' resilence, I still want to discuss any possible reason for why the fire trolls started this war with your people in the first place."

Scogg paused his search to turn back to the alicorn. "Scogg has no idea. Fire trolls never sent demands to me."

"Of course. They may not have communicated with you clearly enough to fully express their intentions of raiding your villages. But, in your own opinion, are you aware of anything you might have done to unintentionally upset your neighboring nation?"

The head chieftain's beady black eyes shifted around. "No. I don't know what I did. If I even did it... Which I didn't. I did not do the thing... Whatever it is."

Twilight bit her lip. "The problem, head chieftain, is that this conflict is not only bringing misery upon the two troll nations, but it could cause hardships for others. If this war continues, and you can't convince the fire trolls to help re-establish the charms against your native insects, Miracle Song and other pony communites nearby will become unliveable for the residents living there. Despite how bad things are, you must meet with the head chieftain of the fire trolls and reach a peace."

"BAH!" retorted Scogg. The troll sat back down on his mat after retrieving an unfinished puzzle cube. "I won't break bread with one who draws first blood. Scogg will continue war."

The alicorn's heart faltered. "But the ponies who live near you. If the insects---"

"If insects are a problem, ponies can simply move. Equestria is bigger than trolls' land. No big deal."

Dash interjected herself into the conversation. "What about your tradings with the ponies? Don't you guys care about getting new stuff?"

That comment seemed to be the one that caught the troll's attention, --- something that was for the most part was more focused on the items in the nearby box.

"Pony does make a good point," Scogg admitted, rubbing his finger across the bottom of his chin. "If Miracle Song is lost, which is likely, will other pony towns be willing to trade with swamp trolls?"

Twilight sighed, the top of her teeth biting down on her lower lip to express her frustration. "I do not know if anypony else would want to trade with you, head chieftain. But I do believe that causing dangerous insects to run amok will hurt your chances of any trading you have stored for the future."

Without warning, the tent flap of the hut was breached. A male blue troll came into the premises wearing some sort of large oversized tribal mask, before he flipped it upwards to reveal his face.

"Head chief," the troll said. "The whisper leaves and yang root did nothing for the sick. I fear the illness will continue."

"GAH!" Scogg exclaimed. "Just great! More troubles! You're the healer. Do what you know best. And keep trying!"

The healer bowed and nodded, before placing his mask back on and exiting the hut.

"Sickness is spreading through the nation," Scogg said to the visitors. "Don't know where it came from, but I'm certain the fire trolls are the schemers. Happened as soon as war began."

"Is it that bad, your head chieftainess?" Pinkie asked with concern, though Scogg did not turn his eyes away from his efforts with the puzzle cube to see it.

"Sickness has spread to seven villages so far. A few of us got sick last day. As Scogg said before, the fire trolls did this. Another reason not to sit down with them."

"What if I were to talk to the fire trolls, myself?" Twilight asked, resuming the previous conversation. "My other friends are already en route to the head chieftain there, so maybe I can check in with them and find out the truth behind everything. From why they attacked you in the first place, to where this disease is coming from."

"Of course," Scogg said. "Do what you want. No reasons for me to be upset."

"If you cannot convince the Riva, the head chieftain of the Fire Nation, to agree to an end of arms," spoke one of the shamans to Twilight, "then perhaps you could persuade one of the shamans or healers there to share what they know about this illness. Each day brings more victims, sadly."

Twilight, thankful to see some actual consideration, was pleased to grant a grateful smile. "Of course. I would be pleased to do so."





Ignis' past journeys through the swamp forests of the Troll Confederation, were always unpleasant. Despite the spell to help ward off the deadly insects and predators that laid undercover, waiting for unsuspecting victims, the heat and soupy humidity was not something he could avoid. And sadly, this present journey was not much different.

For the past two hours, the unicorn had trailed through the land, tracking a certain group of ponies who had caught his attention, especially due to one pony. When that group split up, he decided to follow the one that the pony-of-interest had joined, leading him eventually to the boundaries of one of the swamp trolls' gated villages. 

Taking cover underneath the foliage, Ignis waited for some time for the ponies to exit the village, and the first sign that he caught up on was the sound of bouncy spring. Getting up from a tree trunk that he rested against, Ignis kept himself hidden amongst the bushes as he stared at the familiar sight of a pink earth pony, a blue pegasus, a purple dragon, and a purple alicorn leaving the village.

"I don't understand how you're still energetic enough to bounce around in this heat," complained the blue pegasus.

The pink mare giggled. "Well, I think that little break we took was just enough for me to recharge my batteries."

The small dragon sighed, the exhaustion evident by the tone of his breath. "I agree with Rainbow," he said. "My legs are still aching, so the idea of another two-hour trip to the Fire Nation isn't something I'm looking forward to."

A dark purple glow surrounded the young reptile and floated him towards the backside of the purple alicorn, who giggled. "Well, I don't mind you taking another break. Just feel free to jump off when you want."

"You think the others are doing okay?" the pegasus asked. "Hopefully they didn't get surprised by spears and shields like we did."

"I have faith that the others are doing well," the alicorn assured. "For all we know, they're having better luck at convincing the fire trolls to put down their arms than we did."

The pegasus laughed in agreement. "Yeah. Let's hope their chieftain isn't as distracted as the one back there was."

When the four were out of his sight, Ignis stepped out of the bushes -- being careful not to attract the attention of any trolls nearby. He continued to stare off at the direction that they were heading, a nasty scowl forming on face.

"This is not what I needed today," the unicorn said with gritted teeth.
> Chapter A: Important Update for Apostle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello everypony!

As most of you might be aware, "Apostle" is on a hiatus status. To put it simply, that is because I am putting my focus on my other story, "Friends From Across Time". I am doing this because I believe that FFAT will be of a shorter length than Apostle, which by itself may be over 200 chapters, at least according to my rough draft.

Due to this 200 chapters issue, I'll try to condense Apostle as best as possible during the hiatus status, which may last until around August of this year. I don't plan on cancelling Apostle, but I do think I'll change it into a 1st POV/diary story from Sonnet's perspective. 

I truly believe that FFAT will be an more important piece of work on my webpage, so I believe it's better to put most of my attention on that story instead of Apostle.

If you have any suggestions for my editing of Apostle, or any other comments on your mind, please don't be afraid to tell me.
> Diary Entry 1.1 (Book 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


DAY 1: Morning


After my tour aboard the Serepindity, the Moriarity, and the Silverclaw, I found this small journal as I was putting away my belonging in my quarters. I can't remember when or where I bought it, but I noticed that I had never written anything before. It had been a while since I have kept a diary, especially long, in fact, but if I am going on as long of a trip as I believe, I should probably dot down my thoughts to keep track of time.

Despite my avoidance of complex magic after all these years, I still have a good enough memory to cast a sequester spell on this book to keep unwanted peekers from fully understanding my writings. I know that the risk of the book being deciphered is grave, but I need to keep myself busy when I not travelling all around the known world.

Besides, I doubt that this mission Bishop sent me on will go according to plan as he hopes. But if I can get what I want before everything possibly goes south, then I'll at least come out a bit satisfied.

Nonetheless, I should probably write out how yesterday started before going off to bed to meet with Titan's Eye later tomorrow.

I woke up in a tavern last morning in a small village called Hidden Hope, having spent most of the previous day traveling with my rented cart on the roads. I had flashbacks last night. They were just as bad as before.

The Orange Grove Airstrip was just a few miles away, so I knew that I would get there within a short amount of time without much delay. However, there was still trouble.

A very vocal spat between two groups of adventurers occurred in the tavern's dining room. The argument had something to do with one of the groups messing up the plans that led to a forest fire in a place where they were searching for treasure. I can't remember everything about the argument, and thus I don't know who was truly in the wrong, but as far as I was aware it had nothing to do with me.

One of the adventurers, a pegasus stallion named Apollo, tried to keep the peace between his group --- which had more body armor and weapons --- and the other. 

Sadly, things only got worse between these two. The leader of one of the groups, Steel Grit, stole an item of importance from the other adventurers, seeing it as compensation for the treasure he had lost in the fire. Knowing a fight would happen, I got out of my stool and went towards the door as quickly as I could, but a sudden purple flash of light blinded me. The next thing I knew, I had been knocked down to the floor by something --- or somepony.

When my sight came back, I saw the two groups fighting with each other through the entire room, using anything they could get their hooves on as weapons to club or strike one another. It only came to an end when one of the owners of the tavern threatened to sic the local sheriff on the two groups if they didn't leave.

Not wanting to be in the middle of something that would stall my time, I decided to leave the tavern for a while to explore a bit of the town, which didn't have much to offer, to be honest. Luckily, by the time I returned all of the adventurers were gone and peace had been restored. 

After several hours of hanging around the tavern for a final time, I packed the rest of my belongings into the cart and headed off onto the late evening road towards the airstrip outside Manehattan. The four hours spent on the road were as relaxing as an early night in late summer could be, with its gentle, kissful winds and the pumpkin colored orange high above.





Your sins don't have to be kept in stone. You have a chance to atone for what you've done. Once you have completed your tasks, the True Gods will bless you with what you've desired all along.


[...]


You wouldn't have agreed if the truth was known to you. This was necessary for the sake of Equestria and all ponykind. When you see the fruits of our labor in the future, you'll understand.







DAY 1: Night Time 


The start of this day was very... eventful, to be honest. It's best just to start from the beginning.

After my time traveling out of Hidden Hope, I ended up camping in a spot of woods near the road. I was able to go sleep real quick after a bit of reading. Sadly, I had flashbacks again in my dreams. One of them wasn't that bad --- it was just about my meeting with Bishop. But the one that shook me was my last encounter with Creed. 

Hopefully I'll meet with the latter soon.

Any other memories that would have popped up in my head never got the chance to do so, as I was awakened by a noise from outside my tent. With a small shield spell around my head, I carefully crept out and examined the environment around me. As far as I was aware at first, the night forest was completely dead, aside from the cool breeze and occasional hoot or chirp of an unseen critter.

I even went by the cart to check for any unwelcomed intruders, only to find that there were none. With nothing seeming to be out of place, I assumed that the noise I heard of nothing I needed to worry about, so went back to my tent to go back to sleep. But before I could reach the flaps, I heard a low voice from behind me:

"Hello there, neighbor."

Stunned and caught off my guard, I turned around to find myself facing a tan stallion unicorn with a silver mane who was dressed in armor. By instinct, my body was readying my horn in preparation of casting some form of spell, but the other unicorn beat me to it by a ghastly green glow of his own horn, which he pointed straight at me like an offender would with a knife or cannon.

"There's no need to do anything rash," the unicorn said, a smirk glued to his lips. "Just need you to comply for a bit. It's safe, boys!"

Out of the shadows of the surrounding bushes emerged two stallions: one a purple pegasus and the other a very large black earth pony. The unicorn ordered the pegasus, named Quicks, to search the nearby road for any incoming travelers --- just in case somepony wanted to "be a hero". While the pegasus flew away with a "Yes, sir!" and a salute, the unicorn kept his horn trained on me, never letting it waver. Eventually, as he eyed me up and down, he got to talking again.

"You look a bit familiar," he asked. "Where have I seen you before?"

A similiar question popped up in my mind. Despite his horn radiating a bunch of light, I was still able to get a good enough look at his face to comprehend the fact I recognize spotting his appearance from somewhere recent. Before I could find any words to say regarding the matter, the other lackey spoke first. 

"Hey boss," the large earth pony said, "I think I saw him from the inn today. I mean, I could be wrong, but I could be right, too."

"The inn?" the unicorn asked. With a stern face, he closed in further on me until both of our horns nearly touched tips. Green sparks of magical energy sprinkled down on my face as the unicorn examined me with his cold indigo eyes. Eventually, he gave me a bit of breathing room.

"Yeah," he said. "I remember you. You are from the inn." He then  chuckled. "You're that poor sod that pegasus broad knocked Volt into when the fighting started. I caught just a bit of that scene, but boy, did she give one mean hook."

It was at that moment that I realized that I was dealing with one of the adventuring groups that started the brawl at the inn, though it's safe to say that these armored ponies seemed more like mercenaries-for-hire than simple, out-going adventurers that go on wholesome trips for treasure and excitement.

When the pegasus, Quicks, came back, the unicorn, who I remembered being called Steel Grit at the inn by ponies there, informed me in on their demands: they wanted everything and anything of value from my cart that they could get their hooves on. Steel said they need compensation for something of value that they lost recently and have not been able to find. He promised that as long as I cooperated and just stand by and watch, that no harm would come upon me.

As Steel Grit made his demands, I chose to stay still and make no sudden movements. I didn't know what type of skills and weaponry these mercenaries had, and my combat skills from years ago were (and still are now) too rusty and neglected for me to even think about taking all three of them. With a reluctant, silent nod, I made it clear to them all that I would not put up any resistance. 

"Smart one, here," Steel Grit responded. He directed Quicks and the earth pony to strip my cart while he watched over me. As the two goons ripped open my tarp and rummaged through the supplies and items I brought on this journey, carelessly throwing some of them to the ground, Steel stayed true to his word and kept his horn trained on me. The dim green illumination glowing over the unicorn's face strengthened the ghastliness of his haunting smile, causing him to appear like an imaginary monster a foal finds underneath their bed.

If I ever gave Steel Grit the idea that I was frightened of him, I can not recall of myself being that impressed. As far as I was aware, his intimidating stance did little to change my stone, blank expression. Though I knew that I was danger if I made the wrong move, I just could not find it in myself to see Steel Grit and his lackeys as genuine threats to be scared of. 

In all honesty, I doubt that they were as heinous or wicked as the other ponies I have met.

Eventually, the two other mercenaries got through with rummaging through my items. By the end, the only things that seemed worthy of taking were a lamp embroidered with a few jewels and my silver typewriter --- much to their visible disappointment. Personally, I was not much bothered by the fact that they could have taken more than what they plucked, for some reason.

I really cannot explain it. I know that other ponies would be livid and horrified to have their cherished belongings ripped away from them, but I was totally indifferent. I guess that as long as these three did not impede my journey to the Sojourners, I couldn't care about what else would happen to me.

Once the goons told Steel Grit about their abundant findings, the leader's smile changed into a sour expression as he looked back at the pile at my cart. Telling me to stay still with an unexplained threat, he trotted over to the other two and yelled at them for not trying hard enough to find something of worth. Using his magic, he went through my trashed belongings and levitated many of them towards his snarling face for closer inspection. 

When Steel was done with that, he walked over back to me, still holding on to his scowl.

"Guess we got unlucky this time," he grumbled to me. "You're not that heavy on loot like the other four were. Hopefully the next feller we meet won't be a lightweight like you."

That statement really took me by surprise. If I was the fifth pony that they've robbed that night, it was hard for me to be assured about how safe these roads were when the sun went down. Nonetheless, I could find myself getting away from this situation scot-free, so I knew that little harm was coming my way. As long as I played nice.

"So," I start off saying, "if that's everything --- can you let me be?"

Steel Grit squinted his eyes at me, before letting out an exhausted, heavy sigh. "Well, I'm a stallion of my word --- at least sometimes. At least you didn't try to be a hero like the last poor sod." He chuckled coldly. "Made an injured fool out of himself and in front of his wife."

Steel ordered Quicks and Roadblock, the large earth pony, to take my lamp and typewriter to some wagon that I couldn't spot while he followed behind them. They followed through with the demand, but not without showing a lack of courtesy by leaving the rest of my belonging the ground. As the two mercenaries went away towards the trees with my possessions on their backs, Steel Grit walked backwards in the same direction, keeping his horn aimed at me.

But just before the ponies could be sequestered by the shadows of the forest, a voice from above stopped all three of them in their tracks.

"There you guys are! Been looking all over for you!"

Surprised, I looked up to see a white pegasus in the air, floating just near the tops of the surrounding trees. I didn't know anything about the pony at first, but I could tell from the mercenaries scowls and disgruntled faces that they were not pleased by the sudden appearance.

The pegasus lowered themselves down between me and the mercenaries. On the ground, I got a better look at them. The pegasus was a stallion owning a long black mane with a grey streak running through the middle. He had amber-orange eyes and a cutiemark of a fiery bird, perhaps a phoenix. Across the stallion's back was a satchel bag and a small sword kept in sheath.

"You have a lot of stones to follow us, Apollo," Steel Grit spat out with an venomous tone. "Leaving us was probably the best choice you've made, and now you just undid all of that."

The pegasus, Apollo, chuckled back, seemingly unfazed by the unicorn's threatening aura. "I couldn't just let the rest of you guys harass good folk all night." He looked back at me with calm, yet lively, smile. "Don't worry, they ain't getting away with you stuff."

"Where are the feathers?" Quicks asked angrily. 

Apollo shrugged. "Beats me. They could be anywhere?"

"We know you had something to do with them going missing," Roadblock stated.

"Let's not go making accusations like that. We don't know for certain it was me. I even told Volt the same thing when he and the others were holding up a food wagon."

Steel Grit's eyes widen. "What did you do?"

"Nothing serious," Apollo said in an unamused manner. "One thing I can promise, though, is that they'll be spending a few sore days in the county jail cells before their big trial... Just like you guys."

That last statement seemed to piss off Quicks, as the purple pegasus floated off the ground and flew towards the white one in a blind rage, shouting vulgar obscenities at threats of harm. Apollo managed to fly past me in a forceful gust of wind, that almost placed me on the ground, before Quicks could buck him. When the mercenary realized his target was not longer there, he too rushed past me in a quick hurry to pursue his prey in the night sky.

The two pegasi disappeared into the clouds above, leaving Steel Grit, Roadblock, and I behind. A few seconds later, lightning appeared inside one of the clouds, followed by the rumble of thunder. Quickly afterward, another strike of lightning apparated in a nearby cloud, then another, and then several more in sequence. Though it was hard to spot, I could slightly make out two dots floating around in the clouds whenever lightning was set off. 

At last, a loud scream perpetuated the night air as a final burst of lightning went off, and soon a whistling sound appeared that kept gettting louder. Though it was confusing to find its origin, the whistle ended when a heavy thud was made just near the other two and I. Following Steel Grit's gaze, I found that the foliage of the tree had been disturbed, with more than a dozen of its leaves falling to the ground, and from the foliage dropped an unconscious Quicks. The purple stallion's coat was darkened and his mane was all frazzled out. 

High above, Apollo's voice out of one of the clouds.

"That was a bit of a doozy," he resonated with a chuckle. "Almost got me there a few times."

The sight of their friend laying as a defeated heap on the ground drew mixed reactions. While Roadblock was left skittish and paranoid, his large frame shakily heavily due to his wobbly legs underneath as he searched for the remaining pegasus, Steel Grit was merely angry. From the ground, he called out to Apollo, telling him to come out and face the rest of them. 

In an unexpected show of speed, a flashing streak of white flew towards Roadblock at full speed. When it passed, the large earth pony fell to the ground with a loud yelp. On his neck was a large burn mark, which he tended to with his hoof when he got up off the ground. 

"W-where are you, y-y-you coward?" Roadblock mumbled out in a fearful tone. At this point, Steel Grit's horn was glowing green once more, ready to confront the unseen offender. But Steel wasn't quick enough to prevent what happened next.

In a rapid sequence, that same streak of white came back down and repeatedly pummeled Roadblock on his back, torso, legs, and head. Each strike, followed by the sharp sound of static, drew whimpering cries and yelps from the earth pony, who occasionally bucked in the direction where the streak went after getting hit. Steel Grit and I were left alone to merely watch as this jolting scene took place, with neither of us making a single move.

Eventually, the beatings wore down Roadblock, to the point where the char-coaled, burnt stallion was left stammering and wobbling around. That all came to a quick end when the white streak came down from the sky, made a curve upward, and slammed into Roadblock's chin. The final blow was enough to bring the earth pony to his hindlegs before falling down on his back in a motionless mess.

When Roadblock went down, the white streak floated in the air, revealing itself to be Apollo with a pair of miniature storm clouds on each forehoof. Seeing an advantage, Steel Grit gripped the white pegasus with his magic before he could fly away, and with strain threw him across the campsite against a tree trunk. Though the impact seemed to hurt him, and made the small clouds he possessed disappear, Apollo managed to get up on all fours hooves and defiantly glared back at Steel.

"I've always had the wrong feeling about you, Mustang," Steel Grit stated with gritted teeth. "Like you were just a screw-up just waiting for the moment to turn our luck against us. I never should have let the others convince me to let you join. That stunt you did in Farasi wasn't worth all of this trouble."

Apollo grinned. "Well, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed myself. I was hoping you all were swell fellows when we first met. Heck, I even got along with Volt at times, though he was mostly difficult. Even when you lied about how you got a job done, pushed ponies to pay you more than what was originally agreed upon, and didn't help those in need when you could have, I still thought that you weren't all that bad."

Steel Grit was left unmoved by the pegasus' remarks. "And I'm guessing tonight was the last straw for you, right?"

The pegasus shrugged. "It was actually this morning when you stole those feathers from the others. But hearing about you goons robbing ponies on the highways isn't something I'm cool with."

With his wing, Apollo pulled out the short sword from his scabbard and placed the handle in his mouth. With a gleam of determination in his eyes, the white pegasus floated off the ground and bursted towards Steel Grit.

What transpired was a back-and-forth struggle between the two stallions, which caused me to seek shelter behind my tent. A heavy song of wings flapping and jolts of magical energy filled the air as Apollo and Steel fought with each other. From what I could peek out, through his speed and agility Apollo tried to fly by Steel and slash him with his sword, while Steel himself shot jet after jet of spells at the empty spaces where the pegasus used to be. 

At one point, Apollo managed to produce a long, bloody wound on Steel's unarmored flank and rear leg, drawing a deep, aggravated groan from the unicorn. But things got worse for Apollo, as Steel landed an impactful spell on his back that brought him down to the ground, knocking out his sword. With wicked glee in his eyes, Steel Grit walked over to the injured stallion, ignoring the the blood trickling down his leg, as well as possibly ignoring the pain his wound was pounding out.

"Got you where I want you," he said. "Like a fly in a spider's web."

From his side, Steel Grit levitated out a spiked mace and began to twirl it around in the air. Apollo spotted the weapon and tried to get up on his hooves, but instead his fell back to the ground. From behind the tent, I could only watch as the mercenary took his time in approaching his former colleague, who was scrambling amongst the ground to an attempt to escape. The scene playing before me was almost like that of a horror movie, where you knew that blood and gore would be an imminent reality in just a few seconds.

But what happened next was surprising --- even to me. I never thought it through, nor was I even aware of what had happened until I saw that effects. It just happened.

From my own horn came a jet of golden light that flew across the campsite and hit Steel Grit's armor, and within the same second a barrage of electricity spread throughout the unicorn's body. In that instance, Steel let out a piercing howl and paused in his tracks, kneeling to the ground as the snap and crackle of the stun spell rendered his body nearly immobile.

Apollo eventually got up to his hooves to see the trembling unicorn right behind him. Planting his forehooves deep into the soil, the white pegasus raised the lower half off his body and bucked Steel Grit in the face. The ferocious impact of both hindlegs was enough to knock out three or four of the unicorn's teeth, along with causing squirts of blood to shoot out of his mouth. The fluid motion of Apollo's bucking was something that definitely took me off guard. 

When Steel Grit fell the ground --- motionless --- Apollo was quick to take out two pairs of hoofcuffs from his satchel and placed each one on both sets of the unicorn's legs. He then repeated the same process for Quicks and Roadblock, before taking out a flare gun with his wing and shooting it into the air. Once an explosion of red-orange light bursted in the air, Apollo walked over to my tent where I was.

"Hey there," he greeted with a smile. "Thanks for the help back there. If it wasn't for me, I'd be mincemeat."

I got up from my spot and slowly left my tent and towards the pegasus. "It just sort of happened," I responded. "I had no control over it."

"Still, I owe you. In fact, this is all sort of my fault. I stole something from them that wasn't theirs to keep, and gave it back to those who really deserved it. They wouldn't be out tonight robbing honest folk if it weren't for me."

I simply nodded to him and replied that he probably didn't mean to cause all of this trouble. I just wanted to got back to sleep and prepare for the journey I had the next day.

"Say, I have seen you from somewhere?" Apollo asked.

From my own memories, I could tell that this was the same pegasus who tried to ease tensions between the adventurers and mercenaries at the tavern before the fighting began. I told him where I recognized him from, and his face beamed with excitement.

"Oh! I do remember you from the tavern! I think you got knocked over or something during the brawl that went down." He laughs out loud. "Man, that was crazy! Don't you think?"

I nodded. "If you don't mind me asking --- what's going to happen to the three of them? I rather not go back to sleep with a few criminals nearby that could wake up at any moment."

"I'm guessing you didn't notice the flare," Apollo said, pointing up at the fading orange light in the sky with his wing tip. "The sheriff around these parts gave the gun to me. I told him about Steel and his goons after I met up with the other three of them earlier on. The sheriff and his posse should be here any moment to bring them to the county jail."

Seeing how dangerous these stallions were, I asked Apollo if a simple jail will be able to hold all six of them. He told me that they would be in the jail for only a day before they were transferred to a more guarded facility in Manehattan, where their trial would be held. That news brought a little bit of relief to my heart, along with the added fact from Apollo that the hoofcuffs held magic-suppressing properties.

With this whole chaos finally over with, I decided to head over to my wagon and began levitating my thrown-out belongings back inside. Apollo offered to help, but I told him I was fine and that I didn't have that much to put in storage. Once that was taken care of. I went back to my tent and tucked myself in. 

Despite the chaos of that night, I guess I was too tired to stay awake. I simply just drifted off to sleep, hoping that the next day woudlbe a bit better.
> Diary Entry 1.2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


DAY 2:Morning


I woke up this morning to clear up my campsite and pack up for the airfield. Luckily, no bad dreams came when I resumed my slumber after last night's discord. I heard voices outside of my tent as I slept, which I assume were Apollo and the deputies that he informed about the criminals he took down. Despite all that chaos that happened after I woke up, I still found it in me to get a good, undisturbed rest.

After a quick breakfast of grits and bread, I took off on the road again. The sky above was blank blue with the sun shining brightly down on the land. After nearly an hour, I had left the woods and entered into the suburb of a town that was a part of the Manehattan metropolitan area. When I went through another hour of traveling, I founded a nice little park to take a lunch break. I rested underneath the cool shadows of a small tree while eating an oat sandwich with carrots, gazing around the park and admiring some of Manehattan's towers in the distance.

An hour later, I'm back on the road again. Two hours later, after moving out of the suburb and into another wooded area, I reached my destination: the Orange Grove Airstrip. 

The mile-long airstrip held a vast space that was the temporary refuge of yachts, zeppelins, and various airships of all shapes and sizes. Though I couldn't account for myself, I'm certain that any pony who was a massive fan of aircraft would have been brimming with excitement over the experiences of arriving at the front gate: the orchestral roars of several engines, the diverse mix of ponies moving across the docking bay platforms, and the gentle departures or arrivals of more ships through the sky.

When I got to the front gate and was given access inside the airstrip, I asked the attendant where the Serendipity was docked. She directed me to terminal three, just northwest of the gate, and that the ship was in docking bay #6. I then followed in that direction, traveling underneath the darkness of the docking bay platforms that connected to the decks of the ships. I came across a series of wall-less elevators guarded by operators and entered inside one of them.

After I was elevated to the top of the docking bay, I see the deck of the Serendipity right in front of me. The deck of the ship was bustling with lively activity, as ponies, griffons, and other creatures scrambled around with cargo that was either meant to be packed on the ship or loaded out. Despite all the activity going on, I had an idea of asking one of the laborers where I could find the pony responsible for accepting new members of the Sojourners. 

But before I could even get a chance to approach anypony, a crimson red griffon with vanilla-yellow chest fluff and silver talons popped up in front of me spontaneously. The griffon greeted me with a bright white smile that stretched from ear to ear, and his deep purple eyes gazed longingly at me as if I was a foreign creature that nopony had ever encountered before. In the same second that intruder invaded my personal space, he started to lambast me with various questions and statements, some of which I couldn't answer quick enough for him:

"Hello there! How's your day going so far?"

"Did it take you a while to get here? Was it on hoof or by train? Oh, I hope the journey wasn't too hard to bear!"

"I'm guessing you're here to join the Sojourners! We definitely need new members! At least I hope that's what you're here for."

"Oh! You are here to join. That's good to know! Very good to know! I hope you came for a good cause!"

"So what role do you intend to fill? We got adventurers and aid workers with us, though maybe you're interested in staying on the ship as a scientist or carpenter? But even if you're just seeking a maintenance job like kitchen duty or finance, that would still---"

Luckily, a teal, long-legged unicorn stallion with glasses and a short golden mane came by to politely pat the griffon on the shoulder and told him how he was being "too enthusiastic" with his greeting. I know that I would have broken up the conversation eventually, but nonetheless I appreciated the unicorn's help.

The griffon apologized to me, saying that it had been a while since the fleet was greeted by newcomers. He introduced himself as Gideon, an engineer working aboard the Silverclaw, and that he has been flying with the Sojourners for around six years. Though I did not want to start another conversation, I half-heartedly congratulated him on lasting in their services for so long. 

The unicorn who saved me was named Newton, and he was a scientist who worked on the Moriarty. 

With the confusion from before dying down, I explained to both of them that I was looking for whoever I needed to talk to in order to become a member of the fleet. Newton told me that the maintenance office on the Serendipity would take care of my application, which was located on the seventh level of the ship. 

Kindly enough, Gideon offered to take my wagon down to the cargo bay of the ship while Newton directed me to the maintenance office. Despite the attempted theft that happened last night, I had a feeling that nopony here at this supposedly respected guild would try to steal anything from their guests --- especially a bright, giddy griffon in brown overalls and goggles.

Leaving my wagon behind on the deck, I followed Newton inside the cockpit area of the ship and reached an elevator. On the way down to the seventh level, Newton told me that there were nine floors on the Serendipity, while the Moriarty and the Silverclaw had just five. 

The elevator trip was quite quick, and both of us found ourselves in a well-lit, clean yellow corridor covered by detailed paintings. After some quick turns in the hallways, we entered an area named "Maintenance", where a receptionist, an older earth pony mare named Olive Joy, greeted the both of us. Newton greeted her back and asked if a pony named Titan's Eye was busy in his office, to which Olive replied that he should be free for the next hour.

Olive directed us to a third room on the left side of the receptionist desk titled "Quartermaster", and after Newton knocked on the door, a stallion appeared out from the other side. He was a light yellow unicorn with dark pink, purple, and orange hair wearing a dark pink shirt underneath a light blue blazer. Titan's Eye smiled at the both of us and asked he could help.

Newton was kind enough to allow me to introduce myself and explain my reasoning for being here: which was to join the Charity division of the fleet. Understanding the situation, Titan's Eye excused Newton from the office and advised me to sit down as he collected some paperwork for me to fill out. Most of it was the standard stuff that a prospective employee had to deal with: personal info, educational background, possible criminal history, financial account, etcetera. 

After nearly half an hour of filling out forms, Titan's Eye put the papers aside and shook my hoof --- welcoming me into the Sojourners with a bright smile. He then levitated out a dark purple armband and gave it to me, advising me to place it as high as possible on one of my forelegs. The unicorn told me that each division is distinguished by the color of an armband, and that purple was the color of the Charity Sojourners. When he mentioned that, I remembered that Gideon had on a pink one while Newton's was light blue. 

With my application filled out, I am now an official member of the Sojourners of Fleet #3. 

Titan's Eye told me that members of the Charity division were stationed aboard the Silverclaw and gave me a key for cabin #9. Thanks to his help, I was able to go down to the cargo bay of the Serendipity and find Gideon with my wagon. I informed the griffon about where I would be living, and he was kind enough to direct me to the Silverclaw and then help me load up my belongings to the third floor of the ship where the cabins were.

Though his help made things quicker, having Gideon around me wasn't exactly pleasant. The griffon wouldn't stop asking me personal questions, such as where I'm from, what I did before, why I joined the Sojourners, and so on. Even when I was mumbling half-assed responses to him, he didn't get the hint that I wasn't trying to be talkative. And when he wasn't asking questions, he would drone on about how good of a job the Sojourners were doing in the Known World and how it would be best if everypony in Equestria would perform the same charitable acts.

To my relief, by the time that we had packed all of my belongings into my cabin, the griffon had no more subjects to talk about. Seeing that everything was in order, Gideon wished me luck with my new career. Since the Engineering division was on the Silverclaw, he told me that I could always see him if in need of advice or help. Despite his cheerful optimism, it was when he left the room that I found a true sense of peace.

Being to myself, I looked around cabin that I am now to reside in for some time until my journey is over. There are two bunk beds embedded in the wall, a pair of drawers, a pair of closets, two desks, and one singular, small window in the shape of a circle that exposed the room to the world outside. The bottom bed, one of the drawers, and one of the closets had signs that they were already used by somepony else, so I knew that I would be meeting my roommate sometime soon.

At that moment, though, I decided to just stay in the cabin. I now rest upon the top bed, writing down about the night before and the events of today leading up to my arrival here. Now that I'm nearly done writing for the moment, perhaps I'll take a quick nap or read something before dinner begins. 






DAY 2: Night


Tonight was

My head hurts and my heart is racing. I'm shaking like craz 

I should start off by saying that for tonight I think I'll stay in Groveluck's guest room. I'm not well enough to make it outside the mansion to take a cab back to the airfield. Groveluck told me that the effects should wear off within the next three hours, but I'm not going to take any chances of collapsing in the middle of the street --- even after three hours. 

Despite being tired, I at least want to write about how this evening turned out.

After I moved into my cabin on the Silverclaw, I rested inside for a while until it was time for dinner on the fourth floor of the ship, as announced on the intercom. I left the cabin and made my way up to the dining room, which held more than a dozen tables and was fitted with an orderly food line. Once I got my food from the kitchen workers, I took myself to the far end of an occupied table --- with it being the only spot in the room isolated enough for me to be to myself.

Just as I assumed that I was at peace with eating, a familiar voice called me from behind. I turned around to find Gideon floating across the room with his own tray of food, and without consulting me decided to take a seat at my side. He asked me again how I was taking in everything as a new Sojourner, and whether I felt up to the task of contributing to the fleet and society. His voice was all hopeful and optimistic about my role on the fleet, and while I'm certain he meant well in some way, I just couldn't match his energy.

In slight annoyance, which I'm not certain the griffon even noticed, I answered rather quickly that I was still getting used to being a Sojourner, and that I hope that I would be able to pull my weight when the time comes. With those questions answered, I went back to eating, hoping that would be it, but, of course, Gideon had to add in one more comment:

"To you see that table over there?" he asked with a smile, pointing his finger over to a table far away to my right. At that table, which was circular and much smaller than the longer, rectangular ones, were three individuals. One was a light blue earth pony stallion, the other was a pink pegasus mare, and the last was some anthropomorphic tan cat creature with green overalls.

"Those are the 'big three' of the ship," the griffon continued. "Every ship in the fleet has one captain, one navigator, and one quartermaster. Though that's not all that they do."

That last detail got my attention, despite not wanting to interact with him. "What do you mean?" I asked.

Gideon had to finish a huge portion of his food with a noisy gulp before answering. "Well, the blue pony over there is Captain Springbeat, but he's also the Head Doctor of the Medicine Division. Navigator Finlock, the abyssinian, is the Head Engineer of my division --- making him my go-to boss. And finally, there's the quartermaster, Scarlet Sunset, who serves as your boss as the Head Philantropher."

Confused, I asked, "Why did I go to Titan's Eye on the Serendipity if there's already a quartermaster here?"

And Gideon replied, "Well, Titan's Eye is also the Head Custodian, making him the head of the Maintenance Division. Maintenance is responsible for accepting new members of the fleet, keeping track of our pay, and keeping records on us all. So that's why you had to go to him first."

With that last sentence, it seemed that Gideon was done trying to converse with me, as he went back to eating his food. Other than some side-glances at my direction, there were not many interactions between him and I. Though I wanted him to leave me alone at the table like I originally hoped, I was still content with the current lack of talking.

As I was nearly done with my own dinner, I felt a slight tap on my tap. Turning around, with the hope that I would not be pulled yet again into another long-winded conversation, I found a pegasus stallion staring at me. He wore a brown armband and had a messenger bag around his torso. Pulling out an envelope from the bag, the stallion informed me that he had been sent by Titan's Eye to give me some additional paperwork that he neglected to hand out beforehand. The messenger also told me that I was instructed to complete the forms once I returned to my room and that I must be alone due to privacy concerns.

Taking the envelope away from the stallion, I returned to finishing the rest of my meal. Once I handed my tray to the cafeteria staff, and received a goodbye from Gideon, I headed back to the cabins with a floating envelope beside me. When I reached my cabin room, I knocked on the door to see if my unknown neighbor was inside. Hearing no response, I unlocked the door with a key and headed towards my desk near the window. With the night sky soon arriving, I turned on a lamp and ripped open the envelope. Inside was a small note:


 Go to 104 Downing Avenue in the town of Avon,
northwest of Manehatten and the airstrip.
Ask for a stallion named Groveluck and ask 
for strong olive trees for the summer heat.
It must be done tonight. NO LATER.
Destroy this when you can. 
May the true gods be with you.


I remember a lump forming in my throat, along with my stomach churning a bit, when I read those words. I had no idea that they would expect me to leave so soon, considering I just joined the fleet. I guess either Bishop or Titan's Eye were very impatient. Nonetheless, I had a job to do. 

Grabbing my messenger bag, I left my cabin and made my way out of the Silverclaw. Taking the elevator down to the ground, I trotting over to the terminal three building and found a taxi cab parked right outside. Approaching the cab, I asked the male driver if it would not be of too much trouble for him to take me to the town of Avon, and once he looked through his map, he gave me a nod told me to hop in.

Giving him the address, I was told that the journey would take around forty minutes with average traffic. Once I paid him the amount that was due, I got inside the cab and braced myself for the trip ahead. As we left the airstrip and entered through the suburb streets, a feeling of dreaded suspense loomed over my head like a nest of annoyed yet inactive hornets. Throughout the calm ride, I barely moved around in my seat, as the tensions in my shoulders and neck held my head down in a vice grip.

Eventually, the cab reached its destination. Most of the buildings in Avon seemed to be simple and small --- as expected for a suburban town outside of a major city. The building that the cab stopped in front of appeared to be a large mansion, with several flower beds on the front lawn along with a stone water fountain in the middle of a circular driveway. Exiting the cab, I thanked the driver for his service and walked on the cobblestoned pathway towards the front door. 

When I got to the porch, I lift a hoof to press the button next to the door, but a pause came over me before I could bring it down. A whisper, tiny but hard to ignore, spoke to me in the back of my head. It warned me against entering this house, against continuing on this journey. The voice even urged me to turn back to Fillydelphia and go back to the publishing company where Inkwell, Lavender, and the others were at. 

This little angel on my shoulder seemed very persuasive. I'm getting into something crazy. The last time I followed somepony's request in a similar manner, things turned out bad. Going home seemed like the most reasonable and comfortable option for me to take. 

But then the memories came back.

The smell of smoke and the horrified screams. The loud, zealous rants of a madpony. The violating heat of fire and the slicing of flesh by bladed weapons. And finally the ghastly display of forbidden magic that destroyed many creatures' lives. 

Behind those scenes of carnage and terror, I could still envision the faces of those ponies that I have prayed for years to have left this earth. The ponies whose parents should have never been fated to meet, for Equestria ended up worst off because of their offspring.

PISCES

BLADETILLIUS

IGNIS

CREED

Despite the pain I'm in, I don't regret what I've done. 

And at that moment at the door, I regained my resolve to find those bastards and make them pay.

A pause was present after I ranged the doorbell. Eventually, an elderly earth pony stallion in an elegant suit opened the door and looked up at me. 

"Good evening," he introduced with a calm face. "How may I be of help to you?"

Remembering the letter's instructions, I said the following: "Yes, I'm looking for Groveluck. I was told I could find strong olive trees here. Strong enough to beat the summer heat, actually."

Though his reaction was delayed, the older pony eventually raised up his eyebrow. Looking behind his back, he excused himself and promised to return in just a minute. When he came back, he instructed me to come inside the house and follow him. Doing so, I entered into what appeared to be the parlor room, which was already filled with ponies of all ages crowded around the furniture and in the hallways. Each of them was dressed in bland yet distinct clothes as if attending a holiday party or a school event.

In the center of the guest space were two staircases that curved upstairs until they both merged to form a colonnade-ish hallway at the top. The older stallion took me up one of the stairs and led me to a room at the far end of the hallway. Knocking on the door, the older stallion was told by a muffled, male voice on the other side that he could come in. Inside the room was a well-dressed orange unicorn stallion with a strawberry blonde mane, who was sitting at a desk while looking at some papers. 

The unicorn, Groveluck, turned his head over to me and lifted the reading glasses from his nose with a light blue glow. He smile at me and introduced himself. He dismissed the older stallion to return to serving the guests and wished to talk to me alone. When the two of us were at privacy, he asked me if Bishop had told me of my reasoning for being him. All I could tell him at the time is that I was to be given a so-called "gift" that would help in the fight against the Zealots. 

Groveluck's smile broadened. "It is indeed a gift," he pronounced. "A gift that will bring us all closer to karmic balance, and thus closer to the gods."

Getting up from his seat, the stallion slowly approached me --- never removing his longing eyes away from me. In an awkward motion that I was unprepared for, he got up on his hindlegs and hugged my neck.

"It is truly a blessing to serve you. A true privilege indeed."

Luckily, the moment was short-lived. Once Groveluck let go, he told me there was a meeting that he was to attend to in a few minutes. Walking past me, he stopped to ask if I was a believer of the gods of the faith.  I answered him truthfully and told him that I wasn't (At least anymore). Seeming disappointed initially, Groveluck brushed it aside and told me that I could wait downstairs in the parlor room until the meeting was over.

I spent nearly two hours in that parlor room either sitting on one of the sofas or aimlessly walking around. Luckily, I had the space all to myself, because all of the other guests who were here before me had entered into a room underneath the upstairs hallway and in between the two staircases. It was at that moment that I realized that I was at a religious meeting that Groveluck was hosting. 

Through the closed doors, I heard a male voice. It might have been Groveluck's, though another guest could have been preaching. Either way, the stallion was delivering a sermon of some sort to the audience. Due to the doors' thickness or my distance, I could not hear much other than muffles, but if I had to guess from what I did pick up, a sermon was being delivered on being resistant towards following worldly desires or figures. 

Eventually, the meeting to an end, with the same number of guests pouring out of the doors like a school of fish seen underneath the waters. At the end of the crowd was Groveluck, who came over and calmly instructed me to follow him into the kitchen on the other side of the mansion. Reaching the area, the unicorn opened up a door leading to a pantry and pressed his hoof against several cinderblock stones on the adjacent wall. 

With the click of a gear, the left wall of the pantry suddenly receded backward, revealing a hidden stairwell that spiraled downwards somewhere. Though I gave a hesitant and uneased glance towards the stoic Groveluck, I followed him down the winding stairs, descending into a darkness dimly lit by torches on the wall. When the both of us reached the bottom, we were met by three different tunnels, and Groveluck directed me to either the center one or the left. I honestly can not remember.

Everything else was fuzzy after I entered the tunnel. 

I can't remember all the details of what happened, but I ended up in a room lit only by torches. Inside of the room were five robed unicorns, with their hoods sequestering their faces. Each of the five unicorns stood on the edge of some weirdly constructed circle drawn onto the middle of the floor. It was as if I walked into an occult meeting.

Groveluck instructed me to lay down on the middle of the circle on my back and gave me a heavy black crystal the size of a school textbook. As I pressed my naked back against the cold stone floor, with the crystal on my stomach, Groveluck sat on his haunches and looked down on me. He informed me of how the process I'm about to go through would be a bit painful and uncomfortable, but that it would only last for a few seconds, or a minute at most.

When he stepped away from the circle, the other five unicorns began to chant in Old Ponish, their own horns glowing in unison with each other. Then, one by one, each unicorn shot a continuous beam of light at the crystal.

It was the final beam of magic that caused me immense pain --- followed by a dim red glow in the center of the crystal.

It was as if every organ in my body was being violated in some manner. 

My blood vessels were being filled with microscopic icicles. 

Sand caked my eyes while my mouth was dried of any moisture.

My bones were being pulled from their joints by invisible grips in all directions.

And my stomach churned with the fierceness of an ocean current, while my heart beated mercilessly like a train engine.

But while my body was going through its own turmoil, my mind was subjected to its trials --- ones that I believed were worse than the physical pain.

My vision was filled with images of events from my past --- events that I've tried long to forget about and put behind me. But here they were, in front of my eyes. I can visualize myself standing within those moments as if they were occurring in the present. I could feel the wind and heat against my cheeks, and I can feel the texture of the ground underneath my hooves like a painting canvas.

But those moments weren't without their sound. Without their audio.

I could hear every voice as if that individual was right next to me.


[...]


You'll be doing good work for us, Sonnet. This will help bridge the gap between ponies and other creatures. You'll see.

So you're not used to making friends. Big deal. If you're not as douchey as those jocks and preppy fillies over there, then I say you're somepony worth being with in this school.

It took a while, but I think you've grown on me. At least a bit. Maybe Booksmart was right about you.

I know life has been rough for you. Moving from one place to the next. But this is your home now. I promise you don't need to feel like you don't belong anywhere, Sonnet. Not anymore, at least.

I can't believe you would sully yourself by being with these lowlifes. It's a damn disgrace for our kind. But hey, you did most of the work for us already, so I guess that shows you're at least good for something.

With Equestria safe from these heathens, we'll be able to keep ponykind away from karmic unbalance. IF Celestia and the nobles won't do what is necessary, then I will.


[...]


I passed out after the voices went away, and when I woke up I found myself in the bed that I'm in now, being watched over across the room by Groveluck. He told me that it would be best for me to stay at the mansion until tomorrow morning, since the ritual was likely to have made a drained mess out of me. And since I definitely felt like a used tissue or rag, and still do, in fact, I decided it was best not to agrue with him.

So here I am, writing about my journey amidst a candlelight for nearly an hour or so. I can actually see the airstrip from here. It looks like a Hearthswarming tree from this distance. 

I can't turn back now, especially with whatever is inside of me. I just hope that I find what I'm looking for, regardless of what Bishop or the Congregation wants from me.

I think it's time for me to blow out the lights. My head needs it.
> The Story Will Continue....
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello, everycreature!

I just want to say that I am genuinely happy to be finished with my first story on FimFiction after nearly 10 years on this site. Yes, that is correct, this part of the "Apostle" story is now finished. It's been nearly two years since I started it, but now I've come to an end.

But the journey of Sonnet Philosophy is not done yet. I have three to four more parts left for this story that I plan to release over the years, and I hope that my current and future readers will enjoy them.

I won't lie, I started this story as a bit of a mess. I started it as "A Knight's Tale" long ago before settling with Apostle, and even then I still faced problems. The original draft for "Apostle" was too long, more than 200 chapters long, and with me also writing for "Your Friends From Across Time", I knew that a 200+ chapter story would never work. So, I thought about changing the story to a diary perspective, but the more I thought about it, the more limited I felt the story was in terms of detail and emotions.

Don't worry, the story is not dead. It will continue on from a 3rd POV narrative again. However, "Apostle" will be of secondary priority, as "Your Friends From Across Time" is the story I am the most invested in at the moment. Therefore, "Apostle" chapters will not be as frequently released as it is for "Your Friends From Across Time". 

Take care, everycreature, and don't be afraid to post any questions or comments, even if they're negative.

From,
EquestrianKnight97

(P.S., I am now accepting writing commissions. Please check my blog for more info if interested)