Arriving in Ponyville

Arc's POV

As Sunset and I looked over Ponyville, I couldn't help but feel a little dizzy. "Too. Many. Colors." I deadpanned. "Stop whining and get a move on." Sunset ordered and walked ahead. I sighed and followed her down the hill. We were approaching of what seemed to be a farm: Sweet Apple Acres as I realized.

Ignoring the ponies working on the farm, we continued walking a forest of apple trees standing right next to us. The smell of apples seemed to make the hole in my stomach even bigger. I looked over to Sunset, who was still frowning. Ever since I met her 95% of the time I saw on her face was that frown.

"Howdy!" Someone called us. Looking to my left, I saw Applejack waving a hoof at us. Sunset ignored her completely and just walked ahead as if she didn't hear it. I gave AJ an apologetic look and waved back, before catching up with Sunset. I didn't comment on it or told her to at least greet back or anything. She only would get angry and either way I'm not the type who tells others how to behave.

The streets of Ponyville were filled with other ponies, some I recognized as background characters. No one paid us too much attention, but people recognized us as not being from anywhere around. We came across the library.

"So Tirek didn't attack yet." I shuddered. "Am not looking forward in getting my magic stolen."

"You can look forward with me beating him up."

"Someone's confident. Actually, if we're lucky, we could encounter him when he's still weak."

"I can take him on no matter how much power he has."

Sure you can. I thought to myself. Sunset walked ahead, ignoring everyone around and focusing on the way ahead. She looked over several signs, until we found one that would lead to a local inn.

"The money won't last forever. How do we get more? Part-time working?"

"I have some ideas." she replied. Hopefully it wouldn't involve something illegal. Heck, I planned on trolling a few princesses, what was I thinking about illegal stuff?

"*GASP*!"

We both turned around towards the sudden exclamation, but the only thing we made out was a pink blur.

"Don't tell me that was..."

"It sure was. But hey, free food."

Sunset facehoofed and shook her head.

XIII

Sunset and I took a room for two. We checked out our room quickly, which had one bath and walked out again. "We're going to eat now and then we'll check out the library as long as we can. You should read up on Equestria history. Belief me, saves us from some awkward situations." She told me.

"Well, I came up with the excuse of being a traveler and coming from a foreign country."

We walked to the basement of the inn and looked over a card what there was to eat. A lot of hay let me tell you. A lot of stuff with different flowers, sandwiches and soups and hay again. You can think of it instead of meat there was hay. Not in the mood for experiments, I decided for pumpkin soup and apple juice for now.

Let me tell you using a hoof like a hand is very, very strange. "This is will take some getting used to." I mumbled. "You don't know how it is the other way around." Sunset said looking up from her hay and potatoes. "How does hay taste anyway? Like meat?" I asked. "No. It has its own taste altogether." She informed me.

The rest of the time we sat there in silence, eating. I kind of stood out, since I was sitting like a human and not like a pony. A pony sits on all four and ass down. Despite living with humans for years, Sunset still sat there like a pony without second thinking.

XIII

The sun started to set as we walked outside and made our way towards the library, hoping to lend some books before closing time. The streets were unusually empty.

"I don't like this." Sunset said, eyeing the houses carefully. My gut feeling told me I should know what was going on, but it just wouldn't pop up in my head. To be honest, I grew a little paranoid myself. "Is there some kind of holiday I should know about?"

"...No. I checked the time of the year and the Summer Sun Celebration just went over."

"Okay...oh. Twilight and the others will be in the castle pretty soon."

"Damn. Whatever, the show is clearly not accurate. Between the episodes there have to be several days passing by. Also at least in Season 1 the order of the episodes didn't make any sense at all."

"Oh yeah, the winter episode came before the fall episode."

I'm not the only one who noticed the problem, right? I never thought much about it, until I started writing fanfictions. And now I'm into the mess.

We came to a halt in front of the library, where Sunset took in some deep breaths. "Are you alright?" I asked. "Yeah, let's go and...meet princess Twilight Sparkle."

Oh THAT was the problem. Hopefully she wouldn't blow things up, when she saw Twilight. With any luck only Spike would be there, give us some books and we'd be out in no time. Only we wouldn't.

I approached the library and opened it. We walked inside, noticing it was a little dark until...

"SURPRISE!"

"WHOA!" I shouted jumping up with the help of my wings and hitting the ceiling. In the meantime I saw a beam in the color of Sunset's magic hitting something. I fell back to the ground and landed uncomfortably on my stomach, seeing stars literally. It wasn't the first time, back when I was human and got a little too thirsty and tired while jogging, I saw small lights in front of me appearing and disappearing. So I wasn't all that worried. Part of me was curious how my body almost received no damage.

Oh and I accidently changed into fire mode.

The poor pony that had been hit with the beam looked like it got electrocuted with his fur standing up everywhere. "Oh man..." I groaned and got up. I looked over to Sunset who had a defensive stance and her horn was glowing with magic. I turned towards the HUGE group of ponies and noticed everyone staring at me. It didn't take a genius to figure out what would happen next.

Pinkie leaped up from the middle of the crowd with a bucket of water in her hooves. "Pony on FIREEEEEE!" To my defense, I was still too dizzy to dodge.

XIII

Sunset's POV

Arc collapsed losing consciousness after the water hit him. Great, now he only could change back on his own accord. I used my magic to put up a small barrier around his wings, so the building wouldn't catch fire. I made a mental note to get a camera extra for Tirek who would blow this place up anyway.

"If you want to kill him, you'll need more water." I told Pinkie who looked apologetic.

"B-but, your friend...h-how..."

I shrugged. And did she really refer to him as my friend? "He lost control over his magic after you surprised us. Just don't splash anymore water on him, unless you really want to kill him of course.

Who's the librarian?" I asked to the crowd.

Princess Twilight Sparkle stepped out of the crowd. I bowed respectfully just because I didn't want to attract any attention. "Oh...uh..no need to bow or anything. Umm, about your friend..."

"Just stop with the water already..." he growled getting up, shaking like he was freezing. "Are you alright?" asked Twilight. Instead of answering Arc turned into his water form, where I could release the barriers. The crowd gasped at the sudden performance. "Much better." he moaned and looked over to me.

"What the..?"

There were several gasps from within the crowd as he changed his element to water. I turned my attention back to the princess and frowned. She was still staring at Arc. I cleared my throat and got her attention. "We came here for some books."

"B-but your friend...his wings..."

"Normal for me." came Arc's response.

"Anyways I wanted to ask if you have some advanced spell books here. A good history book would be nice too."

"S-sure." Twilight regained her composure. "After the party-"

"No." I cut her off.

"Huh?"

"Just the books. We have no time for any silly parties."

The earth pony was back in action. "But this is YOUR party and-"

"-and I don't care." I cut off and finished her sentence. "Besides..." Arc took over "after that little stunt, I feel like I just lost 25% of my blood. Now if you'd be so kind to give us the books we want. I need to rest up and she..." he trailed off.

"I need to supervise him and teleport him to the hospital in case his condition gets worse overnight." I turned to Pinkie Pie and decided a little over exaggerating wouldn't hurt. "You really could have killed him in the worst case scenario you know?" I suppressed a smug grin as I saw her head fell. Strange enough her hair became straight for some reason.

"Hey, no need for ya ta be so harsh."

"No need?" I asked. Now all these acting lessons back from high school finally paid off. "He could have lost his life, HIS LIFE!" I shouted at the orange earth mare. "What else should I have said? I forgive you for your stupidity? Maybe for something minor, but this here's a pony's LIFE AT STAKE!"

While Twilight collected some books, I acted like I was concerned about Arc. He seemed to be okay, just a little weak as he told me. "Didn't know you're good at acting."

"Shut up and get better. I don't need you injured." I whispered back.

"Thanks for your concern." he replied with a grin. He wasn't expecting any. He didn't know much, but he probably knew me better than anyone else, except for Celestia. The other ponies were already getting the party stuff out of the way.

"Here you go." I looked over the titles and nodded. "Thanks. How long? Two weeks?"

"Three." she replied. I nodded. "Alright let's get back to the inn. You okay?" I quickly added the last part. "I'll make it. Should remember to change my element more often."

"Don't forget to change back to normal. I'm not going to pay if you make everything wet."

We left the library.

XIII

Arc changed back into his normal form before we entered the inn. We went up or in Arc's case stumbled and went to bed. I had the light on my nightstand on in order to read a bit in those books, while Arc had problems putting the blanket over him, but eventually managed. I snickered, but couldn't really blame the guy.

That little scene there just let me decide to give him a month, instead of a week to learn how to fly. He wasn't dumb oh no, I already saw his knowing grin way too often and that speaks a lot for itself, for I know him only for a few days. It was just plain obvious.

Or maybe he was just excited.

I resumed reading to my book. He didn't complain about the light and soon his breathing became steady, indicating he was asleep.

I skipped a lot of pages inside the book, since it contained things I already knew, and was finished with it when half of the night was over. Deciding to get some shut eye, I shut off the lamp and fell asleep.

XIII

I woke up sweating bullets. That had not been a nice dream in many ways. I looked over to the site and was relieved when I saw Arc was not in his bed, so he couldn't see me like this.

Buck it, he's a fanboy. He probably knows that you're a little softy from the inside.

I shook my head clear. I. Am. Not. Weak. I. Am. Not. Soft.

Downstairs I found Arc at a breakfast table. He looked like he was already finished.

"Morning."

I just sat down instead of replying. The waiter came and I gave him my order.

"Pinkie was here, wanting to apologize." I groaned out loud. "I managed to get her go away, but only temporarily. Oh and I managed to get the location of the castle of the two sisters. Well, I know which path we have to take."

I looked at him surprised. "You thought that much ahead?"

"Nah, just used the opportunity."

My breakfast arrived. "Seeing as you're finished" I put some bits down at the table "get each of us a bag."

"You got it. Well if I manage to grab the money that is..." I rolled my eyes at his stupor. But eventually he did manage to grab the money and walked outside.

XIII

Arc's POV

After five minutes I realized my problem. I had no idea where to buy two bags. Now normally I would have asked someone for the way, B-U-T they all looked at me like I was some kind of freak. Sighing I rolled my eyes and just looked at every store I came across.

"Oh it's you!" I heard a voice. I looked to the front and found Twilight approaching me. "Are you feeling better?" she asked concerned.

"Yup, just a goodnight rest and everything is alright. Sorry by the way about yesterday, for being grumpy and all. It just hurt a lot."

"I understand, but what you did yesterday was simply amazing!" she cheered. "I mean you're a pegasus and you used magic!"

I was a little embarrassed. "It's my cutie mark I guess..."

"Oh yeah, your cutie mark! What does it mean?! How do you use magic? Where are you from? Is it something inside your family? Or-"

"Ummm..."

Now she was embarrassed and cleared her throat. "Sorry, I guess I got a little taken away."

"Uh huh. Well, mind if I ask a question?"

"Of course not."

"Do you happen to know where they sell bags here?" I asked.

"Sure thing. I can bring you right there." she flew ahead. I gulped. Brain, come up with something. Fast!

Twilight eventually noticed I was still on the ground and came back. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Sorry." I grinned sheepishly. "But no flying for me for 24 hours. Safety measurement, since...I...I how do I put this?" I thought frantically. "Well I guess you could say the main part of my magic goes through my wings. Arrgh, I didn't study up magic, it's just to be sure I don't get crippled I shouldn't use my wings, at least when it isn't necessary."

"Ah, I see." Twilight nodded and landed next to me. We walked and talked along the way.

"By the way, my name is Twilight Sparkle. And you're?"

"Wind Arc." I replied. It surprised myself how easy it came over my lips, like I've had this name my whole life. "Say, about your wings...mind if I...uh...run some tests?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Sorry, but that's Sunset's job."

"Sunset? Oh the mare that was with you yesterday."

"Yeah, she's not the most socializing perso- uh pony. And she gets angry pretty fast when someone interferes with her studies. Part of that being me."

"Is that all she's seeing you? A study project?"

I smiled in response. "I bet there's a reason behind that. I just keep her company or else she'd be all alone with a bunch of books. Oh and no more parties. She really doesn't like THAT kind of attention."

"That kind?"

"Is this an interrogation?" I asked. "Oh no, sorry. Anyway, we're here."

We stood in front of a store that sold a lot of leather stuff. "Thanks, you saved me a lot of time." Then I remembered something. "How's the pink pony doing?" I asked.

Twilight frowned. "I don't know. I was actually on my way to her."

"She was at the inn this morning and wanted to apologize. I told her it's fine, but she looks like the kind of pony to me, who wouldn't give up so easily. Please tell her not to bother Sunset or else Sunset will say some unpleasant things." I laughed. "You might even call her an element of disharmony."

"Is it that bad?"

"Not everyone wants as many friends as possible and I think we all should respect that. Anyway, thanks for bringing me here. See ya."

I think I spoke too much. I thought to myself while purchasing two good looking bags. I carefully avoided mentioning Sunset's full name, in case Twilight decided to write a letter. Although let alone the Sunset part might, just M-I-G-H-T get Celestia's attention. I shook my head clear.

Twilight had no reason to write a letter to Celestia, at least she had no reason to write one that would mention Sunset's name. We just had to not attract any attention and do what we came for here, before we'd leave this place.

Carrying two bags wasn't easy, as I had to carry one thing in my freaking mouth. Groaning inwardly I made my way back to the inn.

When I entered I didn't saw Sunset anywhere. Asking the receptionist, I was told that Sunset was in our room. So I went upstairs and found Sunset reading a book. I shouldn't be surprised, since there was nothing else to do for her. She looked up at me and closed the book. I found out she already read two books out of five she borrowed, not counting the history book that was for me.

She levitated one of the bags and put it over herself. Next she levitated the history book into my bag. "We'll go to the castle now. You'll be able to learn how to fly. And if I catch you slacking off...you don't want to hear the last of it."

"Better than a world without donuts."

...

"What's with you and your donuts?"

"Just trying to be random, but I forgot I used that joke already at the end of the last chapter."