Season 1

Episode 2

Part 1

Royal Introduction

"Canterlot! Gates on our Horizon!", somepony shouted, waking Umek in a heartbeat, stirring him with a rumble of the flatbed carriage beneath him, exposed to bright morning sunlight, and a very cool early Autumn's breeze. Rather chilly to him, compared to his very hot southern lifestyle.

It had been a long, tiring trip~ and it had taken far longer than it should have, what was six weeks became eight. First a storm disrupting river travel, and then a mud left behind slowing the caravan down. And it was not one caravan he'd been thrown into, in fact he'd moved alongside many different groups. Some large, some small, mixed with plenty of different minorities, and cultures he'd never seen before. Up until the last few nights he was nothing but amazed with the stories, and the experience they'd given him, all the ponies he'd met-even a griffon!-and it felt magnificent. Never before was he so happy to have left home.

And now he was finally here, after so long. The wait had nearly eaten him alive, and almost literally~ One delay included giant ants, which hadn't gotten a-hold of anypony thanks to himself~ But that doesn't mean he alone had come close to a single chomp of the giant mandibles.

Not to mention a second incident where the entirety of one Caravan, perhaps the fourth he'd been apart in, had to hide itself when a group of bandits-something 20 strong!- had passed them by, narrowly missing them. It had been a rough set of months indeed. And it was all coming to an end! To him, the outer walls of Canterlot which lay ahead were like gates to heaven~

However in this time, Canterlot was as majestic as it ever would be, only much more medieval. It's outer walls peeked at perhaps fifteen feet, and over them lay the hay-stacked rooftops of cozy homes, and cottages, all crammed together to form a dense lower-district. The smoke from the rooftops was thin, lacking industry other than perhaps a smithy or two.

(Might it be important to add, there are no train-tracks. In this period of time there are only large dirt roads entering, and leaving Canterlot.)

And then far through the distance where the rest of the city was covered over by the small towers, and stone-cut buildings... what stood high out amongst all was the palace everypony talked about. And by george it certainly was a sight to behold. Umekile couldn't help himself but stare at what looked like cut and colored glass on some of the largest windows. The large flags draped, and swaying in the air high above the rest of the Capital, and not to mention the golden symbol for the moon and sun mounted at the highest tower.

With a wide smile, Umek leaped off the flatbed cart, trotting alongside it, and a few others. His horn glowed in his stride, as he softly unveiled his letter of recommendation, addressed to the name "Archerine"~ somepony his parents never told him about, nor even had the chance to describe him other than give his last name; Alchemis, and what his name suggested~... He was the local alchemist, as well as a potions master, not to mention something of a "Wizard" of healing.

He dare not open it of course, slipping it back into his remaining saddlebag. He'd begun his trip with two, but like his delays... there were also inconveniences which lost him a number of things. In a trade with a local merchant for a night's stay, he had to sell his saddlebag... which landed him a night in the cellar, two bits shorter, and no dinner~

But his attitude about all that changed as he stopped beneath the first gate. Guard Stallions of all colors dressed in most red cloaks, brown leather armor, or if they were heavy-set... steel or iron. They would go through all the nonsense of checking for stolen, illegal, or possibly dangerous items.

They stopped Umekile solely for the purpose of his horn!

What a mess that became~ When he was released under strict warning he found his astonishment yet again. Canterlot was a far different place than he'd expected, nopony seemed to outcast him here! Left and right, the streets got denser with activity, and for once he did not have his hooves drenched in wet dirt, or caked with mud~ The streets were cobblestone! Umek had never actually seen cobble before...

He recalled how maybe his irritating cousin might have addressed it as "Mighty Fancy-like" praise the oracles for Star Brimmer's higher level of education~

"Watch where your going!", however was common, he'd never been in a crowd so thick that was not a social gathering, or perhaps "I'm trotting here!". Ponies seemed to have a lot more grit here than back home. And back home was the roughest of places, always down and dirty. Of course he was not very good with analyzing between Hefferlin, and a place he'd just arrived in.

Umek mostly would just tip his hat with a "Real sorry" or with a tad bit of hypocrisy; "Mighty sorry".

But back to the task at hand. In all his life Umekile Scythe had never had so much trouble looking for something in a place so big. Canterlot most definitely dwarfed Hefferlin. Even some of the towns he'd passed dwarfed Hefferlin... but Canterlot dwarfed them all! He stopped in so many places... mostly shops.

"Wow.", he whistled, looking through the windows, spotting candles, or picture frames, paintings, trinkets, jewelry... the diversity was endless. Of course the longer he took the further the sun was gone down.

"No..."

"No."

"No~"

"No!"

One after another, even other alchemy shops, and not the one he was looking for. He didn't even have a shop name to work off of. So much that it began to egg him... it seemed no matter where he looked he couldn't find one gosh darn!-

"Archerine's Alchemy~", he breathed, looking up with a rather dumb-founded look. He was in the upper-middle-class district. Quite frankly it was definitely where the shop belonged, three stories of wood, stone, and hay. It looked rather comfortable by his terms... well it looked comfortable by anypony's terms he figured. His daydream would have to wait however, his excitement in meeting a friend of his mother's was starting to boil.

And just as he was about to open the door!

Umekile found that it was locked up tight, a small sign stated "Out To Eat". Almost immediately this frustrated him, as he had no where else to go at this point. On the bright side he did not have to travel outside the walls and work in some kind of field. He'd just have to experience what Canterlot had to offer all on his own for a while. Despite not having a clue of what he wanted to do, Umek was practically overwhelmed.

After working a subtle two copper bits for helping lift a heavy table, which was already stacked with silver plates, and glass sculptures, he was off and exploring.

Umekile found himself captivated at the sight of two lovely mares. He for once did not have the only horn, he noticed so many ponies were just like him! Sort of~ "Uhm...", he looked himself over, magically placing his hat on his head.

They were quite fond of him from the looks of it, their own horns holding their books close to their chests, smiling over at him like he was some cute foreigner. Which... was exactly what he was at first glance. They even giggled.

Now was his chance, "Heh~", with a very confident smirk, despite his massive flush.

Just as Umek was about to speak the first word, a hot, steamy sensation washed over him. Literally. Bathwater from the cottage home just above him, somepony had thrown a tub of the stuff out their window, drenching him almost all at once.

The mares burst into a laughter, either mockingly, or out of the sheer hilarity. His odds were at ends with them.

"Was this compensation for something?", he huffed, his hat soaked to the point it hung down over his eyes, "Just me.", with a quick levitation, Umekile squeezed the clothe dry, and frowned, the first time he'd ever completely ruined such a sentimental object. Knowing his mother would have only reacted kindly, and perhaps amused it was the fact she was not around to help him pick up the pieces anymore. And that he missed dearly.

After having it rung dry he slipped it into his saddlebag, grumbling just a little. The road turned into an uphill battle, not steep, just very long. Why it looked as though if a cart would break free it would pick up so much speed it might have broken somepony's house clean in.

"Everypony look out!", a clatter of things, and the sound of wood snapping up the street. It was a very big cart, which appeared full of vegetables. Carrots, and turnips flung across the road as this giant wooden rampage was coming from a good hundred yards uphill. Luckily most were able to get out of the way before any damage could be done to them.

Umekile however, was a little paralyzed, his eyes widened like a deer in headlights.

"Get out of there!", he heard, "Somepony grab him!", as though he were a child they sounded to him. This pulled him back to reality, he'd always been held special... maybe not as much here but he wasn't about to go back on all his years of tutoring with Star Brimmer~ Not now not EVER!

Umekile Scythe promised he would not let him down! And being crushed by a vegetable cart wasn't any option. He stepped forward, and his sharp horn began to glow, "Come on. Come ooon~", the front of the oncoming carriage began to glow just like it, a light purple aura. But this was a much harder task than he thought~ It was coming on to fast!

As the hour of his untimely, and rather embarrassing death approached, Umek squeezed his eyes shut, trying his hardest, leaning into it.

Just as the cart was almost on top of him, slowed down, but still heavy and fast enough to crush even the strongest of ponies, Umekile's magic became mixed with another, the purple becoming shrouded together with a golden yellow. The runaway cart stopped immediately, with a soft CLACK, and a split of wood as the durable frame caught hold on his blade, getting his head stuck.

With a heavy sigh of relief, he near collapsed had he not been in the awkward position, "Who~", he flicked his eyes to the side.

There they were, standing just a little shorter than he did. A figure shrouded in a pretty white cloak, rimmed with gold thread, a skinny horn, yet pretty, and elegant jutting out of the hood which hid the mystery-mare/colts face. Though Umekile had it figured for a mare.

When the cart tilted forward to a rested position, Umek pulled back from it, popping his horn from the wood, "Ow.", he shook himself, and looked aside, "Hey.", he noticed she'd already tried to take her leave, "Who are you?"

The cloaked mare looked back, her eyes just barely visible under the rather bright white cloth, before she turned and ran, somehow the rather long robes not catching on anything as she fled. Everypony that was watching began to murmur, and fuss as they wanted to see who it was. Where's the rather headstrong Umekile did all that and more...

"Hey, wait up!", he reeled sideways, landing on his hooves, and taking off after her.

He near hit his head a few times, and jumped over a series of barrels his assailant had kicked out in order to slow him down, "I just wanna talk!"

"Go away!", it was surely a mare now, the voice was so nimble, and winded.

"But you helped me!"

No response, only a few ponies leaping out of the way as the mare turned a corner, with Umek in pursuit. But it was not very good of an alleyway. Many clotheslines hung down when the sun beamed through even into these places, and not only did Umekile catch, or cut open a number of them... even the far more careful runner found herself getting tangled.

"Hey!", somepony shouted as a dark green, rotund mare had her newly-hung dress torn off by a very sharp blade... Umek's horn.

"Sorry-EE!", Umek tripped forward, he'd had gained on her, the end of the alley gave way to a road filled with onlookers, as a tumble of wet, or dry clothing swamped out onto the cobblestone. He had her now, sort of~ He was on top of the mare.

"Ow!", she complained, and the moment her "Attacker" made motions to get off, she pushed up, sending him rolling. At the gasp of the crowd however, her anger turned to fear. Her cloak was gone! Fussing around, a small set of pegasi wings burst off her coat, "Ohh! No no no!".

Umek pulled his head out from under the covered, a white sheet caught upon his horn, but not all his vision was blocked. He looked rather amazed at what he saw, "Whaat?", he mumbled, a little dizzy, "Pegasus?... Unicorn?-" Smack! She actually kicked him back into the pile, before launching herself at the air!

"The Princess! It is the princess!", another shouted.

"The King's daughter? Here? In the street?"

"Ugh~", he was mighty winded, she'd struck him in his chest, which truly had done a number on him, stumbling to his feet, Umek jostled his horn a little, groaning, "What hit me?~"

With all their courtesy, somepony came forward, a rather late-middle aged mare, a little slow in her walk, but not hobbled like the elderly, "Why... Princess Celestia of course."

"Princess?~", he cocked a brow, rubbing his head, and pulling the bedspread off his horn, slinging it aside.

"Never heard of her."

End Part One.