The clacking of a train pierces the night. Wheels turned in tandem, carrying the three car locomotive to it’s destination somewhere under the starry night sky. All around there was nothing but empty fields as far as the eye can see, the grass swaying in the slipstream of the passing engine, gleaming under the moonlight like waves in the ocean.

You opened your eyes to find yourself in the last car of the train, just before the caboose. The walls to your left and right are lined, not with windows, but with doors that give off a faint blue glow. Each door is unique in it's size and style, but every one of them has a heavy handle with a large lock on it. The back wall, where there would normally be a threshold to the next car, looks like the inner workings of a grandfather clock. A rather calm and practiced voice draws your attention to the center of the room.

“Oh my, it would seem we have a visitor!”

In the center is a satin couch curved around a table. Seated on the couch are three humans, all giving you a very welcoming stare.

“Welcome, to the Velvet Room.” Says the one in the center. He's dressed in a fine black suit and tie, his spindly hands adorned with clean white gloves. His eyes look as though they are attempting to escape from his head and shoot past his very long nose. Grey hair frays and twists uncontrollably around his bald head and behind his pointed ears.

“My name is Igor, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. These are my assistants; Agatha,” Igor gestures with a hand toward the woman to the right, dressed in a similar, yet azure coloured suit and tie with a matching cap covering her red hair. She nods to you with a faint smile and you notice her yellow eagle eyes.

Igor waves his other hand to the identically dressed man on the left. “And her Brother, Agero.” Agero, like his sister, simply nods in greeting. Igor then beckons you forward. “Please. Come join us why don’t you?”

You approach the empty table and take a seat across from Igor, who then brings forth a deck of cards from seemingly out of nowhere.

"This room exists on a different plane of existence then the one you hale from," Igor explains. "It is a world caught between dreams and reality. Mind and Matter. A world where, ordinarily, only those bound by a 'contract' may enter." A wide, and slightly unnerving smile cracks across his face.

"Tell me, do you believe in fortune telling?” He asks as he shuffles the deck in earnest. “It’s been so long since I’ve read the cards for someone such as yourself. It’s been mostly humans for the last thousand some odd years.” You watch as seven cards fly, all by themselves, from the top of the deck and land face down on the table. “So, to whom do I owe the pleasure of unveiling the future too?”

You see no harm in telling this strange man your name, so you give it to him.

“Hmm… I see.” Igor smiles and nods. He seems intent on engraving your name into his memory. Satisfied, he turns his attention to the cards. “Let’s take a look, shall we?” Igor snaps his right hand and one of the cards flips upright. “Hmm… the card foretelling the immediate future is The Wheel of Fortune in the inverted position.”

Igor looks at the card as if it had personally offended him. “It seems that a great change will soon occur in your life that will affect the world around you. However the event that causes this change will undoubtedly be… unpleasant, to say the least. You may feel helpless, confused, and at the mercy of forces outside of your control. You must remember though, that life is full of both ups and downs, and that if you make it through this change you may become stronger for it. And speaking of which, let us look to the future beyond.” Igor snaps again and another card flips over. “Temperance, in the upright position.”

Igor smiles up as he translates. “Like I said, there are both ups and downs in life. Beyond you and your world’s bout with misfortune, there are lights of hope that gather around you, seeking to help and guide you. These lights may be familiar to you, or they may be lights you’ve yet to encounter. It is imperative though that you remember to be patient. Harmony and friendship is within your grasp, but you must be open to them.” Igor chuckles at this. “And now we turn to the distant future. Where will these bonds take you I wonder?” For a third time, Igor snaps and a card turns over. “The Tower, in the inverted position.”

Igor looks very serious as he reads. “This card represents chaos and destruction, and in the inverted position it represents inevitability. It seems that there is something that you must face many moons from now. And no matter how many friendships you gain, you must face it alone.” Finished with the reading, Igor waves his hands over the table, the three cards flip back over, and all seven cards fly back into the deck.

Agero leans toward you and looks into your eyes. “If I may, you have a very interesting life ahead of you.” he says, speaking for the first time. “Igor has told us stories of others he has read the cards for, people who have visited the Velvet Room and left to change the world in spectacular ways. I hope that you will do the same.”

“And we will be there to aid you.” Agatha adds. “However, though we wish you the best of luck and desire nothing more than for you to succeed, we do expect something from you in exchange.” Agatha lays a book on the table, opening the cover to pull out a piece of paper. She then pulls a pen out of her pocket and places both objects in front of you.

“In exchange for helping you through the coming trials,” Igor starts. “We simply request that you take responsibility for all your choices and actions. By signing this contract, you agree to these terms, and you will be welcomed to the Velvet Room with open arms, any time you like.”

You look down at the paper in front of you, reading it over. There are only a few lines that inform you of your responsibility to your choices, with no other strings attached, in return for the services the Velvet Room offers. Your mind runs over Igor’s predictions as you reach for the pen. The coming misfortune, the growing of bonds with others, and the inevitable confrontation. You scrawl your name on the line at the bottom of the page.

“Wayfarer”

Agatha smiles and takes the page from you and slips it back into the book. Igor looks over you, as if measuring you up for the first time. He then closes his eyes and chuckles again. “You remind me of some young people I used to hold contracts with. So mature about taking responsibility.” You feel your eyes drooping a bit and Igor seems to take notice. “It would seem our time is up. We will discuss these matters further when next we meet.” You can’t keep your eyes open any longer and you fall backwards, a voice whispering above you as you continue to fall.

“Farewell.”

~~~

“Attention all passengers!” The Conductor, standing at the front of the train car, called out in a very loud and attention grabbing voice. “We will be arriving in Ponyville in approximately ten minutes! Please be sure you have all your personal belongings!” The Conductor then walked through the door behind him to the next car.

As ponies all around began to shift and reach for their bags stored above their heads or below their seats, Wayfarer looked out the window to the surrounding countryside. The train was traveling through a narrow valley between the Foal Mountains and Rambling Rock Ridge. The area was rather flat, yet dotted with many trees and the occasional farmhouse.

Wayfarer shook his head a bit, trying to shake off the lethargy of his nap. The trip had been long and tiring, but the destination was just minutes away. The idea of finally settling down in a quiet little town brought a small smile to his face, but not without some trace of sadness. Wayfarer had grown up in Baltimare, a city not known for its peace and quiet but was none the less a cultural center of Equestria. For as long as he could remember, it had been his home, but lately he'd felt a sense of wanderlust. Something in his blood commanded him to pull up the stakes and move away. The few friends he had were sad to see him go, but none of them were in a position to object to his decision. They'd grown so far apart in recent years, and Wayfarer felt that he had lost all connection to such a loud and confusing place. So, with nothing more than his saddle bags and a train ticket, he'd left Baltimare behind.

The sound of squealing brakes signaled the train's arrival, and soon it came to a stop at the Ponyville station. Strapping on his saddle bags, Wayfarer departed from the train along with several other ponies, who all dispersed as quickly as possible. Wayfarer looked around as he stood in the middle of the platform, hoping to find an information board or something that might tell him where he could bunk for the night. Out of the corner of his eye he spoted a map of Ponyville nearby, which didn’t really help, but it did point him in the direction of town hall. Thinking he might have better luck there he joined the other ponies and stepped out of the station, heading in the direction of the center of town as the train that brought him there whistled and prepared to depart.

The trip to town hall was brief, but it gave Wayfarer the sense that this was a very lively town, despite its size. He passed through what seemed to be a marketplace, filled with stalls that seemed to sell every fruit and vegetable under the sun. Still more stalls had trinkets and nicknacks for everyday life, some necessary, others merely curiosities. A lot of the ponies shopping around seemed quite content to waste the day away chatting amongst themselves and the venders. It was clear to Wayfarer that this was the type of town where everypony knew everypony else.

When he arrived at town hall, he found it to be rather empty, save for one lone mare at the front desk. He approached her and was greeted with the sound of a quill scratching its way across the page, which halted once he reached the desk as its wielder looked up with a friendly smile.

“Can I help you with something?” The mare said, straightening her glasses with a smile.

“Well,” Wayfarer started. “I was wondering if you could direct me in the direction of a motel or something? Or if anypony had any rooms for rent?”

The mare’s face scrunched up in concentration before she spun around to a filing cabinet and began digging through it.

“We don’t keep any records of anypony opening up their homes for travelers, and from what I can tell the one motel Ponyville has is being used to house the ponies working on the castle.” She looked up at Wayfarer as she pulled out a file. “You’re not with them, are you?”

“No, I’m just moving here from Baltimare.”

The mare nodded as she looked at the number written on the front of the file. “I’ll call the motel and see if there are any vacancies. Please have a seat over there.”

She pointed at a row of chairs not to far away and Wayfarer trotted over to them. He removed his saddle bags and tossed them on the seat next to him. He hadn’t brought much with him from his old life, not that he had a whole lot to begin with. All that he had was a sack of bits and a few necessities, such as a toothbrush and toothpaste, some nice clothes, a hair brush, just to name a few. The one thing he brought with him that wasn’t something he needed was an old deck of fortune telling cards that he’d had since... for a long time.

The door behind the front desk suddenly opened, drawing Wayfarer’s attention. A pony with a purple coat and dark purple hair trotted out of the room, followed by another pony who looked a lot older, with grey hair and a tannish coat.

“Thank you very much for your help Miss Mayor.” Said the purple pony. “I’m sorry to spring this on you the day before the festival, but it was sort of sprung on me as well.”

“Don’t think anything of it your highness.” said the tan mare as she bowed low. It was at this point that Wayfarer noticed the purple pony had both wings and a horn.

"An Alicorn!" Wayfarer thought with amazement.

The Alicorn gave a very embarrassed chuckle before waving a hoof at the Mayor “Please Mayor Scroll! You don’t have to call me ‘Your Highness’, just Twilight will do.”

“Oh, yes of course Your Hi- I mean, Twilight.”

Twilight smiled before turning and noticing Wayfarer looking over at them. Wayfarer tried to avert his eyes, he didn't want to seem rude for staring. Twilight walked over to him however and greeted him with a sincere level of enthusiasm. “Oh, Hello! Are you in town for the Starfall Festival?”

Wayfarer was only able to give a confused look before the mare behind the front desk interrupted. “I’m sorry sir, but it would seem the Fine Feathered Motel is booked for the whole week, you’ll have to ask around town to see if anypony else has open rooms.”

Wayfarer’s ears drooped a bit at this before he shrugged and grabbed his bags again. “Guess that’s that then” he said as he tightened the strap.

“Wait,” said the pony called Twilight. “There’s room in my library, you can stay there if you want.”

Wayfarer looked at her with a bit of surprise. This town really was friendly if its citizens were so willing to just invite strangers into their home out of the blue like this. “I, umm,” he mumbled for a moment before taking a deep breath and looking right at Twilight. “Thank you for your offer, I’d very much appreciate whatever room you can offer me. I’m Wayfarer.”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle.” She reached forward and offered a hoof shake to Wayfarer, which he gladly returned. “Come on then, let’s get you settled in.” The two walked out of town hall and back into the sunlight, Wayfarer following Twilight as she led the way.

“So, are you here for the Festival?” Twilight asked, repeating her previous inquiry.

“No," Wayfarer said, shaking his head. "I’m actually moving here from Baltimare. I needed a place to stay while I got my self, you know, established.”

“Well I’m sure there are plenty of ponies here who would gladly offer you a job," Twilight smiled encouragingly. "And you can stay at the Library as long as you need to.”

“Thank you very much,” Wayfarer said, then hesitated for a moment, before deciding to add “Your Majesty.”

Twilight stopped in place, she turned to Wayfarer with a look of exhaustion, “Please, just Twilight will be fine.”

Wayfarer felt a little ashamed at himself, this was obviously a touchy subject for the mare so he nodded and acquiesced to her request. “Of course Twilight.”

Twilight smiled wearily and continued to lead Wayfarer to her library home. Wayfarer was surprised yet intrigued to find that the building had been made out of a rather large tree. It reminded him of an old fairy tale about a tree of knowledge. As they approached though, Wayfarer suddenly felt tired and his vision started to blur.

“Ugh!” he grunted as he shook his head back and forth.

Twilight looked at him with worry. “Are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah, I think I’m just tired.” He shook his head a few more times, but the lethargy continued. He felt like something was pushing against the back of his head.

“I didn’t think the train ride from Baltimare would be that exhausting.” Twilight said as she pushed open the front door to let the two in. The spacious front room felt very warm and welcoming, helped by a fire crackling in the fire place across the room. In front of it sat a small purple and green figure reading from a book, and at the sound of the door opening it looked around at them.

“Hey Twilight! How’d your meeting with the Mayor... go....” he barely got the question out before he noticed that there was another pony with Twilight.

“It went very well Spike,” Twilight said. “Could you do me a favor and fix up a room for Wayfarer here? He’s going to stay here for a while while he gets settled into Ponyville.”

Spike raised an eye at this before shrugging and walking forward with an arm outstretched. “Wayfarer huh? I’m Spike, nice to meet you!”

“Umm, same here.” Wayfarer said as he placed his hoof in the creature’s claw, giving it a hearty shake before Spike ran off to some other area of the house. Wayfarer turned to Twilight before voicing his question “Was that a Dragon?”

“It was indeed.” She said with a smile as she walked over to the fireplace to pick up the book Spike had left behind. She turned it over and looked at the cover before shoving it back on one of the shelves. She then looked back to Wayfarer and asked, “Would you like some dinner before you catch a nap? It’s a little early but I know how unpleasant going to bed on an empty stomach can be.”

Wayfarer’s belly gurgled loudly at the mention of food. He placed a hoof over himself before looking back to Twilight, “That would be nice, thank you.”

The two trotted into the kitchen, Wayfarer leaving his bags behind in the front room, and started preparing a simple spaghetti dinner. Spike came in a few minutes later and lended a helping claw. Soon their meal was ready and they returned to the front room to eat. Wayfarer felt a little awkward about how quickly his hosts had welcomed him into their home, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he sat down and dug into his dinner.

“So what brings you to Ponyville?” Spike asked through a mouthful of noodles.

“Spike,” Twilight whispered, accosting the young dragon. “Manners.” Spike rolled his eyes and swallowed his food, still staring at Wayfarer.

“Well,” Wayfarer started. “I just felt like I needed a change of pace.”

“It’s quite a change of pace moving here from Baltimare.” Twilight said. “This is about as far from the big city as you can get short of Appleoosa or Dodge Junction.”

“Not like this is a quite town though,” Spike laughed. “Not with you here anyway’s Twi!”

Twilight blushed and looked away. “This town is known to draw in a bit of excitement, but I wouldn’t say it’s because of me.”

“I don’t mind some excitement,” Wayfarer said. “But Baltimare is just, obnoxious.” The three laughed a bit at this before settling down and staying quiet for a few moments, letting the merry crackle of the fire fill the silence before Spike piped up again.

“So are you excited about the Starfall Festival?" He asked. "There’s going to be hundreds of comets passing over! Twilight keeps checking her telescope every few hours to make sure it’s ready.”

“Only because I don’t want to find out that the lenses are .005 millimeters off when they start to fall.” The purple mare explained. “What if I miss the chance of studying the surface of McNeigh when it passes over?” Spike rolled his eyes and went back to shoveling large amounts of pasta into his mouth.

“I’ve actually never heard of the Starfall Festival,” Wayfarer admitted. “What is it?”

Spike stopped filling up his mouth and Twilight looked at their guest in shock. “You don’t know?” She asked. “It’s only the biggest parade of Comets ever! It only passes over once every ten years! But because of light pollution from the big cities, Ponyville is one of the few places in the country where you can still see it clearly!”

“Oh, wow!” Wayfarer said, his interest peaked. “When exactly does it start?”

“Well the Festival officially begins tonight, but the Comets could start flying over anywhere between tonight and a week from now. We won’t know until they get here.”

Wayfarer couldn’t help but get a little excited himself. If what Twilight said was true, then he’d be treated to something that would put last year's Horseshoe Bay Fireworks Show to shame. But when he opened his mouth to voice his excitement, all that came out was a very long yawn.

Twilight, giggled at this and offered to take Wayfarer’s now empty bowl. “I think you ought to go rest up now. Don’t worry, if the comets come tonight I’ll be sure to come and wake you up. You got his room ready, right Spike?”

“Yes ma’am!” The dragon said with an accompanying salute.

Wayfarer gave a very tired sigh and went to his saddle bag, pulling out a small sack that jingled with coins. Before he could give it over to Twilight, she shook her head at him.

“You don’t have to pay me rent,” she said with a smile. “I invited you here free of charge. Besides, what do I need money for?”

Wayfarer blinked as he remembered who he was dealing with “Right, royalty.” He thought as he pushed the bag of coins away, then picked up his saddle bags and walked toward the door Spike had passed through earlier. He turned around however when another question came up. “If you’re royalty, then why do you live here in Ponyville?”

Twilight smiled and said, “I may have grown up in Canterlot, but Ponyville is my home, I have friends and family here, I couldn’t just leave it behind.”

“Not like we won’t have our own bit of Canterlot right here in Ponyville in a few weeks!” Spike said, looking out the window.

“Even after the Castle is finished Spike,” Twilight said “It might still be awhile before we can move in.” She then looked around the library with a sad look about her. “I’m going to miss this Tree.” she continued to look around before she caught Wayfarer’s eyes. “Oh, sorry, the room is down the hall, second on the right.”

Wayfarer nodded and left the two to themselves. Once he was in his room, he dropped his saddle bags next to a tiny bed and then immediately collapsed onto it, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up to him.

~~~~~

Wayfarer found himself laying on top of a grassy hill in the dead of night, the stars twinkling above him as the wind rustled the grass around him. Sitting up, he looked all around himself, but everywhere he looked there was nothing but a sea of green.

“So, you’ve arrived...”

Wayfarer turned to see a cloaked figure standing behind him. The figure walked forward, not revealing their face from beneath the cloak’s hood. Cautiously, Wayfarer backed away from the figure, who then halted their approach.

“You don’t seem to remember me. That’s fine, you will in time.”

The figure sat down, silently watching Wayfarer in the darkness. Wayfarer soon began to allow his eyes to stray from the figure, looking again to the vast fields surrounding them.

“You seem lost. Don’t fret, we all get a little lost sometimes. Even you, the Fool, The Traveler, The Beginning. But finding your way is often just a matter of picking a path and following it.”

As the figure spoke, the grass beneath them began to fade away, revealing a path that stretched far into the distance in either direction.

“But which way should you go? What if you go the wrong way?”

The figure chuckles as Wayfarer continues to look at it in confusion.

“I’m sure if you stay here long enough, someone might come this way to point you in the right direction.”

Wayfarer’s eyes felt heavy. he couldn’t help but feel a peculiar sense of Deja Vu.

“Until that time, sleep. I’m sure your guide will come soon. Take care, my little pony.”

~~~

*TAP TAP TAP*

“Hey, you awake yet?”

Wayfarer’s eyes pried themselves open, the morning sun streaming in and nearly blinding him. He groaned and sat up in bed, his silver mane falling haphazardly over his eyes. “Y-yeah Twilight, I’m awake.” He grumbled as he rubbed the sand out of his eyes.

“Alright, breakfast is ready whenever you are.” the sound of hoof steps signaled her departure.

Tossing the sheets away, Wayfarer rolled out of bed and opened up his saddle bags. He didn’t have a closet in this small room, so he hung his button up shirt over the foot of the bed for now, then he placed the deck of cards and sack of bits on the bedside table, leaving the rest in the saddle bags on the floor. As he began to walk out he looked back to his button up, deciding that if he was going to go job searching today, he might as well make a good impression.

Wayfarer walked into the kitchen as clean cut as possible. His hair was still a mess, but he usually let it fall however it pleased anyway. Twilight looked over to him when he walked in, a little surprised to see him wearing something more formal than what ponies usually wore around Ponyville.

“And where are you off to in that getup?” She asked as Spike lifted a plate stacked high with pancakes onto the table.

“Is it too much?” Wayfarer asked, looking around at himself.

“Not at all," Twilight shook her head, then went for the flapjacks with a fork. "It’s just that even our most fashionable ponies in Ponyville will often forgo wearing anything.”

“I just want to make a good first impression when I apply for a job,” Wayfarer explained.

“Quick to the punch are we?" Twilight chuckled. "Maybe I can help you find a job that would interest you.”

“Don’t you have another meeting with the builders today, Twilight?” Spike asked, sliding five flapjacks onto his own plate.

“Oh shoot that’s right!” Twilight said, groaning a bit. “Sorry Wayfarer, looks like you’re on your own for today.”

“I can show him around.” Spike volunteered.

“Oh Spike, I couldn’t ask you to do that," Twilight said, looking worried at the prospect of depriving the dragon of something. "I thought you wanted to see the castle too?”

“Uhh, Twilight," Spike said, raising an eye. "I’ve seen it once a week for the last four months. Not like a whole lot has changed. Besides, how is he supposed to know what he wants to do if he doesn’t know what there IS to do?”

Twilight bit her lip, trying to decide what to do. “Alright Spike, you can give him the grand tour. Bring him by Sugar Cube Corner around lunch, we’ll let Pinkie Pie blow off some steam.”

“You sure that’s a good idea Twi?” Spike asked, suddenly looking a bit worried himself.

“We made Pinkie Pie promise not to throw any welcome to Ponyville parties for any of the ponies who come to work on the castle, or the one’s that arrive this week for the Starfall Festival." Twilight grimaced and rolled her eyes as a thought came to her. "She’s probably suffering from Party withdrawal at this point.”

“Yeah she did look a little twitchy when I saw her the other day," Spike added, the worry on his face becoming clearer.

“Umm, what are you two talking about?” Wayfarer asked, fearing the two were planning something.

Twilight waved her hoof absentmindedly. “It’s just one of our friends, she likes to throw parties. A lot. Usually it’s Birthday’s, Cutecineras, or ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ Parties.”

“That’s... interesting,” Wayfarer said, not sure how he felt about a party being thrown for him by complete strangers.

“Don’t worry, Pinkie Pie’s harmless..." Twilight smiled, but quickly turned to try and hide her discomfort. "Most of the time.”

Wayfarer sat down and the three ate their fill. Twilight left almost immediately after they were done, leaving Wayfarer and Spike to clean up before heading out.

“So where to first, Mr. Tour Guide?” Wayfarer said as Spike locked up the Library.

“Well, what are you good at?" Spike asked inquisitively. "Your cutie mark doesn’t really say much about what your special talent is.”

“Honestly." Wayfarer tossed a glance at his gold and azure Compass cutie mark before turning back to Spike. "I’m not too sure about it myself. I do know I’m good with my hooves.”

“Yeah, you must be if you could get those clothes on without a horn. Hey, that gives me an idea!” Spike started walking away from the library, beckoning Wayfarer to follow. “We can try Rarity’s boutique first!”

The two started towards the south edge of Ponyville in relative silence, save for the few moments of small talk.

“The comets didn’t come last night,” Spike said looking around at the sky. “Twilight would have been up all night waiting if Luna didn’t send a message saying she’ll let her know when the comets would arrive.”

“I’m actually thankful for that," Wayfarer said. "I didn’t really have a good night’s sleep.”

“Bad dreams?” Spike asked.

“No, just..." Wayfarer didn't really know how to describe what he'd seen last night, it didn't exactly make a lot of sense to him. "Odd.”

The two finally arrived at a highly decorated building that looked like it belonged in one of the more sophisticated Equestrian cities. The sign on the front door said it was closed, but Spike started rapping on it anyway when they reached it.

“I’m not quite ready to open yet!” Came a voice from inside. “Please come back in about half an hour and I’ll be ready to dazzle you with whatever garments you need!”

“Rarity, it’s Spike.”

After a brief moment of silence, the door opened wide dramatically to reveal a white unicorn with an elaborate purple mane. “Oh, good morning Spike! Do come in!” She then turned up to see Wayfarer. At first she looked at him in surprise, but then smiled as she looked him over. “And who, might I ask, is this?”

“I’m Wayfarer, I just moved here.”

“Pleasure to meet you Wayfarer, I’m Rarity, and if you’re looking for some new apparel, then you’ve come to the right place." Rarity then stepped slowly around Wayfarer, appraising the clothing he was already wearing. "Though I must say you already seem to have very nice attire.”

“Thank you," Wayfarer said, happy that his choice to wear something nice had impressed at least one pony. "But I’m actually here to inquire about any job openings you may have?”

“Is that so?” Rarity said as she raised a hoof to her chin, contemplating the stallion before her. “Well I usually do all the work here myself, and if I do ever require help it’s usually Spike who I call on.” Out of the corner of his eye, Wayfarer could tell that Spike was blushing deeply as he looked up at Rarity. “I usually only work with dresses as well,” Rarity continued. “So I don’t know how much help you could offer me. Do you have any experience as a tailor?”

“None at all, I’m afraid," Wayfarer admitted.

Despite this, Rarity smiled at Wayfarer. “I’m sure there’s somepony in this town that you could work for, but I’m afraid that I don’t have a place for you here. You look like a strong and healthy young stallion, why don’t you try the Apple Orchard to the west? They may not appreciate your fashion sense as much as I do, Darling, but a very good friend of mine works there and I think she could use the help, even if she won’t admit it.”

“That sounds like a plan," Wayfarer said. "Thanks.”

“You sure you don’t need any help today, Rarity?” Spike asked, barely containing any of his obvious infatuation.

Rarity turned to Spike, giving a slight pout as she berated him. “Spike, you weren’t thinking of ditching this fine Gentleman here just to come and help me, were you?”

“Oh, n-no! Of course not!" Spike looked flustered as he turned away, cheeks red with embarrassment. "I just, umm... I’ll be going now, c’mon Wayfarer.”

Rarity chuckled as Spike began to jog lightly away, she then nodded to Wayfarer. “Do feel free to come by whenever you need something Darling, just because I mostly make dresses doesn’t mean I can’t whip up a nice suit or something.”

“Thank you Miss Rarity," Wayfarer said with a nod. "It was a pleasure meeting you.”

“Pleasure was all mine my dear. And welcome to Ponyville!” With that, Rarity went back into her shop and Wayfarer turned to catch up with Spike.

~~~~~

“Sorry Spike.” Said the orange pony with a cowboy hat. “Fraid Ah don’t have any work for yer friend here.”

“You sure about that Applejack?” Spike asked incredulously.

“Now Ah know what you’re thinking,” The farm pony said as she walked over to a nearby tree. “Ahm not so stubborn as to forget Applebuck Season. I AM going to need help with that, specially with Granny Smith the way she is, but that’s not til after Summer, so it’s a long ways off.” She turned around and bucked at the tree, knocking a fair number of apples into the surrounding buckets. “Sorry Mr. Wayfarer, but if you’re hankering for work, you’re gonna have to look elsewhere.”

“I understand Miss Applejack.” Wayfarer said as he stared at the now filled buckets.

Applejack rolled her eyes as she walked over to another tree. “Ah don’t need any of that ‘Miss’ nonsense. Just ‘Applejack’ will do fine.”

“Oh, right. Will do.”

She chuckled as she bucked the next tree. “Well nice meet'n you. Take care Spike.”

“See you around AJ!” Spike said as he and Wayfarer turned and walked off the orchard.

“Where to next?” Wayfarer asked, trying to hide a bit of disappointment.

“uhhmm...hehe." Spike chuckled ashamedly. "‘Quills and Sofas’?”

~~~~~

“Thank you for your time Mister Breezy” Wayfarer sighed as he walked out of yet another store. He and Spike must have visited almost a dozen places that morning, looking for someone who might be hiring. Now the two were once again walking down a crowded street, heads hung low in defeat. “Well at least I’ve got a pretty good idea of the town’s layout now.” Wayfarer said as he looked around at all the stalls selling food. His stomach grumbled slightly at the sight of a carrot stand.

“Guess we ought to head over to Sugarcube Corner then.” Spike said as his stomach began to growl as well.

After a few more minutes of walking the two found themselves in front of what looked like a life size gingerbread house. As they approached the entrance, Twilight came around the corner, levitating several scrolls around her and reading them very intently. Somehow she managed not to run into anything or anyone, and even seemed to notice Spike and Wayfarer without even looking up.

“Hello you two,” she said as she lifted up a quill and scratched something out. “You have any luck finding a job, Wayfarer?”

“Not even volunteer work.” He said simply, shaking his head slightly.

“Don’t get too discouraged,” she said, shoving several scrolls into her saddle bags. “Even if you can’t find one now, one’s bound to show up sooner or later.”

“Hopefully sooner rather than later,” Wayfare said dejectedly as he pushed on the sweet store’s door.

A cheery bell jingle announced their entrance, and the scent of pastries and other confections greeted them as they walked into a small front area. A few tables were placed off to the side, with a few patrons already present and enjoying their afternoon treats. A counter showing off fresh baked goods sat directly across from the door, everything from cupcakes to pies to cookies were on display and making Wayfarer's mouth water slightly. Behind the counter was a blue mare with a swirling pink mane, wearing an apron.

“Welcome!” she said as the three walked up to her. “How can I help you today?”

“We’re looking for Pinkie Pie, Mrs. Cake.” Twilight said as Wayfarer and Spike began to eye the edible arrangements in earnest. “Is she around? We have a surprise for her.”

“I’m afraid not Deary." Mrs. Cake said. "She bounced out of here this morning, saying something about the tips of her ears itching.”

“Oh boy,” Twilight moaned. “Wonder what that one means.”

“One what means?” Wayfarer asked, pulling his attention away from a particularly scrumptious looking cheese cake.

“Oh nothing," Twilight said with an exasperated sigh. "Just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.”

“Umm, okay...” Wayfarer looked around once again and then decided to ask, just for the heck of it. “Mrs. Cake?”

“Yes Deary?”

“You wouldn’t happen to have any job openings, would you?”

“Oh, I’m afraid not. Me and my husband run this business ourselves and we don’t normally let anyone help us with the baking. Pinkie Pie being the exception of course.”

“I see.” Wayfarer let out a sigh before adding. “Could I get a lemon danish please?”

“Of course you can Deary.”

~~~~~

With a small lunch in hoof, the three left Sugar Cube Corner. The danish helped relieve Wayfarer of some of his disappointment, but he was starting to wonder if moving here was the right idea.

“So where do you think Pinkie went Twilight?” Spike asked.

“I have a hunch,” Twilight responded as she pulled out one of the scrolls again. “I just hope she hasn’t made too big of a mess of the place.”

“Is it just me?” Wayfarer asked through a mouthful of danish as he looked around at the now empty streets. “Or does it seem awfully quiet around here now?”

Spike and Twilight shared a look with each other at that. Twilight shoved the scroll back in her bags and picked up her pace a bit as Spike smirked at her.

“How many ponies do you think she invited over?” Spike asked her.

“Oh no,” Twilight mumbled to herself as she went from walking to a light jog. “Oh no oh no!”

“What’s wrong?” Wayfarer asked as they neared the library.

“I can’t leave that Library unguarded when we move out Spike!” Twilight said almost hysterically. “Who knows what might happen to it?”

“Twilight! Relax!” Spike said, trying to get the alicorn to compose herself. “Breath in. Breath out. Remember?”

“Not now Spike! I have to make sure my books are safe!”

“Twilight!” Spike yelled as he stepped in front of her, stopping her just before the Library’s front door. “Would Pinkie really let something bad happen to your things just for the sake of a party?”

“What are you two going on about?” Wayfarer said as he walked past them and put a hoof on the door. Slowly it began to creak open, and Twilight’s eyes went wide in horror.

“WAYFARER NO!”

As the door swung open, Wayfarer found himself in the grasp of several hooves as they dragged him inside, surrounding him in a mob of what must have been dozens of ponies. Before he could even respond to this invasion of his personal space, he was pushed out into a clearing in the crowd, right in front of a large table stocked with party favours. Above the table was a large banner that said “Welcome to Ponyville!” And directly behind the table was a small blue cannon pointed up and over the crowd.

“What... What is all this?” Wayfarer asked, absolutely baffled by the sudden sensory overload.

Wayfarer’s confusion only intensified when the cannon exploded, showering the whole room with confetti and releasing a pink blur that landed right in front of Wayfarer and transformed into a smiling, curly maned pony who launched right into a song.

"Welcome welcome welcome

A fine welcome to you!

Welcome welcome welcome I say how do you do?

Welcome welcome welcome

I say hip hip hurray

Welcome welcome welcome to Ponyville today!"

With her song over, the cannon once again shot confetti over a now cheering crowd. The cannon pony then pushed Wayfarer over to the table where a large cake awaited him. “Hope you like lemon!” She said, ignoring the look of complete dumbfoundedness on Wayfarer’s face “Oh who am I kidding? Of course you like Lemon! You’ve got it all over your face silly! I mean who would have a lemon danish and not like lemon? That’d be like me eating a Chimmicherrychanga when I didn’t like cherries! But I DO like cherries! especially with a milkshake when they’re covered in whip cream!”

“I...I...” Wayfarer stuttered as the abruptness of it all took away his capacity for speech.

“OOH! I think I’ve rendered him speechless!" The pink menace said. "That’s okay! My parties do that sometimes! You’ll be able to talk again after some cake. Want a big slice or a small one? I’d go for a big slice personally.”

“PINKIE!” Twilight yelled as she struggled through the crowd to the table.

“Hi Twilight! Thanks for letting me throw a surprise party for your new house mate!”

“How did you even know about that?!” Twilight said with no small amount of frustration.

“Pfft, duh! Left eye twitch, achey shoulder, itchy ears!" Pinkie accentuated each of these random body spasms with a live demonstration. "That means Twilight’s going to let me throw a party for some random stallion that she let stay at her library until he can find a job and get his own place!”

Twilight stared at the pink pony with a look of disgruntled surprise. She sighed and just shook her head. The crowd had stopped looking towards the table and had moved to mingling with each other. Some of them would move to the table to procure some refreshments or try to say hello to Wayfarer. But Wayfarer’s attention was on the crazy pink creature in front of him. He felt incredibly uncomfortable in this situation, and he only had one word to say to this pony.

“Why?”

“Why did I throw you a super ginormous party to welcome you to Ponyville?” Wayfarer simply nodded, and she answered with yet another tangent. “Because my Pinkie Sense told me that Twilight was going to let me throw a party for some random stallion that she let stay at her library, and I knew that if you were some random stallion then she probably only just met you. And if she only just met you then you were probably new here! And I always throw parties for any new pony who moves here because if they’re new, then they haven’t met anyone yet, and if they haven’t met anyone yet, then that must mean they don’t have any friends here, and that’s no good! So I throw a big party with a whole bunch of ponies for them to meet and make friends with! Speaking of which, Hi I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?”

Wayfarer was almost overwhelmed by this somewhat annoyingly long introduction. He felt like yelling, or at the very least running somewhere that wasn’t so crowded. He was about to do both before a large slice of cake was shoved under his nose. Pinkie Pie looked up expectantly at him, he reluctantly picked up a fork and took a bite of the cake. Immediately, everything seemed to calm down. He took a deep breath and looked at the mare in front of him, who for the first time seemed content to let someone else talk.

“My name is Wayfarer. I’m from Baltimare.”

Pinkie smiled at him, then put the plate down. “See! Told you your voice would come back after some cake!”

“Pinkie.” Twilight said, seemingly calmed down as well. “Why didn’t you ask me before you decided to hold a surprise party for him? I was bringing him by Sugarcube Corner so that you could do just that!”

“But it wouldn’t be a surprise for him though! It’d be one for me!” Pinkie then noticed Twilight’s irritation. “Oh okay. I promise to ask you first before throwing surprise parties in the library. Cross my heart and hope to fly! Stick a cupcake in my eye.” she accompanied this odd promise with a hoof gesture across her chest and then covering up her eye.

Wayfarer, a lot more at ease now that the initial shock had passed, picked up the rest of his cake and started to dig into it. As he did, several more ponies came up to greet him, including Rarity and Applejack. Applejack was accompanied by a small yellow filly who looked ecstatic to be there.

“Howdy Wayfarer!” the farm pony said to him as she approached. “Any luck with that job hunt?”

“No, unfortunately.” He took another bite of cake “But I’m sure something will come up, sooner or later.”

“How bout if something came up now?” The mare smiled as she turned to the little filly next to her. “This here is my little sister, Apple Bloom. I just picked her up from school and I thought we’d come join the party.”

“Is she going to offer me a job?” Wayfarer asked, smiling down at Apple Bloom as she smiled right back at him.

“Heh heh, nope. But her teacher sure will! Miss Cheerilee is looking for a helping hoof at the school house. She asked me about it, but Ahm too busy with the farm to do that sort of thing. But then Ah thought about you and told her there was a smartly dressed stallion from the big city looking for a job and he might be interested.”

“A teachers assistant?” Wayfarer asked. “But I don’t have a teaching degree. I’ve never taught anypony anything.”

“I think it’s more of a janitorial job then a teaching job," Applejack clarified. "She’s been taking care of that place all by herself for the longest time, and I think she just wants more time devoted to her students.”

‘Finally a lucky break!’ Wayfarer thought to himself, but his smile must have conveyed the thought to Applejack because she smiled right back.

“You might want to go by early tomorrow, Ah think she'd probably want to meet you first before you get the job, seeing as you’re new here and all.”

“That doesn’t seem to have bothered anypony in this town at all to be honest.”

“Yeah, we’re a mighty friendly lot in case you haven’t heard.” She tipped her hat and left with Apple Bloom in tow.

The party continued on for several hours, during which Wayfarer was introduced by Pinkie Pie to nearly everypony in the room. He tried to remember all the names he was told and match them with a face, but it was nearly impossible, especially when he could have sworn there were identical twins scattered amongst the crowd. It also didn't help that he would start up conversations with a few of the guests, but then he was quickly shoved onward by Pinkie, who seemed determined to make sure Wayfarer had as many friends as possible.

Eventually however, a familiar lethargy began to creep up his back. He felt tired from all the walking around and talking he’d done today and really just felt like taking a nap.

“Umm, Pinkie Pie?” Wayfarer tried to say as the pink party pony lead him over to two pegasi in the corner.

“Wayfarer, these are two of my bestest friends in the whole world! Rainbow Dash,” The rainbow maned pegasus just smirked and nodded. “And Fluttershy!” The one with the pink weeping willow hair bowed her head and muttered something that sounded like a hello.

“Pleasure to meet you both.” Wayfarer said as he tried to blink away the tiredness in his eyes. This seemed to catch Fluttershy’s attention as she looked at him with a slight degree of worry.

“Um, are you okay mister Wayfarer?” she asked a little louder than her greeting.

“Heh, I think Pinkie’s partying is too much for him. Too bad.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Don’t worry,” Wayfarer said as he shook his head around “I’m just tired is all.”

“Oh, well, Pinkie?” Fluttershy said, turning to Wayfarer’s captor. “Maybe you should let him go take a nap, or something?”

“Aww, but there are so many more ponies that he needs to meet!”

“I’m not going anywhere Pinkie” Wayfarer said, putting a hoof to his head. “I can meet them some other time.”

“But you’re going to take a nap! I’d say that’s going somewhere!”

“Hey,” Rainbow Dash said as Wayfarer shook his head roughly. “You look more than just tired, are you sick or something?”

“I... I might be..." Wayfarer couldn’t take much more of this. He felt like he was going to collapse at any moment. "I’m going to bed now...”

“But Farey!” Pinkie moaned. “This is your party!”

Wayfarer was too tired to be annoyed by the nickname Pinkie had just given him. He just shook his head and turned to walk out of the room. He was about half way there when he ran into Twilight and Spike.

“Going to bed?” Twilight asked.

“Y-yeah, I feel like-” Before he could finish, Spike let out a huge belch and a small jet of green fire. Wayfarer flinched at the sudden spark but his expression quickly turned to confusion when the flame consolidated itself into a small scroll.

Twilight took the scroll in her magic and unfurled it. After reading it over she smiled and yelled out over the audience. “Hey everypony! I just got a letter from Princess Luna! She says that the comets will start to fly over tomorrow night!”

There was a large amount of cheering going on when this announcement was made, but Wayfarer didn’t join in. He slowly trotted out and down the hallway to his room. He almost didn’t make it to the bed before he fell unconscious and he was taken away by his dreams.

~~~~~

Wayfarer once again found himself in the grassy fields, waiting on the dirt path. The hooded figure was nowhere to be seen, but there was another figure walking down the path towards him. The figure seemed familiar, but Wayfarer couldn’t tell who it was.

Suddenly, a voice seemed to wring out from the figure, not as a yell, but as a calm and collected voice that seemed to reverberate across the distance between them.

“I am thou... Thou art I...”

~~~~~

Wayfarer’s eyes snapped open. By the looks of the light coming through the window, it was early morning. He didn’t even hear any birds singing or anything. He looked at the clock and, sure enough, it was half past four in the morning. He sighed as his hooves hit the floor, he’d fallen asleep in the one nice outfit he had and he was going to go ask this teacher named Cheerilee for a job. For a moment he thought about going to Rarity’s boutique to see if he could borrow an iron or something to try and fix his disheveled look, but that went out the window with how early it was. She wouldn’t be open, let alone awake.

“Maybe Twilight knows how to fix this.” he mumbled as he took off the button up and overcoat. As he set the garments on his bed he noticed the stack of Tarot Cards he’d left on the bedside table. Chuckling to himself, he decided to check his fortune.

Wayfarer didn’t put much stock into fortune telling, he just found the practice to be good for a laugh or an interesting talking point. As he laid out the cards on the floor though he couldn’t help but get a weird sense of deja vu. He then turned over three of the cards to reveal the Inverted Wheel of Fortune, the Upright Temperance, and the Inverted Tower.

Wayfarer suddenly had a flash of a room that seemed to glow blue, with he and three others there with him. He clutched at his head as the image faded away. Quickly he regained his composure and put the cards away. His breathing was heavy as he stared out the window towards the horizon as the sun’s rays began to peak over the trees and mountains. His mind twisted and turned, trying to comprehend what was going on. The strange dreams, the headaches, now flashes of other places? He shook his head a few times and looked back to the window sill, where a little blue butterfly had perched itself.

Wayfarer sighed as he looked at the creature. “Wish I could be as carefree as you little guy.” With that he walked to the bathroom and prepared himself for the day.

~~~~~

“Why’d we have to be up so early again?” Spike moaned as he walked alongside Wayfarer.

“Because I need to meet with Cheerilee before the school day starts.”

“And I had to come because?”

“I still don’t know my way around quite yet.”

“Fine, whatever.”

After Wayfarer had gotten freshened up, he’d found Twilight up and about as well. Thankfully she’d been able to sort out his wardrobe... somewhat. He’d still have to visit Rarity later, maybe have a second outfit made. After a bit of breakfast, Twilight woke up Spike to have him show Wayfarer the way to the schoolhouse, much to the dragon’s irritation, and now the two were traveling down the well worn path out of the main hub of Ponyville. As the two turned a corner, The schoolhouse came into view, the sun just barely peeking over the side.

“Looks like nopony is here quite yet.” Wayfarer said as he and Spike stopped at the end of the fence bordering the road and school’s playground.

“Then you should have just let me sleep in.” Spike yawned, leaning against the fence.

“We can’t be that early, can we?” Wayfarer looked around, hoping to see somepony walking around. “Let’s knock and see if they’re inside.”

Wayfarer trotted up to the front door with Spike dragging his legs behind him. Wayfarer rapped on the door a few times then stopped to listen for any hoof steps on the other side. After a few moments of silence, he knocked once more, just to be sure, and almost immediately there came the sound of frantic shuffling and the rush of hooves towards the door. Wayfarer and Spike took a few steps back before the door swung open and revealed a very disoriented looking fuchsia mare, who starred at the two with wide eyed shock and worry.

“What time is it?” She muttered, as if afraid of the answer.

“About half past Six,” Wayfarer said as he looked over the disheveled mare. “Umm, are you Miss Cheerilee?”

“Half past Six,” she said under her breath. “I’ve got an hour to get ready before my students arrive. Oh I must look like a mess!” She looked to Wayfarer as if she’d only just noticed him. “I-I’m sorry, can I help you?”

“Actually, I was told by the guardian of one of your students that YOU needed help.”

“Wh-What are you... Oh right, the notice I sent out yesterday.” She sighed and turned back into her School house, Wayfarer and Spike following behind. “I am Miss Cheerilee, yes. And are you the new arrival everypony’s been talking about? Sorry I couldn’t come meet you at Pinkie Pie’s party yesterday, but as you can see,” she gestured to her desk, which was stacked high with papers and books. “I’ve been rather busy.”

“That’s not a problem. I’m Wayfarer.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Wayfarer.” Cheerilee said as she raised a hoof to shake his, which Wayfarer responded in kind with. “Now, I’d planned to give a full interview with anypony who came to follow up on my request for help, but we’re a little short on time, and I desperately need someone's help right now.” She began to rummage around her desk, looking for something. “If you can handle what I give for you today, short notice, then consider yourself hired.”

“Just tell me what needs done.” Wayfarer said, his voice brimming with confidence.

Cheerilee simply smiled at that as she took out a blank sheet of paper and a quill and began scribbling on it.

“Luckily, everything needed for today is already here.” She said as she scribbled away. “But I still need to run home and make myself presentable to my students, as well as pick up my lunch and eat at least SOMETHING for breakfast. Oh, I wonder if Applejack has opened up her apple cart yet? In the meantime,” she hoofed over a completed list to Wayfarer “If you and Spike could get started on this list?”

“Hey, why me?” Spike said, still looking slightly tired.

“Because I’d like to have somepony here I know to watch him for me. Sorry Wayfarer, but I really expected somepony I actually know to take this job.”

“I understand.” Wayfarer said, nodding to her as he looked at the first few tasks on the list. “That’s the broom cupboard over there right?”

Forty-five minutes later, Cheerilee came back through the front door, looking slightly out of breath, but a lot more focussed and organized. A large paper bag hung from her mouth as she looked over the job Wayfarer and Spike had done.

The floor had been swept of debris from the previous day, and all the foal sized desks had been straightened and lined up in neat rows. Her front desk had also been cleared, most of the paper set in baskets for her to organize herself when she got a chance and the books dispersed to all the students desks. The chalkboard was cleaned, the pencil holders around the room resupplied from the stock in the storeroom, and all unneeded books placed back on their proper shelves in alphabetical order.

Cheerilee was actually surprised the two had managed to do most of what she had assigned them before she got back, and she walked over to the two as they cleaned the windows, setting her lunch on her desk.

“Colour me impressed,” she said, catching the two’s attention.

“Don’t be too impressed,” Wayfarer said, nodding over to Spike “He did as much work as I did.”

Cheerilee looked between the two and smiled. “Honesty. I like that. You’re hired, Wayfarer.”

Wayfarer couldn’t help but give a sigh of relief at that. “Thank You Miss Cheerilee.”

“Just Cheerilee will do nicely.”

“I seem to be getting a lot of that lately.”

“Can I go now?” Spike said impatiently as he set down a bottle of window cleaner.

“Of course you can Spike. Thank you very much, and give my regards to Twilight.”

Spike grumbled something about sleep before he walked out of the front door. Wayfarer picked up the window cleaner and went back to the windows while Cheerilee went to the stacks of paper, sifting through them and pulling out what she needed.

“My students will be arriving shortly,” Cheerilee said as Wayfarer finished and placed all the cleaning supplies back in the broom cupboard. “Sh-Should I introduce you to them? Just so they know who you are?”

“Umm, I think so?”

It did seem prudent that Wayfarer introduce himself, especially since Cheerilee had apparently never had somepony to help around the schoolhouse like this before. But Wayfarer didn’t have much experience with children and he wondered how they would react to him. He was honestly expecting to be so far behind the scenes that they wouldn’t even notice him.

His thought’s were cut short when the front door opened and an orange filly with a red mane walked in with a very light yellow and orange maned one. Both of which seemed to be talking animatedly before they walked in and saw Wayfarer.

“Good Morning Firelock and Ginger Snap!” Cheerilee said in an almost sing song voice.

“Morning Miss Cheerilee.” The two said as they took their seats, still staring at Wayfarer.

Several more foals began to walk in, until the class was filled with almost twenty fillies and colts, including Applejack’s little sister Apple Bloom. they all seemed to start gossiping about Wayfarer, speaking in hushed tones to each other while they waited for everypony else to be seated.

“Alright my little ponies!” Cheerilee said to the class, immediately silencing them. “I’d like you all to meet Mister Wayfarer. He’s going to be helping out around the school house. He’s also new to Ponyville, so why don’t we all give him a big Ponyville Hello!”

Wayfarer seriously doubted that these tykes could give him the same sort of hello that Pinkie Pie did, but he smiled all the same when they all chimed together “Hello Mister Wayfarer!”

Wayfarer nodded his head a little and returned the greeting to them. He was a little surprised though when one filly’s hoof shot up.

“Where are you from?” She asked in a genuinely curious voice.

“Oh, umm, Baltimare.”

“What’s it like there?” A colt in the back asked.

“Loud and crowded.”

“What’s your Cutie Mark symbolize?” A little white unicorn asked.

“Ummm...”

“Did you have a special somepony in Baltimare?” asked an orange Pegasus next to Apple Bloom. All Wayfarer could do is look shocked at that question as Cheerilee decided to cut short her students inevitable bombardment of personal inquiries.

“Alright, that’s enough.” she said calmly. “Mister Wayfarer has work to do, so let’s let him get to it!” She handed Wayfarer another list that had him cleaning up the basement, and he walked out, letting a few polite farewells follow him.

~~~~~

The rest of the day passed without issue. After cleaning out the basement, which had a working printing press and typewriters that needed maintaining, he found himself outside. He cleaned the other side of the windows while the fillies and colts ran outside to play, some of them rushing over to ask if he’d join them. He almost said no, but Cheerilee walked over and said it was fine, which ended with him kicking Hoof balls for the foals to try and catch until Cheerilee called them back in for afternoon classes.

After a few more hours working out on the grounds instead of inside, the school bell rang, signaling the end of classes. A herd of foals charged out the door as Wayfarer was putting the finishing touches on a bush that was long overdue for a trim. Some, mainly the group that he played hoofball with, waved good bye to him, and as the last of them galloped away he put away the trimmers and walked back inside to find Cheerilee getting started on grading papers she’d been handed that day.

She looked up at the sound of Wayfarer’s hoof steps and gave him a big grin.

“Thank you so much,” she said as he went over to the broom cupboard to grab a broom and make one final sweep of the classroom, which somehow had gotten just as dirty as it was when he and Spike had got there. “I’ll go and make sure you’re placed on the school payroll as soon as I’m done here, which thanks to you won’t be all that long!”

“Glad to have helped.” Wayfarer finished up his cleaning duties and, after making sure there was nothing else he could do to help her, left Cheerilee’s company to head back into town.

The whole village seemed to have exploded since that morning, as it looked like a regular fairground in town square as he walked through. All the decorations had a star theme to them, and there were more than a few ponies who had their telescopes out and ready for tonight. Wayfarer decided to go straight back to the library, but as he started to walk down the road to Twilight’s place, he was accosted by a familiar Pink somepony, who decided to greet him by tackling him to the ground.

“Hey there Farey!” Pinkie Pie said as Wayfarer lay on his back. “Isn’t this all so exciting! I mean I’ve always like fireworks but how often do you get to see the sky make its own fireworks?!”

“With you around Pinkie, I don’t think it's that rare.” Wayfarer moaned as he got back onto his hooves, shaking the stars out of his eyes. “And please don’t call me Farey.”

“Why not? I thought it was a great nickname!”

“It really isn’t," Wayfarer said, doing his best not to scowl.

“You’re no fun sometimes, you know that?”

“Is there a reason why you had to tackle me like that? or was it just to give me a headache?”

“It wasn’t supposed to give you a headache at all! It was supposed to make you feel liked and part of my circle of friends! Speaking of which, we’re all over at Sugarcube Corner right now enjoying starbit cupcakes and Twilight thought you’d be getting done with work by now so she sent me to go find you since I’m really good at finding ponies in a crowd like this!”

“Well, I don’t feel like eating sweets right now," Wayfarer grumbled. "I was going to go back to the tree house and-”

“Why would you go there? Spike and Twilight are at Sugarcube Corner like I told you silly!”

Wayfarer sighed, resigned to his fate as he started to walk in the direction of the sweet shop.

As soon as the two arrived, Pinkie hopped over to the table with all her friends, proudly saying over and over how she found Wayfarer. He felt rather embarrassed to be dragged here by the hyperactive pony, but he sat down amongst the group and joined in conversation.

“So Wayfarer,” Rarity spoke up. “How was your first day on the job?”

“It was fine,” he said simply, but decided to go into a bit more detail when Rarity gave him a look that told him to go on. “Me and Spike got there and cleaned out the classroom while Cheerilee went to run some errands before the day started. Then she introduced me to her students, I went and cleaned some more. Her students wanted me to play with them at recess, and then... that’s pretty much it.”

Rarity nodded to herself and took a cupcake from the plate at the center of the table. “I hope my sister didn’t cause you any trouble at all, did she?”

“Sister?”

“Oh, she’s a little white unicorn with a curled periwinkle mane. Probably sat near Apple Bloom?”

“Oh yeah, she was one of the the foals that tried to barrage me with questions when I introduced myself. I think she asked me what my Cutie Mark meant.”

Rarity sighed to herself and looked at the ceiling. “Of course Sweetie Belle would ask that.”

“Where are the Rowdy Rough Girls anyway?” Pinkie Pie asked. “They’re missing out on free cupcakes!”

“Probably trying to figure out the telescope I gave them.” Twilight said. “I offered to show them but Scootaloo said they’d figure it out themselves.”

“Speak’n of telescopes and star gaze’n,” Applejack said “Where were you planning to set up yours for tonight? That old hill top we usually use?”

“Actually,” Twilight said, getting really excited “I was thinking about using the south tower on the castle.”

“Up that ludicrously high stairway?” Rarity scoffed.

“You expect us to carry that huge telescope to the top of that thing?” Rainbow Dash said, almost as indignantly as Rarity.

Twilight blushed a bit and lowered her head “N-no! Not that one! Just one of the smaller ones.”

Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes at that. “What’s wrong with the hill Twilight? It’s not like the comets are going to look that much closer.”

“Alright, fine!” Twilight said giving into her friend’s arguments. “I’ll just go up there with Spike later tonight by ourselves.”

“Me?” Spike said, picking his head up from the table. “Ughh, fine. Can I go get a head start on all the sleep I’m going to miss?”

“Um, isn’t that what you’ve been doing?” Fluttershy asked. Everypony started to laugh save for Spike, who just looked annoyed, and Fluttershy, who looked slightly confused.

“Alright Spike,” Twilight said. “Go get your rest, I’ll wake you up before we leave.”

“I’ll go with him,” Wayfarer said as Spike got up. “I feel like doing some reading if you don’t mind.”

Pinkie Pie looked a little disappointed at that but Twilight waved the two off and they made their exit.

“You really going to read, or were you just trying to get away from all of them?” Spike asked.

“I said I was going to read.” Wayfarer said simply.

~~~~~

The sun had started to set when Twilight finally came home. Wayfarer had found a book about the comets they’d be seeing tonight and was sitting near the fireplace with it. Twilight nodded at him before she started to trot up the stairs.

“Spike!” She called “I’m back! Let’s go!”

Wayfarer made to put the book back on the shelf he’d found it on, but he thought it would be something good to have so he placed it in the two cart wagon Twilight and Spike had prepared for tonight. The first cart had been filled with baskets of snack food, a half dozen books that probably went into a lot more detail about comets then the one Wayfarer had, several small telescopes, and behind in the second cart was one more rather large telescope. Spike trudged down the stairs, still looking a bit tired, and Twilight followed behind with a few more books from her own room.

“Ready to go?” she asked as Spike went to grab the wagon’s handle and start pulling it out the door.

“Yep.” Wayfarer said as he got behind the wagon and helped move what must have been a heavy load for such a little dragon.

The trip over to the designated hill wasn’t that bad, even when they started going up the incline. As they neared the top, they saw groups of ponies had already spread themselves all around, some with telescopes, some with snacks, very few if any with actual books. When they reached the top they were greeted by the rest of Twilight’s friends and three little fillies, Apple Bloom, and who Wayfarer guessed to be Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

“Hey everypony.” Twilight said as she and Spike began to unpack, tossing glimpses at the sky every now and then. “Has it started yet?”

“Nope.” Applejack said, tossing her gaze up as well. “Saw a couple of fall’n stars and what not, but no comets.”

Twilight hurried to get her telescopes out and set up, checking their alignments one last time, before the first signs of the celestial bodies in question appeared. At first they thought it was another falling star, but then it started getting bigger and brighter. Everypony started to ooh and ahh as the first comet, Pathfinder, stretched it’s dusty tail across the night sky. Twilight almost turned into Pinkie Pie as she latched her eye to the telescope and started spouting a continuous stream of facts about this particular space rock. A few minutes later, a second, shorter comet appeared, then another, and another, until the sky looked like a group of Pegasi were dragging aurora borealis over their heads.

“It’s beautiful!” Rarity cooed when Twilight finally stopped trying to carefully examine every single comet that appeared. “Oh I’ve just GOT to try incorporating this into my new design!”

“Golly.” Was all Applejack could say as she pulled off her hat.

Eventually the entire hill went completely silent as everypony became mystified by the site above them. The spell, however, was broken almost two hours later when the sound of three little snoring ponies drew their attention. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo seemed to have fallen asleep standing up. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash laughed a bit at this before deciding it was time for the six of them to go home. Fluttershy mentioned that she ought to check on her animals before she went to bed and started to walk away as well with a very sleepy sounding good bye. Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Spike, and Wayfarer were the only one’s left, until Spike too fell face forward to the ground, fast asleep.

“Oh, Spike.” Twilight said, shaking her head. “I guess seeing the comets from the tower can wait till tomorrow.” She started to pick up the little dragon when Pinkie Pie hopped up to her.

“Why don’t you just have Wayfarer help you with your comet study thing?” Pinkie suggested.

Twilight froze and lifted a hoof to her chin thoughtfully.

“I can take Spikey home for you!” Pinkie Pie continued as she picked up Spike and placed him on her back. “Don’t worry your pretty princess head about him!”

Twilight turned to Wayfarer and asked, almost with pleading eyes. “Is that alright with you?”

“Of course,” Wayfarer said as he made to start cleaning up the remaining snacks and books.

Twilight gathered up all the materials in her magic and placed them back in the wagon before separating the two carts and giving the first one to Pinkie Pie while she and Wayfarer took the second one with the big telescope.

“Take care of him Pinkie,” Twilight said as Pinkie started to hop down the hill, somehow without disturbing Spike “We’ll be back in an hour or two.”

With that, Wayfarer and Twilight headed toward the mountain side where Twilight’s castle was being built. Wayfarer didn’t really know how he’d missed the structure, but Twilight told him that she didn’t want it to overshadow Ponyville, so she had commissioned it to be inconspicuous by blending in with the mountains.

The light from the comets seemed to set the whole castle on fire as they approached it. Though it didn’t look nearly as big as Canterlot, Wayfarer could see that it was just as grand and regal. Surrounding the castle was a three story wall that was already being patrolled by a battalion of guards, even though the castle itself was still uninhabited.

“Halt!” One of the guards shouted from the front gate as Twilight and Wayfarer approached. “Who goes there!”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle,” She said, drawing herself up to her fullest height, which wasn’t even as tall as Wayfarer, let alone the guards. “And her friend, Wayfarer. We’re here to observe the sky from the highest tower.

The guard looked from Twilight to Wayfarer, examining him for a moment before nodding slightly. “OPEN THE GATE!” he yelled over the wall.

After a moment, the portcullis began to slide upwards, and the Guard ponies bowed their Princess through. The castle grounds didn’t exactly match the splendor of the castle, but Wayfarer guessed that landscaping was one of the last things on the to do list. Entering the castle proper, Wayfarer found the numerous tapestries and intricate marble carvings much more interesting. Twilight led the way, shining a light from her horn, through the corridors and up flights of stairs. The wagon had to be lifted with Twilight’s magic, which she didn’t mind. Soon they were ascending a long spiral staircase, every now and again the windows would reveal their progress. Eventually they arrived at the top of the tallest tower, and all of the surrounding valley was revealed to them.

“Whoa...” Was all Wayfarer could manage as he looked over the town and country side, the comets lighting up the world like Hearths Warming Eve.

Twilight didn’t even bother looking at the scenery and just went to work setting up her telescope again. She made a few adjustments before turning to Wayfarer.

“Do you like it?” she asked, catching his attention.

“I love it.” He said as he turned to face her. “I’ve never been up this high before.”

Twilight simply smiled and nodded before turning to her saddlebags and pulling out a notebook and quill. She stuck her eye onto the telescope and began to observe one of the comets, every now and then she looked to her notebook and scribbled something down. Wayfarer started to get uncomfortable after a while and he started to wonder why she’d brought him up here if she could handle the note taking herself. He sighed and returned to looking out over Ponyville, watching as one by one the street lamps and windows went dark.

“There they go,” Twilight said after a while.

Wayfarer looked up and saw the sky was mostly clear of comets by now. “Is that it?” he asked as the lights descended across the horizon.

“No, they’ll come back around a few more times before they leave for another ten years.”

Wayfarer looked around and realized just how dark it had gotten. With no light from the comets, the town, or even Twilight’s horn, the top of the tower was almost pitch black.

“I guess it’s a new moon out tonight.” Twilight said as she noticed the darkness as well and casted her gaze about for the moon. Not spotting it, she relit her horn. “Don’t worry, we’ve still got this. We can find our way through the castle again no problem.”

Something started to stir beneath their hooves. The castle seemed to be shaking, and the tremors were growing in intensity.

“What... What’s happening?” Twilight cried as the rumble of the earth reached their ears. “An earthquake?!”

Wayfarer looked to the town and saw that lights were starting to come back on, meaning the townsfolk were feeling it too. Twilight grabbed hold of her precious telescope, trying to keep it steady, and Wayfarer rushed to help her, only to have the tremors set him off balance and toss him to the floor. As soon as it had started however, it ended. The quiet stillness returned. Wayfarer looked up and around before locking eyes with Twilight.

“Are you alright?” she asked, releasing her telescope.

Wayfarer nodded, standing back up and looking around. The town seemed to return to life again.

“M-Maybe we ought to head home now.” Twilight said as she moved to pack her telescope away.

“PRINCESS TWILIGHT!” Came a defining shout as three figures shot over the precipice of the tower.

“GHAA!!” Twilight yelled as the shout startled her. “Captain Precision Strike?”

“Are you hurt Your Majesty?!” a guard pegasus wearing ornate armor asked as he and the other two landed on the tower. “We felt the Earth begin to move and feared for your safety!”

“I’m fine Captain. Please return to your post.” Twilight said flatly.

“But Your Majesty!” The guard’s face filled with worry, obvious even in the dark. “I must insist we escort you out of the castle!”

“I am FINE Captain!” Twilight shouted. “PLEASE return to your post!”

The guards looked at each other before the captain sighed. “At once Your Highness.” and with that, the captain and his troops departed.

“tch!” Twilight spat as the three flew away. “Why can’t they just leave me alone? I don’t need their protection everywhere I go!” She went back to her telescope before sighing and turning away. “It’ll be fine here till tomorrow. Let’s go.”

The two began to descend back down the staircase, Wayfarer following behind while Twilight set a very brisk pace.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.” Twilight said as their hoof steps echoed around them. “I just... wish things hadn't changed so much.”

They reached the bottom of the steps and began to navigate the corridors again. Wayfarer looked around, trying to find something to say to Twilight, but the purple shaded walls didn’t give him any idea of how to comfort her... wait....

“Twilight.” Wayfarer said suddenly. “Turn off your horn.”

Twilight spun around to look at Wayfarer with a confused look. She did as Wayfarer said and just continued to stare at him. “What?” she asked as she looked around the softly lit hall. “Why did you want me to turn off my.... light...” She spun around again, noticing now that the castle was full of an eerie purple glow. “How is that possible?!” she said in a panicked voice.

Wayfarer felt a chill go up his spine and spun around to look at the corners of the room. Something seemed to be moving around in the shadows. “Twilight," he said. "I think something’s in here with us.”

“No, that can’t be right. Everypony who works here leaves before sunset! And the guards patrol the halls twice before they shut the gates!”

The shadows continued to stir, until Wayfarer realized that the spots of darkness were actually growing and stretching towards them. Wayfarer was about to suggest they run when all of a sudden his head seemed to explode with pain.

“Aughh!!” He cried as the shadows reached closer.

“Wayfarer!” Twilight then saw how the shadows were behaving and began to tug on her companion. “Let’s go!”

But Wayfarer couldn’t move, he was in too much pain. It felt as if something was trying to burst from his skull.

Then he heard it. The Voice from his dream.

“I am thou. Thou art I.”

“Wayfarer come on!”

The shadows began to rise from the floor, forming into grotesque blobs of some opaque substance. Masks seemed to be the only solid feature on them as they rose up, hands forming and reaching out from their bodies.

“The time has cometh. Open thine eyes, and call forth what is within!”

“Wayfarer!!” Twilight moved forward to try and defend him. She began to pool magic into her horn as the creatures approached, then she unleashed it upon the leader. It seemed to work as a hole was carved out of the blob, but then the hole immediately filled in, leaving Twilight stunned.

Wayfarer blinked once, then felt something fall out of his shirt. He looked down to see what looked like one of his tarot cards. Gently he picked it up and turned it over. It was blank. Twilight began to huddle close to Wayfarer as the creatures surrounded them, tears in her eyes as she began to yell for somepony to come and help them.

“P... Per...” Wayfarer mumbled to himself, staring at the card.

Twilight looked to him with fear in her eyes. “Wayfarer?”

Wayfarer began to look up, a smile forming on his face as the card began to glow.

“Persona”

A bright light erupted around the two. The shadowy beasts recoiling a bit before a massive spear impaled the creature Twilight had blasted. The monster faded into a cloud of red, the rest backing away as the light faded to reveal a bipedal creature hunched protectively over Wayfarer and Twilight.

“W-What?” Twilight stuttered, looking up at their savior. “What is that?”

The figure rose to its full height, pulling its spear out of the ground and spinning it around before taking a battle stance, eyeing the remaining creatures. Its face was covered by a mask adorned with feathers and intricate carvings, its arms and legs were thin, metallic looking and ending in feet and hands that looked segmented. It was adorned with a yellow garment that went down to its ankles only on one side, and it carried a pack on its back that seemed to be close to bursting. Underneath the pack, Twilight caught glimpses of a tail that seemed to be that of a scorpion’s.

Twilight looked over to Wayfarer, who was wearing a confident smirk as he eyed the monsters, as if daring them to come closer. Eventually they did, and the figure was quick to eradicate anything that tried to come near the two beneath it. Its spear swinging this way and that, swatting or stabbing at the creatures. One got lucky and pounced on the figure’s shoulder, clawing at it. The attack seemed to transfer to Wayfarer, who brought a hoof to his corresponding shoulder in pain, before the figure ripped the monster from him and drop kicked it across the room. Wayfarer recovered quickly and looked to the last remaining creatures, staring at them intently as the figure moved to face them.

“Ekchuah!” Wayfarer shouted as the figure waved its arm in the direction of the creatures, sending a gust of wind at them that seemed to slice right through them.

The creatures disintegrated and left Twilight, Wayfarer, and the figure that saved them alone in a quiet corridor. Twilight continued to stare as the figure began to disappear in a beam of light, Wayfarer staring at it with a look of admiration.

“What is that thing.” She asked once again, a little softer as she tried to recover from what had just happened.

Wayfarer simply stared into the light as it finally faded away. Looking down he muttered that word to himself again.

“Persona.”

After a moment of silence, Twilight picked herself up and walked over to Wayfarer. She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head side to side. “Did you... summon that thing?” she asked. Wayfarer looked over to Twilight, feeling slightly warm as he nodded to her. Twilight looked around, searching for anymore of those creatures. “Are they gone?”

“I don’t know.” Wayfarer said, his smile fading as he too started to look around.

“Well I’m not waiting to find out. Let’s get out of here!”

The two made tracks out of the castle, leaving through the front door and out into the grounds. But before they could make it to the gates, Wayfarer’s lethargy caught up to him again. He stopped half way there, Twilight doing the same when she noticed something was wrong.

“Wayfarer?”

“S-Sorry, I feel a little...” He couldn’t finish that sentence before he collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious.

Author's Notes:

Oh boy. Here we go. First Fanfiction ever.

I was more then a little nervous when I decided I wanted to do this, if only because anyone who's played the Persona games knows just how long they can get. That and I don't have an editor.

Which brings me to a favour I'd like to ask of you all who read this: Don't be soft on your critiques. I want you to tell me of any mistakes I make, so that I can 1. fix them, and 2. learn from them.

I don't know when the next chapter will come, as this one took three rewrites over the summer to finally get to the point that I was happy with, and I'm starting school again soon, as well as job hunting. I'll try to keep you up to date, but given my past record with something like this, expect a hiatus or two... hundred... before I'm finally done with this thing.

[edit 9/23/13] Spaced out the paragraphs to make it easier on the eyes