After a short walk, Chuck finally reached his destination. Glancing up at the sign to make sure he was at the right place, he opened the door and walked into Iron Will’s Homes.

“Greetings, little pony! Welcome to - ah! Mayor Chuck!” The minotaur cut his introduction short when he realized who he was talking to. “Have you finished moving into your new house?”

Chuck nodded, there having been not too much he needed to do in the first place. Iron Will smiled. “Great! Meanwhile, Iron Will has been running the numbers on your loan...” He took out a calculator, which looked comically small as he held it. “It all comes out to...exactly 3500 bits.”

The mayor nodded again. That didn’t seem too unreasonable for him. The two talked for a few more minutes to iron out the details for payment, and then Chuck was on his way once again. By now, the rain had practically stopped, so he didn’t bother with his umbrella.

He decided his first stop would be Quills & Sofas to see if they had anything new he could buy, as well as to sell various fruits and items he had found around Ponyville. However, he was soon distracted from this planned quest by a trio of young fillies zooming by him, one piloting a scooter and the other two riding along in a wagon attached to the back.

Looking around after the trio were practically out of sight, he saw the other ponies nearby looking slightly unsettled, as if bad news had just been delivered to them. He walked up to a stallion, who turned to him.

“Oh, hello Mayor,” the stallion greeted, trying to put on a pleasant smile. “Can I help you?”

Chuck gestured in the direction the three fillies went off in. “Them? Oh, they’re some girls who are always getting into trouble. Pretty much everypony in town knows to get out of the way if it looks like they’re on some kind of ‘Cutie Mark Crusade’, or whatever they call it.” He squinted, looking down the path. “...seems like they’re headed off in the direction of the Everfree Forest...”

The mayor tilted his head, confused. The stallion looked back to him. “Oh, uh...the Everfree Forest is a forest just outside of Ponyville...I wouldn’t recommend going in.” He shuddered.

Chuck thought for a bit, nodded thankfully, and turned to run off after the fillies. As much as the stallion’s vague warning had made him want to steer clear of this ‘Everfree Forest’, he knew that if three fillies were going to be around there, they could end up in trouble. He needed to make sure they didn’t get hurt.

After several minutes of walking, Lyra and Bon Bon had travelled from the town hall to a decently-populated cafe. A few ponies who recognized one or both of them waved, and they waved back. However, for the most part, they were mostly able to just stick around each other and speak privately.

“I really think you need to ask Mayor Chuck about taking a break,” Bon Bon insisted. “You’re running on barely any sleep right now.”

“Once I take care of the rest of the paperwork, I’ll have plenty of time to sleep,” Lyra replied with a yawn to punctuate the end of her sentence. “All the more reason to get it done now...”

Bon Bon sighed and shook her head. “Lyra, if I have to chain you to your bed to make you get some sleep, I will.”

“Didn’t think you were into that sort of thing,” the unicorn remarked with a smirk.

The other mare blushed and groaned, burying her face in her hooves. “I walked right into that one...”

“Yes, you did. And for the record, I’m not going to just stop working. It needs to-”

“I’m not asking you to stop working,” Bon Bon cut her off, her red face slowly returning to normal. “I just want you to take better care of yourself. Stop working nonstop from sunrise to sunrise, okay?”

Lyra sighed, rubbing her eyes. “Fine...”

The earth pony smiled. “Good. Now, can we just enjoy our lunch in peace?”

As if on cue, there was a loud roar as three fillies familiar to every inhabitant of the cafe whizzed by with their scooter and wagon, causing the two mares to try and cover their ears from the loud sound. As the roar faded away, they then saw Chuck chasing after the trio, oblivious to the ponies around him looking on in confusion.

“Chuck?” Lyra started to stand up, but Bon Bon grabbed her arm and pulled her back down. “Hey!”

“You don’t need to go after him every time you see him,” the earth pony told her. “Let him handle himself. He’s not a newborn baby.”

The unicorn sighed. “Fine, fine...”

“See? You’re learning.” Bon Bon snickered. “You don’t have to do everything. It’s okay to relax sometimes, even with your new job. You can afford to let the Mayor handle some things. That’s why he’s the Mayor in the first place.”

Lyra smiled. “True enough, I suppose...” She sighed. “I just don’t want anything bad to happen.”

“Oh, everything will be fine. Calm down.”

The unicorn nodded. Adjusting herself so she was sitting more comfortably, she began to eat and steer the conversation to more casual topics, letting herself forget about the piles of paperwork for a brief time.

Chuck approached the entrance to what he believed was the Everfree Forest. Judging by the tracks and markings on the ground, the three fillies had already gone in.

With a sigh, the mayor reached into his pocket and pulled out his shovel. He wasn’t sure what kinds of things would be in the forest, but he wasn’t taking any chances, and his shovel was the closest thing to a weapon that he had.

Moving hastily but nervously, Chuck ventured into the Everfree Forest, unaware of the pegasus pony who peeked out her door and saw him just as he went in.