Puzzle Piece

Today started off unexpectedly. The first thing I remember was Princess Twilight's speech about how there were peaceful Florans on the planet and that they had negotiated this in secret to not cause alarm. I was willing to give this peace a chance but I've seen what those Floran did to Equestria. Some of our other members gave their less than approving opinions on it. Especially Applejack and Digi. I don't want to talk about what happened to Granny Smith, but that was a topic that shouldn't really be discussed anyway. Sky Buster came up to me wearing some iron royal guard armor he had fashioned last night with the help of Rarity. That was probably a first since the two don't really mix. They were cool, they didn't hate each other or anything, they just had conflicting personalities. He looked at me with a bow and quiver tucked into his wing.

“Hey Puzz!” he smiled, but couldn't keep his face straight, “How does glass cereal taste?”

“LIKE PAIN!” I put one arm around him and we laughed at my own misfortune, “So what's up?”

He threw me the bow and quiver and iron arrows, “That is for you my friend! We're going on a hunt!”

Wait-really?! He made this bow just for me? It was a flexible recurve bow made from wood and reinforced with iron to keep its curve. My eyes widened and I gave him a big hug.

“You do care!” I squeezed him tight. I knew he was having trouble breathing but that didn't last long as I let go and he dusted himself off.

“After what you did in the last war for me. I owe you one,” he was right. We were both unconventional soldiers in the last two wars. I was a thief who fought against Vulcan Sol as they invaded Equestria. But even then I kept my optimistic and positive attitude in the face of war and bloodshed. I stole from the rich and gave to the poor during my adventures and I always believed in using my abilities for good and not evil. Even though I often broke the law, I did it so a family didn't starve and the smiles on their faces drove me on to fight for them. I'm a deep thinker and philosopher, which was why I'm named Puzzle Piece. When I have a figurative “puzzle” before me I “piece” out the answers. Although philosophy was represented by my cutie mark; a red puzzle piece with a blue question mark, my second talent was archery. I did it mostly for sport and not for sustenance like most ponies and I also used it to strike at my foes as a last resort. You wouldn't figure a stallion with glasses to be a top markspony but I however am one of the best shots with a longbow. This recurve bow was perfect for my needs!

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” I started to hop around as I tested it. The string drew back smoothly as a green glow of magic engulfed my weapon. I let go and the silent twang was music to my ears.

“So what's the verdict? Good?”

“Great! A little heavy, but overall powerful with a smooth pull and a smoother shot. But I'll have to shoot an arrow for the final test.” I gave it one last inspection before I notched an arrow. The tips looked to be cast from specially designed molds as well and sharpened to a fine point.

Sky Buster looked up at a piece of metal hanging on a tree. I had noticed it yesterday but hadn't bothered to question it.

“See if you can hit that tiny pixel capsule on that branch right there. That's gotta be a hundred yards out,” he was gauged the distance.

With arrow notched I leveled the bow to my eye, half my sight was on the arrow and half was on the target. I could imagine the flight path of the arrow, just as long as gravity was roughly the same. I hadn't thought about that until I shot the arrow and it missed it just by a hair, hitting the branch and knocking it off the tree. It broke on the ground and spilled ten of those coins.

“Hey! That counts. Not bad!” he patted me on the shoulder and collected the money, “You deserve it, here's my bet I made to myself”

He also gave me ten more of the similar looking coins. They were odd little things that seemed to be made of a special material. I put them in my pocket and adjusted my glasses.

“Kim! You ready to hunt?”

“Yeah yeah, I should be good,” Kim was all well and good. I was surprised she was so up and about. Last I heard she almost died, “Also: if anypony finds out that I almost died to a freakin' banana I will kill you both. So will Rainbow if you say the same thing.”

“Yeah, I agree, that would be embarrassing,” Sky nodded, “Did anypony else hear a scream last night?”

“I dunno, I was doing stuff with Antony,” Kim looked away and I noticed she also had an iron hunting bow with her, “So what are we looking for today? More Scythetails? Those things are freaky man.”

“I know! That reminds me, hey Puzz how's Gummy handling this trip? I know Tank's just clonging around the house during the day bored out of his mind. So I decided to put guns on him and make him our UTAV, the Unmerciful Tortoise Aerial Vehicle.”

“Oh, Gummy is... Getting too big for the bathtub. Last night he was trying to death roll my head but ended up giving me a wet scalp massage. Fluttershy assures me that he's just doing that for fun though and would never hurt Pinkie or I. You don't have a pet do you KP?”

“Hell nah, Tommy and Rarity's cat tried to claw my face off that fucking thing! I don't want a pet after that,” her face scrunched up, “I like Ink's cat better, it's much tamer. Angel bunny is a dick though.”

“I know right? That silly rabbit tried to eat the last of my cereal last month. How he got up to the cloud house I have no fucking clue,” Sky Buster facehoofed, “Well, we should be coming up to that pond. Ah! There they are.”

His voice turned to a whisper.

I looked at them once again. These odd beasts were little more than furry alligators on this world. If I had known that earlier they wouldn't have scared me so easily. They actually looked kinda cute if it wasn't trying to eat you. They weren't too fast either but could jump short distances out of the water and on land. I don't normally eat meat though, it's a little frowned upon in mainland Equestria. And I found it a little disgusting as well. I notched an arrow on my bow and the others did as well.

“Okay, KP, Puzzle, I want you two to take up positions around the pond and surround them. Corral them into a killing zone,” Sky outlined the plan.

“Sounds good, what's the signal?” KP turned to him.

“Pheasant call, just like old times.”

“Roger! I'm off,” she went ahead and flew stealthily through the air to take up a spot on a tree. Back during the war she was a legendary spy for Equestria's MI6. Her and Antony were the two who paved the way for the dambusters to destroy Vulcan Sol's hydro-electric plants. They were the spies who went into hostile enemy airspace to photograph a secret weapons base at low altitude near Mount Schirm, Vulcan Sol. And their most famous mission, operation Keynote, had them roping into a fortified castle with an experimental helicopter as Rainbow and Sky Buster covered them from the air. The tales of Kim and Antony went into the legends of Equestrian history. So much so that they've made a few Applewood movies about their missions. Her personality and spunk also drove her success, and she would always find a way to catch her enemies off guard. After the war I took up science and philosophy to study in my spare time. Which was how I met my love: Pinkie. One day I was studying in the Ponyville library when she approached me and her smile caught my eye. She wanted to be friends right off the bat and her positive aura just made me feel comfortable in her presence despite the seemingly awkward introduction.

“Puzzle! Go over there to my right. Cover that angle of approach,” Sky pointed to a bush hidden under a branch of a rosewood tree. I was naturally camouflaged with my green coat color and my hat and cape were reversible to match my coat. I levitated my bow to my eyes as I got into position. I cast a Zoom Vision spell focusing right on my target, giving me a level of magnification like that of a sniper rifle. I aimed right for its forehead and let the arrow fly as Sky called out. The sleeping Scythetail was undisturbed as the arrow went into its skull, killing it mercifully. The rest of the group retreated underwater in panic and we just bagged the three large corpses.

“Good shot Puzzle!” KP patted me on the back. I was going to retrieve my arrow before Sky Buster stopped me.

“Hello, you're the unicorn here? Let's NOT get near the edge of the water and just drag those bodies with magic or something,” he smirked, “Unless you want a walrus toothed scalp massage.”

“I think I'll pass on that idea,” I took a stance and hefted one of the carcasses into our flying wagon. It was heavy and my levitation spell was lacking in strength to haul the other two. I ended up just dragging the two remaining bodies as Kim and Sky loaded it into the wagon.

“There! If you can get past the smell they're delicious when cooked,” Sky nodded and pulled the cart into the air.

“Can't argue there. It's still pretty disgusting though. Oh well, I eat processed food back home and we all know what horror stories come from that,” KP rolled her eyes, “I'm hungry for a Naco now...”

“We need corn, cheese, and spices for that Kim. Which is why we're going into town. Buut,” Sky awkwardly smiled, “I might have pissed off the merchant. So can you use your wit and charm to get in there and drop off these bastards Puzz?”

“That I can most certainly do,” I smiled smugly as I got on top of the cart and raised one hoof into the air.

“Oh! And for your guys hard work: here's some money. Go ahead and buy whatever you need from the guy. He speaks fluently so feel free,” Sky Buster handed the cart to KP as we landed, “I'll just stay here at the entrance. Remember! Try and look for sugarcane!”

“Will do!” I tried not to think about the last time Pinkie had a sugar relapse. Let's just say her cupcakes tasted a little off...

As I walked into town the Florans eyed us like animals. Bitter memories of war with them flew into my mind and I swear I saw a few of them licking their mouths at us, or maybe it was just the meat in our cart. We offloaded it and KP pulled out her silenced pistol.

“Back away from the merchandise! You go ahead Puzzle,” Kim sat by to guard our shipment. I entered the store and was greeted by the merchant.

“Hello there! As a reminder, you break it you buy it!” He smiled and looked at me normally. This was actually the first really friendly Floran I've met.

“Hello good sir, my name is Puzzle Piece of New Ponyville. I believe the leaders of my town came by yesterday for some peace talks?”

“Oh yes, lots of Floran here are actually really tame. We've all come from our mother tribes questioning the savagery of our race. I for one was raised by a human family when I was to be cannibalized as a child. Pardon our way of greetings, they might seem a little hostile but we all mean no harm. Really, it's how most of us were raised all our lives. What can I do you for?”

“Some sugarcane seeds would be nice please! If you have any that is,” I felt comfortable talking to him.

“Lucky for you I just got a shipment from my human contacts! Here's a bag full of them for 150 Pixels,” he placed a bag of seeds on the table. It was pocket sized but full of seeds.

“Thank you!” I placed the money on the counter, and we exchanged goods, “By the way, I'd like to drop off some meat for the village to sell.”

“How many carcasses and what kind?”

“Scythetails as we call them. The ones with the two big teeth in their mouths, three of them.”

“Ah! We call those Toothy Stabs, but I can see why you call them Scythetails. Rolls off the tongue easier. Here's 1200 Pixels for them. Unless you want more to trade for?” he directed me to this shelves full of wares, “I have books on Floran culture and lore. Iron and silver bars, coal if you need the heat, a copper pickaxe, and if you're interested I've also got a few melee weapons. Like this Blunt Whacker Firecracker!”

He placed down a large mallet coated in pitch.

“It's a Floran weapon. It sets people you hit on fire. Us Florans hate fire and that's why I'm trying to sell this. I've also got tomato seeds, refined iron and copper ore, a karaoke set if you want! I believe I also have some more red stim packs if you need to get better in a hurry. What a magic little medicine that is huh?”

“Yeah, thank you for selling us those. Two of our party almost died last night. One of them is with me and she's okay now,” I looked in wonder at the store shelves, “Say, what are these strange seeds?”

“Pearlpeas! Delicious if you can get past the shell. I recommend boiling them,” he brought them down and I felt them in my hoof, hard and pearl like given their name.

“Are they safe to eat?” I asked, remembering about the bananas.

“Of course they are. Anything can eat Pearlpeas. You just gotta bite down hard enough,” he dusted the large seeds off and placed them on the counter, “Would you like to try them?”

“Yes peas!” I giggled and made him smile as well, “Can I also get a few tomato seeds and some of those books you mentioned?”

“Sure thing, I'll just subtract 800 Pixels from your meat pay. Here you go and enjoy your day!” he waved and placed the money in his cash register. I went outside to see some of the workers take the carcasses into the store. I noticed that all the Floran houses were made of wood, bamboo, and thatch. Some were even carved into large trees like the Old Ponyville Library. I'm sure Pinkie will be happy to see sugarcane again! As we stepped out of town Sky Buster met us at the gate.

“Did you get the goods?” he asked, arms crossed and hovering in place.

“Got it right here,” I gave him the bag of sugarcane and he gave it a good sniff.

“That's sugarcane alright! Interesting little story: my family actually got rich off this stuff. The Fillypines was the number one producer of sugar back in the day and my family had invested heavily in sugar plantations. Shame that I never got any of that cash though,” he took the cart and I climbed in. We took to the skies and KP flew in formation.

“That's pretty cool Sky. I've also got tomato seeds, books for Twilight, and some peas too.”

“Good haul! How much money did we make for the meat?” he turned his head to glance at me before returning to face front.

“Eight hundred Pixels. I wonder how much is that in bits,” I scratched my chin as my hat fell off from the rush of wind. KP flew back to get it and wore it for the rest of the way back. My dull yellow mane flew in the breeze.

“Funny you mentioned that Puzz, I asked Troy how much a sandwich costs on his home planet. He said it was like three dollars for a basic ham sandwich. Now compare that to a basic petal sandwich in Equestria which was often three bits. Judging by that, our monetary values are roughly the same for our home currency. And! He also told me that ten Pixels equals a dollar, so that makes eight hundred Pixels...”

He paused to calculate.

“Eighty bits! Not bad but we still got more. We gotta pool together our money to see how much we have. So now that sugarcane is off the list, we need guns, and I need a metalwork station. Oh! And Digi found out how to use those 3D Printers we have on our ships! Turns out that these little pixels are made of high density molecules of all known elements in the universe. We just toss them into the machine and out comes what we need! It doesn't print food or refined metal though. However, I made a few flight helmets from my leftover pixels for the upcoming pirate ship ambush. Digi and Tommy are working on the avionics while I try and build the flight saddles for our squadron. Anyway, we're here.”

Sky Buster landed in the road that lead into town. Waiting at the gate was Pinkie Pie, eager as ever awaiting for my arrival.

“PUZZLE!” she jumped me and gave me a big firm hug, “My lovey dovey extraordinary little Puzzy! I missed you!”

“Ah, how I do love thee,” I returned the hug and kissed her, “I brought you a present.”

“Is it sugaaar?” she started to nuzzle under my chin.

“Oh yes, here you go Pinkie Pie!” I pulled the sugarcane seeds from my pocket and she bounced around me in joy.

“Oh goody fun fun! I'm going to get these to Applejack right away!”

“I think I'll join you. See you later Sky and KP!”

“Yup, see ya bro,” Sky Buster went to his crafting station and started work on his usual projects.

“Well, nap time for me,” Kim trotted inside her house and waved, “Bye Puzzle.”

I held Pinkie close and I could feel her warmth seeping into my coat. I remembered when we first met at the Ponyville Library as I was studying the philosophy of Starswirl. I got so caught up talking with her that I forgot to read. We talked, and talked, and talked that night away. I could still feel it, the brisk breeze of that summer night, the taste of the cupcakes we had on our first date, and from there we grew onto each others optimism. I wanted to be like her, always full of energy and wanting to make everypony smile even in the face of adversity. Honestly, I like the joyful way she approaches life and the two of us just naturally fell in love. We brought the seeds to Applejack and they sprouted immediately from earth pony magic. It was really wonderful to scratch out our living in the stars. As the first ponies in space I'm honored to be part of such a close group of friends. Had I not met Pinkie I'm not sure where I'd end up today. But now as I look up into the sky as the sandy colored planet hovered above our heads in place of Luna's beautiful moon I realize that our place in the stars was well worth it. We sat in the farm for hours looking at the planet, the shimmering rice field, and playing hide and seek among the apple trees and grain field. Laughing and giggling as we enjoyed our time together away from any worries, fears, or doubts back home. Only the two of us together cuddling in the wheat field. Looking up at the stars.

“That one looks like a lollipop!” she pointed to a bright red star with three tinier stars right under it.

“I see some clouds rolling in. That one looks like a boat,” I joined her as we poked at the sky.

“Looky there! That one looks like Ink Rose.”

“You're right, it kinda does,” I looked up at the smooth and silky form of the cloud that made up the silhouette of Ink Rose's hair. I admired her work as a comic artist, writer, and scribe. Although she, like Sky and Rainbow, served in the Equestrian Air Force she retired to take up her dreams. She was one of the best writers, even rivaling that of A.K. Yearling among Equestria. Her novel and comic series: Shapeless Sun, has sold millions of copies worldwide. Her retelling of Equestrian history through fiction and carefully woven words left us in awe and amazement, giving her stories a sense of personal experience one has to read to believe.

“And that one looks like AnY! Hehe! What a funny name,” she snuggled into my coat and I tucked her into my cape endearingly. I started to think about AnY, the hero of the German people. During the war with Vulcan Sol he encouraged and inspired legions of soldiers to defend Equestria and his homeland with brave and powerful speeches, rallying cries of zealous fury, and the sheer willpower to support our troops fighting for our freedom and our land. Most politicians would have abused the emergency powers granted to him during the war, but AnY was a pure heart who lead many to victory. Although he did play around with his title to a joking extent, throwing around words like world domination and power hunger in a lighthearted fashion. He is quick to embrace the leadership role should Twilight hesitate and the two go well together like Pinkie and I.

“Look Pinkie, it's a shooting star,” I pointed to a star that streaked across and hid behind the desert planet, “Make a wish sweetie...”

We closed our eyes and made our wishes, walking off back to our home.